The Firearm Blog

Rob Curtis published a product brochure for the upcoming not-yet-announced H&K MR556-SD MR762A1-SD. The H&K MR556-SD MR762A1-SD features a new Modular Rail System (MRS) that allows rails segments to be screwed in where required, much like the KeyMod system. The suppressors are interesting. Rob writes …

The OSS suppressor system also improves the HK platform by adding caliber and configuration modularity, individual suppressor component sustainability, greater than 90% reduction in blowback and bolt velocity compared to competing suppressor systems. The OSS system comprises a back pressure regulator (BPR) and a sound reduction module (SRM). The rifle is shot ‘unsuppressed’ with the BPR installed. This reduces flash and noise noticeably, but the addition of th

SIG Addict got hold of a photo of SIG SAUER’s upcoming SIG 556xi modular rifle that will be available in 5.56x45mm, 7.62x39mm, and .300 AAC BLK. The barrels and bolts will be swappable between calibers. According to SIG Addict they can accept AK and AR magazines (how this is achieved is not specified). The models available will be …

SIG 556xi - Standard model, comes with standard side-folding stock (with removable cheek pad)

SIG 556xi Carbon - Enhanced model, comes with carbon fiber quad rail, and skeletonized side-folding stock

SIG 556xi Russian - Similar to standard model but chambered in 7.62x39mm Russian only, comes with standard side-folding stock (with removable cheek pad)

SIG P556xi - Pistol model, comes with quad rail and SB15 forearm brace

Wyff4.com reports that a thief fired shots at a business using a squash as a suppressor. He then threw a cinder block through the window and stole lottery tickets.

… deputies say they saw someone walk up to the building and fire two shots from a gun that had a squash on the end of it.

Seems this guy has gone out of his way to break as many laws as possible, including manufacturing a suppressor illegally.

Thanks to Andrew for the tip.

In These Times, a ‘social justice’ type publication, has written an article about perma-temps (employees hired on short-term / temporary contracts that can be renewed indefinitely). This hiring strategy has been getting a lot of media coverage all over the country during this past year. This is a very emotive issue for people on both sides of the debate and I don’t want to get into an off-topic discussion on the pros or cons of this practice. Nor do I wish to push my point of view. I do however want to draw attention to the In These Times article in particular. I believe it unfairly targets Glock. I want to address two points.

1. The article claims Glock is effectively subsidized by government (Federal, State and Local governments). The author wrote …

Either way, public money is subsidizing these jobs. And that means the government should have some leverage over employment practices.

2. Glock would not be paying low wages i

I have been in the gun hobby since I turned 18. On their 18th birthday, many young men and women will go out and buy a tobacco product or lottery ticket as a sort of rite of passage, but I knew what I wanted: A gun. I went to my local sports emporium and picked out a bolt action 30-06 Savage rifle as a sort of all purpose firearm and the rest is history. For 9 years I have been collecting, buying, shooting, and growing my gun collection to an arsenal that would have made my 18 year old self salivate. Over the years I have kept a close eye on the gun market too. When I was in college with no money, I would always look at auction sites and big gun shop’s prices to keep a firm grasp on the market so I could, foreseeably in the future buy what I lusted after while in school. After I graduated and got a job my dreams became reality and for all intents and purposes, all of my extra money went into my shooting hobby. To people not engaged in this great pastime of ours this may seem foolish, but as of yet I have lost money on very few firearms and have always felt like they are a safe place to keep money. A gun is a compli

Originally developed and manufactured by Rheinmetall (and later parts manufactured by H&K) the Bundeswehr’s MG3 has been in service since the 1960s. Its design is essentially an improved MG42 chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO. It retains that distinctive MG42 aesthetic many gun enthusiasts love, along with the MG42′s reliability and ease of use (and, as some might argue, its far to high rate of fire). But 50 years later it is showing its age, being bigger, heavier than 21st century machine guns built with polymer and modern alloys (not to mention covered in picatinny rails). The HK121 is being adopted as the future Bundeswehr machine gun, but it will be a very long time before budgets allow enough to be procured to retire the 10,000s (100,000?) MG3 machine guns in service. Enter the MG3KWS (“Kampfwertsteigerung” or “Combat Improvements”), an upgraded version of the MG3 b

Smith & Wesson introduced a matte silver version of the Governor revolver.  The Governor is the company’s answer to the very popular Taurus Judge series of revolvers.

