Remington recently announced a recall of two specific lots of .22 LR ammunition due to the possibility of an insufficient crimp on the bullet.  Remington is offering an exchange of the ammo if you contact them.

The full recall notice:

Consumer Product Notification

Remington Rimfire: 22 Thunderbolt® TB-22A

22 Long Rifle Ammunition

Remington has determined that two specific lot codes of Remington 22Thunderbolt® ammunition may contain rounds with an insufficient crimp on the bullet. This issue is specific only to lot numbers: S22BB1237 and S22BC1237.  Handling or loading this 22 Thunderbolt® ammunition could result in the separation of the bullet from the shell casing.  In certain situations, this occurrence could render the firearm inoperable.

If you have recently purchased a box, brick, or case of Remington 22Thunderbolt® ammunition with the specific lot numbers: S22BB1237 or S22BC1237, Remington will exchange this ammunition at no charge. For questions, or to arrange for exchange and replacement of this 22 Thunderbolt® ammunition, please contact the Remington Customer Service staff at: 1-800-243-9700, Prompt #3.

Remington would like to apologize for any inconveniences or concerns that this issue may have created for our customers.  We thank you for your continued support of Remington firearms and ammunition products.

Remington Defense, who are already supplying the US Army with the XM2010 sniper rifle system, have just been awarded the coveted USSOCOM PSR (Precision Sniper Rifle) contract. Remington will produce 5,150 of their new bolt action Remington Modular Sniper Rifle, which will be now be called the Remington Defense PSR (Precision Sniper Rifle). Remington sister company Barnes Bullets will be supplying ammunition for the sniper system and AAC will supply the suppressors. It is a good day to be a Freedom Group investor!

From the press release …

Madison, N.C. –The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has awarded the Remington Defense Division of Remington Arms Company, LLC (“Remington”) – a subsidiary of Freedom Group Inc. (“FGI”) – a $79.7 million dollar Firm Fixed-Priced (FFP) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide up to 5,150 Precision Sniper Rifles (“PSR”) and 4.6 million rounds of precision ammunition. This award is the result of full and open competition conducted by USSOCOM.

Remington Defense will serve as the system integrator for the PSR, which is a durable sniper system capable of providing accurate target engagement and modular capabilities in barrel length and caliber conversion. Remington Defense will utilize two other FGI companies in the production process; Barnes Bullets will produce ammunition and Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) will manufacture muzzle breaks and suppressors.

Remington Defense already holds the U.S. Army’s $28M contract for 3,600 XM2010 enhanced sniper rifle systems. Remington Defense will be able to leverage its sniper management, workforce, and supply base to ensure the delivery of quality and highly-effective PSR systems.

The PSR award further establishes FGI’s dominance in sniper system expertise, technology, and manufacturing capability for the U.S. Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies.  FGI has the ability to produce a fully integrated sniper system consisting of firearm, suppressor, and ammunition products. FGI’s capabilities provide customers with unparalleled product affordability, quality, and technology.

“We are proud to provide our military Special Operations Forces with top-of-the-line technology,” said George Kollitides II, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Freedom Group and Remington Arms.  “The expertise, quality and centuries of experience at Remington are clearly recognized.  This award not only represents a new era in precision sniper systems, but also proves that an American manufacturing company can still expand its product offerings and compete in this modern age to provide best in class weapons, ammunition, and suppressors to our troops defending freedom around the globe.”

“Members of our armed forces, and especially those on Special Operations teams, are our Country’s first line of defense,” said John Day, Vice President and General Manager of Military and Law Enforcement.  “They deserve the highest quality and newest technology available.  Every aspect of the PSR was designed with this in mind.”

 

Right out of left field, with no fanfare, no press releases, nothing, Remington has launched a website dedicated to their as yet unannounced Remington 2020 scope that has been developed in collaboration with Tracking Point.

The Remington 2020 is similar, both in software and hardware, to the Tracking Point system, but one major different is that the Remington 2020 is not connected to the trigger. Instead of releasing/unlocking the trigger at the exact moment the shot should be taken, the Remington 2020 simply gives the shooter a visual alert to pull the trigger. While the Tracking Point system has a range of 1,200 yards, the Remington 2020 can only provide targeting assistance out to 500 yards (although it should be noted that the laser range finding functionality will work out to 750 yards). The scope has a 3-21x magnification.

