5.11 Tactical Partners with USCCA To Expand – ABR Academy Classes for 2024

By

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January 11, 2024

Costa Mesa, Calif. (Jan. 2024) – 5.11 Tactical, the global innovator of Purpose-Built Gear™, today announced it will expand its popular ABR Academy in 2024 to host more than 500 classes in collaboration with the U.S. Concealed Carry Association (USCCA). Together, the companies will host the free instructional classes at 5.11 company-owned retail locations across the U.S. to provide tips, tactics and insight on readiness skills.

“Expanding the ABR Academy will allow us to better support individuals seeking to enhance their personal safety and self-reliance skills,” said 5.11 Tactical’s CMO, Debra Radcliff. “By partnering with USCCA, we aim to empower individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to navigate real-world situations and to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

The ABR Academy clinics will provide first-hand learning and guidance on topics ranging from building emergency preparedness kits and bug-out bags to self-defense and trauma care. Each course is free to attend and will be hosted by certified experts, including instructors from the USCCA and brand ambassadors from 5.11 Tactical.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our partnership with 5.11 and the ABR Academy,” said Tim Schmidt, Co-Founder and Chairman of the USCCA. “Hosting more classes symbolizes our collective pursuit of widespread training and education. This is not just a partnership; it’s a shared commitment to be a positive force in the mission of saving lives.”

The USCCA is the largest, fastest-growing self-defense association dedicated to responsible firearm owners. It offers industry-leading training, lifesaving education and self-defense liability insurance to help members build preparedness and confidence. The partnership between 5.11 Tactical and USCCA brings together two industry-leading organizations to provide participants with a top-tier training experience.

For more information about 5.11 Tactical’s ABR Academy and collaboration with the USCCA, or to find an ABR Academy class near you, please visit 511abracademy.usconcealedcarry.com

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About 5.11, Inc.

With offices around the globe, 5.11 works directly with end users to create Purpose-Built Gear™ to enhance the safety, accuracy, speed, and performance of tactical professionals and technical enthusiasts worldwide. 5.11 products exceed rigorous standards, which have allowed the brand to establish a reputation for innovation and authenticity, and become the premier choice for those who live the Always Be Ready® lifestyle. 5.11 products can be purchased online, through authorized dealers and retailers, as well as at 5.11 company-owned retail stores.

Learn more about 5.11’s best-selling gear and accessories at www.511tactical.com. Find a full list of 5.11 company-owned retail stores at https://www.511tactical.com/locations/. Connect with 5.11 on Facebook, Twitter @511Tactical and on Instagram @511Tactical and #511tactical

5.11, Inc. is a subsidiary of Compass Diversified (NYSE: CODI).

What Happened to War Sport and the LVOA

By

Travis Pike

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January 11, 2024

It was 2014, and I was quite broke. Like a lot of young infantrymen trying to convert their infantry skills to real-world applications, I was coming up short. Still, I was friendly enough with the local gun store that they didn’t mind me hanging around and ogling the wares. The owner spotted me one day and told me to check this out. He pulled out an AR-15 that was unlike any other I had ever seen. He introduced me to the War Sport LVOA. I knew nothing about AR-15s at this point, but man, I thought that was a cool rifle.

The Mighty LVOA

A price tag of $3,050 meant it wouldn’t be mine anytime soon. The LVOA series of rifles were the bees’ knees of 2014 and the next few years. LVOA stands for Low Visibility Operations Applications. Honestly, including Operations and Applications in your name was peak 2014. Their supposed claim to fame was a system that reduces the muzzle flash of your rifle with a special combination of handguard and muzzle device.

It was really this handguard and muzzle device that drew the attention of the AR-15 market. The handguard stretched over the end of the muzzle device, and the muzzle device didn’t blow the lid off of the handguard. Honestly, it still looks pretty sick to this day, and I see why the initial attraction to LVOA was so high. The LVOA rifles come with their own proprietary modular handguard that allows you to remove and replace rails wherever you want them.

Christ Costa used the rifles extensively, and they became a large part of their marketing. Plus, they were able to quickly get their rifles into movies, TV shows, and video games. LVOA rifles were used by name in several Tom Clancy games and became the rifle of a few Transformer’s movies. It was the hotness of that time period and was just so dang cool.

The LVOA Series

The LVOA series was comprised of 14.5-inch and 12-inch options. The 14.5 inch was the C model and had a pinned and welded muzzle device to avoid the stamp. The S model was the SBR variant. There were plans for a PCC in 2017, but I don’t think it ever materialized.

The LVOA rail and muzzle device weren’t just for looks. The idea behind the design was to cut flash in dark environments without using a suppressor. The rail extending over the muzzle device would prevent the flash from getting on the same sight plane as the shooter. It wasn’t designed to help prevent you from being seen in the dark but to help ensure it wouldn’t blind the shooter in low-light situations.

