The Gun Digest team has seen a lot of cool stuff at SHOT Show 2024 this year, but here are just a few highlights.
It’s that time of year again, and just about every big name in the gun industry has congregated in Las Vegas to display their latest products at SHOT Show 2024. We’ve seen a lot of great stuff so far, much of which will be covered more extensively later on. In the meantime, here are a few highlights that caught our eye.
Henry Lever-Action Supreme
Lever-actions have been extremely popular lately, especially modernized ones, though the pinnacle of the concept that has likely generated the most hype is the modernized lever-gun chambered for .223/5.56 that feeds from AR magazines. Bond Arms announced one of these at last year’s SHOT, and it was very well received. It’s yet to be released, however, and Henry has just thrown its hat in the ring as well.
Called the Henry Lever-Action Supreme, it features more traditional lever-action aesthetics than Bond Arms’ model thanks to its wood furniture, but Henry’s is still fully modern where it counts. Namely, they’ll be available in both .223/5.56 and .300 BLK, will feed from AR mags and will feature Picatinny rail on top for mounting optics. MSRP will be $1,400.
Black Rain Ordnance BRO-MATCH
A release that should have long-range and precision shooters excited is the BRO-MATCH from Black Rain Ordnance, the latest addition to the company’s bolt-action line. Featuring the DERECHO 3-lug action, a 60-degree bolt throw and the ability to swap barrels at home, the company says that the rifles are ready to deliver sub-MOA accuracy.
It’s available chambered for either 6.5mm Creedmoor or 6mm Creedmoor, but both versions will feature the MDT ACC Elite Chassis System, a TriggerTech Diamond Rem 700 Flat Straight Adjustable trigger and a BRO-TEMPEST Self-Timing Muzzle Brake. MSRP is $4,499.
RISE Armament Watchman XR In 22 ARC
Another one for the long-range crowd is the new Watchman XR model from RISE Armament. Chambered for 22 ARC, this rifle will be the most precision-oriented gun in the company’s Watchman AR line.
It appears that it will share a lot in common with the existing Watchman rifles that are chambered for .308 Winchester and 6.5mm Creedmoor, including features like their high-performance barrels, slim handguards with both M-LOK and Picatinny rail and upgraded RISE components incorporated throughout the build. MSRP is $2,099.
Daniel Defense PCC
Daniel Defense has also been making waves with its new pistol-caliber carbine, named the DDPCC. Chambered for 9mm and featuring a blowback action, Daniel Defense has added a hydraulic buffer to make the gun as smooth-shooting as possible.
It will feed from CZ mags, be available as both a rifle and SBR and should have an MSRP of about $2,000, but an official price is yet to be confirmed.
SAR9 Gen3
Finally, a quick look at the latest iteration of the SAR9, now in its third generation. Pictured is the SAR9C, the compact model, but these will be available in other sizes including sub-compact, full-size and competition.
Whichever size you choose, all are loaded with modern features like optics-ready slides and are available in a variety of colors. MSRP starts at $479.99.
The best thing about having a Glock 19 is that everyone makes Glock 19 holsters. The worst thing about having a Glock 19 is everyone makes Glock 19 holsters. Figuring out which one is worth spending money on is the devil's own job.
What are the best Glock 19 holsters? We're going to go over what you should look for, common features to be aware of, picking a holster for a specific use and the 10 best examples that are actually worth spending money on.
What Any Glock 19 Holster Has To Do
We all know what a holster has to do: hold the gun securely and cover/protect the trigger guard. These days, Kydex holsters are usually the way to go, but leather can be acceptable as well. More on that later.
Material costs for modern polymer holsters are minimal; what you're paying for is the molds and the detail work.
Here's what you look for:
Minimal, if any, gap between the holster mouth and the back of the trigger guard. There should be no way anything can touch the trigger itself.
The edges of the holster should be rounded or buffed so there are no sharp edges, and there should be no excess material. This is especially true for an IWB holster.
As for leather, quality leather holsters are now and always will be viable, look for vegetable-tanned full-grain or top-grain leather. Cowhide or steerhide is fine, but bullhide or horsehide is better.
Also, if considering a leather Glock 19 holster, look for a reinforced holster mouth. This prevents the holster from collapsing on the draw and prevents the leather at the mouth of the holster from curling in with wear.
Finally, it’s best to look at established brands with a known reputation for quality products, not Facebook ads. Now, let's talk about features and use cases.
Matching Your Glock 19 Holster To Your Needs
Understand what you're going to use a holster for, then choose accordingly.
If you're going to carry the gun concealed, an IWB holster is your best choice. OWB concealment, while feasible, is less optimal. If you carry strongside, get a holster optimized for it, or a holster designed for appendix carry if you carry that way.
Plenty of quality holsters will do both.
Look for a secure belt attachment. Standard FOMI clips kind of work but snap loops, RCS Overhooks, DCC Discrete Carry Clips or Monoblocks are far more durable.
Appendix carriers should also look for a relatively flat profile, especially if they add foam, wedges or pillows to the holster. It's also a good idea to make sure the holster is compatible with (or comes with) an appendix carry wing/claw.
A carry wing/claw can be seen on the left side of this Henry Holsters Spark. Wings/claws help with concealment by forcing the grip of the pistol closer to one's body.
As for OWB holsters, there are a lot of options, so keep in mind what you plan on using one for. A competition shooter has different needs than a police officer.
For OWB concealment, look for a holster that has a high ride height and a minimalist profile. It has to ride close to the body so the cover garment can conceal it.
For duty use or open carry, active retention is a must. For patrol officers, Level III is usually required; almost everyone else is most likely perfectly fine with Level II. Purchase a quality holster from a proven supplier to militaries and police departments.
Do not open carry in public without active retention. Gun grabs happen and you don't want to wind up on the news for it.
Look for solid, sturdy belt loops; the thin wing-style loops on many holsters are known to be fragile. Paddles are best avoided as few are sturdy enough for more than occasional use.
As to optics, only worry about a red dot sight hood with a duty holster, otherwise opt for an optic cutout.
On the subject of weapon lights, make sure a light-bearing holster is compatible with your light before purchasing. The more popular your light, the easier it will be to find a holster for it; models from Steamlight and SureFire are the most common.
So, start with a quality holster made from quality materials, then match the features to what you are going to use the holster for.
Based on the above criteria, here are our picks for the 10 best Glock 19 holsters for different uses and carry methods.
10 Top Glock 19 Holsters:
Best Budget Concealed Carry Holster: Dark Star Gear Apollo IWB
The Dark Star Gear Apollo is a Kydex IWB with premium features at a working man's price, suitable for strongside or appendix carry.
The holster comes with two Raven Concealment Systems Overhook clips and an optic cut. Appendix carriers can add a Dark Wing or supply their own Mod Wing, making it compatible with the PHlster Enigma system. Ride height and cant are adjustable as well.
The only downside is there are no light-bearing options. MSRP starts at $49.99 before options, but it's frequently on sale for $39.99. Better holsters for less money don't exist. // darkstargear.com
Best Leather IWB Holster: Milt Sparks Summer Special 2
A faithful recreation of the Bruce Nelson Summer Special IWB, just slimmer and with a lower profile than the original.
It’s available in vegetable-tanned roughout cowhide or grain horsehide leather with a sweat shield for comfortable carry and a sight channel to ensure a reliable draw. The holster mouth is reinforced with a leather strap over a spring steel band.
The belt attachment is dual leather snap loops at the FBI cant angle, though a straight drop (and optics cut) is available on request. Prices start at $165. // miltsparks.com
Best Duty Holster: Safariland 6360 ALS/SLS Level III Duty Holster
The Safariland 6360 is one of the most street-proven duty holsters in current use.
The 6360 comes as a Level III mid-ride belt holster, but attachments (including their quick-release systems) are plentiful. Wraps can be added to change color and the holster can be ordered in light-bearing and optics-compatible configurations with the 6360RDSO series.
Prices start as low as $85, but can get as high as $180 to $250 depending on options. // safariland.com
Best Range And Competition Holster: Comp-Tac International
A simple, slim Kydex OWB with a competition cut, so it's already optics-ready. The base model comes with a belt loop attachment, but plenty of alternatives are available from Comp-Tac or the aftermarket. Retention and cant angle are adjustable to preference, and a light bearing option is available as well.
The basic model starts at $74 in the popular color options, but you can get it for as little as $44 if you don't mind it in purple or red. // comp-tac.com
Best OWB For Compensated Glock 19: C&G OWB Covert
A simple Kydex pancake OWB with an optic cut, straight walls and an open bottom, allowing most compensators to be holstered. If you have a comp on your 19 for competition or range use with no light, this gives you everything you need and nothing you don't.
Sturdy belt loops and adjustable ride position, with over 20 color/pattern choices, optional sight channel for suppressor height sights and more. MSRP starts at $69.99. // candgholsters.com
Best Light-Bearing Concealed Carry Holster: JM Custom 2.5 Claw/3 IWB Holsters
The 2.5 Claw and 3 IWB holsters from JM Custom are basically the same holster, just optimized for different things.
Both are offered for a Glock 19/19X/45 and are compatible with most popular lights, including Streamlight TLR-1, -7 and -8 models, the SureFire XC1 and X300 and the Modlite PL350. You have your choice of belt attachment, including loops, DCC Monoblock clips and more. A red dot sight cut is an option as well.
The 2.5, the AIWB model, includes a Modwing and can be upgraded to be compatible with the PHlster Light Bearing Enigma as well as DCC Discrete Carry Clips/RCS Overhooks.
The 3 IWB starts at $70 and the 2.5 Claw at $85. // jmcustomkydex.com
Best OWB Concealed Carry Holster: Kramer Vertical Scabbard Holster
(non-Glock holster model pictured)
This is Kramer Leather's version of the Askins Avenger style, also designed by Bruce Nelson. A high ride height and trailing belt loop put the gun high on the belt and snug to the body, perfect for OWB concealment, which is why it was a favorite of competition shooters and detectives for decades.
The holster throat is reinforced, unlike most pancake holsters. You have your choice of black or mahogany horsehide, or black vegetable-tanned cowhide and a forward rake/FBI cant or a straight drop angle. MSRP is $160 for cowhide and $171 for horsehide. // kramerleather.com
Best Chest Holster: GunfightersINC Kenai Chest Holster
The Kenai Chest Holster uses a Kydex pancake holster designed for use with a chest harness, with rivet attachment points to take the adjustable nylon web straps. It's relatively simple, yet rugged.
Multiple options are available, including colors, light-bearing capability and optic cuts. MSRP starts at $159. // gunfightersinc.com
Best IWB For Roland Special Or Fauxland Special: Henry Holsters Spark AIWB/IWB
The Henry Holster Spark has an open bottom and straight walls, allowing any Glock 19/17/34 with a TLR-7, TLR-1 or Surefire X300 light to be holstered, including those with a compensator. The comp will just stick out the bottom a little. An optic cut is standard.
It can be ordered with dual snap loops or dual DCC clips and comes with a Modwing (removable if desired) and is compatible with the PHlster Light Bearing Enigma. MSRP starts at $95. // henryholsters.com
Best Sidecar Holster: Tier 1 Concealed Axis Slim
For those who want a sidecar, the Tier1 Concealed Axis Slim solves the classic issues associated with them. The holster and mag carrier are joined by bungee cable, allowing the holster to flex for comfortable carry.
Dual overhook clips (DCC and UtiliClips are available as add-ons) an optic cut, mid-length sweat guard and configurable concealment wing are standard features. Light-bearing and threaded muzzle compatibility can be added as well, and the holster is available in a host of colors.
This small buyer’s guide looks at a spread of some of the best .17 HMR rifle options on the market.
The .17 HMR is a relatively new cartridge in the grand scheme of things, but its attributes made it an instant success upon its introduction. While it still may be somewhat of a niche cartridge mostly appreciated by small game hunters, it has secured its place in the rimfire market and isn’t going away anytime soon. Short for “Hornady Magnum Rimfire”, .17 HMR is really just .22 WMR necked-down to a .17-caliber projectile. The result is a very small bullet with a high velocity and very good accuracy. As a velocity-dependent cartridge, its benefits are best exploited out of something with a rifle-length barrel, but there are a few different kinds available.
How We Made Our Picks:
We took a look at the .17 HMR rifles on the market and compared each of their features, prices and overall utility to determine which would best serve most shooters. There are other great models out there, but based on our time behind these guns and rimfire rifles in general, these are our top five picks of the currently available options.
Very accurate, ideal for precision shooting and varmint control
Highly-adjustable chassis
Threaded muzzle
Cons
On the heavy side, not the best field gun
Expensive
The majority of available .17 HMR rifle options are bolt-actions, so this category had the stiffest competition. There are many good bolt-action .17 HMR rifles made by many different manufacturers, but at the end of the day, we feel as though the Ruger Precision Rimfire was the best all-around option. It’s reasonably priced compared to other similar quality bolt-actions in this caliber, but also has some features that most of its competitors are missing. Besides being well-established as a solid, reliable and accurate rifle, Ruger’s precision model includes several features that should be appreciated by hunters, plinkers and competitors alike. The Ruger’s chassis comes with an adjustable precision-style stock that should provide better ergonomics than any of the traditional stock models out there. It also has an adjustable trigger, a free-floated handguard, a threaded barrel and includes a 15-round magazine. For the price, this is one solid, feature-rich .17 HMR rifle.
There aren’t too many semi-auto .17 HMR rifle options to begin with, so this choice wasn’t as difficult to make. One of .17 HMR’s original shortcomings upon its introduction was that it was notoriously unreliable out of autoloaders, so when Savage succeeded in making the first reliable model with the A17, it was regarded as a big deal. The A17’s best trait is its reliability, but it is otherwise a mostly standard sporting rifle. It feeds from a 10-round rotary magazine and also includes an adjustable trigger.
Best Lever Action .17 HMR Rifle: Henry Varmint Express
Good middle ground on speed between bolt-actions and semi-autos
Accepts scopes and has fiber optic sights
Cons
No threaded muzzle
Wood stock is handsome but not as durable as polymer
Other companies have made .17 HMR lever-actions in the past, but as far as I know, Henry is the only company that has any still in production. While that makes them somewhat of the de facto winner in this case, it doesn’t mean the Henry Varmint Express is a bad rifle. Henry is well-regarded for their rimfire lever-actions, and their .17 HMR models are no different. These certainly won’t be the most practical option for hunting or competing, but they probably will be the most fun to shoot and look the coolest while doing it. Henry has a few variants available depending on your style and budget, but they should all be solid shooters that add some historical charm to this relatively new cartridge. It also has a leg up in terms of capacity and speed compared to most bolt-actions available.
If you want the least expensive .17 HMR rifle you can find, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than the Mossberg 817. This is a very basic bolt-action rifle, but the word on the street is it can still perform where it counts. Its plastic stock likely isn’t the most durable, but it certainly is lightweight. The action isn’t the smoothest out there, but it cycles and is accurate enough for .17 HMR to be appreciated when fired out of it. It feeds from 5-round mags and has provisions for mounting a scope, so if you need the cheapest varmint-slayer you can find the Mossberg 817 can still be a very decent option to look at.
Best Non-Budget .17 HMR Rifle: Alexander Arms Tactical
This is another one of the few semi-auto .17 HMR guns out there, and it’s simply too expensive to be our pick for the best semi-auto .17 HMR rifle category. For those whose rimfire budgets accommodate this rifle, however, it is still worth considering. The Alexander Arms Tactical’s biggest draw is its AR-15 manual of arms and modularity. As the only AR-based rifle in .17 HMR, those who want to fire this zippy rimfire in the most tactical way possible are limited to this model. Capable of accepting most standard AR-15 furniture and accessories, this rifle could be configured in several different ways. Its biggest downside is it’s pretty damn expensive for a rimfire that won’t be any more accurate or reliable than many of the other options on this list. For those dedicated to the AR platform who want to clear their property of varmints in style, the Alexander Arms Tactical in .17 HMR is probably the best tool to do it with.
Shadow Systems has just announced the MR920P and the XR920P, two new integrally compensated 9mm pistols.
Shadow Systems makes some pretty sleek pistols. Gun Digest has published several reviews on the company’s guns, all of which left the author impressed. Those reviews will be linked at the bottom of this post, but here we’ll be looking at the company’s two latest models—the compact MR920P and the crossover-sized XR920P.
Firstly, the standard Shadow Systems MR920 and XR920 pistols have been available for some time. The addition of the “P” suffix on the new models is what indicates that they’re integrally compensated. The MR920 is equivalent in size to a Glock 19 and the XR920 is a crossover pistol with a Glock 17-sized frame and a Glock 19-sized slide and barrel. One of the most impressive aspects of the new models is that their compensators only add one-half inch to their overall lengths. This means both pistols should be able to fit most existing Glock 17 holsters.
The compensators are also touted for their reliability, so much so that even some police agencies have adopted compensated Shadow Systems pistols. The company says that the comps were designed to function properly with standard springs and a variety of different bullet weights, and users tended to report a significant reduction in muzzle rise when shooting the MR920P and XR920P. Further, Shadow System’s compensators are quick-detach, something that both allows for easy maintenance and eliminates the need for a threaded barrel. This also means that these models should be legal in states with bans on threaded muzzles.
The Shadow Systems MR920P has an MSRP of $1,269 and the XR920P has an MSRP of $1,293.
Smith & Wesson has just announced the Model 1854 series, the company’s first line of lever-action rifles.
If you haven’t been paying attention to the gun industry these past few years, lever-guns are back in a big way. This recent trend has resulted in multiple manufacturers that are not typically associated with lever-actions taking a stab at the concept, and now Smith & Wesson is among them with their announcement of the Model 1854 series. Smith & Wesson says that the Model 1854 series is a tribute to the company’s history, as in 1854 founders Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson patented their first lever gun. While the new Model 1854 is very different than the Volcanic, the company says that the rifles will share the same incredibly smooth actions and impressive craftsmanship that its revolvers are known for.
The Smith & Wesson Model 1854 series is initially launching with two variants, but the differences are mostly cosmetic. The standard variant, like many lever-actions being introduced today, sports many modern features and prioritizes function over form. The Limited Edition Model 1854 rifle naturally forgoes some practicality for prettier, wood furniture instead. Regardless, both models are chambered for .44 Remington Magnum, feature 19.25-inch barrels and have a 9+1 capacity. Further, both models have Picatinny rails on their receivers for optics, XS Sights ghost ring/gold bead sights, threaded muzzles, large loop levers and flat triggers. All 1854 models also feature side loading gates and side ejection.
As mentioned, the Limited Edition Model 1854 is the more attractive of the two, as it ships wearing high-grade walnut furniture and a black PVD finish. Conversely, the standard model has black synthetic furniture and a stainless finish, but the forend has M-LOK slots for mounting accessories as well.
Mark Smith, President and CEO of Smith & Wesson, said this about the new lever-actions:
Today, as we proudly unveil the Model 1854 Series, we embark on a journey that pays homage to this timeless design. Meticulously crafted, these rifles fuse the classic craftsmanship of the iconic lever-action with modern engineering to deliver a platform built on reliability and performance. Our new Model 1854 rifles are a nod to tradition and a testament to Smith & Wesson’s legacy as an American firearms manufacturer,
MSRP for the standard Model 1854 is $1,279 and MSRP for the Limited Edition Model is $3,499.
Economical over/unders and side-by-sides … might as well ask for bargain diamonds. Except for these 10 affordable double-barrel shotguns that definitely buck the trend.
Crisp autumn air in your face, the crunch of dry grass underfoot, the sound of pounding wings filling your ears — bird season is unparalleled bliss. Even more so if you’re in the corn stubble or cattails with a shotgun you’re truly proud of.
For me, this has generally meant heading afield with a scattergun with a couple of barrels and plenty of class — a double-barrel shotgun, in short. Unfortunately, for many budget-minded hunters, side-by-side and over/under options are little more than wistful dreams. A great deal of the engraved steel and high-grade walnut runs more than a down payment on a new pickup truck, in some cases a house. Unless you do your shopping. Which I'm trying to give you a hand with here, offering up nine affordable double-barrel shotgun options fit for your next wingshooting adventure.
What I'm shooting for are doubles that come in at a mark most shooters can afford and are worth the money. Not an easy task. True enough, most don’t have coin finishes or gold quail motifs. But they’re plenty good at knocking birds out of the sky and building memories along the way. In the end, that’s what will make them a classic to you.
But, before we get to that …
Our Selection Process
I've been lucky enough to come into the acquisition of a number of fine doubles over the years, from Belgium Brownings to classic Ithicas — when they were still made along the Finger Lakes in New York. In short, I've had the chance to handle some dang good guns over the years.
While what I'm delving into doesn't fall into the category of the aforementioned shotguns, they have proven themselves solid performers on my shoulder or those of the Gun Digest team. And each of them ticks off all of the following boxes to make them top choices as entry-level shotguns.
Affordability: The guns come in at (or dang near) $1,000 in MSRP
Performance: They shotguns have no mechanical issues and can hit the target
Aesthetics: This is baked in the double-barrel shotgun cake — they've got to look good
Durability: Maybe the guns are heirloom quality, but they're put together well enough to get years of enjoyment
Why A Double-Barrel Shotgun?
Pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns have ruled the roost for more than a half-century, for a logical reason — firepower. Bare minimum, they’re capable of loading up one more shell than a double, which potentially gives you one more goose in the bag or shot at a particularly wily rooster. Not to mention, in most circumstances, they’re a heck of a lot cheaper than over/unders and side-by-sides.
So why revert to old technology? There are plenty of reasons, but to my mind, the double-barrel shotgun's edge boils down to four factors:
Reliability: Doubles have few moving parts, so there’s less that can go wrong. Overall, they're more impervious to the elements, so there is little worry about fouling. And they’ll never misfeed. This adds up to a gun that's ready the second you flush a bird. Additionally, they're easy to maintain. And if you do, your double-barrel shotgun — even an inexpensive one — will likely outlive you.
Flexibility: There’s no worry about if a low-brass load will cycle through your double-barrel. It will shoot anything that fits its chamber. Plus, you can choke each barrel differently, giving the option for a looser pattern for close shots and a tighter pattern for more distant ones.
Shootability: While not a hard-and-fast rule, double-barrel shotguns — particularly over/unders — are much better balanced than semis and pumps. In turn, you have a more responsive gun at your disposal, something easier to swing and follow through with, which (fingers crossed) should add up to more birds.
Tradition: Honestly, this reason outdoes the others for me. While there are many fine pumps and semis out there, plum few bring the nostalgia of a double-barrel shotgun in the field — even an economy model.
What You Should Know About Budget Doubles
If you’re looking to buy American, this isn’t the class of shotguns for you. Even if it sports your favorite gunmaker’s name across the receiver, it was most certainly made somewhere else. Most likely Turkey.
It’s the go-to country for economy shotguns presently. And has a mixed reputation for the quality of its products. Some shooters swear they’re tough as wang leather and the best deals going. Others claim they’ll fall apart if you narrow your eyes in their general direction. I've found the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
If you’re shopping for a reputable brand, most likely they’re going to demand quality assurance from the factory from which they import. They don’t want their good name tarnished, so they’ll keep tight reigns on how the guns are made. More fly-by-night operations, selling guns at rock-bottom prices (below what’s shown here) … well, those might require a wee bit more consideration.
A “trust, but verify” mentality is a good way to approach a budget double-barrel shotgun purchase (honestly, any gun purchase). I would suggest not going in and just buying something off the shelf. Go over the gun with a fine-tooth comb. Make certain it looks well manufactured — the machining is smooth, removable chokes fit properly, each barrel fires and there are no flaws in the stock. A good warranty isn’t a bad thing to have backing up the gun either.
Also, if at all possible, get out and test shoot the model you’re interested in. Not only will this give you an idea of how the gun functions, but you’ll also see if you even like it in the first place. If you don’t feel you’re qualified to do all this, employ a more gun-savvy buddy to give you a hand in your evaluation.
Certainly, these guns aren’t going to put you in the poorhouse if you get a lemon. That said, this is your cold, hard cash, so don’t flush it down the drain.
The fine points out of the way let’s get to the good stuff.
Best Double-Barrel Shotgun
Weatherby Orion I
The original Orion was a Japanese slogger, a real smooth smoothbore. The reboot of the over/under is Turkish, but from all accounts keeps the Orion’s reputation intact. I really like this gun.
First off, the double-barrel shotgun cuts a sharp profile, with an A-grade walnut stock, Prince of Wales grip and deeply blued metal. Its vented rib, matte on top to cut glare, is a nice touch, too. Though, I do have a nit to pick with the stock's gloss finish — then again, this is Weatherby, it's kind of expected.
More important than looks, the Orion I is well made — most certainly up to Weatherby standards, with a tight fit and excellent machining. The all-steel receiver gives the gun a bit of heft — the 7-pound neighborhood — yet it’s not enough to make it unpleasant on long hunts. And it’s responsive — quick to the shoulder, in part thanks to its Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad’s Speed-Mount heel, which reduces snags.
Weatherby moved the barrel selector to the tang safety (it use to be on the trigger), but has retained the ejectors. It’s available in 12-gauge only, however, you do have the choice between 26- and 28-inch barrels. Inflation has kicked the gun over our ceiling, but not enough for us to take it off this list. It still has plenty to offer at this price point.
Back by popular demand, CZ reintroduced its popular side-by-side, this time going by the handle of Bobwhite G2. But the new-old double-barrel shotgun isn’t a spitting image of its former self.
