Archive for the 'Firearms' Category

Source.

In the 1840s and 1850s, companies in Liege, Belgium, produced thousands of double-barreled percussion shotguns. These imported 12-gauge models were popular among American hunters. At the onset of the Civil War, there is no evidence that state or national entities purchased these weapons in any significant number, but many merchants would for private sale.

While most of these imports did not have many markings on them, some did bear the popular Liege stamp, and a few had information linking them to American dealers inscribed on their barrels. Markings were typically located on the gun’s lock. Some, however, displayed markings on the barrel rib, the piece connecting the two barrels.

When they enlisted, many mounted Southerners brought their personal shotguns with them. The 52-inch length allowed a cavalryman to reload easily while riding, and the two barrels delivered heavy damage at close range. They could also be reloaded quicker than the 20 seconds it usually would take to load a rifled musket.

Southern blockade runners continued importing inexpensive Belgian shotguns throughout the war, as verified by the presence of several cases among many U.S. naval vessels’ prizes-of-war lists. Some of these captured shipments show markings of the Confederate gun companies to which they were being shipped, put there by an agent who had inspected the weapons for his company before it was shipped from a European port.

At the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, Mo., in August 1861, and during the 1862 New Mexico Campaign, close combat favored Confederates armed with shotguns against Union troops carrying rifled weapons.

Shotguns have always been, and will continue to be, used in warfare.  It’s a great CQB weapon and for that reason also a great home defense weapon.

My understanding is that it takes a shell of 2.5″ in length, or more precisely, 2 + 9/16″.  You cannot shoot modern 2.5″ shells in it.  It’s also my understanding that these go for around $200 – $300, although when someone tells you that “This gun was used in the civil war,” that’s almost impossible to prove unless it has papers and was associated with some well-known officer.

But if you could find such a gun with papers and proof or ownership and history, it would be a nice find as a C&R.

Recoil.

NEW from Daniel Defense comes the SoundGuard Suppressors, powered by KGM!

Boasting multiple patent-pending design features, Daniel Defense says their three new suppressors (SG-556, SG-30, and SG-30Ti) utilize cutting-edge gas-flow dynamics that eliminate over-gassing and direct gas forward, substantially decreasing the amount of blowback.

These patent-pending gas-flow paths also help stabilize rounds as they pass through and exit the can, thus proving a “negligible” point-of-impact shift.

If that isn’t enough, patented baffle stack design and proprietary coatings reduce the flash signature to almost zero.

Combined, these are big claims and would represent some major innovations in suppressor technology. But with the surge of popularity in cans, we’ve seen some huge changes in recent years.

Daniel Defense is backing their SoundGuard Suppressors with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

MSRP is $750 for the SG-556 and SG-30, $1,000 for the SG-30Ti.

Ammoland also covered this, but almost like a paid advertisement with even less information than you see above from Recoil.

Honestly, this is just poor reporting.  So let me ask the most obvious question that wasn’t asked and answered above.  I had talked to the folks at Daniel Defense about removing the welded and staked flash hider on a 14.5″ barrel in order to install a SureFire flash hider.  The reason?  Because SureFire makes a suppressor that installs with a clamp over their own flash hider, so installation and removal is as simple and quick as that.

Does the Daniel Defense suppressor install with a clamping device over their own flash hider?  Do they make a model like that?  If not currently, do they intend to?

Again, lousy reporting.  Daniel Defense should have contacted me to announce this and I would have asked the hard questions.

FWIW, Daniel told me to let a gunsmith do the removal and reinstallation of a new flash hider, that they had a procedure that had to be followed so as not to harm the barrel.  But (and here is the nit I have) they also told me that they had fielded other calls to this effect and knew that folks wanted to install flash hiders that clamped on.

So if they knew this, why didn’t they include it in their own design?  If they did include it, why didn’t the press release say so?

Does Daniel Defense need to hire me?

They say this is going to be a series.  If so, I’ll be sure to watch it.

On another note, he says that Rossi is beginning production again of its 454 Casull rifle.  That’s nice, although I suspect they will be very difficult to obtain.

Light weight rifles in the news.

New Begara Crest rifle, carbon stock.  Somewhere on the order of $2000.

American Hunter on the Bergara Premier MgLite.

Carbon barrel and carbon stock.  And it looks about as skeletonized as you could get it, running at 6.8 pounds but a bracing $3300.

And just today Game and Fish came out with a nicely written article on eight guns that run between 6 and 7 pounds, but also run somewhere mostly around $2000 each.  Carbon seems to be the common element.

