The Firearm Blog

Shooters Depot have developed an interesting suppressor design called the ARIES system. The actual suppressor is held two inches ahead of the muzzle by a free floating over-barrel heat sink.

The bottom photo shows the heat sink (the long tube), the suppressor (the short tube) and the barrels.

The Carbon Fiber heat shield tube attaches to the threads in the back of the barrel (by the receiver) and the front of the tube has 4 metal protrusions to keep the tube aligned. These protrusions are touching the barrel also working as an effective stabilizer for the barrel's harmonics and the extended tube is also working as a flash hider when the suppressor is not attached. The major benefit of the system is that the suppressor is attached to the threads inside the tube and stays 2 inches away from the barrel, not adding ANY weight to the muzzle (the weight is transferred to the thread near the receiver) so there is NO POINT OF IMPACT CHANGE.

16" and 14.5" AR-15

This design does not come cheap with prices starting at $2500!

Big thank you to Jesse for the link.

I recently blogged about boot pistols, a type of early CCW gun carried during the Civil War and postbellum era. The feminine equivalent of the boot pistol was the muff gun. (the name refers to the original definition¹ , not the modern day slang). They were the same sort of concept just smaller and would have probably fired a smaller load (please correct me if I am wrong).

This matched set was recently up for auction at GunBroker. The reserve price of $1525 was not met.

Photos by "zocalo"

Many thanks to Fred for the info.

When someone says a pistol fired on its own, it almost always means they pulled the trigger by accident. That is what I assumed when I read the title of this article in the St. Petersburg Times, but the massacre that followed suggests otherwise (emphasis mine) ...

Moments before, Sherri Thourot had watched her husband fire and reload the Jennings 9mm. Then he set it down for her to shoot next at the range.

That's when the handgun started firing on its own, she said, spinning around in circles, landing the Thourots and an Irish tourist in the hospital.

I once belonged to a club with a private range. Club members had shot themselves in the foot at least a few times in the club's recent history. This happened when race guns with hair triggers were drawn from a holster. The pistol would fire a burst into the shooters foot and an ambulance would need to be called.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said the gun may have been altered, leading to the malfunction. Detectives expect to know more when they take the gun apart and inspect it as they continue to investigate.

Sherri Thourot said her son, 29-year-old Jeremy, brought the 9mm back to the United States after one of his tours in Iraq with the Navy. He gave it to them this summer.

So it may have been a souvenir from Iraq. They do not list the exact model of the Jennings pistol and I don't know much about those guns, other than they were budget pistols.

Jennings Model 58

Flynn was listed in stable condition at the hospital, while Michael Thourot was released Sunday. His wife said doctors put pins in his hand to help heal shattered bone.

...

But the freak accident won't keep her away from guns.

"I can't allow something like this to cause me to be afraid of something I've done all my life."

I am very glad they are all ok.

Many thanks to Mason for the link.

Noah has created a website to help Canadians who are interested in getting a "Possession and Acquisition License" (gun license). It is well worth passing onto Canadian friends or relatives who are interested in getting their license.

You're going to have to wade knee deep into Canada's nearly two billion dollar firearms registry boondoggle. But it's not as bad as it sounds; and you're already paying for it with your tax dollars, so why not get something out of it?

After my US readers, Canadians make up the second biggest group of readers on the blog.

UPDATE: Solomon, a criminal defence lawyer practicing in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has also started a blog about firearm ownership in Canada.

Some time ago I posted a video of Michael shooting one of his Saiga-12 shotguns. He got in touch with me and explained that since then he has become a passionate Saiga-12 nut and now sells custom Saiga-12's.

Michael, who work as a designer / jeweler / metal smith, bought his first Saiga-12 when ammunition was becoming scare and he wanted a shotgun so that he could use the relatively cheap and available 12 gauge ammunition. One thing led to another and customizing these guns became a passion of his.

Modifications include ...

• Enhanced action with honed, mirror finished bolt, bolt carrier, carrier rails, and feed ramp.

• Four or five vent, polished and ported enhanced gas system with mirror finished, builder modified gas plug.

Those Jeweling skills come in handy. Beautiful!

• Custom modified, sculpted and vented fore end with integrated Command Arms 2" picatinny rail.

• Modified Tapco G2 trigger control group with honed and sculpted mirror finished contact surfaces on hammer.

• Tapco Galil style folding stock tapped and mounted with extra heavy duty torque bolts.

• Tapco M249 style Saw grip with builder designed custom heavy duty receiver mount.

• Flawless cycling with all types of 2 3/4" and 3" 12 gauge ammo.

