The Firearm Blog

Willaim Gibson, famous sci-fi author and journalist, tweeted that the Zimmerman Arms .22 Pistol I blogged about is "for dorks in armored golf cart".

(the link he posted revolves to this blog post)

Mr Gibson: I think if you spent 20 minutes at a range with a .22 pistol and 50 round magazine, you would change your mind! A 50 round magazine is 40 rounds more fun than a 10 round magazine

I wonder what Stephen Hunter's take on Tacti-Awesome pistols is ...

FAST G3A

MTek sell an interesting facial armor system called the FAST G3. It is designed to overcome some of the limitations of flip-up riot-style face armor. Thier premium FAST G3A (pictured above) weights 1.5 lbs and provides protection at least as good as the Army Combat Helmet and USMC Light Weight Helmet. The price is $549.99!

[ Many thanks to Paul for emailing me the link. ]

Dominique snapped these pics of Lone Starfield Products tactical shooting rests which were on display at the Tactical Evolution Expo and Conference‏. I know I do not need on, but I really want one.

Many thanks to Dominique for the photos.

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Jonathan Sun. ]

A couple weekends ago, I participated in the Bullets and Vehicles course at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. I wanted to share my experiences during this course for those who might be interested in training there, or firearms training in general.

My Background

I’ve had an interest in firearms since my teenage years, thanks to my father. Only more recently, I would say the last 4-5 years did my interest in training or competing grow. Training began with Sig Sauer Academy (formerly SigArms Academy). The impetus was that my first handgun was a Sig P229R and the facility was close enough where I thought trying out some of their training wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. I’m not LE/MIL or a HSLD type, so this type of training is more academic in the sense that it would be something nice to know in case stuff hits the proverbial fan. Previous classes I had taken were:

• Basic Practical Handgun Skills
• Intermediate Handgun Skills
• Intermediate Concealed Carry
• Low Light Pistol Operator
• Close Quarters Pistol Operator
• Advanced Concealed Carry
• Basic Law and Threat Management

This path was recommended to me, while not being a new shooter, it definitely did help fine tune existing fundamentals and reinforce training techniques that they use at Sig. The Bullets and Vehicles course was designed to help expose myths surrounding how bullets behave around vehicles and to help give you a better chance at surviving a confrontation at or around a vehicle.

Morning Drills

This was an 8 hour 1 day course that started at 8:30A. It began with an in classroom meeting to go over the safety guidelines and introduce ourselves to the instructors. There were approximately 8 of us plus 3 visitors from South Korea. Two of the visitors worked for a South Korean gun magazine and the third was a South Korean SWAT member. From there we moved to the indoor range staging area and prepared to gear up. Those who did not have equipment were issued equipment from the armory. After equipping we proceeded to the outdoor range.

The drills began dry and as always the emphasis was on safety. The main thing we had to consider while doing these drills was drawing and not lasering ourselves and our neighbor ahead/behind/or to either side of us. The instructors had us run it dry from seated positions while simulating being seated in a vehicle. After they were confident that we moved on to live shooting drills.

Afternoon Drills

When we returned to class, the instructor, I’ll as SK, showed us a diagram explaining the tendency a bullet will have when shot into or out of a windshield. I say tendency because they emphasized that bullets around vehicles are extremely unpredictable and that the best chance you have is to understand how they tend to behave around them. Essentially when the bullet impacts the windshield, the portion of the bullet that impacts the windshield first, that is the direction the bullet will tend to travel. In the case of shooting outwards the bullet will tend to deflect upward and shooting into a vehicle it will tend to deflect downward. After class we moved to the donor Taurus sitting on the far right of the range. SK demonstrated a way to use the car antenna, assuming the older style wire antenna, as an improvised glass breaker and several dedicated pocket knife like breakers/seatbelt cutters.

Fighting from the Vehicle

We took turns taking shots through the windshield from the front passenger seat into a target downrange. The goal of this exercise was to show the angle and degree of deflection once the bullet impacts the windshield. Basically, the amount of deflection in this case, with 9mm and the Taurus windshield, was approximately 7-8 inches. The target we were shooting at was about 5 feet away from the front of the vehicle. About 50-60% of the 9mm rounds exited and struck the target, the other 40-50% of the time, the bullet fragmented before exiting, with small pieces striking the target unpredictably.

