IWI sent me a batch of their latest marketing promotion photos. I would not resist sharing them with you.
I can barely contain my excitement! A german firm called Tactics Group will be producing a “tacti-cool” version of the German WWII Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 (Paratrooper Rifle 42) aka. FG-42. It will feature all the accessories found on modern rifles.
The new FG-42 will feature polymer furniture, a spring-powered recoil reducing buttstock, AR-15-compatible pistol grip, picatinny rails a fancy muzzle brake. It will be chambered in 7.92x57mm Mauser, the same cartridge as the FG-42. The felt recoil is said to be reduced to about the same as a .223 Remington. The company is working on constructing a magazine with a higher capacity than the standard 20-round FG-42 magazine.
There will be two variants, a carbine model (pictured above) and a rifle length model.
This is the gun I deep down always wanted, I just did not realize it until now 
[ Many thanks to TroubleShooterBerlin for emailing us the photos. ]
Last weekend the 1st Annual Silencer Are Legal Shoot has held in Dallas, Texas. By all accounts it was a lot of fun. One interesting video from the shoot is of a MK-46 5.56mm machine gun with an AAC 249-SD suppressor. The suppressor somehow came loose, wobbled and a 5.56mm round (or rounds) hit one of its baffles, blowing it off the gun. Makes for a fun video
I was kindly invited to the shoot by Silencerco but was unable to attend. I hope to attend next year.
[ Many thanks to Brad for the video link. ]
The NZ Army emailed me this video of their new 40mm H&K Grenade Machine Guns (H&K GMG).
The H&K GMG is very similar to and fills the same role as the Mk. 19 Grenade Launcher.
As I frequently say, “don’t buy a rifle automatic grenade launcher if you are not going buy a decent scope”. The NZ Army went with the Rheinmetall Defence Vingmate FCS electro-optical system.
The Fire Control Unit (scope) is mounted alongside the barrel and connected to the Display Control Unit (display) mounted above the receiver. This allows the operator to rotate and tilt the display as required independently on the direction of the barrel (you can see a soldier looking into the display at a downwards angle in the video). The system includes a ballistic computer, range finder and GPS increasing the chances of first hitm, and so saving ammunition and avoiding collateral damage. The Vingmate can be used for direct fire, indirect fire, area suppressions and airburst.
The image below shows what a soldier might see looking at the Vingmate FCS display unit.
The Vingmate FCS daytime scope has a 5x zoom, the display unit has a 800×600 resolution and the entire system weighs 12.7 lbs (excluding battery!).
General Dynamics has unveiled a new medium machine gun chambered in .338 Norma Magnum.
It looks like it is based on the FN MAG / M240 machine gun with a new fire control system, AR-14 pistol grip, M4-style stock and quad picatinny rails.
The .338 Norma Magnum’s performance is very similar to that of the much more popular .338 Lapua Magnum. The .338 NM has a slight advantage in that when loaded with a .300 grain Sierra HPBT MatchKing projectile, its overall length is shorter than the .338 LM loaded with the same bullet. This is why General Dynamics would have chosen this round over the more popular .338 LM.
The gun itself weighs 24 lbs. This is a lot lighter than the M240B and about 1.7 lbs heavier than the new M240L. The .338 NM cartridges are a lot larger and heavier than 7.62mm cartridges.
This gun makes a lot of sense to me. The ballistics of the .338 NM are far superior to the 7.62mm. At longer ranges it has ballistics similar to the .50 BMG without the need to carry around a M2 + bipod.
From the press release …
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), today unveiled a next-generation Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) at the Joint Armaments Conference in Seattle, Wash.
Identifying an unmet warfighter need, General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products conducted its own research and development program to develop the LWMMG in just over one year. The weapon is designed for low-cost production and for maximum effectiveness at the small unit level, where weight and lethality are decisive factors.
“The LWMMG is an affordable weapon that closes a current operational gap, providing .50 caliber-like firepower in range and effect at the same weight and size of currently fielded 7.62mm machine guns,” said Steve Elgin, vice president and general manager of armament systems for General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products. “Weighing in at 24 pounds and featuring a fully collapsible stock, the LWMMG offers superior mobility and portability in both mounted and dismounted operations.”
General Dynamics’ LWMMG also offers a distinct advantage in both extended and close-in fighting by using the highly efficient .338 Norma Magnum cartridge for increased accuracy and lethality out to 1,700 meters, a distance currently gapped in the operational capabilities of warfighters.
