The Firearm Blog

Weatherby are now selling Vanguard rifles for $399. They have a guaranteed accuracy of 1.5 MOA.

Weatherby is now offering its Vanguard rifles starting at $399, which is the lowest price the rifles have been offered at in years.

While the price has been lowered, Weatherby says the features of the Vanguard remain the same. A newly accurized trigger is adjustable and calibrated to break crisply without any play. The Vanguard action features a one-piece forged and machined receiver, and the bolt has three ports to allow high-pressure gases to escape in the event of an accidental case rupture. The rifle is available in 16 calibers, including .257 and .300 Weatherby Magnums.

Now if only ammunition prices would also decrease!

More info at 399weatherby.com

Hat Tip: Shooting Industry

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.

Lee, a Blackwater armorer, emailed me some info on the BW15:

1.Yes we do offer the BW15 in more than just 5.56mm. As of now we are making them in 6.8mm and 7.62×39mm as well. The BW15 lower receivers are stamped Multi-cal.

2.We are using out own receivers and each weapon is a matched upper and Lower receiver. All of the serial numbers begin BW.

3. As far the weapons shooting MOA, we use only the best barrels and the Armorer that builds the weapons also test fires it. I do believe that if we say that it will shoot MOA it will. But on the other hand what if the customer can’t shoot that well. Are we to take the weapon back? In case you did not know, everyone is an expert when to shooting.

4. Barrel lengths start at 16″. You can request a 14.5 with a pinned and permanently affixed flash hider to make total length overall 16″. We can have a custom barrel made to your specs (will take extra time POR). However if a customer wants a 18″- 26″ barrel we can accommodate.

5. All weapons have standard anodized finish. We are not doing any coatings at this time.

6. All weapons are shipped with 2 Magpul 30 round magazines and a lock.

American Tactical Imports are importing the GSG-5P, a pistol version of the .22 MP5 patterned GSG-5.

Click to expand.

The specs are the same as the carbine/rifle version apart from weighing 400 grams less. As far as I can see it is a GSG-5 with a butt plate instead of a stock.

The first thing I thought when looking at it was “wouldn’t that be cool in an MP5K configuration”, but bear in mind that adding a forward grip will make it an AOW.

MP5K – Wikipedia

ATI does not sell to the public.

S&W have announced the M&P15R, an AR-15 chambered for the 5.45×39mm. The idea being you can save costs by shooting the cheaper round instead of 5.56mm.

The product spec sheet says the launch date was “May 1, 2008″, yet the website says coming soon.

M&P15R. No surprises if you have seen an AR before

It will also be available as a complete upper.

It ships with one 30 round 5.45×39mm magazine.
Specs:

Model: M&P15R

Caliber: 5.45 x 39 mm
Capacity: 30 Rounds
Action: Semi-Auto
Barrel Length: 16”
Barrel Twist: 1 in 8”
Front Sight: M4 Post
Overall Length: 35” Extended ,32” Collapsed
Stock: 6-Position Collapsible
Weight: 6.5 lbs.
Barrel Material: 4140 Steel
Receiver Material: 7075 T6 Aluminum
Finish: Hard Coat Black Anodized
Chromed Comp: Barrel Bore, Gas Key
Bolt Carrier, Chamber

Another photo:

When I interviewed Magpul they were planning on releasing a 5.45×39mm conversion kit for the Masada so that trips to the range would cost less. I wonder if Bushmaster is going to follow through with this with the ACR.

Press release after the jump

Continue Reading »

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

Today Gunvendor.com, a new firearm auction site, was launched. It is good to see some competition in the online gun auction market.

I asked the founder Mike and David to tell us a bit about themselves:

My name is Mike Burkard and my partner is David Valle. I am an entrepreneur with a background in importing / online sales / marketing / Jewelry & Diamond Business. David is ex Navy and extremely passionate about firearms. We saw a need for a more user friendly place to buy and sell guns. We wanted to make it easy to list and

buy. Our “Gunfinder” we modeled as a cross between eBay’s Item specifics and on autotrader.com . You can select the Manufacturer, Style, Condition, Caliber, and other Firearm specifics. It is all organized in a homogeneous way. On the other auction sites, if some one post a listing for “ar15″ and a buyer searches “ar-15″ they will not see that listing in the results. Also we wanted to be able to filter out all of the accessories and other items when customers were searching for a specific gun.

Another great thing we have in development is, promoting local business. When a user logs into his account. He will have the option of displaying items that are listed by different sellers near his location. This and the ability to search the gun finder by zip code is a great option for people not wanting to have there items shipped to an FFL and deal in person.

We are also working on streamlining the firearm purchase procedure,

They have at least 100 auctions on right now.

Next month Kahr Arms will be shipping the P380, a new .380 pistol that is even smaller than the Kel-Tec P3AT.

