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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Igor Stetchkin’s creations.

Thanks to Richard for the link.

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?

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 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.

He even has a gun woodwork area for stock work!

16″ barreled AR-15 vs. 16″ AUG. The bullpup length advantage is obvious.


AR-15 bolt vs. AUG bolt. Very similar design.

I highly recommend reading Dave’s blog post. I learnt a lot about the AUG design that I did not know before.

Thanks Dave.

Beautiful!

That looks sore.

The photos are from Photobucket via. the Blue Gun Blog.

UPDATE: Elvis for identifying the pistol.

Look at the trigger blade. Beautiful.

It has a 44″ swamped barrel.

The rifle along with a matching custom made knife is being raffled off to raise money for the Cowboy Church in Riverton, Wyoming. Tickets for the raffle cost $10 each or 3 for $25 and can be purchased from CJ Vandermuehlen. He can be contacted at 1-307-851 8829 or at the below email address.

Click to expand the photos.

I love that laminated stock.

If you are into SKS and other comblock firearms I recommend checking out Brian’s SKS’s and More blog.

A piston operated gun will reduce the dirt that enters the rifle compared to a direct gas impingement gun (AR-15). When you add a suppressor, I think it makes little difference what type of gas system your rifle uses, it is going to get very dirty!

From the patent of an early model MP5SD suppressor.

A suppressor works by slowing down the gas through a series of baffles. The slower moving gas makes less noise as it is vented out of the can (can = slang for suppressor). The downside is that on a autoloading firearm once the action cycles and the spent cartridge is ejected there is more pressurize gas in the system than there would be without a suppressor. This gas, along with carbon, dirt, unburned power, is vented into the rifle action. Without a suppressor this still happens but the pressure inside the barrel is lower because the gas is vented faster.

“new-arguy” posted photos at AR15.com of his HK 416 upper (piston AR-15 upper), which had a AAC 416 suppressor attached, after firing 2000 rounds without cleaning.

This is my HK 416 upper, I ran it with an AAC 416 silencer at the last Magpul Dynamics class here in St Augustine. 2 days, 2000 rounds. I only took the silencer off the start of day 2 for a few drills, I would guess about 150 rounds. All the rest were with the can. I dropped some lube in the gun at the start of the class, aside from that, no cleaning, no oil, nothing at all. No problems either, well, not really. I will admit, I have run regular DI guns like this without problems, but I needed to keep dumping oil on the bolt group. In fact, one of the guys who works with me ran his Noveske N4 with a AAC M4 2000 right next to me the whole class. His gun ran fine as well, but he did keep dumping lube into the bolt carrier.

Anyway, the gun was fiilthy. I have never cleaned a gun that was so dirty. Grime and crud was seeping out between the upper and lower trying to escape. It is worth mention that a large piece of carbon built up and fell under my trigger group toward the end of the second night. I thought it was a primer, but when I opened the gun up and shoot the lower, it was plainly a piece of carbon. So technically, the gun did comletely fail. I have seen this same thing happen one other time, in another Magpul class (actually the one from the last DVD). My friend Derek was running a gun with a can on it for about as many rounds. Same thing, crud kept building up until some of it found its way under the trigger group.

bigbore, of adcofirearms.com, posted photos of his AK-74 rifle after firing 2000 rounds of corrosive ammunition using a suppressor and leaving it sit for a week.

After leaving it sit for a week, the bolt rusted into place and it was no more than a club.

A problem with some of the now discontinued Ruger Police Carbine and Marlin Deer Camp, blowback autoloader pistol caliber carbines, was that their actions got very dirty. A pistol in the same caliber with a 4″ barrel would vent gas much faster than a 16.5″ barreled carbine.

Ruger PC4 (Police Carbine .40 S&W).

There is no substitute for cleaning your rifle. If you are considering a suppressor this is something to take into account. Bolt/lever/single shot action rifle with suppressors will not have this problem. The gas will be vented before the action is manually cycled. I personally have not had any problems with .22 semi-autos rifles with suppressors, nor have I heard of anyone having problems.

Many thanks to Jay for emailing me the link to the photos.

Click to expand the images.

