Since then I’ve put my boot down in nine countries, lived on three continents, and traveled in excess of 84,000 kilometers.

Now I’m headed back to the firing line for a reacquaintance.

I stop the jeep a half-mile back from the range gate, and the warm chatter of the podcast drops away abruptly. Initially I’d queued up The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan as a thematic listen for this trip, but while packing out in the pre-dawn dark I received an alert that new episodes of I Only Listen to The Mountain Goats had been released.

It is early May, and while the city is almost snow free, here in the mountain pass the road is buried deeper than I’d expected: iced over and muddy with snowmobile track cutting a thick rut down the center. If I were still in the Wrangler I’d throw it into four-high and go skittering up and over the semi-frozen slush. But I’m seated in the more domestic model now: a new-ish Jeep Patriot with previously unknown comforts like AC and heated seats. Which suits me: I’ve become more domestic too. I’ll play it safe and walk the rest.

It’s cool and quiet outside the car, with a low grey sky that can’t decide whether it will be the last snow or the first rain, so in its indecision does neither. I’ve been out here lugging gear in worse weather, and the memory of a particular -27 day still makes my spine tingle. Colder, leaner times.

I shoulder the pack, and hoof it the last 800 meters to the range gate. The Sitka Bivy 30 is one of my longest suffering but most comfortable packs. Today it has everything I need for a day’s shooting tucked nicely inside.

Two years ago there were over a dozen backpacks and rucksacks hanging in the shed at home. Now I’ve pared down to three. Although I admit I still imagine buying the perfect 20L daypack to round out my options.

Not all the gear has been reclaimed. Plenty of parts, pieces, and guns are still in stored for safe keeping with friends or buried in boxes. But I wanted to make this first range trip about a single firearm with a simple, clean focus. Ease back into it.

I’ve learned how easy it is to pack more guns than I can shoot in a session, and that I don’t get the focus or results if I’m bouncing from gun to gun. It gets even worse if you start moving around optics and re-zeroing.

I settled on something small, light, and unique to me. I’ve never fired my Vz61 Skorpion, but that’s about to change…

Chambered in .32 ACP, the Vz61 was a victim of one of the more elaborate and lesser known bans in Canada. As part of the mid-90s crime wave in the US there was a media emphasis on “Saturday Night Specials.” These compact, cheaply produced handguns were considered disposable weapons for criminals, and here in Canada all handguns running .25 and .32 acp wound up prohibited.

But this Vz61 isn’t a handgun. The wire folding stock that would qualify it as an SBR in the USA makes it a restricted rifle in Canada saving it from the prohibited status of those special pistols.

Bans by caliber are always interesting to me. Especially when you consider that the Skorpion’s official caliber in the Czech republic is 7.62×25 Browning. Effectively the same cartridge under a different title. And that there were a host of Olympic competition guns chambered in the banned calibers that were given an exemption due to their sporting status.

I like the Vz61. It’s an easily identifiable classic from movies and videogames, especially those formative pre-millenium depictions in The Matrix and 007 Goldeneye. But its Czechoslovkian origin gives it a uniquely communist vibe.

I pinch the charging handles on either side, and pull back hard to chamber the round. I can see why one of the few aftermarket modifications out there are sets of extended charging handle knobs. The factory units are thin and textured, but tough to grip.

As this is technically a rifle, the 10 and 20 round magazines are pinned to 5, but I appreciate the extended length of the 20 rounders, as they double as a grip for the support hand on a firearm with very little excess space.

But shooting the Skorpion can be awkward. The sights are pistol sights designed for use with the gun at arms length, rather than tucked in close with the stock shouldered. But they’re also zeroed at 75 and 150 meters.

Miroslav Rybář and the other engineers at Uherský Brod must have had great faith in that little cartridge. I’ve had a look around the web at ballistics charts and gel tests, and it seems to me that stats and history have both decided the 7.62×25 Browning isn’t well suited to gun-fights.

I knew I wouldn’t be shooting groups today. This isn’t the gun for it, and not the way I want to reintroduce myself to the sport. Reactive hanging targets make for a much more tactile solution. I’d actually considered picking up some fire-cracker targets, but I prefer to save those sorts of things for first time shooters.

