Transcription
All right, hey Wizards! We're doing things a little differently this time. We're at GunCon 2024, and apologies as my voice is going out, but I'm with Ben from Bull Armory. We have all the cool stuff here. There was some amazing shooting yesterday at Shoot Day, but now we want to give you some content to show you all the guns they have and some secret sauce that we got to see yesterday. We'll show that at the end, but first, Ben, show me what these little guys are that I have never seen before.
So, this is the brand new 2024 model, which has been heavily updated this year based on the feedback we received from you guys in the U.S. market.
Quickly, we have a new grip that is more aggressive, reminiscent of the full-size grip, and more ergonomic. We have a new CCW mag that comes included with the gun, and a new serration that you're familiar with from the TAC Pro, which is now evident on all of our new slides. It's very grippy and aggressive.
The optic system was slightly updated for this; it's not the Bao optic system, it's the BO Mini. So, it's still just RMSC but widely improved upon. The motor bus is stronger, with lighter aluminum plates. It now ships with three magazines, 16 plus one, but you can also add the new base pad in the ultralight magazine, which adds plus one in the full-size magazines and plus two.
Additionally, we have a Pro version. Pro and BU models mean one thing: a ported barrel. The Pro model has a V6 ported barrel. Other than that, it's the same pistol. One thing to note here is that the ports are at the front, at a different angle than we see on the Pro models.
What's the difference, and why would you want to do those ports?
The difference is because they're six instead of a different design. The holes are smaller as well, but because of the profile of the gun and its weight, we used a different angle to stabilize the dot. You shot it yesterday; it feels different than the V8 because, again, it's a different gun with a different length.
We don't just poke holes in barrels; we test them. We actually had a V8 prototype for this as well, but it wasn't worth the velocity loss on a smaller pistol. That being said, we're talking small percentages, but good on you for noticing. The hole is 2.2 on the V8 and 2.5 on this one.
Very interesting! All right, so what's this guy?
You're familiar with this one. This is the brand new EDC, which is basically the successor to last year's TCH with the aluminum frame. It has the same formula: a full-size grip, 8 in plus one shapes with a free mag now, same as the ultralight. It basically got all of the new features that we developed for the TAC pistol, like aggressive serrations and the new optic system with all of the plates. It ships with free plates: RMSC, HK, Z Point Pro, RMR.
Other than that, it's pretty much the same gun but improved. This year, we also have the EDC Pro, and again, Pro means porting. We don't have it here; we had to travel light, but it has the same V8 ported barrel from the TAC Pros.
I will say, even getting to shoot yesterday, we got to see all the cool stuff, and it's just so obvious that the EDC lineup is what Bull is known for. That's where all the time and energy is spent. You shoot all these things with crazy ports and maybe comps, and then you go back to the EDC. I said to you, "Well, you know, I saw everything that was cool, and that's my favorite. That’s still my favorite." It was my favorite when I first saw the TAC, now the EDC line.
That EDC line is just amazing. It's basically a do-it-all gun for someone who's willing to carry a full-size pistol. You can conceal it; it's light enough. You can fight with it, you can compete with it. It packs a lot of performance for its weight, size, and price.
Fantastic! All right, what else do we have?
Moving to this side of the table, this is the brand new TAC. You recently reviewed the TAC Pro in the 5-inch size. The TACs are available in two sizes: 4 and 5 inches, in both Pro and non-Pro versions. Again, Pro means a V8 porting. These ones are shipping with four magazines that have the plus two base pads pre-installed.
Additionally, it has the same brand new Bao optic system, and you get all of the plates. I'll say too, if you guys didn't see when we did that review, how that Bao system works, it really works extremely well to take all those shearing forces off the screws and instead puts it on a single lug, which makes the whole system incredibly smart.
You don't have the issue of optics flying off that I've seen so many times on the range. The whole system just solves it; it's very, very smart and super easy to use. I'm glad to see that coming across. The ultralight is obviously a little too small to do that, but that little miniaturized version is just a great system overall.
All right, ready for the star of the show?
Ready! So, we just announced at GunCon—not released—the brand new TAC Comp. This one has a 4-inch barrel and slide with V6 porting, unlike the V8 on the TAC Pros, and an integrated one-chamber comp with the barrel. This one is even pushing the envelope further towards competition.
