Short - Long Update
Shamelssly I stole a this from a thread I wrote on Lightfighter.
I figured some would be of interest to people here.
Several years ago at SHOT a buddy of mine up North was returning a neat little shirt to the Arc booth. One of his guys had been running it for their deployment to Afghan - I was rather impressed as it did not stink - and it was not worn out.
I've had a few dealings with Arc'teryx prior to that and had a Bravo jacket that had gone thru some classes and demos.
Long story short -- Several us of at KAC where attending a Army User Trial in Texas at Jim Smith's (Spartan Tactical) Range in Feb.
So by hook and by crook we managed to trade/bribe, buy and steal several sets of LEAF gear from the US distributor (Uber Group - Dave K)
Let just say not a minute too soon.
Reed Knight Jr, Reed Knight III, Shane Robinson (our NV guy) arrive in Texas and the first day was nice, the second we where zeroing guns with a wind that reminded me of Afghanistan.
The third day was more of the same, and Day 4 had some rain and more winds - then got really eindy and sunny.
(Kev Note - some of these pics will get uploaded later)
Several of the Non Big Army folks there had LEAF stuff, but outside of them, the guys wearing LEAF where Leupold, Surefire, AAC and us. Which kinds sucked - and we left some of Dave's card for the guys as RFI funds for Snipers would go a long way getting them LEAF gear.
Now on the static pics - its hard to get a photographer, so I used my Kifaru EMR (it gets dusty these days as I have no plans to go out patrolling) as a torso.
Chimera Shirt
Okay I shameless put the BFG 10 Speed Rig on it
I end up wearing one of these to work a lot -- its comfortable, and the neck line is great if your shooting. I used to hate the collar idea, but I have a bunch of scars on my back from hot casing bouncing off vehicles, helo's etc down my back, and I am a believer now.
The shirt is I guess an "undershirt" in that you can wear it next to the skin and put your armor on over it.
It has side arm pockets - which if you wear armor a lot is a blessing, also it has velcro on those arm pockets so Flags, ID markerds and IFF stuff can be applied.
Its moisture wicking, so even in the Fl heat, its not unpleasant to wear, plus it keeps the sun and bugs off.
Going up to the mid layer
Atom LT jacket -- this thing is great -- I wore this over a T Shirt for a few days in Texas, and wear it down here in the Mornings/Evenings on the cooler days (like 80's
)
It not bulky at all, and I scrunched mine up in a Small GP pouch, much better than an older rain jacket liner (go figure), its not waterproof, but it dries fast, and when I got dumped on Day4 during some shooting, it was warm when wet and the wind was whipping -- note I felt the wind and it was cool, but unlike something that get wet and get heavy and all shitty, this was still useful.
I would have liked some velcro - but I'm the guy who thinks that fleece is an outergarment sometimes no matter what some CSM thinks.
Combat Jacket
Now this is heaven.
Pit zips - that are waterproof
Which to me is a no brainer (both the WP and having them, but so many items out there just dont do it.
The drawstring
Unlike 99.9% of manufacturers Arc'Teryx put the draw string captive inside the jacket -- why you may ask, well ever see a drawstring go into a Glock trigger guard during reholstering...
So many jackets for duty have drawstrings right in the area for a handgun holster -- which leads Mr. Murphy to enjoy the ride.
Cuffs
Tabbed Velcro cuff, which is easy to use with gloves, nothing sucks more (to me at least) in getting all jocked up and then having floppy arms trying to cover down the jacket over your gloves - and while most Nomex gloves are decently handy enough, a lot of jackets tabs where built specifically to make you look like a flopping fool - not so with this.
Jacket collar
Its lined -- I like that - if you seal it up, at least your raw sun and sandburned neck is not getting rubbed more raw by Gortex - it also seem to seal the area better for sand (when Mr. Helo kicks it up in your face, and in a nasty downpour the top gets a little wet, but it does not let water run down your back to the crack of your ass (another pet peave of mine)
More pics and stuff coming up tomorrow
For you 1911 shooters
Perry Competition 1911 Bushing Take Down Tool
Gary Perry KAC VP of R&D, well he likes 1911's and his wife rans a small company and Gary designed a tool to make 1911 disassembly a little easier - the rod doubles as a bore rod for a brush or swab holder - and is reversable for the differnet barrel bushings.
Gary gave me one a little more than a year ago, and I tend to take it everywear my gun goes.
