#Sopmod

We recently wrote about Enhanced Tactical Arms with their new grip design at SHOT 2018. But during the show, we were able to get a behind the scenes look at the small companies efforts to replicate the developmental history of the M4 carbine from the early beginnings in the Vietnam War, until today with the SOMOD Block II program and subsequent H&K 416 use in SOCOM. The collection has been featured in Larry Vicker’s AR15 Guide.

Geissele has taken the step from manufacturing accessories, to making the guns themselves: The company released its new VSASS semiautomatic sniper rifle system at the Modern Day Marine 2017 industry demonstration. News of the new rifle was first broken by Soldier Systems Daily, via an article available at this link. The VSASS (which stands for Very-long-range Semi-Automatic Sniper System) is a Stoner-type direct gas impingement system built from the ground up by Geissele, utilizing very few off-the-shelf components. It sports a number of refinements, including an extended length barrel extension, hardened steel cam pin raceway, cobalt alloy cam pin, and other improvements to the operating group. Many internal surfaces are coated in the durable solid lubricant by Nano Composite Coatings, which appears to be owned by Bill Geissele. The VSASS uses SR-25 magazines, as well as Geissele’s SSA-E trigger. It weighs 12.3 pounds unloaded and without optic, according to the Soldier Systems article, with variants chambered for .260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 7.62x51mm NATO.

Battleline Industries has a small kiosk just outside the press room here at SHOT Show 2016. Their “Ambidextrous Glock Magazine Release” caught my attention. The magazine catch/release is a simple drop in upgrade for Gen3 Glock 17/22, 19/23. In fact they claim that it is easier to install than a standard mag catch as you do not need to bother moving the spring out of the way, This will slide right behind the spring. No price as of yet but they are shooting for late 1st quarter or beginning of 2nd quarter this year.

Good news from the 2015 NRA Show for those looking to buy their first mil-spec AR-15. Fabrique Nationale has announced AR-15 rifles replicating in semi-automatic their M16A4 and M4 military rifles, coming in Fall of 2015. From the press release:

Leapers has introduced a new AR-15 stock, resembling a combination of the Magpul CTR and the SOPMOD stock. From the press release: