Building your dream bolt-action rifle from scratch is much less complicated than it used to be.
If you’ve been paying attention to the bolt gun scene these days, you’ll have noticed there are lots of words and phrases that have started to pop up that you might not be familiar with: pre-fit barrels, RemAge, small shank, large shank … and many more.
The baseline point here is that bolt guns are officially entering the drop-in-ready world, much like how the AR platform did two decades ago. However, much like in the early days when everyone was still figuring out how to work on these guns at home, the modular bolt action is still in its infancy, and there will be something of a learning curve for both consumers and manufacturers.
The Man Behind the Curtain
Bolt-action enthusiasts arrived at a problematic point in the recent past: As the AR market grew and parts became far more available and inexpensive, there was a noted decline in the interest with bolt guns, largely due to a substantially smaller aftermarket that relied on custom options and special knowledge.
Yes, for years bolt gun guys (including myself) bemoaned the time and expense it took to get a “real” rifle shooting well—without turning it completely into a bench gun that weighed more than a dozen pounds.
What we are left with in the bolt gun market is something a bit more practical: Most of the popular cartridges today are ones we’ve had, with a couple newcomers that have made an impression, namely 6.5 PRC. Because not much has changed and the winds still favor 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Win., we see the first builder-focused modular bolt guns centering on popular, common short-action cartridges and their peripheral counterparts like AICS magazines and 700-footprint stocks and triggers.
But, at this time nothing is truly standardized. Here’s the how and why of what’s happening in the bolt gun world.
The Loose Thread
Up until recently, there were only a few methods of installing a bolt-action barrel. One was to send it back to the factory to get replaced. Another was to have the action sent out where a gunsmith would do some special voodoo and install a custom barrel to your action. The third was relatively limited in scope: If you had a Savage rifle, you could find a company making “finished” barrels that you would install yourself using a headspace gauge.
Point being, unless you were a machinist or had the right tools and skills, you were stuck with what you had. Even threaded muzzles were not common a decade ago. I remember taking barrel blanks to my gunsmith to be cut and threaded for my Savage actions back when I was in college, because nothing I wanted was commercially available.
Muzzle threading is common today, probably now the norm. Devices vary quite a bit, but here the author has suppressor mounts installed.
As a result of Savage actions being the only common ones available for garage builders, the Savage small-shank barrel became the chosen barrel of hobby builders. What you need to understand is that these barrels were not headspaced—they had a variable shoulder, known better as the famous Savage barrel nut. While I have the option of using shouldered pre-fit barrels, I still prefer to use what I grew up with, and I like to headspace my barrels manually using a barrel nut. This isn’t necessary today, but the option exists.
The old method of installing a barrel would be much more challenging. Take the example of the golden age of surplus: You probably saw dozens of ads in the early 2000s for “Short-Chambered Large Ring Mauser” barrels in magazines and sports catalogs. These barrels would need to be installed and tightened down. Then, a reamer would need to be used to physically remove metal in the chamber, with the builder checking headspace with gauges constantly. If you messed up, well, tough luck … and you’d had better own a lathe to fix your mistake. This is still how many custom rifle gunsmiths install a barrel on an action.
A Preferred Barrel Blanks Savage-style small-shank barrel with variable shoulder on the left, a Faxon shouldered pre-fit with Remington style thread on the right. These are the two most common types of action threads.
With Savage barrels being something of a hobby standard, we later began seeing early custom actions that could use the Savage barrel thread. While not getting too technical, the Savage thread is finer than Remington (the other main thread type, more on that shortly), and it’s debated if it provides better accuracy over a coarser thread. Having used them both long term, I do not think this matters.
Later, Remington 700 owners who wanted the same capabilities as Savage owners began requesting variable shoulder 700 barrels, aptly called RemAge (for Remington/Savage) that used a barrel nut and a Savage nut wrench. Be aware that many companies use their own action threads, so not everything is divided into Camp Savage or Camp Remington … for now.
Today, we’re entering an even more interesting era with factory pre-fits. The two main players in this area are Faxon Firearms and Aero Precision with their respective FX7 and Solus actions. At the time of this writing, you can in fact purchase what amounts to drop-in ready pre-fits for these actions. Simply put the barrel in a barrel vice, spin the action on and insert the action wrench (both companies offer action wrenches—you’ll need them, don’t damage your action being cheap) and give it a good tightening. Don’t use a hammer or Loctite, just a good bit of leverage.
After chucking the barrel in a vice (make sure you get the good ones at Brownells, not from places like Harbor Freight or other generic tool stores), you will need an action-specific wrench to tighten it to the barrel.
And you’re good to go right away; just assemble the rifle like you normally would. While it might surprise you, many custom pre-fit barrels today that use this method have wrench flats on them, enabling you to change barrels in the field. I hope to see this feature on factory pre-fits soon.
Now, the Faxon and Aero receivers do use different barrel threads, but they have a good deal in common relevant to the rest of this article. The Faxon uses the RemAge thread pattern; the Aero uses Savage. There are advantages here on both, but they’re not interchangeable. Faxon RemAge barrels can be used on the 700 short action, so if you are already a Remington fan this would probably make a lot of sense.
Likewise, the Aero Solus can use Savage barrels but it also can share with actions like Zermatt, also featured in this article. These two camps are not enemies, with Faxon even making Savage-thread barrels now. I do think that there may be a change in the winds down the road, and my money is on the Aero/Zermatt-style pre-fit becoming the “standard” barrel that other companies will start offering.
Who knows: In five years, we might have dozens of bolt action barrels available from a bunch of companies … just like we have with AR barrels today.
Finding Common Ground
Other parts have managed to become standardized across the board, unlike barrel thread patterns, although threaded barrels are standard now.
As a shooting community, we like muzzle devices and suppressors, and the ability to choose what’s right for each of us is what it’s all about. For today’s common/popular calibers, we have a handful of muzzle threads, with the most common being 1/2-28 inch for .22 bore and 5/8-24 inch for most things up to .30 caliber—so virtually all hunting and field chamberings.
The bigger you go the less standardized thread patterns become, and many companies thread for what they want. For instance, multiple .45-caliber threads are out there. I personally favor 11/16-24 inch for .450 bores. You really can’t go wrong with many of today’s muzzle accessories, and there are more every day that will suit your new bolt gun build.
A Magpul chassis showing the “700 Footprint.” Any Remington-based action will work in this chassis.
Another area of commonality is stocks. Aftermarket Remington 700 stocks began to take off in the early 2000s, and eventually they spawned an entire market with dozens of different traditional versions, as well as competition and tactical chassis designs. Today, we see that the field for these stocks is populated densely with two footprints: the Remington 700 long action and Remington 700 short action. Many actions today are made to fit these respective screw spacings and dimensions. As a result, virtually all new actions made are designed to work in just about any stock. You have lots of options, and the majority have generous barrel channels to accommodate even the heaviest tubes.
Another thing that has become the standard is the AICS (Accuracy International Chassis System) magazines. These are meant to work in many chassis models and various bottom metals, in particular with another de facto standard: the M5 bottom metal. Magazines used to be proprietary to the manufacturer, but now you aren’t limited to this, and you have high flexibility in the magazine capacity and cartridge. The AICS pattern in short action can be had in everything from special .22 LR mags that can use the full magwell (popular in long range rimfire) up to and including short-action magnums and straight-wall cases like .450 Bushmaster.
Another standardized component is bottom metal. Here are two Hawkins AICS pattern bottom metals, short action on the left, long on the right.
Triggers are the next thing that is largely universal. Most actions today use the Remington 700 trigger assembly. This is a bit of a no-brainer because it’s so easy to install and it’s a self-contained unit, unlike many other types of triggers that are dedicated to their respective actions. There is, therefore, less specialization when a company designs an action, giving them a proven trigger and you the ability to select your own for your end use. I personally use only Timney triggers in my bolt guns. I’ve used these triggers for years and I have come to completely trust them. There are, of course, many fine brands out there, and it’s hard to go wrong.
Timney is the author’s choice in bolt gun triggers.
When it comes to overall size of the rifles, we see that the market is favoring short actions. At the time of this writing, neither Faxon nor Aero lists long-action versions of the FX7 or Solus, but the LA Solus had been announced earlier in the year. Time will tell what other variations arise. Likewise, neither company lists long-action caliber pre-fits or any long-action chambered barrels at all. The short action market will likely continue to dominate the conversation for some time, with long-action builds being of more interest to hunters seeking more powerful cartridges. With great short-action rounds like 6.5 PRC out there that can take most American large game, I can’t speculate on the success of these long actions with their smaller aftermarket.
The Aero Solus (left) and Faxon FX7 (right). These actions are affordable, durable and, above all, easily customized. You’ll need to decide what sort of action threads you want or just get both like me.
The Author’s Tips
I’ve been building out bolt guns since I was 14, and I’ve learned a thing or two about how to do it right. The old guard of bolt guns have essentially been gatekeepers to knowledge and sometimes kept it secret to help give their builds an edge—and a high price tag.
Here’s the thing: Today’s guns and barrels are pretty darn good. I’ve owned factory Savage rifles that shot better than some very high-end precision guns. It’s become far easier to acquire and build accurate rifles today than ever. Off-the-shelf parts are becoming increasingly better, and the need for things like glass bedding and lapped scope rings are just not as necessary today as they once were.
If you want a custom bolt gun built for you, do not let me persuade you from doing so. But in today’s world, you shouldn’t be surprised if someone’s less expensive home build is just as accurate. Even at that, don’t be surprised if a semi-auto gives your bolt gun a run for its money. Times are changing.
Two hunting rifle builds the author uses in the field. These have a large number of interchangeable parts.
It’s also worth noting here that headspacing is one of those things that people get freaked out about. Well, back when headspacing a barrel meant possibly doing it wrong, such as getting chatter in the chamber from the reamer, this was a costly, sweaty-palms proposition. I can tell you honestly that headspacing the old way is hard, but I will also say that you shouldn’t stress about it: These days, headspacing gauges are pretty easy to use and understand. After you do it once with a barrel nut setup, it’s like second nature.
The next pointer I have is on the budget scale. I work with some very high-end products in order to produce the best content for your eyes to delight in, and in that pursuit, I have come to see that many people are very conceited about their brands of choice. I like to look at what is happening with actions, but, in reality, most are more similar than they are different.
See, if we’re working inside the 700 footprint, with 700 triggers, 700 chassis systems, stocks and AICS mags, we’re actually working in a somewhat limited space. I’ve been accused of both being a “snob” and at the same time have had the FX7 and Solus actions I am using here called “budget” actions. That’s BS. Having used many actions, I can readily say that most of them are overpriced for what they offer. Don’t let anyone action-shame you.
Barrels, however, are not something to go cheap on. All things being the same, a high-end barrel will typically shoot better than lower-cost options. But, at the same time, manufacturing technology is so good now that factory pre-fit barrels I have here are all shooting under 1 MOA right out of the box.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Here we take a quick look at the tiny yet mighty .22 Creedmoor cartridge.
Likely, the development of the 22 Creedmoor began as far back as 2007, when the 6.5 Creedmoor was introduced, and shooters simultaneously had the notion to neck-down the 6.5 Creedmoor case to accept .224-diameter bullets.
Horizon Firearms of College Station, Texas, claims to have been the first rifle commercial maker to chamber the 22 Creedmoor in early 2014. The company has promoted the wildcat cartridge ever since.
Indeed, the development of the 22 Creedmoor sped up in early 2017, when Hornady introduced 6mm Creedmoor factory ammo, making the step down from .243- to .224-diameter bullets in those cases much more manageable. Getting to 22 Creedmoor from 6 Creedmoor is a straightforward pass through a full-length die.
Also, Alpha Munitions and Peterson Cartridge produce factory 22 Creedmoor brass, and Copper Creek Cartridge Co. and Spark Munitions make loaded rounds. The 22 Creedmoor is excellent medicine for predators, and several of the long, heavy bullets are suitable for deer and antelope, where that caliber is legal. A 75-grain 22 Creedmoor, fired in a rifle with a 1:8 twist 24-inch barrel, can achieve an average velocity of 3,450 fps and nearly 1,000 ft-lb of delivered energy at 500 yards.
.22 Creedmoor Loading Data
BULLET (GRAINS/TYPE)
POWDER
GRAINS
VELOCITY
ENERGY
SOURCE
55 V-Max
H4350
41.7
3,817
1,779
Peterson Cartridge
75 Hornady ELD-M
FL
–
3,470
2,039
Copper Creek
80.5 Berger VLD
RL26
41.9
3,323
1,973
Peterson Cartridge
90 Sierra MK
FL
–
3,210
2,071
Copper Creek
95 Sierra HPBT
H1000
40.0
3,012
1,913
Peterson Cartridge
When starting with 6mm Creedmoor brass, you will need to neck it down to produce 22 Creedmoor. The 6 Creedmoor starts out at a neck diameter of approximately 0.271 inch, and a loaded 22 Creedmoor will end up at about 0.254-0.255 inch with Hornady brass. Neck-turning will make it closer to 0.252 inch. You can use a full-length sizing die to go from 6mm to .22 caliber in one step. If you use bushings, you will want to neck down in two steps, starting with a 0.260-inch bushing on the first pass and finishing with a 0.250-inch die.
Savage Arms has just expanded its 110 Magpul Scout line of bolt-action rifles with four new chambering options.
The 110 Magpul Scout was already one of Savage Arms’ most popular bolt-action rifle models, but it’s likely only going to get more popular following the line’s recent addition of four new chamberings available for it. The rifle was previously only available in 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Winchester and 450 Bushmaster, but now shooters will have the option of picking one up in 5.56 NATO, 6mm ARC, .300 BLK and 350 Legend as well. That last one should be especially appealing to anyone looking to hunt in a state with straight-walled cartridge restrictions.
Outside of the new caliber choices, the 110 Magpul Scout is otherwise unchanged. That means the rifles still feature 16.5-inch button-rifled barrels with muzzle brakes, full-length extended scout-style Picatinny rails, adjustable AccuTriggers and compatibility with AICS-style box magazines. They also of course still utilize the Magpul Hunter stock with aluminum bedding, an adjustable length of pull and M-LOK slots on the sides and bottom of the forend.
RJ Contorno, Senior Product Manager at Savage Arms, said this about the new rifle options:
The 110 Magpul Scout has proven to be a top choice in our lineup … With the addition of new calibers, we are confident that this rifle will continue to exceed expectations and deliver exceptional performance for beginners and seasoned shooters alike.
The 110 Magpul Scout, in both old and new chambering options, is available with either a black or FDE stock color and in both right- and left-hand configurations. MSRP is $1,099 for all models.
The Japanese Nambu pistol has a reputation for being one of the worst sidearms of WWII, but is it as bad as everyone says?
At the turn of the 20th century, Japan’s history of making firearms paled in comparison to that of the West. The closest thing to a contemporary service sidearm Japan had developed at this point was the Type 26 revolver in 1893. It was an amalgamation of other revolver designs from Europe and the U.S.
Developing the first semi-automatic pistol for the Japanese military was a daunting task, and it was assigned to Kijirō Nambu.
Nambu had previously worked under the Japanese firearms designer Nariakira Arisaka developing the Type 30 rifle, and it took him five years to design his semi-auto pistol.
The pistol he developed in 1902 was a locked-breech, recoil-operated design chambered in an 8mm cartridge. It spawned a series of military-grade sidearms that took his name and were used by the Japanese Navy and Army starting during the Russo-Japanese War through World War II as well as afterward in smaller conflicts.
