The Firearm Blog

Mossy Oak have launched a new camo pattern designed for …

… hardcore whitetail hunters who hunt from an elevated position. Treestand offers whitetail hunters the ideal camouflage solution for altering their silhouette among the bare limbs of a tree in late fall.

Some photos


The press release

Mossy Oak, the industry leader in camouflage design, is proud to introduce its newest pattern, Treestand, designed specifically for hardcore whitetail hunters who hunt from an elevated position. Treestand offers whitetail hunters the ideal camouflage solution for altering their silhouette among the bare limbs of a tree in late fall.

“Hunting whitetails from a tree is one of our favorite pursuits here at Mossy Oak,” said founder and CEO Toxey Haas. “If we took the time to add up all the hours that our staff has spent in a treestand over the years, we’d probably wonder just how anything gets done around here. But it is exactly that dedication to the sport that helps us bring you a pattern as effective as Treestand.”

Nearly 20 years ago, Mossy Oak introduced the original version of Treestand and revolutionized the way we look at camo by being the first to incorporate tree limbs into a pattern. Almost two decades later, Treestand now utilizes digital technology to exactly reproduce the details and subtleties of actual tree limbs laid over the neutral tones most commonly seen when looking up through bare trees.

“This pattern was specifically designed with the elevated hunter in mind,” said Butch English, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mossy Oak. “Treestand is built to defeat the ‘deer’s eye view’ of looking up through the limbs of bare trees. Our new Treestand pattern is the ultimate camo for the over 12 million hunters that hit the woods each year in pursuit of whitetails.”

Looks alright.

Scope ring lapping is when you grind off any uneven surfaces on the inside of scope rings. This means there is much less chance of your scope getting scraped or dented as well as allowing more of the ring surface to come into contact with the scope, allowing less movement.

A scope lapping device

From Michael Carlin (via TheFiringLine forum)

Lapping scope rings trues the rings to each other. The new rings may have been well machined, but when mounted on various (note the intent to imply differences) recievers of the same make they may not be perfectly aligned with each other.

This was one of the reasons that when I was young the one piece base was supposedly superior. It tended to limit the amount of misalignment that the gunsmith could induce in installing two piece base systems.

So what you ask?

This is very important, for if the tube is tweaked, kinked, or otherwise stressed, the internal adjustments will be “bound up” by the stresses. Imagine what would happen to any precision instrument that was twisted about its long axis. The amount of bind will adversely affect the repeatability of adjustment.

The best scopes in the world will not perform to their potential if their mount torques the tube, and binds up their internals.

Additionally, stresses applied to the tube tend to degrade the optical performance. Optimum optical performance requires that the optical centers of the elements (lens) be aligned. This is definitely not going to be true if we twist the scope out of shape squeezing it into misaligned rings.

Those of you who mount a scope on your 2+ minute of angle rifle to shoot deer at 100 yards, never “sight in” at any other range, and have not touched the adjustments of your scope for years may find all of this very boringly esoteric.

Those of you shooting any rifle any sight matches at 800, 900 and 1000 yards, as well as the silhouette shooters, and long range varminters/benchresters may consider this much more important.

Is lapping necessary? It depends. If your are installing a $40 scope on a $275 factory rifle to shoot factory loads at a large game animal at under 200 yards… probably not.

If you installing a $500 instrument on a rifle capable of using that level of precision due to its accuracy, it definitely is IMHO worth the limited expense and effort to do so.

Guns Magazine wrote a review of the Brownells scope ring lapper.

UPDATE:

I found a very good scope lapping tutorial here.

An interesting article on converting an Uzi into a Mini Uzi.

Hat Tip: Sear and Hammer

This is one of Kahr’s new pistols released this year.

Specs:

Caliber: .45 ACP
Capacity: 5+1
Barrel: 3.14″
Weights: Pistol 17.3 ounces, magazine 2 ounces
Retail: $838

More info here.

This is one of Kahr’s new pistols released this year.

Specs:

Caliber: .45 ACP
Capacity: 6+1
Barrel: 3.64″
Weight: 19.7 ounces, magazine: 2 ounces
Retail Price: $556

More here.

Wow! This is the 5 millionth Ruger 10/22 produced, and definitely the most beautiful (and expensive). It is currently being auctioned at GunBroker.com. The current bid is $4,500!

