From this article about President Lincoln:
"He encouraged weapons development and even tested some new rifles himself on the White House lawn."
Can you imagine?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Romarms / Century Draco Pistol Review (work in progress)
Ok, it's in. $369.95 shipped from Classic Arms. Included 2 new 30 rd mags, and a cleaning kit.
I found this on www.romarms.com:
That looks like the select fire version with stock on the left side. They call it a submachine gun.
This info is shown also:
To get an idea of how small this is, here's a CD and the run of the mill 30 rd clip next to the pistol.
Note that this is imported by Century, but I don't think they touch it as Romarms is shown as the manufacturer. So, you don't have to worry about how well the kit construction was done.
It's a little curious that there is a Tapco G2 trigger installed. Oh well, a free plus.
Overall for an AK, it looks pretty good. The lacquer on the wood is kind of gummy and the excess can be picked off with a finger. So refinishing should be easy, but it looks pretty good. The woodgrain is attractive.
The thread protector is fairly easily removed with a dremel and file so you can put a flash supressor, fake can, whatever on it. A good flash supressor is IMHO essential from what I've heard unless you like fireballs and a challenge to your hearing protection. (Ironically in Europe I hear 'silencers' (supressors) are cheap and easy to get). One up on us, Jacques. This pistol begs for one, so maybe we should look at repealing that rule.
A pin retains the reverse threaded protector. Lefty tighty righty loosey. Just be careful not to grind too much of the cleaning rod retainer away. It's so close it's nearly unavoidable.
* Click pics for HugeVision(tm) resolutions. *
I tried to show that it looks like everything is pretty well lined up. I see perhaps a little cant on the sights. More like a slight offset really. It feels and looks pretty straight. Appears to be a stainless piston. Top dust cover looks Parkerized. (Cleaning rod not shown.)
Wood looks pretty good. It's kind of a stain with a semi-satin lacquer.
Bluing throughout looks deep, and functional com-bloc quality.
Receiver looks like a decent Parkerization job.
I think the SAW type grips would look better.
Nitpick: The bolt cover rubs the charging handle a little. Just enough to take the bluing off. Oh well, reblue later after it breaks in. Or Park' the bolt.
Summary: Construction is decent, functional to nice with the best part being the pre-installed Tapco G2 trigger. It's smooth. It's a tight pistol with the only rattle being the mag and top cover, and those only a little.
Figure the shipping at $20, mags at $5 each, and this is a $340 weapon. Not bad. I remember paying $199 each for the MAK-90 in the early 90's and that IMHO was a much less attractive and less collectible (back then) firearm. With inflation, and today's political situation, $340 is a fair price.
I found this on www.romarms.com:
That looks like the select fire version with stock on the left side. They call it a submachine gun.This info is shown also:
To get an idea of how small this is, here's a CD and the run of the mill 30 rd clip next to the pistol.
Note that this is imported by Century, but I don't think they touch it as Romarms is shown as the manufacturer. So, you don't have to worry about how well the kit construction was done.
It's a little curious that there is a Tapco G2 trigger installed. Oh well, a free plus.
Overall for an AK, it looks pretty good. The lacquer on the wood is kind of gummy and the excess can be picked off with a finger. So refinishing should be easy, but it looks pretty good. The woodgrain is attractive.
The thread protector is fairly easily removed with a dremel and file so you can put a flash supressor, fake can, whatever on it. A good flash supressor is IMHO essential from what I've heard unless you like fireballs and a challenge to your hearing protection. (Ironically in Europe I hear 'silencers' (supressors) are cheap and easy to get). One up on us, Jacques. This pistol begs for one, so maybe we should look at repealing that rule.
A pin retains the reverse threaded protector. Lefty tighty righty loosey. Just be careful not to grind too much of the cleaning rod retainer away. It's so close it's nearly unavoidable.
