Every year around this time firearms industry manufacturers start announcing some of the new products they’re going to be introducing for 2017 ahead of the upcoming SHOT Show. It’s an exciting time for shooters and offers a sneak peak on what’s to come in the industry.
Late in October, the popular ammo manufacturer Hornady announced what it is bringing out for the coming year. As usual, the company has several exciting new additions to its already impressive product lineup.
Headlining this list of new introductions is an entirely new line of ammo that Hornady is simply calling BLACK. The all-new Hornady BLACK ammunition features a wide range of loads optimized for use in America’s favorite guns, whether they’re direct impingement or gas piston operated, suppressed or unsuppressed, feature a rifle- or pistol-length gas system or anything in between, or are intertia operated or manually cycled via bolt or pump action. With caliber offerings ranging from 5.45x39mm up to .450 Bushmaster, and even a 12-gauge buckshot load, there’s sure to be something there for every shooter.
In terms of ammo, other inclusions to the new product lineup for 2017 are expansions to the Precision Hunter and Match ammo lines. This includes eight new offerings to the Match line, including a first for Hornady in the 6mm Creedmoor, and five new additions to the Precision Hunter line, including a 150-grain .280 Remington load.
On the reloading tools and security fronts, Hornady has added the Case Prep Duo, two new keypad handgun vaults to the RAPiD Safe line, and the RAPiD Safe AR Gunlocker. The Case Prep Duo is a rechargeable, multi-function tool that accommodates case neck brushes, primer pocket cleaners, and chamfer/deburr accessories. The new RAPiD Safe 2600KP and 2700KP offer the proven performance of Hornady’s RFID locking system, along with the secondary keypad option, which allows users to program 4- to 6-digit security codes for an additional entry option. The AR Gunlocker offers the same dependability as Hornady’s other RAPiD safes, but is a fully enclosed design that features storage for an AR and a spring-loaded door for quick access.
Check out the gallery above for more information on some of these great new Hornady products, or visit Hornady’s website.
For a little while now, Springfield Armory has been teasing the release of a big new product on November 1, and today, things became official with the introduction of the new SAINT rifle. The Springfield Armory SAINT is the Illinois-based manufacturer’s first-ever AR to hit the market, and it’s important for a couple reasons: First, because it’s Springfield Armory, and second, because it’s not just another entry-level AR.
Instead of introducing a basic AR into a market that’s already awash with entry-level guns, the company stepped things up a bit, adding several functional and ergonomic upgrades, all while managing to stay beneath that ever-important $1,000 ceiling. The result is an excellent black rifle in the SAINT that’s available at a respectable $899.
This past month, Springfield Armory hosted an event in Las Vegas, Nevada, to reveal the new SAINT to a group of gun industry media and to promote its upcoming launch. I was lucky enough to be among that number and got the chance to look at the new SAINT firsthand as well as shoot it, extensively.
While I was able to put a lot of rounds through the two SAINT rifles I was provided for the event (probably a rough estimate of 600 to 800 rounds or so between both guns), I did not conduct any sort of official accuracy test for the rifles. Therefore, I can only offer some general first impressions on the SAINT and its performance, as opposed to a full-fledged review. (Editor’s Note: Keep an eye out for a full review of the new SAINT in an upcoming issue of Gun Digest the Magazine).
The SAINT comes equipped with an A2-style front sight base/gas block setup. It uses a mid-length gas system.
First off, the new Springfield Armory SAINT utilizes a 16-inch chrome moly vanadium barrel with a 1:8-inch twist. The use of the 1:8-inch twist rate is to help stabilize a wide range of bullets up to 80 grains. The barrel also has a Melonite finish applied to the bore, chamber and external surfaces, as opposed to the usual chrome-lined bore.
The SAINT features a mid-length gas system instead of a carbine-length system, and the gun includes the A2-style front sight base/gas block setup. Upper and lower receivers are both manufactured from standard 7075 T6 aluminum and are hard anodized. However, Springfield has also incorporated a new feature, which it is calling the Accu-Tite Tension System, that includes a tension set screw located in the lower receiver that helps eliminate movement between the upper and lower. The thought there, much as with quality custom 1911s, is that a tighter fit between the upper and lower will produce better accuracy. I didn’t get to experiment much with that at the event, but it’s an interesting development on Springfield’s part nonetheless.
The folks at Springfield have also tinkered with the gun’s trigger group, opting for a proprietary Nickel-Boron-coated GI trigger instead of the regular Mil-Spec option. The trigger pull is, or at least felt, very similar in weight; however, it does seem a little smoother than what comes standard in most entry-level ARs.
The gun utilizes Springfield’s proprietary Nickel-Boron-coated trigger and BCM’s Mod. 3 pistol grip.
Another thing that has been upgraded on the new Springfield Armory SAINT is its furniture. Almost every piece of furniture on the SAINT comes from Bravo Company Manufacturing (BCM). The gun wears a slim, BCM Gunfighter stock, BCM Mod. 3 pistol grip and a BCM oversized trigger guard for gloved operation. In addition to that, the SAINT rifle also comes equipped with BCM’s brand new, exclusive PKMR handguard, a two-piece, slim-contour polymer handguard that features a heat shield and sports KeyMod attachment points for mounting accessories. During the course of the event, I found the slim handguard, and frankly all of the BCM furniture, to be quite comfortable and functional. The polymer handguard held attachments well (I attached a Surefire flashlight), even through excessive firing, and the stock was pleasant to shoulder, and, as on most ARs, it’s six-position adjustable for varied body types.
SAINT with BCM’s new, exclusive PKMR handguard with KeyMod slots.
Also nice on the SAINT is Springfield’s decision to use a heavy, tungsten buffer that absorbs more of the recoil and improves cycling of the bolt. The 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington doesn’t produce a great deal of recoil as it is, but the heavier buffer tames it even more, especially on the relatively lightweight SAINT, which weighs 6 pounds, 11 ounces. These two factors — light weight and reduced recoil — make the SAINT a perfect option for those who are slight of build or sensitive to recoil. After shooting hundreds of rounds through the guns, I didn’t exactly mind it either.
The Springfield Armory SAINT is equipped with a GI-style “F” height front sight with 2 MOA elevation adjustment and a low-profile, flip-up dual aperture rear sight with 1/2 MOA windage adjustment. Of course, a picatinny rail runs along the top of the receiver for optics, and at the event, Springfield set us up with a Bushnell Elite Tactical 1-6.5x24mm scope and a Trijicon MRO red dot, both excellent choices for the SAINT.
Receivers are made from standard 7075 T6 aluminum that receive a hard anodized finish for durability. Other standard features include a GI charging handle, forward assist and dust cover.
Over the course of this launch event in Vegas, I was able to get a great feel for the SAINT. In addition to sighting the gun in and shooting at paper and steel targets, the Springfield team had us do quite a few drills with the new guns and even put some of us through a force-on-force training scenario in a shoothouse using Force on Force training rounds.
As if that wasn’t enough, the media in attendance got to compete in what competitive shooter Rob Leatham dubbed Popper Palooza, in which we had 120 rounds and the SAINT rifle equipped with an MRO to knock down 100 steel poppers set up in a fanned out pattern. We were timed to see who could accomplish this the fastest, with the winner earning both bragging rights and a shiny new SAINT.
That seemed like it should’ve been the highlight of the trip, but the Springfield team outdid itself the final night of the launch event, flying all of the writers via helicopter from downtown Las Vegas back out to the range where hundreds of exploding zombie targets and evil gnomes had been painstakingly set up at a variety of distances and piles of loaded magazines had been placed on a set of tables that marked the firing line. What stood before us as we approached was something the folks at Springfield referred to simply as the “Field of Chaos.” At the end of the night, there were a ton of destroyed zombies and empty magazines scattered everywhere.
