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Rumor Confirmed – Freedom Group Buys Para-USA

January 30, 2012 by 1 Comment

One of the rumors coming out of the SHOT Show was that Para-USA was in negotiations with Cerberus’s Freedom Group to be bought out. The release sent out today by the Freedom Group confirms that they are indeed buying Para-USA.

Madison, NC — Freedom Group, Inc., (FGI) through a wholly owned subsidiary has announced today that it has finalized an asset purchase agreement to acquire certain assets of Para USA, INC., (Para).

Founded in 1985, Para has built a solid and enviable reputation for innovation, performance and reliability. Firearms enthusiasts, serious shooting competitors and law enforcement agencies choose with confidence from a wide and growing variety of Para pistols. Para’s revolutionary high capacity frame and light double action (LDATM) trigger systems, are part of the innovation that Para has brought to the world famous 1911 design.

“We welcome Para into the Freedom Group Family of Companies,” stated. E. Scott Blackwell, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Freedom Group Inc. “Para USA is a leader in handgun technology and their fine products exemplify quality, innovation and performance. Para is a perfect complement to our industry-leading family of brands, and our success in 2011 with the Remington R1 – 1911. We look forward to deploying both human and financial resources to continue to develop and supply current and future handguns for consumers and our channel partners. We also wish to thank all its employees for their continued dedication that has made Para a success.”

Para will continue day-to-day operations at their Pineville, NC based facility.

Steve at The Firearms Blog speculates that it won’t be too long before operations are moved from Pineville to either Ilion, NY or Mayfield, KY where Remington has their main plants. I think it might depend on whether the Para-USA facilities will allow greater production of 1911’s than the Ilion plant and at a lower cost per unit.

UPDATE: Jim Shepherd passed on this little tidbit in The Outdoor Wire about the acquisition.

Can’t say a lot beyond the releases about FGI’s intentions, but a note arrived late last night Para’s longtime PR/Media contact Kerby Smith. In it, Smith offered a little insight into how things are shaping up -at least from his perspective.

“The company that I worked for is no longer active,” Smith wrote, “and I am no longer employed…I assume that this e-mail will be shut down soon…It has been a great pleasure working with you for PARA USA, Inc.”

The Para acquisition means Freedom Group has acquired a running pistol company with proven products to plug into as many of the FGI company lines as it pleases.

Para, if allowed to continue, will have access to FGI’s extensive sales, marketing, dealer, and materials supply chain. About all that remains to be seen is how FGI will bring Para into the fold-and how they’ll position Para products. For now, the official line is that Para USA will continue its day-to-day operations from its relatively new headquarters in Pineville, North Carolina.

Steve at The Firearm Blog has more on this acquisition today as well. He mentions that two Para-USA employees were formerly senior level managers with Freedom Group. 

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Linoge On NGVAC

January 30, 2012 by 1 Comment

Linoge at Walls of the City does an excellent job at dissecting and then eviscerating the “new” gun control group National Gun Victims Action Council. He looks at its leaders and then their overview of what they want to do.

As with all gun control groups, they will eventually tell you the truth about their aims. In this case, NGVAC says “Any sane gun law will lead to the government being able to take your guns away.”

Linoge calls this “a seven-inch, ivory-handled KA-BAR shoved between the third and fourth ribs of the dorsal side of “gun control” (which is a wonderful image in and of itself) and then continues:

Why? Simple: one of the favorite talking points of “gun control” extremists – especially when someone accurately observes that registration leads to confiscation – is that no modern “gun control” organization wants to take your guns away.

ORLY?

Well, then, thank you Elliot and thank you Andrew and thank you to the rest of the National Gun Victims Action Council for providing us such an easy counterpoint to that claim – after all, why would people so viciously obsessed with firearms and the demonization of them want the government to have the ability to take our firearms away if they did not actually want the government to do exactly that?

As one of Linoge’s commenters says that one would expect NGVAC “to at least obfuscate the message in a way that doesn’t offend anyone with two brain cells to rub together.”

Indeed.

Read Linoge’s whole post. It provides a logical antidote to the pablum put out by the gun prohibitionists.

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Historical Quote Of The Week

January 30, 2012 by

For this week’s historical quote from Proclaiming Liberty, I decided to go modern with a quote from George Orwell.

The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his bedroom. That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer’s cottage, is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see it stays there.

Orwell, George. “Don’t Let Colonel Blimp Ruin the Home Guard.” The Complete Works of George Orwell, Ed. Peter Davison. Vol. 12. London: Random House, 1998. 362-365. Print.

