Whenever I heard the term, “I’m going to put this one in the rotation.” I cringe a bit. Mostly because when someone talks about their concealed carry rotation, it’s essentially a stable of mediocre guns. A lot of times, a concealed carry rotation is used to carry a few different guns based on someone’s feelings.
What they feel like carrying as if a gun is a pair of shoes. You can most assuredly do that if you so choose. It’s your right as an American. However, I’ve been slowly changing my mind as I break out of my comfort zone of polymer frame compacts. However, there is certainly a tactical argument we can have on the merits of a concealed carry rotation.
The Argument For A Rotation
If your argument is because I want to, then you can end it here. That’s most certainly the only argument you need to make to me. That doesn’t mean there can’t be an argument for a carry rotation based on the needs of any given day. I have several different guns I carry fairly often, depending on what exactly is happening that day.
Note excellent fit finish and stitching on the Transit by DeSantis.
Right now, I have a Beretta 3032 in my pocket. It’s great for walking around the house, with formal wear, and in situations where I need deep concealment. My normal carry gun is my P365XL, and that’s what I carry the majority of the time. When I travel, I actually tend to carry a larger gun because I’m away from home quite a distance. This offers me a bigger light, more ammunition, and great capability for hotel defense and on-the-road defense.
Different situations require different guns for some folks. If I lived in a place with a real winter, I might change my gun based on the weather as well. I might want something that deals better penetration through thick coats than a subcompact 9mm firing 124-grain rounds.
The Argument Against a Rotation
The main problem people point out with a carry rotation is the extra training required to learn multiple guns. There is a pretty big use gap between my striker-fired P365XL and my DA/SA Beretta 3032. This requires some transitional training to get good with either weapon. Not to mention, the cost of multiple guns gets high. Not only guns but multiple holsters and ammo types.
Mastering one gun is easier and allows you to really excel and know your gun inside and out. One gun can go a long way, especially if it’s sized just right. It’s often tough to fight the perfect size. Many only want to carry a single gun and will likely aim for a Glock 19-sized firearm and as many holsters as necessary to carry it in any clothing option.
One gun helps you reach peak efficiency in terms of monetary value and training time. Having one gun for concealed carry can certainly be the smart way to go logistically.
Making It Make Sense
If your rotation is nothing but Glock 19 or SIG P365-sized firearms, I can’t say I understand it. However, carrying multiple guns for multiple scenarios speaks a lot to me. I also get why one would only want to carry a single gun. I felt the exact way for quite some time, rarely veering from my Walther PPS until the SIG P365 came out anyway. While it’s always a personal choice, it should make sense to you and make sense tactically.
Michigan is an interesting state, it is decidedly swing politically with the more conservative rural areas clashing voter wise with the urbanized greater Detroit area and overall fairly liberal, in the classic sense, gun laws.
Even with the Governor trying to institute further gun control, as it plays well to her base and makes her AG happy, the state continues to increase its active concealed carry role. Currently just under 11% of the eligible adult population of the state has a concealed pistol license.
The end of summer family vacations over the past month has led to an increase in people taking CPL classes and license applications. As a result, Michigan reached a new all-time high of 813,645 total current concealed pistol license holders as of September 1, 2023. We project continued monthly increases through the end of the year. This month’s full report from the Michigan State Police can be read HERE. – MCRGO September 2023 CPL Report
As political argument continue over the authority of the state to regulate or deny the carry of arms, the popularity of the practice continues to grow. The pandemic violent crime spike was very real and people continue to react by protecting themselves since the state repeatedly and consistently proves inept in that regard.
Yeah.. that is not going to go how you think it will, Governor.
For those who haven’t heard yet, the New Mexico Governor, Michelle Grisham, issued a 30-day ban Friday on the open and concealed carry of firearms on public or state property within Albuquerque. This stay of a constitutionally protected and affirmed right was ostensibly under the Governor’s authority as a “health crisis”.
So criminality is a medical issue and we have 30 days to flatten the murder and violence curve.
Yeah…
That isn’t going to work. She knows it too and has admitted that she does not expect criminals to abide by the order. So what in the wide wide world of sports does she expect from this.
To see how bad this hot take and decision is let’s take a look at who has come out against it.
Yes, that David Hogg. The one who has made his fame advocating for gun control since Broward County’s school resource deputy left his classmates to die (and then was not held to account for that either). Even he has openly declared that this gun control idea is a terrible one and that you can’t just do that. The Governor has assured everyone that she, like, totally can, concealed carry and open carry are like her jurisdiction or whatever, don’t worry about it.
Except, once again, they are not. Nor should they be her purview to suspend, especially under the absurd notion of a “health” emergency. If criminality is a health concern than literally anything can be declared a health concern and a suspension issued by the governor at their whim.
Think about that one. Think about it deeply and consider it. They can’t stop a minor annoyance and yet claim the power and efficacy to curb violence by declaration? In what world? You can take punitive action after an act but people retain the freedom to act in some capacity at all times, even imprisoned persons have agency.
But go off Governor, I guess. Good luck in court, I look forward to your loss. Further erosion of government trust is fine, right? We’re out of expectation to take our elected officials seriously at this point.
Photo of the 24th MEU Memorial for Sgt. Nicole Gee, 1 of 13 of the final US KIA in Afghanistan during the HKIA evacuation.
Via Northern Provisions on IG. Nothing quite captures the anger, pain, and disappointment of the end of the Afghan campaign quite the same...
It has been 22 years since I, with all of my classmates, were summoned into a middle school gymnasium. In a scene mirrored in some manner across the world we sat, confused, and everyone tense as I had ever seen. We were in a small Michigan town and our normally cheery school principal told us, without most of us really knowing what any of it meant, that two planes had struck the World Trade Center in New York.
It has been 22 years since I came home to my father openly weeping while watching the TV. It has been 22 years since I saw the replayed footage for weeks on end of 2,996 people dying.