He knows what he did was idiotic, and as someone at AR15.com said, he has balls of steel posting it on the internet. So don’t mock him for it!

Thanks to Jay for the link.

Click to expand the photos (the small thumbnails do not do it justice):

8 Bore (.835″) 1:104 twist Octagon to wedding band transition then straight tapered round to the muzzle.
Jeff Tanner Ball Mould (.805″).

The finished rifle weighs right at 11 pounds.

The Action is a Pete Allan Boxlock Casting, it is representative of the 1860’s Edwin Wesson Boxlocks. The metal finish is rust blued.

The Ramrod is Rosewood w/ a steel button on one end and a threaded steel tip on the other for accessories.

It has a full length underrib to add a little weight.

The Stock is rock maple, stained with a dark walnut stain and then oil finished and then waxed to a sheen.

The forearms has an ebony tip, all the pipes, underrib, front sight and sight base were custom made in my shop.

The action was also reshaped, and the original triggerguard was removed and replace with the more elegant and classic one in the finished pictures.

The butt plate is a wide English style plate. The checkering is flattop.

I asked Colin to email me some photos to give a sense of scale to large bore size.

8 bore balls. These would weight 875 grains is they were pure lead.

A nickel on the barrel.

Many thanks to Colin for emailing me this photos. If you are wanting a custom muzzleloader designed I am sure Colin could make you one. His contact info is on his website.

I found the following photos of a Martini-Henry .303 1870 rifle which has been converted into a pistol. It was captured by Marines in Afghanistan.

The pistol has an original Martini-Henry barrel which was cut down to 2.5″ and sights carved out of it. Other than the addition of the pistol grip and sling swivels, the pistol is made entirely from original parts.

These pistols, converted from rifles in the Khyber Pass, are said to be common in that part of the world. It is designed to for one purpose: to kill an enemy in order to take his weapons … that is of course if the death-trap of a gun does not kill the operator first!

More information about this pistol is at gunboards.com.

Bolt Carriers

Bolt Faces

SCAR carrier disassembled.

Many more photos here.
Many thanks to Jay for emailing me the link.

I have never seen such an ornate AK-47 before.
I would be embarrassed to go to the range with it.


AR-15 / M16 SBR


I think the bling on this one is fake


I am sure the saints do not protect gangsters.

Hat Tip: Dragunov at MexicoDefense

Tanker (top) fitted with Smith Enterprises muzzle brake.

Note barrel length and the upper handguard difference

Note the odd bend in the T26 short op-rod and the major
difference in length of the follower arm/spring guide.

Tom had this to say about his new Garand:

I did get the chance to shoot the shorty a week or so ago before the rain started up. It functions flawlessly, despite the somewhat seedy reputation of gunsmith custom T26 Garands like this one. Many of the first shorty rifles to hit the market many years ago were rewelded receivers, which are much weaker and downright dangerous in many cases. On many of these reweld guns (this is true of full sized Garands and T26 style ones both) the op-rod may dismount while firing, which as you can imagine causes quite a few problems.

That muzzle break is a real shoulder-saver, and surprisingly the shorty Garand has considerably less recoil than the FAL I recently built. I don’t have a huge range, but from about a hundred yards I was on the paper on the first shot (after a full strip and thorough cleaning) and managed to tune my way to a fairly respectable group around three inches with Lake City ammo. It may not be a match gun, but it’s definitely more accurate than I was expecting. Really a blast to shoot and more than acceptable accuracy in my opinion!

The T26 is a very interesting rifle. In a sense it is much more modern than the full size M1. As I mentioned yesterday in the post about the new Italian service rifle which even in the designated marksmen version has a 16″ barrel, the modern trend is to compromise maximum ballistic performance with maneuverability.

A big thanks to Tom for emailing me the photos and information. More can be read about the T26 at the Wikipedia M1 Garand page.

Click to expand the photos.

GLX 160 grenade launcher attached.

The weapon has been designed to be modular and easy to maintain in the field. It has an upper/lower polymer receiver, much like the AR-15, a gas piston system and a rotating bolt. An interesting feature, for an assault rifle, is the ultra-quick change barrel system. Beretta claim barrels can be swapped in two seconds without tools by simply depressing two latches in the upper receiver! Quad Picatinny rails allow for accessories to be attached.

