Having been working on creating what is to me the “ultimate general purpose carbine,” I stumbled across a small company named Cloud Defensive as I was looking for the best method to mount and employ a Surefire flashlight. Their LCS is a nifty little solution to the infamous wire management problem that plagues weapons when mounting up lights, lasers, etc. (For those interested, check that out here).

Prepper Gunner and Manticore Arms collaborated together and are giving what the masses have been demanding for over a year. Metal reinforced feedlip magazine similar to a Lancer magazine like you see for the 5.56 AR mag and MPX magazines.

Tim Harmsen of Military Arms Channel posted a brief sneak peek of a prototype magazine loader coming out by ETS Group. It functions similar to the B&T MP5 loader we saw last year. Those types of loaders work just fine for double stack magazines like the MP5. Even the Scorpion Evo has a mag loader. However that loader does not work for pistol magazines like Glock mags. Ramming ammo into a pistol mag that goes from double to single stack is not an easy solution. We saw something posted by Ray called SmitLoad Glock Mag loader. The ETS mag loader can supposedly laod any 9mm magazine, according to Tim Harmsen. He does not elaborate on this but I assume he means 9mm handgun magazines. Hopefully we will find out more next week at SHOT Show.

This year Aero Precision is refocusing the company back on the R&D track, specifically with some new handguard sections and upper receiver combinations. The new handguards have picatinny sections that are only at the forward end of the 3 and 9 o’clock rail positions, allowing a decrease in weight and space. QD attachment points are added to the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions as well, all just forward of the chamber. In addition, Aero Precision was showcasing the monolithic upper receiver, with a detachable handguard portion that allows shooters to swap out handguard sections for their own liking. Also on hand was Ballistic Advantage, a subsidiary of Aero Precision that manufactures rifle barrels.

I first found MantisX at the NEXT pavilion last year at SHOT, and was actually given one to play with immediately. Since then it has become a part of my dry fire training regimen.

Caldwell released a new universal pistol magazine loader as part of the Mag Charger line. Magazine loaders are a popular accessory. Speed loaders sell well to the new shooter that has trouble stuffing rounds into high cap mags and also the seasoned shooter that has many magazines to load and needs to give the thumbs a break from loading.

At Media Day on the Range we visited Tracking Point and shot their latest precision-guided rifles. New this year they’ve got a 300BLK model, and were demoing a set of Knights Armament SR25 rifles that have been outfitted with Tracking Point technology for use with Air Force para-rescue units.

CMC Triggers has teased a brand new GLOCK trigger product on their Facebook social media page. The teaser pics of the trigger indicate a flat trigger design with the standard GLOCK-style, inside-the-trigger safety tab. The CMC trigger has a unique 90 degree kick out at the bottom of the trigger designed for “speed and leverage”, according to CMC. CMC has refused to leak the trigger weight numbers, but they claim a marked improvement over the factory GLOCK trigger. The actual trigger part of the CMC GLOCK trigger is obviously machined metal as is the safety tab, as opposed to the stock GLOCK polymer trigger and safety.

I had the pleasure of first encountering Triumph System’s Pivotal Trainer and Threat/No-Threat targets at the CAA/Hartman Event last month. They provided a very different experience that just shooting on a flat paper target.

There are a lot of companies making Kydex holster and products, but none seem as eager to rapidly meet the needs of the industry as L.A.G Tactical. Walking around during Range Day, I had the pleasure of visiting the L.A.G Tactical booth and getting a look at their products.