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In the plinking and precision long range world we all like to talk about which gun or caliber is better than the other. This goes the same in the hunting world as well. Something that hunters and semi-seasoned hunters talk about is the best or versatile deer rifle/caliber. For the non-hunters most will only think of the .30-06 or .308. All the old favorites are normally there, like the classic Marlin, Remington and Ruger rifles. They go back and forth on what’s better between a .270 Winchester, a 308 Winchester and a 30-06 Springfield. But, some experienced hunters will tell...

It may be true this pistol was a piece of junk. But for its size - only 5 inches long & weighing a pound, this single-shot pistol was conceived as an instrument of chaos in the darkest times of World War II. THE FP-45 PISTOL was inexpensive by design. Constructed mostly of welded, stamped sheet metal parts with a die-cast zinc cocking piece, each gun cost the federal government a bit over $2, boxed for delivery with 10 rounds of .45 ACP ammunition. Only 5 inches long and weighing a pound, this single-shot pistol was conceived as an instrument of...

What's feared more than a Sniper Lurking in the Darkness? A sniper that shoots an exploding bullet, sounds far fetched out of a James Bond movie. Exploding rounds have been around since World War II. The Germans made an 8mm rifle ammunition which exploded upon impact. Which originally was design to help zero machine guns on an aircraft or as a replacement to tracer rounds out of a belt-fed so that you are making a bi-directional identifier from where you’re firing from. Though the round was banned by the Hague Convention this didn’t stop the usage of it. During World...

Guns are much more than guns to die-hard hunting folks. Sometimes they help define the love of a family as grandfather passes their guns from one generation to the next. And, more often than not, the gun that is cherished the most as a symbol of tradition and collective wisdom is the "humble deer rifle". The following hunting rifles are no longer in production yet still find their way to the the hands of hunters who value both tradition and well-design sporting arms. Maybe this is what the younger generation rifle lacks. Savage 99 Savage’s Model 99, preceded by the...

Conversion kit unit that gives CZ-75 owner two guns in one. While there are many dedicated .22 LR pistols on the market, one of the best for everyday use is not a pistol in the pure sense, but instead is a conversion kit for the popular CZ-75 from the Czech Republic. And although this is not a new product, it remains one of the best of its kind on the market. The CZ-75 Kadet (and the more recent Kadet II) .22 LR conversion kit is a CZ factory-made unit that allows a shooter to quickly and easily convert a CZ-75...

Fresh snow had just melted and the scent trail was more than a day old when a yellow Labrador Retriever named Buck went in search of evidence linked to an elk that had been poached on March 19, near Cottage Grove. Time- and snow- work against tracking dogs. Still, Buck was hot on the scent of gunpowder and shell casings. He found casings, also known as brass, among grass and twigs, invisible to the human eye. Three times Buck signaled his handler, Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Senior Trooper Josh Wolcott. Finding three casings confirmed the story OSP...

With its military background and 'Cocaine Wars' reputation, the MAC-10 has quite a history and is still a hoot to shoot – 'as long as someone else is paying for the ammo.' Certain guns conjure up images related to the times they were used. The 1894 Winchester lever- action is the classic cowboy gun of the Old West. Thee M1 Garand is seen as the rifle that won World War II and the M1911A1 as the sidearm of choice for soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen. Not all weapons have a positive image connected to them, though. The MAC-10 submachinegun is...

At first glance the SIG P226 air pistol could be mixed up with the SIG P226, which comes in 9mm and .40 caliber, which is a pistol preferred by elite military forces around the world. I can see how their airgun could be used for training purposes and you could do a lot of inexpensive training with a pistol that so closely resembles your real one. The P226 air pistol uses a conventional size 12-gram Co2 canister, which slips into the back of the grip. The magazine pops out of the bottom the same way it would on any modern...

Looks can be profoundly deceiving. At first glance, Tracy "Trace" Sargent could easily be a high-powered corporate CEO or lead a marketing firm. This petite Georgia blond with a commanding presence and the charisma and intellect to match, looks like she would fit elegantly at the head of a boardroom. You certainly don't envision this refined, vibrant woman with a sweet Southern drawl to be out enthusiastically hunting lost persons, getting dirty, crawling through rubble, or chasing down fugitives by moonlight. Yet that is exactly what she has been doing with her K9 partners for over 20 years, gracefully shattering...

Have you heard of the Stone 63 light machine gun? The Stoner 63, is a 5.56×45mm NATO, modular weapon system, using a variety of modular components, it can be configured as a rifle, a carbine, a top-fed light machine gun, a belt-fed squad automatic weapon, or a vehicle mounted weapon. This Stoner was designed by Eugene Stoner in the early 1960s. Cadillac Gage was the primary manufacturer of the Stoner 63 during its history. The Stoner 63 saw very limited combat use by United States forces during the Vietnam War including the Marine Corps and the Navy Seals. Want to...

