From all across the web, we’ve searched high and low for some of the best deals we can find! From tactical gear to firearms, from ammo to footwear, we’ve dug down deep to deliver some delicious discounts!
Take a scroll and see the best Black Friday & Cyber Monday Gun Deals!
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Welcome to CANCON A Fully Suppressed RECOIL Range Day!
Save the date and make your plans to come down on Veterans Day weekend, Nov. 11-13 to the 17 South Rod and Gun Club in Savannah, Georgia.
Hundreds of the newest and best suppressors, firearms, and optics will be on the firing line for you to get hands-on trigger time.
All ammo will be provided, just bring your trigger finger!
Veterans get in FREE Friday, so come spend your Veterans Day weekend with us at CANCON!
SATURDAY NIGHT VIPs will have the opportunity to shoot suppressed with night vision goggles, clip-on night vision optics, IR lasers, tracers, and more.
CANCON will even have activities for kids, making this a completely family-friendly event.
Expect to see hundreds of firearms and suppressors, every one of them available to shoot. Don’t forget your eyes and ears for safety!
Not every day you get to shoot cool stuff like this!
Great food will be available on-site for when you need to recharge between shooting bays.
More information and ticket pre-sales coming soon!
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Designed Machined and assembled in Leupold Optic’s Oregon factory, the Mark 5HD scope keeps the company roots firmly planted in its home.
Crafted to redefine accuracy, precision, and optical performance for long-range shooters, Leupold’s award-winning Mark 5HD is a testament to domestic manufacturing. It’s proudly designed, machined, and assembled in the company’s Beaverton, Oregon factory, where Leupold employs over 650 hardworking Americans.
In designing the Mark 5HD line, Leupold’s product specialists asked elite shooters what they needed to put accurate fire downrange faster, and used that input to design a riflescope that provides all the tools necessary — in both quality and features — without the unnecessary extras that add weight and cost for consumers. Combining relentless optical performance, rugged reliability, and user-friendly features in a package that could only be produced by leveraging the 70-plus years of optics manufacturing Leupold possesses, the Mark 5HD has wowed end-users throughout the industry.
Be sure to enter our American Made giveaway, with great gear from great American companies. Click the tab at the bottom right of page to enter.
Pick up a Mark 5HD and you’ll feel the difference; it’s up to 20 ounces lighter than other scopes in its class. Get behind one and you’ll see the difference, from its superior edge-to-edge clarity to its extreme low-light performance. With three revolutions of elevation adjustment, the Mark 5HD was built to max out the performance of the latest long-range rifles and ammo.
The heart of the Mark 5HD is in its ZeroLock adjustments, which provide precise, repeatable tracking with a dead-on return to zero. The M5C3 elevation dial delivers over 30-mils of adjustment in three turns. Visual and tactile revolution indicators are in place to ensure you don’t get lost in the travel, and the auto-lock at zero eliminates the risk of accidentally moving the dial. The windage adjustment is capped and the zero indicator mark has been relocated on the riflescope’s main tube so you can see it without moving your head off the stock of the rifle.
In short, it’s the most dominant long-range, precision riflescope on the market. Best yet, it’s backed by Leupold’s legendary lifetime guarantee, which guarantees performance where other companies warranty failure.
For more information on Leupold Optics, please visit leupold.com.
Top-tier, battle-proven products, Radian Weapons turns out rifles and accessories in which you can trust your life.
At Radian Weapons, we think American gun companies should make or source their parts from right here in the USA. That’s why 100-percent of the firearms products we sell are manufactured in America, by Americans.
We machine the majority of our rifle and accessory components in Redmond, Oregon, using state of the art CNC equipment. At Radian, we’ve prioritized vertical integration of our manufacturing processes over product development to ensure that whenever we deliver goods to the consumer, it’s of the highest quality and reliability standards.
Be sure to enter our American Made giveaway, with great gear from great American companies. Click the tab at the bottom right of page to enter.
The temptation in most industries is to rush new products to market. At Radian, we actively choose not to release “me too” products or rely on sourcing major components for new products from third party vendors. This helps protect our brand integrity, and hopefully gives consumers peace of mind when they purchase Radian products.
Our flagship products are the Model 1 rifle and related receiver sets, Talon ambidextrous safeties, and Raptor charging handles. Featured here:
MODEL 1 – 17.5-INCH 223 WYLDE
Clandestine Desert™ Cerakote Finish (Cerakoted by our finishing business, High Desert Coatings—www.highdesertcoatings.com)
RAPTOR CHARGING HANDLE FOR A15/M4
The original all-billet design with Cerakoted FDE handles.
TALON 45/90 AMBIDEXTROUS SAFETY
The screwless safety design ensures your levers won’t come loose and gives you two throw degree options to choose from. Finished with FDE Cerakote.
Buy with confidence, as all Radian products are backed with a limited lifetime warranty against manufacturer defects.
For more information on Radian Weapons, please visit radianweapons.com.
Best known for body armor, Blue Force Gear also offers the everyday carry essential Micro Trauma Kit.
The Micro Trauma Kit NOW!, or Micro TKN, is our smallest version of the Trauma Kit NOW! yet. It was designed to hold essential lifesaving gear with minimal size in mind. The Micro TKNTM is designed to be worn horizontally with minimal bulk—perfect for everyday carry, for law enforcement professionals, prepared citizens, or in low-profile mission sets. The inner carrier can be deployed with one hand or one finger from either the left or right side by pulling the BLIP featured pull tabs. The Micro TKN consists of two main components – the outer MOLLE or Belt mounted pouch utilizing the Ten-Speed® technology, and a removable insert that keeps medical supplies organized.
