Rangefinders are becoming a very common and almost ubiquitous piece of kit for every shooter and hunter. SIG Sauer Electro-Optics has just announced the release of two additional rangefinding optical devices to their rapidly expanding lineup – the KILO10K rangefinding binocular and KILO8K Rangefinding monocular. The KILO8K is scheduled to make its release at the time of writing while the KILO10K will start shipping in later November of 2021.

A chunk of the TFB crew has been spending the last couple of days down in southeastern Texas at Bridle Iron South testing and running some of the newest equipment released to the gun industry. Brad from Blue Force Gear was kind enough to come down for the event and run us through some life-saving medical training as well as show us some of the newest trauma kits BFG has to offer. The three new trauma kits were teased back during TFB’s Gun Fest 2021 but have now finally been released to the Blue Force Gear store.

Faxon Firearms has introduced a new series of pistol compensators called EXOS. These compensators feature one large top port for muzzle rise compensation and angled side slots that “allow gas to deflect upwards as opposed to only deflecting sideways, reducing up and down muzzle movement and improving reliability“. Let’s take a closer look.

Last year was a doozy. It seemed that overnight, not only were individual rights disappearing, but so were guns and ammo. Finding 9mm was and still is nearly impossible. When you do find ammo, even steel-cased FMJ is still going for 50 cents per round. We’re all aware that dry fire is a valuable tool for staying familiar with your platform, but there are also options that can give you more value with every press of the trigger. The Mantis X3 Shooting Performance System is one of those options.

FAB Defense have introduced the Collapsible Rapid Adjustment Precision Stock (RAPS-C), an adjustable stock “designed for the precision minded shooter who wants a full-featured adjustable precision rifle stock with carbine functionality”. The RAPS-C has a latch system that locks both the length of pull and the cheek rest height with one lever that can be configured for right or left-hand shooters. It also has a spring-loaded butt which remembers the user’s previously selected length of pull and will spring back to that position when deployed.

Austrian hunting arms manufacturer  Strasser has introduced a new bipod called BONE. According to the company, the BONE bipod was developed by combining the best existing design solutions with new innovative ideas, with the goal of creating the most universal bipod. “Light – Stable – Universal” is the slogan of Strasser BONE bipod. Overall, it looks like the company really takes pride in the BONE bipod design and has even launched a  website dedicated to this product.

The ability to grip your equipment is so important, an entire aftermarket exists for permanently altering firearms to increase purchase. Slippery magnification rings, pistol grips, vertical grips, and magazines can slow you down. However, thanks to Strike Industries, there is a non-permanent solution. Springboarding from their original Bang Bands, Strike has introduced the Bang Band Mini, as well as new colors for both the original and the Mini.

Recoil compensators are nothing new for Hiperfire. Although the company specializes in drop-in aftermarket triggers, they have previously released their popular Generation 1 recoil compensators which rivaled some of the best performing compensators already in the industry. The Hipercomp 556C, 556CQ, and 9mm versions were among their most popular. Hiperfire has since then taken a new approach using modern computational models to produce their Hipercomp Next Gen recoil compensators that are not only more effective but less expensive as well.

This year marks the 35th Anniversary of the GLOCK USA headquarters in Smyrna, Georgia. To celebrate, the Austrian firearms powerhouse has released a series of videos and commemorative giveaways. Today the 35th Anniversary GLOCK Watch is announced – a limited release timepiece designed by the GLOCK Precision team. Inspired by the classic features of GLOCK pistols, the solar-powered watches will feature a titanium case, a stainless steel nDLC band, sapphire crystal glass and a green pistol case. The GLOCK Watch release will be limited to 3500 serialized units that will include an exclusive challenge coin.

Welcome to the first episode of the TFB B-Side Podcast. The B-Side podcast is going to be a little less focused and a little more light-hearted than the TFB Behind the Gun Podcast. This week I brought on one of TFBTV’s favorite presenters, Hop.  On today’s show, Hop and I discuss what we call the Hierarchy of Gear Needs and how it applies to responsible citizens going about their daily business. We talk all about the gear and firearms that you run into out in the wild and hopefully provide a perspective to those new to the industry for what order to buy your gear in if you’re interested in becoming prepared incrementally for unforeseen events. Let us know your thoughts and experiences with this subject after you listen and we look forward to hearing from you in the next episode.

