Month: March 2011

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IAC Model 97 Trench Gun

March 15, 2011 by 4 Comments

With the ATF discussing banning certain imported shotguns as not meeting the sporting suitability requirement, I have been thinking about what might be banned. Heading the list is, of course, the Saiga shotguns. Prices on Saiga 12’s have shot up from the upper $400 range to over $800 in recent weeks. Another shotgun that might make the list is the Norinco copy of the Winchester 1897 Trench Gun.

The executive summary of the report lists a number of characteristics that ATF in its wisdom says makes a shotgun “unsuitable” for “sporting purposes”.

Following this review, the working group determined that certain shotgun features are not particularly suitable or readily adaptable for sporting purposes. These features include:

(1) Folding, telescoping, or collapsible stocks;
(2) bayonet lugs;
(3) flash suppressors;
(4) magazines over 5 rounds, or a drum magazine;
(5) grenade-launcher mounts;
(6) integrated rail systems (other than on top of the receiver or barrel);
(7) light enhancing devices;
(8) excessive weight (greater than 10 pounds for 12 gauge or smaller);
(9) excessive bulk (greater than 3 inches in width and/or greater than 4 inches in depth);
(10) forward pistol grips or other protruding parts designed or used for gripping the shotgun with the shooter’s extended hand.

Although the features listed above do not represent an exhaustive list of possible shotgun features, designs or characteristics, the working group determined that shotguns with any one of these features are most appropriate for military or law enforcement use. Therefore, shotguns containing any of these features are not particularly suitable for nor readily adaptable to generally recognized sporting purposes such as hunting, trap, sporting clay, and skeet shooting.

Frankly, I find this utter bullshit but not surprising coming from the bureaucratic mindset of the BATFE Headquarters staff. This made me realize that there was no time like the present if I wanted one of the shotguns that fell under that criteria.

The Saiga is OK but would take quite a bit to upgrade from stock. I understand your average 3-gun competitor has about $1,000 worth of gunsmithing and upgrades in their Saigas. So the Saiga was out for now. What pushed me towards the IAC Model 97 was that years ago I had and sold a Winchester 1897 12 gauge with a full choke. Also, I believe Michael Bane had mentioned recently in one of his podcasts that Evil Roy – Gene Pearcy – had won the Wild Bunch match at Winter Range using the Model 97 Trench Gun. With all this in mind, I ordered the IAC Model 97 Trench Shotgun from a local dealer who gave me a nice discount.

I picked up the shotgun this past Friday. It comes in the box as seen below. I find it amusing that either the Chinese or the importer felt the need to drape the box in the Stars and Stripes.

I haven’t had time to go to the range and shoot the Model 97 yet, so I am going to just post a few pictures and some quick impressions of it.

The shotgun feels solid in the hand. Nothing seemed loose and nothing rattled (other than the sling mounts) if you shake the shotgun. Racking the slide a number of times I found it fairly smooth. The trigger is a bit heavy but not tremendously so. In copying the Winchester 1897, the Chinese left off the trigger disconnect just like the original. Thus, it retains the ability to slam fire.

The finish on the Model 97 is so-so. The bluing is uneven in places as can been seen in the picture below. Notice the light spot just behind the bead sight. The size of the light spot is about that of a finger or thumb print. I’m guessing it is a result of improper surface prep before bluing.

 

The stock is American Walnut. The quality of the wood was OK and the finish was not bad. You can see the grain in the picture below. There was either a knot or patch in the grip area (see dark spot just above the reflection of the camera flash) but it seemed solid.

 

Finally, as you can by the receiver, the metal parts of the Model 97 are covered in some sort of grease or metal preservative. This will need to be cleaned off and a light coat of oil applied instead before taking it out. If you look closely, Norinco included the U.S. Ordnance bomb on the receiver.

The wood to metal fit is acceptable. There are no real gaps and the quality is higher than what I’ve seen on Russian-made shotguns like the Baikal.

Comparing this gun to close-ups of the real Winchester 1897, it is obvious that the gunmakers at Winchester cleaned up the tooling marks on the breach bolt and carrier a heck of a lot better than Norinco. If you look at the picture below you can see the tooling marks.

