I… I don’t hate it. Papa Kalash AK-50 Music Video. Neat.
Excuse me while I go rewatch ‘I am the Machine’ and enjoy playing with AKs.
What is that crazy color fueled Russian acid trip referencing?
The AK-50 project that has been years in development is once again seeing forward motion. Because, .50 Cal.
2020 is going to be fun.
NEWINGTON, N.H., (February 10, 2020) – SIG SAUER, Inc. continues to expand its line of premium-grade Elite Copper Hunting ammunition with the addition of 6mm Creedmoor. Featuring an 80gr all-copper bullet that delivers deep penetration and consistent 1.8x diameter expansion with maximum terminal ballistic performance, the 6mm Creedmoor Elite Copper Hunting ammunition is a highly accurate load for hunting numerous species of medium-size game.
This fast, flat-shooting cartridge has a high ballistic coefficient allowing it to push through wind with less drag and drift, increasing accuracy at longer ranges. Muzzle velocity is 3,300 fps and muzzle energy is 1,935 ft-lbs.
“6mm Creedmoor ammunition is in high demand as is the 6.5 Creedmoor load,” said Brad Criner, Senior Director, Brand Management and Business Development, SIG SAUER Ammunition. “Our customers have been asking for both and we are happy to now offer these two hot hunting cartridges in our Elite Copper Hunting line.”
SIG SAUER Elite Copper Hunting Ammunition is currently available in the following calibers: 223 Rem, 243 Win, 300BLK, 308 Win, 30-06 Springfield, 300 Win Mag, 6mm Creedmoor and 6.5 Creedmoor.
All are available for purchase at commercial retailers and online at sigsauer.com.
SIG SAUER Elite Ammunition is manufactured by SIG SAUER at its state-of-the-art ammunition manufacturing facility in Jacksonville, Arkansas to the same exacting standards as the company’s premium pistols and rifles. For more information, visit www.sigsauer.com/ammunition.
Get Social: follow SIG SAUER on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for the latest news, product announcements, events, and updates.
About SIG SAUER, Inc.
SIG SAUER, Inc. is a leading provider and manufacturer of firearms, electro-optics, ammunition, airguns, suppressors, and training. For over 100 years SIG SAUER, Inc. has evolved, and thrived, by blending American ingenuity, German engineering, and Swiss precision. Today, SIG SAUER is synonymous with industry-leading quality and innovation which has made it the brand of choice amongst the U.S. Military, the global defense community, law enforcement, competitive shooters, hunters, and responsible citizens. Additionally, SIG SAUER is the premier provider of elite firearms instruction and tactical training at the SIG SAUER Academy – a world class, state-of-the-art, 140-acre training facility. SIG SAUER is
headquartered in Newington, New Hampshire, and has more than 1,700 employees across eight locations, and is the largest member of a worldwide business group that includes SIG SAUER GmbH & Co. KG in Germany. For more information about the company and product line visit: sigsauer.com.
During my stumbles through the Sands Expo Center a few weeks ago, I found a different company than the usual pre-packaged food provider. Their display was all the way up on the fifth floor, and for only one day, at a SHOT Show pop-up event. Amid all the recent noise about Coronavirus and prepping, I thought I should give them a review.
Omeals offers a variety of self-heating ready-to-eat entrees for varying needs – whether you are a backpacker, family camper, or small scale prepper. Omeals parent company also makes the XMRE line of MRE-style food packages for military, rescue, and disaster relief purposes.
They claim that “…we’re also the number one choice for government relief agencies and humanitarian groups around the world.”
That sounds like a pretty expansive claim, so I wanted to try their product for myself.
Omeals provided me with one sample entree bag to try, and on a recent snowy Friday night I gave it a whirl in my kitchen.
Self-heating
I followed the package directions for heating, thus adding 3-5 ounces of “any liquid” – tap water in my case. I didn’t want to waste good beer just to heat my food (or god knows what else they were suggesting – maybe mud puddle water if you were conserving your drinking water). It took a minute or two, but then the sealed pouch inflated, started to sizzle, and began to emit steam from the vent hole.
I waited about 5 minutes after the pouch inflated, then removed my meal pouch with tongs, tore it open, and dumped it out onto a plate. I used a plate because I was at home but there’s no reason you couldn’t eat it out of the pouch – though the spoon was just a bit too short.
The outer bag continued to steam for about ten more minutes after removing the meal pouch, so you could probably heat an additional small pouch of something else in it as an extra. Maybe reuse a previous entree pouch filled with water for coffee? Or a small can of something else? If you don’t have any other heat source you might as well use ALL of it. Waste not, want not. Unfortunately I thought about this too late, so I wasn’t able to experiment with this meal. But I’ll be ready for next time!
