Nevada-based firearm company Polymer80 was raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE or ATF) yesterday in an apparent move against so-called “Ghost Guns”. Polymer 80 builds kits, with tools and a bit of skill, can be turned into a firearm receiver. Traditionally termed 80% receivers because they are missing a critical 20% of the features needed to be a working firearm, media outlets and others unfamiliar with guns and manufacturing technology have given these kits the name “Ghost Guns”. The headline Polymer80 Raided by ATF is not really a surprise at the end of 2020 – the incoming administration has signaled a crackdown on “Ghost Guns” as part of new policy changes

Are the Monday blues getting worse and worse? Has your boring 9 to 5 job started grinding your gears to the point where you can’t take it anymore? Perhaps it’s time for a change of scenery! How about combining one of your favorite hobbies with work? Gunjobs aims to do just that – pair talented and hard-working people up with the gun industry so many of us love.

By now I guess everyone knows that SHOT Show 2021 has been cancelled, and we can now only look forward to 2022 for the next possibility. The  NSSF statement on the cancellation can be found here. Of course, no show means a lot less money for NSSF. Mossberg has now have announced that they will support NSSF with a donation of $75,000.

Following up on the late October announcement on their The Good, The Bad and The Quiet contest in Texas, Dead Air Silencers is already planning on hosting round two. One team out of 25 contestants took home a substantial prize package full of silencers, guns and accessories. I’m not sure who these two young Indiana Jones characters are (below) but they look set up for a very good time. Check out the video below for details on the next Dead Air adventure coming up in January.

Zenith Firearms is a family-owned company based in Afton, Virginia. I remember them clearly from my last SHOT Show visit, where one of their employees took a lot of time and effort to show me around and explain their products. I appreciated that, a lot.

RUAG Ammotec has announced the start of the partnership with the Croatian arms manufacturer HS Produkt. This is part of the planned expansion of the RUAG Ammotec portfolio, with a partnership agreement between the companies made earlier this year.

New Hampshire based firearms manufacturer and industry powerhouse has just announced that the acquisition of Marlin assets from the Remington bankruptcy sale is complete. The deal closed on November 23 and the $28.3 million purchase price was paid in full. Ruger is said to be moving Marlin rifle production in house and expects to see lever action models available later in 2021. Additional details can be found below.

SIG Sauer has just announced a safety recall for all Cross bolt action rifles. The SIG Cross recall is related to a delayed discharge observed in a single rifle and confirmed after it was returned to SIG for further evaluation. SIG advises owners to stop using their rifles, immediately unload them and contact customer service for guidance. Additional details can be found below.

Today, Smith & Wesson Issued a pistol recall notice for their M&P Shield EZ Pistols manufactured between the dates of March 1st, 2020, and October 31st, 2020. Smith & Wesson has identified cracked hammers that fail to fully engage the sear which subsequently caused multiple successive discharges of the firearm without depressing the trigger. If you have an M&P Shield manufactured between these dates and want to know if your serial number is included in the recall you can enter your serial number in the form at the bottom of this linked page. Full recall details from Smith & Wesson have been posted below:

Let’s be clear – guns like the SIG MCX, GLOCKs, the H&K SP5 and AR-15’s are all awesome. Everyone interested in personal protection, shooting sports or just collecting should have some combination of a modern pistol and a semiautomatic rifle and have the training to use them with proficiency. But when we are discussing the pure joy of shooting, I always come back to the one combination that leaves me smiling: an accurate suppressed rimfire rifle. I have several of these setups and they each can provide hours of enjoyment. But I wanted more; I wanted a laser rifle that is also ultra quiet. Enter the Vudoo Gun Works V-22 and the start of TFB’s Precision Rimfire series.

Arizona-based Riton Optics, specialising in rifle scopes and red dots, were initially founded 7 years ago and have now announced they have moved into a new 10,000 square foot production facility with room for further expansion.

One year ago SIG Sauer announced that they had delivered the 100,000th M17/M18 Pistol to the United States Armed Forces. Time flies and SIG Sauer has now announced that they have delivered another 100,000 Modular Handgun System pistols, for a total of 200,000. For the first time, they have also delivered simultaneously every branch of the U.S. Military. This is quite an achievement considering the challenges from COVID-19 and the huge ongoing demand in the firearms market.

Shadow Systems has been busy in the great state of Texas. While most in the firearms industry are just trying to keep up with demand during the chaos of 2020, Shadow Systems has managed to grow. They are still going strong and have recently made two big announcements.

Geissele Automatics, initially known for their heavenly triggers and sturdy rail systems for the AR-15 platform, has steadily diversified their retail offerings into  optics mounts, optics and even complete rifles. And I’m a fan – all my guns sport G triggers and most use a Geissele rail system. So when the North Wales, Pennsylvania manufacturer sneakily added AR-15 magazines to their line up, I was very interested to learn more and hopefully get a shot at owning a few. Geissele magazines!

