For those of you who do not know, The Firearm Blog is owned by GunsForSale.com. My boss is trying to choose a new logo for GunsForSale. Could you please take a minute of your time to complete a simple two question survey.
You will simply be asked to choose from a number of alternative logos. No personal questions will be asked, I promise! The survey is here: GunsForSale.com Logo Survey.
Also, feel free to give any feedback about the logos in the comments below. BUT PLEASE, do not read any comments before you complete the survey: we want your raw unclouded opinions.
UPDATE: The survey has been closed. Thank you all for participating.
Colt donated a gorgeously engraved Colt 1911 pistol to the NRA Foundation, the NRA's charitable organization, who are auctioning it off at GunBroker.com. The current bid is over $33,000.
I think the gun is beautiful and I applaud Colt's generosity to the NRA Foundation, but I do think it is unfair to be producing a second '100th Anniversary Edition' after auctioning off another 1911 that was said to be "One-of-a-Kind" earlier this year and selling it for over $83,000! The 'Factory Engraved 100th Anniversary Colt 1911' sold for $83,025 in January. It had the serial '1911COLT2011'. The gun being auctioned off by the NRA has the serial '1911COLT001'. At first glance the casual observer would not even seen the different between the serials.
What do you think? Sound off in the comments.
[Hat Tip: NRA Blog ]
Slingshot maker Jörg Sprave took up a challenge posed to him by a YouTube user and built a slingshot that fires machetes.
Note the thumbhole stock!
[Hat Tip: Boing Boing via. Geekologie!]
[ Many thanks to Sven (Defense and Freedom) & David for emailing me the the info. ]
I recently reported that H&K and Walther took the Dutch government to court over allegations of impropriety in their selection of the Sig Sauer PPNL as the new police sidearm. They claimed that a corrupt policeman, who is under investigation for another alleged crime, secretly fed information to SIG to help them adapt the pistol to the police requirements.
The interim verdict by a Dutch court says that H&K and Walther failed to substantiate those claims.
The ANP reports (translated by my Dutch source) ...
Two firearms manufacturers, who missed the boat at the tender for the new Dutch Police pistol, failed to substantiate their claim about the manipulation of the selection procedure.
At least, that was the verdict of the interim court in The Hague last Monday. The manufacturers, Walther and Heckler & Koch claimed that the police had illegally favored their competitor Sig Sauer.
This favoritism was made by a policeman, who was assumed to be corrupt at the tender of pepper spray in 2002. This investigation is still running. According to Walther and Heckler & Koch, the same policeman slipped information to Sig Sauer in order to adjust their handgun to the police requirements. Assumingly the specifications were also made up in favor of the Sig Sauer pistol.
Intentions
In January it was made public that the police will buy Sig Sauer pistols to replace the current Walthers and Glocks. In the procedure it is only an intention to grant the tender to the manufacturer.
One of the statements, on which Walther and Heckler & Koch based their complaint, was made by a former manager of Sig Sauer, who works for Heckler & Koch as a commercial director. He stated that the policeman visited the Sig Sauer plant in Germany several times in 2005 and took an active part in numerous internal tests there. The plaintiffs questioned the impartiality of the policeman who was part of the selection committee.
Investigation
The police of the Netherlands started a formal investigation by the The National Police Internal Investigations Department (Rijksrecherche) and the Governmental Audit Service (Rijksauditdienst), but they could not find any unlawful actions. According to the judge the plaintiffs failed to prove that this policeman influenced the tender procedure in favor of Sig Sauer. Also the investigations resulted in the same conclusion. Also, the police did not act in contrary to the regulations of tenders nor treated the two manufacturers unlawfully in any way, according to the verdict.
[ Many thanks to the Dutch source for emailing me the link. ]
The National Firearms Museum has created a new exhibit celebrating the 1911.
NRA Blog reports ...
Gunsite's display not only features the finest pieces from the Museum’s collection, but also guns from the Military Pistol Trials of 1901 through 1911 as well as pistols from notable individuals such as past NRA President Joe Foss (Medal of Honor recipient, Governor of South Dakota, Commissioner of the American Football League) and Admiral Willis Lee (winner of five Olympic gold medals and recipient of the Navy Cross.)
...
The National Firearms Museum is excited to display so many historically significant M1911 pistols side-by-side; including the serial number 4 Colt which was assembled in December of that year. That pistol and more will be on display for all to view once the exhibit returns to Fairfax, Virgina next week. But it won't stop there. After fielding several requests, 100 Years of the Model 1911 is also scheduled to travel to Camp Perry over the summer and to the Colt Collectors Association Annual Meeting in Kansas City this September.
Glock fans: your time will come, eventually, in about 70 years. Just hang in there!
Surefire's nifty Rapid Transition Sight are canted at 45 degrees to allow them to be used alongside scopes on 3-gun competition rifles. I have seen, and blogged about, canted picatinny rails for red dot sights but this is the first canted iron sight that I have seen with a built in rail attachment.
Surefire has them listed on their website for $238.
[ Many thanks to Heath for emailing me the info. ]
The M1911 pistol was officially adopted by the US Army on 29 March 1911. Two years later it was adopted by the Navy and Marine Corps. Today, a hundred years later, it has never been more popular with shooters worldwide. It is also still in service. Last year the USMC purchased an additional 4000 1911 pistols in the M45 Close Quarters Combat Pistol configuration.
[ Photo : Remington Rand M1911A1 © M62) ]
The co-owner of a Southern California importer has been arrested on felony charges of manufacturing and selling a counterfeit mark. The other co-owner fled the country to China. LA Times reports ...
Now a fugitive believed to be in China, Yongming “Steven” Sui, 53, chief executive officer of Field Sport Inc., was charged by state prosecutors with two felony counts -- manufacturing and selling a counterfeit mark (a form of trademark infringement) and possession of an assault weapon.
...
Also charged in the state criminal complaint were Sui's colleagues -- co-owner Isaac Cheuk Hang Tse, 65, of Rowland Heights, and Pao Sheng Yang, 34, of Corona, the firm's business manager. Both are alleged to have engaged in manufacturing and selling a counterfeit mark and possessing an assault weapon.
The charges stem from an investigation that began in early March after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were conducting a routine mail inspection at an Alaska sorting center and found 700 counterfeit rifle sights and 200 magnifier systems in a shipment sent from China to Field Sport’s headquarters, said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice.
Forged gun optics, and other items, are easy to obtain and import. The B2B website Alibaba.com, of which Yahoo! owns about 25%, is a virtual clearing house for forgeries of every description. Take a look at the below screenshots of searches I did at the site ...
Searching 'EOTech' on Alibaba.
Searching 'Leupold' on Alibaba.
When buying optics be as wary of great deals as you would be if you were shopping for a Rolex.
[ Many Conrad to wary for emailing me the link. ]
My favorite aftermarket aperture sight manufacturer, Tech Sights, has expanded their line to include the Ruger Mini-14 and Remington 597.
Post-2005 Mini-14 with Techsight rear apature sight.
Over the standard Mini-14 rear sight, Tech Sight's sight allows click adjustment of both windage and elevation adjustment ands the choice of optional aperture sizes.
Remington 597 with front and rear techsights.
For any .22 LR, a real aperture sight is far nicer to use than the horrible leaf sights that most (all?) manufacturers tack on to them at the factory.
I am very pleased to report that the UTAS UTS15 will be produced in the USA and will be able to be purchased by consumers. Production will begin in a few months time.
