McMillan ALIAS Modular Bolt Action

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The McMillian ALIAS is a 5.56mm bolt rifle action system comprised of modular components. The two part receiver resembles an AR-15. The system comprises of a few different foreends, barrel and stocks. Any AR-15 magazine and pistol grip can be used with the ALIAS.
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As well as being sold as modular parts, the rifle will also be sold in a number of standard configurations. The version of the rifle I shot (pictured above) was the ALIAS CS5-Q. It features a 12.5″ barrel, collapsable quick-detach butt stock, quad picatinny rail and a suppressor. With the stock and suppressor detached it is only 23.5″, small enough for a backpack.

I.O. Inc. New “Viper” 1911

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Steve and I were perusing the products at the IO inc. booth. Most of you are aware that IO makes and imports AK rifles as well as the M16-A1 clone that Steve wrote about.
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Well IO is now coming out with their first big bore handgun the “Viper”, which happens to be a 1911. This is a commander size 1911 with an external extractor and chamber cut which looks very much like the Sig 1911’s. The slide has a scallop treatment on the front and back to aid in racking the slide or using the front scallops to allow a chamber check. I found it does provide plenty of traction for operating the pistol. The thumb safety is also ambidextrous. Also included are Novak like night sights.
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While somewhat departing from the norm in the commander size it is also railed for laser or light use. The grips, magwell and mainspring housing all have the same color treatment. The grips have the double diamond made in G-10. Even though the magwell is steel they were able to maintain the color treatment. The finish is a matte black. For a loaded 1911 pistol the price is very good at an MSRP of $569.00

Mossberg / Mathews Harmonic Damper Technology

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Mathews Inc. manufacture archery bows and accessories. One of their products is a Mathews Harmonic Damper, a device which dampens the vibration in the bow after the arrow has been fired. It is essentially a dumpbell shaped weight enclosed in a rubber. The weight can bounce around soaking up vibration. Mossberg have scaled the Mathews Damper up and installed it in a Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag stock. The theory is that this will dampen perceived recoil in a 3.5″ Ultra Magnum 12 Gauge Shotgun in the same way it dampens vibrations in a bow. I guess we will find out when they start shipping it.
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Strike Industries AK Keymod Rail

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The Keymod system, a standardized method to attach accessories to rifle fore-ends without the need for picatinny rails, was first unveiled at last year’s SHOT Show and later open sourced by VLTOR allowing any manufacture to make KeyMod accessories. Strike Industries has developed what might be the first Keymod fore-end/rail for the AK platform. One of the main advantages of the KeyMod system is that is allows very slim rails, as you can see in the above photo.
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Double Tap Defense Shipping The Double Tap Derringer

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Some of the best news I’ve heard this week comes from Double Tap Defense the designers of the derringer that has drawn a good deal of attention over the last year and a half.
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Many of you are aware there has been a delay in manufacturing these guns. The details are no longer of importance. What is important is they have a new manufacturer that uses the latest state of the art equipment. I had hands on with several of these today and the workmanship is first rate. The finish is also very well done with no sign of and discoloration, light spots or anything else to detract from the quality of the Double Tap.
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More good news came from Mr. Raymond Kohout who owns the company and designed the Double Tap. They will begin shipping in an incredible six weeks. What’s incredible about this is five months ago things were in limbo. From that time period until now they found a new manufacturer, brought in the right machines for production got the plant up and running then started making these guns. That may not seem like a big deal but that is a real feat to accomplish that in such a short time. It speaks well for the determination of Mr. Kohout and the dedication of the new manufacturer to get the product out.
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What we will have to choose from will be the Double Tap two shot derringer in 9mm or 45 acp. The material is a choice of Titanium or aluminum frame. They can be purchased with or without ported barrels.
Stats:
Caliber .45 ACP or 9MM
Weight 14 oz. Titanium empty 12oz. in Aluminum
Width .665 inches
Length 5.5 inches
Height 3.9 inches
Barrel 3.0 inches
MSRP Aluminum non-ported $499 ported $569
Titanium non-ported $729 ported $799
Extra barrel assembly non-ported $199 ported $269
An additional two rounds stored in the butt of the grip.
There you have it. I’m sure you can pre-order since shipping time is so close. It’s always good to see a gun company come back!
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Advanced Armament Corp Handi-Rifle

The Handi-rifle is in the foreground shown with an AAC Silencer.  An AR-15 in the background.
The Handi-rifle is in the foreground shown with an AAC Silencer. An AR-15 in the background.
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Not sure if it’s a recurring theme yet, but there have been a few companies at SHOT here talking about their single-shot break-action rifles. There’s nothing super new for AAC, but they talked to me about their “Handi-Rifle” which comes in 300 AAC BLACKOUT.
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It’s got a threaded 16.2″ barrel with a 1:7 twist. It weighs 6.9 lbs and felt very solid in my hands. It would probably make a very nice hunting rifle.

