Feature Articles

The revived S&W 396 Night Guard in .44 Special promises the perfect middle ground between snubnose carry and full-size shootability. It starts strong, shoots well, and then delivers the kind of reliability failure that turns nostalgia into frustration fast.

ATF is proposing to remove the CLEO notification requirement from the NFA process, which could finally kill one more pointless paperwork headache for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, AOWs, machineguns, and other NFA firearms.

The best micro compact pistols cram serious capacity, real shootability, and everyday carry comfort into guns that almost disappear under a shirt. From the SIG P365X to the Wilson Combat SFX9, these five tiny carry pistols prove small does not have to mean helpless.

The Holosun SCS promises a pistol red dot with direct Glock MOS mounting, solar charging, no battery swaps, and enough toughness to ride on a 10mm Glock 20. I ran it like a defensive optic, worried about the solar power, broke a screw, dunked it in water, and still came away thinking this little green dot is one of the easiest pistol optics to live with.

The Vasa was built to project Swedish power, terrify rivals, and dominate the sea. Instead, this lavish 1628 warship barely made it off the dock before tipping over and turning into one of naval history’s most spectacular disasters.

The Mossberg 590 Bliksem is not just a camo-coated conversation piece. It is a compact, optic-ready 12-gauge firearm with real defensive utility, slick factory upgrades, and enough personality to make a plain black shotgun feel downright boring.

The S&W 617 Mountain Gun looks like the .22 LR K-frame woods revolver a lot of shooters have been waiting for. It shoots well, carries the right Mountain Gun attitude, and then trips over the kind of quality-control problem that makes a man shake his head twice.

The Tracer Tactical Burro is not just another rifle scabbard pretending to be tactical. It is a hard-sided, muzzle-up, MOLLE-covered rifle carry system that protects suppressed rifles, thermals, optics, and expensive field gear without turning deployment into a zipper-fumbling circus.

The DNT Hydra HS335R tries to pull off the night-hunting equivalent of a five-tool magic trick. It is a thermal scope, clip-on, scanner, laser rangefinder, and ballistic calculator packed into a 15-ounce unit selling for under $1,800.