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Turnbull Manufacturing https://www.turnbullmfg.com/ Turnbull Manufacturing, located in the bucolic community of Bloomfield, NY, in the Finger Lakes region, is known far and wide for their exquisite restorations. The company does museum restorations as well as jobs for individuals who had a favorite gun damaged in a fire or bought a rare find suffering from the [...]

Crossbreed specializes in concealment, whether it’s on your person, in your car, or on a bicycle. The company is best known for its line of in-the-waistband holsters and for a modular system that utilizes the versatility of Velcro to attach holsters to duty belts, RAM mounts, flat surfaces, even handlebars. The newest product, however, is targeted to the special needs of women. The most common types of holsters simply don’t work well for women. However, just about every woman carries a pocketbook, which would be a good place to conceal a firearm. The problem is that if you drop a gun into a purse, it sinks to the bottom, making it difficult to draw quickly and consistently. Crossbreed has addressed that with yet another variation of their modular holster system. It consists of an L-shaped Velcro-lined panel to which the holster attaches. You can place your gun in whatever position you want for a quick, controlled presentation. Take look at it in action in the accompanying video.

The acronym FLIR stands for forward looking infrared. So does the company FLIR Systems, which until now has focused on thermal imaging systems for law enforcement and the military. Last Tuesday, however, the company announced its first thermal imaging system intended for the civilian market. If you’re not familiar with thermal imaging, it works by using temperature differences between various objects in the visual field to produce an image. The images that are produced are remarkable—you can see through haze, smoke, rain, even foliage, day or night. The big obstacle for us civies has been the astronomical prices. Fortunately, as in other electronic devices, prices are coming down.

Range Systems, like the name says, specializes in shooting-range systems like shoot houses for room clearing/hostage rescue types of training, as well as live fire ranges for civilian and military customers. The company’s latest product is a series of targets designed for the night vision crowd. The amazing thing about the targets is that they radiate in the infrared range of the spectrum where night vision and thermal imaging devices see, and they do it without any external power supplies. The targets reflect radiation from the night sky to make the targets more visible than heated targets. They’re also easier to set up and more resilient to damage than heated targets. Range Systems has targets for personnel, animals and even vehicles, catering to the law enforcement/personal defense folks as well as hunters and the military.

Hodgdon Powder, a leader in the reloading market, is a family-owned business in Kansas. It’s been at the forefront of producing top quality products for the reloader for the past 67 years. Innovation is part of the company philosophy, which brings us to their newest powder, CFE Pistol. CFE Pistol is an offshoot of CFE 223, introduced last year for rifle cartridges. They are both spherical powders, which means easier metering, especially when using a progressive press. The powder contains an additive Hodgdon calls “Copper Fouling Eraser” that does just what it says, reduces copper fouling.

Fiocchi was just as frustrated as the rest of us when it came to the company’s inability to keep up with the rising demand for ammunition last year. The bad news is that 2014 is expected to play out much the same. Maybe by the end of the year the increased production investment from Fiocchi and the other major ammunition manufacturers will catch up with demand. In the meantime, Fiocchi did have some good news to report. It is a new line of ammo called “Canned Heat” in reference to the nifty sealed cans, complete with desiccant, that the ammo comes in. These cans have a plastic top a la Tupperware, or clamp-on lids that you can use to reseal them. It’s not only more convenient than cardboard boxes, but also keeps your ammo clean and dry.

Looking for a new carry piece? Wait until you see the Bondhus CL380. This collapsible pocket rocket is about the size of a credit card and as thick as a cellphone in a case. The clockwork-like action looks more complex than it actually is. Simply fold open the wings, rock up the trigger mechanism, secure the whole contraption between your fingers, and you’ll have two barrels of .380 ACP and a laser ready to roll.

Ruger stopped making the venerable Red Label over-and-under (OU) shotgun two years ago. It has seemed like a long time to all the Red Label fans out there. This gun is beloved by birders and clays competitors alike, known for its ruggedness, quick handling and accurate shooting — the quintessential American OU. Rejoice my friends; the Red Label is back! So what took so long? What took so long was a complete re-engineering of the gun to make the best use of new materials and modern manufacturing methods. I’m here to tell you that it was well worth the wait. Pick one up and you’ll know instantly how true that is. The New Red Label has been re-balanced, making it livelier in the hand. The inner workings are improved and the recoil reduced. This is all around a new and improved Red Label. But I’m saving the best part for last – by using modern manufacturing methods, they’ve not only made it a more refined shotgun, they’ve also reduced the price. MSRP of the new Ruger Red Label is $1,395. Take a look for yourself in the attached video.

If you’re looking for a value-priced AR-15, Stag Arms is a must see. The company’s been building US-made ARs for the last decade. And when I say US-made, I don’t mean US assembled. Stag Arms makes every part, except for the plastic parts and a few springs, right here in the US of A. The plastic parts and springs are made here too, just not at the Stag plant. Stag, known for building left handed ARs for all us lefties, just announced two new left-handed guns. So wipe that smug smile off your face, righties. We got one too. The new rifles are the left-handed versions of the Model 3T and 3T-M Series. These ARs are chambered for 5.56, meaning they can shoot both 5.56 and .223. Guns chambered for .223 can’t fire 5.56. But you already knew that. The difference between the two series is in how the guns are outfitted. The 3T has polymer DiamondHead front and rear sights, the 3T-M has aluminum DiamondHead sights. The 3T wears a mil-spec collapsible stock, the 3T-M, a Magpul ACS, and so forth. Check it out in the video. It’s much better to see it with your own eyes. Plus Julie’s a lot easier on the peepers than my blather.