In the 1980s and 1990s, it looked like the .45 ACP’s days might be numbered. Everyone from the U.S. military to local police departments was jumping ship in favor of cartridges like the .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and 9mm. While die-hard 1911 fans and a ...
Guns
The Sh*tbox Winchester Shotgun Folks Called ‘The Widowmaker’
Today, shooters take for granted the ease with which a semi-automatic shotgun operates. The concept has been around since the tail end of the 1800s, and it’s been nearly perfected as we approach the end of the first quarter of the 21st century. With ...
The Bolt Action Rifle: A Massive and Enduring Leap for Gun Tech
The bolt action rifle is a citizen of the world. Militaries worldwide have used and still use them. Hunters from Scandinavia to Hawaii use bolt action rifles to pursue both big and small game. Americans love our bolt actions so much that we’ve ...
A Welcome Return: Ruger Releases New Marlin 1894 Classic
This week, Ruger released a reboot of the legendary Marlin Model 1894 as the new Model 1894 Classic. Ruger’s resurrection of an old fave is a welcome addition to Marlin’s gradually returning lever action line-up that retains all the traditional Wild ...
Dream Guns: How We Would Spend $6,000 on One Firearm
Does anyone else have a folder of bookmarks for guns that you’ll never be able to afford but that you like to visit every once in a while, if only to live in the fantasy of owning, say, a Korth revolver or a high-end Benelli shotgun just for a few ...
The Break Action Shotgun: Why It Will Never Die
Compared to a modern semi-auto shotgun, with all its firepower, a break action gun looks archaic — obsolete, even. And it’s true; break actions have changed very little in the past 100 years. But 100 years from now, they will still be here. Break ...
The Bullpup Doesn’t Deserve to Be in the Dog House
The firearms world is full of opposing fandoms: Glock fanboys versus the 1911 crowd, the 9mm fans facing off against the .45 ACP lovers, and — one of the largest gulfs to cross — the AR lovers versus the people obsessed with the AKs. The feuds, ...
17 HMR: The Ultimate Rimfire Cartridge?
Prepare yourself — I'm about to make a case for the 17 HMR, and .22 loyalists may not like it. Like many reading this, the first rifle round I ever sent downrange came out of the barrel of a .22 lever action. That Winchester rifle was a single-shot, ...
Glock 17: Respect the OG Wonder-Nine
There are popular firearms, there are iconic firearms, there are famous firearms — and then there are guns that become a new benchmark, that set a new bar for its class of firearms, like the Glock 17. Glock entered the firearm market in the ...
The Automatic Shotgun, or Autoloader, and How It Evolved
John Moses Browning is a name that most gun enthusiasts know well. He had such an impact on the firearms designs of yesteryear that many of them are still serving sportsmen and militaries around the globe. One of Browning’s biggest claims to fame is ...
Dragunov Sniper Rifle: The Soviet Semi-Auto Scalpel
The Dragunov sniper rifle — the famous AK sniper that isn’t actually an AK or a sniper rifle — has a lot of mystique surrounding it. People love it because of its looks because Hollywood loves it, and because gun people love to argue about what the ...
Sharps Rifle: The Original Long-Range Hunting Gun
Big bores, breech-loading, single-shot rifles that were powerful and accurate — that was the reputation of Sharps rifles in the mid-19th century as the United States pushed its way ever farther West. One could argue the Sharps is the first rifle that ...
The Lever Action Shotgun: Why It’s Only Popular in Movies
The shotgun is a firearms icon, featured in movies, video games, and your grandfather’s closet as a powerhouse weapon. It is usually a pump action or double-barrel, with the rarer lever action shotgun occasionally making an ...
The 9mm Pistol: Dominating 120 Years of War and Peace
It’s been around forever, its popularity has drastically waxed and waned over the decades, and today, it’s the most common pistol cartridge in the world. Hardly any other round has attracted as much controversy as the 9mm pistol cartridge. Known by ...
New Blaser R8 Ultimate Carbon Rifle: Light, Strong, and $10.5K?!
Blaser is entering the American carbon-fiber rifle game, and the German gunmaker isn’t pulling any punches. The Blaser R8 Ultimate Carbon (previously available only outside the U.S.) builds on the brand’s bolt-action lineup with a hand-laid ...