Instead I focus on bouncing the flippers back and forth, trying different ways to squat with the stock and still have the out-of-focus sights be effective. It’s a wonder no one’s put together an aftermarket optic mount for this little unit. Based on the news and forum posts there’s clearly lots of them spread across the globe.

After an hour or so I unfold the camp chair, and sit with coffee and a cold sandwich to survey the day.

It’s early enough in the morning and the season that I have the range entirely to myself. The trees groan in the wind and the snow smells clean and crisp. I realize I’m terrible at differentiating between crows and ravens as I listen to one’s wingbeats pass close overhead. I can’t remember the last time I was this physically distant from other human beings. It’s a pleasant change. The mountain looms over everything.

After lunch I warm up by emptying a magazine up close. I’m not sure 5 rounds in fast succession really qualifies as a mag-dump, but it feels viscerally satisfying. The little gun barks, but doesn’t jump. 

Then I push it out to 50 yards and see what kind of hits I can manage on the 3” diameter targets. It’s about a 60 percent hit rate, but before I get too deep into the weeds on where I’m missing I realize I’m down to the last magazine.

“That’s your fight-your-way-home ammo!” An old friend who first showed me what a Vz58 was really capable of used to love that phrase, while I laughed and enjoyed it. But it’s become something of a superstition. I’m happy to burn up 95% of what I take with me on a range trip, but I’m reluctant to return home completely dry. Not that 5 rounds of .32 ACP would mean much in the larger scheme, but its the principle of the thing.

I’m not a religious person, but in its place I realize I am something of a superstitious one. I touch wood when my words tempt disaster. I tap my drink to the bar after a toast. I always leave the range with a full magazine.

Separated and locked from the firearm of course. Legislation holds no place for superstition, except for the notion that certain kinds of guns magically can cause crime that is. The last shot echoes in that wide Canadian landscape, and I make my way back.

Putting the jeep into gear: the lo-fi guitar chords of John Darnielle rise to greet me. I’m eager to get home, to help Susy make dinner and feed the cats. But a long drought is over.

Considering the number of IWI rifles I’ve owned and tinkered with, a new line is exciting stuff. In this post we’re going to go over what we know, and make some guesses based on the photographs released so far.

First, the obvious: this is a non-bullpup polymer-shell 5.56 gun running off a piston system with lots of ambidexterity and built in adjustment.

My first question is: why this and not the Galil Ace?

I’d suggest that while the Ace is a long-stroke piston, the Carmel will be a short stroke piston. That’s a marked departure from previous IWI guns (both the Tavor and X95 have their pistons attached to the bolt carrier) but matches expectations from other players in the “modern-carbine” game.

The Tavor and Ace families may not have a lot in the way of gas adjustments, but the Carmel sports a very prominent gas-block, apparently outfitted with easy settings for standard, fouled, and suppressed setups.

Looking at the fore-end, I think it’s fair to say we have an X95 style “hidden quad rail” underneath those grip panels. Take a look at the lift levers on each part of the handguard, and sure enough you can see the pic rails exposed on the promo photo outfitted with the 40mm under-barrel launcher. The magwell attachment on that launcher looks like quite a chunk of hard-ware.

The charging handle looks to be folding and reversible, and I would certainly hope non-reciprocating. Almost every single photo I’ve seen appears to have the dust cover closed, so its hard to get any idea of what the bolt might be like, although promo material suggests a 3-lug rotating bolt.

The barrel on these is being advertised as a quick-change system and free-floating. I’m not sold on the necessity of quick change barrels outside of an LMG, but if you can build it, why wouldn’t you? More importantly, the note on free floating suggests that IWI is putting accuracy at the forefront of this new rifle family.

Just look at the size of that bolt-release! We’ve come a long way from the ping-pong paddle, and it looks like the lever on the right side can be manipulated to lock the bolt to the rear. I like to imagine that it’s a right-side-release of its own too, the shape certainly suggests it, but it’s hard to say that with certainty.

The stock seems to be a lift-to-fold design, with adjustable length, and a built in adjustable cheek riser. Also interesting: take a look at the hinged butt-plate. I’d bet a stack of bullion that there’s some kind of storage system inside there.