While semi-automatic pistols made by companies like FN and Mauser at that time were proven and effective weapons, the Nambu pistol was at best a runner-up. Justly or unjustly it was burdened with the reputation of being an odd-functioning gun chambered for an anemic caliber.
If it weren't for American GIs in the Pacific lusting after the Nambu as a war souvenir, the Japanese pistol would probably have been long forgotten.
First Successful Japanese Semi-Auto Pistol
With its design finalized in 1902, the original Nambu was one of the earliest successful semi-automatic pistol designs ever, which is noteworthy. However, the performance of European- and American-designed pistols overshadowed it.
There were three major variants of the Nambu pistol—the Type A, the Type B and the Type 14, the last of which is the most common and most produced variant. Most Nambu pistols were chambered for 8x22mm Nambu, a rimless bottleneck cartridge developed for the Nambu but also used in the Type 100 submachine gun by the Japanese military.
Both the pistol and the caliber earned a poor reputation. The Nambu was difficult and tricky to reload and the 8x22mm cartridge was less powerful than other common handgun calibers of the time such as 9x19mm Luger and 7.63x25mm Mauser.
The first version of the Nambu is known as the Type A. This pistol design was completed in 1902 and produced from 1903 to 1906. As it's the original model, it's referred to as the Grandpa Nambu by collectors. On the outside, the look of the Type A has similarities to the P08 Luger due to the swept-back grip and skinny, protruding barrel, but the two pistols are very different mechanically.
The Type A, like all Nambu variants chambered for 8mm, is a recoil-operated, locked-breech, semi-automatic pistol with a detachable 8-round magazine. The sights consist of an adjustable tangent-style rear sight that goes out to 500 meters and a blade front sight.
That’s wishful thinking for the 8mm Nambu round at best, as part of the Nambu’s poor reputation comes from the 8x22mm Nambu cartridge.
The round featured a 102-grain FMJ bullet traveling at about 960 fps with a bit over 200 foot-pounds of energy which is slightly less powerful than .380 Auto. Compared to the 9x19mm Luger and some of the other common pistol cartridges used in WWII, 8mm Nambu is definitely on the weak side.
The rear backstrap of the Type A also had a slot for attaching a wooden stock that doubled as a holster, similar to the Broomhandle Mauser, and there was a fixed lanyard loop on the back of the frame. Production ended in 1906 when an improved model was introduced.
That improved model was called the Type A Modified, or “Papa” Nambu variant. The trigger guard was enlarged for use with gloved hands, the stock slot was removed and a swiveling lanyard loop was added. The pistol’s magazine geometry also changed as well as the material used for the baseplates, and the magazines are not interchangeable between the Grandpa and Papa Nambus.
In this time period, officers in the Japanese military were required to purchase their own sidearms, and both variants of Type A Nambu were used despite neither model being officially adopted by the Japanese Army. As far as official adoption goes, only the Japanese Navy would select the Papa variant for standard issue.
The “Baby” Nambu
The Type B Nambu is a scaled-down version of the Type A and is referred to by collectors as the Baby Nambu. This gun is sized to fit in a pocket but was mostly used as a badge of rank within the Japanese military.
The Type B operated the same way as the larger versions of the Nambu, but the Type B was chambered for 7x20mm Nambu, a smaller cartridge than the 8x22mm Nambu, and it used a 7-round magazine.
This round was even more anemic, as it fired a 56-grain bullet at somewhere between 800 and 1,000 fps from its 3.25-inch barrel. For context, that’s even less powerful than .32 ACP, but not by a huge margin. Production spanned from 1903 to 1929 where about 6,000 are estimated to have been made.
As recoil-operated pistols, when a Nambu is fired the barrel assembly reciprocates backwards to unlock the bolt, then the bolt continues back to eject the case, reset the striker and load a fresh round. This system is similar to a Mauser C96 broom handle. The guide rod and recoil spring are housed in a small tube on the left side of the frame and a large knob at the back of the bolt is used to retract and cock the pistol.
A left side of the Type B “Baby” Nambu pistol. Notice the round horizontal tube protruding from the top part of the frame, this is where the recoil spring and guide rod are housed. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.
The bolt locks back on an empty magazine, but when the magazine is removed the bolt flies forward. There was no bolt hold open feature which made reloading the Nambu a bit tricky. The magazine release is a button just behind the trigger, similar to modern pistols.
There is also a grip safety on the front strap that when squeezed allows the pistol to fire. Further, neither variant of the Type A nor the Type B featured a manual safety of any kind and only relied on the grip safety.
Type 14 Nambu
Introduced in 1925, the Type 14 is the most common Nambu variant and is an evolution of the Type A. The name stems from the fact that it was designed in the 14th year of the Taishō era according to the Japanese calendar of the time.
The design was primarily tweaked with the intention of reducing production costs and time. As for its ammunition, the Type 14 was chambered for the same 8x22m Nambu cartridge as the earlier Type A guns.
The Type 14 Nambu had a 4.7-inch barrel and wood grips with distinctive horizontal serrations. The most obvious difference between the Type A and B models and the Type 14 is that the Type 14 employed a pair of recoil springs built into the sides of the bolt, replacing the single recoil spring located on the side of the frame on the Type A and B guns. Besides this, the Type 14's short-recoil operation was fundamentally the same as that of its predecessors.
The Type 14 also introduced a manual safety located on the left side of the pistol above the trigger, although it was very unergonomic as it required the shooter to use their support hand to operate it. The safety rotates a whopping 180 degrees, and this is one of the design quirks of the Nambu pistol that aided in sullying its reputation since the safety was neither easy nor quick to engage or disengage.
Most European and American pistol designs of the time already had safeties that could be operated with the thumb of the firing hand. The grip safety was also omitted on the Type 14.
A magazine safety was also incorporated into the design preventing the trigger from being pulled without a magazine inserted. Like the earlier models, the Type 14 also had no independent bolt-hold-open device and would only lock open with an empty magazine inserted.
The Type 14 was officially adopted by the Japanese military and issued to non-commissioned officers. Officers were responsible for purchasing their own pistols.
While the guns produced before the end of WWII showed excellent workmanship, as conditions worsened in Japan, so did the fit and finish of the firearms they made.
If the Nambu has an Achilles heel, it’s the fragile firing pins. Type 14 guns were issued with a spare firing pin since a small tab could easily shear off when dry firing or in actual use. A gun issued with spare parts does not promote confidence.
Although officers still had to pay for their own pistols, the Type 14 was adopted by the Japanese military as the official sidearm following its introduction. Production ceased in 1945 upon Japan’s defeat and it’s believed that about 400,000 were made in total.
The loss of official records and the widespread phenomenon of officers destroying them before surrendering them to Americans makes that a hard figure to know for certain.
Collecting Nambu Pistols
Just as the Luger was a coveted prize in the European theater of WWII, so too was the Nambu in the Pacific. Americans love their war trophies (who doesn’t), and GIs fighting in the East were eager to get their hands on the exotic, foreign pistol.
It doesn’t appear any Nambu variant was ever imported commercially into the U.S., so the examples that exist on the collector’s market here are all GI bringbacks from the war. This makes them quite rare, and they’re only getting rarer and more expensive.
While there are likely still examples sitting in family safes around the country as heirlooms in memory of grandpa, there aren’t enough that their introduction to the collector’s market would tip the scales in your favor as a buyer. If you want to buy one, sooner is better than later. That’s just the way military surplus goes.
A happy American GI posing with his captured Type 14 Nambu.
Nambu Pistol Prices
We won’t get into the nitty gritty of pricing here, as it can vary a lot based on condition, production year and the exact model in question, but all Nambu pistols are now quite expensive.
The Type 14, the most common variant, tends to start at around $1,000 these days for one in OK condition. In nicer condition Type 14s only go up from there, and rarer models like the Baby Nambu can easily demand $5,000 or more. That said, if you buy one, you can thankfully still shoot it if you desire to as a few companies like Steinel thankfully offer ammo for them.
Does The Nambu Deserve Its Reputation?
At the time the Nambu was first produced, Japan’s firearm industry was far behind Europe and the U.S. The fact that the Nambu was Japan’s first semi-automatic pistol (as well as being among the earliest semi-auto pistols ever) and that it worked as designed is a major accomplishment.
We all agree that the 8mm Nambu cartridge is anemic at best, but keep in mind that military handguns of the time primarily served as a signifier of rank for officers and were only really used as an emergency defensive weapon. Many European military handguns of the same era were chambered for .380 Auto or .32 Auto and both Axis and Allied officers carried handguns chambered for these.
If the Nambu is severely lacking in any department, its ergonomics and user-friendliness.
Despite its poor reputation, the Nambu is not without its strong points. Bill Ruger borrowed elements from the Type 14 to create the Ruger Standard .22 LR in 1949 which went on to become one of the most popular semi-auto rimfire pistols ever produced. Because of this, the Nambu still lives on today in the Ruger Mark IV.
The quirks of the Nambu like its awkward manual safety and lack of a slide stop made the gun more difficult to run compared to other handguns of the time, but I’d say that the Nambu’s reputation is worse than it really deserves. Its cartridge was definitely lackluster, and it had several ergonomic issues and oddities about it, but considering that the basic design was invented in 1902 and that Japan had no real history of making modern guns, their successful development of a functioning semi-auto pistol deserves a lot of respect.
More Classic Military Guns:
Why The Mauser C96 “Broomhandle” Still Looms Large
Palmetto State Armory has just added several .300 BLK options to its line of Krinkov AK pistols.
Everybody seems to want a Krinkov. Officially known as the AKS-74U, the little Soviet personal defense weapon was originally chambered for 5.45x39mm, but imported commercial options are now very scarce as well as the parts kits that are used to manufacture them domestically. PSA has thankfully answered the call with its Krinkov series of AK pistols. Originally released earlier this year chambered for 5.56x45mm NATO, the company has just expanded the line with the addition of .300 BLK models.
Known for excellent performance out of shorter barrels, .300 BLK is a perfect match for the Krinkov’s 8.4-inch pipe. Even more impressive, however, is a change that PSA made under the hood. By using an AR-style gas block instead of a traditional AK-style one, the company was able to move the gas port closer to the chamber. This increases the dwell time and helps to ensure more reliable function with both supersonic and subsonic ammunition, all without using an adjustable gas block. The only downside of this is that the .300 BLK Krinkovs will only function with their included, proprietary gas tubes.
As for the model variants currently available, PSA is offering the .300 BLK Krinkov in a few different configurations. MSRP starts at $1,049.99 for the “SBR-ready” model that has no pistol brace and classic wood furniture, and MSRP is $1,199.99 for the classic wood furniture models that come with folding triangle pistol braces. For a few rubles more, you could also get one of the two tactical options that feature either a railed JMAC forend or the SureShot MK3 Krink Chassis, both of which also include a triangle pistol brace. Further, all models are ready to accept a proper 4.5mm folding stock if you’d like to go the SBR route.
Charter Arms has just announced the Mag Pug Combo, part of the company’s new Double Dog revolver series.
Charter Arms has just launched its new Double Dog revolver series, starting with the release of two variants of the Mag Pug Combo revolver. The wheel guns are defined by their versatility, as each will ship with two interchangeable cylinders that allow the user to swap between .357 Magnum and 9x19mm Luger chamberings.
The Mag Pug Combo combines the company’s Mag Pug and Pit Bull lines, resulting in a 5-shot revolver that can fire both .357 and 9mm with nothing more than a cylinder swap. The guns feature double-action/single-action triggers and are available with either a 2.2- or 4.4-inch barrel as well as either a stainless steel or black finish. Further, the barrels of all variants are ported to help mitigate recoil. The 2.2-inch model features a classic walnut grip and standard snub-nose revolver fixed iron sights, and the 4.4-inch model features a Backpacker walnut grip and an adjustable rear sight.
Nick Ecker, Owner, President and CEO of Charter Arms, said this about the new revolvers:
We couldn’t be happier see this project come to life … We knew once it came off the production line, it surpassed all our expectations. The caliber flexibility is ideal for concealed carry, home protection and well-suited for the range.
The Mag Pug Combo revolvers are available now. The snub-nose variants have an MSRP of $637 and the 4.4-inch models have an MSRP of $659.
Bear Creek Arsenal makes good guns at a good price, so here we test out the BC-15 RSCH, BC-201 and BC-101 Grizzly.
I’ve been assessing and writing about guns for more than a quarter century, and it’s rare I receive a gun to test and am genuinely surprised with the results. But a couple months ago Bear Creek Arsenal (BCA) reached out and asked if I would like to review one of their AR-15s. I agreed, but based on the rifle’s suggested retail price, I didn’t expect much. Boy, was I surprised. I was so impressed I asked BCA if I could review some of their other firearms. They agreed and sent me one of their .22 rifles and a 9mm pistol, and here’s a look at all three of the BCA firearms I have experience with. But first, what about the company that makes these affordable guns?
About Bear Creek Arsenal
In 2013, Eugene Moore, a Navy SeaBee veteran started Bear Creek Arsenal. It’s a family owned and operated business, and it has since seen remarkable expansion. Over the past decade, they’ve continually added new CNC machines, and the manufacturing facility, which is all under one roof, now covers 340,000 square feet. Bear Creek Arsenal’s philosophy is that every American should be able to own premium firearms, while not stressing over being able to afford them. They use the finest machining methods and most modern technology to provide some of the most competitively priced AR rifles in the industry.
The author tested these three American-made firearms from Bear Creek Arsenal and was impressed with their performance.
BCA manufactures all key firearm components in-house, and they sell directly to the customer, cutting out the distributor. They use top-of-the-line shipping and warehouse management processes and technologies to achieve excellent turnaround times, and this is all done to pass along the most savings possible to the customer. In keeping with BCA’s American work ethic, they back all their products with the “Bear Den Guarantee,” which is a limited lifetime warranty. The Moore family also believes in giving back to the community and helping law enforcement, charities and building communities.
Currently, BCA offers firearms available for 26 different cartridges, ranging from .17 HMR, up through the 8.6 Blackout and ending up with the .458 SOCOM. This includes AR-15 and AR-10 (BC-10 and BC-15) style rifles, and the BC-8 Huntmaster semi-auto AR-patterned rifle, which is available in .30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester and .300 Winchester Magnum. BCA also manufactures pistol-caliber carbines chambered in 9mm, 10mm and .45 Auto, as well as polymer-framed pistols, a 1911 and semi-automatic .22 LR and .22 Magnum rifles. BCA will soon be adding new lever-action and bolt-action rifles on the AR platform.
Bear Creek Arsenal BC-15 RSCH
The Bear Creek Arsenal BC-15 in 6mm ARC is a great shooting AR-15 pattern rifle and it has the advantage of a right-side charging handle.
The typical BCA AR-15 is a mil-spec-style AR that comes in various configurations. The main difference with the BCA BC-15 AR that I reviewed is its right-side charging handle (RSCH). With this AR, the upper receiver and bolt carrier are a bit different. It will still fit a mil-spec AR-15 lower receiver, but the upper is void of the conventional T-handle charging handle and the ejection port is also different to work with the RSCH, which allows you to easily operate the rifle’s action while it’s on your shoulder.
The test rifle was chambered for the 6mm ARC cartridge, and it has a 24-inch, heavy and fluted, 416R stainless steel barrel, with the muzzle threaded at 5/8×24, and a proprietary BCA flash hider installed from the factory. It also has a rifle-length gas system and a non-adjustable gas block that’s concealed inside an aluminum BCA 15-inch M-Lok handguard. The rifle doesn’t come with a magazine or a thread protector for the muzzle, and the trigger is mil-spec.
