Adaptive Tactical is now offering the Sidewinder Venom shotgun enhancements as home conversion kits.  These kits will work with Mossberg 88, 500, 535, 590 and 835 shotguns.

There are three kits:  one with a five round box magazine, one with a 10 round rotary magazine, and one with a new M-4 style buttstock and 10 round rotary magazine.  The first two kits are available in black only and are priced at $219.99 and $279.99 respectively.

The Venom -SE 10 kits are available in black, A-TACS, MultiCam and Tiger Stripe Digital Desert colors.  The MSRP on the black kit is $339.99 while all of the other camo patterns retail at $399.99.

It should be noted that while these Sidewinder Venom kits are very similar to the Sidewinder conversion kits made by Knoxx prior to its acquisition by Blackhawk, Adaptive Tactical states the “new Sidewinder Venom magazines and related components are not compatible or interchangeable with the original Sidewinder magazines and conversion kits.”

Tomorrow’s Powerball jackpot lottery has hit $600 million! This, along with the news that Savage has just been bought out for a cool $315 million, got some of the TFB staff thinking what gun companies they would buy if they won.

The first thing I would do if I won would be to go on a Class III shopping spree on GunBroker, not stopping until I had made TFB writer Alex C. jealous. Then I would buy a TrackingPoint rifle, just because I could. Once I had gotten all that out of my system I would call up George Kellgren and make him an offer to buy Kel-Tec.

What gun/tactical/optic/ammo company would you buy?

Crowdfunding has been described as the combination of fundraising and social media. It is also defined as a collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money, usually via the internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Essentially, it’s a way to raise capital or finance a project. Most crowdfunding models rely on donations to reach a certain goal, targeting people who identify with that goal.

Recently, a friend of mine had his .45 stolen. With the economy in the state it is, he didn’t have any plans to replace it, which I thought was a shame. What’s worse is that this is the type of guy that will drop anything he’s doing to help you, would give you his last dollar, etc.

My first inclination was to go out and buy him a cheap replacement, almost as a placeholder, until he could get something better. Then it dawned on me that if a lot of people could give a little, we could get him something that would last a lifetime. As I’ve said before, shooters are some of the most generous people I know.

So, I sent out a plea on Facebook and Gmail, briefly explaining the situation and asking for donations. I asked for donations of any size, assuming that in the aggregate, I’d end up with enough.

The response was incredible.

In just over a week, I had donations in excess of $600, and I hadn’t even pursued the idea very vigorously. Just a couple of status updates and emails and that’s all it took. The people that donated were all strong 2nd Amendment supporters, as you might have imagined. I never cease to be amazed by the good people are willing to do. Needless to say, I was incredibly humbled and grateful and I’m just the intermediary – my friend will most likely be overwhelmed.

I eventually got sick of telling people I was crowdfunding a gun purchase and just started using the term “crowdgunding”. It’s been an amazing thing to be a part of. I hope to do it again soon, although I hope no one else’s guns get stolen.

TFB’s resident South American gun expert Ronaldo Olive sent us these photos of a Colt M16A2 Commando (Model RO735B) owned by the  Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (the Rio de Janeiro State Military Police).

The upper receiver has been blown apart, the magazine baseplate has been blown off and the bolt is lodged in the buffer tube. These symptoms point towards an out of battery detonation. I hate to think what damage was done to the operator. Ronaldo was not given any additional information about the incident.

For the third year in a row, the number of female customers increased. For the year 2012, 78.6 of retailers surveyed said more women came to their stores, compared to 72.8 in in 2011 and 61.1 in 2010.

Firearms most often purchased by women were a semiautomatic handgun followed by revolvers, modern sporting rifles, shotguns, traditional rifles and muzzleloaders.

84 percent of retailers surveyed reported that overall sales in 2012 exceeded sales from the previous year.

76.9 percent of retailers surveyed said sales of AR-style modern sporting rifles in 2012 exceeded sales from the previous year (60.1 percent), the largest increase in the firearms category.

Retailers surveyed said that 25.8 percent of their customers were first-time firearm buyers in 2012 compared to 25 percent in 2011 and 20.8 percent in 2010.

Rob Curtis got the scoop on a new SIG Personal Defense Weapon. The SIG MCX, as Rob speculated it will be named, is the big brother to their recently launched SIG MPX pistol-caliber carbines. Internally all we know is that it uses a AR-15 style rotating bolt and a short-stroke piston. The upper will be compatible with AR-15 lower receivers. Externally we can see that it is integrally suppressed and does not have a buffer tube.

The Lionheart Industries “L” series of pistols were introduced earlier this year and recieved a lot of attention. To give you a background of this pistol series it helps to know who makes them. Lionheart  formed a strategic alliance with S&T Motiv in order to bring these pistols to the American market. Now you’re probably asking yourself who the heck is that. Well you know them by the more common name of S&T Daewoo based in south Korea. Daewoo is an experienced company that most people know from the 1980′s when they introduced the Daewoo 5.56 carbine. Those familiar with the company know they make excellent firearms. In fact they manufacture most of the South Korean military small arms.

