#Automatic

Befuddled old men are fond of saying that revolvers are “six for sure” and insist that they cannot ever fail. But are revolvers really more reliable than self-loading handguns? Let’s find out by gettin’ dirty.

A couple of months ago we talked about a Ukrainian company called Automatic that makes functional replicas of historical firearms. The majority of this company’s products are those replicas. One could expect from a company that much specialized in historical firearms not to have a presence in the modern arms and accessories market because these are just way too different niches. However, that is not the case with the Automatic. Along with the MP-38, PPD-34/38 and Mauser C 96 carbine replicas they also make a modern aluminum bolt action rifle chassis!

A Ukrainian company called “ AUTOMATIC” manufactures functional replicas of historical firearms. Right now there are six firearms listed on the company’s website which include the semi-auto replicas of German MP-18/I, MP-18/IV, MP-38, Russian PPD-34/38 and Mauser C 96 carbine.

Every year I am amazed to see what is unveiled at SHOT Show not only for the wicked firearms introduced but also the unique tools. No matter how many multi-tools or knives I own, manufacturers like SOG create something that makes me believe I need another one. So let’s take a look at SOG tools that will be rolling out brand new throughout 2018.

In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 and visit the Knight’s Armament booth.

Hogue Grips is introducing an improved version of their well-known rubber wraparound grips for numerous handgun designs. This new line of grips are designed to fit much tighter around a handgun to allow a better purchase on the gun itself. These grips are also incorporating a beavertail that extends up the backstrap of the handguns they are being used with.

At the 2018 SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range, Florida gunmaker FightLite Industries, best known for their SCR “ban state” lower receiver that allows “compliant” rifles to be made using AR-15 components. FightLite also is the manufacturer of the MCR upper receiver, a conversion kit that transforms an AR-15 into a belt-fed light machine gun.

At the 2018 SHOT Show, Geissele Automatics made fans very happy by bringing out 3 new and much-asked for products. First, the company released its new Remington 700 trigger line, which consists of a single SKU adjusted from the factory to two models: Single stage and two stage. The Geissele R700 trigger is three-way adjustable for pull, overtravel, and number of stages. As configured in the two stage mode at Industry Day at the Range, the R700 trigger is virtually identical to the Geissele SSA-E AR-15 trigger. In single stage mode, it is most similar to Geissele’s SSP single-stage version of the SSA-E, revealed at last year’s SHOT Show.

At an AUSA breakfast conference yesterday, US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley gave us a hint at exactly what the US Army’s next rifle could look like, and the focus was on extended range capability. The rifle, Milley said, will give a 10x improvement in capability through the type of ammunition, optics, and degree of chamber pressure specific to it, with the aim of providing the soldier a weapon with much more accuracy and range than the current M4 Carbine. Milley also clarified that the term “10x” was not intended to be a precise measurement of the capability growth, but rather a term indicating significant improvement. The new rifle will come as part of an effort that also includes new artillery, tanks, aircraft, and virtual reality training facilities, Milley said.

The Armalite AR-10 is the original lightweight 7.62mm combat rifle – a space-age amalgam of aluminum, steel, and advanced plastics capable of a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute and weighing just a hair over 7 pounds, unloaded. Its younger, 5.56mm caliber brother, the AR-15, is today perhaps the dominant rifle design in the West, but the .30 caliber AR-10 is the one the started it all, the progeny of Eugene Stoner’s brilliant design and Fairchild’s advanced manufacturing.

Is the US Army pushing for a new high-powered 6.Xmm caliber with their new NGSAR program? Recently, the listing for the NGSAR industry day in December was updated with a document describing in part the agenda of the second conference. Scheduled for 9:45 in the morning in the document is a 15 minute long presentation on “Ammunition Data – Surrogate Projectile and Specs”, presented by Todd Townsend, David Charowsky, and Mark Minisi. Minisi’s name may not be well-known, but it will be familiar to astute students of recent wound ballistics literature: It was Minisi who developed the finite element analysis-based tissue damage model, which has been refined over the past decade at ARDEC through PM Maneuver Ammunition Systems (PM-MAS). Mr. Townsend is also likely representing PM-MAS, now under the leadership of Colonel Hector Gonzalez. 

Whatever the next infantry small arms configuration is, I hope it does away with the failure that is the belt-fed Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). Why? Let’s talk about it.

The US Army will be holding a second Industry Day for its Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle program, which seeks to replace the M249 light machine gun with a new longer-ranged, lower signature automatic rifle. The Industry Day will be held at Picatinny Arsenal on December 12th and 13th. The Army is also accepting white papers concerning NGSAR by January 16th, 2018. The updated NGSAR listing is available here.

Looking for a new car? Want something… Different? How about, say, an armored car? Well among their catalog of AK clones, AR-15s, pistols and other assorted firearms, Atlantic has recently listed for sale a Fox armored reconnaissance vehicle. Of course, nothing good in life is free, and if you want this Fox to be yours it’ll be nearly $50,000 – which, by armored vehicle standards, is not that bad. Still, try telling the wife that you’re not getting that BMW 4 Series after all, because wouldn’t an armored car be so much cooler? Well, if you still want to try to convince the missus, maybe Atlantic’s video, embedded below, will help:

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GDOTS) brought their .338 Norma Magnum caliber Lightweight Medium Machine Gun (LWMMG) to the 2017 Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual meeting, giving TFB the chance at a closer look at this much-anticipated long range weapon.