At the end of the day a firearm only really needs to shoot straight and not fail you when you need it.
However, we know that firearms can do more than that nowadays and Radetec are one of those companies that are pushing the envelope.
They are a research and development company, looking to develop electronic devices that improve your use of traditional firearms. If firearms are currently the Phone Box, they want to usher in the iPhone.
They donât want the smart electronics just to be for show and fun, they want them to have practical applications that improve the safety of the firearm and make them easier to use.
They push their own research but will also work with specific manufactures on specific projects.
This is an excellent and never seen before bit of tech, that not only makes you think you are Sly Stallone in Demolition Man but is actually useful, and isnât technology for technologyâs sake.
You take off the slide of your Glock 17 Gen 4, you put on your SMART SLIDE and there you have it. You now have real time digital information about your gun.
It is a self-contained battery-operated device, that doesnât require software updates and cannot be hacked.
Even if the battery fails or something goes wrong with the device, you can carry on shooting with it on. Then you can see what the problem is with it after.
This really is an awesome bit of kit:
The smart slide doesnât make permanent changes to your Glock, and professional gunsmithing is not required.
Like I said you just take off the original slide, and attach the smart slide, and you can just as easily take off the smart slide and put the original slide back on.
They also offer a 2-year warranty from manufacturer defects.
You will get a replacement slide, back strap, and 2 of their magazine followers with your purchase. These will fit onto any Glock and is how the information is collected.
The magazine followers use magnets to collect the information on what the current situation is with your gun, and relays this to the display, which updates within seconds.
To get the full use out of the technology, then yes. However, the display will work just fine without downloading an app and would still be a very useful addition to your Glock.
By downloading the app, you will be able to track more information. The app keeps a full logbook of your activities. Which keeps information on every single shot you have fired and tells you when maintenance is required.
You can view any number of weapons you have on the app that are attached to the technology.
For the average Joe on the street, it is a great safety feature to know if there is a round in the chamber or how many shots you have left. This will increase your fun on the range but keep you safe in your home.
For range owners it would be a very useful auditing check, because with the app you will be able to keep track of how many times that gun has been shot and when it needs to be maintained or replaced.
I can imagine it would also provide great information for Law Enforcement and the Military, where there is a lot of throughput.
First off, at around the $1000 mark it is very expensive for a glorified bean counter.
For the person on the street the cost doesnât seem to match the benefits. However, for Law Enforcement and Militaries who probably donât care about the cost. Then it can be a very useful tool.
Radetec are pushing the boundaries of technology and that obviously comes at a cost. Think about how expensive HD TVs were when they first came out and think about how cheap they are now in comparison.
The more the smart technology is used, and the more companies get involved in the market, the cheaper things will become. It probably wonât be too long before smart slides are standard on all guns.
The other main issue is that it is just another failure point, gun manufactures have a constant design battle between adding new specs but also making things more reliable. The smart slide adds another thing that can fail.
Other than that, it is just another battery to change or replace. It seems everything nowadays needs a battery or power, even when they didnât in the past.
The smart slide is an exciting bit of tech, that just scratches the surface of smart tech on firearms. It is expensive, but it is useful.
So, if you can afford it then I think it would be a good purchase. Whilst initially only for Glocks, you know they will make them for all firearms eventually.
This technology allows a gun to only be fired by an authorised user. The gun is always locked unless the authorising device is close by.
This device could be on anything like a bracelet, necklace, belt, or badge. You can also have as many devices as you want.
This has pretty obvious real-world benefits. It means gun theft becomes pointless unless you also steal the authorisation devices.
It would give you an advantage in home invasion situations.
It would also prevent accidental usage from children or unregistered people.
It is also very useful for Law Enforcement and Militaries who do not want their weapons used against them.
All these things would likely help with rates of gun violence, domestic violence, drug violence, accidental death, mass shootings, and burglaries.
This allows you to store data from 100,000 shots from your gun to an app via NFC transfer.
You can store information from multiple firearms relating to the number of shots taken, the date and time of the shots taken, and GPS positioning of each shot taken.
This is very simple to do, you just attach the electronic smart device to the Picatinny rail and shoot as normal.
You open the app on your phone and all the data is there. The device can easily be swapped between all your firearms, without gunsmithing.
Similar to the universal version but this is more for organisations with large inventories that need to be tracked. It also records the ambient temperature of every shot, along with the date, time, and number of shots taken.
It can record 1m shots and makes a note of when the firearm leaves the armoury.
Now this is very interesting, and it could really improve shooting ranges across the world. It could eradicate accidents and intentional foul play on the range for good.
In these ranges an employee would have control over the guns. They can be sat in an office overlooking the range with a computer.
Then if they see a possible safety concern, they could lock one or all the guns in a matter of seconds.
The range could also place a directional lock on the firearms. So, that they will only shoot down range.
If the gun is pointed anywhere else, then it will automatically be locked. It can also be locked for height too, so it will not shoot too far down or too far up. Again, this will eliminate so many accidents.
This is probably out of the price range for many range owners, but eventually I can easily envision a time when all ranges are like this.
This is a simpler version of the smart slide and is a more basic shot counter.
It will count up the number of shots you have taken in that session, you can leave it to show the total amount of shots the gun has taken in its lifetime, or you can set a number on the display and it will count down to zero.
This device gives a simple red warning light when you are down to 3 rounds in your magazine.
This could give you a tactical advantage in a combat situation and can only be seen by you. So, your situation isnât given away to anyone else.
This is another way to track how many shots you have taken and how many shots you have left. It uses a smart grip and displays the information on a small screen attached to the weapon.
Currently Radetec are concentrating on handguns, but they do have one bit of tech for shotguns.
This is a shot counter that fits on the stock and displays total shots, daily shots, date, time, and GPS. Like all their tech it is easily installed, easily removed, and does not change the firearm in any meaningful way.
I am excited to see where Radetec go in the future. They seem to have a lot of great ideas and seem to be getting those ideas out into the market effectively.
Any company that is concerned about gun safety should be respected and admired in my book.