It still boasts the same striking profile, including a straight English grip, ample walnut and double trigger. But, CZ cleaned up some of the shotgun’s internals making it all the sweeter to shoot. In particular, it floated the firing pins, redesigned the sear and implemented a coil spring to activate the hammers. I also appreciate the English-style double triggers, which really gives the gun a feel much higher than its pricepoint.
Though it’s not all peaches and cream, the gun isn’t actually Czech or American-made. You guessed it, Turkey — but with what appears to be plenty of oversight from CZ. The Bobwhite G2 is available in 12-, 20- and 28-gauge, and is outfitted with a 28-inch barrel in each case. It comes with five chokes and, depending on gauge, weighs in at 5.5 to 7.3 pounds.
MSRP: Starts At $799
TriStar Trinity
TriStar has a knack for marrying affordability, function and style. Nowhere is this more apparent than in its Trinity line. Where else in the world of double-barrel shotguns can you find a 24-carat gold inlay standard in a $855 gun?
Starting there, the Trinity is an exceptionally good-looking over/under. In addition to the inlay, the gun pops thanks to heavily engraved motifs on the polished steel receiver giving it a timeless look. Sure, it’s production-acid engraving, but it doesn’t take away from its beauty. Particularly with the Turkish gun wearing a fine stick of oil-finished Turkish walnut, with plenty of checking on the grip and forearm.
Well made and kept to tight tolerances, thanks to CNC manufacturing, the Trinity locked up well for me and appeared to have a quality steel-to-wood fit. And it has some likable extras. Vented top and middle rib, tang safety and chrome-lined barrels are all standard, as is a select single trigger and bright fiber-optic bead. Furthermore, it’s available in the resurgent 16-gauge, as well as the more common 12- and 20-gauges — 3-inch chambers across the board. Beretta choke compatibility as well.
The 555 has Stevens’ name, but not Stevens’ place of origin. That means it’s Turkish — which can be good or bad news. Luckily, in this case, it’s the former. The 555 is well built and a performer, with a tight lock-up and responsive on the shoulder. It also has little extras not often found at this price point. The Schnabel fore-end is one such example.
The aluminum receiver has a steel reinforcement insert — over the firing pins — giving the double-barrel shotgun some added durability. The 555 is light, too — a hair over 6 pounds in the 12- and 20-gauges, 5 ½ in 16, 28 and .410 — making it not only nimble on the swing but also a joy on those long days in the field. The safety doubles as the barrel selector and its trigger is good enough for a much more expensive gun. Walnut, checkering and removable chokes are all there too. Not a bad package at all.
At this point, economy side-by-side is almost an oxymoron. However, Stoeger pulls it off pretty well with the Uplander.
As for its overall profile, the Brazilian-made gun is fairly traditional, boasting double triggers and a nice stick of A-grade Walnut. But, for the most part, it’s plain as a gray November day, with little embellishment outside a smattering of checkering on the standard grip and fore-end.
However, Stoeger gives you some choice of configuration on this double-barrel shotgun, with 26- and 28-inch barrel options available on its 12- and 20-gauges. The 28-gauge and .410 are purely 26-inch barrel affairs. It features a tang safety — as it should be — removable chokes and extractors standard.
The Upland Field tends toward the heavy side, creeping up on 8 pounds and the action of the one I toyed with was a bit stiff out of the box. But for the money, those are minor complaints.
Over the years, Pointer has kicked a firm toehold in the affordable shotgun market. There’s a simple reason for this. The Turkish import, sold through Legacy Sports International, over-delivers in about every way. Its Field Over/Under is a testament to this. Long on ornamentation, walnut and performance, the double-barrel shotgun punches well above its entry-level price.
It’s very much an all-around gun, despite its name and case coloring on the receiver. At 7.5 pounds, it's suited for long upland hunts where excessive weight is noticeable but proves hefty enough to manage a well-timed double at the range. Sticked in walnut, the oil finish is on target as is the laser checkering on the fore and pistol grip, giving the gun excellent handling. And the 26-inch chrome-lined barrels are there for the long haul and capable of devouring anything you feed them—a 3-inch chamber.
The belle of the ball, however, is the trigger. By no means is it akin to something you’d find on a $6,000 legacy gun, but for its price range, I've found few in its class that compare to its responsiveness.
Other notables include vented rib, fiber-optic front sight, extractors and single select trigger. It’s also available in three gauges—12, 20 and .410—and ships with five chokes. The one bone of contention, the factory-installed recoil pad is a bit thin, but that’s a minor complaint.
The sun does not rise and fall exclusively on the Model 500 at Mossberg. Quite right, the company is known for its wrought-iron tough pump-action, but its double-barrel shotgun more than holds its own.
Now if the Silver Reserve seems familiar it should. Released in 2021, the shotgun is new, but in essence, a revamp of another Mossberg model we loved and will miss—the International Silver Reserve II.
So, what’s changed? Namely aesthetics. The gunmaker has opted for a plain-slate matte silver receiver, giving the over/under a more working-class look—no big shakes in a field gun. This brought me down some, given the International definitely cut an attractive profile. Also gone, the ported barrels trap modes. However, Mossberg has retained many of the favorite features of the original double-barrel shotgun and added two new gauges to the mix.
To the latter point, the Turkish-made gun is now available in 28-gauge and .410 bore, in addition to 12 and 20. As to familiar assets, 28- and 26-inch barrel lengths—depending on the gauge—a slim and highly manageable boxlock and extractors. The trigger tends heavy, and some of the frills are gone, but the International Silver Reserve is still among the best values out there.
This barely makes the cut per this post's price limit but I feel it's well worth the money. The Turkish-made (who saw that coming?) double-barreled shotgun has some nice refinements making it among the top in this class. This includes some understated, yet nice engraving, laser-cut checkering on its walnut stock, Prince of Wales grip, mechanical trigger, tang safety, ejectors and 8mm flat-vent rib.
The fit is genuinely good. Not best-gun quality, but it was more than enough to satisfy me and certainly any first-time double shooter or a hunter who might go a little rough on his or her gun.
CZ doesn’t hold back on this line, offering it in 12-, 20- and 28-gauge, with the option of a 26- or 28-inch barrel in 20-gauge. The Redhead Premier comes with five chokes and in its larger gauges can handle 3-inch shells. If you’re looking for more than a bargain out of a double, it’s difficult to outdo what CZ offers here.
A quick look at 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge, aka 6.5 PRC, an accurate, flat-shooting long-range cartridge.
Introduced in late 2017, Hornady’s 6.5 Precision Rifle Cartridge (PRC) was designed to be accurate, shoot flat and shoot long from a compact case utilizing moderate powder charges. The 6.5 PRC produces high velocities for target shooting with performance well beyond 1,000 yards.
The round enters a suddenly crowded field of similarly dimensioned cartridges, including the 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5×55 Swede, .260 Remington, 6.5x57mm, 6.5-284 Norma, 6.5-06, 6.5 Remington Magnum and .264 Winchester Magnum, to name a few. Obviously, 6.5 designates the bore diameter, which, technically is 0.2559 inch in diameter, but this new round fires 0.264-inch-diameter bullets, as do the other 6.5mm cartridges.
It was created by necking down the .300 Ruger Compact Magnum case, which, if naming conventions for similar neckdowns were followed, it could have been called the 6.5 RCM. To our eyes, it competes most directly with the 6.5-284 Norma. The 6.5 PRC fits in short or medium actions with a standard magnum bolt face (0.532 inch). It features a long cartridge case neck and 30-degree shoulder.
General Comments
The 6.5 PRC case is 2.030 inches long. Loaded with Hornady’s 143-grain ELD-X bullet, cartridge overall length measures 2.955 inches (according to final SAAMI specs), slightly longer than the 2.825-inch length for the 6.5 Creedmoor. Its case capacity is about 28 percent more than the 6.5 Creedmoor and the 6.5 PRC will push a 143-grain ELD-X bullet to about 2,960 fps. This is 260-fps faster than the Creedmoor, an increase of about 8 percent. The neck length is 0.272 inch, and barrel twist rates seem to favor 1:8 rifling.
At rollout, rifle makers chambering the 6.5 PRC included Christensen Arms, Fierce Firearms, GA Precision, Gunwerks, Hill Country Rifles, Horizon Firearms, McRee Precision, Montana Rifles, Proof Research, Savage, Sauer, Stuteville Precision, Seekins Precision and Trident Armory.
Initial loads include the Hornady 6.5 PRC 147-grain ELD Match (81620), which delivers 2,910 fps and 2,910 ft-lb of energy at the muzzle. To get a 100-yard zero, the round would start +1.5 inches above the muzzle. Then, at 100 yards, the 6.5 PRC would produce 2,645 fps/2,283 ft-lb. At 200 yards, those readings would be 2,518 fps/2,069 ft-lb and -6.5 inches drop. At 500 yards, it would produce 2,275 fps and 1,689 ft-lb and -36.5 inches of drop. The 6.5 PRC 143-grain ELD-X Precision Hunter (81621) load has muzzle stats of 2,960 fps/2,782 ft-lb and 500-yard stats of 2,248 fps/1,604 ft-lb, with -36.2 inches of drop at the longer distance.
Kimber has just announced the KDS9c Rail, a new variant of the 9mm KDS9c that now features an accessory rail.
Kimber released the standard KDS9c in April of 2023, a pistol that Richard Mann described as a modern take on the 1911 in his review for Gun Digest. He walked away impressed, as did many others, but some shooters wanted the ability to mount a weapon light on the pistol. Kimber has just answered these requests with the announcement of the KDS9c Rail.
The KDS9c Rail model is virtually identical to the standard variant besides a few details. That means the pistols are still single-action-only hammer-fired 9mms with aluminum frames, steel slides and a 15-round capacity with flush-fit mags. All other features such as the optics-ready slide were also retained. The primary difference, obviously, is the inclusion of an accessory rail. For those who were only interested in one of these pistols if they could mount a light or laser to it, now you can. TXC light-bearing holsters are already in the works for the KDS9c Rail as well.
The other changes present on the KDS9c Rail include an ambidextrous safety, new grip scales with more aggressive texture and the inclusion of an extended 18-round magazine alongside the 15-round mag. Further, the new railed models are available with either a black or a two-tone dark gray/black finish as opposed to the original options of black or stainless. The final difference is that the new model also demands a higher price.
Everett Deger, Director of Kimber Marketing, said this about the new pistols:
When we started shipping the KDS9c in July of 2023, the most requested addition was for a rail and ambidextrous safety, and we listened to those requests. This line extension is a testament to providing the features and attributes that Kimber customers expect and modern firearms owners are looking for. The KDS9c Rail delivers on all of these latest concealed carry attributes and is machined, assembled and finished by American workers in Troy Alabama.
Kimber says that the KDS9c Rail will begin shipping at the end of January and will also be available with 10-round mags for ban states. MSRP is $1,903 for both color variants.
The author tests out the Marlin 1895 Dark Series, a .45-70 Gov’t lever-action with a tactical twist.
If you want to get opinions on rifles, go to a deer hunting camp. As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in a deer camp at the Lowrance Ranch in Truscott, Texas. This is mostly flat, open country, and you’d expect those who live, work and hunt this ground to be partial to a bolt-action rifle chambered for a flat-shooting cartridge. Given that, you might be surprised what the ranch hands there said about the Marlin Dark Series 1895 when I showed them a picture of it.
I limited these deer hunting cowboys to a one-word description of the Dark Series 1895. One old timer, who’d just showed me a photo of his pride and joy lever gun—a Winchester Model 71 chambered in 348 Winchester—described it as the “terminator.” Another ranch hand/hunter in a cowboy hat rambled something about a modern take on the lever gun, but when I pinned him down to one word, he called it “awesome.” Two other fellers agreed that “rugged” was the best description for this rifle. These were experienced deer hunters, right?
First, Some History
There’s no question that the new Dark Series rifle from Marlin is a modernization of the traditional lever action rifle, but what exactly does that mean, and whether you call it “modernized” or not, is all this modernization a good thing? To answer that, we have to go back in time a few years to 2019 when “Green” Marlin first introduced the Dark Series of traditional lever-action rifles.
New (post 2020) Marlin lever action rifles are made in Mayodan, North Carolina.
First, and for clarification, “Green” Marlin describes the period when Marlin was owned by Remington. The new Ruger owned Marlins are “Red” Marlins, because when Ruger took over Marlin in 2020, they turned the Marlin logo Ruger red. And finally, the original North Haven, Connecticut, Marlins, are “Blue” Marlins to match the color of the logo when they were manufactured there. The 2019 Green Marlin Dark Series rifles were nothing more than an all-black version of the 336, 1894 and 1895 models, with an XS Sights lever rail installed.
These guns were well received, but they were not enough to save Marlin—or Remington—from bankruptcy.
