Your Privacy ChoicesMini cannon video
Lots of fun can be had with miniature cannons. The powder he is using looks suspiciously like matchstick head scrapings. [ Many thanks to cameron for emailing me the link. ]
Search: powder
Hornady Superformance Ammunition
I have been remiss in not discussing Hornady’s new Superformance Ammunition before now. The Superformance loads attain a 100-200 fps increase in muzzle velocity at standard SAAMI pressures (ie. they are not hot loads). Hornady’s chief ballistics scientist told [Read More…]
Savage Muzzleloader KABOOM
UPDATE: There is more to this story than meet the eye. There have been a lot of recently publicized KBs. I was emailed these photos of a Savage Model 10ML II “Smokeless” Muzzleloader. The accident happened last October. The Model 10ML II is designed so that [Read More…]
The quest for high-capactity firearms
A common misconception is that the desire for high capacity firearms is a relatively new phenomenon. This is far from the truth. Since the at least the mid 1800s designers had been experimenting with many novel ideas in an attempt to increase magazine capacity, mostly [Read More…]
Hungarian Gun Laws
Zoltan, who recently translated one of my articles in Hungarian, was kind enough to explain the gun laws in Hungary. No restrictions: air rifles and air guns (airsofts too) are free to buy and shoot at home if it is under 7.5 J (5.53 ft/lbs) in energy of the bullets. No [Read More…]
Kel-Tec PMR-30 pistol
Kel-Tech have developed a new pistol which chambers the .22 Magnum (WMR) rimfire cartridge. The small size of the .22 WMR has allowed Kel-Tec to squeeze 30 rounds into the double-stacked magazine (a new original design), yet maintain a comfortable grip size. The PMR-30 [Read More…]
[Guest Post] The Williamson Derringer
[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by James A. Zachary Jr. James blogs at The Next Chapter ] Norm Flayderman’s Guide says that Williamson Derringers have serial numbers running into the 20,000 range but speculates that the Moore Patent Firearms Company [Read More…]
Explosion in Prvi Partizan ammunition factory earlier this month
Earlier this month an explosion in the Prvi Partizan ammunition factory took six lives. Yahoo reports: Prvi Partizan is Serbia’s largest ammunition factory. It produces military and hunting ammunition as well as gun powder and explosives. Maric said firefighters [Read More…]
India’s new Modern Submachine Carbine (MSMC) and 5.56x30mm Ammunition
During the past few years India’s Armaments Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) have been developing an interesting Personal Defense Weapon (PDW) called the Modern Submachine Carbine (MSMC). Modern Submachine Carbine The firearm chambers a round [Read More…]
Mini-Review: The Dental Pick
One of the most useful gun cleaning / smithing tools I have is a dental pick. The dental pick I use looks like the one pictured 3rd from the right. Dental picks can be used for any number of common tasks such as scraping powder residue out of hard to reach places, [Read More…]
Target Cannon: Reusable reactive target
The Target Cannon is a reusable reactive target designed to be used with .22 LR firearms or high powered air guns. The device has three vertical “barrels” which are loaded with blackpowder. A shotgun primer is inserted into the side of the barrel. The [Read More…]
Homemade pistol made from 20mm cartridge
This pistol belonged to a member of EOKA, a group who fought against the British and Turkish for Cypriot independence during the 1950’s. The barrel on the pistol is a 20mm cartridge case! I think the general idea was to pack a very small charge of blackpowder at [Read More…]
Extreme Shock SRT: low powered .223 100 grain load
Extreme Shock have introduced a .223 Remington load called that the Short Ranged Tactical (SRT). It is very low powered producing just 745 ft. lbs. of muzzle energy, approximately 57% less energy than a 62 grain 5.56mm NATO round (SS109). This is about as much muzzle [Read More…]
1911 Blown up
These photos are of a AMT Combat Government Hardballer 1911 pistol that fired a handloaded .45 ACP round that was overloaded with powder. The result is quite spectacular. The top of the chamber has been blown right off taking a considerable section of the slide with it. [Read More…]
Norwegians finally getting used to their new HK 416 rifles
The Norwegians finally seem happy with their new H&K 416 rifles. They have solved the problem of soldiers getting sick from inhaling the fumes of their “green” 5.56mm ammunition by simply not shooing at their indoor ranges. Of course it is summer in [Read More…]
