Category Archives: weapons

Redlegs Stretch theirs out to 70 Clicks

Posted on by One comment

Who says Tube Arty is irrelevant? The Army contends they have made the longest distance precision-guided shot in history using one.

The Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA), designated the XM1299 howitzer, was developed in 2019 by BAE Systems. Based on the pre-existing M109A7 Paladin, it uses a much-longer XM907 155mm/58 caliber gun rather than the legacy 155/39, as well as a host of other improvements above the turret ring, and is planned to enter service in 2Q FY2023.

From an Army Presser:

The first successful test of a 70 km (43 miles) shot with a precision-guided munition took place on December 19, 2020 at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground.

The live fire demonstration used the Excalibur projectile and was the culmination of a campaign of learning on multiple systems.

“Not only did the test show the design robustness of a current fielded projectile to demonstrate lethality at extended ranges, it did so while maintaining accuracy, marking a major milestone in support of Long Range Precision Fires objectives of achieving overmatch artillery capability in 2023,” said Col. Anthony Gibbs, Project Manager for Combat Ammunition Systems.

Providing longer range than that of potential adversaries, is a significant combat multiple for maneuver commanders and the Long Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Team (LRPF-CFT) was established to tackle that objective. Their mission includes increasing lethality, improving rates of fire, and enabling deep fires to shape the battlefield and set conditions for the brigade combat team close fight.

Multiple efforts including new propellant charges, an Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system, multiple projectiles with varying capabilities, and target identification and tracking systems, are under development to increase range and reduce the time from target identification to effects on target.

Personally, I’d like to see one or two of these guns navalised and put in low-profile mounts on the Zumwalts, perhaps alongside if not in place of the fabled Naval Rail Gun system, replacing the failed 155mm AGS. But that would make too much sense. 

End-Capped Rimfire AR

Posted on by Leave a comment

Missouri-based CMMG this month announced what is billed as the company’s shortest and most compact Banshee model ever, the .22LR End Cap.

Chambered in the popular rimfire staple, the new blow-back action Banshee deletes the buffer tube and receiver extension common on AR-type pistols and replaces it instead with a capped lower receiver. This produces a smaller format gun than most .22LR AR15 builds on the market– as short as 14.7 inches in the 4.5-inch barrel model. CMMG says the .22LR End Cap is compatible with all of the company’s .22LR AR Conversion Kits, as well as any AR15 that uses a dedicated CMMG .22LR bolt carrier group and barrel.

And they don’t look that bad…

More in my column at Guns.com. Yes, I have asked for a T&E model, so watch this space!

Ready for Action, 77 Years Ago Today

Posted on by Leave a comment

Official caption: “PFC Kenneth C. Crowley, USMC, Plymouth, Mass., crouches behind a log on the first day of action on Cape Gloucester. A few minutes after this picture was made, he advanced with his unit and helped knock out a Japanese pillbox. Hdqtrs No. 72489. Marine Corps Photo.”

Note Crowley’s M1 Garand– which the Marines had only been issuing for about a year at this time–, extra bandoliers of clipped 30.06 ammo, and camo helmet cover. NARA 127-GR-85-72489

The 1st Marine Division hit the beaches at Cape Gloucester on 26 December 1943, fighting Iwao Matsuda’s Imperial Japanese Army’s 65th Brigade to annihilation over the course of a three-week campaign in thick jungle, suffering 1,300 casualties in the process.

While there are three Crowleys listed from Massachusetts as having died in WWII while serving with the Department of the Navy, none are the above-mentioned Kenneth.

You Gotta Love LE Trade in 38s

Posted on by Leave a comment

As part of the gig I have, I get to see lots of interesting guns come through the GDC Vault including a legit Semmerling, a GyroJet, and old-school Pasadena-marked Auto Mag, a VP70, and a myriad of rare martial guns (Norwegian M1914s, Union Switches, Rock O-Las, Vz33s, et. a).

But it is guns like these that get my attention as they bring back memories of times when I used to be clad in polyester from head to foot and learned the intricacies of PR-24s, speedloaders, and dump pouches:

We just got like 40 old S&W Model 64-1/64-2/64-3s, all police trade-ins from what appears to be the East Baton Rouge (Louisiana) Sheriff’s Office. You can almost smell the Tony Cha-Cha

More in my column at Guns.com.

Anti-Tank Chat

Posted on by Leave a comment

The Tank Museum’s Archive and Supporting Collections Manager, Stuart Wheeler, holds class for about 15 minutes on the first anti-tank weapons seen on the Western Front, with emphasis on the Tankgewehr M1918, my favorite Mauser bolt-action!

As the owner of a (dewatted) AT4 and a Super Bazooka, I’m glad to see they are going to work through the AT weapons in their collection.

Enjoy!

Someone May Have a Viable 50-round 5.7 Pistol

Posted on by Leave a comment

Following up on a resurgence in popularity for 5.7-caliber platforms with Ruger announcing the 57 pistol and Diamondback releasing the DBX large-format handgun, coupled with the new normal of parity in street prices between 5.7×28 and 9mm Luger ammo, and it looks like FN’s once very niche caliber is gaining new popularity.

Of course, FN launched the round in the early 1990s as PDW fodder for a subgun (the P90) and companion pistol (the FiveSeven). On the consumer market, the 50-shot P90 was unobtainium unless you went with a semi-auto-only carbine format (the PS90) while the pistol has sold modestly over the past couple of decades.

Now, it looks like someone has finally figured a way to give the public a gun built around the innovative FN P90 mag, but in a handgun size.

oof

More in my column over at Guns.com. 