* Click pics for HugeVision(tm) resolutions. *
I tried to show that it looks like everything is pretty well lined up. I see perhaps a little cant on the sights. More like a slight offset really. It feels and looks pretty straight. Appears to be a stainless piston. Top dust cover looks Parkerized. (Cleaning rod not shown.)
Wood looks pretty good. It's kind of a stain with a semi-satin lacquer.
Bluing throughout looks deep, and functional com-bloc quality.
Receiver looks like a decent Parkerization job.
I think the SAW type grips would look better.
Nitpick: The bolt cover rubs the charging handle a little. Just enough to take the bluing off. Oh well, reblue later after it breaks in. Or Park' the bolt.
Summary: Construction is decent, functional to nice with the best part being the pre-installed Tapco G2 trigger. It's smooth. It's a tight pistol with the only rattle being the mag and top cover, and those only a little.
Figure the shipping at $20, mags at $5 each, and this is a $340 weapon. Not bad. I remember paying $199 each for the MAK-90 in the early 90's and that IMHO was a much less attractive and less collectible (back then) firearm. With inflation, and today's political situation, $340 is a fair price.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
German Sport Guns, GSG-5, etc.: The expensive 22LR Plinker
No offense, but if you want a cool military looking rifle, the prices on CETMEs, AKs of all flavors, etc. are decreasing. I don't see the logic of a plinker that costs $400-$500. www.classicarms.us has the Draco AK pistol for $369.95. A real weapon at an affordable price.
The internet says good things about them.
If the GSG and it's ilk were cheaper, or you really used it for live fire exercises or something, sure, but not at those prices.
If you have one and love it, I respect that. I just think it's overpriced unless you are using it for training, perhaps and you have the real counterpart to the 22LR version.
The internet says good things about them.
If the GSG and it's ilk were cheaper, or you really used it for live fire exercises or something, sure, but not at those prices.
If you have one and love it, I respect that. I just think it's overpriced unless you are using it for training, perhaps and you have the real counterpart to the 22LR version.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Sigh...bad quotes and media disinformation again
I know, we've heard it all before. And my prayers and best wishes go out to the officers injured in this:
http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/jersey.city.shooting.2.1087890.html
But, on to the quotable quotes and disinformation:
Well which was it? Pump or Auto? (I guess they mean SEMI-automatic) but you know the media. It's either a blunderbuss or a rotary cannon from an A-10.
"Jersey City looked more like a war zone early Thursday morning."
Wow, two people with small arms can make the whole town into a war zone. Either that's a really small town, or we need to send some of those weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan with our troops.
"It's a combat weapon. It's got a stock that's retractable. It had a strap on it where he had numerous shells on it. He was ready to battle," Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey said of Shakur.
And we always ask, how would a plain old pump shotgun be any different in lethality? If it was a pump? How did the stock make it more deadly? Was it really a combat weapon? Sooooo many types of firearms can and have been used in combat. But let's use that inflammatory language. It does sell papers and keep the website hits a' comin'.
"I don't know how many times a big city chief has to stand here and say we need help to stop these weapons from hitting the streets. This weapon is manufactured for no other reason than to hunt man," Comey said. "So we should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid of our own rights."
Darn near 100% inflammatory rhetoric.
"Let's be afraid of our own rights"?
God help us if anyone ever really means that.
http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/jersey.city.shooting.2.1087890.html
But, on to the quotable quotes and disinformation:
"Pump-Action Automatic Shotgun Used Against Cops, 5 Wounded"
Well which was it? Pump or Auto? (I guess they mean SEMI-automatic) but you know the media. It's either a blunderbuss or a rotary cannon from an A-10.
"Jersey City looked more like a war zone early Thursday morning."
Wow, two people with small arms can make the whole town into a war zone. Either that's a really small town, or we need to send some of those weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan with our troops.
"It's a combat weapon. It's got a stock that's retractable. It had a strap on it where he had numerous shells on it. He was ready to battle," Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey said of Shakur.
