While a little out of the scope of the normal content of this site, I found a very intense video of an A-10 combat mission over at The Firearm Blog that I think you might like.
The video is declassified footage from Operation Enduring Freedom in which two A-10 pilots are providing close air support to troops who are taking hostile fire from (at least) two locations.
During the past few days, there has been a firestorm of questions and panic on the Internet forums regarding the US government banning all Wolf ammo from being imported into the United States. A lot of the information thrown out there is incorrect. To make it perfectly clear:
The US government ban on Rosoboronexport does not apply to the consumer importation of Wolf-branded ammunition.
Here is what is going on…
On August 4, 2006, the U.S. Department of State announced sanctions against Rosoboronexport, because the Russian government, who controls Rosoboronexport, violated the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000. In December 2006, the ban was confirmed and extended two years. The ban prohibited the United States government, not its citizens, from doing business with Rosoboronexport.
On October 23, 2008, the U.S. government announced a new two-year ban that prohibits itself from doing business with Rosoboronexport. This ban relates to Russia selling anti-air missles to Iran, presumably to defend against air-raids on the Iranian nuclear programs. The new ban is, in effect, simply an extension of the old ban that is set to expire in December 2008. Again, this ban only prohibits agencies of the U.S. government from doing business with Rosoboronexport.
Wolf-branded ammunition made for military purposes is exported by Rosoboronexport. This is the only Wolf branded ammunition that Rosoboronexport deals with. All other Wolf ammunition is not exported by Rosoboronexport.
So, unless you are (1) looking to buy Wolf ammo as an agency of the United States, and (2) wanting to buy the military ammunition exported by Rosoboronexport, this ban does not directly affect you.
I have also read that the ban applies to all Wolf-branded ammunition from the Tula arsenal. Not true according to the Wolf PR folks at the Tula Cartridge Works. After conversing with the people actually at Tula (their English is better than my Russian), they confirmed that only military manufactured ammo (regardless of which factory) is affected by the Rosoboronexport ban. The Wolf staff said the civilian ammunition made at Tula is unaffected.
Indirectly, the ban may affect you because a lot of people: read a post at one of the forums, thought the sky was falling, and ran out to buy up all of the Wolf ammo they could find. This certainly cannot help ammo prices.
One last thought… the executive branch can place a large variety of import bans in place that DO affect the supply of foreign made ammunition and firearms. These bans do not go before Congress and can be made at any time without any real “due process.” So, if you have a firearm that depends on imported ammunition or uses imported magazines, I humbly suggest stocking up prior to January 20, 2009.
Here is more information:
Russia Criticizes US Sanctions on Arms Trader from the Washington Times
Rosoboronexport Views U.S. Sanctions As “Unfair Competition” from iStockAnalyst
Rosoboronexport from Wikipedia
Back in March, I wrote about the soaring costs of ammunition. Later the same month, I let everyone know about the pending price increases by ATK, the parent company of Speer, Federal, and CCI. Now that a few more months have passed, I thought some of you would be interested in seeing how much prices have increased since the first half of 2008.
As you can see, price increases continue at a staggering rate. The prices were all taken from a major vendor’s monthly catalog and I used cartridges that I could locate in all three catalogs for the comparison.
Now, think about this. Ammunition prices are driven by two factors: scarcity and demand. With President-elect Obama coming to power in about two months, I guarantee that demand for ammunition is going up. This will increase prices, as will the shortages experienced by your dealers because of the demand.
I hope you already have the ammunition you need. If not, keep an eye out for deals, but I imagine they will be few and far between.
For a variety of reasons (like possible bans and wild price increases), a lot of people are interested in stocking up on ammunition and methods of storing ammo for a long period of time. You can conquer both tasks by finding good mil-surp ammo already stored in “spam cans.” Mil-surp ammo is normally packaged for long term storage, so buying some that is still in the original military packaging is a good idea.
I got an e-mail from J&G Sales saying they have Wolf .223 ammo in Russian-style spam cans in stock and ready to ship at $145/500 round can. These are non-corrosive, steel cased, 55 grain FMJ cartridges. J&G is not a sponsor and I don’t make a dime off any of their sales. This seemed like a good deal for anyone looking for long term storage .223 ammo, so I figured I would pass it along.
