Innehållsförteckning för May/June 2013 från Recoil

OFF CAMERA 01 FOREGRIP BRAND: Crimson Trace Corp. MODEL: MVF-600C MRSP: $2,199 URL: www.crimsontrace.com 02 BUTTSTOCK BRAND: ACE Ltd. MODEL: Ultra Light Modular Fixed Stock MRSP: $65 URL: www.riflestocks.com 03 SIDE-FOLDING ADAPTER BRAND: US Machinegun MODEL: Side Folding AR/Tube Stock Adapter MRSP: $39 URL: www.usmachinegun.com 04 PISTOL GRIP BRAND: Ergo Grip MODEL: Suregrip (ambidextrous) MRSP: $26 URL: www.ergogrips.net 05 LOWER RECEIVER BRAND: Del-Ton Inc. MODEL: DTI Stripped Lower Receiver MRSP: $120 URL: www.del-ton.com 06 UPPER RECEIVER BRAND: Faxon Firearms MODEL: ARAK-21 MRSP: $1,459 URL: www.faxonfirearms.com 07 RAIL COVER BRAND: Ergo Grips MODEL: 18-Slot Lowpro Ladder Rail Cover MRSP: $32 URL: www.ergogrips.net 08 OPTIC BRAND: Trijicon MODEL: SRS MRSP: $1,075 URL: www.trijicon.com 09 RIFLE MAGAZINE BRAND: Magpul MODEL: PMAG 30 AR/M4 GEN M3 Window Magazine MRSP: $18 URL: store.magpul.com 10 SLING…

What does the Mars Rover have in common with a piston-driven AR? Read on and find out… Despite their recent surge in popularity, piston-driven ARs have been around for a long time. Colt was the first company to try solving the drawbacks of the original direct impingement (DI) operating system, way back in the decade that good taste forgot. Since the ’70s, numerous others have jumped on the bandwagon, with most of them riffing on Colt’s theme of a short-stroke piston acting on a modified AR bolt carrier. Due to design constraints imposed by the DI upper receiver, all of them swap the old problems of heat and carbon buildup for the new issue of carrier tilt, with some manufacturers addressing it more effectively than others. Solving hard engineering problems…

WARNING! When handling firearms, always observe safety rules and the precautions set forth in the firearm’s owner’s guide. Be certain that your firearm is unloaded and made safe before proceeding with this DIY. Understanding how an AR-15’s upper receiver is assembled allows you to not only assemble a fully functional upper out of parts, but also gives you the knowledge to do preventive maintenance, to swap parts to keep your upper running right, or to customize your upper as you see fit. With the current market being as hot as it is, many AR-15 enthusiasts are finding it increasingly difficult to find factory-assembled uppers available at the store. Although buying a complete upper from a reputable company comes with assurances that the quality and workmanship are all there — along…

The American gun buyer has had a love affair with the .45 ACP for more than a century now. Despite recent advances in bullet technology that make the 9mm almost its ballistic equivalent, there’s still something comforting about the big, trashcan-shaped round. With the massive increase in CCW permit holders, gun makers have been shoehorning the .45 into smaller packages, so we decided to take a look at two of the best compact options in this caliber and compare them head to head. Choosing a concealed carry weapon is an intensely personal decision, so we always encourage prospective buyers to try out as many guns as possible and choose the one that fits them best, rather than steering them toward whatever the flavor du jour happens to be. For 20…

What’s top of the list of priority targets for a sniper pair? If you said “other snipers,” you win a subscription to RECOIL — just send us your address on the back of a Benjamin and we’ll take care of the rest. All jokes aside, if you’re a highpriority target working amongst other troops, you tend to live longer if you can conceal your role from anyone on the opposing team. This is made more difficult if everyone around you has an M4 and you’re humping a scoped bolt gun, as you tend to stick out like the nuts on a greyhound. The Nemesis Vanquish is one way of keeping the sniper’s identity on the DL. It packs down into a space no bigger than a briefcase and yet can…

You see them on soldiers, on cops, and on Hollywood actors all the time. Some come in camo patterns and some are black with knuckle protection, while others still run all the way up the forearm. So what’s the big deal with gloves? Do shooters really need them? Won’t they diminish your dexterity and affect your shooting ability? We recently asked ourselves those questions, too — when we unexpectedly experienced subzero temperatures while at an outdoor range in the Nevada desert. Our fingers were so numb from the bone-chilling, 25-degree-F conditions that we could barely wrap our hands around a pistol grip, let alone shoot accurately. Suddenly, gloves jumped to the top of our range gear list. Inspired by our brush with frostbiteinduced gangrene, we went in search of the…

The image of the Land Rover as one of the preeminent off-road rigs has somewhat faded in mainstream American consciousness. Instead of recalling gritty photos of European soldiers driving the Series IIA in war-torn landscapes, or of hunters wheeling the civilian versions on African safaris, most Americans these days think of Land Rover as nothing more than a luxury vehicle. You can thank Victoria Beckham and all those trophy wives, Hollywood celebrities, and bubblegum pop singers for that. Well, it’s time to take back the brand from all those yuppies, who wouldn’t know a leaf-spring from a coilover if one smacked them upside their heads. Inspired by the Willys Jeep of World War II, the Land Rover was born as an all-terrain 4x4 meant to tackle harsh conditions. By the…

