The XTech 365 Mag Extension – Load ‘Em Up

By

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January 8, 2024

XTech is a company well known for the famed MAG47 AK magazine. They are a modern and well-known AK magazine that integrates polymer to form a very reliable design. XTech makes more than AK magazines, and they’ve recently released a +3 magazine extension for the SIG P365 mags. Specifically the 10-round magazines. SIG’s P365 empire is built on finding a way to shove ten rounds into the frame that looks like it should hold seven.

SIG also released 12, and later 15, and even 17-round magazines. For the standard P365, the 12 rounds are seemingly perfect, but damn, they are expensive. The P365 comes with two 10-round magazines. A two-pack of the +3 extensions costs about the same as a single magazine. Maybe you can see what I’m going for here.

A set of extensions gives you two magazines that capacity the 12-round magazines for the same price as a single 12-round magazine. Not a bad deal. If you only want one, well, then it’s half the price. Do they work? XTech sent me a set to try out, and I greedily snapped them up.

The XTech Installation

The XTech magazine extensions are super easy to install. It’s a new follower, a new spring, and a new base plate. Attaching them takes a whole five minutes, and you’re ready to rock and roll. The follower is refined and allows for easy loading regardless of the fact you’re shoving a whole three more rounds into the magazine.

As you’d imagine, the +3 base plate makes the mags a little longer. In reality, it makes them the same length as the P365XL grip module. For me, this ensures my pinky isn’t hanging off the frame. It’s a perfect length for me, but as we all know, extra length might be a downside.

This is a firearm for deep concealment, and extra length is extra bulk. However, until we rewrite the laws of physics, the only way to fit more ammo in your gun is to have more room. One of the more clever aspects of the XTech extension is the fact it uses the same texture as the magazine extension they use on the P365.

It creates a perfectly blended magazine extension. It blends right in with the standard grip module. I’m rocking and rolling with the Wilson Combat grip module these days, but I can still appreciate the effort they put into making it match the stock P365 grip module.

Throwing Lead

The XTech magazine extension promises to provide total and complete reliability. It’s carry-ready and is supposed to be trusted for concealed carry purposes. With the XTech installed, I’ve been to the range dozens of times, over and over again. I’ve fired hundreds of rounds with the magazine extension in place.

It’s been dropped in reloads over and over again, thrown around, and carried daily. Throughout this whole adventure, it’s been my daily carry magazine in my daily carry gun. Needless to say, it works, and I trust it.

I have yet to be presented with an issue. The design makes it easy to take the magazine apart for regular maintenance, and I haven’t had any trouble with it going back together.

The XTech magazine extensions offer me a little extra grip, which means I have a little extra control. The longer magazine base extends the grip a good bit, and it’s well-appreciated by my hands. This simple upgrade is a cost-effective way to expand your capacity and get the 12-round experience without spending the money for a 12-round magazine.

Get One Now

The XTech extensions are a very affordable upgrade for your P365. If you want a little more capacity and a little more grip, they are an effective and cost-friendly way to get both. They’ve proven to be quite reliable in my experience and can take a real beating. Check them out here.

Taurus 856 + XS Big Dot Sight (Part 2)

By

P.E. Fitch

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January 8, 2024

Taurus 856 Revolver with XS Sights Front Sight Snub Nose

Dear Reader, I apologize for the delay in writing Part 2 of my XS Sights Taurus 856 Dot Sight review. In Part 1, I write about the sight itself and how simple it is to install while also covering some snub nose theory and why this type of sight makes sense. Part 2 is about my practical experience, and it just so happened that I spent several hours at the range shooting some basic defensive drills with both my Taurus 856 (and the XS Sights) in comparison to my Glock 42 not long ago for a different assignment. I couldn’t think of a better way than working these drills to also get a good hands-on grasp of shooting the Taurus 856 with the XS Sights Big Dot sight.

LIVE FIRE WITH THE SNUB NOSE

The three drills I shot with my Taurus 856 are:

Gila Haye’s 5×5 Drill
Failure To Stop
Justin Dyal’s 5-yard Round Up

All three drills are shot at distances of 5 to 7 yards and are extremely relevant in defensive shooting, which is the primary purpose of this Taurus revolver and XS Front Sight combination. This is not a precision revolver and these are not precision sights. For perspective, I spent my afternoon shooting at NRA B-8 targets or an IPSC A-Zone with a 3×5 index card–nothing smaller.

Shooting these drills for the other project involved a shot timer, the induced stress from said shot timer, dozens of repetitions drawn from concealment, 200 rounds of expended .38 Special cartridges and soaking rain. Short of getting involved in a defensive situation where I’d need a revolver [which I’d rather not], I think that my rain-soaked session shooting against the timer and multiple reps for each exercise with 200 or so rounds is a decent pressure-test in itself.

The objective of Gila Hayes’ 5×5 Drill is to shoot five rounds at a five inch circle from five yards away in five seconds or less. To formally clean this drill, the shoot needs to clean it five separate times with a total of 25 rounds fired.