Kahr Arms has announced they are shipping a new pistol chambered in .380 ACP: the Kahr P380.
Maintaining the distinctive styling of the larger Kahr pistols, the P380 is a DAO (double action only) pistol that features a black polymer frame with a matte stainless steel slide. The firearm holds six .380 ACP cartridges in the magazine and ships with two magazines. The Kahr P380 has a 2.5″ barrel and a choice of standard or night sights.
Kahr has clearly targeted the tiny .380 ACP pistol market by making direct comparisons to the diminutive Kel Tec P3AT (see the Kahr publicity 
photo at left). The Kel Tec pistol developed a large following after it was introduced, and many say is directly responsible for Ruger’s introduction of the LCP at the 2008 SHOT Show. With that in mind, let us compare the three guns.
The P380 is slightly shorter than both the P3AT and the LCP with a 4.9″ OAL compared to 5.2″ and 5.16″ of the other two pistols respectively. Kahr lists the slide width as a mere .75″ compared to the .77″ width of the Kel Tec and .82″ width of the Ruger. However, the Kahr is slightly heavier (9.97 oz unloaded) than the P3AT (8.3 oz unloaded) and the LCP (9.4 oz unloaded) and taller (3.9″ vs 3.5″ and 3.6″).
Since this pistol was just announced, I have not test fired the Kahr, but it appears the P380 has significantly better sights than both the P3AT and LCP, which is a welcome improvement in this category of firearm.
The P380 really suffers at the cash register when compared to the Kel Tec and Ruger. With standard sights, theP380 retails at $649, and with night sights, MSRP is $758. This is significantly more than the P3AT ($324-382) and LCP ($330).
Kahr Arms generally enjoys a favorable reputation for quality and the samples I have shot in the past have shot well and have had nice triggers. Assuming the P380 maintains the Kahr quality, I expect that the higher price tag will be tolerated by many buyers looking for a pocket or ankle gun.
The Kahr P380 is shipping and should be on your dealer’s shelf this month.
Ruger has announced a new promotion called the “Inaugural Special.” The promotion allows customers to purchase 20-round Mini-14 magazines at only $29.95 instead of the $39.95. The special pricing, in honor of the new president, runs through inauguration day, January 20, 2009.
Magazine prices are sure to go nowhere but up in an Obama presidency, so get these .223 magazines while they last.
From Ruger:
Ruger® Announces “Inaugural Special” Mini-14® Magazine Promotion
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) announces an “Inaugural Special” for Mini-14® 20-round magazines that runs from Election Day to Inauguration Day.
From November 4, 2008 to January 20, 2009, fans of the Ruger® Mini-14 Target Rifles and Mini-14 Ranch Rifles, both chambered for .223 Remington, can purchase Ruger manufactured 20-round magazines (regularly priced at $39.95) for only $29.95. This special offer is only available through the Ruger On-line Store.
Please note that these magazines are not available where state or local regulations limit magazine capacity to less than 20 rounds.
Massad Ayoob hinted at a new Ruger SP101 revolver that will make a debut in 2009. An aluminum framed SP101 chambered in .38 Special was strongly hinted at by Ayoob in the most recent round table discussion on the Pro Arms podcast.
Ayoob stated:
“I wouldn’t bet my life on it, but if somebody was taking bets, I would bet that in the year 2009, Ruger might come out with one of those [the SP101] in .38 Special, +P rated in an aluminum frame…”
Many people realy like the handling characteristics of the SP101, but dislike the weight, especially when compared to an aluminum frame Smith and Wesson. With an aluminum frame, the five-shot SP101 becomes a more attractive pocket gun or back up gun in .38 Special.
Time will tell if Ayoob is accurate, but with the 2009 SHOT show in January, I don’t think we will wait long to find out.
The Ruger LCP has been a very popular .380 ACP handgun for concealed carry and back-up. Finding holsters for any new firearm can be tricky, but many options are now available for the Ruger LCP pistol. Here are a few:
RKBA Holsters makes an excellent pocket holster for the Ruger LCP. I have puchased several of the RKBA holsters in the past and have found all of them to be of very high quality, yet very reasonably priced. These full leather, handcrafted holsters are only $30.00. Read More…