The spoon and napkin package came with salt and pepper packets, but I didn’t feel that my entree needed extra seasoning. I thought it was fairly tasty for a pre-packaged shelf stable meal. It didn’t look much like the package photo, but what prepared food does? There was a fair amount of meat, and the beans and lentils made it filling. Lentils are also pretty high in dietary fiber, so one should not experience the usual problem common with MRE’s (Meals Refusing to Exit) – at least with this particular entree.
Portion size
The portion size was plenty for me, but I don’t think it would fill up a 6 foot 200+ pound man doing heavy labor. The package said 240 calories, so you would definitely need some sides – tortillas, fruit, etc – to make this a complete meal. I ate it with whole wheat crackers and some home-canned pears for dessert.
I searched the Omeals website to see if all of the entrees had similar size and calorie counts, but couldn’t find anything with which to compare one entree with another. Having to add additional food kind of defeats the purpose of a pre-packaged meal IMO, but it does at least give you the hot entree portion to build a meal around. For a skinny woman’s office lunch it would be fine.
I did however, appreciate that the ingredients list did not include a boatload of preservatives or weird additives.
Shelf Life
Omeals advertises a shelf life of 60 months. This is comparable to the 3-5 year shelf life of regular MREs (if stored under optimal conditions).
Varieties
Omeals offers a fair variety of options – chicken, turkey, beef, and also vegetarian choices. The descriptions sounded appetizing, but as I stated above I couldn’t find any website info about calorie content for comparison between the various meals.
Heating System
As to how this heating system works, the website states that,
“OMEALS® is powered by NXH® Heating Technology. Tested and certified non-toxic, odorless and safe to use in confined space”
It was certainly easy to use. However, my package did state that it was not to be used on an airplane. I’m not sure if that has to do with the chemical reaction involved in the heating process, or something simpler like reduced atmospheric pressure in the cabin. But I guess this is not an option for lunch on the plane to SHOT Show next year.
Pros and Cons
Pros: Omeals are easy, convenient, tasty, and not full of preservatives.
Cons: Serving size will not be big enough for some people – at least with the sample and product line I was provided. The spoon was also just a tad short for getting all the food out of the bottom of the pouch.
Overall, I thought Omeals was a fine idea for the civilian and traveling family market. There are times when a fully-loaded MRE wouldn’t necessarily be desirable. It could also serve as a “gateway” into a market where folks have no idea what an MRE even is.
The flavor is there, the convenience is there, the serving size could be increased a bit, but there is definitely a market niche available for this product. I’ll be ordering some to augment my stored food supply. I’m also going to check out XMRE while I’m at it.
Ken Hackathorn and Massad Ayoob go into the rise of the AR-15 as a home defense firearm since 1963 and tracks the parallels between Law Enforcement firearms for protection and everyday Civilian defensive firearms.
Massad goes into the “Pool Weapon” theory of home defense long guns and the facts that support the more widely usable AR-15 and similar firearms. A Pool Weapon needs to be usable by every person in the user pool from weakest to the strongest. The AR and similar carbines fit that need in a way shotguns and handguns cannot.
Thanks to Wilson Combat for producing and sharing.
The December 18, 2020 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association included a Quick Uptake news article, “Large-Capacity Magaine Bans Linked With Fewer Mass Shootings, Deaths” (first online December 18). It references a study in the American Journal of Public Health by Louis Klarevas, Andrew Conner and, one of our frequent “guests” here, David Hemenway: “The Effect of Large-Capacity Magazine Bans on High-Fatality Mass Shootings, 1990–2017”.
Essentially, their argument is that “large-capacity magazines” (at least a better phrase than “high-capacity” for those containing more than 10 rounds) are associated with a higher incidence of “high-fatality mass shootings” (those with more than 6 fatalities other than the shooter’s). Of the 69 HFMSs counted during the study’s 28 years, 44 involved LCMs and 16 didn’t, while in 9 cases magazine capacity couldn’t be determined. 49 occurred in states allowing LCMs compared to 20 where they were banned. More shooters, 81%, used LCMs in states without bans versus 55% in ban states. Likewise, LCM bans were associated with fewer fatalities in each incident (averaging about 7 per shooting in ban states versus about 12 in non-ban states).
That’s a lot of suggestive numbers. But do they really mean that “LCM bans have saved lives”? Let’s look closer.
