Tag Archives: 9mm

Forget Threading: The 1960s Tech That Screws Today’s Better SMG and PCC Suppressor Mounts

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Fact: Tri-Lug Barrels are the oldest, easiest, and one of the best ways to quickly mount a suppressor.

However, the attachment style is also limited in what it can do and, sadly, is overlooked.

Where did Tri-Lug or 3-Lug come from?

In Oberndorf, Germany, in the early 1960s, Helmut Baureuter, Manfred Guhring,  Tilo Moller, and Georg Seidl cooked up probably the most mature sub gun of the 20th Century– the Heckler & Koch MP5. Recycling a roller-locked action first used on legendary machine guns in WWII and carried over to the G3 7.62 NATO battle rifle, it proved durable enough to become legendary.

It also had a funky, albeit innovative, barrel accessory mounting system on the muzzle: three equal-sized (roughly 0.310-inch) raised external lugs, spaced equally about 120 degrees apart center-to-center around the outside of the barrel, and ramped towards the muzzle.

These lugs were not an afterthought, welded, screwed, or pinned in, but something machined directly from, or forged with, the same piece of steel as the barrel.

Tri-lug, as seen on a Springfield Armory Kuna (male) and SilencerCo Spectre 9 and 36M (female). (Photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Even back in 1966, when the HK MP5, developed from the HK54, was introduced with its slimline handguard and straight waffle-pattern 9mm magazines, it had a tri-lug barrel.

old HK MP5
Talk about a blast from the past…

The tri-lug barrel endured through the Cold War and into the GWOT era and is still seen on classically styled MP5s and other SMG/PCCs.

HK MP5 Afghanistan
Seen above with casual SF types in an Afghanistani aloha snackbar joint in 2003. (Photo: National Archives, magnification by Guns.com staff). 

The funny thing was that the tri-lug barrel wasn’t meant for attaching a suppressor. The lugs were originally for affixing accessories (Zubehör) such as a flash-hider (Feuerdampfer), a blank firing adapter (Manoverpatronengerat), and a sleeve for a 22mm cup-style tear gas grenade launcher (Granatfuhrung) fired with a blank round.

Thus:

HK MP5 accessories
Via an early HK MP5 manual. 

Over the years, the accessories fell away while the MP5’s use with suppressors skyrocketed, especially after N (Navy) model MP5s entered the market in 1986, which included both a threaded barrel and tri-lug.

By 1988, inventor Timothy Bixler, with AWC Suppressors (Dr. Phil Dater’s old company) and Knights Armament, took out a patent (US4893426A) for a rotating collar utilizing Tri-Lug, and the rest is history.

How to use Tri-Lug

First off, Tri-Lug is a left-on (clockwise), right-off (counter-clockwise) kind of thing. Remember, “Left gets tight, right takes flight.”

trilug attachment
Align, press down, turn to the left, release. Reverse to take off

Align the lugs, push in to depress the spring of the mount, twist about a quarter turn to the left until it passes the detents and stops, release the spring by letting go, boom. You are locked in. Reverse it to remove. Easy on, easy off, but still rock solid while in use.

Example:

Plus, with the Tri-Lug, you don’t have to worry about the suppressor backing off or loosening under rapid fire as you do with more common threaded-barrel models.

Tips:

  • You can’t attach the can to the muzzle by twisting in the wrong direction, as the geometry won’t work, so don’t freak out about that.
  • Also, new mounts and/or new barrels will likely be super tight, and the spring stout, so be sure to lube up and work them in on a safe firearm before heading to the range and trying it for the first time. Nobody gets confidence from the guy tugging on his can in the corner.

Not HK-only anymore

Besides assorted Heckler & Koch MP5/SP5 models and the myriad of clones such as the Century/MKE AP5 and SDS MAC-5, you have offerings from PSA like the AR-V and variants of the B&T APC9, GHM9, and SPC9 that sport in-spec Tri-Lug direct from the factory. Plus, you can get adapters from folks like SilencerCo that convert standard threaded muzzles to Tri-Lug.