It has been 22 years since my naïve concept of a “mostly peaceful” 21st Century was torn from my young mind, and realization that violence would need to be met with violence like in every century before took its place. The 20th Century’s lessons didn’t stick well, apparently. Humanity is a stubborn lot…
“Not another Vietnam.”
That is what we were promised. By four presidents, we were promised this would not be another meek and burnt out disaster. Yet two years ago, HKIA proved that whole thing a lie. It’s pretty clear now that we can’t figure out how to leave a fight, not when politicians who have their image to look after are involved. We probably should have wrapped up Afghanistan when we shot Bin Laden, but we didn’t. Instead we wasted time propping up a government that was literally getting rolled up as we left with a full decade more of training, money, and support. Now Afghanistan is back to its Taliban lead war torn mountainous self, with a bunch of US weapons. Our entrenchment was just another chapter.
In the 22 years we fought, we invaded, we killed, many died, more were injured. ISIS even managed to get by and blow the Abbey Gate, killing our 13 and hundreds of Afghans hoping for a spot in the evacuation.
We likely have worse than another Vietnam in some ways, truth be told. Vietnam today is increasingly capitalist and an emerging economy. Still socialist and with plenty of problems, it is nonetheless on a fairly positive trajectory as the world’s 15th most populous nation.
We will not see that in Afghanistan. We will likely not see that in the conflict zones of the Middle East or Africa. What did we stay so long for? We’d already hit back, hard…
Growing up at war
My teen formative years saw us take Afghanistan and Iraq… and then not stop fighting after “winning” them. In a timeframe longer than it took to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan we were still fighting very determined insurgencies.
I’m personally not of the mindset that crushing Saddam, for any reason, was a bad call. But the sketchy nature of the WMD alleged threat vs reality of aging soviet hardware probably being swapped between them and Libya wasn’t great. Neither was the haphazard and terrible way we tried to rebuild Iraq without Baathists, who were literally the whole governing infrastructure because that was a requirement.
I joined that war, one that was allegedly won, in 2007, 6 years and 8 days after it started. Shockingly for joining the infantry and being told, “Here’s the rotation,” I spent my entire contract in the ‘about to be rotated into combat’ part of the military. I would learn later this was an early symptom of today’s glaring problems.
Indecisive and risk averse politicians and military leaders continued to rot and stagnate a military that was continuously ‘kinda deployed’ to ‘sorta war’ where small angry groups would shoot or mortar or IED the coalition on less and less frequent occasion.
Back to Eastern Europe
Today we have a brutal ground war in Europe and a truly troubling amount apathy and disinterest from a world that could very shortly be dragged with no choice to that front. Especially here in the states.
We’ve spent decades pretending that this couldn’t or wouldn’t happen again and walked ourselves into a position of not caring because the political animals both nationally and internationally have so damaged the social trust. The years of the Global War on Terror saw the erosion of social trust like I never dreamed possible, within and without. The military has a historic human resources crisis that they are struggling to manage because GWOT troops are telling people about their real experiences. Going to war isn’t really high on the problem list it turns out. Its the mythical “support system” that doesn’t err on the side of the troops and consistently keeps their lives so hellish that suicide far outpaced combat deaths.
It would be one thing if life were tough but the organization had troops’ backs, as promised, but event, after event, after event proves they do not. Certain leaders do but if that isn’t the case the org will let them rot. They will, like any bureaucracy, protect themselves first. The evidence has became too much for people to keep ignoring.
That isn’t to say the military could not be, isn’t, or cannot be again, a good career path. But the reputation of service has suffered on multiple fronts. We have a government now seemingly solely interested in winning the next popularity contest and doing as little as possible in order to accomplish that for either Red Team or Blue Team. It seems that anything beneficial they actually manage is just a happy accident of them doing the bare minimum things they think their constituents want.
What now?
Despite my bleak few paragraphs above I think this post-9/11 world holds promise, so much promise.
Millennial humor is special breed of dark, as a different war and the information age told us that nobody has a quarter of the clue they were pretending to have. Not the government, not the businesses, not the churches, not anyone. The common refrain is that we have no mid-life crisis on deck since life has just been a rolling crisis.
And in a funny way, that is okay. Because if people who came cluelessly through before us did the best they could and made it, we can too. We’re just more aware of how fragile a lot of the world is. There are still some significant blind spots in that arena, especially when it comes to the first world thinking types who take too many things for granted that are precariously fragile.
We have weak men and women creating some hard times right now. But I feel that the next breed of the strong could be smarter and better than we’ve ever seen before. What we must avoid are the charlatans and the pseudo-strong personalities who promise us our brand of utopia for a cheap seat in power. We must restore trust in our institutions while removing blind faith. We must breed a practiced mentality in our nation and our allies who once again aspire to the nearly unconscious competence of both war and peace.
It’s not how I thought things would go, on nearly any step of the way, but it is far from all bad that we are here.
These are the lives we have.
The lives stolen from many this day 22 years ago, and then stolen in the days since cannot be replaced. They are gone and this is our world to build.
Let’s keep doing something with that. Let’s keep making it a place that those we miss would like to live with us in.
The widespread acceptance and commonality of body armor have allowed the average Joe to equip themselves to defend themselves. On the flip side, body armor use amongst criminals has only grown in the last few years. There is a loud crowd on the internet that will proclaim your chances of meeting an armored threat are small, and it’s not a realistic concern. In reality, if you are a law-abiding person, it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever end up in a violent situation. If we are willing to prepare for the unlikely, it seems perfectly reasonable to prepare for armored threats.
There are plenty of examples of armored threats being violent and criminal. It’s wise we don’t forget the potential of modern armor and prepare to defeat violent criminals who choose to wear it.
