In 1957, the Hungarian conglomerate “FEG” (Fegyver- és Gépgyár-Arms and Machine Manufacturing Company) received a contract from the Egyptian Armed Forces requesting 30,000 Tokarev handguns. The Tokarevs would be in 9mm Parabellum instead of the 7.62 Tokarev round, magazines would have finger supports, a one-piece plastic grip, and a safety catch on top of the left side of the receiver.
Military/LE
French MAS Rifles in Syria, The Syrian Civil War
This guest article is brought to us by Bruce Marduel, taking a look at the French MAS series of bolt action and semi-automatic rifles in service throughout Syrian history, and in this case, the current Syrian Civil War.
MAS 36 is the oldest rifle is the MAS family, and even if it entered production before WWII it is still used in an impressive number of countries, including Lebanon and Syria. A MAS 36 was first visible in a 2013 picture of the Syrian Conflict, limited information is available, but it seems that MAS 36 are actually used in combat.
French MAS Rifles in Syria, a Historical Perspective
This guest article is brought to us by Bruce Marduel, taking a look at the French MAS series of bolt action and semi-automatic rifles in service throughout Syrian history.
There are plenty of exotic and obsolete weapons in the Middle East, and ancient French weapons produced by Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne can be spotted regularly in Syria along with StG 44, Mosin-Nagant and other relics.
Most of the rifles produced for the French Army during the XXth century were produced by Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne (MAS) : from the bolt-action Fusil à répétition 7.5mm M.36 a.k.a MAS 36, to the Fusil d’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de St-Etienne also called FAMAS. The MAS 36 equipped the French Army since the 1930’s, followed by MAS 49 and MAS 49/56 after WWII. These rifles have a very long service life both in France and overseas.
MAS 36 arrived in the Middle-East during the Mandates and Second World War, back then France ruled over Syria and Lebanon, and French troops used MAS 36. During WWII, the French authorities of the Regime de Vichy (allied with Nazi Germany) declared Lebanon independent in 1941, the decision was confirmed by Free France and Charles de Gaulle, so the country became independent after WWII. The armed forces from newly-independent Lebanon used MAS 36 as a standard-issue rifle until the 1950’s when FN FAL replaced them. Lebanese MAS were kept as a reserve rifle or sold on the civilian market, so that they are visible among militias during the 1958 troubles in Lebanon.
Civilian MAS 36 in Beirut, 1958
1958 unrest in Lebanon
The most significant shipment of MAS rifles to the Middle-East took place in the early 1950’s, when France delivered weapons to Syria : six-thousand « Syrian contract » MAS 49 (serial number F3XXXX), twelve-thousand MAS 36 and a production line for 7,5x54mm ammunition. Photos of the Syrian Independence Day show the subsequent evolution in the armament of Syrian troops from 1946 to 1966 :
1946 parade with WWI Lebel
1954 parade with MAS 36
1957 parade with MAS 36
When Syria got closer to the Eastern Bloc (Baath putsch in 1963, and pro-soviet wing takeover in 1966) the Syrian army abandoned french rifles and adopted Kalashnikov, as showed in the video of the 1966 parade.
Use in Syrian Civil War
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Silah Report Announces Small Arms Working Reference Collection
It is often said among academics to work within the “Primary Sources” in order to have the most qualitative work while conducting research. At SR, we take this effort to heart and have been visiting numerous reference collections in the United States, not to even mention what we’ve collected and looked at in person while overseas in the regions that we study. Museum collections are fantastic and provide researchers an intricate look into what is out there. But due to our site’s location based in the United States, there is a legal firearms market that offers so much when it comes to studying small arms within the MENA and Central Asian Regions.
To that end, we’ve established a working reference collection that is primarily to be used by researchers associated with SR, but will of course be made available to any researcher with a legitimate interest in studying the small arms from these regions. Now, this is a “Working” collection and not a “museum” collection that primarily serves to conserve the artifacts within it. Unless it will drastically damage the firearm, we are absolutely interested in taking these old (and new) guns apart and of course firing them to gain insight into their operation.
