The Firearm Blog

Rifled slug gun:

With our new Model 870 express ShurShot Synthetic Fully Rifled Cantilever, the buck stops a lot farther out than you ever imagined. It features the incredible stability and comfort of our ambidextrous ShurShot stock and a 23″ fully rifled barrel.

23″ fully rifled barrel available in 12 and 20 gauge

Standard Express finish on barrel and receiver

Synthetic stock with integrated sling swivel attachment

New ShurShotâ„¢ synthetic pistol grip stock

More here.

One hundred years as the world’s foremost innovator of pump-action shotguns is cause for celebration – and our leader is dressed for the occasion. In the field or in a showcase, the 12-gauge Model 870™ Wingmaster® “100th Anniversary of Pump Action Shotguns” Commemorative edition makes a grand entrance with gold inlays and exquisite fine-line accents on the receiver and a striking, high-gloss walnut stock and fore-end featuring our nostalgic fleur-de-lis checkering.

A nice looking auto-laoder.

Features

Remarkable reliability and durability

Superior balance, handling and looks

Points, swings and functions better than anything else in its class

The highly polished and richly blued receiver is milled from a solid billet of steel for the ultimate in rugged dependability

A wide array of barrel and choke options make versatility a Wingmaster® hallmark

Twin-action bar for non-binding action

Available in standard 12 gauge

More here.

This is one cool looking shotgun.

The Model 870™ Tactical Desert Recon series shotguns are equipped with Tiger Stripe Products® Digital Tiger™ Desert camo stocks and fore-ends, and military-style olive drab powder-coated metalwork for looks as distinctive as their performance.

These shotguns are available with two different stock designs, 18″ or 20″ barrels and two- or three-shot magazine-tube extensions. To reduce muzzle jump and recoil, both Desert Recon models come with our special ported Tactical Extended Remâ„¢ Choke tube.

SpeedFeed I (shell holding) stock on 12 gauge, 18″ 2-shot extension model

SpeedFeed IV (pistol grip style) stock on 12 gauge, 20″ 3-shot extension model

Tiger Stripe Products® digital Tiger™ TSP desert Camo on stock and fore-end

Military-style “Olive-drab” powder coat finish on barrel and receiver

Special ported “Tactical” Extended Rem™ choke tube

Front bead sights on both models

Drilled and tapped receivers

More here.

Remington have a new model 597 varmint rifle.

Because our Model 597 action is the ultimate in feeding reliability (Editor: not what I have read) and out-of-the-box accuracy, it was only natural we develop the Model 597â„¢ TVPâ„¢ (Target-Varmint Plinker) to take full advantage of the superior design.

Truly the ultimate 22 target-rifle platform, this tack-driver features a 20″ stainless heavy barrel and a rugged laminated thumbhole stock that’s contoured to accommodate right- and left-handed shooters with equal comfort. The impeccable balance of our new stock design will shine the first time you try an offhand shot. Trust us, one squeeze of the trigger and you’ll be a believer. Its receiver is equipped with a factory-mounted scope rail so you can add optics and be ready to shoot in a flash.

Bolt-guidance system features twin, tool-steel guide rails

Offered in laminated wood stock

Non-glare matte finish

Patented, 10-shot metal detachable magazine, 8-shot for magnum

Last-shot hold-open bolt for added safety

Scope rail

More here.

Remington have a new Model 597 that comes with a Blaze camo stock. I really like the look!

The Mossy Oak® Blaze Orange camo Model 597 will turn heads with the hot new look, then proceed to make jaws drop with tthe astounding ability to punch tiny groups in fast-forward. The Mossy Oak® Blaze Orange camo Model 597 has a 20″ carbon steel barrel and TruGlo® fiber-optic front sights.

More here.

Every manufacturer is jumping on the pink gun craze. I don’t like the look. But if it sells more guns then it can’t be all that bad … I suppose.

The Remington Exclusive Mossy Oak® PInk camo Model 597 will turn heads with the hot new look, then proceed to make jaws drop with the astounding ability to punch tiny groups in fast-forward. The Mossy Oak Pink camo Model 597 has a 20″ carbon steel barrel and TruGlo® fiber-optic front sights.

Lightning fast and superbly accurate, the compact, short-action Model Seven has been a leader in the woods since it was introduced in 1983. Join us as we celebrate a quarter century of proven performance with the Model Sevenâ„¢ 25th Anniversary edition rifle chambered in 7mm-08 Remington. This rifle is a quintessential Remington classic with some striking commemorative upgrades.

Its American walnut Classic Deluxe-style stock is custom laser engraved with “Model Seven 25th Anniversary” and has an intricate 25th anniversary medallion inset at the pistol grip cap area. Adding to its traditional good looks is a high-sheen blued finish on the receiver, bolt and 22″ standard-contour barrel. Our ultra-crisp X-Mark Pro Trigger and SuperCell recoil pad are where the good old days stop, and you realize you’re experiencing the greatest era in rifle advancement yet.