Birdshot for self defense? Federal say yes
There has been a discussion on the blog about the controversial new Federal Personal Defense Handgun .410 shotshell ammunition designed exclusively for the Taurus Judge .410 revolver. .410 Personal Defense opened and pellets dumped. Thanks to Stephen for the photo. The [Read More…]
.416 Strauss : a .303 wildcat
Piet, a South African, emailed me information about a wildcat he shoots. The .416 Strauss aka. the 416-03 Strauss in named after the inventor, a friend of Piet. .303 British (left), .416 Strauss (middle, loaded with a 350 gr Speer bullet in a Norma case) The parent [Read More…]
Ruger SR-556: AR-15 has arrived
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 [Read More…]
New Federal loads optimized for M1A, M1 Garand and AR-10 .338 rifles
Federal have produced two new loads, under the American Eagle brand, for the M1A (M14) and M1 Garand rifles. The cartridges have staked primers and the powders used were chosen with the rifle’s specific gas system design in mind. The M1 (.30-06) load pushes a 150 [Read More…]
Some thoughts on the Montana Firearms Freedom Act
I am no lawyer but there are a couple of clauses from the Montana Firearms Freedom Act and how I interpret them. Section 3 states (4) “Manufactured” means that a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition has been created from basic materials for functional [Read More…]
Warning: Tungsten bullets could be a health hazard
In the past tungsten has been considered non-toxic and more environmentally friendly than lead at shooting ranges. Recent research has shown that Tungsten is in fact toxic and potentially carcinogenic. Danger Room reports: There have been growing concerns about tungsten [Read More…]
Winchester 1885 single shot rifle
The Winchester 1885 single shot rifle, designed by the one and only Mr John M. Browning, has been in and out of production for over 120 years. Winchester is once again manufacturing it. A variety of models are available: 1885 High Wall Sporter Creedmoor Black Powder [Read More…]
Pepperbox Pistol
Billll finished off a working replica of a .36 cal. pepperbox pistol and has review it over at Billlls Idle Mind. The Pepperbox is a repeating firearm design that was the forerunner to the true revolver. The design was mainly used for pistols but it was also used for [Read More…]
Fragmenting .50 BMG Ammo
Extreme Shock Ammunition are producing a .50 BMG projectile that can penetrate 1″ of meal and yet will not over penetrate soft tissue. The Fragmenting High Velocity (FHVL) round is made up of a propriety tungsten powder/flake compound. From the press release: [Read More…]
Nowegian military ammunition making soldier sick!
In my recent article about the Norwegian H416 rifle, Mauken, a Norwegian soldier, posted a link to this article at aftenposten.no (I have translated it into english using google): Soldiers may have been sick of the military’s new rifle Army turns the alarm after a [Read More…]
Glock’s struggling to keep up with US demand.
According to OnPointSupply Glock’s factory in in Smyrna, GA are unable to keep up with overwhelming demand. The factory is running two 8 hour shifts and producing 4000 pistols a day! They have started to import Glock 19 pistols from Austria to meet the demand. [Read More…]
Russia unveils new automatic grenade launcher
Russian unveiled the new Balkan 40mm automatic grenade launcher at IDEX 2009 (massive military expo held in Abu Dhabi that was on earlier this week). Click to expand. The AGS-17 Plamya, the auto grenade launcher currently fielded by Russia, is 30mm. The new launcher [Read More…]
More 2 bore rifle photos
Last year I wrote about a massive 2 bore rifle, that was not yet fully complete. Colin Stolzer, of Stolzer & Son’s Gunsmithing, contacted me with some additional information and photos of the completed rifle. Click to expand all the photos. Colin also [Read More…]
Finn invents electric drill powered machine gun
An 80 year old Finnish man invented this .22 LR belt fed machine gun. It could be fake but looks legit and is plausible. Jani confirms it is real in the comments below. Click to expand. The approximate translation of the caption: 80-year-old hameenlinnalaisininoori [Read More…]
Danish Forsøgsrekylgevær (Self Loading rifle M.1888)
The Danish Forsøgsrekylgevær (Self Loading rifle M.1888) is a fascinating early autoloading rifle. I learnt about the rifle when Ian @ TheHighRoad posted this photo and asked if anyone could identify the rifle: Click to expand. I could not figure out what was going on [Read More…]
