Author: Josh Vance

For the past several years we have been having products made to our specifications for a bunch of different products that we feel the industry has been slacking.

The first upgrade that many people do with their new handgun is take it out to shoot and quickly realize they don’t like their factory sights. A lot of times a new set of sights can quickly take a gun that you were shooting OK, and turn it into a gun you just put 5 shots in the same hole. Some people just naturally shoot different kinds of sights better.

I personally prefer a red dot. Huge shocker there right? Typically though I run a set of black-out sights because I don’t want my front sight catching my eye while I’m looking for a dot. When I’m not running a red dot, I prefer to have fiber optics. Fiber optics can be used almost the same way. You can use a blackout rear and a bright fiber optic front. Pretty much take that shiny front sight and put it on your target and pull the trigger. Can’t be easier than that. Some people love them, some people hate them, but either way, you weren’t gonna pick up a good set of fiber optic sights for under $80…

That’s where we came in. We have all kinds of sights now being made for $39.95 and you can get them in suppressor height and normal height. It now doesn’t have to cost almost $100 to add some better sights to your gun. We have Glock and Sig sights and about 10 different variations. They can be found on our website and we plan to release more kinds as the years go on. So if you’re looking for something specific, let us know on one of our social media platforms or even shoot us an email. Until next time, stay safe and healthy everyone!

It has been a while! Back before COVID became a thing, you could browse our website and see probably 4 different SKUs of Police Trade-In firearms. The super-cheap M&P40s, the abundant Sigs, and the easily convertible Glock 22s. We were well known as the place to stop and pick up a cheap turn-in and have a nice plinker for the range or even a gun good enough to carry.

Ever since COVID hit, the police trade-in market kind of dried up. The guns that we used to get were being bought faster than we could bid on. Plus other companies who couldn’t get their hands on guns at all, were paying way too much for them and then selling them at a higher markup than new guns would even cost. That time was wicked. For months people were overpaying for everything just to get something at all. We DIDN’T want to play that way.

So because the prices were outrageous it didn’t do us any good to buy expensive trade-in guns and sell them to you at a price we couldn’t imagine asking you to pay. So we backed off for a little bit. Now that things are starting to simmer back down, at least on the gun side of things. Ammo not so much. We have managed to get some decently priced Sigs back in the building. There are some 229s,226s, and even some old revolvers from Smith and Colt that came in. The Sigs will hit the website and we will give tons of people the chance to get them. The one-off revolvers though will go to our Showroom. So if you’re a local guy. I would recommend making a trip down if you want a pricey revolver at a good discount. I got to handle a few of them and boy did they look good. Stop in, check out the website, or just say Hey on one of our social media platforms. We are always happy to answer any questions or help out any way we can!

If you have ever owned, wanted to own, or do currently own a Beretta, then you have more than likely heard of the name Ernest Langdon. Most commonly associated with Langdon Tactical. He is known for his custom shop buttery smooth and downright beautiful Beretta builds.

The class was Hosted by Fire Ridge Defense in Mt. Gilead Ohio. Super nice range and run by some cool people. Off the beaten path and kinda private. Nice to know you won’t have to worry about random people walking onto/into your class and disrupting it.

While I was not shooting a Beretta for this class. About 12 other guys were rocking exactly what they were meant to be. A custom Langdon Tactical 92, or an M9, or even a couple dudes had PX4s. The class was to learn about how to run your Beretta better. SOOO you’re probably asking why I wasn’t running a Beretta. I enjoy taking classes and learning as much as possible. While I wasn’t interested in learning strictly about DA/SA triggers and how to shoot them, Ernest doesn’t teach a lot of classes that make their way out in our area too often. This year in fact he’s only teaching a handful to begin with.

So I figured while the opportunity was there I would take the class and learn what I could and attempt to get a fast coin. There aren’t many of them out there and while I could do it in training. I ended up not leaving with one. Just like the other hundreds to fail. The standard is hard and it pushes you to be fast. Faster than I was able to be and do on-demand. That is the reason that I think drills like his and standards are great in the training world. You can shoot and train all day, but you don’t get any better if there isn’t a purpose behind it.

Overall this class was great. Got to take one of my dream classes and get away from a weekend of working. I know you don’t need my recommendation, but if you have the chance. I would hands down take a Langdon class. Especially if you are a Beretta guy at all, to begin with.

I can say that I’m personally not huge into the AK world, but I know that just about anybody that shoots AKs hardcore is all about the US Palm Grips For the longest time the AK market was dying for a grip that fits universally and wasn’t a slick wooden grip digging into your hand.

