Replies

Sorry for the late, late, LATE Saturday Night Gun Pron, but this weekend had several minor, and one major, holiday stacked from Friday to Sunday. Friday was adopted for the unofficial commemoration of Brothers Day, where current and former military slap each other on the back, and tell improbable stories that only someone else who served could appreciate.

Friday was also a moderately-publicized Peace Officer Memorial Day. I saw no flesh-and-blood peace officers I could personally thank, so I contributed a few "likes" on Facebook instead. It's a tough job that I could no longer even attempt to do, due to the principle of "soldiers make bad police, police make bad soldiers".

Sunday, May 17, is still Armed Forces Day, even though there was no acknowledgement from the White House. Although there was an executive tweet from the White House proclaiming today to also be "National GLBT.... Appreciation Day". That one sort of snuck up on me, but I'm sure it will be at least up to the status of Cinco de Mayo by next year.

So how could I commemorate the last-minute observation of expressing thanks for our military, peace officers, and our unofficial "band of brothers"? I went shopping, of course. Based on the so-far-still-viable theory that I may never see another one, I bought one of these to celebrate:

It's a Beretta Storm PX4 Special Duty in the good ol' Murrican .45ACP. The barrel rotates 30 degrees to lock and unlock from the slide while functioning. All the usual features one now expects on an autoloader, including super-deluxe packaging.

It is showing good potential for accuracy, with my skill being the biggest limitation, as usual. These were just some break-in shots, but with a 9.5 lb long pull, and 4.5 pounds short, right out of the box, I expect good things will appear quickly. This would be a good candidate for a .45cal service pistol, if the military ever got a measly few millions to test and evaluate modern designs. If you don't have a flagship .45cal weapon in your product lineup, you aren't considered a serious contender, even if the military stays with 9mm.

Just a quick announcement of an informal face-off between my antique Steyr AUG, and the newly-available (for how long?) IWI Tavor. The Tavor has been under development for 20 years, and is now Israel's official front-line rifle. Somehow, the semi-auto version has been allowed into the US, but this was the first one my EBR store has seen in two years.

The Tavor was a consignment sale by one of the oldest, richest, and oddest clients of the store. The previous owner bought it, added the nice Nikon BDC variable scope, a half-dozen more mags (standard NATO brands, just like the AUG, which has the Aussie stock for Iraq, so it can use American GI mags, and not the obscenely expensive Steyr ones. The Tavor also had 1600 rounds of ammo as part of the deal, mostly GI and CMP military stuff.

My first impression is that the AUG has turned out amazingly simple and classic with its styling, compared to newer weapons. Both feature interchangeable barrels, and calibers. The AUG could change barrel lengths, or put in a 9mm conversion unit, all done by the user. The Tavor also has barrel and adapter for the Russian 4.5x39 round, with perhaps other calibers in the future.

One "feature" of the Tavor is that if the user fiddles with the barrel for any reason, it has to go in to an armorer who can re-verify the headspacing with the proper gauges. The ol' AUG has barrels that can be swapped out with just a push on a small cam, and a 90 degree twist. Any barrel that goes back on is automatically at the proper headspace.

The Tavor continues the modern trend of providing plenty of space to hang all sorts of goodies on, including ones that haven't been invented yet. Yards of rail space, and the small rail trades places with the charging handle on the opposite side when you change handedness. The ribbed area under the barrel is a cover for some hardpoints to hang a grenade launcher, or ultra-short breeching shotgun or high-power laser designator.

The Tavor was designed for today's needs and fads, while the AUG remains the champ for elegance and post-modern design. I expect they will both perform well.

Some day I'll put a FN FS2000 through similar tests as an example of second-generation bullpups, as opposed to first and third generations.