If someone were to ask you which products Colt has sold over the years, would you say a .22 semiautomatic rifle? I didn’t think you would. Colt made three versions of .22 rifles, the Courier, Colteer and Stagecoach, as well as others under several private-label names for Sears, Wards and other companies. This alloy rifle shot well, but did not hold up well. Unless it was kept oiled and clean, the alloy parts wore very rapidly. In spite of this, the little Colt rifles were good enough lightweight shooters that most owners will pay to get them fixed rather than discard theirs.

Introduced in 1963, the Remington Model 1100 shotgun has been around for over 40 years now. Variations include a sporter for field shooting, a Magnum version for ducks and geese, as well as a skeet and trap model for those who enjoy breaking clay targets. In all, there have been well over 3,500,000 Model 1100s produced over this period of time so you are bound to see one (or more) come across your bench. In this article, I’ll cover some of the common problems that result in ejection failures along with a few of the possible glitches that aren’t seen very often. And, of course, I’ll examine the cures that will help you get this shotgun back in service as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Check out several videos this week: Close quarter defense requires different tactics than defense from a distance. Pillar bedding is the process of installing aluminum columns in a rifle stock to ensure there is perfect metal-to-metal contact between the action and bottom metal. Gunsite Range Master Il Ling New demonstrates the how to properly load and unload your firearm.

What's ahead for the midterms? Jeff Knox at The Firearms Coalition says, 'There might be a few Democrats who haven't been able to bring themselves to declare support for the Second Amendment, but the official party line is broad support for the constitutional right, while interpreting it in the narrowest terms, and doing all they can to undermine and dismantle it.' As for the other party, 'Republicans, on the other hand, are generally supportive of the right to arms, but few of them have any more understanding of the issue than do the Democrats. They definitely lack the resolve and the backbone to vigorously oppose the Democrats' attacks on the Constitution and the President's appointments of radical extremists to the courts and high level government positions.'

Gun Reports - News

FBI Releases 2007 Crime Statistics

Statistics released last week by the FBI show that the estimated volume of violent crime was down 0.7 percent, and the estimated volume of property crime decreased 1.4 percent in 2007 when compared with 2006 figures.

The estimated rate of violent crime was 466.9 occurrences per 100,000 inhabitants (a 1.4 percent decrease from the 2006 rate), and the estimated rate of property crime was 3,263.5 per 100,000 inhabitants (a 2.1 percent decline).

Violent crime has fallen as the number of guns has increased 4.5 million a year. There are more gun owners, owning more guns than ever before.

The FBI presented these data today in the 2007 edition of Crime in the United States, a statistical compilation of offense and arrest data as reported by law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. The FBI collected these data via the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.

The UCR program gathers offense data for violent and property crimes. Violent crimes are the offenses of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault; property crimes are the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The program also collects arrest data for violent and property crimes as well as 21 additional offenses that include all other offenses except traffic violations.

Other highlights:

In 2007, the major U.S. cities with the highest murder rates were cities with severe gun control. The top three? Detroit (where Michigan law requires a permit to purchase a handgun), Baltimore (where Maryland law restricts private handgun sales and requires a seven-day waiting period on handgun sales by dealers), and the District of Columbia (with its handgun ban and its firearm registration law). Detroit, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and D.C. had the highest robbery rates.

In 2007, more than 17,700 city, county, college and university, state, tribal, and federal agencies voluntarily participated in the UCR program. These agencies represented 94.6 percent of the nation’s population. A summary of the crime statistics presented in Crime in the United States, 2007 follows:

