The Bren Light Machine Gun, most notable for its use during World War Two, with British and Commonwealth forces. It is an iconic piece of small arms history, its rugged and reliable design meant that it stayed in use for many years and in various calibres, from the late 1930s well up to the 1990s with the British military. It did see some limited use by other groups and militaries up until the mid-2000’s also. From our field work it now appears that there still a number of British Bren and Czech ZB vz.26-pattern guns in the Darra region.
Historical
Rock Island Premier Auction: Golden 7.65mm Tariqs, IMI Uzi ‘Sale Samples’, and More
The catalog of the upcoming Rock Island Premier Gun auction is published and we thoroughly browsed it to find the lots that are related to Silah Report’s research areas, MENA and Central Asia. We found six such lots which we’ll present to you in this article. Our list below goes in no particular order. It includes the lot names, images and the auction house’s description. The lot names are also linked to the corresponding pages in Rock Island Premier Gun Auction catalog.
Icon of a Movement: The Syrian ‘PKM’ Wooden Buttstock
The supply conditions of the ongoing Syrian Civil War set the stage for a necessity of improvisation and invention. Where there is low supply, there is high demand that reflects through inflated market prices for small arms and equipment. This equation lends itself to the iconic PKM-inspired YPG Kalashnikov wooden stock that can be seen in service throughout initially what was the YPG, YPJ, and later morphed into the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The stock itself comes from the Russian 7.62×54mmR general-purpose machine gun.
Ottoman Mauser 1903 Date and Serial Number Markings
Our investigation into the Ottoman Mauser 1903 began sometime after C&Rsenal shared an episode of their widely respected documentary series, which examines the small arms of the First World War, focused on the Ottoman rifle. The video explores the development history of the rifle and how the Ottoman Empire came to adopt it as their standard issue arm. It saw extensive use throughout the Italian-Turkish War (1911-12), the Balkan Wars (1912-13), the First World War (1914-18) and the Turkish War of Independence (1919-1924). In the 1930s many were rechambered to 7.92×57mm.
The Emblem of the Shiite Muqāwama: The Cold War’s Third Alternative
When designing a new flag or representative banner of any given social group, one of the most important pillars of vexillology (the study of flags) one should keep in mind is clarity. Any serious flag should at least be indicative of what it represents, and how the people brandishing it wish to be perceived by the outside world. A clueless spectator means failure in offering a sufficiently suggestive flag for the group’s representation to the public. A flag is an important attribute for any group, presenting a visual introduction and identification through colors, symbols and objects featured on the banner.
V17: Smalls Arms in Kurdistan Region and the Local Laws
In the 17th episode of our podcast, we had a new guest from the Kurdistan region who was well versed in the small arms market in the region. The host for the episode was Adham and we had Miles, Daniel, Khyber Abdullah, Mick, our patron Nate and last but not least, our guest from Kurdistan, Rasty.
A Lanchester Machine Carbine in Aleppo
Back in November, friend of Silah Report and frequent author Analyst Mick, shared some photos of a British World War Two-era submachine gun, a Lanchester Machine Carbine. The photos placed the venerable submachine for sale in the Syrian-regime held city of Aleppo. The Lanchester was Britain’s first submachine gun, with plans for its production put in place just before the development of the STEN gun.
Operation Balak: The IDF’s Star of David on Nazi Rifles
“All is fair in love and war” is an idiom in English that refers to the practice of otherwise questionable actions being considered acceptable under exceptional circumstances. When talking about weaponry in general, one example to illustrate the aforementioned saying would be the direct use of an enemy’s arms of war to forward one’s own agenda. Anti-Communist Afghan Mujahideen fighting their Soviet enemies with Soviet-made weaponry, Islamic State attacking regional adversaries with US M4’s and M16’s or the post-war US government employing former German and Japanese scientists and technologies for their fight against the Red Menace are all examples of this common practice. The Israeli Defense Forces‘ hexagram emblem on Nazi Mauser-manufactured Kar98k carbines is another interesting manifestation of this idiom.
Iraq’s National Handgun: The 9mm Tariq
We here at Silah Report have discussed the Iraqi Tariq a number of times previously. In this video for TFBtv Miles gives us a breakdown of Iraq’s national handgun and its Italian roots.
A Bodeo Model 1889 Revolver Surfaces in Libya
In his first guest post for Silah Report Daniel Casingena looks at a 19th century Italian revolver which recently surfaced on social media and reportedly originated in Libya.