Shadow Systems CHPWS Holosun HE509T Adapter Plate

What’s going on guys? It’s Hai.

This is my Shadow Systems MR920 War Poet 2.0 Edition and mounted on top is the Holosun HE509T-RD X2. If you’re unfamiliar with these two products, with Shadow Systems, a major selling point is their optic cut that allows users to mount optics with a wide variety of footprints. This is done by cutting an overly large space into the slide, then using spacers to fill the gap depending on the optic footprint. The system isn’t perfect but does offer the least amount of compromises in my opinion. However, with the 590T, this is a closed emitter red dot that doesn’t allow you to screw it in place from the top down like many open emitter red dots. Instead, you would typically install the provided plate that has an RMR footprint on the bottom onto your slide that’s cut with an RMR footprint. This plate has the proprietary 509T lugs on the top, so this plate essentially allows you to convert the RMR footprint to the 509T footprint. Finally, you tighten a bolt from the side of the 509T and it clamps onto the top lugs of the adapter plate.

In terms of mounting a red dot onto a handgun, although simple, that’s kind of a convoluted process. Especially so if you’re slide is cut for another footprint. This means that you’ll have to get another adapter plate to convert whatever you have to the RMR footprint, then the RMR footprint to the 509T footprint. So, what you get is stacking multiple plates on top of each other which is not exactly ideal. Not only would the mounting system be structurally weaker, but the optic would sit very high. It’s already difficult to co-witness now with my suppressor height sights, I can’t imagine stacking even more plates. The best way to mount the 509T is probably to get a slide direct milled for the 509T but obviously, that comes with its own cons. I wasn’t sure how committed I was to this optic so I wasn’t going to do that. Especially considering that I run the 509T on the Shadow Systems so that wouldn’t have been possible anyway.

For a long time, that mounting process was just what you had to do. Until recently, when C&H Precision released an adapter plate that allows you to go directly from the Shadow Systems footprint to the 509T footprint. This means no RMR adapter plate and no spacers are needed. The benefit of this would mean a stronger connection between the slide and the optic.

Unfortunately, I can’t show you the install process for this plate as that would go against YouTube’s terms and service because it can be misconstrued as modifying a firearm but if you’ve ever mounted a red dot it’s essentially that. The plate is held in place by two T10 screws and that’s about it. But if you want to have a little more peace of mind, you can use a torque driver and torque the screws down to 10 in-lbs as suggested by CHPWS. I have a torque screwdriver from Olsa Tools that I keep around for torquing red dot and scope rings and it does the job. I find using this screwdriver is easier than something like the Wheeler Fat Wrench because, with this, you can precisely set the torque value whereas the Fat Wrench has a bar that raises up and down with no exact indicator as to what value it’s set to. This Olsa Tools toque screwdriver is a nice item to have if you install a lot of optics.

Now that my 509T is reinstalled with the new CHPWS plate, I have to say that I’m pretty happy with how things turned out. The fit and finish are fantastic and as someone who’s had a lot of time with this combo and has looked at it a lot, I would say that aesthetically, the gun looks a lot better. The new plate just makes things look like they belong together.

In terms of this specific combo, the Shadow System optic cut and the 509T mounting system, I do want to note that this isn’t exactly supported. In the past, Shadow System has put out statements saying that the 509T doesn’t mount properly on their optic cut and that’s largely because of the screws. The Shadow Systems slide mounting holes thread pitch is a specific diameter, one that does not match the thread pitch of the screws that come with the 509T. So what you end up having to do is use the screws that come with the Shadow System optic cover plate and hope that that works. This definitely is a hit or miss as some fit and some don’t. My Shadow Systems screws didn’t fit the 509T adapter plate properly and were a bit oversized. I had to bore the holes of the plate out just a bit for the screws to fit. This is not the case with the new CHPWS setup because they provided exact fitting screws. With the old setup and because the screws were oversized, you can see them sticking out from the sides. That’s not the case anymore. Everything is slick and streamlined.

I also want to point out that with the old setup, the spacer was in the rear and CHPWS has moved it to the front with their plate. From my research, this is more of a durability thing. People will argue that with the forces that the slide and optic endure during recoil, having the spacer up front with be able to endure that energy better than having it in the back. I don’t know. It’s worked for me in the back but I would say that it looks better in the front. There’s less of a gap between the optic and the rear sights so I’m happy with that.

