Guns

I believe a new shooter should start with a fully functional gun and not some bargain basement piece of crap. Youth shooters would do well to check out a TriStar. These inexpensive shotguns work incredibly well, and don’t break the bank. Some of them are even pink–which got me some strange looks at the range.

Springfield Armory has overhauled the XD, and the new gun is worth a look. Start with the grip. Their new Grip Zone design is like Velcro for you hands. It is sticky in all of the right places. But that’s not all they’ve done. They’ve taken a good pistol and made it much more ergonomic and effective. And we have one to give away. Want the details? Read on….

The Troy Pump Action Rifle may look like an AR-15, but it isn’t. While Troy’s Sporting Rifle shares many of the same characteristics and parts, the basic operational mechanisms are unique, and built with compliance in mind. The Troy PAR is 50 state legal, and ideal for hunting, and capable of extraordinary accuracy. If you think this is nothing but an attempt to appease politicians, you need to think again. The PAR is fast and accurate.

There is a distinct appeal to a big bore wheel-guns. The .44 Magnum produces impressive terminal ballistics. Yet carrying a heavy revolver presents some practical challenges, and the recoil can be punishing. Gemini Customs has some solutions–their custom modifications make a good gun better, faster, and more reliable. Check out what they’ve done to this Ruger Alaskan.

Size matters. With mouse guns, everyone is racing to the bottom. How do you combine power and performance, while taking away weight and size? Beretta has done it. The Pico shoots like a bigger gun. What you give up in ease of control, you make up for in performance.

For urban combat and self defense, many would argue that there is no better choice in a firearm than a pistol-caliber carbine. It has almost no recoil or muzzle rise, little muzzle flash and plenty of punch to get the job done in close quarters. The H&K MP5 is legend when it comes to SWAT and SPEC-OPS deployment, and it has achieved that status firing the 9mm cartridge, despite concerns of many that the 9mm is underpowered. The Taurus CT9 and CT40 are new entrants into the pistol-caliber carbine market, and they look and work a lot like H&K’s follow up to the MP5, called the UMP. The civilian version was called the USC, and is no longer produced (it was too expensive). The Taurus CT9 is a more full-featured gun than the USC, and with an MSRP of $879 and street prices under $750, this new carbine should fly off the shelves. As this article is coming out, the .40 S&W version was released, but we were able to test the 9mm gun. Our results showed the CT9 to be extremely reliable and tolerant of different types of ammo. The accuracy is at least as good as other pistol caliber carbines we have tested, and the features on the gun are all you could want for home and personal defense. This year is going to see a new emergence from Taurus since Mark Kresser took over the company. With the new focus on quality control and great customer service, the affordability of Taurus products will finally be backed up by a company that puts customers as #1. The CT9 is the first truly new product from Taurus for a while, and minus a couple peeves, it seems to be everything you could want in a pistol caliber carbine.

Now that James Bond has an iron clad set of balls, it’s time he upgraded his arsenal. While there’s nothing uniquely gadget-like about the Primary Weapons Systems MK107P, it does come in a briefcase. Q would be a bit jealous. And a tuxedoed 007 would look sharp carrying the Kenneth Cole case, but to hell with Bond. The novelty of the briefcase evaporates when you pull the trigger. This AR pistol is a surgical tool–it’s better than Bond–the PWS MK107P is exactly what’s right about America.

When I think of the Henry brand, I don’t typically think about survival rifles. The company is much more well known for their lever-action powerhouses. But Henry makes other things, too, and the U.S. Survival Rifle, or AR-7, is a winner. It is compact, practical, and the AR-7’s accuracy will make you think twice about your go-to rimfire rifle.

A couple of weeks ago, we ran a Top 5 Compact .45 ACP article that stirred up a lot of controversy. That isn’t surprising. A lot of you have already formed your own opinions. I expect this list will be just as contentious, if not more. The list of compact .45s is limited, as there aren’t that many out there. 9mm is a different story. There are a lot of compact 9mms–choosing the best five requires a lot more thought. But we’re up top the task.