The Firearm Blog

Hi-Lux Leatherwood displayed their new MaxTac Dot red-dot sight at SHOT Show 2014. This new red-dot packs a lot of features for just $199 MSRP. Some of those include a robust machined aluminum housing, digital illumination control, build-in picatinny mount and a screw-on anti-reflective filter comes with it.

On top of the Hi-Lux MaxTac Dot, there’s a ambient light sensor as part of the automatically illumination control feature. The user has the option of override that and manually adjust the reticle brightness. The objective lens size is the standard 30mm and all lens are multicoated.

Shooting, like the rest of everyday life, is becoming more and more technological every day. And nearly everyone, including shooters, carries a phone or tablet with them wherever they go. The advantages of these technologies are obvious, but they don’t come without concerns. Gun owners, often even more sensitive to security and privacy concerns than most, will want to take a look at the SHIELDSAK by the makers of the waterproof, touch-capable LOKSAK.

Woven from seven types of metal in a ripstop bag, the SHIELDSAK is a Faraday cage that blocks all signals in and out. A cell phone with an active signal will disappear off the grid in 5-10 seconds after being sealing in a SHIELDSAK. Gone. It won’t ring. It can’t be tracked. And the user will regain a little autonomy. Items with RFID chips such as passports, ID cards, or credit cards disappear instantaneously and can’t be scanned.

A new coating has upped the durability of the SHIELDSAK to 5-7 years or longer if treated well. The smaller one (pictured) runs $65 to $69. The larger size for tablets goes for $149.

Though 5.11 has really put a lot of effort into breaking further into the civilian and hunting markets, they remain as focused on professional tactical as ever. Their new line of Storm gray gear is designed for law enforcement in urban settings. The shade of gray was chosen for its ability to blend in to many urban environments for a tactical advantage while staying away from the negative PR of “militarization of the police” that military-style camo patterns have a tendency to bring.

SAR Arms is showing pink and purple guns at the SHOT Show.  Part of the new Princess line, the SAR B6C pistols will now be available in the new colors.

Features of the guns include:

• 9mm
• 13+1 capacity
• frame mounted thumb safety
• polymer frame
• matte black or stainless finishes
• 3.8″ barrel length

The SAR Arms rep was not able to provide me with a MSRP.

While at the Viridian booth, I had a chance to take a look at the slide work done by Innovative GunFighter Solutions (IGFS).  IGFS added serrations to the slide of the M&P Shield that Viridian was using to demonstrate the new laser unit for that gun.

The IGFS serrations were very aggressive, but in one direction only.  If you grasped the gun to work the slide, the serrations worked very well to give the hand solid purchase on the slide.  However, the same serrations would not catch on the holster or clothes when being drawn.

IGFS does additional work such as stippling and refinishing.  They can be found at igfs.co.

So perhaps the average guy may not want a rifle that is not black. He especially may not one that is a silvery metallic. But I do! If you have not seen the coating called NiB-X you should check it out. A nickel boron coating provides an exceptionally durable and smooth surface finish. It is different. It stands out from the crowd of black rifles on the rack or at a competition. It is metallic, it is silver in color. It is almost a pewter color. Imagine that coating on a 3D billet lower and upper. Throw a Geissele Super 3 Gun trigger, a Black Hole Weaponry polygonal barrel and you have a

This post first appeared at AllOutdoor.com

LMT is one of the premier names in hard-use, no-nonsense, ultra-reliable ARs. Unlike many AR makers who talk the military talk but only walk the civilian walk, LMT’s guns are actually standard-issue service guns for parts of a few of the world’s militaries, including the UK. In fact last year, when I was hanging out at the LMT booth trying to score an interview with the CEO, some US Special Forces guys dropped by and just started raving about LMT’s platform. So I bought one (a Defender 2000 piston gun). Then later, I, uh, kinda bought two more (an LM8 in direct impingement and an LM8MWS). God, I hope my wife doesn’t read this…

Anyway, I had decided not to buy any more AR-15s for a long while, but at this year’s SHOT show, LMT has severely tested that resolve with the launch of the SLK8, a brand new “race gun” aimed directly at 3-gun competitors.

Now, “race gun” and “LMT” are words that usually ar

Offered as the KMR, this is Bravo Company’s new KeyMod handguard. Made of magnesium and aluminum, this alloy is substantially lighter than a standard 6061 aluminum handguard while retaining the strength. From personal experience I can only relate the weight to basic polymer and some of the carbon fiber handguards, but without the worries of flex and fragility.

The handguards are expected very soon but will initially be offered only on uppers, with individual sales to follow.

Note the two different types (angled above and single row in top photo) of clip-on slot protectors shown, these improve the purchase of physical contact to the tube with a semi-agressive texture. These snap into the KeyMod slots.

Masterpiece Arms is displaying this offensively colored bullpup with no plaques or press releases partnered with the mock-up. Working with Charles St George they are working on a gun that is visually similar to his earlier design, the Bushmaster M17S, but chambered in .22 Magnum.

The firearm doesn’t have a release date and looking at the gun it was hard to tell if it was a mock-up or a gutted prototype. It is expected to have a 50 round capacity, though it is not currently clear if this will be in a rear-fed drum. It is too soon for them to answer the questions I tested on them, but I’m looking forward to Charles adding a matching .22 to his Micor .50 BMG design.

Shown is a first shot, an early run without texture, of the unnamed new vertical grip from BCM. There will be a picatinny and KeyMod slot version (shown). The grip uses a more comfortable shape for directly grasping when manipulating the firearm, rather than using a cylindrical shape.The grip also has a slightly forward angle to it, which has been preferential to the testers.

