The Firearm Blog

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by David. David blogs at True Blue Sam the Travelin' man. ]

There is nothing unusual going on at Bea's loading bench, except this 78 year old grandmother has been a handgunner for just over a year, and now she is loading her own .45 ammo! Her journey as a shooter has been rather remarkable, but she has always had lots of pioneer moxie, and she is still an active person who wants to be able to defend herself and her home.

Dwain, Bea's husband, passed away in 2005, and owned several guns. One was his 'house gun,' a Smith and Wesson Model 36 snubbie. She realized that the little .38 would be difficult for her to master, so she had one of her sons help her pick out a new pistol for her to build her shooting skills. Her first purchase was a Walther P-22, and on her 77th birthday she went to the local range for the first time. The little Walther was easy for her to handle and to shoot; the only problem she had was stripping and reassembling after her range trips. As long as it was fed plated .22's, this gun never failed to function. Bea was now a handgunner, and a pretty good shot, too. Check out the target with thirty offhand shots at thirty feet with her little auto.

P-22 target with thirty shots at thirty feet.

Bea next learned to handle revolvers by starting with her son's Ruger Single-Six, and she found that she could shoot it more accurately than she could with the little Walther. She got lucky and found a used Single-Six in excellent condition at her local Scheel's store, and soon she was shooting the revolver more than the auto. Her son then introduced her to centerfire with a Ruger Blackhawk, and she found that shooting .38's was easy for her. She looked at the options with Ruger Blackhawks, and when the Scheel's store got a .45 convertible, she bought it. The big slow bullets are easy for her to handle, even though she weighs less than 110. At the range she will shoot several cylinders through the Single-Six, and then one or two through the Blackhawk, then switch back to the .22. Careful practice has kept her from developing flinch problems.

Bea buying her Blackhawk

Shooting the Blackhawk for the first time.

Her son has been reloading for many years, and he set her up to reload for her .45. A surprise benefit of the convertible Blackhawk is the free once fired brass other shooters leave behind at the range. Every range trip begins with policing for new brass before setting up to shoot.

Bea at loading bench

In September Engineering Johnson, her grandson, took her along to the Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and she was thrilled to meet Mr. Completely, KeeWee, and the other bloggers she has been reading. She says it was the most fun she has ever had. Mr. C even let her shoot his long barrelled High Standard, and Bea had some respectable times hitting the steel plates on the second range day. She is planning to go again next year.

Bea with her .45 at the GBR Show and Tell

From left: Engineering Johnson, Bea and Mr. Completely

She has several range friends in her hometown, and she is spreading the joy of shooting by teaching the basics of gun safety and pistols with new shooters. One of her new found friends is a nine year old boy who is regularly beating his dad at hitting the bullseye with her Single-Six.

Bea would like for more women to realize that they do not have to be defenseless, and that even a small framed womam can shoot a gun that is powerful enough to stop an attacker. Thank you for setting such a great example for all of us, Bea.

Gun bloggers KeeWee and Molly with Bea.

[ GBR photos were taken by The Packing Rat ]

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Matt Green ]

This Ruger .45 my Dad left me is one of the first weapons I ever fired.

My grandparents had a farm in central Minnesota, near St. Cloud, and we would drive the two hours to visit every month or six weeks or so. Nearby was an old iron bridge, crosshatched with braces, bedded with wood that beginning to rot as the bridge neared the end of its first century of usefulness. The newer highway bridge went over the slow moving creek a couple of hundred yards upstream, so the metal bridge on the dirt road was relegated to cars and small trucks. It was too small for any modern farm machinery to pass across it.

But it was a great place to learn how to shoot. Dad would bring out his Ruger Mk1 .22 and this Blackhawk, and my three brothers and I would take turns shooting pop cans and empty ammo boxes floating in the river, tossed in on the upstream side of the bridge. Dad would occasionally take a turn with the .22, but he mainly used his .45, usually stoked with ACP ammo, since it was less expensive than Long Colt. It was also a way for him to see if we’d been fooling with his pistols in his absence, as he caught my younger brother once when he hadn’t put the ACP cylinder back in. Dad loaded a .45 ACP round, and it dropped deep into the LC cylinder. One look at the bunch of us, and he knew which brother was guilty.

