The Pistol Caliber Carbine (Part 1)

The Pistol Caliber Carbine (PCC) is debated in terms of its practical use.  Some view it as a range toy, others include this firearm as part of their survival plan.  In exploring this topic we need to first look at hard data before we can really explore things like philosophy of use.  In Part One of the Pistol Caliber Carbine I will explore the physics involved with this class of firearm versus the conventional SHTF rifle, the AR15.
In Part 2, we will use this data to discuss philosophy of use.
In Part 3, we will talk about common PCCs in Canada.

There are two empirical methods of assessing the terminal performance of a round
1) Kinetic energy
2) Momentum
You can skew the results in favor of your favorite firearm just by selecting a method of measurement that supports the strength of your bullet.  The kinetic energy method holds that a rounds potential is based on the physics formula for kinetic energy where energy is equal to half the mass times velocity squared.  With this measurement method, bullets that go fast are considered superior to those with mass.
On the other end, momentum is based on s simple velocity times mass equation.  People who gravitate towards heavier calibers prefer this method of measurement.
Speaking anecdotally, real world users of light but fast bullets such as HK’s 4.7mm in the MP7, tell about having to expend half a magazine to quickly put someone down.  Similar to this, Delta force operators in Mogadishu found that their heavy hitting 1911s in 45ACP were more effective then their M4 carbines in putting the drug addled Somalis down.
Secondly, if a bullet’s energy expands into an empty body cavity or it exits the body having not transmitted all its energy, then energy kinetic is not an appropriate measurement.
This is why I prefer momentum and will use this as my measurement standard for the following analysis.

In Canada, AR15 users (in an effort to look more cool) seemingly have gravitated towards the 10” barrel on their AR15s.  I don’t know anyone who goes out and shoots anything other than 55grain bullets (except for me) so I will use that as my bullet weight.
Using momentum, the numbers read as follows… 2616fps (797m/s) on a 55 grain (3.56g) projectile.
Final result is 2.837 Newton Seconds.

Out of a handgun, the average 115gr 9mm projectile reads as follows… 1100fps (335m/s) on a 115 grain (7.45g) projectile.
Final result is 2.496 Newton-Seconds.

Out of a pistol, the 9mm is a lot worse than the 10” AR15.

Now if we up the barrel length to 18” on our 9mm PCC to make a non-restricted firearm in Canada our velocity jumps to 1297fps (395m/s)
Final result is 2.942 Neuton-Seconds.

Oh ho!  That is better than the 10” barrel AR15!

How about your standard 230gr (14.90g) 45ACP projectile out of a 18” barrel?
Final result is 4.472 Newton-Seconds.

Wow…. The 45ACP has ballistics like a rainbow with its low speeds but at close ranges, it has an unbeatable punch to it.


Specter Arms sells 14.75” barrel AR15s.  Longer than what is cool but let’s run the numbers on those…
Final result is 3.122 Newton-Seconds.  At this point, the AR15 beats the 9mm PCC but still falls short against the 45ACP PCC.

So the truth is, from a physics perspective, the PCC is just as effective as a AR15 at close ranges.

Now long ranges (100m+) is where the PCC falls down.  This is where we need to look at philosophy of use…  but that is for the next article.

What is Going on With the Firearms Lab?

Recently I just finished a criminal intelligence course.  The material was not new to me but it put intelligence analysis back into the forefront of my mind.  I started to think analytically about the recent strange behavior coming out of the RCMP firearms lab.

The RCMP approved an AKM (AK47) look alike called the Canadian Sporting rifle.  It looks exactly like an AKM and even takes AK47 magazines in the standard AK47 caliber of 7.62x39 Soviet.  The internals are reported to be different.  This flies in the face of previous RCMP rulings most noteable the .22LR Armi Jager.  It looks like an AK47 but it had different internals, different materials and fired a different caliber all while using a different magazine.  It was classed as prohibited based on looks alone.  This was not an isolated thing; the crappy GSG-5 was also deemed prohibited because it looked exactly like a MP5.  Different materials, different internals, different caliber but its appearance made it prohibited.  The Colt-Umarex .22LR: restricted because of looks.  This sudden departure from what has been the RCMP norm for well over the 8 years I have been involved in the industry suggests something has changed.

