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At just over 17 minutes long, I won’t be sitting here and dissecting every firearm in this video — certainly not without a stiff drink. But here’s a few choice picks as I chug my Kentucky Mule.

0:50 – Dear ISIS: technicals are supposed to be based on a Toyota Hilux. Not some crappy crossover. Please up your game.

2:56 – Looks like an AKM for that first pair.

3:02 – Underfolding AK-47. Sure there’s a lot that a proper cheek weld can fix, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing in this situation.

3:06 – Is that an RPK being fired Rambo style? AKA the way that Dianne Feinstein is afraid of — from the hip? And hitting absolutely nothing?

3:07 – An M-16 with some kind of flashlight forward grip setup. I’d note that resting the barrel directly on a wall might not be good for accuracy, but in this case I encourage it.

3:15 – AKM being fired with the traditional magazine grip. Great for short sub guns, terrible for proper carbine length firearms.

3:27 – M3 Carl Gustaf maybe?

3:31 – M4 with detachable carry handle topped with an ancient rifle scope. Perfect for the gentleman with a three foot tall face.

3:36 – That recoiless rifle again. Except the soldier firing it doesn’t seem to understand this concept.

3:41 – Underfolding AKM with that popular magazine grip again. Glad to see so many of our enemies so highly trained.

3:52 – A little different – wire stock side folding AKM. Not sure if that’s actually better though.

4:13 – PKM fired not at all from the shoulder. Looks real stable.

4:27 – An actually somewhat stable shooting position with a wood stock AKM.

4:32 – M-16 with carry handle and Grip Pod. Good shooting position. Not terrible setup.

4:38 – WHAT THE ACTUAL F***?

4:45 – Dat magazine monopod tho.

4:51 – Nice looking FN FAL. Looks pretty new.

4:57 – What’s with the underfolding AKMs? Is that extra cool points or something for not being able to hit the broad side of a barn?

5:43 – PKM with a soft bag magazine. I really think we have to thank Rambo to a certain extent, popularizing the “shooting from the hip” and making it easier for proper soldiers to go in and do their jobs.

5:52 – Is that a garbage truck?

6:10 – A HA HA! That’s a flat top M4 WITH NO SIGHTS! Who needs to hit their target, looking baller is all that matters.

6:32 – Pretty sure that guy is rocking a coon skin cap.

6:51 – Nice M16 with carry handle, okay shooting posture, but that magazine well grip is doing him no good with a 20 inch barrel.

7:09 – *sigh* PKM from the hip again.

7:45 – PKM with what looks like a silencer on the end. Not sure what good it’s doing when all your buddies are loud as hell.

7:52 – M-16 firing in the general direction of something.

10:34 – RPG-7. Surprised I haven’t seen more of these.

13:10 – Definitely a PSL, not an SVD. Looks like you can get an authentic M4, M16, AKM, PKM, RPG-7, and FAL, but even the Russians are too cheap to import SVDs into the country.

13:28 – Now THAT is closer to a technical. Points for a DShK, but it’s on a tiny cart.

And now it’s just a parade of AKMs and RPKs. I’m just gonna go drink heavily.

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35 COMMENTS

    • LAUS DEO

      We have no say in what GOD wills.

      But peace be unto him who follows GOD’s will, and may HE firm and steady the hand raised against all else.

      • I say, shout whatever sifts the ashes, strikes a spark, and/or stokes the embers.

        But remember to do so in shrinking awe of the Creator, lest GOD permits your hubris in victory to allow you to join the vanquished in defeat.

        Otherwise: pro nobis, ut Deus. “May GOD help us” is a safer cry.

        • I think it’s the thought that counts. Time to go purge some infidels from Christian lands. I think that given the old doctrine of papal infallibility, the old rules still apply vis-a-vi the “Turks”

  1. It’s like they’re shooting just to shoot. Very few show any signs of having even the slightest clue of what the hell they’re doing. I’m amazed that they haven’t all been wiped from the face of the earth already.

    • That’s why it’s gone on as long as it has. Say what you want, GWB took Iraq, THE WHOLE FING THING, in less than 90 days. Maybe because the wet ca-ca f’rs ran and hid, but they were still mostly hiding when we left.

