This Week in Guns: August 2nd, 2014
2014-08-02
Posted by: badanov
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A lot can be said about the issue of militia patrolling at the border, but this story is still in flux. My opinion is that Oathkeepers and other "responsible" Patriot groups are more concerned about optics than they are about America's southern border. As one commenter said on a Patriot blog recently (paraphrasing): "Oathkeepers will be there at the border, selling t-shirts, and ball caps, and handing out application forms."
Just in case you are dubious about the government becoming a police state, it now is a informant state.
The New York State police, as part of its unconstitutional SAFE act that banned some semiautomatic rifles, is now haranging its citizens to inform on neighbors who fit certain criteria: buying large amounts of prepared meals, such as military MREs, and buying large amounts of ammunition, among others. The link was featured at Sipsey Street Irregulars, to which I replied: "I can't afford all that stuff!"
But if you have ever wanted a bolt action rifle that fires the .50 caliber BMG for under $3,000, your time has come.
First some background: Back in 2013, amidst the Newtown Massacre gun ban stampede, I went looking for an inexpensive heavy rifle I could build on the AR-10 platform using an 80 percent receiver.
There are two kinds of receivers available: DPMS and Armalite. Each has their own pattern which precludes using the other's upper receivers. The DPMS is more popular, possibly because it is cheaper, while the Armalite is usually more expensive. At the time, a complete AR-10 upper by DPMS (going by memory) went for about $950. An Armalite upper went for several hundred dollars more. But at the Armalite website I saw that Armalite had developed an upper which was chambered for the .338 Federal, which was another several hundred dollars more.
The .338 Federal cartridge is actually shorter than the .308 cartridge, and the .338 uses the .308 casing, "necked up" to accommodate the larger slug. You can load the same number of rounds as the .308 in a 20 round magazine, and the ballistic performance is about the same.
At the time, Armalite said the upper was out of stock. I followed that page for six months solid, until I figured they would never be in stock. Between then and two weeks ago, Armalite ceased offering uppers in .338 Federal. I later found out that DPMS sells AR-10 uppers for the .338 Federal.
Two weeks ago I found a manufacturer in northern Colorado which not only offered an AR-10 style upper in .338 Federal, they also had several uppers, complete assemblies chambered for the .338 Federal, .338 Lapua, .408 CheyTac (!), .416 Barret and the .50 Barrett.
How do you put a much larger cartridge into a lower receiver that uses shorter cartridges? As it was explained to me and as you can see on their website, the S1 upper can be fitted to an AR-15 lower, and is a bolt action single shot, hand loaded. The S3 can be fitted onto an AR-10 lower, either Armalite or DPMS. Zel manufacturing sells their S3 uppers chambered in .50 BMG, .416 Barrett and .338 Lapua.
The T1 uppers are available for .50 BMG, .416 Barrett, .408 CheyTac and .338 Lapua. All T1s are single shot, bolt action uppers. The T3s are bolt action but use a magazine that is fitted to the side, and are available in .50 BMG and .416 Barrett.
Now, for the big question, leaving aside whether you might be a big game hunter: why plunk down that kind of change for a big rifle, for which some rounds can cost as much as $13 each? I couldn't afford to buy something like this, but I want one, and you do, too.
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Prices for rifle ammunition were mixed, while prices for pistol ammunition were unchanged. Prices for used rifles and used pistols were mixed.
Pistol Ammo
.45 Caliber, 230 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: O.D. Green Supply, Tulammo, steel cased, .29 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 250 rounds: The American Marksman, Stryker 45, reloaded, .28 per round (From last week: -.01 Each)
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Freedom Munitions, Store brand, RNFP, reloaded .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Freedom Munitions, Store Brand, reloaded, .22 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each after Unchanged (2 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 grain From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Freedom Munitions, Tulammo, Steel cased, FMJ, .19 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Freedom Munitions, Store Brand, Reloaded, RN, .18 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each)
.357 Magnum, 158 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Rare Ammo, Geco, FMJ, .39 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 250: LAX Ammunition, Store Brand, Reloaded, .34 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LV Ammo, Wartak, steel cased, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: The Sportsman's Outdoor Super Store, Tulammo, steel cased, .24 per round (From Last Week: +.02 Each)
.308 NATO 145 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (5 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Cheaper Than Dirt, Barnaul, steel cased, .41 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: SG Ammo, Silver Bear, steel cased, .45 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks))
7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammunition Depot, Wolf, steel case, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Cheaper Than Dirt, Brown bear, steel case, .23 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (5 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds (4 box limit): Ammomen, Federal Game-Shok, .08 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Munire USA, Armscor, .10 per round (From Last Week: +.01)
Guns for Private Sale
Rifles
.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $610 Last Week Avg: $610 ()
California (214, 211): Palmetto State Armory: $600
Texas (306, 302): DPMS Sportical: $625
Pennsylvania (155, 160): Smith & WEsson M&P15: $650
Virgina (213, 212): DPMS Sportical: $575
Florida (429, 419): Smith & Wesson M&P 15 Sport: $600
.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,010 Last Week Avg: $1,050 (-)
California (51, 48): DPMS: $950 (Possibly Same Gun)
Texas (61, 56): DPMS Oracle: $900 (Same Gun)
Pennsylvania (24, 21): Bushmaster: $1,100 (!)
Virginia (45, 44): DPMS Oracle: $1,000 (!)
Florida (87, 81): DPMS: $1,100 (!) Same Gun)
7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $585 Last Week Avg: $565 (+)
California (39, 39): M+M M10-762 : $650 (Same Gun)
Texas (66, 61): Chris Horns: $650
Pennsylvania (51, 54): Zastava: $450 (Same Gun) (!)
Virginia (73, 78): Czech Vz2008: $550
Florida (146, 142): Zastava M70 PAP : $625
7.62x54mm (Dragunov Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,000 Last Week Avg: $1,000 ()
California (0): None Available
Texas (0): None Available
Pennsylvania (0): None Available
Virginia (1, 1): Romak PSL: $1,200 (Same Gun)
Florida (7, 7): Romak PSL: $800 (Same Gun) (!)
Pistols
.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $425 Last Week Avg: $402 (+)
California (164, 149): Rock Island Armory: $450
Texas (226, 226): Llama Max: $450
Pennsylvania (179, 184): Century International Arms: $400 (Same Gun)
Virginia (179, 192): Rock Island Armory: $375 (!)
Florida (375, 386): Rock Island Armory: $450
9mm (Beretta 92FS or other Semiautomatic) Average Price: $414 Last Week Avg: $436 (-)
California (148, 155): Ruger P89 : $400 (!)
Texas (319, 327): Sig Sauer SP2022: $400
Pennsylvania (206, 196): Glock 17: $420 (!)
Virginia (240, 237): Glock 17C: $450
Florida (480, 484): Smith & Wesson M&P 9: $400
.40 caliber S&W (Glock and other semiautomatic) Average Price: $394 Last Week Avg: $438 (-)
California (99, 95): Glock 22: $400
Texas (146, 146): Glock 22: $380 (!)
Pennsylvania (130, 121): Smith & Wesson SD40VE: $340 (!)
Virginia (115, 130): Glock 22: $450
Florida (259, 234): Glock 22: $400 (!)
Used Gun of the Week: (Wisconsin)
Smith & Wesson 57-2 Chambered in .410 Magnum
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
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