armsguide

How a Navy SEAL Sets Up his War Belt/Duty Belt: Tactical Rifleman Video

This week on Tactical Rifleman, I review the basic setup and components of one configuration of my war belt I utilized in the SEAL Teams. Much like the body armor setup video, the war belt is also not a one-size fits all setup.

Team guys set up their kit in a manner that both fits their load bearing requirements and comfort as well as achieving the minimum loadout for their position in the platoon. Now, there is nothing sexy about this setup.

Due to the maritime component of SEAL operations, salt water wreaks havoc upon gear. Therefore, the kit I carry is designed for function and is predominately a maritime setup (Visit Board Search Seizure (VBSS)/Zodiac work/Diving, etc.). I use a more high-speed setup when operating in a direct action or land warfare capacity. That means that the kit is a bit nicer and more expensive in order to stand up to a harsh, dryer environment as well as to carry additional ordnance items and communications equipment.

The components on the belt are a bit of a “hodge podge” of different brands of gear; some of it issues and some of it scrounged from the DRMO (recycle) bin (yes, SEALs sometimes have to dive into the “land of abandoned gear” for stuff). The point is, you don’t need all the hyped-up Gucci gear to do work. You just need something durable yet easily replaceable.

We put our kit through hell during training evolutions and this rig is a basically the stuff that survived that crucible over the years. The belt itself and pad are Blackhawk. The mag pouches are from my basic loadout package and are of no name brand. They simply Velcro shut when not in use and have a plastic internal piece to keep the mags from sliding around.

The large drop (olive drab) pouch is from London Bridge trading and is basically a SAW ammo pouch I use as a large utility bag. The drop-leg holster is from 5-11 and is modular detachable meaning I can swap my Glock 34 holster for my Beretta holster (when training Air Force dudes) pretty easily.

The SSE roll-up drop pouch is from Tactical Assault Gear (https://www.tacticalassaultgearstore….) which is a veteran-owned founded company all made in the USA. Great stuff! Canteen pouch is Blackhawk. The knife is a SOG SEAL pup. I realize that gear has advanced over the years and the team at Tactical Rifleman have most likely used a variety of these items across the spectrum.

Please feel free to leave constructive comments and questions below. Stay violent, my friends!

For more go to http://www.tacticalrifleman.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tactical_ri…

Twitter-http://bit.ly/TACrman

Shots Fired: FX-9 Pistol

The FX-9 from Freedom Ordnance has proven very popular. We were introduced to this affordable pistol-caliber carbine by Classic Firearms. Instead of adapting existing AR receivers to a blow-back action and pistol-sized magazine Freedom Ordnance did it right and built it from the ground up to run pistol calibers. This not only ensures that it will run, but also saves on weight and size.

The principle is simple. 9mm Glock magazines aren’t nearly as long as an AR-15 magazine, so why make the receiver so long? Freedom Ordnance managed to shave more than an inch off the length of the receivers. The entire package is scaled and sized properly for a pistol caliber. Keeping with the PCC trend however is the compatibility with several AR parts. Before tweaking it too much we wanted to know how it would run out of the box.

The video below shows testing with factory, Korean, Jagemann, ETS, Pro-Mag, ProMag, and SGM Magazines. We also tested a variety of ammunition loads from 158gr all the way down to 65gr.

After having such great results we decided the FX-9 pistol is a keeper. We’ve begun the transformation into making it a house-gun. Light, short, and high-capacity with just enough mass to make it controllable. What’s not to like?

Shots Fired: FX-9 Pistol! — FX-9 Upgraded trigger, safety selector, and grip

Since we know the gun runs it was time to upgrade the user interface. This meant dropping the standard GI safety selector for a lighter and more tactile option from Radian. Installation was simple, but it is worth noting that the engagement doesn’t feel quite as positive.

The grip was also swapped out from GI to a Hogue for more comfort and positive traction. Trigger has been the touchy spot. Previous attempts with triggers from JARD failed, and as with all non-standard reciprocating masses there is concern the hammer may not catch and result in doubles or a run-away gun. Internet lore says that the 3.5# option from CMC works and so we’ve got that installed and ready for testing.

The pistol really begs for a hand-stop. Until we have one to try, some strips from Hexmag serve as a physical memory point. An adapter muzzle device was sourced to permit the rapid mount and dismount of a suppressor. As a fan of the MP-5 a trilug mount was the only choice. A light will also find its way onto the rail before the front end is complete.

The simplest of the changes from the out-of-the box configuration was of course the magazine. Nothing beats the simplicity of a translucent magazine from ETS to know just how many rounds remain or what is loaded.

