firearms

Ten-X Tactical has developed a lightweight underbarrel shotgun for M4/AR-15 firearms. It can either attached to a underbarrel picatinny rail, or it can replace the bottom half of an M4 handguard.

7.5" barrel model

TX-12 with 10.5" barrel

A Ruger patent for a "Firearm Barrel Retaining System", filed in 2009, was published by the USTPO yesterday. The patent application (#20120017483) describes a quick change barrel system that includes an old school machine gun carry handle that help facilitate hot barrel changes.

I wonder if Ruger had planned to enter a quick barrel change variant of their SR-556 into the Marines IAR competition that was won by H&K.

Less Lethal Africa, a South African company, had their less lethal .50 BMG rounds on display at SHOT.

While these rubber bullet loaded cartridges are not powerful enough cycle a rifle or machine gun action, I do wonder what the effect of a large pointed piece of polymer hitting a protester in the stomach. I suspect it is less "less" and more lethal.

Caltek International will be selling a 1/6 scale action figure of Chris Costa. A range of accessories will also be available.

Youtube will soon be flooded with stop-motion movies featuring Chris Costa taking on 1/6 scale battalions of SS shock troops.

More about the action figure at Gear Scout.

[ Many thanks to Manu for emailing us the photo. ]

NRA Blog has plenty over photos from SHOT Show here, here & here.

Also, a lot of videos at NRA News (You just have to deal with the flash animation interface ... urghh)

Crimson Trace's new LTG-701 was on display at SHOT Show. It can attach to the triggerguard of most 1911 pistols, no rail required. The MSRP is $199.

SIG has scaled up their .380 ACP P238 platform to create the 9mm P938. The P938 is all metal, single action and has a 6+1 capacity. I did not have the opportunity to fire the gun but what I saw I liked.

Strike Industries has developed an innovative rail system for the Glock pistol. The rail attaches to a standard factory slide by locking into the backplate slot. Tension screws on the top of the rail prevent the rail from moving around. A side charging handle can be attached if desired.

The rail with charging handle attached.

Plastic prototype attached to Glock slide (top), optic attached to aftermarket Caspian Glock slide.

Leupold's new VX-1 ("1" the number) replaces their budget-priced line of VX-I ("I" the roman numeral) scopes. The new line is priced the same as the old line but finally incorporates finger-adjustable 0.25 MOA click windage and elevation dials. The non-click screwdriver/coin adjustable dials used to drive me crazy. The glass is now lead-free and the optic coatings have been improved.

The new Leupold VX1

The VX-2 line has been updated and the glass has been improved. According to the press release ...

The Quantum Optical System is tailored specifically for VX-2, and includes lead-free, precision-ground and edge blackened lenses with Leupold’s exclusive Index Matched lens coatings for superior resolution, clarity and contrast. Carefully positioned in optimum relationship to each other, the lenses deliver up to 94 percent total light transmission. Exterior lens surfaces with DiamondCoat™ resist abrasion.

Leupold's Custom Dial System will be available for certain VX-2 models.

Bushmaster has their Bushmaster BA50 rifle prominently displayed at SHOT Show.

Bushmaster claim that the muzzle brake reduces recoil to that of a .243 Win. hunting rifle.

The rifle retails for about $5519.

Izhmash has officially unveiled the final production model of the AK-12 Assault Rifle. According to Max Popenker there will be two models, a Light model (5.45x39mm, 5.56x45mm and 7.62x39mm) that accepts all magazines that work with existing AK rifles, as well as a new 60 round quad stack magazine, and a Heavy (7.62x51mm) model that will use a new magazine.

The rifle's major new features are ...

• Ambidextrous forward charging handle.
• Smaller ejection port.
• New safety switch.
• New fire control switch with three modes of fire (single shot, 3 round burst and full auto).
• New hinged top cover. The cover is a lot more rigid that the previous AK rifles.
• Quad picatinny rails.
• Folding and length adjustable stock.
• Ergonomic pistol grip (with a decent radius between trigger guard and grip).
• New muzzle brake that attaches to standard NATO 22mm threading.
• Improved barrel rifling.

Whilst it is not pretty, ion fact it is downright ugly, it possess all the features of the latest western assault rifles.

