At first glance, you might pass off the Invrt bandolier from IC13 as a silly contraption. It’s a bandolier that straps across your chest and gains its name from the fact that it’s designed to be worn inverted. Your magazines are oriented downward, and that’s not exactly the usual for load-bearing gear. You might also think it’s the smallest chest rig out there, but you’d be wrong there, mostly because it’s not a chest rig.
The Invrt is a bandolier. It’s not designed to be a chest rig. The Invrt is load-bearing gear, but it’s made for a minimalist load. I would argue it’s made for a realistic load. Most people, including law enforcement, will likely never have to reload in a firefight, especially with a rifle. However, no one ever complained they had too little ammo in a gunfight.
The Invrt System
The minimalist nature of the Invrt allows it to be several things. First of all, the Invrt system allows you to carry anywhere from two magazines and a mini IFAK to three magazines. When we get into the .308 caliber rifles, that can be a little tougher, either way, you can get at least two rifle or SMG mags on your chest for a rapid reload.
IC13 sells the Invrt plain, and you can add your own pouches, or you can purchase them as complete kits for several different platforms. This includes the AR, the AK, and even subguns like the Scorpion MP5 and more. The system Invrt sent me is for the CZ Scorpion and came with two CZ Scorpion mag pouches, a pistol mag pouch, and a small admin pouch.
The second thing the Invrt excels at is being easy to stash. You can fit it into a go bag or active shooter kit easily. It doesn’t take up much room by any means. This allows you to stash the Invrt nearly anywhere without it taking up much room.
Finally, the Invrt is easy to rapidly put on. You can do it moving and grooving. If you’re responding to violence, you don’t have much time, so you can swim into the Invrt with ease. You can do it while holding a long gun. It takes seconds to toss on and get back to responding directly. Like any bandolier, it fits across the body, primarily across the chest. A third strap goes under the arm and locks it in. This third strap can be secured with a buckle or with hook and loop as you see fit.
Running the Invrt
The Invrt’s upside-down magazines are an interesting touch. It’s different, but fast. The pouches are friction fit. When a mag’s loaded, it’s fine when you’re just walking and shooting. However, once you start sprinting and taking stairs, you’ll want some degree of retention. The mag pouches are set up for bungee cables, and IC13 sells bungee cables fairly cheaply to secure the mags. I would certainly suggest getting the bungee cables or not running the rig inverted.
With the upside-down magazines, you can quickly grab the mag and get it into your gun. It works really fast, impressively so. It’s way more intuitive and doesn’t call for you to bend your wrist this way or that for a clean draw. Just grip, rip, and reload.
The rig is super comfy. The back of the Invrt has some slight padding, and when you run, it doesn’t bounce or slam loaded magazines into your chest. After several sprints, I didn’t notice any discomfort. The support straps are both very wide, which helps distribute weight well. However, there isn’t much weight between two Scoprion magazines and a Glock mag.
Getting the Invt on and off doesn’t take much effort. You hold it with your dominant hand and swim into it essentially. Then, grab the strap and lock it down. Although to be fair, you don’t have to use the support strap, but it keeps the rig from rotating when worn.
What About Shotguns?
Plenty of police officers still rock and roll with shotguns. With that in mind, IC13 doesn’t seem to offer a shotgun kit. Luckily, the Invrt panel uses standard MOLLE. It’s easy to make your own. I grabbed two of my many bandoliers and strapped them to the Invrt. This gave me ten rounds of firepower, which is likely plenty when it comes to shotgun fights.
The bandoliers strap on easily enough, and I have the shells orienting in the same direction to make it easy to retrieve shells from either five-shot bandolier. It’s a little clumsy, but it still works and makes feeding your shotgun easy.
The Invrt could be set up in all sorts of ways. Maybe it’s a bit medical kit. Maybe it has a radio, or maybe it’s nothing but magazine pouches for your handgun. You can configure it to make sense for your needs like any other piece of modular gear. With the Invrt, you get a piece that’s rapid to don, easy to stash, and still as modular as any piece of modern load-bearing gear. It’s a realistic setup for most encounters and was clearly made with a lot of forethought.
Check it out here if you think it’s a good fit for your go bag.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to attend the Green Ops 2-Day LPVO Carbine course at The Ranch in Dilley, Texas south of San Antonio. Although I will not deny my bias in favor of the LPVO and find them both useful and fascinating, I also understand that like with anything else, these scopes have trade-offs. To be successful with LPVOs, it’s crucial to understand their strengths and weaknesses which is why this Green Ops course has been a huge interest of mine. The course is focused on the entire effective range of the modern carbine and its use with an emphasis on the LPVO as the principal aiming implement, from 0 to 500 meters. I felt quite fortunate after finally attending the course and training under keen instructors.
Green Ops LPVO Course Students working through the course’s final exercise.
Green Ops And Their Training Philosophy
Green Ops is an international firearms training and tactics company based in northern Virginia and central Texas founded in 2005 by Special Forces soldier Mike Green. (It should be noted that Mr. Green is also a SOLGW pro-staff shooter and this “local” carbine company was well-represented at this event). Green Ops teaches rifle, shotgun and pistol courses to eligible civilians in addition to the military and law enforcement and is staffed by extremely competent shooters with loads of experience. I first met Mr. Green some time back after squadding together in local USPSA, IDPA matches or crossing paths at other locally hosted training events. This LPVO course was my first time participating in any Green Ops event as a regular student.
Each instructor at this recent LPVO class is the same way as Mike Green; though most of them have decades of serious military experience, they all still actively practice, train and compete with firearms. In other words, every single person that represented Green Ops at this class spends time pursuing the very things they teach their students. They don’t sit on their laurels and you can see it on their social media channels which are always talking about this or that instructor participating at this or that event. For example, our lead instructor for the class, Chris Alvarez, kept making all kinds of references to competitions all weekend long and tying it back to the relevancy of the material. One of the assistant instructors donned his USPSA competition style belt and wore his match pistol for the entire weekend as well. I just point this stuff out because it’s worth nothing that as a group, Green Ops instructors don’t just talk about the thing, they’re all about it too. Another way this particular 2-day course also stood out was the fact that there were five staff members present for whole event. With approximately 14 or 15 students in attendance, the ratio of students to instructors was excellent and all of us had a chance to get individualized attention. Furthermore, with the level of competency amongst the staff that weekend, any one of the them could have equally filled-in as the lead instructor without compromising the quality of the class or the curriculum.
