I’m gonna try to keep this short, which for me is anything under 5000 words…
I grow weary of people claiming that certain products or techniques were invented recently, and that much adulation and praise must be heaped upon those who “invented” them. In reality, there is only so much that can be done while shooting or designing things that shoot. This leads to overlap, current or historical.
Take muzzle devices. The way some people tell it, the Battle Comp is the greatest thing ever. A few other companies came along and copied their design, and they all suck and the Battle Comp is the best.
Ignoring the fact that the BC pushes the muzzle down and is therefore not the greatest thing ever, it was predated by the KAC Triple Tap, which is a few years older. But if we look way back, we see that devices quite like the Battle Comp existed before anyone involved with that project was born – take the muzzle device of the German FG42, a WWII-era automatic rifle, for example.
Or shooting techniques. I grow weary of people acting like Magpul Dynamics invented the “thumb over barrel” support hand method. I’m kicking myself for not saving the video I saw depicting an SF soldier in Vietnam shooting an M16 on full auto in Vietnam with a classic “thumb over handguard” shooting method, and doing very well at controlling the weapon, too. But here’s an image from a WWII documentary about Iwo Jima. Not only does the Marine depicted have a “homemade” vertical grip attached to his Thompson, but he appears to be wrapping his thumb up and over the barrel (or at least forward along the barrel on the handguard).
I’m currently doing some testing with steel and brass cased .223 ammo – imagine my surprise when I found a 50 year old US military study about steel cased .223 that discussed several of the things I “discovered” in my testing.
Without historical knowledge or a frame of reference, any new discovery to us seems like an absolutely new discovery to everyone. While science has certainly moved us forward in some ways, that “new” product or technique may not really be all that new.
… and let’s mount MRD’s on our pistols, because that’s really new.
No, you and every “industry” out there is doing it because they copied it.
Let’s go back to the 70’s, in IPSC, and to the discussion you enjoyed while people made fun of the “space guns”, in ignorance, not understanding the theories that it brought about.
We cannot hope to understand when our perspectives are so narrow. We can never hope to understand that which we do not know.
But then, I’ll just come out with a stupid product that makes your gun fire “full auto”, call it tactical, instead of practical (the “P” in IPSC, and Production Division), and you’ll buy it. Even though many of us can shoot just as quickly with our PISTOLS.
/rant-that-few-will-get, over.
I think the Battle Comp is too loud.
When you publish the results of the steel .223 test, will you also give the link to the US military study from 50 years ago?
This. I’m also doing some steel .223 testing and would like to look at the military study.
Wouldn’t wrapping your thumbs over the top of a Thompson barrel be kind of a one time thing? You’d be touching the actual barrel, not a handguard that’s up over the barrel.
My thoughts exactly. That barrel gets very hot after a few bursts. There’s a range nearby that rents both M1A1 and M1928 out so I found out the hard way my first time.
I would think, in respect to the Marine with the Thompson, using a thumb on top grip would get you a well toasted thumb….
Here is another great example: “The very best thing I ever struck along this line was a German telescopic sight which we took from a prisoner, a machine gunner, which had nothing but an amber colored pyramid in the lower sector. Apparently, the aiming point was the apex of the pyramid, which was located in the exact center of the field. You could hold over, or anywhere on the target and nothing would be blocked out.”
Sounds an awful lot like an ACOG type reflex sight doesn’t it? Except this quote comes from “A Rifleman Went to War” and the German prisoner in this case was captured during a battle in World War ONE.
Not to mention the thumb over grip goes all the way back to the Kentucky Long Rifle…
ADHD and the internet = what were we talking about? I have a DynaComp, it’s the best and only thing like it, what’s this BattleComp you speak of?
Good article again…and can’t wait on that steel case ammo test
Funny you mention this now…
I have ordered and sold to many guys, the Battle Comp. They love them.
Two days ago, I tried one for myself on an AR on which I test new products/accessories.
I was stunned by the gas coming back in the gun and around the muzzle. It blew more carbon back into the action and mag than most modern suppressors. It creates a weird recoil impulse too.
Fortunately I am capable on handling that “wicked ” recoil of the 223 round by using just a simple old A2 flash suppressor.
Outside of shameless marketing angle, I think one of the reasons why a lot of old ideas become new again is due to production engineering. Someone finally figured out how to execute a concept with greater precision, higher reliability, and/or lower costs.
Andrew thank you for your insights.