TWS Gen.II AK Scope Mount

I finally got the Gen. II TWS scope mount and peep sight that I ordered from Dallas Shooting Supplies a few days after Christmas.  Harummph!!  It came in about the 20th of May.  I'm not exactly sure, because I wasn't home and they didn't supply a tracking number.  I believe that I got the latest version with the "spacer" for the .308 Saiga rifles.  My intention was to mount it on my Interarms Tantal (Polish AK-74, more or less, with some unique differences).

How Does It Work?
The TWS Gen. II scope mount is a railed dust cover.  Wait a minute, don't start groaning just yet, this one's pretty clever, and seems to work really well! 

The cover is held in place in front by a hinge pin that passes through the front of the mount, and the holes where the pin for the rear sight used to reside.  That pin fits tight too.  The tab that the hinge pin goes through is attached to the dust cover with two socket head screws.  The overall length of the TWS mount, from rear sight bracket to stock trunnion, can be adjusted with these two screws in order to help make the mount fit individual rifles.

A tab, bent in on the right side of the cover works as a spring to maintain the lateral alignment of the rail.

Top: Right, rear corner of TWS dust cover mount.  Bottom: Inside, rear of railed TWS dust cover.

An angled surface on the bottom edge of the take-down button supplied with the rail interacts with the cover, like a wedge, to hold the cover tight against the stock trunnion.  Recoil only helps to snug the mount down tighter.

Crude attempt to show the angle of the button on the TWS guide rod.

The TWS dust cover mount is held tight to the receiver every which way.  The barrel is press-fit and pinned into the barrel trunnion, which is firmly riveted to the receiver.  The rear sight and optic mounted on TWS mount should stay aligned with the barrel.

Compatibility

The TWS mount will fit most stamped and milled 5.45mm, 7.62x39mm, 7.62x51mm (Saiga), and .223Rem AK variants.  It will not fit Yugo's, because their dust covers are half an inch shorter than most AKs.  It will not fit Saiga shotguns, because the shotguns have different barrel trunnions and rear sights.

It doesn't attach to the tang of stock trunnion, so it will work with AK pistols, underfolders, and rifles with side-folding stocks.

I believe there are plans for a Yugo version.

Return-To-Zero
The TWS mount is supposed to hold a zero, and return to zero even after you flip it up and lock it back down, through the simple machine elements described above.  For the most part, it does.  After sighting in, I flipped the mount/dust cover up, and unseated the take-down button/recoil spring guide, and then I buttoned everything back up again and vigorously racked the bolt carrier a few times.  I did this return-to-zero test a couple of times.  The first 2 or three shots would go a little bit to the right before the recoiling bolt carrier fully seated the take-down button/recoil spring guide against the rear of the dust cover/mount.  After those first few rounds, the bullets would start going through into 10-ring again.  At 12 paces the difference was maybe half an inch for the 1st round.  I can live with that.

This testing was done without fitting the recoil spring guide to the stock trunnion.  Return-to-zero may be better now that it’s fitted -- more on this when I get to installation.

First Impressions
Initial inspection was very positive.  I was happy to see that the font size of the engraving was not as large as on some of the prototype and beta-test mounts.  I also was a little surprised at how nice the mount looked.  I wasn't sure exactly what I'd get from a small company.  The mount looks very nice, and there's no machining marks on the outside of the unit.  Every other slot in the rail has a number machined (maybe laser engraved?) on it.  I'm very pleased. 

Please note that my Interarms Tantal has a grey finish.  Keep that in mind as you look at the picture of the mount on my rifle.  The grey rifle finish is the oddball, not the finish on the TWS mount.  I actually really like the grey/black two-tone look. . . I just need Duracoat the silver Aimpoint.

Installation
The mount didn't come with any instructions.  Having read through the ak47.net forum thread, and seen a YouTube video on how to remove an AK rear sight, I knew what I had to do.  That TWS Gen. II Scope Mount thread currently stands at 69 pages, and it's still going.  The mount should come with an instruction sheet, it's not a simple drop-in/bolt-on installation.  I was able to get the mount installed in 25-30 minutes, with a lot of that time spent fighting to get the hinge pin installed against the sight spring pressure.  Like I said, the pin fits tightly, and forcing everything into place took some real effort.  Removing the rear sight from my rifle was not as easy as shown in the video either, so that took maybe 3-5 minutes, instead of about 2 seconds as shown.  Getting the recoil spring removed from the Tantal take-down button/recoil spring guide, and reinstalled on the button/guide supplied with the mount was easier than I had expected, but remember, there were no instructions included, and I was working on prior knowledge from reading 50+ pages of forum posts.  Without knowing what to do, it would have taken a whole lot longer.

