Guns America

It is easy to get lost in our world of technology and abundance. Every time I turn on the water tap in my home, water comes out. Every time I go to the grocery store, the shelves are full of food. The store clerk accepts either a plastic card from me in exchange for my food, or provide some combination of paper (actually cloth) currency. The lights in my home turn on when I flip the switch, and I can turn on the TV or use my computer to find out what is going on in the world anytime I want. And though I carry a gun every day (living in Miami I would be a fool not to), I don’t expect to ever have to use it to protect my family and belongings. I also have fuel to cook my food and if I get hurt I can go to the hospital and get fixed up right quick. All of this I fully expect to go on indefinitely, and probably to get even easier as time moves endlessly forward. I have been conditioned to believe that I will never have to live life without these “entitlements” (for lack of a better word), and if I question this assumption, I’m a paranoid nut.

It is time to dismantle “Mayors Against Illegal Guns,” or MAIG. The organization started as a great idea. Who doesn't want to fight the transfer of illegal guns? The problem is, this organization was corrupt from the start. Started by **former** mayors Micheal Bloomberg and and Thomas Menino, it has now come out that the intent of of the group was always to confiscate all firearms from legal and law abiding gun owners. This week marked the departure from the group of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Mayor John C. Tkazyik. He claims to be an NRA member and that he has always supported lawful firearms ownership. Apparently he was lured into MAIG with false promises of support for programs that get actual results in fighting local crime and homicides. Though it may seem like we have made some progress on he 2nd Amendment front, there are 1,000 mayors in MAIG, and it is time for gun owners to stand up and be counted. Check out the roster for your mayor, and if he or she is there, do everything in your power to get them out of MAIG, or out of office.

The Walther PPQ 5” is one of the coolest looking handguns I have ever held, at least in the scope of today’s fashion. It is basically the tricked-out black rifle of the handgun platform. From the squared-off pyramid-shaped slide that sports deep angled cocking serrations front and rear, down past the ambidextrous slide stop levers that are extra-long and can be operated by most shooters without having to alter their grip – to the oddly unique but comfortable backstrap of the grip – decorated in a paisley texture. The angles of the polymer frame that lead toward the front accessory rail look like they might belong on the newest Stealth aircraft. All that would be enough to qualify as “cool looking” in any showcase, but Walther had to go over the top. To maintain the weight of the slide so that the 9mm round would continue to operate the pistol reliably, it was necessary to take some weight from the front of the slide. This is nothing new, and we’ve seen Glock and Springfield Armory do the same with their long-slide match guns. Walther’s engineers cut ‘port holes’ into the top of the slide, three on each side. These ova

Diamondback Firearms, is a relative newcomer to the firearms market. The business, based in Cocoa, Florida, launched in 2009 as an off-shoot of the successful Diamondback Airboats business. Diamondback Firearms initially established its brand with the DB380 and DB9 micro-compact pocket pistols in .380 Auto and 9mm Luger. The company next firearm introduced a series of AR-style rifles in 2012. The DB15 rifle is made entirely in the USA with all the machining work done in-house by Diamondback. Diamondback recently added a series of AR-style pistols to its product line and provided one for evaluation and review.

In 1982, Colt introduced the Mustang—a lightweight, single-action .380 ACP with a design very similar to the Colt 1911. The Mustang was an instant classic and was extremely popular as a back-up or off-duty gun for law enforcement officers. For a long time, it was hard to even find one to purchase. Colt produced the Mustang in a number of different versions before ultimately discontinuing it in the late nineties, when the company shifted its focus to military sales. As the demand for small, concealed-carry guns has skyrocketed in recent years, the market for used Mustangs has been very strong. Many of us have wondered over the past decade—why doesn’t Colt bring back the Mustang? Then in 2012, after a long hiatus, the Mustang officially rejoined the Colt stable. The new Mustang Pocketlight was an alloy-frame Mustang that revived the model line. The new Pocketlight met with rave reviews, but Colt did not rest on the old-school design. In 2013, Colt innovated with the n

Trends in today’s firearms market can sometimes be recognized early in competitive shooting sports. If you want the fastest and most durable add-ons for your rig, watch what the top competitors use. It costs a lot of money to attend matches, buy bullets, and keep up with equipment, so more often than not the professionals will use quality gear that runs reliably and holds up to the abuse of matches and travel. Although the XRAIL Mono tube has only been widely available for a year, you will find that most professionals shooting competitively are outfitted with a mono tube from Roth Concept Innovations that increases the shell capacity of their shotguns. The factory magazine tube found on most shotguns is typically one piece that goes from the receiver to the end of the forend. To add shell capacity, an extension must be placed on top of the factory tube. This design works, but XRAIL has a better solution that was made to win.

Meopta’s holographic sight called the M-RAD, or Meopta Rapid Acquisition Dot, reflex sight looks similar to many high-end reflex or holographic optics, but what stands out is that it is quite a bit smaller. At first glance, I thought it was a pistol sight but then realized it is a combat rifle setup. The M-RAD weighs 3.07 ounces (or 105 grams), compared to an EoTech XPS that weighs 8 ounces, but it is solidly made of aluminum. The unit is strong, and the reticle itself is surrounded by an aluminum frame for protection from being banged around. Weight is important because after hours or days of carrying a rifle around, you will find that trimming off every ounce you can is a huge benefit. It comes equipped with a picatinny mount that quickly attached with a lever/cam-style mount that was very effective and kept it on tight. It released easily, and seemed to keep zero well. The M-RAD is easy to operate with one simple button, and the system is waterproof and compatible with night vision technol

In this short-action version of the AR, Armalite shortened the receiver and has changed the forestock to get a shorter bolt action. The rifle has a 24-inch barrel and uses AR 10B magazines.

