Navigation

Author Archive | Matt

Lakota Hydrographics – Multicam Coatings

By on March 14, 2010 in Guns, Knives, Tactical Gear

Lakota Corp is now offering Multicam hydrographics. What are hydrographics?

From the Lakota Corp website:

Hydrographic printing is known by several names. It is also called water transfer printing, cubic printing and fluid imaging. This technology is a water-soluble film, upon which patterns of ink are applied. Similar to some of the new medicines and breath mint sheets on the market that dissolve in your mouth, the film in this technology dissolves in water, leaving the ink floating. When the item is submersed into the water, the ink then adheres to the item “dipped” three-dimensionally.

The picture shows a helmet that has been through the hydroprinting process. You can click the picture to go to a small gallery of other items that have been dipped. They can do objects of all sorts of sizes and shapes – even entire rifles. The results are appear to be very nice but I wonder about the durability of the coating.

If you have experience with these coatings leave a comment about their durability. Thanks.

AAC Brakeout – AAC's New Flash Suppressor/Compensator

By on March 14, 2010 in Guns, Tactical Gear

AAC is bringing a new flash suppressing compensator to market called the Brakeout. It is based on the successful and very effective Blackout flash suppressor line. The Blackout is probably the most effective flash suppressor on the market today. It will be interesting to see how much of that effectiveness the Brakeout retains. If it can suppress flash nearly as well as the Blackout and add some muzzle rise compensation it will be truly impressive.

Flash suppressing compensators are starting to fill the market. I own and use two PWS FSC556 flash suppressing compensators and they really do work. They reduce muzzle flip noticeably – which is saying something on the already mild muzzle flip of the 5.56. It also suppresses flash just as well as an A2 flash suppressor. The FSC556 and devices like it can give an already good shooter a needed advantage by decreasing the time needed to realign the sights between shots.

This type of performance does not come without costs. They increase (or at least redirect) the noise that comes from the muzzle while shooting. This extra noise may not be apparent to the shooter who is behind the rifle (as is the case with the FSC556) but it may be painfully obvious to those to the sides of the shooter. The extra (or redirected) noise will also become apparent when shooting indoors. Shooters who will be using these devices in team settings or on home defense guns should take note. The muzzle blast from these devices can also cause debris to be stirred up and rained down on the shooter when using non-standard shooting positions like roll over/urban prone. Any shooter who is considering one of these devices should educate themselves on the down sides before purchasing.

It should also be noted that these will not make marginal shooters into good shooters. If you do not apply the fundamentals of stance to control recoil, you will see little to no gains from these devices. While they do compensate for muzzle rise, they do not compensate for training, practice, or skill.

The sounds suppressor mount version of the AAC Brakeout is available for purchase now from AAC. I believe that eventually there will be a version without the suppressor mount.

More Thoughts on the US Palm AK Magazines

By on March 14, 2010 in Guns, Tactical Gear

I have had few questions on whether the new US Palm AK magazines that I covered recently are worth the $29.95 asking price, especially when surplus steel mags tend to costs $10-20. They really don’t cost anymore than the European manufactured plastic mags on the market. Only the person buying the magazines can say whether or not they worth the price. I can say that I believe certain aspects of this mag are better than steel mags. And when something is better, it usually costs more.

  1. The design is better – The ridges and waffle pattern give good grip when manipulating a magazine. The body of the mag is essentially fused into one piece (no more loose base plates that spit your rounds all over the floor at the range – yes, I have seen it happen).
  2. The materials are better – Polymer is better than steel for this application. Steel bends on impact and the mag stops working. Polymer bounces back or maybe cracks but the mag will likely continue to work even when cracked. It is also lighter in weight. The days of worrying about polymer magazines are long gone. You WANT plastic mags in many cases. Stop resisting the inevitable!
  3. The follower is better – The follower is a low friction design. This sort of thing revolutionized AR mags.
  4. The weight is better – Like I said above, they are lighter. This is a big deal. This just in… AK mags are heavy!
  5. The spring is better – These mags use a chromium-silicon spring which is rated for 100,000 cycles. Steel mags use whatever springs the communist government that made the mags could get that day (maybe).
  6. The manufacturer is better – These are made in the US by a top tier maker. They will take care of you if you have an issue.

With all that said, I can definitely understand those who want to wait and see. There is definitely something to be said for not being an early adopter. The prices may come down and, more importantly, any bugs will be worked out if you wait to purchase these. We still do not have any real world accounts of usage on these things (no, “I went to the range and slow fired 30 rounds. These mags are awesome!” does not count).

This whole thing reminds me of when the PMAG first came out. You had people who wouldn’t trust any plastic mag and those who wouldn’t pay $15-17 when aluminum mags could be purchased for $10.

I am not in a hurry to buy any of these right now, but my AK is really just a toy. If the AK was my primary weapon, I would be taking a good hard look at these new mags.

Buffer Tubes Remixed

By on March 14, 2010 in Uncategorized

PWS Enhanced Buffer Tube – This is PWS’s new buffer tube for Ar-15 pattern rifles. It is interesting to me for a number of reasons.

  1. There is no castle nut to come loose. Very few manufacturers or home builders take the time to properly stake the castle nut which can lead to problems if the nut loosens. This design does away with the castle nut completely.
  2. It is potentially a more durable design. I have heard some people say that the buffer tube can be knocked out of alignment or broken at the place where it threads into the receiver. I have never seen it happen myself. PWS claims that the one piece design and manufacture of this tube will make it stronger.
  3. It provides a sling attachment point near the rear of the lower receiver which is my preferred place to mount a sling (2 point).
  4. It claims to reduce felt recoil by 10%. I am not sure that most shooters would notice that or be able to take advantage of it but any advantage is a good advantage.
  5. The design of the tube can actually help counteract carrier tilt. This may be big news for you guys running piston uppers since carrier tilt is a systemic problem that plagues piston ARs.

At first glance the price seems a little steep. However, if you consider that true mil-spec buffer tubes (not just mil-spec diameter) are not cheap and that a similar sling attachment point would cost extra, it becomes a little more reasonable (but still steep). I will be interested to see if these take off. Whether it is worth the price will be up to you.

Powered by WordPress. Designed by Woo Themes