Gun Reviews

You can always tell which guns are surprisingly good by how many fans they have. Howa, a Japanese firearm maker that dates back to WWII Arisaka rifles, is one of those companies that if you say a bad word, hundreds of defender fanboys and girls will appear out of the woodwork to explain how you are mistaken. Maybe not the biggest kept secret in the gun world, Howas are great guns, and they are imported exclusively under their own brand through Legacy Sports International. Howa also makes the Weatherby Vangaurd, and the two rifles are for the most part interchangeable. This Howa 1500 Zeiss combo is a new gun for 2014, and we were able to test it before SHOT Show. Our test gun is a .308 Winchester, with a 3-9x power Zeiss sporting optic. The Zeiss is likewise made in Japan, not Germany or America like the flagship Zeiss products, but like most Japanese optics we have tested, it is clear as a bell with great edge clarity. The rifle itself is flawless, and a tack driver with factory Hornady ammo. Howa also has a nifty three-position safety, so you can open the bolt to unload your round with the trigger blocked. The Howa 1500 is a high-end rifle with a middle-of-the-road price. We don’t have a price for this gun yet, but most Howa rifle/scope packages go for $650-$800, and this one should fall somewhere in there as well.

Sometimes the reviews here at GunsAmerica are driven by advertising, but not the way you have come to expect them to be in the print pubs. In the case of the Springfield Armory EMP Micro-Pistol, the first time an ad for it ran alongside one of our Digest emails, over 7,000 of you clicked on the ad, instead of one of the articles (ahem). This seemed to indicate that a lot of people were interested in the gun, so we asked Springfield for a test subject, in .40 S&W. The result was not only getting to shoot a genuinely nifty and useful firearm. It turns out that the gun is not just YA1911. (Yet Another 1911). Unlike all of the other 1911-style pistols in 9mm and .40S&W, the EMP was re-engineered to shoot these cartridges specifically. It is truly a “scaled down” 1911, and the components have been made to function reliably with both a smaller cartridge, and smaller barrel length, in the 1911 design. The grip angle is the same as the standard 1911 but the grip is thinner, and guts of the gun are smaller to work in a shorter space. We tested our EMP extensively, and it is both reliable and accurate. At a street price in the $1,200 range, this is not an inexpensive firearm, but with stock tritium night sights and custom shop grade parts, the Springfield EMP is a lot of gun if you want to carry a 1911 for personal defense. This gun has been available for many years in both 9mm and .40 S&W, but judging by how many of you clicked on the ad, there are still plenty of people who didn’t know about it.

If you like small guns, you’ll find the Bond Arms derringer both capable and versatile. Its capabilities stem from the fact that it’s not as punishing to shoot as you might expect. In fact, controllability and shootability are very good with every caliber shot for this review. Its versatility stems from the wide selection of barrels, calibers and grips available. Whichever of the eight models you select initially (nine including their new Backup model), you can add barrels and grips to turn it into any of the other models. Mix and match grips and barrels to customize it to your needs. Bond Arms’ price list shows a total of 21 barrels capable of firing 17 different calibers. Their 3” barrel, their most versatile, is available in .22LR, .22Mag, .327 fed mag, 9mm, .357/.38spl., .40 S&W, 10mm, .44spl., .44/40, .45GAP, .45ACP, .45Colt, and .45/.410 (2 ½” chamber). However, as in most guns that serve multiple needs, it does some things better than others. I toured the factory in Granbury, Texas, USA, with owner and president Gordon Bond to see just how these guns are made. With the exception of the 400 series stainless steel forgings from which the guns are machined, all the work is done in-house. It may be a small company, but that doesn’t mean they don’t use state-of-the-art equipment to ensure their high quality standards. From numerically controlled milling machines operating down to less than ten thousandths of an inch accuracy, to robotic arms which provide precision and repeatability in surface preparation, to the artistry of individual experts who assemble, polish, and time the  function of the finished product — quality is their principal driver.

This November 22nd will be 50 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The shooting itself has been the subject of movies, documentaries and countless books and articles; the legitimacy of any of them, including the official government explanation, called the Warren Report, is not within our purview to say. But we thought it would be cool to try to find one of the rifles that came from the same batch as Oswarld’s supposed murder weapon, and see what it looks like close up, and how it actually shoots. The 6.5mm Carcano we were able to find is serial-numbered C4880, and Oswald’s was C2766. That puts it only a couple thousand rifles away in the production line, and our test rifle has the original scope mount and scope found on Oswald’s as well, almost exactly like the rifle/scope combo he bought out of the February 1963 American Rifleman ad from Kleins for $19.99. We don’t know if the parts were originally on this gun and that they were part of that small batch of imports for Kleins, but it sure is cool, albeit a bit morbid, to shoot a nearly exact replica of the gun that changed the course of America, a course that still reverberates with the assassination today.