Lionheart opened it’s doors in November of 2011 in Redmond Washington in a brand new 70,000 square foot world headquarters. Not long after they partnered with Daewoo in designing this new pistol series. The “L” series comes in a compact version which is the LH9C. The second and third versions are the full size LH9 followed by the full sized rail equipped LH MKII. All versions are currently chambered in 9MM. All “L” series pistols are finished in Cerakote in a variety of colors as well as two tone models. Both full size models are shown below.

If appearance is any indication these are going to be excellent pistols. We’ll know for certain before to much time has passed. We’ll be doing a review of the LH9C fairly soon.

The Inteliscope is a picatinny mount for the iPhone which unlike, other phone picatinny mounts which we have blogged about before that mount a smartphone for use as a ballistic heads up display, allows the phone to be used as a digital scope.

An app for the phone overlays a reticle on iPhone camera’s video feed, as well as other useful ballistic and weather information. The app also allows the user to digitally zoom in up to 5x and can act as a shot timer.

Instagram-like video filter effects can be used to simulate shooting using a thermal scope (see the photo above). This may be gimmicky, but I can see people writing clever apps that can highlight movement on the screen, maybe drawing a box around moving objects (like a digital camera’s auto-focus) or highlighting a moving object in a bright color.

The Inteliscope (iPhone Touch, iPhone 5 and iPhone 4/4S) goes on sale next month and will cost $69.99.

Nick Chen emailed me about a nifty camera mount called the Swivl that, using infra-red, can track people as they move about, making it perfect for shooting video downrange without putting a cameraman in harm’s way. Nick wrote …

It is a small base that you mount a camera to. The base then tracks a small infrared marker.  It’s purpose was for video conferencing and facetime. The device was developed around the iPhone and iPod. However you can mount small video cameras to it.

I realized immediately the potential of this device to give me a safe way to video the shooter downrange.

Here is a video i just edited with some samples from a few shooting matches these past few months I have had this thing.

A feature I do not use is the wireless mic feature. There is a cable that the base plugs into an iPhone or iPod. The IR marker is also a wireless mic. Sadly it only works with apple products. I decided I would sacrifice sounds of me breathing and talking to myself for wider angle video from my GoPro.

H&K has never made a true G36 rifle available to civilians in the USA mostly due to import regulations and what I assume would be a lack of demand (lets face it, your average consumer is happy with one of the many AR variants that have taken over the semi-automatic 5.56 rifle market). However in the 90′s to comply with the 1989 import ban on foreign “assault weapons” and the now expired 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, H&K came up with an idea to market a new sporting rifle known as the SL8 that was a cousin of the G36. The rifle functioned via the same operating system but looked a whole lot less scary and a whole lot more like an old IBM computer keyboard:

While H&K did finally offer the gun in black, the fact remained that even though the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban expired, the ’89 ban persists to this day. The now discontinued SL8 was never a big seller due in part to its high price tag and the fact that it is a neutered version of a neat rifle, but the HK community (an especially crafty bunch) found a way to turn this horse designed by committee into what they wanted: a G36 rifle.

Now I bought an SL8 on September 17th, 2011 for the price of $1600 new in the box from my favorite local gun shop. I knew immediately that the rifle would be converted, so I never even shot the gun in stock SL8 form. Here she is the day I got her laid out across my garage floor:

The conversion is among the most complex gunsmithing projects I had ever undertaken, as it requires a significant amount of plastic welding (a skill I lack both the know-how and tools to perform) and so the hardest part is converting to take double stack magazines and welding on a g36 rear receiver stub. The SL8 has a section of the receiver indented so as to prevent the insertion of the double stacks. Also, the sl8 bolt head has a slanted lug so that it will not feed from double stacks, so you need a g36 bolt.

To start the process I ordered:
G36 Bolt Head- US HDPS Manufacture
G36 30 Round Mags
HK G36 High Capacity Mag Well- Black
Stock Block For HK SL8 Conversions (to shoot it before I did the rear of the receiver)
G36 Rear Stock Axle Pin For SL8 To G36 Stock Conversion
G36 FBI (0,1,) Lower HK German New
G36 Recoil assembly
G36 & HK SL8 Sight Rail With Front & Rear Sights
HK G36, G36K Full Size Folding Stock

These parts ran me $1,284.59.

Also, I will need a number of 922r compliance parts, which will include-
US made Sear
US made Trigger
US made Floor plates for magazines
US made Piston
US made Op Rod
US made Bolt Head
US made Flash Hider

Yes, 922r sucks and this bundle of parts cost me $424.64.

