The Firearm Blog

Very funny. From the British TV show Top Gear.

Gun Blobber, a new gun blogger, has posted videos of an M1A firing in slow motion

Wow. Some guy has been at work with a high-speed camera and a couple of M1A’s. He was looking to settle a dispute as to whether the action starts cycling before or after the bullet has exited the barrel:

Go check out his blog here.

Hat Tip: Go Foo

The blackpowder cannon enthusiasts over at the Graybeard forums came up with some amazing pieces of artillery.

CU_Cannon built the “Nano-mortar”. It fires .177″ BBs. The bed it sits on is 1″ long.

Click to expand the images.

The Nano-mortar

Here is a video of it in action

Blueprints

Cal.45 built a 3mm mortar called the “Pico “Mortar”

The “Pico Mortar”

The pico mortar was build solely with a drill-press, some files and emery paper. It fires 3mm shot pellets (0.118 inch diameter) and has a maximum load of 0.2 grains of blackpowder. It has a barrel length of 8mm (0.315″) and can fire 6 meters (20 feet)

Anyways. I started with a load of about 0.2gr Swiss #2 but this did just a sizzling sound, so from the next shots on I used Swiss #1 (which is even finer in granulation: about 0.011 to 0.015 inch) which produced a nice snapping. Cheesy.

The touch hole is 0.5 millimeters = close to 0.02 inch (that makes it about 16% of the bore diameter (if one may still call it so).

Priming was done by filling the touch hole granule by granule; sweaty hands help maneuvering these tiny particlesin place.

First I wanted to enlarge the touch hole to fuse diameter and keep the rest at the smaller diameter (to keep some pressure) but the wall thickness is that small, that this wasnot possible.

Ignition with a lighter proofed to be better than trying to do it with a match: the flame produces soot but therefore does not function (kept them as size reference on the photo though).

Whatever. At first I thought that the shot would barely leve the muzzle: wrong!

Firing from the kitchen table I shot dimples into the door! This was 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) away! By the trajectory (angle of the mortar and height of impact) this means an estimated firing distance of 6 meters (about 20 feet): I would never have guessed this to be possible with a piece that has a barrel length of just 8 millimeters (0.315 inch).

The “Pico Mortar” being fired

“Pico Mortar” blueprints

Rickk built the “Nano Cannon”

The “Nano Cannon”

Now I know what only the others who have made one know… what the tremendous roar they make sounds like Grin

Bore is 3/16 (.186), so it will take a BB. Fuse is 5/64, so it will takes 1/16 fuse.

Trunions, as well as cascable, are 3/16 inch steel rod pressed into shallow 3/16 holes and then brazed in place.

All the work was done on my drill press, with some help from an angle grinder and a file for shaping.

It needs a pit more polishing, but I just couldn’t wait to fire it ! Total time into is so far is about 2 hours.

The “Nano Cannon” with carriage

I found the smoldering paper towel pieces about 15 feet away, and the gun recoils back about 6 inches!

BTW, for BB caliber, Q-tips make excellent cleaning rods.

Terry C. built the the very first micro-gonne. A hand gonne is a hand held cannon. It fires #4 buckshot.

the micro-gonne

The micro hand gonne being fired. Note the wooden rod attached.

Victor build a bigger scale hand gonne:

Mini 14 rifles are infamous for their poor accuracy. Even the target model only offers 1 MOA with a barrel tuner. Accuracy Systems sell custom mini 14 rifles that shoot sub MOA.

This of course comes at a price. The “Ultra Match Premium Air Gauged Barrel (Stainless steel) Complete Package” costs $799.95. And you need to supply the rifle! On the positive side it appears you can choose a caliber:

1. 416 Stainless steel air gauged barrel
2. Barrel diameters- 1″ Bull, .875″ Varmint, .750″ medium and .625″
3. Length from 16″ to 24″
4. Twist rate to be determined by us depending on the weight & caliber of bullet. Finish on barrel satin matte or brushed.
5. 3 point steel bedding pillars
6. New operating rod where needed or upgrade yours
7. True bolt & action if needed
8. 3.5# match trigger with set and over travel if needed.
9. New over sized hand guard to fit thicker barrel
10. New gas block, sling swivel, gas pipe and operating rod cup bushing
11. Sub MOA accuracy guarantee ( 1.040″ is a MOA) Selected Ammo
12. Calibers available @ this price. .223 Rem., .222 Rem, .204 Ruger, 6mm X .223, .17 Rem. Others call for pricing.

Here are some of their other products

Guaranteed 1 MOA or better @ 100 yards. Price: $2199.95

1/2″ MOA or better @ 100 yards. Price: $1939.95

ASI Bull Pup Carbine Standard Model. Price: $1617.00

ASI Accurized Mini 14 Urban Brawler.

