The Unimag from Ross & Zheng Engineering was created with the intent of having one magazine that was capable of working with the majority of popu lar cartridges that are chambered in an AR15, STANAG magazine configuration (or with similar dimensions). This means that the Unimag is designed and tested with the following cartridges in mind-5.56x45mm, .300BLK, .204 Ruger, 5.45X39mm, 6.8mm SPC, 7.62×39, 6.5mm Grendel, and .458 SOCOM. Too new at this point, but testing will probably be eventually done, but to add to that list is the .224 Valkyrie.

High Threat Concealment (HTC) specializes in providing concealed tactical gear for armed professionals demanding a low profile signature as well as the civilian wanting to utilize the best gear. The HTC line is modular allowing for scalability based on threat and need.

Beretta’s Intelligent Rail emerged out of a previous U.S. Military solicitation for a “Powered Rail” on rifles and carbines several years ago. One specific contract was the Precision Sniper Rifle competition that SOCOM held, requiring competitors to submit a “Powered Rai” with their designs. The push for a powered rail within the U.S. Military appears to have stagnated, but the fruits of that competition appear to be popping up throughout the industry in the public, in this case with Beretta USA on the companies ARX160. Beretta didn’t work on the project alone however, it worked closely with TWorx Ventures, a developer of the Intelligent Rail for the AR platform, but in this case working with Beretta.

A few years ago I went to the Vehicle and Darkness D3 course with Haley Strategic. At this course, students learn how to fine-tune fundamentals while manipulating lights and shooting in and around vehicles. A vehicle ballistics lab was also very informative. After the course, I realized how detailed and intricate these scenarios could get. I would have been very surprised to find a course that could top the knowledge I had learned over those three days.

Many new and improved products have been brought to market by Trijicon in the months leading up to SHOT 2018. Fans of the Trijicon HD iron sights will be happy to hear of the Trijicon HD XR night sights. The HD XR sights boast an expanded field of view and more precise targeting with the reduced size of the front sight (.122”) to nearly a third of the size of the original HD’s.

This year at SHOT 2018 Lancer has produced a new AR magazine well extension and a designated .300 AAC BLK Advanced Warfighter Magazine (AWM). After hearing of a designated .300 AAC BLK magazine I was somewhat confused as I had always assumed magazines would function the same whether running .223, 5.56, or .300 Blackout. When I asked more about the magazine I found the .300 Blackout magazine had a different internal geometry with increased rib clearance for better feeding and to prevent binding with 200-grain bullets or heavier, significantly increasing reliability.

In what is most definitely the most ridiculous item of the entire SHOT show, Paper City Firearms out of Massachusets has on display this earth-shattering 4-pound tubular bayonet that sides in and out of a Picatinny mounted tube that can be attached to a corresponding rail. With the push of a button, the bayonet can be slid out of the tube, becoming fully extended and then locking in place. To withdraw the bayonet, one simply presses down on that underside button, allowing the bayonet to manually retract into the aluminum tube, also locking in place at the bottom. The bayonet itself is tubular, with a curve coming up from the blade tip, and a hollow portion in the center.

Just before SHOT Show, Knight’s Armament announced that they will be bringing out old school products and making them available for the commercial market. They are calling it The Vault. The items in the Vault are not just products that they used to make, but these are products that were not commercially available for civilians. They were originally made for government and defense contracts. And there were some small numbers that leaked out to civilians in the past but now you can own them at normal prices.

Primary Weapon Systems (PWS) is known for making a long stroke piston AR rifles. What sets them apart from other AR manufacturers is their ability to run internals modeled after the AK platform; while still maintaining the ergonomics and last round bolt hold open benefits of an AR. The long stroke piston system reduces the amount of metal on metal impact, thus reducing reliability issues and parts breakage.

Almost a year ago,  back in March 2017, US SOCOM posted a request for information (RFI) seeking proposals for conversion kits for M4A1 Carbine receivers. SOCOM sought a kit that would turn M4A1s into Personal Defence Weapons weighing less than 6lb, measuring less than 26 inches and chambered in .300 Blackout.