But wait, there is more you have to spend if you want that authentic look!

I just had to have the Hensoldt dual optic!

Which after shipping ran me another $709.99.

Once you have your gun and the parts you can start converting to the best of your ability. The first step is to swap your SL8 trigger group over to your G36 lower using your 922r parts. You can do this at home with your hands and a drill press (you need to drill a hole to accommodate the SL8 FCG).

This took me and my friend CJ about 2 hours in my garage, as the SL8′s FCG has parts that neither of us had ever seen before. You can see a breakdown of the trigger group here:

http://alpinetek.netfirms.com/guns/SL8/breakdown/

Basically strip your SL8 lower of its FCG, drill a hole on your new lower, and swap the parts over. This sounds simple, but I swear that a lot of profanity was involved and 3 or four hands were needed constantly. Not to mention those lovely 922r parts got to be put in.

That day I also milled out the magazine well to accept double-stack magazines. This is not my photo, but it is more of less how you do it:

I then put the HDPS stock block to use by aligning a g36 stock and punching in an axle pin, and I threw it together for a quick look see. At this point here is how she looked:

This was about as far as I could take it myself, so I had to outsource the next few steps to a professional. TPM Outfitters located in Carrolton, Texas are a business by me that specialize in H&K products. I did not know that they existed before I had started on this project, but I conscripted them to turn my barrel down, thread it, and get the plastic welding done (something they outsourced to a gentleman they know).

The following is a series of photographs depicting how the plastic welding is done on these guns. First, the magwell cut is reinforced by the placement of a metal bar:

The bar is then covered and laser engraved with authentic g36 markings:

Now here is the scary part. The rear of the SL8 must be cut off and a g36 receiver stub must be put in its place:

The stub and the SL8 receiver are not simply plastic welded together either; a steel bar is put in-between the two for strength:

The two sections are then brought together and then welded:

After proper welding you are left with this:

And of course the markings that formerly said “SL8″ are refinished with g36 markings:

The next step is to mill this nub on your SL8 carrier off so that it will clear the new g36 receiver stub:

Alas after two years of working on this project on and off, I finally got to pick up the gun and assemble it. As I held the product in my hands for the first time It seemed like I had a whole new rifle. I ditched the stock block and the original sight rail I bought and bam, suddenly I felt like I had a real G36 rifle in my hands:

Also for giggles, I just had to get a suppressor adapter and throw my Gemtech G5 on it!

And there she is; A project two years in the making is finally completed and is perhaps the most unique gun in my collection. I have put maybe 500 rounds of both m193 ball and M855 ammunition through it without a stoppage and it turns some heads at every range it goes to. Most people ask “what is that thing?” while others ask “how the hell did you get that?”. I have yet to have anyone know it started life as an SL8 approach me and ask about the conversion.

So there you have it, a civilian G36 in the USA. It isn’t impossible, but it isn’t easy either. Now if this is something you have considered, let me tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good:

• Shoots great! Very reliable and the trigger is very good
• The dual optic is very neat and has a built in range finder and a nice reticle
• Very low recoil impulse
• Fully ambidextrous
• Light for its size and barrel length
• Feels very solid for a plastic gun
• Turns heads and generates traffic
• Fine asset to any collection

The Bad:

• The eye relief and FOV on the dual optic are terrible!
• The battery for the red dot is proprietary
• The unique recoil impulse has two stages akin to a SCAR (odd to describe but very weird)
• Magazines are proprietary and can be expensive (albeit Magpul now makes g36 mags)
• It isn’t and will never be a real G36 rifle

The Ugly:

• The price tag. I have about $4500 into this gun
• Time to completion; This project has taken me two years to complete due to turnaround times and parts acquisition

So that is that. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask me and I will answer them to them to the best of my ability in the comments!

]]> http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/05/15/yourself-hk-g36-rifle/feed/ 35 http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/05/15/advantage-open-source-guns/ http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/05/15/advantage-open-source-guns/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 08:01:55 +0000 Steve Johnson http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/?p=44092 Forbes has published an article about some of the modifications and upgrades that the 3D printing community have made to the open source DefCad Liberator Pistol. Andy Greenberg writes … Travis Lerol, a 30-year-old former military software engineer in Glen Burnie, Maryland, printed his Liberator (shown at right) within days of its appearing online. Unlike [...] Read More …]]>

Forbes has published an article about some of the modifications and upgrades that the 3D printing community have made to the open source DefCad Liberator Pistol. Andy Greenberg writes …

Travis Lerol, a 30-year-old former military software engineer in Glen Burnie, Maryland, printed his Liberator (shown at right) within days of its appearing online. Unlike the original printed gun, he says he’s altered his to have a rifled barrel, a move designed to avoid the National Firearms Act, which regulates improvised and altered weapons and has a provision covering “smooth-bored” pistols. He’s also built another version of the barrel for .22 ammunition that uses a metal insert for reinforcement, instead of the entirely-plastic barrel for .380 rounds used in Defense Distributed’s original. And he’s cast versions of the Liberator’s barrel in epoxy that take .380 and .45 ammunition, a design he argues will be more durable than the pure ABS plastic Defense Distributed tested.

