Looking for a white light?
If you have ever taken a course at Thunder Ranch, one of the things you will hear from an instructor is to put a white light on your gun. I think there are valid arguments about how to use lasers and lights on a firearm, but there are mostly liabilities in not having a light available in defensive situations, especially in your own home. Why would anyone not put a light on a firearm in there house? Police are trained to move and turn lights off and on as they move white pretty much voids the argument that it gives the bad guys a place to aim, well, if the guy with the light spots the guy in the dark first, his gun is probable already pointed in the right direction.
If you wanted to, you can use duct tape on a lever action or a double barrel shotgun and use your grandfathers Radio Shack flashlights and it may do the trick, but for only another $25-$30 you can get a white light from Streamlight flashlights that won’t burn a hole in your pocket, and given modern advancements in battery and bulb science, you will save money on batteries in a very short time period, The new Streamlight flashlights called the Polytac have a C4 LED that are 2-3x brighter than other LED. I’ve done side by sider comparisons with my Surefire G2 and I do see the difference. These flashlights are easily attached to most modern flashlights and can be used on Combat rifles without problems.
I believe in having a holster for every handgun and a rifle case for every rifle. When people are putting $1000 Trijicon ACOGs on their rifles they are considered to be tough for combat, but sometimes things get slammed around in cars and unwanted dents and dings occur. SKB rifle cases are on the heavy side, but if you have a bigger sized vehicle, these are very easy to stow in and get out and it’s sturdy enough to not worry about damage if you have to bury it with other gear. You may even be able to keep most of the rifle magazines and accessories in the case as well as some othe range gear. Drag bags are another great rifle case, but they may be a bit of an overkill when it comes to using them for something as small as a Carbine.
The Trijicon NSN has iron sights mounted on the top of the rifle scope which can come in handy in closer situations and are a less expensive alternative to mounted a red dot on your ACOG. That is worth the money if you are in the line of work that calls for it, but for general blasting and plinky, I think that $1800 optics is a bit much. The Eotech 512 is probable my recommended optic for an M4. I think people can get carried away with optics on the M4 because even though the rifle is pretty accurate, it really is not very powerful or effective past 200yds. With a growing selection of combat optics you can put on the AR15 type rifles, one other suggestion I have for shooters is to always keep your iron sights on the rifle. I’ve seen a few people show up at classes with just an Eotech mounted and they complained the front sight blocked their FOV. Well, taking a 200yd shot with an Eotech that has a dead battery is like parking a mini van from the furthest back seat.
Even though the short stroke and other piston designs have come on the market, and these guns all operate much cleaner, the AR15s DI guns that are being fielded these days are far more reliable than the M16A1 that was issued in Vietnam. Designs and improvements of metalogy has been tremendous and this can be noticed just by feeling the difference between one bolt carrier and another. Another major point about why the AR 15 guns have caught on is that they are so ergonimically superior to most of the military style guns out there that they are easy teaching tools. I normally start people out with learning the fundamentals with a 22lr bolt action with iron sights, but when I’m dealing with an adult that is not afraid of recoil, a .223 A2 style Carbine is an excellent staring point.
One of the most common issues I have seen with new Carbine students is their lack of knowledge about where their point of impact is at close ranges. I spoke with a student who could shoot his M4 out to 600yds with his ACOG, but did not know where his POI was at 50yds. Just about every 5.56 gun is going to be capable of hitting a man size target at 600yds, but the Carbine is really meant for close quarters combat. I’ve noticed a move away from magnification on many M4s because you really undermine your speed if you are relying on pin point accuracy from 100-600yds and don’t realize that you are completely missing a moving target that is 40yds away from you because you can’t track it.
Today I took my newest LWRC rifle to the range to break it in. This is a combat rifle and I expect that it eventually get pretty beat up, but it’s always a good idea to run through some firing drills before you rely on it. Some of the biggest malfuntion problems I have seen on the firing line were with supposedely brand new out of the box rifles. Sometimes there are bugs or issues that are easy to fix, but you really need to put some lead down range with your rifle or pistol before you rely on it. I’ve mentioned before about a time when I saw a guy show up with a Beretta 92FS inox pistol and it jammed after every round. The shooter was very frustrated because this was it’s first range trip. Well, turns out that the pistol was bone dry and had absolutely zero lubrication on it and with one wipe down, the gun ran flawlessly. The same should go for any firearm. I strongly suggest cleaning guns every once in awhile, even if you haven’t shot them. Lubrication can run off of guns or drain off, and I also highly recommend using a small level of grease on even pistols, especially if they may sit in a gun safe for long periods of time.
Not everyone needs to think about long deployments in Afghanistan when getting their shooting gear together, but knowing where your guns and gear are can prevent you from making silly mistakes. I’ve heard plenty of stories that sound funny at first, but I know it wasn’t funny when it occurred. The stories are about people getting a day off from the family and driving an hour or more to a gun range and finding out they didn’t pack any rifle magazines, forgot the ammo, forgot to put a gun in a bag ect.
What will fit inside? Each TAC-PAC comes supplied with 2 inserts (1 die cut and 1 blank), a storage pouch, and the hard case and rubber lid. It is a complete storage system. The LE insert holds (8) CR-123 batteries. The MIL insert holds (4) CR-123, either (2) N or (2) AA, and (1) 1/3 N size batteries. 
After years of searching for the ultimate Quick Detach method for our vertical grips, TangoDown has teamed with American Defense to bring you the best vertical grip yet.
Why be without spare gas rings or an extractor? A complete bolt can be at your disposal ready to be installed, and the parts necessary to repair the faulty bolt are stored handily for the needed repair. You just supply the level of spares you think you might need.