[ Many thanks to Russian Surt & Max Popenker for providing information. ]

Barrett brought their lightweight M240LW prototype to the Big Bang Shoot and SHOT Show. Unlike the M240L, which is in service with the Army, it does not use any exotic/expensive materials or manufacturing techniques to decrease weight. They instead decreased weight by trimming off as much metal as possible and decreased manufacturing costs by making the receiver in two pieces and then bolting it together. They managed to trim about 6 pounds off the standard M240B. Unfortunately Barrett ran out of 7.62mm ammunition before I had a chance to shoot it.

M240LW Serial #000001

[ Photos 1, 3 and 4 © Bryan Jones ]

Aimpoint is now manufacturing Micro T1 and Micro H1 sights with a tiny 2 MOA dot. At 100 yards the dot will be 2" in diameter, and at 1000 yards it will be 20 inches in diameter (about the height of the average male torso).

This product will appeal to hunters, but, in my opinion, the 4 MOA is more practical for tactical shooters.

Employees from the muzzleloading maker Knight Rifles tried shooting the enormous .950 JDJ loaded with 2,400 grain bullets! Firing that thing looks like as much fun as being hit in the shoulder with a baseball bat

The rifle uses a shell-holder style action. To load a shell-holder action first the bolt is removed, then the cartridge is inserted into the bolt (which grips the cartridge) and finally the bolt and cartridge are inserted into the action. This type of action is used because it is strong and relatively cheap manufacture.

Note in the video that one of the shooters is told to be very careful when inserting the bolt/cartridge and cocking the action. If anything went wrong, the heavy recoiling cannon could easily crack a skull or break a few ribs!

[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]

I rarely write gun accessory reviews and this is only the second review I have written in five years. A few months ago a friend of mine asked me if I had heard about Etymotic Research GunSport Pro Earplugs. She was working for one of their distributors and said they had been selling well. The earplugs provide hearing protection from very loud noises but also amplify soft sounds such as speech, like conventional electronic ear muffs but in a package barley larger than conventional in-ear earplugs. I was intrigued.

The GSP1 GunSport Pro Earplugs are dwarfed by my "compact" Remington Electronic Ear Muffs

Coincidently (yes, it was a coincidence) the following day I received an email from Etymotic Research asking if I would like to try the GSP1 GunSport Pro Earplugs. I replied to say that a single range trip would not be sufficient to evaluate them but I would be willing to try them at Media Day where I would be shooting a wide variety of firearms.

I took this photo of Bryan Jones firing the Barrett MRAD. I was standing a few of yards away from the rifle.

In short, they worked exactly as advertised. I wore them all day at Media Day and the Big Bang Shoot. I wore them when I fired the .45-70 Colt 1887 Bulldog Gun, Sako .375 H&H, 7.62mm HK417, Glock 18C machine pistol and many others. I also spent a lot of time that day photographing other shooters firing large .50 BMG rifles, .338 Laupa rifles, 5.56mm assault rifles and 7.62mm machine guns. When taking photos I was usually standing within a few yards of the shooter. The earplugs worked just as well as you would expect a high-end earplug to work.

The GSP1 GunSport Pro and a pair of cheap generic foam earplugs

I was standing a couple of yards behind this shooter while he fired bursts of 7.62mm from this Barrett M240. Photo © Bryan Jones

At a cost of $450+, what you really want to know is if they amplify soft sounds like human speech. They do. The earplugs amplified softer sounds, much like how I expect a hearing aid would work, and made conversation easier. The performance was similar to my larger electronic ear muffs.

I was wearing the GSP1 when I emptied a Glock 18C magazine in a single burst.

My only major complaint is that the earplugs lack a on/off switch. To turn them off you are required to open the battery door. In theory the battery does not need to be remove, but I found the batteries tended to fall out inside the case. They need to add an on/off switch in the next iteration of the product. Other than that, the only other problem I had was that the thin nylon cable (fishing line) which ties the two earplugs together, to prevent them from getting lost, gets tangled up easily. A thicker braided fabric cable would not look as nice but would be more practical.

The GSP1 works very well and it is unfortunate that they are so expensive. The GSP1 is retailing for around $450 and the GSP15, which has one or two additional features, is retailing for around $500. This puts them out of the hands of the majority of shooters. Hopefully the price will come to a more affordable level in the future. I am giving some serious thought to purchasing the GSP1. Since using them my Remington and Peltor ear muffs seem bulkier, heavier and lot less high tech than they did before.

UPDATE: [In response to questions asked in the comments] It uses hearing aid batteries, it includes a number of different size and shape ear pieces ("ACCU-Fit eartips") and the noise reduction is 25 dB. The technical specs are listed here.

Advanced Armament Corp is now offering complete 300BLK factory SBRs (along with 16″ non-NFA configurations as well). This includes the popular 9″ model using the 8″ URXIII from Knights Armament. The 9″ 300BLK gun will retail for 1599.00, and includes a Magpul MOE+ grip, CTR, and Geissele SSA trigger. These are factory registered SBRs (requiring a 200 dollar tax stamp), avoiding the need to SBR another AR15 lower. Add the matching SDN-6 suppressor and you have one of the smallest PDW style platforms out there.

A .300 BLK round did serious damage to a block of ballistic gel at the Big Bang shoot.

SilencerCo came out swinging with their modular 5.56 suppressor, called the Saker. The Saker utilizes a new material for the baffle stack that is 30 percent stronger than Inconel, and a new 3-pronged flashhider called the Trifecta. The front cap can also be swapped out with a strike bezel that utilizes a short 3-pronged end cap which eliminates first round muzzle flash. Where it gets extremely interesting is that the rear mount can be quickly replaced with a mount that allows the Saker to be utilized on Advanced Armament’s 51-tooth Blackout/Breakout muzzle devices. This should be considered a huge coup for consumers, eliminating the need to replace their current muzzle device, something that’s normally required when changing suppressor brands.

Magnum Research's latest Magnum Lite (premium/target Ruger 10/22 clone) is the MLR22AT.

From the press release ...

The MLR22AT will give .22 LR rifle shooters something to get excited about. The new ambidextrous lightweight thumbhole 10/22 stock is made of polypropylene with fiber additives for maximum strength. The stock comb height is designed high enough to comfortably and properly shoot with optics. The new stock design also features a semi palm swell on both sides of the pistol grip, and a molded-to-fit hard rubber butt plate attached with screws.

This rifle will be equipped with the Magnum Lite™ revolutionary patented graphite bull barrel, exclusive to Magnum Research. The patented uni-directional graphite fibers, parallel to the bore axis, results in a barrel with six-times the stiffness of conventional steel. The lighter barrel weights (from 13-16 oz, depending on barrel length) are easier to wield and dissipate heat up to 43% faster than steel. The result is rim fire performance of extreme accuracy.

Other features include a .22LR Benz target chamber designed specifically for semi-automatics; full floating barrel for maximum accuracy, CNC-machined receiver from 6061-T6 aircraft aluminum forging with an integral weaver-type rail for optics and a black anodized finish. The MLR22AT has an approximate weight of 4 ¼ lbs, barrel length of 17 inches, and over all length of 35 ½ inches.

This rifle utilizes the 10/22 trigger group and 10/22 rotary magazines. MRI bolts are manufactured and machined from heat treated and thorough hardened 4140 steel with minimum headspace for better accuracy.

MSRP for the MLR22AT will be $562. The rifles will start shipping in spring 2012.

The Indian Army was forced to buy a gun they did not want from a government owned factory. They have been trying to replace it ever since. They have finally been given the funds to replace the INSAS rifle/carbine.

The Ministry of Defence has issued a tender for the import of 66,000 5.56 mm assault rifle for an estimated $250 million (Rs 13,000 crore) to replace the locally-designed Indian Small Arms System 5.56 mm AR, which the army has reluctantly employed since the mid-1990s.

…

"The INSAS AR is a non-competitive weapon system and the army became a tied customer with little choice but to pay the asking price however high it might be and whatever operational objections it had to the rifle," a senior Infantry officer admitted.

The Indian government has a bad reputation when it comes to arms tenders. They tend to disqualify contestants whenever it suits then.

[ Many thanks to Tim for emailing us the link. ]

Two years ago Remington jumped into the modular precision rifle platform with their MSR line, this year FN hit back hard with their Ballista rifle. Easily convertible from .338 Lapua, .300win mag, and .308. Swapping out calibers can be done under 1.5-2 minutes, and is done so by loosening 4 captive barrel screws, and uses a self-adjusting bolt for proper head-spacing. The gun utilizes a composite mix of aluminum, steel, and polymer stock, with folding stock (adjustable), and more rails then AMTRAK. Coming in around 17lbs this looks to be a strong competitor in the military precision platform market.