Hands On with New Products

This article originally appeared in CONCEALMENT Issue 13

Gallow Technologies Firearm Storage and Display System

WHAT IS IT?

Gallow Technologies makes a highly configurable and infinitely expandable system for storage and display of firearm collections, from a gun or two all the way up to an armory. The system is based around steel wall panels that hold a wide range of hangers offered by the company.

WHAT GOT OUR ATTENTION:

After giving up on gun safes, we decided to turn a closet into a ghetto gun vault. We looked for the most efficient way to store a bunch of guns in the smallest space possible, and Gallow Tech’s system seemed to fit the bill. The powder-coated steel wall panels are durable, hold a ton of weight, and appeared easy to install. Gallow Tech offers hangers for just about every imaginable firearm and accessory, well more than competing systems. The company offers its wares in either kits or á la carte for larger installations, and they offer advice and free design work to maximize storage space, esthetics, or both, based on your collection.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The backbone of the system is the steel wall panels. Installing them takes less time than it took to write this article. Measure the space, find the studs, screw the support bars to the wall studs, hang the panel on the support bar. Additional vertical panels hang on the panel above it, and each panel is screwed to the wall at its base. The accessory hangers fit into the panel on a grid of cutouts, slipping down about a ¼-inch to lock in place. The grid includes holes for screws that lock the hangers in place. We found the hangers fit well and didn’t slide around without the use of screws, but screwing in the hangers completely eliminates the possibility of one lifting up and dropping on a gun; once we finalized our layout, we used them.

HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?

We hung the system pictured in about 30 minutes using deck screws, a tape measure, a level, a drill, and a footstool. And it only took one person to do it. The array of panel sizes allowed us to make a setup that turned a corner and wasted no space. As far as capacity, the six long guns stored vertically probably weigh close to 90 pounds, alone, and their weight didn’t have any effect on the panel. While this is more of a combination display/storage configuration, configuring the system for pure density is just a matter of choosing the right mix of hangers for your collection. Check out the distance between the rifles — the scope turrets and bolt handles are butt to nut.

WHAT WE LIKE:

Infinitely configurable and easily reconfigurable by sliding hangers in place without tools. Gallow Tech offers the widest range of hangers to store guns and accessories in multiple configurations. People will complain about the cost, but on its own and putting physical security aside, it’s cheaper than a gun safe and uses space far more efficiently. Lifetime warranty and made in the USA.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:

Our OCD makes it impossible to stop reconfiguring the hangers.

Gallow Technologies Firearm Storage and Display System
URL: www.gallowtech.com
MSRP: Varies by configuration. $1,047 as shown

Arc’teryx LEAF Courier Bag 15

WHAT IS IT?

A tough-as-nails messenger-style satchel that’s made to discreetly carry a PDW-based loadout or a combination of workday and defense essentials.

WHAT GOT OUR ATTENTION:

It’s a bag made to fight from. From the outside, the bag looks like a techy messenger bag, but the interior is set up to support a subgun-sized firearm in a padded, main compartment that prevents any hint of printing. A large hook-and-loop field on the outside of the stiff divider panel offers a place to stick everything from a Velcro-backed holster to mag holders and med pouches. The material isn’t your run-of-the-mill Jansport nylon; it’s lightweight, high-tenacity 630 denier fabric with a DWR finish and enough stiffness to hold its shape and prevent PDW flash hiders from tearing through.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Side access zippers open to the Velcro’ed-on divider from either side. This allows fast access to draw a pistol or mags. All the capacity in the world is useless if the bag flops around when you need to use it. To support and steady the load, Arc’teryx includes a removable 3rd point strap linking the padded shoulder strap to the off-side of the bag. While this makes the bag more comfortable when it’s carrying a laptop and your plans for killing everyone in the room, it also indexes the bag and facilitates speedy access. It has a bar-tacked haul handle for yanking the fully weighted bag out of a back seat without tearing it off.

HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?