When we exhausted the .22 ammo, we’d each get a cylinder full of .45 to shoot, or most of one, since five rounds each made the box come out even. It was harder to shoot well than the .22, and much louder (I don’t remember that we bothered with ear protection back then), but it was very satisfying to shoot it well and have Dad comment as much.

I miss him, and think of him whenever I shoot the old Ruger, or really, whenever I handle firearms in general. The interest I have in firearms now was sparked long ago by shooting with him.

Earlier this year Soroka, a New Zealand firm, unveiled their Soroka 07 rifle action. It based on the famous falling block Gibbs Farquharson action.

Internally it differs from other rifles that make use of the Farquharson action by its use of a in-line striker driven by a coil spring rather than a rotating hammer. This decrease lock time and allows repeated dry firing. Soroka says ...

Firstly it is 100% manufactured in New Zealand. Secondly, my action whilst looking like a later model Gibbs Farquharson is completely different inside. It uses a striker (firing pin) that is in-line with the bore that is powered by a chrome silicone coil spring. This gives extremely fast lock time and reliable ignition. The design also allows for dry firing which many single shot designs abhorr. Every single component in this action is either CNC'd or wire cut. All the major components- receiver, trigger plate, underlever, quarter rib are CNC'd from Boehler P 20 vaccuum re-melted billet bar stock, a couple of minor items, safety button and bar from 4140, the internal links and other components EDM wire cut from from 17-4 ph stainless ground plate. My machinists are are arguably the best 3d machinists in this part of the world. I can assure you it takes some doing to machine the compound curves found in this design. Ask anyone who knows.

This stunningly beautiful work of art comes at a price. The total price (inc. shipping overseas) is US$14,500!

Many thanks to Mehul for the link and info about the rifles.

Suburban has put together a list of links to popular DIY Ruger 10/22 mods.

The JB Weld mod looks interesting.

Some years ago Ruger was not giving customers what they wanted but they have really turned things around. Following on from the recently launched tacti-cool Ruger SR-22, the newest in the 10/22 line is the Ruger 10/22 VLEH Target Tactical Carbine. It is essentially a new version of the Ruger 10/22T (Target) styled after the Ruger M77 Hawkeye Tactical, which was also launched this year.

Ruger 10/22 VLEH Target Tactical Rifle

The 10/22 VLEH¹ features a Hogue OverMolded stock, in my opinion the best for the Ruger 10/22. The barrel is 16" heavy .920" profile match-grade barrel with target crown. It has the same trigger group as the Ruger 10/22T, which is much superior to the standard factory trigger. To top it all off, a bipod is included.

The VLEH configuration is almost identical to my favorite 10/22 configuration. It makes perfect sense for hunting and general plinking. My only complaint would be the lack of iron sights, although few people will miss them.

Hat Tip: Down Range TV

After having recently launched their first AR-15, the Ruger SR-556, Ruger have now unveiled the Ruger SR-22, a Ruger 10/22 in a tactical AR-15 configuration. For years we have been asking for it, and finally they have delivered!

Ruger SR-22

Jeff Quinn holds a tricked out SR-22

You are probably thinking that the action in the above rifle does not look much like a Ruger 10/22. This is because a standard Ruger 10/22 action and trigger group sits inside a Nordic Components designed conversion chassis / enclosure.

Nordic Components Stock Kit - very similar to the SR-22 rifle.

The chassis allows a standard AR-15 stock and pistol grip to be used on the rifle. It also allows a standard Ruger 10/22 barrel, which attaches to a v-Block, to be used with a the AR-15 style handguard. This breakdown photo illustrates how it all fits together:

The mid length handguard is drilled and tapped to allow picatinny rails to be installed on the 3,6,9 and 12 o' clock positions, if desired. These rails allow all standard AR-15 accessories to be used with the rifle.

Ruger 3" SR-22 TR 3 Picatinny Rail ($14.95)

SR-22 Full Length Picatinny Rail ($39.95)

Another benefit of the SR-22 over a standard 10/22 is that the barrel is factory threaded and a Ruger SR-556 / Mini-14 flash suppressor is installed.