Failure To Stop is also known as the Mozambique and has been a mainstay of the defensive training world for several decades now. It’s so popular that Michael Mann scripted Vincent, Tom Cruise’s character in Collateral, to blaze down a street thug with his USP 45 and this technique. This drill has no official par time, but the idea is to shoot Failure To Stop as quickly as possible with clean shots. In the context of a double action snub nose, I think that Gabe White’s Dark Pin FTS Standard of 2.90 seconds is an excellent standard to strive for with these guns. It’s quite challenging and I can’t do it (yet). If you can clear the Turbo pin standards, get it on video and show the rest of us how its done!

Justin Dyal’s 5-Yard Round-Up is a clever 10 round drill involving drawing and shooting, shooting from the low ready and shooting with either hand, all with par times of 2.5 seconds. In order to score, all shots must land inside the 10-ring of the B-8 from a distance of 5-yards. Mr. Dyal factored in his par times, the size of the scoring zone and the distance all as critical elements to prevail in a defensive shooting. With any snub nose, these times are challenging and keep anyone honest. I was not able to shoot this exercise cleanly during this range session.

For fun, I’ll share my recorded times below:

Taurus 856	5×5	FTS	5YD Round Up
1.	2.89 sec.	3.38 sec.	2.02 sec.
2.	3.11 sec.	3.88 sec.	2.31 down 2
3.	3.10 sec.	3.54 sec.	2.34 down 1
4.	2.63 sec.	2.96 sec.	2.24 down 1
5.	2.59 sec.	3.16 sec.	50 pts

Keep in mind that I’m posting my 5 best runs, not shot in any particular order. I failed the majority of my attempts. For 5-yd Round-Up, I failed also, with a score of 50/100.

XS SIGHTS OPINIONS AND OBSERVATIONS

(or stuff that I thought that mattered but didn’t)

I’ll confess that when I first installed the front sight on the revolver, I wasn’t pleased with the fact that the XS sight is rounded whereas the fixed rear sight channel on the 856 had a squared profile. At the time, I figured it would be better for the front sight to also be square and to have an elegant, symmetrical sight picture. Frankly, once the timer’s beep broke silence and I cleared my garment to free the 856 from its Dark Star Gear Apollo holster, how I thought the sight “looked” didn’t matter in the least. I was critically target focused and all I cared about was seeing whether that neon orange beacon confirmed my alignment with the targets. Because I was shooting against the clock, the last thing on my mind was whether the front sight had crisp squared corners.

As a gun-nerd, the other thing I was overthinking and worried about too much was whether the height of the front sight would alter the bullet’s impact. Of course, ammo choice will certainly affect impact shifts, but the best thing to do for this situation is to find a load your specific revolver (and you) can shoot well. After that, it’s worth taking the time to find out where the best hold to get good impacts on the upper A-zone (Or 9-Ring of a B8) across the spectrum of defensive distances.

Taurus 856 Snub Nose XS Sights — This photo is deliberately focused on the cylinder of the Taurus 856 Snub Nose Revolver. Even with the camera’s focus elsewhere, look at how that front sight jumps out like a beacon. That’s the same thing I want when I am shooting with target focus.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The orange hue of the photo-luminescent material works well across all lighting conditions including broad daylight. The sight itself is of very high quality and well-made. Because this is a coarse and not meant for precision, it works when paired with target-focused shooting. In Part 1 of this review, I wrote that the standard factory iron sights on the Taurus leave a little something to be desired. While my other Taurus 856 with the 3-inch barrel has a “similar” OEM orange sight (made by Ameriglo), it doesn’t hold a candle to the bolder and brighter XS unit. As you can see from my drill scores and times, running a snub nose quickly can be challenging, so why not add something to give it a better advantage?

Gunday Brunch 132: EDC PCC CCW SBR EIEIO

By

Keith Finch

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January 7, 2024

In this episode we talk about real-life use-cases for potentially carrying a PCC/SBR combo as an EDC option. Is this realistic or are we justifying silly firearms purchases?

[Hint: Both, it’s a bit of both.]

BREAKING: Wayne LaPierre resigns from the NRA at the end of the month.

By

Keith Finch

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January 5, 2024

lapierreviafoxnra — Wayne LaPierre is stepping down from the NRA as of Jan 31st. Image via Fox News and NRA

Wayne LaPierre, long time leader of the National Rifle Association is stepping away from his post effective at the end of the month. The 74 year old is citing health as the primary reason for his departure.

LaPierre has not had an uneventful stint, not only has he presided over a series of dramatic legal shifts within the firearm space but he came under dramatic personal scrutiny for practices within the NRA.

“With pride in all that we have accomplished, I am announcing my resignation from the NRA,” LaPierre said in the NRA’s press release, which was exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital. “I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom. My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever.” – Fox

Andrew Arulanandam, the NRA’s executive and head of general operations, will serve as interim CEO and executive vice president of the NRA starting in February.

With the NRA’s popularity as the best organization for firearms rights diminished and other organizations having done tremendous legwork in their own rights in recent years it will be interesting to see where the NRA will make new and renewed efforts to be an organization for gun owners that are increasingly Millennials and up and coming Gen Z members.

