TSD Combat Systems

Which RMR should I get?

Chris Upchurch — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:30:48 +0000

One of the most common questions we get at OST is “Which RMR should I get for my TSD pistol, the RM02 or the RM07?” This is not an easy question to answer, because they’re both very good optics.

The RM02 and RM07 both have 6.5 MOA dots (older RM02s have 8 MOA dots but Trijicon recently standardized on 6.5 MOA). This means that the dot will appear to be about 6.5 inches across at 100 yards (or 0.65 inches at 10 yards). This is more than enough accuracy for pistol shooting at any distance.

The main difference between the 02 and 07 is that the latter allows for manual adjustment. The RM07 has buttons on either side of the sight that allow you to brighten or dim the dot, or even turn it off entirely. The RM02, in contrast, has no external controls whatsoever. Instead, it has a sensor that automatically adjusts the brightens of the dot for the ambient conditions.

Which system is better? Well, the RM07′s adjustability allows you to adjust the dot for unusual conditions (shooting at night using a flashlight, for example). If your eyes have astigmatisim, it can cause the dot to appear star-like, rather than circular. Many people find that bumping down the brightness a notch helps with this. Finally, if this gun is going to sit in the safe and not be carried for a long time, you can turn it off to save the battery.

The flip side of the RM07′s adjustability is that it’s possible for it to be wrongly adjusted for the conditions when you need it. Too bright probably isn’t a disabling problem, but too dim might be. You could even leave the dot turned off completely and not realize it. Its lack of controls make RM02 pretty much idiot proof. There’s no way to turn it off or mis-adjust it. Just replace the battery once a year and the dot will be there for you.

On a carry gun, I prefer the idiot proof, always-on RM02. For a home defense gun where I may want to tailor the dot’s brightness to the conditions, or a gun that only gets used occasionally (as a range gun or for hunting, for example) then the RM07′s adjustability really comes into its own.

Hands on with the FS2000

Chris Upchurch — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:38:02 +0000

by Chris Upchurch, Suarez International Director of Marketing

I have to admit, it took a while for me to really warm up to the FS2000. When one came in for Gabe back in August, my first thought was ‘wow, what a space-gun looking thing’. I handled it a bit and it seemed very odd and unfamiliar. It just has such a different layout and different controls that it was way outside my previous experience. As much as we make of the difference between, say, an AK and and AR, they both use basically the same layout. By comparison a bullpup, particularly one like the FS2000, is pretty out there.

A few weeks after my initial encounter with the FS2000 we were out shooting some video on the SIG 556 rifles. Gabe also brought along his FS2000 and I had a chance to shoot it. It still seemed a bit strange, but I have to say it shot nicely and handled well. Gabe was pretty enthusiastic about the rifle. This really made me take another look at the concept.

Towards the end of September we got some FS2000s in stock at OST. I’d been thinking more and more about it, and Tom made me a pretty good deal on it, so I decided to buy one. At this point I was thinking that this would be a bit of a specialty rifle for things like CQB and vehicle operations where its short overall length would really be an advantage.

That weekend was the Guerrilla Sniper II class. Gabe brought his FS2000 along, topped with an ACOG and fed some 75 grain match ammo. Using this configuration both he and I got hits out to 500 yards. This using a rifle that’s shorter than many SBRs. At this point I was starting to broaden my thinking about this little rifle and appreciate its capabilities.

The following Monday, I picked up my own FS2000. Shooting it would have to wait a bit until I picked up some .223 ammunition, but I immediately began doing some dry work with it.

While the obvious feature of a bullpup is it’s short overall length, the thing that really grabs you when you pick up an FS2000 is how well balanced it is. It balances right at the handgrip, making it exceedingly easy to shift it from shoulder to shoulder. You can even shoulder the FS2000 one handed, which really opens up some interesting possibilities when getting off the X.

The FS2000 is very compact. Despite having a 17.4“ barrel, it’s roughly the same length as a SBR with a 10” barrel. This makes it exceedingly well suited to CQB, vehicular operations, and other situations involving confined spaces. I’ve practiced clearing my house several times with the FS2000, something it is exceedingly well suited for. It has the capabilities of an SBR, without all the NFA paperwork. In tight places that are a problem for a full length rifle it eliminates the difficulty. I’ve also played with this a bit from the inside of my car. It’s manageable even in a mid-size sedan.

Despite it’s rather different control setup, conceptually the FS2000 runs much like the AK. To load, mag in, run the bolt (make sure you give the mag a tug to ensure it’s seated). There is no last-round bolt hold-open, so you’ll get a click instead of a bang when the mag runs dry. Mag out (just hit the mag release with the top of your index finger as you grab the mag) new mag in, run the bolt.