I did get the mount installed on the Tantal without cutting or filing anything.  It should be noted however, that fitting the TWS recoil spring guide may be necessary or even required in some cases.  The Gen.II mount worked pretty well on my rifle with no modification, but I don’t think stoning/filing the bottom of the TWS recoil spring guide hurts anything, and I’ll feel better knowing that there’s nothing to keep the mount from locking down snug.

Stock TWS spring guide.  Note that both screws are showing.

Romanian Spring Guide.  See how far back it goes?

TWS spring guide with the bottom filed/stoned down some. Note only one screw fully exposed now.

Co-Witness
The rail sits very low, allowing some micro red dot sights to co-witness with the iron sights if you get the TWS peep sight.  With a real Aimpoint Micro, the iron sights show in the lower 1/4 of the tube.  Heights of the tubes of the Aimpoint micro clones often sit higher up and may not allow co-witnessing with the iron sights.  By all accounts the Bushnell TRS-25 micro red dot sight will co-witness, and runs $75-90 some places.  The Primary Arms Gen.7 Red Dot, with the non-removable mount, may also co-witness, but the TRS-25 seems to be more common on the TWS Gen.II Mount.  The Primary Arms Micros that I have, have the detachable mounts, and the bottom of the tube and dot emitter block the iron sights.

Putting the rail on top of the dust cover gets the rail very nearly as low as on an Ultimak Scout Mount.  It is lower than the other Beryl-type rails made by Kreb's ($300!?!?), DPH Arms, UTG, or Red Star Arms.

Balance
The TWS rail doesn't add any more weight up front, like a 3 or 4 rail handguard.  Think about it.  Almost all the weight of an AK is forward of the pistol grip.  There's a lot of steel hanging out there already.

Atxjax on the Glocktalk forum weighed everything, and found that the TWS mount only adds 1.04 ounces over the weight of standard steel rear sight and dust cover, 3.46 ounces with an Aimpoint R1.

Cleaning/Clearing Stoppages
The mount/dust cover flips up, hinged off of what used to be the rear sight block, the rear sight now being mounted on the rail on top of the TWS dust cover.  No tools are required to release the cover, and lift it up, although the bullet tip of a cartridge, a pen, or a similar object can be used to push in the button of the recoil spring guide.  If junk gets in behind the bolt carrier, you just push in the take-down button on the guide rod, and flip up the rail.  The mount doesn't hinder cleaning or maintenance as much as a side-mount, except the taller ones.  You can still remove the gas tube for cleaning, and remove the handguard, unlike the Ultimak scout mount, which clamps onto the barrel and blocks the lever that releases the lower handguard.

Live Fire
I got the Tantal out to sight in.  The first trip to the range was mostly uneventful.  I had to move the front sight a bit to the right to align with the TWS peep sight, but that's fine with me, because the front sight had been most of the way to the left, over toward the protecting wing of the front sight base.  Elevation was almost spot on.  The tip of the front sight is nearly at the top of the protective wings of the front sight base for a 100 yard zero, but I was able to get the sights lined up for both 25 and 100 yard zeros (only one at a time, obviously, with just one aperture).

For the 2nd outing, I took my Polish AK-74 up north to indoor range for some rapid fire.  Everything was fine, up until the last round of the last magazine I had with me.  The bolt carrier stayed to the rear, which is weird, because AKs don’t normally have anything to hold them open after the last round.  I didn't really think too much of it at the time.  I tapped the charging handle, the bolt carrier slammed home, I dropped the hammer, and cased the rifle and cleaned up.

When I popped the cover open to clean the rifle at home, I found the “spacer” laying loose in behind the trigger.  Half of the pin that was holding the spacer onto the recoil spring guide was rattling around in the receiver.  I’m not sure where the other half of the pin went.  Fell out, I guess.  The top of the spacer had made some contact with the inside of the dust cover, removing some finish, but I don’t think any structural damage was done.  If you scroll up, and look at the picture of the inside of the dust cover, you'll see two silver marks just forward of the square slot in the rear of the cover.  Those silver marks were made by the tabs at the top of the spacer.

Oops!  That's not supposed to happen.

I tried to get the spacer back onto the recoil spring guide, to show you what it's supposed to look like.  However, the spacer must have been bent out of shape after getting beaten by the bolt carrier, and it no longer fits.  You can see pictures of the assembled spring guide and the Saiga .308 spacer and guide rod on page 63 of the AK47.net thread, as posted by Rafaga (Nelson of TWS).

