ammo

Federal EFMJ bullet

Posted on by Caleb

There was one booth at the NRA Annual Meetings that did a better of getting the attention of passers by than any other; the Federal ammo booth.  It wasn’t through the use of loud video, or booth babes, or any other “traditional” gimmick – no, it was simply this “whoosh-thunk” noise you could hear from 10 yards away.  I had to see what it was, so with wife in tow we headed over to see some kind of maul that was smashing bullets.  The bullets appeared to be ordinary full metal jacket, or FMJ bullets…right up until they were smashed by the falling block.

The Expanding Full Metal Jacket bullet from Federal has been around for a while, but it’s still a cool idea.  The idea is to promote the kind of reliable feeding normally associated with ball ammo while still giving the shooter the benefit of an expanding bullet.

It’s available in self defense ammo loadings in 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP in weights of 105 grains (9mm), 135 grains (.40 S&W) and 165 grains (.45 ACP).

One of the claimed advantages of the EJMF is that because the tip is crushable rubber, the bullet will never fill with barrier material like some hollow point designs.  While most modern hollow points have solved this problem, a little bit of extra insurance wouldn’t hurt.  I’ll also say this – if you’re thinking about buying this ammo because your carry gun won’t feed hollow point ammo, then the problem isn’t your ammo, it’s your gun.  Modern carry pistols should reliably feed every hollow point bullet on the market.

That being said though, the EJFM is a cool idea, and it’s something that can work for people who are concerned about hollow point reliability and expansion.  It’s also been suggested that this ammo might be legal in New Jersey which prohibits hollow point ammo normally.

rifles/Smith & Wesson

Smith & Wesson M&P15 VTAC

Posted on by Caleb

Now this is pretty cool, the new Smith & Wesson M&P15 VTAC rifle.  This is another model of the M&P15 rifle from Smith and Wesson which uses a neat line-up of parts from Viking Tactics.  Here’s the feature list from Smith & Wesson’s website on the VTAC M&P:

  • Surefire flash hider and G2 light with VTAC light mount
  • VTAC/JP Enterprises handguard
  • JP Single Stage match trigger and speed hammer
  • VTAC 2-point padded sling

This gun is ready to go right out of the box for 3-gun competition or for a home defense/tactical carbine.  I personally like that Smith and Wesson is partnering with companies like Viking Tactics and Magpul to produce special edition M&P15 rifles that will help customers buy a “ready to go” rifle for whatever application they have in mind.  Whether it’s 3-gun shooting, plinking, home defense, or friggin’ zombies; Smith & Wesson likely has a rifle for you and the new M&P15 VTAC is no exception.

That’s the new VTAC/JP Enterprises handguard highlighted in this picture.  Honestly, the M&P15 VTAC is “just another AR”.  It’s not going to do anything that another AR won’t do in that it shoots a 5.56 projectile accurately to 600 yards…but unlike a “stock”  AR it comes with a lot of extra do-dads that make it ready for specific applications without any additional customization.

The S&W M&P15 VTAC comes with an MSRP of $2,244; no word yet on what the actual street price will be.  If you’re looking to get right in to 3-gun competition though, it’s probably a good bet.

S&W offered no promotional consideration for this post.

gun control

I don't have a funny title

Posted on by Caleb

Because quite frankly, this isn’t funny. Pennsylvania, obviously envious of Mexico’s gang wars and Chicago’s skyrocketing crime rate has decided that “hey, let’s try and pass some gun control”. Probably the most ridiculous of the laws is the one that would create a an “Illegal Firearm Trafficking Czar”, which initially sounded like they were hiring someone to smuggle guns into PA…but of course that’s not what it actually is.

Sebastian has the details at the link above, so PA gun owners need to contact their state reps ASAP and hopefully kill these bills!

Beretta/rifles

Frakking toasters!

Posted on by Caleb

Luckily, Beretta has the perfect gun with which to schwack those Cylon bastards.

From NRA 2010

There’s just something about the Storm carbine that makes me want to buy it, in fact I’ve probably written a post similar to this before. But it doesn’t matter – the lines on the gun are cool, it was in a TV show I liked, and you can quite obviously pimp your Storm carbine out the yin-yang. Like I said, do want. It does help that you can get a version that takes Beretta M9 magazines, which are roughly as common as dirt these days.

Uncategorized

FNP-45 Competition

Posted on by Caleb

The FNP series has rapidly become a hit with the concealed carry and defensive pistol market, as a reliable and accurate pistol with a good price point is automatically going to be popular.

However, the FNP series hadn’t gained a major foothold in the competition shooting market, but all that appears to be on the road to changing with the introduction of the FNP-45 Competition.

In recent years, FNH-USA has put an increased focus on the competition shooting market, especially in the 3-gun segment of competitive shooting.  In addition to being a major sponsor of 3-Gun Nation, FNH-USA also sponsors a competitive shooting team headlined by Tasha Hanish.  One of the neat things about FNH is that you can literally buy every gun that you’d need to shoot a 3-gun match from them, whether you’re shooting the Tactical Iron Division or my personal favorite division, Heavy Metal.

For Heavy Metal shooters in Outlaw 3-gun (aka all non-USPSA 3-gun) you need a .45 ACP pistol, and the new FNP-45 Competition can definitely fill that niche.  Additionally, if you’re a Limited-10 or CDP shooter in USPSA or IDPA, this could definitely be a gun for you.  Like the original FNP-45 series guns, the FNP-45 Competition will have either a 10 or 14 round magazine and come standard in double action/single action.  Like the standard pistols it will be selectable SA as well – the decocker also acts as a safety allowing the gun to be carried “cocked and locked”.  According to the FNH-USA rep at the booth at the NRA Annual Meetings, the FNP-45 Competition will have a “tuned” trigger from the factory, and I will say that the DA trigger on the display model was pretty good – on par with a good tuned DA revolver trigger.  With a standard fiber optic sight for fast acquisition and a cavernous magwell for fast reloads, could this be your next IDPA gun for Custom Defensive Pistol?  The only downside to the FNP-45 pistol is that the grip is pretty large – I have never had a problem reaching the trigger on a Beretta 92FS (aka Beretta M9) and the DA trigger on the FNP-45 felt kind of far away.  Like many other guns though, we’ll have to see how it shoots!

FNH USA provided me no promotional consideration for this article.

Uncategorized

Look what followed me home

Posted on by Caleb

Click the image to make it larger, but if you’re having trouble reading that, it says “DPMS” on the front.  Inside the case is the rifle that DPMS donated to the upcoming Gun Nuts/HAVA Charity Auction.  This gun will part of several packages up for auction, with all proceeds going to benefit Honored American Veterans Afield.  The rifle will come with optics from Leupold, a Crimson Trace MVF-515 vertical foregrip, magazines, and other goodies.  In addition to the rifle package we’re going to have a self-defense, a competition, and a home defense package up for auction.

By now you’re probably dying to know what’s in that case, right?  I know I would be!  Too bad, because you’re going to have to wait until July 1st to find out EXACTLY what is going to be up for grabs at the 1st HAVA Charity Auction.