• There were an estimated 1,408,337 violent crimes reported nationwide in 2007.
• In 2007, as in years past, Right-to-Carry states had lower violent crime rates, on average, compared to the rest of the country with total violent crime lower by 24 percent, murder by 28 percent, robbery by 50 percent, and aggravated assault by 11 percent.
• All four of the violent crime offenses declined in 2007 when compared with figures from 2006.
• The arrest rate for violent crime was 200.2 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants; for property crime, the rate was 544.1 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants.
• The rate of arrests for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in 2007 was 4.5 per 100,000 in population. The rate of arrests for forcible rape was 7.7; for robbery, 42.9; and for aggravated assault, 145.1.
• Further, in 2007, 32 percent of murders were committed without firearms of any sort--knives accounted for 12 percent, hands and feet six percent, and blunt objects four percent. Rifles and shotguns (semi-automatic and otherwise) accounted for three percent each, and typically "assault weapons" have accounted for about one percent.
• Of the property crimes, law enforcement made 101.5 arrests for burglary for each 100,000 in population, 398.0 for larceny-theft, 39.5 for motor vehicle theft, and 5.1 for arson.

Reader Comments

This should prove once and for all that strict gun laws made for law abiding citizens does not reduce crime, in fact the opposite is true. Letting people carry guns reduces crime, thats a fact. Lets be honest though, the Democratic politicians do not want to reduce crime by tighter gun laws, they do not want you to have guns period. It is not about reducing crime, that is a smoke screen, its about taking your guns. Hitler did the same thing and you see where it got Germany. These politicians want ultimate control over the masses by disarming them. This was never about crime, its about control.

Comment by: Robert J | September 25, 2008

I'll agree that there are a handful of politicians who simply want to have their thumb on the American citizen and want us all to behave like lambs in a pen and dutifully obey all commands.

But I think this number is really insignificant. The vast majority of gun control eminates from those decent and caring individuals who honestly want to do something about violent crimes where guns are used, but in reality have no clue what they're talking about.

I have seen some astoundingly ignorant politicians in my twenty-plus years of pro-gun work. Some of these anti-gun politicians are so astonishingly witless that I'm surprised they can tie their own shoes and feed themselves.

Let me give you a quick quote by Cicero:

"A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed, but one hardly admires vultures whom bureaucrats so strangely resemble. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty, dull, almost witless, crafty or stupid, an oppressor or a thief, a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog. Who can trust such creatures?" -- Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Roman Statesman, Philosopher and Orator

Comment by: SaveTheGuns.com | September 25, 2008

I'll agree that there are a handful of politicians who simply want to have their thumb on the American citizen and want us all to behave like lambs in a pen and dutifully obey all commands.

But I think this number is really insignificant. The vast majority of gun control eminates from those decent and caring individuals who honestly want to do something about violent crimes where guns are used, but in reality have no clue what they're talking about.

I have seen some astoundingly ignorant politicians in my twenty-plus years of pro-gun work. Some of these anti-gun politicians are so astonishingly witless that I'm surprised they can tie their own shoes and feed themselves.

Let me give you a quick quote by Cicero:

"A bureaucrat is the most despicable of men, though he is needed as vultures are needed, but one hardly admires vultures whom bureaucrats so strangely resemble. I have yet to meet a bureaucrat who was not petty, dull, almost witless, crafty or stupid, an oppressor or a thief, a holder of little authority in which he delights, as a boy delights in possessing a vicious dog. Who can trust such creatures?" -- Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Roman Statesman, Philosopher and Orator

Comment by: SaveTheGuns.com | September 25, 2008

I got into this conversation with anti-gun people who were saying tougher laws were needed to reduce crime.I started with a simple task,by asking "What is a criminal ??"They all said a criminal is someone who doesn't obey the law.I then asked what laws they thought were needed and looked like I was listening very intently to thier answers.When they were all finished I said that is nice but they will do nothing to reduce the crime rate because criminals don't obey the law.....The proof is in the #'s where you have right to carry states the crime rates are low because it all of a sudden becomes hazardous to commit crime.....God Bless.....Mike

Comment by: Cruiser RN | September 25, 2008

You can bet that the Anti-Gun Democrates, The Anti American Politican, Tree Huggers, Cry Baby Liberal News Media and Criminals will do everything in thier power to keep this information from getting out to the American Public. They have been doing it for years!

Comment by: Richard N. H | September 29, 2008