u/Linemount

The Dutch-manufactured AR-10 rifles were produced under license by the state-owned Artillerie Inrichtingen (AI) at its factory in Hembrug-Zaandam, Netherlands, beginning in 1958.  Note the very early AR design on this model including the charging handle inside the carry handle and the selector switch with Auto being front facing.  

Several different variants of these Dutch-manufactured AR10s were made, some with prong-type flash hiders and a bayonet lug, depending on client requirements. This one has a closed-ended flash hider with a provision for firing rifle grenades, which suggests it was actually made for Dutch army trials but I’m not 100% sure about that. It was perhaps made for the Guatemala contract? Perhaps someone can fill us in.

The Beretta 93R is a select-fire pistol (semi or three-round burst) developed in the late 1970s by Beretta. Produced between 1979 and 1993 in small quantities, the 93R was primarily intended for Italian counter-terrorism units. To improve controllability during burst fire, the 93R incorporates several distinctive design elements, including a folding metal foregrip attached to the front of the trigger guard, an extended barrel with a muzzle compensator, and an optional detachable folding shoulder stock that is surprisingly complex.

Note the standard mags that come with it are extended, 20rd size rather than the standard Beretta 92 15rd mags that sit flush with the bottom of the pistol grip.

Does anyone know what the brass pin in the middle-left side of the box is???

Fun facts:

1)      The 93R was the functional basis for Robocop’s film-prop machine pistol. They used a 93R and attached a bunch of futuristic crap to it

2)      The “R” in 93R stands for “Raffica”, which is Italian for “volley” or “burst”

Interesting mix of AR15 parts on this AR from a European collector.  The upper receiver is slick sided while the lower receiver is a full-auto Colt partial fence, which was manufactured roughly from 1963-1967.

Meanwhile, the wood stock is probably an aftermarket item as ARs used synthetic stocks from the beginning of the design. Or perhaps someone can correct me on this?

Meanwhile the M203 wasn’t put into full production until 1969 so this was probably added later.

Here is a world-class selection of S-100 and MP-34s from a European collector that provides an illustration of the differences between the two models. The S-100 is the earlier version that eventually became the better-known MP-34.

Often considered the “Rolls-Royce” of Submachineguns, the MP-34 was a beautifully-manufactured 1^(st)-generation submachinegun originally designed towards the end of the 1920s by Louis Stange of the German arms firm Rheinmetall. To work around the Treaty of Versailles which restricted German arms development and production, Rheinmetall acquired the small Swiss company Solothurn to serve as a technically legal vehicle to finalize prototyping of the S-100.  Solothurn, in turn, was not equipped for large-scale manufacturing and also faced some Swiss domestic regulatory hurdles so production was outsourced to Waffenfabrik Steyr of Austria.

The S-100 versions can be distinguished from the MP-34s by examining the receiver covers. S-100s have a notch in the back right side of the receiver cover while MP-34s do not. Most of the MP-34s also have a bayonet lug on the right side of the barrel shroud though there is one MP-34 in this photo that does not have this feature, indicating it is probably a police contract firearm.

Another version of this design, the MP-30, is not shown here.

A beautiful example of a Stoner 63 from a European collector. The serial number on the receiver indicates it was part of the earliest of the first Cadillac Gage manufacturing run, probably 1964.

The Stoner 63 was designed to be extremely modular, so that you could swap out barrels, feed systems, stocks, bipods, etc… depending upon whether you wanted to use it as a standard infantry rifle, carbine, belt-fed machine gun, vehicle-mounted machine gun, etc…

Note that this one has what I understand is an underbarrel grenade launcher but perhaps someone can fill us in on what exactly it is?

Limited numbers of Stoner 63s saw action in Vietnam, including by Navy SEALs. These were apparently in use by specialized units up through the 1980s.

Production of the Stoner 63 and Stoner 63A ran from roughly 1963 to 1971, with only about 3,500 to 4,000 units made in total, making it a rare and innovative design that predated modern modularity trends by decades.

There were a number of Turkish firearms manufacturers at IWA 2026 in Nuremburg, Germany. Turkey has a very large firearms manufacturing base and produces a number of high-quality weapons from hunting shotguns to military pistols and everything in between. However it has gained a somewhat poor reputation for its poverty-tier shotguns, and a new trend within this unsought-after category is that of replicas of classic military firearms that are chambered in 12 gauge. 

The Hunt Group G12 is a distinctive gas-operated semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun introduced by the Turkish manufacturer Hunt Group Arms, best known for its bold styling inspired by the iconic HK G3 battle rifle.

The expected MSRP for this is about $400, which seems astoundingly low. Hopefully this firearms performs well at the range though it will be interesting to watch the reviews pour in from Youtube. 

