Category: Firearms

As anyone who had their finger anywhere near the pulse of the black rifle market knows, the market had become saturated with semi automatic rifles as of July or August of 2009. The ferocious buying frenzy dried up pretty rapidly. Meanwhile, the economy continued to get worse. People continued to lose their jobs. Those who didn't lose their jobs might still have had to deal with reduced hours or pay cuts. All through this period, a number of people continued to hold out for the release of the Adaptive Combat… Read More

"What AR-15 should I buy?" I used to have a copy and paste response for this whenever someone on AR15.com would ask. Two questions. "What is your budget, and what do you want to do with it?" It's easier to come up with an answer to the first question, I've found: many would respond "As little as possible." Well then, I would say to myself, what was your answer to the second question? I would cringe when I saw something like "patrol rifle". A plinker or range toy does not… Read More

Whenever the subject of home defense, patrol/duty, or "SHTF" comes up on various forums, a line is drawn in the sands of the internet. On one side are the KISS (Keep It Simple and Stupid or Keep It Simple, Stupid!) aficionados, the guys who feel that anything that uses batteries or has glass does not belong on their weapon. Beyond that, the definition is hard to pin down, because some like lightweight carbines, and others prefer 20" HBAR rifles. The one concession that most will make is that a sling… Read More

On the internet, the debate rages on. What is the debate? Well, it doesn't really matter. People will seemingly argue over anything - and I've been guilty of that myself. One of the more popular debates is weight. Proponents of lightweight rifles point to carbine courses where a heavy rifle can get tiring, and accessories that boost the weight of the rifle, meaning that starting with a lightweight carbine is better. Proponents of heavy rifles say that they work out a lot, and their grandfather carried a BAR while assaulting… Read More

Today I received, by email, an interesting paper - from 1968 - which discusses DOD testing regarding materials to be used in the making of barrels for small arms. Before I go too far, we have to understand what a "small arm" is. To the military, this can be something which is quite a bit larger than what a civilian might encounter at a gun store or shooting range. This report was done at the request of the Air Force, which was interested in improved materials for minigun barrels up… Read More

I've covered similar topics before, but wanted to address this again. I saw this quite often when I was working in a gun store, but I also encounter such people at the range. Sometimes they're fairly well off, but it really pains me to see someone on an extreme budget do this. What I'm talking about is the notion that spending more money on a firearm - beyond the point of diminishing returns - will be more beneficial than training with that firearm. A lot of times, this is fueled… Read More

All too often, I hear someone describe an AR-15 as being high quality because the upper and lower fit together tightly, and the finish on the receivers matches perfectly. Often, much attention is lavished on the rich, deep black anodizing of the receivers (Strangely, these same people are perfectly okay with dremeling feed ramps through that same perfect black anodizing. But I digress). Unfortunately, much of this comes from magazines such as Guns & Ammo. I just skimmed a few recent AR-15 articles, where fit and finish was mentioned before… Read More

I like 1911 style handguns. I have owned several exceptionally reliable and accurate examples of the breed. However, I don't think 1911s are for everyone. Why? And why do I make a distinction between a "1911" and a "1911 style handgun?" Well, they require a little more upkeep than some of the pistols available today. While they generally last a very long time, when certain parts do need to be replaced, they need to be properly fitted to the other parts in the pistol. Also, many 1911s manufactured today are… Read More

This article is intended for shooters who, like me, can't afford to shoot as much ammunition as they would like, or as much as they need in order to stay proficient. The answer isn't exactly a secret, but I thought I'd talk about it anyway. .22 Long Rifle ammunition has been in short supply over the past year or so, though it's starting to become available again. I buy the Federal 525rd bulk packs at Wal-Mart for around $13.50, and also the slightly more expensive ~300rd packs of Federal AutoMatch,… Read More

A few years ago, piston/op-rod conversions for AR-15s were all the rage. We were bombarded with propaganda about how unreliable the standard AR-15 was. We were led to believe that our rifles, which had worked just fine for years, were suddenly obsolete with the introduction of a spigot, op rod, and other parts to replace the gas tube, that we'd have the "reliability of an AK-47" as a result. Many conversions became available in a matter of months. And for a while, everything seemed fine. Until, that is, people started… Read More