The Benchmade Infidel – Embrace the Schwick

By

Travis Pike

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January 5, 2024

There is a great Archer joke where he pulls a switchblade, and Mallory asks, “Since when do you carry a switchblade?” He says it’s a long story, and it cuts away to him looking at a switchblade at a knife shop and saying, “Neat.” I feel like that’s the story of most knives I own. I am not necessarily a knife nerd. I’m into knives more than the average person, but I also like big silly knives like the Cold Steel bowies. Sometimes, the neat factor crosses over with an actual handy, well-made, and genuinely good knife. That’s how I ended up with the Benchmade Infidel.

The Infidel isn’t Benhcmade’s first or even most modern automatic knife, but it’s their most famous. The Infidel comes in standard and Mini sizes, and now it comes in a wide variety of colors. Black can be so boring, so why not go with something like crater blue? The new colors include the aforementioned crater blue, woodland green, and flat dark earth. The coloring is actually anodizing, so it’s not just cerakote or another coating material.

Inside the Infidel

The Benchmade Infidel features a nice long 3.91-inch blade, and it has an overall length of 8.91 inches. If I’m mathing right the length of the knife with the blade closed is five inches total. It’s also .59 inches thick. The blade design is a dual-edged dagger, and the handle encourages that fencing-style grip you’d expect from a dagger. I like to play Inigo Montoya with the Infidel, and it feels natural.

Of course, you aren’t stuck with a fencing grip. In fact, the handle is great for a hammer-style grip, as well as a more precise thumb-driven grip. Let’s be honest: I don’t ever expect to use my knife in a self-defense encounter, especially since I have a gun! For me, the Infidel is a really cool EDC knife, and it works really well in that role.

With that in mind, I’m not concerned about fighting grips as much as I’m concerned about how easy the knife is to handle when opening letters, peeling oranges, or sharpening marshmallow sticks for making smores.

Benchmade uses a double-action automatic design. This means the blade opens and closes via the press of a tab. It’s quick and easy, and the blade practically flies out of the knife. If there was a race for the fastest OTF, I might argue that the Infidel would win it.

A pocket clip sits at the bottom for tip-down carry. It can’t be moved, so it’s something you’ll need to deal with. Tip-down carry makes a lot of sense with an OTF knife. It sets the knife naturally in your hand to access the button and deploy the blade.

The Infidel In Action

The Infidel has been assigned pocket duty. My state allows you to carry automatic knives but does require a concealed carry permit to do so. It’s odd since we are a Constitutional carry state for firearms. Either way, I’m covered and carrying the Infidel daily. As mentioned, I’m no John Wick, so it’s a basic EDC knife for me.

An EDC knife that tends to draw lots of attention when I put it in action. The Infidel has a certain cool factor to it that’s hard to ignore. Plus, it’s not a brighter, more vibrant color, and it gets attention. Knife nerds seem to really like it, and admittedly, the button is more or less a fidget toy for grown men. The responsive action and smooth activation are a delight to play with.

In my use, the blade proved to be super sharp from the factory. I also got two of them with the dagger design so I could go longer without sharpening the blade theoretically. I can’t place my thumb on the blade to guide the knife, but the handle’s curves give me more than enough control.

Benchmade uses CPM-S30V stainless steel for the blade, and it’s tough to knock. The steel is tough and corrosion-resistant, and it holds a good edge. Sharpening it to a honed edge isn’t always easy, but it’s doable. Personally, I’ll leave it to professionals with a knife this expensive. The good edge makes it easy to chop through my daily routine, from opening Amazon packages and my kid’s toys to popping zip ties and even skinning game. (Although I am careful to clean the blade thoroughly after cleaning an animal.)

Daily Carry

Admittedly, it’s a big knife for daily carry, so the Benchmade Infidel Mini might have been a better choice, but I still appreciate the big blade. It’s a hefty knife, but I don’t notice carrying it. The automatic aspect of the knife makes it really handy. In a situation where I only have one hand to open the knife, being able to press the button and get that schwick is a godsend.

Sure, most folders have modern ways to open with a single hand. Nubs, disks, and more have made lots of knives easy to open one-handed. However, when my attention is being poured into what’s in front of me, being able to press a button and know the blade is fully opened and locked in place gives me a different piece of mind.

I really think the Infidel shines for a high-end daily carry knife. It’s very well made with high-quality materials, has an awesome action I can open without looking at it, and plus, it comes in blue, what else could I want?

The Perry Iowa School Shooting

By

Keith Finch

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January 5, 2024

A teen armed with a pump action shotgun, a simple IED (likely a ‘pipe bomb’), and a small caliber handgun attacked his Perry Iowa school yesterday. The attack took place as students were returning from winter break, the 7:37 am time luckily meant that most students and faculty had not yet arrived.

The 17 year old student killed a sixth grade student and wounded five others, including the high school principal. A motive has not been confirmed, but sources are reporting the rather expected line of the perpetrator being the victim of long term bullying and harassment.

The student killed himself within the 7 minute response window from law enforcement, he was found dead of a self inflicted gun shot wound.

Headlines like ‘…the first mass shooting we’ll forget in 2024’ are already starting to rhetoric rather than report, and even they are wrong. The first mass shooting of that scale has apparently already been forgotten as it happen in LA, involved 10 victims, 2 dead, but it was on against a block party. One shooter reported. The bigotry of low expectations continues.