Another point here is that the firearms coexist with their various accessories and accouterments, whether that be in a civilian or military capacity. Whether that be an Egyptian rifle sling or a leather Kurdish chest rig with ornate decoration covering it, all these come together to tell a historical story of religion, culture, and politics intertwining together sometimes in tragedy and other times in triumph.
Currently, the working reference collection can be viewed here as one of the components of our website.
We also have a simple ad posted on Armslist.com trying to get in touch with prospective sellers of what we are interested in. Of course, we cannot be buying everything, but we can be buying certain specimens that are good and genuine representatives of our subject matter.
A Primer on Kabul Arsenal Martini Henry rifles
Jeffory is an avid reader and support of SR. This is his second guest article, the first being about a P’08 Luger found still working in Helmand province.
There was a time when anything that came out if Afghanistan was considered a “fake” Khyber Pass copy. Well, today we know this is simply not true. The British crown with the help Emir Abdur Rahman set up a modern arms and munitions factory in Kabul. Called, Mashin Khana by the locals. Today, we know it as the Kabul arsenal.
The Kabul machine works is a little-known and often very misunderstood producer of small arms. However, due to our recent involvement and presence in the region, products of this Armory are now making their way to the collectors Market in the United States. Often, when these rifles are encountered, they are Miss labeled as Khyber Pass made knock-offs and tossed aside as junk. This however could not be further from the truth. They are in fact rare and very under-appreciated firearms.
It is estimated that, between 5 and 8000 of each type of Martini-Henry variants may have been produced. Which, seven major types have been identified and classified. Extrapolating from there puts production figures between 35 and around 56,000 pieces. (V.Easley)
These figures do not take into account attrition, damaged or any rifles that were “lost.” Furthermore, these rifles were frequently scrubbed of there legitimate Kabul arsenal stamps. Then, they were re-stamped to make fake I.C.1 carbines and “Enfield” stamped Martini’s.
This was done by enterprising tribesmen for three reasons. The first being, to take advantage of the world known name and reputation of R.S.A. Enfield. The second, to take advantage of the antique rifle status of pre-1899 dated firearms. And the final, most important reason to go through all this work, to make money. More specifically, to make money off of American servicemen.
Taking these variables into account would put the number of surviving, originally produced examples somewhat lower. It is unknown at this time how many examples are currently in the United States, but one would reasonably assume far less than original production numbers. Making such examples, in my opinion, fairly rare to encounter.
(*NOTE- well these rifles have fake stamps on them to make them into “more desirable” models. They are still fully operational firearms. They are not to be confused with the poorly made and unsafe Khyber Pass knock-offs).
Afghanistan, as we might recognize it today, begin to take shape after the second Anglo-Afghan war. (1878-1880)This was a decisive British victory. From which, they installed a new, far more cooperative Emir, Abdur Rahman. He is considered to be the father of the modern state of Afghanistan. And with a modern State, you need a modern Army, and to have a modern Army so, you must have modern Small Arms. And the capability to produce them indigenously. All of which, the Emir was far too aware of.
Images credited to V. Easley Collection.
To be continued…
Essay: Use of the AKS74U “Krinkov” in Iraq and Lebanon
This article has been submitted to SR by a loyal friend and fellow small arms enthusiast in Iraq, discussing some of the proliferation of the AKS74U “Krinkov” within Iraq and Lebanon, in addition to its use in the region.
The AKS74U is often called the little beast in Iraq. Many people spoke about it’s history, action, production, development, etc. But I want to speak about two main topics: First is AK74 in general and AKS-74U within contemporary history in the Middle East. The second topic is AKS74U history and variants in Iraq.
In the Middle East, the AK47 platform had a long history since the 1950s as most of the countries supplied their armies with it either from USSR or other manufacturers (Polish, Bulgarian, Chinese, etc… ) but as I mentioned it was AK47 that was mainly in use until the Syrian conflict in 2011 and the Russian role in 2015 when the AK74 was introduced in significant numbers from the Russian forces and also from some ISIS members who came from Chechen or other former Soviet territories. The version is mostly AK74s with some AKS74Us in very small numbers.
