The VPC is (once again) trying to stir up hysteria--this time over large handguns.
Washington, DC—Powerful new handguns called “big boomers” by the gun industry are a growing threat to the nation’s law enforcement officers, a new 36-page study released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals. (See http://www.vpc.org/studies/bigboomers.pdf for a copy of the study, see http://www.vpc.org/studies/boomerskeyfindings.pdf for a summary presenting the key findings of the study.) Body armor used by police has been able to stop handgun rounds and saved thousands of lives over the last three decades, the study states, but standard body armor cannot stop rifle rounds. "Big Boomers"—Rifle Power Designed Into Handguns warns that the gun industry is aggressively marketing a growing number of new handguns designed to fire bullets with rifle power. The rounds these guns fire can penetrate all but the most resistant body armor (such as that used in raids by many SWAT teams).There's a lot of garbage to debunk there, and I don't have a lot of time at the moment, so I'm just going to make a couple quick points.
First--yes--cartridges like the .500 S&W Magnum, and especially the .460 S&W Magnum, will probably penetrate most police body armor without much difficulty. So, for that matter, will just about any centerfire rifle cartridge, including any popular hunting caliber (and hunting, by the way, is a large part of what these new(ish) S&W calibers were designed for). The difference, according to the VPC, is that handguns are more concealable than rifles, and are thus more likely to be used in crime (for some reason, they don't seem to want to talk about the lack of concealability, and thus unsuitability for crime, of rifles, when they shriek about the dangers of so-called "assault weapons" and .50 caliber rifles).
Being the troublemaker that I am, I'm not particularly upset by the fact that the armed agents of government (and is that not an accurate term for police officers?) are not invulnerable to the arms available to the people--but let's forget about that.
Let's remember instead that the "Only Ones" aren't always the . . . Only Ones who wear body armor.
Let's be clear here--the VPC's stated goal is the banning of all handguns, as VPC founder and executive director Josh Sugarmann has plainly stated. The "big boomers" are nothing more than the handguns that the VPC see as the lowest-hanging fruit. If they get those banned, it will be "a good first step."
It's a step down a road that a free people must not tread.
Stumble it!
23 comments:
Come to think of it, this particular class of firearm is quite popular with a certain contingent who likes to throw shooters under the bus who favor guns they don't like. How 'bout that.
I don't know if it's still available, but I saw a 30.30 Derringer advertized once. That's gotta need a hell of a grip!
In one of Clint Eastwood's "spaghetti westerns", he made a buletproof "vest" out of some steel from an old tank (as in "holds water".) A lesson to be learned, perhaps?
.30-30 Derringer? That's nothing--how 'bout a .45-70 Derringer??
By the way, where's Tom? I figure it's only a matter of time before he does a 2-bore revolver, or something ;-).
Geez its a firearm. It fires bullets.... Bad things come out the front end.
What exactly does the VPC think we own? Airsoft? Nerf guns? I know that's what they want us to own.
What exactly does the VPC think we own? Airsoft? Nerf guns? I know that's what they want us to own.
I don't know if they'd agree to us having Airsoft guns. Nerf, maybe.
Magnum Research makes a .45-70 revolver. 405 grains rollin' along at about 1400 fps...I bet that would smart.
Methinks they have Jar Jar Binks as their spokesperson.
http://daysofourtrailers.blogspot.com/2008/12/running-out-of-scary-names.html
The thing about VPC, The Brady Campaign, and any other gun banning organisations, they have to continually change their flag. It used to be "crime" but it has been proven that banning guns doesn't reduce crime so they changed their flag to "violence."
Now the "flag of choice" is "big boomers." Come to think of it, I like a big boom myself. Anyway, flag changing is a sign of desperation, a clawing to the railing to keep from falling to your death.
Other flags have been plain assault weapons, that has been cleverly changed to semi-automatic assault weapons, Saturday Night Special, which I used to think was a TV show, junk guns, you name it.
