Ukrainian troops are in the UK training as part of an agreement with the British government. The UK has procured an interesting assortment of AK pattern rifles for the Ukrainian personnel to train with. In this video we look at what rifles are in use and some of the challenges of procuring them. ...

At the beginning of May 2023, Russian media shared a flurry of videos from salt mines near Soledar. The videos showcased a captured weapons storage depot said to be inside part of the mine complex which was recently captured by Russian private military contractor unit Wagner. In this video we'll ...

We previously looked at Ukrainian company Black Storm's bullpup conversion kit. Black Storm have also developed a kit to adapt the GP-25 into a stand alone grenade launcher. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourersbench.com/2023/03/05/black-storm-defen...

As the proliferation of 5.56x45mm rifles in Ukraine continues the latest rifle to begin to be seen in use is the Heckler & Koch HK416. Small numbers of the rifle have been seen in use with Ukrainian special operations forces so far.

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

There have been a considerable number of sightings of the MP-443 pistols in Ukraine over the past two months, unsurprising as it is the Russian armed forces issue sidearm. In this video we look at the pistol's history, design and use in Ukraine. Thanks to Cold War Collectables for letting us film...

Ukrainian company Black Storm have developed a series of kits to allow AK pattern rifles to be converted into bullpups without tools and without physically adapting the base rifle. These bullpup kit AKs have now been seen in use with Ukrainian soldiers.

Be sure to check out our accompanying arti...

I have had several people send me this video, showing a Ukrainian shop converting PKT machine guns to an infantry configuration. The PK machine gun is used in a lot of Russian armored vehicles, but in vehicular form it uses a solenoid trigger, and doesn't have a pistol grip or shoulder stock. The...

Some collectors hunt for firearms which look perfectly new form the factory, and others prefer arms that show lots of evidence of use and history. Well, this is definitely one of the latter type - this 1943 production MP40 submachine gun has a terrible finish, most likely as a result of being bur...

I'm excited today to speak with Neil Vermillion, a US Army veteran (2002-2006) who served contracts in Kurdistan (2016) and Ukraine (2022) for the nonprofit PMC Sons of Liberty International. In Kurdistan he was a volunteer training and fighting with a group of Kurds around Erbil and Mosul. In Uk...

One of the interesting implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the potential for expanded legal civilian ownership of firearms, particularly rifles, in many of the smaller countries in Europe. We saw the Ukrainian government jump to legalize civilian arms ownership immediately after th...

Note: The combat zone photos are from 2017, not 2015.

Footage published by US DoD, from training exercises in September 2017 and February 2018. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

Note: Some explicit language in this video.

I am honored today to have a chance to interview Neil Vermillion about his experiences in Iraq, Kurdistan, and Ukraine. Neil is a US Army veteran (2002-2006) who served contracts in Kurdistan (2016) and Ukraine (2022) for the nonprofit PMC Sons of Li...

I have been reading about the Winter War in past few months as part of my work on a book about Finnish small arms, and I have been really struck by the similarity in images of that fighting and the current war in Ukraine. I'd like to take a few minutes today to talk about the similarities - and d...

While most nations opt for a modular grenade launcher on the underside of a rifle barrel, Russia is one of a select few nations that opted for a standalone design. The GM-94 used both in a civil and military context has seen extensive use over the last 30 years, including most recently during the...

Back by popular demand, we have Neil Vermillion again today. We're talking about his experiences while volunteering as a trainer for troops in Ukraine. We're going to discuss why the Russians underperformed so badly, what the Ukrainians are doing well to adapt and improve, and perhaps why he has ...