Wednesday Weapons Website of the Week: The Firearm Blog

The Firearm Blog is an excellent place to get gun news, often news that is buried on other sites or that just isn’t found anywhere else. That’s no secret to us: search Google for “the firearm blog” site:weaponsman.com and you’ll get over 100 hits, six or seven pages of them, most of those mentions being where we give Steve Johnson and his gang credit for stories we found there.

Sometimes we pass the story on. Sometimes we develop it further. Sometimes we disagree with what Steve and his writers have written, but those seven pages of Google hits tell us we keep coming back to Steve and his guys (and at least one gal, Annette Wachter).

You should, too.

Here’s what’s on there today, just on the front page:

• A manufacturer’s release of night sights for the compact Glock 42. Tritium is your friend, although these are apparently photoluminescent (i.e., they “recharge” from being in daylight, to illuminate at night). We’ll stick with tritium, but it’s good to see a new gun getting some love from the aftermarket.

• A report on a factory tour with the controversial Tac-Con company that makes a wildly hyped “ATF legal full auto trigger group.” We’ll probably review one of these very expensive triggers anon.

• A shooter’s report on his first 2000 rounds through a new (well, it was when he started) FN FNS-9 longslide pistol.

• More proof that “tactical” has gone mentally nonlinear, the “Deluxe Tactical Beer Koozie” which is a “miniature tactical vest beverage koozie.” Well, it’s meant as a gag. We think.

• A press release on the Silencer Shop Direct program, which takes much of the NFA hassle off you — if you have a corporation or trust set up.

• A report (lifted from Jane’s) on a Filipino purchase of $53 million worth of Remington R4s. That gets them 63,000 guns, probably select fire. These will replace the nation’s elderly M16A1s (hmmm… parts kits? We need to overturn the ATF’s barrel ban). It’ll be interesting to see if these R4s (basically, badge-engineered Bushmasters) are produced in Ilion, or if Remington assembles them in their new plant, far from Cuomostan.

• And one that’s definitely worth linking: in the light of ATF’s shadow war on soi-disant “80% receivers” (technically, in the Bureau’s view, “receiver blanks”) and the customers who buy and complete them, Thomas Gomez of TFB posted (with the permission of Chris Garrison of Billet Rifle Systems), ATF’s Letter Of Determination as issued to Chris and BRS in February, 2013.

• A Ruger rimfire recall. Not of interest unless you have a Ruger American Rimfire rifle, and if we own anything that ugly, it needs to have a bayonet lug and have been issued in some army. But if you have one of those homely sticks, you might need that recall info.

• A warning about polymer-cased PCP ammo. Hey, they only tried it in two guns. Of course, it did blow up the guns, so there is that.

• A promotional video on S&T’s (formerly Daewoo) K14 sniper rifle, a typically modern, modular gun. Here’s the video:

And there’s more stuff besides… and there will be more tomorrow. So, The Firearm Blog is a thoroughly deserving Wednesday Weapons Website of the Week.