Tag Archives: guns

Obama wants the ban back

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

You know, pretty much all along I have been saying that one of the reasons Obama has been quiet on gun control is because the Democratic party is still stinging from some previous blowback. However, in a second term, where re-election is no longer an issue, he can impose whatever he wants with virtually no consequence. This is what I believed and some folks actually called me out on it saying not only was Obama not anti-gun he supported pro-gun legislation and that I was just being paranoid and dogmatic.

Please allow me to draw your attention in this direction for a moment:

President Obama tonight said he’s interested in seeing an assault weapons ban reintroduced, breaking his silence on the legislation, which has persisted in spite of at least five mass shootings during his term.

At the end of a long answer to the question, “What has your administration done or planned to do to limit the availability of assault weapons?” Obama said this:

“My belief is that, (A), we have to enforce the laws we’ve already got, make sure that we’re keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill. We’ve done a much better job in terms of background checks, but we’ve got more to do when it comes to enforcement.

“But I also share your belief that weapons that were designed for soldiers in war theaters don’t belong on our streets. And so what I’m trying to do is to get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. Part of it is seeing if we can get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. But part of it is also looking at other sources of the violence. Because frankly, in my home town of Chicago, there’s an awful lot of violence and they’re not using AK-47s. They’re using cheap hand guns.”

As a candidate in 2008, Obama campaigned on permanent reinstatement of the expired assault weapons ban, and Attorney General Eric Holder in 2009 indicated that the administration would lobby for a bill. But that never materialized and the White House has largely avoided talking about it.

In August, after the Sikh Temple shooting, Jay Carney said, “He does support renewing the assault weapons ban.”

But tonight is the first time during his first term that the sentiment has come from the president’s mouth.

 

Can’t make it much clearer than that. I promise you that tomorrow morning every manufacturer of AR receivers is going to feel like it’s Christmas.

Upgrades

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

One of the ‘home defense’ guns we keep around is an AR carbine. Why not, y’know? If something goes thump in the night you may as well respond to it with an overwhelming advantage. Since it’s presumed that most bad things happen at night, it’s a Bushy Dissipator that had a cheesy clamp-on plastic bracket to allow me to affix a Surefire Scout light to the side of the A2-style forend. It works, but it’s a little ghetto and not as high-quality and efficient as I’d like.

So, I picked up the SureFire Millennium the other day and I figured I may as well upgrade the carbine. I’ll rotate the older parts down to some of the standyby/backup ARs. Problem was, the usual A2 handguard doesnt have any mounting points for, well, anything. So I trekked back to the gun show and picked up a Magpul MOE rifle-length forend and a section of long rail to mount to it. (And, let me say, I freakin’ hate removing AR handguards. I can think of no other rifle that makes removing the handguards such a tremendous pain in the ass.) While I was there, I also picked up the Magpul illumination kit. See, normally you just rubber band/velcro/tape your lights tape switch to the handguard. It works, but it isnt neat and tidy. This little kit makes the tape switch into an integral part of the forend.

TPIWWP, so:

Although, really, most of the time I’ll pick up the G19 w/ tactical light if I have to go investigate something…but it’s nice to have options. I suppose its the difference between investigating something going ‘thump’ and something going ‘THUMP!’. (Like, say, the sound of car doors slamming and multiple sets of feet storming up the porch steps…at which point, yeah, the G19 would probably get passed over for the AR. [although the tweaked out 870 might come to hand.])

Anyway, it was a pleasant enough gun show and it gave me the chance to do some upgrades, so I’m pleased.

WalMart & EBR’s

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Was up at WalMart today and the folks at WallyWorld had some promotional flyers out. Since hunting season is approaching the flyers were directed at that sort of stuff. What was interesting was that while the hunting side of things was represented, there was an abundance of Evil Black Rifle stuff. DPMS AR’s for $597, SIG and COlt Ar’s, Mini-14s, etc, etc and a host of Blackhawk AR accessories like single-point slings, etc, etc.

Sign of the times? Maybe. Certainly, the market for this sort of stuff is always good right before an election. Just between you and me, though…I’m not buying an AR at WalMart. I have no way of knowing where the manufacturer cut corners to meet WallyWorlds infamous ‘must keep the price low at all costs’ purchasing criteria.

Interesting to see those sorts of guns and accessories get to be so mainstream as to wind up in the promotional flyers at the door.

Hamilton gun show

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Went to the gun show in Hamilton today. Didnt really see anything I couldnt live without, but I did find a rifle that I thought my buddy might like. I pointed it out to him, we checked values against what was on Gunbroker (yay wireless internet!) and, to my surprise, he bought it.

Here’s something you dont see everyday: Springfield Armory SAR-48 with the short barrel and para stock. For those of you too young to remember, Springfield Armory used to bring in FAL and HK91 guns ‘back in the day’. The SAR-48 was an Imbel FAL that was a very high quality build. They stopped bringing ‘em in back in ’89. This one is in minty mint condition with the sidefolder stock and short barrel. Price? Well, cheaper than if you got it from DSA…and at least $500 cheaper than the ones on Gunbroker.

