A friend of mine bought a Zero Compromise ZC527 (that means 5 to 27 power magnification) riflescope and a Spuhr mount for his Ritter & Stark 6.5 Creedmoor rifle. Before he used it himself he gave TFB the opportunity to test and review it, and the results can be found in this rather long article (2800+ words and pictures).

KRYK (pronounced “Crook” meaning; Raven) is a Ukrainian company making some pretty cool aftermarket options for firearms. (Check out their site here). TFB’s Doug E. has reviewed the same chassis for a Mosin, give it a read. I received the CRC 7R003 chassis for a Remington 700 from Raven. I was happy to see when my chassis arrived from the other side of the planet it was in excellent shape. The boxes were heavily abused however, everything was very well packaged and protected from the “handling”.

The traditional SOCP dagger ( Special Operations Combatives Program) from Benchmade should be fairly well known by this time. In 2017 we did a Photo Of The Day with it. In short, it’s a basic skeletonized dagger with a ring on the top of the handle, with the intention to allow the use with either hand and also when you’re using a firearm at the same time. There is now also a smaller version called the 173 Mini SOCP Dagger, and TFB has taken some time to evaluate it for this review.

The MATEBA Autorevolver, thanks to some media exposure, uniqueness and limited availability, has gained a cult status among firearm enthusiasts. In the anticipation of hopefully seeing newly manufactured models on the market, here we get the chance to have a close look at one “vintage” piece in the most powerful caliber.

When it comes to firearms very few have the potential or clout to disrupt an entire industry, but that is seemingly what the Springfield Armory Hellcat has accomplished. They have gone smaller in size than what was thought possible and conversely increased the capacity of your magazine at the same time. Why sacrifice capacity in an easy-to-carry sidearm when you can have both? The Springfield Armory Hellcat has been lauded by nearly everyone who has touched it in its 4 infant months of existence. From the day it was announced, TFB and TFBTV have had copies of the Hellcat to play with, carry, and form our own personal impressions. So, today I am going to share mine in this TFB Review of the Springfield Armory Hellcat. Let’s dive in!

First off, I sincerely apologize for my clickbait title – I am mostly poking fun at a site that loves to use out-of-this-world headlines. Literally. But in all honesty, the GSL Phoenix (formerly the Gemtech MK-9K) could possibly be the best submachine gun silencer ever made. Keep in mind however, like the rest of life, there is no free lunch. But before we get into the review, welcome back to the 110th installment of TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by my friends at Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the new Resonator K rifle suppressor. Fresh off of the whirlwind of SHOT Show 2020 I have stacked up a few months of reviews, starting with the YHM Resonator K, the Dead Air Nomad L, and three from GSL Technology. We’ll kick it off today with the GSL Phoenix – a grail suppressor for me ever since the MK-9K went underground.

Helmets are the standard for holding night vision goggles on your head. There are a number of manufacturers that make them. OPS-Core and Team Wendy are some of the more popular ones. For shooters on a budget, they often go with a simple bump helmet. They do not offer any ballistic protection and are sort of glorified bicycle helmets. But that’s really all you need to hold night vision on your head. MTEK USA has a ballistic and carbon versions of their FLUX helmet. However, a FLUX Bump does not exist . . . until now, thanks to PTS Syndicate.

Just a bit over a month ago I had the opportunity to visit Smith & Wesson headquarters for their release of the M&P9 Sheild EZ  9mm pistol. This is Smith & Wesson’s follow up to the highly successful 380 EZ which is marketed towards those with less hand strength. For the M&P9 Shield EZ review, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot the pistol now for much longer and I’ve put just a hair over 1,000 rounds through the gun. Now that I’ve had a bunch more experience with the handgun, I’ll share my thoughts on the new pistol and hopefully give you a better idea if the pistol is right for your carry needs.

