The Firearm Blog

ATI is importing 5.56mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO ammunition from Turkey. It is manufactured by Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKEK), the Turkish state owned arms and munitions manufacturer.

[ This article was written by Sven Ortmann of Personal Defence Weapons Central, an excellent small arms resource. ]

by Sven Ortmann, lastdingo@gmx.de, 2008-01-05

Caliber: 9×19 mm and .45ACP (= 11.43×23mm)

This is the standard NATO caliber for pistols and a popular caliber for submachineguns. The only ones who seem to have a strong dislike for this caliber seem to be those U.S. Americans who continue to compare it with .45ACP.

The U.S. American problems with the 9×19mm caliber seem to include a mix of emotions (a Colt M1911 in .45ACP feels much more powerful) and poor quality of the U.S. standard issue 9mm pistols. The latter is as far as I know more a magazine production quality problem than a pistol design problem. The origin of .45ACP is said to lie in combat experience around 1900 in the Philippines where determined Philippinos weren’t stopped reliably by smaller revolver calibers. Tests on live animals in 1904 showed better effects for heavier bullets, but little improvement with velocity. Bullet design has improved a lot since then, and hollowpoint bullets that flatten their nose in soft tissue to increase their diameter are much more effective than simple soft lead bullets. A good 9mm bullet enjoys a similar advantage over a .45ACP soft lead bullet than the latter over a 9mm soft lead bullet. There’s a fundamental problem, though: There’s not much difference in effect on the target if you hit the wrong places and the permanent cavities of pistol bullets are all relatively small. Many body parts are simply not essential enough – their destruction doesn’t stop a determined opponent immediately; no matter whether you hit with .45ACP or 9×19mm.
Continue Reading »

Reader Tarkan emailed me a couple of interesting news article about the assassination of a former Chechen commander in Turkey last week. Sabah reports:

According to police investigations the gunshots hit the victim from a diagonal angle and the weapons used were especially made for the KGB. Known as ’small special guns’ and used in assassinations, both the SP3 and SM4 models only let off minimal noise when shot. Police are stating that the previous Chechen commander that was murdered, Gazhi Edilsultanov was also killed by a 7.62 gun and the same weapon might have been used in both murders.

As usual, the media got the facts incorrect. The SP-3 is a cartridge. The S4M is a pistol.

SP-3 Cartridge (Photo from guns.ru)

S4M pistol (Photo from guns.ru)

The round is one of many Russia piston silenced rounds. The gas from the primer propels a piston (I doubt they contain any powder) which in turn propels a 123 grain bullet at 490 fps generating 66 lbs of muzzle energy. This is significantly less energy than a High Velocity .22 Long Rifle (130+ lbs). The piston then locks in the gas preventing muzzle noise.

The bullet itself is similar to the 7.62×39mm (AK) bullet. In theory this is supposed to fool investigators into thinking the victim was shot by a conventional rifle. This may have worked when the cartridge was classified but any modern forensic expert would not be fooled by a rifle bullet that clearly left the muzzle slowly and had very poor penetration.

A combination of very low power and a relatively large caliber bullet means the round is not capable of much apart from gangland style executions as demonstrated in the recent assassination.

JamesTown.org reports that in September another Chechen was assassinated in Turkey:

On September 6 Gazhi Edilsultanov, a former Chechen colonel, was gunned down in Istanbul reportedly during a dispute over financial aid being collected in Turkey for Chechen separatists. Edilsultanov was the head of the Chechen refugee camp in Istanbul

It is suspected that the killing was not a robbery but an assassination:

Perhaps, however, the story of killing Edilsultanov for the €50,000 was not true, and the suspects invented the money story to cover up the fact that the murder was committed by Russian intelligence.

Remington will be upgrading the 3000 M24 rifles during 2009 at a cost of $3 million. I was quite surprised to hear this after all the noise about bolt action rifles not being good enough and that semi-automatic was the only way to go. The M24 Sniper Weapons System (SWS) is based on the Remington 700 rifle and chambers the 7.62×51mm NATO.

