Visual safety on ARs
Kind of an interesting tip from the range:
We use China markers to mark a safety line on our ARs. Then when we run the rifles for the kids from the ejection port side so we have a high visibility line showing us safety position.
Category Archives: security and preparedness
The 411 on Moscow’s quietest
Russian firearms expert and historian Maxim Popenker has a fascinating piece over at Weapons Man about Russian Internally Suppressed, Captive Piston Quiet Weapons. And it is well worth the read
From the piece:
PSS internally suppressed pistol with action open and magazine of ready rounds.
“Kanarejka” (Canary) system, mounted below the AKS-74U assault rifle.
Crossdraw holsters: 19th century carry that still has its place
So put yourself in a time machine and let us go back to the 1850s. Revolvers were new-fangled items but those sold in a caliber large enough to do damage were huge. For instance, the 1851 Colt Navy, a .36-caliber cap and ball six-shooter, weighed 42-ounces and was 13-inches overall– and it was not the longest revolver on the market by any means. For comparison, a full-sized K-frame Smith and Wesson 38 of today comes in at 30 ounces and 9 inches overall.
With such beefy and out-sized revolvers, if you wanted to carry one of these so called new ‘belt pistols’ on your person the best way was in a cross draw fashion in which the holster was mounted on the offhand side (e.g. left side if right handed) with the butt forward so that it could be drawn across the midsection with the strong hand. These guns were simply too long to pull out of a holster located on the belt directly under the strong hand, especially if mounted on a horse.
The cross draw was standard until shorter cartridge revolvers like the Colt Peacemaker came on the scene in the 1870s. Still, for huge long barreled revolvers such as the S&W Model 29 and the Colt Python, the cross draw remained in use with law enforcement officers as late as the early 1980s for the same reasons as in the Civil War– it was just more practical.
Policewoman Florence Coberly preparing for undercover work luring rapists in Los Angeles. Note her 38 carried in a cross draw holster.
Female officers for generations were instructed to carry in this method as it assisted in retention since it forces the butt of the gun into the body and it was thought the female body shape (hips) worked against drawing from the strong side. Street officers of the time often wore a “Santa Claus belt” with just a 38, cuffs, and wooden baton– often still in a cross draw position.
The method still has its use today.
DARPA looking at U-boat kites
During WWII, the Kriegsmarine’s U-boat fleet used about 200~ Focke-Achgelis FA 330 Bachstelze (English: Wagtail) aircraft. The FA330 was a type of rotary-wing kite that weighed about 150-pounds and, using an unpowered 24-foot three-bladed rotor for lift, was winched out into the air behind a U-boat on a 500-foot cable, allowing the adventuresome sailor in its single seat to have the best view on the boote.
A simple idea, they were complicated in use as they took a long time (20-30 minutes to assemble) and, if the kiteman saw an enemy warship, slowed the dive of the submarine far too long than was safe.
Well, the ONR and DARPA have teamed up to do the same thing but in an updated (and unmanned) version that swaps out the rotating kite wing for a much safer parafoil.
Yup, parasailing meets UAVs…
DARPA’s Towed Airborne Lift of Naval Systems (TALONS) research effort recently demonstrated a prototype of a low-cost, fully automated parafoil system designed to extend maritime vessels’ long-distance communications and improve their domain awareness. Towed behind boats or ships, TALONS could carry intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and communications payloads of up to 150 pounds between 500 and 1,500 feet in altitude—many times higher than current ships’ masts—and greatly extend the equipment’s range and effectiveness.
The plinker went to war: The IDF’s Ruger 10/22
Ever since their beginnings in 1948, the Israeli Defense Force has had to think outside the box to come up with weapon’s systems, therefore it shouldn’t surprise you that for the past 20 years the Israelis have used a (much-modified) 10/22 for use in both special operations and in security operations.
Why?
Going back to 1987, the IDF purchased a quantity of Ruger 10/22s for use by security forces in the Palestinian Intifada, a violent uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that led to a number of deaths on both sides. Hallmarked by rock throwing, molotov cocktails, and slingshots by the Palestinians (backed by the PLO, Fatah, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front and the Palestine Communist Party), no less than 60 Israeli military and police were killed by 1993.
This led the Israelis to go a bit harder from rubber bullets and tear gas– the traditional less-lethal tools of the age, and use .22LR rifle fire aimed at the legs of armed intifada participants, as a next step. It seems it’s hard to keep your motivation to throw rocks with a 40-grain round in your shin.
