So way back in August 2006 I wrote a post about a conceptual revolver that was "upside down". Not completely but the barrel lined up with the bottom of the cylinder rather than the top as a traditional revolver does.

The project never seemed to go anywhere but last week I can across the following:



source: Daily Gun Pictures

Looks like the project did have legs and the results looks really good IMHO. Supposedly they will be coming into the US early next year. At present it appears that they will offer a 2" 4" 5" 6" barrel length all chambered in the 357 Magnum. Hopefully other cartridges will follow. The 2-inch version is supposed to sell for under $800 dollars, price to be announced on the longer barrels. The question is do I get a 2-inch version for carry or a 6-inch version for competition/hunting?

Enjoy!

So I have had a reoccurring itch to have a revolver for concealed carry. I nearly bought a Smith and Wesson 442 (38 Special) but ultimately decided to get the XD-40 Sub-Compact. I am glad I did, the Springfield Armory XD is what I shoot more than any other firearm at the present and to have a compact version of the same gun I shoot in competition seemed, and still is, a good idea.

Well along come Charter Arms. I have to admit I do not know a whole lot about the company but they have release a new and intriguing rimless series of CCW revolvers. Now rimless cartridges in a revolver are not new, Smith and Wesson and other manufactures have been doing it since WW-I. Charter Arms has develop that revolver that uses rimless cartridges but with the important difference of not needing to use half or full moonclips. The revolver apparently has a special extractor star that can eject the rimless cartridges from the cylinder without the need of the moonclip.

At first blush I was not overly impress, moonclips work, and work very well and for reloading a revolver there is no faster way than moonclips. Speed-loaders are nice but moon clips are faster. But for a CCW reload time is not as critical as say shooting a revolver in IDPA or IPSC competition, most CCW situation, god forbid your in one, are over in 2-3 shots fired. The Charter Arms concept looks especially good if you think of it as a backup gun to your primary semi-auto allowing you to strip rounds from you primary weapons magazine to feed your backup revolver without the need for moon clips. That is very appealing in that sort of hordes of zombie fantasy way.



Charter arms is going to make a 9mm version based on their 12 oz aluminum frame, usually chamber in 38 Special and the 40S&W and 45ACP version on there heavier (21oz) bulldog frame usually chambered in 44 Special. The 40S&W version is the first to be released and the one I would be most likely to buy. Hmmm... decisions decisions decisions...

So Yesterday I shot another small indoor pistol match. First gun I was shooting my XD-45 Tactical in Limited-10. In the previous match I had a jam related to what I believe the magazine spring being too soft and the rim of the case did not slide of the breach face properly jamming the gun as the nose of the bullet went into the chamber but he back of the case was driven back down into the magazine. This wasn't the first time I have had similar jams. So before this match I replaced all six magazine springs with new stiffer springs. This time on the third stage I had a problem with a magazine that caused the round to nose up and the round jamming the action with the bullet sticking up out of the ejection port. I am pretty sure this was due to the forward part of the feed lips spreading and letting the nose of the round start too high up. It was an easy fix by gently bending the lips back together but I am coming to realize the the XD-45 magazines are not nearly as durable as my XD-40 magazines. I have had few if any magazine related problems with my XD-40's on the other hand nearly all of my problem with my XD-45 have been due to magazine issues.

For my second run I borrowed a buddies SV IMM Open gun. This gun uses a very unique barrel and compensator. The barrel is ported and has a large comp on it like most Open guns. The thing that is unique is that the first port in the barrel is only about 1.375 inches in front of the chamber. Supposedly this is suppose to make the whole gun shoot flatter. I don't know having only shot a few open gun previously. What I can tell you is this gun has a horrible bark and an amazing amount of muzzle flash. In addition to the noise and flash the single action trigger and manual safety really messed with my brain. So needless to say I did not shoot very good. To add insult to injury I zero that fourth stage when a 9mm Largo case had been mixed in the all the 38 super comp cases in the reloaded ammunition. The 9mm Largo case will chamber and fire just fine but locks the action up pretty bad. All in all I did not enjoy Open very much. I could certainly see how the good open guys sound like there shooting a sub-gun but honestly it wasn't really appealing enough to spend $3000+ on an open gun when I have as much or more fun with my $450 XD.

In earlier posted I have posted pictures of a few AR-15 lowers with funny text where the Safe, Semi, Full would normally go.

( More funny lowers behind the cut )

So I did make a panic buy in the wake of the Obama election. I purchase half a dozen 30rd AR-15 magazines. I am also going to buy at least one more AR-15 lower receiver between now and the inauguration. My brother plans to do the same. Figure if I have the lowers in hand we can build them up later at our leisure and as funds and time allow.






