Tag: Gun Industry Information

Caracal Model C Pistol Recall

Last year a Middle Eastern firearm manufacturer called Caracal opened a subsidiary here in the United States, which gave us access to Caracal’s pistol line. I was very interested in the pistol because it was something new and shiny although the weird way the rear sight was a physical part of the striker assembly put me off. As it turns out, I’m glad I didn’t invest in one of their pistols because I would have almost certainly purchased a Model C and those are all being recalled:

Caracal is now issuing this recall of all Model C pistols in all markets, following the completion of a full investigation. Caracal is initiating this voluntary recall of Model C pistols because the safety of its customers is paramount.

This recall affects all Model C pistols, including but not limited to those with serial numbers which start with the following letters: HM, AA, AD, AG, CA, CB, CC, CD, CE, CF, CG, CH, CI, CJ, CK,CL, CM, CN, CP, CR and CS.

If you own or have access to a Caracal Model C pistol, PLEASE DO NOT LOAD OR FIRE YOUR PISTOL. Please contact Caracal customer care immediately to arrange to have your Model C pistol returned. Caracal will provide you with a full refund of the purchase price of your Caracal Model C pistol or vouchers for other Caracal products. Unfortunately, the potential safety issues cannot be addressed through a repair of the Model C pistol and all Model C pistol’s must be returned for refund.

I can’t remember the last recall where the company said they were unable to fix the problem. Most firearm recalls today tend to be upgrades to internal parts that failed under very specific conditions. To have an entire line declared bad and unrepairable is concerning. Hopefully their full size pistols aren’t found to be dangerous in a few months.

Smith and Wesson M&P Shield Recall

I’m beginning to have flashbacks to the slew of jokes made in the shooting community about the Ruger LCP when it suffered failures that resulted in a recall. Now Smith and Wesson can join Ruger because they’re issuing a recall for early the M&P Shield:

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (August 22, 2013) — Smith & Wesson Corp. announced today that the Company has identified a condition where the trigger bar pin could damage the lower trigger in certain M&P Shields in a way that may affect the functionality of the drop safety feature of the firearm, potentially allowing the pistol to discharge if it is dropped.

This Safety Alert applies to all M&P Shield pistols manufactured before August 19, 2013. We believe this condition is largely limited to recently manufactured M&P Shield pistols. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking all consumers of all M&P Shields manufactured before August 19, 2013 to immediately inspect their pistols for this condition.

Any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential to cause injury, and we ask that you STOP USING YOUR PISTOL IMMEDIATELY UNTIL IT HAS BEEN INSPECTED AND, IF THE CONDITION IS FOUND, REPAIRED.

To determine whether your firearm was manufactured before August 19, 2013 and to receive video instructions for inspection, please go to MPShieldSafetyAlert.com. All firearms must be inspected to determine whether it exhibits the condition identified in this notice. You can also find this information on our website at www.smith-wesson.com under the product safety button.

If you are uncomfortable conducting the inspection outlined above, or are unsure whether the condition described in this notice applies to your firearm, please take your firearm to your local M&P Certified Armorer or send your firearm to Smith & Wesson for inspection. M&P Armorers can be found on the smith-wesson.com website under the Find a Dealer tab

If after inspection it is determined that the condition outlined in this safety alert exists, the firearm must be sent to Smith & Wesson for repair. If your firearm is affected by the condition outlined in this notice, please send your pistol to Smith & Wesson. Your firearm will be inspected, and if necessary, repaired at no cost to you. Your firearm will be returned within 5 to 7 business days. All shipping and repair costs will be covered by Smith & Wesson.

Please contact Smith & Wesson directly at 877-899-6259, or at MPShieldSafetyAlert.com to arrange for the repair, if necessary, of your pistol.

Ironically the website the recall redirects Shield owners to, MPShieldSafetyAlert.com, doesn’t present any information unless JavaScript is enabled. A safety recall shouldn’t subject a user to potentially unsafe situations such as requiring JavaScript to be enabled in order to view a new, and therefore unknown, website. It almost makes me want to register MPShieldSafetyRecall.com, or another similar domain name, and load it with web exploits.

