Manurhin MR 73

The Manurhin MR 73 is a French made double action revolver which is used by the French police along with their special operations team the GIGN. The MR 73 is chambered in .38 special and .357 magnum it also has the ability to be converted to 9mm. It is built to match grade accuracy and is said to have multiple hours of hand fitting at the factory. As for getting your hands on one of these firearms it will not be easy they are very rare because they have to be imported from France and aren't marketed in the US which also brings up its price.

imfdb

If you have ever watched a movie and wanted to know a gun that was used in it than imfdb or the internet movie firearms database is just what you need. Imfdb.org is a Wikipedia formatted website which lists firearms along with some other types of weapons used in movies and some video games. The site does a good job with screenshots of the firearms even those that are in the background of a scene. They even have write ups on firearms that aren't real but what they are assumed to be based on. For movies that haven't even come out they will have screenshots from trailers previewing firearms in the movie. Hopefully this site stays around for many more years.  

Franchi SPAS 12

The Franchi SPAS 12 is a unique and deadly looking shotgun. It was designed to be a tactical military shotgun but tactical is not how I would describe it. Complicated and heavy would be the best two words to sum up this gun. The SPAS 12 has the ability to shoot in both semi-automatic and pump action mode. When the slide action is all the way forward it opens the gas port so it can cycle rounds automatically. The tricky part about this gun is that it has to be set perfectly in the right mode to actually shoot or open the action. There are two safeties, one a push pin safety the other a quick release trigger safety. Earlier models of the SPAS 12 had a lever safety which had a recall because it didn't actually work and the gun could fire when it was on. Another flaw of the gun is that is has a shock absorber inside the receiver that if not replaced could cause severe damage to the gun. Again early models of the shock absorber would degrade and break apart making them useless, you can get replacement shock absorbers online that are made of better plastics to last longer. It has a folding stock and also has a hook(not pictured) that was meant to allow the shooter to use the gun with one arm to shoot around corners and such. With the weight of the gun I wouldn't suggest trying to shoot it with one arm. Since the stock is all metal it isn't very forgiving when it comes to recoil so you will feel everything. If you can find a SPAS 12 in good condition with all the parts it would be a good investment gun since they are no longer made and have always been popular among collectors. As long as video games and movies continue to include this gun people will buy it just to have it.  

M24 Sniper Rifle

I'll start by saying I don't own this rifle nor could I buy it direct from Remington and if I could it would be way out of my price range. The M24 sniper weapon system is sold by Remington Defense to the Military along with police SWAT teams. It is based of the Remington 700 rifle with major modifications. The Leupold scope that comes with this rifle cost close to $2000 alone. You can purchase a Remington 700 police rifle fairly cheaply and then try and build it up to the M24, this is a project I'd like to take on one day. If however you do want to get this rifle built for you at a decent price you can go to the Texas Brigade Armor. They make custom sniper rifle systems. The prices are reasonable but wait times can be long.

Army M24

http://texasbrigadearmory.com/index.htm

Glock 19 2nd generation

I recently picked up a Glock 19 2nd generation handgun online, I was a good price and wasn't in to bad of shape. I haven't even taken it out to shoot yet so I can't really speak to how well it performs but it feels about the same as my Glock 17. I find the smaller size to be nice with this gun I just wish it had the finger grooves that the 3rd generation Glocks have. I am starting to think I have to many of the Glock 9mm's. Most people will say the Glock 19 is the best Glock handgun due to its small size and ability to still hold 15 rounds in a non extended magazine. I don't plan to do to much modification to this Glock other than replacing the night sights which have been dimmed and now useless. 

Sig Sauer 1911

Now that the weather is getting nice my friend and I took a trip to the range to shoot outdoors. Today he brought his Sig Sauer 1911. I have shot .45 ACP before but never a 1911, some people will say that your first .45 should always be a 1911 but mine was actually a M&P45. This 1911 has some solid weight to it which helps handle the recoil. The trigger is as smooth as butter and just seems so natural to pull. I was pretty accurate with the gun although the rear sight isn't set right and is way to loose. As you can see this doesn't have a factory wood grip it was replaced with a rubber grip. I wasn't a fan of the slide release it seemed hard to get to. I will most likely buy a 1911 some day but would need to try a few more before spending the high price of most of them out there.

Gun Detailing

While working on my Glock 34 race gun I got a little sidetracked and decided to add some color to some of my guns. I picked up some nail polish and filled in the engraved lettering on my Glock 34 and Smith&Wesson M&P15. This is fairly easy little project, best to get nail polish that drys fast. When applying the nail polish try and stay just around the area of the engraved letters. Once the nail polish has dried use some nail polish remover and paper towels to wipe off the excess polish. You can apply multiple coats to make the letters stand out more.