To conclude things, if you’re a Shadow Systems user with the newer universal mounting footprint and you want to use the Holosun 509T, this CHPWS plate is the absolute way to go. Spend the money and do it right. Forget about the included plate, just go with this.

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Wall Control Metal Pegboard Firearm Wall Mount Panels

What’s going on guys? It’s Hai.

I recently made a video showing the Wall Control panels that I installed in my garage and gym. In short, Wall Control is a metal pegboard option that includes holes for the typical pegboard hooks and also slots to be used with the proprietary Wall Control accessories.

Aside from being used as a way to hang up tools, I have seen Wall Control being shown a lot as a way to display firearms and that’s what I’ve decided to do with the last two panels that I had.

So, here they are. What you’re looking at is two Wall Control 32” x 16” panels, making essentially a 32” x 32” square. Installation of the panels is fairly straightforward, just drill and screw them into the wall.

For size reference, I have up top a CZ Scorpion Evo 3 S1 with an HB Industries 5.3″ Micro K Barrel swap. In the middle is a Century Arms AP5 so essentially a standard length MP5. At the bottom is an AR-15, the Radian Model 1 chambered in 300 Blackout and a 9” barrel. Finally, I have a couple of suppressors hung up, the CGS Mod9 and Dead Air Wolfman.

To hang the firearms up, I’m using the Wall Control 3” U-Shape Slotted hooks. I find that these fit all my firearms from the PCCs to ARs pretty much perfectly. They are just the right size to hold the firearms up straight without them leaning from side to side. I also have the Wall Control 4” U-Shape Slotted hooks but do find these are a bit too big for my firearms. However, if you have a particularly wide stock or forend, you may want to look into the 4” hooks or another option.

One thing that I do recommend is to pick up some rubber hook liners. They help to keep things from sliding around but more importantly to help prevent damage from metal-on-metal contact. Wall Control offers some under the Wall Control branding but it’s about $10 for 3’. That is pretty expensive considering that I paid about $12 for 10’. You may not need that much material and you can buy the liners in shorter lengths, but I’m just saying that there are other options. From the pictures, I can almost assure you that it’s basically the same thing. I’m pretty sure Wall Control just bought the liners in bulk and is reselling them under their own name. I mean at the end of the day, it’s just rubber edge trim, not some special proprietary product.

To hang up my suppressors, I found some pegboard double hooks. They’re rubber coated so should offer protection without needing anything else.

And there you have it, Wall Control panels for use with firearms. I’m pretty happy with the way that these panels turned out but I do want to point out a few things. First, you may have noticed that my setup is a sea of black on black so everything kind of blends in. I kind of knew this going into it. These black panels are spares so I already had them laying around. I didn’t buy them specifically for this project. If I did, I might buy them in a different color and Wall Control does offer them in a wide variety of colors. There are even some companies selling custom-painted panels so look out for that if you don’t want the black-on-black look like I have here. Something else to think about is a lock system if that’s something you care about. You can get some metal tabs that will allow you to lock the trigger guard or whatever else to the Wall Control panels. These aren’t exactly foolproof but do help to slow would-be thieves down a bit.

Overall, I can definitely give this type of setup a recommendation if you’re looking for a way to hang your firearms up on the walls. The panels look pretty clean once you get everything up and I would say I’m happy with everything.

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Ranger Point Precision Henry Henry 22 Rimfire M-LOK Aluminum Handguard

I just finished installing a Ranger Point Precision handguard on my Henry lever action gun and wanted to share my experiences with you.

My particular firearm is model H001 and it originally came with a walnut Handguard to match the walnut stock. This is a good looking combo but from the beginning, I knew that I was going to throw a Ranger Point Handguard on this gun and one on a Henry X when I pick one of those up.

Installation of the Handguard is fairly straightforward and Henry themselves have made a tutorial on the process so those who are interested can check that out. There are only two screws keeping you from getting the original forend off and three to put the Ranger Point on so installation is a breeze, at least it should be. From my experience, the barrel band that came with the Ranger Point did not fit, not even close. At first, I thought it was just the two side lugs that were sticking out too much so I filed those down and the band was finally able to make it over the mag tube dovetail. Then it was the entire round section that wraps around the barrel. I started with hand filing this section but quickly found out that a lot of material had to be removed so out came the Dremel.