Be sure to enter our American Made giveaway, with great gear from great American companies. Click the tab at the bottom right of page to enter.
Supplies
Hemostatic dressing for wound packing/clotting (1 included)
4” Emergency Trauma Dressing (1 included)
9” Medical Grade Easy Tape (6 included)
Tourni-Kwik Compression Tourniquet (1 included)
Heavy Duty Medical Gloves (1 pair of Large sized gloves)
For more information on Blue Force Gear, please visit blueforcegear.com.
Unrelenting in design and execution, the new Berger Bullets Long Range Hybrid Target bullets are engineered for hair-splitting accuracy.
Berger’s new Long Range Hybrid Target bullets™ (LRHT) are 100% Made in the USA and feature a high Ballistic Coefficient (BC), jump-tolerant ogive profile that is Doppler verified with less than 1-percent BC variation.
Long-range target shooters and extreme accuracy enthusiasts endlessly seek a competitive advantage, using sophisticated ballistic solvers, custom drag models, complex optics, and twist-rate calculators, among others. All of these tools are rendered meaningless if the projectile exiting their favorite target, hunting, or Mil/LE tactical rifle is inconsistent and unpredictable. Using advanced proprietary manufacturing processes, Berger’s innovative Meplat Reduction Technology™ (MRT) applies controlled pressure along the nose of each LRHT bullet, producing a homogeneous and repeatable profile for the industry’s most consistent BCs. While a high BC is desirable, shot-to-shot BC consistency is most critical when engaging targets at 1,000 yards and beyond. When you absolutely need to maximize hit probability, never settle for a bullet other than Berger.
Be sure to enter our American Made giveaway, with great gear from great American companies. Click the tab at the bottom right of page to enter.
The story behind the construction of Berger Bullets is simple. We start with virgin copper and lead wire products with the tightest specifications. Then, we manufacture our own signature J4 Berger bullet jackets to unmatched tolerances of less than 0.0003 inches of total indicated runout. What does this mean? A better bullet begins with a concentric jacket! Lastly, we merge the materials into finished projectiles — all within the confines of our Mesa, Arizona manufacturing facility.
Berger Bullets are highly sought after by the leading shooters in the world’s most demanding competitive shooting disciplines, such as PRS, F-Class, Fullbore, long range, and ELR to name a few. New Long Range Hybrid Target bullets are available in .22 caliber, 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, and .30 caliber offerings.
New for NRA Show is our line of LRHT Ammunition offerings in 6mm Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 300 Norma Magnum.
For more information on Berger Bullets, please visit bergerbullets.com.
Improving the safety, performance and comfort of soldiers and safety professionals, Oakley Standard Issue has become a trusted first line of defense.
For over 20 years, Oakley Standard Issue has manufactured all ballistic products at their factory in Foothill Ranch, California. Products are designed, materials are sourced, and products are tested right here in America.
The Oakley SI Ballistic M Frame Alpha is our latest flagship product. Alpha is an eco-system; the product contains a frame, goggle, and helo-gasket with a lens interchangeable between all three. No matter the mission, the user can configure the product to his or her needs. Range work, close quarters battle, mobility, and even freefall are many of the environments applicable. Oakley Prizm Technology within the lens brings high contrast and definition. Specifically, Prizm Shooting was developed with the Army Marksmanship Unit and gives greater clarity to targets in different light conditions.
Designed with extensive input from our military and first responder community, Alpha is now authorized for wear on the Special Operations Eyewear Program (SOEP). SOEP, regarded as the highest standard for protective eyewear, certifies that all components are made in the USA and offer the highest level of protection. Available in multiple lens and frame color configurations.
Oakley Standard Issue was formally established in 2000. Committed to serving our military and first responders, Oakley SI offers exclusive pricing for products for active-duty military, government, first responders, and veterans.
A passionate gun parts and accessories company, Overwatch Precision has the kit to make you pistol run like a top.
The OP TAC Trigger System is a patent-pending seven-piece upgrade for your Smith & Wesson MP 2.0 that reduces total travel and pre-travel by 50 percent. Engineered by us from the ground up, this kit provides the unmatched performance you have come to expect from all OP products.
Through state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques, our trigger bar is held to industry-leading tolerances using a progressive die manufacturing process, a metal forming technique used in aerospace manufacturing that guarantees the most consistent performance and highest quality parts. This process, coupled with a space-age NP3 coating, provides the end user with the highest quality trigger bar ever offered.
TAC Trigger
Our proven TAC trigger is both functional and aesthetically pleasing, with features immediately identifiable as Overwatch Precision’s intellectual property. The overall design has been the go-to for Glock pistols since we released it in 2016, and its overall shape and function have been refined to excel in this new platform. With pre-travel reduction and a flat face, this self-correcting contact point aids in a linear rearward pull and increases accuracy. The indexing lip helps the shooter consistently place their finger on the trigger in the exact same spot every time, helping muscle memory and overall consistency.
The Sear
At the heart of this system is our NP3 coated sear. With a proprietary sear angle and large radius, this sear allows for a light and consistent break that can be tuned to the shooter’s preference with the two trigger return springs provided.
