The Firearm Blog

Davidson’s is now offering a special edition of the Ruger 10/22 takedown rifle to support the National Rifle Association.  The rifles have a camouflage finish and the NRA logo on the bolt.  The guns also have unique serial numbers to identify them as special edition rifles.

The guns have fiber optic sights and the receiver is drilled and tapped for adding a scope.  The guns ship in a nylon carrying case that is brown with black trim and is marked as a special edition NRA rifle.

According to Davidson’s, “For each rifle sold, both Davidson’s and Ruger contribute $10 to the NRA Institute for Legislative Action.”  The rifles are

TriStar arms has released a shotgun specifically for turkey hunters.  Made in Mossy Oak Break Up, and has a 3″ chamber and 24″ barrel.  For a MSRP of $489, there are several upgrades that you get with this shotgun including a picatinny rail, ghost rings sights and pistol grip stock. While it is not a top of the line shotgun, it looks to be a great shotgun to get into shooting and getting out in the field.  Searching for TriStar reviews, there are not a whole lot out there, but I was able to find some anecdotal information in several forums, all of which are positive.  As a turkey hunter myself, look for a full review in the future.

  Just in time for the 2014 turkey hun

I first came across Tia Imel last year when one of my Facebook friends, Top Shot Season 4 and 5 competitor Gabby Franco, posted about Tia. Tia was raising money to buy a new rifle for practice and competition, and to help cover her travel and training expenses. Tia’s energy, big smile, and enthusiasm were inspiring hundreds of people to chip in and help out. Tia makes jewelry by shooting quarters at 10 meters with a .22LR rifle, smoothes and polishes the quarters, and then adds a lanyard. (You can buy one at the link provided at the end of the article).

Originally pitched on KickStarter, the MS Clean (Magazine Shaped Cleaning Kit) is the first product for MS Clean, LLC. Billing itself as an “Improved cleaning kit case for sportsman and professional use,” the MS Clean is a patented STANAG shaped hard case designed to be easily stored in existing magazine pouches (Author’s note- hopefully away from and not to be confused with your ammo!). It is sized to carry the contents of standard issue cleaning kits and other small accessories. The MS Clean cannot be inserted by accident into a mag well.

Long range rifle forum SnipersHide.com and associates are being sued by TacticalRifles.net for criticizing the company and their products. One of the forum admin’s wrote …

We are going to fight the lawsuit filed by TacticalRifles.net out in Federal Court of Florida.

This Federal case was filed against Me, Sniper’s Hide & Marc Soulie, at present I have spoken to several lawyers on the matter and feel rather than try to settle it, we are gonna fight it and protect our ability to post the truth in any matter. We feel fighting this and winning will send a message to companies that were are here for a reason and do in fact provide a service to the members, not only what we can say, but how and where our money will be spent.

This fight is about you the end user, and the ability to talk about problems with a company’s product or service. Without defending this suit, a win tells all of you, if you voice a ne

Splinter-Sell (a clever pun on the computer game Splinter Cell) is the online Etsy store run by UK artist Jenni Edwards. Jenni builds replica guns from wood, mainly maple and birch. The FN SCAR replica pictured below features a magazine release, adjustable butt-stock, moving cocking lever, and a trigger that drops an internal hammer. The parts are laser cut and assembled by hand. Prices range from $163 for the pistols to $837 for the rifles. Jenni cannot sell them to UK residents because of laws restricting the sale of replica guns.

Having shot the TrAAcker wad for 12 guage that Winchester came out with just over a month ago at SHOT, I can say that them offering it in 20 gauge will be nice for sportsman looking to maximize their hits with their shotgun.  Not being a huge wing or clay shooter myself I was amazed at how quickly I was able to correct my shooting to make hits on targets every time.  The weighted tracking wad flew straight, and stayed with the shot.

This is the second major release for Winchester Ammunition in the past two weeks for the 20 gauge platform.   With the 20 gauge becoming more popular, it is nice to see an ammunition company following suit with popular demand.

The new TrAAcker wad is available in black for clear days against a blue sky and orange for dark background or overcast days.

India’s Prototype MCIWS (Multi-Calibre Individual Weapon System) was on display at the DEFEXPO 2014 arms expo. The rifle has been designed to chamber 5.56mm, 6.8x43mm and 7.62x39mm. It appears to be based on the FNC design with some AR-15 features mixed in and is being built alongside an electronic optics and under barrel grenade platform which will allow the operator to launch airburst grenades.

Take a look at

BLK Technologies has introduced a new range of rimfire and airgun mounts and bases. Each of the SOLO series rings are being sold individually rather than in pairs so you can mix and match them for your gun/optic combination. The SOLO ring range includes offset rings, single strap, double strap and even triple strap rings. You could, for example, have a triple strap forward of your scope turrets and a offset to the rear of them.

BKL-274 0.6″ Offset Dovetail Ring

Serbia’s Military Police Special Operation Battalion ”Cobras” have adopted the FN SCAR L as their primary carbine and the FN SCAR-H PR as their sniper rifle. They are using these alongside HK UMP .45 submachine guns, FN SLP shotguns and GLOCK pistols.

Meanwhile to the south the Special forces of Greece have also adopted the FN SCAR L, who appear to be using it alongside M4 Carbines.

Yesterday our 150,000th non-spam comment was posted on the site. Y’all have contributed to helping build one of the best gun communities one. Thank you!

Amichai wrote in reference to the Remington facility opening up in Huntsville, AL …

Time to switch companies! I’d love to work for them instead of the typical government contract in Huntsville.

Amichai, if you are reading this, send me an email (from the same email address you used when you posted the comment) and we will send you a gift (I am sure we have some product samples in the office we can give away).

