DRD Tactical is a firearms and parts/accessories company based in upstate New York, in the small town of Lyons Falls. The impetus for their founding in 2010 was a US Government whitepaper request for a 7.62-caliber rifle that could be transported in a briefcase. The company has since developed a series of rifles based largely on two key patents from that original concept, which became the Paratus rifle they sell today. These two features are a quick barrel change system and an internal recoil system. Their current lineup seeks to leverage these components in firearms that are meant to compete with more standard versions of fighting rifles like the AR-15, AR-10, and SCAR platforms, among others.

We have seen some of Savior Equipment’s wares here on The Firearm Blog. Savior was gracious enough to send some of their latest storage solutions for us to review. One of them is definitely in their wheelhouse, it is their Specialist Covert case. Then there are their Mag Buddy magazine storage and organization mag pouches. Then there is their Pistol Rack for transporting and storing pistols.

Night Vision Devices is a Pennsylvania-based operation providing low-light optical solutions for both US and foreign governmental agencies, as well as the growing civilian night vision market. The company describes themselves as: “…the source for the highest quality US manufactured night vision binoculars, monoculars, weapon sights, night vision parts and service in the industry. Incorporated in 2005, NVD is a U.S. Veteran Owned Small Business that prides itself on being a premier manufacturer and tactical integrator of night vision binoculars, monoculars and weapon sights which are built to full MIL-SPEC qualifications. NVD is currently the third largest system manufacturer of Image Intensified (I2) night vision systems in the United States.”

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.

While SIG SAUER may be best known for their firearms, they offer a robust line of optics as well. SIG’s Electro-Optics division offers dozens of products including everything from riflescopes and red dots to weaponlights and lasers, prism scopes, standalone magnifiers, thermal sights, and more. One of their successful categories in recent years has been their rangefinder lineup. Until recently, their available options have included one rangefinding binocular option and eight models of monoculars, spanning MSRPs from $179.99 to $1,319.99. Now they’re expanding the family with one new monocular model, and the promise of more to follow. The new rangefinder is called the KILO5K, and is the first in SIG’s KILO(K) series.

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.

Firearms have been getting lighter and lighter throughout the last few years. New materials and manufacturing techniques have shaved pounds from rifles. With our fresh, new lightweight rifles, the next step is to hang a bunch of heavy crap off of them, right? Adding accessories to your rifle can quickly bring the weight right back up to arm-shaking numbers. Strike Industries has decided to take some of that weight off of one of their existing products, the OPPRESSOR. Introducing the new OPPRESSOR LITE.

Raven Concealment Systems has been cranking out holsters, magazine carriers, and related products for over a decade. Some of their noted prior offerings include items like Eidolon holsters and the Vanguard series, or their Copia mag pouches. Now they’ve released a new mag carrier, originally designed for low-profile usage to conceal AR/M4 mags under plain clothes. The main use case for the style of Raven’s new Lictor AR Magazine Pouch would be in the context of a personal security detail or armed bodyguard situation, which is where the Latin-origin name “Lictor” comes from. Check out the press release below for product details.

Texas-based Radical Firearms has grown over the years, from a hobby to a small retail store to a full-scope Title II NFA Gun Manufacturer. From their humble beginnings handling FFL transfers and assembling a small number of ARs, they now operate a full suite of CNC machines and other manufacturing equipment which allows them to produce all major firearms components in-house except for barrels, BCGs, stocks, and a few small parts like springs and pins. They source these remaining items from trusted partners specializing in those parts. Now Radical is introducing a new product: the Sinter suppressor.

Company collaborations, just like a song with Timbaland, can lead to some pretty great products. Aside from the people with no respect for safety who shoot blindly at dark shapes in their homes, we all understand the need for a flashlight. Different applications change what kind of light you need. Sometimes a handheld is the way to go, and sometimes you want your light attached to your gun. Are you clearing rooms or carrying it on your concealed pistol? For the latter two scenarios, Blackhawk has collaborated with Streamlight to bring you two lights for use with your Blackhawk holsters. These are the Blackhawk Streamlight TR-7A Flex and TLR1-HL.

FAB Defense is an Israeli-based company offering a variety of firearms accessories. Their product lines include buttstocks, grips, handgun PDW conversion kits, rails and rail attachments, magazines, and more. Their website asserts that “FAB-Defense® superior ergonomics, functionality and durability, reflects decades of design experience through continuous improvement and successive generations of weapon accessories.“ TFB has covered prior product news from this company quite a bit over the years, and a selection of some of those articles is listed for you below.

