The Truth About Guns

The 2014 SHOT Show kicks off Monday with Media Day at the Range. After that testing and evaluation OD, there’s four days of industry madness. Once again, some 60k firearms folk will gather in Sin City to do deals, chew the fat and try to convince their wives they’re schmoozing with gun guys while they’re at the Hard Rock for the AVN porn conference. And TTAG will be there. The SHOT Show, I mean. In force. I’ve got our A-Team on the job: Chris, Nick, Dan, Jeremy, Barry and Joe. OK, Joe’s more of an epic poet than a blogger. I’ll blog a bit but I’m gonna be busy sign

The versatility of the 300 AAC Blackout cartridge may be its biggest weakness. The wide variety of bullet weights that you can use, and the vast differences between supersonic and subsonic velocities, means that one single BDC reticle doesn’t really cut the mustard. You need a purpose built reticle to handle the caliber, and until now that has meant a hefty price tag. But Pride Fowler Industries have come out with a budget scope for the 300 AAC Blackout caliber called the RR-Evolution BLK that claims to do it all.

The scope has a 1.25 – 4x magnification range, a pretty solid feat

Regardless of the circumstances leading to this assassination shoot-out, keeping in mind that camera angles can be deceptive, it appears that both officers on the left are shooting towards the officer on the right. The officer across the street (on the right) runs towards the line of fire, ducking behind a car. Not recommended. Notice also the hits on the hood and the large spread of shots that strike that windshield. Where exactly was the perp at whom they were shooting? And why did the cops start shooting anyway? Was there any direct threat to the public or any officer’s life? Whitewash Investigation to follow.

MasterPiece Arms, the same people who brought you such awesomely useful firearms as the MAC-10 SBR in 5.7mm, have now decided to get into the high end rifle manufacturing business. Their first offering is a $4,000 .308 Winchester bolt action rifle, and I’m not feeling it. It might be that the barrel uses button rifling instead of the more precise cut rifling process that high-end rifle manufacturers use, or that the stock is basically a chopped up Magpul PRS, or that it looks as ugly as the rest of MPA’s line of firearms, I can’t put my finger on it. Press release after the jump.

MPA’s first bolt-action rifle, chambered in .308 is built on a MPA tactical aluminum chassis with a Remington 700 type bolt design wit

Gun control organizations claim they support Americans’ protected right to keep and bear arms. When spreading their lies and disinformation they say “We support the Second Amendment but -” Whatever infringement follows is “common sense.” Must prove a need to anti-gun bureaucrats to bear arms? Common sense! Sixteen hours or mandatory training? Common sense! Prohibited from carrying more than seven rounds in a handgun? Common sense! And now . . . “A proposed state law in Missouri would make it a crime for parents or guardians not to tell school officials if they have guns in their home . . . If passed into law 

“Like cars, guns should be registered from the time they’re manufactured to the time they’re destroyed, so there’s a continuous chain of ownership. Anyone who owns a gun should be required to have liability insurance, so if they injure or kill somebody, the victim or the victim’s family will receive monetary damages. Every state in the country should require gun owners to pass a competence test – just like drivers do – and get a shooter’s license before they can carry or use a gun. This is just common sense.” It’s Time for Shooter’s Insurance [via truth-out.org]

The Forsyth County, North Carolina sheriff has made an interesting deal. During a facility move, two 1928 Thompson submachine guns were discovered collecting dust in the back of the armory. They’d been donated to the police department by the RJ Reynolds tobacco company several decades ago. Upon discovering what they were worth and realizing that a modern law enforcement agency had no use for them, he arranged a trade. He struck a deal whereby he turned the guns over to Craig’s Firearm Supply of Knoxville, TN in exchange for 88 Bushmaster AR-15s. Sheriff Schatzman said, “The Thompsons are vintage but not streetworthy,” Schatzman said. “This trade will help us with obtaining what we need for today.”

Following on this week’s story of the no-knock raid that claimed a Texas Deputy’s life, a story coming out of Manchester, NH has two guys posing as cops who knock on a door, show their “badges,” tell the homeowner and his daughter that they are searching for a dangerous fugitive, handcuff them (for their own safety of course) and then proceed to rob the place. Taken were cash, cellphones, a gun, passports, and other items.  The passports are the most interesting as those are things that would not be of much value to the low level junkie – you have to know where to sell those to get top dollar . . .

This was clearly a well-planned and well-executed crime.  Quite honestly, given h

North Texas Custom Kydex (NTCK) is a small, family-owned company manufacturing custom holsters and magazine carrier systems.  The owners, Steve and Janelle Krivoruk, are based out of the small town of McKinney, Texas. In April of last year, the Krivoruk family contacted me via TTAG after reading my article on the Steyr M9. In that article, I had lamented that there weren’t many holster options available for the gun. Steve and Janelle wanted me to know that they produced a Kydex holster that would fit the M9, and offered to send me one to review. I gladly accepted, and ended up liking it so much, I had them make me another holster for my CZ 83. Here’s the scoop . . .

