Ranger

500 Round Iron Man Backpack!

The first position that I held in Ranger Battalion was light/heavy machine gunner. It was our job to become efficient with just about every light or heavy machine gun in our arsenal, including various grenade launchers. The majority of the time, we would carry our ammo in a small backpack and only feed the gun a 50-100 round belt that would hang out of the weapon.

Many times as a young machine gunner, I would wonder how awesome it would be to have the rounds feed directly from the pack and not worry about link breakage, snagging, etc. Well, that time has come! The Iron Man Backpack!

This ammo backpack carries 500 rounds of freedom that feed directly from you back to the weapon, almost the same way the minigun feeds. Not only do I think this is an amazing advance in our war fighters today and in the future, but cutting down on the gun team, essentially freeing up one man, only makes that gun team more combat efficient/effective.

I can’t wait to see the reports from the field!

1-5 AR Drill!

Here is a fun drill that I like to conduct on the range whenever I’m behind the AR platform. You’ll learn a lot about your platform as well as yourself from this drill, especially if you have a friend record you shooting it.

If you’re unfamiliar with trigger reset, muzzle control, eye/weapon target transitioning, body stance, etc., you will surely learn fast and benefit from this drill. This drill also breaks the standard two shot center mass shots you see on the range.

In the military, the two-shot center mass drill per target is something that is taught time and time again, instilling the mindset that two shots center mass from a 5.56 cartridge is all it takes to eliminate a threat. This is not always the case. Depending on the individual, two shots center mass may not always be the solution, and may need three, four, or five well-placed rounds to take care of the problem. On many occasions while deployed, the average engagement required that a target be serviced with a minimum of four rounds of 5.56.

In order to become faster with this drill, there are a few things you must first become familiar with.

Trigger reset
Body position
Eye transitioning

When your first round is fired, don’t allow the trigger to fully return to its “relaxed” position. Instead, only allow the trigger to come to its reset point. You’ll find its reset when you physically feel or hear a slight “click” as the trigger returns forward. At this point, the rifle is able to fire again. This saves you time between the shots. Remember, milliseconds count in a gun fight.

Your body position also plays a big role. If the shooter is bladed off to a target, or favors to one side or the other, the transition from the left to the right induces a torque in your lower back. Fighting torque slows you down, as opposed to staying relaxed or positioning yourself to service all targets from a beneficial body position.

Eye transitioning plays a big role in this drill as well. When you transition from one target to the other, your eyes should connect to the target first, then your weapon follows. As soon as the last round is fired, your eyes should already be in the transition phase to the next target.

THE DRILL

Space three targets, preferably human silhouette targets, about one target-width apart and place them five yards away from you. Start with the rifle butt on your shoulder and the muzzle down, as if you are exiting a vehicle or entering a building.

At the buzzer, shoot one shot on the left target, two shots on the center target, and three shots on the right target. Then shoot four shots back on the center target followed by five shots on the left. That’s a total of 15 shots at five targets, and only “A” or center hits count. Most experienced shooters will do this in about five seconds the first time out. Scoring under 3.5 seconds is getting pretty good. Three seconds or less is excellent.

If the drill seems too easy for you and you need a challenge, try all head shots!

(Featured Image Courtesy: ForWallpaper.com)

Dillon Aero M134D Reviewed and Fired!

For those who have a fascination for “all that is gun,” or the scene in the movie “Act of Valor” when the SWCC boat crews arrive to lay suppressive fire for the extracting team, you’ll love the M134D Minigun by Dillon Aero! The amount of 7.62mm rounds this weapon puts out is amazing, to say the least.

I can still remember the first time I heard the sound of a Gatling type weapon one ripping off a long burst of 30mm rounds on my first deployment to Iraq and thinking to myself, “who would bring a lawnmower to a gunfight?” That’s when I looked up and saw a plume of smoke, followed by a faint, muffled report coming from an A10.

The Dillon M134D Gatling Gun is one of the finest defense suppression weapons available, and when you need suppression quick, fast, and in a hurry, the M134D is where you’d turn to.

So what makes the M134D so popular to troops, contractors, gun enthusiast,etc?

The M134D is a six-barreled electric machine gun that fires the NATO 7.62mm cartridge at a rate 3,000 rounds per minute! With a rate of fire like this, the minigun typically runs a 3,000 to 4,000 round magazine, giving the operator the choice of a full one minute burst. Suppression at its finest!