Orwell was active in the British Home Guard serving as a sergeant in command of a section. The quote above is from an article he wrote in 1941 for the Evening Standard in which he complained about old World War I officers in the Home Guard who were more interested in marching than marksmanship.

This quote is found on page 52 of Proclaiming Liberty which is available from Amazon.com for $12.95. The Kindle edition is now available for $3.95.

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A Roundup Of Endorsements For The NRA Board Of Directors

January 29, 2012 by 5 Comments

If you are a NRA Life Member or an Annual Member of five consecutive years (or more), you are eligible to vote in the elections for NRA Board of Directors. The Board is comprised of 76 members with 25 being elected each year and the 76th being elected at the Annual Meeting.

This year there are 31 candidates running for 25 positions. Of these 31, 29 were nominated by the Nominating Committee. The remaining two candidates were nominated by a petition of the membership which requires at least 250 signatures. These two candidates are Maria Heil of New Freedom, PA and Steven Schreiner of Englewood, CO.

Here is a roundup of endorsements that I’ve been able to find.

From Sebastian and Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned: Scott Bach, Joseph DeBergalis, Jeffrey Crane, David Coy, and Joel Friedman. In their endorsements, they explain their rationale for supporting each of these five candidates which is too long to excerpt here. Nonetheless, I think they give solid reasons for each candidate they endorse.

From Jeff Knox of the Firearms Coalition: Maria Heil.

This year I am only endorsing one candidate, Maria Heil, and asking voting members of NRA to cast ballots with only Mrs. Heil’s name marked. While I do not know Mrs. Heil personally, she comes highly recommended by friends whose opinions I deeply respect. I think Mrs. Heil would be a diligent worker for our rights as gun owners – and as NRA members – within the Board of Directors. I believe she would bring some much-needed new energy to the board.

From Col. Robert Brown of Soldier of Fortune magazine: Steve Schreiner, Scott Bach, Bob Viden, Joe DeBergalis, Wayne Anthony Ross, and Manny Fernandez. Col. Brown gives special emphasis to Steve Schreiner in his endorsements. He also specifically does not recommend Grover Norquist.

From Tom King on behalf of the NY State Rifle and Pistol Association: Joseph DeBergalis

From the Texas Firearms Coalition:  David Coy and Don Saba. They endorse Coy due to his financial expertise and its importance to the Board and they endorse Saba for his work in debunking junk science being propagated by anti-gun and anti-hunting organizations.

From the New Jersey Second Amendment Society: Scott Bach and Robert Viden.

I have known Scott Back since I founded the NJ2AS and he has been continually supportive of our efforts. I wholeheartedly endorse Scott and Bob for re-election to the Board. I hope that you will join with me in voting for our New Jersey representation on the NRA.

From the Fifty Caliber Institute: John C. Sigler, Ronnie Barrett, Joe DeBergalis, Robert Viden, David Coy, Steven Schreiner, and William Bachenberg. All of these men are members of the Fifty Caliber Shooters Association and Sigler is President of the Fifty Caliber Institute. Of course, in .50 caliber circles, Ronnie Barrett needs no introduction.

From 3Gun Nation: Joe DeBergalis. They note he has been the Match Chairman of a number of 3Gun events including most recently the Rumble on the Range in Las Vegas which was held concurrently with the SHOT Show.

Two candidates for the Board – Scott Bach and David Coy – have made their own YouTube promo videos. You can find Bach’s here and Coy’s here.

I’m not endorsing anyone because I don’t know any of the candidates personally. That said, there are a number of worthwhile candidates out there. If you are eligible to vote, then do your research and VOTE. As Jeff Knox notes, ” It is an embarrassment that the greatest political action organization in the country generally gets participation from only about 7% of their members eligible to vote, but that’s the case.”

As to a voting strategy, if there is only one or a small number of candidates that you really want, vote only for them. To do otherwise dilutes your vote and makes the lesser candidates (in your opinion) equal to your favorites. While it has been criticized, bullet voting as it is called is effective tactic for helping to elect your preferred candidate or candidates.

UPDATE: Joe DeBergalis has posted a campaign flyer here which does include the organizations that have endorsed him.

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A Tale Of Two Networks

January 28, 2012 by 1 Comment

Yesterday, the lead news story on both ABC and CBS was the growth of the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter of 2011. How they treated this news was a study in contrasts.

First, ABC which trumpeted the news as the best growth in 18 months which it was. What was not said is that the growth in GDP of 2.8% was less than the expected 3.1%. The stock market reacted negatively and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 74 points.

