Gun & Prepping News #104

 Some links that may be of interest: 

• "Smith & Wesson Announces Acquisition of Savage Arms"--The Firearm Blog.  Not sure what I think about this because my fear is that S&W (or more accurately, its investors and managers) will not do anything to improve Savage, but just suck it dry. 
• "Don’t Become a Fudd: A How-To Guide" by Tamara Keel at Recoil. Keel has essentially redefined "Fudd" to mean a firearm Luddite unwilling to let go of yesteryear's technology. I have to agree with one of the comments, which pointed out that it was originally used to denote the gun owners who thought that the Second Amendment only applied to traditional hunting arms and were willing to throw other gun owners under the bus. The archetype of this was the once popular shooting and hunting writer, Jim Zumbo, who threw his career away after penning a rant in 2007 against hunters using AR style rifles in hunting camps, going so far as to call them "terrorist" rifles. I also question the point of Keel's article. Is she suggesting that those who enjoy Cowboy Action Shooting somehow lesser gunowners? Or those who focus on using black powder firearms? 
• I guess per Keel this must be an article for Fudds: "Colt Python Is Back: Should You Buy New or Vintage?"--Guns America. Basically it comes down to whether you want one for shooting or one for its collectors value. If the former, buy a new Python; and if not, buy one of the original Pythons. An excerpt:

    Calling the new revolver a “copy” of the old Python misses the point. The new gun is better understood as Colt taking the old Python’s visual identity and shooting personality, then rebuilding the mechanical package around manufacturing methods that did not exist when the original was introduced in 1955.

    Colt added roughly 30 percent more steel around the top-strap area and simplified the action considerably. Several assemblies in the original became single modern components, cutting friction points and making consistent production possible without the extraordinary amount of hand fitting that helped make old Pythons both wonderful and expensive.

    Does that mean the new trigger is worse because somebody with a stone and a lifetime of experience did not personally whisper encouragement to every engagement surface? Not necessarily. Reviews of the revived Python have repeatedly found exceptionally smooth double-action pulls and crisp single-action breaks. Some experienced shooters actually prefer the consistency of the modern action.

    That does not make the guns the same. A 1960s Royal Blue Python is a mechanical artifact from a particular era of American gunmaking. A 2026 Python is a modern production revolver built to be used. Pick your flavor of romance. 

• "300 Blackout vs. 300 HAMR"--Field & Stream. From the lede:

Up until the introduction of the 300 Blackout, the only mini 0.30-caliber cartridge anyone was shooting out of an AR15, or mini bolt-action rifle, was the 7.62×39 Russian. Unfortunately, as wonderful as the 300 Blackout was for subsonic shooting, it could not compete with the 7.62×39 in terms of performance. This left those wanting to hunt big game with an AR15 or mini bolt-action rifle looking for a cartridge that could compete with the century-old 30-30 Winchester. Wilson Combat filled that need with the 300 HAMR, but a lot of shooters are unfamiliar with it or don’t know how it differs from the 300 Blackout. We’re going to clear that up. 

• "Machine Gun Theory and Doctrine"--The Firearm Blog. I wish this article actually covered the theory and doctrine of using machine guns, but it doesn't. However, it does have some history about the adoption of the machine gun, particularly focusing on Russia and the Soviet Union. 
• From the same author: "The Soviet AK-74 Inspiration"--The Firearm Blog. The Soviets were impressed enough with the performance of the M16 and its .223 cartridge in Vietnam, that they developed their own small caliber round and adopted it as their standard infantry round. 
• "Taurus Gives the TX22 a New Twist With a Folding Brace Option"--The Truth About Guns.  The author begins:

    I’ve said before that the Taurus TX22 is one of my favorite .22 pistols, and it may well be my favorite of all time. The ergonomics are excellent, it has great magazine capacity, and mine has happily digested pretty much any .22 LR ammunition I’ve stuffed into it. It’s also a great suppressor host, which is always a plus in my book. Mine is an early model, though, from before Taurus started offering optics-ready slides. The latest addition to the TX22 lineup addresses that and adds another interesting feature to the mix.

    Taurus just announced the Brace-Ready TX22, which combines the updated TX22 platform with the option of a Strike Industries FSA Lite folding stabilizing brace. It’s an interesting combination that looks like it could make an already fun pistol even more entertaining at the range.

You're not limited to the Strike Industries brace, however, as the pistol's attachment point is a Pic rail, so you should be able to mount other braces or stocks. It also comes ready to mount an optic. I also understand that there are forced reset trigger mechanisms available for this pistol. 

• Another review: "Taurus TX22 Braced Review: The TX22 With a Folding Brace"--Guns America.

• Liberals are a plague on humanity: "San Diego County Sues 3D Filament Manufacturer Over 'Ghost Guns'."--The Firearm Blog. The article reports that "San Diego County is suing Polymaker, a producer of 3D filament material. The county says Polymaker is purposefully selling its material to California residents, enabling them to make so-called “ghost guns” through 3D printing processes." Maybe they will next be suing companies that sell files or screwdrivers. 
• "Gladwell Says Better Trauma Care Masks America’s Homicide Toll"--The Truth About Guns. The author relates:

    Malcolm Gladwell has a theory about why gun control isn’t a bigger political issue in America, and it has nothing to do with the guns themselves. It has to do with the doctors.

    In a wide-ranging Time magazine interview with Belinda Luscombe promoting his new book, The American Way of Killing (out Sept. 29), Gladwell argued that the skill of modern trauma surgeons is quietly holding down the murder statistics that would otherwise drive public outrage.

Gladwell suggests that "if you froze the quality of medical care at 1960 levels, the United States would see roughly 75,000 homicides a year. Instead, the actual figure sits around 12,000." I'm sure that good trauma care does depress the number of shootings that result in death, but Gladwell is exaggerating the estimates to support his position:

 Gladwell’s statistic isn’t invented, but it’s stretched to the top of the range. The original source is a 2002 study in Homicide Studies by Anthony Harris, Stephen Thomas, Gene Fisher and David Hirsch — Murder & Medicine: The Lethality of Criminal Assault 1960-1999 — which the DOJ’s own Office of Justice Programs library hosts. That study concluded that without medical advances, the U.S. would see “45,000 to 70,000 homicides a year instead of an actual 15,000 to 20,000.” A 45,000-to-70,000 range. Gladwell rounds up past the ceiling to 75,000 in the interview and to “75 to 80,000” in his podcast telling. The underlying academic finding is real. The specific figure he cites in interviews isn’t quite what the paper said.

But given that 250,000 people die each year in the United States due to medical negligence, perhaps Gladwell should be arguing for more outrage against doctors and hospitals.

• "Chestnuts and Various Nuts Compared"--The Survival Gardner. An excerpt:

    The American chestnut tree used to dominate the forests of the Eastern United States before the introduction of the chestnut blight that destroyed almost every single tree. Though we haven’t found a good American chestnut that will survive here yet, if one is discovered, we’ll plant as many as we can.

    For now, the Dunstan (which has some American genes) and the Chinese chestnut do great, even if they are tiny trees compared to the towering American chestnuts of the past.

    Chestnuts don’t need perfect soil and thrive in zones 5-9, and can probably be zone-pushed into zone 4 as well with a decent microclimate.