‘Black Friday’ Week Saw 687,000-Plus Background Checks, Says NSSF

In a remarkably strong showing, the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System (NICS) reportedly processed more than 687,000 background checks during “Black Friday” week, including more than 26,000 on Thanksgiving Day, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Total for the week leading up to what has traditionally been called “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving on which retailers have come to expect robust holiday season sales, was 687,788 NICS Checks, NSSF said.

That’s a raw number, “inclusive of all background checks related to firearms,” NSSF said Monday.

It’s quite a figure, suggesting America is continuing to exercise the Second Amendment, and gun ownership is hardly going out of style.

NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi said in a prepared statement, “This year has already been shaping up to be the second strongest year for firearm sales on record, second only to 2020’s record-breaking number of 21 million background checks for a firearm sale. We anticipate, based on annual data, that firearm sales will rise during the final month of the year coinciding with hunting seasons and holiday sales. This figure, though, underscores the appetite for lawful firearm ownership in America and the resilience of the firearm and ammunition industry to meet that demand.”

The numbers were broken down day-by-day:

Saturday, Nov. 20 – 101,057

Sunday, Nov. 21 – 58,059

Monday, Nov. 22 – 96,696

Tuesday, Nov. 23 – 105,815

Wednesday, Nov. 24 – 112,484

Thursday, Nov. 25 – 26,092

Friday, Nov. 26 – 187,585

Continuing strong gun sales should come as no surprise to anybody, considering the political efforts to reduce police funding in many agencies, from the Northeast to the Pacific Northwest. Rising instances of violent crime in many parts of the country contributes to uneasiness, and media attention to the violence—whether it involves another updated body count in Chicago or a shooting at a shopping mall in Tacoma—merely reinforces the growing interest in gun ownership by private citizens.

Updated update on the updated Tisas Tanker ‘Commander’ 1911 pistol.

Earlier I figured I had gotten to a stopping point, but as someone once observed. ‘You never know’.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a seller on Ebay advertising manufacturer overrun parts with a stated non-disclosure agreement on source. The prices were quite reasonable, so, I decided to splurge and bought a 416R stainless steel barrel with link & bushing – that to me happens to look a lot like what Springfield Armory uses, but whatever – which pleasingly dropped in with no fitting, locked up tight and cycled dummy rounds with no problems.

Weather and physical conditions of all parties concerned finally intersecting, Dad & I took a day trip Saturday afternoon to the backyard range of a friend to try it – and several other guns – out.

Every type of ammo I shot, factory 230 gr FMJ from several manufacturers and Remington 185gr JHP, which is our standard load when carrying a .45 for self defense,  I was able to keep on 6 inch round steel at 20 yards, standing, off hand, without any sight adjustment. Accuracy has been improved and reliability was not effected, so this appears to have been a worthy endeavor .

American manufacturers race to relieve a pandemic-triggered ammo shortage
Soaring demand for guns and ammunition comes from a range of demographic groups

JUST TWO companies, Vista Outdoor and Olin Corp, meet the bulk of America’s demand for ammunition, and chiefly through two long-established brands. Remington, part of Vista, was founded in 1816, and Winchester Ammunition, owned by Olin Corp, started in 1866. Because of soaring demand for bullets, both firms are enjoying the sort of heady growth that only new businesses usually enjoy.

Three times a day, queues of pick-up trucks appear outside Remington’s ammunition plant on the outskirts of Little Rock, Arkansas, to bear away the fruits of round-the-clock shifts. It is a sharp reversal from last summer, when Remington went bankrupt for the second time since 2018. Production had been reduced to a trickle of bullets made from whatever raw materials could be coaxed from suppliers, who had no certainty of being paid.

Even as Remington languished—it was then owned by a private-equity firm, Cerberus Capital, which appeared more focused on complex financial transactions than on expanding the firm’s sales—the ammo market took off. The biggest factor was covid-19 and associated restrictions, which encouraged millions of people outdoors to hunt and target-shoot. Background checks on gun purchases, a measure commonly used to track the market, had been increasing annually, but last year they shot up by an unprecedented 40%.

Remington has been able to increase prices seven times. It has unfilled orders worth billions of dollars. Retailers of ammunition surveyed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a trade group, said they could have sold three times more ammunition during the first half of 2021 had it been available. Vista, Remington’s new parent, has infused working capital and increased the size of its workforce. The unit’s operating profits this year are expected to be similar to the $81m that Vista paid for the business. As for Winchester Ammunition, its revenues for the third quarter nearly doubled year on year, to $400m, and its gross operating profits nearly quadrupled.

