I bet you’re wondering how I got here, wearing a goofy hockey mask and a comically oversized Heat vest.
Well, to really tell the story, I have to go back, way back, to like — the end of April. Forgotten Weapons released a video called “Forgotten Weapons Will Rock and Roll at the Drop of a Hat.”
It’s a sweet video. In it, Ian of Forgotten Weapons, Matt Haught of Symtac Consulting, and friends reenacted the Heat Bank robbery as best as they safely could. They wore suits, masks, used old-school ARs and wore Heat replica vests. The video is sweet and it served as both a cool video and an announcement of sorts for the Heat vest pre-order at the Forgotten Weapons website.
I was …Uhm, sold. I’ve wanted one of these vests since I saw the film Heat. If you’ve never seen the movie, fix that. Go see it. Near the end, a bank robbery occurs, and the robbers wear vests adorned with magazines under their coats. It’s a simple setup unique to the film and honestly always appealed to me. I instantly got in on the pre-order and eagerly awaited the arrival of my sweet Heat vest.
I wanted it to be so much cooler.
I planned to dress up in my suit and do a bit of my own rundown of the Heat shootout, armed with the vest and a duffel bag full of sand. I ordered a copy of the Hockey mask seen at the beginning of the film and couldn’t wait.
The Youtuber Conundrum
I have a rule. Don’t order crap from Youtubers. Not just in the gun world, but it seems like anytime a Youtuber has a product to sell, it’s crap. The thing is, Ian has sold some sweet-ass books on historical firearms. They are incredibly well-done books, and I look forward to his book on Chinese Warlord pistols.
So with that in mind, I broke my rule, and even when faced with a warning of no refunds, I dialed in my credit card number and sent 90 bucks over the interwebs.
I’m sad to say, the Youtuber selling crap meme maintains its strength with the Heat vest.
So this is the Sizemore Heat Vest?
The Heat Vest came in two sizes, M/L and XL/XXL. I’m 6 foot, 5 inches tall, and weigh 280 pounds. I ordered the XL/XXL variant. Heck, that’s my shirt size, so it makes sense I went with the ‘Sizemore’ option. After watching the Youtube video and seeing Ian posing with the vest, I expected the vest to fit. Honestly, I figured it might be a bit small.
It hangs well below my belt line.
Sadly, I was mistaken. The Heat vest I received was comically oversized for me. I’m pretty sure I’ve never actually had an issue with something too big for me, so that was a first. I tried to adjust the vest. I put it on the tightest D-ring and adjusted the rear as tight as I possibly could — and it’s still massively oversized. I felt like a five-year-old playing dress-up in his dad’s clothes.
I imagine it’s a 4 or 5 XL at best. It droops off of me, and the shoulders will slide off of me with gentle movement. When I walk, it seems to drip off, especially when loaded down with loaded magazines. In the video by Forgotten Weapons, the vests looked perfectly sized, and they certainly didn’t fall off the wearers while shooting and moving.
I can’t see sh!t in this mask either.
I loaded the vest down and tried it under my suit coat. It’s way too big to fit under the coat, so I abandoned the idea I originally had and avoided a dry cleaning bill. I still had a 36 dollar hockey mask, so you guys are getting to see that at a minimum.
What About Using It?
As I mentioned, the Heat vest just kind of falls off of me with any real movement. Well, the magazines also tend to just fall out of it too.
This was me before a 30-yard walk.
These elastic bands are way too big for a standard AR-15 magazine. I walked 30 yards, and this was the result.
Mags after a 30-yard walk. Dropped two and almost dropped a third.
I lost two mags and almost lost a third. If I bend over, the magazines fall out of the shoulder are pouches. I honestly didn’t expect excellent, duty grade retention, but I don’t think mags should pop out when they are jostled or just when you walk. I’m betting if the vest fit tighter, the magazines would be less likely to jump ship so fast.
I never intended to use the Heat Vest for anything serious, but I would like to have some fun in it at the range. Maybe take it to the next “Retro” match at my local range and goof off a bit. Sadly I can’t even do that.
I will say the Daniel Defense 32 round magazines fit much better than the regular 30 rounders. They are a hair longer and don’t flop out.
Reloading from the vest is not as ergonomic as a dedicated rig…but what can you do?
Retrieving the magazines makes me thankful for modern chest rigs. Of all the things I can complain about, I don’t think mentioning the ergonomics of a 1995 chest rig made for a movie is really necessary. It’s just the nature of the design and not a knock on the product’s quality.
Fixing the Situation
I emailed Forgotten Weapons customer support after I received the vest. I received a quick response saying they were aware of the problem and were investigating the size issue. I waited and followed up about two weeks after asking if there was a solution. I have yet to hear back regarding the solution.
The D-Rings are maxed out and the vest is still too big.
Hopefully, the Forgotten Weapons crew can fix this situation. I’m not the only one who found the Heat vest way too large. Owners of both the M/L and XL/XXL found the vest to be way too big and the retention to be terrible. If the situation’s fixed, then I will most certainly give the vest another shot at the range and rewrite or update this review.
The rear tie down portion is maxed out and its still too loose.
My ultimate goal for the Heat vest was to play at the range a few times, then hang it up on a mannequin and make it a conversation piece. Sadly, they don’t make mannequins this size, so what can I do?
Hopefully, in a month, I’ll be rewriting this and be psyched about my well-fitting Heat vest. Until then, be aware of these being sold on the secondary market.
It’s the Sizemore Model
People seem to be marking them up a bit much and not mentioning the size issue at all. If Forgotten Weapons fixes first-owner problems, you might not be covered when purchasing on the secondary market. I’m gonna go watch Heat again and get Galil fever once more.
Who doesn’t love more capacity in their fighting rifle? Thirty rounds are the standard, but we’ve never been satisfied with the standard, right? The more rounds a gun holds, the less likely you’ll have to reload. For guns tasked with laying down sustaining fire, we turn to belts. Magazine-fed weapons are often enhanced by the presence of an extended magazine or a drum. The Beta C-Mag might be the biggest solution to the problem of needing more capacity.
Yep, a hundred-round drum exists.
The Beta C-Mag first saw life in 1987 when it received a patent for its rather unique design. The C in C-Mag stands for century. Get it? Century equals 100 years, and the drums hold 100 rounds. Clever, and admittedly, it rolls off the tongue. Since then, the Beta C-Mag has been a rather controversial drum magazine. In fact, hating on the C-Mag has been the only thing gun grabbers and freedom enthusiasts have had in common.
Gun grabbers hate freedom, and anything offering 100 rounds of ammunition on tap irks them, and to be fair, anything holding more than 1 round of ammunition irks them. At the other end of the spectrum, freedom enthusiasts, gun lovers, and soldiers dislike them because they don’t seem to be all that functional. Before we get into that, let’s talk a little bit more about the history and purpose of the C-Mag.
What’s The Purpose of the C-Mag
That’s easy, and not to sound like Tim Allen in the 90s, it’s for more power! Specifically, more firepower. The Beta C-MAG offered soldiers, police, or whoever a hundred rounds on tap. For soldiers, this allowed them to open up without the need to reload. In a firefight gaining fire, superiority can mean the difference between winning and gettin’ dead. Soldiers could use their rifles as quasi-suppressive weapons when a firefight kicks off.
Yeah, it’s fairly awkward and heavy, kinda like me.
The C-Mag is a drum design that actually uses two drums to accomplish the mighty task of holding 100 rounds of 5.56. The drum design also allows the user to get into a half-decent prone position without a giant jutting drum making it awkward.
The awkward design has earned it some rather vulgar names, such as the ‘titty’ mag and the ‘chode.’ I don’t partake in such uncouth terms, but they deserve to be mentioned as part of the gun’s history.
This tool is neither small nor a reliable option for combat.
A History of the Beta C-Mag
Beta produced the magazine with military contracts in mind and approached big Army with their marvelous idea in the early 90s. The DOD and Spec Ops community tested the drums, and they reportedly failed pretty hard.
In 2001 the GWOT kicked off, and a reportedly new and improved Beta C-Mag came to be. Again it was offered to the Army, who was gearing up to go kick ass in Afghanistan. Well, at the time, stuff like this was getting snatched up left and right and taken overseas.
