Gun Nuts Radio: Top 5 Rifles

Check out last night's Gun Nuts Radio for our Top 5 Rifle lists, both mine and Breda's. We took a different approach to the list, hers being rifles that she had experience, and mine being rifles (and one musket) that I felt had significantly influenced both the shooting community and/or history. We also briefly touched on the whole Open Carry drama, and in that also found a fitting way to memorialize our friend, Meleanie Hain. Click here to download last night's great episode! You can also get the show in a portable .mp3 format!

And because I know you're going to ask, here's my personal top five list of the greatest rifles, the most significant rifles:

1. The M1 Garand


2. The Ruger 10/22


3. The AR-15 family


4. The '98 Mauser family


5. The Brown Bess Musket

Of course, if you want to hear my rationale behind each pick, you'll need to download last night's show and give it a listen! Also included in last night's show is the reasoning as to why the Kalashnikov series of rifles are not included on that list. But you have to listen to the show to find out, so click the links and head over!

The show is also available on iTunes, by going to the iTunes store and searching for Gun Nuts Radio or by following these instructions to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Next week's Gun Nuts is going to be all about costumed shooting - that's right, Cowboy Action shooting and the Zoot Shooters will be our topic of discussion! Don't miss out next week at 9pm Eastern at www.blogtalkradio.com/gunnuts!

Gun Nuts Radio: Sotomayor loves the .50 BMG

What fun we had last night on Gun Nuts Radio! We opened the show talking about the Sotomayor confirmation hearings, and how when confronted with actual difficult questions about recusing herself, or her thoughts on incorporation, she kind of fell apart. Of course, the money quote from the entire thing was when she said she understands the right to keep and bear arms because her godson is in the NRA. Breda was quick to point out that saying that is exactly the same as saying "I'm not a racist, I have a black friend!" Plus, Sotomayor's lack of actual legal knowledge is kind of disturbing, but hey it's not like we expected Obama to nominate a conservative, right? I guess I did expect him to be a little less transparent in his pandering to the Latino vote, but that's what I get for hoping.

The show moved on, as it is wont to do, and if you'd like to download it you can click here for the show page. If you'd like an .mp3 copy, that is available here. The real highlight of the show was when we were joined by Michael Brendzel of Zel Custom Manufacturing, makers of the Tactilite .50 BMG AR upper. That's right, a .50 BMG upper for your AR15 pattern rifle, which readily converts your rifle from a tactical poodle-shooter into a single shot ultra-long range thumper. You can even have your upper with an 18 inch barrel, if you want to be able to fire the .50 BMG offhand...(although one wonders why). As Tam pointed out on last night's show, everyone should have a .50, because it's like a finger in the eye of the anti-gunners. The best part about the Tactilite upper is that exactly - it's an upper, so you can order it online and have it shipped straight to your house, no FFL. Trust me when I say that this makes Paul Helmke a sad, sad panda.

For more of the Gun Nuts goodness, check out the Twitter Feed, and also join our fan group on Facebook! As always, you can also subsribe to the show via iTunes, so if you're an iPhone user like Breda and I both are, you can have your Gun Nuts with you at all times. Don't forget to listen live, Tuesdays at 9pm Eastern time!

Ruger SR556

Meet the Ruger SR-556!

Superior Concepts Laser Stock

This was a product that I saw while I was wandering the back alleys of SHOT SHOW 2009 was the LaserStock from Superior Concepts. It's a replacement stock for your Ruger 10/22 that comes with an integrated laser built into the front end of the stock.

From SHOT SHOW 2009

The LaserStock can be had in several different flavors, including a Hogue Overmolded stock, or my favorite version, a Butler Creek Folding Stock. All of the different models of Laser Stock retail for $199.99. I've talked before about how I "believe" in the laser as a training tool, and what better gun to mount one on than your .22 LR plinking machine?

Superior Concepts also makes a replacement barrel band for the 10/22 which has a Picitinny rail built into the replacement part.

From SHOT SHOW 2009

The Accessory band runs for $49.99-$59.99 for the camo version, and allows you to integrate a light mount or other tactical accessories to your Ruger 10/22. You could add this and a Surefire weapon light to your 10/22, throw a Laser Stock on there, and be ready to roll with a tricked out tactical 10/22.

