The CompBullet is an interesting bullet made by an Italian company. The bullets, made from a solid copper alloy, have vents machined into them. According to the company, these vents reduce friction by allowing gas to lubricate the bullet as it passes through the barrel and then act as a muzzle brake as the bullet exits the barrel. They apparently also reduce smoke, increase velocity (a rocket effect as they leave the barrel) and reduce muzzle flash. In other words, they are miracle bullets.
The use of gas to lubricate firearms is not new. Many automatic firearms have fluted chambers to vent gas through the chamber and around the brass case to lubricate it during extraction. This could work for bullets as well, but would it help enough to make significant improvement in ballistics in a pistol length firearm?
As for the muzzle brake and "rocket" effect claim, the physics is beyond me. I cannot work out how gas venting out of the bullet for a brief moment in time would have any effect on recoil. Surely because the bullet is not fixed to the gun any muzzle brake effect would slow down the bullet not the recoil of the gun?
As for the claim that it reduces muzzle flash and smoke, again I don't understand how it would make any difference. The company has photos on their website purporting to show decreased flash and smoke using the CompBullet compared to regular FMJ bullets. A single photo is meaningless, an ultra-highspeed video would be needed to make an accurate comparison.
That said, I would still like to try using one of these bullets. The company makes them in a variety of calibers and weights for pistols and .30 125gr rifle bullets.
TsKIB SOO, a subsidiary of KBP (Instrument Design Bureau), have developed a new bullpup rifle called the ASh-12. It is chambered in a new family of 12.7x55mm cartridges they developed for the rifle.
The 12.7x55mm is a thumper of a cartridge. It is similar in size, and probably power, to the .50 Beowulf. To help mitigate recoil, the ASh-12 is fitted with a large two-baffle muzzle brake. The 12.7x55mm assault rifle cartridge is based on the 12.7x55mm subsonic rifle cartridge (similar to the .500 Whisper). I do not believe an assault rifle chambered in 12.7x55mm would be able to chamber the much longer 12.7x55mm suppressed rifle cartridge. TsKIB SOO have developed a FMJ, soft-point, lead and armour piercing loads for the 12.7x55mm assault rifle cartridge.
12.7x55mm assault rifle (left), 12.7x55mm sniper (middle)
The ASh-12 Rifle with suppressor and grenade launcher (background), interesting tacti-cool revolver (foreground)
The ASh-12 is not the first bullpup from TsKIB SOO. In the mid-90s they developed the A91 assault rifle and in the early 00s, the A91M.
[ Many thanks to T.G. for emailing us the link. ]
After pistols grips and stocks were adopted by photographers picatinny rails were bound to follow.
The camera in the above photo is the Navy's standard-issue Nikon D700 with a Tactical solutions LLC Nightstalker II Mount coupled with a NVM001 night vision monocular (which has a picatinny rail attached). Read about the camera and the military's frontline photographers at PopPhoto.com.
[ Many thanks to Crystal for emailing us the link. ]
I came across (or was sent, I am not sure) this strangely beautiful photo of captured weapons being destroyed with diesel and incendiary grenades. The photo was taken taken on September 23, 2007 in Samarra', S-Alah Ad Din, Iraq.
(The photographer does not want photos embedded, so click the link to see it)
Center Balanced Systems have updated their AK-style Draco Pistol from a conventional pistol design (in this case a stockless short barreled rifle) to a bullpup design. According to them the BATFE have stated that the new design is a pistol, not a short barreled rifle, and therefor does not fall under the NFA.
Just looking at it I cannot believe how the BATFE came to that conclusion. If it does not have a stock then I obviously do not know what a stock is. Center Balanced Systems have hacked the NFA to a greater degree than Franklin Armory with their Franklin Armory XO-26b.
If you buy this gun make sure you get a copy of the BATFE letter approving the design.
[ Many thanks to Jeff for emailing us the link. ]
Each time I post about Kel-Tec a reader invariably complains that they would like to buy a Kel-Tec gun but none of their local dealers ever have them in stock. I noticed this entry in their website's FAQ that explains why ...
I'm a dealer, why can't I get Kel-Tec firearms?
We are asked this question a lot, actually. Kel-Tec is a distributor exclusive manufacturer, which means we have no control over which dealers receive our weapons. We have over 30 distributors nationwide that we rotate shipments between regularly. Once the shipments leave our facilities, we have no say as to where they go. There is a high demand for our weapons as well, which definitely contributes to the lack of availability. We are always working to increase our production to meet demand. So the short answer is: demand outpacing supply in conjunction with our inability to control the product distribution passed the wholesale level.
