reviews

The APX was born out of the Army’s Modular Handgun trials. Manufacturers came out with new pistols and revisions of existing models in their efforts to win the lucrative contract to equip the United States Military with 74 boatloads of new handguns to replace the Beretta M9 series now in service.

Krytos has run multiple slides past the 100,000 cycle test without issues. While not common, that is about the point you see steel slides start to crack. By that, I meant that it doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. In testing, they plugged the barrel, fired a round, and the slide survived to continue shooting.

The G-42 and G-43 are Glock’s concealed carry optimized single stack pistols in .380 and 9mm. Both models have been highly successful, Glock recently produced the one-millionth Glock 43. That is a lot of happy Americans and bears closer examination. Glock claims that the G-43 was the most highly desired and anticipated release in GLOCK’s history.

“If I could only have one gun…” We’ve all asked this question. It’s a hypothetical doomsday scenario for most, but anyone hoping to carry a firearm on a backpacking trip has felt the reality of this dilemma. The happy medium between compact, lightweight, and versatile can be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

Looks mean is one thing, but it has to run to matter. And the 590M did run. It ate everything I threw at it, including multiple magazines out of my 12 gauge trash bucket. The trash bucket is a 5 gallon bucket I toss all the leftover ammo in from shotgun reviews or any other sketchy ammo I run across. The cheapest of the cheap, mil surplus, slugs left over from my 3 gun days, and anything I get from a fire sale. Despite the fact that the gun says 2 ¾ inch shells only, I fed it some Augilla mini shells.

Sometimes, as the tagline goes for Springfield’s new 911, the police are minutes away, the threat is seconds away, and you’re your own first responder—whether you want to be or not. Springfield’s new 911 may look like other sub-compact 1911-style 380s, but it handles better than any I’ve shot. The engineers at Springfield tweaked the mini-1911 design to minimize felt recoil, improve ergonomics, and provide a clearer sight picture even in the most stressful situations. Plus, it’s a great looking gun. The 911 stands out among the crowds of striker-fired handguns, and it won’t fail to deliver in a crisis.

When the 1873 came out it was a paradigm shift. A repeating rifle that was as reliable and capable as it was practical. However, it was still a pistol caliber carbine. For real rifle work, you had to go to something like an 1869 Sharps, a Ballard Perfection rifle, or a Remington Rolling Block. That’s what buffalo hunters used. What these long range, big game guns had in common was that they were all single shot firearms. The Winchester Model 1876 changed that forever.

Overall the Colt 1917 is a very interesting revolver. It was a stop-gap sidearm that ended up with American troops in two world wars. 1917 revolvers, both Colt and Smith & Wesson, can usually be found for reasonable amounts of money (especially in comparison to other US military revolvers, or WWI 1911s). They are not difficult to find suitable ammunition for, and they’re strong enough to enjoy some range time with. So if you’re looking for a WWI handgun to add to your collection, consider one of these old Colts.

Barrett Firearms Manufacturing of Murfreesboro, TN is known around the world for building heavyweight, hard-hitting 50 BMG rifles for the military and law enforcement. Barrett’s a family owned business and has been supplying firearms for the US and its allies for over 30 years.  With the Fieldcraft they jumped completely to the other end of the firearms spectrum- from one of the biggest and heaviest shoulder fired rifles to one of the lightest, most versatile hunting rifles on the market.