The Firearm Blog

SayUncle reports that Alliant Techsystems are laying off workers for the second time from their Federal Cartridge Ammunition plant in Anoka. Apparently their order backlog is at an end.

At first glance this seems insane given the availability of reasonably priced ammo. One reason could be that the market for premium hunting ammunition has decreased.

One of the premium brands manufactured is Cape Shok dangerous game ammunition. It could be possible, in our current global economic state, hunters cannot afford to travel to the parts of the world where dangerous game is found.

Why they do no tool up to produce more cheap “tactical” ammo is a mystery.

The Carabinieri (Italian gendarmerie) have seized a pen gun from a mobster in Naples.

.22 Short rounds and one standard (subsonic) .22 Long Rifle

My memory is pretty bad but I think it was 6 months ago when the Italian police captured one of those cell phone guns from another mobster.

SFGate reports:

A Carabinieri paramilitary officer holds a .22-caliber pen gun that was confiscated from a man in Naples. According to reports, Carabinieri were investigating if the weapon has been used in crimes or “acts of intimidation.”

Hat Tip: Zeon @ MP.net

I have joined the twitter thing! My account is steve9×19. If you use twitter please go ahead and follow to me.

I read about this re-tweeting thing. I don’t really get it, but I hear it is how you let other people know about someones twitter account. So if you are feeling generous please re-tweet me

I was amazed the other day on twitter. I googled for some IT topic and found a tweet (a twitter message) asking the same thing. So I replied to that guys message and it turns out he is also a gun nut! What are the odds?

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, 9×19mm is what is commonly called 9mm Luger / Parabellum.

Armed Canadian describes the bolt action French MAS36 rifle as classic “weapon of war”. It features no safety what-so-ever (including no mosin-nagant type “safeties”) and an integral bayonet that is stored under the barrel.

Despite its classic and attractive stock, the MAS36 is a weapon meant to shed blood and it shows in its design. One non-visible aspect of this is the fact the MAS36 has no safety whatsoever. Childproof this rifle is not. The moment you chamber a round, the rifle is ready to shoot. MAS36s were often carried on patrol with no round in the chamber and the soldier cycling the bolt to load a round the moment combat occurred.

Read the very interesting homage to the “weapon of war” here

At SHOT Crosman unveiled two new PCP air rifles: the Challenger 2009 and the Benjamin PCP Marauder.

The Challenger 2009 is an upgrade of the Challenger 2000 and is designed for three-position air rifle competition.

The new challenger features a fully adjustable, match grade trigger. The individual shooter can adjust length of pull, seer engagement and trigger weight. The breech has also been completely redesigned to the loading port is farther forward to accommodate a new ambidextrous PCP bolt action. The breech redesign also allows for more eye relief adjustment. The rear diopter sight can be adjusted for all three shooting positions. The new breech also made it possible to incorporate a floating choked Lothar Walther barrel.

…

Because this gun is specifically designed for three-position shooting the velocity will be factory set at 530 fps for a minimum of 70 shots.

Its will sell for $549.99 and should be available in May.
The Crosman Benjamin PCP Marauder is an interesting air rifle. According to Crosman is is integrally suppressed … or something like that:

The Marauder features an internally shrouded barrel that captures the sound and makes this gun significantly quieter than any gun we have released and makes it one of the quietest guns on the market today.

The Marauder has been designed to operate at a starting fill pressure of 2000 PSI. However, this gun can be filled to a higher fill pressure of 3000 PSI for even more shots at a sustained velocity of 1100 fps with .177 caliber and 1000 fps at .22 caliber. The Marauder offers our Dual Fuel technology so it can be filled with CO2 for more shots at a lower velocity.

The Marauder will be available in April for $529.

Seen over at GunPundit:

Click to expand. Comic Strip from Dilbert.com

heh

A while back I covered diamond rifle sights, and recently I became aware that Trijicons “Bright & Tough” night sights use a sapphire crystal to focus light into the tritium lamp.

Pretty cool. The Brownells description of the night sights:

Nighttime and low light shooting tests prove sights equipped with these glowing dots are easier to see and more accurate than instinctive shooting with standard black sights. Rugged, heavy duty, Traser®, luminous, 3-Dot tritium lamps provide their own long-lasting energy source. Lamps are mounted in silicone-sealed, metal cylinders to give maximum protection from breakage or leakage. Polished sapphire, crystal windows give a bright, crisp and perfectly round aiming dot in low light. Inlaid white rings around each sapphire make the sights appear as standard white dots in daylight. Very narrow blades do not have the white ring and will look more like a plain black blade in daylight. Most can be installed in factory dovetail or sight base. Glock® models require use of special Trijicon installation tools to prevent sight damage.

I do not know the MSRP but Brownells have them listed for $99 – $145 depending on the handgun model.

Any volunteers to update the Wikipedia page for Sapphire with by far the coolest use of the stone?

[ I make no money what-so-ever from linking to Brownells and have no business relationship with them. ]

The Anarchangel has tips on preventing your AR-15 rifle turning into an expensive bolt action.

So it seems like Ambulance Driver is having a little trouble with his AR. It’ll run for 30-100 rounds, then it becomes a straight pull bolt action.

Well, we’ve all been there at one time or another. Hell, I had it happen to me at a rifle event once (bad ammo).

More here.

Dr. StrangeGun has taken a bunch of photos showing how to detail strip a 1911 pistol.

Dr. StrangeGun’s 1911 based Space Gun (MechTech CCU 1911 carbine)

Read it here.

