The all-new SPARC (Speed
Point Aiming for Rapid Combat)
red dot site from Vortex Optics
is compact, lightweight and eas-
ily mounted on most popular
firearm platforms, including AR-
15s, shotguns and pistols. The 2
MOA daylight bright red dot can
be quickly adjusted for brightness
and is powered by a long-lasting,
easily obtainable CR2032 lithium
battery
The SPARC features rear-fac-
ing and side controls for power-on
and off, dot brightness adjustment,
and night vision mode. It comes
with modular, three-piece bases
that offer four different mounting
heights for user- and firearm-spe-
cific customization.
www.vortexoptics.com
TUR or TSR?
Continued from page 34
soldiers are coming back and hunting with a gun they are familiar with, and armies had tons
of surplus weapons to dispose of, making it less of a risk to start cutting on an old Mauser
or Springfield. That really fueled the whole custom-gun-building industry. And, while the
Garand didn’t become a hunting rifle, semi-auto rifles gained trust and became extremely
popular after WWII.”
With so many of America’s fine men and women having served in the combat zone and
gained familiarity with the AR- 15 style rifle, these guns are in the middle of a perfect storm
of popularity. Their modularity and adaptability for various hunting or competitive endeavors
make them a sensible choice for a base platform to build on.
“A high number [of shooters] have figured out how accurate and versatile the platform
is, and that’s driving them to buy the guns,” continues Weeks. “Then, shooters being shooters, they want to make the gun suit whatever game they are playing, or game they are shooting, better. So they buy accessories.”
Tricked Out Plinker — Umarex’s Colt . 22
Tactical “Ops” M4 fully loaded with accces-sories. If you don’t look closely, you might
not notice that this is a rimfire and not a
weapon of war.
Weaver Red Dot Scope
• Weaver
Weaver’s modern, rugged
Red/Green Dot Sight is ideal for
hunting deer, turkey or even elk.
And, for shooters involved in tactical shooting, the new dot sight
is a perfect addition to any AR
platform. Made for instant and accurate target acquisition, the Red/
Green Dot Sight has five red and
five green brightness settings to
ensure accuracy in all light conditions. Sight comes with removable
front sunshade and adjustable
rear hood to ensure perfect performance in all weather conditions and comes with a spare battery compartment…just in case.
Available in matte black, gloss
black and silver, as well as two
reticles, fine crosshair, and MOA
dot. www.weaveroptics.com -SSR
Vehicle for Sport, Utility, and More
People have a need to label things, trying to neatly classify them into simple cubbyholes so they know exactly where things stand. When something is labeled, it’s defined and
put into its place. We feel comfortable knowing what something is and where it belongs; it
makes us feel like we’re in control.
The tactical rifle, however, defies such simple classification. Ask ten different shooters
what a tactical rifle is and what it’s for and you’re likely to get at least a dozen different answers. It’s a competition rifle. A hunting rifle. A collector’s item. A defense gun. The modular
nature of many tactical guns and the ease of adding accessories mean that one single gun
can be customized in minutes to fill multiple roles.
This very nature, in fact, is part of the reason that lawmakers have such a hard time
defining just what it is that they want to ban. A rifle is a rifle, and, in their rush to ban some
of them while not alienating voters who own others, they’re left with nothing but features
that will strike fear into the hearts of those unfamiliar with firearms. They ban pistol grips
because they make it easy to shoot from the hip despite the fact that shooting from the hip
is atrociously inaccurate. They ban bayonet lugs and barrels with adaptors for rifle grenade
despite the fact that no criminals anywhere ever use these things. They are aware that,
though Jim Zumbo’s position was wrong, he was right on the money when he said, “to most
of the public, an assault rifle is a terrifying thing.”
For this reason, marketing civilian tactical guns as “assault rifles” or “assault weapons”
is obviously a bad idea. Even the simple “tactical rifle” will confuse many, as civilian shoot-
ers don’t normally conduct tactical operations. The 1903 Springfields were simply bolt-ac-
tions. The self-loading rifles in the years after WWII were simply semi-autos. Utility? Sport?
Hunting? Competition?
The SUV of 2010 is usually not primarily either a sport vehicle or a utility vehicle.
It’s just a car. A little sporty, a little utilitarian, and a lot of everything else. Someday, and it
could be a lot sooner than many will admit, we’ll reach the point when a tactical rifle is just
a gun. –TTR