The gun has a scandium alloy frame and stainless steel cylinder.  A plain black ramp serves as the front sight and the rear sight is a notch in the frame.  The Governor is able to shoot .45 ACP, .45 Colt and .410 shotshells and comes with two round and six round moon clips for the .45 ACP rounds.

S&W lists a suggested retail price of $809 for the new matte silver finish.  The new Governor is listed on the company’s website, so your dealer should be able to order one today.

The folks at Lukcygunner have reviewed the new PCP Polymer-Cased .308 Win. ammunition. The idiom “Damned by faint praise” comes to mind. The company is marketing this as a premium brand and it needs to shoot like a premium brand. Civilians are less concerned about ammunition weight than the military. On the other hand a Remington VTR (in its much criticized factory stock) is probably getting 1.5 MOA at best anyway. Accuracy comparison should be done with either a more accurate stock rifle or an accurized rifle (getting off topic here but a Remington 700 can easily be made more accurate by the addition of an HS-Precision stock and Timney trigger. Total upgrade cost about $550). Chris’ video review is embedded below …

Most reflex sights only offer one type of reticle, and the user is locked into it. However, the most unique thing about MSE’s AQC-1C model is that it offers three reticles which the user can change at the push of a button.

Left button: Brightness control. Center button: On/off. Right button: Reticle selection.

An overseas Glock dealer emailed us the above image of the Glock G41 Gen 4 supplied to them by their Glock salesman. The dealer was told that the pricing would be similar to the G34/35 (not necessarily applicable in any other country). The long slide G41 is a nice addition to the Glock line, but not a major new addition that will generate the kind of sales that I expect the sub-compact .380 Glock G42.

Massad Ayoob discusses the G41 in the Tactical Life video below …

The Texas Department of Public Safety is phasing out the current issued SIG Sauer pistols chambered for the .357 SIG cartridge.  Smith & Wesson M&P9 pistols will replace the SIG handguns beginning with the academy class starting training this month.  Troopers already issued the SIG pistols will transition to the M&P over time.

While the department could have transitioned to another SIG product in 9mm for less recoil, the department stated the selection of the M&P was based on several reasons:

• the M&P is lighter than the SIG Sauer
• the palm swell grips allow the department to better fit the gun to the officer
• testing showed the M&P exceeded the performance of the SIG

While I personally like SIG Sauer products, I generally agree with the Texas DPS decision.  Fitting a gun to the individual is extremely

Smith & Wesson announced two new Performance Center revolvers for 2014: a Model 686 and a Model 629.

The Performance Center Model 686 is a .357 Magnum revolver with an unfluted cylinder and 2.5″ barrel.  It has custom wood grips, and adjustable rear sights, a red ramp front sight and holds seven rounds.

A chrome trigger and hammer compliment the glass bead finish.  The action is hand-tuned and the muzzle has a precision crown.  MSRP is $1,089.

The

Zel Custom has a new upper for the AR-10 and LR-308 platforms called the Spartan S3.  The Spartan S3 is a bolt action upper that allows an owner to shoot .50 BMG, .416 Barrett and .338 Lapua.  This upper is similar to other uppers by Zel Custom (and other manufacturers) that allow the shooting of heavy calibers from am AR-15 lower.

The Spartan S3 uppers can be had with either Mossberg or Lothar Walther barrels in lengths ranging from 18.5″ to 32″.  Pricing starts at $1,898 and goes up depending on options selected.

The upper shown in the photo above is unfinished, but various finishes are available including parkerizing, ferritic nitrocarburizing, and CeraKote.

Smith & Wesson announced two new variants in the M&P line of rifles.  The first is a new M&P10 that ships with a 20-round Magpul magazine.  Prior M&P10 rifles shipped with five- or ten-round magazines.  This version of the gun will retail for $1,619.

