The Firearm Blog

Stag Arms have a new 6.8mm hunting AR-15 called the Model 7 (Hunter).

Model 7 (Hunter). Click to expand.

The rifle features a 20.77″ 1:11 twist barrel, 2 stage match trigger, 5 round magazine and a Hogue pistol grip. Stag Arms has the price listed as $1,055.

Although I have not read an evaluation of hunting performance for commercially available 6.8mm SPC, the round produces similar energy to the .30-30 at the muzzle and offers significantly better downrange performance than the .30-30 or 7.62×39mm. Whitetail deer should be no problem.

More info @ Stag Arms

GunPundit stumbled across a photo at Marines.mil with a caption that suggests that some Marines are hunting ducks with 5.56mm NATO rounds and/or 5.56mm blanks.

My take on it: They reckoned punt guns are pretty cool for duck hunting but rifle grenades (fired with a blank round) are even better!

(Just joking)

In 2006 Sauer, a 257 year old German company, produced their first semi-automatic rifle the S 303

(Sauer should not be confused with Sig Sauer, which is the American arm of the European conglomerate that owns J. P. Sauer & Sohn).

In the January 2009 issue of Guns Magazine they review the S303 and call it a “new” rifle. I think they mean “new in the USA”.

Sauer S 303 Elegance model with scope.

The rifle is a high-end elegant rifle (in other words: a non-evil non-black rifle) designed for European drive hunts. In drive hunts game is flushed out towards hunters and quick shots are needed as they run past; at least that is my understanding of drive hunts, never having seen one.

The S 303 includes some interesting features. It has a feature called the Silent Cocking System (SCS) which Guns magazine describes:

With the magazine in place if the cocking lever is pulled back and allowed to go forward the firearm is cocked and ready to go. However, if you allow the lever to go forward slowly, it stops about 1″ shy of actually closing and then can be pushed into place silently.

I can’t quire figure out what this mean in practice. Walking around with the bolt open 1″ with a round not quite chambered seems to me like asking for a jam but I am sure there is more to it than that.

The cocking/decocking lever can be seem at “1″.Click to expand.

The S 303 also features a innovative detachable mounting system called isiMount. The scope can be move into two different positions, depending on desired eye relief, without effecting point of impact.

isiMount bottom diagram. Smart Tube gas system top diagram.

The under barrel gas system, Smart Tube, has been designed with accuracy in mind.

Specs:

Models: Classic (least expensive), Elegance, Individual (most expensive)
Barrel length: 510 / 560 mm – 20″ / 22”
Total length: 1065 / 1115 mm – 41.9″ / 43.9”
Weight: 3.25 / 3.35 kg (7.16 / 7.38 lbs)
Calibres: 7×64mm, .30-06, 8×57mm IS, 9.3×62mm, .300 Win. Mag.
Magazine: 2 rounds (optional 5 round magazine available)

Guns Magazine says that the price will be $3999 (presumably for the least expensive Classic model).

The top end Individual model. Look at that wood!

With its elegant non-threatening appearance I think Sauer have a winner on their hands. While the rifle is expensive, it is not when compared with the double rifles it is competing with. It also has many advantages compared too double rifles such as decreased recoil (semi-auto action) and increase accuracy (one barrel).

It is available in 9.3×62mm which is the minimum African dangerous game caliber so it should be more than sufficient for any animal found in Europe or North America. Due to import restrictions on semi-automatic rifles it is unlikely that many (if any at all) will end up hunting the Big 5.

More info available at Sauer and Guns Magazine (Jan 2009 issue).

(Photos and diagrams from Sauer-Waffen.de)

Bushnell have announced an ultra-compact GPS device called the BackTrack. It is designed to find your way back to your car/home/hotel/camp site.

Camo or Pink, take your pick.

This could be very useful as a backup GPS unit. When it come to GPS systems I consider myself an expert. Never trust GPS with your life, and never rely on small GPS units, especially when in a car, indoors, under a tree or even under clouds!

Saying all that. I wouldn’t mind one myself as an emergency backup when outdoors or as a way to find my hotel in a foreign city.

From the press release:

Key features include: compact design so it fits in a pocket, pack or purse; and lanyard for easy attachment; self calibrating three axis digital compass, backlit screen with location mode icons (Home Base, Car and Favorite Spot); water resistant construction. The unit includes a SiRF Star III GPS receiver for optimal GPS sensitivity. The BackTrack is powered by two AAA batteries and will run for over 100 uses. One use is equal to ten minutes or less. There is an auto shut-off feature after ten minutes.

The BackTrack will come in five different color ways – orange/gray, green, pink, tech gray and camouflage.

MSRP: $69.00

More at Bushnell

Defense update has an interesting article about the wearable Boomerang Warrior acoustic shooter detection system.

Part of the wearable system. Photo from Defense Update.

If the entire system was ever made small enough to fit into a wristwatch I think it would become an essential hunting tool and could prevent accidental shootings.

Scientist say that may realistically be able to regenerate the Mammoth. The NY Times reports:

Scientists are talking for the first time about the old idea of resurrecting extinct species as if this staple of science fiction is a realistic possibility, saying that a living mammoth could perhaps be regenerated for as little as $10 million.

I think this would be the hunting equivalent of space tourism. The richest hunters from all over the world would be competing for the title of “First Mammoth Hunter in 10,000 years”. Ancient animal hunting would become an industry in of itself and firearm manufactures would no doubt jump on the opportunity to manufacture the .900 Mammoth Express.