Oh, and you should probably check your Shield. Guns that fail to operate in their expected manner are pretty good at maiming their users.

EDIT: 2013-09-23: 13:00: I misread the date. The recall affects almost all M&P Shields, not just early ones. Also, I can’t properly close HTML tags. Thanks Zerg539 for pointing those issues out.

Magazines for a Good Cause

Magpul is selling special edition magazines to fund its lawsuit against the State of Colorado for its new prohibition against standard capacity magazines:

To raise money for their fight against the new laws in Colorado which are forcing them to leave the state, Magpul is selling a special limited edition PMAG. The magazine is identical to their black GEN M2 PMAG other than a slight change to the ribbing and the addition of the Free Colorado logo and Magpul anniversary logo. They are being sold in packs of five for $64.75.

There are two special edition magazines. One of the magazines is stamped with “Boulder Airlift” while the other is stamped with “Free Colorado.” At the time of this writing the “Boulder Airlift” magazines were out of stock but the “Free Colorado” magazines showed as being in stock and Magpul’s website allowed me to put in an order (although it took several attempts as their website appeared to be getting hammered, which I hope is good news for their magazine sales).

I’m starting to think that Magpul is conspiring to gain my love an affection. First they produce the best magazines I can find for my LR-308, then they keep their word and abandon Colorado after the state’s government passed a prohibition against standard capacity magazines, and now they are raising money for their lawsuit by selling a product I actually want. If Magpul still has some magazines in stock put in an order. The worst that will happen is you’ll received some magazines, the best that will happen is Magpul’s lawsuit will lift Colorado’s prohibition and you’ll have some magazines.

The 3D Printed Handgun Works

Yesterday I mentioned that Defense Distributed had announced the first handgun developed almost exclusive (the one exception is the nail that is used as a firing pin) on a 3D printer. Many people questioned if it would work or if it would explode into a million tiny plastic pieces, especially since the barrel was made of plastic. As it turns out the handgun worked pretty well:

On May 1st, Wilson assembled the 3D-printed pieces of his Liberator for the first time, and agreed to let a Forbes photographer take pictures of the unproven device. A day later, that gun was tested on a remote private shooting range an hour’s drive from Austin, Texas, whose exact location Wilson asked me not to reveal.

The verdict: it worked. The Liberator fired a standard .380 handgun round without visible damage, though it also misfired on another occasion when the firing pin failed to hit the primer cap in the loaded cartridge due a misalignment in the hammer body, resulting in an anti-climactic thunk.

Here’s a video of the test firing:

It’s obvious by looking at the gun and hearing about the failure to fire that the firearm is a prototype but, considering how quickly Mr. Wilson has been advancing the art of manufacturing firearms on 3D printers, this design will likely evolve very quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a reliable, albeit ugly, design capable of firing multiple rounds by the end of the year.

I Love Living in the Era Gun Control Died

Gun rights activists are going to look back at this time period as the beginning of the end of gun control. Defense Distributed has announced the one thing that gun control advocates have feared, a handgun that can be printed on a 3D printer:

All sixteen pieces of the Liberator prototype were printed in ABS plastic with a Dimension SST printer from 3D printing company Stratasys, with the exception of a single nail that’s used as a firing pin. The gun is designed to fire standard handgun rounds, using interchangeable barrels for different calibers of ammunition.

Although the state can spend billions of dollars trying to combat printed firearms it, like the billions spent on stopping people from growing cannabis in their homes, will fail to accomplish the intended goal. Once something can be produced by anybody with minimal knowledge controlling that thing becomes impossible.

I doubt this handgun will be very robust or accurate but considering Defense Distributed indicated its intention to build an entirely printed gun last month and we have a working model this month it’s pretty easy to see how quickly this technology is going to mature.

Magpul is a Company of Its Word

When the gun control debate was raging in Colorado Magpul said they would leave the state if the bills passed. After the Colorado legislature passed the bills in question Magpul said they had begun moving their operations out of Colorado. As it turns out Magpul is a company of its word:

On Tuesday morning, the company provided a little more detail about what it was doing in a second reply to Wooldridge’s query. It specifically referenced the manufacture of its sights and PMAG ammunition magazines, which, according to its website, can hold 10 to 30 rounds.

