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Hardware Talk: Glock Magwell Flaring Device

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Want to upgrade your Glock with a flared magwell? Here we look at the Flarewell Glock magwell flaring device.

Glocks don’t have much flair … and a whole lot of them don’t have any. Despite being functionally perfect, it took quite a while for there to be any flair, and there still isn’t much. What really caught my attention recently was the comment “Gen 5 Glocks have a magwell flare, not much of one, but there are 24 million Gen 1 through Gen 4 Glocks that have none at all.”

The Glock magwell flaring device, the Flarewell, does exactly that. It flares out the magwell opening of your Glock pistol (9mm and 40 frames only) for a faster reload. I know some of you are thinking, “My Glock mags are tapered at the top. That makes reloads fast.”

Yes, but would you turn down faster?

I thought not.

The process is simple and straightforward. Once you have your Glock apart, and the tools arrayed, heat the bottom edge of your Glock frame. Insert the tool and let it latch onto the magazine catch. Then, use the thumbwheel to move the swaging edge into the magazine well opening until you reach the desired amount of flare. The instructions cover it all.

glock flarewell
On the back, it lists the magazines the Flarewell is meant to be used in.

The amount of flare you need isn’t great, so take it easy. I can see some heavy-handed users over-flaring because, well, that’s what some people do. Once the polymer cools off it retains the new flared shape, and you are good to go.

Bringing The Heat

As for the heating part, there’s two ways of doing this. One is to use a heat gun, evenly playing it over and around the edge of the magwell opening until it gets hot enough to be moved. The other is to use a hot oil bath. Dip the bottom of the frame into the oil (correct temp, please), and leave it there for a few seconds. Then, pull it out, insert the tool, lock and adjust.

Flarewell Glock magwell flaring device
Once the bottom of the frame has been properly heated, you use the thumbwheel to wedge the Flarewell up and flare out the magwell opening of your frame.

One question some might have is if it’s permitted in competition. For that you’ll have to consult the rule book of the particular competition you plan to engage in. I can see some allowing it and others not. And most competitions won’t even notice it—although other competitors might once you start beating them.

The early adopters and clever among the readership might even get a bit of practice in on their own Glocks, and then set up at the gun club some monthly meeting day or match day, offering to flare Glock magwells for a nominal sum. It won’t take too long to recoup your investment in this clever and useful tool.

The investment? It’s $109 for the tool, and shipping is free in the continental United States.

Full disclosure: I’ve known the inventor since we were head-to-head competitors in IPSC in the early days. I don’t have any involvement in this enterprise, but I kinda wish I had—it’s one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” forehead-slapping ideas. Way to go, Paul.

Now, getting one requires that you be fully conversant in the new digital commerce era. If you have to have it (and I can see a bunch of Glock owners who really do; I have mine), then contact GR9 online. Orders go to [email protected]. You’ll need to have a Venmo account, but once you fork over the digital dollars, your Flarewell tool will be on its way within 24 hours.

Flare on, Glocksters.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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First Look: Chiappa Rhino Revolvers In 10mm Auto

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Chiappa has just announced a 10mm chambering option for Rhino 60DS and 30DS revolvers.

If any revolver makes sense to be chambered for 10mm Auto, it’s probably the futuristic and beefy Chiappa Rhino. Thankfully, Chiappa has just announced that the Rhino 60DS and the Rhino 30DS are going to be available chambered for the big centimeter.

chiappa rhino 30ds 10mm

Like other Chiappa Rhino revolvers, the new 10mm models fire from the bottom chamber of the cylinder which results in a very low bore axis. This should do a great job of taming the powerful 10mm cartridge’s recoil. For those seeking that power for personal protection, there’s the Rhino 30DS which features a 3-inch barrel and a nickel finish. For those looking for a field gun, there’s the 60DS with a 6-inch barrel and a black finish. The 60DS also features an optics rail and an accessory rail. Both of the 10mm Rhino models have fiber optic front sights and adjustable rear sights as well.

chiappa rhino 60ds 10mm

Chiappa has not yet announced a release date or price for the 10mm Rhino models, so keep an eye out for more news if you’re interested.

For more information, visit chiappafirearms.com.


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Parkwest Arms SD-22 Review: High-End, Custom, Practical

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Can a high-end, custom .22 LR rifle be practical? When it comes to the Parkwest Arms SD-22, I think the answer is yes.

My buddy Frank writes with a Montblanc pen. I once asked him why. “First and foremost, I like nice things,” he said, “Second, I do sales, and when you hand a client a nice pen to sign the contract with, it helps them feel good about the decision because the act of signing is made into a pleasure and a feeling of success.”

There is no limit on who can enjoy luxury items. That’s how I see Parkwest Arms and, in particular, the SD-22 we are looking at in this article. Parkwest’s guns delight the senses. When the new owners started up the company, they hired as many of the experienced craftsmen as they could from the old Dakota Arms. They have since added even more talented people to their team who have the specialized skills to build heirloom-quality guns.

I think most people can sense the value and quality of any product the minute they handle it for the first time. Certainly, when you handle a nice gun, there are things that jump out at you. Beauty tops my list, then the sounds emanating from the gun when you work its solid action. Custom guns should have clean, crisp lines, pleasing to the eye and hand. These are unlike off-the-shelf guns that must be built with an eye toward minimizing costs. There is nothing wrong with that, it is simply a function of the marketplace that some products must be utilitarian. At the same time, the market demands products for the luxury segment.

Parkwest Arms SD-22
The SD-22 offers the same silhouette as the SD-76 centerfire rifles, so you can practice like you play. Color casehardening is a classy touch.

If the quality of a firearm alone caused small game to drop dead, the SD-22 would be illegal in all 50 States. This rimfire model was new in 2024. Parkwest treats it with all the love, attention to detail, and care that goes into any of its custom hand-built big game rifles.

Steve Rabakoff, one of the owners at Parkwest, tells me that this model is selling even better than they had hoped. It turns out that gun-lovers like to shoot a lot, and this little 22 LR gives them a premium gun that they can shoot everyday if they desire. Ammo is relatively cheap and available, as opposed to some centerfire ammunition. Plus, it’s quiet, easy to share with the kids or grandkids, and has no recoil. I love the idea of introducing the next generation to the sport with a classic rifle design.

Rabakoff wanted me to see one of the new rimfire rifles they were releasing. He was clearly enthused by this project, not just because it’s his company, but because they are offering something unique. The SD-22 is not your grandpa’s .22; unless grandpa had a professional gunmaker for a buddy and got him to build a rifle to match his favorite hunting rifle. We are talking about an adult-sized gun, weighing 7.5 pounds, 41 inches in overall length, with a 23-inch barrel standard.

Parkwest Arms SD-22 butt
Note the nicely executed skeleton buttplate with a widow’s peak. It looks like the wood grew around it.

An alternative is to switch from a wood stock to synthetic, this drops about one pound from the rifle’s weight. If you are getting ready for a sheep hunt and want a training rifle, this lighter version could be your ticket. Personally, I will not be doing any mountain climbing, so I prefer the beauty of a wood stock.

My grumpy old gunsmith friend Mike Harmon saw this rifle when it came out of the case, and said, “I want to shoot that!” Gunsmiths are notorious for being jaded. They get to handle a wide variety of guns while they ply their trade. So, when gunsmiths get excited about a gun, you know it is something special.

Grumpy and I are both suckers for a nice piece of walnut, and the SD-22 that I received for testing played directly to our weakness—beautiful contrasting colors and copious fiddleback figure. The hand-rubbed oil finish enhanced the figure nicely, giving it the depth it deserves. We stepped out into the sunlight to get the full effect. The light reflecting from the wood provides quite a show, giving the stock depth and character. There is a warmth to wood that no synthetic stock can ever provide (sorry, you will never change my mind). This was a gun I knew would be a pleasure to take to the range or the field.

Parkwest Arms sling swivel
Howell-style sling swivels and a contrasting tip are two options you can choose on Parkwest’s SD-22 rimfire.

Not all that far in the past, we shooters were all hoarding 22 LR ammunition. At least one good thing came about from that shortage: I now have a broad collection of different brands of .22 LR. Where I live in Northwest Montana, ammunition availability during the shortage was totally random. As a result, I have a little bit of many different brands in my reserves. I went to the cupboard and pulled out a selection of ammo for our accuracy tests.

With my arbitrary collection of ammo, it was off to the range to see what this fine rifle was capable of. I’m lucky to have an indoor range in my locale, membership gets you a security code and 24-hour a day shooting privileges. Uniform temperatures and an utter lack of wind make shooting for accuracy a much easier process. I set up on the 50-foot range to do my testing. Each group shown here is five shots.

First, I loaded the magazine with five rounds and shot a group just to see where the scope was hitting and to foul the barrel. With that warm-up group out of the way, I set about collecting groups for the assorted ammunition that I had brought to the bench. All brands produced good minute-of-squirrel accuracy, some much better. The Winchester Wildcat ammo has a 40-grain lead round-nose bullet. The Standard velocity I had is some old “white box” Olin/Winchester and for all the world looks like the same bullet that was loaded in the Wildcat ammo. CCI Mini-Mags use a 36-grain hollow-point with a copper wash.

Parkwest shipped the rifle to me with a Leupold VX Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire MOA mounted and bore-sighted—an excellent choice for a gun that is intended to have the profile of an American classic hunting rifle. It provided plenty of magnification for a .22 and the glass was clear as you would expect from Leupold. Of course, Parkwest will help you with any optic you prefer on your rifle.

Leupold VX Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire MOA parkwest arms
Admiring the SD-22’s details makes the author think of warm evenings by the fire with a good dog sleeping nearby, and great memories of the days afield.

The Armscor ammo was a 36-grain hollow-point coated bullet. Aguila is loaded with a 40-grain round-nose copper-plated projectile. Finally, the Federal Champion bulk ammo bullet was a 36-grain hollow-point, copper-plated. To be fair, the flyer from the Federal ammo could easily have been a result of switching ammo without a fouling shot, as it was the first shot fired with that load. Or it could be old eyes. Either way, the squirrel would still be dead.