That being said, you can fight with it, you can conceal it. It's a lot of fun. There are a lot of conversations we've had off-camera that I want to include you guys in, going through a little bit of detail on why the comp is integrated into the barrel instead of being screwed on.
Some of the issues we see in the competition realm have taught you why that design is a little more beneficial.
Exactly. The moment you thread on a comp, you get two problems. One, it might come loose on you, and then you have a bad day. It doesn't matter if you're in a competition or fighting for your life; you don't want that to happen. So, we machine it with the barrel.
Secondly, you have to have the threaded portion of the barrel with the comp, so you're losing some portion of the comp that you usually get. If we had this threaded on, we would either have to have a smaller chamber or a longer barrel. So, you keep it compact and get the maximum performance out of it.
Of course, it's a little more expensive than doing the threading, but it works better overall. This is a lesson we learned by building open guns for 30 years. We used to have our threaded comps, I want to say, 28 years ago, and we quickly learned that this is the best way to go about it.
That's amazing! Something I've noticed too, using the ports, is that you kind of have this wave where the ports come through, and it lets out the gas. You can kind of ride it as things go down. The comp has a bit of a different function where it moves things down in a different way.
So, what happens, and how are they working together to give you two different effects instead of just solving the same problem at once?
Right, so this is a bit problematic to convey through a video, but basically, ported guns are flatter, and comped guns are softer. They track differently, and it's hard to convey, but once you see that dot return to zero, they both return quite quickly. The TAC Pro 5 and this one are just different depending on what you do or what you prefer. You might prefer one over the other.
I love the people on Reddit already who are saying the comp is going to make you lose a ton of velocity. That doesn't make any sense because the gas is already coming out the front. If you see somebody saying that, please go correct them or just make fun of them because that's good fun too.
So yeah, comps don't cause muzzle velocity loss at all. This one has a V6 porting, unlike the TAC Pro with a V8, so you lose less velocity. With that being said, even with the TAC Pro, you're losing about 2.5 to 5% velocity loss depending on ammunition, but it's worth the performance you gain from that gas system.
We tested it when we did the Pro; it was like 1120 box FPS, and the other was like 1050. David from HBLE Marksman had similar results. It was negligible difference.
Now, one thing people have already commented on, because we snuck some photos out, and you and I have talked about it, is the safety on this. I know this is not a production model; it's not a final version. Is that the safety that's going to be on there, or is that something that's still kind of going back and forth?
One of the reasons we brought it to GunCon this year is to get feedback from shooters, and we did get a lot of overwhelmingly good feedback yesterday. The safeties we have here are wider than the ones on the TACs, again because this is bridging the gap even more towards competition.
This safety is standard on most of the new competition pistols. A lot of people liked it; some people didn't. We'll look into it after we get back home. Right now, this is basically almost the final product.
And that leads us into the piece that everybody's going to ask about: what's the release date?
We'll come to this one in a second for the ultralight. So, ultralights have been delayed to Q4 of this year. We don't have an exact date, but sometime during this year. The TAC and TAC Pros in both sizes have been released about a month ago, and EDCs are rolling in in a couple of weeks or so.
Oh, okay! So, yeah, we watch everything. If you're looking to get one, I'll try to help get it out on socials when things come out. Notify me, and I'll help spread the word too.
Sounds good!
Okay, and this is a 2025 model. Again, we just announced it and brought it here to get feedback. It will be released sometime next year. We'll probably have an exact date or a better idea of when at the Round Shot Show. Price TBD until production; it's hard to tell.
That's awesome! Well, I appreciate it, Ben. We got to shoot all of these yesterday. The comp version is super fun. The difference in the ports makes it a very different shooter. You're not just getting one that's a little bit better than the other; they're different.
They're different types of improvements, different types of feel. They're very unique in how they feel. I'm hoping to show you guys all the new EDC. I loved the EDC from last year. I've seen the improvements, I've seen the crown barrel, and just all the improvements they've made to make it better this year. That excites me!
I think it's going to be my new favorite. Even shooting it yesterday, again, that was the one I liked over all the cool stuff. I'm in love with that one, so watch out for that as it comes to market. It's going to be available in the U.S. real soon, real soon.
We'll keep showing you some cool reviews and do some overviews of all these hopefully as they become available. Otherwise, thanks everybody for watching. Have a great one at GunCon 2024!