Here is a video showing the recoil reduction system (muzzle break):

Hat Tip: Tech, Guns, and Food

After the very successful launch at the 2008 SHOT Show, Phoenix Machine Technology is currently filling orders for bolt action receivers. Some of the finest custom gun manufacturers in the country are already building rifles with Phoenix Machine actions.

The first production receivers are Remington 700 derivatives that utilize Remington style bolts with equivalent primary extraction that are readily available from Pacific Tool & Gauge. The Phoenix receivers are being manufactured in long, short and M7 lengths with an impressive array of optional features. Some tang options may preclude the use of standard inletting in Remington stocks.

Some info on Glen’s new business

At SHOT Show, Martin (Marty) Bordson of Badger Ordnance, previewed the new Badger M2008 Tactical action. A slab-sided, flat-bottomed, “fat bolt” action, the new Badger action resembles an Accuracy International receiver externally, but it shares some Remington features internally. The M2008 will initially be available for .308 bolt face calibers, and it is designed to work with any Remington detachable-style magazine.

More info at AccurateShooter

Snow Wolf Commando Unit (Beijing Special Police) are premier Chinese SWAT unit and will be the behind the scenes at the Olympics.

The QBZ-95 rifle

Type 79 SMG (7.62×25mm)

If is interesting to see the Type 79. Gun.ru:

Type 79 submachine gun is rather unusual for its class as it is very lightweight and uses locked breech, gas operated action instead of more traditional (for SMG) blowback action. This weapon was (and probably still is) widely used by PAP (Chinese police).

If the SAS can do it …

No doubt these guys will be quelling the protests against Chinese policy that could break out.

A lot more photos here.

The M1028 is a 120mm shotgun shell for the M1 tank. The shell holds 1100 10mm tungsten balls. They are apparently lethal up to 700m (765 yards). Here is a video of the shell being fired in slow motion. It shows the shot breaking the sound barrier and the shot pattern (H/T to Sebastian).

I tried to calculate the weight of each ball. It depends on how pure the balls are. My calculations, based on a company that makes tungsten balls that weigh 18 grams per cm3, indicate that each ball will weigh about 145 grains. That is a combined weight of 159,500 grains / 10 kilograms / 22.8 pounds!

(4/3) x pie x 0.5cm ^ 3 = 0.52 cm3
0.52 * 18 = 9.42 grams (145 grains)

Please correct me if I am wrong.

The requirements of the round were:

• Defeat >50% Advancing Squad w/ 1 Shot
• Defeat >50% Advancing Platoon w/ 2 Shots
• 200-500M (threshold)/100-700M (objective)
• Muzzle Action (i.e. No Fuze)
• No orientation of the projectile
• Vulnerability no worse than current fielded

The M1028 cross section.

Here is a before and after shot taking during the testing of the round. I am not sure of the range.

Before

Two dummies survived, the wall did not.

The concept of shot is not new. Grape shot or loose stones, metal and glass have been used for as long as cannons have.

American Revolution grapeshot

Sources of information:

M1028 - GARM Final (PDF)
Military.com
PSMVCC (PDF)
JinJu Powder Metallurgy

The mythbusters use a 7.62mm Dillon M134D minigun to chop down a tree in 45 seconds.

From Dillon Aero

The Dillon M134D Gatling Gun is the finest small caliber, defense suppression weapon available. It is a six barreled, electrically driven machine gun chambered in 7.62mm NATO and fires at a fixed rate of 3,000 shots per minute. Gatling Guns typically feed from a 3,000 or 4,400 round magazine. They are capable of long periods of continuous fire without threat or damage to the weapon making them an excellent choice for defensive suppression.

Dillon Guns are reliable. The M134D has system life in excess of one million rounds and an average time between stoppage of 30,000 rounds. In the unlikely event of a stoppage the weapon can be serviced and made operational again in under a minute. The multi barrel design means that each barrel only experiences a 500 round per minute rate of fire. This allows for repeated long bursts of fire and a barrel group life of 100,000 rounds.

Hat Tip: Gizmodo

30mm rounds from an A-10 land close to British troops in Afghanistan.

That cannon sure makes a cool sound, I can see how the whole “Show of Force” thing would work. The sound would be enough to make me run. I would not like to be on its receiving end!

The A-10 fires the 30×173mm round:

Compared to 7.62×51mm
(photo by ekranoplan)

Hat Tip: MP.net

I had not seen this video before.

Hat Tip: OPFOR via Murdoc

An interesting looking movie about the Chinese civil war … no doubt from the perspective of the Communists and packed with propaganda.

The POF-USA P-308 is a interesting rifle. It is a gas piston operated rifle, based on the AR-10/AR-15 design and requires no lubrication.

14.5″ version

They achieve this by plating the upper receiver with silicon nickel and chroming and heat treating the bolt and carrier.

Upper receiver

Here is a video of it in action

In spite of its name, it is chambered in 7.62X51mm, not .308 (yes, there is a difference).

More info at POF-USA and Defense Review.