Impressions From The Range

A pleasant surprise, it was better than expected; yes, I am gushing. Fun, enjoyable and satisfying. I have shot an untold number of rimfire rifles over the years. I couldn’t even guess at how much .22 ammo I have burned over the decades. This rifle ranks as one of the most accurate sporting .22s I have ever shot. More than that, it was special, and memorable; I don’t say that sort of thing about guns very often.

Parkwest Arms SD-22 review shooting

Hand checkering on the stock is clean and sharp with two panels on the grip and a wraparound pattern on the forend. The wood color and figure shows through the checkering so that the checkering only adds to the rifle’s attractive look—as well-executed checkering should do. In addition, the bolt handle had a nice three-panel metal checkering to match the stock, and yes, there are other options for the bolt handle, so you can make it your own.

Parkwest lists the chamber for the SD-22 as a Bentz, this is typically a popular match chamber for semi-auto guns. Over time, it has become popular in other guns as well. The Bentz chamber falls between the SAAMI Match and SAAMI Sporting chambers for .22 LR. I suspect that Parkwest selected it because it is more versatile than a match chamber and will work with a broader selection of ammo. Match chambers are shorter than the average sporting chamber for .22 LR, but the Bentz chamber features a long-tapered throat compared to most rimfire ones. This chamber is well known for producing excellent accuracy with a wide range of ammunition brands and types. Obviously, Parkwest made a good choice based on our results.

sd-22 target 1

The SD-22 comes with a ½-MOA guarantee for accuracy and is delivered with a target from the factory. Clearly, all my groups met that standard, some by a large margin. Several of my groups were just over 0.250 inch or 50 percent better than promised. I’m betting there is an even better ammo out there; I just ran out of time at the range.

sd-22 target 2

Actions for the SD-22 are available for right- or left-handed shooters. Standard in chromoly (blue) steel, each rifle is supplied with two five-round magazines. That second magazine is a nice thing to have with any gun. For reliable feeding and ejection, the bolt is designed with dual extractors. The gun fed flawlessly with all the ammo we tried. The standard rifle comes with a XXX Claro walnut stock, solid steel grip cap, and ½-inch recoil pad to add to the classic look of the rifle.

Parkwest Arms SD-22 stock
Several of the custom touches include a steel buttplate, skeleton grip cap, Howell swivels, and the cheekpiece and checkering.

Avid shooters will tell you that much of the accuracy potential in a rifle comes from a quality trigger, so Parkwest added a TriggerTech adjustable trigger standard, as well. I appreciated the fine single-stage trigger on the test gun set to about 2 pounds. The release was crisp and repeatable with no perceptible creep.

That seems like an extensive list of features, and it is. Still, Parkwest offers a long list of custom options so you can have exactly what you desire. It’s not likely you will ever see two SD-22 rifles that look alike, unless of course you ordered them to match.

The rifle I tested had many optional features and did a great job of showing off what the experts at Parkwest Arms are capable of. The metal is all hand polished, the standard model is blued, but can be ordered in numerous finish types, including Cerakote or slow rust blue. Note that our test gun had a color-cased receiver and scope mounts along with premium polished bluing on the rest of the gun. The color case is well done; preparation is the key when performing color casehardening. The degree of polish applied to the metal can greatly enhance the resulting colors from the process.

The iron sights on my test gun were also upgraded. The rear sight was mounted on a quarter-rib and a banded front sight completed the set. “Practice like you play.” If I was getting ready for a plains game hunt, practicing with the same sights on my .22 would not be a bad thing.

sd-22 front sight
The banded ramp front sight matches up with the express rear sight mounted on a quarter rib.

Parkwest Arms offers you a particular touch that only a true custom gunmaker can offer, a personalized serial number to make your rifle fully unique. FDZ are my initials; I am thinking of ordering “Fudzy” as my serial number, it’s a nickname of sorts. That way I can tell my grandson, “Shhh, be werwy, werwy quiet, we are hunting wabbits.” It would be worth it just to see the eye roll.

On its website, Parkwest has a build-your-own-rifle feature that allows you to stroll through all the options. Items you can customize include the wood grade, contrasting forend tip, checkering, different types of sling swivels, or cross bolts. We are not done yet; recoil pads, buttplates (solid or skeleton), tip and toe plates, and just as many choices for grip caps. On top of that, you can add engraving, as simple or extensive as you like. In short, you can make it a dream rifle with the features that you want.

Why?

If you must ask … I guess I did a poor job of explaining what the experience of handling a well-executed product like the SD-22 is really like. To be as direct as possible, it is a beautiful handmade rifle of the highest quality, and completely tailored to your personal taste. So, why not?

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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MKE AP5SD Review: Better Than The Original?

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I hit the range to test the AP5SD, Century Arms/MKE’s clone of the famous H&K MP5SD.

Talk about getting your head spun.

I was very excited When I heard rumors about Century Arms importing a new MP5SD-style pistol from MKE in Turkey. Then, I listened to some further details and was disappointed. Then I got one, and my opinion did a complete 180.

Allow me to explain why.

AP5SD review extended

MKE AP5SD Specs:

Country of Origin: Turkey
Cartridge: 9x19mm Parabellum
Action: Roller-lock delayed blowback
Barrel Length: 5.75 Inches
Weight: 6.7 Pounds
Overall Length (From brace to end of handguard): 19 Inches (collapsed) ; 24.25 Inches (extended)
Muzzle: 1/2×28 threads and tri-lug
Muzzle Device: Removable faux suppressor
Capacity: 30
Sights: Rotating diopter drum (rear) ; Hooded post (front)
MSRP: $1,800 (braced model)

Pros

  • Very soft shooter
  • Excellent suppressor host
  • Reliable

Cons

  • Worse ergonomics than an AR
  • Slow reloads
  • Relatively heavy

H&K MP5SD Vs. MKE AP5SD

If you’re not familiar with the original H&K MP5SD, it’s an integrally suppressed variant of the company’s iconic MP5 9mm submachine gun introduced in the mid-1970s. What makes it so special isn’t that it features a suppressor shrouded underneath a purpose-built handguard, it’s that its barrel is ported.

These ports vent off gas to reduce the muzzle velocity of standard-spec 9mm NATO ball ammunition to subsonic levels. The advantage of this is that, unlike most other suppressed 9mm SMGs that require special subsonic ammo to be as quiet as possible, the MP5SD could use just about any ammo and do the same thing. That’s a neat trick.

In turn, when the AP5SD was announced, a lot of shooters were hopeful the Turkish clone would come with the proper ported barrel. As it turned out, it didn’t.

Given this, many early purchasers scrambled to find companies to convert them to true SDs. I considered doing the same, but after further research, I concluded not only that it wasn’t worth the effort, but that the AP5SD is likely the superior configuration for most American shooters today.

AP5SD review collapsed

Portless

While original ported MP5SDs are still very cool, the design has distinct disadvantages. Namely, it will only function with a special SD-style suppressor. Plus, from what I’ve heard, this configuration gets very dirty very fast.

The AP5SD, on the other hand, features a normal 5.75-inch barrel. That’s about the same length as the AP5-P (MKE’s clone of the MP5K-PDW) and the end of the muzzle is recessed about 1.5 inches inside the handguard. Topped off with both a 1/2×28 threaded muzzle and a tri-lug, the result is that you can install any standard 9mm suppressor that will fit inside the handguard and it will give the appearance of being a true MP5SD (though some suppressors will look more like the original than others).

The AP5SD comes with a faux suppressor installed that looks the part. Let’s not kid ourselves, though, if you’re buying one of these, you’re going to put a real suppressor on it.

ap5 faux suppressor
The AP5SD's included faux suppressor. It attaches via the 1/2×28 threads and doubles as a thread protector.

That all said, this is why I think the AP5SD's configuration is better than the MP5SD-style ported barrel–you have a wider variety of suppressors options, a cleaner system and better ammo choices. As civilians, we do not exist within a military supply chain–we can simply buy subsonic ammo when we wish to shoot subsonic.

Another downside of the MP5SD, its porting always reduces a bullet’s velocity, like it or not. Sometimes, faster and louder is better. The AP5SD gives you this control.

Originality is cool, especially for collectors of military small arms, but I’m convinced that for the average American shooter the AP5SD is perfectly designed.

Setting Up The AP5SD

The AP5SD is available with or without a Magpul MP BSL brace. If you order the braced model, it will still come with the original end cap with a Picatinny rail and a sling loop. Two mags, a cleaning kit, a sling and an optics rail are included, all shipped in a hard case to round out the package.

My setup was as follows: Leapers’ new UTG Pro Claw Mount, Aimpoint PRO, UTG Pro M-LOK Light Mount and a Streamlight ProTac Rail Mount HP-X Pro. Shout-out to HKParts for supplying the mounts and other accessories like their dual magazine clamp. The sling is a Vickers SMG sling, a slightly lighter version of my favorite carbine sling.

AP5SD review gear layout

The most important accessory for the AP5SD was a suppressor. I used a Rugged Obsidian45 on a tri-lug mount for this test, however, I have an Omega 36M on the way that will be this gun's dedicated can.

Finally, the ammo—I was primarily shooting HSL 147-grain subsonics. It’s remanufactured ammunition, but has so far proven very reliable for me.

On The Range With The AP5SD

I initially put a couple of mags through it with the faux suppressor just to try it out. It shot just fine, but this gun needed the real deal.

With the Obsidian45 installed, it finally felt right. MP5s are already known for being incredibly soft-shooting, but with a suppressor, the AP5SD felt like a BB gun. With the subsonic ammo, it was about as quiet as one, too. While shooting this without ear pro was a pleasant experience, it’s still a good idea to wear them. Hearing damage can be gradual and sneaky.

Needless to say, the AP5SD is an amazing shooter. As a suppressed semi-auto MP5 clone it handles exactly as you’d expect. There’s a reason why the MP5's reputation precedes it and why so many armed professionals around the globe have favored it for decades.

ap5sd right side shooting

Regarding reliability, I experienced two failures to extract in the first 100 rounds but otherwise had smooth sailing for the next 400 or so. I’ll chalk those up to break-in.  