The right-side charging handle on the BC-15 sets it apart, and it makes the rifle more user friendly.
The first round fired from the rifle failed to eject, but after that it ran perfectly without a single hiccup, with and without a Silencer Central Banish Backcountry suppressor installed. The first load I evaluated was the 105-grain BTSP Hornady Black load, and it averaged about 1.25 inches—about what you’d expect from a less than $600 AR-15 with a not-so-great mil-spec trigger. The next load was the ELD-X load, and it averaged right at an inch, and the Hornady Match load averaged less than three-quarters of an inch. That’s near MOA AR-15 performance for less than 600 bucks!
BC-15 RSCH SPECS:
SKU: CR9001N-6MMARHB2418SSF-15M3 CHAMBERING: 6mm ARC WEIGHT: 9.2 pounds CAPACITY: AR-15 pattern 6.5 Grendel magazines (magazine not provided) BARREL: 416R stainless steel, 24 inches with 1:8 twist, threaded at 5/8×24 SIGHTS: None RECEIVER: 7075-T6 aluminum with integral rail HANDGUARD: 15-inch M-Lok with rail STOCK: 6-position adjustable MSRP: $596.99
Bear Creek Arsenal BC-201
The BCA BC-201 rifle is a copy of the famous Ruger 10/22.
The BC-201 is really just a copy of the most famous .22 rifle of all time—the Ruger 10/22. It features a 416R stainless steel (match grade) barrel and an over-molded Hogue stock. The barrel has a .920 diameter and 11-degree target crown and interestingly, the 7075 T6 aluminum receiver has an integrated Picatinny rail for easy scope mounting. The BC-201 feeds from factory Ruger 10/22 magazines and one comes with the rifle. As you might guess, the rifle is compatible with aftermarket Ruger 10/22 components as well.
BCA’s BC-201 rimfire rifle comes with a right-side charging handle that’s similar to the one used on their BC-15, AR-15 patterned rifles.
This rifle ran perfectly with every .22 LR load I tried, but it proved to be a bit finicky when it came to precision on target. Most of the loads I tested printed five-shot groups at 50 yards from a sandbag rest in the 1.25- to 1.75-inch range. That’s not stellar but it’s also not uncommon performance for an affordable .22 rimfire rifle. However, the rifle absolutely loved the CCI Green Tag load. I fired 10 groups with this load and the largest measured just shy of an inch, and most were closer to the half-inch mark. CCI’s MiniMag load also shot reasonably well, averaging just a tad more than an inch at 50 yards.
BC-201 SPECS:
SKU: CR8996-SCH22LHB16116SSUT CHAMBERING: .22 long rifle WEIGHT: 6.5 pounds CAPACITY: 10-round detachable Ruger 10/22 magazine (ships with one magazine) BARREL: 416R stainless steel, 16 inches with 1:16 twist, 11-degree crown SIGHTS: None RECEIVER: 7075-T6 aluminum with integral rail Stock: Hogue Overmold Ghillie Green MSRP: $345
Bear Creek Arsenal BC-101 Grizzly
Though there was an issue with a slightly bent slide stop out of the box, once replaced, the BCA Grizzly pistol functioned perfectly.
This polymer-framed 9mm pistol is essentially a Glock 17 Gen 3 clone. But there are some differences. The slide has window cuts on the sides and top, and the frame has a slightly different shape and feel, and very comfortable and attractive “Bear fur” stippling on the slides, front and rear. The pistol also comes out of the box with photoluminescent night sights and an optics cut for an RMR. BCA offers several versions, but they all cost the same. The base gun is as I described, and then there are models with either a gold titanium or stainless Nitride, threaded or unthreaded barrel. And finally, there’s the pistol I evaluated, which has a black Nitride threaded barrel.
With the rise in suppressor popularity has come a rise in suppressor-ready pistols. The Grizzly is no exception.
Test-firing started on the bench and the pistol proved to be a tack driver with just about every load I tried. However, I had some issues with the slide locking back before the magazine was empty and then not wanting to release by hand. I had to put my Glock armorer’s hat on, and a full disassembly revealed the slide lock was just slightly bent. I ordered a new slide stop for a Glock 17 for $9.99, and it solved the issue.
The BCA Grizzly pistol comes out of the box with a slide that’s cut to accept an RMR.
I shot this pistol just as well as I shoot my G17, and the trigger was just as good as any factory Gen 3 Glock I’ve fired. I liked the pistol so much that I installed a Trijicon RMR and a set of suppressor height sights from XS Sights. (Sight removal and installation was very easy using the XS Sights In-Line Sight Pusher Kit.) With the reflex sight and XS sights installed, I continued to shoot the hell out of this pistol with and without my Silencer Central Banish 45 suppressor. Those in the hunt for a polymer-framed 9mm should for sure give this gun a serious look.
SKU: CGP101-91917SSBCFTH-TCWC2MPOLY CHAMBERING: 9mm Luger WEIGHT: 22.88 ounces CAPACITY: 17+1 detachable Glock 17 magazines (includes two) BARREL: 4150 chrome moly vanadium, 5 inches with 1:16 twist, threaded at 1/2×28 SIGHTS: Photoluminescent/three-dot with optics cut for RMR FRAME: Black polymer MSRP: $295
The Bear Creek Advantage
I wouldn’t say the guns from BCA are the best American-made guns you can buy. But let me be clear about something, with a Bear Creek Arsenal gun you’ll definitely get your money’s worth. The BC-15 I evaluated was completely reliable and shot great. The BC 201, while a bit finicky when it came to the ammo it liked, was flawlessly reliable. And, after I replaced the bent slide stop—a part that cost me $9.99—on the BC-101 Glock clone, that pistol ran to perfection with every load tried, with and without a suppressor.
As a final note, I’ll leave you with this. The suggested retail price for all three of these BCA guns—not counting the tax man’s cut—is only $1,236.99, which works out to only about $413 per gun. To put that in perspective, three similar guns from Ruger, including an AR-556 MPR, a Ruger American Pistol and a Ruger 10/22, would set you back nearly twice as much. Right now, money is tight and if you’re looking for a new American-made gun, you might want to start your search at Bear Creek Arsenal. Looking is even less expensive—it’s free.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Both .30-30 Winchester and .45-70 Government have stood the test of time. Legendary might be the polite way of saying these two cartridges are old, but the truth is they are real performers.
When it comes to killing game, both are more than capable on deer and bear up to moose, bison, and elk. Chambered mostly in lightweight, fast-shooting lever-action rifles, these calibers appeal to everyone’s inner cowboy.
So, you might be asking yourself: when it comes to .30-30 versus .45-70, which is the best to use? The short answer is it depends on your intended application and a few other factors.
The .45-70 Government Development
The .45-70 Government is the older of these two cartridges. It was adopted by the U.S. Military back in 1873, a few years before the Battle of Little Big Horn was fought.
It was used in single-shot Springfield Trapdoor rifles and originally fired a 405-grain .45-caliber bullet atop 70 grains of black powder loaded in a straight-wall, rimmed case.
Caliber size and powder charge were the preferred way of naming cartridges back then, hence the name .45-70. It had a muzzle velocity of around 1,300 fps and shed energy faster than an ice cube melting on the pavement in August.
Cartridges used by the U.S. military often find themselves becoming extremely popular with the civilian population as well. The .45-70 was no different. Long after the government phased out the .45-70 Gov’t cartridge, it was still seeing use by American hunters and that remains true to this day.
.45-70 Government Smokeless Powder Loads
Even though it continued to see use after the transition was made from black powder to smokeless powder its ballistic potential was unfortunately neutered in most instances.
Because the guns originally designed to use .45-70 were black powder firearms, they couldn’t handle the higher pressures generated by smokeless powder. In turn, most smokeless loads were equivalent to black powder loads in pressure and performance.
The upside was most smokeless .45-70 ammo is safe to use in antique guns (always double-check before shooting though!). The downside is the loads leave a lot of performance on the table.
This is mitigated by .45-70 “overpressure” loads that can substantially improve the round’s ballistics, but these should only be used in modern guns that are designed to handle them.
The .30-30 Winchester Development
Winchester introduced the first smokeless sporting cartridge in 1895 and called it the .30 Winchester Centerfire or .30 WCF. It was chambered in the Model 1894 lever action creating perhaps the most popular deer hunting cartridge and rifle combination to ever grace the Earth.
Other rifle competitors like Marlin chambered the caliber in their lever-action rifles but were loathed to stamp the Winchester name on a Marlin rifle. Marlin decided to call the new cartridge the .30-30: a .30-caliber bullet over 30 grains of powder. The name stuck and we all still call it the .30-30 today.
The cartridge became the benchmark caliber for deer, but that didn’t stop hunters from using the .30-30 on pronghorn, caribou, elk, moose, bear, wolves, coyotes and any other critters and varmints between the West and East Coasts.
The original .30-30 round was loaded with a 160-grain soft-point, round-nose .30-caliber bullet. It had a muzzle velocity of 1,970 fps, and at modest ranges it offered plenty of power with minimal recoil.
.30-30 Vs .45-70: Modern Loads
The sweet spot of bullet weights for the .30-30 are 150- and 170-grain projectiles. Lighter and heavier bullets are available, but these two weights most easily enable the .30-30 to be a game-getter.
Factory data for modern 150-grain bullets looks something like 2,390 fps at the muzzle with 1,902 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. Heavier 170-grain bullets have a muzzle velocity of around 2,200 fps and 1,827 foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle.
Modern .45-70 loads have more speed and punch but don’t have the legs when it comes to distance. Popular bullet weights include 300 and 405 grains, though bullet weights ranging from 225 grains up to 500 grains are available.
Modern factory loads of 300-grain bullets should provide something like 2,000 fps with a muzzle energy of around 2,665 foot-pounds.
.30-30 Ballistics
First, let’s take a look at popular .30-30 loads using factory data. All trajectory charts were made using Shooter’s Calculator with a 100-yard zero, a 1.5-inch sight height, a 10-mph 90-degree crosswind and zero corrections for atmosphere.
Looking at the chart, you can see modern Hornady LEVERevolution offers slightly better performance than the Federal Power-Shok and Winchester Power Point.
The 170- and 150-grain round-nose bullets from Federal and Winchester push through the air rather than slice through. Round-nose bullets create drag and do not cut through the air as efficiently as pointy, spitzer-style bullets.
The spitzer-style 140-grain bullet in the Hornady load more easily travels through the air giving it the flattest trajectory of all the loads. At 100 yards, the 140-grain bullet is still carrying 1,481 foot-pounds of punch. By 200 yards it has dropped 5.85 inches.
The 150-grain bullet offers slightly less energy at 100 yards (1,468 foot-pounds) and drops nearly 6.5 inches at 200 yards. The 170-grain bullet offers even less energy at 100 yards (1,355 foot-pounds) and drops over 8 inches at 200 yards.
Wind affects these bullets, too. Assuming a 10-mph wind perpendicular to your shooting spot, expect the wind at 100 yards to push the 170-grain and 150-grain bullets 1.9 inches and 1.5 inches, respectively.
The 140-grain spitzer is the least affected by the wind with only about 1.4 inches of drift, but not by a huge margin.
If the kill zone is a four-inch circle, a dead-on shot out to 100 yards will do the trick. Beyond that range, especially with stronger wind, you’ll need to adjust your aim to compensate for drift and drop.
.45-70 Ballistics
The ballistics for factory .45-70 loads show the bullet's greater mass is both a pro and a con. It provides needed energy, but quickly loses speed as distance increases.
At 100 yards, the Remington Core-Lokt 405-grain flat-nose bullet provides 1,725 foot-pounds of energy. The Federal HammerDown 300-grain flat-nose and Hornady LEVERevolution 325-grain FTX bullet offer 1,730 and 2,159 foot-pounds, respectively.
The chart data shows the modern Hornady spitzer-style bullet shoots flatter and is less affected by wind. The flat-nose bullets of the Remington and Federal loads drag through the air.
Because .45-70 bullets are heavy and have a low BC, they drop like stones as the distance increases. The wind impacts these massive bullets, too. At 100 yards with 10 mph wind, expect about 2.6 inches of drift with the 405-grain bullet, 2.4 inches with the 325-grain and 2.1 inches with the 300-grain.
At 200 yards, the bullets’ drop becomes substantial, with the 325-grain falling 10.25 inches, the 300-grain dropping nearly 12 inches and the 405-grain dropping about 16.25 inches.
.30-30 Vs .45-70: Ballistics
Overlaying the ballistic data for the .30-30 loads with the .45-70 loads, it becomes easy to see that the .30-30 shoots flatter than the .45-70. This is important if you plan on shooting past 100 yards as there will be less holdover with the .30-30.
The data also shows that the .45-70 offers more energy at the same distances as the .30-30. Depending on the game being hunted, that extra punch might be necessary, showing us that both cartridges excel in different areas and that each still has its place.
.30-30 Vs .45-70: Ammunition
Many factory options are available for both cartridges today. The .45-70 has the widest range of choices from target shooting and subsonic loads up to +P loads used for grizzly bear and other dangerous game.
Popular bullet weights are 300- and 405-grain options. In 405-grain loads expect a soft-point flat-nose bullet from Remington, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot, Federal, and Fiocchi. These are good options for deer, pigs, and bear. Buffalo Bore, Grizzly and Underwood produce standard and +P loads in bullet weights ranging from 225-grain up to 500-grains.
Use these if you want more penetration and stopping power on elk, moose, bison or Godzilla. If you want more distance and a slightly flatter trajectory, try Hornady LEVERevolution in 250- and 325-grain loads with polymer-tipped spitzer bullets. These have a higher BC which means they drop less and are less affected by the wind.
Neither caliber is cheap, but one advantage of .30-30 is you will spend less on ammo than you would buying .45-70. Bullet weights range from 125- to 190-grains.
Most of what you’ll find will be either 150- or 170-grain. Winchester, Remington, Federal, Prvi Partizan, Nosler, Browning, Hornady and others all load 150- and 170-grain soft-point bullets. This is your go-to ammo if your shots are at 100 yards or less and you’re gunning for deer, bear or pigs.
If you want lead-free options, Nosler, Barnes, and Underwood offer monolithic copper bullets as well.
.30-30 Vs. .45-70: Which Should You Use?
Data doesn’t lie. Both .30-30 and .45-70 are excellent game cartridges at moderate ranges. I keep my shots within 100 to 150 yards with either round.
The .30-30 offers more speed over .45-70, which means it shoots a bit flatter. The .30-30 is also less affected by wind and offers less felt recoil.
The .45-70, however, offers a massive bullet with up to 35 percent more energy compared to .30-30 Winchester. It makes bigger holes and can better penetrate the bodies of large animals.
The tradeoffs for that increase in energy are more felt recoil and a shorter effective range. That said, shooters that are sensitive to recoil should probably stick with .30-30.
There’s also the legal side of things to consider, as your state’s hunting laws might choose for you.
One reason to consider the .45-70 over the .30-30 is that the .45-70 is a straight wall cartridge, which is legal in some states for deer hunting. Since the .30-30 is not a straight wall cartridge, it is not a legal option.
If hunting regulations are not a factor, choosing between the .30-30 and .45-70 comes down to what game you are hunting.
If you hunt whitetail deer, wild pigs, and black bear at moderate distances you cannot go wrong with .30-30. It offers a flatter trajectory than the .45-70 and has far less recoil.
If you also hunt elk, bison, and moose, my choice would be a .45-70. It can easily handle medium-sized game like deer, pigs and black bear, as well as big game. You get more recoil with the .45-70 but the tradeoff is a larger wound channel and deeper penetration.
