A Roundup of Firearms News

I have collected bookmarks to various articles about firearms that have caught my eye but that just haven't really fit with other posts, so I thought I would share some of these. For your perusal:

• "TFB Review: SureFeed’s E2 AR15 Magazine"--The Firearm Blog. This is a metal magazine that has some side texturing to assist with insertion or extraction, as well as feed lips designed to feed the rounds in at a more shallow angle. 
• "Should I Lapp My Ar15 Upper Receiver?"--New Rifleman. The author says "yes".
• "Strike Industries OPTIMUS Modular Weight Buffer"--The Firearm Blog. "The four weight materials and four weights inside the buffer make a ton of possible combinations allowing you to assemble buffers weighing from 1.7 to 5.2 oz." I don't know about using this for the long term, but if you build ARs, I could see this as useful to for troubleshooting and picking an appropriate buffer weight.
• "Bersa TPR9, Full Size Pistol and Full of Features – Video Review"--Ammo Land. This is a lower priced full sized (17-round) 9 mm pistol that, cosmetically, reminds me of the Ruger P-85/89, but with an accessory rail. The author's video reviews as well:

"Bersa TPR9 Tabletop Review and Field Strip"--Graham Baates (13 min.)

"Bersa TPR9 Shooting Impressions Range Review"--Graham Baates (12 min.)

• You can't stop the signal: "Prepare Your GLOCK – Deterrence Dispensed 3D Printed Extendez Mag"--The Firearms Blog. Plans released for a 30-round 3D printed Glock magazine--just need a spring. Not having metal feed lips, the magazine can wear out after several hundred rounds, but the designer notes that it is cheaper and easier to print a new magazine body than to figure out a way to incorporate metal feed lips into the design.
• "Let’s Get Small: The Case for the Pocket Pistol"--Guns America. A discussion of the pros and cons of pocket pistols. Key point, however:

I am a strong proponent of pocket pistols, because they lead to a higher number of responsibly armed Americans actually having a gun on their person during deadly force incidents. Are they the perfect self-defense tool from a projection of force standpoint? No. The rifle is still Queen of Battle, bested only by her old man Artillery, who is King. But just as a shovel’s a shovel’s a shovel when you need to dig a hole, a gun’s a gun’s a gun when a predator is closing in on you and it’s time to start shooting or start punching.

• Mini-shells are now official: "SAAMI Publishes Accepted 12-Gauge 1¾-Inch Cartridge and Chamber Designs"--American Hunter. 
• Context is important: "3 Self-Defense Opinions That Don't Hold Water"--Shooting Illustrated. Number 2:

Another comment that makes me chuckle is the claim that people use their pistol only to fight their way to a rifle or shotgun. Again, studying citizen-involved gunfights, the fight is nearly always over before a person would have time to get to that long gun. We know that when people deploy a long gun, their chances of survival go way up. But that long gun is going to have to be pretty close–within reach–or the fight will be over. 

The situation may be different in the case of civil unrest.

• "Gun Deals: Battle Steel Level IIIA Ballistic Flexible Bulletproof Panel $39.95 Each"--Ammo Land. This is pistol rated armor, not for rifle.
• "7 Preferred Production Handgun Models For Action Shooting"--Shooting Sports USA. The most popular is the EAA Tanfoglio Stock 2, which was used by 17% of the competitors. Numbers 2 and 3 are the CZ-USA Shadow 2 and predecessor model SP-01 Shadow, with a combined 27% of users.  
• "In Praise of the Manual Safety"--The Truth About Guns. 
• "Classics: Sterling Submachine Gun"--Shooting Illustrated. One of the overlooked facts about the larger .308 "battle rifles" is that almost every nation that used them also continued to use (and even develop new designs for) submachine guns. This fell off rapidly as the lighter .223 cartridge was adopted. The Russians, on the other hand, largely abandoned the submachine gun after the AK-47 began to be distributed in large numbers.
• Another dive into history: "Remington Model 7188"--Loose Rounds. Per the article:

The Remington 7188 was a variant of the M1100 pattern shotgun but produced for combat operations. Unlike the average sporting use shotgun, the 7188 was made to be full auto with a cyclic rate of 480 rounds a minute and was gas operated unlike the 11-48.

• "THE .44 MAGNUM OPUS" by John Taffin at Guns Magazine. A look at the origins of this iconic caliber.
• Ditto: "The .44 Magnum: A History"--Wiley Clapp, Shooting Illustrated.
• Or stepping down a bit to .357: "Gun Review: Colt King Cobra, The Snake Resurrected"--Recoil Magazine.
• "Gun Review: Armscor Rock Island Armory VR80 Shotgun"--The Truth About Guns. A semi-auto shotgun that really does look like the AR and can use many AR accessories.
• "Space-Saver: Reloading On A Minimalist Setup"--Shooting Sports USA. Good ideas for someone living in an apartment or who, for other reasons, can't have a larger, more permanent setup. It would also work for people that want to take a reloading set up with them to the range to develop loads.
• "THE SPR: AR GUERRILLA SNIPER RIFLE"--American Partisan. The author begins:

Making the standard AR-15 into something more than an intermediate carbine is an old concept, going back to nearly the genesis of the weapon itself. It really hit its stride in the early 2000s with the Special Purpose Rifle (SPR) concept- a Small Unit level Designated Marksman’s rifle. It’s advantages are numerous; light weight, accurate and fast. While the original Mk 12 is a bit dated now, the concept of having a rifle that shares magazines and ammo with the other weapons on the team remains tactically sound and one that is particularly appealing to potential guerrilla forces, working with limited manpower and supplies. Among those of us that actually understand small unit warfare, the role of the sniper- remaining in the shadows and timing his attack when and where its most favorable to him- is the largest force multiplier. His weapon is just as important. The AR, when done right, can serve this role well.

What you are looking for, the author describes, is a rifle that can effectively handle the 300 to 500 yard range. Read the whole thing.

• "Nikon Monarch 3K Rangefinder: Stabilized point of view"--Loose Rounds. Supposed to be capable to measuring distance out to 3,000 yards.