The idea of putting a red dot sight on an pistol is nothing new. IPSC shooters started doing it in the 80s, and recently pistol red dots gained a lot of popularity with certain military units, law enforcement and armed citizens who want to get more performance out of their handguns. Many people were puzzled that Aimpoint, one of the most famous reflex sight manufacturers, did not offer any pistol red dots sights, until last summer Aimpoint released a product announcement  of their new ACRO P-1 red dot sight.

There are few people in the firearms industry who do not know about the Aimpoint. Some might say their products are too expensive. Other will say that Aimpoint is very slow with bringing new products to the market, but the truth is – their quality remains to be a benchmark for other manufacturers. And new COMPM5s red dot sight seems to follow the company’s tradition – it won’t be cheap, but performance and quality should be top notch.

Despite the fact that US gun market is and will remain to be the largest and most exciting in the whole world, there are plenty of restrictions that prevent a lot of really cool guns from coming here. 1989
Import Ban on Assault Rifles effectively stops civilian versions of most modern military firearms from ever being imported for the US civilian market. And since the ban doesn’t go anywhere any time soon, the only thing you can really do is to produce a replica of a weapon stateside, and that is exactly what Kalashnikov USA did with KR-9.

Front Line Holsters is a company that has been acknowledged for their holster quality and creativity world-wide. The Israeli Secret Service employs Front Line Holsters as well as Israeli S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams. The police from the island country of Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean also trust Front Line holsters for duty. The holsters they make are not run-of-the-mill or cheap in any way. They are a higher-end fabricator of holsters and it shows in their work.

While roaming the tundra that is Shot Show I found L2D Combat. I am glad I stopped to talk. What caught my eye initially was they do custom work on Caniks. Being a fan of Caniks I stopped to checkout L2D Combat. Greeting me was Ian Heunis their CEO, and soon I learned more about their operation.  They do far more than just Canik slides. They do custom aftermarket on most major brands. Ian is passionate about quality aftermarket options and focuses on the slide and barrel. His slides are very well made and cheaper than other brands that have much less work. The machining was quality, and the Cerokote was flawless. They are damn sexy.

SCCY, known for manufacturing American made, very affordable firearms, brought their new CPX-3 to SHOT 2019.  Like the other CPX’s this one is chambered in .380, with a 1:16 twist barrel.  The CPX-3 does, of course, have a few new features.  Most prevalent is the use of the “Roebuck Quad-lock system”, a method of obtaining accuracy by having the barrel supported by four points of contact (two front and two rear) at all times.  The rear sight is adjustable via a locking screw, while previous models had fixed sights.  The sights retain the same 3-dot arrangement however.  The CPX-3 does not have a manual safety.  Unloaded weight is 15oz, and it comes with 3 magazines (older CPXs had 2) and has a capacity of 10+1.

If we were to say a pair of pants has extreme ventilation to keep you cool and breath while simultaneously affording you maximum waterproofing, it sounds like an oxymoron, right? Well, with Under Armour‘s NEW UA Adapt Pant that oxymoron is no joke, they have accomplished it!

I have been speaking with the good folks at Polymer80 for last few weeks about a possible series. I stopped by their booth at range day and found their new release. For you .45acp fans they have come through. They now have an 80% frame for the well-loved (or hated by some) Glock 21. Although it is not on their site yet, I promise it is real. They say it will be available in the next couple of months

Because I pray at the alter of all things quiet rimfire, Tactical Solutions has always been one of my favorite gun companies. Functional, accurate and sexy, their Pac-Lite pistol barrel uppers for the Ruger MKII/III line of handguns is a fantastic upgrade to a classic gun. Building off the successes of the line, TacSol has introduced the TSS integrally suppressed barrel combination as well as a new Aeris micro .22lr silencer.

In this episode of TFBTV, James speaks with Joe of Steyr to hear about the new Steyr A2 MF (Modular Frame) pistol, which is a continuation in the Steyr M2 series of polymer framed, striker-fired pistols, which are known for their very low bore axis and modular chassis. Steyr has made the gun even more modular and have integrated several improvements.

I am always glad to see a  well established manufacturer continue to refine their products as well as move forward with new ones.  From what I saw XS Sights is doing just that.  The big dot sight is certainly nothing new.  I have been using one is some form or another for almost 10 years now.  Upon stopping in at the XS Sights booth it was instantly apparent they had made some improvements since the days mine were installed.  Some of those improvements were visible, while others were at work behind the scenes.

While visiting the Wolf ammunition booth at SHOT 2019, I noticed a very unique OD green AK pistol on the wall with a Gear Head Works PSB attached to it.  This wasn’t just any AK pistol, it was a Krebs Custom.  Not just any Krebs AK, it was a prototype AK-9 pistol in 9×39 with a custom made magazine!  Leave it to Mark Krebs to have a working prototype to use Wolf’s 9×39 ammo.

We here at TFB are admittedly fans of the work going on at Kinetic Research Group.  KRG is usually one of my first stops every year to check in on the meticulously perfected FOX-42 project.  For those of our readers unfamiliar with this platform, it is a precision refinement and evolution of the Magpul Massoud concept.  See our previous reporting here for more detail on the evolution of the rifle (With much credit to Nathaniel F.).  Though KRG has thoroughly tested near-finalized versions of this rifle, They recognize that end users can detect or encounter problems that a manufacturer might not encounter.  Therefore, units are going out for extensive beta testing in Q1 2019.