The finer things in life are sometimes just those things that technology can’t capture. If a gun is a classic, like the 1911, modern updates are great to carry an effective design forward. But there is a magic to the old guns that Cerakote and Picatinny rails can’t match for some. Doug Turnbull has been restoring classic 1911s, cowboy guns and classic shotguns for decades, with the correct bluing, case coloring and even the original roll engravings. If you missed our first article on Turnbull restorations, you really should read it. The problem with the old guns, though, is that there are only so many of them that are good candidates for restoration. And for 1911s, the further we get from the year 1911, the more any 100% original gun will be worth, regardless of condition. That is why Doug decided to bring the 1911 into his family of newly manufactured firearms, a list that includes the Winchester 1886, Colt Peacemaker style revolvers, and we recently reviewed the Turnbull steel version of the AR-15. If you have always wanted a 1911 that looked, felt and worked like a gun new in the box circa pre-1920, the Turnbull 1911 is the most accurate gun you could possibly own. We got to shoot Doug’s version of this modern classic, and sure enough, the safety is even stiff. These guns are available directly from Turnbull Restorations for $1,950.

Before there was a Sig P226 or a Beretta M92 there was a the Browning High Power. It was made by Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, and was designed by John Moses Browning like like the Colt 1911. But unlike the 1911, the High Power has always stayed under the Browning name and it is still manufactured today by Miroku in Japan. The major departure from the 1911 on the High Power is the feature that brings the 226 and M92 into the same family of guns. It is a double action/single action, method of firing. On the first shot, the trigger both pulls back the hammer and releases it, like a revolver. Once the first round is fired, the hammer stays back from being cocked by the recoil of the first shot, then the second shot fires single action. The tangent sight marks this as a military contract High Power. It is among the more desirable models from a collector standpoint.
The tangent sight marks this as a military contract High Power. It is among the more desirable models from a collector standpoint.
This double action/single action design evolved into an entire class of pistols, that eventually came with hammer decockers and safety decockers, but the original High Power had neither of those. It can be carried with the simple manual safety engaged, hammer back in single action (holstered of course), or without the safety engaged in double action mode. There have been several copies of the Browning FN high power over the years, but the original High Power is still made today for Browning by Miroku in Japan. Examples of the Belgian made High Powers are thought to be the original classic guns, and are sought by both collectors and shooters today.

Sturm Ruger & Co. knew back in 2009 that they needed to be in the semi-auto rifle market with more than just the Mini-14. They wanted an AR-15-type rifle, but soon discovered that the“Mil-Spec” AR-15 left a lot to be desired. A standard AR sends its hot gases back to the bolt, pushing on the bolt carrier and opening it for the next shot. This makes for a very hot and very dirty bolt group after only a few rounds, and this can and does hurt both short and long term reliability. So while most of the market was busy copying the standard AR-15 design with their own branded product, Ruger decided to take the less beaten path, and create their own design. That design was the SR-556, in 5.56 NATO, or .223 Remington. Instead of just gas, the 556 employed a rod to move the bolt, this rod rode above the barrel, and was controlled by an adjustable gas block. The design is very similar to the rifle that used to be called “the right arm of the free world,” the FN-FAL. This new Ruger rifle contained the gas/rod system of the FAL, yet had the weight advantage and ergonomics of the AR-15. Out of the gate the SR-556 was a hit for Ruger, and several variations of the SR556 are still extremely popular today.

The only thing is, the FAL is a 7.62×51 (.308 Winchester), not a 5.56. So since the introduction of the SR-556 the market has been screaming for a SR-762. About two weeks ago Ruger finally introduced one into the market, based on the exact design of the SR-556. The MSRP of the SR-762 is a hefty $2195, but as an “all you’ll ever need” rifle, we found it to be just that, and worthy of a lifetime purchase decision.

