There are a lot of grip options for the AR-15 platform, and all of the other platforms that use AR grips. Some are adequate, and some are excellent, and generally, they don’t cost too much. Upgrading your grip is probably one of the easiest ways to customize your rifle, and if you can combine excellent with inexpensive, that’s a plus. MEAN Arms has a couple of AR grips that you may not be aware of that do just that. MEAN is the maker of the MA Loader and EndoMag, but they also do a whole lot more.
The Standard A2 Fat Grip
Let me start by saying that MEAN does a basic fat A2 grip as well. The “fat” grip is what you find on military rifles and better commercial rifles. It’s basic A2 pattern, but is wider, and generally more comfortable. If you’re good with a simple grip like you used in the service, then this is the one for you. You can get it in a variety of colors, too, including black, FDE, OD green, gray, and storm white. It’s a lot better than the skinny A2s you find in most build kits and sells for just $5.99.
The Echo Grip
I think of the Echo Grip as an A2 for the 21st century. It’s a fat profile pistol grip that uses a proprietary polymer that looks like woven carbon fiber. It has a sleek, upscale style but not an upscale price. It’s a smooth grip, which may be a plus or minus, depending on what kind of build you’re doing. It’s comfortable but doesn’t provide much texture if you think you’ll need that for foul weather. The Echo Grip is available for only $15.99.
MA Rubberized Grip
If you do need a grippier grip, then the MA Rubberized Grip is the one for you. It’s once again made with a proprietary polymer and has a rubberized outer surface. This one is sans finger groove, which many folks prefer. It has an extended beavertail to protect the web of your hand and is also very comfortable.
I like the look of the Echo and am using it on a couple of builds. But I think I’d pick the MA Rubberized grip for a work gun or hunting rifle that might see foul weather use. The MSRP on this one is an extremely reasonable $12.99.
MEAN Arms
MEAN has been in the polymer injection business for over 50 years. It does custom injection molding, mold design, and part fabrication. The company actually does a lot of OEM manufacturing for other companies and now sells directly to consumers as well.
MEAN Arms AR Grips come with a grip screw and washer and are covered by a lifetime warranty. If you need to upgrade a new factory rifle or are looking at picking up some build parts, then take a look at what MEAN has to offer.
BlackPoint Tactical just released a new Bandolero Holster for rimfire pistols. The Bandolero is a design collaboration with Bushcraft and Survival Instructor Kevin Estela. It’s designed so that it carries out of the way of your EDC pistol, and other gear.
The Bandolero Holster
Rimfire pistols have a definite role in the outdoors. Having a rimfire for pest control, small game hunting, or even some opportune plinking, all have their place. A .22LR isn’t going to replace a heavier pistol used for 2-legged or 4-legged defense, though, so carrying it without interfering with your primary sidearm is an issue. Even if you aren’t carrying another pistol, belt carry isn’t always convenient if you’re carrying a pack or other gear. The Blackpoint Tactical Bandolero holster offers a good solution.
The Bandolero is designed for common .22 pistols such as the Ruger MK IV 22/45 and Browning Buckmark. It can hold the base pistol or one equipped with an optic and suppressor. It uses a single strap and slings over your shoulder, much like the old military M3 Tanker shoulder holsters. It’s simple to put on and take off.
The Bandolero has a longer strap than the old M3’s, though, and allows the pistols to ride low on the chest or down near the belt line. There’s also a belt keeper built in so that you can anchor the holster to your belt if you want to. In addition, it works in a cross-draw configuration.
Carry and Construction
The Bandolero can be adjusted so that it can be slung behind the back, out of the way, if needed. Most chest-mounted holsters have fixed positions, but I like the flexibility that the Bandolero offers. Just like with a rifle on a two-point sling, there are times you want to flip it around to the back to get it out of the way if you need to bend down to perform a task.
The BlackPoint Tactical Bandolero holster is constructed of molded Kydex. It is currently available in OD green and has a black Multicam nylon strap. It weighs just under 5.6 ounces. The Bandolero’s MSRP for the Browning Buckmark or Ruger Mark IV 22/45 is $99.99.
Key Features
Modified Cross Draw—Designed to be carried and not interfere with any backcountry or bushcrafting activities.
Suppressor Compatible—Many .22 suppressors can be mounted and used in the holster.
Belt Grabber—New Belt Clips are designed to anchor the holster to the belt.
Thread Locker—Applied to all screws to prevent loosening over time
RDS Compatible—Built to accommodate popular, pistol-mounted RDS sights
The prevalence and utility of slide-mounted red-dot sights have permeated across the landscape of modern handguns to the point where major law enforcement agencies even issue or allow them for uniform duty beyond specialized units like SWAT teams. To meet this demand, major leading pistol manufacturers now offer duty guns that ship from their factories with their slides already finished and cut for the specific mounted red-dot optic footprint of their law enforcement customers’ choosing.
Considering police work, these optics footprints tend to revolve around the Aimpoint ACRO and Trijicon RMR footprints. LE SKU directly milled slides offer different conveniences since they make the optics mounting process more straightforward by eliminating an optics-mounting plate. Likewise, they also allow the sights to sit lower over the slide—something that’s helpful when pairing back-up iron sights.
Unfortunately, because these types of pistols are slotted for law-enforcement customers, they’re generally not available to the general public for purchase. One exception to this rule is Walther Arms, which recently made its LE SKU 9mm Walther PDP Professional ACRO (SKU: 2881225PRO) available to anyone who may lawfully purchase a handgun in addition to its regular qualified law enforcement customers.
Walther PDP Professional ACRO: Turnkey Tactical Package
Walther + Aimpoint ACRO P-2 + XS R3D Night Sights
Top view of the Aimpoint ACRO P-2 and the bright XS Sights front sight.
The Walther PDP Professional ACRO consists of a standard full-size Walther PDP with a 4.5-inch barrel. However, instead of the Walther PDP “master” slide cut, these models are directly milled for the Aimpoint ACRO footprint and include a 3.5 MOA Aimpoint ACRO P-2 enclosed emitter red-dot sight mounted and installed.
For duty use in 2024, the Aimpoint ACRO P-2 reigns supreme due to its durability, design, and form factor. Because of the ACRO P-2’s and Aimpoint’s reputation, in general, it’s seemingly universally accepted for duty use in almost any law enforcement agency in the United States.
If you follow my work, I’m not shy about my appreciation and enjoyment of Walther PDP pistols in general. In my previous reviews, I’ve pointed out that the PDP “master” cut on their slides is one of the lowest among modern striker-fired pistols. This is also true of the ACRO specific cut on the slide of the Walther PDP Professional.
Because these slides do not require a plate, the ACRO P-2 sight sits low enough to allow the standard height backup iron sights to fully co-witness through the P-2. The backup iron sights that ship with the Walther PDP Professional ACRO are not an afterthought either. The slide has XS Sights R3D Night sights already centered and installed.
These high-contrast iron sights consist of a very eye-catching bold orange front sight with a tritium vial insert and a low-profile rear sight with two smaller tritium vials and an extremely generous square notch. I appreciate the synergy between a very low-sitting optic and the chance to pass on taller front sights, which can be snag or cutting hazards.
