The Firearm Blog

AcuSport have added .300 Win. Mag. and .223 Rem. to their Remington 700 line which features 5-R rifling. From the press release:

Following the huge success of the Remington Model 700 (#9663) with 5-R rifling in .308 caliber. AcuSport is pleased to add two new Model 700 rifles to the 5-R line. Features a M700 stainless steel barreled action with 5-R barrel, the same barrel, an aluminum bedding in block in standard VS configuration. The 5-R designation refers to the barrels five lands and grooves and eleven degree target crown.

5R rifling is said be to easier to clean because the sides of the lands are more rounded than conventional rifling making it easier for a cleaning patch to get into the groove. It also is said to prevent gas leakage. I believe the M24 Rem 700 variant uses 5R rifling.

I have emailed the PR guy at AcuSport asking what the MSRP is. When I know I will update this blog post.

UPDATE: MSRP is for .223 and .308 is $1,359. The 300WM has a suggested price of $1,379.

More info here (PDF link)

Very cool, it is even star-crimped. $97.77 at GreatBigStuff.com.

The new Charter Arms “On Duty” revolver is a double action .38 Special snub-nosed revolver designed for concealed carry. It has a low profile, partly concealed, hammer that allows it to be used in single action but is also less likely to be snagged on clothing.

It features:

* Lifetime warrantee
* Exclusive eight-groove gas sealing barrel,
* Exclusive three-point cylinder lock up, no screw side plates,
* Hammer block safety system
* Charter’s fastest factory revolver-lock time.

Specs:

Cartridge: .38 Special + P
Barrel length: 2″ stainless steel
Frame: 7075 aluminum alloy
Capacity: 5 round
Weight: 12 ounces

The MSRP is $400.

The Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the BAFTE. I have previously blogged about the case.

Hat Tip: Say Uncle

Laserlyte, makers of the infamous pistol bayonet, have developed a training laser device called the LT-1. The LT-1 is inserted into a pistol barrel and is sound activated by noise from the hammer striking the firing pin/transfer bar. Presumably it also works on striker fired pistols such as Glocks.

It comes supplied with a daylight target which has a reflective coating. When I suggested to the Laserlyte PR person that another person would be needed to spot “hits”, she told me that it is obvious when you hit the reflective target but another person spotting could be useful.

I think this could be very popular with proponents of point shooting – a pistol shooting technique where instincts instead of sights are used to aim.

It comes with adapters to fit pistols in calibers .22 – .50 with a barrel at least 4″ long.

More info here.

Ed, who blogs at Tell Me Why?, interviewed Tony from American Tactical Imports about their .410 AR-15 shotgun, the AT-14 (otherwise known as the T-14).

You can watch the video here.

It answers a question I have had: is the lower standard AR-15? The answer is that it is almost 100% mil-spec and with a minor modification it can be used with other AR-15 uppers.

AT-14 / T-14. More photos here.

Tony says that the rifle is classified by the ATF as sporting shotgun partly because of the 5-round magazine. I have read it is possible to use modified AR-15 30 round magazines. This does raise the issue of Section 922R Compliance – converting an imported sporting arm into a non-”sporting arm” that would not be allowed to be imported in the first place. Saiga shotgun owners know all about this.

(I know nothing about 922R compliance – just what I have read – so don’t take anything I have said as legal advice)

It should be easy to get enough US-made replacement AR-15 parts to make the shotgun classified as a US made firearm by the ATF. A problem may be people messing with the shotgun not realizing that just because it looks identical to the Bushmasters sold at the local gun store, the ATF have other ideas.

Any legal eagles who understand the issues are welcome to sound off in the comments.

In my recent article about the Norwegian H416 rifle, Mauken, a Norwegian soldier, posted a link to this article at aftenposten.no (I have translated it into english using google):

Soldiers may have been sick of the military’s new rifle

Army turns the alarm after a number of officers and soldiers have health problems after the shooting with the military’s new standard rifle, “HK 416″.

Gun are heirs to AG3, and is about to be phased in for all Armed Forces branches. Some departments, including the Norwegian soldiers in Afghanistan, has had the gun in about a year, writes Dagbladet.no.

Hærstaben have been in three different concern from messages incidents where about 40 skyttere have experienced various health problems. It has been reported that strong discomfort in the chest, neck and munnhule after the shooting, unpleasant cough for several hours after the shooting, nausea, fever, headache, joint and cold svetting after the shooting.

Chief of Staff in hærstaben, Brigadier Rune Jakobsen, have now initiated full investigation to find out what it evokes the most serious problems. It has already been initiated medical examinations of the involved personnel.

One of the main theories in the military is now working on the basis that it is the gunpowder gas from the ammo, and not the weapon, which causes problems. HK 416 uses a smaller caliber, and thus a different type than the old munitions AG3.

Norway has been using the H&K G3 which is chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO. The HK416 that is being adopted is an AR-15 derivative and chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO.

H&K G3 rifle. Photo from Wikipedia.

It is not uncommon for an ammunition producing country to develop a new powder specifically optimized for the a new cartridge / rifle combination when it is adopted by the nations’ armed forces. It is possible that this powder used in the Norwegian 5.56mm ammunition is toxic. Maybe the lubricant they are using reacts badly with the gas from the powder? Maybe plastic parts are melting and releasing a toxic vapor? It will be interesting to see how this story develops.

Thanks to Mauken for the link.

James of Hell in a Handbasket spotted this photo on a Peruvian travel blog. It is homemade percussion lock gun. The owner apparently uses homemade gun powder (not hard to do … but kids don’t try this at home).

If you have read this blog for a while, you know how much I like examining homemade guns

Smooth bore or rifled? Probably smoothbore, looks like a pipe for a barrel.

More info about the gun at Hell in a Handbasket.

Ruger is asking people to submit photos to RugerPhoto.com for possible inclusion in the next Ruger catalog.

One of the photos submitted. Taken by Suzanne Cecci.

There are four categories of photos: “Friends and Family”, “Trophy Room”, “Tricked-Out 10/22 Rifles” and “Ruger Gallery” (the latter being photos of guns only).

James @ The Next Chapter bought himself a .22 / .410 M6 Scout take down rifle.

Taken down and packed for transport.

More photos and information at The Next Chapter.