The Strike Industries Glock Rail. Replaces the striker retainer plate on the Glock and is secured further by set screws in the rail. Also has an optional slide racker.
I swear I had this idea, about 6 months ago. Right down to the slide racker. Except the rail didn’t ride atop the slide, but behind it so that an optic would be at about the same height as the iron sights (it also allowed for co-witnessing).
Should I start wearing a tin-foil hat?
For the past few months, I’ve been shooting Tac Optics in MultiGun. If you’re not familiar with MultiGun rules, Tac Optics allows for only one optic on the rifle. Which is fine if you’re only shooting at 5-100 yards. Or 100-500 yards.
But the thing is, we usually shoot from 5-500 yards. What do you do for an optic?
Many choose to use a simple 1-4x scope. Personally, I don’t like screwing around with a magnification ring during a stage, even with a “Cat-Tail” such as the MGM SwitchView. And I suck at shooting long-range targets, so the more magnification I can get, the better.
Dueck Defense RTS
Barry Dueck, champion 3-gunner, former Marine and head of the Suppressor division at Surefire, dreamed up the solution. Basically, he took a standard A2 sight, and CNC’ed it out of one piece of aluminum in a manor that’d mount at a 45º angle.
Now, angled sights are nothing new. Open Division 3-gunners had been mounting C-mores on JP forearms since they were invented. JP themselves sell a “Short Range Tactical Sight” to mount on the angled slots on their forearm. But until now, nobody’d thought of mounting a real rifle sight at an angle. The result is a sight that is just as accurate as shooting an iron-sighted A2-style rifle, as easy to transition to as flicking your wrist.
I’ve been running them since MultiGun nationals (October of last year), switched them out for a Burkett mount twice, and they’ve kept their zero. I now run them with a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14x scope on top of the rifle. I shot a match with that setup yesterday and it worked great (I didn’t but the setup did). I shoot everything out to 75 yards with the Dueck sights, then use the Burris for anything farther. Anything from 75-100 yards I use the 4.5x setting, and farther out I go all the way to 14x.
Cons
As with anything, the Dueck sights have their drawbacks. Actually it has a drawback: price. The sights go for $239.00 from Brownell’s. And actually if you think about it, that’s not much compared to a comparable setup. A pair of offset mounts from costs around $55.00 and a set of fixed A2 sights will cost around $160. So for $210 you can get a set of offset sights that won’t be the same height above the bore as a regular rifle. Or pay $20.00 more and get the Dueck sights.
Colt has introduced two new rifles designed specifically for 3-Gun competition. Let me just say, they look cool!
The real difference between the two is the cost. The top rifle MSRP’s for $1900, the bottom is $1400.
The top rifle (the Expert I) is totally optimized to be the perfect 3-Gun rifle, with the absolute best components. Starting from the front, a Surefire comp, that also serves as a QD suppressor mount. Colt 18” Match grade barrel with really neat Ball Endmill flutes (the most important part of the rifle, because of the CDI factor). Samson Evolution rifle-length free-float handguard. Very well-fitted upper/lower receivers, a Geisselle Super 3-Gun trigger, and a Magpul MIAD grip/CTR stock.
The bottom rifle (Expert II) is built using less expensive (but still excellent quality) components. The comp is a Miculek-style, just as effective as the Surefire. The barrel is still a Match Grade 18” barrel, but not fluted. The forearm is a Hogue free-floating aluminum tube, carbine-length (which means you won’t be able to get your arm out as far on the rifle). It uses the same receivers and Geiselle trigger. Hogue rubberized grip and Magpul MOE stock.
Another noteworthy feature of the new pony rifle is the gas block. It is a 24-position adjustable model, so you can limit the amount of gas flow to just what’s needed to work the bolt. To my knowledge, this is the only factory rifle (short of a JP) that has an adjustable gas block.
Front end of the Expert I. Note the gas adjustment know peeking out from under the handguard. Also note the barrel flutes, which increases accuracy by 0% but coolness by 200%.
Group shot with the new rifle. Colt guarantees sub-MOA groups, and includes a test group shot with YOUR rifle off the bench in each case. This group was shot with rack-grade 55 grain bullets. The 1-8” twist barrel stabilizes everything from 55 to 75 grain bullets.