It was a huge surprise when this past Labor day weekend we started to hear that Springfield Armory had announced a recall on their XD-S series of concealed carry pistols If you are not familiar with the XD-S, it is a small, but not tiny, 45acp six shot, and this year Springfield brought out a 9mm eight shot, with the same external dimensions. The magic of the XD-S is ergonomics. The .45 shoots like a 9mm of any other brand, and the 9mm shoots like a .380 of any other brand. Springfield has never had a recall on any of their guns, so nobody knew what to expect. This article is something of an update, with the latest news, and we got to shoot a couple of the modified XD-S’s this weekend. An overview and review follow.

This past Friday, October 18th, Springfield started shipping back the upgraded guns from the folks who had sent them in starting that first week in September, when we first sent out our notification. The guns will be upgraded in the order that they were received. Denny Reese, the Co-CEO of Springfield explained what’s going on with the upgrade process in an interview on Friday.

In a perfect world one gun will do everything you need. Well, the world isn’t perfect and who really only wants only one gun anyway? But a little FLEX’ability never hurts. When President Obama talked about people clinging to religion and guns, the gun he was probably talking about was the Mossberg 500 shotgun. If you are going to cling to a gun, the 500 isn’t the worst choice you could make, and it is probably the best. Last year Mossberg came out with a new addition to the 500 line, called FLEX, and it is indeed meant to bring a certain “FLEX’ability” to your Mossberg. At first glance you might think the various accessories in the pictures just screw on and off like normal hardware, but they do not. The FLEX system, in this first incarnation, is made up of three linkage systems. One is on the forend. Another is on the wrist of the gun, where the stock connects, and the third is on the butt of the stocks. With the FLEX system, one Mossberg 500 can be converted from a full length duck gun to a tricked out tactical to a bare bones pistol grip in about 30 seconds. Different recoil pads adapt for different sized shooters, and it takes no tools whatsoever to change the parts. Both the 500 and 590 guns are out in the market as FLEX guns, and they retail in the $450-$550 range depending on configuration.

The DoubleTap Tactical Pocket Pistol is an over/under break action derringer capable of delivering two rounds of 9 mm or .45ACP as fast as you can pull the trigger. It is sold as a simple and rugged option for deep concealment or backup. Make no mistake, this is not a range gun or plinker. It’s designed for one purpose and one purpose only – saving your life. We first saw the DoubleTap almost two years at SHOT Show 2012, but after some hiccups with manufacturing contracts and parts suppliers, the DoubleTap pistol is just now finding its way into the market. Our big question, and yours most likely, is the street practicality of the DoubleTap. The .45ACP is no kitten when it comes to recoil, and even though your followup shots are limited to one in the two shot pistol, an “ouch that hurts” after the first shot wouldn’t be the ideal in a concealed carry pistol. There are a lot of perfectly good pocket pistols on the market, and this gun has several red flags, as well as some outright user discomfort. At an MSRP starting at $499 for a two shot derringer, do we really need the DoubleTap?

There are a lot of guns in the market that gun nuts take for granted. They are basically good guns that have been around for a long time and sell a ton, yet they are really nothing special. But with all of the new shooters coming into the market, particularly women shooters, some old and extremely average guns are developing a dedicated following because they work, they fit great, and they are not expensive. Never one for big headlines, the Taurus TCP, also known as the Model 738, is a 10.2 ounce .380 6+1 that is carried by thousands of people every day, yet you rarely if ever see an interesting review or article on the gun. It is the lightest Taurus ever made, and since the arrival at Taurus of Mark Kresser and a new focus on consistency and quality control, the Taurus TCP deserves a fresh look. We asked our resident girl guru Carrie Lightfoot from The Well Armed Womanto take the gun for a spell, and have her whole crew shoot it and let us know what they think. Overall the gun did really well in the eyes of these very critical ladies, and they felt that the TCP was designed to be “just right” for the woman shooter. Here is Carrie’s overview:

