My Heart Goes Out to the Victims and Survivors in Newtown, CT

I can’t even begin to imagine the pain associated with losing a child to death—let alone losing one at the hands of a madman.

That’s why I pray that Mr. Obama petitions Congress for some REAL CHANGE: Primarily, we need to abolish gun-free zones aka “Disarmed Victim Zones.” I for one would feel much more comfortable knowing that at least a few educated, well-trained concealed carry permit holders were “on duty” at my kids’ school, able to protect them if ever necessary.

You will never stop evil by enacting laws that only sane, law-abiding persons would abide by. You will only stop a crazy with a gun with an armed confrontation. Note that Lanza only committed suicide when he heard the first responders coming—“good guys with guns.”

Imagine how many more children principal Dawn Hochsprung could have saved had she had an M4 locked away in her office for just such an emergency. She could have confronted that sick SOB immediately after first hearing gunfire.

You’ll note that the Clackamas mall shooting in Oregon was quickly ended when a concealed carry permit holder, Nick Meli, confronted the crazy man with his legally concealed firearm. Meli didn’t even need to fire a shot. The killer immediately retreated and took his own life upon being confronted. If only someone at Sandy Hook had been able to confront Lanza in such a way—many of those innocent children might have been saved that day.

Evil knows no limit—and cares about no law.

Give your children a hug.

 

Look What Remington Has Been Up To…

Well kudos to Remington. It looks like they’re finally getting in the PGO (pistol-grip-only) firearm business in a serious way. (Until recently, it’s been nearly impossible to find PGO 12-gauge Remingtons. I’ve heard that there have been runs of them in the past, but I’ve personally never seen one just sitting in a shop.)

I got a tip from a customer (Thanks, Mike!) that these PGO Remingtons were becoming increasingly available. I called up my local shop, Gallenson’s in Salt Lake City. (Great shop BTW.) Sure enough. They had them in stock. An hour later, I had one in my hands. All mine. 🙂 I think PGO 12-gauges are the handiest little hand cannons this side of Destructive Device territory.

For those interested in these guns, call your local gun shop and ask if they have them in stock. Online, you’ll run across the part number 81191. Put that number out of your head. My shop couldn’t even locate that number in their book or through their online dealer interface with Remington. The part number I got was 81187. This seems to be the number that Remington is now using for these sweet little beasts.

Some quick specs for you on the Remington 870 EXPRESS TACTICAL PISTOL GRIP (81187):

  • 12 gauge
  • 3″ chamber
  • 6+1 capacity (with the factory-installed 2-shot extension)
  • 18.5″ barrel
  • Pump-action
  • Receiver milled from a solid billet of steel
  • Black pistol grip stock
  • Black tactical forend
  • Sling attachments
  • Bead-sighted barrel
  • Durable blasted black oxide finish on exposed metal part

Now I just need to design a Raptor Grip for it. With a 14″ barrel and Speedfeed’s birdshead grip, it only measures 25.5″—not long enough for the non-NFA thing. The “Raptor Grip R870″ would bring the overall length to 26.5” 🙂 Contact me if you would be interested in a Raptor Grip for the Remington. The mold will run about $25,000. So I need to know that I’ll be able to sell a few of these. 😉

–Marty

Project Superlight: Quest for Lighter

Life is weird. One day, you could care less about something. And the next, you’ve fallen head over heels in love.

That’s me and the AR-15. They simply weren’t even on my radar for many years. But recently, the little carbine has won me over. The bolt-together simplicity. The light weight. Now I can’t get enough of them.

My most recent AR-15 build is something I call “Project Superlight.” I’ve read about a similar project called “Featherlight.” I wondered how light could I go without resorting to super-pricey/fragile parts. Well, I found out: 4 lbs. 4.2 oz. I’m sure I could go a bit lighter with some mill work. But I wanted to keep things simple at this point.