Ergonomics have been an important design goal in the development of this rifle. To this end the ejection and charging handle can be switched from one side to the other in no longer than a minute. All selector switches and buttons are fully ambidextrous and the folding stock is collapsible (four position).

The rifle will come three variants: the Special Forces (12″ barrel), Carbine (16″ barrel) and Designated Marksmen / light Sniper (16″ heavy barrel). This is the first time I have seen a designated marksmen rifle come standard with a 16″ barrel and is another step in the current trend towards shorter carbines and sub-carbines.

The standard rifle configurations are chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO and use STANAG (M16) magazines. By swapping the bolt head, lower receiver and barrel the rifle can be reconfigured to use 5.45×39mm, 7.62×39mm or 6.8mm SPC rounds.

12″ barrel (bottom and middle) and 16″ barrel (top)

The GLX 160 grenade launcher can be quickly attached to the ARX 160 or be used as a stand-alone weapon. In its most basic configuration is weighs less than 1 kg (2.2 lbs) and 2.2 kb (4.8 lbs) when fitted with a collapsible stock and grenade iron sights.

The GLFCS ( Grenade Launcher Fire Control System ) is a range finder / ballistics calculator for the GLX that attaches to the ARX 160 allowing for accurate fire.

Not much has been said about this rifle while the Bushmaster ACR and FN SCAR have been getting all the attention. I think the ARX / GLX 160 is an impressive package and I look forward to seeing how it performs in Italian service.

Credit for this blog post needs to go to REMOV who provided me with a lot of information. Thanks Remi.

These photos from NATO show the weapons captured (click to expand).

Chinese Type 56-2 (AK-47 clone), bunch of other AKs and a Chinese Type 69 RPG


Bored looking guy babysitting rifles


Raise your hands in the air like you just don’t care!

Just the kind of weapons you would expect the pirates to be carrying. Rust prevention does not appear to be a major concern. I would hate to see what condition the bores are in!

Soon after the capture the pirates were released on shore. Under international law pirates can be prosecuted in any country. Unfortunately a “live fire” training opportunity is one thing, but few countries or politician want the expense of pirate filled prisions.

Click to expand photos.

Thanks Steve.

Here are a few interesting firearms I came across:

German WW I Mauser Model 1918 Tankgewehr 18 Anti-Tank Rifle

This is a nice example of a rare and desirable German massive, single shot, bolt action, 13 mm anti-tank rifle. Known as “Elefant-Buechse” (elephant rifle) by the German Army. The Tankgewehr 18 (T-Gewehr) was an up-scaled, single-shot version of the Model 98 infantry rifle equipped with a bipod and pistol grip. The T-Gewehr could penetrate the armor of any Allied tank used during WWI. Some 15,800 T-Gewehr rifles were manufactured in 1918. Most were destroyed after the war because no one brought them home as war trophies (probably because of it’s size). The massive 39 inch barrel has a fixed, inverted “V” front sight and tangent rear sight graduated to 500 meters. The receiver is marked with the Mauser Banner and dated “1918″.

Estimated Price: $5,500 – $8,500

Lot #: 334

Czechoslovakian Model ZH29

This is a rare example of a Czech Model ZH29 semi-automatic rifle with distinctive, finned, cast, aluminum handguard, European walnut stock, forearm and detachable magazine. The Model ZH29 was one of the first successful military semi-automatic rifles. Introduced in 1929, it was purchased in limited quantities by Ethiopia and Thailand. In 1929, a ZH29 chambered for the .276 Pedersen cartridge was tested by the U.S. Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground as a possible semi-automatic replacement for the Model 1903 Rifle. The ZH29 features a milled steel receiver with a tangent rear sight graduated to 1600 meters.

Estimated Price: $12,000 – $15,000

Lot #: 453

The first impressions I get looking at the rifle is not the distinctive aluminum handguard, but that the bolt carrier looks like it was installed on its side.

