Recently, I had the opportunity to shoot the Desert Brutality match outside Phoenix, AZ. Organized by Ian and Karl from InRangeTV, Desert Brutality was a two-day match that amplified the physicality of a normal 2 Gun match. It was a fantastically fun match and the video below gives you a great look at what a 2 Gun match is all about.

I will be attending TNVC’s Night Fighter: Armed Professional at the Alliance Police Training Facility. This course is designed to increase the student’s night vision skillsets during real world operations. The course will be a combination of some live fire and some simunition engagements with evolutions covering team movement, communication, movement to target, stealth search and contact, target discrimination, vehicles, and CBRN integration. The course is for armed professionals who already possess a basic understanding of low-light/ no-light operation and is a restricted course for active duty Military, Law Enforcement, Security Personnel, and highly vetted civilians.

Thanks to my friend Ben, he alerted me to this rare piece of retro gaming collecting. My friend collects rare video game items and in the world of Super Nintendo (SNES) the Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator (M.A.C.S) is one of the top 5.

We previously covered the Marine Corps M27 in last weeks episode and will be really getting into the weeds here in terms of some of the issues and benefits the weapon system afforded to Infantry Marines. Topics such as the choice of magazines for the automatic rifle, why it was so accurate and reliable, even dummy-cording the Squad Day Optic (SDO) to the rifle so it doesn’t fall off while in the field. The current version of the M27 took care of some of these problems but left others intact.

Our second installment of TFB’s new Friday Night Lights Series is focused on skill building with some of the best weapons handlers from the military, law enforcement, and civilian training circles. The set of SUREFIRE Field Notes videos on YouTube is an excellent way to spend a few minutes watching and listening to professionals as they talk about light manipulation, drills and the mastery of old and new techniques alike. Fans will appreciate the expansion of the ‘Field Notes’ series to twice its previous frequency.

I found this photo on US Army WTF! Moments Facebook page. This soldier is using an unorthodox shooting position. Yes that is a female soldier and please keep your comments clean and appropriate. The position is apparently called Freak Show Prone and was created by Pat McNamara

A few years ago I went to the Vehicle and Darkness D3 course with Haley Strategic. At this course, students learn how to fine-tune fundamentals while manipulating lights and shooting in and around vehicles. A vehicle ballistics lab was also very informative. After the course, I realized how detailed and intricate these scenarios could get. I would have been very surprised to find a course that could top the knowledge I had learned over those three days.

Cool Fire Trainers is a handgun training product company that emerged out of training for competitive handgun shooting. They have rifle training system (more geared to LE carbine use), but it belongs to a separate company and isn’t apart from Cool Fire Trainer line of products. The Cool Fire Trainer works by removing the barrel in your handgun, and switching it out with one of theirs. Their barrel is essentially a compact C02 tank in the proper dimensions of a barrel. You use your own magazines with dummy round contoured at an angle that lets the slide operate without the slide catch being engaged. There is a laser within the system that is engaged when the handgun is dry fired so shooters can see the impact of their “round” on a target. At the same time, the C02 is cycling the handgun, replicating the recoil, and also cycling the action. The idea is to have the ability to dry fire with similar recoil impulse to train for competition with your own firearm and your own magazines. A neat point about the laser is that it can be calibrated to the impact of the round, unlike many other dry fire laser barrels that simply have a laser in the center of the barrel and cannot be calibrated.

At Shot Show 2018, TFBTV’s Corey Wardrop discusses new technology and business solutions with Action Target. Kevin, Vice President of Engineering and Marketing, tells us how their company can help get your business past the idea phase, and into design, equipment planning, installation, service, and support.

The Ryker FIST Grip is a new take on Picatinny mounted forward grips. Instead of being mounted at the 6 o’clock position like virtually every other forward grip on the market, the RYKER is designed to be mounted at the 3 or 9 o’clock of any firearm that has Picatinny rails on the handguards. Interestingly this includes pump-action shotguns with Picatinny equipped shotgun forends. The grip can be altered for a left or right-handed configuration by simply disassembling it and reversing the direction of the grip placement on the Picatinny rail adaptor.

This “Female Gun Owner” series has focused on various aspects of concealed carry and firearms in general which I didn’t expect or hadn’t planned for. (View article 1, article 2, and article 3 here.)
Each article delves deeper into things that never crossed my mind as a woman feeding my ever-growing firearms addiction.

Vitaly Kryuchin is the president of IPSC Russia. You have probably seen him in videos where he makes music by shooting at different steel targets dual wielding and hip firing two Glock pistols. If you haven’t seen these videos, you can watch them by clicking here and here.

WarLeaks recently published a video on their Youtube channel showing Ukranian Paratroopers of the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade in a live fire range shooting modified DShKs. This footage is actually U.S. DOD footage shot during Rapid Trident 2017, a multinational (U.S., Ukranian) training exercise that took place in September of this year. However, this isn’t the first time this has been done in the Ukraine, with a video a year older showing volunteer forces training with the same modified DShK as in the War Leaks video.

Chen Lee, aka SMG LEE, recently shared this photo of a target that he saw in Taiwan. According to my wife, the top right says “Holding gun mode, Half Person target”. The bottom right says “Made by Security Police Number 1 Team”

Marine Systems Command is currently testing and looking to put out a solicitation for a next-generation “Miles-like” system that will replace current training simulators that allow Infantry Marines to train more realistically by being able to engage each other with laser designators that activate alarms on other individuals when set. MILES gear currently is outdated and is known to not be the most effective training tool in the world when it comes to ground combat operations in the field. Early versions could be completely switched off, were unreliable at times, and operated on VHF frequencies.

