Archive for May, 2012

Gunvault gun safes what size do you want?

I have several gun safes in my home and not all of them are for firearms.  I think it’s a responsible thing to do to put important documents in a safe like Birth Certificates, Marriage records and other things.  But how big of a safe do you need?  What if your wife wants to put jewelry in it?  What about firearms?   What size gun are we talking about and do you want a flashlight or something else?  A large safe in the basement is the way to go for locking up firearms but for use every day you really want something smaller like a gunvault safe.

You might want to stop in a stocking store though because not all gunvault safes are going to get the job done.  Some of the larger safes like the Deluxe model are pretty big even for a closet and gunvault safes also come in a much smaller version like the Gunvault Nanovault and the Gunvault minivault are for cars, travel or hidden locations.  Some safes also are designed with the biometric technology and are very useful for those that want quick access without having to push buttons or use keys.

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Shopping online can be difficult and it’s all your parents fault

As a business that started off selling tactical clothing, we’ve heard all of the complaints about sizing and difficulties with fit and design, but even a well made product might not work for you.  We all remember when we were in high school there was an odd looking guy or girl that was in the classroom with us that had long legs or a funky looking head.  Well, considering the thousands of customers we’ve sold to, we know those odd shaped people ended up buying clothing from  us and sometimes it worked out and other times it did not.

The United States Military knows this and that’s why the BDU that are issued are not by specific sizes and that is also why you see more and more transitions away from the M16A2 to the adjustable M4 stocks.   The ballistic eyewear from Smith Optics Elite that we have chosen to to stock are the Smith Optics Elite tactical core and Smith Optics Elite tactical lifestyles.  The new boogie regulator and the LO Pro Regulator gives us something new to market for operators or people within the Law Enforcement community to that need eyewear that does not interfere with nightvision or

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LED Flashlights are a big step forward and the next is variable power

I’ve been trying to educate myself about some of the flashlights that are available and recently I got a hold of some of the Insight Flashlights.  I tried to watch some Youtube clips about the product line but couldn’t find a lot of good ones.   My primary flashlight right now is the Streamlight PT-2 because i’ve found it to be the best balanced flashlight for every day carry.  I’ve carried the Surefire G2 flashlight and the Streamlight Scorpion on occasion but they are too big to toss in a pocket.   The Ultimate Retention Device from the now defunct Section 8 Tactical is a great match for the flashlight that size.

The Streamlight ProTac -2L fits very nicely in the Tru spec tactical pants pocket and it does not get in the way of your hands.   The Streamlight flashlights like that have a hi and low option but I’m messing around with the Insight Flashlights that we just got in.  You can adjust your run time from 10% to 100% which really makes you save battery time.  There have been times I’ve used  my lights to look in a closet and I felt guilty running the flashlights on full power because I was wasting a defensive flashlights battery life.

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Where to find a good place to shoot at?

Trying to find a good place to shoot long guns is hard, anyone living in an Urban environment is going to have trouble finding an out door range.  Many outdoor ranges near cities are very restrictive and even here in the Philadelphia region the ranges are just not any fun to be on because of the range rules.  I’m not saying you need to find a place to shoot full auto but a place that is safe to shoot at, has maintained target back stops and has a covered table means a lot to someone that likes to spend all afternoon there.

Range rules are important because violating them might make things very unsafe and good signs and nice people help too.   It took us a very long time to categorize the information but The Rally Point gun club listings because so many ranges have closed down or do not have websites that it’s hard to find information.  Some clubs don’t want to be on a map but that is kind of bad in the long run because most of the ranges will probable have little membership involvement and may eventually just die out.

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Differences between TruSpec and 5.11 EMS pants

5.11 EMS pants seem to be on the majority of the paramedics in our area but we’ve noticed many were not happy with the fit of the pants and wanted to try the TruSpec.  Since we’re testing out various tactical and EMS products we’re tip toeing with our inventory.  Today a customer asked us if he could try on the TruSpec pants and find out what the differences, by the time he was done wearing them around the store.  He was teaching us more about the product line than we knew before.

The Tru Spec EMS pants look almost identical to the 5.11 Tactical EMS pant but there are some noticeable differences for anyone that wears one of them long enough.  The major differences between these Tru Spec EMS pants and the other are the rear pockets.  The back left pocket has an ID pocket and the right side has the trademark 5.11 sash.   The TruSpec pants have a flap that is the same as the regular tactical pant and in all honesty a much normal looking design.

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Check out our new Deal of the Day

It’s actually getting fun learning all of these Social Store features but it’s also funny watching Facebook go public and then turn into a bust.  I have not idea why people just don’t learn from first hand experience.  It’s  one thing do a dumb thing twice but looking at the mistakes made with the housing loan, student loans, credit card loans when the heck do people learn?   When you are on a firing range or practicing with a firearm, you better not make mistakes because mistakes can mean injury or take lives.