Getting Down To Business: The Low Powered Variable Optic
The typical modern 5.56mm chambered carbine has a general effective range of approximately 500 meters. LPVOs can help extract every last bit of shooting performance available from a general purpose carbine down to that last meter. Simply put, LPVOs work like red-dot sights up close and like traditional riflescopes at further distances. (Note: they are not sniper-scopes, nor should they be used as such. This is something Mr. Alvarez constantly reminded us of all weekend). And yes, even amongst riflescopes, the LPVO has its own set of trade-offs, but that’s beyond the scope of this article. As wonderful as LPVOs are, they aren’t without their challenges and nuances either. In a previous conversation with Mr. Green, he told me that both he and Mr. Alvarez developed the curriculum for the Green Ops LPVO Course to challenge the notion that LPVOs are niche optics. Of course, Mike will also be the first to tell you that to get there, it takes a lot of work and dedication. No free lunches, ever. I make it a point to shoot carbines with LPVOs whenever possible and I know exactly what he is talking about, so this class was great because we employed the LPVO across various distances and positions, some contorted. This class will expose just how squared away the shooter needs to be with their optic to make the system work correctly.
My take on the LPVO is that as a shooter, you “pay” your dues up-front as it takes more work to master (especially at CQB distances), but it “pays for itself” at distance. With those further shots, you not only get magnification but an actual useful reticle with subtensions or stadia lines that add another level of precision that isn’t possible with a red-dot or holographic sight. If the weapon I carry has an effective range of 500 meters, I’d like to be able to be as effective with it all the way to meter #499. Back to no free lunches: LPVOs tend to be more expensive and complex than simpler red-dot sights. This also includes their scope mounts, which are also more expensive and complex than RDS mounts. At retail prices, a “nice” red-dot sights costs nearly the same as a mid-tier LPVO. Because LPVOs are riflescopes, matters of eye-relief, the eye-box, exit pupils, etc. are still in play. This means the shooter’s eyes and face still need to be lined up properly with the optic to work. Alignment is a big part of mastering the LPVO’s learning curve. Even with my own NF 1-8 ATACR, I experienced some challenges when trying to aim with a zoomed-in scope in a contorted position off a barricade. This is why understanding the short-comings of an LPVO is also as important as learning how to use it correctly. And yes, that weekend I saw plenty of offset red-dots in conjunction with LPVOs on both instructors’ and students’ carbines. It’s not about one against the other, it’s about using the right tools for solving problems.
The Value Of The Green Ops 2-Day LPVO Course
Green Ops organizes this course into a couple different parts. There’s a classroom portion, a portion to confirm zero [very important!], a CQB portion, barricades, plenty of time shooting at longer distances, live-fire-and-maneuver and the “final exercise” where two students paired together run and shoot through a tactical stage with targets and cover at varying distances. The final exercise is a lot of fun to run through and it calls for everything we learned during the course. In my opinion, the biggest value of the Green Ops 2-Day LPVO course is how comprehensive it is.
you learn how to do everything with your GENERAL PURPOSE carbine from 0 to 500 meters using the best General purpose optic you can pair with such A carbine.
PE Fitch
With the amount of instructors, we all got enough attention as needed. The class was organized in such a way that no one portion had to be rushed. For the CQB portion, besides regular shooting instruction and plenty of repetitions, the instructors covered sling management, shooting on the move, and heigh-over-bore. In my case, one of the instructors took it upon himself to make sure I was squared away as left-handed shooter. They did this for all students in whichever way they needed assistance.
The Leupold Mk.5 HD 2-10×30 FFP MRAD Scope with a TMR reticle on a Leupold Mark AR 1.50″ mount next to a Nightforce ATACR 1-8 FFP LPVO with the original FC-DM reticle. It can’t be seen from this angle, but the carbine with the Leupold is also equipped with an offset micro reflex sight.
The chance to shoot at extended distances is a big deal because most of us don’t get the chance to do so often, much less under the supervision of extremely qualified instructors without being rushed. This is priceless. I was more than happy to use my NF ATACR and the carbine it’s mounted on at these further distances while also taking advantage of the chance to begin my testing and evaluation of the Leupold Mk.5 HD 2-10×30 riflescope on another carbine. While this specific Leupold Mk.5 scope isn’t a “true” LPVO since it only goes down to 2-power on the low end, it’s a scope I’ve been quite interested since it first launched, especially for short to mid-range shooting. I didn’t feel “stuck” too badly limited to only 2-power, even during the CQB portion. Of course something closer to true 1-power is desirable but I made this work just fine. Naturally, this Leupold shined at distance and it felt like cheating when compared to shooting with the typical 1-6-power LPVO. In the spirit of the LPVO-specific curriculum, I held instead of dialed, (although the Leupold Mk.5 HD 2-10×30 paired with the TMR reticle is really built to dial).
All students had ample opportunity to take shots through their carbine and scope combo at steel IPSC targets found at distances ranging from 100-386 yards*. Even though this wasn’t required, I entered some estimated numbers into a ballistic app to get quick “dope.” With my 100 meter zero, on both of my carbines, I could hold high center out to 250+ yards with no problems. At 300 yards my come-up was only 1-mil and at 400 yards, a little less than 2-mils. Being able to verify this in real time and seeing that there wasn’t too much of a difference between both of my carbines with 14.5 and 16-inch barrels was quite neat.
The Cost Of Training
Training isn’t cheap. Ammunition isn’t cheap. Guns and gear also add up in cost, and so does the time it takes to attend training events. If you’re like me, you want your time and training dollar to get you as much value as possible. After training with Green Ops, I didn’t feel like I wasted my time. It’s hard to feel that way when the entire instructor cadre actively shoots, competes and attends outside training to stay relevant. And more so when there’s a beneficial ratio of instructors to students. Lastly, I also appreciated that this course wasn’t focused on gear any more than it had to. I saw carbines and LPVOs from all price-points, without any real gear elitism. This also went for the Green Ops staff themselves too. Not one of them acted like they were “all-that” (even though some of them probably legitimately are). No one tried to sell me on anything other than “doing the work” in order to improve. Anyone who is interested in exploring the full spectrum of utility of their carbine would do well to check out this course.
Special thanks to @jaq_thepewpewplumbrtx for most of these photos. Jaq is not only Green Ops staff, but also a talented photographer and not to mention downright surgical with a handgun from appendix.
**Total maximum distance for extended targets will depend on the specific venue where the class is hosted. I describe the LPVO and the general purpose carbine as 500 meter system and I stand by that. Whether one shoots at 386 yards or 510 meters, the concepts remain the same, but the hold-overs change.
