New GSG-5 Rimfires

You may have heard that American Tactical Imports was given a cease and desist notice by Heckler & Koch, because their GSG-5 line looked too much like their MP-5s.  To get around this, ATI has changed up the GSG-5 guns a little bit.  The new guns, a whole range of pistols and carbines, will be called GSG-522.

The ring around the front sight is replaced with vertical "ears," the rear sight has open slots instead of apertures, the magazine release was made wider, a Picatinny rail was added to the top of the receiver, the pistol grip was given a stippled texture like a Glock RTF frame, and a sling attachment loop was added to the front of the trigger guard.  Appearance-wise, the "cocking tube," charging handle, and selector switch have changed.

Christopher at ATI says that parts from the original GSG-5 will be available to those who want more of an MP-5 clone, but that the manufacturers, distributors, and dealers can't sell them that way.

Also new is a 110 round drum magazine!

You can read a little more about the new GSG guns, and see all the pictures, in this AR-15.com Forum thread.

40 Reasons For Gun Control

I'm pretty sure that I've read it before, but here it is.

40 Reasons For Gun Control, from The Kentuky Coalition to Carry Concealed.

I'll add it to the Links page in a minute.

More Guns, Less Crime In Wash. D.C., 2009

Besides the panic buying after the election in November '09, residents of Washington D.C. were going to gun shops for the first time, after the Supreme Court's ruling in D.C. vs Heller, that the disctrict could not reject all requests for handgun permits, and require that all other firearms be unloaded, locked up, and disassembled, so that they would be useless if needed for self defense.

(Supreme Court Ruling in PDF Format)

Washington's crime rate had risen in 2007, while crime rates fell in most cities across the country.  The Washington Post reports that, "The District is on track to have fewer killings than in any year since 1964."  The ban that was repealed after the Supreme Court decision, went into effect in 1976, by the way.  The Post credits faster reporting of crime via cell phones, better police relations in the community, and higher homicide closure rates for the decrease of crime in the city and surrounding areas, but I find it dubious at best that this turn around all happened between 2007 and 2009.

The gun ban lobby once again predicted bloody battles in the streets, but the police in the nation's capital report a 23% drop in homicides in 2009.  As the Supreme Court case was being heard, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty had said, "Whatever right the Second Amendment guarantees, it does not require the district to stand by while its citizens die."  Shorty after the Supreme Court ruling, Mayor Fenty said, for the record, “I’m disappointed in the Court’s ruling and believe introducing more handguns into the District will mean more handgun violence.”


Second Amendment supporters knew better, though.  It's not hard to find similar cases where crime fell as gun control laws were lifted.

(this post was inspired by the "Gun News Ticker" in the January 2010 edition of The Gottleib-Tartaro Report, a 2nd Amendment Foundation publication)

Bushmaster Dropped a Bomb at SHOT Show!

Bushmaster has released the ACR rifles for sale.  Don't get too excited yet, though.  There's a catch.

Link to The Firearms Blog  Bushmaster ACR post.

Link to official Bushmaster site, ACR Launch page.

The basic model has a single top rail, and a fixed stock (yes, confirmed, fixed non-folding stock).  Retail price, $2,685.

The "Enhanced" model has a 3-rail handguard (in addition to the "monolithic" top rail), and the collapsable folding stock.  Retail price, $3,061!!!

Crap, dude!?!  What happened to $1,500!?!  I had expected that they'd sell for about that price for the first few months, but I expected the dealers and distributors would reap most of the profit, by marking up over the retail price.  I don't know how much room there's gonna be to mark up the price.

Bushmaster is pretty well known for poorly assembled rifles (check this out).  For those prices, these damn things had better be perfect.

Barrels are 1:9" twist, which limits you to bullets that weigh 69 grains or less (depending on the precision of the rifling twist to spec).  Not a good idea.  Many serious shooters prefer 1:7" twist for shooting 77 grain bullets including the U.S. Mk262 load.

EDIT: 1:7" twist barrels will be available.  It is unknown, at least to me at this point, whether it will be an extra cost upgrade, a no-extra-cost option, or a separate accessory barrel.  (Thanks for the reminder, Drew)


Barrels are hammer-forged with an "innovative coating," FWIW.  Not chrome lined.

Disappointing to say the least!

The Robinson Armament XCR is looking a lot better.  I've seen them at gun shows for about half the price of the basic model ACR, with most of the same features.  The FN SCAR is also quite expensive, but now available in black, by the way. (NOTE: SCAR article in the new issue of Guns Magazine, and may be available online already)

I'm thinking I'll upgrade a couple of my AR-15 uppers, and wait this one out.


