Earlier this year Chuckyzord guest blogged about his DIY replica SKS. Yesterday he emailed me a video of a replica China Lake (40mm pump action) grenade launcher he has just finished making. The replica is very impressive. It loads, fires and cycles just like the real China Lake.
Great job Chuckyzord!
Ruger has a new Ruger SP101 .357 Mag that features a longer 4.2" Barrel, full shroud barrel, fiber optics front sight and an adjustable rear sight.
"The SP101 has been an extremely popular small frame revolver since its inception in 1988, but it has always featured a short barrel and minimal sights," said Chris Killoy, Ruger Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "This new version is a quality .357 Magnum small frame revolver with a longer, full shroud barrel and improved sights that offers the shooter a better sight picture, longer sight radius, and additional weight to better control recoil. I am confident enthusiasts will find that this 4.2" .357 Magnum is a great all around centerfire revolver that remains true to classic SP101 styling," he concluded.
The newest Ruger SP101 is constructed of weather-resistant stainless steel with a satin finish, and wears checkered and engraved walnut grip panels inset in the one-piece rubber grip. The 29.5-ounce double/single-action revolver features a fully adjustable square notch blade rear sight and green HiViz® front sight. The 4.2" barrel features a full shroud covering the ejector rod.
The catalog number is KSP-341X. The MSRP is $689.
FateofDestinee has reviewed the new 9mm Beretta Nano pistol ...
As a woman looking for new concealed carry options, I prefer the size of the Nano as it is easier to conceal in some of the tighter clothing I wear than some other sub-compact options. This one is chambered in 9mm Luger (9x19mm Parabellum), but I believe they will be offering it chambered in .40 S&W as well.
It has interchangeable three (3) dot sights, which is a style I like for the sight picture. They are adjustable using a small hex wrench, and your fingers, so no need to go to a gunsmith to alter or upgrade your sights.
Here video review is ... interesting ...
Wincehster has designed a new lead-free bullet specifically tailored for hog hunting. The Winchester Razorback XT will be available next year (2012) in .223 Rem. (64gr) and .308 Win. (150gr).
The bullet is a hollow point and is designed to expand quickly and then penetrate deeply. The Skinny Mooth Hog Blog has reviewed the new round ...
The Razor Back is the first round completely designed with the hog hunter in mind. The bullet is lead-free, so that it can be used in every state (CA DFG certification is in the works). The initial release will be in 150 gr .308 and 64 gr .223, and is intended to make the round available for the growing AR market, as well as traditional rifles in these calibers. More calibers will be added to the line after it is rolled out.
The design of the bullet provides a deep, hollow point in a beveled profile to control the expansion. Full expansion is intended to occur shortly after impact, so that the bullet can penetrate the thick hide, big bones, and cartilage shields that hogs are known for. On this hunt, I didn’t see any pass-through body shots, but it was apparent that the bullets were hitting hard and delivering plenty of energy.
For the depredation hunter shooting at night, and for the sport hunter who may shoot at first or last light, Winchester has developed a powder that delivers a reduced flash. This allows the shooter to stay on target and not experience the night blindness that sometimes comes with a bright muzzle flash.
From USAToday via. Zerohedge ...
Deputy Assistant FBI Director Jerry Pender said the checks, required by federal law, surged to 129,166 during the day, far surpassing the previous high of 97,848 on Black Friday of 2008." And in reality, the number is likely far greater: "The actual number of firearms sold last Friday is likely higher because multiple firearms can be included in a transaction by a single buyer. And the FBI does not track actual gun sales." And while Saudi Arabia is warning that women driving leads to the end of the world, in America women are now the marginal guy buyer: "Some gun industry analysts attributed the unusual surge to a convergence of factors, including an increasing number of first-time buyers seeking firearms for protection and women who are being drawn to sport shooting and hunting. Larry Keane, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said 25% of the purchases typically involve first-time buyers, many of them women.