Magpul was the go-to for a long time but some people that didn’t want to “Sporterize” their rifles wanted something that was less like an AR grip and more traditional to the rifle.

This is where US Palm grips come into play. They keep a more traditional look to the grip and come in colors that you can often find matching the wooden furniture on the guns. They have a nice texture, they are super thin and ergonomic, and they were relatively affordable.

Right now we have all 3 of the popular colors in stock. They are up on the website and they are probably the best selling AK grips that we have ever carried. So if you’re looking for something to spice up your rifle or your old wooden one has started to splint. This the upgrade for you!

Steel case ammo is one of the most taboo subjects in the gun world. There is a huge community of people that wouldn’t touch the stuff with their buddy’s gun. Then there are guys who only shoot steel case and laugh in the face of those who don’t.

The common thought in the naysayers head about steel case ammo, is that the ammo is going to damage their gun. They are right and wrong all at the same time. Typically we don’t recommend shooting steel ammo in a few scenarios. 1. If you have a stainless steel barrel. The steel-on-steel contact will wear your barrel about 30% faster than normal. 2. If you have a relic or antique firearm. Lots of older guns were not treated to the same hardness or tested to the same level of newer firearms. So if you do manage to break an extractor or something like that, the part may be difficult to replace.

Other than those 2 reasons. There really isn’t a good reason to not be shooting steel-cased ammo. The steel case is harder than brass, so the extractors of most guns don’t bite into it as deep and they can extract kind of weak. They don’t expand in the chamber so you get less built up pressure and more debris in the upper of the firearm from gas blowback.

What that means to me is that all of my modern firearms that have nitrided or heat-treated barrels, making them harder than steel will be fine. If for some reason I manage to break an extractor off of one of my guns. The money I save shooting steel case as opposed to brass, will pay for a new extractor 10 times over.

If it comes down to shooting 500 rounds of steel or 300 rounds of brass on a training day. I’ll take the steel ammo all day every day. The Pros far outweigh the Cons. Typically the steel is a few bucks cheaper and more readily available. These weird COVID times have swapped things around and jumbled prices and whatnot. However, in normal times it’s the way to go. So if you’ve ever heard about steel case ammo gumming up a gun and being the reason it won’t work. It’s probably not really the ammo’s fault. Our company shoots Tens of thousands of steel case ammo a year with no problem.

Surplus S&B .308 Ammo has arrived at AimSurplus! This is 147grn FMJ .308 ammo made by Sellier and Bellott for military contracts in the early to late 70s! This ammo is literally older than most of our current staff at the time of writing this blog.

It’s packaged 20rds to a box. 53Boxes to a crate which ends up being 1060rds per crate. It’s “mildly” corrosive. So we recommend shooting it and probably cleaning that barrel first thing when you get home, if not even before you leave the range. The good thing about corrosive ammo is that it’s cheaper to shoot and sometimes easier to find. The downside is you have to be aware that if not cleaned properly can cause your barrel to wear significantly faster.

This ammo was designed for military contract guns which at the time had incredibly tough hammer springs. So this ammo would work great in things like FALs, G3s and even in AR10s. I would recommend for AR10s however, that you might need an increased hammer energy spring. The harder primers like something that can penetrate a little bit deeper than normal.

One thing that most gun guys have in common is a love for the “EDC World” or the Gear world or EDC items in general. If you carry a gun every day, your wallet, keys, phone, flashlight, and maybe a backpack to and from work, you’re in the EDC game whether you knew you were or not.

EDC just refers to your “Every Day Carry” The stuff that you take with you and keep on your person that are essential to your daily life. Some people get really heavy into it like I do. I have multiple bags set up for multiple different places/reasons. Not just guns either. It’s nice to have bags set up for going to work I can just toss my laptop and handgun into. If I’m taking the dogs to the park one full of supplies for that, but I can still toss my gun into. So I don’t have to swap over the medical kit, the knives, the masks. Ect. I just have multiples.

We have slowly been carrying more and more gear here at work. We are a Vertx Dealer, we carry more medical supplies and live-saving measures. We have been looking at some discreet ballistic plates to carry. We have flashlights and good knives. All kinds of things you could obsess over on their own. That’s why the EDC community is so much fun. There are so many different aspects to be a part of.

Everyone talks about truck guns. Some people EDC those, plates, carriers, and sometimes even more. I always love talking about and looking at other people’s EDC items because maybe somebody is carrying something you haven’t thought of. Even might be a product you’ve never seen that would answer some problems you have in your daily tasks. You never know.