The Ruger press release:

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) announces the introduction of the Ruger® SR-22™ Rifle, an autoloading, rimfire rifle that combines the legendary reliability of the Ruger® 10/22® with the ergonomics and configurability of the new AR-style Ruger SR-556™. The new SR-22 Rifle allows shooters to use economical .22 LR ammunition, while still enjoying the look and feel of an "AR" and experiencing the reliability they have come to appreciate from Ruger.

Because it utilizes the unique rotary magazine supplied with the Ruger 10/22, the SR-22 Rifle offers the same gold standard for reliability in autoloading rimfire rifles. Like the 10/22, the AR-style SR-22 Rifle also has an extensive array of accessories available, allowing shooters to select a custom configuration that best suits their tastes and needs.

The SR-22 Rifle uses a standard 10/22 action inside a top-quality, all-aluminum chassis that faithfully replicates the AR-platform dimensions between the sighting plane, buttstock height, and grip. The SR-22 Rifle provides a Picatinny rail optic mount, and includes a six-position, telescoping M4-style buttstock (on a Mil-Spec diameter tube), plus a Hogue® Monogrip® pistol grip. Buttstocks and grips may be swapped out for any AR-style compatible option.

The SR-22 Rifle also features a round, mid-length handguard mounted on a standard-thread AR-style barrel nut. Picatinny rails, specifically designed for this handguard, are available from Ruger, allowing the handguard to be configured to accept any number of rail-mounted sights or accessories. A barrel support block is installed in the handguard, ensuring accuracy and allowing the standard 10/22 V-block barrel attachment system to be used.

The SR-22 Rifle is equipped with a precision-rifled, cold hammer-forged alloy steel barrel. The 16-1/8" barrel is capped with an SR-556/Mini-14 flash suppressor mounted with a 1/2"-28 thread.

More photos:

Ruger advertisement for SR-22:

Michael Bane has also created a video review over at the Down Range TV Blog. Michael hinted at the rifle earlier this week, but I must admit I did not imagine a tactical Ruger 10/22 was what Ruger had in store for us!

Greg Brush, an Alaskan fishing guide, was ambushed with no warning by a charging bear. All he had time to do was pull out his .454 Casull and fire as fast as possible, while falling backwards after tripping on a branch. The Anchorage Daily News reports:

He drew a Ruger .454 Casull revolver. There was no time to aim, barely time to squeeze the trigger. He’s not sure whether he got off two shots or three, but one proved fatal.

“Total luck shot,” he said.

“It doesn’t get any closer. He slid by me on his chin when I shot him,” Brush said. “I was backpedaling as fast as I could. I wasn’t even aiming. I tripped over my own feet as I pulled the trigger.”

He estimated that the animal weighed 900-plus pounds, and was 15 to 20 years old. It had grass packed in its molars and little fat on its bones.

“It was starving to death and saw an opportunity,” Brush said.

I sometimes get asked what should be carried in bear country. I always say the same thing: “I know nothing about bears but if I was in bear country I would want a .44 Magnum by my side”. I despair when people say they would rather carry their 9mm or .40 S&W Glock because they can get off more shots! This story perfectly illustrates that you may only get off one or two shots at a charging 900 pound beast! A 9mm round is not going to do much good.

Greg was most likely carrying a Ruger Super Redhawk. The Low-Glare Stainless model has a 7.5″ barrel and is available chambered in .454 Casull or .45 Colt. It has a MSRP of $992.

Big thank you to Don for emailing me the link.

UPDATE: Commenters point out that he was using the Super Redhawk Alaskan. This snub nosed .454 Casull has a 2.5″ barrel . It also has a MSRP of $922. Thanks guys for the correction.

Tom Gresham has an interview with Greg on his Gun Talk show. Thanks to Jake for the link.

The crazy people at Waterloo Labs developed a system to play the computer game Half-Life, a First Person Shooter, using accelerometers, drywall and a integrally suppressed Ruger MKIII.

Looks like a lot of fun!

A parts list and computer code to build a similar system can be found at Waterloo Labs.

Many thanks to Antonio for the link.

UPDATE: Nookyon points out in the comments that the game appears to be a flash based “remake” of Half Life, not the original.

Beretta and Ruger have both announced a huge increase over last years’ sales.

