Guns of Ukraine war picture thread

[Suck My Glock]

Here are some photos from a Russian soldier's Telegram account where he complains how the Tula 7.62x54R ammo they are getting for their Dragunovs now is totally crap. He says it's a very bad problem now among all but the most expensive ammo brands. He "didn't see any point in shooting past 100m" based on accuracy when it did fire. Along with the bolt failing to extract due to tearing case rims. It seems like the quality of new commercial ammo manufactured in Russia is really falling off. Of course, Ministry of Defense buys it too, so you've got to look for old military surplus I guess.






The soldier claimed he has even had projectiles come apart inside the bores of several rifles. Here is the remnant jacket of a 203 grain soft-point that completely blew the lead core downrange but left the jacket stuck inside the barrel. It looks like quality control at Tula has gone down the crapper.

[xerts1191]

Good job Tula

[Suck My Glock]

More images out of Kursk area with Haenel MK556 rifles.



While not yet captured on the battlefield, this is the brand new Russian Squad Automatic Weapon being tested for adoption, as seen last week at the Kalashnikov booth at ARMY 2024 trade show. It is chambered in 5.45x39 and uses non-disintegrating push-through belts. Russia has not fielded a belt-fed SAW since 1959, when they pulled the RPD from service and replaced it with the RPK. Apparently that is changing. The first version of this was seen at ARMY 2020, but was sent back for further development and tweeking. This new current version undergoing trials has been modified using input from the war in Ukraine, where troops have been doing a lot more house-to-house and CQB than was previously envisioned by Russian doctrine. We expect this is being issued to experimental squads somewhere as part of live fire real world testing, but examples have not yet been captured.



Also in Kursk area, an FN SCAR-L with some airborne troopies. Part of how the Ukies are successfully exploiting weaknesses they are finding in the new territory they are occupying is flitting about in helos to drop off rapid reaction squads, followed up by motorized and/or armored reinforcements to follow on and secure their new ground. This is only possible because of how ATACMS have taken out so much of the aviation assets and aviation fuel dumps, so the Russians no longer exercise air dominance to the degree they previously did.

[Suck My Glock]

And remember kids,...all that trigger time you get at Big Sandy shooting at the RC drones is not just fun, but real world practical skill development for the drone wars of the present and future.

[blasternaz]

Gunner said it was a MANPAD, not him, that scored the hit.

[Suck My Glock]

The G36 rifles are beginning to show up in theater. Here's a couple sneaky fellas keeping watch on the border with Belarus. The other has a Daniel Defense rifle.


A dismounted Ukrainian vehicle crewman in the Kursk region with his Swedish K.


Not only are shotguns everywhere now to deal with the drones, but house to house fighting reminds us of how shotguns are still king in close combat. Short shotguns especially, like this KelTec KSG12 KelTec donated to the fight.


A pair of Ukrainian Navy commando raiders with their SIG P320s.

[Suck My Glock]

Springfield Armory Saint Victor pressed into service by a private owner as a DMR during the Kursk excursion.


A Swedish AK-4 (G-3) being employed in Kursk.


Yes, the MP-40s are still turning up in use in Ukraine.


UKROP, the the national ammunition manufacturer for Ukraine, was severely damaged at the outset of the war back in 2014. Their Luhansk factory, which was where 5.45x39 and 7.62x39 ammo was made, was lost to the Russians back then. Fortunately there were still huge stockpiles elsewhere in the country. When the West started providing assistance shortly thereafter, UKROP's new facilities it built were focused on turning out NATO calibers for the new weapons they were receiving. The existing stockpiles seemed adequate, so there was no rush to rebuild for AK calibers. But since the 2022 invasion, the rate of ammo consumption has been so high that the old stockpile began to run low. So UKROP started construction of a new facility for the Kalashnikov calibers. But also looking towards the future, which includes membership in NATO, the new facility was redesigned to build ammo according to western standards and not Russian. So no more steel cases. The new BRASS-cased 5.45x39 ammo by UKROP is now in production and reaching the troops as you see in this photo. Non-corrosive and boxer-primed, this is the stuff we WISH Ukraine was importing via Wolf. After the war is over and Ukraine replenishes their stockpiles, we are likely to finally see reloadable 5.45x39 imported here.