The ammunition and gun industries pray the good times will last. In the past demand surges came when gun-owners—mostly white and male—feared new restrictions. Now it is about new demographic groups. A survey by the NSSF shows that the proportion of recreational shooters who are female has increased from 19% to 25% between 2006 and 2019. By now 28% of gun owners are Hispanic, 25% are black and 19% are Asian. Gun clubs are springing up for every niche. The Pink Pistols, for example, a shooting and social group for sexual minorities, has 48 chapters across America. Its motto: “Pick on someone your own calibre”.

Political opposition to firearms remains strong, causing businesses to shift operations of late to places that might be a tad friendlier. Remington’s licensed firearms division is moving from New York to Georgia, where gun laws are more permissive, and Smith & Wesson, another legendary brand, has recently said it will up sticks from Massachusetts to Tennessee. But customers for guns and ammo seem to be popping up everywhere.■

Someone in charge there should have had the smarts to delete that idiotic crossbolt safety.


Marlin’s Return Scheduled For The Holidays

Comments made during Ruger’s quarterly report conference call, which took place the first week of October, indicate Marlins are scheduled to be back on the shelves during the holiday season. The current supply and shipping environment could alter the timing, but enthusiasts interested in getting one of the first produced after the brand’s resurrection by one of the industry’s foremost shouldn’t procrastinate.

“So we’re planning a mid-December launch of the Marlin product line,” Ruger Chief Executive Officer Christopher J. Killoy commented. “…[I]t’ll probably be less than the market wants. In fact, I’m sure based on the overwhelming demand we’ve seen from consumers and retailers, I’m sure it will be fewer guns and fewer SKUs than the market wants, but we will launch it probably on or about December 15, somewhere in that time period, begin those shipments to distributors.”

The earliest offering will be a classic, too. “The first sample that I saw came off the line a few weeks ago and it was a beautiful model, 1895 in 45-70 caliber and it just looked gorgeous,” Killoy said. “So we’re very excited about that and we are on track to that into Q4 launch.”

As for finding any available in mid-December, he cautioned, “And again I expect there’ll be lots of calls and e-mails in…looking for more Marlins because the first samples frankly, were just outstanding.” The above image is an 1895 from the company’s 2006 catalog, and likely doesn’t represent the first ones scheduled to appear.

One caller asked if the Ruger name will appear anywhere on the new Marlin firearms. “No, it won’t be. We’re going to maintain the Marlin brand. We’re very proud of the Marlin brand and its history. We’ve got a couple of things. I think Marlin collectors will be very excited about as far as how we will configure the serial numbers,” Killoy responded. “Some minor changes that we think collectors will enjoy seeing but maintaining that Marlin legacy and the great things about Marlin, particularly the Sapphire lever action guns with some—what we think are some great enhancements. So more to come on that, but we’re very excited about it. We’ve got a good team of operations and product and marketing folks working on that rollout and I think we’re going to have fun with.”

M&P®10MM

What’s one millimeter more? 9mm vs 10mm… Number’s wise, it might seem minor at best, like having $9 vs $10, but as far as ammunition calibers are concerned, that increase of one millimeter makes all the difference.

The average grain weight of a 9mm bullet is around 115 grains, and the average 10mm is around 180 grains. Making the 10mm bullet 63% heavier of a round over the 9mm, that one digit millimeter difference, is really the equivalent of 63% more mass.

M&P10mm

Now, you might also be familiar with .45 ACP, a long-standing low velocity, high powered round. Surprisingly enough, the 10mm and the .45 look an awful lot alike when you put them side by side, they’ll pack a similar punch but perform in different ways. The muzzle velocity of .45 is 840 feet per second, versus the 10mm’s 1008 feet per second. With greater muzzle velocity also comes added benefits, such as flatter shooting and better accuracy at further range. Advantages like these are why the 10mm caliber has become widely regarded as the ideal round for personal protection in the backcountry.

