All posts in Hunting Gear

The question, what configuration should I have for my M4 Carbine?

There are so many ways to accessorize or customize your AR15 rifle or M4 rifle these days.   So many brands, Magpul, VLTOR, Midwest, Tago down and on and on.  It looks like strictly from a retail stand point that Magpul is king of the customizations and I see it every day in our AR15 parts sales.   There are gun grips, foregrips, angle fore grips and more.   There are different lengths and widths and all of this can get frustrating if you are not disciplined.   I have a Summer/ Winter CCW mindset and many people need to stop wasting money  on accessories and just get more than one gun and stick to it.   When someone takes a short carbine and puts a 14x scope on it, I think there is something odd about that.  Just get an AR15 upper with a longer barrel and put that optic there.

Slings and sling attachments is something that people also get frustrated over because they put it on in their house and everything is good and when they get to the range with their tactical vest on, everything is snagging and hanging up.   We have sold a great many of the Magpul slings from the MS2 and MS3 and now the newer MS3 QD.  There were apparently some issues with the Magpul MS2 although not everyone is going to notice it.   Some hangups and fraying occurred with them and well, what the heck, why not just replace it with something better even if the differences are  minor.   The biggest selling point of these slings is that they are either a single  point or a 2 point sling.   That’s 2 slings in one, a good deal.

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Brick and Mortar stores for tactical gear and clothing

There use to be a well known Army Navy Store here in the Philadelphia Suburbs that was family owned and we use to go there to get our cub scout gear.  They had shovels camping gear, sleeping bags and war props.   Those were fun days for us but that industry just faded away in South Eastern Pennsylvania.  It’s hard to even find a place where you can check out a Swiss Army Knive.  The internet is a booming industry but there is still so much competition amongst brick and mortar stores.  I have friends that shop at Victoria’s Secret for clothing for their wives because shopping online is too hard.  In this industry the same things happen for women trying to find the correct style and color of tactical clothing.  Many will ask what multi-cam is and what color is coyote brown.

On the other hand the average guy will have no idea how to explain what color turquoise is and is going to want to walk into a store to see it.   Backpacks and duty bags are Mission driven and tactical clothing is no different.  The differences between 100% cotton ripstop pants, Blackhawk Polycotton ripstop pants, Tru Spec Polycotton ripstop and 5.11 lightweight tactical pants are also very different.  Pocket designs are unique, some are good for a knife, others have different cargo pockets and may or may not work for you.  We got asked this question all the time about the differences between Eotac and Woolrich Elite tactical clothing.  All of these products  have their pros and cons and it really depends on what your needs are.

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Gun Cleaning Supplies without all the smell and mess

I’ve tried to clean my firearms and use gloves to avoid contact with all of the chemicals but it was too much of a pain in the ass to get done.   Some of the gun cleaning parts as well as the take down pins on something like an AR15 are too hard to do with rubber gloves.    I’ve avoided using Hoppes bore cleaning chemicals for a long time because I’ve mostly learned that if you clean guns shortly after shooting them they are easier to clean.   I’ve used Break Free CLP on cleaning patches and it seems to get the job done on all of my rifles.  On my Winchester 30 caliber bolt action there was one time I had to use a bore cleaning to clean it.

The best thing to do these days is transition your gun cleaning materials to non-toxic chemicals.   The M-Pro7 gun cleaner is non-toxic and as I have rotated out many of my older gun cleaning supplies, and replaced them with M-Pro7 I have not had the smells and the light headed experiences nor the complaints from my family members about the smell.   Not only that but the carbon remove really works well and the 32oz sprayer makes getting into the chamber and covering the bolt carrier easier.  I have friends that actually just dunk the whole bolt carrier in a bucket and they’re done.

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Shoulder holsters are not out of style

I know that many gun ranges do not allow people to train for defensive shooting classes with shoulder holsters and I complete agree with the reasons.   I still believe that if you have to carry a full size auto, carrying it in a shoulder holster is the way to go.   For driving in vehicles whether for military purposes or for concealed carry, it is a practical way to defend yourself.  I think the vertical should holster is a much more practical and safer way to carry in a shoulder holster but small or medium size firearms work well in horizontal rigs.   I find the Elite Survival systems holsters to be the best nylon holsters but you get what you pay for.  Some of  my Uncle Mike’s holsters worked well but they are not as comfortable to wear.

There have been some pretty big design changes and I like many holster makers, the contour of the holsters has been modified.   The Miami classic holster from Galco holsters is still a very widely used holster for law enforcement.  This is probable the coolest shoulder holster and with a Glock 19 it works very well.   For winter carry these are above the belt line and are not something that will restrict you with the type of jackets you wear.  We have had some issues with customers buying the Woolrich Elite Algerian Jackets and then not like the length of the jacket.  Our answer is that it’s a jacket not a coat and if you want to wear this you need a different setup.

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Binoculars in your range bag

I have a pretty good range bag that I keep all of  my sight in tools and magazine conversion kits in it.  All of my hearing protection and sometimes a few loaded magazines.   The one thing I have always kept in there were my binoculars.   I have taught so many people to shoot firearms and there have been times that I totally forgot to bring a rifle with magnification on it when I was teaching new shooters to shoot with a 22LR and iron sights.  It’s good to start people out on iron sights whether it’s with a 22 bolt action or an AR15 A2 style rifle.   If the shooter is old enough and can handle the nose and the recoil the AR15 is a good starting point.