5.11 Tactical and Prime Video to Celebrate The Debut of the Highly Anticipated Season 2 of Reacher
Costa Mesa, Calif. (Dec. 4, 2023) – 5.11 Tactical, the global innovator of purpose-built apparel, footwear and gear, has teamed up with Prime Video to celebrate the release of the highly anticipated second season of the hit series Reacher with a specialized sweepstakes offering a prize package giveaway.
The enter-to-win Ultimate Gear Giveaway sweepstakes will offer fans a chance to win a robust 5.11 prize package valued at $2,500 and comprised of some of the latest 5.11 gear and technical apparel seen throughout the action-thriller series, Reacher, in addition to a signed copy of author Lee Child’s re-covered Bad Luck & Trouble book. Entries will be accepted now through Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023. To enter and view products featured throughout the show, or for more information, customers and viewers can visit https://www.511tactical.com/UltimateGearGiveaway. No purchase is necessary, one entry per email, must be 18 years or older and a U.S. resident to enter.
Reacher Season Two premieres on December 15, 2023 on Prime Video. The season begins when veteran military police investigator Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) receives a coded message that the members of his former U.S. Army unit, the 110th MP Special Investigations, are being mysteriously and brutally murdered one by one. Pulled from his drifter lifestyle, Reacher reunites with three of his former teammates turned chosen family to investigate, including Frances Neagley (Maria Sten); Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan), a forensic accountant for whom Reacher has long had a soft spot; and fast-talking, switchblade-wielding family man David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos). Together, they begin to connect the dots in a mystery where the stakes get higher at every turn, and that brings about questions of who has betrayed them—and who will die next. Using his inimitable blend of smarts and size, Reacher will stop at nothing to uncover the truth and protect the members of his unit. If there’s one thing Reacher and his team know for certain, it’s that you do not mess with the Special Investigators. This season, get ready for Reacher and the 110th to hit back hard. Information and assets for Reacher Season Two can be found on the Prime Video Press Site.
Throughout the season, Reacher, his ex-military unit, and other characters can be seen wearing and using 5.11 apparel, footwear, packs and accessories that are included in the sweepstakes prize package.
To learn more about 5.11, its product offering or its latest events and sweepstakes, visit www.511tactical.com.
# # #
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
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5.11, 5.11 Tactical, Always Be Ready, and Purpose-Built Gear™ are trademarks of 5.11, Inc. All rights reserved.
Federal Judge Thomas Kleeh struck down the long standing prohibition on 18, 19, and 20 year old adults form purchasing handguns. This ruling, if allowed to implement without appeal from the DoJ, will set the federal requirements to buy a handgun in line with those or rifles and shotguns.
This change effectively realigns all Title I firearms to the same age standard for ownership. This will not change state laws (yet) but could as the effects of the ruling trickle down and states either adjust on their own or are adjusted via lawsuit.
I found this meme upon the internet, and twas funny. IG disgruntled_vets
I know, I know. The quality of the modern optic means that “irons” are no longer a strict necessity and are omitted on certain systems, like certain competition firearms and precision rifles, in their entirity.
I’m not talking about for specialist systems. I am talking about your carry handgun and general purpose carbine, maybe your home defense shotgun too. The two or three guns you probably use the most, handle the most, touch the most, and will grab in an emergency. That use, handle, touch, and play with controls on also gives them the highest probability change that the systems that need to be on might be off when you need them.
What do I mean?
I mean you have to have a viable way to shoot certain guns regardless of their battery status at the time you pick them up. I have an extremely high degree of confidence in modern optics, I still prefer the on deck ability to shoot around or through the optic too.
Are all of my firearms set up like this? No.
Am I worried? Not particularly. The Aimpoints on my MP5 and AK that I can’t use the irons through are probably going to be alright. But I have had that Aimpoint on the AK die during a class.
Aimpoint CompM5 RDS
Yep, that one. That CompM5 decided it had been on long enough on its battery. Middle of the drill, most inconvenient.
Luckily, it was just a drill. I cleared from the line real quick and got a battery. My point isn’t how simple the fix was that got my optic back, my point is that when I needed my optic it was off.
No more dot…
If you have co-witnessed irons or a removable optic via QD, you’re still in business. Flip things that need to be flipped and get back on your sights. Its this ease of resumption that makes keeping irons and paired with your optics in a cohabitant manner preferred, in my opinion.
The options if you do not have irons or cannot remove your optic are not nothing though.
Shoot the tube
A red dot is still an aligned tube and depending upon how close and large your target is it might be good enough to start hammering shots.
Turn your dot off and give it a try at about 5 yards to see both what it looks like and what the impact location is. You may surprise yourself.
Living on the edge
Your sights represent an aligned line to where you want to place your shot. Your optic and irons are precisely aligned, however they aren’t the only things that can get you into the right spot depending on the shot. Take a look at the photo and see what edges on the firearm and sight could be used to line up a shot in a pinch. Yes the EPS Carry allows me to use the irons on the P365, think alternatively.
Edge of the optic
The slide, along a corner
The line made by the slide and frame
None of these are ideal, none of these will stack rounds accurately and the viability falls off quickly at distance. But you aren’t done yet. You aren’t out of options.
Don’t freeze
The most common issue I see when folks pull up a gun and all is not right is a tire screeching halt, this is true of malfunctions, optics off, gun not loaded, anything that causes something to happen that isn’t the expected shot. What we want are options, regardless of the problem, to get us back able to take a needed shot as quickly as possible. Available irons make several of these problems simple to solve.
Don’t be quick to dismiss ye olde iron sights, that’s all folks.
A few months back, I wrote an article reviewing the cheapest red dot I could find on Amazon. To the surprise of no one, it sucked. Other than the dot being surprisingly crisp, it was best used for airsoft. I decided to return to the well of cheap crap and Amazon, this time looking to find the cheapest handgun light on Amazon. For the price of 11.99, I got the IXF2021 weapon light.
My rules were the same as they were before. It had to be advertised to be used on real weapons. If it was advertised for airsoft for BB guns, it didn’t make the list. The first I came across that advertised itself for a real firearm cost only 11.99. The IXF2021 brags about its all-aluminum design and its 600 lumens of power. It comes in a simple cardboard box decorated as if it was a map. Inside, it comes with two generic rechargeable batteries and a charger.
Admittedly, my first impression isn’t great. The charger feels cheap and crappy, and the batteries don’t inspire confidence. They might double as fire starters, and I’m curious what would happen if I tossed a real battery in this thing. Let’s get the batteries charged and see if the IXF2021 was worth the 11.99.