The Magazine Collection
(A) 3x Magpul PMAG, 30rd, with include dust covers.
(B) 6x C-Product, 30rd, black teflon coated, orange Magpul followers <- the panic buy
(C) 2x C-Prodcut, 30rd, dry-film coating, mil-spec green follower, Magpul magpul
(D) 3x D&H, 30rd, gray teflon coating, orange Magpul follower, Magpul ranger baseplate
(E) 4x NHMTG, 20rd, straight body, dryfilm coating, black follower
(F) 1x John Masen, 9rd, dryfilm coating, black follower, Obama approved!*

*The only reason I have it, is because it was the magazine that shipped with my AR-15 when I bought it.



The box next to the ammo can was bought a few weeks before the election in anticipation of an Obama victory. 1000rds of 2008 Prvi Partizan 55gr FMJ. The 20mm ammo can has the rest of my cache of 5.56x45mm ammunition. Probably not enough to get me through the next four years but it's a good start.

Use them to store clean brass that is ready to be reloaded. The Similac blue is almost a perfect match to the Dillon blue.

This was Abby's reaction to the idea.



This was actually Abby in her car seat tonight when we got home form picking her up from grandma's. Grandma was kind enough to watch her while GFWTR and I went out for a nice dinner.

Fed little Abby a bottle about half and hour ago and still can't fall back to sleep. The weekend was too low key and a bit annoying so I think I have a bit of pent up energy (an maybe some angst).

A nasty wind storm blew through last evening and we were without power for about 2.5 hours. A pretty big limb (10-12in diameter) was blown out of the big silver-maple tree in the front yard. Missed the house by about 15 feet or so. Good thing the wind was coming up out of the south-west or it might have been closer. I cut up the limb enough to dragged it off the sidewalk but will have to finish cutting it up and bundling it up (4ft lengths and all tied in manageable bundles) for trash day.

Despite how bad work has been the past couple weeks I got notification Friday night after leaving work that I got my 8.2 Army SBIR funded. This will be my second DOD phase I program awarded with me as the PI from the start. I have worked on and PI'ed several Air Force programs but this will be the first Army program I will be intimately involve with. The proposal was written by myself and a colleague and it feels good to get another one funded that was your own idea and a large portion of your own writing. This one should be fun and something new for myself and the company in general. Work still sucks at the moment but this new program might help turn the funk around.

I was measuring up my new gun when the power went out last night. It's an old Stevens 38B, bolt action, box magazine (3rds) fed, 410 shotgun (picture here). They were relatively inexpensive guns built just before WWII (1936-1945) before serial numbers were require so there is no easy way to get an exact date. The metal, bluing and bore is in remarkable good condition for a relatively cheap gun of its age. The wood has had some amateurish carving done to it but I have seen worse. I am going to make a slug gun out of it. It will be a good backup gun to my Winchester 9410 and a good (and expendable) test platform for some heavy weight 410 slugs I want to work on. I have a set of rifle sights (actual turkey sights, fiber optic front post and a ghost right rear sight) on order for it and I will use the CNC at work to create mounting bases to mount the front and back sight. The only minor technical difficulty is that it is choked full choke. I am going to test fire it as-is but full chokes frequently shoot foster slugs out there like its buckshot. The challenge becomes how to remove the choke and get a cylinder bore without doubling the cost of the gun. I will like simple cut the barrel down (about 1 inch shorter) and recrown it myself. I would rather not because a shorter barrel is going to mean a lost of velocity and energy but this is likely the best way for accuracy. Another option would be to try reaming out the existing choke but it will be a challenge to do so perfectly aligned with the existing bore. Possible but challenging. Anyway its going to be my winter project this year. More posts and pictures on the to come.

Now to go see if I can fall back to sleep.

Today the Supreme Court of the United State release there ruling on the DC v. Heller, the case regarding DC's handgun ban. The court ruled 5-4 that the ban was unconstitutional. I am very please with this outcome. I would have liked to see it decided by a greater margin but am very happy none-the-less.

The most important part of the decision was the SCOTUS has ruled that the Second Amendment IS in FACT a right of the individual. The court appeared to still leave the door open to state regulation and licensing which most pro-2A people are against, but the core part, the right to bear arms belonging to the individual and not just a state militia, is IMHO a nice long stride in the right direction. I am hoping that this ruling will be that small but important push that will swing the legal system around and we can slowly start getting back many of the 2A freedoms that have been slowly eroded since 1934.

A good summary of the ruling can be found at SCOTUSblog (thanks ST for the link) The option in all its verboseness can be downloaded here.

The SCOTUS is really string out the release of their decision on the DC v. Heller case. This was the case to determine if DC's handgun ban and sever restriction on long gun ownership was constitutional or not. This will be the first time the SCOTUS has rules on a case directly tied to the Second Amendment related case in nearly 70 years. As I understand it this is the only case decision that has yet to be release before the SCOTUS goes on recess. It looks like it might be Wednesday of this week. We'll see...