Winter Carry with small or large guns

Fobus holsters

There are always people pointing out the pros and cons of tactical gear because in reality, each item we accessorize on a firearm or each device we carry on our person, from knives, to flashlights has it’s designed purpose.   Flashlights can be good at close ranges and put  out a lot of lumens, but some of those bright flashlights are not very good for scanning out and identifying things at longer ranges.   A flashlights output doesn’t mean it’s going to be light up everything.  Just knowing how to flip a flashlight up on the ceiling of a room to illuminate a room, in low light can be more beneficial than just scanning around and looking under every dark spot.

When it comes to choosing a holster, you have to decide what firearm you are going to carry and find the best way that suits you.  Some find that picking out a holster is as complicated as getting dressed up for a date and we often have to talk them down to simplicity.  One thing about selling Fobus holsters is we never have customers get sticker shock.   Here is Pennsylvania its been very cold and carrying with lots of heavy clothing on can make IWB carry difficult.   We have been selling a lot of the Fobus paddle holsters because so many people are finding out that even a small j-frame revolver can be easier to access via a paddle holster than an IWB setup.

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Going smaller than a 9mm without compromising durability

Kahr MagazinesThere was a time I avoided some of the smaller Kel-Tec firearms even though some really smart and good people I know were carrying them.   When I saw some of the ballistics for .380, 22LR and 32acp,  I wasn’t impressed and being on the “experienced” side of life, I know how big and drugged up some people are and going with firearms that punch tiny holes are have, in most situations, very poor penetration, I was not going to choose to go with something that needs recoil spring replacements after putting 500rds through it.   Some fancy guns like the Rohrbaugh 9mm are nice but very expensive and high maintenance.   I ended up with a Sig 239 considering its very reliable history and it’s 9mm ballistics.

Things have changed, changed for the .380, both gun designs and the ballistics of the round have improved by several hundred feet per second, as well as the durability of firearms chambered for this.   Kahr Firearms have a very good reputation for both being reliable and small,  Kahr magazines are not that uncommon and getting replacement parts or not burning a hole in your pocket are a good thing.    Even Glock has jumped on the bandwagon this year with a .380 chambered Glock 42.   I don’t like to be the first to buy guns made by manufacturers that are putting their first on the line, but Kahr has been a safe bet for a long time.

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Magpul Pmags 10rd,20rd,30rd and 40rd

Magpul PMAGSThere has been an expansion of the Magpul Pmags in the last year which kind of got smothered while so much of the Country.   Magpul PMAGS are now available in Gen 2 and Gen 3  while the panic buying and hoarding went on, many customers were keeping them in their wrappers and not using them but we found out from many of our local customers that there was an issue with the Gen 3 PMAGS being out of spec.   After a little bit of research we found lots of info on AR15.com and other places like Youtube.com where people said they had issues with the mags not dropping free.  It was a minor fix but a major problem for someone finding out during a life fire test that it was an issue.

Most of our customers tell us they never use the “dust covers” and I guess Magpul put this in their marketing strategy because the Magpul MOE PMAGS are sold for a few bucks less than what they previous sold for.    We’ve checked out companies like Lancer for their magazines but most people are familiar with the Magpul PMAGS which aside from the recent issues with the Gen 3 PMAGS are a big improvement over the USGI magazines.  Whether you choose to use the PMAGS with windows is your personal preference but I would not be in the  habit of mixing window magazines with standard magazines.   The 20rd PMAGS seem to not sell as much as the 30rd but for some reason people forget how well balanced an AR15 is when you are only using them.  I highly suggest getting at least 2-20rd PMAGS in your rotation to see what I mean.

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Choosing Iron Sights and the often made mistakes

Troy SightsIron sights are one of  those rare accessories where we hear about problems with durability.   It seems that it is pretty hard to mess up iron sights at the factory, most of the mistakes made with iron sights are when people that are mounting them on gas blocks.   We are always being asked general questions on holsters, accessories and optics but from a liability standpoint, we have to ask our customers a lot of questions so we don’t sell them the wrong thing.   If they walk in looking for iron sights for their AR15 but don’t volunteer any information about what gun they are putting them on, whether they are trying co-witness the sights with an optic or if they have a magnifier,  we don’t know for sure they are buying the correct item.