M-24 Sniper Weapons systems have been fielded to the U.S. armed services since 1987. Remington has been maintaining these weapons in Ilion, New York, and will be responsible for M-24 upgrades in the future. Remington’s proposal to upgrade the M-24 sniper rifle would save the federal government nearly $6 million dollars.

No word if the systems 10×42 Leupold Ultra M3A scope will be upgraded to something fancier and more expensive.

Hat Tip: Tactical Wire

I read about Short Rifle Stock Systems (SRSS) new M14/M1A bullpup stock, the BullDog 762, at Defense Review. I suppose the designers said to themselves “just about about everything has a bullpup conversion, why not the M14?”

The stock comes in a synthetic model (SRSS-1421SM, $749) and an aluminum model (SRSS-1421BA, $999) and is available in Black, Olive Drab, Tan and Aluminum finish.

From the FAQ:

What does the SRSS kit consist of?

The SRSS stock system comes with main beam (stock) panels = Cheek rest and right panel, optics rail and all hardware, allen wrenches to mount scope rail which replaces the M14 /M1A hand guard. Simple tools like a screwdriver is all you need to install your M1A or the M-14 into the SRSS. OPTICS are not included. See our site for Optics available.

Do I need to machine any part of my rifle?

No. You will need to remove the hand guard and install the optics rail and you will need to remove the rear sight assembly, just hang on to it you may want to put it all back together or leave the SRSS together and build another M1A.

Can you describe the trigger action ? I understand that one of the weakness of bullpup stocks is their softness or lack of tactile feedback of the trigger when pulled.

Our trigger was designed to eliminate all the problems that bullpup’s have. The trigger/transfer rod is submerged in the stock and to some degree floats and is carried by the rear/original trigger. The safety is just above the pistol grip for your right hand and can be turned off and on by the right thumb. Our trigger rod adds 1/2 pound to whatever your trigger pressure is on your rifle. It feels like your original two stage trigger.

Later this year or next year SRSS will be offering this stock system for other rifles. My guess is that a Mini-14 model will be offered.

Fitted with the SRSS Mini Paladin Muzzle Brake ($200)

UPDATE: Daniel E. Watters, who is very knowledgeable, points out in the comments that there have been other bullpup stocks for the M14.
More photos after the jump. Continue Reading »

The Africa Aerospace and Defense 2008 held in Cape Town, South Africa has just finished. Denel Land Systems, a South African firm, launched the new SS77 Compact.

The only photo I could find.

UPDATE: prion @ MP.net posted this photo:

The compact version of the 7.62mm NATO machine gun features a telescopic stock, foregrip with bipod, picatinny rail and gas regulator. The gun is 150mm (6″) shorter and 2 kg (4.4 lbs) lighter than the full sized SS77.

The full size SS77 can be converted to the 5.56mm Mini SS and presumably the compact version can be as well.

Developed in the 1970s during the arms embargo which forced the South Africa to develop its own arms industry. The machine gun is used by South Africa, Philippines, Malaysia and Jordan. It was pulled from Service by the South African Defense Force during the 90s due to reliability problems. The problems were fixed in part by reducing the rate of fire from 900 rpm to 800 rpm and the gun reentered service in 2003.

Mini SS 5.56mm. Click to expand.

James reported on this last week, but I thought I should mention it:

From Strategypage.com:

The world’s first light machine-gun, the Danish Madsen has finally been retired from service after over a century of use. The State Police of the Brazilian state of Rio De Janerio were the last users of the twenty pound weapon…

The Madsen required some precise machining, but it was not exceptionally costly to make. It was reliable, although it used an awkward top loaded magazine, carrying 25, 30 or 40 rounds. Over its long career, it was equipped to fire ammunition from 6.5mm to 8mm. The Brazilian Madsens fired NATO 7.62mm (.30 caliber) ammo. It’s rate of fire was 450 rounds per minute.

Firearms last a long time!

These photos of of a replica of the 8mm model which can be bought here. They are the best photos I could find and are probably close to the original.

Click to expand the images.