In 1990, only New Jersey had instituted an LCM ban. From 1994 to 2004, they were outlawed nationally during the federal “assault weapon ban”. From 2004 to 2017, a total of only 8 jurisdictions (7 states and D.C.) had established bans. Which states are not described. On a very gross level, that’s barely 1/6 of the nation. It very much matters which sixth these are because of how different each state’s mix of urban and rural, economic factors, gun and other cultural aspects. Their covariables of population density, education level, unemployment and incarceration rates, and approximate gun ownership incidence don’t nearly address the distinctions that exist between states.
This, again, is why only comparing the same geographic area over time is a useful control; comparing one state against another is always comparing apples and oranges. And as always, discovering a difference before and after a change (e.g., LCM bans) is not sufficient analysis—observing a change in trend is necessary. This is a lot more work—for example, by Mark Hamill’s group that soundly found no correlation between “State Level Firearm Concealed-Carry Legislation and Rates of Homicide and Other Violent Crime”.
Similarly, while the overall increase in incidence of HFMSs is noted, how is this changing in different localities? We can’t tell without know what those places are.
An even more fundamental problem is the definition chosen of a HFMS as one in which 6 fatalities (other than the shooter) occur. There is no clear explanation as to why that number seemed best. They even note that mass murders (“typically defined as ≥ 4 homicides”), not six. In addition, “there has been an average of 2.5 incidents per year”, certainly not enough to draw conclusions about common elements. One has to wonder whether different definitions produce different findings.
For more (and better) information about the relevance of LCMs in shooting, check out Gun Facts. This is a site you should have on top of your gun bookmarks for its great collection of hard data about every aspect of the role and use of firearms in modern life.
Finally, the same elephant is in the room every single time that public health “experts” claim they’ve proven some danger due to the irrationality of allowing American citizens to choose their best defense. There is no consideration of the value of “LCMs” for defense, just as they will never recognize the value of firearms in lawful defense of innocent life. We know that American civilians probably perform somewhere north of 1 million (per the CDC) to over 2 million (per Kleck) defensive gun uses each year. By any standard, farm more lives are saved that way than are actually lost to firearm misuse.
So where is the data on the frequency of gang attacks on individuals, or in multiple assailant home invasions? That’s what we need to compare the questionable danger of LCMs in criminal mass shootings to their value in self-defense against more than a single attacker.
How does this “research” ….. thee? Let us count the ways:
If this list sounds familiar, it should. Check out our paper, Reading “Gun Violence” Research Critically. You can, too.
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— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD
Canada is following in liberal gun control dreamer footsteps and pushing forward ERPO style legislation that would add additional methods to remove firearms and confiscate licenses to acquire new ones. I’ll assume with even greater circumventions of anything resembling due process, as that is how ERPO’s operate nearly extrajudicially.
Three Conservative MPs clashed with Public Safety Minister Bill Blair Thursday over opposition claims that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau misled the Commons in an earlier question period bout over Liberal plans to bring in U.S.-styled “red flag” laws.
The legislation would open new avenues for citizens and abused women to access police or the courts for firearm seizures and license revocations in threatening situations.
The heated confrontation near the end of question period sparked Blair to suggest that Quebec Conservative MP Steven Blaney, a former public safety minister under the Harper government, was “unconscionable” after Blaney and the other Conservatives said existing law gives police, firearm officers and the courts plenty of grounds for gun seizures and licence revocations.
In short, liberals are saying there are “loopholes”, a favorite word meaning anything we don’t like but is legal, and conservative opposition is saying there are laws on the books to cover the situations described.
…Trudeau told the Conservatives a new regime is needed because although police have the ability to remove firearms from a gun owner who presents a threat to themselves or others, they “cannot suspend the licence and prevent the person from acquiring new firearms.”
“That is what the red flag law is all about,” Trudeau said, sparking a loud and angry response from Conservatives, who believe the existing law is adequate.
There, the declaration that no rule or law exists to cover situations in which probably a firearm should be seized and an individual’s right to their property must be suspended or permanently revoked.
It is unclear what Trudeau meant since sections in the federal Firearms Act and Criminal Code prescribe for police seizure of firearms as well as licence revocation in cases of gun threats or violence.
Hmmm. So that was lie.
Blaney, the second of the three Conservatives to go after Trudeau and Blair, claimed federal law is already clear: police can suspend firearms licences and prevent someone with mental and health issues or links to crime from acquiring a firearm in the first place.
“The law is clear, so nothing needs to be changed,” he told Blair.
“Why attack honest citizens instead of tackling the real problem, street gang.”
As with the United States, organized crime makes up a significant portion of violent incidents in Canada. Tackling those issues and pursuing the most violent of criminals who leave the injured and dead will move the needle on homicides and assault.
