Archive for the 'Guns' Category

Source.

A gun factory in upstate New York with a history stretching back to the 19th century is scheduled to close in March, according to a letter from the company to union officials.

RemArms, the current version of Remington Arms, will close its facility in the Mohawk Valley village of Ilion around March 4, according to the letter sent Thursday. The letter said the company “did not arrive at this decision lightly,” according to the Observer-Dispatch of Utica.

Remington, the country’s oldest gun maker, began making flintlock rifles in the region in 1816. The factory site in the village dates to 1828, with many of the current buildings constructed early in the 20th century.

More recently, the company faced temporary closures in Ilion, bankruptcy and legal pressure over the Sandy Hook school massacre. The current company no longer makes the Bushmaster AR-15 rifles used to kill 20 first-graders and six educators in the Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut in 2012.

Investors doing business as the Roundhill Group purchased the Remington-branded gun-making business, including operations in Ilion and Lenoir City, Tennessee for $13 million. Owners announced plans in 2021 to move the company’s headquarters to Georgia.

Union officials called the news this week disappointing.

“The workers in Ilion enabled RemArms to rise from the ashes of the Remington Arms bankruptcy in 2020-21,” United Mine Workers of America International President Cecil E. Robert said in a prepared statement. “Without these workers and their dedication to producing the best firearms in the world, this company simply would not exist.”

I have a completely different take on things.  First, they had bad lawyers for the Sandy Hook lawsuit. Next, they ensconced in a gun control state and left only when it was too late. Third, they didn’t acknowledge and correct the errors and malfunctions of the Remington 700, even when they duplicated weapon discharge in their own labs without anything even being near the trigger. Fourth, they never got a handle on poor QA.

Fifth, and maybe the most significant error, they never left a union state to move to a right-to-work state. The union can blame it on others all they want to. When you extort employers rather than allow the market to set wages, this is the result.

Savage enters the 1911 market.  They have a .45 ACP gun and a 9mm gun.

I hate cheaply made firearms, and I hate the idea of paying $3000 or more for a 1911.  I like the price point of around $1500 for a 1911.  It doesn’t appeal to folks looking for a steal to get a good 1911 (there is no such thing as a 1911 for cheap, just cheaply made 1911s), and it doesn’t break the bank.

If they work right, I’d like one of each, but it’s very easy for manufacturers to make bad 1911s.  Has anyone had a chance to shoot either of these builds?

Here is an article on the ruling.

F&S.

In 1955, Smith & Wesson and Remington teamed up to introduce the .44 Remington Magnum, and gun writer Elmer Keith was a great inspiration in the cartridge’s development. The .44 Magnum’s starring role in Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry movie gave it immediate credibility and fame. It is, however, a handful to shoot, which is why it’s common to find used .44 Magnum revolvers being sold that come with a half box of ammo. Many shooters find they’re just not quite the man Inspector Harry Callahan was. Fortunately, .44 Magnum revolvers can also safely chamber and fire .44 Special ammunition, which has much less offensive recoil. In factory ammunition, there are more than 50 .44 Magnum loads to choose from, and about half as many .44 Special loads.

The 44 Magnum does not use a 0.44-caliber bullet. The bullet diameter is actually 0.429-inch in diameter, but, 429 or 430 Magnum just does not have the same ring to it. The cartridge is loaded to a maximum average pressure of 36,000 psi, which is about twice that of the .44 Special. As powerful as that seems, the .357 SIG is actually loaded to a higher pressure. The .44 Magnum has been used to successfully take every game animal on earth, and it’s a personal protection favorite with those who like to tromp around in big bear country. Marlin and several other manufacturers currently offer lever guns chambered for the .44 Magnum.

[ … ]

The .454 Casull was not approved by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute (SAAMI) until 1997, and their standard specifies a maximum average pressure of 65,000 psi. This is absurdly more than the .44 Magnum, and it’s where the .454 Casull finds all its power. The cartridge can push a 200-grain bullet to more than 2000 fps. By comparison, the .45 Colt is only loaded to a maximum average pressure of 14,000 psi. In a 50-ounce revolver, .454 Casull is intimidating to shoot with full-power loads, recoiling with around 36 foot-pounds of hand-numbing and wrist-twisting force. Rossi and Big Horn Armory both offer lever-action rifles chambered for the .454 Casull.

If power is your main consideration, there’s no comparison; the .454 Casull is the clear winner. With its most powerful loads, the .454 Casull can generate nearly 2,000 foot-pounds of kinetic energy at the muzzle. This puts it in the same class as some popular rifle cartridges, but with bullets weighing twice as much. However, with high performance +P+ ammunition, the .44 Magnum is not that far behind the .454. Take note, however, there is not a SAAMI standard for +P or +P+ .44 Magnum ammo. Dirty Harry’s cartridge will not shoot quite as fast or hit as hard as the .454 Casull, but like the .454 Casull, the .44 magnum is capable of handling any critter you want to tackle.

I find shooting a .44 magnum wheel gun quite enough, and after a couple of wheels of ammunition I’m ready to put it away.  I shoot it enough to know what to expect.  The power is great for the bush, but I don’t think I want to sport a .454 Casull handgun.

However, I would surely have a lever action rifle in 454 Casull, except that Big Horn Armory charges an arm and a leg for their rifles.  I know Rossi makes a rifle, but it surely doesn’t have the looks of a quality gun.  Henry doesn’t make one in that caliber either.

Ruger has several revolvers in 454 Casull but their choice is certainly limited.  That the selections in 454 Casull are so limited seems to me to limit the use and popularity of the cartridge.