A Familiar Platform
Aside from the Aimpoint ACRO-specific slide cut, the XS Sights R3D night sight, and the Aimpoint ACRO P-2 itself, the top end of the Walther PDP Professional ACRO is otherwise identical to any other 4.5-inch full-size PDP handgun with the polygonal twist and stepped-chamber barrel.
Rear view of mounted ACRO P-2 and R3D rear sight. Notice the depth of the slide’s cut and how low the P-2 sits relative to the rear sight.
Additional PDP Professional ACRO Accessories
It’s indisputable that the main draw to the Walther PDP Professional ACRO is its somewhat unique top-end complete with a hard-use red dot and night sights ready for service. Similar to the PDP SD Pro models, Walther also includes its premium flat-faced Dynamic Performance Trigger and factory low-profile magazine well.
Besides the PDP SD Pro models, this same trigger and magazine well are included with the five-inch PDP Match Steel Frame pistol. Standard PDP triggers are already some of the best anyone can use as factory stock options. But I’ll admit that after shooting my steel-framed Walther more, the flat-faced Dynamic Performance Trigger definitely grew on me.
It comes very close to providing that crisp and flat 1911/2011 feel and reset, especially after the first few boxes of ammo when the trigger’s components and linkage start wearing in properly. To date, I’ve shot some of my fastest-ever splits with my PDP steel frame pistol, and I know the trigger positively contributes to this.
Due to personal preference, I don’t use magazine wells on any PDP, and the ruleset for USPSA Carry Optics doesn’t allow them either. That said, these magazines do require compatible magazine baseplates, so the three included 18-round PDP magazines are also equipped with them. Again, they’re the same style as the ones found with the PDP SD Pro or steel match pistol.
The Takeaway
LE-SKU handguns are nigh impossible for anyone outside of law enforcement circles to purchase, to the chagrin of many serious shooters who also like to employ the same hard-use mounted optics on their own pistols. Even for Walther, this was the case, too, until it recently made changes so that the PDP Professional ACRO was also available to civilians earlier this year.
With a standard retail price of $1599, this turnkey tactical handgun package is not cheap by any means. But neither are the optics, sights, or other accessories included in this package. For those with valid law enforcement credentials, Walther does offer a $600 IOP (individual officer purchase) discount. This is a damn good deal for a gun that only needs ammunition, a tactical weapon-mounted light, and a duty holster to be set.
Colt CZ Group, a stalwart in the defense industry, has recently made a significant move by acquiring the Mk 47 automatic grenade launcher. The Mk 47 Striker, a belt-fed, fully automatic, closed-bolt machine gun, is now under the ownership of Colt CZ Group, having purchased the rights from General Dynamics.
The new MK47 Light Weight Automatic Grenade Launcher.
During my service in the Marine Corps, the Mk 19 always stood out as a formidable weapon. This All-American machine grenade launcher, a beast in the heavy machine gun category, was first introduced in 1968. While it remains a potent weapon for infantry, light armor, boat crews, and more, it’s worth noting that it’s now 56 years old as of 2024.
Age doesn’t mean it’s terrible, but technology improves. The Mk 47 series represents that improvement. General Dynamics developed the weapon in 2006 at the behest of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane. The Mk 47 makes numerous improvements over the older Mk 19.
These improvements include:
The Mk 47 reduces weight from 77.6 pounds to 39.6 pounds unloaded with no accessories.
The weapon uses a closed bolt system, which increases reliability and safety.
The Mk 47 features an increased effective range from 1500 meters to 1700 meters.
The weapon uses a short recoil system rather than an API Blowback design, which reduces recoil.
The Mk 47 – Make It Smart
The significant improvement from the Mk 19 to the Mk 47 is utilizing smart grenades. The Mk 47 can use the same high velocity 40mm grenades as the standard Mk 19 and other NATO machine grenade launchers. The compatibility with the Mk285 smart grenade allows military forces to increase their lethality.
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Monica Roybal, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs photojournalist, fires an MK-47 automatic grenade launcher at the Udairi Range Complex, Kuwait, Oct. 12, 2020. Members assigned to the Joint Special Operation Forces Support Detachment-Kuwait hosted a range day for mission-essential partners to build relationships while ensuring readiness. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kenneth Boyton)
The internal programmable fuse allows the weapon to detonate the grenade without the need for impact. This allows the grenade to explode above or beside enemy forces hiding behind cover. The explosion above or beside renders the cover mute, allowing shrapnel and concussive force to eliminate threats. It can effectively hit a threat around a corner.
The grenades pair with a range-finding sighting system to determine the appropriate range. As we’ve seen in the Ukraine, the infantry forces are at a stalemate and meeting in trenches. This is the type of weapon that, when fielded widely, would make that type of warfare unsustainable.
Fielding the Mk 47
Three modern forces have fielded the Mk 47 series. In the United States, special operations have fielded the weapon in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. The Israeli IDF has fielded the weapon in limited numbers, and the Australians purchased 200 of these weapons.
As of this writing, the Mk 47 is not slated to replace the Mk 19 amongst general infantry troops. Conventional forces use the Mk 19 primarily on vehicles, armor, and tripods for defensive purposes. Conventional troops don’t require a lightweight grenade launcher.
The weapon also has its downsides. A lighter weapon does wear quicker, and it requires more money per use hour. While that’s fine for SOCOM, it’s not desirable for big Army. Perhaps improving the durability will be an objective of Colt CZ Group.
The Acquisition
Colt CZ Group’s purchase of the Mk 47 series allows them to enter a market they haven’t tapped in a long time. It represents a larger weapon platform than typical for the modern Colt company. This is a significant acquisition for Colt and might represent a renewed effort to produce high-quality military weapons.
A few months ago, I came into 20 rounds of 8-pellet Hornady 12-gauge TAP Versatite (Item #86265). It is probably best described as Hornady’s counterpart to Federal Premium’s Tactical Flite Control LE 133 00 8-pellet buckshot load. After all, the 12-gauge TAP Versatite and the Federal Premium LE 133 00 are both marketed towards law enforcement. Likewise, both are loaded in 2 ¾ inch shells, and both also have reduced recoil loads: at 1100 fps and 1145 fps, respectively.
Keep in mind that this also isn’t a Flite Control vs Versatite article, as 20 shells through a single shotgun wouldn’t prove anything other than what my shotgun prefers. Variances between lots of the same shotshells SKUs do exist, and it’s also something I’ve seen firsthand–even when shooting with the same shotgun.
Furthermore, the internal compositions of individual shotgun barrels, even from the same production run, have enough nuances to affect how they throw patterns without regard to shells being from the same box or batch. In short, this post is for entertainment purposes only, but also for the love of shotguns.
Patterning Versatite With The Beretta 1301 Tactical
I patterned all 20 rounds of Hornady TAP Versatite by shooting them at blank pieces of cardboard at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards over two range trips, as time allowed. Hornady packages its shells in packages of ten and ships 100-round cases. Both boxes that I shot came from the same case.
