The Firearm Blog

Pentagon is planning on destroying $1.2 billion worth of ammunition, representing less than 2% of the $70 billion conventional ammunition stockpile. USA Today …

Partial-privatization has been good to Kalashnikov Concern. First quarter production is up 230% from the first quarter of 2013. RIA reports …

In case you haven’t heard, PTR Industries has been making big moves to bring the HK-91 platform back to our shores. Originally formed in 2006 after its predecessor acquiring a full HK-licensed factory (Fabrica MIlitar or Portugal); PTR reorganized in 2010 and has found a very willing market for the roller-locked .308 battle rifles. (Our own Alex C. owns one).

If you can ignore my camera’s inability to focus through a scope I would call this the “sleeper hit” of the show. Hawke Sport Optics recently released their Hawke Sport HD IR 3-9×40 Rimfire SR Reticle Scope. Calibrated for a 1300 fps .22lr round*, the scope has built-in aim points for 50 – 200 yards.

I’m a huge proponent of being a student for life. No matter how young or old you may be, there’s always plenty to learn. Even if you’ve already studied content, things change and it’s always a good idea to get a refresher.

The Faxon Muzzle Brake is a strong contender for my personal “Best in Show” award. While the brake looks effective, the magic behind it is a set of opposing threaded locking ring over the top of the base threads. No need to use crush washers. This is an easy-index system with easy-on/easy-off capabilities. They call it their “time lock” feature.

The famous curse of the breaking plastic safety buttons on Mossberg pump-action shotguns has finally hit me.

Released at SHOTShow earlier this year, EO-Tech had a few sample at their NRA booth. Available for the 512 or 522, the Laser Battery Cap (LBC) is a stand-alone accessory and is now shipping as a complete package with applicable sights. Options include a visible-only laser or a visible & IR LBC.

Nosler has announced that it is making a line of Noveske branded ammunition intended for Novekse rifles. Initial release calibers include 5.56mm in 55gr Varmageddon and 60gr Ballistic Tip varieties, .300 AAC Blackout in 110gr Varmageddon (supersonic) and 220gr Subsonic varieties, and 7.62×51 in 110gr Varmageddon and 168gr Ballistic Tip varieties. The cartridges are entirely black nickel plated, similar to the cases of the original run of the Hornady TAP FPD line of cartridges. Interestingly, the plastic tips of some of the cartridges appear to be designed to glow in the dark.

No release date has yet been announced.

Over the past couple of weeks we have had significant problems serving up the TFB homepage. Many readers have reported that they had not seen any new blog posts for 1 or even 2 weeks, and wanted to know if we were still operating. If anything, thanks to Nathan’s coverage of the NRA ’14 meeting, we have had far more blog posts in the past week than normal.

Finally SureFire has made a E1D. In the past, flashlight users had to Lego together the components. Taking a E2D bezel and tail cap and putting them onto a single cell E1 body.  Below are two iterations that I have made. But this requires buying two separate lights just to make one.

The new E1D LED or E1DL has a blinding 300 lumens out of a single CR123 battery. It is the brightest single cell light that SureFire has brought out to date.

So this picture was on social media. Shooting Illustrated posted this on their Facebook page and it looks like it was spotted at the NRA show. From the picture it looks like a modified Kel-Tec Shotgun. I am not really seeing the benefit to a double barreled pump shotgun. Sure having two magazine tubes in my KSG is wonderful and gives me options and higher capactiy of ammo. However I fail to see the benefit to a double barreled pump shotgun. I suppose you could have one smooth and the other rifled. Or you could have different chokes, if you have choke adapters. But I rather see tube extensions for the KSG. Or better yet, twin x-rails on the front of the KSG. I estimate it would be a 40 rd shotgun haha.

Dupleks, a Latvian ammunition company was show-casing their environmentally friends (and what looks to be highly effective) steel ammunition. They have multiple options including a similar segmenting slug design to the recently reviewed G2 R.I.P.

FNH USA sent out a press release saying that they have cut the price of 14 different FNS-9 and FNS-40 variants by $100. Only black models have been discounted. According to the press release the price cut is because high sales volumes have allowed them to decrease costs and therefor price. From the press release …

A reader spotted an interesting submachine gun in a Vice documentary Syria’s Unending Rebel Conflict: Wolves of the Valley. Just before the documentary end, at about 24:49, a man in a black range rover is shown waving around a submachine gun. It appears to be chambered in 9mm. The  receiver is tubular, not unlike the Sten or Sterling submachine gun, it has a magazine inserted into the pistol grip and lacks a trigger guard. It has either a side-folding or under-folding wire stock. It has a forward handguard under the receiver, similar to the Uzi handguard.

If you are a gadget guy, these will fall directly in your belly-wicket. The AR-15 multi-tool is a recently released follow-on to Real Avid’s Golden-Bullseye-winning gun-tool from 2011. Specifically designed for modern-sporting rifles, the tool allows anyone to completely assemble an AR with a companion armorer’s wrench.

SRM Arms was showcasing their non-lethal bolt for their rotary-tube magazine shotgun. Colored orange for easy identification, the bolt is designed specifically for lower-power bean-bag and non-lethal loadings. The bolt is drop-in into the existing firearm and can only cycle low-power shells. SRM did not that it will chamber and fire a single lethal-loaded round before rendering itself unusable without armory work.

At NRA 2014, Glock confirmed that they will be offering factory threaded barrels for Gen 3 firearms later this year. Included models will be the G17, G19, G21, and G23. Interestingly the full-size .40 G22 will not be included. Per the representative present, the G22 will not be included as “.40 does not supress well”. (I agree, as I shoot G22′s). The G23 will get the barrel to make it Canadian-legal.

After the massive goof yesterday, we were up and running today. Over 9 hours of ground-pounding today to wrap up TFB’s coverage of NRA 2014. We will not be on the floor Sunday (Day 4).

One of my favorite things to find: a small company with a nifty product. iSights has released a rail-compatible (Weaver & Picatinny) rail adapter for the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy-series phones. The phone comes complete with available apps from the iTunes and Google Play stores.