David Higginbotham

KAK Super Sig Buffer Tube, the Perfect Fit for Improvised SBRs

Have you ever thought to yourself, I wonder what would happen if I took one of the most widely accepted firearms design principles and flipped it upside down? When Italians Emilio Ghisoni and Antonio Cudazzo moved the barrel of the revolver down in the frame, they upended almost two centuries of accepted wheel-gun gospel. At the very least, the resulting gun is a novelty that needs to be shot to be fully appreciated. Like a shotgun with three barrels, it feels unnatural. Are there practical benefits to the steampunk lines and unorthodox barrel placement of Chiappa’s design? As it turns out, there are.

If you’ve ever done any traveling with guns, even if it is just to the local range, I’m sure you’ve had to deal with storing them. It isn’t always graceful. The deeper I get in the firearms world, the more I travel long distances with guns. And I’m way past the days of wrapping them in old t-shirts and stuffing them in a backpack. A good gun case will make all the difference, but many come with lousy interiors that do a mediocre job of protecting guns. Some cases come with sliced and diced foam that you can pick into an approximate shape, but they get ugly, fast. So where do you go for good, 100% customized foam? MyCaseBuilder.com.

There are multiple ways to approach concealed carry. You can go the minimalist route and tuck away a .380 (or an even smaller caliber like a .25 ACP) and simply hope for the best. You can pay close attention to your wardrobe and attempt to conceal a full-sized handgun or a larger compact. Or you can go with a gun that’s built specifically for concealed carry. The Springfield Armory XD-S is built for those who want a full-sized caliber in an easily concealed package. The XD-S 4.5 in .45 ACP looks, performs and presents like much larger pistol. With its four-inch barrel, it isn’t a backup gun. Yet it isn’t as obtrusive as most duty weapons. For those of us who only carry one handgun, the XD-S is a great choice.

Once you have decided on a handgun, the next real consideration has to be a holster. Many gun stores will carry some standards in leather, nylon and Kydex, but it can be hard to determine what will work for you, exactly the way you want. Most of the store bought models I’ve ever used were good enough, but not perfect. After a lot of trial and error, I’ve formed my opinions. I know exactly what I want, and exactly who makes it. Multi Holsters, my go to for daily carry holsters, offers a wide variety of options and the attention to detail that I expect from something this important.

The Tac-Con trigger is way more than it appears. Yes, it allows you to blow through magazines full of 5.56. It doesn’t make your AR full-auto, but no one from the liberal media would be able to tell the difference. Once you’ve worked through a couple of thousand rounds and gotten the sheer joy of playing with the trigger out of your system, you’ll begin to see the 3MR’s real potential. It may be the most versatile AR trigger that exists.

When Tac-Con invited a passel of gun writers out to Phoenix to shoot the 3MR, I was dubious. I thought it was an attempt to control the message. I thought we’d get to shoot some and get a factory tour, but I assumed that everything would be closely monitored. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. They brought us in, fed us well, and turned us loose on the Ben Avery Gun Range with a truck full of ARs and 15,000 rounds of 5.56.

The appeal of the AR-15 is rooted in the rifle’s reliable performance. The timeless rifles are so dependable that many of us simply take that for granted. Instead, our focuses shift to how we can make that dependability fit each of us, exactly. Perfectly. Yet finding that balance of form and function can elevate the AR-15 to a work of art. If you’re thinking about customizing an AR, I’d suggest you take a look at ODIN Works.

Organization is not my strong suit. Every time I leave for the range, I pack up random bags and backpacks. I do my best to remember what I’m putting where, but it is futile. Thankfully, there are companies like Seahorse that have my best interests in mind. Seahorse makes its cases here in America; they’re built to withstand any punishment you can dish out, and the cases cost less than most range bags.

The CZ 527 Varmint is a tack-driving .17 Hornet that’s perfect rifle for eliminating some of the more pernicious biodiversity here on the farm.  One of the neat features of this gun it has a novel CZ single set trigger. You can shoot it as a fairly normal hunting trigger, or you can click it forward to break at about one pound. With a flat shooting cartridge like the 17 Hornet and ridiculous “call your shots” CZ accuracy, this can make a huge difference in stretching the capabilities of the gun out to its ballistic max, and to the top of your own game in precise shooting. Our test gun came in a Turkish Walnut stock and is absolutely gorgeous. The 527 is an heirloom quality gun at an an expected fairly pricey $725 MSRP, and this varmint version is available in .204 Ruger, .223 Remington, this .17 Hornet, and they plan to also make some .17 Remingtons this year. I’ve been having some issues with skunks lately.  But now that I have a rifle that can send a 20 grain bullet downrange at more than 3,500 fps, it is a bad time to be a skunk in this neck of the woods.