Gun Reviews

Ideally, to pick the best revolver for your daily carry or backup, you’d want to do a lot of shooting with everyone you could get your hands on. I mean thousands of rounds in all kinds of conditions. The downside to that is that it would take a L-O-N-G time! Turns out that getting old means that I’ve had a long time to do just that.

Always bring enough gun. That line writes well. It also embodies a great deal of well-reasoned tactical gravitas. If ever you should find yourself in the midst of a Real World balls-to-the-wall gunfight you don’t want to be the guy suffering a terminal case of pistol envy. However, I always thought that whoever first penned that idiom likely didn’t live in the American Deep South.

Why would you spend your hard earned money on a Kahr Arms Desert Eagle in .50 AE or .44 Magnum? Mostly because they’re fun as hell to shoot. This week in honor of Veteran’s Day coming up, we had the opportunity to shed light on a worthy cause and spend some time on the range with two Magnum Research Desert Eagles.

As SIG SAUER’s plan of global domination progressed last year, the world was treated to an entirely new rifle in the MCX. A lot of the press went to the smaller, pistol-sized, but the MCX did make waves. It became the duty weapon of the Netherlands Maritime SOF, the British CTSFO, the Berlin Police, and [...]

The new fully-featured Saint pistols feature a custom free-floating rail, updated pistol brace and blast mitigation device.

With the release this week of the variant, the Springfield Armory AR-15 family comes closer to completion. Not content to just chop down a SAINT and slap a forearm brace in place of the buttstock, Springfield has added some design features that make this AR pistol the one to beat. SPECS Type: Direct-impingment semiautomatic pistol Cartridge: 5.56x45mm [...]

Like you always do, you’ve done your “homework” and researched the crap out of your next purchase: be it a Smart TV, a camera, handgun or tires for your truck. And as a result of your data collection efforts, you eventually decide on an item knowing that it has “almost” all the features and qualities you had on your wish list.  It is a pretty good bet that the guys who engineered the new SAR 9 from SAR USA have felt the same way.

The Holy Grail of tactical shotguns has always been a detachable magazine feeding system. Several have come to market, but none of them worked well. Even those based on the ultra-reliable AK-47 fell short. For some reason, scaling up to 12 gauge just doesn’t feed the way it should. This week, we got our hands on the latest attempt to reach this bar. We have good news. For once, someone may have solved it

The muzzleloader can be a freezer-saver; many states offer a special season after, or sometimes before, the regular rifle season, and there may even be an additional tag involved. I have had deer seasons where the centerfire rifle went unfired for the entire season, and the muzzleloader was relied on to put meat in the freezer.

Among the multitude of autoloading handguns that a shooter has at his or her disposal, John M. Browning’s most famous pistol design still remains a perfectly viable choice, well over a century after it appeared.  The M1911 and the M1911A1, of the First and Second World Wars, respectively, showed the effectiveness of Browning’s brainchild, as well as the new cartridge designed for it: the .45 ACP, or Automatic Colt Pistol. The ACP marked a return to a .45 caliber sidearm for the military, as the M1892 revolver – firing a .38 Long Colt cartridge – didn’t have the power level that soldiers needed, and the Philippine Insurrection brought that quickly to light.

The Desert Eagle is a unique and iconic firearm. Though the Deagle, as most die-hard fans refer to the gun, has long been associated with the nation of Israel, naturally a gun this manly was originally born in America. The US patent application for this gas-operated pistol was approved in January of 1983 under the auspices of Magnum Research Inc. The gun earned a second patent in December of 1985. After Israel Military Industries refined the design the gun went into volume production.

ArmaLite began as a tiny little division of Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation in the early 1950’s. Fairchild built a variety of trainer and transport aircraft during and after World War II. Their most recognizable creation was the 1970s-era A10 Warthog ground attack fighter. Gene Stoner was the chief bottle washer at ArmaLite, and their mandate was to contrive the most technologically advanced military firearms designs on the planet. With a modest team of engineers, a few resources, and a remarkable excess of vision, these guys first strived to apply cutting-edge aviation technology to the development of small arms. Their efforts changed the way the world makes guns.

Need great balls of fire? Here’s one way to get some with the Fightlite SCR Raider pistol. The Raider has a Shockwave pistol grip and uses AR uppers.

Times have changed. In the past, there’s was a claim about pistol suppressors that, up until recently, still had relevance. The claim was that compared to rifle suppressors, pistol suppressors made less sense. On the other hand, a suppressed rifle can hang harmlessly and comfortably on a sling or sit on a bipod allowing the operator to load mags, and do other administrative duties without having to put the firearm in a less than ideal location. This theory held water until now, with the release of SilencerCo’s Maxim 9.