The ability to experiment with open source 3D printed designs is powerful. Just like with open source software, designs like the Liberator can evolve keeping the best features and community modification,  while bad ideas fall by the wayside.

Trijicon has announced thier first VCOG riflescope. The VCOG (Variable Combat Optical Gunsight) is a zoom scope, in contrast to their famous  ACOG line of combat scopes which have a fixed magnification. The first VCOG will be a 1-6x power with a 24mm objective lens. A range of reticles will be available with bullet drop compensation for the 5.56mm, .300 BLK and 7.62x51mm cartridges. The reticle is situated on the first frontal plane (meaning the reticle zooms in proportion to the target as you increase magnification).

The scope is illuminated and runs for 700 hours off a single lithium AA battery. It starts shipping in August.

Thanks To Jakob for the tip.

Hat Tip: Solider Systems

The Arizona state legislature recently passed a law requiring cities to sell guns they collect in gun buy-backs, rather than destroy them, as is typically done. The law has been passed but not yet gone into effect – so the city of Phoenix and the a group called Arizonans for Gun Safety set up a series of three buybacks to be held before the law took effect.

AFGS provided $100,000 of private money, and they partnered with the local grocery chain Bashas to give people $100 grocery gift cards for functional guns, and $200 gift cards for functional “assault weapons” (which they defined as any detachable-mag semiauto in .223, .308, or 7.62×39). They got billboards and advertisement, and were all set to go. The first buyback was May 4th, at three locations around Phoenix. I wasn’t there, but news reports described it as a huge success, with more than $80,000 of gift cards traded for guns. I decided to make the trip into Phoenix for the second event, which was Saturday May 11th (because of the organizers’ dwindling cash supply, this was scaled back to a single location only). I had heard about folks going to buybacks to buy guns out from under the gun-grabbers by offering cash, and I figured it could be interesting to try.

I arrived shortly after 10am (the scheduled opening time), with a wad of cash and some trepidation about how the police would react to my plans. I didn’t expect to come away with anything really valuable, but figured I might find a decent pump shotgun, or other general-purpose utility gun. Sign-waving public activism isn’t really my thing, so I was a bit uncomfortable with the whole deal. Well, I shouldn’t have been.

The handful of uniformed police present had coned off the driveway for the church where the official buyback was. People coming to turn in guns would (in theory) pull up to the cones, tell the cops that they wanted to turn in a gun, and then be waved through down the driveway to a little tent to actually hand the gun over. We buyers weren’t allowed to go back there, or to interfere with the driveway turn-in. However, the cops were quite clear that they had no issue at all with us buying the guns first, though, as long as we didn’t obstruct someone from turning them in if they really wanted to. There was one officer who showed up an hour or so into the event who was clearly hostile, and made a point of threatening to arrest anyone who stepped off the curb – but even he loosened up by the afternoon.

I can only describe the experience as a cross between a parade, gun show, and backyard BBQ with friends. When I arrived, both sides of the (residential) street were lined with people waving “CASH FOR GUNS” signs – at the midmorning peak, there were at least 80 opportunistic and enthusiastic buyers. In fact, the official turn-in had completely run out of gift cards almost as soon as they opened, so people coming through only had the options of turning in a gun for nothing at all, or selling to us for hard cash.

We probably intimidated a few people (unintentionally), which was unfortunate, but the vast majority of people seemed very happy to deal. Basically, a car would come down the street toward the turn-in, and the driver would see the throng of sign-wavers offering cash instead of gift cards. They would pull over to the side of the street and stop, at which point they would be gently but determinedly mobbed by 6-10 eager potential buyers. They would show us what they had to turn in, and people would either pass the gun around or take turns looking at it through the seller’s open car window. Someone would make an offer, which might be accepted or haggled on. The really good stuff got counter offers and bidding going between buyers, right there on the curb. It was the most fun gun show I’ve been to in a very long time.

The buyers who were there (overwhelmingly white males 18-40, like myself) were all polite, good natured, and friendly (even the hostile police office would vouch for that – as far as I saw he wasn’t able to actually cite anyone for anything, as much as he clearly would have liked to). I spent the morning wandering up and down the street (between approaching sellers), and would randomly stop to chat up groups of buyers – “So, you get anything cool?” Without exception, everyone I talked to was happy to share their good or bad luck, and show off the really good scores they had gotten. One fellow got a Winchester 1897 pump shotgun (dirty, but in working order) for nothing at all – the owner just wanted to get rid of it and turned down the offered greenbacks. A Colt Delta Elite 1911 in 10mm went for $117. A nice ban-era MAK-90 AK for $80. The really screaming deals didn’t come when crowds of buyers were counter-bidding each other, but I think just about everyone went home with something new.

