#Vickers

Having firearms books with high-quality photos and interesting factoids is a must for any self-respecting gun owner looking to decorate their coffee table. Even if you don’t read them they are always nice to have around for guests who come over. One such series of books I’ve seen gain a lot of popularity is the Vickers Guide series. Vickers Guide has just announced that their Vickers Guide 1911 Volume I and II books are now available for preorder.

For many shooters, the simple rifle sling tends to be an oft-forgotten or somewhat ignored piece of kit. Although we typically have and use them, they don’t get paid nearly as much attention as flashier or pricier gear. Plenty of Gunternet dwellers can’t wait to Instagram fancy new optics, suppressors, plate carriers, night vision equipment, and the like, but the humble sling? Meh. Just slap a piece of fabric on the gun, casually drape it over your shoulder, and move on, right? Wrong. A well-designed, well-made, and properly set up sling can offer much greater benefit and functionality than first meets the eye. Would you be surprised if I told you it can actually improve your shooting? Many would be.

Last year, I had an opportunity to work with Larry Vickers during his visit to Russia, when he and his co-author James Rupley were working on the “Vickers Guide: Kalashnikov” series of books. One day we were at a so-called “dungeon” – the basement of Central Armed Forces Museum, one of the largest military museums in the world, and came across several interesting German weapons that eventually made it into Vickers Guide: WWII Germany.

Since 2015 the account CanadasMilHist has been Twittering about “Canada’s vibrant and rich military history through all conflicts.”

After World War II, the UK sought to modernize its small arms, many of which were based on designs originating from before the First World War. For its medium machine gun, the British were still using the reliable but increasingly obsolete Vickers water cooled gun in .303 caliber. With the adoption of the 7.62 NATO by the UK, trials were held to select a new air-cooled general purpose machine gun, which resulted in the adoption of the excellent Belgian MAG. In these trials, however, was tested a belt-fed variant of the magazine-fed Bren gun, called the X11E4. This gun is the subject of an article over at The Armourer’s Bench, as well as an accompanying TAB video, embedded below:

It can be argued, strongly, that much of the success of Glock owes to the Henry Ford-like the mentality of mass production with a little bit of Lotus thrown in. Make a whole lot of one thing and throw in simplicity for good measure. In fact, this recipe started the end of the “Wondernine” years and ushered in today’s Plastic Fantastics.

Ah… the Glock grip plug. Often overrated or undervalued, its a polarizing little piece. Glock purists will argue that it is not needed (its not) and shooters will argue it does indeed plug a hole and ease reloads by removing a lip (it does both). Both parties are correct, but the argument is likely to continue until the Glock is a mere relic of bygone days and even then historians will make a bigger deal of it than it should be.

Blue Force Gear, known for their high-quality and ultra-light weight tactical gear and high-speed slings has released a new option on their website for customers – the option to purchase a completely customized Vickers sling. Previously, customers had to choose from a large array of pre-configured options with the ability to order separate components for final tweaks.

In World War I, the Germans developed a secret technology that helped them dominate the skies during 1915 and early 1916. The tech? A device that synchronized the firing of a machine gun with the rotation of an aircraft’s propeller, allowing accurate low-mounted forward-firing weapons on warplanes for the first time.

Fresh off of the editing and framing masterpiece that is the “Inside the M4 Carbine” video, Larry Vickers does not seem to be resting on the upload button. His latest video features a unicorn AK-74 at least here in the United States.

Even since the resounding success of the “Inside the AK” videos ( Part 1 and Part 2), Larry Vickers has been at it hard with additional cut-away firing models of popular weapon systems. The previous release of the 1911, sponsored by Wilson Combat, was and is an utterly georgous example of shooting, machining, and video editing. Not content to let the people’s wants go unfulfilled, Vicker’s and BCM worked out their latest installment: “Inside the M4”

Often overlooked due to its smaller-caliber sibling, the original AR-10 was a fantastic weapon systems. In fact, if not for the thin barrel (later fixed), it may have likely supplanted the M14 within the US arsenal. For better or worse, it did not come to pass.

Wilson Combat and Larry Vickers have teamed up again, this time to support a firearms charity, GunsForACause.org. The specific 1911 was Larry’s personal carry and demo gun, a Wilson Combat Vickers’ Elite edition handgun, personally worked on by Larry himself and the Wilson Combat team.

Alias Training & Security Services, known for their well-respected cadre of instructors such as Mike Pannone, Pat McNamara, Larry Vickers, & more has announced that it is no more. Citing issues with their merchant services financial company, Alias announced closure via their Facebook page (now deleted).

Lipsey’s makes some very nice limited edition guns and this particular Glock 19 with Larry vickers parts is no exception. I have to say up front this is the best Glock I’ve ever handled, carried and shot.