Guns

Gunslingers agree on very few things, but one of them is that bigger, longer guns are easier to shoot, and to shoot well. This is doubly true when you have to do a lot of shooting. Glock owners are a fierce bunch of gunslinging devotees, and now they have a Gen. 4 version of what is essentially a bigger, longer .45ACP Glock 21. This is the last of a competition trio that joins the G34, a long slide 9mm G17, and the G35, a long slide .40 G22. This new G41 has a barrel about .6 inches longer and it has about 3/4 inch more sight radius than the G21, but it actually comes in a couple ounces lighter.

The Mauser M12 is a gun that will help you get the most from your shooting ability. It won’t make you a better shooter than you are, but you’ll still shoot better because the gun is about as accurate as a gun can get. It is a well built rifle that will handle the abuse of the hunt, and one that will hold its value for generations to come.

Can you crack open a 5.56 when you accidentally chamber a 300 Blackout? Yes. Yes you can. With a basic understanding of the cartridge and its personality issues, 300 Blackout is the bomb. For those who are careless, 300 Blackout can be a bomb. What else should look out for? In our ongoing coverage of the 300 Blackout, I offer this in-depth look at some of the personality quirks of the platform.

Smith & Wesson’s M&P line keeps getting bigger. Only this time, the M&P itself is getting smaller. The M&P22 Compact is a well balanced rimfire that is looking to put the fun back in the fun gun. It is brand new, and we have a full review.

The IWI Tavor battle rifle was a great addition to the field of tactical firearms. It is a bullpup design, so you get a really short and handy rifle, without having to register a “Short Barreled Rifle,” or SBR.” Short barreled rifles have their limitations. The barrel being so short, you tend to get a giant muzzle flash, a loud boom, and you lose a substantial amount of velocity because much of the gunpowder burns outside the barrel. Along came the Tavor, which has a full 16″ barrel, doesn’t require an SBR tax stamp, and you don’t have to wait 6 months for it while the BATFE reviews your paperwork. The big problem with the gun is that it has a dreadful trigger. Rather than do yet another review on the basic Tavor, replete with trigger complaints, we found a way to solve the problem with a new sear group from the folks at Timney Trigger. Their $352 completely self contained drop-in sear group solves the problem with the Tavor. Is it worth the investment to improve this otherwise awesome rifle? You be the judge.

When the XD-S was released two years ago, everyone expected that the small .45 ACP would be the first in a long line of sub-compact single stack pistols. Yet there is really very little that can compete with the XD-S. The .45 ACP XD-S has built a solid reputation, broken preconceived notions for the caliber, and set new standards for concealed carry that have yet to be matched. And Springfield is giving them away!

It seems like we are rushed more and more, all the time in our “fast food” culture. That even applies to range time, sadly. It is a lot of fun to rapid fire a polymer pistol and rip through a 30 round mag on an AR. But sometimes you just need to take your time and enjoy some slow-motion at the range. The Ruger Bearcat makes you slow down. This scaled-down single-action rimfire is great for practicing the basics and poking holes in tin cans, but it is more than a novelty.

The Swiss are know for two things, neutrality and precision. There is a lot more going on over there than just those two things, but if you look at history, the Swiss are known for being a neutral country during both World Wars, and for their meticulous precision in things like watches. Swiss neutrality, in fact, could not have been achieved without the precision of the Swiss rifle, called the Schmidt Rubin. There is a famous question: “Why was Switzerland never invaded by the Germans?” The answer is simple. In 1912, the German Kaiser asked a Swiss soldier what Switzerland would do if Germany invaded with 500,000 troops, while the Swiss could only muster 250,000. The soldier answered: “Shoot twice and go home.”

The XD Sub-Compact is one mean little pug. The polymer-framed powerhouse holds 16 rounds of 9mm in its extended magazine, and is still small enough to conceal. But don’t let the Sub-Compact label snow you. This is a hefty little gun. It seems paradoxical, but a fully loaded XD Sub-Compact feels and shoots like a much larger gun.