Concealed Carry Basics Part 2: Holster Options
You Have Your Pistol – Now How Do You Carry It?
This is the second installment in the Concealed Carry Basics series. In Part 1, we addressed the factors involved in choosing the right firearm for you to carry. As we mentioned there, people have been carrying firearms for protection since there have been firearms. The practice can be as simple as literally carrying it (like, in your hands) or tucking it into your waistband. However, the first method will likely (at best) lead to a chat with Officer Friendly after he gets a MWaG (man with a gun) call while the second might lead to such pleasantries as a surprise vasectomy. Therefore we strongly recommend not using either method for your EDC.
Many, if not most, folks who endeavor to carry a firearm tend to go through a number of holsters before they find the one that works best for them (or, worse, end up using a bad holster). Thus they end up having to try to sell their used holsters or having the proverbial box o’ holsters tucked away into the back of their closets. Good holsters can be somewhat pricey and a box of pricey holsters can add up pretty quickly to real money.
We’re here to help with some basics on what kind of holsters are available and some considerations to keep in mind when choosing yours. As with the choosing a firearm part, This article is not a primer on what specific holster is best or which one you should get – instead, we hope to help you find one that works best for you and your situation.
If you are starting from scratch, head over to Firearms 101 for the basics on what firearms are, how they work, and commonly used acronyms.
So, you have the firearm you want to carry for protection… what next?
First off, you should definitely use a holster – no questions asked. Sure, some people do just drop a firearm into their pocket or purse or tuck it into their waistband like they just got out of jail and found it in an unlocked glovebox, but it’s a bad idea for several reasons addressed below. Continue reading
Concealed Carry Basics Part 1: Choosing the Right Firearm
Finding the right pistol to carry
This is the first installment in the Concealed Carry Basics series. Carrying a firearm on your person is as simple as… well, as carrying a firearm on your person. It is not rocket science – people have been carrying firearms for protection since there have been firearms – but there are pieces of information that you pick up along the way that make the practice easier, safer, and more effective. With a couple combined decades of carry experience among us, the GunLink team hopes to share some of that information with you to help make the process easier.
This article is not a primer on what specific firearm is best or which one you should get. Rather, it lays out a number of considerations that you need to make when choosing the best firearm for you and your situation.
If you are starting from scratch, head over to Firearms 101 for the basics on what firearms are, how they work, and commonly used acronyms.
Technically, the first thing you need is the mindset – the decision to carry a firearm in the first place – but the first three parts of this series are focusing predominately on the gear, with mindset coming in Part 4. For now, let’s presume that you have decided that you want to carry a firearm for protection… what next? Continue reading
Mantis wins Best Accessory of 2018
Mantis Tech is humbled to receive the coveted 2018 Caliber Award for Best Accessory at the prestigious NASGW Awards Dinner. Read the GunLink review of the Mantis X system here.
The award is determined by an expert panel of 18 members of NASGW and POMA.
“Two minutes before receiving the award, 90% percent of the members of NASGW had no idea who Mantis is,” says President Austin Allgaier. “And 90% of them still probably have an incomplete picture of what we do. Kudos to the NASGW-POMA panel for recognizing small upstarts making significant waves of innovation in the industry.”
Mantis manufactures the MantisX: a small, powerful precision sensing device that tracks the minutest of movements, collecting thousands of datapoints per second. Once rail-mounted, it analyzes shooter movements, and sends the data over Bluetooth to the MantisX app for smartphones and tablets.
“With the pending public launch of 4 new products at SHOT Show 2019, our pace of innovation is only accelerating. Combining powerful electronics with complex software and big data, we’re making tremendous breakthroughs in changing how we all shoot,” says Allgaier.
RECALL NOTICE: HexMag .308 SR-25 10 Round Magazines
HexMag, Inc. .308/SR-25 10 Round Magazines Sold by Sentry Products Group Product Safety Warning and Recall Notice
Consumer safety is the first priority. Please contact HexMag immediately to facilitate the replacement of your .308/SR-25 10 Round Magazines at the factory at no charge to customers. Recalled Risers will not be returned. DO NOT use your .308/SR-25 10 Round Magazines unless it has been assembled with the new replacement riser! Any unintended discharge has the potential for causing injury or death.