The Details
The first rifle in the new Green Marlin Dark Series is the Model 1895, but Marlin says a Dark Series Model 336 and 1894 should be out sometime in 2024. The only similarity these new rifles have to the originals are the name, base model numbers, a half-cock hammer, the now common cross-bolt safety and their color. Marlin has substantially changed just about everything else, and these changes have altered the look, but more importantly the user interface.
Probably the most notable modernization is the absence of a wood forend. In its place, there’s a 135/8-inch anodized aluminum handguard with M-Lok slots around its circumference. In addition to the multitude of M-Lok slots, on the front end of the handguard, there’s two QD sling swivel sockets. The rifle is also fitted with a nicely contoured midsize finger lever, and the lever and bolt are finished in black nitride. The other important metal parts have a graphite black Cerakote finish.
The lever rail, as it’s often called, substantially enhances the versatility of the Marlin Dark Series 1895.
The buttstock has also been modernized and is made of nylon-reinforced polymer, and it reattains the traditional shape. However, at the wrist, there are textured, removable grip inserts and a thick rubber recoil pad. The buttstock is dished out in the center where you’ll find three M-Lok slots. At the top rear of the buttstock, there’s a steel QD sling stud on each side, but this stud is also there to allow for the attachment of a polymer comb riser that comes with the rifle.
This snap-on riser for the comb on the butt stock of the 1895 Dark Series rifle raises the comb to allow for a good cheek weld when shooting with an optical sight.
The rifle’s muzzle is threaded at 11/16×24, and it comes with a radial port break. But if you’re like me and despise these noisy abominations, you can unscrew it and replace it with the thread protector that comes with the rifle. Just behind the muzzle break is a high-profile fiber-optic front sight that’s encased inside a circle of Tritium for optimum visibility in low light. Further back on the barrel you run into the front of a 23-slot, 11¼-inch rail that extends all the way back to the receiver where you’ll find a fully adjustable ghost ring sight.
The rifle ships with a radial port muzzle break, but it can be easily removed, and a thread protector or suppressor can be attached.
Interface Maximized
Because user interface is so important to a rifle, let’s delve into it. The buttstocks on traditional lever-action rifles and this new Dark Series are configured to best allow you to maintain a good cheek weld while using open sights. The problem comes when you mount a riflescope. This requires you to raise your cheek from the stock, and this complicates fast action and accurate shooting.
To solve this problem with the Dark Series, Marlin has configured a snap-on polymer cheek piece that’s held in place by the two QD sling swivel studs and the detent in the dished-out portion of the stock. This riser will allow you to get a good cheek weld when shooting a low-mounted optic.
When was the last time you saw a factory stock traditional lever gun that could be so easily adapted to a tripod?
The sight/optics rail also improves user interface. The integral ghost ring that’s paired with the high-visibility front sight is ideal for snap shooting at close range. And the rail will allow for the mounting of a traditional riflescope, a scout scope or a variety of red-dot sights. I tested the rifle with a Leupold VX-Freedom intermediate eye relief scope mounted just so the ocular bell was forward of the ghost ring sight. With QD rings, this allowed for easy on and off and near immediate access to the open sights.
The handguard also helps with user interface. It helps cut total rifle weight somewhat but more importantly its M-Lok compatibility allows for the attachment of a light or laser, which would be ideal for hunting feral hogs. I mounted a Spartan Precision bipod attachment to the bottom of the rail, which allows for interface with their excellent tripod or their super lightweight bipod.
Up until now, this has been something that was very difficult to do with a traditional lever gun. I also liked the ability to attach a QD sling swivel to the handguard, and the fact that I could sling up tightly with a shooting sling without the point of impact shifting. This shift in point of impact is something that’s common with traditional lever guns when you snug up tightly with a shooting sling.
Marlin’s new Dark Series 1895 lever-action rifle in .45-70 Government.
Nothing’s Perfect
It’s rare that I test a new rifle and like everything about it. This is partly due to my taste in rifles, but also partly because some rifles are just not made all that well. I’ve tested every new Marlin rifle that’s been produced since Ruger took ownership. Personal taste aside, I’m confident in saying these Red Marlins are the best Marlins ever made. Still, I had two complaints with the new Dark Series rifle.
The first was with the trigger. The triggers on all of the other Red Marlins have been somewhere between good and excellent, but the trigger on this rifle had just a little hitch right at the beginning of the press. From the bench, it was easy enough to manage but it did interfere a bit with off-hand shooting. It also broke right at 5 pounds. In my experience, this is the exception as opposed to the rule with these new Red Marlins. If it was my rifle—and it just might soon be—I’d send it to Jerry Dove at Dove Guns for some trigger work. With just a bit of TLC, this trigger would be just fine.
The other issue was with the snap-on polymer comb. First, it was a bit tedious to get the comb to snap in place. On the other hand, when installed it locked on solidly with no movement or shifting at all. However, while messing with it—possibly a bit rougher than I should have been—I broke off one of the flanges that holds the comb in place. Surprisingly, this didn’t interfere with a solid fit, and Marlin had me another comb in the mail the next day.
Traditional Versus Modern
Through the years, Marlin and even Winchester have tried to modernize the lever gun, usually with the introduction of new, flatter-shooting and harder-hitting cartridges, like the .307 Winchester or .308 Marlin Express. Though initially these cartridges created some buzz, they were by most measures, commercial failures.
Notes: Reported muzzle velocity (VEL), standard velocity deviation (SD) and muzzle energy (ENG) were established by firing 10 shots over a chronograph with the screens 10 feet from the muzzle, and the average accuracy was established by firing three, five-shot groups with each load from a solid rest at 100 yards. *Tested at 50 yards and excluded from average
Admittedly, I’m a lover of the traditional lever-action rifle and traditional lever-action cartridges. Also, admittedly, I don’t think this rifle looks very traditional. However, I do think it’s very well configured to appeal to the modern shooter or to any serious big-game hunter.
The way Marlin has designed the new Dark Series rifle, it’s ideally adapted to do anything a hunter could think about doing with a lever-action rifle in .45-70. In fact, it will allow a hunter to do things with a traditional lever action rifle that were nearly impossible before. I think the Texas cowboys I’ve been sharing camp with are mostly right.
This is an awesome looking and ruggedly built lever-action rifle, that in .45-70 is suitable for hunting and terminating anything on Earth. Now let us patiently wait for the Model 336 and 1894 Dark Series rifles. With apologies to AC/DC, you could say these new rifles are “back in black.”
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Silencer Central and Buck Commander have partnered to release the BUCK 30 by BANISH, an affordable .30-caliber suppressor for deer hunting.
There were a lot of exciting guns to shoot at CANCON Georgia 2023, as companies brought out everything from suppressed belt-fed machineguns to the latest tactical PCCs and carbines. That said, much of what drew the longest lines was far more fun than practical. Conversely, Silencer Central’s lane was showing off an unpresuming new can, but this humble black tube will certainly prove far more popular in the real world than anything that was on the muzzle of an M240.
Called the BUCK 30 By Banish, this .30-caliber suppressor was a collaborative effort between Silencer Central and Buck Commander. If the name didn’t give it away, this can was designed with deer hunters in mind. There are plenty of .30-caliber hunting suppressors on the market, however, so what sets the BUCK 30 apart?
For The Everyman
It has to be said up front, one of the most attractive aspects of the BUCK 30 is its price. With an MSRP of just $699, it’s tied for the least expensive .308 suppressor currently listed on Silencer Central’s website. You’d be hard-pressed to find a cheaper can for sale that’s not rimfire-only.
Versatility
Speaking of calibers, Silencer Central’s BUCK 30 is rated for everything from .17 HMR to .300 Winchester Magnum. For a hunter on a budget, that’s an excellent feature, as it allows you to be a one-can-man even if you regularly go after a variety of game using rifles chambered for different cartridges. While the suppressor may have been dubbed BUCK 30 with deer hunting in mind, it could obviously serve you equally as well when chasing other species.
For maximum compatibility with different platforms, the BUCK 30 also features a variety of mounting options. When ordering one from Silencer Central, you will have to choose a thread pitch for direct mounting to a muzzle. These pitches include 5/8×24, 1/2×28, .578×28, 11/16×24, 3/4×24 and M16x1RH.
For those who would prefer a quick-attach mount or improved cross-compatibility between several rifles, the BUCK 30 also uses the industry-standard HUB mounting system.
In The Field
As a suppressor designed for hunters, by hunters, the BUCK 30 checks every box that makes a suppressor good for field use.
The top quality that any hunting suppressor can have is the ability to reduce the sound level of a shot to hearing-safe levels. This is because wearing ear protection while hunting isn’t just annoying, but it can potentially be dangerous too. While the use of suppressors for hunting has really only just started to become normalized, cans like the BUCK 30 will help push the trend in the right direction. That’s better for everybody, whether they hunt or not.
Since the BUCK 30 will purportedly reduce the report of an 18-inch .308 rifle to just 131 dB, well below the hearing-safe level of 140 dB, it accomplishes this handily. I shot a rifle with the BUCK 30 installed at CANCON and it definitely proved quiet enough that you could leave your muffs or plugs at home when taking a similar setup into the field.
Suppressors that get taken on a hunt are more likely to get banged up as well, so durability is another factor to consider. The BUCK 30 has a tubeless, laser-welded stainless steel construction that should help it survive in the field.
One downside to hunting with a suppressor hanging off your muzzle is the added bulk and weight. So, naturally, good hunting suppressors try and minimize this as much as possible. The BUCK 30 achieves this as well, though it isn’t the shortest or lightest .308 can on the market. It has an overall length of 6.9 inches, a diameter of 1.54 inches and a weight of 13.8 ounces, making it just small enough to not be too noticeable when installed. Given, I didn’t haul the setup for miles through the backcountry, but handling the rifle with the BUCK 30 at CANCON was enough to tell that it wouldn’t be a major burden to do so.
Could it be even shorter, lighter and less cumbersome? Theoretically, sure, but not without sacrificing sound reduction performance or increasing its cost. Silencer Central aimed for the sweet spot between all these attributes with the BUCK 30, and the company definitely hit the mark.
Parting Shot
To be completely honest, after sending some rounds through a BUCK 30 at CANCON, I wasn’t shaking with excitement. But who would be? This is a very practical suppressor with a singular goal in mind—hunting—and we were shooting at steel. That said, I did walk away impressed.
The can is perfectly hearing-safe, is light and handy enough to not be very noticeable on the muzzle and it does all this for a very attainable price. For anyone who hunts in a state where the use of a suppressor is legal, the real excitement of the BUCK 30 will come after you use one to drop your first deer without your ears ringing or having to listen to the muffled sounds of nature through your ear pro.
If you still hunt with muffs on, there’s probably not a single better piece of kit you could get to improve your experience.
More On Suppressors:
The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
A look at Lehigh Defense and its attempts to perfect the art of bullet technology and ballistic innovation.
Sometimes, it’s necessary to have the backstory to appreciate a product. I think that’s especially true with Lehigh Defense … where bullet evolution seems to be happing faster than anywhere else. Under the watchful eye of Bill Wilson—yes, the Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat—Lehigh Defense is taking the mono-metal bullet to places it’s never been.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. For me, this story starts in West Virginia, with two hillbillies trying to create a bullet for a .50-caliber short-action rifle cartridge.
France To West Virginia
In 2006, I was approached by fellow West Virginian, Mike Cyrus. Cyrus had designed a short-action .50-caliber rifle cartridge capable of launching a 345-grain bullet at 2,700 fps. His problem was that there were no .50-caliber bullets capable of withstanding impact velocities that high. I showed Cyrus the French designed GPA bullet and detailed my experiences with it. I felt that if Cyrus could create a similar bullet, it would be ideal for his cartridge.
Cyrus’ short action .50-caliber rifle cartridge that he and Lehigh Defense developed a bullet for. (Shown next to a .22 LR cartridge.)
The GPA bullet is a mono-metal bullet with a broached hollow point. When it impacts animals, fluids are forced into the hollow point. This causes the bullet to fracture, and the result is the separation of four petals. Sometimes the petals will break from a Barnes Triple Shock mono-metal bullet, but when this happens, much like they did with the old Winchester Fail Safe bullet, the petals just fall away and are left in the bullet’s path. Because the fracturing on the GPA bullet occurs almost immediately, the petals retain velocity and drive forward and outward from the path of the bullet shank. This creates massive tissue destruction and hemorrhaging.
Cyrus liked the idea, and, working with Lehigh Defense, they created a bullet. It wasn’t long until Cyrus was back at my range to test it … and the results were amazing. The bullet delivered a controlled dispersion of shrapnel that left a wound cavity of immense proportions. The break-away petals created their own wound tracks and the base of the bullet drove incredibly deep. Cyrus worked with Lehigh to tweak the design and I took Cyrus’ .50-caliber cartridge and those bullets to Africa, where they impressed the hell out of a professional hunter.