Released to considerable buzz, the TacCon 3MR triggers are now just starting to be released to the wild. TFB was fortunate to get a chance to shoot it at SHOTShow earlier this year. Both Chris Cheng and Alex C. posted their first impressions, and were unimpressed and impressed, respectively.

Tim of Military Arms Channel was given a trigger at the show (lucky!) and has posted his thoughts and detailed shooting attempts and successes. MAC shares that there were two triggers at the SHOT range which could explain Chris’ and Alex’s different experiences. The detailed review, including comparison to a real full-auto lower receiver is below:

Firearms are small investments that must be taken care of. One of the easiest ways to protect your investment is to simply clean your firearm. A tool that can greatly speed up the cleaning process are the RamRodz Gun Swabs from RamRodz, a division of Innovative Products of America.

The Browning Hi-Power is a creation of the famous firearm designer John Browning, along with the legendary 1911 pistol. This handgun was designed in the 1920s and although less popular than the 1911 (at least in the USA) it has been continuously manufactured from 1935 until now and served as a standard service pistol in the armies of more than 50 nations. The Hi Power’s latest model,the Mark III, features an ergonomic grip, cast frame,forged slide, epoxy coating as well as a firing pin safety.

While working on the Hi-Power design, John Browning could not use any of his previous innovations used in the 1911 design. The sale of the patents to Colt prevented this. As a result the Hi-Power is very different from the 1911.Thanks to the genius of its creator it lacks some of the problems of the famous predecessor. It is much easier to field strip and functions with a wider variety of ammunition. Current models work perfectly with hollow point ammunition.

After Brownings death in 1926 the Hi Power design effort was turned over to the Belgian small arms designer Dieudonné Saive aft

Red Jacket Firearms (of Sons of Guns fame) had a interesting prototype at SHOTShow 2014. They have been working on a replacement front cap for the Kel-Tec KSG to allow attachment of flash hiders, breaching devices, and most interestingly–a 12-gauge suppressor. The Q/D prototype adds only 9″ , weighs about 26 ounces, and matches the KSG’s frontal profile.

Talking Lead interviews Red Jacket covering a new Tavor quick-change frontal rail/handguard/light system. To skip direct to the information on the shotgun, Will Hayden of Red Jacket kicks it off at 4:23 with Zach Hall going into the details.  No word on how the suppressor affects shot patterns, dB reduction, expected lifespan, or pricing.

Rob Curtis reports that Remington will be opening a 500,000-square-foot facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

Remington Outdoor Co., previously known as the Freedom Group, expects to announce a major expansion to a new facility in Huntsville, Ala., as early as next week. According to two sources with knowledge of the property sale, the deal has been in the works for months and ROC executives plan to sign the papers Monday finalizing the sale of a 500,000-square-foot facility that will add approximately 25 percent more space to Remington’s existing 2.1 million square feet of existing manufacturing real estate.

Sources say the expansion was undertaken to help the company meet unprecedented demand for its products. Space in the facility is not currently earmarked for any one of the company’s 18 individual brands, but to facilitate flexibility and growth of the Remington Outdoor Com

The IWI Galil ACE is fast becoming the AK of choice throughout the world. The Ares Research blog posted the above photo of a Model 21, one of the short barrel carbine variants, being used by the South Sudanese Air Force. South Sudan, the newest UN-recognized country, is in the midst of a civil war and is still under a number of international arms embargoes. Ares suggests that this rifle may have been supplied by Ugandan security forces.

Also recently brought to our attention is the below photo showing the Attorney General of Mexico’s Reaction Corps (Cuerpo de Reacción) armed with the Galil ACE. The ACE is just about everywhere! When is IWI US going to bring it stateside?

The views expressed below do not represent the views of Ruger, TFB or Appleseed. They are mine alone.

Gary from Michigan here. I won the Ruger 10/22 Anniversary Rifle Design Contest. Soon after I was asked by Steve if I would write an article about the competition for TFB. Ruger let me know I had won in early November, which was pretty exciting. This started a process of signing releases, choosing prizes and so forth. Astonishingly, until someone posted photos of my design from the SHOT Show, I didn’t know Ruger had made a prototype of it. It looks great and I was excited all over again.

I wanted to give people an insight into the whole process of putting together my design, why it looks like it does and what’s up with that big honking flash hider. Li

Tamara Keel writes at Shooting Illustrated …

Back in the late ’90s, there was this customer at the gun store where I worked who I thought was super cool. Not just because he carried an HK P7M13—which is pretty cool right there—but because he carried this expensive pocket knife from some brand I didn’t know and he could open that thing like a ninja. He’d just reach for his pocket and… BAM! He’s got an open knife in his hand. I’d played with various autos and assisted-openers, and I knew how to pop a folder open with a quick wrist flick or twirl a Bali-Song, but the only way I’d seen people have a blade in their hand that fast was with knives in a sheath and no unfolding involved. Because I didn’t want to seem like a total n00b, I never asked him how he did it…

Ares Armor has released their 80% lower that are SR25/DPMS patterned.  They are on sale right now on their site for $99.  Unlike a finished receiver, an 80% lower is not required to be shipped to an FFL because to the ATF, it is not a firearm until the final 20% of the mill work is completed by the user.  Once completed, the user can purchase a parts kit, and complete the lower for a fully functional large frame AR lower.

The challenge to the 80% lowers can be finding a mill to complete the lower on though.  Ares Armor sells a jig with templates for each of the processes that the end user needs to complete in order for the lower to function.  I know some have used a simple drill press and had good success, while others have not only failed, but irreparably damaged the lower.  There are also companies that will hold meetings where they will help you set up their mill, and as long as you push the green button the lower is still yours, for personal use, and not subject to being serialized.  So if you are looking for a challenge for you next AR build, you might just start by making your own lower from an 80%.