On November 8th, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the organization that houses the excellent Cody Firearms Museum, announced that Timney Triggers has decided to donate $500,000 to CFM’s reconstruction effort.

There have been many occasions where we roll our eyes at people trying to roll on the ground when utilizing firearms. Other than parkour urban terrain maneuvering it is useless and dangerous to the shooter or anyone nearby.  However I think I have found the exception to that rule. Here is a practical application of the ninja roll.

Houston Shaw of Sofrep TV takes on 4 spinning texas stars. Two on either side of a double star. Houston shoots the left and right stars first then the rear star and finally the star in front of the middle one.

We previously covered some personal opinions on such concealed carry topics as holster requirements, self-defense options, among some others. In this second article, we will continue to cover some concealed carry techniques and attitudes that have worked well for me, and I hope will be useful to our readers. Please chime in at the bottom if you have anything not mentioned that has been of particular use to you.

We’ve covered a number of products and some techniques when it comes to concealed carry at TFB, but something that I think is important are certain methods and practices that make carrying a concealed firearm safer and more efficient. The following are several points that I’ve come up with in my personal experience that I know for certain have helped me, and I hope they can help readers in their quest to be a more well rounded and responsible armed citizen. By no means is this list exhaustive, definite, or might not even work for certain folks. I myself am constantly changing techniques, strategies, products, etc… And by all means, if you have found things that work for you, please share it in the comments section, or critique what I have here.

The dramatic rise in number of firearms being purchased by women across the country today is undisputable.

Instructor Zero posted up this photo of a new low light stance that he has developed. I dabble in flashlight/firearm manipulation and question the validity of this new stance. I tried to keep an open mind and asked him what problem does this stance solve where other stances failed. He did not reply but posted a 35 minute video about this stance.

We have seen many examples of other countries’ firearm training that involved firing a live gun at a fellow officer or soldier. Here is another one from China.

The  1/6 “Hard” Über Squad that Marine Infantry Gunner (WO5) Wade put into motion some months ago has taken on Golf Six, a live fire range in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. 1/6 is trialing several new pieces of kit, most importantly M27 IARs as a standard squad issued rifle, in addition to suppressors mounted to an entire squad’s weapons. Not discussed earlier but seen here is the addition of new ballistic helmets, squad level communications with every Infantryman, and a new plate carrier separate from currently issued ones. Alongside this Über squad were photographs of other squads that weren’t as lucky to receive all the latest in gadgets and gear.

Practical Applications posted a rare occurrence and managed to capture it on video. A shooter was shooting an indoor match when a loose round exploded in his pocket.

Infantry Marines from Battalion Landing Team 3/5 aboard the 31st MEU are currently participating in Talisman Saber 2017, a joint U.S. and Australian training exercise working on the amphibious and warfighting capabilities of both forces. However, more than a standard bilateral training exercise, the “Dark Horse” Battalion is involved in a testing regime called SEA DRAGON 2025. The Marines are testing numerous technological advances in addition to the reliability of PMAGs in their live fire and patrolling. The PMAGs were approved earlier by a number of Marine Gunners, hoping to increase reliability and reduction of weight on the infantrymen. Specifically, with 3/5 it appears that only the Infantrymen are being issued a full combat load of PMAGs and not any of the supporting elements such as the Combat Engineers that are attached. The particular PMAGs in question are the Gen3s, which can actually fit in the M27 IAR’s magazine well, unlike earlier versions of PMAGs. This was one of the sticking points about the polymer magazines when the M27 was first introduced and why they were eventually banned within the infantry. DVIDS has a number of photographs that showcase this effort, and we pulled photographs from the website for this post.

Recent screen grabs from Chinese television have indicated that the 5.8x42mm QBZ 95-1 service rifle is being fielded among PLA soldiers with picatinny rails and assorted optics. Specifically, the unit shown is an Airborne unit preparing for an Airborne Platoon 2017 competition among the armed forces. Earlier we’ve covered the development of the QBZ 95-1 with some experimentation with picatinny and even keymod, in addition to the overall development of the QBZ 95-1. Chinese Military Review has an excellent article on this development, although much of that information appears to have been early designs that haven’t entered full service among PLA troops.

We first reported on the Podavach magazine loader in January this year, mentioning that it had some unique features in an industry saturated with “unique”. First and foremost, more than a simple magazine loader, it incorporates a multi-caliber design, with layout options for 7.62x39mm AKM patterned magazines, 5.45x39mm AK74 patterned magazines, .300 BLK and 5.56x45mm patterned magazines. The ability to not only load multiple calibers but more importantly the two most common rifle magazines so prevalent within numerous military, law enforcement, and civilian sectors isn’t something to not take lightly, given its potential.

An Israeli Defense Force platoon leader was recently fatally shot when he was working with his soldiers on a training scheme, involving simulating a knife-wielding attacker. Unfortunately for the platoon commander, Lieutenant David Golovenchick, one of his soldiers did exactly as he was supposed to and promptly shot his PL with his service rifle which lead to wounds that proved to be fatal. From the Haaretz news source–

Immediately following the Winchester Arms Collectors Association Annual Show in Cody, Wyoming this weekend, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Cody Firearms Museum will be hosting a firearms symposium that boasts an impressive cadre of presenters from the firearms collecting world. The first day (Monday, July 17th 2017) is open to the public with free admission. The second day is reserved for firearms museum professionals.