Smith & Wesson has a new M&P15 MOE rifle This one is the M&P15 MOE Mid-Length MAGPUL SPEC Series with Magpul furniture and S&W/Magpul co-branded lower receiver (a forged lower based on the original Magpul billet lower). The MOE Mid- comes with the DVD set Art of the Tactical Carbine I and II along with the appropriate Magpul goodies.
The Sphinx, a Swiss SDP pistol is the weapon that stood out most for me at Media Day on the Range (well, other than the Bulldog gatling gun, but you can’t easily carry that concealed or on duty). It has to be hard to come up with a new pistol design that doesn’t mimic what has been done before or try to just combine the various strong points from other pistols and put ’em all together. Not only do most people already have their favorite (often displaying loyalty to the point of zealotry) but barring the advent of an incredibly unique new idea or some new material it’s hard to do something truly original. I really liked the Sphinx, and can say in honesty that it might be one I’d purchase and carry (depending on departmental restrictions and holster availability). That’s the first time in a long time I’ve been able to say that.
Soldier Systems: The Sphinx 9mm Pistol
Joey at War Sport warned us we’d like the Sphinx (they’re owned by Kriss, which he distributes) and he was absolutely right. Sphinx Arms is initially marketing the weapon to military and LE personnel, but are definitely interested in selling to the civilian market. Right now it’s all black, Double-Action/Single-Action with an ambi decock lever and mag catch. One of the really interesting things about it (besides the streamlined way they built the frame, so there’s almost nothing to catch or drag on) is the upper frame, which is built of hard-anodized aluminum (I like the way the Swiss shooters said aluminum) with Teflon inserts. It has a nice integrated recoil buffer, full length guide rods that are machined in (not inserts) and a standard Pic rail with 4 notches.
Though I didn’t notice it at first, the grip is actually interchangeable, with three components. It’s built to withstand extremes of temperature and you can switch the grips out for different shooters (small, medium and large) which might be a plus to agencies where matching the grip of smaller framed officers is a concern (like some female and smaller male LEOs) to some of the hulking neanderthal types (also including some female and many male LEOs).
Soldier Systems Daily: Another view of the Sphinx
The last thing of note are the Defiance sights, which are apparently exclusive to the Sphinx (due to the noise and everything going on I wasn’t able to determine if they were going to eventually offer Defiance sights for sale to retrofit other pistols). Defiance sights are fiber/Tritium day/night green sight with a 2-dot rear sight.
I may wind up getting a Sphinx, if the price is right; if so I’ll give you a more thorough review.
On the range:
-DR
Black is Back by Popular Demand. Black Camo Form that is.
We’ve spoken about the benefits of Camo Form in the past. The tape-like material not only does serves to provide visual camouflage for your weapons and sensitive items, it also enhances the grip and can also help deaden noise created when gear rubs together. Additionally, it leaves no residue when removed.
Reintroduced into the line at SHOT Show, Black has been quite a hit. “Feedback from the 2012 SHOT Show has been great,†said Tanya Brooks, vice president of sales. “Tactical gear buyers were very excited to see the return of this very popular color.â€
“We saw a huge increase in demand after halting production of black Camo Form,†said Travis Huisman, chief operating officer at McNett. “Our customers spoke, we listened and black Camo Form is now back on the shelves.â€
Black CamoForm rejoins MultiCam®, Realtree AP™, Realtree Max-4®, Snow, Standard Desert, Digital Desert, Standard Woodland, Digital Woodland, Universal Camouflage, Mossy Oak® Brush, Mossy Oak® Shadow Grass, Mossy Oak® Break-Up and Mossy Oak® Obsession.
As you are no doubt already aware, a substantial number of companies debuted new weapons this year at SHOT Show. Literally dozens, from the big names like Smith & Wesson, ArmaLite and Benelli to smaller domestic companies to those not as widely known or at least widely distributed here in the US (Caracal, Akkar). One of the pistols I took a look at was a 1911 frame built from the ground up by Cabot Guns of Pennsylvania for left-handed shooters. It’s the only true left-hand pistol on the market right now that I’m aware of. No doubt one of you Soldier Systems readers will have more to offer on the matter.
