The Firearm Blog

Yesterday I noted the Browe Combat Optic, a titanium-housed optic that automatically sets reticle brightness based on lighting at the target. But not every shooter needs (or can afford) that kind of performance. As an alternative, Browe offers the Browe Sport Optic (BSO), a fixed-magnification 4x32mm daylight/low light optic housed in 6061-T6 aluminum.

The highlight of the BSO is what Browe calls “Rechargeable Illumination Technology” or RIT. It’s a battery-free method of illuminating the low light reticle with a flashlight. Shining high-power flashlight into the optic for fifteen seconds “charges” the reticle for three hours or more, and it can be re-charged with another 15-second blast from the flashlight. The low light reticle is available in green or blue. The daylight reticle is black.

The BSO is designed to be tough enough for military and professional use and is waterproof to 130 feet and retails for $940.

SIG Sauer is showing a new version of the P238 called the Black Pearl.  It features a polished and engraved slide plus custom wood grips.  The Black Pearl is outfitted with SIGLITE night sights.

Like other P238 pistols, the gun is a SAO pistol with a manual thumb safety and is chambered in .380 ACP.  The P238 pistols were announced at the 2009 SHOT Show in Orlando, FL.  Every year since then, SIG Sauer has released new versions of the pistol, including many commemorative editions.

The Black Pearl is due out this year and will retail for $779.

Kahr Arms continues to expand on their line of pistols, introducing the CT45 (officially the CT4543) at the SHOT Show this year.  The CT45 is a full-size frame, single stack pistol, dubbed a “value priced” .45 ACP.  Though it may be “value priced” the CT45 still features Kahr’s seven patents and slim single stack design.

Another look at the CT45

The CT45 has a black polymer frame with a stainless steel slide.  Like other Kahr firearms the CT45 is a striker fired double-action only pistol.  The pistol is made with conventional rifling in a 1:16.38 right hand twist.  The Kahr CT45 uses a “Browning-type” recoil lug, A white dot front, and whit

Black guns became desert tan, and then tan became OD green. OD green became neon zombie green. Now it seems that metallic and/or aged-looking finishes are a growing trend. Though custom colors have long been popular with gun owners, demand for more options is leading to additional choices from manufacturers and to a wider range of aftermarket products for customizing firearms aesthetics.

At the American Tactical Imports booth, I noticed these STG-44s by German Sports Guns in non-standard colors. I asked the rep about them, and he explained that these are samples of “potential” finishes for the .22LR re-creation of the world’s first assault rifle. He also mentioned the possibility of custom color finishes for a specific company or organization. So while these variant colors are not available today, we may see them or others in the future if there is enough interest.

But, please, no pink.

We spent several hours out in the Las Vegas desert at the Metropolitan Police Dept’s range testing the new Wilcox Raptar.

The Raptar is a unique device that incorporates both visible and IR aiming lasers, an IR illuminator, and a laser range-finder. The integral laser range-finder is what really sets the Raptar apart from PEQ-15s and similar laser devices.

This unit was just starting to be available during the last half of 2013, but Wilcox is hoping to see it gain traction in the new year.

There are two modules to the Raptar that sit low on either side your picatinny rail. One side is the laser aiming module, the other is the rangefinder. In the center is a small LED display that provides ranging information. All the lasers are co-aligned, so once you have them zeroed you your scope or sights, you can direct the rangefinder component using your crosshairs.

CZ has introduced the new 550 Sonoran rifle at this year’s SHOT Show.  CZ describes the new rifle as being designed to be a long-range tack-driver rather than a mountain rifle.  Inspiring the Western Series, the 550 Sonoran weighs less than 8 lbs. due to the Manners carbon fiber stock and a fluted barrel.  The Manners stock is OD green, with a recoil reducing soft rubber butt pad.

The Sonoran takes on a very nice profile.

CZ built the Sonoran to withstand the harshest of conditions.  The 550 Sonoran is Ferritic Nitrocarburized on the inside and out, raising the surface hardness to 72 on the Rockwell scale.  CZ claims this process wi

The ACR has had its ups and downs. From stylish beginnings as the Magpul Masada, the path through manufacturers and military buyers has been a convoluted one.

