AK-47

Talon Horus Optics!

I am often asked, “What reticle do you use on your carbines?” and “What do you think about the Horus Optics/reticle?”. I came across the Talon Horus Optic this weekend and decided to give my views, along with my experience with the Horus reticle as a short/medium and long-range shooter.

The Talon scope, and H50 reticle, are designed for hunting in conditions of contrasting light in brush, wooded areas, grass or steep terrain. Its magnification is changeable from 1x – 4x. The 1x magnification allows you quickly take snap shots of targets without requiring you to lose site of them for even a brief, yet critical, split second. With this scope and reticle, engaging targets out to 800 yards should be no problem for intermediate and advanced shooters. You basically place the target on the Horus reticle grid, hold for drop and drift and pull the trigger. The H50 easily switches between eliminating close threats using the bold aiming ring, and engaging long-range targets (to 800 yards) using the grid. Marks on the main horizontal approximate leads for walking, running, and sprinting targets.

Putting the great features aside, I’d like to point out some of the Cons that I found using it as combat style scope.

I do absolutely love the capabilities that the reticle has and the way it simplifies hold unders, overs, and leads. Saying that, the scope can become very busy at times. The scopes reticles can obscure the bullet impact at times not allowing you to make quick follow-up shots, if necessary, in a combat situation. Something else that some shooters may find as a con is that the reticle can be a little too much in a city environment, much like the streets of Iraq. The reticle works wonders in open terrain such as Afghanistan where the shooter has less man-made structures. The hard lines in the reticle obscuring the horizontal lines in the scope.

Besides the small amount of cons, I think this scope is one for the books, especially for the hunter and home defense shooters.

Scope Specs

Power: 1-4 x 24
Length: 9.75″ (24.8 cm)
Weight: 18.3 oz (518 g)
Tube Diameter: 30 mm
Wall Thickness: 1.5mm
Material: aluminum 6061-T, 340 HV Hardness
Tube: 1 piece
Color: black
Exterior Finish: matte anodized
Shockproof: 1200 g
Water-resistant: yes (3 meters)
Dustproof: yes
Fogproof: yes
Warranty: 1 year limited
Twilight Factor: 4.9 @ 1x – 9.8 @ 4x
Reticle: H-50
Reticles: 1st Focal Plane
Reticle Illumination: yes
Battery Size: CR2032
Battery Life: 20+ hours
Rheostat: yes

Rheostat Positions: 11 positions
Lenses: 12 + reticle
Lens Coating: multi-coated
Objective Lens: 24mm
Field of View: 21.0 – 9.0 m (at 100m)
Eye Relief: 5.5″ – 3.3″ (140-85mm)
Exit Pupil: 24.0 – 6.0 mm
Ocular Type: rapid European focus
Diopter Adjustment: more than (-2,+1)
Elevation Increment: 1 click = .10 mil radian
Elevation Adj. Range: more than 34.9 MILS (120 MOA)
Windage Increments: 1 click = .10 mil radian
Windage Adj. Range: more than 34.9 MILS (120 MOA)
Turret Caps: yes
Turret Type: low
Power Selector Style: tactile power indicator
Parallax: fixed at 100 m

Optional Accessories

ASLI
Lens Cap: ocular 1.75″ / objective 1.2

MSRP: $600.00

You can find out more information here: http://www.horusvision.com/talon.php

LMT Ergo Rifle Grip!

If you’re wanting an excellent grip for you AR, I’d have to point you to the LMT Ergo Grip. I don’t think the standard AR grip was designed for comfort one bit. In fact, it feels like they designed it for the exact opposite, huge calluses start to form on my middle finger joint over long periods of time when operating with it. I recall a few times over seas where the last thing I wanted to do was pick up my M4 due to the raw skin exposed on my middle finger joints. Most of us decided to switch over to the adjustable and attachable rubber grips, but over time they would simply fall off, crack, etc. That’s when I came across the LMT Ergo Rifle Grip. As soon as I picked it up, it almost felt like it molded to my hand, like it was made to be in my hand.