The second drill during this phase, they had is sit in the driver’s seat, drawing without lasering ourselves and engage targets from the driver’s side window. Simulating or enhancing stress they had an instructor jumping up and down in the door jamb of the rear passenger side to make aiming more difficult. The big thing they wanted us to take away from shooting within the vehicle was that it was not a great place to be if you needed to engage a threat, and you should make your way out of the vehicle to better cover.

Vehicle as Cover

When using the vehicle for cover, they wanted to emphasize not crowding the vehicle. Crowding the vehicle can make you more likely to get hit from ricochets over the top of the hood or trunk. They had us attempt it, and quite to my surprise it was not difficult to get skipped bullets on target within 1-2 shots. The amount of deflection from the skipped bullets was such that, if you were using a hood/trunk for cover and were sucked up against it, you would very likely get hit if you took a peek. If you were farther away from the vehicle the chance the bullets would deflect over your head increases. The other suggestion besides the obvious engine block was to use the wheels/wheel wells. The thought process behind this being that you had a steel or aluminum wheel and behind that the disc brakes as some intermediate cover. To simulate this, they had us take turns engaging a steel target, while laying prone from underneath the vehicle.

From a Moving Vehicle

We then proceeded to engage multiple targets while in a moving vehicle. SK drove his Tundra diagonally across the outdoor range and had students take turns sitting in the passenger seat engaging multiple stationary targets while the vehicle was in motion. The point of these exercises was that it is not a great situation to be in and that the best case scenario is that any amount of ammo you’re sending downrange will at least keep heads down if you’re unable to neutralize the threat.

Various Calibers

For the last part of the range exercise, they had us engage the vehicle with various calibers to see how effective/ineffective each round was. We tried .22, 9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP,.357Mag,.44Mag,.223,.308,.338Lapua and finally .50cal. The results were such that someone reasonably armed for CCW, 9mm appeared to be the most well rounded for usage around a vehicle. The interesting to note, the .40S&W (what I shoot) and .45ACP were poor at traveling through the windshield, they tended to fragment catastrophically. They also tended not to travel through the vehicle, when shot door to door. The lack of over travel may or may not be something you may want depending on whether the threat is inside/outside of the vehicle.

Concluding

This class was as engaging as any other of their classes, possibly more so due to the amount of myths and conjecture about how bullets will behave around vehicles. The instructors are extremely attentive and knowledgeable. While being experienced, they have a demeanor that makes it easy to ask questions and they invite it. The facilities have reactive plates so you’ll get immediate feedback when you’re on target or not, which is great for tuning or fine tuning your training. The round count for the class was just under 300, which is about average for a one day class. I highly recommend professional firearms training for anyone, regardless of where it may be, as there are a lot of things to consider that you might not realize if you plan on CCW.

If you have any questions for me or about any of the courses above, please feel free to email me, or ask in the comments below.

Contact Info for:

SIG SAUER Academy
233 Exeter Road
Epping, NH 03042
Phone: 603-679-2003
Fax: 603-679-1639
Email: sigsaueracademy@sigsauer.com
Web: www.sigsaueracademy.com

Michael Bane has written an interesting blog post on the shift in the perception of what a rifle is or should be.

If you read gun blogs and forums as well as owning a few of your own tacti-cool guns, it is easy to think everyone values the black rifle. I agree with Michael that only recently are we seeing the black rifle go mainstream.

However, in truth, nearly every type of rifle was originally designed for the battlefield.

Nighthawk Custom have introduced two lines of high end semi-custom bolt action rifles.

The Nighthawk Tactical series is available with either their own hunting action, which includes a bolt-on picatinny rail, or a Surgeon action which has a picatinny rail machined into it. It is stocked with a Manners Composite Stock that can be finished in a Perma Kote color scheme of choice. The rifle can be chambered in .308, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester and .338 Lapua.

The Nighthawk Hunter series is similar to the tactical series. The main differences are that it is only available in the Nighthawk action, it can be stocked with a HS Precision stock instead of a Manners Composite stock and can be chambered in a variety of hunting cartridges.

No prices are listed … in other words they are very expensive.

CMMG is selling Tacti-cool Tactical Bacon …

New from CMMG! Its Tactical Bacon in a can. Fully cooked and fully prepared. 10+ year shelf life. Perfect for camping, hunting, zombie standoffs, end of the world scenarios etc. Don’t be caught without Tac Bac!

I think they have been reading Breda’s blog

It can be bought for $12.50 from the CMMG online store (scroll down). Don’t you think “Black Rifle Bacon” would have been a better name?