• 2 3/8″ shorter overall length than Model 700 counterparts makes the Model Seven perfectly sized for small-statured shooters and dense-cover hunting situations
• Compact design for fast handling in dense-cover situations
• Features the same legendary strength as the Model 700 action: “Three-rings-of-steel” with the bolt face, barrel and receiver encasing the cartridge head
• Cylindrical receiver design provides a consistent bedding area in the stock
• Available in Remington Short-Action Magnum and Winchester Short Magnum calibers for the ultimate in compact magnum performance

More here.

Remington seem to be moving to a new “dragunov” style of stock. It is interesting how ‘evil’ tactical features are infiltrating the hunting market.

• Ambidextrous design for turkey, deer and predator hunters
• Ergonomic grip for solid shot placement
• Lightweight synthetic construction
• Available in Black and Mossy Oak® Obsession™
• Molded in sling swivel stud
• Comb designed for perfect eye-alignment with sights and/or scope

More here.

Remington have launched a new recoil pad that will replace the R3 pad on shotguns.

Ten years of rigorous R&D has produced a recoil pad far superior to anything the world has seen before. So effective in fact, our Model 870 pump shotgun now produces 54% less recoil than competing autoloaders with their factory pads. Welcome the most effective recoil pad on the planet, the 21st century’s most remarkable development in recoil reduction. SuperCell.

The World’s Most Effective Recoil Pad. This year, the new SuperCell recoil pad will single-handedly revolutionize the shooting sports. Its development marks the beginning of a new era in which a pump-action Model 870 produces up to 54% less recoil force than competing autoloaders. Where high-velocity magnum rifles become mild, and introducing new shooters to our sport is smoother and less intimidating. A time of better first shots, and faster second and third shots.

Recoil’s Holding Cell. SuperCell technology is the product of 10 years’ rigorous R&D by the top recoil-suppression experts in the industry. Using a complex matrix of millions of SuperCells, this advanced polymer construction harnesses and releases energy over a much longer time period. Rearward force of your gun is reduced from a “kick” to a gentle push and muzzle travel is diminished, resulting in the softest shooting experience possible. All from a pad that’s extremely lightweight, durable and enhanced with a smooth surface for rapid gun mounting.

Making Recoil-Reduction History. Again. For more than 200 years, we’ve pioneered better shooting through improved recoil reduction. Beginning in 1885 with rubber pads, vented pads in 1948, TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) pads in 1987 and now with SuperCell, an entirely new technology that will forever change the way recoil is harnessed. Welcome to the SuperCell era.

For what it is worth, here is a graph

More here.

Remington have announced a very cool looking new sabot slug called the “AccuTip Bonded Sabot Slug”

Looks cool doesn’t it?

It doesn’t just look intimidating, it’s flattening whitetails and competitors in the tipped-slug market with devastating ferocity. Guided by our new Power Port™ Tip, the AccuTip Bonded Sabot Slug delivers a degree of accuracy and terminal performance unmatched by any other we tested. This masterpiece of aerodynamics consistently prints tiny 100-yard groups and transfers tremendous knockdown force out to the farthest reaches of shotgun range. It’s the largest tipped slug you’ll find anywhere.

In field testing, this huge .58-caliber slug produced gaping wound channels and crumpled every deer it touched with a single shot. From 5 to 200 yards, it yields perfect mushrooms and over 95% weight retention thanks to its spiral nose cuts, bonded construction and high-strength cartridge brass jacket. With performance as revolutionary as its appearance, this is one tip sure to get stunning results. Available in 2 3/4″ or 3″ 12-gauge versions for 2008.

• Power Portâ„¢ Tip delivers dramatically superior accuracy
• Spiral nose cuts and proprietary bonding technology control expansion at all ranges from 5 to 200 yards
• Huge .58-caliber slug is the largest tipped slug available today
• Over 95% weight retention – weighs more after impact than all the others start with!
• Slug jacket made from high-strength cartridge brass
• Designed for use in fully-rifled barrels only

UPDATE

Check out these amazing photos of the sabot being fired

Hat Tip: vinatoare.ro

This is major news. Cerberus Capital Management, which owns Remington purchased Bushmaster last year. They seem to be consolidating the American firearms industry! Marlin in turn owns H&R 1871, Inc., makers of single shot firearms.

My instincts tell me this cannot be good for consumers. I would not call bushmaster and remington competitors, but remington and marlin are. Less competition usually means higher prices.

From the outdoorwire’s newsletter (which reads as a press release):

The Outdoor Wires has learned that Remington Arms of Madison, North Carolina has acquired another of America’s longest-operating firearms companies, Marlin Firearms of North Haven, Connecticut.

….

This acquisition also adds H&R 1871, Inc. the Gardner, Massachusetts based manufacturer of single-shot rifles and L.C. Smith shotguns to the Remington line. Their single shots, marketed as Harrington & Richardson and New England Firearms make H&R 1871 is the largest manufacturer of single shot rifles and shotguns in the world. That company was acquired by Marlin in November of 2000.