I wasn’t crazy about the idea of a metal spacer in there anyway.  I pulled the Blackjack recoil buffer out of my WASR-10, which didn’t need it anyway, and put it on the TWS guide rod.  The buffer is that blue thing you see in the picture with the cover flipped up.  Nelson of TWS is offering to send out solid recoil spring guides without the spacer.  I think I’ll take him up on that offer.  I’m afraid the whole spacer thing is giving him a bit of a headache.

There is another small matter of peening at the rear of the ejection port.  I'm told that it's from ejecting casings hitting the dust cover on the way out, and I guess this must be true.  I don't think it'll be an issue, but it's something I'm going to keep an eye on.  Nelson at TWS says that that part of the dust cover work hardens, and the peening stops after a certain round count.

Sorry, I couldn't get a better picture.  Camera doesn't do close-ups very well.

Heat Transfer
I put 5 magazines through my Tantal with the TWS mount over the course of an hour.  Although there was some heat transfer into the mount through the rear sight block, very little of the heat transferred into the Aimpoint through the rear sight block.  I had a glove on my support hand, afraid of getting burnt by the metal up front, but the red dot sight stayed more or less at room temperature.

I did the same thing with my WASR with the Ultimak Scout mount, and after five magazines, the mount of the Primary Arms red dot was starting to get quite warm.  The Primary Arms sight held up to the heat, but I when I went to clean the rifle, I noticed that the sight was loose on the mount.  I think the heat from the gas tube mount melted the threadlocker I put on the screw that holds it on the rail.
'
Conclusion
A little too early for me to say yet, but the TWS Gen. II mount definitely shows great promise.  I'm looking forward to putting more rounds though the "new" Tantal, and really shaking down the new TWS mount.  I like my "new" modernized Tantal.

EDIT, 11/19/11:  I e-mailed TWS, and they said to send in the recoil spring guide rod and spacer, and they'd send me the standard no-spacer model.  So that's what I did.  I haven't gotten to shoot with it yet though.

UPDATE, 12/10/11:  All is well.  I didn't even have to adjust the sights.

How To Make a Magazine Lip Tool

I wanted a 5.45x39mm AR upper, to shoot some of that inexpensive Russian surplus ammo.  Scored a Spike's mid-length 5.45mm upper from AIM Surplus when they had some in stock.  I've come to find out though, that many of the C Products 5.45mm AR mags are crap.  Most of them work all right, if you load them half way.  However, if I load them with more than 20 rounds, and I got lots of feed failures.

Without getting too deep into the issues with the 5.45mm mags, I'll tell you that the feed lips were part of the problem.  I've been down this road before.

I guess it was back when the only pistol I had was a Ruger Mk.II, that a bullseye shooter told me how to make a mag lip tool from a carriage bolt to keep the Mk.II from jamming bullets into the bottom of the feedramp.

Brownell's sells a tool to adjust AR magazine feedlips for about $13, but a carriage bolt only costs about 60 cents.  It's just a matter of shaping the bolt into a tool.

I'm 90% certain that I made the tool for the Ruger Mk.II tool from a 1/4" bolt.  For the AR magazine tool, I bought a 5/16" bolt.  I could have gone a couple sizes larger, but it gets the job done.  I you have access to key stock, use that, and save yourself a few steps, but the carriage bolts you can pick up at most hardware stores for less than a buck.

5/16" Carriage Bolt, with the head annealed

You've got to cut the flange off the bolt, leaving you with the square. . . lug, at the head of the bolt.  Then you cut a notch in the "lug" to slip over the offending magazine lip and bend into the right shape.  That's about it, really.  If you've got a torch available, annealing and case hardening are optional extra steps.  The annealing helps keep you from chewing up your cutting tools.  Case hardening will help make the tool last longer.

Carriage bolt with the flange hacked off, and the "lug" filed square(ish)
 

"lug" notched to make the tool
 

 Large one for AR-15, small one for .22 Pistol

Tool used for bending feedlips into shape

Zombie Defense Bug Out Gun?

Found an . . . interesting/funny article on the American Rifleman website.  The official title is, "Bug Out Bag: Your One Survival Gun."  Basically, it's about picking a weapon for a zombie apocalypse.  Although I don't really have such a firearm (though I'd only have to swap a barrel), I can't really argue the logic put forth.

