All posts in Hunting Gear

Eotech sights, Aimpoints, and the Trijicon SRS sights and rail space

eotech sightsThere was a good add on a Trijicon facebook page promoting the Trijicon SRS sight and it was mostly about rail space.  That is an issue that I personally have run into because I put several things on my LWRC M6A1 rifle that I started to run out of room when i tried to put a pressure switch on it.  I started out with a vertical foregrip and it worked well with the my Streamlight Scorpion flashlight but after I fell in love with the Magpul angled foregrip I ran into issues trying to activate the flashlight.   I’m still not sure what I’m going to do but once I get the new XPS sights in from Eotech i’m going to retire my Eotech 512 just based on rail space.

Run time is important but there are differences between military applications and Law Enforcement applications.  There have been big changes in the industry and now that solar/battery optics are are on the market we’ll see what the next generation of Eotech sights are going to produce.   The Eotech magnifier is a very good idea for someone that already has an Eotech device and wants to make it a medium range optic.  The side battery switch is something I also really like because it makes it easier to get to if you already have a magnifier and rear sight.

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Training your eyes for something other than crosshairs?

Trijicon TA31F-G for saleI started out with iron sights on a 22LR rifle and then shot out of an optic with crosshairs of varying sizes for decades.  I always thought the TA01 was a cool optic because it had the range calibration reticles which makes this a fast medium range combat optic.   Even though these guns loose a lot of energy by the time they get out to 600yds, they still are deadly, and hits are better than misses.   Red dots were the next thing although I was never really a huge fan of them.  I was a better shooter than the red dot would allow me to be, but then I finally discovered the Eotech gun sights.  The gun sights on these make fast engagements.

Later I got to hold a few of the TA31 optics, primarily the green reticle chevron versions, and they looked really odd to me.  I later asked a Rep from Trijicon if he could explain to me how the Trijicon TA31F-G for sale are used.   Primarily the top of the Chevron is for 100yds, the Chevron has a hollow center for body shots out to 200yds and the first pole point is 300 yards.   After that it’s pretty self explanitory on how to use this optic at medium ranges.  The real issue with shooting these optics is knowing how they are sighted in and knowing that you are going to get good use out of it.  Most gun ranges I know of are less than 100yds and most guys that own ACOGS never even shoot past that.

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Emergency responses and packing your car for the “what if” situation

recon sleeping bagsSeveral years ago there was a national tragedy here in Pennsylvania where a simple snow storm caught too many people on a major highway that emergency responders were not able to get to all of them.  There were so many cars and so much snow on the ground that plowing was impossible.  People sat in their cars waiting for help as the snow piled deeper and deeper.  Something like this caught everyone off guard and there were politcal fallout from it, but, the real problem was nobody had any backup plan for this and they should have.

I’m a big fan of keeping emergency survival blankets in my car because people don’t realize that sitting in a car and idling is only going to give  you about 8-12hrs of heat and energy and then you will have lost your heat source.  Something  like the recon sleeping bags  like the recon 2 are all you need for a basic SHTF car break down where you might be better off using that an waiting for help rather than depend on your car heater keeping you warm.   The Recon 2 is so small that it hardly takes up any room  in  your trunk and is a great investment.

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Expanding our product line based upon customer feedback

Tru-Spec softshell jacketsWe are expanding our tactical clothing line towards Law Enforcement products in 2013.  We have a really good location for many of our police departments and it’s really all about logistics.   This year we have brought in some of the Tru-Spec Extreme Assault Suits which is something we really didn’t know about until we were asked to bring them in.  There are always slight functionality differences between these and other manufacturers that each department might want, but you never know until they ask for it, or walk in and ask us about them.  Having a shoulder or arm pocket that Law Enforcement can use when identifying a person or persons that have a warrant out for their arrest.

Fabric and materials really matter depending on the work you are doing.  We ran a promo on the Tru-Spec Softshell jackets this past fall and they were very popular with our customer base.  They are more useful and practical since they are a Fall and Spring jacket and give you a level of water resistance that other jackets don’t have.   Here in our parts of the Country we can get a  lot of rain in cold and warm temperatures and being able to adapt to whatever you wake up to in the morning means having a very diverse wardrobe.

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The Wilderness belts hold up, end of story

I’m not going to go off and bash 5.11 products but they are a monster of a company and have so many products out there, that I can’t really say that they are the best, or that they are the worst, at what they do.    They sell watches, flashlights, and many EMS and military style shirts, pants and footwear that I think they are doing entirely too much and losing focus.  It’s a multi-million dollar company but there flashlights and watches don’t have a great reputation and I wouldn’t spend my money on those, the same goes for many of their belts.

The only product that we probable will never replace in our inventory are The Wilderness instructor belts.   They have been the best selling guns belt and The Wilderness belts that are a 5 stitch 1.5 inch are very common on firing lines.   We’ve tried several belts already that were similar but the paint chipped or they frayed sooner than they should.  You do have to be very careful about how you measure yourself for these belts, many people are spoiled with elastic waistband pants and don’t really know what there true sizing is.  You do need to measure  yourself and we have that on the product image display.