Is the IAC Model 97 Trench Gun equivalent to the “real” Winchester 1897 Trench Gun? Absolutely not. However, mine cost $385 and the Winchester will cost in the $2,000 range or more if you can find one. For knocking about and plinking, I think my IAC Model 97 will do just fine. Probably the only things I might add to it are a 1″ GI leather sling and maybe a reproduction Enfield M-1917 bayonet.

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The Month After Tucson

March 15, 2011 by

NSSF is reporting that the adjusted NICS checks for the month of February 2011 are up 13.6% over the previous year.

The February 2011 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 963,746 is an increase of 13.6 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 848,036 from February 2010. For comparison, the unadjusted February 2011 NICS figure of 1,463,138 is an increase of 18.2 percent over the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,237,617 from February 2010. The adjusted NICS data was derived by NSSF by subtracting out all NICS purpose code permit checks used by several states such as Kentucky, Iowa and Utah for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. While not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provides a more accurate picture of current market conditions.

Courtesy of NSSF

The raw data directly from the FBI can be seen here. It breaks out NICS checks by state.

Looking at the bar chart above, you can see the spike in sales in February 2009 as compared to February 2008. I think it can be reasonably assumed that this is due to the spike in gun sales nationwide beginning with the election of President Barack Obama. The heavy surge in gun sales has moderated by February 2010 as the fear over new gun control measures has started to abate. However, after the shootings in Tucson and the clamor for more gun control, NICS checks (and presumably sales) surge even higher than after the election of Obama.

Looking at the raw numbers, some states like Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas show increases of more than 10,000 checks over  the January 2011 numbers. While past history tends to show more sales in February than in January (due, in part, I presume to leftover bills from Christmas), the increases this year are substantially more than in previous years.

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Stakeholder Meetings

March 14, 2011 by

The Huffington Post is reporting that the Obama Administration has been having informal discussions on gun control policy with both pro-gun and anti-gun groups. Supposedly spearheaded by the Justice Department, these meetings are meant to be a “feeling out process”.

“As the president said, we should focus on sound, effective steps that will keep guns out of the hands of the criminals, fugitives, people with serious mental illness, and others who have no business possessing a gun and who are prohibited by laws on the books from owning a gun,” Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “We will be meeting with stakeholders on all sides of the issue to discuss how we can find sensible, intelligent ways to make the country safer.”

The article goes on to say that the principal aim seems to be to coalesce support for cleaning up NICS and to require background checks for private sales. Of course, they put it as the “application of background-check standards to private dealers” which is, by definition, an oxymoron as there is no such thing as a private dealer. They also note that magazine bans and the AWB are off the table for now.

Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors and Chuck Schumer are also mentioned in the article. They compare what Obama was proposing in his op-ed to what MAIG and Schumer are seeking to do with S. 436.

“They have been meeting with us and also with law enforcement groups and industry,” one gun-control advocate said of the administration. “This is what the White House does when they want to put a serious legislative apparatus together … The game now becomes effectively demonstrating, in a way that is meaningful, what we know is the overwhelming support for universal background checks.”

Given the source, HuffPo, I’m taking this story with a grain of salt. I don’t doubt that the Obama Administration has been talking to gun-control groups and anti-gun rights politicians like Schumer, McCarthy, and Lautenberg. However, I’ll believe they are serious about working with both sides if and when reports of meetings with Wayne LaPierre, Chris Cox, and Alan Gottlieb are revealed.

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Obama Heard Us! Or Maybe Not.

March 14, 2011 by

The Brady Campaign is famous for trying to make mountains out of molehills. So it is with their release regarding President Barack Obama’s op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star which may or may not have called for background checks for private sales depending on how you read it. They are claiming that Obama heard their plea to “lead a national conversation” on gun control. Or as they put it, gun violence.

While they may want to portray it as from their lips to Obama’s ears, when you have a line in the op-ed that says, “Some will say that anything short of the most sweeping anti-gun legislation is a capitulation to the gun lobby”, I don’t think he was paying too much attention to your calls for more bans, background checks, etc.