And in case you missed the story (I am late in reporting it), the Scottsdale Gun Club in Arizona has been letting the public have their photos taken with Santa and his arsenal of machine guns.
[ Many thanks to G, jdun1911 & Rolf for emailing us the link. ]
Strike Industries will soon be selling a nifty gadget called the Sling Catch. It attaches to a pack or armor and keeps a rifle or shotgun sling from biting into your neck. SI told me they have not yet finalized the MSRP.
45 acp ammo Guns For Sale.com has a large selection of .45 ACP ammunition.
Kimber has a large line of 1911’s that expands by several new products each year. When you go through the catalog it seems there is a model or caliber for just about every shooter in the market for a new 1911. Kimber is certainly challenged to keep up with the demand.
When we go to the beginning of Kimber’s relationship with the 1911 we start in the early 90’s with the Jericho company a manufacturer of various hand tools as well as projects for the defense industry.
The second company to become involved was owned by Larry Edelmen of Nationwide Sports. Edelmen was also a minority shareholder in Kimber at the time. The idea was to connect the manufacturing ability of Jericho with the established dealer network of Kimber.
The last ingredient needed in this combination was someone who knew the 1911 very well. That person was Chip McCormick. With this last choice made the prototypes of Kimber 1911’s were revealed at the 1995 Shot Show.
There was some controversy with these prototypes when it was found Caspian made them. The serial number and manufactures name were hidden under the grip panels.
In 1996 Edelmen purchased Jericho, closed down the Kimber plant in Oregon and moved it to Yonkers, NY. The name was also changed to Kimber Manufacturing. The business is still located there. By the end of 1997 production started at the Yonkers facility that also included Kimbers established rifle line.
An interesting sideline is prior to the changeover Jericho made slides for Wilson Combat. When the change was completed Kimber continued to make slides for Wilson for approximately six to seven years. Surely an interesting fact many people aren’t aware of.
One question that always comes up in almost any gun review concerns MIM parts. Well yes Kimber does use MIM parts in non-critical areas. This is just a fact that no longer indicates bad quality since MIM parts have progressed greatly in quality and durability the last few years. There are very few companies in the firearms industry who don’t use MIM parts. As far as non custom made guns the only company I’m aware of not using MIM parts is Sig. That information came directly from the company. The MIM debate will go on for some time I’m sure. This is a matter of choice and opinion on the part of the buyer.
My review pistol is the fairly new Kimber Super Carry Ultra+ chambered in .45 ACP. As with almost all Kimber pistols it is indeed a beauty. Fit and finish is very good. This is pretty obvious from the pictures below.
The Ultra has a full size grip with a round butt. This modification makes it an easier gun to conceal as well as more comfortable to shoot since it lacks the sharp rear corner of the grip frame. Also, you just have more to hang onto☺ This model comes with Meprolight night sights which seem to me to be brighter than most other brands. The recoil system certainly is effective. It uses a dual captured spring setup with full-length guiderod. The full guiderod is needed to hold the dual springs in place. Both springs are rather strong at 18 pounds total. The barrel is 3 inches long in the bull barrel (bushingless) configuration. An ambidextrous safety is also standard. The two included magazines are the higher quality Kim-Pro brand, which have very strong springs. Stronger springs on a pistol with a short barrel tend to contribute to reliability. Witness holes are also present on each magazine marked one through eight.
The slide of the Ultra as well as the frame has a Snakeskin type treatment. The top of the slide as well as the front and rear of the grip have this design. The side of the slide also has this treatment making it very easy to grip the slide. The slide is stainless steel with an alloy frame.