Soldiers were issued the C-Mag in both Afghanistan and Iraq from small unit orders. In the early days of the GWOT, linked ammo was reportedly scarce in the country. Units fell back to using full auto M4s and M16s and for fire suppression, and the C-Mag granted them the capacity to make do.
Proper Testing
The Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane Division procured and tested magazines, and well, they found that they still weren’t up to snuff. Based on this testing, USSOCOM sent out a stop order to prohibit the use of Beta C-Mags. As it happens, the message didn’t get down to everyone.
The Rapid Equipping Force was a program set up to get soldiers the gear they need in 180 days or less. It would test and evaluate products and see if they were suitable for combat conditions. They acquired some Beta C-Mag drums and conducted testing in Iraq. They found the drums unsuitable for combat and sent them back.
Notice that the B-shaped design allows it to sit rather low for its capacity.
The drums hit the streets, and soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division tested the drum in Kandahar under the supervision of a third-party consulting firm. They put the rifles through SAWs and M4s and quickly discovered they weren’t up to snuff.
“I hate it, it keeps jamming,” said Spc. Daniel Dicker. (Defend America Newsletter)
Can you see why it’s called the titty mag?
After these numerous failures, the C-Mag drums in the wild were collected, and a policy letter was issued banning the use of the Beta C-Mag. After that, the Beta C-Mag didn’t see any action in the hills of Afghanistan or the streets of Iraq. The drum, like many drums before it, proved too finicky for military use.
Post Military Career
The Beta C-Mag might not have served with distinction, but it had a secondary career in the movies! It’s an intimidating-looking sight attached to the bottom of a gun, and it popped up in the Stargate television show. We saw it in three different guns in the Vin Diesel xXx flicks, in the film Walking Tall, in Gamer, and so many more.
100 rounds is a ton of firepower, and if the drum worked it would kick ass.
Ultimately like a movie star, the drum looks good, but it necessarily needs to be good. Beta C-Mag drums are easy to find for sale, but be prepared to pay. They often retail for around 300 bucks. I’m not going to spend 300 bucks on a range toy I don’t trust.
But I will spend less than half that on the KCI Clone.
The KCI Option
These are much more affordable and likely as reliable as an authentic C-Mag, according to the Army’s testing.
I loaded up my KCI clone, and man, a hundred rounds of 5.56 makes the gun quite hefty. I couldn’t get it to catch the mag catch fully loaded with the bolt closed. If you download two rounds or insert the drum with the bolt open, you’ll be good to go.
Instantly I can see the appeal. This massive drum looks cool as hell. The titties, I mean…drums, hanging off the side, the transparent design showing me every round I got on tap.
The weight and weird bulbous design make it much easier to use in a supported position, but it’s not impossible to fire from the standing unsupported.
I dumped a hundred rounds through the KCI C-Mag clone without issue, on a square range, on a nice day, and it worked fine. I didn’t torture test it for reliability, but for giggles, I trust it to feed fine enough.
The KCI Drum has a nice ammo counter to see how many rounds you’ve popped off.
If you can accept it as a range toy, the Beta C-Mag is perfectly fine. The KCI clone functions fine, and I bet the authentic models do too on a square, perfectly permissive range with brand-new out-of-the-box ammo.
The rear view of the KCI Drum shows the weird, but innovative design the C-Mag had.
The complicated nature of the C-Mag makes it more prone to failure, likely much ammo picky, and ultimately not a great option for serious use. It’s neat, but the only real drum that’s dependable enough for duty use seems to be the Magpul D-60 and D-50 series. While they might offer less ammo, they offer more bang for your buck.
It’s funny, shooting in itself is a very analog sport. It has existed way before the digital world ever was conceived. It consists of metal, wood, glass, springs, and explosions. Some of the digital things that have crept into the long-range shooter’s arsenal range from chronographs, wind meters, laser range finders, and various displays. Kestrel has come up with a few products like the Kestrel HUD that allow you to do some extreme (here come those words everyone loves to hear) “social distancing” while on the range.
The three amigos of long-range Bluetooth connectivity.
Kestrel made their name in the wind meter market, offering them for various industries. The ones we are most interested in are the ones made for shooting… I mean it is what we are all here for isn’t it?
Kestrel 5700 Sportsman
Between time away with the military, range shutdowns due to the pandemic, and a hip surgery I have spent a bit of time playing with my Kestrel 5700 Sportsman that I went through the upgrade process on to make a 5700 Elite — but more on that in another article. I am still getting used to playing with a wind meter when it comes to shooting, having previously used Kentucky Windage or a person spotting for me most of my time shooting.
With the build of The Apologizer (my entirely Canadian rifle project), it was time I got a bit more serious about my long-range shooting. I put in all the info I could (using ammo made for another gun I no longer have but have way too much of) and got fairly decent results for shooting at longer ranges than I normally did. The Kestrel 5700 gave me shooting solutions for various ranges and the menus were fairly intuitive.
This is one of the ways I typically have my wind reading setup. I do need a riser for the Kestrel 5700 so it won’t bump into the MUB MOD DOS it is mounted to.
When I got my Kestrel 5700 Sportsman it came in a package with a Bushnell Elite CONX laser range finder in a package deal. If you look around some dealers still have this, which is a great package deal saving you some serious coin when starting out.
What was really cool about the package was that through the PFM or pure f**king magic of Bluetooth you can pair your range finder with a Kestrel that is LiNK enabled—meaning it too has Bluetooth in it. This allows both of your fancy electronics to have a fun little conversation so when you take a wind reading and range an object it will spit out the elevation and windage changes required to hopefully hit the target. I would be remiss if I did not mention that a Kestrel wind meter can only take wind readings at your current location. What’s happening downrange can be a completely different thing however it’s a great starting point.
The Applied Ballistics engine in the 5700 Elite does do a fantastic job with elevation, and if the wind were consistent all the way down there would likely be pretty bang on every time. This is, of course, if you do your part and shoot with the fundamentals and input all of the numbers and info into your new pocket wind reading friend. Good ammo that is consistent also helps a lot as the distance grows.
I do still have some truing I need to do with the Kestrel but that will take some playing around with. However, the 5700 isn’t entirely why we are here. No, that’s just one part of the three electronic gizmo trio that does a pretty damn good job acting as your spotter when you’re at the range. The last piece of the puzzle is the Kestrel HUD.
Kestrel HUD
The Kestrel HUD (Heads Up Display) is a fancy little display you can mount on your rifle or have sitting in the dirt next to you.
We really need to get a non-cut-down top rail for our Ultimatum Deadline to push the Kestrel HUD a bit more forward.
It’s built pretty damn rugged. I wouldn’t say it’s Nokia’s old-style-phone rugged, since they will be found by civilizations many thousands of years from now. I will say Kestrel did a good job making something that can take a beating, more importantly—handle the recoil of being mounted to a rifle.
The Kestrel HUD is nicely visible at the side of the rifle when mounted to the top rail.
Not only that, it has a temperature working range of -22F to 140F which covers pretty much any weather pattern I care to shoot in. The Kestrel HUD lets you keep your head up with your eyes focused mostly downrange—instead of fiddling with a pile of electronics.
It has several different modes on it. There is a timer at the bottom of the target screen, a DOPE (Data On Previous Engagement) screen, a single target screen that can give you live updates from the Kestrel 5700 if it is in a tripod mount, and of course the Custom Target Screen with up to 10 targets. The DOPE and custom targets screens are only available for the 5700 Elite and up so if you have a Sportsman it’s worth doing the upgrade if these are features you will use.
As you can see if the top rail was a smidge longer it wouldn’t bump into the massive turrets of the Tangent Theta 525P. That said, if the rail was longer, or if it was another scope, it would sit nice and flat.
The screen is super easy to read in the sun as well as in the dark, with its large letters and backlight if you need that. While it is easy to read it is a pain in the ass to take pictures of due to the glossy screen. Had Kestrel gone with something like an E-Ink screen like a Kindle it would be super easy to photograph but slow to update the screen with new info.
It easily mounts to a rifle if you have space on the Picatinny rail for it to attach to. This mount also folds to the side making it easier to store in a bag or case if you don’t want to take it off.