Like bullpups? I do, but I can never seem to find one for less than twice the price of a similar-quality conventional gun. Drop-in bullpup stocks for 10/.22s and Mossberg 500s don’t count, and kludged AK bullpups just give me the creeps. Desert Tech (formerly Desert Tactical Arms) is jumping on the bullpup bandwagon with their way-brand-new Micro Dynamic Rifle, which offers more than just a trim and trigger-forward design. It features a modular design which lets the user switch between five calibers. Without tools . . .

Judging by the lack of curvature in that magazine, at least one of the calibers is shaped a lot like the .308/7.62×51 NATO. Desert Tech hasn’t actually released the full spec

Gun nuts target one of their own the chicagotribune.com headline proclaims. First, the term “gun nuts” is patently offensive. It’s the firearms equivalent of “fag,” Kike” and “nigger.” Second, the pun on the word “target” is, you guessed it, patently offensive. It suggests that gun owners want to kill former Guns & Ammo contributor Dick Metcalf. For it is he that Pulitzer Prize-winning editorialist Leonard Pitts seeks to defend. By paint

The rabbi and I stopped by GT Distributors yesterday. And there it was: the GLOCK 42. It’s so cute! Just like a regular GLOCK only dainty. Seriously, the GLOCK 42 is a highly concealable pistol that looks and feels like its big brothers, only totes adorbs! The size difference between my diminutive Kahr PM9 and the itty bitty GLOCK 42 is about as dramatic as sailboat racing. (Comparo pics and few more after the jump.) In other words, the GLOCK 42′s a hit. Yes but – the Kahr fires 9mm cartridges while Gaston’s gat spits out .380′s. That’s a BIG difference. “Don’t talk to me about shot placement,” the rabbi said before I opened my mouth. “You try hitting a moving target during a defensive gun use. You want as large a caliber as possible to inflict the maximum damage

With a nod to TTAG’s Year of PC, I resisted the urge to plaster a snap of an attractive women at the top of this post. Nick’s reader survey clearly indicated that we needed to tone down the site’s supposedly salacious content to avoid alienating the weaker sex. Did I just say that? I was kidding, I swear. That said (or not), an image of female beauty would probably have been less incendiary than the hunting collage above – at least to those who can’t stand the idea of shooting animals to protect them. Looking at the astronomical prices of the hunts on offer in Dallas, I reckon the hunting industry pours tens of millions of dollars into the African economy. A

“If there’s no real intent, there’s no real threat, no real weapon, no real harm is occurring or going to occur, why in the world are we in a sense abusing our children like this?” – Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern, Oklahoma bill would ease school policies on imaginary, toy guns [at foxnews.com]

It boggles the mind that marriage licenses and driver’s licenses are recognized in every state of the union, but not my concealed handgun license. You’d think that the “full faith and credit” clause would take care of that, since all 50 states now have some sort of concealed carry law on the books and the court recognizes that carrying guns is a constitutionally protected act. Senator John Cornyn, from the great state of Texas, just proposed a new bill that would eliminate that double standard and provide for universal reciprocity. I’m guessing that it’s the result of the pressure he feels from his fellow Texas Senator Ted Stevens to make him stand out in an election year, but either way I’ll take it. Press release after the jump.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

Today’s post is going to run a little long, but it’s Friday night, and in my defense, there’s really a lot of stupid out there. Leading off, yesterday’s Digest highlighted a story of a man arrested for disturbing the peace after he carried an AR-15 slung muzzle-down through the Parkdale Mall in Beaumont, Texas to his store, located inside. Today it was reported that the mall has officially posted signs prohibiting firearms at entrances, presumably the 30.06 signs that carry the weight of law in Texas. A rep from the mall’s owners wanted to make clear that the policy isn’t

I’ll give you a hint: this is only the press lounge from 2012. Bring Back The Beer!

The SHOT Show extravaganza is almost here, and all of our email accounts are buzzing with invites, plans, and travel details as we draw a deep breath before taking the plunge. As if to remind us of the enormity of the undertaking, the NSSF has put out a cool infographic which boils all of the halls, stalls and booth babes into some mind-boggling statistics. (Okay, I made up that part about the booth babes.) . . .

Click on the jumbo thumbnail below for the full infographic:

All I have to say is, yikes.

The inside of a bolt carrier is the dirtiest, hardest to reach place in your AR-15 rifle. There are so many small nooks and crannies that the only way to thoroughly clean it is using a dental pick, a box and a half of Q-tips and about an hour and a half of time. The guys behind M-Pro 7 realized that structures like these are a pain to clean, and have come out with a foaming gun cleaner to take care of that particular problem . . .

The bottle uses a push operated pump to get things moving, which differs from the Break-Free CLP foaming cleaner offering (which is in a pressurized aerosol bottle) and means that it won’t explode if you accidentally puncture it. It’s not a major concern for most people, but if you’re planning on carrying a bottle in your range kit it might be a factor you want to consider. Also different fr

[h/t DrVino - link is NSFW]