Table of contents for Nov/Dec 2019 #45 in Recoil

The Third World War left the planet shrouded in a pall of radioactive dust, under skies lurid and angry, in a climate gone insane. Tilted on its axis as a result of the nuclear holocaust, the Earth lived through a reign of terror with storms and floods of unprecedented severity. When this epoch began to wind down, the remnants of life once more ventured forth to commence the struggle for survival and dominance. This is the story of some of them. If you recognize this passage, or the vehicle pictured here, then you know what movie it was from. If you don’t, what the hell’s the matter with you? Stop whatever you’re doing and go watch Damnation Alley. You could count on two things if you grew up in the…

We try to make sure that every entry in the Buildsheet column has a purpose or desired end use that appropriately shapes the build itself. In this case, the idea came to us while coaching a new shooter with little-to-no experience running carbines in a dynamic training environment. So what would be an ideal rifle for someone not accustomed to shooting, or moving with 3 feet of pew pew in their hands? Lightweight would be highly desirable so it could be wielded by students of all sizes and builds. Adding features to mitigate recoil could also be useful. Yes, yes, we know. Software over hardware, good training over cool gear. And we agree. But if we can utilize hardware advances to shorten the learning curve and more effectively suss out…

We’re not sure any of us ever expected Big Army to swap out their old Beretta M9 pistols, and we certainly didn’t expect Sig Sauer to bring home the win. And yet, back in January of 2018 the Modular Handgun System trials came to an end, and the M17 was officially born. Of course, the M17 has been covered extensively ever since, with Glock gripers saying it was only about money, and a whole slew of now-civilian-market former-MHS competitors made it to the buying masses. We now have more inexpensive, lightweight, and reliable plastic fantastic 9mms on the market than at any other point in history. But we digress. From the first minute of the M17 announcement, there have been companies modifying slides to add lightening cuts and serrations and…

Fed by a hyperbolic media, the frequency of mass shooting incidents is a startling and growing concern for Americans. So far in 2019, there have been 17 mass shootings, which constitutes on average one shooting every 12.7 days. What exactly is a mass shooting incident? There are multiple definitions for mass shootings with the consensus settling around three or more people killed by a gunman. While this definition is somewhat broad and includes incidents such as gang violence, we can agree that it’s a person or persons wanting to harm several people using a firearm. The most recent shootings in the headlines at the time of this article are the El Paso, Texas, Walmart shooting that claimed 22 victims and the Dayton, Ohio, shooting that claimed nine. While the reasoning…

Sometimes it seems as if there’s a disconnect between the firearms community and Hollywood. Movie studios like to pump out action movies with guns galore, only to have many of the people involved with those productions — from actors to directors to studio executives — actively campaign against the notion of owning a firearm. Thankfully, there are a few within that industry who embrace the firearm lifestyle and enjoy shooting. One of those industry players is Max Martini. Martini is best known for portraying Mack “Dirt Diver” Gearhardt on The Unit, Mark “Oz” Geist in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, the SEAL Team Commander in Captain Phillips and Corporal Henderson in Saving Private Ryan. Most recently, he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in SGT. Will Gardner. A story…

The EOTECH HWS (Holographic Weapons Sight) is the original close-quarter-battle sight of choice for top tier counter-terror units the world over, and for good reason. The blazingly quick target acquisition this sight brings to the fight continues to be unmatched. A very large field of view coupled EOTECH’s A65 holographic reticle makes this sight the equivalent of a race car. The center dot is designed as your 50/200 meter zero, while the 6 o’clock portion at the bottom of the ring is your point of aim for 7 to 10 yards. The 3 and 9 o’clock portions of the reticle can be used as holds to precisely lead moving targets. Finally, the reticle is useful as a ranging tool to quickly estimate the distance to a target; an average height…

When KelTec’s KSG shotgun first came out in 2011, most of the hype around it was related to the fact it had dual magazine tubes. The dual magazine tubes made it capable of easily carrying two different types of ammo that the shooter could select between, or just load up with 14+1 rounds for a capacity that even a 28-inch barreled shotgun with an equally long magazine tube couldn’t match. While the capacity and select loading capabilities were interesting, they weren’t the most useful feature of the shotgun, in my opinion. The major advantage the KSG offered was its short overall length, while remaining a non-NFA weapon. The dual magazine tubes and bullpup design made it more difficult to load than conventional shotguns. Not only did the shooter need to…

Deciding what to carry in a medical kit is highly dependent on anticipating the injuries and illnesses you may encounter in a given situation. It’s also dependent on the space available for your gear. After all, the space available when partaking in outdoor activities off the beaten path can be quite limited. You must eliminate unnecessary items so that you can carry other essentials. If you carry a gunshot trauma kit on your person or in a range bag, it’s even more essential that the contents remain compact and free of clutter from unnecessary items. In choosing components to use in my medical kits, I drew on my experience of over 16 years as a paramedic, seven years as an ER nurse, and five years in my current role as…

This drill is a great way to reinforce the fundamentals of marksmanship by forcing you to use your strong and support hands under time pressure. If you don’t concentrate on your trigger press and releasing the shot without disturbing your sight picture, then you’ll wind up shanking rounds into the dirt — either low and left with your strong hand, or low and right with your support hand. For a video of how to run the drill, go to the Training Tuneups channel at RECOILtv. Distance: 7 yards Target: 8-inch dot Weapon: handgun, three magazines PROCEDURE Load and make ready. Standing at the 7-yard line, set your timer to a 5-second PAR time. On the beep, draw and using both hands, place as many rounds on target as possible. For…

