Guns

MGI’s Hydra isn’t your typical AR platform. One lower will allow you to shoot 5.56, 7.62×39, 300 Black Out, or 9mm. Check out our review. Replacing a mag well and switching uppers takes less than a minute. You can switch between a pistol caliber carbine, a CQB rifle, and a hunting rifle on the fly. How well does the new platform perform?

One of the best war movies ever made was “Enemy at the Gates.” It is about the WWII Battle of Stalingrad, and a Soviet sniper named Vasily Zaytsev. In the movie Vasily becomes a national war celebrity, and is then pitted against a top German sniper. The victor will, seemingly, carry the hearts and minds of the soldiers in the field, thereby swinging the war in the favor of the victor. Yes there are some stupid relationship and love triangle moments, but the movie doesn’t stray too far from the brutality of a war that was literally about survival.

We all love to dicker about what kind of gun is right for home defense. The truth of the matter is that much of what is “right” is determined by individual circumstances. What kind of home are you trying to defend? What is in this house? What is outside of it? This is where we typically begin. But there’s more. I think one of the most important considerations has to be who will be relying on the firearm in question? And to that end, we’ll be looking at some alternatives to the traditional 12 gauge. Today, we’ve got a Mossberg 500 Special Purpose 20 gauge.

The Metro Arms line of imported 1911s is making some big promises. How well do these budget conscious single actions compete in an already crowded field? Amazingly well. I’ve shot hundreds of 1911s and very few of them have done what this humble hunk of steel did out of the box.

Smith & Wesson has made a major improvement to what is already a formidable pistol. The Shield is now even better for concealed carry, and may make the .380s out there irrelevant.

The Mini series rifles from Ruger are nothing new. They have been in production in various forms since 1973, and the action borrows from one that dates from the 1930s. They have shown up in Hollywood too: the original A Team used them. Still, they are a bit of a curiosity. After running this Mini Thirty through its paces, my opinion on them has risen: this is a very capable rifle with a couple of quirks.

For some reason, virtually any gunny discussion about the 300 AAC Blackout cartridge quickly devolves into a typing wind sprint where the winner itemizes more reasons why the 300 Blackout is not as good as (fill in your favorite cartridge here.) Due to the unique performance characteristics and its wide range of velocity and projectile weight combinations, it gets poked in the eye from both ends of the ballistic spectrum. As with most debates, there are a lot of elements of truth in all of these statements. But I don’t really care. That’s because, for me, whether the 300 Blackout is interesting or not isn’t a binary question. It doesn’t have to be better than (fill in the blank.) I like the fact that it’s a different option with unique capabilities. In fairness, I might be more biased in favor because I’m a reloading enthusiast, and the 300 Blackout is a reloaders dream.

I’ve had a lifelong fascination with oddball guns. The Marble’s Game Getter Gun, a storied gun with a long and troubled history, speaks to me. By today’s standards, the skeletal over-under is underpowered, and a bit slow. Yet the single-shot Game Getter Gun lives on in the survival-minded offerings of Springfield Armory, and Savage, and even Chiappa.

Buying your first AR-15 used to be a lot easier, if only because of the lack of options. A good base model would get you only you needed, and then you could add on extras and swap out parts to make the rifle more functional. The various scarcities (and shifts in political power) meant many bought whatever they could get and at artificially inflated prices. We’re past that now, at least for a while. Deciding which AR to buy is much more complicated now, as there are so many makers making many variations of guns that essentially do the same thing. In this market, you can take your pick of rifles and options. You don’t have to start at the bottom. And some rifles, like the Diamondback DB-15 B, represent a real value. The DB-15 B is an upgraded gun at a base model price, and it is a buyer’s market.