The muzzle device prevented the rail from kabooming by using a brake design that vented gas to the side. This also sends the flash to the side, which helps prevent the flash from coming up into the shooter’s sight plane. It was a neat idea, and the LVOA sold itself on the handguard and muzzle device.

The rifles were often put together using rather nice parts for the era. Nothing crazy, but you got Magpul and Seekins parts. You’d think if the handguard and muzzle device were the stars of the show, War Sport would love to sell them separately. You’d avoid the rigamarole of selling guns and the excise taxes.

From the very beginning, War Sport was adamant they would not sell the handguard and muzzle device separately. If you want it, be prepared to shell out three grand to get it. I’d imagine the profit margin was fairly high for each rifle since they weren’t as fancy outside of the handguard and muzzle device.

So why don’t you hear much about LVOA now?

It Was the Bungee Cord

Okay, it wasn’t totally the bungee cord, but can we talk about that? LVOA advertised and sold a bungee cord for their rifles. It was designed to be threaded through the handguard. Why? You could argue it provided more grip texture, I guess. War Sport advertised that the bungee cord offered a better grip in wet environments, lowered the noise signature of the rifle, and could be used for survival needs. I just had to get that out of the way.

What happened to LVOA and WarSport as a whole? I can’t seem to find definite answers, and the people I need to contact are tough to find. Going off forum posts, social media posts, and the like, it seems like War Sport had a big shake-up. The founder was ousted, and a new CEO stepped up. Some people say the founder caused these problems, while others say firing him caused them. I can’t say for sure.

These very expensive rifles weren’t always great rifles. Users complained about out-of-spec parts and pieces, especially on the receivers. Their rails were often out of spec, making it tough to add accessories.

The combination of the fancy handguard and muzzle device caused some interesting problems. The design often channeled muzzle blast backward and through the handguard. This would cause accessories to fly off the rifle and deploy BUIS with every shot. That backblast was vicious enough that Sage Dynamics banned the rifle from night vision classes.

People were paying three grand for a rifle and not getting anywhere near three grand worth of performance. The one desirable feature was turning out to have some interesting side effects. Who is gonna spend that kind of money on a rifle with all those issues?

The Phoenix Reborn

LVOA has had more resurrections than a Batman villain. War Sport is now owned by ZRODelta, and they produce the LVOA rifle for about 1,500 bucks. It comes with a cool handguard and what appears to be a blast can rather than a break. The rail is now M-LOK, and there isn’t a bungee cord in sight! Maybe this one will stick around?

5.7×28 – The Fanciest Defensive .22

By

Keith Finch

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January 10, 2024

5.7x28mm has had a resurgence in popularity with several new pistols and carbines joining the offering slate and some additional ammunition support.

It is a round to take seriously, the Belgian armed forces use the FiveseveN MK2 as their standard sidearm. This bucks the tradition of NATO 9mm’s and the FiveseveN pistol, the P90, and the 5.7×28 round have a few other serious niche homes they inhabit.

But there is also skepticism on whether or not the higher speed 40gr projectiles can serve as well as traditional 9mm, especially for the increased expensive logistically of fielding the rarer round.

A few more rounds in the magazine and the stupendously light recoil are well and good, but does it serve?

Watch Garand Thumb’s video and let us see, together.

My opinion remains that if a heavy .22LR, like Federal Punch, and .22 Magnum can be considered adequate then 5.7×28 is more than fine. It is likely better in certain niches, like with S&W’s easy to work M&P.

Taurus Optics Ready Option Revolvers are now California Approved!

By

Keith Finch

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January 9, 2024

Bainbridge, GA – The hottest revolver of 2023 is now on available for residents of California! The Taurus 856 T.O.R.O. and 605 T.O.R.O. (Taurus Optics Ready Option) revolvers were added to the California Department of Justice’s roster of Handguns Certified for Sale, commonly called “the roster.”

The 856 T.O.R.O. and 605 T.O.R.O. models available are the stainless-steel models, which feature CCW friendly compact grips, a black ramp front sight, and of course the one of a kind Optics Ready Option for Taurus revolvers. When they first launched in 2023, the T.O.R.O. revolvers were the first ever mass market CCW revolvers that allowed users to mount a red dot. The optic plate secures to the top strap of the revolver and supports any sight that utilize the Shield RMSc or Holosun K-series footprint.

“I’m thrilled to have the T.O.R.O. revolvers on the California roster,” said Caleb Giddings, Taurus’ General Manager of Marketing. “With their addition to the roster, residents of California now have access to three of the fantastic revolver products we’ve introduced in the past couple of years. They can have a 357 Magnum T.O.R.O., a 38 Special six-shot T.O.R.O., or the hand-built 856 Executive Grade. We’re committed to providing quality defensive firearms to the law-abiding citizens of California.”

The T.O.R.O. revolvers continue Taurus’ tradition of innovation and out of the box thinking. The most common complaint about small frame revolvers is often the sights, a problem which is easily addressed by adding an optic.

