Historical Context

The Troubles

The conflict in Northern Ireland from the civil rights marches of 1968 to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, fought between republican and loyalist paramilitaries and the British security forces. It set the Armalite and the AKM against the SLR, the Sterling and the SA80 in a thirty-year war of ambushes, bombings and patrols that killed about 3,500 people.

Battles & Operations

• The Troubles (October 1968 - 10 April 1998)

  The Troubles was a thirty-year conflict in Northern Ireland between republican paramilitaries seeking a united Ireland, chiefly the… Continued…

Weapons

• AK-47

  The AK-47 is the most produced firearm in human history: Mikhail Kalashnikov's gas-operated assault rifle in 7.62x39mm, built around loose… Continued…

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  Armalite AR-18

  The Armalite AR-18 is a 5.56mm select-fire rifle designed in 1963 by Arthur Miller and George Sullivan at Armalite in Costa Mesa… Continued…

• Browning Hi-Power

  The Browning Hi-Power is a 9x19mm semi-automatic pistol begun by John Browning in the 1920s and completed after his death by Dieudonne… Continued…

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  FN FAL

  The FN FAL — Fusil Automatique Léger, or light automatic rifle — was the most widely adopted battle rifle of the Cold War. Designed by… Continued…

• FN MAG

  The FN MAG is a Belgian general-purpose machine gun designed by Ernest Vervier at Fabrique Nationale and introduced in 1958. It fires… Continued…

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  L85A1

  The L85A1 is the British Army's 5.56mm bullpup rifle, the individual weapon of the SA80 family. Adopted in 1985 to replace the L1A1… Continued…

• M1 Carbine

  The M1 Carbine was the most-produced American small arm of the Second World War: a five-pound, semi-automatic .30-caliber carbine designed… Continued…

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  M16 Rifle

  The M16 brought the assault rifle to the West: Eugene Stoner's AR-15 design in 5.56mm, built of aluminum forgings and polymer around a… Continued…

• M60 Machine Gun

  The M60 was the United States' first general-purpose machine gun: a belt-fed 7.62mm weapon light enough for one soldier to carry on the… Continued…

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  RPG-7

  The RPG-7 is a Soviet shoulder-fired, reusable anti-tank grenade launcher adopted in 1961 and the most widely used weapon of its kind in… Continued…

• Sterling Submachine Gun

  The Sterling is the 9mm submachine gun that replaced the Sten in British service. George Patchett designed it at Sterling Armaments in… Continued…

• Thompson Submachine Gun

  The Thompson was America's first submachine gun: a .45 ACP automatic designed as a trench broom for a war that ended before it shipped.… Continued…