But it will be forgotten

Just not for the uncaring reasons AZ Central is likely insinuating.

This will be forgotten because it happened with the wrong guns for a humanizing reason, bullying. Nearly all of us can sympathize with a victim of bullying, even as we decry the act of rage and vengeance that the bullying and decisions from the student finally culminated in.

It also didn’t involve an AR-15 or an AK-47. Those weapons we are told time and time again are the only ones killers really use to do their killing. The ones we are assured are extra dangerous and make this style of violence possible and attractive to the disenfranchised. This makes it uncomfortably clear that the conclusions I have discussed before for gun control only has one logical and impossible solution, total prohibition.

LA illustrates the futility of overly-illegalizing murder, the new rules against carrying in public took effect and California immediately had the worst mass shooting of the year thus far. It will likely remain one of the worst too, ten casualties with two deaths is a large and thankfully rare occurrence.

What it will be leveraged for?

The child victim aspect will be poked at and talked around without going to far into the teen perpetrator. Bullying and mental health will be mentioned, the way the shooter got the guns may be examined and the student’s parents or guardians may be held to some manner of liability. But if it turns out the student stole the guns and built the rudimentary explosive on his own initiative, and well enough concealed to avoid scrutiny, then this will go into the forgotten events bin quickly for the nation at large.

Violence is neither new nor strange. The novelty of today is how quickly it can be heard of and how much society has put emphasis on ‘look at me, my struggle, my uniqueness, and my victimhood’.

This clashes with the truly limited bandwidth for empathy, efficacy, and compassion, people have, along with our myriad other faults. We want to save every child, from being bullied and from any other great harm. We want to do all these things and manifest all these good events for all the children, the cold reality is that is impossible. We can but do the best we can with the time we have. In certain places, with certain people, and under certain circumstances that will not be enough. Ever.

Why won’t it stop?

This anger and these stresses are not removable from human existence. They are mitigable but and risks can be managed but the lie we keep being sold is that the risks can be removed if we do just X, Y, or Z…

They cannot, and anyone who tells you otherwise is stupid or lying.

BOY, WAS I WRONG! Things I Used to Believe

By

The Suited Shootist

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January 4, 2024

Let’s face it, we’ve all had preconceptions that either evolved or turned out not to be as true as we thought. I thought it would be fun to share some of mine that have changed over the years. Not only is this entertaining, but I think it’s important to highlight that none of this is set in stone. It should be fluid, contextual, and subject to change. What are some of the things you just KNEW were absolute truths that have changed over the course of your development?

The Unfettering of SB 2

By

Keith Finch

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January 3, 2024

As is the way with courts and appeals, it doesn’t always go our way. It is not over until it is over, as the great poet of our age Rockford of Balboa once stated so eloquently.

SB 2, which I recently praised as having been stayed by the courts, was reinstated as enforceable by the appellate court. California now has effectively banned public concealed carry and carry in businesses unless expressly allowed by the business with a posted sign. It is the opposite of most concealed carry provisions which more narrowly define prohibited spaces and make notification on of prohibition, not allowance, the rule.

This is, of course, unlikely to influence California’s safety levels.

California is already the nation’s leader in mass shooting casualties for 2024, despite all their laws current and new and only 72 hours in, with a 10 person event resulting in 2 deaths. Louisiana and Missouri both also tracked mass shooting events, both events with 4 casualties each and only one death in the Louisiana incident.

But good luck, Newsom. Back to court.

The TEC-47 From 21st TEC

By

Travis Pike

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January 3, 2024

The world of ARs that chamber 7.62×39 is an interesting one. Back in the days of dirt-cheap 7.62x39mm, they certainly peaked in popularity. The AR-15 has been the traditional option, but what about the AR-10? That’s the question 21st TEC asked with the TEC-47. The 7.62×39 might be an intermediate cartridge, but it’s still a 7.62 cartridge with a 7.62-sized case. It doesn’t fit all that great into the AR-15 platform, and the AR-10 gives it lots of extra room to fit and work.

21st TEC sent me one of the TEC-47 rifles, and we decided to take it for a spin. Typically, my gun reviews are a lone Ranger affair, but it’s the holiday season. With family comes range time, and our Thanksgiving is often punctuated by gunfire as everyone brings their favorite gats to the family home to throw lead. It’s a family tradition, and I often take pride in bringing out the oddballs, and the TEC-47 took that crown today.

The TEC-47 Inside and Out

The TEC-47 utilizes a set of billet receivers that gives us a very nice aesthetic and makes the rifle really stand out. A 16-inch barrel wears a 15-inch M-LOK rail. The rifle comes with a carbine stock from Thrall, an adjustable gas block for suppressed use, and, oh yeah, did I mention it uses AK magazines? It’s not the first time someone shoved an AK mag in an AR, but it is often the better option.

The mag well of ARs is large and straight, which makes AR-type mags for the 7.62x39mm very odd and angled to accommodate the 7.62x39mm round. Odd, and also tough to find at times. AK mags sacrifice the last-round bolt hold open but are much more common and inarguably well-proven with the x39 round. To make this work, a steel bar is placed through the lower receiver to catch the front lug of the AK magazine, and the gun has an AK-like magazine release behind the magazine.

