Kahr CW45 Initial Impressions
After 24 hours with the Kahr CW45, here are my initial thoughts. For $355 shipped, it looks like a great deal. It's not for the faint of wrist, though.
300 AAC Blackout Subsonic Velocity Data
As mentioned previously, I am working with a series of 300 AAC Blackout uppers courtesy of Deliberate Dynamics and Rainier Arms. These uppers have Noveske stainless steel barrels and will be run through a series of tests to determine their suitability for various purposes, both "military" and "civilian." Jim of Deliberate Dynamics did the shooting today, while I "shot" photos. I particularly like this shot, which shows what I believe to be a bit of flame coming out the ejection port along with the case.
8" Noveske 300 AAC Blackout
One of the first things we wanted to do was see what the performance of the 220 grain subsonic load was from these uppers. Since we had 8", 10.5", 12.5" and 14.5" barrels at our disposal, a good chronograph, and factory ammunition, it was a fairly easy task. These are preliminary numbers, and will be followed up with more thorough data analysis - but for now, they're pretty solid.
14.5" Noveske 300 AAC Blackout Chronograph Data
I've been loading 300BLK for a few months now, but I think most people will be interested in the performance of factory ammunition. In this case, it was Remington R300AAC8 - the aforementioned 220 grain subsonic stuff. Although supersonic loads - and factory brass - have been promised for a very long time now, it's disappointing to see that they have not been forthcoming.
Noveske 300 AAC Blackout
We encountered no functional issues, which was a good sign for both the caliber and myself, since I put the uppers together. The Troy mags, as well as PMags, fed the fat 220gr loads just fine. If you're not familiar with 300 Blackout, it uses 5.56 bolts and magazines, and a modified 5.56 case that's shortened 10mm and necked up to .30 caliber. The advantages of 5.56 mags and the strength of a 5.56 bolt, as well as .308 diameter projectiles, make this a much better choice than 7.62x39 for the AR-15 platform.
8" Noveske 300 AAC Blackout
As for the performance of the subsonic load, all shots remained subsonic, which is, of course, a good thing. However, this means that the guys with 8" uppers are going to be using a load that's a little slower than it could be, just so the guys with 14.5" and 16" uppers don't have that supersonic "crack."
12.5" Noveske 300 AAC Blackout
The 8" averaged 954fps, the 10.5" 993fps, the 12.5" 1014fps, and the 14.5" 1025. This is clearly a load that's optimised for shorter barrels. However, I wasn't impressed with the standard deviation - over 40 in all but one example. And the extreme spread was, well, extreme, exceeding 100fps in several cases.
14.5" Noveske 300 AAC Blackout
I would like to see more ammunition available in this caliber. Not only would more loads be nice, but I've never found Remington ammunition to be "the best," or even above average. Right now, though, this 220gr load is just about the only thing I can find, other than expensive Cor-Bon stuff, and 175gr CMMG ammunition that reportedly won't cycle in anything but CMMG uppers. I'll be loading various projectiles, but as I said above, hard data will be presented with factory ammunition. My final report will be a comprehensive evaluation of the caliber.
Bravo Company 16″ Lightweight Midlength AR-15 Followup
I'm not quite sure how long I've had this Bravo Company lightweight midlength AR. It's been a year or more - perhaps closer to two. Forgive me for this Zen moment, but if I had to identify with any inanimate object, it would be this rifle.
For the longest time, I simply put an optic and a sling on the weapon and went shooting. You've probably seen it in photos if you've been following the blog for a while.
Whenever I needed an AR, I most often grabbed this one. It was so handy and light that it suited nearly every purpose, and because it was put together right the first time, by BCM, and I saw no reason to modify it, it was always ready for use - and, I might add, always zeroed.
So, in the time that I've owned it, it's come by a bit of wear - honest, real-world, off-range wear. Not much compared to what my issued M4 looked like after a year, mind you, but not bad for a rifle that's hardly ever been out of the United States.
It was definitely inspection-ready when it arrived, just like all of the other BCM rifles and uppers I've seen. This is a photo of another BCM upper's feedramps - the two are practically identical.
The M4 feedramps are useful in a number of situations, and I wouldn't have a carbine or midlength AR-15 without them. As you can see below, I have not been keeping the weapon as clean as I could have, but this has not had any negative effect on function.
The only malfunctions I've experienced were double feeds with some loaned PMags, and stuck cases with some extremely corroded Silver Bear that confounded every rifle we tried to shoot that ammunition through. With my own mags - aluminum, PMag, Lancer - and ammunition, no malfunctions that I can recall.
I actually do clean the rifle from time to time, but it's mostly when my hands get black with carbon after I pick it up - which can get pretty annoying.
I finally modified the rifle by installing a Spike's Tactical midlength SAR rail, which I have found to be a very nice rail system. Installing that rail significantly reduced the overall weight of the weapon. This is due to the SAR's design replacing a steel barrel nut and delta ring assembly with a titanium barrel nut, and the rail itself enabling me to remove the side sling swivel and FSB rail.
As far as accuracy goes, the last time I sat down at the bench with this rifle, it shot 3-4 MOA with match ammunition. As it was originally equipped with a heavier profile barrel which was then turned down (by Bravo Company) to the lightweight profile after manufacturing was complete, some loss of accuracy was to be expected - and even when new, it was only shooting 1.5-2 MOA. It's seen a lot of ammunition since then.
Keep in mind, I measure accuracy by strict standards, and many "1 MOA" rifles would not even be 3 MOA weapons by my standards. As far as this rifle goes, I'm going to keep shooting it until it keyholes.
I've loaned the rifle out and/or allowed countless other shooters to put their own ammo through it. No one has reported any malfunctions to me, nor would I expect that they would have encountered any. This is one rifle that, put simply, works.
Spike’s Tactical M4 LE Lightweight Carbine Review
Regular readers/viewers of the blog will probably recognize this rifle - or at least the receiver set - from a number of photos and videos that have been featured here.
This carbine is basically an M4 LE Lightweight. Although only the M4 LE is listed on the Spike's Tactical website, the two are quite similar, with the exception of receiver color and barrel profile.
Kimber Stainless II 9mm 1911 Review
I have a love/hate relationship with my Kimber 1911s, as those who have seen my Custom II review know.
I bought this Stainless II in 9mm almost three years ago, and shoot it quite often. In its original configuration, it was simply nonfunctional. However, it didn't take me too long to toss most of the Kimber parts and turn it into a very useful handgun. Would I do it over again? I don't know.
See the video for more.