Lebanon had a little history with AKS74U as Mr.Hasaan Nasrallah’s (leader of Lebanese Hezbollah party ) bodyguards use it as their main firearm , there are is some information that Mr.Hasaan Nasrallah sent a couple of hundred of Krinkovs to the Iraqi section of the Hezbollah party after liberating Takrit from ISIS in April 2015 as a gift to Iraqi fighters who showed bravery in the battlefield.
In Iraq, many Krinkovs found their way to the black market either from the Lebanese gift or from smuggling through unknown routes, the main difference among those is that the Lebanese Krinkovs were 1987 and 1988, never fired with 2 spare mags (in most of these cases) but the others were earlier production 1986 and 1985.
After the United States took down Saddam Hussein in 2003, a videotape was leaked showing Saddam’s son, Qusay, shooting Krinkovs with his son, Mustafa. The video is recorded in the late 1990s or early 2000s when I can be sure that it was a special order with other AK74s.
I think the number of Krinks in Iraq is less than one thousand pieces which is not used by the official government military or police forces but used by some politicians and Muslim clerk’s bodyguards. In addition to private individuals who can offer about $4000-5000 to own “The Beast”
Tabuk Sniper Added to Country Database
A friend of SR, Mohamed J. Sadek, has been kind enough to contribute to our Country Database in regards to the Tabuk Sniper variant of the Tabuk series of rifles produced during the reign of Saddam Hussein. The page may be viewed here.
A Look at the Hakim Service Rifle within Modern Egyptian Memory
This post has been written by a friend of the Silah Report, Adham S. Adham is a native Egyptian himself who has taken a look at the Hakim service rifle through the lens of a historic relic in modern Egyptian history. He runs an excellent Twitter feed called Bewildered Arab.
A relic from the past, Hakim used to be the standard rifle in the Egyptian armed forces before Egypt switched to the 7.62X39. Chambered in 8mm Mauser, it’s a very deadly and accurate semi-automatic rifle. The rifle now is considered a Curio and Relic firearm by the United States’ Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Indeed, its design is ancient, the rifle now belong in either a museum or some firearm owner who seeks to add yet another exotic rifle to his collection. Some take it out to the range on a good sunny day, some just have it stored up collecting dust. Either way, they can’t access the Hakim’s secrets. I am not speaking about its physical design or the tools used to manufacture it, but something else. The “soul” of the rifle itself is what they will never be able to touch, feel, or embrace. They aren’t native Egyptians, and no matter how badly an owner loves the rifle, he will never be able to synchronize with its soul. Go hand the rifle to an uneducated Egyptian peasant who got conscripted and given run of the mill Maadi AKM and tell him “This rifle, your country made that rifle.” Once you have seen the look on his face, you might perhaps find some sense in what I said.
Why though? Why the Hakim? Egypt’s military industry produces a variety of weaponry and munitions, what’s with the attachment to the Hakim. Even before the Hakim’s creation, Egypt used to manufacture armaments, why specifically the Hakim? I would chuckle at first if someone asked me that, then I might proceed to fail to contain my tears as I try to provide an answer. That rifle, was born with Egyptian hope, dreams and ambitions embedded into it. Egyptian workers in the Factory passed on all of that as they were producing the rifle. All of that became part of the rifle’s soul. The rifle became an embodiment of the bright future the Egyptians believed that one day it will become a reality. A reality never came, but what came was conflicts and battles, from the never-ending series of mountains in Yemen, a top cliffs and in villages, facing hordes of royalists charging like a Human tide, to snipers hiding behind ever rock and inside every cave. To the hot deserts of Sinai, where the Sun is as ruthless as the IDF’s armor blitzkrieg.
What came after the wars was worse, corruption, decadence, collapse of education, nepotism, cronyism at every level of society, downfall of logic and reason that coexisted with faith to the backward mentality of Wahhabism that almost monopolized faith due to Saudi oil money. Terrorism and insurgency due to all the reasons mentioned previously and that’s just for starters. Economy is collapsing faster than any Egyptian can blink, apprehension for the crime of expressing your views is even faster.
