Redi-Mag, Part Duex

Seems the good people of Boonie Packer Products, makers of the Redi-Mag, actually took interest in my little blog here. For that I thank them immensely.

After reading my blog Caius, the customer service guru, sent me an email and then mailed off a few new products to see if some of my issues could be resolved. A few days later I received a MkI QA Redi-Mag, the new Bolt Catch Extension II (BCEII), and the very interesting Redi-Catch. Let’s attack these issues in that order.

The MkI QA Redi-Mag (quick attach) is essentially the same as the standard version with a slight change to the spacer bracket and mounting method. This minor modification to the system makes putting on and taking off the QA to your AR-15 very easy. With an allen wrench and your own two hands it simply goes on and off with a few turns of a pair of fixed screws. A one-piece rubber ring (which resembles a cutout of a bicycle inner tube) replaces the three rubber spacers. With only these minor changes the Redi-Mag remains a wonderful product enhance by now being more user friendly. I highly recommend the QA for any application.

The Bolt Catch Extension II is essentially a metal version of the old BCE. The one major improvement is that the head of the mounting screw is on the aft side of the unit, making it possible to install and remove the new BCEII with the Redi-Mag already attached. The new design is also a little more stylish than the old plastic piece, and Hotshot thinks that’s very important. While functionally the same, I do find this improved piece to be much better than the old one.

Now on to the most interesting of the Redi-Mag enhancements: the Redi-Catch. This little gizmo is designed to allow the shooter the ability to manipulate the bolt latch to lock the bolt open while the firing hand never leaves fire control. To do this the Redi-Catch operates off of a plate-type base with two mounting pins that replace the hammer and trigger pins in the lower frame of your AR. Off of the base is a lever that has one end through the trigger guard and the other end resting atop the bottom of the bolt catch. With the index finger outside of the trigger guard the operator can push down on the Redi-Catch lever and operate the charging handle with the left hand (assuming a right handed shooter) and lock the bolt open in this way. To release the bolt one still has to smack the bolt catch by way of the BCEII. This method is a marked improvement over the old plastic BCE alone and allows a much more rapid malfunction clearance. If you are attached to that bolt slap and still want it then this method is for you.

The lowdown: After a great deal of experimentation with the new Redi-Catch and BCEII I will definitely say that this combo is heads and tails above just using the old BCE alone. That said, I still find the BAD lever from Magpul to be superior, simpler to operate and install, and more economical. Don’t get me wrong though, I applaud Boonie Packer for coming up with an innovative solution to a significant issue. Their Redi-Mag is still the fastest reload in town, and is truly a GREAT product. I plan on encouraging every AR shooter I know to put one on their rifle or carbine. Sadly, Magpul just beat them to the punch on a much better bolt lock lever. So go out there, get yourself a QA Redi-Mag, and a BAD lever, and shoot the mountainside up.

Starbucks

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2010-03-03-starbucks-guns_N.htm

Starbucks supports gun rights Who would have though. Let's make a point to let them know that we support this move, and that we're buying their products where we wouldn't have before.

B.A.D. Lever!!!

It finally happened, I got my B.A.D Lever by Magpul.

As mentioned before, in the Redi-Mag post, I felt that one of the great shortcomings of the Redi-Mag system is the silly little bolt catch thingy (that’s a technical term). From the moment I saw Magpul’s B.A.D. Lever I figured this was the solution to my problem, so when I saw Brownell’s had them in stock I ordered two (one for Hotshot to have on her soon to be built AR). I waited in eager anticipation for the arrival of my order, and when it finally arrived I had everything BUT the hoped for levers. Damn, backordered. So wait some more I did.

As luck would have it, the B.A.D. Levers arrived just in time for Valentine’s Day. Yes, that’s right, I gave Hotshot a B.A.D. Lever for V-day and she LOVED it (I’m such a lucky guy). The next day the AR was on the bench in two pieces with that stupid plastic blob from Redi-Mag sticking out like a sore thumb, and that’s when I saw my problem. The Redi-Mag is a touch hard to put on, and the bolt catch extension that came with it screws on from the muzzle side. This means the Redi-Mag is in the way of taking the screw out of the bolt catch extension. I did NOT want to be taking that unit off and putting it on again just to put on one little tiny lever. Out came my lovely and faithful Foredom with a thin plastic cutting wheel and the bolt catch extension is lost to the round file. Problem solved!