People have mixed opinions about the MP5 diopter iron sights, but I’m a fan. That said, with the Magpul brace installed, I found it hard to get behind them. The brace is comfortable enough to shoot with, but I found it much easier to aim with a tall red dot installed on a riser.

With the Aimpoint PRO, it was effortless to make hits. The lack of recoil means the point of aim stays solid, making follow-up shots a breeze. Even at 100 yards, it was relatively easy to ring a half-size steel silhouette. Of course, guns like this are designed for closer-range work, and that’s where the AP5SD truly shone.

ap5sd review shooting

While practicing target transitions on an array of steel plates, my only complaint was a very common one of semi-auto MP5s—I wished it could go faster.

All MP5 triggers are known for being long and mushy, but it’s not as big of a deal for full-auto models. Those of us stuck with semis can try to squeeze that trigger as fast as possible, all we want, but it will never be as fast as what you can do with even a standard AR-15 trigger. The AP5SD’s safety, again like any MP5 safety, also doesn’t hold a candle to the AR’s ergonomics. While it may not be the fastest or easiest to use by modern standards, the replica 4-position pictogram ambi lower does look really damn cool. A trade some will be happy to make.

Parting Shot

I’m absolutely in love with the AP5SD. It’s my first 9mm roller-lock, and I already feel a growing itch to get one of MKE’s other MP5 clones.

AP5SD review left side shooting

All of my complaints with this gun are either endemic to the MP5 design or are minor nitpicks.

As for the nitpicks, the rubber handguard came with some molding artifacts along the seam. You can clean these up yourself with a knife if they bother you, but it would have been nice if they did a better job removing those at the factory.

Also, while I always like getting extra goodies along with a new gun, the included sling and optics mount aren’t of great quality. I’d recommend not messing with them and just buying better aftermarket replacements. Finally, if you want to attach a suppressor via a tri-lug, it’s a good idea to install a thread protector first for a tighter fit. If there’s one thing I wish the AP5SD came with, it’s a thread protector.

All the other weak spots of this gun are just because it’s an MP5 clone. Namely, the trigger and safety. Thankfully, however, companies are now making MP5 lowers that can take AR-15 triggers, safeties and pistol grips. Being able to shoot the AP5SD faster will be worth sacrificing some classic aesthetics for me, so I plan on trying one of those next.

As most already know, the MP5 reload process is also much slower than an AR’s. A positive aspect of that is it results in the very fun and iconic HK slap, but you should consider that you’ll need to learn a new, slower and more complicated manual of arms before buying your first MP5-style gun.

AP5SD reload
The AP5SD being reloaded. Notice the bolt has been manually locked back before a new magazine can be inserted.

So, should you get an MKE AP5SD? That depends on what you’re after. If you want the fastest, most tactical 9mm PCC available today, the MP5 isn’t the platform for you. If you want an MP5 but want to be able to modernize it as much as possible, the AP5SD specifically isn’t for you, but a standard AP5 or AP5-P would be what to look at.

If, however, you’re like me and have drooled over the MP5SD since you first saw one in a movie as a kid, there’s no easier way to own one than with the AP5SD. And as you can see with mine, modernizing it with an optic and light is possible. Despite being a bit retro, this still feels like a supremely practical gun to me. With how quiet, compact and easy to shoot this is, I think it will be spending a lot of time next to my bed.

Palmetto State Armory$1,667PngItem_4588935
Battlehawk Armory$1,700PngItem_4588935

MP5 FAQ

What MP5 Do Navy SEALs Use?

The Charlie Sheen film Navy SEALs famously depicts SEALs using the integrally suppressed MP5SD, but the team in real life also uses standard MP5s and compact MP5Ks. It all depends what the mission calls for.

Why Did SWAT Stop Using The MP5?

People commonly think that SWAT teams around the country have completely stopped using MP5s, but that's not true. They have been largely replaced by various types of 5.56 AR-15s, but many departments still have MP5s in their inventory that can be taken out for a mission if so desired. Some poorer departments may still use them purely out of necessity, but some SWAT team members with the option will still take an MP5 over an AR due to personal preference. For proof, take a look at recent Annual Military Equipment Reports published by departments in California, you'll see the MP5 mentioned in plenty of them.

Is A 9mm Carbine Good For Home Defense?

Yes, 9mm carbines (either in the form of an SBR or a braced pistol) make excellent home defense weapons and are a popular choice. They're small, easy to shoot, pack plenty of punch at close range and can use subsonic defensive ammunition in conjunction with a suppressor to save your hearing. That said, living situations vary, and factors like overpenetration could make a 9mm carbine a less desirable option compared to something else.

What Is The Point Of A 9mm Carbine?

As mentioned, 9mm carbines like an MP5 clone can make for excellent home defense guns. They're tons of fun to shoot too, so they make for great range toys and are often used in competition as well. 9mm is also cheaper than .223/5.56 ammo, so you can spend more time plinking or training for less money.

More Classic Guns:

First Look: Weatherby Vanguard Black Hills

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A quick look at the new Weatherby Vanguard Black Hills, a rifle designed to deliver utmost precision in harsh environments.

Named after the rugged Black Hills of South Dakota, the new Weatherby Vanguard Black Hills rifle was built with tough environments in mind. If you require precision on difficult hunts, this model seems quite worthy of consideration.

Weatherby Vanguard Black Hills left

Featuring a cold hammer-forged barrel with either a #2 or #3 contour, a Vanguard action and a match-grade two-stage trigger, Weatherby guarantees that the Vanguard Black Hills is capable of sub-MOA accuracy out of the box (.99” or less 3-shot group at 100 yards with Weatherby factory or premium ammunition). Barrel lengths range between 20 and 26 inches depending on the caliber. The rifle also has a three-position safety, an integral recoil lug and a hand-painted Monte Carlo synthetic stock.

weatherby vanguard black hills forend

Other features of the Vanguard Black Hills include a Peak 44 Picatinny JRAIL for optics, a Peak 44 Arca/Pic Adapter on the forend for accessories like bipods and a threaded muzzle for suppressors or brakes. Every caliber variant ships with an Accubrake ST except for the 350 Legend model. The full list of available calibers includes .22-250 Remington, .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, .25-06 Remington, .257 Weatherby Magnum, .30-06 Springfield, .300 Weatherby Magnum, .300 Winchester, .308 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum, 7mm Remington, 7mm-08 Remington, 350 Legend and 7mm PRC.

The Weatherby Vanguard Black Hills has an MSRP of $769 and is available now.

For more information visit weatherby.com.


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First Look: BANISH 30-V2 Suppressor

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BANISH recently announced the BANISH 30-V2, an updated version of the original BANISH 30 that’s better in every way.

The original BANISH 30 is a good suppressor, but there’s always room for improvement. So, the company set out to do just that with the new and improved BANISH 30-V2. Namely, it now features the industry-standard HUB mount and is shorter, lighter and even quieter than the first version.

BANISH 30-V2 Suppressor

How does it accomplish all that? The BANISH 30-V2 features a full titanium construction. That allows it to be 1.8 ounces lighter than the original. Presumably thanks to an improved internal design, the suppressor also manages to be 0.8 inches shorter while being quieter as well. When tested with a .308 rifle, the BANISH 30-V2 had a maximum average decibel reduction of 34.5 dB. It’s rated for .17 HMR through .300 Weatherby Magnum, and like the original, it’s modular as well. This allows you to run it in either an 11-baffle, 8.17-inch-long configuration or an 8-baffle, 6.4-inch configuration.

BANISH 30-V2 Suppressor tan

Lukas VanLaecken, Director of Engineering for BANISH Suppressors, said this about the new can:

The Banish 30-V2 builds upon the great performance of the Banish 30 while keeping it modular and serviceable, giving shooters the choice on overall size and sound performance … The new design reduces the overall length by 0.8 in. and weight by 1.8 oz. while improving performance for an overall quieter shooting experience. The addition of a HUB mount system offers more options and ease of use with multiple mounting systems and firearm configurations.

Each BANISH 30-V2 comes with a 5/8×24 direct-thread mount and they can be ordered with either a black or tan finish. They’re available now and have an MSRP of $999.

For more information visit silencercentral.com.


More On Suppressors:

.270 Winchester And .300 H&H Magnum Turn 100

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Two of my favorite cartridges, .270 Winchester and .300 Holland & Holland Magnum, have just celebrated their centennial birthday.

Maintaining popularity for more than a century is quite the accomplishment in the cartridge world. For every one of the “classics” that have made that mark, there are several that fell out of vogue, and many others that have disappeared altogether.

Sure, the .30-06 Springfield, .45-70 Government, .45 ACP, 9mm Luger, .22 Long Rifle and .30-30 Winchester have all made that mark, but the .30-40 Krag, .38-55 Winchester, .300 Savage and .22 Short have lost much of their following of late. And while much of the cartridge market seems to be a popularity contest, a cartridge has to have something substantial to offer to maintain any sort of popularity for more than a century … especially considering the recent advancements in powder and bullet technologies.

Celebrating their 100th trip around the sun this year are two classic cartridges: the .270 Winchester and the .300 Holland & Holland Magnum. One is an undeniable success story that remains a highly popular choice among big game hunters, and the other has a provenance that cannot be denied, even if other cartridges have pushed it out of the limelight.

.270 Winchester

270 Winchester ruger
The .270 Winchester was a great choice a century ago, but premium bullets like the Nosler Partition make its performance even better. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

Starting with the more popular of the two—Winchester’s famous .270—you’ll find the most popular of the offspring of the .30-06 Springfield. Or, since we are delving into the history of the birthday cartridges, we might more properly say the offspring of the .30-03 Springfield, which came a bit earlier and has a case length just a bit longer than its much more popular sibling.

The .270 Winchester retains the .30-03 Springfield’s 2.54-inch case length, and the 17½-degree shoulder to handle the headspacing. It has the 0.473-inch case head diameter, which was carried over from the Mauser cartridges and fits perfectly in any long-action receiver.

