Brian Jensen

Building an AR is a great way to learn more about the platform, and move from a casual enthusiast to a more informed and invested member of the gun community.

The AR-15 and its many versions are considered “America’s Rifle” for a reason.  (Although the true meaning of the abbreviation “AR” stands for “Armalite”, the initial company that built the platform.)  It’s not only the civilian version of the weapon our troops carry into the field.

California is seen by many as a great place to visit, vacation, and see the sights with its beaches, mountains, and parks.  But for those in the Gun Rights community, it is seen as the worst-case scenario. 

Meopta’s sight called the M-RAD, or Meopta Rapid Acquisition Dot, reflex sight looks similar to many high-end reflex optics, but what stands out is that it is quite a bit smaller. At first glance, I thought it was a pistol sight but then realized it is a combat rifle setup. The M-RAD weighs 3.07 ounces (or 105 grams), compared to an EoTech XPS that weighs 8 ounces, but it is solidly made of aluminum. The unit is strong, and the reticle itself is surrounded by an aluminum frame for protection from being banged around. Weight is important because after hours or days of carrying a rifle around, you will find that trimming off every ounce you can is a huge benefit. It comes equipped with a picatinny mount that quickly attached with a lever/cam-style mount that was very effective and kept it on tight. It released easily, and seemed to keep zero well. The M-RAD is easy to operate with one simple button, and the system is waterproof and compatible with night vision technology. The extremely useful support package supplied with the sight holds everything, including tools, spare batteries and cleaning supplies for the optic. There are additional spacers to raise the sight higher for a proper sight picture, tools to adjust the sight and even a specially designed screwdriver for opening the battery compartment. Overall, this is a smaller unit that is both rugged and lightweight, and it performs well.

For years there has been something of a Glock Unicorn. It’s been called a hybrid Glock .45 ACP pistol made from the thin slide of a Glock 36 and the wide body frame of a Glock 30. According to the Internet forum mavens, you end up with a high capacity Glock (10 rounds) with the thinner slide of a the subcompact (and only 6 round) G36, making it lighter and easier to carry. But unlike Unicorns, this wasn’t a myth. People actually did it. They bought two guns and cobbled them together since, just because they could. Glock fanatics have wailed and begged for such a gun to be made in production, but Glock seemed to not hear the call.

Then, at the 2013 SHOT Show, I saw a Unicorn, uh, I mean a Glock 30S – the very gun that consumers wanted. I wanted to know the “why” behind this, and after talking to LAPD Staff, Glock Representatives, and people in the industry I found out how an internet forum phenomenon became a regular production pistol.

In the Law Enforcement Market, the weapon mounted light is pretty much standard. That’s because when you carry a gun for a living you owe it to yourself to have a light ready for things like searches of a dark room, etc, and it’s better to have that light mounted to your gun to keep your off-hand free. Weapon lights have also gained wide acceptance in the civilian world as well, but when you don’t depend on something for survival, it is difficult to spend over $300 for what is really just a flashlight.

What you may not know is that most law enforcement officers buy their own gear, and a lot of them have discovered that the UTG/Leapers lights are good enough. They may not be as bright as a SureFire or Streamlight, but they aren’t that bad either. A lot of LED patents expired in the early 2000s so we now have a host of new lights that don’t use an incandescant bulb but “Light Emitting Diodes” instead, or LEDs. They put out a tremendous amount of light at a fraction of the battery drain. One set of batteries in my new LED light outlasts five sets in my old incandescant light, and they don’t break as easily either. These new lights are now part and parcel of the tactical light world.