The unit runs off of a single AA battery which is something to consider for battery management purposes. Nothing sucks worse than having one of the gizmos you rely on go down during a stage or while shooting because you didn’t change the batteries or forgot spares. I typically use a Batuca Battery Case since it can store AA, AAA, and CR1234A which covers most of my battery needs when shooting, although our friends over at Thyrm have a really cool new battery case.
I have mostly used the single target and multi-target screens along with the DOPE screen when shooting.
Why do I use the single target and multi-target screens? With my 5700 Sportsman Elite in a tripod that I have set the direction of fire on, I can use the laser to build my target cards for range and get live updates from the weather meter to help me adjust for windage.
I like the DOPE screen for a quick reference on targets at known distances, making my adjustments fast. The only complaint on the multi-target mode, especially for something like PRS where you end up engaging targets at multiple distances and of different shapes, is no ability yet to select pictures to help identify targets. This is where the ability to select from a list of common target shapes might aid in this. With tape and target boards you can draw whatever you want and various reference features which the Kestrel HUD doesn’t have just yet. I say yet because Kestrel is very good at listening to feedback and has the ability to do software updates to their products that add these little niceties in. Hell with the use of the LiNK app on your phone it would make building those target cards really easy. That said, being the tech geek I am, I really like having the three items talking to each other. It makes managing them a ton easier.
This shot shows a couple of the screens and a close-up view of the buttons that operate it. If you are used to operating a Kestrel Wind Meter these will be fairly intuitive.
Nielsen-Kellerman, the parent company of Kestrel, is very invested in the shooting community. We have heard they ended up purchasing MagnetoSpeed which is pretty awesome for both companies. The MagnetoSpeed chronograph is quickly becoming one of the standards for ease of use when it comes to getting info on your bullet’s speed—not to mention the other innovative items they make like their hit indicator for steel targets. It will be interesting to see how the synergy of these companies ends up advancing the long-range shooting game.
While the Kestrel HUD is no J.A.R.V.I.S. from Ironman it has been a really handy tool in my shooting toolbox and one I hope to get even more use of when ranges allow me to shoot again. Until then, I will be spending my time doing my social distancing in the basement dry firing using the DOPE screen and my Indoor Dryfire Training System.
As a hunter on the west coast, I find myself hiking in the high mountain air with a backpack full of water, food, clothes, a tripod, spotting scope, and binoculars. To get away from the road hunters you must go where the roads end and the wilderness begins. To accomplish this, I have begun to use trekking poles to push further in the backcountry than I have in the past. Carrying trekking poles has become standard practice among many backcountry hunters as well as hikers. Trekking poles allow you to safely carry more weight, hike further, and reduce the wear on your joints. The more I learn about backcountry hunting, I find myself trying to reduce the gear I carry by finding gear (like Quick Stix Shooting Sticks …keep reading!) that can be used in several different ways.
Wiser Precision
That’s where Wiser Precision comes in. Their multifaceted products assist hunters to accomplish the goal of bringing home clean game meat. The Wiser Precision products I am going to cover in this article function together as a system to reduce what you must carry.
First is the Quick-Stix, mount them on your trekking poles and it creates shooting sticks in just seconds.
Wiser Precision Quick Stix
Next is the Quick-Clip. It has a QD clamp that attaches to a Picatinny rail section on your rifle for a solid connection. The other side of the Quick-Clip is a U-shaped billet aluminum section that snaps onto the accessory ring machined into the Quick-Stix attached to your trekking poles.
Wiser Precision Quick Clip
The trekking poles with Quick-Stix, and Quick-Clip, allow you to set your desired shooting height for the terrain you are dealing with and your desired shooting position in the blink of the eye.
The Wiser Precision shooting sticks assembly.
If you must move your shooting position quickly, just move your rifle and trekking poles, (the Quick-Stix and Quick-Clip go together) so you only have to move to the next shooting location, set the system down, and fire.
Assemble your shooting sticks with Quick Stix.
Turn it into a Tripod
With Quick-Stix, you can also turn your trekking poles into a tripod by securely attach a spotting scope on top of it with the Wiser Precision 3rd leg. For this shooting sticks configuration, you need three of their products: a pair of Trekking poles with Quick-StiX, a Quick-Clip, and a 3rd Leg. The Quick-Clip uses the QD clamp to attach to the 3rd Leg, then the whole assembly will snap onto the accessory ring on the Quick-StiX. Now all you need to do is add a camera ball or pan head mount of your choice and you will have yourself an ultralight tripod for your spotting scope!
The Quick Stix Family.
Are there more uses for the Trekking pole and Quick-Stix combo?
I use this combo for a solid binocular rest. By resting your binoculars on the V of the trekking poles you can get a solid platform to rest them in, allowing you to keep glassing without your arms falling off trying to keep the bino’s still.
Depending on your trekking pole height you can also use the bipod from the Quick-Stix in the kneeling position. If you do not have the correct height on your trekking pole with the Quick-Stix, just move the base of your poles closer together to raise the height or spread them apart to lower the rest quickly. This works well when going from standing to kneeling position.
When used with the 3rd Leg and Quick-Clip you can turn your bipod into a tall tripod. This is a great option for a longer-range shot or getting a solid glassing position over tall sagebrush.
Here’s what the 3rd Leg setup looks like.
Long-range shooters, police snipers, or military can take advantage of Wiser Precision products.
Long-range shooters competing in matches can use the trekking poles, Quick-Stix, quick-clip, and 3rd leg while reducing the weight and amount of gear you must lug between shooting locations. Although it’s not what you would normally use, it is absolutely an option.
For police snipers, it might be difficult to move between locations with your gear in a quick and easy method. With the Wiser Precision products, you can attach the Quick-Clip to your rifle and trekking poles with Quick-Stix and move from location to location without separating the system parts. Also, as a police sniper, you can use the same system as an observer without changing anything but the rifle and spotting scope or binoculars. Again, this is a major weight and space savings for what you are packing.
For the military side, using trekking poles to hike those far-off lands with rugged hills could assist in reducing fatigue. Just like the police snipers, it would be a major reduction in weight and space savings and with all the savings, one could add more ammo or water to assist in mission success.
Hunting
As I am writing this, I am waiting for the opportunity to take these Wiser Precision products into the field for a hunt, I plan to take advantage of them soon with a Nevada antelope hunt coming in September. I will also be using their product for a back-country bull elk hunt in Idaho.
If you are in the market for some top-of-the-line hunting / tactical gear that will assist in reducing the weight you carry and save on space, I would definitely recommend checking out Wiser Precision products like the Quick-Stix, Quick-Clip, and the 3rd Leg. I know you will not be disappointed with what you see, and hopefully, these quick sticks will assist you with whatever your mission is!
If there’s one product that’s made a huge leap from “rarely seen” to “enormously popular” — it’s the pistol red dot sight. It used to be you would sometimes see them in classes, but they were really more for competition shooters and handgun hunters. Now it’s not just normal to see them on the firing line, it’s common to see them mounted to people’s EDC (EveryDay Carry) guns and used for everything imaginable. In this video review, SuperSetCA takes a look at the Holosun 509T RDS (red dot sight).
Paul of SuperSetCA talks about the Holosun 509T RDS. (Photo credit: SuperSetCA)
Holosun 509T Details
Over the years, Holosun has gotten far better brand recognition and made a name for themselves for reasonably priced sights that perform well (always a good thing). In 2020, Holosun launched the 509T. It is a reflex sight with a titanium housing, making it more durable, and what they claim is a battery life of up to 50,000 hours. Various features include a multi-reticle system, Solar Failsafe, and Shake Awake, the latter of which is very nice to have on a carry gun. The RDS ships with an RMR adaptor — because we all know how many RMR-footprints there are on the pistol and RDS market — and uses a CR1632 battery.
How do the 509T’s profile and features compare to the older 508T features?
Paul of SuperSetCA goes into some details:
“Let’s talk about this in profile, first. Dimensionally, it’s the same as the 508T — it’s a little bit shorter in length, it’s a little bit wider at the base [508T dimensions are 1.78 x 1.15 x 1.15, and 509 T dimensions are 1.60 x 1.16 x 1.13] and the window size is a little bit wider, although looking at it you can’t tell.
