Archive for the 'Firearms' Category

I stumbled across this smart and well-informed video of the history of the 1913 rail.  I think you’ll enjoy it and learn from it.

Many firearms manufacturers, from Mossberg (who is now in Texas) to Ruger (who is now in North Carolina) have joined an already large contingent of firearms manufacturers who were born in the South or have made their home here, including Daniel Defense (Georgia), Wilson Combat, (Arkansas), FN (South Carolina), Palmetto State Armory (South Carolina), etc.

Troy Industries may be the most recent to relocate, as they have begun building in Tennessee.

But there is still a large portion of firearms still manufactured in the North.

Based on data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which analyzed five categories of firearm production (pistols, revolvers, rifles, shotguns and others), the report identified the states where most firearms are manufactured. In 2019, New Hampshire accounted for the most firearm production of any state, with 1.2 million guns, followed by Missouri, Florida, North Carolina and Mississippi. Those five states made up more than half of all licensed firearms produced in the country.

New Hampshire produced the most rifles, at nearly 328,000, and pistols, with more than 700,000, in 2019, while Florida manufactured the most revolvers: nearly 190,000. Texas produced the most shotguns, at about 191,000, while Mississippi followed closely behind with 188,000. The two states made up 79% of all shotgun production in 2019.

I’m not certain who is in Mississippi, Florida or Missouri, but the obvious big actor in New Hampshire is SIG Sauer who has at least six plants in that state, with no manufacturing left in Germany.

Massachusetts also accounts for a large firearms manufacturing portfolio.

The American firearms industry was born in Massachusetts. As recently as 2018 the Commonwealth ranked as the largest producer of guns in America, according to Bloomberg News, accounting for about 1 out of every 4 of guns made each year — including military-assault-style rifles …

The gun industry in Massachusetts is a source of jobs, with companies that make guns that are used for recreational purposes and by officers of the law. But it also manufactures assault-style weapons that are sold to civilians out of state, such as the AR-15.

New Hampshire may be a tough nut to crack, as New Hampshire gun laws are quite favorable, and as best as I can determine, their plants are not unionized.

But this may all be about to come to an end for Smith & Wesson in Massachusetts.

BOSTON — State Rep. Frank Moran and three other Democratic legislators are proposing a bill which would outlaw the manufacturing of assault weapons in Massachusetts that are banned from being sold in the state.

The state has banned civilians from buying or owning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines for decades, but companies like Smith & Wesson, with headquarters in Springfield, can still make the guns in Massachusetts and sell them elsewhere.

Backed by parents who lost children to mass shootings and the Stop Handgun Violence organization, Moran, who represents Lawrence, launched the effort Tuesday with the support of fellow lawmakers. They filed legislation that would extend the existing assault weapon ban to cover the manufacturing of guns sold to civilians.

There are of course a host of ways to address this, including [but not limited to] refusing to sell weapons to police in states that have such bans.

One of the most obvious for S&W will be relocation.  If they can’t fabricate their S&M M&P ARs to sell to anyone but law enforcement, they’ll go bust (at least, this is my prediction).

One has to wonder anyway why they would still wish to be ensconced in a state who doesn’t want them.

Prior: Gun Valley Moves South

I watched this video today.  Deal with the language, or just don’t watch it at all.

BLUF: The Trijicon MRO is awful.  Trijicon has apparently tried to fix it, to no avail.

I’ve read comments before at various websites where readers were giving other readers a hard time about buying Holosun (even Primary Arms has Chinese products).

The problem is that the Chinese are whipping America at producing good quality products for cheaper.  That’s America’s fault, not China’s.

What are we supposed to do – throw good, hard earned money after bad?

And do any other Trijicon optics suffer from the problem of lack of glass clarity, magnification in 1X optics, etc.?

Does the Trijicon RMR produce a screwed up sight picture due to fish bowling?

I’m just asking for a friend before the friend throws away good money.

200,000 rounds through a single wheel gun.

Ken, WiscoDave and I were just discussing this a few days ago.  If you have both of these guns, make sure you have your 300 BO magazines marked, taped or otherwise indicated so that your gun doesn’t blow up in your face.

If you’re ever attacked by someone wielding a knife, shooting the knife isn’t a good defensive strategy.

Unless you’re Col. Douglas Mortimer.

We covered this in a very interesting and informative video before with a competition shotgun shooter.  It may be useful to go back and watch his video.  He’s a winner, so what he says is worth listening to.

This analysis at Shooting Illustrated adds to the discussion.

In general, dedicated shotgun-sports shooters (trap, skeet and sporting clays) take on a feet-close-together, straight-legged, weak-leg-forward stance, with the toes pointing 45 degrees to the target, 95 percent of the weight over the front foot. Such a stance allows wingshooters to swing the shotgun by more-or-less pirouetting on the front foot while using the toe of the rear foot as a rudder for balance. This tall, elegant stance is deceiving, because while it doesn’t look aggressive, most of the shooter’s body weight can be thrust into the shotgun at the shot, thereby counteracting the forces of recoil. However, there are obvious reasons why this stance isn’t the most practical for home defenders.

