Brian McCombie

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Okay, so the quote is actually (and incorrectly) attributed to Mark Twain, author of Huck Finn and many other novels. But it could as easily apply to the .40 Smith and Wesson as a self-defense caliber since reports of the caliber’s death were breathlessly hyped a couple years ago when the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced it was switching its duty sidearms from the .40 S&W to 9mm.

You can count on at least two things during every SHOT Show, the shooting sports industry’s mega-trade show held each January in Las Vegas. One, the crowds will be large enough to trample an elephant. Two, and more importantly, Leupold Optics will have new and upgraded optics on display for serious hunters and shooters. This [...]

For the 2019 SHOT Show, Timney Triggers rolled out their newest product, the Elite Hunter trigger for Remington 700 bolt-action rifles. Before SHOT, I secured a new Elite Hunter for testing and evaluation. What I discovered was a fine aftermarket trigger, one that breaks very cleanly, doesn’t hang up, and actually did help improve my accuracy.

A compact and lightweight binocular, the Droptine 10x42mm fit into a hunting pack and on a shooting range table. At 20.1 ounces, they’re light enough for long-term glassing.

On a recent South Texas hunt with the Nosler M48 Handgun, the Burris 3-12 let me see well enough to shoot right up to dark and then several minutes beyond. It took some good bouncing around, in hunting blinds and vehicles, and held zero.

No one knows what John Browning would’ve thought of a polymer 1911, but it is possible to judge how it performs. And we did just that.

The M48 Nosler Custom Handgun as a hunting handgun which challenges the hunter. It’s also a lot of fun to shoot, once you get used to it.

I’m a big fan of all things 10MM, and Speer got my attention recently when the ammunition maker announced the new Speer Gold Dot 10MM Auto Personal Defense round, firing a 200-grain Gold Dot bullet.

I rose from my blind, Stoeger 3500 semi-auto shotgun pressed to my shoulder. In seconds, I’d fired off my three shells and was sure I’d missed everything.