The Firearm Blog

Remington has introduced three new Model 597 VTR rifles.

The Quad rail makes it look much more AR like.

Model 597 VTR Quad Rail

The Model 597 VTR Quad Rail features a free floating quad rail. MSRP is $590.

597 VTR A-TACS

The Model 597 VTR A-TACS is a standard VTR but with a A-TACS camo finish. MSRP is also $590.

Not pictured is the Model 597 VTR A2 model which, as the name suggests, features a standard AR-15 A2-style fixed stock. This has an MSRP os $445.

The BRJ was originally a .17 HMR rifle. Savage have now chambered in .22 Long Rifle, as the Mark II BRJ, and .22 Magnum as the Model 93 BRJ.

Model 93 BRJ (.22 Magnum)

Steve Doran demonstrates ...

Read more about the trick here.

The Sun Sentinal reports ...

Kelly Jr., 49, of Navarre, admitted shooting his daughter's boyfriend in the groin with "The Judge," his silver Taurus .45-caliber revolver.

"The Judge" was loaded -- three chambers were filled with bird-shot and the fourth with lead. But only one chamber had been fired.

“I shot him in the nuts with bird-shot because he was beating my daughter,” Kelly said.

[ Many thanks to Abraham for emailing me the link. ]

Last year American Tactical Imports was forced to take their GSG-5, a .22 MP5 patterned pistol and rifle, off the market after they were successfully sued by H&K for trade dress infringement. You can imagine my surprise when I saw them on display at SHOT only a couple of months after the lawsuit.

It turns out H&K had initially sued them over a long list of complaints. Most of these, the trade dress infringement being the sole exception, were thrown out of court. By simply making some design changes to avoid the GSG-5 being confused with the H&K MP5, ATI has been able to bring the gun back into the market under the GSG-522 name. The GSG-522 design was signed off by H&K and no royalties are required to be paid.

The GSG-522 has many subtle design changes. The biggest changes are ...

• Textured pistol grip
• Redesigned selector switch
• Picatinny rail on top
• Square "open" front sight rather than the classic H&K ring front sight.
• Integrated sling bracket (on trigger guard ... looks a bit flimsy to me)

New GSG-522 Pistol (bottom) compared to original GSG-5 PK Pistol

Close up of the new sight.

It still retains the MP5 style but is much less likely to mistaken for a real MP5 (although in reality the original GSG-5 would also not have been confused with the real deal).

The joke is that ATI will offer "upgrade" kits that will allow you to retrofit a GSG-522 to look like the original GSG-5.

GSG-522 Pistol and SD Carbine (with 110 round drum!!!)

The GSG-522 will be available in many configurations:

• GSG-522 Carbine with 16.25" barrel
• GSG-522 SD Carbine with 16.25" barrel (MP5-SD style)
• GSG-522 Pistol with 9" barrel
• GSG-522PK Pistol (MP5K style) with 4.25" barrel

The carbines will be available in black, nickel and camo finish. Each model will ship with either a 10 round or 22 round magazine.

One of the coolest features of the new GSG-522 line is the 110 round drum magazine.

The drum does not need to be wound. This is a plus, although I imagine after 75 rounds your fingers are going to be very tired (a mag loader is not yet available). An adapter will be offered at a later time which will allow the magazine to be used with the ATI GSG Kalashnikov.

As soon as this drum goes on sale you can be sure that in no time Youtube will be filled with videos of people dumping 100 rounds as quickly as possible

I do not yet have pricing info for the drum or GSG-5 firearms.

GSG-522PK

Introduced in Italy in 2004, the Beretta U22 Neos Carbine Kit has finally made its way stateside.

The kit includes a 16" barrel (1:16 twist), forend, stock (which replaces pistol grip), weaver rail, adjustable aperture rear sight and TruGlo front sight. No gunsmithing is needed to install it.

The Kit will retail for about $280. Not cheap!

What is in the box

Black Dog Machine's .22 50 round magazine was launched late last year. It works with a variety of .22 Long Rifle AR-15 conversion kits and AR-style .22 rifles (Atchisson/Ciener style drop in conversion kits, Kel-Tec, Sig 522, Tactical Solutions uppers, Model 1 Sales and Spikes kits.). Price is $80.