We highly recommend people think about what they might be doing with there customer built or accessorizing down the road even if they aren’t going to do it immediately.   I have several sets of Troy Sights that I have sitting in my tool room that had to be pulled off of my LWRC M6A2 after I found out that my Eotech Magnifier would not perfectly clear the rear Troy sight when it was locked into place.   I need to spend another $100 for a lower profile sight just to get better alignment with my setup.   If you mount the less expensive Magpul Sights on a gas block  you are going to get a point of impact that is off as well as possible melt the sight.   Avoid having a $35-$100 mistake and make sure you are buying the sights you are going to get the most out and not have to all out replace because they don’t cut it.   Magpul Flip up sights will work for most people with a front and rear sight combo usually being under $90 and the next step are probable the Troy Iron Sights.

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Aimpoint vs Eotech’s

Eotech sightsThis is a question that is often asked in our store primarily because there are similarly priced products with zero magnification.   Both optics can be co-witnessed and also magnifiers can be used with both product lines.    Even though there is a considerable difference between the battery life times, the real debate is about whether you want a 2 MOA red dot, 4 MOA red dot or a 65MOA circle with a MOA dot in the middle. One reason we have a plastic rifle in our store that is in spec for optics and flashlights is for potential customers to be able to mount the optics and see how well their eye picks up the reticle or dot.   There are some Eotech sights with different configurations for less lethal and for taking longer range shots but they are not is popular as the standard 65MOA/1MOA circle dot.

We stocked the Trijicon SRS sights and although there were initially some issues with the design it does offer a different approach but a very expensive option.   The majority of our customers have a price range and it usually comes down to the Eotech Sights (there are several in the $390-$500 price range) and the Aimpoint Patrol Rifle Optic.   The Patrol rifle optic has a thumb screw mount which, for about $400 you got the whole Aimpoint package without trying to figure out what type of mount to get, usually Larue Tactical but we have recently become a Bobro Mount dealer so there is another  quick detach option with a very good reputation.   The one thing to watch out for with Eotech sights is you really need to make sure you know whether or not you will be putting a magnifier on your AR15 at some point in the future.  If you “might” get an Eotech with a side button configuration.

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DMR’s and Target ID

Trijicon ACOGsI recently watched a History Channel episode about the UZI and why the Israeli’s moved away from larger rifles like the FAL before most of the European Countries stuck with the G2 and FAL as primary rifles during the Cold War.   With the Foundation of the State of Israeli, urban engagements were the norm and even though the terrain would allow for longer range engagements the FAL proved to be an over kill and was not very well liked.   One of the soldiers mentioned that the FAL was a better sniper rifle but not very good for close engagements because of the recoil and weight of the rifle.   I would agree with that but the biggest draw back I find with the FAL is that it’s not very good for mounting optics.  I’ve had screws sheer off on my mounts after several thousand rounds of ammunition.

Now there are several reliable 7.62 battle rifles that are more easily become a Designated Marksmen Rifle and there are a lot of sturdy, yet expensive optics that better suit the ballistics of the 7.62 round.  Normally, the first step up from red dots and holographic sights are the Trijicon ACOGS because with a minimal amount of magnification at 3.5-4x you are going to to be able to better use of the round.   Trijicon has advanced to another level beyond the ACOG to the VCOG which also claims to be the first focal plane optic.   A designated marksmen has the role of being to engage targets at medium ranges and do the job that the 5.56 round doesn’t do as well.  I have had numerous stories from guys returning from Iraq that have mentioned that they used the magnification from their optics to ID wires that ran across streets to planted IED’s and that’s where Red Dots and Iron Sights don’t cut it.

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New Tru-Spec jackets from SHOT show

Tru-Spec jacketsWe were not fortunate enough to attend SHOT Show this year but we’ve been going through all of our top selling product brands and checking out what is coming out in 2014 in their Facebook pages.   Tru-Spec has been our chosen product line for outfitting our local Law Enforcement, primarily because they have really backed us and we have seen tremendous growth compared to many other tactical clothing and CCW product lines.  While many companies just didn’t get their foothold in the industry, Tru-Spec has increased their manufacturing and has really show some aggressive competition against the giants like 5.11 Tactical.