The Plunger
This product has a proprietary radius that replaces the OEM chamfer and creates a measurable “hump” in the trigger pull. This Swiss CNC’d part, coupled with NP3, creates a smooth pull to the wall. The plunger spring provides constancy and safe operation of this part, as intended by S&W.
The Trigger Springs
We offer two different trigger return springs with this kit. Standing by our ethos of serious-use defensive weapon components, we include a 4.5-pound return spring for duty or carry use for a dependable, predictable break. With the growth of USPSA popularity and participation in and amongst firearm enthusiasts, we also offer a 3.2-pound spring. Please note, this spring is not suitable for carry.
North Carolina based G-Code produces solutions for ever gun and tactical carry situation under the sun.
At G-Code, we don’t have a flagship product; what we have is a flagship philosophy and an unyielding commitment to excellence in everything we do. We don’t see ourselves as a company of products — we’re far more than that. G-Code is a solutions company.
Our purpose has always been to solve problems for our customers. We do this with design and innovation, and although our efforts manifest in products, we never sit back and feel like “we have arrived.”
Be sure to enter our American Made giveaway, with great gear from great American companies. Click the tab at the bottom right of page to enter.
Likewise, execution in our workmanship is paramount in its importance to us and to our customers. Our fit, finish, and function must always be unquestionably second to none.
To this end, G-Code products have always been, and will always be, 100-percent American made using only U.S.-sourced raw materials and components. At G-Code, we count it our privilege to provide tactical carry solutions to the men and women who serve in our military, law enforcement, and the civilian concealed carry communities.
This is why when you buy G-Code, you buy American, you buy quality … because we simply will not sell anything else!
The bipod has long been a tool used by shooters to obtain a more steady firing position in the field or on the range. However, in its many years of use, the fundamental design and function of a lot of traditional “stiff” bipods have not changed all that much.
Swagger Bipods, a Nebraska-based manufacturer, has developed a couple of bipods that offer the shooter a ton of flexibility and functionality, all while remaining incredibly lightweight. Using what the company calls Crazy Legs Technology, these bipods afford the shooter a wide array of shooting positions. The flexible, hyper-extending Crazy Legs are shock-corded and are easily adjustable with a simple twist motion.
Gun Digest Editor in Chief Eric Conn had the opportunity to experiment with a Swagger bipod this winter while sighting in for an upcoming predator hunt and came away very impressed with the bipod’s flexibility and ease of use.
For more information on these great shooting aids, check out the video above, or visit the Swagger Bipods website.
We sat down with Griffin Armament’s Marketing Director, Benjamin Kubek, to talk about the company, the industry and suppressors.
LH: It’s obvious that Griffin Armament is more than just another manufacturer trying to hop on the suppressor and AR bandwagon. How do you differentiate your brand in the marketplace?
BK: Griffin Armament is the manifestation of the American Dream, and we’ve been in business for more than 20 years. Our focus has always been suppressors, but we have been manufacturing our MK1 Rifles in-house for over 10 years, and our full-ambi line of MK2s for around 3 years. In short, we are not new to the AR game.
LH: How and when did the company get it’s start? Who was instrumental in the early days?
BK: Griffin was started in 2005 by two Wisconsin brothers, Austin and Evan Green. Both were active-duty Army snipers who later contracted with the State department, Triple Canopy and SOC, serving multiple deployments during the Global War on Terror. After transitioning to contract work and starting Griffin Armament, the brothers would trade off working in the Griffin machine shop, cutting parts and building products, while the other was overseas—they built the company with little more than blood, sweat, and tears, refusing to take outside investment in an effort to retain full control of the company they were building.
LH: What founding principles define what Griffin brings to the consumer?
BK: Griffin Armament has a strong commitment to making innovative products that solve real-world problems—and products that just plain work. We strive to sell them at as low a price as possible to the freedom-loving gun owner in America. Every product we make is an answer to an issue we see people having, and we do everything we can to get it in the hands of people at a great price.
LH: And how about today? Have things changed since the doors first opened?
BK: We’ve seen a lot of growth in the past 5-10 years. What started with two brothers and a dream has grown into a complete armament company with close to 100 employees and more than 900 unique products. Griffin recently completed a 40,000 sq-ft facility expansion at our Watertown, Wisconsin, manufacturing headquarters to expand our capabilities. For the first 10 years and continuing to this day, the company poured every cent of profit back into the company: purchasing new machines, hiring a talented workforce, and innovating and improving our product offerings.
LH: The Griffin tagline is “Engineered Silence.” What is Griffin doing, technologically, to differentiate its products in the marketplace?
BK: We don’t spend a lot of money on marketing and prefer to re-invest our profits into research and development, new processes and technologies, and ideas that move the firearm and suppressor industry forward. We are a silencer brand first and foremost, and that bleeds into how we make our rifles and our other product lines.
We keep all our processes in-house, allowing us to rapidly prototype and improve products at a pace many other companies can’t achieve, and we are always looking for every ounce of performance we can squeeze out of every single product. During our 20-year history, Griffin has pioneered numerous sound suppressor technologies and innovations that are now ubiquitous in the suppressor space, including tubeless suppressors, modular-length pistol suppressors, integral tri-lug mounts, universal multi-caliber suppressors, and even 3D printed suppressors—something we showed to the public in 2009. We have been at the cutting edge of suppressor design since our inception, and that continues today.