For the most part, finding a holster for your firearm is easy. If the major holster companies don’t have one, there’s some dude making them in his garage. That all changes when you add a weapon light. Some of the more popular, full-sized lights will have support, but the more recently popular compact lights do not. That’s now changing. Thanks to Safariland, Hechler & Koch VP9 and P30 shooters have several new holster options for their pistols that are equipped with a compact light.

Shooting requires protective equipment. Proper ear and eye protection are an absolute must anytime you’re going to a range day or other event that’s going to involve live fire. Too many shooters have learned the hard way that your senses are precious and damaging or losing them while enjoying the shooting sports is a tragedy that’s almost always preventable. When it comes to eye pro, there are plenty of quality, ballistic-rated options on the market from companies like Wiley X, Oakley, ESS, Magpul, and many more. Some of TFB’s prior coverage of shooting-related eye pro is listed for you below.

There are two main reasons to have a spare magazine when you’re carrying a firearm. The first is obviously more ammunition. The second is in case of malfunctions. Regardless of why you carry a spare magazine, it can be a hassle. We already have so much crap to carry on a daily basis that I see more and more people opting for smaller and more convenient systems. About as minimal as you can get, Strike Industries has released a clip that integrated specifically with their EMP. This is the Strike EMP Pocket Clip.

A few weeks ago while doing some research in the UK’s Imperial War Museum online archive I came across a couple of intriguing photos that sent me down a rabbit hole. The STEN gun is undeniably one of the iconic weapons of World War Two but most of its variants were severely lacking in the ergonomics department. The supremely utilitarian STEN didn’t really have a dedicated place to hold the front of the weapon. Some soldiers held the barrel nut, some held the trigger mechanism housing and some held the magazine itself. It wasn’t until the STEN MkV that a front pistol grip was added.

Gun parts from big-name companies can get expensive just because of the name on the package. Soft goods, like plate carriers and pouches, can have the same problem. Strike Industries has been a favorite among people who want quality gun parts for prices that are reasonable. Now, thanks to their Strike Gear line, shooters have a growing catalog of quality soft goods at reasonable prices. The newest addition to the line is the Strike Gear Hook Adapter.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world. Nothing beats heading into the weekend (or coming out of a Monday) and having a good set of reactive targets to plink at to get in some trigger time and blow off some steam. Steel targets are a great, durable and sustainable way to do this kind of practice and shooting and can often be far more affordable than steel targets designed to withstand centerfire cartridges. While thicker shooting steel can be used with rimfire firearms, they often don’t react the same due to the massive differences in power between centerfire and rimfire cartridges (mostly .22LR). Today we’ll look at some of my personal favorite steel rimfire targets currently available on the market to add to your backyard gallery.

Tyrant Designs is a CNC-machining specialty shop producing firearms parts and accessories from their home base in Chicago, Illinois. They claim to be the inventors of the original skeletonized AR-15 grips, and today they sell multiple versions of this product as well as many other parts. TFB has covered many of their prior offerings, and some examples of those are listed below. Typically, our own reviewers as well as the industry and customers at large have reacted mostly favorably, and generally regarded these products well. Now Tyrant has announced a new product coming soon: machined aluminum Glock sights. The sights appear to employ a white front blade and blackout rear configuration with their chevron-style serrated surface texturing, although it’s indicated that additional options including night sights and suppressor height versions will be added at an as-yet-unknown later date.

Emissary Development is a new name in the firearms accessory game. However, by no means does that indicate they don’t know what they’re doing. Although the company only officially launched about six months ago (at the time of this writing) and began behind-the-scenes establishment roughly six months prior to that, Emissary is actually a subsidiary brand of Milspec Retail. Milspec Retail was founded in 2014 first as a military surplus distributor/reseller and has since grown into a major retailer for many of the top brands in gun parts, accessories, and related gear. As you peruse their website today, you won’t find brands or products that most people would consider “entry-level”; it’s pretty much all top-quality stuff. Combine this with customer-centric policies like fast and free shipping or 30-day free returns, and it’s clear why they’ve enjoyed the growth and success that they have. These elements of Milspec Retail also provide insights into Emissary, since it’s an in-house brand directly under the domain of Milspec’s product team. The ideas of commitment to top-tier equipment and excellent service appear to carry through.

