Trijicon ACOGS too much magnification?

Trijicon ACOGSFor many in the Law Enfocement community, it’s really all about zero magnification which is why the Aimpoint Patrol Rifle optics and the Eotech 512 are so popular.  Since some of the local police departments are so well financed compared to others in the State of Pennsylvania, we have been getting asked for more and more tactical optics.  The Trijicon ACOGS are a little too much for most Law Enforcement not only because of the 4x optics but because they cost too much for many Cops.   We recently have moved more towards the RMR red dots and the Trijicon SRS sights to see how people locally would like that and we even kept a few of the TA26SR-10 optics on display with the newer TA44 red and green reticles.

With Trijicon’s Map Pricing policy, many of these optics are not sold out of our store for local customers compared to what we sell them for online.  The TA44 with a red or a green reticle are really considere mini Trijicon ACOGS since they are 1.5x and are very light weight.   The trend in this industry is still moving towards lighter and lighter optics although many in the Marine Corps or Army still prefer the Trijicon ACOGS that we have.   The TA31F-G is the green chevron but for engagements  under 100yds the Mini ACOGS are a battery less Trijicon optic that is a bit more expensive than a red dot but the circle dot has kind of a cross between the Eotech 65MOA circle dot system but without the batteries.

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Now that the anti-gun movement has stalled, the panic buying has stalled

AR15 Complete upper receiversWe have gotten a steady influx of Spikes Tactical Upper Receivers as well as LWRC M6A2 uppers for several months now so it’s safe to say that if you wanted a new AR15, nobody is going to ban the AR15 in this Country.  If you are one of those that thought that, the AR15 is probable the safest gun to own because it’s popularity amongst hunters, target shooters and Law Enforcement is so common that nobody is going to put up with a gun grab.    The AR15 5.56mm round has so much versatility that many ballistics tests have shown that it is a much safer round to use in an urban environment than a 9mm pistol carbine.  Over penetration with a 5.56mm fragmenting round is not going to be as bad as a 9mm MP5 round.

We still deal a large number of gun owners that just like to build their own custom rifles.   There are so many AR15 complete upper receivers for sale  in our inventory that price ranges, quality, styles, handguard variations are so different that it’s really like going to a restaurant where you can have Chinese, Italian, Mexican or an seafood you want.   Customizing the AR15 to the users style of shooting is also one of the positive features about the gun.   Many of our local police departments are just getting around to getting these for their patrolman because of the proficiency that these guns can be  used in amongst less trained shooters.

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Don Hume holster why do we sell so many?

Don Hume HolstersThe simple answer is they are well made and inexpensive holster that gets the job done.   If you work in our store for very a full day I can guarantee that you will hear from atleast one customer a day walk in the door and ask for a holster for a specific gun but have absolutely no idea what type of holster they are looking for.   My first response is always this, “do you want leather or kydex? “A nylon holster or retention?” and most of the time the customer doesn’t have a clue as to what I’m asking about.  Price ranges of holsters can vary dramatically and usually that’s a follow up answer to the above mention questions.  Don Hume holsters aren’t the prettiest but for under $40 they are very stiff holsters that do  a very good job.

I personally moved away from leather holsters but depending on the time of the year I would never push someone away from them.   We are a stocking dealer for the Don Hume holsters and we offer a pretty good selection of Glock, Sig Sauer and J-frame holsters  in our store.   The Don Hume jit holsters a very fast holster but I recommend them for medium or small frame guns.  The largest gun I use in a Don Hume Jit holster is a Sig 228 because I’ve found larger frame guns to stick too far out the bottom and in my opinion can cause a safety issue because they can be pushed upward and out of the holster in some situations.   I highly recommend the holsters for IWB carry.

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There are differences between pepper sprays

asp pepper spraysAll of those pepper sprays that you can buy for $10 at a hardware store are not going to be as potent as the stuff you can buy online or a Law Enforcement Supply store.   I have heard of countless situations where someone was under attack and used some expired our outdated key chain pepper spray and it either had no pressure or it was barely effective.   Many people don’t pay attention to the expiration dates on their defensive sprays and I have yet to understand why people settle for “the least” effective items for defense.   I have pushed pepper sprays and mace on all of my students and references the Travon Martin case as to why less lethal force has far fewer liabilities that lethal force.   If George Zimmerman had pepper spray or mace on him it would have cost him $10 to stop the threat if his side of the story was true.