The IXF2021 – To the Moon
The charger doesn’t inspire confidence, but I dropped the battery in the charger and plugged it in. I got three red LEDs, and with a lack of directions included, I assumed this meant the batteries were charging. Ten hours later, they were still red, so I adjusted the battery, and they flipped to green. Again, confidence wasn’t high. With a charged battery, I attempted to install the light on a gun.
It turned out to be way too tight for every gun I had except for the Glock rail. Even then, it was tight enough it shaved off a little polymer as I shoved it on. The release is a spring-loaded design that is pressed down to install and remove. A small hump on the release locks onto your rail.
The controls consist of a switch on each side of the light. Press it one way, and it turns on; press it the other, and it shuts off. The light cycles between two modes. Standard on and strobe. Momentary is a pipe dream with the IXF2021. It also has this neat mode where you don’t even need the buttons.
Shake the gun and light, and sometimes, it will magically come on! Who doesn’t love a truly wireless and press-button design? I’m sure it’s totally not an issue with the light being a piece of crap.
The Power
Six hundred lumens isn’t a ton of power, but it’s respectable for 11.99. I don’t have any professional equipment to test the lumens, but I can tell you right now that it’s not a 600-lumen light. It’s pitiful, maybe 200 lumens on a good day. I have a penlight from 5.11 Tactical that’s brighter and shines further than the IXF2021. It’s a joke of power.
Not only is the power weak and limited, but it also dims rapidly and might flare up here and there. The light dies, ignites, and dies again. It’s a total piece of crap, to the surprise of no one. Battery life seems to be 10 minutes or so at full power, which makes me feel the batteries aren’t really 3600 MAH.
Just for fun, I decided to drop-test it. I don’t know how to break this to everyone, but the IXF2021 did not survive the fall. The first fall. It just doesn’t come on reliably anymore. However, sometimes, if you really believe and you get a sprinkle of magic, then it fires up! The IXF2021 is all of 11.99, and it shows.
A while back, I read and reviewed a book by Osprey Publishing called US Combat Shotguns. I enjoyed it a good bit, and I recently finished another Osprey Publishing book called The MP5 Submachine Gun. Both books were written by Leroy Thompson, who is quite the expert in seemingly a wide variety of weapons. I know a lot less about the MP5 than I do combat shotguns, so I figured, let’s leap in and learn a thing or two.
Inside The MP5 Submachine Gun
Much like US Combat Shotguns, The MP5 Submachine Gun is a short and quick read. It’s roughly 80 or so pages. It’s a quick read, but it’s chock full of information. The book starts quickly with little need to ease you in. We know it’s about a submachine gun, so why would we need to flirt about it?
The book covers the history of the submachine gun but goes beyond just saying HK invented the gun in 19XX and leaving it at that. We get the context of submachine guns during this era, why the MP5 stood out, and how it went on to become the counter-terrorism and special operations choice of submachine gun.
We get snippets of stories of the weapon’s use in various operations and how its performance quickly led to its rise in fame. Readers learn what makes the MP5 different from the other options from Uzi and Walther during the same era.
It’s easy to read and not chick full of technical jargon that could leave some readers confused. It has an excellent description of what roller-delayed actions do and how it functions. It’s easy to understand and well-written.
The entire book is well-written and easy to follow. The MP5 Submachine Gun is easy to pick up and put down and gives you a ton of great information about the guns. One of my favorite pages was a table listing all of the variations, which revealed a few I had never heard of and made it easy to understand the slight variations of the MP5.
Yep, There Are Pictures
Hey, I’m a Jarhead. I want some pictures to go along with my books. The MP5 Submachine Gun provides plenty of them. This includes historical examples of the gun, as well as numerous photos of counter-terrorism teams from around the world using the weapon. The pictures are educational as well as entertaining. I’m always interested in seeing Cold War relics and old-school tactical gear.
In terms of history, we also get the history behind different variations of the MP5. We learned a bit about the MP5K and that it was built at the request of a South American sales rep. That makes sense since South America was a fairly violent place, and plain-clothes PSD teams needed something small and viable for defensive use.
U.S. Navy
The MP5K-PDW was built at the behest of 160th SOAR, the guys and gals responsible for inserting and extracting special operations personnel via aircraft. It makes sense they want something more than a pistol, but cockpit requirements ensure the weapon had to be small.
The MP5 Submachine Gun also details the HK SMG 2 project. I always thought it was an unsold prototype, but the book seems to allude to anywhere from 60 to 70 produced for a secret customer.
Fun Facts I Learned About the MP5
I won’t go too deep and reveal the whole book, but there are a few things I thought were interesting. I’m not an MP5 expert, but I know a good bit about the gun. Still, I learned several things about the MP5 and wanted to detail a few fun facts here.
First, I had never heard of the MP5F variant. The MP5F was a French variant with ambidextrous sling points and a beefed-up design. They increased the strength of the gun so it could withstand the +P+ SMG ammo the French were using. This beefed-up design would go on to become standard for MP5s.
A member of Sea-Air-Land (SEAL) Team 8, armed with a 9mm MP-5A5E submachine gun, gives a thumbs-up at the successful completion of a training mission aboard the USNS J0SHUA HUMPHREYS (T-AO-188). SEAL Team 8 is providing boarding teams to assist the ships of the Maritime Interception Force in their enforcement of U.N. sanctions against Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.
The too cool to last MP5/10 series actually had a last round bolt hold open device, which is cool and missed on 9mm variants. These guns also had a two-round burst feature, which is also pretty neat.
HK also produced .22LR conversion kits for the MP5s. This consisted of a barrel liner, a new bolt group, and recoil springs. These kits weren’t reliable, and only about 400 were produced.
I learned way more than this, including Dick Marchinko’s tie to the MP5 and an interesting conversation about MAC-10s. It’s a quick read and one worth reading. The Osprey books aren’t expensive and are seemingly always full of information. I’m thinking about reading the Bazooka one next.
After an introduction and six bloviating quotes about how bad guns are, especially gas operated guns apparently, Senator King’s website finally tells me what the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion Act holds in store for us.
King Introduces Legislation to Save Lives, Protect 2nd Amendment Rights for Law-Abiding Americans
Yep that headline is as full of shit as you think it is, folks. Here’s the bullet points.
Regulate Sale, Transfer & Manufacture of Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms
Much danger. Such gas.
The GOSAFE Act would regulate the sale, transfer, and manufacture of gas-operated semi-automatic weapons by:
Establishing a list of prohibited firearms;
Preventing unlawful modifications of permissible firearms;
Mandating that future gas-operated designs are approved before manufacture; and
Preventing unlawful firearm self-assembly and manufacturing.
But don’t worry, they protect the 2nd Amendment. They say so.