“Anyone who suggests the constant threat that women in an abusive relationship face from the potential of firearms in the home, for anyone to suggest nothing needs to be done is unconscionable,” Blair said in response to Blaney’s position.
Constant threat? Way to straw man, or straw woman as is the case here, that one in. I suspect, as is the case in the US, that Canada holds very strong opinions with matching laws against abusers and their access to firearms.
“The current law is very clear, if a firearm owner poses a threat, authorities can confiscate firearms and suspend licenses, preventing further purchases of firearms or possession,” Calgary Conservative MP Bob Benzen responded.
“If our public safety minister actually had a PAL (possession and acquisition licence) or an RPL (restricted possession and acquisition licence) he would already know this instead of trying to dig out [of this],” said Benzen, who represents Stephen Harper’s former riding.
Well then.. Benzen is bringing the fire. I forget how entertain foreign legal proceedings can be. They get spicy. Basically, ‘you don’t know what you’re talking about, Ignoramus’.
“I will admit I’m not a recreational firearm user but I have actually enforced and used these laws to keep communities and people safe,” retorted Blair.
Translated, ‘You’re right, I am ignorant. But that has never stopped me before.’
Blair, your officers may have used these laws. They may have used them to good effect. The laws you’re claiming aren’t there to be used, by the way. But I doubt very much you as a senior administrator put together these cases or collected data to see just how egregious different problems around firearms were before jumping on the “Do Something” express.
“What I can tell you, the authority that exists in law, the laws that are currently available, that enable law enforcement to seize firearms and to revoke licence are limited in their application, and it is only in the circumstances where reasonable and probable grounds exist, and it is only in circumstances where a seizure of a firearm has taken place that a firearm (licence) can be revoked,” Blair claimed.
Yes. All that seems very reasonable and in accordance with not granting the state full license to abuse whoever they please. Seeing a top law enforcement official say the things like ‘reasonable’ and ‘probable’ aren’t enough power to act? That’s frankly terrifying. What’s the next step down from ‘reasonable and probable’, ‘just seems like it’?
“Let me be very clear, red flag laws save lives. I’ve actually used those sections of the Criminal Code to seize firearms in these dangerous situations, and I can also advise you Mr. Speaker of the limitations of those laws,” he continued.
So which is it? Are they there or aren’t they? Why do you want more power?
“We know that the average assaulted woman in Canada is assaulted 25 times in a domestic relationship before the police are in fact called.”
So how would opening further authority change that? How would the myriad social pressures and influences that shape the decision making of the hypothetical abused female be improved by your rule change? Will the average drop to 15 times? 10 times? How likely is it any of those 25 are with a firearm or that the abuser is a legal licensed firearm owner?
Blair is quick to pull an emotion grabbing statistic but with nothing approaching useable data to support making a change. I always find that suspect, it’s even more so when we want to throw reasonable and probable to the wind as standards.
But, at least they’re not alone, eh?
This article has been updated
The bill further states that any person who legally owns an assault firearm on July 1, 2020, may retain possession of such assault firearm after January 1, 2021, if such person has obtained a permit from the Department of State Police to possess an assault firearm in accordance with procedures established in the bill. A person issued such permit may possess an assault firearm only under the following conditions: (a) while in his home or on his property or while on the property of another who has provided prior permission, provided that the person has the landowner’s written permission on his person while on such property; (b) while at a shooting range, shooting gallery, or other area designated for the purpose of target shooting or the target range of a public or private club or organization whose members have organized for the purpose of practicing shooting targets or competing in target shooting matches; (c) while engaged in lawful hunting; or (d) while surrendering the assault firearm to a state or local law-enforcement agency. A person issued such permit may also transport an assault firearm between any of those locations, provided that such assault firearm is unloaded and secured within a closed container while being transported. The bill also provides that failure to display the permit and a photo identification upon demand by a law-enforcement officer shall be punishable by a $25 civil penalty, which shall be paid into the state treasury. The bill also requires the Department of State Police to enter the name and description of a person issued a permit in the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN) so that the permit’s existence and current status will be made known to the law-enforcement personnel accessing VCIN for investigative purposes.
