Whole buncha new guns for ’08:

22 Charger – a pistol version of the 10/22. Neat, though not really my thing. I’m sure the aftermarket will come up with lots of wild mods for these.

SR9 with blackened stainless slide – Melonite/Tenifer/carbonitriding is fast becoming the standard finish on modern hanguns, so it’s logical for Ruger to get on board. It’s slightly disappointing that they haven’t (yet) announced compact, .40 or .45 versions of the SR9.

.300 and .338 Ruger Compact Magnum cartridges – Yes, this is EXACTLY what the world needs; another .300 Magnum cartridge. With the selection currently limited to .300 Win Mag, .300 Weatherby, .300 H&H, .308 Norma Mag, .300 WSM, .300 SAUM, .300 Dakota, .300 Ultra Mag and a half-dozen others, I’m glad Ruger and Hornady stepped up to offer some real VARIETY.

The .338 version is slightly less silly, splitting the difference between the .338 Federal, .338-06 and .338 Win Mag. But really, that’s a pretty small niche to target. I predict we’ll see these new rounds fall by the wayside within 3-5 years.

50th Anniversary Bearcat – A pretty run-of-the-mill commemorative. Bearcats are cute little guns, though.

.480 Ruger Super Redhawk – Actually a reintroduction, this time with five-shot (instead of six-shot) cylinders. The six-shooter versions had problems with fired cases sticking in the chambers. In examining the problem, Ruger finally realized what custom gunsmiths discovered decades ago: the five shot geometry offers significant advantages for big-bore, high-pressure revolvers.

The five-shot cylinder does two important things: it puts more steel in between chambers, and it puts the bolt cuts BETWEEN chambers, rather than directly over them. That eliminates the weakest part of the cylinder; on revolvers like Colt SAAs in .45 Colt, the cylinder wall is almost paper-thin at the bolt cuts.

Note that Freedom Arms and gunsmiths like John Linebaugh have been doing this since at least the early ’80s; it took Ruger 25 years to catch on.

SP101 in .327 Federal – Another new cartridge of dubious value; Ruger and Hornady took the commercially-unsuccessful .32 H&R Mag, lengthened it by 1/8″ and put it in the SP101. Those who have been into guns for a while may recall that Ruger previously offered the SP101 in .32 H&R Mag but discontinued it several years back. I think history will repeat itself.

4″ Redhawks in .45 Colt – Hell yes. THIS I can get excited about. Ruger premiered the same gun in .44 Magnum last year and it got my attention, but I prefer the .45 over the .44 (It’s better because it’s one more!). As long as they don’t foul it up by adding a key lock, I WILL have one. I’ll also have to buy some proper grips for it, since those rubber things are just too ugly to live.

More coverage over at The Firearm Blog.

Not two days after I tell someone I’d like a Buckaroo Banzai poster for Christmas, I find out that Peter Weller just emceed a fundraiser for the Brady Bunch.

I haven’t been this disillusioned since I found out that animal crackers aren’t really made from animals.

Today’s Talk of the Nation will have a segment on Castle Doctrine laws.

Audio should be available at 6 PM ET here.

Since it’s NPR, you can guess which way they’re going to spin it…

Update: You can listen here. Some truly absurd comments here. My favorite:

Maybe I’d shoot, if I lived in fear, if I had a gun. But I’d shoot the foot~ to wound NOT KILL

I’m glad you don’t have a gun, then. If you’re justified to shoot at all you should be shooting to stop. Not to kill, not to wound, but to stop the threat.