Morrill, Mosman and Blair Elgin Cutlass Pistol with Scabbard

An extremely rare example of an Elgin Cutlass Pistol made by Henry Morrill, Silas Mosman and Charles Blair in 1837-38. The Elgin Cutlass Pistol was patented by George Elgin of Macon, Georgia, in 1837. The unique design combined a box-lock percussion pistol with a Bowie type knife. The Elgin Cutlass Pistols were equipped with a distinctive, form-fitted, black leather scabbard with a metal throat. The U.S. Navy contracted for 150 Elgin Cutlass Pistols to arm the Wilkes South Seas Exploring Expedition in 1837. The Wilkes Expedition pistols were made by Cyrus B. Allen and N.P. Ames manufactured the blades. Apparently spurred by the Navy order, the firm of Morrill, Mossman and Blair was established to manufacture Elgin Cutlass Pistols in August 1837. Silas Mosman previously worked as an engraver for N.P. Ames and subsequently returned to work for that firm in July, 1838. In contrast to the Navy cutlass pistols manufactured by N.P. Ames and Cyrus Allen; Morrill, Mosman and Blair manufactured both the pistol and the Bowie blade. This pistol has a round, four inch, .34 caliber rifled barrel with brass front sight blade.

Estimated Price: $18,000 – $25,000

Lot #: 3001

Hat Tip: Ammoland

Tavor


Lahti 20mm anti-tank rifle ( / cannon ). That thing is HUGE.

Many more photos of the shoot by Oleg here, here and here. Time magazine took a photo of Mike Z. Williamson’s discerning young daughter.

Hat Tip: Gun Nuts Media

Unfortunately the opening bid at gun broker is $2500! How many AR-15 lowers can you get for that?

Click to expand the images.

Click to expand the photos.

Click to expand the photos.

The original BD44 (StG44 clone) for comparison

These photos are Copyright Remigiusz Wilk (REMOV). Used with permission.

The new side folding stock variant.

Over folding stock variant.


The Tacti-Cool variant. Quad rails, full length top rail, side folding stock, recoil pad, red dot sight.

A big thanks to Remi for the photos and information. Also, thanks to Mehul for sending me info about the Stg44.

The video function can be set to kick in the moment the pistol it is mounted on is unholstered. Additionally it can be configured to take a still shots during recoil (and presumably after the recoil). The primary purpose of the ShotCam is to document self defense shooting by civilians and law enforcement, but it would be great for hunting and plinking to show off your one-hit-wonder shots.

The device can be mounted on pistols, rifles or shotguns

Midway have it listed for $695.

Thanks to Heath for sending me the link.

From GunBroker with a “buy now” of $529.

Photos of newly released gun “in the wild” are also better than those marketing photos. If you are the proud owner of a gun launched in the past 6 months, please email me some high-res photos for the blog.

Many thanks to tehmino for the photos.

It appears to work by striking the firing pin (a drill bit) with a stone. I would not want to be within 200 yards of somebody firing that weapon.

Russian VOG-25 40mm Grenade. Photo from gunbroker.

UPDATE: DrStrangegun noticed that the size of the launcher is very simular to Russian GP-30 launcher. The Grenade is propelled through the vents you see in the above photo. Much like a rocket.

GP-30. From Wikipedia.

Hat Tip: MP.net

The pressure generated blew off the top of the chamber, caused a bulge in the slide, and gorged the frame and also destroyed the extractor and loaded chamber indicator.

Note the bulge in the slide next to the chamber.

I am pleased to be able to say that the shooter was not injured. He is one lucky guy.

More info at XDTalk forum.

Hat Tip: Blue Gun Blog

I think it would be too much cartridge in too small a gun for me to handle!
More photos here.

One of the photos submitted. Taken by Suzanne Cecci.

There are four categories of photos: “Friends and Family”, “Trophy Room”, “Tricked-Out 10/22 Rifles” and “Ruger Gallery” (the latter being photos of guns only).

Click to expand the photos.

Two black shotugns. .410 Siaga shotgun (AK clone) left.


Annular piston system. ATI’s markings can be seen on the lower receiver.

If you have any questions I am sure Mike will be happy to answer them in the comments.

A big thanks to Mike for taking the time to strip his rifle shotgun for photos.

Many more photos after the jump.

PLEASE DO NOT HOTLINK THESE PHOTOS. USE AN IMAGE HOSTING.