Rachael showing off the Black Dog Machine 50 rounder. Photo © Gregory

Black Dog Machine's 3rd Generation AR 22LR magazine. Photo © Gregory

The improvements in the new gen-3 mag are: steel feed lips, no need for magazine loader (follower can be manually pulled down) and 30-round capacity (old mags were 26-round capacity.)

[ Many thanks to Gregory for the info. ]

Taurus USA import many of thier guns from their Brazilian parent company. Because the BATFE has rules regarding size of imported guns, the company imports the Mod 94 .22 LR revolver with 3" barrels and cuts them down to 2". This funky revolver is a fully functional factory error.

It is being sold by Ocala Armory for $500.

Hat Tip: Pistol Training via. SayUncle

There has been much controversy over the Model 597 (.17 HMR) buyback.

Split case neck. A common problem with .17 HMR Model 597 rifles.

For those of you not familiar with the buy back, I will summarize. Back in August Remington finally acknowledged that their .17 HMR semi-automatics had serious issues. They offered a $250 coupon, which could be used towards the purchase of another Remington firearm, for each 597 that was returned to them. A $10 coupon was also offered for each box of ammunition returned. Since then there has been a lot of anger and confusion.

The confusion regarding the .17 HMR cartridge.

This buy back does not mean that the .17 HMR is unsafe in your bolt action, single shot or lever action rifles. The problems occur in semi-automatic rifles. Matt Groom explained in the comments ...

With any bottle necked round, the pressure generated in the body of the case has to be compressed slightly to flow through the smaller diameter of the case neck. This is why the shoulder usually moves forward a tiny bit on rifle cartridges. The gases also accellerate as they travel through the neck area, which can cause the neck to soften and split. This all happens very fast, and is one reason why nearly everything with a bottle neck is fired from a locked breech. The PPSh and other Soviet SMGs are the only things I can think of that use a bottle neck in a blowback action before the modern .17 caliber rimfires came out, and I think those used steel cases.

This was likely the reason that Ruger never launched their once advertised, but never seen, 10/17 rifles.

Hornady .17 HMR V-Max

In September Hornady, who originally developed the cartridge, posted this noticed on their website ...

Recently there have been notices placed on several web sites warning about the use of 17HMR ammunition in semi-automatic firearms. Statements are to the effect of do not use 17HMR ammunition in semi-auto firearms or serious injury may result and do not use unless or until you have contacted the manufacturer of your firearm. Every ammunition manufacturer determines the warning it believes is appropriate for its product.

First and foremost, the safety of our customers is our primary concern, and the same is true for all other SAAMI member companies. We are making this statement to hopefully reduce confusion, answer questions and clarify issues.

We believe 17HMR ammunition is manufactured to the highest standard of care and quality and performs within the specifications established for 17HMR ammunition and is consistent with SAAMI standards for ALL ammunition.

We are not firearms manufacturers and we believe the firearms manufacturers are solely the ones responsible for determining if and how they should market and sell a model or type of firearm. WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER OF YOUR FIREARM TO DETERMINE IF IT IS SAFE TO USE 17HMR AMMUNITION IN YOUR SPECIFIC TYPE AND MODEL OF FIREARM.

So there you have it. It is safe, but be wary of using the round in a semi-automatic.

The controversy regarding the buy back.

Many owners of recently purchased .17 597 rifles are understandably unhappy about the buy back. Some have paid hundreds of dollars more for the rifle than what Remington is offering in the buy back scheme.

In the comments Rand said ...

A few points, then: 1) Remington’s buy-back offer represents $10 less than what a gun dealer who is unaware that the thing has been recalled will offer for a gun that has blown out its magazine. So you could say it’s a pretty lousy buy-back offer, but you could also say that it’s about right, since you wouldn’t be able to get much more for the gun by selling to someone else. Either way, Remington is not doing anybody any favors.

2) If you read Remington’s recall notice (which I also found when I Googled the thing), you’ll see that it does not admit that there is anything inherently wrong with the round OR the rifle. It says Remington has been “notified” by its “supplier” of 17 HMR ammo that the ammo is unsafe for use in semi-automatic rifles. So Remington offers to buy back its ammo. Then it says, essentially, that because it’s recalling its .17 HMR ammo, it’s also recalling its Model 597 rifles in .17 HMR. But why recall the rifles when the problem is the ammo? This is classic CYA legal language, pure and simple. I was in fact shooting Hornady ammo in my son’s rifle when it blew out the magazine.