And we always ask, how would a plain old pump shotgun be any different in lethality? If it was a pump? How did the stock make it more deadly? Was it really a combat weapon? Sooooo many types of firearms can and have been used in combat. But let's use that inflammatory language. It does sell papers and keep the website hits a' comin'.
"I don't know how many times a big city chief has to stand here and say we need help to stop these weapons from hitting the streets. This weapon is manufactured for no other reason than to hunt man," Comey said. "So we should stop being afraid of the NRA and start being afraid of our own rights."
Darn near 100% inflammatory rhetoric.
"Let's be afraid of our own rights"?
God help us if anyone ever really means that.
Monday, June 29, 2009
MPA930 Tidbits
In perusing the manual I found a couple of small pieces of information.
The manual shows a magazine loader, but none is included. $19.95 from MPA.
It mentions 9mm ammo, but nothing about +P or +P+ suitability. I emailed the company and they said they do not recommend +P or higher.
The manual shows a magazine loader, but none is included. $19.95 from MPA.
It mentions 9mm ammo, but nothing about +P or +P+ suitability. I emailed the company and they said they do not recommend +P or higher.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Partial review: Masterpiece Arms MPA930-SST-X
Just got one in yesterday, and it looks pretty good overall. Just under $500 shipped.
The flashlight and optics are both NcStar. Both appear to me to be of reasonable quality. Not great, but considering the price they're ok. The finish the safety extension for the barrel is a bit darker than the pistol. The extension and flashlight mount looks anodized, while the pistol is Parkerized.
A few not so awesome welds but they appear quite functionally fine:
Fit and finish seem pretty good overall. Mags click in and drop out positively and easily. An aftermarket paddle release is available.
The sight is the D4B model.
- 33mm lens
- 7 brightness settings
- 4 reticle patterns (1-crosshairs w/circle, 2-large circle around small dot, 3-small dot, 4-crosshairs w/small dot )
- Comes with a sight cover
- Extra battery
40 (or 35 depending on who you ask) lumens, 1 watt. Quick release weaver mount, ambidextrous sliding switch to turn it on. The switch ends up right at trigger fingertip when you put your finger alongside the pistol body. If you're a lefty though, you'll have to use a different finger, as your trigger finger will turn the light off; not useful if you want it on.
I'm not sure you could use the bottom rail for much besides a flashlight as it can wiggle back and forth about 4mm. I guess a laser might be reasonably accurate at close ranges, but you could probably get a low profile laser on the top rail, mounted in front of the sight.
See the gaps above that let it move a little on the back end next to the guard.It's a heavy sucker! 5 lbs unloaded with all accessories. Well, that will keep recoil low and the sights on target. And of course the bolt is huge, which will absorb a lot of the recoil.
You can buy MOST pieces of this separately from MPA. The pistol can be bought with the top rail mounted. And you could by the scope elsewhere too.
Lets price it out separately. Prices are from the MPA website.
MPA930SST-A Pistol, sidecocking. $499.95
Mini 9 Flashlight rail, flashlight, and Barrel Extension. $89.95
NcStar D4B. $40+ from various places, MPA doesn't sell it separately. If they did, it might be a bit more.
The MPA930-SST-X is $630.95 MSRP.
Strangely, the total price adds up to about what you'd pay for the package deal. I suppose you save a tiny bit, plus a little shipping.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with it.
Next: Documentation included? And how about that warranty fine print?
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Top 40 Reasons to Support Gun Control
From here an excerpt:
"2. Washington DC’s low murder rate of 80.6 per 100,000 is due to strict gun control, and Arlington, VA’s high murder rate of 1.6 per 100,000 is due to the lack of gun control."
A funny and thought provoking read.
"2. Washington DC’s low murder rate of 80.6 per 100,000 is due to strict gun control, and Arlington, VA’s high murder rate of 1.6 per 100,000 is due to the lack of gun control."
A funny and thought provoking read.
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