Specifications
Specifications
• Caliber: .45 ACP
• Height (inches) 90° to barrel: 5.25
• Weight (ounces) with empty magazine: 27
• Length (inches): 6.8
• Magazine capacity: 8 rounds
• Recoil spring (pounds): 18
• Full-length guide rod
Frame
• Material: Aluminum
• Finish: KimPro II
• Width (inches): 1.28
Slide
• Material: Stainless steel
• Finish: KimPro II
• Flat top Super Carry pattern serrations
Barrel
• Length (inches): 3
• Material: Steel
• Match grade bushingless, bull
• Twist rate (left hand): 16
Sights
• Night sights with cocking shoulder
• Radius (inches): 4.8
Grips
• Micarta/laminated wood
• Checkered with border
Trigger
• Aluminum, match grade
• Factory setting (approximate pounds): 4-5
• MSRP $1530.00
Range Time
This turned out to be a great day for the range with mild temps and very little wind. As usual my shooting was done primarily from ten yards. The ammunition used was Federal 230 grain ball, Remington 230 grain ball, Tul Ammo 230 grain ball. The hollowpoints used were Hornady Custom 200 grain +P and Hornady TAP CQ 230 grain +P.
I fired a total of 200 rounds of ball and 60 rounds of hollowpoints. My first rounds were loaded in Wilson 47D magazines. The Ultra did not like these mags. Granted the Wilson mags are a bit old and I probably should replace the springs. The first mag used had three malfunctions with the rounds nosediving. When I yanked the slide back and released it the increased velocity of the slide chambered these rounds and firing continued. I switched to the second Wilson mag and experienced three of the same malfunctions. These malfunctions were with the TulAmmo, which of course is not the best ammunition around.
After experiencing these malfunctions I switched over to the included KimPro mags for the rest of the session. I also buffed the feedramp to a mirror shine. Buffing the feedramp and switching to the Kimber mags was the right thing to do since I had no further malfunctions. The extractor was well tuned with most brass ejected in a circle of about three feet in circumference slightly right rear. That sure makes picking up your expended brass easier☺
Something that really did surprise me was how little recoil I felt. I can only attribute this to the recoil spring setup and the full size grip. The shape of the grip I’m sure helped as well. I fully expected the recoil from a three-inch barrel using 230 grain +P to be pretty unpleasant. As it turns out it wasn’t bad at all and that helped me get back on target quickly in rapid fire. Accuracy was also much better than I was used to firing a pistol with such a short barrel.
I fired both aimed slow fire and rapid fire from the ten-yard line. With the three-inch barrel I felt no need to shoot from a greater distance. The target below is an indicator of an average group size. The group sizes varied very little between the assorted brands and types of rounds.
Conclusion
Overall I enjoyed this little pistol. The accuracy was better than expected as I stated earlier. Recoil did not interfere with my followup shots nor leave me with a sore hand even after firing 260 rounds through the Ultra in one session. I’ve certainly experienced that before after firing small pistols with a large caliber round. Trigger pull was slightly over four pounds with a crisp break. The trigger is adjustable for takeup. This example needed no adjustment.
Since this first range session I’ve taken the Ultra out a couple of times firing an additional 100 rounds of Federal ball and 20 rounds of the Hornady Custom XTP this time in 185 grain. It’s remains trouble free
Something I’ve talked about before is the lack of need, in most cases, for a very short barrel for concealment purposes. The grip has more to do with the ability to conceal any pistol than barrel length. The Ultra is just the opposite. The round butt on the Ultra makes it about as easy to conceal as an officers model frame however. I still prefer a four-inch barrel even for concealment purposes. With the right holster even a five inch 1911 isn’t that hard to conceal.
Each potential buyer has his or her own preconceived ideas of which gun will be best for his or her intended need. Whether it’s a 1911 full size or a small pistol like the Ultra the best gun is the one the owner has confidence in and trains regularly with.
Earlier this year Kahr introduced the "value priced" Kahr CM9 subcompact pistol. Next year they will begin selling a .40 S&W variant, the Kahr CM40.
