Blackwater Ammunition showed up on the scene a few years ago and since then has been making a mad dash toward ammo and weapon development with some side work on body armor and load carriage. It’s all very much in line with work done by owner Erik Prince during Blackwater’s heyday in the early aughts, so really no surprise. Some of you may remember the signature BW Guns and Blackwater Gear, designed by Caleb Crye.
They had a lot on display at SHOT Show, but The Iron Horse stuck out as something completely different. You might notice that this carbine doesn’t have a traditional trigger or guard.
That’s because the trigger is a thumb activated lever above the rear of the pistol grip. The concept was originally developed for wounded veterans who had lost fingers. Turns out, the thumb is stronger than the index finger and there’s less weapon movement (at least side-to-side) with the depressing of a horizontal lever than a vertical one.
The Iron Horse will accept standard AR uppers and they plan to offer 7075 aluminum lowers for those who want to build their own.
It’s a novel idea… but man, I have a hard time seeing a sustainable business case for it.
Any chance of a picture of the trigger side?
Here: https://www.ironhorsefirearms.com/t-o-r
Check out the video. It’s at the top, back of the grip.
Is it not a rifle if you don’t “pull” a trigger?
18 U.S.C., § 921(A)(7) and 27 CFR § 478.11
The term “Rifle” means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.
I’m not a lawyer and have no clue, just curious.
What ever the ATF desides it wont be in favor of the people. Remember it is the same orgisation that sad a 300BO AR with no rifling is a Short barreled shotgun.
And what else is it? A shotgun is typically smoothbore, correct? There’s no diameter requirement. What functional difference is there between the bullet of a rifle round (caliber is irrelevant) and a slug?
“The ATF Firearms and Ammunition Technology Division (FATD) has examined the Reformation firearm for purposes of classification under the applicable provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) and the National Firearms Act (NFA). During this examination, FATD determined that the straight lands and grooves incorporated into the barrel design of the Reformation do not impart a spin onto a projectile when fired through the barrel. Consequently, the Reformation is not a “rifle” as that term is defined in the GCA and NFA. Moreover, because the Reformation is not chambered for shotgun shells, it is not a shotgun as defined in the NFA. Given these determinations, the Reformation is classified as a shotgun that is subject only to the provisions of the GCA (i.e., it is not a weapon subject to the provisions of the NFA).”
Interesting. Might be hard to run and shoot though, or to shoot someone trying to take it from you.
In the words of the late great gunny r. Lee ermey
YOU WANT TO BE DIFFERENT………
Keep Calm & Return Fire…
For the fellow who asked what you call a smoothbore .300 BLK: It’s a “Breech Loading Musket”, of course, and it’s just as accurate as one. What is it for? To circumvent Hoplophobic laws, of course, and it works fine for that.
Regarding the Iron Horse: You have to love the worthy inventions of others or you have no right to ask them to love yours. “I cast my ideas out to the world so they may catch the imagination of the ingenious” -Ben Franklin