With this being a blog on a gun website, I assume most of you (us) are carrying guns every day. Which means we probably dabble in the EDC lifestyle already I’d like to hear about what products you guys think are absolutely necessary EDC items? What do you EDC that maybe lots of other people do not? What items would you like to see us carry more of? Let us know on one of our socials and let’s talk about gear for a little while!

This weekend after we finished out our Saturday shifts. A bunch of us loaded up our cars and headed down to our favorite range in the tri-state area, Impact Shooting Center. This place is almost like a second home to some of us. It’s a 3D range that allows you to draw from a holster, move and shoot and run drills to help you obtain a greater proficiency.

Lots of our guys take shooting and training pretty seriously. There’s this underlying voice in your head that tells you “if you’re gonna carry a gun every day and hold your life and others in your hand, you should be proficient with it”. One of my worst-case scenarios when carrying a firearm is having to use it. On top of that, it would be even worse if I had to use it and hurt somebody I didn’t intend to.

I think that if you’re going to take on that responsibility of carrying a firearm, you should take on the responsibility of being as skilled as possible with it. I see and hear all the time of gun owners who think they are “trained to carry a gun” because they took their CCW class. Almost anybody that has taken that class will tell you it’s not very good training if any at all. That depends greatly on who and where you take the class. Tons of CCW guys will buy their gun, take the class then shoot 1 time a year to make sure it still works. They don’t have a bunch of rounds through them, they are probably dry as a bone, the ammo hasn’t been cycled or anything at all like that. I would like to say that it’s probably a small number compared to the whole, but I believe it’s larger than I would like to admit.

I would recommend to all of you that if you felt like I just described you and your gun in the paragraph above, please go out and shoot. Please go out and get some training. Even medical training would be great as well. Right now with ammo being expensive and scarce, you might not want to shoot a bunch. So make the little bit of shooting you can afford to do, important. Practice drawing from the holster at home. Tuck your shirt in and practice drawing from concealment. Spend that little bit of extra on making sure you’re as prepared as you can be if the time ever comes.

Stay safe out there. Be prepared. Train hard and train often.

The Breek Arms War Hammer Charging Handle has changed the game once again. I wrote about these guys a few weeks back, not realizing they were about to make some cool changes to the part between then and now.

We got in this new shipment last week and I didn’t even notice at first until we were talking about the new packaging. The biggest and I would say the best feature to mention that they have changed, is the sealed raised edge on the back of the body. For guys who shoot a bunch suppressed, this is a fantastic upgrade. Currently, there are only a few manufacturers who do this, and those charging handles run $70+. These are still the same old under $50 price.

The reason that the ledge is such a big deal is when you’re shooting suppressed, you get a bunch of gas released out of the back of the upper that shoots right into your face and eyes. The benefit of that raised edge on the back is because it seals that edge and keeps the majority of that gas just captured in the upper. Its a fantastic feature and I would love to see more people start doing this.

If you have multiple guns and you’re like me and don’t like having to move parts around between builds, it’s easier to buy several of these than say the Radian or the Geissele Charging Handles. You would be surprised by the difference that ledge makes, so grab one and check it out for yourself. Especially if you’ve been used to the hot gas in your face over the years.

Everyone knows Primary Arms is constantly killing it in the optics game. They manage to come out with some cost-effective scopes that check all the boxes for multiple different areas in the gun world.

This newest release from them Is one I’m actually pretty excited about. Everybody loves a good prism sight. One of the most famous out there being the Trijicon ACOG. Some people prefer a fixed magnification like a 2 or 3 power, with an offset red dot, or even just a fixed 2 at all times. Plenty of reasons to like each way. Some people with eyesight problems where normal red dots flare up and become too difficult to use, even enjoy a nice 1 power prism that gives you an etched reticle you don’t have to worry about getting blurry on you.

The Trijicon ACOG has earned its pretty hefty price tag, but I think thats why this Gemini from Primary Arms is going to be super popular. It’s essentially a miniature version of the ACOG. They make a couple different versions so far. They have a fixed 2 and 3 power. A 9mm specific reticle and a 1 power version that I plan to pick up myself. The mounting system is awesome out of the box. It gives you the ability to use an absolute, lower 1/3rd, or even higher if you stack the pieces. I think it’s super awesome that PA has switched over to this kind of mounting system. If you don’t like it, then you can use any ACOG patterned mount instead.

The Gemini comes with the ever so popular ACSS reticle and 11 brightness adjustments. 1/2 MOA adjustable clicks on windage and elevation and a focus ring on the eyepiece. This scope provides a ton of features for well under 1/3rd the price of a new ACOG. I expect these to sell like hotcakes and be difficult to keep in stock. So before they sell out, head over to the website and try one out for yourself!