Reviews

Hearing a “click” when you expect a “BANG” is probably the worst sound a war fighter can hear in the middle of a firefight with enemy combatants closing in. Having a gun go down with a catastrophic failure is one way to get the blood flowing and push the pucker factor meter off the charts. James Pechi and David Pavlick know all too well what happens when Murphy rears his ugly head. They have experienced it first hand, multiple times throughout their Special Forces carriers. Throughout Pechi and Pavlick’s combined 25 years of combat experience with the 7th Special Forces Group they have experienced just about every type of failure or malfunction the M4 carbine has to offer. James and David have endured the carnage of war together. It was through this bond, this brotherhood that Arsenal Democracy was forged.

The first handgun I ever bought was a Gen 1 Glock 17. I purchased it used in the late 90s. It was in good...

If you are looking for a compact rifle that provides short to medium target engagement capabilities in close quarters, urban warfare and open terrain, is battle proven and available to the average, good guy, Joe Blow civilian, the IWI Tavor may be just what the doctor ordered. The 5.56x45mm NATO chambered bullpup rifle sports a chrome lined, 16-inch 1:7 twist cold hammer forged barrel, long stroke piston design and is 100% ambidextrous. It comes in a variety of configurations, colors and can be converted to different calibers and left or right hand eject.

"Buy a shotgun… buy a shotgun," he said. Well, ok… but if you’re considering using it for personal defense, skip the double-barreled models and don’t take advice on using it from Joe Biden.

With Aero Precision being in my back yard, it made sense to take a trip down to see their facility and how they manufacturer their products from start to finish. You wouldn’t believe how inconspicuous the AERO facility is. When you arrive, you have to do a double take because the building is nestled into a small industrial complex in Tacoma, WA.

Like most of you, I enjoy kick-ass action movies. It is not uncommon to see classic James Bond or modern day Jason Bourne creeping up on some unsuspecting bad guy then eliminating him with a quick triple tap, where only the gentle “pfftt, pfftt, pfftt” is heard from their sound suppressed pistol. Or maybe they need to engage a target at distance with some high-speed, low-drag break-down rifle they piece together out of an unassuming backpack.

The brand name FERFRANS evokes images of professional-grade short barreled CQB/CQC rifles used by military units in various countries around the world. Created in 1990 by brothers Ferdinand and Francis Sy, the FERFRANS flagship is the Special Operations Assault Rifle (SOAR) which is configured in a multitude of barrel lengths and in a Direct Impingement as well as Piston configuration.

Bulletsafe is a manufacturer of affordable body armor and is the same company behind the ballistic panel inserts for backpacks that I have written about before. Prior to the backpack panel insert, however, their first product was level 3A soft body armor. Recently Bulletsafe offered us the opportunity to test it.

Florida based Special Ops Tactical (SOT) maybe a newer company in that they were formed just a few years ago, but they are certainly not new to the industry. SOT is the brainchild of Garrett Potter and Clint Hanson, who gained their experience working previously for Spike’s Tactical.

Up until about a year ago, I exclusively used a Derlin action block much like the one seen here. Derlin blocks are useful but introduce other issues such as setup time, lining up pins, torque flex, etc. I often found the need to apply more than mil-spec torque to the barrel nut when installing a barrel and could visually see the upper flexing. It made be cringe but I didn’t know of any other option.