Also from The Firearm Blog, Colt is releasing a civilian version of the Sub Compact Weapon (SCW), an AR-15 based, folding-stock rifle.  Full details unknown at this time.

Endine AR-Restor Carbine Hydraulic Buffer

Packaging, left.  Hydraulic buffer, center.  Standard carbine buffer on right.

With the buffer installed with a 9mm upper, the rifle had a weird double recoil impulse.  It was sort of a ka-chunk effect.  Since it didn’t have any noticeable effect on performance, I went back to using the RRA 9mm buffer.

Shooting .223Rem ammo, I didn’t really notice the double recoil, but it still didn’t seem to have any noticeable effect on recoil control.  My 16” LMT M4 upper ran okay with it installed, but the 10.5” LMT upper was hanging up.  The 10.5” upper only ran well with a carbine buffer; I had the same problems with the “H buffer” though.

The 10.5” upper was run on full-auto.  Again, I still didn’t see any really noticeable increase in control.  Rate of fire didn’t seem to be slowed down much, although I didn’t try to measure it.

None of the uppers I tried with the Endine buffer would consistently lock open after the last round.  I tried the buffer in another lower, and got the same results.

My suggestion would be to skip the Endine buffer, and run the heaviest mechanical buffer that will still allow your rifle to function properly.  You can just about buy a carbine buffer, an "H buffer," an "H2 buffer," and a 3-pack of buffer springs for the price of the Endine buffer.

The 10.5” upper showed an obvious preference for the standard carbine buffer.  My 16” LMT upper will run on the carbine buffer, but seems to run a little better with the “H buffer.”  Some rifles will run with the “H2 buffer,” but I personally haven’t come across one yet.  When running a 9mm, you should run one of the 9mm buffers, but an H2, or H3 buffer might work.

Just as an FYI, buffers are marked in the center.  Standard carbine buffers will have no markings.  Heavy buffers will be marked with an "H," "H1" (same as the "H", but markings vary by manufacturer), "H2," or "H3."  The "H3" buffer I ordered for an AR-10.  I don't think my 9mm buffer is marked, but it's black instead of the usual yellow zinc color.

M&P 9 Pro Is Back From S&W

Aha!!  My M&P will now eject brass without pissing me off!  Similar to my 1911, except for the vigor of the throw, the brass is going out at around 4 to 5 o'clock, rather than 5 to 7 o'clock like it was doing before.

A note that followed the pistol home read:

REPAIRED: BARREL MODIFICATION

REPAIRED: REPLACE EXTRACTOR

REPAIRED: INSPECTED/TESTED & PASSED

I'm not sure what they did with the barrel.  It looks the same to me, with no obvious signs of modification.

I did have one rather odd malfunction while testing it after I got it back.  I pulled, and pulled, and pulled on the trigger, and it didn't fire.  The striker wasn't cocked?  I went to rack the slide and it was sticky, but with a sharp tug I got the round out of the chamber.  I loaded the round back into the mag, and continued shooting until the pistol was empty.  I didn't think to look at the round that it hung up on.  Hopefully there was just a burr on the brass casing that was holding the slide out of battery, keeping it from firing.  I dunno.  If it happens again, I'll note it.

Reading through the Pistol-Training.com blog's M&P torture test posts, it looks like Todd had a similar problem, with the trigger not resetting.  Weird.

I plan on taking a couple carbines out next time I go shooting, so it may be almost a month before I get to shoot the M&P again.  I have an LMT upper that didn't pass with a headspace GO gage, but seems to work with a carbine buffer, if not the "H" buffer.  The tech guy at LMT said the headspace is supposed to be tight, although it seems strange that it wouldn't pass with the GO gage.  I dunno, I'll have to see if it breaks in a bit or just functions anyway.

2010 Glock Annual Magazine Is Out

Time for the Glock Annual Magazine.

GlockTalk Glock Annual Magazine thread.

Team Glock Glock Annual Magazine Request Page.

New Year's Resolutions

Put pictures in more of the posts. (I'm getting better!)
Set-up some kind of light box so that my photos look better.
Post more reviews this year. (Tapco G2 trigger, Green Eyes and Black Rifles book, fiction books, more optics)
Cover things I learn as I get more into loading rifle ammo.
Keep the Articles and Reviews pages updated. (I'm a little behind)
Post links to manufacturer's websites, and other relevant links.