Writer and gear editor with articles published in major gun publications. A five year combat veteran of the US Marine Corps, Tim is also part of Point & Shoot Media Works, a producer of photography, video and web media for the firearms and shooting sport industry. Tim’s direct contact: Tyan.TFB -at- gmail.com
The MeoPro series by Meopta includes riflescopes, binoculars and spotting scopes that are made in Meopta’s USA facility located in upstate New York. Being modest about it, Meopta uses the term “Assembled in the USA” instead because the lens and most of the [Read More…]
DI Optical is a South Korean optic manufacturer that have been around for 25 years. Their main products are various gunsights for auto-cannons and crew-served weapons. Those bigger DI Optical weapon sights are often re-labelled by other companies and sold to militaries [Read More…]
LaRue Tactical, a high-end manufacturer of resetting target systems, Quick-Detachable optic mounts and AR precision rifles, began producing their own 2-stage trigger design in 2015. Named the MBT-2S, the new LaRue trigger kit is made for the AR-15 and AR-10 style lower [Read More…]
It was late September 2016, and I was again invited to visit I.O. Inc. in Palm Bay, Florida for their 3rd annual Writer’s Event. The event showcased I.O. Inc.’s upcoming products and touring their facility. As seen on the title image, one of those new I.O. products [Read More…]
Primary Arms, a popular online retailer of optics and gun accessories, introduced their own line of affordable optics a few years back. The Advanced Series is their full-size red-dot sight models. The OEM of the optic is actually Holosun and it’s made in China. [Read More…]
During the last Big 3 Media Event in Daytona Florida, I was introduced to a mini thermal imager made by Torrey Pines Logic. While it may look like a mini red-dot sight, the Torrey Pines T12-M is actually a combination of a small thermal camera and a 1-inch digital color [Read More…]
The Zeiss Conquest DL series is an update of the Zeiss Duralyt series that was released a few years ago. Scopes of both series are made for the hunting and sporting market. The optical design remained largely unchanged other than the addition of newer lens coatings on [Read More…]
For the last few months, I have been using Magpul AK polymer furniture on my Kalashnikov rifle. The Magpul polymers transformed my Krebs special edition Early Afgan War pattern AK74 to something a bit more modern looking. My AK74 originally came with orange color [Read More…]
Lancer Systems is known for their high quality polymer magazines for ARs and other small arms. A few years ago, Lancer entered the accessories market with their carbon-fiber furniture and flared magwell add-on. Nowadays, Lancer Systems is making completed AR-15 and [Read More…]
The 300 Blackout caliber has become the second most popular caliber for the AR-15, after the 5.56mm/.223 Remington caliber. What the 300 Blackout caliber especially excels in is firing subsonic ammunition to use in conjunction with a suppressor. However, subsonic 300 [Read More…]
DI Optical is a relatively new name at the Shot Show and the US commercial market. However, the South Korea based optic maker have been building military optics for machine gun, automatic grenade launcher and large caliber auto-canon for 25 years. All branches of the [Read More…]
Aimpoint, a maker of red-dot sights for the US military, updated their magnifier lineup during Shot Show 2016. Aimpoint was the first optic company that developed a magnifier to use with their red-dot sight. The original Aimpoint 3XMag, a 3x magnifier, was released [Read More…]
Burris XTR II 1-8x24mm is the 3rd 1-8x scope released at Shot Show 2016. I have previously reviewed the 1-5x24mm model of the Burris XTR II series and I found it to be an excellent performer for the money (Burris XTR II 1-5x24mm review). When Burris Optic announced the [Read More…]
Elite Defense, a distributor of tactical accessories, displayed a prototype holographic weapon sight that’s made by ELCAN. The sight is named the Specter HCO (Holographic Combat Optic) by ELCAN. According to Elite Defense, the reticle in the HCO uses laser [Read More…]