A suppressor company first and foremost, Griffin builds its entire system around shooting suppressed.
LH: Griffin offers a plethora of suppressor-mounting options. What advice do you offer the consumer to choose the best mounting option for them?
BK: Direct-thread mounting is the cheapest and simplest system, but it’s also the most issue-prone. It’s slow to put on and take off the firearm, and it’s prone to loosening during courses of fire—thus losing alignment with the bore and creating a high risk for baffle strikes.
Taper Mount is a step up. This system is extremely simple but does require a taper-mount muzzle device installed to the barrel. Once you have that piece in place, it’s as easy as screwing in a lightbulb. The improved threads make the can go on much faster and retain alignment better, while the taper interface vastly increases retention of the suppressor by fighting the natural urge for the suppressor to loosen up under courses of fire. This is also one of the most accurate, and lightweight systems available offering very low POI shift due to the natural forcing of alignment to the bore by the taper interface. Taper mount is ideal for users looking for a simple, yet secure, system that is highly accurate and not too expensive.
Dual-Lok is built to eliminate unintended loosening of the suppressor. We have never seen a Dual-Lok suppressor come loose when used properly. Dual-Lok has an integral taper and has an active-locking collar that engages with splines on the rear of the muzzle device that locks the suppressor in place when actuated. It has no metal-on-metal ratcheting parts and is wear-free.
Gate-Lok allows the user to attach a suppressor to any mil-spec, colt-pattern A2 birdcage, by locking the suppressor into the BFA groove on those types of muzzle devices. It’s incredibly versatile, extremely fast and can be installed and removed one-handed faster than you can say “Wow, that’s pretty cool!” This system is ideal for anyone looking for the most QD offering, or a system that doesn’t require proprietary muzzle devices.
Our integrated 3-lug mount is also an industry-first and improves on the classic tri-lug system most people know from the MP5 platform. This is an incredibly fast and secure system, ideally segmented for PCC-type applications.
Finally, we have EZ-Lok, which is a mini taper mount designed for handgun and PCC applications. It vastly increases suppressor retention and speed of installation over direct-thread options and creates a universal thread pitch across your host firearms, eliminating the need to swap out pistons or parts.
In summary, if you have a pistol, use EZ-Lok. Taper Mount is ideal for precision shooting, and the general user trying to keep cost down while improving performance. Dual-Lok is intended for the most discerning customers who aren’t willing to compromise on a mounting system. Gate-Lok is ideal for the shooter with ARs all equipped with A2’s and no desire to change that.
LH: Let’s talk a little about materials and manufacturing processes, such as additive manufacturing.
BK: Historically, we manufactured most of our suppressors out of 17-4 stainless-steel. We found this material had plenty of strength for the application while being relatively low cost and easy to machine, resulting in lower prices. You see a lot of materials being used today, like Inconel and Haynes 282, which are stronger materials in many ways but are also more expensive and harder to work with.
There seems to be a misconception that exotic suppressor materials are superior, and many consumers are willing to overpay to get it, when cheaper materials are more than sufficient for 99 percent of users. For instance, we ran a 17-4 stainless-steel can through a 17-mag full-auto dump in less than 6 minutes with zero issues, catastrophic failures or excessive wear.
Titanium is a material we dabbled in years ago and axed due to a list of negative attributes that make it less than ideal for sound suppressor applications. It’s expensive, difficult to machine and requires extreme levels of manufacturing control and inert gas shielding to keep the material from becoming brittle. From our perspective, titanium suppressors, if not made perfectly correctly, can be weak and introduce unnecessary levels of risk to the end user.
That being said, the future waits for no one, and when we brought additive manufacturing in-house, we decided to develop our own proprietary alloy to use for our 3D printed suppressors. This is the first metal alloy designed specifically for sound suppressor use, and we call it Nickel 625X. It’s 68 percent stronger than Inconel 625 at 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit, has a 100-degree higher service temperature, higher corrosion resistance, rapid heat treat process, and is lighter. One of the biggest reasons we opted for our own material is heat treatment regimen. Alloys, like Inconel 625, require a lengthy and expensive heat treat process to achieve its stated strength metrics, whereas Nickel 625X can achieve higher strengths at significantly lower heat treatment cost and time.
LH: How does a shooter look at the Griffin product offerings and determine what’s right for them?
BK: We’ll use rifle suppressors as an example. With our additive lineup growing this year, that’s the first decision to make: Do you want an additive suppressor or a conventionally-machined can?
Once you’ve made that decision, choose a mounting system.
Then you need to decide what your priorities are. We have more than 60 unique models, and each one is geared toward a different type of shooter. If you’re a super hard shooter, you’d benefit from a beefed-up, low backpressure can such as the HRT-556 AM. If you’re suppressing a bolt gun or hunting rifle, a lighter suppressor, such as a Sportsman, EXPLORR or PSR, will keep barrel flex to a minimum with minimal point-of-impact change. If you are a competition long-range shooter, the PRC family features a brake in the end cap, allowing you to see bullet trace and splashes downrange. For general carbine usage, it’s hard to beat our managed backpressure Dual-Lok AM cans, whereas the Recce line is ideal for users desiring a more conventional baffle system, or on under-gassed guns where a little extra backpressure is beneficial.
LH: Like any firearms industry company, you must endure and balance external influences and factors. Which ones have impacted your brand the most?
