The Firearm Blog

Steinkamp SW1

Of all the guns which I have written about this year, few have been as interesting as the Steinkamp SW1. The sleek polymer bullpup stock of the SW1 looks like something out of a Sci-Fi movie, and yet it is a double rifle, a type of firearm that is most associated with hunting in the 1800s and early 1900s.

Many of you are now asking yourselves "Why?". I say to you "Why not?". Double barrels rifles and shotguns are still popular and very useful. It is simply a very short double barreled rifle with modern ergonomics and great balance.

Amazingly, the total length of the rifle is just 2" longer then the barrel length!

At first glance is appears that the rifle has dual triggers, but this is not the case. The lower trigger-like lever unlocks the action. The spring loaded buttplate then opens and the ejectors fling the empty cartridges out of the gun. The reloading process is quick and can be accomplished without the operator having to take their hand off the pistol grip.

Opening the action.

Buttpad opens to reveal the chambers.

The trigger guard doubles as a cocking lever. This feature allows it to be safety carried loaded but uncocked in the field, yet be quickly cocked if a shot presents itself.

The cocking action

Currently the SW1 can be purchased chambered in 8x57IRS, 8x68S, 9.3x74R, 20 gauge and 12 gauge but the company says that other calibers can be requested. The SW1 weighs 7.5 lbs.

The Launch Edition is priced at $4.998. Although it was available for order in 2008, the first rifles only started shipping last month.

I finally got hold of a photo of the tacti-awesome version of the KBP's revolver shotgun. The gun was on display at the recent Interpolitex security expo in Moscow.

© Vitaly Kuzmin. Click to expand photo.

More info about this gun can be found here.

Many thanks to Vitaly Kuzmin for his help and the use of his photo.

Zimmerman Arms have developed what looks like the best tactical Ruger 10/22-style rifle available. What sets the Rezolution (yes, it is spelt with a "z") apart from other tactical 10/22 type rifles is that they have developed their own receiver. It does not enclose a standard 10/22 receiver inside an outer shell like the Ruger SR-22 and other similar guns.

Rezolution Tactical

The CNC machined receiver features a full length monolithic top picatinny rail. A bottom rail and side rails are bolted onto the receiver. Internally it makes use of a Ruger 10/22 compatible bolt, trigger group, magazines and v-block barrel mounting system. Rimfire Technologies, a well known supplied of after market 10/22 parts, supplies many of the internal parts, including the barrel.

Precision model with bull barrel.

Rails

The familiar shaped receiver and bolt

As most of you have already guessed, the Rezolution is compatible with standard AR-15 stocks. What is slightly disappointing is that it is not compatible with AR-15 pistol grips, although this is a minor fault.

The pricing starts at $941.81 for the R-RT-21BL (Rezolution Tactical with 21" length receiver). This model features a 16" .750 diameter fluted stainless threaded barrel with AR-15 A2 flash-hider and a M4 style stock.

Production has only just begun and some models will not be available until next month. I personally think these guns are a very good deal and are going to sell very well.

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.

The 9mm compact Glock 19 and .40 S&W compact Glock 23 will both be offered with the Rough Textured Frame (RTF2). This frame does not replace the standard Glock frame, better known as the 3rd Gen Frame, on the G19 and G23, but will be available as an option.

From the press release:

The G19 and G23 are two of the most popular GLOCK models. The G19 9x19 compact is widely used all over the world. In addition, the G23 in .40 caliber is quite popular with both law enforcement and private individuals as a back up or concealed carry firearm. Adding the RTF2 finish to these compact models increases the options for law abiding

individuals and organizations. Along with the new RTF2 finish, each of these GLOCK pistols have the same time tested "Safe Action" system, durable exterior finish, cold hammer forged barrel, durability, reliability, and light weight that GLOCK is famous for.

Glock G22 .40 S&W with RTF2 frame. © Ken Lunde. Used with permission.

The first RTF2 pistol, the G22 RTF2, was unveiled in January after much speculation. This was followed a few months later by the G17 RTF2.

Ethan Dublin, a very innovative 18 year old college freshmen, has developed an interesting charging system for AK-type rifles.

Ratchet Charging System

The Ratchet Charging System comes with a replacement gas tube and a sleeve that bolts onto the end of the gas piston. The design offers quite a few advantages over the standard charging handle. Being on the left hand side it is faster to manipulate when doing magazine reloads (if you are right handed), it can be used as a manual bolt hold open and, if the standard charging handle is removed, the Ratchet system can cycle the bolt and chamber a round with the safety engaged. This video demonstrates it in action ...

I asked Ethan if the cut out gas tube venting gas would affect the operation of the rifle. He said it would not.

The only major disadvantages that I can see is that the charging handle must be unscrewed when field stripping and that leaving the bolt locked back in the field could allow dirt to get into the gas block.

Bolt locked back.

The installation is gunsmith free and it is compatible with ...

• Romanian AK-47 (7.62x39)
• Saiga (5.56)
• Polish Under folder (7.62x39)
• Bulgarian AK-74 (5.45)
• Egyptian Maadi (7.62x39)
• Russian Milled AK-47 (7.62x39)
• ROB. Arms VEPR (7.62x39)

I wish Ethan the best of luck with his endeavor and future engineering studies. Maybe we have our next Eugene Stoner here?

