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. ]
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.
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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.
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 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
Previously I compiled a list of the Ten Manliest Firearms. I noted that variations on the list were certainly acceptable, but still ran into a bunch of grief from non-men who were unable to read, nor to grasp that real men don’t care if other real men disagree with them. Still, there are a LOT of guns out there, so I figured it was time to compile another list.
Today, the call of the flame is strong. Entire industries exist so that pussified office bunnies may feel its comfort, usually imprisoned behind glass and possibly with some frou-frou scented sparkly wax.
Hacko @ BlueGunBlog discovered an image that shows two different Glock Rough Textured Frames. The difference between the RTF2 and RTF3 can be seen in the image below.
Click to expand.
The G22 with the new frame that was at SHOT is the RTF2 model. I do not know if Glock ever plan on actually producing pistols with the RTF3 frame.
