Free Republic

There is a serious threat to our right to bear arms because of narrow, monolithic and federally-controlled manufacture of essential ammunition components, smokeless powder (propellant), primers and cartridge brass. For example, there are only two manufacturers of smokeless powder in the U.S., one plant owned by defense contractor General Dynamics and another owned by defense contractor Alliant Systems (ATK). All other smokeless powder used in the U.S. is imported, and subject to immediate and arbitrary import restrictions. And, General Dynamics and Alliant Systems are subject to a standard condition of military contracts that 100% of their production may be commandeered...

January 11, former UK Security Minister Admiral Lord West said the terror attack in Paris means ammunition controls ought to be added to the UK’s already strict gun controls.

DARPA's Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance (EXACTO) program conducted the first successful live-fire tests demonstrating in-flight guidance of .50-caliber bullets in the spring of 2014. This video shows EXACTO rounds maneuvering in flight to hit targets that are offset from where the sniper rifle is initially aimed. EXACTO's specially designed ammunition and real-time optical guidance system help track and direct projectiles to their targets by compensating for weather, wind, target movement and other factors that could impede successful aim. The EXACTO program is developing new approaches and advanced capabilities to improve the range and accuracy of sniper systems beyond the current...

NEWPORT BEACH – Two people were in the Orange County Jail this week, after police stopped them in a van with automatic rifles and ammunition. The van contained seven AK-47 assault rifles, six 30-round high-capacity 7.62 caliber magazines, two 10-round magazines and more than 350 rounds of 7.62 caliber ammunition inside, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said. Manzella said the arrests are significant because of the weapons seized. All of the guns were modified to fire in fully automatic mode, and one had a barrel less than 16 inches in length in violation of California state law, she said....

Practically from the moment after September 11, 2001, people started saying that the most effective way to fight Muslims was to lace American ammunition with pork. Finally, in 2013, an Idaho company came up with pork-laced ammunition for non-military customers: Jihawg Ammo today announced release of the industry’s first truly defensive ammunition.Not only does Jihawg guarantee that all of their ammunition meets or exceeds S.A.A.M.I. standards for velocity, penetration, and accuracy, they also coat each projectile with a special ballistic paint infused with pork to make it “Haraam” or unclean to a radical Jihadist.This makes Jihawg Ammo the only commercially...

Earlier this year, CBS News spotlighted a growing shortage of .22-caliber ammunition. "One of the most popular and common" -- and cheapest -- calibers of ammo for hunters and target shooters alike, CBS reports that .22 shells are in short supply these days. Interviewing one supplier, CBS reported that while as recently as two years ago it was still possible to buy .22-caliber ammunition "by the pallet-load... now they're putting restrictions on how much you can get and how you get that ammo." Retailers are shooting blanks This is a problem from ammunition retailers -- and for gun owners as...

It happens daily. Still. I get calls and e-mails asking where all the ammo is. Except it is not “all” ammo anymore. For the record, there is no conspiracy. There is no secret government contract. It’s not Bloomberg or Soros (even though their actions and pronouncements often increase demand. Ironic, huh?). The major domestic ammunition makers have been producing more ammunition than ever. They are all up in terms of total production—double, and in some areas, triple-digit increases. They are all running three shifts. And when it comes to center-fire cartridges, at least of three of the big makers are...

August 24, 2014 By: Money_Morning Shah Gilani writes: This is a warning. I’m not kidding.I heard something yesterday that blew me away. My friends know I like to target shoot. I don’t hunt, because I can’t kill anything living, but I like guns. Maybe it has something to do with wanting to be James Bond when I was a kid… OK, I still want to be 007. As other target shooters know, it’s gotten harder and harder to get ammunition. Fo a few years now, all kinds of stuff have been going around on the Internet about why ammunition is...

I tried plinking with my new Marlin 795 .22 semi auto about three months ago. Almost every round jammed, I even had to use a clothes hanger to punch some stuck rounds out of the chamber. Tried again yesterday after a thorough cleaning. Same thing. Thought, "Oh well, send it off to Marlin for repairs". By chance, I ran a few rounds of the same .22 long through a Puma revolver. Oddly enough, a bunch of the rounds didn't fit in the cylinder.. Now I get it.. I was using Aguila ammo, made in Mexico, bought for real cheap at...