A Few Pro’s

The skinny/slim grip allows the shooter to comfortably and aggressively pull the rifle into the shoulder.
The grip has ergonomically correct finger grooves, allowing a sustained comfortable hold/grasp on the weapon
Having an integrated rear upper extension supports the web of your hand, allowing you to have a higher center point (hand to bore), allowing you to really control recoil during raping fire.
Virtually impervious to oils and solvents!
Superior SUREGRIP texture improves weapon control, even while wearing gloves, a must for tactical shooters.

Another good perk to this hand guard is the price.

MSRP:$26.00 – $30.00

More info and sales at: http://ergogrips.net/products/rifle-grips

Templar Tactical Firearms Suppressors!

I know we’ve done an article on the Templar Tactical Suppressors a few weeks ago, but I don’t think it was done enough justice. The featured video perfectly describes the effectiveness of the Templar Tactical and how it works from the CEO himself during an interview during the Bushnell Brawl which I attended in earlier this year. These guys are legit when it comes to their craft. Hope you all enjoy!

http://www.templartacticalfirearms.com/

A Warrior’s Mindset!

Many of us find ourselves on the range going over shooting drills, or in our living rooms conducting dry fires, week after week, knowing or thinking we will be able to use what we’ve been training for if the time presents itself. Joining the military and deploying at the age of 18 to Iraq in 2005, I had a warrior’s mindset through repetition after repetition, that I would hopefully be able to use what I had learned over the course of training. Luckily for me and others, I was able to resort back to muscle memory and execute what needed to be done, but for some, they weren’t able to.

On a particular deployment to Iraq in 2007, I witnessed something that was hard to believe, especially when deployed with a special operations unit: a young soldier neglecting to return fire on the enemy due to overwhelming odds, bullets snapping nearby, etc. It was his first deployment and the first firefight he had ever been in. I knew the guy had been through countless hours of training, but when bullets and bombs were aimed at us, he simply froze. He was immediately sent back home after the mission.

For a while I held a grudge towards him, then I thought to myself, “this job isn’t for everyone. No man, or women for that matter, knows how they will react when you’re looking death in face…literally.”

Having a mindset that reacts to danger in a specific way to neutralize the threat comes not only through training, but a certain mindset. A few years after, I wrote down a few rules that all of my knew guys had to read and live by…a creed.

IRVING CREED

Under any situation, no matter what it is, you must be able to go from 0-Mach 10 at a moments notice, having no regard for the threats feelings, life, future, or past and think nothing of what you have done.
Rage is your friend. I don’t care what anyone says. Rage makes you do things most are not willing to do. Keep that “bottle of rage” with you at all times, even in your dreams while you sleep. You never want to be caught off guard.
Always present yourself as a gentlemen around new faces, but in the back of your mind, have that monster willing to do whatever on standby at a moments notice.
NEVER QUIT! Death happens to all of us, just let it be on your own terms. Fight until the good man above or whoever you believe in shuts you down.
Take accuracy over speed. No man has ever won a gun fight missing the opposing threat. It looks cool shooting a million rounds a second, but….what did you hit?
Read rules 1-5 again.

After getting out of the military and contracting, I met a few young Army and Marine snipers, all under the age of 23, who lost limbs overseas in Afghanistan and I knew what a true warrior’s mindset was. Guys who never quit. I wanted to share a video I shot with the fans of the LoadOut Room so you can see what I had the honor of seeing one day on the range shooting with these guys.

Awesome M4/Carbine Sling!

While attending the National Guard 2013 sniper competition this weekend and meeting up with some friends, I met up with Tony Burkes, the CEO of TAB Gear. I’ve known Tony for some time know and have always loved the products he brings to the precision rifle community. I knew Tony had been in the works designing a sling for guys who shoot carbines and I was extremely eager to see the product.

