A few weeks ago I got a care package in the mail from Strike Industries. They had a bunch of fun stuff in there.

There were a number of dust covers, a magazine pull/extender, a weird little key chain tool, a charging handle and their new Cookie Cutter muzzle brake.

In terms of reviewing items, we have already covered the magazine extender and dust covers. So I will review the Cookie Cutter, the charging handle and the weird little keychain tool.

PK Tool (a.k.a weird little keychain tool)

When I first saw it, I was not terribly impressed. Just another little widget to hook on a keychain and forget about.

But as I started playing with it, and yes reading the uses they discuss on their website, I grew to actually like it. I now everyday carry one. I have used the flat head portion to pry things (not super hard things, but I have used it to loosen the latch plate on a buffer tube). The punch works pretty well to start punching a pin. The bottle opener functions well (my wife is not overly impressed when I use my wedding band). And the comb works well with my beard…

Charging Handle with Extended Latch

I have never been a fan of the little stock latch that seems to come on most charging handles. We had the stock crappy ones for our M4s for Iraq, and throughout pre-deployment workup I had the pleasure of working one over and over and over…

On my personal rifle, I replaced the stock one as soon as I could (with the BCM Gunfighter). That said, I like the Strike one almost as much as the BCMGF. One important point is that it is 40% cheaper in most places. Definitely not too bad. The last has a super crisp feel and disengages smoothly. It is pretty easy to catch, even with gloves on (I even tried with some non-“tactical” gloves).

I did not have an opportunity to run the hell out of it–reasonably I’d need to have a 500-600 round day with all of the associated manipulations to really test it out. And I just can’t afford to blow that much on a charging handle demo. Anything less than that would just be a bull**** reliability test. Next time I know I’ll be pushing a ton of rounds, I’ll install it and post an update.

Cookie Cutter

Okay, now for the star of the show. The Cookie Cutter is a single chamber, large surface area muzzle device. This thing is ugly as hell. Really ugly. And heavy. Almost like attaching a steel olympic plate to the front of your rifle, or the counter-balance on a steady-cam. Okay, it’s not really that bad…

Strike Industries states it is NOT a flash suppressor, and I can confirm that. They also said, “There will be significant side concussion so the shooter needs to be aware of hand placement and surrounding personnel!!!”. That is no joke. My wife was filming off to the side and the blast was actually buffeting her hair from about 5 feet away.

It is also supposedly really easy to break glass with, but alas, I had no windows I could spare to test it out on…

So, that is all great, you say, but did it accomplish it’s purpose? Did it actually reduce muzzle rise? Well, Thomas Gomez and I ran a couple of drills (I’ve been dragging him out to the range to “borrow” his rifle until I can get one without a pinned muzzle device). After some familiarization shooting, we ran a modified El Presidente (started with rifle in low ready) and a BSA drill (10 rounds as fast as possible from 10 yards). I filmed Thomas (using the Cookie Cutter only) and recorded his scores. He did a lot better on the El Presidente, and was a tad bit slower on the BSA. Not very scientific (and also I wish I would have filmed the drills without the Cookie Cutter for comparison). When you watch the slow motion portion of the below videos you can see the stability of the rifle (though that could also be from Thomas’ stellar “C” grip).

El Presidente

• Stock Brake: 6.79 seconds
• Cookie Cutter: 4.92 seconds

BSA

• Stock Brake: 2.29 seconds
• Cookie Cutter: 2.49 seconds

Overall I think the Cookie Cutter performs well, but I am not a fan of the concussive blast it puts out. As a device intended for short barreled rifles in arguably their main purpose–CQB applications–a blast like that is very distracting. I would hate to be the other pipe hitter in the room when the weapon is discharged with that device installed. I think it would work well during a competition shoot (e.g. a 3-gun match), or something in a more open environment. But not in a tight environment where you have other friendlies around.

Strike Industries is one of my new favorite companies. I think they are doing a lot of innovative things and trying a lot of new concepts, which is something this industry needs. And I think you all should have a chance to try a couple of their products so I’m doing a RaffleCopter giveaway. Enter below to win a Dust Cover, Enhanced Magazine Plate, and PK Tool. It will run until the 31st of October.

a Rafflecopter giveaway