Tracking Point Xact System Offers Amazing Update to Long Range Shooting
The first documented use of firearms was somewhere in circa-12th-century China. While it’s quite clear that firearms and their accessories have come a long way since the first gunpowder-filled tubes, the basic principles remain the same: ignite the propellant and the expanding gasses send the projectile out of the business end of the barrel. For the most part, any advancements since then have been been to make firearms more effective in terms of power, portability and accuracy. A big advancement in the accuracy department was on display from Tracking Point at the 2013 SHOT Show.
Tracking Point’s XactSystem is a Precision Guided Firearm (PGF), which the company describe as “fighter-jet-style, lock-and-launch technology into a rifle system.” This closed-loop system consists of ultra-consistent ammo loaded by Barnes, a precision Surgeon Rifle with a 22-27″ Krieger barrel and Harris bipod on a LaRue QD mount, and the smart networked tracking scope mounted on top. Given the components involved, the precision of the rifle itself is spectacular, but the scope is what makes the system truly amazing.
The XactSystem’s tracking scope takes the ballistic guesswork out of Continue reading
The Pocket Pistol Showdown – Developments from Heizer Defense and DoubleTap Firearms
You may remember an interesting pocket pistol, then known as the Heizer Defense DoubleTap, which we covered at the 2012 SHOT Show. Since then, there have been some shake-ups, including DoubleTap inventor Ray Kohout ejecting from the deal with Heizer Defense to form DoubleTap Defense. DoubleTap has also filed a $6 million lawsuit against Heizer et al. for monetary damages and an injunction against “any further action on the part of Heizer Defense, LLC and others to manufacture or market a product based on the intellectual property of DoubleTap inventor Ray Kohout“. Both companies were at the 2013 SHOT Show and were both still in the hunt for market share for this type of pistol.
The newly announced Heizer HD1 pocket shotgun, chambered for .45 Colt and 2.5/3″ .410 shotshells and offered in a variety of materials and finishes, has a similar small form factor with a familiar grip and trigger design. The HD2 model appears quite similar to the double barreled pistol we saw on display last year, along with its two-barrel-single-hammer firing mechanism and a price tag ranging from $489 to $719 with spare barrel assemblies priced at $189 . Heizer has recently made an announcement reiterating their commitment to the project and the company said that they hope to have both units available later this year. Heizer personnel didn’t have much to say about the split other than nodding toward a sign at the rear of the booth noting that they were not associated with DoubleTap.
DoubleTap’s booth had on display what they describe as an improved version of the model unveiled last year. Manufactured by Azimuth Technologies of Naples, Florida, the new DoubleTap is projected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2013. The biggest change is probably a simplification of the firing mechanism to use two hammers which operate sequentially rather than one hammer that reciprocates between the two firing pins.
The DoubleTap is also available in a variety of materials and finishes with retail prices ranging from $499 for aluminum non-ported models to $799 for ported titanium models. Spare barrel sets for converting the pistol between 9mm and .45ACP range in price from around $200 to $269.
One fellow SHOT Show attendee, while viewing the double-barreled pistol in the New Product Showcase, asked “What’s the point?” Whether it’s to meet a low-capacity firearms restriction, to have a last-ditch backup gun or to have a tough, dependable firearm for your glove compartment, tackle box, etc, it looks like this design would meet those needs (albeit, at what seems to us to be a relatively high price-point for something in that role).
Stay tuned to GunLink for future updates on the Heizer/Doubletap split, lawsuit and products as well as more from SHOT Show 2013.
SHOT Show Action Not Confined to Convention Hall
The 2013 NSSF Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show is in full swing, but the action isn’t just on the show floor.
On Monday, January 15 – the day before the official start of SHOT Show, registered media attendees had the opportunity to travel to Boulder City for SHOT Show® Media Day at the Range™ at Boulder Pistol & Rifle Range. While there, we had the opportunity to get hands-on time with some of the latest and greatest gear on the market – and some that isn’t even on the market yet.
Some of the highlights from this event included new offerings from SilencerCo, Glock, FN, and others. There was also plenty of cutting edge optics, long range rifles and AR platform innovations on display as well as the latest hunting and target shooting gear. With everything going on at the range (as well as on the show floor), there is a lot to write about. We’ll be putting up more details of all this amazing gear right here on the GunLink blog in the coming days but, in the mean time, the GunLink Forums are an excellent place to find more information and share your thoughts.