Tommy Millner Remington’s CEO, says, “I am pleased to announce that Marlin’s well known brands with a long heritage of providing quality rifles and shotguns to hunters and shooters around the world will join the Remington family. The opportunity to combine two historic U.S. based companies with such storied and proud histories, is both challenging and exhilarating.”

“We look forward to working with Bob Behn, a well respected member of our industry. He will remain as president of Marlin, charting a course of further growth and operational improvement,” Millner continued.

With this acquisition, another longtime family-owned firearm company comes under a corporate umbrella. And that umbrella (Remington Arms) is part of a still larger umbrella, Cerberus Capital Partners. Today, Cerebus owns significant segments of the firearms market in every category except handguns.

Closing of the transaction is subject to certain customary conditions, including regulatory approvals. Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor to Remington with respect to this acquisition. Duff & Phelps Securities, LLC, a unit of Duff & Phelps Corporation (NYSE:DUF), initiated the transaction, assisted in the negotiations and acted as exclusive financial advisor to Marlin.

Frank Kenna III, Marlin’s Chairman, said, “Marlin has been a family run business since 1924 and through a number of important steps, we have grown it into the company it is today. We knew it was time to find the right partner for Marlin to ensure our brands maintain their leadership positions and move into the next century.”

Mr. Kenna III continued, “We believe Remington’s commitment to the industry, shooters and hunters alike, combined with their resources from a manufacturing and sales and marketing position, will reinforce the confidence, hard work and dedication that our employees and management have put into our brands.”

E. Scott Blackwell, Remington’s President of Global Sales/Marketing and Product Development, said, “The history of our two companies in innovation and meeting the needs of hunters and shooters around the globe, combined with the opportunity to further develop the Remington, Marlin, H&R, NEF and LC Smith brands, is not only beneficial to the Company and our channel partners, but especially to our to the end customer. And it is these customers and our employees that have contributed to the success and longevity of these brands.”

No actual financials are available for Marlin, but the family-owned company employs 575 and is estimated by Hoover’s/D&B to have annual revenues of approximately $28.3 million. When added to Remington’s sales, the combined companies will have revenues approaching a half-billion dollars. Additionally, the addition of Marlin/H&R 1871 will give Remington the distinction of being owner of the world’s largest producer of single shot rifles and shotguns as well as the only manufacturer of both firearms and ammunition products in the United States, and Cerberus Capital Partners ownership of the largest holding of firearms companies in the United States.

Ruger has just released their disastrous third quarter results. Their share price fell 37.71% as of Wednesdays close!

This graph shows the last three months of Ruger (RGR) trading. Click on the graph to expand it.

Their CEO, Michael O. Fifer, wrote a letter to Ruger shareholders. He had this to say:

For decades, Ruger introduced innovative designs on a regular basis, stimulating consumer demand. That strength has waned in the past few years with the passing of Bill Ruger, Sr. and a weakening of the product development resources at Ruger.

Nothing new here. It has taken them 20 years to clone the Glock pistol and produce the recently released SR9 striker fired pistol.

He goes on to say:

Ruger has not participated in some of the fastest growing segments of the consumer firearms market. These segments, which include AR-15 style rifles, compact carry pistols and revolvers, and striker-fired, auto-loading pistols, have recently been the engines of growth in the consumer firearms market.

Several of our top distributors have experienced growth rates in one or more of these categories in excess of 40% for the first nine months of the year. We plan to develop products for several of these markets. We recently had a very successful launch of our new striker-fired, auto-loading pistol, the Ruger SR9.

They have already launched a striker fired pistol so that leaves compact carry pistols and revolvers and AR-15 rifles.

Remington, one of their major competitors in the rifle market, have just announced their first line of AR-15 hunting rifles, the R-15.

The Remington R-15

I think Ruger will announce an AR-15 hunting rifle this time next year.

(The above photo is a photoshop I made… obviously. Not to mention the ‘evil’ 30 round magazine that Ruger will never sell.)

It makes perfect sense. The black, or more politically correct, camo rifles are what is selling.

Shooting TImes UK has just posted a review of the Remington 1100 G3 Shotgun

Handling the gun, whether at the pattern plate or a few clays, threw up no surprises. Close your eyes and you could step back all those years since its introduction. In spite of the worthwhile modifications it is still undeniably a Remington 1100, and that is not a bad thing. Patterns were even and consistent, recoil soft and functioning reliable with appropriate loadings. Ejection is usually flawless; throwing the cartridge cases cleanly away and, as ever, the trigger pull is a little heavy and long but eminently safe for a gun of this type.

More here.

The Gun Nut reviews the Remington Model 798 Safari Grade

Lurking, almost unsung in the Remington 08 lineup, is an absolutely terrific rifle called the Model 798 Safari Grade. It is a true, long-action, all-steel Model 98 Mauser stocked in laminated wood that looks like high-grade walnut. The barrel is 22 inches long, which is the proper length for a dangerous game rifle, and the front sling swivel stud is out on the barrel where it won’t gouge your hand. The price is $1,119 for a .375 H&H, and $1,189 for a .458.

More here