Short blog break until Thursday

I am away for the next few days (sadly work not pleasure). Blogging will resume on Thursday or Friday.

Related Posts

  • No Related Post

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in misc | Comments (2)

Carbine Williams and the M1 Carbine

Justin Taylan, founder of PacificWrecks.com (a site well worth visiting), recently visited the South Carolina Military Museum and took these photos of the displays dedicated to David Marshall Williams aka. Carbine Williams. The information below was kindly provided by Chris Webb.

img 1725 tm tfb Carbine Williams and the M1 Carbine photo
Korean War era M1 Carbine with Infra-red optic

You probably know “Carbine” Williams, he’s a legend! He was expelled from the Blackstone Military Academy and serving time at the Caledonia State Prison Farm in Halifax County, North Carolina during the ‘30’s for second degree murder! His sentence was cut short so the the could design firearms for the US military.

“Williams related that the superintendent, H.T. Peoples, noted his mechanical aptitude and allowed him access to the prison’s machine shop where he demonstrated a knack for fashioning replacement parts for the guards’ firearms from pieces of scrap and automobile parts. In prison, he would save paper and pencils and stay up late at night drawing plans for various firearms. His skills in the machine shop permitted him to stay ahead of his assignments and allowed him time for his own hobby.”

Williams also designed several .22 cal versions issued firearms including the Browning machine gun and Colt automatic pistol for use during training exercises.

The U.S. patents for the highly successful Benelli Shotgun (U.S. Patent 4,604,942) reference Williams' U.S. Patent 2,476,232 for a recoil operated semi-automatic shotgun with a non-recoiling barrel.

In 1952, MGM released a film loosely based on his life starring James Stewart and Jean Hagen as his wife Maggie; Williams served as a technical advisor. The film was appropriately titled “Carbine Williams”.

img 1732 tm tfb Carbine Williams and the M1 Carbine photo
a wooden model of the T-machine gun chambered in .22. signed by “Carbine”

img 1733 tm tfb Carbine Williams and the M1 Carbine photo
two pistol grip short barrel variations of the M1

Related Posts

  • No Related Post

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in military, rifles | Comments (7)
Tags: , , ,

A handgun for the disabled or elderly

Back in the 1800s (or maybe early 1900s) an enterprising gunsmith created this French Mod. 1873/74 revolver. The trigger has been turned into a sear which is manipulated by squeezing a steel rod. It i Very clever. Note the other details such as the de-spured hammer.

arme pour handicape 05 tm tfb A handgun for the disabled or elderly photo

arme pour handicape 02 tm tfb A handgun for the disabled or elderly photo

More info and photos at LittleGun.be (thier English translation is very poor).

[ Many thanks to Todd for emailing me the link. ]

Related Posts

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in handguns | Comments (8)
Tags: ,

New 1911 Animation

I have always loved animations showing how guns work. Sterling Roth has designed a M1911 flash animation for Colt's website. To "shoot" the gun, all the safeties need to be disabled :)

colt s manufacturing company llc tm tfb New 1911 Animation photo

Click here to see the animation.

[ Many thanks to Sterling for emailing me the link. ]

Related Posts

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in handguns | Comments (2)
Tags: , ,

Beretta A400 Xplor Light Shotgun

This weekend Beretta announced the new "Light" version of the Beretta A400 Xplor. According to Shooting Wire, they shaved 1/3 of a pound off the standard model bringing the weight down to 6.28 lbs.

xplor light ko tm tfb Beretta A400 Xplor Light Shotgun photo
Beretta A400 Xplor Light

The Xplor Light will retail for $1,500 and be available in October.

Related Posts

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in shotguns | Comments (2)
Tags: , , ,

Head Down XPR15 rifle

xpr15 br 2sides 1052web tm tfb1 Head Down XPR15 rifle photo
Photo by Oleg Volk

The bronze receivers combined with the simple and clean Magpul MOE furniture is a lovely combination.

The XPR15 features Head Down's billet upper and lower (both hard coat anodized), a 16" chrome-lined barrel and Magpul MOE gear (grip, stock, hand guard, rear sight). The price is $1300.

Related Posts

  • No Related Post

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in rifles | Comments (15)
Tags: , ,

[ Help Me Out ] Dropbox

Guys and girls, if you have more than one computer and/or an iPhone/Ipod Touch or Android phone, you need Dropbox. If you sign up for a free account, I get 250mb of free extra storage (per person who tries it) :)

dropbox tfb2 [ Help Me Out ] Dropbox photo
One use of Dropbox: Collecting and sharing targets with your shooting buddies (Yes, I have a lot of targets :)

I use it daily to keep files across multiple computers, store files on my iPod Touch and use share files with family and friends. It is seriously one of the most useful applications I have ever used ... and no, I am not just saying it ;)

Try Dropbox here. It is free for 2 gigs of storage.