Once  thing we have learned while growing our business is learning from mistakes.   Everyone makes them and it’s nice to know that if you send out a wrong size boot most people don’t mind it as long as you quickly resolve the issues.   We are going to be spotlighting some of our AR15 complete upper receivers on inventory and adding more and more tactical gear and accessories to this new feature.  You might want to bookmark our new deal of the day category or just monitor us on Facebook.

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Gas Piston Systems what’s the difference?

I’ll write this blog as the biggest non-expert on the topic,  I know what POF and AR18s are like in comparison to LWRC guns but after that, I have no idea what all of these new piston guns from Ruger, Adams and other are like internally.  It’ll take awhile to have to go through the specifications on them or a tall coffee and a couple hours of watching Youtube video clips.  Some of the reviews are really well done, but takes almost as long to find a good review about a product as it does to comprehend all of the minor differences.  I;ll never forget the time it took me to realize that the terms “hook and loop” closure meant velcro on shirts.

The Metallurgy in making bolt carriers, and barrels has changed so dramatically in the last 7yrs, that I seriously need a refresher course before I can even talk about firearm differences. We have a huge number of backorders for the Adams Upper receivers but I have not had the time to actually take one out and compare it to my LWRC stuff.   I think the only thing I can say about the less expensive piston guns is that the designs may be similar, but I would have to say if saving $300 on an  upper for a proven design means saving anything.

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Magpul Pmags and Magpul furniture

I have not had the time to mess around with every single firearms manufacturers products so I’m not going to go out on a limb and say everyone should buy Mapgul Products. I can tell you that I do not have problems with Magpul accessories and once I upgraded my AR15 rifles to Magpul PRS, and Magpul CTR stocks, and haven’t looked back.  Whenever I look into buying new firearms I usually check them out for their furniture or think about which grips I want attach.   I’m real big on keeping things uniform unless I gotta pick up something exotic.  And that’s most likely going to be a LWRC REPR in the near future.

Magpul vertical grips have changed and now that the M.O.E.  evolution is upon us there have been changes in the way we think about attachments.  Our most durable and reliable AR15 magazines are still the Magpul Pmags, but some other things have changed.  No longer to we attach a light to a rail, we attach the rail to whichever area we want, attach the accessory and end up with a lighter firearm.   At first I didn’t want to deal with changing any of my firearms around, but it’s a very good excuse to buy another Carbine.

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Switching from 5.11 tactical clothing to something else?

When we first got into the tactical clothing market it was pretty much all 5.11 tactical pants.   The stories about Royal Robbins becoming 5.11 and some of the changes that occurred left many customers disappointed.   I don’t know  how a company can make 5.11 tactical pants in 3 different Countries and expect the quality control to be there but I guess they don’t.  We’ve watched several companies attempt to cut into the market and fail and much of it was about production issues and quality control.  If you buy a pair of pants and like them and buy them again later, the same thing, and the sizing is different or it shrinks and rides up on you, you look for something else.

Some people just don’t understand what it takes to do business in foreign Countries.  It’s not just about a manufacturers ability to make a consistent product, its also about being able to make the product the right way and things like tactical pants sometimes need to be modifed if customers demand this.   I have witness such minor product fit changes that were welcomed and the sales went up.  Other companies were asked to modify their products and they didn’t and lost out to the competition.  5.11 has a real Winner with the Tac Lite Pro pants.

 

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Get me a gun case that is ready to go

When many of us get an AR15 we usually buy it by itself, shoot it for awhile and then add on accessories.  Most people I talk to about this issue when I’m explaining the reasons why we stock the Elite Survival Systems gun bags are usually usually nodding their heads.   The reason they are looking at these bags is because they can’t use the gun bags from Uncle Mikes or Bulldog.   I have several M4 Carbines that I had to disassemble to get to the range because the assault rifle gun cases I had wouldn’t fit them because of the flashlights and optics.   It royally sucks when  you get a new gun add stuff to it and find out you need to spend money on another gun bag, but if you do, check out the Elite Survival Systems bags.

The gun cases we have in stock now are the Covert Carry Discreet cases.  Everybody and their dog starts out with the Assault Rifle cases and I have to admit there are some differences between them but the Elite Survival Systems gun cases are in the “good stuff” category.  I have been clearing out some of my older gun socks and gun bags and giving them away to try and keep my higher end guns in better order. The Covert Carry gun cases come in various sizes but they also are customized to carry either AK magazines, 9mm/40 Magazines, and AR15 magazines.   Having velcro straps to tie down your rifles optics, a protective closed cell foam padding between magazines and the firearm and also a compartment to attach the magazine pouch and any other pouches.

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