Leading into SHOT Show 2020, Springfield Armory has announced their New XD-M Elite series of handguns all chambered in the world’s favorite cartridge of 9mm. When Springfield Armory reached out to TheFirearmBlog asking if we would like to check out one of their XD-M Elite pistols ahead of their announcement date we absolutely seized the opportunity. Who would not want to test run a heavily-upgraded, staple model like the XD-M? So, trying to suppress my excitement, it is my task to provide enough information to you so you can determine if this pistol is worth its asking price and is a true performer. Let’s dive in!

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves Reviews the NEW Zastava M70 Z-PAP AK-type rifle. The Z-PAP is the newest iteration of Zastava’s legendary M70 PAP series of AK rifles. However, unlike in the past, Zastava has taken importation of these AKs into their own hands. Zastava not only manufactures the M70 Z-PAP, but they also no longer rely upon third parties for importing and converting the rifles for 922 compliance. What does that mean for price and quality? See this review to find out.

Shooters have been utilizing camera tripods as shooting rests for a while now. The camera industry, as well as the firearm industry, has made the jump to carbon fiber to make lighter and stronger components. We will take a look at a relatively new-comer to the firearm tripod market. Colorado Tripod and their Series 2 Millennium carbon fiber tripod.

For those of you just joining us here at Friday Night Lights for the first time, welcome. This is a weekly column that focuses on shooting in the dark. Lights, lasers, night vision and thermal vision is our domain. Starting off this new year and new decade let us take a look at an entry-level thermal scope. The Pulsar Core RXQ30V is a small thermal scope that doesn’t break the bank.

A few weeks ago we reported that Impressum Media just released the 10th edition of their Firearms Guide. Intrigued by the potential of the database we availed of the opportunity of a press account to offer TFB readers an overview of the service.

UPDATE: XS Sights renamed the RAM night sights, R3D Night Sights.

Admit it. You want a laser-light combo. We all do, I mean they’re right in that sweet spot of cool and practical. Anyone who’s gone shooting at the range with a laser knows how useful of a training tool it is, and anyone who’s LARPed around their house at night knows how practical a weapon flashlight is. Or I suppose if you carry a handgun for your job, you know how functional both are. Enter the Streamlight TLR-2G.

I never thought in my day that I’d ever see another pistol chambered in 5.7x28mm. Starting its life early in the 90s as the caliber used in both the FN P90 and its close companion the FN Five-seveN, the caliber has since gone almost nowhere only being used in a handful of firearms over the years – mostly rifles. Ruger aims to change that today with the release of their new Ruger-57 pistol chambered in the high-speed miniature 5.7x28mm cartridge.

It’s taken over 20 years for a viable competitor to the Five-seveN to emerge, but it finally happened. In this episode of TFBTV, Hop shoots the new Ruger-57, to find out if it makes the FN Five-seveN obsolete.

New to the United States AK market are  Zastava Arms two new ZPAP M92 pistol variants.  With both fixed and side-folding SB Tactical braces, I was curious how these two Krinkov style pistols would preform.  Lucky for me, Zastava was kind enough to send both new variants of the ZPAPM92 over for review.

Just a bit over three years after the introduction of the LCP II, Ruger has decided to release the firearm in the widely available and easy to shoot .22 LR caliber. TFB was lucky enough to get an exclusive look at the LCP II 22 LR for testing and evaluation purposes so today we’ll go over some first impressions as well as some speculation on how well it’ll be received in the packed concealed carry market.

The Scalarworks Leap 30mm mount prides itself on being one of the lightest scope mounts on the market. When putting the Leap/07 on a scale, it weighed in at just 5.48 ounces. This is fairly impressive compared to something like the Spuhr QDP series which weighs roughly twice as much. The Leap/07 mount incorporates the ClickDrive system from other red dot mounts where users can adjust the tension through a circular thumbwheel. These thumbwheels eliminate the need for QD levers to protrude off the side of the mount creating snag points.