The new M&P®10mm M2.0™ pistol was designed to match the M&P®45 M2.0™ pistol frame size, with new aggressive front serrations traditionally only seen on law enforcement M&P® firearms. Working your way back on the slide, you’ll notice that the 10mm comes standard with the C.O.R.E.™ (Competition Optics Ready Equipment) slide and optics mounting kit. But let’s not forget one of the most recognizable changes to the M&P®10mm M2.0™ pistol, the new flat face trigger geometry. Following the success of the Shield™ Plus pistol flat face trigger, the 10mm is the first in the M2.0™ pistol lineup to feature a newly updated trigger.

With a capacity of 15+1, backcountry bears and cougars won’t stand a chance against your M&P®10mm M2.0™ pistol. You can now rest assured that your ideal backcountry sidearm will have your covered.

 

A little known product is HilCo Lube in aerosol and wipes.
When I was working on the 16th Cavalry officer side of the Armor School, the Marines brought up a tub of them that they had used during OCS at Quantico. Hill Company actually specializes in commercial and industrial cleaning gear, but this product impressed all of us and I have used it ever since.

My Unit Armorer instructor at Fort Lewis – a retired Master Sergeant by the name of  Butterfly – apparently had a standard joke he would roll out for each class when asked if there was something better than CLP.
His answer was;
“Yes, there are better products than CLP, but it has one overriding quality that really can’t be beat….(long pause)…..it’s free.”


Best Gun Oils for All Guns

Shooting is a ton of fun, but it’s also inherently dirty. There’s powder residue, carbon fouling, copper and lead buildup, and more.

Whether it’s your granddad’s single-shot shotgun that you’re going to pass down to your own kids or a brand new long-range shooting rifle that you spent far more on than you care to admit, the goal is to keep them both running smoothly for decades to come. In order to do this, you’ve got to keep your guns clean. Regardless of what it cost or how old it is, the best way to do this is to use the best gun oil.

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Remember, this is RemArms, one part of the old bankrupt Remington that  Roundhill Group LLC, bought.


Gov. Kemp: Remington Firearms to Locate Global Headquarters, Open New Advanced Manufacturing Facility, World-class Research and Development Center in LaGrange

Atlanta, GA – Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced Remington Firearms (RemArms), America’s oldest firearms manufacturer, will locate its global headquarters and open a new advanced manufacturing operation as well as a world-class research and development center in LaGrange, Georgia. Through these projects, RemArms will invest $100 million and create 856 jobs over a five-year period in Troup County.

“Georgia’s firearms industry is responsible for thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment in our communities,” said Governor Kemp. “I am a proud owner of some of Remington’s first-class product, and now, I am excited to welcome them to their new home in the Peach State. As yet another big manufacturing win for our state, I look forward to seeing the oldest firearms manufacturer in America thrive in Georgia’s pro-business environment.”

Founded in 1816, Remington Firearms is one of the United States’ largest domestic producers of shotguns and rifles. Several of the company’s strategic products will be manufactured in Georgia. The new headquarters will also become home to an innovative research and development center.

“We are very excited to come to Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry,” said Ken D’Arcy, RemArms CEO. “Between the support we’ve received from the state and from Scott Malone and Kelley Bush of the City of LaGrange Economic Development Authority, we cannot wait to expand our company in Georgia. Everyone involved in this process has shown how important business is to the state and how welcoming they are to all business, including the firearms industry.”

The company will be hiring for positions in production, operations, engineering, and management, as well as careers in HR, finance, and administration in Remington’s onsite executive offices. For more information, please visit www.remarms.com.

“I am thrilled to welcome Remington Firearms to the growing list of manufacturers who call LaGrange home,” said Mayor of LaGrange Jim Thornton. “The Remington name has long been associated with great products, and I know they will continue that tradition and be very successful here. I applaud the partnership with Governor Kemp and the economic development teams at the state and at the city that help attract great companies to our community.”

The Georgia Department of Economic Development was represented in this competitive project by Senior Project Manager Taylor Kielty in partnership with the LaGrange Economic Development Authority, Georgia Power, and Georgia Quick Start.

“For more than two centuries, Remington Arms has been a part of the fabric of our country, and for many of us who grew up with a strong connection to the outdoors and a love of outdoor sports, a trusted brand like Remington has been interwoven into our lives,” said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. “This makes it all the more exciting for us to see Remington Firearms locate their global headquarters and advanced manufacturing operations to Georgia where they will join a strong community of great companies who call this state home. Many thanks to our economic development partners in Troup County for helping the state win this project, which will undoubtedly have a sizeable economic impact on LaGrange and surrounding communities.