Paul Helmke Statement Regarding President Obama’s Op-Ed On Gun Control
Mar 13, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke today issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s Sunday op-ed in the Arizona Daily Star, titled, “We Must Reach Agreement on Gun Reforms”:

“Strengthening the background check system for gun purchasers has been the signature issue for the Brady Campaign since the shooting of Jim Brady during the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan 30 years ago this month. The efforts of Jim and Sarah Brady, along with countless others, finally resulted in the Brady Law which went into effect just 17 years ago and requires federally licensed gun dealers to do background checks.

“Since that time, we have worked to make the Brady background check system more effective by strengthening the definitions of those who had already shown themselves to be too dangerous or irresponsible to own guns; by pushing for legislation to encourage states to send more records into the Brady database; and by working to close the loophole that allows private sellers to sell guns to strangers without a background check, something exploited primarily at gun shows around the country. These efforts helped lead to domestic violence abusers being blocked from buying guns and to the creation of new incentives, after Virginia Tech, for states to add their records of mentally dangerous individuals to the computer database.

“Less than a week after the shootings in Tucson, the Brady Campaign called on President Obama to lead a national conversation about preventing gun violence. With the op-ed published in the Arizona Daily Star, we believe that President Obama has heard our plea on behalf of the 100,000 Americans injured and killed by guns each year, including the more than 2,000 who have died by guns since Congresswoman Giffords and those with her were attacked on January 8. We are looking forward to working with him to engage the nation, and our Congress, on how to protect more Americans from the threat of gun violence.

“The Brady Campaign agrees with President Obama that we can stanch the bloodshed, while still respecting Second Amendment rights. We agree with him that it makes no sense for dangerous people to be able to arm themselves so easily. While more needs to be done to make our communities safer, this is the most significant statement from the White House on gun violence prevention in over a decade.

“We should all, regardless of party or ideology, be working, as the President said, on ‘preventing future bloodshed’ and forging ‘a nation worthy of our children’s futures’. “

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Co-sponsor Wars – HR 308 v. HR 822

March 14, 2011 by

The two firearms-related bills before the current Congress that have the most co-sponsors are Carolyn McCarthy’s magazine ban bill, HR 308, and Cliff Stearns’ National Right-To-Carry Reciprocity bill, HR 822.

Currently, HR 308 has 97 co-sponsors and added four new co-sponsors last week.

Rep McNerney, Jerry [CA-11] – 3/10/2011
Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] – 3/10/2011
Rep Hanabusa, Colleen W. [HI-1] – 3/10/2011
Rep Pastor, Ed [AZ-4] – 3/11/2011

By contrast, the number of co-sponsors for HR 822 stands at 66 which includes 23 co-sponsors added just last week. When I last reported on HR 822 last week, it had only 57 co-sponsors. Another nine were added on Thursday and Friday.

Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] – 3/10/2011
Rep Wittman, Robert J. [VA-1] – 3/10/2011
Rep Harris, Andy [MD-1] – 3/10/2011
Rep Jordan, Jim [OH-4] – 3/11/2011
Rep Costello, Jerry F. [IL-12] – 3/11/2011
Rep Fleming, John [LA-4] – 3/11/2011
Rep Ross, Dennis [FL-12] – 3/11/2011
Rep Rivera, David [FL-25] – 3/11/2011
Rep Bilirakis, Gus M. [FL-9] – 3/11/2011

The lists of co-sponsors are a study in contrasts. For example, every co-sponsor of HR 308 is a Democrat while HR 822 is a bi-partisan bill with 12 Democrats including the 3 NRA-endorsed Democrats in North Carolina as co-sponsors. Both lists of co-sponsors are also mutually exclusive – no co-sponsor of HR 308 is a co-sponsor of HR 822 and vice-versa.

Momentum seems to be with HR 822 as it is adding co-sponsors in double-digit amounts each week. It should continue to do so if we keep up the pressure on pro-gun Congressmen to sign on to this bill. There are almost 200 Republicans and the rest of the Blue Dog Democrats who could sign on as co-sponsors but haven’t as of Friday.

By contrast, after the initial flurry of co-sponsors to McCarthy’s bill in the immediate days after the Tucson shooting, its growth has slowed tremendously. With only 83 Democrats not committed one way or another and only a handful of Republicans that might sign on as a co-sponsor, I anticipate that HR 308 has or will soon hit its high watermark. And that is good news.