Houlding Precision AR-15

Shown here is their 3-gun model, two of their lowers, and a muzzle brake.
Shown here is their 3-gun model, two of their lowers, and a muzzle brake.
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One of the fun things about SHOT Show is that it’s not just for the big dogs, but also for the small/medium size companies. There are plenty of high quality companies if you keep your ear to the ground and ask around. If you considering an AR-15 (like the thousands and thousands of people right now), take a look at Houlding Precision.
They offer three AR-15 models in 5.56mm which all look and feel like solid rifles. The Houlding owner emphasized their quality materials and craftsmanship, along with providing customers an AR at a reasonable price point. Houlding also sells lower receivers and muzzle brakes. They are based in Central California and sell both CA-compliant and  non-CA compliant (read: “regular”) variants.
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They currently have a backlog of only 2-3 months for AR-15 orders, which is on the very low end compared to some of the big shops here at SHOT.
In comparison, one retailer noted to me that they had sold 10,000 ARs in 3 years, but they had sold 10,000 ARs in just the past two weeks alone. This other company I am referring to said their estimated wait time for ARs is 2-3 years.

CMMG New Products For 2013

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I’ve been using CMMG AR 15′s as well as their 22 conversions for a good number of years. They are always innovating, looking for ways to improve current products as well as manufacturing new product offerings on a fairly regular basis. While visiting the CMMG booth today they let me know they just uploaded a new video which describes the new products for 2013. The video is well done and very comprehensive. I believe you’ll agree there are some interesting new products coming our way!
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Colt Competition AR’s

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Colt has released a new caliber of AR in their precision Competition Rifle name. The photos here are of the .308 caliber model that was at Media Day on Monday. The trigger was crisp and short, as we’d expect from a competition rifle trigger. On all models the upper and lower receivers are matched together.
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All Colt Competition Rifle models feature the “CR” logo on the right hand side, including the M2012 bolt-action on the website.
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The rifle is not related to the LE901 series of rifles. Much to the exhaustion of the Media Day rep’s voice, the question of their relation would be repeated by each person in line. The series has its own website atColtCompetionRifle.com and features the .223 models. Future plans include a 6.5 Grendel and a .300 BLK, the representative was hopeful both would be available later this year.

As you can see the magazine-well is flared for faster reloads.
The .308 AR10 type model (marked simply “Competition”) did not have an MSRP released (at the time of talking with the Media Day rep) and is yet to be added to the website. Below are the two AR15 models currently listed, we expect the coming calibers to not be too disimillar.
The Colt “Pro” CRP-18 in .223 Remington caliber has a free-floated 1:8 twist 18″ custom fluted stainless steel match barrel with a rifle length gas system. The rifle weighs in at 7lbs with an MSRP of $2029.00.
The Colt “EXPERT” CRE-18 is a lighter .223 at 6.78lbs with a Hogue free-float tube but still features a stainless steel match 1:8 twist 18″ barrel (minus the fluting) with the rifle length direct gas impingement. The MSRP is $1599.00


Korth: at last, some real information on prices

Korth Combat Magnum in .357 -- $5,000
Korth Combat Magnum in .357 -- $5,000
Korth: you either know the name or you don’t. And if you do know it, you either dream of one day scraping together the scratch to buy one of the legendary German gunmaker’s custom pistols, or you think it’s silly to shell out untold thousands of dollars for a gun that’s not even made in the USA. I fall onto the former camp: I seriously want a Korth, but all the research I had done into finding and buying one of their guns had me despairing of ever being able to afford one. But today I got the chance to talk price and availability with a Korth rep at their booth, and I have good news to share: yes, the prices for Korth pistols are insanely high, but they’re not as high as may have been lead to believe.
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Some googling for Korth pricing will turn up various forum threads where people who know people who know people who once called Korth’s only US distributor about a scoring a gun are weighing in with prices that they heard a decade ago. I’ve heard that the Korth Combat Magnum, for instance, starts at $20,000. And then there’s the Korth 9mm pistol, a unique-looking design that random forum people over the years have claimed goes for upwards of $40,000. But let’s take a look at some guns and see what they actually run.