Cyrus soon went to work for Lehigh Defense to develop other bullets, conduct testing and to produce load data. He became an integral part of company and moved to South Dakota in 2017 when the company relocated. That year Cyrus also came to Africa with me, and we tested multiple Lehigh bullets on a variety of critters. My son even used a 270-grain .375-caliber version of the Controlled Fracturing bullet that had evolved from Cyrus’ early work to take an African buffalo.
This African buffalo was taken at 100 yards with a .375 Ruger using a 270-grain Controlled Fracturing bullet from Lehigh Defense.
Enter Wilson Combat
Lehigh Defense makes a lot of unique mono-metal bullets, and we’ll get to them shortly. But it was Lehigh Defense’s Controlled Chaos bullet that caught Bill Wilson’s attention.
In late 2021, Wilson Combat purchased Lehigh Defense. Wilson felt solid copper bullets would be the future and that Lehigh Defense was on the forefront of that technology. An avid hunter, he has probably killed more feral hogs than anyone I know, and he was impressed with the Controlled Chaos’ radical terminal performance. He also felt that the Lehigh’s Xtreme Defense bullet was changing how many people think about self-defense handgun projectiles. Wilson relocated Lehigh Defense to Clarksville, Texas, not too far from his home.
And this is where the circle completes. Cyrus was lost in this shuffle, but it wasn’t long until he and Wilson connected, and Wilson learned the value that Cyrus had brought to Lehigh Defense before the sale. Wilson brought Cyrus back to Lehigh Defense to assist with bullet testing, load development and, just as importantly, to handle customer questions and technical support. But what’s also interesting is how bullet development at Lehigh Defense works.
Responsive Engineering
Because of how Lehigh Defense bullets are machined, they can do very small runs and test them; a bullet can be tweaked and tested multiple times in a day. Wilson can take a new design and shoot some feral hogs in the morning, report his findings and the bullet can be modified before the day is over. The final product is not just a result of just testing in various mediums, it’s thoroughly vetted on wild game.
A 270-grain Lehigh Defense Controlled Fracturing bullet out of a .375 Ruger was used to take this massive black bear on Vancouver Island.
Cyrus is embedded in this process. He shadows Wilson’s work and is in constant contact with the factory to make suggestions based on what he sees on paper, on the chronograph and during terminal performance testing. Cyrus was recently on my range showing me the subsonic and supersonic bullets they’ve been developing for the new 8.6 Blackout cartridge. Before he left, he was on the phone with Clarksville, tweaking things.
During that visit, Cyrus also showed me their new Tipped Controlled Chaos bullet. With its better ballistic coefficient, it retains energy better and delivers flatter trajectories. Like the 8.6 Blackout bullets, it’s still under development but should be available in 2024.
Smart Bullets Getting Smarter
This story is slanted a bit to highlight the work and contributions of a fellow hillbilly and friend, but Cyrus and his work with Lehigh Defense has been my main window into the company. Today, Wilson is adding to the Lehigh Defense story and, according to Cyrus, since acquisition, Wilson has substantially enhanced the performance of several of the bullets Lehigh Defense offers.
A 125-grain, .30-caliber Maximum Expansion bullet fired from the .300 HAMR cartridge.
Of course, I cannot just end it here. You need to have an idea of the totality of Lehigh Defense’s smart-bullet product line. So, here’s a rundown of some of their best bullets, available as components or in loaded ammunition from Lehigh Defense, Wilson Combat and several other ammunition manufacturers. I’d suggest you give some of them a try.
Controlled & Xtreme Controlled Chaos Bullet
This is an all-copper mono-metal bullet designed to fracture during penetration. The fractured copper shrapnel is then propelled outward and forward from the bullet path. The base or shank of the bullet remains at bullet diameter and penetrates extremely deep, most often exiting. A version of this bullet built with softer copper is called the Xtreme Chaos and it works the same, but the nose of the bullet shank slightly deforms to create a larger diameter penetrating hole.
The Controlled Chaos bullet and the wound-enhancing shrapnel it creates almost instantly after impact.
Tipped Chaos Bullet
This is nothing more than an all-copper mono-metal bullet designed to fracture during penetration, just like the Controlled Chaos. The difference, however, is the polymer tip that’s inserted into the bullet’s hollow point cavity. This tip increases the bullet’s BC, helps with retained energy down range and flattens trajectory.
Tipped Controlled Chaos bullet. Notice the shrapnel that breaks away to form additional wound tracks, leaving the base/shank of the bullet to penetrate.
Controlled Fracturing Bullet
This is a more controlled version of the Controlled Chaos bullet. The difference is that the shrapnel is reduced to large petals that do not bend or break part. The petals separate soon after penetration and radiate outward from the main bullet path, creating havoc and destruction in their wake. Where this bullet is most applicable is with subsonic loads. No other bullet from any manufacture can match it in terms of subsonic terminal performance. It’s ideal for cartridges like the .300 and 8.6 Blackout.
This version of the Controlled Fracturing bullet is designed for subsonic application and will upset at extremely slow velocities.
Maximum Expansion Bullet
This is a deviation of the Controlled Fracturing bullet, and similar to the Extreme Chaos bullet it’s built from slightly softer copper. This allows the petals on the bullet to remain attached similar to the Barnes Triple Shock. This bullet creates massive tissue destruction but with less penetration than the Controlled Fracturing bullet. It’s suitable for handgun and subsonic applications, and Wilson is working to develop tipped versions for high velocity rifle cartridges.
This is a 118-grain 9mm version of the Lehigh Defense's Maximum Expansion bullet.
Xtreme Defense Bullet
This is an all-copper, non-deforming approach to a self-defense bullet designed to deliver penetration between the FBI’s optimum 12- and 18-inch range. A non-deforming/expanding bullet might seem counter to conventional wisdom, but the concept is valid. This is partly because the lack of bullet upset prevents the potential for penetration interference from intermediate barriers and partly because, due to the large flutes near the bullet’s nose, wounding is enhanced through high-velocity fluid transfer.
Underwood loads Xtreme Defense bullets for many handgun cartridges. Those deep flutes use hydraulic fluid transfer to damage tissue.
Xtreme Penetrator Bullet
An alteration of the Xtreme Defense bullet, these bullets are designed to drive deeper. They’re suitable for both handgun and rifle cartridges and are heavier than comparable Extreme Defense bullets in the same caliber. They also have smaller flutes to help maximize penetration, and the X-shaped nose design will punch through as opposed to skid on bone. These bullets create much more damage than conventional round nose bullets.
Underwood ammo offers ammunition loaded with Lehigh Defense Xtreme Penetrator bullets for many cartridges. Notice the wide X flat point in the bullet’s nose.
Wide Flat Nose
Very similar to a hard cast bullet, the advantage of a solid copper flat nose solid is that the bullet’s nose will not deform, chip or break, and this contributes to the bullet’s ability to penetrate very deep and straight. Buffalo Bore loads these Wide Flat Nose bullets in their Dangerous Game line. I watched a hunter in Africa absolutely hammer a buffalo with one from a .45-70, and one was all it took.
Buffalo Bore loads Lehigh Defense Wide Flat Nose bullets for a variety of dangerous game cartridges.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Vortex has just expanded its popular Venom riflescope line with the addition of the 1-6×24 SFP and the 3-15×44 FFP.
Since the Vortex Venom riflescope line was launched with the Venom 5-25×56 FFP in 2021, it’s proven to be quite popular. Why? Like most of the company’s products, the scope hit a sweet spot between performance and price, with most users agreeing that the former outweighs the latter. That said, a 5-25×56 optic is only useful for certain applications, so now the Venom line is expanding with two new optics that will be more suitable for carbines and mid-range shooting—the 1-6×24 SFP and the 3-15×44 FFP.
Vortex Venom 1-6×24 SFP.
Despite being described as an entry-level carbine LPVO, the Venom 1-6×24 SFP has a lot going for it. Featuring an illuminated reticle and true 1-6x magnification, the scope can do quick work at short ranges while remaining capable of accurately reaching out. The SFP AR-BDC3 reticle helps with this as well, as its markings can keep you on target out to 650 yards. Other specs worth mentioning include its 30mm tube, its 24mm objective lens, its overall length of 10.3 inches and its weight of 19.5 ounces. The scope comes with a throw-lever, making magnification adjustments even faster and easier, and the package ships with a sunshade, lens covers, a lens cloth, a CR2032 battery and the appropriate hex wrench. MSRP is $449.99.
Vortex Venom 3-15×44 FFP.
Next is the Vortex Venom 3-15×44 FFP. Built on a 34mm tube and featuring a 44mm objective lens, this model was clearly designed to fill the gap between the new LPVO and the older 5-25×56 Venom. It uses the EBR-7C for a reticle and it’s available in either MOA or MRAD, and as an FFP scope, the subtensions will accurately scale to all magnification levels. For rapid adjustments, the scope also features Vortex’s RevStop zero system, exposed elevation turrets (windage turrets are capped) and an included throw lever. Each scope will also ship with a sunshade, lens covers, a lens cloth and a hex wrench. Other notable specs include its length of 13.3 inches and its weight of 28.8 ounces. MSRP is $649.99.
I had the opportunity to try out both of these optics while visiting the Vortex headquarters in Wisconsin last December, and they left me equally impressed. Whether you’re in the market for a new LPVO or something that can reach out a bit further, either would be worth checking out.
What makes a modern hunting rifle? A little competition influence, some military sniper inspiration and an infusion of manufacturing technology.
In conversation, you’ll find that people have a rather rigid idea of just how much “modern” can go into a gun … or what accessories could or should go on a rifle to make it suitable for a given task. There tends to be an idea of “this is a hunting rifle, this is a target rifle, and this is a sniper rifle” among most riflemen.
Today, all the lines are functionally non-existent. That might hurt to hear, but it’s true.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told that it isn’t fair to the deer to use what I have, but as I will soon address, everything I’m using has been done before: We’re just now seeing better ways to interface these otherwise disparate species of gear.
Right now, we’re in an era of refinement and proliferation regarding support gear, and I think the prophecies I spew here and in deer camp will all come true in a matter of a decade or less. What you see as custom guns here in my photography are my actual hunting rifles, and I believe they’ll all be par for the course soon.
In fact, my gear may get antiquated in a short time. Let’s dive in.
What Makes A Hunting Rifle?
There’s no official definition of what makes a rifle a “hunting rifle.” From a purely cultural angle, a Savage 99 is a classic deer rifle. That much can be said of it. If you choose to use this as your main hunting gun instead of something that takes advantage of modern technology, well, you’re not wrong for doing so. However, understand that, by nature, you are at a technological disadvantage as compared to the efficacy of what I generally carry afield.
The author’s straight-wall-case deer rifle, chambered in .450 Bushmaster. The action is a trued Remington 700 with a 20-inch heavy spiral fluted barrel. It wears a SilencerCo Hybrid 46M in Armageddon gear cover. The stock is the excellent Foundation Revelation with Wiebad cheek pad and SAP sling and two-round holder. The rifle is zeroed with 260-grain Remington loads for 150M with the excellent Leupold MK5 HD 5-25X in a Scope Chaps cover.
Am I a “better” hunter for using all this gear? Most certainly not, but I have learned to leverage new equipment to the timeless game. Again, it’s all about the experience you seek.
Now, ask yourself, is the Savage 99 a better gun than a caplock .54 Hawken? Is the Hawken a better gun than a flintlock? Is the flintlock a better gun than a matchlock? Is a matchlock better than a bow … and so on.
Regression for the sake of nostalgia is just that: regression. It’s no sin to take technology to the field; the first man to throw a rock at an animal started this march and, yes, that thrown rock is technology. You can choose to intentionally handicap yourself, but understand that I won’t. I want meat over the fire, same as my ancestors did 10,000 years ago.
And if you really think about it, we’re still throwing said rocks … just a bit faster and farther.
That Savage 99 was high-tech at the time it was introduced. It created a lasting legacy as a classic and eventually fell out of favor, except with some diehards. It’s a great gun, however, a far cry from the muzzleloaders in common use just a few decades prior. There’s no definition of a hunting rifle other than that which you take hunting, be it a Model 70 or Barrett M107.
Rifle Construction Ain’t What It Used To Be
Rifle actions have changed very little since Mauser developed the 1896 action. The Remington 700 did what others couldn’t and reached a saturation level in the market to the point that its “footprint” (body diameter, trigger inlet, and screw spacing) is now the de facto industry standard. Most large companies are concerned with the bottom line, and as a result, there hasn’t been tremendous innovation in things like “stock” stocks over the years. Thus, aftermarket companies began to step in and experiment.
The Manners stock is designed to use an Arca rail. This model came with it installed. It’s a direct installation and representative of what the author believes will become a standard feature on hunting bolt guns within the next decade.
This level of standardization has created market opportunities that would otherwise not exist for a one-off rifle design, particularly in generating repeatable accuracy. Where this has generated the most excitement has been in material innovation in aftermarket stocks. Each of the stocks in this article is a radical departure from those of yesteryear and essentially guarantee of increased performance.
