Archive for the 'Guns' Category

Ammoland.

During an exercise, shooting factory 115gr hardball from a well-known and reputable manufacturer, a bullet jumped forward far enough to protrude from the face of the cylinder and thus prevent the cylinder from rotating normally. In fact, the bullet jumped forward far enough to physically separate from the case. This not only precluded the revolver from continuing to fire, but it also made it impossible to swing out the cylinder, so the revolver could now not be reloaded!

Honestly I had never considered this failure mode before. But after all, the 9mm cartridge is a rimless cartridge, so one should maybe expect to see this from time to time.

However, I’ve never seen this failure when Jerry Miculek is shooting his S&W 9mm revolver, and he likes his a lot. In fact, he broke one world record with it.

But Jerry uses moon clips. I cannot see how this failure mode could occur if you’re using moon clips.

If any smart gunsmiths care to explain how this failure could happen while using moon clips I’ll listen. But absent such an explanation, I assume that using moon clips prevents this failure mode.

Read the rest of John’s analysis here.

We were recently discussing barrel whip and barrel harmonics.  Here is a good video on this.

Outdoor Life.

Many commonly-used terms in the shooting community aren’t widely understood or used in a consistent context, so it’s important to define what we are talking about. The technical term “node” refers to the points on a wave at which the amplitude or displacement is the smallest. In terms of a vibrating object like a rifle barrel, it’s the point at which the vibrating barrel moves the least. A rifle barrel does have nodes as it vibrates during and after a shot is fired, but when someone refers to “finding their rifle’s nodes,” they’re referring to finding the charge weight and velocity that causes the bullet to exit at or near that node or dead spot in the barrel’s movement as it vibrates back and forth.

[ … ]

When I brought up the subject with Shooting Editor John B. Snow, he said that all his data had supported the idea that chasing nodes doesn’t gain you anything. He and other high-level shooters at team events will even tailor their loads to target matching velocities to simplify drop and windage calculations between shooting partners …

He goes on to discuss a number of interesting points – interesting to me, at least, including whether a 3- or 5-round group is really sufficient to show anything of value. I agree with him. It’s not.

This is true for a number of reasons. Let’s move past the implications of chaos theory. Atoms are moved by Brownian motion. Atoms bond together to form crystalline structures. Crystalline structures can slip against each other. The barrel heats as it is fired. This motion changes each time the barrel sustains a round being fired through it.

There are other effects as well. This all means that a 3-round group isn’t really relevant for anything much except inflating your ego. Now, let’s move past the issue of repeatability due to physical effects and ponder whether the action of a bullet travelling down a barrel is governed by a deterministic process or a Monte Carlo process. That is, if you could exactly measure the grains of powder charge, exactly govern the bullet weight, and exactly control the barrel temperature, each and every time a rifle is fired, would the bullet go into exactly the same hole each time? Or would the group behave as a random process in which the grouping is always described by a standard distribution?

I think about things like that.

I prefer to just do the best I can and shoot the best equipment I can find within reason. I am not a performance precision rifle competition shooter. If I was, I would probably do the things he’s talking about.

But I wouldn’t assume that a 3-shot group meant much of anything.

I have found the trigger on the FN pistol to be squishy and with too much take up, whether in single action or double action. Even though hammer-fired, it’s not a 1911. But they make the 460 Rowland conversion kits for multiple handguns.

He tests JHPs, so it’s not a fair test for penetration (hint: the 460 Rowland dumps all of its energy in the first five inches, which would be good for personal defense). But wait until the end when he tests the penetrator round. The temporary and permanent wound cavity is enormous.

They like it a lot.

I have to say it’s a good looking gun and seems to run very well.

However, I also have to say that I would rather they come out with a commander size 1911 with the bobtail design and the SS slide rather than the aluminum slide. A 1911 carrier has already accepted that the gun will weigh more and has decided that he’s okay with that. In fact, I don’t consider it a detriment to the gun. I think it’s an advantage.

I also have to weigh in with one more comment, and it agrees with their comment. They should have put an optic cut on the gun. Most modern 1911 owners are not purists. I’m not.

Finally, in this reddit/Firearms post, Kimber is just taking a beat down in the comments for unreliability, FTF and FTE.

I’m sorry this is a YouTube short so I can’t embed it. The owner is complaining about his Mossberg 940 with FTF.

I simply won’t have any gun that has FTF/FTE problems. And I’ve heard this a lot with Mossberg semiautomatic shotguns.

For the record, I’ve never seen any problems with Beretta semiautomatic shotguns, and I’ve shot them a lot.

He does say you can see more about this shotgun at this site.

Mossberg has never given me a shotgun to test so I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the problems to which he speaks.

Outdoor Life.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is a cartridge of great debate. Mention it among different groups of shooters, grab some popcorn, and wait; someone is going to get triggered. However, mention the 6.5 PRC in a group of shooters and the response will be different. The 6.5 PRC is loved by hunters.