Many items out there have various effective dates and as far as I know the Kimber Pepper Blaster is probable the longest shelf live.   The items we sell the most now are the ASP Pepper sprays that have the high heat and the refill canisters. I highly recommend that if someone is going to carry something like this, they atleast practice with a real one or try and pickup a demonstration one and know what the range of the spray is.  Many Law Enforcement that I know actually prefer tasers to Pepper spray because of the blow back and most reference that when they use it they almost always get some of it on them.   Pepper Sprays are meant to be used while retreating.

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Tactical gear for yourself or send your spouse for a gift certicate

Philadelphia Police SuppliesIn this industry, it is so technical that it’s very rare for someone  in the Law Enforcement community to send someone in to shop for them.  We get a lot of last minute buyers when someone finds out they got moved to a SWAT Team or recently got hired to be a  Police officer in the Delaware County, Chester County or Philadelphia Police Department.  Usually customers come in in waves, after Graduations at the Philadelphia Police Academy or the Delaware County Police Academy.   Recently we started getting customers from the Montgomery County Police Academy Training Center.   Each week we’ve been setting up 1 or 2 Police Departments for their Clothing Allowances and logistically speaking, the customers are glad we are here in Delaware County so they can walk in and walk out.  Shopping for tactical pants, shirts and body armor is something that people want to do in-store and not online.

Our 1500 sq ft Broomall, Police Depot and tactical store is in the heart of Delaware County in the Broomall Industrial Park.   We are a stocking dealer for many in the region and we are a good source for Philadelphia Police Supplies from tactical boots from the Original Swat Footwear company, Tru-Spec, 5.11 tactical, ATS Tactical,  Streamlight Flashlights like the Stinger and Strion, which are rechargeable flashlights that the vast majority of Upper Darby, Marple Township and even the State Police are using.  We stock many of the handcuff and Safariland products that new Police Officers will need for their duty gear.  CR123 batters are something we need to keep in store at all times because most local places that sell them are 50% more than what we charge.

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Put some thought into high bright you want your sights to be

We’vemeprolight sights sold a lot of rifle and handgun sights and we could narrow it down to top sellers, but it really boils down to a shooters personal preference.   Several sighting systems are meant for long range shooting, close range engagements or for low light.  The statistics are that most shooters occur in low light and that’s why many of our Local Police Departments have the Meprolight sights already installed on their duty guns.  The most popular gun in our neck of the woods right now is the Glock 21 45acp handgun.  For most CCW purposes this gun is a bit of an overkill because it’s so heavy, but depending on the environment is that you are in, we leave it up to you to decide what works for you.  Some shooters are color blind while others are just looking for a quicker and easier to pick sighting system.

It looks like the old tritium night sights of the past are long gone and since we’ve had a very impressive year with sales on Meprolight sights we have to give them some generous words.   You may want to see which colors you pick up the best but there are multip meprolight sights that you can check out that can give you a 2 dot green picture and a yellow, orange or green front sight.   These light up handgun sights so well it is worth considering using them on an AR15 rifle if you choose to do so.  Some of the Trijicon ACOGS that we sell have the night sights built into the iron front sights that you can fall back on if need be.

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Lasers on firearms, not only for point and shoot

crimson trace laser gripsThere has been much debate about lasers, flashlights, magnification and other accessories on firearms being unsafe or useless in certain situations.  Well, over compensating with the brakes on your car can cause you to loose control and crash if you don’t use it properly.   What about the parking brake on your car if it’s not used properly?  The same thing goes for any accessory you put  on your firearm, whether it’s your Remington 870 12gauge shotgun, your Glock 19 with a TLR1 flashlight or your AK 47 with a laser on it.  Sure a flashlight on your firearm is something you should not use to search with but if it’s all you got, your trigger discipline is what is going to keep you from firing on an innocent person if you are moving in a low light situation.