Kel-Tec is arguably the most innovate firearm manufacturer in the country. In the past few years they have launched two completely new guns designs (KSG shotgun and RFB rifle), and one mostly-new gun design (PMR-30 pistol), while most of the industry have been content with selling AR-15s and 1911s. I have always got the impression they are an engineering heavy company. Marketing folk may take a lot of flak, but they are an integral part of the system, without them the guns you want won't find their way to the shelves of your local gun store.
Savage Arms is the latest firm to announced that have adopted the .300 AAC BLK. Along with .223 Rem. and .308 Win they are chambering the Model 10 Precision Carbine in .300 AAC BLK. The Precision Carbine is part of their Law Enforcement line of rifles. I have never thought of the .300 BLK as a law enforcement sniper cartridge, but there is no reason it could not be employed in this role. I do think it would make a decent hunting cartridge for small deer and hogs.
They have not yet released all the specs, but the MSRP will be $899.
Christmas came early for me this year! The Ballistics By The Inch (BBTI) have done extensive testing to find out how much the revolver cylinder gap (the gap between the cylinder/chamber and the barrel of a revolver) affects performance. They shot and carefully measured over 7000 rounds.
The cylinder gap, and gas escaping from it, can be seen clearly in this photo.
From the BBTI website ...
For many years people have wondered about the effect of the gap between the cylinder and the barrel (forcing cone) on a revolver. How much energy is lost due to this gap? Intuitively, a larger gap would probably mean a greater loss of energy (and hence bullet velocity), but how much functional difference is there? We decided to test it and see.
This is actually a more complex problem than it might seem at first. In addition to variation caused by the actual amount of space between the cylinder and the barrel (forcing cone), there are a number of factors which could have an effect on the loss of energy through the cylinder gap.
...
So, we decided to test a pretty wide range of different loads available in the caliber/cartridge of our test platform, an Uberti 1873 Cattleman Single Action Revolver (Colt Single Action Army clone) in .38/.357 magnum. In addition, the gun was modified to allow us to change the cylinder gap through the use of different shims on the barrel (where it screws into the frame) to create a cylinder gap of six thousandths of an inch (0.006"), one thousandth of an inch (0.001"), and "flush" (where the barrel was tightened against the face of the cylinder).
Because we expected the effect to be fairly subtle, we decided to do ten test shots of each ammunition brand/loading for each combination of barrel length and cylinder gap, measuring the velocity of the fired bullet over two chronographs set at 15'. This meant we fired thirty rounds of each ammo type at each 1" of barrel length, altogether almost 7,000 rounds.
The BBTI team (after two years of "encouragement" from me) have also done barrel length tests of the .22 LR and .223 Remington. I will be referencing their site as I continue to preach the benefits of short barreled rifles 
Thanks BBTI 
A member of the Cast Boolits forums posted photos and video of a rifle and .700 caliber cartridge he designed. The only component he did not make himself was the barrel.
The cartridge, named the .700 WTF ("What The F...") and is made by fire forming a .50 BMG brass case, trimming it to 3" in length and then sizing it. The round is loaded with a 1132 grain paper patched .700 lead cast bullet.
The rifle, with just a 16.25" barrel, can push the 1132 grain of lead up to 2300 fps. Thats 13,000 ft/lbs of energy, right up there with the .50 BMG and far exceeding the .700 Nitro Express. The cast lead bullet has enough energy to pass clean through a 1/4" steel plate.
The rifle uses a shell-holder style action. My understanding is that the difference between a shell holder and a bolt action is that a shell holder lacks an automatic ejector and must be entirely removed from the action in order to load a new cartridge. Note how in the video below the shell holder, holding the cartridge, it loaded into he rifle.
The rifle is accessorized with a Magpul pistol grip (probably the largest caliber gun to ever be fitted with a Magpul accessory), a Limbsaver recoil pad and a Aimpoint comp M4.
Juding by the video case extraction is tough. If you miss your shot at a charging Rhino T-Rex, you need to be able to reload quickly.
UPDATE: The inventor believes the rifle is not classified by the BATFE as a destructive because it is a sporting weapon. There is sporting weapons, such as shotguns and big bore double rifles, are exempt, the usual procedure it to obtain a letter from the BATFE stating that the particular weapon is a sporting weapon.
[ Many thanks to James T for emailing us the link. ]
A company called ArmStar is trying to sell Kevlar armor for the arm that includes electrodes to shock assailants. It also includes a HD video camera and an iPod / iPhone dock ... I cannot see this product catching on.
[ Many thanks to Mik for emailing us the link. ]
