Rock Island Auction Company has announced that with over 5500 consigned lots that consist of over 11200 guns, their February Sporting & Collector Auction will be the largest firearms auction ever held. Besides firearms and edged weapons, the lots also include a variety of other gun-related items such as ammunition, books, optics, accessories, art, parts, magazines, etc.

Bul Armory is a Tel Aviv, Israel based gun manufacturer that specializes in competition-ready 1911 style handguns. Since 1990, Bul Armory has been manufacturing and developing and innovating guns to suit their users and over time this has lead to them producing firearms for every day carry and even law enforcement and military applications.  I had a great time talking to the guys from BUL armory who are themselves, competitive shooters and I’m more than happy to share their SHOT 2020 offerings with you all here.

Guns.com formerly existed as a news and content website, however that has changed in previous years and is now becoming an online brick and mortar outlet for gun stores across the United States in offering products for sale online. We go through some of the features of Guns.com in this episode.

Not wanting to wait for SHOT 2020, Hornady released most of their new product information back in October 2019.  Most of the buzz centered around the new A-Tips. They are designed and packaged to be as consistent as possible.  The aluminum tips are precision machined and each bullet is sequentially packaged ie in a box of 100 you will have bullets 1001 to 1100 from the press.  This leads to greater consistency and as we know in the long-range game consistency is king. 

This year’s SHOT Show was the first to have models representing all three of the US Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon program prototypes. While SIG had actual prototypes on display (which TFB got our first look at back in September at DSEI 2019) both Textron and General Dynamics had models on display at their partner booths.

Boyds Gunstocks Industries Inc, as of January 2nd this year, is under the new ownership of Dustin Knutson and Rob Carstensen who have been with Boyds for a combined 24 years.

According to the city government’s official statement:

With SHOT Show around the corner, news, hints, and clues concerning new products are already starting to trickle out. Today’s development relates to IWI-USA, who looks to be introducing a new product – but the big news isn’t the product itself. It’s the implication of the product.

It seems that the Sharps Rifle Company has filed for bankruptcy. According to documents filed with the Wyoming District U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Sharps filed for bankruptcy on December 31st of 2019. The Sharps bankruptcy filings show that Sharps has been struggling for quite a while now. Back in 2017, the rifle company brought in just over $1 million in gross revenue. In 2019 Sharps only brought in $578,000.

Welcome back to the latest edition of TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by my friends at Yankee Hill Machine – home of the Turbo and Resonator line of rifle caliber suppressors. Last week we compared the new H&K SP5 with the TPM MP5SD, a showdown we’ll revisit in coming months. This past week we had the pleasure of announcing the Ruger-57 pistol chambered in 5.7x28mm. Unsurprisingly, my first question was about the availability of threaded barrels for suppressor use. While a threaded barrel for the new Ruger-57 will surely be a factory option in the future, there will those of us who will not want to wait. So, with all the renewed excitement in the 5.7x28mm round, let’s take a look at some 5.7mm suppressor and host options.

Chances are, if you’re a firearms fan and have ever discussed “ top movie shootouts” or “ best gun films“, the classic 1995 heist action/thriller “Heat” has entered into the conversation. The infamous rolling shootout scene, which takes place on the streets of Los Angeles following a botched smash-and-grab bank robbery, is often hailed as one of the best action sequences in a film. Featured heavily in this scene are the robbers’ Colt 733s, converted to full-auto. These Colt Commando models are wielded effectively (complete with some controlled bursts and competent mag changes) by Robert De Niro as criminal Neil McCauley and by his partner-in-crime Chris Shiherlis, played by Val Kilmer. Colt Commandos are popular with the retro/cloner crowd, and for good reason. The design oozes nostalgia, and there’s an air of old-school cool about the fixed A2-style front sight with the integrated carry handle rear sight. Dead Air Silencers and Noveske Rifleworks have taken that inspiration and partnered up on an interesting “enhanced” 733-style collaboration, limited to only 50 units nationwide.

Magazine and accessory manufacturer MagLULA has filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com for alleged Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) violations stemming from the advertising and sale of counterfeit MagLULA, UpLULA and other products covered by registered trademark and copyright protections. The suit, dated December 12, 2019, alleges the unauthorized use of trademarks and copyrights by Amazon in connection with advertising, distribution, offering for sale and by other means listed below. Excerpts from the 79-page filing can be found below.

Blaser USA, the official U.S. importer for the products of brands such as Blaser, Mauser, J. P. Sauer & Sohn, Rigby and Minox, will now begin operating under a new name – Blaser Group.

Our friends at Orchid Advisors have just posted some proposed changes to the ATF 4473 – Firearms Transaction Record. The ATF 4473 is the form most commonly seen by consumers when purchasing and transferring firearms at a Federal Firearms License (FFL) Dealer and includes biographical information, criminal background questions and other information to determine if the buyer of a firearm is legally able to make the transfer. Among the proposed changes, the ATF is including a “Non-Binary” option under the transferee’s Sex question.

Last Month, many rumors began to surface regarding the Nikon withdrawal from the riflescope business. Claims state that once the current inventory of Nikon riflescope stock is gone, they will not manufacture replacement inventory.

A few days ago the ATF issued an open letter regarding the Franklin Armory Reformation and its reclassification as a non-NFA short barreled shotgun, requiring transfers and interstate transportation to receive Attorney General approval.

