Maple Leaf 5x Slide for Glock

 

The guys at Maple Leaf Firearms sent me this 5x Glock 19 Slide for T&E and after having about 1500 rounds through the slide, it's time for a post comparing it to an OEM G19 Gen 5 slide.

Both slides have rear grooves but the 5x has more and they are aggressive in their design.  This is a very noticeable feature when you are using the rear to rack the gun, pinch, or slingshot methods.

Macro shot, you can see the direction of the cuts, very much purposefully designed.

As you can see the aggressive slide serrations is also in the front area of the 5x.  This is a great idea and allows you to use the front end of the slide to rack it without issue, even with gloves, and if your hands are wet or have dirt on them.  Very grippy.

Another photo.

The top of the front slide section has the same serrations as the sides, it's a continuation so there is not any dead round space.  I have racked this section off my shoes, tables, belt, and holster repeatedly and it works well without having to resort to hitting the optic on the surface to rack it.  

Comparison of the two.

The barrel seating area is slightly round with purposeful cuts in places.

Speaking of more aggressive and purposeful cuts, the front end of the 5x has flat diagonal cuts.

For sights, I installed the Ameriglo CAP front and rear.  This setup works as a low/unobstructed sight system for the Steiner MPS setup.  It does not co-witness well, but it is not supposed to, these CAP sights are designed for standard iron sight setups not as a support for an RDS.  I like the green squad setup of these because I can punch out and it will catch my eye if I miss the dot.

The 5x has a purposeful cut for the MPS, and Aimpoint ACRO P1/P2 does not fit.

Here you can see an ACRO P1 does not fit.  The ACRO footprint is just a hair longer than the MPS, and precision matters so this 5x slide allows only for the MPS.  Do not worry, you can get a 5x slide cut specifically to your requirements.  If you have an ACRO P1 or P2 you can order one that is specifically designed for that optic.  They offer cuts for any Trijicon and Holosun as well.

Photo of the MPS mounted.  Very snug, very awesome.

The side profile with the MPS.

So who does the 5x slide appeal to?  That's pretty easy.  If you have a Gen 3 or a Gen 5, 19, or 17, and you want a purpose-built slide for your application.  This particular slide, directly from Maple Leaf will run you around $550 with all internals other than the barrel and the recoil spring.  So you can just directly swap it to your current gun and keep your old slide, in a box, while reusing your original barrel and recoil spring.  If you do not want new internals it'll be around $490.  You can get pretty wild with the setup too, but the price will go up as well.

I like the 5x because it allows you to choose the features you want, in a built-for-you set up within the parameters offered.  That is pretty legit.  Especially if you ever want to sell the slide, or the pistol itself, down the line you do not have to married to an OEM slide that milled. 

Also just want to point out that Maple Leaf did an awesome just with the presentation and the design.

As you may know, I despise unboxing photos for firearms, but this one really stood out as an element of care that I wanted to share.  This is a legit boxing setup that allows you to retain your OEM Glock slide and the box itself, for future use.  Very thoughtful setup here.

You get a thank you card.

A little parts tin for future use.

As you can see a lot of thought went into this design.  You do not just get a slide, you get a full-package product.

Yes, they test every slide to make sure it works, hence the test casing.

The detail on the finishing is amazing.  I am probably going to get another one for my various other Glock setups.  Direct mount optic slides should be your "go-to" for any RDS EDC CCW setup.  There is simply no reason to get a MOS / Plate setup when these are available.  

If you end up getting one, just add that you read this article, if you did.  If you do not no worries, I an not affiliated with Maple Leaf and do not profit from any sales of these slides (or any other products they sell).  I have a good amount of experience with their work, however, and they modified several of my slides, so I would recommend them without hesitation.  

Tourniquet Carry and Application: Case Analysis

 

Check out the video on the @vdevelopmentgroup IG page, below.  Original (full length video) posted on @officer__involved IG page.

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What is the issue here? The officer did not know how to apply a tourniquet, the tourniquet he did apply was ineffectively applied, and he was carrying a tourniquet still in its plastic wrapping.  Lots of serious issues to unpack here.

First and foremost, if you do not know how to apply a tourniquet, your agency failed at training you, your supervisor failed at training you, and you failed at training for reality.  The tourniquet can also fail at being required to be applied a certain way in order to work properly.  You may believe this is not the case, but it clearly is here.  The majority of windlass tourniquets are completely unforgiving when it comes to an application under stress.  You either apply them properly or they do not work, there is no middle ground.  This is one of the (many) reasons why I default to the Ratcheting Medical Tourniquet (RMT) (links to vdev.group).  I have written a bunch of different articles and posts about the RMT, and at this point, if you are not carrying one in any capacity (off/on duty, EDC, vehicle, etc) you are setting yourself up for failure.  You should be carrying one, you should be training with one, you should be training other people with one, your kids, your family members, everyone.  There are absolutely zero excuses at this point.

