Table of contents for July/August 2014 in Recoil

01 CARBINE MAKE: Brethren Armament MODEL: BAP 9 MSRP: $2,850 URL: www.brethrenarms.com 02 SIGHT MAKE: Vortex MODEL: SPARC MSRP: $289 URL: www.vortexoptics.com 03 MAGAZINE BRAND: HK MODEL: MP5, 30-round MSRP: $90 URL: www.hkparts.net 04 SUIT BRAND: Brothers’ Tailors MODEL: Handmade custom MSRP: $1,200 URL: www.brotherstailors.com 05 SHIRT BRAND: Giorgio Fiorelli MODEL: Dress Shirt with spread collar MSRP: $100 URL: www.gruppobravo.com OFF CAMERA 06 BELT BRAND: Galco MODEL: SB3 Dress Belt MSRP: $80 URL: www.galcogunleather.com 07 HOLSTER BRAND: Galco MODEL: Combat Master MSRP: $86 URL: www.galcogunleather.com 08 PISTOL BRAND: Browning MODEL: Hi-Power Mark III MSRP: $1,070 URL: www.browning.com 09 KNIFE BRAND: Baladéo MODEL: G Series 37 Gram Pocket Knife - G10 MSRP: $58 URL: www.baladeousastore.com 10 WATCH BRAND: Smith & Bradley MODEL: SANS 13 MSRP: $400 URL: www.smithbradleyltd.com 11 SUNGLASSES BRAND:…

With the near-insatiable demand for ammunition in the USA, companies that had once abandoned the market are now looking at the lower 48 again. Europe is home to some of the world’s premium ammo brands, many of which are owned by the Swiss conglomerate RUAG Ammotec, and we got a headsup that its products are about to hit these shores. We’re all familiar with the quality levels that can be expected of domestic suppliers, and indeed some of the Russian manufacturers, but is this Swiss stuff any good? Figuring there was only one way to fnd out, we hopped a plane across the Atlantic to go check out its facilities. RUAG owns several brands, including RWS, GECO, Swiss P, Rottweil, and Norma, and has been investing heavily in new plants…

For all the advances in polymers and Hollywood nonsense about plastic guns, metal remains the fundamental building block of frearms. And where there is metal, there are many options for how to treat, fnish, or coat it. Long past the days of just choosing between bluing or raw stainless steel, we now have a veritable bounty of options. Each has a certain set of characteristics that may make one or another more suitable for your particular needs. Read on to learn more. Key characteristics to keep in mind include the following: Hardness, durability, and wear resistance: For hard-use weapons, whether for duty or competition, this is often a key consideration. Thousands of presentations from a Kydex holster, thousands of rounds through a barrel — this will take a toll on…

The mercury’s rising, the days are getting longer, and the skirts are getting shorter. It’s time to bust out the summer shooting kit. But that’s not to say you should wear slippers and a bikini to the range (well, unless you’re a model for one of RECOIL’s “Going Hot” photo shoots). In fact, it’s never OK to wear sandals at a shooting range, Kris Sutton says. As co-founder of and frearms instructor at Shoot and Move, LLC, Sutton teaches in balmy northern Florida and has seen students arrive for class in fip-fops. Sutton turns them away unless they change into more sound footwear. “Hot brass ejected from a frearm can land in between their toes or get caught in the wedge of their sandals,” says Sutton, who’s also an experienced…

Whether you need to keep your spec-ops beard under control or fnally have the huevos to ditch your comb-over and rock the Mike Seeklander look, it’s time to invest in some real shaving kit. If you’ve read the how-to article in the preceding pages and are looking to buy a straight razor, be quick because they’re fying off the shelves like .22 LR ammo. “Demand is so high that there are six-month-plus backorders for most straight razors these days,” says John Koontz of WestCoastShaving.com. “When we get some in, they are sold out in a few hours.” He adds that straight razors have made a comeback something ferce because customers have realized the benefts: Economical: Over the long run, investing in a straight razor is cheaper than buying Gillette cartridges.…

