Most of you will know Circle 10 AK for its lineup of AK parts and firearms. In the past, I’ve owned several magazines that came from Circle 10 AK and I know they have quite the reputation for being the “go-to” place for anything AK-related. Many of you will also know that over the years they have slowly crept into new territory in terms of firearms as the company has grown. It is because of this expansion that Circle 10 AK has now decided to rebrand itself as CRH Customs. This announcement came via a press release on August 14th wherein Luke Williams explained the reason for the rebranding and what he hopes for the future of the company as CRH Customs.

Good morning suppressor lovers and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the YHM Turbo K 5.56 rifle suppressor. Last week we discussed a great combination: the SIG P320 XCARRY with the modular MODX-9 pistol caliber silencer. Being that we are in the peak of summer vacation season, we’ll have get back to our full reviews in a week or two. In the next month, we have got the semiautomatic testing of the Elevated Silence Evolution to finish up, a detailed review of the SilencerCo Omega 36M, and a pending new release from a major suppressor manufacturer. This week we take a look at the YHM rifle suppressor lineup – excellent performers for a wide variety of hosts at affordable price points.

Rangefinders have come a long way since their initial commercial release (in affordable formats) and we continue to see more and more features packed into these tiny little ranging devices. SIG Sauer and BaseMap have partnered up to bring customers one of the biggest innovations to the rangefinder market with the ability to mark ranged locations via BaseMap’s Remote Marker Technology.

Over the years,  Bushmaster Firearms has gained a reputation as a staple in the AR-15 manufacturing community. Bushmaster has gone as far as to become somewhat of a household name when it comes to the iconic AR-15 design and the company recently announced that they are back – standalone. As part of Bushmaster’s return, they plan on resuming production of the ACR and .450 Bushmaster rifle models. As a start, however, Bushmaster will offer variants of the XM15-E2S like the M4 Patrolman’s Carbine and the QRC rifle.

High-end rifle manufacturer Cobalt Kinetics has just announced the official reboot of their BAMF-Pro firearms. The Cobalt Kinetics relaunch includes partnerships with Radian Weapons, SB Tactical, Geissele Automatics, and VLTOR Weapons among others. Cobalt Kinetics opened its doors in 2014 and has gone through ownership changes and a series of product lineup updates. The press release with additional information can be found below.

Founded in 1936, Ceska Zbrojovka turns 85 this year. In celebration of their 85th anniversary, CZ has introduced two limited edition firearms –  CZ 75 SP-01 Shadow 85th Anniversary pistol and  CZ 557 85th Anniversary rifle. Only two thousand pieces of each of these firearms will be made. Both guns are based on their standard counterparts with added special touches. Let’s take a look at the features of CZ 85th anniversary firearms.

Texas-based Primary Arms have announced they’ve expanded with a new facility next to their Houston headquarters. The expansion doubles their warehouse facilities. At the same time, they have announced that Max Cowsert will become their Chief Merchandising Officer.

The Texas-based composite-cased ammunition manufacturer True Velocity have announced the sale of their first commercially available ammunition. To celebrate this they are offering commemorative box sets including 22 rounds of “state-of-the-art, composite-cased True Velocity” .308 Win ammunition, a branded D.O.P.E. logbook and an official 1 MOA True Velocity challenge coin. The package is retailing for $159.99 (MSRP).

Cole-TAC‘s tagline is “Serious Gear for Serious Shooters”. Their website’s “About” section describes the company as a “tactical accessory manufacturer founded in 2015 dedicated to creating the toughest gear for shooting enthusiasts and agencies demanding perfection from their equipment.” Founders and owners Dustin and Liene Coleman started the company upon finding that existing suppressor covers on the market weren’t cutting it. After Dustin bought a cover that quickly failed and asked his wife to fix it, she expressed disapproval. She asserted that she could make him a better cover from scratch – and for less money than the inferior commercial product’s price. Six years later, the company sells enough suppressor covers and other firearms-related soft goods to keep not only the Colemans busy full-time but their sixteen employees as well. Their base in New Hampshire has proven to be insufficient for growing demand, so now the company is adding a second location.

Range Systems is a company that specializes in designing, manufacturing and installing live-fire facilities for a variety of applications. They have worked with public commercial shooting ranges, military and law enforcement organizations, and can even do private in-home ranges for shooters wanting the ultimate personal range access convenience. This Minnesota-based operation has nearly three decades of experience, as they opened for business in 1994. From ballistic and acoustic management solutions, track-mounted target retrieval systems, bullet traps, bulletproof lane dividers, and more, they can customize range areas to fit just about any need. Now they’ve been selected to equip SIG SAUER’s new Experience Center building.

