This Week in Firearms History:

May 21: In 1881, John Pederson was born, also in 1881 Clara Barton starts the Red Cross.

May 22: In 1861, the 1st Union solider is killed in the Civil War; in 1868, The Great Train Robbery occurs; in 2013, Tincanbandit's Gunsmithing Blog goes live.

May 23: In 1868, Kit Carson dies; in 1934 Bonnie & Clyde are gunned down by a posse in Louisiana; in 1943 gun designer George Kelgren is born, in 1951 gun designer John Pederson dies.

May 24: In 1941 The German battleship Bismarck sinks the British cruiser HMS Hood, only 3 survive.

May 25: In 1787 the US Constitutional Convention opens; in 1915 WWI, the second battle of Ypres, 105,000 die.

May 26: In 1897, Bram Stoker's Dracula is published; in 1907, John Wayne is born, in 1948 the Israeli Defense Forces are created.

May 27: In 1831 Jedidiah Smith is killed by Comanche Indians; in 1837 Wild Bill Hickok is born; in 1941, the German battleship Bismarck is sunk

Gun of the Week: Beretta CX4 Storm

The CX4 Storm is a 9mm carbine made by Beretta.

The CX4 Storm is a bull pup style carbine (thus the C in the name CX4) and was developed alongside the PX4 pistol. The original version of the CX4 accepted the PX4 pistol magazines, but another version was made to accept Beretta 92/96 magazines. Calibers were 9mm Parabellum and .40 Smith & Wesson.

Barrel length was 16.5" and the overall length was just shy of 30". The gun is completely ambidextrous, what controls do not exist on both sides can be swapped to either side. Read more here.

Cartridge of the Week: 8mm Mauser

The 8mm Mauser is also known as the 7.92 x 57mm, it was developed around the turn of the century and adopted by the German military for the K-98 Mauser rifle in 1905.

The cartridge and the rifle were subsequently adopted by a dozen or more countries including Turkey, Spain, Czechoslovakia & Poland. This became a boon to the Nazis during WWII as the likelihood of a captured weapon being a Mauser in 8mm Mauser in some of the conquered countries was good. Germany used the rifle in both World Wars and was abandoned after WWII as they had no military. After the war the gun and cartridge became popular with North American hunters, as the surplus rifles were cheap and the cartridge capable of taking any North American game.

Ammunition is still readily available both in Europe and the U.S.

Gun Quote of the Week:

“Firearms stand next in importance to the constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence … from the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable … the very atmosphere of firearms anywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that's good.” - George Washington

Bubba Gun of the Week:

Junior Jerry-Lee Lee built this custom Glock pistol using parts from his scrap pile. He was a contender for the "Most Heinous Treatment of a Pistol" category in a previous Golden Poop Award competition.