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How to Clean Your Sig MPX - Gun Cleaning

11/1/2016

By request of a viewer this video describes the field stripping and cleaning of the MPX carbine. The cleaning gear is the new Otis Defender cleaning kit with my choice of G96 Gun Treatment, CLP and bore solvent. SAS has secured a discount for 10% of all G96 products off their web page by entering the code SAS10 in the promo box at checkout.

In this video, I take you step-by-step to demonstrate how I clean my rifles. I am not saying this is the only way to clean your guns, or the only gear you should use. However, it's equipment I've used over the span of my years working and shooting in the industry, and I find it performs the best for me and my firearms.

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LMT MWS v KAC SR-25

10/28/2016

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This is a viewer requested video comparing these two very iconic firearms. There is no doubt there is some lineage between these two rifles. In fact, LMT manufactures several components for KAC. The lower receiver is licensed from KAC to LMT. The upper receiver of the LMT is a totally different design. I found it difficult to say which is better. I believe the LMT is a entirely new generation of rifle compared to the SR-25. I consider both to be excellent precision rifles. In the end, the LMT offers a flexibility that the KAC SR-25 simply does not. Both rifles are combat proven in the GWOT.

The SR-25 shown in this video is an early 1995 produced SR-25 Match Rifle. Although it has a URX rail added to it, as well as a PMag PRS stock, it is an original. The MK11 and M110 have gone through many updates and changes from this early design. I do mention some of the updated rifle features during this review of the SR-25.

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Core15 HARDCORE 6.5mm Grendel

10/5/2016

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This video looks at the newly introduced precision rifle manufactured by the custom shop of Core15. This rifle is chambered in the growing popular 6.5mm Grendel caliber. The rifle comes with everything one would need for a precision rifle including a hard carrying case, back up sights, scope, rings and bipod. It also comes with two magazines, a 25 and 10 round magazine.

The rifle was tested with both Hornady and Wolf ammunition, and proved not only to function 100% reliable but to shoot excellent groups with the two Hornady loads. Group size was much larger with the Wolf but that was to be expected from the bi-metal fmj round.

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First Production Armalite AR-10A

9/7/2016

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The Assault Rifle Ban of 1994 banned any magazine that held more than 10 rounds. Prior to the ban, Eagle Arms owed by Mark Westrom, was working on a new version of the AR10 rifle. Right around that same time, Westrom acquired the rights to the trademark name of Armalite. So the new Armalite company was now manufacturing the AR10 rifle. However, due to the ban, Westrom was unable to provide his customers with the 20 round high capacity magazines they desired. There was a severe shortage of original Armalite magazines from the 1960's and far fewer magazines for the SR25. After careful research it was found that the M14 magazine could be adapted to the new AR10 design.

Due to the severe large numbers of surplus of M14 magazines, Westrom found a way to make it happen. By purchasing M14 magazines and modifying them, every customer could have a rifle with a high capacity magazine that was in compliance with the Assault Weapon Ban, due to the fact the M14 magazines were all manufactured prior to September 1994. This went on through the sunset of the Assault Weapon Ban in 2004. Now Armalite was free to manufacture their own magazines.

Initial rifles stayed with the modifed M14 magazines, and now Armalite produced new magazines that were modified and functioned even better than the M14 magazines. However, there was an increased popularity of AR10 type designs from many other companies in the industry. They chose to go with the SR25 type magazines. There were multiple manufacturers of the SR25 type magazine, including Knights Armament Company, Magpul, C Products Defense, etc.

Due to customer demand, Westrom introduced the new AR-10A, which required modification of both upper and lower receivers to accept the SR25 pattern magazines. Since that time, Westrom has sold Armalite and the new company has chosen to discontinue use of the M14 type magazine in favor of full production of rifles utilizing the SR25 pattern magazine. So the AR-10A is now the standard model manufactured by Armalite. Armalite still provides modified M14 magazines, as well as the latter post-ban M14 based magazines to support existing customers. As a side note, the designer, Mark Westrom, felt then and feels now that the M14 type magazine is much stronger, more durable, and more reliable than the SR25 type magazines.

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Otis AK Cleaning Kit

9/5/2016

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For being the most mass produced military rifle in the world there has been little done in the area of maintenance. Throughout the years, the rifles have come with a very crud cleaning kit consisting of: patch saver and nylon bore brushes. Common patches will be rags or part of someone's shirt, not to mention, complete lack of solvents and lubricants. The AK has always been touted as a rifle that you don't need to clean because it's just so reliable. Sorry to burst your bubble but every weapon needs to be cleaned.

Based on the legacy cleaning systems there has been a need for a modern and proper cleaning system for this family of weapons. Otis Technology has created the first true AK47/AK74 cleaning systems. One of the primary innovations of the system is the new chamber brushes. The chamber brush is manufactured of bimetal wire, a wire consisting of stainless steel and copper. This enables proper scrubbing of the chamber and throat of the barrel, and remove baked in lacquer and mouth sealant, which remains in the chamber from the military grade ammunition.

The other problem solved is how to deploy the chamber brush due to the barrel sitting below the rear of the receiver. The new flex adapter permits easy impregnation of the chamber brush into the chamber and being able to twist the chamber brush without damaging either a cleaning rod or the chamber. Also provided with the kit is a copper all purpose brush that will remove carbon fouling on the piston operating rod. This system also will work very well for the SKS family of weapons. The kit is available in both 7.62x39, as well as 5.45x39mm.

