The Armourer's Bench
The Armourer’s Bench is a multimedia project using both video and written articles to showcase the history of some of the world’s most interesting and important firearms. We will be bringing you detailed examinations of historic and modern small arms from around the world as well as occasionally looking at larger weapon systems. We will delve into the history, use and operation of the weapons using videos, articles and high resolution images to tell their story.
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Ukrainians Training with Galil ACE In UK
A recent report by The Times looking at the UK-led Operation Interflex, an international effort training Ukrainian personnel in the UK, featured a plethora of new photos that suggest the UK has now procured IWI Galil Ace Rifles to aid in the training of Ukrainian troops.
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The Latest Dutch C7NLD Rifles Seen in Ukraine
It's rare we see modern Western service rifles transferred direct from donor countries' stocks but in recent months a small not noteworthy number of Dutch C7NLDs have appeared in Ukraine.
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Brave1 Market - Ukraine's New Online Marketplace for Drones, Kit & Equipment
At the end of April, Ukraine announced the setting up of a marketplace for military technology and equipment - the Brave1 Market. Unsurprisingly the new initiative has quickly garnered comparisons with commercial sites like Amazon and eBay. Let's take a look at what's available on the new site.
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RAVEN - Ukraine's ASRAAM Franken-SAM
In the summer of 2022 the UK began developing a mobile air defence system for Ukraine using the ASRAAM air-to-air missile, the result was the Raven. In this video we take a look at the system and all available visual evidence of its use in Ukraine.
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Mason T
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting my friends at the Cody Firearms Museum and while having a look through their collection we came across a really interesting rifle. A Winchester prototype developed at the turn of the 20th century which had a T-shaped charging handle, something whic...
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Beretta SC70/90 in Ukraine
From imagery shared by Ukrainian armed forces personnel over recent months it appears that Italy has provided an unconfirmed number of Beretta SC70/90 5.56x45mm rifles. The SC70/90 is part of the AR70/90 family of rifles which has been in service since the 1990s.
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Turkish M249s with Ukraine's Police Brigade
Ukraine's United Assault Brigade of the National Police of Ukraine of the Special Purpose Police Department - the “Lyut” Brigade appear to have been equipped with Turkish-made KaleKalip KMG556 FN Minimi clones.
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Ukraine War: More Gun Drones
Since our last video on gun-armed drone both sides have continued to develop the technology. Numerous Ukrainian teams have developed recoilless 'shotgun' drones designed to hunt other drones as well as developing and fielding an AK-armed FPV and a fixed wing gun drone. The Russians too have retur...
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UK Royal Marines Commandos Adopt SIG Sauer MCX
The UK’s Royal Marines have confirmed that some units of the UK Commando Force are now equipped with the SIG Sauer MCX.
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3D Printed AK Buckshot Rounds
3D printing has become a key element in so many aspects of the ongoing war so it was inevitable that it would be leveraged in making this ad-hoc anti-drone ammunition. The 'buckshot' AK rounds we examined in December 2024 have evolved to incorporate 3D printed sabots to hold the shot.
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Ukraine's Fixed Wing Gun Drone
Development of gun-armed drones is moving rapidly in Ukraine. In this video we're going to take a look at the latest development: a gun-armed fixed wing UAV, the ZigZag from Ukrainian manufacturer Sky Defenders.
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Improvised 80mm Rocket Launcher
The S8 is an 80mm family of unguided solid-fuel rockets which are typically fired from aircraft such as Mi-8 and Su-25s. This week, however, a video of an improvised launcher developed to be fired from the shoulder emerged, seemingly developed by Russian personnel.
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HK GMG in Ukraine
While the Mk19 40×53 mm automatic grenade launcher has become increasingly ubiquitous in Ukraine, alongside familiar Soviet-era AGLs like the AGS-17, but there are other automatic grenade launchers in use. In this video we'll look at the use of the comparatively rare Heckler & Koch GMG.
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HK MG4 in Ukraine
On 23 December 2024 the German government confirmed that 200 Heckler & Koch MG4 5.56x45mm machine guns had been delivered as aid to Ukraine. In this video we'll examine some of the first sightings of the guns and share some of the opinions of the combatants using them.
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Ukraine Recoilless Gun Drones
On the 27 December, a Ukrainian fundraising charity posted a series of short videos featuring a drone with a pair of gun barrels. The video showed the drone successfully shooting down several Russian drones.
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HK G11 Disassembly & How It Works!
In this special episode Matt has the privilege of field stripping a Heckler & Koch G11. He strips the rifle down into its major assemblies and then explains how the 'space magic' works!
Matt explains how the recoil management system, that compensated for the recoil of firing a 3-round burst at ...
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M26 Shotgun In Ukraine
This week another image of a very rarely seen shotgun in Ukraine appeared, an M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System. These are magazine-fed, bolt-action US-manufactured shotguns which can be mounted on rifles. In this video we examine the in-country sightings of these shotguns and discuss what rol...
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CZ Bren 2 Production in Ukraine Confirmed
On 13 December it was confirmed that Czech CZ BREN 2 rifles are being assembled in Ukraine with future plans to expand to manufacturing the rifles.
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AK Buckshot
In an effort to turn the individual soldier's rifle into a weapon capable of countering the enormous drone threat they are facing some Russians are making home-made buckshot which can be fired from their rifle.
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Ukraine: 3D Printed Anti-Personnel Mines
A quick look at an interesting and very simple 3D printed anti-personnel mine currently in use in Ukraine.
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Is Russia Using North Korean Type 73s?
On 7 November, photographs began circulating on Russian telegram channels of North Korea's unusual Type 73 general purpose machine guns said to be in Russia. The appearance of the photographs led to suggestions the weapons are now in Russia service, in this video we investigate if this is the cas...
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Polish Rifle Grenades for Ukrainian Drones
Earlier this summer, Polish PGN-60 rifle grenades began to appear in the hands of various Ukrainian units. These 68mm fin-stabilised, High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) grenades have been used by some units to assemble first person view (FPV) kamikaze drones.
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Mk14 Enhanced Battle Rifles in Ukraine
In this video we'll examine the various sightings of Mk14 Enhanced Battle Rifles in Ukraine, some are confirmed to be clones built in-country while others may be actual surplus EBRs transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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The GP-46: Russia's New Grenade Launcher
The GP-46 was unveiled by Kalasknikov Concern at the Army-2024 exposition in August. Unlike other Russian underbarrel grenade launchers the GP-46 is chambered for Western 40x46mm the low velocity grenades. Kalashnikov say the GP-46 is intended for international export.
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