My own personal score of the day came when an older couple in an Oldsmobile showed up with a WWII bringback P38. Original holster (cut up by the GI owner, unfortunately), two wartime mags, matching Walther production from the very end of the war (high B-series serial number). I would have gotten it for $200 had it not been for the 10 guys breathing over my shoulder, but I ended up taking it home for $350. I wanted to tell the lady that I though it was a travesty to take a family heirloom like a vet’s WWII trophy and have the police destroy it…but I settled for giving her cash and a thank-you-ma’am instead. It has a home now where it will be appreciated, and isn’t that what all guns deserve?

My WWII bring-back P38. Made by Walther in 1945, with a serial number that puts it only about 5000 guns before the factory was overrun by the French.

The attendees were a mix of people with different motivations, as you might expect:

• Ideological gun-haters who had somehow come into possession of a gun and wanted it destroyed – maybe 5%
• Genuine shooters taking advantage of the chance to dump worthless junk guns so they could put their grocery money into better ones – about 15%
• People who simply had no concept of guns or shooting, didn’t like the idea of have guns around, and wanted a simple way to dispose of them – the definite majority, probably 80%

That last group in particular was happy to consider selling to us, which is part of what made the event such a great experience. Some of those folks would happily take offers that were nearly highway robbery, and some of them wised up and would drive the whole length of the street, taking bids from all of us until they got what they thought was the best price. I would like to think the event was a win-win for everyone, because many of those folks got more than a $100 gift card for their guns, and we buyers got some great deals at the same time.

I only encountered one hard-core ideologue myself, who refused to even tell us what she had, insisting that she would only hand it over to a cop.  She left planning to walk into a police station with whatever it was.

Did I mention what a great bunch of people the buyers were? I didn’t see a single person being rude or argumentative, even when bidding wars were going down. It was like bears pulling salmon from a stream – everyone was having a great time talking wheeling and dealing, and if you missed your chance at a particular gun, well, there was always another car coming down the street with something else.

Most of the guns really were junk. I saw a lifetime’s worth of Davis, Jenning, Bryco, and Lorcin automatics. There were more RG Model 31 revolvers than in that one morning than I’ve in the rest of my life put together. Lots of single-barrel break action shotguns, and a few rusty side-by-sides. one or two sporterized Mosins. The good items were scarcer, but I saw a pristine Russian Makarov (the owner wanted to get rid of it because he couldn’t figure out how to get the magazine out), a brand new Taurus TCP with extra mags and ammo, and others. Small handguns were a significant majority, followed by simple shotguns and .22 rifles. Centerfire rifles were few and far between – I saw two Mosins, the afore-mentioned MAK-90, and heard about a Mauser of some vague type. The media reports describe pretty much the same distribution of guns – in the first weekend they took in about 800 (private buyers probably get nearly that many as well, if not more), and only claimed 10 to be “assault rifles”.

My only regret about the whole event? I forgot to wear sunscreen. If they do another one of these buybacks near me (and I hope they do), you can bet I’ll be there!

The Daily Mail has published a few interesting photos of guns used by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF … who did you think the title referred to?) in the Philippines. One of the guns, an M16, caught the eye of a TFB reader. The barrel is a little strange, it has round bumps along the length of it. I can’t work out if it is decoration, some sort of primitive heatsink or a feature of the steel pipe used to make the barrel in the first place. What do you think?

Many thanks to Tom for the tip.

When browsing TFB today I noticed that we are running an advertisement for a new ammo tracker website called WikiArms. They have a very simple layout, which I like, and seem to be updating pricing about every 10 minutes.

Disclaimer: There are some that don’t believe that advertising on TFB is separate from the editorial side of things, I can only keep repeating is so many times … the ad people never told me WikiArms was advertising here (they never tell me who is advertising), I don’t know who is behind the site, I don’t know how long they will be advertising here and I was not told or paid to write this post. Phew, that was a long disclaimer.

Recently, I decided that my AR needed an upgrade to its forend. My Magpul MOE handguards had served valiantly for a year or two, but I wanted more. Changes in my shooting technique left me wanting a longer, lighter handguard. Because my rifle had carbine-length gas, and an A2 front sight block, my options were somewhat limited. I chose to chop the A2 block into a low profile block. This let me choose rails without cutouts for the block and let me extend the sight radius as well. Lacking the tools to remove and reinstall the barrel, I chose to stick with a rail that attaches directly to the standard barrel nut. With those choices made, I completed the installation with the tools I had on hand: a dremel, a crescent wrench, some punches, and a claw hammer.

The author’s rifle before installing the rail.

