Gear Reviews

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.

MOJO Outdoors has been a leader in the motion hunting decoys for a number of years. This year they have upped the game for the aggressive turkey hunter. The Scoot and Shoot is a full bird decoy that works as a sort of hide or blind for the hunter. It is based on their Boss Gobbler decoy line but incorporates a ground stake and handle. The idea is to be able to creep and crawl up to a Tom or flock and then hide behind this decoy. When a Tom sees another male bird closing in on his lady friends, he will get aggressive. Once the protector of Jenny and the hens closes on the hunter/decoy, it is time for a close-in kill shot. The video below is from MOJO TV and shows the Scoot and Shoot in action. This is aggressive and exciting turkey hunting at its finest.

One of the biggest hits of the show so far has been the Tac-Con trigger group from Tactical Fire Control. With all of the media and industry insiders blowing through ammo as fast as magazines can be loaded, the range can get a bit loud. Yet above that constant pop-pop-pop would come that signature braaaap of a rifle firing very fast. And it didn’t take long to find it. The booth was full of people trying to get a look at something they couldn’t even see.

What does a silenced .50 BMG sound like? I have no idea. I should, but we weren’t allowed to shoot it. The range where we were gathered today for the 2014 SHOT Show media shoot wouldn’t let us shoot it. So we had to sit back and look at it, which was almost as rewarding. The rifle they brought (complete with crates of .50 BMG) is an M107A1 with a QDL suppressor. Part of what makes this ambitious suppressor unique is the two-port brake that is bolted onto its end. This helps reduce the recoil, while still cutting the sound signature, and it can be removed to further reduce the visible signature as well. The QDL slides over the muzzle brake and can be installed or removed in seconds.

It’s Range time – anytime, with the LaserLyte Training Tyme system. Learn shooting fundamentals and firearm safety and handling, and have great fun doing it – all without firing a single shot. What’s more, you not only don’t need ammunition, but you don’t need access to a range. Your game room, basement or garage is a perfectly good place to use LaserLyte products. Having said that, let me also get my “good sense practices” or “nanny” lecture out of the way: Always treat shooting training seriously: choose a proper “safe direction” of fire and follow the golden rules of firearms. Just because we are not using live ammo does not mean we are not creating habits!

You can always tell which guns are surprisingly good by how many fans they have. Howa, a Japanese firearm maker that dates back to WWII Arisaka rifles, is one of those companies that if you say a bad word, hundreds of defender fanboys and girls will appear out of the woodwork to explain how you are mistaken. Maybe not the biggest kept secret in the gun world, Howas are great guns, and they are imported exclusively under their own brand through Legacy Sports International. Howa also makes the Weatherby Vangaurd, and the two rifles are for the most part interchangeable. This Howa 1500 Zeiss combo is a new gun for 2014, and we were able to test it before SHOT Show. Our test gun is a .308 Winchester, with a 3-9x power Zeiss sporting optic. The Zeiss is likewise made in Japan, not Germany or America like the flagship Zeiss products, but like most Japanese optics we have tested, it is clear as a bell with great edge clarity. The rifle itself is flawless, and a tack driver with factory Hornady ammo. Howa also has a nifty three-position safety, so you can open the bolt to unload your round with the trigger blocked. The Howa 1500 is a high-end rifle with a middle-of-the-road price. We don’t have a price for this gun yet, but most Howa rifle/scope packages go for $650-$800, and this one should fall somewhere in there as well.

Steel targets are the backbone of competitive shooting sports. Once a club invests in a good set of steel targets, it opens up a great deal of income-producing events that you just can’t do with paper. The problem with steel is that it is expensive, so buying it right the first time is critical. There are a lot of target companies, and Grizzly Targets, out of Tampa, Florida, contacted us to test one of theirs, a $279 three-paddle auto-reset called the “Trifecta.” Grizzly laser-cuts their targets out of AR500 steel and galvanizes the final product. They claim that the targets “can withstand almost anything,” so we chose the M1C Sniper Garand that we made back in the Garand series from a commercial Springfield Armory gun. The key to this test was to simulate abusive misses. We beat the target up pretty well, but at no time did the target cease to do its job. However, after repeatedly battering of the middle of the posts, the bottom of the posts, and the bolt area, you can see that if you buy a Grizzly target for casual match shooters, you probably will have some maintenance after a match.

When you think of laser sights, you think of Crimson Trace. A pioneer in civilian and law enforcement aiming tools, Crimson Trace has earned its place at the top by providing high-quality products at reasonable prices for a wide variety of firearms. Now, when I say ‘reasonable prices’, I don’t mean cheap. A decent laser sight for your pistol has been a decision that would set you back a few hundred bucks easily, making it a hard purchase to justify for a lot of folks. For 2013 however, Crimson Trace has created a new model line to address the market for a lower-cost but fully functioning laser sight. At a list price between $129 and $149, or roughly the price of a good set of night sights, you can now equip your self-defense handgun with an easy-to-use laser. it is currently available for all Glock and Springfield Armory XD/XD-M handguns, as well as the Ruger LCP and most Smith & Wesson and Taurus J-Frame and small revolvers.

The Smith & Wesson M&P pistol needs no introduction at this point. Since its introduction the M&P has been one of the best striker fired guns in the market. An oddity about the gun is one of few complaints that you hear from competitors who shoot the M&P in matches. It is that two part rocking trigger. Apex Tactical makes a line of improved triggers for many of the most popular pistols in the world, and they recented added the Smith and Wesson M&P handgun to the list with the Polymer Forward Set Sear Kit. The replacement trigger is completely redesigned and looks more like other factory triggers than the hinged trigger offered on the stock S&W platform. The polymer kit, introduced about 6 months ago, keeps the cost down without degrading function, while improving usability. The factory trigger is one of the pistols biggest criticisms from trainers and end users compared to the aluminum kit. The name of the trigger defines the function of the kit. It moves the sear forward allowing the shot to break earlier in the squeeze of the shot, the uniquely shaped trigger provides a built-in over travel stop, giving the shooter a short crisp shot that gives positive reset for faster follow-up shots.