#TFBBehindTheGunPodcast

We have a lot to be thankful for in this great nation, and I’m especially grateful for all of you - our readers, listeners, and viewers. Without your support, there’d be little reason for the TFB and TFBTV team to keep doing what we do (maybe except for posterity). Your feedback, comments, and continued viewership keep us coming back for more. Over the years, The Firearm Blog has had the privilege of working with some remarkable, quirky, and occasionally struggling companies in the firearms industry - an experience that’s truly a bonus of being part of the team. Today, I’m welcoming TFB’s Editor in Chief, Josh Centers, to share his perspective on thankfulness and to give us a look behind the scenes at the person leading The Firearm Blog. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at TFB and TFBTV.

We’ve had “Hammy” on the podcast before, and he’s also been featured once already on the TFBTV Show Time. As the summer season tapers off and people start bundling up in their houses, their hobbies tend to follow them there as well. Today, as is typical when bringing on a 3D printing legend like Hammy, we’ll be talking about what the latest and greatest in the 3D printing world is, where that small part of the industry is growing, and areas where it might need some improvement if it is to survive in this highly competitive industry. Please give “Hammy” of Hammy3DPrints a warm welcome to the show, and go give his neat American-designed and made products a look!

For those of you who follow the channel, you’ll know that Blue Alpha Belts is a company that is somewhat closely tied to the TFBTV YouTube channel. Kurt and Jessie founded the company back in 2015, just a year after the TFBTV channel was established. As you’ll hear today, this isn’t a partnership that was started through a formal corporate meeting. Today, Kurt will share with us the origin story behind not just Blue Alpha as a company, but also the close working relationship we’ve had with Blue Alpha Belts for almost a decade. Please give a warm welcome back to Kurt from Blue Alpha Belts!

Today, I’m happy to bring on a long-time friend of both the blog and the TFBTV YouTube Channel, Mr. Žiga Polajnar from Polenar Tactical. What’s really unique about Žiga and the rest of his crew is that, despite the quite restrictive gun laws in a lot of the EU, Žiga has managed to start up a successful business that delivers tactical training, as well as high-quality scopes, holsters, and other tactical gear, in addition to some cool custom T-shirts. Because of that business and a lot of collaboration with other European shooters, Žiga has also managed to start up his very own Slovenian-grown brutality-style competition - Lynx Brutality. Today, Žiga and I will discuss what it's like to run one of these matches, and also what this year’s Swedish “Viking Brutality” was like for Žiga.

Today’s guest for the TFB Behind The Gun Podcast is Joe from Desk Pop. Desk Pop is a rapidly growing channel that Joe started a number of years ago that focuses on more than just firearms reviews. Instead, Joe wants to get real hard-use data out of his equipment, which should, in turn, give consumers like us access to better data for what is essentially life-saving equipment for many of us on a daily basis. In addition to the testing and data, Joe also likes to have fun and isn't afraid to show it. Today, we’ll talk about that specifically in regard to the recent trend in the industry regarding forced reset triggers. Are they practical for the average gun owner? Probably not, but they sure are fun if you can get them to run properly! Everyone, please give Joe a warm welcome back to the show!

Most of you here will already know who TANDEMKROSS is, but today on TFB’s Behind The Gun Podcast, you’ll get a small peek behind the curtain at one of my favorite rimfire aftermarket parts manufacturers in the United States. Based in the small town of Weare, New Hampshire, TANDEMKROSS designs, manufactures, and ships all of its parts from its ever-growing facility. Today, they offer more than 250 individual parts for popular platforms like the Ruger PC Carbine, Ruger MK IV, Smith & Wesson Victory, and, of course, the Browning Buckmark series. What’s impressive is that in just the decade or so they’ve been in business, they’ve not only managed to carve a nice niche for themselves in the aftermarket space, but they’re also branching into manufacturing complete “10/22” style firearms completely made in their New Hampshire facility. Tune in to today’s episode to learn about all that and more from Alex Whiteside of TANDEMKROSS.

The Kyle family name is well known to those who keep close tabs on military literature and stories. Chris Kyle, known as the American Sniper, has become somewhat of a household name not simply due to Chris’s service and untimely death, but through the legacy that he’s left behind with his wife and two children. Today, we’ll be speaking with Chris’s son, Colton Kyle, about the American Sniper brand and what he, as an eager, dedicated, and mature young adult, is doing to further his father’s work, as well as carve a path for himself alongside his family and their legacy. Today, we’ll hear all about the American Sniper brand, as well as some of Colton and Chris Kyle’s favorite firearms, and of course, a bit about him as a person, and what life was like in the Kyle family growing up. Please give Mr. Colton Kyle a warm welcome to the show, and be sure to wish him and his fiancée well on their upcoming wedding!