Because of my restrictions on tools, I purchased a Troy VTAC 13” Alpha BattleRail.The VTAC Alpha is a tube-style forend, with a single 12-’o-clock rail running the length of the forend. It is available in a standard black anodized finish, as well as flat dark earth (tactical tan). Additional rail segments are included, and can be attached to any of the slots running down the tube. The 13” length provides a grip surface about an inch longer than rifle-length handguards, and with folding irons, a sight radius about an inch shorter than a rifle-length gun. On a 16” barreled gun, about 2.5” of barrel protrude from the handguard before the muzzle device.

Installing the tube was a breeze. To do this, you slide the rail over the barrel and gas block, and onto the bare barrel nut. The cuts on the inside of the rail line up with the ridges and valleys of the nut. The rail slides over the nut at a slight left-leaning angle, and when the rail bottoms out on the receiver, it can be rotated into place, in line with the receiver rail. A small tab of metal on the back end of the rail prevents the rail from rotating too far to the right. At this point all that is left is to tighten down the 3 allen screws with the included wrench. This closes the clamps that secure the rail tightly in place.

The author’s rifle after installation.

Like any product, this product has advantages and disadvantages, and of course, I’ve got opinions. The fit and finish of this tube is just superb. It is anodized aluminium, just like the receivers of an AR. It locks up tight on the barrel nut, and simply feels well-made. The rail is very lightweight, weighing in only slightly heftier than the plastic MOE carbine handguards I replaced, while being nearly twice as long, and having a full length top rail.

As I stated above, the rail is incredibly simple to install, once certain parts are out of the way. If I were to install again, I would purchase a low-profile gas block instead of cutting down an A2 FSB, simply because I’m a lazy SOB and a commercial low-pro looks nicer.

Another key feature I like is the modularity. I’m not a huge fan of quad-rails simply because all the extra unused rail estate is simply dead weight, adds girth to the forend, and snags on things constantly without rail covers, which add even more weight and bulk. I can add side and bottom rails as I need them, and I can also add them at 45 degree angles instead of just the common 90 degree placements. Right now I don’t use any of the additional provided rails on my rifle, opting for a clean forend, with just a folding front sight and a small patch of rail cover as an index for my grip.

Finally, in addition to all the above, it’s also a free-floating handguard, which lets the shooter put a great deal of weight on the forend without changing the rifle’s point of impact, putting the force on the upper instead of directly on the barrel.

Of course, this product has some drawbacks too. Primarily, like most Troy products, you pay for the quality you receive, in this case, $199 MSRP. For the two benjamins though, I received a lighter rifle with a longer sight radius, and much nicer handling. I’d say it was plenty worth it.

Lastly, the plain black model has some heat issues. If you leave it sitting in open sunlight on a hot day, or rip off some longer rapid-fire strings, the rail can get rather painful to hold, especially near the gas block. Some shooters wear a glove when shooting, or take and wrap paracord around the rail where they place their hands. Others have purchased heavy nylon wraps to attach to the rail to protect themselves from the heat. I have heard reports that the FDE model doesn’t suffer these issues, and that a simple application of a lighter colored spray paint acts as a heat reflector, and mitigates this problem.

Bottom line, I feel that this was one of the best purchases I made to improve my AR, and don’t hesitate to recommend this product to others looking to upgrade an existing rifle, or to complete a new build.

Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK), have acquired the Caliber Company for $315 Million. The Caliber Company is the parent company of Savage Sports Corporation. From the press release …

ARLINGTON, Va., May 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — ATK (NYSE: ATK) announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Caliber Company, the parent company of Savage Sports Corporation. Savage is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of hunting rifles and shotguns, delivering innovative products for more than 100 years. The acquisition would expand ATK’s portfolio offering by adding long guns to its leading brands in commercial and security ammunition, shooting sports and security-related accessories. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. ATK anticipates closing the transaction in the first quarter of its Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14), which ends June 30, 2013.

Under the terms of the transaction, ATK will pay $315 million in cash, subject to a customary working capital adjustment. This represents a trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2013 EBITDA multiple of approximately 5.5 times (unaudited). ATK believes the acquisition will be accretive to FY14 earnings per share. ATK will finance the acquisition with cash on hand and funds available under its existing credit facility.

ATK owns a wide range of gun/tactical accessory and ammunition brands including Blackhawk, Federal Ammunition, CCI Ammunition, Speer , Blazer, Weaver Optics, Eagle Industries, Alliant Powder and RCBS. Just about the only thing they that not made until now is firearms themselves. ATK closed up 2.72% today.

Now that Savage has been acquired, there is just one independent gun maker left on my list of companies-I-cannot-believe-have-not-yet-been-purchased. Care to guess what that company is? (Hint: they make pistols, rifles and shotguns).

