With the 13″ barrel they’re super light, and super handy. 10 rounds of .308 at your disposal will get the blood pumping.

It’s been years since I’d had real range time with an XCR, and I’d forgotten all the handy function stuff they’ve done as far as ambi-mag and bolt release, ambi safety, etc. I’d forgotten that they’re actually easier to disassemble than an AR too.

You don’t want to be the poor sucker beside it tasked with taking photos or holding the shot timer. It makes some noise and pumps out some concussion with that brake & barrel combo.

But for the shooter, it’s certainly not any more punishing than a pump-gun with target load. Ms TV-PressPass has no problem shooting it either, and she shies away from the M305 etc.

Compared to other .308 rifles I’ve shot in the past, this one feels right in the controls, and feels right in the weight. Everything is right where you look for it in terms of manipulations. And if I could magically convince the CFO that I really needed this lightweight backpacking gun out in the bush, I’d be happy to carry it all day. (And I am a skinny SOB who’s had some crap days carrying heavier guns way too far into the hills)

The addition of keymod has been a real benefit to the XCR platform. My biggest issue with the guns were how front heavy they were. This thing has none of that. Also, I learned that I infinitely prefer keymod over M-Lok. None of that t-nut silliness for me thank you.

I can’t speak to accuracy yet. I’ve only been at the 50 yard range having fun with the thing and getting familiar for the first hundred rounds.

The final note though is that this is a very limited role rifle. If you want one, it’s awesome. But I’m not about to talk anyone into replacing something in their safe with one. It’s an expensive gun, expensive to feed, and still restricted. But for Heavy Metal 3-Gun, it’s a solid solution. Particularly with commonly available 10 round mags.

Correction! The C9 LMG is made by FN, not Colt Canada. Derp.

Colt Canada, formerly Diemaco, has made a limited number of their monolithic uppers available to Canadian civilian shooters. I picked up one of their “blemished” units back in October and have had a great time shooting it.

These upper receivers that came to the civilian market were overrun from a military contract, possibly with the Danish Army. They were sold without charging handles or bolt carrier groups, but did feature a 15.7″ cold hammer forged barrel and a C9 flash-hider.

The IUR is part of the C7/C8 upgrade program and offers a free floated barrel and rock solid handguard for mounting accessories and optics. We did see a new M-LOK version called the MRR at Shot Show 2016. Complete versions of the Modular Railed Rifle are expected to be available to Canadian civilian shooters this summer.

Like the Vz58, the Type 81 is chambered in 7.62×39 and might resemble a Kalashnikov from a few hundred meters away. But this hybrid rifle is actually closer to the venerated SKS than the quintessential AK, and as a result has been deemed not a variant of any currently prohibited rifles.

The original Type 81 was the issued assault rifle of the Peoples Liberation Army in China, but this new civilian made variant is a dedicated semi-auto produced by Norinco, and destined for the Canadian market.

Developed in the 1980s, the Type 81 features a last round bolt hold open, a short-stroke piston system, and a barrel designed for spigot-style rifle grenades. While it does use a proprietary rock-and-lock magazine, rumour is that these rifles will function with AK pattern magazines at the expense of the bolt hold open feature.

So far Tactical Imports and Canada Ammo have both confirmed that they will be importing versions of the Type 81, but I suspect we’ll see many more dealers coming on board with these new red-rifles.

No, I don’t know the MSRP, so you are free to guess wildly at possible price points. Personally I’ll be very curious to try this new rifle out next to the Vz58s and compare.

My buddy Alex over at The Firearm Blog recently got his hands on one of the few Type 81 prototypes that slipped into the USA before the Clinton ban shut down all Chinese imports. He takes a close look at the internals in this video:

And if you’d like to read a huge magazine feature on the Type 81, Timonthy T. Yan has authored this great piece from Red Star Arms

www.redstararms.com/type81.pdf

I was wondering how my shotgun would be affected with the announcement back in December that the Derya Mk10 was non-restricted. The Akdal is almost identical to the Derya, but was listed as an AR variant for the last several years. Here’s my video review after a few seasons of 3-Gun.

Now, when you check the legal notes in the FRT database relating to the Mka 1919 you see the following:

“While the exterior of this model resembles the AR “family,” there is no direct lineage that this is exclusive to the AR15/M16 design. This model design could also easily be linked to the Armalite Division of Fairchild Aircraft AR10 design.”

That little snippet is doubly interesting, because it may have implications for the AR10 platform as a whole. I don’t want to jump the gun here, but I get a sneaking suspicion this is not the only firearm moving towards deregulation. The original AR10 was a very different firearm than the M16 successor, and modern firearms that can draw a linkage back to that original design might be in for some good news.