      The people shooting in these videos are doing it for the camera. Maybe the cameramen (camerapersons) are just getting them to ‘expend’ ammo, but. . .
      How many spray-n-pray-to-mecca’s do you see over walls and around corners. It’s not even false bravado, most are clearly battle ~hardened/weary, but it’s not because they had a David or a Patton to speak fire into them.

      • As Cpl. Parsons so elegantly put it, and somewhat related to your comment, “This is really interesting, Brad. You know, Iraqis don’t really seem good at fighting but then they never really completely surrender either.”

    • They are demonstrating the “inshallah” (or “if God wills”) method of shooting. Point in general direction of enemy and fire. It is God’s will if a bullet hits the enemy.

      If ISIS survived this long with such a low standard of firearms proficiency, it makes you wonder about the standards of those opposing them.

      • I’m reading a book on this topic (and sharing this title) right now… very fascinating and very sad.

        They could save a whole lot of money by releasing an “inshallah” version of the AK with no sights.

  2. The Wall Street Journal posted a nice photo in late March that showed an Iraqi soldier carrying what looked like an RPG 29 with a very elongated tandem (anti-armor) warhead. I looked up reference photos and the odd shape of the warhead didn’t match any photos of Russian examples. I thought perhaps it was a Norinco copy and decided it would be fun to post it on my Facebook page and ask my friends if they could identify it.

    The post disappeared in an hour or so. Maybe due to a FB anti-weapon policy? Or maybe it represented violence? These days, who knows?

    • Could be US made too. We make a lot of that stuff to export/give away to our friends who are more comfortable/familiar with Eastern Bloc style weapons or can’t afford high end Western weaponry.

  3. None of them know how to hold a rifle.

    I think I saw a polytec AK47 around 6:25 into it.

    With all the semi auto fire it does seem they maybe running low on ammo.

    I also noticed a lack of incoming fire.

    • It’s interesting that nobody ever talks about ISIS logistics. It is said that they can field several thousand soldiers. Even though they might be piss-poor fighters when compared to 1st world militaries, they still have to be fed, clothed, and kept supplied with ammo. Since the ISIS “state” is essentially land locked and it’s weapons and ammo have to be manufactured from someplace else, you have to wonder where the expendable military equipment is coming from? Gun running to ISIS must be a pretty profitable, if occasionally dangerous, enterprise.

      • I was thinking about ISIS logistics as well. Not only weaponry, but food and water. Where are the ISIS combatants getting their food and water to continue fighting for months???

        If ISIS was really clever and disciplined, they could have stockpiled massive quantities of food and ammunition in Mosul before they started their campaign. I cannot believe that they could stockpile massive quantities of water.

        And even if ISIS did stockpile massive quantities of food and ammunition, how were they able to maintain control of most or all of it?

      • Funding is from the drug trade and a few friendly governments. That much we know for sure.

        As for weapon supply, smuggling would explain the love of the underfolder AKs: Less space in transport=higher guns per runs.

      • They likley are being supplied somewhat by a couple foreign governments, like Qutar, possibly Saudi Arabia, garunteed at least some support for Pakistan. Also, they have set up state institutions in which they tax the populous. One very big one, probably the biggest of all, is the fact that they’ve fed off their enemies, and even inadvertent US support. They captured an insane amount of hardware from the Iraqi army when they invaded, as well as from fighting in Syria. Also, under Obama we dumped tones of weapons, ammo, medical supplies, food, comms, body armor and water to that whole “Free Syrian Army” joke. That ALL pretty much went to Daesh. Also there’s been mistakes where countries supporting Iraq or the Kurds accidentally dropped the supplies on deash lines. I also wouldn’t put it past Erdogan from throwing them some support either.

        • “They likley are being supplied somewhat by a couple foreign governments, like Qutar, possibly Saudi Arabia, garunteed at least some support for Pakistan.”

          They regularly intercept and steal United Nations ‘humanitarian aid’ as well…

  4. Nice commentary, Nick. But in keeping with current TTAG themes, shouldn’t this be title, “5 Guns Every ISIS Terrorist Needs!!” or “Try This Secret Trick to Slaughter Annoying Infidels!” ??