To pattern them, I took what I learned from Erick Gelhaus about patterning shotguns during the inaugural Thunderstick Summit. So, I fired two shells at each distance at the same spot. I just cheated and used the red-dot sight since my Beretta has an Aimpoint H2 that sits on an original Aridus CROM mount.
Keep in mind that the point of impact doesn’t match the point of aim since the sight is zeroed for a different load—the Federal Premium Tactical Flite Control LE 127 00 (9-pellet high velocity).
Pattern Descriptions
To pattern the Hornady TAP 12-ga loads, I used clean sheets of cardboard and labeled them accordingly. I divided this fun experiment over two range trips as time allowed, and the results are divided between “Target 1” and “Target 2.” Each of these “relays” consisted of 10 rounds total, with two shots being fired at each distance, as I referenced in the previous paragraph. The grand total adds up to two boxes (20 shells).
5 Yards:
At five yards, the payloads from all four rounds remained inside the wad, effectively stacking 0.73-caliber holes right on top of each other on both Targets 1 and 2.
10 Yards:
At ten yards, I counted fifteen distinct pellet holes on Target 1. This pattern measures approximately four inches through its “core.” There is a lone pellet roughly 3.75 inches beneath the main cluster of pellets. One of the wads punched the cardboard clean through while the other one impacted sideways. Both can be clearly seen. There’s also a chance that the 16th pellet could have passed through the same hole another pellet previously did.
On Target 2, the impacts closely resemble the 5-yard patterns. But there are a few individual pellets immediately below the 2-inch hole and a flier above. Extreme spread for Target 2 at ten yards is 3-inches.
15 Yards:
At fifteen yards, patterns started to open up on both targets. On Target 1, I counted fifteen pellet holes across a 10.75-inch extreme diagonal spread. But the core of both payloads sits in an 8-inch diagonal cluster. Both wads impacted the cardboard sideways, too.
The pattern on Target 2 shows 16 distinct pellet holes with a more rounded cluster measuring approximately 5 inches. I am unsure whether the two most extreme flyers are part of the Target 2 20-yard pattern, and in haste, I neglected to mark these in between shots.
20 Yards:
When patterning buckshot with sophisticated wads, be they Flite Control or Versatite, I’ve noticed that one can usually start finding wads in front of the firing line at this distance. This suggests that shot columns are mostly separated from wads, but it’s not always the case either. In fact, both shots I fired at Target 1 are the biggest anomalies I’ve seen whenever patterning any shotgun.
The first shot printed an amazing and extremely tight pattern that measures 1.75 inches at its widest points. However, I could only count seven distinct pellet holes. I’m unsure what happened to the 8th pellet, and I’m assuming the wad never struck the cardboard. Beyond that, the second shot is the strangest one I’ve ever seen.
Approximately 7 inches up and to the left from this “surreal” 1.75-inch 20-yard pattern, there is a very clean circular hole that looks exactly like one of my 5-yard shots. I distinctly remember that the first shot at Target 1 was the magical pattern. My suspicion is that the wad and shot column from the second shot never separated, so both acted like an extremely slow-flying makeshift slug that began drifting off-course.
20 Yard Pattern
Target 2’s 20-yard pattern shows 12-13 holes. One of the wads from the 15-yard shells impacted sideways in the vicinity of where I was aiming. So, there’s a chance some or all of the missing pellets could have also traveled through that hole. Or, as I mentioned above, the extreme fliers that I thought were part of the 15-yard patterns could actually belong here.
Fliers aside, the core pattern measures approximately 7 inches end to end, and the suspicious flier would add another 2.5 inches for a total of 9.5 inches. The 20-yard pattern on Target 2 looks more in line with both Target 1 and 2’s 15-yard patterns. Even on the best of days, that first 1.75-inch pattern from Target 1 is like a unicorn.
25 Yards:
I counted all sixteen pellet holes on both Targets 1 and 2. The extreme spread on the first target measures 18 inches diagonally from bottom left to top right. The inner cluster for this target measures about 8 inches.
Target 2’s pattern was a little tighter, with an extreme spread of 12.5 inches and an even tighter inner cluster that measures about 5 inches. As expected, neither wad struck the first target, but both wads impacted the second target diagonally.
Firearms Policy Coalition is a no-compromise firebrand that routinely takes the fight to gun control activists. Their brand isn’t being politically correct, but for standing up to the forces that be who would disarm us if given even the slightest chance. Most recently, the Governor of Maine, Jabet Mills, tweeted a video of her proposing an ‘assault weapons’ ban for her state. The Firearms Policy Coalition, in their usual take-no-prisoners attitude, had a very simple response for Governor Mills.
“Hey @GovJanetMills, Three words: Fuck you. No.”
They tweeted the response on December 20th, 2023. Recently, an outlet known as the Maine Wire discovered that Governor Mills’ personnel had been forwarding these tweets to the State Police. The State Police provide the Governor’s security detail. The Maine Wire discovered this through a Freedom of Information Action request in July 2024.
While the Firearms Policy Coalition wasn’t exactly friendly, it wasn’t threatening anything. Its mission is a stalwart defense of civil liberties, and it fights via the courts. The FPC has never threatened anyone with physical or emotional harm. It might threaten and pursue court cases, but that’s the intended role of a group designed to protect civil liberties.
It’s disturbing and disgusting that the Governor’s staff would refer to any resistance to her policy as a threat. That’s despotic behavior. It appears to be a weaponization of law enforcement against a group dedicated to protecting Civil Liberties.
Firearms Policy Coalition Responds
Do we expect an organization like Firearms Policy Coalition not to respond? They did, quickly and decisively, after the Maine Wire broke the news. The Firearms Policy Coalition wrote a letter to Governor Mills, stating:
Dear Governor Mills and Secretary Bellows:
FPC is a human rights advocacy organization working to create a free world. We understand from a recent news report that State personnel forwarded our online communications to your State Police. Our approach may leave little to wonder. But please know that we take First Amendment-protected rights just as seriously as we do others.
You must surely be aware that our X post responding to Governor Mills’s discussion of an immoral ban on protected arms is clearly protected speech, as there is absolutely no uncertainty about the law regarding this form of speech. If not, some education is in order. Naked authoritarianism, such as efforts to chill free speech, is not acceptable to FPC and our members. We strongly encourage you to learn more about protected speech and arms.
Best, Brandon Combs President
P.S. We are sending a copy of this letter to your State Police Commissioner to save you the trouble this time.
cc: Michael J. Sauschuck, Commissioner
A Stalwart Defense
Credit goes to the Maine Wire for investigating and uncovering the situation. This is absolutely an affront to both the 1st and 2nd Amendment. In what world does an American have free speech if an elected official can intimidate them with a state police force? The Maine election doesn’t happen until 2026, but hopefully, the people of Maine take note of their Governor’s behavior and factor that into their election decision.
This is the United States of America. Our country holds our Constitution and rights close to our hearts. This flagrant abuse of power is disturbing and goes directly against our rights as American citizens.