From Crosman. Feeds BBs from a magazine or .177 pellets through the chamber.
And today I got to tear down the SHOT Show multigun because all of the build crew’s two weeks of work attracted this:
Stormy with a steady 40mph wind out at the range. Gusts up to 80mph. And lots of rain.
Oh well, we’ll put it all up again and shoot it tomorrow. 10 or 15 out-of-town shooters said they could stay, and we’ll probably get 20-30 locals.
Rock River has come out with an AR in 7.62x39mm. Most well-studied AR gunsmiths know that the AK round has a taper that doesn’t function well with the AR magazine design.
So, some bright spark at RRA went :
Thereifixedit.
The lower takes an AK mag. Of course, it means you’re stuck with the AK “rock-n-lock” reload, but you have to give a little to get a little.
From Rock River Arms. RRA used to make both nice 1911s and ARs, but had to drop the 1911s in 2008 when the AR explosion hit. Obviously, they are re-entering the market with a bang!
The frame is polymer, which doesn’t translate well into grainy iPad photos. They should come out in 3-4 months, but only in a 5″ .45. I will have to get one to build the lightest ever 1911 carry gun!
More new stuff from Magpul:
Colt M16A4 in Magpul garb: featuring the new MOE A1/A2 fixed stock:
Also note the new MagLink for Pmags:
Mosquito (.22) in MultiCam. Looks cool!
Also had a really great trigger (both DA and SA).
VLTOR has come out with a new line of accessories for the FN SCAR platform.
ar-15 stock adapter
Modular rail system extension. Looks great for those who shoot the SCAR in 3-Gun!
Magpul has come out with a new line of stocks and forends for shotguns. It looks like it’s for the Remington 870, but they might make it for the Mossberg too. Their booth was packed beyond belief, so I snapped this grainy photo through a window 
Looks cool to me, I might just have to do another 870 project!
This has got to be one of the coolest things at this year’s SHOT show. It’s from Crosman, and it’s called the MAAR, or Modular Adaptive Air Rifle. Pop it onto your AR lower and you can use your trigger, controls, etc. as a pellet gun. Holds 10 rounds in a rotary clip (NOT a magazine, an honest-to-goodness CLIP), and it’s bolt action. Also has a MIL-STD flattop rail if you want to mount an optic.
Crosman seems to be marketing it more towards NRA Air Rifle shooters, but I think it’d be awesome for 3-Gun training in the backyard. It’s real easy to hose through short-range paper with some Dueck Defense sights, but not so easy when you have to settle down and make a 400 yard shot. Take a 4” plate out to 50 yards and practice trigger control! Set up a course and work through different positons!
Right now the price is set at around $600, but I suspect that will change. Or not, I honestly don’t know what a good PCP air rifle costs.
Yet another cool shotgun here at SHOT Show.
It’s the C-more Competition M26 M.A.S.S. magazine-fed 12-gauge. It is a slide-action as opposed to a semi-auto, but it doesn’t use a conventional forearm-style pump. Instead it has a charging handle on the left side of the receiver. That’s because it’s designed to do this:
That’s mounted beneath an M4, for breaching doors. I think it’s been adopted by the military in this form, but I’m not sure. The underbarrel/Short Barrel Shotgun version has been around for several years, but has only been available to military/law enforcement customers. This year, they’re selling to the general public. You can get the one of the 18″ models, or apply for a tax stamp, wait a few months, pay $200, and get an underbarrel/SBS model.
future plans
C-more does plan on making a semi-auto version, which really has me stoked. The C-more guys are competitors (they make the most popular red-dot for competition) and I am told that their will be a 3-gun optimized variant.
Blogging from the Main Floor:
Julie Golob and I at the S&W booth. She also signed a copy of her new book, Shoot!
Randi Rogers and I at the Glock booth.
Max Michel and I at Sig
Travis Tomasie demonstrates a good draw and reloads. This is him starting off slow (I’m not kidding!
At the Crimson Trace booth. Nifty laser adjustable for ranges out to 250 meters. How you see a laser dot at 250 meters is beyond me.
At the Palco Sports booth.
Tanfoglio licensed CO2 airsoft. Pretty much a clone of Eric Grauffel’s (possibly the best IPSC shooter in the world) open gun. Dang nice trigger, especially for an airsoft. I got to run it on their reactive target range, with The Man himself looking over my shoulder!
