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- Yugoslavia’s AK Path: The Launch of the Zastava Family of Automatic Weapons and the M64 May 13, 2025In the last post, we reviewed the political climate and how the USSR did not want to share their revolutionary AK-47 design with Yugoslavia. At this point, we need to look at the ambitious 1959 launch of the project “Familija Automatskog Oružja Zastava” (FAZ), or the Zastava Family of Automatic Weapons and how the ...
- Yugoslavia’s AK Path: The USSR Would Not Share Their AK-47 Rifles or Designs With Yugoslavia May 12, 2025I’ve owned and built a number of AK-47 pattern rifles over the years and slowly one of my favorite series are the ones from Zastava when they were part of Yugoslavia partly because they are unique. Now, that opens the door – why were they unique? There is some very interesting history behind ...
- PSA has CCI Blazer 9mm 115gr FMJ on Sale! March 22, 2025Folks, I have shot a ton of this Blazer 9mm 115 grain FMJ ammo over the years at the range. Palmetto has it on sale for $219.99 + S&H – click here for it.
- How to repair a leaking SCUBA or high pressure air (HPA) tank valve stem o-ring March 8, 2025My 6.8L 300 bar/4,351 PSI Air Marksman tank had a slow leak. How slow? It would lose a few hundred PSI per month so real small and slow. I used the CRC Aerosol Leak detector to track it down. The seal between the 7/8ths inch valve stem and the tank/bottle is accomplished via an O-Ring ...
- Savior Equipment ID Patches – A Brilliant Affordable Innovation For Knowing What’s In Your Firearm Cases March 6, 2025Have you really stopped and looked at the modern tactical pistol, rifle, and range bags lately? They have evolved dramatically over the years to accomodate the needs of a wide range of shooters with tons of pouches, mounting points and straps all over them. What else do they have? Velcro. Wow. ...
- How to waterproof boot seams using Sno-Seal March 5, 2025My youngest daughter told me her favorite winter boots were leaking. She’s long since grown and on her own so I told her to bring them the next time she visited and I would see what I could do. She showed up a few weeks later with some nice winter boots made by Columbia that ...
- Why is surplus 5.56 and 7.62 ammo discolored around the neck? Is it bad? February 15, 2025I was asked this question just the other day and the short answer is no – it’s just fine. The reason it is discolored is that the brass is annealed in that area. This means the brass is heated and allowed to cool to remove stresses when it is being formed. If ...
- Winchester is buying the assets of Ammo Inc. January 22, 2025Olin Corporation, who owns Winchester, annoinced they are buying Ammo Inc for $75 million on 1/21/25. The assets will become part of Winchester. Apparently it is the brass shell case capabilties and 185,000 square foot production facility in Manitowoc, WI constructued in 2022. At any rate, the whole press, release is here. ...
- Installing a Overwatch Poly DAT Trigger and Vickers Tactical Slide Stop in My SCT17 Pistols January 22, 2025Well, I bought SCT17 frames to move my Polymer80 builds over to so they could have serial numbers and be tracked. The SCT 17 frames are nicely designed and molded so kudos there. I bought assembled/populated frames and wished I hadn’t. I have always changed the mag lock, slide stop and slide lock controls on ...
- Bought A 1.1L/67 Cu ft 4500 PSI Carbon Fiber Tuxing Air Tank and Owfeel M18x1.5 Valve January 3, 2025In June 2024, I realized I needed another small tank to top off airguns. I’d sold my Omega to a friend because I had a big bottle and the problem was I had a big bottle (a 6.8L Air Marksman Tank) … It takes a lot more work to whip that out just ...
- Sentiment Analysis of Palmetto State Armory January 2, 2025Okay, I am a fan of Palmetto State Armory (PSA) overall and have built a ton of kits and owned firearms made by them. I’ve had some bad or missing parts over the years and they made them right. I’ve also bought a ton of third party stuff off their website because they ...
- Sentiment Analysis of Zenith Firearms January 2, 2025Up until recently, if I wanted to tell you the general opinion of some company or product, I would either write about my own take, maybe factor in comments from a few friends, articles I have read or maybe even skim a few newsgroups. Well, there is another option now. There is a ...
- What is the history of Zenith Firearms – the makers of roller-lock firearms January 2, 2025Zenith Firearms was founded in Afton, Virginia by Hanri and Kutlay Kaya. Hanri is the CEO and was originally from South Africa, Hanri met her husband Kutlay in the US. Her background wasn’t initially in firearms, but in international trade, which proved crucial to Zenith’s success. Kutlay Kaya: An engineer from Turkey, Kutlay brought ...
- Are the MAC MP5 clones made by the same company that made the iconic MAC-10 and MAC-11 SMGs? December 31, 2024When I saw a MAC MP5 clone listed on a firearm website it immediately caught my eye mainly because of three key letters – “MAC”. When many folks see “MAC”, including me, they think Military Armaments Corporation and the iconic MAC-10 and MAC-11 submachine guns. But where did “MAC” come from? Had someone ...
- What is the history of PTR Industries and the HK91? December 31, 2024It seems like roller-locked firearms are having a resurgence as of late with a number of vendors making them. My first roller lock was from a company that is still around and I actually just bought a MP5 clone from them that I need to write about. Before I do that, let’s review ...
- Sellier & Bellot (S&B) Ammo Was Bought By Colt CZ Group — Who is Colt CZ Group??? December 30, 2024I recently posted a video of Ian McCollum touring the Sellier & Bellot (S&B) ammunition factory located in Vlašim, in the Czech Republic. In the back of my head, I knew S&B ownership had changed in 2024 but couldn’t recall the details. S&B is one of the world’s largest ammunition companies and has changed hands ...
- Ian McCollum Tours the S&B Factory – It’s a Very Cool Video December 30, 2024I am a huge fan of S&B ammo, factory tour videos and Ian McCollum’s Forgotten Weapons series (If you don’t know about Ian, click here for his website and here for his Youtube channel.) So, when he posted this morning about his tour of the S&B facility in Vlašim, in the Czech Republic, I ...
- Built an Aero M5 – An Interesting Take On The AR10 .308 Platform December 30, 2024I’d bought an Aero M5 lower receiver on sale a while back and decided to build it. Over the years, I’ve assembled a couple of M4s and one M5 where I bought an assembled lower and upper but this was my first actual build. I’ve always found the quality of the Aero parts ...
- A Fantastic Deal on an 8″ OTF Knife From GLFA December 28, 2024My friend Scott Igert owns Michigan Gun Exchange and recently got in a bunch of out the front (OTF) automatic knives from Great Lakes Firearms and Ammunition (GLFA). This caught my attention for a couple of reasons – 1) I had never heard of GLFA. 2) The knives looked and felt decent 3) The ...
- Why is my bolt binding as it moves to the rear – How to Fit VMAC9 / MAC-11 9mm Uppers December 26, 2024As I mentioned in the first post, a fit of nostalgia over the MACs and then seeing the 3D printed firearms coming out using MAC uppers started me digging. What really cemented the deal is that you can build a VMAC9 very affordably. I’d argue it’s one of the best deals out there ...