Firearms

NotOpodcast: Episode 8

Welcome to the eighth episode of NotOpodcast, where Kilroy joins me to discuss a variety of topics such as the rise of multiplayer-only games, microtransactions, Bethesda, Fortnite, Intel's CPU lineup, Google's phone and messaging strategies, the importance of shooting practice, the resurgence of SMGs, and the US Army's move away from 5.56.

The timecodes are:

Gaming - 1:02 - Single Player vs Multiplayer Games, Microtransactions, Industry Trends
Technology - 24:31 - Intel CPUs, Google Messaging Platforms, Google Phones
Firearms - 45:37 - Practice and consistency, SMGs, US Military Caliber Selection


NotOpodcast: Episode 7

Welcome to the seventh episode of NotOpodcast, where Michael, Kilroy, and Anshel join me to discuss a variety of topics such as the Battlefield 1 Beta, the Sony PS4 Pro, the Apple iPhone 7, Anshel's experiences at IFA Berlin, techwear and gear choices, as well as equipment logistics.

The timecodes are:

Gaming - 0:41 - Battlefield 1 Beta, Sony PS4 Pro
Technology - 27:28 - Apple iPhone 7, IFA Berlin
Firearms - 53:12 - Techwear, Equipment Logistics

 


NotOpodcast: Episode 6

Welcome to the sixth episode of NotOpodcast, where Michael and Anshel join me to discuss a variety of topics such as No Man's Sky, the latest in VR gaming, Anshel's experiences at VRLA (the Virtual Reality expo in Los Angeles), the new Samsung Galaxy Note7, the newest GPUs on the market, firearms in video games, and some basics of pistol mechanics.

The timecodes are:

Gaming - 1:00 - No Man's Sky, latest in VR gaming
Technology - 22:23 - VRLA (Virtual Reality: Los Angeles) Expo, Samsung Galaxy Note7, latest GPUs (Graphics Cards)
Firearms - 1:01:07 - Guns in Games, Basics of Pistol Mechanics

 


NotOpodcast: Episode 5

Welcome to the fifth episode of NotOpodcast, where Michael and Ron join me to discuss a variety of topics such as upcoming games from ComicCon, Nintendo's rumored NX console, Motorola as a division of Lenovo, red dots and optics, and the recent occurrences of violence abroad.

The timecodes are:

Gaming - 0:47 - Gears of War 4, Titanfall 2, Battlefield 1
Technology - 34:05 - Nintendo NX Hardware, Motorola/Lenovo
Firearms - 50:27 - Red Dot sights, recent occurrences of violence abroad

 


NotOpodcast: Episode 4

Welcome to the fourth episode of NotOpodcast, where Kilroy and Michael join me to discuss a variety of topics such as the Pokemon GO craze, smartwatches and augmented reality, self driving cars, some background on the AR15, and the "One Gun" philosophy.

The timecodes are:

Gaming - 0:40 - Pokemon GO, Nintendo
Technology - 20:40 - Wearables, Self Driving Cars
Firearms - 36:38 - History of AR15, One Gun Philosophy

 


NotOpodcast: Episode 3

Welcome to the third episode of NotOpodcast, where Kilroy and Michael join me to discuss a variety of topics such the latest on E3 announcements from this week, physical phone keyboards, an in depth look at the upcoming Xbox Project Scorpio, the tactical triad, and ignorance about AR15s.

The timecodes are:

Gaming - 0:45 - E3, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
Technology - 35:23 - Physical vs Software Phone Keyboards, Xbox Project Scorpio Specs
Firearms - 54:15 - Tactical Triad, Michael Moore AR15 Tweet

 


NotOpodcast: Episode 2

Welcome to the second episode of NotOpodcast, where Kilroy and Michael join me to discuss a variety of topics such as the rumored new versions of the Xbox One and PS4 consoles, the ways software is changing the hardware landscape, and how cheap we'd be willing go when choosing a firearm.

The timecodes are:

Gaming - 1:54
Technology - 19:26
Firearms - 27:37

 


NotOpodcast: Episode 1

Welcome to the first episode of NotOpodcast, where Kilroy joins me to discuss a variety of topics such as the latest graphics cards, gaming news, and which gun you'd choose in a bad situation.

 


ZAUF: Types of Rifles

Earlier in this series, we established the separation of firearms into three very broad categories: rifle, shotgun, and handgun. Each firearm category has its own purpose and role to play in the spectrum of usage. Let’s continue by taking a more granular look at the different types of rifles.

