The Firearm Blog

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

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.