Sport-Systeme Dittrich, who manufacturer semi-automatic reproductions of German WWII weapons, have produced three alternative history versions of the famous Sturmgewehr 44 (StG44) assault rifle. These rifles explore how the StG44 may have developed if Germany had won the war. Legendary photographer and editor-in-chief of Bron i Amunicja Remigiusz Wilk (REMOV) took these photos at IWA 2009, an outdoor expo in held in Germany, and emailed them to me.

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 Archangel Pistol Deluxe is a stock and rail system for the .22 Ruger Charger pistol (The Charger is the version of the Ruger 10/22 rifle).

Picture it with a 50 round drum magazine

It is guaranteed to scare 100% of the hippies you may encounter

It features:

- Mil-Spec battle proven polymers
- Free float handguard with Picatinny rails
- Front and rear Archangel folding sights
- Tactical magazine release

The price is $269.99. Not cheap but it is one awesome package.

You get truffle sniffing dogs, deer sniffing dogs and drug sniffing dogs, it only makes sense that we would end up with a tactical magazine sniffing dog. Perfect to find those lost magazines and brass This photo was taken two weeks ago.

© Crown Copyright/MOD 2009 (UK Ministry of Defense Image Database)

An Arms and Explosives Search Labrador Dog of 101 Military Working Dogs (MWD) Support Unit, Royal Army Veterinary Corps (RAVC) is shown sniffing out some ammunition.

Just when I though tactical bolt actions were going out of fashion and being replaced with autoloaders everyone seems to have launched a new model or line. Savege, Kimber, Ruger and now Remington with their Model 700 Target Tactical.

Model 700 Target Tactical. Click to expand.

The rifle is available chambered in .308 Win. and features:

* Triangular barrel
* X-Mark Pro Adjustable trigger (adjustable from 3-5 lbs).
* Tactical style bolt handle.
* 26″ barrel utilizing 5-R tactical target rifling as using on the M24 sniper rifles.
* Bell and Carlson Medalist Varmint/Tactical composite stock (notably not H-S Precision)

Action: Bolt/Short
Barrel Length: 26 inches
Overall Length: 45 3/4 inches
Avg. Weight: 11 3/4 lbs
Stock Material: Composite – Aramid Fiber
Stock Finish: OD Green/Black Webbed
Barrel Finish: Matte Blue

The MSRP is $1972.

Ruger really is going tactical this year. The Ruger M77 Hawkeye Tactical is a new line of M77 bolt action rifles.

They feature
* 20″ heavy barrel
* Hogue OverMolded stock
* Harris bipod! Yes, they actually come standard with a harris bipod.
* A newly designed two stage target trigger.
* Built-in magazine, an odd choice for a tactical styled rifle.

Three calibers are on offer: .223 Rem., .243 Win. and .308 Win.

Specs for the .308 model:

Capacity: 4 Rounds
Finish: Hawkeye Matte Blued
Stock: Black Hogue® OverMolded®
Barrel Length: 20″
Groove: 6
Twist: 1:10″ RH
Overall Length: 40″
Weight: 8 3/4 lbs
Front Sight(s): None
Rear Sight(s): None
Other Features: Two-Stage Trigger; Three-Position Manual Safety
Miscellaneous: Harris Bipod included.

MSRP is $1138.

Ruger have announced two Tactical Mini-14 models.

Mini-14 Tactical Rifles Model 20GBCPC

The 20GBCPC model features a flash suppressor, synthetic stock and 16 1/8″ barrel. It weights 8 lbs. It has an MSRP of $894.

Mini-14 Tactical Rifles Model 20CF

The 20CF model, which we saw previously, has an ATI Stock and a 16.12″ barrel. Oddly enough, it has no flash suppressor. The 20CF weights: 7.25 lbs. MSRP is $872.00.

Both feature an “Improved receiver with rounded contours.”, 20 round magazine and 1:9 barrel twist.

TD discovered this photo on the Ruger website:

WOW! I can barley believe my eyes. Ruger has finally gone tactical! The tactical mini-14 appears to feature:

* Folding and collapsible stock
* Ergonomic pistol grip
* 20 round magazine
* Quad rails
* Polymer stock

Well done Ruger!

I wonder if a Tactical Mini-30 is on its way.

Ruger will probably take this photo offline as they have been hyping this announcement. So here is a screenshot showing the photo in my web browser:

UPDATE: The stocks looks *very* similar to the ATI Strikeforce stock. Mini-30 Stock sold at Midway:

Hat Tip to wetidlerjr for the info.

UPDATE: I noticed that the files creation date is 9 January 2009.

UPDATE: It has been officially released.