By far the most popular way to aim a rifle in complete darkness is with IR lasers in tandem with a night vision device. IR lasers give you great accuracy potential and a less complicated aiming process when you are equipped with a head-mounted night vision device. Viridian Weapon Technologies has just added the new HS1 infrared hand stop laser to their existing lineup of visible red and green rifle-mounted lasers.

Remote-controlled guns have been a controversial topic, and are outlawed in some places in the United States with some exceptions for disabled hunters. Redditor and YouTuber Jan Arkadiusz Kowalski aka Brzydki Burak from Poland wasn’t worried about getting reported to the ATF when he and one of his talented subscribers set out to make two remote-controlled guns out of discarded materials, some bits from a salvage yard, an AKM rifle and a Glock. After watching some of Burak’s videos, it’s clear that he likes to have fun, and watching his remote-controlled guns in action, I’d say he and others were pleasantly entertained. Burak lightheartedly likened his builds to the T-800 model soldier robots from the Terminator movies, however without the artificial intelligence aspect, these seem more reminiscent of the remote-controlled gun from The Jackal movie starring Bruce Willis.

Garden City, Idaho-based company OuterImpact has announced the expansion of their Modular Red Dot Adapter (M.R.A.) line of products to include a mounting plate for the CZ Shadow 2. The plate is made from 7075 aluminum and is hard coat black anodized. It has an MSRP of $54.95.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by our friends at Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the YHM Turbo K rifle suppressor. Last week we get a basic overview of the very capable SilencerCo 36M modular suppressor. This week we have a review of the brand new Dead Air Silencers Primal – a multi-caliber, multi-host suppressor that can handle anything from rimfire to .338 Lapua. That’s quite an accomplishment, especially coming from a company known for making quiet, well-engineered silencers. So, is this your next suppressor purchase? Let’s take a look.

Those of you who shoot long range or frequently swap optics between rifles are in for a treat. Sport Ridge has just released a new lineup of Premium Precision Sight-In Targets in a few different varieties for a number of different firearm and optic types. The new targets are available for order now and feature a self-adhesive backing and even double-sided features depending on the type of weapon and optic you’re trying to sight in.

For competition shooters and those who just want to dress up their handguns, ZEV Technologies has just released an entirely new set of ZEV Polymer Basepads for 9mm and .40 caliber pistol magazines. The new magazine base pads will be available in Red, Black, Grey, and FDE and will increase the capacity of the magazines by 5 for the 9mm versions and 4 for the .40 caliber versions.

The ability to see your paper target or your prey makes binoculars a really useful tool for shooters. The Maven Outdoor Equipment Company recently added two new offerings to their B Series lineup, the B1.2 binocular with 42mm objective lenses and the B.6 with 50mm lenses. I got the opportunity to review the new B1.2 binocs in 10x42mm, while TFB’s Nick C. grabbed the 12x50mm to review. Maven describes the B Series of optics as being their flagship line with upgraded parts and coatings, so let’s see how they held up to their specifications.

Binoculars can seem like either an outdated or humdrum shooting or adventuring accessory to many but progress is still being made with each new variant that comes to the market. Vortex has just announced the introduction of their latest binocular offering – the Razor UHD 10×50 low light capable binoculars. The large 50mm objective lenses are what help this pair of binoculars give the user great image clarity and superb light transmission even in lower light conditions.

Hello and welcome to TFB weekly Amazon Deals 8: National Composites Week. Composites have taken on a big role in the firearms world and continue to do so as the years go by. From carbon fiber handguards, roll-wrapped barrels, and composite rifle stocks, you almost can’t avoid the part of a composite firearm in this day and age, and probably for good reason. This week we’ll be featuring some recent deals I’ve discovered on Amazon that involve composite gun parts as well as a few other odds and ends I found that was interesting.

Expanding their line of pistol slide mounted charging handles, Recover Tactical has released a more advanced version of these accessories for Glock pistols. The new Recover Tactical PCH not only provides rear extensions designed to make racking the slide easier but also a top Picatinny rail section for mounting red dot sights on the slide.

