We first discovered TravelChair products at SHOT Show 2008, and just liked the way they looked. We were kinda' tired from walking around the exhibition hall and the chairs looked pretty comfortable, so we sat down in one. That pretty much sold us, right there. The chair was just as comfortable as it looked, particularly after the distance we'd walked by then.

The TravelChair Bubba 789V portable folding lounge chair is...

As long was we're on an M4/M4A1 Carbine (and semi-auto tactical AR-15 carbine) and 4179 STANAG box magazine kick, we might as well cover the Lancer Systems L5 Translucent Magazine (30-round 5.56mm NATO polymer magazine) in a little bit more detail, particularly since it's already been mentioned in previous DefenseReview articles here and here.

Defense Review actually picked up a Lancer Systems flyer on the L5 Translucent Magazine at the Falcon Industries booth at SHOT Show 2008.  However, until now, that's about as far as it went. It wasn't until we spoke with a professional contact of ours, Mike Pannone (a.k.a. Michael Pannone), about the L5 mag that our interest in it really got piqued. Mr. Pannone is...

If you're looking for an alternative to standard USGI 30-round AR-15/M16 magazines, but you'd prefer to stick with metal mags instead of going polymer with the MagPul PMAG, TangoDown ARC mag, or Lancer Systems L5 Translucent Polymer Mag for your tactical AR-15 carbine, Fusil-USA, LLC has just the thing for you. The patent-pending Fusil magazine (30 rounds, 4179 STANAG) is made from spring steel and weighs 6 ounces (6 oz), which is 2 ounces (2 oz) heavier than a standard USGI aluminum AR-15/M16 30-round mag, which weighs 4 ounces (4 oz). By comparison, the Heckler & Koch (HK) "High-Reliability" 30-Round Steel Magazine weighs 8.64 ounces (8.64 oz), which is over 2.5 ounces (2.5 oz) heavier than the Fusil mag.

The Fusil 30-round Spring-Steel Magazine was initially introduced at SHOT Show 2008, and, as it turns out, DefenseReview received one of these magazines from CMMG owner Jeff Overstreet while we were at his booth. We actually...

M4/M4A1 Carbine Reliability

Why M4’s have reliability issues...and why it's our fault!

By Michael Pannone

December 24, 2008

I fired 15,000 rounds through a semi-automatic M4/M4A1-type direct-gas-impingement (DGI) carbine in 31 weeks without a single malfunction attributable to anything except bad ammunition or bad magazines, with a grand total of 9 malfunctions. The least number of rounds fired between cleanings was 960 rounds, and the only parts replaced were gas rings at 8,860 rounds. And you can, too.

The M4/M4A1 Carbine is simultaneously a much beloved and much maligned rifle. But why? It’s beloved because it is so simple to maintain and ergonomically the best-designed assault rifle/carbine system of all time. It’s maligned because many have not maintained it as they should, and reliability has subsequently suffered. If the M4/M4A1 is properly maintained, and a reasonable amount of lubricant is put on it, it is extraordinarily reliable.

We need to...

All photos contained in this article are courtesy of Chen Lee a.k.a. "SMGLee", and are copyrighted.

December 22, 2008

Tactical Response Inc. was initially established in 1996 by James Yeager with the sole purpose of providing the best possible tactical training (including tactical shooting instruction) to the people in the Southern States. But as with anything good, Tactical Response has grown over the years into an international training company that provides training to military, private citizens, police, and PSD contractors. Unlike other training facilities or individual instructors, Tactical Response continues to change and evolve in order to meet new equipment, tactics, and environment demands. Tactical Response instructors have never been doctrinal in specific gun-handling techniques like some other instructors, and Yeager continues to modify and evolve his methods while remaining true to the core emphasis and focus of what he's teaching, which is the fighting mindset a.k.a. combat mindset.

I recently had the privilege of attending the December 10-11 2008 "Fighting Rifle" class held at a Saugus shooting range in the Los Angeles, California area. The weather was sunny, yet chilly (for us Californians), with a slight wind. Day 1 started with a…

December 17, 2008

DefenseReview has been using TangoDown "Rail Grip" polymer rail covers (a.k.a. rail panels), "BattleGrip" vertical foregrips and "Rifle Grip" pistol grips (for rifles) on tactical AR-15 carbines and subcarbine/SBRs (Short Barreled Rifles) for quite awhile, now. These products have always performed well, and we've been satisfied with them.

TangoDown's most interesting product at the moment is their ARC two-piece polymer magazine (30 rounds), which they started developing about 4 years ago for the SCAR program (FN MK-16 SCAR-L and FN MK-17 SCAR-H). The TangoDown ARC magazine was designed and developed from the ground up to for...