I take joy in my buddy getting something he always wanted. I’m looking forward to getting to try it out.

Article – You don’t bring a 3D printer to a gun fight — yet

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

The hobby is best known for creating colorful toys and trinkets, but some enthusiasts are working on design files that would allow anyone to print a working gun. These don’t exist yet, but some believe it’s only a matter of time.
Why would a 3D-printed gun be appealing? For one, it could potentially be cheap. You can buy a preassembled 3D printer for about $500. A spool of ABS plastic to print with goes for $50. Depending on where you shop, you can buy .38 Special ammunition for 30 cents a round. The plans will undoubted be distributed free like so many MP3s.

Building an AR receiver isn’t exactly rocket science. And since there’s virtually no stresses in the lower, you can make it out of almost any rigid material. I saw some post somewhere where a guy built one out of that white plastic they use for cutting boards.

This is an interesting article but it tells us nothing we dont already know – yeah, it’s perfectly legal to make a gun for your own use as long as it’s not a Title II full auto or similar.

The folks that are going to get their panties in a twist about this are the same folks who probably don’t realize that nay yahoo with a credit card and a quick trip to Home Depot can buy enough materials and tools to fab up receivers all day long. Let’s face it – some gun designs just ain’t much of a challenge. Heck, some gun designs were developed specifically to be suitable for ‘cottage production’… Stens and that sorta thing.

The sinister thing here is that this could be used to argue that more parts of a firearm should be regulated. If you have an AR lower you can buy uppers all day long with no regulation, right? And since the AR lower is easy to fab up, it’s the barreled upper that would be the real bottleneck. In some countries, thats actually how it plays out…go look at your Glock sometime…notice the frame, barrel and slide are serial numbered…thats because in some countries those individual parts are the ‘controlled parts’. In the use, the controlled part is the receiver…in some European countries, its the barrel….in others, the slide.

3D printing definitely opens up some interesting avenues, I gotta admit. I’m just not sure it’s going to revolutionize gun manufacturing although I can see it revolutionizing gun designing.

Article – Gun Sales Surge, Buckzilla

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Gun Sales Surge: An Obama Bounce?

Smith & Wesson stock Friday was zooming, thanks to a stellar earnings report. The firearms maker also boosted its outlook for the rest of the year. Because of the strong business, its backlog of orders more than doubled from the same quarter last year, the company is concentrating on boosting production and building inventory.

“We are underserving the market at this moment, we all know that, and that’s a great opportunity going forward for us,” CEO James Debney said in a conference call with analysts.

And another gun maker, Sturm, Ruger & Co., also hit a milestone of sorts in terms of meeting consumer demand. It produced its one-millionth gun of the year…well ahead of last year’s pace.

This happens every election year. It goes in four stages:

  • Stage I – Before the election, in the months leading up to it, there’s a surge in purchasing
  • Stage II – Immediately before the election and afterwards there’s another surge
  • Stage III – As inauguration comes closer, theres another surge
  • Stage IV – Right after inauguration there’s another surge

Guys, this is as predictable as a Kennedy wife being cheated on. It happens every election, no matter who wins. Heck, if you’re the type who likes to speculate on markets, load up on guns, ammo and magazines and unload them right before the next presidential election…gold mine.

You and me, though….we’re all squared away so panic-buying urges don’t affect us, right? Right?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Speaking of guns, I saw this monster on the way to the shop this morning:

Me and Nuke were taking our usual route down the alleys and this deer just made me stop in my tracks. They were a bit concerned about Nuke but he was pretty okay with them. Of course, I didnt get too close with the dog …that would be asking for trouble. Notice that he broke off one tine on his left side….that would have been 7 points on that side. Big rack on that sucker.

How come I never see these guys during hunting season when I’m prowling the woods with my PTR-91????

PTR/HK-91 BattleComp = not happenin’

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Well, getting a BattleComp for my PTR ain’t gonna happen anytime soon.
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Version for 15×1 HK thread?
From: Commander Zero <zero@commanderzero.com>
Date: Mon, August 13, 2012 9:53 pm
To: “info@battlecomp.com” <info@battlecomp.com>
Shot a buddy’s AR with one of your BattleComp devices this weekend. Really impresive! Any chance you make a .308 version for the HK/PTR series of .308 rifles? Or, if not, any chance I can get one of your .308 ones before it gets to the threaded part of the production process and have my guy thread it for me?
And the unfortunate reply:
Unfortunately, we are completely tied up with current product manufacturing.  If we are able to do more custom work in the future we will post it when available.  Thank you for your support.
John
John M. Stankewicz, Account Manager
Battle Comp Enterprises, LLC
101 Hickey Blvd. Suite A455
South San Francisco, CA 94080
(650) 678-0778 Main
(650) 403-4527 FAX
john@battlecomp.com
www.battlecomp.com

BattleComp

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

Had a couple of friends from out-of-town visiting the last week. Always nice to get to spend time with Like-Minded Individuals. One of them brought along his AR which had the most amazing compensator/brake/supressor I’ve ever experienced.

