I kinda want one...

even though I'd have pretty much no use for it. But then again, when has that ever been a requirement for a gun purchase? And it's got a fun name, and I'd give it a go at a round of trap every now and again.
(h/t SayUncle)

Mini-Sigtyr

Finally have the silly thing in my hands. A standard Smith & Wesson M&P15-22, naked barrel and all. There was also some material removal required in the trigger guard area to get the BAD lever to fit, but I knew that ahead of time. Of course there were a few other parts swapped as soon as I got it home, and I'm still debating what to do with the pistol grip and what to do for optics.

On to the pictures and whatnot. Here it is with the full size.

As you can see, it's a little shorter. The length of pull is set the same, but as with all the dedicated .22lr platforms, the barrel comes back into the upper more than on a 5.56, so it looks shorter. As I said, the LOP is about the same, and the AFGs are the same distance out as well.

Here's the bolt assembly-

The bolt travels along the two rails, the black chunk in back acts as a polymer buffer, and the recoil spring guide easily comes out and allows the recoil spring to launch clear to the dining room.

Bolt face-

Pretty straight forward. Extractor on your left there, firing pin up at the top of the case notch area. You can also see how the rails are sitting at 7 and 2, which kinda messes with your head when you shotgun the rifle and look at the back end. You'll also notice the lack of an ejector.

That's because it's here-

It's connected to the back end of the barrel, which is a pretty simple solution to keeping the lower receiver from getting too cluttered.

So far, the only thing I'm really iffy on, is the charging handle.

It's plastic, and not at all near the size of a 5.56 one. Did I mention it's plastic? I think I'm going to contact S&W and find out about scoring a spare just in case. I might also send an email to BCM voicing interest in a 15-22 Gunfighter. I know I'm not the only one. (Scroll down a little bit, Optimus is my handle over there)

Overall, I think the wait was worth it, especially given the price (S&W gave me a Vet. discount, and my FFL takes care of service members). Hopefully it shoots as good as it looks, and the weight difference doesn't throw me off too much switching from the "little" one to the "full size" one. I've got a nice stack of magazines too, so my stash of .22lr bulk packs should start shrinking pretty soon. That is, assuming global warming ever kicks in and the glaciers retreat from the range.

This post brought to you by awesome carpets and New Glarus Totally Naked.

Finally

Will be making the 40+ minute trek to the gun shop to pick up the M&P15-22 after my Glacial Geology class tomorrow. Look for initial thoughts in the evening.

Not the first time I've heard of this...

The U.S. army medic also told members of the research unit that she and her colleagues had to explain to a local man how to get his wife pregnant.

I don't know if the female medic in the article is the same one I deployed with, but I know one of ours had this exact issue down at one of the ANA bases. Apparently he was boinking the wife the only way he learned as a young Pashtun, and that's not very conducive to procreation.

Post Gun-show chat

Me: Guy had an MP5SD there... wouldn't take my left nut for a trade though...
SB: I'd rather have an M16 if I was getting into FA, the upper possibilities are just too cool.
Me: Yeah, but there's just something too cool about the MP5SDs... when your gun goes "clackity-clackity-clack" instead of "bangity-bangity-bang"...

Question of the Night

Why hasn't anybody or when will somebody come out with rechargeable 123A batteries?

Disregard, my Google-fu was weak a little earlier. I guess the bigger question is why don't they market them to us gun people?

Upgrade pron

Got an Eotech to put on the carbine today. Looks pretty sexy.



Tried to take a picture of the reticle, and apparently laser generated holograms really freak out my camera. Any idea why it does this?



I've also added a FDE Magpul AFG, and will be swapping the CTR for an ACS when that shows up. I'll get some new pictures when there's actually a sun out so I can get some good ones.

More than I can keep up with.

Soldier Systems has a bunch of A-TACS pictures from Shot.
The more I see it, the more I like it.

Food for thought.

Well, a video anyway. Care of Breda.

The continuing M&P15-22 Saga...

Back in late September, I sent in my order form for a Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 on their military discount program. Just as a general disclaimer, I'm not blaming them, or the shop I'm going through. I'm simply venting some gunny frustrations.