Any new gun in the market should face extreme scrutiny. This is particularly true of a new design, and even more so of a new concept, engineered into a new design. Back in 2011 we got our first look at a bullpup 15 round pump shotgun in the form of the Kel-Tec KSG. At the time, most gunwriters who got one were elated with the gun, including us. But part of that elation was that this entirely new concept had come from Kel-Tec, an American company that had already pulled off groundbreaking products like the PMR-30 and another bullpup, the .308 caliber RFB rifle. Nothing about the KSG was a disappointment. The engineering made sense, and the gun worked fabulously. This year a new 15 round bullpup came into the market called the UTS-15 from UTAS-USA. It has the magazine tubes on the top instead of the bottom like the KSG. It has a built in flashlight/laser combo, and it is made in Turkey. We were finally able to get our hands on one this week, and like any other newly designed mechanical device, there are positives and negatives to the gun. Overall it worked well, but we did have some light strikes and mis-feeds. Understanding the differences between the UTS-15 and the KSG will be a big part of deciding which gun to try to buy. The KSG is still extremely backordered, selling for up to twice MRSP, while the UTS-15, MSRP $1200, is currently available in the market at close to that price. The UTS-15 is a lot of gun for the money, and if a 15 round shotgun is in your future, this may be the superior gun. Is it a KSG killer? No. But is it a viable option? Possibly yes.

What is the best 22LR rifle? Every gun nut gets that question several times a year, and the answer always is a question. “Do you want a semi-auto or a bolt action?” If the answer is semi-auto, most people will suggest the Ruger 10/22. But until now, if they answered a bolt action, very few if any people would suggest a Ruger. Their 77/22 is a little known rifle and carries a price of about $700. Today Ruger changed that by releasing what is arguably the coolest and most investment worthy rimfire bolt action in the world. It is called the Ruger American Rimfire, and we got to shoot and test it extensively over the last couple weeks. It features a unique system to change the comb height and length of pull on the gun, and the receiver has both a machined rail for 3/8” rimfire rings as well as being drilled and tapped for regular rings. All this rides on Ruger’s patent pending Power Bedding (R) system, where the polymer stock has metal fittings embedded in it, just like a polymer pistol. This makes the rifle as solid as a rock for accuracy, and our testing of the .22LR model showed that the rifle has great potential to be a tack driver. It takes 10/22 mags, and the suggested retail price all four of the 4 models coming out now in both .22LR and .22WMR are $329. Your local gunshop will either have them on the shelf this week, or can order them through their distributors.

The amazing new rimfire we have all been gushing about since January’s SHOT Show has finally come to fruition. Winchester Ammunition, teamed up with Savage Arms, has introduced a new .17 caliber cartridge called the .17 Winchester Super Magnum that is capable of firing a 20 grain bullet at just better than 3,000 feet per second. That makes it the fastest rimfire ever created, and puts it in a class pretty much by itself for long range rimfire competition and varmint hunting. The problem until now has been that the only reviews out there were from print writers who all shot the exact same prototype rifle that was made for a print writers roundup, so it had very little relationship to the actual gun that you would later find in a store. Add to that the fact that the ammo was simply not available, period. Savage sent us this test rifle over two months ago, but we had no ammo, so like everyone else, we waited. Finally, as you can see from these tests, the ammo has started to trickle out. Several of our dealers have reported that they have gotten 40 box orders in (and quickly out) the door, and this ammo you see here was purchased retail at Bass Pro in Hollywood, Florida. We were only able to get the 2600fps. 25 grain load, but it is still a rip roaring monster for a rimfire, and the accuracy is acceptable, (though not fabulous for a Savage). The Savage “B-Mag” rifle is currently the only gun for the cartridge, and it carries an MSRP of $349. As a first effort on a new and revolutionary rimfire, the B-Mag performed well, and the cartridge looks to have great potential.

For years there has been something of a Glock Unicorn. It’s been called a hybrid Glock .45 ACP pistol made from the thin slide of a Glock 36 and the wide body frame of a Glock 30. According to the Internet forum mavens, you end up with a high capacity Glock (10 rounds) with the thinner slide of a the subcompact (and only 6 round) G36, making it lighter and easier to carry. But unlike Unicorns, this wasn’t a myth. People actually did it. They bought two guns and cobbled them together since, just because they could. Glock fanatics have wailed and begged for such a gun to be made in production, but Glock seemed to not hear the call.

Then, at the 2013 SHOT Show, I saw a Unicorn, uh, I mean a Glock 30S – the very gun that consumers wanted. I wanted to know the “why” behind this, and after talking to LAPD Staff, Glock Representatives, and people in the industry I found out how an internet forum phenomenon became a regular production pistol.