“We have started making PMAGs outside CO for the first time ever,” the posting reads. “The sights are made outside CO. We are actively moving forward with moving other items out.”

I like companies that actually keep their word. When I can actually find Magpul magazines on the shelves again I’m going to make it a point to buy a few.

3D Printed AK Magazine

Via The Firearm Blog I learned of some great news, Defense Distributed has successfully printed an AK magazine:

Since all but the most expensive 3D printers lack the ability to work with metal (that will change) you still have to supply a spring but the rest of the magazine can be printed. You can count this as yet another nail in the coffin of gun control. Advancements like this effectively render New York and Colorado’s recent magazine bans meaningless.

Head over to Defense Distributed’s website and download the plans.

Olympic Arms No Longer Selling to Employees of the State of New York

It’s too bad Olympic Arms is currently unable to meet current demand for their rifles because their recent announcement makes me want to buy something from them:

Press Release: Olympic Arms, Inc. Announces New York State Sales Policy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Olympic Arms is a staunch believer in and defender of the Constitution of the United States, and with special attention paid to the Bill of Rights that succinctly enumerates the security of our Divinely given Rights. One of those Rights is that to Keep and Bear Arms.

Legislation recently passed in the State of New York outlaws the AR15 and many other firearms, and will make it illegal for the good and free citizens of New York to own a large selection of legal and safe firearms and magazines. We feel as though the passage of this legislation exceeds the authority granted to the government of New York by its citizens, and violates the Constitution of the United States, ignoring such SCOTUS rulings as District of Columbia v. Heller – 554, U.S. 570 of 2008, McDonald v. Chicago – 561 U.S. 3025 of 2010, and specifically the case of United States v. Miller – 307 U.S. 174 of 1939.

Due the passing of this legislation, Olympic Arms would like to announce that the State of New York, any Law Enforcement Departments, Law Enforcement Officers, First Responders within the State of New York, or any New York State government entity or employee of such an entity – will no longer be served as customers.

In short, Olympic Arms will no longer be doing business with the State of New York or any governmental entity or employee of such governmental entity within the State of New York – henceforth and until such legislation is repealed, and an apology made to the good people of the State of New York and the American people.

If the leaders of the State of New York are willing to limit the right of the free and law abiding citizens of New York to arm themselves as they see fit under the Rights enumerate to all citizens of the United State through the Second Amendment, we feel as though the legislators and government entities within the State of New York should have to abide by the same restrictions.

This action has caused a division of the people into classes: Those the government deems valuable enough to protect with modern firearms, and those whose lives have been deemed as having less value, and whom the government has decided do not deserve the right to protect themselves with the same firearms. Olympic Arms will not support such behavior or policy against any citizen of this great nation.

Olympic Arms invites all firearms manufacturers, distributors and firearms dealers to join us in this action to refuse to do business with the State of New York. We must stand together, or we shall surely fall divided.

Sincerely,

Brian Schuetz
President
Olympic Arms, Inc.

Emphasis mine. Were every firearm manufacture to follow Olympic Arms’s example New York politicians would likely find themselves having to repeal their recently passed gun control legislation or face the realization that their primary expropriators, the police, would be unable to expand their expropriation operations. After all, the state would find it very difficult to steal from the general population if they didn’t have an arsenal of weapons to backup their threats. Imagine the headaches that would be faced by various police departments in New York if Glock and Smith and Wesson refused to do business with them.

For now I will make a note to purchase an Olympic Arms rifle when they catch up on production.

Watch the World Go Insane

Since the shooting in Connecticut it appears that the world has gone insane. Instead of rationally waiting until all the facts are in and proper analysis has been performed on what played out during the shooting anybody and everybody seems to be scurrying away from guns as fast as possible. Effective immediately Dick’s Sporting Goods is ceasing sales of certain semi-automatic rifles:

Dick’s Sporting Goods, one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the world, says it has removed all guns from its store nearest to Newtown, Connecticut, and is suspending the sale of certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles from its chains nationwide.

