FRI | SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Bow Spider is pleased to announce the long anticipated introduction of the Crossbow Spider. This new system is designed to accommodate most crossbows on the market today.
Barrett Firearms announces Justin Wolf and spotter James Archer’s 2nd place finish at the global 2023 King of 2 Miles competition. Wolf was one of only three competitors who successfully engaged all seven targets, the furthest being 3526 yards, in the finals with a new Barrett rifle chambered in .416 Barrett using 500 grain Cutting Edge Lazer Bullets.
Blaser is excited to announce powerhouse shooter Kevin DeMichiel as the newest member of Team Blaser. A resident of Forsyth, Georgia, DeMichiel is a 15-time National Sporting Clays Association (NSCA) All-American, 13-time Team USA Member, serving as captain of the 2019 team, and a two-time Georgia State Champion.

Spandau/SDS Imports hosted the inaugural Oktoberfest Classic in conjunction with Hillsdale College and the Halter Shooting Center from 9/16-9/17. With nearly 50 competitors there was a great showing of talent, and the weather was immaculate for breaking clays. There was a great showing of Hillsdale Collegiate shooters as well as The Army Marksmanship Unit.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) teamed up with Gun Owners of California (GOC) to promptly serve California AG Rob Bonta in a lawsuit challenging portions of SB 2, a bill that anti-gun Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law.
SAR Firearms announces they will be participating in the 2023 Iraq Veterans 8888 Range Day. Please stop by the SAR range lane and checkout their best-in-class firearms and accessories, including the new SAR9 SOCOM and GEN 2 SAR9 Subcompact.

Sightmark announces its participation in the Athlon Outdoor Rendezvous at the Bronze Buffalo Ranch in Victor, Idaho. This exclusive event is scheduled to take place from October 2nd to 5th, 2023, and will bring together industry professionals, content creators, and outdoor enthusiasts for an unparalleled experience.
KOR Technik will kick off its recently announced partnership with Zarges USA during the 2023 Association of the United States Army Meeting & Exposition from October 9-11 in Washington, D.C.
American Defense Manufacturing now offers an RDS clamping ring set for the Recon Series Scope Mount. This ring set features direct mount footprints for popular red dot sights to accommodate the ever-growing use of backup red dot sights on scoped carbines.

The NRA Foundation is celebrating the start of fall by hosting an online “Firing into Fall” Auction. This auction features 41 firearms, several exclusive models, and 6 sponsorship opportunities. The auction is open for bidding until October 2, 2023 at 5:00 pm EDT. T
THAW helps combat frigid temperatures by offering a wide range of dual-use items to keep users warm. The Heated Seat Pad provides an alternative to sitting on cold plastic, nylon, or ice. Rechargeable heated insoles and rechargeable hand warmers help to make the trip across the ice more comfortable.
Buck Knives offers up these tips to mourning dove and upland hunters across America: Scout early and often; Pause often; Choose the right knife for your after-success chores; When possible, use a dog.
Media Lodge is proud to announce a strategic partnership with VeteranLife Network to establish advertising sales dedicated to the shooting, hunting and outdoors trade to connect with the highly engaged and influential military audience.
Hornady is pleased to announce they have been voted as Best Place to Work as part of the Grand Island Independent’s Best of Grand Island competition.
From OSG: "It is with deep sorrow that we at Outdoor Sportsman Group learn of the passing of our esteemed colleague, Todd D. Hansen, who co-founded Sportsman Channel in 2003."

Henry Repeating Arms is proud to announce its latest Guns for Great Causes campaign with the donation of fifty limited-edition “Team Kaia” rifles. The rifles are available online, and all proceeds will be presented to the family of 8-year-old Kaia Lauro to provide direct financial relief for mounting medical expenses.
Federal Ammunition announces a new line extension to its popular Hi-Bird upland game hunting product line. Hi-Bird Fiber (Paper) Wad’s cellulose wad construction helps minimize plastic left in the field, yet still offers the same hard-hitting performance as the original.
Big & J has proudly partnered with Fortified Cottonseed to bring hunters new COTTON CRAVE quality deer feed. Hunters can find COTTON CRAVE exclusively at their local Tractor Supply Company.

HEVI-Shot is proud to release an expansion of its HEVI-Bismuth Upland product lineup. The new option is a 12-gauge, No. 3, 1 1/4-ounce, 2 3/4-inch load set at a muzzle velocity of 1,400 feet-per-second (fps). With this newly added load, HEVI-Shot’s HEVI-Bismuth Upland product line now consists of three total options: two 12-gauge and one 20-gauge.
Arrowhead Tactical Apparel LLC is proud to announce an exciting new women’s line. Developed in partnership with ROSE by SIG SAUER, the athleisure line is designed specifically to meet the concealed carry needs of women in their everyday lives and personal self-defense journeys.
trigalight announces the immediate availability of their new knife illumination system to the U.S. market. The patented safety system incorporates trigalight’s self-powered illumination tritium capillaries into both the back-lock, or liner-lock, and knife shaft.