• Durable, high heat ceramic enamel finish.

Concept for a SBS (Short Barreled Shotgun)

He does not have a website but he can be emailed at mm_rogers [] yahoo [] com (replace [] with correct character) or contacted on the phone (505-263-8822).

I just want to clear something up ...

The phrasing on one of the blog posts yesterday gave some readers the impression that I thought civilians should not be allowed to own suppressors. While I admit the wording was ambiguous, I am very surprised that readers of this blog would get that idea after I have spent two years writing about the joys of suppressors!

I happen to own multiple suppressors and I am very much a civilian! I can name far more reasons why a civilian shooter should use a suppressor than I could for military users.

Some years ago Ruger was not giving customers what they wanted but they have really turned things around. Following on from the recently launched tacti-cool Ruger SR-22, the newest in the 10/22 line is the Ruger 10/22 VLEH Target Tactical Carbine. It is essentially a new version of the Ruger 10/22T (Target) styled after the Ruger M77 Hawkeye Tactical, which was also launched this year.

Ruger 10/22 VLEH Target Tactical Rifle

The 10/22 VLEH¹ features a Hogue OverMolded stock, in my opinion the best for the Ruger 10/22. The barrel is 16" heavy .920" profile match-grade barrel with target crown. It has the same trigger group as the Ruger 10/22T, which is much superior to the standard factory trigger. To top it all off, a bipod is included.

The VLEH configuration is almost identical to my favorite 10/22 configuration. It makes perfect sense for hunting and general plinking. My only complaint would be the lack of iron sights, although few people will miss them.

Hat Tip: Down Range TV

This was rumored and denied by founder Kevin Brittingham ( at least that is what I was told ) but the deal closed on 2 October and suppressor manufacturer AAC is now a division of Remington Military Products Division (MPD).

“We welcome Kevin and his team of engineers and designers on board,” commented Theodore (Ted) Torbeck, CEO of Remington and its parent, Freedom Group, Inc. “With the acquisition of AAC, we can enhance our research and development capabilities and deliver a more competitive product to the end user; further strengthening Remington’s position in the domestic and international markets.”

I think there will be many changes to AAC in the future. They have a unique company culture and I wonder if it will survive the Remington takeover.

AAC Advertisement.

Remington is owned by The Freedom Group, which is the firearm division of Cerberus Capital Management.

The Freedom Group's subsidiaries

UPDATE:

Jason from ACC has just posted this on the ACC blog ...

The crew that you know will still be here doing what we do. AAC is still AAC, but we will be moving into a brand new much larger space, and have access to more R&D and production resources than ever. We are really excited about what the future holds.

Don’t worry, we will continue to make cans for guns from every manufacturer and their various models- and stock and delivery issues will soon be a thing of the past! More news soon.

Surefire are attempting to carve out a new niche with their two new "tactical" suppressors. These tiny suppressors only add a few inches to an M4 Carbine or Colt Commando. Gear Scout reports:

Surefire snuck out two new 5.56mm suppressors at Modern Day Marine Expo. The Mini and the Micro are stubby little suckers that add barely 3.6 and 2.6 inches to a weapon’s muzzle but cut down weapon signature and improve unit communication.

There is nothing magical about suppressors and they are bound to the same laws of physics as everything else. While suppressor manufactures are continuously tweaking their cans in order to maximize the sound reduction vs. weight / size ratio, ultimately if you shrink a suppressor you will reduce its effectiveness.

I doubt these will be sold to civilians. I cannot think of a single good reason why a civilian would want to purchase one of these particular suppressors, when a suppressor a few inches longer will give much better performance.

UPDATE: I may have come across as anti-suppressor. I am not. I own two and hope to buy a third within a year. They are incredibly useful and there is no reason why civilian sales should be restricted. But these particular suppressors are tiny - smaller than my .22 Rimfire suppressor - the sound reduction would be minimal. I would call it a "sound reducer" rather than a "sound suppressor". What I meant to say is that I cannot think why a civilian would pay for these particular suppressors.

Many thanks to Jesse for the link.

Inspired by the Double Barrel Pump Action we saw on Les Jones's blog, HerrKenny decided to make his own, more professional looking, "Moe Szyslak Special".

The odd shape makes the photo look screwed. It is not.

Centered Bead. "Persuasion" chokes (sharp edged).

Duel Extended Magazines - 16 shot capacity.

The underside.

I am very impressed by the workmenship that went into this gun and I am sure there would be many out there who would pay good money for it.

Moe Szyslak sporting his iconic double barreled pump gun

Thanks to Jake for helping me find out about this gun.