Innehållsförteckning för September/October 2020 #50 från Recoil

Well, we made it. This issue marks the 50th time we’ve sent RECOIL out to newsstands, and the occasion of our half century is a good time to reflect on the changes we’ve seen. When we first launched, there was nothing else like it in the market — since then, we attracted a few imitators, most of whom for various reasons have folded their tents. This business is tough, and a good idea without dogged determination and a team that’s dedicated to seeing things through to the bitter end is a great way to lose a lot of money. I regard myself as being particularly blessed with a crew who not only are the best in the business, but who actually live this lifestyle rather than just writing about it…

Despite its location, this is one collection of military equipment that doesn’t get anywhere near the number of visitors it deserves. Less than an hour’s drive from downtown Zurich, the Swiss Military Museum is crammed into a rundown industrial complex in Full-Reuenthal on the banks of the Rhine. The south bank is Swiss, while the north is German, which explains the gun emplacements that dot the site, underlining the fact that although the Swiss maintained their neutrality during World War II, it wasn’t because they were best buds with everyone and had good chocolate. Strolling into the entrance on a Friday morning, we were greeted by one of the museum’s docents. Both parties attempted to complete the necessary transaction to gain admittance, made more difficult by our bad German language…

This build stemmed from the most primal of gun-owner temptations: “I don’t have one of those. I should probably get one.” In this case, one of those was a 7.62x51mm AR. While the author has a standard stable of 5.56mm ARs in varying configurations, a heavy hitter with some extended-range capability was missing from the safe. But we didn’t want just any AR-10 type. The idea was to create a gun that shot as soft as possible for caliber, while maintaining accuracy at distance. We started with an Aero Precision builder’s kit — receiver set and handguard. We then added a 20-inch stainless steel Criterion barrel. These feature rifle-length gas systems and M118LR-spec chambers, in order to optimize performance with heavier loads. For the bang switch, we went with a…

THE 2-INCH ALUMINUM TUBE DOES A COUPLE THINGS ON THE MR-19. FIRST, IT PROVIDES A BOMBER FREEFLOAT HANDGUARD THAT‘LL DOUBLE AS A PULLUP BAR, AND SECOND, IT COVERS JP‘S SIGNATURE THERMAL DISSIPATOR SYSTEM. John Paul of JP Enterprises makes no bones about it. Within two seconds of our interview about the origins of the company’s MR-19 rifle, J.P. spits fire about traditional, dropcomb bolt gun ergonomics. “Gas gun ergonomics are far superior to drop-comb bolt gun ergonomics,” he says. He’s talking about the trouble he had almost 20 years ago finding a rifle setup that’d work well in endurance-based, team sniper competition. That was his obsession at the time. He means events in the early 2000s that were the forerunners of events current comps like Competition Dynamic’s Sniper Adventure Challenge…

The Line of Control is the military regulated border between India and Pakistan. It’s been described as one of the most dangerous places on earth. The LOC isn’t a legally recognized international border, but it’s an effective demarcation between the two countries. Think of the Berlin Wall but add terrorists, the threat of nuclear weapons, elevation as high as 18,000 feet, and a fracture point between two religions. India constructed a 340-mile barrier along the 460-mile LOC. Wire, walls, motion sensors, and land mines are all used in an attempt to make India great again. It seems everywhere else in the world that variations of walls and barriers are used to keep borders safe without protest. We’re jealous, but we’ll leave that for November and keep the focus on India.…

01 AREA419 ARCALOCK RAIL FOR ACCURACY INTERNATIONAL AX MATERIAL: 6160 aluminum WEIGHT: 2 pounds RAIL ANGLE: 5 degrees (short action) MSRP: $225 - $240 URL: www.area419.com Despite its remaining a very capable tool, the elephantiasis-like interface between the AI AX’s forend and its body handicaps the venerable chassis. We’re in the ARCA rail age, and that hump is a real mood killer for a lot of bolt gun players. Area419’s new ARCALOCK Rail overcomes the AX hump and brings ARCA compatibility to the AX and AXCS with an elegant solution that installs in a minute with just three bolts. The result is a continuous rail extending from the magwell to the end of the handguard that instantly brings an old favorite up to speed with the latest offerings on chassis…

1979 FORD BRONCO ENGINE: 460ci V-8 TRANSMISSION: C6 automatic URL: @recoilboss Appealing to nostalgia can be a tricky proposition in the automotive business. While models like the Chevy Suburban have been around continuously since the 1930s, not many manage to last that long. Occasionally, companies reintroduce names previously thought to be extinct in an effort to make people want to relive their past and possibly win over some new fans. VW dusted off the Beetle for another go-around, but after a respectable second act, it was ultimately retired again not long ago. Ford attempted to revive the Thunderbird and appeal to baby boomers with a design reminiscent of its 1955 inception, yet three years later they called it quits. Well, OK boomer! As e-cars become increasingly popular, an electric version…

