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.

Welcome back to my escape from California bondage. This is Part 2. If you read the first part, you know what this is all about. If not, check it out Un-Californiaizing My AR-15 Part 1. We left off having completed the upper half of the rifle, sans optic. Again, we’ll be working on that in the third and final part of this series. As we stand, this is the rifle.

ODIN Works released their first complete AR-15 pattern rifle, the Odin Tactical Rifle or OTR-15, back in November of 2020 and a couple of weeks ago they introduced the 6.5 Grendel version of the OTR-15. Both of these rifles are built on in-house machined billet aluminum receivers. Now for those of you who’d like to build your own rifles based on these receivers, ODIN Works has announced that the OTR-15 billet receiver set is now available separately.

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.

SIG SAUER is one of the biggest names in the world of gun brands. They’ve produced more than a few massively popular firearm models in their nearly half-century history. The recent transition from their German roots to a new US-based operational structure, with SIG Germany having shut down just over a year ago, appears to have done nothing to slow them down. Today the company offers an array of products to include pistols, rifles, optics, suppressors, ammo, and a cavalcade of other parts and accessories. Now their rifle-caliber pistol family has grown by one, with the announcement of the new Switchblade model.

It’s 2022, the Covid-19 pandemic has passed but humanity has another crisis to face – future aliens. This 4th July weekend Amazon dropped a major new military sci-fi movie, The Tomorrow War, starring Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski, J. K. Simmons, Betty Gilpin, Sam Richardson and Edwin Hodge. The premise is interesting, future soldiers travel back in time to save humanity (very Terminator) and lead conscripts in a last-ditch fight against a marauding alien menace. Chris Pratt is a former SOCOM operator turned high school science teacher who travels into the future to help his daughter save the world.

Recently, due to the reaction of the U.S. government to Coronavirus, my day job has become 100% remote work. I work in the television industry, which has always meant one horrific thing. I was stuck living in Los Angeles. I was born and raised in LA, but as I got older and my priorities changed, I realized how much I hated living there. I started planning my escape in my early twenties, and when the opportunity to leave presented itself, my wife, baby, and I jumped on it. Our last day as California residents was Christmas 2020. We now reside in beautiful Colorado and couldn’t be happier. As an avid gun and self-defense enthusiast, the new opportunities before me were almost overwhelming. Suppressors? Binary triggers? No handgun roster? I wanted to drive straight to the nearest gun store and buy them all. Unfortunately, that would be hell on our bank account, so I had to pick a place to start. One of the most hideous affronts leveled against my passion for firearms is the illogical and ignorant laws surrounding AR-15s. I had a California compliant AR, and that knowledge made me churn and boil inside like I was filled with fiery magma. Welcome to my mini series Escape From Bondage: Un-Californiaizing My AR-15 Part 1.

Back in November of 2020, ODIN Works introduced their first complete AR-15 pattern rifle called Odin Tactical Rifle or OTR-15. Recently the company announced the release of the second rifle in the Odin Tactical Rifle line, the OTR-15 6.5 Grendel. As its name implies, the main difference from the first 5.56/223 OTR-15 is that the new rifle is chambered in 6.5 Grendel. Let’s see what features this new ODIN Works rifle packs.

The Estonian Special Forces (ESTSOF) are using the HK416A7 by Heckler & Koch. Here you can see them at a shooting range during winter. We had our hands on the “A7” at the Heckler & Koch booth at EnforceTac already in 2018, but it can still not be found on HK’s webpage. Germany’s Special Forces call it the G95.

In recent years, Star Wars fans have begun to ditch their dreams of building a Mauser C96 based replica of Han Solo’s DL-44 blaster due to soaring costs, and have a new hope in the much more affordable AR-15 DL-44 clones. Enter Canto Arms, which, at present have a dedicated line of AR-15 DL-44 clones for sale, both as complete .22LR pistols, and as parts kits, plus many other accessory options to complete the DL-44 build you never thought possible. Purists will no doubt scoff at a non-Mauser blaster clone, but with Canto Arms’ Nocturne 22 Heavy Blaster, you can have a close representation of Han Solo’s blaster for less than half of what a C96 conversion would cost, and you get to save the remaining Mausers at the same time.