LAGE Manufacturing, LLC. will soon be selling a .22 conversion kit that they have developed for the SWD Cobray M-10 and M-11 submachine guns.

This design uses your existing upper receiver and cocking knob with a drop-in barrel insert, bolt assembly, magazine adapter and modified UZI .22 LR magazines. The magazine inserts in the pistol grip mag' housing just like the original 9mm magazine.

LAGE currently manufacture a range of slow-fire upper receivers for M-11, M-10/9 (a version for the M-11A1 is in development). These uppers slow the rate of fire from 1100 RPM to 600 RPM, making the gun much more controllable.

These guns are well known for eating through ammunition with their very fast rate of fire. The cost of these uppers are around $760.

Many thanks to Jeff for the information, photo and links.

Truvelo, a South African company is best known internationally for manufacturing traffic lights, also makes firearms - notably the infamous NEOSTEAD Bullpup shotgun and the Raptor rifle.

Truvelo Raptor Rifle

I was very pleased to see that the Raptor has been given a makeover. The older stock made it look like a cheap toy rather than a real rifle.

The old style stock ... they need to update their website.

Truvelo claim the gun provides excellent controllability during full auto fire due to the recoil and bolt system. It also features is the ability to easily switch between 5.56mm NATO and 7.62x39mm.

A big thank you to Lusaka for the information and photo he provided.

REMOV let me know that H&K have redesigned their version of the FN MAG 7.62mm machine gun (designated the L7A2 in the British Army). The new models have been completely redrawn from imperial to metric and also feature a lengthly picatinny rail (what self-respecting military firearm does not these days?).

There are two models, one being slightly shorter than the other.

Manroy Engineering have also redesigned their ME 7.62 GPMG, which is a mix of features from the L7A2 and MAG 58.

A big thank you to REMOV for the photos and information.

Since SHOT Show the KAC SR-15 E3 Carbine/IWS rifles have been slowly trickling out of the factory. I believe that they are now in full production.

The Stoner Rifle 15 series are semi-automatic rifles featuring a 16" chrome chamber barrel, a URX free floating barrel system, an ambidextrous control system, a two-stage trigger, an improved multi-lug E3 bolt and integral front sight and sling mounts. This is already a comprehensive package on its own and does not require excessive modular accessories for performance enhancement. The KAC SR-15 is the first rifle model with an Integral Weapons System (IWS) that combines both built-in and modular features.

One of the upcoming guest blog posts is a review of the SR-15 so watch out for it.

Tactical Life reports that the Remington 40-XS chambered in .338 Lapua will soon be available to purchase. It was announced nearly two years ago in Remington's 2008 law enforcement catalog but, to the best of my knowledge, was never manufactured.

It is built on the custom shop's 40-SX action and trigger group and features a 26" barrel with threaded removable muzzle brake, hand bedded McMillian A5 stock, detachable magazine and lengthly top picatinny rail.

AR-15 owners will soon have another "point five-oh" option for their rifles: the .50 GI. Before now only 1911 and Glock conversion kits were available for the cartridge.

The .50 GI was born out of the idea that if .40 was better than 9mm, and .45 was better than .40, then .50 must be better then .45. It should not be compared to the .500 S&W, .50 Beowulf or the .50 Action Express as it has much less power. The cartridge is comparable to the .45 ACP +P cartridge, but with a larger diameter bullet.

8" SBR with .50 GI magazine.

Carbine with AR-15 magazines converted to take .50 GI

The .50 GI magazine holds 14 rounds and the AR-15 magazine holds 9 rounds.

The 16" upper will sell for $750 and with one magazine. You can see the contact details of the manufacturer, RMW Xtreme Inc., at the beginning of the below video.

Thanks to Giesler for the link.

Hat Tip: Photos from 475AR @ .50 GI Forum

Janes reports that Russian firm KBP are now producing a tactical version of their MTs 225 revolver shotgun:

The MTs-255 tactical shotgun is a 5-shot weapon and is designed around the revolver principle. The cartridge cylinder swings out to the left for loading/unloading. It can be fired either double-action (a long pull of the trigger both cocks and fires the weapon) or the hammer can be manually cocked for single-action firing. A heavy duty, single-strut metal side-folding stock is fitted, which pivots around a conventional style revolver pistol-grip and lies alongside the right side of the gun when in the folded position. Sights are described as 'open', but a length of Picatinny-type sight rail is fitted to the top of the receiver for the mounting of other sighting devices. The butt-plate, pistol-grip and fore-end are all constructed of high-impact polymer for durability and corrosion resistance.

The original MTs 225 was introduced as a hunting gun back in 2000. It has an interesting design. The benefit over semi-autos would be its double action revolver reliability.

12 guage

.410

Photos from Tozman @ Shotgun World Forum.

Connecticut Shotgun Mfg. Co. have designed a new high end sidelock over and under shotgun.

The A-10 American is a very low profile, shallow frame full sidelock over and under (not a box lock gun with side plates) for those who demand the very best. This is the highest form of the gunmaker’s art. Some benefits of a hand detatchable sidelock gun are perfect trigger pulls, intercepting safety sears, an easily removable action for cleaning and service, and a large surface area for the outstanding engraving.

The detachable sideplate.

Pricing for the Deluxe model starts at $9000, although there currently are discounts available.

Hat Tip: Mikes Blog (Zel Custom)