The hand stop or indexer is a popular aftermarket piece that many AR-15 users choose to run for one reason or another. I have recently used several of them to serve as a direct indexing point so that my light and IR illuminator combo is always where I expect them to be. Other people use them as a great way to bring their hand to the same place on the rifle every time so that their grip is consistent for competition purposes. Arisaka Defense has expanded their Indexer lineup to include new attachment methods for both KeyMod and LWRC compatibility making their Indexers compatible with almost any rifle currently on the market.

Welcome to TFB Weekly Amazon Deals 7: National Roller Coaster Day. Roller coasters are fun, perhaps not quite as fun as firearms though. However, these days I feel like we are often on a roller coaster within the firearms industry. With items like the Rare Breed FRT-15 being unceremoniously declared a machine gun by the ATF and the current ongoing struggle within the ammunition industry, gun owners seem to always be on the cusp of oblivion. That brings us to the theme of today’s deals – chaos. This particular list really has no rhyme or reason aside from the first item – a torque limiter. I don’t like guessing when it comes to inch/pounds torquing and a lot of manufacturers are specifying the correct torque to apply on just about every gun component  – so it’s great to have a reliable and portable torque limiter with you at the range or at home on the bench.

The cheap and affordable rangefinder has seen a lot of progress over the 25 some odd years since they were first introduced to the civilian market and X-Vision Optics has just presented yet another addition to the market. The X-Vision Optics RFP875 is a multi-purpose rangefinder that features standard, fog, golf, and hunting modes that make it an affordable and effective laser rangefinder capable of reaching out to 875 yards.

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.

Apex delivers an ever-expanding lineup of reliable and high-quality trigger kits for various types of pistols. On August 10th they announced that they would be adding a new CZ P-10 Action Enhancement Trigger Kit to their existing lineup.  The P-10 is CZ’s offering to the compact striker-fired community and is often employed as a concealed carry pistol. The new P-10 Action Enhancement Trigger Kit will still be the duty and carry capable after the modification and according to Apex, the trigger should come out as smoother, lighter, and better.

Birchwood Casey has been providing shooters with a great lineup of accessories and tools for many years. The company has just announced that they will be adding several new types of gun rests. The new lineup has shooting rests for just about any rifle or shotgun you can think of and all are currently available and in stock for immediate shipping.

I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with or at least heard of a concept called Barrel Harmonics. In short, barrel harmonics (or barrel whip) has to do with the tendency for the vibrations that a barrel experiences during each shot taken with the rifle. Barrel oscillations occur very quickly, far outpacing the speed of the bullet traveling down the barrel which means that it is very unlikely that your bullet is exiting the barrel at a neutral position. Recently, our friend Sebastian U. from Austria (Designer of the 11/22 Open Top Receiver) has been putting a lot of time and research into the concept of Barrel Tuners which are designed to counteract this effect and reduce the variance between the “troughs” and “crests” of the barrels oscillation in order to increase accuracy. He’s posted a video of his findings which give a very simple and concise overview of the concept which I found to be very helpful so I thought I would share it all with you here.

Like it or not, loading magazines (or belts) is just one of the things that one has to do before serious trigger time with any repeater. Sometimes, I like to get it out of the way ahead of time (as in prior to a high-round count match or course). Other times, I must do it at the range, especially when using a platform that I don’t have many magazines for.  With some magazines, this can be just time-consuming.  With certain magazines, this can become a chore, especially in the last few rounds to be loaded.  Thankfully, there are quite a few gadgets out there that reduce one’s loading time and/or effort.

Over the last few months, I have started going on hikes daily typically with a larger hiking pack. Hiking park trails is a great alternative exercise to running while making your body work harder. Like many others, I gained a few pounds in the days of Covid lockdowns, so this summer I really put forth an effort to shed the extra weight and get in better shape. While carrying with a large pack, it can be difficult to carry a handgun comfortably, especially if you start to get tired and fatigued. Depending on where you live and where you’re hiking, there are a few different options for carrying concealed while hiking so let’s take a deeper dive into it.

Night vision devices and related gear are starting to come into mainstream appeal with a lot of gun owners for their ability to take shooting and hunting well beyond the reach of the sun. Suunto is a Finnish company that specializes in outdoors-oriented watches ranging from GPS rigged trekking watches to their freshly released Core Alpha Stealth watch. The new watch brings to the table some incredibly durable construction, tons of mountaineering features, and even night vision compatibility for nighttime operations.