“Assault firearm” means:
1. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an
explosion of a combustible material with a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 10 rounds;
2. A semi-automatic center-fire rifle that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an
explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of
the following characteristics: (i) a folding or telescoping stock; (ii) a pistol grip that protrudes
conspicuously beneath the action of the rifle; (iii) a thumbhole stock; (iv) a second handgrip or a
protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (v) a bayonet mount; (vi) a grenade launcher;
(vii) a flare launcher; (viii) a silencer; (ix) a flash suppressor; (x) a muzzle brake; (xi) a muzzle
compensator; (xii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a silencer, (b) a flash suppressor, (c) a
muzzle brake, or (d) a muzzle compensator; or (xiii) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in
clauses (i) through (xii);
3. A semi-automatic center-fire pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an
explosion of a combustible material with a fixed magazine capacity in excess of 10 rounds;
4. A semi-automatic center-fire pistol that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an
explosion of a combustible material that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine and has one of
the following characteristics: (i) a folding or telescoping stock; (ii) a thumbhole stock; (iii) a second
handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; (iv) the capacity to accept a
magazine that attaches to the pistol outside of the pistol grip; (v) a shroud that is attached to, or
partially or completely encircles, the barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the pistol with the
non-trigger hand without being burned; (vi) a manufactured weight of 50 ounces or more when the
pistol is unloaded; (vii) a threaded barrel capable of accepting (a) a silencer, (b) a flash suppressor, (c)
a barrel extender, or (d) a forward handgrip; or (viii) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in
clauses (i) through (vii);
5. A shotgun with a revolving cylinder that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an
explosion of a combustible material; or
6. A semi-automatic shotgun that expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a
combustible material that has one of the following characteristics: (i) a folding or telescoping stock, (ii)
a thumbhole stock, (iii) a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the shotgun, (iv)
the ability to accept a detachable magazine, (v) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds, or
(vi) any characteristic of like kind as enumerated in clauses (i) through (v).
“Assault firearm” includes any part or combination of parts designed or intended to convert, modify,
or otherwise alter a firearm into an assault firearm, or any combination of parts that may be readily
assembled into an assault firearm. “Assault firearm” does not include (i) a firearm that has been
rendered permanently inoperable, (ii) an antique firearm as defined in § 18.2-308.2:2, or (iii) a curio or
relic as defined in § 18.2-308.2:2.
The committee will hear and decide whether to push the legislation to the full assembly today, in before a February 11th deadline.
These are the people on the and reminding them that the thousands and thousands who showed up to express their opposition to this egregious awful legislation that will do nothing to promote the general welfare of the Commonwealth is paramount.
It will now go into the full delegation, begin you efforts with the full swath of delegates, first with those who represent you if you are a Virginian.
[Editor’s Note: Readers, this article is primarily to help users of the M2A1 on the M205, for everyone else it will be technical entertainment. Enjoy or employ as relevant.]
The Army is all about lightening the load these days. Making ammo lighter, making equipment lighter, and trying to make Soldiers lighter (ACFT: Hint Hint)
In this case though, the M205 is the latest in making a piece of equipment lighter. This tripod replaces the M3 Tripod. It is now considered a Basic Issued Item (BII) for the M2A1, which means that it currently cannot have a separate work order created for it (for civilians reading, these are rules of repairing and maintaining it). It will be also be a one for one swap with your M3 Tripod.
This tripod comes with a built in Traverse and Elevation (T&E) mechanism and pintle. This tripod is 16 lbs. lighter than its predecessor. While all of these are great changes, it comes with some cons as well.
Soldiers need to know how to maintain the tripod before putting it into operation, how to properly employ it and use it to its full potential, and how to properly set up and takedown the tripod. My coworker recently worked on 15 of these tripods back to back, due to this exposure, he learned tips and tricks to pass on. Some of these tricks are also mentioned in the Technical Manual and Heavy Machine Gun Training Circular which can be found on Army Pubs.
Maintenance
When receiving your tripod it will be covered in cosmoline. It’s recommended that you job order it to your shop to properly inspect and clean it. Inspection is key as there have been mistakes found with new equipment. Also, if it is not properly cleaned it won’t lock and function correctly.
To clean, use dry cleaning solvent on the entire tripod to first strip off all cosmoline. After the solvent dries, so as not to mix different lubricants, thoroughly put a layer of Cleaning, Lubricant, and Preservative (CLP) on. If this is not done, the pintle will not rotate when locked in entirely. This is a cleanliness issue, not an equipment issue.
Deploying
Set up is pretty self-explanatory for this mount but there are some interesting things to know.
First, you will lift up on the locking lever letting the front leg go forward, and then locking it in again. You will take the T&E out of the notch; make sure not to adjust it because it will already be ready to roll into the slot on the right leg. Roll the traverse bar down into the notch. It shouldn’t need to be pounded in, as it should roll in, but it can be tight.
Next is the pintle. IMPORTANT, an older pintle that went with the M3 tripod will fit into this mount, however it has been known to become stuck and damage the tripod Make sure that the correct pintle is installed. Be sure that the pintle is locked in all the way, meaning no space at the bottom. It should turn 360 degrees. If it is only partially locked in, it will bounce when firing. Shooting past 1000m, I don’t want my M2A1 bouncing.