BK: The three biggest for the gun industry are politics, manufacturing skillsets and the economy. Politicians are changing laws at a local and federal level, requiring constant attention to make sure we remain in legal compliance with the ATF. On top of this, things like tariffs and wars can further stretch companies thin by disrupting supply chains of critical components and materials. Lastly, America has sadly undervalued capable machinists and manufacturing. Many of these sectors were shipped overseas decades ago, so it’s sometimes hard to find well-qualified and highly skilled machine operators to produce products to the level of quality our customers demand.
LH: How would you describe the current state of the suppressor industry? Where do you see it going?
BK: As of January 2026, the ATF eliminated the $200 tax stamp fee on suppressors, which was a huge development. Suppressor demand went up overnight, and with that came a lot of new companies jumping on the bandwagon. It’s an exciting time to be in suppressors, but also the most competitive it’s ever been. Established brands, as well as smaller startup brands, are coming out with suppressors now, which has a notable impact on the market. The sector will continue to grow, and I think the long-running suppressor brands will do very well in the future as trusted names in the business. Smaller brands may struggle to compete, but overall competition breeds innovation, and we’ve been seeing that.
Also, it seems that additive manufacturing is the future of the industry. The advancements allowed by that technology are hard to ignore, and brands that don’t adopt it and use it to their benefit will likely struggle. Griffin has invested heavily into our in-house additive lab, which puts us in a good place to compete for the next 20 years and beyond.
LH: Technologically speaking, where does suppressor design go from here? What’s the next big thing?
BK: The big hurdle everyone is trying to figure out right now, and many are achieving (ourselves included), is how to combine low flash, low sound and super-low backpressure. In the past, you could typically pick two but couldn’t get all three. A few companies seem to be figuring it out, but that is the cutting edge of suppressor design right now.
I think our Dual-Lok 5 AM is one of the best examples currently available of a silencer that performs highly in all three of those metrics.
LH: With the optics and optic mount side of your business, has Griffin become a one-stop shop?
BK: We launched the optics line because we noticed an obvious hole in the market. We wanted to offer capable, feature-rich optics at a reasonable price for the average consumer. The reality is that most optics in the affordable range are made overseas, with U.S.-made units typically garnering a hefty price tag. This is out of the realm of possibility for many gun owners, and we felt offering these optics at a great rate would allow them to have more budget-to-buy quality, American-made firearms, parts and silencers.
Griffin strives to produce high-quality optics at reasonable prices. This is the 1-10x28mm offering. The cost? About $550.
LH: As it is with suppressors, most ARs tend to look a lot alike. What sets Griffin apart from others?
BK: Our ARs are designed from the viewpoint of a suppressor company, meaning every part and component is tuned and manufactured to sing when suppressed. Our buffer systems, gas ports, and bolt-carrier groups (BCG) are all enhanced to perform ideally suppressed, but also to be reliable and soft-shooting in the unsuppressed configuration. We offer many upgrades to the components to further enhance the shooter’s experience, such as our Gas Pocket BCGs designed to reduce port pop and gas to the shooter’s face, a two-position adjustable gas block, and two-stage triggers. Every part of the rifle is made in-house at Griffin Armament for a premium fit and finish, and colors can be customized during checkout.
LH: Anything else you want consumers to know about your company, your people and your products?
BK: Griffin might not have the same hype marketing strategy as a lot of brands, and that is partially because we hate it. We choose to let our products speak for themselves, and it’s hard to find people who aren’t impressed with our ARs and silencers once they get their hands on them. We have an incredibly low return/warranty rate, which is a testament to the pride and quality we pour into every product we produce. Our Perpetual Lifetime Warranty is the best in the business, so you can rest assured you will be taken care of—no matter what issue you’re having.
We hope you get the chance to experience our products, because we know you will be impressed.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
We take a look at some of the lesser-known service rifles that helped shape America’s first 250 years.
The history of our country is absolutely awash in firearms, to the point that it’s impossible to fit all of them into a single article. In lieu of a list that would make your eyes glaze over, I look at a selection of rifles that are significant to our country in terms of the small arms theory of the time and the cartridges that they fired in our mutual defense.
Again, while this list is not comprehensive, every one of the rifles in this article is currently supported by modern companies, whether it be complete rifles or parts to get yours up and running again (such as barrels and stocks). Keeping our history alive not only honors our country, but it can be pretty fun as well.
Spanish-American War
The Krag and .30-40 Cartridge
The Spanish-American War was one of those conflicts that exists in the American mind almost as modern mythology. Of course, there has been a lot of tall tales and obvious propaganda in every war, but the flavor of the Spanish-American War was a bit different on our palate. It has a central character of Theodore Roosevelt, one of the most famous Americans of all time. It has the cavalier, almost boyish aesthetic that has permeated most of the media surrounding it—and not just in our day. This war represented American adventurism, sacrifice not just in the name of duty, but through the need for a young nation to display its strength. It was a war that recruited Ivy League students and frontier cowboys alike, a real cross-section of American grit.
During this pivotal phase of American development, the standard service rifle was the Krag-Jorgensen chambered in the .30-40 cartridge. While there were a number of variants of this rifle, the most famous are the later variations, such as the 1898 featured here. The Krag represented an interesting, but somewhat obsolete, way of thinking … even when it was officially adopted.