Protect Americans’ Second Amendment Right
The GOSAFE Act protects Americans’ constitutional right to own a gun based on a firearm’s established use for self-defense, hunting, and sporting purposes. The bill accomplishes this by including exemptions based on maximum ammunition capacity according to a firearm’s individual class: a rifle, shotgun, or handgun.
This capacity must be “permanently fixed,” meaning the firearm cannot accept a detachable, high-capacity magazine that would increase the number of rounds that can be fired before reloading and make reloading easier.
Exemptions include:
.22 caliber rimfire or less firearms
Bolt action rifles
Semi-automatic shotguns
Recoil-operated handguns
Any rifle with a permanently fixed magazine of 10 rounds or less
Any shotgun with a permanently fixed magazine of 10 rounds or less
Any handgun with a permanently fixed magazine of 15 rounds or less
God forbid you have a jam in your firearm while defending yourself that requires you to remove the magazine to fix the issue (that’s just about every hard malfunction or stoppage, by the way).
But this is fantastic news for classic H&K Roller-Lock and PCC fans, your guns aren’t gas operated.
They’re safe, according to these buffoons the PTRs and Zeniths and HK91s are going to be just fine. CMMG Banshee? Yep. Stribog? Those too. Gas operated is is the name of evil.
Would sure be a shame if they try and named non-gas operated firearms in their list of prohibited items and got called on their bullshit.
The PTR 32 KFR, and all of their firearms, are not gas operated. They are recoil operated with a roller delay. These are therefore totally safe so long as they have 10 round magazines or something.
Yep, magazine ban too. Don’t you worry they had that covered, of course.
The GOSAFE Act limits a firearm’s ability to inflict maximum harm in a short amount of time by directly regulating large capacity ammunition feeding devices. The bill would limit the number of rounds that large capacity ammunition feeding devices are permitted to carry to 10 rounds of ammunition or fewer. Additionally, the GOSAFE Act makes conversion devices, including bump stocks and Glock switches, unlawful.
Glock switches are already unlawful unless you are a machine gun manufacturer. That hasn’t stopped them before.
More illegaler, make them MOAR I L L E G A L E R!!
But fear not, oh reader! If you want to sell any of your super dangerous and no longer transferable gas guns, the government will buy them in their “voluntary” buy-back program. Still unclear how you can buy back what was never yours. I’m sure they will give going market value too. $100 Gift Cards for all!
Create Voluntary Buy-Back Program
The GOSAFE Act will protect the value of firearms already owned before enactment and prevent stockpiling of these lethal firearms and large capacity magazines by establishing a voluntary buy-back program. It would allow firearm owners to voluntarily turn over and receive compensation for non-transferrable firearms and magazines as defined by this legislation.
King, your GOSAFE rule is dumb. I am therefore assuming you and your staff are as ignorant as the legislation makes you seem on this particular topic. You would have done better if you possessed the capacity, some might even say high capacity, to do so.
Should I point out the majority of crime guns are the explicitly exempt recoil operated handguns again? Should I point out the third deadliest mass shooting in the US used those exempt handguns guns exclusively, a Glock 19 and Walther P22?
Should I point out that this is, technically/legally, a recoil operated handgun?
Or to put the title image quote in more modern parlance, “Opinions are like assholes, everyone has them and many of them stink.”
I do not know if the quote attributed to Marcus Aurelius, Stoic Emperor of Rome, was actually uttered by the man. I do however know the accuracy of the statement itself.
A news round up ends up on my inbox every morning and one of them looks for the term ‘assault rifle’. Karen Olson, who wrote the below, apparently has opinions on ‘assault rifles’ she expressed to the Portland Herald. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, no one is entitled to their own facts. Oregon is currently grappling with the consequences of constitutional republic v. ignorant mob vote democracy, so I believe these letters are in response to that change.
Letter in italics, my responses in plain text.
Why do we buy our assault rifles?]
Many reasons, Karen. But I assume this is a rhetorical question. We buy firearms today for the same reasons we have always purchased useful individual weapons.
[Who do we plan to assault?]
There it is. A betraying inquiry that lets me know that you, Karen, have never considered violence in a serious manner in your privileged, first world, super power inhabitant of a life. You’ve never had to. This doesn’t mean you haven’t considered violence or thought about violence as a topic, it means you have never had to consider it in an academic sense.
But you have seen a bad thing, the results of violence you do not understand, and it scares and upsets you. That last part is very reasonable, what isn’t reasonable is lack of understanding and the the expectation of your opinion being weighed expertly when you lack expertise. Your fear, anger, and pain do not translate to understanding the topic. Your privilege to live in a world, and a space in that world, that is as safe as it is does not imbue you with the opine authority to dictate back to reality when it rattles your perspective.
There is no ‘your truth’ here.
[Do we buy them “just in case?”]
Often, yes. It isn’t about assaulting, it is about potentially being assaulted. But no, they aren’t ‘just in case’ either. That implies these rifles would live in a vault or closet untouched until enemies are raining from the sky. That isn’t how the discipline of arms works. Know that shooting is a martial art too and firearms are used for many very lawful reasons.
The modern assault rifle, sure I’ll even use the term, is the best individual fighting implement currently in circulation. The problem is we are discussing it with people who are uncomfortable and unfamiliar with the concepts of the profession(s) of violence, the legitimacy of violence, and the currency that violence represents. It frightens them and because it frightens them they dismiss it quickly and try to ‘solve’ it simplistically.
“Your understanding and consent are not required for someone to destroy your world and everything you love.” -Dr. William Aprill, paraphrased.
[Do we fear foreign paratroopers will drop from the sky?]
I’m sorry, did we miss what happened in Israel on October the 7th? Literal paraglider troopers armed with assault weapons murdered 1,200 of the first people they could find and kidnaped hundreds of Israeli and international citizens. Hamas raped, pillaged, and retreated behind the civilians of Gaza, whom they are the defacto government of, as human shields.
That happened. That happened here, in the real world full of real people with WiFi, 5G, and McDonalds restaurants.
If you want to play the ‘Well… it couldn’t happen here’ card, I want you to pick which prejudicial form that comment comes from. Is it the prejudice of low expectations for the Palestinians? They can’t be bothered to act better. Is it the fault of the Israelis? Did the Jews somehow earn this outcome reasonably through their own actions or inactions? That’s a dangerous thought and aligns you with some unsavory types past and present, doesn’t it? Is it that we do not believe these groups, or other similar ones, capable of carrying out this attack here? Really? Despite dramatic successes in the past? We had a two decade long multi-front war about the last major one. Is it underestimating the cartels and groups south of our own border? Surely groups that are defacto power structures in Central and South America couldn’t replicate what the defacto power structure of Gaza could, right? They’re only better trained, better funded, and with much easier access to the logistics necessary.
