I will be away next week and will not be able to update the blog until 7 January. Please check back then.
Unfortunately I will not have internet access so will be unable to respond to email.
Have a great New Year and a prosperous 2008!
Atlantic Firearms will be getting in the MP5 pattern .22LR GSG-5 Sport rifle (although I would call it a carbine).
Specs:
Caliber: .22LR
Action: Semi-automatic
Length: 855mm
Height: 207mm
Width: 53mm
Barrel Length: 414mm (16.3″)
Weight (without magazine): 2930g (6.45 lbs)
Magazine weight: 115g
Magazine capacity: 22 rounds ( 10 and 22 will be available in the future)
It also comes with a fake suppressor.
Apparently MP5 accessories and furniture is compatible with the GSG-5
Atlantic Firearms will be selling if for $499 and they are expected to arrive in January or February 2008.
Some more photos:
A video of the GSG-5 in action
Looks like fun!
UPDATE
Some more photos from American Tactical Imports
DEMIGOD has written a review:
Is the GSG-5 anything other than a plinker? For shooters who need to use an MP5 “for work”, the GSG-5 may be a viable training platform since the controls are identical. In addition, a suppressed GSG-5 may have some law-enforcement applications.
According to Tony at Amchar, the first shipment to the U.S. will contain 1320 rifles and should be heading out to dealers around the country and the end of February 2008. GSG’s production plans for 2008 include 10,000 GSG-5s.
Answer…
1) AK pattern rifles and shotguns made at Izhevsk
2) The ugliest antelope alive
The Russians are not know for producing beautiful firearms, but you would have thought they would have chosen a nicer looking animal than the Saiga for which to brand sporting firearms!
From Wikipedia
The Saiga (Saiga tatarica) is an antelope which originally inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe zone from the foothils of the Carpathians and Caucasus into Dzungaria and Mongolia. Today they are found only in a few areas in Kalmykia (Russia), Kazakhstan, and western Mongolia.
The Saiga typically stands 0.6-0.8 meters at the shoulder and weighs between 36 and 63 kg. Their lifespan ranges from 6 to 10 years. Males are bigger than females and are the only sex to carry horns. The horns have some value as Chinese traditional medicine and for that reason Saiga are now endangered by poaching. The Saiga is recognizable by an extremely unusual, over-sized, and flexible, nose structure. The nose is supposed to warm up the air in winter and filters out the dust in summer.
Jack @ Rule .303 posted his top five worst new cartridges
1. 7.62×39 Ackley Improved
2. .22 belted magnum
3. .338 rimfire
4. 28 gauge Buckhammer saboted slugs
5. .50 BMG shotshells
I posted a comment saying a hotter 7.62×39 might not be so bad.
Jack went on to post an interesting comment on why this would be a very bad idea, at least economically
Steve,
In theory, one could give the 7.62×39 the Ackley treatment and wind up with a cartridge that makes an extra 120 fps or whatever. And I agree that this would be kinda neat in theory because a little extra oopmh at 150 yards would make this a better deer cartridge.
However, let’s think about this a little bit. The allure of 7.62×39 has little to do with it’s ballistics. America is falling in love with 7.62×39 because it’s become the cheapest centerfire cartridge available (excluding corrosive milsurp ammo). At a time when ammunition costs in general have been going ballistic (heh heh) this thing showed up right on time.
Buying specialty ‘Ackley improved’ ammo would probably cost $16 a box or so. As much as a box of 30-’06 hunting ammo. Kinda defeats the purpose, huh?
As far as reloading goes, one of the attractions of Ackley chamberings has always been that you could shoot the regular ammo in it and the standard cases get blown out to the slightly larger Ackley dimensions of the chamber. Then you can reload that brass and you have cartridges that give you the full Ackley advantage.
That’s great, except that the vast majority of the 7.62×39 that is out there is not brass. It’s steel cased, which is such a pain in the butt to reload that it’s basically impractical. Heck, some of it is even berdan primed as well. I don’t even know if steel cases will blow out to Ackley dimensions on firing the way that brass cases do.
Read the rest of his comment here.
Since when has a bad idea ever stopped a cartridge manufacturer? So if Winchester, Remington, Hornady, Federal or Sierra are reading this and you are looking for the next fad, checkout my .30 Steve.
It is guaranteed to kill deer just as well as the old fashioned 7.62x39mm but costs 5x as much! Your shareholders will love it!
I came across a cool photo of an MP5SD with mini-uzi type stock.
Click to expand image.
Hat Tip: MilitaryPhotos.net
Check out this rifle! Beautiful! I think it is a .45, but I could be wrong.
Click to enlarge the photo.
I like the drum magazine 
Hat Tip: Gun and Game
Defense Review have written an article about the new SIG 556 SWAT Rifle/Carbine/Subcarbine
SIG 556 rifles/carbines at SHOT Show 2006 (photos accompanying this article), and found them interesting. We’ve always been fans of the SIG 550-series weapons, particularly after we test-fired a Gemtech-supressed (sound-suppressed) SIG 552 SBR/Subcarbine at SWAT Round-Up 2002. The SIG 550-series assault rifles / tactical rifles utilize an AKM / Kalashnikov-type gas-piston/op-rod system for operation, and you can’t really go wrong with that with regard to weapon reliability.
While the SIG 556 series weapons are currently only availale in 5.56mm NATO, 6.8x43mm SPC (a.k.a. 6.8mm SPC a.k.a. 6.8 SPC), 7.62x39mm, and possibly even 7.62x39mm NATO (7.62mm NATO)/.308 Win. (unconfirmed/unverified) versions are on the way. DefenseReview doesn’t know at present whether the select-fire variant of the SIG 556 SWAT is available in true semi-auto/full-auto configuration, or only in semi-auto/three-round burst config, or semi-auto/3-round burst/full-auto config. Unfortunately, Mr. Poole’s article does not make that clear. Defense Review prefers a straight semi-auto/full-auto selector switch. We like our trigger finger to determine how many rounds we put down range on full-auto, not an artificial limiter. In any case, the SIG 556′s trigger action in the 3-round-burst-capable variant appears from what Mr. Poole wrote to be superior to the Colt M4 Carbine trigger with regard to smoothness and consistency.
I like their caliber offering. It looks like they will be competing with the Magpul Masada.
More here.
Worth a read
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and Civilians of Multi-National Force-Iraq:
As 2007 draws to a close, you should look back with pride on what you, your fellow troopers, our Iraqi partners, and Iraqi Coalition civilians have achieved in 2007. A year ago, Iraq was racked by horrific violence and on the brink of civil war. Now, levels of violence and civilians and military casualties are significantly reduced and hope has been rekindled in many Iraqi communities. To be sure, the progress is reversible and there is much more to be done. Nonetheless, the hard-fought accomplishments of 2007 have been substantial, and I want to thank each of you for the contributions you made to them.
More at SWJ
I came across these photos, of the recent Chinese Indian war games, showing the QBZ-95 in use. Although they could be the QBZ-97 (5.56mm version), I cannot tell the difference.
They let the Indians have a go!
Hat Tip: MilitaryPhotos.net
