AK-47 Ice Cubes

Love it.

(Nods to Uncrate)

Words fail.

.

Hat tip to Gizmodo and Wired

Slow Motion Video of Firearms.

Live Slow Motion video of various firearms in action. This is the guns themselves, not the target or the bullet. Very Cool.

(Hat tip to Gizmodo)

Springfield M1A Scout Rifle?

I was surfing around the intertubes recently looking to see if there was any new rifles out there that might qualify as a Colonel Jeff Cooper Scout Rifle and I got to mulling the Springfield SOCOM M1A series of rifles.

Sure enough, Springfield had a rifle labelled as a "Scout Squad" but according to the holy Scout specifications Colonel Cooper delivered from Moses himself (Charleton Heston?), the "Scout Squad" failed the weight (7.7 pounds/3.5 kilos and ideally 6.6 lb/3 kilograms) and length (39 inches/1 meter) requirements at 9 pounds and 40.3 inches. It does however fit the .308 requirement, the ghost ring sights (military aperture sights), and of course it mounts a forward scope (Scout holy of holies).

The SOCOM 16 variant DID fit the length requirement at 37.25 inches and failed the weight at 9.3 pounds! I wondered though how much velocity is sacrificed with that 16-inch barrel to get to that package. Ballistics research indicated 2-inches would result in an approximate loss of 40 feet per second out of a 2,820 fps 150 grain bullet. Not a major concern, in my opinion.

The SOCOM II variant also fit the length requirement at 37.25 inches but really failed at the weight of 10.5 pounds. It does come with the rails necessary to install anything one could want but that kinda defeats the Scout aspect.

Colonel Cooper thought that a self-loading (semi-automatic) action was inconsequential:

"...If a semi-automatic action were made which was sufficiently compact and otherwise acceptable, it should certainly be considered, but at this time there is no such action available. The whole concept of great rapidity of fire in a rifle has been weighed and found, not exactly wanting, but somewhat inconsequential...The primary purpose of a rifle is a first shot hit, whether the target is game or a human antagonist. Semi-automatic fire does not assure this. As a matter of fact it sometimes detracts from it by letting the shooter believe that if he misses with his first shot he can always make up with a second. This is a bad attitude for a rifleman. As a result of these deliberations all prototype scouts will be bolt action unless and until something new in the way of the semi-automatic action appears." - (Jeff Cooper's "The General Purpose Rifle,"To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth,Gunsite Press, Paulden, AZ, 1988)

Given all of that, I have to say that if one wanted to have a Semi-Auto Scout, I think the SOCOM 16 is a nice fit. It is not a perfect fit (too heavy) but then Colonel Cooper evidently only thought the Steyr Scout only 88% there! Presumably because it was too long and failed to have a stainless barrel.

SOCOM 16

$1855

Specs

3.5 Stars

G.R.A.D. Gun Knife follow-up!

This is a follow-up to my slightly skeptical earlier post on the G.R.A.D. gun-knife.

I was contacted recently by a gentlemen that actually has one in the wild! I didn’t want to mention his name but he said to go ahead and use his picture of him holding the G.R.A.D.

He informed me that he purchased both of them years ago through a class 3 dealer. One is the 6-shot bayonet style and the other is a 5-shot non-bayonet style.

This is what he had to say about them:

“I take them all over to gun and knife shows, but no one else has ever seen one. They have seen pictures, but not a real one. I have 5 people that want them and will pay $3000 for them, but I am not going to sell.

I have been hunting for them and would buy more if I could find them. The history channel is talking to me about being on Mail Call with it so the Gunny can stab and shoot one of his watermelons.”

“I have taken it all over the world. When the handle is closed the [checked baggage] X-Ray at the Air Port doesn’t pick up the gun parts inside.”

Needless to say, his job takes him to interesting places.

Many, many thanks to my source, and keep safe!

$3.5 Million for your gun rights?

Yes! The recent supreme court ruling endorsing our gun rights may cost D.C. $3.5 Million in attorney fees.

Not often that I am happy to see attorneys "bleeding the beast".

85 year old woman stops burgler.

Gotta love armed citizens. I love that he "didn't do it" as he stood in her house wetting his pants.

Governor okay with teachers packing heat.

Works for me!

(nod to Digg)

Wooden Replica Firearms

Amazing replicas of classic firearms.

(Scroll to the bottom of the link)

Kudos to metafilter.

.500 Magnum Roundup

So let's say you had to put down a Cape Buffalo and you left your rifle back at the Land Rover? You better hope you have one of these. You'll still probably be stomped into buffalo bits, mind you, but at least with these you might slow them down enough to run. The .500 Smith and Wesson Magnum puts out over 2500 foot pounds of hurt. The famous .44 only puts out 1500 foot pounds. All of the revolvers below come in multiple configurations with different styles of porting, scope mounts, and overall approach, as you can see.

