UTG makes a broad range of accessories for the AR-15 including hand guards, selector levers, charging handles, magazines, etc. But for the first time, they’re going to be producing billet milled AR upper and lower receivers. And as far as the ATF is concerned, the only part of the AR that is a “registered firearm” is the lower receiver, so technically UTG is making ARs for the first time.
These upper and lower receiver sets will be 100% made in the USA at their Michigan factory and headquarters. I got a chance to try out an AR almost completely built using UTG parts. The only thing not made by UTG was the BCG, barrel and gas tube, and trigger.
At SHOT Show range day I got a chance to try out the AR which functioned flawlessly. This despite being soaked from the rain blown sideways into the range lanes by 15-30mph wind. The UTG AR and the Integrix LPVO atop it let me easily engage plates 50yrds and 100yrds downrange.
The receiver has lot of useful features and cuts designed for ergonomics. It felt very natural and efficient, though I’m not a 100% fan of the style aesthetics which seem to be a little too Art Nouveaux and Futurist. But it’s not ugly but it’s just not for me. From a purely functional standpoint, if I were to build a new AR, I’d seriously consider using a UTG receiver.
Athlon Optics already had a broad line of rifle scopes from budget (Talos) to high end PRS (Cronus) and Tactical scopes (Ares), and hunter (Midas). So it was surprising to find that they were coming out with a whole new line called Heras named for the Greek god and wife of Zeus.
The Heras are being called “crossover” scopes because these scopes combine the reticles and glass found in their PRS scopes, hunting features from their Midas, but with a minimum focus distance of 10yrds. This close range usability makes the Heras appealing to precision rimfire, airgun hunters or even airsoft players. The Heras will occupy a mid-tier price point of with an MSRP ranging from $500-$700.
Lavalier or Lav mics for short are a mainstay of film and video audio. They allow you to record a subjects voice or dialogue while helping to isolate their voice from background noise. This isn’t always fully achievable in a noisy environment but its results are generally much better than the audio from the camera’s built-in microphone.
Microphones generally come in two audio pickup patterns: omni-directional and cardioid. Cardioid patterns are more sensitive to sound directly in front of the microphone and less sensitive to background sound. But cardioid lav mics generally require an outside power source (Phantom Power) to drive their electronics. And cardioid lav mics are also generally more expensive.
I was surprised and a little dubious when I found that a company named Fulaim sells a microphone that they claim has a cardioid pattern that can be plugged directly into a camera or 3.5mm jacked phone without the need for Phantom Power from a mixer. I was even more incredulous when I saw the price. At the time I purchased it, I paid $12.99 on Amazon and it has since dropped to $9.99!
The Fulaim lav mic has a very long 19.7″ cable. The Fulaim unit uses a standard 3.5mm audio jack with a control switch can be selected for either TRS (camera or stereo audio) or TRRS (phone) connections. The control panel also contains a switch to select for either Omni or Cardioid polar patterns.
For the audio testing, I went to the Stonestown Shopping Center the weeked after Christmas when I knew the mall would be full of shoppers. This presents a difficult challenge for any video audio on the best of times, with crowds of people walking, talking and plenty of reflective surfaces to create echos and amplify and the background clutter.
I connected a Rode Wireless Go II unit to my Samsung Galaxy S22 phone. One transmitter picked up raw audio through its built in omni-directional microphone. I plugged in the Fulaim lav mic to the other transmitter. Each transmitter was on its own split audio channel so I could hear the difference.
I tested the Fulaim in both omni and cardioid modes. I could clearly hear a difference when using the Fulaim in cardiod mode vs the Fulaim in omni mode or the raw sound from the Rode transmitter. The Fulaim in cardioid did not isolate my voice from the background noise but it was noticeable though subtle improvement. Overall sound quality was typical for a budget lav mic. Useable but not anything as true or rich as a professional lav mic.
I also compared this to a $36 Comica cardioid lav mic which had with slightly lower audio pickup. After adjusting the gain in post, the Comica and Fulaim sounded identical in terms of voice isolation. The Fulaim had slightly more bass response and was a 1/3 the price of that budget lav mic option.
For serious videographers and film makers, the Fulaim will not replace your hundred dollar Shure or Sennheiser lav mics. But for budget vloggers and content creators, the Fulaim lav mic at under $15 is a no brainer. Buy it and use it so we don’t have to hear the distractions.
If Variety is the Spice of Life then Palmetto State Armory (PSA) is the 11 Herbs and Spices of US gun makers. PSA used to be known as a maker and retailer of budget AR components from small regional manufacturers but in the last few years has branched out into becoming its own legitimate gun brand. This year they’re debuting their new Sabre line of budget premium build ARs.
The Sabre ARs come factory pre-installed with upgrade components like Ambi selector switches, 3.5lb duty trigger, Ambi charging handle, and a tuned barrel nut that allows for an extremely low profile hand guard without the usual bolt tabs. It’s everything most custom build AR makers would drop into their ARs but the whole rifle is planned to have a street price under $1000!
PSA is releasing a half-dozen different variants. If that wasn’t impressive enough, this same year they’re also releasing a similar number of new AK rifles under their Soviet Arms brand. These are clones of historic and current model ComBlock AKs including clones of Chinese and Soviet Era rifles. They’re also releasing historical clones of the M16A1 and the Stg44. It’s going to be a busy year for PSA.
