Jacket weather has arrived and PredatorBDU has you covered (groan). They just added the VERTX Gunfighter STORM Windshirt and Justice Softshell Jacket to their close out section. The prices are great and they won’t last. Check out the PredatorBDU Closeout page.
If I am shooting, I am probably wearing gloves and I am probably using a touch screen device to take notes, pictures, and other blog related work. Using a touch screen device while on the range used to mean taking off a glove in order to actually operate the device but now, with the introduction of the new PIG Full Dexterity Tactical Alpha Touch Gloves from SKD Tactical, removing the gloves is no longer necessary. The FDT Alpha Touch Gloves are the same great design that you love from the original FDT Alpha Gloves and they use the same materials except for the addition of a special conductive thread.
Check out the PIG Full Dexterity Tactical Alpha Touch Gloves at SKD Tactical.
Forget Halloween and Thanksgiving. TacStrike just declared that Christmas is coming early this year. They have marked down all of their steel targets through November 30th. Now is the perfect time to invest in a steel training target.
V7 Weapon systems is doing some fascinating things with some familiar AR-15 parts by making them from new materials. By using these new materials they are able to bring new functionality, mainly in the form of weight reduction, to parts you likely never give much thought – like your end plate and castle nut.
The V7 QD Endplate and Lightweight Castle Nut are both made from an aluminum alloy. The V7 QD Endplate is made from hard anodized 7075-T6 aluminum which is the same alloy that true mil-spec receiver extensions are made from. The V7 Lightweight Castle Nut is made from an alloy that V7 Weapon Systems claims is 30% stronger and harder than 7075-T6. It is also hard anodized.
Together, the V7 QD Endplate and Lightweight Castle Nut weigh just .4 ounces. A standard end plate and castle nut weigh 1.10 ounces. The V7 QD Endplate and Lightweight Castle Nut together weigh less than just the standard end plate!
I installed the V7 QD Endplate and Lightweight Castle Nut on an already lightweight carbine and I think this is probably where they shine the most. Certainly, every ounce counts when you have to carry it over long distances but, realistically, you probably won’t notice the .7 ounce reduction in weight over the standard parts on an already heavy carbine. On a lightweight carbine, which already has parts chosen to reduce weight, these parts can help the overall weight reduction efforts.
The V7 QD Endplate seems to perform like any other end plate QD sling mount and that is a good thing because it weighs less than any I am aware of. I am generally more comfortable with steel QD sockets, especially at the rear attachment point since it takes so much of the load when the weapon is sling, but I have seen no appreciable wear in several range trips and I have used aluminum QD sling end plates before without issue. Like any good end plate, it can and should be staked and staking the aluminum is quite easy. I just use a center punch.
I have no way of testing the claimed strength of the “super aluminum alloy” from which the V7 Lightweight Castle Nut is manufactured. The only thing that I could think to do was to mortar the carbine several times to simulate clearing a stuck case. I figured that was a realistic test that was likely to stress the junction of the receiver extension and the receiver. I mortared the carbine 10 times vigorously with no ill effects. I suspect that with any sot of realistic testing, the receiver extension is more likely to fail where it threads into the receiver than for the castle nut (regardless of material).
The V7 QD Endplate isn’t earth shattering, there are other QD end plates, but it is functional and it is the lightest of its kind that I am aware of which gives it merit. The V7 Lightweight Castle Nut is more innovative. V7 Weapon Systems was able to identify the castle nut as a location to reduce weight with little to no durability penalty and, when this type of thinking is applied to the entire carbine, good things happen. Pick up the combo at V7 Weapon Systems.
V7 Weapons Systems is definitely company to watch. They are doing some very interesting and unique things right now.
The Mossberg OEM ghost ring sights that you will find on their 500, 590, and 590A1 shotguns are pretty solid but they are too large to allow you to mount a rail in front of the rear sight for use with an optic like a red dot sight. AIMPRO Tactical’s Ghost Ring Rail solves that problem.
The Ghost Ring Rail mounts to the factory drilled and tapped mounting points on the top of the shotgun receiver. It has a 4″ (8 slot) Mil-Spec 1913 Picatinny Rail section that can be used to mount optics and an integral ghost ring sight at the rear of the rail. It works with the standard front sight as a direct replacement for the OEM rear ghost ring sight.
Check out the Ghost Ring Rail at AIMPRO Tactical.