This is, without a doubt, the best tooled-up vehicle we’ve ever featured in these pages. Why? There are many reasons, but we’ll start with three. The kinder, gentler end of the force continuum is handled by a pair of 240 Bravos. But when things get a little hairy, the crew has the option to employ the persuasive power of 3,000 rounds of 7.62mm, courtesy of an M134D minigun. Conceived as a complete bolt-on kit, the Dillon Defender package allows a standard Land Rover GS 110 to transform into a gun truck, requiring only basic handtools and an afternoon’s worth of spannering to complete the job. According to Mike Leavitt, a former Marine and Baja racer who is Dillon Aero’s brains behind the project, Special Forces teams had been using local…

The question of how to update a classic frearm brings to mind an old joke. Namely, the one that poses the question of how porcupines mate — the answer, of course, being, “very carefully.” When the frearm under scrutiny is the iconic Heckler & Koch MP5, a gun that is surrounded by mystique and recognizable the world over, you’d better know your stuff before putting anything on the market. Although developed in the ’60s and widely adopted with more than a million units produced, the MP5 is still a comparative rarity in the USA. Transferable full-auto HKs (when they can be found) fetch north of 20 grand and their semiauto counterparts (the SP89 and HK94) also command premiums. Partly, this is due to their having the distinction of being banned…

Duracoat is a two-part chemical epoxy coating that is sprayed on like paint and then air cured. No heat is required, so it can applied to anything, including optics or other sensitive gear. Besides this, Duracoat’s greatest advantage is aesthetics, as it is available in a large variety of colors that can be mixed to generate infnite variations and applied precisely with an airbrush. With proper prep and application, Duracoat is quite durable, though not as much as the other processes in this guide aside from hydrographics. It also provides strong corrosion resistance. Duracoat withstands temperatures up to 500 to 600 degrees F; for applications where you might exceed this, an oven-cured variant called DuraBake is available in a more limited selection of colors. A turnkey fnishing kit with everything…

Bill Rogers may very well be the most prolifc innovator in the frearms world since John M. Browning. The amount of everyday shooting products that have sprung from his brain (and that we take for granted) is too numerous to list in this article. For example, this former FBI agent devised the frst Kydex holster, the frst paddle holster, the frst “security” holsters designed for retention, the electronic shot timer, the grip pod, and the squeegee bore cleaning device — just to name a few. To this day, Rogers designs, tests, and produces the molds for every Safariland holster produced. As a young G-man, Bill was disappointed with both the frearms training that he received and the equipment that he was issued. As a kid growing up in rural central…

DISCLAIMER The information provided is for illustration purposes only, and is not, nor is it intended to provide, legal advice. The reader should consult with an appropriate professional regarding their individual situation. Any use of the information contained in this article shall be solely at the reader’s risk. Bang! A loud metallic sound comes from outside your bedroom window of your crowded subdivision in a typical American neighborhood. It’s 11:45 p.m. and you were just getting ready for bed. You retrieve your handgun — better safe than sorry. You proceed to the hallway near the bedroom of your children. You open the door to check on the sleeping kids and catch the fash of a human shape outside the window. Your brain registers danger and screams, “Act!” You deftly exit…

Certain techniques look strong, but from a recoil management point of view they are — how should we put this? — less strong. Let’s go back to the basics and examine the human body itself. It’s critical that we utilize techniques that employ as much of the muscular chain as possible. This is not a new topic. Folks have sought ways to improve recoil management since we all started shooting guns. The truth is that most of the time, we discover an accessory as often as we fnd a new technique — and they are defnitely not the same. I am not a fan of accessories for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one is that they have a tendency to mask poor technique. In my line of work,…

SAFETY DISCLAIMER This article is meant to be a general overview on entomophagy. Consult an expert before attempting to capture and consume any insects. Are you dry heaving at the thought of eating a cricket? Well, the practice of eating bugs as part of a regular diet is said to be thousands of years old. The United Nations estimates that at least 2 billion people have insects as part of their traditional diets. There are nearly 2,000 species of insects that are eaten on a daily basis by almost every ethnic group on earth. The vast majority of these insects are caterpillars, followed by termites, crickets, bees, and ants. “The negative (and mostly false) perception of insects as being diseaseridden and dirty has prevented a good number of cultures from…

1 Every now and then an invention comes along that results in a forehead-slapping moment. The ELSA (Emergency Life Saving Armor) plate carrier is a lowprofle means of carting around a pair of plates and spare ammo for use in an “Oh shit!” event. It looks like a regular laptop case until you unzip it to let the two halves fop open, ready for you to pull it over your head. We tested it with a set of rectangular Level IIIA plates from DKX Armor and a pair of full PMAGs. The whole shebang weighs in at just 7 pounds. Made in the USA. BRAND: Martinson Industries, LLC MODEL: ELSA MSRP: $400 URL: www.elsasaves.com 2 Tired of the long wait times and callused thumbs from loading magazines by hand? This device…