- Management.  Last I heard, Bill Etter was still in charge of that gong show so this is unlikely.  Perhaps the techs are cool guys who like guns?
- Money changed hands.  Lets face it, there have been RCMP members caught killing people in jail cells and having sex with underage girls in cars, is it that far fetched to think some bribery took place?
- One of the techs snuck this in because he personally wants an AK.  I know several people who are part of the gun control bureaucracy only because they want to act as agents of positive change;  agents that are secretly on our side.
- Politicians put boots to ass and forced a change.  That is how I forced the RCMP lab to give the S2 the ok.  But the S2 I sent to the lab had no telltale features that looked like any other firearms.

I have had dealing with the lab so I know they are a slow, inefficient and stubborn bureaucracy.  This fact forces me to conclude that this gun went to the RCMP lab anywhere from a year to 6 months ago.

So speaking analytically we have 3 hypothesis.  Now lets looks at some disturbing data.

Recently the RCMP firearms lab has determined that the Sig Special “Sig 550” that the receiver is the same as its select fire counterparts.  This moves the rifle from the category of non-restricted rifle into the prohibited category of “Converted Auto” – a made up Canadian term developed to ban more guns.  Despite having no capability to fire full auto with no full auto fire control parts, it may be deemed an illegal gun.  The RCMP did this with a small batch of VZ58 that mistakenly were sent with a converted auto receiver.  So using deductive reasoning we can eliminate our first hypothesis from the list.

Even though they act like they are above the law, the RCMP must answer to parliament and the Minister of Public Safety.  So what do you get when you force a bureaucrat to do something he does not want to do?  A pissed off petty man who lashes out at those he thinks are beneath him.  The Sig rifle may be a backlash to punish the citizens of Canada for forcing them through the democratic process to allow an AKM variant to hit the market.

Politics should be considered as well.  So I will add it as a fourth Hypothesis.  The RCMP actually lost the GSG-5 case before it went to the appeal court and was overturned.  If the Canadian Sporting Rifle was deemed illegal (as the past pattern suggests) it could be another legal battle.  You see the RCMP are playing a high stakes game, if they deemed it prohibited and lost a court case on the CSR it would force them to re-evaluate and re-classify many of their other prohibited firearms back to non-restricted status.  Their credibility would be forever lost in the courts in regards to firearms and more importantly they would lose positive control over many more guns.  This hypothesis fits the story of the CSR but not that of the Sig Rifle.  Interesting.



Our new list of theories:

1 The firearms lab is taking bribes.
2 A Firearms Lab tech wants his own “AK47”
3 Politicians or put pressure on the RCMP labs with the “Canadian Sporting Rifle.”  The RCMP labs responded to this insult by jumping on the “Ban”-Wagon.
4 The RCMP fear a court case that could shatter them.

This new data does not support theory 1 or 2 but it does not disprove it.  Through inductive reasoning theory 3 is looking more likely.  The introduction of the Sig Rifle data lowers the probability of Theory 4 as this could be a feared court challenge.  But these events may not actually be linked meaning that it could be more then one of these factors after all it is a mistake to assume that decisions and actions are the result of a grand, organized hierarchy.  Sometimes what happens is the result of misunderstood orders, political maneuverings or even insubordination.

News has also surfaced about the RCMP looking long and hard at the Norinco CQ rifle.  This is a copy of the M4.  Unlike most other AR15’s that enter Canada, this one is shipped with a full auto bolt.  There are no other full-auto fire control parts.  Apparently a gunsmith/manufacturer complained about it.  The result of the Norinco investigation will suggest the driving influence behind the RCMP’s actions.

a. If the Norinco M4 comes back as restricted (what it is now) I would guess the lab’s goal is control.  The rifle is part of the gun registry so it is still under the positive control of the RCMP.  They have no interest other then to prevent the loss of more gun registry data.  If the Norinco M4 stays restricted, I predict that the RCMP will work to reclassify as many non-restricted rifles as possible to keep accurate tabs on firearms and their owners.  This action would also be another indicator that Hypothesis 3 is correct and Hypothesis 4 is not.

b. If the Norinco M4 comes back as prohibited, I would guess the lab’s goal is confiscation and starting a spearhead to eventually take other AR15s.  The AR15 is only restricted because of name.  A simple change in the Order in Council would force the AR15 (except for ones with silly short barrels) off the registry and into the land of non-restricted rifles.  With a legitimate reason for an all out ban it would serve the RCMP’s interest to re-classify.  This time they would have a real legal leg to stand on.  This would mean that Hypothesis 4 is most likely correct.