Leupold has long been associated with quality scopes at reasonable price points. In the words of their founder, Fred Leupold, “the customer is entitled to a square deal.” That remains a guiding principal as Leupold continues to develop and improve their line of scopes. They had an improved Delta Point 2 reflex sight for handguns and shotguns at their show booth, but their biggest news this year was the brand new VX-6 7-42x56mm rifle scope. It is so new, in fact, that the design hasn’t been completely finalized. Here’s what we know: it’s the highest variable power scope they’ve ever made, it has their Extended Twilight lens system for increased light transmission, the MSRP will be in the $2,200 range, and they expect to start shipping scopes in 4-6 weeks.

Chiappa Firearms http://www.chiappafirearms.com/ Chiappa Firearms, best known for their quasi steampunk looking Rhino revolvers, had a shotgun/rifle combo at SHOT this year that the survivalists out among us will surely take note of. The X-Caliber is a folding stock, over-under, shotgun rifle. The basic form of the long gun is a 12 gauge [...]

Beretta USA officials along with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty announced today the company will expand its U.S. operations by building a new firearms manufacturing plant in the Gallatin Industrial Park, northeast of Nashville, Tennessee. Beretta, a global manufacturer of high-quality sporting and military firearms, will invest $45 million in a state-of-the-art manufacturing and R&D facility. Beretta will create 300 new Tennessee jobs. The company is expected to complete construction on the facility this year.

Tapco makes low-priced aftermarket parts for a lot of different guns. They define the value-oriented end of the customization market. And the R&D teams can turn around products fast. The latest offering, and one that will fly off the shelves, is a tactical stock set for Ruger’s 10/22 Takedown, one of the most versatile configurations of the venerable rimfire ever made.

3D printing is definitely the wave of the future in manufacturing. However, for the most part, what we’ve seen is novelty items or non-serviceable experiments exploring the limits of the process. As far as I know, TacStar, one of the Lyman family of brands specializing in tactical accessories, is the first company in our industry to bring a 3D printed item to market. The newest product is an AR-15 Adjustable Match Rifle Stock. This is not a toy. It’s a well engineered stock that allows you to customize the length of pull and comb height to ensure that your AR fits you perfectly. A properly fitting gun, of course, allows you to shoot your best.

The SHOT Show is literally acres and acres of guns. The physical space is comparable to a suburban mall made up of gun stores. With so much to see, so many triggers to fiddle with, some of the real innovation can be hard to see. I first ran into the geniuses behind MyCaseBuilder.com at last year’s NRA convention. I found them again at SHOT, and they're showing off something truly revolutionary. You can now take a picture of your gun (or whatever you’d like) and their software will convert that photo into a 3D pattern that can be cut in foam.

Blaser introduced their super fast in-line action in 1993 as their model R 93. The R 8 is the next generation. They make a modular rifle with just about any production rifle caliber you’d care to shoot. To change calibers you simply change barrels, or, if you’re changing to a different family of cartridges, the barrel and bolt, which can be accomplished simply and quickly in the field. Their guns aren’t cheap, typically running in the $3,00 - $5,000 range. However, guns wearing synthetic stocks in lieu of exotic hardwood can be purchased for less. That’s a boon to any hunters who hunt enough to appreciate what this gun can do for them. We took a look at a couple of the new synthetic stocks. While the wood stocks are truly gorgeous, the synthetic stocks have a style that we’re not accustomed to seeing, what with all the tactical plastic in the market.

The Kimber .380 is a tight little gun. Like the Solo, it is exceptionally well finished. The Micro Carry makes the Mustangs look rather pedestrian. And that’s Kimber’s niche. If you are looking for a single action pistol with custom features, Kimber is the place to start the search. The Micros will be available in stainless, all black and Kimber’s signature two-tone style (which often adds a third tone with the wooden grips). Once the initial demand recedes, they should settle out around $600.

Timney Triggers https://timneytriggers.com/ Timney Triggers make exacting aftermarket additions for serious shooters. They’re known in the industry for the precision they engineer into products that are, for the most part, already good. They’ve just released a new trigger for the IWI Tavor that will rectify the only complaint I’ve ever heard about the [...]

The new package from Aimpoint comes with a Micro, the LRP mount (which pops on and off with a lever), and the Micro Spacer High to get that perfect AR fit. Rock it up on your shoulder, and the dot is there. It increases the speed of target acquisition, the mount and riser are as rugged as the T1 itself, and the whole combo makes shopping that much easier.

Send to Kindle Vortex Optics www.vortexoptics.com Two New Red Dot Sights from Vortex, Plus Updates to the Razor Line of Rifle Scopes—SHOT Show 2014 If you’re not familiar with Vortex, they’re an optics company in central Wisconsin. The operating philosophy is to take care of their customers. As you would expect, their customer service is [...]

Send to Kindle Browning http://www.browning.com/ Introduced in 2011, the Browning 1911-22 A1 is an 85% replica of the 1911 firing the ubiquitous .22 LR cartridge. Controls and takedown are identical to John Browning’s original design, making it a great companion to a full-sized gun. Since introducing the gun, Browning has added a desert tan polymer [...]