The CM4043 is chambered in a .40 S&W caliber, has a 3.0" barrel and an overall length of 5.47", with a height of 4.0". The pistol weighs in at 15.8 ounces plus 1.9 ounces for the stainless steel magazine. Differences between the CM models and PM models include: the CM4043 has a conventional rifled barrel instead of the match grade polygonal barrel on Kahr's PM series; the CM slide stop lever is MIM (metal-injection-molded) instead of machined; the CM series slide has fewer machining operations and uses simple engraved markings instead of roll marking; and finally, the CM series are shipped with one magazine instead of two magazines.
The CM40 boasts real sights, which are drift adjustable in the rear and a pinned-in polymer front sight featuring a white bar-dot configuration. Finally, the slide does lock back after firing the last round - another feature missing on a number of other value priced compact semi-auto pistols.
The CM40 slide is machined from solid 416 stainless steel with a matte finish and is only .94 inch wide. Each gun is shipped with one 5 rd stainless steel magazine with a flush floorplate. Magazines are made in the USA, plasma welded, tumbled to remove burrs and feature Wolff Gunsprings. The magazine catch in the polymer frame is all metal and will not wear out on the stainless steel magazine after many uses.
MSRP will be $517, about $250 less than the premium Kahr PM40.
38 Special Please check the wide selection of ammunition at Guns For Sale.com
Of all the gun companies that we’ve experienced through firearm history S&W has to be one of the top two Iconic companies. Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson started their company in the early 1850’s. Because of financial problems related to the failure of the fist lever action pistol design they were forced to sell the company to Oliver Winchester.
In 1856 Smith & Wesson formed their second partnership to produce a small revolver designed to fire the Rimfire cartridge they patented in August of 1854. This revolver was the first successful fully self-contained cartridge revolver available in the world. Not only was this groundbreaking but it set the stage for the long history of pocket size revolvers and pistols.
In my humble opinion the most successful of these designs is the S&W “J” frame series that are still popular many decades later. S&W’s newest offering in the pocket revolver line is the “Bodyguard 38 Special +P”.
There are many shooters who believe this is just another “J” frame. This is far from the truth and be assured there is no relation to the “J” frame with the exception of the general look. Apart from that it has no interchangeable parts common to a standard “J” frame.
I received this sample of the Bodyguard and my first observation was how little it weighed. As it turns out the little revolver only weighs a bit over fourteen ounces. Now you may ask how could a revolver of this size fire a 38+P without durability problems? The designers did a great job in creating this small revolver that will indeed handle a good deal of +P ammo with no problem.
The “Bodyguard” has a two-piece frame, which differs from most in having dissimilar materials. The upper part of the frame is made from an aluminum alloy while the lower frame is a reinforced polymer with steel inserts in critical areas. The barrel is inserted into the barrel shroud and is made from standard barrel steel. The steel barrel probably adds more weight than any other component even though it’s only 1.9 inches in length. The cylinder release is ambidextrous having been placed on the top rear of the frame behind the rear notch sight. Pushing this rubber piece forward releases the cylinder. The cylinder itself is made from stainless steel with a PVD coating that makes the cylinder match the color of the rest of the revolver.
A unique feature of this revolver is the Insight Technology red laser. The laser is mounted on the side, top of the right side of the frame. On top of the laser housing is a small gray button which activates the laser. The first push of the button turns the laser on. This produces a constant beam. The second push creates a flashing pulse with the third push turning the laser off. In case the laser is accidentally activated a five minute timer turns the laser off. The camera type battery has a three hour useable life.
The above photo shows the laser as well as the two adjustments for windage and elevation using the included hex wrenches. You can also see the laser activation button.
The picture below shows the internals and just how different it is from a “J” frame. The hammer for instance is very small as is the rest of the action. This photo also does a good job of showing where the upper and lower frame fit together. The trigger by the way is polymer!
In order to change the laser battery the two screws holding the housing to the frame are removed allowing the user access to the battery. As a last note the hammer strut mates to the lower frame by placing the strut inside the spring in the grip.