Update from Y-man January – February 2013 (My FIRST self-posted guest post! Yay!). My previous post about my October visit to the USA is here.

Well, hello all… Y-man here again. And when I say “here” I mean “HERE” in the USA on another visit. I came over for work, training, and a few days of vacation, and spent my time in the Atlanta – Georgia area.

It was a hectic trip, with long, tiring flight but all worth it, with all the things I bought, and my exciting visit to the Stoddard”s Guns and Range. Many thanks to the wonderful guys there, who took time out of their extremely busy work schedules to welcome me, take me through the safety courses, and organised some very constructive range time (Including giving me access to their personal firearms, and providing a lot of the ammo I used up…) It was GOOD!

I have a little on what I learnt and got at Stoddard’s Range and Guns below.

Just before I left on this trip, I finally got the chance to do some testing on my shotgun and other developments. I had firmed up on a new design of slug (More like the Federal Tru-Ball type, but with local materials and modifications.) and finally got the chance to test.

Also: I had gotten a Knoxx Blackhawk! Specops folding stock for my shotgun last year, and have been chomping at the bit to go test it under real firing conditions.

In mid-January, I drove for 300 miles from the Niger Delta to my home area up-north (The North Central area.) where hunting, shooting and (licensed) shotguns are a bit more accepted. I hooked up with some of my cousins, and took off for some shooting adventures. You can see the video from the experience below.
What I learnt from this experience:

1. My locally fabricated slugs work quite well. I fired from about 45 yards (stepped – WIDE, LONG steps!) at some computer hard disk covers screwed onto planks of wood. I fired over ‘open sights’ using a HiViz Plain Barrel clip-on sight. I basically had some good hits: even with my less than perfect eyesight through my Remington Shooting Glasses (I did not wear my own glasses.) I was able to hit the hard drive cover bull’s-eyes at least twice, and hit the plank just below that at least four more times. (I even had two holes overlap! Does this mean there was either something wrong with my aiming, or with the sights?)

2. Distance to target: 45 yards is just simply too long to expect much accuracy from homemade slugs. I think it was over-optimistic of me to try at this distance. It is painful when you consider that I once had good hits as far out as 70yards! Consistency has been the issue. I will henceforth do my shooting at a reasonable distance of 25 to 30 yards maximum.

3. The Knoxx stock is a BAD cheek slapper! Each time I would fire, my cheek would feel like I had been hit by a glancing blow from a hammer. I had my cheek throbbing even a week later. After a few shots, I quickly swapped the Knoxx stock for one of my own fabrications. (That one did not do much better in the cheek-slap-free department either, but that’s a different story altogether…) This led to several modifications on the Knoxx stock, and with this, I think I am now onto a good thing.

4. A range visit should be a well thought-out plan, with a whole day invested into it. If one is going to carry out specific tests on specific batches of ammunition, it is good to plan it properly. I ended up forgetting to go with the right cameras, I forgot to keep track of the specific slug batches I was shooting (So as to know and review the results accordingly.) It is also good to set up the right type of targets. If accuracy is the test: use the right distances, use easily recognizable targets (I find that discarded computer hard disk covers are useful here…) and if speed shooting is the test: I have found that nothing beats balloons of different colors strung up in staggered intervals. For this speed test: shooting sequences could be randomized  a ‘coach could vary the calls, at whistle blow: shout out – “Blue, green, green, red, blue, red, yellow, yellow, purple!” A good shooter will then remember this order, and shoot accordingly. A fast and accurate shooter will almost be hitting the right balloons as the coach calls out the colors  Imagine if all this is caught on tape, with clear coverage of the target balloons for after-action reviews?

5. Sometimes, the very best equipment could disappoint a person. My highest end Nikon D7000 camera made a mess of videoing the event. I ended up with more acceptable video from my Samsung phone, my GoPro HD cam, and an old Olympus camera I thought I had lost long ago. At least my shotgun worked! (Even though my cheek got painful and slightly swollen from the cheek slap – not to worry: I  saw a doctor, a regular doctor, not a sangoma! (I only had some bruising to my cheek, no bones broken.)

6. Simple can be best. I used a simple aluminium clamp to hold my Hi Viz sight to my shotgun barrel: after having lost several such sights before from getting flung off the barrel during recoil. I have decided to simplify even more in everything I do. The clamp worked, my sights worked, it all worked!
In all, quite an eye-opener, (And cheek slapper!)

Now, back to my Atlanta visit, and Stoddard’s adventure.
Jonathan of Stoddard’s had hinted in a response to one of my guest posts here that I could check out their Gun store and Range if I were ever to be in the Atlanta area. By coincidence, a training seminar in personal management was set up and I was invited to participate. So on 07FEB, I left for Atlanta. Before then, I had done a LOT of research on Stoddard’s , and had gotten in touch with them in preparation for my trip. Jonathan was very kind in answering all my inquiries, and was very patient in explaining things to me.