Convertible guns have never been that popular in the US. Putting the top up and down is such a pain, and… just kidding. This type of convertible gun allows you to change calibers, shooting two or more types of ammo through the same gun. Europeans, and especially European hunters have always loved convertible guns, but they never really caught on here for some reason. It could be our obsession with rifle accuracy. Even though the average hunter can’t shoot within two minutes of basketball (according to famed hunter writer Ross Seyfried), Americans really love the idea of an accurate firearm, one that can, if shot by the right person with the right rest, shoot into the width of a quarter or less at 100 yards, or 1 MOA, for “Minute of Angle.” That was the challenge when CZ-USA decided to introduce a rimfire combo gun to the US market. It is called the Model 455 American Combo, and the retail prices start just north of $400. In the box, the gun comes with both .22LR and .17HMR barrels, and changing them out takes only two Allen wrenches, included with the gun. We shot our pictures of the test gun in the field, so you can see how easy it swaps, and the accuracy on both barrels is closer to 1/2MOA than 1MOA. The CZ 455 comes in a polymer stock configuration, a competition stock, even a Mannlicher style stock with hi-lux wood, in addition to the basic Walnut you see here. If you have longed for an old world style bolt rimfire, this CZ 455 offers you both the classic look and feel of the 50s and 60s, with the ability to convert from a .22LR plinker to a .17HMR hunting rifle, and you can get a .22WMR barrel as well.

Not all gun enthusiasts are gun nuts, so when the firearms industry comes out with a new “official” caliber, a lot of us just shake our heads and ask “why?” The .17 Hornet is the latest caliber to come into primetime. It was designed by Hornady after more than five decades of the cartridge living in the “wildcat” world of those who design their own calibers. The Hornady version of the .17 Hornet is slightly different than the original .17 Hornet designed by P.O. Ackley which was a necked down .22 Hornet. This .17 Hornet pushes a 20 grain bullet at over 3600 feet per second, and early tests showed great potential for the round not only in downrange performance, but also in extreme accuracy. Savage Arms, the company known more than anything for affordable out of the box accuracy, has teamed up with Hornady to introduce the round with 4 models in their Model 25 line. We were able to test the $635 MSRP camo version of the Savage “Walking Varminter” Model 25 in .17 Hornet and it is an insanely accurate tack driver, as well as being deadly on game. The interesting thing about the .17 Hornet is that it has nearly the same trajectory as the 55 grain .223 Remington, so you can use caliber specific reticle scopes meant for the .223, for the .17 Hornet. This isn’t a rimfire like the .17HMR. You can reload the .17 Hornet and handload it to tune the round to your rifle. Good luck trying to find the rounds or brass right now, but by mid-summer we’ll probably be able to get it, and the rifles are out and available.

One of the bi-products of the artificial gun shortage we just experienced is that a lot of guns that otherwise wouldn’t have made it to dealer shelves not only made it, but sold out. One of those was a new line of shotguns from an old brand called Webley & Scott. Don’t be fooled. This is a purchased name that is being put on guns that are made by modern manufacturers in Turkey and Italy. The old Webley & Scott, originally from Birmingham, England, is long dead and buried, and with them went their production of some of the finest shotguns and rifles in history. Still, these new guns coming out under the W&S name are very interesting. We haven’t gotten a look at the Italian SxS and O/U guns, but in the home defense realm, they have a new “slingshot action” that is somewhat unique. It isn’t a true pump and it isn’t a true autoloader, but rather something in between. We bought one, just to see if it works, and to see if this type of action could be the next revolution in home defense shotguns. The street price is around $300 for our tested model, and for the most part it worked great. The slingshot action is something that you would have to get used to, but for a new fangled gimmick, at least it mostly works. The only problem is that new shooters might see the Webley & Scott moniker and buy this gun thinking that it is tried and true design from a trusted name. It isn’t, and they aren’t. The original Webley & Scott engineers are most likely wretching in their graves knowing that someone is pawning off Turkish junk under the auspices of their good names, but the guns do work, and they are inexpensive.