All of this is to say, we put the SAINT through its paces, and, personally, I don’t know of anyone in attendance that had any serious issues with the rifle’s function during the SAINT launch. The two rifles I used during the event performed without flaw in the dusty, desert environment, even over the course of extensive firing sessions.
Those searching for a quality AR that doesn’t break the bank but still comes with a lot of great features should take a long, hard look at the new Springfield Armory SAINT.
For more information on the SAINT rifle, visit Springfield’s website for the SAINT or the company’s main site. Also, be sure to check out the specifications for the SAINT below.
Specifications:
Springfield Armory SAINT Type: Semi-auto, direct impingement Gas System: Mid-length system Barrel: 16 in., 1:8-in. twist, Melonite finish Overall Length: 32.25-35.5 in. Weight: 6 lbs., 11 oz. Upper Receiver: 7075 T6 aluminum, hard anodized Lower Receiver: 7075 T6 aluminum, hard anodized, Accu-Tite Tension System Trigger: Springfield Armory proprietary Nickel-Boron-coated, single stage Sights: A2-style front, flip-up, dual aperture rear Grip: BCM Mod. 3 Handguard: BCM PKMR KeyMod Stock: BCM Gunfighter, six position Capacity: 30 rounds Manufacturer: Springfield Armory
One of the biggest trends in the firearms industry in recent years has been the development of more and more polymer-framed striker-fired handguns. What started many years ago with only a few manufacturers has now grown to include a large portion of the big name gun makers. In the past several years, even companies that haven’t traditionally been involved with striker-fired guns have started developing and producing them.
Remington is the latest such company to make this move. Earlier this week, news leaked that Remington would be introducing a new full-size polymer-framed striker-fired pistol dubbed the Remington RP, with models being available in 9mm and .45 ACP.
As someone who attended Remington’s annual New Product Seminar in West Virginia back in September, I wasn’t surprised at the news. However, it did come a little earlier than expected, with the announcement originally slated to happen later this year.
During the course of the New Product Seminar, I was able to put some rounds through the new Remington RP9 to get a feel for it. Obviously, this brief interaction with the new gun wasn’t enough to result in a full-fledged review. However, I am comfortable offering some initial observations and impressions on Remington’s latest handgun.
To begin, the new Remington RP does indeed utilize a single-action striker-fired trigger, which has a trigger pull of 5.5 to 7 pounds. During my time with the RP9, I found that it broke fairly clean and crisp, and featured a pretty short reset. Both the break and the reset seemed consistent, and I had little problem hitting the steel targets the folks at Remington had set up at about 15 or 20 yards.
The RP features drift adjustable sights which shooters can adjust to their particular preference. The rear sights also incorporate a “fighting surface” that allows the user to rack the slide with a single hand. While I never used this feature in my short time with the gun, it’s certainly a nice touch. Overall, the sights seemed perfectly adequate and more or less what you’d expect on a full-size striker-fired pistol.
At 7.91 inches in overall length and a height of 5.56 inches, and with a weight of 26.4 ounces, the Remington RP is a relatively large handgun, yet it feels pretty comfortable in the hands. It’s likely not something you’ll end up using as an everyday carry piece, but it feels smaller in hand than it initially appears.
I think much of that might be due to the ergonomic grip frame Remington has developed for this gun, which the company states should fit 95 percent of all shooters. In addition to the slim grip circumference, the grip features an undercut trigger and a very comfortable grip angle, both of which permit a higher hand hold and help with recoil and control. And, as with a lot of the new polymer-framed guns on the market, the Remington RP also comes with interchangeable back straps for small, medium or large hands.
What Remington was able to accomplish with the grip is even more impressive given the capacity of the RP9 and RP45 (which I did not get a chance to shoot at the event). The RP9 has a capacity of 18+1, one more than both the Glock 17 and Ruger’s American pistol. The RP45 is even more impressive, boasting a capacity of 15+1.
The Remington RP utilizes a 4.5-inch stainless barrel. Both the barrel and the slide receive a PVD finish to increase durability. Other useful features include a loaded chamber indicator, front and rear slide serrations, a reversible magazine release and a standard picatinny rail for attachments like lights or lasers. With its impressive magazine capacity and its rail, the new RP would make a good choice for home defense for those looking.
MSRP on the new Remington RP will be set at $489, which means it should be a very affordable option for a wide variety of shooters. For more info on the Remington RP, visit the Remington website.
Specifications:
Remington RP Type: Striker-fired, semi-automatic Caliber: 9mm, .45 ACP Barrel: 4.5 in., stainless, PVD finish Twist: 1:10 in. (9mm), 1:16 in. (.45 ACP) Trigger: 5.5-7 lbs., single-action, striker-fired Overall Length: 7.91 in. Overall Height: 5.56 in. Overall Width: 1.27 in. Weight: 26.4 oz. Slide: PVD finish Frame: Polymer
Most hunters who take out to the woods in late fall and into the winter months have experienced the discomfort of having cold hands. Whether you’re in a deer stand waiting for that perfect buck, in a duck blind searching the sky for the next bunch of mallards, or out in the open waiting for a coyote to rush toward the sound of your distress call, the possibility of having cold hands is a very real one.
The Celestron FireCel 3-in-1 Hand Warmer is an excellent tool for combating the cold weather. In addition to offering a two-temperature (110 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit) hand warmer that provides heat for up to 3 hours, the FireCel also operates as an LED flashlight and a portable power supply for recharging electronic devices.
The integrated LED flashlight features both red and white LEDs, which can be used in five different operating modes: red light only, white light only, red light blinking, white light blinking, and SOS (both lights blinking). There are also small red and green status LEDs on the front of the device, with the red lights indicating battery charge level and the green lights illustrating function settings: charge, temperature 1, and temperature 2.
As mentioned, the Celestron FireCel 3-in-1 Hand Warmer also incorporates a 2500 mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery, which allows the FireCel to charge smartphones, MP3 players, or any other USB-powered device. The FireCel itself is also easily recharged.
The Celestron FireCel is ruggedly built with a durable aluminum shell, yet remains very lightweight at just 4 ounces. This makes it a perfect multipurpose tool for hunters to throw in their bag or in their pocket when going afield.
For more information on the Celestron FireCel 3-in-1 Hand Warmer, check out the video from our friends at Deer & Deer Hunting or visit the Celestron website.
Learn how to apply your own DuraCoat finish using Lauer Custom Weaponry’s new DuraCoat Aerosol Kit with this do-it-yourself guide.
Our world is bursting with vibrant color, that is, until you walk into your local gun store. Sure, you’ll find the occasional snub nose with pink grips or maybe a gold-plated Desert Eagle, but as gun buyers we’ve become mostly pigeonholed into an uninspired color palette modeled closely after the first hour of The Wizard of Oz.
After all, what’s not to love about warm wood grain or that deep, rich gloss of a blued revolver? Maybe you prefer bold stainless steel, or even one of those scary black anodized aluminum semi-auto rifles?
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a special place in my heart for basically every gun in the gun store, and I own most of the traditional firearms previously alluded to. However, I’ve always wished I could just click my heels and own a gun with a custom color scheme without breaking the bank. Since the guns in my collection looked like those in every big box store in America, I set out to follow the yellow brick road and add a touch of color to my ordinary armory.
Everything should be accessible before you start spraying.