Fabarm (Fabbrica Bresciana Armi), the vaunted italian firearm manufacturer had a nice display at Enforce Tac 2026 in Nuremburg, Germany. I breezed right passed their fudd section and headed straight for the tactical area. They had several nice tactical options including their beautiful STF shotguns. The Fabarm STF 12 is a modern, Italian-made modular pump-action shotgun in 12-gauge. It has picatinny rails for optics and accessories, ghost ring or fiber-optic sights, and an accuracy-focused inner HP choke tube for good slug performance. It is known for tight machining,. It’s priced at about 3x a comparable Mossberg or Remington so this is basically a Monopoly-Man-tier SHTF gun.

SAKO, the well-respected firearms manufacturer located in Finland, had an excellent setup at Enforce Tac in Nuremburg, Germany earlier this year. I didn’t get much time to check out their lineup but I did notice that they introduced their own line of AR15s. I assumed that these were just run-of-the-mill ARs running OEM parts with the hope of eeking out some tiny percentage of an already-saturated AR15 market. It was only after returning to the states that I learned that their new line of ARs were the result of state-level work between Sweden and Finland with the goal of introducing NATO-standardized firearms optimized for cold-weather operations. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two additional Nordic countries, Sweden and Finland, joined NATO (Norway was already a NATO member). After joining NATO, both Sweden and Finland began collaborating to introduce new firearms as part of their NATO integration. The result of the collaboration was the introduction of the Arctic Rifle Generation (ARG) series of rifles. The ARG lineup includes three primary models tailored to different operational needs. The Sako ARG 40 GP uses a short-stroke gas piston system in 5.56×45mm NATO, prioritizing robustness in harsh conditions with reduced carbon buildup and gas blowback. The ARG 40 DI offers a lighter direct impingement variant in the same caliber, available in multiple barrel lengths (from 11.5″ to 16″), emphasizing smoother recoil and refined accuracy. Completing the family is the ARG 50 GP, a 7.62×51mm NATO piston-driven battle rifle/semi-auto designated marksman option with a 16-inch barrel, designed for greater reach and sustained performance. I do like the short-throw style selector lever that comes standard on the ARG. I also like the selector markings, which are kind of cool and idiot-proof. One of the most interesting things about the ARG is that it returns to the M16A1-style teardrop forward assist. Presumably the teardrop style offers more surface area to make it easier to use while wearing heavy gloves. Oddly, the other controls on it, such as the ambidextrous bolt release, mag release and the selector lever are all the same size as standard ARs. For a rifle designed for cold-weather use where heavy gloves would be the rule rather than the exception, I’m also surprised that there’s no mechanism for quickly dropping the trigger guard altogether for use with heavy gloves. Also, if I was going to introduce a cold-weather optimized AR, I would probably go with a white finish rather than sand color as the display model. The woodland green, which they also had on display, is also a good option.

Turkey has become one of the top firearms-producing countries in the world and–despite a lot of negative press about their destitute-tier shotguns–Turkey is more than capable of delivering quality firearms. Turkey is also a member of NATO and has outfitted its military with NATO-style cartridges as well as NATO-style firearms.

As such it should come as no surprise that a Turkish company has developed a copy of the highly-successful .223 FN Minimi, issued to the US military since the 1980s as the M249 SAW.

The Turkish Kalekalip KMG556CL is a compact, ultra-light belt-fed machine gun developed by Kale Kalıp Makina ve Kalıp Sanayi A.Ş., a leading Turkish defense manufacturer. We examined this new rifle at Enforce Tac 2026 in Germany, and it represents Türkiye’s first NATO-qualified ultra-light 5.56x45mm machine gun. Designed as a more compact variant of the standard KMG556 (a M249 copy), the KMG556CL prioritizes portability without sacrificing sustained firepower.

The main difference between the KMG556CL and a standard M249 is that the KMG556CL has what appears to be a proprietary folding stock, a shorter barrel and shorter upper handguard. Clearly reducing both length and weight and were among the most important engineering requirements when designing this new rifle.

The main problem I had with this rifle is that the suppressor was ugly and had a krinkle-style finish that I found burdensome to the eye. The suppressor has all of the elegant beauty of a 2-Liter of Dr. Pepper that’s been spray-painted black.

Fabarm (Fabbrica Bresciana Armi), the vaunted italian firearm manufacturer had a nice display at Enforce Tac 2026 in Nuremburg, Germany. I breezed right passed their fudd section and headed straight for the tactical area. They had several nice tactical options including their beautiful STF shotguns.

The Fabarm STF 12 is a modern, Italian-made modular pump-action shotgun in 12-gauge. It has picatinny rails for optics and accessories, ghost ring or fiber-optic sights, and an accuracy-focused inner HP choke tube for good slug performance. It is known for tight machining,. It's priced at about 3x a comparable Mossberg or Remington so this is basically a Monopoly-Man-tier SHTF gun.

Pimped out Turkish Sarsilmaz 2008 9mm. Seen at Enforce Tac 2026 in Nuremburg, Germany

At Enforce Tac in Nuremburg, Germany 2026. Taran Tactical Innovations (TTI) "Viper" pistols. Limited-edition set based on "Pit Viper" handgun featured in John Wick: Chapter 4.