I must conclude that, at this time, I can not definitively say what is going on.  But I rate my hypothesis’ like this:

Hypothesis 1 (The firearms lab is taking bribes.): Unlikely

Despite some serious ego issues and some limited criminal actions, the RCMP is a large organization that for the most part is moral and just.  To bribe the entire lab would be uneconomical considering how small our gun ownership actually is.

Hypothesis 2 (A Firearms Lab tech wants his own “AK47”): Possible

We know that our people are secretly embedded in the gun control structure.  It is highly likely that such a person would love an AK47 but the size of the organization suggests this would be a tough one to sneak past the other lab people. It would depend on his ingenuity and understanding of the bureaucratic function.   I would rate this as only “Possible.”

Hypothesis 3 (Politicians put pressure on the RCMP labs with the “Canadian Sporting Rifle.”): Likely

The RCMP must obey Parliament but dislike doing so.  They managed to dance around my MP for a solid 3 months resisting my attempts to make a lawful living.  When the Long Gun Registry was scrapped the RCMP’s CFOs attempted to punish the people through slow transfer times, a backdoor registry and ridiculous ATT restrictions.  If their petty past is an indicator of the future they are trying to punish the public for demands placed on them through our democratic process.

Hypothesis 4 (Credibility called into question): Highly Likely

The RCMP were on the brink of losing the GSG-5 battle.  A lower court held that the function of a firearm made it a variant.  The appeals court ruled that identical guns are a variant noting the guns in question were advertised as a .22LR version of their prohibited counterparts.  As no literature and/or advertisements make the “AK47” claim for the Canadian Sporting Rifle, the RCMP may feel that the element that got them to win last time, is missing.

In conclusion, we don’t know exactly what is going on, but I suspect things will get very clear in the next year.

Adcor Industries Gets it Right

About 2 years ago I wrote an article about the AR15 and advancements that need to be made to bring the rifle up to modern fighting rifle techniques.  When I started this blog it was one of the first articles I bridged over from Facebook to here.

Well great minds must think alike.  The Brown Enhanced Automatic Rifle has taken the AR15 platform to the 21st century with a ambidextrous cocking handle located on the upper area of the handguards.  Finally riflemen will not have to move their support hands back to manipulate the cocking handle or worse yet take their dominant hand off the pistol grip to manipulate the handle.

The old throwback to bolt action rifles is finally gone.  I hope other manufacturers follow suit.

http://www.adcorindustries.com/wordpress/index.php/products/bear/

223/556 and the AR15 Barrel

In the world of the AR15, shorter is cooler.  This runs contrary to everything else in life.  Guys want giant trucks, giant houses, giant dogs, big big big!  Even in firearm calibers there are those that would rather have giant calibers such as 458 SOCOM or 50 Beowulf.  Yet when it comes to the AR15 it seems that the opposite holds true or should I say, the opposite holds false  - The AR15 is something where size actually does matter either in a bigger caliber or a longer barrel.

The original M16/AR15 had a 20 inch barrel.  With the 55grain rounds of the time they would achieve a muzzle velocity of 3259 feet per second.  It was determined at the rifle’s conception that a velocity no less than 3000 feet per second would be needed to achieve fragmentation and thus maximum lethality in the 55grain M193 round.

During the Vietnam conflict Special Operation Groups or SOG Teams would conduct clandestine operations in Vietnam ranging from black propaganda to direct action.  A shorter, handier rifle was developed to lighten the load and compensate for SOG’s long term reconnaissance patrols and for rear echelon troops not needing a full rifle.  The new M4 Carbine had a barrel length of roughly 14.5” giving a muzzle velocity just a touch over the needed 3000 ft/s.  This meant that the M4 could rarely have the needed velocity past 100 meter mark to achieve the lethality that the round was developed for.  With this limitation a new round was developed.  The slower moving but longer 62 grain round designated the SS109 was a fair way to fix some of the fragmentation problems.  It may seem counter intuitive, but the longer SS109 (although slower) would fragment easier as it was a longer bullet.  Think of it as trying to break a short stick and trying to break a longer stick – the longer acts as a better lever and snaps easier.

