The Firearm Blog

Shooting Illustrated has published a detailed account of the fascinating AN-94 "Abakan" rifle.

In 1993, a mysterious rifle appeared at an arms display at the elite Taman Guards Division outside Moscow. The strange new rifle was labeled “ASN”—a Russian acronym for Avtomat Spetsialnyi Nikonov. The soldiers at the show could give no meaningful information about it beyond the basic information on the placard. Shortly thereafter, data began to emerge indicating it was an advanced combat rifle, but its status remained a mystery. The Russian Ministry of Defense cleared up the mystery in 1995 by announcing that the ASN had passed all its troop trials and that it had been type classified as the “Avtomat Nikonova-94” (AN-94). The number “94” is the year the rifle was officially type classified and adopted for military service to replace the Kalashnikov-designed AK-47/AKM/AK-74-series rifles.

The AN-94 has a canted magazine.

Constitution Arms, the firm behind the Palm Pistol, has developed an interesting multi-projectile .38 Special cartridge called the Palm38 Tri‐Plex.

Three lead bullets, totaling 158 grain, are stacked on top of each other and backed by a copper gas check. The load has been designed to have ultra-low recoil and has a velocity of 658‐678 ft/sec depending on the model of revolver it has been fired from. The maximum range of the round is 10 feet.

The idea behind this round is to increase the frontal surface area of the wound channels, at the expense of penetration.

The concept is similar to the Winchester PDX1 Self Defense .410 Shotshell round that was designed for use in the Taurus Judge line of .410 revolvers. Winchester loads the PDX1 with three copper discs backed by shot pellets.

Winchester PDX1 Self Defense Shotshell ammo

If you are interested in the rounds specifications and testing results you should take a look at this PDF document from Constitution Arms.

The round will go on sale next month. If the Taurus Judge has taught us anything, it is that there is a market for interesting self-defense ammunition. I expect it to sell well.

Bushmaster has moved all of its production to Remington's factory in Ilion, NY. This comes as no surprise to anyone in the industry. For all practical purposes Bushmaster is a Remington brand rather than a separate company. This is neither a good or bad thing, it is simply the way it is. The Freedom Group is going public and they need to cut costs to make the company attractive to investors.

From the press release ...

Freedom Group, Inc. (“The Company”), the world’s leading innovator, designer, manufacturer, and marketer of firearms, ammunition, and related products for the hunting, shooting sports, law enforcement, and military markets announced today a manufacturing relocation of the Bushmaster Firearms International manufacturing facility located in Windham, Maine to Ilion, New York. The Company expects to create 40-50 new positions at the Ilion, New York facility as a result of the relocation.

The Bushmaster brand and products remain key strategic assets within the Freedom Group portfolio. The manufacturing relocation will have no impact on customers or the existing supply base.

“As competition in today’s global marketplace remains intense, consolidation of our manufacturing processes and operating systems allow us to provide Bushmaster customers with the highest quality products while maintaining a competitive position in the marketplace,” said John Trull, Freedom Group’s Vice President - Product Management & Marketing, Firearms. “We are committed to the Bushmaster brand, its core product offerings and bringing innovative new Bushmaster firearms to our customers.”

The Freedom Group Family of companies.

What industry insiders are wondering is how long DPMS Panther Arms, the Freedom Group's other AR-15 manufacturer, will remain separate from Remington.

AccurateShooter.com discovered a fun web-based flash game based on the New Zealand Army’s marksmanship training.

There are a few current and former Kiwi soldiers on this blog. If you are one of them I suggest you don't play it, it will only make you more jeleous of your Australian cousins who are issued Steyr's with Trijicon scopes and not those old 1.5x built-in scopes! The NZ Army is planning an upgrade in the near future.

[Hat Tip: Accurate Shooter ]

The Desert Tactical Arms SRS Covert Rifle was definitely one of the niftiest guns at SHOT Show. With a short 16" barrel, chambered in 308 Win, .300 Win or .338 Lapua Magnum, this gun has an overall length of just 26". It is tiny but powerful package.

My only concern would be firing a .338 Lapua Magnum with a muzzle brake so close to my hears. The blast must be ear shattering.

I heard some interesting news about Desert Tactical Arms at the show. Apparently they have sold sniper rifles to Georgia (the country).

UPDATE: I found a note I took when I was at the booth. DTA has been using .338 LM loads with a 300 grain bullets, being pushed at 2250 ft/sec and 250 grain bullets at 2500 ft/sec. That is slightly slower than a .308 Win., but with a much heavier bullet. Not bad for a 16" barrel.

This is a blog post I never thought I would write! Despite having the home field advantage, FN Herstal lost out on a contract to supply the Belgian Federal Police with pistols. Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm won the competition to replace the aging FN/Browning GP-35 (Hi-Power).

A Federale with his Steyr AUG

FNH, who have been laying off workers after losing contacts, are not happy. Lesoir.be reports (Translated Using Google) ...

Guy Francis, Senior Associate FGTB Metal. Which shows bitter: "It's a bit sad not to be a benchmark in our own country. The policy we already puts a spoke in the wheels for export licenses, if even now does not favor federal police in Belgium, where are we going to sell weapons? "

Gabriel SmaI, principal secretary to the CSC Metal Liège-Huy-Ware, "it is regrettable that the police do not equips a company owned 100% by the Walloon Region. This will particularly impact in terms of image. A bit like the Italian police were driving in a Renault Fiat rather than ... "

Misplaced nationalism? This is the view of Vincent Gilles, national president of the SLFP-Police, for whom he had to choose the best weapon.

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

ISSC has announced that their M22B pistol will soon be available for sale in California and Massachusetts.

This is something I never thought I would see ...

MrDryCry wrote at Arfcom ...

Well...it finally happened today. I've been in the C&R game about 5 years and own about 10 C&R weapons...even went down the road to get my 003 FFL. I have purchased 4 mosins and never had any issues...I do a thorough breakdown, inspection, head space, firing pin, and cleaning prior to shooting...obviously I missed something on my fourth mosin. I went to a public range today and was shooting (or shot) Romanian light ball. First time to shoot this 1932 beauty today and (SEE PICS BELOW) I wasn't hurt at all and actually didn't even realize what happened until I chambered the second round. I saw the round impact the berm. No hot gas or anything in the face. I feel very lucky...lots of people at the range were snapping photos of the ruptured receiver. I picked up the steel and there was a split neck, but nothing crazy. I was pretty shook up. As you'll see in the pics, the receiver split in two right behind the chamber. Note the different color where the receiver failed...the discoloration indicates there was an existing failure. I really don't think there was anything visible on the surface, but maybe I missed it. I went and bought a lotto ticket tonight.

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

Richard Nagy built a 10 round magazine for his Mosin Nagant. Read about the project at Guns, Holsters & Gear.

Bushmaster is now selling a hunting AR-15 rifle featuring GameGuard camouflage. This camo pattern has been designed with the Texas and Southwest landscape in mind. The Bushmaster GameGuard Predator will retail for $1,459.