Guns

FNH makes a competition shotgun? Indeed. The FNH SC-1 Over/Under is, you guessed it, a double-barrel beauty. It’s designed expressly for clays competition, although there is nothing about it that would discourage other uses. Personally, I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt ducks or geese with it. This is a versatile gun that can be tweaked for an exacting fit, and it is priced competitively, too.

When you think about it, we wear our guns a lot more than we shoot them, yet they are designed primarily for shooting. The new Taurus Curve fixes that. The grip on the gun is curved, so that when you were it on your hip or carry it in your pocket, the guns hugs the contour of your body. It is a 6+1 .380 ACP semi-automatic pistol with a consistent trigger pull for each shot. The MSRP for the introductory model is $392, and it will come with an integral LaserLyte light and laser combo built in. The Curve also comes with a Kydex pull-off trigger guard holster, and screwed onto the side of the gun is a steel clip for inside the waistband or inside a purse pocket carry.

Bigger is sometimes better. That’s the philosphy behind the fixation with the AR-10. For a marginal increase in size and weight, you have a lot more punch on the terminal end of ballistic trajectory. CMMG’s Mk 3 .308 is a beast of a gun, and offers AR speed and ergonomics for those who want more than the 5.56 can provide.

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.