The guns used by the IDF at the time were standard wooden-stocked 10/22s modified by the Italian firm of Sabatti with a heavy bull barrel encased by an integral suppressor that looks all the world like a 6 D-Cell Maglite. Drilled and tapped for a full-sized Weaver base, the gun was given a 4x optic of various manufacture and a Harris-style adjustable bipod forward.
And they have been much-modified and kept in steady use since then, being dubbed simply as the “Two-Two” by those who use them.
An Israeli border guard (of the Mishmar HaGvul) aims his 10/22 during clashes with Palestinian protesters following an anti-Israeli protest after the weekly Friday prayers on September 18, 2015 in the Israeli-controlled area called H2, in the West Bank town of Hebron. Note the BX-25, well-worn stock and receiver, and improvised cheek pad. Image by Hazem Bader/AFP
How you simulate a Stinger missile being fired
The shoulder-launched surfaced to air missile or man-portable missile has been the go-to way for foot soldiers to swat down pesky low-flying aircraft since the late 1950s when Redeye and the Soviet SA-7 popped on the scene. Since the 1980s, the FIM-92 Stinger has been the weapon of choice for U.S. forces, but how do you get that just-shot missile feeling on the cheap?
Its called the “Stinger Launcher Simulator” or STLS. The STLS is a simulated round designed to mirror the Stinger missile except the STLS travels approximately 50 yards then drops to the ground.
Needless to say, the STLS has no warhead.
Below you have Marines assigned to Alpha Battery 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD), 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, fire some STLS at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 24, 2015
Egyptians to pick up the embargoed Russian Mistrals
France was long a warship provider to old Imperial Russia– producing a number of the Tsar’s pre-dreadnoughts. They even gave back the old White Russian fleet to the Soviets, exiled in Tunisia after the Russian Civil War in 1924. Even with these historical ties, it came as a mild shock when NATO-ish France agreed to sell new Imperial Russia a pair of Russified Mistral LPDs a couple years ago.
At 21,000-tons, the Mistrals are among the most capable amphibious warfare ships in the world, and the Russians bought two
Then came the whole Ukrainian thing and, under pressure from the rest of Europe, France pulled the plug and refunded Moscow’s money (about a billion dollars worth), leaving the Russians pissed and the French with two brand new ships on their hands with everything written in Russian (and loaded with some Warsaw Pact commo, radar, close in weapons systems and other and misc systems).
The Russians pushed to have the French either complete the deal or scuttle the ships, saying they couldn’t be sold with Putin’s toys installed. This eschewed plans to sell them to India and Singapore, both of which are looking to expand their navies on the cheap.
Except that Egypt now wants them and, with the Russians longing for a return to the Sadat-era where they sold billions of rubles of military gear to North Africa’s most together military force, Moscow is cool with that.
As noted by Defense News, Egypt will take the Russian ships as-is in a $1 billion deal (with Saudi financing).
“It was my preferred buyer because we already have military cooperation with Egypt,” French President Francois Hollande said of the deal he struck with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. “Egypt plays an important role in the Middle East and wants to move towards a democratic transition, which is not easy, and we should support their efforts.”
Of course, the prospect of leaving the door open for more weapons deals between Egypt and both France and Russia is likely part of the goulash as well.
Saudis serious about LCS
Apparently the Kingdom of Saud is for real on their intentions to pick up one of the U.S. Littoral Combat Ship designs– that of Lockheed’s mono-hull Freedom-class
150428-N-TC437-320 PACIFIC OCEAN (April 28, 2015) The littoral combat ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) transits alongside the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in preparation for a replenishment-at-sea training exercise. U.S. Navy ships are underway conducting an independent deployer certification exercise off the coast of Southern California. The exercise provides a multi-ship environment to train and certify independent deployers in surface warfare, air defense, maritime-interception operations, command and control/information warfare, command, control, computers and combat systems intelligence and mine warfare. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Ignacio D. Perez/Released)
“The Saudi ships are expected to be armed with a 76mm OTO Melara gun, replacing the 57mm found on US LCSs.
The Saudi ships will still feature an aft mission bay with a stern ramp, as in Freedom-class ships, but will do away with the forward two mission bays fitted in those LCSs.
The propulsion plant is likely to be the same as in Freedom-class ships, although the Saudis may choose different waterjets. Top speed is expected to be in the 37-knot range.
Earlier LoRs specified six corvettes of about 2,500 tons, able to operate an MH-60R helicopter. It’s not clear what designs are considered front-runners, but the Saudis are said to be in discussions with Spanish shipbuilder Navantia, which builds several designs that could be considered.”