The goal is weight mitigation in the bush and especially in the mountains.  As a man who has carried heavy weight in the mountains, I can sympathize with the goal.

These are some nice rifles.  If readers have experience with any of them, please weigh in with comments.  We may revisit these guns in the future.

From Guns.com.  Here is the video.

That gun sure is jumping around in her hands.  I’d like to understand the differences between this model and what Langdon Tactical does with the Model 92 low mount red dot optic cut slide.

That’s a mighty long way to sling that large bullet, but it shows what time and ingenuity can do.

At SurvivalBlog, this is an excellent two-part post. A very brief history of the Boer Wars is offered then it’s almost exclusively weapons, ammo, purposes in use, and personal firearms considerations. Great stuff, tons of data, with much to consider and debate.

Part One

Part Two

Excerpt from Part Two:

Around here, .30-06 is more common than .308 Win.  The second most popular in my neighborhood is 6.5 Creedmoor (6.5CM), then 6.5×55, and lastly a wildcat for the AR platform, the 6.5 Timberwolf. Ideally, we would be best off to standardized on .308 Winchester. Yet .30-06 is still king in these woods. It is time tested and found to be the best all around cartridge CONUS, good for mouse to moose, and the occasional Griz, because it can shoot the heaviest .308 caliber bullets with a 1:10 twist rate barrel.

The .30-06 can also punch out a flat shooting 175 grain bullet at 2,800fps with H4831sc, H4350 powder, or other similar powders. It is appreciable flatter shooting than .308 Winchester, and far flatter than .308 Winchester’s military version, 7.62×51 NATO.  Yet we do pay the price in terms of a punishing level of recoil. Therefore, my ideal long range rifle would be the 6.5×55 cartridge in a modern action capable of 60,000psi with 29 inch bull barrel attached, however that rifle is only a dream rifle.

First of all, I don’t shoot Remington ammunition.  I consider it to be rather weak tea most of the time.  It isn’t awful, but there’s nothing special about it.

Second, that muzzle velocity for .45 ACP is quite low.  There is much stouter stuff around (Underwood, Double Tap, Buffalo Bore, etc.).

Third, I still think in many cases ball ammunition is a fine choice for personal defense.

Source.

A North Carolina resident named Tarika McAllister fired a gun for the first time last week and it helped put a man who broke into her home behind bars.

According to WRAL-TV, McAllister, who lives in the city of Dunn, was home alone when she awaken by loud noises and her dog barking around 6 a.m last Tuesday. After hearing the sounds coming from the rear of her house, she went to check if everything was okay. McAllister was stunned to find a man attempting to steal some of her items —including her dog. It was at that moment that she took matters into her own hands.

The 29-year-old yelled for the intruder to get out, but he was unphased. Fortunately, within her reach was the gun she kept stored. And although she had never used it before, she put her nervousness aside and grabbed it.

“All I did was turn around and grab the gun,” McAllister told WRAL. “I was fumbling with it. It’s my first time using it.”

McAllister added that she lifted the safety and did what she had to do.

“I just lifted it up, and I started shooting at him, wherever he was moving to, I just shot him out of the house,” she said.

When the police arrived to the scene, they found the thief, who has been identified as 20-year-old Malihk Giles, only about 200 yards from McAllister’s home with two gunshot wounds, one on his right lower leg and the other on his right side. After his wounds were treated at a local hospital, he was taken into custody at Harnett County Detention Center where he is being held on charges of first-degree burglary and possession of stolen property with a $75,000 bond. McAllister and Giles had no connection to each before the incident but according to McAllister, she experienced a similar incident at her home just three weeks prior. Luckily, she was able to just scare the man away.

So she lives in a neighborhood with a crime problem, and had a home invasion before this incident.  She purchased a gun and stopped this one cold.

Wait!  You mean she didn’t attend “School of the Tacticool Warrior” taught by former Navy SEAL Ranger Scout Sniper FBI SWAT Team member “Mr. Tacticool Himself?”  You mean she didn’t drop $2000 for a class and travel a 1000 miles to take classes from the best of the best?  She just picked up a gun and defended herself and her home?

Well then.  I would indeed suggest that she get some range time and maybe take some classes on proper grip technique and shooting stance to help her in the future, but this just goes to show once again that anyone can overcome their fears and nerves to effect self defense.  A bunch of hollering and screaming from Mr. Tacticool trainer wasn’t needed.

I always learn something by watching or listening to Jerry.

Now, if I can just get to the range to practice these things.