The second new variant is in the M&P15 line.  Smith & Wesson will now offer an all black version of the .300 Whisper rifle.  Recently, this gun has only been available in Realtree APG camo.

Previously, S&W offered an all black version of the rifle with a 16″ barrel and a quad-rail.  After that model was discontinued, the company continued to offer a complete upper assembly with the quad-rail.  That was also discontinued.

Smith & Wesson stated that the new black rifle will not come with rails, and instead it will have a standard, ribbed

Para USA is expected to introduce a 9mm version of the Black Ops Recon pistol at the 2014 SHOT Show.  The new guns will be similar to the existing Black Ops Recon pistols currently chambered in .45 ACP.

The new Black Ops Recon 9 will feature:

• 18 round magazines
• 4.25″ match grade barrel
• VZ G10 grips
• Trijicon night sights
• black finish
• skeletonized trigger

MSRP on the new guns will be $1,299.  Although not officially announced by Para USA, the pistols are showing up in dealer catalogs here, here and

Winchester recently announced their new Win3Gun line of ammo made specifically for 3-gun competitions. It’s designed to be more reliable, accurate and cleaner burning. Winchester will be offering their new Win3Gun line in 9mm, 40S&W, 45ACP, 5.56mm with a 55-grain bullet and 12-guage shotgun in both 7 1/2 shot and 00 buckshot. The new Win3Gun will debut sometime in 2014, but with ammo demand still at record highs I wonder if Winchester will ramp up ammo production even more to bring this to market.

EAST ALTON, Ill. (Dec. 18, 2013) – 3-Gun competition has quickly become one of the most exciting and rapidly growing fields of shooting sports. With a dual emphasis on shooting speed and accuracy, Winchester recognized the need to create their own custom loads in order meet the demands of the sport. For 2014, Winchester® Ammunition has created the all-new Win3Gun™ line to provide competition-grade ammunition that comes ready for action.

All pistol cartridges (9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP) in the Win3Gun line use lead-free primers and heel-encapsulated bullets. This makes the pistol of

Recenly our friends at TPM Outfitters really did us a favor by showing up at out KRISS Vector demonstration with an H&K UMP to use for comparison. I mentioned that they surprised me by bringing an MP5-N I commissioned them to build for me and I was absolutely thrilled to shoot it, and now I figure it is time to do a full review, especially considering that 2014 is the 50th anniversary of the MP5!

I showed up at TPM with a box of MP5 parts I had collected over the years that I eventually planned on building into a complete gun. I had everything I needed, and had bought a part here and there every time I found a good deal. I probably had $1,000 or so dollars in components, so I did not want to risk ruining anything by trying to bend and weld up my own receiver. After I saw the detail that TPM puts into every gun they build, I knew that they would do me right if I had them finish everything out. They told me they would do it all for $900, a price I was more than happy with considering

A photo of an Kel-Tec advertisement or flyer is making its way around the internet.  It shows two new bullpup-style carbines that will be introduced this year.  One is called the RDB, while the second is called the M43.

The limited information shown suggests the guns will first be available in .223 Rem with 6.5 Grendel and 7.62×39 coming along later.  However, the guns will probably not be available for at least 6-9 months as the ad states “223Rem available by late 2014″ and no dates are given for other calibers.  Cynical readers might suggest not holding one’s breath for these to arrive based on the difficulty in finding the company’s other products.

Kel-Tec currently sells another bullpup-style gun called the RFB, which is available in .308 Win/7.62 NATO.

Thanks to reader TG for the tip on this one.

Making good on their earlier promise to leave Colorado, Magpul announced they are preparing to move the company.  Current plans will move the corporate headquarters to north Texas, while manufacturing and distribution will move to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

According to a Washington Times article:

• manufacturing and distribution will start in a leased Cheyenne facillity, with the intent of moving into a custom built facility in about three years
• site selection for the corporate HQ in “north-central” Texas is underway
• roughly 92% of the Magpul workforce will relocate outside of Colorado in 12-16 months
• Magpul will leave a small footpri