270 winchester nosler ballistic
It might be difficult to come up with a better combination for whitetail deer than a Nosler Ballistic Tip and the .270 Winchester. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

Exactly where the .277-inch bore diameter came from is, sadly, lost to history. Some say it was an attempt to bridge the gap between the 6.5mm and 7mm bores, without using a metric denomination; others feel it might have been adopted from the groove diameter of the 7mm/275 Rigby. But, as far as I know, there is no definitive answer. In all my research, it seems that Winchester pulled 0.277 inch out of the air, much like they did with the 0.338-inch bullets of the .33 Winchester, and as Rigby did with their now-famous 0.416-inch bore.

Nonetheless, 1925 saw the release of the new Winchester Model 54 bolt-action rifle, chambered for the newfangled .270 Winchester. While it certainly possessed the velocity that would become so popular over the coming decades, rifle optics weren’t in vogue in that era, and the Model 54 was designed and stocked for iron sights.

Offering an enhanced velocity level in comparison to the majority of the most popular cartridges in 1925, the .270 Winchester offered bullet weights between 100 grains—a sound choice for the larger furbearers and all varmints—and 150 grains, which was considered suitable for an all-around big-game bullet. The 130-grain bullets performed wonderfully on whitetail deer, wild sheep, pronghorn antelope and black bear, while those 140- and 150-grain slugs were employed against moose, elk and other large game.

The .270 Win. Got Jacked

One would think that the flexibility and popularity of the .30-06 Springfield might have killed the .270 Winchester before it even got out of the gate, as the 150-grain ammo was stellar on lighter big- game species, and those massive 220-grain round-nose bullets would neatly handle even the heavyweight coastal bears of Alaska. But Professor Jack O’Connor embraced the fledgling cartridge, taking in from the deserts of Arizona and Mexico to the wilds of Canada, and most places in between. His writings in Outdoor Life—in an era where the opinion of a gun writer carried more weight than it seems to today—propelled Winchester’s cartridge into the annals of history, and O’Connor seemed to guarantee the future success of the cartridge.

270 winchester reloading nosler
For the handloaders, a .270 Winchester and a 130-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip makes affordable and highly potent whitetail medicine. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

Making good use of the original 130-grain load—with a muzzle velocity of 3,160 fps—O’Connor waxed poetically about the cartridge, ushering in the era of speed, in complete opposition to the heavy-and-slow mentality of the era. Readers followed suit, and it turned out that the .270 Winchester made one helluva whitetail cartridge. The rest is essentially history, because the generation of O’Connor readers took the torch and ran with it. Because it was so popular, it was readily available, and because it was readily available, it remained highly popular.

Truth is, the cartridge is a sound balance of velocity, striking energy and manageable recoil. The .270 Winchester has the attributes desirable for both Eastern deer hunters and Western hunters after mule deer, pronghorn and, yes, despite so many arguments, bull elk. As the cartridge aged, bullet technology only improved the capabilities of the cartridge, and today—in spite of the developments in cartridge, bullet, and optic technology—it still works just fine.

Despite a couple attempts at dethroning the king— namely in the .270 Weatherby Magnum and .270 Winchester Short Magnum—the only real threat to the .270 Winchester is the 6.8 Western, which employs a faster twist rate to utilize bullets heavier than those normally associated with the .277-inch bore.

And, although I’m a big fan of new cartridges, I don’t think the .270 Winchester will ever be unseated.

.300 H&H Magnum

300 HH Magnum hollands super 30
Whether on the African plains, the deep woods of the Northeast or the Rocky Mountains, the .300 H&H is right at home. It makes a great all-around rifle chambering. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

Crossing the “pond,” the prestigious London firm of Holland & Holland announced the arrival of the .300 Holland & Holland Belted Magnum—the Super 30—in 1925. The fourth in the H&H line of belted cases—following the .375 Velopex, the .375 H&H Belted Magnum and the .275 H&H Belted Magnum—it mated the successful .375 H&H Magnum case with the .30-caliber bullets of the .30-40 Krag and .30-06 Springfield.

The first commercially successful .300 Magnum, H&H’s cartridge used the 2.85-inch case and 3.60-inch overall length of the .375 H&H Magnum, best housed in a magnum-length receiver. Factory ammunition saw a 180-grain bullet sent at a muzzle velocity of right around 2,700 fps—seemingly loaded down to the level of the .30-06 Springfield in anticipation of the effects of the heat of the tropics on Cordite—but handloaders could easily beat that figure.

300 Holland and Holland Magnum
Holland’s Super 30 is immediately recognizable, with its signature belt of brass and slight, sloping shoulder. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

The .300 H&H, like the .375 H&H, was picked up by Winchester, Western, Peters and other ammunition companies, with Winchester and Remington offering American-made rifles. In fact, in 1936 Winchester offered the .300 H&H Magnum in the initial release of the Model 70, and Remington’s 722 was embraced by many hunters as well. Ben Comfort used the cartridge to win the Wimbledon Cup—the Camp Perry 1,000-yard shooting competition—with a custom Griffin & Howe Remington 30-S rifle, proving the capabilities of the belted beast.

In the hunting fields, many successful reports drew attention to the magnum—whether or not that was a placebo effect—and the three initial loads featuring 150-, 180- and 220-grain bullets covered nearly all the bases in the big-game world, save the true heavyweights. As powder technology improved, the .300 H&H just got better, with ammunition seeing the 180-grain slugs pushed to a muzzle velocity between 2,850 fps and 2,950 fps in modern ammo. The slight 8½-degree shoulder allows the cartridge to feed ever so smoothly, while the belt of brass just north of the extractor groove handles the headspacing duties.

300 HH magnum reloading
With factory ammunition choices quite limited these days, handloading for the .300 H&H sure makes sense. The author’s rifle is fond of these Northern Precision 200-grain spitzer boat-tails. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

For those who might be recoil sensitive, yet are interested in magnum-level performance, the .300 H&H makes a fantastic choice for a hunting cartridge. I have found that, among the myriad choices of .300 magnums, the ,300 H&H is among the easiest on the shoulder, yet offers solid field performance. Yes, John Nosler was carrying this cartridge when the 1940s bullet technology let him down hard on a Canadian bull moose, but modern bullets have done nothing but help the century-old cartridge. I have taken the .300 H&H Magnum across the pond on a couple of safaris, not to mention hunting here in the United States; it has been good to me in a number of different scenarios. From whitetail deer in my native New York, to Hartmann’s mountain zebra, red hartebeest and eland in Africa, the cartridge has yet to let me down.

red hartebeast bull safari 300 HH magnum
The author took this respectable red hartebeest bull at 250 yards in central Namibia, putting him down with a single shot from the .300 H&H Magnum. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

I’ve had a couple of rifles chambered for the excellent cartridge, including a 1959-vintage Colt Coltsman bolt gun, which my wife used to take a great blue wildebeest bull, and my current love, a mid-1980s Winchester 70 push-feed with one of the most beautiful pieces of flamed walnut I’ve ever encountered in a factory stock. The latter rifle prefers bullets with lots of bearing surface and will put three Nosler AccuBond 200-grain bullets into ¾-inch groups all the livelong day.

The Athletic Younger Brother

Marketing being a funny thing, Winchester’s own .300 Magnum is what pushed the H&H design out of the limelight. The shorter case of the .300 Winchester Magnum allowed it to be housed in a budget-friendly long-action receiver, while the ballistics of the younger case actually bettered those of the .300 H&H.

In spite of the large number of modern .300 magnums that have come to light in the past quarter century, the .300 H&H Magnum still has that “cool” factor; whenever I pull mine out at a range session or on a hunt, guys look on wide-eyed. I’ve had more than one African Professional Hunter ask to shoot my rifle or beg a cartridge for their collection. Does it make financial sense, being a rarity these days? Probably not, but there are no flies on the ballistic formula, and I will happily attest to the fact that no animal has ever been able to determine whether I was carrying a .300 H&H or a .300 Winchester.

The slight shoulder, the long, tapered case and the history that comes attached to Holland’s little gem all combine to offer an undeniable classic rifle experience, harkening back to an era when “300 Magnum” was inscribed on the barrel, and shooters knew it was a .300 H&H Magnum, as there was no commercial offering before 1963.

winchester model 70 hollands super 30
The author’s current .300 H&H rifle: a mid-1980s Winchester push-feed Model 70, gifted to him by a friend, and it’s become one of his favorites. Photo: Massaro Media Group.

Whether loaded with modern polymer-tipped boat-tails or a good old round-nosed thumper of a bullet, the .300 H&H is equally at home in the woods of the East in pursuit of whitetails or black bear, as it is on an elk hunt in the Rockies, or in a leopard blind in the Zimbabwean lowveld.

With modern factory ammunition choices being limited, handloading is assuredly the way to keep your .300 H&H properly fed. It seems to be a forgiving cartridge, as you can use a good number of common propellants, and the choices of component bullets are nearly limitless. Grab a good set of dies and source enough brass to keep yourself in business, and you can hunt the rest of your days with a .300 H&H Magnum. I like a 180- or 200-grain bullet for most applications, though the .300 H&H Magnum will handle the 150-grain bullets very well, unlike many other .300 magnum cases.

Time Marches On

So, with all the progress we’ve made over the last century in case, powder and bullet technology, why in the world would a new hunter even consider one of these centennial cartridges? Well, both possess the attributes that any hunter would appreciate, giving a blend of usable features, and both have the pedigree to create that inexorable tie to the past that hunters crave so much.

And, frankly, both of these work—at normal hunting ranges—just as well as anything that has come along in the century since they were introduced. Neither was designed for dedicated target cartridge, though both have the capability to deliver fine accuracy.

Happy 100th birthday to the .270 Winchester and .300 H&H Magnum … and to many happy returns.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Rifle Ammo:

First Look: Laser Ammo 2011 Recoil Laser Training Gun

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Laser Ammo has just added a 2011 model to its lineup of laser training pistols based on an AW Custom HX26 Compact Hi-CAPA recoil pistol.