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Next, CBS discussed the same story and even interviewed the same economist – Diane Swonk of Chicago’s Mesirow Financial – as did ABC News. However, unlike ABC News, they gave the full story. Included in Anthony Mason’s report was the fact that much of the growth came from business restocking inventory and that the recovery was weak. They also discussed how the stock market reacted negatively to this information.

If you had just interviewed President Obama like Diane Sawyer did this week, you don’t want to release information that doesn’t portray him and his policies in the most positive light. However, it doesn’t say much for your network and honesty.

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My Five “Dream” Guns

January 28, 2012 by 8 Comments

Robb Allen started it with his post about his five most wanted guns. SayUncle and Bob Owens (and others, I’m sure) have continued this theme today.

Here are my five – actually, it’s six because I just couldn’t narrow it down that much – that make the dream list. It is an eclectic list with both modern and old guns on it. Some of the guns are frankly rather esoteric but they caught my eye long ago and have become stuck in my brain.

The first gun on the list is the Model 41 Johnson Rifle. It was designed by Melvin Johnson, Jr., a Boston lawyer, due to what he saw were flaws in the M-1 Garand and the Pederson rifle. It was used in combat during WWII by the Dutch in Indonesia before they were overrun by the Japanese and by the Marine 1st Parachute Battalion. A variant of this firearm was the Johnson Light Machine Gun. I have a Garand, a M-1 carbine, and a Springfield 1903 and the Johnson would round out this collection very nicely.

The second gun on my list would be the Mannlicher-Schoenauer 1903 carbine in 6.5×64 M-S. The Mannlicher Schoenauer features the classic full Mannlicher stock, the archetypal butter-knife bolt handle, and a rotary magazine. It was a favorite of Hemingway who featured it in his short story The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. The great African hunter Karamojo Bell used it to take many an elephant despite the cartridge’s small size.

The third gun on my list is a modern bolt action rifle made by Dakota Arms. It is their Model 76 Classic or Classic Deluxe in .257 Roberts. Why this caliber? I think it is one of the most versatile older calibers and could be used for everything from varmints to whitetail deer. Besides, I’ve wanted a rifle in this caliber since I was in my early 20s and why not have a really nice example of it! It combines many of the features of the rifleman’s rifle – the pre-64 Winchester Model 70 – with the strength of more modern steels and alloys.

The fourth gun on my list is actually quite practical and is meant to be carried. It is a Signature Grade Browning Hi-Power SRT by Ted Yost of Heirloom Precision. It starts with a 9mm Browning Hi-Power and then goes to town with features that make it both reliable and eminently usable. It is also very attractive in my opinion.

The fifth gun on my list is the Smith and Wesson Registered Magnum revolver in .357 Magnum. Introduced in 1935, these revolvers were essentially custom guns. The pistol was made to order and could be had in any barrel length from 3.5 inches to 8.75 inches with 1/4 inch increments. From a history of the revolver:

To further enhance the ownership experience of purchasing a .357 Magnum, Smith & Wesson established a registration process by which customers could receive a special certificate stating their ownership of a specific serial-numbered revolver. The certificate also indicated the specifications of the firearm, such as barrel length, sight choice installed by the factory at the customer’s request, and walnut grip shape/type. Over 5,000 certificates were issued before Smith & Wesson discontinued the registration process.

I almost went with the Colt Python but ended up with the Registered Magnum because it is was the first .357 Magnum.

The final gun on my list is perhaps the most eclectic. It is the French-made Darne double-barrel side by side shogun. As with many things French, it has a style all its own along with a unique functionality. Unlike any other double-barrel shotgun, it does not break open on a hinge. Rather, it has a sliding breech that slides back for loading. The net effect is a lightweight shotgun that is also very strong. The shotgun is made in Saint-Etienne which has been a center for arms making in France since the 1600s.

This was a lot of fun coming up with my list and I welcome your list of five (or six!) dream guns in the comments.

UPDATE: Other bloggers have now posted their lists. I have to say Tam’s list makes my Darne shotgun look very mundane!

MadMedic, Extrano’s Alley, Michael Bane, Traction Control, and Miguel at GunFreeZone have all posted their lists.

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A New Capital Infusion Into The Firearms Industry

January 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

Yesterday, Jim Shepherd at The Outdoor Wire mentioned that Savage Arms had just had an infusion of equity capital from Norwest Equity Partners on Tuesday of this week.

From the Norwest Equity Partners news release:

Erik Torgerson, a NEP partner and senior advisor, stated, “Savage is an industry leading, best-in-class company. Our investment will help advance global market expansion and the continued development of an innovative, diversified products platform. The Company operates within a fragmented industry, and there is significant opportunity for consolidation through add-on acquisitions in both existing and adjacent market categories. Under the leadership of Ron Coburn and his accomplished management team, Savage is well-positioned to continue to expand and exceed its growth objectives.” Torgerson and Tim DeVries, a NEP managing general partner, have joined the Savage board of directors.