The grip locks in by rotating it to lock it in place, after unlocking the mechanism, a couple of turns and it is secured. To really appreciate the ease of attachment you need to see it in action.

Thureon Defense, known for their carbines that use Glock mags, has released a new line of carbines at the 2014 SHOT Show that accepts Sig Sauer, S&W M&P and Springfield Armory XD magazines. Their new XA carbine uses Springfield Armory XD mags, the SG carbine uses Sig Sauer mags and the MP carbine uses S&W M&P mags. The XA and MP models (XD and M&P) are available in 9mm, .40S&W and .45ACP. The SG (Sig Sauer) is available in 9mm, .40S&W and .357 Sig. They’ll be available in 16.5″ and 19″ barrel lenghts with various buttstock and handguard options. MSRP on them starts at $959, check out Thureondefense.com for more info.

The H&K booth at SHOT was busy as could be, and they had their entire product line on display including the Grenade Machine Gun. I was lucky enough to talk with Wayne Weber, the H&K USA President for a while but HK PRO Member Anthony.L sat in on a morning interview with Mr. Weber and recorded the whole thing. The photo above is me with Mr. Weber. Here is the interview:

Anthony posts:

“10:00AM this morning there was a media event just for HKPro.com members. Probably 25+ in attendance. Wayne Weber who is President of H&K USA was on hand and personally answered questions submitted by the group here. Below are the answers I recorded. These are his

Bondhus Arms showed off their new CL380 fold-up pocket pistol at the 2014 SHOT Show. The CL380 has two barrels and is chambered in .380ACP and also features a built-in laser between the two barrels. Bondhus claims their CL380 is the smallest and most accurate multi-shot .380 pocket pistol, they’re expected to hit the market summer of 2014 and retail for $795. Check out Bondhusarms.com for more info.

Crye Precision debuted their double-action Six12 modular bullpup shotgun. Designed as a safer and more efficient door breacher, the Six12 is a 12-gauge, 6-round cylinder-fed modular shotgun platform. The bullpup layout brings the weight closer to the shooter and allows the Six12 to be as compact as possible. The Six12 attaches to most AR-15 platforms and is also availale in a standalone shoulder fired system which doesn’t require any NFA paperwork, a short barrel platform will be availale that will require NFA paperwork however. The 6-round cylinder accepts 12-gauge shells up to 3″ and barrel lengths of 22″, 18″ and 12.5″ overall will be available. They’re expected to be available winter 2014.

I recently wrote an article on the new DPMS Gen II .308. The photos were rather small with less detail than I would have liked. I was able to drop by the DPMS booth and obtain some better photos with plenty of detail. Enjoy

The featured image above is the standard carbine version

Bull Barrel Model

The Hunter

Faxon Firearms is showing the new ARAK-21 uppers at the 2014 SHOT Show in Las Vegas.  The units are piston AR uppers designed to be used with any milspec lower.  The ARAK-21 has a folding charging handle (non-reciprocating) that can be user-located on the right or left side of the gun.

The ARAK-21 is available in 5.56 NATO and .300 BLK.  The units are designed to swap barrels and calibers very easily.  Current barrel lengths are 12.5″, 16″ and 20″.

Due to the design of the Faxon 21, no buffer tube is needed, so you can have a very short pistol AR or a carbine-style AR with a folding buttstock.  Faxon had examples of each on hand.  My favorite of the bunch was the .300 BLK with a 20″ barrel.  That would make a sweet hog gun.

Fab Defense has just released a set of backup sights for rail mounting. These sights come in a set with a retail of $42.00. These are made from a proprietary polymer with a lot of strength. The sights will be available in a variety of colors.

The sights mount to the rail with a cross screw. The user just flips each one up and down. They don’t have a spring lever to deploy them but in this case it’s a plus. After they are flipped up they aren’t going to snag and break. They aren’t difficult to fold down but when raised they are rock solid with no movement. The plus I mentioned is related to striking them on a tree limb etc. They simply fold back without breaking a spring action.

Adjusting is very easy requiring no tools. As you can see in the photo a small wheel is just under the post and can be rotated to raise or lower the front sight. The rear sight has the usual side mounted adjustment.

What I like about these is the

Killer Innovations is a new company, based out of Tumwater, WA that is beginning to make their own line of products for the firearm market.  Their first two products released were a muzzle brake that they are making in both .308 and .223 and scope rings in 30mm and 34mm.  I had the opportunity to meet them and talk with them about the products they are producing.

Having been able to meet with the owners, and get hands on their products I was amazed at the workmanship and quality that went into their products.  Their muzzle brakes are made to push gasses up and out, but are also designed to completely eliminate dust printing when firing.  Having fired their 308 brake on a Savage 308 and compared it to my JP brake, I can say that the Killer Innovations brake performed just as well as the JP brake in terms of eliminating recoil, and muzzle flip.  The push from the rifle

A Glock Pro shooter. Photo © Bryan Jones

The Glock 41 narrower slide. Photo © Bryan Jones

Magpul has released the long awaited polymer AK/AKM 30rd magazines at SHOT this year.  On hand was several AK’s on their wall sporting the new magazine.  According to their reps, the magazines have not yet been shipped to distributors, and speaking with RSR, they have yet to get anything from Magpul and still don’t even have a entry in their database for the magazines for dealers to inquire about.  Many people I overheard were asking the same question, and getting the answer they would be shipping by the end of SHOT.  For those AK lovers out there, stay patient for another day or so and you should be able to order them from all of the major dealers out there.

Also released at SHOT was the 10rd .308 Pmag.  For states with magazine capacity restrictions, they are also going to be nice for the semi-auto precision rifle crowd to kee