Smith & Wesson M&P Shield Safety Alert
S&W M&P Shield Safety Alert
PRODUCT: ALL M&P Shield™ firearms manufactured before August 19, 2013.
DESCRIPTION OF THE HAZARD: Smith & Wesson has identified a condition where the trigger bar pin could damage the lower trigger in certain M&P Shields in a way that may affect the functionality of the drop safety feature of the firearm, potentially allowing the pistol to discharge if it is dropped.
Any unintended discharge of a firearm has the potential to cause injury, and we ask that you STOP USING YOUR PISTOL IMMEDIATELY UNTIL IT HAS BEEN INSPECTED AND, IF THE CONDITION IS FOUND, REPAIRED.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRODUCT INVOLVED: This Safety Alert applies to all M&P Shield pistols manufactured before August 19, 2013. We believe this condition is largely limited to recently manufactured M&P Shield pistols. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are asking all consumers of all M&P Shields manufactured before August 19, 2013 to immediately inspect their pistols for this condition. Continue reading
NSSF Releases ‘Proud to Be a Firearms Owner’ Pocket Card
With its new “Proud to Be a Firearms Owner” pocket card, the National Shooting Sports Foundation® is arming the nation’s 100 million gun owners with facts they can use to demonstrate they are law-abiding, safe, passionate in their defense of the Second Amendment and major supporters of conservation through their purchases of firearms and ammunition.
“Firearms owners have been misrepresented and even maligned in the ongoing public debate over gun legislation,” said NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti. “Our goal is to remind gun owners they have many reasons to be proud. You should stand tall, and if someone takes an unfriendly shot at you for being a firearm owner, respond with the facts listed in our new pocket card.”
Among the 13 bullet points on the Proud to Be a Firearms Owner card are these:
- I am one of 100 Million firearms owners in the U.S.
- I am one of 35 Million target shooters and hunters.
- I am part of a great American tradition.
- I am a conservationist. Excise taxes on firearms and ammunition purchases combined with purchases of hunting licenses contribute more than $1 billion annually to wildlife conservation and firearm safety education.
We hope that you can state another Continue reading
ATF Releases Lost and Stolen Firearms Report
ATF Release:
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced the release of the 2012 Lost and Stolen Firearms Report. This annual report is published to increase transparency and information sharing among the law enforcement community and to promote a better understanding of the dangers of lost and stolen firearms. This report is part of President Obama’s comprehensive plan to reduce gun violence.
Lost and stolen firearms pose a substantial threat to public safety and to law enforcement. Individuals that steal firearms are more likely to commit violent crimes with stolen guns, transfer stolen firearms to others who commit crimes, and create an unregulated secondary market for firearms, including a market for those who are prohibited by law from possessing a gun. Continue reading
Firearms Guide Continues to Improve with 4th Edition
The latest installment in the Firearms Guide series released this month by Impressum Media demonstrates the publisher’s continuing efforts to improve the product. Arriving on the scene almost one year after the previous version, the 4th Edition Firearms Guide continues to grow.
More, more, more!
The addition of several thousand entries pushes the total over 57,000 firearms, air gun and ammunition entries from more than 630 manufacturers – more than doubling the 250 manufacturers represented in the 3rd edition of the guide. Among these entries are over 4,300 printable high-resolution firearms schematics, which are great for routine maintenance or for figuring out how to put your firearm back together after a spring lets loose and sends that doohickey flying across the room.
If you prefer to leave the gunsmithing to professionals, don’t worry; there is much more to the Firearms Guide than just schematics. The guide also showcases over 39,000 high-resolution photographs as well as Continue reading
Tracking Point Xact System Offers Amazing Update to Long Range Shooting
The first documented use of firearms was somewhere in circa-12th-century China. While it’s quite clear that firearms and their accessories have come a long way since the first gunpowder-filled tubes, the basic principles remain the same: ignite the propellant and the expanding gasses send the projectile out of the business end of the barrel. For the most part, any advancements since then have been been to make firearms more effective in terms of power, portability and accuracy. A big advancement in the accuracy department was on display from Tracking Point at the 2013 SHOT Show.
Tracking Point’s XactSystem is a Precision Guided Firearm (PGF), which the company describe as “fighter-jet-style, lock-and-launch technology into a rifle system.” This closed-loop system consists of ultra-consistent ammo loaded by Barnes, a precision Surgeon Rifle with a 22-27″ Krieger barrel and Harris bipod on a LaRue QD mount, and the smart networked tracking scope mounted on top. Given the components involved, the precision of the rifle itself is spectacular, but the scope is what makes the system truly amazing.
The XactSystem’s tracking scope takes the ballistic guesswork out of Continue reading
The Pocket Pistol Showdown – Developments from Heizer Defense and DoubleTap Firearms
You may remember an interesting pocket pistol, then known as the Heizer Defense DoubleTap, which we covered at the 2012 SHOT Show. Since then, there have been some shake-ups, including DoubleTap inventor Ray Kohout ejecting from the deal with Heizer Defense to form DoubleTap Defense. DoubleTap has also filed a $6 million lawsuit against Heizer et al. for monetary damages and an injunction against “any further action on the part of Heizer Defense, LLC and others to manufacture or market a product based on the intellectual property of DoubleTap inventor Ray Kohout“. Both companies were at the 2013 SHOT Show and were both still in the hunt for market share for this type of pistol.
The newly announced Heizer HD1 pocket shotgun, chambered for .45 Colt and 2.5/3″ .410 shotshells and offered in a variety of materials and finishes, has a similar small form factor with a familiar grip and trigger design. The HD2 model appears quite similar to the double barreled pistol we saw on display last year, along with its two-barrel-single-hammer firing mechanism and a price tag ranging from $489 to $719 with spare barrel assemblies priced at $189 . Heizer has recently made an announcement reiterating their commitment to the project and the company said that they hope to have both units available later this year. Heizer personnel didn’t have much to say about the split other than nodding toward a sign at the rear of the booth noting that they were not associated with DoubleTap.
DoubleTap’s booth had on display what they describe as an improved version of the model unveiled last year. Manufactured by Azimuth Technologies of Naples, Florida, the new DoubleTap is projected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2013. The biggest change is probably a simplification of the firing mechanism to use two hammers which operate sequentially rather than one hammer that reciprocates between the two firing pins.
The DoubleTap is also available in a variety of materials and finishes with retail prices ranging from $499 for aluminum non-ported models to $799 for ported titanium models. Spare barrel sets for converting the pistol between 9mm and .45ACP range in price from around $200 to $269.
One fellow SHOT Show attendee, while viewing the double-barreled pistol in the New Product Showcase, asked “What’s the point?” Whether it’s to meet a low-capacity firearms restriction, to have a last-ditch backup gun or to have a tough, dependable firearm for your glove compartment, tackle box, etc, it looks like this design would meet those needs (albeit, at what seems to us to be a relatively high price-point for something in that role).
Stay tuned to GunLink for future updates on the Heizer/Doubletap split, lawsuit and products as well as more from SHOT Show 2013.
