Great Gun Stuff Blog

HERA ARMS, makers of the Glock Carbine Kit, have turned their sights on the M1911 pistol. The Colt Pistol Extension (CPE) turns any mil-sepc 1911 into a .45 carbine.

Installation is simple. All that is involved is removing the grip panels and attaching the CPE in their place.

A stock adapter is available which allows AR-15 stocks to be attached.

In the United States this kit could be legally installed on any 1911 without violating BAFTE rules, as long as no stock or foregrip is attached. As soon as a stock or a foregrip is added, the gun must be registered with the BATFE.

The kit is featured in the current issue of DWJ magazine.

I do not know of any US distributors, but I am sure this will be picked up by US importers soon.

UPDATE: Video of it being used. Thanks to Gutao for the link.

UPDATE: Sven just told me that the 1911 used with the kit needs to be mil-spec. The DWJ magazine reported problems with non-mil-spec sights interfering with the kit.

[ Many thanks to Sven (Defense and Freedom) for emailing me the the info. ]

From MP.net ...

AGUSAN DEL SUR, PHILIPPINES - DECEMBER 12: Hostages of tribal gunmen are seen on December 12, 2009 in San Martin, Philippines. The suspected bandits, reported to be former government-armed militia led by Danilo 'Ondo' Perez, have abducted dozens of villagers, included schoolchildren and teachers, in the Southern Philippines.

I was surprised to see a polymer Thermold magazine being used by these bandits.

Thermold's nylon AR-15 / M16 magazine.

Most of you, I think, know what is meant by a term "STANAG magazine". For those of you who do not, it refers to a specification prepared by NATO which describes the dimensions of an AR-15 / M16 compatible magazine. An example of the usage of the term is in the Magpul's Masada spec document (emphasis added) ...

Multiple ammunition magazine capability is accomplished with unique lower receivers to accept either the NATO STANAG (USGI M-16) or the Automatic Kalashnikov (AK) magazine. Additional lowers receivers that accept other maga- zine types are also possible.

I received an interesting email from Roberto, a NATO employee, who explained that despite the term being commonly used, the specification does not exist. Apparently the draft STANAG 4179 was never ratified by member states and therefor it was discarded by default. If you call up the NATO Standardisation Agency (Bruxelles) and ask them for the STANAG 4179 document they will tell you that it does not exist.

This slide comes from a NATO presentation ...

So there you have it - STANAG 4179 does not exist! "USGI compatible" is a more correct term than "STANAG compatible" when referring to AR-15 magazines.

Many thanks to Roberto for this information.

Umarex is manufacturing this .22 LR rifle patterned on the HK416¹ . It features ...

• Metal receivers.
• Functional dust cover.
• Full length picatinny rail.
• Adjustable stock.
• H&K style diopter iron sights. Adjustable for elevation or windage.
• 16" barrel.
• Pistol grip with compartment (for spare batteries, tools, etc.)

The rifle will be sold with either a 10 or 20 round magazine but 30 round mags will be available for purchase.

The previous Umarex .22 rifle, the Colt M4, had some serious problems. Justin Biddle, Umarex's Marketing Manager, assured me that they have been made changes to the Umarex action and sorted out the issues experienced by the M4 owners.

Hat Tip: On Point Supply

After a year of speculation and commentary from pundits, myself included, the Marine Times reports that the H&K has won the competition and that their entry will enter production next year ...

The Marine Corps has selected the infantry automatic rifle made by Heckler & Koch as the weapon that will replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in infantry fire teams, a senior service official told Marine Corps Times on Wednesday.

The H&K IAR “was truly the best in the class on multiple levels and will finally allow the billet of automatic rifleman to be performed as intended without the disruption of the squad integrity that the M249 created,” Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Eby, the Corps’ senior gunner, said in an e-mail.

Despite what is said in the above quotation, I do not think that the SAW is being replaced outright. The Marine Times has at times reported that the SAW would be replaced with the IAR, and at other times reported that it would augment the IAR, not replace it ...

The plan is to buy 4,100 IARs and reduce the number of SAWs in the Corps from 10,000 to 8,000, Cantwell said.

“We are still going to maintain SAWs in the company,” he said. “Only 2,000 SAWs will be replaced. The reminder will be kept as an organizational weapon for when commanders need them.”