Great guns are always the most difficult to review. After all, a gun is just a fairly simple mechanical device that is made to withstand a bunch of force and direct its energy in a particular direction, one that you are aiming at. What made the original XD-S such an amazing great gun when it was first introduced was that it did this in a big caliber, without a lot of wear and tear on the shooter. Shooting.the tiny, pocketable XD-S 45ACP without a disabling recoil or muzzle flip is pretty amazing when you try it in person. You won’t believe how different the gun shoots unless you try it. The newest XD-S, in 9mm, is the same size as the original 45, brought to market this year in response to overwhelming demand for the smaller caliber. It shoots even lighter than the original, holds two more rounds, and side by side with every other “micro-9” in the market, flips a lot less. The XD-S is a full featured pistol, with a loaded round indicator, last round hold open, and the new 9mm comes with two 7 round magazines, an outside the waistband holster, and a dual magazine holster. It it also has an grip insert for smaller hands and extra fiber optic sight inserts in two colors. The street price of the XD-S 9mm should be around $550-$600. Nobody was surprised that Springfield came out with a 9mm XD-S, and we await the .40S&W version, but until you shoot the gun it is difficult to understand just how much the XD-S, in both the original .45ACP and now 9mm, outclasses the competition. If you remember our original review of the XD-S .45ACP back in June of last year, we correctly predicted that this gun would be a game changer for the market. The 9mm version is more of the same, for those who want a couple more rounds in the mag and an even lighter shooting pocket pistol. They should be at your local gun dealers this week.

It used to be that a hunting rifle was something you took out of the gun cabinet once a year, usually around the first week in November. Whitetail used to be synonymous with hunting, but that is no longer the case. Nuisance animals, with no natural predators who hunt them, have reached an epic proportion in America, and a lot of people hunt them for sport, while serving a useful cause for weary landowners. Hogs, coyotes, prairie dogs and even alligators have turned “hunting season” into a year round experience, one that is entirely different than whitetail hunting. Ambush Rifles is a project of Daniel Defense, makers of high end customizable AR-15 platform rifles. The Ambush rifle is an AR-15, and all of the parts are interchangeable with a normal AR, but that is where the similarity ends. Anyone can dip an AR-15 in camo and cal it a hunting rifle, but Daniel Defense has taken the Ambush a step higher, by fitting it with not only premium components and a hammer forged barrel, but also a shotgun like fore-grip and monolithic upper for sturdy performance from your optics. Most importantly, the Ambush isn’t only available in in 5.56 NATO. We have used a version in the devastating 6.8 SPC, and the hottest caliber out these days is the .300 Blackout. All three calibers carry an MSRP of $1749. Our experience with the first version of the Ambush for over a year now has been incredible. Take a look at the pictures. This is only a fraction of the game that has fallen to our 6.8 Ambush. The second version of these guns is now shipping, and they are even better than the originals.

It was by complete surprise that the Beretta Nano became one of my favorite carry guns. I reluctantly took an assignment to review the Nano even though I had never had much affection for Beretta firearms, and I had already reviewed a number of similar 9mm pistols. I could never have expected the Nano to become my favorite gun to carry among the micro-9s. In fact, the Nano sits comfortably in my pocket as I write this review. Despite my initial hesitation, I found the Nano to be a nearly perfect deep concealment pistol.

In many ways, the Beretta Nano is a typical micro-sized 9mm with a 3-inch barrel. It is a double-action striker-fired semi-auto with a capacity of 6+1 rounds. The pistol measures only 5.6 inches long and 4.2 inches high. The width is an impressive .9 inches, making pocket carry a realistic option. The gun tips the scale at nearly 20 ounces unloaded, which is certainly not a featherweight in this class of pistols, but is still manageable for deep concealment.

The .40 S&W is not just a flash in the pan as some writers called it when it first came out in the late ’80’s. It is the mainstay of American law enforcement, and may even see some favor in our Spec Ops community. In both the law enforcement and civilian market, the Glock is king of the .40 heap. There is not an agency in my county, and likely my state, that doesn’t at least allow for the Glock. Moreover, the gun that seems to go the fastest right now in the gun stores is, you guessed it, the Glock. Is it any wonder why Glock is backordered around one million guns.

Not a lot of people would argue that the .223/5.56 is an extremely versatile and useful cartridge. The problem is that not everyone wants to shoot an AR-15 platform for every task, and let’s face it, AR-15s aren’t cheap. Mossberg came up with an idea to make a .223 bolt gun that uses AR-15 mags and for SHOT Show of this year, they released the MVP series. A lot of us are jumping up and down yelling YES YES YES. The MVPs come in several different configurations, from a 24″ barrel and target stock, down to a 16″ stubby patrol rifle that takes a suppressor. All of the guns have a 1:9 twist rate, so they will handle the same range of bullets as most AR-15s, and from what we found with our test gun, an 18″ laminate stock Predator model, these new Mossberg bolt guns are tack drivers. Our primary concern testing the gun was whether the reverse engineering for AR-15 mags worked as hoped, because nobody has really done this before and you have to wonder why. But our little MVP had zero problems digesting from its own 10 round mag and even the long 30 round P-Mags, never failing to pick up the next round, and you could jiggle the magazine back and forth with no hitching of the bolt whatsoever. It works because Mossberg put a little tab sticking out of the bottom of the bolt to pick up the shells. The MSRP for our MVP Predator is $729, and the series tops out at the Flex Patrol version at $928. The street prices will be well under that when the market comes back to normal, and your local stocking dealer most likely has them well below MSRP right now, but call before you go. The MVP seems like an idea whose time has come, and these guns are 100% Made in USA.