Philip Massaro with an eight-point whitetail he took with a 45-70. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Both cartridges have taken staggering amounts of game in their lifetimes, and you can’t go wrong with either.
That said, depending on the size of the animal you’re pursuing and your anticipated shot distance, using either .30-30 or .45-70 might just be able to provide that extra bit of performance that makes the difference between hitting your mark or not.
Do you run your AR-15 suppressed? Does it spit gas back in your face? Here we look at SilencerCo’s solution, the Gas Defeating Charging Handle.
Got gas?
No, not that kind of gas. I’m talking about gas in the face from your suppressor. Yes, there’s gas out of the ejection port, but the real eye-watering gas can be the little jet of gas that spurts out of the rear of the upper, underneath the charging handle. Directed straight back at your face and jetting just above the level of the cheekpiece, it’s almost evilly aimed at your eye.
One of our club members had a real problem with that back in the 1980s. Combined with the contact lenses he wore (this was pre-LASIK and pre pretty much anything), there were some ARs he just couldn’t shoot.
So, I schemed up several ways to solve the problem for him … and one of those methods is the same one SilencerCo now offers. (I can’t say I was the first to think of it. I didn’t make more than a couple for use back then.)
The charging handle they offer is an ambidextrous model with latches on both sides. On the underside of the handle section, they’ve machined a groove and installed a section of rubber O-ring. The O-ring seals the gap between the bottom edge of the charging handle and the bottom face of the charging-handle opening in the upper receiver.
The rubber O-ring that’s installed on the underside of the gas-defeating charging handle fills the gap and restricts or eliminates gas flow back toward your face.
And, if/when you wear out the one that’s installed, there’s a spare O-ring with it. (Is it still an “O” if it has been clipped to be a “U”?)
Installing is easy: Disassemble your AR, take out the old charging handle, install the new SilencerCo one and reassemble. Done.
To do its job, the O-ring has to fill the gap—and that depends on the tolerances of the upper and the charging handle. In the few rifles I checked it in, the O-ring rubs enough that it takes more than just the usual easy thumb push to close and latch the charging handle. I consider that a good thing, as it provides a full seal.
Others, with a bit more wiggle room, might not rub. Even if they don’t, the O-ring will be fully (or mostly) filling the gap and cut down or eliminate the gas spurt out of that opening (which isn’t open anymore, right?).
At $114—compared to a USGI charging handle at $20—the price might seem high. Look at it this way: You’ve spent more than $1,000 (maybe even $2,000) for your AR-15, and another $1,000 (maybe even $1,500) for the suppressor and tax. Every magazine you shoot costs you $15 in ammunition.
So, is $114 to keep gas out of your eyes that much to spend? I thought not.
The SilencerCo gas-defeating charging handle is one of those good ideas that might not be needed for every application, but when it is, it’s a godsend.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Two of the lowest priced 2011-style pistols on the market, the Tisas B9R Carry and MAC 1911 DS. Here we test how they hold up.
Great guns on a budget are few and far between. Often, they only seem like good deals just to disappoint you when they spontaneously self-dissemble after 500 rounds.
While an ultra-budget 2011-style pistol didn’t seem likely just a few years ago, the market for double-stack 1911s at an entry-level price points is growing exponentially. Turkish gunmaker Tisas is responsible for two such product lines: the B9R DS, sold under their own banner, and the 1911 DS sold by Military Armament Corp, or MAC.
We had high hopes for the MAC 1911 DS and, as such, did our best to treat it like a rented pack mule at an estate sale. From being beaten up at 2-Gun matches and getting dragged through the dirt, to firing hundreds of rounds in single training sessions, to being fed Russian steel case ammo improperly stored and hoarded since before the pandemic. If this pistol weren’t a masochist at heart, it would report us to the NRA for firearm abuse.
Though it’s manufactured by Tisas, MAC’s 1911 DS was designed in the United States.
Because of this American influence, the specs are a bit more in line with what you might expect a good 2011 to have — 4.25-inch bull barrel, 25LPI checkering on the front and back strap, M1913 light rail, RMR pattern optic mount, flared magazine well, ambi safety, and uses standard STI pattern 2011 magazines. It ships with two Tisas branded 17-round mags made by Check-Mate.
For budget-friendly 20-rounders, Springfield Armory sent out a few of their 140mm Prodigy magazines. The LGS also had a 26-round Prodigy mag so that got added into the mix.
Ammo was a mix of 115gr MagTech Steel case and 124gr Blazer all provided by AmmunitionToGo.com. The MAC was also fed a few boxes of old Wolf steel case as well.
Fit & Finish
1911/2011 people know that fit and finish is king. A huge piece of the price tag on high-end pistols is due to the time and expertise required to spend 20, 40, or even 100 hours or more hand-stoning a top-tier gun.
The MAC doesn’t have any of that. This is a factory pistol and doesn’t pretend to be otherwise. While MAC doesn’t use MIM parts, they’re not hand-fitted either. Slide-to-frame fit is about on par with other Tisas 1911s, meaning that it’s OK. Tighter than a Glock or SIG, but not tight by 2011 standards. That being said, it isn’t so loose as to induce malfunctions or allow excess dust or grime into the working bits of the gun.
Mounting a red-dot optic is easy and just requires removing the iron sight-only plate and replacing it with an RMR-cut plate included in the box. Sadly, the irons on the MAC are a little short, and even with the low-ish sitting deck of a Holosun 407c, the irons can’t be used effectively with a RDS. Once we changed the Holosun out for a Lead & Steel Pandora PB-3 on a Strike Industries RMR to ACRO plate, the iron sights were totally invisible.
By our count, this gun has seen slightly over 1,000 rounds now, and it’s been a champ. Zero malfunctions of any kind. Normally, we wouldn’t even clean a gun in the first 1,000 rounds just to see how it held up, but the MAC 1911 DS got dragged through the dirt pretty badly at a 2-Gun match.
Because of that, this got a field strip and a wipe-down about halfway through the 1,000 rounds. Even with getting dragged across the range like a cartel informant, the gun still ran.
The most basic requirement of a good gun is that it needs to work, and the MAC 1911 DS clears that bar with room to spare. As for being a good 2011-style gun, let’s just say it needs a little end-user love.
Out of the box, the trigger is crisp, but damn heavy by 1911 standards at about 5 pounds. The nice thing about a 1911/2011 is that adjusting the trigger is extremely easy and requires just a punch and hammer. After 30 minutes of watching an Atlas Gunworks trigger adjustment video and fiddling with the trigger, we got it down to about 3.5 pounds.
Something else worth noting is that the MAC comes oversprung, meaning the recoil and main springs are just a bit more powerful than they need to be. This doesn’t cause any problems and arguably improves reliability across a wider range of ammo, but it doesn’t give that greased-pig-slick feeling when you rack the slide like a properly sprung 2011 will give you.
The Tisas mags work outstandingly well, with zero problems of any kind. But the 20-round Prodigy mags were, at first, extremely hard to seat with the slide forward and the mag at capacity. This was just a spring issue, and after leaving them loaded for a week, they seat just fine. Both brands fed and ran perfectly.
The least impressive part of the MAC is oddly not any of the metal parts — it’s the grip. Checkering on the front and rear is fantastic and gives your hands a solid lock on the gun. The sides, while they look textured, are effectively smooth and offer zero grip. It’s very strange how they look like they should be giving your hand something to work with, but when you run your finger over it there’s just no bite.
The magazine release is also unimpressive and smooth. While checkering on a mag release isn’t required, it’s a nice touch. But at this price, it’s understandable that it was ignored.
The Tisas house gun we got was their B9R DS Carry. It’s a mouthful of alphabet soup to say out loud, but the punchline is the, “Carry” part, meaning this one sports a Commander-length 4.25-inch barrel. Fit and finish is, again, on par with the price but on the higher end of what we’ve seen come out of Turkey in the past. Considering that Tisas builds both guns, we expected them to be identical clones but wound up with some interesting differences.
The optics cut on our Tisas B9R sample was for the Holosun K/RMSc footprint, rather than the RMR. So we mounted a Holosun EPS — a seemingly simple task that took a little more effort than we’d hoped.
The optics cut on our slide was extremely tight. Tight enough, in fact, that it took a sizeable chunk out of the front of the EPS housing before it would actually seat into the cut. The folks at Tisas told us the optic had to be situated completely level to get mounted. Even with that, it still cost us a gnarly gouge but, for better or worse, the EPS came on and off much more easily after receiving an involuntary contour job.
While the full-size MAC pistol was able to accept an X300-A very well, the shorter dustcover rail on the Tisas B9R Carry would not take either an X300 or TLR-1 at all. The locking lug on both lights sits completely in front of the rail. We were able to fit a TLR-7A but left a gap between the back of the light and the front of the trigger guard. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a 2011/TLR-7 light-bearing holster to check if this would affect carry.
One pleasant surprise was the trigger. The Tisas website lists the trigger at 4.75 pounds out of the box, but our test sample tripped the pull gauge at 4.5 pounds exactly, and consistently. While this is still a pound too heavy (at least) by 19/2011 standards, for a sub-$1K pistol produced offshore, that’s perfectly respectable. This gun got another eyebrow raise out of us when we took it apart for inspection and were relieved to see that the slide release lever rides on the barrel foot, as opposed to the link.
For the uninitiated, here’s why that matters: the 1911 barrel has a rotating link on the bottom, which fits into a lower lug — sometimes referred to as the foot. In original USGI 1911s, the link sat directly on the slide stop pin. Some time later, gunsmiths began fitting their hand-built 1911s so that the slide stop actually rested on the foot, instead of on the link itself.
Not only does this enhance accuracy by forcing the upper barrel lugs more securely into the locking grooves inside the slide, but it also removes any load-bearing responsibility from the tiny pin that holds the barrel link to the barrel. A slide-stop pin that rests on the foot makes for a better and more long-lived pistol, but it requires extra fitting on the part of the manufacturer, so it’s not always a given. We applaud Tisas for taking this small but mechanically significant extra measure in their production process.
The grip module was very similar to its stablemate, with 25 LPI on the front and back straps and a more conservative sculpted texture on the side panels.
The grip is a nice medium size that should fit most hands — a nice change considering that many American-made 2011-style grip modules tend to run on the chunky side. There’s even an integrated mag funnel and a subtle-but-definitely-present double undercut along the bottom of the trigger guard.
As with the MAC, we had no issues with feeding or function over several hundred rounds. We were surprised at the amount of snap, even with 115-grain range fodder. But, like the MAC, we’re firmly convinced this is a matter of over-springing.
The “Turkkatos” We Need
The firearms market is already filled with esoteric niches requiring you to spend insane amounts of money, but it just feels wrong that the 2011-style pistol market is one of them. The 1911 was designed for the military and quickly became the everyman pistol of Americans for decades.
While the 2011 was a redesign built for competition, it seems right that the 9mm double-stack 1911 should supplant the old .45 ACP 1911 as one of the go-to pistols for the average shooter.
With the introduction of budget-friendly guns like the MAC and Tisas, we just might see that start to happen.
MAC 1911 DS fitted with some upgrades like the MJD Villin Grip
Tisas B9R Carry Deals
Primary Arms
$749.99
Bud's Gun Shop
$749.99
MAC 1911 DS 9mm Deals
Classic Firearms
$999.99
Battlehawk Armory
$1,299.99
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
We take a quick look at the enhanced and upgraded features of Springfield’s new XD Mod.3 OSP.
Springfield Armory is continuing to expand on its popular XD line of defensive pistols, and the latest addition to the lineup is the XD Mod.3 OSP. Featuring several upgrades and enhancements over the previous iteration, the Mod.3 has a lot to offer at an affordable price point.
Sporting a 4-inch Melonite finished barrel, the Springfield XD Mod.3 OSP is still a polymer-framed, striker-fired, compact 9mm defensive pistol, but it has some new tricks up its sleeve as well. Firstly, as an OSP (Optical Sight Pistol) model, its slide comes ready to accept a variety of OSP optic plates. These plates are available with DeltaPoint Pro, RMR and Docter footprints for mounting a compatible red dot of your choice. The iron sights have been upgraded too, as they now feature a white dot rear sight with a red fiber optic front sight. As for ergonomic enhancements, the Mod.3 features forward and rear slide serrations, an undercut trigger guard, an extended beavertail and aggressive texturing throughout the gun. The pistol also features a flat-faced trigger, a flared rear slide cut for easier manipulation and a memory bump on the grip safety to help facilitate a consistent grip.
The XD Mod.3 OSP has a standard magazine capacity of 16 rounds (ships with one), but a model with a 10-round mag is available as well for those who live in restrictive states. The pistol also has a loaded chamber indicator, a striker-status indicator and an accessory rail for mounting a light or laser.
Steve Kramer, Vice President of Marketing for Springfield Armory, said this about the new gun:
The new XD Mod.3 offers shooters a modern and enhanced take on this proven 9mm pistol platform … With optics capability, improved ergonomics and a very impressive price point, this 9mm deserves a very close look.
The Springfield XD Mod.3 OSP is available now and the MSRP is $325 for both versions.
A look at what sold and what didn’t, with estate tips on liquidating a firearms collection and a peek into the crystal ball.
The strong firearms market of the early 2020s continues, although not at the frantic pace of the surge inspired by COVID-19 and the summer riots a few years ago. Defensive, sporting and recreational gun purchases continue vigorously online, at gun shows and at local gun shops.
GunBroker.com is the largest online gun auction sales site, and GunGenius.com reports the bestselling new and used gun models on GunBroker each month, along with an annual summary that is well worth checking out. Its most recent reports show the bestselling guns are 9mm semi-auto pistols, predominantly polymer or synthetic-framed. The two top-selling new guns for the most recently reported calendar year are Sig Sauer 9mm pistols—the Model P365 ranked No. 1 and the P320 No. 2.
Other nines making it into the Top 20 new and used gun sales list in the past two years include:
Sig Sauer P226
Glock G19, G43 and G17
S&W M&P9
CZ 75
Beretta Model 90
Springfield Armory Hellcat & XD
Classic Sporting Long-Guns
Classic sporting long-guns also rank high on the bestsellers list. Many of these models have been produced for decades. Three perennial winners are the Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 pump shotguns and the Marlin Model 60 semi-auto .22 rifle, representing over 10 million guns in circulation. The two shotguns have broad applications for hunting, competition, personal defense and law enforcement, further accounting for their strong sales.
Some of the classic-pattern long-guns ranked in the GunBroker recent year top sales list, 2023 New Guns and 2022 New & Used Guns, include:
No. 2 Remington 700 bolt-action rifle (2022 New & Used Guns)
No. 3 Mossberg 590 pump shotgun (2023 New)
No. 4 Ruger 10/22 .22 semi-auto rifle (2023 New)
No. 7 Remington 870 pump shotgun (2022 New & Used)
No. 9 Ruger American bolt-action rifle (2022 New & Used)
No. 18 Winchester Model 70 bolt-action rifle (2022 New & Used)
No. 19 Ruger Mini-14 semi-auto rifle (2022 New & Used)
No. 20 Mossberg 500 pump shotgun (2022 New & Used)
Lever-Actions
Speaking of classics, sales of lever-action rifles are strong, especially those produced by relatively new firearms manufacturer Henry Repeating Arms, founded in 1996. In addition to classic manufacturers Winchester and Marlin (making lever guns since 1866 and 1881, respectively), Smith & Wesson has also recently entered the lever-action market with its heavily promoted 1854 Models. These were first introduced in 2024 and are named for the year when S&W founder Daniel Wesson patented the lever-action design for production by Volcanic Repeating Arms Company.
