Archive for the 'Firearms' Category

Wide Open Spaces.

Savage Arms has announced the latest addition to their lineup of firearms, and it’s a style of gun Americans may not be entirely familiar with.

The new Savage IMPULSE has just been unveiled, and we’ve got all the details straight from the source.

The American-made IMPULSE rifles feature a unique straight-pull bolt action, popular in European markets, that refines the basic function of the conventional bolt into one quick movement. Instead of twisting the bolt handle up, pulling back, pushing forward, then twisting back down, a straight pull rifle like the IMPULSE only requires a straight back, then straight forward manipulation of the cycling process.

The key to IMPULSE’s lightning-quick functionality is the new action, which is built around Hexlock, an innovative new style of lockup that allows for IMPULSE’s reliability and speed, not to mention safety and accuracy.

Hexlock holds the key to the unique straight pull action, and operates in a rather interesting way. Six hardened steel ball bearings combine to lock the bolt in place inside the receiver’s barrel extension. When pressure increases, Hexlock’s hold strengthens, making sure that the bolt can’t move rearward.

Once the round has left the barrel, the pressure eases up, and the action can open safely with the straight pull of the bolt handle. In addition, the bolt handle’s position can be adjusted to several different angles, which helps ensure you’re clearing optics or satisfying your personal preference. You can even switch from a right hand to a left hand bolt operation without any special tools or skills.

This model has an MSRP of $1379.  I have to confess that I’m not familiar enough with European designs to know much about straight pull systems.  Gunsmiths can weigh in.

But the MSRP (which will doubtless be higher than what you see in stores) is enough to buy a classical bolt action gun, and a very good precision one at that.  Savage is making some very nice equipment, but some of it is still a bit pricey.

Jeff Quinn has left us, but his brother carries on.  This is a nice wheel gun.  A gentleman’s gun indeed.  This appears to be similar to the Kimber K6 with its beautiful grip.

James Wesley Rawles.

We can safely assume that gun sales in calendar year 2021 will be just as strong as 2020, and possibly much stronger. Given Joe Biden’s age and frail health, I expect to see Harris succeed Biden within 18 months. Plan on at least four years of a Democrat in the White House, and possibly much longer, given their proven skill at vote-rigging. That will mean 4+ years of gun, magazine, and ammunition shortages.  Sort supplies always lead to higher prices. So we can safely anticipate those prices to exceed the prevailing consumer price inflation. Plan (and invest), accordingly.

As of this writing, the big unanswered question is whether or not the two Republican U.S. Senate candidates will prevail in the January 5th runoff election, in Georgia. If those two seats instead go to Democrats, then that will result in a 50/50 split in the Senate, with the tie votes broken by the President of the Senate: The Vice President of the United States. And odds are, that will be none other than the extreme leftist Democrat Kamala Harris. Needless to say, she has a horrendously anti-gun record.

So here is my advice:  If on January 5th the two Senate seats in Georgia go to the Democrats, then you should immediately take any extra cash and buy magazines. Buy lots of 20+ round magazines!  This is because one of the top legislative priorities for the Democrats will be a ban on new production for civilian sale of any magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds.  That will drive the price of “high capacity” magazines through the roof. Specifically, I recommend buying the following magazines as an investment, even if you do not yet own the corresponding guns …

This is on the tail end of telling you how important it is to own guns and ammunition, and keep buying them if you can.

Guns, ammunition and accessories (such as magazines) will be the new gold standard in the coming weeks, months and years.

I don’t see this getting any better.  The days of 50 cents per round 5.56mm are gone forever, and Magpul magazines will not go for $12 one of these days very soon.  They will cost much, much more than that.

Even pistol ammunition is now 60 – 70 cents per round, and that’s if you buy in bulk.

Cleaning rifle barrels – advice from a legend.  I need to do a much better job with copper cleaning.  I found his discussion on Windex and rubbing alcohol interesting.

Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Here is an interesting video I stumbled across.  Yea, he’s not Jerry Miculek, but that makes it more useful.  He shoots more like I would (I’m pretty good with a pistol and a revolver, but I’m not Jerry either).

So here’s one takeaway.  Yea, there are fewer possible shots with a wheel gun unless you’re Jerry and can reload as quickly as he does.  But there are disadvantages with the auto-loading pistol as well.

FTF, FTE, stovepipe failures, light primer strike or dud ammunition requiring you to cycle the slide and hope that there are no terminal failures of the machine.  I’m sure this is just a partial list.

Furthermore, he demonstrates auto-loading pistols going out of battery, and the shirt getting caught up in between the slide and frame was something I didn’t see coming.  And duress, there’s something very nice about the simplicity of a double action revolver.

I sometimes carry an auto-loading pistol.  When I do, it’s most usually a Commander size 1911, although not necessarily so.  I sometimes carry a small revolver.  When I choose to do that, it’s most likely in a truly non-permissive carry situation, i.e., I absolutely cannot print, so I’ll carry a small revolver in an ankle holster.

I shoot 1911s well because of the narrow single stack design, but I shoot subcompacts very poorly, probably because of the severe RA in my right hand and the gnarled up joints in my fingers.  I do much better with small revolvers than I do any subcompact.  The only time I can shoot a double stack well is for medium frame pistols, so I might choose to carry one of those.

What I do depends upon a lot of considerations, and the notion that more rounds is always better misses the real complexity of this issue for a carrier.

I have two general comments on this video.  First, I think Ammoland needs to work on its videographic skills.  The person doing the video is halting, seemingly unprepared for the video, and doesn’t do a full blown review of all of the features, modes, strengths and weaknesses.

Second, I think it’s important to highlight new products like this one because (in my opinion) Surefire is the 900 pound gorilla in the room and charges way too much for its products.  I think they need some good competition, and this light seems like it.  I want one.

And by the way, Amazon has it for sale at a decent price point.