Archive for the 'Guns' Category

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.

I hate the NRA, but this type of information and certifying firearms courses and instructors really is what they should focus on, leaving rights advocacy to the adults.

We hear this term bantered about a lot when it comes to ammunition. But what exactly does it mean, and how does it affect your success in the field or for self-defense?

Terminal performance is how a bullet or other projectile reacts, and the ability of it to stop a human threat or take down an animal. In other words, hunters rate a bullet’s terminal performance in how quickly a projectile kills game animals. Soldiers, law enforcement officers and responsible citizens in self-defense situations rate terminal performance on how quickly a projectile neutralizes a threat. It all relates to how deeply a bullet penetrates to reach the vital organs and cause tissue damage.

Terminal performance is often referred to as “knock-down” or “stopping” power. It is not whether the bullet kills, but how quickly and consistently. Terminal performance has a lot to do with bullet design and the ballistics of the cartridge.

Target shooters are not as concerned with terminal performance as they are in punching holes in paper. They are looking for consistent bullet placement in a tight grouping where they are aiming. Those who use a gun for hunting, and those who carry a gun to defend freedom—like our soldiers, men and women in blue, or citizens who carry for personal protection—are concerned with the terminal performance of a bullet. Remember, if you use a firearm, you have the potential to use deadly force. Using a firearm should be your last resort if you have no other option and it is either you or the assailant. Stopping a threat, whether human or animal, is done in two ways: by causing severe damage to the vascular system and interrupting or stopping the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain; or causing severe damage to the central nervous system in the brain or cerebellum.

There are three things that a bullet needs for terminal performance: bullet expansion, bullet penetration and bullet velocity. All three are related to bullet design and all must work in concert to get the required performance.

The article doesn’t present charts or graphs, which is disappointing since visuals are both a handy reference and increase learning retention. More details are at the link.

After you “just get a Glock,” what handgun do you use?

What’s the deal with single action vs double action handguns? Well, it’s all about the trigger and exactly what happens when it’s pressed. The only thing the trigger of a single action (SA) handgun does is release a cocked hammer to fire the gun. With a double action (DA) handgun, pressing the trigger cocks and releases the hammer. We could leave the explanation there, but as they say in calculus class, it gets complicated. It gets complicated because both revolvers and pistols come as either single or double action, and because within these two distinctions there are variations that require some explaining. So, here is a full breakdown of single action vs double action handguns.

I don’t care for DAO only pistols. The article covers double action, single action, and DAO pistols and revolvers. It’s good for understanding and teaching the basics; the rest is at the link.

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.

At Recoil they have a short assessment of the new CZ 712 G3 shotgun.

GunMagWarehouse also has a writeup.  Before pushing this to the web sites, CZ had the sense to send a gun to Target Focused Life for review.  Here is his writeup, and here is his video review.

BLUF: A few nits here and there, but overall a good review of a reasonably priced shotgun.  Gun Dog Magazine also has a review.

I can vouch for what they’re saying.  Rock River Arms produces exquisitely built rifles, capable of very good accuracy and precision (repeatability).  They make fine machinery.

There are two things that I think have held them back.  First, being in Illinois, and second, their slightly longer lag time at adopting new things (e.g., light forends).  For a long time, their forends were extremely heavy and a bit clunky.  No more.  They’re up with the rest of the industry on that.

I also dislike the fact that they haven’t yet made a rifle in 6mm ARC (but that goes back to what I’m saying about being slow to adopt new things).

I’ll make one final comment.  At one time they only made a polymer 1911 (which in my book is no 1911 at all).  I see that their catalog now includes some very nice 1911s, but the prices are extremely high, even exceeding the Dan Wesson price range.  They’re into the Wilson Combat price range, and it makes me wonder how many of them they sell.

Outdoor Life.

The “Americans’ Attitudes Toward Legal, Regulated Fishing, Target/Sport Shooting, Hunting, and Trapping” survey, conducted by Responsive Management, was released last month by the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation, a think tank devoted to communicating trends in outdoor activities.

