The Firearm Blog

Colt’s LE6920 is the company’s base lightweight law enforcement model. Like so many other products on display at SHOT, it comes in color schemes besides standard tactical black.

LE6920MPATAC with Magpul MOE furniture in A-TACS camo:

And the LE6920MP-USA in red, white, and blue:

Ah the Sharps rifle, my nemesis. I say this because every time I am at the range shooting for distance, there seems to be an older guy or two shooting cast lead ammo through a Sharps using tang sights and black powder loads who make me look like a complete noobie. That being said, to me the Sharps is the most beautiful single shot breech loader to ever grace our planet.

While SHOT definitely has its fair share of tactical type guns, there is a section for stuff like this that I had to drool over. The rep laughed when I expressed my anger at being outshot by Sharps on numerous occasions but was happy to answer all my questions and tell me about his product line.

Ruger had debuted a modified version of their terrific 22/45 Lite pistol. The original models were anodized gold, then they switched to black (I have and love one of the older gold models). These come with factory threaded barrels and are very suppressor friendly!

The new model features dimples that act as vents to cool the barrel off (suppressed guns get hot fast, even though they may be rimfire).

I asked a rep if the vents served their purpose well and he said, “of course, but I also think it looks bad#$&”. Indeed it does Mr. Ruger rep, indeed it does.

The good people at KRISS were kind enough to extend an invitation to me to a private shoot they were hosting here at a range they rented out to demo their new products for 2014. I also managed to swindle an invite for my friend Chris who has helped me out with numerous articles (who has been so taken with KRISS products that he has signed up to become a dealer). If you recall, we teamed up with them for a three part series on the Vector that was a lot of fun for all parties involved.

The booth they had at SHOT was impressive and showcased some new and exciting products:

I also got to reconnect with Mike, who was present for out three part series. Here he is showing me the new stock adap

The big news from Heckler and Koch this year is unquestionably their suppressed keymod MR556 and MR762 rifles that are going to the civilian market. At media day they had them for us to shoot, and everyone walked away with a big simile on their face after running a few rounds through them.

The MR556/762 rifles are notable for their accuracy and reliability, and the suppressor maker OSS out of Utah has been selected by HK to produce suppressors for them. The neat thing about an OSS suppressor is that you can change out the core of the unit for caliber conversions! That means for one tax stamp you get all kinds of different calibers.

Photo ©right

Mossberg is now selling a pistol version of the company’s 715 .22 LR rifle.  The new 715P pistols use the same action and magazines as the rifle, but in a pistol configuration.

Even though the 715P looks like an AR-type gun, it is not.  The exterior is simply a plastic shell that gives the gun its appearance.  None of the controls are the same as an AR pistol.  The magazine release is a lever mounted on the magazine well and the safety is a cross-bolt style.  The charging handle is on the right side of the gun, not at the rear of the receiver.

The 715P uses an aperture style sight, and the barrels are equipped with a flash suppressor.  Guns can be equipped with an optic by mounting it to the Picatinny rail on the top of the plastic shell.  Models with 10-round and 25-round magazines are available.  Duck Commander versions are also available in camo.

Kimber announced a new Custom Shop rifle called the 8400 Advanced Tactical II.  The hand-built rifle is chambered for the .308 Win and .300 Win Mag.  It is designed from the ground up for exceptional accuracy.  All rifles are tested for 0.5 MOA accuracy with a three-shot group before being shipped to a customer.

Features:

• five and ten round magazines (five standard)
• Manners MCS-TF4 folding stock
• brown camo finish
• stainless steel bull barrel
• SureFire muzzle brake and suppressor adaptor
• three position safety

MSRP is $3,899.

Galco was showing the new Hornet holster at the 2014 SHOT Show.  The Hornet is a leather holster made to carry compact handguns in both crossdraw and appendix positions.

The holster uses a belt loop to hold it in place, so a belt is needed when using this holster.  It does not use any snaps or straps for retention.  The black steerhide holster carries a MSRP of $64.95.  A Galco rep said the holster will be available soon.

The .416 Hushpuppy, a new proprietary round being offered with a AR upper by AM-TAC Precision was announced at SHOT this year.  The concept to the round is claimed to have a maximum point blank range to 200yds on a man sized target, and creates a wound channel larger than 12ga 00 buck or a slug due to the yawing characteristics of the bullet when it encounters a soft target.  The round is designed to be shot suppressed, and AM-TAC is currently working with suppressor manufactures to have a suppressor made for the round.

While it is definitely a funny looking round with an even more interesting name, the initial numbers that are being put out there by AM-TAC look promising.  The rounds ballistics are being compared to 12ga rounds in terms of the amount of energy dispersed and wound channel sectional data.  The round is designed to be markete

Strike Industries had a number prototypes on display at their SHOT Show booth. Thier ultra low profile (or “no profile”) backup iron sights are ingenious. They mount on picatinny rails but are so low profile they extend no higher than the rail itself, ensuring they do not interfere with optics or other accessories. They can be used in-line or as angled sights.