The AR was just your standard carbine in .223….nothing remarkable. But the ‘muzzle device’ from BattleComp was amazing. There was virtually no muzzle rise at all. In fact, I’m tempted to say there was no muzzle rise because I sure didn’t notice any. This thing just gave the rifle a bit of a push straight back and that was it. If I were going to be engaging multiple targets quickly this thing would be just the ticket. If I ever put together a close-quarters carbine this will be the thing that goes on the end of the barrel. It isn’t really a compensator, isn’t really a brake, and isn’t really a flash suppressor…it is apparently a combination of the three. But, whatever, it was awesome.

They apparently make a 7.62 version and I would love to have one on my PTR-91 but apparently they only make ‘em threaded for a few .308′s and mine ain’t one of ‘em. Gotta send ‘em an email and see if I can get something done about that.

In the meantime, these things aren’t cheap but, wow, I was way impressed. Didn’t notice any real increase in noise, although Im sure there must be a tradeoff somewhere…no free lunch and all that. Go check ‘em out.

Best birthday ever

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

I must say, this year’s birthday was a bountiful one. I am exceptionally pleased that I managed to parlay the birthday gifties so that I finally ‘finished’ my Uzi.

Three things I wanted for the Uzi. I mean, other than a third choice on the selector.

  • Rails
  • Light
  • Vertical foregrip

For a gun design thats been around fifty years, there is an absolute dearth of Uzi rail systems out there. Oh, you can buy the usual handguards that someone then bolted a section of rail onto…thats easy to find. And, for most situations, that’s really about all you need. But I wanted to run a light and a VFG. So…first things first. Let’s get some rails. I wound up with this: Mako Tactical Rail System for Uzi. It’s nice enough…fits, seems to do the trick…but not worth more than $100 in my opinion. Nonetheless, if you’re going to need more than one section of rail you don’t have too many choices in Uzi rail systems.

So,,,now we’ve got rails. Lets throw a VFG on. I went with the Magpul MOE RVG Grip, Black …mostly because it was fairly inexpensive while being of good quality. Once I had the rail system mounted and the VFG attached it was a very convenient package to handle. More importantly, I could grip the VFG with my left hand and remove my right hand from the pistol grip and still keep control of the gun. Also, it seemed a more natural presentation of the gun than with the palm flat underneath the regular handguard.

So, that left the tactical light..which is where it gets interesting. I tried pulling the old Streamlight M3 off my Glock and putting it on the Uzi. A little snug on the rail, but not bad. Trouble is, its an old model..incandescent/Xenon. I’m trying to switch over to LED lights for the increased durability and battery run-time. So, I pulled the Scout light off the AR and tried it. Very nice! And it was right around that point that a buddy of mine who was in town visiting came by and gifted me with a truly awesome weapon light… a Streamlight 69230 TLR-2s Rail Mounted Strobing Tactical Light with Laser Sight and Rail Locating Keys that we had looked at the previous day at a local gun shop. After we had split up for the day he went back and picked it up for me as a birthday gift. How awesome was that? Well, can’t let an awesome piece of gear like that go to waste…so onto the Uzi it went. Sweet Crom, I may have created the ultimate home defense gun. The light is bright and intense, the strobe effect is suitably disorienting to the target and the cute little red dot on the target conveys a nice sense confidence when you point it down a darkened hallway at that shadowy figure that wasnt supposed to be there. I was vacillating about whether to SBR this thing and this has convinced me that I absolutely need to.

Speaking of birthdays, the vast portion of gifties this year wound up being, naturally enough, preparedness-related….so I got plenty of fodder for some product reviews which will be forthcoming over the next couple weeks. Some really cool stuff. Man, I wish birthdays came more than once a year.

Link – Palmetto State Armory “Hope N Change” AR lower

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Originally published at Notes From The Bunker. You can comment here or there.

In Celebration of our dear leader’s historic presidency, we are proud to announce the pre-sale of a very limited edition commemorative lower. Crafted from Forged 7075 T6 aluminum, anodized and hardcoated black per mil-spec, these feature a special rollmark and a serial prefix of “YES WE CAN.” In addition, the safe and fire positions are labeled “Hope” and “Change”. Your paid order reserves one of these special lowers. Lowers are expected to start shipping August 15th.

I like lowers with non-typical markings…you know, the kinda stuff that instead of saying ‘safe’ and ‘semi’ and ‘full’ say things like ‘safe’, ‘tshtf’ and ‘teotwawki’. Although, from a practicality standpoint, I rather like the lowers with the HK-style pictograms.

Anyway, I wonder if the Chuck Schumer commemorative AR lower can’t be too far behind.