So ARMTAC is marketing the coolest little (and I do mean little by design when compared to a 10/22 with a screw-on can) rimfire rifles.
They have taken Ruger 10/22 rifles, added a Hogue Overmold stock, and equipped the whole thing with a ARMTAC Monotube integral suppressor. Brand new assemblies run $975 plus stamp (which hopefully the HPA passes next year so…)
Of course you could buy your own 10/22 ($309 MSRP for base 1103 model), forgo the overmold stock above (-$90), get a replacement threaded barrel (starting at $100) and get a low-end screw on can for $99 (Rebel markets a decent one for that price plus stamp) but it’s not integral and certainly won’t be as smooth as the above. Mileage varies.
The Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Dallas (SSN 700) returns to homeport at Groton, Conn., following its final scheduled deployment after more than 30 years in service. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
On 22 November USS Dallas moored at Pier 8S on NSB New London following an extended seven-and-a-half month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet AoR. The sub traveled 37,000 nautical miles and also made port calls to Brest, France; Hidd, Bahrain; and Duqm, Oman.
It was her last patrol, and she is slated for decommissioning.
The Dallas (SSN 700) is 13th Los Angeles-class attack submarine and the first U.S. Navy ship to bear the name of the City of Dallas, Texas. She was commissioned 18 July 1981 and has spent 36 years with the fleet.
While she carried one of the Navy’s precious few Dry Deck Shelters (aka frogman hotels) for over a decade– meaning she likely has gone several places that will never be noted publicly and did things that will never be spoken of– and completed one deployment to the Indian Ocean, four Mediterranean Sea deployments, two Persian Gulf deployments, and seven deployments to the North Atlantic, it is her fictional life that will live on.
If you ever read (or watched the film, which she took part in) Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October, you remember Dallas as the main U.S. vessel in that work. She also appeared in some of Clancy’s other works as well as John Ringo novel Under A Graveyard Sky.
Dallas is one of the last of 30 Flight I Los Angeles-class boats still in the fleet, with the majority of the class still active being the “688i” vessels of the Flight II/III program complete with a 12-tube VLS capability, better senors and noise reduction technology.
The only other Flight I’s still active are USS Bremerton (SSN-698), USS Jacksonville (SSN-699), USS Buffalo (SSN-715) and Olympia (SSN-717), the newest of which was commissioned in 1984.
Dallas did outlive most of the Soviet Typhoon-class subs, of which the Red October was depicted as. Of the six constructed, just one, Dmitri Donskoy (TK-208), is in semi-active use, though she rarely takes to sea.
I think Captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius would be proud at how things turned out.
A joint US Navy/Marine Corps “Proof of Concept” demonstration held off the coast of Southern California Nov. 18-20 put the largest force of F-35B Lightning II stealth STOVL strike fighters ever assembled at sea together by placing a full dozen planes from the “Wake Island Avengers” of VMFA-211, fleshed out by VX-23 and VMX-1 from Patuxent; along with a few MV-22B, AH-1Z and UH-1Ys aboard the USS America (LHA-6).
The F-35B Lightning II third developmental test phase (DT-III) evaluated the full spectrum of joint strike fighter measures of suitability and effectiveness in an at-sea environment.
161115-N-N0101-012 PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 14, 2016) Ordnance is prepared for an F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft on the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). This event marked the first live ordnance uploaded to the F-35B at sea.During the third and final F-35B developmental test phase (DT-III), the aircraft is undergoing envelope expansion via a series of launches and recoveries in various operating conditions such as high sea states and high winds. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released)
In preparation of DT-III load testing, America‘s Weapons Department assembled two types of smart bombs. The team assembled 72 laser-guided Guide Bomb Units (GBU) 12 and 40 satellite-guided GBU-32s for the first time in the ship’s short history.
America, the ultimate evolution of the 1970s Tarawa-class LHAs and 1980s LHD designs, looks a lot like an Essex-class fleet carrier from WWII. In fact, they are the same rough size (45,000-tons/844-feet for LHA vs. 36,380-tons/872-feet for CV) though the old school flattops were much faster, carried an immense array of topside armament, and could squeeze 100~ piston engine planes on their deck.
However, a dozen or so F-35Bs with 5th Generation carrier-strike capabilities, when the bugs are worked out, should prove much more capable than a few squadrons of Corsairs or Hellcats.
Also, there is always the prospect of adding a second squadron aboard, giving an LHA a full 24 aircraft, which isn’t too far-fetched, after all, it should be remembered that 20 AV-8Bs of VMA-331 operated from USS Nassau (LHA-4) in support of Operation Desert Storm, flying 240 combat sorties and dropping 900 bombs. Sure, the F-35 is heavier than the Harrier, but LHA-6 is optimized for aviation operations, whereas Nassau was not.