Glock 34 Race Gun Project

Glock 34 with compensator

I am currently in the middle of turning my Glock 34 into a race gun. American Rifleman recently did an article about making the Glock 34 a race gun and how it can be done without spending tons of money. My Glock 34 is a gen 3 so it has a 4.5 pound trigger pull, I haven't changed that yet but I am thinking that bringing it down to 3.5 will be worth it. As you can see I installed a Lone Wolf threaded barrel along with a lone wolf compensator. The compensator has a small screw under it that you tighten with an L wrench once it is in position, the instructions suggest using nail polish or a gun glue to make sure that the screw doesn't loosen. I have tired the nail polish route so far and it didn't work so well. Another thing to note is that once you add a compensator it will make the front of the gun and barrel heavier and harder for the slide to cycle. Because of this I have to change out the recoil spring and bring it down from the factory 17 pounds. I have 3 new springs a 15, 13, and 11 pound I haven't been back to the range to test which one will work best for cycling. I got the springs from www.glockmeister.com , if you do plan to replace the recoil spring in your Glock you will also need to buy a recoil guide rod that is not captured so it can be unscrewed and accept different springs. I haven't done it yet but I also picked up a HiViz fiber optic front sight this will make it much easier to stay on target especially when shooting white steel plates!

Overhead view of the Lone Wolf compensator

Machine Gun Price Guide

If you are thinking about getting into machine gun collecting one of the best websties to check out is www.machinegunpriceguide.com. This site has graphs that they update regularly to reflect the current market prices of popular machine guns. These charts can be rather upsetting when you see the high price numbers which are always on the rise. The website itself is pretty easy to navigate and even has some links to Class 3 dealers on the web. It is worth a look even if you don't intend to get into that full auto market.

Interceptor Body Armor

Guns and ammo are hard to find these days due to high demand which has led gun owners to stock up on other gun related things. I have noticed an increase in body armor talk amongst the gun community and wanted to do a quick review of a recent purchase. The interceptor vest or OTV(outer tactical vest) was used by the US military for most the 2000's but has since been replaced making them very available for surplus buys. Most interceptors like mine were made by Point Blank Armor. The vest without trauma plates is rated to stop 9mm and fragmentation. The vest itself is very comfortable to put on and has straps and Velcro to help adjust to your body. There are multiple accessories you can get for the vest for both tactical aspects and protection. I would recommend this vest over a plate carrier that most people seem to be buying just for the fact that it does have Kevlar inserts that will help prevent penetration from certain bullets and any ricochet off a plate. If you plan on buying the vest online you will want to make sure it comes with the Kevlar inserts that are made by Point Blank and have a more recent manufacture date.

MechTech Glock CCU

I am sure you are thinking what the hell is that thing, and is that a Glock handgun in there? Let me explain this is a MechTech CCU. CCU stands for carbine conversion unit which should start to make sense when looking at the picture. MechTech has created essentially an upper receiver for certain Glock(and 1911) handguns that turns them into rifles. Not much work is required to set these up mainly field stripping your handgun and adding a "glock block" device which helps with feeding to the upper. MechTech sells many different parts to customize your rifle kit like the one seen here. This is a great little project to do if you have an extra Glock lying around that you aren't using. The rifle kits comes as just the upper so no stock included. I haven't shot one but I have seen it used before at the range and they are very neat. Check it out here MechTech

Heckler & Koch Mark 23

I try and keep all the photos of the firearms I review small but due to the actual size of this handgun I wanted it to be big. The Heckler & Koch Mark 23 is a massive yet beautiful handgun. The Mark 23 was created specifically for the Navy Seals and went through some of the toughest testing a handgun can take. Although it looks very similar to USP tactical it is a bit bigger and of course much more expensive. What you get for the price is a very accurate handgun with the backing of reliability beyond most handguns. It is rare to see this gun sell for less than $2,000 so if you do see one for less I would recommend you get it. I was given the opportunity to shoot this gun once and although I didn't get to spend much time with it I found the grip to fit my hand perfectly. The threaded barrel allows for a suppressor to be attached and the rail mount on the frame will fit most laser and flashlight attachments. The trigger guard is oversized to allow for use with gloves on. While the price for this gun isn't practical when you can get a USP tactical for much less it is one of those guns that you "just have to have". If you are an owner you can consider yourself in an elite group of handgun owners.  

American Tactical Imports GSG522

The GSG522 was my first .22 rifle, it's in the "tactical 22" group of guns, modeled after the H&K mp5. It comes with a mock suppressor which slides over the barrel. The GSG522 has some features that a normal mp5 wouldn't such as a picatinny rail mount on the top of the gun. Since .22 ammo is cheap you will be spending more time loading the magazines than shooting! The charging handle operates much like the real mp5; the weight of the gun is probably about the same as the real mp5 which is nice. Overall this is worth picking up if you are a fan of the mp5 but don't want to spend tons of money for a clone or the real thing.

Machine gun fund?!

Some of you may have noticed that there is a new gadget on the blog over to the right. It is a fundraiser for the purchase of a machine gun. Machine gun prices have always been on the rise and they are way out of my price range for a single purchase. I would love to put up a review for a machine gun but I just can't afford it! Feel free to comment with any questions! I am looking into the purchase of a Mac-11 as seen here. Not the best looking gun but have become popular in the machine gun world because they are cheap and can be changed to accept different types of ammo.

Heckler & Koch VP70

This is a pretty weird looking pistol, it is the Heckler & Koch VP70, the military version shown here has a stock allowing select fire in both semi-automatic and three round burst. The VP70 came in 9mm and a very limited amount were made in 9x21mm. It looked pretty futuristic when it came out and was used in the movie aliens which was set in the future. The only thing I have heard about these when it comes to actually shooting is that the trigger is very tight probably because it can be set as a full auto weapon. A little fun fact about the VP70 is that it was the first ever polymer pistol.