Tru-Spec’s combat shirts have been around for a long time but many are transitioning over to the new 1/4 Zip combat shirts and even though the new Winter Combat Shirt is just being launched, we have been selling them to County Tactical Teams for the last 8 weeks.   There are more Tru-Spec Jackets coming out, from the Tru-Spec Element jacket with a liner, which gives it more usefulness than just a heavy winter jacket, that in some parts of the Country might only be used for a few weeks or even days out of the year.   The new higher cut tactical softshell was designed so Law Enforcement would have easier access to duty gear on the belt line.   New hooded sweatshirts with built in holsters and more are in store for 2014.

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Beware of buying tactical gear at gun stores

Surefire flashlightsUnless you are lucky to have a really good gun shop that moves a lot of tactical clothing, flashlights and modern gun accessories,  you might end up with products that are out dated and not up to modern standards.   We pay attention to the recalls on firearms every year and on why certain accessories fail.    We’ve seen several Generations of Magpul magazines and accessories and not all of them have been launched with initial success.   We have cleared out lots of Magpul Gen 3 magazines in recent months and put a hold on some of their magazines until we are confident they  have the manufacturing in order.   Some of our distributors have had floods of Pmags coming in but didn’t weed out the faulty production that nobody seems to want to admit to.

In the past 3 months we had to do our own inventory monitoring on Pelican, Streamlight , Surefire and many more products.   We’ve seen product flaws with Trijicon optics that were sent back as well as some completely out dated Surefire flashlights as well as Streamlight flashlights.  Flashlight technology has grown from 85%-90% with some brands and if you buy a flashlight that has been collecting dust in a gun store that doesn’t move inventory, you might be getting a flashlight that is 2 or 3 generations out dated without knowing it.  Not all product codes change from manufacturers when they do the updates to it’s really a good idea to keep an eye on all of the modern specs and get the most out of your money.

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Epsilon shooting mat shooting experiences

Elite Survival Epsilon shooting matThere are a lot of things you can do to get down and prone at a firing range and protect you from the ground beneath you but in the real world, you might want something like this to avoid rocks, thorns, and broken glass from cutting you.   Another reality about shooting on the ground is you are going to end up with a cut elbow if you are shooting off the ground for a long period of time.   For thing you will notice about the Epsilon shooting mat is the quality of the nylon, and the second thing you are going to notice when opening it up and laying on the ground is that it’s not going to roll up or curl on you when like most mats.   I have moved away from using bipods on firearms because the best ones are expensive and a good shooting  mat and backpack can give you a very sturdy platform for placing consistent shots when out on in the field.

I like to pack my gear up and leave important items like binoculars, appropriate magazines (loaded) and various molle pouches attached to my platform.   The Elite Survival Epsilon shooting mat is $159.95 and is available in black or tan.   We usually keep some of these around our showroom so we can display it for our customers which usually sells the product.   This is a much larger shooting mat and folds up in a solid construction and can also be attached to  a backpack or drag bag.    For anyone in the 6ft and above height category,  you will get very good coverage for both your arms and your legs and you won’t be going home with dirty knees. This mat, when opened up is almost 6ft long and 3.5ft wide opened.  A very good accessory for anyone and wants a more comfortable day at the range.

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Rotating your magazines, it’s more important than you think

Wilson Combat MagazinesWe have a lot of gun owners that stop in our store, usually it’s for a holster for their first purchase and they are looking for something, but don’t have any idea where to start form.  We highly recommend that people consider shooting IDPA when they are going to be CCW a firearm because it’s usually a very good way to get some street smarts and to understand that not every shooting experience is going to be on level ground with stationary targets.   If you are in the Delaware County look into Double Action Indoor range in Yeadon PA for their next shoot and you’ll learn as much there form the person competing in front of you as well as shooting the competition yourself.

In some circumstances it’s best to just got to an event and ask people why they chose the firearm they are using and what kind of holster and magazine setup they have.   One thing that has picked up for the people shooting 1911s are the Wilson Combat magazines called the Elite Tactical magazine.  These have number markings on the bottom of the magazines so you can use them in a rotation and wear the magazines in a consistent manor.   Some people don’t know that even though you may have gotten one or two magazines with your gun, it’s not a good idea to go to the range with small quantities of magazines and use them in self defense without risking finding out that you now have a malfunction because your magazine is cycling too slow.   We highly suggest having atleast 3 magazines for any gun you shoot frequently and rotate them.

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