December 15, 2008

One of our readers, Justin Guyett, has brought a potentially important tactical hardware conflict to DefenseReview's attention after reading our photo analysis of a 5-man U.S. Secret Service PPD CAT team in a "war wagon" SUV while they were protecting President-Elect Barack Obama in downtown Chicago. In that piece, we recommended that any/all PSD operators (including VIP/executive protection specialists like Secret Service personnel) utilize polarized lenses in their tactical eyepro sunglasses in order to be able to see clearly through vehicle windshields and windows. This ability has tactical importance for obvious reasons.

Well, as it turns out, polarized sunglasses may have an Achilles heel when it comes to the EOTech 550-series Holographic Weapon Sight (HWS) combat optic a.k.a. combat sight, and vice versa. According to tactical shooting instructor John Farnam of Defense Training International, Inc. (DTI), if you're wearing polarized sunglasses, i.e. tactical sunglasses with polarized lenses, and you...

December 8, 2008

Back in September, DefenseReview published an article on the Barrett M98B .338 Lapua Magnum bolt-action anti-materiel/sniper rifle. Well, it looks like Barrett may have some competition in the form of the Sniper Weapon System (SWS) .338 Lapua Magnum bolt-action rifle made by H-S Precision, Inc. The SWS became the "very first American-designed and manufactured .338 Lapua sniper rifle adopted by any military in the world," when it was adopted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) a.k.a. Israeli Defense Forces last year, according to gunwriter Charles Karwan a.k.a Chuck Karwan, who reviewed the rifle for Tactical Weapons.

The IDF SWS is basically a modified/enhanced and militarized H-S Precision Pro-Series 2000 semi-custom bolt-action rifle, a military/tactical-config version of the Pro-Series 2000 .338 Lapua Magnum, if you will. The SWS' action is marked "Pro-Series 2000 LA", and...

If executive protection/PSD ops are your game, Torrey Pines Logic, Inc. (TPL) may be the name when it comes to sniper detection systems a.k.a. anti-sniper systems, video surveillance detection, and photographic surveillance detection.

First up is the TPL Mirage-1200 handheld electro-optical detector (optic detector), which is designed to detect long-range optical systems targeting you at ranges up to 1200 meters away. If someone's scoping you with a rifle, you can detect them lurking out there in the proverbial ether quickly and efficiently, hopefully before they can take the shot. Or, if they're just surveilling you with a video camera, still camera, binoculars, etc., you can detect them and go grab them up and hold them for questioning before they escape. In other words, you may not be able to see the bad guys before they see you, but you can see them very quickly after they see you.

So, how does it work? The Mirage 1200...

December 2, 2008

As the world reels from the Mumbai, India terrorist attack(s), a lot of questions are being asked and answered, and accusations are being made. But none that DefenseReview has read, save one (thank you CrimeFileNews.com), get to the core of the problem and discuss why these attacks will likely continue, perhaps even here in the United States.

Even if a country has the most sophisticated and capable anti-terrorism and counterterrorism forces and infrastructure in place--and India doesn't have anything even close to either of these--they will...

DefenseReview has known about the Caracal high-capacity semi-auto multi-caliber pistol for quite some time, even before it was shown at IDEX 2007. Designed and developed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Caracal F and Caracal C lightweight 9mm semi-auto pistols are striker-fired (with a cocking indicator), carry a maximum of 18+1 rounds (Caracal F) and 15+1 rounds (Caracal C) of 9mm Parabellum (9x19mm NATO) ammo, respectively, and are reported to have only 28 parts, which is even less parts than the Glock series pistols. 9mm is reportedly the first available caliber for the Caracal pistols, although the pistols will also be offered in other calibers, including .40 S&W.

The Caracal series pistols also have...

November 24, 2008

Ever since he won the presidential election, the press has been following President-Elect Barack Obama around Chicago like a bunch of hungry (and annoying) puppies. Whether he's going to his transition office in the Kluczynski Federal Building in the Loop (dowtown Chicago professional district, south of Wacker Drive) or hitting the East Bank Club (EBC) for a little bit of b-ball (i.e. basketball, for those who don't play) and working out, the media's been on him like white on rice.