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American Tactical MAXX Rifle

9/2/2016

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Over the last couple of decades there has been several attempts to manufacture AR upper and lower receivers out of polymers and carbon fibers. For the most part it has been a complete and utter disaster. The synthetic materials would not hold up to the operating dynamics of the rifle. American Tactical out of Summerville, South Carolina has completely rethought the polymer receivers and come up with a viable and reliable product.

The new OMNI MAXX series rifles use a patented system, which consists of metal inserts in the rear of the lower receivers, which prevents the rear of the receiver from snapping off, as found in previous generations of polymer lower receivers. The upper receiver has a metal insert in the front of the receiver, which the barrel nut is attached. In testing several rifles it has been found that there is no negative effect from the heat to the bonding of the metal insert and polymer from which its molded into.

The lower receiver has been found to be just as durable and reliable as any aluminum receiver. Although only a two ounce savings in weight there is a major difference in cost between the forged aluminum receivers verses the polymer lower receivers. American Tactical offers this rifle in several configurations, including pistol variations. They are offered in both 5.56mm and 300 Blackout calibers. The barrels are very high quality and very accurate.

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LMT LM308MWSA 7.62mm Select Fire Rifle

8/31/2016

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The LMT LM308MWSA Rifle is a direct derivative of the semi-automatic LM308MWS. The combat proven L129A1 in use by British sharp shooters has gone on to be adopted by other countries as well. The New Zealand Army purchased a very similar rifle but had the additional requirement for fully automatic capability. This makes complete sense in the fact that snipers go out either alone or in a two man team. If they were to get into trouble by having the select fire capability, as well as the heavy barrel, the rifle could serve as a light support weapon to provide the heavy fire power that may be required to break the engagement. The LMT LM308MWSA does just that. It provides precision accuracy but in the moment of need can provide a heavy volume of fire.

Due to the modularity of the MWS upper receiver, the barrel is easily swapped out at the user level. Barrels are offered in mil-spec chrome plated configuration, as well as match grade configurations. Based on my experience of having the opportunity to fire most 7.62mm selective fire modern military rifles, the LMT LM308MWSA stands out from the rest in its excellent controlability on fully automatic fire. LMT has found the balance between weight and cyclic rate of fire to make the rifle easy to control and keep on target, where other rifles in its class have significant recoil and muzzle climb.

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The AKS-74

8/29/2016

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First seen in combat in the early 80's in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan this 5.45x39mm caliber rifle had been shrouded in secrecy from its adoption in 1974 to replace the 7.62x39mm AKM rifles in the Soviet Army. The rifle was developed from lessons learned from the 5.56mm caliber M16 rifle in the jungles of Vietnam which had proven the lethality of a small caliber high velocity projectile over the standard 30 caliber projectile. The AK74 was a modified version of the AKM with several new features. It had also been proven that based on various variables that the AK74 was a more reliable platform then its 7.62mm big brother. This rifle and cartridge would go on to be adopted by all Warsaw pact countries. However, the 7.62x39mm remained in production and in use throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Introduced in the early 1990's to the American firearms market, the very sought out rifle has seen wide use in the American market, primarily with rifles built off of parts kits from Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and some Russian rifles. The rifle is the least powerful of any military rifle in service, however, its control ability is excellent, as well as its accuracy. It had earned a gruesome reputation in Afghanistan, and is still to this day the service cartridge of Russia and many of its allies.

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Colt LE901-16S

8/26/2016

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This is a review of the Colt Modular Rifle LE901-16S. Although very late in the game, Colt has finally released a 7.62mm caliber rifle. The concept of this rifle is multi caliber but in a very different way than its been done in the past. The rifle is convertible from the standard 7.62mm upper receiver to the standard mil-spec M16/M4 upper receiver with the use of a magazine well adaptor. From my perspective, this is an excellent 7.62mm assault rifle. Although a good selling point to be convertible the reality is if you want a 5.56mm base rifle you would have a dedicated rifle for it. A solider is not going to carry a spare upper receiver assembly, buffer assembly and magazines in his backpack. This rifle in its 7.62 configuration would certainly have been an excellent assault rifle for use in Iraq and Afghanistan due to the longer shot range opportunities, as well as its barrier penetration performance. The success of this rifle has been minimal, not due to the design, but due to the fact that its competing against rifles such as: HK417, SCAR17, Knights Armament SR25 rifles, and LMT MWS series rifles, which already have several years of successful combat experience.

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Tac Sol 22 LR M4 Upper Receiver Conversion

8/24/2016

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With the ever rising costs of .223/5.56mm ammunition there has been an opening in the industry for lower cost alternatives for training and target shooting. Many manufacturers have introduced .22 Long Rifle caliber upper receivers to the industry. One of, if not the finest conversion in the industry is offered by Tactical Solutions. The rifle shown in this video has been surprisingly reliable. The video shows consecutively firing 230 rounds without a single malfunction. It is a testament to the quality of Tactical Solutions. The rifle was fed by Black Dog Manufacturing magazines, which their reliability complimented the quality of the Tactical Solutions upper receiver. The ammunition was provided by Remington. The load is their popular Thunder Bolt.

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Forward>>

How to Clean Your Sig MPX - Gun Cleaning

LMT MWS v KAC SR-25

Core15 HARDCORE 6.5mm Grendel

First Production Armalite AR-10A

Otis AK Cleaning Kit

American Tactical MAXX Rifle

LMT LM308MWSA 7.62mm Select Fire Rifle

The AKS-74

Colt LE901-16S

Tac Sol 22 LR M4 Upper Receiver Conversion

Signed Armorers Manual

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