Tabla de contenidos para March/April 2016 en Recoil

Right now, the world around you is threatening your life. We don’t mean in a dramatic, face-shooting sorta way. No, we’re talking about more of an inevitable, slow-roll toward doom fashion. Be it on a tropical beach, a snowy mountainside, or even in your own living room, the sun’s rays slowly bake you, the cold causes metabolic changes that, unchecked, will lead to your demise, and a seemingly harmless skin abrasion is an invitation for bacteria to reward your domestic clumsiness with a life-threatening case of cellulitis. Your defense against nature’s sinister onslaught isn’t what you think. It’s not an emergency tin containing waterproof matches, a signal mirror, and a space blanket. No, basic survival gear begins with clothing. Nowhere is this idea more obvious and urgent than for those…

Preventing scraped knuckles and burns has always been the province of Mechanix Wear. Its first pair of gloves were prototypes made to protect the hands of NASCAR pit crews in the early ’90s. The pit mechanics’ battle is against a clock, not an armed enemy, but their fight involves grabbing and manipulating angry bits of metal while chaos cranks all around them. Sound familiar? Mechanix Wear’s brand-newfor-2016 Tactical Specialty line is purpose built to suit the needs of warriors and law enforcement officers. Common features include hella strong pull-on loops, highdexterity 0.6mm leather palms, no drip or melt flame resistance, touchscreen compatibility, and baked-in articulation for better fit and a bunch-free grip. 1 The T/S Azimuth is the Mechanix Wear answer to the ground guy’s love of the NSN flight…

As humankind’s first tool, the knife has had millennia to sharpen — we love puns! — into one of the most versatile implements available. Hunters use skinners for preparing game. Bushcrafters utilize fixed blades like they’re multitools. And suburbanites might flick open a folder for light-duty tasks like opening their Amazon Prime packages. All legitimate uses for a knife. But let’s not forget the original reason our ancestors smashed two rocks together: to create an edged weapon. Whether it was to kill prey or to defend against predators, humans first made knives as weapons. So, in this edition of Unusual Suspects, we take a closer look at models designed specifically for self-preservation. Of course, in capable hands, any tool resembling a pointy tip and an edge could be used for…

Once you get talking with the gun geeks at LMT, you start to understand the meaning of the acronym. We toss around the term OCD as shorthand for someone who has a bit more interest in arcane details than we do, but in this case, it’s probably not far from its clinical definition. If the first step is acknowledging you have a problem, then we’re OK with saying that, yes, we can get excited about the 1907 Roth-Steyr’s firing mechanism bearing an uncanny resemblance to that found in a Glock. But these guys take it to a whole ’nother level. Approached by a NATO member country that wanted a compact carbine for undercover security forces who worked in confined spaces, they examined the problem, then presented a solution that used…

“You’re gonna meet your maker one day,” Frankie McRae tells everyone gathered on the firing line. “Can’t be afraid to do that.” It’s a funereal way to begin a period of instruction. It comes before a safety brief, it comes before an explanation of courses of fire, it comes before anything else. The solemnity is reflected on the attentive faces of his students. “You have to have the conviction to fight and to win. In a fistfight, expect to get hit. If you’re in a knife fight, expect to get cut. If you’re in a gunfight, expect to f*cking get shot. If you have to fight — fight. You have nothing to lose at that point.” McRae of Raidon Tactics is a fiercely intense but affable man who never seems…

There are certain words that shouldn’t ever go together in a sentence. Words like habanero and Astroglide, or Clinton and bathing suit. Until Freedom Ordnance released their FM-9, you might have thought that belt-fed 9mm was one of those combinations, but in this case, the juxtaposition actually works better than expected. Now, there are those who might believe this to be a superfluous toy, unworthy of consideration. But hold on there, Timmy, ‘cause not every gun has to be over-the-beach capable — no one is pretending that this is going to be the next infantry light support weapon. Some guns exist purely for range fun and this one is more than ready to fulfill that role and leaves anyone that shoots it grinning like a Cheshire cat. When we first…