Coburn stated, “This new investment partnership with NEP marks an exciting time for Savage. On behalf of our management team and employees, we look forward to working with the NEP team, exploring new business opportunities and advancing our business potential together.”

I agree with Jim’s interpretation of this where he say it means “we have money and there are companies out there that would be good fits, so we may go shopping.” He also notes that other deals and consolidations in the firearms industry may be coming over the next few weeks.

A little history about Norwest Equity Partners and their past investments will show just how significant this investment is for the firearms industry. NEP is an offshoot from Minneapolis-based Northwest Bancorporation that was started in 1961. They originally specialized in Minnesota companies but have since broadened their geographic reach. Their specialty is working with companies to bring them to that next level. Among the companies that they have made equity investments in over the years are Cray Research (supercomputers), Gymboree (kid’s clothing ), Dairy Queen (fast food), and PeopleSoft (software). These are all now big-name companies.

In 1998, Norwest Bancorporation merged with Wells Fargo Bank. While the name going forward was Wells Fargo, in reality Norwest bought Wells Fargo and then took their name. This is the same thing that NationsBank (formerly North Carolina National Bank) did when they merged with Bank of America. The combined Wells Fargo which has now added Wachovia into the mix is the fourth largest bank in the United States according to the Federal Reserve.

With this sort of money and expertise behind Savage Sports Corporation, I think we are now seeing a well-funded competitor to Cerberus’s Freedom Group. Both Savage and Freedom Group are strong on rifles but weak on handguns. I anticipate seeing one or more of the handgun manufacturers being bought by one or the other of these companies. Indeed, one of the rumors I remember reading coming out of the 2012 SHOT Show had Freedom Group buying Para-USA. I don’t know the truth of it but it makes sense given that both are headquartered in North Carolina and are about a two hour drive apart in location.

This will be interesting to watch over the next few months.

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The Crimson Trace Rail Master Laser

January 27, 2012 by 1 Comment

Crimson Trace has now introduced a new laser called the Rail Master. It is meant for any firearm with a rail so it could be used on both pistols and rifles.

(Wilsonville, OR) Crimson Trace, market leader for integrated laser sighting systems, today announced the release of their new Rail Master platform for all rail-equipped firearms. With an MSRP of $149, the innovative laser sight sets new standards for durability, battery life and quality. Featuring a tap on / tap off switch, the compact unit comes with four interchangeable inserts which utilize Secure-Lock Technology™ to enable a custom fit to any handgun, enabling the user to adjust the sight’s location on the rail to optimize activation.

“The new Rail Master is the most versatile laser sight available,” said Kent Thomas, Marketing Director for Crimson Trace. “Our design group took great pains to make incorporate all the quality engineering that has been a hallmark of Crimson Trace products and we’re proud to be able to offer a low light solution for the widest possible selection of handguns and long guns.”

The Rail Master offers a four hour battery life as well as the most powerful laser permitted by law. When mounted on a handgun, the low profile sight holsters easily and barely extends the profile of the frame. It sits unobtrusively on the railed handguard of an AR15 and extends the versatility of this highly adaptable rifle. Fully adjustable for windage and elevation, the unit retains zero when removed from the weapon and runs on easily available 1/3N batteries.

FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONs

  • Fits any rail-equipped firearm
  • Weight: 0.4 oz with batteries
  • Polymer Housing
  • Gold-Plated Battery and Activation contacts
  • Compact 5.6mm Diode
  • Precise Windage and Elevation Adjustments
  • Four, Secure Lock Technology™ inserts
  • BEAM INTENSITY – RED – 5mW Peak, 635 nm, Class 3R laser
  • DOT SIZE – Approximately 0.5″ Diameter at 50 feet
  • BATTERIES – One 1/3N 3V Lithium or Two 357 Silver Oxide Batteries; Over Four Hours of Laser Use
  • ACTIVATION – Side-mounted, Tap on, Tap off instant activation
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Mike Fifer, CEO of Ruger, Talks With Cam Edwards

January 27, 2012 by

Mike Fifer, CEO of Ruger, sat down and talked with Cam Edwards of NRA News. While part of the interview was devoted to the new Ruger SR22 and the Ruger American rifle, more interesting to me was Fifer’s discussion of the Million Gun Challenge and the political challenges we face. He is worried just like many of us about the composition of the Supreme Court after this election.