The Firearm Blog

A reader noticed this M16 magazine, being carried by a militiaman, in a video clip on Al Jazeera.

The magazine's geometry is like none I can recall seeing. A couple of people suggested it could be a C-Products 7.62x39mm AR-15 magazine, but it is definitely not (see photo below).

C-Products 7.62x39mm AR-15 magazine

Can anyone identify it? I think it is probably manufactured by the cottage gun industry in the Philippines.

[ Many thanks to James for emailing in the photo. ]

This is not a photoshop ...

TsKIB SOO, a subsidiary of the well known Russian firm KBP Instrument Design Bureau, decided to try removing the stock from their MTs-255 Tactical Revolver Shotgun and cutting the barrel down to 7.87". The result is the OTs-62 12 Gauge "Service Revolver Shotgun".

It was designed for law enforcement and special forces to use with 12 gauge less-lethal rounds, of which its giant cylinder holds five. Unloaded it weighs 5.5 lbs!

I exhausted all my Russian industry contacts trying to find high-resolution photos of this monstrosity, but to no avail. Nobody has seen this revolver. I suspect nobody ever will.

[ Many thanks to Denny for the tip. ]

The XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement (CDTE) System has been renamed the XM25 Individual Semiautomatic Air Burst System. The former name sounded much to technical and could be applied to just about anything from shovels to hand grenades¹. I rarely saw it used in Army PR. The new name has much greater congressional appeal

The Army has also announced that congress has granted an additional 24.7 million in funding for 36 new prototype XM25s to supplement the five already in the field.

I knew when I said that the Browning was the first post-patent Inertia operated shotgun, a reader would find one produced earlier A reader pointed out the SI 12 shotgun made by the Italian firm Marocchi since 2009. You readers are just to clever for me.

[ Many thanks to Julio for the tip. ]

John Moses Browning's Auto-5 is back in production, sort of. The newest incarnation of the Auto-5 is the Browning A5. While it has the distinctive Auto-5 "humpback" appearance, inside it is all new. Browning ripped out the nifty long-recoil (recoiling barrel) system and replaced it with a new short-recoil system.

Browning's new short recoil system, named the Kinematic Drive System, is almost identical to the Benelli Inertia recoil system. Paolo Benelli invented the Inertia system in the 80s and was granted a patent for it in 1986 (Patent #4604942), thus preventing any competitors from incorporating it into their designs. I believe Browning is the first second company outside the Benelli/Beretta family of companies¹ to produce a shotgun using the Inertia system since the patent expired in 2006.

Browning A5 Stalker

Browning A5 Hunter

A5 Camo in Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity

Along with a new recoil system, the A5 features Browning's new Invector DS (Double Seal) choke system. The Invector DS chokes have a brass seal at the base to prevent gas and grit from entering the gap between the inside of the barrel and the outside of the choke. I really hate removing, cleaning and retightening choke tubes, so I am hoping it works as advertised (see below):

Invector DS (left), Competitors chokes (Center, Right)

The Browning A5 will be available in 26", 28" and 30" barrel lengths and in wood (A5 Hunter), synthetic (A5 Stalker) and camo (A5 Camo) furniture/finishes. MSRP will range from $1,399 to $1,599.

Over the weekend I asked if any readers with a 3D printer could try printing the AR-15 magazine I linked to a couple of week ago. A few readers emailed me to say they would attempt to print the magazine. Donald of AE Innovations, was the first reader to respond with photos of a printer magazine is Donald. His attempt was less than successful.

Donald says ...

1. 3D printing at home is fiddly. It is also slow. Printing the magazine components in total took hours. They need some cleaning up afterwards, too. They do not come out looking as clean as in that fellow's pictures.

2. My print (I did only one attempt so far) I would consider a failure because when I printed the parts - using molten ABS - I neglected to account for the shrinkage of ABS (it shrinks about 2%) so it wound up being too short on the inside for the cartridges. It will probably feed only one round as is! The rounds do not physically fit inside the magazine body as it turned out (due to shrinkage, I think.)

3. The designer leaves some key stuff out of the design, like the spring. I don't know why he doesn't share the spring design he made, but he doesn't. I had to design a quick one myself to print out. The spring is a pretty critical component in a magazine, so "that looks about close enough" is not the best approach to making one. I doubt mine would reliably work (assuming my magazine printed properly next time.)

Looks like we will not be printing P-Mags anytime soon

[ Many thanks to Donald and all the other readers who responded. ]

American Tactical Imports is distributing the new Del-Ton TRX AR-15 Rifle. From the press release ...

This new rifle from Del-Ton, Inc. is a 16” semi-automatic rifle already fully dressed with the latest Troy Industries accessories. Chambered in 5.56x45 mm, the TRX features forged 7075 T6 Aluminum hard coat anodized mil-spec upper and lower receivers. The 1x9 twist chrome moly vanadium barrel has a threaded muzzle, mid-length gas system, Troy Industries Low Profile gas block and A2 flash hider.

The TRX also features a reinforced fiber Troy Battle Ax butt stock and a Troy 13” TRX Extreme Hand Guard. It weighs 6.8 lbs. empty and has a fully extended length of 36.75” and a collapsed length of 33”. The sights are Troy DOA/STD Rear folding and Troy M4/HK Front folding. The TRX has an HPT/MPI tested bolt.

MSRP for the Del-Ton TRX16 rifle is $1250 and comes with a hard case, 30-round Troy magazine and a cleaning kit. Available in Black and Flat Dark Earth.

Readers have been emailing me, desperately wanting to know how well the 3d printed magazine functions. If you have a 3D-printer (or even access to a rapid prototyper), an AR-15, I would love for you to write a review on how well the magazine functions. Please get in touch with me: steve@thefirearmblog.com.

A programmer accidentally removed the blogroll and the archives links in the homepage side. I have restored them. Sorry about any inconvenience.

Mark Knapp has designed a 1911-knife. It has an 8" long blade attached to a 1911 grip. The grip holds a 1911 magazine and inside the magazine there is a Leaderman Micro, Magnesium fire starter, needle, synthetic sinew and one .45 round. How cool is that?

Now who is going to make me a Glock knife?