HOW TO DETERMINE IF .308/SR-25 10 ROUND MAGAZINES NEEDS REPLACED:
Load your magazine with .308 cartridges of the until the magazine can no longer accept any additional cartridges. Remove each cartridge contained in the magazine and count the total number of cartridges that were capable of fitting within the magazine. If that number exceeds 10, the magazine is subject to this recall. Alternatively, if your .308/SR-25 10 ROUND MAGAZINES contains a black riser (depicted at left), then your magazine is subject to this recall.
REPLACING YOUR AFFECTED PRODUCT:
If you own a magazine that is subject to this recall, Sentry Products Group will provide a replacement magazine configured with the replacement riser (depicted at right) and ship it to you at no additional cost.
Contact HexMag immediately! They will ask for your Name, Address, Telephone Number, Number of Magazines, and provide to you an RMA # for return and tracking purposes. Once you have been provided an RMA #, you will need to remove the riser from your affected product, and send the affected riser to:SENTRY Products Group, LLC, 2929 S. Cole Road, Boise ID 83709. Please discard the remaining components of the affected magazine. Upon receipt, Sentry will return a new replacement magazine.
CONTACT SENTRY (Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST)
Email: 308MagRecall@SentryLTP.com
Recall Hotline: 877.726.7328
FAX: 757.689.6066
2018 SHOT Show Range Day Round Up
The GunLink team spent the day before the official opening of SHOT Show 2018 walking the grounds of the Boulder City Pistol and Rifle Club, where we were able to handle many new firearms from well known, big name manufacturers as well as new companies trying to get their name out there. While many companies had completely new weapons, it still seems that the firearm industry is leaning towards “high-end” modifications of existing platforms. Some of the offerings were fairly innovative, showcasing the fruits of lengthy R&D processes while others made small improvements on existing platforms to enhance the shooting experience.
Franklin Armory Reformation
Some of the biggest buzz at SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range surrounded Franklin Armory’s new Reformation line. Franklin kicked off the hubbub a couple of weeks ago with a mysterious press release boasting a new AR15 with an 11.5″ barrel and a Magpul SL stock. Big deal, right? We’ve all seen SBRs before. The catch was that Franklin Armory said that the Reformation was not a rifle (or a shotgun) and, despite the diminutive size coupled with a regular stock, is not subject to NFA regulations or taxes.
After picking our way through the crowd gathered around the Franklin shooting bay, we got some trigger time on the display model, outfitted with the short barrel, adjustable Magpul stock, Franklin’s BFSIII binary trigger, and magazines loaded with standard 5.56 ammo. Taken together, this blew many of the theories about how it escaped NFA purview, but the company reps wouldn’t give out any more details until tomorrow’s press conference at their booth on the show floor.
Mag-Fed Shotguns – Mossberg 590M and Remington 870DM
Mossberg’s domestic competitor, Remington, may have beaten Mossberg to the punch with last month’s announcement of the 870DM, an update to their popular pump-action shotgun to feed from a detachable magazine, but we think that Mossberg came out on top in the execution department with their new 590DM. Full disclosure, we are Mossberg fans out of the gate, preferring the 500 platform over the 870 in most regards.
Remington’s edge came with the announcement of a wider variety of models of the 870DM, including a Magpul equipped, camo thumb-hole, hardwood, tactical, and stubby non-NFA TAC-14 models that will accept Remington’s in-house built single-stack magazines in 3- and 6-round capacities. Continue reading
SHOT Show 2018 is Just Around the Corner
What will the largest firearms industry trade show bring us this year?
The biggest show of its kind in the industry is just over a month away, with the 2018 iteration of SHOT Show going on from Tuesday, January 23 through Friday, January 26 in the Sands Expo center in Las Vegas. Not only will our team be there to cover the latest and greatest firearms and gear innovations from the show floor, we will also get to share our hands-on experiences with guns and gear again during the invite-only Industry Day at the Range from Boulder City the day before the show officially opens.
Be sure to keep an eye here on the GunLink Blog, as well as the GunLink Forums for news leading up to, during, and after the show, and follow us on our social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for live updates, photos, video, and more. Sign up now for a free GunLink Forums account to join in the discussion during the event, share your opinions of what the past year of development is bringing to the industry, and to let us know what you want to see more (or less) of in our coverage.
Our week-long coverage of the much anticipated annual event is made possible in part by our coverage partners, who we thank for their involvement and support of new and evolving media platforms. We greatly appreciate their help in fostering the new environment which allows immediate access to the latest from the industry rather than having to wait for news and rumors to trickle through the traditional print timelines or wait longer still for products to hit shelves before laying eyes on them. Continue reading