“However, construction-wise, it’s the same as the 508T in that the battery tray is the same, the solar panel on top is the same. But, on the left side, the brightness controls…they’ve changed a little bit, post-Trijicon, but we’ll talk about that more [later]. And height-wise, like the 508T, it’s a little bit taller…like the Vortex Venom or one of the SwampFox [ones]…but you still shouldn’t have any trouble fitting it to any outside the waistband holsters.
“…weight-wise, I really think it’s surprising, even with the added glass panel and some additional titanium at the top it’s very close in weight, still, to the 508T. …even though it looks like it’s big…you really don’t feel it when you’re swinging your hand around.”
Check out the video to see what else Paul has to say about the Holosun 509T:
Why do you want a Red Dot Sight?
There are quite a few good reasons to get some trigger time with an RDS like the Holosun 509T. Yes, it’s a new operating platform to get used to, but it’s a lot easier than you might believe. Reasons to mount a red dot sight to your carry gun include:
•Rapid target acquisition
•Faster follow-up shots
•Improved accuracy
•Easier on many shooter’s eyes than iron sights
•Work well in the dark
The Holosun 509T is a reflex RDS. (Photo credit: SuperSetCA)
If you can’t decide whether or not to try one out, I definitely encourage you to give one a shot (pun intended). In the meantime, watch this SuperSetCA review of the popular Holosun 509T.
Do you use red dots on your carry guns? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments below.
Grey Birch Solutions is new to the firearms game, by name only. The company is made up of several people from the Canadian gun industry and it’s continually expanding as it grows. Their main goal is to create high-quality and exceptionally accurate .22lr firearms and parts. The company is currently focusing on the 10/22 platform and is only a few parts away from making all the parts themselves. Today we will talk about the Foundation Chassis.
The Foundation Chassis is a drop-in solution to your 10/22 receiver.
Gray Birch Foundation Chassis
When Grey Birch first started, they released a few receiver sets and carbon fiber-wrapped barrels. The receivers and barrels still used the Ruger V-Block system, which can be finicky when it comes to squeezing out as much accuracy as possible from the platform. We have used the original barrel and receiver sets from Grey Birch for almost a year with exceptional accuracy in our sample.
But the company is working on more improvements. Instead of accepting the V-Block just being part of the platform, they went back to the drawing board and decided to ditch it for a threaded barrel and barrel nut. We will have more on their Fusion Receiver and Barrel in a future article. We just wanted to mention this and show how they killed an entire product line that has been working excellently to get something even better.
Why settle right?
The Foundation Chassis has a fairly healthy relief allowing pretty much any barrel to free float. You can also see their old generation Shrike LDR receiver and V-Block barrel that will soon be replaced by the Fusion Receiver and Barrel.
The purpose of this article is to give our American readers a heads up about another name in the 10/22 game heading to them soon, along with talking about their Foundation Chassis.
The Foundation Chassis is a modular chassis system for the ever-popular Ruger 10/22 style of .22lr rifle. The Foundation consists of a forend, the main body of the chassis, and an adjustable stock. You can use the chassis on its own for a 10/22 pistol build (following all appropriate laws). If you want to make a super lightweight build you can attach just the stock to the chassis and skip the forend, or just build up the full chassis.
The forend of the rifle was built with modularity in mind.
The forend is 6″ long and when it’s attached to the chassis, it extends the chassis by around 5″. It has two M-LOK slots on each of the sides and bottom for accessory mounting. Along with this Grey Birch machine an ARCA rail to the bottom of the forend to allow for it to be mounted on tripods or the various ARCA compatible bipods like the MDT CKYE-POD like we have mounted on ours.
The ARCA Rail on the bottom of the Grey Birch Solutions Foundation Chassis means you can easily swap out a bipod for a tripod.
The 6″ long forend currently offered doesn’t allow for the bipod to be slid off the front, sadly. However, the upcoming 10″ long one does allow for this. The foundation forend has exceptional clearance so free-floating even the chunkiest barrel will be a breeze. The forend itself mounts to the chassis using the small 3-slot Picatinny rail at the bottom front of the chassis.
Speaking of that Picatinny rail, if you choose not to use the forend on your build you could attach a vertical grip here.
If you absolutely needed to you could attach a bipod here. However, movements at the stock end of the rifle get closer to a 1:1 ratio the closer a bipod is toward the center part of the rifle. The further the pivot point gets away from you/the center of the rifle, larger movements of the stock are needed in order to elevate the barrel. All that said, you can absolutely attach a bipod here if you wanted to. I mean I have seen bipods on revolvers so nothing is out of the question when it comes to firearms.
The main part of the chassis has your normal magazine slot as you would expect and a Picatinny rail at the rear for all the stocks that use that method of mounting, like their lightweight stock system for the Foundation.
The Foundation takes AR-15 grips. So far we have tried the Magpul MOE K Grip as well as Rifles Refined Black Walnut Vertical Grip with Finger Grooves. Both were really comfortable. 55Six Media out of New Zealand posted a picture of it with the Magpul MOE Grip on their build and it looks pretty awesome.
The Foundation Stock is minimal in weight while still packing adjustments.
The last major feature of the main body of the chassis is the hole above the pistol grip. This hole is threaded to allow for a set screw to be put pushing down on the rear tang on the trigger group. This helps add another point of consistent contact in the receiver group since normally the receiver only mounts with the one screw at the front and that tang sits in a pocket.
The Foundation Stock keeps it minimal in size while including some adjustability.
The adjustable polymer cheek rest adjusts up and down using a clamping screw and two aluminum rods. You also have three positions you can adjust the cheek rest forward or aft utilizing the four holes in the top of it. The buttpad is adjustable for LOP only operating on the same clamping mechanism as the cheek rest.
You can see the two adjustment screws allowing for the buttpad and cheek pad to be adjusted on the Foundation Stock.
It has a polymer buttpad with angled grooves giving it a sleek aesthetic. In order to match our black walnut grip from Rifles Refined we later swapped out the polymer on the rifle for even more wood goodness. We will have a whole article down the line talking about what Rifles Refined does at a later point in time but check out their Instagram for lots of pictures. Black walnut combined with the clear hard anodizing on the aluminum parts of the Foundation Chassis adds a touch of pinky out class.
The clear-coated anodizing on the Foundation really goes well with the wood accessories from Rifles Refined.
Grey Birch Solutions were the ones who put me onto Rifles Refined and will be offering some models in the future with wooden goodness as an option which is pretty cool to see. The stock also features a QD sling swivel socket on each side, giving you a way to carry your new blaster in the woods. This would go well with their RDR Fusion receiver which has a cutout in the top for mounting red dots—making for a fun varmint gun.
Shooting with the Gray Birch Foundation Chassis System
I have done a fair amount of accuracy testing with the older gen Grey Birch Solutions barrel and receiver housed in a Magpul Hunter X-22 stock. I always found that stock, much like their bipod, had some pitfalls that I just couldn’t get over. The buttpad was super low once I got a scope I wanted to use mounted. That said, my groups were pretty damn good having plenty of .5 MOA groups at 50m with RWS Rifle Match. The issue was when I was going for 10 shot groups I found they opened up a bit just because of the awkwardness of the Magpul stock.
The Foundation Chassis has a much better height for the buttpad and doesn’t require an aftermarket purchase of a higher cheek rest. The adjustments are easy using a bit from the AR-15 Fix It Sticks kit I have in my shooting bag and have held on with no need to retighten since. This has led to far fewer fliers due to me not having to focus on how I am making the stock work, along with the fundamentals.
The pistol grip mates up with the trigger area very comfortably with no annoying sharp edges, which is great as I prefer pistol grips on firearms over a more traditional stock.
The forend held the MDT CKYE-Pod well, although, as we mentioned above, you need to fully undo the clamp instead of sliding it off the front. I am looking forward to picking up their longer forend which will give a bit more options in bipod positioning since we plan to use this rifle in rimfire competitions both prone and PRS style. Small bullets are great practice for wind reading—something I badly need to improve. That said, when I eventually build up my RDR receiver set the short forend will be perfect.