Here’s what I did. I wanted to start with a known quantity. So I picked up a Bushmaster Carbon-15 ORC (Optics Ready Carbine).

From the factory, it weighed 5 lbs. 1 oz. I knew it could be lighter.

I swapped out the buttstock for an Ace Ultralight. (I secured the rear takedown pin and spring by threading the rear portion of the the hole and cutting down the spring slightly.)

Next, I swapped the lower parts kit (steel) for an Accu Group (polymer). The polymer pieces actually have a much much better trigger pull. No creep. Lighter. Simply awesome—for plastic. 😉

I ditched the flash hider for a thread protector. And also lost the forward assist steel parts, ejection port cover, internal buffer weights, and forearm heat shields.

And this is what I ended up with:

The proof is in the pudding, as they say:

Still needs sights, I know. The TNVC RDPII is interesting at $140 and all of 0.9 oz.

Total cost for the build is currently $650. I picked up the Carbon 15 for $600. Got the stock for $50. And the Accu Group and thread protector were free from a friend. 🙂

The Shrike Has Landed! And It Only Took 14 Years!

I remember putting my name on “the list” and getting the original pamphlet in the mail—sometime in 1998. In July 2002, I sent Geoff $1,000 as a deposit on a Shrike for the purchase price of $2,495. After 8 years, I asked for my money back. Just couldn’t stomach the broken promises and lack of communication from Ares Defense any longer. Got the deposit back promptly, and used it to purchase an FN PS90, which I SBR’d shortly thereafter. A pretty cool little weapon IMHO.

Anyway, I thought that was the end of the story. But no, approximately two weeks ago, I get an email from Ares saying that they want to offer me a Shrike at my original purchase price. Really?!?! I called and talked with a very nice woman there in sales at Ares, Tracey. She is a class act—and Geoff would be smart to keep her on the team. She was highly personable, intelligent, and knowledgeable. She immediately put me as ease. I figured, “What the hell.” I gave her my credit card info. And just 7 business days later, I had my very own Shrike in my hands. A saga that began some 14 years ago had finally come to fruition. I almost cried. 😉

Anyway, enough background info. Here’s a pic of the complete setup on my AFM lower. (If you haven’t heard of AFM, you should look into them. I have many AR-15s—Colts, Bushmasters, etc. The quality of the AFM lower blows them all away. No pun intended.)

I added the front and rear sights to the package. (They should’ve been free, as that was the original deal. But I couldn’t argue. I had received my deposit back a couple of years ago. So add $275 to the total.)

Let me tell you, the Shrike exudes quality. I don’t believe many corners were cut. Though I have heard stories of aluminum feed trays wearing prematurely and aluminum receivers getting dinged up when feeding rounds from belts. I guess we’ll see.

As she sits in the pics, she weighs exactly 9 lbs. 1 oz. Not too bad for a belt-fed weapon. Now all it needs is some accessories that make it look a bit more like an M249. What can I say? The M249 design is just badass!

 

New M11/NINE Mags Still a Go—Despite Recent Events

To all the faithful, the M11/9 mag thing is still in the works. But I’ll be the first to tell you that these two most recent high-profile shootings do give a small business owner considering such a project cause for concern. Only takes a couple of numbskulls like Holmes and Page to ruin things for everybody. What a couple of nutjobs. I digress…

Anyway, I was just talking with one of my proposed new sheet metal guys. Have a few meetings set up. Yada yada yada. (My previous sheet metal fabricator and stamper—a separate company—went out of business a few weeks ago, leaving me with an incomplete set of prototypes.) I will keep you posted here as things develop.

Trust me, I do understand the doubters. Just hope they’ll pony up the money when the mags are available for sale in a few months.

Peace (through superior firepower),
Marty

Concealed Carry Permit Holder Captures Stabbing Suspect

You gotta love stories like this one. An apparently deranged man walks into a store, buys a knife, and then goes out to the parking lot and starts stabbing people. Luckily, there was a guy there with a legally concealed handgun, who was able to apprehend the suspect and hold him until police arrived. Score one for the good guys!