Back to the 10 Speed SR-25 Rig (okay its the SCAR-H rig - but I do work for KAC and have an SR-25 so hearafter its the SR-25 Rig.)
I am breaking a longstanding rule --- I just got this today. Its not used or absued -- yet.
I will say I was impressed with the increadibly light weight, and the quality of the stiching.
I've got a match this weekend, and a few upcoming demo's so I'm going to enjoy doing a more detailed review.
One thing I did notice, is the PMAG-LR mags are a tighter fit, and the nobs on them snag more than our KAC mags. I plan on running KAC mags in some pouches and LR's in two others - and seeing if there is a major time penalty in the LR fit, and also if the LR wears the pouch worse.
I shot the first Field Precision Match at the Volusia County Gun and Hunt Club yesterday -- with my SR25 and my 10 Speed rig had its first outing. Of course I was also wearing my Arc'teryx gear...
One thing I really had not noticed about the 10 speed rig, is its all the strechy material -- so it really contours to the body and you can keep it cinched doen nicely. I also found out that both PMag-LR and KAC mags pull out with relative easy.
I'll get some pictures of the stiching, etc - like all BFG gear products its all top notch.
Well after seeing how well my iPhone took pictures I figured I would take some more.
A few folks spied the Wilcox/Oasys shoe in the picture affixed to a ANVIS-9 Battery Box.
For those who came to the Mil/LE shoot at Nellis @ SHOT and a few other Gov demo's you've seen me doing more passive night shooting.
Several of our customers have expressed a desire to get higher NV 'compatible' mounts for their day optics - so they can shoot thru them with their dual tube NODS without using active lasers.
The trick has been setting up a set of ANVIS9's without the OEM gear to do so.
So that question answered led into another -- well yes KAC has made a higher 34mm scope mount for this activity (as well as a higher T-1 Mount). Two years after I have been trying to get this done (I am a big fan of Mark Larue's 1.93 height mounts) and we have it.
The CQBSS clears the PEQ-15A and PEQ-15's in this, and you can quite easily use it for dual tube NV shooting.
I was making offhand hits on plates out to 250m thru the NODS in Vegas, which was about as far as I could see without active illumination.
The CQBSS is actually a lot easier for this than the EO or T-1 (weird as that sounds).
Onto the 25...
Well I have over 11,000 rds thru this gun.
Its a hybrid of sorts, as it was one of the first 50 EMC's we made, these did not have the extended ejection port on the upper receiver. Being involved in the program as I was, I figured my suppressed shooting would be limited, so I don't think it is a major issue for me.
What does an SR-25 look like with this rounds on them...
At about 10,750 rds I noticed the chrome was starting to chip away from the bolt under the extractor
The Bolt Catch has some wear marks
The upper has a some wear marks
Carrier is fine
At aprox 9k I swapped the rail out for a URXIII, I prefer the lack of rail in the uRXIII for the way I shoot. As my URXIII was a setup piece, I did not get a lower rail with it, and had to use the rail from the original rail, the URXIII lower rail goes out further as we no longer need to clear the double high gas block that was on the Mk11 and M110.
At aprox 5k the Vampire head would no longer rotate on the SF light -- as you can see the MAMS brake really dishes it out to accessories, however the Vampire head packed it in for adjustment with a different muzzle device.
My SR-25 on the left beside Shane R shooting a M110 Carbine with an early Leupold PSR scope.
EMC Charging Handle
We pay a royalty to PRI for the Gas Buster Concept - and use a LMT Enhanced Charging Handle Latch.
Onto the PEQ-15A (Laser Devices DBAL-A2).
I got a skunk in Texas with this and a OASYS SKEETER Thermal Monocular. I prefer the A to the -15, as the steel housing does not give you some of the odd zero shift issues that the 15 can when the gun heats up, plus unlike the Insight unit, you can add a Larue other other Throw Lever Mount to it. Insight chose to mold part of the rail clamp to the unit body so that is not possible.
This one has the red vis laser, and all else being equal, the green lasers I have seen are a lot more effective. The Vis laser and the IR laser are slaved together.
Plus the LD 15A has the battery go in/out the front, so in setups like I am using you do not have to dismount the scope to replace the batteries like you would on the 15.
Mike C the Sniper Program Officer in Benning christened this the Tackleberry gun (Police Academy for those to young to get the moniker), I'm fine with that
as I chose to see Tackleberry as a prepared individual rather than a lunatic...