One of the most important things that training with (and teaching for) Suarez International has taught me is the vital importance of complete ambidexterity. It’s gotten to a point where not being able to run a weapon on either side is really a deal breaker for me. Most bullpup systems don’t work particularly well from the support side shoulder. There are ways to adapt to this, but they’re not really what you’d call optimal. The FS2000 is an exception to the general rule. With it’s forward ejection system, it works equally well from either side.

The charging handle is on the left side, so it’s very easy to run when you’re shooting from the right shoulder. Running it on the left shoulder is no problem, it’s like a mirror image of how we run the AK charging handle. The mag release is located just forward of the magwell and is completely ambidextrous. The magwell location takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do, mag changes are very natural. The bottom inch or so of the magwell is beveled into a funnel, making it very easy to guide a mag in.

Perhaps the most unusual of the controls is the safety. It’s a plate at the base of the trigger that pivots right and left. The design is rather clever, allowing you to push or pull from either side. To take the rifle off safe, you push with your right finger or pull with your left. To put the safety back on, pull with the right or push with the left. This definitely does take some getting used to.

One change I made to the rifle was to substitute a tri-rail handguard for the plastic handguard that comes with the gun. One of the big reasons I did this was to allow for a light mount. I intend to use this as a house gun (among other things) and in this role a rifle really needs a light. The railed handguard also allows for a vertical foregrip. On most conventional rifles I’m not a big fan of the VFG, because of the way it interferes with the floating support hand. On the FS2000, however, there’s really only one place your hand can go, given the short fore-end. Since the FS2000 doesn’t have a magwell in front of the handgrip, the VFG effectively replaces it in some of our weapon manipulations.

With a big pile of ammo in-hand I headed out to the range to put this rifle through its paces. I didn’t have an optic on the rifle yet, so I was working with the iron sights. It comes with a picatinny rail mounted front sight and a small flip-up rear. I shot at 100 yards and found I was a couple of inches high, so I figured it was zeroed at a closer distance. When I stepped up to 50, everything was dead on, no adjustments necessary.

The flip-up rear sight is definitely intended only as a back up. With it’s full picatinny rail this is a rifle that’s clearly intended to run an optic. While it’s performance at the GS class clearly shows this gun is capable of reaching out quite a ways, it’s mainly going to be a CQB gun for me, so I’d decided to mount a red dot on it. I had an Aimpoint Micro lying round, which I teamed up with an American Defense QD mount. This arrangement provides a cowitness with the back-up irons just below the center of the optic. I prefer this kind of optic mounted forward, so I put it just behind the front sight (Gabe, on the other hand, prefers it mounted to the rear, and on pictures of his rifle you’ll see it mounted just in front of the rear sight).

Moving up to about 5 yards, went to work on some point shooting. The front sight assembly works well for Caveman EOTech, and the picatinny rail provides a nice reference point for shooting while looking over the top of the gun. Where it really gets interesting is when you rotate the gun over about 30 degrees. The edge of the receiver is a nice straight line running parallel to the bore. It makes an excellent aiming rail, similar to aiming down the edge of the slide with a handgun. This is particularly nice since the gun tends to roll over like this when shooting one handed. It also provides a great point shooting reference when the top rail is occupied by an optic. In a way, it’s kind of like the offset optic mounts some gun gamers use on their rifles, except these are ambidextrous. The FS2000 is exceptionally well suited to point shooting.

Combine this point shooting ability, excellent balance, and ambidexterity and I think the FS2000 may be the ultimate rifle for the SI close-range rifle curriculum. It handles GOTX angles that are challenging for other rifles with ease. When getting off the X on the rearward lines (5 o’clock and 7 o’clock), it’s easy to roll the rifle over a bit and shoot at some pretty extreme angles. Taking the forward angle on the support side, the gun is so well balanced that you can fire the first few shots one handed with the stock on your primary side shoulder. As the angle gets more extreme, the excellent balance makes this one of the easiest guns to swap shoulders with. I can’t wait to take this gun to Roger Phillips Long Gun Point Shooting Progressions class. I think it may be the ultimate LGPSP gun.

Given its short overall length, the FS2000 really shines in confined spaces, like buildings and vehicles. That said, unlike an SBR this is not just a specialized CQB tool. As Gabe and I proved at the GS class, the FS2000 can do anything a full size 5.56mm rifle can do, including reaching out to extended ranges. This is an extremely versatile rifle, capable of filling a lot of different roles.

Suarez Is Abandoning His Glock?!

Chris Upchurch — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:28:03 +0000

Nah….we’re not going to do that. But the headline caused you look didn’t it? I have been getting that question for the last week. Look…Glock is not the only handgun we work with. Take a look at OST and you will see S&W MPs as well as Glocks. We are adding the SIG line as well, and if the all-or-nothing booger-eating socialist morons can’t wrap their heads around that I don’t care.

OK…why did we look at the SIG. Well, Suarez is in fact an international company, and our counter terrorist friends overseas that run SIGs asked about adding an RMR to it. And no, they are not a part of the American Navy….think Europe. Anyway, we assigned our people to it and they did it. And a nice job they did. The good guys now have a pistol they can take suppressed shots at 150 yards with….ooops…I mean meters.

