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Civilian Class I Lasers Now Available from TNVC

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Some very exciting news from Tactical Night Vision Company. They are now selling Class1 Infrared Lasers for Civilians. Laser Devices, Inc (LDI) has begun manufacturing Class1 (eye safe) IR lasers for commercial sale and TNVC, a distributor for LDI, is now stocking these units. Class1 lasers are 0.07mW, providing a precise weapon-mounted aiming solution out to 75-100 yards. These are the first true, IR lasers available for commercial sale and this is the first time civilians can purchase them. Standard power IR lasers (class IIIb) are restricted to government purchase by the FDA. These units are built using LDI’s legacy Milspec body housings which are precision machined aerospace grade aluminum with a Mil-Spec surface anodizing. They have been proven on the battlefield and will stand up to harsh recoil and field abuse. Class1 lasers are available in four variants:

DBLA-I² – Class1 IR laser/ Class IIIa Visible Laser (red or green)
OTAL – Class1 IR Laser
ITAL – Class1 IR Laser
EOLAD 1L – Class1 IR Laser/ Eotech 552 Holo Sight

Now available at www.TNVC.com

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People Get Worked Up Over the Silliest Stuff

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Jeremy Scahill, long obsessed with all things Blackwater, recently made a point about Mossberg selling shotguns emblazoned with the Blackwater logo. Sometimes, I forget that this stuff isn’t common knowledge and don’t realize I should write about it.

You see, there is more to this story that Jeremy apparently didn’t know. He just saw the Bear Paw and lost it. When Erik Prince recently sold Blackwater aka Blackwater USA aka Blackwater Worldwide aka Xe aka US Training Center to his friends (USTC), he kept all of the rights to the Blackwater logo and name. In addition to Mossberg’s guns, Sig also has produces Blackwater branded pistols and has for some time. These licensing agreements predate the sale of the company so are still in effect. No word on how long they are good for, or if Erik Prince is looking to expand his licensing options.

But alas, due to the trademark issue, the BW-15s previously assembled by the armorers at US Training Center may no longer be produced. At some point, they may go back into production building AR-style rifles but the market is already pretty well saturated and they were already over priced. The only reason anyone would have paid their prices was for the Bear Paw logo etched into the receiver. Now that it is no longer an option, USTC may go in another direction producing accurized precision rifles. Time will tell.

So, at this point, Blackwater only exists as a brand and Erik Prince, shrewd business man that he is, kept it for himself. This explains why the Pro shop near Fort Bragg closed so quickly. It was run by Xe and they were losing the right to the Blackwater branding. All of the operations and real estate associated with the former Blackwater now belong to a group of investors collectively referred to as USTC.

Of course, the real takeaway is that Mossberg has retained a license for the Blackwater logo despite the amount of negative press that organization has received over the years. It is a testament to the brand’s popularity, at least among the gun toting public.

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Art of the Precision Rifle from Magpul Dynamics

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

With no fanfare and on the heels of SHOT Show, Magpul Dynamics released the teaser for their upcoming video “Art of the Precision Rifle”. It features the Magpul Dynamics crew along with Todd Hodnett of Accuracy 1st. Travis Haley is in the video and according to Magpul will probably continue to appear in future video productions.

www.magpul.com

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More on the Surefire High Capacity Magazines – Updated

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Note: We have updated story from earlier in the week.

I was finally able to get my hands on Surefire’s new High Capacity Magazines yesterday at the Pre-SHOT Show Aimpoint military shoot. I wanted to see how they worked and what the production fit and finish would look like. They seem to be well conceived and produced. They are available in 60 round and 100 round sizes. You will notice that once you get about 20 rounds into the magazine you can begin to feel the spring tighten up as the rounds are separated. Additionally, the design is quite reminiscent of a US GI mag in that it has a removable base plate for maintenance and cleaning. Also, ATS Tactical is working on a magazine pouch for them but Surefire expects many companies to have their versions of pouches available once these begin to proliferate.

Surefire High Capacity Magazines

Finally, despite numerous articles stating that the new magazines would be a perfect match for the USMC’s new M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle manufactured by H&K, they aren’t. As in most things H&K the engineers overdid it and came up with a better way to build a mousetrap. In this instance, the mag well has a different cant to it and the portion of the magazine that flares to accommodate the increased capacity is too high to seat in a 416-style mag well. This is the same reason you have to use Magpul’s EMAG rather than the PMAG.