[ … ]

Public approval of legal hunting dropped 4 percentage points over the past two years, from about 81 percent of Americans in 2021 to 77 percent of Americans this year. Approval of recreational shooting dropped 3 percentage points, and approval of recreational fishing also dropped 3 points, to 90 percent favorability.

Go to Outdoor Life for the rest of the story.

This is not good news.  The mantra that has been followed for so many years among the gun owning community is to treat gun club like “fight club.”  The first rule of gun club is that you don’t talk about gun club.

If we want to reverse the attitude towards guns and hunting, this will have to change.  Not only rural folk and suburbanites, but the urban dwellers must be made to feel more comfortable with our ownership of weapons and use of them for sport.

Video Included.

While the dispute between single stage vs two stage trigger is very much a preference thing, this won’t be a preference article. This article will discuss build and mechanics, the options and reliability of each, and why one might be chosen over the other in specific situations.

When thinking of a single-stage vs a two-stage trigger, the main terms that need to be known are hammer, sear, and disconnect. As these three parts will differ between triggers in an AR.

Hammer:The hammer is released when the trigger is fully pulled, striking the firing pin to ignite the primer of the round. Note: The hammer does have a portion on it that is known as the “searing portion” but it is not usually referred to as the main sear.

Sear: The sear is a separate part from the disconnect and hammer. The sear will be the last ledge that the hammer slides off of before being totally released to hit the firing pin. Dependent on the trigger, the sear can be a part of the trigger or its own separate piece that is then connected to the trigger.

Disconnect:The disconnect holds the hammer down after the trigger is pulled and the gun is cycling. As the gun is cycling, the hammer is pushed down and held down by the disconnect. This disconnect will then release once the gun has fully cycled and the trigger has been released. Once the disconnect releases the hammer, the hammer is now being held down by the sear.

Below is a graph provided by TriggerTech of various trigger pulls comparing pull weight and trigger travel distance. You can see the different forces and trigger travel required to set off different triggers as well as the amount of variation from trigger to trigger.

As some are better with words and some are better with actually seeing it, below is one of the better videos I’ve found in explaining the mechanics of the single-stage vs two-stage trigger. His example being with a Mil-spec single stage trigger in a standard AR-15 and then a Geissele Super Dynamic Two-Stage trigger.

It is worth it to note that all triggers will be different, even when it is a simple single stage trigger. Aftermarket triggers such as Triggertech, Hiperfire, and CMC are all very intricate designs and will differ from the example below but will have similar steps of operation.

Educational details about build and applications at the link.

American Hunter.

Anything that .22 LR can do, .22 WMR can do better, in a bolt gun, at least. While the magnum rimfire shines in manually operated actions, getting it to run reliably in a semi-auto is a rather large ask. The problem lies in the cartridge’s power factor, as it is too high for an unmodified blowback action yet not strong enough to operate a conventional gas-operated feeding system. Of the two, delaying a blowback system seems to yield the best results, but getting it there through simple means can be challenging. Challenges become motivation to a team of German engineers, and motivation becomes a product. Clear evidence of this concept can be found in the WMP, or Walther Magnum Pistol, a semi-automatic handgun chambered to fire classic .22 Magnum.

That seems to be the issue requiring the engineering, yes?  Cartridges that are too powerful (with powder that burns too long like a rimfire cartridge) for the slide to be opened prematurely lest the shooter get injured and/or the bullet lose velocity, versus the opposite concern of running a full size gas operated gun.  Walther solved that problem.

So the big question, what makes it run? Surprisingly, not much. While most German products are overengineered to a fault, the WMP simply utilizes the hammer mechanism to provide the delay needed to hold the pistol together while firing. All it took was getting the weight of the hammer and spring tensions just right. This leaves us with fewer failure points that ultimately add production costs to the firearm, resulting in a win for everybody.

Like most rimfires, this pistol has ammo that it’s going to like and ammo that it isn’t going to like. Much respect goes to Walther for not shying away from this fact but instead embracing it by listing a large cross-sample of what works and doesn’t work right on the website. While I am not too proud to take advice from a manufacturer, I couldn’t stick strictly to the list. However, I was confident that my choices would function well enough for paper punching. After rounding up three different ammunition weights, I slapped a Primary Arms SLx RS-10 mini reflex sight to the gun and headed out to the range.