    • Bet they would look like clowns showing those too. I think if you get shot by ISIS, it was by accident. I think you could stay 100 yards out, never move and ISIS would waste all their ammo and still never hit you.

      A 12 yr old at a local range has more firearms ability.

  5. Perhaps this entire video was staged for propaganda purposes??? It would explain the horrible skills/tactics and a lack of return fire.

  6. 4:38? Looks like Allah Gas Pipe to me, they must have raided the plumbing supply warehouse, remember “longer” is ALWAYS “better”.

  7. I must admit that small drone footage was pretty cool. I hope to see more people shooting drone footage in future conflicts.

  8. “0:50 – Dear ISIS: technicals are supposed to be based on a Toyota Hilux. Not some crappy crossover. Please up your game.

    They improvised and adapted, that’s insurgency 101. Besides, maybe that’s what the UN was shipping them.

    Frankly, I liked this ISIS weapons video far more than that one.

    Allah Akbar, motherfvcker:

  9. One has to wonder where they’re getting all the Barretts and AR-style weapons. What causes totally untrained civilians to go suicidal, or join a guerrilla group?

  10. I have minor military background and even I know these guys are amateurs at best. They confuse cover and concealment, and stand out in the open firing blindly. I read once that Hollywood movies kill more of the enemy than we ever could hope to. Now I believe it. ISIS’s tactics are a joke!

  11. That crappy crossover wasn’t a technical, it was a SVBIED.

    That Magazine grip (high up on the magazine that is) is how a lot of countries that issued the AK taught their soldiers to shoot. It’s more stable than you think.

    At 7:45, that isn’t a PKM, its an AK. The thing on the barrel is a homemade cup to launch grenades/bombs.

  12. The magazine hold on those Ak’s is for the same reason that a lot of these jihadi jimbobs have a rag around the front end – excessive heat from the barrel that makes holding on to the flimsy wood forend after a couple of mag dumps impossible.

  13. I disagree with all of you
    I have been following the Syrian war for a long time and I refer you to oryx blog and conlict armament research for a fascinating account of where Isis gets its weapons and ammo
    They capture it from the Iraq Army and Syrian Army
    After the fall of Mosul, they had unbelievable amounts of U.S. suppliedweapons including Tanks, Armored Personnel Carriers, Humvees, artillery, and so many M-16 and M-4 rifles that they actually had 2 rifles for every soldier! All supplied to the Iraqi National Army, courtesy of the American taxpayer, and just abandoned
    After the capture of the Tadmour gas field from the Syrian Arab Army, they had more Tanks, RPG’s and rockets,crates of ammo and trucks to transport the spoils all around Syria
    The Syrian Army is still stockpiling incredible amounts of weapons and ammo at forward bases and checkpoints and every time one changes hands, Isis gets a resupply.
    The Syrian Kurds have stood up to Isis and they have managed to capture some of this stuff from Isis
    Isis has so much stuff that they actually have used captured tanks and tank recovery vehicles as suicide borne explosive devices instead of using them as armor. They remove the turrets to make them harder to hit.
    I also see lots of aiming in the video. Yeah, they hold by the magazine well, but they are sending out semi-auto aimed fire.
    Usually in Jihadist videos they are holding the gun over a wall and blasting away full auto not even looking at the enemy.
    The very first guy at 3:01 is taking aim with the sights, second guy is just blasting, but third guy is aiming each time
    I know you don’t like a magazine hold, but there are plenty of U.S. soldiers who do this
    The guy at 3:14 has a magazine hold, but is aimed fire using 3 round bursts. This fits in with any western army typical doctrine of use of automatic fire.
    4:55, 5:00 both have downfolder AK”s and a chin weld instead of a cheek weld, but I see aimed semi-auto fire
    At 5:27 Mr standing in a hole inside a builiding is shooting an FN-FAL at waist level at the enemy with carefully aimed single shots
    And it goes on and on
    Yes, all the RPD light machine guns are fired from the hip
    But lots of the other guys are shooting what should be effective fire by aiming at the enemy position

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