The House of Representatives has just passed a new gun control bill. Before anyone starts crying foul, note that the NRA supports this legislation, which would require states to automate their lists of convicted criminals and the mentally ill who are prohibited under a 1968 law from buying firearms. States would be required to report those lists to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
"As the Virginia Tech shooting reminded us, there is an urgent national need to improve the background check system to keep guns out of the hands of those barred from buying them", House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter at Virginia Tech who killed 32 students and staff before committing suicide, had previously been ordered to undergo outpatient mental health treatment. This should have banned him from buying the weapons that he used in the shootings. Regretably, the state of Virginia never forwarded this information to the national background check system and his background checks therefore came back clean.
If the bill passes through the Senate and is signed into law by the president, it would be one of the first gun control measures to pass since 1994, when Congress prohibited juveniles from owning or selling handguns.
Friday, October 26, 2007
MOSSBERG 500 CRUISER
| Sexiness: | 4 |
| Reliability: | 4.5 |
| Maintenance: | 4.5 |
| Overall: | 4.35 (Very Good) |
The Mossberg 500 Cruiser is a shotgun that is well-suited for home defense. A very affordable shotgun at around $370, the "bang for the buck" is well worth it indeed. The Cruiser can often be purchased NIB for around $250.
With the pistol grip, the Cruiser is shorter than a hunting model, which allows quicker target acquisition at short range. The length, combined with a capacity of 6+1 12-gauge shells, really allows you to get in the corners.
As one might expect, the Mossberg 500 Cruiser is a manual pump, smoothbore shotgun. The bolt carrier is operated via two action bars, chamber locking is achieved via tilting breechblock bolt into the barrel extension. The Cruiser's safety is located at the tang of the receiver and is fully ambidextrous while the receiver is made from high quality aluminum alloys.
All Mossberg 500 models are reportedly able to take on a number of modular changes but I have yet to experiment with this. Testing was done on a straight-out-of-the-box factory model.
For the test, I fired 100 rounds of #8 bird shot, 100 rounds of 00-buck, and a handful of Remington Slugger rifled slugs. First, the positives. I found the Mossberg 500 Cruiser easy to aim from the hip as well as the mid-chest position, the latter being my preference. It performed exactly as I would expect from a 12-gauge of respectable quality. I have no doubt that it could clear a stairwell or doorway rather quickly.
There was just one thing that really bothered me. After only 8 shots, I began to notice that my right hand was swelling a bit, in the area between my thumb and forefinger. After another few shots, it was easy to figure out why. The shape of the pistol grip tapers backwards at the top, placing virtually all of the recoil directly onto that area of the hand. While I'm sure this design provides more stability than the older style smooth pistol grips that gradually taper downwards, you can expect your hand to take a beating if you're just shooting for fun. By the end of the day, my hand was not in good shape. Still, for defending the castle, this is a non-issue.
The Cruiser also receives a slightly lowered mark for reliability, since I had one shell fail to eject properly, turning sideways in the ejection port. Overall, I would feel safe owning this gun for home defense and consider the price very reasonable for the quality.
| Manufacturer: | Mossberg |
| Action: | Manual Pump |
| Material: | Carbon Steel |
| Finish: | Blued |
| Bore: | 12a. / 3" |
| Length: | 28" |
| Barrel Length: | 18.5" |
| Weight: | 7 lbs. |
| Capacity: | 6+1 |
| Grips: | Synthetic Pistol |
| MSRP: | $370.00 |
Thursday, October 25, 2007
ARMALITE AR-24
| Sexiness: | 4.0 |
| Reliability: | 5.0 |
| Maintenance: | 4.5 |
| Overall: | 4.5 (Excellent) |
Many 9mm fans will tell you that the CZ-75 is one of the greatest service pistols ever made. It was the earliest double-action, hi-cap 9mm to gain wide popularity. This full-size semiautomatic pistol first made its appearance in 1975 and production began in 1976. Mark Westrom, president of ArmaLite, brought one home with him from Germany, where he had served as an ordinance officer. Now, years later, ArmaLite has decided to give the gun a makeover and the result is the AR-24.
The first thing I noticed was that the ergonomics of the frame were outstanding. The gun fit into my hand as well as any pistol ever has, except perhaps an old Daewoo 9mm that I once owned, but to compare the two guns would be a true disservice to the AR-24. While the Daewoo jammed about once per clip, I ran 500 rounds of various ammo types through the AR-24 without a single malfunction. The rounds that I chose included full brass, Federal 124 hydrashock, and a small assortment of others.
Unloaded and sans clip, the frame, which is machined entirely on modern CNC equipment from solid forgings, weighs in at just over 1-pound. Field stripping is identical to other CZs; on the left side of the frame and slide are marks which - when aligned by drawing back the slide - allow you to push the slide stop pin out. It is probably no accident that the adjustable sight and slide look virtually identical to a Sig P210.
The trigger is a very smooth 5 1/2 pound pull, which caused absolutely no problems with accuracy or aiming. It had a great feel that made it quite fun to shoot.
There is currently a compact version of the 9mm and ArmaLite has announced that it plans to build a .40S&W and .45ACP version of the pistol, much to my happiness. I look forward to field-testing both of these models.
| Manufacturer: | Sarsilmaz (Istanbul, Turkey) |
| Importer: | ArmaLite Inc. |
| Action: | Short recoil, locked breech |
| Material: | Carbon Steel |
| Finish: | Heat-cured Epoxy |
| Caliber: | 9mm Luger |
| Length: | 8.27" |
| Barrel Length: | 4.67" |
| Weight: | 35 ounces |
| Capacity: | 15+1 |
| Trigger: | 12 pounds DA, 5 1/2 pounds SA |
| Sights: | Adjustable |
| Grips: | Checked Wood |
| MSRP: | $629.95 |
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