What hasn’t been determined yet is which sighting system to go with. Around the house point and shoot is likely to be all we need. Micro-dots require too tight of a sight picture, as do many conventional red-dots. For “who’s there?” aiming I think a laser will do best, but I’d like to hear from the readers what they use for home-defense optics.

Wilder Tactical Magazine Pouches: Stackable, Scaleable, Adjustable

Wilder Tactical Pouches and Gear: Stackable, Scaleable, Superior

Wilder Tactical began when an Army Ranger medic modified his issued gear to work for him in the field. The result? Wilder Tactical pouches designed for comfort and efficiency to meet the demands of real world environments.

They are universally compatible within the platform and are stack able. They are adjustable for a wide range of magazines and tourniquets.

The Wilder Evolution Series Universal Magazine Pouch securely holds 5.56 AR style magazines.

Adjustable compression strap design maintains stability even when empty

Compatible with steel, polymer, H&K and PMag pistol magazines

Compatible with 10, 20, 25, 30, and 40 round 5.56 magazines

The Wilder Evolution Series Universal Magazine Pouch securely holds 9 mm, .40 S&W, or .357 Sig pistol magazines.

Adjustable compression strap design maintains stability even when empty

Compatible with metal and polymer pistol magazines 8 rounds and up.

The Wilder Evolution Series Universal Magazine Pouch securely holds 7.62 and .308 AI, FNFAL, and AR10 style magazines.

Adjustable compression strap design maintains stability even when empty.

Compatible with steel, polymer, H&K and PMag pistol magazines

Compatible with 10, 20, 25, 30, and 40 round 7.62 or .308 magazines

Wilder Evolution Series Universal Tourniquet Holster. The universal tourniquet holder is the only product on the market which will accommodate CAT, SOFTT, and SOFTT-W tactical tourniquets. Compatible with CAT, SOFTT, and SOFTT-W tourniquets (not included)

The Wilder Tactical Minimalist Battle Belt is constructed with a laser-cut proprietary 1000D Cordura® laminate. Designed with the operator in mind, this versatile belt pad is the perfect foundation for Wilder Tactical Pouches.

The exterior features vertical laser-cut slots that accommodate ANY belt (up to 1.75”). The textured neoprene interior creates a comfortable non-slip system that eliminates the need for a velcro inner Belt.

All Wilder Tactical Pouches are available in Black, Coyote Brown, and OD Green.

They can be ordered with standard, Tek-Lok, and Molle-Lok attachment options.

All Wilder Tactical Pouches an be piggy-backed on Evolution series rifle magazine pouches

Wilder Tactical products are tested and evaluated by professionals who ACTUALLY use them everyday in places that demand the best functionality possible because their lives depend on it.

You can get your Wilder Tactical gear HERE

About Wilder in his own words:

“I grew up hunting and fishing on a farm in upstate New York, and joined the army as a medic on September 2nd, 2003. Upon completing a long training pipeline in 2005, I became a medic for the First Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. My training included Airborne School, Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP) medical training at Fort Sam, Houston, TX, and John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Training Center, 18D course, in Fort Bragg, NC. This was where I completed the first six months of the 18D course to become a Ranger Battalion medic. I served two tours in Iraq with Alpha Company First Platoon, First Ranger Battalion of Savannah, GA until 2007. During my time as a medic utilizing a multitude of different products and gear, I started to think of ways to improve and to store the gear I was using. I was always modifying my own gear so it would work as I wanted. In 2009 I started working overseas as a medical officer for SOC. I noticed there had been a lot of advancements, but none of the things I had worked on were there. Over the next few years, I continued to modify things to make them fit my needs, and in the years to follow I started looking around for better parts and materials I could use to make my own gear from scratch. A friend introduced me to Kydex and wanted me to make a knife sheath with it. The rest is history from there. I helped him make his modifications and then ordered my own Kydex, realizing I could make things the way I wanted them. I developed the IWB holster for a friend who asked me a to make him a holster because his was uncomfortable. After some trial and error the Wilder IWB was born. Simple, functional, and extremely comfortable.

I developed my tourniquet holder after having my rubber bands break due to drying out and becoming brittle. Many people I know have been doing that for years and dealing with the same problems. It’s fast and efficient, but they dry out and break every few weeks, especially when in the elements. It ended up being a radical new idea that was embraced by many, and faster then I could make them. It has since been modified to the current design standard for a specific look, but the function has always remained the same: solid and reliable. The original shape had smooth rolling lines, the second version offered better coverage from the elements, and the latest “Evolution” model fits all major tourniquet models and functions better than ever.