Here’s an ironic twist for you: as someone who publishes content for the largest firearms news blog in the world, there are many days that I wish all social media would simply die in a fiery car crash.The endless bickering, the obsession with minutiae, rampant tribalism and all those selfie/foodie pics are like a bad case of herpes – persistently annoying. However, as a human, I recognize that social media is now how we actually interact with one another in the shadow of a new decade. Longing for the days of the Elks Club, poker night or any other type of in-person socializing will get us nowhere. Being visible online allows us to share our passions with millions of people around the world. And that is a powerful tool.

Pursuant to an ATF determination earlier this summer, the FosTech Origin SBV firearm now falls under the purview of the National Firearms Act (NFA). The Origin SBV is equipped with a smooth bore barrel that is less than 18” in length, but utilizes a pistol stabilizing brace instead of a shoulder stock. The setup, once believed to avoid NFA regulations, has been reclassified as either a Short Barreled Shotgun (SBS) or an Any Other Weapon (AOW) requiring an NFA registration and transfer application and taxes.

Taurus USA have opened their new facility in Bainbridge Georgia. The opening ceremony for the new $22.5 million plant took place on 5 December. The new facility has the capacity to produce between 6,000 and 8,000 guns per week.

We are days away from the Something Big Is Coming GLOCK live event on December 10th, 2019 and speculation is running wild. Appalachian Mountain Club-esque image teasers bring to mind exploration, trailblazing and adventure. Personally, I’ve heard some fantastically wild guesses ranging from a polymer 1911 and a new line of revolvers to a lever-action rifle. Fear not, 12/10/2019 is just around the corner, and our wait will be over.

In August of 2017, TFB reported that much-beloved maker of AK mags and other parts/accessories, US Palm, was sadly going under. After a hiatus of a year-and-change, in September 2018 TFB also reported that they appeared to be setting up for a resurrection with the help of Century Arms – eliciting joy from many AK enthusiasts. In the weeks and months following this apparent revival, drama unfolded in the form of a lawsuit brought against XTech Tactical over alleged copied designs. Now more than a year after first word of their resurgence, it seems as though substantive strides are coming closer to fruition. As of December 2nd, 2019, US Palm now has a functioning website complete with several product pages, contact and warranty info, and a shopping cart function (although as of this writing there is not yet a way to add products to said cart and complete a transaction, so we will have to wait for more to follow on that).

During one of their latest live streams, Bill Geissele, the founder of Geissele Automatics, announced the launch of a new product line called Special Agent. As its name implies, the parts and accessories included in this line are exactly the ones used by the FBI. If you visit the company’s website, you’ll see that these products are now combined in a separate category which you can access by clicking on the newly added Special Agent button on the navigation bar.

Nammo Group, the international aerospace and defense company headquartered in Norway, has announced that they will be enhancing their US manufacturing base by acquiring an ordnance manufacturing subsidiary of UK-headquartered Chemring Group. Chemring Ordnance runs a plant in Perry, Florida which produces a range or ordnance including fuzes, 40mm ammunition and other ammunition components. Chemring Group’s other arms specialise in electronic countermeasures and sensors.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision that Armslist’s ads and tools are protected by the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Therefore, Armslist is not Liable for the illegal actions of its users. Armslist facilitates communication between willing firearm sellers and buyers, Armslist does NOT sell firearms to its users. This is in response to a weapon that was purchased using the site in October of 2012.

SIG Sauer has published a press release announcing that they have completed the delivery of 100,000th M17/M18 pistol to the US Military. These pistols won the MHS (Modular Handgun System) trials and were adopted by the US Army back in the January of 2017 with the first delivery taking place in November of the same year to the 101st Airborne Division. After the adoption by the US Army, the M17/M18 pistols shortly became the sidearm of choice for all service branches of the United States Armed Forces.

Although we don’t discuss partisan politics here at TFB, the negative climate surrounding the firearms industry in some of the northeast states does have a ripple effect on consumers. For example, the legal challenges facing Remington and other companies have shown that the firearms industry is just no longer welcome in certain parts of the country. So the news of Stag Arms moving from Connecticut to Wyoming shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone paying attention.

American Outdoor Brands Corporation have announced a plan to spin off Smith & Wesson from their non-firearm brands. In a press release timed with the release of the company’s financial report for the first quarter of 2020, American Outdoors announced that “its Board of Directors has unanimously approved proceeding with a plan to spin-off its outdoor products and accessories business as a tax-free stock dividend to its stockholders.”

Media reports have lead us to believe that the world-renowned German firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch may be up for sale. This is not actually the case. In a german news article posted on November 8th, it was announced that Heckler and Koch are set to be acquired by an investor who seeks to take a majority hold of the company. After a clarifying call with our friends at H&K USA, it seems the proposed sale/acquisition would be just an internal change of the distribution shares between current investors. A translation of the full article can be read below.

Fred Smith, owner of Bullberry Barrel Works has announced that his shop will be closing operations. Bullberry Barrel works have been in business for over 40 years and have been making custom bolt action barrels for all sorts of customers. Started in 1988, Fred Smith, who was a recently retired Las Vegas Firefighter set up shop in Southern Utah and got to work.

As usual, by the end of the year, Hornady announces the first new products of the next year. And as always there is something new in each of the company’s product categories. For 2020 they have new bullets, ammunition, gun safes, and reloading equipment to offer. Let’s take a brief look at each of the Hornady 2020 new products.