Tag Archives: NRAAM

Springfield Armory Enters the Retro Carry Handle Space

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Back in 1986, the Colt AR-15A2 HBAR was where its at…

Back 20-25 years ago, fixed carry handle A2 style ARs with a 20-inch barrel were about the only thing you could find on the black rifle market, and even those were typically neutered by the Federal AWB (which ran 1994-2004) so that they didn’t have such evil features as a bayonet lug and shipped with 10-round mags. Still, they were good enough for DCM/CMP matches.

These days, with the M4 being the standard post-9/11, rifle-length fixed carry handle ARs are hard to find and only a few niche sources exist to get one– Bushmaster, Fulton, and H&R (the latter sold through PSA)– with prices starting at $1,299, and they are frequently sold out.

Talk about not being in Kansas anymore…

So, interestingly enough, Springfield Armory just introduced a very nicely done homage to the M16A2 in the form of the SA-16A2, which includes all the correct throwback features (forged 7075 T6 aluminum receivers, a 20-inch 1:7 twist government profile chrome lined barrel, round handguards with heat shields, a full-length fixed stock with rear compartment, a fixed A2 carry handle with adjustable/dual aperture sight, A2 F-height front sight post/gas block, rifle length gas system, a full-auto profile BCG with a phosphate exterior with a hard chrome-lined interior, mil-spec trigger, and a hollow GI grip) you expect.

The SA-16A2. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The SA-16A2 has some upgrades to enhance performance that the 1980s M16A2 never did, including an Accu-Tite tensioning system to cut down on the slop between the upper and lower receivers and M4 feed ramps.

The lower receiver features “Government Property” rollmarks as well as a non-functional “Burst” selector marking in an ode to the M16A2. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

A full look in my column at Guns.com.

14 Shot Tip Up .380: Meet the EAA Girsan MC 14T

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At first look, the EAA-imported Girsan MC 14T appears to be a clone of the original circa 1970s Beretta Cheetah series, now a classic.

However, you will note that the EAA carries an M1913 Picatinny accessory rail on the dust cover for mounting lights and lasers– a feature never cataloged on any old-school Cheetah variant.

Using a simple straight blowback action, it is chambered in .380 ACP and uses a double-action/single-action trigger with a manual frame-mounted safety lever.

The EAA Girsan MC 14T, left, compared to a Beretta Cheetah. Note the Girsan is slightly longer, and we’ll get into that. Of note, it uses the same magazine as the double-stack 13+1 round magazine of the Beretta 84.

This extended barrel length is to allow a “tip up” barrel easily actuated by a one-push lever on the right-hand side of the frame. For the gun nerds out there, Beretta briefly made a tip-up .380 Cheetah, the Model 86, but it was a single stack, and collectors, due to its rarity, tend to drive prices on those into the $1,500 region.

This is comparable to Beretta’s pipsqueak mouse guns such as the Model 21A Bobcat shown here in .22 LR.

More on the MC 14T in my column at Guns.com.

Is an Inexpensive MP5 clone on the Horizon?

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I love MP5s! And there is no shortage of them. For instance, check out this awesome PTR 9CT I saw in Houston last week.

With the old-school “jungle” handguards and three-lug barrel, this thing almost screams, “You son of a…”

The thing is, even that no-frills PTR is $1800.

Well, I stopped by ATI’s booth and talked to Jaime, then he showed me this:

The above 9mm pistol is made by German Sports Guns GmbH, who has long made .22LR lookalikes of the MP5 and a 9mm replica of the “Schmeisser” MP40 so it is nice to see them pull the trigger on this format, and good on ATI for snagging it for import.

I’ll let you know more as I get it.

Colt brings back a Baby Snake

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Colt had a new revolver at NRAAM last weekend. A “King Cobra” Target model that looks and feels a lot like a .38/.357 but is actually a 10-shot 22LR.

The King Cobra Target 22 LR is crafted from forged stainless steel construction with a one-piece barrel topped with an adjustable target rear sight and fiber optic front sight. It comes standard with Hogue overmolded rubber grips and is available with 4-inch and 6-inch barrel lengths, both featuring a 1:16RH twist.

Of course, it could have just been called the Diamondback.

While the current King Cobra series, reincarnated in 2019, hit the market as a 6-Shot .357 Magnum big brother of the new line of Cobra wheel guns, the new King Cobra Target .22LR is a return to the company offering double-action rimfire revolvers. Not the first rimfire “snake” gun– Colt marketed the original circa 1950s first issue Cobra in .22LR and made a .22LR Diamondback into the early 1990s– the new Baby Snake fills a hole the company had in its catalog, and by extension is a first for CZ as well.