The interface between action and stock used to be wizardry. Today, the art of bedding and installing pillars is all but vacated except in some high-end custom guns. The reason being that, with an aluminum bedding block or internal chassis, there’s no need to bed at all. In 99.9 percent of cases and from direct personal experience, dropping an action in an aluminum stock/modern internal chassis, groups shrink instantly. I don’t even worry about my groups when I build a gun because I know they’ll shoot: Manufacturing, for the most part, has gotten that good.
Of extreme interest to me is the solid Micarta stock made by Foundation Stocks. You will probably recognize this material as being the same as I use on the various Winkler Knives axes, including other tools and knives I use to supplement the guns in my photos. The material has been used for everything from insulation to electronic components housing and is made from cloth soaked in epoxy that is subjected to heat and pressure.
The machining and quality of the Foundation stock is incredible and it, while being a traditional stock layout, needs no bedding or special attention. I took my well-used custom .450 Bushmaster action and bottom metal and literally just dropped them in, tightened down the action screws and proceeded to take a pile of deer with it. I wish they made a version in green linen—that’s my only critique. You can’t ask for a better modern stock.
The author’s lightweight field rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor features a Michigan-made Tuebor Precision titanium action, 24-inch Proof Research barrel, Rearden MFG muzzle brake and Q Jumbo Shrimp suppressor. The stock is the new LRH from Manners. The rifle is zeroed with Black Hills 143-grain loads and wears a Vortex Razor HD Gen 3 6-36X. Accessories are from Wiebad, Scope Chaps and SAP.
Likewise, one of my main bottleneck-cased hunting rifles, a Tuebor Precision titanium action with Proof Research 6.5 Creedmoor barrel, wears a new Manners carbon-fiber LRH stock with internal mini chassis. Again, all I did was drop the action in and tighten it down. This rifle is under 10 pounds loaded and shoots 140-grain Federal Gold Medal Match factory ammo into a truly jaw-dropping ½-inch, five-shot group at 200M. It’s an absolute tack driver, and I did nothing special to it—well, having a 6-36X Vortex Razor on it certainly helps.
As far as chassis designs go, the Magpul Pro folder has been one of my go-to chassis for years. You’ve seen this same chassis in many of my articles, and it has probably housed a half-dozen actions over the past several years. It currently has a Christensen action in it with a USO optic. I put it together for a specific property I hunt where I wanted a 10X max optic with a thick-lined reticle for low light. The aluminum base of the chassis is about as rigid as you can get and, while being a used action I took off a buddy, it drops Sig Sauer 130-grain Elite Hunter loads into a ½-inch group at 100M at 10X.
KRG has been making fine stocks for a while, and their design is also incredibly simple and effective. The stock featured here is on my wife’s 26-inch suppressed .308 Win. While as long as a musket, it’s eerily quiet and can place Hornady 178’s into a ragged hole at 200M. The barrel is by CarbonSix and the action by Curtis. She’s currently waiting on a prototype extended Arca forend for this build.
The Curtis build is a CarbonSix 26-inch .308 Winchester with Rearden MFG flash hider and JK Armament 155 suppressor. It has a USO Foundation 5-25X MOA optic. The rifle has a KRG X-Ray chassis for the Remington short action. It is a great chassis that can be easily customized. Other accessories are by Scope Chaps, Wiebad and SAP.
I trust KRG because they’re affordable and consistent. Twenty years ago, when I was first into precision rifles, I’d have killed for a sub $400 aluminum-based stock when all that was available was the original generation AICS chassis for double that amount.
But, above all, these stocks have the ability to interface with an Arca-Swiss rail. Some are able to do it with an M-Lok adapter, Anschutz adapter or direct integration. The Arca rail is something I will discuss below when talking tripods, however, now is the point for me to make the bet that in a decade all modern hunting guns and virtually anything geared to hunting and field use will have an Arca rail integrated into the stock. This will be less a big deal on AR-type rifles, but for bolt guns, the Arca interface will allow a proliferation of accessories to further enhance performance.
Arca integration is easy on semi-auto rifles. In this case, a short plate is installed flush with the handguard.
Can It
The first thing people usually notice is that all my hunting guns are suppressed: If you can own one in your state, you absolutely should. Pistol cans are fun, and I hunt with them, too, but rifle suppressors are really where it’s at for increasing your effectiveness in the field. So much has been written already, but it’s always worth noting that suppressors not only reduce recoil—when combined with the other accessories you’ll see how effective the entire system can be.
More importantly, what we are seeing now is that most modern factory guns are coming with threaded muzzles. The popularity of suppressors certainly helps, but just 10 years ago threaded models were not the norm. It may seem trivial, but the standardization of muzzle threads is a huge deal. What you put on the end of your barrel can control recoil, mitigate flash or reduce noise—in some cases, all three.
This build was made of parts the author had laying around. The action is a 24-inch 6.5CM Christensen factory action taken off an MPR. It has a Rearden muzzle brake and SilencerCo Omega 36M with Rearden Atlas adapter. The Magpul chassis is a folding model and very strong. The optic is from US Optics, and accessories are from SAP and Armageddon gear.
Tripod Territory
The modern tripod is a recent creation that has had a long evolution. Creating a stable base for precision at distance is difficult and has taken many forms. The most common today is the bipod, but even at that the shooter is something of the third contact point. The rifle is a platform for the projectile—our original stone, if you will. Over the millennia, we’ve become collectively excellent at directing a projectile, and today’s tripods are rugged, stable bases that are vital to a full hunting system.
Shooting tripods are directly evolved from camera tripods and even share their Arca-Swiss mounting interface, but this is a recent development in the gun world. Arca-Swiss camera adapters have been around for decades, and they were developed to address the same thing that they address with guns: stabilizing a heavy object.
Arca-Swiss rails are essentially just a generous dovetail rail with a clamp on the mounting head. During the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and even in the various wars of the 1980s and ’90s, snipers were always trying to adapt new gear to their rifles. Tripods at this time were revised from camera tripods, but these were often fragile and didn’t provide consistency. Rifles were simply set in a V-wedge, sometimes just made of junk.
The Two Vets ball head. This is a fast and rigid clamp system that prevents the gun from slipping out.
In the later War on Terror years, dedicated clamp-style head mounts became popular, but these were difficult to use with the rounded forearms of most sniper rifles and AR-based precision rifles. Various other types of mounts were tried, including QD Picatinny rail mounts, but ultimately the already-established Arca-Swiss started to take over, largely because the tripod heads were already available. A wide range of products are compatible with rifles because of how prolific photography accessories are.
In the past 10 years, tripods evolved from flimsy aluminum photography models to heavy-duty carbon fiber with rugged controls. I believe tripods are going to be the most in-demand rifle accessory of the next decade. The market is growing rapidly, and we are seeing tons of add-ons such as caddies for gear and note-taking, their use on spotting scopes and lightweight models for field use.
Tripods are commonly used with spotting scopes, such as this Vortex.
System Integration
If you view the rifle not just as a rifle but as a part of a larger system, you see how important the interfaces become. I typically have both Picatinny and Arca mounts on my rifles; I don’t like to have my bipod also be attached to an Arca interface because I like to use the lower-profile QD mounts from Atlas Bipods. In general, what you’re looking at is a completely stable bullet-launching platform that you simply have to align and pull the trigger.
When you have a modern optic, you can zero at max point-blank range and then use your reticle to account for drop. I can easily swap between 260-grain Remington loads in .450 Bushmaster to Hornady 395-grain SubX loads without losing zero or guessing. When suppressed, I can keep my awareness on the environment and listen for the impact of my shots on game.
Bipods can be adapted to Arca, M-Lok, Picatinny and sling studs to suit your needs.
The Two Vets “The Kit” tripod stows in my backpack, and it can adjust to any position I need, including prone. The added bipod weight also reduces recoil, and I can stay on target easily. What’s most interesting and useful is that, when the gun is in the tripod, it’s in firing position already. I sit back, relax and glass. This layout is so effective that it’s the only way I hunt if I can help it.
On The Horizon
I estimate that in just 10 years’ time we’ll see a complete renovation of the hunting rifle category. Likewise, I believe we will see advanced materials, such as carbon fiber, continue to become more common on factory guns. This used to be a custom option, but today we are seeing complete rifles with this technology for less than the cost of some barrels alone.
I believe that soon there will be factory guns with carbon-fiber stocks and threaded barrels with Arca-Swiss interfaces for well under $1,000 that shoot as well as custom guns do today. There will be a few more years of teething before things become truly standardized, but we’re on our way to the total blending of competition, military sniper and hunting rifles to where the capabilities will be utterly uniform across the board.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Few guns are more fun to shoot than a .22 pistol. Here are our top rimfire handgun choices that will provide hours of affordable backyard shooting enjoyment.
What are the best .22 pistol options available today:
Like so many shooters, the very first handgun I ever fired was a .22 LR — my father’s Smith & Wesson K-22 Masterpiece. Since that time, I’ve shot a wide variety of pistols chambered for a number of different cartridges, but when I’m looking to have low-cost fun at my backyard shooting range, you can bet a .22 pistol will be there.
Whether I’m shooting a bag of dollar-store balloons, adding vent holes to an empty soda can or pureeing the leftover Halloween pumpkin that’s started leaking internal fluids on my front porch, I find no end of cheap targets to punch with a .22 handgun.
And now that .22 LR ammunition is once again widely available — and sanely priced — I can have all that fun on a shoestring budget.
In addition to being such fun to shoot, there’s also a practical side to .22 handguns: They serve to dispatch vermin, harvest small game … and you can compete in small bore competitions.
I believe that .22s are the ideal training pistols for new and experienced shooters alike. The minimal recoil, muzzle rise and blast allows rookie shooters to control these guns effectively — and even experienced shooters should, from time to time, run through a few boxes of .22 for a low-cost, low-impact tactical tune-up.
The mild .22 offers a great platform for improving trigger control and other important shooting skills.
Here’s a list of eight great .22 pistol options currently on the market. They vary in price, design and function — but they all share one common (and important) trait: They’re loads of fun to shoot.
Ruger Mark IV: The Classic .22 Pistol
Ruger makes a number of excellent .22 handguns, and the brand has earned multiple mentions on this list. Leading off is the Mark IV. As the name implies, this is the fourth generation of the family of semi-auto pistols that set the standard for blowback-operated .22s.
As you might expect, the Mark IV is extremely reliable and is capable of superb accuracy right out of the box. What you might not expect, however, is how simple this gun is to break down for routine maintenance.
If Ruger’s blowback semi-auto pistols have a blemish, it’s the fact that they’re not easy to field strip — until now. With the push of a button, the Mark IV can be disassembled … and cleaning is a snap.
There are a wide variety of configurations of this pistol, including everything from the classic Standard model to target, hunting and tactical versions. MSRP: $519-$1,039 www.ruger.com/
Like Ruger, Smith & Wesson offers several excellent .22 rimfire guns. One of the very best is their Model 617, a 10-shot stainless double-action revolver built on their sturdy K-Frame. The 617 is fine for backyard plinking, but this is a gun that was built for serious accuracy.
It features a full-length underlug, stainless-steel construction with a satin stainless finish and excellent adjustable sights. The polymer grips fit grown-up hands, and at 44 ounces it’s hardly a featherweight. Nevertheless, the Model 617 is an excellent .22 that’s built for competition — yet it’s fun to shoot. MSRP: $959 www.smith-wesson.com
Browning 1911-22
John Moses Browning invented the 1911 pistol, and now the company that bears his name offers an 85 percent scaled-down version of the original 1911 chambered in .22 LR.
There are several versions of the fun-to-shoot 1911-22, including the Black Label Medallion Full-Size version shown here, which comes with an alloy frame and machined aluminum slide, 4¼-inch barrel, rosewood grips with a gold Buckmark logo, and three-dot sights.
The 16 versions of the Browning 1911-22 currently in production offer a wide variety of optional features, including accessory rails, threaded barrels and a number of finishes. Regardless of which version you choose, these pistols combine the look and feel of a 1911 in a reduced package that’s accurate, reliable and a joy to shoot. MSRP: $749.99-$879.99 www.browning.com
Charter Arms Target Pathfinder
Charter Arms produces solid guns at reasonable prices, and the Target Pathfinder is no exception.
This double-action .22 revolver comes with a 6-shot cylinder, matte stainless finish and a large, comfortable polymer grip with finger grooves. With a 4.2-inch barrel, these guns weigh just 24 ounces — so they’re a suitable option for teaching a young shooter the ropes … and yet they’re both accurate and durable.
Plus, they offer the reliability of a revolver, which means you’ll spend less time cleaning your gun and more time actually shooting it.
Plan on buying a boatload of .22 ammo (and you can afford to do so since this gun is so inexpensive) and punching tin cans and paper targets in the backyard with this revolver for years to come. MSRP: $425.60 www.charterfirearms.com
Ruger 22 Charger
Hardly a conventional .22 pistol, the Charger is a product of Ruger’s 10/22 blowback action.
