The Redwood Gun Guy

Introduction: When the AK rifle was first introduced, there was no need to mount an optic on it. The rifle was designed to be cheap, simple, and able to be distributed in large numbers. As the decades went on, and Russia's army turned from a peasant army into a professional army, force multipliers like optics have become much more of a necessity. The problem the Russians found though was that they couldn't put anything right on top of the rifle because of the dust cover. This led to the development of the side-rail mount. Since this, there have been a multitude of different options for mounting optics. There are now products for pretty much everything on the top of the rifle to allow for mounting optics, including dust covers, gas tube mounts, and rear sight block mounts. These, along with the side rail mount all have their advantages and disadvantages. I'll try to give a brief overview of each, so hopefully you learn something. Details: We'll start with th

Introduction: AK mags come in all shapes and sizes. Even just in metal mags, you have slab side, two ribbed, three ribbed, and aluminum magazines, just to name a few. And after that, you have all the polymer and "Bakelite" variants. I'm just going to go into some detail on a couple of that mags that I happen to own and some of the interesting background surrounding them. I'll go over some of the interesting features that some of the mags have, as well as a little bit of history. I also won't just look at AKM magazines, I'll also take a look at the couple different mags I have for my SLR-106. Details: Steel Mags The three-ribbed, stamped steel mag is one of the quintessential AK mags. When someone thinks of what an AKM magazine looks like, more often than not it's one of these.This one in particular though because it is a Yugoslavian pattern magazine, meaning that unlike other AK mags, it has a bolt hold-open. The AK rifle does not nor

Introduction: First adopted in the early 60's for use in the United States' new M16 rifle, the 5.56x45mm round, now referred to as 5.56 NATO, has become one of the most prolific cartridges on Earth. Originally developed by Remington as the .223 Remington cartridge, it has been iterated over decades to add the effectiveness and results desired by today's modern militaries. Aside from specialty loadings like tracers, there are three main loadings of 5.56 NATO that are currently in use: M193, M855, and M855A1. Each loading was developed to meet certain requirements for wounding potential and penetration. I'll go into each round and try and highlight some of their unique qualities.  Details: Source: https://magtechammunition.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/556A-cut.jpg We'll start with the simplest round, M193. M193 is just your basic 55 grain, full metal jacket (FMJ) round. The M193 bullet is comprised of a lead slug with a copper jacket. The advanta

Introduction: I'm going to try an go into a bit about the intersection that I've noticed between the tech world and the gun world. I am someone who grew up very tech-minded. I was very into computers, tinkered with my stuff and jailbroke my phones. I got a bit into "hacker" culture and would be security minded. I also am, obviously, really into firearms. More and more I am seeing gun culture and internet/tech culture become one in the same. It seems to stem from a common rebelliousness and distrust of government seen on both ends  Details: I see more and more intersections between the tech community and gun community as time goes on. I think nothing exemplifies this better than the development of 3D printed guns. The development of 3D printed guns stems directly from the mix of people tinkering with their 3D printers and people that want to fight gun control. Together, they have developed a gun that is completely made of unregulatable components, the FCG9.