High Desert Cartridge Company, a small ammunition company based in Goldendale, WA, is probably best known for its 9mm and 5.56mm ammunition that acclaimed instructors like Bill Blowers or Kyle Defoor shoot. However, this ammunition company has been busy behind the scenes consulting with influential personalities in the revolver realm, like Darryl Bolke and Chuck Haggard.
The goal is to ramp up load development and production of various revolver cartridges to better cater to the current revolver renaissance. At the time of this writing, High Desert Cartridge is loading and selling .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .32 H&R Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt.
The High Desert Cartridge .357 Magnum
This article is meant to showcase HDCC’s practical .357 Magnum loads, which are deliberately tuned for efficiency between the projectile’s muzzle velocity, ballistic performance, and recoil management. The principal load uses Hornady’s classic 158-grain XTP jacketed hollow point bullet, which requires approximately 900 FPS at the muzzle in order to expand properly. This is exactly what the High Desert Load sets out to accomplish from a three-inch barreled ‘snub’ revolver.
The concept is two-fold. First, reduce “excess” energy beyond what’s needed for this JHP design to expand properly and be easier to shoot. Second, by making the cartridge perform more efficiently, it can be safely loaded and fired through classic and vintage .357 Magnum revolvers without any danger of battering or damaging them. This aspect was extremely critical to the success of this cartridge and one of the initial considerations in the way actual load development began.
With my interest in classic revolvers, it was actually this “feature” that caught my attention.
A Brief History Of The .357 Magnum And The Magnum Duty Revolvers
To contextualize High Desert’s .357 Magnum loads, it’s worth briefly glossing over the history of the .357 Magnum.
The .357 Magnum was developed in the mid-1930s and could be simply described as a hot-rodded .38 Special round pushing the same size bullets with a stouter powder charge. Naturally, as a chambering capable of both higher pressures and higher velocities, .357 Magnums use slower burning propellants with charges that would destroy most .38 Special revolvers.
So, for safety reasons, the casing on the .357 Magnum was designed to be ⅛ inch longer to prevent accidental chambering in .38 Special revolvers. Otherwise, both cartridges are very similar, to the point that untrained eyes will visually confuse the two.
The original .357 Magnum load from 1935 used a large pistol primer (a necessity at the time to thoroughly ignite 1930s-era propellants). It pushed a 158-grain bullet out of an 8-inch barrel at a screaming 1,500 FPS at the muzzle. The trend of very hot and fast .357 Magnum factory rounds continued through the “Golden Age” of the double-action revolver during the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and its sunset in the 1980s.
.357 Magnum Makes its Debut
When the .357 Magnum made its debut in 1935, it was paired with Smith & Wesson’s famous Registered Magnum revolvers, which were later codified into the Model 27 family. These revolvers were built on S&W’s large and beefy N-frame, which could safely handle the hot .357 Magnum by virtue of its size and heft. The downside of having a much larger revolver frame meant that guns didn’t carry as nimbly the way standard framed .38-caliber service revolvers did.
By the mid-1950s, acclaimed writer, shooter, and Border Patrolman Bill Jordan consulted with Smith & Wesson to develop the Combat Magnum, known as the Smith & Wesson Model 19 after 1957. The premise behind the S&W Model 19 was to have a .357 Magnum-rated revolver built on the more nimble K-frame for duty. They would match the size and heft of standard .38 Special revolvers while also being able to handle the more potent .357 Magnum rounds. The idea was that coppers would shoot .38 Special rounds for training and practice and load the cylinder with full-power .357 ammunition when it came time to go on patrol.
A Heavy Hitter
The Smith & Wesson Model 19, Model 66, Model 13, and Model 65 have gone on to become some of the storied gunmaker’s most popular and sought-after double-action revolvers and have all gone up in value. In their heyday, the compromise of the smaller frame handling the powerful Magnum loads of the day still presented many problems. Besides the higher pressures, blast, and recoil that were part and parcel of old-school .357 Magnum loads, these rounds also routinely broke guns due to that elevated potency. Not to mention that many officers couldn’t handle the increased blast and pressure and thus had a hard time qualifying with their service revolvers.
Even though factory .357 Magnum rounds loaded today aren’t loaded as warmly as yesteryear’s vintage loads, it’s still a good idea to avoid shooting them through vintage guns. Especially now that they’re older and will never be made again.
The High Desert Solution
As I already stated, High Desert’s approach with its .357 Magnum loads was to reach a happy medium between pushing bullets out with adequate velocity to ensure reliable expansion of XTP bullets without excessive pressure or velocity while also preventing undue wear and tear in use through older guns. Another benefit of shooting a better-regulated .357 Magnum cartridge as opposed to a hotter .38 Special +P round is that the longer Magnum casing keeps leading in charge holes to a minimum while also functioning at a relatively lower pressure.
In the spirit of this, I brought my four-inch Smith & Wesson Model 66 (square butt, no-dash) to the gun club to group this ammo at 15 yards and also shoot it over the Garmin Xero C1 chronograph I just purchased. I fired six different 10-shot groups at 15 yards using a bag. All 60 rounds I shot were captured with the Garmin Xero. Two groups consisted of the XTP load, and the other four groups used the flat-point load.
The XTP load is loaded slightly warmer to ensure that this Hornady bullet has enough velocity for expansion. The flat-point load is loaded milder with the intention of being used recreationally or for target shooting. In the future, High Desert Cartridge Company plans on increasing the charge of this flat-point load to make it the training companion of their XTP load. This would help not only for practice and training but also to keep the sights zeroed equally.
Performance Results
Like the original Model 19, the Model 66 also includes adjustable sights. The rear sight on my revolver is zeroed for 158-grain .38 Special loads. So, the faster High Desert XTP load printed approximately 2.5 inches high at 15 yards.
In addition to the data screenshots I pulled from the Garmin chrono app, I also enlisted the help of the group analysis tool I’ve been using. Ironically, like the XTP bullet, this software is also a Hornady product.
158-Grain XTP Results (Model 66)
158-Grain Flat Point Results (Model 66)
Addendum: 158-Grain XTP Results From Taurus 692 Executive Grade
When it comes to data and information, the more, the merrier. I also shot 20 rounds of the High Desert XTP load through the three-inch Taurus 692 Executive Grade for its own review (a work in progress as we speak). So, I don’t see the harm in including its groups and data here, too, for the sake of more thorough information as it pertains to this load.
A Note On The Hornady XTP
This image courtesy of gun-writer Rob Garrett shows recovered XTP bullets from High Desert loaded .357 Magnum rounds fired out of a three-inch Colt Python at ballistic gelatin.
High Desert Cartridge Company’s principal cartridge, the .357 Magnum round, is loaded with Hornady’s XTP JHP bullet, which is one of the Nebraska bullet-maker’s most important projectiles across its entire handgun product line. This bullet probably rates its own article in all honesty.
In a defensive context, XTP bullets tend to expand after penetrating a little deeper than other JHP designs. I’m sure their truncated cone-shaped design is partially responsible for this.
Regardless, in my experience as a handloader, XTP bullets tend to shoot accurately regardless of caliber. They also form the basis for some of Hornady’s other premium bullets, such as their HAP or FlexLock bullets.
