You can make up your own mind on that. Here is the scoop.
And here is a reddit/Firearms discussion thread. For me it all boils down to this one thing. Sure, the if the FedGov wants into your safe, it’s going to get into your safe. They’ll turn it over and take a crowbar to it if they have to, or simply cut through the sides. There is this interesting tidbit from the thread.
… as I did some research on this yesterday. SecuRam electronic locks have a recovery code. The default is “999999”. This doesn’t open the lock, but it gives you a random string to give to Liberty. They then use that to give you a recovery code that resets the safe code to the factory default.
Now, there are several important notes here:
The code from your safe is generated upon request and only valid for 20 minutes. So having it in a database somewhere isn’t realistically a threat.
You can change the recovery code. You have to go through a process that involves calling Liberty to do it, and they’ll try to talk you out of it, but you can change it.
When I called up they explained their security process to me: they’ll only give the recovery code to a Liberty-certified locksmith. Even you, the owner, have to have a locksmith that Liberty has certified present to do it.
But for gun safe companies, there shouldn’t be any back door code for entry into the safe, and that seems to me like a selling point for gun safes. Something like this. “We know that you are buying our safe to make it as difficult as possible for people to get into your safe and touch the possessions you value. So we don’t provide a back door code for entry by anyone. Thus, warrant or no warrant, we have nothing to say to law enforcement because that feature isn’t a part of our products. Therefore, if you get locked out and forget your code, you should use the key we’ll send, or if you’ve lost that too, you may as well bring out the grinder or cutting torch, because we’re not getting into it for you. We can’t. If you’re considering out products, we know that’s what you want.”
I agree with the video from Backfire more than I do anything I’ve read or heard on this.
The story was written by one of the Trace’s senior fabulists, Jennifer Mascia, who is “currently the lead writer of the Ask The Trace series and tracks news developments on the gun beat.” Mascia has also led the Trace’s hilarious we’re journalists, not activists, propaganda campaign on social media.
Mascia claims her story was a response to a reader’s question: “Many gun owners claim to buy assault-style rifles for defense. So how many documented cases are out there where someone actually defended themselves with an assault-style rifle?”
You can read the rest at Ammoland. Jennifer is trying to assist the controllers in changing the subject from “in common use for legal purposes” to actually having used a weapon for self defense. First of all, she doesn’t know anything about that regardless of what she claims. No one can go to news reports and find every instance they need for a comprehensive study. For example, use of the weapon might have been to flash the rifle muzzle at home invaders only for the invaders to run. With that said, I think I could come up with quite a few instances myself, but that’s not really the point of this, and we’ll get to more later on this subject when you listen to Professor Mark Smith below.
I had a rather protracted conversation with someone who writes under the nom de guerre Tommy Gnosis. Not that I care that deeply, but something sounded strange about the comments, like they had no particular bearing, were inconsistent, or feinted support for individual rights but didn’t do a good job of hiding the fact that it was all just a distraction.
So I did a little bit of research. Tommy Gnosis is someone named Jennifer Mascia, who has her own web site. In fact, she was one of the authors of the now defunct “The Gun Report” for the New York Times. Recall that report? That awful, hideous, dreary rundown of shootings every day? As if all we have to do is remove those awful guns from society and sin goes away because evil is located in things rather than the heart of man (a noted neo-Platonic and stoic view).
Anyway, I did an IP trace and found that the address was owned by Bloomberg. It makes sense, since I also found out that she works for Bloomberg via Everytown For Gun Safety. Her Disqus account is active, and features snark, misdirects, sarcasm, insults, and most of all, prose designed to demoralize and demonstrate the complete impotence of whatever group she is berating at the moment. The prose is designed to cause depression and dejection.
Here is the lesson. Bloomberg is paying her to visit web sites – particularly gun rights web sites – and spread discontent and dejection.
