Category: Ammunition

Ethiopian .30-06, 7.62 × 51 mm & 7.92 × 57 mm cartridges

N.R. Jenzen-Jones This article is an abridged version of a piece which will be published in a forthcoming edition of the International Ammunition Association Journal. – Ed. Introduction Although Ethiopia has produced small-calibre ammunition for at least sixty years (and probably 90 or more), little information is publicly available regarding Ethiopianoutputs, and knowledge of Ethiopian cartridges

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A Cartridge in Brief: 4.85 × 49 mm British

Jack Dutschke Since the adoption of the 7.62 × 51 mm cartridge by NATO in 1954, it has been criticised for its substantial recoil impulse, which many argued resulted in uncontrollable automatic fire from service rifles of the period. This problem was not unique to the 7.62 × 51 mm cartridge, and other full-power rifle

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ISOF Arms & Equipment Part 4 – Grenade Launchers & Anti-Armour Weapons

Miles Vining Editor’s note: This is the fourth and final part in a series examining the arms and equipment employed by the Iraqi Special Operations Forces, in light of the prominent role played by this unit in recent fighting. Part 1 (personal equipment) is available here, Part 2 (precision rifles) is available here, and Part 3 (machine guns) is

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A Cartridge in Brief: .280 British

Jack Dutschke During the Second World War, Germany developed a number of innovative small arms. One key development – the Sturmgewehr, chambered for the 7.92 × 33 mm Kurz cartridge – is rightly considered the grandfather of the modern ‘assault rifle’. The concept behind the assault rifle was a box magazine-fed, select-fire rifle chambered for

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Iranian PG-7-AT (Nader) RPG-7 projectiles in Yemen

B. Khab. with Galen Wright Since early 2016, Yemeni forces belonging to the Aden-based Hadi government have been fighting Houthi militants and other forces loyal to ex-President Saleh in Hajja governorate, one of the few positions in northern Yemen controlled by the Aden-based government. The strategic Midi district has witnessed the fiercest battles ther, and

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Improvised grenade launching attachment for HMGs in Syria

ImproGuns A video posted to social media on 25 November 2016 shows Shi’a militia fighters making use of what appears to be an improvised grenade launching device attached to the muzzle of a DShKM type heavy machine gun (HMG) whilst engaging Islamic State militants near Deir ez-Zor airport in Syria. The device appears to be a

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Soviet 180 mm S-23 artillery guns in Syria

Ilya A. On 5 August 2016, anti-government forces from the Free Syrian Army and the Islamist coalition Jaish al-Fateh stormed and captured a Syrian Arab Army (SAA) artillery school facility during operations aimed at breaking the Syrian regime siege of Eastern Aleppo. The following day, rebel group Ahrar al-Sham posted photos of materiel in the

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Recent-production Bulgarian 40 mm ammunition in Syria

N.R. Jenzen-Jones On 21 February 2016, the Abkhazian Network News Agency (ANNA News) and Frontinfo posted some footage seemingly filmed near Nabi Younes in Latakia Governorate, Syria. Amongst the footage is a fired cartridge case from a 40 × 46SR mm high explosive fragmentation (HE-FRAG) round produced in Bulgaria. The Arsenal 40×46 RLV-HEF round is of the 40 ×

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Small Arms Survey releases Working Paper 23 ‘Chambering the Next Round’

Emergent ammunition technologies are likely to prove key in future firearms designs. Emergent cartridge case technologies, the rise of the ‘general-purpose’ calibre, and other nascent technologies will affect the way in which firearms are designed, produced, managed in service, tactically employed, maintained, and sustained. Chambering the Next Round: Emergent Small-calibre Cartridge Technologies, a new Working Paper

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Serbian M02 Coyote HMG and 120 mm mortar projectiles in Syria

Yuri Lyamin with N.R. Jenzen-Jones In recent days, opposition groups within Syria have been documented in possession of Serbian-made arms and munitions. M62P8 120 mm high explosive (HE) mortar projectiles and an M02 Coyote 12.7 x 108 mm heavy machine gun have been identified. Whilst a number of weapons manufactured in the former Yugoslavia have

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