The cargo hijacked from tractor trailers each year in the U.S. is valued at more than ½ billion dollars, and the encounters are often violent. Some in the industry, including a few at CVA, suspect more and more semi drivers are purchasing easy-to-load, .50-caliber muzzleloading pistols like the Optima V2 in response.

At first blush you might think you have to shell out big bucks for a long-range rifle, but the Remington Model 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD with a suggested retail of only $833 will hold its own against rifles costing much more. Features like a 1-in-10-inch twist, 20-inch heavy barrel with a threaded muzzle, a Hogue OverMolded Ghillie Green Pillar Bedded Stock and Remington’s externally adjustable X-Mark Pro trigger make this .308 Win. a bargain when it comes to precision rifles.

In a 1911 market that really should be saturated by now and an economy that’s arguably still struggling, Ruger is adding a Commander-size SR1911CMD for the concealed-carry gun owner who wants a quality, American-made 1911 for only $829. It used to be that if you wanted a reliable and accurate 1911, you bought a Colt and then spent more than the cost of the gun on custom gunsmithing. Depending on what you wanted, the sky was the limit. I credit Kimber with changing that in the mid-1990s when it aggressively entered the 1911 market with factory-made guns flush with all the bells and whistles and set off a race to the top that seems to still be going.

Smith & Wesson’s 2012 arrival to the micro-sized 9 mm-pistol market was fashionably late, about a year after just about every pistol company in the gun industry put out a pocketable 9mm. But while most of the competitors pared down their 9mm pocket gun, Smith & Wesson managed to keep most of the features of the full sized M&P, and this proved to be an instant hit with the army of M&P enthusiasts out there. It made perfect sense to retain as much of the M&P design as a micro-sized pistol would permit, but that took more time, and it was a tough judgement call for Smith & Wesson to debut the Shield at SHOT Show 2012 instead of 2011 when so many pocket 9mm pistols were released. A year later, just coming out of SHOT Show 2013, it seems to have paid off for Smith & Wesson. The Shield has been for the most part sold out since its introduction a year ago, and now with some serious range time on the guns, the Shield has shown to be very accurate and reliable. It is one of the few striker pistols on the market with a manual thumb safety, which almost puts the gun in a category by itself.

I’ve been carrying the Wilson Combat CQB Elite for more than three years and its only hiccup came a few weeks ago, oddly in the hands of my eldest grandson about to deploy. For some rarely used self-defense handguns that would be a serious indictment, but this 1911 has sent thousands of rounds downrange, it’s been carried nearly every day and I’m not known for being particularly “gentle” to anything I own. Add the fact that field stripping and cleaning duties have been surrendered to my teen grandsons—eager for takedown practice, but not always thorough in cleaning and proper lubrication—and this handgun is lifesaving reliable.

Then there’s its eagerness to digest anything and everything I feed it. I think I’ve loaded and tested this gun with nearly every modern .45 ACP load on the planet. If I wipe it down after a full day of carry I feel guilty because I have too much time on my hands, and despite the bangs and bumps of a one-hour commute to work, each way, it still commands reverence at the range. It is, after all, a Wilson.

Mossberg’s Silver Reserve is a line of entry-level, break-open shotguns that cover an array of sporting shotgun activities. Models include basic field over-unders for hunting, sporting guns with competition-specific features for competitive shooting, and nostalgic side-by-sides for those who pine for simpler times.

The newest generation of Silver Reserve shotguns—the Silver Reserve II—is still modestly priced, but also has some of the special touches hunters and shooters expect on higher-quality double guns. Those features include black walnut stocks with fine-line checkering and blued barrels complemented by silver-finished receivers sporting wraparound classic scroll engraving. Functionally, the Silver Reserve II line offers chrome-plated chambers and bores, dual-locking lugs and tang-mounted safety/barrel selectors as standard features. A variety of barrel lengths and stock options are also available.