Added: Much like the PMAG, the HCM will fit in some 416s. In fact, one of our readers brought to our attention that a 416 was used in a SureFire produced promotional video (see below). Unfortunately, the HCM currently does not work with ALL 416s and their derivatives so, it would not be in anyone’s best interest to pair them with the M27 at this time since there is no way to tell which guns will accept which magazines. H&K reps informed me that they will be doing some testing with the HCMs in the coming weeks. SureFire is going to work through this issue.

Overall, the new magazines will definitely have a place although anti-gunners are taking advantage of the recent tragedy in Arizona to once again introduce legislation to ban high capacity magazines. Unfortunately, we went down this path once before and it hurt the commercial base to the point that issue 15 round magazines for the M9 Beretta were junk because there was no profit-based incentive to produce quality magazines.

If you are at SHOT Show see them at booth #13968 or visit www.surefire.com

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Random Stuff We Saw at SHOT Show

Thursday, January 20th, 2011


Mystery Ranch NICE 6500 in WL Gore’s OptiFade Camo


AAC’s Blank Firing Adapter


CCW Breakaways

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Lancer L5 Advanced Warfighter Magazine

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

We first saw the L5AWM paired with a Beretta ARX160 and were immediately interested. Lancer uses a progressive mold to fully integrate steel feedlips into the polymer design. Additionally, they have incorporated a textured surface to facilitate a positive grip. Finally, they designed the L5ARM to even fit the H&K 416. Available in 20 and 30 round models in Translucent, Translucent Black, Translucent Brown, Black, OD, FDE, and Foliage. They are also toying with the idea of a Clear magazine for training. I am looking forward to when we can check some out.

www.lancer-systems.com

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Crye Changes Everything…Again

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

It seems like just last year we were telling you all about all of these great new Crye Precision products, and just as they are hitting the market, Crye up and does it again.

As we reported some time ago, Crye did in fact win the SOCOM contract for their Low Viz vests. They produced two variants, one for the RBAV armor and the other for the MBAV. They both accept a small chest rig that attaches via SR buckles and the cummerbunds are interchangeable with the skeletonized AirLite cummerbund.

This is the AirFrame helmet with Chops and MultiCam mesh cover.

In addition to the GunClip we wrote about last year and is now available, Crye showed their new MagClip. Weighing a mere ounces, it fits US GI as well as PMAG magazines, clamping around the base of the mag and relies on two fork-style bars that fit around belts or into PALS channels. Unlike other systems, the MagClip remains connected to the magazine.

Crye has also made a couple of changes to their G3 field and combat clothing including larger jacket pockets with huge side entries as well as zippered back pockets and a new tool loop on the trousers. Additionally both field and combat pants share identical pocket layouts. They also are introducing an all weather combat shirt and field pant as well the FieldShell seen above as well as the WindLiner, a simple, lightweight wind shirt. Finally, for clothing Crye is reintroducing the range vest in a much more streamlined form as a cover up for the combat shirt when no armor is being worn.

Crye also introduced FastMits which is a product designed specifically for fast roping. For years, operators have used a variety of solutions including welding gloves which prove to be bulky and difficult to transition from rope to weapon ready. Crye developed an overmitt that is lightweight and is easily stored. They are placed over the operator’s gloves and can be quickly diffed in order to expose the hands to wield a weapon or operate radios or other equipment once safely on the ground.

In the photo below you can clearly see the MagClip attached to the PALS on a Blast Belt in addition to Crye’s dump pouch and zip off back panel.

www.CryePrecision.com

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H&K MR556A1 Now Shipping

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

In addition to the MR556A1 finally shipping here in the US, they have made a couple of additional changes hence the A1 designation. These are in addition to the captive detent take down pins we wrote about during last year’s SHOT Show. As you will remember, these have to be depressed with a tool but help tighten the fit between the upper and lower receivers.

The first improvement is that the rifle can now be placed on safe even if the hammer has fallen. Thanks to a requirement from the German Army, H&K has rectified what we feel is a weakness of the AR-style weapon. You can now move the selector lever no matter if the weapon is cocked or not.

Additionally, they have made some adjustments to improve the fit of the collapsible stock so that it does not move or rattle. This is in the same vein as the take down pins.

Finally, the charging handle is now ambidextrous and can be reconfigured for use as a righty or a lefty. It is not set up for both, so you have to choose. The upper receiver has a groove on both sides to accommodate locking the charging handle.

Prices are somewhere just below $3000 but H&K reps promised uppers as well as full guns.

SHOT Show booth #13172 or www.hk-usa.com

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