Examples of Armored Threats
Brink’s Robbery – You’d think most armored threats are modern, but if we step back to 1981, we see members of the Weather Underground and Black Liberation Army knock off an armored car. They wore body armor and carried rifles in their assault. They killed one guard and two police officers.
Tyler Courthouse Shootout – In 2005, a man waited in ambush to attack his estranged wife and son. He killed the woman and wounded his own son. He wore armor, and several police officers engaged the man but were wounded and retreated. A concealed carrier attempted to intervene but was unfortunately killed. An officer with a rifle finally showed up and ended the threat.
Dallas Shootings – A lone gunman enraged with the police utilized rifle to rifle and ambush police. These police were wearing soft armor only at the behest of government officials. Five officers were killed, nine officers were wounded, as were two civilians. An EOD robot armed with a pound of C4 ended the man’s rampage.
These are three quick examples, but there are many more. The Sutherland Springs shooter, the shooter in Buffalo, and many more wore body armor when they conducted their crimes. Google the term, the suspect wore body armor, and you’ll see a number of lower-profile events that involved the criminal use of body armor.
How Does That Affect You?
The most important thing you can do is remember that armored threats exist. It happens, and you should be prepared for it. If you’re aware of this possibility, then you’ve taken a step in the right direction. The next step is to train.
BB guns and Body Armor
What do you train for? I recommend the same thing we all train for. You want to be able to hit a target, specifically a small target, with relative ease and efficiency. Being able to hit a small target quickly and easily helps you strike the smaller vital zone of armored threats. Namely the head of the target.
Practicing the classic failure-to-stop drill can be a great way to deal with armored threats. Regardless of the type of armor, two shots to the body will make anyone pause. A quick transition to a headshot down the threat in most situations.
There is also the pelvic shot. Pelvic shots with rifles and shotguns can be absolutely brutal. It makes it pretty tough to fight. In a home defense scenario, a pelvic shot also provides a safer angle of fire in case there is an issue with an unsafe backstop. With a handgun, it’s less likely to do a ton of damage, but if that’s your shot, a bullet anywhere is better than hesitation.
Finally, don’t get wrapped up in the old two shots, and it’s over philosophy. That’s a very silly way to do things. Be prepared to keep shooting until the threat stops being a threat. Armored threats are rare, but they exist, and with armor getting cheaper and more accessible, it might be a more realistic threat than you imagine.
I try to avoid “reaction” or response videos, but there seem to be a few common threads that regularly pop up in the comments that I felt were worth addressing:
I have quite a few favorite individual handguns and a number of favorite types as well. I really enjoy a good single action revolver, a double action Smith & Wesson, and a quality 1911. I despise cheap imitations and guns that are not reliable. No shortage of those! Folks love to love the 1911 and then some love to hate the pistol. Some had a bad experience with a cheap pistol other just don’t quite apply themselves to the piece. That’s fine there are plenty of good quality handguns available and you don’t need a 1911 if you don’t care to train with the piece and maintain it as well. I would never issue the 1911 to a modern institution but regard it today as a personal handgun for those willing to take an immersion class in the pistol.
When Savage introduced a 1911 almost a year ago, I was pretty interested in what they would do with it. Turns out they abandoned the race to the bottom in price and elected to offer a quality pistol at a fair but far from cheap price point. The offerings include both 9mm and .45 caliber pistols, a two-tone version, and stainless and Melonite coated black guns. I think that for longevity service and corrosion resistance a stainless steel pistol is best. Just the same I grabbed the first pistol in the tri county area that became available a blue .45 caliber version. It suits me well. The pistol features a unique slide treatment to give the pistol identity as a Savage. Unlike the original SIG offering which also featured a distinctive slide the Savage fits standard holsters. The slide features a mostly ornamental cut between the sights. The barrel is nicely fitted and slides into battery nicely as the slide is racked. I found the barrel bushing tight, I used a bushing wrench the first time I disassembled the pistol. It loosened with use. The recoil assembly isn’t a FLGR. The assembly is a standard recoil spring and guide to a point. The recoil spring is a new item for a 1911 a spring within a spring type. Since the pistol is reliable and functions with a wide range of ammunition I would say Savage made a wise choice. The sights are excellent hands down a great choice for a combat gun. They are Novak Lo Mount. The front sight features a highly visible tritium dot while the rear sight features a bar. This bar dot pattern offer good accuracy in fast shooting day or night.
Combat accuracy is excellent.Surefire/Savage- an unusual combination pressed into service.
The pistol features both front and rear cocking serrations that work as well as any other. My pistol is a rail gun there is also a standard dust cover version. I suppose this is a good feature but as I said the first gun in town. Let’s some at the Savage spec sheet a moment and check off some items. The pistol features forged not cast frame and slide. A 5.0-inch stainless steel barrel. The pistol is a Government Model with five-inch barrel and steel spring. Dual recoil spring system with GI-style guide rod and fitted barrel bushing. The ejection port has been lowered and scalloped. Nitride-coated titanium firing pin for reliable, long-lasting performance. This is a Series 70 type pistol without a drop safety or firing pin block. Novak Mega Dot sights and an absence of MIM or cast parts. An ambidextrous slide lock safety. VZ G10 Grips facilitate a firm grip even with wet bloody or sweaty hands. The 9mm offers 11 rounds total the .45 nine. I am hoping the pistol will be available and less expensive than at first blush but an average price near $1499 seems likely. However- I found a stainless steel model at Cheaperthandirt.com for $1281 and a stainless pistol without rail for $1221 so the pistol is getting traction. If you have an FFL like mine with a good relationship with his distributor (he pays bills on time) maybe you will find one at a fair price.