After doing this, I was able to get the handguard installed but the process was a lot more tedious than Ranger Point made it out to be. I actually contacted them when I first discovered the problem but after a bunch of questions to make sure that I was installing their handguard on the correct gun, which I was, the answer that I got was essentially we have one of those guns in house and the handguard fits just fine. Well, that’s great and I’m sure that’s true but isn’t it possible that Henry updated some things that made your handguard not fit anymore?

In the end, I was able to install the Ranger Point handguard but was it worth it? That’s hard to say. If the installation process went as smoothly as it was supposed to, then yes. However, if you have to do the work that I did and you don’t have the tools, you’d either have to buy them or pay someone to do the work which brings the price of what should be a cheap setup higher, which may be counterintuitive.

I’m just glad that I was able to finish the installation because it is a good look to me. Now, I’m probably going to have to do something about the stock to get a matching black theme.

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My SilencerShop eForms 4 Experience

What’s going on guys? It’s Hai and I recently got the approval for my first suppressor, a Dead Air Wolfman, and it was through the use of SilencerShop’s eForms submission system. In this post, I want to talk to you about the process for me and some impressions of the process from someone who’s completed it.

First off, let’s get some background information. In late November of 2021, word around the internet was that the ATF was going to reintroduce eForms for Form 4 applications. A Form 4 is essentially a transfer of ownership of a completed NFA item from one party to another. So it would be you buying a fully functional SBR, suppressor, whatever NFA item from a dealer, and they transfer that item to your legal possession. Prior to the recent reintroduction of eForms, buying an NFA item was done with paper printouts, shipped from one party to another. As you can imagine this takes time and it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on. With eForms, they are essentially digitalizing this process and allowing various paperwork to be sent online. In the past, the wait for a paper Form 4 can largely be a guess. It could be a few months, a year, maybe even more. No one really knows. Well with eForms, the ATF is saying that they will try to keep the time frame down to 90 days in 2022 and possibly 30 days in 2023.

I was always in the mindset of “I’m not going to blow about a thousand dollars and not even see what I bought for a year.” Well, with eForms I decided that maybe now was the time. 3 months is a lot more doable.

What’s funny is that when I purchased this Wolfman on November 16, 2021. I don’t believe the relaunch of eForms was announced yet because I definitely didn’t know about it. The announcement was made a week or two later with the official eForms launch being set for December 23, 2021. Silencershop said that all suppressor paperwork expected to be completed through them from December 4th (something like that) would be held and be done with eForms when it launched a few weeks later because that would be so much faster than just going through with paper form. Everything received prior would be done via paper form. I was pretty frustrated because again, I purchased the Wolfman before the initial eForms announcement. I thought I missed out so I thought I might as well buy another suppressor and see how fast eForms really is, so I did.

However, something was very weird about my paperwork in the background. I was just waiting and waiting to get a call about the Wolfman and about a month after purchasing, I decided to make some calls and it turns out, whoever did not do the paper form and my Wolfman was being held for eForms. I was surprised but absolutely fine with this because it would work out in my favor.

Now we get into the meat of it. My suppressor is at my FFL and we’re waiting to certify the paperwork but it turns out that Silencershop or the ATF didn’t have the system properly worked out and it was super buggy. They also didn’t launch it to all dealers at once and my FFL did not have the green light. All we could do was wait.

Over two months after the initial purchase, it is January 21, 2022. I got the email saying that my suppressor was ready to certify. I called up my FFL to get things started and we run into more troubles. Well, it turns out the system is still buggy and Silencershop didn’t really give any training so my FFL didn’t really know what to do. They had to call Silencershop but it turns out their dealer hotline is not all that fast and still required them to wait about 40 minutes to get ahold of someone, just like me. So, both the guy from my FFL and myself are calling SIlencershop, waiting 40 minutes, talking to separate people, and eventually, we figured out what to do. For my FFL, I was literally the first person to do eForms so it was a learning experience. At the end of the day, the Wolfman was certified and the official wait started.

