Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the Manatee Gun Club range in Myakka, FL.  Notably they are the only open-to-the-public 1000 yard range in the Sunshine State.  I limited my shooting to 565 yards where steel targets and truck tires live on the berm.  Long story short, I brought my homebuilt AR-15A2 (FN 1x7 surplus barrel) and approximately 500 rounds of various steel cased ammunition. 

Steel is not as malleable as brass and thus does not expand to seal a firearm's chamber as well as brass.  As a consequence, there will be significantly more case blowback than a similar brass cased cartridge.  This is evident in the pictures below as you can see the amount of carbon residue stuck to the side of the steel casing I had to manually eject via cleaning rod. You can also see the nice section of missing case rim material in the approximate shape of an AR15 extractor. This can be a more common problem with uneven case coatings such as "lacquer" found on Brown Bear (not really lacquer) or "polymer" found on Wolf and Tula (who knows what this really is).

The moral of the story is the bring a good cleaning rod when shooting copious amounts of steel cased ammo.

Russian 223 Disassembled

I'm a cheap bastard and like shooting.  This coupled with my affinity for the AR15 platform equals cheap Russian steel-cased ammunition.  On average these rounds cost right around or under $.20 delivered and are accurate enough for my purposes.  Unlike many stories I've read about Wolf and Tulammo I rarely get FTEs or FTFs with my bottom of the barrel ammunition.  With steel cased ammunition not expanding as much as brass cased ammunition; I also scrub my chambers after each encounter in order to remove excess powder residue and fouling. 

On to the actual review.  From the bottom of my range bag, I was able to retrieve a few stray rounds I could identify from previous purchases.  They are (from left to right): Tulammo 55 gr FMJ, Tulammo 75gr HP, Brown Bear 62gr SP, Golden Tiger 55gr FMJ, Federal XM193C 55gr FMJ.

Tulammo has the Wolf-like polymer case coating and both Brown Bear and Golden Tiger have the green "lacquer." Of course Federal is traditional brass.  Additionally, Golden Tiger and Brown Bear both have sealed primers with that nasty red stuff.  Golden Tiger also sports the sealant around the case neck.

Unfortunately, I left my impact bullet puller in another city so I had to pull the bullets the old fashioned way.  Please forgive the vise-grip marks on the projectiles.

 The Federal is the only of the lot with ball (spherical) powder.  All of the Russian specimens have extruded cut powder of some sort.  All of the Russian projectiles also have a noticeably thicker jacket than the M193.  This would seem to support observation by many shooters that recovered steel jacketed Russian projectiles do not readily fragment. My own testing has shown Wolf 55 gr to fragment in the past; albeit perhaps not consistently. All of the projectiles here exhibit a boat tail design including the Brown Bear 62gr SP.  The Brown Bear is the only projectile to feature an enclosed base.  Notably, there is a good amount of lead exposed at the tip.  I'm curious in the performance of this round hog hunting. The Tulammo 75gr HP has what loosely can be described as a hollow point similar to an OTM (open tip match) round.  Unlike American made OTM rounds; I have my doubts as to the fragmentation ability of this round.

 When I'm feeling less lazy, I'll take the time to weigh and measure the projectiles (sans pliers deformation) if I haven't lost them by then.

Tactical Machining AR Lower / Palmetto State Armory LPK

I recently had the opportunity to assemble yet another AR rifle from random parts around the house.  After reading various reviews and having used most of the big name manufacturers such as Colt, Bushmaster, RRA, Stag, Armalite, Spikes, Superior, Essential, Mega, and Aero Precision; I decided to try another brand.  As this is a newer company, I couldn't find too many reviews about their stripped lower.  Out of the reviews I stumbled across, none of them seemingly had anything bad to say about the lower or the company.

Upon visual inspection, the lower showed excellent finish with none of the flashing left over from the forging process that Colt and Bushmaster love to leave on their products.  Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures before slapping the lower parts kit into the lower.  Everything went in as expected and took approximately 15 minutes to assemble.  I should note that the LPK used was from Palmetto State Armory and also exhibited excellent fit and finish.  Coincidentally, the LPK happened to be the cheapest set available as well.  It is head over heels better than the DPMS trigger parts I have used in the past.

 The lower is a low shelf with a properly beveled magazine well.  My only complaint is the FIRE and SAFE markings are a little larger than most manufacturers.  Everything from USGI aluminum to Magpul PMAGs drop free and seat properly in the magazine well.  Here is the clincher though.  Out of all the receivers I have used or complete rifles from "Tier 1" manufacturers, this lower has the best upper to lower fit with any number of upper receivers I have tried it with.  I do not know how TM does this, but I'm sold on the internal dimensions they use.  The upper and lower receiver assembly slide together with no noticeable play whatsoever.  This isn't the typical out of spec super tight take down pin syndrome some lowers exhibit. No accuwedge or foam earplug required for proper upper/lower fit here.

The dye used in the anondization is also a perfect match for the my A2 upper (USGI surplus) with a deep, thick, black hardcoat.

