Tabla de contenidos para January/February 2018 en Recoil

2016 BAJALITE XR TROPHY TRUCK SPEC CHEVY 6.2L LS3 TH400 WWW.BAJARACINGADVENTURES.COM WWW.F-1FIREARMS.COM If you ever hear anyone say that Baja racing is just glorified off-roading, there’s no reason you shouldn’t beat them senseless with a sock stuffed full of their own sh*t. They’ve obviously never been involved in it. There are no nearby paramedics and your chase crew may be minutes or hours away. If you get hurt, you may have to wait till dawn to be airlifted out. The courses change each year, meaning you have a good chance of getting lost and being 100 miles away from civilization at any given time. Plus if you do complete a race and manage to escape serious injury, your body will feel like you’ve been chopping wood for 24 hours straight. As…

It’s perhaps a measure of this great country that despite our troubles and differences, there’s still room for the garage inventor. Oh sure, most new products are the result of collaborative teams of worker bees toiling away in a cube farm, but even in the firearms industry, the culture of innovation is still alive and well on an individual level. One such entrepreneur is Tyler Skellington, the creator of the eponymous carbine you see here. While we usually don’t report on new guns until our readers can lay hands on them, this one piqued our interest, as its story embodies the spirit of individualism that defines us as a nation — the spirit that involves someone deciding that, since nobody said it can’t be done, he might as well just…

Production for civilian-transferable machine guns ended in May 1986. The law of supply and demand drove up prices of transferable machine guns through the roof. When the cost of an entry-level, full-auto-converted AR-15 was equal to a classic muscle car, the market responded by producing full-auto “simulators.” These devices allow shooters to fire rapidly while staying within the confines of federal law. Such devices have come to the forefront of public attention in light of the Las Vegas shooting that occurred as we wrote this article. While we refuse to fearmonger or steer business to price gouging panic-sellers, the possibility of these items facing additional regulation isn’t unrealistic. Even the NRA came out in support of a regulatory re-look at the devices, possibly in an effort to preempt Congress from…

It’s not that their neighbors hate shooting or guns. They all “like to shoot,” and many of them “have no problem with guns” — or so they say. They aren’t those people. It’s just that they don’t want to live near a shooting range. That, at least, is the not-so-neighborly attitude many range owners encounter when they try to open their outdoor shooting complexes: opposition from the “not in my backyard” crowd. The folks trying to keep ranges away have the ultimate American super weapon at the ready. They don’t have to use the typical political showdown over gun rights, state weapons rules, regulations, or background checks to get their way. They have the power of bureaucracy. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who has felt this force more…

Last year, we told you all about the brand-new Industry Choice Awards, an ambitious new attempt to celebrate and honor innovation and excellence in the firearm industry. We’re pleased, once again, to be the exclusive publishing partner to report on its second year. Nathan and Nick Noble of Rockcastle Shooting Center and David Powers of Oneida Molded Plastics were again the driving forces behind the awards. Building on the success of the inaugural effort, they aspire to steadily grow the Industry Choice Awards every year. Nathan explained that they were remaining true to the original vision of a truly objective product evaluation process, “designed to determine the product of the year in each category through unbiased, hands-on testing and evaluation.” As a result, consumers benefit from unbiased awards, while manufacturers…

NOTES: Fresh off a win last year, Benelli came back strong with the latest installment in its bread-and-butter, inertia-driven semi-automatic shotguns. The Super Black Eagle 3, which chambers 2¾-, 3-, and 3½-inch shells, features the rock-solid Benelli inertia system with a revised bolt head for increased reliability and more secure lock-up. The buttstock has the latest recoil reduction system, Comfort Tech 3, along with a new comb insert. Its predecessor’s ergonomics were already excellent; they’ve been refined even further to improve handling and pointability, with a recontoured pistol grip and fore-end, as well as an extended bolt handle and safety. Taking a page from the three-gunner’s handbook, the loading port is beveled, the trigger guard is scooped out, and the carrier is extended to make loading easier. You won’t mistake…

NOTES: Designed with Mark Roth, the Voodoo Tactical 3-Gun Case is intended to swallow everything you need for a three-gun match, including halberd-like instruments of scattergun badassery, with their absurdly long magazine tubes, without breaking a sweat. It’s an unapologetically huge, 56-inch-long case, designed to accommodate everything you need to channel your inner Daniel Horner. Roth explained that they intentionally didn’t constrain themselves to what might fit in a typical airline-safe hard case, and it shows. But you can still sling the bag, handhold it, or hoist it on your back. Make no mistake though, it’s no lightweight. Convenient dividers safely separate your long guns, which tuck nicely into place. There’s so much storage in this bag that there are pockets for your pockets. Voodoo definitely struck a chord with…

