The Firearm Blog

Matt recently comment on this post about the Australian AUG A4 (ADI Austeyr F88 A4):

To clear up “125″ issues and confusion the A3 varient is to be upgraded to allow the firing of GLA and underslung shot gun attachment with the trigger finger. There is much speculation on INF 2012 weapon systems and the steyr will look marketly different. What is concrete is that what changes happen to the weapons system the it must have the same range or better and must not be any heavier than current weight with modifications. There is a photo around of an ugly australian modified A3, this is not the new rifle and was a test bed system and was a demo only. The ADF rumour mill is leaning more to the AUG A4 design as now Australia owns the rights of all world wide styer production and also pattened designs from Austria.

I had not idea that the A4 existed. I did some Googling and found some photos in a brochure from ADI, the Australian arms and ammunition manufacturer. They may be the “test” A4 that Matt mentioned in Matt’s comment.

I think it’s a pretty ugly design. It looks like someone attacked an AUG with a hacksaw, screwdriver and a few picatinny rails. Especially in contrast to the AUG A3 (from steyr-arms.at):

Where is the grenade launcher trigger?

I would be surprised if the Australians upgrade their A1/A2 AUGs to use the M203 when the M320 will go into production later this year (according to Wikipedia).

M4 with M320

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Interesting development. That was the last place in the world where I expected firearms to be banned.

From Stars and Stripes:

DIYALA PROVINCE, Iraq — The police chief of this restive province has ordered a ban on all firearms, including AK-47 rifles to which every Iraqi household is entitled.

Iraqi police Maj. Gen. Maj. Gen. Abdul al-Kareem Khaleef said he issued the firearms ban after a fatal shooting in Baqouba, the province’s capital, which killed one policeman and injured four civilians on Sunday.

“No civilians can have them or they will be detained,” warned Khaleef through a translator on Monday. He added that only Iraqi security forces and government security guards will be allowed to possess the weapons.

Rachel Papo photographed IDF woman as as part of her masters thesis project. It is very well done.

Just about every photo features an M16. So I am justified in blogging it

More here.

Andy @ AAC has posted scans of a Maxim Silencer brochure. The prices range from $5 for a .22 suppressor to $9.50 for a high powered rifle caliber suppressor.

Click to expand.

View the rest of the brochure here.

Snowflakes in Hell (who, long overdue, is now on my blogroll) has photos of the Para Ordnance TTR AR-15. The Tactical Target Rifle features a unique recoil system above the barrel, which significantly reduces recoil and allows for a folding stock.

The new Para Tactical Target Rifle with its Direct Impinged Gas System™ (DIGS™) gets you back on target faster than any other rifle of its kind. The recoil spring is over the op-rod so there is no “twang” in your ear as your head rests on the rifle’s stock while the bolt cycles between shots.

Having the recoil system up front over the barrel puts it where it naturally pushes the rifle back down on target instead of up and into your shoulder.

The specs:

Caliber: 5.56 Nato
Barrel: 16.5 inches Chrome Lined
Twist: 1 in 9 inches
Sights: Flip up front sight and fully adjustable flip-up rear sight
Overall Length: Stock Open and Fully Extended – 36 inches
Stock Open and telescoped in – 33 inches
Stock Folded – 26.25 inches
Weight: 7.6 pounds
Additional Features: Field strips with no tools
Multiple sling mount points
MSRP: $2,297

The rifle will go on sale in 2008. Next year conversion kits will be offered to install a TTR recoil system on a standard AR.

Sebastian’s photos are here. More info @ Para.

UPDATE:

Roughedge pointed out in the comments that this rifle is a Yankee Hill / ZW Weapons LR300 AXL rifle. It looks like it is either a clone or, more likely, Para has licensed it. YH/ZM are not selling them now. When they were sold they cost $2139.

Here are some photos from ZM and GunBroker (NXL model). Click to expand.

NXL

Mr. Completely posted this video last week, and I forgot to post it here.

This would defiantly make Dogmatix cry.

Gunpundit has spotted photos of the Veritas Mark IV in Denver. The Veritas Mark IV is a paintball/airgun gun that shoots .68 Caliber paintballs filled with a pepper spray type substance. The gun is patterned after and the same size as the M and accepts most AR-15 accessories.

More info about the gun here. More photos here.

Very cool.

Hat Tip: SayUncle

Leupold have launched a new scope called the UltimateSlam for shotguns and modern muzzleloaders. The SABR reticle can be adjusted to match your load.

SABR: Sabot Ballistics Reticle

Leupold’s® all-new UltimateSlam™ riflescope is the ideal combination of flexibility, accuracy, and durability for today’s modern muzzleloaders and shotguns. As an example of accuracy, using Hornady SST 2-pellet, 3-pellet and 12 gauge shotgun loads at up to 300 yards, the maximum error of the UltimateSlam is less than 1″ as compared to a 14″ error from the leading competitor.

UltimateSlam

More info here.

Bill Ruger is spinning in his grave. Ruger has a promotion where you can get a free 20 round magazine when you purchase

a Mini-14.
More info here.

Hat Tip: Guns Holsters and Gear

Those lucky Canadians will be able to purchase the Norinco Type 97 later this year.

Type 97A. Click to expand.

The Type 97 is the civilian export version of the QBZ-97 rifle, which in turn is the export version of the 5.8×42mm QBZ-95. It is chambered in 5.56×45mm and takes STANAG magazines. Looking at the photo I think it has a 20″ barrel.

According to CanadaAmmo it will be available in December 2008 and will sell for $849.00.

The blogger who blogs at THEATRUM BELLI, a french blog, has put together a very good flicker photoset with over 600 photos. Well worth checking out.

There are a few interesting photos of the Abkhazians militia. Checkout the camo.

Abkhazian paramilitaries are seen at a position near the village of Azhara, in Kodori Gorge, in the Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia, on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008. Russian troops on Friday allowed some humanitarian supplies into the strategic city of Gori but continued their blockade, raising doubts about Russian intentions in the war-battered country. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was heading for Georgia for talks with the president. (AP Photo/Vladimir Popov)

Its like a Red Dawn in reverse (the paramilitary are the invaders).

The blog has been moved to the new server.

The server is a VPS (Virtual Private Server) which requires the entire server be setup by manually. There is a good chance I have forgot to configure something. I would appreciate an email if you find anything not working.

I do know about the problem with some characters not showing up correctly in the blog posts. I am working on that.

I was having a problem when some text was not being displayed correctly. If this is happening you to please email me when a screen shot. Below is a screenshot of the text before I fixed it.

Different browsers / operating systems would be slightly different.

My email address is at the top of the left sidebar. Thanks for your help.