Tactical Arms: New show hosted by Larry Vickers
Tactical Arms is a new show on the Sportsman Channel. The show hosted by the well known Larry Vickers (ex-Delta) and co-hosted by Kyle DeFoor (ex-SEAL) and Jason Falla (ex-SASR). It looks like it will be taking a more technical look at firearms and how they work, rather than the pop-culture hype seen in Future Weapons. From the show’s website:
Guns, guns, and more guns. In each episode of Tactical Arms, our experts will examine one modern weapon from the inside out. From machine guns, to battle rifles, to shotguns to handguns, they go through a metric ton of ammo to show you the anatomy, performance, origins, and uses on today’s battlefields that make these weapons the best of breed.
Thanks to Sven for the link.
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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AB, thanks for the link. That's a much better article than the one on the Kalashnikov guns. For example, here's a segment that reveals the author at least understands shooters:
"Despite decades of strict regulation due to the fear of their use in poaching and homicides, silencers are still in vogue because they protect a shooter’s ears.
Unlike in the movies, silencers do not make guns whisper quiet, but they do bring the noise level down to a level that will not cause hearing damage. Just like the muffler on your car."
As for the new show, I am hopeful. A lot of people have made fun of the late Steve Irwin's verbal style, but that Mack guy on Future Weapons is truly ridiculous. He constantly tries so hard to sound macho that he just comes off as a big clown. I prefer a little more tact with my tactical gear. I'm also hoping for more technical analysis. One of my favorite parts of getting a new gun is stripping it into pieces.
I've watched two episodes thus far (the MAG-58 and Mk.12) and I'm extremely underwhelmed. It's obvious the show is watered down so your average couch potato can follow it. No technical analysis, very brief and shallow discussion of history and designs that influenced them. In fact the Mk.12 episode entirely skipped the establishment of the "designated marksman" throughout the World Wars and Korea, jumping right to the M16A1 in Vietnam being the "father" of the gun. Functionally yes, but tactically I disagree.
It's actually kind of painful to watch the hosts, all veteran professionals in the field, force themselves into using layman's terms constantly. Calling the Mk.12 a "sniper rifle", for example. I'm not sure who the producers think the target audience is, but I'm pretty sure the audience they'll end up getting can handle big boy terms like "designated marksman"!
Overall the show has a disappointing lack of real content. While I applaud the efforts of the hosts in introducing military small arms to the masses in a sensible way, I was truly hoping for something more than "here's a gun, it shoots bullets, it's good for X in combat".