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The Momentum is a nice rifle, but not for the reasons Franchi thinks it is.
The Italian company has been manufacturing high-quality bird guns for 150 years, and in April of 2018 they announced their first foray into the bolt-action rifle market. Franchi hopes to translate its heritage of craftsmanship and innovation to a new kind of firearm, and for the most part, they succeeded.
Modularity is the new gospel in modern firepower, and the FN SCAR just drips with it. The upper receiver starts out as an extruded bit of aluminum, while the polymer lower contains the fire control system and secures the magazine. There are two major subtypes. The SCAR-Light (SCAR-L) runs 5.56x45mm. The SCAR-Heavy (SCAR-H) chambers 7.62x51mm.
When I heard semi-auto and 300 Winchester Magnum, I assumed the gun had to be gigantic. It is large, but not Micheal Bay oversized. At first glance, you can see the DNA shared with an AR-15. There are a few changes to accommodate the caliber, but it keeps the things I find important.
Nosler is taking note from the black rifle market and is building a rifle-class firearm in a handgun package for handgun hunting and sport shooting.
There is an old story about a Texas Ranger. He was attending a social event with his family, wearing his issue sidearm. A woman approached the Ranger and said “I see you are wearing a pistol, are you expecting trouble?” The Ranger replied politely, “Why no ma’am, if I was expecting trouble, I would have brought a rifle.”
Mechanical systems like small arms evolve in response to myriad forces both industrial and martial. Somebody has an idea that seems to work, and that idea is tweaked, adjusted, and improved over time until it becomes something better, more reliable, and more efficient. The astute student of modern small arms, however, can generally tease out the origins of a mechanism with a little study.
Imported to the United States exclusively by the Italian Firearms Group, the Urban Sniper sports a relatively short (for a long-range precision platform) 20-inch bull barrel. Even with that shorter barrel, the Urban Sniper isn’t a lightweight at 8.75 pounds, though few of today’s long-range rifles are exactly nimble. It is also very accurate, has a great trigger and fits on the shoulder well.
The APX was born out of the Army’s Modular Handgun trials. Manufacturers came out with new pistols and revisions of existing models in their efforts to win the lucrative contract to equip the United States Military with 74 boatloads of new handguns to replace the Beretta M9 series now in service.
After two years in development, High Tower Armory is excited to say that their MBS 95 bullpup conversion kit for Hi-Point carbines is now shipping.
The Walther MPL is the ultimate example of a general utility submachine gun. In the roles filled by the wartime German MP40, American Grease Gun, Russian PPSh, and British Sten the MPL is quite literally ideal. The rate of fire is slow, and the gun is rugged and simple. By contrast, the MP5 fires much faster and is really a specialist’s weapon. In the hands of a trained operator, the MP5 puts a swarm of zippy little 9mm bullets into teacup-sized groups at bad breath ranges. When employed in a swamp or powdery desert environment, however, the complexity of the MP5 becomes a liability.
The G-42 and G-43 are Glock’s concealed carry optimized single stack pistols in .380 and 9mm. Both models have been highly successful, Glock recently produced the one-millionth Glock 43. That is a lot of happy Americans and bears closer examination. Glock claims that the G-43 was the most highly desired and anticipated release in GLOCK’s history.
“If I could only have one gun…” We’ve all asked this question. It’s a hypothetical doomsday scenario for most, but anyone hoping to carry a firearm on a backpacking trip has felt the reality of this dilemma. The happy medium between compact, lightweight, and versatile can be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.
Over the last 9 months of testing, the SIG MCX VIRTUS has proven to be a very reliable and useful weapon. In its 5.56 configurations, we saw it run in all weather conditions over the winter, a 2000 rounds suppressed test and many other shenanigans. The most impressive part to me was that we had a multi-configurable rifle, that consistently shot ½ MOA groups. This week, we finally got the long awaited 300 AAC barrel.
Always pressed for weapons, the Germans employed no less than twenty-two major handgun types during World War 2.The Nazis got their guns wherever they could find them. Quality ranged from impeccable to abysmal with everything in between. The Germans issued more than 300,000 Browning Hi Powers made under occupation in Belgium. Designated the Pistole 640(b) in Wehrmacht parlance, the Hi Power was arguably the finest combat handgun of the war.
Police officers, competitive shooters, and military units train with air guns. What do they know that you don’t? It is safer and cheaper than live fire while measurably improving performance. There is no better way to teach trigger control and reduce anticipation of recoil. The cost of range training is more than just the ammunition. We must also include vehicle mileage, targets and range fees but perhaps the most precious resource consumed is time.
Looks mean is one thing, but it has to run to matter. And the 590M did run. It ate everything I threw at it, including multiple magazines out of my 12 gauge trash bucket. The trash bucket is a 5 gallon bucket I toss all the leftover ammo in from shotgun reviews or any other sketchy ammo I run across. The cheapest of the cheap, mil surplus, slugs left over from my 3 gun days, and anything I get from a fire sale. Despite the fact that the gun says 2 ¾ inch shells only, I fed it some Augilla mini shells.