I am not paid to comment here, or anywhere, nor have I ever been. There is no “tactic.” I have never worked for a political organization or a nonprofit, only media companies, and before that, restaurants. No one at Everytown knows I comment here. I actually don’t work with the advocacy arm of Everytown. The news site will be staffed with journalists, not lobbyists. We have zero to do with elections or phone banks. We won’t be working with Everytown staffers.
Her Disqus account was by “Tommy Gnosis.” I outed her and she posted as “Guest.” She responded that she isn’t paid to comment anywhere. There is no “tactic.” She claimed no relationship at all to Bloomberg. Now we find out that her use of an IP address that pointed back to Bloomberg was no coincidence. She is indeed trafficking in propaganda, and she is in the employ of Bloomberg. Let’s continue with Codrea’s second article on Bloomberg’s next move.
“Tommy Gnosis is someone named Jennifer Mascia,” Herschel Smith at The Captain’s Journal posted in March. He was describing someone who, under cover of anonymity, “visits web sites — particularly gun rights web sites — and spreads discontent and dejection.”
That’s consistent with the “elaborate subterfuge” technique for “infiltrating and disrupting alternative media online” used by those with an agenda. Per Canadian research, such “Internet trolls aren’t just mean — they’re sadists and psychopaths.”
That would also seem consistent with the control-all megalomaniac who hired her, in a company-he-keeps kind of way. Mascia is one of two paid flacks “attached prominently to the Everytown news project,” an experiment in virtual Astroturf that billionaire Michael Bloomberg will be rolling out this summer.
David then goes on to explore her past as daughter of a mob hit man.
What drives Mascia is anybody’s guess, but chances are her father having been an underworld killer with multiple hits under his belt had an influence. That probably comes as a surprise to many gun rights advocates, unaware that Al Jazeera told its readers “America’s best hope for tracking gun deaths is a mob enforcer’s daughter,” and Bloomberg’s Moms Demand Action gushed on social media that her story was “Amazing.”
[ … ]
As for pushing Jennifer around, I’ve made clear that if you want to come in this back yard and run with the big dogs, you’d better be prepared for some rough business. And as for Jennifer herself, you weren’t entirely honest with us, were you?
Well there you have it. She’s bought and paid for by Michael Bloomberg. She came in under a nom de guerre to spread hate and discontent. I outed her. Even then she denied it because she’s a liar.
So why is she trying to assist the controllers in this one specific issue? Listen carefully to Mark Smith below. They want the supreme court to change the test in Bruen and Heller from “in common use for lawful purposes” to something else, and they have chosen the Rahimi case for all of their hate towards gun owners. They see this as their golden opportunity.
I’ve told you what I think. I think the women on the court, including Barrett and Roberts, side with the controllers and end of changing the rules back to something the DOJ and ATF likes much better. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. There was no particularly compelling reason for them to have taken this case to begin with.
One commenter to the video below remarks, “As I recall, when the DOJ bought AR-15s a few years back, the Request for Purchase form listed them as “personal defense weapons.” Can’t have it both ways.” I’ll add to this. If the AR-15 is so bad for use in defense situations, tell me why the U.S. government agencies have so many rifles – some noted as “assault rifles” – in their inventory as personal defense weapons?
A trending TikTok video uploaded by the shows a Jack in the Box drive-thru worker who open carries—even at work.
[ … ]
The 26-second clip with more than 814,000 views unfolds with a brief yet potent exchange. It begins with a question, “Is that the 45 or 9?” She responds that it is the latter, and explains why it’s necessary as she provides his Jack in the Box order: “Yeah, it gets crazy at night.”
Palmetto State Armory has been in the budget rifle business for a long time. They’ve offered upgraded versions before, but the difference between an expensive PSA and a cheap PSA is normally just delta ring Vs. free-float and maybe a chrome-lined barrel.
The SABRE line is a whole new beast. Combining some of the best parts on the market, this is a rifle spec’d out to take a beating and keep on shooting.