Beretta says:

Beretta U.S.A. Corp. announces outstanding June results. “We are extremely pleased by our commercial pistol market sales”, said Gary Ramey, Vice President of Sales & Marketing, “June sales are up 219% compared to last year. All of our pistol families are performing very well, with the Px4 Storm family up an amazing 451%. Our Cx4 Storm Carbine is also doing extremely well, up 1249% compared to last year”.

Ruger says:

* Our firearms sales grew 94% from the second quarter of 2008 and 14% from the first quarter of 2009.

* The Company estimates that its year-to-date sales growth of $54.7 million can be attributed to the following:

* Approximately 50% New products (LCP, LCR, SR-9, and SR-556),

* Approximately 25% Industry-wide surge in demand that began in the fourth quarter of 2008, and

* Approximately 25% Increased marketshare.

* Our firearms unit production grew 63% from the second quarter of 2008 and 18% from the first quarter of 2009.

While browsing the Ruger website I noticed that the Ruger M77 Mark II Frontier rifle has been discontinued.

The Frontier rifle featured a forward scout-style scope mount and a very short 16.5″ barrel. Sixteen inches in barrel length may be considered normal for rimfire or intermediate cartridges, but the Frontier was chambered in full power cartridge such as .308 Winchester and .300 Winchester Short Magnum.

The short barrel would certainty have had quite an impact on performance. These cartridges are usually fired in 20+ inches of barrel length, and this may have contributed to its demise.

The advantage of a short barrel is less weight and easier maneuverability in a tight space, such as shooting varmints from a vehicle, or when traversing heavy bush.

I was really hoping this concept would take off and am saddened that it did not catch on. Once you have fired, or owned, a short barrel (SBR) rifle, everything over 14″ seems much too long!

Does anyone own one of these rifles? I would really like to get my hands on the ballistic data for the cartridges the rifle fired. Ruger have not responded to my requests.

Ruger have partnered with the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) to produced a special edition Ruger Vaquero single action revolver. The SASS Vaquero is sold as a matched set (two guns) bearing consecutive serial numbers.

Ruger SASS Vaquero

The new revolver features a high-gloss stainless steel finish, the lower and wider hammer from the Ruger Montado and SASS markings. It is chambered in .357 Magnum and has a 4.62″ barrel. MSRP is $1459 (that is for a pair of revolvers) and will be available in August.

More info available at Ruger.

Click to enlarge

There are at least five bullets stuck in that revolver barrel. RugerForum members seem to think is a Ruger Blackhawk in .357 Magnum. The squib loads could have been low powered .38 Special rounds or very badly loaded .357 rounds. That the shooter did not notice it after the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th round is crazy!

It is hard to see if there is a bulge in that barrel, a symptom of a round fired into a blocked barrel. I think if had been a semi-automatic pistol there would have been a disaster. A revolver can vent gas in the gap between the cylinder and the barrel but in a autoloader pistol for a brief period of time the gas has no where to go and the pressure build up would be considerable.

A few weeks ago I was shooting some old .22 Longs out of a rifle which I had not fired them out of before. I nearly crapped my pants after the second round when I realized to forget to check the spotting scope to ensure that the first round made it out of the barrel and hit the target. I was shooting iron sights and could not see the target. I learnt a good lesson. Always make sure you hit the target, especially when you are shooting low powered ammunition.

Thanks to Advocate for the link.

Ruger was that attractive girl at high school who you wanted to love but she stabbed you in the back and you just could not trust her again. That was two decades ago. Sturm, Ruger & Company CEO Michael O. Fifer has listened us, the customers, and changed the company culture for the better.

There is no better illustration for this change than the Evil Black Rifle itself which has just joined the Ruger product offering. The slogan for the SR-556 is "a platform redefined". I say it should be "a company redefined". I present to you the Ruger AR-15, the SR-556:

Ruger SR-556

Ok, I will wipe the tear from my eye, be a man and shove my emotional outburst back down where it came from Onto the features ...

The most significant feature is a new short stroke gas piston designed by Ruger. It shares the same benefits as other gas pistons system: a cleaner, cooler bolt carrier as the excess gas it vented out the gas block, far from the upper receiver. The AR-15 was not designed for a piston and retrofit piston systems can cause problems, for example the pressure from the piston operating rob can cause the bolt carrier to bind. It was been suggested that the Ruger bolt carrier is designed to mitigate this particular problem. Time will tell (I am no expert on this topic).