Photo Of The Day: The caption above says the U.S. Marine above is firing his M27, but I’d say he’s using the M38 Designated Marksman Rifle because of the Leupold TS-30A2 Mark 4 MR/T 2.5-8x36mm variable power scope and the QDSS suppressor. You can read Leupold’s description here:

Considered by many to be one of the best entry-level AR platforms on the market, the Smith & Wesson MSR M&P15T saw a lot of success in the modern sporting rifle market. With S&W’s Armornite finished barrel, Magpul MBUS sights and a 10″ free float quad rail from the factory, the first generation M&P15T had a lot to offer. Smith & Wesson is now offering an updated version of the M&P15T with their new M&P15T II Tactical MSR.

Like a thirst quenching downpour after a long drought, or what’s now known as the 2021 Gun Frenzy, SilencerCo lower receivers are now available through major distributors. The SCO15 AR-15 lowers were originally released as a limited run item through retailers like Brownells. If you’re interested, let your dealer know that these lowers are available at the distributors listed below. It’s never a bad thing to have a quality lower on hand.

Most of you probably own a pocket EDC flashlight for various tasks. If you’re not carrying a small flashlight around that isn’t attached to your phone, you probably should. I find them to be quite useful and on par with carrying a pocket knife every day. Mischief Machine is a PA-based company that specializes in some pretty unique CNC machined accessories. One item I just learned about is their Billet Aluminum Flashlight mounts. These mounts convert your EDC flashlight into a rail-mounted one so you don’t need to spend hundreds on a dedicated weapon-mounted light.

Magpul Industries is an almost ubiquitous name when it comes to the firearms industry. My first AR and now some of my pistol are hosts to some of Magpul’s durable and reliable polymer magazines. Today on the show we’ve got John Canipe from Magpul Industries to tell us all about the company, how things were for the company during 2020 and where Magpul and its product lineup is headed for 2021 and beyond. We’ve recently been able to pick up steam on the podcast front so you should have a steady stream of listening material for your morning or evening commute. Thanks as always for turning in to TFB’s Behind the Gun Podcast and for making content like this possible.

If you’ve been struggling to try and find components to finish your true-to-form What Would Stoner Do (WWSD) rifle, then there might be a more budget-friendly option for you straight from KE Arms. The Civil Defense Rifle from KE Arms shares a lot of the same design choices but costs about $600 less than the full-blown WWSD rifle as parted out by InRangeTV.

Recoil reduction and muzzle control are top considerations for today’s competitors and riflemen. While good training and discipline will help mitigate a lot of the muzzle rise and swat you get from firing an AR-15, compensators help further mitigate both felt recoil and muzzle rise. Ultradyne has just released their new Mercury Compensator which uses Ultradyne’s V-PORT system. The aim of the Mercury compensator is to optimize gas exhaust to primarily control muzzle rise while simultaneously reducing a large amount of felt recoil.

Good morning everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday series brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the YHM Turbo 5.56 and YHM Resonator R2 rifle suppressors. Last week we sat down with the AMTAC Mantis and discussed the pros and cons of over-the-barrel reflex style suppressors. This week we take a look one of the most frequently asked questions when a shooter is shopping for an AR-15 suppressor – is a 5.56mm can quieter than a 7.62mm can? But the bigger issue is why James Reeves got it wrong.

ZRO Delta adds a new rifle to their Ready Series of AR-15 models, the 17.76 LVOA. Unlike other packages of the series, this rifle only has a limited number of selected accessories. Indeed it is intended to be a solid base for the user to customize at will.

Dust covers are just little flaps that are fun to play with, right? While they are fun to open and close while you sit and watch your favorite episode of He-Man, dust covers play an essential role in maintaining your firearm. Most, however, are simply a tight-fitting piece of metal or plastic. Strike Industries has taken things one step further. They have added more capability to their previously released Ultimate Dust Cover by adding an “overmolded rubberized soft sealing lip”. By the power of Grayskull, this is the AR Overmolded Ultimate Dust Cover from Strike Industries.

