Tag: small arms

Chinese CS/LS06 ‘Chang Feng’ sub-machine gun

N.R. Jenzen-Jones The Chang Feng sub-machine gun (SMG)—known in its latest iteration as the ‘CS/LS06’—is in service with Chinese law enforcement and paramilitary personnel, as well as specialised units from other nations. The design is notable for its 50-round helical magazine, and is often issued with a suppressor. Development of the Chang Feng SMG began

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ARES Director Jenzen-Jones co-founds Headstamp Publishing

ARES Director N.R. Jenzen-Jones and two well-respected colleagues from the firearms research industry have formed a new publishing concern, Headstamp Publishing, which will produce authoritative books on arms, munitions, and military history. Headstamp leverages its leadership’s exceptional access to top-tier collections around the world, as well as an extensive network of subject matter specialists, to

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Improvised Optical Equipment in the Donbass

Boris Karpa Amongst the many types of equipment in service with pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine – whether received from Russia or captured from Ukrainian stocks – communications equipment and optics have been in short supply.  These items, notable mostly in their shortage, have been important to the war effort, and lamented for their absence.

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New Handbook: An Introductory Guide to the Identification of Small Arms, Light Weapons, and Associated Ammunition

Arms and ammunition are evidence. Many weapons carry marks that, combined with their physical characteristics, reveal important information about them, including their manufacturer, age, and origin. This information, in turn, provides vital clues about the sources and flows of weapons in the area in which they were found. ARES personnel have worked with the Small

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British Besal (Faulkner) light machine gun

This post accompanies the sixteenth in a series of collaborative videos produced with ARES Researcher Ian McCollum, who also runs the Forgotten Weapons blog and YouTube channel. Using access to unique collections facilitated by ARES, this series of videos will examine a range of interesting weapons over the coming months. Each video will be accompanied by a blog

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Russian AN-94 self-loading rifle – Part 2

For those seeking more detail on the complex interrelationship of the AN-94 self-loading rifle’s dual operating systems and unusual trigger mechanism, ARES Technical Specialist Jonathan Ferguson has developed a brief interpretation to clarify the key operating mechanics.  Further and complementary detail may be found in the previous ARES post and in the original patent description and

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Web Trafficking – Analysing the online trade of SALW in Libya

The Libyan revolution deposed the Qaddafi regime in 2011, bringing to an end the tight regulation of the domestic arms trade. Military stockpiles were raided, and small arms and light weapons made their way into the hands of non-state armed groups and private sellers. The subsequent conflicts after the fall of the Qaddafi regime have

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Russian AN-94 self-loading rifle

This post accompanies the third in a series of collaborative videos produced by ARES Researcher Ian McCollum, who also runs the Forgotten Weapons blog and YouTube channel. Using access to unique collections facilitated by ARES, this series of videos will examine a range of interesting weapons over the coming months. Each video will be accompanied

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Small arms & light weapons traded via social media platforms in Libya

Armament Research Services (ARES) has produced significant original research examining the online trade in small arms and light weapons within Libya. The project outputs rely on a database, developed by ARES, which contains information about both groups and individual traders active on popular social media and communication platforms.The project will consist of two published reports, released under Small

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West African arms trafficker arrested in Ghana

Oscar Nkala Police in the Ghanaian city of Kumasi last month arrested a 72-year-old suspected arms dealer from Burkina Faso and five Ghanaian accomplices in an operation that recovered a sizeable cache of small arms and ammunition. The seizure included 11 AK type and 10 G3 type self-loading rifles; 45 self-loading handguns of undefined make

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