While looking at your favorite semi-automatic .223 (5.56mm) rifle in the corner of the safe, you’ve come to the realization that it’s time to step up your game. That little .223 round just isn’t doing it for you anymore, so it’s time to upgrade to its bigger brother — the .308 (7.62 NATO) cartridge. There are many quality options when it comes to selecting a .308 semi-automatic rifle, but regardless of what you choose, there are still some universal truths that the new owner will have to overcome. Most all of the .308 rifles available are going to be heavier than their .223 counterparts and their ammunition will generate more recoil. If you wanna step up to a man’s cartridge, then you gotta pay a man’s price. Here are a…

TAKING STOCK What’s that saying about buttstocks? Every AR has one. OK, bad joke. But there are plenty of good reasons why this triangular piece of anatomy is so vital to a rifle. The stock serves many important functions, including serving as a key point of contact between the shooter and weapon, helping the shooter maintain accurate aim, counterbalancing the weight of the barrel, and transferring recoil from the rifle’s action to the shooter’s torso. As the science and art of running an AR-15 evolved over the decades, so too have the construction and design of this popular rifle’s buttstock. When the M16 was adopted by the U.S. military in the early 1960s, it featured a fixed plastic stock. Nowadays, you can find all manner of AR buttstocks — from…

Visibility within the shooting industry is a hot commodity. Whether behind our scopes or within the crosshairs of mainstream societal awareness, this visibility comes with a price and a responsibility; especially when it’s earned through accomplishment. Serving for eight years as a British Army captain and winning the inaugural season of The History’s Channel’s Top Shot would be more than fitting prerequisites to place any shooter on the proverbial map. However, the one man who can lay claim to both is certainly not defined by these ranks. Marksmanship may be at the forefront of industry insiders’ minds when the name Iain Harrison comes up, but to define the man solely along those terms would be to do him a great disservice. Few in our industry have made the sacrifices he…

Many companies like to herald new products as being revolutionary, game changing, or heretofore unimaginable. But sometimes just taking existing, proven ideas and refining them results in a product that does everything you need it to do. Enter the Remington Versa Max shotgun, shown here in its Tactical livery. It isn’t provocatively festooned with multiple tubes, a bullpup action, or a chainsaw handle on top. Rather, it is a pretty traditional looking semi-automatic shotgun that seems to have an answer for everything and will leave a smile on your face. The heart of the Versa Max shotgun is its innovative gas operating system, with a grid of gas ports in the chamber that are either exposed or covered depending on the length of the shotshell. For example, with a typical…

1 Tactical Tailor melds form with function in the new Modular Adjustable Tactical Vest (MAT-V). Its Airmesh material and adjustable sides allow for maximum comfort and exact fit. The front has removable front buckles, hook-and-loop modular webbing panels, dual map-and-pen pockets, and belt hangers. The back has a zippered hydration pocket. BRAND: Tactical Tailor MODEL: Modular Adjustable Tactical Vest MSRP: $165 (black, coyote brown); $180 (multi-cam) URL: www.tacticaltailor.com 2 Taran Tactical Innovations recently released the Glock Firepower Base Pad, designed to improve your shooting performance and increase magazine capacity. Made in the USA and CNC machined from billet aluminum, the base pad adds weight so the magazine drops easily and allows for faster, more consistent reloads. It has a pushpin design so no specialty tools are needed for disassembly. It’s…

The karambit has gotten a bad rap in the Western weapons world. Some of the most common complaints about this clawshaped knife are that “it’s a glorified farming tool” and “its curve makes it useless as an EDC utility blade.” What few people realize is that in the hands of a welltrained user, the karambit can be one of the most effective self-defense knives available. We equate it to selecting a longrange scope — if you can’t utilize the reticle, it’s nothing but a paperweight. Knowledge and practice make the karambit a powerful weapon. Sure, the karambit is used by farmers and fishermen, but it’s also used in a group of martial arts known collectively as silat, which is found in Indonesia, the Philippines, and other parts of Southeast Asia.…

To make the most of the Faxon’s features and to address its shortcomings, we kitted it out with a folding stock and VFG, which served to reduce the carbine’s OAL to 26.5 inches and negate the problem of the handguards heating up. The vert grip came from CTC Defense and while spendy, offers the user the ability to swap out laser and illumination modules for both visible and IR targeting, as well as slaving other electronics from the unit. Trijicon’s SRS red dot, described elsewhere in this issue, completed the optics package and also offers NV capabilities to compliment the IR laser. The folding stock lacks a useable sling mount when folded, so in order to add a single point sling, we resorted to the tried and true method of…

We’ve been planning. Modifying our gobags every few weeks. Running through scenarios and asking a lot of what-if questions. We’ve been prepping, and what we’ve come to realize is that all of this could be for naught if we don’t have one key supply: power. If we’re to survive when SHTF, we’ll need power, and lots of it — be it gas for the bug-out vehicle, plug-in chargers for the GPS unit, or batteries for flashlights and optics. While figuring out the most effective means of converting our bug-out vehicle to biodiesel, we discovered there’s a whole market of solar-powered equipment for survivalists. The following is a quick glance at a whole world of products that need nothing but the warm glow of our nearby star. MAKE: Trijicon MODEL: Sealed…

Flying with guns is easier and more hassle free than most people suspect, so please take a moment to review this safety card before we take off. This cabin crew regularly flies with guns in their luggage when traveling around the country. In the past year we’ve flown with guns to California, Idaho, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. On each of these trips, the process was similar and went off without a hitch. All it takes is following a few TSA and airline rules. Please comply with all lighted signs and crew member instructions and everything will go just fine. UNLOAD IT Before packing your firearms, you must unload all ammunition. Loaded guns, like smoking, are not allowed on any flight. Tampering with or destroying the bathroom smoke…