Smith & Wesson has produced ARs for many years now. Their M&P 15 series has expanded to dozens of models, ranging from .22 rimfire plinkers, to standard .223 AR-15s, to large-frame camo-coated .308 versions, and more. Most of their offerings live more on the budget-friendly end of the price range as well, which has helped them become hugely popular with customers. S&W has sold a ton of these rifles over the years. Now they’re adding a new option to the list, offered exclusively to the military veterans, law enforcement personnel and other first responders who qualify for S&W’s “America’s Guardians” program. This newest M&P15 is an SBR, and thus will require a $200 tax stamp from the ATF on top of the purchase price. Davidson’s, who will be distributing many of these mil/LEO program guns to retailers and end users, issued the following announcement about the new item.

Continuing to expand their competition shooting-oriented product line, TACCOM has recently released a new AR-15 stock called Cheek Riser Adjustable Buttstock. Despite the minimalistic design, this stock has a high level of adjustability that includes a length of pull, cheekpiece height, buttplate height and cant adjustments. Let’s take a closer look.

I am a huge fan of organization equipment when it comes to my firearms and firearms equipment. The more compartmentalized I can make my equipment the better. Otis has just come out with a new product for their cleaning kit lineup that I might just have to go out and buy – the AR Elite Range Box. The AR Elite Range Box comes with everything you’ll need to work on your AR from scrapers, patches, solvents, a stand and much more. A surefire way to be able to clean and maintain your AR away from your home bench.

DIY guns usually fall into one of two categories. Most of the time when we are talking bout DIY guns we either get horribly botched creations that you see on Hot Gat or Fudd Crap, but sometimes you’ll also get some cursed guns like the toggle-locked belt-fed monstrosity we took a look at earlier. Long-time TFB Reader and TFBTV subscriber Stubbs usually has creations that fall into the latter category of heavily modified or bastardized firearms. However, he recently contacted me over our TFB Discord channel to show me his latest creation and I personally think that this is one that might have actually made Eugene Stoner himself proud. Today, we’ll be talking about Stubbs’ latest DIY creation, the S96S top feeding AR which was inspired by the  Stoner 63 modular weapon system.

At the end of a long press release about the news that Sweden is buying 200 tracked vehicles ( BAE Systems/Hagglunds 410) someone hid this little gem about Sweden and Finland collaborating on a service rifle (machine-translated and edited):

Nothing to do? Each day you are welcome to TFB’s selection of photo highlights. We call this Photo Of The Day and above we see a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist assigned to the 369th Chemical Company, 455th Chemical Brigade, 76th Operational Response Command. He’s firing at pop-up targets with his M4 service rifle at a range on Camp Williams, Utah.

Over the last year, we have seen a bit of a hard road for gun owners in the United States. Ammo prices have soared from what they were even 18 months ago and ranges aren’t near as full anymore. It’s been a real struggle for people to get out and shoot on a regular basis, which is exactly why I decided to hop in my truck and head to Cleveland to take the Fieldcraft Survivals Carbine course a couple of weekends ago. This was the first carbine course I have taken from them and they have a deeper approach to training than other companies. Let’s dive into my experience at Fieldcraft Survival’s GunFighter Carbine 1 Course.

Griffin Armament is best known for their silencers. They’ve been putting out quality cans since their founding in 2006, and many of their models have enjoyed significant success. From their versatile Bushwacker 46, the user-configurable Optimus, their 30SD-K model, the modular Resistance 22 rimfire can, to their new GP-N A2-mountable can, and many more, Griffin usually has at least one suppressor, if not multiple options, capable of filling virtually any role for which you might need a can.

Good afternoon everyone and thanks for tuning in for another addition of Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the YHM R9 suppressor. Last week we went all apocalyptic prepper on you by testing out an oil filter suppressor and mount adapter – not great, not terrible. This week we get an in-depth look at the new Griffin Armament GP-N (GP-NATO) A2 birdcage mount suppressor. Is it worth returning to your retro roots? Let’s take a look.

In this episode of TFBTV, Hop reviews the new 16″ variant of the Ruger MPR. The MPR series is an upgraded version of Ruger’s mil-spec style AR-556 rifles. It boasts improved features like a free float M-LOK rail, and the Ruger Elite two-stage trigger.