Long time no post

I hope everyone is doing well out there. We sure are. It's been busy around these parts. At least I'm not chained to a desk having the life sucked out of me by vampire banker squid parasites anymore. Y'all have a great day! 

Gun industry's economic impact soars 158%, jobs, wages up, record taxes paid

In the latest sign that President Obama has been good for gun sales, the economic impact of the firearms and ammo industry jumped 158 percent since he took office, according to the sector's trade group.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents the industry, said the economic impact increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $49.3 billion in 2015.

What's more, direct, supplier and indirect employment jumped 73 percent to 287,986, bigger than the populations of Buffalo, N.Y., Toledo, Ohio, or Newark, N.J.

Read the rest here 

************************************************************************************

 

55gr 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington Ammunition Comparison

.223 Remington and 5.56 NATO ammunition are some of the most produced and consumed cartridges in the United States due in large part to the AR-15 category of rifles. Factory .223 and 5.56 ammunition is also relatively inexpensive when compared to other centerfire rifle cartridges, which helps fuel the consumption of these cartridges.

Within the various types of .223 and 5.56 ammunition, bullet weights of 55gr and 62gr are the most popular, thanks to the USGI M193 (55gr) and M855 (62gr) 5.56 NATO rounds. While actual USGI M193 and M855 is technically not available to the commercial market, commercial ammunition manufacturers do produce ammunition to similar specifications of M193 and M855 (at least with regards to muzzle velocity and pressure).

Read the rest of this awesome piece here



 

Lancer Systems Makes Some Awesome AR-15 Accessories

 In the tactical market customers often demand the best, either with off-the-shelf complete firearms or with custom builds. Of course, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to assemble an AR from parts, which is ironic as the AR was designed by Eugene Stoner, chief engineer for ArmaLite, which was itself a division of Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation.

For anyone who wants the best and most innovative AR parts and rifles available, it makes sense to seek out people who are committed to engineering first and foremost. This is exactly how Lancer Systems operates, as they demonstrated on an extensive tour of their new 78,000-square-foot facility in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.

Lancer Systems is an engineering-driven company that makes ceramic and carbon fiber components for fighter jets and missile systems. They also make advanced fiber-optics control systems and well heads for oil drills, and they are constantly innovating in the use of ceramics, fiber optics, weapon systems, thermoplastics, polymers, carbon fibers, ceramic matrix and compression molding.

While the gun side of their business is a significant portion of what they do, it is not the majority — this actually benefits tactical customers. Lancer brings the technology and knowledge from its other business sectors and applies it to the company’s firearms business in ways no other company can achieve.

More here 

 

For the first time...

I had the privilege of taking a newcomer to gun culture out to the range recently. What a joy that is to see every time! To see a man grab hold and embrace it is even better. For someone who hasn't pew pewed as much as us, you can damn well be sure that this guy will be back for more. He also got to shoot a G17, G26, Ruger P345, Colt 1911, Colt Targetsman, SKS, AR 223/5.56, and an AR in 7.62X39. 

He warned me that I was creating a monster... We shall see! 

Ain't we lucky we got em? Good times...

The Sketchy AKs of the Libyan Civil War

Armament Research Services (ARES) has a database of Conflict Material (CONMAT), logging arms and munitions documented within the illicit sphere in conflict and post-conflict zones. I have been working on co-athoring a report with N.R. Jenzen-Jones covering Libyan arms trading conducted via social media platforms between November 2014 and November 2015 for Small Arms Survey. One of the interesting side benefits of digging through a database of thousands of documented arms is finding some particularly entertaining ones.

Let’s begin with a simple piece of conversion work. We all know that lighter is better for small arms, right? So why not remove the extraneous bits of your rifle to make it handier?
 

Read the rest here

 

WWII 1911 .45 CAL Pistol Training

The only purpose for a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should have never laid down to begin with... If your adversary is wearing armor, don’t depend on pistols or shotguns. Go for a rifle!