ADS TV presents the latest episode of “By Our Hands – Stories of American Industry” as they take you into Rocky Boots. “By Our Hands” is a behind-the-scenes look at the people and culture of American manufacturers who support of U.S. Military, Law Enforcement, and First Responders.
At SHOT Show be sure to stop by ADS Booth #20415, Rocky Brands Booth # 11340.
In 2007, Magpul Industries launched Magpul Dynamics, a firearms training division focused on the development of firearms manipulation skills. Over the last seven years through firearms courses and media projects, Magpul Dynamics changed the nature of the firearms training world at a fundamental level.
Over recent years, with a new staff, Magpul Dynamics focused inwards a bit. We still held a number of training courses, but we engaged in more skill development and general outreach to our end users. We immersed ourselves in the product development process, contributing to over 50 innovative new offerings throughout this past year. Perhaps most importantly, we focused on Magpul’s foundations and how to best present that face to the world as we move forward.
In addition to assisting in the development of new products, we will also be working on a number of media projects, articles, and social media efforts to promote those core values and to renew and develop the relationship with our customers and end users. Firearms training will continue to be a topic, of course, and we will still hold training courses. You will also see a variety of additional subjects from our staff, including adventure, fieldcraft, fitness, competition, hunting, and others, all with an emphasis on personal responsibility and celebrating individual liberties. In addition to our crew, you may also see some additional faces from around this industry and even outside it.
Along with new staff and new emphasis, is a new name that better captures the evolved mission. -Magpul Core.
We look forward to sharing our foundational values, our principles, in both education and adventure with what we consider to be the center of our efforts—our customers.
Magpul Core
Cody, Caylen, Aaron, Jon, Jimmmy, Jared, Jake, and Duane
I’ve been dying to tell you about the new Dual-Enhanced View Optic and Leupold Carbine Optic from Leupold Optics but I’ve been under a Non Disclosure Agreement until literally two minutes ago. It’s great to see Leupold enter into the Red Dot Optic market.
But they didn’t just enter the RDS market. They’ve launched a new way of offering magnification as well.
When I was first shown the D-EVO I know I had a weird look on my face. They handed me this ‘N’-shaped chunk of aluminum with glass at either end and a Picatinny mount at the bottom. I messed with it a little and listened to their pitch. A lot of thought went into this thing. The size had to be just right. The height had to be just right. The angles had to be just right. The D-EVO is a 6×20 fixed power prism optic which uses mirrors and lenses to get the job done. It could be used stand alone but it’s meant to be used in conjunction with a Red Dot Sight.
Developed over the last year, the Dual-Enhanced View Optic has many features being considered for the Army’s future Squad Common Optic. Leupold chose to integrate the Close Mid-Range Reticle with Wind holds (CMR-W) from the popular MK6 line (7.62 version below for illustration). It offers bullet drop to 600m as well as windage but this version uses averages for 5.56 and 7.62 cartridges. It offers up to 50 mils of windage and elevation adjustment with 0.1 mil increments per click of the dials. The D-EVO is 2″ tall, 4.6″ long, taking up only 3.2″ of rail space due to its mount. It weighs 13.8 oz and is waterproof to 66 feet.
Once in the range, I was convinced. It was like bifocals for my rifle. I could glance up or down and the cowitnessed RDS and D-EVO depicted the same POI whether I was looking through the 1x RDS or the 6x D-EVO. I didn’t have to turn any knobs or flip a magnifier into place. I just moved my eye ever so slightly. Experimenting, I found that if you mess around enough, you can see through both of them at the same time although focus remains on one or the other.
The photo above is looking out at about 200m while the image below is at 100m.
Granted, there is a downside. In order to get everything to fit in such a small package, the 20mm objective lens is on the right side of the weapon. Yes, your brass are going to hit it and we talked about this. In fact, there are some photos below of the bottom of a D-EVO and you can see the checking from the expended cases. They’ve got thousands upon thousands of shots recorded on some of these and it hasn’t rattled anything loose yet. This configuration also means that just like with barrel awareness while shooting from a barricade, you’ve got to remember where your D-EVO lens is. While shooting from the left side of a barricade, I snuggled up tight and obscured my objective lens. No biggy, I was able to engage the target using the LCO but it’s something you have to consider all the same.
As a group we were able to try the D-EVO coupled with both Leupold’s LCO as well as an Aimpoint T-1. It worked just as well with either sight. And what’s more, Leupold’s rep at the range acknowledged that the D-EVO would be used in conjunction with other RDS brands and they didn’t care. They realize that there are millions of sights out there from a variety of manufacturers and they know that the D-EVO is such a game changer that they just want it out there regardless of what it is used with.
