James Burton

ARBuildJunkie Editor in Chief, James Burton is a writer and shooter, immersed in gun culture since before he could walk. His earliest memories were smells of musty military surplus stores, his father’s large collection of H&K rifles and stacks of Soldier of Fortune magazine. Throughout his impressionable youth, family vacations were wandering the grounds twice a year at the Knob Creek County Machine Gun Shoot. Please feel free to reach out to James for story ideas and more at [email protected]

Hodge Defense Systems – A 2021 Update with Jim Hodge

We recently sat down with Jim Hodge of Hodge Defense Systems to discuss the recent launch of the new Spine Lock (S-Lock) Rail System, the company’s plans for the year ahead, his take on the brand’s growing popularity, and why we should consider being kinder to each other online as we discuss our favorite firearms.

In Defense of the Red Dot Optic with Mark Smith

With so much talk around Low Power Variable Optics (LPVOs), it can sometimes seem like 1x red dot optics are falling out of favor. We’ve worked with Mark Smith in the past to bring you the benefits of Low Power Variable Optics (LPVOs); however, in this article, we wanted him to discuss the fact that for many, red dots are still the preferred optic for the AR platform.

New AR Optics from Vortex in 2021 – An ARBuildJunkie Q&A

Vortex has announced the launch of new, updated AR-specific optics for 2021, including their SPARC red-dot and their prism-based Spitfire. To learn more about these optics and why they are worth considering, we recently chatted with Vortex’s Reuben Aleckson.

If you want to be among the first to know when we release new content, your best bet is to sign up via email:

We’ll keep the emails to a minimum and we will never sell or give your information to a third party.