The more you can train with your handgun the better, but bullets are expensive and going to the range takes time. Solution? Laser trainer pistols that allow you to hone your skills at home. Laser Ammo has an extensive catalog of different models, but the company has just added a 2011 as well to meet the demand for this increasingly popular pistol model.

laser ammo 2011 laser trainer

Like Laser Ammo’s other recoiling training guns, they built it by converting an airsoft gun, in the case of the 2011 they used an AW Custom HX26 Compact Hi-CAPA recoil pistol. Powered by green gas, the pistol’s slide recoils when fired. Combined with the full-metal construction, this is about as close as you can get to the feel of firing a real 2011 without gunpowder involved. It’s designed for use with either Smokeless Range or Laser Ammo reactive targets, is available with a red or infrared laser and is adjustable for both windage and elevation so you can ensure that your laser training will translate to shooting your real 2011.

Laser Ammo 2011 Recoil Laser Trainer left

The 2011 laser trainer appears to be optics-ready, but neither Laser Ammo nor AW Custom specify what footprint the mount is. However, the pistol does have an accessory rail and a flared magwell for quicker reloads.  

Patrick McMahon, a member of Laser Ammo’s Mil/LE sales team and the head of Laser Ammo’s competition division said this about the new 2011:

After checking various other 2011-style firearms, Laser Ammo chose the HX26 “Match King” specifically, as it was decidedly the best fit for our customer's needs … The 2011 is a popular gun with competition shooters, as it is red dot ready. The gun delivers an unmatched level of realism when combined with our advanced training solutions. We believe it will exceed the expectations of serious shooters seeking reliable, high-quality training tools and will prove to be the top-tier choice on the market.

The Laser Ammo 2011 training pistol has an MSRP of $440 and is available now.

For more information visit laserammo.com.


More On Firearms Training:

RECOIL OFFGRID: Undisclosed

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Recoil Offgrid Undisclosed is a one-of-a-kind immersive event designed to test the participants limits of preparedness, tactical knowledge, and problem-solving under high-pressure scenarios.

undisclosed movement through water

Training is Valuable, Experience is Better

Having the access to some of the most respected elite trainers the community during a training single event presents an incredible opportunity for any preparedness enthusiast, but putting that training to the test truly solidifies the lessons!

Undisclosed takes the typical training-followed-by-practice method to the next level by plunging participants into a dynamic, evolving narrative that challenges them to apply what they've learned in a high-stakes, real-world scenario that takes place across several days. From the moment they arrive, participants will have no idea what to expect.

shoot house undisclosed

Expect the Unexpected

Undisclosed challenges participants to not just use what the skills they learned but also plan, act, and react to an ever evolving scenario packed with all the obstacles that can occur in a real life clandestine mission.

Nothing about Undisclosed will be easy. Participants will face unknown terrain, unpredictable weather conditions, the heat of the day, and the darkness of night to accomplish their goals and that is just the beginning! Participants will be pushed to their limits throughout the scenario. testing  not just their hard earned skills but their ability to work as a team, make critical decisions under pressure, and properly execute tactical operations – and failure will have consequences!

medical training

The Details are Undisclosed

We have provided a vague description of what to expect at Recoil Offgrid Undisclosed, and that is all you will get until after the event! Not even the chosen participants will have full awareness of the itinerary or when the training ends and the scenario begins.

Every element of Undisclosed including the location, training professionals, support personnel, and equipment has been carefully selected and vetted by our team to not just convey valuable skills, but also provide the most immersive and memorable training experience the participant's will ever have!

undisclosed gear bag

Skills Are Not the Only Reward

Developing valuable skills that can save your life in a real world emergency and participating in a unique scenario with some industry elites is a reward in itself, but there is more! All participants will have their activities featured here at Recoil Offgrid and through our other magazines, social media channels, and video platforms.

Participants will also get their hands on some of the hottest gear from top industry brands, and their may even be some rewards for exceptional performances – but as expected those details are undisclosed!

undisclosed

Your Mission is Undisclosed

The high-level nature of Undisclosed results in an extremely limited participant spots and the competition for selection will be fierce. If you are ready to join the elite and face the unknown, check the link below and apply. Even if you are not selected for this mission there will be opportunities to participate in future Undisclosed Events.

Access More Undisclosed Information

Diamondback SDR Review: 21st Century Six Shooter

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I hit the range with a Diamondback SDR in .357 Magnum to see how the Self-Defense Revolver really handles.

Diamondback has been in the manufacturing space for decades and producing their own firearms since 2009. A believer in American production, Diamondback Firearms brings groundbreaking designs to market (a 5.7mm PDW, the DB57, was featured on the cover of sister pub RECOIL Magazine Issue 53) in quantity and at prices people can afford.

Diamondback started their revolver journey a couple years ago with what many would consider a toy: the Sidekick series of .22 wheel guns. Instead of six rounds, they take nine. Instead of one caliber, they come with two cylinders (.22 LR and .22 WMR).

The folks at Diamondback took some lessons learned there to bring us their latest: the Self-Defense Revolver (SDR)

Diamondback SDR
The cylinder disconnect is just above and forward of the trigger. It’s easy and you’ll never hit it by accident.

Diamondback SDR Specs:

Manufacturer: Diamondback
Model:
SDR
Caliber:
.357 Magnum
Weight Unloaded:
21.2 Ounces
Capacity:
6
Overall Height:
4.44 Inches
Barrel Length:
2 Inches
Overall Length:
6.53 Inches
Website:
diamondbackfirearms.com
MSRP:
$821

Details

In late 2021, lead designers Stuart Braudrick and Dave McCabe began sketching out their self-defense revolver concept. The SDR idea emerged from collaborative brainstorming; inspired by traditional wheel guns, but enhanced by modern innovation for performance and aesthetics. Since those early days, many team members at Diamondback have contributed to the refinement and success of the SDR. 

The Diamondback SDR you see on these pages is technically a preproduction, but only just technically. There are no anticipated changes between our example and the one on the shelf in your local shop; the difference mostly comes down to ours not coming with a manual.

Firearms manufacturers often use code words. “Tactical” means that it comes in matte black or baby poop brown. Marketed to women? Shrink it and pink it. Self-defense? Ugly or unrefined, but with claimed reliability. The SDR has self-defense right in the name, but it’s far from crude.

revolver sights
The OEM fiber-optic sights are bright, eye-catching, and easy to track under recoil.

What is the Diamondback SDR? A gun that looks like a classic Smith & Wesson J-frame in the hand. But instead of five shots, there are six. Instead of .38 Special, it’s .357 Magnum. Instead of a basic blade sight, there are dovetailed fiber-optics.

The stainless-steel is smooth, beautiful, and highly polished (enough to make taking pictures of it a pain!). And it’s all finished off with a Diamondback-marked Hogue rubberized grip.

But if you don’t like Hogue, no worries. The Diamondback SDR is compatible with J-frame grips so you go as classy or as trashy as you’d like.

Diamondback SDR grips off
The SDR accepts J-frame grips but the OEM Hogue is very nice.

Trigger

The universal comment of the SDR while on the range was about how excellent the trigger is. Diamondback describes the trigger as match grade, but that’s underselling it—it’s downright indulgent. The trigger doesn’t stack; there’s no sudden weight increase at the end.

Diamondback SDR in hand

However, you can feel a “stop” before the break, not unlike a good Smith & Wesson trigger. It’s immediately recognizable and consistent. All told, the double-action pull is a smooth 10 pounds. If you thumb the hammer back for a single-action shot, you’re gifted with an extremely short (measured in the hundredths of an inch) pull that breaks just a hair under 3 pounds. The SDR might just be the best factory snubby trigger out of the box. You can do better, but you’ll have to go custom to do it.

Controls

One of the nice parts about developing something new is that you get to make some decisions. Controls can be a funny thing, and a great many debates have been had about push-versus-pull cylinder releases. Diamondback said screw those, and instead of copying Smith or Colt, we commend Diamondback for aping Ruger’s push-button release.

Diamondback SDR loaded
The cylinder release is a simple push button and very smooth.

But there’s another curious button on the right side, just above and forward of the trigger. This one is for removing the cylinder entirely, a trick Diamondback learned with their Sidekick. While someday Diamondback may sell spare cylinders (we had visions of using them for rapid reloads just like on some 19th century single-actions), this is mostly for ease of cleaning and other maintenance.

As a nice note, with the cylinder not in place (either for reloading or removed), both the trigger and hammer lock up.

Caliber

The .357 Magnum was developed in the early 20th century essentially as a hot-rodded .38 Special. Because the newer .357 has more ass than the parent cartridge, the brass gained an extra eighth of an inch to prevent chambering in older guns. By nature of design, ammunition fired from revolvers performs under their potential; a great deal of gas escapes in the gap between the cylinder and barrel (and also the reason why revolvers, unless modified very particularly, are terrible with silencers).

To really see the advantages of .357 Magnum over .38 Special from a revolver, you need a barrel length of 4 inches or more. Or put another way, a barrel twice as long as the SDR. Granted, more is still more—but along with that marginal velocity increase from a short barrel, the flash and felt recoil also ramp up considerably.

357 magum loads

While the typical plan for a .357 revolver is to practice with .38 Special and carry the Magnum, here it’s probably best to carry a stout .38 +P round instead (but keep some .357 on-hand for range time with friends).

One of the advantages of revolvers in general is that the ammunition selection doesn’t matter as much in terms of function of the firearm. You can feed it everything from underpowered shotshells to supercharged magnums without complaint.

Diamondback SDR Holsters & Accessories

Holsters are a continual problem for new guns in general, but frankly it’s not so bad when it comes to revolvers. While you might get the Diamondback SDR into a Kydex or other thermoplastic holster mean for a five-shot .38 Special, you can definitely get one inside the great many leather options out there.

Diamondback SDR holster

And even still, while we wouldn’t be the first ones to advocate for a clip-type holster for a semi-auto, it can be a different story when it comes to revolvers. While the trigger on the Diamondback SDR is incredibly smooth, it still takes a double-digit pull and a considerable amount of travel to touch it off when in double-action mode. Which is to say, these guns are much safer (rather than “safe”) than striker-fires inside the pants, purse or pocket even if the trigger ends up exposed.

While the SDR fits a great many things intended for the J-frame, the ClipDraw itself isn’t one of them because of dissimilar screw placement (though they have a universal with 3M adhesive—which might be worthwhile if you prep it properly). As the SDR accepts J-frame grips, other options include the DeSantis ClipGrip and the Barami Hip-Grip.