That’s the necessary nuts and bolts of can you actually find the gun? Yes, you can. Moving forward the front strap isn’t checkered, which it probably should be but I fired the pistol just fine. The slide lock safety locks in place smartly and the trigger is smooth. Smooth enough for some very good shooting. The trigger began as a smooth enough action with minimal take up and a sharp reset. With the RCBS trigger gauge the trigger broke 5.6 pounds for an average of ten pulls. The pistol is supplied with two magazines. A word to the wise- if you bet your life on a 1911 good magazines begin with MecGar. McCormick is good and Wilson Combat my favorite. Cobra mags are great and the super tough D&L Sports are good magazines. I trash canned the number two Savage magazine not a happy moment. I am glad it wasn’t the gun at fault causing short cycles.
Note case cannelure and good quality manufacture of Winchester hardball ammunition. Winchesters 1911 hollowpoint is an excellent loading.Winchester offers first class ammunition for the .45 ACP pistol. Winchester ammunition was used in the evaluation.
Most of the ammunition fired in the initial test was Winchester 230 grain FMJ. During the first World War Winchester was given a military contract for ammunition. The allowed number of primer failures was one in one hundred thousand unheard of at the time. Winchester met that standard and is even better today. While modern expanding bullet ammunition is good there is no more reliable loading in the handgun world than a 230 grain FMJ .45 ACP with primer seal and a cannelured case. This cannelure prevents the bullet from being pressed backward during the feed cycle. I fired 50 rounds of this load and also 50 rounds of standard Winchester 230 grain ball. A sacrifice really because I don’t know when it can be replaced! The pistol stays on target and offers excellent hit probability. Draw, put the Mega Dot on target, and you have a hit. The majority of ammunition as expended from five to ten yards. This pistol is all 1911 in its speed to an accurate first shot. Recoil impulse is muted compared to most steel frame 1911 handguns. The piece runs flawless- once I ditched a junk magazine.
The sight picture is ideal!
Note the Savage pistol’s unique slide treatment.
Firing for accuracy may not be as important as combat accuracy but tells us something about the pistols fitting and quality. I broke out a box of 1911 loads from Winchester. One of the least heralded loads is this 230 grain JHP at 840 fps. Basically, a heavier version of the Silvertip this load expands well. Winchester offered this load with a standard copper jacket- the 1911 is flash plated like the 185 grain Silvertip- and that load also expands very well. I moved into a solid bench rest firing position and touched off five shots at 15 yards. The result was a 1.2-inch group. I also fired the 230 grain FMJ G.I. load and this load at 856 fps went into 1.5 inch. I also fired the Winchester USA Ready 200 grain Defense. This is among the best designed and predictably effective load available in .45 ACP. A 200-grain bullet a 1021 fps must be respected. Five shots in 1.65 inch for that one. A few weeks into the test I had the chance to bench rest the pistol at a long 25 yards. I used a shooting rest firing over the range bag. This time I had the Winchester 185 grain Silvertip. At 980 fps is a controllable loading noted for good expansion. It is not particularly revered for accuracy potential. A flash plated aluminum jacket running down a copper washed bore has something to do with this accuracy potential I am certain. Just the same a 2.9-inch group at 75 feet is respectable. I could have adjusted the elevation as the rear sight is screw adjustable, however, I am probably going to deploy 230 grain loads. The Silvertip fired two and one-half inch low. Five shots went into 3.00 inches. Moving to 230 grain FMJ loads five shots cut a 2.2-inch group. That is very good for a quality 1911. I sacrificed a few of my handload using a 185-grain button nose SWC at 1050 fps. Five shots went into 1.9 inch. That was enough concentration and keeping a vise like grip on the pistol. This piece will shoot. During the evaluation there were no failures to feed chamber fire or eject attributable to the pistol. The Savage 1911 should have a bright future.
Online people are quick to profess “concealed means concealed” and “I don’t care what the rules say, unless there’s a metal detector I’m carrying my gun!”
Anytime you bring up the possible consequences of being discovered, they’re quick to say “well I’d rather be unemployed than dead!” or “I’ll just get a new job!”.
I really didn’t want to make this video, but I felt that I had to, because nobody talks about these types of negative outcomes. There’s no first hand account to hold up as an example of the things that can go wrong. Since people are so quick to dismiss theoretical situations, I feel obligated to share my story.
Once you watch this you’ll understand why those flippant responses are so rage-inducing for me. My hope is that people learn from my experience, and have a better appreciation for everything they’re putting on the line if they choose to ignore the rules. I’m not about to tell anyone what to do. I merely present this as a cautionary tale, so that people can make the most educated decision possible. Everyone is so eager to prepare for the worst case situation that they completely ignore the much more probably, and almost equally severe consequences of situations in between.
Sorry for the lack of background. I was filming this with natural light, and once this ball got rolling there wasn’t any stopping it. As you’d imagine, I didn’t really care to relive these events more than once, so this is the first and only cut.
I reviewed the Wedge a couple of years ago, and it’s been my go-to EDC light since then. It’s small, flat, easy to carry, and disappears with ease into my pocket. It’s also clearly a long-lasting, durable design. With that said, I’m pretty spoiled by weapon lights. My P365 wears a TLR 7 SUB, and I’ve got a Surefire XSC in case it fails. With that said, I’ve taken to carrying smaller guns, like a little Beretta Tomcat. No rail, so there is no light, so I’ve had to revert to my Wedge for PID purposes. Additionally, I recently acquired a Taurus 856, and it’s likely to become my carry revolver.
I’ve since hit the range and practiced with a number of flashlights. Including some that are much more powerful than the Wedge. I figured might as well amp up the lumens and candela if I’m only carrying one light. Yet, I keep coming back to the well that is the Streamlight Wedge. The same design that makes it easy to carry makes it easy to shoot with.
The Wedge offers up to 1,000 lumens backed by 3,000 candela in its optional THRO mode. That’s not a ton of light, but it’s enough to reach out in a dark alley or parking lot and easily identify a threat. While more is better, I do feel it’s adequate for concealed carry.