The B.A.D. Lever went on super easy with everything provided in the packet. Nothing had to be taken off of the lower receiver, and all went as planned. As usual the kind folks at Magpul Dynamics have developed a simple ingenious gizmo (that I wish I had thought of) and will forever change the way I shoot ARs.

To use the B.A.D. Lever, once installed, one simply uses the right index finger (assuming a right handed shooter) to manipulate the lever up and down to engage and disengage the bolt catch. This frees up your left hand to operate the charging handle, clear out a jam, and grab a magazine. It’s the solution to the single biggest problem I’ve ever noticed with the AR platform. Instead of switching hands around and getting your fingers tied in knots, the operation becomes intuitive and down right easy. The only short fall would be for southpaw shooters. Don’t worry though, I’ll be glad to modify your lever to make it work for you if you’d like.

Parting Thought: The Magpul Dynamics B.A.D. Lever should be standard equipment on everyone’s AR, whether you’ve a Redi-Mag or not.

P-Mag

I recently had opportunity to try out a few P-Mags from Magpul Industries. These AR magazines are a polymer design, actually hold 30 rounds, and have a convenient viewing window on either side so that the user can see if the magazine is full or not.

The mags are equipped with no-tilt followers for reliable feeding, and unloading if you choose to do so by any means other than pulling the trigger rapidly (the preferred

method). This handy little feature of the magazine is one of those small comforts in life that many people don’t seem to think or care about. If you have the ‘standard’ metal mags with the tilting follower, ditch them and put in Magpul’s no-tilt followers, or better yet just buy some P-Mags.

Over the top of the follower and feed lips is a plastic clip on cover that comes attached right out of the package. I found this device to be of little use to me and promptly ditched them. This is something the factory might cringe at, and that’s just to bad. If used I can see where it might protect the feed lips of a falling mag under the pressure of 30 rounds crashing to the hard ground. In practice if I need my mags I probably need them RIGHT NOW. The covers are staying in my parts bin!

The absolute coolest thing on these mags is the window on the side. I have long wondered why makers didn’t come up with a hole drilled in the side, a slot, or ANYTHING to see if a magazine was truly full or not. 1911 magazine manufacturers have been doing it since

John Moses Browning filed out his first venerable pistol. It’s about time someone figured this out. I loaded mine up to capacity and jammed it into my little poodle shooter just to see if it worked. Praise Eugene Stoner it fit, with 30 rounds in and a closed bolt. Again, it’s about time. I then promptly took out the mags, grabbed my trusty Sharpie marker (no review required) and marked the point where the follower is in the window at capacity. Strangely enough, you can’t really fit more rounds in there without forcing it. I also used my Sharpie to put my initials on both sides of the P-Mags. Go to a class and do mag changes and you’ll find out why.

Before I hit the range I felt compelled to rip one of the magazines apart to see what was inside. Hey, it’s what I do! Make sure you’re sitting down for this one kids; it looks like a magazine inside, only brighter (windows you know). The floor plate came off with ease, everything fell out the bottom just fine, and it was smooth as could be. It was almost like

someone was thinking when they made this thing.

So out to the range I went with about 600 rounds in my can, and four P-Mags ready to go. Twenty mag changes later, lots of dropping on the ground, and even more slamming into the well or the Redi-Mag and they still function flawlessly, and look pretty good. The ribbed outside structural elements even made it easier to do tactical reloads as there was a little more for my fingertips to grab onto.

The nutshell opinion: Throw your old metal mags into the spare parts bin and buy a sled load of P-Mags. They work great, look cool, and chicks dig ‘em. At less than $20 on average, they’re easy on the wallet too.

Short comings: That silly top cover thing is no good to me, and your mileage may vary. Mine didn’t come with Ranger floorplates. That’s not really Magpul’s fault, but I’ll take some if they want to hand them out.

The Night Run

Last night I took my first ever night trail run. I tried out some new equipment and had a very different running experience.