During Shot Show 2016, there were three optic companies introducing their new 1-8x scope. The second of those is Hi-Lux Optics with their new CMR8 1-8x26mm model. I did a preview of the Hi-Lux CMR8 that was shown at the Fall 2015 Big 3 Media Event. The samples that I [Read More…]
EOTech introduced their new line of conventional rifle scopes during Shot Show 2016. I was told that they have been working on this for the past three years. The new EOTech rifle scopes will be made in Japan and should be available by the August 2016 timeframe. [Read More…]
For SHOT 2016, Browe Optics and RS Regulate collaborated in the development of a low bore height magnified optic for the AK platform. The specially made Browe sight is machined with a lower mount base that works in conjunction with RS Regulate AK-300 side mount system. [Read More…]
Zeiss introduced the new Victory V8 8-fold optic line at the Shot 2016. All four models are part of Zeiss’ top-of-the-line Victory series. Of the four, I had some range time with the 1-8x30mm model during the Media Day. Being a premium hunting model, the [Read More…]
It seems like WPA and Alexander Arms have been working on a steel case 6.5 Grendel forever. When it was finally released about a year ago, the steel case 6.5 Grendel was hard to find. Alexander Arms told me that when they received a shipment, it usually sold out in 2 [Read More…]
The original Burris XTR 1-4x24mm is one of the best 1-4x tactical scopes on the market. Recently Burris replaced the 1-4x model with a much improved 1-5x24mm XTR Gen 2 model. It’s interesting that Burris elected to use a 1-5x ratio instead of 1-6x like others. The [Read More…]
The new Trijicon MRO is the hottest optic currently. MRO stands for “Miniature Rifle Optic”. During the Fall 2015 Big 3 Media Event, I had a chance to try out the Trijicon MRO provided by Georgia Optics. When I was at Trijicon’s training facility a [Read More…]
During the last 2 days of the Big 3 Media Event, two of the attending companies revealed their new optic mounts. Unlike the new Geissele optic mount, both the Midwest Industries (MI) and Kinetic Development Group (KDG) mounting systems feature quick-detachable (QD) [Read More…]
Aim Surplus (AIM) is a popular online retailer of gun accessories, firearms, and military & police surplus. What many may not know is that AIM is a huge seller of bolt carrier group (BCG) for AR style rifles. AIM’s customers had purchased over 50,000 of the [Read More…]
Aftermarket magazine floor plate is nothing new. If fact, Magpul was originally started as a maker of aftermarket replacement floor plate for the US GI aluminum magazine. Magpul had eventually came out with their own polymer magazine: the very popular PMag. The MagPod [Read More…]
The weekend after the Big 3 Media Event at Daytona Beach, FL, I was invited to visit Definitive Arms (DA) in Saint Petersburg, Florida. DA started as a custom builder of doing magazine well conversion for Kalashnikov pattern rifles. Their patented mag-well design [Read More…]
At the 2nd day of the Big 3 Media Event at Daytona Beach, FL, Geissele Automatics introduced their new Super Precision Optic Mount. The Geissele mount was developed specifically by request from a DoD customer. It should be available commercially by SHOT Show 2016. [Read More…]
This is a TFB exclusive product preview at the Fall 2015 Big 3 Media event at Daytona Beach, Florida. One of the companies at the event is Hi-Lux Leatherwood optics. I have reviewed more than a few of their optics for TFB. To my surprise, they brought along the [Read More…]
I.O. or Inter Ordnance Inc, is mainly known as a manufacturer of AKs in the budget market segment. The company was started in 1995 as a military surplus importer. They eventually started to build East German pattern AKs a number of years back. TFB was invited to their [Read More…]
Ever since ATF approved the arm support brace, rifle-caliber pistols have become wildly popular. For the AK pattern rifle-caliber pistol, one of the best on the market is Century Arms Yugo PAP M92. It’s very affordable and surprisingly nicely made for under $500. [Read More…]
EOTech Laser Battery Cap (LBC) is an unique product. I would call it more of an add-on module than just a cap. The EOTech LBC replaces the AA battery compartment on the EOTech 512, 552 holographic weapon sights (HWS) and the latest 518 and 558 model with build-in [Read More…]
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