The H&K entry was a modified version of their HK416 piston-operated AR-15 rifle. Unlike the Colt and FN entries, it is said to fire only from a closed bolt. Given the lack of an open-bolt fire mode I had presumed it was the least likely choice for an automatic rifle.

Presumably it is fitted with a heavy barrel, like H&K's previous, and commercially unsuccessful, attempt at the automatic rifle: the MG36. The Marine Corps has been reporting the weight of the 16.5" barreled H&K IAR as being 7.9 lbs. This is not possible as a standard 16.5" barreled Hk416 weights in at 7.84 lbs. I also think that the photo of the H&K IAR shown by the Military Times is that of a standard HK416.

HK416 standard rifle (not IAR)

I have contacted H&K to see if they are willing to publicly acknowledge if they have won. If they do, I will endeavor to get the specs of the new weapon.

UPDATE: I have written a follow up blog post here.

Many thanks to Mark and Matt for sending me the news.

Two months ago I blogged that Zel Custom would soon be selling an upgraded 3rd Gen version of their Tactilite AR-15 upper. The Gen-3 receiver is now the standard receiver across the Tactilite product line and available in .338 Laupa as well as .50 BMG and .416 Barrett.

I also noticed on their website that they will be unveiling a new "Tactilite T3" at SHOT in January. I am looking forward to seeing it.

On the 24th of this month the USPTO approved Magpul's patent application for the Magpul self-leveling AR-15 magazine follower. Patent number 7621063 lists the inventors as Richard M. Fitzpatrick, Michael T. Mayberry and Eric S. Nakayama.

Diagram of the follower from the patent.

The patent can be viewed after the jump.

Rumors that the French military are considering dropping the FAMAS rifle have been spreading fast across the internet. The speculation arose from a post [English translation] at The Mammoth, a French milblog.

I asked Aurelien, an authority on the French military, what he thought of these rumors. I was surprised when he told me that the FAMAS has caused many problems.

The F1 model only works with the older M193 (55 grain) 5.56x45mm ammunition and it uses propriety magazines. The FAMAS G2 corrected these problems by modifying the rifle to work with STANAG (AR-15) magazines and the modern SS109 (62 grain) round. So far only the Navy has adopted the newer G2 model. The Army has to source M193 for the FAMAS and SS109 for the FN Minimi machine gun and to make matter worse, stocks of the old M193 are running low.

The French special forces, because of the lack of modularity of the FAMAS, have been using M4-style and Sig 5xx rifles for decades.

FAMAS G2. Photo from Wikipedia.

Aurelien says that while their have been talks of a replacement to the FAMAS, the FELIN program (the French equivalent of the Land Warrior program) still involves fielding an upgraded FAMAS G2.

I am sure I had always heard good things about the FAMAS. Admittedly from non-French sources. Talking to a locals always gets better quality information. Since running the blog I now have contacts all over the world.

Many thanks to Aurelien for taking the time to answer my questions.

Hat Tip: Eric @ LightFighter

This photo, which is purported to be real, shows a Ranger using the 7.62x51mm FN SCAR-H ( MK 17 Mod 0 ).

The photo is said to have been taken by Spc. Walter Reeves.

The semi-automatic civilian model is called the FN SCAR 17S and will be on sale early next year.

SCAR-H on display at Tactical Evolution Expo and Conference '09. Photo by Dominique

Thanks to jdun1911 and SaysUncle for the link.

Hat Tip: AR-15.com

Shotgun News magazine has published an AR-15 magazine torture test. The author, David M. Fortier, summarized the article on AR15.com ...

85 8.5 foot drop test. The Tango Down, PMAG and TAPCO all split down the spine.

Many more tests than these were performed. For the full write-up check out the Shotgun News article.

My thoughts:

PMAGs are very good, but not as indestructible as some think.

Aluminum mags are not as bad as some think.

You should consider checking out Lancer's mag.....they surprised me.

If MSARs mag dropped free they would be an interesting option.

Dropping mags onto cement is A LOT tougher on them then running them over with a SUV....

but all those videos from the various mag companies sure did work wonders for advertising didn't they.....

Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link.

UPDATE: The drop test was 8.5 feet, not 85 feet.