So anyway, just before October I send out the form, and it even says up to 6 months for long guns, so I'm being patient. Well, December rolls around, I get an email from S&W, "your dealer's FFL we have on file is expired, can you have them fax us a new one?" No big deal, call up the shop... "Huh. We just got a pistol from them this morning through the same program. Weird. We'll fax them it again just to make sure."

Cool. I sit back and wait for the charge to come through on my card, and dream of cheap AR fun.

Little did I know, the gremlins have intercepted the fax somewhere between the shop and S&W's Mil/LEO dept. I get a phone call from S&W mid-January, "Hey, we still don't have an up to date FFL for your order. The newest one for them expired in '08. We've got the guns in stock and I want to get it shipped out to you!"

Sweet. Grumbles...

Well, I'm not sleepy, even though I worked 11p-7a for the last week and a half straight, so I get in the car and drive the 45 minutes to the shop. Watch as they fax it in, again, and then talk with the guys there, fondle a SCAR (hadn't seen one in person yet, neat, but not for me) and finally get back in the car 2 hours later. Call up S&W to make sure it's on the right guy's desk.

"Yup got it right in front of me."

"Good, I'm sitting in the lot at the shop, so I wanted to make sure before I drove home."

"Ready to bust some heads huh? Ha."

"Guess I don't have to. Thanks again for helping me get this straightened out."

Go home, card's charged the next day, wait a few days, call up the shop to see if it came in.

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing it come in... not sure where it is though, we're in the middle of moving right now."

"So when are you guys gonna be settled in at the new place?" (I knew about the move, so I can't be mad about that. The ATF was dragging their feet on the change of address, go figure, so it was "any day now" planning. Just shitty timing for me.)

"About a week and a half."

"...Alright, guess I'll see you then...."

So now my new little .22 is sitting in rifle limbo. I'm glad it's a long gun. I don't think I could take a 3 day waiting period on top of all this.

Over 14 million guns sold in 2009

Only through NICS. So not counting f2f or states that allow you to skip the NICS with a CCW permit. Awesome and ridiculous all at the same time. Of course I did my part... one Henry .22, an AR, and the Sig... maybe a couple others I'm forgetting.

Today's blog coming to you from Emy J's

I picked up an Eee PC yesterday since my financial aid came in, and I have an online class this semester, so I claim it's for educational purposes. I'd much rather do the bulk of it from a comfy couch in a coffee house instead of at home where I have 35,897 distractions.
The side effect of course, is that hopefully I'll do this more, and add more coffee content, something I've been meaning to do.
Right now I'm on my second cup of the Latino Blend at Emy J's, a wonderfully smooth, somewhat dark roast with a nice bright finish. At least to my slightly educated tongue. Anyway, it's a very clean flavor, and quite good, especially for a blend.
There's also the side note of siding in one of the hippie havens of town wearing an Army Engineer t-shirt, writing about guns and military stuff, reading First In, and carrying my tiny PC in my fag-bag covered in my various Army patches. Needless to say, the lid of the tiny computer is adorned with a giant Magpul 10th anniversary skull and crossbones sticker. It fit perfect.

Compared to my freakin' 17" widescreen Toshiba, tiny PC is tiny! One of these days I'm going to take a picture of it sitting on the other one just for laughs. The supposed 11 hour battery time is insane-o awesome though.

Well I think he's a fantastic author.

And so does Sarah A. Hoyt. I pretty much cut my science fiction teeth reading Heinlein, and can pretty confidently say I have read almost everything he has written, most of it several times. (I'm on my third copy of Starship Troopers... I keep wearing them out, and I don't know how my copy of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls is still in one piece, it's beautiful testament to whatever publisher put out my particular copy...) To say he is my favorite author of all time would be an understatement.

Apparently there are people out there that don't like him. I think they're the same people who say Glocks are better than a 1911. And Sarah Hoyt seems to be in the same boat as me, only she's a much better writer than I, and put together a nice piece on the very subject.

Things you should know...

before assembling an AR. Here's a list, and it looks like a pretty good one to me.
Confirmed this one this morning swapping the trigger guard on my buddy's AR.

Three hands are better than two. Four hands are too many, except when playing bridge.

More about the VLTOR Suppressor

Apparently the mount screws onto the barrel, and you can screw on whichever muzzle device you want that will fit inside the can. Pretty cool idea.

Not really something I'd be proud of Dave...

