Feature Articles

In many ways, the upper and lower receivers on an AR-15 are just shells that hold pieces and parts together. But the barrel? Now we’re getting complex. How much you can expect from your rifle depends in large part on its barrel. Here are some things to look for and some answers to the complicated questions.

Looking for a way to upgrade your GLOCK? Lone Wolf has options. You can swap out individual pieces, or buy an assembled slide. And now, if you pick up an assembled Timberwolf lower, you can assemble a complete firearm made by Lone Wolf. This compact model is like the GLOCK 19 perfected.

Just because I like to have fun with every aspect of my life doesn’t mean I don’t take things like every day carry seriously. Hey, I can make fun of Shannon Watts and her outrageous lies while always realizing the serious threat people like that pose to our rights. Here’s what I’m carrying…

This old Smith Model 30 is made on the J frame and is marked 30-1 on the crane. It dates from about 1970 and shows a bit of wear here and there from its 45 year or so life. This Smith belongs to Jon Hodoway and was his grandmothers revolver. He said she kept it in the towel drawer in her kitchen for defense against 2, 4 and no legged varmints.

Looking for an ideal way to blow through a brick of .22 LR? Now that they’re actually brick of rimfire rounds sitting around on store shelves, you might as well. And the Mossberg Blaze-47 is a great way to do it. This rimfire has the nostalgia of the old AK, but and is almost as cheap to run as a 7.62×39.

I’ve had lots of conversations with gun-geeks about barrels and lowers. We can talk triggers until we’re blue in the face. But I’ve yet to anyone truly debate the AR upper. Uppers are just not that sexy. But this is a crucial aluminum shell that holds some of the AR’s most active components. It can’t be overlooked!

The “disposables of life” is what we talk about this week in Prepping 101. It is kind of an icky subject, but these are things that you have to think about in a post collapse world. Nobody can foresee all of the pitfalls of survival, but as the end approaches it is important to tie up the details of things that are unavoidable as potential survival disasters. Dirty is dead in a survival situation. Most of the alternatives we look at this week are affordable, and they work!

This isn’t your average revolver. The Smith & Wesson 647 Varminter is a complete long-range package. What kind of accuracy can you expect from a rimfire handgun? You just might be surprised. Read our review of this unique wheel-gun.

Regardless of the rifle, if magazines exist for it, some of them are terrible. This is hard to believe for AK owners, who have only ever seen their rifle run flawlessly, but there are in fact, AKM magazines of questionable quality and reliability. So how do you distinguish between gold and crap?