Unfortunately, I have never been to Alaska. But someday, I will go. In preparation for the adventure of a lifetime, like any red blooded American man, I started perusing a list of backcountry sidearms suitable for an encounter with a grizzly. I didn’t look at maps, read travel blogs, pick out activities or even price out plane tickets. Nope, I went right to work researching big-bore handguns and proper ammunition. Priorities and all that. I’ve already discussed one of my most recent backcountry purchases – a 10 millimeter polymer pistol coupled with either Underwood or Buffalo Bore hard cast bullets. But, the lure of a .44 Magnum revolver is nearly as magnetic as the Great White North. Normally preferring semiautomatics, magazine fed rounds and threaded barrels, I jumped out of my comfort zone and embraced the six shot steel life with the Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan revolver.

For the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of testing out the Longshot LR-3 target camera.  I’ve tested some other types of target cameras out before, with very poor results.  Needless to say, I went into this review with a great deal of skepticism.

It’s been a hot minute since Taurus had a full-size striker-fired pistol in their lineup, but the G3 is finally here! In this episode of TFB TV, Hop shoots the Taurus G3 to see how it compares to Taurus’ own TH9, and to find out if it can punch above its price bracket.

The addition of “King’s Gate” equipped firearms from Henry keeps rolling on.  This time, it’s one of their .410 shotguns that gets the treatment.   Already intriguing in that they are lever action shotguns that work rather well out of the box, (hit the link to see a full TFB Review of the H018-410) the addition of a loading gate in the receiver adds to their capability.  The H024-410 is Henry’s first Side Gate Lever Action Shotgun.

Shadow Systems developed a pistol that has impressed what was a rather…..skeptical eye. The Shadow Systems MR918 has been a fun review, a review that reminded me of the challenge of remaining subjective. I took this review and started my research before the pistols arrived. They claim to have taken the popular design, rethought it then rebuilt it with the goal of an out of the box EDC, full of features for under a thousand dollars. My skepticism was driven by the thought of a company just prettying up a pistol and rebranding as new and different. Lipstick on…well you know. After three months and a few thousand rounds, I can assure you Shadow Systems MR918 should not be discounted. It, in fact, should be the first considered.

Good morning everyone and welcome back to another edition of TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, home of the Turbo K2. Last week we dove into an academic exercise regarding the normalization of suppressors by the government, industry and consumers alike. The comment section was lively, with most of us agreeing that the perception of silencers, the NFA process and NFA laws need to change. In case anyone is wondering, my stance on any bans is absolute – we should focus our efforts on criminal actions, not inanimate objects. This week we are back out on the range with a IWI Galil ACE suppressed with a SilencerCo Saker and outfitted with a KNS Precision AK Adjustable Gas Piston. Thank you to both IWI and KNS for loaning me the equipment for today’s Silencer Saturday evaluation.

One of my many faults is the fact I tend to wear shoes way longer than I should. After 4 years of hard use, I finally retired my 5.11 boots and decided to look at a new pair less Tacticool. I had a few different options in mind but after trying a pair of Viktos Duty Gloves for cold range sessions, I thought they may be worth looking at. After trying out the gloves, I decided to check out a grey pair of Viktos  Johnny Combat Boots. After looking around I decided to go with the waterproof versions since it is rapidly becoming winter time here in Michigan.

The 2nd generation of the classic M&P series has finally made its way to the compact-sized pistol category. Although the general look and performance largely remain the same, Smith & Wesson has added a couple of new features to keep the M&P series pistols competitive in today’s rapidly changing market. Today we’re going to review the M&P 2.0 Subcompact.

If you recall last April, I reviewed the Weltool W3 “Featherless Arrow” flashlight. It uses a new type of illumination technology called Laser Excited Phosphor (LEP). At that time Acebeam had a competing product called the W10. On paper, the W10 was a little bit better than the Weltool W3. 250 lumens and 250k candela. Well, they have made a bigger more powerful LEP light. The W30 is a long range LEP illuminator.

In this episode of TFBTV, Hop shoots the new pistol variant of the SIG Tread M400, to see how SIG Sauer does a value AR. How does it stack up to the Ruger AR-556 as an AR, and as an AR pistol? Let’s find out!