Diamondback SDR clipdraw
A universal Clip-Draw works with the SDR but certainly isn’t aesthetic.

No, there are no provisions for weapon-mounted lights on this one. But yes, you can still get one in the form of weird grips like the Hyskore. Laser grips like Crimson Trace will also work but you may have to look elsewhere for ones that bolt to the frame.

If you’re not a fan of the fiber-optic sights, Diamondback has already been working with some aftermarket companies to increase your options. A little MRDS would be hot fire, and it certainly wouldn’t be difficult to make an adapter.

Diamondback SDR cylinder open
HKS DS-A speedloaders work great, and of course speed strips can be used too.

In terms of reloads, we know the cylinder swap is out (for now) but you still got options. You can use flat speed strips, which are great in the pocket but universally slow. For speedloaders, the HKS DS-A is compatible, as is the 5 Star D6-357/38, and the Speed Beez for the Kimber K6. Undoubtedly more as well, but these we can confirm.

The Future & Loose Rounds

The Diamondback SDR meets or exceeds everything you’d ask for in a snubby. There’s just something about a nice revolver, done right. The polished stainless steel of the SDR enhances the je ne sais quoi, and even the black rubberized grips in lieu of hardwood seem perfectly in place.

It’d be really great to see a factory dot option in the future, or at the very least an adapter. This gun is practically begging for a bobbed or concealed hammer model, especially with the slick-smooth double-action trigger. And although they don’t see as much use in the 21st century, an SDR with a barrel long enough to take advantage of .357 ballistics would be welcome, at least for those who want to play space-cowboy-future-Dirty-Harry, or the hunters among us.

When we asked about these features, Diamondback told us, “All of these are potentials. We are committed to making a name for ourselves in the revolver world, first with the Sidekick two years ago, and now with the SDR. We have no plans to stop.”

No plans to stop? Hot damn—we’re here for it.

Pros

  • Amazing trigger
  • Good Ruger-style cylinder release
  • An overall well-made revolver

Cons

  • Not optics-ready
  • No bobbed hammer option
  • No long barrel options

Diamondback SDR Deals

Midway USA$648PngItem_4588935
Battlehawk Armory$684PngItem_4588935

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Revolvers:

First Look: Upgraded FALCO G122 Sling Bag

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FALCO Holsters has just upgraded its G122 Sling Bag to make it even easier to draw a concealed handgun.

We’ve discussed the benefits of fanny pack carry before, but the reality is that a lot of guys just don’t want to be seen wearing a fanny pack. For many, a decent alternative for off-body carry may be the sling bag. FALCO Holsters offers the G122 Sling Bag designed just for that purpose, and the company has just upgraded it based on user feedback.

FALCO ccw Sling Bag

Comfortable, discreet and available in multiple colors, the G122 Sling Bag has been made larger to accommodate a wider variety of handguns and facilitate an easier draw. Compared to the original, the firearm compartment is 1.18 inches wider, and the two zippered front pockets have been made significantly bigger as well for carrying everyday items. Other features worth mentioning include the bag and strap’s anti-slip rubber lining, the removable elastic holster that can accommodate guns with lights or lasers and MOLLE on the front for attaching additional gear.

FALCO G122 Sling Bag

Robert Kovac, CEO of FALCO Holsters, said this about the improved sling bag:

At FALCO, we constantly refine our designs to improve the daily carry experience of our customers … Sometimes that means upgrading a proven concealed carry bag, and other times it means developing entirely new innovations such as our carbon fiber or 3D-printed holsters. In every case, the goal is the same: to bring practical value to the people who trust us with their protection. That’s why we listened, refined, and relaunched the G122 with purpose, and without increasing the cost.

The upgraded FALCO G122 Sling Bag is available now and has an MSRP of $130.

For more information visit falcoholsters.com.


More Tactical Apparel:

Platinum Status: The Best-Selling Firearms Of All Time

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The boss asked me, “How about a musing on the most popular firearms of all time? Or the past century?”

OK, I’m game … but we have to have some rules here.

I mean, if we’re going to go simply by the number made, then the 1898 Mauser and the AK-47 are the tops of the top. But they were made in such volume because governments bought them. Popular had little to do with it.

So, “popular” in that they were something that people reached into their pockets and pulled out their own cash to buy is what we’re looking for here.

I used to work on radio broadcasting, where I first heard the “went platinum” term. That meant 1 million albums and 2 million singles. (There were other limits back in the old days, but the first million-seller was Glenn Miller. Yes, that Glenn Miller.)

So, million-selling firearms that people paid for with their own money. And if not a million, then a whole heck of a lot.

Remington 700

remington 700
The Remington 700 is a simple manufacturing item, and it can be improved to the point where it is almost a different firearm.

The Remington 700 was an engineering marvel when it came out. Gone was the forged receiver that required a day’s worth of machining operations to craft—instead, a seamless steel tube, broached for rails and locking lugs, and threaded for a barrel. The recoil lug is simply a plate trapped between the screwed-in barrel and the receiver. Not only was it inexpensive to manufacture, but it proved to be eminently suited to “blueprinting.” This is where someone with precision machine tools makes butting shoulders square, threads concentric, locking lugs perfectly mating and everything that moves, smooth.

Made in the millions (5 at last count), it’s so popular that new, ultra-precision rifles are quick to mention “700 pattern” in the bolt and receiver.

Glock

glock 22
The Glock, in all its variants, has been made for 45 years, and more than 20 million of them are to be found.

The Glock 17 started it, and the ease of production and low cost meant the Glock was going to be popular—so popular that it seems there is an entire industry devoted to making a close that is better. (And some, perhaps many, are.) Fiercely opaque about many things, the Glock company doesn’t shout out sales figures, but the import numbers have to be recorded by Federal regulation, and the serial numbers give a lot a way as well.

Starting with AAA001, that pattern alone meant they had made 1.7 million by the time they had to change the serial number pattern. Travel anywhere in the world, see a holstered pistol on a police officer, and it’s likely a Glock. Last I checked, it’s something on the order of 20 million.

1911

1911
The 1911 and the 1911A1 have been so popular that the production lines have never stopped. And the number of makers has only increased. A 1911 is a forever tool.

Yes, the government bought a bunch, but then we bought those from the government. The 1911 has been in continual production since it was adopted in 1911, and in the past few decades, there have been more makers of this design than ever before.

So great is the demand that there are manufacturers in Turkey, the Philippines and elsewhere that are making and shipping them to the United States. If you can find a gun shop that doesn’t have a 1911 in the display case made by someone, you have to wonder what they do sell. Ten million? Not unreasonable.

Mossberg 500

mossberg 500 most popular guns
The Mossberg 500 has evolved into the 590, and has been bought by the military because a good shotgun is always a useful tool.

Starting in 1961, the Mossberg 500 offered advances and advantages not seen before, like the aluminum receiver and the safety on the tang, equally usable by both right- and left-handed shooters. The bolt locks to the barrel extension, so the receiver does not take any of the force of combustion, so it can be aluminum.

And barrels can readily be swapped. Add in the lower cost than the competitors of the time, and it is no wonder Mossberg was a hit, then and now. Then, they were adopted by the U.S. military, and the 500 just kept evolving. Last I heard, more than 12 million have been made … and more are pouring out.

Ruger 10/22

ruger 1022 most popular guns
The Ruger 10/22 is so common that you can even build one from parts, none of which were made by Ruger.

Before the Ruger 10/22, .22 LR semi-autos were finicky, hard to clean, not particularly accurate, and could not be serviced by the owner. The 10/22 changed all that. The rotary magazine made feeding ultra-reliable. The ease of disassembly and cleaning meant even more reliability. And once aftermarket makers figured things out, swapping stocks, barrels and triggers became a winter hobby.

From a short-range plinker, the .22 LR rifle could become a long-range target rifle. I’ve spent more than one afternoon tagging steel plates at 200 and 300 yards. The platform is so popular that you can now buy all of the parts, none made by Ruger, and assemble your own 10/22. Over 6 million served.

Remington 870 

remington 870 most popular guns
The Remington 870 is ultra-reliable. The author has won more than his fair share of loot in various competitions in the decades since he acquired it.

There was a time when “pump shotgun” meant “Remington 870.” Before the 870, a spare barrel also had to have the hardware for attaching it to the receiver as part of the swap. That meant extra expense. By locking the bolt to the barrel extension, Remington took forces off of the receiver and could make the barrel swap easier and less expensive.

From riot to Trap, with rib and bead or rifle sights, you could change your 870 almost daily. No wonder they’ve sold (well before bankruptcy, anyway) 11 million of them.

Ruger Standard

ruger mk 4
The Ruger MkIV, the latest iteration of the Standard that began it all in 1949.

Now up to the Mk IV, the Ruger pistol was the firearm that made Ruger. Another marvel of engineering efficiency and insight, the Ruger Standard was a Colt killer, a High Standard replacement, and a high-enough bar to future competitors that trying to compete is not an easy task. You can’t just offer up your take on a .22 LR pistol, and expect prospective buyers to not compare it to the Ruger MkIV next to it in the case. Now, the earlier models had a reassembly trick that was aggravating, but the MkIV solved that. And since it was introduced in 1949, Ruger has made over 3 million of them.

S&W K Frame

smith wesson k frame
The S&W K Frame, this a Model 14, has been around since 1898 and deservedly so.

The K Frame has been with us since 1898, when S&W unveiled it in .32-20. The next year they added their own cartridge, the .38 S&W Special. The pair have been with us ever since. A K Frame made today, while some parts won’t fully interchange, is so much so the same as the first ones made that a pistolsmith who was working in the first Roosevelt era could work on one made yesterday and not be at all out of sync.

The K Frame is perfectly sized for the .38, and it’s an ergonomic marvel. If someone has the hand size big enough to handle a firearm at all, and the strength to handle a cartridge at all, they can handle the K Frame in .38 Special. Once fully adopted by police officers and departments (right after The Great War) it went on to serve for the next 7 decades without being seriously challenged. As a result, there have been some 6 million of them made … and S&W is still making them.