As far as protection and security, the main divider is a taco-style setup that’s attached entirely to the rear of the bag, but the front is hung only from the top, suspending the contents above the bottom interior of the bag. The divider provides protection and prevents something like the 30-round mag of an MPX from poking and printing. Keep rain and curious eyes from the contents with the full perimeter zipper, or skip the zipper and use the two QR buckles to keep the flap closed. Even without the zipper or buckles, the flap provides plenty of coverage for the interior. The shoulder strap is adjustable for hip or back positioning, and it’s reversible for right or left carry. The combination of multiple access points, configurable interior, adjustable carriage straps, and durable materials make this bag a peerless way to carry heavy, sensitive, and awkwardly shaped items without hinting at the bag’s contents.

WHAT WE LIKE:

Totally discreet carry; no PALs webbing to call you out. Quickly configurable for everything from campus commuting to personal security details. Bomber water-resistant construction.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:

Closing the front flap QR buckles is slow and takes two hands; we’ve seen people modding these bags with magnetic buckles in place of the flap QR buckles for easier access. Color choice is limited to black.

Arc’teryx LEAF Courier Bag 15
URL: leaf.arcteryx.com
Color: Black
Capacity: 15 Liters/915 Cubic Inches
Weight: 2 pounds 2.2 ounces
MSRP: $279

Aimpoint ACRO P-1 Red Dot Sight

WHAT IS IT?

Rather than follow the MRDS flock, the Aimpoint adapted, miniaturized, and improved upon its Micro line of red dot sights, birthing the first purpose-built, fully enclosed MRDS for pistols — the ACRO P-1, short for Aimpoint Compact Reflex Optic.

WHAT GOT OUR ATTENTION:

The ACRO’s emitter enclosure is about half the height of competing open-topped RDS sights, so the ACRO P-1’s dot is already closer to the bore than competing sights. Combine this lowered emitter platform with Aimpoint’s new, integrated mounting system and a slide melt installation, and the tops of regular height pistol sights are visible through the P-1 window. That’s low. And that translates into speed when standard sights can be used to find the dot and line up a sight picture. It’s about the same weight as competing MRDS sights. Keeping slide-borne weight down reduces its impact on the host weapon’s reliability.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

ACRO slide mount cuts require less depth than the screws needed to secure a screw-mounted MRDS. An enterprising machinist can cut into the slide, stopping just short of the striker channel for the deepest MRDS slide melt installation possible. ATEi does just that on Victory First’s Glock slides, getting the optic about an 1⁄8 inch lower than a screwed-down optic.
Using technology inherited from Aimpoint’s Micro T-2, the projection lens shape is the special sauce that makes a crisp, circular 3.5 MOA dot with minimal bloom, even when viewed through a magnifier.

HOW WELL DOES IT WORK?

We’ve got five ACRO range sessions split between a Victory First Glock 19 slide, an optic-ready Beretta APX, and a SIG SAUER MPX (using a Reptilia carbine mount). It’s accurate and fast. And, that dot. Mmmm. Even viewed through a 3x magnifier, it’s as perfectly round and as buttery smooth as a 20-year-old’s freshly installed silicone implant.

It’s too early to comment on the sight’s reliability and durability, but Aimpoint’s Technical Support Manager, John Enloe, tells us the company has one ACRO in an ongoing test that’s surpassed 20k rounds split between several platforms, most of it using an Austrian pistol firing a particularly nasty round from Springfield, Massachusetts. Aimpoint used 40 S&W figuring if it could handle its notorious snappiness and the high g-forces it imparts on the slide-mounted optic, it’d run forever on a 9mm or .45.

WHAT WE LIKE:

P-1 detractors say the same thing; “it’s so big!” But, based on aggregate dimensions, the P-1 is the same size as other MRDS alternatives, if smaller in some dimensions, as shown above next to a Leupold DeltaPoint Pro. Looking through the optic, there’s definitely a tunnel effect that conventional wisdom says is bad. But on a pistol, we find the tunnel makes it easier to align the tube on the target, providing faster dot acquisition.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE:

The P-1’s CR1225 battery isn’t a supermarket staple like the CR2032’s become. We were also unimpressed with the mushy detents of the zeroing screws.

Aimpoint ACRO P-1 Red Dot Sight
URL: www.aimpoint.com
Reticle: 3.5 MOA dot
Battery: 1x CR1225
Runtime: 1.5 years on level 6 of 10
Weight: 2.03 ounces
MSRP: $660

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