The Takeaway
Even though both of these loads were developed for ballistic efficiency and gentle functioning through vintage revolvers, that should not preclude them from being beneficial in newer carry guns chambered for .357 Magnum, too. Especially with the benefit of reducing needless blast and additional recoil.
I love weird guns and weird gun genres. Today is all about the arm pistol. Arguably, the arm pistol as a genre barely exists. The only three purpose-built arm pistols I can find were only ever prototypes. Beyond that, there is a still unreleased conversion kit, a French design that exists only as a drawing, and some imagination. I could argue that every gun with a pistol brace is an arm pistol, but I don’t think that’s fair. Let’s dissect arm pistols, and maybe we’ll figure out why none exist. (But one kind of does)
What’s Are Arm Pistols
It’s important that I use the term pistol, but in reality, an arm pistol could be a submachine gun. It’s typically stockless, and arm pistols better describe these guns as a whole. There is plenty of room to argue it’s not a pistol, and that’s fine. An arm pistol is a gun that is larger than your typical handgun and typically functions differently than a normal handgun. They tend to rest on the arm in one way or another to provide greater stability.
Yep, just like an arm brace. The difference lies in intent. A braced pistol was intended to be shouldered, but the NFA makes adding a stock difficult, so the best we can do is brace it to our forearms. Arm pistols were designed to be braced against the arm from the very beginning. These guns lacked the stock to keep the weapon as compact as possible.
These guns can be used at ranges beyond a typical handgun but well below a rifle. Their small size allows for easier storage and better close-range use. These weapons are also bullpups by design, further reducing size.
Arm Pistols – The Examples
The definition of an armed pistol and the entire genre comes down to three guns. Colt developed the first Arm Pistol and called it the Individual Multi-Purpose Weapon, or IMP. Colt designed the IMP to be a survival weapon for aircrew. The IMP started by chambering the .221 Remington Fireball, but later, a proprietary .221-17 IMP caliber was produced for the military.
The gun did not have a stock and sat along the forearm. The rear of the weapon could pivot left or right to rest alongside the gun while allowing the user to grab the pistol grip. Five prototypes were produced, but the program was canceled.
The Bushmaster Arm pistol is the second and most prominent arm pistol. The original Bushmaster, or Gwinn Arm pistol, came to be after Mack Gwinn acquired the rights to the Colt IMP. He developed the Bushmaster Arm Gun.
The Bushmaster version chambered the 5.56 round and used AR-15 magazines. It produced limited numbers in both semi-auto-only and select-fire models. Hydra Weaponry has recently brought the gun back for a limited production run. Mach Gwinn Jr. owns Hydra and is bringing back his father’s gun for modern collectors.
In 1970, Donald Stoehr created the prototype Stoehr Machine Pistol, which was quite interesting in its design. It’s a blow-forward, fully automatic machine pistol. The gun rests on the forearm, and the magazine sits offset from the sights. The magazine is a pan magazine that holds a metallic tape belt that holds the cartridges.
Modern Options
Beyond the actual prototypes, the closest thing we have in the modern era is the JTAC L1 Stribog Bullpup Lower. It converts a Stribog large format pistol into a bullpup pistol without a brace or stock. Sadly, the kits have been in development for years but have yet to hit the market.
JTAC LLC
Generally, any modern arm pistol will be a novelty or reproduction like the Hydra Weaponry variants. Braces define the contemporary era of oddly large pistols. This genre had a brief history and its rise and fall. It’s a tiny genre of weapons that never really went anywhere. It’s neat but difficult to shoot accurately, difficult to control, and ultimately not all that effective.
These guns are neat, and boy, oh boy, do I want to get my hands on a Hydra Weaponry model, but they aren’t all that effective. At the very least, their effectiveness hasn’t been fully embraced. I’d love to try a more modern example with a red dot and maybe apply the cheek pistol concept. Maybe one day, but for now, arm pistols are a weird gun genre that’s dead.
SIG SAUER announces the release of the Gen II Romeo5 Optic sight. If you aren’t on SIG’s e-mail list, you may have missed the release of the new Gen II version of their popular ROMEO5 optic sight. It has some new design features, both cosmetic and structural, and is very reasonably priced.
ROMEO5 GEN II Features:
At its core, the Gen II ROMEO5 builds on what made the original a success. The Gen II has an impressive 40,000-hour battery life in conjunction with SIG’s MOTAC Motion Activated sensor. Equally important, it runs on a single CR2032 Lithium battery that can easily be changed without having to dismount the optic. The GEN II has a 2 MOA dot that’s available in red or green and is a parallax-free design. It’s IPX7 Water and Fog proof, and has a ruggedized industrial design. Weight is only 5.5 ounces.
The new profile is sleeker than the original. Coupled with the new I-Beam mount, it gives the user better visibility around the optic. This allows for better situational awareness and lets you keep your eyes downrange on target or on threat. It has 12 brightness settings, including two night vision levels. In addition, the controls are top-mounted and easily accessible to right- or left-handed shooters.
The SIG SAUER Gen II Romeo5 Optic has an MSRP of only $149.99 for the red dot and $159.99 for the green dot. You can also buy the red dot version together with a JULIET3 Micro 3X Magnifier for $299.99.
SIG SAUER Gen II Romeo5 Optic Specifications:
Ruggedized Industrial Design I-BEAM Mount for maximizing situational awareness 12 Settings (10 Day + 2 NV) 40,000 hrs Runtime with CR2032 Battery and MOTAC™ Motion Activated Top Mount Illumination Controls for Ambidextrous Operation Dependable IPX7 Waterproof and Fog-Proof Performance Parallax-Free Optical Design
A U.S. Marine with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, fires a M27 infantry automatic rifle at simulated enemies during an Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Aug. 18, 2016. ITX is designed to bring together the ground, air, and logistics combat elements of the Marine Corps into one fully capable and lethal unit, ready to respond to global uncertainty. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Danny Gonzalez, 1st Marine Division Combat Camera/Released)
Eugene Stoner designed the AR-10 to be a modern rifle, and the AR-15 descended from the AR-10 to be the same thing. It was a revolutionary weapon. The adaptability of the AR-15 rifles, a feature that even Eugene Stoner might not have fully realized, is truly impressive. These rifles can be adapted for various roles, including use as a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW).
I can’t find a lot of information on it, but Eugene Stoner built a belt-fed AR-10. It even had the classic top charging handle. That might have been the first, but it wasn’t the last attempt to create a SAW from an AR-15. Over the years, we’ve seen numerous attempts and even some successes at creating SAWs from the AR-15’s core design.
It’s worth mentioning that Squad Automatic Weapons cover both light machine guns and infantry automatic rifles. Both fall under the SAW genre and are intended to provide an organic support weapon for a rifle squad. Let’s explore the idea of the AR-15 as a SAW and historical examples.
Why the AR-15 Makes a Good SAW
One of the most significant benefits of using some form of AR design as a SAW is familiarity and training. If soldiers already carry an AR-based weapon, the training is cut significantly. It’s easier to swap to an AR-based SAW than something like a dedicated light machine gun.