The rifle category is defined by the lands and grooves carved down the interior length of the barrel, as well as the fact that the weapon is meant to be fired from the shoulder. These lands and grooves, called “rifling”, serve to impart a spin upon the projectile as they leave the weapon, making it more accurate at distance with the proper projectiles.

In the broadest sense, the category of rifle is broken down by specific types of actions: e.g. bolt action, lever action, pump action, semi-automatic, and various types of single shot. In the current civilian market, the most popular rifles are generally within either the bolt action or semi-automatic category. Further expanded, rifles are also split up by their purpose, with common categories including hunting, sniping, assault, battle, and other terms entrenched in common parlance. These terms will be further explored in a future ZAUF article.

bolt right hand left hand bolt

Bolt action rifles are defined by their action; a manually operated bolt that is opened and closed to cycle a cartridge in and out of the chamber. Bolt action rifles may be loaded with an internal or external magazine, and may come in the form of single shot rifle with no form of additional feeding. Variations of the bolt action operation usually come in the type of handle the bolt uses: left, right, or straight pull. Because of the particular way bolt action rifles operate, along with the greater overall strength of the mechanism, this type of rifle is able to reliably handle much larger and more powerful cartridges than other types of action.

Lever action

Lever action rifles are defined by the lever, usually wrapped around the trigger guard and grip of the firearm, which is used to cycle the action. This style of action is not as strong as its bolt action counterparts and suffers, generally, from an in-line magazine which runs underneath the barrel. The particular quirk of this type of firearm means that most lever action rifles, unless fed by a box magazine, will only be available in calibers with flat-nosed or round nosed bullet loads in much lower overall strengths. This is because sharper nosed bullets line up in a tube have the unfortunate possibility of accidentally setting off the primer from an adjacent round.

Pump-Action-Octagon-Rifle

Pump action rifles use a pump to cycle the cartridge through the rifle in the same manner as a pump action shotgun. This type of action generally uses the same under-barrel linear magazine as their lever action brethren, though there are models which utilize a detachable box magazine. This type of action tends to be rarer in the rifle category than it is in the very common pump action shotgun category.

semi Automatic

Semi-automatic rifles are defined by their action self-loading the next available round through various means of recycling the energy created by firing a round, as well as by the fact that they fire only a single round every time the trigger is pulled. This is the key that differentiates a semi-automatic rifle from a fully-automatic rifle, as the latter is capable of sustained fire from an ammunition source with only one pull of the trigger. This category of rifle covers a very broad range of firearms available historically, as well as in contemporary production. Earlier historical examples tend to be fed via stripper clip into a fixed internal magazine, while modern production semi-automatic rifles generally opt for a removable box magazine for feeding.

break actionSharps_1852modern black powder

Finally, more niche single shot rifles come in a variety of actions such as break action, falling block, and various types of muzzle loaded rifles. Break action rifles are generally single or dual-shot firearms that are loaded by breaking open the action at the breech (toward the stock) end. Cartridges in break action rifles are loaded and removed by hand with some amount of spring assistance. A falling block action is generally actuated by a lever underneath the action (usually wrapping around the trigger guard), but requires manual action to extract and load any following rounds. Finally, muzzle loaded rifles hearken back to the days of the musket wherein powder, wad, and shot are loaded from the muzzle (business end) of the rifle and jammed back into the breech. Modern black powder muzzle loaders continue to remain popular for hunting.

This provides general overview of the types of rifles in some broad subcategories separated by their action types. There are many more distinctions that are available amongst rifles that will be covered later on.


Preview: Night Vision Devices

Recently I've been working on some night vision related content for the site, such as a primer on night vision as well as a review of a couple night vision devices.

Armasight was kind enough to loan us their Spark CORE Night Vision Monoculars as well as their N-14 Gen 2+ QS Night Vision Monoculars.

These are basically Gen 1.5 and Gen 2+ devices, and in the near future I'll hopefully also get to play around with some Gen 3 and Gen 3+ night vision devices as well.

I've taken a few teaser pictures which I've included below:

both

The SPARK is on the left, and the N-14 is on the right.

NODnod

Used my Nexus 5 to take a picture of the N-14 while looking through the SPARK.

NODselfie

This is my best attempt to take a selfie using a Sony NEX3 and the SPARK monocular.

spark