‘Do we fear foreign paratroopers…?’, is trying to leverage Red Dawn as a silly ‘right wing’ power fantasy and dismissing real world threats even in the contexts of low probability. Low probability or probability in scale is not the same as ‘cannot happen’ by any stretch.
If you are going to immediately disregard all reasonable examples of how your rhetorical inquiry is flawed, don’t make it rhetorical.
[Do we fear a local militia will descend?]
Probably not. Have you seen your ‘local militia’ drill? It’s… something. It exists. Organized groups declaring themselves ‘militia’ have been, are, and will remain a part of the world in various states of efficacy. But there is actually a legal definition for the United States.
I know you’re being rhetorical and clearly have the following image mentally in mind. The ‘militia training montage’ featuring really heavy or too skinny to be healthy white dudes who ‘almost would’ve served ‘cept… [reason]’ doing vaguely tactical but valueless gun drills. That seems to have been a weird offshoot time of the training boom in the 2010’s after Magpul Dynamics showed us the way to dynamic dynamically.
But remember, Karen, you are also part of the militia. Given the modern interpretation of colonial concepts, it is all able bodied adults. All of ‘The People’ constitute the militia.
Legally speaking, however…
The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
So Karen you are probably, legally, not part of the militia. If we update the definition for modern Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion standards then you probably would be. But as of now, legally, you are not.
[Do we fear our government will turn on us?]
Do we want to count the ways they haveinthepast? Literally the foundational principle of the 2nd Amendment is a preventive on the monopoly of force being centralized within the Federal government.
When the Federal government is acting in the best interests of and within the will of the people all is well (well… most is well) and continuing to grant them the legitimacy of the use of force has few negative consequences. However if we monopolize force in the state, then agree or disagree with it you no longer have the ability to say no and in a meaningful way. The US government has numerous past instances where they used ‘legal’ force and massacred people, they then promptly absolved themselves of responsibility.
Are we confident they won’t do it again?
[Do we fear a burglar will enter our house?
Yes. To a reasonable degree, home invasion should be ‘feared’ and guarded against. Next question.
Let us not devolve into hyperbolic absurdity. (But of course we’re going to…)
Where should we keep and bring our AR-15s? Should we carry them to the grocery store, out to dinner or a show?
Image via Quora, answering how common it is for Israeli reservists to carry long guns publicly.
I will point to Israel again, but let me just say ‘no’ for here in the US. No, because that is what discreet concealed handguns serve for rather nicely under most circumstances.
I must emphasize ‘most circumstances’ though. It would be, and has been, perfectly reasonable for US citizens to carry long guns in times of elevated threat. Riots and weather events that knock out the normal chains of logistics and authority in a region are the most common we experience. We know for a fact we cannot rely on the magnanimity of our fellow man at all times, even in good times. That compounds during times of larger scale environmental strain.
And, if so, it better be every time, because you never know.
I can agree to a degree.
But since you, Karen, mean this to be read in an absurdist tone and not as the fairly practical advice for carry of a concealed pistol it otherwise is, we are going to address that.
Yes, you should carry your firearm consistently. An emergency tool is not useful if it isn’t around in the emergency. That is for all emergencies and all tools to help mitigate and respond to them. An AED doesn’t help anyones heart if it isn’t around. A first aid kit doesn’t stop bleeding, aspirin a heart attack, or splint a broken bone if it is out of reach. A fire extinguisher extinguishes nothing it it cannot be presented to the fire.
I will say again that a concealed handgun is a both practical and effective enough tool under normal circumstances. Under circumstances of elevated environmental strain the ‘assault rifle’, as you say, is better at both deterrence and response to predations of hostile people.
Can we pull it from under the bed or a full grocery cart in time to do any good?
Evidence says… yes. We have numerous instances of rifles being used successfully at home and in public for the defense of people. The handgun is far more common because it is far more convenient and far more often carried. This remains true for crime statistics too, handguns are misused far more often than rifles.
But you mean this question, like your previous ones, in a rhetorical manner that mocks the concept of pulling a carbine, which you no doubt consider cumbersome, for defending oneself. You will be unlikely to take circumstances in which handguns or carbines were used to protect people as evidence enough to sway your opposition. That is fine, your opinion is yours. But stop asking things that have answers you will ignore.
If not, should we hang them from our necks? It already feels like they’re strangling us.
I… I don’t know how to ground this statement. Slings are things, I suppose.
But this prose is so out of bounds its probably closer to touching Mars than grass. How is the existence of tens of millions of rifles, and billions of rounds of ammunition for them, strangling you personally. How is it strangling society? Deaths at the hands of rifles represent a faction of a percent of ostensibly preventable deaths in this nation, regardless of how scary these deaths are.
I say ostensibly in this case because we act like an attack would not have occurred had the attack been somehow more illegal.
How many foreign paratroopers or outer-space aliens have we needed to shoot? How many of our neighbors, friends and family has this weapon shot?
Are we talking actual numbers? Because there are a lot of dead foreign troops due to the AR-15. I’m certain Karen does not consider authorized federal, state, or municipal use, as well as legitimate use against criminals and more mundane domestic threats, as ‘foreign paratroopers’. That does not fit the tone of the conversation. Karen is implying that because Red Dawn hasn’t happened the AR-15 is unnecessary.
How many neighbors, friends and family has the weapon shot? I don’t know. But it is far fewer in totality than have died from numerous other methods, including the aforementioned handgun murders, suicides of all methods, car crashes, alcohol, heart disease, and home accidents. Ostensibly preventable deaths due to the ownership of rifles are far outpaced by numerous other sources of untimely demise that simply rate ‘less scary’ to you.
People pull the trigger, but it’s the bullets that kill.]
So we acknowledge that it is the deliberate action of a person who fires the gun, but are then absolving that person of guilt in the injury or death? The bullet becomes independent and is ascribed its own motivation? Are we shifting focus to the existence of ammunition instead of the firearm? What is happening? What are we upset at now in the narrative?
[How many bullets at a time do we want to give a neighbor, friend or family member who suddenly or slowly goes berserk?]
Now who is scared of aliens, ‘paratroopers’ and other boogeymen? Which of your potentially nightmarish neighbors are going to go slowly mad due to the proximity of 5.56 ammunition? Should I also remove everything that could possibly be used to harm anyone from everyone on the off chance that any of all of our collective neighbors, friends, or family members suddenly or slowly go berserk? Is this reasonable?
