Author: Andrew Tuohy

Though I've always admired Arc'teryx apparel from afar, I've never purchased any. If I were to do a review of an Arc'teryx garment, which would be most interesting or relevant to folks who would consider buying their stuff? Here's the civilian-oriented site. They have a military-oriented branch as well.

As many who read my blog know, I like Spike's Tactical. Granted, they've given me a lot of stuff - but it's all looked at with a critical eye, and I don't often find things to complain about. With the SAR rails, however, I did. Spike's sent me two SAR rails, a 12" and a 9". They're very light - the 9" weighs under 10 ounces - and I like the titanium barrel nut that makes installation very easy. They have 4 QD sockets for sling swivels, and the width… Read More

Paul over at The Firearm Blog has posted a video of me discussing the European version of the HK MR308 at IWA. More IWA videos should be appearing over there quite soon.

Many thanks to Rainier Arms for providing me with this billet receiver set. I assembled the rifle as my version of an M16A5 prototype - an upgraded M16, if you will. More to come on that.

Although the issue has declined in popularity among the major news organizations recently, the proximity of the border between the United States and Mexico to my home keeps border security high on my list of concerns. I regularly travel to various desert locations where "activity" is high, and feel that I have a basic understanding of the real situation, rather than what is presented through various media outlets. Law Enforcement Challenges The most important factor to understand is scale. Even in one state - such as Arizona - there's a… Read More

Click on the photo to view the video review. Thanks to Deliberate Dynamics for the trigger time with some of their equipment. Before anyone asks, the bag is a Blue Force Gear DAP pack - the Skye model.

The following is an excerpt from the book A Rifleman Went to War, by Captain Herbert W. McBride, of the Canadian Expeditionary Force and the United States Army. He fought in World War I, mostly in France, and went from junior enlisted to officer during that time. Most of this book is a discussion of rifles, machine guns, or the war in general; all of it is fascinating to a history buff like me, and I found this section on pistols quite interesting. This was written in 1935. As I… Read More

A while back, I purchased three ALS G275 smoke grenades, intending to use them at some undetermined point. I decided to test one out late last year, and was very disappointed with its performance, as was everyone else who was watching. I was expecting the cloud of smoke I'd seen when using smoke grenades while on active duty, and as represented in ALS product photos. Instead, a small stream of white smoke was emitted for approximately 20-30 seconds, barely visible from the ground 25 yards away, let alone from an… Read More

While in North Africa last week, I had the opportunity to observe and examine the security forces of Tunisia. For those who don't know, the Tunisian revolution - largely organized on Facebook - was the spark that set off half a dozen or so other major revolutions or revolts, including Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, etc. The military and police presence in the city was very heavy. This was apparent to me even when arriving at the airport, where Steyr AUG A1s were fairly common. It was also apparent that firearms… Read More