1 Look at it. The new CompM5 is the product of one crazy consensual evening involving the older, proven CompM4 sight and the newer, sexier Micro T-2 reflex sight. Aimpoint took the ruggedness of the U.S. Army’s well regarded M68 close combat optic, shrunk it down and fed it a single, easy-to-source AAA battery that powers the optic for years. It’s got a 2 MOA dot, and 10 intensity settings, the first four of which are designed to work with night vision equipment. While it’s a little longer than the Micro T line, it uses the same mounts, so there’s no shortage of great ways to mount the CompM5 if you pass on Aimpoint’s factory mounting system. It’s a solid upgrade to the CompM4 that reduces size while increasing ease-of-use…

FLIP THE PAGE FOR MORE DETAILS ON EACH KNIFE. Some folks focus so much on how cool a blade looks that they fail to consider the locking mechanism. After all, a sharp but faulty folder won’t seem so attractive after it’s accidentally lopped off one of your fingers … or three. That’s why we’re examining the classic lockback knife. Barring any manufacturing defects, it’s unlikely to close accidentally. It has a spring-loaded metal rocker bar that hooks into a notch on the bottom of the blade’s spine, preventing it from pivoting. To unlock it, press down on the rocker bar at the back of the handle, which lifts the bar out of said notch. This knife type is one of the strongest locking mechanisms available. And unlike a frame-lock or…

Over the last few issues, we’ve outlined the procedures needed to work inside a structure in one- or two-person teams. While door, hallway, and stairway procedures are important, they all, at their core, serve as a way to get you safely to where the real work is done: in a room. Once again we’ll focus on these procedures from the perspective of one person working alone, because that’s the circumstance most of you will find yourself in, should it become necessary to get your fight on inside a building. First, if you only take one thing from this missive, make it this: slow down and think things through. Working by yourself is so much more dangerous than working in a team because there are more angles of exposure (the angles…

Let’s say you want a rifle for your journey to the ass end of the world. Something that’ll run in a desert of ice, wind, and permafrost. It’ll provide safety and sustenance, taking on predators and game in places so remote that you’re as much a part of the food chain as the beasts you seek to dine on. It’s here that the Canadian Rangers, CRs for short, do their nation’s bidding. Not as soldiers or snipers, but as the eyes and ears of a national defense force. Hunters, guides, trappers … men and women of the north, many of them able to say, “Les Stroud? Never heard of her,” likely with total honesty (even though he’s Canadian …). THE CANADIAN RANGERS The CRs is a sub-component of the Canadian…

Although silencer technology has benefited from advances in materials science since Hiram Maxim patented his original invention, the basic design hasn’t wavered much from that seen in the early 1900s. We still employ the principle of high-pressure gas flow being interrupted by a series of baffles — the propellant simply slams into them as it leaves the muzzle — with perhaps a little additional turbulence coming into play from mouse holes and baffle clipping. Monolithic cores achieve the same ends and are easier to manufacture, often at the expense of incurring louder first-round pop. But if it’s simple and works, then why mess with a good thing? NG2 Defense couldn’t leave well enough alone, and while its can isn’t any quieter than its competitors, its innovative design does offer one…

NOTES: The short-stroke gas piston 7.62mm POF Revolution was our cover gun for Issue 32, impressing us with clever engineering to build a 7.62 in a 5.56-sized package. In his testing, our HMFIC Iain Harrison found it to be handy, fast, and accurate, ripping off 0.16-second splits during drills while also printing sub-MOA groups with match ammo. Many parts in the Revolution are interchangeable with an AR-15, and the barrel extension, bolt assembly, upper, and lower receiver are exactly the same size. Weighing in at just over 7 pounds, the rifle features a nitride heat-treated barrel, ambidextrous controls, built-in QD mounts, adjustable gas piston, crisp single-stage trigger, and triple-port muzzle brake. Evaluators raved about the Revolution, in particular giving it high marks for innovation for delivering a .308 on a…

NOTES: Yes, a rangefinder won the optic category, stacked up against riflescopes (some very impressive ones indeed). We’ll get this out of the way first — we wish there were enough entries under consideration to break out another product category. That said, even though it feels a bit like comparing apples and oranges, once you spend some time behind SIG SAUER’s flagship rangefinder, you’ll understand why it was rated so highly by evaluators. The KILO2400ABS fits in the palm of your hand, yet ranges out to 2 miles with an embedded Applied Ballistics calculator, environmental sensors, and Bluetooth synchronization to connect to a ballistic app on your smartphone. Onboard sensors measure temperature, pressure, humidity, heading, and incline, while a useful HyperScan mode ranges four times per second. The OLED display…

