The Firearm Blog

Dott. Franco Gussalli Beretta, whose family owns Beretta, presented GWB with a high-end Beretta SO10 EELL Shotgun.

The shotgun was made exclusively by master craftsman at the Beretta firearms factory in Gardone Val Trompia, Italy. It is inlaid with 24 carat gold and features traditional quail hunting scenes on both side plates. The top lever is adorned with the number "43" and the bottom of the receiver shows the Presidential Seal. President Bush's initials and an image of his dog are also engraved on the gun. More than five hundred hours have gone into the engraving of the shotgun. The stock and fore-end are carved from the finest walnut.

The SO10 EELL Shotgun was presented to President George W. Bush by Dott. Beretta. A custom Italian leather gun case with handmade gun accessories, as well as a Damascus steel knife with engraving and wood matching the gun, were presented to President Bush by Mr. Peter Horn, Vice President of Beretta's U.S. retail sales corporation.

Later this year American Tactical Imports will be importing a semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun patterened after the AR-15. Note I said patterned I am not sure if it contains any AR-15 compatible parts.

UPDATE: Julio pointed out that it looks to Turkish ADAL Arms MKA 1919 shotgun.

In other news, ATI have ceased importing their AR-15 .410 shotgun. They were having problems with the manufacturer (I am not sure exactly what kind of problems). They hope to be importing them again at a later date.

Last month a man was seriously injured after a cartridge was fired out-of-battery in his BOHICA Arms AR-15 .510 DTC rifle upper. The .510 DTC is one of those .50 BMG equivalents designed for countries where the BMG is banned. Despite the name, it is .50 cal.

Firing pin almost penetrated stock/buffer tube

part of the case can be seen at the back of the receiver (next to the bolt).

One of the guys parents posted this at CalGuns forum ...

Sunday a surgeon spent 2.5 hrs working to do hopefully the best work available to repair the damage. My Son, according to the surgeon had four broken bones and some ligament damage to his left hand, the one he was holding the gun with just in front of the chamber. If you notice the hole on the side of the I believe chamber is a vent, that's where he received a good amount of schrapnel that broke his hand. The bolt lever was being pushed by his right hand/palm forward when the bullet discharged before the lever was locked into place. The result was a severe laceration to his palm but not as devastating as the damage to the left hand.

I met him with his mother and our daughter, his sister in recovery after his surgery he was quite depressed but glad no one else was hurt. His account of the event was the same Sunday night as the sedation wore off as on Monday evening when I visited him. No hammers, no channel locks, no tools no hang fire only hands.

We don't know what exactly caused this unfortunate event to happen. I've been in contact with the mfg. on Monday and he seems quite concerned as I would be if I was producing an item like this. We will try to work together and determine what caused this event.

[ Many thanks to Marshall for the links. ]

UPDATE:

There is thread at ARFCOM about the incident (Thanks to JH1990 for the link). One posters said ...

I was not at the range when this happened but I spoke with the range staff last week and they pretty much explained exactly how this happened. The guy was using new reloads that weren't exactly fitting well into his chamber. Dude was slamming the bolt handle with his palm trying to get the cases to lock in. The guy was also slamming the bolt forward full force from the rearmost position back and forth trying to ram the cases into chamber in an attempt to squeeze the rounds in so the bolt could close. Finally, on one of the attempts of him doing this, the possibly stuck firing pin rams into the primer and explodes the round when he slams the bolt forward (zero lug engagement hence the KB) and shooter puts himself into a world of hurt.

The firing pin may have been stuck because the bolt handle was overtourqued (apparently it warns about this in the manual).

Another theory is a hang fire situation where the round detonated as it was being ejected.

Others have suggested that a faulty or modified trigger group bypassed the safety system (which prevents the hammer striking the firing pin before the bolt is fully closed) and the force of slamming the bolt closed caused the hammer to fall detonating the round before the lugs where engaged.

This photo is interesting ...

It seems the bolt was forced all the way rearwards and then bounced back.

OnPoint Firearms, an online gun retailer, have published an article explaining the different between each generation of nigh vision gear. I learn't quite a lot from reading it.

It’s true that a sportsman could get by with a $500 system since his primary mission would be spotting fallen cans of Coors Light from a tree stand. However, shooters and survivalists have different needs. They require ruggedness, clarity, and waterproofcicity. I made up that last word, but you get the picture. In an extreme situation, having NVGs can be a huge force multiplier. You can have all the guns and ammo in the world, but you can only carry a little at a time. When the power grid is down, the ability to see at night is unparalleled. Well, situational awareness and training helps, but we’re not selling that today!