The majority of my products are designed for comfort and efficiency, and to meet the demands of real world environments. I have all my items tested and evaluated by professionals that ACTUALLY use them everyday in places that demand the best functionality possible – because their lives depend on it. Then I modify and have them tested to meet all the demanding needs of the professionals I work with.

I have decided to start Wilder Tactical at the urging of many of my friends/customers, and to make my products available to anyone that requires the most functioning and most practical day-to-day job related items. I’m excited to continue to design and modify products to perform in the best possible ways.”

Why You Should Mark Your Magazines and How to Do It

Are your magazines marked? It really doesn’t matter, until it does… Pistol or Rifle magazines eventually give up the ghost. And when they do, they cause weapon malfunctions. It is important have your magazines marked in order to quickly isolate the problem and replace that magazine.

About Kit Badger

I’m Ivan with www.kitbadger.com and I want to welcome you to my channel, where I bring you high quality video reviews of outdoor as well as tactical equipment. Not to mention some skills and tips I’ve picked up along the way. I strive to make my videos informative, concise and entertaining. As well as visually awesome.

The Browe Tactical Optic: The ACOG Killer

“You come at the king, you best not miss” These wise words were uttered by Warrior Poet Omar Little, but I feel they apply to the Browe Tactical Optic. The king, in this case, being Trijicon and their famous ACOG optic. The challenger to the king is Browe-Inc and the Browe Tactical Optic. Browe has a history with Trijicon, but today we are going to stick to the review. We will talk about how it differs from the ACOG and how it’s better or worse in regards to performance.

I’ve had the Browe Tactical Optic for way longer than I anticipated due to some logistical issues, but it has given me time to put nearly 700 rounds downrange with it. On top of that, there were many range days with friends where they put some of their own ammo downrange. I finally got out to a substantial range with the gun and even lit up a few targets at 300 yards.

My model

This particular Tactical optic is designed for the 7.62 x 39mm round and an AK pattern rifle. That being said the gun I’m using it on is clearly not an AK, but a SIG 556R. Their rifles are similar enough and in the same caliber so the BDC is consistent. The BTO is a fixed 4 power scope with a 32mm objective lens. It comes available with a red, Amber, Blue, or Green reticle, and this model is red.

The BTO is waterproof up to 42 meters, dry nitrogen purged to be fog proof, and features a 2000 hour battery life. The MSRP is $1,395.00.

The Features

In my first look, I explored a few features of the Browe Tactical Optic. At that time I didn’t have much time with the optic, but the features sounded promising. One I thought was genius was the Target Light Sensor technology.

The Browe automatically adjusts the brightness of your reticle based on the brightness of the area you are shooting in. Tritium equipped ACOGs also automatically adjust, but they adjust for the area you are standing in. The Browe Tactical Optic adjusts for the area you are aiming at. This makes the reticle much easier to use. If I’m standing in the screaming sunlight of Florida and aiming at a target that’s shaded by a tree guess what happens?

The reticle automatically dims. This makes it much easier to see my shaded target. In a scenario where I had to pop a cap in an ass, I would easily be able to see my reticle and make shot placement count.

The reticle’s automatic adjustment is near instant. If you were clearing a house and transitioning from outside to inside it best be, or even transitioning from a brightly lit room to a dim one. To try the real world applications of this technology. I started outside and moved through my house with the optic held up to my eye. The transition was flawless.

Moving from my brightly lit kitchen to a dark bedroom reinforced the awesomeness of the Browe’s ability to transition. It just does what it needs to do. If for some weird reason you don’t like it you can cycle through 10 daylight settings and 3-night vision modes.

We Put a Computer in It.

The Browe Tactical Optic has a utility port, which is odd for a scope in my opinion. However, it does allow you to do a number of things I’d have never thought of. For one, you can update and customize the firmware, which is interesting. Other than that you hook up a remote pressure pad that allows you to control the optic, its modes, and brightness levels.

Lastly, you can even import and export power. You can rig up mini red dots and lasers to run off the BTO battery. You can also power the optic through an external source. This isn’t a feature I’ve used by can see the benefits of it. It makes the optic more adaptable and simplifies battery usage for the end user.

The Reticle

The reticle on my optic is the Chevron reticle with hash marks out to an optimistic 700 meters. I say optimistic because I’m not taking a 762×39 out that far, it’s not a skill I have, unfortunately. The red illuminated chevron is very eye-catching, and I zeroed it according to the manual. The tip of the chevron is my 100 meter zero. The reticle is easy to see very easy to use. It really is grunt proof. The more versatile a system is the better, but at the same time, you need to make it simple to use under stress. The Browe Tactical optic is quite easy to use.