This 1985-production Diamondback is a 6-inch .22LR model. Surely, it would have been easier and better for Colt to reboot this name than to call the new model a King Cobra of all things…

MSRP on the new King Cobra Target .22LR models is $999. When compared to other DA/SA rimfire revolvers, this is on par with the S&W 63 and 617.

Leaving on a jet plane

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Will be in Dallas to cover the 147th NRAAM event for Guns.com this week. With some 800 exhibitors from big name companies to collector groups and 80,000 in attendance, there is sure to be something of interest. If there is anything you are curious about or want me to check out, hit me at egerwriter@gmail.com and I’ll get back with you.

Meet the (very quiet) Integra

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integra

Yes, that is a suppressed AR with the suppressor attached. (Photo: Chris Eger)

Gemtech last month brought out a sweet new production Nemo Arms AR upper that includes a pinned suppressor body and titanium core– with an all up barrel length that’s still firmly in the carbine arena.

I shot the Integra, shown off for the first time in public, at the ASA Suppressor Shoot in Knob Creek and have to admit its wicked quiet in .300BLK when using one of Gemtech’s suppressor optimized BCGs which reduces carrier speed to non-suppressed levels and reduces felt recoil.

How quiet? It mics at 128dB, and for comparison, dry-firing an unloaded AR is 124dB…

The upper features a 10.1-inch barrel with suppressor tube pinned and welded onto the end to make it 16.1-inches overall and thus a “one-stamp” device.

The core can be removed for cleaning and maintenance. Removal is by a 3/8″ socket.

It costs a good bit more than the similar concept over at Hardened Arms, but this is Gemtech here and we are talking about a Nemo upper for a base, so there’s that.

More in my column over at Guns.com

 

Inside the Collectors’ Corner in Louisville

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With over 800 booths and vendors, the sprawling National Rifle Association Annual Meeting and Exhibits in Louisville two weeks ago had something for everyone– especially collectors.

Tucked away in the “6000s” the collector section at NRAAM took up one almost forgotten corner of the Kentucky Exposition Center but for those who were lucky enough to find it, the assemblage of collectors, auction houses and relic curators had a rare firearm exhibit open to the public rivaling anything you could see in a museum.

How about a prototype Radom VIS, serial number 108, in unfired condition. One of just 134 early guns made, there are only five left in circulation today and won the 2015 Silver Medal at the NRA’s Meeting in Nashville?

How about a prototype Radom VIS, serial number 108, in unfired condition. One of just 134 early guns made, there are only five left in circulation today and won the 2015 Silver Medal at the NRA’s Meeting in Nashville?

Or the only known low serial number Polish Army Radom Model M.31 (SN#45) in existence and a super rare Maroszek rifle Kbsp wz. 1938M (SN#1030). Speaking of NRA Silver Medals, the Maroszek picked up one of its own in 2014 in Indianapolis.

Or the only known low serial number Polish Army Radom Model M.31 (SN#45) in existence and a super rare Maroszek rifle Kbsp wz. 1938M (SN#1030). Speaking of NRA Silver Medals, the Maroszek picked up one of its own in 2014 in Indianapolis.

The Smith and Wesson Collectors Association came correct with a table of rare guns owned by former NRA directors and well-known shootists Col. Rex Applegate, Bill Jordan, and Cecil King. King’s .44 Military smoothbore, the only gun known to have been made by S&W in this configuration, has a 6.5-inch barrel with a BATFE C&R approved smoothbore barrel– the attachment on the muzzle is the choke!

The Smith and Wesson Collectors Association came correct with a table of rare guns owned by former NRA directors and well-known shootists Col. Rex Applegate, Bill Jordan, and Cecil King. King’s .44 Military smoothbore, the only gun known to have been made by S&W in this configuration, has a 6.5-inch barrel with a BATFE C&R approved smoothbore barrel– the attachment on the muzzle is the choke!

The rest in my column at Guns.com

Welp, headed back to NRAAM

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Yup, that time of year again.

Headed to cover the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Louisville, KY filled with ranges, the Leadership Forum with everyone from Trump to Ron Paul speaking, the counter-protest by gun control advocates, and other such fun.

Actually looking forward to running into Maj. John L. Plaster, U.S. Army, (Ret.), sniper guru-extraordinaire and attending his Sniping in Vietnam seminar. It’s the little things.

Will keep you all bored to tears with imagery and anything new (or old but interesting) that I run across.

Then again there are also 830~ vendors and 480,000 sq. feet of guns...

Then again there are also 830~ vendors and 480,000 sq. feet of guns…