UPDATE:  On Monday, two more fellow travelers were added to HR 308. I imagine this might be due to Obama starting “a national conversation” on guns or something like that. This brings the total to 99. The two additions, John Larson and Xavier Becerra, are both Democrats. Larson is Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and Becerra is the Vice-Chair.

Rep Larson, John B. [CT-1] – 3/14/2011
Rep Becerra, Xavier [CA-31] – 3/14/2011

Also on Monday, four more co-sponsors signed on the HR 822, National Right-To-Carry Reciprocity. This brings that total to 70. As I have said earlier, start calling your representative if he or she isn’t a co-sponsor of HR 822 and ask why not.

Rep Latta, Robert E. [OH-5] – 3/14/2011
Rep Rogers, Mike J. [MI-8] – 3/14/2011
Rep Johnson, Sam [TX-3] – 3/14/2011
Rep Kinzinger, Adam [IL-11] – 3/14/2011

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Dancing On Graves

March 13, 2011 by 3 Comments

The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) seeks “to secure freedom from gun violence through research, strategic engagement and effective policy advocacy” according to their self-description. There is a lot of things you can say about CSGV and their methods.

However, classy isn’t one of them.

Last Thursday, CSGV tweeted links to three stories on their Twitter feed. All three stories involved concealed carry holders or those training to obtain a CCW permit. Two of the stories involved a murder and the third involved a person dying in an accident.

 

The above comes from Bassett, Virginia. In the story in the Martinsville Bulletin, Rasheem Alonzo Penn of Bassett was murdered while he sat in his car. He had been having a conversation with Brandon Manns who had come up to his car. Manns, a convicted felon, is charged with shooting Penn twice in the head. So what did the CSGV focus on? It was this,

Inside the Expedition, officers found a fully loaded 9 mm handgun in the center console, (Henry County Sheriff’s investigator Corey) Reynolds testified. The console was closed, glass was on top of it, and it had no odor of a fired gun, all of which led Reynolds to conclude that that gun had not been fired, he testified.

Penn owned the gun and had a valid concealed carry permit, Reynolds testified.

From the description of the event by eyewitnesses, there was no loud argument and nothing that gave off any vibes that a shooting was about to happen. If this is correct, I doubt even the best trained person would have had time to react to prevent from being shot. The fact that Mr. Penn held a CCW is irrelevant in this situation – except to the grave dancers at CSGV.

The next two tweets involved a spousal murder and a training accident.

The spousal murder involved Thomas and Micah Rine Pate of Bartlett, TN. According to the story in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, the Pates had a troubled marriage and were seeing a marriage counselor. Thomas Pate is accused of murdering his wife and then hiding her body by the Loosahatchie River near Lakeland, TN. If you look at the tweet pictured above, the most important thing about this case according to CSGV was the following.

The husband and wife both had gun permits and Pate said he accidentally shot his wife in the back of the head when she walked in front of him while they were target practicing near the river.

The fact that Thomas Pate may have been cheating on his wife, that they had marital problems, that she was upset by his anger, and that he may have been abusing drugs and alcohol is irrelevant according to their tweet.

The final tweet involved Glenn Seymour of Douglas County, Missouri. Mr. Seymour died from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot to the chest while in a concealed carry permit training class. The class was being taught to shoot with their non-dominant hand. Mr. Seymour pointed the muzzle of the pistol towards himself while trying to manipulate the manual safety. As SayUncle has pointed out, Mr. Seymour violated two of the four rules of firearm safety. The accident involving Mr. Seymour was a training issue and a supervision issue. That it happened in a CCW class was incidental to these issues.

All three deaths involved concealed carry in only the most tangential manner. But if you went by the tweets from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, you would have thought that the CCW was the central aspect of their deaths.

CSGV – grave dancers extraordinaire.

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Six-Peat

March 13, 2011 by 1 Comment

I don’t usually follow high school sports nor do I usually talk about them in this blog. Permit me to make an exception.

Congratulations to the Lady Villains of Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School of Kernersville, NC for winning their sixth consecutive NCHSAA Class 1-A girls basketball state championship. Their win in Chapel Hill tied North Carolina state records held by Hayesville High for most consecutive championships and for most championships.