To finish things off: here’s a little through the scope shot. This build isn’t done just yet so expect to see more about it in time.
Currently, you can order the Foundation Chassis and other Grey Birch Solutions products directly from the company, but rumor has it that real soon you won’t have to deal with any cross-border nonsense as Brownells plans to carry their products.
I started trying to do an article on weird military guns from around the world and kept finding myself looking at firearms developed by Russia. So much so that I quickly found that I could cut out the rest of the world and do an entire article on weird Russian guns.
There may be some salutary geopolitical lesson in there.
The World of Weird Russian Guns
Even deciding on Russki firearms proved to be too wide of a field. I had to establish rules because the Russians developed dozens of guns that never made it to the production table. I needed to dial it in.
Thus, my rules for weird Russian firearms meant they had to be..
A. a production firearm and
B. a weapon issued to some element of their military, police, or other “security” forces.
With that in mind, I set out to find ten. But I still ended up with eleven weird Russian firearms.
1. Stechkin Automatic Pistol
God, I love machine pistols. Why are they so stinking cool? I don’t know, but I adore them. The Soviets wanted a PDW for non-infantry troops, and the Stechkin would fill that gap. Mortar crews, truck drivers, tankers, and the like could be armed with a Stechkin over an AK and have a lighter overall weapon that’s fitted with a stock and capable of automatic fire.
Who doesn’t love a Machine Pistol?(Courtesy Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
The Stechkin is a straight blowback, select-fire, box-fed pistol that fires the classic 9x18mm Makarov cartridge. It feeds from a twenty-round magazine, and that magazine would empty in seconds with the pistols 750 rounds per minute rate of fire.
As far as weird Russian firearms go, this has proven to be one of the more successful models and has been issued since 1951 to various troops, including special ops.
2. AS VAL
Say what you want about the Soviets and the filth of communism, but their small arms were ahead of the time. I feel like America arrives at the same conclusion as the Russians twenty years later. For example, we turned to the 300 Blackout to provide an effective, suppressed, short-barreled rifle. The Russian made the AS VAL more than two decades prior to the 300 Blackout to serve the same purpose.
It’s like 300 Blackout…made decades earlier (Courtesy Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
This series of subsonic, hard-hitting, suppressed Russian firearms fire the 9x39mm cartridge. This heavy-hitting round provides a suppressed weapon option for low visibility operations. The little rifle features an integral suppressor for a suppressed platform, a hair longer than an M4 and weighing only 5.5 pounds.
It could even be broken down into a specialized case for discreet operations.
3. Shak 12
Those pesky Russians invented their own version of the 50 Beowulf in 2011 with the 12.7 x 55mm round. This powerhouse of a cartridge fits into the Shak 12. The Shak 12 utilizes a bullpup layout for a very short overall length.
The mysterious FSB uses the Shak 12 for urban combat operations where they want to maximize short-range killing power.
This big bullpup has a bite.
The Shak 12 not only kills enemies dead but has a limited range compared to a traditional rifle round, reportedly to minimize potential civilian casualties.
The hefty rifle utilizes a short recoil operation and a massive 20 round magazine for close-quarters fights. This is an example of modern Russian firearms that we rarely see in use. It’s an unusual weapon even by unusual weapon standards, rarely caught on video or camera, and clearly, a purpose-built niche option for urban combat.
4. APS Underwater Rifle
The 1970s were a weird time for warfare theory. A lot of people in the head sheds of both Western and Russian militaries thought lots of battles would be fought by frogmen. As such, both sides designed ‘underwater firearms’.
The Russians utilized the APS Underwater rifle, which fired a 120mm long 5.66mm steel dart through a gas actuated action. The barrel lacked rifling, and the projectile was stabilized via hydrodynamic effects.
How many frogman fights did the Russians expect? (Courtesy Remigiusz Wilk)
This might be the weirdest of the Russian Firearms, but also one of the coolest.
Imagine a Tom Clancy-esque operation involving frogmen gunfights with each side’s respective underwater rifles. Luckily, for frogmen everywhere, these weapons were never used in combat…that we know of.
5. SPP-1 Underwater Pistol
Since we’re are on the subject of underwater frogman fights, let’s not forget that in the armories of Russian firearms we also see an underwater pistol. The SPP-1 gave Soviet frogmen a sidearm in case their main weapon failed to kill the invading Navy SEALs.
The SPP-1 fired a 4.5 mm steel dart that was 115mm long.
Seriously all the frogman firefights. (Courtesy of Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
Like the rifle, this pistol provided more penetration than a spear gun and offered Soviet frogmen an effective range of about 11 meters when below 20 meters of water.
It was a close-range fighting tool, but I imagine it’d be more comforting than a trident and hard words.
6. OTs-38 Stechkin Silent Revolver
Russia has a real habit of making political opposition disappear. When you kill a dissident in a foreign country, you want to leave behind as little evidence as possible and hopefully remain unnoticed.
You know how the old assassin saying goes, “Take only lives, leave only nothing”.
The OTs-38 Stechkin SIlent Revolver did just that. There is no silencer on this gun. Instead, it uses a 7.62x41mm SP-1 silent round.
Let’s remove dissidents quietly! (Courtesy of Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
The round works by using a combustive charge to drive a piston. The piston propels the bullet forward and forms a gas seal as it operates. In a revolver, this prevents the gap between cylinder and barrel from releasing gas or noise. The effective range is roughly 25 meters. With a revolver, no casings are left behind, and the gun delivers double-action performance for enhanced reliability with the SP-1 round.
Of all the weird Russian firearms out there, I want this one the most.
7. NRS-2
Okay, maybe I lied with the above statement, but can a knife be considered a part of the Russian guns collective? When does a gun become a knife and a knife become a gun?
When the Spetznaz went shopping for a new knife, they knew one thing, they wanted it to also be a gun. The NRS-2 utilizes the same 7.62x41mm SP-1 round as the OTs-38.
When you want a knife that also shoots. (Courtesy of Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
The NRS-2 fires a single round of ammo before the Soviet Soldier is left to fend for himself with a knife. The purpose of a knife that fires a single round is inherently silly but also inherently awesome.
8. PP-90
Remember that Magpul folding gun thing they showed once a decade ago and then brought back this year as a Glock format pistol? Well, the Russians thought of it first and gave us the PP-90. This 9mm Makarov folding submachine gun came to be in 1990 and was designed for the MVD.
Transformers —more than meets the eye! (Courtesy of Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
It’s a submachine gun that could be used in situations that require an SMG but make getting an SMG into action difficult. This covert weapon offered a lot of firepower in a square folding design. Beyond the high-tech folding design, it’s a relatively simple blowback submachine gun with rudimentary sights and controls.
9. MTs255
As a shotgun nerd, I can finally get to my favorite type of Russian guns. Russian shotgun development went a different way from the United States. They embraced numerous designs, one being the MTs255.
The MTs255 is a shotgun that features a double-action mechanism and a five-shot revolver cylinder. The MTs255 was designed for law enforcement and security personnel and utilized black polymer furniture, and the sporting model utilizes wooden furniture.
Look at it! It’s beautiful but silly. (Courtesy of Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
You get a rather rapid-fire shotgun that doesn’t require a complicated semi-auto action. In harsh winter weather, the double-action design allowed for manual cycling of the hammer.
The MTs255 is one of the weirder Russian guns, but it’s certainly a product of its environment. In that context, it makes sense.
10. KS-23
The KS-23 is a unit of a pump-action shotgun. It has a 26mm bore, making it essentially a 6.27 gauge shotgun. The barrels come from 23mm anti-aircraft guns that were rejected from service anti-air guns. The KS-23 came in several models. Only the KS-23M was adopted, and it featured a folding wire stock, a 16-inch barrel, and has a 3 round capacity.
23mm shotgun…need I say more? (Courtesy of Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
The KS-23 was originally designed for prison riot use. It came ready to function with heavy loads of less-lethal buckshot. Over time, buckshot, barricade buster, a flashbang, and CS rounds were developed for us.
The KS-23 is the large bore shotgun currently in use, you know, over there.