It's kind of a shame they don't print this kind of thing in the magazine.  There's no hard and fast rule that we can't have a sense of humor.


I need to go watch Zombieland again now.  Talk to you later.

AR15 Lube Points

Been a while, eh?  I've been busy moving, and then doing taxes.

Anyway, I've come upon this thread on the weaponevolution.com forum with some handy graphics showing the points to lubricate the parts of AR-15/M-16 pattern rifles.  The information is available in the M-16 field manuals, which are available for free download from several websites, but the information is displayed very simply in the graphics in the thread, and you don't have to read several pages of dry field manual text to get the same information.

MP5-Look Parts Kit For GSG-522

A German Sports Guns spokesman talked about these kits shortly after the HK lawsuit, but this is the first time I've seen these parts for sale.  CDNN Investments has the parts available to make your GSG-522 look like an HK MP5.  At $19.99, I think the price is really reasonable.

Direct link to the GSG-522 to GSG-5 parts kit @ CDNN.

Although I think some of the changes made to create the GSG-522 were genuine improvements, there's no reason you couldn't mix and match parts.

Winchester Ranger .223Rem Ammo Recall

It would seem that some Winchester Ranger ammo blew up some AR patrol rifles at a carbine class, which kicked off the recall.

Link To Recall Info At The Official Winchester Website

3/1/2011

Olin Corporation, through its Winchester Division, is recalling six (6) lots of its RANGER® 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point® (PP) centerfire rifle ammunition (Symbol Number RA223R2).

Lot Numbers (last four characters): DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41, and DK51

Through extensive evaluation Winchester has determined the above lots of RANGER® Law Enforcement ammunition may contain incorrect propellant. Incorrect propellant in this ammunition may cause firearm damage, rendering the firearm inoperable, and subject the shooter or bystanders to a risk of serious personal injury when fired.

DO NOT USE WINCHESTER® RANGER® 223 REMINGTON 64 GRAIN POWER-POINT® AMMUNITION THAT HAS A LOT NUMBER ENDING IN DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41 or DK51. The ammunition Lot Number is ink stamped inside the right tuck flap of the 20-round carton, as indicated here:

To determine if your ammunition is subject to this notice, review the Lot Number. If the last four characters of the Lot Number are DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41 or DK51 immediately discontinue use and contact Winchester toll-free at 866-423-5224 to arrange for replacement ammunition and free UPS pick-up of the recalled ammunition.

This notice applies only to RANGER® 223 Remington 64 Grain Power-Point® centerfire rifle ammunition with lot numbers ending in DK01, DK11, DK21, DK31, DK41, and DK51. Other Symbol Numbers or Lot Numbers are not subject to this recall.

If you have any questions concerning this RANGER® Law Enforcement ammunition recall please call toll-free 866-423-5224, write to Winchester (600 Powder Mill Road, East Alton, IL 62024 Attn: RA223R2 Recall), or visit our website at www.winchester.com.

Letter To A Mugger on Craig's List

I got this in my e-mail.  Not sure if it's entirely real, but it's an interesting story anyway.

-------------------------------------


This my friend is what the 2nd amendment is all about.......bmpr

AN ACTUAL CRAIG'S LIST PERSONALS AD

To the Guy Who Tried to Mug Me in Downtown  Savannah  night before last. Date: 2009-05-27, 1 :43 am.  E.S.T. I was the guy wearing the black Burberry jacket that you demanded that I hand over, shortly after you pulled the knife on me and my girlfriend, threatening our lives. You also asked for my girlfriend's purse and earrings. I can only hope that you somehow come across this rather important message.

First, I'd like to apologize for your embarrassment; I didn't expect you to actually crap in your pants when I drew my pistol after you took my jacket.. The evening was not that cold, and I was wearing the jacket for a reason.. My girlfriend had just bought me that Kimber Model 1911 .45 ACP pistol for my birthday, and we had picked up a shoulder holster for it that very evening. Obviously you agree that it is a very intimidating weapon when pointed at your head ... Isn't it?!

I know it probably wasn't fun walking back to wherever you'd come from with that brown sludge in your pants. I'm sure it was even worse walking bare-footed since I made you leave your shoes, cell phone, and wallet with me. [That prevented you from calling or running to your buddies to come help mug us again]. After I called your mother or "Momma" as you had her listed in your cell, I explained the entire episode of what you'd done. Then I went and filled up my gas tank as well as those of four other people in the gas station, -- on your credit card. The guy with the big motor home took 150 gallons and was extremely grateful!