It’s set up with an RMR footprint, which amusingly makes the optic cost as much as the gun.

We decided that the best distance to test this rimfire was 25 yards, as most squirrel and rabbit engagements happen right around this distance. However, for fun, I set up 8-inch AR-500 gongs at 50 and even 100 yards just to see how far I could push things. Starting with the Federal Game-Shok load, I snugged up a sandbag rest and sent my first round downrange. Expecting some sort of muzzle flip, I was delighted with how flat the gun shot. Typically when a bore axis sits that far above the hand, things get jumpy, but this just wasn’t the case. After firing my second shot, I had an accuracy concern, as I couldn’t spot an additional hit on paper. After clearing the pistol and walking downrange, I realized that the reason I couldn’t find it was because it was in the same hole as the first! Returning to my shooting point, I fired three more shots and turned in a group that measured just 1.10 inches. Things only got tighter from that point, with groups measuring as small as .81 inch, rivaling the accuracy of handguns that cost several times more. The other two types of ammunition also shot rather well, and all three made it through the test without a hiccup.

Stepping away from the bench, I decided to push out to the 50-yard target, which this gun had no trouble covering with a good two-handed shooting position. Even plopping rounds onto the 100-yard gong was relatively effortless, leaving more on the shooter than the firearm itself. Through it all, the muzzle stayed just about parallel to the ground, allowing me an unobstructed view of my impacts. That’s important in the field, as we need to be able to see if we struck that unassuming tree rat and he fell or if we whizzed one past his head and he ran up the back of the tree. As I digested magazine after magazine of ammo, I experimented with the Quad Release mag-catch system. I found the paddles to be a terrific option for gloved hands, while the button-style frame release provided a familiar feel. The best part is that no matter what you are used to already, there is zero learning curve in this department.

After exhausting more than 200 rounds of ammunition, my day on the range came to a close. I found the WMP to be accurate beyond words and reliable enough for the type of high-volume shooting that accompanies a good small-game hunt. It also makes an excellent pistol for bigger critters like opossums and raccoons, as it has the energy to dispatch them humanely with a single shot.

He also shot 30 grain bullets which runs counter to Walther advice, but he did it with no problems (except that I saw his groups opened up a bit with the lighter bullets, but of course his MV was higher too).  Otherwise, his accuracy was outstanding.

Interesting history. The list may have gaps because the data considered is official. There were other guns in use, especially during the civil war.

In any war, even the smallest advantage can mean the difference between victory and defeat. To maintain the upper hand, the Department of Defense spent $106 billion on research and development of weapons technology in 2021 alone. And while new and evolving technologies like precision guided missiles and drones have changed battlefield dynamics in recent years, outfitting troops with rifles that are reliable and effective remains a top priority – as it has since America’s founding.

Perhaps second only to the will to fight, the rifle is the most important asset of any army infantry soldier. And from the flintlock muskets used by the Continental Army in the American Revolution, to the M4 assault rifles carried by U.S. Army infantry units of today, weapons technology has evolved considerably over the nearly 250 years the U.S. has been a country.

U.S. Models 1855 and 1861 Springfield rifle-muskets (picture is public domain):

Using data from a range of sources, including military records and government websites, 24/7 Wall St. identified standard-issue and other common infantry rifles issued by the U.S. Army throughout history – starting with the Colonial period. We did not include rifles with specialized functions, such as sniper rifles and machine guns.

From the American Revolution through the Civil War, rifle technology changed little. Over that nearly 100-year period, American soldiers were issued muskets that were limited in range, accuracy, and reliability by any modern standard. Though there were some innovations during that period, including the rifled barrel and the switch from a flintlock firing mechanism to caplock, it was not until the 1870s, with the introduction of the Model 1873 Springfield, which fired a bullet with a self-contained cartridge, that the U.S. Army adopted anything resembling what we use today.

Even then, the M1873 was a single-shot rifle, with a maximum rate of fire of about 15 rounds per minute. For comparison, modern military rifles can cycle at a rate of about 950 rounds per minute.

List with specs and historical detail at the link.