The new Impact® 4000 Ballistic Rail-Mounted Laser Rangefinder from Vortex® takes the guesswork out of long-range shooting with quick, accurate ballistic corrections— everything you need to generate point-and-shoot solutions without coming off the gun.
Heritage Manufacturing presents its debut collection of classic case-hardened lever action guns – the SETTLER family. This series includes the Heritage SETTLER (20-inch), Heritage SETTLER Compact (16.5-inch), and the Heritage Mares Leg (12.5-inch).
This week on the No Lowballers Podcast by Go Wild presented by GunBroker.com, the panel sits down with Mike Helms and Smith & Wesson to talk about the somewhat controversial founding of the iconic brand and its early days.

In September, the GLOCK presented a check of $50,000 to the Civilian Marksmanship Program at the CMP Talladega Marksmanship Park in Alabama during the GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation Annual Match. GLOCK has been a generous sponsor and supporter of the CMP and Talladega Marksmanship Park throughout its existence,
With the launch of its new “Supersite,” which combined all of Athlon Outdoors’ leading firearms titles under one digital roof, immersive digital experiences have only strengthened. Athlon Outdoors is committed to preserving and enhancing multimedia experiences for its readers.
With the launch of its new “Supersite,” which combined all of Athlon Outdoors’ leading firearms titles under one digital roof, immersive digital experiences have only strengthened. Athlon Outdoors is committed to preserving and enhancing multimedia experiences for its readers.
The city of Kearney’s Law Enforcement Firearms Training Range, which is used to train law enforcement officers from the Kearney Police Department and the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office, is opening to the public thanks to a cooperative agreement with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®), committed to growing the shooting sports and supporting the mission of educators, was proud to be a bronze sponsor of the recent 113th Annual Meeting of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Calgary, Alberta.
The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP®), committed to growing the shooting sports and supporting the mission of educators, was proud to be a bronze sponsor of the recent 113th Annual Meeting of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in Calgary, Alberta.
The Project ChildSafe® Safety Sweepstakes is underway to raise funds for Project ChildSafe, a national firearm safety education program that helps save lives and keeps families and communities safer. Project ChildSafe is a program of NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association.
 

Back in June we gave you a list of 5 Things You Didn’t Know You Needed. Well, we’ve been looking around and found five more things you probably didn’t know you needed.

Blackbeard Auto-Resetting System for AR-Style Rifles

Looking at the cost of .223 ammo still gives me pause, especially in this economy. Shooting you’re favorite AR-style rifle is great fun but also does great damage to your wallet. Enter the Blackbeard from Mantis.

The Blackbeard is an auto-resetting trigger system that is easy to use. Simply insert the replacement magazine – which holds NO ammo – and the replacement bolt carrier/charging handle unit. The magazine unit contains the battery which is good for 50,000 shots, while the bolt carrier/charging handle unit contains an optional laser indicator. You can choose from Red, Green or Infrared.

Cost of ammo, and inflation in general, has made the Blackbeard from Mantis and essential training aid. Photo by P. Erhardt

The beauty of the system is that it allows you to dryfire practice without the headache of having the run the charging handle to reset the trigger. The Blackbeard resets your trigger automatically, at a rate of up to 10 shots per minute, allowing you to run shooting drills and exercises without ever firing a single round of ammunition. The laser indicator, which can be adjusted to co-witness with your sights or optic, shows you where you’re hitting.

The Blackbeard gives you quality time behind your gun, your trigger and your sights, just without burning your ammo. The Blackbeard retails for $199 to $249 depending on which laser option you go with. For even more training support, check out their BlackbeardX which combines the Blackbeard with the MantisX smart sensor that provides feedback through their app.

Optic Tools from Patriot Products AZ

Ever find yourself on the range needing to adjust your optic but you don’t have the right tool handy, so you dig through your pockets looking for a penny or dime hoping that does the trick?

Me neither. But a “friend of mine” had that happen. Lucky for him his range buddy carried a Combat Sight Tool. Designed by Freddie Blish of Patriot Products AZ, the patented Combat Sight Tool is easily carried in your pocket, or within AR grips made by MagPul, BCM, Tango Down, and others.

Patriot Products AZ offers three tools to fit your needs: the Combat Sight Tool, Combat Optic Tool and Hunting Optic Tool. They even offer a Kydex Sheath ($9.95) for the Combat Sight Tool. Photos by Yamil Sued

It’s a handy and versatile tool. It features a 3/8” and 10mm box wrench, a 1/2” open face wrench, and a 1/4” Hexagon hole that can be used as a T-Handle wrench for Torx, Hex, and screwdriver bits.

With it you can adjust windage and elevation on Aimpoint CompM, M2, M3, M4 and Micro T-1 sights, EOTech sights, Trijicon ACOG RCO, MRO, RMR sights, Leupold LCO, D-EVO and DeltaPoints, as well as adjust the factory mounts for ACOGs, EOTechs, and Leupolds.

The punch can adjust elevation and windage on A1/A2, Troy, MBUS, and similar iron sights. It also aids in the take down of your AR.

You can also use it to access and remove optic batteries such as the 2032.

