Feature Articles

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.

Shot down in a hostile landing zone, blasted apart, and stabbed through the leg, Gary Wetzel still fought his way back to an M60 machine gun. What happened next earned him the Medal of Honor and made his Vietnam story almost impossible to believe.

I always get excited about testing Daniel Defense rifles. They built the upper for the SOPMOD kits we had back in the day (and still do for all I know), and it was a huge leap forward over the old busted M4s we had prior to that. Black Creek, GA, has always turned out tough, high-quality products, and the M4V7 Pro is no exception.

The Taurus RPC brings roller-delayed 9mm softness, full ambi controls, suppressor-ready hardware, and PDW-style swagger to a price point that should make MP5 fans uncomfortable. We ran 300 rounds through it to see what this little blaster is, what it is not, and whether you should grab one before they vanish.

The Cimarron U.S.V. Artillery brings the Colt SAA Artillery legend back with .45 Long Colt punch, Rough Riders history, and old-school sixgun swagger. It is part history lesson, part range toy, and part reminder that sometimes the old ways still hit hardest.

Stroup Knives is building the HRT Operator Knife as more than another hard-use blade. With 1095 steel, G10 grip, Kydex carry, and a rollout tied to FBI HRT graduates through the HRTA, this knife carries real weight before it ever hits the belt.

Lithium-ion batteries power our lights, thermals, tools, cameras, and phones, but when they fail, they can fail violently. After one friend lost a house and my brother nearly lost his, I stopped treating battery storage like an afterthought.