SilencerCo’s Tri-Lug male muzzle adapter. As long as you are 1/2x28TPI, you are good to go. Other companies such as Angstadt, Griffin, and Rugged also make such adapters. 

As far as making your suppressor Tri-Lug ready, there are adapters for that as well from Banish, Dead Air, SilencerCo, and others, so that’s not a problem.

SilencerCo’s Alpha Tri-lug coupler. 

A new model to the market introduced earlier in the month is a dedicated Tri-Lug barrel version of the Kuna, a dependable roller-action that is fast becoming one of the most popular large-format 9mm pistols on the market.

The new Tri-Lug barrel Kuna, right, compared to the standard model. 
The Springfield Kuna Tri-Lug in its natural environment, with a SilencerCo Spectre 9 attached. 

MSRP for the unbraced model is set at $1,179, and the FSA-braced model’s MSRP is set at $1,330. Low-capacity 10-round options will also be available for those unfortunates living in restrictive states.

So, is Tri-Lug Perfect?

No.

As the design doesn’t support boosters (Nielsen devices), Tri-lug is tied to its original platform type: pistol caliber SMGs, PCCs, and large format pistols with fixed barrels. While primarily a 9mm offering, you also see Tri-Lug adapters for .45ACP (reverse to .578×28, 5/8×24, 9/16×24, and M16x1 LH threads), but that is about it. Plus, since the mounts are spring-based, they can wear out with extensive use, requiring new springs at some point in the distant future.

Still, for those classic MP5 styles and new offerings from folks like B&T and Springfield, the old standard can be a king when it comes to quick-detach.

Here’s to more Tri-Lug in more places.

Kuna Competition? Meet the Taurus RPC 9mm PDW

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Taurus on Tuesday announced its first entry into the dedicated PDW space, the fully ambidextrous 9mm RPC.

Billed as being built to NATO standards– keep in mind that the company competes for and wins military and police contracts all over the world– the new RPC is lightweight via alloy construction and runs from curved 32-round magazines.

And did we mention that it has a roller delayed operating system, which offers a flatter recoil impulse?

Taurus RPC 9mm PDW PCC
Note the case in the air and the muzzle still on target. (Photos: Taurus)
Taurus RPC 9mm PDW PCC
Controls are fully ambidextrous, with the bolt release/lock and magazine release easily reached from both sides, and a reversible, non-reciprocating charging handle. Note the rear vert Pic rail for braces. 
Taurus RPC 9mm PDW PCC
Using a 4.5-inch threaded barrel, the RPC features a single-stage flat-faced trigger, an AR-15 compatible soft rubber over-molded grip, and three integrated quick-detach sling attachment points in addition to fully ambi controls and a Picatinny top rail. 

A short M-LOK handguard is standard.

The RPC will be offered in two variants at launch, both with a rear vertical Picatinny rail, either with (MSRP $1098.99) or without ($939.99) a Strike Industries FSA folding brace. That puts it a couple of hundred bucks less than the roller-locked Springfield Armory Kuna and will likely come in under the cost of the Stribog SP9A3 as well.

Expect more on this interesting little guy from NRAAM this week, and know that we are eagerly trying to get one of these in for review.

The rearview on 18 months with the Rost Martin RM1C

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We weren’t sure what to expect when the Rost Martin RM1C was first announced at SHOT ’24. Was it going to be a made-in-Turkey import with someone else’s name on it? A “game-changing” G19 Gen 3 clone but without its muse’s reliability? A vaporware gun that ever left the drawing board?

No, after 18 months and 1,500 rounds, we found it to be a solid American-made (from the land of Whataburger and Buc-ee’s, no less) double-stack 9 with lots of backend support and a lineage drawn from a proven design. Affordable, we found it dependable, accurate, and intuitive in use.

Plus, it is optics-ready.

That big ole Trijicon RCR actually costs about twice what the gun does, but both work.

