Week 31 2023

 This Week in Firearms History:

July 30: In 1866 New Orleans Democratic government orders police to raid a Republican Party meeting, killing 40 and injuring 150. In 1916 German Saboteurs blow up a munitions plant on Black Tom Island New Jersey. 

July 31: In 1777 Marquis de Lafayette is made a Major-General in the Continental Army; in 1917, the Third Battle Yreps aka Battle of Passchendaele begins.

August 1: In 1876 Colorado joins the Union as the 38th State; in 1914 Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany declares war on his nephew Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. In 1941 the first Jeep is produced.

August 2: In 1776 the U.S. Declaration of Independence is signed by 56 men; in 1876 Wild Bill Hickok is murdered while playing cards.

August 3: In 1492 Christopher Columbus sets sail on his 1st voyage; in 1914 Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France.

August 4: In 1790 The US Coast Guard is formed; 1906 Daniel B Wesson dies; in 1914 Britain declares war on Germany.

August 5: In 1305, William Wallace is captured by the British; in 1864 the Battle of Mobile Bay Rear Admiral David Farragut yells "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"; in 1884 the corner stone for the Statue of Liberty is laid.

Gun of the Week:  Marlin model 60

Few firearms have reached the level of success of the Marlin model 60. In fact, it is the only 22 rifle in the top ten most produced guns in the history of firearms.

More than 11 million model 60s were produced during its 60 years of production.

The gun was introduced by Marlin in 1960 (thus the name) and was brand labeled for nearly every sporting goods, department and auto parts store chain in America and Canada. Many different names were applied to the barrel, the most common was Marlin's own "Glenfield" name.

The gun was an improvement in design and manufacturing costs over the model 99 which was introduced in 1959.

The action is semi-automatic, blow back, the cartridges are fed from a tubular magazine mounted under the barrel.

The gun was amazingly accurate (thanks to its micro-groove rifling) and was very affordable. Very few gun collectors do not own at least one model 60 (I own 3 + 1 model 70P).

In 1967 a box magazine fed model was introduced, called the model 70 and then a take-down version of the model 70 was created in 1986 called the model 70P. The model 70 transitioned to the model 795.

Production ended in 2020 after 60 years, it was produced in the old New Haven plant, the North Haven plant and at least two of Remington's plants.

Marlin is now owned by Ruger, who produces the biggest competitor to the model 60, the 10/22. It is still unknown if Ruger will bring the model 60 out of retirement.

Read more about this rifle here

Cartridge of the Week:  270 Winchester 

The 270 Winchester owes much of its popularity to one man, a Mr. Jack O'Conner.

Often called "270 Jack", O'Conner was a gun writer, big game hunter and reloader who would talk up the 270 cartridge ad nasuem.

The cartridge was introduced by Winchester in their model 54 rifle in 1925, having developed it over the two years prior. It was developed to be a flatter shooting version of the 30-06 Springfield. The .277" bullet is most often loaded at 130 grains, it can be had in weights from 100 grains to 150 grains.

While it never replaced the 30-06, it did displace other cartridges and became one of the most popular medium to large game calibers.

Gun Quote of the Week:

"Nothing says goodbye like a bullet" - Phillip Marlowe

Bubba Gun of the Week:

Multiple hardware store trips were required to build this fine AR rifle. The submission comes from Tommy Tronks of Beaver Lick, Kentucky and was featured in our 2021 competition for Gunsmithing.

  

Gun Sticker of the Week:

This Dr Suess inspired sticker is available here

Gun T-Shirt of the Week:

Here is a shirt for fans of WWII guns, buy them from Forged From Freedom.

The Evolution of the Improvised Weapon

Improvised weapons are nothing new, hell the rock used by Cain to kill Able was an improvised weapon.

What is new is the technology available to the average person.

Let's start with some disclaimers, not all of these weapons shown below were built by criminals looking to hurt someone. Many of them were built for self-defense by people living in areas where criminals have a legislated monopoly on force.

Some of these are very crude, yet most of them worked.

Law enforcement officials are reporting that improvised firearms are increasing exponentially both in quantity and quality and it's not just 3rd world countries anymore, they are showing up in Sweden, Canada, China, Germany, virtually every country.