The featured video shows Tony demonstrating how the sling works. Here are my thoughts after seeing and manipulating the sling myself: (More video’s coming soon)

TAB GEAR C M4 Sling

This is the type of product us guys over seas could use in a CQB environment, especially when performing a house search (SSE/sensitive site exploitation). I hate having my carbine bang all over knees and scrapping the ground as you bend over. This is where the TAB Gear sling helps out exponentially.
For the overseas contractor, this sling would almost be a necessity, especially those who are on a DOS contract performing diplomatic security. Nothing feels better than being able to access your carbine or secondary at a moments notice without worrying about your carbine flopping around, everything stays nice and tight to your body. If things go sour, you don’t have to worry about releasing a tab to access your weapon, etc., every second counts.
TAB Gear carbine slings are extremely affordable, coming in a $55.oo, fairly cheap considering its a one of a kind sling without all the bells and whistles others offer on the market.
Over 200,000 cycles were run on the sling and absolutely no wear and tear at all.
Most importantly, you gain time on your transitions from primary to secondary, as well as coming from a relaxed shooting stance, weapon slung, to presentation.

You can find more of their tactical gear at: http://tabgear.com/ or https://www.riflesonly.com/pro-shop/tactical-gear.html

Ammo Shortage 2013…What To Do?

I’m sure all of us notice the ammo shortages when we visit our outdoor sports stores, Wal-Mart, etc., but just why is there such an ammo shortage and how can you stock up and purchase the ammo when you need it. Common calibers routinely sell out within minutes of appearing on store shelves and prices have soared as much as 70 percent. After all, its somewhat annoying when you go to the store and the sign behind the ammo counter reads ” 1 box, per caliber, per day”.

Why The Shortage

Panic Buying

After the horrific and tragic events that occurred during with year with all of the mass shootings, and now the August 20th shooting/incident at an Atlanta elementary school (no one hurt), gun buyers are worried about a ban on certain types of weapons and ammo, I don’t blame them. With the panic of a ban on these items, men and women go out and buy a large quantity of ammo to stock pile in their basement. Another reason why is also due to the obvious price gouging, supply and demand. With everyone buying the large quantities of ammo, shops are forces to restrict the amount we can purchase in order to somewhat please future buyers.

D.H.S

I’m not 100% certain as to why the D.H.S is purchasing over 1.6 Billion rounds of ammunition this year, 16 times more than objectionable, and more than 1,000 rounds per person than the United States Army. ICE’s ammunition requests alone in the last year included:

–450 million rounds of .40-caliber duty ammunition

–40 million rounds of rifle ammunition a year for as many as five years, for a total bullet-buy of 200 million rounds

–176,000 rifle rounds on a separate contract

That is one “metric dung ton of ammunition!”

With these organizations purchasing such large quantities of ammunition, it leaves us “regular” hobbyist out in the cold.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/03/11/1-6-billion-rounds-of-ammo-for-homeland-security-its-time-for-a-national-conversation/

What Can You Do?

Luckily there are a few ways we can still acquire our ammunition without worrying so much about “limitations” and price gouging.

Reloading

Reloading your own ammunition is probably the best way to avoid the ammo blitz, and something I find to be extremely affordable. The general public tends to stay away from reloading their own ammo in fear of not knowing how to do it, lack of time, or simply just don’t know.

The actuality is that when or if you decide to reload you own ammunition, you’ll be spending mere pennies per round. You can buy the factory loads at $1250 per 1000.
Or load your own at $310 per 1000. For those of us shooting .40, .45, .223, .308, etc., the supplies aren’t that hard to come by and are relatively cheap. New brass can be had for 14 cents a round without even trying. Once fired brass is about half that. Powder is about 1.3 cents a round. Primers are 3 cents per round.

Materials Needed:

Press
Dies
Case Tumbler
Case Trimmer (Most handgun re-loaders don’t trim brass, but there are some that do.)
Powder measure
Powder scale
Calipers
Case Lubricant

For those just starting, you can get all of the necessary products anywhere from $400-500 and start producing your own loads at an extremely low-cost.

Times of Day and Internet Apps

You can also try visiting your local Wal-Mart between 6:00 am and 7:30 am on a Sunday or Tuesday to get your hands on some ammo at a 24 hour Wal-Mart. You can also try your luck at this internet App that I’ve found online: http://ammo-can.net/