But I was nice to see a legitimately new ACR offering on display at the Bushmaster booth this year as they launched their DMR variant.

This new rifle adds a new stock to the ACR: a Magpul PRS with all the adjustability you’d expect.

On the other end, you’ll find a much longer barrel, measuring out to 18.5 inches for a true rifle. Interestingly, this new barrel still uses the carbine-length gas system. This is a weighty, full profile barrel, made of 416 stainless steel with a melonite coating, utilizing a 1:7 twist.

The handguard options are the same as current ACRs. The guns we saw in the booth featured the “enhanced” quad rail, while most of the marketing materials have MOE polymer handgaurd.

Inside the gun there’s a key addition to round out the Designated Marksman design philosophy: a Geisselle enhanced trigger.

Bushmaster lists the gun at

One of ArmaLite’s new offerings for 2014 is the M-15 18″ Tactical.  This rifle is chambered for the 5.56 NATO cartridge and uses an 18″ AISI 416R stainless steel heavy barrel with a 1:8″ twist.

This M-15 has a low profile gas block and a free-float proprietary quad rail handguard.  The upper is a flat top with Picatinny rail.  The lower is forged 7075-T6 aluminum.

This gun comes with a two stage National Match trigger and weighs in at 7.9 pounds.  One magazine ships with the rifle.  The MSRP is $1,449.00.

For many months now we’ve all had some pretty intense discussions about laws limiting magazine capacity. I had an appointment today with the folks at Mako. They had some great new products but this is the one I felt the readers would be most interested in.

The “Star” as I call it has five five round magazines arrayed around a central hub. The baseplate of each magazine allows each one to slide into a recess in the center hub. Well you get the idea. For those living in those states that have banned hi cap mags this just might be a very good solution.

This setup is very new and a price hasn’t been entirely set. The hub itself will be just over $40 from what the Mako representative thought.

In October Hornady announced several products, including their new RAPiD Safe, which is safe that can be used to rapidly deploy a handgun in an emergency. The safe when opened is spring loaded, and deploys the handgun in a sleeve for a optimal draw and fast deployment. The RAPiD Safe is a perfect beside safe that can be used to keep your defensive handgun away from children, or even from being stolen in the event of a break in.

The RAPiD Safe can be opened in several different ways.  There is an RFID wrist band, that when worn on your firing hand can deploy the handgun almost right into your hand.  There is also a proximity card, and RFID keyfob that all work in the same manner.  Also, on the safe is a large button keypad for a combination.  Power is supplied by a 110v wall plug in, and in the event of a power outage there is a 3 AA backup battery system.  As a last resort, for those of us that might not replace batteries as often as needed there is also a key provided that can be used to open the safe, and does not require any power.

I can definitely see myself using this system to secure my han

While most companies are now making a variation of the AR platform in .308, other companies are beginning to push that boundary further still by building AR platforms in .300 Win Mag.  Then there is S.W.O.R.D International that decided to skip the new .300 Win Mag bandwagon and go straight to the .338 Lapua for their large(er?) frame AR.  While not an entirely new concept, very few companies out there have ventured into the .338LM field.

The MK-18 is a self regulating gas piston system, sports a 26″ Lothar-Walther button rifled barrel, 10rd magazines, Keymod rail system, and CMC enhanced 3.5lb trigger system.  While some might think that an AR platform rifle shooting .338LM might weigh close to 20lbs, I actually found it to be quite manageable, and as it was built for SHOT it weights right around 15lbs and is very well made.  One fea

I have said this before, that there are a million AR manufacturers out there. Every so often one jumps out at you with an idea that is out of the box. I ran in to the MEGA-ARMS team at the airport on the way in to Shot. Another great company from my area of the NW  and they told me I had to come by their booth and check out some new items. Their 5th year exhibiting at Shot and they bring fresh new ideas each year. This year’s new product is a genius idea called a level. You have heard of this? Well not like this one you haven’t.