The safety is standard AR, as is the charging handle and basically everything that doesn’t involve the magazine. The bolt carrier group is proprietary to ensure the 7.62x39mm round feeds reliably from an AK magazine in an AR. It’s plenty beefy and easy to work with. The rifle is also beefy.

It’s easy to forget that it’s an AR-10 until you pick it up and all 8.5 pounds hit you. That’s not exactly heavy, but when you add a loaded magazine, LPVO, a light, etc, it starts to put on the pounds faster than me in the holiday season.

To The Range

All that weight comes in nice and handy when you start shooting the thing. The 7.62x39mm barely moves the gun between shots. I zeroed the 1-6X across the top and was pleasantly surprised as I watched the reticle rise just a little off-target. It jumps a bit, but not much at all. The TEC-47’s recoil and muzzle rise are minimal, and the extra weight and size of the AR-10 design really help eat up the recoil.

From a practical standpoint, the weight also helps shoot the weapon quickly at nearly any distance the little AK round can manage. At 100 yards in the standing, I was having no problems. Hitting targets ranging in size from a steel IPSC to a series of gongs ranging from 6 to 10 inches. I went for quick engagements, and the lack of recoil and muzzle rise made it super easy to go from small to large and back again.

In the accuracy department, I shot mostly cheap steel-cased ammunition. This led to a group size of around 1.5 inches at 100 yards when I bench-rested the rifle. With better ammo, could the gun shoot better? Yeah, probably. 21st TEC helps by installing a very nice and crisp two-stage trigger system. It really shines in this rifle and makes it a lot of fun to shoot.

The reset is solid, and easily felt. With the first stage, we get a smooth, barely perceptible trigger pull, then the second stage wall, which forms your preperation before the break.

The accuracy and low recoil of the gun made it a family favorite during Thanksgiving. It was shot a lot from the bench and from the standing position and it was a favorite for new and experienced shooters. Only a few people complained about the weight.

Run and Gun With the TEC-47

The TEC-47 manual states that the US Palm mags don’t work with the TEC-47. In my testing, it also didn’t like KCI magazines. They fit but wobble and created a feeding issue. I also had one box of Barnaul ammo that wouldn’t run well. It had four failures to eject. I shot other boxes of Barnaul without any issues, including soft point. Maybe QC failed that one box of ammo.

The gun runs fine with Romanian mags, Magpul mags, Bulgarian polymer mags, and Tapco mags. I didn’t have any others on hand to test, but it doesn’t seem ultra-picky. AK magazines do fluctuate slightly in size between countries and producers, so it’s wise to vet what works. I tend to stick to the Magpul options because of affordability and the fact they are consistently well made.

The TEC-47 ran reliably. Outside of that one odd issue with that one box of Barnaul ammo and the KCI mags, the gun runs without any problems. I shot a lot of Wolf through the gun, as well as the various Barnaul and Tula loads I had. Only one box of Barnaul failed us, I’m not sure if it was an issue with that one box or what. But again, considering no other issues with other Barnaul or other steel ammo brands I will bet on the ammo.

AK Who?

If you want the ergonomics and the accuracy of an AR with the 7.62x39mm round, then the TEC-47 seems like a realistic answer to your problems. It’s a little beefy but recoils significantly less than an AK or even an AR-15 in the classic x39mm round. Not to mention, the gun costs about 1,400 bucks, and that’s not terrible for a high-end AR in this day and age. Check it out.

The Knives of John Wick

By

Travis Pike

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January 2, 2024

There is a lot to be said about John Wick’s guns, and lots has been said. He uses some pretty cool blasters to dispatch a seemingly limitless number of assassins. Any John Wick fan will tell you it’s not just about the guns. He’s a man of willpower who will use nunchucks, his bare hands, knives, and, of course, when the time calls for it, a pencil. Let’s back it up a hair and talk about the knives of John Wick.

From the very first movie, we’ve known that Wick has a thing for sharp and pointy things. Sometimes, you need something to silently dispatch a bad guy or a tool to eliminate another in between reloads. Other times, he might need to clean the blood from under his fingernails and open envelopes and Amazon boxes. Let’s dig into the knives of John Wick.

What Are The Knives John Wick Used In The Movies

John has a real love of automatic knives, a.k .a. switchblades. He specifically has a love of out-the-front or OTF knives. Along his very violent journey through four films, we see him use the occasional karambit and fixed blade, but today, we will focus on the knives John specifically chooses to carry, not the ones he picks up along the way.

John Wick 1 – Microtech Ultratech OTF Knife

In the first film, John cuts his way through a number of bad guys with the very nice and very expensive Microtech Ultratech OTF knife. If you’re an assassin who depends on your tools, you might as well carry one of the best OTF knives on the market. This OTF knife deploys via a thumb switch and deploys a 3.4-inch blade in a fraction of a second. It’s a double-action knife that closes and opens via a switch.

The quasi-tanto style blade gives the tip reinforcement that makes it a great stabber. The blades have been made in various steels, but every one of them is of a premium grade. An integrated glass breaker doubles as a handy close quarter’s skull smasher.