The AR-15 design is inherently lightweight, modular, and easy to employ. Its design allows you to mount optics, bipods, and magazines in all shapes and sizes. It’s a reliable weapon that’s well-proven, accurate, and capable.
Why The AR-15 Isn’t a Good SAW
A SAW’s main task is to lay down a mass of fire and to establish a base of fire. A base of fire will be shooting a lot of ammo. When you’re shooting full auto, things get hot, and AR-15s aren’t designed with an easily removable and replaceable barrel like a dedicated light machine gun.
That’s a problem with all IARs, but it’s also a problem with belt-fed AR-15 light machine guns. The AR-15 is a closed-bolt design that can cause overheating under sustained fire and create potential cook-offs.
The direct impingement system gets a lot of hate for ‘pooping where it eats,’ and it’s often overblown. It’s not a real problem with a rifle, but we are looking at a lot more carbon build-up with a gun designed for sustained automatic fire. It’s very unlikely that the gun won’t be reliable, but it will require more maintenance.
The Historical SAW AR-15s
With the pros and cons in mind, let’s explore a few historical examples of both successful and not-so-successful examples.
The Colt Heavy Assault Rifles
Colt wanted to create an entire family of weapons from the AR-15. The CAR-15 family would be everything in small arms! This led to the Colt Heavy Assault Rifles. Two distinct models represented a light machine gun and an infantry automatic rifle.
The Colt Heavy Assault Rifle M1 was a magazine-fed rifle with a heavy barrel and bipod attachment. The Heavy Assault Rifle M2 was a belt-fed rifle supported by a bipod. Neither weapon made it past the prototype stages.
The Colt Diemaco Automatic Rifle
Colt and Diemaco teamed up in the early 1990s to develop an Automatic Rifle for the Canadian military. Spoiler alert: the Canadian military didn’t purchase it. However, it did see some success with the Netherlands Marine Corps and the Danish Military. Vikings apparently really like automatic rifles.
The furniture included a heavier-duty handguard and a vertical grip. It also came optics-ready and wore a bipod. Modern variants wear collapsing stocks and modern handguards.
The Colt Automatic Rifle started with an open bolt design, but the modern variants use a closed bolt design. They were also originally issued with snail drums and later the Beta C Mag, but now they are wielded with standard AR magazines. They serve as a SAW and occupy the IAR territory.
Ares Shrike
In the early 2000s, a company called Ares released the Shrike AR upper. Ares is now Fightlite, and the Shrike is the MCR. The Shrike upper could drop onto full auto or semi-auto AR-15s and convert it to a belt-fed rifle. This is just an upper, but I think it deserves a mention. The Shrike wasn’t the first belt-fed upper, but it’s the most produced upper on this market.
The Ares Shrike mixed IAR and LMG to create a weapon that could use belts or standard AR magazines. The system ditched the direct impingement design for a gas-operated short-stroke tappet system. It’s an interesting design, but it was never adopted by a military force. However, you and I can still purchase an MCR upper to this day.
Colt IAR 6940
The Colt IAR 6940 was Colt America’s entry into the world of infantry automatic rifles. The Marine Corps wanted an IAR, and Colt wanted to provide it. They built the IAR 6940, a gas-operated, air-cooled weapon fed by standard AR magazines. The USMC intended to replace the M249 SAW with the IAR to lighten the load. The contest ultimately went to HK, but the Colt IAR 6940 did have some sales to Mexico and Singapore. Some uppers leaked to the civilian market and some 80% lower dudes cloned them out.
The IAR 6940 featured the classic direct impingement system with a closed bolt design. The system could be tailored to reach a fire rate of 700 to 1,000 rounds per minute. To help with heat build-up, a heatsink is built into the lower handguard. The system used the classic Marine Corps Grip Pod as its bipod.
The IAR 6940 is a modern way to turn an AR-15 into a SAW and seems like a very modern rifle overall.
The Modern SAW
AR-15s as SAWs have been around for decades, and the concept has faded and grown in popularity over the years. Interestingly, the AR-15 used as a SAW in the GWOT is lacking. It’s been very limited in use in modern warfare. Arguably, the designs can work, but I’d be curious to see how they work in sustained combat.
You ever wake up, see something, and go, huh? That’s how I felt when someone accosted my eyes with the TAE Tactical Shield. I felt confused at first, and I remained confused, and I’m still a little confused. If I had to see it, so do you!
What is The TAE Tactical Shield?
The TAE Tactical Shield is part of the TAE system. What’s the TAE system? Well, I’ll let TAE Tactical tell you a little more about that. This is directly lifted from the company’s website:
The TAE System is an innovative combination of strategic thinking, interpretation of behavioral tendencies, operational concepts, tactics, and techniques intended for use in high-risk urban combat. The TAE System contributes to preserving the lives of operators by providing them with tools that minimize risks and increase efficiency even in extreme situations.
Once you’ve made heads or tails of that, we can talk about the TAE Tactical shield, which we’ll let TAE Tactical tell you about.
Courtesy of TAE Tactical
The TAE Tactical Shield is not just an evolution in operational safety; it’s a testament to the excellence of the premium materials used in its production. This revolutionary device not only elevates protection levels in confrontational scenarios but also redefines safety standards for operators facing the most demanding challenges.
Whether facing threats in tactical missions or safeguarding the home, the TAE Tactical Shield is more than a ballistic shield – it’s a symbol of exceptional safety, reliability, and innovation.
Still not sure what it is? We both know that’s a lie because you saw the pictures. The TAE Tactical Shield is a shield that attaches to your firearm. It’s meant to provide you with a portable ballistic cover. If you grew up playing video games in the early 2000s, you might get hit by some deja vue from the Army of Two series of video games.
What Is It Really?
To be more specific, this is a transparent armored shield that attaches to your gun to provide you with ballistic protection. TAE Tactical makes three different levels of the Shield. We have the Lightweight, Heavy Duty, and Heavy Duty Pro. The Lightweight weighs 3.6 pounds, the Heavy Duty comes in at 3.9 pounds, and the Heavy Duty Pro hits us with 4.9 pounds.
The Lightweight and Heavy Duty offer Level 2-A Armor, and the Heavy Duty Pro offers Level 2. Keep in mind I do not see any mention of NIJ ratings. Rather, they just say it meets these levels. I gather that there is no independent third-party testing of these proposed bulletproof promises. According to TAE Tactical, the 2-A shields can stop up to three rounds of 9mm, and the Heavy Duty Pro shows hits from 9mm and .40 S&W.
You wrap this Shield around your gun. So, your gun now weighs anywhere from five to six and a half pounds. For another pound, you can get a plain AR with a red dot. The Shield isn’t very large and doesn’t offer a whole lot of protection.
Would it Work
Let’s say the armor rating is accurate, and it would stop 9mm rounds. Cool, but what happens after it stops the rounds? The 9mm is still packing a good bit of energy. Your Shield will have to absorb that impact, and if you’re holding the Shield, you will get to absorb that energy. Would the shield twist in the direction it’s shot? Could it cause you to discharge your weapon accidentally as it twists?
