Guns

News, explainers, and analysis of military firearms.

Latest in Guns

Soldiers with the 34th Infantry Division receive instruction on the M250 automatic rifle during a New Equipment Training fielding at Camp Ripley, Minn. September 14, 2025. The M250, part of the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program, replaces the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hamlin)

National Guard units are getting the new M250 machine gun

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Sep 25, 2025

A soldier fires an M240 machine gun.

The Army is replacing the M240 machine gun. Here’s what could come next

Posted on Aug 26, 2025

A British soldier aims a rifle.

Britain’s next rifle: Inside the race to replace the SA80

Posted on Aug 23, 2025

A U.S. soldier fires an Austrian Steyr AUG bullpup rifle.

Why the US military refuses to adopt bullpup rifles

Posted on Aug 13, 2025

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Maxwell Carson, 49th Security Forces Squadron response force member, fires an M18 pistol during the Special Reactions Team tryout competition at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, May 22, 2025. The timed shooting portion of the tryout adds stress while requiring strict accuracy standards. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Elijah Strickland)

Air Force enacts service-wide inspections of M18 pistols

By Nicholas Slayton

Posted on Aug 3, 2025

Army M240B Machine Gun

The Army wants to replace the M240 medium machine gun

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Jul 17, 2025

SMASH 2000L fire control system

Marines to field new smart scope to help shoot down small drones

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Jul 16, 2025

every marine corps rifle all time

Here is every rifle Marines have used in the last 250 years

Posted on Jul 7, 2025

A U.S. Army Soldier, with the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, fires the MK-22 Precision Sniper Rifle as part of a weapon familiarization range on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, Oct. 22, 2023. The MK-22 replaced the Army’s existing M2010 and M107 sniper rifles. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Michael Schwenk)

Ranges on Fort Benning aren’t long enough for Army’s new sniper rifle

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jun 12, 2025

U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment, 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, South Carolina Army National Guard, conduct an Integrated Training Weapons Strategy (ITWS) qualification table for the newly fielded Next Generation Squad Weapon Rifle (NGSW-R) XM7 and Next Generation Squad Weapon Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR) XM250, during a week-long training event held at Fort Stewart, Georgia, June 20, 2024. During the first four days, the Soldiers learned about the XM7 and XM250 technical and tactical capabilities, then continued the training by firing and zeroing both weapons. The South Carolina Army National Guard is the third Army National Guard command to receive the new weapons, Following the North Carolina National Guard and the West Virginia National Guard. The 4-118th is part of the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, the “Old Hickory,” a modular heavy-brigade with headquarters in North Carolina. The “Old Hickory” is the second major command in the U.S. Army to be issued the new weapons. The XM7 and the XM250 will replace the currently issued M4 Carbine and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, respectively. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Turner Horton)

Army’s next generation rifle designated M7 amid criticism over performance

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on May 22, 2025

New Generation Squad Weapons

Why the Army’s new XM7 rifle reignited a debate over volume of fire

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on May 12, 2025

m4 military rifle lost during trump inauguration training

A National Guardsman lost their rifle when it fell off a truck on a Delaware highway

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Jan 27, 2025

SIG P226 vs P320

SIG P320 vs P226: Which is the better combat pistol?

By Joshua Skovlund

Posted on Nov 17, 2023

First photos of 101st Airborne soldiers testing the Army’s new rifles

By Patty Nieberg

Posted on Oct 3, 2023

army Mobile Protected Firepower m10 booker combat vehicle

Army’s Mobile Protected Firepower vehicles will give light infantry units added punch

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Dec 13, 2022

Air Force to start retiring A-10 Warthogs after a decade of legislative wrangling

By Jeff Schogol

Posted on Dec 12, 2022