What can we do? What can I do? I turned my head while asking these questions and saw my imaginary Hakim resting on the wall beside the door. I can feel it staring at me, at us, the rifle might not be perfect, but it didn’t fail us, we failed it. I have yet to find someone who complained about the quality of the Hakim. The Hakim, even with its flaws, was made to be a survivor of battles, no matter how many warzones it witnessed, it will still be a reliable weapon that could save it user’s life. The rifle knew what it was made for, to defend our future, no matter how terrible or how many warzones it must face. The rifle’s design might have been purchased from Sweden and the tools, but it was built with Egyptian hands and filled with our dreams. The very dreams my people betrayed.
We had the chance of becoming a developed nation, we had the chance of becoming a beacon for hope in a region overwhelmed with wars, diseases, corruption and ignorance. We could have been better, this rifle proves it, and the HA-300 project proves it. The Hakim feared it might become incapable of fulfilling its role, but with all its wisdom “Hekmah”, it couldn’t have foreseen our failure.
The sadness overwhelms, the Hakim doesn’t ask you, the Hakim doesn’t bother you, but it bothers us. It will keep haunting us until we become better. The rifle will keep asking why, until someday in the future, in the hot sands of Sinai, cities are built, factories are built, we no longer depend on the fragile tourism, and a well-educated regular marksman with a DMR “Hakim-2” stands at his post staring towards the East and believes deeply inside of him, when the time calls, the Hakim-2 will not fail him, Hakim-2 will keep on its ancestor’s path. Till then, the sadness overwhelms and the shame is heart ripping.
SR is Interviewed by Popular Front Podcast!
Recently Silah Report had the honor of being an interviewee on the Podcast ran by the journalist Jake Hanrahan, otherwise known as Popular Front. The episode is entitled “Tracking Guns Across the World with Silah Report” and is available for download on iTunes, Soundcloud, and Spotify for any readers who are interested in listening in.
We talked about the scope of Silah Report’s research and article content, most of which will have been very familiar to any reader of our blog. For example, we covered the presence of Sudanese contract AR10s in Yemen, the encroachment of Beretta ARX160s in Central Asia and M1 Garands present in Iran (original TFB work). We covered some other topics as well, but I’ll let readers listen in to hear the rest.
At Silah Report we’re very thankful for the opportunity to be present on the Podcast, and are proud of the small community of writers and readers that believe in what we find fascinating and interesting. Thank you.
Keeping it Quiet Part 4: Conclusions
Keeping it Quiet is a series of articles by the Twitter account Everest65. First published on the webpage Calibre Obscura, he has been extremely generous in allowing Silah Report to republish his findings here. Content has been lightly edited. This is the concluding article.
The use of suppressors by various actors should be viewed not through the technical lense of their attributes and calibers, but rather the broader strategic realities that lead to suppressors being of use to non-state groups, and their particular needs. As ISIS returns to destabilization and chaos-inducing efforts with its loss of ground and numbers, the use of attacks such as these will increase, as well as the use of suppressed weapons in them. This is also reflected in the YPG’s recent operations against Turkish/FSA forces in Afrin and surrounding areas- attempts to degrade the operational control of their opponents. This trend may be down to observe of ISIS’ successful use of this model of operation, but either way looks to be effective. Suppressed Pistols and IEDs look to be a large part of both of these campaigns, with ISIS in particular reverting to this tactic against multiple foes, HTS most recently, alongside more conventional attacks. The YPG has also shown suppressed medium range “sniper” operations, though in the western sense this looks closer to DMR use. It’ll be interesting to observe these trends when the coming Idlib battle(s) happen- will Rebel and Islamist groups revert to more insurgent-style tactics such as these? If so, we can expect to see more suppressors in use and a greater insight into their design and capabilities.
The uses of a suppressor (Typically in pistol calibers) when in the hands of insurgent or militant hands are multiple; a suppressor obviously reduces sound signature, which will reduce the speed and accuracy of any potential interdiction or counter-operation, and means that an operation using firearms can remain covert. If removing outposts, isolated small groups or sentries is the goal of the operation, then use of suppressors means that the chance of detection is lower. Another use is very close range, such as the executions indoors we see ISIS carry out. Suppressors also greatly remove muzzle flash and make militants harder to see in low light conditions, again meaning night time or evening operations can more effectively use the element of surprise and remain undetected.