It’s funny how life comes full circle. Fashion, music, movies, and many other things in our culture get recycled. The recent influx of movie remakes creates the notion that all the good ideas have been used up, and the suggestion that there are a finite amount of stories to tell is an unsettling thought. Alas, the point of a remake isn’t just to top the original. It’s more about that first impression. Technology is a great catalyst; it plays with the concept that you can have a second shot to see things for the first time. It’s intriguing to see old ideas through modern eyes. That idea I like. Firearms have their own cycle. The progression of manufacturing has made things that were once impossible now commonplace. In the beginning…

RECOIL: When people hear the name EOTECH, the holographic weapon sight immediately comes to mind — an incredibly fast, close-quarter-battle sight that has been successfully employed by special operations counter-terror elements across the globe. If you own the holographic sight market, why enter the crowded variable power optic segment? Aaron Hampton: You’re right. We’re best known for our holographic weapon sights. I think EOTECH surprised the optic industry at the 2015 SHOT show by entering the magnified optic market, which we did with three models in three different power ranges: 1-6x, 2.5-10x, and 3.5-18x. While some viewed the entry with skepticism, the line had actually been in development since 2011, some four years earlier. Prior to that, EOTECH had looked hard at the variable power scope market and anticipated an…

Willie’s Distillery, based out of Ennis, Montana, was founded by Willie Blazer and his wife, Robin. Willie came onto the bourbon scene with nearly 15 years of military service under his belt, including time spent in 3rd Ranger Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group and the Montana Army National Guard. During this time, he logged deployments to both Afghanistan and Malaysia. He also worked overseas as a government contractor, smoke-jumper, hotshot firefighter, and paramedic. But how he wound up in the bourbon industry pre-dates all of that. Willie grew up in the Tennessee/North Carolina border region of the southeast — the home of moonshine and whiskey running. He spent his early days around homemade spirits and continued to pursue this hobby on the side throughout his life. While working as a…

In 2017, the total number of violent crimes in the United States reached 1.28 million. Violent hazards may arise from an array of different situations, ranging from active shooters, attacks with edged weapons, motor vehicles, or explosives. Since the Route 91 Festival mass shooting in Vegas, more people are asking what they can do if they or someone around them is injured. Here are some statistics concerning mass shootings: > 2012 Aurora Movie Theater: 12 killed, 70 injured> 2016 Pulse Night Club: 49 killed, 53 injured> 2017 Route 91 Festival: 58 killed, 700 injured Data collection from these events coupled with evidence coming out of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars has highlighted the importance of hemorrhage control. So, what can you do if a traumatic event occurs to you or…

Because you suck and we hate you? It’s anybody’s best guess as to why Heckler & Koch still refuses to bring a legitimate G36 variant to the civilian market. So their unofficial crowd-sourced marketing slogan will have to suffice for explanation. Despite its unattainable status for real people, the entertainment industry has latched onto this rifle, almost from inception, and put it on a pedestal that may be somewhat undeserved. We say that because, after negative performance reports from German soldiers serving in Afghanistan, serious questions about the G36’s accuracy and abilities were raised, examined, and deemed to be substantiated. The net effect was that, as of this year, the Bundeswehr will be phasing the G36 out of frontline service. Having said that, at the time of its inception in…

Whether you blame John McClane or Tom Clancy, the roller-locked MP5 has captured the imagination of the public for more than 30 years. Unfortunately, the guns themselves are nowhere near as long lasting in use as they are in movies and videogames. When Big Army asked for a new submachine gun, we thought that Sig Sauer would have it in the bag with the MPX. We were wrong. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Swiss firm formerly known as Brügger & Thomet came in for the win with their APC9k. When B&T set up their American arm, military contracts weren’t even on their mind; while 99 percent of B&T business in Europe is all about contracts and OEM production, the American arm would be all about the civilian market. Maybe B&T…

By our count, there’s somewhere around 40 individual silencer companies in the United States. That makes for an incredible amount of options for consumers when choosing a silencer. So, what factors should go into that decision? Price, length, weight, sound reduction, features, accessories, warranty? Absolutely, every single one of those should play a part in what can you buy. Another factor could be lineage. Silencers have been around over 100 years now and many notable inventors and companies have come and gone. One company that has hung around for over 30 years is GSL Technologies Inc. The name may sound familiar as they were universally known for being associated with Gemtech up until a few years ago. Now they’re on their own, and the wizard behind the curtain is Greg…

Holographic weapon sights are as fast as it gets when using your carbine to engage targets from arms reach out to around 100 yards. They do have limitations, and if you intend on reaching out to targets much beyond that, there are better tools for the job, such as EOTECH’s Vudu 1-6x or 1-8x low-power variable optics. Sure, an HWS-equipped carbine is capable of striking targets far beyond that distance, but target identification becomes a limiting factor. On occasion, you can have your cake and eat it too, and this is one of those times. EOTECH offers a 3-power magnifier that snaps in behind your HWS sight and greatly increases the capability of these sights. EOTECH’s G33 model sits in a throw-lever mount that’s quick to take on and off.…

No scope segment has experienced more change and advancement than in the area of variable-powered optics. Variables simply dominate right now. 1-6x and 1-8x scopes are more common on general purpose ARs than any other type of sight, and 5-25x is arguably the best, most useable, do-it-all power range of any rifle scope currently on the market today. In 2018, EOTECH debuted its 5-25x Super Short model and will soon release its new 1-8x low-power variable. VUDU 1-8X24 At a glance, you might mistake EOTECH’s new Vudu 1-8x for their award winning 1-6x introduced in 2015, and that’s a good thing! Your eyes aren’t deceiving you; the new optic appears to share the same short dimensions. But the 8x model receives additional magnification, a nuclear bright, illuminated reticle featuring a…