Colt Safety Recall Regarding Modern Sporting Rifles

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL NOTICE REGARDING CERTAIN COLT MODERN SPORTING RIFLES

COLT’S MANUFACTURING COMPANY LLC (“COLT”) has recently discovered a potential
safety issue with certain Modern Sporting Rifles (“MSRs”). Colt is voluntarily initiating a recall to protect the safety of its customers because, under certain conditions, it is possible that some of these MSRs may discharge a second round when the trigger is released when there is a live round in the chamber.

Colt is committed to the highest standards of quality and customer satisfaction. In keeping with that commitment, during routine quality testing, Colt discovered that hammers that do not meet Colt’s specifications were installed in certain MSRs that were manufactured beginning on March 5, 2021. The issue will be corrected by replacing the hammers in affected MSRs.

The recall only covers a portion of MSRs manufactured beginning on March 5, 2021, and includes the following models: AR15A4, CR6700A4, CR6920, CR6920-EPR, CR6920MPS-B, CR6921, CR6921-EPR, CR6933, CR6933-EPR, CR6960, LE6920-EPR, LE6920MPS-B, LE6920-OEM1, LE6920-OEM2, LE6920-R, LE6933-EPR, SP633784, LE6920SOCOM.

The following chart lists all the serial numbers for those models that may potentially be subject to
the recall:

Model Marking  Serial Numbers
AR-15 A4: CAR022851 – CAR023250
CARBINE: CR036354 – CR099599
CARBINE: CR713001 – CR722100
M4 CARBINE: CR716801 – CR721500
M4A1 CARBINE: CR021580 – CR022024

To prevent the possibility of death or serious personal injury, Colt advises anyone who has purchased a Colt MSR since March 5, 2021 to stop using it immediately and visit

ColtRepairMSR.com or call Customer Service at 1-800-971-3216 to see if your specific MSR is affected.

Please note: Not all MSRs within the serial number range in the above chart are subject to this recall and this website offers easy, step-by-step instructions to determine if a particular MSR is affected.

Customer service agents will assist anyone who needs additional help. Our expert craftsmen are ready to upgrade all affected MSRs at our West Hartford, CT headquarters

Another one of John Taffin’s Guns magazine articles


CRAZY CARTRIDGE CONFUSION
“A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME …”

In the beginning, Oliver Winchester’s company brought forth the first really successful repeating firearm with the .44 Henry levergun. This rimfire cartridge was a true .44 —actually almost .45 — as it used a bullet with a diameter of 0.445″, the outside diameter of the cartridge case. This was accomplished by using a bullet that had a base of a smaller diameter than the rest of the case and this smaller-diameter “heel” fitted inside the cartridge case. When Smith & Wesson brought out the first big-bore cartridge-firing sixgun in late 1869, they followed the same pattern using a bullet with two diameters, a smaller heel and the main part of the bullet being 0.441″. Then along came the Russians.

Smith & Wesson received a large order from the Russian military for their S&W American Model #3 revolver, however, the Russians made two significant changes. One was for the revolver itself changing the grip frame by adding a hump to the top of the curved backstrap and also placing a spur on the bottom of the trigger guard. To this day there is still no common agreement on the purpose of this spur. Was it to give a more solid grip or simply to keep the pistol from sliding down when placed in a sash at the waistband?

The more important change was the cartridge — the Russians wanted a bullet of uniform diameter. When the bullet was fashioned to fit inside the case (the normal way today), the bullet diameter was shrunk to a standard 0.429″. This has been the case ever since with the ensuing .44 Special, simply a longer .44 Russian, and the .44 Magnum which came about by lengthening the .44 Special case.

Here is also a good spot for making another correction of misinformation both I and others have been guilty of in the past. We gave the Russians credit for coming up with the inside lubricated bullet, that is, a bullet with the lube grooves inside the case. This is not true as the original .44 Russian rounds still used an outside lubricated bullet until 1887 when the Union Metallic Cartridge Company began placing the lube grooves of the .44 Russian cartridge inside the case.

We can purchase sixguns today chambered in .44 Colt but these also have been changed from the original. Colt’s first .44 also used a heeled bullet, however, today’s .44 Colt cartridge is simply the .44 Special shortened and with a smaller rim diameter. The latter was done to fit the first replica sixguns which had cylinders too small in diameter to accept six .44 Russian or .44 Special whose rims would overlap. Today’s .44 Colt replicas, at least some of them, have larger diameter cylinders to also accept .44 Russian and some are also chambered to accept all three of these .44 cartridges.