Notable lever-action rifles reported as GunBroker bestsellers in the past two years:
No. 5 Henry Big Boy (2023 New Gun sales)
No. 9 Henry Side Gate (2023 New)
No. 11 Marlin 1895 (2023 New)
Revolvers
Somewhat surprising to us old-guy wheelgun aficionados is the relative lack of revolvers in the GunBroker bestseller’s ranking. The only six-shooters to appear on the most recent annual lists are:
No. 12 Colt Python (2023 New Gun sales)
No. 16 Ruger Blackhawk (2023 New)
No. 20 Heritage Rough Rider (2023 New)
To see what sort of wheelguns are selling on GunBroker, consider the GunGenius.com list of bestselling new and used revolvers for the most recent month. The top five new revolvers, top to bottom, were S&W Bodyguard, Colt Python, Heritage Rough Rider, Ruger Blackhawk, and Ruger Wrangler. The top five used revolvers were Colt Python, Ruger Blackhawk, Ruger Single Six, S&W Model 10 and Colt Single Action Army.
There are a couple of surprises here. One is the prevalence of single-action models, including the original on which all the others are based, the Colt Peacemaker. The other surprise is the absence of more S&W products.
This may have more to do with Smith & Wesson’s practice of having a wide range of revolver model names (model numbers) than with the brand’s popularity in the market. This could result in S&W not breaking into GunBroker’s top sales figures because of the vast number of models produced. Consider the following.
According to the most recent available ATF Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Exportation Report (AFMER), S&W ranked No. 1 in total firearms manufactured over the last three years for which statistics are available. In viewing these stats, it’s important to note that only American-manufactured guns are reported and that stats were unavailable for some major brands for some years. Also, the statistics for the most recent years aren’t yet available. That said, here’s a look at Smith & Wesson’s current product line, which includes 184 different models, 117 of which are revolvers. It seems likely that splitting the sales among that many models tends to diminish S&W’s rankings in GunBroker bestsellers lists. While 9mm auto pistols lead the current defensive handgun market, it’s likely that if all S&W five-shot J-frame .38 Special revolvers with 2-inch barrels were grouped into a single model instead of 29 different model designations, they would easily break into the bestsellers’ listings. The recently introduced S&W Lipsey’s Ultimate Carry (UC) revolvers are especially enjoying a surge in popularity.
America’s Rifle, The AR platform
There is no question that the AR rifle is the most popular long-gun in America. So, why isn’t an AR on the best-seller list? This is probably because no single model or manufacturer currently dominates the very active market for these rifles. Most patents expired in 1977, and other firms began producing AR-platform rifles. Note that on the list of America’s leading gun makers above, No. 8 Anderson Manufacturing, No. 11 Palmetto State Armory, No. 15 Aero Precision, and No. 17 Diamondback Firearms are primarily known for their ARs. Also, No. 1 S&W, No. 3 Sig, No. 4 Springfield, No. 18 FN and No. 19 Colt offer AR-type rifles in their product lines, while No. 6 Mossberg produces .22 rimfires based on the AR platform.
It’s estimated that nearly 20 million AR-pattern rifles have been manufactured since 1990, with around 500 different companies manufacturing these popular guns and their parts. The AR is easily customizable, with most makers using mil-spec interchangeable parts. “Build-your-own” ARs have gained wide favor, starting with the basic receiver. The widely repeated trope is that the AR is “Barbie for boys” in customizing and accessorizing.
Leading American Firearms Manufacturers for Three Years:
RANK
MANUFACTURER
3-YEAR PRODUCTION
2022
2021
2020
1
Smith & Wesson
5,616,453
973,944
2,317,792
2,324,717
2
Ruger
5,306,321
1,565,743
2,078,013
1,662,565
3
Sig Sauer
3,505,269
1,134,718
1,293,532
1,077,019
4
Springfield Armory
1,547,295
562,446
590,750
394,099
5
Glock
1,492,503
465,117
581,944
445,442
6
Mossberg
1,363,053
452,092
492,444
418,517
7
Savage Arms
1,126,508
719,641
406,867
N/A
8
Anderson Manufacturing
1,125,300
157,264
505,635
462,401
9
Heritage Manufacturing
1,119,800
308,040
505,601
306,159
10
Henry Repeating Arms
938,375
365,867
320,603
251,905
11
Palmetto State Armory
931,042
551,448
N/A
379,594
12
Kimber
752,888
230,325
294,750
227,813
13
Taurus
679,108
287,650
290,780
100,678
14
Kel-Tec
597,576
196,118
215,804
185,654
15
Aero Precision
523,311
202,265
177,059
143,987
16
Beretta USA
443,788
180,447
155,352
107,989
17
Diamondback Firearms
417,680
123,025
163,195
131,460
18
FN America
414,528
138,595
169,407
106,526
19
Colt
400,405
158,797
151,771
89,837
20
Remington
244,704
155,999
86,594
2,111
A Buyer’s Market?
Few people watch the firearms market more closely than Blaine Wade, NRA Gun Collectors Committee Chairman, who says he sees an emerging buyer’s market with collectible and utility firearms. “The current interest rate on savings accounts is around 5 percent, according to most financial institutions,” says Wade. “There appears to be less liquid funds available from other collectors and firearms enthusiasts, too. Collectors and enthusiasts with funds for investing often opt to earn interest in the financial market instead of commodities.
“This apparent market condition is noticeable with the firearms I seek. For the last several months, a buyer can compete in auctions for somewhat scarce collectible firearms without the usual pressure from other buyers. Bargains can be had with the occasional exception of the rare pieces that always command individual attention.”
Wade says he’s noticed that this trend extends to gun shows, which usually have a local premium compared to the internet sites. Dealers from shows, he says, are advising that they are not producing their standard volume and that the market is “flat.”
“It is definitely time to look for the collectible firearm that can normally be 20 percent or so more expensive than the current market is bringing. I have found more rare or extremely rare firearms in 2024 that have been reasonable on auction than ever before; it reminds me of 2017 prices,” he said.
While Wade doubts that the trend will continue, our national economic and political situation drives the firearms market, and buyers should take advantage of the opportunity while it lasts.
Collectible Firearms
Rick Hacker, NRA Publications Field Editor and Gun Digest contributor, is seeing an influx of seldom-seen models. He says that as big-time collectors pass on, their families liquidate lifelong gun collections, flooding the market with rarities to tempt even the most frugal collector.
“We are seeing a phenomenal number of extreme rarities coming on the market—Ulrich-engraved Winchesters, factory-engraved Colts, etc,” Hacker said. “In many cases, these guns have been hidden away in private collections for years. However, they are being bought up piecemeal by monied collectors who, nonetheless, are unable to acquire an entire collection at once. They must be built up, gun by gun, much as the old timers did it.”
Hacker also sees fierce “bidding wars” among collectors chasing after the same gun, which he cautions is driving prices beyond realistic values. “This, in turn, creates a false image of worth that, in many cases, cannot be recouped by the buyer should he wish to sell sooner rather than later. I have dropped out of many an online auction when the price got out of hand because I knew I could never get my money back, let alone make a profit before I would be ready to sell,” he said.
“I think there’s a moral there somewhere—only buy what you feel reasonably comfortable spending and don’t overbid. You will live to regret it unless it is something you really want and don’t plan on selling that gun in the very near future.”
In the near term, Hacker recommends watching EDC-type handguns, quality British revolvers and anything from now-defunct companies.
Gun Shows & Collectible Ammo
According to Jackie Smith, collectible, military, and Western antique guns have all increased roughly equally across the major auction houses. “Used firearms are increasing by 25 percent and are bringing basically MSRP,” said Smith. “New guns are bringing a premium as well. Particularly Glocks and HK pistols.”
Smith sees niche collectibles in the ammunition field increasing by around 40 percent. “I have been selling John Bolerjack’s collection for the past three years, and I have seen individual rounds bringing up to $100 per round and .22 boxes bringing $20 to $40 per 50-count box to well over $100 for antique boxes. Modern .22 boxes are bringing $10 per 50-count box.
“I really don’t know if the trends are sustainable, but it sure seems like they are. Guns and ammo seem a better hedge against inflation than stocks or precious metals.”
The Gun Show Situation
Texas’ Kurt House doesn’t hide his bias: He forgoes the local and state gun shows that offer black guns and—in his words—“foreign junk, jerky, bottles and rocks and security systems hawked by buxom gals in low-cut T-tops.” Instead, you’ll find him at the higher-end shows that specialize in antique guns, such as the Las Vegas Antique Arms Show, the Colorado Gun Collector Show, the Texas Gun Collector and Tulsa Wanenmacher bi-annual shows, as well as the Colt Collectors Annual Show and some of the Western collectible shows such as the Old West Events show in Santa Fe.
Trends in gun buying and selling? For House, that’s an easy call: Auctions have replaced the shows as the primary source of high-quality antique guns. “When I started gun collecting 61 years ago, the only way we could get collector guns was at a gun show,” said House. “Now the auctions have almost taken over, with Internet gun sites close behind. A friend of mine who owns what is probably the largest gun store in the United States once confided to me that when he first started his fledgling website in the 1990s, his sales were about 10 percent internet, with 90 percent walk-in traffic. Through the years, it went from that to 40 percent fairly quickly, and now he reports it ranges from about 50 to 75 percent on used, or collectible guns, not sporting, defense or competition-type new arms.”
House admits frustration in trying to analyze historic gun sales. “Judging from record auction prices for Teddy Roosevelt’s factory-engraved Colt Single Action, a French Boutet garniture belonging to Napoleon, the automatic Colt 1911 of Bonnie & Clyde, a factory-engraved Colt attributed to the Dalton Gang, or a 16th-century German wheelock of European royalty, sometimes they fetch higher prices than when last sold, but sometimes not quite as much. Why is this? Are buyers less or more interested in history now than in the old days, what I call ‘The Golden Age of Gun Collecting’?
“Just when I think I can state that ‘prices of quality arms have always increased,’ I find that a particular historic gun sold for $215,000 in 2007, and when it recently sold in the past few months (2024), it sold for $228,000. Well, OK, it did increase, but not significantly compared to other forms of investment. I have always believed quality arms, even historic arms, to be a good investment, but as I stated at the beginning, I am biased. I have collected guns with the most fun imaginable for 61 years now, and I buy them because I enjoy them; they are symbols of the past, and I like history. They tell the story of this country,” House said.
Marketplace Questions Answered
Rex Halfpenny, an aging boomer with a 357 Magnum habit, tackled our marketplace questions. What guns are in demand now? Halfpenny sees super-fast flat-shooting calibers and rifles like the 6.5 PRC driving long-range shooting in the hunting category. “It also appears to me shotguns and shotgun hunting have weakened,” Halfpenny said, “perhaps viewed as old man sports.”
The personal defense arena is always hopping, but one type might lead the pack. “Pistol-caliber carbines are the new pump shotgun—less costly and widely available pistol ammo, high cap, and maneuverability,” Halfpenny says.
Other trends Halfpenny noted include lever-action rifles, high-capacity polymer pistols, and anything black and tactical. He identified a more troubling trend in gun shows turning off enthusiasts with “higher entry fees, poor selections, and greater incidence of non-firearm tables.”
According to Halfpenny, commemoratives still don’t sell as well as the same model without the embellishments.
His advice for gun buyers, sellers and collectors? “The best time to learn about firearms and participate in the legal activities afforded by our Constitution is always now. Enjoy it while you can,” Halfpenny said.
Estate Tips: When It’s Time to Sell
As much as we enjoy our collections, none of us can take them with us. Even if you don’t choose to liquidate during your lifetime, your estate must deal with it. To date, no gun safe company has offered a coffin model. It’s worth it to give it some thought ahead of time.
Whether it’s a few personal shooters or an extensive lifetime collection, there are several considerations when selling:
Legalities
Ensure your sales are legal. This is not always simple with federal, state and local laws and regulations to comply with. A thorough discussion is well beyond the scope of this article, and your locality may have additional restrictions. Also, laws change. This ain’t legal advice—check with your lawyer.
That said, if it’s a one-time sale, under federal law, you can currently sell personally owned handguns directly to another individual in the same state or long-guns to an individual in any state in a face-to-face transfer so long as that individual can legally own the firearm (adult, not a convicted felon, etc.). Some states have additional restrictions or will require that you perform a background check. However, if you’re repeatedly buying and reselling firearms, you are considered “in the business” and must have a Federal Firearms License (FFL) to make these transactions, with all the attendant paperwork. (Guns manufactured before 1899 are currently considered “antiques” and are not subject to these restrictions under federal law.)
Legally shipping personal guns that you sell is a whole ’nother box of worms. Most folks selling multiple guns find it easier and less worrisome to sell through an existing FFL dealer and let them handle the compliance issues.
Sales Venues
You can sell to or through a local gun shop or FFL-licensed pawn shop. Some shops will sell for you on consignment, taking a percentage of the sales price. You may get less going this route than other options, but it is quick, easy, and legal. It can be a good option for selling a few personal guns with minimal hassle. If you have a specialized collection, there are excellent specialty dealers who don’t necessarily have a brick-and-mortar shop but are well-connected with the collecting community and will often take collections on consignment.
Gun shows can be a good venue for private sales. You can rent a table to sell to the attendees, or you can bring in one or two guns and walk them around, offering them for sale to table holders. If you go this route, research the values ahead of time (have I mentioned that the Standard Catalog of Firearms is an excellent resource for this?) and ensure you comply with legal sales requirements. If walking your guns around the show, look for tables offering similar items and get several offers. Haggling is expected at gun shows. The buyer generally wants to buy as cheaply as possible, but you will find motivated and interested buyers.
Online venues are popular and effective. As mentioned, GunBroker.com is the largest of several online auction sites. Guns.com facilitates online gun sales through licensed dealers.
Consignment to an FFL-licensed auction house is often the best option for estates and large collections. If the collection is large and includes high-value collectibles, one of the national outfits that publishes printed and online catalogs with photos, live offers, and online bidding may be the best choice. The largest of these is Rock Island Auction Company, based in Moline, Illinois, and Bedford, Texas, which conducts more than 20 auctions a year, including a few Premier Auctions, any one of which may gross $20 million or more with 2,000 to 3,000 lots. Other large national-level auction houses include Morphy Auctions in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Poulin Antiques & Auctions in Fairfield, Maine; Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, and other locations; and Cowan’s Auctions in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The national auction houses make their nut off large collections and high-profile individual pieces that may bring record prices. They can get national and international exposure for the finest examples of rare, engraved and historically attributed firearms, reaping premium prices from motivated buyers competing to acquire a special treasure. However, smaller collections and less valuable generic sporting guns can get lost in the crowd. They are sometimes grouped into lots of multiple guns that bring less per gun than if they were sold individually. A smaller FFL-licensed regional auction house may be a better choice for smaller collections and groups of common sporting arms. Many of the best of these will have national reach through their websites.
Most auction houses charge a percentage commission or premium to both the seller and the buyer—15 to 25 percent is not uncommon for the seller’s commission (deducted from the gavel price). The buyer is often charged a 10 to 15 percent or more buyer’s premium added to the gavel price. Most auction houses can get your guns sold and paid out within three months to a year.
A Case Study
I’ve recently had the opportunity to closely follow the liquidation of four collections of nearly a thousand guns through consignment to a prominent national auction house. The two largest collections were specialized collectible firearms—one a group of antique revolvers and the other of early semi-auto pistols, each of a specific brand and type. Since either collection could flood the market for that specific type of gun if sold simultaneously, we spread the sale over a couple of years. A few guns sold for five figures, even a couple that broke into six figures, and some went for under $100 each. Here are my general observations.