And, more importantly, it serves as an emergency life saving device, opening your favorite beverage when you’re dying of thirst.

There are three models available, and with a price range of $14.95 to $19.95 there is no reason not to have one on you the next time you head to the range.

Poseidon Pro

If the Poseidon Pro from Dark Energy doesn’t ring a bell, you’re not alone. I stumbled on Dark Energy through, of all places, LinkedIn. Connecting with one of their execs, I learned about their products, which includes Lightning Cables wrapped in 20 feet of 550lb certified paracord – a useful piece of gear for any sportsman or woman ($27.99).

Another product is their Poseidon Pro ($119.99), which is a very lightweight and durable battery charger. Now, I know what you’re thinking, another power bank, ‘whoopty-doo.’ And I was thinking the exact same thing until it was explained to me that Dark Energy designs and tests their chargers for the long, hard haul.

Armored and waterproof, the Poseidon Pro is a beast of a power pack, designed to survive out on the ruggedest of trails. And yes, it came with a 3ft Armored USB-C cable and their 5-in-1 Multi-Tool Carabiner Pro. Photo by P. Erhardt

In fact, Dark Energy has Poseidon Pro test batteries that have now held a charge in standby going on 8 and a half years. And with an operating temp that runs from -20F to 120F, they are ideal for the bug out bag, the car, or hunting camp.

Living in Arizona the idea of storing one in the car loses a lot of appeal when summer heat routinely exceeds 110F, outside the car. But having one handy should the power go out is a good idea.

Dark Energy will soon release their Spectre solar panel. The website notes it weighs 70-75% less than average 18W solar panes and “nearly 70% more reliable in extremely rough scenarios.”

The combination of a Poseidon Pro, Lightning to USB-C cable (they also off a USB-C to USB-C version), and a portable Spectre solar panel that only adds 0.6 lbs, or 272g, to the bug out bag seems like a good place to start investing your emergency preparedness gear.

MTM 10/22 Rotary Mag Case

When you stumble, or nearly so, over one of Ruger’s 10/22 rotary mags sitting on the floor of a room you store stuff in, it’s time you find a better storage solution…one that doesn’t collect dust, like the floor.

You own a 10/22? Then you have extra mags, and will probably buy more. Do yourself a favor and store them like you care about your gear. Photo by P. Erhardt

MTM Case-Gard makes a clear-smoke plastic case that holds up to six Ruger 10/22 rotary magazines, including 17HMR and 22WMR magazines. The container is stackable, making storage in your safe, gun room or on your work bench shelf a no-brainer.

It’s not an overly elaborate or complicated product. It’s a case with a design straight out of the ‘keep it simple, stupid’ playbook – and it works great. Having one on-hand made a recent decision to order a three-pack of additional Ruger 10/22 mags really easy, knowing I had a place to store them.

If you own a 10/22, or one of the clones that utilizes Ruger’s rotary magazine, and you don’t own one of these MTM 10/22 Rotary Mag Cases, then you are missing out. More so considering the MSRP is only $7.25.

Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce

You probably already have a favorite hot sauce or two or ten. I have Sriracha (Huy Fong only, natch), Tabasco, Tapatio and Cholula within easy reach, and I go through large bottles of these on a fairly regular basis.

You might have one or two of these yourself, but there are countless other brands, especially the small brands you find marketed as novelty hot sauces with ridiculous names to match their ridiculous heat levels.

One brand, a serious brand, I suggest you consider adding to your pantry is Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce. I came across them while attending the Mid-States Rendezvous trade show. A family recipe, their original flavor hot sauce was developed in the Philippines when the matriarch of the family was growing up. It was her son who found some bottles of the original sample recipes and realized they had a hot sauce business in their future, and thus Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce was born.

Maybe it’s the family recipe and the influences of Filipino cuisine, or perhaps it’s the adherence to using all natural ingredients, whatever it is that makes a hot sauce good, Lola’s got it. Photo by P. Erhardt

I picked up a bottle of their limited batch Mango Ginger Scotch Bonnet, and let me tell you, it’s fantastic. They also offer a Carolina Reaper, Ghost Pepper, Trinidad Scorpion, Buffa-Lola, Green Jalapeño & Serrano, and a limited batch Family Reserve, which is a hotter version of their signature original flavor.

Despite the peppers listed in the names, none of their sauces are overpowering in their heat, so the flavor profile really shines through. The best part is they are all natural sauces. The ingredients for the Trinidad Scorpion sauce are simple, just red jalapeños, trinidad scorpion peppers, garlic, lime juice, vinegar and salt. And if you look at the nutrition label you’ll be struck by how many zeros there are.

A 5 oz bottle will run you $5.99, with a bottle of their limited batch Family Reserve going for $14.99.

I tested a couple of the Lola’s offerings, and of the three or four I tried I’d definitely recommend each. Lola’s might not be a brand you’re familiar with, but trust me, don’t sleep on these hot sauces.

Pssst…they also make a Southern Jalapeño Bloody Mary Mix, for those of you of the tailgating persuasion.

— Paul Erhardt, Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network

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