Gas Block Type: Geissele .750″ Super Gas Block; Pinned to Barrel
Muzzle Device: Pin/Weld SilencerCo ASR
Receiver Material: Forged 7075 T6
Receiver Type: M4 T-Marked
Hand Guard Type: Geissele 13.5″ Super Modular MK14 M-Lok Rail
Bolt Carrier Group: PSA Custom Fathers of Freedom BCG by MicroBest with Sprinco Extractor Spring
Bolt Steel: Carpenter 158
Bolt Carrier Finish: Mag-Phosphate Finish
Charging Handle: Radian Raptor LT
Trigger: Hiperfire RBT Trigger with JP Reduced Power Springs
Takedown/Pivot Pins: Battle Arms Development
Buffer: Carbine
Safety: Radian Talon 45/90 Safety
Buffer Spring: Sprinco White
Pistol Grip: Magpul SL-S
Stock: Magpul SL-S
Finish: Black
Furniture Color: Black
Material: Forged Aluminum
Upper: Forged 7075-T6 A3 AR upper is made to MIL-SPECS and hard coat anodized black for durability. These uppers are T-Marked engraved.
I normally think of PSA as making budget AR-15s and AKs and AR and AK parts and kits. They are also known for at least one more thing. They must have some special sort of deal with the FN pistol factory right down the road from them because they always seem to have FN pistols in stock.
But it would seem they have entered the upper tier AR market. That’s a tall order in my book, because you can get a BCM upper for around $850 and an Aeroprecision lower for around $350 (or at least you once could), and while the upper is not a complete upper, for another couple hundred you can get a BAD (Battle Arms Development) BCG and a Radian Raptor charging handle for another $100. Now you’ve put a total of about $1500 into the gun. But in my opinion this is about the maximum you have to spend to get a really good AR.
That’s more expensive by a couple hundred dollars than the Sabre, but not enough to ignore the build I just outlined if you want a good rifle.
I notice that the Sabre has a Radian charging handle. It apparently has another BCG (a custom part). But it’s nice to see PSA into the upper tier market for ARs. Competition is a good thing. Here is their site. You’ll notice right up front that there are various models, with $1250 being the highest cost gun I saw.
See the Recoil article for testing results of the Sabre.
“We’re mighty proud of it,” said Mark Gurney. “But it’s not a Ruger Marlin. It’s a Marlin.”
[ … ]
In July, 2020, Remington filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in two years. That fall, Judge Clifton R. Jessup, Jr. of the Northern District of Alabama approved the sale of Remington’s non-Marlin firearms business to the Roundhill Group for $13 million. Ruger got Marlin for $28.3 million.
Ruger’s intent? Use lean manufacturing methods to build traditional Marlin lever rifles to original or higher standards of quality. Quite a task! Ruger CEO Chris Killoy and VP Mickey Wilson had visited Ilion before 2020’s auction. A prompt move was imperative; winter was in the wings. Ruger’s engineers arrived to plan extraction of 40,000-lb. loads, take the measure of tooling to be transferred and ready it for the 650-mile journey. The destination was Ruger’s Mayodan, N.C. plant, where the company builds most of its bolt-action American rifles and its AR-556.
In November, Darryl Freeman, facilities chief at Mayodan, kept decommissioning crews working overtime to accomplish a two-month job in one. They did — finishing December 9 just as snow came to Ilion. The 150 tractor-trailer loads included 450-odd pallets of unfinished and out-of-spec parts. At its new digs, Marlin would be assigned a 105×180-foot cell bringing parts in a compact loop through 53 steps in lever-rifle manufacture. Materials would be fed and people stationed to make the most efficient use of space and movement.
Bruce Rozum, whom I knew when he’d headed R&D at Marlin, had moved to Ruger’s Newport, NH as chief engineer. Now he tapped North Haven’s auto-CAD drawings to design a hybrid production model holding CNC tolerances of 0.002″ on a rifle developed 125 years ago.
I remember this, and honestly I simply do not get the sentiment that it’s a Marlin, not a Ruger. I cannot fathom why the Marlin brand would not want to be associated with a great firearms manufacturer like Ruger, and I also cannot fathom why Ruger wouldn’t get a great deal of credit for having the vision to bring back the Marlin brand, make it better, and give customers what they wanted.