No. Of course it isn’t. Yet we allow this emotive diatribe to stand in equal weight to reasoned argument. Why? Because guns, I guess. Gun bad, don’t think deeply about it. The threat of the AR-15 is outsized due largely to its popularity and has no place in a reasoned risk analysis.
[How many neighbors, friends and family members have to be butchered and die before we, the people, call out to our politicians to put an end to this evil-spewing weapon?
What happened to people pull the trigger? That opened this paragraph, Karen. If I must acknowledge it ‘spews evil’ in the hands of an evil person then you must acknowledge it does good in the hands of the good people, and no harm at all in the hands of the majority, because those are all true.
Karen Olson Portland
The potential to cause harm is inherent in every single person, it is not bestowed by a weapon. I hope these answers are helpful to you readers. I do not believe Karen will think they are, but I could be mistaken.
The history of hollow points goes back to the late 19th century. The first hollow points were molded lead rounds with a hollow point designed to reduce weight. A reduced weight meant a faster bullet. The fact that the round tumbled and expanded was a happy accident. Rounds like .32-20, the .38-40, and .44-40 were early adopters of hollow point projectiles. This led to them being banned from warfare under the Hague Convention, which is how the Geco Blitz Action Trauma rounds came to be.
According to the gun magazines of the 1980s, if you carried a 9mm, it should be loaded with Blitz Action Trauma rounds or BAT Rounds for short. These were exotic rounds from Germany that fetched upwards of a buck a round. A buck a round is pretty normal these days, but it was absurd in the 1980s. Still, they were seemingly popular, especially in an era where jacketed hollow points had taken root just yet.
(Gun Auctions)
The BAT rounds came in 9mm and .357 Magnum and were copper. I’ve seen the weights mentioned to be 84 and 86 grains, so it’s tough to say who is accurate and who isn’t. The solid copper slugs had a cavity that went all the way through them, and that cavity was filled with a plastic plug.
The plastic plug was to ensure the round would feed and depart from the projectile when the gun fired. The rounds moved at about 1,400 feet per second from a Browning Hi-Power. At first glance, it seems to be a bit of a mix between a hollow point and exotic loads like Liberty Defense.
Origin of the Blitz Action Trauma Rounds
Geco, a German Company owned by Dyanmit Nobel, apparently initially developed the rounds for shooting tires. Apparently, they could punch a neat 9mm size hold through a tire with little fear of overpenetration and ricochets. Some enterprising salesman also saw an opportunity to cash in on an exotic ammo type that could be an effective defensive round.
To me, it seems odd that the Blitz Action Trauma round would be needed to pop tires. How much action was that a necessity? This is pure speculation, but it seemed to me that the tire-popping action was just an excuse to produce an effective hollow point cartridge for police use. Geco is a German company and this time, the German police carried FMJs because that’s what the military carried. The BAT rounds were technically FMJs due to the plastic plug.
(CALGUNS)
As you and I know, FMJs aren’t great man-stoppers and aren’t great for police work. They pose additional risks due to the overpenetration of threats. This wasn’t a big deal when the police round of choice was the .32 ACP. In fact, FMJs make sense when you use the little .32 ACP cartridge.
The New World of 9mm
However, the Munich Massacre and the rise of left-wing terrorism in Germany caused the police to move to more potent firearms. The 9mm became the cartridge of choice, and the Walther P5, the HK P7, and SIG P6 became the guns of choice. 9mm FMJs tend to zip through things, including terrorists.
(HK PRO)
In 1977, the newly formed GSG9 stormed a Lufthansa airplane with HK P7s, S&W Model 66s, and MP5s. The rounds loaded were the Blitz Action Trauma rounds. In short order, the GSG9 killed four terrorists and freed all the hostages. I don’t know if the GSG9 used the rounds with permission or basically used the ‘Technically’ excuse.
The MP5 magazine went from straight to curved to aid in reliability and reportedly ensured the BAT rounds would feed. The BAT projectiles certainly saw some action in Germany.
Effectiveness
I can’t find any gel testing or wound studies on the Blitz Action Trauma rounds. If YouTube was around back then, we’d know everything there is to know about these rounds. Sadly, it’s tough to say how effective they were. They were available in the United States, but it seems like they were never evaluated, or the tests were never widely published.
The BAT Rounds worked here (GSG 9)
Compared to FMJs, I believe they were less likely to over-penetrate. I imagine they would expand and deform, but not as efficiently as modern JHPs. We know they worked well in putting down four Red Army Faction terrorists. The Blitz Action Trauam rounds form an interesting part of the history of defensive ammo.
I was an early adopter of the P365. In 2018, it was the gun to get, and since then, it’s grown into a family of firearms. I have the P365, the deep concealment SAS model, the larger P365XL, the even larger XMACRO, the Legion entry, the Rose model, and many more I’m missing. Is there anything the gun can’t do? Heck, according to The Drive’s Warzone section, it can even be attached to a drone. Yep, a P365 Drone exists.
FILE — A member of a volunteer battalion practices the launch and retrieval of a DJI Mavic drone as the group trains outside Kyiv, Dec. 3, 2022. A Ukrainian unit is tinkering with tape, a scale, a 3-D printer and other items to turn a fragmentation grenade into a tank-killer. It’s a steep and risky challenge. (David Guttenfelder/The New York Times)
That’s right, a drone. The Association of the U.S. Army had its convention in Washington D.C. earlier this month with SIG Sauer in attendance. SIG is so hot right now with Army contracts. They captured the MHS contest and followed it up with the NGSW system contract to provide a rifle and machine gun to the U.S. Army and potentially all four branches. How could they not show up and show off their wares?
They did, and we got to see how far the modular nature of the P365 could go when they strapped two of them to quadcopters. When writer Jame Hunter asked why, SIG replied with, “Why wouldn’t we?”
The P365 Drone
The rise of small aerial vehicles in warfare can’t be ignored. There are lots and lots of dead Russians because the Ukrainian military latched onto this technology. Prior to the war in Ukraine, commercial-grade mini quadcopters were in the skies of Iraq and Syria, being used by various forces against various other forces. Micro-sized drones are cheap, can carry a small explosive payload, and allow for what’s basically a flying IED.
If you’ve cruised the combat footage of the Ukraine war, you’ve likely seen Ukrainian forces drop grenades quite accurately with their drones on infantry and armored forces. We know they work with explosives, but what about small arms? Taiwan made a large, rifle-equipped drone called the AR-1.
What about a micro-sized, pistol-equipped drone or quadcopter, like the aforementioned P365 drone? Of the two drones on display, one is a standard XMACRO series, and another features a very interesting P365 that’s been trimmed and cut to reduce weight, and this allows it to be fit into a smaller drone. Both appear to be commercial off-the-shelf quadcopters equipped with P365s and servo moto-powered trigger pullers.
