Eli just dropped another three in three video. I don’t know about everyone else, but I am loving this format!
First up, (you gotta say this in that monster truck announcer voice)
The HOG BLASTER 9000
Which is built on a Ruger Gunsite Scout in .450 Bushmaster. I gotta keep this brief, but this is one of my favorite topics. There was a Gentleman named Jeff Cooper who was a firearms and tactics expert. He founded a firearms training academy in AZ called Gunsite. Col. Cooper was a prolific writer, and a very influential guy. As Eli alluded to, Cooper championed something he called a “scout rifle” which was, in Cooper’s view, a very versatile rifle a person could use for many purposes. Coopers wish list was a short, light, quick handling rifle, chambered in a high power cartridge, fed from a magazine, with a forward optic. That is the basic spec sheet. Strangely not many companies tried to make one for the mass market until many years after Cooper’s passing. But Ruger (and several others) stepped up to the plate in recent years. Consistent readers know I am a rather unabashed Ruger fan, but Ruger has probably come the closest to fulfilling Cooper’s vision. Eli mentioned he has one in .308, it is his deer rifle, I too have one in .308 and I love the thing. But back to the gun in the video. This scout rifle is chambered in .450 Bushmaster. Now, what many folks may not realize is that this is also something Cooper called for; in his writings on the Scout rifle, he called for something using a cartridge similar to a .308, but then he also called for something in the same rifle design but utilizing a much heavier cartridge he called a “thumper” (he used this term for some other things too, such as something we have come to understand as something like a PDW in the military). This “Thumper Scout”, if you will, was envisioned by Cooper as:
“ a big-bore carbine (.44 caliber, or larger) capable of taking 1,000-pound critters at 250 yards.”
Enter the .450 Bushmaster. The .450 Bushmaster is the successful attempt at creating a cartridge to meet Cooper’s criteria. In fact, Cooper did personally approve of the cartridge. The real meat of the .450 Bushmaster is getting .45-70 performance out of a shorter, rimless, cartridge that can be easily fed in a bolt gun, or especially a semi-auto. The cartridge was designed for us in AR style rifle, but it works great in bolt guns, and it’s shorter case length is perfect for the quick handling Ruger Gunsite Scout. Although we in the Show Me State are not encumbered by such odd legislative efforts, in certain areas of the country (lookin at you Michigan), there are byzantine rules regarding the shape of the cartridge that may be used for the harvesting of deer. The .450 Bushmaster meets this definition. But wait, there’s more! The HOG BLASTER 9000 could also be the BEAR SLAYER 3000, and the DEER DROPPER 2000 and it would certainly not be underpowered for sane range Moose/Bison hunting. Basically anything the .45-70 can do, the Bushmaster can probably accomplish, and that is a lot. Eli has ONE of these. Go get it.
Next up, the Remington Tac 14.
I used up most of my time on the Scout (#sorrynotsorry) so I will keep this short and sweet. Everyone has always wanted a sawed off shotgun, right? Now, due to clarification of the circuitous and oftentimes incomprehensible ATF rules on what the definition of certain legally dubious concepts mean, you can own one without special hoopla or getting crossways with Johnny Law. Several manufacturers have answered the call, and now there are many to choose from. ALSO, the tube fed magazines of most shotguns of the past have really hampered the reload speed of the average Joe. So the public (and especially those who dabble in 3 gun) has requested magazine fed shotguns. The manufacturers also fulfilled this request within the last couple years. The two biggest names in pump shotguns are Mossberg and Remington and who knows which one is more successful, they are both top of the heap. Remington’s TAC 14 is based on the venerable 870 pump set up for tactical close quarters or home defense situations. What you now have is a detachable magazine fed, sawed off pump shotgun… talk about a BOOMSTICK….Ash would have really clobbered the Evil Dead with one of these babies. Shop Smart. Shop Liberty Tree.
Lastly,
The Rossi Circuit Judge.
This thing (pictured at the top of the article) is straight out of the mind of a steampunk mad scientist. Strangely, it is also potentially very effective. It is definitely, unarguably, cool. It is also not a common firearm. Let’s break it down quickly. Rossi and Taurus are former competitors, now…related. Taurus came out with the Judge, which is a neat revolver, it shoots .45 Colt like a real cowpoke gun, and .410 shotshells, or even the really cool self defense .410 shells, or other specialty .410 ammo it is like a Transformer. A big ol’ revolver firing big ol’ cartridges. Rossi, those madcaps, turned the concept into a carbine but not just any carbine a Revolver Carbine. The first one of these was made in the 1870’s, and as far as I can tell, Eli was right, what he has in the shop right now is an example of the only currently produced Revolver Carbine. How freaking cool is that?
Trot on down to Liberty Tree Guns, check em out & take one home…
Stay Safe, Stay Free
