The things you learn at the range...

I saw that my local range/gunshop had BOTH a CZ 75 Kadet .22 AND a SIG P226 Classic .22 available to rent. So, I made some range time right after work and worked out these guns--I've been wanting a .22 pistol for some time, but obstacles keep manifesting. It might not be considered manly to say, but the lowly .22 is my favorite round, because it's so cheap, useful, and dammit fun for practice.

First I tried the SIG. The Classic 22 is actually a major caliber P226 (better known as the sidearm of the SEALs and Texas Rangers) with a .22 slide/barrel kit factory installed; it comes with a coupon that allows you to buy a 9mm, .40 SW, or .357 SIG slide/barrel kit for $400. I liked that idea, so I favored this model. However, I had a huge problem shooting straight with this SIG. I've shot a P226 in 9mm and really liked it; today I was all over the paper--to be fair, I was probably milking the gun (overly squeezing the grip, thus subtly turning the barrel) and flinching a bit. But the gun itself also misfed and stovepiped several rounds, practically on every magazine.

This is the SIG 226 .22 Classic--essentially a SIG 226 with a .22 conversion kit installed at the factory:

Then I tried the CZ. What can I say, it was... amazing. The holes appeared wherever I pointed the gun. As if I couldn't miss. Actually, I could miss when I got a little cocky, but if I focused, it was dead on. The CZ 75 (I've shot the 9mm version as well) is probably the most accurate, natural handling, ergonomic gun I've ever shot. No FTFs whatever. Needless to say, a CZ Kadet immediately went on my buy list. Highly recommended.

Here's the CZ Kadet--based off the CZ 75B, this is a very easy albeit full-size pistol to shoot:

Some mistakes are bigger than others

Wife Calls Cops On Man Preparing For Martial Law In Massachusetts

Mistake: Having lots of guns and living in Massachusetts

Bigger mistake: Having lots of guns, living in Massachusetts, and doing target practice on the third floor of your house

Egregious mistake: Having lots of guns, living in Massachusetts, doing target practice on the third floor of your house, and being married to a Cambridge psychiatrist

Just one small problem with that Masada...

...actually 3000 small problems with the Magpul Masada, otherwise known as the Bushmaster ACR, now known as the Remington ACR--it's all so incestuous. When Adolf found out he was quite pissed.

This rifle has an interesting history, and I do hope it replaces the M4 carbine. For the background, read this very good Wikipedia article about the Bushmaster ACR. Wish they'd kept the Masada name, though--very cool.

An Interesting Year for Guns Ahead

With the biggest event in the shooting world, the SHOT Show, less than a week away, we have already seen quite a few leaks and early product announcements. I believe it's going to be an interesting year for guns, both technologically and legislatively.

Ruger gets (even further) behind the .327 Federal Magnum

Ruger releases two new revolvers in the somewhat controversial .327 Federal Magnum... Controversial meaning, do we really need a .32 magnum magnum? Or, do we really need a smaller, faster .357 magnum? I answer, why not, if it means more rounds in the cylinder. For more commentary, see Michael Bane's post New Rugers, and Ruger Blackhawk and GP100 Chambered in .327 Federal Magnum on the ever-burgeoning blog ONEINCHGROUP.

The Epitomization of Italian Engineering: Rhino .357 Magnum

Possibly filed under W for WTF, Chiappa's new Rhino reflects perfectly the ideals of Italian engineering, which they apply to cars, firearms and battleships equally: one: must have the style of a beautiful woman; two: must handle like a beautiful woman; three: function follows form. As a case in point, a friend of mine had a Fiat in which the tachometer needle moved counterclockwise. The reason for doing this was that the steering column would otherwise have obscured the 0 - 6000 RPM range. Well, you ask, why not simply move the tachometer dial? Oh no, that would have broken up the symmetry of the dashboard. In the case of the Rhino, what makes this revolver unique is that the barrel is lined up with the bottom of the cylinder--this low centerline causes the recoil to travel directly into the shooter's palm and wrist, rather than above them, thus reducing barrel rise. With a .357 snubby, this is certainly a serious consideration.