Along with environmental factors (Temperature, Barometric Pressure, Incline/Decline, Cant, Air Density, Magnus Effect Drift, Target Movement, Coriolis Effect Drift), the Remington 2020 factors in the specific rifle characteristics (Barrel Twist and Direction, Lock Time, Ignition Time and Barrel Time) and ammunition characteristics (Drop, Wind Drift, Spin Drift., Muzzle Velocity). While this should give accurate results, it does means that the scope is coupled to the specific rifle and ammunition combinations that Remington has developed 3D flight models for. At launch there will be three scope/rifle combinations available for purchase. There is one Bushmaster AR-15 chambered in .223, a short action Model 700 chambered in .308 Win. and a long action Model 700 chambered in .30-06. Each of these rifles is matched to two Remington loads and one Barnes load.

Bushmaster Varminter .223 Remington

Model 700™ SPS™ Tactical Short Action 308 Win.

Model 700™ Long Range (LR) Long Action 30-06 Sprg

The Remington 2020 app has been in the Apple App store since 20 September. It connects to the sope over wifi and allows an iPad or iPhone to modify the scope settings, such the size of an acceptable kill zone, and to allow other people to see what the shooter is seeing.

Remington 2020 App

The scope also features video recording (including sound), so hunters can record and share their kill shots. Expect animal rights activists to go ballistic when these videos start hitting YouTube.

Remington has always been willing to try something a cutting edge. Hunters laughed at Remington when they introduced the Remington Model 700 Etronx. Who, they asked, would want a rifle that required batteries to operated? If Remington had not abandoned the concept I believe every large hunting rifle manufacturer would be making at least one electronic firing rifle. I know Tracking Point is in the digital scope game for the long term, I just wonder if Remington is as well.

An employee of Field & Stream recorded a presentation given to the sales team on the Remington 2020 scope system by a Remington representative. The rep covers everything you could possibly want to know about the scope system. The final video shows the sales team testing the Remington 2020 at the range.

Thanks to Nic for the videos.

Just like their Firearms/Ammunition, Remington has a cutlery selection that will accommodate everybody’s tastes and needs. If the situation calls for hunting, fishing, camping, shooting, fire/rescue, Police, Military, Tactical, Weapon maintenance, disaster prep etc etc… Remington seems to have a cutlery solution for it.

I was able to get a look at a few examples of what is available from Remington’s cutlery drawer.

First up is the Remington 19848 Premier Rescue Series II – Escape -

This knife is built specifically for Fire/Rescue jobs.
It features a “Sheepsfoot” style blade which originated in maritime roles where sail riggers could avoid being stabbed by a sharp tipped blade but can still cut various riggings and rope. This is a no brainer for a rescue application where additional injury to yourself or a victim could result from a more traditional drop point or similarly styled blade. I’m not usually a fan of combo edges but in this application I can agree with it. It features a curved serrated portion to assist in sawing through various materials during any would be rescue attempt. The blade locks open by way of a liner lock system.

The Sheepsfoot blade can be deployed by a right hand friendly thumb stud, or an assisted opening flipper along the back edge that will pop the blade about 1/3 open which can be followed up by an inertia opening of some sort.

The knife also features a webbing/seatbelt cutting tool which deploys automatically by the push of a button. This tool is specifically designed to cut webbing from a seatbelt, clothing, or tactical vest in a rapid manner with minimal risk to the victim. This addition is a nice touch considering a strap cutter is usually issued separately, and would be one more thing to retrieve under stress in a time is life situation. There is an additional safety on the automatic button that will prevent the tool from deploying accidently.

The handle is available in Black or OD Green Forprene with slip resistant texturing and Glow in the dark skateboard tape inserts. This handle design is used on several of the Premier series knives and may look familiar to Call of Duty MW2 nerds as it is featured in several titles in the online gameplay.

Sadly there is not a pocket clip included on the model I handled, but the previous escape series did have them. Remington did include a durable Molle/pals compatible sheath.

The hilt includes a 4.5mm thick glass breaker and lanyard hole.
The handle design was well thought out although not the most attractive, it is very functional. It also has some file work on the back edge to assist the user’s grip.