[Suck My Glock]

Slightly related to what's going on in the Ukraine war, we see here that the Russian AK12 developments are being copied elsewhere. Kim Jung Un is pictured playing with North Korean's new domestic AK12 variant. The handguard is different from the Russian ones, as is the magazine. It will be interesting to see where these end up across the globe.


A Tucson-made Milkor 40mm 6-shooter in Kursk.


The Swedes donated a bunch of AK4s (G-3 variant) last year, but many of them were in need of arsenal reconditioning and were not really serviceable. That task has finally been completed, and the AK4s are now finding their way into the field, particularly as DMRs. Here we see a bunch at the range with the Azov Battalion.





Here we see both the big and the small sometimes seen on the battlefields of Ukraine. The big is a Victrix Corvo V in .50BMG. Victrix is Beretta's precision rifle division. And the small is the Turkish-made AKDAS SA-9, which is Turkey's little AR15-based 9mm buzzgun, which utilizes MP5 magazines.


A captured VS Val Vintorez in Kursk.

[Suck My Glock]

How do you spot the American volunteers in occupied Russia? Easy,...just look for the Boogaloo Boys with HK416s.


Apparently Slovakia has donated some Stribog SMGs, and these are beginning to show up on the training ranges, soon to be issued.


In the meantime, vehicle crewmen and other support types are still making do with other surplus SMGs, like this Swedish K, seen in Kursk.

[Suck My Glock]

Hk433 in occupied Russia, near Kursk.


Ukrainian national police have been issued new suppressed Beretta ARX160 rifles.




An American volunteer assigned to an engineer battalion in Kursk with his issued G36. However, unlike most of the G36s seen recently, this one is using original G36 magazines and has not been modified with an adapter for NATO STANAG mags.


Another G36 seen deployed, but this one using NATO STANAG magazines.


In this photo of another G36 in country, we can more plainly see the mag adapter for using STANAG magazines. It seems since not all G36s observed serving in Ukraine are converted to use these, the mag adapter is likely produced locally in Ukraine.

[xerts1191]

Has me wondering if HK is indeed supplying the troops as a test ground for rifle battle testing.
Thanks SMG

[Half Cocked]

Has me wondering if HK is indeed supplying the troops as a test ground for rifle battle testing.
Thanks SMG

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is undoubtedly being used as a testing ground for a lot of weapons. The AM General 2-CT "Hawkeye" low cost, mobile 105mm howitzer, for example, has been sent to Ukraine for testing in real world combat conditions.
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An experimental Howitzer system was secretly delivered to Ukraine’s army to be used against invading Russian forces, according to an American defense contractor whose disclosure in May recently began circulating on social media.

The 2-CT Hawkeye consists of a 105 mm Howitzer mounted on a Humvee and is described by its producer, Indiana-based AM General, as the lightest, most maneuverable self-propelled Howitzer in the world.

Mike Evans, who oversees the company’s artillery programs, announced at the U.S. Field Artillery Association’s Fires Symposium last month that Ukraine had received a Hawkeye system that was shipped April 26.

However, his comments gained wider attention only in recent days after a video from the symposium started being reposted online.

“We trained it for two weeks,” Evans said. “They immediately went into testing, and that system’s destined to be one of the first soft recoil systems in combat. It’s going right into combat to test on live targets.”

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https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe ... 02046.html

[xerts1191]

Sweet, also taken me into the reality of small drone warfare, and how this has changed the whole picture on the battlefield, you can run, but you can’t hide

[Suck My Glock]

Has me wondering if HK is indeed supplying the troops as a test ground for rifle battle testing.
Thanks SMG

Well, while we know HK is notorious for not being very easy to work with, Lithuania has been VERY enthusiastic in assisting Ukraine, since they were previously under the Russian thumb and have no intention of ever going back. In fact, since posting the G36 photos, I have learned that Lithuania has just finally completed fully switching over to the G36, which they produce under license. In fact, the Lithuanian pattern buttstocks are what we are seeing in Ukraine, so I'm thinking now that is where most of the G36s are actually coming from. Lithuania has been issuing the G36 since 2007, so perhaps these examples are first generation rifles originally bought from HK and now surplused out to Ukraine now that Lithuania can build new ones for themselves. That would seem likely, since that would make these 17 year old rifles and considered time to be retired by many armies.

[YNOTAZ]

I wonder if any of the guns that City of Phoenix illegally sent to the Ukraine will show up in any of these pictures. If you see one you recognize, maybe call the mayor and ask her about it.