The Firearm Blog

Sear and Hammer has posted a very honest account of some accidents he has had with firearms and the importance of learning proper firearm safety.

You handle firearms enough and at some time you will have an unintentional discharge. I know, I know, there are people who claim that their firearms never fired unless they intended them to. Typically these folks either go to the range very little, rarely carry a firearm, or are just plain liars.

Let me tell you about a couple of instances where I’ve found myself surprised by the report of a firearm.

I HIGHLY recommend reading this.

More here.

From AccurateShooter.com

One of our readers asked “What effect does altitude have on the flight of a bullet?” The simplistic answer is that, at higher altitudes, the air is thinner (lower density), so there is less drag on the bullet. This means that the amount of bullet drop is less at any given flight distance from the muzzle. Since the force of gravity is essentially constant on the earth’s surface (for practical purposes), the bullet’s downward acceleration doesn’t change, but a bullet launched at a higher altitude is able to fly slightly farther (in the thinner air) for every increment of downward movement. Effectively, the bullet behaves as if it has a higher ballistic coefficient.

Worth a read. More here.

It seems the Afghans are moving to the AR platform, along with the Georgians.

After a frustratingly long three-year wait, the fledging Afghan National Army finally has a new weapon in its arsenal: the Canadian C7 rifle.

Some 42 boxes of surplus weapons arrived at the ANA base just up the road from Kandahar Airfield last week, Brig.-Gen. Gul Aqa said Wednesday in an interview with The Canadian Press. And training is already underway. Aimed at replacing the Afghan army’s old Soviet-era AK-47s in order to bring the force’s fire power capabilities in line with that of NATO countries, the Canadian rifles are a welcome addition, Aqa said. “They’re very modern and new weapons and the C7 is a real necessity for the ANA,” he said through a translator. He said the AK-47s often jam, leaving soldiers vulnerable to enemy fire. “It’s the difference between old and new.”

It’s a project that’s been in the works for several years.

The C7 rifle

Hat Tip: The Western Star

A clip from the U.S. Army’s International Sniper Competition.

I missed this. If any one recorded this please let me know.

From the Metro:

A pantomime troupe has been ordered to keep its toy weapons under lock and key – because of health and safety rules.

The amateur dramatics society imagined its plastic cutlasses, wooden swords and gun that fires a ‘Bang’ flag were harmless enough for a production of Robinson Crusoe.

However, it was a case of ‘Health and safety officers are behind you’ when they were told to call in police to ensure every ‘weapon’ was safe. The toy gun must now be kept in a safe box in a locked room when not in us

Photos of the dangerous weapons:

I am pleased I don’t live in the UK, with all of those kids running around with guns and knives. It must be a dangerous place.

I came across some nice Steyr AUG photos at MilitaryPhotos.net.

More here.

Alex Robinson sent me an email saying that the Robinson Arms XCR 6.5mm (I assume it is the 6.5mm Grendel) caliber conversion kit will be shipping in the second week of February and the 7.62×39mm kit near the end of February.

Robinson Armament XCR

Robinson arms recently caused some controversy over their support of Mitt Romney.

If you want to start your day with a egged shaped gun, or if you already have the M1911 tequila bottle then this is for you.

Personally I prefer my eggs roundish…

DEMIGOD has written a comparison of the 6.5mm rounds: the .260 Remington vs. 6.5×47 Lapua vs. 6.5 Creedmoor.

It’s been a good year for 6.5 mm. The .260 Remington has hit full stride after a ramp-up of several years, with top competitors at most field-style long-range matches shooting it. Lapua’s 6.5×47 saw the first wave of custom LR rifles built around it in 2007 and proved to be just as good as people hoped. Finally, Hornady is announcing its new 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge at SHOT 2008. How do these three mid-size 6.5 mm cartridges stack up against one another? I spent much of 2007 figuring out the answer to that question.

6.5mm Creedmoor

More here.

Blogging should resume as normal tomorrow (19th January).

