The SL-8 rifle was first presented to the public at IWA-98 show, and manufacturing commenced late in 1998. This rifle was designed by famous German arms-making company Heckler und Koch GmbH on the basis of its 5,56mm NATO G36 assault rifle, which is a standard issue rifle of German and Spanish armies. SL stands for (Self-Loading in English or Selbst-Lade in German), 8 is the consecutive index of civilian rifles made by HK. HK SL-8 rifle can be used for hunting small game, but it is also suitable for para-military training, security and self-defense use, and practical sport shooting. Because of modular design, SL-8 can be modified to a number of variations, which will accept reduced 10-round capacity or standard 30-round capacity magazines, various handguards, sighs etc. This rifle is accurate, comfortable to use and very reliable, but also somewhat expensive, like most other products of Heckler und Koch. Read the rest of this entry »

Armalon PC carbine, developed in around 1997 by British company Armalon Ltd, follows the general idea of the Spanish “Destroyer” carbine, which was developed between two World wars for use by Spanish Guarda Civil. Basically, it was a shortened and lightened conversion of the standard bolt-action rifle to significantly less powerful pistol ammunition, which resulted in much shorter effective (and dangerous) range, as well as in decreased recoil and noise. Armalon carbines also produced with idea of short-range weapon which can be fired accurately at ranges beyond capabilities of most pistols. these carbines are suitable for security, training and self-defense purposes. Being manually operated, such weapons are more tolerant to variations in power of ammunition used, but practical rate of fire will be of cause slower, compared to semi-automatic carbines in same caliber, such as Ruger PC9 or others like that. On the other hand, in some countries civilian ownership of semi-automatic weapons can be limited by law, and bolt-operated pistol caliber carbine might be a good choice there. Read the rest of this entry »

Beretta CX4 Storm carbine is the first in the new line of Beretta’s “xX4 Storm” firearms, which now also include PX4 pistol and RX4 semi-automatic rifle in 5,56mm/.223 caliber. CX4 carbine first appeared in 200x, with intent to provide civilian shooters with compact and handy sporting and defensive weapon in all major pistol calibers. In developing this weapon, Beretta’s designers paid a great attention to both aesthetical and practical aspects of weapon. CX4 Storm carbine has elegant appearance and is comfortable to use; it can be easily adapted for right- or left-hand use (requires a disassembly and probably a visit to gunsmith – at least it is recommended so by manufacturer). Beretta also provides a number of useful accessories for this weapon, such as user-installable Picatinny rails, stock extension pads, etc. Like any other pistol-caliber carbine, it can be fired accurately to ranges of up to 100-150 meters, especially if fitted with low-magnification telescope or red-dot sight. All in all, it is a versatile short-range carbine, with minimal recoil and excellent handling characeristics. Read the rest of this entry »

The SL-6 and SL-7 rifles were developed by German company Heckler & Koch during early 1980s as a para-military weapons for training reservists and possibly arming police. Those rifles, which differed only in calibers / ammunition used (5.56mm for SL-6 and 7.62mm for SL-7) were based on hunting rifles from the same company, the HK 660 and HK 770 respectively, sharing same roller-delayed blowback action and general layout, but featuring shorter barrels and military-type sights and furniture (sling swivels, steel buttplates etc). Due to high price and German gun laws limitations, overall production of SL-6 and SL-7 rifles was limited and now those weapons are collector’s items.

The HK SL-6 and SL-7 rifles use roller-delayed blowback action, similar to that used in HK G3 rifle. Chamber is fluted to assist extraction. The cocking handle is located on the right side of the receiver (as opposed to HK G3), and folds forward when not in use. Manual safety is located on the left side of the stock, above and in the front of the trigger. Feed is from proprietary detachable box magazines, holding 3 (flush-fit) or 10 (extended) rounds. Stock is made of wood, with additional wooden handguard (ventilated on SL-7) and steel buttplate. Standard sights include hooded front post on the barrel and drum-type diopter sight (similar to that used on HK G3), with settings from 100 to 400 meters in 100-meter increments. Receiver is fitted with mounting points for proprietary HK scope mounts. Read the rest of this entry »

The M10 line of bolt action rifles was developed in Australia by Australian International Arms Pty, a small company dedicated to produce quality rifles for civilian use. Initial intent was to produce bolt-action rifle with high capacity, detachable magazines. Starting with time-proven design of the famous SMLE No.4 Mk.2 rifles of British origin, AIA engineers developed new and improved version of the venerable “Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield”. The AIA rifles feature all-new components machined from modern steel and quality wood. First prototypes of the AIA improved No.4 mk.2 rifles appeared in 1998-99, and since then company has produced several versions of the basic design, of which most notable are M10 rifles and carbines, chambered for popular 7.62×39 M43 Russian and 7.62×51 NATO / .308 Win ammunition. The 5.56×45mm / .223 Rem version of the same design was planned but apparently is still not in production at this time. Read the rest of this entry »

The T15 rifle, as made in Turkey by Safir arms company, is a copy of the famous American Ar-15 rifle in its semi-automatic version. The T15 is intended for civilian and police use, but Safir arms also makes selective-fire version of the same design, known as T16, which is intended for military use. For countries that prohibit civilian ownership of semi-automatic firearms, a manually-operated version of T15 is also manufactured. Both T15 and T16 rifles are available in different configurations, with fixed or telescoping buttstock, and with fixed “M16A2-style” carrying handle or flat-top “M16A3-style” upper receivers. Carbine versions of both rifles also available with same modifications, and with any reasonable barrel lengths according to customer preferences.
Another interesting feature of the T15 is that it can be easily converted to 36 gauge semi-automatic shotgun with installation of the T14 shotgun upper receiver, made by the same company. Read the rest of this entry »

The AXR (Advanced eXtensible Rifle) weapon was developed by US-based company Tactical Product Design (TPD) Inc. The AXR is based on the famous Austrian Steyr AUG assault rifle. Manufacture of this clone became possible because original patents for Steyr AUG have expired, and the demand for civilian version of this weapon in USA was not covered by import of original Austrian-made rifles. TPD designers created a faithful copy of Steyr AUG, so most parts are interchangeable between the AXR and AUG.Prime differences between AXR and its prototype are in materials (TPD claims to use most modern metals and polymers in its design, which are superior to those available 30 years ago in original Steyr rifle) and use of STANAG / M16 type magazines rather than proprietary magazines. Optional caliber conversion kit allows to upgrade the AXR from 5.56mm / .223 to more potent 6.8mm Rem SPC caliber. At the present time AXR is offered only in semi-automatic version, for civilian and police use. Read the rest of this entry »

Ruger SR-556 semi-automatic rifle is the most recent product of the famous American arms-making company Sturm, Ruger & Co. Ruger company previously manufactured 5.56mm / .223 caliber semi-automatic Mini-14 rifles, which were known for excellent durability and reliability, but the SR-556 is the first step of this company into the one of most lucrative segments of American rifle market, the “Ar-15 niche”. Following the general trend, Ruger, however, developed an improved version of the basic weapon that has many factory-standard features which, otherwise, are considered as expensive aftermarket options. Most important of these features are short-stroke piston-operated gas action (as opposed to original direct impingement gas action of the classic Ar-15 rifles), cold-hammer forged barrel with flash hider, as well as quad-rail forend, folding detachable iron sights and quality 30-round magazines. This rifle is obviously intended for civilian and law enforcement markets. Read the rest of this entry »