Along with the fairly new Ruger LCP, competition in the .380 compact carry niche is really heating up.

The P380 features a DAO trigger, 6+1 capacity and is obviously chambered in .380 ACP. Much the same specs as the Ruger LCP and Kel-Tec P3AT.

Click to expand all images.

Kel-Tec P3AT vs. Kahr P380

Some photos of the pistol:

Specs:

Caliber .380
Capacity 6+1
Barrel 2.5″, polygonal rifling
Length O/A 4.9″
Height 3.9″
Slide Width .75″
Weight Pistol 9.97 ounces (w/o magazine)
Grips Textured polymer
Sights Drift adjustable, white bar-dot combat sights
Finish Black polymer frame, matte stainless steel slide
Magazines 2 – 6 rd, Stainless

More at Kahr Arms.

More pics from glocktalk:

Hat Tip: Suburban’s Domain

This year Auto Ordnance started selling a Thompson 1927A-1 “Lightweight Deluxe Pistol”, complete with 50 round drum magazine!

It has a 10.5″ barrel and aluminum receiver. A total length of 23.3″ and weight 5 lbs. 14.5 oz. Not exactly light weight, and that is before you load up 50 rounds of .45 ACP!

Model TA5

MSRP is $1,117.00.

More here.

Hat Tip: A Keyboard and a .45

Winchester has launched a reduced recoil .260 S&W for hunting. They claim it has 50% less recoil than a regular .460 S&W cartridge. The reduce recoil comes at a cost of approx. 34% less muzzle energy.

The press release:

For 2008, Winchester Ammunition offers a reduced recoil load for the .460 S&W Magnum, allowing shooters more pleasurable target sessions and hunting options. A proven big bore hunting caliber, the .460 S&W provides excellent energy transfer and deep penetration. The new Winchester Super-X® .460 S&W Reduced Recoil round features a 250-grain jacketed hollow point bullet, a muzzle velocity of 1,450 feet per second (fps) and an impressive 1,517 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.

Engineered to offer nearly 50-percent reduction in recoil compared to full power loads, while still retaining enough energy for hunting at normal handgun distances, the new .460 S&W Reduced Recoil load is an ideal choice for deer-sized game, predators and target shooting. The more manageable recoil also allows hunters the benefit of quicker follow-up shots.

The reduced load still has significantly more muzzle energy than the .44 Magnum.

Left to right: .460 S&W Magnum, .454 Casull,
.44 Magnum, .45ACP, .22LR

After the very successful launch at the 2008 SHOT Show, Phoenix Machine Technology is currently filling orders for bolt action receivers. Some of the finest custom gun manufacturers in the country are already building rifles with Phoenix Machine actions.

The first production receivers are Remington 700 derivatives that utilize Remington style bolts with equivalent primary extraction that are readily available from Pacific Tool & Gauge. The Phoenix receivers are being manufactured in long, short and M7 lengths with an impressive array of optional features. Some tang options may preclude the use of standard inletting in Remington stocks.

Some info on Glen’s new business

At SHOT Show, Martin (Marty) Bordson of Badger Ordnance, previewed the new Badger M2008 Tactical action. A slab-sided, flat-bottomed, “fat bolt” action, the new Badger action resembles an Accuracy International receiver externally, but it shares some Remington features internally. The M2008 will initially be available for .308 bolt face calibers, and it is designed to work with any Remington detachable-style magazine.

More info at AccurateShooter

Uberti will be selling the Cattleman single-action army revolver in a matching .45 Colt two gun set. They will also be offering a uniquely engraved Cattleman in .45 Colt.

1873 Cattleman Charcoal OM (not the revolver mentioned above)

Press releases below:

Continue Reading »

Rossi have launched a new youth matched pair rifle with a matte nickel finish.

It comes in a .17HMR/.410 and .22LR/.410 versions.

New for 2008 Rossi is excited to offer a popular Matched Pair Set in a matte nickel finish. The set includes a .17 HMR or .22 LR rifle barrel with adjustable fiber optic front sights and .410 gauge shotgun barrel with brass bead front sights.

Ideal for first-time hunters, this Matched Pair is the perfect gun for varmint hunting or a fun day at the range. The package ships with a custom carrying case and dual-purpose strap. In addition the rifle barrel is drilled and tapped to hold the included scope mount base and hammer extension.

The Rossi Matched Pair line has set the standard for 2-barrel guns. The combination long gun package in unequalled, having been recognized as the best “youth-size” gun. Rossi starts with one of its popular single shot rifles, then hand fits a shotgun barrel to create the Matched Pair. The result is a highly reliable rifle with adjustable fiber optic sights and a button rifled barrel for enhanced accuracy, which quickly swaps barrels to become the favorite shotgun.

Ever since I first used a Rossi rifle I have been meaning to get one. In my opinion they look great and I love the simplicity.