Tag Archives: folding gun

B&T Makes it First to the Folding Chassis Market?

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The Swiss-American compact gun experts at B&T are promising a folding personal defense chassis that hides in plain sight.

The planned BWC9 in its 11.7-inch folded form has an integrated carry handle and looks sort of like a nondescript old-school boom box or…well…something other than a pistol. Then, with a flick of the wrist, it unfolds and locks into place as a 22-inch rifle if needed, an Aimpoint ACRO P-2 micro red dot providing sights.

In other words, going from this:

B&T BWC9 chassis, closed (Image: B&T)

To this:

B&T BWC9 chassis, open (Image: B&T)

The chassis is being sold as an accessory – no FFL required – and users simply add their SIG P320 fire control unit and compatible slide assembly (Sub-Compact through X-Five length, including threaded barrels) to have an all-up firearm.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Farewell, Ideal Conceal

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Ideal Conceal hit the scenes early in 2016 with its two-round capacity .380 pistol that folded up to look like a smartphone and a tagline that read, “From soccer moms to professionals of every type, this gun allows you the option of not being a victim.”

Drawing flak from anti-gun types including Chuck Schumer in record time – even before the guns were shipping– Ideal Conceal’s founder, Kirk Kjellberg, kept plugging away and by 2018 the little gun was in low-rate production.

I caught up with the Ideal Conceal crew at the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas – their first time exhibiting at the industry trade show – where they had some mock-ups on hand to give a feel for the gun, then with an MSRP of $500.

Since then, the guns have increasingly filtered out to the market.

However, in recent days, all the items on the company’s site have been listed as “out of stock” and Kjellberg confirmed to me that a mix of component issues and cash flow problems has spelled the end of the road for the company, leading him to refund orders and close shop.

Always sad when an innovative product in the industry runs out of gas.

See: The Hudson Firearms Company’s H9.

For the record, this was not a factory option from Hudson (Photos: Chris Eger)

What’s in your mint tin, anyway?

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So Trailblazer Firearms seems to be doing pretty well with their single-shot folding .22LR (with an optional .22WMR barrel) Lifecard handgun.

Small enough to fit in an Altoids tin or the 5th pocket of a set of jeans (should they still exist), the thing is pretty neat. Just not $400 neat, IMHO, as you can spend the same amount and get a Ruger LC9 with a holster and a few hundred rounds of practice ammo.

However, they have sold over 6,000 of these little popguns in the past year, which isn’t a lot compared to the million Glock 43s sold in the past two years, but that is pushing close to the $2.4 million mark– not bad coin for a startup gun.

Especially one about the same profile as a credit card.

Anyway, more in my column at Guns.com

You are going to like this if you are into odd Russian gatts

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From somewhere deep in the Old World’s borscht belt, a Russian with a rough haircut shows off the APS auto pistol and the PP-90 and PP-91 sub guns:

Sgt. Kirill Gorgoth lays mitts first on the wacky Stechkin APS automatic pistol, a hopped-up Makarov-ish handgun capable of dropping 9x18mm at 750rpm.

Next, he rolls deep with the PP-90 folding subgun which looks like a wonky VHS– because VHS is apparently still a thing in the USSR Russia.

Kirill then finishes with a Kedr PP-91 submachine gun, a handy (12-inches folded) blowback SMG designed by Evgeny Dragunov of SVD fame that can rat-a-tat at 1,000rpm.

Eye and ear pro? Nyet. Putin’s workout gloves and sweet full-auto action? Da. So much da.

Feel like a credit-card sized .22LR pistol?

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A new company in North Carolina debuted what they call the LifeCard last week, set for shipments later this month.

The appeal is that it is 7-ounces and about the same dimensions (length and height) when folded as a credit card. Width is a half-inch. Interesting concept if the price was right.

More in my column at Guns.com