Some months ago I promised a review of EOTac Vickers Duty Gloves. I ordered a pair and had the misfortune to find out that my hands are mutant. They are too big for the the standard Large size and too small for the Extra Large.  So I felt I could not do a review on the gloves since whatever failure might not be the product but my “They Came From Outer Space” appendages.

Back in January when the temperatures in South Florida came very close to freezing (Yes they did),  I bought a pair of Hatch BGs170 ShureShot gloves. I was deluded into thinking that they would be enough to protect my hands from the cold but that was the case only if the temps remained above 50 which many nights did not. I finally took them to the range yesterday and used them to shoot my AKlon who loves to beat, scratch and burn my hands every chance it has. I know understand why people use gloves to shoot an EBR: First time I did not burn my hands or destroy my index finger trying to rack the bolt or scrape the silly while operating the safety. The ShureShot gloves held pretty good even when I had a senior moment and grabbed the rifle by the barrel immediately after emptying a 30 round magazine. I did not feel that I had lost any great amount of either dexterity or sensitivity, the leather is supple (I never used this word before but it looks good)  and the glove fit my mutant hands quite well after a some three days of 8-hour usage. The one issue I had one with the gloves was the excess material left inside the gloves past the stitching. It kept bothering me like crazy till I carefully removed the offending leather with a very sharp blade and being careful enough not to but too close to the stitch. After surgery was done, the gloves were perfectly comfortable. They also passed the heat test: even though I was wearing them under the South Florida sun under Turkish Bath conditions, my hands felt fine without any trace of heat or sweat. The hook and loop closure (Velcro for those in Hialeah) is generously wide and secure plus makes adjustment easy. They have survived pretty good my absolute lack of care and I have the feeling they will hold regular abuse at the range. The one thing I did not test  was shooting a handgun with them and that is because I realized that it requires a bit more manipulation. I rather do some dry fire and reload practices than just go and try them with a loaded handgun in a range full of people.

So, they are a good investment and you can find them out there for under $30. For the casual user, you can’t go wrong and that’s my humble opinion.

Disclaimer: I am not some Tactical Guru or widely recognized trainer or some former something or another in the military. I am just a fat old shooter with a limited budget and who likes to examine things.  That is all, carry on

Memorial day was not a long day of shooting, but it was Miami hot and humid so I had to cut it short after 6 hours in the range. We had our club’s version of 3Gun that we don’t call 3Gun but Multi-Gun (I’ll explain someday) which allowed me to test Slipstream© Weapon Lubricant.The day before I gave my three guns a decent enough cleaning and applied Slipstream to wherever metal to metal contact occurred. Even though the instructions say to use sparingly, I admit I might have gone overboard with the pistol, an FNP-9. The best compliment came from my petite wife who had none of the usual trouble racking the slide and she was amazed that she could. She even did it sling-shot rack and “without having to use my nails.” (Her words) so that right there is a darn good review. The shotgun is a Mossberg 835 with perhaps some 200 rounds of assorted shells through it which was lubricated in the trigger group and the pump action. Immediately I could feel the difference and how easy it slide back and forth. Lastly was my WASR-10 AKlon again in all places where metal rubbed against metal.

At the range the guns felt differently and good. It was a bit disconcerting at first because they were unusually smooth in their operation but after a couple or 5 shots, I was just enjoying shooting them. One of the drawbacks was that while I was shooting the FNP, instead of paying all attention to the targets I was sharing it with my analysis (amazement) of Slipstream’s performance and my accuracy went down with the Bismark.  Racking the shotgun was a pleasure; it was like it wasn’t there at all and I was air-pumping which helped a great deal in reacquiring targets fast. The whole Mossy felt smooth and light even though I know weight was not affected. The WASR-10 was another surprise. Any owner knows that your average AKlon squeaks, rattles and creaks like a haunted house during a hurricane, but my WASR’s noise level (other than the muzzle blast) was lower. And it did run much more smoother, even the extremely annoying AK safety was a tad more responding than before.

So my initial impression of Slipstream is very favorable. It feels like cream sliding on top of butter… I guess the expression I am looking for is slick smoothness. Next is the testing of its long range capabilities of the lubricant and that means abuse: The pistol will not be cleaned for the next thousand rounds, the rifle the same but since I shoot it less, we’ll see how it performs from dirty inactivity to sudden fun and the same will apply for the shotgun. Let’s see what happens.

One more thing, the Crusader Weaponry T-Shirt looks very cool and it is well done so it is a good value. It held its own in the 90+ degree with Lord Knows how much humidity of a range next door to the Everglades.  By the looks of some at the range, it gets a 95 in the “cool” factor. I didn’t take a pic ’cause I would be a horrible model and that would be highly unfair to the Crusader Gang.

Disclaimer: I am not some Tactical Guru or widely recognized trainer or some former something or another in the military. I am just a fat old shooter with a limited budget and who likes to examine things.  That is all, carry on. 😉