It’s the desire of Ronin’s Grips to move the industry away from subjective opinion and towards data driven decision making. The following are reports created using specialized tools that analyze websites, social media and the opinions of thousands of posts relating to the law enforcement, military and the small arms industry. Click here if you’d like to learn more about why data driven analytics matter.
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Vendor reports now have their own page. Click here. This is where you find analyses on organizations such as Denel, Angstadt, SDS Arms, Oracle, SIG, WatchTower Defense, etc.
The following are categories and further below are all analytics posts sorted by date from newest to oldest:
- 1911 & 2011 Type Pistols
- AK-Series Weapons
- AR-Series Weapons
- Ammunition
- Anti-Materiel Rifle (AMR) Systems
- Chinese Topics
- Country Reports – Risk, Intel, Military, Collapse/stress.
- Designated Marksman, Precision & Sniper Rifles
- Disaster and Collapse Scenarios
- Firearms Accessories
- Global Small Arms – Market and Manufacturers
- History and Socio-Political
- Law Enforcement, SWAT Teams and Federal Agencies
- Military and Special Operations Forces
- Optics including Scopes and Red/Green Dot Sights
- Pistols
- Producers & Vendors – Reports on specific firms
- Russian and Soviet Topics
- Shotguns
- Small Arms Optics
- Sniper / Precision Rifles
- Special Operations Forces (SOF) / Special Mission Units (SMUs) Analytics
- Submachine Guns and Pistol Caliber Carbines
- Suppressors / Silencers / Moderators
- Tactical Gear – Body Armor, Packs, Bags and Cases
- US Small Arms Market Analytics
If you have questions, comments, suggestions for a report or wish to fund a report, please email us.
- An Analysis of Zastava AK-Platform Quality and Market Perception in the U.S. Civilian Market (2020-2025) July 21, 2025This report provides an analysis of the quality and market perception of Zastava-manufactured AK-platform firearms within the United States civilian market from 2020 through the first half of 2025. Persistent concerns among consumers regarding receiver metallurgy, heat treatment, and associated failures such as cracking and deformation form the impetus for this investigation. The analysis reveals ...
- The Kalashnikov Premium: An Analysis of the AR-15 & AK-47 Civilian Market Price Inversion July 20, 2025The United States civilian firearms market has witnessed a fundamental and counterintuitive inversion in the pricing structure of its two most popular modern sporting rifles: the AR-15 and the AK-47. For decades, the AR-15 was positioned as the premium, higher-cost platform, while the AK-47 was its affordable, utilitarian counterpart. Today, the opposite is true; a ...
- Pragmatism at Work: An Analysis of the Soviet AK-47 Slant Compensator July 19, 2025The introduction of the iconic slant-faced muzzle device on the Kalashnikov rifle was not an incidental aesthetic choice nor was it part of the weapon’s original design. Instead, its development and eventual adoption represent a case study in iterative, problem-driven Soviet small arms engineering. The device emerged as a direct and necessary response to a ...
- Performance Ranking the Top 50 Vendors in the AK-47 US Market July 17, 2025To aid buyers in understanding the greater AK/AK-47 firearm and accessory market, in the US this post is a companion to another post that looks at AK firearm brands in the US and social media standing. This post focuses on report performance of firearms and accessories and selection is based on the volume of mentions ...
- Cutting Through The Fluff – The US Civilian AK Market: A 5-Year Analysis of Consumer Sentiment and Brand Performance (2020-2025) July 16, 2025Ever get tired of trying to figure out what AK vendors might be worth buying a rifle from in the US? Well, I did but the thing is that I have the tools and experience to do something about it – namely a formal customer sentiment analysis. What I did was to have my analytics ...
- An Analysis of the Soviet AKM Rifle’s Rear Trunnions July 15, 2025The story of the AKM’s front and rear trunnions is inseparable from the larger narrative of the Kalashnikov rifle’s evolution. This evolution was driven less by a desire for radical redesign and more by the dogged pursuit of a manufacturing concept that was ahead of its time. The AKM, introduced in 1959, was not so ...
- An Analysis of the Soviet AKM Rifle’s Front Trunnions July 14, 2025The 1959 introduction of the Avtomat Kalashnikova Modernizirovanniy (AKM) marked a pivotal moment in the history of Soviet small arms manufacturing and global military doctrine. This modernized rifle represented the culmination of a decade-long effort to refine the original AK-47 design, moving away from the costly and time-consuming milled receivers that characterized the Type 2 ...
- AKs Around The World – The Proliferation of the Kalashnikov Design July 12, 2025Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I was patriotic and was mainly interested in American firearms. In 2006, I read an article about building your own AK by the late great Steven Matthews and I changed course dramatically. I’ve always liked history, machines and firearms and started reading books about Mikhail Kalashnikov ...
- The Engineering History of the Not So Lowly AK-47 Rivet July 4, 2025I’ve been involved with AK rifle building since 2006 and there’s something we take for granted – how rivets are used to secure the forged trunnions, and trigger guards to the sheet metal receiver. Not to mention the center support and side mount scope rail. Some have asked why rivets were even used thinking ...
- History of Zastava Arms – A Summary of 170 Years May 17, 2025Zastava Arms, or Zastava oružje (Застава оружје) as it is known in its native Serbia, stands as a monumental testament to the nation’s industrial and military history. With origins stretching back to the mid-19th century, this Kragujevac-based manufacturer has not only equipped generations of soldiers but has also been a significant contributor to Serbia’s (and ...
- Yugoslavia’s AK Path: The Venerable M72 RPK May 16, 2025If you’ve ever held a military era Yugo M70B1, you know it’s heavy for an AK. If you thought that was heavy, now lift an M72B1 … now’s that’s heavy. The M70B1 and M72B1 are my favorite AK variants. I’ve owned and sold M76s, M77s, M92s and just keep returning to the ...
- Yugoslavia’s AK Path: The M70 Family of Rifles May 15, 2025Really, my experience with Yugo rifles began with the stamped M70 series. We’ve spent these last few posts providing the backstory, but how did Zastava move from the M64 to the M70 series? Let’s find out. 1. Introduction: Yugoslavia’s Independent Path to the Kalashnikov In the complex geopolitical landscape following World War II, the Socialist Federal Republic ...
- Yugoslavia’s AK Path: Where Did the 2,000 Russian AK-47 Rifles Come From May 14, 2025So far, we have covered the history of Yugoslavian and Soviet relations and then the two Albanian defectors and early Yugo AK development leading to the M64 but we glossed over an enduring mystery that deserves its own post. In this artice, we dive into the riddle of what third world nation Yugoslavia purchased 2,000 ...
- Yugoslavia’s AK Path: The Launch of the Zastava Family of Automatic Weapons and the M64 May 13, 2025In the last post, we reviewed the political climate and how the USSR did not want to share their revolutionary AK-47 design with Yugoslavia. At this point, we need to look at the ambitious 1959 launch of the project “Familija Automatskog Oružja Zastava” (FAZ), or the Zastava Family of Automatic Weapons and how the ...
- Yugoslavia’s AK Path: The USSR Would Not Share Their AK-47 Rifles or Designs With Yugoslavia May 12, 2025I’ve owned and built a number of AK-47 pattern rifles over the years and slowly one of my favorite series are the ones from Zastava when they were part of Yugoslavia partly because they are unique. Now, that opens the door – why were they unique? There is some very interesting history behind ...
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