WARNING! The exercises and content expressed in this column are for illustrative purposes only. Consult your physician before trying any physical activity or nutritional plan. RECOIL and its contributors are not responsible for any harm or injuries sustained while attempting these techniques Athletes and beefcakes alike can sometimes fall into the trap of developing only “mirror muscles,” the ones guys look at when they pose in the mirror (e.g. chest, biceps, etc.). This means neglecting one of the most important components of one’s physique: the back. This could lead to poor performance at the least and possible catastrophic failures at the worst, such as the inability to climb over an obstacle or to carry a downed partner. Enter the pull-up. WHY IS THE PULL-UP IMPORTANT? Few exercises command as much…

Greece is a beautiful country with amazing culture. Most have seen pictures of the islands, beaches, or possibly experienced the hospitality and food first hand. The capital, Athens, is a modern city that never stops. It’s one of the world’s oldest cities with its recorded age being close to 3,400 years old. Athens has several museums of remarkable quality and content. It’s the perfect playground for the student of history. When sightseeing in Athens you’ll be visiting some of the oldest historical findings that define the human race. The War Museum is located near Syntagma Square and the Greek Parliament. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located in front of the Parliament and is guarded by the Royal Guard. There’s an elaborate change of the Royal Guard every 30…

Bullpups have never had much of a following in the U.S. market. Despite their obvious advantages of a riflelength barrel in a PDW-sized package, their perceived drawbacks have always limited their mass appeal. For the most part they’re regarded as the firearms equivalent of a Ducati — a Euro affectation that looks funny, has dodgy ergos, and questionable reliability. Why would you buy a Diavel when you could have a Road King? For decades, if you wanted to dip a toe into the bullpup world, your options comprised an AUG and, well, that was it. Various bastard conglomerations of conventional firearms were stuffed inside aftermarket bullpup shells, but apart from their deluded owners, no one ever took them seriously. Recently however, things have started to change for the better with…

The reduced-traction climate that grips large swaths of America from post-Thanksgiving to post-Easter is its own special blend of white roads and white knuckles for most drivers. While there’s really no winning at winter driving on public roads, there is a step above surviving. Now, no one, including the folks at RECOIL, is suggesting the roadway is the place to test the limits of your vehicular prowess, but learning to apply a few tenants of rally car racing will add a few options that can help keep your snow-white undercarriage from turning brown this winter. And, above all else written here, keep one thing in mind: if you’re ever in doubt, just slow the hell down. CONSTANTLY MONITOR AND EVALUATE THE CONDITIONS Driving quickly in winter conditions requires the constant…

The Heavy Metal division of three-gun competition requires the use of a .308 rifle, .45-caliber pistol, and 12-gauge pump shotgun. While it lacks the enormous diversity of aftermarket doodads available for other marques, the Benelli Supernova has been king of the hammers for the past couple of years. And for good reason. Its combination of features overmatches anything offered by Remington, Mossberg, or even the Browning BPS that we previously tricked out for just this eventuality, but like any mass-produced consumer good, it can be made better with a little handiwork by the end user. As a bonus, it’s about the easiest of the bunch to work on. Here’s what you can do in the comfort of your own garage to make it race ready. SLICK IT UP Like every…

McRae has strong ties to Quality K9 Concepts (QK9C), which breeds and trains Belgian Malinois. The two so often sprawled all over him in his office are Tig (short for Tigra) and Odin. “Tiggy” was imported from Czechoslovakia. She was bred to Dutch, the great grandson of Elgos, a dog Frankie describes as “the greatest Belgian Malinois in the history of the breed.” Range 37PSR is set up specifically not just to accommodate dogs, but to incorporate them into training. For instance the kennels are located not too far from the range so the dogs can get used to the sound of gunfire. “I am at best a novice trainer,” admits McRae. “I’m a disciple of Matt Hammond. I love it, love working with them. Working with the dogs is…