At SHOT Show last year ProMag released their AR-15, AK-47 and AR-10 50 round drum mags. This year they debuted their all new 50 round drum magazine for the Glock. Their new polymer Glock drum mag is compact and light weight and fits all 9mm Glock pistols, it’s also compatible with other firearms that accepts Glock mags such as the Ruger PC9 Carbine, Kel-Tec Sub-2000, etc. The ProMag Glock drum mags have steel feed lip inserts for added durability and no tools are needed to load it.

In this episode of TFBTV, James shares a honey bun with the always-festive Mike Pappas of Dead Air to talk about a prototype Noveske Submachnegun/Pistol Caliber Carbine/Short barrel rifle that may be coming to market very soon. Dead Air’s Wolf-9SD is featured in the video as well and this suppressor is designed specifically for use on small 9m SMGs just like the impending Noveske option.

Christensen’s new Traverse, weighing 7.3-7.7lbs and $2395 MSRP, if their new rifle for 2019.  Featuring a Monte Carlo carbon fiber stock, a muzzle brake, top rail, and 6 o’clock picatinny rail, this rifle is good to go with no further upgrades needed.

X Products is known for their can cannon and their drum magazines. This year at Shot Show, they have come out with a 69rd 9mm drum for use with Glock pattern magazine fed firearms. They have also made a drum for CZ Scorpions.

Every time there is a new rifle chassis released the comments are sure -“If they only made it for this model it would be a success” combined with the most common one: -“If they only made it for a long action I would buy it“.

In this episode of TFBTV’s continuing #ShotShow 2019 coverage, James Reeves visits Chad at the Kel-Tec Booth to look at Kel-Tec’s new KS7 12 gauge shotgun, which is, essentially, a slimmed down single tube version of the super popular KSG shotgun. James also looked at Kel-Tec’s unbelievable new quad stack (!!!!) magazine 22LR pistol, the blank, which holds 33 rounds of 22 caliber in a single magazine.

The HK416 is somewhat of an icon in the firearms industry. Due to the fact the HK416 is the military/LE designation they are typically select fire and not available to civilians. Heckler & Koch has the civilian version MR556 and MR223 and are semi-auto versions of the HK416. But ask any HK fan, it is not the same. Hurricane Butterfly has imported a small batch of HK416 semi auto pistols but be prepared for some sticker shock.

Armamentos was another gem hiding amongst the rubbish typically found in the lower basement of the Sands Convention Center here at SHOW SHOW. Their banner caught my attention. They advertised a .22LR AK47 conversion kit for a stamped receiver AK.

SB Tactical has a booth down in the basement of SHOT SHOW this year. Last year they had one of those tiny kiosk stands in the Next section just outside the Press Room. I walked by to check in on what they have new for Shot Show. Well they have a prototype of their new MP5 collapsing brace here at SHOT SHOW. It is called the HKPDW brace.

MarColMar has been hard at work.  After 2 years of effort, and 2 million dollars spent in production, their CETME-L reproductions are shipping out to customers.  These are full guns, not a kit that you have to weld, bend and pin together at home.  These feature new CHF nitrided 1:7 twist barrels and brand new 600 ton stamped flats made in-house at MarColMar.  They are fully 922(r) compliant because the only use 8 imported parts: The hammer, sear, guide rod, front sight tower, rear sight, bolt, rollers, and flash hider.  

What do you get when you mix together an AR and a M14/M1A rifle? The new MK 36 rifle from Overmatch Precision Arms. They’ve actually been working on this rifle for a while, it was originally called the Osprey MK36 rifle and was being developed by Osprey Armament which is now Overmatch Precision Arms. The rifle is finally finished and will be released very soon.

New for 2019, The Crackshot XBR Arrow Firing Rifle, Ironically from Traditions firearms, is indeed a “rifle” that fires arrows.  The “Firebolt” arrows are loaded onto a 27-caliber 21″ tube inside of a 22″ outer sleeve.  The user then breaks the action and inserts a .27 caliber “Powerload” (What AC/DC would otherwise call a blank), closes the action, and cocks the hammer.  The Crackshot is then ready to fire an arrow with your choice of tip at 385fps, and has a lethal range of 70 yards.

In this episode of TFBTV’s continuing #SHOTShow coverage for 2019, James visits the LMT booth on the SHOT Show floor to check out their newest integrally suppressed close quarter battle AR-15 as well as their new 37 mm and 40 mm grenade launchers, including an unbelievably compact shorty 40 stand-alone launcher.

I’ll start off the visit to my friends at Yankee Hill Machine with a caveat you’ve heard before: my long range shooting consists of everything up to and including 100 yards. So let’s do the 50K foot overview of YHM’s new MARC chassis, then we’ll work on getting one into the hands of a long range specialist here at TFB.

In this episode of TFBTV’s #SHOTShow 2019 coverage, James Reeves speaks with Marc of DSA about their exciting new product, the Israeli FAL. The Israeli FAL is renowned as one of the best FAL variants and served the Israeli military faithfully in several conflicts. They are very rare to find as complete rifles. These FALs are made with Israeli parts kits on DSA receivers to Israeli military spec and are very reasonably priced in the appx. $1,500 price range. These are limited edition guns and should be very popular FAL variants.

Today on TFBTV’s #SHOTShow2019 coverage, James Reeves checks out the FightLight booth on the show floor. While FightLight first announced the MXR SMG in 2017, it’s reached its final form and is ready for production in April of 2019. Mike tells us the fine details, but we’ve also got FightLight’s press release below:

When I saw I had received NEMO arms as one of my range day assignments I was both excited and not at the same time.  I was looking forward to shooting their .300 win mag. extra-large frame AR, but at the same time I knew my job here at SHOT with TFB was to report on the new hotness, of which I though NEMO had none.  Once again it goes to show “you don’t know what you don’t know.”