Smith & Wesson MP-15 .22 LR

While I was stymied in my search for information on the new Colt/Umarex .22 LR carbine, I headed over to the Smith & Wesson booth to check out revolvers, 1911s, and their M&P-15 series of AR style rifles. While over there, I noticed that they had an AR15 enclosed in glass and surrounded by .22 LR ammo. Needless to say, the camera immediately came out.

From SHOT SHOW 2009

Make sure you click all pictures to view them in their full glory. According to the placard posted next to the carbine, it's a "dedicated .22 LR platform", which I take to mean that it's not going to be interchangeable with your existing AR uppers and lowers - it's a .22 first, foremost, and all the time.

From SHOT SHOW 2009

Information on this carbine is pretty scarce right now - I'm planning on swinging by the S&W booth today to see if I can scare up anything on MSRP and planned release date. There isn't anything included in their press kit about this rifle, which leads me to believe that it's so new that they just threw it up there for SHOT SHOW 2009.

Smith & Wesson's M&P-15 rifles have gained a pretty healthy following in the black rifle community. If you're looking for a dedicated .22 LR training platform that will integrate with your other tactical accessories (like that new Crimson Trace vertical grip) then you probably won't go wrong with the S&W MP15 .22 LR.

Civilian HK 416 and HK 417s to be available

HK has announced that they will release civilian legal versions of the HK 416 and HK 417 sometime after SHOT SHOW. The civilian version of the HK 417 is named the MR762, and the specifications can be viewed at this link on HK's website. The civilian legal HK 416 is called the MR556. Both rifles are being shipped from the factory with 10 round magazines, but will accept aftermarket high capacity magazines.

Check back here during SHOT SHOW 2009 for more pictures and details of the product!

Gun Nuts Radio: The EBR Show

If you missed out on last night's show, don't worry - you can still listen to an archived copy by clicking this link. It was a pretty great show, actually - we spent a lot of time talking about the run on firearms, a even more time talking about what black rifle you should buy if you're in the market. As usual, all the cool kids were in the chat room live at 9pm, so if you're not listening live - you're missing out. Also, here is an .mp3 copy of the show, and of course the embedded player is beneath this text.



We don't have a topic for next week's show, so Breda and I are taking suggestions. An unscientific poll was taken to see how many people would like to hear Mrs. Ahab on the show, and the response was a unanimous "yes"; and who am I to resist the mandate of the people? I'll do what I can in upcoming weeks to get her on the air with me.

Smith and Wesson 5.45x39 MP-15R

Smith and Wesson has a new AR platform rifle out for their M&P-15 line of rifles. What sets it apart from the current platform is that it's chambered for 5.45x39, the Russian service rifle cartridge. The advantage here is that mil-surp Russkie 5.45 is cheap and plentiful, and according to S&W will feed reliably in the new MP-15R.

The rifle has all the standard doo-dads you'd expect to see in a modern AR, a six-position collapsible stock, flattop receiver, 30 round magazines, chrome lined barrel, etc.

Obviously, the biggest benefit to this new rifle are the huge and widely available supplies of surplus 5.45 Russian ammo; you can buy spam cans full and full of ammo for half the price of 5.56 ammo; and since the Russian round delivers similar ballistic performance you're getting pretty decent bang for your buck in terms of a defensive rifle.

One thing that S&W does caution about are the magazines. While the 5.45 and 5.56 cartridges are dimensionally similar enough that you can feed 5.45 in a standard 5.56 AR magazine, the feed lips and followers are different enough that it is likely that you'll encounter feed jams trying to run the 5.45 through a 5.56 magazine. S&W recommends that you stick with their 5.45 magazines for the M&P-15R.

With the economy being what it is, and ammo prices through the roof, the ability to shoot the cheap and readily available mil-surp ammo really makes the M&P-15R appealing for me. Since I'm starting the process of AR shopping, I'm going to seriously consider an AR in 5.45 Russian. It gets cool points for being an evil capitalist rifle chambered for the former Soviet Bloc service cartridge.