The Firearm Blog

Ruger is now selling a Model 77 chambered in .357 Magnum. The 77/357 feeds from a 5 round flush rotary magazine.

Bruce Rozum, Chief Rifle Engineer at Ruger, says ...

"The 77/357 is an effective tool for hunting medium-sized game - especially in heavy cover. Bullet velocities of .357 Magnum ammunition increase significantly when fired out of the 77/357's 18 1/2" cold hammer-forged barrel. In testing, Hornady® 140 grain FTX® loads were clocked at over 1820 feet per second. Furthermore, the flush-fit, five-shot rotary magazine does not protrude at the rifle's balance point and, unlike tube-fed rifles, the Ruger 77/357 can be readily loaded and unloaded" .

Last month Christie's auctioned off a matching pair of "mirror-image gold, enamel, agate, pearl and diamond-set singing bird pistols". The "pistols" are incredible. They were made by the Frères Rochat in the 1820s for the Chinese market and had an estimated auction price was $2.5 - $5 million. They sold for over $5,866,499! No description from me will do them justice, watch the video embedded after the jump.

TFB resident expert Daniel E. Watters has published an article for Defense Industry Daily about the US Army procurement of 70,000 to 100,000 additional M4 Carbines, what is means for Colt, who own the M4 design, and for other manufacturers.

Obviously, if Colt does not bid low enough, they cannot expect to win the contract. However, if Colt’s bid is significantly lower than their last contract price, they will find Congress, the GAO, and the DOD asking some uncomfortable questions as to why their previous prices were so much higher.

Michael Bane blogged this photo of the original Barrett M82 Prototype. I think I prefer this design to the later production models. It has a mean badass look to it with the oversized charging handle and chunky stock.

Barrett Prototype #1

Original Production Barrett M82

The latest Barrett M107

Lybian Rebel engineers have been experimenting with mounting machine guns on remote control toys.

Tam tried the Kel-Tec PMR and RMR at the LuckyGunner Blogger Shoot and questions the utility of the .22 Magnum (WMR) round ...

I'll be up front and admit that I still don't get the point. .22WMR is in that gray area where it's marginal as an antipersonnel round, but will turn a squirrel or rabbit inside out, making it a bit too much for hunting small game for the pot. It's obviously better on varmints than .22LR, but so are lots of things, like .22 Hornet, which is reloadable.

Our first factory tour in Europe was the Beretta Armi factory in Gardone, Val Trompia, Italy. I came away very impressed with pretty much every facet of their operations, and this opinion didn’t change as we visited other manufacturers.

The video you see below has footage of nearly every Beretta product being manufactured at one point or another. Their facility was simply massive, and many things were going on at one time. One might expect chaos as a result of the large size and high production rates, but the entirely facility was very orderly. Similarly, the employees at Beretta were competent, efficient, and thorough. Each worker was also quite knowledgeable about the firearm they were producing.

We took so much footage that I’ve divided this overview up into two separate videos, the first of which you see here. It covers the capacity and efficiency of Beretta’s operations, as well as the tradition and craftsmanship that one might expect from a company that’s nearly 500 years old and manufactures a variety of premium weapons. The next video will cover quality control and final testing.

The Savage Model 25 Walking Varminter is available in 5.7x28mm FN.

The 5.7x28mm FN is a strange addition to the Model 25 Walking Varminter line, which includes .204 Ruger, .22 Hornet, .222 Rem. and .223 Rem., all of which are substantially more powerful. It is much closer in performance to the rimfire .22 Magnum, but with a lot less choice of factory loads.

My guess is that this rifle is being produced for handloaders who want a reloadable alternative to the .22 Magnum. In this niche it could be quite successful.

[Hat Tip: Save the gun]

Strategy Page reports ...

The U.S. Army has ordered 3,053 of the new, lightweight, M-240L 7.62mm machine-guns, for $9,200 each. This model of the M-240 is 1.7 kg (3.75 pounds) lighter than the previous, M-240B. This was accomplished by using some lighter (titanium) components. Some other new components are also more durable. The reduction in weight makes a big difference for anyone carrying one of these up and down hills in Afghanistan for hours on end.

M240L 7.62mm Medium Machine Gun

GunsAmerica has published a roundup of Ballistics Calculators available for Android.

I have an Android phone, a T-Mobile Comet, but it has a low resolution screen and a weak CPU so I prefer run ballistics apps on my 4th generation iPod Touch.

[Hat Tip: M.J Mollenhour]