From left to right, the .44, .38 and .32 Winchester Centerfire cartridges. They are actually .43, .40 and .31 caliber. Confusing, no?

Dash-Something

Many of the rifle cartridges of the 19th century were hyphenated, consisting of two numbers with the first one giving the bullet diameter while the latter was for the powder charge. For example, we have the .45-70 which used a bullet of 0.457″ to 0.459″ diameter over 70 grains of black powder. Notice .45 rifles are actually closer to .46 caliber. Other rifle .45 caliber nomenclature included such as the .45-60, .45-75 .45-90, .45-100, .45-110 and .45-120 with the second number in each case denoting the charge of black powder under the bullet. Then came the Winchester Model 1894 and more confusion.

This now-legendary levergun was first chambered in .38-55 and .32-40, which both follow the original nomenclature pattern. Then in 1895 the first smokeless cartridge arrived in the 1894, the .30 Winchester Centerfire (or .30 WCF) that is now mostly known as the .30-30, the second number having nothing to do with a black powder charge. About 10 years later saw the arrival of first the .30-03 and then the .30-06 with the second numbers having absolutely nothing to do with powder charges but rather the year they were introduced. The .308 Winchester of the 1950s actually was named for the bullet diameter.

Winchester’s original centerfire cartridges for the Model 1873 levergun were the .44 WCF, .38 WCF and .32 WCF. Today these are more commonly known as .44-40, .38-40 and .32-20. The prevailing wisdom is Marlin started this difference in naming the cartridges because they did not want to write “Winchester” on their barrels so the .44 Winchester Centerfire became the .44-40 with the second number denoting the number of grains of black powder. The .32-20 , actually a .31, was loaded with 20 grains of black powder but what of the .38-40? The actual bullet diameter is not 0.38″ but rather 0.401″. There are some who say it actually was a .40-38, however .38-40 sounded better and then there would be the confusion if it was called a .40-40. Perhaps we shall never know. Even more confusing is a so-called .41 Long Colt which uses not a 0.410″ bullet as the later arriving .41 Magnum, but actually a 0.386″ diameter bullet. And both the .38-40 and .41 Long Colt sixguns produced by Colt had a barrel groove diameter of 0.401″ with the latter cartridge designed so the smaller bullet would expand to match the barrel.

All of these are chambered for .38 Long Colt/.38 Special but left-middle and
lower-left examples have been fitted with Conversion Cylinders and require either
true .38 bullets or soft expanding-hollow-base bullets to fit the rifling.

The .38 Saga

When Smith & Wesson introduced a new cartridge in their M&P about the time the 19th century was becoming the 20th century, they called this new cartridge the .38 Smith & Wesson Special, whereas the .38-40 was actually larger in size than the .38, the .38 Special is smaller than .38. There seems to be no end to the confusion. How is it the .38 Special can be fired in a sixgun chambered for .357 Magnum? The answer is the latter is named for the actual bullet diameter used while the .38 Special, although it actually uses the same bullet diameter as the Magnum, is mis-named. Just before the .357 Magnum arrived in 1935, Colt brought out the .38 Super which is also not a true .38 but actually uses bullets of 0.355″ to 0.356″ diameter. So all of these are actually .36 caliber.

Another cartridge surrounded by confusion is the .38 Colt, both the Long and Short of it. I as well as several others have assumed the .38 Short Colt came first followed by the .38 Long Colt. The latter will always be remembered for its failures rather than its successes. When the United States military switched from percussion pistols, they adopted the Smith & Wesson American .44 in the early 1870s and the Smith & Wesson Schofield .45 in 1875; however both were short-lived and the .45 Colt Single Action Army of 1873 was the official sidearm until the 1890s. Colt had introduced the .38 Long Colt for use in their smaller centerfire New Line Revolvers in 1874 and then brought out their first double-action sixgun, the Model of 1877 or as it is more well-known, the Lightning. In 1889 the United States Navy adopted the .38 Colt New Navy Double Action Revolver as its official sidearm and then the Army followed adopting the Model of 1892. This turned out to be one of the worst disasters as far as adopting military cartridge in United States history.

The cartridge, which was weaker than the .38 Special which soon followed, failed miserably in the Philippine campaign. So much in fact the .45 Colt Single Action Army was removed from storage and shipped to the Philippines for use. This turned out to actually be a good thing as it led to the adoption of the .45 Government Model of 1911.