SIG SAUER has been doing a lot of big things recently, and their momentum doesn’t appear to be slowing. Their Custom Works division looks to be singing along nicely, with new offerings like the Nightmare and Equinox series’ recent releases along with the all-metal P320 AXG Scorpion, hot on the heels of the P320 FCU Collective program announced earlier this year. SIG has also won another new major defense contract for one of their optics, termed the Direct View Optic (DVO), which is intended to replace the aging ACOG currently employed by many US Soldiers and Marines on their M4s. These successes should make it no surprise that SIG has also recently announced an expansion, with growth requiring new facilities in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Some good news for our Canadian readers, Walther Arms have announced a new partnership with the Gravel Agency to act as their civilian and law enforcement representatives in Canada. The Quebec-based manufacturer’s agency specializes in representing and distributing for a number of other large companies in Canada catering to shooting sports, military and law enforcement organizations. Gravel already represent companies like CCI, Blazer, Remington, Eotech, KAC, Magpul, Taurus, XS Sights and Wilson Combat.

Okay, which one of you is buying all the ammo? No seriously. As if 2020 isn’t bad enough – viruses, unrest, elections – the lifeblood of the one thing that keeps me grounded in this crazy world has dried up. Forget trying to buy 5.56x45mm, 300BLK or 9mm, even semi obscure calibers are nowhere to be found. And I don’t hear a lot more shooting/training going more than usual. So where is it all? As evidence of the historic demand, Fox Business is reporting that Vista Outdoor is behind on ammunition orders by a year and over a billion dollars. I’m sure my order is in there somewhere.

Sweden’s Spuhr i Dalby AB have announced that the Swedish armed forces have ordered an undisclosed additional number of their adjustable stocks for their G3-pattern Ak 4 rifles. This follows the last order in October 2019.

Our friends at Dead Air Silencers are hosting a unique adventure opportunity next month. Dubbed “The Good, The Bad And The Quiet, teams of two to five people will unearth clues with a chance to win a prize package with six Dead Air Silencers, a DDM4 AR-15 pistol and more. Contestants will race across central Texas and hopefully be the first team to find the grand prize. All the details on this Dead Air Adventure can be found below.

AmmoMan.com and the AmmoMan School of guns have just announced that they will be launching the 2.0 version of their Shot Group Analyzer. The Shot Group Analyzer is an online tool that any shooter can use to get a quick assessment of their accuracy. The Shot Group Analyzer will not only give you your group size but also give you an accurate assessment of your spread.

Winchester has just completed its first historic ammunition delivery for the United States Warfighter by means of shipments of both 5.56x45mm NATO and 50 BMG ammunition departing to various armed forces locations across the globe. The Lake City Ammunition Plant has been producing ammunition since 1941 and this first shipment is part of a 7-year contract with the United States Army that was awarded in 2019.

SIG Sauer have announced that they will be expanding their operations to another New Hampshire site. The new location offers over 200,000 sq/ft of space at the Crossroads Industrial Park in Rochester. SIG Sauer will be moving their Dover, New Hampshire operations to the new site. The new location is just over 20 minutes away from SIG Sauer’s headquarters at Pease International Tradeport in Newington, New Hampshire.

Textron Systems, one of the three vendors in the running for the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program held a media panel earlier this week. The panel was lead by Wayne Prender, who is Textron’s Senior Vice President, Applied Technologies and Advanced Programs.

Good afternoon readers and thanks for joining us for another edition of Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the new R9 suppressor. Last week we got a peek at impressively quiet, integrally suppressed, bolt action 9mm rifle from Curtis Tactical. We’ll get another look at this setup in a few weeks. Today I’d like to discuss the recent news about the Q Honey Badger Pistol Brace receiving undue scrutiny from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).

On 14th September it emerged that C.G. Haenel’s MK556 had been selected by the German Bundeswehr, beating the entries from Heckler & Koch to replace the G36 as the Bundeswehr’s service rifle. A day later the German Ministry of Defence confirmed that Haenel were indeed the winner of the Bundeswehr’s choice. Now a leaked Bundeswehr document sheds a little more light on the trials and the German Ministry of Defence’s choice of rifle.

A lot of shooters never come in contact with gunpowder, but all reloaders do. Depending on what kind of brand you are using, you may be in for a little bit of change since Hodgdon Powder Company has bought several brands from Western Powders.

Firearms Manufacturer Q LLC announced today that it was issued a Cease and Desist by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. The ATF’s letter notified Q that the Honey Badger pistol is now considered a Short barreled rifle (SBR) and ordered them to immediately cease production of the firearm unless it is registered on an ATF Form 2, declaring that they are manufacturing an NFA weapon.

In a shocking ruling issued Monday, September 28th, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania issued an opinion holding that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) of 2005 is unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment. This ruling comes from a lawsuit that emerged after the tragic death of 13-year-old J.R. Gustafson. It may have wide-reaching consequences, but it is not over yet.

Over the weekend the world’s oldest firearms company celebrated their 494th birthday. Beretta was founded in 1526 and have been in business continually ever since. The company has been responsible for dozens of iconic designs ranging from their pistols and fine shotguns to their service rifles.

AGM Global Vision is an Arizona based night vision and thermal optics development company. They design and distribute a wide range of professional-grade thermal and night vision optics, and have a team with over 65 years of collective experience in the night vision and thermal optics industry. AGM Global Vision has just announced a massive partnership expansion with many shooting sports related companies. The full press release can be found below: