Tag Archives: guns

Article -A deputy mayor in New York faces charges after federal authorities found him with dozens of unregistered guns and bogus FBI badges

Posted on by

Remember, kids..some animals are more equal than others:

A deputy mayor of a city in New York state faces federal charges after authorities discovered unregistered firearms and bogus badges for federal agencies, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday.

Last week, Brian Downey, a Republican who serves as deputy mayor of Airmont, New York, was taken into custody for “purchasing a rifle suppression device over the internet,” according to a statement from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.

Authorities later executed a search warrant on his home and found at least 13 illegal suppressors and 16 unregistered assault weapons, including a short-barrel rifle and sawed-off shotgun.

First, you have to admit, the guy has some good taste in thundertoys. Secondly, as far as I can tell in the documents, the ‘short barreled rifle’ is an arm-braced PSA AR. Im betting the supressors are dummies, but the sawed down side by side looks legit. Regardless, this guy is out a metric buttload of money in addition to all the other problems he’s about to encounter. As for the badges..well… play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I bet if you canvas the local Gyno-Americans they’ll tell about some fed in an unmarked car pulling them over for various reasons that usually are defused by them agreeing to go on a date with him.

But…it’s NY. where guns like that are supposed to be verboten for the regular volks.But, there’s always that cog in the .gov machine who thinks maybe he has just a little extra juice and the rules don’t apply to him as much as the other guy.

Moral of the story: ordering questionably legal gun accessories off the interweb under your real name is a bad idea.

Price changes

Posted on by

A couple months ago, just to be safe, I ordered some complete AR lowers from Palmetto. Price? $250 ea. Just ordered some factory blems, with Magpul stock/grips, for….$150 ea.

Things are changing, guys.

PCC Takedown Protector

Posted on by

So, always having been fascinated with takedown firearms, I wound up with a Ruger PC Carbine and a PC Charger. Both guns take down into two halve, with a shank of barrel and some locking lugs that mate into a hole in the receiver. Here’s the issue – since the guns takedown and can be transported in pieces, it is entirely possible to have the exposed metal locking surfaces on both halves get dinged or damaged if rough handling occurs. And, lets face it, rough handling is pretty much gonna be they by-word of the apocalypse.

If youve ever come across an old shotgun case from the early half of the last century, you’ll see that the two halves of a shotgun were each given a separate padded compartment to keep things safe. While that is certainly an option today, I rather prefer not to be tied to a particular piece of luggage…I’d rather just drop my gun into my Bag O’ Tricks ™ and skeedaddle.

As it turns out, there’s an outfit that makes a ‘muzzle cover’-style cap that protects the mating surfaces on each gun half. Lets take a look:

One cap gets put over the lugged section of barrel, protecting it’s surfaces. The other cap is inserted into the corresponding locking recess, thereby protect it from dirt and debris. The two parts are simple plastic extrusions that, really, anyone with a 3d printer could probably fab up in ten minutes.

Do they work? Seem to. I haven’t bounced my guns around in my bag lately, but I see no reason it wouldnt work. Is it necessary? Beats me. For $17, I feel its a reasonable precaution. I mean, I could just wrap things up in an extra pair of socks or something and tuck them into my bag, but this is a more elegant and purposeful product. While I can see the potential for damaging occurring if those parts were unprotected, I can’t really say I’m all that worried about it. But, I’ve been wrong before…and I’d rather not find out the hard way when the Antifa torchbearers are running up the stairwell to my office and I’m wondering why the two halves of my carbine won’t click together.

As an aside, I’ve been pretty pleased with the Ruger 9mm carbine/pistol setup. I wish it were a locked breech mechanism in order to reduce weight, but then the price would be even higher. Still, been a good shooter for me thus far and I really like he takedown features.

 

 

Video – G3 – HK91 – PTR91 to 500yds: Practical Accuracy

Posted on by

Came across this video about the accuracy potential of the G3 clones and was pretty impressed. 500 yards with open sights is not a cakewalk under any circumstance.