NOTES: Ammunition may not be the sexiest category, but we all know that ammo is a critically important component of any weapon system. And manufacturers continue to introduce new and interesting product lines aimed at various segments of the market. This year’s winner is Federal’s American Eagle Syntech. The Syntech line is intended for range and training use. It features a bullet that’s encapsulated in polymer, preventing metal-on-metal contact. The primer is lead-free and propellants burn cleanly. Federal says Syntech ammo eliminates copper and lead fouling, while extending barrel life, lessening the need to clean as often, and reducing felt recoil. Additionally, since there’s no copper jacket and a soft lead core, there’s less splash from shooting steel targets. The testing protocol this year was similar to before, with evaluators…

Build Concept: A defensive build based on the newly available Radian Weapons receiver that serves as a testbed for the Dracos Straightjacket barrel and Cerakote’s new Elite coatings. Radian Weapons recently got back to producing its AX556, featuring the ambidextrous A-DAC control system. We were fans of the setup back when Radian was known as AXTS, having shot a few AX556-based builds years ago. We added it to our wish list, but as the company rebranded and focused on building complete rifles, our chances to get one evaporated, only intensifying our desire to own one. Fast-forward a year and imagine our excitement as Radian catches up with rifle demand and releases full receiver sets. Sure, they’re spendy, but our lust was fully fueled by all those discussions board convos about…

If you were to flick through back issues of RECOIL, you’d probably notice a dearth of articles concerning budget-priced hunting rifles. There’s a good reason for that, as achieving a ballistic boner over a category that’s about as interesting as canned vegetables is difficult to say the least. This new offering from Ruger tempted us to slum it, however. Here’s an accurate, suppressor-ready bolt gun that can take 20-round mags and can be had for around four bills. Best of all, it’s chambered in a round that allows for lots and lots of cheap practice, while delivering terminal ballistics that’ll dump most North American game animals inside of 200 yards. Whoever came up with the idea of taking Ruger’s existing, short-action American bolt rifle and making it accept both 7.62x39…

We’re living in exciting times. It’s an era of small arms innovation — a renaissance, if you will. Not since the fielding of the M60 and the M16 in the ’50s and ’60s have we seen the potential for such fundamental change in U.S. military issue small arms. At the time, the U.S. military introduced two new cartridges. First, the U.S. selected the 7.62x51mm cartridge and then the 5.56x45mm, both of which became NATO standards. As you’ll see, new calibers are intertwined in these modernization efforts and just as much a part of this renaissance as the new weapons that employ them. There’s always talk about weapon modernization, and the military seems to perpetually conduct one science experiment after another to find the next wonder weapon. All too often, action…

NOTES: The winner of the 2017 Handgun of the Year award is the poster child for what the Industry Choice Awards are all about. Jason Karvois, Director of Sales for Century Arms, explained, “Having entered other Canik models into the competition last year, we relied upon the 2016 feedback and constructive criticism to develop and produce the pistol that won this year.” In fact, after the awards ceremony, several executives in the industry confided to us that they were tickled that an underdog won the award in such a strong field. In Issues 18 and 32, we reported on the original Canik TP9SA and its competition-focused descendant, the TP9SFX. We found them to be excellent handguns offering tremendous value. The SFX model bristles with features and enhancements that you might…

NOTES: The Magpul X-22 Backpacker Stock is a perfect complement to the handy Ruger 10/22 takedown rimfire rifle, cleverly snapping together into a portable package when broken down. The buttstock is pared down, but still contains a storage compartment in the grip and one in the stock that holds three spare magazines. The lower portion is cut out to accept the shortened handguard and barrel when detached. You can swap out the cheek-piece for a taller version if you’re using an optic. You can also add optional quick-detach sling mounts and a forward optic mount. Magpul’s innovative design was lauded by the evaluators, who highlighted the slick coupling feature and its compactness, while maintaining full function of the firearm. They felt it exhibited excellent quality, fit, and finish. Many comments…

When Sebastian Gorka went to work on January 21, 2017, things were looking good. He scored a great parking spot for his Mustang, stepped out into Washington, D.C.’s crisp morning air, straightened his tie, and relished the opportunity he’d been given as he strode toward the White House. His mandate came from the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and he held it as an unequivocal honor — to make America great again. Gorka, the Trump administration’s deputy advisor on national security issues, knew his mission wouldn’t be a cakewalk. The White House and Capitol Hill were home to entrenched political forces, jealously guarding their own stations and interests. “It was going to be a hostile takeover,” Gorka said, “and it was, but the Swampdwellers pushed back effectively.” Seven…