Most of the world militaries at the time were using clip-loading designs, such as the Mauser and Mosin—firing fast, aerodynamic bullets at what is now considered normal velocities. The American government, however, has seemingly always had a problem being stuck in the past, and the Krag represented what would’ve been an excellent development in the decades prior to its adoption. The .30–40 cartridge fired an obsolete round-nose bullet at around 2,000 fps, and in addition it could only be loaded by single rounds through a side gate, not a stripper clip.
The Springfield loads by single rounds or by five-shot stripper clips. The Krag, however, is loaded by single rounds via a side gate that pops open.
While the rifles themselves could not necessarily be faulted, the Americans went up against the Spanish 7mm Mauser, and this encounter ended with a glaring technology gap. Remarkably, even when the Americans developed their own Mauser rifle, the M1903 Springfield, it was originally made for the .30-03 cartridge (.30-45), another round-nose load that was ballistically inferior to European cartridges.
However, the Krag has gained quite a legacy in the past 130 years. It’s a rifle well-known for reliability and accuracy. My own original example was made in 1901 and still produces 1-inch groups at 100m with Hornady factory 180-grain loads. The rifle is still supported by a number of small companies that make new stocks. Should you need a full replacement, Criterion makes brand-new barrels for both the carbine and full-size service rifle. My CMP-restored Krag has a Criterion barrel and is incredibly accurate, easily sub-MOA at most ranges.
Lastly, there is hardly an action made as smooth. You probably heard it before, but there really is nothing that cycles as smooth as a Krag.
World War I
The M1917 and the .30-06 Government
The M1917 and M1903 rifles are Mauser copies. As they say, if you can’t beat them …
I know what you’re thinking: Don’t worry, we will get to the Springfield in just a moment, but I wanted to address a rifle that did a lot of work for this country and doesn’t get very much recognition. I’m of course talking about the M1917, sometimes called the Eddystone or P17—and they’re all pretty much correct, depending on who you ask. This rifle represents a global pattern of thinking that happens when confronted with the mechanical superiority of the Mauser rifle.
American forces, of course, adopted the M1903, a Mauser, after facing the Spanish, and the British went up against the Mauser during the Boer Wars in Africa. After these experiences, the British designed their own Mauser, called the Pattern 13, in a special .276 cartridge, but this was ultimately scrapped for the standard .303 British in the P14 version, and eventually dumped all together as WWI kicked off, leaving the British with the classic Enfield.
To make a much longer story short, wartime pressure forced the British to have rifles made in America, and when the U.S. was about to enter the war, there were simply not enough M1903 Springfields made to fill demand. So, the P17, chambered for .30-06, was developed and put into mass production.
This rifle was made in large numbers at a variety of factories, with the most notable being Eddystone, a subset of Remington. It’s very common to find these rifles with the name “Eddystone” embossed on the receiver, which has led people to believe that Eddystone is the official model name. American forces in Europe would, in point of fact, be primarily armed with the M1917. Although a rifle that served with distinction, it seems to have become something of a footnote, as its use as a military rifle was overshadowed by virtually every other model out there.
It did earn its stripes on the civilian side, however, where it became one of the most popular hunting rifles of the immediate postwar era thanks to a large number of them being released as surplus.
The rifle would continue to go on to serve in WWII, but again in a capacity that’s largely forgotten. They were part of a lease program with the British and Canadians but phased out of service by the Korean War.
Today, much like the Krag, there are companies that continue to make replica stocks for the rifle, as well as new barrels. Again, Criterion makes a military-spec replacement barrel that has an excellent reputation. The example you see in this article is all original, but I have shot with these new barrels, and they are very good.
The .30 Government, aka .30-06, began coming into its own during this time. It was in its day, and continues to be, a prolific cartridge. It could be argued that it’s the progenitor of most of our small arms theory today. The cartridge is very long serving, and it would play a role in both World Wars, dozens of worldwide conflicts, the Korean War and into the Vietnam era. It’s still considered to be one of the best cartridges ever designed and, in my opinion, is truly one of the great American cartridges.
World War II
The M1 Carbine and M1903A3
The Springfield M1903 A3, here a “brand new” reclaimed rifle from the CMP and a Plainfield reproduction M1 Carbine. Both of these rifles represent American mass manufacturing expertise in World War II.
The Second World War would see some interesting development in American rifles. The M1903 A3 was one of those, and it represented something very interesting in terms of small arms manufacturing. A number of the parts on the rifle were simply just stamped, a departure from the loving machining and perfect fit of years past commonly seen on its predecessor. The A3 was not a crude rifle, but rather a distilled and simplified version of an established design that lost nothing as far as accuracy and ruggedness. It demonstrated a type of thinking that embodied the times, a mass-produced rifle that was still capable of target-grade accuracy, a functional minimalism that was results-driven and offered a high degree of performance at minimal cost and time.
One of the most iconic weapons of the WWII era was the M1 carbine, a handy little rifle that fired its own unique cartridge, the .30 Carbine. There were a number of models of this rifle that saw service, but the common characteristic was their light overall weight and a high magazine capacity for the time. This little rifle would become a darling of Americans everywhere, it had a lively life during and after the war, and it continues to be a very popular gun among collectors and shooters. Eventually, it would be found across the globe, in the hands of everyone from communist revolutionaries to local police forces.