Click to enlarge the photos

The rifle features rich, hand-engraved scroll designs and gold highlights that complement the clean lines and legendary performance of this classic rifle. Full-cover engraving enhances the nickel-finished receiver, featuring scroll designs and a banner that reads “Five Millionth” highlighted with 24kt gold to recognize the milestone the rifle represents. Hand-cut engraving also adorns the barrel and barrel band, and the butt plate features full-coverage engraving and the monogram of William Batterman Ruger.

The rifle has been stocked with select American black walnut.

More photos

An interesting comparison between a suppressed .308 FAL vs. an Unsuppressed FAL.

The unsuppressed shot comes right at the end of the video.

They were using a AAC Cyclone 7.62MM Suppressor:

The CYCLONE is a thread-mounting silencer for 7.62mm bolt action and semi-automatic rifles. Constructed entirely from welded 300 series stainless steel, the 8.38″ Lg x 1.50″ diameter CYCLONE is the most compact and durable 7.62mm rifle silencer on the market. The computer optimized baffle stack of the CYCLONE delivers a substantial frequency shift, and the resulting muzzle report is indistinguishable from the ballistic crack of the projectile in flight. The weapon’s flash signature is completely eliminated, and recoil is reduced to the extent the shooter can actually see bullet impact through the scope. The slight added weight of the CYCLONE will assist in reducing barrel harmonics which can equate to a significant increase in accuracy with many host-weapons.

More on the suppressor here

Ninjamaster at HKPRO forum posted before and after pictures of his USP Tactical pistol which be gave the photoshop camo treatment.

I think it looks great.

More here.

DEMIGOD LLC has an interesting article on the .260 Remington, a necked down .308.

The .260 Remington provides long-range ballistics conventionally limited to the magnum calibers. Because its parent case is the ubiquitous .308 Winchester, building a rifle in .260 can be as easy as fitting a new barrel. The .260 provides much less wind drift and drop than .308 but has less recoil.

The hunting pedigree of 6.5 mm in Europe proves the caliber is formidable for practical use. For long-range shooters who want a better cartridge than .308, but don’t want the costs associated with big overbore magnums, the .260 is just the ticket.

More here

Now this looks like fun A machine gunner at the Northern Arizona Machine Gun Shoot 2003 shoots down an RC plane.

Robinson Arms make their M96 rifle in a variety of configurations, including a top fed bren style.

M96 Top Feed

The Top Feed or “BREN” transformation of the M96 can be done with no modification to the M96 receiver. The rear sight of the M96 rifle is remove and the lower receiver is attached where the rear sight was. The handguard is switched to the other side of the receiver. Two additional parts are necessary: a receiver cover with an offset rear sight; and a barrel with an offset front sight.

…

The BREN with its 30 round magazine extending out the top of the receiver could easily accept a 30 round magazine. The operator could shoot prone or from a fox hole while keeping a very low profile and without the magazine being ground into the dirt. Addtionally, the top fed rifles also benefit from more reliability because gravity aides in feeding rounds instead of against feeding rounds in conventional bottom fed rifles.

It looks cool. I am not sure if they still make the top feed kit.

More info here.

CMMG have announced an .50 Black Powder AR-15 Upper!

To fire, the powder charge and bullet are loaded via a ramrod. Using a standard magazine with a single shot follower, an unloaded 5.56 case is loaded into the mag, inserted in magazine well and loaded just like a standard rifle.

Once the rifle is fired, the empty brass is ejected manually and then reloaded.

…

It is a modified .223 case that uses a 209 primer. Currently .50 cal. Should have pricing and other specs tomorrow.

Interesting! As one commenter said

Can you imagine the face of an unsuspecting
game warden the first time he runs across these..

They have yet to announce pricing.

UPDATE

This isn’t a loaded case, it is a 209 primer in a piece of .223 brass. There is no way a live round or a blank will load into the “chamber”.

UPDATE

A video of it in action. Actually, it looks pretty good.

More at AR15.com

Hat Tip: Freedom Sight

The golden rule for firearm safety is usually attributed to Jeff Cooper.

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

I was reading the book “Cautions to Young Sportsmen” by Thomas Frankland, which was published 207 years ago. The golden rule has not changed.

You can read the book here.

I can’t believe this exists! It is a holster for a Taser with a built in MP3 player! It has just been announced at CES.

They call it the “TASER MPH Holster”.

Is it appropriate is it to be fiddling with a taser holster when riding public transport? Of course not! No more appropriate than playing with sword sticks or knives while on public transport.

I don’t know what TASER were thinking.

More here.

Hat Tip: Danger Room