Sunday, January 29, 2012

G&A New 2012 rifles

Guns and Ammo cruised the 2012 SHOT show to bring us what they think are the exciting new rifles of this year.


Armed Citizenry

A SC man foils an armed robbery at a Waffle house.  Guns and Ammo critics the encounter here.  The only issue I have with that is it feels like Monday morning quarterbacking.

The RPC

The Rocket Propelled Chainsaw.

This thing is too funny not to show.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?66428-Rocket-Propelled-Chainsaw-(in-action)

Saturday, January 28, 2012

410 shotgun vs handgun

I am thinking about getting a .410 for the house and these pistols intrigue me Taurus of course came out with the first real popular .410/45 revolver with the Judge. Smith and Wesson has come out with the Governor and it comes with handy full moon and half moon clips so you can reload .45ACP ammo in a hurry.

I have posted before that I am thinking about getting a .410 shotgun for the house and my new shooters. However some of the new ammo with the defense disks combined with buckshot require rifling which most .410 bores that I am looking at do not have. As I was contemplating a Saiga because of the detachable magazines.

Remington 742

Remington 742



I am now the proud owner of a slagged Remington 742 when I get the chance I am going to get the armorers course and the correct tool and learn the ins and outs of this beast. It is a pretty popular hunting rifle in my neck of the woods and I might find it adventagous to know these things backward and forward. No better way than having a rifle I can practice on.

Last Weekend we did Rifles this Weekend Knives

Knives never jam they never run out of bullets and if you have to break them out things have gone to hell in a hand basket. 



A closer look

Left to R: a standard machete, yes that is a mace, a Cold Steel Kukri Machete, my custom made "Rib Tickler", Cold Steel Field knife.

L to R: Cold Steel again, my Ka Bar, Cold Steel Recon Tanto, Ontario Divers knife, a Buck knife, a Puma Stag handle, Neck knife, Puma (scalpel).

General pocket knives

This is the inscription on the big Bowie at the bottome of the first picture. My dad had two knives made one for my brother and I.  This one says Sgt Rick Keyes United States Marine Corps, Vietnam 1969-1972 Semper Fidelis.  My Brothers is from dad's trip to the Middle East for Desert Storm when he was in the National Guard.

My Queen walked into the room and asked if we were going to pillage a town.  I really love her!


Friday, January 27, 2012

A Better 1911?

It looks like the Swiss have made ye old 1911 better or at least more concealable in the full sized version.  Me a commander sized .45 is about as small as I want to get. Actually my bro's Sig P220 .45 is the right size for me.  I actually picked that up and hit 7 for 7 in the 9 and 10 ring.  I have contemplated going back to the .45 but dang they are proud of them.  If I do I will stick with Taurus and get their 1911 or a 24/7.  The reason for switching would be to get ammo communality with the rest of the fort.  Currently we have three pistols calibers and even though they are back up weapons is one too many. 

Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Future of the Infantry rifle.

As I have stated several times I am working on upgrading my trusty AR-15 but what if there are better alternatives out there.  The Bushmaster/Remington ACR and the FN SCAR series are two such rifles available to civilians however at $2000 out of my reach.  This got me to thinking about where firearms are going and what has happened since WWII
Have you noticed though the new firearms are all taking the shape of what was the Magpul Masada (which Bushmaster and Remington bought and is currently in the Army's carbine competition)and the HK G36(which the military adapted for about a month and changed their mind)  which is really a joke because we know who is going to win....Colt just because.

World War II brought the world some of the most iconic rifles in history and were prime examples of the wood and steel of classic firearms but that started to change. These were heavy large caliber rifles in the 7.92-7.62 these are large caliber weapons made to shoot upwards to 1000 yards.
German Mauser 98K 7.92x57 caliber

British Lee-Enfield .303 caliber
The Soviet Mosin Nagant 7.62x54R


U.S. M-1 Garand 7.62x63 (30-06) caliber

The U.S. saw a need for a smaller rifle that support troops and officer could carry that would be effective to 100 yards or so.  Front line troops appreciated the fact the weapon was light and could put out a lot of bullets in a hurry.  However there were issues with reliability and stopping power.
U.S. M-1 Carbine used the .30 carbine round which was basically a large pistol bullet and a 15-30 round detachable magazine a trend is starting. Could actually be considered the first assault rifle as it came out before the STG43/44

The German STG44 7.92x33 kurz this rifle fired a smaller bulled than the Kar 98 had  detachable magazine could fire semi or full automatic. the rifle that would shape the design of assault rifles going forward.