I gave your shoes to a homeless guy outside Vinnie Van Go Go's, along with all the cash in your wallet. [That made his day!] I then threw your wallet into the big pink "pimp mobile" that was parked at the curb .... After I broke the windshield and side window and keyed the entire driver's side of the car Later, I called a bunch of phone sex numbers from your cell phone. Ma Bell just now shut down the line, although I only used the phone for a little over a day now, so what 's going on with that?

Earlier, I managed to get in two threatening phone calls to the DA's office and one to the FBI, while mentioning President Obama as my possible target. The FBI guy seemed really intense and we had a nice long chat (I guess while he traced your number etc.). ;In a way, perhaps I should apologize for not killing you ... But I feel this type of retribution is a far more appropriate punishment for your threatened crime. I wish you well as you try to sort through some of these rather immediate pressing issues, and can only hope that you have the opportunity to reflect upon, and perhaps reconsider, the career path you've chosen to pursue in life.. Remember, next time you might not be so lucky.

Have a good day!
Thoughtfully yours,
evin C

Great Jeff Cooper Quote: "The Rifle Is A Weapon"

In doing a little research on gun registration (you'll find out why shortly, I still need to dot some t's and cross some eyes), I found this quote from Jeff Cooper.  Although I didn't always agree with Mr. Cooper, I find this very eloquent.

The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized

Crosman MAR177 AR-15 PCP Pellet Rifle

I had actually meant to do a short article on the Anshutz AR-type air rifle, but just never got around to it.

Word has just gotten to me that Crosman was showing a new AR-type PCP air rifle at the SHOT show.  They've dubbed it MAR177; the MAR bit standing for Modular Adaptive Rifle, and the 177 obviously refers to the caliber.  It's actually not a complete rifle, but an upper to fit to your AR-15 lower.  For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to the MAR177 + your lower as an air rifle.

The Crosman MAR177 is a Pre-Charged Pneumatic (PCP) air rifle, like my Marauder, and appears to use a similar magazine (but 8-shot, rather than 10-shot like the Marauder).  You'd fill the air cylinder with a high-pressure hand pump or SCUBA tank.  You can see the pellet magazine above what would be the ejection port.

I can see these being bought by CMP/DCM shooters looking to practice indoors, or maybe just looking to shoot cheaper ammo.  The upper can be placed on your match lower, so that you get the same trigger pull.  Not sure yet if you can put like a modified A2/A4 handguard on it yet.  They are saying that it will put 10 rounds into a 9mm circle at 10 meters.  The barrel is made by Lothar Walther, the same barrel they use for their Challenger PCP rifles, actually.  The MAR177 meets the requirements for use in National Match Air Rifle competitions.

The velocity figure stated in the press release is 600 feet per second.  I would imagine that is with match pellets that weight less than 8gr.  Whether you can tune the rifle to shoot faster, is currently unknown, but the Crosman Challenger match rifle requires gunsmithing to get to magnum air rifle velocities.  The air cylinder can be filled to pressures up to 3000psi, and should get 120 shots per fill at 600fps.

I'm almost certain that the upper is some kind of single-shot bolt action.  I'll try to find out a little more from people who actually fondled it at the SHOT show.

Retail price is expected to be in the $800-900 range, and they are shooting (no pun intended) for a release date sometime this summer.


Crosman MAR177 Press Release

Help Counter Bloomberg's Gun Control Truck

New York mayor Bloomberg and his gun ban group Mayors Against Illegal Guns (all guns really, not just illegal ones) are funding a truck billboard with a clock to track the number of deaths due to gun violence since the Arizona shooting.  Naturally, there's no mention of deaths prevented by firearms.

Over the next 2 months, the Bloomberg/MAIG truck is traveling across the country, stopping in major cities.

Bloomberg and MAIG are pushing for:

• NYC type gun laws requiring a background check for gun purchases that can take more than 6 months
• A ban on most semi-automatics
• Implement laws that will make gun shows too cumbersome and invasive to be profitable

An anti-gun campaign has compiled a online petition, with over 250,000 signatures to try to urge Obama and congress to impose these laws on the country.


The 2nd Amendment Foundation and Citizens for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) have teamed up to counter the Bloomberg billboard truck with their own billboard truck.

 

The SAF/CCRKBA truck will follow the Bloomberg/MAIG truck, and try to counter the lies of the gun-ban lobby.  They do need help funding the truck and the traveling, however.

