Author: Josh Vance

When it comes to building ARs, everyone has a personal preference every step of the way. That is what makes the AR platform so cool. Everyone can build a gun with their favorite parts and still end up with guns that are nothing alike.

One thing that I personally like to do with a lot of my builds is to use the same rail. I like knowing that when I pick up any of my guns, the accessories are generally in the same spot. The rail that I use the most often is the BCM MCMR.

The BCM rails are super low profile, slim, rigid, and have one of my favorite mounting styles. Most of the time when you buy one it comes with a QD socket for a sling and sometimes an M-LOK pic rail to add on. The installation is super tight and you can tell just by installing the rail, that it’s not going to move on you at all. I have seen these rails take a bunch of abuse from a lot of high-up shooters.

The BCM handguard is also one of the best-selling handguards that we carry. We sell more of them than any other brand of rail. This means that there is a large number of people that also like the BCM rail. I think it’s because of the quality that people have come to know and love from BCM. Everything they do just exudes quality.

We have almost all the lengths of the BCM MCMR rails right now on the website. If you’ve been looking for a high-end rail at an affordable price then look no further. The BCM is where it’s at!

With the slow stream of products dribbling in daily, we are starting to get actual stock of products that we actually want or care about. For the longest time, you couldn’t walk into a gun store and even see a lower because they were all selling out before they made it to the floor.

Right now we have a full warehouse. All the products we have had on order are starting to show up and we actually have stock on things for once. It’s a good sign and a bad sign all at the same time. It’s good because it means that manufacturers are starting to catch up with production. The downside is that means the purchasing has started to slow down. Before we were at a crazy pace where things were selling faster than manufacturers could produce. Now that the manufacturers have picked back up, the buyers are starting to slow down. Hopefully, it starts to even itself out because the industry could honestly start to spiral in the opposite direction than what we have had. Basically, go from 1 extreme to another.

I would enjoy it if we could just be stable for a little while where the demand is predictable and the supply is there. Right now we are dancing around that delicate balance but depending on who says what in the political atmosphere, we could easily sway either way and see the industry get crazy again.

With all that being said. If you’ve been holding off on building because of the availability or even pricing. Now is a good time to dip your toes back in because You have plenty of access to all the popular lowers, rails and barrels are readily available and the ammo is starting to show back up. Check out the website if you haven’t in a while and I promise you’ll find something you have been wanting to grab!

A few weeks ago we talked about the Sig P365 that Zev Technologies had done up. The “Octane”. We talked about how it was more than a normal P320 because it’s been graced with all the goodies from Zev.

We finally got our hands on the P320 X-Compact versions now! I’m happy to see that the P320 market is starting to be a viable option now. For the longest time, I have been and a fan and been patiently waiting for the builders market to have support like the Glock market does. For instance, you can go to the AIM website and buy just about every part separately and build your own Glock. ARs have pretty much always been that way, but the Glock was the first handgun to be that way. Even though it wasn’t thought of as a real “Modular” pistol.

Finally, we are starting to see some of the bigger companies come out with parts and support for the P320 platform. This is great because of the actual true modularity it has, as compared to the Glocks. The removable FCU and the fact that grips are readily available to make it the perfect starter pistol. Don’t like the grip? No problem, change it. Wish your slide had front serrations and a window? Cool. Change it. Wanna run a smaller slide on a thicker frame? Done. Just swap it. The ability to buy multiple parts and have multiple configurations is awesome. I can’t wait until we are looking back several years from now and the P320 custom aftermarket has exploded.

The Zev Octane series is great. You’re getting a quality pistol at a quality price. Nothing to complain about here. Everyone knows the quality that Zev puts out and there’s nothing to argue with. I’d like to see them start doing some more crazy stuff. Maybe have some funky configurations or cerakotes. Just something to set them apart a little bit more. Even a stippled frame would help. Other than that, head over to our site and grab yourself a P320! We have tons of frames and slides and other parts to do one up. Get behind it and send some lead downrange because we now have plenty of 9mm in stock too!

Everybody knows about the quality of sterling silver. We have managed to get our hands on some of the best Sterling Brass we could find. This is of the 9mm variety. Some of the most expensive and sought-after brass in the country.

We have been getting in a bunch of the Sterling brand ammo lately and it’s been so far so good. The shotgun ammo has been pretty popular and somewhat available to us to actually get. So we decided to give their pistol caliber ammo a try.

As a company, we like to sell products that are good. Products that we stand behind and would buy ourselves. So we ordered a couple pallets of the stuff and the second it came in. We drove ourselves down to the range and started mag dumping this stuff. We took as many different guns as we could to make sure that they would run in anything. We went through almost 2,000 rounds that evening. It was for sure a fun time.