John Wick 2 – Microtech Combat Troodon

Another John Wick movie, another Microtech. In the first film, it was a happy accident for Microtech, but in the second and third films, Microtech worked with the production to provide knives. The Combat Troodon is a big knife with a 3.8-inch blade with a dagger-type design. There is a standard Troodon, but the Combat Troodon is the largest model.

A Troodon is a bird that lived in the days of dinosaurs and reportedly had some real groovy talons. There are a number of different Troodon designs, and the specific model we have here is a double-edged dagger design. It’s most prominently used in the train fight scene in JW2.

John Wick 3 – Cypher OTF Knife

Every John Wick movie goes a little bigger than the last. In the third film, we see the biggest Microtech yet. The Cypher has a 4-inch blade in a dagger-style configuration. The Cypher features a smooth handle and a stonewash finish. The blade is made to cut and stab, and Wick does plenty of both in the film.

Like the other Microtechs, it’s a double-action knife with a side-mounted deployment button. John Wick 3 has lots of knives in it, from throwing knives to the OTF Wick carries. It’s the most knifey John Wick by a long shot. This article could occupy an entire knives of John Wick article.

John Wick 4 – Deadlock from Hawk Knife Designs

John Wick 4 is the first film in which we see Wick turn away from the Microtech knives and embrace a new OTF. The Deadlock from Hawk Knife Designs is reportedly the best OTF on the market. If price is any indication of quality, the Deadlock oughta to be pretty fantastic. At around 1,800 for a bare-bones model, they are quality knives.

The Deadlock has zero-blade play; it doesn’t wiggle in the slighted. The deployment is rapid with a double-action thumb-driven design. The thumb release is centered in the middle and deploys a dual-edge dagger blade made from various high-quality materials. The latest drop of Deadlocks cost a mighty 3,500 dollars. As far as the knives of John Wick go, this one would definitely cost a few gold coins.

Honorable Mention – KA-BAR Tanto

In the first film, John Wick digs up a stash of guns and gold coins. In that stash sits a KA-BAR Tanto. I don’t think we ever see it get used, but he thought enough of the knife to stash it away for later. It also lends credence to the fact Wick might have originally been intended to have been a former Marine before the next films more or less clarified his background.

Slash and Stab

The guns of John Wick are always notable and almost always high-quality blasters. As you can see here, the knives of John Wick follow the same route. Every knife in these films is a high-quality tool that carries a premium price tag. There is something to be said for a film series that stacks its high-end assassins with high-end weapons, and that’s why these films succeed.

Garand Thumb vs. The Most Hated Bullpup

By

Keith Finch

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January 2, 2024

The L85/SA80, the 5.56 service rifle of the United Kingdom’s armed forces, is perhaps the most ill-fated service weapon in history. Built upon the excellent AR-18/180’s operating system, engineers managed to take everything that worked about that rifle and make it… well… not.

H&K managed to debug the rifle into a working condition, but it still remains a far more awkward system than most of its NATO competition. Even the AK holds ergonomic superiority I believe. It is a rifle that can be made to work, not one that works smoothly with its operator.

But is the rifle truly awful or is just the worst of a working group? I lean towards the latter opinion when it comes to the L85, especially the A2 and A3 formats. It is the worst, but it does now actually work and can serve in its role reliably if not optimally. The new AIW, the L403A1, is leap forward in optimizations.

Many claim it further heralds the demise of the bullpup. That is an opinion I do not share, the bullpup configuration still has significant strengths and can be designed with few detriments. The dominance of the AR-15/18 in the West is a product of commonality as well as functionality.

If it isn’t broken do not fix it. It is easier to take on a moderately customized but fully built system than it is to design one that does the same thing from the ground up. The M27/M38, HK416F, HK416A7/A8 are all excellent examples of taking a well proven system like the HK416 and simply making the desired feature set updates.

The past success of the AR designs largely fortifies its future success so long as a few things do not happen. First, a catastrophic failing of the design in a scenario where it needed to perform. Second, a technological leap so great that the design cannot be cost effectively adapted to meet it. Third, an adversary with a threat profile that requires a radical shift in small arms to meet.

These are also true of other service rifle designs and I suspect we will continue to see adaption more than adoption in the case of radical design changes. Even the US Army’s choice of the SIG SPEAR as the XM7 is the most radical recent change, but that is still a mix of adaption and adoption as the XM7 is an AR-10/16 derivative meant to be familiar to AR-15 users.

Anyway, good video and worth your entertainment time.

Widener’s vs Cell Phones

By

Keith Finch

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December 30, 2023

A myth based on real events that has been around for centuries is the [object] stops bullet and saves someone’s life. This has happened several times in several conflicts, from personal ones to all out war, where a flask, a Bible, a medallion, a wallet, a phone stops a shot and saves the wearer’s life.

Widener’s puts the latest variant (cell phone) in front of a high speed camera for science and entertainment.

Here’s the schtick, cell phones are pretty tough items and made to take some punishment and flex in the day-to-day. They will and do take certain impacts and that can produce a stop on a bullet. But make no mistake, these are not designed to take a bullet impact. Armored plates are designed to take a bullet impact. Phones are designed to be small portable computers with which you internet and occasionally make calls. But a phone might be able to take a bullet impact and stop a lethal injury or energy transfer if the stars align and luck is with you.

