The Firearm Blog

Century International Arms is now selling a AK74 rifle in a bullpup configuration.

Unlike their 7.62x39 bullpup AK, this gun does not have iron sights, but instead includes a forward picatinny rail for mounting red dot or other optics.

Century has not announced pricing, but if you are a dealer who has access to the MSRP price, please post it below in the comments. UPDATE: Reader AFD reports that the MSRP is $680 (with extra magazine).

Shooting Illustrated produced a video about the new bullpup at the NRA Show ...

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

The datacenter that hosts The Firearm Blog went down earlier this week and the blog suffered some downtime. I apologize for any inconvenience.

An unrelated problem, some users have reported is that the blog's RSS feed was not working correctly. We believe this problem is now fixed. If you still having problems with the RSS feed, please let us me know by email.

A Fail Whale (armed with an AR-15)

The Browning X-Bolt Medallion, X-Bolt Hunter and X-Bolt Micro Hunter are now available in a left-hand configuration.

From the press release ...

Left-hand shooters now have three models of left-hand X-Bolt™ rifles to choose from in the new Browning® X-Bolt rifle line. These new rifles have the same innovative features as the popular right-hand models.

The three new left-hand models include the X-Bolt Medallion, X-Bolt Hunter and X-Bolt Micro Hunter.

The Medallion model has a steel engraved receiver with a blued finish. The barrel also has a blued finish and is free floated in the stock. The stock is a gloss finished checked walnut with a rosewood fore-end cap.

The Hunter model steel receiver and barrel have a low-luster blued finish. The stock is a satin finished checkered walnut.

The Micro Hunter model has the same finish on the metal and wood as the Hunter model but the stock is sized for a smaller framed shooter and barrel lengths are shorter.

Each of the new left-hand models have a steel receiver that is drilled and tapped for the X-Lock scope mounting system. The bolt action has a 60◦ bolt lift; a popular Browning design. The Feather Trigger™ is easily adjustable to give the shooter a clean, crisp trigger. The detachable rotary magazine lines up each shell in the middle of the magazine for positive, consistent feeding. An Inflex Technology Recoil Pad reduces felt recoil and muzzle climb. All three left-hand models are available in a number of popular short and long action calibers.

Suggested retail for the X-Bolt Medallion $999.99 to $1,039.99
Suggested retail for the X-Bolt Hunter $869.99 to $899.99
Suggested retail for the X-Bolt Micro Hunter $869.99 to $899.99

Robb Allen has tested Magtech's claim, Box 'o Trust style, that their First Defense line of hollowpoints hold 100% of their weight after expansion.

At LAAD '11 Taurus introduced a new assault rifle called the ART556. The rifle, as its name suggests, is chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO.

Externally, the rifle appears to have borrowed features from the FN SCAR and the Bushmaster ACR. It has a forward charging handle that looks like it is able to be switched to either the left or right side. The upper is aluminum and the lower is polymer with an integrated magwell grip. The gun appears to use an AR-15 compatible pistol grip. It has a safe/semi/3 round burst/full selector switch.

If Google Translate is doing its job correctly, I believe that the above gun has a 10" barrel and weighs 7.9 lbs.

A civilian legal version of the rifle is named the CT556. It is only capable of semi-automatic fire.

[Hat Tip: mexicoarmado.com ]

aquatrax has posted a detailed review of the HS VHS-K rifle at MP.net with lots of photos of the rifle field stripped ...

Build quality looks superb. Very few machining marks on the internals. Polymer parts looks well built and tough. There are steel reinforcements inside the housing where the Bolt group rides.

The BCG group is hefty with its massive carrier tube. It serves as the housing/guide for the recoil spring and also vents air to cool the internal chamber that house the barrel.

The VHS uses some sort of a combination of both short and long stroke piston system. Gas vented thru the barrel port goes thru a small chamber that houses a tappet piston. This tappet hits the massive carrier tube which is fixed to the bolt carrier group to drive it back to cycle the eject/feed operation. BOth tappet and tappet chamber are removable for easy cleaning. The tappet piston looks similar in design with the G36 piston. It also has the 3-piece piston ring. The difference is that the VHS' piston and push rod is one piece. WHile the G36 employ 2 separate pieces.

The tube that the large piston rides in is very big. It will suck in and blow out a lot of air as the gun cycles. They also seem to have shifted mass from the bolt carrier to the piston, which could, please correct me if I am wrong, help reducing felt recoil and/or muzzle rise.

[ Many thanks to Alex for posting the link on Facebook. ]

Engineering student Ethan Dublin, developer of the Ratchet Charging System, has developed another AK accessory: the Kalashnikov Bump Safe. The Bump Safe allows easy manipulation of an AK safety from the pistol grip. It is a simple but clever idea. Ethan demonstrates the safety in this video ...

Manufacturing of the safety will begin late summer / early fall of 2011.

The Sig P210 is without a doubt an iconic handgun, highly respected for being an incredibly accurate firearm. However, the design didn’t lend itself to rapid and easy production, and as I was told by various sources in Europe, quality varied with the mood of the workforce.

The “new” P210s have a number of design changes, of which I was initially suspicious. After speaking with several Sig engineers, though I truly believe that each one is intended to increase either durability or ease of use.

CNC processes allow the number of milling operations for the frame to be reduced from 9 to 3, but don’t think that this is just a slapped-together production pistol like any other – each and every P210 is hand-fitted by the Sig Mastershop in Eckernforde, Germany, alongside the X-Five and X-Six competition handguns (which you’ll see video of soon).

Here, I give a quick overview of one model at IWA.

Perhaps the most impressive booths at IWA came from Switzerland – KRISS Group and RWS went all-out with details such as live music, waitresses serving free alcohol, and Swiss chocolate being handed out like, well, candy. While I didn’t spend much time at RWS, I was definitely taken in by the variety of products on display at the KRISS/Sphinx booth, such as the Sphinx pistols. They’re an interesting departure from standard pistol design and manufacture, as the frame is manufactured in upper and lower segments and then joined together.

The upper frame half can be steel, aluminum, or titanium, while the lower half could be chosen from any of those three as well as polymer. I believe that this offers unparalleled control over the balance of the handgun. The polymer features a replaceable frame insert that not only adjusts the size of the backstrap, but also increases or decreases the width of the frame as well, giving the end user more options to fit the pistol to their hand than a simple replaceable backstrap.

They’re available in two frame sizes – “compact” and “tactical” – and with two slide/barrel lengths as well. Since the Sphinx 3000 series is a descendant of the CZ-75, trigger systems available include single action only with a safety, double action/single action with a safety, double action/single action with a decocker, and double action only. Available accessories include threaded barrels, magazine wells, and muzzle compensators.

I was told to expect pricing “competitive with Sig.” I don’t know if this means “competitive with the P250″ or “competitive with the X-Five.” I’m leaning towards the latter.

I have taken flak in the past over my support of guns with funky colors, but even I cannot stomach this ...

The photo was taken by New Jovian Thunderbolt at the NRA Meeting.