11. BS-1 Tishina
Let’s say you want an under-barrel grenade launcher, but lots of your operations require stealth. What are you to do? Well, if you are in the Russian Firearms world, you develop the BS-1 Tishina silent grenade launcher. T
he BS-1 Tishina utilized a bolt action that cycled a blank round into place. The blank round fires and ignites the grenade propellant, launching the grenade in a fashion that reduces the signature and report of the grenadier.
Silenced grenade launchers seem silly. (Courtesy of Vitaly V. Kuzmin)
Grenades explode with a good, loud bang, so you hardly notice the pop that propelled the grenade. This silent grenade launcher was developed for the Spetsnaz and saw action in their numerous little wars in which silent grenades were a necessity.
I’m pretty sure this is the only silent grenade launcher to ever be fielded.
Weird Guns from…Where Else?
I’m only one man and can only do so much research. As such, I know I’ve had to miss some very cool guns from the eastern front. As such, let’s turn it over to the community.
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner, a lifelong firearms enthusiast, and now a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is the world’s Okayest firearm’s instructor.
Ever look at a pistol, fall in love and then see the price and wonder if it’s worth it? Well, the gents over at SuperSetCA took on that exact question with the 2021 Staccato P DPO 2011 duty pistol. With the price tag over $2K, many people may really wonder if the juice is worth the squeeze.
While you may not be super familiar with the Staccato name, you may be more familiar with their former name — STI Firearms. They refocused their attention to duty pistols and rebranded to match. The P DPO pistol is their 1911 type optic-ready version billed as the world’s best shooting duty pistol.
Straight out of the box this duty pistol is ready to shoot. They did just that and only encountered one failure to feed which would have been eliminated with some extra lube before shooting (or so they said).
The video breaks down their impressions of the pistol according to these categories:
Paul starts with the design, saying that the pistol is overall aesthetically beautiful with a DLC (diamond-like coating) finish. The Staccato P DPO is slightly larger than an M&P but smaller than other 1911 pistols. It has a Dawson toolless guide rod with 13lb recoil springs.
Coming out of the box it has three stainless steel double stack magazines. It has been designed to keep the magazines from being inserted too far and causing issues that way. It has a tactical advantage mag well for easy reloading. During testing, the magazines show no problem of failure or issues. The only issue they do encounter is that they can’t find a holster off the shelf to match the pistol, the closest they get is the Safariland GSL if an optic isn’t installed.
With the Dawson toolless guide rod and a 13lb recoil spring, they found the pistol shot flat and returned to neutral quickly.
In talking about the controls and handling, Paul states the pistol boasts large C2 version grips. The safety is in the grip and Paul says it blends with the frame nicely and has the right pressure to deactivate it. It also has a recessed slide release which is nice to prevent accidental release, but the position is hard to reach without long thumbs. To round out the controls and handling, he states that if you’re used to a 1911 type pistol, then you shouldn’t have problems running the Staccato.
While not everyone likes the 1911 grip safeties, Paul says that this one is smooth and doesn’t require too much pressure to deactivate it.
Paul then turns his review to the sights and trigger. It has a direct mount optic option but with certain aftermarket ones, you will need different base plates for mounting. They test the P DPO with the Dawson iron sights that has a rear adjustable plate and a front fiber optic, which they really like. During the testing, they see that the pistol returns to neutral quickly and shoots pretty flat with good groupings at 25 yards. With a light trigger pull it is great to shoot out of the box.
Paul finishes up the review with his final verdict. When compared with other service pistols, it is reliable with no real failures in function. But is this Staccato duty pistol worth the premium pricing? Paul says you get what you pay for and in his opinion, it’s worth it.
Patti Miller is one of the most awesome females in the tactical/firearm (or any) industry. Imagine a tall, hawt, dangerous Laura Ingalls Wilder type with cool hair and a suppressed blaster and you’ll be getting the idea. What’s interesting is that in addition to being a willing brawler and intrepid adventuress, she’s also an Ent/Ogier level gardener and a truly badass baker.
A couple of years ago Travis wrote his Sig Sauer P365 review after firing about 1300 rounds through it. Since then, Sig has released the P365 XL which is larger than a standard Sig 365 with a larger grip allowing for higher capacity magazines. We have added a couple of articles here about the Sig P365 XL so you can beef up your knowledge of the two models. Travis’ review is first, followed by a few more articles about the P365 XL.
This time last year (2017) I was opening a press release from Sig and being blown away reading about the new gun they named the P365. Naturally, I felt compelled to write a full-blown Sig Sauer p365 review. It promised to be a hair smaller than a Glock 43 but offered ten rounds in a flushing fitting magazine and twelve with a pinky extension. The gun seemed too good to be true. It was a big draw at SHOT 2018 and as most people predicted this could be the ultimate carry gun. SIG was packing it full of features, and offering it at a very competitive price.
The Sig Sauer P365’s key to its success is the gun’s magazine. It’s the perfect dimensions to house 10 or 12 rounds in a compact package. Somehow they made the gun as thin and as small as most polymer frame single stacks with a semi-doublestack magazine.
Look at this cutie.
Editor’s note: 15 round extended mags for the Sig P365 are now a thing. They’re shipping now.
In May 2018 I was finally able to get my hands on one.
The Sig P365 was not without its controversy. Almost immediately following the release of the gun shipping was stopped. Problems were uncovered that involved the Sig Lite night sights breaking off, bad trigger springs, failure to go into battery, and light primer strikes. Issues are documented by popular Youtuber Military Arms Channel over two P365s, Harry’s Holsters did a 1,000 round review and recorded a dozen or more different problems. Sig saw this and made a wise decision to do something about it. Sig issued essentially what was a generation 2 pistol pretty early on.
P365 Gen 2 Reliability
Reliability is often the last category I cover, but with the problems known with this gun, most people would be curious as to how the Gen 2 holds up.
Mine falls in that Gen 2 timeline, and now that I’ve had it for some time I can say the kinks are ironed out, or at least with my gun they are. I didn’t do any crazy 1k tests in one day, but after the first few months of ownership, I started keeping track of the rounds I’ve fired through the gun. I have an approximate round count of 1,300 rounds give or take. Typically I shot Winchester White Box but mixed in some of Sig’s P365 ammo, Speer Gold Dots, SIG FMJ, Zinc Fmjs, Freedom Munitions, and some Tula made its way in there.
just Larping as an operator…
In terms of failures, I only experienced two failures-to-fire with Freedom Munitions American Steel Ammo. I attempted a restrike and one did fire, and the second did not. As of note, the second round would not shoot in an 80% Glock I also had at the range.
I’ve only had one failure to eject, and it occurred when firing a Dot Torture drill on the strong hand only portion. Ammo was SIG’s reduced recoil P365 load. Overall I’d say reliability is rock solid.
Striker Drag
One of the biggest complaints and potential problems with the gun is the MIM firing pin. MIM can be perfectly suitable for firearms parts, Ruger makes it work, but when it is bad it is bad. Some owners experienced broken firing pins and a small aftermarket of steel pins has even popped up.
Every Day, No Days Off
The design of the weapon seems to cause an excessive amount of primer drag. Most small striker guns have this, but the P365 seems to have a touch more than most. Does this cause excessive wear? It would seem to. According to Sig, it does not. My firing pin hasn’t had issues, but many firing pins have broken or become bent.
Ergonomics
The ergonomics of the pistol overall are excellent. The gun is comfortable to hold onto, and the 10 round magazine with slight pinky extension is absolute money. It’s as short as a grip can get and still allow me to hold onto it. Under the trigger guard is an excellent high undercut that helps maximize the grip.
The grip is also thin and comfortable in hand. The magazine release is large and easy to reach which I like. The problem here is dropping the magazine. I find my pinky and palm creating pressure and holding the magazine inside the gun when I hit the release. This is a classic big hand, small gun problem.
Mag Empty, but slide closed… damn these big thumbs
The gun doesn’t have a beavertail, so to say, but it does have a nice cliff that allows you to get your hand high on the grip without worrying about slide-bite. An issue I have with this gun and most Sigs is the placement of the slide lock.
It sits right where my thumbs go with a thumbs forward grip. This causes the slide lock to be held down, and this means the slide won’t lock back after the last round is fired (at least for me). It’s annoying but something I’ll live with.