UPDATE: You need to download the application and log in with it for it to give me free space. You also get an extra 250mb extra free space.

Related Posts

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in misc | Comments (19)
Tags:

T-90 Tanks Doing Ballet

Just when I thought I had seen everything ...

Popular Mechanics reports ...

I'm at a dress rehearsal at Zhukovsky test center, about 25 miles outside Moscow, for a theatrical performance called The Invincible and the Legendary, set to debut the next day at a Russian arms exposition. The dry name of the Russian expo—the Engineering Technologies International Forum 2010—belies its military focus and mass-market entertainment value. One part defense-technology trade show and one part summertime festival, the Forum's first two days are designated to showcase modern military hardware for potential foreign customers, but over the weekend the Forum becomes a patriotic pep rally. To get people's attention, the organizers at the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) need a show. Russian entertainment is not known for subtlety: Enter the T-90s, stage left.

[Hat Tip: Boing Boing]

Related Posts

Posted by Steve on Jul 26th 2010 | Filed in video | Comments (8)
Tags: , ,

Colt Tactical carbines

The Colt Defense Tactical line is, or was, supposed to be Colt's triumphant return to the commercial market. I held off for months from blogging about the Colt Defense's Tactical line of rifles until more information came to light. Nearly six months later no new information has been unveiled and the ColtTactical.com website is still offline. I have decided to publish what I know but keep in mind that the specs probably will have changed by the time they make it to market.

The philosophy of Colt Tactical's line is to be an out-of-the-box optics-ready AR-15 built to the same standards as the Colt M4 rifles built for the military.

tmp colt tactical 2 tm tfb Colt Tactical carbines photo
The Colt Tactical display.

tmp colt tactical tm tfb Colt Tactical carbines photo

tmp colt tactical 1 tm tfb Colt Tactical carbines photo

Three models will be offered based on the 6940, 6920 and 6520.

tmp dropzone p1020553 tm tfb Colt Tactical carbines photo
Colt Tactical 6940. Photo © SMGLee

The 6940-based carbine features a Vltor Gen-2 flip up front sight, a KAC 600m micro rear sight and a Vltor iMOD stock.

tmp dropzone p1020548 tm tfb Colt Tactical carbines photo
Colt Tactical 6920 and 6520. Photo © SMGLee

The 6920 and 6520 feature a Centurion Arms free float rail system, KAC 300m micro BUIS and Vltor iMOD stock.

David Crane has written about the new line at DefenseReview.

[ Many thanks to SMGLee for info and photos. ]

Related Posts

  • No Related Post

Posted by Steve on Jul 23rd 2010 | Filed in rifles | Comments (28)
Tags: , , ,

Bloggers: a reminder about the ammo comeptition

Don't forget about the Lucky Gunner $1000 .380 APC ammo giveaway I am running. The competition ends at the end of the month.

Related Posts

  • No Related Post

Posted by Steve on Jul 23rd 2010 | Filed in misc | Comments (2)

Steve Lee’s “I’ll give up my gun” video

Steve Lee, our favorite Australian gun-slinging musician, has produced a video for his second single "I'll give up my gun".

You can watch his "I like guns" video here.

[ Many thanks to Phil for emailing me the link. ]

Related Posts

Posted by Steve on Jul 23rd 2010 | Filed in video | Comments (22)
Tags:

Roedale Chassis System II

German company Roedale Precision unveiled a nifty new stock system for the Howa M1500, Tikka T3 and Remington 700 rifle actions at the IAW 2010 expo. It features a massive milled aluminum block for bedding the action.

tmp dropzone 12 gewehr zsb iso 100209 tfb Roedale Chassis System II photo

tmp dropzone 11 gewehr zsb iso 100209 tfb Roedale Chassis System II photo

If anyone has photos of this stock from IWA 2010, please send them though.

[ Many thanks to snmp for posting the link in the comments. ]

UPDATE: Many thanks to Jules to sending me this photo of the stock system. That is one massive hunk of aluminum!

tmp dropzone p1090795 tm tfb Roedale Chassis System II photo

Related Posts

  • No Related Post

Posted by Steve on Jul 22nd 2010 | Filed in rifles | Comments (11)
Tags: , , , ,

Older Articles »