Until we know more, I’ll be taking my Akdal outdoors for some winter camping and skeet blasting.

At Shot Show this year, the XCR rifles saw another stage in their continuing evolution. The big step for Canadians will be the extended forearm options.

When your barrel has to be 18.5″ long, it’s easy to get that too long look and feel with shorter handguards. The extended models Robinson is featuring offer an improved sight radius, and keymod accessory mounting.

Keymod is a big deal at Robinson Arms these days, and I can see why. One of the initial concerns regarding early XCR rifles was the forward weight, particularly with the Canadian length barrel. 2015 saw the release of light profile XCR barrels, and substantially lightened Keymod handguards. With the extended handguard arriving in 2016, Keymod is a crucial part of keeping the weight and balance from shifting too far.

The XCR is a rifle platform that’s continually evolving. Particularly if you compare the flashy lime green rifle I snapped at Shot to the original design. Stocks, controls, bolts, gas system, and recievers have all improved in subsequent iterations. I mean, just look at the original. It’s almost unrecognizable from what you see at the top of this page.

That continual forward progression is what keeps me interested in the XCR. We’ll see if 2016 is finally the year I jump on board and start shooting one.

The Recce Pro:

The new monocular essentially bridges between Vortex’s Viper level mountain scopes and their original Diamondback level monoculars. So this unit is the size and weight of the originals, with the glass and reticle out of the mountain scopes.

And it’s worth noting that the reticle in there is one of the best ranging reticles I’ve ever used. It’s got solid substentions (which have actually been expanded for the Recce Pro) but also features a number of quick ranging silhouettes that can be framed over a person or deer’s torso.

The model I saw at Shot Show was an 8×32, but apparently a 10x magnification is also in the works. You’ll also notice the rubber covers for the objective and ocular lenses, that seal around the optic, but remain tethered when detached.

If you’ve been following my stuff for a while, you might remember this little beauty from 3 years ago when I liked to put on multicam and go for long walks in the rain.

While in retrospect I might shake my head at that unbridled enthusiasm, I did like the Recon quite a bit. Now, with a smaller, lighter version that maintains the sharp glass and useful reticle, I’m feeling very tempted.

But small things can make all the difference to revitalizing an existing platform. And this one got my jimmies rustled:

Fab Defense finally launched a Vz58 magazine.

The Vz58/Cz858 is effectively Canada’s Kalashnikov replacement, but until now only military surplus magazines and KCI clones were available. And never in large numbers. Additional magazines could easily cost $30-40 and the Korean made KCI’s had some serious reliability issues.

Fab Defense has been making polymer AK and AR mags for years, but in 2016 they’ll be expanding the line to include everyone’s favourite Czech rifle. As you can see from the photos, it’s a windowed polymer mag, designed for the Vz from the ground up, and includes a weird littly doohickey on the bottom.

That device is a spring loaded magazine pull. The idea is that it sits flat against the base when stowed, but makes pulling the magazine out of a pouch that much easier. It’s not a loop like a traditional magpul, but instead relies on the shooter pinching or hooking the pull. I’ll have to try that part before I form an opinion on it.

Fab is planning to produce a pinned version at the factory specifically for the Canadian market, which I’m hoping will be available sooner rather than later.

After years of essentially ignoring rimfire firearms, about halfway through 2015 I found myself coming around to the idea of a cheap plentiful round, and embraced more shooting for the sake of fun. Particularly in Canada where rimfire gets the double whammy of legal short barrels and regular magazine capacity. So I wound up with a little .22 Bersa handgun, and decided to put together a 10/22 rifle. I’d seen the various archangel stocks and things like that, but they didn’t quite grab me. Until the new Fab Defense stocks started showing up.

Part of why I like this stock on the 10/22 is that it’s not trying to convince me it’s an AR-15. I’ve seen lots of “tactical” rimfire stocks that just pay lipservice to black rifle aesthetics. I don’t care about that. I do care about a decent grip, an adjustable cheek riser, and a little bit of pic-rail.
Hence: I like this little guy. I wish they’d had the fixed stock version a little sooner, as I had to JB weld the folding mechanism on this one. Still worth it for what the American’s would call an SBR.

I’ll check the math again, but I’m pretty sure I’m safely under $600 for this lil guy.

That’s a factory standard receiver with an 11″ Dlask barrel and an HC3R mag I got from my secret sniper during the summer. Its a blast to shoot!