During SHOT Show 2018, Anderson Manufacturing has introduced an AR-15 upper with a different muzzle device, gas block and handguard attachment systems as well as a built-in backup rear sight.

In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 Media Day at the Range and visit Caracal USA.

Battle Arms Development introduced two SBRs chambered in .300 BLK with 7.5-inch barrels as apart of a new historically themed product release. The difference between these two SBRs is the fact that on the Tanker, the buffer tube is a separate piece from the lower receiver, attached to it via a short buffer tube, (MSRP is $2,999.99). Battle Arms Development calls this the BAD-CSS VERT PDW Stock System. However with the Paratrooper model, the telescoping stock is machined into the lower from 7075-T6  billet aluminum (MSRP $3,050.00). This is their BAD-PDW Monolithic PDW Lower Receiver & VERT Stock System.

If you did not have the opportunity to visit Springfield Armory at SHOT Show in the convention center, they had a sprawling booth with enough firearms to make you contemplate getting a 2nd job. From 1911s to 911s to XD(M)s to AR-15s to M1As, they had their square footage amply covered. We at TFB gave you a healthy sampling of the handguns they have new rolling into 2018 in a previous article so in this piece we will cover their rifles. The big headliners are Springfield Armory’s top-tier AR-15 in the SAINT Edge, their 1st offering of an AR-15 pistol in an iteration of a SAINT and new chamberings of the 6.5 Creedmoor in M1A rifles.

Lyman has released a number of new products this year, but we’ll only be able to get to a few of them that really stand out. First off is the company’s new reloading line, branded in bright orange. In order of weight, they are the Brass Smith Ideal C-Frame Press, the Brass Smith Victory Single Stage Press, and the Brass Smith All-American 8 Turret Press.

Trigger Point Technology is a small company in California that has integrated visible and IR light and aiming lasers into controls on the magazine well and trigger of the AR platform.

Robinson Armaments has added a new Tailhook Brace to a new line of pistol XCR versions of their full-length XCR rifle configurations, in addition to adding M-Lok to their entire line, along with the previous Keymod rails they had mounted on them previously. The pistol configuration comes with the Gear Head Works Tailhook Mod 1 (made from aluminum) and is set up on the companies adjustable stock/adjustable cheekpiece. The entire configuration is ATF approved as well. The line can be ordered in 7.5″, 9″, 10″, 11″ and 12″ length barrel configurations, in addition to corresponding handguard lengths. The slimmer versions are the Keymod ones which take up less space on the sides and bottom of the handguard than the M-Lok that need more space for the mounting systems. In addition, the pistols and all the rifles for that matter can be ordered in 5.56x45mm, .300 BLK, 6.8 SPC, 7.62x39mm, and 6.5 Grendel. There is a rifle option that can be ordered in 7.62x51mm as well.

A long-awaited update on the much-delayed Compact Semiautomatic Sniper System program came with the recent Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing that was conducted Wednesday. In his testimony, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8 Lieutenant General John M. Murray told the Committee that the Army’s Squad Designated Marksman Rifle program, an evolution of the CSASS, is expected to hit the field sometime this year. The Squad Designated Marksman Rifle was revealed as an offshoot of the CSASS program by the PEO Soldier Program Office in September of last year, although reportedly it constitutes a modified version of the base M110A1. Accompanying the new weapon will be the new Advanced Armor Piercing (ADVAP) round coming in 2019. The ADVAP is an improved tungsten cored anti-armor round which will replace the much harder to produce and much more expensive M993 AP round. Lt. Gen. Murray said:

New for U.S. Optics this year is the SVS 1-6x24mm day optic. Dialing it down a notch from the Schmidt & Bender and Nightforce 1-8x scopes that were also introduced this year. The company has also partnered with ZRODELTA to offer the 1-6×24 in the ZRODELTA mounts. The mounts have orange tightening screws match with orange scope ring screws as well. This signatory “orange” scheme is throughout every other optic that U.S. Optics had on display at their booth.

