The Firearm Blog

Watch this video ...

Surely this is very dangerous? Apparently the sport is more fun than sex.

Many thanks to Sven for the link.

In 1973 a pair of pistol made for Pedro IV of Portugal, worth 100,000 euros, where stolen from the Military Museum in Lisbon. They have finally been recovered. The Publico reports (translated with google) ...

Designed by master gunsmith Arsenal Real in Lisbon Thomás Jozé de Freitas, weapons (one-offs that charge after he unscrew the pipes, which are embedded in gold and silver) were eventually stolen, along with a set of parts lowest, by a burglar who at the time was right pages in the newspapers but that, far from being an Arsene Lupine, it would reveal a "brick" because that stole not meet even the approximate value of the goods. Still, it was celebrated by the method, but effective, he chose to commit the crime: he hid inside the museum, behind a large clock, and when he was alone, plundered what was at hand.

The pistols. Beautiful guns!

Thanks to my Portuguese source for sending me the photo and links.

Lock n' Load premiers today on Showtime at 8pm ET/PT today (Wednesday). The idea behind the show is hidden cameras placed around a gun store and shooting range.

It is being advertised on the Huff Post ... so be warned, it could be very very bad.

Thanks to Sven for alerting me to it.

The makers of the movie District 9 created a printable PDF "Prawn" target. It can be downloaded here. Another reader turned it into an printer friendly black-and-white image (The below image is just a thumbnail).

It can be downloaded here.

While on the topic of District 9, a friend of mine put together this nifty photoshop which I think really captures the mood of the film ...

Thanks to David for the target link, the anonymous reader for providing a printer friendly version and my friend for his photo(shop)

UPDATE:

Isaac just emailed me a PDF that is a vectorization of the above target. This means that the PDF can be scaled to any size without loss of quality. It can be downloaded here.

Thanks Isaac.

Advocate posted this comment on my blog post about the H&K / ATI lawsuit ...

I really think its important to remember that they sued over trademark and trade dress infringement ... not patent infringement. Very different things.

Add to that the fact that ATI openly claimed it to be a MP5 lookalike:

Add to that the fact that HK can absolutely smother them in legal fees and you have a no win situation for ATI.

Love them or hate them i feel HK had the legal right to pursue this course.

... i’m just glad i got my gsg-5 long ago

I had forgotten about that advertisement.

This video shows Groot Mamba, a reader of the blog, rapidly firing the NTW 20mm rifle. Groot is firing the 20X82mm round, which is, in a sense, a "20mm Short" round. When firing a projectile that can carry a high explosive warhead, kinetic energy is not necessarily required against soft targets because energy can be delivered with the chemical payload - hence the lower powered cartridge.

Groot says that the larger, and more common, 20x110mm round is nicer to fire because the muzzle brake is more effective.

Murdoc, of Gun Pundit, is asking gun blog readers if they can fill out a quick survey about personal protection.

REMOV let me know that H&K have redesigned their version of the FN MAG 7.62mm machine gun (designated the L7A2 in the British Army). The new models have been completely redrawn from imperial to metric and also feature a lengthly picatinny rail (what self-respecting military firearm does not these days?).

There are two models, one being slightly shorter than the other.

Manroy Engineering have also redesigned their ME 7.62 GPMG, which is a mix of features from the L7A2 and MAG 58.

A big thank you to REMOV for the photos and information.

The Automag was a revolutionary pistol when it was invented. It is recoil operated and uses rotating bolt similar to the AR-15. Despite the gun being a commercial failure (it cost far more to make than the sale price), it was the inspiration for the Desert Eagle and the Wildey autoloader pistols.

The original Automag which chambered the .44 AMP. From Gunbroker.

Jeff Cooper attributed the design to gunsmith Max Gera, although his name did not appear on the final patent. After a falling out with the boss he sold his share of the company and, after a brief stint at Charter Arms, fell off the face of the Earth. Even his daughter had no idea where he was until earlier this year, after three decades in obscurity, when he contacted the author of a book about the AutoMag. Bruce Stark interviewed Max in April and it is a fascinating read ...

First, who is Max Gera ? In the March 1970 issue of Guns & Ammo magazine, Jeff Cooper twice credits Max Gera as the designer of the Auto Mag and refers to him as Auto Mag Corp.'s Design and Engineering Manager. Max was also named as co-inventor of the Auto Mag on the first patent application which was later abandoned. Max's name didn't appear on the final patent.

In October of 1970, Max sold off his interests in the Auto Mag and left Harry Sanford.

After Auto Mag Corp. declared bankruptcy in May of 1972, Max was blamed by some for causing Auto Mag to fail. These were mostly just rumors. However in a letter to Deputy Ed Lippert in July of 1972, Jeff Cooper of Guns & Ammo explained why Auto Mag Corp. went bankrupt. The letter blamed Max and typified the type of rumors that were flying around at the time. Max has asked me to remove this letter from this work as it is inflammatory, libelous and damaging to my reputation.

The above photo is of an AutoMag that was auctioned off earlier this year by the son of Harry Sanford, who owned the company that made the pistol. He claimed to be the brains behind the operation and that Max was just the machinist. His son obviously also thinks so. From the auction ...

You guys that have been watching these AutoMag auctions and have probably been wondering when will it end. Well, it does with this one...with the exception of one gun which we are trying to get from a family member that may never show up. This is the last AutoMag from the Harry W. Sanford estate.

The guy that read Col. Coopers article in 1958 about a .44 magnum rimless cartridge. In the 60's, as I was a kid, I hung out with Max Gera. He had some thoughts on my Dad's idea of an M-16 rotating bolt magazine pistol in .44 Mag. He started some machining on a crude milling machine and I was there when he shot his first shot in a hole in the back of my Dad's gun shop. They were on there way.

Max had different ideas. He was bought out and my Dad brought some partners in. It was some wild times. Every gun guru in the world was flying in to see this new pistol. The first AutoMag rolled off the production line about two years behind schedule. They were beautiful -- all hand-machined and fitted. They were the best AutoMags ever to be made.

So who really designed it? I think we will never really know. There seems to be much evidence that Max was the designer, but in business rarely does the brains really get the credit, usually it is the guy who paid the bills ... or at least that is my experience.

By the way, that pistol was auctioned off for over $6000! Some more photos of it ...

Many thanks to Ken for the link.

Because Australians are not allowed semi-automatic guns, rifle manufacturers make some interesting bolt and pump action conversions of AR-15s, AKs and other rifles for the Australian market.

H&K produce a special version of their SL8, itself a consumer friendly version of the G36, for the Australian market called the R8. It functions as a bolt action. The rifle is not manufactured with a gas system, that is then blocked to make it single shot, as other single shot conversions have been.

H&K R8

Last year H&K Australia were informed that they could not longer import the R8 because it is duplicates a military rifle. They are pissed because as you can see below it barely resembles the G36. The R8 receivers and barrels were never capable of functioning as a semi-auto (or at least that is what they claim).

Earlier in the year H&K again entered into proceeding to get it reclassified.

Many thanks to Ben for sending me the documents relating to the story.