The target system is pretty neat. You program a sequence (or just use a random one), hit the button, and a small LED lights up in the center of the target. Hit the target and the next one flashes. Slick. The whole system runs from $1000 to $1400, depending on the amount and type of targets you want.
This could be a really useful training tool for police departments that don’t have a lot of range access or training budget. It’d also be fun for airsoft stores that let you “try before you buy”.
At the RAAC booth, SHOT 2012
Also has a left side charging handle, which comes in handy with less-lethal munitions that don’t cycle the action.
Testing the wordpress IPad app that I will be blogging on at the SHOT show.
Photo test
I built this STI Spartan for the Utah State USPSA Championship raffle. It drew the majority of the tickets, and brought a fair bit of profit to the club (I can’t remember how many we sold).
I set this gun up to be the perfect gun for USPSA Single Stack division. And really, it wasn’t that hard (It only took me one evening). All it takes are good aftermarket parts.
Custom Work
The Spartan is STI’s budget 1911, coming in at around $700.00. It’s basically a Rock Island .45 (or 9mm) imported from the Philippines, but with STI internals. All it needs to become a Single-Stack racegun is:
Trigger Job
The trigger job I did came in at 2.5 lbs., drop in. I will detail that in a separate post, since it’s pretty noteworthy. The total parts cost came to $71.00
Grips
The grips I used were the AlumaGrips that are used with the TechWell I added to the gun (See Below). The checkering is a nice sharp machine-cut job, 16 Lines Per Inch. In the future, I will treat some grips with a gritty epoxy mixture of AcraGlas gel and Extra-Coarse Aluminum Oxide. The grips and the magwell are priced below.
Magwell
My favorite accessory for a Single Stack 1911, either for competition or tactical use, has got to be the TechWell. It’s a magazine well that fits into a slot under a specially made pair of AlumaGrips or Mil-Tac G10 grips. They’re offered 4 sizes (I got the SP) and in a variety of colors, but Brownell’s only carries Black and Silver (only on the TGO model). It’s really wide and blended right into the frame of the Spartan. The Techwell SP cost $160.00 from Brownells. The price seems a little high, but remember it includes the grips as well (which I’d probably buy anyway, they’re nice grips!). They also fit in the IDPA box, making it legal for CDP division (or ESP in 9mm).
Front Sight
The front sight on the spartan is a very weird one. It’s pretty thick and the fiber is located near the bottom of the post (not centered like most sights). I found that distracting when I brought the gun up on target. I also prefer a thinner front sight for a USPSA gun, say .100 wide. Dawson Precision offers one that’s just right for $40.00
Conclusion
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that I just built the perfect USPSA Single Stack gun for only $971.00 and an evening’s work. The actual cost for this gun was less because I didn’t add the front sight (didn’t know about the weird factory one in time) and because sponsors graciously gave us a reduced price.
Special Thanks To
STI International, Who gave us a great discount on the gun for our raffle. They also make the best stock 1911s on the planet.
Brownell’s, Inc. Larry Weeks, a USPSA CRO and Brownell’s Marketing Director, graciously offered to provide the parts at no charge. Unfortunately, I didn’t give him enough notice and so I had to order the parts myself. My fault.
Shooter’s Connection/Mike Foley They offer a discount for members of the Brian Enos forum. I ordered some of the parts from them (I cannot remember which) and saved some $$$. Thanks!
My mother, who just got her Concealed Carry Permit, went out with my Dad today to try some different options for carry guns. Among them a Ruger LCP, Kel-Tec PF-9, his Kimber Stainless II (9mm), and a Beretta Tomcat (the gun James Bond used in the earlier books).
When she tried the Beretta Tomcat .32 acp, this happened:
From Beretta’s web page on the Tomcat :
“ Contoured Tang. Top of the grip area is precisely curved and relieved to snugly accommodate the shooter’s hand, thus protecting the thumb web from being pinched by the slide and increasing the pistol control upon firing.”
Back to the drawing board on that one, eh guys?
As an aside, she tried the SIG P238 at Sportsman’s Warehouse and really liked it. Now she has to pick which finish she wants.