If you know anything about the 10/22, you’re aware of the gun’s reputation for unfailing reliability, so you can expect this gun to run with a wide variety of ammunition.
The threaded, cold hammer-forged 10-inch barrel is capable of superb accuracy, and the included top rail provides a platform for mounting all sorts of optics.
Other key features borrowed from the larger 10/22 semi-autos include Ruger’s BX-15 15-round magazine and a crisp, smooth trigger. Each Charger includes a bipod to help stabilize the pistol for maximum accuracy, and if you plan on hunting small game with a .22 pistol, this is an excellent choice.
It’s also a great gun for backyard plinking, and it’s extremely affordable. There’s even a breakdown model that disassembles easily for convenient storage and returns to zero when pieced back together. MSRP: $399 www.ruger.com/
The SW22 Victory is a recent addition to Smith & Wesson’s firearm line — and it’s a welcome addition.
This blowback-operated semi-auto offers a long list of excellent features, including adjustable fiber-optic sights, a Picatinny rail for mounting optics, textured polymer grips and an adjustable trigger stop.
Two 10-round magazines come standard, and takedown is extremely easy, requiring the removal of a single screw.
The match-grade barrel can be easily removed and swapped out as desired. There are models available with Kryptek camo and threaded barrels, and Smith & Wesson’s Performance Center offers a number of high-end models with extra touches, like carbon-fiber barrels and pre-mounted red-dot optics.
Regardless of which version you choose, the SW22 is a superb .22 handgun that’s accurate, budget-friendly and fun to shoot on any occasion. MSRP: $454-$945 www.smith-wesson.com
Another blowback .22 semi-auto, the Buck Mark is available in, ironically, 22 different styles — perfect for everything from backyard shooting to small game hunting and competition.
These guns offer excellent reliability and very high build quality, as well as a number of great optional features, such as optional fluted and threaded barrels, full-length top rails and a choice of walnut or polymer grips.
Alloy receivers keep weight to a minimum, yet these pistols are large enough for adults to comfortably grip and shoot. They come equipped with good triggers, and they cycle reliably with a wide range of ammo — you can expect to spend your time on the range shooting instead of clearing jams.
Buck Mark pistols look and feel like expensive firearms, and yet they’re affordably priced. MSRP: $439.99-$1,079.99 www.browning.com
Rounding out our list of top-flight .22 handgun options is Ruger’s sleek New Bearcat revolver, a perfectly-proportioned rimfire revolver that pays homage to Bill Ruger’s love of single-action wheelguns.
With an overall length of 9 inches and a weight of 24 ounces, this is a gun that’s great for young and old shooters alike. Available in both blued and stainless versions, the Bearcat is adorned with hardwood grips and bear and cougar rollmarks on the cylinder.
The capacity is six rounds, and the fixed sights are basic but functional for shooting at close to moderate ranges. The single-action design with Ruger’s patented transfer bar system is very safe, and this is a great gun to introduce new shooters to the sport since the hammer must be cocked between shots.
This is a classic Ruger design that has been a favorite of shooters young and old for generations — isn’t it time you made space in your safe for at least one more .22? MSRP: $819-$919 www.ruger.com/
Many shooters regard the Colt Woodsman as the classiest of the classic designs. Take one look at this Colt Woodsman Match Target .22, and it’s not hard to see why. Photo by Dataproducts.
When it comes to the .22 pistol for hunting, the classic Colt Woodsman is hard to beat. Designed by John Browning in 1915, it was the first commercially successful semi-auto .22 pistol.
The Woodsman was a handfit .22 pistol, designed to feed cartridges smoothly thanks to slanted magazines. That design solved rimfire cartridge feeding issues that had plagued other designers of the era.
Today, a used Colt Woodsman will fetch north of $4,000 for the Match Target variant in excellent condition. In fact, they are much sought-after collectors’ items. Indeed, many still consider it to be the best .22 target pistol of all time.
First Series and Pre Woodsman Colts are characterized by a 6 5/8-inch barrel in the Target model, or a 4 ½-inch tube in the Sport version. Moreover, Second and Third Series pistols sported 6- and 4 ½-inch barrels in the Target, Targetsman, and Huntsman versions, respectively. MSRP: Discontinued. www.colt.com/
High Standard .22 Pistol
The High Standard .22 — sometimes spelled “Hi-Standard” as engraved on the slides of some early models — is chiefly regarded as a .22 target pistol.
High Standards were produced starting in 1926. For service pistol competition, the High Standard reigned supreme in its role “on the line.” Available in a dizzying array of model designations, High Standards were known for their exceptional barrels and triggers.
Popular models included the High Standard Supermatic and Supermatic Trophy, High Standard Olympic and High Standard Victor. In 2018, the company (then known as the High Standard Manufacturing Company) made its last valiant stand and ceased operations.
In the collectible gun market, a 102 Series Supermatic Trophy will command upwards of $1,350 at auction. And you’ll still see them winning trophies in NRA Bullseye Precision Pistol competition. MSRP: Discontinued.
Smith & Wesson Model 41
The Smith & Wesson Model 41 is a heavy barrel semi-auto .22 for target competition. Since 1957 it has been the top choice among NRA Bullseye competitors.
The reigning king of the .22 pistol in NRA Bullseye competition is unquestionably the Smith & Wesson Model 41. With its 105-degree grip angle to mirror the 1911, it was the darling of post-World War II target shooters. In fact, it remains so for precision pistol competition today.
With barrel lengths of 5 1/2, 7 and 10 1/2 inches, weighing around 44 ounces (depending on barrel), and with a honed trigger that breaks like fine china (2.75 to 3.25 lbs), the Model 41 was designed to keep your front sight on the 10 ring.
According to current gunbroker gun auctions, a Model 41 will set you back about $1,200 NIB. Similarly, expect to pay $1,350 or better for the Performance Center and 7-inch barreled versions. Hence, it’s one of the more expensive .22 target pistols you can buy and remains the best .22 pistol in current production for rimfire competition. MSRP: $1,500-$1,763 www.smith-wesson.com
Colt King Cobra Target .22 LR
If you want the classic look and feel of one of Colt’s famous snake guns, but with a bit less bite, the King Cobra Target in .22 LR is the answer. Colt has been hard at work bringing some of its other larger caliber snake guns back, like the Python, but now new-production baby snakes are available as well.
The King Cobra Target .22 LR has a 10-shot cylinder, a polished stainless-steel finish and is available with either a 4- or 6-inch barrel. Both barrel length options feature a 1:16RH twist. They come with adjustable rear target sights and fiber optic front sights, and both versions also ship from the factory adorned with Hogue rubber grips for a more pleasant shooting experience. MSRP: $999 www.colt.com
Walther PPK/s 22
A true-to-scale Walther PPK in .22 LR is an ideal trainer to complement its .380 ACP-chambered big brother. Available in blued or nickel (pictured here), it’s an easily concealable .22 that gushes with class.
An elegant .22 LR pistol scaled to the exact dimensions of the popular .380 ACP model, the Walther PPK/s 22 is a plinker’s dream come true.
The upscale .22 pistol sports single action/double action (16.5/6.1 lb. trigger pull) with a safety decocker, and a threaded barrel for suppressor use. The little James Bond .22 spews enough firepower to take on slithery evil-doers (such as rattlesnakes) that endanger the free world.
With its puny 3.3-inch barrel and 10-round capacity, it’s a looker. MSRP: $449 www.waltherarms.com
Kel-Tec PMR-30
Introduced in 2010, the Kel-Tec PMR 30 holds 30 rounds of .22 WMR hell-on-earth firepower. That makes it a formidable rimfire for a variety of uses from target shooting for fun to home defense.
The only .22 Magnum in our list, the lightweight Kel-Tec PMR-30 packs quite a wallop (in rimfire terms). So it's ideal for those who can’t shoot larger calibers well but still want to pack heat for self-defense.
As its model name suggests, it holds 30 rounds of .22 WMR and has an integral light/laser rail, a reminder of its intended use for some as a home defense handgun. MSRP: $495 Black Finish, $469 Nickel Finish. www.keltecweapons.com
Glock 44
Released during the frenzy leading up to the 2020 SHOT Show, the Glock 44 is the first .22 pistol made by the Austrian manufacturer. It’s size? Identical to the Glock 19 Gen 5. That makes it the perfect trainer for one of Glock’s most popular concealed carry handguns.
The Glock 44 sports a 4.02-inch barrel and tips the scales at just a smidge over 12 ounces. Magazine capacity is 10 rounds. And a threaded barrel for suppressor use is available.
Plus the polymer .22 pistol retains Glock's well-known polygonal rifling. Glock says extensive testing proved reliable with a wide array of .22 LR ammo evaluated. MSRP: $430 us.glock.com
Ruger LCP II .22
Face it, small concealed carry pistols are oftentimes difficult to shoot. Light and bucky, even in milder calibers such as .380 ACP the easy-to-carry heaters oftentimes prove too much for effective self-defense. Ruger’s answer, create the nearly perfect training pistol.
The LCP II .22 LR is modeled after the company’s extremely popular concealed carry gun, mirroring the .380 in nearly every way. Yeah, its operation has been tweaked—straight blowback—and it features the company’s Lite Rack system, making the rimfire’s slide easier to manipulate. But from there it’s a dead ringer for the original and one heck of a training aid, one that costs pennies on the dollar to perfect. Even if you don’t run a Ruger for self-defense, the 2.75-inch, 10+1 pistol still proves an excellent and affordable option to hone your skills to a razor’s edge.
It’s a shooter too—no surprise from Ruger. The company knows .22 LR, and the micro pistol is as fun as every full-sized plinker they offer and ideal for wreaking havoc on soup cans, though a bit closer in. MSRP: $439 www.ruger.com
Sig Sauer P322
The Sig Sauer P365 has quickly became one of the country’s favorite concealed carry pistols, and given the similarities, it won’t be surprising to see the Sig P322 become a very popular choice for plinking too. Especially for those who like to accessorize their handguns.
However, the P322 is not exactly just a .22 LR version of the P365. The rimfire is slightly larger and uses an internal single-action-only hammer rather than a striker mechanism. It is about as customizable as the P365 though, as the P322 comes with a 1913 rail, an optics-ready slide (RMSc-pattern footprint) and a threaded barrel. The pistol also takes advantage of .22 LR’s small size by packing 20 rounds into the standard magazine, of which two are included. Sig also has 25-round mags for purchase separately.
Other features that should be appreciated are its integrated, slightly flared magwell for easier loading, its fiber optic front sight and its ability to swap triggers between flat and curved models. The P322 is also a good choice for lefties, as the manual thumb safety and slide stop are both ambidextrous and the mag release is reversible. MSRP: $399 www.sigsauer.com
Corey Graff and Elwood Shelton and Adam Borisenko contributed to this article.
The author reviews the Trailblazer Pivot, a space-age 9mm PCC with a trick up its sleeve.
The Trailblazer Pivot, a blowback PCC chambered in 9mm, is not your usual carbine. Some ideas are so clever you’ve just got to nod and go, “I’m on board with that.” The Pivot is a solution to compact storage that does not use any other usual methods.
Usually, to make a long-gun more compact, several things must be done: shorten the barrel, shorten the stock, fold it, make it a takedown or, my least-favorite, make it a bullpup. Shortening the barrel makes it an NFA item, shortening the stock makes it usable only by short people, folding and takedown bring mechanical problems with them, and, as for bullpups, the less we discuss them, the better.
The Pivot uses none of those. Instead, the upper receiver rotates on the lower receiver, and since the pivot point is not in the center of the assembly, it increases in length from its closed size. That’s how you get a 21-inch closed package to unfold into a carbine with a 16-inch barrel.
Nice And Tidy
The folding and unfolding is easy enough. On the front of the lower is a flush button. Press the button to unlock the receivers, and you can then rotate the upper to the unfolded position. (Can it “unfold” if it never folded in the first place? The English language has some very strange quirks and shortcomings.) The rotating is easy; you can use your fingers to give it a flip/rotate in either direction, and you can do it pretty briskly. When the upper gets around to its 180 position, it will automatically lock in place.
The upper hinges across the lower, and that means there has to be a clearance slot for the hammer. Also, the Pivot has to be unloaded and have the bolt locked back to pivot open or closed; you can’t have a magazine in place like this.
Now, the folded position is going to raise some eyebrows, at least until you understand the setup. When folded, the muzzle is going to be pointed back at you. Do not be alarmed. The designers took care of that, in part for safety and also for good mechanical reasons.
To fold or unfold (rotate? pivot? swing about?), the Pivot has to be unloaded, that is, with no magazine in place and with the bolt locked to the rear. The non-reciprocating charging handle has a locking notch, very much like that of the MP5. (And yes, you can do the “HK swipe” to chamber a round.) These are both necessary for the upper receiver to swipe across the top deck of the lower.