Again, the ATF is advertising a 90-day turnaround time. I set my calendar notifications and just tried to forget about the suppressor. Well, about a month and a half or so later, Silencershop started making updates saying that eForms is working and showed customer testimonies. Some people were getting approvals in like a week or two. Some people who were getting approvals submitted the same day as I did so I was a bit excited. Well, it turned out that all the fast approvals are for those who filed as an individual whereas I filed through a trust via Silencershop’s Single Shot Trust. If you don’t know the difference between filing as an individual or trust, I’d advise you to research that because it is kind of a big aspect of NFA ownership. But just know that filing as an individual is generally the faster route, it just has fewer benefits depending on your needs.

So for me, it was back to waiting. The 90-day mark came and went. Once that happened, I didn’t know what to think. Maybe it was any day now. Maybe it’s just as long as the paper form. No one knows. But luckily for me, on the 95th day, I woke up to an email from the ATF with my tax stamp approval. I went and picked up my Wolfman that same day and I’m now officially a suppressor owner.

Okay so let’s backtrack. I purchased my suppressor on 11/16/21 and because of the various eForms issues, I actually didn’t certify my suppressor until 1/21/22 and got the approval on 4/26/22. From start to finish for the Wolfman, it was 161 days but to get the suppressor certified, it only took 95 days.

Again, the situation here is a bit weird but that’s something that you got to be okay with when buying NFA items because you are at the mercy of various entities. You have little power when the train starts rolling. It’s a hurry-up so you can sit and wait type of scenario. All you can do is get your paperwork done and hope that everything else goes right. In my case, it took 95 days to get the approval once the paperwork was sent. Not 90 as advertised but pretty close and much better than going the paper route.

However, there is something that I want to bring up. This whole time I’ve been talking about Form 4s. For those unaware, there are a bunch of other forms that can be filed. When buying a completed NFA item though, you’re likely also going to have to deal with Form 3s. This isn’t something that you’ll likely even be told about but it’s a point of frustration for many people. Form 3 is essentially asking for permission to move the NFA item, prior to someone officially owning it. In my scenario, I purchased the Wolfman from Silencershop which is located in Texas. I live in Washington State. So to move the suppressor from Texas to Washington, a Form 3 approval was needed. Form 3 approval is a complete crapshoot because there’s no telling how long it can take for approval. It can take a week, a month, however long the ATF wants it to take. At this point, I’ve purchased 4 suppressors. I’ve seen Form 3s getting approved in 1 week, 2 weeks, and a month. That’s partially why I think this Wolfman got held for eForms because even though I purchased it in November, It didn’t get to my FFL until mid-December. So again, Form 3s are just one of those things that you may have to deal with that can add unknown amounts of time to the process.

But that’s kind of the entire theme when working with the ATF, you just don’t know. You don't have much say in any part of the process. All I can say is, just put your paperwork in and try to forget about it. Don’t expect anything. It can be a week. It can be a year. Don’t stress too much about it. The faster you put the paperwork in, the sooner you’ll get an NFA item.

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eForms 4 Trust Timelines

Suppressor #1
Purchased - 11/16/21
Certified - 1/21/22
Approved - 4/26/22
Start to Finish - 161 days
Days to Certify - 95 days

Suppressor #2
Purchased - 1/12/22
Certified - 1/24/22
Approved - 5/4/22
Start to Finish - 112 days
Days to Certify - 100 days

Suppressor #3
Purchased - 3/15/22
Certified - 4/7/22

Suppressor #4
Purchased - 4/11/22
Certified - 4/15/22

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Radian Model 1 300 Blackout First Impressions

What’s going on guys it’s Hai and in this post, I want to talk with you about my Radian Model 1. This is the newest addition to my arsenal and I have to say it’s a nice one.

At this point, I only live fired it once putting about 70 rounds downrange so this isn’t going to be a review of the system, more so a first impression and to show you some of the things that I’ve altered.

Let’s start at the tip. This firearm comes with a SilencerCo ASR Muzzle Brake. This brake doubles as a suppressor mounting platform. I don’t personally use this platform and invested in Dead Air so will be replacing this ASR brake with the Dead Air Xeno brake. I’ve ordered it but will keep this on for the time being until my suppressor clears ATF jail.