A number of professional firearm painters reside in my area; however, I like weekend projects—or any excuse to hang out in my man cave for a few hours. I’d heard of DuraCoat, a specialized firearm paint that’s extremely resistant to the abuse of typical field usage. Manufactured by Lauer Custom Weaponry, DuraCoat comes in hundreds of colors and can be applied to almost any surface, including metal, wood and plastic. Until recently, when Lauer began offering DuraCoat in a convenient aerosol spray can, you needed to have specialized equipment and training to properly apply the finish.
With its new DuraCoat Aerosol product, Lauer Custom Weaponry set out to add a touch of color to the stale palette of firearms. Now, any weekend warrior like me who has ever picked up a can of spray paint has the ability to personalize their guns at home. That was exactly my level of proficiency with painting guns. This article serves as an account of my experience as a novice using the product for the first time.
Living in the Southwest, Magpul Flat Dark Earth (FDE) was a fitting color choice so I could blend in with rocks and high desert sage country while calling for coyotes. So I ordered a can of DuraCoat Aerosol in Magpul FDE and dismantled my favorite AR-15 while I waited for the can to arrive a few days later. As I waited on the product to ship, I also began a detailed cleaning of every part stripped from my rifle. I used Hoppe’s No. 9 and thoroughly cleaned each piece as it was removed from the rifle.
DuraCoat Aerosol Kit with TruStrip Degreaser.
Lauer Custom Weaponry strongly stresses the disclaimer that DuraCoat must be applied to a clean, dry surface. Any residual oils or dirt WILL absolutely ruin your chances of having a quality, long-lasting paint job. Lauer ships the DuraCoat Aerosol Kit with a can of TruStrip degreaser and a ScotchBrite pad, which combine to be very effective at removing oils and debris. However, I wanted to be doubly sure that my gun was clean.
After using Hoppe’s No. 9, I baked all the rifle parts in my kitchen oven at it’s lowest setting of 150 degrees for a half hour. Lauer did not suggest this step, but I found that it resulted in residual oils seeping from deep inside the metal that I later removed with TruStrip. I’m sure there’s some technical metallurgy term for this phenomenon, but again I am a novice gun painter.
Once everything was clean, I built a makeshift spray booth in the unfinished part of my basement. The booth was made from a large cardboard box set on an old card table that I positioned in a well-ventilated area under a large shop light. Looking like a doctor before surgery, all the tools I needed were easily accessible. Once you start spraying the DuraCoat, you will not want to leave the painting area to fetch important tools.
Finally, it was almost time to start applying DuraCoat. First, I used wire cutters to section off 6- to 10-inch segments of wire clothing hangers to suspend each rifle part from the cardboard spraying booth. Once all the parts were hanging, it was time to activate the DuraCoat Aerosol can.
All residual oil and dirt must be removed.
This is where the magic of DuraCoat Aerosol happens. Dubbed by Lauer as “can within a can technology,” the product actually has a separate reservoir of DuraCoat paint hardener built inside the can. The DuraCoat paint is activated once the hardener reservoir is punctured and agitated. As directed, I shook the can for two minutes just like a normal can of spray paint to mix the Magpul FDE color. Then I inserted an included red plastic plug into the bottom of the can and pressed until I heard an affirmative “click” or “pop” noise to puncture the hardener reservoir. To fully activate the DuraCoat Aerosol, I then shook the can for another two minutes to mix the hardener with the FDE color.
Now it was time to give my black rifle the desert paint job I dreamed of. I started by spraying an aluminum 30-round magazine for a quick practice run to make sure I was applying the paint correctly. A few mists of Duracoat onto the mil-spec mag gave me the confidence to keep going. “This is pretty easy,” I kept thinking to myself, wondering secretly if I was doing something wrong.
The next parts that received FDE paint were large parts such as the receivers, barrel and handguards. I followed the instructions from Lauer’s YouTube video and lightly applied the DuraCoat to each part with long, sweeping strokes about 8-12 inches away. After each coat, I immediately “flashed” the coating with my heatgun on the lowest setting. According to Lauer, this causes the solvents in DuraCoat to evaporate and is the first step in the drying/curing process. I did this three times to each part to achieve three coats.
Once each piece received three coats, I transferred them from the spray booth to hang from a copper pipe in my unfinished basement to dry overnight. For the small parts such as the trigger pins, magazine release and bolt catch, I put them in a wire strainer and sprayed them until lightly coated. There might be a better way to paint the small parts but this method worked fine for me.
The author did a “practice round,” spraying a 30-round magazine before moving onto the rifle.
Overall, applying DuraCoat was incredibly simple. In fact, the most difficult part was taking apart the AR-15 and degreasing every part. Looking back, I am extremely happy with the results but reluctant to take on another DIY AR-15 DuraCoat project any time soon. The AR-15 has so many small parts and a huge amount of surface area to cover, which is why I ended up needing to use two cans to complete the project. For the cost of two cans ($40 each) plus the total time spent, I’d probably opt to have my next AR-15 professionally painted. Others will probably enjoy the DIY process.
Once dried, I noticed two small paint runs, which were on the first two pieces I sprayed. This was a result of holding the spray nozzle too close to the part. Since the runs were basically unnoticeable, I left them as they were. Had I wanted to, I could have taken some 1,000-grit sand paper to the run spot and then touched up the area with more DuraCoat, but that was not necessary for this project.
In the future, I plan to spray a Glock 17 with the same Magpul FDE color because now it only seems fitting to have a handgun to match the rifle. There’s also a rusty Remington 870 sitting in my safe that would greatly benefit from DuraCoat.
After hunting and target shooting several times in the desert with my freshly DuraCoated AR-15, I’ve found the finish to withstand regular wear and tear without scratching or chipping. The DuraCoat Aerosol finish is here to stay and will probably last longer than my lifetime, meaning that this project turned my everyday AR-15 into a prized family heirloom.
Thanks to Lauer Custom Weaponry’s DuraCoat Aerosol, the firearm world is a more colorful place and my rifle is camouflaged into the high desert. When it comes to giving your guns a custom DuraCoat paint job, there really is no place like home.
Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from the July 2016 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
New technology in the field of thermal imaging and night vision equipment helps bring cutting-edge, user-friendly technology to shooters and hunters.
The east Texas night was inky black and the only sound I could hear—besides the occasional whine of a mosquito hovering around my exposed mouth and ears—was the steady sloshing and squealing of a sounder of perhaps 50 hogs as they lay waste to a rice field a quarter-mile away. Feral hogs had destroyed hundreds of acres of rice in that area of eastern Texas, and some farmers had suffered a complete crop loss for the year thanks to the area’s abundant pig populations. To make matters worse, those hogs had learned to feed under the cover of darkness and come to associate spotlights with gunfire. Turn on a any light and you might get a shot at a single pig before the sounder escaped from the flooded rice fields over the levies and back into the thick thorns that protected them from the midday sun.
A group of eight of us walked down the levy closest to the farmer’s barn, ARs slung across our chests. The whole world was an odd shade of shimmering green as our night vision goggles picked up infrared light invisible to the naked eye. If you’ve never used night vision goggles before, it’s rather like looking through a paper towel roll, and field of view is very limited. The thorn thickets to our right were punctuated with oval tunnels that had been cut into the brush by the hogs as they made their way to the rice fields for their nightly raids. There were several large openings in the brush, and we had been warned before the operation began that the pigs would charge toward those openings when the shooting started and would run directly into or over us as they escaped. This offensive mission could, at a moment’s notice, turn into a defensive shoot.