Post WWII
Studies following WWII showed that most infantry combat occurred within 300 yards and that the full sized rifle cartridges used were not needed.
The Soviet/Russian's famous or infamous AK-47 this rifle and its variants have been made in larger numbers than any other in history.  It is still be produced today. Smaller cartridge 7.62x39 vs the large 7.62x54R that the Soviets used in WWII


The M-14 7.62x51 was the U.S. Military first attempt at an assault rifle. Still fired a very large bullet effective out to 800 yards.  The round is still used today in sniper rifles and machine guns.  The U.S forced this round on NATO whose member countries adapted rifles to fire it.
The M-16(A1) 5.56x54 the U.S. military second try at an assault rifle born from the fighting in Vietnam.  When first issued has problems with reliability.  The modular design can be seen with the addition of a grenade launcher.  Previous rifle grenades were launched from the barrel.

The U.S. NATO allies without the large defense budgets the U.S. had stuck to the 7.62 battle rifles as they were called for far longer than the U.S. did
The Belgian FN-FAL 7.62x51 the most widely used battle rifle of the period if a country was not using an AK or an M16 chances are they were using the FAL.

The H&K G3 7.62x51 the second most widely used battle rifle behind the FAL those countries that did not use the FAL use the G3.  Pakistan still makes them today.  Iran also issues them.

The British SA-80 5.56x54 was the UK's answer to the assault rifle question.  This rifle was plauged by reliability problems and it took a decade or more and several million Pounds sterling and H&K to fix it.  British SAS and SBS prefer to use the Canadian version of the M16 series of rifles.



German H&K G-11 4.7 mm case less.  Towards the end of the Cold War Germany was developing this space aged looking weapon. It was tested by the US military and its never ending quest to adapt the better rifle.  It was adapted in small numbers by the German Army.  If you look though you will see its shape in the guns of today.


Since the Global War on Terror the M16 family has gotten a face lift.
This is the M16A4 which is the standard rifle of the US Marine Corps even though it is moving towards the M4 Carbine. This rifle includes an infrared laser sight and an ACOG scope (that costs at least twice the amount as the weapon).  


This is the M4 carbine and all of the attachments asked for it by SOCOM it includes several different types of accessory rails, optics, flashlights, grenade launcher, laser, and suppressors.  However it was found that the more you hung off of one the less reliable it got.  Also the shortened 14.5" barrel made the 5.56 round less effective.

The last 10 years have also seen a new look in military firearms.  They look more like the G11 than the M16 and at least in appearance as different as the M16 is from the M1 Garand.  The trend is for lighter, more compact weapons that are modular in design so that they can have any number of accessories added and even calibers changed within minutes.  Where the M4 these accessories were an after-thought and actually effect the reliability of the weapon today rifles come designed to use them.

Here is a selection of some of the new weapons out there.  Oh and in case you were wondering where are the Russians?  They are still soldiering on with the AK family of rifles in 5.45 caliber, just like we are with the M16.

H&K G36 this is the short carbine version.  This rifle was very briefly going to be adapted because it was the rifle part of the U.S. Army's OIWC program which mated a 20mm grenade launcher and a G36 rifle as the kinetic part of the weapon.
The problem with this thing is it weight 19lbs empty.  Also all the high tech gear on it was new technology and was a huge battery hog.  Anyway the S. Koreans now have a version in production and issue I think 1 per platoon.  The U.S. Army is also using the XM-25 grenade launcher.
A company called ATK came up with the XM-25 it appears they are working with HK on the weapon now as when they first came out they were basically hand made.  From what I have read the troops really like them.



But here is the shape of military rifles to come...

Magpul's Original Masada

Bushmaster/Remington ACR

FN SCAR-16 which SOCOM adapted and then dropped when they had to foot the whole bill for it.  Since SOCOM consists of the 75th Ranger Regiment who actually took some of these into combat, the Army Special Operations guys (Special Forces and Delta), SEALs, AF units, and Marine MARSOC the bill was going to get expensive quick.  SOCOM realized they could not fund the whole program without the big army so they dropped the 5.56 version which could easily be adapted by the rest of the force since FN is already set up for production.

