Category: All About Guns
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Two Barret sniper rifles were reeled from a canal in Florida. (Composite via Canva and Creative Commons)
Over a balmy winter weekend in South Miami-Dade, Florida, a young boy and his grandfather set out to fish along a canal. What they reeled in weren’t fish, but holy mackerel were they a catch.
Duane Smith was shocked when his grandson Allen Cadwalader pulled in two .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifles while magnet fishing, the Miami Herald reported.
Smith and Cadwalader went out with magnetic rods after viewing a YouTube video on it, and decided to drop lines in the C-102 canal.
“We ended up with two pounds of scrap metal and 40 pounds of gun,” Smith told the Miami Herald, adding, “I figured, since it was our first time, this was beginner’s luck.”
But luck struck twice, and the pair pulled up a second rifle one drop after the first.
“The Barretts had so much mass,” Smith noted. “The magnet went straight to them.”
Smith, 61, who formerly served with Army infantry, said that he was interested in the firearms’ lower recievers, where serial numbers are typically located. He immediately called police.
“Whoever did this is not your run-of-the-mill criminal,” said Smith. “It looked like it was something that someone would want to come back for.”
The guns are currently being processed at a local forensics lab.
This was far from the first time people have gone “magnet fishing” and found old weapons.
This YouTube video shows the discovery of an old Nazi MG-42 machine gun from World War II.
“For me a very exciting video!” said MjrCarnyx – WW2 Metal Detecting, who posted the video, which had more than 280,000 views, in 2019. “As you can see we had a few epic days with the guys from Dutch WW2 Magnet Hunters. It was absolutely unbelievable and I can’t thank them enough for taking me along. I really do hope you enjoy!”
President Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland announced today the creation of a “National Ghost Gun Enforcement Initiative” designed to crack down on homemade guns, sometimes referred to as “ghost guns.”
The announcement comes as Biden travels to New York City to meet with Mayor Eric Adams, who recently announced his own “Blueprint to End Gun Violence.”
“Today, the Department is announcing the launch of a national ghost gun enforcement initiative designed to prevent these unserialized firearms from being used to commit crimes, including by prioritizing bringing federal charges against criminal use of these weapons,” the DOJ explained in a statement.
As part of this new initiative, the DOJ will “train a national cadre of prosecutors on enforcement issues specific to the use of ghost guns in crimes.” These prosecutors will be available to “every district across the country.”
The DOJ will also send out a “set of materials” to assist investigators and prosecutors in bringing cases against those who use homemade firearms in crimes, and designate a “ghost gun coordinator” in each ATF field division.
The statement’s focus on crimes and criminals is doubtless intended to reassure law-abiding gun owners that the DOJ won’t come after them. But “ghost gun” owners may not be considered “law-abiding” for long.
At the behest of the Biden administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) proposed a new rule that would redefine what constitutes a “firearm frame or receiver.”
As part of this new rule, the ATF will ban “weapons parts kits” by redefining the term “firearm” to include “a weapon parts kit that is designed to or may readily be assembled, completed, converted, or restored to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive.”
This new definition requires companies that manufacture weapons parts kits to serialize unfinished receivers and conduct a background check on all customers prior to purchase.
The ATF assures gun owners that “nothing in this rule would restrict persons not otherwise prohibited from possessing firearms from making their own firearms at home without markings solely for personal use.”
However, the DOJ’s laser focus on “ghost gun” prosecution casts doubt on how gun owners who currently own non-serialized weapons parts kits will be treated. As GunsAmerica has covered previously, the ATF has banned a product, secured customer lists from gun companies, and used those lists to prosecute search warrants.
In the case of one firefighter from California, state agents discovered illegal firearms while assisting the ATF on its raid, and the state tried to prosecute him.
Considering this history, the DOJ’s assurance that its new task force will only target criminal ghost gun owners is small comfort.
Black Collar Firearms is releasing their MBA and SBD bolt actions, as well as a stabilizer that legally classifies as neither a stock nor a brace. Providing real innovation throughout each of these products, Black Collar Firearms is a company you will want to be keeping your eyes on.
First, their modern bolt action rifle (MBA) is a ground-up design that features a straight-pull bolt action that provides “significant mechanical leverage for primary extraction.” This straight-pull action is both faster and smoother than traditional bolt guns and it will also require less movement needed to operate the gun. This allows users to stay on target by eliminating the sideways rotational force typical bolts require.
While the action is unique to the MBA, users will be thrilled because they can still swap in standard AR-10 parts. From the pistol grip, magazines, and trigger, the MBA also uses AR-10 bolt heads and barrels (minus the gas port).
To keep flawless repeatability, and rock-solid construction, the MBA features a two-piece receiver system that uses bedding blocks and a recoil lug integral to both the upper and lower receiver. Each MBA will come with a “matched bolt head and barrel extension mated to a match-grade barrel.”
Black Collar Firearms offers the MBA in rifle, pistol, and builder variations, and the MSRP target is $2,499.
The SBD lineup of integrally suppressed firearms may be configured as a rifle, a modular SBR, or a modular integral pistol. With a retail price starting around $3,250, each offering comes with a different chambering ranging from 300 Blackout, 308 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, to 375 Raptor.
Using AB suppressors to integrally suppress these firearms, Black Collar Firearms was able to achieve under 130dB firing supersonic 308. These compact packages are capable of 1 MOA five-shot groups with quality factory ammunition. Subsonic loads are expected to be between 1.5 and 3 MOA depending on ammo choice. After getting hands-on with the SBD, this compact and very capable package just won’t leave the forefront of my mind.
Last, but certainly not least, Black Collar Firearms debuted a new class of rear firearm accessories. Neither legally a stock nor a brace, this adjustable pistol support (APS) provides for a finely-tunable, adjustable monopod with a great surface area for shooting from the prone position.
While looking at it originally I was skeptical, but it is both comfortable and functions as a great monopod. Designed to provide a third point of contact with a front bipod, this APS does the trick.
Standard pistol braces are designed to brace against the body, but Black Collar Firearms changed the game by offering an accessory not intended to be in contact with the shooter. When used for bench rest or flat range shooting, the APS provides that perfect support that rubber pistol braces could not.
While the details are still being finalized, the final models should be shipping in 3 months with an estimated MSRP of around $149. The internal screw may be more coarse than the one shown, to allow for quicker adjustments, but you will just have to stay tuned to see how this turns out.
For more information on the APS, you can find it on Black Collar Firearms website here.