I will be away for a few days and will not be able to update the blog until 17 January. Please check back then.

According the Guns Magazine the US Army and Navy have purchased 10,576 M9 pistols (I do wonder how they come up with these exact numbers).

Beretta USA received purchase orders from the US Army and US Navy for a total of 10,576 M9 pistols (5,969 for the Army, 4,607 for the Navy). The purchase orders were issued against a multi-year contract between Beretta and the US Army, which serves as executive purchasing agent of the M9 pistol for all branches of the US Armed Forces.

So the M9 is not going anywhere in the near future.

“The Beretta M9 pistol remains the most reliable and well-tested handgun in the US military inventory, with tests resulting in an average of only one malfunction every 20,500 rounds fired.”

Apart from the special forces it is the only pistol, isn’t it?

According to wikipedia the last big order was in 2006 for 70,000 pistols.

GunPorn wrote a post on this very interesting shotgun. It is a reverse pump action bullpup shotgun invented by a South African company.

From what appears to be the official website.

Neostead Features

* Selectable twin tube magazine
* 13 shot capacity
* Overall length is 27 inches with full length barrel of 22.5 inches
* Totally ambidextrous as all controls are centrally mounted
* Pump action is reversed
* Straight line stock with magazines above barrel
* Negligible muzzle lift
* Intergral carry handle houses ghost ring sights
* High stength polymers for main external components
* Boltless design
* Sling swivels on top

Safety Features

* Trigger safety locks trigger positively
* Pump handle operates trigger disconnector
* Pump lock
* Firing pin positive return
* Out of battery firing prevention
* Reversed pump action

Wikipedia has this to say

The NeoStead 2000 (NS2000) is a type of shotgun developed by the South African company NeoStead. Along with the Pancor Jackhammer, it is considered one of the most technologically advanced shotguns ever created. The NS2000 has been used in trial runs for a few years by special forces like the British SAS and there are hopes at NeoStead that larger weapons manufacturers will license the production rights. Production of the shotgun began in 2001 and the first models were made available in October of that year.

The NS2000 is a 12-gauge pump action shotgun weighing in at just over 3kg, designed primarily for security and civil disturbance situations.

The firearm includes a 22.5 inch (572mm) barrel despite the overall weapon length of just 27 inches (686mm). The short length makes the weapon easier to handle in close quarter situations however, unlike most firearms of this type, it can still remain accurate at relatively long ranges. The long barrel length is achieved by using a bullpup configuration, with a rear-fed tubular magazine.

Another aspect of the NS2000 is its dual six round magazines. The selector switch can be set to left, right, or alternating. For example in riot conditions less-lethal flexible baton rounds can be used with standard rounds in reserve.

A possible production variant of the NS2000 has an 18 inch barrel in a weapon with an overall length of 22 inches. The shorter length reduced the magazine capacity to 5+5 rounds and makes the weapon easier to import or license in many countries.

Its pump mechanism operates in a forward-back motion, due to its rear-load configuration. This is different from conventional pump methods as the pump action is achieved by shifting the hand forward-back, as opposed to the standard back-forward motion of the non-trigger hand.

Some more photos

This photo makes it look a bit like a side by side shotgun. The two cylinders next to each other on the top are the magazines.

Patent application drawings:

This shows how the magazines are inserted:

Silencer Research has posted an impressive comparison of 19 different .22lr suppressors.

These tests were conducted on January 5, 2008 using 19 silencers from various manufacturers around the country. Some of the best silencers in the world were measured in this test. The test was fired using the Walther P22 pistol and a bolt action rifle manufactured in Russia call the Tula Toz 78. This is the preliminary release of this data and more individual reviews will become available as time permits.

Unfortunately, they require you to register (for free) to view the info and the videos are normal windows video files, not hosted on youtube type sites. They really need to get into this blogging ‘thing’.

What is interesting is that the second best suppressor, with regards to noise reduction, costs $295.00 while the worst costs $595.00! I have always said I do not trust these ‘high tech’ expensive suppressors.