Next, we have a Match Grade 416R Stainless Steel Barrel. My particular Model 1 has a 9” barrel and is chambered in 300 Blackout. This is the only barrel length currently offered for 300 Blackout. If you want other barrel lengths, Radian does offer that but only chambered in .223 Wylde. With the Model 1s, Radian guarantees sub-MOA accuracy with Black Hills Match Grade Ammo for both calibers. That’s great but that’s more so something that should be expected considering the price of the Model 1, which currently sits right around $3k depending on barrel length and color options.

Moving on, we have an M-LOK handguard with a proprietary lock up system and that’s because the Model 1 does use a proprietary vented/milled out barrel nut. This does mean that you’re stuck with this handguard until someone makes something that works with this barrel nut unless you want to change everything out.

Further back we have the billet upper and lower receiver. As you can see, the Model 1 does have a proprietary milled design. It’s very angular and aggressive but Radian actually took the time to round out all the corners of this design to help reduce snagging. I personally like this design which is why I got into this system.

Now, one of the most notable features of the Model 1 is Radian’s patented Ambidextrous Dual-Action Control or A-DAC lower. This lower offers a full ambi design, meaning ambi safety, mag release, and both right and left side bolt catch and release. More and more manufacturers are offering ambi lowers but a lot of them will only offer what I call half-assed ambi because the right side will offer bolt catch but no release. Again with the Radian, it’s a real full ambi but it wouldn’t seem so at a glance. The right-side bolt catch is actually integrated into the mag release. Whenever the mag release is pressed, the bolt catch is also raised. I believe this is a patented design which is why you don’t see any other manufacturers offering this. The idea is that this helps to decrease the time that it takes to clear malfunctions. With this, you drop the mag and lock the bolt back in one move rather than two separate actions. This is definitely new to me and will require some training but I’m here for it.

When buying a Radian firearm, you get all the typical Radian parts. This includes a Radian Raptor charging handle. This particular one is the SD version which is designed to reduce gas back at the shooter during suppression. As previously mentioned, I do plan to suppress this gun so this is an added benefit considering that this is a direct impingement gun.

This firearm also comes with the Radian Talon safety selector. I have this on a few firearms and no complaints. They work as they should and look good. This safety allows you to choose between a 45 and 90-degree throw. Mine is currently set to 45.

In terms of the trigger, I’ve seen Model 1s come with a few different kinds depending on when you buy it. Most recently, the Model 1 comes with Radian’s own Vertex Trigger. I personally decided to drop a Triggertech Adaptable flat face trigger in my lower. Again, I haven’t done too much live fire with this gun so I’ll hold off on any hard comments but so far so good. This seems like a really nice trigger. Fit and finish alone is the best that I’ve seen with any AR trigger.

Moving to the back of the gun. If you buy a Model 1 rifle, it’ll come with a buttstock and a nice fluted buffer tube but if you buy a pistol, it’ll come with an SB Tactical SBA3 with a normal-looking buffer tube. I personally don’t like the SBA3 so I took that off and installed the Gear Head Works Tailhook Mod 2. I personally think that this is the best brace on the market for those times that you accidentally and occasionally shoulder a brace and especially if you actually want to use a brace as a brace. The various Tailhooks are the best in my opinion and I use them on a few different firearms.

Then to hold the buffer tube in place there’s the Radian Lightweight Endplate and I added the Spikes Tactical Lightweight Castle Nut just to spice things up a bit. Also, with the Tailhook fully collapsed, I essentially have all the buffer tube threads hidden. It’s always annoyed me how the buffer tube threads are typically exposed so this is a good setup for me.

Another thing that I’ve changed is the buffer spring setup. Instead of the H2 buffer and spring that comes with this system, I’m running the H2 Armaspec Stealth Recoil Spring. A recoil spring is just one of those things that I’ve always wanted to try in an AR so I thought that this would be a good build for that.

Finally, we have my optic. I currently have the Vortex Razor HD Gen II-E 1-6 scope on my Model 1. Putting a scope on a shorter barreled gun seems to be a controversial topic but I’m all about being practical and have very much so opened up to LPVOs. I’ve been running the red dot and magnifier combo for a while but for my personal use, a dedicated scope just works so much butter anytime I need more magnification. The Razor is currently installed but I don’t know if this will be the optic that stays on the build. I have a few optics to try out so we’ll check back on this in a future review.

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