As aggravating as these people are, you've got appreciate the humor that comes from their ignorance. The only regret is that even when they are funny, they can be deadly.
Robert,
I don't think "big boomers" will become their flag of choice as it won't get much general support. Not only is the name just stupid, it makes people think of fireworks more than killing people.
Their true masterwork was "Assault Weapon" and their best option and I think they'll continue to run w/ that.
As you know, Kurt, I build boomers that spit 235 grains at 2800 feet per second. 500 grains at 2000. Wrist injuries to prove it. If a punk wanted to commission one for me to build for him it'd cost him well over $3,000. Oddly enough, I've never even been able to get my friends to try shooting anything past .45-70s I've built as pistols, so the odds of criminals using them, especially youthful ones with no shooting experience is about nil.
Friend is a ready reserve .50BMG snipper and occasional Ma Deuce operator and he once asked me why I built them and I said "they're fun" and he said "Ma Deuces are fun and don't hurt my hands" and I pointed out all his Ma Deuce work is done paid and with free ammo (MAN, what a job! He's mostly an instructor now so he gets to play and not be shot at much when he gets called in). He still won't shoot either of the latest projects and he's bigger and tougher than me and spent a lot of time at Bragg learning the things people learn there.
I have Semi-auto 5.56mm and 7.62NATO pistols by legal definition. You aren't buying those cheap either.
I do carry. I have found .45ACP, .357, and occasionally .380 in hot weather to be much more concealable than scoped Magnum rifle or even 5.56mm handguns with barrels long enough to justify the powder capacity. Guess I forgot to join the trench coat mafia? In real world combat and not hunting/playing, I'll take a full length rifle most every time.
These people are morons.
For what it's worth Kurt, after I finish the .458 Lott handgun, the next up is .577 Nitro Express, not 2-Bore. I just ordered reamers. That other lunatic like me we've spoken of when you said "MY GOD, there's two of you luinatics?!?!?!?!"?, he's working on a 18.5" barrel .460 Weatherby Mag pistol. He's trying to break my indoor pistol range muzzle blast record, methinks.
I didn't post earlier because I've been in the machine shop tweaking a Dan Wesson and on the range most of the past days shooting little boomers in between milling work and planning my next wrist breaker.
Cheers matey,
tom
For the BRADY BUNCH from DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS:
Don't fucking worry about rifle caliber pistols because you can wear a vest and if need be I'll zap you with my .380 pocket pistol in the eye. Maybe you should work on issuing everybody full face helmets to go with the body armor and maybe a kevlar neck wrap?
But, I bet if you wrapped a person's neck with kevlar or even just talking normal IIIA vest wear, a spine hit will take them out of the fight and might kill them without even going through the vest. I've seen the bruises people have gotten that wear shot with IIIA vests on. Back to physics school for these dildos!
Oh, pistolero.
I have a Mag Research BFR with both .45-70 and .450 marlin wheels. 10 and 14.5" barrels (I prefer the 14.5).
In empirical testing, wildebeest and wild hogs are more impressed with the .450 Marlin Loads than the .45-70 loads.
So far, on animal testing, 350 Grain hot Marlin loads trump 405 grain .45-70 loads, and 300 grain .375 loads trump both as far as real world killing, and the .375 doesn't have a rainbow trajectory like almost all the common big boomer revolver cartridges. Fast 235 grain .375 vs antelope at about 150 yards.
FWIW: The .45-70 and .30-30 BFRs are the most pleasant to shoot and both easily one handable.
For what it's worth Kurt, after I finish the .458 Lott handgun, the next up is .577 Nitro Express, not 2-Bore.
Yeah--I was skipping ahead a bit ;-).
I've said it before, Tom, but it bears repeating: you da' man.
Oh, if Josh wants to come by my spread in Texas to take my boomers away, one of the .375s has a 2-7 Leupold on it and I can see my front gate from most windows of my house.