Needless to say, we have the ammo up on the website and currently for sale. We were very happy with its performance and feel it passes our tests. We are excited about this ammo because this is the first time since the pandemic has been in full swing, that we have been able to sell 9mm for $19.99 again! Which still seems crazy high from where it was. Right now though, there are almost no places able to do that and the ones that can, are limiting you to 2 boxes each. We have enough of this stuff that we don’t have to limit it and it should run well In just about anything!

Rise Armament is known for their great entry-level drop-in triggers and they are super popular in the building world for the budget-minded and those people that like to have the same trigger in all their guns.

The Rave140 is their best selling. They offer it in both a straight and semi-curved trigger. They ship with anti-walk pins in the package and come in under $150. Typically from us, you can catch them on a holiday sale for right around $100.

They redesigned these triggers just recently. They used to be called the Rise140, but are now the Rave140. The older version came with an Allen key and you needed to adjust the tension screws on install and set them down in order to keep good tension on the trigger pins. With the redesign, they replaced the screws with springs, and now it’s literally just as simple as dropping the trigger pack into the lower and pushing the pins in. There is nothing else to it. They do send the anti-rotation pins just in case for those of you that like having the extra assurance.

Today is the last day to jump on the insane 4th of July sale we had going on these triggers. We are running them for the cheapest price we have been able to all year long. Nobody else was selling them as cheap as we were and if you thought about ordering from somewhere else, just know you are for sure paying more than you have to. Head to the website and try and get one on an order before the sale ends!

For a while, the Shadow Systems MR920s has been one of the best “Not a Glocks” on the market. They are very comfortable frames with a ton of features and some premium parts. They have been my go-to replacement for a normal Glock 19. The frames are more comfortable and the slides are optic cut. They include a magwell and some of the most comfortable back straps I have ever used.

What makes this one a little different is its size. This DR Elite is the same as a Glock 17. This is the full-size offering from Shadow Systems and you get the same features as the MR920, with more frame to wrap your grip around.

The ones we just got in stock come with a bronze threaded barrel, RMR optic cut, front serrations, removable magwell, 4lb trigger, and 3 removable backstraps. I have not gotten a chance to shoot these yet, but if they are anything like the smaller ones, they will be smooth and awesome.

The MR920 was a super flat shooting gun and it had similar ergonomics to a regular Glock 19, just a little more comfortable and the grip angle felt more natural. It fits in normal 17 holsters so I’m gonna have to get one of these to the range and run some drills with it and see how it compares to the other. I’m excited to see how these guns run because they are in my opinion the best alternative to a custom Glock from any factory out there. The price point is great and the features you get are insane. There are plenty of places making a “Glock-a-like” that are way more expensive and come with fewer features.

We have these on the website and boy do they look pretty. If you’ve been on the fence about grabbing one of these DR Elites, I would definitely do it. They haven’t been out for long and they are going to dry up super fast once people realize they are available. Check out the website and make sure you add one to your collection while you can!

Sterling Shotgun ammo is ammo that we started to carry almost a year ago right when the pandemic hit. They are a Turkish manufacturer with a ton of great offerings. We got in several pallets of their most popular 00 Buck. The ammo came In at a great price and was readily available. Until about a month later when everything changed. Haha!

Now that things are slowly getting better in the ammo world as far as pricing and availability are concerned. We have started to get in more kinds of ammunition from Sterling. We just most recently got in a bunch of rifled slugs from them and a restock on some of the 00 Buck.

The slugs are cool because they are rifled and have a couple different uses. The first kind is the “Tornado” Slugs. They are designed to be a competition load. They are crazy consistent and reliable and can hit their mark over and over again in any competition setting.

The second kind of slugs that came in are also rifled. They are designed more for a hunting application. They feature the same 2 3/4 Hull as the Tornado rounds, but this time have a 32grn slug to launch out. These have a higher velocity and ballistic structure. They leave the barrel at a higher pressure and are better at taking down game. They are just as accurate and reliable as the Tornado rounds, but with the better ability to stop a wild animal in its tracks.

As a heads up to you guys who read the blog, we also have some other cool ammo coming in from Sterling. We have some 9mm coming that is going to get tested like crazy by us before we start selling it. Generally when new manufacturers start making ammo we like to make sure it works well and that we aren’t going to have a bunch of unhappy customers all around the country because the ammo ended up not working. So we are excited for that to arrive and hopefully start offering some ammo at cheaper prices!

The TLR7 was an awesome light when it was announced. Something besides O-Light or Inforce that fit flush to the end of the barrel with a Glock 19. It was not a super high lumen light, but for those people that cared about aesthetics, it was awesome.

Then Glock released the railed 48 and the railed 43X. The TLR7 was the perfect size for those too and literally, nobody else was making a light to fit those guns. It was a perfect happy accident! Except, that it didn’t fit the guns. It looked like it should, everything was lined up properly. The light was just a little too wide and the gun was a little too slim. The light wouldn’t crank tight enough to secure it to the gun.

So several months later Surefire announced they would be making a light for those models! Finally, a light that would fit. Except, it’s Surefire. So it’s a $300 light for a subcompact/slimline gun. It also didn’t boast any impressive specs and it also just didn’t exist either. They announced it but nobody had it.