The G3 platform has two things going for it: rugged, brute reliability and the complete lack of a gas system. What it has going against it is literally everything else. SO, why do I have so many of them? Well, the choices for a .308 ‘battle rifle’ are mighty limited – M1A, FAL, AR-10, and this thing. Yes, there’s all sorts of boutique and niche guns like a Galil or a Saiga but we’re talking about guns that are common enough that you can find them (and their logistics) fairly easy. I went with the G3 platform because mags were a buck each. Even used FAL mags were ten bucks, M1A mags (if you could find a reputable aftermarket maker) were twice that, and AR-10 mags weren’t standardized so it was anyone’s guess what your gun took.

If I had to do it all over again, now that Magpul makes AR-10 mags, I’d go with the AR-10 for it’s best-in-class ergonomics. Do I like it enough to sell my PTR’s? Nope. But I wouldn’t turn down a nice AR-10 if one came my way. And it’s nice to see that with the basic iron sights this thing will still ring the bell at 500 yards…at least, for that guy it did. But he shoots way more than I do.

News – Gianforte signs ‘constitutional carry’ gun bill

Posted on by

Id been so wrapped up in my own issues that I overlooked this gem, which was reminded to me by ,Rawles over at SurvivalBlog:

HELENA — Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a major ‘constitutional carry’ bill Thursday that will let Montanans carry concealed firearms in public settings including banks and bars without a permit, in addition to limiting university system officials’ ability to restrict firearm possession on college campuses. 
…
“Our Second Amendment is very clear: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” Gianforte said at a bill signing ceremony Thursday afternoon. “Every law-abiding Montanan should be able to defend themselves and their loved ones.”
….
The university system provisions of the new law take effect June 1. Its other provisions are effective immediately.

 

 

Just so. I know someone close the the governor and I’m going to ask him to pass along my thanks to our reporter-thumping chief executive. Lets see if he can keep the momentum up.

Said I wasn’t gonna, did anyway pt. II

Posted on by

Everyone has a few moments in their life where someone told them something and it turned out to be a nugget of wisdom that they carry for the rest of their lives. Years ago, I was talking to one of the nationally known weapons collectors and I asked him how he managed to find all these amazing deals. He said, “When you’ve been in this business long enough, you don’t have to go looking for good deals…the good deals come looking for you.” And he was right. The more I travel in particular circles and network, the more often the materiel comes to me rather than vice versa. Todays example:

Singlehandedly fighting The War On The War On Guns

WASR-10, 2 mags, and 400 rounds of ammo. Annnnnd….(wait for it)……….$425.

I was done…done I tell you!…buying guns at the end of 2020. My needs were (mostly) filled. I would have been very happy to just ride out 2021 turning money into silver and food, not thundertoys. And yet…here I am. Can’t really complain, I reckon…I bet I could double my money by summer.

The deals come looking for you, alright……..

As an aside, I’m not really an AK guy. I respect them for what they are, and I have an excellent milled Arsenal AK for my AK needs, but I think that anything an AK can do I can do just as well, and more accurately, with an AR. And although the AK has a record of reliability, I think that any modern manufactured AR from a good manufacturer is right up there in reliability…but with the advantage of better sights, better optics, better accuracy, better ergos, better aftermarket support, and better standardization of parts. However, I will say that in a world of short-range (MOUT) environments I can see a case for the AK for it’s chunkier bullet. Anyway…..

The deals come looking for you, alright……..

Said I wasn’t gonna, did anyway

Posted on by

Minding my own business, not planning on buying any guns (especially a single-stack gun), and this came across my radar:

Actually, it didnt really come across my radar….the bloody thing came and found me. I got ‘The Call’ from the same guy that has been putting dents in my wallet for the last couple years now. He texted me and said if I wanted first crack at it, cmon down.

Ok, so who knows if Remington is ever gonna make more of these. And it is apparently a decent gun. And it’s like new in box. Punchline? $400.

Dude, I’m not even a 1911 guy! They’re fun guns, great range toys, but a 1911 is never my first choice for anything involving self-defense. I’ll take a modern-ish double-stack 9mm every time.

But….price was right, condition was good, brand was okay, and in this market any gun is a good value gun. But….I was so sure I was done buying guns.

