Jonathan Ferguson The Firearm Blog recently posted an interesting article about an unusual anti-materiel rifle in use with forces affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. ARES has now identified this weapon. The rifle is indeed chambered in 14.5 × 114 mm, but has not been craft-produced and is not, as has been speculated, blowback operated.
The ARES Team An image shared via Twitter on 17 June shows a member claiming to be affiliated with the New Syrian Army (NSyA) or an allied group operating in Syria’s Aleppo governorate. The combatant in the picture is armed with a US-made Remington XM2010 sniper rifle, adopted by the US Army as the M2010. Previously,
Michael Smallwood with Yuri Lyamin A recent photo, above, shows a Syrian government fighter manning a Russian Kord 12.7 x 108 mm heavy machine gun (HMG) in the eastern Jobar district of Damascus city. The belt-fed Kord is chambered for either 12.7 x 108 mm or 12.7 x 99 mm (.50 BMG), and has an
Jonathan Ferguson The Syrian conflict continues to yield interesting expedient small arm designs. Syrian rebel forces have been documented craft producing anti-materiel rifles (AMRs). ARES has received video links (see below) that document the manufacture of this weapon, which appears in two variants. It is a homemade bolt-action anti-materiel rifle similar to and perhaps even inspired
N.R. Jenzen-Jones During the ongoing civil unrest in Kiev, several images have circulated showing Ukrainian security forces equipped with a range of lethal weapons, including sniper rifles. In addition to the SVD type rifles commonly seen, security forces have been documented using a license-produced copy of one of the Brügger & Thomet APR rifles (as seen