Might he be a dear and paint VPC in big letters and some sort of bullseye on his rental car so I don't mistake somebody else for him cutting through my gate chain to bother me?
=]
First rule of life you learn in the playground. For the most part if you don't fuck with people they don't fuck with you. If you go out of your way to fuck with people, they most often hit back, at least where I live. That's why pussies like him try to use laws instead of come knock on our doors themselves.
da crazy man?
It's not my fault. I went to gunsmith college with the pre-eminent builder of anti grizzly bear handguns in the world and he created an impression on me that there were more things interesting to do than IPSC/TRAP/SKEET/METALLIC SILHOUTTE.
If anybody wants a little big boomer that's real world practical, Contact This man! (I'm a non-commercial entity as far as gun work because the laws kept changing too much for me to want to have an FFL, it's easier to just do barrel work than touch recievers and frames). John is also possibly the most talented revolver smith the world ever invented. Not sure if he's proud to know me but I'm proud to have known him.
As my hands still tingle from testing things and I check mail and blogs, all the prag gunbloggers who think I'm extremist and some of them called me a mall ninja but I bet none of them just opened their email for the day and saw an offer for--Strategic Global Staffing Employment Opportunity: Small Arms Repairman in IRAQ
Wonder what the Viability of working on my .577 is in my spare time in a Halliburton shop in Iraq...
Say Hi to Tam and Sebastian for me and Kim DTs and Say Uncle too! I don't read their stuff any more because they insulted me and I don't take that well from numpties.
Hee hee. In the end, the one that isn't insulting and respects others gets more high dollar offer to go build and fix guns instead of talks about knowing how to do it on the internet without providing proof or pictures...
Cheerio and pip pip, work to be done in the morning, then gun show, then range time, then work...
tom
Key Responsibilities:
* Repairs all U.S. Military small arms, machine guns, mortars, howitzers, chain guns and direct fire systems.
*Performs all levels of maintenance from 10 to the 40 level General Support, IAW TM’s
*Performs “A” services: an inspection that checks all components by the 10, 20, 30 and 40 levels to include all gauging, function checks and repairs or replacement of parts.
Six Figures. Must look into viability of side projects. Sounds fun.
300 grain .375 loads
Would that be .375 H&H Magnum? Damn, dude, you got bigger stones than me. I have a Dan Wesson too...a comparatively puny 10mm 1911. Lol...Where in Texas are you? I've called several places in the Lone Star State home and am now down on the coast.
Damn, dude, you got bigger stones than me.
In his case, I think you'd call them "boulders" ;-).
Pistolero:
Yah, .375 H&H Magnum 1:12 twist. 15.5" barrel and 12x22 degree rearward and slightly up facing side only ports because I don't like the ports all around style muzzle brakes, they blow shit in your face on the bench and in the field. Side only also allows usage of backup iron front sight.
I had been shooting my CZ550 American in .375 H&H and I had a .375JDJ Encore barrel on offer to me and after gun cleaning time I was sitting around looking at bits of metal and Th(dr)inking about things and wondered "JDJ and H&H Mag both work best with 1:12 twist and I could get more powder in a H&H Magnum case..."
This was after I'd gotten into BFRs and Handgun Hunting with Contenders in .30-30 and .30-30 Ackley Improved as well as .223 AckImp Contenders and had a .45-70 Encore pistol as I'd outgrown hunting scrawny central Texas deer with .357s and .44s. I'd also developed a taste for African hunting.
A .45-70 rifle barrel is what's now the .458 Lott Encore pistol project. .450 Ackley is too much for a handgun even though it's in the same range of cartridges but I have a rifle in .458 Lott so it seemed silly to do a do over in WinMag as I already load for Lott and you can get more powder in a Lott case...you may see a pattern here. Mike Bellm of Bellm TCs can balance a big sledge on the palm of his hand like people do with mops and brooms and he says .450 Ackley is the only thing he's ever shot in handgun form even he couldn't hold on to reliably.