The key to making your setup really work for you is to mount the gun and then mount the tripod to know where you want your legs to be locked in, shorter or taller, and terrain dependent.
Stowing
Take down for this tripod can be a pain if you just try to “wing it”. Both traverse and elevation bars need to line up perfectly to fit into the slots to takedown the tripod. To do this, it’s really easy, if you actually do it.
Bring your traverse mechanism all of the way to the left, and elevation all of the way up. Close the legs of the tripod and it should line up directly in both slots. Remember to stow the pintle in the proper spot on the front leg. Make sure to lock the front leg handle when stowing the tripod.
Operation
With lighter weight, there is more recoil. The weight will be to the rear of the tripod due to the receiver and components of the weapon.
When firing, due to that weight distribution, the front leg will pop up. Putting more sandbags and digging the legs in, can help that recoil management. When firing, try lifting up and forward as well to put that pressure into the front leg.
To adjust the traverse limiter knob there is another trick.
There are two ways to loosen the knob. You can either use the mechanism to slap the knob. Release both elevation and traverse handles and freely hit the mechanism against the knob, this will allow you to loosen it and move it to where you want it. The second way is to move the mechanism all the way against the knob and click over twice until it contacts the knob with enough pressure to allow you to loosen the knob.
If you are using a tool, such as a wrench or hammer, you are wrong.
There are always pros and cons when it comes to any piece of new equipment. The trick is just to learn how to properly maintain it and employ it. Take some time to read the manual first, and let the mount work for you.
This video is worth it purely for first two minutes. From @MilSpec_Mojo believing Garand Thumb possess a Miculek index finger to the stunning music video immediately following, you don’t need to get to the discussion at all for the entertainment value.
That said, when a man like Jim Fuller (Most Recently of Rifle Dynamics) talks AKs we listen. I’m getting my RD NATO on Saturday so this is well timed. On top of it all it’s a fun overview of how the AK market has evolved.
Gone are the days of solid surplus guns and nearly untouched parts kits for builds. Gone are the days of the bottom of the bin scrap that was the tail end of the surplus days. We are reaching a height in AKs as we did with ARs where an elite hierarchy of guns emerge and take their places in the order of quality and company name.
While the Department of Defense hasn’t released anything new in the NGSW front Sig Sauer had their General Purpose Machine Gun submission out on the line during SHOT.
Burst Review’s video gives the 5 minute (7 actually) run down on the system and its improvements over the legacy M240s.
The MG-338, like the MCX Spear, is a well thought out evolution on the tips, tricks, and techniques machine gun users have pulled out of GWOT. It’s the direct result of troops wanting more from their weapons and Sig finding answers.
It’s largest single leap is the caliber change to weight ratio. The innards of the MG-338 aren’t all that dissimilar from other belt-fed gas guns but the .338 Norma Magnum is more efficient in the task and modern machining and design has shed the weight. A 21 pound weapon that can reach out touch a mile, especially when tripod mounted, is just what the section ordered.
The smaller ergonomic improvements are no less impressive for the operation of the system. A full/semi safety selector so the weapons can be zeroed without fighting the systems cyclic, take a single shot at distance, and be functionally in line with nearly every other selector improves soldier control and cognitive alignment with the machine gun.
Feed trays that open sideways interfere far less with mounted optics and ancillary equipment. The option to load the weapon feed cover closed makes that an incalculably easier one handed operation. A dedicated but removable ‘magazine well’ that holds belts ready to load in a ‘box magazine’ type format, essentially an upgrade “nutsack” as it colloquially known. I have questions about the durability of these compared to a magazine in general terms, not that I believe they are overly fragile or not an improvement over the SAW’s and 240’s.
What the this system does allow is, from a prone or other limited position, the left or right hand to complete the entire loading/reloading process. A single soldier can easily carry more of the responsibilities of a machine gun team and the gun can be run as or more efficiently with fewer soldiers.
I love seeing systems made more efficient and effective for the soldiers using them. I love seeing Sig make the machine gun team’s job substantially easier while almost doubling what they can hit and how hard they can hit it.
Above all, I love seeing small arms technology about to take that step forward we’ve been being teased about since the XM8.
We haven’t reviewed much research lately, which is DRGO’s raison d’être. So let’s take a look at a study presented in October at the American College of Surgeons’ annual meeting’s Scientific Forum. “Stand Your Ground: Policy and Trends in Firearm-Related Justifiable Homicide and Homicide in the US” by Marc Levy et al tries to show whether the spread of Stand Your Ground laws has increased even non-justified firearm homicides.