A flurry of announcements yesterday solidified for me the idea that’s been floating around for years: all of the coolest shotguns in this country and coming out of Turkey right now. They’re doing things that no one else is, making them at an affordable price, and exporting them.

The big reveal is that the RCMP has ruled several versions of the Uzkon BR99 to be non-restricted. Expect to see guns from Trigger Wholesale, O’Dell Engineering, and Corwin Arms all coming out in 2016.

The BR99 is a piston driven semi-auto 12 gauge shotgun that feeds from a detachable box magazine. The idea is to bring the advantages of rifle controls and manipulations to a shotgun platform. The fact that it’s a non-restricted firearm is just icing on the cake. These guns are excellent options in 3-Gun competitions. The simple reload and semi-auto speed are crucial advantages when the clock is on.

Additionally, Trigger Wholesale has confirmed that their AS46 family of pump guns are good for import too. The AS46 are a series of short barrelled box mag guns, offered with a variety of stocks. The big news is that as a manual action firearm, there’s no restriction on magazine capacity for them. Trigger Wholesale is planning on including 10 round magazines, and I’ll bet even bigger ones are a possibility.

Looking at the wide range of interesting things coming out of Turkey, I’m struck by two major questions: First, are they all using a consistently standard pattern of magazine? And two: my Akdal Mka 1919 appears to use a very similar gas system to these new guns. Is it still restricted as an AR-15 variant? I’ll have to wait to get my hands on a BS99 and see how similar they really are.

But even looking past those new guns, the Turks have been sending us cool stuff for years.

I already own an Akdal Mka 1919, the 12 gauge shotgun that is restricted as an AR-15 variant. I’ve also got a SAP-6 in the safe: a compact, modular shotgun with capacity that far outstrips anything else on the market. Yes, even the Kel Tec. With a magazine coupler and 11 round mags, you can be sitting at a full 23 rounds of 12 gauge on and in the gun.

The former Ottoman Empire is also behind the UTAS dual tube pump-gun. Regardless of whether that unusual critter is your cup of tea or not: you have to admit there’s some serious outside the box thinking coming together to make that gun come together. What’s more, it’s got the high profile looks to make it a popular choice in Hollywood. I was pleased to spot one getting eaten in Jurassic World this summer.

The diverse base of manufacturers in Turkey definitely have a grip on the tactical market. Some of their products (specifically ironsights) are a little rough, or a little over the top, but they’re definitely headed in the right direction. I find it interesting that after years of US companies like Winchester selling us Turkish guns with US names on them, that we’re starting to go direct to the source and tap into the wide range of options.

Owners of expensive Italian shotguns often decry Turkish manufacturers as being “low-grade” and compare them to Chinese guns in terms of fit and finish. But I think that’s a massively unfair characterization, and that the range of options and affordable price vastly outweighs most issues of final polish. If I were suggesting a shotgun to a new shooter, I don’t think the old standard of “Mossberg or Remington” applies anymore. Not when you can get twice the gun for half the price.

I’ve got a few in the safe already. But I’m excited to add a few more and see what these new offerings out of Istanbul are like.

If you’re not familiar, Colt Canada was formerly Diemaco, and produces the light arms issued to the Canadian Forces. As a result, they make interesting milspec guns, and have done very little with civilian sales until 2015. Back in February they released the SA20 and SA15.7, which are semi-auto versions of the C7 and C8 rifles, along with a handful of IURs.

IUR stands for integrated monolithic receiver, more commonly known as a monolithic upper. The idea is there’s no handguard here. The entire upper is one complete rail system. There are a few reasons to do this:

• First, your accuracy is improved by free floating the barrel
• You now have a single long plane of rail up top. Great for mounting night vision.
• Anything mounted to your handguard rails is now 100% stable and will not lose zero

The IUR comes with some other fun things like a grenade launcher recoil lug and integrated QD sling mounts. I’ve had it out the range a few times, and am immensely pleased with it. Expect a video coming someday soon.

I really didn’t plan to jump on the Colt Canada wagon, but while the initial run of IURs were right at $1000, this latest run of “blemished” units were sold off for a song at $550. Regardless of whether you buy into the Diemaco Mythos, that’s a pretty good price for a monolithic upper and exceptional barrel. From the internet scuttlebutt I read, it looks like all the IURs in Canada are overruns from the Danish Military contract. These blemished uppers went back and forth across the Atlantic, but certainly don’t seem any worse for wear. I couldn’t find any marks on mine, and am proceeding to put my own use marks on it anyway.

So until I have a real handle on how it shoots and form a proper opinion, here’s some photos.