The pistol grip itself is distinctly more vertical than many off-the-shelf rifles, bearing closer resemblance to the aftermarket K-grips. That grip doesn’t look modular to me, but its interesting that the entire lower receiver is so low on the gun and such a small part compared to your normal half-and-half split.

Look at where the bottom of the pistol grip is compared to the bottom of the stock, and then look at your closest AR-15. I bet this feels very different in the shoulder.

We can see several metal sling mounts built into the stock and fore-end, but there’s no sign of the QD slots that were a key part of adapting the X95 for consumer use. IWI has effectively said that this rifle is currently being firmly pitched to South American military and police contracts.

Will a semi-specific version someday make it’s way to the commercial market? That seems like a natural progression, but no timeline or plan on that yet. What do you think: Is this the kind of thing we’ll see submitted for classification and on the civilian ranges in Canada?

A few items of note that I got to demo today was Magpul’s line up of CZ Scorpion EVO parts such as their 35 round stick mags, ambidextrous magazine release and pistol grip. Built with the usually high detail that MagPul is know for the MSRPs for these parts will pretty much assure that ever EVO out there is going to have MagPul on it. Save the 35 round stick mags I think there is a market for those parts in Canada as well.

See the full range report here.

Edward’s Thoughts:

I’d suggest that Magpul’s introduction of a new line of accessories for the Scorpion is actually a bigger deal for Cz than it is for Magpul. The EVO3 has just been elevated to sit alongside names like the AR15, the AK, the Ruger 10/22 and the Remington 700.

Sure, Magpul is a lot more diverse in their firearm offerings now than they were even 5 years ago, but creating products for the Cz Scorpion speaks to the raw popularity of the little pistol carbine.

It also means that now Cz is on the hook. Don’t go changing the grip mount or magazine pattern next year. To use everyones favourite phrase: they’ve got a platform on their hands now, rather than a standalone firearm.

But Cz has a winner. The Scorpion 3 has hit the right budget and function point where their other lines (Bren) and other competitors (B&T) have struggled.

Magpul’s nod and new product line can only signal good things for it’s future. The opportunity is right for a 50 round drum mag, which Magpul seems to have shown an affinity for as of late. I would go so far as to guess the Evo 4 or whatever label Cz chooses for it’s next creation with be an alternate caliber version of the Evo 3. Rimfire? .380 Auto? The grand-daddy .45 ACP? Who can say for certain, but I certainly enjoy imagining.

Personally I think the market is ripe for a new Evo 3 pistol brace. Something compact and foldable in the spirit of current Sig Sauer offerings. But clever readers will notice that Magpul, a company who once set the standard for what a stock could be, has never deigned to sully themselves by playing the ATFs game of non-stocks. Looks like that particular title will remain with the Gearhead Works TailHook for the moment.

First up I hit OSS Suppressors. Anyone who has used OSS knows about their helical design to vent pressure and gas directly out the front of the can instead of through a traditional baffle stack.  Their latest line Helix QD cans for 308 and 338 are impressive. The Gear Head Works ONE pistol bolt action in 300BLK with the OSS HX QD 762 was beyond quiet and made the bolt action feel like I was shooting a 22LR. The idea of the ONE is a compact, ultra-light, ultra-quiet, precision bolt action, and they’ve certainly hit that mark.

While I got to shoot some insanely light machines guns and some pretty sweet upgradable parts for said machine guns as well, the truth is the majority of people will never get to shoot a full auto machine gun or fully appreciate what upgraded parts and weight saving actually mean or translate to them. This is where the military part of the event really becomes clear.

With no hopes of seeing civilian ownership, but a possible trial by the Canadian Forces sometime between the second coming and the heat death of the universe, we put plenty of rounds through the Ohio Ordnance Works M240B GPMG, a reduced weight version of the workhorse vehicle or grunt mounted machine gun.

I did take the time to tinker with the F4 Defense small frame 308 semi-auto rifle, a ridiculously light assembly coming in to the tune of 6-7 pounds. Everything rearward of the magazine well are all AR 15 compatible parts including the trigger. This unit takes standard AR 10 magazines, and one of the unique features is the hydraulic buffer and flat wire spring that reduces the recoil of the 308 to what felt like a varminting caliber. Very cool build. I’d love to see how the hydraulic buffer and flat wire recoil spring perform in a STAG 10 or BCL 102 build to really smooth out those non-restricted Canadian setups.