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Gun holsters on a budget

We never bash brands unless we really have issues with them, whether it’s quality control or ridiculous product pricing.   There are some brands we have dropped over the years, mostly gun accessories because the amount of breakage was too high and we got tired of hearing it from our customers.  Many of the gun cases or gun bags we sell are made in foreign Countries and are reasonable priced, but some people just won’t buy products that aren’t made in the United States.   We’ve seen some gun  holster companies be forced to manufacture certain products in Asia because the restrictions and costs were too high here.

When you need a gun holster for your handgun or your rifle, we know that not everyone wants to spend $100 on a gun case because the gun may have only cost you $200 and $30 bulldog gun cases are all you need.  Nylon gun holsters can vary in quality and features but we leave it up to the customers to decide if they want to spend the money on Bulldog, 5.11, Blackhawk, Elite Survival or the well known Uncle Mike’s gun holsters.  All of those pretty much give you what you pay for them.  For higher end firearms you might want more protection for your gun and $100 gun cases will give you that.

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Smith Optics Elite new products, new year….

We always have our favorite product lines each year that put  put out new and interesting things and always impress us.   Original Swat, Tru-Spec, Trijicon and now Smith Optics Elite are on our list.   There are many products that we sell that our employees wear and use every day and will personally attest to their clarity, durability or value.   When many of us first started wearing the Smith Optics Eyewear it all seemed like over priced shooting range glasses until we actually wore them and looked through them.  We’ve had guys come in here and say they get the cheap stuff at the hardware store, but none of them knew about the prescription lense options or the manufacturer’s warranty on the eyewear.

Many of the goggles that we sell are similar to each other, but Smith Optics Elite came out with a lo-profile goggle in multicam last year as well as the very well received boogie regulator google.   The boogie regulators are really big for sky diving and airsoft and we’re amazed at  how  broad these Smith Optics Elite goggles have been accepted.  I read a few negative reviews from people about them  online but that has not been our experienced.  When entire tactical teams are walking in the door and send their buddies in the next week, and nobody complains about them, and they are getting used, we know we have a good product.

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Comparisons between smaller optics

Some of the XPS and EXPS sights are floating around my local police departments and even at the gun club.  With how much people like to put on their AR15s, the main selling point of these optics is they are shorter and give you rail space.  I put a Surefire Scout flashlight on my LWRC M6A1 rifle and figured out real fast what people mean by needing more rail space.  I guess due to the size of my hands I could not find a good place to put the pressure switch and if I switched from a 512 Eotech sight to s shorter XPS or EXPS sight I would be better off.   The shorter run time on the batteries is personally not an issue because I tend to shoot with iron sights more often anyway.

If run time is an issue and you have the money, there is another option that hit the market in 2012.   After you get past the sticker shock on the Trijicon SRS sights for sale, these red dot sights,  as a serious operator, you will then understand the long term cost effectiveness of an optic like this.   In comparison to Aimpoint and Eotech XPS and EXPS sights this is more compact.  Having a primary solar cell and then a backup battery you are getting years of batter life out of this optic and also give Aimpoint some competition. We have a few of them we are testing out with local operators, but quality and durability are things that

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A place to walk into and walk out with the stuff you want

Now that so many people do their shopping on Cyber Monday or just order things from Amazon and Ebay, many small business have been put out of business.  One thing that hasn’t changed though are returns and exchanges.  Sometimes people mis ready technical details about the size of a product or they order a wrong color.  When it comes to buying shoes and certain types of clothing, people really want to walk in a shop, hold it in their hands and then walk out the same day.  We’ve had several people tell us that we should stock certain products and many of our nearest competitors do now.   Nobody wants to walk in a retail store, order something online and then go back in and pick it up when you can easily go home and look it  up on google and get it in a couple days.

With holster sizes, flashlight and laser accessories its very hard to know what you are getting with a gun holster.    In the area we are in we draw a lot of customers looking for Philadelphia Law Enforcement supplies that are willing to drive several hours just to try it on and get it right the first time.  You can be one size in on line of tactical apparel but another size or in between sizes with another and  only when  you are standing in front of a mirror will you know if it’s for you.   Whether you’re looking for a gun holster for your Glock 21 with a TLR-1S light or a new pair of boots, we stock most of what local law enforcement personnel are looking for.

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Firearms and accessories can just be about preference, not quality

Those arguments about which gun is better and which firearms optic is better is not much of an argument since Aimpoint, Eotech and Trijicon optics  have all earned their way into the military durable optics.   There have been some minor changes in these optics and we expect that all of the above mentioned companies will product new and better optics at some point in the future.  Red dots are getting smaller and more precise and at some point in the near future there will be no battery usage in these optics and everything will be rechargeable or solar powered.   Green reticles have outsold red reticles for the Trijicon ACOGS in 2012 and we don’t see that changing anytime soon.

The reality about the ACOG is that it is a fine medium range combat optic but there are always short comings in it’s usage.  The TA01NSN is a fine ACOG that has built in iron sights for close range unlike optics like the Trijicon TA11H-G which is a DMR or SAW optics or even better a really good competition shooting optic.  The Horse shoe reticle is a preference and for some people it works, others prefer the skinny and precise crosshairs that the TA01 ACOGS have.   The TA11 has a much longer range reticle and hold overs with this optic are very accurate at 800-1000yds with correct ammunition.

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