Archive for the ‘Guns’ Category

Contest over at GunPundit

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Forgot to mention that I’m running a little contest over at GunPundit.com. The winner receives a one-year subscription to Outdoor Life magazine.

Head over and leave a comment on the post to register.

M16 Reliability

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Cross-posted from GunPundit.com

U.S. Army Spc. Peter Hurlock qualifying with the M16 in Korea. April 14, 2009. (U.S. photo by Staff Sgt. Christophe D. Paul/Released)

U.S. Army Spc. Peter Hurlock qualifying with the M16 in Korea. April 14, 2009. (U.S. photo by Staff Sgt. Christophe D. Paul/Released)

A couple of posts by C.J. Chivers:

How Reliable Is the M-16 Rifle?

and

The M-16 Argument Heats Up, Again

Good overall views of the issue, though the increasing use of 77-grain Mk 262 ammunition with the Special Forces and the poor showing in US Army dust chamber tests against a trio of piston guns were not mentioned.

Also, he writes about the M855 not “fragmenting” as well as the M193. Didn’t he probably mean “tumbling”? Though they do sometimes fragment, I thought that was not the design intent.

Anyway, it’s nice to see decent coverage of this issue where it might get a little more visibility.

Well, they’ve obviously not been shooting many poodles lately

Friday, October 30th, 2009
5.56 NATO Dimensions

5.56 NATO Dimensions

Steve at The Firearm Blog notes British soldiers also complaining about 5.56mm NATO

In the Telegraph:

A survey of more than 50 servicemen who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan concluded that the 5.56mm calibre rounds used by British soldiers ‘tailed off’ after 300 metres yet half of all Helmand firefights are fought between 300 and 900 metres.

This seems to make sense and be perfectly reasonable. After all, our Special Forces found out pretty much the same thing in 2001. A lot of them switched to the heavier Mk 262 from the M855 green tip.

But then there’s:

Taliban marksmen use powerful 7.62mm ammo for their AK47 machine guns, according to a report of the study in The Sun.

If they’re trying to argue that AKs firing 7.62 Russian are outshooting guys with 5.56mm SA80 rifles, they’re going to have to do a lot of convincing. Since they use the term “machine gun”, maybe they mean the 7.62×54mm used in the PK-series. But then they’re arguing apples and oranges.

Yes, the 5.56 leaves some things to be desired. Particularly out of shorter barrels.

Yes, a heavier intermediate round such as the 6.8 SPC or the 6.5 Grendel would probably do better in a wider range of circumstances, particularly at longer ranges.

Yes, full size rounds like the 7.62×51 fired from a full-length rifle pack quite a wallop.

But let’s not whine about 5.56 at medium to long range and then extol the 7.62 Russian or medium machine gun rounds in the media.

Leading Economic Indicators

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Gun Prices Soar As Afghanistan’s Postelection Crisis Continues

The reliable measure of stability in many countries is the value of the currency or the price of equities, bread or fuel — but not in Afghanistan: here the key indicator that nearly every Afghan keeps tabs on is the price of a Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. And the bad news is that the market is bullish. The stepped-up Taliban offensive and mounting discord over the outcome of last month’s election have seen the price of a Chinese-made AK smuggled in from Pakistan rise to $400 from $150 in just three months. “People are arming themselves,” a Western official in Kabul noted with alarm.

Of course, the rising prices could be influenced by things in addition to uncertainty about the election. If the perception is that insurgents are becoming bolder or that the US may be having second thoughts about fighting in Afghanistan, that could easily drive Afghans to spend a little extra on some additional household weapons. Or maybe they realize it’s just a matter of time before Mexican drug gang violence is blamed on Afghan assault weapons. (via Uncle)

MSNBC. Lies.

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

A few comments at GunPundit. Video via Sebastian.

Don’t Know That I Like It

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

Over at GunPundit, I write a little about the “new craze” of open carrying at political events.

UPDATE: More here.

Captured Weapons

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

The Marines sort through weapons captured from insurgents in Iraq

Pararescuman

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Senior Airman Jelly Larsen, 64th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron pararescueman, scans his sector as the rest of his element team enters a building during a training exercise here Aug. 4. The 64th ERQS provides combat search and rescue support to coalition forces in the Iraqi theater of operations. Photo by Chris Hubenthal-Magarian   Date: 08.02.2009

Senior Airman Jelly Larsen, 64th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron pararescueman, scans his sector as the rest of his element team enters a building during a training exercise here Aug. 4. The 64th ERQS provides combat search and rescue support to coalition forces in the Iraqi theater of operations. Photo by Chris Hubenthal-Magarian Date: 08.02.2009

More photos at DVIDS.

Florida will be a better place if citizens start eating iguanas

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Hunting invasive iguanas in Florida with an air gun. And then eating them.

With video and stew recipe.

Remington ACR Video

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Military.com is calling it the Remington ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle) but the last I heard it was being called the Bushmaster ACR. Bushmaster is now a sister company of Remington under the Cerebus empire. The ACR was, of course, previously the Magpul Masada.