Live in Hays County. Not too terribly far from Dripping Springs or Johnson City or even, the liberal tree hugging pot-smoking dirty anti-gun and pro criminal scumbags in moscow on the colorado, I mean austin, where the newspaper won't let you advertise AR-15s in the classifieds because they're "assault weapons".
It's like skiing Black runs and running 25mph roads at 90 on a Ducati. It's, shall I say? A BLAST?
Doesn't take big stones, takes careful planning, appropriate loads remembering Newtonian forces, being semi-impervious to recoil of big stuff (I got into Safari Rifles before I started assembling Elephant pistols), and knowing how to respond to the recoil so you don't hit yourself in the face or drop the gun (bad for the optics).
If you find a desire to try one and end up in the Central part of the state when I have free time, I can be reached through Kurt as I don't like posting my email on public forums but he has it.
As Dave Barry once said:
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness".
Oh, my Dan Wesson is one of those little Bobtail Commander .45ACPs, so you have bigger 1911 stones than me.
Current favorite .375 H&H Magnum along with .45-70 "long barrel pistol" as it's not a SBR as it was and always has been a pistol that I've been goofing around with. There's no "Maximum Barrel Length" for building or assembling pistols and it's actually over the 26" minimum length to legally be a non short barrel rifle by 2 inches, although it was never intended to be fired from the shoulder so it isn't nor ever was a rifle. Mostly done for comedy effect but it lets you shoot some stout .45-70 loads with minimal recoil and no porting.
I can't credit Mike Bellm enough for moral and technical support and doing machining that I didn't feel comfortable doing because he's better than me and one of the best metal cutters in the land. Most all of the critical barrel work on this latest one was done by Mike. He's got years of experience on me and better machine tools. Sometimes just because you own a welder that could do the job you still take the job to a better welder, eh? It's his contributions to this .375H&H that makes the latest incarnation the best one so far.
It's post lengths like this that make people sometimes tell me to "get yer own blog, dammit!"
Hope it was useful.
It's post lengths like this that make people sometimes tell me to "get yer own blog, dammit!"
Not from me, Tom.
addendum:
I should have said "I am a citizen of Texas, and those other, forty-nine, lesser states." (Jonathan Schwartz/Skip[py's List) But I forgot to be a smart alleck.
Kurt. Folks just headed back north from my spread to the Village of Oak Park and dad once agian had to leave the 1911 I put together for him here because your Laws on that side of the Mighty Miss are still wrong. He's thinking about joining the NRA lawsuit on Oak Park's handgun prohibition.
As mom left (after asking if I was typing about gun projects again) she said "It's a shame the only time you'll ever come back to Illinois is to bury me." I told her to contact her legislators and village board and maybe we could fix that.
Cheers to the slightly less free.
Glad my grandpas and great grandpa (a circuit rider preacher that carried a coach 12 and a pocket pistol every where he went, a preacher with a .45, as it were) didn't live long enough to see how Chicago and Rockford eventually ruined themselves and the rest of the state for everybody else too.
He had a church in El Paso, the other one, the one in Illinois, at one point.
Mom just called. Dad is being unlawfully detained by Homeyland Security/TSA at Austin Bergstrom airport because we played with .45s this morning before they left to go back to IL and the ion sniffer machine was suspicious of him because he smelled remotely like smokeless powder on a "washed my hands and changed clothes before I drove to the airport" level.
Welcome to the Police State.
Ain't America Beautiful? Fookin Beautiful place to be! ...especially for shooting enthusiasts that fly commercial.
FWIW: He's a LtCol (USAFR). I thought that Military personnel were allowed to smell like gun powder. I guess he should have worn his uniform instead of dressed casual.
God, it's times like these that make me just want to kick holes in the walls. Him getting fingerf*cked over shooting guns before he even gets to IL today. Jayzus effiin Kee-Riste!
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