“By employing the larger .338 NM round, the LWMMG delivers twice the range and dramatically increases lethality above the 7.62 round,” said Elgin. “In addition, the LWMMG goes beyond providing suppressive fire and gives warfighters the ability to attack point targets at significantly extended ranges.”
The LWMMG has a firing rate of 500 rounds per minute, a maximum range of 5,642 meters, and is equipped with quick-change barrel technology. In addition to use by dismounted infantry and on ground vehicles, the weapon can be used as the armament system aboard helicopters and littoral craft, providing greater range and effectiveness for those platforms.
“The LWMMG is a well-designed machine gun ideally suited to provide long-range lethality to U.S. and allied forces,” Elgin said.
[ Many thanks to John + Lance for emailing us the link. ]
This promotional video from IWI shows off their updated UZI Pro.
You can tell a Israeli Defense Industry video a mile away 
I love them.
Both the United Kingdom and New Zealand are adopting the 7.62mm version of the FN MINIMI machine gun.
The NZ Defense Force is procuring (PDF link) the 7.62mm model, along with ACOG scopes, micro red dots and ground mounts to replace their 5.56mm model. The UK Ministry of Defense is procuring a limited number and so are not replacing their 5.56mm MINIMI LMGs or 7.62mm FN MAG GPMGs.
Other countries using the 7.62mm MINIMI are the Spanish Navy, Polish Special Forces, the Australian Defense Force (F89 Maximi) and USSOCOM (Mk. 48). I suspect more and more countries are going to start realizing the benefits of the 7.62mm over the 5.56mm. I wonder if the USMC made the right choice going with the 5.56mm M27 IAR. A 7.62mm IAR might have been a better choice.
Short Barrel: Yes, 7.62x51mm : Yes, Full Auto: Yes, Belt Fed: Yes.
I have always loved fully automatic battle rifles, especially the compact HK51.
More photos from the Leipers Fork Firearms machine gun shoot here.
The Army has decided to cut the XM806 Lightweight .50 Caliber Machine Gun program. The XM806 was a scaled down version of the 25mm XM307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon, which was also cut before it went into production.
The XM806 was originally going to be deployed this year, but delays pushed the expected deployment date back to late 2013 or early 2014. Military Times reports that the money allocated to the XM806 will be used to upgrade the Army’s .50 M2 Browning machine guns to the M2A1 version. Earlier this year the Army announced plans to upgrade every M2 to the M2A1.
[ Many thanks to Lance for emailing me the link. ]
Rheinmetall has been awarded a patent (#8225999)for an invention (concept would be a more accurate term) to limit a machine gun’s rate of fire over a period of time.
All gas operated machine guns fire at a rate which is unsustainable over longer periods of time. The operators need training to ensure that they do not let the gun overheat by firing to many rounds in to short a period of time. This issue received national media attention when it was revealed that M4 Carbine barrels had melted and SAW machine guns had jammed during the Battle of Wanat.
From the Army’s report on the battle …
Specialist Bogar fired approximately six hundred rounds at a cyclic rate of fire from his SAW when that weapon became overheated, and eventually jammed the bolt forward. Specialist Stafford noted, “Bogar was still in our hole firing quite a bit. Then Bogar’s SAW jammed. Basically it just got way overheated, because he opened the feed tray cover and I remember him trying to get it open and it just looked like the bolt had welded itself inside the chamber. His barrel was just white hot.”
According to The Ground Precautionary Message ACALA #97-031 (emphasis added)…
(3) BURST BARRELS RESULT WHEN THE WEAPONS ARE FIRED UNDER VERY EXTREME FIRING SCHEDULES AND THE BARREL TEMPERATURE EXCEEDS 1360 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. WHEN THE BARREL REACHES THESE EXTREME TEMPERATURES, THE BARREL STEEL WEAKENS TO THE POINT THAT THE HIGH PRESSURE GASES BURST THROUGH THE SIDE OF THE BARREL APPROXIMATELY 4 INCHES IN FRONT OF THE CHAMBER. THIS CONDITION CAN RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY.
…
(D) SUSTAINED RATE OF FIRE FOR THE M16 SERIES RIFLES AND M4 SERIES CARBINES IS 12-15 ROUNDS PER MINUTE. THIS IS THE ACTUAL RATE OF FIRE THAT A WEAPON CAN CONTINUE TO BE FIRED FOR AN Indefinite LENGTH OF TIME WITHOUT SERIOUS OVERHEATING.
The actual rate of fire of an M4 Carbine is 700 – 950 rounds per minute, over 60 times higher than what the gun can tolerate over an extended period of time.