Whatever. I purchased one firearm from Dick’s, a Remington .22 to be exact, and the experience was horrible. The individual working the gun counter had to call up a manager, which took 20 minutes, before I could even begin filling out the 4473 form. During the entire process the manager was staring me down and constantly saying, “You have to fill that form out correctly or you can’t buy the gun.” Beyond implying I was too incompetent to fill out a 4473 she was also treating me like a suspect in a crime. Needless to say I’ve never purchased anything from them since and plan to continue my boycott with the announcement of this news.

Dick’s aren’t the only ones being dicks. Cheaper Than Dirt! announced via Twitter that they will cease online firearm sales:

Cheaper Than Dirt! is suspending online sales of firearms effective immediately.We are reviewing our policy internally, and will continue…

Cheaper Than Dirt! has enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with gun owners for a long time now, it’s sad to see that they’ve decided to terminate it. Who else has decided to terminate their relationship with gun owners? Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus has announced that they will begin selling off Freedom Group immediately:

U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management said on Tuesday it will immediately begin selling its investment in gunmaker Freedom Group in light of last week’s school shooting in Connecticut.

Cerberus acquired Bushmaster in 2006 and later merged it with other gun companies to create Freedom Group, which reported net sales of $677.3 million for the nine months ending September 2012, up from $564.6 million in the same period a year ago.

Apparently even evil capitalist profits aren’t a good enough reason to stand in support of gun owners. Never let it be said that corporations will do anything for money. Either way this news may lead to the breakup of Freedom Group, which is a good thing in my opinion. Too many major manufacturers are owned by Freedom Group and I would prefer to see the firearms industry decentralize a little.

Who else is moving as fast as they can to distance themselves from the firearms industry? Televisions networks. First the Discovery Channel announced that it’s canceling American Guns:

A Discovery rep told FOX411 that “American Guns” – which is out of production and not currently broadcasting new episodes – has been canceled and will not return for a third season. This comes as something of a surprise given its growing popularity. The show had a 50 percent ratings increase for its second season premiere, and one of its stars, Renee Wyatt, recently said she would “definitely” be interested in returning for season three. The rep, however, would not link the show’s cancelation to the Connecticut school massacre.

The best part about that story though has to be the following statement:

“I know you all have to make money but would Discovery Channel PLEASE consider ceasing to broadcast the show in the U.K.? Sadly your program makes buying/owning guns seem fun, glamorous, even normal,” wrote one.

Oh my gods, the show makes owning firearms seem fun and even normal? Perhaps that’s because owning firearms is fun and perfectly normal. Sure, it’s not considered normal in the United Kingdom but it should be.

In the end I’ve never watched an episode of American Guns so I can’t really comment on how good or bad it is. What I do know is that the Discovery Channel isn’t the only network running away from the firearms industry as fast as it can, NBC has announced the cancellation of 3Gun Nation:

Citing the recent tragedy in Newton, CT the NBC Sports Network, broadcast home of popular shows such as 3Gun Nation has placed an indefinite moratorium on the broadcast of any firearms related outdoor shows.

Once again I never watched 3Gun Nation so I’m rather indifferent about this announcement.

It seems everybody is in panic mode right now. As I mentioned yesterday, this nation is now run by individuals who prefer to react irrationally before all of the facts are in. Instead of developing policies based on proper analysis of factual data people rush to the television networks to get some face time in order to make an announcement that they hope will advance their political careers. Politicians aren’t the only individuals who do this, major corporations also do this.

I Really Hate Being Right Sometimes

I’ve mentioned my interest in the Tavor rifle but expressed concern about the price. Back in April a representative of Israeli Military Industries (IMI) said they were aiming for a manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of “under $2,000.” As I expected, the rifle will have an MSRP of $1,999.

Thus continues my love-hate affair with bullpup rifles. I like the concept of having a rifle that fires proper rifle cartridges in a compact form factor but I don’t like the prices being asked for any of the currently available options. For $1,999 I can buy a nice AR-15 and AK-47 with change to spare. On to of that the bullpup form factor doesn’t solve enough problems, especially when the problems it introduces are considered, to justify that notably higher cost in my book. Then again value is subjective and I’m sure there are a lot of people who are willing to shell out $2,000 for a bullpup rifle. My only hope is to know one of these fine individuals and ask them to let me fire it a few times.