We at TFB reported a little over 7 weeks ago that RemArms (formerly Remington Outdoor Company) had faced some much covered hardship and is now on the rebound. If anybody is going to make comebacks cool again it is going to be RemArms in 2021 because they not only have big plans, but they appear to have the clout to achieve them.

Occasionally the guys over at Bear Creek Arsenal will come out with beautifully designed infographics that they will then post to their website. As they have done in the past, Bear Creek has graciously allowed us to share their infographics here at The Firearm Blog. This time the subject of focus is brass vs steel cased ammunition and the pros and cons of each when it comes to the AR-15 platform.

Polymer cased ammunition specialists True Velocity have announced a couple of new appointments. Firstly, Tom Weichel has been appointed operations chief. Weichel is an industry veteran with 30 years experience, joining True Velocity from Texas Instruments. Additionally, Dr. Bruce Jette, the Former Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, has joined True Velocity as Advisory Board Chairman.

It’s not often that you see products in the gun industry that make you take a second look. Or at least, not often that you take the second look for a good reason. The  Vuurwapen HMC9 is one of those products.  Vuurwapen is a new company in the gun world, having only entered the scene in 2020. Their HMC9 caught my eye, first for its kinda goofy look, and then because it’s actually pretty cool. While the HMC9 has not hit the market just yet, it is a really interesting product, and I’m eager to see how well it performs. So without further ado, let me introduce you to the Vuurwapen HMC9.

Elftmann Tactical has just introduced the industry’s first truly finger adjustable AR-15 trigger. The Elf SOCOM Trigger is a drop-in solution for competitors, precision shooters, and service members who need or want the ability to fine-tune their trigger pull on the fly, all without the use of tools. The Elf SOCOM will be offered in 6 different variants for different styles of shooting and firearms. All triggers are currently in stock and ready to ship at the time of writing.

You all know them and love them – Henry Repeating Arms. The company has enjoyed a lot of recent success over the years with the leadership of now-former company president Anthony Imperato. Now, Mr. Imperato is handing off the reigns of the Henry Repeating Arms brand to the new company president Andy Wickstrom. Andy has had a long history with the company dating as far back as 1998 and has now risen to officially be the company’s president after several years of being the de facto president.

SilencerCo has been a recognizable brand in the suppressor industry, and in the larger firearms industry, for more than a decade. Since their founding in 2008, they’ve produced and sold many successful products, and raised more than a few eyebrows with some interesting innovations. From the integrally suppressed Maxim 9 handgun design to the unusually-shaped Osprey to the Salvo 12 shotgun silencer, and more, this Utah-based outfit has not been afraid to step outside the box and innovate in their attempts to be an industry leader.

Botach Tactical is a web-based retailer offering a vast array of products related to the firearms and tactical industry, with hundreds of brands listed in their digital catalog. Headquartered out of Las Vegas, Botach provides some specialty services that are often absent from other businesses. Some of these include a robust initiative in open box and trade-in items, especially law enforcement department trade-in equipment. They are also a licensed firearms dealer, with more than a hundred models of guns listed on their website as of the time of this writing. A small number of these are restricted to LE purchase only, like Heckler and Koch MP5 and MP7 submachine guns, but most are available for public purchase. Now if you’re into cryptocurrency, Botach has announced that they’re now able to take Bitcoin as an accepted form of payment. See more crypto- and Botach-related news items from TFB’s past reporting listed below.

PROOF Research has just been awarded a new military contract for new “medium caliber” weapons systems which builds upon the company’s previously successful small caliber barrel technology which is currently in service with U.S. Military Forces. PROOF Research specializes in precision-made firearm barrels for both bolt-action and AR-type rifles and even produces complete rifle systems. In addition, the company also has an advanced materials & technologies division specializing in advanced composites.

Established in 1751 in Suhl, Thuringia, J.P. Sauer & Sohn is the oldest existing hunting arms manufacturer in Germany. In celebration of their 270 year anniversary, the company has released a limited edition knife. This knife is made by German knife maker PUMA  to Sauer’s specifications. As noted by Sauer, like in the case of their firearms, creating lasting values for generations was the motivation for making this Sauer exclusive knife.

Credit card companies, banks, and just about every other financial institution out there have made it pretty clear that gun companies aren’t their favorite customers. In fact, a lot of gun companies have been outright discriminated against for using their services meaning many have had to find alternate credit card processing services in order to stay in business. Stryk Pay has just announced a partnership with the popular firearms company Polymer80 in order to strengthen the standing of Stryk Pay and by extension Stryk Group USA. This partnership is effective immediately.

