I just love the clean lines a #1! (Bill Ruger must of married the Good Idea Fairy)

So if you are heading toward the escaping, dangerous animals from the Local Zoo. Then the 458 Lott is a wise choice!

Colt, On the Brink of Disaster, Awarded M4 & M4A1 Contract. Kinda.

Colt has been teetering on the brink of disaster. They recently filed for bankruptcy, and they have been frantically trying to cut their losses while preserving their executives’ golden parachutes.
Colt had been relying on military contracts to carry their balance sheet after ignoring the civilian market for decades, but when FN Manufacturing came along and snagged the contract from Colt (under-bidding and out-performing the old prancing pony) the last cash cow for Colt finally keeled over.
Word comes today that the Army has re-awarded the M4 and M4A1 contract to both FNM and Colt, and some media outlets have jumped on this as a “new” thing that might save Colt. Here’s the thing: it really isn’t . . .

The Army does not own the M4. The US Government does not own the M4. FN Manufacturing does not own the M4. So who does? Colt.
The prancing pony owns and retains control of the technical data package (TDP), and every single firearm manufactured from that TDP requires some royalties to be paid to Colt.
Unless the Army wants to transition to a new firearm (which they are trying to do, but very slowly) then the Army M4 contract needs to include Colt on the paperwork as it’s their design that is being produced.
However, if you take a look at the wording of the contract award statement you might notice something interesting.

Colt Defense LLC, West Hartford, Connecticut (15QKN-15-D-0102); and FN America LLC, Columbia, South Carolina (W15QKN-15-D-0072), were awarded a $212,000,000 firm-fixed-price multi-year contract for M4 and M4A1 carbines for the Army and others, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 24, 2020.  Bids were solicited via the Internet with six received.  Funding and work location will be determined with each order. Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.

There’s one phrase in there that really says what’s going on: “Funding and work location will be determined with each order.” Colt retains top billing on the contract (because it’s their design, remember?) but FN Manufacturing is also listed.
That little sentence I highlighted allows the government to choose which facility does the actual manufacturing, and pay them accordingly.
In short, while Colt is on the contract (and despite what some other gun news outlets are saying) they still aren’t getting the work. What they do get is a small chunk of royalties on each firearm. It’s something, but it isn’t enough to keep Colt afloat.
They’re sitting at the end of a long table watching other manufacturers gorging themselves with work and trying to hoover up the crumbs that slip through. That’s not sustainable in the long run.

I have found that the 338 is way too much of a caliber for me. That & the BAR while will tame the round a bit. Is still not my cup of tea!

At least it has a good looking recoil pad on it!

I’m getting heartily sick of people yammering on about America’s “gun culture” (usually spoken in terms of horror and disparagement).
It’s not a “gun” culture; it’s a culture of self-reliance . For the same reason, we’re also a “car” culture, because while guns give us freedom (in general), cars give us freedom of movement. Just as we’re not wholly dependent on the State to protect us thanks to our guns, with our cars we’re also free to move around freely, not dependent on Government to supply us with transport.
Some time ago, I laughed at the way that liberal “intellectuals” (who are neither) and European weenies used “cowboys” as an epithet — little realizing that the cowboy embodies everything we true Americans love about our society: he’s on a horse (independent transport), and being armed, he doesn’t need the sheriff to look after him. Cowboys, by the way, were and are largely self-employed, moving from one ranch to another as need for the cattle roundups and drives changes — and we all know that the above-mentioned bastards would prefer that we all work a.) for the State, or at least b.) for companies and institutions (like colleges) that are under the control of the State. (The first system is Communism and the second is Fascism, just so we’re all clear on this topic.)
So when misguided children and malevolent gun-confiscators talk about doing away with the “gun culture”, please be aware that what they’re really talking about is making us all dependent on, and subservient to the State for our protection. For the kids, that’s an unintended outcome because, duh, they’re kids and can’t think past the next hour; and for the confiscators and their ilk, that’s the intended outcome, as per Marx and Mussolini.
The same, by the way, is also true of people who want to do away with cars and make us all use public transport, thus taking away our freedom of movement and subjecting it to government diktat. (It’s another reason why I think “driverless” cars are going to prove to be an abomination — giving up driving means giving up control of your own movements, eventually. Just watch.)
I once wrote that I don’t just want the freedom to bear arms, I want everything that goes along with it: responsibility, personal safety, freedom from government control, the whole damn thing. But what that really means is that I want to be part of a culture of self-reliance. And in the spirit of that culture, allow me to post the following pics:


…or if others feel exactly as I do, but would prefer to be All-American:


That’s my dream, and a pox on those who would deny me that dream, whatever their oh-so noble intentions.

Dramatis personae, from top:

• AK WASR-10 in 7.62x39mm, with a 30-round magazine
• 2018 Maserati GT 4.7-liter V8 (454 hp)
• AR-10 in 7.62x51mm equipped with, yes, a modifier
• 1969 Stingray L79, 327 cu. in. V8 (350 hp)

All four are, if you’ll pardon the expression, loin-stirrers for us self-reliant types — and objects of horror and loathing to the weenies (who would go with *911 and an auto-drive Prius).
I’m pretty sure I can guess which option my Loyal Readers would choose.

I have had a long time respect & love of the 308. What with today’s modern rifle powders & vastly improved bullets. In that it nearly matches the Venerable 30-06 with a lot less recoil and  overall weight.
My only advice for the owner of this rifle though would be to invest in a good recoil pad. As the Savage 99 is a light rifle and can kick like the Missouri Mule. If you let it that is.