Eurooptic vortex burris nightforce sale




teslong borescope digital camera barrel monitor


As an Amazon Associate, this site earns a commission from Amazon sales.









October 19th, 2014

Hornady Handgun Safe Opens with RFID Signal

RAPID Safe Handgun box RFID radio IdentificationImagine this — your “home security” handgun is stored safely and securely near your bedside. But with the simple swipe of a keyfob, card, or wristband, you have instant access to the gun. Sound like science fiction? Well, this is real. Hornady’s new RAPID Safe uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology to allow instantaneous access to a firearm using either a special card, an RFID bracelet, or a special keyfob. In addition, the safe can be opened using a programmed keypad or a traditional key lock.

Brownells.com already has this new product in stock. Watch the video to see how the RAPID Safe works. The system runs with 110 volt AC power or internal battery pack. This short video shows various opening modes:

Open your safe in the blink of an eye. Simply place the included RFID bracelet, card, or key fob over the reader, and the RAPiD™ safe springs open to present your handgun.

RAPID Safe Handgun box RFID radio Identification

Permalink Handguns, New Product 2 Comments »
October 19th, 2014

Incoming! Video Shows “Target POV” of Rimfire Tracer Round

What would it be like to have a tracer round fly right past your eyeball? You’d never want to experience that in real life. But here’s an amazing short video that lets you see a “target-eye’s view” (POV) of an incoming tracer round. If you look carefully, you can actually see the bullet spinning (throwing off radial sparks) before it strikes the target.

Watch Incoming .22 LR Tracer Round:

YouTube shootist “22 Plinkster” placed a miniature video camera behind bullet-proof glass then fired a .22 LR tracer round right at the camera. With slo-mo playback, you can see the tracer leave the rifle barrel and fly directly at the camera, showing bright red sparks all the way. In this video, 22 Plinkster shoots a .22 LR tracer round at a camera protected by a layer of bulletproof glass. After the impact, there is a dark black crater left in the glass (lower photo).

Freeze Frame 1: Tracer Round Comin’ at You…
22 Plinkster tracer POV

Freeze Frame 2: Tracer Round Milli-Seconds from Impact
22 Plinkster tracer POV

Freeze Frame 3: Impact Crater on Bulletproof Glass Shielding Camera.
22 Plinkster tracer POV

Permalink - Videos, Bullets, Brass, Ammo No Comments »
October 19th, 2014

New American-Made Reproduction M1 Carbines

One of the CMP’s most popular competitions is the M1 Carbine Match. The little carbines are easy to hold and easy to shoot, with relatively low recoil compared to an M1 Garand or M1903 shooting the full-power .30-06 cartridge. Unfortunately, genuine GI-issue M1 Carbines are now hard to find at affordable prices. The CMP has announced: “CMP’S Carbine Inventory has been exhausted and we do not expect to receive any additional shipments.” Authentic, “all-original” M1 Carbines are going for $1500 to $1800.00 these days on Gunbroker.com.

CMP M1 Carbine Match at Western CMP Games
CMP M-1 Rimfire Carbine Citadel

New Production M1 Carbines
Thankfully, you can now get a brand new, American-made M1 Carbine clone for hundreds less than an old CMP rifle. MKS Supply is now offering American-made Inland Mfg. brand .30-Caliber M1 Carbines that look, feel, operate and shoot just like the originals.

CMP M-1 Rimfire Carbine Citadel

These made-in-the-USA, newly manufactured M1 Carbines are faithful copies of the original Inland Manufacturing carbines from the World War II era. (Inland was once a division of General Motors, but this is a new company with the same historic name.) They feature 1944-style peep sights and even include Arsenal cartouches on the stocks. All Inland M1 Carbine models come with a cloth sling and oiler resembling those given to GIs during WWII. MKS Supply will offer three (3) Inland M1 Carbine models:

    M1 1944 wood stocked original design without bayonet lug — MSRP $1049.00

    M1 1945 wood stocked original design with bayonet lug — MSRP $1049.00

    M1A1 Paratrooper original design with folding heavy wire buttstock — MSRP $1179.00

NOTE: The new Inland carbines are so precisely copied from the original specifications that the company marks the underside of the barrel and the inside of the stock of these current models to prevent potential fraudsters from passing these new carbines as mint WWII originals.

