By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
The news that the seven defendants in the conspiracy trial in Oregon were acquitted came as a shock even to supporters of the seven. Watching the video of the moments after the verdict was announced was special. John Lamb and others had apparently put their heart and soul into the hope that the Oregon seven would be acquitted, so much that they were sobbing and in tears when the verdict was announced.
As if to put a seal on their displeasure, one of the attorneys for the defendants, Marcus Mumford was attacked by six federal marshals in the courtroom as the presiding judge watched. What caused the thugs to jump the lawyer was the lawyer's contention that if a marshal hold was not in hand then the defendant, Ammon Bundy was free to go.
That little play by the lawyer, advocating zealously for his clients must have irritated the judge, especially in the wake of the verdict. Everyone knew that the Bundys would be facing charges in Nevada: the judge, the lawyer, the protesters outside, everyone.
There is little question from all I have heard that the government was stunned at the outcome, and that goes a long way to explaining the government's outrageous behavior in court. Explains it, but does not justify it.
This was not a case for jury nullification, because the prosecutors and the judge had decided that no mention of the Constitutional justification for the occupation would be allowed in court. The full deck of informants the government used to build their case was not allowed to be revealed in discovery. Even without that defense, the jury saw through the government's case as being built upon spurious allegations by undercover informants. As I have remarked, it is unknown just how many informants at the state, county and local level were at the wildlife refuge. There had to have been some there.
Amusingly, writer Clarice Feldman mentioned that Ammon Bundy offered to plea his case out but the government refused, preferring to go for the full trial. Oops.
The marshal's hold contested following the verdict was for the two Bundys, Ammon and Ryan to stand trial for similar charges in Nevada. It would seem that the government case would be stronger in Nevada, except that a number of the leaders at Bunkerville in 2014 were government informants as well. It will eventually come out that Oathkeepers were completely played by government snitches running the show in Nevada.
Continuing the discussion two weeks ago about rifle failure, Rob Ski of AK Operators Union posted two photos of an AK-47 destroyed by an out of battery detonation. At the time I saw the photos, I commented:
This is a failure similar to the four I had three weeks ago.
... I don't see anything in the rifle chamber that prevents the cartridge from going full battery. A stuck case would do that. Stuck cases were the intermediate cause of the rifle failure in my AK-74. While a stuck case would do the same things as described in my experience, it doesn't explain why the round, in this specific case, detonated.
Three things must be true in order for the round to detonate under the given conditions. The rifle's firing pin must have 1) been forward in the bolt, 2) hit as it hit the round, or 3) the round was positioned in some way some part of the bolt/firing pin assembly hit the round.
In order for a round to be fired, the bolt must move the new round into the chamber, close and position around the new round. Then the shooter fires the round, and the firing cycle begins anew.
When the bolt closes the firing pin cannot strike the round unless it is fully in battery, fully in the chamber. If the firing pin already was forward (and I don't know if this is even mechanically possible), that would explain why the round detonated in cases 1) and 2).
The most likely case, IMMHO, was case 3) The round was perfectly positioned behind the stuck casing as part of the bolt hit the round, detonating it.
The failure would be a one in a million failure.
An improperly headspaced bolt could explain ammunition failure, which is the main cause for the failures I have described. Headspacing is a precision thing, less than .005 inch difference between a properly headspaced rifle and an improperly headspaced one. They tell you when you are headspacing an AK, that the gauge should cause the bolt to close with a slight snap, thus there is a small amount of resistance when the bolt closes over the gauge.
Ammunition which is to the extreme of one tolerance would explain a stuck casing.
What I didn't mention there I will mention here: if you look at photo one, you will see a crack in the receiver. Even stamped receivers are not supposed to crack like that. Bend, yes. Crack, never. The material used in a receiver is supposed to be 4140, the strongest commercial grade alloy steel available. It shows that the receiver, assuming it was bought from an AK manufacturer, possibly was improperly heat treated, in that it had not been properly tempered.
Also if you look closely, you will see the great amount of carbon build up on the bolt and the receiver. The rifle is incredibly dirty, including the bolt and the inside of the receiver, and had not been cleaned after several firings. For all the talk of the abuse you can dish out to an AK, you still gotta clean the thing from time to time, to clean out the carbon and the metal fouling.
One other thing. If you look to the left you will see screws were used to assemble part of the AK, which means that the rifle had been modified. To what extent, I do not know. I am not certain if manufacturers do release screw builds, but I seriously doubt it. For the AK platform that would be the height of irresponsibility.
Loads.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Prices for pistol ammunition were mostly steady. Prices for rifle ammunition were mixed.
Prices for used pistols were mixed. Prices for used rifles were mixed.
New Lows:
None.
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Edmonson Sporting Goods, Own Brand, Brass Casing, Reloads, .24 per round (From Last week: +.01 Each)
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2016)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Own Brand, Brass Casing, Reloads, .21 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each)
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Surplus Ammo, Maxxtech, FMJ, Brass Casing, .16 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: FedArm, Own Brand, Brass Casing, Reloads, .16 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2016)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 1,000 rounds: Surplus Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel cased, .23 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2Q, 2016))
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: +.02 Each
Cheapest, 20 rounds: BigHat Tactical, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .23 per round (From Last Week: +.02 Each After Unchanged (7 Weeks))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Natchez Shooters Supplies, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .39 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Bud's Gun Shop, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .48 per round (From Last Week: +.09 Each (!))