I’m just curious if anybody is actually reading this or if I’m wasting my time. So, to that end we’re going to start giving some stuff away every issue. Not tactarded inconsequential crap like you’ll see on some halfwit’s Instagram page (“one random person who reposts will win a Condor magazine pouch in UCP pattern!”). No, we’re going to shamelessly exploit our friends for loot you’d happily blue falcon your friends to win. However, in a blatant attempt to ensure you read this whole damn thing I’ll wait till the end to post details. The other big news for this issue is not SHOT Show, nor is it unconfirmed reports that Rep. David Cicilline (D, Rhode Island) actually enjoyed a leucotomy before running for the U.S. House of Representatives and…

When you lean back in the seat, the whole truck tilts back. When you lean forward, the truck pitches forward. It’s not a good feeling. Your truck is a teeter-totter. As you followed your line up the incline, a few rocks shifted under your rig and a big one spun out of place, leaving you in a precarious spot. With the driver-side rear wheel hanging in the air and no visibility out the passenger side, you get the sense your morning just got complicated. If you drive a mall-crawler, you may never be in this predicament, but if your adventures take you off-road you could find yourself in the aforementioned situation or one similar to it. After all, why else did you buy the aftermarket bumper and 8,000-pound winch with…

While visiting the Army Sniper School in 2008, I was given the opportunity to send rounds through the Army’s then-new semi-automatic sniper rifle, the M110. At the time the instructors at the schoolhouse were divided on the weapon system. While everyone appreciated the rapid follow-up shot capabilities over the standard issue bolt-action M24, many were not ready to give up the innate accuracy advantage of a bolt gun. Fast-forward to today and the advantages experienced downrange on countless deployments have made the semi-auto 7.62x51 platform an indispensable tool to modern warfare. For top-tier gas guns, the accuracy gap with bolt actions has virtually disappeared, while giving operators a viable defensive platform when needed. These factors contributed to The Department of the Army seeking these capabilities in a smaller platform —…

1 This is the Agency Edition of the S3F Solutions barrel. It’s a light, match-grade barrel with what they describe as a tighter-fitting hood so it will go into lockup better. Although it’s built with octagonal fluting on the crown and length, there’s a portion of the barrel left round to ensure there’s no degradation of accuracy caused by the loss of its cylindrical shape (and so it will cycle as it should). Said crown is cut 35 degrees and sports a high polish and the feed ramp is also highly polished for optimal feeding. The new Agency barrel is designed for the Glock 19 and Glock 17 with a twist rate of 1:10. Built of 416R stainless steel, the rifling is pulled broached/SAAMI spec 9mm. Optional threading is ½x28.…

2011 TOYOTA TACOMA TRD SPORT 4X4 4L V-6 AUTOMATIC 1 LIGHT MAKE: Golight MODEL: Stryker HID URL: www.golight.com 2 LIGHT MAKE: Pro Comp MODEL: Pro Comp 7-inch HID URL: www.procompusa.com 3 LIGHTBAR MAKE: Zero Dark Lighting MODEL: 20-inch LED lightbar URL: www.zerodarklighting.com 4 LIGHT MAKE: Zero Dark Lighting MODEL: 3D Rocket Pod URL: www.zerodarklighting.com One of the fun things about covering vehicles like this is hearing stories of how our Transport articles also inspire readers to start their own build. In this case, Chris Pate of San Antonio, Texas, befriended an individual whose Tundra had appeared in our Issue 12 of RECOIL, and it got him thinking about what his dream vehicle would be. Having served 10 years in the Marine Corps, much of which was as an infantry squad…

The argument over whether to use Minutes of Angle (MOA) or milliradians (mil) is one that’s guaranteed to spark a lively online debate among shooters. Before you get sucked into the fray, arm yourself with a healthy understanding of the difference between the two systems, and how to make them work for you. Both MOA and mils are units of angular measurement. In shooting, angular measurements are used to describe linear size, relative to distance (e.g. 10 inches tall at 300 yards, or 15 centimeters left at 200 meters). The most common uses are incremental adjustments to a bullet’s impact, estimating the distance of a knownsize target, “holding” for windage or elevation, and measuring accuracy by shot-group size. The most important thing to understand about these measurements is that they…