I would rather be lucky than good any day of the week because luck will do things skill never could. But luck cannot be relied upon, so we are left with skill. So I will be skilled, be prepared, and if luck is in the mix too and does something for me, go me.

The CZ P09 – One Big Czech Blaster

By

Travis Pike

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December 29, 2023

CZ has a long history of releasing great guns that are often a bit underrated. For every Shadow 2, you have an underappreciated gun like the SP-01. One of the most underappreciated series of firearms from CZ was the P series. The P07 and the P09 specifically. The CZ P09 is one of my all-time favorite handguns, and it really doesn’t get the love it deserves.

The New Series

The CZ P or duty series was CZ’s attempt to enter the modern market. While the CZ75 was popular around the world and with sport shooters, it was beginning to show its age. The world embraced polymer, and so did CZ. The P series, which assuredly stands for polymer, wasn’t CZ’s first foray into the world of polymer, but it was a little more successful than the CZ-100.

CZ has always been mostly known for the CZ 75 series, and that has led to some interesting branding. The first of the P series was the compact model, a.k .a. the P07. These were originally known as the CZ 75 P07 Duty. Thankfully, CZ recognized that and dropped the CZ 75 moniker. It became the P07 Duty. A bit later, CZ released the P09, a full-sized model of the P07.

CZ kept to their famed DA/SA design with these weapons. This makes it one of the few DA/SA polymer frame pistols out there. The P09 series has a 4.54-inch barrel and an overall length of 8.1 inches. The gun weighs 31 ounces and is a comfortable 1.46 inches wide. That width isn’t the grip but the widest part of the gun, and that’s where the slide lock sits.

The gun came in both 9mm and 40 S&W. I have the 9mm variant, and the magazine holds 19 rounds and fits flush. The gun came with two +2 magazine extensions, bringing the capacity to 21 rounds. One of the more interesting features of the gun is the ability to choose between a manual ambidextrous safety and an ambidextrous decocker. The user can swap with ease for their preferred option.

The CZ P09 Ergonomics

CZ has always excelled in the ergonomics department, and the P09 is no different. As someone with big hands, the P09 just fits me. My thumbs don’t pin down the slide lock, and the safety or decocker is huge. I use the decocker personally. Everything about the gun is huge and easy to use. If you’re going to be duty gun size, why make anything small?

The controls are all very easy to reach. The magazine release is one of my favorites. It’s just a quick swipe of the thumb downward and a press inward. You can press the magazine release without ever even coming close to breaking your firing grip. Plus, the slide lock can be used as a slide release due to its size, which makes it easy to reload on the fly.

The gun comes with three different backstraps, and the medium fits fine as far as I’m concerned. The grips are designed to allow for a nice high grip on the gun, which improves control and comfort. Overall, it’s a gun that’s not afraid to be big and easy to use.

At the Range With the P09

One of the first things you’ll realize is how little recoil and muzzle rise the P09 exhibits. The slide of the gun is quite small, and much like the original CZ-75, the slide rails are inside the frame. This lowers the bore axis, but more importantly, it reduces the slide weight, which reduces the weight of the slide slamming rearward. This reduces recoil and keeps recoil down when shooting.

Low recoil means fast shooting, and fast shooting is fun. Plus, it tends to be necessary for tactical shooting, competition shooting, and any shooting that requires speed and accuracy. Speaking of, the long-sight radius of the gun makes it easy to hit your target. The single-action trigger helps, as does the cold hammer forged barrel.

The double action is a pretty standard double-action design. It’s not super light, but it is smooth and to the point. The reset is somewhat long for the single action, and the Cajun Gun Works trigger kit really cleaned up my trigger. Still, even the stock trigger is absolutely fantastic. It makes shooting targets out to 25 yards plenty easy, and even beyond, with a steady hand, you can hit IPSC and USPSA targets.

Sadly, they never made an optics-ready variant. I might still get mine sent off to Cajun Gun Works to get the slide milled. With an optic, this thing would be unstoppable. Speaking of unstoppable, the P09 series are super reliable and extremely capable guns. They can eat the crappiest ammo you got to the nicest JHPs without complaint.

Getting One Now

I don’t see many CZ P09s these days, but when I do, they are almost always a bargain. I only paid 450 for my FDE with the Night Sights model. The P10 series has largely overshadowed the P09, but if you want a DA/SA pistol without spending a fortune, then it’s tough to beat the P09 series of handguns. It’s a full-sized gun that’s not afraid to be full-sized, and there is something to be said about that.

An Excellent Basic Breakdown of the L403A1

By

Keith Finch

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December 29, 2023

I am pleasantly surprised. This 7 minute overview of the new L403A1 carbine with the British Royal Marines goes over the rifle and accessories in very digestible terms while maintaining exceptional accuracy in the information conveyance.

My friends over at Reptilia are partnered with Vortex and Aimpoint to provide the visible spectrum optic suite, only available (for the moment) through a special Daniel Defense limited release. The short bodied Vortex 1-10x LPVO AMG and the Aimpoint ACRO P2 ride in the Reptilia AUS and ROF-90 to give the operator a fast and effective combination of shot options at any range.