This is by far the nicest lower I have yet seen or used when it comes to fit and finish.  Could I do with no logo?  Sure.  But given that every manufacturer plasters a giant billboard on the side of their lower, this one was done with reasonable good taste.  No deer head on my rifle.

Dealextreme Flashlight Review

So in my latest support of sweatshop labor, I've ordered a couple of flashlights from DX aka Deal Extreme. Recently, DX has created a drop ship warehouse in the US rather than shipping everything from their suppliers in China.  While browsing their site, I came across a rather small and unique flashlight that seems to be perfect for EDC.  Rather than the traditional baton style flashlight design, this one is a mini angle head with a reverse clicky switch on top.

This thing is deceivingly small as it runs off of a single CR123A or RCR123A battery.  Although the belt clip seems to be of quality similar to my E2E, it is only secured with two screws of unknown length and quality.  We will see how long it lasts. The anodization appears quite thick and not the usual cheap finish found my some of my other lights.  It may actually be type III hardcoat.  Only time and hard use will tell on this one. 

For a size comparison, check out the next picture that shows the light disassembled into its main components.

You'll notice that the barrel of the light is approximately the length of a CR123 battery. Being an angle head design, the reflector projects from the bod at a 90 degree angle; which shortens the overall length compared to a traditionally flashlight design.  The lens is glass and the LED appears to be a CREE XP-E. In typical Chinese fashion, all o-rings and the power switch are glow-in-the-dark material.  If you don't like the GITD switch cover and o-rings, you can order replacement switch covers from DX and find regular o-rings at your local hardware store.  It comes fairly dry, so a dab of dielectric grease is in order.

This thing is proving to be pretty useful as it is smaller than a roll of dimes and puts out more light as a Surefire G2 LED.  There are three modes accessible through the reverse clicky switch on top of the light. The user interface also remembers the last state the light was in and reverts to the last known mode upon activation. The one annoyance is the strobe "feature."  It really serves no purpose and is just an extra step when switching between high and low modes.  Other than that minor gripe, this light has so far exceeded my expectations for a $12 flashlight that takes rechargeable or primary batteries.

Ruining some expensive soft body armor...oops :P

Although this happened a little while ago; I thought I would write about it and include pictures.  The background for the story starts with a "ballistics lab" for a local law enforcement agency I used to be employed with.  The local rep was here to show off (and peddle) some soft body armor from an undisclosed company.  His cocky attitude just rubbed me the wrong way; but what the hell...I'm on the range and having fun. I'm thinking he was really a nice guy and this was probably just the salesman's pitch, but the prankster part of my mind got the better of me.

So the rep shoots round after round of various ammunition into the said vest and trauma plate trying to get the roughly five agencies to order these vests.  Although interesting, the rep's cocky demeanor and attitude really started to annoy me more and more. How could I ruin his day? Well...I noticed on the table he had a Tokarev.  He brought it to show that the NIJ Level III vest could stop the feared "cop killer" round.  The ammunition he brought was Winchester branded PPU 7.62x25mm FMJ.  Having shot this round into old vests; I know it will penetrate the Level IIA vests we were issued.  Fortunately for me; I had a good stash of Czech surplus 7.62x25mm steel core ammo acquired by the case for about 2 cents per round.

Forgetting to mention that this was "armor piercing" ammunition; I handed a couple of stripper clips over to the rep and asked if his vest would stop the round.  A few rounds flew through the chronograph for the sake of scientific method and off to the vest.  Unlike with lead core FMJ and JHP, the vest did not bounce backwards and cave-in.  Instead, the protective garment didn't appear to flinch and held steadfast with just a small shudder.  I heard the rep say "That doesn't look good."

Upon closer inspection, the bullet had punched right through the soft armor and even out the back of the dummy.  Oops. Did I piss on this guy's campfire just a little too much?  The cockiness fell right out of him and he seemed a little discouraged; yet he wanted to try it again with a special trauma plate that had earlier withstood the impact of a 30 carbine cartridge and near point-blank without even passing through half of the layers in the trauma plate.  Another round slid into the chamber of the Norinco Tokarev and we were off again.  As you will see below, it made little difference and the round still tore through the softarmor and supporting mannequin.

To be fair, the vest stopped every single round thrown at it with the exception of the Czech surplus 7.62x25mm.  As a consequence; however, I'm not entirely sure anyone signed any contracts for soft body armor that day.

Yugoslavian (Zastava) M57 Tokarev

This is a quick blurb about the Yugoslavian M57 Tokarev pistol.  The M57 is like most other Tokarevs in both design and function.  Unlike it's cousins from other Soviet satellite countries, the M57 (in my opinion) improves upon the basic design.  Like all Tokarevs, it is your traditional John Browning inspired design with a few simplifications for faster production such as the way locking lugs are machined and slide release retention to name a couple.

Unlike other Tokarevs; however, the M57 differs with a lengthened grip frame designed to hold an additional round.  Also as shown below, the guide rod and recoil spring assembly are a captive unit (ala Glock).  Another minor improvement is the use of dovetailed front and rear sights.  The original Tokarev uses machined front sight that is integral to the slide.

