We all know how important situational awareness is in the overall scheme of personal defense. In fact, the whole point of situational awareness is to avoid trouble if you can.

It is sometimes said that “timing is everything” and, in this instance, that proved to be true for the United States military. As events transpired, there was a source for manufacturing modern military service rifles that could go into production in a relatively short period of time. This fortuitous happenstance was due to the fact that when the United States declared war, three American plants were completing production of the “Pattern 1914” rifle under contract for the government of Great Britain. That would lead to what we now know as the Model 1917 rifle.

If your goal is to exterminate as many pigs as possible, your best bet is to shoot as many as you can very quickly. That’s a task best suited to an autoloading rifle. I also prefer something more powerful than a .223 Remington, and that’s why I chose Savage’s new MSR 10 Long Range rifle for a recent Texas hog hunt.

If you can’t or don’t want to carry a handgun, consider these other defensive tools.

If you have a gun that meets all your defensive requirements but could use a little help in the feel/fit department, consider these five ways of improving the grip.

What’s your most comfortable location for concealed carry?

The man walks up to the counter and hands the clerk a note. The clerk nervously takes the note, reads it and then looks up at the man.

Sam Colt’s firearms had always been counterfeited in abroad but the numbers were small and Sam was, as usual, strapped for cash and so little could be done. Sam Colt and his London solicitor decided that the manufacture of copies would be allowed to continue as long as a royalty of 10 francs per firearm was paid. All revolvers made according to the agreement were to be marked COLT/BREVETE as proof of “licensed” manufacture.

Hollywood legend has it that the gun that “Won the West” was the Winchester Model 1873 Jimmy Stewart struggled to keep in the movie Winchester ’73. In fact, it was the U.S. Model 1873 .45-70 Springfield, better known to modern day collectors and shooters as the “.45-70 Trapdoor” for its top-opening breech block, that truly “Won the West.”