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.
M1 Garand
Small Arms Captured by SAA During Operation BASALT
ANNA News (Abkhazian Network News Agency) has published a video where they show the arms and munitions captured by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) as a result of Operation Basalt launched by the SAA against various armed groups in Southern Syria. Besides the tanks, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons, there is also a wide variety of small arms which is especially interesting in the context of Silah Report. Let’s watch the mentioned video first then discuss what interesting small arms were shown in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIWP9Jzbzaw
Below you will find screenshots from the video with captions describing the weapon systems shown in the image.
MG-34 with a number of PKM machine guns on the background. I think at some point a new wood stock for the MG-34 was made locally which should be the reason why it has a more simplified look.
Last but not least, some WW2 weapons still in use in the Syrian war. The very bottom rifle is a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 followed by an M1 Garand and a couple of MAS-36 bolt action rifles. On top of the MAS-36 rifles, there is a Chinese SKS (Type 56) with a folding spike bayonet and an M1 Carbine.
If you spotted any other interesting firearm in the video or noticed a misidentified firearm, please let us know in the comments section.
M1 Garands in Jordanian National Parade
Although not recent (Summer 2016), M1 Garands were plentiful at a parade put on by the Royal Jordanian Armed Forces in honor of King Abdullah II. Among numerous small arms used in the ceremony were M1 Garands (among a contingent of SMLEs) in use by both marchers and cavalry. Obviously, these rifles have been downgraded to a ceremonial status in recent times but they are indicative of an era in which the Jordanians actually used M1s as frontline rifles. How they got there could either be through a Foreign Military Sales purchase from the United States, or it could have been surplus Greek M1s as well. Notice that most of the marchers have their M1s mounted with their bayonets as well.
This image is from Getty Images, showing Jordanian troops armed with M1s in previous years.