We have been drilling with the SIG pistols for a while now while we did the T&E on it and quite frankly, I see no difference in speed or accuracy. The DA/SA thing is not as big a deal as the detractors would have us believe. There are shortcuts that one can learn, but maybe that is for a video short in the future.

The next time I teach a class, you may see me with a TSD Glock, a SIG P226…or perhaps even an FN. Any gun will do if you will do (a phrase I coined years ago). And an excellent pistol will help you “DO” much better.

SIG, Glock or FN? Same as Omega, Rolex, or Zenith…all good, all quality, and since this is America, the land of want and not need, you can have any of them, or all of them.

The SIG 556R

Chris Upchurch — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:53:50 +0000

The SIG 556R is the Mercedes-Benz of the Kalashnikov world. It melds the traditional AK caliber and operating system with Swiss precision design and manufacture. As rugged and reliable as any AK, with the fit and finish of the best fighting rifles in the world, the SIG 556R takes the most successful rifle design in history and brings it into the 21st century.

The two-stage adjustable trigger is among the nicest stock triggers I’ve encountered on a fighting rifle. The Swiss made side-foldings tock is simply exceptional, with a rock solid lockup. When the stock is open, it feels like it a fixed stock, yet when you depress the release button, it folds easily, with a latch to keep it folded.

Field strip the SIG and its Kalashnikov heritage is obvious. Put the bolt side by side with an AK and you’d have a hard time telling which was which at first glance. Combine this with a two-position gas valve with a second setting for harsh conditions and you have an exceptionally reliable rifle.

The polymer handguard makes for a light front end. If you need to attach a light or other accessory, the rifle comes with picatinny rail sections that can be attached at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions.

The 556R has accepted every steel AK magazine we’ve tried in it. It also accepts many polymer magazines (some Bulgarian mags may require a bit of modification). Unfortunately it does not accept the US PALM AK30 magazines, as they are too wide to fit in the magazine well.

Recommended Accessories:

Sights
Optics
Sling
Magazines

Video of the FS2000 in Action!

Chris Upchurch — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:59:44 +0000

Mobile users see video.suarezinternational.com

20 round TSD MAG15 magazines now available

Chris Upchurch — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 16:49:49 +0000

TSD MAG15 Magazines are now available in Fun Size!

The TSD MAG15 20 round magazines have the same level of durability and reliability as their bigger brothers. They’re great for keeping your fighting rifles light and handily, or for making it easier to fit your rifle into a covert rifle case.

Get yours from One Source Tactical!

Available singly, or in packs of five or ten.

Video of the SIG 516 in action!

Chris Upchurch — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 19:44:17 +0000

Mobile users see video.suarezinternational.com

Introducing the TSD SIG P226/P220

Chris Upchurch — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:55:51 +0000

TSD Combat Systems is proud to announce that we are adding classic SIG pistols to our lineup of RMR equipped handguns. SIG has a reputation around the world for quality and accuracy, attributes that will only be enhanced by the addition of a TSD red dot package. Our expert technicians will mill the slide of your SIG P226, P220 or any similar model and install our TSD Combat Systems Trijicon RMR sight package. This includes milling the slide for the Trijicon RMR of your choice and installing the necessary TSD Suppressor Sights.

Order your TSD RMR SIG from One Source Tactical

The SIG 556R out to 400 yards

Chris Upchurch — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:23:32 +0000

Mobile users see video.suarezinternational.com

The FN FS2000 At 500 Yards

Chris Upchurch — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 19:19:13 +0000

When we test a rifle we don’t go out and bumpfire it into a woodpile. Or bench rest it at an inddor air conditioned range. We take it and run it in the environments that are likely to be faced by the end-user/operator.

This last weekend we taught Guerrilla Sniper 2 in Kingman, AZ. During breaks from the 95 degree desrt heat we brought out the FS2000 and tried our hand at various distances with staff and students. For this purpose we added a Trijicon TA33-9 with the chevron reticle. That is a 308 ACOG, but since we were using the Hornady 75 grain Superformance BTHP, we wanted a scope with a BDC that would fit.

Here are some photos taken during that session.

Several students tried their hand as well and made hits at various long ranges. At 400 yards we held the “4″ hash mark at the base of the steel IPSC target and hit repeatedly. At 500 yards, we used almost the same hold, perhaps slightly higher on target, and hit repeatedly.

We did not try any shooting at 600 yards with the rifle as the 600 yard steel was barely visible in the desert dust with the 3X magnification.

While the trigger could be better of course, it didn’t seem to hinder anyone’s downrange results. Anyone looking for a super compact bullpup rifle, capable of close range CQB application as well as long range use, with total ambidextrous capability, should seriously consider the FN FS2000, we are very impressed with this rifle.