The Firearm Blog

Weatherby are now selling Vanguard rifles for $399. They have a guaranteed accuracy of 1.5 MOA.

Weatherby is now offering its Vanguard rifles starting at $399, which is the lowest price the rifles have been offered at in years.

While the price has been lowered, Weatherby says the features of the Vanguard remain the same. A newly accurized trigger is adjustable and calibrated to break crisply without any play. The Vanguard action features a one-piece forged and machined receiver, and the bolt has three ports to allow high-pressure gases to escape in the event of an accidental case rupture. The rifle is available in 16 calibers, including .257 and .300 Weatherby Magnums.

Now if only ammunition prices would also decrease!

More info at 399weatherby.com

Hat Tip: Shooting Industry

I saw this video on Gizmodo. It is so slow you can see the dirt inside the action being thrown about as the empty case is ejected.

Earlier this year at the Singapore Airshow, Singapore Technologies Kinetics, otherwise known as ST Kinetics or STK, the Singaporean firm who make the Ultimax 100 machine gun, announced their a new PDW (Personal Defense Weapon) type sub machine gun called the CPW (Compact Personal Weapon).

I think that is a kids hand. Photo from textfiend.net.

According to the STK brochure and the pieces of info I picked up on the internet:

• Can be holstered
• Lighweight
• 7″ Barrel
• Multi-caliber. Currently available in 9mm (30 round magazines)
• Translucent pistol grip to check rounds in the magazine
• Comes standard with reflex sight. Iron sights are an optional extra.
• Retractable stock
• Low recoil
• Low cost

Specs:

Length: 350mm
Barrel Length: 180mm (7″)
Mounting system: 2 sets of picatinny rails
Weight without accessories: 1.5kg (3.3 lbs).
Firing modes: semi and auto (selector can be seen on above photo)
Method of operation: delayed blow back
Rate of fire: 900 to 1100 rpm.

Click to expand.

I would assume they will also offer a typical PDW round such as the MP7’s 4.6×30mm or the P90’s 5.7×28mm.

The gun looks very similar to the MP7 and I think would be in direct competition with it. It weights less (MP7 weights 4.19 lbs/1.9kg), is slightly shorter in length and has a similar rate of fire. I think the CPW’s main selling point is cost.

A couple more photos:

This looks like a prototype. It has a slightly
different trigger to the one above.

More info at STK

I received an email from a company called ActionAirgun. They are running a game which starts later this month.

What do you do when you love shooting, but live in a climate where you can only shoot outdoors (comfortably) a couple months of the year? You start a new indoor action target shooting sport and invite the world to participate via the internet … that’s what.

Each week, registered shooters download three Courses of Fire from the Compete section. The COF specifies how to set up the range for that week’s competition - indicating how many target stands are needed, where to place the targets, where to begin and end the shooting course, and any props that may be needed to complete the challenge.

More here.

Paraguay has apparently bought the relatively new Norinco CQ 5.56, M4A1 clones.

The caption of the above photo, translated from Spanish:

Soldiers of the Joint Detachment of Empleo Inmediato (DECEI) marching past with carbines Norinco CQ-M4 of 5.56 mm Are copies of Colt M-4A1 made in China and equipped with viewfinders of not known model. The DECEI depends on the Commando of Special Troops of the Army.

According to Wikipedia:

This variant introduced in the year 2006 in several Defense expos worldwide, including the MILIPOL, is a copy of the American M4A1 assault carbine. It features a telescoping stock, a removable carrying handle mounted on a Picatinny rail, and a 368,3 millimetres (14,5 inches) barrel. The CQ Type A carbine variant is claimed to be able to stabilize both M193 “Ball” and SS-109/M-885 variants of the 5.56 mm cartridge, as would be expected from a rifle with a 1:9 barrel rifling twist. It will quickly accept the installation of grenade launchers due to the quick attachment/detachment handguard design and to the step-cut barrel.

H/T: china police @ MP.net

From BBC News:

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the posters were not suitable to be seen by children.

It added that the use of a glamorous actress, gun images and aspirational text “could glamorize violence”.

Typical Hollywood trigger finger

It seems they can’t stop at banning guns, they need to ban photos of them as well.

Reader Ben emailed me a graphic he did of P99, its very cool.

I like do art in my spare time. Take a look at the attached file. This picture of a p99 was made by x-raying and refinishing with illustrator. Unfortunately it is probably not accurate.

Click to expand.

CenterFire Systems sell a Bullpup stock kit for AKs:

The AK-47 Bullpup Stock has an overall length of 27″ and weighs 7 lbs. when installed on a rifle

Chibajoe at saiga-12.com installed it on his 20 gauge Saiga Shotgun.

Click to expand.

Very cool.

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