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Posts Tagged ‘Kevin Brittingham’

Q Mini Fix

Wednesday, February 14th, 2018

Q has expanded their firearms offering with the introduction of Mini Fix, seen here nestled between The Fix and Honey Badger. Q founder, Kevin Brittingham, shared some information on this new design with us.

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The Q Mini Fix is a scaled down version of The Fix bolt gun with a receiver that is 1/2″ shorter. Designed to fit M4 magazines, the Mini Fix will be offered in pistol (300 BLK) and rifle (224 Valkyrie) formats.

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The pistol Mini Fix features an 8″ 300 BLK barrel with 1:5 twist and a Q designed Stabilizing Brace built exclusively for this firearm by SB Tactical. The Q Brace is not depicted in any of these photos.

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The pistol has an overall length of 17″ including the mounted Cherry Bomb muzzle brake, which accepts the Trash Panda and Thunder Chicken silencers. There is also a full length top Pic rail and the handguard covers the 8″ barrel. Here are some photos to give you an idea of how long it is.

As you can see, this model with the stock from The Fix weighs 4lbs 11oz, but it will weigh even less once the Q Brace is installed.

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The rifle Mini Fix in 224 Valkyrie will come with a Q match barrel and the folding stock from The Fix.

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As an aside, Brittingham told me that so far, they are seeing the best performance for the .224 when using PRI 6.8 magazines, although they continue to evaluate others. The rifle will ship with what they determine is best.

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Brittingham related that at this point, the final detail they haven’t worked out yet, is whether they’ll incorporate M-Lok or use Q-Sert for attachments. Q-Sert is machined from 17-4 rectangular stock with an anchor at the back and pressed into place. Below is an image which shows two handguard. The top incorporates Q-Sert, while the bottom is constructed to the M-Lok standard.

Both versions are only available in the clear hard coat anodizing seen in the photos. The anodizing will look slightly different with each material so you won’t get a uniform hue across the entire gun, but it’s one of the many features which makes the Mini Fix different from everything else on the market.

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Mini Fix is an adaptable design and a fixed stock and hinge adapter will be available. This way, a pistol owner may register it as an SBR, if desired. Additionally, Brittingham tells me he expects to offer .223 and 6.5 Grendel barrels.

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Because Mini Fix features 80% parts commonality with The Fix, production is already in progress with shipping planned for late 2nd Quarter, 2018.

To pre-order, you’ll need to first make a $100 donation to Special Operations Care Fund and then pay half of the $2699 up front, to Q.

www.liveQordie.com

Kevin Brittingham To Launch Q, A New Brand, On 1 March

Monday, February 29th, 2016

Right before SHOT Show, we told you Kevin Brittingham planned to form a new company after recently leaving SIG SAUER. Now it’s happening, and quickly.

Kevin Brittingham doesn’t mess around, announcing a 1 March launch of his new brand. Named simply Q, they’ll start out with just 10 employees, but it’s quite the lineup. If you’ve known Brittingham for any length of time, these names will come as no surprise. There’s Robby Johnson as overall VP, Ethan Lessard to VP of Engineering, Lindsay Bunch VP of Operations, and Jessica Gauvin as VP of Business Development.

Brittingham sees his own role at Q as recruiting, steering the boat, funding and to a certain degree, marketing. But even then, his concept of marketing isn’t traditional. It’s really more of keeping the brand true to his vision and making sure people are aware of that fact.

Another interesting thing is the ages of the company’s members. At 42 years, Kevin Brittingham is the second oldest in the company. One of his goals is to give young people a shot and he’ll be looking for promising talent. He said, “You don’t have to be somewhere for 20 years to show everyone you are deserving.”  

While it’s a small company and people are going to be wearing a lot of hats, ambitions are high. The goal is Silencers, Accessories and Firearms by SHOT Show 2017. He said he plans to conduct live fire demos of three preproduction firearms at SHOT, although he wouldn’t get into specifics.

As part of Q’s 12 and 36 month plans, Brittingham has built in incremental growth and team building as crucial to success. He sees it as “knowing what we’re doing and giving people the right opportunities.” Although he doesn’t want to grow too fast, he knows exactly where he wants to be. Envisioning an “AAC 2.0” he’s determined to apply lessons learned (both good and bad) from previous companies. His business inspirations aren’t gun companies but rather business giants like Amazon and Red Bull who have changed the rules. However, one thing he won’t change is focus. To generate sales, the concept is initially to concentrate on government customers and then work toward commercial sales of those products.

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Q is primarily self-funded by proceeds from Brittingham’s sale of AAC to Remington, but he has also brought in some investors who are reportedly participating solely for the returns. In fact, he was amazed at the confidence, not only from investors, but also from those who’ve joined him as employees at Q.

The company is located in New Hampshire. Brittingham loves the area and has put down roots. In addition to a new personal home, the Q factory is just a mile from his former office at SIG. He told me that it’s where talent is located and he didn’t want his employees to have to move.

