Feature Articles

You may remember the sick looking RIP bullet that made the rounds on the gun blogs a couple years ago. It was called RIP, “Radically Invasive Projectile” and when it hits organic material it spiders out into a ninja star, then fragments, traveling at hundreds of feet per second. G2 Research has taken this early success and grown it to some new “RIP OUT” hunting rounds, some tracers, and a half price Telos carry round that is nearly as dramatic as the RIP ammo

If you don’t already reload, it’s a good idea to start. We have some great introductory reloading material here, and online is full of primers to get you going. Most people will start with a single stage press, and even a set of Lee powder dippers, but if you shoot a lot of pistol ammo, that can be really frustrating. I wouldn’t say don’t go out and get a single stage press, but if you want to take yourself and your needs seriously, and you are for now only going to reload straight sided pistol cases, I would invest in a Dillon.

Thompson/Center (T/C) has a long tradition of catering to the outdoor and sporting markets with its innovative and affordable firearms and gear. New this year is an addition to the popular Compass line in 6.5 Creedmoor. The Compass has made a name for itself by offering guaranteed MOA performance at a $399 MSRP. The bolt-action rifle is light and handy and well-designed. And, now it is tapping into the popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor long-range cartridge.

Odin Works has a long history of innovation, and specializes mostly in AR parts upgrades. Handguards to triggers, they do everything. They also were early adopters of 6.5, and have been making a complete Grendel upper for years. This year had some smaller parts in the offerings, but ones you are definitely going to want.

This year Nighthawk has teamed up with Doug Turnbull, to add some of his custom finish work to a Nighthawk/Turnbull mash up in the VIP 1 pistol. It wasn’t tactical grey; not even close. Doug Turnbull is legendary for restoring older firearms, and offering a finish to guns like that seen 150 years ago.

Burris makes great riflescopes. That’s not news to anyone. What I’m really excited about is that the XTR II is now available in flat dark earth. The color change is a welcome addition. If you are hunting or in the tactical business, a scope all in black is a pretty big object that sticks out. Painting one is always nerve racking, no matter how well you taped it off. At least with a rifle, if you screw up, you can scrape the paint out of the trigger group.

A professional soldier needs professional tools. This rifle mount system also holds a spotting scope, and matches to a modular carbon fiber tripod by the same company. The whole system goes for a professional pricetag of $1,995.

I am much relieved this year at SHOT Show to find out we can all stop dressing in 5.11 pants and carrying bag packs that look like they came off the set of 24. It’s still tactical, but casual like I’m an off duty ninja. Makes sense, right? Innovation from the tactical companies has been all shit that looked tactical, so if you wanted to fly incognito, you bought your stuff at REI. Vertx has been the first to step up and fix this problem, starting with a new line of bags this year.

ATN is well-known for its night vision and thermal gear, and it had some really interesting products on display at SHOW Show 2017. I had a chance to talk with ATN’s Steve Lemonov about some of the more interesting offerings they had on hand.