About the only rocks we could toss its way were in the safety tab in the trigger shoe, which we have talked about and is easily overcome with a bit of training, and the very stout recoil spring, which is common in a lot of striker-fired pistols of its size.

Full review in my column over at Guns.com.

Royal Regulator: The “Inglis” L9A1 clone

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Tennessee-based SDS Arms, whose umbrella of brands includes Military Armament Corporation (MAC), Tisas, Tokarev, and Spandau, is bringing back the Inglis name to the American market.

At SHOT Show ’24, the company announced the L9A1 clone to include a black Chromate finish and plastic grips as well as three more commercial models: a black Inglis P-35B with walnut grips, the satin nickel Inglis P-35N with black G10 grips, and a color-case hardened Inglis GP-35.

We caught up with Jahred Gamez at the time to check out these new guns, which were “coming soon.”

Now, the Inglis guns are shipping, and we made sure to get a production model to review.

The L9A1 feels like a well-built BHP from the 1980s and mimics what would be marketed at around that time by Browning/FN as the Mk. II series gun. It is close to the T-series guns used by the British Army from 1964 to 2013 but with the benefits of more understated markings and an ambidextrous manual safety lever.

I say toss some beans on toast, grow your mustache out over your top lip, and cue up “God Save the Queen.” The only true Dr. Who was Tom Baker, and I’m not apologizing for it.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

KRISS Kymera: The Promise of a Fully Modular Handgun

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Virginia-based Kriss USA has a new pistol on deck for 2025 that promises to be one of the most modular on the market.

The company is best known for its line of innovative Vector series of delayed blowback firearms. Still, it has also produced an oft-forgotten series of high-quality Swiss-made Sphinx handguns that use a CZ-75-ish reversed-rail interface.

The Sphinx:

The new Kymera, which borrows its name from the mythical hybrid creature with parts taken from various animals, looks Sphinx-like … until you get a closer look.

The Kymera, like the Sphinx, is a double action/single action hammer-fired pistol with a low bore axis that is a hallmark of the CZ-75 style reversed-rail system. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Catching up with KRISS at SHOT Show last week, the secret sauce of the Kymera is its modular grip, offering replaceable modules with different angles and sizes, all compatible with the original double-stack CZ-75 pattern magazines. For instance, the Kymera will be able to have a 21-degree (Glock style), 19.5-degree (SIG/1911), or an 18-degree grip angle (CZ/S&W). This design allows users to choose the configuration that best aligns with their natural point of aim.

A potential Kymera compact model using a 3.75-inch barrel, 18-degree angle with a short beavertail, 15+1 shot magazine capacity, and four-slot rail.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Budget Beretta Doppleganger, with a Twist

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I’ve been kicking around the Girsan Regard MC X by EAA for a couple of months. This Turkish-made Beretta 92F clone is familiar, dependable, and just flat-out looks good. With a long track record behind it in the same general platform and the addition of upgraded styling and a threaded barrel, it is a win, especially for the price of $519, suggested– typically lower at retailers.

Girsan has been making 92 clones for the Turkish military for over 20 years and the Regard MC X, imported by EAA, is a feature-packed model at an affordable price point.

Full review in my column over at Guns.com.

Don’t Worry About the Gluger, the Gluger Can’t Hurt You (But the Gluger is Real)

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The new Ruger RMX. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Ruger and Magpul have teamed up to produce a new 9mm handgun complete with a modular stainless-steel chassis system, which could be a universal adapter.

Dubbed the RXM, the new pistol is striker-fired and familiar, having the same general dimensions as many popular carry guns of the past few decades.

Compared to popular carry guns such as the Glock 19, S&W M&P9 Compact M2.0, and CZ P09 Nocturne, the Ruger RXM seems very familiar.

Diving deeper, it has a serialized Fire Control Insert that is independent of its grip frame, which gives it the flexibility to be easily swapped into different grips – which are developed and produced by Magpul. Optics-ready with a Tritium front sight, it runs popular 15-round G19-pattern mags.

Can you say, “chassis system?”