Remington 1100

RemM1100-Classic-Field

Before the Remington 1100, auto shotguns were not common. Oh, the Browning Auto 5 was well-known, but it was expensive, it still hammered you in use, and it required some special maintenance in order to work well and not beat itself up. The 1100? Soft-shooting. And, like the 870, it was easy to swap barrels. The 1100 soon ruled the skeet and trap fields, and it was so common in duck and geese blinds that to show up with something else was to require explanations.

As a gunsmith, I could count on the time between Labor Day and Opening Day as “1100 time.” They would pour in, needing cleaning, rust removal, parts replacement and cracked wood repairs. Not because they were particularly fragile, but because there were so many, and they often led hard lives. Many were simply stashed away in the closet after duck season, and the next summer emerged needing work.

As to the volume, Remington made more than 4 million of them, and none of them seemed to ever be kept as safe queens. They all got used, and I felt at times as if I had worked on half of them.

AR-15

ar-15 history feature

You thought I had forgotten this one, didn’t you?

Before the end of the 20th century, production wasn’t all that great, because we were still in the blued steel and walnut era … and not yet fully into the “ban all gun” era. Once it became clear that those who wanted guns gone wanted them all gone, starting with the AR-15, sales took off. (If you want to sell something to Americans, tell them they can’t have it, or someone wants to take it away.)

Since then, it seemed like each year was a new record-breaking production year. It’s not easy to pin down, but I’ve seen estimates as high as 25 million. And not a single one of those was made for government use, or paid for by the government. Each one was paid for with hard-earned cash by a U.S. citizen. So, winner and still champion, is the AR-15.

Others

Now there are some that deserve to be mentioned even though they don’t quite meet our rules. (Hey, I have to draw the line someplace.)

Luger

luger
The Luger, while iconic, is an almost all a military-made product, and while there is lust, it isn’t a big seller.

Yes, this is iconic. There were 3 million made, but the vast majority of them were made for military use. Those that shooters here own were bring-backs, souvenirs and collectibles. No one uses them in target competition. No one uses them in practical shooting matches. No one selects a Luger to use as a daily-carry pistol, or as a home-defense pistol. Oh, I’m sure there are some being used that way, but that’s not the norm.

Many look longingly at a Luger, perhaps even lustfully. But few break out their wallet and buy one.

Browning Hi-Power

browning hi power
The Browning Hi Power is sought-after, but hasn’t quite gotten the love that so many other firearms received.

Another lustfully desired pistol, but not one that has been all that common, actually. The last of the John Browning designs, brought to fruition by Saive, suffered by comparison to the 1911. For a long time 9mm ammo wasn’t a first choice, and the Browning Hi-Power was only a 9mm.

Estimates of production are all over the map: A million-plus by FN in Belgium. But then there were the Inglis pistols, and the Indian Army made truckloads of them. Now, the Turkish firearms makers are offering better-than-ever BHPs, with harder steel and tighter tolerances than the classic FNs. This one is in an in-between status. Classic like the Luger, but with increased production and interest, it could make the leap up to the big list with the others.

Don’t Forget Military Guns

And what about the military-production firearms? The numbers are impressive, even a bit staggering. And also broad estimates, due to secrecy and wartime losses. So, the 1898 Mauser, in all its variants, numbers something like 30 to 40 million.

ak type 2 ii ak-47

The AK-47, depending on who you believe, numbers more than 40 million, and perhaps more than 100 million. (No wonder you can’t turn over a rock without finding an AK buried under it.) Mosin-Nagant? Easily more than 30 million.

mosin m44 most popular guns

The M16 lifetime production run is closing in on 20 million, and that doesn’t include the AR-15. Also: Lee-Enfield, FAL, G3, Arisakas and Garands … all in the millions each.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


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  • The Karabiner 98k: The Best Combat Bolt-Action Rifle Ever Made
  • SKS: Collecting & Identifying The Simonov
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  • The Rise And Fall Of The AR-10

Recall Notice: Magtech 5.56x45mm Ball M193

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Three lots of Magtech 5.56 have just been recalled, here’s how to check if your ammo is safe to shoot.

Magtech has just recalled three lots of 5.56 M193 ammo. Here is the full press release from Magtech that explains how to check if your ammo is affected by the recall:

magtech recall

Magtech is recalling three (3) lots of 5.56 x 45mm Ball M193 centerfire ammunition.

Symbol: 556A

Lot Number: CBC546/24

Lot Number: CBC591/24

Lot Number: CBC601/24

WARNING: Magtech has determined that the above lots of 5.56 x 45mm ammunition may contain incorrect powder charges. Ammunition with incorrect powder charges may cause firearm damage, render it inoperable, and expose the shooter and bystanders to a risk of serious personal injury or death.

DO NOT USE Magtech® 5.56 x 45mm Ball M193 SYMBOL 556A WITH LOT NUMBER CBC546/24, CBC591/24, or CBC601/24. The ammunition Lot Number and Symbol are printed on the top flap of the 50-round box as indicated here, for example.

To determine if your ammunition is subject to this notice, check the Symbol and Lot Number. If the Symbol is 556A and the Lot Number is CBC546/24, CBC591/24, or CBC601/24, immediately discontinue use and contact Magtech at 763-235-4000. Magtech will arrange for the return shipment of your ammunition, and upon receipt, will send you replacement ammunition at no cost to you.

This notice applies only to Symbol 556A with Lot Number CBC546/24, CBC591/24, or CBC601/24. Other Symbols or Lot Numbers are not subject to this recall.

If you have any questions concerning this 5.56x45mm centerfire ammunition recall or if you are unsure whether you possess any ammunition covered by this recall, please call 763-235-4000, write to Magtech (9100 Wyoming Ave N #515, Brooklyn Park, MN, Attn: Recall), or visit our website at www.magtechammunition.com.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

First Look: Safariland Gravity OWB Holster

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A quick look at Safariland’s new Gravity OWB holster, a lightweight retention holster for everyday carry.

For those with a preference for outside-the-waistband carry, Safariland has just released a new OWB holster called the Gravity. Featuring a streamlined, lightweight design, the Gravity holster was made to offer another comfortable everyday carry option for popular concealed carry pistol models.

Safariland Gravity OWB Holster sig

The Gravity is a retention holster made from Safarilaminate with a Cordura exterior, and it comes mounted on Safariland’s 568BL injection-molded paddle. The Cordura wrap is also available in 8 different colors and camo patterns. The holster’s tension and carry angle cant are both adjustable and it features Safariland’s 3-hole pattern mount so it can be adapted for other carry methods as well. It can be ordered with an optics cutout and is available for several popular handgun models from Glock, Springfield Armory, Shadow Systems, Taurus, Wilson and Sig Sauer.

Safariland Gravity OWB Holster

Eric Gasvoda, Vice President and General Manager of Duty Gear for Safariland, said this about the new holster:

With the Gravity, we wanted to offer more than just function … This holster delivers the trusted security and comfort our users expect—but with Cordura wrap options, it also allows them to express their own style without sacrificing comfort or performance.

The Safariland Gravity holster is available now in right-hand configuration only and it has an MSRP of $65.

For more information, visit safariland.com.


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Hardware Talk: DMT Glide-Pro Knife Sharpener

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Want to ensure that your EDC knife keeps its edge? Here we check out the DMT Glide-Pro pocket-size knife sharpener.

Knives are hazardous … and dull knives are particularly hazardous because you have to use more force to cut, and that means any error can lead to gashes.

The solution?

DMT, the maker of diamond-sharpening tools, has a pocket-sized sharpener so compact that you might lose it in your gear bag or toolbag: the Glide-Pro.

It has four angled pull-through sharpeners, a carbide and ceramic 20-degree, and a carbide and ceramic 30-degree sharpener. There are medium and coarse flat sharpeners, a carbide plate that lets you free-hand the angle you need, two stones on the bottom and the two ends feature one each of flat-blade and Phillips-head screwdriver.

So, if you have a pistol grip or such that is a tad loose, the Glide-Pro can tighten it for the next job. The flat-blade screwdriver end is also a lanyard loop, so you can keep it attached to the bag it rides in, and it won’t get lost. That could happen, as the Glide-Pro is only a bit over 5 inches long, and 0.5 inch by 1.25 inches in size. Yes, it fits into a pocket.

Now, if you’re resurrecting a dulled edge on a knife or an axe, this clearly isn’t the tool for the job. Oh, you can get it done, but DMT offers much better tools for those tasks. No, the Glide-Pro is the tool you have handy in your toolbag for when you realize the knife, axe or whatever you’re using is getting dull and needs a bit of tuning up.

DMT Glide-Pro Knife Sharpener
The Glide-Pro is compact at just over 5 inches long. It’s small and inexpensive enough to keep in your gear bag for when needed.

While DMT makes a whole series of bench-mount and much larger tools, I can see the Glide-Pro being a lot more useful in the workshop. Yes, it’s a “hold with one hand, sharpen with the other” design, but it’s tough enough that you could gently clamp it in a bench vise and then use it to sharpen with.

A word about technique: pull.

You do not sharpen with a setup like this by sawing the knife blade back and forth across the V-gap. Set the cutting edge closest to the handle in the V. Draw it back in one smooth motion. As you do so, listen to the rasp of the cutting. (You can even use a Sharpie to darken the edge, and after the first pull, look at where the ink has been rubbed off.) You can hear the change in tone of the rasp as you cut more steel on each pass. When the tone doesn’t change, you have gotten to an equal edge along the blade.

You can also see sharpness. No, I’m not kidding. If you’re in good light (and have good eyesight), hold the blade point up with the edge pointing directly at you (not the point—the edge). You’ll then be able to see a flat on the edge where it’s dull. Where it’s still sharp (blades get dull where used and are still sharp where less used), you won’t see an edge. As you sharpen the blade, the flat will get shorter and shorter, or narrower and narrower.

EDC Knife Sharpener
The DMT Glide-Pro has multiple angles and options for sharpening up whatever it is you cut with.

To use the Glide-Pro, look at the edge before you start and then after each pull. With a bit of experience, you’ll be able to see the progression and know when it is sharp. None of this licking a thumb and rubbing it across the edge Hollywood nonsense. Use your eyes. Use the Glide-Pro.