The Megalithic Tactical System is a level that is hidden in between the upper receiver rail and the hand-guard rail. One easy twist and pull and it slides out to the side in perfect view as you are in position on the cheek weld. I thought the scope was going to block my view of it but it is positioned perfectly to view it with your external eye at the same time as looking through the scope. I have seen levels put in to the stock just before and under the scope but not like this. The ones on the stoc

Safety Harbor Firearms manufacture the Kompact Entry Gun (KEG) short barrel pistol-gripped shotguns build upon Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 receivers. Their guns are classed as AOW (All Other Weapons) and so do not carry the hefty $200 stamp required to purchase Short Barreled Shotguns in the USA. An AOW stamp is $5.

KEG12 built on Remington 870

Because they are classified as AOW, they can only be built using shotguns that originally had pistol grips. Remington only make 12 gauge shotguns with pistol grips, so if you want a Kompact Entry Gun built on a Remington 870 receiver you can only have it in 12 gauge. Mossberg manufactures .410, 20 and 12 gauge shotgun

Cartridge Loading System by Ammo Load Worldwide SHot Show 2014

I compete in the following 3 different shooting disciplines long Range Bulls-eye, 3 Gun and Tactical Rifle. This requires a ton of ammunition which means I load most of it. The pistol ammo and 223 can be made with a progressive press. But even with that it can take a chunk out of your social life sitting in front of that thing. What I need, okay what I want is the automatic rifle/pistol cartridge loading system by Ammo Load Worldwide. Of course this is something you would find in a professional ammo company&#8217

RTS Target Systems are manufacturing a wireless hit counter compatible with their entire range of targets. A sensor is attached to the target that transmits the hit count to the RTS Numerator LED display. The RTS Numerator is controlled by a remote which can cycle the display to show the hit counts up to nine targets individually. It is available as a starter kit with 5 self-healing reactive targets, 5 sensors, 1 Numerator display and 2 remotes, or the full package which has an additional 4 targets and sensors.

The RTS self-healing reactive targets contain no metal parts, eliminating the risk of backsplash, even at point blank.

The GL-MAG buttstock by FAB Defense incorporates an underside magazine carrier well that accepts standard AR mags. The magazine is centered in the stock and doesn’t interfere with positioning the gun on the shoulder. An ambidextrous quick-release button releases the mag for a fast change and then accepts the empty. This eliminates the need for a separate magazine holder strapped on the side of the stock and keeps a spare at the ready.

With a 10-round magazine in the well, as shown in the photo, the stock is nearly the same size and configuration as a standard carbine stock. Obviously, larger magazines will protrude further from the underside of the stock. Larger mags could act as a makeshift monopod, I guess. I personally would recommend against the use of drum magazines with this stock.

Besides the mag carriers, the stock itself is otherwise fairly standard. It has a QD quick detach swivel for sling attachment and has a patented “anti-rattle” mechanism that allows it to fit both mil-spec and commercial buffer tubes. It’s available in

Turtle Skin are manufacturing a tactical glove they claim is the only glove tested for the ability to withstand 28 gauge needed. 28 Gauge needles, popular among drug addicts, are just 0.3mm in diameter, approximately the width of a human hair. The Turtle Skin Search TUS-002 glove can withstand 1.1 ft-lbs from a 28g needle before it failing. The glove is marketed to law enforcement and corrections staff.

The H&K booth at SHOT had a remarkable display of the MP5 series of SMGs, from genesis to current day.

Here we see the result of “Project 64″, the very project that create the MP5. This is gun number 31, still a gun in prototype phase. It is very easy to spot the differences between this one and a current model!

Next came the K model with it’s odd front grip:

BHI Tactical Firearms debuted their new handguard at SHOT Show today. The improvements on the old handguard (see AK pistol photo at bottom of this post) is a full length top rail and a slimmer profile with Keymod compatible accessory attachment points. This handguard will be sold with thier BHI-15 rifles and will soon be available for their AK line.

BHI M92 AK Pistol