GunsAmerica Blog Product Reviews – Accessories and Gun Related items

I stopped at Medford Knife and Tool (MKT) at the end of SHOT Show, when many exhibitors were already tearing down their booths. The Medford booth, however, was surrounded by fit young men with short haircuts, talking about and ordering knives. There are two things I have to say about Medford knives: (1) they’re expensive – in the $400 to $1,200 range, and (2) they’re worth it! How can a knife be worth that much? That’s what I asked the owner and designer, Greg Medford. Greg is a prior US Marine, airshow pilot, airplane builder and master level Martial Arts and CQB instructor. Medford Knife is the culmination of all this experience.

Otis’s Ripcord has been out for a few months. If you’ve pulled one of these things through a gun barrel, then I may be preaching to the choir. They’re fantastic. The Ripcord does in one pass what a lot of brushes and mops together only wish they could do. The fit is tight. The pull itself takes a bit of muscle. But the results are really astounding.

After four days drooling over the smorgasbord of guns at SHOT Show, it occurred to me that it might be a good idea to look at some bigger gun safes! I found just what the doctor ordered at the Liberty Safe booth. I’m telling you, if it has to do with shooting, chances are it’s here. Wish you could walk around the show with us to take it all in, and that’s why we do these videos – to share as much as we can with you. For the sake of full disclosure, you should know that I already have a smaller Liberty safe at home. It probably makes me biased, but at least it’s based on years of personal experience. Liberty makes great safes at a fair price, and the customer service is excellent. The safe we videoed is the Liberty Fatboy 64, the number one selling safe in America. In addition to the great paint job, this safe is set up to hold 64 guns. The tops of the middle shelves can be lifted to store more long guns or left in place to store handguns, valuables, important documents and so forth. You won’t have to worry about thieves walking out the door with it either. It weighs 915 pounds. Liberty has an optional Safe Alert security device which monitors your safe when you’re away. It will send an alert directly to you if anyone tampers with it. And get this – the monitoring service is free! Liberty sells 25,000 Fatboys a year because it’s not only a great safe, it’s a great value. Check it out.

Steel targets are usually not all that exciting. You lug them to the range, set them up and make them ring, but that is about it. Enter Action Targets. They have a number of targets that bring more action to your range time. From their flip-around Dueling Tree to the Rimfire Spinning Jack, Action Targets provide for more interactive reactive targets. But they have upped the game with what might be the coolest Action Target to date.

There are countless 1911 fans who love their single action carry guns but want just a bit more versatility from the design. Lights. Lasers, maybe. Many companies have answered the call and bolt rails into their frames. But what about the rest of us, the ones who own traditional 1911s? Recover Tactical has the answer. The Grip and Rail system is a great option for people wanting to hang gadgets off their 1911: a set of grips that extend out under the trigger guard to make a rail under the long end of the frame.

Inteliscope has an interesting product here at SHOT show 2014: a smart phone holder that is designed to mount to a rail on your rifle or pistol. The newest version is the Inteliscope Pro, a universal mount that will hold most smart phones. At this time, the apps are available for iPhone and Android. While we were initially skeptical about mounting a phone on the top of a rifle, we had to see it for ourselves. And we were converted. We’ve seen the light.

As someone who reviews firearms for a living, I can sometimes mistake going to the range for actual work. I’ve got cameras to line up, lighting to consider. When I get down to shooting, I’ve got a lot on my mind, much more than I used to when I went shooting with friends and isn’t always fun. Slide Fire is here to remind me of the good times, when shooting made smile. They brought out a mess of guns to the Range at SHOT Show 2014: AKs, ARs, even some tricked out Ruger 1022s. They also brought out cases of ammo and a full crew to keep the magazines full. The result was the most fun I’ve had at the range in a long, long time.

Crimson Trace is at the forefront of laser design, so it comes as no surprise that they work hand-in-hand with gun manufacturers. Case in point – when Remington announced their new R51 sub-compact pistol, Crimson Trace already had a laser sight for it. It may not be a marriage made in heaven, but it was made in the USA, and it’s a perfect match. The new Crimson Trace LG-494 mounts on the front of the R51 trigger guard and looks like part of the gun. Lasers that are hung on picatinny rails tend to look like an afterthought. Trigger guard lasers blend in with the shape of the gun and look like they belong. The LG 494 is no exception. The CT trigger guard laser sight includes an extension that covers the lower part of the trigger guard and incorporates a pressure switch which falls naturally beneath the shooter’s fingers when gripping the weapon. Grip the gun to fire and the laser comes on from the pressure of your fingers. You don’t have to even think about it.

Whether you are looking for modern polymer frame pistols or the enduring Model 1911, Kahr has you covered. When it comes to a self-defense carry gun, you have to find a balance between concealability and function. Kahr has done a remarkable job with their slim, lightweight CT45 and CT40. These two guns achieve excellent concealability through the use of a single stack magazine, narrow frame and clean, snag-free design. However, Kahr didn’t do it at the expense of shootability. Both guns feature 4” barrels, and a full length grip holding seven rounds of either .40 S&W or .45 acp. With the stopping power of these two calibers and the accuracy of a 4” barrel, eight rounds should be enough to win the fight. A polymer frame, stainless steel barrel & slide assembly and an MSRP of $449 makes for a winning combination.