The Firearm Blog

Each of these lowers is a limited edition.

Magpul lower ...

ARFCOM lower ...

[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]

A set of cool gun pics can be seen over at Swiss Gun Blog.

Over at EveryDayNoDayOff there is a discussion about this gigantic 12 gauge revolver confiscated from a Taiwanese man.

Picatinny rail on top ... nice touch!

"Made in USA" ... yea right!

[ Many thanks to Justin for emailing me the link (I missed it on EveryDayNoDayOff, which I regularly read) ]

I think Bushmaster is on to a real winner with their new AR-10 style carbine. Priced at just $1395 it is a fantastic entry-level rifle.

It features a A3-style receiver and premium 16" heavy profile chrome lined barrel, mid length gas system, A2-style flashhider, heavy oval hand guards

Like its 5.56mm ORC cousin, it does not ship with iron sights, and is designed for use with optics (scope, hologram, etc.) although iron sights can easily be added to the rear A3-style picatinny rail and Bushmaster’s BMAS Front Flip-up Sight for V Match Rifles can be mounted on the milled gas block. It ships with two 1/2" risers which can be used to raise up a scope if needed.

I really want one of these!

This US Navy training video at GENE SLOVERS US NAVY PAGES website shows how the 1950s mechanical fire control computers worked. It is explained simply enough for a layman to understand. I found it fascinating to watch. It is crazy to think that the ballistic software on my $199 iPod Touch can do nearly everything that this huge mechanical device did.

UPDATE: Part 2 can be watched online here. Thanks to Steve for the link.

Blackberry stops a bullet after boyfriend negligently discharge pistol at a restaurant. The Dayton Daily reports ...

The sleeve got caught in the coat, and as Holtvogt reached down, he noticed the slide on the .32-caliber handgun was pulled back. The gun then discharged.

The slug put a hole through his coat and his girlfriend’s jeans, but struck the BlackBerry in her left pants pocket dead center, Bush said. The bullet caused only bruising, and the woman declined medical treatment, Bush said.

“The BlackBerry saved her absolutely,” Bush said. “It could have been pretty serious.”

Walker, Texas Ranger fans may remember, in the first season, Walker chastising his partner for using an electronic organizer. He claimed a phone book had once saved his life by stopping a bullet, something a electronic gadget could not do. Good to see cell phones have finally caught up with the ballistic protection offered by phone books

[Hat Tip: SayUncle]

There seem to be lots of KABOOMs recently. Is it the weather?

B18C5-EH2 wrote about his Kahr PM9 KB experience at The Firing Line forum ...

We read through the manual and I bought a 100 count box of Winchester "white box" from a local store. My "gun guy" friend had 200 rounds of ammo for us to use too as he'd gone through 1800 rounds of the stuff before selling his last 9mm pistol.

I disassembled and cleaned the pistol to make sure it was ready for firing.

--The KaBOOM!!! --

We took the PM9 to an indoor range for my wife and I to begin the "task" of breaking it in.

First 140 or so rounds went without incident except for one failure to eject - I expected more issues seeing as how some other internet stories included FTF and FTEs during the break-in period. We exhausted the Winchester 100 rounds, and then went onto the ammo my friend had given us. It was GA Arms "factory loaded" ammo.

If you're not familiar GA Arms is a huge supplier of ammo and is very well known and respected. I saw "factory loaded" on the bag and also asked my friend if they were reloads (instruction manual says do not shoot reloads/reman ammo) and he said it was "new" so we started firing it. I noticed no noticeable recoil increase/decrease over the Winchester stuff. My wife kept plinking away as well with no mention of any change in feeling.

As I was loading a Glock mag I heard my wife yell out in pain, and say something to the effect of "now way look at what happened!"

So the side panel blew out and the concussion hurt my wife's hand, but luckily no major injuries. As for the pistol the side panel had blown out, and we found the extractor on the floor. I had to drop the mag and unjam the slide to lock it open, then pick out a slightly deformed shell casing from within the feed ramp area of the barrel.

I looked at a few rounds of the GA Arms ammo and of the four/five I checked they all had the same marking on the shell, which still lead me to believe it was "new" ammo.

My wife was done shooting for the day, and she had her own reservations about even keeping/carrying the PM9 due to the KaBOOM. I wanted to do some investigating..

After getting home I examined more of the ammo and then realized that the casings were NOT all the same, and I was able to pretty much determine the ammo was reloads - I will admit my ignorance and also admit that I should have known better what my wife and I were shooting. I called GA Arms to confirm my suspicion that it was in fact reloaded ammo, but not the "guy drinking beer and watching NASCAR reload" type stuff. Reloads nonetheless though...

--The Kahr Arms Customer Service Experience --

I wrote an e-mail and sent it to Kahr Arms that Saturday when the malfunction happened. I sent them the same pics you see, but in my moments of anxiety I did omit the part about using the GA Arms ammo. I know, I know that was a total ding-a-ling move, but I did not want them to immediately assume it was the ammo and not something such as a feed failure or a firing out of battery situation.

I waited until 1:00 on Monday before I decided it was time to call Kahr Arms since they had not replied to my e-mail. A very matter-of-fact guy answered and told me I'd have to ship it in, they'd look at it, blah blah blah. I told him I didn't feel like I should not have to pay shipping, so he sent a prepaid overnight priority shipping label. In the meantime shortly afterwards I got an e-mail reply from a gentleman that wanted for me to call him and discuss the issue. He was much more pleasant to deal with than the first guy, but would not say anything more than "let's see it first then we'll call you."

Wednesday I tracked the package and saw it was signed for at 9:00am. I called that afternoon to double check my phone numbers that they had on file, and at that time the same nice gentleman informed me it might be the following Tuesday before they'd know anything.

On the very next Monday, three business days after them getting my pistol, I got my pistol back at 8:30am!!! I worried that they may have shipped it back still busted since I never got a call. I opened the box and found the pistol to be like new again, but still the same serial number. There was a repair order that listed:

• Replaced extractor assembly and spring

• Replaced side panel

• Cleaned, lubed, and test fired "good"

[Hat Tip: BlueGunBlog]

Heh, the $10,000 Glock, mentioned before on the blog, has again failed to sell on Gun Broker.

It hardly looks like it is worth $10,000.

[Hat Tip: SaysUncle]

Caleb dissects a pro-revolver press release.

AWC Systems M91 BDR is a breakdown rifle based on the Remington 700. The conventional approach to breakdown rifles is to have a detachable barrel. AWC have instead made the butt stock detach. While this is going to be less compact than a detachable barrel breakdown rifle, it will be more accurate (in theory anyway).

The AWC M91 BDR is available in .308 Win. or .223 Rem. and with a 16.5" or 18.5" barrel.