Then several months after that, Streamlight announced the TLR7-Sub. Which was specifically designed to fit the 48 and 43X frames. Hallelujah!! Now, several months after that. Almost a full year and a half later. We finally have our hands on the Streamlight TLR7-Sub. As somebody who owns a 48 MOS I’m pretty excited. I strongly dislike carrying my EDC without a light. In the summer I wear gym shorts a lot and carrying a smaller gun helps me not have to worry about it. I am also a firm believer that every firearm needs to have a light on it for many reasons. One being you can’t shoot what you cant see. Second, being for liability reasons if you ever do have to use your pistol. Not the point here.

The point is that I finally have my hands on this light and I’m excited to see how it performs. We do a lot of low-light shooting and training and it’s always great to get more practice with your EDC gear than anything. The light sticks out a little bit past the muzzle on a 43X and a little bit before the muzzle on a 48. The light hangs out wider than the gun on both sides. Making the overall width of the gun wider. The buttons are clicky and tactile. They feel good on each press. Only a 500 lumen light and a 1.5hr run time.

Overall I’m excited to get some time with this light on a gun. We love putting parts and guns through their paces so we can give correct and accurate opinions of products that we sell. Lots of places don’t have gun guys working their phones and selling their products. You won’t have that here. All of our guys and gals that you would interact with, all know their stuff. They learn and train and do their best to give you the best information when you’re buying products from us!

There is a very common debate going on in the gun industry and it’s a debate that has been going on for years. What is the correct number of magazines to have for each gun?

As you read that you probably stated that magic number you came up with within your head. Was it 5? 10? 2? 15? Either way, the answer seems to always be different to each person. I will say that I am a firm believer in a minimum of 2. One for the gun and an extra to practice a reload. I wouldn’t have a gun with just 1 magazine. I’d always try and get more. That doesn’t tell me what the MAX is though? Is there one? Some people have the same rule, but it’s 5. That is probably the most common one I hear. That’s specifically for handguns though. If you talk to an AK or an AR owner. The answer is that you literally cannot have enough.

With the constant fear that some states have about magazines becoming regulated and scarce, or even banned. You typically see rifle guys squirreling away magazines everywhere in their house. Even buying mags just every time you make a trip to the store. 2 or 3 here, 5 for Christmas, 10 for your birthday. Whatever it is.

Right now we have a chance for you to treat your handgun mags the same way as your rifle mags. Very rarely are handgun magazines ever as cheap as an AR magazine. Right now though, we have M&P9 and .40Cal magazines used in stock. We have several hundreds of each and now is the time to buy! Used magazines do not stay in stock too often because of the rarity. Don’t miss your chance and head over to the website and get ahead of the curve!

Earlier this week some of the guys were talking about surplus and the lack of it. How things used to be in the surplus world and how things have changed so drastically since we have been in business. For those of you that aren’t aware, the surplus is basically as dry as it’s ever been. Most things on the market are from private individuals and the price is tenfold what it used to be OR somebody found a cache of random guns somewhere and told nobody and paid a butt-ton to have them imported and the rifles now cost a ton because they are the only surplus actively being brought into the country. Giving them the ability to charge whatever they want to.

It’s crazy to think about since most modern gun owners older than 21 remember the times where we had $65 Mosins and other rifles. $25 Nagant Revolvers. When you could walk out of AIM with 1000rds of ammo, a Garand, and an AK and still not spent enough to have the wife barking mad at you. Times sure have changed. Simply because as a country, we purchased all the surplus in other countries that we could get our hands-on. We have more guns in this private market than you could even imagine.

Now, what do you think surplus might look like in the future? Instead of old wooden crates of cosmoline covered Mosins. Will we see pelican trunks full of MK18s? or maybe MK12s? Do you anticipate even seeing any surplus military guns at all? Since the CMP is basically the only entity capable of getting their hands on US guns. We all know how they operate. You can also probably remember the $1,000 dollar Shooter Grade 1911s they were selling. It’s crazy what they are willing to sell to civilians who already helped pay for the guns in the first place with their taxes.

I would like to see crates of Trijicon optics, old used dusty suppressors, MK18 uppers tossed into a crate, and maybe even some old NVGs. Just in general see more modern era surplus start to exist for the civilian market to start gobbling up again. If you start to get more and more people into this era of firearms, the negative stigma that has been impacting the industry for the longest time can start to fade. Everyone jokes about their grandpa having a shotgun in the truck or loaded at the house. Even the most far-left-leaning liberal has no objection to that shotgun. It would be nice to start getting to the point where the AR15 is in the same boat. Where it’s just another tool that everyone owns because they are cheap and plentiful.

What do you guys think? Am I being too hopeful? Do you think that something different might be the case. If you read this far, reach out on social media and let’s chat about it. What you think might be the more likely route or items you would like to see in general!