Today I'm taking an SVT-40 to the monthly 2-Gun Action Challenge Match, and I'm joined by my friend Tom shooting an M1 Garand. We're both using moderately accurate gear, and so naturally I have a TT-33 Tokarev for my pistol and Tom has a 1911. So, let's see if I can hold my own with the Soviet gu...

The Red Army was interested in developing a semiautomatic rifle clear back to the mid 1920s, and they spent about 15 years running trials and development programs to find one. First in 1930 a Degtyarev design was adopted, followed by the Simonov AVS-36, and then Tokarev won out in 1938 with the S...

Having served as the standard Soviet military sidearm for several decades, the PM Makarov was getting a bit obsolescent by the late 1980s. More of the world was using locked breech, 9x19mm service pistols but the Soviet Union still had essentially a domestic version of the Walther PP. To extend i...

Today we are looking at an overview of Soviet military service sidearms. This begins with the Model 1895 Nagant revolver, inherited from the Czarist Russian Army. The Nagant was adopted as the standard Red Army handgun, specifically in double action. Soviet refitting led to single-action Nagant r...

Today we have a look at the EFA-2k Makarov holster that was "made for Spetznaz". I am extremely skeptical that any Spetznaz operator ever actually deployed with one of these things, though. It's a holster with a neat mechanical function; you can push the pistol down through the bottom of the hols...

The Makarov, designed by Nikolay Makarov, was the Soviet Union's new post-WW2 handgun. The whole Soviet small arms suite was changed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the Makarov was intended to address a number of concerns with the TT33 Tokarev pistols. The Tokarev was a relatively challeng...

This week, we received a Russian Nagant Revolver equipped with a silencer. Was this revolver used in a plot to assassinate the "Big Three" during WW2?

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Cossack forces have long been a key cavalry element of the Russian military, and this did not change during the Soviet era. The Cossacks had their own rather distinctive style of sword, the shashka, and the Red Army maintained the tradition of issuing them to Cossack cavalry troopers. In 1927, a ...

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While the AK12 was first conceived in 2011, the Russian MOD had "assisted" Kalashnikov Concern in making sufficient changes to essentially adapt a ...

At the end of September it was confirmed that Russian aircrew survival kits will now include PP-2000 submachine guns. Sources suggest that the PP-2000 and PLK pistol will replace the Makarov and Stetchkin APS currently in service.

Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video her...

In this video Matt takes a look at the extremely rare Maxim-Tokarev Light Machine Gun. Less than 10,000 of these early Soviet light machine guns are believed to have been made. They were quickly replaced by the DP-28 but saw action during the Spanish and Chinese Civil Wars. Matt stumbled across t...

It's the 1980s and the British Army Of the Rhine is still stationed in West Germany facing down the USSR's forces. The Cold War has gotten hot and the 3rd Shock Army is approaching your dugout but how do you differentiate a BTR from a BMP? This handy British Army THREAT Recognition Guide booklet ...

Designed to combat the threat of Frogmen/Combat Divers, the DP-64 is a niche-role 45mm grenade launcher. In March it was featured in a Russian news report filmed somewhere in the region of the Kakhovka Reservoir. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourer...

The Russian 2B25 Mortar is often described in the media as 'cutting edge' but its actually based on century old technology - it's a spigot mortar! In this video we'll explore how the 2B25 works and just what is a 'spigot mortar'! Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here -...

The PTKM-1R is a sophisticated top-attack mine which is arguably Russia’s most advanced anti-tank mine. It has been seen in Ukraine several times since April, with one recently captured in its transit chest near Kharkiv. In this video we take a look at how the mines work and at the imagery of the...

On 15 March, a Russian Federal News Agency report interviewed a sniper from Wagner. The report gave us our first good look at the MTs-566 7.62x51mm semi-automatic precision rifle designed at Tula. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourersbench.com/2023/...

In this video we analyse the appearances I'd Russia's RPG-30 during the conflict in Ukraine. The RPG-30 is an interesting shoulder-fired anti-armour weapon which uses a smaller precursor rocket to, in theory, defeat explosive reactive armour and active protection systems. Updates/Corrections: 24/...

The Russian A-545 is perhaps the rarest of assault rifles in use in Ukraine. Since Russia's full-scale invasion last year there have only been a handful of potential sightings of the rifle which features an internal recoil mitigation system. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this ...

In this video we take a look at two MT-LB adaptations; one Russia, one Ukrainian. The MT-LB offers an extremely versatile platform for mounting a variety of weapons. Everything from anti-tank guns to heavy machine guns have been mounted on them by combatants.

Be sure to check out our accompanyi...

Recent video and photos from Ukraine show Russian troops getting to grips with the unique 2B25 82mm 'silent' mortar. In this video we'll examine the imagery and how it shows the 2B25 being used. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourersbench.com/2022/12...

In early March we looked at a Ukrainian conversion kit which turned GP-25 under-barrel grenade launchers into standalone weapons. Since then further research has discovered a very similar conversion design originating from Russia. The Север 1 developed by a company called RGL. Be sure to check ou...

This is the first of a series of videos looking at the older weapons in use in the war in Ukraine. In future instalments we'll look at Maxims, Mosin-Nagants and DPs but in this first video we'll examine use of the Fedor Tokarev-designed TT-33. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for thi...

During the Cold War the British Army on the Rhine was deployed in West German. In anticipation of a conflict with the Soviet Union detailed recognition guides were written for British troops to identify and familiarise themselves with enemy weapons and equipment. A substantial series of these wer...