The bolt

AR-15 magazines fit. Safir markings on lower receiver.

With T-14 magazine inserted.

Next to SKS

More photos of the internals:

Colin also forwarded on an email from Steve Zihn. I wondered if it was a true rifle or a paradox gun (part smoothbore, part rifled). Steve confirms that it is a rifle:

it’s a real rifle, not a paradox gun. 36″ barrel , but it only came to 22 pounds. If I ever do another one I am going to make a recessed breach because you can’t get your hand around anything larger. that’s why it’s “only” 22 pounds. If I were to use a barrel that would get it up to 30 pounds I’d still have to wrap a stock around it. Then no normal man (even with big hands) can grip it and the recoil will cause it to jump out of you hands completely.

You can tell them about yourself 6′ 5″ tall, and 240 pounds . You shot the 4 bore and it was enough to cause you trouble. So you can just imagine what a 2 bore would be like (4X the recoil at the same scale) It will make a good post for you. then tell them about the 8 bores you are building. If there ask anything more I’ll chime in later and endorse you.

Colin says:

Back when I was apprenticing in his shop he was commissioned to build a 4 bore Muzzleloader in a similar style as the 2 bore.

When it was nearly finished and needed to be sighted in I got the pleasure of helping do that job. The 4 bore exerts 255 PSI at 32 FPS of felt recoil(if I remember the number correctly), and I can tell you that at 6′ 5″ and 240 pounds and being very experienced with big bore guns, it was still more than enough to push be back a quick two step. And after 2 shots left me black and blue for about 5″ around my shoulder area(part of that was because the rifle was built for a smaller statured person so it really didn’t fit me). But the owner of the 4 bore shot it once and sent it back to Steve to sell.

The man bought more gun than he could handle, and I believe it was more painful than he wanted to ever shoot again(speculation on my part).

Heh, personally I am pretty recoil sensitive. As much as I want to shoot one of these *big* bores, I think I would rather watch someone else shoot them

I asked Colin why these types of big bore guns are never seen with a muzzle brake:

In a smokeless powder rifle of these calibers a muzzlebrake would be a necessity but with blackpowder, which is what most of the big bore guns are, the powder doesn’t convert to gas expansion rapidly like smokeless so the benefits of a brake would be minimal.

And then you run into the aesthetics, the guys who buy these kinds of rifles are typically traditionalist and putting a muzzlebrake on a classic African rifle would be a sacrilege to most of them, so it just isn’t done. I’m honestly not sure a guy could build one of these is a smokeless configuration, by the time you got enough steel into the action to hold the pressure, you wouldn’t be able to hold the gun up, and even then the recoil would probably be literally lethal.

I’ve read pretty much everything I can find on big bore rifles, and almost every one of the classic dangerous game hunters wrote of the 2 and 4 bores giving them headaches, spinning them around(Sir Samuel Baker said his 2 bore would try to spin him around like a “weathercock in a hurricane”) nosebleeds, and concussions from the recoil. Sir Samuel Baker ended up with permanent nerve damage from using the 2 bore that effected him in his declining years to a point were it left him basically punch-drunk all the time and his wife had to care for him.

This type of rifle starts at $4500 and then goes up depending on what wood , engraving, checkering etc. you want.

Colin is currently specializing in building custom muzzle loaders, including double rifles and big bore 8 gauge/bore rifles. He can be contacted at his website Stolzer & Son’s Gunsmithing.

Bolt Carrier Group

This shows a close up of the bolt carrier group. The gas key is staked. Notice the extra vents for gas to escape from, his allows the gun to run cooler since a lot of the gas and crud vents out of the gun. Also notice it’s missing the portion of the bolt carrier that sits against the buffer which saves on weight. This also means less recoiling mass.

Read the article here. I highly recommend it.

A worker of the Iraqi Mine/Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Clearance Organization dumps destroyed weapons in Baghdad January 13, 2009. More than 30,000 weapons confiscated by the U.S. and Iraqi military forces during raids and search operations from different parts of Iraq have been destroyed by the Iraqi non-government organization in Baghdad from September 2008.

I would have given them a good home.

Hat Tip: MP.net