I have several remarks before you watch this video.

First, I’m neither a S&W fan nor a detractor.  I don’t like the gap between the M&P frame and slide, and never have, so I don’t have any.  Next, I don’t know the real reason their 10mm models are duds, nor even if they are.  I will say, however, that the first video of someone shooting one shows him firing it limp wristed.  In fact, he is using almost “cup and saucer,” which will never cycle the firearm correctly, or at least, it reduces the likelihood that it will.

Then finally I’ll observe that I’ve never heard any complaints about the Springfield Armory 10mm handguns, despite how much grief they take over Reddit/Firearms and Reddit/Guns.  I simply don’t get why the grief – the only one I ever had was a fine, well-functioning machine.  I just don’t use striker-fired pistols.  If Springfield Armory sold a hammer-fired option I might consider it.  In fact, I think they do in the 1911 model.

But I don’t have a 10mm handgun anyway.  I just don’t see the point because it would be so redundant with 450 SMC and .44 magnum.

Admittedly, this is the hardest thing to learn, and the easiest thing to lose if you don’t stay in practice.

I get ads all the time, most are worthy of ignoring.  Some interest me, like this one.  This particular model comes in the RMR footprint which is important to me.

I’ve heard that the green dot is easier on the eyes and easier to pick up.

For those of you who have actually used Veridian sights for pistols or shotguns, what are your opinions?

Related, this is a good rundown on the best pistol lights.  Since I have used Streamlight, it’s easy to ignore the fact that SureFire also has some nice models.

Well, that’s interesting.  The town clown is at it again.  I seriously had never thought anyone could come up with something like this. I guess one could go all over the spectrum in the thought-experiment with this, from “I want one of those,” to “Maybe somebody has been slamming the forward assist too many times and I’ve never had to use it at all,” to “I don’t think I would want to pull that trigger, no sir, no way, no how.”

Anyway, here it is. The only serious thing I can think of to say is that Eugene is rolling over in his grave.

@nra “Who is God’s name needs a weapon with 100 rounds in the chamber?” —Joe Biden #nra #secondamendment #2a #trump #biden #joebiden #kamalaharris ♬ original sound – NRA

Prior:

High Magazine Clips And The Shoulder Thing That Goes Up

High Ammo Clips

Automatic Bullets In Rapid Fire Magazine Clips

Duck Hunting With Bullets

The Fully Loaded Ammunition Cartridge

The 40-Clip Magazine

Source.

Relaxing Israel’s restrictive gun license laws has long been championed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, as well as some libertarian-leaning right-wing politicians, but it is an issue that has not gained much traction, despite occasional reports of high-level discussions on the issue.

Gun control in Israel is relatively strict, and firearm licenses are generally only granted to those who can show a need for extra security in their line of work or daily life. Meaning, one of the key criteria for a private citizen to receive permission to own a gun is where they live.

That could now change, says Rabbi Raz Blizovsky, 32, of Katzrin, an activist who has been part of grassroots discussions around personal arms.

“People are changing their opinion, and now there is more awareness,” he told The Times of Israel. It doesn’t make sense, he said, that someone in Tel Aviv cannot get a pistol, but someone in the Golan can. “There are terror attacks in both places,” he stressed.

[ … ]

On Sunday morning, one day after the Hamas assault began, Blizovsky started several WhatsApp communities for those who wish to have easier access to personal weapons. They have drawn some 4,000 members in 24 hours. An online petition he created, in order to press the government on the issue, garnered some 8,000 signatures in the same timeframe.

If more people had access to personal firearms, the horrific scenes coming out of the Gaza-adjacent communities could have been averted, he opined. Many people have contacted him in recent days who wish they could get a weapon, he said, including members of the Druze community, many of whom served in the IDF in combat positions, but then after their service, are not able to qualify for a license.

Free men don’t ask permission.  Governments don’t oppose and prevent gun ownership because they care about the people.  They do so because they’re afraid of the people.

And it’s too little, too late.  You get guns and ammunition BEFORE this sort of thing happens, not in response to it.

When “interest” becomes demand and the people ignore their government, things will change.

There should be no such thing as permitting or licensure of firearms anywhere on earth.

Source.

Gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson hosted a grand opening of its new Tennessee headquarters Saturday after moving from its longtime home in Massachusetts to a more gun-friendly state.

The company built a new 650,000-square feet headquarters in Maryville, Tennessee, as part of a $125 million relocation plan announced in 2021. Tours were offered at the new facility on Saturday.

The gunmaker had been located in Springfield, Massachusetts, since the mid-19th century, but company officials have said legislative proposals in that state would prohibit them from manufacturing certain weapons. Massachusetts is known to have some of the country’s strictest gun laws.

Smith & Wesson President and CEO Mark Smith spoke at the event Saturday, which drew a large crowd to the new facility, The Daily Times reported.

“From where I stand, the next 170 years of Smith & Wesson are looking pretty good,” Smith said. “It is something special here in Tennessee.”

He cited a welcoming regulatory environment and close collaboration with the Tennessee state government as a crucial piece of the plan to relocate. The company has said the new facility would create hundreds of jobs.

Well good, but I hope they’re not leaving business folks and engineers in Massachusetts.  Move everything.

Now, leave that stupid Hillary Hole key lock for your revolvers behind.

In celebration, Jerry had some stuff to do.  I suspect it was his 9mm wheel gun he’s so fond of.

Congratulations, NRA World Champion @Jerry_Miculek! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 @Smith_WessonInc pic.twitter.com/AUrB7l2GFp

— NRA (@NRA) October 8, 2023