Last week Taurus rolled out their new GX4 sub-compact 9mm pistol so of course, some new accessories have been announced including new laser modules from Viridian and holsters from Galco and DeSantis. Check out TFB’s review of the Taurus GX4 here and Hop took a look at it over on TFBtv, check out his video here.

Guns are machines. No matter how well-made or expensive a machine is, it will break at some point. For this reason, firearms with higher round counts could benefit from having some tools and spare parts around. Batteries in electronic optics can die at inopportune times if not replaced regularly. This is a good reason to keep spares. The problem with carrying spare batteries and tools is that they’re always in my bag. If I needed my rifle off the range and had a part break or an optic die, I would be SOL. To address this problem, Strike Industries has released the Strike Pistol Grip Plug Tool Holder Insert. This allows you to carry your spares in the gun.

Telor Tactical is a Georgia-based holster company. They make holsters for all manners of concealment, as well as 40mm round carriers, masks, and even seat cushions. I was recently tasked with reviewing three of their holsters: the Comfort-Air ITW Holster, the Comfort-Air Bodyband Holster, and the Comfort-Air LE Ankle Holster. I carried each of these in rotation over the three months, and have some thoughts. Let’s get into it. 

Summer is rapidly approaching and every year I will oftentimes get bombarded with questions when it comes to carrying in warm weather. Carrying a firearm in hotter weather can have its own challenges just based on the spike in temperature during the summer months. Whether it’s concealing your firearm under just a simple shirt or dealing with chaffing or weight, having a comfortable carry every day can sometimes prove to be challenging. A common issue with summer carry for some concealed carriers is the inability to prioritize their most important carry items. Let’s dive into the basics of carrying when it comes to summer carry.

Bipods – a dear subject for me as I have a dozen of them for various applications. Swagger Bipods now have several new products available, mainly developed for hunting and competition shooting, but also for tactical purposes. A new feature I haven’t seen before is the Swagger SFR10’s ability to adjust the flex tension allowing the shooter to fine-tune the flexibility of the legs and go from flexible to rigid mode. This video shows how it’s done.

We first reported about the Smith Tactics Illuminator, a battery-powered illuminated flip-up front sight, back in February of 2020 when it was just introduced. Being a small company, Smith Tactics has since faced a lot of challenges related to setting up the production of this sight primarily due to the global pandemic, but fortunately, the company was able to overcome all the obstacles and the improved version of the Illuminator sight is now shipping.

Wearing a fully loaded plate carrier, helmet, battle belt, a rifle, and a pistol looks really cool. The problem is that that stuff gets heavy, and I’m rarely in the mood to carry it all. The other problem with all of that gear is that as a civilian, the chances of me ever using it for its intended purpose is slim. Something smaller and more concealable usually fits the bill for what I should be training with in order to be proficient with my gear. Chest rigs can be great for carrying no more than you need, and Strike Industries has entered the chest rig game with their Strike Gear Boogeyman Chest Rig and Strike Gear accessories.

I came across Dave’s Invention when he posted a video comparing a PVS-14 and a SiOnyx Aurora. The video was basic but what caught my eye was the target system he was using in the video. Dave reached out to me and we discussed his target system in more detail.

The Canik TP9 has been enjoying wild success over the last year. The feature-rich pistol with a reasonable price tag has been surprising shooters left and right. Well, with success comes aftermarket support. Like Glocks and SIGs before it, Strike Industries has introduced a plus-five Canik TP9 EMP baseplate.

It’s always nice when something truly novel comes out in the firearms industry even if it’s just the reuse of existing tools. Black Collar Arms and Klik belts have teamed up to revamp what we traditionally think of as a QD sling setup. The Klik Modular Sling is the result of this recent collaboration and it makes use of genuine AustriAplin COBRA quick release buckles as well as your standard QD mounts.

It may be hard to imagine now, but not all that many years ago, the concealed carry holster market was relatively small. Appendix IWB (Inside-the-WaistBand) carry was not broadly adopted and there weren’t vast throngs of Kydex holster makers, of widely varying qualities, plastered all over the internet. Today we’re inundated with holster choices, and AIWB is most commonly hailed as the optimal carry position/style for properly instructed shooters of everyday carry concealed handguns.