Australia has become a hot bed of activity in this realm. After outlawing handguns and semi-autos, crime exploded and concerned citizens began taking matters into their own hands. The tyrants down under have now made it illegal to possess plans to make improvised firearms, next they will make it illegal to think about it. They may even block this blog from being read by their subjects.

While we are on the subject of legality, let's clear the air. In the United States of America, it is perfectly legal to make an improvised firearm as long as you follow a few rules.

1. You must not be otherwise prohibited from possessing a firearm.

2. The firearm must only fire one round per trigger pull.

3. The barrel length of any rifle must be at least 16".

4. The barrel length of any shotgun must be at least 18".

5. The overall length must be at least 26".

6. Pistols may not have a shoulder stock.

7. You must not build the firearm with the intent to sell it.

There are ways around all of these rules, but for those that do not wish to ask for or pay for permission then these are the rules.

Let's start with some simple weapons like the slam fire shotgun.

These usually evolve into a break open shotgun, rifle or pistol

Some machinists have created shotgun pistols, single shot with a tip up barrel.

Some have created revolvers, which are more complicated in some ways than semi-autos.

When you want more capacity, the obvious answer is an auto-loading gun with a box magazine. These are fairly simple to build into full auto, not so simple if you want to remain legal. Some of these are copies of WWII weapons that fire from an open bolt and are full-auto.

In the 1990s in Leeds England, Phillip Luty proved an improvised submachine gun could be made from hardware store parts. He published a book about it and was persecuted by his own government worse than a serial killer.

3D printing came on the scene a decade or so ago and it didn't take long before firearms enthusiasts began experimenting with designs. 

The reimagination of the WWII Liberator pistol was among the 1st, good for a few rounds of low-pressure ammo (380 ACP or 22 LR). We knew it was only a matter of time before we had fully functional guns that could fire hundreds of rounds.

This led to other single shot designs like the Song Bird

As mentioned above, creating a semi-automatic that will only fire one round per trigger pull is a little more complicated. This can be made easy by using readily available parts.

This is where we introduce the next evolution, the FGC-9. FGC is an acronym for F*ck Gun Control, the 9 is for 9mm.

The design is similar to other semi-auto machine pistols, it uses the fire control parts & grip from an AR-15, the magazine from a Glock 9mm pistol along with some home-made parts and 3D printed receivers.

The pistol is semi-auto and has a disconnector and a safety. the barrel, chamber & bolt are steel. The plastic parts do not see enough stress to cause concern.

Before you go thinking this was an American invention, think again, this is truly a global endeavor. The main inventor is a Kurdish born, English speaking German, who despite trying to remain annonymous made the mistake of giving an interview to an enemy.

He was tracked down by British banking authorities and then his house was raided by the German Gestapo. Two days later the 28-year-old died of a sudden heart attack, sketchy doesn't begin to cover it..... 

Needless to say this weapon is making serious waves and rendering the gun control argument as moot. Of course, the powers who have plans to enslave us, don't appreciate anyone sharing this information.

These guns are showing up in South America, Canada, Europe, India, China, Africa The U.S. (of course), literally all over the Globe. Factories are being set up in garages, barns even apartments to build these pistols.

The 3D files also include the grip and Glock magazines, so you can print your own if you cannot locally source them.

Here are just a sample of the FGC-9s found on the home-made gun blog.

Now companies like Ghost Guns are offering kits with everything you need, minus the 3D printed receivers.

We cannot leave the story here without mentioning the 80% market. There are dozens of companies selling receivers for AR-15, AK-47, Glocks, 1911s and others that are not complete. they need machining in order to accept a fire control group, thus they cannot legally be classified as a firearm or even a firearm part.

Ghost Gunner has a desk top CNC mill that will machine the part to 100%.

They now offer one that will take a block of aluminum and create a lower receiver from scratch.

These small CNC mills are getting cheaper and cheaper. As are the 3D printers....

The design and CAD files are available for free on the web.

Gun Control opponents have long argued that outlawing guns will not eliminate them, it will only drive the manufacture of them underground, turns out we were right.

As Col. Cooper once said, "if you remove the guns, you still have a crime problem, whereas, if you remove the criminals, you cannot have a gun problem".

This spells the end of Gun Control, it cannot succeed in a modern age, end of story....freedom will always find a way.