The Firearm Blog

Parallel got the fright of his life when participating in a Magpul Dynamics "Dynamic Carbine" course.

Side of upper receiver blown open.

Bolt carrier split.

Bolt face split.

The drill was firing from the urban prone, weapon side position. We loaded and made ready and I waited for the threat command. When the threat command came I went into the urban prone position and fired. On the second round the upper receiver blew apart. It took a few seconds for me to get oriented and realize what had just happened. I checked to see that there wasn’t another round in the chamber and raised my hand to let Travis know there was a problem. Travis was already on the way as he said that he thought that I was on fire from all of the smoke that was rising from me. There was a medic who checked me out real good to ensure that some shrapnel hadn’t penetrated my skin anywhere without my being aware of it. I sustained only minor injuries (a bruise on the left forearm and some flash burn to the face).

...

The 6920 is on its way to Colt Manufacturing for analysis as of this posting. I will certainly post the results of the analysis as well as the resolution when that information is available. I would appreciate it if the wild guesses as to the cause of this failure were withheld until Colt Manufacturing has had a chance to check it out. I will give a few facts that will help to keep the conjecture to a minimum. The barrel was clear before and after the event and the ammo used was factory XM193. I don't know if the brass was ejected, it appeared to be, however, there could have been part of the brass case left in the chamber, I was too busy trying to get back to training to check, then the gun went via FEDEX to Colt before I had the chance to check because I was trying to catch up on all of the work I had neglected while out running and gunning.

Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the info.

[ I am pleased to present the first post in the series of guest posts that will run for the next couple of weeks. This post was written by Aaron Spuler. Aaron also wrote the Kel-Tec PF-9 Review guest post. ]

This was an old IBM T41 (15" screen) that my brother had. It started having blue screen errors and then whenever it connected to the internet, it immediately shut down (sort of like if it didn't have a battery and the power cord was yanked out of the wall). So a friend and I decided to 'fix' it on Saturday. We used a combination of 22LR, 380ACP, 9mm, and 45ACP pistols. The range to the target was 45 feet. Yeehaw.

I put three rounds of 380ACP through the screen at 45 feet...

If you look closely at the top left and top right corners, you can still see the Windows desktop...

We then took out the battery and really started to pound on it...

Then we laid it on its back and took some shots at the bottom...

A view of the back of the screen...

We threw some 22LR into the mix...

At the end of the two hour shooting session...

No wonder it would shut off when connecting to the internet -- it had a faulty network card...

The mouse touchpad doesn't seem like it will be working again anytime soon...

Good luck typing anything on this keyboard...

A close-up of the bottom...

And one of the top...

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Ken Nelson, who blogs at his self-title blog Ken Nelson ]

My 12 year old son and I are in Georgia this week to attend the Army Marksmanship Unit Junior Shooter Camp.

Today, he and I visited Atlanta Arms & Ammo in Social Circle, GA. I needed .40 ammo for a training class I’m having on Friday, and they graciously agreed to show Brian & I around their plant.

If you reload then you know how frustrating and fussy reloading machines can be. Just imagine a shop filled with these:

Note that these are inline not rotary. Also everything is automatic. The only thing the operator needs to do is keep the primer rod full. They have a machine which fills the rod, the operator has to switch in a new one over every few hundred rounds.

Each of these machines makes about 60 rounds a minute, there were about 15 stations. So you do the math

Each machine, which they generally buy used, costs $10,000 to $12,000. They then add customized switches and electronics to test that the machines are operating correctly. For instance the case sizer has an air line to it, if air slips out there is no seal and a switch goes off and drops out the bad round. Pretty slick!

As you can imagine they use a lot of bullets. And primers, which they also buy in 5 gallon buckets. They buy new brass, but also get a lot of once fired brass that they prepare in a whole another assembly line, including a system of brass sorters they designed themselves and that are quite clever.

Here is a front on view of an ammo making station:

To the left is a bucket of bullets, at top are brass and bullet feeders. The slender metal tube in the middle is the primer feeder. The machine at far right is a primer filler tube filler. Moving that filled tube to the machine is the only manual step and is done every few hundred shells. The black box with switches is the custom QA monitor they have tied to checks they’ve built in the machine.

After the ammo is made it goes in for polishing and then into a vibrator that gets them heavy (bullet) end up:

and are then hand packaged using a series of steps that flip them in a special die until all are facing the right way:

The elite shooters of the United States use their ammunition, including the Army Marksmanship Unit.

If you are looking for excellent ammo, made by a group of top notch and friendly people then Atlanta Arms & Ammo is for you. As we left our guide stressed that today, in these high reloading component cost times, in many cases they can get ammo to competitive shooters for about the same as reloading. Similar price… and I don’t have to spend hours running a reloader? Or pull my hair out when it doesn’t work? Sign me up!