CZ’s Bren 805 has been covered in these pages before, and it has a reputation as being brick-like in terms of its reliability. Which it should be, given that it’s been in service with the Czech armed forces and France’s GIGN anti-terrorist unit, and is being adopted by the Hungarian army. Its brick-like characteristics also extend to its heft — it’s an 8-pound carbine without a mag, so when CZ announced it was going on a diet in its evolution to become the 806 Bren 2, we were pretty enthusiastic. Four years ago, we shot one of the first production units to come off the line in Uhersky Brod — the rifle hadn’t yet been made with a semi-auto trigger pack, so it was select fire only. We know, the…

Imagine yourself in a world of restrictive firearms laws, global and stateside pandemonium, and a run on rifles, pistols, and ammunition all at once. Now, stop imagining this scenario and accept the fact that it’s occurring all across our country in 2020. Hopefully, you were prepared for something like this to play out and years ago procured the necessary items for your specific situation, based on your geographic location, or age, or state laws, or whatever reason you came up with. Now, let’s say you didn’t prepare or you never purchased that one rifle or pistol you wanted. Maybe you were one of the individuals buying one of 2.5-million firearms sold in the first quarter of 2020. What firearm might you choose if you had to cross state lines, and…

Forty million. Let that number sink in. That’s the consensus total estimate for the number of people in the world who are trapped in modern slavery. That’s more people than the entire state of California and more than the populations of Sweden, Greece, and Portugal combined. It’s not happening behind closed doors; it’s hiding in plain sight, and taking on various forms from sex trafficking to human trafficking to labor slavery and debt slavery, where people have borrowed money, been charged ridiculous interest, and can’t pay it back, which often results in multiple generations of servitude. “When I go and speak, you can see some people react, and it’s like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe this.’ Other people, they just blank out, they check out on you,” explains Bruce Ladebu, founder…

One of the oldest blade patterns, and perhaps the most controversial in modern times, is the dagger or spearpoint blade. Looking back to our Stone Age ancestors, we see that oftentimes knives, spear points, and arrowheads were fashioned from flint, obsidian, or chert. In some time that’s now lost to mankind and well before the Bronze Age, one of these ancient arms makers realized he needed symmetry to improve the aerodynamics and accuracy of his spear or arrow, and this translated well with regard to making knives and swords. Daggers feature in some religions as well as the crests, standards, and flags of numerous noble houses throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. This tradition carries through to modern times with military units around the world incorporating a dagger as part…

Primary Arms is no stranger to prismatic sights, and each generation has improved upon the last. This year we’ll see the Gen III (rollout delayed by COVID) which will be part of their new “standard-tier” line of optics. While all of them (1x, 2x, 2.5x 3x, and 5x) are being refreshed, we got our hands on a 3x 300BLK/7.62x39 model and a 5x 5.56/.308. Because what we received were preproduction samples, we can’t make any commentary on the packaging — it’s not like we actually care how it looks on a shelf, just how they perform. But bear in mind that there may perhaps be some minor differences between what you see on these pages and what’s on the shelves (hopefully by the time of publication); such is the nature…

This review started out as a joke. We found it in the flood of press release emails that in-undate the in-boxes of registered media in the run up to SHOT Show. In amongst the pressers touting everything from better bore cleaners, revolutionary holsters that look just like every other revolutionary holster, to USB-rechargeable duck calls and stinkier doe urine was one for an expansion of EAA’s line of Girsan autopistols. Unless one is a devotee of a particular brand among the several that European American Armory keeps as captive imports, this wouldn’t necessarily cause much of an eyebrow raise before getting bulk deleted along with the rest of that morning’s batch of press releases. However, with Turkish arms manufacturer Girsan being fairly new to the EAA stable, its role expanding…

Combat Marines are full of sea stories. I’ve heard and loved many of them, even the ones I knew weren’t true. But of all the noteworthy sea stories I’ve heard, the one about three combat photographers who shared a captured-and-then-captured-back World War II-issue M3A1 Grease Gun in Vietnam in 1968 stands out. That weapon, and the Marine who liberated it, may have made Marine Corps history. The old Grease Gun was named for its resemblance to the tool still used by mechanics today. Inspired by the British Sten and German MP40, and developed during early WWII, “the Greaser” was made almost entirely of stamped metal with only a couple of machined parts. Production cost was $15 per unit in 1943, equal to about $220 today. The Army touted it as…

Through this column, we’ve been fortunate to meet veterans from every branch of service and all walks of life. Some of these brands are one-and two-man startups. Others have developed brands with national or even international recognition. Few bring with them the gravitas of a career like Norman Hooten’s. Norman joined the Army on a Special Forces enlistment contract in 1980, inspired deeply by the events of Operation Eagle Claw — the failed attempt by U.S. Special Operations to rescue American hostages being held in Iran. His career started in 5th Special Forces Group, first on a SCUBA team before transferring to one of the now-defunct Special Atomic Demolition Munitions teams. SADM was a Cold War-era program that equipped various special operations teams with backpack-sized nuclear weapons, which would be…