Our guest speaker and main presenter in this week’s edition of the SR podcast is Ed Nash, author of Desert Sniper. Ed took part in the fighting against the so-called Islamic State when he travelled to Syria to fight with the Syrian Democratic Forces, ending up as a precision rifleman in the campaigns of Hasakah, Shadaddi, and eventually Minbij where he ended his tour. He covers everything from the odd tactics in use with the YPG, types of precision rifles employed, and some of the bits of kit that helped him through the fighting.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Region Modified 8mm M1 Garand Rifles
Due to the local economics of supply and demand, there is often a need to convert small arms to more available calibers in areas of the world where the supply of ammunition is a constant concern or has drastically risen in price. In the case of Pakistan, we see this very clearly with the popular use of 7.92 × 57 mm ammunition (colloquially known as ‘8mm’) among converted and rechambered firearms originating from the traditional gunmaking towns in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas adjacent to the Kyber Pakhtunkhwa region on the Northwestern borders of Pakistan (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province/NWFP, or abbreviated to KPK Region). One of the most interesting of these is the 8mm M1 Garand.
V15: Bul Armory Cherokee-Delta Defence Handgun Connection and Wacky IDF Sling Subculture
In this week’s Silah Report podcast we discuss a number of topics including a discussion surrounding one of our recent articles. Delta Defence Group is a brand of polymer frame, semi-automatic handgun that have been appearing in Iraqi and Syrian markets in the past year. But where do they come from and who makes them? Mick and Miles discuss a possible match with the Israeli arms company Bul Armory which has a handgun that is almost identical in every aspect of design.
Then we move to Israel where a new presenter, Saadia, discusses the fascinating subculture of customization among IDF soldiers when it comes to their rifle slings.
If you’d like to have your questions answered by our panel please support Silah Report on Patreon and submit questions as often as you like!
If you missed the previous episode, you can find it here.
Kalashnikov Stitched Up: Wrapping the AK Platform in Rojava
A phenomenon that has been observed with YPG/YPJ Fighters in recent years has been the practice of wrapping service rifles with fitted fabric. The extent to which rifles have been fitted goes from small pieces that might just cover the magazine or handguard to full-length covers that can sometimes enclose the entire rifle. The reason behind these wraps range from a sort of camouflage to a purely aesthetic venture.
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.
“Delta Defence Group” Part One: The Pistol
This article is part of a two-part series about weapons from the “Delta Defence Group”.
This article examines the self-loading pistols produced by the Delta Defence Group, the full size ‘C6’ and the compact ‘C5’. Despite our research efforts it was not possible to find a “Delta Defence Group”, there is a similarly named Turkish import and export defence company, but they do not use the same name nor logo and appear to be a different company. A number of very similar pistols are produced by the Turkish company Sarsilmaz, the ‘B6’ and ‘B6C’, while the Italian company Tanfoglio produce the ‘Force’ and ‘Force Compact’ series, Israeli IMI/IWI pistols the ‘Jericho 941’ and the ‘Jericho 941 Compact’, and the Jordanian JAWS ‘JTP-9’ and the ‘JTP-9C’, but they do not match the “Delta Defence Group” pistols completely. After further research, pistols of the exact design were found, with completely different markings under the model name ‘Cherokee’ by Bul Armory – an Israeli company. The Delta Defence Group pistols correspond with the third generation Cherokee FS and Cherokee Compact. The Cherokee FS and Compact are reported to be assembled by Bul Armory, but it is likely that they do not produce the parts themselves.
Covering the Dragunov: Fabric Wraps Among the YPG/YPJ
A phenomenon that has been observed with YPG/YPJ Fighters in recent years has been the practice of wrapping service rifles with fitted fabric. The extent to which rifles have been fitted goes from small pieces that might just cover the magazine or handguard to full-length covers that can sometimes enclose the entire rifle. The reason behind these wraps range from a sort of camouflage to a purely aesthetic venture.
Kobani Martyrs Memorial Museum, Syria
The northern Syrian border town of Kobani weighs heavily on the hearts of Kurdish people from northeastern Syria. Hymns, poems, and tales of great bravery and sacrifice all resonate from the brutal urban combat that occurred there between YPG/YPJ fighters and so-called Islamic State forces in 2014, when the Takfiri movement was at its height of power and control. It was the bloody struggle for Kobani that kindled the fire of Kurdish identity that finds itself today still fighting for survival against Turkish and local forces alike.
Silah Report Podcast V14: Pakistani Glocks, Improvised 44 Bore ammunition, Old Rifles in Afrin
What would Glock copies be if there weren’t a KPK-region version? And are these even considered fake or real in the larger Pakistani context? In this episode, Kyber Armoury, Adham, Daniel, Mr. Jenzen-Jones, and Analyst Mick present and take a look at all these topics. We also take questions from Patreon members about such things as radio usage in Syria.
Israel Suspends all Training with Micro Tavor & IMI Training Ammo
Perry Novotny
In a dramatic step, the Firearms Licensing Department of Israel’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) issued an order on 4 December 2019, immediately suspending all live-fire training with Micro Tavor (X95) 5.56 × 45 mm self-loading rifles and IMI training ammunition until further notice.