On the Range
Shooting the gun is very nice. The recoil is standard mini 9mm, so it’s a little stout and has some flip to it. It’s plenty controllable and the grip is undoubtedly helpful here. Firing double taps and controlled pairs accurately is pretty easy to do with a little practice. The trigger is light and smooth. It had a clean break with minimal take-up. The reset is tactile, audible, and best of all short.
Boom, Bang, Pew,
The new X-RAY3 sights are fantastic. The sights are dual-purpose and work for both night and day shooting. The rear sight is blacked out with two hidden tritium vials. The front sight has a tritium vial but is surrounded by a big, bright green insert. In the dark, the sights glow incredibly bright and are easy to pick up and see.
Big, Green, and Beautiful
In the light, the big green dot is quick and easy to pick up and align with the blacked-out rear sights. It’s straightforward to get that big front sight on target and to follow that sight with some well-placed lead.
Blacked Out Rear Sights
The gun is more accurate than it has any right to be, and it’s not just minute of bad guy accurate. It’s plenty capable of reaching out beyond 20 yards and remaining not just accurate, but combat-capable. By combat-capable I mean drawing and placing rounds on target as fast as possible. At 25 yards you can still slow down and hit small targets with excellent precision. Small guns often have small sight radius, and SIG pushed back the rear sight as far as possible to help increase sight radius.
Carry and Comfort
The Sig P365 was a big hit, and plenty of companies produce holsters for it. I carry mine in a Clinger Holsters No Print Wonder V3. It disappears in an IWB rig and is a gun you can forget about when carrying. It’s small and light, I mean, look at the specs.
•Barrel Length – 3.1 inches
•Overall Length – 5.8 inches
•Weight – 17.8 ounces
•Height – 4.3 inches
•Width – 1 inch
It’s smaller and lighter than the Glock 43, at least unloaded. Four to six more rounds of 9mm pushes the loaded weight up there. Even so, it’s a very comfortable and easy to carry gun. No real complaints regarding pokes and prods while carrying. It’s a bit big for pocket carry, but I’m sure someone out there will make it work.
The P365 is an excellent carry gun
My Gripes
When it comes to complaints, I only have a few. The first is why the hell use a proprietary rail? Was a pic rail too big? I hate proprietary anything, and luckily Recover Tactical makes a rail adapter if you want to mount something to the gun. Sig does make a light and laser system for the rail and gun that is quite compact, too.
This Little Fella Has a Forever Home With Me
The P365
The P365 had some major teething issues admittedly, and SIG Sauer should have taken their time to fix these issues pre-launch, but at least they got it right… eventually. This is a great all-around carry gun, and the “Gen 2” models seem to be running a lot smoother than previous models. This little guy is an excellent compromise in size, capacity, features, and price. I predicted at SHOT Show 2018 that SIG would have jump-started the need for innovation in the concealed carry market and it seems they have.
I just enjoy this guy
Glock has responded with two new compact guns, Mossberg is tossing one out, too. The P365 continues to be a popular choice despite the initial issues, and it’s easy to see why. Will it hold the crown forever? Likely not, but we’ll see.
The SIG P365XL is a micro-compact pistol designed for concealed carry and self-defense. (Photo credit: SIG Sauer)
In the world of self-defense handguns some models stand out more than others, and the Sig P365 XL is among those that shine. This Sig P365 XL review by Ivan from Kit Badger is based on long-term, varied use, discussing how the gun has performed over time rather than only brand new out of the box.
Ivan’s SIG P365 XL review. (Photo Credit: Kit Badger)
In the video review shown below, Ivan first runs through the pistol’s general specifications before getting into a review of its performance.
The Sig P365 XL is a striker-fired pistol chambered in 9mm and offered with a capacity of 12 +1 or 10 +1, the latter to fit compliance requirements in certain states. There is also an extended magazine with a 15 +1 capacity available. If you’re really into extra rounds you could try the 20-round magazine offered by ProMag (they make a 50-round drum for the P365XL as well). Basically, this gun offers excellent capacity for a micro-pistol and does it while remaining highly concealable.
Ivan has run his P365 XL at competitions, during classes at locations such as Thunder Ranch, and while using NODs (Night Optical Device). He even fired it from 50 yards during one event.
If you’re thinking longer-range shots with a pistol aren’t worth doing, you’d be mistaken. It’s well worth it to become familiar with the drift and drop of your carry gun and that includes running it at distances out to 50 yards. Those distances won’t make up the bulk of your training but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying.
Ivan shot his P365 XL with a wide variety of ammunition and showed examples of average group sizes. This group includes a flyer which tends to be an unavoidable part of shooting groups. (Photo Credit: Kit Badger)
Overall, the P365 XL is a well-made gun capable of solid accuracy.
Its concealability is a big plus but if you’re a fan of mounting lasers and lights keep in mind that the P365 XL has a narrow frame and only fits lasers and lights specifically made for it (but they are available from companies such as Sig, Streamlight, and Surefire).
This gun is a nice option for shooters who would like the original P365 more if it was just a little bigger. The fact that it ships optics-ready is a nice feature from SIG Sauer because it saves you from milling slides or searching for optics plates that fit your gun.
The Sig P365 XL is a solid shooting pistol good for both those who carry concealed and those who want a compact gun for home defense. (Photo Credit: Kit Badger)
Check out the video for the full rundown on the Sig P365 XL from Ivan and to find out how the gun runs in a variety of situations.
Competition in the concealed carry market has gotten hot over the last couple of years. Smaller, more ergonomic frames are combining with higher capacity magazines at such a rate that I don’t know how they expect a poor freelance writer to keep up. Toss in the millions of new gun owners over the last eighteen months and we have an explosion of interest in these new offerings. Now if we can just get some supply… (yeah, I know they’re busting their humps on it.) So, it’s worth going back and looking at one of the better-concealed carry options out there right now, the Sig Sauer P365 XL.
For that, we head to the wilds of South Carolina (sort of) where firearms reviewer and noted prepper Sootch00 gives us the lowdown on what he calls “One of the best-concealed carry options on the market.” Sootch is a direct descendent (probably) of the famed Swamp Fox of South Carolina (Francis Marion, not Benjamin Martin), so his opinion counts. No word yet on how many redcoats he’s taken with the Sig. Hopefully more on that soon.
The Swamp Fox (Most Likely).
Just the Facts
Sootch starts us out with a kick-the-tires breakdown and comparison with the original P365, which is quite helpful for anyone who may not know the difference between the two. I won’t spoil it, since you’ll want to watch it for yourself, but he covers mag capacity, length (barrel and overall), width, and height differences.
The Sig P365 (L) and its Bigger Brother, the P365 XL.
One thing he talks about is the new mag design that both firearms are built around, which is good because capacity is a major selling point. He mentions that XL mags will work in the original model. Ergonomics are discussed in detail as well as some of the control features, including the new flat-faced trigger, on which it seems the jury is still out.
Another good feature in the review is a comparison with the Glock 43 X and the Glock 48. I’m told that a lot of people love Glocks, so I was glad to see Sootch go into that. It just provides a better look at the Sig and how it fits in the marketplace.
Unlike the regular P365, the XL is already cut for an optic, and it seems the Sig Romeo Zero will fit on it right out of the box, which makes total sense. One thing held over on the XL is a proprietary accessory rail that only fits Sig attachments. Sootch isn’t a big fan and, frankly, neither am I. I see that as a potential downside, but hey, maybe you love Sig accessories, so you do you Boo.
The P365 XL Comes Ready Cut for the Romeo Zero Optic. (Image source, Sig Sauer)
I should also mention that Sig has changed some of the internal components for the XL to avoid the early problems they had with the original P365. One of those is a beefed-up steel guide rod. So, it sounds like Sig has done the work to put out a quality product. There is a price difference, naturally, with the XL coming in about ninety bucks higher than the original. Both cost significantly more than the Glocks in the video.
The New Beefed Up Guide Rod on the XL (Top).
Sootch and his band of partisans seem to have put a bunch of lead downrange with both models of the P365, so he has helpful comments on performance, though we don’t see any targets. That doesn’t really bother me, though, because I have trusted Sootch for a long time and I’m confident that he would report any issues, which he did not.