Aside from catastrophic failures, some guns are inaccurate when overheated. The Bundeswehr recently published a report saying that the H&K G36 was useless beyond 200 meters when it was overheated.
Rheinmetall proposes adding a power supply, microcontroller and actuator to machine guns to slow down the rate of fire to keep the sustained rate of fire inside acceptable parameters for the weapon it is installed on. Each time the operator pull the trigger it will fire, but the rate it will cycle is constantly adjusted.
I think this idea has merit but there are some fundamental problems. The foremost problem is that the circumstances where a machine gun might be fired continuously is rare and so operators are unlikely to appreciate a heavy electronic device messing with their rate of fire the rest of the time. They will soon figure out how to disable it and at most it will become a heavy paperweight.
[ Steve Says: I am very pleased to introduce our new TFB regular contributor. Chris is a very talented shooter and genuinely nice guy. I am excited to have him onboard and look forward to published blog posts by him in the future. If you have any questions for Chris, ask them in the comments or email him directly at chris.cheng [at] thefirearmblog [dot] com ]
Hi folks, if you don’t watch Top Shot on the History Channel, please let me introduce myself. My name is Chris Cheng and I am a professional shooter. I recently won Season 4 of Top Shot. Along with the $100,000 and the title of “Top Shot”, the prize included a professional shooting contract with Bass Pro Shops. I decided to quit my job at Google, where I worked as a program manager on the technical support team, and took up the Bass Pro contract. I loved my time working at Google, but this was obviously a once-in-a-lifetime chance to switch careers and see where life takes me. I am a self-taught amateur shooter who has ironically not shot very much in my lifetime. I relied on my childhood experiences shooting slingshots, potato & rubber band guns, BB/pellet guns, paintball guns, Super Soakers, NERF guns, and other childhood toys which helped me develop my marksmanship skills.
A timeless toy, and one that helped me hone my marksmanship skills when I was younger
I’m very excited to share my experiences navigating through a new industry and hearing what kinds of things you’d like to hear about. I will read every single comment that’s posted, and I will try my best to respond to them as well.
Now, on to the guns! Top Shot is a unique show where it provides an opportunity to shoot weapons not many people get to shoot. I simply have no access to an M1919 or B.A.R. machine gun, let alone an MK32 grenade launcher, all weapons I got to compete with on Top Shot. A common question I get is “What was my favorite weapon?” A very hard question to answer (sort of like trying to answer “Which is your favorite parent/child?”). I would probably say the B.A.R. since it was the first fully automatic weapon I’ve ever fired.
Firing the B.A.R. in the Top Shot finale. The Browning Automatic Rifle is sometimes referred to as a “Big Ass Rifle.” – Photo courtesy of History Channel.
With a slower cyclic rate of 500-650 rounds per minute, it was a great first machine gun to fire since it was easy to control. On top of that, having a full art crew set up the amazingly fun challenges, provide free ammo, let us meander in and blow stuff up, and then cleaning up our mess was pretty awesome too.
I’ll be a recurring contributor here on The Firearm Blog, and in my next posts I’ll talk about the weapons I recently shot at the Crimson Trace 3-gun Midnight Invitational. Night vision and IR goggles/scopes, full darkness, plus automatic weapons. It was awesome. I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
Chris Cheng is History Channel’s Top Shot Season 4 champion. A self-taught amateur turned pro through his Top Shot win, Cheng very much still considers himself an amateur who parachuted into this new career. He shares his thoughts and experiences from the perspective of a newbie to the shooting community. www.TopShotChris.com.
In the video below, a Syrian rebel shows off his customised Beretta Model 38. The stock has been converted to a pistol grip and the metalwork has been chromed. That is one nice looking gun, although I doubt the owner could hit the side of a barn at 20 yards when firing on full auto with a shoulder stock.
I think the weapon is the ’42 version of the M1938. Max at Guns.ru notes that the 1942 model omits the barrel heat guard/jacket but retained the barrel fluting.
[ Many thanks to Nic Jenzen-Jones for emailing us the link. ]
The legendary REMOV sent us photos of the new Polish UKM-2013 machine gun that is set to be unveiled later this week at the MSPO International Military Expo …
REMOV says …
There is a proposal of modernization of the Polish UKM-2000 general purpose machine gun (GPMG) fed by 7.62x51mm NATO to the new UKM-2013 standard. The upgraded GPMG will be equipped with a new folding and telescopic buttstock with a cheekpiece and additional grip/pod, the integrated Picatinny rail with iron sight and 3-rail forehand attached to the gas tube, new grip, new cocking handle new safety switch selector, a new 440-mm barrel (as an option) plus some additional internal changes. The Polish Army is interested in this machine gun fed from the 100-round soft ammo bag instead of a steel box. Because of external similarity to the Russian PKM GPMG chambered to the 7.62x54mmR some elements like a buttstock, a grip or a forehand with rails will able to be used with the Kalashnikov design. The premiere of the UKM-2013 will be at the 20th MSPO international military expo in 2 days.