So the .38 Long Colt actually arrived before the .38 Short Colt and to make it even more confusing, we have the .38 Short Colt (Short Case) and the .38 Long Colt (Long Case). The latter also originated about 1874 and was chambered in the Colt New Line Revolver. The former, which we would expect to be the forerunner of all of this, actually was the last to appear, being brought out by Remington-Peters in the 1920s.

I started this piece with the idea of clearing up some confusion. I hope I haven’t just done more to muddy the waters.

Another ‘Second Highest’ record month for NICS.
Again, of course, pointing out that it would be a new record if not for the anomaly of last year’s ‘super records’.

This is about a court case where the parents of one of the people killed in the Las Vegas mass shooting is suing Colt on the premise that an AR-15 is really a machinegun. ust some inventive BS from the usual ambulance chasing type lawyer likely figuring that Colt will make big payout, but remember, Colt has been bought by CZ and I think they’ll fight this one.


Oh my: One dead on Alec Baldwin set over prop-gun “misfire” (Updated)

How could a prop gun loaded with blanks have killed a cinematographer on a Hollywood film location? Investigators in New Mexico want to know that too, and that’s not the only mystery in this story so far. The man who fired the shot(s?) was the star of Rust, Alec Baldwin, who hasn’t been charged in the incident, and appears devastated by it:

 

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department confirmed Thursday night that Alec Baldwin “discharged” the prop gun that killed Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the set of the Western feature film on location in New Mexico.

Hutchins, 42, died not long after being transported to a hospital in Albuquerque, NM this afternoon. Souza, 48, remains in a local hospital; his condition is unknown. …

Deadline earlier reported that Criminal Investigators were called to the scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch just outside Santa Fe as sources informing us that a principal castmember cocked a gun, hitting Souza, 48 and Hutchins, 42, on set. The entire location went under lockdown during the investigation. The castmember, now identified as Baldwin, was unaware of the type of ammunition in the gun, we’re told. A rep from the production said that “Production has been halted for the time being” on Rust and that “the safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority.”

Traditionally, the prop master or armorer is responsible for fire arms and fire arms safety on a set such as Rust.

We should be cautious about first reports on this shooting, as we should be with any such incident. We should be doubly cautious about piling on with people whose politics and personality we don’t approve. At the moment, this looks like a completely unintentional accident that has nothing to do with politics or personality, and there’s no reason at this moment to jump to any conclusions otherwise.

There are a couple of puzzling elements to this, however. If the pistol didn’t have live ammunition, it’s tough to understand how two people got wounded on the set from one shot — possible, but strange. Deadline’s initial report that director Joel Souza was wounded has been walked back subtly since the first reports; he’s now being described as hospitalized for unknown reasons, which is a smarter way to approach this. It’s also strange to see it reported as a “misfire,” which would normally indicate either a non-shot or some sort of explosion in the pistol itself.

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Cimarron’s next project is to build a replica 1897 pump-action Trench Gun

Yeah, it’s a commercial. So?

I’ve got one. AK has one, or more, and The Firearm Blog put one through a 505 round test

Mossberg Maverick 88: The Affordable Self-Defense Shotgun

In my home state of Ohio, there was a time when shotguns were a multi-purpose hunting and personal defense tool. We hunted deer, turkey, waterfowl and upland game with our shotgun (oftentimes a single shotgun with multiple interchangeable barrels), and they were the firearm of choice for home defense. Shotguns were the most popular long gun for local law enforcement agencies, and trap, skeet and sporting clay shooting competitions drew huge crowds.

Things have changed since then, but shotguns remain a popular and versatile choice for many hunters and shooters. For those who feel that a scattergun is simply the best option for personal protection, Mossberg’s Maverick 88 remains a popular choice, and with good reason—this reliable and affordable pump-action 12-gauge offers plenty of stopping power when you need it most.

The Maverick 88 is a no-frills cousin of Mossberg’s legendary Model 500 pump-action shotgun, and although the two guns are aesthetically and mechanically similar, they are not identical guns. Both the Maverick 88 and Mossberg 500 come with sturdy dual extractors and twin action bars, anti-jam shell elevators, positive steel-to-steel lockup for added durability. The Maverick 88, however, features a crossbolt safety in front of the trigger guard instead of the tang-mounted safety found on the Model 500. The Maverick 88 is assembled in Mossberg’s Eagle Pass, TX, facility.