The XL on the range.
It looks to me like the P365 XL is a serious contender on the concealed carry market. But check out the video see what you think.
There is no shortage of options when it comes to concealed carry pistols. Do you go with a single stack, double stack, or something a little in between? Chris Baker over at LuckyGunner seems to have some solid advice and a review for yet another option, the Sig P365 XL. Arriving last summer, it’s larger than a standard Sig 365 with a larger grip allowing for higher capacity magazines.
According to Chris, this is the most impressive new handgun he’s tried in a long time. Normally he’s a snub-nosed revolver kind of guy, but since near the start of the pandemic, he’s been carrying the new Sig. To him, it’s a concealable compact carry pistol that looks like a single stack but actually holds twelve rounds or fifteen in the extended mag.
The newer Sig P365 XL has a slim profile with a longer barrel at 3.7” and a slightly longer grip. It has the standard XSeries trigger and XRay3 day/night sights. If the night sights aren’t your deal, you can swap them out for a red dot pretty easily.
Available with the standard 12-round magazine. Or why not go for more firepower and go to the 15-round mag. More bullets are better, right?
For Chris, the ideal concealed carry has to:
1. Be easy to shoot. 2. Be easy to carry. 3. Meet his standards for the safety (The order of appeal for him are: 1. Hammer fired guns (single or double action safety); 2. Striker fire (like Glock); and then 3. Manual safety (Sig).
He explains that the manual safety isn’t good or bad, but on this particular model, it’s not very wide and seems too far back on the frame. But on the plus side, it is ambidextrous. Chris says it’s barely big enough to be useable, is sharp, and gets missed a lot in his speed drills. The safety eventually cut his thumb with the sharp edge during those same drills.
Overall, the appeal of the Sig P365 XL is that it is small and very shootable. It’s only slightly larger than the Glock 43 but smaller than the Glock 19. It is less bulky than either of those or a Walther PPSm2. The overall size and lack of bulk are a big deal for concealed carry.
Chris put more than 2,000 rounds through his 365XL with no issues, indicating to him that the earlier problems with the 365 were fixed in the Sig 365 XL.
Testing the Sig P365 XL
In his testing, Chris shot over 2,000 rounds without any issues. To drive home his point of it being a good everyday carry, he set out to do failure drills and bill drills comparing the SIG 365 XL with a Beretta PX4 carry and the Walther PPSm2. In his drills, he found that the Sig is right up with the Beretta (a pistol he has more trigger time with) and Walther (he says shoots better than other polymer single-stacks) with his timings.
One item of note he mentioned was that the Sig P365 XL has a serialized firing component meaning the slide isn’t the part that is serialized but instead serialized the firing mechanism inside. Meaning you can swap your firing components to a standard SIG 365 frame that is smaller, but then you’ll need the smaller 10-round mag to go with it.
The trigger is a nice slow uptake and a gradual break, as with other XSeries triggers. Also, the slide is cut to be compatible with the following optics: RomeoZero, RMSc, Holosun HS507K, and Swampfox Sentinel.
To round up, he says the Sig P365 XL is reliable, easy to conceal, comfortable to carry all the day, has loads of holster options, and doesn’t wear him out after long days shooting.
Read theSIG P365files [all our P365 related articles]
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner, a lifelong firearms enthusiast, and now a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is the world’s Okayest firearm’s instructor.
You know how you sometimes just want to shoot a solid old-style large-caliber rifle, but you miss your modern stuff like red dots, muzzle brakes, and detachable mags? No? Well, maybe it’s just me. Anyhow, I love my Mausers and my Enfield and all, but I’ve kinda gotten spoiled. Anyway…I’ve been thinking about a Springfield M1A for a while, so I dialed up my old buddy Sootch to get his opinion on the M1A SOCOM 16.
The SOCOM 16 Chilling Out with its legendary grandpa, the M1.
We aren’t really buddies, but I watch his channel, so it’s like the same thing. Fortunately, he had a video on that very model. Who knew?
M1A SOCOM Features
So, we get a good breakdown of what seems to be a solid rifle. Right off the bat, it looks sharp. I know functionality is king, but I like a nice-looking firearm, and I’ve always looked covetously at the lines of the M14. The SOCOM 16 sports a polymer stock available in black, OD green, or flat dark earth. Tough choice right off the bat.
Sexy!
The rifle is 37 and a half inches in overall length and weighs 8.8 pounds empty. The 16-and-a-half-inch barrel features a 1/11 twist rate and comes with an integrated muzzle brake to help with the recoil of that short barrel coupled with the .308 Winchester chambering. But it’s loud, so remember that ear pro.
The integral muzzle brake helps with recoil from the short barrel.
The M1A is also available in 6.5 Creedmoor. Despite the weight, the rifle is well-balanced and the shorter barrel makes it handy and easy to point. The rifle features an aperture rear sight with a tritium-marked front post, which is a nice touch. The rear aperture is also expanded a little since the M1A SOCOM 16 is designed for closer work, though it’s certainly capable of reaching out for several hundred yards. The left side of the receiver is drilled and tapped for a side-mounted scope, but that will preclude the use of stripper clips.
Who needs stripper clips when you have a detachable box mag?
I don’t know about you, but with a detachable box mag, I don’t think stripper clips would be a thing for me. The mags rock in and have a release tab just like the M14. The rifle ships with a 10-round mag, but 20-rounders are available. The rifle will also take surplus mags.
Rock In mags with release tab.
As for some of that modern stuff I mentioned, there is a Picatinny rail mounted forward of the receiver that is just the thing for a red dot or a long eye relief scope.
The rail forward of the receiver lets you mount an LER scope or red dot.
Accuracy was reported as “excellent” with match ammo at 100 yards and a 2-7x LER scope. It was said to have shot smooth and flat “for a .308.” Sootch notes that he really likes the zero-magnification red dot on this rifle. I think that would be pretty sweet too.
Match ammo with a scope at 100 yards
The action is built around a strong rotating bolt cycled by the M14-style gas piston and long operating rod. The bolt is the same design as the M14, which was itself a direct copy of that greatest of warhorses, the M1 Garand. The trigger group has some heft to it, which Sootch shows us during the simple take-down process that is exactly like the M14. Seeing a pattern yet?
The safety is part of the trigger guard and easy to reach, just like…well, you get it.
Safety on (L) safety off (R).
The trigger on this particular rifle pulled consistently at just under six pounds and, according to Sootch, was “very crisp” with a quick reset. There is a bolt stop tab on the left side of the receiver.
Pulling out the “Beefy” trigger group
As noted earlier, the SOCOM 16 comes with a polymer stock and handguard and there’s some nice checkering on the lower handguard and the pistol grip. The butt pad is polymer and, say it with me…like the M14, features a hinged plate designed to go on top of the shoulder to increase stability. The hinged plate also reveals the access ports for your cleaning kit, should you choose to house it there. There’s no comb on the stock and Sootch uses an attachable cheek rest with the optics for better cheek weld and eye relief.
The compactness of the M1A SOCOM 16 makes it handy and easy to use.
Easy basic field strip.
Conclusion
All in all, the reviewer seems to really dig this particular rifle. No real negatives.
The SOCOM gets a BIG thumbs up.
Now, I get that a reviewer not saying anything bad doesn’t really mean anything. I’m pretty selective about my reviewers, and you probably are too. I like Sootch because I think he is honest, and I have seen him call things out when they need it. I also like that he doesn’t get too technical since I’m not a gear head and my eyes start glazing over with that stuff. So, that’s my $.02. You decide for yourself, but other folks seem to agree.
The words that kept popping up were “strong” and “beefy.” I always like that first one, and sometimes I like the second. For this kind of rifle, I definitely like it. Strong, beefy, accurate, handy, and sharp-looking, with the capability to add at least a few modern accessories and multiple configuration options. Not to mention a good track record based on a proven design. What’s not to like? But check it out for yourself and see what you think. I’m just some guy on the interwebs.
Bucky Lawson is your typical Appalachian-American gun enthusiast. He is a military historian specializing in World War II and has written a few things here and there, including some stuff for Breach Bang Clear. He likes dogs and enjoys a good cigar and an Old Fashioned with an extra orange slice.