Estimates Vs. Results
A consistent factor in auction sales is that some guns will go higher than expected, and some will go lower. If you’re selling a significant number of guns, the odds are good that the high and low sales will average out to the actual market value. If you’re selling a single gun, there’s a risk that it will be one of the guns that sell low. For the most valuable guns, most auction houses will accept a reasonable reserve price set by the seller below which the gun will not sell. (The problem with reserves is that if the gun remains unsold, and if offered again at a future auction, an attentive bidder may ask, “What was wrong with it the first time?”)
As with all major auction houses, an estimate was made of each gun’s likely sale value in the catalog description. This is often a fairly wide range. Typical examples might be $1,500-$2,500, $500-$800, or $30,000-$50,000. It’s easier to estimate the probable value of a common and widely used sporting gun than a scarce collectible model simply because the comparable sales for the former are much easier to find. It’s especially difficult to estimate values for collector guns that may have significant value added due to rare high condition for their age, artistic period engraving or historic attribution to a famous person or event.
Since the guns in these collections were generally scarce to very rare, the estimated values were a bit speculative, as expected. Even so, a sample of the guns cataloged shows that almost half sold within the estimated range, more than a third over the estimates, and less than 20 percent under.
General Observations
Watching these collections sell, the following trends were observed:
Days Of The Old West Are Over
As with previous collecting generations who first sought flintlocks, then long rifles, and then percussion revolvers, the hot market for post-Civil War six-shooters has passed. As with the earlier generational trends, prices are not necessarily dropping, but interest has dwindled, and the value growth rate has slowed to a crawl.
Milestone Guns Can Surprise You
One-offs such as prototypes, experimental models, or the first gun produced of a model can bring substantial premiums, especially if the manufacturer or model is significant.
Top Condition Still Brings Top Dollar
This applies only to guns that are old enough that most surviving specimens show significant wear. The very few stashed away and still pristine warrant substantial premiums. Again, the more important the make and model and the older the gun, the higher the premium. Word to the wise: Watch out for refinishing and restorations.
Junk Guns Bring Junk Prices
In these collections, there was a significant batch of guns that, although old, are generally ignored by most collectors—small-frame hammerless revolvers such as European velo-dogs and cheapo pocket guns by I.J., H&R, H&A and the ilk. Most of these were sold in groups of three to five in a single lot, and the price realized per gun could be as low as $50. Might they have done better in a regional auction where they could be sold as individual lots? Maybe, but probably not by much. It would have taken decades to get them sold individually at gun shows. Notwithstanding, I still think they’re sort of cool. I have terrible taste.
Return On Investment
I had access to the year the owners bought them and what they paid for over half the guns in these collections. We were able to figure out how they had performed as investments. Most guns were purchased for the collections 20 to 30 years ago, with an average ownership duration of 26 years. The cost of sale—the seller’s commission—was deducted from the gavel price to reflect what the owner received.
Considered as a group, the return on investment was 4.2 percent per year. This was skewed by a single piece that sold exceptionally high. With that piece removed from consideration, the return on the total investment was 2.7 percent per year. Not all were money makers; approximately 2 percent of the guns netted less than their original purchase price from two to three decades ago.
Of course, I couldn’t stop fiddling with the numbers there. I examined particular factors that impact the value of collectible firearms, specifically rarity, period engraving, and historical attribution.
Rarity
Guns acquired because they were rare variations of a particular model—non-standard caliber or barrel length, special factory features, etc.—may be slower than expected. The owner generally paid a premium for these features when buying. Still, they did not increase in value as rapidly as the standard models, with an average return on investment of only 1 percent per year on the rare variations. It seems likely that a relatively small number of collectors currently chase obscure variations of a particular model, resulting in a limited resale market.
Engraving
Professionally period-engraved guns have always brought substantial premiums, valued for their artistry and rarity. They continue to do so, sometimes bringing multiples of what a comparable non-engraved specimen would bring. However, these auction results suggest that the market for these may not be increasing in value quite as fast as the general market. Interest may even be slowing. A few in these collections showed a 2 percent annual return on investment.
Historic Attribution
The guns with credible historic attribution to a famous or semi-famous individual tended to show a slightly faster increase in value than other collectible guns, with this sample averaging a 4 percent annual return on investment. These also tended to be the guns that brought the highest prices, depending on the significance of the history associated with them. The strength of the provenance and documentation is everything.
The samples were relatively small and certainly not statistically significant, but they did tend to confirm my hunches on trends in firearms collecting.
With an overall average 2.7 percent return on the collection, would the money have done better in the stock market? Probably. The average yearly return on the S&P 500 has been over 10 percent for the last 20 years. In a CD? Nope. The average rate on a five-year CD over that same 26-year period was about 2.1 percent. Would the collectors have had as much fun holding onto a CD or fretting over the fluctuating Dow Jones? You tell me.
It goes back to what I’ve said too often. As hobbies go, gun collecting is a pretty good investment. As an investment, it makes a nice hobby.
The Crystal Ball Says …
And what of the firearms market in days to come? You, gentle reader, are living in the future. At the time of this writing, the event that could have the biggest impact on the firearms market, as suggested by several of our experts above, has not yet occurred: the 2024 elections. What could possibly happen?
If a Republican victory incites Antifa and BLM-style riots and burning of cities, look for a rush for personal defense firearms.
If a Democratic victory introduces the likelihood of future gun restrictions, expect a surging demand for AR-type rifles, double-stack auto pistols, and any other arms that are likely targets for bans or confiscations. The market should be especially strong for those that can be legally bought “off the record” through private party transactions (at least while that option lasts). So long as pre-1899 antique firearms are exempt from restriction, registration, and regulation, there may also be increased interest.
And if a group of concerned citizens questions the legitimacy of the election and peacefully parades and mills in a government building funded by their tax dollars while accompanied by capitol police, while pearl-clutching swamp-dwellers flee, panic, and fume … I dunno. Maybe expect buying opportunities as they have to dump their guns on the market to try to pay for their legal fees and feed their families while they’re in prison. Your guess is as good as mine. I’d rather not think about it.
(Did I mention that we still need the NRA, warts and all? Reform. Rebuild. Support.)
G9 Defense has just added three loads featuring Shape Charge technology to its Safari Ammunition line, designed to excel at dangerous game hunting.
Dangerous game hunters have some new ammo options to explore as G9 Defense has just updated its Safari Ammunition line with three new loads featuring “Shape Charge” technology. While soft point bullets can have underwhelming penetration, and solid projectiles can produce unimpressive wound channels, G9 Defense says that the Shape Charge loads of Safari Ammunition can provide the best of both worlds in a lead-free package.
No, there’s no plastique in these bullets, but the tips of the all-brass projectiles feature a special profile designed to push fluid outwards and create devastating permanent wound cavities. Further, G9 Defense loads the Shape Charge Safari rounds to standard velocities using standard-weight projectiles to ensure there’s no point of impact shift. Available loads currently include a 300-grain .375 H&H Magnum, a 400-grain .416 Rigby and a 400-grain .416 Remington Magnum.
Here's what G9 Defense said about the new ammo:
Once in a lifetime hunts shouldn’t be left to chance. With G9 Defense Shape Charge Safari Ammunition, hunters no longer have to compromise between deep penetration and expansive wounds, ensuring a clean, ethical take. Hunters can trust G9’s Shape Charge Technology to deliver when it matters most.
The three Shape Charge loads of Safari Ammunition are available now, and the MSRP for a box of 20 rounds ranges from $189.99 to $261.99 depending on the caliber.
Want to learn how to see and shoot in the dark? Here we discuss night vision and thermal optics, their history and how to pick the best option for your needs.
The ability to see in the dark is an advantage that men have sought for centuries. The veil of darkness has always been a powerful reminder of the limits we have, and the loss of our sight in the dying of the light amounted to the end of the hunt … and gave way to the fears we still have of monsters and the unknown.
Seeing in the dark is something we can do today thanks to technology, but there are some very large misconceptions and lots of myths about just what these optics can do—and where they are useful.
What follows may surprise you.
The author’s SCAR 20S custom build. There are about too many small parts to list, but the optical package is a Leupold MK5 HD 5-25 and Armasight NVD clip on. This rifle is hard on optics, so only the strongest are used on it.
History of Night Vision and Thermal Optics
Night vision has been around for quite a while—in a broad sense going back to World War II—but it has only been miniaturized enough to be truly useful somewhat recently. Some of the first attempts at this technology were large and required a great deal of battery power to use, such as the case with the USMC M3 carbine (a type of M1 carbine that was specialized for use with optics) variant, which used an early infrared scope and illuminator … but also required a backpack loaded with batteries.
Today, many of the best night-vision optics are powered with simple CR123 batteries, and sometimes are even rechargeable with a USB cable. For a long time, civilian night vision technology was a ways off, and it wasn’t until the past 20 years that the technology became available—and reliable enough—on a larger scale that hunters took notice. The War on Terror era generated more interest in this tech on the civilian side, and during the 20 years that war was fought, night vision became widely available for civilian use.
Today, seeing night vision in the wild is somewhat common, and it can be bought at most sporting goods retailers. Later generations of night vision still operate on much of the same technology as early versions, but the quality of the image intensifier tubes keeps getting better as opposed to older models.
Thermal optics can be used in all conditions, but care should be taken to ensure that the lenses remain covered in transit. The sensor should always be clean.
Thermal imaging technology, or at least a very abstract derivative of it, goes as far back as 1800—but don’t get the idea that we were slapping FLIRs on our flintlocks. Sir William Herschel was the first to suggest that certain wavelengths of light registered at different temperatures when he made the discovery using a special prism to separate light waves and then record the temperatures. This discovery is largely the basis for thermal imaging technology, and Herschel was right in that invisible radiation could be detected as heat.
Fast-forward to the post-WWI era, and there were a few thermal detecting devices, but they saw very limited use in WWII. Even during the Vietnam War, the technology was still very large … and costly. Thermal imaging wasn’t widespread outside of military uses until it began to become somewhat cheaper and smaller. It saw its first civilian uses in construction and medical applications, but the miniaturization of the devices was still quite far away. In the early 2000s this changed, and with the explosion of the digital age, thermal imaging became quite common. In fact, it’s maturing rapidly, and more companies are adding this technology to their product lineups. I suspect that in a few short years many of the high-end “day” scopes will also have thermal imaging capabilities in one package.
Legality is something that many people have issues with when it comes to buying this type of technology. In use, it’s incredible, but the applications are limited. Thermal imaging optics are really for hunting and identifying game; you can’t really target shoot with them unless you’re able to somehow create heated targets. I use Hot Hands hand warmers stapled to a target board to zero my thermal optics.
There are lots of liability issues with shooting in the dark, but certain ranges do allow it under special circumstances. Regulations for hunting typically allow the use of thermal or night vision for hunting wild pigs or varmints such as coyotes, but not for large game like deer and elk. There are, of course, legal shooting hours for these animals, and hunters are discouraged by both the law and light limits against using thermal or night vision.
Short-throw actions like the Aero Solus have no problem clearing the thermal optics.
In some areas, possessing this type of gear is also prohibited when hunting, but at the rate technology is being developed, it’s hard to control. Today, you can have thermal imaging on your cell phone.
Hollywood: Missing the Target
Most people have received their introduction to the wide world of thermal and night vision tech thanks to Hollywood. However, the same place that made it cool also got a large deal of it wrong, and those myths have carried over to reality in some not-so-great ways.
The main “myth” portrayed is that thermal and night vision technology is clumsy. In reality, these systems are quite easy to use and far more effective than you might imagine. For instance, it’s not uncommon to be able to see individual hairs with thermal optics; the technology has progressed to the point where it’s very, very high definition.
Contrast this with the thermal vision we all know from the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger film Predator, which is so ingrained in the night-vision world that most thermal optics have a filter to replicate this relatively outdated visual representation of heat. In the movie, an alien big-game hunter comes to Earth to hunt soldiers and other armed men using high-contrast colored thermal vision, a key plot element. Most people typically shoot with “white hot” filters for high contrast on game. Sadly, the “predator” color filter isn’t very effective for hunting, but I do enjoy that it’s available.
You will need to pay attention to the mounting height of your optics if you want them to function together, even if they appear to be mounted a bit high.
The Predator’s thermal vision was stunning for the time, and most people had never seen something like it when the film came out. Interestingly enough, the definition of the thermal vision used by the alien hunter wasn’t so much better than what was around Earth at the time. In fact, we’ve advanced so far now that even our midrange thermals can achieve high definition and provide clarity to hundreds of yards. Not only that, but detection ranges are getting better, meaning that you can easily detect thermal signatures past 1,000 yards with many of today’s commercial options.
While Schwarzenegger managed to defeat the alien by covering himself in mud to conceal his body heat, we can only assume that this was due to some unforeseen circumstances with the Predator’s own technology. In real life, you’d have no problem seeing a person with mud on them. Perhaps the Predator was afraid the interstellar DNR would fine him and revoke his license if he used better optics. I can only wonder if there is the alien equivalent to straight-wall case restrictions and capacity limits.
Night vision is a bit different in that it has some far more stratified generations as opposed to thermal optics, which are decidedly getting smaller and becoming less expensive. Night vision again is largely misrepresented in film as much, if not more, than thermal imaging. Common night vision is quite good and is a major advantage, but it has some handicaps that thermal does not.
Chief among these is that night vision optics are relatively delicate and can be damaged, or even destroyed, by bright light. Non-digital night vision must not be used in the daylight, except in some very limited circumstances. While the movies have tried to do night vision justice, it’s typically not a feature for the hero because the action needs to happen in enough light for the audience to enjoy it.
Arguably, the most famous night-vision scene in history takes place in Silence of the Lambs, where the villain uses a night vision headset to toy with the protagonist. Night vision, otherwise, is such an advantage that pop culture has largely not been able to grapple with it due to how lopsided it could make the story … to the point that it simply isn’t included to increase tension. Real night vision goggles aren’t the grainy, dim-green color pallet we see and, no, the goggles themselves don’t glow.
Understanding Thermal Optics and NVDs
Thermal imaging and NVDs (night-vision devices) are used in a similar way by shooters, but they are quite different in terms of how they work … and what they’re capable of. Night vision, contrary to what you see in the movies, does require some light to work. Thermal imaging doesn’t require ambient light to function, nor will it be damaged by daytime use.
Night vision, in most generations, works by what’s called image intensification. The scopes collect light from exterior sources, including the moon and stars, and the optic turns them into an image we can perceive. If you were in a totally pitch-black basement with absolutely no light, your night vision wouldn’t do anything. As a result of this, infrared beams are often used with night vision devices—but be aware that these are essentially flashlights we can’t see, and other users of night vision systems can actually see your beam emanating from your optic. That’s not good if you want to remain as hidden as possible, but not really an issue if you’re a hunter … assuming you’re hunting legally.
The setting up for coyote at night is this special build. The barreled action is a Faxon FX7 in 6.5 Creedmoor with a Q Jumbo Shrimp suppressor. It has a Timney trigger and resides in a dyed Magpul Pro chassis. The optics are a Leupold MK4 2.5-20 and AGM Rattler thermal clip-on. The other accessories are by SAP, tripod by Two Vets.