I like the rail-integrated low profile rear aperture sight and the new stock design.
Thanks REMOV!
After the RECOIL Magazine incident, many people have been discussing the H&K MP7. People often have the incorrect impression that it is a small gun. I put this down to video games, where the MP7 appears a lot smaller than it really it, and hyperbole from fiction and non-fiction writers. It is far bigger than a pistol. Here is a photo of Andrew holding two MP7s …
Yes, it can be holstered, but so can a carbine.
I would be interested to see any photos of it being used as a sidearm/secondary weapon. I have only ever seen it being used as a primary weapon.
Michael Bane got to play with the Polish PM-63 …
The Polish PM-63 “RAK” in 9 x 18 Mak…man, these things so rock! I gotta say that in the balance, I like them more that Czech Skorpions, which I like a lot.
The flat disc in front is the compensator. The compensator is attached to the slide and so the gun can be cocked by pressing the compensator against a hard surface.
The PM-63 is right up there in ugliness as the MP-443 “Grach”. The Polish gun aesthetics have thankfully improved since then.
Copies of the FN Minimi have been photographed in use by Chinese police.
The existance of this clone was first reported by Max Popenker & Tony Williams, both well known to TFB readers, in their book Machine Gun: The Development of the Machine Gun from the Nineteenth Century to the Present Day. Apparently the Chinese plan on exporting it.
[ Many thanks to Albi for emailing us the photo. ]
The improved, “Enhanced 50″, version of the M2 Browning has been named one of the Army’s greatest inventions of 2011.
Army.mil reports …
The M2A1 is an enhancement to the .50-calliber M2, including a modified barrel, barrel extension, barrel support, barrel handle, flash suppressor and a fixed headspace and timing configuration. The M2A1 is an automatic, recoil-operated, link-belt-fed, air-cooled, crew-served weapon; capable of firing single-shot and automatic; and capable of right- and left-hand feed. The enhancements increase durability and Soldier safety moving the headspace and timing adjustment task above the operator level, thereby minimizing malfunctions and injuries in the field.
[ Many thanks to Lance for emailing us the link. ]
Trigger slap is a phenomenon present on a number of gun designs, but most commonly encountered on semi-automatic AK-47, AK-74 and MAC-10 clones. In some of these guns the trigger “slaps” against the operators trigger when it resets. It can range from a mild annoyance to bad enough to numb or hurt the operators finger. In the case of MAC-10 clones, it is the result of the BATFE rules requiring them to fire from a closed bolt. This design problem was not as much of a issue with the original open bolt MAC-10 machine pistols.
Masterpiece Arms has developed a hammer/disconnect that completely eliminates trigger slap. It will be installed on all their MAC-style guns starting in January next year. They will also be selling it separately for $39.99. It woks with both MPA’s own guns as well as MAC style guns manufactured by Cobray/Leinad.
Nick was exploring Chatsworth House, a palatial house in Derbyshire, England, when he noticed an interesting sculpture tucked away in a corner that looked out of place among the grand oil paintings, murals and tapestries.
The sculpture is of a Bren Light Machine Gun magazine. It was sculptured from solid granite. The little plaque in front of it simply said “Please Do Not Touch”.
I love the quiet simplicity of this sculpture. It is very unlike modern pop gun art. I have emailed the Chatsworth collections department to find out its history.
Click through to see photos of some of the guns in the Chatsworth House collection … (more…)
About four years ago I published photos of the amazing double barrel machine guns developed by John Mihaita of ITM Tool and Die, Cleveland Ohio. Combining a fully automatic .308 Win. with a 9mm submachine gun is either madness or genius, four years later and I still cannot decide. These scanned pages are from the book Militärgewehre-Enzyklopädie (2002).
When I originally wrote about these guns I called the inventor hoping to learn more about his creations but he seemed suspicious of me and would not say anything other than to confirm he was still working on prototypes. A mutual acquaintance also approached him on my behalf but also was unable to learn anything about the guns.
I never published the photos of ITM’s single barrel submachine guns. They are also interesting …
Many thanks to Sven for the scans.