Last week, Culper Precision made a big splash in the firearms industry with the introduction of their Block 19 customization of Gen 3 and 4 Glock 19 pistols. That splash also caught the attention of the national news media, as well as the LEGO corporation. LEGO issued a cease and desist letter to Culper Precision regarding the Block 19 customization, the service of which Culper Precision has decided to discontinue. Culper Precision released a statement on their website to respond to the attention and debate brought on by the Block 19 controversy, which you can read in full below.

For the third year running, Anderson Manufacturing has once again claimed the #1 spot in “Miscellaneous Firearms Production.” This unprecedented accomplishment follows on the heels of two previous years where Anderson Manufacturing produced well over 300,000 firearms outranking other firearms giants like Brownells, Ruger, Mossberg, and Palmetto State Armory.

LMT Defense (Lewis Machine Tool) has been a long-time supplier of both the United States military as well as law enforcement and commercial consumers. The company is popular for manufacturing high-quality AR-15 rifles and parts as well as some heavier hitting items like the M203 40mm grenade launcher. TFB had the pleasure of hosting Joe and Randy from LMT Defense who showcased their new MRP offerings, Estonian Rifle, and their new two-stage trigger offering for 2021.

Land Rover vehicles – perfect means of transportation for hunting trips with bespoke British guns! Well, British gunmakers apparently agree with this statement as they introduce custom Land Rovers tailored for this purpose. We’ve previously seen the Holland & Holland Range Rover and today we’ll take a look at another British gun company and Land Rover vehicle symbiosis – the Rigby Land Rover, a Defender 130 customized with  John Rigby & Co features and details. In collaboration with  Traditional English Guncases (TEG) and Kingsmen Editions, Rigby turned this retired work horse into a brave field hunter. Rigby call their creation fit for a king.

Wilson Combat‘s history in the firearms industry stretches back nearly half a century. From his background as a trained watchmaker, company founder Bill Wilson made the jump into guns in 1974 with a retail store, then shifted to manufacturing three years later. From the late 1970s to today, the brand’s principal domain has been in high-end 1911 handguns. However, that isn’t all they do. They have also dabbled in other handgun models as well as some shotgun work, and particularly in recent years, they’ve concentrated ever more heavily in AR offerings. TFB has reported on Wilson’s various products quite a bit over the years, and a sampling of those past articles is listed for you below.

Photo Of The Day – We’re happy to see that the life of exhibitions is going back to normal. FN Herstal are exhibiting at DEFEA 2021 in Greece next week. There are no real new firearms to be exhibited, but FN Herstal attached a few really nice photos to their press release for us to enjoy. Their highlights will be the FN SCAR family of rifles, the 5.7x28mm weapon systems, the FN MINIMI and the FN MAG machine guns. They will also show their Sea deFNder remote weapon system.

Those who have been around TFB for a few years will surely remember the G29 Viper project from German GunWorks. They made an exceptional Haenel RS9 in .338 LM. German GunWorks has its roots in various conversions of firearms, which formed the basis of the company even before the trade in weapon accessories and firearms. The first weapon conversions took place on the basis of airsoft guns.

Idaho-based company OuterImpact is best known for producing optics mounts, particularly their M.R.A., or Modular RedDot Adapter. Typically, in order for a micro red dot sight to be installed on a handgun, the pistol’s slide needs to include an optics cut. Although an increasing number of manufacturers are offering these as either optional or standard from the factory, there are still plenty of handguns on the market without this option. While you can have a qualified gunsmith modify your non-optics-ready slide to accommodate a red dot, some gun owners may not wish to make such a permanent modification or to pay for it. In addition, these styles of modifications may only permit one kind of optic footprint to be used, or they may require the use of an additional mounting plate featuring the proper screw pattern for a given red dot.

In an earlier review, we took a look at the jeans from Dynamis Alliance. In this review, we’ll be examining the pouch system that goes along with the jeans, called the IWS. Current pouches range from Glock 19 and SIG P365 holsters, associated magazine pouches (AR15 STANAG and handgun, even MP7), trauma kits, baton pouches, and even a small utility pouch for those slim minimalist wallets that are all the rage these days. With the exception of the handgun holsters and the knife sheaths, these pouches are made from either a thin, stretchy fabric in the case of the IWS EDC Pouch, or in the case of the magazine holsters, a smooth canvas-like material that collapses against your body when the magazine has been withdrawn.