The Shadow 2 is probably one of the most ergonomic metal pistols ever made. The grip itself is thinner than other handguns’ grips that use similar double-stack magazines. Adding to this, a generously undercut trigger guard also enables a sure shooting grip. On the frontstrap, there is aggressive checkering and because the large, squared-off trigger guard is undercut, the frontstrap does not feel crowded and provides plenty of space for the strong-hand’s fingers. The shape of the trigger guard works in tandem with the grip, as the trigger guard provides a parallel horizontal surface for the index finger of the support-hand to push up against. The backstrap is generously radiused to better conform to the web of the strong hand. Its upswept beavertail which is profiled similarly to a 191l to brace the firing hand and protect against slide/hammer bite. The Shadow 2 ships with thin, textured aluminum stocks. Because this gun is so popular in the action shooting sports, there is a wide selection of aftermarket stocks to suit all tastes making the gun ever more ergonomic and customizable for anyone.
The slide itself rides inside of the gun’s frame, so it is not very tall. Compared to other slides, there’s less surface area to grab onto in order to manipulate it. However, there are generous serrations both on the front and rear of the slide. The topmost part of the slide is flattened and ribbed to cut down on glare. Both the front and rear sights are serrated, match grade units. The front takes a 1mm fiber optic insert, and the rear sight is adjustable for elevation only. Changing windage means using a punch or sight tool to drift the unit.
The CZ Shadow 2 is eminently shootable for two main reasons: Its weight (46.5 ounces) and its inside-the-frame slide design. Both of these aspects help the entire gun keep flat while shooting. Not only does this slide configuration provide a lower bore axis, but the dust cover area has a considerable amount of metal which acts as a counterweight against muzzle flip. This makes it easier for the sights to return to zero during shooting, which is quite noticeable with the CZ Shadow 2 compared to other pistol designs. Combined with an easy shooting trigger, the Shadow 2 lends itself well to shooting very accurately, very consistently and very quickly.
They show the MSRP as $1099. I’d like to know where they can pick up a CZ Shadow 2 for that little (after checking, I see that the price has dropped a bit so that may be right in the range for a pistol without the optics slide cut). They’re used extensively for competitive shooting and are in constant demand. Also, that pistol shown in the image doesn’t have an optics cut, and the cut generally goes for another $250 or more on top of the price of the pistol without the cut.
I can vouch for the shallow depth of the slide (which is the way it is in order to achieve the low bore axis). If it weren’t for the cocking serrations, you would have a difficult time cycling the slide.
I can also vouch for the ease of use and quick return to sight picture. My reaction after shooting it was, “Um, wow, holy cow, what in the world – I’ve never shot a pistol like that before!” After handing it to a fellow shooter, the reaction was the same.
I’m surprised it took Shooting Illustrated this long to do a review of it.
All of that being said, the gun is heavy, and not ideal for something like concealed carry because of that and it’s large size. It’s more of a truck gun/night stand gun/competition gun (and maybe an open carry gun). In a gun fight I’d rather have it than any other pistol. But because of the difficulty of carry, you’re more likely not to have it.
I ran across this video from three years ago and I like it when gunsmiths tell me they didn’t previously understand what’s going on but do now. That shows humility and a willingness to learn.
Anyway, he’s very big on Sig Sauer 1911 magazines because of the design. Do any readers have experience with Sig magazines? I don’t, and none of my 1911s jam.
Well it finally happened. Rossi actually came out with a nice looking rifle, with a pistol style grip, fairly good looking Walnut stock, with at least the appearance of a good fit and finish. At least that’s what you’d conclude from the picture.
Right now it’s in .30-30. It might be nice to have for a price point < $1000 (street price will be lower). I expect it will be “unobtanium” for the time being, but time will tell how they meet demand.
So the next step for Rossi will be to make one of these in Walnut, with the pistol style grip, chambered in .454 Casull.
1 year, 3 months ago