The study methods seem superficially sound. The authors collected national statistics for each year from 2000 to 2017 from several government databases, and compared rates of justified firearm homicides (JHR) versus other firearm homicides (HR, excluding law enforcement actions) before and after enactment of SYG laws. 22 states became SYG states during the study period (from 2005 on, Florida first and from 2006-2011, the other 21 did). 28 remained non-SYG states. Because Missouri, Idaho & Utah enacted SYG statutes only 2017-18, they were considered part of the 28 non-SYG states.
Their conclusions broadly suggest problematic increases in both JHR and HR after SYG laws were introduced across all 22 states.
However, there are quite a few problems with their methods and analysis. In no particular order:
Examples of these problems can be seen in their data about New Hampshire, Alabama and Louisiana. New Hampshire had the lowest HR before and after its SYG law while Louisiana (New Orleans) had the highest HR overall. Neighboring Alabama categorized only two homicides as justified from 2009 to 2017 following its SYG enactment in 2008, despite reporting many more previously. SYG Tennessee reported the highest JHR all through the study, non-SYG Hawaii had the lowest. Nor do we yet know the way rates may change in Missouri, Idaho and Utah. And aside from Pennsylvania, with the Philadelphia metro area, all the SYG states are consistently rural.
Overall, JHR rose about 55% in SYG states over the study period, while HR rose about 11%. Meanwhile, JHR rose about 20% in non-SYG states with HR dropping about 2%. Because legally determined JH is still very rare, they cannot offset increases in HR. But any increase in JHR should be applauded.
They conclude, along with a number of predecessors on this topic, that SYG laws are a risk to public health that should not be adopted and should be removed where they have been instituted. But studies like this are riddled with inconsistent data collection and unanswered questions. They end up only echoing the pre-existing opinions of researchers who add one more low-quality paper to their résumés and to the rampant anti-gun, pro-control academic ethos.
The cultural factors that drive violence and are different in different places were simply ignored. Culture and psychology are the main determinants of propensity to violence, not the means. Ignoring this is the greatest fault of their and virtually all such work.
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— DRGO Editor Robert B. Young, MD is a psychiatrist practicing in Pittsford, NY, an associate clinical professor at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.
All DRGO articles by Robert B. Young, MD
Forgotten Weapons takes a look at the big bore blasters designed for use against early tanks. These weapons have been phased out for rockets today as, while they’re more expensive, they’re far more efficient against improved armor.
The anti-tank rifle has evolved into the “anti-material” rifles of today, a category dominated by .50BMG bolt actions and autoloaders like the McMillan TAC-50 and the M107A1. These weapons can efficiently, and at distance, wreck light vehicles. They can take out sensitive equipment. They can set off ordnance. And they can do so all much cheaper and usually safer than using shoulder launched rocket better saved for contact with actual armor or hardened positions.
In the video, Ian goes over why these were not employed as sniper rifles.
For anyone who doesn’t want to enjoy 12 minutes of technical discussion with Ian (shame on you) here are the highlights
Now this isn’t to say that larger weapons aren’t useful against troops in the open under certain conditions but they aren’t mobile precision platforms. Snipers aren’t primary weapons that need this massive weapon for effect. They are, primarily, the eyes of a larger force and a special tasks asset to protect that larger force. A well placed sniper team’s most valuable tools are their eyes, optics, and comms to tell the larger force they’re supporting where to send all their much more substantial firepower.
That fancy TAC-50 or Mk13 Mod 7 might make a crucial shot, but the sniper might take their “shot” more effectively by using the 81mm mortar section to drop IDF on an enemy without compromising their ability to observe or move a fireteam, vehicle, or other asset to deal with it up close.
Combined arms is vastly different than video games like Modern Warfare have led us to believe. The MW sniper is just looking for some points to win the game. The real sniper is probably the eyes and part of the IDF fire control supporting 600 people in harm’s way. A critical, detail observing part of how a commander sees the space he is in charge of controlling.
When I was…
A young boy…
My father…
Took me into the city…
To see the gun store shelves…
And before 2003 they were a sadder.. darker place. Roll forward a few years into the SCAR competition, the sunset of the Assault Weapons Ban, and people were starting to find their way again in the world of modern rifles again. The SCAR competition kicked off that first great 21st century push into the market. A huge new expanded domestic market was awakening and companies were slowly figuring it out.
A younger me followed it all with unbroken attention as the industry giants Colt and FN went in. The FN SCAR ended up in Battlefield 2 in its goofy very fishlike early variant for the expansion pack. What a time to be alive.
Alive and a poor kid.