Thermal imaging devices work by detecting radiation. There’s a bit more to it, but for the sake of keeping this concise, thermal optics are sensors that can display minor differences in radiation with hotter objects generating more radiation. The images we see in the optic are a type of thermogram, and thanks to the advances in both computing technology and cameras, we can make devices that not only record video, but also broadcast with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Thermal optics today are what could be described as radiation-detecting smart cameras. The display on the optic is a feat of engineering, as you’re not seeing through it at all, even with clip-on thermals. You’re looking at a little screen that, in many cases, isn’t different from that on your camera or cell phone. The fact that we can mount these on guns and also zero them as you would a traditional scope is downright impressive.
Of note is that with thermal clip-on optics, your day scope is literally not looking at anything; the image you see through the glass is a tiny screen that’s meant to be looked at with magnification. You’re not “seeing” the target in a straightforward sense.
Pros and Cons
While I don’t usually play favorites when it comes to these topics, from a hunting point of view, thermal optics are vastly superior to night vision due to their ability to detect prey and positively identify it at distance.
The author hunting very hard in rural Georgia with the Armasight Contractor, FN SCAR 20S and SilencerCo Hybrid 36M.
Night vision is very good today, but in my opinion, it doesn’t give you an advantage over a day scope. You can see at night with them, but the effectiveness is limited by ambient lighting conditions. It’s the same as a day scope in this sense: You can be looking right at an animal and not see it because it’s partially concealed behind a tree or bush. With thermal, you’d easily be able to detect the same animal. Thermal has the ability to detect through atmospheric conditions and even can see little bits through cover. So, even during the day, that bush you can’t see through with the naked eye might be only a minor issue to thermal.
Night vision for hunting is very functional, and it’s pretty straightforward to use. Night vision clip-ons are much more desirable than straight-up night vision scopes because they can be used to extend the use of the gun rather than limit it to just night. I like the clip-on NVD I’ve been using for some time from Armasight. It’s extremely clear and jives well with any day scope I’ve used. There’s no fuss to using it, and on a moonlit night, it’s so bright and clear that it’s truly like a cloudy day: You can see everything just as if it was noon.
The damage that can occur to night vision devices in the daylight has to do with how they collect light. Again, there’s a much longer scientific explanation of how these work, but basically think of it as being able to gather so much light that it can be ruined. The intensifier tubes that these optics are designed around are so good at utilizing light that they can fry with too much. You need to keep light away from it to keep it safe, but it still needs some light to work, just not too much. Each generation of night vision improves, and the situation is getting better with intensifier tubes being able to be used in a wider range of light conditions. But, overall, their utility lies in the dark, whereas thermal can be used in all light conditions equally.
Thermal optics for hunting have few downsides. In fact, they are such an advantage that you really do need to see it to believe it. The major issue with all thermal and night vision is the cost. The good versions of these devices are very costly, typically around $2,000 and up, with flagship thermals going for around $4,000 to $8,000 depending on where you’re looking.
Of note is that night vision is relatively stagnant in terms of development, and pricing on high-quality night vision has remained relatively high, even with more makers. Thermals on the other hand keep getting better, and the cost has dropped significantly over time. The sensors have become quite compact, to the point that thermal units can be small while not sacrificing utility.
Thermals have passed generational upgrades down, and what was once a high-end unit is today’s budget option. In 10 years, who knows how much function you’ll be able to get from a middle-cost model if the technology keeps becoming more common and affordable.
A specially built rifle dedicated to thermal, using the author’s time in the field as inspiration. An incredible Armasight Contractor 640 sits on the scope rail. The KRG stock has a rear weight and Wiebad cheek rest. Comfort and balance are important when spending long periods of time staring at a small screen. The stock has a full-length Alpha handguard with integrated Arca rail to facilitate, making it able to be used easily with tripods or inside a blind. The action is an Aero Solus, notable for its smooth operation and ruggedness. The trigger is obviously a Timney, a brand the author trusts on all bolt guns. The barrel was specially made by Preferred Barrel Blanks in .308 Winchester and cut to 16 inches. The Rearden brake allows Q-style suppressor adapters to be used, in this case a JK 155 with Armageddon Gear thermal cover. Ammunition favored by the author for wild pigs is Remington 150-grain Tipped Core-Lokt. Note the two-round SAP cartridge holder, a little add-on that really helps in a pinch.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
The best concealed carry handguns for women as chosen by women.
Editor's Note: This page contains both the original Concealed Carry Handguns For Women article as well as its follow-up piece from the 2022 CCW special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine. Please click HERE to jump to the original article or read on to see the most up-to-date list.
The guy drove a big diesel pickup, jacked up with huge tires, and walked into the gun shop with a swagger, dressed like he was headed for a rodeo.
“I want to buy a couple of guns for my wife and her girlfriend,” he said. “I want to get them something really special.” He then walked to a display case filled with 1911s and started looking at .45s. Eventually, he chose two identical full-sized 1911s in .45 ACP. He talked to the gunsmith and asked if they could be Cerakoted in pink, and he chose two sets of fake ivory grips.
Over the years, I’ve learned that telling a guy he’s making a bad choice rarely ends well, so I stood by and watched as he paid for the guns and made arrangements to pick them up after the work was done. I smiled, wishing I could see how his choice worked out.
Sometime later, two women showed up for a concealed carry certification class with those two ungodly .45s. Neither of them could operate the slide, and they used my loaner guns for the qualification.
Somewhere out there are two pink 1911s with fake ivory grips, very likely unfired.
Girls Just Wanna Have Guns (That Work For Them)
Women often have different needs in a concealed carry handgun. While men’s clothes fit and wear in the same different pattern, whether it’s for work, casual or more formal attire, women wear a wide variety of styles from form-fitting stretch pants to loose tunics or dresses. Many have relatively low hand strength and are sensitive to recoil. I’m glad to admit there are women who can outshoot me with any gun I have.
A few years ago, I wrote an article for Gun Digest pointing out some of the best guns for women. As the result of the shooting industry keeping an ear out for what people really need, things have changed for the better. Only two of the original guns in that article are in this test, and they were the first and second place entries. The development of defensive concealed pistols is in a period of unprecedented growth and development, and the result is that what was the best gun is still a great gun, but new models are always pushing the envelope.
The Hellcat’s SMSc red-dot sight made it the accuracy winner. Every shooter gave it a top score in the sights category.
Women need guns that are light, small, easy to operate and easy to shoot well. All the guns chosen are capable of concealed carry use, and all weigh in at about 20 ounces or less. All (but one) have a magazine capacity of 10 or more and have good, usable sights. The guns were tested by 10 women of various ages—from college to retirement—and skill levels. None were sport shooters, and their need was for concealed carry. All were women who have taken instruction in my classes, all related to defensive shooting skills.
The Guns were rated on a scale of one to five, with five being great and one being a no-starter. Criteria included size, weight, grip, operation, sights, trigger, recoil, accuracy and looks. Several women said looks weren’t important in a defensive pistol, and I tend to agree. No ones were scored, but there were a lot of fives. One shooter in the group gave the Hellcat RDP fives in all but two categories.
1. Springfield Armory Hellcat RDP
The Springfield Hellcat RDP was the most expensive gun in the group, and it was the hands-down winner with 410 points of a possible 450. It scored well in recoil, possibly because of the self-indexing compensator and a little more weight. Almost everyone loved the SMSc red dot.
In the sights category, the RDP scored a five by all the testers. There were a couple of complaints about the flat-faced trigger being uncomfortable, and it got low scores in size and weight, but otherwise it was a clear winner. It was the top pick of six of the 10 shooters.
The Smith & Wesson Shield EZ took second three years ago and for good reason. It’s the easiest to shoot and operate centerfire pistol in existence. It has good sights, a decent trigger and it’s easy to shoot well. It’s the largest gun in the group and weighs the most, but anyone can operate the slide and load the magazine without a loading tool.
While some might argue I should’ve chosen the 9mm version, I felt it was getting a bit heavy for what women preferred. There were a lot of compliments on magazine loading, ease of racking the slide and light recoil. Issues were that a really high thumbs-forward grip sometimes left the grip safety engaged, and the final round from a magazine sometimes popped up vertical causing a mis-feed. The EZ scored lowest in the size and looks categories.
The Shield EZ garnered 366 of a possible 450 points, putting it in a respectable second place once again.
I almost missed this one, and I’m glad someone told me I must include it in the group. I don’t think there was enough fanfare about the Ruger Max .380. I included the Shield EZ in the group because it’s a favorite with women with low hand strength. In the previous article, I included the Ruger LCP II because it was so light and compact, but the downsides of low magazine capacity and a tiny grip area kept it low in the rankings.
The LCP Max overcomes these obstacles with a few bonuses. With a magazine capacity of 10 or 12 rounds, it certainly has capacity. The sights on the Max are dovetailed into the slide and feature a cocking surface on the rear and a Tritium white outline front that’s really visible.
It’s scandalously light at under 11 ounces, less than an inch wide and super concealable. There’s also a raised wing at the rear of the slide that allows better grip for pinch and pull cycling of the slide. The slightly larger grip makes it easy to shoot well with little compromise in concealability. It scored high marks with the test group, putting it solidly in third place. There was mention that it was difficult to load the last few rounds in the magazine and that clearing the chamber required a definite snap to get a loaded round to clear the ejection port. Testers loved the size, weight and the slight tee shape at the rear of the slide.
The Sig P365 was the winner last time out and still held its own, narrowly missing third place. If we count purchase numbers, the 365 certainly does well with it being the most purchased gun model in the U.S. While it certainly isn’t dated, it’s been around longer than any other gun in the test. Whereas there wasn’t a single remark against it, no one chose it as their favorite.
I chose the 365 XL because it’s newest in the line. I probably should’ve stayed with the original gun because the extra weight and size worked against it in this group. Size matters; smaller lighter guns allow more flexibility in the way women dress. My personal carry gun is the 365 and I was surprised it didn’t fare better as a larger gun. The P365 XL scored 339 points.
MSRP: Not Published, Average Street Price Is $599.99 ; sigsauer.com
5. S&W Shield Plus
At one time, the Smith & Wesson Shield boasted a 20 percent share of the entire concealed carry market. Introduced in 2003, it was probably the best choice for a concealed carry handgun. The Shield 2.0 was a solid improvement with a better trigger and grip surface but facing a surge of 10-plus capacity competitors, S&W introduced the Shield Plus. With a flat-faced trigger, a slightly less aggressive grip texture and 10- and 13-round magazines, the upgrade is substantial. In short, the Shield Plus is a great gun.
As far as ratings go, the Shield Plus finished fifth. It’s a great gun and would’ve been at the top of a similar test in 2015, but while all the other guns in this test were from the ground-up designs, the Shield Plus is an upgrade of a 2003 design. The Shield Plus is a very good gun. It’s a bit larger than most of the other contenders and carries a little more weight, but it’s accurate, easy to shoot well and reliable as a rock.
My first impressions of the Max-9 were completely positive. I like the sights and trigger and the combination of small size, low weight and good magazine capacity make it an excellent choice. While there were zero complaints about the Max-9, no one scored it at the top, and it finished with the lowest number of points. I suspect a red-dot sight would’ve placed it much higher, because the RDPs optic brought a lot of raves.
Over the years, I’ve seen so many times when women came to me for training equipped with a pistol that was a poor match to their needs. The guy described at the beginning of this article had good intentions, but a poor judgment of what would really work for his wife and her friend. In fairness to him, at the time of his poor choice, none of the guns in this comparison existed.
In retrospect, the Hellcat had an unfair advantage being equipped with a refl ex sight. It received a perfect score in the sights category.
The firearms industry has made great strides in supplying concealed carry citizens with guns well matched to the task. Every gun in this comparison is an exceptional instrument for the purpose it was designed for and there’s not an unsuitable gun in the group.
When it comes to selecting a handgun, especially when selecting a concealed-carry handgun, women have needs that are often quite different from those of men. Women—from teenagers to well into their 80s—have taken my classes, and their needs and wants vary drastically in regard to handgun preference.
One of the fastest-growing segments of the firearms market is women, and the largest segment of women’s firearms purchases are related to personal defense. For individual instruction and teaching toward the North Carolina Concealed Carry Certification, over half my clients are women.
Women also struggle with daily concealed carry in the wide variety of clothing they wear. For men, it’s fairly simple: We wear the same basic configuration of clothing, and it’s fairly easy to conceal a firearm in the type of clothes we wear. Women’s clothing is often much more fitted and varies with the occasion. As a result, most women prefer a smaller gun that works with all their wardrobe choices. For this reason, I’ve restricted this rundown to subcompact guns.
These factors create three issues that combine to make options in concealable handguns for women more difficult.
A small gun is preferred because it’s easier to conceal, but small guns are more difficult to operate than full-sized guns because of the smaller grip and more perceived recoil resulting from lightweight.
The recoil is intimidating and creates issues with flinch or recoil anticipation.
The short sight radius compounds the problem and makes them harder to shoot well.
Because many Gun Digest readers are often asked about the right defensive handgun choice for the women in their lives, I wanted to cover the best and most likely choices and let women voice their likes and dislikes. In preparation for this, I assembled these choices based on lightweight, concealability and ease of operation—and all this information is derived directly from working with the women in my defensive pistol classes.
The guns in the “test” represent the best of what’s currently offered in a field of truly excellent guns. At no time in history have shooters had as many good guns to choose from. It’s harder today to find a poor choice than a good one, but because of the specific needs and broad range of capability of female concealed-carry citizens, preferences will vary.
Handguns For Women As Chosen By Women
For this article, I had 32 female defensive handgun clients rank seven guns.
Two guns dominated the results: The Sig P365 was a clear winner for women with good hand strength, and the Smith & Wesson Shield EZ was the clear choice of female shooters who had issues with strength or recoil.
The ease of operation of the EZ was apparent. When it came time to shoot it, the women were surprised at how easy it was to operate. The 365 was rated below the EZ in operation, but it was also rated high in ease of operation. Its magazine capacity, power and compact size helped seal the deal for the P365.
The Glock 43X garnered third place, and Mossberg’s new MC1 came in close behind. Fifth place went to the diminutive Ruger LCP II, mostly based on its size and lightweight.
The 340 PD came in sixth, based on safety and simplicity.
The most popular concealed-carry pistol of the last 10 years—the Smith & Wesson Shield—garnered last place. It ranked low in ease of operation and recoil.
The top four guns were all introduced within the past two years; the two other guns are the oldest designs. I believe this is an indication of just how fast firearms development is moving in our modern world.
1. Most Popular Handgun For Women: Sig P365
Like many other segments of the concealed carry market, women gave the Sig P365 top marks. This compact gem is the overall favorite choice in handguns for women.
No pistol in recent memory has shaken up the concealed-carry world like the Sig P365. It seems Sig Sauer did everything right—and all at one time. The standard magazine was a 10-rounder, and a 12-round magazine was available. Now, there’s a 15-round magazine. It’s a bit heavier than the Glock but considerably more compact. It comes standard with night sights and is available with or without a manual safety. With a takedown lever, it’s easier to field-strip than the Glock or S&W. The fire control system is easily removable and therefore easier to maintain. The trigger is good, the reset is short and positive, and the sights are large enough to work well without being intrusive. In profile, it’s only marginally larger than the LCP II, although it’s considerably heavier and blockier. Still, it’s the most compact of the guns in this group (other than the Ruger). Beside the 43x, it looks tiny. I can honestly find nothing bad to say about the P365.
MSRP: Not Published, Average Street Price Is $500 ; sigsauer.com
2. Lowest Recoil, Ease Of Use: Smith & Wesson Shield EZ
Of all tested handguns for women, the Smith & Wesson Shield EZ was the easiest to shoot and manipulate.