The last few items of note that I got to demo today were Magpul‘s line up of CZ Scorpion EVO parts. New this year were their 35 round stick mags, ambidextrous magazine release and pistol grip. Built with the usually high detail that Magpul is know for the MSRPs for these parts will pretty much assure that ever EVO out there is going to have Magpul on it. Save the 35 round stick mags I think there is plenty of desire for those parts in Canada as well.

Tomorrow the show floor opens and I’ll once again be running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off sprinting from interview to interview. Keep tuning in to TV-PressPass here and on Facebook and my Instagram pages for updates this week.

Words By: Wally F.          Photos By: Wally F.

……….North Sylva has been in the Canadian firearms scene for over 60 years. It’s said that one in five firearms sold in Canada are imported by them. Being a distributor for Colt Canada, H&K, IWI, FN America, KRISS, and a whole bunch of other manufacturers, I won’t touch on every single new thing coming up, but I’ll hit all the points folks hopefully are looking for. I’m not going to make you read all the way to the end of the article to get the answers to a whole bunch of peoples questions. IWI had a great booth at SHOT Show this year. There was a ton of talk around the TS-12 Semi-auto 15+1 shotgun, the Tavor 7 .308 battle rifle, and the Masada 9mm striker fire pistol (although not on display at SHOT).

……….Folks up here in Canada are also eager to get more information on the status of the M+M M10X DMR. For those not in the know, the M10X was submitted to the RCMP Firearms Labs for testing and classification. In October 2017 the RCMP gave the M10X a non-restricted classification. North Sylva has been courting the manufacturer since 2013 on a process to get the rifle into Canadian shooters hands. At time of writing the M10X DMR is slated to be in Canadian hands approximately by May 2018 at minimum advertised price of $1999 CDN.

……….As for the IWI TS-12 semi-auto shotgun. It is extremely unlikely that it will ever make its way to Canada. As its primary ammunition carriage system is based off of the X-Rail shotgun magazine system which I believe the RCMP already deems as a prohibited item, the chances that the sci-fi looking TS-12 will ever come to Canada are next to none. The Masada striker fire pistol, the first in IWI’s line up is a good looking 9mm service pistol, but at last check the Masada is still having some production delays. Since the Masada’s barrel length is 104mm which is 2mm short of the legal length in Canada this will factor into the wait time. As a result it may be a while before Canadians can get their hands on the Masada, no ETA for export just yet. The Tavor 7 .308 bull-pup battle rifle had a great showing earlier this year in Las Vegas.  If the RCMP gives their stamp of approval, this .308 calibre rifle is going to be coveted in the Canadian market, not only for it’s compact build, which combined with the .308 round will be very useful in the back-country, on hunting excursions, and wilderness protection. The US release has been delayed until May/June and North Sylva is currently waiting for a sample from IWI.

……….While the Type 97 rifle has been in Canada for awhile, the Gen 2 rifle has been in Canada and available for quite some time. I’m surprised more people don’t have this bull-pup in their collection as well. Now with an integrated 1913 picatinny rail, KAC-style flip-up iron sights, and updated design. This rifle looks sexy compared to it’s predecessor. If you don’t have one of these in your collection, you truly are missing out on a gem of a rifle to shoot.

……….North Sylva also carries a full line of Meprolight optics for your firearms. Their line-up of pistol aftermarket sights is pretty awesome, especially the uniquely designed FT Sight system and Micro RDS pistol sight that has QD release with built in iron sights. As always their line-up of award winning electro optical and magnified sights like the battle proven M21 and MOR sights and their Mepro 4x magnified sights are all available now.

……….I wrote earlier this year about the prevalence of first focal length variable magnification scopes being more popular and in more reasonable price ranges. Now EOTech is getting into that game as well with the new Vudu line of scopes. With a crisp wide and zoom-in reticle that is useful at magnification you are getting a feature packed optic for a very competitive price, especially when you compare the Vudu against the Night Forces and Schmidt and Benders of the world.