If I could describe Q in one word it would be ambitious, but it’s not as if he’s starting from scratch. This isn’t Kevin Brittingham’s first trip to the rodeo and he’s already started to assemble a team of rock stars. Q definitely has a leg up. 

It’s going to be an exciting ride, so hold on.

And Now A Message From Kevin Brittingham

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

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Kevin Brittingham & Lindsay Bunch Join SIG

Tuesday, February 18th, 2014

Kevin Brittingham Joins SIG

I got a chance to catch up with Kevin Brittingham when he told me that he had joined SIG Sauer to head up their new SIG-SD Silencer business unit. We had last spoken at SHOT Show, right after winning a mutli-million dollar lawsuit against former employer Freedom Group. Brittingham founded Advanced Armament Corporation in 1994 which he sold to FGI in 2009 and is widely recognized as an expert in suppressor technology. His attitude at SHOT Show was very upbeat and he indicated that there were going to be some things to see at next year’s show.

Kevin is very excited about the opportunity at SIG and shared this with me, “Ethan Lessard, was the head of my engineering at AAC, quit and went back to SIG when I was fired. He did the LVAW (honey badger). He also started the Remington 51 and we were using it as the basis of our integrally silenced pistol platform.” That is a pretty intriguing statement but what he followed up with is all Kevin, “He’s a stud. We are working together again. Expect awesome shit.”

NEWINGTON, N.H. (February 17, 2014) — SIG SAUER® is proud to announce that Kevin Brittingham and Lindsay Bunch are joining its staff, adding decades of product design, R&D, and military experience. Their collective expertise will further enhance the company’s existing state-of-the-art special weapons development capabilities.

SIG SAUER welcomes Kevin Brittingham to lead its new SIG-SD Silencer business unit, as well as other special programs within its Military/Law Enforcement development activities.

Brittingham, the founder of Advanced Armament Corporation, currently holds more than 40 patents in the firearms industry. As part of his work at AAC, Brittingham also led the development of the .300 AAC Blackout cartridge. Recently, Brittingham was a founding member of the American Silencer Association, an advocacy group dedicated to championing the use of suppressors and lifting restrictions on ownership.

SIG SAUER is also pleased to announce the addition of Lindsay Bunch as Product Manager, Special Weapons Development Group.

Bunch joins SIG SAUER after serving more than two decades in the United States Army. With more than 10 years as an Army Sniper, Bunch moved into Special Operations Command, where his skills and experience were used in research and development of many of the U.S. military’s precision weapons systems in use today. His extraordinary knowledge will help SIG SAUER continue as an innovator and leader in the precision weapons category.

“SIG SAUER’s commitment to attracting the best minds in the industry drives our cutting-edge weapons systems,” said Ron Cohen, SIG SAUER President and Chief Executive Officer. “The addition of Kevin and Lindsay to the team demonstrates the company’s strategic investment in personnel to help design and engineer the finest weapons, technology, and support for our military customers.”

www.sigsauer.com

Congratulations to SIG SAUER for picking up both Brittingham and Bunch.

www.sigsauer.com

Opinion & Order – Kevin Brittingham and Lynsey Thompson v. AAC & Remington

Tuesday, January 14th, 2014

If you’ve been waiting for the big SHOT Show, industry insider buzz, I’d say this is it.

We recently informed you that Advanced Armament Corp founder and his associate Lynsey Thompson and won their two-year-long court battle with AAC’s new owners Remington ask Freedom Group aka FGI. Now, we have full access to Judge Katherine Forrest’s opinion. It’s quite the read and she didn’t pull any punches in reaching her verdict or explaining it.

Interestingly, the judge issued the document on Brittingham’s 40th birthday. Talk about a birthday present. Based on conversations with him the judgement could be in excess of $14 Million, but considering the amount he was still owed couple with what he has paid out in legal fees and personal pain, I’d say that it isn’t outrageous. It also lifts any non-compete restrictions, so for Kevin Brittingham, it’s “game on!”

Read it all for yourself by downloading it here: Brittingham Opinion & Order.

Breaking – Kevin Brittingham Wins Suit Against FGI

Saturday, December 28th, 2013

Based on this screenshot we received a little while ago it appears that former Advanced Armament Corp front man Kevin Brittingham has prevailed in his lawsuit against Freedom Group who purchased AAC from him in late 2009. Brittingham’s employment with AAC was terminated two years ago, in December 2011 after FGI said that he had violated company policy by bringing personally owned firearms to work. He has maintained that the termination was a ploy by FGI to avoid paying him monies owed.

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Tried earlier this year as Random Ventures Inc. et. al v. Advanced Armament Corp LLC et. al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-06792, the suit contains 14 claims and Brittingham wins all of them including his demand for millions of dollars he says are owed by Freedom Group (over 10 Million plus interest). Additionally, this ruling negates his noncompete clause.

Foxnews online has additional info on the case but has not been updated on this judgement from the court.