[ … ]

Some military and law-enforcement personnel are trained to shoot a shotgun much like they do a carbine, which is to say their feet are square to the target, shoulder-width apart, toes pointed toward the target, torso square to the target but leaning over slightly so the weight is divided 50/50 over the balls of each foot. This allows operators to maximize peripheral vision and to walk and move in any direction. The squared-chest orientation maximizes body armor’s protection. For most civilian home defenders, however, this stance can be disastrous.

First, most home defenders do not wear body armor. Second, a shotgun loaded with 00 buck has up to 10 times the recoil of a 5.56 NATO carbine, so recoil is a real issue. For all but the biggest, brutish shooters, three shots in succession from a square stance can rock a shooter so far backward that they may fall. (Try it for yourself.) I believe this stance was dogmatically taught to some military types to conform to other curriculum being taught at the time, such as dynamic entry, where moving smoothly and facing the enemy was paramount. These days, however, I see more shotgun-savvy military and law-enforcement shooters adopting a slightly more staggered, hybrid stance of 55/45 (front foot/rear foot) weight distribution. Even so, they keep the torso square to the target as much as possible.

[ … ]

The preferred shotgun stance of professional 3-gun shooters is offense-oriented. Most of these shooters assume a staggered stance where one foot is in front of the other, knees slightly bent, feet shoulder-width apart, torso bladed 40 degrees and bent forward at the waist so that 70 percent of their weight is forward. From this position, they can run, stop and fire multiple times while absorbing recoil and mitigating muzzle flip so they can get the maximum number of shots on target in the least amount of time.

However, there are a couple of significant differences between pro 3-gunners and home defenders: First, 3-gunners don’t have to consider retreating. This enables them to commit more to a weight-forward stance geared for shooting quickly, instinctively and accurately. Additionally, 3-gunners must focus on shooting 10 to 15 shots as fast as possible, mandating their weight be aggressively forward. But, this high-volume “running and gunning” is unrealistic for home defenders.

So then, the best stance for most home defenders—one that promotes a compromise between fast and accurate shooting while maintaining great balance and mobility—is one where the stance is slightly staggered, with the toe of the right foot in line with the heel of the left, feet slightly more than shoulder-width apart, toes pointing 30-degrees to the target, knees bent, chest slightly bladed 25 degrees and the torso bent forward at the waist so 65 percent of the weight is over the balls of the feet. However, during the actual shot, you may find that more weight should be shifted (shotgunners call it “throwing your weight”) forward as much as 80 percent to counteract recoil before being shifted back as soon as the recoil impulse is finished.

But, people, circumstances and shotguns are all a little different. The most important thing is to find and develop a shotgun stance that works best for you. Tactical guys say squared, wingshooters say 90-percent-weight forward, 3-gunners say bladed; I say use what works for you.

I don’t think it’s possible to stay “squared” (aggressive plates forward) and get off quick multiple shots with a 12 gauge shotgun on target.

I think he’s essentially saying what our professional shotgun competitor said in the video.  But it all requires practice.

News from South Carolina.

COLUMBIA, SC (WCIV) — South Carolina’s legislature has passed a bill changing state gun laws to allow open carry of guns for people who completed training and pass a background check.

The state’s House of Representatives passed the “Open Carry With Training” bill by an 83-34 vote on Wednesday, following the state Senate’s approval of the bill a week earlier.

With the General Assembly’s approval, the bill now heads to Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk for his signature. The governor has said he will sign it.

BREAKING: The SC House just passed the Open Carry Law, with Senate Amendment. Here is how the house voted. 83-34 in favor. pic.twitter.com/j7u2EsUy8E

— Eli Brand (@EliBrandTV) May 12, 2021

So remember that the S.C. Senate passed open carry with amendments to the House bill.  This was a House vote on acceptance of the Senate amendments.  It succeeded with lots of margin.

The next step is the signature of the governor, who has said he will sign it.  His political future would be in shambles if he didn’t.

Shooting Sports has an interesting quiz if you think you know shotguns.  How much do you know about shotgun chokes?

I scored 80%, but then I’m not a shotgun aficionado.  At least not yet.

Field & Stream has a recent article on the five best “crossover” shotguns – suited for both target and hunting.  I love the aesthetics of the Beretta A300 Outlander Sporting.

But with the usual barrel length of these guns at 28″ – 30″, it seems these are fowling pieces, not really suitable for turkey hunting.  Why wouldn’t you choose a shorter barrel and use a choke for a more all-purpose shotgun?

Anyway, notice the brands: Beretta, Mossberg, Benelli, and two Brownings.  This is the sort of competition Remington faces if they’re going to get back into the market.