In fairness, I’m guessing I didn’t get as much out of it as some people might have, because I’m not a mutant. I’m right handed. This thing was smooth though, and had a very nice trigger break. The wood used on the grip was their own, which I thought was interesting (meaning it was wood from their own trees from their own property, behind the shop where they’re built). You don’t see that very often. They also take four months to build each gun, which is also not exactly standard. It’s made of 4140 billet steel, designed to exceed National Match accuracy out of the box, with their own walnut as mentioned earlier and also olive wood or box elder. The front sight they use is called the Rozic blind sight, which comes off the front of the breach face. Sights are tritium, white- or gold-dot.
“Twelve percent of shooters are left handed†said Cabot Guns President Robert Bianchin in an interview. “The industry has ignored the left-handed gun cohort and, while we do not make mass-produced guns, we will do our part to provide a true left-handed shooting experience for a select number of gun enthusiasts.”
If you want one, better get after it. If I understood them correctly they’re only building a few this year. I thought the Cabot representative at Media Day on the Range said a few dozen, the website says one hundred.
For more information, check out Cabot Guns on line. The South Paw is detailed on their website here.
-DR
You may remember last Wednesday we reported on the new minimalist holster from Raven Concealment. Here’s a video going into a little more detail, and some more pictures showing the holster with a different weapon. We talked at length with the boys at Raven Concealment, who advised that Yes, they are working on something for Glocks that use a weapon light, but it will take some time because they’re going to have to build it from the ground up.
SSD: The Vanguard 2 with a long-slide .40 Glock.
The Vanguard II uses the trigger guard to latch onto; that’s obviously not going to work with a pistol light mounted. Next up will be Vanguard II’s for the Smith & Wesson M&P. There are some other things in the works, but we’re going to let them percolate a little more before reporting on them.
This is not a holster they say should be used on duty, before some of you get all up in arms about it. It is a nice way to carry off duty though, and I’ve worn mine now a couple days to see what might cause a loss of retention. So far so good. I even went over a regular chain link fence, though admittedly not at a dead run and unfortunately not in pursuit of a felony suspect. I’m passing it off to some officers to do a little DT next week and will advise how that goes; again, keeping in mind this is for wear off duty and/or concealed.
Forgive the camera work and focus on the product, if you’d be so kind. More on their website and on their Facebook page.
SSD: The other side of the Vanguard 2.
-DR
H&K displayed an example of the new German Army automatic Sniper rifle, the G28. Intended for use in the rifle squad, it was developed as a replacement for the G3 DMR. Although there was a G27 model which was a 417, the Bundeswehr went ahead with the G28 which is based on the 417 but with a steel receiver. This, combined with the full length forend brings it in at a little over 16 lbs. Unfortunately, the rail sections do not extend all the way to the end of the forend.
The stock is a bit different than the 417s in both style and function. The integral cheek riser is adjustable and will reciprocate when you charge the rifle. Additionally, the action is very smooth and it was simple to charge. Interestingly, while the safety is ambidextrous and the upper receiver integrates grooves on both sides to lock the charging handle in place, the weapons comes with two charging handles, a left and right to accommodate all shooters. The buttplate is also adjustable for length of pull.
The dust cover is plastic.
One interesting feature of the scope is the T1 mount.
H&K informed us that the are currently no plans to import the G28. However, there are a few of the accessories They’d probably like to see brought in for integration into the 417.
You can’t deny that the Mossberg 500/590 series of shotguns are popular for both tactical as well as recreational pursuits. At SHOT Show 2012, Mossberg unveiled their new flex system that allows 11 models of shotguns to interchange furniture. This allows the shooter to configure his shotgun for a variety of uses.
The key to the system is the Tool-less Locking System which consists of a series of three connectors to quickly swap out stocks, forends and recoil pads.
Both of these configurations are the same shotgun and the changes were made in less than a minute.