Shooting With the Wedge
The Wedge offers a very flat profile that makes it easy to fit into your hand while gripping your firearm. In practice, this allowed me to have a more natural grip over the gun and light at the same time. A more natural grip ensures I have a better grip over the gun, and a better grip means more control. As an amateur revolver shooter, I need all the help I can get.
I used the Wedge alongside traditional techniques like the Harries grip and found I had way better results with the Streamlight. I’ve done a lot of dry fire practice, and my 856 wears a red dot. It’s easy to see imperfections in your grip with a red dot, and I saw a lot less of those imperfections with the Wedge than with other lights and grips.
In live fire, it certainly resulted in greater accuracy and more control. I’m still a stock standard amateur with revolvers, but I didn’t see a ton of difference between my accuracy with or without the light. To me, this means the light isn’t interrupting my ability to get projectiles on target.
How to Shoot With the Wedge
I assume a fairly standard grip with my dominant hand. With this established, I use my support hand to bring the Wedge to sit between the thumb and middle finger of my dominant hand. This allows me to naturally bring my hands together. This grip style doesn’t create a massive gap between my two hands.
The light itself is pinned in place, and my offhand thumb can activate the light. One issue I ran into when first trying this technique is that the thumb that activates the light was in line with the gap between the cylinder and barrel. This will create quite the sting. I found an easy cure and flipped the light over. The activation button faces the ground now. The trigger finger of my non-dominant hand activates the light.
The Wedge has some grooves in it that are for hand-holding. This places the light fairly far back anyway and typically gets you well out of the line of cylinder gap. However, with the button facing down, there is no digit directly in line with the cylinder blast. Even if the finger was near the gap, the aluminum body of the light offers some protection.
Blasting Away
If I’m going to carry a smaller, more easy to carry gun, I best make up for the capabilities it doesn’t have. The same goes for a revolver. Practicing with alight was just one small step in improving proficiency and ensuring I wasn’t sacrificing any capability. I just so happened to find that with little guns, the little light worked well. The Wedge makes shooting with a small gun or revolver a breeze.
This is more of an initial impressions piece than a full on review, but review is what people search, and search engines need keywords, so here we are. The IWI Carmel review, ten magazines in.
IWI began shipping the Carmel this past month, August 2023, and the rifle has been popping up around social media circles and in both the store and hand as the first several thousand units hit the distribution streams.
What is the Carmel?
The International Carmel Variant you can currently find on IWI.net
The Carmel is a competitor to rifles like the SCAR and ACR. It was developed in that late 2000’s and 2010s turn-of-the-century timeframe and the design philosophy and its international intent is reflected in the design choices. Shorter handguards for shorter barrels, differences in sling mounts, gas settings, etc.
If it looks like the FN SCAR, Bushmaster/Remington ACR, and HK433, that is because it was meant to compete with them inside and out.
It was first “leaked” to the world in 2019 at LAAD in Brazil, the US Market got hungry for it and… there were no plans on the table to bring it to the US. The international division was then baffled as to why the US Market wanted their cool new carbine. Sure it was cool. Sure it was new. Sure it was a carbine, even. But what about those traits spoke to a market in the United States that is ravenous for cool, new, high quality 5.56 carbines?
Who could guess. We may never know.
Snark about understanding the US market aside, the IWI US Team knew and quickly moved to remedy the situation. Which was not easy…
Getting into the weeds on getting items approved for import with the ATF would be a whole lotta (this is a specific measurement of effort) sighing and frustration, sufficient here to say the original version and several modified versions of the original version weren’t cutting it with ATF, because they have a silly rulebook full of silly scoring metrics for imported firearms. The rules are made up and the points don’t matter.
Except when ATF says no, no it is.
So a United States specific variant was designed and produced. It is the full production model and the only one available.
With the production update, engineers took the opportunity to input some product improvements and features that the US Market specifically enjoys and move the design forward. The US variant has a marked increase in accuracy over the original international thanks to a redesigned and improved receiver/barrel interface. Gone too is the ‘quick change’ fad of the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, what a silly thing that was. Quick change at the ‘armorer’ level is very different than at the ‘operator’ level, yes a lot of us at home are both but we want the ease at the armorer level.
The barrel is still simple and easy for an armorer to change with a torque wrench and proper bits, but thankfully we’ve shelved the obsession with needing it on demand, on the fly, in the field. What a weird time. Literally nobody needed that.
Anyway, back to the Carmel. The handguard was lengthened and brought to M-LOK standard to conform more to modern barrel and ancillary standards. It will still be able to take a chopped or shorter barrel in the future. The lower receiver was modified to take AR pattern grips and comes with one of my favorites, the B5 Systems. Quick detach points for a sling replaced some of the HK/Cord hard points and an M-LOK QD point is included for the handguard, bringing the sling point total to five. Four fixed points, two mirrored QD on the receiver and two mirrored hooks on the stock, and one M-LOK QD placed by the operator or armorer.
Finally, the gas system on the 16″ CHF chrome-lined and floated barrel was simplified from the three position of the original into a two position, suppressed and normal operation. Time and experience indicate that having an ‘adverse’ gas setting breaks more rifles through increased wear than tear (and accidently selecting it) than it has saved lives by allowing a sluggish rifle to function. The near universal standard for the modern piston gun is to over gas the ‘normal’ operating setting just a small amount and accept the mild increase in recoil in exchange for absurdly boring levels of reliability with almost all ammunition. The US Carmel also foregoes iron sights, as the US Market is extremely preferential on our optic suites.
The Carmel retains the fully ambidextrous control suite, the tool-less quick reverse charging handle, and the folding stock design with its multi-position length of pull and cheek comb height. The muzzle device is in classic IWI fashion, with a torqued counter nut, and replacing and timing a suppressor host or personal preference of muzzle device is simple.
That’s the new US variant.
Add sight.
Add sling.
Go to work.
So I did.
