AR-15

I have been on record as disliking short barreled rifles ( SBR’s), not because I think you shouldn’t be allowed to own one, but because they are ineffective. The velocity loss from chopping a barrel below 16 inches in 5.56 caliber is catastrophic in terms of combat effectiveness, with shorter being exponentially worse. I felt [...]

Why do we die-hard gun nerds do what we do? Sure, we pontificate about self-defense applications, civil unrest, and the pending end of the world. But what really is it that drives this preoccupation we all seem to have with cool dangerous toys that are sleek, black, and oily? I would assert that despite our [...]

         I live half an hour outside of town on my modest rural farm. I count the local Sheriff and his deputies among my dearest friends, but even in a perfect world it will still take them at least a quarter hour to get to my place from a standing start. I know of three of my immediate neighbors who have been the victims of home invasions in the past five years, two of which occurred while the homes were occupied. In one case the oldest family member present at the time was twelve. Defending yourself against an armed threat in your home is no baseless exercise.  

There’s no real way to know what you or your firearm are capable of without adequate training. As Jim Mora so famously quipped after his football team suffered a blowout loss, “You think you know, but you have no idea.” And that’s exactly what you find as you start to train with others more competent than yourself — you were never aware of just how much you didn’t know.

Daniel Defense is no stranger to the AR platforms, they are among the leaders in the field. Arguably, they make the best rifles on the market today. From competition grade 7.62 all the way to the 5.56 upper of choice for SOCOM, they do AR’s right. But what about the pistol market?

Since its inception in 2003, Troy Industries has brought some very innovative products to market. In 2012, Troy began manufacturing military grade rifles that were met with great success. During the 2018 SHOT Show Troy, debuted the TROY Side Action Rifle (SAR).

Last month, I was handed the new SIG Sauer Virtus rifle for review, my first test item in the MCX family. Though initially, I was skeptical, the Virtus turned out to be very impressive weapon system. It uses a unique operating system, an entirely new piston driven action developed in-house by SIG Sauer.

An ideal home defense Ar-15 should be lightweight, modular, decently accurate and equipped with a light, laser, and a red dot sight. Smith and Wesson’s new M&P15T with M-LOK and Crimson Trace LiNQ System, perfectly fits these requirements, and I recently had the pleasure of testing one.

It is pretty hard to get excited about an AR-15 in the current marketplace, which as a consumer is a good problem to have. I am certain there is an analogy in me somewhere that is family website friendly but let’s all just use our own imaginations instead. I have reviewed three SAINT models in the last 365 days if you count the pistol, and I count the pistol. It was going to have to be spectacular to get my attention.

And on this one, Springfield Armory delivered in spades.