I have lasers on some of the CCW guns but those are for point and shoot or for intimidation if I were to be in a close situation.  Lasers have pros and cons but Crimson Trace laser grips have sold very well and if you do a little training with it and think about all of the ways  you can use it in some combat or self defense situations, it might be a tool that helps you win a fight.  For team operations, lasers on firearms can be a way of communication for pointing to doors or for movement.  If you can not speak and only are giving hand signals, how would you point to a team member or a family member on where the threat is.   Laser pointers in classrooms are  use for pointing to things on a wall so people can follow where they are at, same goes for other needs to communicate.

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Forget about lasers and flashlights, now may be the time to put new sights on your gun

Trijicon Night SightsThe Trijicon High Definition nights sights have been our fastest selling night sights and we didn’t even know how hot they were until we started listing them  on our website.   Several Special Forces groups stopped in our store and told  us that those were their chosen night sights on all of their Glock handguns.   I was kind of shocked to hear this because so many old guys, or people with bad eyesight are the ones that usually ask us for the hi viz sights and I first started seeing them on shotguns and lever actions.   There have been major changes  in optic colors in recent years from red, to the green sights, and major tests on how the human eye picks up green illumination, especially over longer distances with Green than with Red.

The beauty of these nights sights is they aren’t those old green tritium sights, they are tritium with an even high definition sight for day time use.   These Trijicon Night sights are probable just as marketable in the regular sight market as they are for night time.   I have been checking out the GL101Y and GL101O sights for sometime and when my Sig 228 night sights burn out, I will definitely be looking into updating with the Sg101Y or SG101O sights.   These will absorb light from any available light so if you move from indoors to outdoors they will still hold a certain amount of illumination that will be brighter than the Tritium.   I expect to see more of these showing up on new Glocks considering how popular they are.

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Custom Kydex and Tactical Nylon Companies, what are the differences?

There  are a lot of differences in the designs of various tactical nylon companies but if you care about getting something that is not stamped with the Made in China on the tag, you’re going to spend a few bucks more but you might get a better warranty and customer service.   Customer service is something that is less common than quality products.   We’ve dealt with some major gun manufacturers that had a level of elitism about their products and would refused to acknowledge design flaws, while others valued our opinions and hinted that they were on the ways of making some changes.  We are still up in the air about what types of Kydex holsters we should be stocking in our store and it’s basically because we have not got consistent customer feedback about styles or brand names.

When it comes to which brand of tactical nylon gear, we have narrowed it down to only about 5 companies.   The 5.11 bags 5.11 bagsthat we have in our store are extremely popular with EMS and Paramedics because so many people have held them in their hands and know what they are getting.   The Rush messenger bags have been widely used in Hospitals in our area and several Chester Police Officers here in Pennsylvania are using the 5.11 bail out bags for their bug out gear.   Having a good active shooter bag means having foot, first aid, ammunition and possible something like bottled water or a juice box.  It’s always nice to to walk into a store and be able to open the bags up and check the zippers and stitching quality out.   5.11 Tactical might not be the best for everyone, but they make a lot of goof products.

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Glock magazine availability, what is going on?

glock magazinesWe’ve been trying to find out what all of the issues are with the availability of Glock Magazines.  We still find several local police departments are having issues getting ammunition and gun parts because so much of it has still been dried up.   Whav a few of the 45 GAP magazines in stock but frankly, that’s just because hardly anyone uses the Glock 38 and it’s really the 9mm and 40 cal and 45acp  that everyone uses.   Glocks are still the most popular gun for Police in our County although the Sig 229 has a strong presence.  The Glock 21 45acp magazines are probable the most sought after gun magazine in our area and I have yet to see a single magazine available through any of our distributors.    I find the Glock 21 to be too heavy of a gun let alone putting a light on it and having a giant bulky gun holster.   Many of the Upper Darby Police Officers in our county are putting lights on their guns but that is for duty, not for CCW.

I find the Glock 30 to be a good in between size gun but the Glock 36  seems to not be very well balanced.   If I knew I could get a hold of Glock magazines for a good price without all of the price gouging that went on after the Sandy Hook incident.   Now that this Country is being awakened to the fact there are serious social issues going on and people are joining the NRA or getting firearms for the first time but paying attention to the availability of parts is something you will want to think about.  Several People I know have found out the hard way when an extractor or firing pin failed on them and they couldn’t even acquire them for months.

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