While Media Day at the Range was a great opportunity to get some trigger time with the newest firearms advancements, we didn’t have a chance to really put the weapons through their paces. We’ll leave that to the pros at the 3-Gun Nation championship on Wednesday night. The “Rumble on the Range” will showcase 3-Gun pros vying for $50,000 at Clark County Shooting Range while other 3GN top shooters will be gunning for $5,000. The 3GN competitors won’t be the only ones with a chance at great prizes; one lucky match attendee will be walking away with an FNH USA 3-Gun prize package worth over $5,000. A live performance by Mark Wills and a side-shoot sponsored by the American Silencer Association cap off the event, which lasts from 6PM to 9PM.
Stay tuned to GunLink for updates from the show floor and from the range as this 35th edition of SHOT Show rolls on.
POPVOX Makes it Easy to Tell Congress You Oppose Gun Control
You have to hand it to them – if the gun control crowd is anything, they’re consistent. Or maybe predictable is a better word. No matter which adjective you use for them, their unceasing efforts to trample Second Amendment rights are undeniable. They are a motivated and largely organized group and if we want to preserve our rights we must also be motivated and organized. We cannot sit idly by while a vocal minority peppers our representatives with calls to incrementally (or not-so-incrementally) degrade our rights.
There are a number of online tools, provided by organizations like GOA and NRA, which allow you to find out who your representatives are and contact them. There is a relatively new resource called POPVOX (from the latin vox populi – the voice of the people) that users can take advantage of to express their opinions to their legislators. While POPVOX has been around for a couple years, it has recently been gaining in popularity and is a perfect opportunity for supporters of the Second Amendment to voice their feelings on pending gun control measures. To find current gun control issues and weigh in on them using POPVOX, visit The Official GunLink POPVOX Thread To Oppose Gun Control Legislation on the GunLink Forums or visit speakup.GunLink.info.
Comments and opinions left via POPVOX are delivered to your Representative and/or Senators in Congress electronically (or by hand when Continue reading
Ring in the New Year with Some Gun Control
Despite the bleating from gun control proponents and their continued claims that neither Obama nor other democrats have plans to come after gun rights (despite this being part of their official platforms), it should come as no surprise that Obama, Feinstein and their anti-gun pals plan continued attacks on Second Amendment rights in the coming year.
Feinstein recently released the following statement: “On the first day of the new Congress, I intend to introduce a bill stopping the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of assault weapons as well as large ammunition magazines, strips and drums that hold more than 10 rounds,” continuing to say that she is currently drumming up support in the Senate and House.
Feinstein’s bill seeks to stop (nearly nonexistent) “assault weapon” crime by prohibiting sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing (stopping short of posession) of numerous firearms based on certain characteristics. More than 100 specificly named firearms are also targeted. This bill is only the latest iteration in efforts to revive the 1994 “Assault Weapons Ban” which sunset in 2004. The CDC found no evidence that the ban had any effect on crime and a National Research Council panel echoed that sentiment, stating that “due to the fact that the relative rarity with which the banned guns were used in crime before the ban … the maximum potential effect of the ban on gun violence outcomes would be very small.”
Feinstein’s bill also targets Continue reading
Silencerco Saker Brings New Suppressor Features to the Table
Silencerco, the driving force behind last spring’s Silencers Are Legal Shoot, which drew attention to the legality of firearms suppressors, has just released their latest product, the 5.56 Saker suppressor. First unveiled at the 2012 SHOT Show and now in full production, the Saker is billed as “the most advanced rifle suppressor on the market” and offers several key new features.
The first feature, which they call the Multiple Accessory Attachment Device (MAAD), is an interchangeable certerfire rifle mounting platform that allows the Saker to be attached to a variety of popular flash hiders and mounting systems. In addition to offering flexibility, the capability to attach the suppressor to existing mounting systems is a potential money saver. The Saker specifications page lists the Trifecta RS Flash Hider Mount, 51 Tooth Mount, Direct Thread Mount, Y-Mount and Specwar Mounts as compatible mounting solutions with support for more to come in the future. Continue reading