The Lady Villains won the game 57-43 against Southwest Onslow High.

Megan Buckland, McGuinness’ only senior and far and away its top player, spent much of her time doing the dirty work and passing the ball to teammates because the Villains led by 23 less than 11 minutes into the game.

Coach Brian Robinson of McGuinness, humble until the end, called off the dogs and called on the matador defense in the second half, during which the Stallions outscored the Villains 30-21.

“As long as you have the game in hand, there is no use to press or trap,” Robinson said. “We just wanted to win the game. This is bigger than basketball. We had enough to win and we will never win by running the score up.”

Given the youth of the team – only one senior – it is quite possible that next year I will have a post entitled “Seven-Peat”. Great play, great coaching, and great sportsmanship will get them there.

Besides, Bishop McGuinness has one of the coolest team names going – Villains. The only other name that I think can compete is the University of Idaho with the Vandals.

And yes, I am an alumnus of Bishop McGuinness, Class of 1975, from when it was located in Winston-Salem.

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Clarification?

March 13, 2011 by 1 Comment

On Friday the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City released this.

Clarification

March 11, 2011 – Because of the attention given to this issue, the Embassy of the United States would like to issue the following clarification:

There is no contradiction between the statement of the Mexican government and the information provided by the United States concerning an operation that dismantled a major arms trafficking ring that has been called Fast and Furious. The operation took place on U.S. territory and arrested 20 defendants on January 25, 2011.

After the arrests on January 25, reports emerged alleging that the operation could have entailed a transfer of arms from the United States to Mexico. Attorney General Holder has called for an investigation. He has stated unequivocally that such actions, if true, “would not be acceptable.” He affirmed that he “made that clear to attorneys and agents in charge of ATF.”

The Mexican Government has stated that “it had no knowledge of an operation that might include the transgression or the controlled trafficking of arms to Mexican territory.” The briefings that took place between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement focused on operations on U.S. territory to crack down on trafficking operations. The alleged transfer of arms to Mexican territory at this point is exactly that – an allegation. Attorney General Holder has underscored that he takes “those allegations seriously.” He said “that is why I asked the IG (Inspector General) to report on it.”

The Government of Mexico has constructively “offered whatever support might be necessary in order to clearly establish the facts.” This type of mutual support is reflective of our common objectives to stop the illicit movement of arms, drugs and money that threaten both Mexican and U.S. citizens.

I think the proper term to describe this press release is not clarification but spin. This is especially true when you examine this map of recovered firearms for Operation Fast and Furious. It was released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. It shows 372 firearms recovered in the United States and 195 firearms recovered in Mexico. So  if the U.S. Attorney’s Office says 195 firearms were recovered in Mexico, is this just “an allegation”?

I suggest the Press Attache’ in the U.S Embassy to Mexico check to make sure they won’t be immediately contradicted when they issue a press release in the future. As it is, they are the public face of the United States government in Mexico and this release is an embarrassment.

H/T CUATF.org

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Release Of FOID Card Holders Names On Hold

March 11, 2011 by 1 Comment

This was sent out about an hour ago by the Illinois State Rifle Association which was challenging the release of FOID card holders names to the AP.

STATE RIFLE ASSOCIATION SECURES TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST RELEASE OF FIREARM OWNERS’ PERSONAL INFORMATION

PEORIA, IL – – The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA):

The ISRA is pleased to announce that it has secured a temporary restraining order against the release of personal information belonging to persons holding Illinois Firearm Owner Identification cards (FOID). The ISRA and four additional plaintiffs filed for the temporary restraining order after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced that her office believes that release of FOID information to the public is proper under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. The ISRA is very concerned that public release of personal information from the FOID database will jeopardize the safety of law-abiding firearm owners.

The temporary restraining order was granted by judge Scott Shore of the 10th Judicial District, Peoria County. Judge Shore has scheduled a status call for March 15th, at which time a date will be set for hearing arguments regarding the issuance of a preliminary injunction. With the temporary order in effect, your FOID information is safe, for now.

“Law-abiding Illinois firearm owners can breathe a little easier today,” commented ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson. “Judge Shore’s order will prevent the Illinois State Police from releasing personal information on FOID holders to news organizations, gun control groups, gangs, and other criminals”.