Peanut butter and jelly. Phones and Wi-Fi. Kate Upton and sports bras. There are some things that are really good solo, but are even better when paired with a natural complement. The same holds true with knives and frearms. In that vein, we take a closer look at frearm-branded knives this issue. While some are licensed products, others are the end result of collaborations between knifemakers and gun manufacturers. Call it brand loyalty, call it recognizing a mark of quality, or call it striking a yin-yang balance in one’s tactical toolbox. And even if you’re not particularly keen on any of the frearm brands represented here, you might fnd out that one of their knives could fulfll your everyday carry (EDC) needs. 1 MAKE: CampCo MODEL: UZI EVN Stone Wash…

Until recently, AR pistols were rightly regarded as the Miley Cyrus of the frearms world — temperamental, attention-seeking, and stridently obnoxious. And like their pop tart counterpart, while no doubt good for a few minutes worth of fun, they were largely useless for any serious work. In the last couple of years, two developments have come along to change this state of affairs. The frst is the refnement of the .300 Blackout cartridge, developed specifcally for use in short barrels. Unlike 5.56mm NATO, which in a 9-inch tube launches most of its powder charge unburned into the atmosphere, the .300 BLK achieves complete combustion thanks to its use of pistol propellant to drive a wide range of .30-caliber projectiles. The second innovation has been the introduction of SIG SAUER’s SB15…

What makes some guns special? Modern guns are pretty much all the same in terms of what they do as machines. Whether large or small, made of blued steel or polymer, all they do is contain an explosion in such a controlled manner that a metal projectile can be launched with some accuracy at an intended target. So why are some guns just way cooler than others? A Makarov is just a PPK made in Russia, but why would so many of us choose the latter over the former? Perhaps something to do with Commander Bond? This shooter came of “gun age” in the 1980s. As the offspring of a man who had escaped from a Communist prison during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, I was pretty much taught to…

The 1301 Competition is Beretta’s entry into the growing three-gun shotgun market. It’s a semi-automatic, gasoperated shotgun with either a 21- or 24-inch vent rib barrel, threaded for screw-in chokes. The shotgun comes almost ready to take to a match right out of the box. An extended bolt handle and bolt release come standard. The loading and ejection ports are opened up with smoothed edges. I received the Beretta 1301 Competition about two weeks before shooting the 2014 Superstition Mystery Mountain 3 Gun Match (SMM3G), with the intention of throwing it into the cauldron of competition to test its reliability and see how easy it is for someone to simply pick up and use with minimal practice. As any seasoned competitor will tell you, this is usually a recipe for…

Many people might feel uncomfortable holding the passport that likely allowed the notorious “angel of death” Josef Mengele to escape from justice at the end of World War II. Even fewer would feel content in the presence of the desk set once owned by Adolf Hitler and used to sign the 1938 Munich Agreement, which allowed the Nazis to walk into Czechoslovakia unmolested. For Craig Gottlieb, these are just some of the many thousands of items he’s helped sell. Gottlieb, a retired U.S. Marine, deals in military memorabilia and artifacts from the Third Reich — all the more notable because he is Jewish. Gottlieb is also a regular on History’s Pawn Stars TV show, where he is the resident frearms and militaria expert. As the self-proclaimed “History Hunter,” Gottlieb strives…

It’s amazing how something created in the virtual world can seep into reality. Like when an online meme enters our everyday lexicon. Or how we can get pissed off when an Internet commando claims to know everything about CQB when he’s really just a talentless chump playing Call of Duty in his parents’ basement. Which is why we stay sane by going meta with morale patches. This issue’s collection lets you do everything from proudly wearing your apathy on your sleeve to parodying a social media site while simultaneously expressing your love of the Second Amendment (a twofer!). 1 MAKE: Mil-Spec Monkey PATCH: Like a Boss COLORWAY: ACU, desert, forest, MultiCam (shown), SWAT MSRP: $5 URL: www.milspecmonkey.com/store/ 2 MAKE: Griffon Industries PATCH: Because That’s Why Patch COLORWAY: Black MSRP: $8…