Accu-Tac is a California-based company that has been in the bipod business for a couple years now. They brought two models of their aluminum bipods to SHOT 2018 this year, the Long Range model and the F-Class model. The F-Class model has a Quick Detach Picatinny rail section that is connected to the bipod. Unlike a Harris or Versa-Pod design with the QD “tit” that hangs on the Picatinny rail, these Accu-Tac bipods completely come off the rail.

Barrett has three new products that we discussed in this video, the largest being the .224 Valkyrie is being chambered in an AR platform in coordination with the launch by Federal Ammunition. In addition, the same round is being chambered in their Fieldcraft line of lightweight hunting rifles that the company first debuted last year.

Gear Head Works has continued the innovation on the Tailhook that first hit the market within the past several years. With this Mod 2 addition, the company is adding a proprietary buffer tube that features five positions for adjusting the Mod 2. To adjust the Mod 2, one simply depresses a button on the right side of the brace, allowing the brace to unlock and move position. This adjustable brace feature isn’t available on the earlier Mod 1 which can clamp to any buffer tube with a diameter between 1.17″ and 1.2″. So far the Mod 2 is being offered in a Tan, OD Green, and Black finish, but I’m sure we’ll see a hot Pink one before the year is up, knowing the popularity of these things.

I ran into the owner and designed at IC13, Josh Sprecher while on the show floor. Due to some technical issues, I wasn’t able to get actual photographs of the MOLLE bandoleer that Josh has come up with, and that we covered in earlier TFB articles. However, I was able to get my hands on the new 2018 products, which included a new fabric design, a different color, a “Rapid-Strap” that uses velcro to secure it to the belt, and can thus be quickly ripped off in case of an emergency.

Kinetic Development Group, known for working on SCAR accessory upgrades, is introducing an RMR mount for their product family of SIDELOK optics mounts. The SIDELOK sets itself apart from other mounts in its class by having the ability to be pressed on and off a Picatinny rail by simply engaging a catch at the base of the mount. This catch is configured in such a way that when the mount is locked onto the rail, the zero is maintained throughout the use of the optic on the rail. This is aided by a recoil lug that is mounted forward of the actual spring loaded latch that keeps it in place. But if you need to quickly take the optic off, you can easily do so by depressing the latch, then later on putting it back with a return to zero.

In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 at the Surefire booth.

During the SHOT Show 2018, two European companies announced their plans of importing new polymer AR-15 magazines to the US market. One of these companies is the German Schmeisser and the second one is a Croatian company called POB.

In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 to the High Threat Concealment booth.

In today’s episode, we follow Miles to Shot Show 2018 at the PWS booth.

Sometimes the simplest ideas turn into really good ones. Tactical Application Group (completely unrelated to the gear line) is a very small conglomerate of veterans based in the Las Vegas area that has put forth a product that is designed to make the operation of a user’s lights and lasers on a rifle much more intuitive than with previously mounted pressure switches. Essentially, the company has moved the pressure switch to the pistol grip of the rifle. Specifically, an AR15 pistol grip that can be mounted to any weapon system that uses AR pistol grips (thus, not limiting this device to only AR15 platforms). By doing this, the company has essentially turned the switchology involved with ATPIAL devices and various light mounted options that use remote pressure switches into a one-handed operation. Instead of having to squeeze a pressure switch mounted on the handguard of a rifle, or even a magazine well mounted one, a user simply has to operate the pistol grip mounted version with the fingers of their firing hand.

The Ryker FIST Grip is a new take on Picatinny mounted forward grips. Instead of being mounted at the 6 o’clock position like virtually every other forward grip on the market, the RYKER is designed to be mounted at the 3 or 9 o’clock of any firearm that has Picatinny rails on the handguards. Interestingly this includes pump-action shotguns with Picatinny equipped shotgun forends. The grip can be altered for a left or right-handed configuration by simply disassembling it and reversing the direction of the grip placement on the Picatinny rail adaptor.