It’s not a product that’s for everyone, but it’s one that I’m happy to support. Today on the podcast, we’ve brought back Spencer from HUSH Holsters, which has come back with a vengeance after a brief one-year hiatus. With the HUSH (Hush Universal Suppressor Holster) holsters flying off the printers with tons of satisfied customers, Spencer has turned his attention to the SKS platform. The SKS 2000, which you guys have seen here on the blog, has become extremely popular not just here in the US, but in Canada as well. Today, Spencer and I will talk about everything he and his small team have been up to for the last year, and also give us a sneak peek at things to come just around the corner for HUSH Holsters.

On this week’s episode of TFB’s Behind the Gun Podcast, we’re speaking with returning guest Bryce of The Carry Handle Podcast about some of his recent encounters with some particularly rare guns. Bryce has been able to get his hands on a lot of unique guns at his day job at a local auction house. Everything from odd converted machine guns to genuine destructive devices, Bryce’s new day job has certainly given him a load of cool things to talk about on today’s episode.

Thunder Ranch is probably one of my favorite places to go when it comes to getting solid, informative, and applicable firearms training. I’m lucky enough to live within short driving distance of the Ranch, so when Jordan of Meprolight invited me out to take the Urban Precision Rifle (UPR) course, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put one of their new MVO 1-8x28 LPVOs through the typical Thunder Ranch torture test. However, today’s topic is not so much about optics but rather Jordan’s first experience in a carbine course. Today, we’ll walk through some of the lessons that Jordan has learned from the training from Jack Daniel and the other trainers at TR, as well as his first impressions of the Ranch itself, and some of his thoughts on his company’s own products after having tested them out in a hard-use environment.

It’s been quite a while since we’ve had a check-in with our resident rocket man, Jonathan Wild, the brains behind Wild Arms Research and Development. Johnny has come a long way since his first projects and attempts at making caseless ammunition, before eventually moving on to DIY replica panzerfausts. What once started off as a hobby and morbid curiosity has turned into full-on historical research, FOIA requests, and lots of spent rocket fuel to produce some of the best books and projects I’ve seen in the DIY space. Today, Johnny will catch us up on what he’s been up to since his last project, the M202 FLASH.

On today’s episode of TFB’s Behind the Gun podcast, I have the pleasure of bringing you two of the key players behind TANDEMKROSS - Alex Whiteside and Luke Diamond. Providing rimfire shooters like myself with all sorts of great aftermarket parts. TANDEMKROSS has been hard at work expanding their already extensive lineup of over 250 individual parts to include whole firearms now. With the introduction of the ADX receiver, TANDEMKROSS finally has the final piece for DIYers to build themselves a complete 10/22-style firearm, using only TK parts. Today we’ll chat about all that, as well as get a behind-the-scenes look at what both Luke Diamond and Alex Whiteside bring to the table for the team at TANDEMKROSS.

Although many people hate to admit it, the media is one of the biggest drivers of purchases. Whether that’s video games, TV shows, movies, or comic books, a lot of us just happen to latch on to certain products simply because they appeal to us in whatever medium we happen to be consuming at the time. Firearms are no different, and that’s why today I’ve brought on the guys from The Carry Handle Podcast, as well as Scout Trooper, to talk about how accurately firearms are represented in media like movies, games, and TV shows. Be sure to let us know what your favorite or least favorite firearms representations have been over the years!

Suppressors are certainly a hot topic right now, and given the recent news about the Big Beautiful Bill and its impact on suppressors and other NFA items, I thought it was great timing that we got to bring back  Mike Slack from Engaged Industries on the show. Today Mike will give us some timely updates on where he and his new suppressor company are at in terms of production and development, give us a sneak peek at a brand new suppressor he’s got coming out in a month or so, and also give us some of his insights into certain trends, technologies, and methedoligies that are emerging in this new suppressor market.

On a recent trip out to the Smith & Wesson factory in Tennessee, I had the opportunity to meet and speak to Mr. Michael Helms, who is a bona fide firearms historian and all-around gun nerd like the rest of us here at TFB. While Mike had been invited out to the media event to give us a quick 30-minute history lesson on the history of Smith & Wesson, we also got to look at some of his collection, including his personally owned serial number five S&W Model 1 .22 caliber revolver. This one piece instantly piqued rimfire-addicted interest, and today we’ll be speaking to Mike about that same history, as well as a more in-depth look at his special Model 1, and the story behind how he acquired it. Please give a warm welcome to Mike Helms!