Such an ersatz carrier group, augmented by a few DDG/CG assets to screen it, could fill several expeditionary contingencies short of all-out war. For instance, recent limited air operations off Libya, non-combatant evacuation operations offshore of a country with a deteriorating security situation, keeping sea lanes open against an asymmetric threat, or enforcing a naval quarantine.
Besides the meaning for U.S. carrier forces, being able to add some LHAs as mini-flattops in a pinch, this month’s trials with a dozen F-35s at sea shows the Brits what they have to look forward to. Though the beautiful 70,000-ton HMS Queen Elizabeth is to commission next year, the RN Fleet Air Arm has no real fixed wing assets to put aboard her at this time.
Queen Elizabeth is capable of carrying up to 36 F-35s in her hangars, and while the current plan is for the carriers to deploy with an air wing of just 12 jets, this may take a while to pull off. The Brits, who intend to ultimately have as many as 138 joint RAF/RN F-35s, will only have their first operational squadron in late 2018 and just 24 operational frames in inventory in 2023. Indeed, USMC F-35Bs are expected to deploy on QE until the UK gets theirs fully fleshed out.
And the gentlemen from the UK were on-hand on America this week.
“As we all know, we can’t choose the battle and the location of the battle, so sometimes we have to go into rough seas with heavy swells, heave, roll, pitch, and crosswinds,” said Royal air force (RAF) Squadron Leader Andy Edgell, an F-35 test pilot embedded at the Pax River ITF. “The last couple of days we went and purposely found those nasty conditions and put the jets through those places, and the jet handled fantastically well. So now the external weapons testing should be able to give the fleet a clearance to carry weapons with the rough seas and rough conditions. We know the jet can handle it. A fleet clearance will come — then they can go forth and conduct battle in whatever environment.”
In the meantime, in 2017, an up-gunned Expeditionary Strike Group consisting of a three-DDG strong surface action group and a more traditional three-ship Amphibious Ready Group centered around USS Wasp (LHD-1) with an LPD and LSD in tow, will deploy with a squadron of Marine F-35Bs.
Welcome to the new Navy.
PACIFIC OCEAN — An F-35B Lightning II takes off from the flight deck of USS America (LHA 6) during the Lightning Carrier Proof of Concept Demonstration, November 19, 2016. The demonstration is the first shipboard Marine Corps F-35B integration demonstration alongside other Marine Corps Air Combat Element assets. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Thor Larson/Released)
161120-N-VT045-0001 PACIFIC OCEAN (Nov. 19, 2016) Four F-35B Lightning II aircraft perform a flyover above the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during the Lightning Carrier Proof of Concept Demonstration. The F-35B will eventually replace three Marine Corps aircraft; the AV-8B Harrier, F/A-18 Hornet and the EA-6B Prowler. (U.S. Navy photo by Andy Wolfe/Released)
Serious former operator turned performance shooter Kyle Defoor once cut down the frame of a full-size Glock 17 to accommodate the shorter 15 round G19 mags. This essentially gave him a G19 with a longer barrel and sight radius.
Now he did the same thing with a G19– chopping the frame down to accept the 10-shot squat G26 mag. He dubs the custom Glock 1926 hybrid the “rattail one nine”
If you remember your Glocks, the 26 “Baby Glock” subcompact does not have a rail, has a 3.42-inch barrel and a 5.39-inch sight radius, whereas the G19 does have a rail and adds a bit more than a half-inch to both the barrel and SR.
Kind of interesting, especially with the hi-profile night sights, KKM barrel and Surefire XC1 LED attached. In short (see what I did there), you have a G26 that accommodates.
Combat Gallery Sunday: The Martial Art of Don Troiani
If you like military art at all, Don Troiani needs no introduction.
Here is a painting he has been working on for the Saratoga National Park that he has chronicled on his social media page from pencil to finished work.
The scene depicts the attack of the 62nd Regiment of Foot on the Connecticut Militia and 3rd New Hampshire Regiment on a wooded slope during the Battle of Freeman’s Farm. Major Harnage of the 62nd is wounded in the left foreground.
Official U.S. Marine Corps Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalog #: NH 104294
Iwo Jima Operation, 1945.
(Quoted from the original photo caption released on 27 February 1945): “Two Marines – ‘Dutch’, a Doberman Pinscher Marine War Dog stands guard as his partner, Pfc. Reg P. Hester, 7th War Dog Platoon, 25th Regiment, Fifth Marine Division, grabs a little sleep in a volcanic ash foxhole on Iwo Jima. Teams like this eliminated many Jap snipers who played dead inside of blasted pillboxes.”
Note pack and M1 Carbine on the foxhole lip. The original photograph came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison’s World War II history project working files. It was provided to Morison by E.J. Long.