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Six States Boast More than 1 Million Carry Licenses Each

Six Second Amendment friendly states now boast more than one million active concealed carry licenses/permits each, including Florida with more than 2.5 million licenses in circulation, one of several revelations in the updated annual report on Concealed Carry in the United States from the Crime Prevention Research Center.

The other states are Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Texas.

It is the kind of news that sets off alarms in the gun prohibition lobby. Anti-gunners and their allies on Capitol Hill are determined to reduce the number of armed citizens. But the new CPRC report says the exact opposite has happened over the past few years, especially over the last 12 months. Since October 2020, the nation has seen two million additional permits/licenses approved, bringing the number of legally-packing adult Americans to 21.52 million, and that’s not all. Read the report’s abstract here.

Twenty-one states now have so-called “constitutional carry” where no permit is required to carry a firearm. According to the CPRC report, “While permits are soaring in the non-Constitutional Carry states, they fell in the Constitutional Carry ones even though more people are clearly carrying in those states.”

Texas is the newest permitless carry state, yet more than a million Lone Star gun owners still have permits, allowing them to be recognized under reciprocity laws in other states.

In all, the report from CPRC’s founder and President John Lott—the researcher and author—and researcher Rujun Wang lists 15 states in which more than 10 percent of the adult population is licensed to carry. In addition to the states mentioned earlier, the roundup includes are Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

Tennessee, incidentally, is where Smith & Wesson is moving a large part of its current Massachusetts operation, taking hundreds of jobs out of the Bay State and the accompanying revenue to friendlier surroundings.

The 69-page CPRC report offers several other revelations, among them being that “8.3% of American adults have permits. Outside of the restrictive states of California and New York, about 10.0% of adults have a permit.”

The Supreme Court on Nov. 3 will hear oral arguments in a case challenging New York’s “proper cause” requirement to get a carry permit, which officials routinely use to deny permit applications. Only the privileged seem able to show “proper cause” while average citizens cannot. The case is known as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

Another CPRC revelation: “In 2021, women made up 28.3% of permit holders in the 14 states that provide data by gender, an increase from the 26.4% last year. Seven states had data from 2012 to 2020/2021, and permit numbers grew 108.7% faster for women than for men.”

Increasing numbers of women are arming up, a pattern that has been building in recent years. With reductions in police manpower as a result of the “defund the police” movement that started in 2020 following the death of George Floyd while being restrained by Minneapolis police.

The CPRC report also notes that in three states where race and gender data is collected, there were “remarkably larger increases in permits for minorities compared to whites.” The report also reveals that four states keeping track of race between 2015-2021, “the number of Asian people with permits increased 93.2% faster than the number of whites with permits. Blacks appear to be the group that has experienced the largest increase in permitted concealed carry, growing 135.7% faster than whites.”

 

Been there. Done that. Know the family.
The range and gun store will still remain open for business.


Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot Going Out With A Bang

Twice a year for the past half-century or so, the rolling hills around the small Kentucky town of West Point have echoed with the sounds of full-auto rifles, booming explosions, and the roar of the crowds at the Knob Creek Gun Range’s Machine Gun Shoot. But while the gun range will continue its operations, this weekend will be the last hurrah for the venerable festival of firepower.

That’s right. The Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot is coming to an end.

The April shoot was canceled because the COVID-19 pandemic, so crowds are expected to be big. WDRB started getting calls about traffic backups on Dixie Highway and Highway 44 before 8 a.m. on Friday, when people started making their way to the site.

Anyone who has ever attended the events over the past 50 years can describe feeling the vibration of the barrage of bullets during the open shoots. Those participating in the shoot take aim at a variety of targets including used appliances, abandoned vehicles, and barrels of fuel with pyrotechnic charges attached. When one of the bullets hits the barrels, there is a huge explosion and flames that last for several minutes.

One of the highlights of the twice-a-year event has been the nighttime shoots, which will thankfully live on in videos that have received hundreds of thousands of views online.

As you can see in the videos above, the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot is a big deal, drawing in thousands of attendees for a shooting celebration that’s become a treasured tradition for many gun owners. So why is it going away?

According to a comment on the gun range’s Facebook page, it’s not government intrusion or the rising cost of ammunition that’s to blame. The owners of the range say that they’re just ready to slow down a little.

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