The Firearm Blog

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

For just $250, Cabela’s Tactical 3X Prism sight is great bargain for shooters that are on a budget.

The field of view is 35.4 feet at 100 yard. It’s not bad but not as large as the premium prism sights like the Trijicon or ELCAN. Optically, the Cabela’s 3X Tactical Prism sight is very good. I would say it’s better than majority of the budget scope in its price range. The included slotted screw mounting base is basic but it’s serviceable and it can be replaced with an ACOG comparable 1913 sight base.

The Colt SWORD (Sniper Weapon & Observer Reconnaissance Devices) Technology Demonstrator connects a variety of COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) and MOTS (Military Off-The-Shelf) components together into a deployable package. The system is hard to describe in a single sentence. Colt describe it as “a Small Arms Fire Control System based upon Colt Canada’s Patented Small Arms Network Power Data System”. It is probably best described as a local area wireless network of sensors, communications, power systems and video feeds that can receive and transmit data to/from a wider area military or government networks if required. The heart of the system is a 3G wireless base station. The base station is a fully integrated battery powered system that can be connected to external systems via. satellite modems if required. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the base station, just imagine a green rectangular box about 12″x12″x4″ with two antennas on the top.

Lancer Systems, generally known for their innovation in AR15 magazines has released a new line of .308 magazines for 2014.  The L7AWM magazines are 7.62×51 (.308Win) and feature a steel insert that helps to keep the magazine rigid, but also forms the feed lips to help with magazine longevity.  The rest of the magazine is made from the same polymer as the L5AWM and can be had in either translucent or in solid colors of black, FDE, OD and Foliage green.

They are based on the SR25/DPMS platform rifles and will fit any of the rifles patterned after the SR25.  The L7AWF magazines also feature a drain in the floor plate for water that can also be closed in dusty conditions.  Initially released in 20rd capacity magazines, a release of 5rd and 10rd magazines is planned for mid-2014 for those in states with magazine capacity restrictions.  Also

Ok before anybody comments and tells me this ERGO grip is ugly I already know that. The thing is the owner of ERGO was tired of grips that made the “J” frame point down, point up but never seemed to point straight.

Clint (the owner) sat down and made a few prototypes until he found the one that would work. He did a very good job because I spent several minutes drawing from a holster and drawing fast which is a good way to end up with the barrel pointed high many times. No matter what I did when the revolver came up to eye level it was aiming straight as an arrow every time.

This is one of those products that doesn’t look good but the form sure makes it function great! The best part is the cost is only $19.95. They’ll be coming out soon and they intend to expand the line to fit

Yesterday, Sig announced the Sig P320, a polymer framed, striker fired pistol.  Many know Sig has, up to this point, always been a hammer fired pistol so this is a definitely a break from their normal design.  The pistol will be available is 9mm, .40S&W and .357Sig, with a .45ACP coming later in 2014 according to the Sig rep I talked to this morning.  The pistol comes in two sizes which are called Duty and Carry, and can be converted back and forth depending on the need with the purchase of the additional slide/barrel combo.  The Duty has a 4.7″ barrel while the Carry has a 3.9″ barrel making it more suited to concealed carry.  Both options come standard with Sig-Lite night sights.

Many know that I am a huge fan of Sig for their quality and b