The black bodies of the hogs rose above the shallow water, and we each picked a pig as we spread out shoulder-to-shoulder down the levy. I turned on my Crimson Trace infrared sight and steadied the Smith & Wesson M&P10 on my shoulder, watching the glowing green dot settle on the junction of a boar’s neck and shoulders 50 yards away. The order came to fire, and I pressed the trigger.
Over the course of the next 30 seconds, nearly a hundred hogs rushed out of that water as 7.62 and 5.56 bullets whistled through the night. This was not a hunt but rather an eradication effort, and as such, every pig that appeared in your lane needed to be fired upon. Farther down the line, a sow made it to the levy and frighteningly close to one of our shooters before his M&P15 clapped and dropped the pig already halfway up the levy and perhaps 10 feet away from his position. As the roll of gunfire continued, pigs either fell in the field or cleared the levy on the far side, vanishing into the night.
Many people, including shooters and hunters, view night vision and thermal imaging equipment as the type of high-tech gear that is unattainable by anyone that isn’t in the military or law enforcement. In truth, however, technology companies have made these items increasingly user-friendly and more affordable than ever, and you’ll quickly find that night vision and thermal equipment serves a variety of uses from scouting and hunting to personal and home defense.
Night Vision Gear The human eye is poorly designed for seeing in near total darkness. For one thing, we don’t have as many rods (the element in your eye responsible for low-light vision) as other mammals like deer and cats. We also lack a tapetum, that reflective layer that channels light photons into our retina. If you shine a flashlight into the eyes of a raccoon, dog, bear or other animal at night, you’ll see the familiar “eye shine,” which is actually light reflecting on the tapetum inside the eye of those animals.
Humans need help to see at night, and that help comes via night vision equipment. More specifically, the electricity that the night vision equipment uses to maximize all available light so that our eye can function in near total darkness. Light enters the front of night vision equipment and strikes a photocathode that converts the photons to electrons. A photomultiplier amplifies the number of electrons, and those electrons hit a phosphor screen, which causes a flash of light. That multiplied light is visible to our eye.
Night vision technology can be incorporated into goggles as well as scopes. ATN is one of the leaders in night vision technology and offers a wide selection of goggles similar to the style we used in Texas for our hog eradication. But, increasingly, night vision equipment is being mounted directly on firearms thanks to advancements in technology that make this equipment lighter and more durable than ever before. An example of that is the new ATN X-Sight II, which is considered a “Smart HD” optic with an Obsidian II Core that is capable of being used in daylight, darkness, and can record still and video imagery.
That’s a lot of technology in one optics package, and that level of versatility makes lightweight rifle-mounted optics a great option for anyone who wants to shoot or hunt in both daylight and darkness. Mount this optic on your favorite .243 or .25-06 rifle and you’ve got a deer and antelope gun that can switch to night vision mode for hunting hogs and predators at night.
ATN also offers firmware that can update existing X-Sights to the latest version, one of the great advantages of optics with onboard computers. There’s a 3-14x X-Sight HD that has an MSRP of $599. If you plan to shoot at extreme ranges, upgrading to the 5-20x version will cost an additional hundred bucks. This year, ATN is also launching a new smart spotting scope, the X-Spotter HD 20-80x, which offers day and night vision capabilities and video and still photo capture. The X-Spotter is loaded with high-tech features and blends high-magnification spotting with night vision capabilities. MSRP is $1,299.
If you have night vision equipment, you can pair your rifle with an infrared sight such as Crimson Trace’s MVF-515 vertical foregrip with infrared module. Because night vision goggles use infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye, an infrared sight system can’t be seen. In our case, we could turn on our infrared lasers and use them as sights that didn’t alert the hogs to our presence the way visible white light would. Also nice, the vertical foregrip allows you to control the light without removing your hand from the trigger. In addition to the infrared light, there was a white LED option for traveling to and from the vehicle without goggles. The MVF-515 with infrared module will carry a cost of $599.
Thermal Imaging Thermal imaging equipment utilizes a detector array that picks up a thermogram (the heat produced by an object), and that thermogram is then translated into electrical impulses. These impulses are in turn translated to a display that shows our eye the heat signature of an object in our field of view. Every living creature gives off a heat signature, a byproduct of the metabolic reactions occurring within the body. In its infancy, thermal imaging was a relatively crude science, but modern thermal imaging equipment is extraordinarily sophisticated and detailed. It’s used by the military and law enforcement. In one case of a shooting in California, the suspect was trailed to his hiding place in a crowded subdivision (and quickly apprehended) without incident, and the gun he’d used and discarded in a bush as he ran from the crime scene was also rapidly recovered because it too left a heat signature behind. The equipment used in that apprehension came from thermal industry leader FLIR, which is based in Oregon.
While touring the facility I was allowed to play with some of the thermal imaging equipment that was available to the civilian market, and I couldn’t believe how clear and precise the images really were.
The FLIR Scout that I used was so sensitive that I could point it out the window in the parking lot and determine how recently a car had been parked in each parking spot; in spaces where cars had just left, there was a dark heat signature indicating a low temperature because the rays of the sun hadn’t reached the asphalt for quite some time. Likewise, I could place my hand on the wall and the heat signature remained for several minutes. That level of refinement is amazing—and that’s only the tip of FLIR’s thermal technology iceberg.
You may not have the need for a helicopter-mounted thermal imaging device, but almost everyone could benefit from owning a handheld thermal vision monocular. In 2016, FLIR launched its first pocket-sized (6 inches long and weighing just 6 ounces) monocular, the Scout TK, with thermal imaging capabilities and video and photo capture. In the past, high-quality thermal monoculars cost roughly $3,500, which placed them squarely out of the price range of a large portion of the hunting and shooting public. But the new Scout TK costs under $600, which is an outstanding price for the technology built into this pocket-sized thermal imaging device. Thermals are valuable for scouting game, but their worth extends far beyond that. I live in a very remote area far from the nearest town, and a FLIR is invaluable for personal protection. If I hear something go bump in the darkness outside I don’t need to turn on the lights; all I need to do is scan the landscape with a FLIR, and I immediately know if there is anything (or anyone) lurking in the shadows.
Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from the August 2016 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Rimfire suppressors represent a cost-effective way to jump into the suppressor game, but there are some things to keep in mind if you plan on owning one.
When talk at the gun club turns to suppressors, everyone wants a suppressor for their AR. Something in .223 or 5.56. Or, they want a suppressor for their .308, their long-range precision rifle (aka sniper rifle) or their AR in .308. But, what I find from the manufacturers is that they make a lot of suppressors for rimfire firearms. My personal term for disparities of this magnitude, the numbers made compared to the numbers estimated, is “metric buttload.” They make a lot of rimfire suppressors, compared to the centerfire ones.
Why? Why do they, in some instances, make four, five, ten times as many rimfires as they do centerfires? (And that’s just the companies who make both. There are companies that do not make centerfire suppressors, only rimfire ones.) It comes down to a few things, all revolving around cost. It costs money to buy a suppressor. It costs money to go shooting, and if there’s one thing we can all relate to, it is that there’s no such thing as too much money.
Now, as “expensive” hobbies go, shooting isn’t one of them. Oh, some can be. If you shoot registered trap, you’re going to be essentially burning twenty-dollar bills at the gun club. But, it still isn’t like auto racing. A previous neighbor of ours raced two different classes of cars, at local tracks, nothing national. He was an engineer and builder, so the cars cost him pretty much his time and the parts, which he could often get wholesale. But he could not make tires, and he calculated that if he was careful in racing, he could make two sets of tires last a season, for each of the cars. $4,500 a set, per car, comes to nine grand in rubber a car a season, so eighteen thousand dollars a season just for tires.