I also pre-ordered some items I had only ever dreamt about: the Lyman Sabot Slug Mould, the BPI Roll Crimper, a proper Shotgun sling, a survival knife and a few other odds and ends. I gave the sellers and shippers the hotel address.

On arrival at Hartsfield International Airport on 08FEB, I was surprised at how cold it was, though not as much as the North East. My pre-ordered items had mostly arrived: these and other (non-firearm) items were waiting for me when I arrived: the hotel staff jokingly called me “Mr. Packages”!

I settled in for my training, and did some shopping too. I must confess that I found the area I stayed in rather boring (Douglasville, Atlanta.) and had much difficulty getting food to eat: I just could not find my favourite foods! So I settled for shrimps, and potato salad for EVERY day I was there.

On Monday 11FEB, I finally got to spend the day at Stoddard’s. And man! Was I excited or what! A wide array of rental and sale firearms, rifles, shotguns, handguns, knives, tactical jackets, holsters, all well arranged and presented. The staff were nice and attentive, professional in their duties and very, very warm in welcoming customers. Jonathan recognized me as I walked in and was very warm with his welcome. He also introduced me to his colleagues who had obviously heard about me from him before. The welcome was overwhelming.

When he had a little time free, he showed me round the shop, I met the owners, who are inspirations in their own right: with their almost miraculous bounce-back after a devastating fire some years ago. Then he set me up on a firing lane, and signed out a Chiappa Rhino Revolver in .38/ .357 magnum for me to start with. I chose the .38.

Firing this was sweet! Recoil was negligible, the revolver stayed on target, and the shots went too fast for my liking. At one point, I mistakenly got my finger on my left hand too close to the gap between cylinder and barrel, and got a slight and painful powder burn for my mistake. As I asked the Sales Manager: Tim MClarty later: I am puzzled as why such a sweet shooting, accurate revolver is not more widely adapted, even for law enforcement, and he did mention that it is a classic gun, and the price of up to a thousand dollars per piece might put it out of reach of more people. Lovely gun.

Jonathan brought over shotguns his friends and colleagues had brought specially for my visit, and plenty of ammo –compressed lead powder breaching rounds. These all shot very well, though Winchester Slugs did not cycle properly through the Remington 1100 Shotgun. I fired the Remington 1100, and the 870, solid shooting platforms. I believe I impressed the guys with my rate of fire and accuracy…

I moved on to other firearms, and it was like the day had just begun…I put rounds through –
The H & K P45, in .45ACP, the venerable Uzi, in 9mm with a sweet shooting long barrel. I also fired a Sig Sauer 556 Rifle… It brought back memories of training with and shooting the 7.62×51 mm Fabrique Nationale SLR when I was in the Air Force. I also fired a lovely, smooth Palmetto State Armory AR-15 Rifle. This belongs to one of the staff at Stoddard’s and they kindly gifted me 15 rounds of VERY precious 5.56mm ammo for that.

I also fired Jonathan’s laser-accurate CZ 527 Bolt-Action rifle, with a 4X Scope. I must confess I did not quite enjoy shooting this: maybe because I fired it mainly from a free-standing position… It also had issues with light hammer strikes, and failure to fire several times. I was also not very accurate with it: I did not know how to properly align my eyes to the reticules of the scope.

To cap it up for the day, Jonathan surprised me with the Kriss Vector PDW, chambered in .45ACP. Unfortunately I was not permitted to fire it in full auto or burst, as I had not completed the Stoddard’s Full Auto Safety class. I plan to do that next time I might be in the area.

You can check out the fun I had shooting on my Youtube Channel here. Check out the some more of my videos, and PLEASE leave a comment!

On the whole, it was a good visit, and I closed it out by buying from the Stoddard’s exceptional store: a Tactical Combat vest, and a “close-shaving” Cold Steel Survival knife.

I also got me (At last!) a proper Lyman 525gr Sabot Slug mould, and a BPI Roll Crimper. I would have loved to buy much more, but decided to leave some dollars for gifts for the family… We can’t be so selfish, can we?

Thanks!

Indie game developer Wolfire has developed a FPS shooter where things like reloading involve having to issue separate commands for  each action that would be required in real life to operate the guns. For example, reloading a 1911 pistol involves issuing a command to remove the empty magazine, another to insert a fresh magazine and finally a command to release the slide.

Hat Tip: Endo.

Unique-ARs are a new company which offer handguard making services. They will manufacture custom AR-15 handguard to your specifications. If you want a red handguard with a communist hammer and sickle design, no problem, they can do it (and have done it!). If you are not a designer, they can assist you in turning your idea into a handguard design.

They are also happy to manufacture private label handguards (meaning they will make it with your branding instead of theirs) so if you have a great idea, you can get them to make it and then sell it yourself under your own brandname.