The blade material is a Teflon coated 440C Stainless. I often think 440 gets a bad rap due to Chinese manufacturers cranking out knives with 440 stamped on the blade. Who knows what Rockwell rating or heat treat process it under went, or if the blade material was even 440 to begin with. 440 was the “goto” super steel before ATS-34, 154 CPM, S30V etc etc… And it still is an excellent steel if the maker knows how to work with it.

The Rescue carries a street price of $100-$160 which I think is pretty reasonable for the amount of features this blade offers.

A sample from their Model 700 Heritage series knives is the RH-21 Big Game – Drop Point. The heritage 700 knives are modeled after the M700 bolt action sporting/hunting rifles.

The design is very basic hunting blade made of a modified 440A stainless with a Rockwell rating of 57-59. The blade is reminiscent of the proven green river style hunting blades in use since pre Civil War.

The handle is made of the same Walnut as Remington’s Model 700 rifles and features the R700 logo laser etched with the same checkered pattern as the M700 stock. The pins and bolsters are fitted well, especially for a factory blade.

The knife has a good working edge out of the box. Custom knife maker Mickey Yurco did a quick touch up sharpening on the edge. After that it was able to melt through 8/9 oz leather with ease.

The knife was supplied with a nicely finished Leather sheath that has two rivets near the bottom to prevent the knife from cutting into the sheath.

The knife has a good hold and includes some file work on the back edge as well.

The 700 Heritage series knives will run about $60-$80. A fair price for an American made hunting knife of this quality.

Lastly is a nice little budget minded piece, the Sportsman Series F.A.S.T. Folder.

The F.A.S.T. Acronym stands for Fast Action opening with a Soft Touch feeling handle.

This knife is a great addition to a bail out bag or a back up to your EDC. This knife can do the EDC grunt work while your more “social” blade stays fresh and ready for anything.

The Fast Action opening is achieved by having a thumb stud/finger assisted opening system. This one was a bit stiff at first but, after some working the action, it eventually lived up to it’s name.

The pocket clip only allows one mounting option which I don’t care for. Then again if you use it as an accessory to a bail out bag or something, it won’t really make a difference.

The edge needed a little work out of the box but still had a cutting edge. Once again I don’t care for the combo edge but it does look appealing at the least.

The rubberized handle is what gives the “Soft Touch” to the knife. It is a cool feature but I wonder how long it will last. They do offer it in several colors including Realtree camo patterns. Check the factory specs below for a full list.

It’s always good to have a knife like this around to handle light chores worry free of losing or breaking it.
with a street price of $12-$20, you can afford to throw one in every bag and every car you own.

Browsing through the lists of knives on Remington’s website you will find multitools for specific weapons systems, folding knives with bird hooks and shotgun choke wrenches, and military style fixed blades with a variety of blade and finish options. They really do offer a worthwhile selection that is a cut above the average Firearm manufacturer cutlery lines I’ve become accustomed to.

Here are the specs on these particular knives from Remingtons website.

Heritage 700

Key Features:
Each Heritage 700™ Series Knife Features:
Signature “R” is laser etched into every knife utilizing the same checkering pattern used on the Model 700™.
The traditional Remington® Trade Mark laser etched on the main blade.
The traditional “Remington® / UMC – Made in USA” tang stamp.
Remington® model number stamped on the opposite side of the tang.
440A modified stainless steel with a Rockwell hardness rating of 57-59

Premier Rescue II
Blade material – 440C stainless steel with Teflon® coating
Blade options – Single: 3 1/2″ Sheepfoot blade Double: 3 1/2″ Sheepfoot blade and 3″ push button automatic seat belt/web cutter
Handle material – Rugged, slip resistant Forprene handle with glow in the dark insets, solid one piece 4.5mm thick glass breaker and lanyard hole
Handle point of interest – Open back frame spine allows easy cleaning of knife
Handle options – Black or Olive Green Double: Blade lock button in handle | Single: Pocket clip
Sheath – Heavy duty Cordura sheath with M.O.L.L.E. system
Made in Italy

