Archive for the 'Guns' Category

We had previously discussed the Sig P320 (with comments that ran at length), and there have been fatalities. There has now been another. Here you get a first-hand account of the primary means of discovery, and none of it involves the legacy media.

Next up, Ben Stoeger discusses this incident.

Then finally, James Reeves discusses how we got here with the Sig P320 being the sidearm of the DoD. Eh, I don’t know. I still think there was something afoul in the process.

As for his comparison with the Beretta and 1911, the Beretta was a fine pistol, and I’ll bet that in all of the 1911 failures (FTF and FTE) none of them were using Chip McCormick speed mags. I’ve never had any such failure with a 1911.

This is a great interview and one of the more interesting that I’ve had the pleasure to embed. I commend it to you.

If I wasn’t so jaded I wouldn’t hold the position that it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the DOJ harangued RBT into agreeing to retain all customer information (a change in policy) and then go after other manufacturers of this sort of device in court as a way of giving the next administration the ability to know who had them.

Cameron doesn’t seem to hold out much hope for RBT given the difference in design (lever versus cassette).

Great work. I’m a bit surprised they responded to the FOIA request by transferring the full FBI document over to anyone.

With this done now, it’s hard to see how the Sig lawyers or designers move forward without a whole host of lawsuits and without an announcement and complete recall of the firearm.

For the record, I have nothing that says ‘Sig’ in my locker. I don’t do striker-fired guns and I don’t do Sig. I have heard that this pistol was originally intended to be a hammer-fired gun and then later redesigned to striker-fired. If that’s true, they should have left it hammer-fired.

I knew that SureFire had a quick connect from their flash hider directly to a suppressor design, but I didn’t know that B&T had designed one before them. Apparently, SureFire doesn’t like the fact that B&T is making money off of their own design.

In today’s litigious society, I’m not sure I would have allowed pictures to be taken, or at least, I would have patented it long ago if I was a B&T attorney.

Via an email from long time 2A warrior Dave Hardy.

I agree with his perspective.

I couldn’t be less interested in what Navy SEAL umpty-so uses for EDC, or what Ranger bad boy carries in his Kydex IWB holster. That matters so little to me that I automatically switch off and find something else to occupy my time. Oh, and I couldn’t care less what the military uses or used. I will never switch to ceramic cartridge cases, and I have nothing that says Sig in my gun locker.

I am an engineer, and I love well-functioning machines, as well as machines that have been made with beauty. I also love that the guns that interest me have a relationship with the history of so many great men and my own country.

That’s why I admire Browning for the 1911 design, and Eugene Stoner for the AR-15 design (the genius of direct impingement putting the recoil in line with the bore axis still amazes me, along with the general reliability of the design), and so many men who contributed to lever action rifles. I want to see my 500 S&W magnum lever action rifle one day without having to spend the money at Bighorn Armory, and I wonder if it will ever happen.

I probably don’t need it because of .444 Marlin and 30-30 Marlin and 45-70 Marlin, but I want one anyway.

James asked some hard questions about the settlement, and this is a good video to help you understand what happened.

On the one hand, I understand the position taken by Lawrence. If you’ve invested millions of dollars in R&D, and then lost many more millions in legal costs, it matters to you and your employees what happens. You must ensure that you recoup costs.

On the other hand, they are just taking an awful beating in the comments. I mean, they are getting spanked to the point of blisters that they left Hoffman Super Safety behind. I know there have been some legal wranglings between then, but I also believe that the super safety is a much different design and was around long before RBT.

In any case, suffice it to say that this issue is probably not dead, especially as it pertains to a new administration that may not be as friendly.

Here’s a YT short on the Marlin .444, although I have to say that my .444 doesn’t have problematic feeding like his seems to. Maybe it’s a “Remlin,” although I don’t know if they ever made one after Remington took over.

The Marlin .444 is an absolutely awesome cartridge.

The 30-30 is still a great hunting rifle.

Savage is now making lever action guns, but a quick visit to their web site shows that it’s available only up to 22 WMR.

I sent this note to S&W support.

I’m just wondering for the hundredth time if y’all are going to come out with a lever gun in 460 or 500 S&W magnum? I would be happy to do a review of it without any cost to you (I would purchase the gun outright).

This is the first time I have ever gotten a response to my many notes.

Thank you for contacting Smith & Wesson.

I would be glad to relay your interest to our Marketing & Product Development department for review.

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact us at 1-800-331-0852

Thank you and Have a Great Day!

Regards,

Daniel

Back to Daniel (and I tried to locate the email for the S&W CEO, perhaps I got it right), I responded this.

Daniel,

Thank you for the offer to forward my request. This is the first time in all of my inquiries that I have actually gotten a response.

I would love to talk to your folks about a walnut lever action rifle in 500 S&W magnum. I’m certain that the S&W engineers can handle the development, and I’m also certain that the Performance Center would take an interest in such a project.

As I said, I would be happy not only to buy the rifle outright, but also do a review of it.

Your engineers might say that the cartridge I am requesting (500 S&W magnum) is a high pressure cartridge and as such might have “sticky extraction” issues, but Rossi has proven that they can handle the .454 Casull and Big Horn Armory can certainly make rifles chambered in 500 S&W magnum. They do so every day.

Frankly, it should bother you more than a little that Big Horn Armory is the only manufacturer that makes a rifle chambered in your very own cartridge (500 S&W magnum). Shouldn’t S&W make a rifle chambered in that round too?

Herschel Smith, PE

We’ll see if this becomes a chance to get a lever gun in S&W 500 magnum. I have my doubts.

Tim Sundles covers the .454 Casull. Honestly, the .44 magnum is so stout to shoot I’m not sure I want a .454 Casull handgun. But really, I do.

I’d absolutely love to have that Rossi lever action gun in .454 Casull, but that caliber in a lever action rifle is literally unobtanium. It simply can’t be gotten anywhere for any price.

I don’t think Rossi does a very good job of keeping stocks high. They’d do better if they knew how much folks would want one of these rifles in .454 Casull.

But it would look much better in walnut.