I currently carry XR9L and 9S pistols as the compact/subcompact options, and recommend XR45S for those who prefer larger bores. You can get cheaper subcompact guns, but none combine the long bullpup barrel, the low recoil of rotary breech, the extra round held by the magazine that doesn’t require a follower, and the precision machining ensuring the gun’s longevity. I think that Arne Boberg is a brilliant designer and a competent engineer to make his concepts work well.
Recently, I had a chance to fire a few rounds through one of the Boberg XR45-S prototypes. It’s a controlled-feed bullpup pistol with 3.75″ barrel is a short 5.77″ slide. I wrote about it in detail earlier.
For scale, Sarah is about 5’1″ and under 100 pounds.
Subjective impression from firing 230-gr ball ammunition: about the same as shooting 9mm 147gr subsonics through CZ75 Compact. Slightly more muzzle rise, slightly less push against the palm. I could fire a hundred rounds without tiring. Considering how subcompact M1911s with shorter 3-inch barrels jump on recoil, this is quite an accomplishment. The pistol is fractionally larger than the 9mm version and less pocketable, so I’d like to see it available with a longer slide. It’s already available with extended barrels, but those don’t increase the sight radius. A version similar to 9L, with roughly a 4.45″ barrel would be my top choice, but this current variant is still quite nice. Better performance than the traditional micro 45s, and rated for 45 Super.
Gun safety, effective marksmanship, and the ethics governing the use of such skills.
Back in the USSR, something as simple as waxed paper was unavailable. The explanation I got was that it was possible to make them into primitive printing plates with a typewriter. Not sure how true the explanation is, but it fit well with the paranoid attitude of the Soviet government. The point is that I had no idea waxed paper existed until after I left the USSR for a more free world.
The process is repeating in the United States. Every year, something becomes illegal or plain unavailable. Last year, it was laser kits over 5mW. Previously, chemistry learning sets lost many of the chemical materials previously supplied. Next year, it will be something else. And once a few years pass, the next generation won’t even know that they are missing something.
“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free” wrote Goethe. He had a good point.
Some people, more often the left-leaning types, get bent out of shape by kids playing with toy guns or learning to shoot at a young age. Many schools ban anything that looks or can be used as a weapon. To understand their reaction, we only need to consider how the right-leaning folks would react to seeing kids playing with a corn-cob pipe, or a sex toy, or some other item that’s harmless in itself but morally repugnant to them. Many who admit guns as necessary, still prefer to exclude them from polite society. Other try to do the same for other everyday things…with about the same level of justification.
My friend isn’t Army, Marines or special operations ninja. Instead of a short-barreled MP5, a Sub2000 has to suffice. It works.
Keltec weapon light on a rail forend, 50 round drum that actually functions, red dot sight, extended charging handle, GG&G adapter for single point sling, vertical foregrip. If 50 rounds feels like too much, 33rd and 17rd stick magazines also work.
Keltec light is small, bright and very simple in use. It does one thing — very well.
Sarah 15, under 100 pounds and left-handed. Forward ejecting RFB works fine for her even though it tips the scales at 14.2lb fully scoped, BUISed, suppressed and loaded. The balance is far enough back for comfortable hold.
I used this plastic “bottle” from Target Factory to verify 100 yard zero of the 1-4x scope on the RFB. It moves vigorously when hit.
She also does an excellent job with much lighter and even quieter guns.
Bulgarian .223 shortie AK74: “Factory wood foregrip and a plastic railed foregrip, 6 magazines (3 black and 3 clear). It’s the SBR done by Tim Foreman. 200rnds ran through it.” Asking $2250. NFA rules apply.
I shot this rifle and it works really well. Even a small 12 year old girl can run it comfortably.
The other rifle is for sale by a different friend: “Egyptian Maadi with 24 magazines, 4380 rounds & assorted mag pouches, extra stocks, plain and railed top covers.” Asking $2500.
If interested in either, let me know and I will get you in touch with the sellers.
…can be estimated by his life expectancy in public without bodyguards.
Arsenal AK 7.62×39 with Aimpoint sight on Ultimak rail, ACE stock and Magpul 30rd magazine.
Having used Bulgarian, Polish and certain US polymer magazines, I am a convert. Steel is just too heavy for the same result. AK is a 3-4MOA rifle and yet nobody questions the utility of a red dot sight for improved speed and precision.
Vepr 12 with Aimpoint red dot.
While the RPK-derived Vepr 12 are unlikely to be more accurate that the rifles, they are not appreciable less accurate out to the transonic range of the slug in use, especially if the slug is of a Brenneke type. 4MOA out to 60-80 yards isn’t unusual, and rifled shotguns can approach 1.5MOA with Brenneke or sabot slugs. Here’s a PDF illustrating terminal performance of slugs at long range, and a video showing slug use at 230 yards. So better sights are a plus even for smoothbores.
I showed this carbine before, but this time it’s in a more realistic setting — with the user behind stout cover. While no match for 30-06AP, the tree would at least stop buzzgun emissions and buckshot. With the red dot, the carbine can be realistically employed out to 250m to good effect.
If you aren’t a fan of the round, Mini14 fills a similar niche with .223 — shown here with the same red dot and light, also on an Ultimak mount.
New book by my friend Peter is out...with my cover design.