Wooly Mammoths by Mauricio Anton (CC-By-2.5)

Unfortunately a T-Rex will not be able to be bred:

The same technology could be applied to any other extinct species from which one can obtain hair, horn, hooves, fur or feathers, and which went extinct within the last 60,000 years, the effective age limit for DNA.

Scientist seem to be eternal optimists. I don’t expect to see one in my lifetime.

Ruger and Hornady have teamed up to produce the new .416 Ruger cartridge which will be available next year (2009).

The round is basically a necked up .375 Ruger and offers performance comparable to the classic .416 Rigby in a standard length cartridge. The Ruger M77 Hawkeye bolt action will be available chambered in this cartridge.

Hornady claim on their website that the 416 Ruger offers the same performance in the compact 20″ barreled Ruger M77 Hawkeye Alaskan as the .416 Rugby in a full length rifle.

416 Ruger cartridge delivers the same performance as the fabled 416 Rigby, but does it in a shorter 20″ barreled Ruger Hawkeye rifle that is extremely compact and easy to carry.

I am skeptical about this claim. It will be interesting to see what results firearm magazine writers get when they test the ammunition.

Ruger M77 Hawkeye Alaskan (20″ Barrel)

Ballistic infomation:

Click to expand.

Product Video (there are a couple of video snippets at the start of charging elephants being shot. Really crazy stuff!):

The .375 Ruger has proved to be popular and I think so could the .416 Ruger. The standard length action is a compelling reason to choose this cartridge over the .416 Rigby and .416 Rem. Mag.

More info at Hornady.

Sean @ Everything Hunting has written detail instructions on how to butcher deer yourself.

The price of butchering a deer ranges from $75-150. I don’t know about you, but that is a little much when you can butcher your own for free in about 4 hours. If you are content with paying someone so that you don’t have to worry about it then you have more money than me.

More here.

The latest Popular Mechanics (October 2008, Volume 185 no. 10) list 100 Skills Every Man Should Know. I was pleased to see no. 69 was “Shoot Straight”. Of course it is damn near impossible not to shoot straight, what they meant was shoot

accurately

Other skills included teaching a kid to fish, destroying a hard drive with a drill and changing diapers.

UPDATE: Oops, Ride Fast & Shoot Straight points out that it is number 54 on the list online … I am pretty sure it was 69 in the magazine.

John Snow @ The Gun Shots does a lot of hunting. Here are a couple of posts about his recent hunting trip:

Going Long With The Uselton Warbird and Swarovski Z6

Kessler Canyon: Colorado Mule Deer Hunting At Its Best

Leupold have launched a new scope called the UltimateSlam for shotguns and modern muzzleloaders. The SABR reticle can be adjusted to match your load.

SABR: Sabot Ballistics Reticle

Leupold’s® all-new UltimateSlam™ riflescope is the ideal combination of flexibility, accuracy, and durability for today’s modern muzzleloaders and shotguns. As an example of accuracy, using Hornady SST 2-pellet, 3-pellet and 12 gauge shotgun loads at up to 300 yards, the maximum error of the UltimateSlam is less than 1″ as compared to a 14″ error from the leading competitor.

UltimateSlam

More info here.

Later this year Remington will be selling the Model R-25, an AR-10 type rifle chambered in .243, 7mm-08 and .308.

Click to expand all images.

With the hunter in mind, the new R-25 modular repeating rifle boasts the most advanced design aspects of AR 308 Win. style rifles available today. For peak accuracy, the R-25 features a precision-crafted 20 inch barrel with recessed hunting crown that’s free-floated within a machined-aluminum fore-end tube for the ultimate in shot-to-shot consistency. Six longitudinal flutes forward of the gas block provide increased rigidity and weight reduction while promoting rapid barrel cooling.

Koelbl Single-Rail Gas Block

Specs:

- Free-floated button-rifled 0.680″ Muzzle OD ChroMoly barrels with recessed hunting crown

- Fluted barrel design (fluted ahead of gas block)

- Koelbl Single-Rail Gas Block

- Single-stage hunting trigger set to 4.5-5lbs

- Receiver-length Picatinny rail

- Ergonomic pistol grip

- Front and rear sling swivel studs

- Full Mossy Oak® Treestand™ coverage

- Includes 4-round magazine

- Compatible with aftermarket AR 308 Win. type magazines (AR-10 I assume)

- Comes with a lockable hard case

All three models have a 20″ barrel, 10″ rate of twist and weight 8.75 lbs and carry a MSRP of $1532.

According to John Snow @ Gun Shots Remington have already sold out this years quota!

More at Remington.com and Gun Shots

I spotted this rifle over at longrangehunting.com. Is it anti-air artillery or a deer rifle?

Built by a New Zealander … they sure know how to build a cool rifle.

Click to expand the photos

Beautiful scenery

The rifle has a custom suppressor with a muzzle break! Here is a close up:

I assume the “404″ refers to the 404 Jeffries.

my suppressed 7mm/404 which weighs 20 pounds all up, and pushes a 180 grain Berger at 3350 fps.

Very interesting article on reading the wind when hunting. Most articles on wind tend to focus on bench rest shooting.

If you are new to long range hunting or an experienced veteran, most will agree that the ability to accurately read the wind is what separates a fair shooter from an exceptional one. Let me say that reading the wind is like most anything else; a lot of people have a lot of ideas about how to do it and how to apply it.

I have had a fair number of successes in long range competition and in long range hunting and I will cover what I do and what works for me. The way I read wind and apply that info to my shooting may not work for everyone but check out the information and use it as you see fit.

Read it here.