Inflation has a factor in this but I don’t think I spent $18,000 on handgun shooting in any year, for everything, when I was a serious competitor. Granted, I was reloading all my ammo and building my own guns, but entry fees, travel, etc. didn’t add up to the tire cost for our neighbor. Shooting may cost, but not like really expensive hobbies.
But, if you have a family, then the mortgage, clothes, food, orthodontia, car maintenance all gobble large amounts of money. If you are prudent, then you are pumping money into the kid’s college fund, and your own IRA or 401K. A suppressor is a splurge. One way to ease the impact of that splurge is to buy a rimfire suppressor for $400 instead of a centerfire one for $900-1200. And then feed it .22LR ammo, which costs less than .223, and certainly costs less than .308.
And they are quiet.
Why do rimfire suppressors cost so much less? Materials – type and amount. A rimfire suppressor may be only a one-inch tube, instead of the 1.5 inches of a centerfire. Also, it will be made (in most instances) of aluminum, since the .22LR does not generate nearly as much pressure or gas as centerfires do. That all adds up to less material, which happens to be easier to machine, and thus lower cost. There’s also the smaller effect of economies of scale. If you are making a thousand of one item, and a hundred of another, you can bargain for lower costs on materials for the former.
If you place an order for a literal truckload of seamless aluminum tubing, one-inch O.D., you’re going to get a better price than you would buying it one tube at a time.
As a further price decrease, rimfire suppressors do not need a booster, like pistol-caliber suppressors do for handguns. And, it is rare that someone wants a quick-attach mount system on a .22LR suppressor. Direct-thread rules here, and that brings down the cost even more.
Ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching.
And the quiet?
Well, the .22LR isn’t all that noisy to start with. Oh, it will make you go deaf if you don’t protect your hearing from it, but the amount of gas to deal with is pretty small. And, the expansion ratio of a .22LR, even a handgun, is pretty large. This soaks up a lot of the gas energy, as the pressure drops and the gases cool. So, it doesn’t take much to deal with it. If you then go with target ammo, which is subsonic for accuracy, not noise reasons, or straight-up subsonic ammo, you get the Hollywood “phht, phht, phht” sound from your Ruger 10-22.
Where rimfire suppressors make you pay is in the grubbiness department. Twenty-twos are pretty grubby just as they are. But when you start trapping the muzzle gasses via a suppressor, the carbon deposits become impressive indeed. Remember, there’s lead in there too, so wash your hands after you wash your suppressor.
And if you don’t? Well, if you don’t disassemble and clean your rimfire suppressor after every 500 rounds, you may find it carbon-welded and you can’t take it apart. Then, the aluminum construction works against you, as it may not survive heavy-handed attempts to disassemble. If you don’t scrub your hands after cleaning, you may (read “will”) absorb some lead, which is not good for you. Your body may spend the next year expelling the lead you absorbed from one failure to scrub. That’s right, our moms were all correct; wash your hands, and things will be fine.
This article is excerpted from the Gun Digest Book of Suppressors.
The new Colt Combat Unit carbine features the manufacturer’s first production mid-length gas system and comes with a host of great features for shooters.
In addition to producing a host of different 1911s, Colt has always been a major producer of AR-style rifles. This year the company introduced its brand new Expanse M4, an entry-level AR perfect for shooters new to the AR platform.
Now the American manufacturer has introduced another option for shooters looking for a new AR. Designated the Colt Combat Unit carbine, this new rifle features Colt’s first production mid-length gas system.
“Producing a mid-length gas system was the logical next-step for us, and it’s long overdue,” said Justin Baldini, Director of Product Marketing for Colt. “Shooters will find that by moving the gas block closer to the muzzle as this mid-length gas system does, the felt recoil is more constant with what is fielded by our troops carrying a 14.5-inch barrel M4.”
The new Colt Combat Unit carbine was developed with input from legendary firearms trainers Mike Pannone, Ken Hackathorn and Daryl Holland, which together comprise the Colt Combat Unit. The Colt Combat Unit is a team of Sponsored Shooters and Product Advisors that Colt works closely with to develop firearms tailored to meet the unique demands of today’s operators, law enforcement and civilian shooters.
“When we decided to put together the Colt Combat Unit team, we sought out the upper echelon of the world of elite operator training. These are all former Special Forces trainers who are helping us understand what the folks in the field want from their firearms, which has been proven with the success of the Colt Combat Unit Rail Gun.”
This new Colt Combat Unit carbine utilizes Magpul furniture – a Magpul SL buttstock, a Magpul SL pistol grip, and a Magpul MOE trigger guard – and features a flat-top picatinny rail upper receiver. The gun also incorporates a low-profile gas block, which permits the use of Centurion Arms’ CMR free-floated M-LOK handguard, which has attachment points at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions.
The Colt Combat Unit carbine has an MSRP currently listed at $1,299. It is available exclusively from TALO Distributors.
There are many elements that make up the internal ballistics of rimfire rifles. Perhaps, one of the more overlooked aspects pertains to the firing pin. How the pin strikes the rim, its shape and even where it’s situated on the bolt face all play factors in a rimfire firearm’s accuracy.
In rimfire cartridges, the primer is contained in the rim of the case. The firing pin crushes the folded rim causing the primer to explode, which in turn ignites the powder. Smokeless powder burns generating gaseous products that expand rapidly against the base of the bullet. This force applied to the base of the bullet moves it down the barrel with increasing velocity.
As the bullet engages the rifling, it is engraved by the lands, which causes the bullet to spin. Part of the energy produced by the burning powder is used in deforming the bullet, heating the bullet and barrel, and overcoming friction between the bullet and the barrel. Although the bullet has kinetic energy because of its motion, it also has a smaller amount of energy as a result of its rotation.
There is another aspect of the impact of the firing pin on the cartridge rim that has a bearing on exactly how firing occurs. That factor is the shape of the firing pin and the corresponding shape of the dent that it makes on the cartridge base. If the firing pin hits too far toward the outside of the cartridge or hits inside the rim toward the center of the cartridge, ignition is not as efficient as when the firing pin strikes the cartridge in the optimum manner.
When you examine empty cases from cartridges that have been fired in different rimfire rifles, it is clear that there is a considerable difference in how the firing pin strikes the rim. Some firing pins have a wedge-shaped tip whereas others have rectangular or round tips. Moreover, a rather heavy but reproducible force on the firing pin is necessary to produce uniform shot-to-shot ignition.
When the rifle is held in a horizontal position, the powder rests on the bottom of the case but the firing pin on most rimfire rifles strikes the top edge of the cartridge base. Some of the highest quality target rifles have actions designed to deliver the firing pin blow to the bottom edge of the cartridge base so that the priming mixture is in better contact with the powder.
Although all of these factors must be considered by engineers when designing a firearm, particularly one designed for the highest level of competition, they are usually beyond the control of the shooter. The vast majority of rimfire shooters will never have occasion to alter these aspects of internal ballistics, but it is important to understand the basic principles.
If there is an overall trend, it is that over the course of the past nine years, prices of the majority of Smith & Wesson firearms have increased steadily but modestly, with most models maybe averaging a 10- to 50-percent increase over that time span.
A few have more or less stayed the same, and a small number have actually shown slight decreases in values. There are, of course, stellar exceptions, and many of these are guns were predicted in the previous edition to continue to increase in value ahead of the pack. Here are the authors’ opinion on what they’ve seen in S&W current value trends.
