Tag: Gun Industry Information

If You’re Not Going to Do Something Well Don’t Do It at All

Glock is celebrating their 25th year in the United States. This celebration is being done by the released of 2,500 limited edition Glock 17 pistols. What makes them limited edition? A small metal plate on the grip that says 25 Years. Whoopty do!

Although I love Glock pistols I fully admit that they have an ugly and uninspired design lacking anything beyond the necessities for functionality. I’m fine with this because their guns work well. But if this is all Glock can manage to come up with for their limited edition pistol they might as well not even bother trying.

Still congratulations on 25 years in the United States Glock and here’s to another 25.

Mexico is Suing American Gun Manufacturers

It appears as though Mexico hasn’t gotten the memo about the United States government smuggling guns into their country and instead opting to attempt lawsuits against American gun manufacturers. That probably makes a little bit of sense since the United States government isn’t going to allow itself to get sued but as the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) points out Mexico still doesn’t have a case:

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, respects the work of President Calderon to willingly take on his country’s powerful drug cartels; however, we are disappointed that he would seek to hold law-abiding American companies responsible for crime in Mexico. This is especially troubling given investigative reports that show more than 80 percent of the firearms recovered in Mexico do not come from the United States. The most recent of these reports, from the independent research group STRATFOR, determined that less than 12 percent of the guns Mexico seized in 2008 came from the United States.

Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), firearms traced in Mexico were originally sold at retail not recently, but, on average, 14 years earlier. This is completely inconsistent with any notion that a flood of newly purchased firearms are being illegally smuggled over the border. And let’s not forget that no retail firearm sale can be made in the U.S. until after an FBI criminal background check of the purchaser has been completed.

Have fun wasting money you don’t have Mexico. Maybe you should spend that money on fixing your failing state instead. Then again Mexico probably has just as likely a chance of accomplishing that as successfully suing American gun manufacturers so the point is really moot.

The Gun Industry Seems to be Doing Well

Regardless of what Josh Sugarman if the Violence Policy Center claim it appears as though gun companies are doing well. As Sebastian points out Smith and Wesson may appear to not be doing so well but it isn’t due to firearms:

Now to be fair, it wasn’t Smith & Wesson’s firearms division that misfired. In fact, revenue from the company’s primary division climbed to $79.2 million from $74.7 million a year earlier. The drag on Smith came from its perimeter security division, which saw a 38% drop in revenue as businesses and the government spent less on its perimeter security systems.

Oh and Ruger appears to be pretty happy as well:

In the case of Sturm Ruger, makers of the Ruger brand pistols, rifles and shotguns, the company has hit the earnings bullseye. In February, it posted fourth-quarter earnings of 30 cents a share on strong sales of $64.1 million. Both top- and bottom-line numbers bested Wall Street expectations.

And here Josh Sugarman promised all this anti-gunner buddies that the firearms industry was failing.

HS Produkt VHS Rifle

HS Produkt is probably best known as the manufacturer of the pistol known in America as the Springfield XD. Being the manufacturer of the XD means your company has at least some established track record of making great firearms and thus people are more likely to take interest in other weapons you make. Enter the VHS assault rifle, HS Produkt’s latest entry into the small arms market.

I will say that the VHS looks like an interesting rifle. The rifle looks pretty ugly but that’s not really an issue of the firearm works well. It’s also good to see that in this day an age Croatia still concerns themselves with mounting bayonets on their modern rifles. What good is a rifle if you can stick a knife at the end of it and stab somebody? I’ll tell you, it’s no good at all.

Happy 100th Birthday 1911

Today is the big day. It’s been one century since the United States military adopted the M1911. The 1911 was quite the revolution in pistol designs for its day. Very few tools can last 100 years with little need for redesign but the 1911 pistol is one of those few.

Although I could give a long list of things that are great about the 1911 you’ve likely heard them all before on other gun sites. Suffice it to say the pistol is still pure awesome 100 years after it’s adoption by the military. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 1911 is still around in another 100 years.

So here is to 100 years of excellence and the hope of 100 more.

One Reason to Adopt H&K

Do you need a reason to adopt the overly expensive H und K pistol? I have a reason for you, if you don’t they will sue your sorry ass (in all fairness Walther is in on this as well but they’re not as much fun to ridicule):

Earlier this year the Dutch police announced the adoption of a new pistol, the Sig Sauer PPNL (Police Pistol Netherlands).

Heckler & Koch and Walther, who lost out on the contract, have announced their intention to take the government to court over the decision.

I wonder if H und K has superior German engineered lawyers.

Saiga Shotgun Importation Potentially Stopped

Some disturbing news was brought to my attention by Linoge over at Walls of the City. Cold Creek Armory has stated the following in a Facebook update:

We are hearing that the importer of the Saiga 12 shotguns has ceased importation while waiting for the official ruling by the ATF. There are a limited number of these firearms already in the pipeline for distribution and we will be getting as many as available to us just as soon as they are available. Call now – 865-966-4545 – if you would like to be put on the list.

It seems the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Explosives and Everything Fun (ATF) have managed to stop the importation of Saiga shotguns without even needing to perform an official ruling. I really hate all that government agency.

I will be sad if Saiga’s shotguns end up joining my SPAS-12 on the verboten for import list.

ATF Releases Study

Although it seems the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms Explosives and Fun (ATF) a little late Snowlakes in Hell let us know they finally released their shotgun study [PDF]. Surprisingly it seems Saigas may be safe.

There is some stupid shit in there. For example exhibit four talks about integrated rails. If your rail runs along the top of the shotgun it’s “for sporting purposes” while rails located anywhere else are apparently only for murdering people with our side mounted flashlight (flashlights are also an item on the “bad things” list). Forward pistol grips are apparently evil as are those horrible magazines that can store an arbitrarily high number of rounds (the ATF chose five to be the number of rounds useful for “sporting purposes”). Oh and mounts for grenade launchers are also a no-no.

Basically the list contains a ton of stupid shit, about what you expect from a government agency that only exists to bad things that are fun. Thankfully nothing on that list specifically prohibits the Saiga shotgun (it’s imported with a five round magazine).

Glock 21 Gen4

My current competition gun is a Glock 21SF with the horrible ambidextrous safety. I’ve been meaning to dump it and get a different Glock 21 but have been waiting for the fourth generation version to be unveiled before making any such move. Well the guys over at Downrange TV had the good fortune of playing with the Glock 21 Gen4.

The Glock 21 Gen4 will have the interchangeable backstrap, reversible magazine release, and a telescoping recoil spring. None of that is new but it seems Glock is also coming out with a beaver tail backstrap which really does nothing for me but should make many other people happy.

Hopefully they come out before USPSA starts up again (yes I really do hate that ambidextrous magazine release, nothing like hitting it and not having the magazine actually drop out).