High speed, low drag. Terms from one leading edge migrate into other specialties, general usage, and then other tongues. Especially American English, whose penchant for pushing the envelope and rich cultural choices made it the first high-speed, low-drag language in the world.
In the arena of tactical weapons, “high speed, low drag” implies equipment or weapons that waste no time, waste no motion, waste neither ammo nor ordnance—fast as a diving falcon, compact and extremely deadly.
Providing a good visual, the term morphed to include the highly skilled operators who employ this state-of-the-art equipment and tactics. It often describes elite operators who are fast as a snake, slippery and do not miss their mark, accomplishing more with fewer men and more compact individual weapons.
TACTICAL WEAPONS shows how these principles apply to journalism, with insider-written articles on the leading-edge weapons and elite operators who deliver this compact thunder quickly and on target.
Our cover story invites you downrange with the Primary Weapons Systems MK212, a piston-driven, short-barrel rifle (SBR) in 7.62mm NATO purpose-built for every mission-specific option an operator might need: optics, lights, drum magazines, etc. An “Army of One”? This compact thunder comes close.
We’re also bringing you another hot new SBR—the select-fire Troy M7A1 PDW—which was built for a Department of Homeland Security solicitation. The M7A1 met new parameters for super compactness with creative redesigns of exterior features, allowing it to collapse to 20 inches with its 7.5-inch barrel, and it will run well with a suppressor.
A dramatic new full-size AR is Smith & Wesson’s M&P15 VTAC II. Built in collaboration with Viking Tactics to handle any threat right out of the box, it accepts necessities from optics, lights, forend grips—anything that will grab a Picatinny rail. Get down in the dirt with us and find out why it’s good to go.
The new Barrett REC7 Gen II is a piston-operated semi-auto that is factory-equipped with an array of custom-grade features and accessories, including a modular KeyMod handguard and Magpul’s MOE stock and grip. We put you behind it to see why it’s good for grunts.
SBR muzzle blast is a factor, and War Sports’ LVOA-S, a 12-inch-barreled hotshot, tackles this head on with a sophisticated flash suppressor system built into the handguard, and includes other innovative advancements for warfighters in vehicles, armor or aircraft.
The AR platform continues to earn its spurs as a semi-auto precision rifle, and we put you on the trigger of a silenced-by-Sig SIG716 Precision in 7.62mm NATO to drill sub-MOA groups out to 800 yards, earning its name!
One early package of compact thunder was Ruger’s AC-556, and we get Leroy Thompson’s thorough rundown on this blast from the recent full-auto past that still serves today.
Some great designs will never die. Remington’s 870 Marine Magnum 12 gauge in electroless nickel is standard for water-borne LE nationwide, and we take you onto the high seas to train with it. Browning’s 1911, another classic, has been completely redesigned by Springfield Armory as the 3-inch-barreled EMP in 9mm with 9+1 capacity, and we test that, too.
You can also join us at the international Milipol Paris show; on takedowns with meth-lab busters; on patrol with the Alaska State Troopers; then with Russia’s FSB Alpha and Vympel operators, who protected the Winter Olympics from terrorists. Then we add technology, authoritative columns, and Gunny’s fearless and spot-on analysis of what’s going on.
TACTICAL WEAPONS writers are in the arena. When they write about a gun, the barrel is still hot. Compact thunder? This issue delivers more bangs for the buck than any magazine on the newsstands. Enjoy.