Right after work I headed off to my friendly neighborhood big box store for recreational equipment. Hotshot (my running and shooting friend) told me running at night was THE best, and I just needed a head lamp. So off I went in search of the perfect light. Now don't get me wrong, I had used a few headlamps before in camping and caving and such, just not for running. My old lights were the ones with a large bezel light in front, batter pack in the back, and a wire connecting the two running down the side of your head. Heck, I even remember one guy I went with still using a fuel lamp! I was told that Petzl was the brand to stick with, and I new them from the olden days. There were a few things I took into account when picking out the lights. All of them were LED, so no decisions there. Next I started looking at the packages where I saw distance of beam, duration of battery life, brightness (in Lumens) and some added features. Oh, and cost, can't forget that. After careful deliberation I decided that the most expensive lights weren't going to be needed, and I had set a max budget of about $50 anyway. I quickly zeroed in on the Petzl Tikka2 XP. This was one of the larger lights with close to the brightest beam at 60 lumens, shining 60 meters, and lasting on three AAA batteries for 160hr. So off to the counter I went and made my purchase.

By the time I left the store darkness had already overcome the front range and I quickly darted home to change out of work clothes and into some running garb. The drive up to the trailhead is only marginally exciting as there's not real view, but it would be good on a motorcycle with the twists and light climbs. When I got up there I was the only one around and it was dark as coal. I've only been on this trail once before and that was in the middle of the day. This night I got to see what a spectacular view there was from the parking lot. If only someone else was there to enjoy it with me (we'll revisit this idea later). Adding to my new headlamp I decided I should pack an extra just incase. Hotshot had mentioned running with her Surefire E2D in hand just to spot extra rocks and expose shadows in the trail. I took this to heart and had my E2D in my left hand (where it normally goes) and my G2 in my right. Hey, one is none, two is one, right? I checked in with Hotshot for times to expect further contact, on came the headlamp, and off I went.

I was immediately impressed with the light. I quickly decided that the open beam was just to focused for me so I switched to the diffuser, that was built in, with just a flip of a finger. This did the trick. Over the course of the run I decided I liked the diffused beam for the tighter rugged portions of the trail, and the focused beam for the prairie areas. Switching back and forth seemed to do just fine. As the run went on I tried the high and low settings. Low was just a little to low for running, and made me feel a little at risk of tripping or running into something. I've also seen one to many of the "When Animals Attack" videos, so there would have been less warning with lower light. When switching back and forth the button on top was easy to use, but required me to shut the unit off to switch power. This was annoying and still easy to accomplish. While I would prefer either one setting or a power level adjustment I understand the simplicity of the design. So I just kept it in the brightest mode and ran on.

When I got about half way through the rugged portion of the trail I noticed two green orbs to my right and down the hill a bit. The broad diffused beam highlighted the eyes of some critter off to the side quite well. This was another time I wished someone else was with me, but for a whole different reason. See, I was running in mountain lion territory, and I already told you about those videos. When I used one of my handheld lights to brighten up the area I was not very pleasantly surprised by what the much brighter 120 lumen Surefire light brought out of the darkness. There beside the trail, about ten feet away was a nice big skunk. And I was out of there! A little while later I started spotting deer. Those guys are just fun to see stuck in the beam of a headlamp. There was still a constant paranoia of running at night, miles from other people, that I couldn't shake. Don't get me wrong, I was more prepared than most (see profile pic) and I still should have had someone else there with me. The worst paranoia episode was approaching the car. See, I'm not so worried about the four legged critters as I am the two legged ones. Call me silly.

So, I had a great run, did it a little faster than the last time and felt a LOT better, and got to play with some great lights.

EQUIPMENT CRITIQUE

The Petzl Tikka2 seems to be a great lamp. I didn't have any issues with the function of the light at all while running. The lamps tilt feature stayed put, as did the diffuser screen. Like I said, the button was a bit annoying in that I couldn't switch between features without turning it off. The light just has a single around the head band and not a strap that goes over the top of the head. I had the light on over my ball cap so I don't know if it would stay put as well as without the hat, but I'm guessing not. For wear around camp this wouldn't be an issue, but for running I think it's going to be a problem. I almost always run with a cap though, so it shouldn't be much of an issue with me. The brightness of 60 lumens was just about perfect. When I'd turn on the 120 lumen handheld torches I was nearly blinded by the difference. These brighter lights were perfect for critters and looking much farther ahead, and not so good for general foot travel. I'm now curious to try the Surefire Saint headlamp that is adjustable from 0 to 120 lumens.