Well, I’m sorry if I offend any 6.5 PRC fans out there, but that’s a dumb reaction.

He goes on to give a very good breakdown of the ballistic performance of each cartridge, and then ends with this.

Things change significantly when the PRC barrel is a 20-inch although the match load is still nearly 100 fps faster. But the hunting loads take a big hit, with velocities nearly the same as the 24-inch Creedmoor barrel. This being the case, energy on target will be the same. In other words, the 20-inch PRC is no more effective than the 6.5 Creedmoor. Yes, you benefit from a shorter rifle, but you also gain more recoil.

[ … ]

With four inches less barrel, the 6.5 PRC is basically a 6.5 Creedmoor with more recoil.

A 24″ barrel is front heavy anyway. I wouldn’t carry it.

So basically, you gain the ability to shorten the rifle barrel length and equal the performance of the 6.5 Creedmoor, and gain recoil.

No thanks.

F&S.

Trijicon makes both of these sights at around the same price point for different shooters. RMRs are more rugged, there is a batteryless option, and it can be co-witnessed with irons. This all points to a good concealed carry optic or an optic for someone who needs it to work because their life depends on it.

The SRO is more for competitive shooters looking for speed. SROs are easier to shoot fast and easier for shooters with less experience with red dots to run. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good carry or hunting optic.

Frankly I’d take either one as a gift. They aren’t cheap.

Readers who have used either or both of these are invited to weigh in on the merits of each.

I was a bit surprised that the guys at 1911 Syndicate weren’t more familiar with the capabilities of shotguns. Anyway, of course we know most of what Ernest is saying, but he does go a good job of demonstrating the operation of the Beretta 1301 towards the end of the video.

Source.

A ruling expected this week in a court case involving Gators Custom Guns in Kelso could mean a chance for Washingtonians to purchase high-capacity magazines, at least for a little while.

On March 11, Cowlitz County Judge Gary said he would issue a written ruling within two weeks in the ongoing case involving the state suing Gators Custom Guns in September, alleging the establishment offered to sell high-capacity magazines 11,408 times since July 2022, when it became illegal under state law to manufacture, distribute, sell or offer for sale gun magazines that hold more than 10 round of ammunition.

The lawsuit asserts the retailer intentionally violated the Consumer Protection Act when it continued to sell high-capacity magazines to the public.

“We are well beyond that time period [two weeks], and obviously, the judge is being very meticulous because it needs to be perfected for appeal as whichever side does not prevail is clearly going to appeal this,” Washington gun law attorney Bill Kirk told The Center Square Wednesday.

Kirk has posted continual updates on the case on his YouTube page.

“I do anticipate a ruling sometime this week, and what would be best for law-abiding gun owners is a ruling sometime Friday, late morning or early afternoon,” he said.

Kirk went to explain why such a ruling might be idea for gun rights supporters.

“Obviously the Attorney General’s Office will stampede this down to Olympia as fast as possible and try to get it in front of the state Supreme Court and ask for a stay of the injunction, lifting the ban, but the soonest they could get that would be Monday with the court maybe hearing it by Wednesday,” he said. “That would allow citizens of Washington state and FFL’s (federal firearms license) dealers who have really been creamed by a lot of this legislation over the last few years, to lawfully sell and purchase high-capacity magazines if the law is enjoined on a statewide level.”

Kirk added, “If the judge issues a statewide injunction effective immediately, that basically puts the law on a big fat pause; it’s as if the laws don’t exist and they cannot be enforced.”

That means the sale, purchase, and importation of magazines above 10 rounds would be completely legal because those laws are no longer in effect, according to Kirk.

The Center Square reached out to Gator Guns in Kelso today for comment on the pending court ruling, but a manager declined to comment other than to say the business would issue a statement on its Facebook page when a ruling comes down and confirmed they may be adjusting store hours to accommodate a potential flurry of activity if the ban on high-capacity magazines is temporarily lifted.

Kirk said if the ban is lifted, he expects the state Supreme Court will grant an emergency stay while the case is appealed, but that still leaves the narrow purchase window open.

“When people can lawfully purchase these magazines, and that window maybe 24, 48, or 72 hours long,” he said.

Big box stores like Cabela’s won’t sell high-capacity magazines during the potential window of a ban being lifted, Kirk said, because doing so would require the approval of its national headquarters.

“I do know other FFLs that have inventory and are preparing for this, but it’s really up to the individual stores to make that call,” he said. “Everybody needs to be ready to go in case it happens.”

Um, you Washingtonians do realize that you can go right next door to Idaho and get all you want, right? Or most garage mechanics can stamp out a magazine in minutes.

For those reasons and more, these laws are so stupid it’s difficult to understand why they even try.