Strike are also developing a baseplate for Magpul PMAG magazines. The base plate extends further allowing the magazine to be used as a bipod (note how it sits upright on the corner of the plate) and additionally expending the capacity of the magazine by one or two rounds.

Photo © Bryan Jones

Photo © Bryan Jones

Tactical gear manufacturer Crye Precision debuted their first firearm at SHOT Show. Instead of entering the firearm industry the easy way with a branded AR-15 they enlisted the skilled gun designer Eric Burt, who has previously worked on the AAC Honey Badger and Magpul Masada, to develop the Crye Precision Six12 Shotgun.

Eric Burt with the Crye Precision Six12

This bullpup shotgun can be used in either standalone or as an underbarrel rifle accessory. The shotgun has a revolving cylinder that is rotated by the double action trigger (it does not have a pre-wound spring like the Milkor MGL). A unique feature of this gun compared with

Having just come from the KRISS demo at Machine Guns Vegas which was held in conjunction with a well put together cocktail party, I got a change to not only handle the new line, I was also able to shoot each of the new offerings.  All of their pistols are made in the CZ pattern, with a low bore axis and slide that rides on the inside of the frame on a full length rail.  All of their pistols are DA/SA and offered in 9mm for the time being.  According the KRISS rep, they will begin to offer other calibers when the full line has been released in 9mm first, which would put a possible announcement around the 2015 SHOT Show, and release sometime in 2015, but these dates are merely speculation at this point.

The pistols also feature an interchangeable grip system, match grade trigger and reversible ma

SIG has some impressive custom pistols made by their Master Shop on display at SHOT Show. It was the first (and probably last) time I have ever seen a salmon tail used as a front sight.

Photo © Bryan Jones

What the 1911 is to pistol design the Mauser 98 is to rifle design. It may go out of fashion from time to time but it always makes a comeback. American Rifle Company has designed an action with a combination of Mauser 98 and ’03 Springfield. A sort of Reeses Pieces of rifles. I think there is finally a rifle that will give AI a run for its money for half the money.The bolt handle is nearly the 60 degree angle and is easy to reach with one finger. Working the bolt is light and airy. In a world where you have to compete with semi-auto in any field this quick smooth and light

England has sent its thrown over for the varmint hunter. I saw this chair in the new product booth and was determined to check it out. Yes this outside of the box of most products on this blog but the varmint hunting sport is a large community. Not to mention it so much fun to do. I am used to the bulky swivel shooting bench. It has a large slippery table and although it swivels it is not very personal. Idleback from South Yorkshire England has made a comfortable and completely adjustable shooting chair.

Constructed in a very lightweight but strong powder-coated aluminum the Idleback is collapsible in to a medium sized duffel bag. The tripod legs anchor in to the ground and does not move. Period. The seat is adjustable in height and distance forward or back. The “bench” or rest is on an arm that snugly fits your rifle and can also be adjustable to your height. You adjust this portion first to your comfort and then you work with the arm rest. The arm rest extends and pivots to fit under you

Gemtech (Gemini Technologies) out of Eagle, Idaho has released the new G-Core line of suppressors at SHOT Show this year.  Gemtech started as a consortium of suppressor designers back in 1993, and has been creating and expanding suppressor technology ever since.  In fact, Gemtech has documented several of their 5.56mm suppressors from another line with over 100,000 rounds fired through them without a loss of dB reduction.

Gemtech is a leader in suppressor innovation.

Talking to Casey Foster at the Gemtech booth I learned that the success of the G-Core line is a direct

There are currently four G-Core suppressors covering .22 LR, .22 WMR, .17HMR, .300 BLK, 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.  I’ve written a post exclusively on the GMT-300, and its incredible ability to suppress supersonic .300 BLK rounds to hearing safe noise levels, but this article will focus on the remaining family of G-Core suppressors.

The GM-22 is an amazing 2.5 oz.

Crimson Trace SFL-100 Rocket Aiming Laser:

1. Only reusable aiming laser for M72 LAW rocket
2. Improved first shot accuracy of over 60%
3. Waterproof to 1 meter for 2 hours
4. Designed to military standards
5. Available in IR and visible red
6. Puts rounds on target faster and more accurately
7. Automatic shut off after 35 seconds with program options
8. Packaged in Molle pouch including batteries and user manual

Over the years of competing in long range I have had the pleasure of knowing and competing with Brian Litz. A house hold name in the gun industry I call Brian, affectionately, the ballistics nerd. If you want to know ballistics, you talk to Brian. For many years he worked with Berger Bullets testing and engineering bullets and has written the bible of all loading ballistics books. He recently has designed a ballistics program called Applied Ballistics for the computer or as an app. This is a massive library of every rifle, barrel twist, bullet, powder, cartridge out there. You feed it the detailed information of your rifle, ammunition and its velocity and the zeros at 100 yards and it will give you in return suggested zeros for every 25 yards beyond that. The Kestrel is a hand held device that reads your current weather conditions.The Kestrel will read temperature, average wind, barometric pressure, density altitude, relative humidity, etc. Now Kestrel has married with Brian’s Applied Ballistics program and has a hand held