Integrally suppressed pistols: The New Maxim 9 and how we got there
This week the good folks over at Silencerco dropped a number of new suppressor designs to include an integrally suppressed 9mm handgun design dubbed the Maxim 9 after the inventor of the Silencer—Hiram Maxim. The thing is, the concept, while super sweet in its latest form by Silencerco, really isn’t that new.
Somewhere in occupied Europe…
In the darkest days of World War II, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and American OSS ran a myriad of operations behind the lines in both Nazi-occupied Europe and Japanese occupied Asia. They set up resistance groups of local insurgents and supplied them with weapons, training, and equipment to help set the Axis rear aflame.
The SOE went to new places and made friends like this mustached Brit operative seen in the center of this group of French resistance
One of the weapons they supplied was meant especially for assassination. This mysterious suppressed pistol was known as the Welrod. The Welrod was not a traditional pistol fitted to a detachable silencer, it was a pistol built *around* an integral silencer.
To keep gas from escaping due to a cylinder like on a revolver, or a cycling action like on a semi-automatic, the Welrod was bolt action. The simple and effective bolt action could be worked rapidly for a follow-up shot if needed, and doubled as a safety device. The integral suppressor built around the barrel was made up of 12 thin metal washer baffles separated in groups by three leather wipes.
The baffles would start to deteriorate with use and typically was no longer suppressed after about 15-20 rounds. The nose cap of the suppressor was hollowed out to allow it to be pressed into an intended target without undue back blast. The magazine itself, encased in a rubber sleeve like a bicycle grip, formed the pistol grip. With few moving parts, it could be broken down and stored in pieces that did not resemble a firearm. In fact when disassembled it rather looks like a bicycle pump.
Chambered in either the British and German army’s standard submachine gun round, 9x19mm Parabellum; or 32ACP (7.65x17mm), the same caliber as many popular Italian, German, and Japanese pistols, they were heavy at 52-ounces besides being large with an overall length of 14.22-inches. Nevertheless, they were quiet and word is although just over 16,000 were produced, at least some have remained in service with the British military for those special moments even though they are now some 70+ years of age.
Custom integrally suppressed pistols
Over the past couple of decades, a number of companies here in the U.S. have been in the business of taking otherwise factory-stock rimfire semi-autos and making them integrally suppressed. These companies include SRT who take a Browning Buckmark or Challenger; or Ruger MkIII, MkII, or MkI and add a 7-inch tube directly to the gun designed for the US military specifically for use with 40 gr CCI MiniMags.
SRTs Rugers
The cost $725 and up.
Others who do similar are Dark Horse, Norrell, AWC and Coastal but you can be sure with something like 3,026 National Firearms Act Special Occupational Taxpayers (SOTs= gunshops cleared to make suppressors) there are likely far more.
AWC’s awesome Ruger-based Amphibian
However, these are all rimfire designs. Sure, you can get a screw-on can for the heavier .45/9mm stuff, but where is the fun in that?
The BT Vet gun
Several years ago the Swiss company of B+T AG (formerly known as Brugger & Thomet) came up with the spooky quiet VP-9 “veterinary pistol.”
Can you say, “polymer welrod?”
This modern take on the WWII Welrod made with polymers and modern metallurgy is a single-action (cock it each time) 6-shot 9mm that tips the scales at just 30-ounces and is (only) 11.3-inches long which is something of an improvement size-wise over the 1940s tech its based on. However this rare bird is meant to put down sick and injured wildlife, not make hits on random SS sentries guarding der fuhrer.
Although it could be used for that purpose if you really wanted and had a time machine.
Nevertheless, you can’t walk into your average gun shop and place an order for a VP-9 here in the states.
Which brings us to the…
Maxim 9
No, that’s not a holster on the end of that SW M&P
More Russki high-end gear shows up in Assadland
Well, it seems there is some confirmation that some Russian (manned?) Su-30SM aircraft (the multirole derivative of the Su-27 Flanker) are on the ground in Syria. Originally labeled as the older type, they are now believed to be the improved Su-30M dubbed the Flanker-C by NATO.
As the satellite imagery shows, the aircraft were parked next to the threshold of runway 17L, on the northern side of the airport: this is quite interesting as the airbase has no hardened shelters and the aircraft are in the open air, exposing them to satellites and spyplanes, and making them a possible target to attacks from outside the airfield.
The arrival of the Russian Air Force
NavySu-30s and the official confirmation by the Pentagon, brought speculations that Russians may already be operating in Syria to an end: according to the U.S. defense officials, so far, four Su-30s, two Mi-24 gunship helicopters and two Mi-17 Hip utility choppers have deployed to Latakia.