Engadget are reporting that Vissumo touchscreens can take a couple of 9mm rounds and still be functional.

Go watch the video at Engadget, it is very impressive.

StrategyPage has a article about the resurgence of Lee-Enfield rifles in Afghanistan and use against NATO troops:

Afghan traditionalists are changing the way the Taliban fight. This can be seen by the increase in the use of sniping by the Taliban. In the last year, NATO units in southern Afghanistan estimate there has been a 25 percent increase in sniping incidents.

…

Then some of the young guys remembered grandpa decrying the decline in marksmanship years ago. Back before the Russians showed up, in the 1980s, the best an Afghan could hope to have was a World War II, or World War I, era bolt action rifle. These weapons were eclipsed in the 1980s by full automatic AK-47s and the RPG rocket launcher. The young guys took to the AK, and the thrill of emptying a 30 round magazine on full automatic. Not bad for a brief firefight, and suddenly hardly anyone, except a few old timers, wanted to use the old bolt action rifle.

Read the entire article here.

Lee-Enfield rifle No. 4 Mk I (From Wikipedia)

According to the book Charlie Wilson’s War, supplying .303 ammunition was initially a priority of the CIA during the 1980s. The Afghans were already armed with Lee-Enfield rifles of WWI and WWI vintage and there was greater deniability supplying then obsolete ammunition. Once the CIA gained more funding and political support they shifted thier startergy to supplying AK-47, heavy weapons and ultimately the Singer surface-to-air missile system.

This war is often incorrectly compared to the Soviet invasion. The Taliban do not represent the Afghan people nor are they as well supplied as the Afghan freedom fighter were by the US, Pakistan and Arab countries. The Taliban, while presumably well supplied, are fighting with less advanced weapons than they did back in the 1980’s. NATO forces on the other hand have come a long way. It is not surprise that sniping is on the increase. Force on force confrontations with NATO troops almost always end with high Taliban casualties.

Yes, you did you the title correctly. American Tactical Imports are bringing the Safir Arms T-14 stateside and calling it the AT-14.

T-14 Classic

Now you are probably asking yourself why would someone want such a gun? When I first learnt about the T-14 a few months ago I asked the same question. The T-14 is very popular in Europe. Many countries, including Turkey where the T-14 is manufactured, either ban semi-automatic rifles or make it hard to own one. This gun is the closest thing the average citizen can get to owning an AR-15.

So why is ATI bringing them to the USA where AR-15s are plentiful? I wondered about this myself. First of all they could be a popular hunting arm for AR-15 enthusiast for use in shotgun only hunting areas (I don’t hunt with a shotgun, so correct me if I am wrong). Ed Friedman made a good point that with the new self defense .410 ammunition from Federal this gun could make a good self defense weapon when over penetration is a concern. A .410 slug should give similar performance to a .357 Magnum.

The ATI advertisement.

Guns.ru describe the gas system as follows:

The gas system utilizes annual (ring-type) short-stroke gas piston, located around the barrel

T-14 disassembly. One BIG spring

The gun can be seen in action in this youtube video:

ATI will be importing the Classic model and the Compact model. Both feature a A2 carry handle style upper receiver, fixed stock and 20″ barrel. The only different is the length of the handguard.

AT-14 Classic

AT-14 Compact

According to Ed a 5 round and 15 round magazine will be available. I have read that AR-15 magazines can be converted to hold 10 .410 rounds. Ed hopes to review the shotgun in an upcoming issue of Guns and Hunting.

UPDATE: The MSRP is $979 and dealer price is $800. They should be available shortly (thanks War Wolf and Todd for the info).

Reader CBN3 wrote a brief review of the Magnum Research Micro Eagle pistol and provided me with some high quality photos of its internals.

Bought one 12/6. First shot perfect bulls-eye. Range officer said I might as well go home.

A little hand pain atfer a box of ball rounds- all tight groups. Still a lot more confortable and fun than shooting my LCP. 5 ounces heavier but shorter and fits in by back pants pocket better and have carried it there since I bought it.
I think it is the CZ design but better quality materials and tooling being made in America. You can tell how nicely made it is as soon as you chamber a round.

It also has a unique design. Barrel ported and beautiful. Hammer forged and twists to disengage slide from frame, no pin. Has 2 small rods and springs on each side instead of 1 big one in the middle. Leave it to the Czechs. I think the big trigger guard is for a pilots glove. After all if it is the Kevin design, ZVI is a weapons designer and manufactures weapons and ammo for jet fighters. My guess is they made it to be a small carry for a downed pilot.

Just happened to be in the gun shop getting a credit on my returned Kahr 9 mm and was introduced to this thing. Almost didn’t buy it because it was unknown to me but just from the looks of it I knew it wouldn’t be there when I returned to get it.

I’m sold, great gun.

Click to expand the photos.

A big thanks to CBN3 for the great photos and review. If you purchase a recently released firearm and want to write a quick review and/or provide some photos, please contact me.

Canadian pistol manufacturer Para Ordnance are moving their headquarters and manufacturing to Charlotte NC. Charlotte Business Journal reports:

The company leased a Pineville facility and estimates 35 to 40 jobs will be filled, mostly in manufacturing and machining.

Para Chief Executive Thanos Polyzos says the company wanted to establish a U.S. headquarters to be eligible for more military and law-enforcement contracts.

How much of its manufacturing, if any, will remain in Canada is not clear.

UPDATE: JR @ Keyboard and a .45 has just point out that this also allows them to get round any import restrictions, now or in the future.

Hat Tip: I can’t remember where I saw this link! If it was your blog let me know