Post-War — There is significant collector interest, and attendant value increase, in the variations of the Hand Ejector revolvers following the end of WWII, up through the introduction of model numbering in 1957. This marked an era when factory production was changing from military production to address the pent-up demand for civilian firearms, and when a number of changes were being made to the designs of the classic Hand Ejectors. There are lots of tasty variations as old parts are used up and mixed with new production. Collectors get all goo-goo eyed for stuff like “Improved Models” and “Transitional Models” and “Pre-Models.”
Early numbered models — There is also a significant interest in the early numbered model revolvers, from 1957 through about the early 1980s.
Classic N-frame revolvers — For the past twenty years, these have been the glamour guns of S&W collecting, and they show no indication of slowing down. The leaders of this particular pack have always been the Triple-Locks, Registered Magnums, and early .44 Magnums.
Dash Ones — Collecting Numbered Model Hand Ejectors by the dash variation has become a thing. And these collectors have noticed that among the carbon steel N and K frames, the “-1” variation often saw extremely limited production. This applies only to some of the models where the -1 variation was introduced around 1959 or 1960. The dash one designation indicated a very minor change – the extractor rod went from right hand thread to left hand thread. However, it was only a year or two before another design change occurred and the models were marked as dash two (-2) variations, meaning that a Mod. 29-1 or Mod. 19-1 will be considerably more rare than a Mod. 29-2 or Mod. 19-2. This means that collectors want ‘em.
Rare guns in the best condition — Extremely rare variations tend to be increasing in value a bit faster than common guns. The more popular the general type of gun, the more demand there is for rare variations of that type. I.e., .357 N-frame rarities bring a much greater premium than rare variations of the .35 auto. And, of course, higher condition rare guns increase even faster.
Best condition old guns — Even where the general value of an antique model may have been somewhat stagnant or even decreased over the past few years, the best condition examples tend to increase faster than the average specimens. The dollar spread between the finest condition and average condition is increasing.
Used shootable guns have value — Guns that are common, worn, obsolete, refinished, modified, and ugly will still have value if they are in shootable condition. Police trade-in pistols and revolvers that have lots of holster wear will bring $200 to $400 if they are shooters.
This article is an excerpt from the Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, 4th Edition.
Pink firearms and accessories have often been a topic of debate within the firearms industry. Some shooters like the idea of personalizing their firearms with pink accessories, while others either dislike the color or its marketing toward women. Regardless, because the preferences of different shooters are so varied, it’s important for manufacturers to offer these types of choices. If a market for these sorts of products didn’t exist, then neither would pink firearms and accessories.
LaserLyte’s new Pink Pearl V-MAG Grip Laser Sight for North American Arms (NAA) .22 Magnum revolvers is one of the latest such products. Now, shooters who want to personalize their NAA Magnum revolver with a pink grip can do so while enjoying the benefits of LaserLyte’s V-MAG Grip Laser Sight.
The LaserLyte Pink Pearl V-MAG Grip Laser Sight uses an integrated Class IIIA laser, which activates easily and instinctively when the shooter holds the gun in a natural shooting position. This eliminates the need for any kind of extra motion by the shooter and permits quick target acquisition without requiring a typical sight picture.
Installation of the V-MAG Grip Laser Sight is fairly intuitive. Tools are included with the device, and, according to LaserLyte, no gunsmithing knowledge is required.
The V-MAG Grip Laser Sight is powered by three 392 batteries, which can be accessed via an exterior battery compartment that does not require removal of the laser from its host firearm. Battery life is listed at 1 hour+ of constant-on operation.
The Pink Pearl V-MAG Grip Laser Sight is fully adjustable for windage and elevation to point of impact, and it is designed to fit all of NAA’s .22 Magnum revolvers. The MSRP on the new LaserLyte Pink Pearl V-MAG Grip Laser Sight is currently listed at $129.95. For more information, visit the LaserLyte website.
Specifications:
LaserLyte Pink Pearl V-MAG Grip Laser Sight Compatible Firearms: All NAA .22 Magnum Pistols, PUG, Black Widow, Side Winder, etc. Activation: Grip, Constant On/Off Power Output: 650NM, 5MW, Class IIIA Batteries: 3 x 392 Battery Life: Constant-on 1 hour+ Material: 55 percent glass filled nylon Weight: 0.75 oz. Length: 3.00 in. Width: 1.25 in. Height: 1.00 in. MSRP: $129.95
Self defense can be a matter of life and death for your family. Keeping your shooting skills sharp is important to using the best home defense weapon possible when the unexpected occurs. Turn your handgun into the best handgun for home defense with the drills outlined in Handgun Training – Practice Drills for Defensive Shooting. Nothing will give you more peace and security in your own home than the confidence you will hit your target. Learn More
The 10mm Auto was introduced in 1983 as the cartridge for the Bren Ten semi-auto pistol, made by the now-defunct Dornaus & Dixon Enterprises, Inc., of Huntington Beach, Calif. According to data furnished by Norma, the ammunition is loaded to a mean working pressure of 37,000 psi, with a maximum pressure of 44,400 psi. This is near some rifle loads and makes this a rather hot handgun cartridge. Muzzle velocity is listed as 1200 fps, and energy at the muzzle as 635 ft.-lbs. Gun and cartridge are the creation of Jeff Cooper and associates, who were trying to develop the ideal combat weapon. The 10mm cartridge is a great combat round with good stopping power, particularly with an expanding-type bullet. However, recoil is quite heavy. In the late 1980s, the FBI adopted this cartridge in a slightly reduced loading, along with a matching S&W pistol, as standard issue.
Hornady, Speer, Sierra, and Nosler offer suitable bullets. The 10mm Auto cartridge has been loaded by Federal, Winchester, Remington, CCI, and other U.S. ammunition manufacturers. Actual ballistics are generally about 100 fps slower than early factory claims, so actual 10mm Automatic factory loads do not significantly exceed .45 Automatic +P ballistics.
Editor’s Note: This brief is an excerpt from Cartridges of the World.
Back in August of this year, Remington introduced a new model to its R1 line of 1911 pistols. This new gun, chambered in the potent 10mm Auto and featuring a 6-inch stainless steel match grade barrel, was dubbed the Remington R1 10mm Hunter LS (Long Slide).
According to the company, this new long slide 1911 was purpose built primarily for hunters to use afield. And given its powerful chambering and its long, accurate barrel, it would seem well suited to that task.
This fall, during Remington’s annual New Product Seminar in West Virginia, I was able to spend a little time with the new R1 10mm Hunter LS at The Summit, a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) shooting facility. Although I wasn’t able to put the gun through a typical accuracy test with a variety of ammunition, I did put close to 50 rounds of Remington’s UMC 180-grain FMJ through it, and that was in addition to the untold number of rounds fired through it by other members of the media before I picked it up. As such, I can’t provide a full review of the gun, but I can offer some first impressions.
Firs off, the R1 10mm Hunter LS feels great in the hand. The gun wears VZ Operator II G10 grips and sports a checkered mainspring housing, as well as an extended beavertail grip safety with a checkered bump. These features, combined with the gun’s heft, courtesy of a weight of 41 ounces, results in a comfortable yet solid feel in the hands. And the weight and extended barrel length obviously help with recoil, which, although clearly present, wasn’t unbearable by any means.
The sights on the Remington R1 10mm Hunter LS are also tailored for accuracy, being adjustable at the front and rear. The rear is a fully adjustable LPA match sight, while the front is a drift adjustable fiber optic. I didn’t bother with adjustments at the event, however, because I had no problem hitting the steel targets that had been set out at around 20 yards or so.
A lot of 1911s are known for having very good triggers, and the Remington R1 10mm Hunter LS does not disappoint. The gun has a skeletonized adjustable trigger that can be set between 3.5 and 5.5 pounds, depending on the shooter’s preference. I’m not sure what the pull was set at when I shot the gun, but it felt pretty consistent, clean and smooth every time.