Normally, I wouldn't bother you all with fundraising missions, but I truly believe that this one is worth it.  Please help SAF and CCRKA fund this important counter-attack!!  I think this is one of the better ideas to come out of the gun rights lobby in a long time.


CCRKBA article about the billboard truck

US News & World Report Hi-Cap Mag Poll

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/02/11/Should-congress-ban-high-capacity-ammo-clips

Should Congress Ban High-Capacity Ammo Clips?

Yes or no question

Once again, they've phrased the question in such a way that it makes them sound like imbiciles.

Tapco Maybe Interested in Making 5.45x39mm AR Mags

A Tapco rep on AR15.com is saying they may be interested in making 5.45mm Russian magazines for the AR-15 platform if there's enough interest.  Drop an e-mail to customerservice@tapco.com to show your support, if you're interested.

Link To Thread on AR15.com

CProducts is the only company currently making 5.45x39mm AR mags, and there's a rumor that they are in trouble.  There's been a lot of complaints about the CProducts magazines not always working so well anyway.  Magpul apparently not too interested in 5.45mm mags, and Lancer has said no.

Alex Robinson Comments Re: The XCR Rifles and Customer Service

I was reading The Firearm Blog post on the 7.62x51NATO XCR, and there was a comment left with a link to this post on the XCR Forum from Alex Robinson, the man behind Robinson Armament Company.

"The fact is that almost every 'new' rifle out there is based on someone else's work.   The XCR is not.  It is truly unique.   Yes, it borrows some concepts from other rifles, but each part had to be designed without copying anything else to get the result we wanted.   In short, Robinson Armament dared to challenge the establishment with a very different rifle.

Robinson Armament's efforts should have been embraced.  However, from the beginning, we have (sic, sentence structure) nothing but crap on the internet.  I distinctly remember posts on AR-15.com shortly after I announced the XCR.  The post (sic) were that it was "Vaporware".  Other posts exclaimed that it would never be built or never work as promised.  Such posts made it very difficult to get the XCR off the ground and made people very skeptical of the new XCR.

Other posts exclaimed that we were going out of business.  It seem (sic) that the whole rifle world was against us.  I have often wondered why so much negativity for a new weapon platforms (sic)?  It is as though people really don't want any new platforms.   Thee (sic) people claim to want the best but all they do is whine.  It is no wonder to me that others don't venture out with new designs - they are shot down before they begin."


"First, when you call for service, be polite.  If you are not polite to my staff, I guaranty you will have a pleasant experience.  Remember the old saying, 'You can attract more files (sic) with honey that (sic) with vinegar.'  If you call with an attitude, my staff has been instructed to put you on the back burner.  If you are nice and polite, you will get quicker service."


"Second, please read the manual carefully.  I know it's boring but there's important information there.  Many people do not understand that you need to set the gas correctly for function and durability.  It's really quite simple - put it on the setting that throws the brass 8 to 15 feet from the rifle for any given ammo.  Do not just leave the gas system on the highest setting,  If you do, for some ammo it will kick like hell, throw your brass 40 feet, give you trigger slap, and damage your recoil buffer (a cheap part).

Third, please send us the following information:

Name, Address, Email and Cell number;
Serial Number;
Signed Copy of your warranty Registration found in the last pages of the Operator's Manual; and
A complete description of the problem, BE BRIEF.  If you write and essay about your vast knowledge of firearms base (sic) on your long time relationship with your AR-15, we won't read it.

We will authorize the return to us of part or all of your firearm.  WE DO NOT PAY FOR SHIPPING TO US.

Fourth, if you post a bunch of whiny petty negative stuff here or anywhere, I guaranty very slow service.  I have made that a policy.  Yes, we've made lots of mistakes with service but that is behind us."


"We appreciate those who stand by and support us.  They are true patriots.  We have to question the motives of those who continue to tear us down on this forum.  They cannot stop us. Their petty feeble minds are easily exposed.  The XCR will gain momentum until it covers the whole earth.  There is no other platform like it and it is the best."

Yikes!!!

Although I think the Robinson XCR is a great design, I had serious concerns about parts availability, and customer service.  I decided that buying an XCR was a risk that I didn't want to take.  I had no idea that the customer service situation was as bad as this.

Tapco AK G2 Trigger Recall

I just found out about this recently.  Most of the bad parts may have been scrapped by now, but for safety's sake. . .

TAPCO, Inc. G2 TRIGGER GROUP PRODUCT SAFETY WARNING

We have determined that during the period between October 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008, G2 trigger groups may have contained disconnectors that have a disconnector spring hole that is too deep. Use of these could result in a rifle malfunction and should be checked immediately.