Clarity

The clarity of the optic is brilliant. It’s crystal clear and remains so regardless of the external conditions. Even raindrops don’t cloud the vision thanks to the awesome lens coating. This is Florida it rains every five minutes for about five minutes so I don’t let it chase me off the range.

Clarity is excellent throughout the day, from the early morning to late evening I had a great sight picture. The sight picture is throughout the whole picture and there is no noticeable blurriness is the peripherals of the optic.

The Browe Tactical Optic is crystal clear, and would actually work very well as a hunting optic. Just because Tactical is in the name doesn’t mean you can’t fudd it up occasionally. What comes to my mind is a Ruger Mini Ranch Rifle in 7.62x39mm…. Sorry got distracted. It’s clear, and you can easily pick up movement and distinguish animals from their background.

I imagine that this would be handy for shooting bad people trying to blend into bad environments, but my testing didn’t include that opportunity.

Close Range

One of the big things I see across forums and on R/guns are people interested in fixed power optics but convinced they won’t work at close ranges. This is not true. The Bindon Aiming Concept, or BAC, was derived from Trijicon’s founder Glyn Bindon. “I r grunt” so I can’t explain the science, but I can tell you how it works practically.

In close quarters combat I merely pull the rifle and optic up, making sure I keep both eyes open. One eye looks through the optic, the other looks at the target. The reticle will be superimposed over the target, and against my vision. The human eye is a complicated machine, but as long as I don’t focus with one eye over the other, this works. The reticle is superimposed over my vision, and it works almost as good as a red dot.

I say almost because to me it’s just as fast, but a little less precise. I can still place shots into the vital zone, but they don’t make neat small groups like I can with a red dot. You can easily track targets left to right, as well as up and down. Close range fighting isn’t an issue for the Browe Tactical Optic.

Long Range (Relative to the round)

By long range, I’m talking 300 yards, which about the approximate effective range of the 7.62 x 39. I did go all the way to 500 yards, but I was most concerned about performance at that 300 yard range. Keep in mind the majority of the testing was done with cheap Tula and Wolf ammo. Why else would I own a 7.62×39?

I did have some issues with the range personnel allowing cameras on the range. I tried for some time to find a place to set up and shoot a little video, and pictures but unfortunately this proved to be more difficult than I imagined.

At 300 yards I used my new favorite targets the Modern Warrior T1s setup against a cardboard backing. These man-sized targets are very modern and easy to see. I took a prone position and fired unsupported and realized I should have invested in a 20 or 10 round AK mag for this. Low prone isn’t really an option. I fired unsupported because this is a combat optic, and accuracy is so subjective between each shooter and gun. I also preferred a realistic scenario to evaluate my own skill level.

The SIG 556R is a little more accurate than your average AK, and I was getting groups between 7 to 9 inches with it. It’s no sub-moa gun, but I kept the rounds on target easy enough. The Browe Tactical Optic’s BDC is a breeze to use, and with a little yard to meters conversion, it was dead on.

With Sellier and Bellot’s brass cased ammo I got the groups down to a consistent 7 inches, with several hovering around 6.5 inches.

Going the Distance

At 500 yards I stuck to a big steel IPSC target to hear the rings. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to hit the target. I wasn’t hitting 100%, but once I got on target, I was able to stay quite consistent. The meters to yards difference is a little more substantial here, so I had to use to 450 meters mark on the Browe Tactical Optic’s BDC. I love the 50-meter increments that make it easy to do these kinds of conversion.

500 yards is really pushing both my skills, the gun, and the ammo, but I still made hits. I fully believe that those hits are due to the fact I had the Browe Tactical optic. Without it, hits would have been luck more than anything else.

The Browe Tactical Optic

Is it an ACOG killer? Undoubtedly some will say no, and I do encourage them to try the Browe. I love the ACOG, and always will. However, do I think the Browe Tactical Optic is better? Yes, I do. It’s more modern, and an evolution in combat optics. The Browe Tactical and Combat optics are well designed, and well thought out. They offer a versatile, but simple system that’s easy to use regardless of the stress level. The streamlined layout and inherent streamlined nature of the optic, combined with its brilliant clarity, and a great reticle make the Browe Tactical Optic my new favorite RCO.

Night Shooting Techniques from the Tactical Rifleman

https://youtu.be/iJIZhXpoKQk