Category: Guns

Recovering from a sinus infection, wife’s car in the shop, and the magically-tripling-hospital-bill have taken precedence over the blog. Here’s a picture of my newly suppressed P22 as a consolation:

It took 299 days since the day I ordered it, and 190 days since I went pending, but I just got the call from my dealer that my paperwork has come back.

I (well, my trust) now own a .22 suppressor. Picking it up tomorrow today. (ETA: Couldn’t wait. My Precious!)

Sending off a new Form 4 for a 7.62 can shortly. Based on the trend, I suspect it’ll be about 9 months to get it approved.

It’s not just you.

It’s definitely taking longer now than it did a year ago. The author thinks that about a year ago a new process was put in place, and that process is creating a backlog. It’s not just that more people are buying NFA items.

This may, or may not, be intentional. At this early point in his analysis, it appears that for every 2.5 days you wait, that adds 1 day to the processing time.

So if you submit your paperwork on June 30th as opposed to June 1st, you won’t get it 30 days later than someone who submitted on the 1st: it’s more like 42.

And the trend is getting worse. In February, the increase was one day every three days. Even if the trend is steady now, that still means that paperwork submitted a year from now will take 146 days longer than something submitted today.

I do agree that at some people, perhaps a significant portion, will not put up with 18-month or two-year wait times. Supply, demand, some assembly required.

I’m still waiting on my stamp, but I expect it in the next week or so. I went pending in mid-November.

I got an email a couple of weeks ago from the fine folks at LuckyGunner.com asking me to review some ammo for them. Since one of my goals in life is to shoot as much free ammo as possible, I accepted. 😀

They sent me two boxes of 130gr Solid Copper Hollowpoints from Magtech.

My initial thoughts were “Solid copper? Seriously? And only 130gr?”

Then I remembered the perennial lead ammo bans that come up as bills in California or as EPA proposals. The small weight (.40 S&W is usually about 180gr) is still heavier than your typical 9mm round, so that is less of an issue than I originally thought.
Robb did a fantastic review of this same ammo last year, and you should go over there to see the pretty flowers this stuff makes when it expands.

So the only thing left to know is: How well does it shoot?

In a word: Awesomely

I went down to the local range and tested it out. My method was to “warm up” with some target ammo, then alternate between the test ammo, target ammo, and my current carry ammo–180gr Winchester Ranger SXT.

The four shot group from the Magtech ammo was well within “acceptable” levels.

I also filled a magazine with 3 rounds of each ammo and fired that in one relay, just to get a sense for how each round felt with regards to recoil. The Ranger SXT definitely had more felt recoil than the other two, but the Magtech ammo and the target ammo were very close in feel. This is important, as most people shoot lower-recoil target ammo, but carry hotter self defense loads. I have absolutely no evidence to back this up, but I suspect the higher recoil might affect accuracy. These rounds might be a good way to mitigate that.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be using these to fill up my new M&P. Plus, hippies will like the fact that I’m being green, right?

This was published last month, but I only recently discovered it via Bruce Schneier.

The operation’s intent, secondary to the threats on paper at least, was to broadly collect intelligence on the Patriot movement’s members and activities, according to records of the investigation and former FBI agents who worked on the case.

Three Patriot groups were directly targeted by PATCON — [Texas Light Infantry], an Alabama organization called Civilian Material Assistance, and the Tennessee-based American Pistol and Rifle Association.

My favorite part of the article is where the FBI reported that two groups got together, and each accused the other of being infiltrated and under surveillance. They were both right.

You know how to tell which one is the FBI informant, right? He’s the one advocating violence.

So, I went to the range with my TKD instructor and her partner yesterday so that she could get some recoil therapy.  Among other things, I took that Browning Buck Mark I bought last week.  They brought a Mossberg 500 that the instructor bought for home defense, a couple Glocks, a couple S&W airlight .38 snubbies, an AR-7, a pimped out Ruger 10/22, and a Marlin Papoose.  Fun was had by all, and I think we killed a good bit of stress.  Everything worked great, even the Bersa 9 that was giving extractor issues on its first trip to the range.

Then, at the end, it happened.  That Buck Mark that I just bought and felt so good in my hands?  Yeah, it had a truly bizarre malfunction.  Well… um… it turned into a stainless steel Marlin Papoose.  Here’s some pics of the aftermath:

Actually, it’s not that bizarre for me.  My last .22 pistol turned into a WASR.

Turns out my instructor had been desperate enough in her search for a Papoose, that she bid on 3 different guns on an auction site… and won all three auctions.  When we sat down for lunch after the range session, she offered to trade me the stainless steel one plus $100 for the Buck Mark.  Knowing that she kept coming back to the Buck Mark and practically drooling on it, I agreed.

The Papoose is a neat little rifle.  I’m surprised how accurate it can be considering that the barrel unscrews, and there’s still enough for-stock for me to have decent purchase with my support hand.  One thing that I like about it over the AR-7 or the new 10/22 take down is that it has the ability to lock the bolt open.  Also, since Marlin decided long ago to make one magazine for all their .22s, I can use the mags that I have for my 795.  I will say that the sights on the Papoose are a heck of a lot better than the other Marlin .22s I’ve owned or shot.  The front post is a bright orange plastic and has a protective hood, and I believe the rear notch is more prominent.  Which is good, since a scope mounted on the receiver may not keep center as you remove and re-attach the barrel.

Of course, now I still don’t have a .22 pistol.  Ah well, guess that means that I’ll have to go to more gun shows (the horror!).