Free Republic

With positives and negatives, deciding if a red dot sight is right for you boils down to your handgun’s mission. So, in the form of a disclaimer, I am old. Fifty-one years old, to be exact. As a soldier and a cop, I’ve been making a living with a gun for nearly my entire adult life. I can say, with some degree of distinction, that I have carried just about every variety of AR/M-16 that has ever been used by the US military: M-16A1, M-16A2, M203, M4 and the AR-15 patrol rifle. With age comes a certain amount of suspicion...

Of course, nothing comes close to the cost of a single shell used for the cannon originally designed for the U.S. Navy’s USS Zumwalt, which came in at an estimated $800,000 each and made the gun too expensive to operate. However, there still some are calibers that are so expensive that shooters may want to think twice before ever squeezing the trigger. When shooting these rounds you can expect that it will be a costly day at the range. (Note: many of the prices below could be much higher due to what seem like regional price increases due to the...

The B-2 Spirit is the United States Air Force’s only stealth bomber in service today. It has remained in service because it can do things other aircraft simply can’t do. Since its introduction in 1997, the Northrop Grumman B-2 has often been the first to fight. It is also the only acknowledged aircraft that can carry large air-to-surface standoff weapons in a stealth configuration. The B-2 can carry up to sixteen B-61 or megaton-yield B-83 nuclear gravity bombs on the rotary launchers inside its two bomb bays. The aircraft’s avionics are even hardened versus the electromagnetic pulses generated by nuclear...

The Glock 19 is known for its boxy polymer and metal frame, mystical reliability, and concealability. In fact, it’s one of the best-concealed carry pistols and has become the go-to for the masses. But is this firearm for you? Glock 19 Review: What Makes This Gun Stand Out? The Glock 19 features an iconic square shape, with the bottom frame being made from a durable polymer and a metal slide. With the exception of the Glock 44, I have never seen so much as a crack on a Glock frame and that’s a relief for me because I have become...

With President Joe Biden in the White House and Democrat control of the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, owners of AR-15 and similar firearms have a valid reason for concern. Such guns have been targeted for legislation including registration, increased background checks, and even outright bans. Many who want to see such firearms banned try to use terms that, while sound scary, don’t really apply to the AR-15.

Two of the warships actually began construction – with Schlachtschiff H laid down by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg on June 15, 1939; while the Schlachtschiff J was laid down by AG Weser in Bremen on August 15, 1939, just two weeks before Germany invaded Poland. Construction was halted in October as the war effort focused on the construction of U-boats rather than battleships. By 1940, the material used in the early construction of the two super battleships was scrapped and then directed to other uses.

The aircraft is actually an example of trying to focus too much on proven designs and common parts. While it incorporated the most powerful inline engine available at the time – an Allison V-3420, which provided 2,885 horsepower – and featured a design that utilized many components from other aircraft to help expedite production, flight tests revealed unsatisfactory performance.

Developed in the early 1960s, the M79 grenade launcher saw use in the Vietnam War – and for those who carried the weapon, it was either instant love or lasting hatred. The weapon was simple to use. Much like a shotgun, it was a break-open, shoulder-fire weapon that could fire a 40mm grenade. It utilized a “high-low propulsion” launching system that reduced the recoil, yet allowed shooters to launch a grenade upwards of 400 yards, which was far further than a hand grenade could be thrown. The rifled barrel gave the round a right-hand spin, which also ensured accuracy.

A single Israeli armored brigade with less than 100 tanks held out for four days against a Syrian infantry division equipped with more than 1,400 tanks including some 400 T-62s, the most modern Soviet tank in the field at that time. Unable to call in effective air support, the Israelis dug in and fought like the future of their country depended on it. Nearly the entire Israeli tank force was destroyed and the defenders were on the verge of collapse but as reinforcements finally arrived, the Syrians withdrew – not knowing how close they came to victory. Instead, they suffered...

The Montana-class was authorized under the “Two Ocean Navy” building program, and it was funded in Fiscal Year 1941 (FY41). Nearly a third larger than the preceding Iowa-class, the super-battleship was to be 920 feet in length with a beam of 121 feet. Displacing 60,500 tones – 71,000 tons with its war load – it would have been even larger than the Royal Navy’s HMS Vanguard, the last battleship ever built.