If the tourniquet you are issued, or you buy, is still in the plastic, and you are going to carry that tourniquet in any type of first-line kit (meaning deployable from a belt or vest to immediately affect a situation, like a blade, gun, etc) you should always make sure it is removed from its wrapping.  The tourniquet should be able to be durable enough to survive life without plastic wrapping in real-world applications for at least two years.  The RMT does this for at least five, but you'll likely replace it within four and use it as a dedicated training tourniquet, or move it down the line into your bag for second or third-line use.

You must train with the tourniquet you carry every day.  That means deploying it and applying it yourself, and others (in a demo situation, with their consent of course), so that you can show that it is very easy to do and you can burn the good reps training appropriately.  If you do not do this, you will react as this undertrained officer did while in a stressful situation, in condition black.  Meaning you will not do what you want to do because you never trained to do it properly.

Train to win, not train to fail.

Air Fresheners

 

So V Development Group decided to do something fun, they have three different air fresheners they just dropped.  St. Michael in the coffee smell for those midnight shift cops, a V Logo that has that new car smell, and a Choco Taco that has a chocolate smell because we will not be trodden on!

Details of the Maple Leaf 5X Slide

Some more detailed shots of the Maple Leaf LLC 5X Gen5 G19 Slide they sent me that was specifically cut for the Steiner MPS.

 

Maple Leaf LLC 5X Slides

 

Maple Leaf LLC 5x slides for Glocks.  These are legit.

Steiner DRS1x - Initial Impressions

The Steiner DRS1x, has a window size is .96 x 1.26 in. (height x width), and its the answer to those who want a better version of an Eotech-styled optic, but want robust, lightweight, and overall real-world adaptable RDS (red dot sight) with build in person-ranging reticle.

In the box, you get the DRS1x, two batteries, and a manual.  The batteries I got were DOA, but thankfully this takes AA batteries, which is one of the main reasons I purchased this optic for T&E.

It came with Energizer, I use Duracell.  The DRS1x has the ability to work with only 1 AA battery which is pretty cool, and again one of the selling points for me.  The battery caps are retained with a rubber attachment, and they have a rubber gasket which means they have a water rating.

You do not need a specialized tool to screw or unscrew, the battery caps, you can hand tighten them and it works fine this way.

The DRS1x has a built-in Picatinny mount with a screw system that you can hand tighten as well, but I give it an extra 1/4 turn to torque it in place. 

As you can see it mounts over three rail slots, batteries towards the muzzle.

Zero knobs can be moved via 223/556 rounds, or Philips/flathead screw drivers.  You will need to mark them once you zero the gun though, no way to secure them unless you want to tape them in place.  I like that they are essentially flush with the body of the DRS1x and that makes for better zero retention. 

2 MOA dot is very crisp, it has 4 daylight visible settings and 3 NVG settings, I have not had a chance to test the NVG settings on the range, but I will snap some photos in the future.  The daylight visibility of the 2 MOA dot is very crisp, at max brightness, it becomes a star (pictured above) but does not affect functionality.  If you are using it indoors CQB max brightness will be too bright.  I prefer smaller MOA dots for every RDS I use, 2 MOA is very crisp and provides an easy way to zero for max point blank range.

The DRS1x has three reticle options that you can cycle through using the power button in order.  The second dot setting is the center dot with the two hash lines on the left and right of the dot.  As you can see from the above graphic, you can use it to range find an average male of combat age at various distances.

The third reticle adds a 13.6 MOA dot to the bottom, below the 2 MOA dot, and the distance between the 2 MOA dot and the 13.6 MOA dot is 27.6 MOA, which is about 28.7" @ 100 y, and is 14.3" @ 50 y, you can figure out what that measurement is good for.

Overall I mean impressed with the features and the overall size versus the weight of the DRS1x.  I compared it against my Aimpoint T1 and you can literally put the T1 inside the window of the DRS1x so that answers that question for me.  

In my opinion, this is part of the "new age" of RDS optics that are picking up where Eotech messed up, except without all the issues.  There are a lot of pros for setups like this, which is why a lot of bigger name companies are moving towards this type of topic setup.  What sold me on the DRS1x is that it takes AA batteries and can work on one battery only, it has an auto shut-off (just like the MPS, which is a feature I like), it has a 2 MOA dot where others have 4 or 6 MOA dots, it's pretty light versus its size, built-in mounting bring the optic higher in the eye line, or can be used with a minimal riser because it only takes up 3 rails, and the ranging function which most probably will not use, but cool to have.