The first time I put my hands on the Smith & Wesson Shield EZ, I knew it was a winner. Based on the excellent M&P .22 Compact, the EZ is as easy to operate as the .22 version. Like the Ruger LCP II, it’s chambered for the .380 ACP but carries more weight (18.5 ounces), making for remarkably low recoil—a big plus for timid shooters. The trigger is light enough, and the grip safety makes it safer than any other gun in this review except the revolver. Capacity is better than most (8+1), and the magazine is clearly the easiest to load, even employing a button to depress the magazine spring. While its size makes it more difficult to conceal, it makes the EZ extremely easy to shoot well. The three-dot sights, good trigger and low recoil make it the winner for ease of operation.
Glock's ability to put together a light and a reliable pistol wasn't lost on the women who tested it. While down the list, the G43x still ranks as a top handguns for women.
If you ask 10 people which company makes the best semi-auto pistols, at least four will say Glock—and no one can question the reliability and service Glock pistols provide. The Glock G43x is recent, and with a magazine capacity of 10+1, it’s a real improvement over the standard G4, which can hold four more rounds than the G43. Sure, it’s not as concealable, but it’s easier to shoot well because of the longer grip (and no one in their right mind will argue that the magazine capacity isn’t a bonus). Its weight comes in at 16.4 ounces—lighter than the S&W Shield and with at least two more available rounds. The slide is easier to operate, the trigger is good, the sights are easy to see and, well … it’s a Glock.
MSRP: Not Published, Average Street Price Is $500 ; glock.com
4. Mossberg MC1-sc
Re-entering the handgun market recently, Mossberg has produced a more than capable pistol in the MC1.
When I saw that Mossberg was introducing a concealed-carry pistol, I was skeptical. However, I remembered that Chris Cerino had recently been to the introduction of something new at Mossberg, so I called him. Chris and I are close, both in friendship and in our opinions about personal defense; and, sure enough, it was the Mossberg MC1 he’d been to Gunsite to see. Chris doesn’t sugar-coat his opinions, and I was amazed that he had nothing bad to say about the MC1. I ordered one for a test—and I agree. At 19 ounces, it’s a bit heavier than the Glock G43, but otherwise, it’s about the same size. It has a flat-faced bladed trigger with nice three-dot sights and comfortable, but grippy, grip surfaces. It’s accurate and reliable and uses a simple—but innovative—takedown system. My initial impression of the see-through magazines was negative. Even so, they’ve proven really tough, and if you don’t like them, this pistol runs just fine with Glock 43 magazines. The slide has front and rear serrations, and it’s reasonably easy to cycle. The MSRP for the base model is $425. However, I found it on line for under $350, making it a real value.
MSRP: $425 ; mossberg.com Editor's Note: Mossberg has discontinued the MC1 series and replaced it with the MC2 series.
5. Ruger LCP II
Ruger’s LCP II was a big improvement over the original LCP and has proven popular with people who need the smallest and lightest, yet still effective, concealed-carry pistol. While the .380 ACP chambering is considered the minimum as a defensive ammunition, recent advances in defensive ammunition have brought the little .380 up to being superior to the standard .38 Special load that law enforcement used for years.
At fewer than 11 ounces, and with a diminutive size, the LCP II certainly fills the bill for concealability and is the lightest and smallest gun in the group. It still has an internal hammer, but the bladed trigger of the LCP II is light and precise. It feels like a striker-fired trigger and is a big improvement over the original LCP. Magazine capacity is a reasonable 6+1, and the magazine is easy to load. The slide requires only a moderate effort and is smooth in movement. Sights are adequate and unobtrusive.
MSRP: $439 ; ruger.com Editor's Note: Ruger now only offers the LCP II in .22 LR, but the LCP, LCP 380 and LCP MAX are still available in .380 ACP.
6. Smith & Wesson 340 PD
Of all the handguns for women, the 340 PD got the highest marks for safety and simplicity.
In my youth, the Airweight Model 37 was the undisputed king of lightweight concealed-carry revolvers. Today, it’s been superseded by the even lighter 340 and 360 PDs. With a lightweight scandium frame and titanium cylinder, it tips the scales at fewer than 12 ounces—a remarkable feat, considering that it’s chambered for the powerful .357 Magnum. While it’s handicapped by low capacity and molasses-slow reloads, it’s light and powerful and is the safest and most reliable handgun in this review. The 340 PD in the test is safe because the long-stroke, 10-pounds-plus trigger pull is almost impossible to accidentally pull. At 8 years old, my athletic grandson couldn’t activate the trigger, even using both index fingers. It’s also the easiest gun in the group to load and unload (and the most expensive). The reliability comes without explanation. There’s no need for training how to manage malfunctions; simply pull the trigger again in the unlikely event of a dud round. It’s more difficult to shoot well than the semi-autos, but for some people, the extreme level of safety and simplicity are viable trade-offs.
Although it's among the most prolific defensive pistols in recent years, the Shield end up in last place in the testing.
No discussion of concealed-carry handguns—handguns for women or otherwise—should overlook the Smith & Wesson Shield. The last I heard, the Shield accounted for fully 20 percent of the concealed-carry handgun market. That’s a remarkable record! For this rundown, I chose a Performance Center Ported Shield with Hi-Vis sights. While it’s an improvement over the standard model, the Shield seems a bit dated because of all the recent additions to the market. The trigger is better on the Performance Center version, and I suppose the porting helps. Nevertheless, the Shield was still the snappiest of the seven guns tested—with the possible exception of the J-frame revolver.
It was also the most difficult to cycle the slide and load the magazine. At 18.2 ounces, it weighs in a bit below the Shield EZ and is slightly more compact—but it’s much more difficult to operate.
We take a deep dive into the Steyr AUG, possibly the most iconic bullpup military rifle ever built.
You probably remember the first time you laid eyes on a Steyr AUG. When most people do, they either love it or hate it. With its bullpup layout, green polymer stock and integrated optic, it still looks as futuristic today as when it was first released in the late 70s. The AUG wasn’t the first bullpup rifle, but it’s one of the most successful versions ever to be fielded and almost certainly the most famous and recognizable of the bunch. So, here we’ll discuss the history, design, function and legacy of the Steyr AUG.
Different manual of arms than a traditional rifle, will need to learn new reloading methods etc.
Proprietary magazines unless model in question is a “NATO” version
Can't adjust length of pull
Relatively expensive
Origins Of The AUG
Designed in the 1960s with production beginning in 1977, the Steyr Armee-Universal-Gewehr (Army Universal Rifle) or AUG, pronounced “A-U-G” (some incorrectly pronounce it as “awg”), featured a polymer stock body that housed the action and magazine well rear of the trigger, a radical departure from traditional rifle designs. Another detail that made the AUG stand out among its contemporaries like the AK and the M16 was the fact that it featured an integrated optic. Introduced at a time when iron sights were still the norm on military rifles, this was a very forward-thinking concept.
The Austrian Army adopted the AUG as the Sturmgewehr 77 or StG77 in the late 1970s to replace its aging FN FAL rifles chambered for 7.62 NATO. Transitioning from a full-power cartridge to the AUG’s intermediate 5.56x45mm was a big step toward modernization on its own, but it was the rifle’s other features that set it apart on the world stage.
It didn’t stand up there alone, however, as the world was experiencing a bit of a bullpup craze in this period. The French adopted the FAMAS at about the same time as the Austrians did the AUG, and the British were working on developing the SA80 that would enter service a few years later in 1985. However, the AUG distinguished itself with its extensive use of polymer and its integrated optic.
For these reasons, combined with Steyr’s reputation for excellent quality, the AUG was easily the most successful of these three prolific Cold War bullpup designs. While the French and British rifles saw some limited international use, mostly with ex-colonial possessions, both pale in comparison to the number of military and law enforcement groups that have adopted the AUG over the years.
Outside of its home country of Austria, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Argentina and several other nations have all adopted the AUG as their primary service rifle, and many more special forces and law enforcement agencies around the globe have procured them as well. A further testament to the design’s success is that it has been produced under license in Australia, Malaysia, South Korea and India for official military use as well as in the U.S. by Steyr Arms USA for the American civilian market.
Argentinian soldiers with Steyr AUG rifles. Photo: Wikipedia.
Steyr AUG Function And Features
The Steyr AUG is innovative for many reasons. First is it use of polymers, which are incorporated extensively throughout the design from the stock housing to the trigger group to the oversized trigger guard that protects the user’s entire hand.
Internally, the AUG features a rotating bolt with dual recoil guide rods like the AR-18. As a closed-bolt, gas-operated short-stroke piston system with a non-reciprocating charging handle, its action may be pretty conventional, but its bullpup layout meant that it could have a standard barrel length of 20 inches with an overall length of just 31.1 inches. That’s a lot of barrel length tucked into a small package. By comparison, an M4 has a 14.5-inch barrel and an overall length of 33 inches with the stock fully extended.
The rifle’s overall length could be reduced even further thanks to its unique quick barrel change system. Remember the long-haired bad guy in the first Die Hard movie? He assembled his AUG almost as fast as Bruce Willis loaded and racked his Beretta 92. A quick-change barrel can be useful for several reasons, but one advantage is modularity as Steyr offers various barrel lengths for the system. Whether you need a shorter barrel for breaching a building or a longer, heavier barrel with a bipod to lay down some lead, the AUG can be switched to any given configuration by just twisting the barrel by the vertical grip, pulling it out and reversing the process to install a new barrel.
Actor Alexander Godunov assembling his character's AUG in Die Hard (1988). Photo: IMFDB.org.
The original AUG used a proprietary magazine made of a translucent polymer with a waffle texture which came in either a 30- or 42-round capacity. However, newer variants typically use stocks designed to accept STANAG AR-15-pattern magazines. These more modern AUG models also feature a bolt release, whereas the original models required the user to release the bolt via the charging handle.
As for the AUG’s controls, they are few and simple. The magazine release is located behind the magazine. The safety is located on the side of the rifle behind the trigger and is operated by pushing it through the stock body. It, too, is made of polymer. There is no select-fire lever like on an AR-15, as the AUG features a progressive trigger instead. This means that a short pull will result in a single shot and a full trigger pull will result in automatic fire.
The view through the Steyr AUG's original 1.5x Swarovski Optik scope. Notice the rear backup iron sight notch built into its top.
The final, but perhaps most impressive feature of the original AUG was its integrated optic. It was manufactured by Swarovski Optik and featured a 1.5x magnification with a black donut-style reticle. While it was very durable, no optic is indestructible, so backup iron sights were added to the top of the scope body as well. Of course, modern AUG variants come with Picatinny rail instead so the user can add an optic model of their choice. That said, for the infantrymen of the era, being given a rifle with a 1.5x power optic and a relatively modern-style reticle was a big advantage.
Major AUG Variants
Model
Caliber
Barrel Length
Overall Length
Optic System
Notes
Steyr AUG A1
5.56x45mm NATO
16.4 inches
28.5 inches
1.5x scope
Scope is integral.
Steyr AUG A2
5.56x45mm NATO
16.4 inches
28.5 inches
Picatinny rail
Folding grip can be replaced with Pic. rail for bipod.
Steyr AUG A3
5.56x45mm NATO
16.4 inches
28.5 inches
Picatinny rail
More Pic. rail space than A2. New bolt release feature added.
Steyr AUG HBAR
5.56x45mm NATO
24.4 inches
35.4 inches
1.5x scope
Barrel has integrated bipod. Fires from an open bolt.
Between all the different countries and militaries to produce and use the AUG, there are a lot of minor variants in existence. Here, we’re only going to briefly cover the major updates and versions from Steyr itself.
The AUG has received a few minor tweaks since 1977, but besides some modernization features the rifle has remained mostly unchanged. The most major change between the original A1 and the A2 version, which debuted in 1997, was the addition of a detachable optic that can be swapped for a Picatinny rail allowing the user to mount a wider variety of optics.
The A3 model integrated the Picatinny rail with the top of the receiver along with some other modernization features like the addition of an external bolt release.
Outside of rifle configurations, Steyr also made LMG and SMG versions of the AUG.
For the LMG option, the AUG HBAR (Heavy Barreled Automatic Rifle) was given a heavier and longer 24.4-inch barrel with an integrated bipod. Another unique feature of this variant is that it fires from an open bolt to help with sustained fire.
An AUG with its standard barrel installed next to an HBAR barrel with an integrated bipod. Photo: Rock Island Auction Company.
For the SMG variant, Steyr made the AUG 9mm, both as a factory option and as a conversion kit for standard 5.56 rifles. Either way, 9mm AUGs feature shorter barrels that replace the traditional gas system with a simple blowback action. These have been adopted by a handful of police units around the world, but they’re nowhere near as popular as the 5.56 rifle.
Everyone knows that bullpups have both pros and cons, and whether you like them or not really boils down to personal preference. If you’re a bullpup fan, the AUG is thankfully readily available today on the civilian market.
Is it the best bullpup available? Many believe that to be the case. While there are plenty of newer bullpup rifles on the market today, like the IWI Tavor and the Springfield Hellion, it’s hard to argue with the tried-and-true reputation of the AUG.
If you’re a military rifle collector looking for an original pre-ban A1 model with an integrated optic, you’re going to have a harder time finding one and it will cost you a pretty penny. However, if you just want a shooter and are looking for one of the newer models there’s never been a better time to buy one. This is because Steyr began manufacturing the AUG in the U.S. a few years ago and it’s resulted in prices dropping across the board. Models like the A3 M1 have been available for as low as $1,500 when on sale, and while that’s still relatively expensive, they’ve never been this affordable in the U.S. before. As a bonus, Steyr recently started offering .300 BLK variants as well.
The AUG Legacy
The Steyr AUG may not have been the first bullpup, nor the first one with a polymer housing, nor the first combat rifle with a standard integrated optic, but it blended several good ideas of its time to create a very forward-thinking, advanced combat rifle. Despite this, after the bullpup craze died down after the 1980s, it never overshadowed the global popularity of traditional rifle designs. As far as bullpups go, however, the AUG was extremely successful.
Not only was it a commercial success with its large number of international sales and use by various military and law enforcement groups, but it was a cultural success as well. This is despite the fact that, while it has seen action, the AUG never became closely associated with any conflict it took part in. Today, even non-gun people who don’t know what “bullpup” means will likely recognize its unique form, and they might even be able to name some movies they’ve seen one in like Die Hard or the countless sci-fi films that used them as generic futuristic-looking firearms.
While the AUG will never be as prolific as some other military rifles, it’s earned its place as a historically significant design and the nations that use them aren’t likely to replace them any time soon.
Steyr AUG Deals
Guns.com
$1,851
Gunprime
$1,539
Classic Firearms
$1,770
Steyr AUG FAQ
Is the AUG better than the M4?
Both the AUG and the M4 are “better” than the other by certain metrics and in certain roles, but one is not inherently better than the other in every possible way. The AUG excels in being compact while maintaining good ballistics and some tests have shown them to be even more resilient to adverse conditions than the M4. That said, the M4 is lighter, has a traditional manual of arms and is many times more popular with operators around the globe than the AUG. At the end of the day, it comes down to what it will be used for and personal preference.
Does the AUG take AR mags?
The standard variants of the AUG do not take AR mags and use proprietary magazines instead. However, most of the contemporary models are offered in a “NATO” configuration as well, and these versions do accept standard AR-15 magazines.
What does AUG stand for?
AUG is a German initialism that stands for “Armee-Universal-Gewehr” meaning “Army Universal Rifle” in English.
Do any militaries use the AUG?
Yes, many militaries, special units and police groups around the globe currently do or previously used the Steyr AUG. The most notable world militaries that currently use the AUG as a standard issue service rifle include Austria, Australia, Ireland and Luxembourg.
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