If you’ve put in any sort of time training for practical self-defense (or read any amount of advice from Internet commandos), you’ll have no doubt heard of the phrase “OODA Loop.” The acronym of observe, orient, decide, and act was developed by John Boyd, who flew an F-86 Sabre during the latter part of the Korean War. It has since been applied to everything from sports to litigation. As a fighter pilot, Boyd was dismayed by the staggering kill ratios by North Korean pilots fighting U.S. fighter pilots in what was known as “MiG Alley.” Instead of attempting to defeat the enemy aircraft, he utilized the OODA Loop to attack the thought process of an opponent (the enemy pilot) and get inside their reaction loop. The U.S. pilots soon had…

Alaska has always held a special place in the hearts of adventurers, hunters, and outdoorsmen. Even today, it exerts a magnetic pull on the imagination of those who live in the Lower 48, and an expedition way up north might seem like an unattainable dream for most, denied due to reasons of logistics, distance, and expense. It doesn’t have to be that way. When we first started planning this trip, the original idea was to simply task a couple of RECOIL staffers with putting it together, and then document the process for a print article. As the pieces fell into place, we decided that it would be just as easy to take six guys as it was to send two. So the idea was hatched to share the adventure with…

1 DRY BAGS We went into this trip with the expectation that we’d be rafting and set up the gear list accordingly. Despite switching plans at the last moment, Watershed dry bags proved to be worth their weight in gold, as they fit nicely in the aircraft and thanks to being completely watertight were able to be stored outside of the tents in camp. Their Torpedo gun bag is big enough for a scoped rifle and takes up about half the volume of a typical nylon padded case. www.drybags.com 2 MEDICAL KITS One of those items you hope is never needed, but you’re awfully glad to have along when it is, the extra level of utility provided by an extensive med kit was appreciated by all. Chinook Medical’s Expedition kit…

It’s not like Michael Dzerdiak set out to “damn the man.” It’s just that paying for two cans and waiting for the Form 4’s to clear on both of them seemed like such a drag. His company, Rugged Suppressors, ships the Surge as a 9-inch suppressor rated to .300 Remington Ultra Mag levels of blast and gas volume. The end user then has the option of unscrewing the adapter, swapping the endcap over to the shorter tube, and enjoying reduced length and weight on another rifle. The last few years have seen significant advances in mount technology due to new companies entering the market (Yay! Capitalism), and Rugged claims their 17-4 PH stainless muzzle devices will allow the Surge to be screwed onto different hosts without compromising security or accuracy.…

Police videos and surveillance cameras have shown us again and again: an officer in the struggle for his life as a criminal grabs hold of his gun. These types of images chill us to the core not just because cops are society’s guardians, but also because we can easily see ourselves in their shoes. Having your weapon taken away by a bad guy is a scenario that all defensive gun enthusiasts should be prepared to prevent. Weapon retention techniques have been taught by police academies for de cades, but few have ever applied effective concepts from the Filipino martial art of Pekiti-Tirsia Kali. Until now. WARNING! The concepts shown here are for illustrative purposes only. Seek a reputable instructor before attempting any techniques discussed or shown in this story. A…

In 2003’s The Hunted, Tommy Lee Jones plays a wilderness survival expert tasked with tracking down a mentally unstable government assassin played by Benicio Del Toro. Even with a star-studded cast and intense action scenes, the survival community paid more attention to the knife carried by Del Toro, the Beck Knives Tracker. The knife’s unique design commanded attention and generated no shortage of questions about how well it would perform in real scenarios simulated in the movie and in the lives of interested moviegoers. Del Toro faced a SHTF experience being hunted by Jones in the Pacific Northwest, but before the Tracker’s abilities could be showcased, he was disarmed of it. In this review, we’ve been armed with the latest version of Beck’s iconic tool — now renamed the Model…