Santa, C-130s, and isolated Pacific resupply

Posted on by One comment

The U.S. Air Force, operating in conjunction this year with the Japan Self-Defense Force, just wrapped up the 69th annual Operation Christmas Drop, tossing out 3,200-pounds of humanitarian aid from the back of a moving Herky bird in 64 bundles over the course of a week to eagerly awaiting communities in Micronesia.

A bundle is airdropped from a C-130J Super Hercules, assigned to Yokota Air Base, Japan, onto Kayangel, Republic of Palau, during Operation Christmas Drop 2020, Dec. 10. By using low-cost low-altitude airdrop procedures, the U.S. Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force were able to deliver humanitarian aid across the South-Eastern Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Spalding)

To be sure, it is a feel-good operation. Something to be proud of. Winning hearts and minds. 

However, keep in mind that such drops are real-world training for these same Western Pacific-based C-130 units should they be needed to, say, handle low-key resupply for isolated company-sized Marine rocket batteries dropped off on random atolls with little infrastructure but within range of Chinese maritime assets.

Speaking of which, this year’s OCD was the first that saw bundles dropped on Peleliu.

For those keeping track at home, Peleliu was, of course, a hard-won strategic pin in the map on the push towards Okinawa and the Philippines in 1944-45. The historic island currently has a population of about ~400 locals and the WWII-era airstrip, seen towards the end of the OCD video, is in pretty rough shape.

That beat-down airstrip doesn’t negate the fact that places like Peleliu are getting important once again. Maybe important enough that C-130s ought to be practicing cargo drops there. Oh wait. 

TR’s SAA Goes for a Cool $1.3M

Posted on by Leave a comment

Via RIAC

The above Colt Single Action Army revolver was ordered as a gift for President Theodore Roosevelt’s 54th birthday. Factory engraved and silver-plated, it was shipped four days before his birthday, just over a week prior to the election of 1912 where he ran on the Bull Moose ticket, and 10 days prior to his famous assassination attempt in Milwaukee. It was lost to history for years. 

Complete with Colt factory engraving by master Cuno Helfricht, this M1873 “Peacemaker” now ranks (at time of the auction) as the third-highest firearm ever offered by Rock Island Auction Company– and last week picked up $1.3 million smackers before the gavel ended a wild bidding war.

Sadly, I am sure it will disappear for a few years into a private collection, then resurface only to be sold for a higher bid, and this will be the closest that the public will ever get to it.

Gratefully, though, lots of TR’s hardware is well-preserved in various museum systems. For instance, I worked with Sagamore Hill National Historic Site and Springfield Armory last year to detail his specially-ordered M1903 (SN#0009), which is in their collection.

MiG Alley at 70

Posted on by 4 comments

Original Caption July 1953: “Fifth Air Force, Korea; As a bright mid-day sun beams its warm rays upon a forward UN airstrip in Korea, two sleek U.S. Air Force F-86 ‘Sabre’ jets of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing become airborne, landing gear going up, fuel tanks filled to capacity and gun chambers filly loaded, bound for MIG-Alley in search of more Russian-built MIG-15s. Protecting Fifth Air Force fighter bomber operation from enemy swept-wing aircraft, MIG-killing ‘Sabre’ pilots daily patrol the skies over North Korea. Since shooting down their first MIG in December 1950, ‘Sabre’ jet pilots have destroyed 765 of the enemy interceptors.”

Photo 342-FH-4A-26483-91482AC via NARA https://catalog.archives.gov/id/148728240

The first Air Force F-86 MiG “kill” over Korea occurred 70 years ago today, 17 December 1950, when Lt. Col. Bruce Hinton, “commander of the 336th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing, led a flight of four F-86s over northwestern North Korea. To trick the communists, the Sabre pilots flew at the same altitude and speed as F-80s typically did on missions, and they used F-80 call signs. Hinton spotted four MiGs at a lower altitude, and he led his flight in an attack. After pouring a burst of machine gun fire into one of the MiGs, it went down in flames.”

DAYTON, Ohio – Lt. Col. Bruce Hinton stands beside the North American F-86A Sabre in the Modern Flight Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The museum’s F-86 is marked as the 4th Fighter Group F-86A flown by Lt. Col. Bruce Hinton on Dec. 17, 1950, when he became the first F-86 pilot to shoot down a MiG. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The F-86 would chalk up an impressive 10.15-to-1 kill ratio over the MiG-15 in “MiG Alley,” downing 792 (another 118 were scored as “probables”) against a loss of 78 Sabres.

To be fair, however, it should be noted that Navy LCDR William T. Amen, in a VF-111 “Sun Downers” F9F-2B Panther from the deck of USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), splashed a MiG-15 piloted by Soviet Air Force KPT. Mikhail F. Grachev (139th GIAP, 28th IAD) over the Yalu River on 9 November 1950, to claim the first jet-on-jet Navy “kill” in the conflict.

Ruger’s Triple Roll of Double Sixes

Posted on by Leave a comment

Introduced first with the square-butt Security Six in 1972 and soon followed by the Police Service Six and rounded-butt Speed Six, these guns were born from what the Connecticut-based firearms maker described in their marketing ads of the day as the product of “Ruger engineers who started with a fresh sheet of paper and an unlimited budget!” in a move to ditch what was characterized as outmoded and obsolete designs and manufacturing methods.

By 1985, more than a million had been produced, making the company’s first commercially-available double-action revolver a success.

And if you have ever held one, you can tell why.

More in my column at Guns.com.

« Older Entries Recent Entries »