Jeff Quinn – Obituaries

As most people know by now, Jeff Quinn of GunBlast.com passed away on Monday. His down-home – and honest – reviews of firearms were in distinct contrast to the type of reviews you often got in the gun mags.

Here is a round-up of obituaries.

From the funeral home:

Mr. Jeffrey Wayne Quinn, age 61 of Dover, TN passed away, Monday, July 27, 2020 at St. Thomas Hospital West. He was born January 16, 1959 in Erin, TN, son of James P. and Lorene Kent Quinn. Jeff was the editor of Gun Blast website.

Jeff is preceded in death by his father James P. Quinn. He is survived by his beloved wife, Souette Lee Jerles Quinn, his daughter, Rebecca Quinn-Giles, Clarksville, TN, mother, Lorene Quinn, Dover, TN, grandchildren, Abby and Ethan Giles, son-in-law, Sebastian Giles, brothers, James Lee Quinn, Erin, TN, Anthony Quinn, Four Oaks, NC, and Greg Quinn, Nashville, TN.

A graveside service will be held at 8:30 am on Saturday, August 1, 2020 at Stewart County Memorial Gardens and a celebration of life will follow at the Carlisle Missionary Baptist Church.

Arrangements are entrusted to Anglin Funeral Home, Dover, TN.

From Kat Ainsworth at TTAG which includes a number of comments from people who knew and worked with Jeff:

He was one of those rare men everyone liked. Whether it was his somewhat twisted sense of humor or his country-boy-turned-biker-turned-gun-reviewer charm, you liked him. He was readily identifiable by the twin braids in his beard; if you ever saw him attempting to cross the floor at NRAAM you know he was constantly swarmed by fans of his work in the gun world.

And when I say we are diminished by his passing, I am not spouting platitudes. We are diminished. The gun industry is lessened by his death. The day of this writing – July 27, 2020 at approximately noon central – we lost Jeff Quinn of GunBlast.com.

Jeff’s passing does not come as a surprise. He’d been fighting kidney failure for years, searched for a donor, gone through dialysis, and suffered complications to his heart and other organs. But somehow, every time we heard he was in the hospital and we expected the worst, he prevailed.

From Jim Shepherd of the Outdoor Wires:

Jeff Quinn passed today.”

Those three words on Monday rattled me more than any news I’ve gotten in quite a while. Jeff and I had been to a number of gun writer-type events together over the past few years, but it was the time with him away from the “events” that endeared him to me.

He was self-deprecating, unapologetic about his faith, fiercely loyal to his friends, and dedicated to his family.

He also managed to be one of the funniest, and most authoritative voices in the firearms news business. His Gunblast features combined genuine information with authentic entertainment.. sometimes intentional.

And, finally, from his brother and collaborator in GunBlast.com, Boge Quinn, the most heartfelt obituary.

Jeff Quinn, RIP

Jeff Quinn of GunBlast.com passed away today according to multiple reports. I don’t know the circumstances yet but will update this later. He had health issues in recent years including diabetes.

Jeff knew his guns and did excellent reviews of them on his GunBlast.com. I featured his reports from the SHOT Show many a time as they were great.

From GunBlast.com

He will be missed.

This Makes Me Sad

For many years I have been posting the SHOT Show videos created by Jeff and Boge Quinn of Gunblast.com. I just learned that they won’t be at SHOT this year due to Jeff’s health issues.

I’ll let Boge fill you in at the video below. As for me, I hope and pray his health improves and we see him at SHOT next year.

SHOT SHOT Day One – Gunblast.Com

Jeff Quinn in this report on Day One of the SHOT Show starts off with a great interview of Ruger CEO Mike Fifer. The other highlights were a Colt representative talking about the reintroduced Colt Cobra and a discussion by Linda Powell of Mossberg’s new 590 Shockwave shotgun. This latter product is quite interesting in that it is a pistol-gripped 14″ shotgun that does not require a NFA tax stamp.