And … you can get this for a list price of 18 bucks (and I’ve seen them online for $15). It’s inexpensive enough that when you lose the first one (or one of your buddies heists it), it isn’t a big deal to buy the replacement.

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.


More On Tools & Gunsmithing:

Close And Destroy: An Excerpt From Gun Digest’s First Feature-Length Fiction

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Enjoy military thrillers? Check out this excerpt from Close and Destroy, Gun Digest’s first feature-length fiction novel.

Earlier this year, Gun Digest’s parent publisher Caribou Media, LLC released its debut foray into commercial fiction, penned by former staff editor Tom Marshall. Some of you may know his byline from his Vets Vices column in RECOIL, or from his time as editor of RECOIL OFFGRID, but he’s also been harboring a lifelong passion for military thriller fiction that has manifested in his first full-length novel: Close and Destroy.

Close And Destroy book
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Close and Destroy, available on Gun Digest Store in paperback and on Amazon in paperback, ebook and Audible.

Close and Destroy follows the men and women of Windsor Kraft Strategies, a well-heeled private military company combating a thriving insurgency in the (mostly) fictitious failing nation state of Daristan. If the premise sounds ripped-from-the-headlines, that’s because it’s informed directly by Tom’s own experience in Iraq and Afghanistan where he logged 14 separate deployments between the two theaters as both a U.S. Army officer and a private military contractor.

What follows are two separate excerpts from the novel, as well as photos depicting the real-world guns and gear featured throughout. Stay tuned for more detailed coverage of the top-notch kit shown here.

Hilton Pierce

Callsign “Alley Cat”
Recce Troop – Windsor Kraft Strategies
Tarkent International Airport
Tarkent, Daristan
1540 hours, local

Through the darkness, Hilton felt the afternoon sun against his face, bright and brutal. The sour, peaty stench of unwashed people—punctuated by the sweet chemical tinge of burnt explosives—filled the front of his skull. It wasn’t until someone stepped on his ankle that his eyes snapped open in a bolt of pain. That’s when he realized his ears were ringing—again—and the world was sideways. All he could see were smears of pasty gray muck and brown, sandal-clad feet.

Still in the fetal position, Hilton’s hands clawed for the hem of his button-down, plaid shirt. In a motion rehearsed thousands of times over the last decade, his left hand hiked the shirt up as his right snatched a Staccato HD pistol out of the holster tucked into his jeans just behind the zipper. A chorus of screams and the intermittent popping of AK-47 fire overtook the ringing in his ears.

Close And Destroy 1
Close and Destroy follows the men and women of Windsor Kraft Strategies, a well-heeled private military company combating a thriving insurgency in the (mostly) fictitious failing nation state of Daristan.

Holding the pistol tight to his chest, Hilton rolled to all fours, then reared back on his heels before clamoring to his feet in a low crouch. He craned his head to look over one shoulder. Behind him was the airport’s pedestrian gate—an earthen wall interrupted by chain-link fence, shielded by a line of American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne. A herd of Daristani civilians crashed against their riot line like waves on the shore. Already desperate to flee their collapsing country, the explosion in the crowd rocked them forward en masse against the group of young soldiers. On the walls above them, more paratroopers huddled behind their M4 carbines and M240 machine guns. Some fired short strings over top of the crowd while others swept their muzzles frantically back and forth, unable to shoot without killing innocents.

Hilton’s head whipped forward, following the gunfire. At the back edge of the crowd was a shallow, scorched crater where the suicide bomber had detonated. A macabre confetti of blood and viscera scattered around the charred cement. Further back, across the street, a squad of black-clad insurgents with AKs fired wildly toward the gate.

Hilton pushed his way through the crowd, stepping over fallen bodies shot or trampled in the panic. Once he was on the edge of the chaos, Hilton leveled the Staccato, placing its red-dot sight over an insurgent fumbling to reload his AK. He let out a slow breath and pressed the trigger four times in a row. Just as the insurgent started to collapse, someone burst out of the crowd and grabbed Hilton’s pistol, wrenching it out of his grip. As Hilton scrambled to put space between them, the man raised a large screwdriver, its slotted head sharpened to a crude point. Hilton shoved the man away from him and backpedaled, hands digging under his shirt once more. The man regained his balance and charged Hilton with the screwdriver, but Hilton’s hand came back up with a double-edged Contingency dagger just as the two collided like linebackers. Hilton went down on his back, and the insurgent plunged the screwdriver down into his chest. The point of the screwdriver skipped off the front plate of Hilton’s body armor—hidden under his shirt—and sank an inch deep into the edge of his pectoral muscle.

Hilton rolled into the stab wound, then back the other way, burying his knife deep into the man’s armpit in a backhanded stabbing motion. The angled point of Hilton’s dagger severed the man’s brachial artery. Hilton pulled the knife out and stabbed again, this time slamming his blade into the side of the man’s neck. Instinctively, the man grabbed Hilton’s forearm with both hands and pushed the blade out. A pulse of bright, red blood sprayed across Hilton’s face as the man collapsed on top of him, gurgling and wheezing frantically as blood from the severed vessels poured into his lungs. Hilton bear-hugged the man and rolled them both over.

Now on top of his attacker, Hilton stabbed him directly through one eye, dropping his full bodyweight onto the pommel of the knife. The man let out a feral wet scream. Hilton heaved downward again, using his armor plate to hammer the knife through the man’s orbital socket. The scream stopped short, like shutting off a light switch.

Hilton leaned back, placed a knee on the man’s chest, and pried the knife free. He sheathed the blade on his belt and climbed off the corpse, scrabbling around on all fours to find his handgun as more bullets snapped overhead …

Jimmy Tooms

Callsign “Jameson”
Combat Advisory Troop – Windsor Kraft Strategies
Hafiza, Daristan (350KM west of Tarkent)
0618 hours, local

Jimmy chugged half the lukewarm water bottle, then poured the rest over his head, blowing out a long breath as the water cascaded over his nose and mouth. Tossing the bottle into the dirt behind him, he picked up the garden hose draped over the Hilux’s tailgate. He squeezed the pistol grip in a quick double-tap to test water pressure. Then, he put one foot on the truck’s back tire and hoisted himself over the sidewall into the truck bed. He squatted down on his heels and started spraying.

Swirling eddies of water, the color and consistency of grapefruit juice, sluiced back and forth across the truck bed, and the tops of Jimmy’s boots. He angled the hose nozzle, using water pressure to push bits of flesh and fragments of bone off the tailgate, onto the dirt behind the truck. Several skull fragments still had hair stuck to them.

Close And Destroy car shooting cover

Four dead, out of his 15-man team of Daristani commandos. The locals called them Owls, because they were cunning, moved quietly and hunted at night. Also, the night-vision goggles they wore gave them the appearance of unnaturally large, owl-like eyes. It didn’t sound as fearsome as other indigenous guerrilla units he’d worked with in the past—who always wanted to name themselves after tigers or panthers or some other big cat. But he liked it.

Jimmy wagged the hose nozzle back and forth, using the water jet like a push broom to sweep human remains out of the truck bed. When the water in the bed finally dripped clear, he hopped off the truck, slammed the tailgate closed, and used the same wagging motion to rinse a trail of bloody handprints off the tailgate itself, as well as off the rear quarter panels and cab doors.

The trail of prints told a very clear story; a gaggle of men—bleeding and fleeing—ripping open the doors or pulling themselves over the quarters, seeking shelter from hundreds of incoming AK and PKM rounds. One side of the truck had a torso-width smear of blood where two of the survivors had pulled their comrade’s corpse into the truck bed before speeding off. It was the only body of four recovered off the objective. Jimmy wouldn’t be able to wash off the multiple strings of bullet holes, but those were far less shocking to the psyche than the dozens of smeared bloody handprints.

“Hey brother, I’ll give you a hand with that.”

Jimmy turned around to Ben Gordon, callsign “Flash.” Ben was a former SARC—Special Amphibious Reconnaissance Corpsman—who ran another 15-man Owl team alongside Jimmy the night before. He dressed identically to Jimmy: 5.11 combat pants and matching shirt, drop-leg holster slung off one hip. Streaks of dried blood, now the color of bricks, ran down both of Ben’s sleeves and one whole pant leg. As a former recon medic, he’d spent most of the night performing first aid on wounded Owls. He’d only lost one, but nine of his 15 had been shot over the course of the two-hour firefight with Al Badari’s insurgents.      

Jimmy shook his head, shrugging off the help. “I got it,” he said.

One corner of Ben’s mouth turned up. He understood the reluctance. But he persisted. “C’mon, Jameson. You don’t clean up your own dead.”

Jimmy turned back to the truck and started spraying again. Ben put a hand on his shoulder. Jimmy tensed for a moment but stopped spraying. He looked over his shoulder at Ben. “I don’t need a hug, doc.”

“Good, ’cause I’m out of those. What I do have is empty mags. You pull ammo out of the connex, I’ll finish cleaning the trucks.”

Close And Destroy

“I know what you’re doing,” Jimmy said.

“While you’re at it, we need 40 mike-mike, flash-bangs, and two thermite grenades. I tossed both of mine in the police station.”  

“On it,” Jimmy said, holding out the hose. Ben took it, and Jimmy walked away to the half-dozen shipping containers full of ordnance a hundred meters behind them.

Al Badari’s forces had overrun the Hafiza regional police precinct. Ben and Jimmy, with their Owl commando teams, had helped local police officers repel the initial assault. But Al Badari returned with a larger wave of attackers, this time using trucks, RPGs, recoilless rifles and one mortar. When it became clear they couldn’t hold the ground, Ben set the precinct on fire with incendiary grenades and left the compound burning behind them as they broke contact.

When Jimmy was out of sight, Ben looked over the truck, front to back. Under the rear bumper was a mud puddle, mired with thick strings of red runoff and ivory-colored flecks. Ben clenched his teeth and punched the side of the Hilux hard enough to dent the door panel. After two deep, sucking breaths, he wiggled his fingers to check for broken bones. Then, he went back to spraying …

Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Close and Destroy, available on Gun Digest Store in paperback and on Amazon in paperback, ebook and Audible.

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