Category: Reviews

Among the various carbines offered by Spike's Tactical, I spotted an 18" SPR upper on their website. Because of my previous experience with the Spike's CHF upper, and the reasonable price of the upper considering the features offered, my interest was piqued. However, I had plenty of spare parts with which to almost complete such an upper. After contacting Tom at Spike's about a barrel, I wound up with an 18" LW50 barrel that had been IonBonded black and a Spike's M4 upper receiver. The Spike's barrels are manufactured by… Read More

Not too long ago, I wrote about the Spike's Tactical CHF (cold hammer forged) upper that was sent to me for T&E. It's fast become the standard by which I judge similar (M4 type) uppers. Well, Spike's has a new upper out, and it's definitely worth taking a look at, for several reasons. First, it's of the highest quality. The only difference between this upper and the CHF upper is the method by which the barrel was manufactured - hammer forging versus the more traditional button rifling. The hammer forged… Read More

I love Surefire flashlights. Don't get me wrong. However, recently, I've found myself needing - perhaps wanting is a better term - stuff that Surefire doesn't offer. I've been using some of the following products for a few months now, and I'm pretty impressed with what they have to offer. Before I get started, I should explain a few things. Your average Surefire 6P flashlight uses two 3 volt lithium batteries, type CR123. It has a xenon, or incandescent, bulb designed to be powered with 6 volts. There are batteries… Read More

As anyone who had their finger anywhere near the pulse of the black rifle market knows, the market had become saturated with semi automatic rifles as of July or August of 2009. The ferocious buying frenzy dried up pretty rapidly. Meanwhile, the economy continued to get worse. People continued to lose their jobs. Those who didn't lose their jobs might still have had to deal with reduced hours or pay cuts. All through this period, a number of people continued to hold out for the release of the Adaptive Combat… Read More

Last year, I purchased a set (front and rear) of Level IV plates from bulletproofme.com. They fit just fine in my Interceptor, but when other plate carriers were used, the rear, which was countoured differently than the front, would not fit. Even after I had owned them for 6 months, the company offered to swap out the rear for a front plate (for a 20% fee - very reasonable in my opinion, since they would have had to X-ray the plate before reselling it). However, I decided to test the… Read More

There are a number of muzzle devices available to the AR-15 shooter, ranging from a $5 A2 flash hider to exotic suppressor mounts in the $400 range. I've collected some of the more popular examples and taken video of their performance at night on two different rifles - one in 5.45x39 and one in 5.56x45. The video will do most of my talking. Within the week, I hope to complete a similar comparison during the day, which will focus on different attributes of the devices. I must apologize - several… Read More

Some people need the most rugged and reliable product they can find. Other people want the most rugged and reliable product they can afford. Still more people just want a product that looks cool and functions fairly well. I can't tell you what your needs are, or where you fall on this scale, but I can tell you what this product does, and what it might be good for. As always, in the interests of full disclosure, I was given this "Micro Dot" by Primary Arms for the specific purpose… Read More

"What AR-15 should I buy?" I used to have a copy and paste response for this whenever someone on AR15.com would ask. Two questions. "What is your budget, and what do you want to do with it?" It's easier to come up with an answer to the first question, I've found: many would respond "As little as possible." Well then, I would say to myself, what was your answer to the second question? I would cringe when I saw something like "patrol rifle". A plinker or range toy does not… Read More

Whenever the subject of home defense, patrol/duty, or "SHTF" comes up on various forums, a line is drawn in the sands of the internet. On one side are the KISS (Keep It Simple and Stupid or Keep It Simple, Stupid!) aficionados, the guys who feel that anything that uses batteries or has glass does not belong on their weapon. Beyond that, the definition is hard to pin down, because some like lightweight carbines, and others prefer 20" HBAR rifles. The one concession that most will make is that a sling… Read More

I'm going to be honest. If I had never been given a PWS muzzle device, I probably would never have bought one. "Nearly $100," I said. "What does it do that's worth $100? I thought the Smith Vortex was too expensive at $50." Well, I would soon find out. At the 2008 SAR West show, PWS was handing out their FSC 556 muzzle device like Halloween candy, so I gladly took one. Since then, I've fallen in love with it. I've moved it around between a half dozen rifles before… Read More