There are several other nice features on the gun, including wide front and rear cocking serrations for manipulating the slide, ambidextrous safety levers, a PVD DLC finish on both slide and frame for added durability, and a beveled, oversized ejection port to help with smooth ejection of spent cases. Another important element on the gun is a Picatinny accessory rail for lights and lasers, which the R1 10mm Hunter LS should have plenty of room for given its extended length.
The new Remington R1 10mm Hunter LS is available at an MSRP of $1,310 and ships with two 8-round stainless steel, flush-fit magazines. For dedicated handgun hunters, or fans of the 10mm Auto looking for a 1911 chambered in that cartridge, this gun should definitely be a consideration.
Specifications for the new Remington R1 10mm Hunter LS can be found below. For more information on the gun, visit Remington’s website.
Specifications:
Remington R1 10mm Hunter LS Type: Semi-auto, single action Caliber: 10mm Auto Barrel: 6-in., match grade, stainless Twist: 1:16 in. Overall Length: 9.5 in. Overall Height: 5.75 in. Weight: 41 oz. Frame: Stainless steel Slide: Stainless steel Finish: PVD DLC Trigger: 3.5-5.5 lbs., adjustable Grip: VZ Operator II G10 MSRP: $1,310 Manufacturer: Remington
I am by no means a fan of cleaning firearms. I absolutely love the smell of Hoppe’s No. 9 (I’ve been known to use it as cologne) but cleaning guns is a chore and I avoid it like the plague, especially semi-automatic pistols. You know the routine: Take ‘em apart, clean ‘em, reassemble, rinse and repeat. It’s much more fun to shoot.
While at the SHOT Show’s Industry Day at the Range, the fine gents from Federal Premium told me about the company’s new American Eagle Syntech ammunition, and I was immediately intrigued.
“Phil it burns cleaner, keeps the barrel cooler due to our synthetic jacket on the bullet severely reducing friction, and will actually reduce muzzle jump. It even features a lead-free primer, perfect for use in an indoor range,” said J.J. Reich, the Public Relations Manager for Federal.
Burns cleaner? That translates to less cleaning, right? I had to try this stuff, and see if it lived up to those claims. I figured a decent test would be to compare the Syntech stuff to the American Eagle FMJ ammo, a common choice for range work, and see if there was any observable difference. So, I grabbed up a few boxes of each type of ammo, in 9mm Luger—147-grain FMJ stuff, and the 115-grain Syntech load—as well as the Hoppe’s cleaning kit and my trusty Lyman cleaning rod and headed to the range.
I started out by thoroughly cleaning the test gun, a Tangfolio 9mm, and proceeded to fire 50 rounds of the FMJ load, checking the barrel heat in 10-shot intervals, and then cleaned the pistol again. I then repeated the process using the Syntech ammo, noting any differences between the two types of ammunition. The results were rather interesting, if not exactly scientific; but they do relate to real-world scenarios. Comparing the solvent-soaked patches, it was very clear that the Syntech ammo left much less of a mess. Not that the FMJ ammo was exactly a filthy affair, but there was much less fouling and residue left behind from the Syntech ammunition.
And as far as the cooler burning claim, I must report that there was a definite, appreciable difference in barrel heat, and the Syntech stuff did in fact run cooler than the FMJ ammo. After about 30 rounds of FMJ ammunition, the barrel was absolutely too hot to touch—not really good for the pistol, but hey, this is science after all—but not so with the Syntech ammo. Using a 10-round magazine, and only allowing enough time to reload between firings, the Syntech ammo still allowed the barrel to be touched after 50 rounds. The Syntech ammunition produced less muzzle jump than did the FMJ variant, though a part of that equation may have been the difference in bullet weight—147 grains for the FMJ and 115 grains for the Syntech—but all in all I was able to get back on target faster with the lighter load. So far, I had quickly become a fan of the new design, and could easily see the benefits of the engineering efforts. I had no means of testing the chemical composition of the new Catalyst lead-free primer, other than to report the fact that it gave reliable ignition, so I’ll have to take Federal’s word for it, but I can easily see where a lead-free primer would be welcomed in any of the indoor shooting ranges that have become so popular. The less lead vapor in the air, whether from a projectile or the primer, the better.
Now that I had a better feel for the ammo, and that those claims that J.J. Reich had made were actually validated, it was time to assess the accuracy and function of the ammunition.
Firstly, this Tangfolio pistol has a rather stiff set of springs and has been known to stovepipe lesser, more feeble types of ammo, so I was concerned about the light-for-caliber 115-grain stuff. I wasn’t too awfully concerned about the 147-grain flat point FMJ stuff, as this gun usually likes that weight of bullet. I also knew that in my hands, this gun usually hits high at the 10-yard mark, so as long as point of impact was consistent, I would be happy.
Both types of ammunition worked very well over the course of 100 rounds of each type with only two jams, one stovepipe with each type, and I’d attribute that to the rapid fire testing methods I had employed. There were no firing malfunctions, and the Syntech stuff proved to be rather accurate; I am a fair pistol shot, at best, and I could keep the groups to minute-of-softball, offhand, at ten paces. As expected, the groups were a bit on the high side, but that’s the way this gun handles when I’m behind the trigger. The Syntech ammo actually performed better than the 147-grain flat point FMJ stuff, in the accuracy department, to the point that I’d definitely prefer practicing with Syntech.
Running it through the Oehler 35P chronograph, the Syntech ammo ran at an average of 1,115 fps—just 15 fps below the advertised 1,130 fps—and gave rather uniform velocities, with the standard deviation on velocity being no more than 12 fps.
All in all, I feel the Syntech ammunition is worthwhile. The polymer coating, which completely encapsulates the lead projectile, definitely reduces the amount of lead being vaporized when firing your gun, as it doesn’t allow the burning gases or the rifling to touch the lead itself. The Total Synthetic Jacket, or TSJ as Federal calls it, is designed to stay intact during ignition as well as during flight. Federal also indicates that due to a lack of a copper jacket, the amount of lead splatter is reduced when shooting at steel plates, and while I had no means of measuring that, it does make logical sense.
For the shooter who turns large amounts of ammunition into piles of spent brass over the course of a weekend, American Eagle’s Syntech is an excellent blend of affordability, reliability and results. The cooler temperature will allow your pistol to cycle smoother, and the fact that the gun will run cleaner is a huge benefit to all of us. As sweet as Hoppe’s No. 9 smells, the less I have to use it, the happier I am. Here’s to cleaning less!
Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from the September 2016 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Ever since its introduction back in 2008, Ruger’s LCP pistol has been an immensely popular choice for concealed carriers. Chambered in .380 ACP, the original LCP found great success because of its slight build, its ability to be easily concealed, and its excellent reliability.
Despite its popularity, however, there were several aspects of the pistol that some shooters were critical of, such as the trigger and the iron sights. Ruger attempted to address some of these when it released the LCP Custom, which featured a slightly improved double-action trigger and better iron sights, a little while back.
Now, Ruger is upgrading the LCP again, this time to a larger degree. The new gun, dubbed the Ruger LCP II incorporates several improvements over previous LCP models, namely a short and crisp single-action trigger that features an inner trigger safety; improved visibility iron sights; a larger, textured grip surface; and a slide that’s easier to rack and holds open after the last round.
The stippled grip surface should help with control and recoil distribution, while the new single-action trigger and larger, more visible iron sights should help improve accuracy. The enhanced slide stop mechanism, which allows for a last round hold-open, should also be a nice addition.
