This is easily one of the most incredible rifles I have ever seen. This work of art was built by the late Jack Smith of Sudbury, Mass. in his home machine shop. It is built on a custom falling-block Farquharson-style action. Mr Smith must have been a careful man because in addition to the falling breech block he incorporated a howitzer-style side swinging breech block for added safety.
It features a rear tang sight and a Unertl 15X target scope mounted with custom-built aluminum rings. Because the gun is so big, the scope and iron sights are offset to left.
The forearm and pistol grip are made from cast bronze. The stock and side panels are French walnut. Note the lack of a muzzlebrake.
This rifle is being auctioned next month by James D. Julia (lot #1350). It is expected to sell for between $15,000-$25,000.
[Hat Tip: Max Popenker]
Federal's new Prairie Storm ammunition features a mixture of shot. 70% of the shot is copper-plated lead and the remaining 30% consists of "FLITESTOPPER" nickel-plated lead. Federal says that the mix produces good patterns. The FLITESTOPPER shot features a cutting edge which increases penetration.
Prairie Storm will be available in 12 and 20 gauge.
S&W has revealed that their winning entry into the recent BATFE competition was the M&P40 pistol. Not much surprise there, but it is nice to have it confirmed. From the press release ...
The award marks the completion of a full and open competition among several firearm manufacturers to provide a commercial off-the-shelf pistol that met or surpassed the ATF technical requirements. Under this contract, the M&P40 pistol is not only qualified for purchase by the ATF but has also been made available to multiple U.S. Federal Agencies who may now use this contract vehicle for their purchases. The potential value of the contract award is $40 million over 10 years.
The other winner was GLOCK who entered the G22 and G27. It is my understanding that the ATF agents will able to choose either the GLOCK or S&W for their sidearm.
[ Many thanks to everyone who sent this in. ]
The DoD's Defense Acquisition University created this handy flowchart to clearly show how defense acquisitions work ...
View Full Size Chart at Danger Room
And you wondered why the Pentagon regularly makes poor decisions regarding firearms and ammunition? The only thing I have learn't after three years of blogging about defense acquisition is how little I understand about the process.
( Am I the only one who cynically searched the chart for "Play golf with General" ?)
This pistol, chambered in 6.5x50mm Arisaka, was purportedly found in a South Vietnamese rice paddy. I cannot tell if the photo it is real or a fake. The front sight is far to low, unless there is a hole drilled into that metal block above the chamber.
[ Many thanks to Sven (Defense and Freedom) for emailing me the the info. ]
Starting January 2011 Hodgdon will be selling Hornady Superformance and LEVERevolution Powders. Downrange.TV reports ...
Hodgdon’s new Hornady Superformance and LEVERevolution reloading powders are the same propellants used in Hornady’s innovative and award winning high performance factory ammunition. Like its name, Hornady Superformance powder delivers striking velocities –nearly 190 feet per second faster than the nearest competitor in the 300 WSM! Other top cartridge loads are in the 22-250, 243 Winchester and the 300 Ruger Compact Magnum. Hornady LEVERevolution powder offers performance in the 30-30 Win. that has never been available previously with handloads. Velocity with a 150 grain bullet is an astounding 2,512 feet per second, that’s 122 fps faster than any 30-30 Win. published load. Both are especially smooth metering Spherical powders that flow easily through a measure.
I have recently spent quite a lot of money on Hornady Superformance ammunition and these powders may be push I need to start reloading!
This time it was a vintage .45 Colt. As usual handloads were used and the owner swears they were loaded correctly 
Lots more photos at AFRCOM.
[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]
Law Enforcement Organizations are now able to purchase the Bushmaster ACR with barrel lengths from 10.5" to 18" and in either .223 Rem. or 6.8mm SPC.
The press release did not say anything about a select fire model so I am unsure if a full-auto trigger group/lower is on offer.
Accidental double tapping of .500 S&W revolvers is apparently quite common. This video demonstrates ...
A few years ago S&W investigated the phenomena. They discovered, as you have probably already guessed, that the double taps were the result of what was essentially bump firing. If the gun recoiled quick enough, while the shooter was still applying trigger pressure, the trigger would reset and then, when the trigger finger caught up with the trigger, another round would fire. S&W filmed this video to demonstrate that their revolvers were not faulty ...
[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]