The first thing most experienced shooters remark on the Arken EPL-5 and SH-4, apart from the low price, is the weight. For all the features you get in a sub $600 scope, the one thing you don’t want more of is weight. Compared to a similar magnification Vortex, Athlon, or higher end scope, Arkens are heavier. This isn’t much of an issue for benchrest or even NRL or PRS shooters but it certainly was a deal breaker for most hunters.
Arken listened to the feedback and came up with a new line of scopes with an “L” in their name for “light weight”. The new 6-24×50 EPL-4 shaves off 16oz of weight compared to a 5-25×56 ELP-5. That weight savings comes with a trade off a smaller range of adjustment due to its smaller objective lens and tube. But along with its capped windage turret, this 1-pound weight saving should make this new scope attractive to back-country hunters and most competition shooters alike.
I look forward to testing the EPL-4 later this year.
KelTec is the Mad Genius of the firearms world, creating a range of innovative and unique gun designs like my folding 9mm Sub-2000 carbine. At last year’s SHOT, they showed me a prototype of a Carbine Kit for their P50 5.7 pistol. Perhaps for regulatory or other reasons, they chose not to release that kit. Instead developed a fully assembled R50 rifle variant of the P50 pistol.
For all intents and purposes this appears identical to the Carbine Kit conversion of the P50 they showed me last year. Its obvious they planned to create one from the start because all P50s come with a cut-out in the lower hand guard for their folding stock. Due to recent DOJ policy changes regarding pistol braces, some features and variants will no longer be available for this rifle.
The KelTec website states they expect a Q3 product release. I would take that with a grain of salt considering they had planned to release the Carbine Kit last year. Regardless, us oppressed captives of the State of California may never see the P50 until KelTec releases a non-folding CA complaint model.
At SHOT Show, Athlon debuted the Generation 2 update to their top-tier Cronus spotting scope. This new model features updated glass 1mm larger than its predecessor. But its major improvement is in its large focus ring which wraps around the scope’s tube. Athlon updated the internal gearing to provide more precise fine focus resolution while its large diameter allows for fast course changes in focus.
At Shot Show 2023’s Industry Range Day, there was a long line at the Ruger tent which ended up being mostly to try Marlin’s new lever action rifles. But on the less crowded side of the tent was what looked like their ARs. But it wasn’t, it was the new SFAR. You could be forgiven for mistaking it for yet another 5.56 AR, but the SFAR (Small Frame Auto-Loading Rifle) is chambered in .308.
Compared to other .308 AR10’s I had shot that day, the SFAR had the a smaller physical footprint. And more amazingly weighed as much as a typical 5.56mm AR. Perhaps it was the can they had had on it but the rifle had a softer felt recoil. Not unlike shooting a AR PCC. I was delighted and surprised.
I am not sure what sorcery Ruger used to shrink down an AR10’s components but it seemed to work. I understand that the guys at TFB had issues with their SFAR cycling reliably. My demo rifle functioned flawlessly as it did for the half-dozen other shooters ahead of me in line. If I was in the market for an AR10, I’d consider this one.
At Shot Show 2023, I got an early look Lapua’s new Long Range and Super Long Range .22LR ammunition. They claim these new rounds are designed to shoot consistently at ranges of 200yrds, 300yrds or more.T he bullet and case are identical to Lapua’s Center-X and Midas+ match .22LR. By tuning the powder chemistry they claim to have increased velocity by a modest 30fps while keeping the maximum velocity spread to a minimum.
The new ammo will be released towards the end of February. I’m hoping to get my hands on some directly from Lapua to test and evalute myself.
At this year’s Shot Show 2023, I got an opportunity to check out Rock Island Armory’s newest pistol design. Not just see it at the booth but actually shoot it at Industry Range Day. This new 9mm has a low barrel axis design with the slide riding inside of the frame like the CZ 75, FN Bruno, and Sig 210. The RIA 5.0 shares no parts or magazine compatibility with those other pistols.
The RIA I shot on Range Day had a 4 lb single-action trigger that felt smooth, crisp, and tuned. It has a 4.9″ barrel with a unique rectangular profile that locks up with the aluminum frame to make it a very flat shooter. I was able to keep the barrel pointed easily with very little jump. I did experience one malfunction due to ammo not going bang (solid primer strike noted on the cartridge). And one momentary pause when an ejected shell lodged between my eye-pro and my forehead. Given the amount of use that pistol got that day without a cleaning, I’d say it ran reliably.
The initial release will only be available in black Cerakote, though the samples at their booth were in other colors, so other options will likely be forthcoming in the future. The pistol has a 17+1 capacity and comes with a single 17 round magazine. They will offer two models at release, a standard model with fibre optic sights (MSRP $998), and a SP model with a pre-installed C-more RTS2 red dot (MSRP $1298). Unfortunately it is yet another new, modern pistol that us law-abiding Californians are not allowed to own.
Rock Island Armory’s parent company is Armscor which was founded in the Philippines. Its not surprising that many of their staff are Filipino, as am I. I was able to make use of my limited fluency in my mother tongue to film a Tagalog language version of my booth visit video.