Overseas customers are worse off as they have to pay much higher prices for their rifles, but are being offered the same buy back. Pat Gallagher said ...

I live in Ireland were we are screwed cost wise for just about everything, I bought a Remy 597 in .17hmr about 12 months ago.I paid 700.00 euro for it, approx 1040.00us dollars and am being offered the same deal as you guys recall value, and you guys are pissed!.

Shooters affected by the buy back have been emailing and snail-mailing Remington, complaining to the BBB, organizing an online petition and threatening legal action.

In the comments Joe argued that, on the whole, Remington are being fair ...

Having worked at Remington for over 40 years and retired I know that the company does everything possible to produce a quality product. As with any other industry sometimes new products don’t live up to expectations for one reason or another,the 597 .17 being a good example.I am also aware that no matter what reconciliation is offered it won’t satisfy everybody. many of the issues raised in the forum are justified and I think the company will be fair in their response.The thing that bothers me is the talk of lawyers and lawsuits. With Washington filled with antigun politicians we as gun owners should not be so quick to hobble a company that is in the forefront of protecting the 2nd Ammendment. You may say that I am biased but I would feel the same if it was Winchester,Mossberg or any other American gun maker.

What can Remington do to make this right?

I am going to write an email to my contact at the Freedom Group's Public Relations department and propose that Remington offer to replace any 597 purchased in the past X years with the closest equivalent .22 LR model. Customers could choose to have their 597 replaced or to take the $250 coupon. Sure this is not a perfect solution but I think it is more fair than the current situation.

Do you think Remington is being fair or not?

Generally I dislike camo on pistols, but this arctic-style digital pattern looks really sexy. The polar bears will not see you coming!

Other than the frame and slide finish, the specs of this new model are the same as the standard Mosquito

Umarex is also manufacturing .22 LR carbines patterned on the famous MP5 and MP5SD. These carbines features ...

• Metal revievers.
• Compensators
• NAVY style pistol grip.
• Retractable stocks.
• H&K style diopter iron sights. Adjustable for elevation or windage.

MP5 A5

MP5SD

The A5 model features a standard MP5 forend and a faux suppressor. The MP5SD foreend is modeled on the original SD forend although the suppressor is also just for the look and is non-funcationing. Standard fixed stocks will be able for purchase.

Both these guns will be able to be purchased with either a 10 round or 25 round magazine.

Hat Tip: On Point Supply

Umarex is manufacturing this .22 LR rifle patterned on the HK416¹ . It features ...

• Metal receivers.
• Functional dust cover.
• Full length picatinny rail.
• Adjustable stock.
• H&K style diopter iron sights. Adjustable for elevation or windage.
• 16" barrel.
• Pistol grip with compartment (for spare batteries, tools, etc.)

The rifle will be sold with either a 10 or 20 round magazine but 30 round mags will be available for purchase.

The previous Umarex .22 rifle, the Colt M4, had some serious problems. Justin Biddle, Umarex's Marketing Manager, assured me that they have been made changes to the Umarex action and sorted out the issues experienced by the M4 owners.

Hat Tip: On Point Supply

The AR-7 was designed by Eugene Stoner for the US Airforce in 1958, a couple of years after he designed the AR-10 (which went on to evolve into the AR-15). This Henry AR-7 Survival Rifle, I am sure, would have put a smile on Stoner's face.

"bronco" developed a conversion kit which allows a standard AR-15 pistol grip and stock to be attached to the AR-7 receiver. A forum posting over at the Predator Wild forum seems to suggest he may be willing to sell these kits.

The stock / pistol grip kit.

Next Chapter has written a review of the Henry AR-7.

Many thanks to Heath for sending me the link.

Henry Repeating Arms has put together a beautiful special edition of their Golden Boy lever action. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will be given to the The American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Wounded Warrior Project and the Fisher House for military families.

Gold Plating on reciver.

The seals of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard

I am not sure what the retail price will be.