Mossberg have finally made it to the .22 AR-15 party, joining industry heavyweights such as Remington, Ruger and S&W. I don't have much information on the Mossberg Tactical 22 Series but I will share with you what I know.
Mossberg Tactical 22, adjustable stock model
Based on the photo I think it is safe to say that the Tactical 22 action is, or is based on, the 702 Plinkster action. The bolt and magazine appear to be the same. It would not surprise me if Mossberg has simply followed Remington and Ruger's lead and placed a 702 action inside an AR-15 patterned shell, albeit it with a much nicer looking result.
Possibly in an effort to differentiate themselves in a crowded market they have gone with a A2-style (carry handle) receiver instead of the A3-style. A2 front and rear sights are included as it a carry handle picatinny rail if you want to mount optics.
While everybody else is selling tactical .22s with 16" barrels, Mossberg has decided to go with an 18" barrel. This gives a better sight radius than 16" and a more traditional look. A full length picatinny rail is included.
Two models will be available: a fixed stock and an M4-style adjustable stock (pictured above). Both come with a 10 round magazine. I do not know when they will be available or how much they will cost. My guess would be somewhere between $300 and $450.
[ Many thanks to Will for emailing me the info. ]
Andrew from Vuurwapen Blog has created this slow motion video demonstrating AR-15 bolt carrier bounce. It shows how lighter weight buffers allow the bolt carrier to bounce back after hitting the barrel extension.
The weight of the buffer becomes critical when said items begin to reach the end of their lifespan (or were never satisfactory to begin with), or when the weapon has been fired for thousands of rounds without any lubrication, or when various types of ammunition are used.
I highly recommend reading Andrew's blog post.
[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]
The GSMG is a gas powered submachine gun that fires .177 or .22 BB pellets.
The gun shoots BBs at 600 fps. If it was able to achieve this with even the heaviest .22 BBs it would only generate just over 12 ft/lbs of energy. Before you get too excited about defending your castle with this legal-to-own-without-paperwork machine gun, it is defiantly not a toy but is not nearly powerful enough for self defense. The GSMG is currently a prototype and the final product will sell for around US$350.
I may be remembering this wrong, but I think after WWII the Allies discovered that a German bicycle-maker had build an air powered submachine gun and planned to use it as an insurgent weapon. More recently an infamous British gun activist designed a air powered submachine for self-defense (he later went to prison for his illegal collection of homemade machine guns).
UPDATE: I was wrong, it was a French bicycle-maker and it was not a submachine gun. See spudfiles comments.
I just did the draw for the LuckGunner Ammo Competition. The winner is ... [drumroll] ... Aaron of Guns and Ammo Blog.. Congratulations Aaron who wins 1000 rounds of .380 ACP and thank you to all the bloggers who participated.
To pick the winner I entered all the entries into a spreadsheet and then used RANDOM.org to generate a random number.
Big Rock Sports is distributing a limited edition of the Ruger LCP with an OD Green colored frame. I have a soft spot for OD Green guns.
[Hat Tip: Guns, Holsters & Gear]
Ok, I will admit that I am really using S&W's announcement that they are shipping their new Bodyguard line of handguns as an excuse to repost the Bodyguard promo video which I love watching.
Read my coverage of the Bodyguard line here.