Many thanks to Danny at Atlanta Arms & Ammo for setting up our tour. And to Kim for being such an agreeable and friendly host.

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.

There is an interesting video at WorldRadio.ch about the famous unique gun culture of Switzerland. At the start of the video a Swiss guy shows the rifle he used in military service, his fathers service rifle and says that his grandfather's service rifle is hanging in his office. How cool is that?

This was my father’s military rifle and of course he got to keep it when he was finished. I have my grandfather’s military rifle hanging on the office wall. This was mine when I did service. It’s quite an old one it was introduced in 1957 and used until 1990. And this is my son’s. It’s the current model. That’s what’s being used today. That’s what we’ll be using the shoot the Feldschiessen today.

The Feldschessen, or Tiro Federale in Campagna as it’s known in these parts is an annual Swiss event and the largest shooting festival in the world. Roughly 200 thousand people come out to target practice all across the country. ammunition is provided by the government.

A shooting content with 200,000 people! Crazy!

And for your viewing benefit, here are some swiss made Sig 550 rifles from CS's collection.

Many thanks to CS for the photos and the link.

Inspired by the Double Barrel Pump Action we saw on Les Jones's blog, HerrKenny decided to make his own, more professional looking, "Moe Szyslak Special".

The odd shape makes the photo look screwed. It is not.

Centered Bead. "Persuasion" chokes (sharp edged).

Duel Extended Magazines - 16 shot capacity.

The underside.

I am very impressed by the workmenship that went into this gun and I am sure there would be many out there who would pay good money for it.

Moe Szyslak sporting his iconic double barreled pump gun

Thanks to Jake for helping me find out about this gun.

Backyard Safari has scanned in a collection of tacti-cool AK-type rifles from a Russian gun magazine.

Like Jim, who emailed me these photos, it makes me want to cry to see these magazines abused in this way. I would pay top dollar to buy them by the ton!

Used to "pave" the garden path.

An innovative way to fix pot holes.

See more of these photos at English Russia.

Thanks to Jim for sending me the link.

This Egyptian Steyr Maadi AKM, which is being auctioned on Gun Broker, was one of the prop AKs from Red Dawn.

Bona Fide Credentials

Last year Ed Friedman got the opportunity to get his photo taken in the legendary WOLVERINES!!! pose with one of the Red Dawn guns. The benefits of working at the NRA!

Hat Tip: Xavier

English Russia has posted many photos of the firearms displayed at the Russian Arms Museum.

Igor Stetchkin’s creations.

Thanks to Richard for the link.

Being the complete and certified gun nut that I am, few thing excite me more than coming across unique and exotic firearms, the more unique, exotic and arcane the better!

Sucang, a resident of Xinhua, Taiwan, sent me these photos of his antique shotgun. He was hoping some readers of the blog could identify it. I was very excited when I opened the attached photos, I had never seen a rifle or shotgun with an action like it.

The shotgun is 170 cm (67″) in length and weighs 4.5 kg (10 lbs).

The action.

I presume a percussion cap is inserted into the removable breech block (see below), then the striker is pull back to cock the action. Click the photos to expand them.

Load information was been engraved onto the gun in English. Not necessarily when it was first made.

Markings.

I don’t know what that cartridge-esque thing is.

One striker cocked.

Breech Blocks removed.

Sucang thought it could be from the 1600’s when the Dutch, who were fond of hunting, occupied Taiwan. This is not likely as the 17th century would place it squarely in matchlock territory and the striker design is quite advanced. I suggested mid 19th century. My buddy Mehul, who knows far more about classic firearms that I do, suggested early 20th.

Has anyone seen anything like it before?

Joe Huffman has had some pretty nifty photos he took of pistols recoiling published in an Italian magazine.

Earlier this month Serbian police discovered a weapons cache hidden inside a buried oil tank. The weapons were found outside a village that was a former stronghold of an ethnic Albanian militia. It is quite impressive how much hardware and ammunition can be packed away in a relatively small space!

Investigative Judge with the Vranje District Court Staniša Mihajlović said that 100,000 bullets, a recoilless cannon, three mortars, six RPGs, three machine gun stands and 21 anti-tank mines were recovered from the tank.

Hat Tip: MP.net

Mike, a reader of TFB, bought a K98 Mauser from Mitchell’s Mausers and emailed me some photos.

Mike says …

I also have a Yugo Mauser from them. The Yugo was made in 1946 at a German plant after they were kicked out. The K98 was made in 1941, the quality isn’t as good as the Yugo one.

It didn’t come with a sling, just with a “military strap with buckles” (read, Mosin Nagant sling), and they were out of some of the goodies (new ads reflect that), but I’m happy. I wanted a German Mauser and got one.

Many thanks to Mike for emailing me the photos.