Due to stupid legislation, firearms imported into the US have to meet certain "safety" criteria and this is where the Yugo excels over its kissing cousin counterparts.  The M57 uses a 1911-style thumb safety that is factory fitted at Zastava.  According to the Zastava website, the safety locks the sear and firing pin.  Upon inspection it only locks the sear contrary to what Zastava says.  Mine is properly fitted and I cannot see how carrying Condition-1 would be any less safe than the same with a 1911 (series 70) platform firearm.  Unfortunately for other recent Tokarev imports, our silly "safety" laws have forced importers to add "safety" devices that are completely impractical to use or in some cases render the firearm inoperable.  Everything from Norinco, Romanian, and Polish imports have "safety devices" added as an afterthought in the most inconvenient places.

As for function, my M57 has yet to have a FTF or FTE and shoots point of aim from 7 to 25 yards.  Manhole covers stand little chance at 100 yards.  Unfortunately the days of cheap surplus 7.62x25mm seem to be coming to an end.  If you have a good source, please share it with me.

Obama hates Hispanics

With all the recent news of Operation Gunrunner, Gunwalker, Fast and Furious, or whatever the government is calling it this week; I can't but help think that President Obama hates Hispanics.  Unlike how President Bush "hates black people," this actually has validity and substance.

1. BATF with the full endorsement of the DOJ encourages straw purchases of firearms on border states despite the objections of firearms dealers to known cartel gunrunners (well over 2000).
2. Instead of arresting and stopping the illegal gunrunners, field agents are told by their superiors to let the "guns walk" knowing full well they will be used by some of the most violent people in Mexico.
3. Hillary Clinton, Mexican President Calderon, and Eric Holder cite the increasing violence and guns traced back to the US border states as reason for more gun control (2010)
4. Whistle blowers finally spill the beans in 2011 after the deaths of 2 US agents, hundreds of Mexican Police, and thousands of Mexican citizens traced back to guns brought across the border from Fast and Furious.
5. Evidence is now surfacing that firearms were being smuggled by the ATF from Tampa to MS13 contacts in Central America with the full blessings of the DOJ.
6. The ATF Chief of the Phoenix Field Division in charge of the gun running scandal gets promoted to head "Internal Affairs" for ATF.

From this simple string of events, it is clear to me that President Obama's cabinet will do anything including the wholesale slaughter of innocent citizens of another country to promote his anti-gun agenda. Sadly, it took the lives of two US agents to bring this to light.  I guess the thousands of Mexicans don't really count as long as you can get legislation passed.

http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Reports/ATF_Report.pdf
http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Reports/FINAL_FINAL.pdf

TNW Suomi M31 review (hammer fired version)

I recently acquired a newer TNW M31 Suomi in 9mm.  Having several cases of postwar British Sten ammunition and nothing I would want trash it with, the idea of having a pistol caliber weapon that weighed more than a loaded M1 Garand sounded like a great idea.

The first thing I noticed was how heavy and overbuilt this thing was.  Keep in mind this is a semi-auto reproduction of a first generation submachinegun.  These were typical labor intensive to build and mostly overbuilt for the calibers they were chambered in.  In fact the rear sight still bears the original patent date of 1932.

The way TNW makes these into BATF-legal semi-autos from a full auto parts kit is to construct a new reduced diameter receiver and then convert the method of fire from open bolt to closed bolt.  The earlier renditions of these incorporated a striker-fired closed bolt assembly with the trigger pack converted to semi-auto.  There have been a few reports of those earlier striker fired versions failing to ignite hard primers in addition to excessively heavy triggers.  The later version I acquired resolves some of these issues by using a hammer fired bolt assembly.  This not only reduces the trigger pull, but allows greater force (actually impulse) to be imparted on the firing pin.  Although I haven't tested the British surplus ammunition with this, I have no doubt it will ignite just fine as it has cratered the primers on all the commercial 9mm ammo I have thus far fed it.

So far, I have put approximately 200 rounds through it since new and it runs flawlessly with 36 rd stick magazines.  I also have three drums.  Those are an entirely different story as none of them will feed more than 10 rounds without a failure to feed.  I have since adjusted the spring tension on the drums and anxiously await another chance to test them.

Accuracy is minute of 6" dueling tree plate at 80 yards.  Recoil is nil. My friend did manage to pull a shoulder muscle shooting this and I somehow injured my gluteus during the whole ordeal (this thing weighs a ton).

Cleaning is a breeze due to TNW retaining the original quick detach barrel assembly.  The only detractor from the field stripping is removal of the rear cap to access the bolt assembly.  This is done by retracting the charging handle all the way to the rear and unscrewing the cap while holding said handle.  The older TNW versions had a set of nested springs (one for the bolt and one for the striker) that were known to fly across the room.  Fortunately, the newer hammer fired version has only a single operating spring to cycle the bolt and stays put relatively well.

To sum it up, this is a great buy if you like historical firearms and don't mind a pistol caliber rifle that weighs more than a loaded M1 Garand.  It's definitely a keeper for me.

Pictures of the bolt assembly:

Trigger Group