With the amount of ammo the minigun lays downrange, you would expect the maintenance on it to be fairly high. This is not the case. While at Dillon Aero, I asked them how often they have to clean the M134D. The answer was, “We don’t. The multi-barrel design means that each barrel only experiences a 500 round per minute rate of fire. This allows for repeated long bursts of fire and a barrel group life of 200,000 rounds. In the unlikely event of a stoppage, the weapon can be serviced and made operational again in under a minute. ”

Due to the fact that the weapon is electrically operated and not gas operated, there is no carbon buildup on the internals of the weapon.

Stats:

Fixed Forward Fire: 56.9 lbs
Crew Served Gun: 66.1 lbs

Check them out at Dillon Aero’s website.

CRUX Suppressors

Crux \ˈkrō\ is a suppressor company that is pushing the envelope and is fast becoming known for building the leading suppressor on the market. The overwhelming response to their performance is the reason they are seeing such growth in the market.

And they are not afraid to prove it; with so much fluff marketing out there, Crux Suppressors takes an entirely different approach by actually demonstrating proven performance. They were so confident in the accuracy of their suppressor that they not only set a new record for longest suppressed shot, they did it in front of the best of the best at the 2014 National Guard Sniper Competition Demo Day. Talk about credible witnesses.

Crux Suppressors are Light, some of the lightest on the market, shattering the competition especially in their .338 Lapua Magnum Suppressors. They are accurate, consistent, and tough. Of course, every rifle is different, but many professional shooting competitors are seeing very minimal to no POI shift from unsuppressed to suppressed.

For suppressor re-attachment, there is no POI shift, but hold on, it doesn’t stop there for POI shift. You can even change suppressors and shoot a different serial number and they both shoot to the exact same place. And that’s not all, you can even change between different models of suppressors from short to long and they hold the exact same zero. This was even done while setting the longest suppressed shot record at 3670 yards by zeroing a .338 Norma Mag with a Crux Nemesis338 (6”) Suppressor, taking it off and setting the record with an Crux Ark338 (7.5”) Suppressor with no adjustments for POI shift because there is none.

Their Precision Mounting System (PMS) is also proving to be more accurate than direct thread applications. There are multiple design features that overcome and just do a better job than direct thread designs, and at the same time you get all the modularity of quick disconnect (QD) designs. The PMS systems gives you superior accuracy while QD designs take away accuracy.

But are Crux Suppressors quiet? How about the quietest 338 Lapua Magnum Suppressors on the market? Their technology is so good that the Ark338 (7.5”) is unbelievably quiet; as quiet as some 10 – 18” suppressors on the market, but the Crux Ark338 only adds 5.5” in length using their Precision Mounting System, and weighs in at 12 ounces. They also have a signature tone that is unlike any suppressor that we’ve heard. While some suppressors register quiet on a decibel meter their ear piercing high pitch makes their hearing safe numbers seam questionable, sitting behind a Crux Suppressor’s low tone makes you feel like you’re shooting the Ferrari in the industry and it will make you want to pull that trigger all day.

How do Crux Suppressors defy what is known of current suppressor technology? From what was explained to me, there’s a lot of engineering that goes into it. I’ll try my best to outline how they do it. It all lies in their monocore (internal baffles made from 1 solid piece of Titanium) technology and their design for manufacturing principles. Addressing the later first, if you are able to make every suppressor the exact same way and the manufacturing processes are not pushed outside of that process’ capabilities, then you have a product that performs the exact same way, every time.

For their baffle technology they took a completely different approach than others. Where traditional suppression techniques use turbulence to slow the release of gasses, Crux suppressors patented an approach that uses flow, or tornado/cyclone techniques. It was explained to me as if I wanted to throw a baseball thru a wind storm; the baseball will slow down, change its vector, but it will make it to a destination in a relatively short time. Now, throw that baseball at a tornado, what happens? It gets sucked up, joins the tornado and becomes part of that tornado until it loses enough energy to release it This is why they are able to go shorter and lighter with their suppressors and maintain great suppression. The more dense the tornado is, the more work the suppressor does. This is why no other company to date has been able to make a hearing safe 7.5” .338 Lapua Magnum suppressor.