THE FACTS: YOU CAN PAY $30K FOR A KORTH, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO

Korth Combat Magnum in .357 -- $5,000
Korth Combat Magnum in .357 — $5,000
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Korth had a range of handguns on display at their booth, and did my best to capture the magic with my camera. The aforementioned Korth Combat Magnum in .357, shown above, starts at around $5,000. Yeah, it’s way pricey, but it’s nowhere near what has been rumored.
Korth .357 with hardened finish -- $6,500
Korth .357 with hardened finish — $6,500
If you want to pay a little more, there’s an interesting-looking hardened finish available on their guns, which you can see above. The gun above retails for $6,500.
Korth Classic Semi-Auto Pistol, 9mm in Plasma Finish -- $7,000
Korth Classic Semi-Auto Pistol, 9mm in Plasma Finish — $7,000
Above is my personal grail gun, the 9mm Korth Classic in a silver plasma finish. This gun comes in at $7,000 in the configuration shown here. Note that this gun is a prototype that won’t be available in the US until the middle of this year, and yeah, when I finish building out my AR collection I do plan to shell out for this bad-boy.
Korth Classic Semi-Auto Pistol, .45ACP with engraving -- $30,000
Korth Classic Semi-Auto Pistol, .45ACP with engraving — $30,000
The .45ACP Korth Classic is where things start getting very expensive. The gun shown above sold for $30,000 with all of the engraving. If that’s your thing and you’ve got the money to burn, its’ all good, I suppose. Then there are the Damascus steel guns — Korth’s Nibelungen line — which cost even more.
Korth Nibelungen -- Damascus .357 -- $37,000
Korth Nibelungen — Damascus .357 — $37,000
The revolver shown above retails for a whopping $37,000. The only other folded-steel weapon I can think of that costs this much is a Japanese katana from mastersmith Yoshindo Yoshihara. Madness!
Same as above, but with cutaway. You can see detail on the rest of the gun.
Same as above, but with cutaway. You can see detail on the rest of the gun.
The gun above has a cutaway that Korth was using to show the inner workings of the gun. I’ve included this shot so that you see the Damascus detail on the chamber.
Damascus is beautiful, but modern Damascus isn’t exactly legendary for its durability. I’m a knife nut, and though I’ve considered this or that Damascus blade over the years, I’ve never actually pulled the trigger on a purchase for durability/maintenance reasons. So as gorgeous as the Korth Damascus pistol is, it’s not for me.
Ultimately, I was thrilled to find out that Korth’s prices are actually within the reach of mere mortals. $7,000 is definitely a lot of money to spend on 9mm, but guys blow that much on German watches all of the time.
If you’re looking to score a Korth, there’s only one US distributor for Korth: some guy named Earl who runs the poorly maintained korth-usa.com site. (I am not making this up. ) Korth is looking for more US distributors, so drop them a line if you’re interested in selling their guns stateside.
Update:In response to Ian’s request in the comments, here’s a side shot of the cutaway cocking mechanism.
A cutaway shot of Korth's $37K revolver.
A cutaway shot of Korth’s $37K revolver.
And in response to reader Michael Z., the German Korth rep himself told me: “Vee haf one US distributor. His name ist Earl.” I almost LOLed when he said that, but he was so serious I had to choke it down.

KRISS’s New Vector CRB

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I’ve known for some time that KRISS was making a new version of the Vector but I had no idea they actually had a rimfire model in the works. That model is a KRISS carbine in .22 LR ! It’s called the KRISS Vector CRB. I don’t know about the rest of you that have been fans of the KRISS or may be owners of one but that’s pretty exciting news for me.
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The configuration is very close to its big brother in 45 ACP. The photo below will give you some idea of the layout.
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Stats:
Operating method closed bolt
Caliber .22 LR
Length Open 34.8 inches
Length Folded 24.49 inches
Weight Unloaded 92.77 ounces
Barrel 16:1 Twist /Length 15.98 Inches
Price to be announced.