The five shot .32-caliber Colt Pocket Pistol Model 1849, is the smallest and lightest at 25 ounces perfect for the youthful novice, who might enjoy the Old West flavor. The first handgun I ever shot was a target .22LR S&W Model 17 revolver with a 6-inch barrel and those hefty checkered target grips. I was a skinny 12-year-old, and the gun was much too big for me. It was only a K-frame, but that thick-walled long barrel got it almost to 40 ounces and it was every bit of 11 inches long. Though the recoil was negligible, it was a...

Decision to hold 'old-style .22 match' leads to an adventure in restoring legendary Stevens single-shot. Among the guys I shoot with, there is an increasing interest in old or old-style .22 rifles. The guns we like the most are the old single-shots, such as those made by Stevens, Remington and several other makers. One friend of mine said he thought that the popularity of shooting .22s would rise in the near future, and our feelings and interests certainly follow what that friend had predicted. The reason .22s are being focused on in this black powder column is simple: most .22...

[ Mr. St Clair has posted a useful muzzuzzle vel. chart as well ] Absolved Chapter Links [Note, 10/23/2016: My reformatted copy of the entire available Absolved book is at billstclair.com/absolved/absolved.html] The following is the list of intended chapters for Mike Vanderboegh's novel Absolved. The title numbering and names were listed at Mike' site here. Links are mostly from David Codrea's Examiner site, now only available at archive.org. The asterisk ("*") links at the end of each line are to my local copy of each chapter. Chater 32 (in three parts) was not in Codrea's index. Thank you to @EisAugen@gab.com...

Was the Preferred Weapon for the U.S. "Tunnel Rats" while Hunting the Việt Cộng Since World War II, America's elite forces have used quiet firearms for missions where it pays to be silent. Sound suppressors—commonly referred known as silencers—remain in service today. What many don't know is that U.S. commandos once carried revolvers with special cartridges designed to muffle gunshots. According to a 1968 Army report on silencers, "Throughout the history of firearms, gun noise has been of considerable concern to the military." "To the enemy, gun noise reveals presence and, often, the location of the shooter, thus resulting in...

The .22 Short was developed back in 1857 for Smith & Wesson revolver. Created for the metallic cartridge with a 29-30 grain bullet, pushed by 4 grains of black powder. This was mainly developed for self-defense in the early days, modern day standard – this cartridge has little penetration and knockdown power. Back in the past this caliber was used in a few pocket pistols and mini-revolvers. Consider a quiet round among recreational shooters. Due to its low recoil and good accuracy the .22 short was used for the Olympic 25 meter rapid fire pistol event until 2004. These .22...

Are you into hunting and like going after both the big game and small ones with one or two guns? If you're the practical hunter that would rather spend time on hunting time vs buying a new hunting gun. Have a look at this list. With the following list you can practically hunt any animal in the world. This ranges from squirrel to elephants. One thing to note about the following list. This list is not the ultimate hunting rifle list. There will be rifles that wasn't mentioned or the one that you're using. Another thing is that these rifles...

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A look at the pluses and minuses of off-body and on-body techniques Like most men in law enforcement, I have little or no fashion sense. My closet contains clothes in “earth tones” (brown, green, black and tan), along with the occasional blue (jeans) and white (T-shirts). I dress as if I’m preparing for some sort of tactical event, where the ability to camouflage myself is the key to survival. You'll find no chartreuse, periwinkle or mauve in my wardrobe! My wife, on the other hand, has a mix of different types of clothing. As a fellow law enforcement officer, she...

Are revolvers ideal or out-dated for personal defense? Not many gun enthusiasts debate this, they rather speak of comparison between 9mm vs .45 but its still worth a discussion. Chris Baker from Lucky Gunner asked that question a while back and came up with some really good points about revolvers while attending a defensive revolver training class. The class was conducted by Darryl Bolke and Wayne Dobbs of Hardwired Tactical. Other instructors to help lighten the teaching load were Chuck Haggard and Claude Werner. Each instructors taught different topics related to the defensive use of revolvers. Some of the sentiments...

These .380 mouse guns or "get off me" guns can be a good choice for personal defense. Prices vary from $200 to $700, some current full size handgun model may be a better choice to go. But, if you’re looking for good concealment carry with a decent bite, then the .380 caliber is a good choice to consider. Before we get into the list, a quick word about .380 pocket size pistols and a pragmatic opinion. Besides the concealment attribute, most of these pistols aren't that great. Full size semi-auto pistols are reliable, but the child size pistols are hindered...