Shooting the new Carmel
I zeroed it up with a simple adjusted 25/100 for the Primary Arms PLXc and the offset EPS at 50. I haven’t confirmed at 100 and beyond yet but that will come later. It was sufficient for the short distance drills I was planning to run.
A few magazine changes, a few target transitions, a few soft and hard stoppages clearances and I was quite satisfied with how the Carmel was performing ergonomically. It out of the box was offering me the feel and flexibility of rifles I had to tune up a bit with parts swaps. None of that here.
Next I brought it out to an informal range session with some veteran friends. They’re drilling up for the Michigan Governor’s 20 match and we used the opportunity to run some structured practice. Shooting faster under time and distance standards brought the real mettle of this carbine out and it is rapidly solidifying my opinions from handling the prototypes.
This thing slaps. The Carmel is every bit of the uncomplicated, reliable, and accommodating fighting rifle I expect from IWI US. It is holding its own against every premium current Gen 5.56 NATO carbine being offered, with comparable or superior features as factory standard.
The price tag is legit too, saving between 20-100% of its sticker against competitive offerings.
Conversion to SAO has resulted in a handgun with greater accuracy potential.
Variations on a proven handgun may be very interesting. In this case Beretta has managed to introduce a pistol maintaining the good accuracy and reliability of the original Beretta 92 while incorporating several important improvements. The degree of improvement depends on your point of view. Some will prefer the original double action first shot Beretta others will find the new pistol’s single action trigger and reshaped grip frame an improvement. The Beretta 92 is among the most combat proven pistols in the world. The Beretta Model 92 was introduced more than forty five years ago. The pistol owes mot of its design excellence to the pace setting Walther P 38. Modifications to the locking block recoil system and magazine resulted in what was at the time of its development in the 1970s a very modern pistol.
The Model 92XI SAO pistol is a single action only trigger version of the 92X. This pistol features a modern flat faced trigger. The frame mounted ambidextrous safety is a speed type. This safety firmly locks up with a positive ident. The pistol features an anodized black aluminum frame and natural finish stainless steel slide. The slide features well designed forward cocking serrations. The pistol features a light rail in the aluminum frame. I ordered an Inforce combat light from Cheaperthandirt.com for evaluation purposes. The light fit well and provided a solid lockup.
This is a reliable and well finished pistolNote dual safety leverThe pistol is well made of good material and offers excellent overall performanceDisassembly is standard Beretta 92
The Beretta Vertac frame is part of the redesign of the 92X to single action. This is a straight backstrap grip similar to the 1911 pistol. While wide enough to accommodate the Beretta’s double column 9mm magazine the Vertac grip frame is more similar to the 1911 than the original model 92 in feel when firing. Both front and rear grip strap are nicely serrated. The grip panels are checkered black plastic. The barrel is 4.7 inches long. In common with other Beretta 92 variants this longer than most barrel offers good velocity. A full powder burn is desirable as this makes for lessened muzzle signature. The rear sight is serrated on the rear face while a red fiber optic front sight offers rapid sight acquisition. The pistol is supplied with two 18 round magazines. During testing I drew the Beretta from the DeSantis Speed Scabbard. This is an excellent all around holster offering real utility and a good balance of speed and retention.
I had some adjustment to make in quickly actuating the safety compared to a 1911. It isn’t quite as ergonomic but may be learned. I usually moved the safety to fire as the pistol cleared leather just in front of the holster with the muzzle clear of my body. With the 1911 you may wait until you are on target. This safety isn’t quite as easily to manipulate as a modern High Power variant or a SIG P210.
Combat shooting results are excellent. The pistol responds well to a trained shooter with the typical Beretta modest muzzle flip and fast recovery. Most of the 400 cartridges I have fired over the past few months have been expended in rapid fire at 7, 10, and 15 yards- slowing down the further the target. The pistol has been proofed with a good mix of expanding bullet loads. I find the Beretta 92XSAO a good choice for those who appreciate the reliability of the Beretta platform but would prefer the Vertac grip and a single action trigger.
The author executed a few cranio ocular shots. The pistol has potential! Combat firing was easy enough with an easy shooting pistol with good potentialThe DeSantis Speed Scabbard offers an adjustment for tilt/rake by selecting one belt loop or the otherThe DeSantis Speed Scabbard is a modern well designed strong side OWB holster. The balance of speed and retention is excellent. This holster is a standard of comparison to other gear
Accuracy results- fired from the MTM Caseguard K Zone shooting rest from a benchrest firing position at 75 feet. Accuracy is expressed in the form of a five shot group measured from the inside of the most widely spaced bullet holes one to the other.
Accuracy
Load
Velocity
Winchester 115 grain Silvertip
1201 fps
3.0 inch
Winchester 124 grain +P
1198 fps
1.8 inch
Remington 115 grain JHP
1166 fps
2.5 inch
Remington 147 grain Golden Sabre
990 fps
2.0 inch
Federal 124 grain American Eagle FMJ
1150 fps
1.95 inch
Federal 124 grain Hydra Shock
1170 fps
2.45 inch
Hornady 124 grain XTP
1160 fps
1.75 inch
Hornady American Gunner 124 grain +P
1221 fps
2.4 inch
Beretta 92XI SAO Specs
Caliber: 9mm
Action: Single
Barrel Length: 4.7 inches
Firing Mechanism: Semi-automatic
Grip Width: 1.5 inches
Historical: N
Magazine: 18, 15, or 10
Overall Height: 5.4 inches
Width: 1.5 inches
Overall Length: 8.5 inches
Rail: Yes
Safety: Frame Mounted Safety
Sight Radius: 6.1 inches
Sights: Fiber Optic Front Sight + Full Serrated Black Rear Sight
If you watch any Youtube gun channels, you’re likely being hit with targeted advertisements from gun companies, right? I’m sure you are, and you’ve likely seen one of the worst. You know, the one where a gruff voice says something along the lines of “Some people say dogs are a man’s best friend, but this bad boy is my best friend!” And he’s holding a Glock. It’s almost as if you can judge a company’s products by its advertising. However, that’s not entirely true.