Crux is able to use the laws of nature to work in their favor while old suppressor technology is working against the laws of nature and physics. Another aspect in all of this is bending the gas streams at the right moment in time. Try passing a bullet through a tornado… Not a good thing. So Crux suppressors is able to do what they do behind the bullet and not with it or in front of it. Beyond this it gets real technical and frankly I start getting glassy eyed, but I know one thing: Crux Suppressors are the best in the business.

Another thing Crux Suppressors believes in is the customer. They swear by never changing mounting system designs to try and sell more suppressors, so the suppressor you buy today will work with future technology. They believe in treating their customers as the important and valued individuals they are. They also do not believe in making suppressors that are only rated for .300 Blackout. If a 30 caliber bullet can pass through it then make it so that it can handle every mainstream 30 caliber platform. So ever suppressor is rated for 300 WinMag and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Be sure to check out Crux Suppressors today.

(Featured Image Courtesy: Crux Suppressors)

Caracal CS308

For those who are either precision shooters or want to get into precision shooting the Caracal CS308 is something you may want to take a look at. I know that in today’s precision competition community, the .308 isn’t a favored round, especially when going up against the 338 and 6.5 calibers. The .308 isn’t a caliber that can not perform, after all, this is the caliber that most modern snipers in the US military train and deploy with. In order to be proficient with the .308 caliber, it does take a lot of knowledge understanding ballistics, something I think every precision shooter should have in their personal toolbox.

What I like about the Caracal CS308 is the unique mixture of the AR and sleek “modern-day” bolt gun look. The hand rail feels “right” for anyone who is familiar with the AR rail and makes it easier for the shooter making those quick snap shots on the move, giving you the slim/sleek rail to gain a strong grip and maintain positive control. The aerospace grade aluminum stock keeps the rifle light weight and doesn’t become a “burden” when carrying over long a distance.

The sniper rifle will also be available in 338LM caliber with manually operated bolt-action from a 5 round magazine.

Caliber.308
Muzzle Velocity (m/s)900-1000
Effective Range (m)600-800
Barrel Length (mm)720
Barrel Twist Rate (in)(1:10)- (1:11)- (1:12)
Length (mm)1275
Height (mm)208
Width (mm)53
Weight (Kg)6,8
Operation Bolt action
Recoil Absorption System N/A
Feed System 5 round detachable magazine
Safety Unit On trigger
Trigger 2-Stage2-Stage Fully adjustable
Hooked shape trigger
Stock Aerospace grade aluminum
Detachable and adjustable
Receiver Aerospace grade aluminum
Bolt Stainless steel

The Glock 41 Gen 4!

For the Glock fans out there, I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that Glock has introduced a new pistol to the family. The Glock 41 Gen 4 .45 ACP.

The Glock 41 Gen 4 is built with a G34 (9mm) slide and a G21 Gen4 (.45) frame, the G41 is 2.3 ounces lighter than a G21 Gen4 while adding extended length to the slide. The benefit of having the longer slide of the Glock 41 Gen 4, provides the shooter a longer sight radius for more precise engagements. When compared side by side, it is a longer-barreled version of the Gen4 Glock 21, but it is a thinner version, and it has been measured down to match the same composition as the tactical/practical 5.3 inch barrel of the G34, 35 and 40 versions. The barreling is right-handed and octagonal, with a twist length of 15.75 inches, and you’ll get a 13-round magazine. The drawback of the longer slide, does however, not make this pistol ideal for a concealed carry, but will definitely be a fan among the competition, Law Enforcement, and Military community.

How do you think it will compare to the XD and 1911?

SPECIFICATIONS:
* Caliber – .45 ACP
* Unloaded – 765 g / 27 oz.
* Loaded – 1020 g / 36 oz.
* Trigger Pull – 25 N / 5.5 lbs.
* Trigger Travel – 12.5 mm / 0.49 in.
* Trigger Pull – 25 N / 5.5 lbs.
* Trigger Travel – 12.5 mm / 0.49 in.
* Length – 226 mm / 8.90 in.
* Width – 32.5 mm / 1.28 in.
* Length Between Sights – 192 mm / 7.56 in.
* Height – 139 mm / 5.47 in.
* Slide Width – 25.5 mm / 1.00 in.
* Barrel Length – 135 mm / 5.31 in.