 

The correct depth of the hole is between .383 to .420. Any disconnector with a depth of .421 or more should be returned for exchange.

NOTE: The spring hole has a conical point and the measurement should be made from the shoulder where the spring will rest, not the point of the hole.

Returns should be sent to:

TAPCO G2 Return/Exchange
3615 Kennesaw N. Ind. Pkwy.
Kennesaw, GA 30144

Or, contact your Sales Account Manager for additional information

Thank you,

TAPCO, Inc.

I guess I should take apart my WASR-10 (now sporting a G2 single-hook trigger), and my Interarms Tantal (which came with a G2 double-hook trigger). Not looking forward to taking apart Sid The Saiga-12 though. The Bolt-Hold-Open lever and spring make reassembling the Saiga lower a huge pain in the rear.

Michigan Concealed Carry Poll

LINK TO POLL

Should concealed weapons be allowed in churches, arenas and bars?

• Yes
• No
• Other

'Yes' is winning by a pretty narrow margin.

NYDailyNews Gun Poll

Link To Poll

This one is not going well, please hit it.

Obama must man up on guns -- take the political heat and fight for sane limits to firearm sales.

What do you think of current gun laws in the United States?

• Current laws are too strict. Any infringement upon gun owners' rights is an infringement upon the 2nd amendment.

• Current laws are not strict enough. We need to regulate access to deadly weapons.

• Not sure

What's a 31-bullet clip?  Some kind of reloading tool, I guess?   :P

Lone Wolf Glock Frame Available. . . Finally

Lone Wolf Timberwolf Frame

A while back, a couple years ago maybe, I reported that Lone Wolf Distributors was working on an aftermarket frame for Glock pistols, having already made a variety of slides for Glocks.  Well they've finally released the frame for sale, which they call the Timberwolf.  The frame is a serialized part, and needs to be transferred by a licensed dealer, like any firearm bought online, obviously.  Lone Wolf has posted information on what you need to do to order and pick up the frame on the website (EDIT: Actually, I wasn't able to open the PDF file linked).

The Timberwolf frame features:

• Two interchangable backstraps
• Rounded trigger guard
• Extended "beavertail"
• Round magazine catch button
• "Improved" checkering and "rail system"
• "Higher grip angle," which I imagine means that you can get the web of your shooting hand up higher on the grip

Included with the Timberwolf frame:

• Round mag catch
• SF trigger housing
• Two grip backstraps

The frame fits 3rd Gen. large frame 9mm/.40S&W/.357SIG Glocks, i.e. models 17, 17L, 22, 24, 31, 34, 35, and 37.

They have it listed at $199.99, which I don't think is too bad really, considering that Glock will not sell you just a frame, without the side and barrel and all the rest of the pistol.  May be something to look into if you like Glocks, but your hands are too small for the Glock grip frame.  From the thread on GlockTalk, it sounds like they will be releasing compact frames, and large 10mm/.45ACP frames sometime in the future.

Archangel G36 Conversion Kit For Ruger 10/22

Marauder Stock Ad From Guns Magazine

The ProMag/Archangel guys have another interesting Ruger 10/22 stock.  Obviously, it converts a 10/22 action into an HK G36 look-alike.  

I don't know a whole lot about this yet.  The ad was in the new issues of Guns and American Handgunner magazine that I just got in the mail a few days ago.  There's no links to the kit on the Archangel website, although it is listed at $200 on the ProMag website (no pictures or info).  I haven't been able to find much information on the kit, and only one SHOT show picture.

The stock kit is listed at $155.97 on the Sportsman's Depot webstore, but the kits haven't been released yet.

A few handy enthusiasts have been cramming 10/22 actions into the plastic bodies of airsoft G36s for a few years.  I remember a YouTube video showing how it's done.  Someone's finally stepped up to produce a drop-in stock to do the same thing.  I hope that the G36 pattern magazine is high-capacity, single-column magazine to feed the 10/22 action, and not just a huge prosthetic to cover a 10-round Ruger rotary mag.  I also hope that the scope mount on the kit stock is somehow firmly attached to the 10/22 receiver inside, so these things have a chance at being resonably accurate.

ACR Review, Part 3

Previous Entries
Some Bushmaster ACR Observations (Part 1)
Bushmaster ACR Observations, Part 2

(I updated them, so that you can blow the photos up to fill the screen with a click.  PITA, because Blogger still isn't user friendly when you try to post photos with captions.  The line-spacing goes all wonky.)