When you try to see those groups at 100yds, sure you can hit a once inch square at those distances and accurately group them, but if your sights are off or you are trying to determine where your novice shooter is hitting, you don’t want to have to call cease fires and check paper.  There are many differences in the light gathering abilities of optics but Bushnell binoculars are reasonable priced and for most practical purposes, they get the job done and won’t cost you hundreds of dollars.  It’s always a good idea to keep your lense clean and this can have a big impact on your light gathering and clarity.

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Every day or go to bag for the car, any suggestions? Yep!

We’ve had a lot of bags go through our store and 5.11 tactical seems to have a really good product and there Rush messenger bags and the Rush 72 bags are a big hit with the EMS and Paramedic community.   We did a  lot of thinking over the last couple years about what products we were going to be bringing in and one thing that we find more and more common in the Law Enforcement Community is buying products made in the USA.  Many customers are willing to pay more for an American Flag logo than for something made in China.  It makes sense if your job is to protect this national and uphold the Law of the Land and wear the gear and equipment that is made here.

That seems to be a bit harder these days although I have seen many tactical products showing up that are made in this Country.  The M4 Roller is the largest of the Elite Survival Bags that we stock and it was very well received by the SWAT and Paramedic departments.  This is a hard thing for people to know if they wants to buy if they aren’t holding it in their hands and going through all of the compartments.   This a really big bag and something you’ll want to pick up on location rather than buy it online.  If you are looking for a very comfortable grab and go or 24hr bag to leave in the car the Smokescreen concealment pack has a holster compartment for a firearm but also has a very low profile.  The navy version of the bag is pretty cool because it looks more like something that should say Nike on it.

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There is a method of concealment for each situation

When Summer rolls around here it sometimes gets difficult to carry the firearm that you carrid in the Winter.  Several of my Law Enforcement buddies have told me that they carry Sig 230’s most of the time and keep it simple.   I have friends that carry full size 1911s, they can conceal them very well but carry it near the spine is not a safe way to carry in my opinion and it’s hard to run and play baseball when  you carry a large frame firearm.  The Glock 26 is another firearm that many carry in the Summer because its a much shorter gun that can almost be carried in a pocket.

I never bash people for carrying in a fanny pack because I had to do it for a job and most people I talked to said I looked like a Pizza delivery guy and it fit the situation.  I noticed many women carrying at parks with something that could easily be Blackhawk gun cases or a Blackhawk Fanny pack.   The only bad thing about some of the tactical bags and the fanny packs is seeing the name on the bag which can be a dead giveaway to a profession, but from my experience the dumbest criminals tend to be the biggest threats.

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Coming this Fall at Rogue Elite

Not only have we finished setting up our new tactical shop here in Broomall, we are getting setup for the Fall outwear promo with TruSpec.  This year Gunny will be releasing his own tactical pant from TruSpec and we were happy to hear that this tactical pants has a gussetted crotch.  This has probable the only consistent complaint we got about the TruSpec pants.  They really are comfortable to wear and the pockets are very unique.  The material designs make it an easy transition from 5.11 tactical pants to the TruSpec design because they are both a polyester cotton blend.  Its hard to find places to try stuff like this on but now we have a location here in Southeaster Pennsylvania.

Tru Spec has a big 2 month long outerwear promotion going on from October 1st to November 30th and it will be a good time to stop in early October to get the best deals and selections.   There aren’t too many places to tryout things like this and Philadelphia Police and Security Supplies doesn’t usually mean that you are selling tactical pants.  Many stores that market that mostly deal with uniforms and the like but we are a full stocking dealer for Tru spec pants, jackets, vests, shorts and jackets.  We are located in the Broomall Industrial Park just right off of 476 South.  We are open Tuesday- Friday 12am-6pm and Saturday’s  10am-5pm.

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Blackhawk Serpa holsters for sidearms

I have taken several courses with my Carbine and I still am sticking with my Blackhawk Serpa holsters even with all of this brewha that has been going on.  I’ve seen it so many times at the range that ceratain holsters or gear is more likely to cause accidents with shooters that are not as disciplined.  It’s not the gears fault its the shooter and everyone knows that even though so many instructors have banned the holster.  They get tired of the “new guys” always doing the same mistakes.   The thigh rig for my sidearm is a great way to carry because i do not like having a sidearm on my vest or on the belt line if I am toting my LWRC M6A2.

Keeping as much gear off your belt is a good  thing and new shooters will find that out after the first hour on a firing line.   With a full range of holsters for medium and large frame sidearms the Blackhawk Serpa holsters are still the hottest selling thigh rigs for students heading off to the range.  They are about $50 less than the Safariland holsters and I really can’t argue one being any better for the chore at hand.  We stock a large supply of these holsters for the most popular Sig Sauer, Glock, Beretta and 1911 firearms.  Even the XD45 is one of the most common we see carried in this type of holster.

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Avoiding stockpiles of unused gun accessories and gun cases

There is always a starting point in this industry for all of us and many of us have the same stories about how we got into shooting guns and all of the mistakes about buying crap gear or crap optics and finding out the end result.   We’ve been offered many product lines in the past year but many of them we turn down based on Warranties and durability.  The products we get the most complaints about get removed from our inventory and we move on.   There are so many times I hear people refer to the closet in their home where they keep all of their unused holsters that they thought they might need someday but never use.

Gun cases are  probable the next thing in line of piling up in your house but you are afraid to throw them away.  I have many of my original handgun cases that came from the factory but these are not as practical to transport like like some of the Allen gun cases that I have used over the years.   I swear I have more gunsocks in my house then I have regular socks and I honestly don’t remember buying them.  They always seem to come with the used rifles or shotguns I own.  Allen pistol rugs are big sellers for handguns and we have lots of them around.

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