They are doing a group buy of NVG and the prices look very good. I have always wanted a decent NVG but there is always a firearm I want more

UPDATE: OnPoint looks to be pulling the plug on their group buy.

UPDATE: The group buy is back on

Brian Nelson, the youngest male gun blogger, has written about a tour he took of Berry’s Manufacturing in St. George, Utah.

After the bullets are meticulously cleaned and inspected, they are put into 55 gallon barrels and poured into a vat containing a cyanide and water rinse. Also inside the vat is a device to keep the bullets tumbling. The rinse is charged with electricity, and a copper ingot is inserted. The bullets are left to tumble overnight.

I always wondered how bullets were copper washed/plated (not to be confused with copper jacketing).

The MPA22-T Pistol is a new MAC-10 styled pistol chambered in .22 LR. From the press release ...

The MPA22-T has a 5.25” threaded barrel with muzzle break, 1:16 barrel twist- RH and comes with a 30-round polymer magazine. It has 3.3 lbs trigger pull and a Parkerized finish. Because it was developed from the Mini 9mm frame, all available Mini 9 accessories will fit the MPA22T platform.

This new MAC is available in both the traditional top-cocker version (MPA22T-A) and as a side-cocker/scope mount version (MPA22SST-A).

I like this.

The Taser XREP is a 12 gauge less-lethal round that delivers an electric shock to the target it hits. It's certainty the most complex shotgun bullet ever made and also the most expensive.

I was able to handle, and photograph, a deactivated Taser XREP round. I have never before seen any photos published, other than the official Taser marketing photos, so this is a first.

The cartridge on the right is the unfired round. It can only be fired in a Mossberg X12 shotgun (and regular 12 gauge rounds can't be fired in the X12) It can be fired from any 12 gauge shotgun although Taser recommend the Mossberg X12 which cannot fire regular legal rounds (preventing tragic accidents). The X12 is a modified version of the pump action Mossberg 500.

The bullet as it looks when it leaves the muzzle is second from the right in the above photo. At the base you can see the fins which help stabilize the bullet. The spikes in front are electrodes.

Once the spikes make contact with the target, the body breaks away and very (very!) sharp needles are deployed. The Taser system requires two points of contact to adequacy shock a human being. The frontal spikes provide one point of contact and the needles provide another.

Taser XREP training round (right)

The XREP is a very complex device and expected it would be expensive, although I had not idea how expensive it would be!

The training round, a plastic projectile weighted the same as the live XREP costs $100 per five rounds! The live version of the XREP costs $800 per 5 rounds! That is $160 per round! I would hate to miss the target at a price that that!

Mossberg / Taser X12 shotgun.

Can't think what to get the wife, girlfriend or sweetheart for Valentine's Day? The Firearm Blog has you covered Pink is the new black and SHOT was awash in it ...

Tapco pink Ruger 10/22 and AR-15 stocks.

Pink camo clothing.

CamoDiv clothing (not pink, but close enought)

Taurus Judge now in pink.

Pink Camo Tasers

Pink compound bow

Taurus's Judge revolvers have proved to be incredibly popular. Not resting on their laurels, Taurus has introduced the gigantic Raging Judge Magnum. In additional to the standard Judge cartridges, the .410 shotshell (2.5"/3") and .45 Colt, the Raging Judge can chamber the .454 Casull! Outside of Africa there is probably nothing that cannot be taken down with a Raging Judge Magnum.

Kristin Hunt and the Judge

Raging Judge Magnum (6" barrel)

The handgun will be available with either a 3" or 6" barrel and in either a stainless or blued finish. The 6" version includes a vent-rib for use with a scope mount.

3" barrel model

Like the Taurus Raging Bull line, the gun is big and it is heavy. The advantage that the Judge has over similar .454 chambered guns is its ability to chamber shot shells. A hunter or fisherman can load a shotshell in the first chamber for snakes and .454 in subsequent chambers to defend against bears. The cylinder holds six rounds.

The November issue of Shooting Illustrated published a letter from a reader who suggested Taurus make a carbine version of their Judge revolver and name it the "Supreme Court Judge". Gary from Oklahoma has had his wish come true. The new Taurus Circuit Judge is a revolver carbine that can chamber .410 shotshells (2.5" and 3") and .45 Long Colt.

The design is very similar to the Russian KBP MTs 225 revolver shotgun. The Circuit has a very attractive Monte Carlo stock (I guess a synthetic stock will be introduced at a later date). A cylinder guard on the left side of the gun prevents gas and flames from scorching your arm.

The Circut Judge will be avalible with either a rifled barrel or a smoothbore barrel. The smoothbore version will only be able to fire .410 rounds.

I really look forward to shooting the new Judge. It looks nice, feels nice and I am sure is a lot of fun to shoot.