POTD: Four Calibers, One Platform - The PSA Soviet Arms Krink

Few firearms carry as much mystique as the AKS-74U. Fielded by Soviet forces in Afghanistan starting in the early 1980s, the stubby little Krinkov bridged the gap between a submachine gun and a full-length rifle, and it became one of the most iconic compact firearms of the Cold War era. Palmetto ...

By Eric B •

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Zastava AKs!

Vlad Onokoy, renowned AK connoisseur and TFB contributor , has a new book on the way. ‘From Balkans to Babylon: Zastava AKs of Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Iraq’ will be published by Safar Publishing and is now available for pre-order . It is the first English-language book on the history,...

By Matthew Moss •

Mikoyan MiG-29: The Reactive Fulcrum?

Military aircraft design of the Cold War era could be described as akin to physics, or, more specifically, to Newton’s Third Law of motion, which states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” From lessons learned in the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force determi...

By Peter Suciu •

The Polish Westernization of the PKM - The UKM-2000P/UKM-2020S

Poland’s love for the PK series of machine guns cannot be overstated. It continues to serve today, even after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact nations and the USSR, with Western modernizations that may preserve the core reliability that made the original famous. It began when the PK entered ...

By Lynndon Schooler •

Evolution of the Flying Wing

From its earliest experimental roots to today’s cutting-edge stealth bombers, the flying wing has remained one of aviation’s most radical and enduring ideas. Stripped of traditional fuselage and tail structures, this design prioritizes aerodynamic efficiency above all else. The design reduces...

By Friedrich Seiltgen •

Review: Custom Smith Enterprise M21A5 “Crazy Horse” Rifle

If you have not heard of Smith Enterprise, Inc., it is one of the most respected names in the M14/M1A world. In addition to providing civilian customers with a wide range of popular products for the platform, the company has also played an important role in both developing and providing weapon sy...

By Jeremy Tremp •

The RPK: The Soviet Choice of Commonality Over Capability

In the mid-1950s, the Soviet high command accepted a compromise that would shape frontline infantry small arms for decades: prioritizing platform commonality over dedicated squad-level suppressive fire capability. That decision, formalized with the 1959 adoption of an AK-derived automatic rifle, ...

By Lynndon Schooler •

M21 Sniper Rifle — A Short History

The renowned M14 service rifle has a complex history: it was the U.S. military’s shortest-lived service rifle yet one of the longest in service. While its time as a standard-issue rifle for G.I.s was brief, its power and performance have ensured its continued use as a sniper and Designated Mark...

By Cory Ross •
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