Taurus Raging Bull Specs

$934










Magnum Research BFR "Biggest Finest Revolver"

Specs
$899









Smith and Wesson Model 500

More Here

Specs

$1288 and up








Thompson Center Encore Pistol

Specs

$650+







Thor Raptor

Specs

$700 Used (if you can find one)



There is apparently a German manufacturer Janz that made a JTL-E 500 revolver. I could find no source for them in the U.S. at least, so have left them out.

Movie Firearm Database.

If you ever have to know what gun a bad guy (or good guy for that matter) is using in a movie.......
look no further.

The Internet Movie Firearm Database is your site.

(creds to metafilter)

Mosin-Nagant Rifle

I am a huge fan of cheap. I am also a huge fan of surplus rifles. I have watched as fist SKS rifles, then Turkish Mausers, and now Mosin-Nagant rifles have been imported by the shipload. God bless America. Shoots 7.69x54mm rounds at around 3000 fps. Not too shabby.

Specs

$99

4 Stars (Price!)

.22 is now over 150 years old!

Oh how the lowly .22 has come a long ways! It is by far the most common round in the world. History here.

I recommend CCI Mini-mags. Feeds through my Ruger 10-22 like grain through a goose.

$37 for brick of 500.

5 Stars!

.22 Tracer Ammunition

Okay, I don't know why someone might need this, but need this they might. .22 tracer ammunition. Go figure. Just remember to clean the hell outta your firearm after using it!

$109 for 250

Fun.

Ammunition that can be tracked.

New pollen-based "nanotagging" feature can track ammunition and the citizens, oops, I mean "criminals" that use them.

Article Here.

(nods to Gizmodo)

Remington Genesis Blackpowder Rifle

Blackpower is for Civil War reinactments? Not hardly. This baby will drill like a Dewalt only in .50 inch holes. Comes in nine different flavors from blued to stainless.

Specs

$237+

3 stars.

NRA has moles in gun control groups?

STORY HERE.

Hee Hee.

(nods to Boing Boing)

Travis Tomasie on Speed Reloading.

Heckler and Koch P7 M13

I actually got to lay my grubby mitts on this bad boy over the weekend. What an incredible piece of machinery. The squeeze-cocking bar on the front of the grip is slightly stiff, but yet readily engaged as one draws the weapon. Once engaged it is easily held engaged until you let it go, which renders the pistol safe. Probably the safest gun ever made. Three dot sights and the overall form factor of the pistol makes it very quick to target and sight. The magazine release button is something I had never seen before as it is a push-down not push-in. I think I like it! The trigger pull is a little stout, but yet is clean and smooth. Not a deal breaker. HK stopped making both the M13 and M8 (8-round mag) but they are still available used.

This review covers it well.

Specs

$1500 or less.

4 Stars

M1911A1 Assembly Animation

Now with sound...


Nods to Metafilter!

Desert Eagle Component System

If you need to compensate for something….anything….this is definitely your tool. Not that we blame you, who wouldn’t want a 10-inch pimp gun that weighs 4.5 pounds and fires .50AE? The Desert Eagle comes with interchangeable barrels in .357., .44 Magnum, and .50 Action Express in both with 6 and 10-inch barrel lengths. It is QUITE the weapon.

Barrel System

Specs

$3000 with six barrels (+$1000 for gold finish)

4 Stars.

North American Arms Pocket Clip Holster

Did we mention that the NAA Pug (see post below) can be fitted with a pocket clip holster? We ARE NOT saying you should do this in States without concealed carry laws, but it is good to know you can get one even in the People's Republic of California. For practice shooting only, of course.

$38

NAA Pug Mini-Revolver

No we don't think pugs are real dogs either. That being said, this dog barks! Five rounds of .22 magnum 4.5-inches long and a little under an inch wide. Not too shabby.

$300

Specs

3.5 stars

WASP Knife

Watch out Great White sharks. This knife pumps cold compressed air, about a basktball's worth into the body cavity which then freezes the internal organs immediately. Apparently Britain is very concerned as they've been showing up on the streets there. Guess this means the Bobbies there better start packing iron.

Specs

Video

$380

4 Stars

(Nods to Boing Boing!)

Railroad Watch Pistol

Man I'd be nervous about that push-button trigger.

Via Gizmodo

Caliber 3 mm

Striker Shotgun

Quail hunting will never be the same.

Okay, so maybe this isn't the most politically correct weapon, but it came out of Rhodesia and South Africa during times where one might need something like this to stay breathing.

Specs

Banned.

4 Stars

Trinity Day

On this day......

(Nods to Boing Boing)

Apparently So......

Yeah, but can he shoot?

Weatherby Compact Firing Platform

If you absolutely positively have to explode small critters from a portable package, this is your tool. Weatherby Compact Firing Platform. We just wish it came in .308.

Specs

$1099

3.5 Stars