These two rifles are still very popular in the shooting sports, in particular CMP matches. Today, the A3 is widely supported, and complete reclaimed rifles are available through the CMP. Barrels can be had again through Criterion, and stocks are available from a number of sources. There is also a wide number of surplus parts available in like-new condition.
Common modifications of the rifle include different calibers, such as .308/7.62 NATO. The M1 Carbine is also widely available in the form of both original rifles and brand-new replicas. Variations of the gun were manufactured consistently since WWII, with many commercial guns being available for a good price as compared to collectible originals. There is a plethora of accessories available as well, and ammunition is relatively common and fairly inexpensive. Fulton Armory produces a number of these guns, and you can have them built on a custom basis to include threaded barrels, scout, configurations and more.
Korean War
The M1 Garand and Evolution of the 7.62 Nato
The M1 Garand is one of the most recognizable and sought-after American military rifles. The Fulton (above) restoration has accompanied the author to the National Matches for some time, and the brand-new CMP M1 (below) is a modern completely faithful rifle that is extremely accurate out of the box.
You’re probably wondering why I didn’t include the venerable M1 Garand in the WWII section, but I wanted to use it to spotlight the Korean War and the people who served in it. The Korean War is something of a forgotten war. It happened in close proximity to WWII and was very brutal. It was also fought with most of the standard small arms that were used during WWII, making it a little bit less distinctive in terms of the media used to portray it.
The M1 rifle was the primary service arm used by American forces during this conflict, and the conditions it was used in proved to be just as bad, if not worse, than in Europe. The combat in Korea varied greatly from in Europe, with American forces facing down communist enemies over a long distance, as well as during human wave attacks. The M1, already somewhat obsolete in terms of design, still performed very admirably in this conflict where it was also used as a sniper rifle in the form of the M1D. The lessons learned in Korea really began to push the modernization program that eventually led to the 7.62 NATO and M14 rifle.
The development of the 7.62 was a foundational element of combat, hunting and target shooting in the years that followed. Effectively taking the majority of the power of the .30-06, making it smaller and full-auto capable, the cartridge proved to be quite a great performer, even if the M14 struggled during its early development. This would become something of a trend as small arms development continued into the era of proxy warfare against the Soviet Bloc and communist countries, where the diversity of landscapes and terrain resulted in small arms being used at a disadvantage in one biome while being highly advantageous in others.
Effectively, the intersection of cartridges and rifles was changing, and the M1 and .30-06 held on for quite a long time until the M14 and 7.62 NATO took over. While many were sad to see it go, the M1 never really lost relevance in the American public mind, and it has always remained a highly prized possession.
There remains a wide support for the rifle today. Companies like Fulton Armory offer complete rebuild packages, which allow for a number of custom features to your liking. The CMP has introduced a brand-new M1 rifle, and yours truly was privileged to be the first person to fire a complete, finished rifle at the 2025 National Matches. That rifle can be seen here in this article’s photography. The M1 has a number of accessories available, including a variety of types of barrels from Criterion and Faxon. It can be had in various calibers, barrel lengths and has the option to mount modern optics thanks to the efforts of a variety of small companies. The M1 is now and will forever remain one of the most iconic guns ever.
Vietnam War
The M21 Sniper Rifle, M16A1 and the 5.56 Nato
The M14 and M16 have stayed in service in some way since they were introduced. Variants of these two rifles have been brothers-in-arms for generations of Americans. Here we have commercial versions, a Brownells M16A1 clone and a Fulton Armory M14 converted to XM21 with a Hi-Lux optic and Heritage Optics Classic M21 mount. These are incredible rifles and lots of fun to shoot.
To close out our purview of classic American military rifles, we have the dawn of our modern age, which saw the introduction of the AR into our lexicon. Early on in Vietnam hostilities, American forces were using a mixed bag of weapons, including the M14 in 7.62 NATO. At the time, warfare in the jungle was not something the American military had a great deal of experiencing, especially not on a broad scale. The close-quarter fighting did not favor the large battle rifles that would have been a substantial advantage during the Korean War.
The M14 was arguably an ideal weapon for the frozen, long-distance fighting in Korea, but in Vietnam it was ungainly and too powerful to use effectively. Eventually, a novel design from ArmaLite was selected and put into mass production: the M16. This was a revolutionary rifle that represented a lot of space age thinking, and it fired a small war, high-velocity cartridge, the 5.56 NATO.
Like many American misadventures, the rifle ran into some substantial problems in the wet, humid environment of the jungle, and production problems only made that worse. Not only was the ammunition causing corrosion issues, but the rifles themselves were literally rotting in soldier’s hands due to what could only be said was manufacturing neglect. After some very serious teething problems, the M16 A1 remedied a good number of these problems and eventually became well respected as a combat rifle. Its legacy is likely in your safe right now—the AR platform we all know and love today is the direct descendant of the choices made on the M16 A1.
The story of the M14 in Vietnam was far from over. The rifle saw a good amount of use there, especially in rolls that played to its strength, such as a sniper rifle. The XM 21 program resulted in an accurate, lightweight and lethal sniper rifle that saw service throughout the war. The XM 21 became well respected and was famously used a number of times by well-known snipers throughout the war. While not technically designed from the ground up as a sniper rifle, it was easily on par and better than rifles being issued to communist forces, which at the time would have been WWII-era Mosin bolt-action rifles and the new-at-the-time Soviet SVD.