Working on new high-quality steel mag for M11/NINE subguns and semi autos

So I’ve designed and prototyped an all-steel 30-round magazine for the M11/NINE subguns and semi-auto pistols. Works like a charm. Production units are still a ways out. But target pricing is set to be approximately $29. I will also offer discounts for orders over 10 mags. Dealer pricing will start at 100 units.

I’ve decided against posting pics of the initial prototype, as I’ve already got some design changes in the works. And once a pic gets out there, it’s tough to reel it back in. People get that pic stuck in their heads, and when production units look different, there’s confusion, etc. Anyway… Will post pics of the next prototype, which I’m confident will look closer to the production units.

A few of my design criteria include:

  • Attention to fit, finish, and function
  • Robust, high-quality materials
  • Anti-tilt follower
  • Low-friction finish (perhaps Teflon)
  • Incorporation of a mag stop to prevent over-insertion
  • Keep per-mag price under $40–preferably under $30

I appreciate you reading this post–and any suggestions you’d like to make. I’m always open to incorporating improvements.

-Marty

Shockwave Technologies On Duty with New York’s Finest

I obviously can’t name any names. But I’m proud to report that dozens of officers with the NYPD have now fitted the Shockwave Technologies Raptor Grip to their department-issued Mossberg 500 shotguns. Now if we can just increase that number to “hundreds.” 🙂

Perhaps a military and police discount is called for. Thoughts?

 

Finding a 14″ Front End for Your Mossberg 500

If you want to convert your Mossberg 500A (12 gauge) to a 14” barrel—legally, of course—you will need to order a total of eight front-end parts from Mossberg. Give them a call at 1-800-363-3555 and order one each of the following:

  • 13488          Tube Nut 500A/835                                       $8.53
  • 11239P         M590/835 Mag Cap Parkerized                       $14.00
  • 12410P         Magtube M514 Parkerized                             $38.00
  • 12392P         Magazine Spring Retainer 590/835 Parkerized     $3.50
  • 12194          Spring, Magazine 835                                    $3.50
  • 12359           Forearm, M514                                           $20.00
  • 16033P         Bbl Asm 514Bead Hvy/w Parkerized               $100.00
  • 12362P         Action Slide Asm 500/514 Parkerized               $22.00

Prices listed above were current on December 7, 2010. Shipping ran me $14.95. So my total was $224.48 shipped.

You can then probably sell your original front end online for anywhere from $75 to $200—and recoup a significant part of your costs of upgrading to the uber-cool 14” front end. All NFA rules apply, of course.

Stirring Up the Blogosphere…

It looks like we have a couple of people blogging about my new bird’s head grip for the Mossberg 500—and some of its great uses. 🙂

Say Uncle: Another NFA Hack

Sipsey Street Irregulars: Calling the ATF on an Insane Ruling

I guess any publicity is good publicity. 😉 Regarding the DD suggestion, I can’t see ATF calling PGO 12-gauge firearms Destructive Devices. That would cause quite a mess for the ATF, as there are literally hundreds of thousands of PGO Mossberg Cruisers and Persuaders already in existence. And I don’t see them classifying all of those as DDs.

Another commenter posed the scenario of possessing both the 14″ configuration as pictured and a bone-stock Mossberg 500 in the same place. His concern centered on “constructive intent.” However, constructive intent wouldn’t play into it, as all the items in that scenario would have a legal use. Constructive intent only applies when there is no legal use for a combination of items. Thompson proved this in their case with the Contender setup with both a long and short barrel and a pistol grip and a stock—and only one receiver.

Like I’ve mentioned, I’m not a firearms attorney. But I had my own lawyer examine this subject (before I built my personal 26.5″ PGO firearm). His determination was that I am on the right side of the law with my firearm. But he only represents me.