Just saw this on the front of yesterdays local rag, and the post title pretty much sums up my thoughts. He may have a decent "success rate," but the last I heard, his overall approval rating wasn't looking so rosy.
I am proud to say I have never voted for Mr. Obey. He has completely lost touch with his constituents, and know it, yet has no fear of losing his seat anytime soon. I can only hope something akin to Massachusetts is on the horizon.(I know there's a pretty big push against Feingold that got a big morale boost, and I think the Journal may be running an article about that today... wonder how they'll slant it.)

To add: Today's story. Looks like they're putting on a brave face, but are deep down shaken. I do wish somebody could raise enough money to put up a decent fight against Obey though.

VLTOR VS-1

VLTOR unveiled their Volks Suppressor (VS-1) at Shot, an affordable "people's suppressor" that they're hoping to sell somewhere between $300-400. I definitely need to figure out that trust paperwork if this is true.

(more pictures and info from Gear Scout)

Dear Magpul;

Please don't send Chris and Travis to my house in the middle of the night to slap me in the face. I am not a hippie, just lactose intolerant. But the hemp milk the coffee house has does taste really good in hot chocolate, especially after snowshoeing for a couple hours.

That is all.

A-Tacs

Steve got a look at it at Shot Show. I like it for some reason. He says it's lighter than expected. I'll have to wait till I see some in person.

Update: Soldier Systems has some more pictures here and here. The way the rifle blends in the second one is downright impressive.

Elysian Tauros Venator

Haven't had a 40k post in a while, but Forgeworld put up the little Elysian wheeled vehicle they teased us with at the UK Games Day (It's like Shot Show for Games Workshop) a few months ago. I like the looks, and it's nice to see some wheels for the Imperium. You can pre-order here and enjoy more pictures here.
Two Hunter-killer missles and a Twin-linked Lascannon turret. That's a cute little air-dropable tank hunter if I ever saw one.

A little ray of hope®

I'll admit, amongst the bland mediocrity and dissapointment that is mid-winter in Wisconsin, the Massachusets election outcome makes me a little happier.

Leatherman MUT

Gear Scout has some pictures and stuff about Leatherman's first gun centric multi-tool. I may think about getting one to toss on the vest, looks like it could be pretty handy in the field. And if I was still a Combat Engineer, I would be lusting after that EOD version.



(pic from Gear Scout)

Update: They are now available for pre-order here. Thanks to Tom for providing the link.

Some Shot pictures

From pro photographer Matt Burkett here.
(h/t Caleb)

Remington Gas Piston

AAC has a teaser of the new Remington Gas Piston (RGP) drop in upper that apparently uses the ACR gas system. May be an option if you're looking for ACR technology but with a lower price. (Assuming it's avaliable at a lower price...)

(photo from AAC)

added: Steve has more pictures up at the Firearm Blog.

FBI Sting at Shot

Wow. Apparently as many as 22 people in the industry have been nailed with charges for bribing a government official after an FBI agent posed as a representitive of some African nation.

The defendants, including a senior Smith & Wesson sales official Amaro Goncalves, were accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and conspiracy to commit money laundering tied to the sale of guns, body armor and other law enforcement equipment.

Tons of crazy.
(h/t to Steve)

The ACR is released...

and the price is not what many were hoping for, myself included. From the Bushmaster press release:

Each configuration of the commercial ACR is offered in a non-reflective, black finish or Coyote Brown (30118). Suggested retail price: Basic $2,685 and Enhanced $3,061.

Between this and the 1:9 non-chromed barrel, there's a lot of disappointment going around the interwebs.
I wasn't too upset with the barrel thing, I rarely shoot anything other than 55gr. anyway, and none of my ARs have chromed barrels, but I am a poor college kid, so it looks like I'll be waiting another year or so until the hype dies down and the price becomes realistic.

Magpul 2010 Catalog

Available for download here after a brief registration. Lots of cool stuff.
The also had a massive facelift for their site, and word from Magpul on the ARFCOM forum is that it'll take about 24 hours for the servers and whatnot to catch up.
I'm looking forward to the new store.

LCR in .357?

Steve seems pretty sure that it's gonna be out at Shot.
If it's true, it's going on the list.

Blah.

Charlie's overall expression kind of sums it up... I'm ready for winter to be done.

New Magpul MBUS

It's not what you think!