The World Of Gun Advertisements
EAA has those very bizarre print ads where women are some odd form of cyborg and CZ clone. While the ads are odd, the EAA-imported Witness series are very nice firearms. Gun advertising itself is a bit of an interesting topic. It’s been somewhat controversial over the years. This is especially true when gun companies are directly advertising to the average everyday Joe.
Advertising to police, military, and security has always been fairly straightforward. Advertising to the civilian firearm market has always been tricky. It’s certainly not getting any better. Some companies have certainly leaned into their reputation, and Intrate, makers of the TEC-9, used to advertise it as having a fingerprint-resistant texture and that it’s as tough as your toughest customer.
Sometimes firearms companies advertise in somewhat cringy ways. Bushmaster’s famous “Consider your man card reissued” advertisements still make me sigh. Worse than that, the ad was part of the lawsuit filed by the families of Newtown. Remington settled for $73 million with the families. They claimed the ad targeted young, at-risk males. That seems a bit of a stretch but it still cost $73 million.
More recently, Daniel Defense came under fire for an ad they tweeted. It showed a Daniel Defense AR and a child with the phrase stating, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” That attracted a ton of negative attention from the antigun folks. The media tried to somehow imply that such an ad would cause mass shootings.
Another company, Wee 1 Tactical, produces a rifle called the JR-15. It’s a very basic .22LR rifle that looks like an AR-15. It’s no more an AR-15 than every other straight blowback .22LR rifle. However, the very idea of a safe, ergonomic platform to teach kids to shoot caused quite a bit of malarkey. Enough to attract the attention of Senators and Congressmen. There are calls to investigate Wee 1 Tactical by the FTC. It’s absurd, but it’s the world we are living in.
The Changing World of Gun Ads
I know a friend who works at Mossberg, and they recently changed some terminology to avoid the ire of the antigun, lawsuit-friendly crowd. The Newtown suit was a wake-up call to the industry. They’ve since changed the name of their youth model stocks to Bantam.
Firearms advertising seems to have become a field of land mines these days. It’s easy to trip up and find yourself on the front page of CNN’s website as they gleefully proclaim your work caused death in some odd way. I know people who say they aren’t affected by advertising, they typically don’t know what they are talking about. The reason so much is spent on advertising is simple, it works and we have a ton of data showing the how’s and why’s.
However, I highly doubt advertisements implying kids can be taught to shoot responsibly can cause a mass shooting. The same goes for the cringe ads. Sure, they are cringe, but they aren’t going to cause a monstrous reaction.
Trying to say they are is an absolute farce. The firearms industry as a whole is very dedicated to firearm safety. Enough so that the firearm industry actively shames unsafe firearm handling and the people that do it. Firearm advertisements are dog whistles to mass hooters. It’s just the antigun industry finding a new way to fund itself.
Note from the Editor: Efforts by antigun politicians and organizations are themselves advertisements. Advertising works by keeping a brand in the mind of the general population and building certain associations about it. Antigun politicos use a variety of techniques to try and broadly appeal the guns bad message, luckily for us they are often juvenile and imbecilic which tends to improve the credibility of progun messages and advertising.
Firearm ads have to walk a fine line in targeting the right customers, selling their features, and standing out. All the while being blackballed from anything but gun-related websites, magazines, and television networks. On top of that, they have to avoid being cringe and being the subject of a future litigious mob.
With that said, maybe EAA has something with the gunleg lady. It’s so bizarre and absurd that maybe that’s the way to go. Who dares call out the gun leg lady? Hell, we all remember it to this day, so maybe it’s effective.
The Adams Arms rifle seems well made of good material.
First- the Adams Arms AR 15 illustrated is a basic AR available for less than eight hundred dollars at Cheaperthandirt.com. There are much better equipped rifles for more money from Adams Arms. My gun was purchased as a lark but ended up involved in a serious two year ammunition test program. The Adams Arms rifle never failed to feed chamber fire or eject. Accuracy has been more than acceptable. The big difference in this and other rifles is that the Adams Arms rifle is a piston driven rifle. The AR 15 rifle has been in use for decades and has become America’s rifle. Military and law enforcement use is often the primary focus. But my thoughts are that in the civilian market ten to one the rifles are purchased for recreation target shooting and hunting. Pride of ownership is another important reason for owning and AR 15 rifle. I own several and enjoy them very much. I really never give a thought to personal defense use- my home defense long gun is a 12 gauge shotgun. Just same if gangs or a takeover robbery were a threat the AR 15 would be at the top of my list. Low recoil proven wound ballistics and complete reliability are a big plus.
The AR 15 has undergone many changes and upgrades. Some of these upgrades are for concerns more perceived than real. Barrel twist rates heavy barrels and superior means of mounting optics and lights have been addressed. Some of the changes have been beneficial. Some just too much for me and others but a reasonably upgraded rifle is a joy to fire and use. The rifle features a gas system known as gas impingement. This system has seen as dirty- but it takes a lot of shooting to prove this out as you know- and the gas impingement system is seen as simple enough and reliable. An alternative to the gas impingement system is the piston driven system.
Reliability was never a concern with this rifle.
The Adams Arms rifle is a standout as the rifle is affordable while most rifles of the type are more expensive. The piston driven rifle may have benefits over the gas impingement rifle. A gas impingement rifle vents a small amount of gas into a gas port in the barrel as the rifle fires. The gas block is located on the barrel. The gas bled off through the gas port is sent down a stainless steel tube and into upper receiver. The tube transfers gas to the bolt carrier. The carrier is sent to the rear to cycle the bolt during the firing cycle. This is a simple enough system. I hesitate to call any system fool proof but millions of rifles have proven extremely reliable in harsh conditions and high round counts. I don’t mind doing maintenance to my rifle and find the system easily maintained. But then I am not a solider and I don’t engage in 3gun competition to be fair.