A forum participant nicknamed “Obaid al-Baghdadi” recounted an attack by two jihadis on an Iraqi military barracks in the al-Saidia district of Baghdad where silenced weapons were used prior to an unnoticed withdrawal. “They perpetrated the operation quietly. The [other Iraqi soldiers] didn’t find out the two were shot until lunchtime. May God grant the two jihadis heaven and beautiful virgins,” says al-Baghdadi.
If the physical advantages of suppressor use in covert operations are clear, then there is another important factor- morale-wise. The idea of suppressors being a “James Bond” type of device remains very strong across the world- it’s commonly believed the continuing restrictions on their purchase in the United States (Remaining an NFA item) are at least partially down to the image of them being a whisper-silent assassination device.
The thought of a silent assassin stealthily picking off lone or isolated outposts cannot be discounted as a useful attribute for these groups, particularly when attempting to gradually erode the territorial and societal control of a state over an area (Who are probably using conscripts), cannot be discounted, even if the actual reality is that suppressors merely make pistol shots less detectable not whisper-silent. A covert operation using multiple pistol caliber weapons (Such as the MP5, and Pistols) follows a similar approach to those carried out by Western SOF, and is sure to mean an increased response time from the adversary, be it a state or a rival group.
The use of suppressors in the case of their use on the Battlefield is different to their use in a covert fashion, but their benefits are just as evident, if not more so.
“There are virtually no instances where an ambushed unit actually sees the enemy,” Scales, a Vietnam War veteran, said. “Both sides shoot at flashes and sounds.”And most firefights are at night.
If a soldier’s weapon is quieter than the enemy’s, and the enemy can’t see the muzzle flash, the soldier has the advantage, Scales said.
This quote is from this great article from the Military Times in the context of the United States Marine Corps and Army expanding the use of suppressors, but it does apply to their use by irregular forces too.
It later touches on the use of communication, too. The use of suppressors greatly enhances the ability to communicate coherently without raising the voice dramatically- if the attackers are carrying out covert assassinations, then this certainly assists with interrogation and coordinating the operation. I have yet to find any reliable source on the exact amount that improvised suppressors can actually reduce the sound signature, but assuming a similar Db reduction to commercial suppressors (Indeed, observing ISIS’ manufacturing process, this seems entirely possible) of 20-35 Db, they would certainly be effective for this. The video first touched on in 2012 shows this clearly. Firing an unsuppressed weapon indoors can cause permanent hearing damage. Sound waves rebound in the close confines of buildings, sending them directly back and onto the eardrum. These very close circumstances can be an ideal application for a suppressor to keep this to a minimum. However, I believe this is a minimal application in our context, as unsuppressed weapons are used very very commonly by all actors in Syria, Iraq and similar theatres. Overall, suppressors merely add a higher time for the opponent to detect, respond to and neutralize, especially if they are badly or barely trained, such as the SyAA.
An important question is the implications for the West and other Counter-Terror organizations and the capabilities of actors they are likely to face. Urban Battlefields like those seen in Raqqa, Mosul and so on pose challenges that are decidedly different to the slower-paced, longer range combat that western forces have enjoyed recently, with the technology gap now closer than before, though most combat remains at range. How Western troops deal with multiple high-intensity Raqqa-style battles is outside of the purview of the author, but the use of common, effective suppressors in kill holes and CQB simply add another difficult angle to targeting irregular opponents. The use of suppressed rifles in fast assassinations such as those shown by HTS against the Assad Regime in Latakia show an effective and rapid ability to cause costly damage and to erode overall perceived control of an area. Though we are yet to see this kind of tactic and equipment in wide use against Western forces, and Western forces are likely to have superior perimeter control and procedures, this tactic will only become more defined over time.
Credits:
Assistance: @JakeHanrahan, @ShakiraSecurity, @HKamaan, @AbraxasSpa, @iBRABO_com
Translation: @Mortis_Banned, @AlMasalim13
I am very new to this, having been inspired by many on the OSINT/Weapon ID/etc scene on Twitter. Many thanks to all of you- (Too many to list!) for providing such useful information and a real window into so many conflicts and peoples across the world.
Sources:
Please @ or message me on Twitter for sources/urls for screenshots/events etc.