Archive for the 'Firearms' 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.

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.

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.

Well it finally happened.  Rossi actually came out with a nice looking rifle, with a pistol style grip, fairly good looking Walnut stock, with at least the appearance of a good fit and finish.  At least that’s what you’d conclude from the picture.

Right now it’s in .30-30.  It might be nice to have for a price point < $1000 (street price will be lower).  I expect it will be “unobtanium” for the time being, but time will tell how they meet demand.

So the next step for Rossi will be to make one of these in Walnut, with the pistol style grip, chambered in .454 Casull.

At Recoil they have a short assessment of the new CZ 712 G3 shotgun.

GunMagWarehouse also has a writeup.  Before pushing this to the web sites, CZ had the sense to send a gun to Target Focused Life for review.  Here is his writeup, and here is his video review.

BLUF: A few nits here and there, but overall a good review of a reasonably priced shotgun.  Gun Dog Magazine also has a review.

I can vouch for what they’re saying.  Rock River Arms produces exquisitely built rifles, capable of very good accuracy and precision (repeatability).  They make fine machinery.

There are two things that I think have held them back.  First, being in Illinois, and second, their slightly longer lag time at adopting new things (e.g., light forends).  For a long time, their forends were extremely heavy and a bit clunky.  No more.  They’re up with the rest of the industry on that.

I also dislike the fact that they haven’t yet made a rifle in 6mm ARC (but that goes back to what I’m saying about being slow to adopt new things).

I’ll make one final comment.  At one time they only made a polymer 1911 (which in my book is no 1911 at all).  I see that their catalog now includes some very nice 1911s, but the prices are extremely high, even exceeding the Dan Wesson price range.  They’re into the Wilson Combat price range, and it makes me wonder how many of them they sell.

Outdoor Life.

The “Americans’ Attitudes Toward Legal, Regulated Fishing, Target/Sport Shooting, Hunting, and Trapping” survey, conducted by Responsive Management, was released last month by the Outdoor Stewards of Conservation Foundation, a think tank devoted to communicating trends in outdoor activities.

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Public approval of legal hunting dropped 4 percentage points over the past two years, from about 81 percent of Americans in 2021 to 77 percent of Americans this year. Approval of recreational shooting dropped 3 percentage points, and approval of recreational fishing also dropped 3 points, to 90 percent favorability.

Go to Outdoor Life for the rest of the story.

This is not good news.  The mantra that has been followed for so many years among the gun owning community is to treat gun club like “fight club.”  The first rule of gun club is that you don’t talk about gun club.

If we want to reverse the attitude towards guns and hunting, this will have to change.  Not only rural folk and suburbanites, but the urban dwellers must be made to feel more comfortable with our ownership of weapons and use of them for sport.

American Hunter.

Anything that .22 LR can do, .22 WMR can do better, in a bolt gun, at least. While the magnum rimfire shines in manually operated actions, getting it to run reliably in a semi-auto is a rather large ask. The problem lies in the cartridge’s power factor, as it is too high for an unmodified blowback action yet not strong enough to operate a conventional gas-operated feeding system. Of the two, delaying a blowback system seems to yield the best results, but getting it there through simple means can be challenging. Challenges become motivation to a team of German engineers, and motivation becomes a product. Clear evidence of this concept can be found in the WMP, or Walther Magnum Pistol, a semi-automatic handgun chambered to fire classic .22 Magnum.

That seems to be the issue requiring the engineering, yes?  Cartridges that are too powerful (with powder that burns too long like a rimfire cartridge) for the slide to be opened prematurely lest the shooter get injured and/or the bullet lose velocity, versus the opposite concern of running a full size gas operated gun.  Walther solved that problem.

So the big question, what makes it run? Surprisingly, not much. While most German products are overengineered to a fault, the WMP simply utilizes the hammer mechanism to provide the delay needed to hold the pistol together while firing. All it took was getting the weight of the hammer and spring tensions just right. This leaves us with fewer failure points that ultimately add production costs to the firearm, resulting in a win for everybody.

Like most rimfires, this pistol has ammo that it’s going to like and ammo that it isn’t going to like. Much respect goes to Walther for not shying away from this fact but instead embracing it by listing a large cross-sample of what works and doesn’t work right on the website. While I am not too proud to take advice from a manufacturer, I couldn’t stick strictly to the list. However, I was confident that my choices would function well enough for paper punching. After rounding up three different ammunition weights, I slapped a Primary Arms SLx RS-10 mini reflex sight to the gun and headed out to the range.

It’s set up with an RMR footprint, which amusingly makes the optic cost as much as the gun.

We decided that the best distance to test this rimfire was 25 yards, as most squirrel and rabbit engagements happen right around this distance. However, for fun, I set up 8-inch AR-500 gongs at 50 and even 100 yards just to see how far I could push things. Starting with the Federal Game-Shok load, I snugged up a sandbag rest and sent my first round downrange. Expecting some sort of muzzle flip, I was delighted with how flat the gun shot. Typically when a bore axis sits that far above the hand, things get jumpy, but this just wasn’t the case. After firing my second shot, I had an accuracy concern, as I couldn’t spot an additional hit on paper. After clearing the pistol and walking downrange, I realized that the reason I couldn’t find it was because it was in the same hole as the first! Returning to my shooting point, I fired three more shots and turned in a group that measured just 1.10 inches. Things only got tighter from that point, with groups measuring as small as .81 inch, rivaling the accuracy of handguns that cost several times more. The other two types of ammunition also shot rather well, and all three made it through the test without a hiccup.

Stepping away from the bench, I decided to push out to the 50-yard target, which this gun had no trouble covering with a good two-handed shooting position. Even plopping rounds onto the 100-yard gong was relatively effortless, leaving more on the shooter than the firearm itself. Through it all, the muzzle stayed just about parallel to the ground, allowing me an unobstructed view of my impacts. That’s important in the field, as we need to be able to see if we struck that unassuming tree rat and he fell or if we whizzed one past his head and he ran up the back of the tree. As I digested magazine after magazine of ammo, I experimented with the Quad Release mag-catch system. I found the paddles to be a terrific option for gloved hands, while the button-style frame release provided a familiar feel. The best part is that no matter what you are used to already, there is zero learning curve in this department.

After exhausting more than 200 rounds of ammunition, my day on the range came to a close. I found the WMP to be accurate beyond words and reliable enough for the type of high-volume shooting that accompanies a good small-game hunt. It also makes an excellent pistol for bigger critters like opossums and raccoons, as it has the energy to dispatch them humanely with a single shot.

He also shot 30 grain bullets which runs counter to Walther advice, but he did it with no problems (except that I saw his groups opened up a bit with the lighter bullets, but of course his MV was higher too).  Otherwise, his accuracy was outstanding.

This is a great discussion.