Lots more here.

Before Marines in Afghanistan received enhanced 5.56mm rounds last month, an influential four-star general advocated behind the scenes for an option that packs even more punch: 6.8mm ammunition…

The Corps first considered fielding 6.8mm ammo in 2007, after rank-and-file members of Special Operations Command designed it with their command’s approval to address deficiencies with the standard 5.56mm round, Eby said. Neither SOCom nor the Corps fielded it, in part due to the cost and logistics it would have required to make the change.

For now the Marines are going with the SOST 5.56.

I’ve also heard that at one point the Marines were looking at the SCAR and had some 6.8 versions put together for testing.

UPDATE: Comment:

I keep hearing that it’s simply too difficult for the mightiest armed force on earth to field a new rifle round, even if it’s demonstrably superior. So there’s no point trying.

I’m sorry but that’s indistinguishable from what comes out of the rear end of a male cow-type beast.

New Guns for the 460 Rowland from MasterPiece Arms

Release:

BRASELTON, GA – MasterPiece Arms, the nation’s only true MAC-10 manufacturer, introduces the MPA 460 Rowland, a brand new addition to its unique and impressive product line.

These firearms are chambered for the 460 Rowland Round. The .460 Rowland round is a high performance proprietary cartridge intended to attain .44 Remington Magnum level performance in a semi-automatic pistol or carbine. The overall cartridge length is identical to a 45 ACP, but the case length is 1/16” longer. The overall performance of the 460 Rowland Cartridge is nearly double that of a standard 45 ACP round.

The 460 Rowland is offered in three varieties of firearms: the 6” 460 Rowland Pistol, the 10” 460 Rowland Pistol, and the 460 Rowland Carbine.

The 6” 460 Rowland Pistol, or MPA460-10, is chambered for 460 Rowland ammo, has a 6” threaded barrel with muzzle break, scope mount, side charger and 30 round magazine. The MSRP is $579. Also available with extra 45 ACP Upper included for $669.

The 10” 460 Rowland Pistol, or MPA460-15, is also chambered for 460 Rowland ammo, has a 10” threaded barrel with muzzle break, scope mount, side charger, and 30 round magazine. Its MSRP is $675, but is available with extra 45 ACP Upper for $799.

The 460 Rowland Carbine, or MPA460-1, is chambered for 460 Rowland ammo, has a 16” threaded barrel with muzzle break, AR-15 hand guard, scope mount, 2-7×32 scope with illuminated reticule, side charger, MPA low profile fixed stock, 30 round magazine, 1:16 barrel twist- RH, 3.8 lbs trigger pull, parkerized finish, American-made, Lifetime guarantee. The MSRP is $853, but is also available with extra 45 ACP Upper for $999.

I’ve heard of the 460 Rowland but don’t know anything about it other than it’s meant to provide .44 Magnum power from a .45-size cartridge. Anyone have any experience with it?

Seems like this would be a lot of kick for a MAC 10-style gun. The carbine model might be interesting, but I haven’t seen exactly what that looks like.

That hurts just looing at it. Click for even bigger hurt.

Review over at Military.com by Ralph M. Lermayer:

The .458 SOCOM (.458 Special Operations Command) was reportedly given birth over a barbeque and some cold brew. It was at an informal gathering of special ops personnel, specifically Task Force Ranger, when the subject of stopping power came up. It seems it took multiple hits to permanently take the opposition “out of the game” in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The consensus was a one-shot stop would sure be nice. Marty ter Weeme, founder of a company called Teppo Jutsu, L.L.C., went to work. In 2000 a sledgehammer cartridge that would launch 250- to 600-grain .45 caliber bullets from a standard size AR-15 with a proper barrel and chamber was born — enter the .458 SOCOM.

I’ve fired the .450 Bushmaster and have wondered how the kick of this monster shorty round compares to that one. And advantage of the .458 SOCOM over the .450 Bushmaster is that the lower receiver does not have to be modified. Even standard magazines, apparently, work with the .459 SOCOM.

The Department of Homeland Security has placed an order for 200 million rounds of pistol ammunition (.40 caliber, hollow-point) over the next five years for use by its Immigration, Customs and Enforcement division.

Let’s see now, ICE has approximately 15,000 employees. Not all of them are licensed to carry firearms, but just to keep the math simple, we’ll divide the whole shebang into 200 million. That works out to a little over 13,000 rounds per employee over five years, or approximately 2,600 per employee per year.

Someone points out that they’d be ordering FMJ if it was for training, but another commenter says that they use hollow points for training, too. Here’s more:

According to my source, who used to be a firearms trainer, each agent must qualify quarterly with his or her Sig P229R .40 caliber pistol. Each qualification requires 120 rounds. 4 x 120 x 10,000 x 5 = 24 million rounds. In addition, each agent is issued a least one 50 round box quarterly for practice. Most use considerably more. So if we conservatively estimate 100 rounds per quarter, we have 4 x 100 x 10,000 x 5 = 20 million rounds. It is not uncommon for conscientious agents to expend 250 to 1000 rounds a quarter in practice. Accordingly, it would be reasonable to expect that ICE would easily use 50 to 100 million rounds (or more) of the Ranger ammunition over five years.

Regardless, big government orders won’t do anything to help alleviate high ammo prices for civilians. But I also don’t mind seeing companies getting nice big government orders, either.

Via Instapundit.

The veteran officer was using a Glock 21 .45 caliber pistol with out of country ammunition at a shooting range outside of Moundsville, [Chief Deputy Kevin] Cecil said.

It’s believed the ammunition was bad, causing the receiver to blow apart in the sergeant’s hand.

Ouch. Link sent by a reader.

Avid handloaders sometimes talk about cartridge “efficiency,” but few try to define that efficiency.

Story via Steve.

A southwest Philadelphia police district was evacuated after the man brought in a 105 mm projectile for a howitzer.

Police say the 53-year-old man got the shell in 1977 from a friend who was a Marine and kept it in a storage facility since then, and decided to turn it in for safety reasons.

The police say it was a live shell.

So says Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, about the new California law requiring a thumb print and a driver’s license to purchase firearm ammunition while Gun stores are preparing for ammo restrictions

The most important piece of the new law, which has already drawn the ire of the National Rifle Association and some Republican lawmakers, is a requirement that anyone purchasing handgun ammunition provide his or her name, address, phone number and thumbprint. Gun stores will have to keep those records – which also include the type, brand and amount of ammunition sold to customers – and allow police to go through them.

This won’t stop anyone from buying ammo. All it will do is provide an after-the-fact paper trail for someone to follow if necessary. So make sure that everyone realizes that this can do nothing whatsoever to prevent any crimes.

Let’s say that a determined killer needs ammo for his illegal hand gun. He goes to Wal-Mart, shows his ID and gives a thumb print, buys his ammo, and kills ten people. Later, the police can track the purchase down and find out that he bought two boxes of ammunition.

Wow. That’s going to take a bite out of crime.

“The bad guys always seem to get what they need, but we keep making it harder and harder for law-abiding citizens,” [Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills] said of the new law, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law last week. The statute takes effect Feb. 1, 2011.

All this can do to help is to make sure that government officials can track down law-abiding individuals if it wants to.