Feature Articles

Everyone needs a plan B. And that got me thinking. From everything I see, there is a “master plan” that will lead us to a directed outcome, yet there is no way to tell what that is coming. You can’t take all of your survival supplies with you in daily travels ,and what are the statistical chances that you will have your survival supplies at hand should “the big one” pop? What if I’m on the way back from Legoland with my kids and there is a roadblock between me and home? Granted, at some point you have to accept that the One Above is in charge, but I do believe in due diligence. You can drive yourself nuts with the what ifs, but is it wise to hide some survival supplies, especially outside of your property? What kind of storage will last for years, and protect the contents inside from pests and water damage? I found a couple of large military containers that are cheap, and from what I can tell so far, they are also bone dry and indestructible.

I’m on the hunt for a hard-hitting rifle capable of delivering excellent terminal ballistics at extended range. But it also has to be fast and versatile for close quarters work. Is there a gun out there that can do both? We’ve put the FN SCAR 17 to the test and are here with the results.

Night sights have a devoted cult following. Anyone who carries everyday is well aware that they may need to use their gun in a low light environment. And most black sights, and some of the white dots, just don’t stand out well enough for accurate shot placement. But check out these Meprolights.

Using identical cartridge cases is a big deal for bench rest shooters and anyone else concerned with improving groups by tenths or even hundredths of inches. But what about for plinking, practice and self defense?

We recently took a trip to the Big Easy for the NASGW expo–and we got a sneak peak at some of what’s going to be announced at SHOT. Here are some of the ones we can talk about now.

I have always been a fan of the .44 Magnum, not because it is the biggest boy on the block (it’s not), but because you can always get ammo for it, and it’s easy and cheap to reload. But probably the biggest strength of the .44 Mag is that you can get ammo at most any gun shop, and even at Walmarts that still carry ammo. To me that outweighs the little bit of extra power you can get with guns that are more powerful, and that have much more expensive and rare ammo. I think every gun accumulation should have a .44 Mag in it. And if you can afford one of the top name (and price) brands, you should consider them. But if you’re on a budget, I have found that this new generation of Taurus products are extremely high quality. The Model 444 Raging Bull 44 Mag .has been around for a generation at this point, and at a street price of under $700, I thought it was worth a new look and a range test. After a couple hundred rounds downrange, the gun did not disappoint. The Raging Bull is a handful, to hold and to shoot, but if you are in the market for a .44 Mag, I think you’d be surprised by this big Taurus stainless steel revolver.

Tired of anorexic plastic pistols? IWI (who makes the Tavor) is making a serious 9mm. This robust double-stack is built like a 1950s super model. How does the substantial 9mm perform on the range and what’s the appeal of an overbuilt pistol? Read our review.

What happens when an innovative AR maker takes on the task of modernizing the AK-47? The results, at least in Troy’s case, are almost perfect. Their new furniture gives you the option to add lights, lasers, grips, and optics as easily as you would on most other black rifles.

I like to share my failures with you all along with my successes, and I have to to tell you, water, the most important resource of all, is a tough thing to collect and store successfully. I set up my own collection system over a year ago, when I first started this column in March of 2014, and water was my very first actual article. For me, the most bang for the buck was to buy some used IBC totes, which I showed you in that article. Then I had gutters installed on my house, with the downspouts directly feeding into the tanks. The result was a lot of water, but a year and a half later, it’s not as simple. I also tried an alternate water collection system, as I’ll explain, and that is still giving me fits.