Primary Arms just recently announced their HTX-1 red dot, and it sounds pretty cool. From a technical perspective, it has a lot of good points – a clever adapter plate mounting system, two different reticles, and a fully enclosed emitter. However I think the more interesting (and less appreciated) story here is the work involved in actually producing a product like this completely in the US. So while at SHOT Show 2025, I stopped by the Primary Arms booth to talk to them about it.
Semiauto Rifles
The Sexy Retro Shorty: Original AR-180 Police Carbine
When Armalite designed the AR-180, they needed a factory to produce it, as their own production capacity was limited. Initially a license was granted to How in Japan, but this only lasted a few years […]
Book review
Book Review: A Genius in the Family
Hiram Stevens Maxim is one of America’s less recognized polymath inventors, and quite a character in addition to all his quantifiable accomplishments. Starting live on a rural Maine farm, Maxim had only a few years […]
Patent drawings
Browning 1897 Rotating-Barrel Pistol
In 1897, John M. Browning was awarded four consecutive patents, which covered a big swath of possible automatic pistol designs. The one we’re looking at today (pointed out to me by Rufus at SHOT – […]
Photo bomb attempted at 7:27, thwarted at 7:30.
Kudos to Primary Arms. Hopefully Made-in-America commenters put their money where their mouth is to keep growing this manufacturing base.