Tom is a former Navy Corpsman that spent some time bumbling around the deserts of Iraq with a Marine Recon unit, kicking in tent flaps and harassing sheep. Prior to that he was a paramedic somewhere in DFW, also doing some Executive Protection work between shifts. Now that those exciting days are behind him, he teaches wilderness medicine and runs an on-demand medical staffing business. He hopes that his posts will help you find solid gear that will survive whatever you can throw at it–he is known (in certain circles) for his curse…ahem, ability…to find the breaking point of anything.
You can reach him at tom.r AT thefirearmblog.com or at https://thomasrader.com
While I am steadily growing more fond of my AR, I do have a love for my AK. The simplicity and ruggedness are just things I really appreciate (and the ability to do field repairs with a soda can is helpful too…). The guys at akoperatorsunionlocal4774.com put [Read More…]
Week 40. We’re back! We figured that a couple of weeks off was okay since we’d be flooded with SHOT posts and it would be lost in the shuffle. We are in the last quarter of this experiment and overall the response has been pretty supportive. Hopefully the [Read More…]
Royal Arms was established in 1984 to manufacture specialized equipment for breaching, hostage rescue and CQB. They are known as being the original inventor (and oldest manufacturer) of “Breaching Stand-Off Device”, “12 Gauge Breaching Shotgun” [Read More…]
Has anyone here watched Wild West Alaska? I’ll be honest–I never have (and didn’t even know it was a show). I was running tight on my schedule and didn’t do any research before I hit the booth of Wild West Guns at SHOT. I was surprised at how [Read More…]
One of the more interesting technologies available at SHOT was some of the thermal imaging equipment. I had the pleasure of visiting the Armasight booths (they had a couple of locations due to some logistical issues with booth assignment). The main booth had a huge [Read More…]
My last day at SHOT I finally got to stop by one of my last vendors, Gemtech. Even near the end of the show, their huge booth was still packed with hardly any room to spare. The new products that were being showcased at SHOT include The Arrow (and the Arrow’s [Read More…]
When I saw Dave Mason Precision Reamers on my list of vendors to visit, I was like “Wha?!?”. Not being a gunsmith, I wasn’t really sure how to approach them. I’ve got some basic tools to do maintenance on my firearms, but no real experience at [Read More…]
We’ve written about TruGlo’s TFO sights before. At SHOT this year, they were showing off the next generation named the TFX. To recap, TFO is a patented combination of Tritium and Fiber-Optics, basically keeping the Fiber-Optic illuminated even in low-light [Read More…]
I like to shoot steel. There is something satisfying about the “ping!” when a round strikes it. What I do not like is the occasional splash. It happens when shooting handgun; sometimes the target is not angled enough, or there is a small divot in the plate, [Read More…]
A friend recommended that I stop by California Competition Works as I have recently been dabbling in 3-Gun and they have a lot of equipment specifically for it. They were showcasing three new products they for SHOT: the LE-3 Shot Shell Carrier with Tek-Lok, the [Read More…]
Vega Holster is a family run Italian business that specializes in holsters and accessories. I had the opportunity to chat with Francesco Toschi, the son about their new products. Their newest offering is a modularization of their polymer holster series (which reminds me [Read More…]
Master’s Premium Leather Holsters out of Virginia sells a number of handmade premium leather holsters. The holsters are made from premium top grain cowhide and are hand molded to the shape of the gun. All of the edges and surfaces are finished. They make [Read More…]
Welcome to our third quarter summary rollup including data from the previous 39 weeks of data collection. We have presented the data in a few different ways. We have a breakdown of the vendors that are consistently low and high. We are showing the lowest and highest [Read More…]
One of the cool things about SHOT is that you have the opportunity to see a bunch of competing products in the same category all in the same venue with the actual reps. Gunzilla was one of several “cleaning” product vendors, and was on my list. Gunzilla has [Read More…]
Before I came to SHOT, my editor let me know I would be doing a T&E on a new trigger from RISE Armament. Because of that I made sure to set up an meeting with their team to get the scoop on who they are and what they are bringing to the market. Their background [Read More…]
In most of the booths I visited I expected to just have a brief meet and greet, get shown a couple of new products, take a few pics, and be on my way. That was not the case at Sentry Solutions. I was invited into the booth and got to sit at an actual table […] [Read More…]
We had previously highlighted Christie’s Mag Loaders at SHOT 2013. They were on my list to visit this year, and I was pleasantly surprised about their products. I have been using the Lula for a while, and like it a lot, but the Christie’s loaders win [Read More…]
We did a review on Rigel Products’ Boresmith in 2013. This year they are bringing something new to their product line–a Jag Brush for cables, in response to demand from dealers and customers. The male end of the brush has an 8/32 thread that will fit [Read More…]
I have been actively using a Clipdraw for years on my Glock 17 (and my wife has one on her Glock 19). I can’t really think of a simpler way to carry a pistol on your waist that will hold it in place (queue the comments about duct tape). The only place I think it [Read More…]
Who here carries absolutely everywhere? And I mean everywhere… I try my best to do so (obviously I’m not carrying at SHOT), but while exercising, I’ve never really found a solution that works for me. I’ve tried everything from belly bands to [Read More…]
Coonan, Inc. was on my list of stops for SHOT this year and also came recommended by a friend whose opinion I trust. As I had written in an earlier review, my irrational view is that a 1911 should be chambered in .45 ACP. Coonan’s evolution of the platform is a [Read More…]
E.R. Shaw was another recommended stop for me at SHOT. If you haven’t heard of them, they are a family owned business that has been making barrels for over 100 years. Their barrels are used by “some of the biggest firearms manufacturers”, and they also [Read More…]
Who here remembers Blackhawk in their early days (raise your hand)? I do. Mainly just some well made MOLLE gear. They have obviously grown since then and have been pretty aggressive at adding new product lines (some of which you will see in more posts this week from [Read More…]
Smith & Wesson had a huge booth (as you would have expected) and so Phil had a few of us writers meet him there to help cover some of the new products (as big as it was, we probably could have dedicated a writer to camp there for the whole show). In any case, the [Read More…]
I had never heard of Ultradot before today and am now very interested in giving their products a run. Ultradot has been around since 1989, producing their sights in Japan, and sponsoring an NRA Team at Camp Perry. They had seven offerings at SHOT, and are in the [Read More…]
Night Vision Depot is one of the largest stocking distributors and manufacturers of night vision systems, image intensifiers and parts. They are also now working with Knight’s Armament for some of their products, namely their PVS-22, BNS-LR-30, UNS-A2 and the [Read More…]
I had the opportunity to visit with Dustin Knutson, General Manager at Boyds. If you’ve never seen one of their stocks (or some of their work) I highly recommend visiting their website and checking out their offerings. Their goal is to build a stock for your [Read More…]
At 2013 SHOT we had reviewed the Phalanx. John Rassias was back this year and I had a chance to stop by his booth for a quick chat. The product has gotten some updates since then which definitely increase the versatility. John has put together a system that protects [Read More…]
Okay I’ll be the first to admit I like gadgets. The more techie the better. I’ve been considering buying a FLIR One for a while now, but once I upgraded to my iPhone 6 I was out of luck (they are supposed to have one upcoming). Well, today at Range Day, [Read More…]
COBALT KINETICS is actually bringing something innovative to the market. It is an AR-15 platform that has a “dual-drop forward assist”. Wrap your head around that a second. I was a little confused myself at first, but once I got to hold the prototype, [Read More…]
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