Take a visit over to Strategy Page for a good laugh.
Category: Gun P0rn
Cool Izhmash Video
Here’s a pretty cool marketing video put out by Izhmash Arsenal in Russia. It covers the complete Kalashnikov line, the SVD, AN-94 and Bizon submachine gun.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXKXtM3hFQE[/youtube]
M82A1 Introduced, Minus the PSH
This is a pretty good Marine Corps video introducing the Barrett M82A1 .50 Caliber sniper rifle system:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9lMViBr6d8[/youtube]
You will notice the penetrating power of the .50 BMG through 22 millimeter plate armor with conventional ammunition is negligable. The military, when it employes that M82A1 in anti-materiel operations, uses the MK211 HEIAP “Raufoss” round, which is demonstrated in this video.
It’s rather important to note, for folks like Bryan Miller, and the Violence Policy Center, that the MK211 anti-materiel round is considered a destructive device, as it is explosive ordnance, and is therefore unavailable to civilians.
Holy Recoil Batman
I wouldn’t want to fire a .600 Nitro Express rifle. I can’t even imagine how you could shoot a pistol chambered for it, and not have this happen:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya7FiJc_NoU[/youtube]
Look! Chicks with M-16s
X-Ray Guns
Not the Buck Rogers kind. Actual high speed x-ray photography of firearms, including a mini-gun firing.
Gyrojet: Precursor to Guided Ammunition?
Tam reminded me of an old movie with Tom Selleck called Runaway. I didn’t think anyone else would remember this.  Heat seeking bullets might not be too far fetched though.  I mean, you won’t get bullets to turn corners and do aerial acrobatics, but minor corrections and some degree of guidance might be possible. Back during Vietnam, there was a type of gun introduced that, well, wasn’t even really a firearm.  It’s actually a miniature rocket gun called the Gyrojet.  It looks something like this:
 
These were tested in Vietnam, and although the projectiles hit harder than a .45 ACP at distance, they were ineffective at close ranges, and left a smoke trail back to the shooter. You can actually buy these, and there is still some ammunition left for it out there, though it’s outrageously expensive. If you want to see one up close, there are a few of them in the National Firearms Museum at NRA headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia.
If we used the same idea today, with modern technology, it might actually be possible to create a projectile for a weapon such as this with some form of guidance on it. I don’t know how practical it would be, but it sure would be pretty cool. We’re still a long ways off from deer cooking ballistics, though.
Finally Finished
Buying a new surplus SKS is not for those who don’t know how to completely strip down a rifle and reassemble it. I don’t mean field strip either, I mean strip down every part, clean, and reassemble. I picked it up from the UPS depot on Tuesday, and got to work immediately. I learned that Bitter frowns on the practice of using a tin foil tray in the toaster oven to melt off the excess cosmoline from the smaller parts. After a mishap, I ended up with a new toaster oven. It was a tough battle, but I think I’m happy with the result:
It’s now ready to take to the range. I can’t wait to shoot it. It had quite a lot of cosmoline on it that had to be removed. Turns out Gunzilla doesn’t work as well as Hoppes No. 9 on cosmoline. It works decently, but just not quite as well. That’s probably because Hoppes is mostly kerosene, which is going to solvate a heavy grease better than most other things.
What has me stoked is that it’s in really good shape. No rust, very little wear on the finish. Shiny barrel without any evidence of pitting. Good stock, which looks like it’s seen some use, but in decent shape. The kit that came with it has someone’s name written inside, which I thought was a nice added touch.
A Guitar for SayUncle
SayUncle used to be in a band. Well, if he ever decided to get back into it, this would be the perfect guitar:
Don’t know if they make a bass version of that. But you gotta like it.
Potato Guns
SayUncle took me back more than a few years with this post on Backyard Ballistics.
My friend Brad posing with the potato cannon we built more than ten years ago in New Hampshire. We’re all fatter and have less hair today. It could launch a spud a good 300 yards. Somewhere, I still have it, although it’s been shortened because it was too long to get back into the trunk for the drive home.
I had no idea, actually, that I could have been arrested driving that thing home. It’s a firearm both in Massachusetts and in New Jersey, and I did not have a license for either of those states. Moreover, because it’s not a firearm under federal law, I couldn’t claim FOPA. We carried with us a letter from the ATF saying it wasn’t a firearm, but didn’t realize that didn’t matter. State definitions vary.
Things you do when you’re a dumb college kid and assume you live in a free country where silly things like the constitution mean something.