California lawmakers are considering the creation of an ammunition registry that will require ammunition purchasers to go through a background check--including fingerprinting--and obtain an "ammunition purchaser permit" before getting ammo. The registry is contained in Senate Bill 53, which passed in the California Assembly Public Safety Committee 5-2 on June 12. According to the NRA-ILA: "If passed and enacted into law, SB 53 would require the collection and reporting of personal consumer information and thumbprinting for all ammunition purchases throughout the state. It would also ban online and mail-order sales of all ammunition, including hunting and collectible ammunition." Additionally, SB...

The standard for anti-personnel bullets since time immemorial has always been the hollow point. It mushrooms out on impact, giving the bullet a much larger profile and stopping it inside the target. Unlike the full-metal jacket, which is designed to wound, it will more than likely not pass through what you’re aiming at. However, since we started using weapons, humans have never stuck with the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy and the bullet is not exempt. This newest anti-personnel round not only replaces the hollow point bullet, it also makes it look like a sissy. Meet the...

Lead smelting plant - gone http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/d/Doe-Run-Smelter.htm Save your lead!! All you can do is shake your head....... All lead for bullets will have to come from overseas! This move will also make the cost 100 LL (100 low lead aviation fuel) UNAFFORDABLE. Approximately 2g of lead is added to each gallon of aviation fuel! There are numerous alarming reasons why the US government and the military have been buying up all the ammo. Here’s one of them. Obama and the EPA just shut down the last lead smelting plant in the US. They raised the EPA regulations by 10 fold...

In July of 2013, I picked up a little .380 pocket pistol (specifically a Taurus PT738 TCP), and I started researching what would be the most appropriate ammo to use with it.Turns out that pretty much nobody knew.  Well — I mean, sure, there’s lots of opinions, but I couldn’t find any comprehensive source of professional tests that were done from this particular barrel size, in ballistic gel, with a large sample size.  I found plenty of great tests from PocketGunsAndGear that were shot with a shorter 2.5″ barrel, and some tests from tnoutdoors9 that were shot with a longer barrel,...

During Michael Bloomberg’s three terms as mayor of New York, he loved nothing more than to lord over the nation’s largest city. Now he’s just a normal civilian multibillionaire, sitting right below the prime minister of India on the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful people — a lowly position that is no doubt a source of immense personal disappointment. Short of patrolling New York’s parks in a spandex bodysuit to inflict vigilante justice on cigarette smokers and super-sized Slurpee drinkers, what’s a rich ex-mayor to do? Luckily for Bloomberg, in American politics, controlling sublime amounts of capital is...

Why is the Pentagon to destroy ammunition for our men and women in uniform while the Department of Homeland Security is buying up millions of rounds of ammunition? As we asked last week, why are we decimating our military while many government agencies are arming up? You really have to wonder why, according to USA Today, “The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition although some of those bullets and missiles could still be used by troops, according to the Pentagon and congressional sources. It’s impossible to know what portion of the arsenal slated for destruction...

Add the U.S. Postal Service to the list of federal agencies seeking to purchase what some Second Amendment activists say are alarmingly large quantities of ammunition. Earlier this year, the USPS posted a notice on its website, under the heading "Assorted Small Arms Ammunition," that says: "The United States Postal Service intends to solicit proposals for assorted small arms ammunition. If your organization wishes to participate, you must pre-register. This message is only a notification of our intent to solicit proposals."

Seeking advice and comment on the best reload spec for a Springfield XDS 3.3 compact 45.

Copper Is Getting Smoked After Bad Chinese Data Mamta BadkarMarch 9, 2014, 7:56 PM  Copper futures are down 2.5% in early trading, to $3.0060 per pound. Copper has been taking a beating recently and it is likely that the recent decline in Chinese exports weighed on the data. Chinese exports were down 18.1% on the year in February, after rising 10.6% the previous month. Imports however were up 10.1%. While economists have warned about reading too much into Chinese data in the Jan-Feb period because of the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday, this has raised concerns about...

In recent months ammunition has slowly begun appearing on store shelves at major retailers in the United States. But after nearly two years of shortages that had ammunition manufacturers running their factories 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because of consumer demand and massive government purchases, it appears that another supply pipeline may have been cut.

Bullet points: Obama traveled to Ukraine with Sen. Dick Lugar in 2005 just seven months after he became a senator, touring surplus weapons stockpiles Most of the small arms and ammunition were left over when Soviets withdrew from Eastern bloc nations, and later dumped in Ukraine The two senators secured U.S. funding to help destroy the weapons instead of leaving them intact Ukraine exported more than 700,000 small arms in 2004-2007, including 101,000 each to Libya and the UK, and 260,000 to the U.S. But most of the ammunition stockpiles – crucial for keeping a standing army battle-ready – were...