The bolt locks open with a notch in its travel slot, just like the MP5. And you get to do the “MP5 swipe” on loading, as well.
If you look closely at the Pivot, you’ll see there is a notched segment in the upper. That’s there to clear the top of the hammer, as the upper swings around across the lower. The hammer has to be high enough to be depressed by the bolt when it cycles, so it sits high in the lower. And the magazine lips have to do the same in order to feed. So, bolt back and magazine out, to provide clearance.
The clearance slot for the hammer is in two locations on the upper, as expected. But the front slot location is also the place of the locking system to hold the Pivot locked in place, open or closed.
To use the Pivot form in its stored condition, you pull it out of the case, from behind the seat or wherever and hold the pistol grip in your firing hand. Press the unlock button and swing, slap or rotate the upper to lock, grab a magazine, insert in the pistol grip and slap the charging handle down. You carry loaded and have a chambered round. If the stock, as folded, is too short, you simply press the stock latch and slide the stock out as needed. It has 3 inches of travel, and while it’s still a tad short for long-armed gents like me, I find it entirely usable. If you don’t have a 7-foot wingspan, then the stock will be just fine for you. The ambidextrous safety lets you use the Pivot right- or left-handed, and from there it is safety off, aim and fire.
Oh, sights? The Pivot doesn’t come with any. There was a time when every carbine, PCC or other had to come with sights. There weren’t many choices; optics were still fragile and untrusted, and shooters expected sights. Now, there are so many to choose from, and optics are normal; anything Trailblazer put on the Pivot, 80 percent of the buyers would swap out for something else. So, why bother?
The Trailblazer Pivot is a compact-storing 9mm carbine that opens up to be a useful tool in an emergency, or just a fun plinking firearm.
Diversity Is The Key
Now, the Pivot doesn’t just have the rotational aspect to it—it isn’t a one-trick pony. The stock, as mentioned, is adjustable to length, and it also has a storage space for a magazine. And did I forget to mention the Pivot uses Glock magazines, and the pistol grip is made deliberately a tad short, so you can use G19 magazine, holding 15 rounds? You can use higher-capacity magazines if you wish (and most of us would), but since the G19 is common, one might even say a baseline EDC pistol, making it compatible with G19 magazines makes sense.
The stock, which is adjustable, also holds a magazine. It comes with a 15-round G19 magazine.
If they made the grip a bit longer, for more comfort, to work only with G17 magazines, none of the bazillion G19 magazines in existence would work. That would be stupid, and the folks at Trailblazer are not. And since it works with Glock magazines starting with the G19, every Glock mag bigger than that, in 9mm, will work as well. I’m not saying that having a 33-round magazine handy would be too much, but it certainly isn’t going to ride well on your belt. So, if belt-loading the Pivot is your plan, have a belt-appropriate magazine or magazines there and the 33-round one someplace handy.
The upper is an aluminum shell with the steel barrel and bolt inside, while the lower is aluminum and polymer. The upper has a Pic rail on top, but it doesn’t extend the full length of the receiver. It starts at the rear, but a hand’s-width back of the charging handle stop position, the rail is cut away. This does two things: It keeps your hand from the sharp edges of the rail, while you’re working the charging handle.
And it precludes mounting gear there that would do the same thing. The rail picks up again forward of the charging handle travel, so there’s room to mount a front sight if you want a BUIS set. My suggestion, if you do: Be sure and select something that folds. It’d be a shame to take the very compact Pivot and make it a bulky thing with fixed sights.
A compact red-dot sight would be just the ticket here, and I used an Aimpoint Micro T2, 2 MOA for the fun. The Pivot isn’t a long-range carbine (although the Pivot and Aimpoint and I did heroic work on the 100-yard gongs at the club), so even a low-power variable scope would be more than needed and, by the time you had mounted it, add considerably to the bulk of the Pivot.
The ambidextrous safety makes it easy to shoot from off the shoulder, should the need present itself.
That said, if you want to add accessories, the Pivot is handy. The upper receiver has two rows of M-Lok slots for accessories on each side. The lower receiver has M-Lok slots at the 6 o’clock position, so you could, if you were just not paying attention, hang a whole lot of gear on the Pivot. The whole point of the Pivot is that it’s compact, so resist the temptation to bling it up.
In testing, I found that the blowback design is effective, but it has some unavoidable consequences. Since the Pivot is compact and this limits bolt travel, the bolt is heavy and stoutly sprung. Not so much so that it is difficult to hand-cycle, but more so than my various competition PCCs, which isn’t a fair comparison. Those have been tuned to be smooth and soft, and the shortest one of them is a full foot longer than the Pivot, and the lightest one tips the scales 2 pounds heavier than the Pivot. Unfair, as I said, because the Pivot is meant to be compact, and my competition PCCs are made to win matches.
But the recoil is no big deal in the Pivot—we are, after all, talking about a 9mm carbine. The barrel is threaded 1/2×28, the standard 9mm muzzle thread, so you have your choice of muzzle brakes, suppressors or just use the included thread protector instead.
I tested the Pivot with a cross-section of 9mm ammo, not really expecting to find anything wrong, or amiss, and guess what, I didn’t. Boringly, the Pivot fed all, fired all and ejected all with no problems. The Pivot does not lock open after the last round has been fired, but I don’t see that as an operational problem, and I can see it as a mechanical and safety problem.
Note: Accuracy results were to be averages of three, five-shot groups at 50 yards off a Champion shooting rest. Velocities are averages of 10 shots measured on a Labradar chronograph set to read 15 feet from the muzzle.
Disassembly is not obvious. It involves a punch or small-diameter Philips-head screwdriver, and a hole in the rear plate of the upper receiver. The owner’s manual lays it all out, and once you have extracted the bolt assembly, your job is done. There’s no need to separate the upper and lower, as you can gain access to everything with it hinged open, and the large socket-nut bolt on the bottom does not appear to be user-serviceable. Once the bolt is out, clean the gunk, scrub the bore, aerosol hose out the firing assembly, lubricate and reassemble. There’s really no need to make it more complicated than that.
The Pivot hinge has to be open to disassemble it, and that could entail needing three hands.
But … Why?
So, what’s the usefulness of the Pivot, very clever engineering aside? Well, if you want to be packing a PCC, but don’t want to be using something as obvious as a gun case, this is your ticket. At just under 21 inches long, folded, the Pivot will disappear into bags and cases that don’t shout “firearm.” Instead of a skateboard pack, a messenger bag will do—and even a not-large messenger bag, provided the zipper arrangement allows.
That said, know the laws in your jurisdiction. Your CPL may cover the Pivot, and it may not. Is it a concealed pistol license or a concealed firearms license? Some states don’t allow the concealed carry of rifles and shotguns. And in some other (even more irrational) states, the law or case law has determined that a firearm that has a loaded magazine in the case with it, or touching it, is loaded. So your unloaded Pivot, with a loaded magazine in the stock, is “loaded” based on some ignorant judge decades past. Know the law.
With the Pivot hinged open, you can reach and clean everything. You do not need to separate the upper from the lower.
As to the cost, the list price seems a bit much at first. Well, it did to me, but then I remembered “it isn’t the 1980s anymore.” If you’re comparing the Pivot to a 9mm-chambered AR, then the price is normal. In fact, you can flip open the latest Gun Digest to the AR/PCC section and be hard pressed to randomly drop a fingertip onto one AR or another and not exceed the cost of the Pivot. Oh, you can find 9mm carbines for less, but they don’t fold or rotate.
Nope, there’s only one Pivot.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the February 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
A quick look at Mitchell Defense, its DOC line of AR-15s and what sets them apart from the rest.
AR-15 manufacturers often claim to have a secret sauce, something they do differently that sets their weapons apart and above the rest. Admittedly, when I hear this, I’m typically skeptical.
When I stopped by the Mitchell Defense lane at CANCON Georgia, the owner, Nathan Mitchell, gave me a similar pitch about his company’s guns. My skepticism was cut short after sending just a few rounds downrange.
As promised, the Shorty DOC SBR 5.56 carbine was noticeably smoother and flatter shooting than the average AR-15. How did Mitchell Defense accomplish this? It wasn’t done with an obnoxious muzzle brake or through the addition of extra weight, but instead through the company’s buffer system and manufacturing process.
The company's owner/founder Nathan Mitchell putting rounds downrange at CANCON Georgia 2023 with a Shorty DOC SBR in 5.56.
The Buffer System
Much of Mitchell Defense’s magic comes from its proprietary buffer system. It uses a specially treated flat wire spring that provides approximately 30-percent more forward pressure than normal springs and lasts much longer. The company claims traditional springs begin losing their strength at around 6,000 cycles, but Mitchell Defense flat springs don’t start doing the same until after 200,000 cycles.
Mitchell Defense's flat wire buffer spring (bottom) vs. a traditional one.
Nathan Mitchell has stated his company’s designs “stand firmly on the pillars of Accuracy, Durability, and Reliability”, and the flat spring’s qualities contribute to those last two points. It also enhances the guns’ accuracy, in the sense that it reduces recoil and allows for faster follow-up shots thanks to the minimal muzzle movement. When shooting AR-15s with traditional buffer systems, you may notice that distinctive metallic “twang” sound after the buffer cycles back into the tube. The Mitchell Defense buffer system eliminates this as well, resulting in a quieter shooting experience.
Another look at the flat wire spring with the buffer installed.
While the DOC carbine I shot was also equipped with a suppressor (this was at CANCON after all), the recoil reduction was far too significant to be entirely attributed to the can. When I put the reticle over a steel plate at about 25 yards and pulled the trigger, the red dot’s movement was barely perceptible. Requiring only minimal effort to hold the rifle steady, I was able to keep pulling the trigger and ring steel with every subsequent shot. Of all the production AR-15s I’ve had the pleasure to shoot, the Mitchell Defense is most deserving of the descriptor “flat-shooting.”
Thermal-Fitted Barrels
As mentioned, accuracy is one of Mitchell Defense’s priorities when designing guns. While ARs have never been known for extreme accuracy compared to bolt-action rifles, Mitchell decided to challenge that notion. This is mostly thanks to the company’s use of thermal fitting to install its barrels.
One of Mitchell Defense's thermal-fitted upper assemblies.
Thermal fitting is a process in which the part of the upper receiver that accepts the barrel is made to be slightly smaller than the barrel extension itself. This means that at room temperature the barrel cannot be inserted. To install the barrel, the upper is first heated until it has expanded enough to accommodate it. The barrel is then inserted before the receiver cools down and returns to its original size. The result is an incredibly tight connection between the two components. Combine this with Mitchell Defense’s billet uppers that feature a “near-perfectly flat surface for the barrel seat”, and you end up with one very accurate setup.
BCG And Coatings
The bolt carrier group is a crucial component of any build, and it’s another area where Mitchell Defense has made several improvements. Called the MD Enhanced BCG, it features some relatively “standard” BCG upgrades such as optimized carrier key screws and a staked and sealed gas key, but there’s more to it than that.
Mitchell Defense grinds the skids on each BCG perfectly flat, even and sized exactly to its individual upper. Combined with the BCG’s ArmorLube coating (the latest mil-spec M4 BCG coating), you get a very smooth action with a minimal amount of friction. The friction is further reduced using E Series Cerakote throughout the guns. Keep in mind that less friction not only increases the parts’ durability and longevity, but it produces less heat while cycling too.
It’s little details like these that result in guns that feel superb to shoot. The enhancements to the BCG didn’t just impact the smoothness of the action but also did an excellent job of minimizing the amount of gas going back into the shooter’s face. The Shorty DOC was suppressed, yet I could breathe better while shooting it than I have when behind some particularly poorly built, unsuppressed ARs.
Parting Shot
If you're still not convinced that Mitchell Defense ARs are a cut above the rest, that’s fine. While the company is happy to sell its firearms on the commercial market, it’s law enforcement groups and government agencies that comprise the bulk of its sales. The Pennsylvania State Police is currently Mitchell’s biggest buyer, but plenty of other groups like SWAT teams are making the switch to Mitchell Defense guns too. Considering the higher-than-average price of the company’s products, these groups must also believe that the increased performance is worth the increased cost.
Mitchell Defense has stated that it builds its guns as if they were to be “the last rifle you will ever have.” That comes with a price tag that won’t be within everyone’s reach, but for those who get one, the odds are that it will last longer than you do. The company is confident enough in this statement to back its guns and components with a lifetime guarantee.
The Mitchell Defense Slick Rat Dog SBR PCC in 9mm.
For those interested in buying one, you should also know that there are more models offered aside from the Shorty DOC 5.56 carbine. The DOC line also includes 16-inch 5.56 rifles, a 6mm ARC rifle and some short-barreled .300 BLK models. The company also has the Rat Dog PCC line in 9mm and the Pipe Hitter line with models chambered for .308 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor and 8.6 BLK.
Whichever you pick, just know that it comes pre-treated with Mitchell Defense’s medicine.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