The Marines’ love affair with Dobes started when Marine War Dog Training School was stood up 18 January 1943, under the direction of Captain Samuel T. Brick. Some 14 Doberman Pinschers were donated by the Baltimore, Maryland and Canton, Ohio members of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America (though the first war dog sworn in was a Boxer named Fritz).
The War Dog Training Center was quickly established at Camp Knox, site of a former CCC camp aboard Camp Lejeune, eventually setting up 7 War Dog Platoons, each of some 24 military working dogs (later doubled) and about twice that many handlers, instructors and headquarters personnel to include at least one veterinarian.
The Dobes had to be at least 50 pounds and stand twenty inches high at the withers. Dogs who failed the tests for one reason or another were sent home.
Dobes began their training as Privates. They were promoted on the basis of their length of service. After three months the Dobe became a Private First Class, one year a Corporal, two years a Sergeant, three years a Platoon Sergeant, four years a Gunner Sergeant, and after five years a Master Gunner Sergeant. The Dobes could eventually outrank their handlers.
While towards the end of the war German Shepherds replaced Dobes as the preferred breed, some 892 Marine war dogs processed during the conflict, with a slim majority going overseas being Pinschers. Most were donated directly by dog owners and kennel clubs, while 132 came from the Army Quartermaster Corps.
In Guam, one particularly heavy engagement for the Marine K9s, of the 60 that landed there some 14 dogs were killed in action and 11 others died from exhaustion, tropical illness, heat stroke, accidents, and anemia from hookworm. All were buried in Guam in what is now the first war dog memorial.
The memorial was created by former 1st Lt. William W. Putney, who was the veterinarian for the 3rd Marine War Dog Platoon on Guam. A life-size bronze statue, “Always Faithful” was created by artist, Susan Bahary, in 1994.
Jake Hamby, who describes himself as a “Former Combat Camera dude/Aspiring Filmmaker/Duel-Sport Enthusiast” recently ran across a whack job of a garage gun in Iraq.
The gun was apparently captured by Peshmerga forces which Hamby is working with near Bashiqa, a town in the Mosul District of northern Iraq and, if a picture says a thousand words, Hamby’s snap shots are profanity at its finest.
“Fanaticism is the mother of invention. This is a DIY .50 ‘sniper’ rifle recovered from an IS position by the Free Burma Ranger team in #bashiqa #iraq #kurdistan #banthoseguns,” noted Hamby on Instagram, going on to explain that the gun “weighed 25-30 lbs so [it’s] certainly not flimsy”
Brig. Gen. John Jacob (CB) was an officer of the British East India Company born in 1812. Reared at the Addiscombe Military Seminary, he completed his formal education at age 16 when he was commissioned in the Bombay Artillery on his 16th birthday, subsequently sailing for India within the same week.
As a young subaltern of artillery he saw steady service on the Afghan frontier, covering himself in glory at the Battle of Meanee in 1843 which resulted in a Brevet Captain honor and his CB.
Sir John then went on to form an irregular cavalry unit which endured under his name as the 36th Jacob’s Horse (which, amalgamated in 1922 to become the 14th Prince of Wales’s Own Scinde Horse, remained until 1947 when it was allotted to the new Indian Army). He also went on to raise both the 130th Baluchis and 26th Jacob’s Mountain Battery.
He also crafted a very interesting rifle.
National Firearms Museum photo
Jacob decided that a double barreled rifle with an elaborate sabre bayonet was just the ticket for his troops in India’s Northwest Frontier. His design fired a .52 caliber conical projectile with winged studs that could be modified for explosive impact against ammunition wagons at extreme distances (keep in mind the dum-dum round was born in the same place and time). The folding rear sight leaf was marked to an optimistic 2000 yards.
Some 900 were made by Swinburn & Son in England around 1860, though apparently few were ever issued. You see, the man who had ordered them had already expired of exhuastion. They circled the glob as military surplus for a few generations with the 1907 Bannermans’ catalog listing them as “double barrel elephant rifles.”
Jacob, known locally as Jekum Sahib Bahadur, never returned to England, fought in Perisa, and, buried in what is today Pakistan at Jacobabad (guess who it is named after), is well-remembered and even to a degree, liked.
A tank made of wood that was used by Islamic State militants as a diversion tactic is seen in Bawiza, north of Mosul, Iraq November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Ari Jalal
Reports from Iraqi and allied forces advancing around Mosul is that the Islamic State forces are using bearded mannequins, wooden tanks and other props to help draw fire away from their positions.
While easy to discern as fakes up close, from the soda-staw eyes of a drone camera hundreds of feet in the air, or the binos of a commander a half-mile out, they look a lot like the real thing.
The thing is, the U.S. military has done this for 150 years.