Rapid Fire Testing
I've had the ACR out for a couple of rapid fire sessions.  The rifle continues to impress me.

The first session, I had the ACR out along with my WASR (7.62x39mm Romanian AK).  The ACR definitely has less recoil than the 7.62mm AK, even though the AK has a recoil buffer and muzzle brake.  The second session, I had the ACR out along with my LMT M4, with both rifles having essentially the same barrel profile and flash hider.  I still don't think that the recoil of ACR is different enough to even be noticeable when compared to a similarly equipped AR.

The heat-shielded polymer handguards seem to do a really good job.  After a 3 magazines, the gas block was HOT, but I could only feel a little warmth coming through the handguards.  There is a Magpul MVG mounted on the handguard of the rifle I'm testing, as well as a Magpul MOE short rail for mounting a weapon light.  I still think the handguard is a bit short, but it's significantly better than a 7" AR handguard.

The Recall
The rifle did double on me, once.  I was shooting Wolf steel-cased ammo, and this particular ACR hasn't been sent in for the recall service yet.  I have noticed that the primers aren't seated as deeply in the steel cases as they usually are in brass cases, which I believe is part of the problem.  I've put several hundred rounds of brass-cased ammo through the ACR without any issues whatsoever.

I had said that the issue that caused the recall was likely not due to the firing pin.  As it turns out, I was wrong.  Return spring or not, for whatever reason, the firing pin seems to be the issue.  There were several reports of Acres slam-firing in the days prior to the recall.  The original firing pin/return spring combo will leave a fairly significant dent in the primer after chambering a round; even more of a dent than a AR-15/M-16 will leave.  I guess I was wrong about the Lancer Magazines, and I was wrong about the ACR firing pin.

Magazines
Although I have primarily used PMags, I've run a couple more D&H brand G.I. aluminum mags (with Magpul followers), and the ACR continues to run just fine.  I even loaded the G.I. magazines to the full 30-round capacity, and was able to get the magazine locked in, and the bolt stripped the top round with zero hesitation, both of which are sometimes an issue with AR rifles.  The magazine well is fairly loose and everything is dropping free.

Ergonomics
I still think the stock and pistol grip feel a bit small, but when I actually shoot the rifle, I don't notice it.  I have the same issue with the finger grooves on the Glock 19; just holding it, it feels a bit off, but I don't notice it when actually using the pistol.  I'm going to call this a non-issue, on both cases.

Price and Model Availability Update
Pricewise, there have been some new developments.  Bushmaster has lowered the retail prices for the ACRs, and I'm hearing that you can find the basic model for as low as $1500 if you look around.  The price from Cheaper Than Dirt is somewhere around $1800, if memory serves.

Not sure if the ACR is available yet with the basic polymer handguard and folding/collapsing stock yet, but this configuration is shown in the new Bushmaster catalog.  Bushmaster reps are telling people that 10.5", 14.5", and 18" barrels should be available by the end of the year, along with 1 turn in 7" twist barrels also.

What's Next
Next up for my ACR testing is some 100 yard accuracy tests, but that will take a little while.  I'll try out some 75 and 77 grain bullets to see how the 1 in 9" twist barrel will do with those.

Kel-Tec SU-16/SU-22 Pistol Grip and AR Stock Adapter

I guess I'm a couple or few years late on this, but I didn't find out until recently.  The Kel-Tec rifles don't get a whole lot of attention.

Kel-Tec is selling pistol grip lowers and AR-15 stock adapters for SU-16 and SU-22 rifles.  Link to pistol grip lower and AR stock adapter in Kel-Tec store - currently $94.40.  Also available with collapsible CAR-15/XM177 stock for $129.  The pistol grip compromises the ability of the rifles to fold into a compact little package, but it makes the rifles a little more egonomic, and a little less goofy looking.

Why do I even care?  The SU-16 rifles are quite lightweight (about 5 pounds with the origional stock), and have a long-stroke piston operating system (sort of similar to an SKS or AK-47).  With the right ACE stock adapters (they seem to be having website problems at the moment), you could put a side-folding stock on, which you can't do with 99% of AR-15 rifles.  The SU-16 rifles are also relatively inexpensive.  I can definately see how this might be an attractive solution to some people looking for an "evil black rifle."

You can find some more information on the pistol grip/stock conversion kit in this KTOG.org forum thread where I got the picture I posted above.  I'm sure if you did a search on the forum, you could find more threads.

World.guns.ru SU-16 information - in case you want to brush up on the Kel-Tec rifles