If it takes one hit, could you hold it upward so it can absorb another if it’s coming? That doesn’t bring up the lack of holsters, the absurd weight, and how much it will impact your ability to use your firearm. Reloading, using cover, or doing anything but standing at the flat range would make this thing impractical.
The TAE Tactical Shield is an absurd weapon accessory. It makes no real sense. The TAE Tactical website isn’t even a complete website. They have lots of sections that are empty of text. However, the prices are complete. The Heavy Duty costs $700, the Lightweight is $750, and the Heavy Duty Pro costs $950.
Does this tickle your fancy? I think I’ll pass on this one, but like I said earlier, if I had to see it, so do you.
The American Committee for the Defense of British Homes is one of the greatest propaganda efforts ever orchestrated. America started out as a neutral force in World War II, and prior to our entry into the war, there was a ton of American support for our European allies. This led to the formation of the American Committee for the Defense of British Homes, which was an effort by Americans to donate weapons and equipment to the British Home Guard. The idea was simple, American guns would be sent overseas to the Brits, who could then fight the Nazi scourge.
In reality, it was more or less a propaganda scheme to drum up support from the untied States to the UK via Lend-Lease and even potential entry into the war. The scheme itself was arguably successful in its intention, but it was also very controversial. American guns made their way to Britain, but did they make a difference? That’s debatable. It’s often said that the donated stopwatches and binoculars made a bigger splash than the guns.
Rather than dive deep into the efforts, the opposition, and the eventual end of the scheme, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the gun donated by the average United States citizen to the British Home Guard and the war effort in general. There are plenty of sources for the history of the American Committee for the Defense of British Homes, but as a gun nerd, I’m fascinated by what was donated.
American Guns – By the Numbers
According to In Search of the Real Dad’s Army: The Home Guard and the Defence of the United Kingdom 1940-1944: The American Committee for the Defense of British Homes gathered 25,343 firearms and over two million rounds of ammo. More than half of the weapons donated were purchased through monetary donations to the ACDBH. Additionally, the committee gathered 2,993 binoculars, 4,800 new helmets, and 379 stopwatches.
The numbers are great, but what guns were actually donated? Was anyone running around with a Remington Model 8 or maybe a Winchester 1894? What American guns made their way to the hands of the British Home Guard? I can’t find a total breakdown of the 25,343 firearms, but I could identify at least a few that made their way to the U.K. through various sources.
The American Guns in British Hands
The American Committee for the Defense of British Homes obtained American guns through three main sources. First, donations by individuals. Second, through police forces who emptied their evidence lockers or gave away guns that were out of service. Third, they collected monetary donations and used the money to buy firearms.
Automatic Firearms
The ACDBH was able to gather a number of machine guns through donations from police agencies. Through monetary donations, they ordered 110 Thompson M1928 SMGs. They also donated one BAR and one Lewis gun.
While not many automatic weapons were sent, it’s impressive they were able to gather any in the first place. While 112 machine guns sound like a lot to you and me, the Brits purchased 38,000 Lewis guns before Lend-lease even went into effect. By the end of the war, over 43,000 Thompsons had been purchased by the British.
Military Rifles
Military rifles of this era were bolt-action, full-powered rifles with a full handguard, bayonet lugs, and iron sights. After World War I, there were tons of surplus American guns, and plenty made their way to the U.K. This includes guns from the United States, like the Springfield M1903 and M1917, which both served faithfully in World War I. They would be capable rifles even in World War II.
NRA Museum
American guns like the Krag also went overseas, and while older, they were still capable. The ammo type is what would often hold odd guns like this back. While Krag ammo was easy to get in the States, they unlikely had much in the U.K. There were also donations of foreign surplus, including French rifles from 1874 and 1894 and the Ross Model 10.
Major John W. Hession donated a Springfield M1903 to the cause. Hession was an Olympic shooter, and he famously asked for the gun to be returned when the Germans were defeated.
Sporting Rifles
There was a large donation of various sporting rifles, including some guns that would be nearly useless for military forces. For example, various .32 rimfire rifles were given away, and a rimfire rolling block from World War II wouldn’t be on my top ten list of gun options.
There were also Winchester lever guns and Savage M1899 lever guns in the mix. While these weren’t optimum, they did provide a more modern option. The M1894, in particular, had been used by the French and Brits in World War I and would be issued in small numbers to Americans serving Stateside.
Rock Island Auction
Winchester, Mauser, Steyr, and Marlin made several hunting rifles with indeterminate models and calibers.
The most famous sporting rifle came from Kermit Roosevelt, who donated Theodore Roosevelt’s Winchester Model 1886 Lever Action Rifle in .47-50.
Shotguns
In all my research, I have only found a few mentions of shotguns. In fact, I can only find references for three models. One was a Remington M1910 in a riot configuration, and the other was a single-shot H&R .410. Shotguns aren’t great weapons for warfare, and I’m sure they weren’t used. The riot M1910 was a million times better than the H&R Handy-Guns.
Rock Island Auction
The Handy-Guns were subject to the NFA as AOWs of Short-Barreled Shotguns. I’m sure more than a few were given away just to be gotten rid of. They certainly weren’t worthy of military use unless you need to kill pests at camp.
Oilman Herbert Pratt donated a finely made Charles Daly trap gun. This was when Charles Daly was a big name and not just an importer. A trap gun at war wasn’t useful, but I imagined the ACDBH sold it to buy other, more effective weapons.
Handguns
Over 19,000 revolvers ended up being donated to the cause. It’s worth mentioning that these weren’t all American guns. The largest donation of guns came from a single order of 13,763 revolvers. It’s also known that various .32 revolvers were donated, as were a handful of .22LR automatics.
The End Of The Donations
When lend-lease went into effect, the donations slowed, and when America entered the war, they basically ended. In reality, the donations didn’t have much of an effect. The real effect came from the support American citizens offered the British people, which likely helped convince American politicians to help the Brits. It’s not the entire reason, but just a sliver of effective propaganda. It played well in people’s desire to do something to help. In that regard, the American Committee for the Defense of British Homes was massively successful.
If you would like to read more about this subject and the British Home Guard, I’d suggest checking out To The Last Man: the Home Guard in War and Popular Culture by Malcolm Atkin and In Search of the Real Dad’s Army: The Home Guard and the Defence of the United Kingdom 1940-1944 by Stephen Cullen.
Machine guns have a very fascinating history in warfare. Ever since we figured out ways to throw lead at each other, we tried to find ways to do it faster. Machine guns are the ultimate lead-throwing device. There are several genres of machine guns; today, we are diving into a brief history of light machine guns.
What’s a Light Machine Gun
The definition of machine guns has changed drastically over the years. A Gatling gun is one of the first machine guns, but today, the ATF wouldn’t define it as a machine gun; rather, it is a semi-auto firearm due to its firing mechanism. Light machine gun is also a term that’s changed over the years. The M1919A4 was considered a light machine gun even though it weighed 31 pounds without its bipod.