Sportsman Series F.A.S.T. Folder
Key Features:
Fast action opening with a soft touch handle
Blade material/options – 440 stainless steel with bead blast finish or black oxidized coating with a serrated/straight combo edge
Blade lengths – Large: 3 5/8″ | Medium: 3 1/8″
Handle material – Anodized aluminum scales with rubberized coating; includes pocket clip and lanyard hole
Handle options – Black, Mossy Oak® Obsession,® Mossy oak® blaze orange (new for 2009) or Realtree® Advantage® MAX-4 HD™
Closed measurement – Large: 5″ | Medium: 4 1/8″

Nesika Firearms, a Freedom Group owned company based in Sturgis, South Dakota, have introduced a new line of custom rifles built on their own Nesika action. There are three models, the Sporter Rifle, the Long Range Rifle and the Tactical Rifle. Prices start at $3,499 for the Sporter and up to $4,499 for the Tactical.

Nesika Long Range

Nesika Tactical

Nesika Sporter Rifle Specs

• Nesika Stainless Hunter action, receiver made from 15-5 stainless and one-piece bolt with CeraKote^® finished 4340 CM steel
• Douglas air-gauged stainless 24”and 26”barrel
• Timney Trigger set at a crisp, three pounds
• Stainless steel Oberndorf- style hinged floor plate
• Leupold^® QRW Bases
• Sporter hand laid-up composite stock with aluminum bedding block
• Guaranteed MOA accuracy, test target included

Nesika Long Range Rifle Specs

• Nesika Stainless Hunter action, receiver made from 15-5 stainless and one-piece bolt with CeraKote^® finished 4340 CM steel
• Douglas air-gauged 26” stainless barrel, fluted varmint contour
• Timney Trigger set at a crisp, three pounds
• Leupold^® QRW Bases
• Stainless steel Oberndorf- style hinged floor plate
• Varmint/Tactical hand laid-up stock with aluminum bedding block
• Guaranteed MOA accuracy, test target included

Nesika Tactical Rifle Specs

• Nesika Stainless Tactical action, receiver made from 15-5 stainless and one piece bolt from 4340 CM steel
• Douglas air-gauged stainless barrel, 28’ Tactical contour, plus an AAC Blackout muzzle brake/suppressor adapter
• All metal is coated with CeraKote^® matte black finish for added protection
• Timney Trigger set at a crisp, three pounds
• 5-round detachable box magazine
• Tactical hand laid-up composite stock with aluminum bedding block, spacer adj. length and adjustable cheekpiece
• One-piece, stainless Mil Std 1913 rail with 15 MOA taper
• Guaranteed MOA accuracy, test target included

Rob Curtis reports at Gear Scout that the Remington Outdoor Group (formally known as Freedom Group International) have borrowed $200 million from existing lenders and will use $175 million of that to buy back shares from existing share holders. Remington said …

I am pleased to report that on Thursday, December 12th, the Remington Outdoor Company (ROC), formerly known as Freedom Group (FGI), raised $175 million of add-on, term loan financing from our existing lenders.

The $175 million loan proceeds will be used to repurchase $150 million of shares from exiting investors, with the remaining $25 million in cash being placed on ROC’s balance sheet, which will be used to grow our business with capital equipment, facility and acquisition investments.

The lender will receive a minority stake in the company. Some groups have been pressuring Cerebus Capital, the private equity firm that owns Remington,  to sell the company but that has proved hard to do. Cerebus spent years buying up as many gun companies as they could to create a mega firm, which is a lot harder to sell than a bunch of smaller ones.

Repeated verbatim from AAC Blog …

The 300 BLK barrels for the Rem 700/Model-7 are available. They are 16″, 1:8 twist, Nitride finish, threaded 5/8-24 and come as pictured with thread protector. Retail is $400.

Medium Contour is P/N 101273

Light Contour is P/N 101815

For now, call up Mike Mers or John Hollister at 770-925-9988 to order.

Arrgghh … if only I had a rifle to go with the barrel.

Also available: .300 AAC Blackout reloading dies.

Yes, I am posting a lot about this cartridge. I am really excited about this. I have for many years wanted a .300 Whisper, but did not want to reload. I should reload, and I eventually will, but at this point in my life I do not have enough time or energy to take up another hobby and am willing to pay the price at the gun shop checkout.

There is a good discussion about the .300 BLK on this blog post.