I am not generally a fan of the AK-47 family of weapons; I have spent too much time on the receiving end of them. But I am a fan of all things American made, so I was more than happy to review a couple of offerings from Century Arms.  Anything Commies can do, we can do better. And the boys from Vermont have set out to do just that. 

The whitetail deer has to be our most popular big game animal in the Continental Forty-Eight, yet the settings in which we hunt them, and the means with which we hunt them has got to be the most diverse ever.  Entire volumes have been written on what makes up the consummate deer gun, and while I’m not going to attempt to define that within this article, I would like to talk about some ideas to optimize your existing deer rifle, or perhaps to choose a different rifle in order to try a different means of deer hunting.

Aero Precision has a whole new line of super-lightweight free-floating handguards and updated enhanced forged lowers all at very desirable prices

There are a lot of options out there for 9mm suppressors, but not all of them are made equal. The SRD 9 kit from Sig Sauer is arguably the best deal going. Today we are going to take a look at why that is and what you should look for when purchasing a suppressor.

What would you think if I asked you about a Benelli M2 with a 25 round capacity? Work of science fiction? Only if micro mini shells have been introduced? Did I smoke rock this morning? Such a thing exists and it’s brought to you by our friends at Roth Concept Innovations (RCI).

The challenge in many industries is not always building a better mousetrap, but improving the one you already have. Nowhere is that more evident than in the AR Pistol realm. This corner of the AR world was occupied by dedicated aficionados who saw a place for this unique design. To make it something to appeal to the masses would take some doing, however.

A Missouri Republican Senate candidate got temporarily banned from his personal Facebook page after promoting an AR-15 giveaway.

Why do I want a sawed-off shotgun, a tiger skin run, and a moonshine still? Mostly because the government tells me I can’t have them. At least not without some serious hoop jumping. After all, anything is an option if the price is right. But for us mortals, we don’t have thousands of dollars and lawyers on call. Good news. Remington has solved one of those problems for us this week. At least in a new gauge, they did.

We’re all guilty, each and every one of us, myself included. We’ll be at a summer barbecue, or sharing a beer at the local pub, or sitting around the campfire, and the cartridge debate will begin. And, once it begins, you’re bound to hear all sorts of boastful claims, insistent arguing points, hand-me-down tales of perfect, flawless performance in the hands of various uncles and grandsires, and all sorts of reasons why any other cartridge than the metallic hero receiving adoration at that moment is a silly, wasteful, childish design. Sometimes you’ll hear – possibly simultaneously if the crowd is large enough and the tongues are loose – that old cartridge should be put out to pasture.

The .22LR is about as American as apple pie and it’s safe to say that no other .22 rifle is as American as the Ruger 10/22. Since the 1960’s, the Ruger 10/22 has been responsible for the countless shot-up cans, the taking of small game, and general fun having then just about any other .22LR made. This is for good reason. Similar to the AR-15, the 10/22 is manufactured in a way that makes it easy to swap out components to go from plinker to tack driver in no time.

There are lots of great companies competing for a slice of the AR-15 market, but it’s sometimes hard to find a rifle that is different. Enter Rock River Arms. I was torn between two rifles: the LAR-15 QMC (Quick Magazine Change) and the LAR-15 BTB (Better Than Basic) Carbine. I couldn’t decide between which one to test, so Rock Rivers graciously sent both.

Having the right tool for the right job helps eek out the most enjoyment of the sport. When I was invited to go waterfowl shooting, I didn’t want to risk water damage to the wood on my upland shotgun. Falling in the water or being pelted by hours of rain is not uncommon when waterfowl hunting, so I knew I needed a shotgun designed for the wet environment of a waterfowl blind. Enter the Mossberg 930 Pro-Series Waterfowl, a 12 gauge, gas operated semi-automatic shotgun designed to take the abusive environment of waterfowl hunting.

With the Hearing Protection Act being heard on Capitol Hill this week and the introduction of the Maxim50, suppressors are front and center in the shooting community. SIG Sauer has been marketing themselves as the “ total systems provider”, and that is proving more accurate by the day. This week, we finished the hard part of getting a suppressor. The waiting game.

The war in Vietnam saw the introduction of a wide array of new technologies. From smart bombs to night vision and lightweight assault rifles, Vietnam was a proving ground for countless new weapons and the tactics that drove their employment. As a result, flight crews operating Army rotary-wing combat aircraft frequently made up the rules as they went along.

As an outdoorsman, I enjoy being afield in all sorts of capacities. While hunting is one of my favorite pastimes, fishing and hiking are a wonderful means of spending time with friends and family and living in close proximity to both the Catskill and Adirondack mountains, there is ample opportunity for both of those activities. I am also, by trade, a Professional Land Surveyor, so my work hours are often spent in the remote wilderness areas.