A pistol drive system is more similar to the AK 47 or Garand gas system. The basic change is that the hollow gas tube of the gas impingement system is replaced by a piston driven system using a solid rod. This rod is actuated by gas pressure to move the bolt carrier. There have been early experiments with the AR type piston design but for the most part the AR’s primary focus has been gas impingement.
So does piston operation make for a more efficient function? Perhaps. The piston drive AR 15 rifle doesn’t vent powder gas into the upper receiver. This makes for cleaner operation. The piston driven gun does indeed run cleaner. I suppose I could clean my guns more often and again they are not on the edge of service or on the point. If they were then I would take more time with maintenance. I am not one of those writers to pretend I confront danger on a regular basis. Not that I have not had an active life I hesitate to call it adventure. The piston driven rifle more of the ejecta is accumulated in the barrel extension than the bolt. A reason the rifles are more expensive is that all piston systems are not the same and also that production isn’t as universal as the gas impingement type resulting in more manufacturing cost.
The Burris Optics red dot gave excellent results.We did not use any gas setting other than the factory default.
It is beyond my scope of experience but an experienced association tells me that the shorter the barrel the more you need a piston driven system, especially if you intended to add a suppressor. It is proven that piston driven guns do not heat up as quickly as gas impingement guns. Perhaps lube will not cooks off as quickly and running cooler can be a good thing. And then we have the disadvantage of greater cost and weight. I don’t consider the slightly greater weight a drawback but then I don’t carry a rifle on my back all day. It is a toss up in some ways but depending on exactly the requirements you have and the use the rifle will be put to the piston system may be best.
I chose a base rifle for my testing. The goal was to fire 500 rounds in the rifle and test reliability. Despite burnouts and test of rather dubious value and validity 500 cartridges is a goodly amount of ammunition. I would fire these cartridges for reliability and accuracy. I felt that this is a good test of a rifle in the get your feet wet category. The base gun is sometimes found for sale for six hundred dollars or so. This is an affordable AR for the quality and a good test bed for piston operation. I added a Burris Strike Fire red to the rifle. I have enjoyed good results with this red dot on a half dozen rifles. In firing this ammunition the rifle proved reliable. Accuracy was good for an entry level AR 15. Perhaps a scope with a reticule rather than using the Burris red dot on the lowest dot setting would have given superior accuracy. But the Burris certainly provides good accuracy potential and real both eyes open speed.
Firing tests
Load
Velocity
100 yard group
Black Hills 36 grain Varmint Grenade
3590 fps
2.3 in.
Fiocchi 40 grain V Max
3701 fps
2.4 in.
Fiocchi 50 grain Field Dynamics
3,313 fps
2.0 in.
Black Hills 55 grain JSP
3,001 fps
2.0 in.
Reminton UMC 55 grain FMJ
2999 fps
1.95 in.
Tula 55 gr. FMJ
2732 fps
3.9 in.
Federal American Eagle 55 grain FMJ
3020 fps
2.3 in.
Federal Green Tip 62 grain
3111 fps
1.75 in.
Fiocchi 69 gr. SMK
2589 fps
1.9 in.
Hornady 75 grain TAP
2650 fps
2.0 in.
Black Hills 77 grain
2689 fps
1.65 in.
The dirtiest loads were steel cased variants no surprises there. The Adams Arms rifle offers a gas adjustment to tune function with light or heavy loads and suppressor use. We used the factory setting and did not adjust the settings.
After the test the gun was dirty but never was no instance in which the bolt slowed or malfunctioned. The Adams Arms rifle- their entry level rifle- with a stock 7.0 pound trigger and red dot sight is accurate enough for most chores.
Much of the ammunition was fired in rapid fire and off hand testing. Results were good. Results in slow fire and in rapid fire off hand were good.
SPECS
Upper Receiver: A4 Flat-Top, Forged
Barrel Length: 16″
Barrel Contour: M4
Barrel Material: 4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium Steel
Muzzle Thread Pattern: 1/2″-28
Chrome Lined: No
Barrel Finish: QPQ Melonite / Black Nitride
Twist Rate: 1 in 7″
Chamber: 5.56x45mm NATO
M4 Feed Ramps: Yes
Bolt Carrier: Full-Auto Rated 1-Piece w/Integral Piston Strike Face
Sights: Williams Adams Arms Flip Up sights
Muzzle Device: A2 Flash Hider
Gas System Length: Midlength, Short Stroke Piston Operated
I’m currently on vacation and this is publishing on a timer but whenever I see good Galil content I enjoy sharing it, sharing the creators, and sharing the fact the IWI produces the finest modern AK evolution currently available.
Especially if you want a 5.56.
As many are aware, 5.56 is a finicky cartridge to make work in AK receivers, similar to 7.62x39mm being rather persnickety in AR receivers. The dimensions being worked on and with don’t always do what we’d like.
In AK’s, the space available that usually isn’t any issue with the more aggressively tapered rounds suddenly gives little pathways for the 5.56 to just tuck itself into on occasion unless internals were very closely toleranced to avoid that. Yes, several AKs are properly made to run 5.56. The Polish make an excellent example.
The other way around has 7.62 stretching the space limits of barrel extensions and chambers meant for 5.56, this too can lead to problems.
The Galil is neatly and smartly designed to handle all four calibers it runs, the two NATO and the two x39 Russian rounds. The 5.56 and 7.62 NATO guns add common western magazine compatibility, bolt lock/release, and dimensionally deal with the operation through smart receiver design. That piston, bold, recoil system, and trunnion are still all classic AK though. The guns’ cores are largely unaltered. Free-float M-LOK rails adding the wide ancillary compatibility round it all out.
I will however cede that the Gen I Galil ACE series did look cooler. Much more a vibe as we way nowadays.