Now, normally, DefenseReview (DefRev) couldn't care less, but one of the many shutterbugs on Obama's tail, one Charles Dharapak (for the Associated Press), shot the accompanying photo (top, right) of a five-man U.S. Secret Service Presidential Protective Division (a.k.a. "Presidential Protective Detail", a.k.a. "Presidential Protection Detail") Counter Assault Team--or, SS PPD CAT, for short--in one of the SUV war wagons as they escorted Obama to a private meeting at the FBI building (in Chicago) on Thursday, November 6, 2008. While the photo is lo-res, it's still adequate for identifying some of the tactical hardware/tech that the team uses. Note: this photo (top, right) is an enlarged version of the photo located at the bottom of the article, which is the original version. Being lo-res, the enlarged version gets a bit blurry when you view it full-size.

The primary subject of the photo is the...

November 19, 2008

Human Events is reporting on the use of Chinese armor-piercing a.k.a. armor-penetrating (AP) bullets by enemy snipers in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the article, this new Chinese AP rifle ammo is copycatting U.S.-made AP ammo design, and is "sending alarm bells through the Pentagon as it hurries to keep pace by producing improved body armor for soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors, although the Chinese munitions are "not thought capable of defeating the super-hard ceramic plates that now protect service members against smalls-arms fire, including armor-piercing bullets."

So, why the alarm? Because, the article states, "there are intelligence reports that China is using the copycat bullets to...

November 13, 2008

DefenseReview has been publishing information about Springfield Armory XD (eXtreme Duty) series pistols for quite awhile now, since a number of our professional contacts in the tactical community swear by them, particularly the .45 ACP models. To date, the most interesting XD pistol is the Springfield XD(M) a.k.a. Springfield XDM .40 S&W pistol, which updates the XD's looks and ergonomics, adds a "Minimal Reset Trigger", and provides the user with 16+1 rounds of .40 S&W ammo via its "Mega-Capacity Magazine".

Not content to rest on their laurels, Springfield Armory (SA) has decided to offer a...

November 12, 2008

A company out of Sheldon, Iowa called JARD, Inc. has introducted a new semi-auto .50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO) anti-materiel/sniper rifle called the JARD J50.

The J50 is a gas-operated direct-gas-impingement (DGI) rifle that utilizes a 9-lug rotating-bolt locking locking mechanism. The combination of the weapon's DGI operation, 30" free-float stainless steel barrel, and JARD adjustable trigger should...

November 10, 2008

On November 3, 2008, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) issued a Sources Sought Notice for a "Semi-Automatic Precision Weapon System" (SAPWS) (Solicitation Number: M6785408R1011), i.e. a semi-auto sniper rifle, capable of firing the 7.62x51mm NATO (7.62mm NATO) M118 Long Range (LR) Cartridge. The SAPWS, which would essentially be the Marine Corps' version of the U.S. Army's M110 SASS (Semi-Automatic Sniper System), must be equipped with a silencer/sound suppressor and must be capable of mounting all available night optics and aiming devices (scopes, targeting lasers, etc.) currently in the USMC inventory.  The rifle must also be equipped with a scope and "must be capable of use with the M8541 Scout Sniper Day Scope (SSDS)."

Coincidently (or perhaps not so coincidently), LaRue Tactical recently introduced their...

Colt Defense's last new offering is the Colt Extended Range Carbine (ERC), which is a 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO)/.223 Rem. select-fire, match-grade rifle/carbine designed to allow the end-user to engage targets in excess of 600 meters away when utilizing a 16-inch (16") barrel, and in excess of 650 meters when utilizing a 20-inch (20") barrel. The Colt ERC's lapped heavy match-grade barrels (16" and 20 ") are 1-in-8" twist, and thus allow the operator to utilize the full gamut of bullets with grain weights from 55 to 77 grains. Both button-rifled and cold-hammer-forged barrels are available, depending on customer preference.

The Colt ERC also features a 2-stage trigger (full-auto) and Colt's patented Mil-Std-1913 "Picatinny" rail system (quad rail)/forend rail tube. Being a select-fire, i.e. full-auto, carbine/rifle, the ERC incorporates Colt's new...

November 4, 2008

So far, DefenseReview has covered the Colt SCW (Sub-Compact Weapon), Colt APC (Advanced Piston Carbine) and Colt AHC (Advanced Hybrid Carbine), but those aren't the only newly-developed weapons in Colt Defense's bag of tricks. If you're interested in an upgraded/modernized version of the standard, direct-gas-impingement (DGI) Colt M4A1 Carbine, Colt Defense has two weapons for you, the Colt ACC (Advanced Colt Carbine) and Colt ACC-M (Advanced Colt Carbine-Monolithic) select-fire carbines.

The Colt ACC adds some of Colt's new components/features and accessories that we've already covered. These include the:...