Sometimes, as the tagline goes for Springfield’s new 911, the police are minutes away, the threat is seconds away, and you’re your own first responder—whether you want to be or not. Springfield’s new 911 may look like other sub-compact 1911-style 380s, but it handles better than any I’ve shot. The engineers at Springfield tweaked the mini-1911 design to minimize felt recoil, improve ergonomics, and provide a clearer sight picture even in the most stressful situations. Plus, it’s a great looking gun. The 911 stands out among the crowds of striker-fired handguns, and it won’t fail to deliver in a crisis.
When the 1873 came out it was a paradigm shift. A repeating rifle that was as reliable and capable as it was practical. However, it was still a pistol caliber carbine. For real rifle work, you had to go to something like an 1869 Sharps, a Ballard Perfection rifle, or a Remington Rolling Block. That’s what buffalo hunters used. What these long range, big game guns had in common was that they were all single shot firearms. The Winchester Model 1876 changed that forever.
Glock has been updating the line up to Generation 5, as seen here on the 17/19 and here on the 19X. We aren’t going to rehash all the changes for the Gen 5 here, but a highlight reel is helpful if you haven’t been paying attention. The accuracy is improved by a factor of half, the new triggers are better, gone are the finger grooves, and there is a right side slide release for the
This week, I’ve played with a gun that is way outside the norm. From Chiappa, we are looking at what may be the smallest of the Italian shotguns. Ever. When this gun first came up for review, I had no idea what 9mm Flobert was, so don’t feel bad if you have never heard of it either. It is a very common European cartridge but is almost unheard of here in the U.S.A.
When the NEMO Executive Order ( XO) came in for review, I was wholly unprepared for what was about to happen. The test model was in 6.5 Creedmoor, which is a plus. Not unique, but not all that common in AR platforms yet either. Still, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to testing
It is difficult to say the Savage 110 Evolution is a vast improvement over the 110 Stealth, if only because the Stealth was so good to start with. I reviewed the Stealth chambered in 338 Lapua Magnum last summer, and dollar for dollar, it is one of the best guns I have ever picked up.
Aklys Defense is happily teasing their upcoming new gun, the Velociraptor. The Velociraptor is a short-barreled integrally suppressed AK-pattern rifle.
Improving on initial success, Springfield Armory is introducing a new variation of both models. Now, you have the factory option of the Heavy Operator with an RMR pre-installed, cut deep into the slide. I predict another big win, this is the perfect set up for a 10mm 1911.
New from the 2018 NRAAM, Rock River Arms has announced the LAR-22, a .22 LR AR-15. This is excellent news for everyone who owns an AR as .22 LR ammo is now readily available and is a great low-cost training aid. RRA is planning on offering the LAR-22 both as a complete firearm or as a complete upper.
Performance Center (think Smith & Wesson) using Thompson Center components has created a new chassis rifle that has just upped the stakes for a budget-get in-the-long-range-game-rifle. The price point is truly incredible when you consider that the MSRP of the rifle at $1211 is less than what I paid for my first aluminum chassis stock over 15 years ago.
Recent events have created a new round of panic buying of AR-15 rifles and parts kits. As companies race to meet demand, a lot of substandard parts end up in the hands of consumers. End users are often left frustrated when their new parts kit does not snap together like Legos or that factory gun they got a screaming deal on fails to feed or extract. But not to worry…! This article will cover the four most common issues I have personally seen with “panic AR-15’s” and how to correct them.
The Battle Rifle is commonly accepted to be an autoloading combat rifle that feeds from a detachable magazine and fires a full-sized .30-caliber round. While Battle Rifles found their stride in the years following the Second World War, they have been largely replaced by small caliber Assault Rifles nowadays. However, combat in such places as Afghanistan has shown us in recent years that the need still exists for a man-portable .30-caliber rifle that can offer precision fires out past the range of the 5.56mm cartridge.
Overall the Colt 1917 is a very interesting revolver. It was a stop-gap sidearm that ended up with American troops in two world wars. 1917 revolvers, both Colt and Smith & Wesson, can usually be found for reasonable amounts of money (especially in comparison to other US military revolvers, or WWI 1911s). They are not difficult to find suitable ammunition for, and they’re strong enough to enjoy some range time with. So if you’re looking for a WWI handgun to add to your collection, consider one of these old Colts.
Big Green has finally stepped into the chassis rifle arena with the Remington Model 700 PCR in 6.5 Creedmoor and this week we got our hands on it for a full review. By the way, PCR stands for Precision Chassis Rifle. It is late to the party, no doubt about that. But the big question on everyone’s mind, did Remington continue the winning streak started by the 870 DM and recent 1911 models?