Archive for the 'Guns' Category

Recoil.

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.

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• Barrel Length: 14.5″
• Gas System: Carbine-Length
• Barrel Steel: Cold Hammer Forged Chrome Moly Vanadium
• Barrel Finish: Phosphate
• Muzzle Thread: 1/2-28
• Chamber: 5.56
• Twist Rate: 1:7
• Barrel Extension: M4
• 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.

Pretty interesting stuff. Pictures of each are provided.

Vietnam gave America the first taste of modern asymmetric warfare. We faced a guerilla force and quickly learned that nation-building and fighting a guerilla force is nearly impossible. We later forgot and waged a 22-year war in the middle east without getting much accomplished. In this article, I won’t get too deep into foreign policy failure, but I will dive deep into the world of the weird weapons we saw come out of the Vietnam War.

Vietnam was a brutal place. It was dense jungles, cities, creeks, rivers, and coasts. It created a very diverse and difficult environment for a modern fighting force that was more or less designed for the European theatre of warfare. Southeast Asia, mixed with guerilla warfare, created an environment that required creativity. The folks behind weapons design in the United States were certainly creative and gave us some interesting solutions to interesting problems. Here are some of the weird and creative weapons of the Vietnam War.

Stealth was the order of the day, including a tunnel rat revolver I’d never seen.

I could never imagine being a tunnel rat. Having to crawl into a small tunnel likely made by hand in the middle of a war zone would be terrifying. The tunnel rats would go down these hotels with an M1911, a moonbeam, and a prayer. The M1911 was fine, but the tight quarters often challenged its reliability due to the reciprocating slide in ultra-tight quarters. With that in mind, the military developed the Quiet Special Purpose Revolver.

The idea wasn’t to just give tunnel rats a more reliable weapon, but they would give them a weapon that was easier to use in close quarters overall. The revolver used specially designed ammunition that used an integrally suppressed ammunition known as 10mm QSRP. This round fired 12 pellets, much like buckshot, and was designed to help the shooter fight in situations where aiming was tough.

The QSPR used a Model 29 as its core design, cut the barrel down to nearly nothing, and re-chambered to fit the 10mm QSPR. These were distributed in Vietnam in short numbers. A Ranger team even scored a kill with one, according to an official report. The war ended before they could be widely fielded, and they faded away after the war.

And many others, such as the Remington Model 7188 and the Stoner 63, are also covered.

Guns Magazine.

“We’re mighty proud of it,” said Mark Gurney. “But it’s not a Ruger Marlin. It’s a Marlin.”

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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.

It’s a Ruger Marlin.  That’s good enough for me.

Outdoor Life has the list. We’ve discussed quiet hunting for non-permissive environments before. In searching for that prior article, I found a link to it, where another author discusses his experience with .17 and .22 air rifles. A good air gun is worth having, especially at a lower price than a rimfire or centerfire rifle. Of course, BBs don’t hunt well; pellet capability is what you need. The venerable and a personal favorite, the Crosman 760, made the list as the best squirrel hunter. BB guns are a great way to start children out learning the responsibility of gun ownership and use; most will quickly graduate to a rimfire.

Outdoor Life:

For many hunters, the BB gun was a distinct pillar of childhood. Generations of us learned basic marksmanship and firearms safety with a BB gun, and there was never a more formidable tool when tin cans or plastic army men were game. I often toted a lever-action or pump-up BB rifle across the handlebars of my ten-speed, and no other tool was as steadfast through my formative years. BB guns are great fun, and they can be great for teaching youngsters or new shooters the basics. They have some distinct advantages over real firearms in that application. They can be safely and legally fired in many areas where real rifles can’t. They can also be mailed straight to your door. Ammo is significantly cheaper too, and I can’t imagine the bills I’d have racked up if the milk-carton-style containers of BB’s—the small cardboard tubes were child’s play—were cases of 5.56 ammo.

My interest in BB guns has become reinvigorated as my children are growing into them, and I’m finding that the world of BB guns is so much cooler than when I was a kid. Many of the classics are still here, but now we have BB guns that even my fertile imagination couldn’t have fathomed. Here’s a look at some of the best BB guns you can get in 2023.

Battlefield Mods to the M1. Clever. What’s the saying; necessity is the mother of invention.

When the M1 Carbine (officially the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) began to reach American combat units in late 1942, the handy little rifle quickly gained a reputation as the “soldier’s pet”.

And why not? The little M1 Carbine weighed just 5.8 pounds (loaded with a 15-round magazine) and was only 35.6” long. By 1942 standards, it was a semi-automatic sweetheart.

Consequently, as the Carbine quickly made its way from its intended role as a weapon for officers and specialist troops (like artillerymen, tankers, and paratroops) into the hands of the long-suffering infantrymen, the G.I.’s penchant for customization created some interesting field modifications for their new favorite rifle.

They had plenty of opportunities — there were 6.1 million carbines made during World War II, and they were issued in every combat theatre.

Several interesting field upgrades with pictures are at the link.

Weird but interesting drop bolt, caseless cartridge concept.

Shooting Illustrated.

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.

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.