Author: Andrew Tuohy

In the past few weeks, I've seen a number of news stories regarding "war veterans with PTSD" who have unjustly taken the lives of other people - a park ranger, a police officer, and a 14 year old girl. In each case, headlines loudly proclaim how PTSD is the cause of all of this, and the articles lay out neatly for us that these men were veterans who just couldn't handle life after such intense combat. When I dug deeper, I found that these articles were not entirely accurate. I… Read More

I have been using the Spike's Tactical SAR rails for quite some time, and although they are extremely light, they do not seem to give up any strength or durability. However, I have several problems with the way they were designed and manufactured. Spike's Tactical provided both of these rails for review, as well as some of the rifles seen in the video. This video is a modification of the "new video format" I tested a few months ago.

I have been using the Rainier/Samson Evo rail for a good while, and after my initial reservations about its installation, have found it to be a rather decent and very lightweight handguard. Like the Centurion Arms C4 rail I recently reviewed, the Evo rail was provided by Rainier Arms. It is currently available for $175, which is, I think, a competitive price.

After several years with various Nickel Boron-plated AR-15 components, I am of the opinion that they should still be lubricated just like any other bolt carrier group. It is important to note that I held this opinion even when I had relatively little experience with nickel boron. Nickel boron is a coating used by FailZero on bolt carrier groups and is purported to reduce lubrication requirements - eliminate them, actually, but I'll stop lubricating my weapons when the owners of FailZero plate the internal components of their cars' engines with… Read More

For quite some time, I have been thinking about the way training is approached in, for lack of a better phrase, the "tactical firearm community." In my opinion, there is an over emphasis on weapons training in the community. You might say "Well, duh. The firearms community is going to have a heavy emphasis on firearms training over other subjects." This is certainly true. And I'm not suggesting that people who want to own and use semi automatic rifles or pistols for various purposes should not be intimately familiar with… Read More

Robert Silvers, who is head of R&D at AAC and inventor of the AAC Blackout flash suppressor, explains how flash suppressors work, and how his thorough understanding of the science involved shaped the AAC Blackout. Reprinted with his permission. When designing (the AAC Blackout), I read a bunch of patents and did not find many instances of inventors knowing why flash formed or why their design works. Because of this, they often added in features which did more harm than good. I kept the Blackout efficient by not making those… Read More

Since starting this blog, I've listed a few different email addresses for contact purposes. Also, there's the YouTube channel, where posters can send me messages and comment on the channel or on individual videos. Finally, there's the Facebook page. I'm sorry to say that I quite often fall behind in terms of responding to all of the various methods by which people can ask questions. I'm especially sorry that I haven't responded as soon as possible to some technical or purchasing questions. This occurs most often with comments on the… Read More

This will be a slight departure from my normal posts. As some of my readers might know, I was in the military (Technically, I still am). I progressed from a na¯ve Seaman Recruit to a tired-of-all-the-BS Hospital Corpsman Second Class in a relatively short period of time. I did not always know the right thing to do, and I often made mistakes – especially in the beginning stages of my enlistment. I do not believe that I was ever hazed as a result of those mistakes, or for any other… Read More

Work ran late recently, so I was able to photograph a fairly consistent comparison of the muzzle flash resulting from the use of Federal .223 Rem 55gr FMJBT - also known as AE223 - and a 16" AR-15. Actually, there were two AR-15s used for this photo. The PWS TTO requires a thin wrench for removal and installation, and all I had at the range was a standard AR-15 armorer's wrench. All of the other devices were used on a Spike's Tactical 16" carbine length AR-15. Other than the bare… Read More

Rob Curtis at GearScout has reviewed the Crimson Trace Lightguard pistol light for Glock 19s. It looks pretty neat, and seems like a decent workaround for keeping the width of the light no larger than the pistol itself. Attaching a light to the rail is the obvious solution that everyone else has gone with, but requires some added width, which makes IWB carry a little uncomfortable. This would also be a good solution for those with non-rail pistols - if Crimson Trace introduces such models.