The modern definition of a machine gun has evolved to the point where we have a fairly clear picture of the concept. A modern light machine gun—a significant advancement in warfare—chambers an intermediate cartridge that is belt-fed, fully automatic, and air-cooled. Most importantly, it’s a weapon that a single soldier can use, distinguishing it from crew-served weapons. An assistant may be used but isn’t required by doctrine.
It’s important to understand that not all Squad Automatic Weapons meet the definition of light machine guns. Weapons like the RPK and M27 IAR are more akin to machine rifles rather than light machine guns. While the distinction may be arguable, it is not necessarily relevant to the history of light machine guns, which we are focusing on in this article.
The Rise of Light Machine Guns
World War I, a war fought with modern weapons but old-world tactics, was a turning point in the development of light machine guns. The war, which came to a near stalemate at several fronts, with miles of trenches, bombs, and wire forming a barrier that your Europeans and Americans died fighting against, highlighted the need for more efficient firepower. The machine gun, which became the star of infantry combat, showed commanders and tacticians that automatic fire was here to stay, paving the way for the rise of light machine guns.
This led to the creation of early squad automatic weapons. The Allies had guns like the Chauchat and the Lewis gun. The Germans had guns like the Madsen. These all fell into the category of machine rifles. Lightweight firepower was a must-have, and by the end of the war, machine rifles and submachine guns became new parts of modern military arsenals.
The Evolution of Light Machine Guns and Machine Rifles
Machine rifles evolved, and guns like the Bren and the BAR took center stage. The Germans developed the first modern General-Purpose Machine Guns with the MG 34 and MG 42. These were much lighter than most machine gun designs and purpose-built for infantry forces. They chambered 7.92mm Mauser and were belt-fed.
Military forces worldwide looked for ways to trim the weight of their old machine guns to make them easier for the infantry to carry. That’s how we got the M1919A4, A5, and A6. These were adaptations of guns and weren’t as graceful or handy as the purpose-built German designs. While they were considered light machine guns of the era, these were still crew-served weapons.
These weapons formed a base of fire weapons for the early world of maneuver warfare. None are what we consider light machine guns these days. Machine rifles, in particular, offered an early version of a squad support weapon for basic infantry squad functions.
The SMG Entry
The infantry owns the last 100 yards of every battlefield. As units came into close combat territory, guns like M1919A6 and even the lighter MG42 became more difficult to use. As you close into close combat, even the one-man-wielded BAR becomes difficult to mount. This is where submachine guns came in.
The submachine offered capable and portable firepower. Guns like the Thompson and M3, the German MP40, the British STEN, and a handful of Russian bullet hoses provided much smaller, faster-firing weapons that could suppress the enemy up close and kill the enemy easier than battle rifles and 30-plus pound machine guns.
As other fire teams or squads maneuvered on the enemy, submachine guns could keep heads down. These became proto-SAWs that were only efficient in close combat.
A Break For the M14
After World War II and Korea, the Army squad was armed with M1 Garands, M3 SMGs, BARs, and M1/M2 carbines. The Army wanted to squeeze all those guns into one and simplify the logistics. This resulted in the M14 and the short-lived M15. They would be rifles capable of automatic fire and replace a half-dozen weapons in an infantry squad. The M14 would be both the main fighting arms and the gun responsible for laying down suppressive fire within a rifle squad.
In 1943, the Soviets began developing a light machine gun as we know it today. This gun became the belt-fed RPD, which chambered the 7.62x39mm round. It’s a true light machine gun and became an enemy weapon in Vietnam.
The M60 would be the belt-fed medium general-purpose machine gun, and that would be that. As we all know, that was not that. The M14 had a service life shorter than those guys who couldn’t pass a hump at infantry school. The M16 replaced it in Vietnam, and it was the M16 and the M60, but the M60 was a crew-served weapon that wasn’t organic to a rifle squad.
As a replacement, the Army issued snap-on bipods. These were issued one per fireteam, and the automatic rifleman with the bipod-equipped M16 was allowed to hit go on his fire selector. During Vietnam, Eugene Stoner introduced the Stoner 63, which the United States military tested in small numbers.
The Marines found it too maintenance-heavy for general use. The SEAL Teams tested it and loved it. Specifically, they loved the belt-fed light machine version of the gun, an 11.7-pound, belt-fed 5.56-caliber machine gun. This is one of the first successful, major implementations of a light machine gun.
The Cold War Til Today
Throughout the 1970s, belt-fed light machine guns became more in vogue. The Soviets experimented with the IP-2 in 5.45. The Belgians developed the 5.56 FN Minimi. The Spanish adopted the CETME Ameli, and on and on. This led to the United States’s own Squad Automatic Weapon. The M249 is an American adaptation of the FN Minimi and has served since 1984.
The light machine gun concept is falling out of favor. Guns like the Evolys from FN are impressive, but we are seeing a move to machine rifles worldwide. There has also been a move from light machine guns to lighter medium machine guns that have more reach and punch. As part of the NGSW program, the M250 from SIG was selected in SIG’s not-so-intermediate 6.8mm cartridge.
While the light machine gun isn’t fully gone, its future seems to be up in the air. Maybe it won’t be the future of squad support weapons, but maybe lighter machine guns remain the best choice for so-called light infantry. Only time will tell.
A traditional .22LR conversion kit for 5.56mm ARs replaces the bolt carrier group (BCG) of your rifle. This allows it to use .22LR ammunition. It uses the existing 5.56 barrel and conversion magazines, which are sized to fit an AR mag well and have an insert to align and feed .22 ammo. Part of the conversion kit consists of a chamber adapter that fits your AR barrel and will accommodate .22LR rounds.
Conversion kits like this make it easy to shoot inexpensive .22LR ammo through your 5.56mm rifle. However, they do have drawbacks. The biggest one is accuracy. Typically, 5.56 barrels aren’t optimized for .22LR bullets, so you won’t get the kind of accuracy out of them that you would through a dedicated .22 barrel.
It’s not uncommon for a shooter to start with a conversion kit and then decide they want a dedicated .22 upper instead. The problem is that most conversion kits work with 5.56 barrels and won’t work with a .22 barrel. You need to get a separate .22LR bolt carrier group for that. That’s where the modularity of the BoreBuddy comes into play.
The BoreBuddy 22LR Quiet Conversion Kit
The BoreBuddy 22LR Quiet Conversion Kit works just like other conversion kits—if you have a 5.56 barrel. In addition, when you decide to upgrade to a dedicated .22 upper, the BoreBuddy kit stays with you. The chamber adapter is a separate piece with their kit. Simply remove it, and their bolt carrier group works with your .22LR barrel now.
The 22LR Quiet Conversion Kit comes with a collar, chamber adapter, hardened firing pin, power extractor, and a 6 lb recoil spring. It has all the upgrades that users typically do to other conversion kits. It includes one 15- or 25-round Black Dog magazine, a pressure plug, and a charging handle insert. The MSRP is $249.50, which is more than other conversion kits but cheaper than first buying a 5.56 kit and then having to buy a second .22LR BCG later.