To read more about the Mossberg 590 Shockwave, go here.  Ammoland.com does report that the shotgun is sold with this disclaimer:

Disclaimer: Although the Mossberg 590 Shockwave is classified as a “firearm” under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), and is not subject to the provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA), state and local laws may be more restrictive. Even though, it is legal federally, the 590 Shockwave may be considered a “short-barreled” shotgun or “assault weapon” by certain state and local laws; and therefore illegal to possess. Please check with your local authorities concerning the legality of possessing a firearm of this configuration.

Checking North Carolina law, 14 NCGS § 14-288.8.(c)(3) classifies a shotgun as a “weapon of mass death and destruction” if it has “a barrel or barrels of less than 18 inches in length or an overall length of less than 26 inches.” If you have a Federal tax stamp then possession of such a shotgun is permitted. As I read this – and I’m not a lawyer – the shotgun must be both greater than 26 inches overall in length and must have a barrel of 18 inches in length or greater. By using “or” instead of “and” in the description of such a prohibited shotgun the legislative intent is that both conditions must be met. This leads me to say that this is a law that needs changing as I’d like one of those shotguns!


UPDATE: Regarding North Carolina law and the legality of possessing the Mossberg Shockwave, I received this message on Facebook from fellow blogger Chris Maynard.

It is not a shotgun because it never had a stock, rather a pistol grip from the factory… If it was under 26″ in length, it would be an AOW… But over 26″ makes it a “firearm”… Per federal law…

So that should mean that it is not restricted by NC law supposing they follow the federal definition of “shotgun”

But the same statute also restricts ” Any type of weapon (other than a shotgun or a shotgun shell of a type particularly suitable for sporting purposes) which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, and which has any barrel with a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter” so this gun should qualify under that.

Industry Day At The Range – Gunblast.com

The SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range (former Media Day) was held yesterday. It is the opportunity for the media and dealers to actually try out the new guns that are being introduced at the SHOT Show.

Jeff Quinn of Gunblast.com always does a great job of covering a wide range of guns. I’ve used his videos over the year’s to show the new firearms. Jeff doesn’t just cover the big names but also devotes some time to smaller manufacturers. This year he seemed to give a good deal of time to Standard Manufacturing of Connecticut. They introduced a number of firearms including an engraved, color case-hardened Single Action Army as well as a 1911 with similar engraving and a charcoal and bone case color-hardening.

Among the other firearms covered include the Ruger Precision Rifle in 6mm Creedmoor, the Cobalt Kinetics AR-15, the Mossberg 500 short-barreled any other weapon, and, of course, the Colt Cobra. The Cobalt Kinetics, by the way, uses their double forward assist to also drop the bolt. That is innovative.

2016 SHOT Show Day Three: Gunblast.com

Hybrid AKs which incorporate many of the features of the AR-15 seem to be growing in number. On Day Three of the SHOT Show, Jeff Quinn features two of them. The KF-47 comes from Palmetto State Armory and the M10X Elite Hybrid 7.62×39 is available from MM-Industries.

Alexander Arms is coming out with a 180 grain bullet specifically designed for the .300 Blackout. It will be be available in their subsonic cartridges. Many of the heavier bullets up until now have been .300 Mag bullets used in the .300 Blackout cartridge.

I’m glad to see that XS Sights is coming out with suppressor sights for 1911s with a Novak cut. They currently have them for Glocks.

More on other things that Jeff found on Day Three of the SHOT Show are in the video below.

2016 SHOT Show Day Two: Gunblast.com

Who would have ever thought Colt would have released a semi-auto M4 carbine for less than $700? I guess that is one of the “benefits” of their bankruptcy. Jeff Quinn interviews Colt about it. The carbine doesn’t have a dust cover nor a forward assist. That said, it is a simple matter to add them to the carbine if you want them.

What I consider the major find from Day Two is the Inland Manufacturing-Ithaca collaboration on a reproduction of the Ithaca 37 Trench Shotgun from WWII. It will retail for $1200. I’m not sure if it comes with the bayonet or not.

These are two of the finds that Jeff found in Day Two of the SHOT Show. More can be seen below.