Specifications
Model: BODYGUARD® 38
Caliber: .38 S&W Special +P
Capacity: 5 Rounds
Barrel Length: 1.9″ / 4.8 cm
Action: Double Action Only
Front Sight: Black Ramp
Rear Sight: Integral
Frame Size: Small – Internal Hammer
Grip: Synthetic
Overall Length: 6.6″ / 16.8 cm
Weight: 14.3 oz / 405.4 g
Upper Frame Material: Aluminum Alloy
Lower Frame Material: Steel-Reinforced Polymer
Cylinder Material: Stainless Steel with PVD Coating
Finish: Matte Black
Purpose: Personal Protection
Professional / Duty
Integrated INSIGHT® laser
Operation: Push-button, ambidextrous (pistol), top-mount (revolver)
3 Modes: Constant-On, Pulse, Off. Plus 5 minute auto-off timer
Battery Life: 3 hours continuous on
User Adjustable: Windage and elevation, no disassembly required
Range Time
For this range session I used Remington 110 grain JHP, Hornady 125 XTP JHP and Cor-Bon 110 Grain +P JHP. As most people know these little guns are usually carried a lot and shot a little. In this case there’s a very good reason. When firing standard Remington loads the recoil wasn’t bad at all. When I moved up to the Hornady load it was not unpleasant but stout. When I used the Cor-Bon load it downright hurt. I’m not very recoil sensitive at all. However with 14 ounces of revolver and firing 110 grain Cor-Bon +P I was not having fun after twenty rounds! Even with the rubber grips after shooting all three loads for a total of forty rounds I’d broken the skin in the web of my hand. I decided it just might be a good idea to switch to my left hand for those last twenty rounds.
I shot my groups from seven yards. The average group size was right at four inches. This may sound like a large group but for a revolver meant for protection at close range it does the job.
Normally when doing a gun review I’ll shoot a few hundred rounds. With this revolver there is no way so sixty rounds will have to do☺ In the group above I simply brought the gun up where I was looking over the top of the revolver not using the sights. Counting the one round off to the left this is a four-inch group. If not for the flyer the group size would be closer to three inches.
I gave the laser a try from seven yards and found I could see the dot but it wasn’t very bright. I’m sure the laser would be very helpful in a dark home but you’ll be better off staying with the iron sights during daylight.
For those used to shooting the “J” frame you’ll need to adjust to the grip angle on the “Bodyguard”. The grip on this revolver is more upright than the model 642 for instance. This will make you shoot high unless the sights are used. I know some may say you should always use the sights. The way I was taught many years ago when using a revolver at contact range back to a few yards is to bring the gun up to the waist at contact distance and aiming over the revolver up to five yards away. When firing farther than five yards the sights are used. I’ve become so used to this instinctive method of shooting a revolver at close range I still use it with good results. If you learned a different method by all means use it!
Conclusion
The S&W Bodyguard as well as the “J” frame series are great little guns for backup or on hot summer days when you don’t feel confident concealing anything larger. This revolver is so light it’s easy to carry in a front pocket holster and not even feel the weight. I’ve carried this one all day without discomfort of any kind
Another method of carry is to use the included nylon case which has a holster pocket inside with room for extra ammunition using stripper clips.
If a person likes the idea of having a laser to assist them in targeting this may be the revolver for you. I’ve decided to stick with the model 642 for a few reasons. The 642 only weighs 1.5 ounces more with a retail of approximately $75.00 less than the “Bodyguard”. Also, the grip angle makes the felt recoil a good deal less. When I fire +P rounds in my 642 it’s not going to break the skin on the web of my hand like this revolver did. Of course the 642 is also available with a laser but the retail is almost $600.00!
These are extremely handy guns to have. In fact the small revolvers S&W makes are the top sellers of all the guns the company makes. As I usually advise go to a gun shop with a range that rents guns. Try a few models and see what suits you best before you spend your hard earned money.