These shots offer a great 360 of the D-EVO allowing you to see the adjustments and lenses.
And the bottom, with integral Picatinny mount.
The D-EVO ships in March, 2015.
This is Leupold’s foray into the Carbine Red Dot Sight market. It offers a wide field of view and 2 MOA dot. Adjustments are 1/2 MOA. The LCO has a rheostat control and manual on/off with 16 settings, including NVG. It uses a CR123A battery which offers a 5 year life. Like some of the other new optics coming from Leupold, the LCO is waterproof to 66′ so they are definitely looking at military use.
Here is a 360 degree view of the LCO.
The Leupold Combat Optic begins shipping March, 2015.
Both the D-EVO and LCO are proudly made in the USA! I can’t wait for the chance to see how they both fare long term.
* Photographed at Spartan Tactical.
Here are a few highlights from the 2015 Haley Strategic Partners catalog:
D3 Sling
D3 FlatPack
Incog Shadow
MP2 Rifle Magazine Insert
Download your copy of the 2015 HSP catalog by clicking on the cover below.
LBX Tactical releases its first camo pattern from the LBX region pack Inland Taipan, the full setup seen here will be featured at their Shot Show Booth #31307.
Last SHOT Show, LBT introduced several new camouflage patterns including Inland Taipan. That pattern garnered the attention of a major US defense contractor. Over the past year, they’ve refined the pattern and this is the result of that test and evaluation.
Behold! 80 pages of nylon goodness. Thanks to our relationship with FirstSpear, you are getting an exclusive first look at the V8 catalog before SHOT. It can be downloaded for FREE online and for those who would like the paper back version it is available on the website.
My favorite new item is the Vertical Envelopment Pack.
For those going to SHOT swing by booth 11366 and pick up a printed version while supplies last.
Kinetic Development Group has announced the MREX, a new M-LOK equipped forend for the SCAR platform. The full release can be read below:
Easton, MD—15 JAN 15—Kinetic Development Group LLC
Kinetic Development Group (KDG) is proud to announce the debut of their first SCARcentric product – the MREX.
The SCAR is one of the most tested, reliable high-end weapons systems of our time. USSOCOM has put more rounds through the SCAR in testing than any other small arms platform in US history. Our forces have carried it into battle against our enemies on multiple continents. It can be accurately said that the SCAR is reliable and durable as an AK and as light and accurate (and nearly as ergonomic) as an AR15/M4. It is well engineered carbine…but what the heck happened when the FN Engineers designed the front end of the SCAR? Many shooters compare it to a 6 inch piece of 2×4 with cheese graters on all 4 sides! Where are you supposed to put your support hand if you have even one accessory mounted to those plastic rails?
Darren Mellors, David Loeser and AJ Lafferty, formerly of LWRCI, founded Kinetic Development Group to find solutions to problems with various high quality small arms platforms. The team recognized this as one of the shortcomings of the FN SCAR L/H.
KDG cringed at the thought of our troops dealing with the crowded front end of a weapon that seemed to have forgotten the shooter must be able to grasp it effectively. The standard SCAR forend forces Warfighters to compromise on the way they shoot as well as their choice of accessories. There should be no need for such a compromise, so KDG set out to make a change.
You can buy any number of ‘cheese grater’ Picatinny forearm extensions to bolt on in the hopes of increasing effectiveness. However, by adding the MREX forearm, you have the certainty of doing so. The shooter will have room not just for desired accessories, but also more area to comfortably grip the rifle. Changing the barrel on a SCAR while using other ‘furniture’ systems can be a difficult ordeal. Where other receiver extensions fail the MREX succeeds by allowing quick change of different barrel assemblies. KDG offers three lengths to accommodate standard and short barrels, and offer negative space mounting options in MLOK and the KDG standardized modular rail system.
The MREX is also compatible with FN’s MK-13 EGLM grenade launcher with the MREX Grenade Launcher accessory kit.
With the MREX, a shooter need not adapt shooting technique to properly use a properly equipped SCAR. The weapon itself is changed to suit individual needs and is done with engineering grace and precision. The MREX solution adds minimal weight to the firearm; what it does add is minimal and well balanced. It increases the accessory capability, improving proper placement and increasing weapon ergonomics, for instance by offering a rail step-down in front of the BUIS to mount lights and lasers. Mounting your PEQ here not only tucks it away with a very low profile, but also reduces the height over bore axis reducing the offset of your IR laser illuminator.
We are confident you will be astonished at how different an MREX-equipped weapon shoots and feels. Watch for this and other innovative KDG products coming soon.