If you know of companies who are planning to make .300 BLK barrels, ammo, reloading gear, etc please let me know about it so I can also mention them on the blog.

CNBC’s upcoming expose entitled Remington Under Fire will accuse Remington of selling unsafe rifles.

Remington has launched Remington700.TV, a website dedicated to giving Remington’s side of the story. It includes trial footage of expert witness testimony not shown in the CNBC trailers (and probably not in the show itself) that tell a very different story to what is inferred by CNBC.

My fellow bloggers at Defense Review, Military.com and The Truth About Guns have all blogged about this in the past 24 hours.

[ Full Disclosure: Remington's parent company advertises on this blog. ]

[ Many thanks to Brandon for emailing me the link. ]

[ Full Disclosure: Remington's parent company advertises on the blog. ]

This weekend the CNBC documentary “Remington Under Fire” is going to be the hot topic of discussion at ranges and gun stores around the country.

Remington Model 700 Mountain LSS

The CNBC exposé, which they are making out to be a major 10 month investigation, is about 30 years late. This issue with pre-1982 rifles is well known. I wrote this last week …

I am interested to see what CNBC alleges is wrong with the Remington 700. It is widely known, and acknowledged by the company, that pre-1982 Model 700 rifles can fire automatically when the safety switched to the “Fire” position.

The problem with the pre-82 models was with the bolt-lock mechanism design. The bolt lock was enabled when the safety was turn on. The bolt lock prevents the bolt from being accidentally opened slightly, and therefor being unable to be fired, when stalking game. This mechanism was removed in 1982 after a lawsuit against the company.

The lawsuit was an unfortunate incident in Remington’s history. The company knew about the problem, as did users of the Remington 700, but they had done nothing about it. But that was over 30 years ago. Since then the company has, and continues, to offer a Safety Modification program

I even heard that 60 Minutes did an exposé on this back in the 80s. I am not sure what CNBC’s crew were doing for 10 months. A quick google search would bring up just about everything uncovered by the investigation.

CNBC also claimed that you can disable the safety by the use of a screwdriver jammed into the mechanism, or with dirt or rust. Do I really need to comment on this? Keep screwdrivers, dust and rust out of your trigger mechanism, regardless of the type of rifle.

Most telling is what was not shown. They did not go into stores and purchase Remington rifles, hand them over to gunsmiths and demonstrate the rifles firing without the trigger being pulled. They did show a video of two men, said to be police, demonstrating a problem with a Remington rifle but the problem they are having appears to be caused by a different issue.

Remington has published a video rebuttal of the interview with expert witness Jack Belk. During the 2007 trial, he admitted not being able to reproduce the problem …

Where I did agree with CNBC was when they questioned why Remington charges $20 for the safety modification upgrade. I think safety fixes should always be free to the consumer.

Remington’s side of the story is at Remington700.tv. If you have not already seen the CNBC investigation, it will be on again this Sunday, next week Thursday and next week Sunday.

What did you think of the investigation? Please post your opinions in the comments below.

Yes, I did just use the word “Super-Cool” in a blog post title. I have run out of adjectives to describe this rifle. Let me just say that I could hardly put this gun down. I seriously contemplated grabbing it and doing a runner

Rachel with the rifle.

The rifle is a Remington 700 chambered in .300 AAC BLK. It features the fancy new Remington folding RACS stock (Remington Arms Chassis System) and an integrally suppressed barrel. It oozes cool.

The optic is sport is very nifty. It has a custom Leupold scope that features a custom front focal recticle ballistically matched to the subsonic .330 AAC BLK and the supersonic .300 AAC BLK.

It is a concept gun. If it was produced in this configuration it would be very expensive. The components alone would add up to a lot of dollars.

I just cannot express in words how cool this rifle was. It was AMAZING.

Remington subsidiary AAC will be selling integrally suppressed Ruger 10/22 rifles! This is incredibly clever and gutsy move for AAC. Many Customer will be demanding the popular Ruger 10/22 and many won’t accept the Freedom Group substitutes, the Remington 597 and Marlin 795, regardless of their technical merits.

The barrel has the suppressor baffles machined into it.

When Freedom Group (Remington et. al.) bought AAC, I was worried that the unique AAC culture and style would be ruined. Fortunately this has not been the case. They are still thinking outside the box and Remington seems to have given them a long leash.