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: + .02 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammunition Depot, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .24 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Ventura Munitions, Wolf WPA, Steel Case, FMJ, .24 per round (From Last Week: +.02 Each After Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds (10 Box Limit): Ammo2U, Federal, RNL, .06 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds (10 Box Limit):Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore, Browning, RNL, .07 per round (From Last Week: +.01 Each After Unchanged (8 Weeks))
Guns for Private Sale
Rifles
.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $542 Last Week Avg: $546(-) ($616 (2Q, 2015), $476 (3Q, 2015))
California (277, 279): Mixed Build: $480 ($650 (1Q, 2015), $400 (2Q, 2016))
Texas (274, 250): Rock River Arms LAR-15: $500 ($700 (1Q, 2015), $350 (2Q, 2015))
Pennsylvania (140, 145): American Tactical Imports: $580 ($700 (2Q, 2015), $300 (3Q, 2015))
Virginia (178, 164): Palmetto State Armory: $600 ($750 (1Q, 2015), $475 (25 Weeks))
Florida (362, 371): Del-Ton Sport: $550 ($650 (2Q, 2015), $380 (1Q, 2015))
.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,050 Last Week Avg: $970 (+) ($1,359 (2Q, 2015), $820 (3Q, 2015))
California (73, 71): Mixed Build: $1,400 ($1,700 (4Q, 2014), $850 (3Q, 2015))
Texas (94, 90): DPMS: $1,050 ($1,500 (4Q, 2014), $700 (15 Weeks))
Pennsylvania (29, 27): DPMS: $800 ($1,500 (1Q, 2015), $700 (3Q, 2015))
Virginia (48, 47): Mixed Build: $1,000 ($2,750 (40 Weeks), $800 (51 Weeks))
Florida (79, 81): Palmetto State Armory: $1,000 ($1,950 (26 Weeks), $500 (3Q, 2015))
7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $619 Last Week Avg: $634 (-) ($668 (15 Weeks)), $450 (3Q, 2015))
California (61, 58): Century N-PAP: $699 ($800 (21 Weeks)), $320 (4Q, 2014))
Texas (86, 83): Wasr 10: $600 ($800 (41 Weeks), $350 (3Q, 2014))
Pennsylvania (41, 49): AMD 65: $600 ($750 (1Q, 2015), $375 (1Q, 2015))
Virginia (50, 51): IO: $550 ($700 (21 Weeks), $350 (1Q, 2015))
Florida (102, 98): Zastava NPAP: $650 ($700 (34 Weeks), $300 (4Q, 2014))
30-30 Winchester Lever Action Average Price: $484 Last Week Avg: $444(+) ($495 (3 Weeks), $296 (3Q, 2015))
California (4, 5): Winchester 94: $700 ($1,000 (3 Weeks), $180 (2Q, 2015))
Texas (15, 14): Marlin: $400 ($550 (1Q, 2015), $300 (1Q, 2015))
Pennsylvania (11, 12): Marlin 336: $350 ($450 (1Q, 2015), $250 (4Q, 2014))
Virginia (8, 5): Winchester 94: $575 ($670 (25 Weeks)), $250 (47 Weeks))
Florida (23, 21): Mossberg 464: $399 ($500 (1Q, 2015), $250 (2Q, 2015))
Pistols
.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $444 Last Week Avg: $450(-) ($515 (12 Weeks)), $350 (4Q, 2015))
California (216, 205): Rock Island Armory: $495 ($800 (12 Weeks), $300 (3Q, 2015))
Texas (258, 248): Citadel FS 1911: $500 ($600 (4Q, 2014), $325 (3Q, 2015))
Pennsylvania (153, 160): Rock Island Armory: $400 ($550 (2Q, 2015), $300 (2Q, 2015))
Virginia (155, 161):Auto Ordnance: $425 ($575 (39 Weeks)), $250 (4Q, 2014))
Florida (364, 365): Llama: $400 ($500 (38 Weeks), $250 (1Q, 2015))
9mm (Beretta 92FS or other Semiautomatic) Average Price: $287 Last Week Avg: $286(+) ($358 (35 Weeks), $245 (27 Weeks))
California (269, 271): Springfield XD: $350 ($500 (35 Weeks), $200 (51 Weeks))
Texas (325, 326): Ruger LC9: $275 ($355 (1Q, 2015), $200 (3Q, 2015))
Pennsylvania (277, 268): Smith & Wesson Sigma: $285 ($350 (4Q 2014), $200 (3Q, 2015))
Virginia (216, 218): Firestar: $275 ($425 (43 Weeks), $189 (30 Weeks))
Florida (578, 560): Smith & Wesson SW9VE: $250 ($400 (32 Weeks), $190 (12 Weeks))
.40 caliber S&W (Glock or other semiautomatic) Average Price: $344 Last Week Avg: $348(-) ($399 (40 Weeks), $262 (20 Weeks))
California (105, 97): Smith & Wesson SD40VE: $350 ($560 (42 Weeks)), $250 (4Q, 2014))
Texas (134, 135): Smith & Wesson Shield 40: $350 ($425 (4Q, 2014), ($210 (5 Weeks))
Pennsylvania (99, 95): Kahr P40: $290 ($450 (29 Weeks), $200 (9 Weeks))
Virginia (72, 68): Ruger SR40: $350 ($450 (2Q, 2015), $275 (1Q, 2015))
Florida (163, 159): Ruger SR40C: $380 ($400 (1Q, 2015), $199 (39 Weeks))
Used Gun of the Week: (Colorado)
Freedom Arms 97 Premier in .44 Magnum