#Gun

It may not be a firearm but it’s a weapon well worth a second look especially for hunters. New from Crosman is the Pioneer Airbow, which is technically a bow due to the simple fact that it shoots arrows but is operated like a gun with a configuration similar to that of a bullpup. The Pioneer Airbow features an integrated pressure regulator and is powered by compressed air. Filled to its maximum of 3000 psi the new Airbow can fire 8 shots – full-size arrows and full-weight broadheads. The two most interesting things about this are the first and most obvious fact that this is basically a bullpup that shoots arrows and that these arrows move with impressive speed.

The firearms industry is at its best when creativity and hard work combine to create something that’s truly innovative and great… But that’s not always what happens. Sometimes, the quickest way to get a product on the market is to simply copy what’s already out there. It’s no secret that guns like the S&W M&P or FN FNS-9 are clones of the ubiquitous Glock, or that the subcompact market is dominated by guns that are all basically clones of each other, but the degree to which some of these models match up with one another can be surprising. For example, take the Ruger LCP and the Taurus TCP, which match each other so closely that, as one poster on Imgur found out, the Ruger’s slide will fit on the Taurus’s frame:

The Remington 700, a favorite of US hunters and sportsmen for decades, is once again gripped in the jaws of a scandal surrounding its trigger mechanism. CNBC recently released a detailed article outlining several recently disclosed company documents, allegedly hidden for decades by protective court orders. Segments of their article are reproduced below:

When Edward Bulwer-Lytton coined the adage “the pen is mightier than the sword” back in 1839 for the purpose of a play, it seems a bit unlikely he was thinking there might one day be a pen gun. Over the years guns have been made in all manner of design with an eye for disguise or, at the very least, an eye for distraction. They’ve ranged from knife guns to belt buckle pistols to lighter guns and beyond. It really isn’t a stretch to create a pen gun, plus there’s that whole James Bond aspect. So it should come as no surprise that R.J. Braverman finally created a legal pen gun – yes, legal – one allowed by the ATF due to the simple fact that it actually does look like a firearm when it comes time to pull the trigger.

In November of last year, we blogged about an early Soviet encounter with the MKb.42(H), the open bolt machine carbine that would become the famous closed bolt MP/StG.44 assault rifle. Ensign Expendable, author of the Soviet Gun Archives blog that provided the material for the previous article, has posted another, probably even earlier source on the Soviet reaction to the weapon:

The Chauchat Machine Rifle, formally designated the Fusil Mitrailleur Modele 1915 CSRG, has come to be widely regarded as one of the worst firearms ever made. The rifles made for the French military during WWI were chambered for the standard 8mm Lebel, but the weapon got its reputation as a stinker in American hands, where the “Automatic Rifle, Model 1915 (Chauchat)” made by the Gladiator bicycle factory experienced numerous issues, specifically with extraction of fired cases from chambers that often were not properly reamed for the US .30-06 caliber. What does a failure to extract do to a long-recoil weapon like the Chauchat? The answer lies in the video embedded below:

I contend that all Mac users are either open or closet hipsters, despite any evidence to the contrary. However, all you savvy computer users can redeem yourselves with these “laptop decals” from ReFactor Tactical.

Harkening back to the days of true Gentleman, boutique can manufacturer Boris Palatnik offers a CO2 powered ball bearning cane gun for sale. The cane gun holds 12 steel balls that fires semi-automatically at up to 600 FPS. Boris claims the ball is sufficient for self-defense and that the ball will penetrate drywall .25″ at 30′ from the shooter.

I am very much a fan of Instructor Zero (of Funker Tactical Fame) and Doug Marcaid a (also of Funker Tactical Fame). In their first meeting, Doug puts the “21-foot rule” to shame, taking the best of Zero (especially considering drawing from concealment.)

Electronic gunsights, such as those developed by TrackingPoint, will become an increasingly important aspect of military and civilian small arms development in the coming years. Such optics have already given dramatic improvement to accuracy and hit probability in larger military systems, for example tanks and other armored fighting vehicles. While TrackingPoint’s system is clearly geared towards the precision shooter, it hints at other capabilities that could be applied through electronic gunsights in other areas where small arms are used. In this article, I aim to speculate as to what some of those capabilities might be.

As we wind down this week, putting behind us all the tactical gadgets, fine craftsmanship, and cutting edge technology of the 2015 SHOT Show, I thought it would be good to take a detour to look at something… A bit different. Sometimes it’s easy to put on the ol’ blinders, focus in on a topic, and forget that there’s a whole wide world of fantastic, bizarre, anachronistic, and sometimes downright dangerous firearms out there.

Over at AllOutdoor.com Ashley reports on the arrest of a Japanese man for printing guns on a 3D printer. He was not aware that plastic guns were illegal and possessed no ammunition. Ashely writes …

In 2003 a British Colonel found two British WWI 18 pounder field guns hidden in the desert sand at an Iraqi Army base. The guns were taken back to Britain and BAE restored them back to “service condition”.

Bushmaster Firearms is now making the M4-style Patrolman’s Carbine with Cerakote finishes.  Currently, two finishes are offered:  olive drab (OD) green and flat dark earth (FDE). The rifle’s furniture is black as is the barrel, front sight and carry handle.

Dima Levanchuk emailed me about a firm he is making called The Tramp. It is about a young woman from a small town who turns into a ruthless killer after being kidnapped by human traffickers. At one point during the film she makes a crude blackpower shotgun pistol. You can see her making and firing it in the trailer …