Later this year AAC will be selling a Remington Model 7 rifle chambered in 300 BLK.

I do not yet have pricing info.

Earlier this month Ruger announced that they would be selling complete upper receivers for Ruger SR-556. The price difference between a full SR-556 rifle and the upper is just over $500.

The Ruger SR-556 comes with an unexciting lower receiver with a standard M4-style stock. The $500 savings could be applied to a more interesting receiver.

The upper is available in both 5.56mm and 6.8mm. They both have an MSRP $1449.

At SHOT Show, Remington introduced a new version of their 1911 R1 handgun. Cosmetically is looks more modern than the more traditional looking original 1911 R1. I really liked the look when I saw it at the show.

The enhanced model features …

• Adjustable Rear Sight
• Fiber-Optic Front Sight (Red)
• Front/Rear Slide Serrations
• Beavertail Grip Safety with Checkered Memory Bump
• Enhanced Hammer
• Anodized Aluminum Match Trigger
• Enhanced Wide Thumb Safety
• Flat Checkered Mainspring Housing (20 LPI)
• Match Grade Stainless Barrel and Bushing
• Front Grip Strap Serrations
• Custom Grips with Thumb Groove and Ambi Cut
• 8-Round Magazines with Bumper Pad (2)

Remington posted these photos on their Facebook page showing the Versa Max shotgun in various stages of manufacture at their manufacturing facility in Ilion, NY.

Remington is recalling four Lot Numbers of its .223 Remington 62 Gr Hollow Point Match ammunition. They may have been loaded incorrectly.

Remington has determined that four (4) Lot Numbers of its .223 Remington 62 Gr Hollow Point (Match) Ammunition may have been improperly loaded.
Do Not Use
REMINGTON .223 62 GR (MATCH) HOLLOW POINT AMMUNITION WITH
LOT NOS. H03RAI, H04RDI, H16NAI OR H17NDI

To identify if you have one of these Lots of ammunition:

• If you have a case of .223 Remington 62 Gr Hollow Point (Match) Ammunition the Lot Number is stenciled on the outside of the case; and,
• If you have a box of .223 Remington 62 Gr Hollow Point (Match) Ammunition the Lot Number is stamped on the inside flap of the box.

If you have any of this .223 Remington 62 Gr Hollow Point (Match) Ammunition, as identified above, immediately discontinue use of this ammunition and contact Remington at the below telephone number. Remington will arrange for the return shipment of your ammunition and upon receipt will send you replacement ammunition at no cost to you. If you are unsure whether or not you have one or more of these Lots of ammunition or if you have mixed boxes of ammunition; please immediately discontinue the use of the ammunition and contact Remington at the below telephone number – we will replace this ammunition for you.

For any consumer questions or instructions on how to return of your .223 Remington 62 Gr Hollow Point (Match) Ammunition with one of the following Lot Numbers H03RAI, H04RDI, H16NAI OR H17NDI, please contact the Remington Consumer Service Department at 1-800-243-9700, Prompt #4.

The only Remington .223 Remington 62 Gr Hollow Point (Match) Ammunition affected by this recall has one of the following Lot Numbers H03RAI, H04RDI, H16NAI OR H17NDI . No other Lots or ammunition is affected.

You can read the full recall notice here.

[Hat Tip: Accurate Shooter]

Two years ago I created a photoshoped mockup of a Remington 700 being fed from a 30 round AR-15 magazine. One reader was inspired by the picture and is recreating it while at working a local gunsmith over the summer.

The progress so far. The rifle is a Remington 700P Tactical.

If anyone has any suggestions for Kevin, please post them in the comments.

Below are some mockups of the rifle …

My favorite aftermarket aperture sight manufacturer, Tech Sights, has expanded their line to include the Ruger Mini-14 and Remington 597.

Post-2005 Mini-14 with Techsight rear apature sight.

Over the standard Mini-14 rear sight, Tech Sight’s sight allows click adjustment of both windage and elevation adjustment ands the choice of optional aperture sizes.

Remington 597 with front and rear techsights.

For any .22 LR, a real aperture sight is far nicer to use than the horrible leaf sights that most (all?) manufacturers tack on to them at the factory.