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Rifles

Olympic Arms K16 300 SST IN .300 BLK

[Aaron caught up with Olympic Arms at the 2012 SHOT Show and took a look at their new K16 300 SST chambered for the 300 BLK cartridge.]

By now most readers will realize that there has been an explosion in rifle offerings in .300 Blackout (BLK). The .300 Blackout cartridge came about to fulfill the desires of shooters who wanted to shoot .30 caliber bullets, but didn’t want to lose the capacity and weight advantages of shooting traditional 5.56mm AR-15’s.

Olympic Arms 300 BLK

The .300 BLK is a very unique .30 caliber cartridge. Instead of bulking up the casing and powder weights to accommodate the .30 caliber bullet, the .300 BLK starts with the same 5.56mm casing that is the standard for AR-15 platforms. From there the casing is necked up, or expanded out at the neck, to accept the .30 caliber bullet. The rest of the casing is the same as the 5.56mm casing along with powder weights. The end result is a .30 caliber bullet fired from basically the same casing as the traditional 5.56mm cartridge.

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Rifles

New Stag Arms 3G

Stag Arms had their new 3G model displayed at the 2012 SHOT Show. Available since October of last year, Stag specifically designed the 3G to excel at 3-gun competitions that require a variety of long range and short range shots.

Stag 3G rifle

THE NEW MODEL 3

Last year Stag introduced the New Model 3, which upgraded the first Model 3 from a simple “optics ready” (top rail) carbine, to an optics ready and accessory ready carbine. Stag included a Diamondhead V-RS modular rail system handguard to accomplish that improvement, but what surprised many was that Stag did not increase the price of the carbine with the upgraded handguard (a $109 value). The new model 3 remained available for only $895. Those versions were gas-impingement rifles, but with the upgraded handguard and inexpensive price, the new Model 3 remains a popular option with AR shooters.

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Rifles

Rock River LAR-47

Aaron got a close look at the Rock River LAR-47 at the 2012 SHOT Show.  Here are his thoughts on the rifle.

Rock River Arms (RRA) has become one of the hottest AR-15 rifle manufactures in the country. Brothers Mark and Chuck Larson founded the company in 1996, after spending about 15 years as armorers with Springfield Armory, Les Baer Custom, and Eagle Arms – where they worked on AR platforms.

The RRA LAR-15 rifles and 2-stage triggers have become synonymous with quality craftsmanship. It was that quality that led the DEA to award RRA a contract for patrol rifles back in 2003, beating out several of the “majors” rifles for the bid. That bid alone may have propelled RRA into the AR market spotlight at an early age when most weapon manufacturers are still trying to work out the bugs of their brand name. RRA has excelled at making excellent rifles, and the number of agencies and personal owners has increased accordingly.

Rock River LAR-47

Though they have experience building 1911 pistols, RRA has for years focused their attention solely on AR-15 rifle platforms.

That is until now!

At the 2012 SHOT SHOW Rock River Arms announced that in 2012 they will begin distribution of the RRA LAR-47 CAR A4 – a sweet combination of the AR-15 and AK-47 platforms that RRA calls “a match made in heaven”. I talked with RRA representative, Steve Mayer about this truly unique innovation in the rifle market.

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Rifles

CMMG Revolution and M300 Rifles

CMMG announced several new products at the 2012 SHOT Show.  Aaron caught up with them and took a look at the new CMMG Revolution and CMMG M300 rifles.

Being from Missouri I had to stop by and check out the latest from CMMG.  At the CMMG booth, I talked with Larry Wayland who sells their rifles through his retail store, and works closely with the CMMG staff.

The explosion of the .300 Blackout cartridge focused my attention to the CMMG M300, but while there Larry also showed me a very interesting new development that CMMG has been playing with. It’s called the Revolution model upper receiver and hand guard. This is an innovative AR-platform concept and CMMG has the patents. In addition to the .300 Blackout rifles coming out, the Revolution system is offered on their standard 5.56mm rifles as well.

CMMG Revolution

REVOLUTION UPPERS

This new creation from CMMG allows for an ambidextrous upper receiver. Not in the traditional sense, but instead the receiver is milled to allow the same receiver to service a right-handed or a left-handed shooter. This innovation cuts an ejection port on both sides of the receiver. So the selected shooting configuration (right/left handed) has a bolt-on plate containing the ejection port and forward assist knob. The other side of the receiver has a bolted on plate covering that ejection port.

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Rifles

CMMG .50 CAL. AR-MUZZLELOADER

Yeah, I said AR-Muzzleloader! We here at Gunsholstersandgear.com try to bring you the latest and greatest in firearms and related accessories – especially during SHOT SHOW. So here it is. Being from Missouri I had to check out CMMG – especially since I heard they had some new rifles in the ever-increasingly-popular .300 Blackout cartridge (see my article on the Revolution and .300 Blackout rifles).

While there I talked with Larry Wayland at the CMMG booth about a very interesting development. Apparently the engineers at CMMG challenged each other to come up with the most outlandish ideas for an AR-platform. The result is a .50 cal. muzzleloader on the CMMG AR-platform. Yes, it’s crazy! And get this … they’ve been sitting on the patent for this thing for a couple of years now!