Volcanic Pistol: The First Repeating Pistol — and a Failure
In today’s world, it’s easy to take the lever-action mechanism for granted. It may be more than 160 years old, but it’s still going strong, thanks to companies like Winchester, Henry, and Marlin, and the shooters who love the guns produced under ...
Ruger Precision Rifle: Lots of Long-Range Value on a Budget
Long-range shooting is cool. Like, Willie and Waylon singing “Good Hearted Woman” level cool. You press the trigger, absorb the recoil, and, after a second or so, hear the steel ding from 1,000 yards away. It’s some gratifying shit. But as someone ...
Tactical Flashlight: What to Look For Before You Drop the Cash
This post contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through these links. A tactical flashlight is an often-forgotten component in any loadout, and many people consider it an afterthought. Whether for duty use or everyday carry ...
The 50 AE: The Biggest Semi-Auto Pistol Cartridge Ever Made
The 50 Action Express (50 AE) is a fucking behemoth of a cartridge designed for one reason and one reason only: to feed the most powerful semi-auto handgun on the planet. It succeeded. There was only one pistol on the market capable of ...
What Makes a Tactical Shotgun ‘Tactical’?
You see it all the time — shotguns from various manufacturers, big and small, billed as as tactical shotgun. They're usually all black with a full-length mag tube, but other than that, what makes a "tactical" model different from a field or target ...
6.8 Western: What the .270 WSM Should Have Been
If you ask the average American rifle shooter if the world needs another hot new hunting cartridge, it'd be tough to find many to agree right off the bat. But if you laid these specs in front of that same average shooter, they might change their ...
ATF Pistol Brace Rule: Injunction Granted, Deadline Delayed!
UPDATE May 23, 3:30 p.m. EST: Pistol brace owners may have just caught a break in the courts today. The Firearms Policy Colation (FPC) announced today that the Fifth Circuit Court has granted an injunction pending appeal in the Mock v. Garland case. ...
Rifle Backpack Guide: Buy One That Doesn’t Suck
Choosing a rifle backpack that doesn't suck is no easy task. Why? Because most of them suck! Plenty of thought goes into the design of a backpack. However, few companies seem to put any real thought into adding features that help hunters, soldiers, ...
Falling in Love With the Winchester Model 94
I was 19 when my uncle handed me my grandfather’s Winchester Model 94 lever action. It was a beat-up old .30-30 hunting rifle that looked like it had been dragged behind a truck over a gravel road. It had mostly been sitting in a dusty corner ...
The Life and Death of the 4 Gauge Shotgun
People think of the 12-gauge shotgun as large enough to be intimidating on sight. That roughly half-inch muzzle isn’t something you want to see pointed your way, and people who don’t know guns think a 12 is terrifyingly large. But there have been ...
338 Norma Magnum: Cheat Code for Snipers and Machine Guns
Do you have a lucky number? Ammunition manufacturers do, and right now that number is 338. A quick search will turn up cartridges like .338 Federal, .338 Marlin Express, .338 Remington Ultra Magnum, .338 Ruger Compact Magnum, and .338 Win Mag. There ...
S&W Drops Performance Center Version of 10mm M&P M2.0 Pistol
Ah, the S&W M&P. It’s one of the most direct competitors to Glock in the U.S., made by one of the country’s oldest and most storied gunmakers, but it rarely gets the respect it deserves. The original run was a little rough but reliable. The ...
45 GAP: Glock’s Failed Update of the .45 ACP
Give Glock credit where it’s due— introducing a new cartridge into the U.S. market and declaring it the replacement for America’s favorite pistol cartridge, the .45 ACP, takes guts. Anything that tries to supplant the .45 ACP as our go-to big-bore ...
50 Beowulf: The Engine-Block Killer With an Epic Name
We all love a good man-versus-nature adventure. Whether you’re talking about the man-eating lions of Tsavo or an NFL lineman exacting revenge on a 200-pound mountain lion in Colorado, the chess match between man and nature never disappoints. The name ...
8 Gauge Shotgun: Why It Went Extinct
In its day, the 8 gauge shotgun was the equivalent of the modern 10-gauge. It was a specialized, big bore hunting gun, popular at a time when the skies of North America teemed with waterfowl, and there were no bag limits. It was also — and ...