So the M4 was…. Well….. better now that it had a new round but after the battle of Mogadishu, Delta reported that their M4 carbines had little effect on the Somalis.  They often switched to their heavy hitting 1911s to bring the insurgents down.  It was forgotten that simply having a longer barrel on the M4 would of given them back the lethality that their rifles needed.

USSOCOM found that the higher unlock pressures generated by the shorter M4 gas system, caused premature wear on the rifle causing parts needing to be replaced or repaired at a rate 4 times faster then that of the M16.  For a government agency it is not a big issue… for an individual on a budget, this seems like a big deal.

But for reasons I simply can’t understand the mentality of “smaller is cooler” concept took the AR15 platform in a ridiculous direction; 10” and 7.5” AR15 barrel lengths.   Essentially if you were to stick the barrel of such an AR against someone’s flesh, you MIGHT get lethal bullet velocity but I would argue the blast is more effective at that point in dealing damage.  10” AR15s simply turn bullets into noise.  There is no advantage at that point other than LCF – Look Cool Factor.  If you really need something that short, switch to a SMG or a pistol caliber carbine.

The main people I deal with are not military and don’t have milspec M193 or SS109 and are using the similar (but not identical) .223 Remmington round.  I can only conclude that the minimum length for the lower pressure and lower velocity 55gr .223 Remington, a barrel length should be no less than 18 inches to get the needed effect out of the round.  Should a user opt for a heavier 62gr bullet, you could go as short as 16”.  But always remember – bigger is better.

Is inertia the only thing keeping the AR15 alive?

The single most popular rifle in North America is hands down the AR15 platform. Originally built as an Air Force PDF, its light weight and small rounds made the average infanteer able to carry more ammo.

In its day, the AR15 was considered a Space Age gun. It was the first rifle to use a lot plastic parts and it made a departure from steel to aluminum for its receiver. Like most things America did, it was developed from their own experiences in WW2. Early designs lacked a forward assist (something that the designer fought to keep out of the rifle) and lacked a brass deflector. That meant that weak people who “rode the action” while cocking the weapon would get a first round stoppage – the later addition of the forward assist fixed this. The brass deflector was a later addition to help left handed shooters.
Certainly the AR was a platform that was evolving.

The AR carbine (colloquially known as the M4) was designed for rear echelon troops but it found favour with SOG teams. The problem was, when the rifle was shortened, the chamber unlocked while the pressure was too high. This is a problem today as evidenced by the breakage rate, hard extractions and premature part wear reported by USSCOM.

But the AR Carbine found ways to overcome this as well. Pig tail gas tubes helped to slow down the unlock time by increasing the distance gas needed to travel to the bolt. Gas piston systems helped wear by keeping the weapon cooler and cleaner.

The great thing about the AR15 is its modularity which allows it to overcome any mechanical problem. It just needs some thought and innovation.

The AR15 also boasts as being a major driving force for the economy. Any gun manufacturer that wants into the US market has to admit that producing an AR clone is the way to go. Even Sig (who make superior battle rifles to the AR design) have finally come out with their own AR15. Small businesses have grown to world names because of the AR15. Troy Industries, Magpul.... the list goes on.
But warfighting is evolving and I wonder if the AR15 in its current form is the right rifle to lead the western armies into the future.

New doctrine says that the dominant hand does not leave the rifle to conduct manipulations. That means to conduct a stoppage drill or to manipulate the cocking handle, the support hand (the hand farthest away) has to move back to do these manipulations. I can’t speak for everyone but I have smacked my own lips while rapidly conducting a “tap, rack and go” because of the rear placement of the cocking handle.
Most modern operations are mechanized and it makes sense for a folding stock to be used. Most AR15s do not have this ability as their buffer is located in the rear. In fact I would go so far to say that the handful of “ARs” that have placed the recoil spring above the bolt are not really ARs at all.

I think that someone needs to make an evolutionary leap.... or a look back in time to firearm designs that had the cocking handle up by the support hand on the forestock. Weapons like the FAL, G3, MP5, ACR and SCAR make more sense to me.

I have no interest in entering the AR15 market. It is too competitive for a little guy like me to get involved but I think for the AR to overcome its inertia and become a top weapon platform again, it needs to find someone to re-engineer this flaw. Move the cocking handle to the side or forend. I am certain that in time, this lucrative market will bring about this next evolution and the AR15 will last well into the 22nd century like the Garand/M14 lived into the 21st.