Feature Articles

The Ruger No. 1 and No. 3 turn hunting into a one-shot proposition, pairing old-school falling-block simplicity with real hunting accuracy. One of these rifles even punched a 0.96-inch group at 100 yards.

The $90 Vortex Triumph 10×28 HD binoculars are compact, lightweight, and surprisingly useful. I packed them for my honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, where they helped us discover a shipwreck and reminded me why the best optics are often the ones you actually bring along.

Two young Marine F4U Corsair pilots entered a savage Pacific dogfight and somehow survived the impossible. One met a Japanese Zero’s propeller. The other fell 2,000 feet without a working parachute.

The Springfield Echelon Pro 4.5F Comp is the flattest-shooting Echelon I have fired, with a built-in compensator, aggressive new grip texture and practical upgrades that make a difference on the range. At $899, is this the best polymer pistol Springfield has built yet?

The Taurus TX22 Braced takes an already impressive .22 LR pistol and adds a folding brace, optics-ready slide and suppressor-friendly setup. It ran cheap ammo surprisingly well and delivered plenty of fun, but the missing manual safety and a stubborn brace button left me with a few complaints.

The FN SCAR has grown from the 5.56 rifle reviewed here into a full family spanning fast-handling carbines and 20-inch precision rifles. For 2026, the question is no longer whether the SCAR is interesting. It is whether the 16S, 17S, or 20S makes enough sense to justify one very serious swipe of the credit card.

The ATN ThOR 6 Elite LRF 640 packs a 15mK sensor, onboard ballistic calculator, and laser rangefinder into a surprisingly light thermal scope. After time on coyotes, cattle, and 627-yard steel, this thing proved it is more than spec-sheet bait.

A young Italian officer stole a brand new submarine to drag his nation into war, then helped shape the frogmen who inspired modern special ops. It sounds like Clancy, but it actually happened.

The old Colt Python earned a reputation as one of the finest revolvers ever built, then disappeared long enough to become painfully collectible. Colt brought the snake back in 2020 with stronger construction and redesigned internals, giving 2026 buyers a much harder question: buy the legend, or buy the modern gun built to shoot?