The new Ruger LCP II is slightly larger than its predecessor – 5.17 inches in length and 3.71 inches in height versus 5.16 inches in length and 3.60 inches in height on the original – but this might help with control and accuracy. Smaller after all, isn’t always better. The LCP II weighs a svelte 10.6 ounces and holds 6+1 rounds of .380 ACP, and for this reason represents an excellent back-up gun (BUG) option.
“With modern styling, improved features and a modest price, the LCP II promises to raise the bar on what people have come to expect in a compact .380 Auto pistol,” said Ruger President and COO Chris Killoy. “The LCP II is another fine example of Ruger’s product innovation and dedication to continuous improvement of a popular product line.”
The American manufacturer builds the LCP II on a one-piece, precision-machined anodized aluminum chassis that includes integral frame rails and a fire control housing. The gun features a through-hardened alloy steel slide and the company’s classic glass-filled nylon grip frame. A finger grip extension floorplate is also available, which can be added to magazines for increased comfort and a more stable grip.
The new Ruger LCP II is available at an MSRP of $349. It ships with one 6-round magazine and a pocket holster. It is backwards compatible with original 6-round LCP magazines; however, when using those, the last round hold-open feature will not activate. It is not compatible with original 7-round LCP magazines.
For more information on the Ruger LCP II, check out the specifications below or visit the Ruger website.
Specifications:
Ruger LCP II Type: Semi-auto, single action Caliber: .380 ACP Barrel: 2.75 in., blued, alloy steel Twist: 1:16-in. Overall Length: 5.17 in. Overall Height: 3.71 in. Overall Width: 0.91 in. Weight: 10.6 oz. Sights: Integral, iron sights Grip: Black, glass-filled nylon Price: $349 Manufacturer: Ruger
You are not going to attach your expensive new suppressor to the firearm of your choice with hose clamps and duct tape. You need something more permanent, rigid, aligned and reliable.
The mounting methods to attach a suppressor to a firearm fall into a few categories: direct thread, quick-attach, booster, integral, and exotic and rare.
Here, we’ll examine quick-attach mounts.
Quick-attach is a development that comes to us for a particular reason – cost. Direct thread is a secure, rigid and easy method by which to attach a suppressor. But, once a suppressor is torqued in place, you need a wrench to remove it, and you need that wrench to install it on the next firearm. If you have a suppressor and two or three or more rifles you want to use it on, the wrench-and-direct-thread method gets old fast.
So, the makers came up with a mount called a “muzzle device”: one that threads onto the muzzle and stays there for the service life of the barrel. The muzzle device has a cylindrical or coned bearing surface, and fast-pitch threads and a ratchet or locking system. You can install the suppressor by hand in a few seconds and, assuming it isn’t too hot to handle, swap it from one rifle to another as quickly. No wrench needed.
A few details need explaining. “Fast-pitch” in this context does not describe a softball league, but the number of turns it takes to tighten a suppressor, or any threaded fastener. Let’s take the common 1⁄2-28 thread for a 5.56 mount. If the threaded portion, the shank, is half an inch long, then it will take fourteen complete rotations to get it all the way tight. A fast-pitch thread will be so coarse that it takes maybe two full rotations to tighten the suppressor, maybe one-and-a-half. Also, the threads on the muzzle device will often not be the common “V” threads you are familiar with, but have a profile known as Acme threads, which are flat-topped pyramids, not a pointy V.
This is a fast-pitch thread. The Acme thread on this AAC mount has a grand total of one and a quarter turns to lock. That’s fast. Also note the ratchet teeth on the mount itself.
The ratchet is there to lock the suppressor in place. A fast-pitch thread lacks the torque to stay tight, especially since it is wrenched on by hand and not with a tool. If you had only the fast-pitch threads, your suppressor would vibrate loose once per magazine. The ratchet locks the suppressor on, once you have bottomed out the fast-pitch threads.
Muzzle devices can be, and usually are, more than just mounts. At the very least, they are also flash hiders. So, if you have the rifle with the mount but for some reason are shooting it without the suppressor, you still have a barrel with a flash hider on it. Some are made as muzzle brakes. When the suppressor is on, the muzzle brake feature doesn’t happen. When the suppressor is off, the muzzle device works just like a brake or comp on a competition rifle. The shooter next to you will not be as enthused about that as he or she was when you were using your suppressor.
The drawbacks are not inconsequential, even if they are not deal-killers. First of all, a muzzle device is manufacturer-specific as well as caliber-specific. If you have a suppressor from manufacturer “A” you cannot attach it on a muzzle device from manufacturer “B” or vice-versa. Also, each muzzle device costs as much as $125, and you need one on each rifle that you want to put the suppressor on. That can add up. No, you cannot move the muzzle device from rifle to rifle, as if it were simply a direct-thread rear cap-equipped suppressor. Well, you can, but why would you? You’ve paid extra for the muzzle device, and for the specific model that requires it. Why treat it as a direct-thread suppressor, one of which you could have purchased for as much as $300 less, the muzzle device being half that? Last, the suppressor itself will cost a bit more than a comparable direct-thread model, because it takes extra metal and machining to create the quick-attach rear cap that is welded or threaded or machined into the suppressor.
The ratchet for this Yankee Hill muzzle device is spring-loaded, and inside the cylindrical collar.
Finally, all this adds weight. Yes, it is only a few ounces, but it still adds weight. If you went with, for example, a titanium suppressor because you wanted it to be light, and then you go and add a steel muzzle device for mounting it, you just took away some of the lightweight advantage you paid a lot of money for.
A QC/QA suppressor and three muzzle devices (to mount on three different rifles) can end up costing as much as two direct-thread suppressors from the same manufacturer. Not to pick on them, but since I’ve got their catalog open on my desk at the moment, let’s look at a pair of SIG silencers (that’s the term they prefer), the SRD556 and the SRD556-QD. The QD version costs $100 more and weighs 3.5 ounces more. It does come with the muzzle device, but if you wanted to mount your SIG silencer on another rifle, you’d have to buy another QD mount, at $69. Which, by the way, is half what other muzzle devices cost for comparable suppressors. So SIG is giving you a real break here.
So, if you have two SRD556s that comes to $1,090 (MSRP). A single SRD556-QD and two muzzle devices comes to $780. Yes, it will take you a while to get to the point where it is cheaper to buy the direct-thread version in volume, but I hope you get the point. At some point, it is cheaper, and with other manufacturers, it will happen sooner.
Quick-attach muzzle devices are brand-specific, each accepting its own brand suppressor (and caliber) and no other.
QA Variants
You can make a fast-pitch thread on a mount and put a ratchet on it to lock it in place, but there are still many ways to do that. One is to make the ratchet spring-loaded and have it engage teeth on the back end of the muzzle device. Once you screw the suppressor down enough to reach the teeth, the ratchet starts engaging. When it bottoms out, you’re locked onto the last tooth it could reach.
Another way to do it is to spring-load the latch, but instead of grabbing onto teeth, it overlaps the rear shelf of the muzzle device. Here, when the latch gets past the rear shelf, the spring pops it back down, and it prevents rotation to unlock. Here we have the advantage of directional forces. That is, the suppressor wants to rotate to unlock. But the latch pivots in and out from the bore axis, not in the direction of the bore itself. The rotational forces can’t overcome the latch.
Another way to do this is one Surefire uses, a collar with an eccentric opening. The off-center hole of the collar means that when you rotate the collar it pivots to catch the rear shoulder of the muzzle device. Again, the rotational forces act in a different direction than the one the collar moves in.
This article is excerpted from the Gun Digest Book of Suppressors.
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