SOCOM did decide to keep the SCAR17 which is the 7.62x51 version of the weapon and fund it themselves.  FN also adapted a sniper version of this rifle that some claim is better than the  M-110.  NO offence to Knight Armament Intended.

This is the M-110 a beefed up and accurized version of Knight's SR-25 and 2007 Army Invention of the Year winner.  There have been claims that there are some reliability problems down range with these.  Just like there have been reliability problems with the M16/M4 family of weapons.  Also the Army and Marine Corps have not yet been able to completely replace the 1950s era M-14 with this new weapons system. 


This is Beretta's new AMX-160 that is already being adapted by some units of the Italian military.

The M16/M4 family of rifles is not a bad weapons system on the contrary it has become a reliable well like weapon not only for the US military but many others as well as US law enforcement and civilian shooters.  However there are still a lot of questions on reliability that need to be addressed.  There are better weapons out there and the U.S. Army is conducting another rifle testing trial however before the last one could even begin Colt dropped the price and the military caved.  The current test has already seen Smith and Wesson drop out as well as the support of the Marine Corps.  While this post was not about the M4 controversy it seems that pops up when ever new combat rifles are talked about. 












Fun for WWII Buffs

This little bundle of joy seems like it would be a world of fun and looks cool as well.
Is a look alike of the STG44 from WWII fame the worlds some say first I say second assault rifle.  Give the .30 cal carbine some credit.

Friday, January 20, 2012

.950 JDJ rifle Just because you can.

Why because they could I guess SSK Industries who developed the .300 Whisper which is gaining a lot of traction in the tactical market and hunting developed the worlds largest center fire rifle the .950 JDJ yes folks that is a bullet with nearly an inch diameter bullet.  Here is a video of Knight Rifles putting the prototype through its paces.




According to the video and Wiki the cartridges are something like $44 a piece with the rifle being $8000 plus it has more muzzle energy than a WWI era tank.  I told the guys at work today that this would be good for killing buses and cinder block houses.  Believe it not this is not classified as a destructive device by the BATF because it does not explode would be my guess.  Most rifles above a certain caliber have to be registered as a destructive device mainly because they are filled with explosives. 

More of SSK big bore caliber bullets.
Some of the JDJ Wildcats and a
couple of tame ones. 950 JDJ Bullet,
950 empty case and loaded round,
50 BMG round, 577 Nitro for the
Ruger #1 conversion, 700 JDJ,
empty case and 1100 grain bullet.

Large tip of ye old hat to Scott

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Beretta has a new rifle out

I sure hope the Army and then the Marine Corps do the right thing when it comes to finally replacing the M16 family of weapons not that they are bad weapons as I really like mine but it is based on late 1950s and 1960s technology.  Just so everyone knows what mil-spec is that is the manufacturing guidelines set forth by the military way back in the 60s to build these weapons.  I think manufacturing techniques and materials have advanced somewhat since then.  I read recently that Colt just in the last 10 years has installed modern CNC machines!  For crying out loud join the 20th century. 

Anyway on to Beretta's new toy.  I know I make fun of Italian cars specifically the Alfa but they sure can make a weapon...

Peeing on their heads

I want less outrage about some Marines doing something in poor taste and more outrage about the Taliban cutting people's heads off.  I waited awhile to post on this to let the storm slow down a little bit.  Today a couple of very interesting articles one from the Daily Beast by one of Dan Pearlman's friends I hope everyone remembers he was killed by these monsters thankfully his killers are either dead or in Gitmo (one having been waterboarded a lot which is less than he deserves by the way).  The other surprisingly comes from the SF Chronicle and is an interesting read.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Services

I am currently offering the following gunsmithing services.
Armorers Cleaning on any weapon $35 be done in two days.  $45 for one day return.

I am an armorer for the AR15, Remington 870, and the Remington 1100 series of shotguns. 
I will build your AR to your specs however as of now you have to supply your own lower receiver as my FFL is not in yet.  Depending on the work you want done AR builds start at $100. 

This is my other site

I expect as many readers here as Cowboy Jihad but I have changed my mind and will keep the other blog focused on intel and global conflict and us this one as a journey through guns and gunsmithing.