GunsAmerica.com reporters recently compared new Inland M1 Carbines side-by-side with original vintage M1 Carbines: “We had to get in close to tell the difference. Overall, the two examples we were able to handle looked great and held up when next to the originals. The stampings are even close to correct with a few minor differences that were chosen to stop the new Inlands from being mistaken for originals. Take a look at the photos and see for yourself.”

CLICK HERE for GunsAmerica Article.

CMP M-1 Rimfire Carbine Citadel

CMP M-1 Rimfire Carbine Citadel

CMP M1 Carbine Matches — Growing in Popularity
The CMP M1 Carbine Match is part of the CMP Games program that already includes Garand, Springfield and Vintage Military Rifle Matches. “As-issued” U. S. Military M1 Carbines are fired over a 45-shot course of fire at 100 yards on either the old military “A” target (or the SR target, if A targets prove to be too difficult to obtain). The course includes 5 sighters and 10 shots for record prone slow fire in 15 minutes, a 10-shot rapid fire prone series in 60 seconds, a 10-shot rapid fire sitting series in 60 seconds and 10 shots slow fire standing in 10 minutes. An M1 Carbine Match was fired during the National Matches in the early 1950s, and now is back. As a CMP Games event, it also can now be conducted as a CMP-sanctioned competition.

CMP M-1 carbine games

Permalink Competition, New Product 6 Comments »
October 19th, 2014

How Altitude and Air Pressure Influence Ballistics

Suunto AltimeterOne of our readers asked “What effect does altitude have on the flight of a bullet?” The simplistic answer is that, at higher altitudes, the air is thinner (lower density), so there is less drag on the bullet. This means that the amount of bullet drop is less at any given flight distance from the muzzle. Since the force of gravity is essentially constant on the earth’s surface (for practical purposes), the bullet’s downward acceleration doesn’t change, but a bullet launched at a higher altitude is able to fly slightly farther (in the thinner air) for every increment of downward movement. Effectively, the bullet behaves as if it has a higher ballistic coefficient.

Forum member Milanuk explains that the key factor is not altitude, but rather air pressure. Milanuk writes:

“In basic terms, as your altitude increases, the density of the air the bullet must travel through decreases, thereby reducing the drag on the bullet. Generally, the higher the altitude, the less the bullet will drop. For example, I shoot at a couple ranges here in the Pacific Northwest. Both are at 1000′ ASL or less. I’ll need about 29-30 MOA to get from 100 yard to 1000 yards with a Berger 155gr VLD @ 2960fps. By contrast, in Raton, NM, located at 6600′ ASL, I’ll only need about 24-25 MOA to do the same. That’s a significant difference.

Note that it is the barometric pressure that really matters, not simply the nominal altitude. The barometric pressure will indicate the reduced pressure from a higher altitude, but it will also show you the pressure changes as a front moves in, etc. which can play havoc w/ your calculated come-ups. Most altimeters are simply barometers that read in feet instead of inches of mercury.”

As Milanuk states, it is NOT altitude per se, but the LOCAL barometric pressure (sometimes called “station pressure”) that is key. The two atmospheric conditions that most effect bullet flight are air temperature, and barometric pressure. Normally, humidity has a negligible effect.

It’s important to remember that the barometric pressure reported on the radio (or internet) may be stated as a sea level equivalency. So in Denver (at 6,000 feet amsl), if the local pressure is 24″, the radio will report the barometric pressure to be 30″. If you do high altitude shooting at long range, bring along a Kestral, or remember to mentally correct the radio station’s pressure, by 1″ per 1,000 feet.”

You can do your own experimental calculations using JBM Online Ballistics (free to use). Here is an extreme example, with two printouts (generated with Point Blank software), one showing bullet trajectory at sea level (0′ altitude) and one at 20,000 feet. For demonstration sake, we assigned a low 0.2 BC to the bullet, with a velocity of 3000 fps.

Trajectory of Bullet fired at Sea Level

Trajectory of Bullet fired at 20,000 feet

if you want to learn more about all aspects of External Ballistics, ExteriorBallistics.com provides a variety of useful resources. In particular, on that site, Section 3.1 of the Sierra Manual is reprinted, covering Effects of Altitude and Atmospheric Pressure on bullet flight.

Permalink Tech Tip 5 Comments »