The chrome lined SR-556 bolt carrier.

Disassembly of the gas system.

Another feature is a four position gas regulator. The first position prevents any gas entering the piston system. This turns the rifle into a single shot which requires the bolt to be manually cycled between shots. The next position allows the normal quantity of gas into the piston system to cycle the bolt. The next two position each let in more gas than the previous system which can help when the rifle is dirty or the ammunition is low powered. It is a compelling feature for reloaders because it gives them a greater range of adjustment for thier powder loads.

Chromed gas regulator.

Gas regulator positions.

The rifle also features:

• Full length Troy Industries Quad Rail with rail covers.
• Hogue Pistol grip.
• Ruger branded Troy Industries flip up Backup Iron Sights (BUIS).
• Ships with three 30-round Magpul PMAG magazines.

Ruger branded Troy Rear Sight

The Specs:

Caliber: 5.56mm NATO / .223 Remington Barrel: 16.12" Barrel Twist: 1:9 Right Hand Weight: 7.92 lbs Total Length: 32.75" - 36" (depending on stock position) Stock: 6 position M4 style

It is nice to see Ruger has explicitly said .223 Remington AND 5.56mm NATO are compatible with the rifle.

The MSRP is $1,995. It is expensive and you could build one your self from parts for less, but if the gas system works flawlessly then I think it will be a good seller. I think it will sell for about $1800 on the street.

Here is the Ruger promotional video. They seem to be keen to promote it to law enforcement and military:

GunBlast.com made this video showing the rifle in action:

This photo is from Snowflakes in Hell. For the high resolution version and many more photos as well as on the ground reporting from the launch visit Snowflakes in Hell:

This photo Adam's Incoming blog. For many more photos check out the Guns and Hunting Incoming blog.

More information about the rifle is at Caleb's Gun Nuts Media blog.

Thanks to y'all who emailed me about the SR-556. I appreciate it. Contrary to popular belief I am not dead just slow and overworked.

UPDATE: Many thanks to Brian for sending me these photos of his new Ruger SR-556.

Fore-end and gas regulator. The Backup Iron Sights. Nice touch with the buttstock Ruger logo.

In a few hours Ruger will redefine a platform (their words, not mine). Some possible contenders are:

* Polymer 1911
* Regular 1911
* Mini-14 in .308 (ie. a M1A / M14)
* SR-9 pistol in .45 or the long awaited SR-10 (.40 S&W).
* Scaled up Ruger LCR polymer revolver in a more powerful cartridge.
* Ruger gas piston AR-15

A 1911 is possible. Wilson Combat will have a polymer 1911 on the market soon. Another variant on this rumor is a compact single stack polymer 1911. Having launched two new autoloader pistol platforms in the past few years I wonder if they want another.

N.U.G.U.N thinks a .308 Mini-14 is possible. Ruger does not have a medium game hunting autoloader so this would fill a hole in their product offering. I think it is unlikely because I don’t think the M14 design is going to appeal to hunters and so far the Mini-14 accuracy has not been all that great.

Ruger SR-9 in .45 or .40 S&W. This would could not be considered “Another platform redefined” but many people are hoping for the long delayed, almost mythical, SR-10.

Ruger Light Compact Revolver in .38 Special

Caleb thinks a scaled-up Ruger LCR polymer revolver in a more powerful cartridge to compete with S&W. I think this would be a good idea and a great seller.

Sebastian found a photo showing a AR-15 bolt carrier with a Ruger logo. I have been harping on about a Ruger AR-15 for a long time. I hate to commit myself to this rumor because I have many times in the past and been wrong again and again.

The below images comes from the Ruger 2008 Annual Meeting report (I added blue arrows):

This year they introduced a compact carry revolver. This following image is from the Annual Meeting report held last month (I added blue arrows):

You can only tell your shareholders you are missing out on a major growth area so many times before they start getting angry! I reckon it will be an AR-15.

A **FAKE** photoshop I made back in 2007.

[ Pretty nifty alliteration in the blog post title ]

UPDATE: As many of you noted in the comments. Ruger unveiled a AR-15. Read my coverage here.