THAT should be an interesting lamp to play with. Anyone got one I can try out?

Overall I'm pleased with my purchase. Now I just need to hit the trail a little more and get more pleased with my times.

NIGHT RUNNING CRITIQUE

Holy crap, if you haven't tried this, DO! That was some of the most fun I've ever had running. That said, I don't recommend doing it alone for most people. I'm a crazy man and kind of enjoy the freaky nature of being out alone in the dark, and most don't. It's also kind of dangerous, so unless you're ready to use a more unique skill set I don't advise it. Those issues aside, holy crap what fun. Every twist and turn became more of an adventure. I quickly noticed that I didn't seem to think about each and every rock so much, they just kind of went by. I'm ready to do this again and again. Seems Hotshot is jealous of me running at night though, so I have to take her for the next trip. Scratch that; she has to take me next time. ;)

Redi-Mag

I've decided to start my new blog with a review of a product I recently tested out for a friend of mine.

When I first saw the Redi-Mag a few years back I thought it was a bit of a gimmick. This looked like something to get broken, weigh the AR down, or just some stupid bolt-on for the techno gear head that read to many comic books (i.e. gun magazines). When my friend ordered one I was skeptical to say the least. So I went over to her house to check out the new gear and it was decided that I would try it out in the three day shooting class that I had just completed the first classroom day of. With two days on the range ahead of me I was bolting parts onto my carbine with no idea of what to expect.

Putting the Redi-Mag MkI onto the lower receiver of the AR is fairly easy in principal. In practice the front spacer block system is a royal pain in the ass. Getting the unit set up is a breeze. Just push the spring pin in on the front of the trigger guard and swing it out of place. The Redi-Mag is then slid up over the mag well with the rubber pads in place. This part is easy enough that any dork with an ink pen can get it done. Putting that block into the front and inserting the bolts and nuts, on the other hand, takes two men and a small boy to get everything in place, torqued around, lined up, threaded through, and screwed tight. Eventually, with the careful application of some brute force and a slightly fumble fingered friend the thing was on. Oh well, you only have to do it once right?

With it on I practiced a few times and felt like I was getting the hang of operating the single lever and my mag release button and all that jazz. The first day on the range everyone was looking at me a little weird (more than normal) for having this parkerized green 'thing' attached to the side of my gun, holding a second P-mag on there. Very quickly I noticed myself to be reloading cleaner and faster than everyone else. I'd like to say this would have been the case anyway, but the Redi-Mag definitely made a standout difference. As the class wore on more people started noticing and asking about it, including all of the instructors. The instructors were the best part as they didn't have a plan for this in their training program.

The extra mag I carried on my belt quickly became a topic of discussion. With the Redi-Mag, the belt mounted mag was never used to reload, only to top off the Redi-Mag. This created a glitch in the training method as the finger forward technique method that is standardized in pistol shooting wont work with topping off the Redi-Mag as the fingers get in the way. Instead the 'Beer Can' grip must be used, not just for topping off, but it's needed to reload too. This meant I carried my belt mag with the bullet tip pointed back. I didn't mind this one bit, and the instructors took a little warming up to it.

The release method was discussed as well. The head instructor felt that there should be an ability to release the mag in the Redi-Mag by simply depressing the standard mag release button instead of having to hit the lever on the unit. After some considerable thought I decided this wasn't all that desirable and that the current system is probably the way to go. Should I happen to accidentally hit the mag release button on the gun and dump the mag currently loaded, I'd also loose my reload, loosing not 30 but 60 rounds to the dirt. By having to use the Redi-Mag mounted lever to release the reload I take out the possibility of inadvertent discharge. I'll keep it how it is.

The only down side I've really found to this system is the bolt catch extension. This is a cheep piece of plastic that gets the job done but little else.
Soon I hope to ad the Magpul B.A.D. lever to take care of this problem child of the Redi-Mag. The sooner gone the better.

Over all, the test unit is NOT going back to the owner. I told her this and it became my birthday present. Happy birthday to me! :D