$500-600 for a PSL or a WASR rifle seemed like decadence. Units with a $2,000+ price tag were mythological level wants… But still wants.
And then I read about this small company in Utah that threw in with the heavies to design a rifle for SOCOM. This crazy guy named Alex Robinson thought he could pull a Gaston Glock and *boom* new service rifle.
I loved it. A small innovator solving a problem by building a worthy machine. Pure Americana.
Alex didn’t win.
FN did.
That did nothing to stop me from wanting Alex’s new rifle. I was hooked by the core concept of the system, which in hindsight was a little overambitious and unnecessary from all the submitters.
Quick change barrels in the field! Go from CQB to DMR in XX seconds… nah, we went to far.
But at an armorer level that’s all we could ask for in life. Easy change barrels with easy tools and easy torque specs… sing the praises!
Anyway, the XCR was a platform that bit high but didn’t make the cut. It also had issues. You can dredge the internet to find them, they’re out there.
But Robinson Armament kept grinding and grinding. They didn’t stop improving their gun. They quietly kept on doing their thing while the AR Market exploded and then sifted into its component factions.
When Keymod hit, RA cut Keymod.
When 6.8 SPC II was the hotness they did it.
This has evolved into five receiver lengths. Six calibers options. M-LOK or Keymod in a number of finishes. All wrapped around an adjustable gas, full stroke piston, side charging, non-reciprocating, ambidextrous operating system.
Words. Lots of them.
In short, Alex Robinson and the team slogged through the trenches of keeping a product supported, customers supported, and continuous improvement on a system that launched and had to hold its own in an uphill field. A small team did what companies like Sig Sauer have veritable armies to accomplish. The XCR has survived in an unforgiving market that has silenced hordes of small products the couldn’t make it on merit.
I couldn’t be more excited. This is the first gun I wanted hard.
I’ve wanted to point this article out for awhile now.
BJ Campbell is a hydrologist. A stormwater hydrologist to be precise. He studies water cycle patterns related to extreme (and rare) weather events that are likely to cause equally extreme flooding and damage. He then gives this data to planners who use it to determine how to take care of flooding within a given community.
How does this relate to mass unrest or a mass shooting event? The answer is in the mathematical application of risk.
To determine a floodplain boundary, we first identify a “storm event” that concerns us. We use historical rainfall data and some statistical magic to calculate the worst storm event a place is likely to experience in a 100-year time span, probabilistically speaking, and we call that the “100-year storm.” There’s a push in the field to quit calling it that, because it confuses the muggles, so now we often say something like “the storm which has a 1% chance of happening in any given year.” Then we take that rainfall data, judiciously apply more math, and turn it into a flow rate in a river. Then we do hydraulics (more math) to determine how deep the river will have to be to carry that much water, and we draw a line on a map.
The “100-year storm” is a low probability/high impact event. The event planners must anticipate is the extremely damaging one, not the average flood. Anything above average will overwhelm the plan if you plan for the average rvrny. The same approach must be taken with other safety precautions. You don’t plan for the average, you plan for the extreme that covers all the lesser events impact up to the point of incredibly resource heavy diminishing return.
Now back to Campbell.
We don’t buy houses in the floodplain if we can help it, because we are risk averse, even though the chance of it flooding in any given year is only 1%. Why? We will live in the house longer than one year. Over the 30-year life of a mortgage, the chance of the house flooding at least once vastly exceeds 1%, because every year is another roll of the dice. It’s not cumulative, though. The mathematics for back-calculating the odds is called a Bernoulli Process. Here’s what it looks like:
These same formulas can be applied on an event/time scale to assess basic parameters of civil unrest risk on local and national scales. It doesn’t take into account every variable that would tip the scales of probability, but the math is solid even on a broad basis.
Let’s look at Campbell’s “Revolution” math. It’s the same basic formula of analyzing events over time.
No, seriously. Go. Understanding this event probability theory allows for well grounded risk assessment. The events Campbell uses are the two nation spanning civil wars domestically. The math could easily expand to other violent events that the US was witness too or participated in
And then check your logistics. Make sure you have that rifle.
Brandon Herrera lives… for now. He brings us the spicy memes we so crave for our time on the internet. This also may be his last will and testament so we should give it its due deference.
The Patent Pirate invasion at SHOT was real and many of my industry compatriots have been struck down by an especially potent brew of SHOT Crud this year. The memes have kept up.
So come with me my reader friends, do as Brandon wishes and bump his view numbers.
One…
Last…
Time…
Speaking of the Corona Virus with Lime, however. Make sure you click here and do your part to mute the spread. Regular Flu is still out there doing its damned best so.. pay attention.