American-made, the RXM has an MSRP of $499. For that, you get a G19 Gen 3 feeling pistol, made in the U.S. (not in Brazil or Turkey), with probably the most popular double-stack 9mm magazine pattern, complete with steel night sights and an optics cut. Plus, the removable chassis system, backed up with grip modules from Magpul, gives it some serious modularity.

Ruger has long had problems bringing a 9mm pistol to market that people really, really liked. RXM could see that change.

I’ve been shooting one for the past few months, and the full review is after the jump.

The Gun Glock Should Have Made

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For the neat 30-year span between 1988, when the Glock 19 was introduced, and 2018 when the SIG P365 appeared, the 7.36-inch long, 4-inch barreled, 15+1 shot, 24-ounce unloaded G19 was the magic box of dimensions that every pistol maker chased.

Today, we have the new Springfield Armory Echelon 4.0C, which is 7.25 inches long with a 4-inch barrel, uses 15+1/18+1 magazines, and is 24 ounces, unloaded.

Unlike Glock, the Echelon has a chassis system that can be swapped around multiple grip modules of varying size and color and has a far better and more adaptable optics mounting system than Glock’s MOS plates.

Plus, it’s reliable, has ambi controls, a decent trigger, and much better sights.

The Echelon 4.0C could offer a good multi-purpose pistol for either home defense, especially with a good weapon-mounted light, or carry.

Full review in my column over at Guns.com.

The Spanish 9mm Connection in Pulp Fiction

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One of the uncredited gun cameos that got the most screentime in writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 neo-noir classic is a humble M1911-look-alike 9mm pistol made by Star of Spain.

“Pulp Fiction’s” hitman-turned-newfound-Buddist Jules Winnfield, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, begins the film in a classic black suit and ends it in a borrowed T-shirt and shorts while holding on to his customized BMF wallet, Jhericurls, and nickel-plated 9mm Star Model B throughout the film.

The what?

More in my column at Guns.com.

Kicking around the R7CC

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Kimber, best known to many for its assorted 1911 series pistols, introduced the original R7 Mako in August 2021. A striker-fired 11/13+1 shot micro 9 carry pistol with a polymer frame, it was pitched as an alternative to such handguns as the Taurus GX4, Ruger MAX, SIG P365, S&W Shield Plus, and Springfield Armory Hellcat.

Loaded with a lot of features that some of those competitors lacked, the Mako was optics-ready and had Kimber’s Performance Carry trigger, fully ambidextrous controls, a full wrap-around stippled texturing, and TruGlo Tritium Pro night sights.

I put well over 500 rounds through the original Mako, and it proved so accurate, comfortable, and dependable that I carried it for several months as an EDC.

I logged several hundred hours in the original Kimber R7 in 2021 in a ​​​​​DeSantis Slim-Tuk (#137) Kydex IWB holster that is cut on the top to allow the use of the MRD. Carrying in about a 3-o’clock position, my personal preference, the combo was comfortable and readily accessible, able to get off a just under 2-second par time to first shot on target from concealment. I’m sure I could work that lower with steady practice, even being an old wheezy guy.

Last month, Kimber introduced a more muscular version of the Mako, the new Carbon Compact line. Standard features of the new pistols are a pair of 15-shot magazines, an installed flared magwell, fully ambi surface controls, and three-dot TruGlo Tritium Pro night sights with an orange front ring and white rear rings.

The old Kimber R7 Mako, with its short slide and grip, was snappy but accurate and dependable, leading it to become something of an under-loved micro-9 option. The ergonomics of the new R7 Carbon Compact make it probably the best-feeling grip on a polymer-framed handgun on the market. Kimber knocked it out of the park, especially compared to the inaugural Mako variants.

Plus, while some polymer-framed handguns feel spongy – as if you could squeeze it flat if you tried hard enough – the carbon fiber-infused frame on the Carbon Compact feels rock-solid. This leads to the pistol being easy to control and get back on target.

More in my column at Guns.com.

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