Armed with a main battery of 16-inch guns that could hit targets nearly 24 miles away with a variety of artillery shells, the Iowa-class were among the most heavily armed U.S. military ships ever put to see. The battleships’ main battery consisted of nine 16″/50 caliber Mark 7 guns in three-gun turrets, which could fire 2,700-pound (1,225 kg) armor-piercing shells some 23 miles (42.6 km). Secondary batteries consisted of twenty 5″/38 caliber guns mounted in twin-gun dual-purpose (DP) turrets, which could hit targets up to 9 miles (16.7 km) away.

The United States military is currently seeking to replace its M4 Carbine and M249 squad assault weapon (SAW), while the M240 could also soon be replaced by a more modern platform. And while the M240’s replacement could even fill the role employed by the M2 .50 caliber, it isn’t likely the “Ma Deuce” will be retired anytime soon. Despite its nearly 90 years of service, it just does the job. It is just one of a few weapons that remained in the American arsenal for decades. Here are what I would argue are just a sample of some of the...

Meet the ISU-152: Thanks to its enormous main gun and prodigious armor protection, the ISU-152 could take on virtually everything the Nazis threw at it. The History The ISU-152 was one of the Soviet Union’s heaviest self-propelled guns during World War II. The Russians designed and built the ISU-152 in 1943, partially in response to the increasingly heavy tanks and tank destroyers Nazi Germany fielded at the time.

The British Army first used the Magazine Lee-Enfield in combat soon after it was introduced in 1895 in its campaign in the Sudan the following year. The bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle was actually a redesign of the Lee-Metford that had only been adopted in 1888. Chambered in the new.303 British cartridge, the Lee-Enfield became the first British rifle to fire a “smokeless” cartridge.

The USS John S. McCain "broke into China's Xisha territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government," Beijing's military said in a statement. Also, Taiwan sent fighter jets, broadcast radio warnings, deployed air defense missile systems to track PLAAF planes after breach of Taiwan's ADIZ (air defense identification zone). There is something unfolding which has “all the hallmarks of the world’s next major military drama.” “Well what a week it's been for this standoff between China and Taiwan, which we cannot ignore, and neither can the United States,” Mr Smith said. read more...

Developed by the Russian-based Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) and officially unveiled during the May 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade, the T-14 Armata is the new generation of main battle tank (MBT). Unlike many current Russian military platforms, which are largely legacy holdovers from the Soviet era, the T-14 is truly something new. Design The outline of the tank, from its hull to its long and boxy turret, more closely resembles modern western tank turret designs and is quite the departure from past Soviet designs.

In the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal began the development of a revolutionary submachine gun (SMG). Introduced to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Special Forces in 1954 and placed into general use with the Israeli military two years later, the Uzi was a blowback-operated weapon that fired from an open bolt. Origin Story The original weapon was just 7.72 pounds and had a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute.

Large-frame handgun? Small? What caliber? Glock? S&W? It's all about balancing 'Comfort vs Lethality,' says longtime Policeman. One of the best parts about being a cop is HR 218. This law allows officers to carry a firearm in practically every locale in the United States. "Carrying on your badge," as it’s referred to, is one of the few perks law enforcement still enjoys. In 2020, the job lost a lot of its appeal, but I still appreciate the fact that I can carry concealed to protect others and myself. In a perfect world, these rights would be afforded to every...

There’s no doubt that this is the largest Iranian warship to ever sail. But what is it for? Meet the Markan. What Iran Is Doing Iran recently commissioned what is by far their largest ship ever, the Makran, a former oil-tanker-turned-warship. The Islamic Republic calls the Makran a forward operating base ship, intended to extend Iranian reach farther out to sea by acting as a do-it-all launchpad that can keep helicopters and drones fueled and supplied, especially in the shallower littoral waters to the country’s southwest.

There’s more than one way to neutralize a threat and these novel, thin, finned steel projectiles can put on a hurt at greater distance than buckshot - Flechettes were first used as small bomblets dropped from airplanes in World War I and World War II. Their use in small arms began in February 1951, when Irwin R. Barr of Aircraft Armaments Inc. came out with the concept of firearms flechettes. Initially, the emphasis was on firing one flechette instead of a standard rifle bullet. This led to the Army’s Special Purpose Individual Weapon (SPIW) program, as the concept was tested....