A going concern

Posted on by

As you may recall, Remington went into bankruptcy a little while back and several of their subsidiary companies were picked up by other people. Most notably, Marlin was acquired by Ruger. I think this bodes extremely well for the continuation of the Marlin product line. However, I was so excited about Marlin becoming part of Ruger that I failed to see the forest for all the trees. To wit: Remington is out of business.

Or is it?

Remington, as I understand it, is now part of Vista Outdoors and they’ve begun the process of starting up the plant tog et back to making guns. But…I’ve seen this before in the gun industry… a company goes under, a group of investors (or a single investor) buys it up and thinks they’ll just pick up where things left off, and usually after a short while they go out of business. Examples? Hmmm…AMT (The AutoMag folks), Wildey, Lorcin/Bryco/Raven, at least half a dozen lower-tier AR manufacturers, etc.

The reason I was thinking about this was because if Remington is, in fact, no longer ‘a going concern’, then one of the staples of the survivalist’s armory, the 870, may be living on borrowed time.

Name two of the most common, most well regarded pump-action shotguns. You said Mossberg and Remington, right? Sure…FN and a couple other outfits make some quite nice pump guns but for probably 90% of the gun buying population, when they buy a pumpgun its either an 870 or a 500/590. Easy.

So, I’m curious if perhaps it’s time to recommend the 500/590 over the 870 simply on the basis of future availability. Certainly existing 870’s will have virtually all their needs met by third-party markets. Remington 870’s are like Ford 9N tractors…you can build one virtually from nothing but aftermarket parts and never use an original OEM part.

Personally, I’ve got enough 870’s tucked away to completely remove en entire taxon of waterfowl… the death of the 870 will be sad but effect me minimally. I know there are Chinese knockoffs of the 870 and yours works flawlessly, but anyone who buys a Chinese copy of an 870 with the idea it’s “just as good as” deserves what they get.

I suspect that Remington as an arms manufacturer might be a little ‘too big to fail’…with its long history, highly regarded (at least, up until a few years ago) product line of stalwart designs, and high aftermarket support, it would make sense for future owners/investors to try to keep some of the flagship guns like the 870 in production. But…who knows? These could be the same goobers that gave us the R51, RP9, and that crappy .380 they came out with.

As I think about it, I am getting more and more respect for Ruger. They’ve managed to run their business better than Colt, Remington, and Winchester if bankruptcies and sales of ownership are anything to go by.

Should be interesting to see what happens…I will definitely be watching to see what happens to Marlin under Ruger, but it’ll also be worth watching to see if the 870 continues to be on the market. (And hopefully with better QC than what was slipping out the doors a few years ago.)

 

 

Cheaper Than Dirt called out for price gouging

Posted on by

It was brought to my attention in comments that CTD, home of the $100 Pmag, has been called to the carpet by the Texas AG for price gouging to the tune of having to refund $400k to customers.

Some linkage:

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/coronavirus/article242031861.html

BREAKING: Texas AG Accuses Cheaper Than Dirt of Price Gouging

I have razzed CTD for years for their computerized algorithm that raises prices to slow demand as inventory dwindles. Succinctly, as inventory levels go down, the automatic pricing raises the price to slow down the sales of inventory. The idea being that you slow down the sales of inventory so that you’ll get restocked before you run out of stuff. Problem is, in a panic buying situation the inventory is flying off the shelf so fast, and the next resupply is uncertain, that the price keeps going up up up….thats how you get $99 Pmags.

However, you also get them when someone just arbitrarily says “Quadruple the price of everything.”

Regardless, CTD just took a hit to their reputation that is going to be legendary in the gun community for years to come. I expect them to either make a statement denying the charges and saying they settled for $400k to avoid more costly  litigation..or…I expect the to say nothing in hopes it all blows over.

Regardless, for those of you who never saw the earlier times CTD dropped its pants and bent the consumer over……….

ETA: I almost forgot to mention, CTD has also, during times of panic, cancelled existing orders that were already made forcing the would-be purchaser to either renew the order at the new higher prices or go elsewhere. Classy.