Fig. 1: Cutaway view of the Chiappa Rhino

Carry options just get better and better

Ruger 9SRc: ...Watch the demo video on the Ruger website or the DRTV Podcast. Michael Bane compares an SR9c with a Glock 26 one-on-one. NICE compact carry. I like the design even better than the Taurus 709. While we don't know whether the Ruger will prove to be as reliable as the Glock, it's certainly prettier!
Boberg XR9-S Shorty 9mm: ...still developing...

Candy for the black rifle crowd

This video of the Remington ACR was recently leaked on YouTube. Remington got just about everything right on this one: the FN SCAR desert tan styling; the collapsible stocks; the gas-piston action, interchangeable 5.56mm and 6.8mm SPC barrels; non-reciprocating charging handle, on the left hand side; and the cherry on top, an optional muzzle entry tool (hint: it's not just for breaking windows).

Developing...

Correction: A gun is not only a tool...

...it is also art. Chris Hausbeck turns guns that have been destroyed by the US Attorney's Office into furniture and steampunk artifacts:

The War On Terror (T.W.A.T.) Secret Weapon


Triplex Cobalt Mass Desocializer


Royal Duck's Foot Pentablaster

A Gun is a Tool, and Only a Tool

I tried to comment on Harold Pollack's recent piece about the Ft Hood shootings in The New Republic because it stands out as so profoundly clueless in a sea of cluelessness about firearms and the principles of self-defense. Unfortunately, one must hold a subscription to The New Republic in order to comment on its articles--an effective means of keeping the riffraff out, I suppose--so I shall comment here for my gentle readers.

Mr Pollack's article is not very cogent on the fundamental and derivative rights of self-defense, and is in danger of being just another cathartic huff of hoplophobia. Nevertheless, the piece is rhetorically well-written. It successfully blurs the distinction between a motivated religious fanatic and the garden variety active shooter. It also skillfully leads our focus away from the perpetrator and onto his chosen tool of destruction.

Guns Don't Kill People...Er, Actually...
http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-treatment/guns-dont-kill-peopleer-actually

Mr Pollack asks whether Hasan was:

1) An Islamist lunatic murdered a bunch of people he saw as the enemy /oppressor

2) A angry and deeply disturbed employee who gathered up a bunch of guns and ammo, went to his workplace, and embarked on an indiscriminate killing spree.

Was Hasan the first who happened to be the second or the second who happened to be the first?

Maj Hasan happened to be both. According to the reporting, he is an Islamist who was angry and deeply disturbed enough to take action on his extremist beliefs. I believe we'll find he was insane to the extent that other terrorists are insane. To put it in secular-progressive terms, there we find a moral grey area. Whether Hasan is a crazy Islamist fanatic or simply an Islamist fanatic, we still have a terrorist act from an Islamist fanatic.

And regardless of his weapon of choice, revolver, semiautomatic rifle, or katana, an armed maniac can wreak devastating damange in an enclosed area full of unarmed opponents. To someone with sufficient practice, two 10-round magazines (which comply with the legal limit in California) are, tactically speaking, virtually equivalent to a 20-round magazine; you merely drop the spent magazine and insert the full magazine.

Cho Seong Hui, the killer at Virginia Tech didn't have higher-capacity magazines--nor did he have a higher degree of skill. He was, like most active shooters, inexperienced with firearms, yet he was able to reload repeatly and at leisure while his victims cowered or hid. He could also assume, as do most active shooters, that his victims would be unarmed.

As to the FN Five-seveN pistol, which was somewhat controversial even before Maj Hasan's misuse of the weapon, it is no more or less deadly than any other commonly used caliber. It was designed for European police and paramilitary to allow high capacity magazines and a light 5.7mm round that can penetrate body armor (similar ballistically to a .22 magnum cartridge). However, the body-armor-piercing variety of the 5.7x28mm ammunition is strictly controlled, available only to police and military, and expressly not to the US public.

20-round magazines are available for other commonly owned pistols, e.g. the SIG P226 9mm:

Also, body armor is not a magic protective vestment--even 9mm rounds can penetrate kevlar vests at close range. The 5.7x28mm cartridge may have an edge insofar as it is a specialized round, but this does not make it extraordinarily devastating.

All variety of tools are available for malicious people to create mayhem and are impossible, and I would argue immoral, to restrict from the public. Sane and law abiding people should have access to the same tools for the purpose of self-defense and the protection of others.