For more information on the 856 and 605 T.O.R.O., visit: https://www.taurususa.com/revolvers/taurus-t-o-r-o-revolvers

About Taurus:

Taurus Holdings, Inc. (“Taurus”) and its subsidiaries continues to evolve and produce revolutionary new products. In addition, new standards for quality and efficiency help deliver reliable and affordable guns to the market. Taurus is based in Bainbridge, Georgia. Taurus is owned by Taurus Armas, S.A. which is a publicly traded company based in Brazil. Taurus Armas S.A. manufactures a wide variety of consumer and industrial products that are distributed worldwide.

For additional information, visit www.taurususa.com.

Editor’s Note: With the restoration of carry rights by the 9th Circuit, dotted revolvers are not only approved but can be carried places legally by the residents of California. Excellent timing.

The Werkz Origin Holsters the Foxtrot365XR

By

Travis Pike

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January 9, 2024

Have you ever come across a gun and light combination that you can’t just live without? The new SIG Foxtrot365XR is a great light. It has 550 lumens but 17,000 candela! This makes it among the strongest, most capable mini weapon lights on the market. It’s got great levels of brightness and great range. However, this meant I needed a new holster, and thankfully, I found one. I’ve been carrying my SIG P365, which is equipped with the Foxtrot in the Werkz Origin OWB holster.

I love the gun and the light combination, but do I love the gun, light, and holster combination? That’s the real question.

The Werkz Origin OWB

The Werkz Origin OWB holster is a molded polymer holster that’s 100% modern. My main focus when purchasing a holster is this mental checklist. I need it to be safe, I need good retention, and I need to be able to draw with speed and efficiency. For concealed carry, I need it to be concealable as well. The Werkz Origin uses passive retention to retain the weapon, and the expert molding ensures the trigger remains protected and is impossible to fire when holstered.

What about concealment? It’s as concealable as an OWB design gets. It’s a pancake-type holster that molds around the body and hangs tight on the body. Werkz trimmed the holster down to reduce bulk and to make drawing easy, even if the holster is held tight to the body. I’m a pretty big guy, so it’s a bit easier for me to conceal OWB, and the Origin hides itself well under an XLT T-shirt.

The pistol has a slight inward twist, which helps it hang tight to the body and reduces that telltale shelf printing. There is a slight forward cant to the design for concealment and an easy draw. We also get a nice high ride for easy concealment under a shirt and nothing more.

It’s nearly winter, so OWB is easy, but when summer comes along, how do I plan to carry the Origin? Werkz made the Origin to be convertible. I remove the belt loops and install a set of clips to use the holster as an IWB design. It’s easy and simple to ensure concealment year-round.

Blasting Away

Comfort is my last concern, but it’s still a concern. The Werkz Origin holster is plenty comfy. Nothing pokes or prods, and the holster doesn’t rub ya wrong. It also keeps the gun just far enough from your body to prevent grip texture from digging into your body and causing discomfort.

I’ve recently obtained a sub-second draw with an appendix carry holster and have been chasing that high for some time now. The Werkz Origin and I haven’t met the sub-second mark just yet, but I can feel it coming, and I’ll keep practicing. From the get-go go, I’ve been able to draw in about 1.10 seconds with an accurate shot on an FBI Q target. I’m only a little practice away from achieving that sub-second draw.

The cut of the holster ensures I can grab the gun without my hands raking against the holster. I have big hands, and that issue has come up before. The Origin doesn’t freely give up the SIG, and that little passive retention is felt with every draw, but it is ultimately a comforting feeling.

Packing On The Mohaska

The combination of holster, light, and gun works out rather well. I get to use my ultra-bright weapon light with a comfortable, safe, and concealable holster design. The Werkz Origin is a mighty nice holster, and it’s made for a whole lot more than the SIG P365 and Foxtrot light. Werkz makes holsters for a wide variety of gun and light types, and even oddballs like the Polymer 80 80 percent lower handguns, Olights, and more. Check ’em out here if you need or want a modern, modular holster with all the fixings.

The Refettering of SB2

By

Keith Finch

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January 9, 2024

In the continuing saga of California’s newest restriction on concealed carry, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved the lower court ruling making Newsom’s latest scheme once again unenforceable.

Newsom, Bonta, and the California gun control think tank trying to outlaw carry by proxy rather than outright isn’t a new tactic, but it is the only one with even the most remote chance of passing constitutional scrutiny in a post-Bruen legal landscape.

The 9th Circuit has taken the logical step of halting putting the injunction back in place as the case is decided.

We are witnessing the very quick changes and the legal whiplash that can occur. The pattern of regional courts siding with the sentiments of the region also remains steady. Deciding to upset regional sentiments as little as possible and make higher courts the heavy of the legal battle is normal.

The XTech 365 Mag Extension – Load ‘Em Up

By

Travis Pike

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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.