Gun storage

Posted on by

Someone asked me in email about what I do, if anything, to package guns for the Deep Sleep. It’s probably a disappointment to most folks who are expecting some sort of long list of ritual greasing, packaging, preserving, etc., but….I really don’t do very much.

Any gun I’m packing away is a gun that probably has a history of ruggedness, durability, and survivability. I’d package up a nice blued Colt Python a lot differently than I’d package up a Glock. Because the guns I’m putting away are usually mil-spec in terms of material and finish, they are already enjoying a head start on being resistant to the threats posed from long term storage.

Really, for most guns all I do is clean them thoroughly, lubricate them normally, pack them into a quality hard case with dessicant, and thats really about it.

I’ve handled guns that have sat around for fifty years in closets, under beds, in attics, hidden in barns, etc, etc. These were guns that were not given any special treatment nor stored in any purpose-built gun vault. Problems encountered have been:

  • Rust – This is usually the most obvious problem. It can be a light freckling all the way to full-blown rust. The cause is, obviously, moisture. The source could be just the ambient humidity in the air, like if you live in Florida, or from an environmental scenario such as leaving the gun leaning up against an object like a furnace duct or other feature that has high temperature swings. The solution is to store in a case that is as airtight as possible along with a handful of dessicant. Most of the guns that I pack away for Der Tag are guns that are already pretty rust-resistant…Glocks, parkerized guns, etc… so I can give them less consideration than, say, a nicely blued Rem 700 or something.
  • Bore obstructions – Be honest…do you always, religiously, without fail, check the bore of a gun that has just come out of storage before you shoot it? Most people do not. I’ve seen plenty of barrels with cobwebs in them, old cleaning patches, and on at least one occasion a mud daubers nest. Some folks say you should plug the bore of the gun with a foam ear plug to prevent anything from getting in there. I worry that traps moisture inside the barrel. I clean my bores thoroughly, run a lubed patch through, then follow up with a few dry patches, and leave it at that. And I always check for obstructions when pulling a gun out of storage.
  • Dried grease – On older military guns (SKS, Mosin Nagants, Mausers, etc) guns were preserved by using copious amounts of grease…not oil. SKS rifles were notorious for having huge amounts of grease saturating them, this method preserves things beautifully but it is an enormous task to get all that grease out of a gun. I’ve had guns that, literally, sweat grease out of the stock when they heat up and this is years and years after I initially got the gun and cleaned it up. Grease that has dried up forms a crusty, hard residue that requires nothing less than sitting around for hours with a heat gun, rags, and dental picks to clear up.
  • Dust mixing with oil – overlube a gun and the oil pools and starts collecting dust, which becomes a sludge, which eventually becomes a caked on mess. I lube a gun thoroughly and then use a rag to try an wipe off the oil I just applied. This leaves just enough to keep the gun safe without overdoing it.

Virtually all of these issues are resolved by using an airtight purpose-built gun case. The $9 Flambeau or Plano gun case is not good enough. Spend $200 and get a Pelican or Hardigg case. A lot of cases, at half the price, claim to be ‘as good as’ or ‘just like’…they are not. When you have to pull your genuine Belgian FAL or pre-ban HK93 out of the rafters, that is not the time to find out that your bargain case that saved you $50 had a crappy O-ring gasket and one side of your rifle has a nice orange sheen to it. The one good and cheap(er) alternative is when it comes to handguns – a genuine US GI ammo can, with good seals, is a perfect container for pistol rug, with dessicant, holding your preferred handgun.

The next question is probably “What else do you store with the guns? Ammo? Tools?”

Storing ammo with the gun is a bit iffy, IMHO. Why? Because the well-oiled gun is in an airtight case. Leave some ammo in there and I suppose there’s a possibility of oil contamination rendering the ammo unreliable. Big if, sure…but if things have gotten serious enough you’re pulling Ol’ Painless outta storage then things are serious enough that the last thing you want is ammo of questionable reliability, no? As an aside, I pack ammo in perfect/good condition military ammo cans. Metal ones. Not the plastic ones that when dropped on a hard surface shatter like my dreams and hopes.

Remember guys, guns have only two natural enemies: rust and politicians.