The L403A1 Alternative Individual Weapon (AIW) is entering UK service in a manner similar to how the M27 IAR entered service with the United States Marines, it will not be outright replacing the H&K produced L85A3’s overnight but the services will likely be evaluating troop feedback on both systems and making their procurement decisions from that data.

The Knight’s KS-1 that is the foundation of the new weapon represents both the modern pinnacle standard of the AR-15 and a look at current service rifle standards across most of NATO. The HK416, SCAR MK2, Bren 2, MSBS Grot, and M4A1 URG-I are all the current leading edge of 5.56 service rifle tech.

Interestingly, at least at this point, the new XM7 and 6.8x51mm is not propagating across NATO the way 7.62 and 5.56 did. Most nations are sticking to 5.56. We are seeing the XM7 and XM250 start to enter mass evaluation with US Forces but the option still remains to return to 5.56. We could potentially see another shoe in service carbine in the form of a MCX SPEAR-LT, already in service, if the 6.8×51 gets shelved. I would still be interested in seeing what hybrid case tech can do to 5.56 as far as increasing safe operating pressures. If we can get 75-77gr EPR type rounds at 3000fps out of rifles the size and weight profile of the M4 or M27 that would be a very viable system.

My speculation on service carbines aside, the next decade of small arms development is going to be interesting. Optics are starting to plateau in a few ways with LPVO/Dot as the optimum visible and clip-on alternative spectrum systems are getting lighter. What the next great advancement will be is unknown but onboard power systems seem to be a priority.

The Zeta6 J-Pak – The Future of Speed Strips

By

Travis Pike

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December 28, 2023

The revolver reload conundrum has been dominated by Speed Strips and Speed Loaders. The value of a speedy reload in defense was highlighted by the Newhall Massacre, where four California Highway Patrol Officers were outgunned by two heavily armed criminals. This led to the traditional speed loads from HKS and Safariland, as well as the Speed Strips that started with Bianchi and continues to this day. Not much has changed until recently, and that change comes from a company called Zeta6 in the form of the J-Pak.

Speed strips are typically the choice of most concealed carriers because of how convenient they are to carry. They are a fair bit slower than the standard speed loader but quicker than dumping loose rounds into the gun. Additionally, speed loaders and J-frame revolvers can be awfully tricky. The tightness of the cylinder to the frame and the grip dimensions can make it hard to fit a speed loader in the weapon. This typically limits you your choices.

The J-Pak from Zeta6 is a different kind of speed loader. The J stands for J-frame, and there is also a K-frame model and a model specifically designed for the Ruger LCR. The J-Pak’s main goal is to keep the convenience of the Speed Strip, making it faster to reload while remaining convenient to carry.

Breaking Down the J-Pak

The J-Pak has six slots for 38 Special or 357 Magnum rounds. Unlike a speed strip, the rounds are not placed directly in a straight line. These rounds sit in a staggered position that stacks three rounds at one end and two rounds at the opposite. The intention is to use five of the slots and leave one open for a better grip on the J-Pak. The device is designed to be loaded differently depending on which hand you plan to reload with.

An R and L on the J-Pak gives you a clue on which side to load. With the proper reload hand-selected, you’ll load three rounds up front, skip a slot, and load two rounds at the back. The skipped slot gives your pointer finger a place to sit, improving your grip and allowing you to handle the J-Pak easily.

The J-Paks are made from a softish polyurethane material, and you get two per package for the low cost of 14 bucks.

Do they work? Well, with a S&W Bodyguard and a heart full of hope, I went to the range and practiced.

How the J-Pak works

The J-Pak’s staggered round design is purposeful. Not only does it make the length of the speed strip shorter, but it positions the rounds for a faster reload. With a standard Speed Strip, you can load maybe two rounds at a time. With the J-Pak, you can load three rounds at a time due to the speed loader configuration.

You peel off the first three rounds into the cylinder and then rotate to the opposite side and drop the final two rounds into the cylinder. It’s quicker and more intuitive than any normal speed strip. At the same time, you can still top off your gun if you just need to load a couple of rounds or a single round. That’s unlikely to occur, but it’s still nice to have the option.

During my practice, the first few reloads were a little sticky. The rounds didn’t want to break away with ease at first. However, after a few reloads, the J-Pak loosened just slightly and became quicker and easier to reload with. The sockets need a little work and break-in. In a real pinch, I could dump the empties, reload the three rounds, and get the gun into the fight with at least three rounds.

I can load those three emergency rounds nearly as fast as I can use a proper speed loader. Sure, I’m only getting three rounds, but if people are shooting at me, three is better than throwing the gun at them. The Bodyguard is a very lightweight revolver; it wouldn’t even hurt that badly!

Reloading On the Fly

The Zeta6 J-Pak has the downside of being a bit thicker than most speed strips. They won’t fit into your standard speed strip pouch. The J-Pak fits into a pocket quite easily and is easy to retrieve. However, a dedicated pouch would be great. Hint, hint Zeta6.

If the Zeta6 J-Pak appeals to you, go check it out here.