(Jamie Hunt/The Drive)
According to the SIG rep at the show, the guns are aimed via the camera and a laser aiming device. It’s a neat combo, but I’d be curious what laser is capable of. What’s its ability during the day, and is it I.R. capable for nighttime use? That remains to be seen.
Does the recoil generated from the gun firing affect the P365 drone’s ability to fly? It’s not super clear by how much, but according to SIG, it works.
The Purpose of Such a Drone
I think it needs to be stated that this isn’t a commercial product being offered to anyone at this time. It seems to be just an experiment for SIG that they wanted to display. This seems to be more of a proof of concept.
Let’s say it did work. They had a finished product for sale, with a P365 drone being a reality. What’s the purpose? Handguns aren’t great for range, but the P365 is small and ammo-efficient. Still, 17 rounds aren’t much in a military firefight. That’s two good SAW bursts. It’s also likely tough to aim if SIG can’t introduce a reticle system to make their drone more like a first-person shooter.
(Jamie Hunt/The Drive)
If they do, it’s still a very close-range weapon. It could be a scouting tool for urban areas. Maybe nothing long-range, but let’s say you have a compound with a fence. You run the risk of getting shot if you poke your head over the fence, so toss the drone up and in. It can engage if need be. Or it can cover windows or similar spider holes and still put lead on target. The P365 drone certainly seems very niche, but I guess you can dream up a scenario where it’s useful easily enough.
My main question is, is this legal? Does it run afoul of the NFA? What about the FAA? If I wanted one, what would stop me legally from having one? Or making one? There has to be a law against it, and I doubt SIG is lining up for civilian sales of this thing. As far as proof of concept goes, it’s wild, but hey, SIG promised us a modular pistol, and they are delivering.
One of my pet peeves is when people use “dress around the gun” as a catch-all answer for people trying to incorporate carry gear into their wardrobe. Check it out and let me know what you think! Are there any tips/tricks/hacks you’ve found that make incorporating tools into your wardrobe easier?
Yes… yes, I know. Pounds equal pain. I get it. I am an 0311, I’ve been on those long walks with stuff on my back with an M249.
What is supposed to be an admonishment to pack your kit smart, so you don’t bring unnecessary items, you distribute the weight evenly, you layer items properly so you can access them, and you can don and doff the items without much issue has devolved (as internet arguments do) into how much a rifle should weigh and how much is “too much”
From a SIG Social Media Group
I’m not sure what the target weight of the original poster was, or if this is merely a really good troll post, but I would ask the OP what they think the MCX Rattler is made from? It is aluminum, a light a tough alloy. The barrel, of course, bolt carrier, and operating mechanism are steel as they are the pressure bearing parts. Those parts need to be able to handle the heat and pressure of the firing cycle. The MCX LT line shaved a little weight but… c’mon folks, let me be real with you.
Expect 10 pounds.
Just expect it. And stop worrying about it. It is just 10lbs.
The M16A4 is 9lbs (8.81) loaded and otherwise slick. Now add an optic and add a PEQ15… oh, look 11lbs. The M4 shaves a little weight but can easily add it back with good accessories. So stop trying to cut ounces and start building the carbine you want in the the way you want it to work. It is going to be 8 to 11lbs, always is.
Did you manage to build one that is 7.6lbs with a red dot, an expensive lightweight mount, skeletonized everything, lightweight expensive internals that cost half again or more, and a light that you couldn’t save any weight with because it is a light and needs all its components? Cool. Nicely done.
4.5lbs 5.7lbs
The question is did you compromise gain any function, especially in a firearm you are very likely not carrying all that often?
The next question is did you lose or compromise reliability or function, did you give up something necessary or useful to save weight and is that function more useful than the weight savings?
Those aren’t rhetorical questions, they have answers based on your use philosophy and the role the carbine is there to fill. Weight is going to matter most within the context of everything carried and the time it is carried. It is also going to matter how it is carried. A pound saved is almost immaterial if the gun lives in/on a vehicle like a patrol carbine. It saves more if it is hiking with you in the mountains and you have a hard weight cap. But remember you are building for a capability, weight is a single factor.
Hefting capability
The two biggest weight adds, and fatigue points, you might be adding to a carbine are an optic and a suppressor. These also mount in ways that make them leverage on your body above their mass alone. They have a greater fatiguing influence as they are used because of where the weight gets added, especially with suppressors.
That balances against the increased capability the accessories provide the shooter and the amount of time the carbine is expected to be carried and used. Remember, shooting a 2-Day carbine course is not a realistic assessment of use.
Physics
As a final series of thoughts, remember the things that greater mass provides you. Weight absorbs recoil, heavier rifles transfer less recoil to the shooter. This could end up being telling, at least a marginal amount, in how fast you can run the gun and how comfortable it is to run. Heavier might equate to more fatigue, but less felt recoil. Balance. There is no free lunch.
So don’t sweat the small stuff, and ounces you aren’t hefting all that often are small in most realistic circumstances. Your home defense gun being 10lbs instead of 9lbs doesn’t matter if the 10lb gun does what you need and does it well. Your travel carbine bagged up or your patrol carbine in the cruiser being 8lbs or 8.5lbs isn’t going to matter, it is going to matter that you can grab it and it can do what you need on demand.
Now that said let’s not double the weight of a gun. A 15lb behemoth of an AR is going to degrade your capabilities in a way a 5lb one won’t especially outside certain roles. 15lbs on a precision rifle might be fine, but if you are carrying it and it isn’t making your job better/easier then it is likely too much.
Your sweet spot is likely in the 7-11lb range all set up. With 7lbs, maybe less, being a dot, a small light, and no suppressor on an SBR and 11lbs being a rifle with LPVO, suppressor, LAM, and probably an offset dot. Neither end of this range is unreasonable.
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The PC M&P9 Metal M2.0 Spec Series ships in a custom hardcase and includes two 23-round magazines, two 17-round magazines, C.O.R.E TM plate system for mounting optics, a karambit style knife, and custom M&P Spec Series Challenge Coin. The MSRP for this kit is $999.
Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select: SWBI) is a U.S.-based leader in firearm manufacturing and design, delivering a broad portfolio of quality handgun, long gun, and suppressor products to the global consumer and professional markets under the iconic Smith & Wesson® and Gemtech® brands. The company also provides manufacturing services including forging, machining, and precision plastic injection molding services. For more information call (844) 363-5386 or visit smithwesson.com.
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