……….In the next month or so North Sylva will be getting a limited Colt Canada run of three-hundred SA15.7 and two-hundred SA20 rifles. This run of Colts will also have an engraving on the lower receiver that will be exclusive to North Sylva’s run of the SA15.7 and SA20s.

……….While the snow is slow to melt this year in Canada there is plenty of hot new firearms and accessories ready to launch very soon from companies across the country. North Sylva is one of those companies ready to bring Canadian shooters the products they want, and 2018 is starting to shape up to be a very good year.

For your regular cravings in the firearms world in Canada and beyond be sure to follow TV-PressPass on Facebook and myself Wally F. on Instagram.

Reporting for TV-PressPass

Wally F.

Words By: Wally F.          Photos By: Various Internet Sources

……….If you missed it the first time around you’d best get your pre-order in over at Tactical Imports Corp Canada for the Type-81 rifle.  Since the AK-47 and all their variants are prohibited in Canada this is as close as you’re going to get to owning one.

……….The Type 81-1 is a 7.62X39mm combat rifle with a foldable butt-stock. Originally a rifle for paratroopers, the Type 81-1 replaced the Type 81 with its fixed wooden butt-stock as the standard issue rifle for the Peoples Liberation Army of China.

……….The Type 81 is a gas operated, magazine fed, semi-automatic rifle. It uses a short-stroke gas piston, located above the barrel, and a two-position gas regulator. The bolt group (of the rotating bolt type) is borrowed from the Type 63 rifle. Type 81 rifles also retains the Type 63 bolt hold-open.

……….Tactical Imports has the fixed and folding stock versions ready to order.  A cool $1k Cdn will get you this beauty.  If you need your Com-Block fix make sure to put your decadent western dollars down sooner they later.  I have a feeling that this pre-order is going to fill out fast up here in the great white north.

……….Your pre-order bonus is a free-sling and an extra magazine if you order now. So get on it.

For your regular cravings in the firearms world in Canada and beyond be sure to follow TV-PressPass on Facebook and myself Wally F. on Instagram.

Reporting for TV-PressPass

Wally F.

For $500, the KPOS is a bridge. You fit your existing handgun (in my case a Jericho 941) into the chassis and bam: folding stock, optics rails, sling mounts. You’ve got a mini sub-gun.

The whole assembly is tool-less. You slide the KPOS over your pistol’s accesorry rail, rock it into the chassis, and then close the stock behind it. I wouldn’t say it’s something you can do at the drop of a hat, but 5 min quiet is all your need to get it in or out of the chassis.

I’m still just starting to tinker with this setup, but expect to see a full video on TFBTV soon. I have to mention how damn impressed I was with the initial presentation though. The case the KPOS ships in is very well laid out, and this really is a kit. Your sling, mag pouches, folding BUIS, and vertical grip are already included.

Its worth noting that in the USA this would be an NFA item: instant SBR stamp. But in Canada a hand-gun is always a hand-gun, so the certificate doesn’t change when I put a stock on it. Which is great, because while Fab does make an “arm brace” version of this kit, I can’t imagine having to actually shoot it that way.

In this piece we look at the XCR’s origins as part of the USSOCOM SCAR contract, the super short .308 rifle, and put the drone up in Virden, Manitoba.

I’ve been shooting a lot of .308 guns this summer, and hands down the XCR has been my favorite. It’s unbelievably light to carry and surprisingly light recoiling. I wish I could shoot it a little more accurately, but it is coming out of a 9″ barrel.

This unit is using the keymod for-end, which I found a great way to put grips and other accessories on there. I’ve used M-LOK in my magpul handgaurds and found it a very finicky setup with the potential for false positives. I’m much happier using M-LOK parts going forward.

You’ll also notice a stock adapter on here that allows me to mount a buffer tube and Daniel Defense AR-15 stock to the XCR. That’s a part made by Dlask here in Canada and is definitely very handy.

I thought I was all wrapped up with the XCR, and have finally returned the loaner rifle to Wolverine, but I’m getting lots of requests from TFB readers to take a look at the 5.56 version of the rifle, particularly now that they’re starting to add lightweight barrels to the mix. So we’ll see! Maybe 2017 will see some more Robinson Arms action.

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.