Turkish shotguns have attained a poor reputation in the US for those shopping at the poverty-tier, but Turkey also makes a wide range of other types of firearms. These include licensed copies of HK firearms to semi-auto pistols that have an excellent reputation to now some new entries into the already-saturated AR-15 market.

The AKDAS SEM-223 is a semi-automatic firearm developed by the Turkish manufacturer Akdaş Silah A.Ş., built on an AR-platform design. It has been released as a compact semi-auto pistol as well as short-barreled, chambered in both .223 and 300 Blackout.

The rifle employs a short-stroke gas piston system with rotating bolt head locking. Note that the AKDAS incorporates the most common advanced features seen on ARs these days, besides just the use of a gas piston over the conventional AR15 direct-impingement system. It has a full-length top rail and ambidextrous bolt-carrier release built right into the lower receiver. There is also some design changes to the mag release fencing that are borderline-ornamental to. Note this change in the close-up picture of the right side of the receiver.

Upon close inspection, the AKDAS appeared to be very well-made. The closest thing to actually firing it was working the action and I detected nothing unusual when doing so. I suspect that this is actually an excellent firearm. There are a number of Turkish companies that produce outstanding firearms and AKDAS might be one of them. After almost 7 decades of production and design improvements, optimizing the AR15 platform is well-understood by manufacturers. On the other hand, semi-auto shotguns have been in production for more than 12 decades and some Turkish companies manage to produce shotguns that have a very poor reputation. Hopefully the AKDAS SEM 223 will be available as a pistol in the US soon.

A proposed update to ATF import regulations, published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2026, would dramatically reshape access to Ukrainian-made firearms in the United States. The rule removes Ukraine—and most other former Soviet republics except Russia—from the list of countries subject to an automatic, blanket denial of Form 6 permanent import applications. Instead of automatic rejection, each application would receive case-by-case review by the ATF, aligning firearm import policy with current U.S. State Department guidance that treats Ukraine as a key partner rather than a prohibited source. This change effectively ends a 1997-era prohibition that has kept Ukrainian arms off the American civilian market for nearly three decades.

One firearm that we examined at IWA 2026 in Nuremburg, Germany that could potentially be imported as a result of the rule change is the Ukrainian Fort 232S, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol variant of the Fort-230A submachine gun platform developed by RPC Fort, Ukraine’s state-owned small arms manufacturer.

Under current rules, any attempt to import the Fort 232S (or similar Ukrainian firearms) is automatically denied regardless of the sporting-purpose compliance or end-user documentation. The proposed rule eliminates that categorical barrier, allowing licensed importers to submit ATF Form 6 applications that would now be evaluated on their individual merits. Provided the pistol meets all other federal requirements—including the Gun Control Act’s “sporting purposes” test and some other requirements for import–the 232S might be on the market soon.

If finalized after the public comment period ends on July 6, 2026, the rule would not only potentially greenlight the Fort 232S but also signal a return to rationality in the U.S.–Ukrainian defense trade. Under the previous set of rules, Ukraine was treated the same way as North Korea. Industry observers anticipate a surge of interest in RPC Fort’s lineup, potentially introducing innovative 9mm platforms to the American market while supporting Ukraine’s defense industry. Until the final rule is published, however, the Fort 232S remains unobtainable for U.S. civilians—making this regulatory shift a pivotal moment for both firearms enthusiasts and transatlantic security cooperation.

Earlier this year we were at IWA 2026 in Nuremburg, Germany and Tinck arms, a Slovenian firearms company, had some nice rifles on display. Tinck is best-known for its innovative Perun series of rifles which are quite impressive. They've also entered the AR15 market with the ARX15 Quadro, which is a high-end AR style rifle that does all-out AR Featurmaxxing.

The ARX15 features a fully CNC-machined 7075-T6 aluminum billet receiver that provides exceptional rigidity. It also uses a finely-tuned direct impingement gas system paired with a precision 13.7" barrel (in this example) and ultra-crisp trigger, delivering outstanding accuracy, smooth cycling, and reliable performance even during intensive use.

Available with a range of barrel lengths and calibers such as .223 Rem and .300 AAC, it weighs around 7lbs and offers a compact folded length. As the flagship model in Tinck's lineup, the ARX15 Quadro combines thoughtful details like a flared magwell, integrated QD points, and flawless finish, making it ideal for discerning shooters who demand both precision and shootability. Basically it is the Ferrari of AR15s competing with other high-end European and American AR manufacturers.

One of the most common AR features I saw at IWA and which the ARX15 has is the ambidextrous bolt carrier release that is machined right into the receiver. I'm not a big fan of the aftermarket add-on bolt-releases that loop under the trigger guard. The AR15 is now manufactured on every continent except Antarctica, but the ARXI15 is a beautifully-manufactured entrance into this crowded field that is worth taking a look at. I also recommend visiting Slovenia not just for tourism but also for business. Slovenia has an exceptionally-large number productive and smart engineers and they punch way above their weight class when it comes to manufacturing.

Slovenia is also just a lovely place to live. The capital, Ljubljana, is a great European city to visit and the countryside is spectacular.