Guns

The revived S&W 396 Night Guard in .44 Special promises the perfect middle ground between snubnose carry and full-size shootability. It starts strong, shoots well, and then delivers the kind of reliability failure that turns nostalgia into frustration fast.

ATF is proposing to remove the CLEO notification requirement from the NFA process, which could finally kill one more pointless paperwork headache for suppressors, SBRs, SBSs, AOWs, machineguns, and other NFA firearms.

The Mossberg 590 Bliksem is not just a camo-coated conversation piece. It is a compact, optic-ready 12-gauge firearm with real defensive utility, slick factory upgrades, and enough personality to make a plain black shotgun feel downright boring.

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 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.

The Stealth Arms Platypus already brings 2011-style performance with Glock magazine practicality, but this custom build takes the platform into dream-gun territory. With Impact Machine Flatty Platy porting, Rising Creek Customs Cerakote, a Vortex Defender-ST Enclosed, and the exact options I wanted, this pistol turned into the flat-shooting, hard-running custom handgun I had been chasing.

Father’s Day for gun dads is not about neckties and polite applause. It is about tools that stop disappearing, range gear that actually works, storage that protects the good stuff, and maybe one new Smith & Wesson revolver just to keep things interesting.