Today, the retro rifle trend has continued to grow, and a variety of companies make brand-new copies of the M16A1 and other early variants. Brownells, Fulton Armory, H&R and more make versions of the classic. The M14 and its commercial variants are also common, with Fulton, Bula, Springfield Armory and more making new models that you can transform into your chosen variation. This article features a replica Vietnam-era M14 Classic M21 mount from Heritage Optics and a new M40 optic from Hi-Lux. This combination is National Match legal for Vintage Sniper matches. A wide range of other accessories are available. Should you want to assemble a different-era M14, classic stocks are available from McMillan, and chassis systems such as the EBR are available from US Tactical Supply.
A Tribute to Those Who Served
Keeping these rifles in action is something that carries with it a lot of pride. I value these rifles far above any of my modern guns. The thing about them isn’t that they are magic swords or carry a perfect design pedigree; they are imperfect, just like this country is, but are always improving. These designs represent windows into the culture of a given era, the artifacts that exist on them speak to things that were considered important at the time. Magazine cutoffs on the early American bolt actions demonstrate a need to conserve ammunition, the military was often cash strapped.
The M1 Carbine represented a new era of mechanized combat; it was a chosen arm for people who had to get in and out of vehicles constantly as opposed to dismounting horseback. Yet it still maintained the sling setup used by cavalry for centuries. The M16 represented space age thinking, right down to the lines it was designed along, echoing the style of automobiles and rockets in the 1950s and the view toward a future in the stars.
These weapons are indicative of our culture. The materials used in them and the cartridges that they fired all represented something unique in their own era. I am very grateful to the people who have kept this alive as long as they have, and the companies that continue to devote valuable resources to keeping these old warhorses running.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
The new CANiK Prime Radian combines the best of CANiK with the best from Radian Weapons to bring an upgraded pistol at a budget price!
New from CANiK comes the Prime Radian! A collaborative pistol based on the CANiK METE MC9 PRIME and enhanced with Radian Weapons components. A 9mm EDC pistol, the PRIME RADIAN is micro-compact sized with a 5.47-inch overall height, a 3.83-inch barrel, and 24.70 oz weight, sporting a full 17+1 capacity.
FEATURES
Built on the METE MC9 PRIME micro-compact platform
Radian RAMJET™ barrel and AFTERBURNER™ compensator
Radian BACKSTRAP+MAGWELL for enhanced control
Semi-auto, striker-fired operation
Chambered in 9x19mm Luger
17+1 round CANiK micro-compact magazine capacity
Night Fision Tritium front and rear night sights
Flat-face aluminum trigger
Optics-ready for Shield RMSc, CANiK ONYXc, CANiK PHANTOMc, and compatible footprint models
Compact, carry-ready polymer frame design
Night Fision Tritium front and rear night sights provide excellent day or nighttime iron sights, but also come optic-ready, cut for RMSc footprint. A Flat-Face Aluminum trigger for a clean and crisp trigger pull.
What takes this to the next level is the Radian RAMJET barrel, Radian AFTERBURNER compensator, and Radian BACKSTRAP+MAGWELL. These upgrades direct from Radian Weapons give the Prime Radian a flat, smooth shooting experience with improved grip and faster reloads. The RAMJET+AFTERBURNER is one of the best barrel/comp combos on the market. Having it straight out of the box in the Prime Radian cuts out the middleman and saves money.
The Prime Radian comes with either two 17-round magazines or two 10-round magazines (for ban state users), a CANiK hard case, CANiK holster, and CANiK tool kit. One buy, one box, and you’re ready for the range. MSRP is only $899.99 for the complete Prime Radian package.
Jeff Rose, Director of Marketing at Canik USA, said this about the new pistol:
The Prime Radian represents the next evolution of micro-compact pistols … By combining CANiK’s award-winning METE MC9 PRIME platform with Radian’s advanced recoil-mitigation technology, we’ve created a carry pistol that shoots flatter, tracks faster, and delivers unmatched performance.
The CANiK Prime Radian is available now from dealers.
NEW from Osight comes the XE AMRS and SE 6MOA enclosed red dots! Packed with features, extremely affordable, and available now.
OSIGHT XE AMRS
The Osight XE AMRS has a ton of features to talk about, from the industry-first 2/6+32 MOA Advanced Multi-Reticle System to the innovative collapsible backup rear sight, plus features that you know and love like a large window, side-loading battery, and more. Built to do it all, the XE AMRS is great for CCW, home defense, competition, rifle, pistol, shotgun, and anything else.
The 2/6+32 MOA Advanced Multi-Reticle System gives you the choice between a 2 MOA dot, 6 MOA dot, 32 MOA circle, or either dot size plus the 32 MOA circle. Fine precision shooting or a larger dot for fast acquisition, this reticle handles anything.
Another first for the industry is the Collapsible Backup Rear Sight (CBRS). Exactly what they sound like, this integrated backup rear sight collapses out of the way if you don’t want it in your sight picture, but with a push of a button will pop back up for when you need it. Giving you the choice of having it in use or not, without having to remove or attach anything. There when you need it, out of the way when you don’t.
More features of the Osight XE AMRS include a Motion Sensor Function that automatically powers the dot on with the slightest movement, but turns it off after 3 minutes of inactivity to save battery life. A low power indicator will flash the dot 3 times once per minute when the battery drops under 2.2Volts. 10 brightness settings with 8 daylight and 2 night settings give you a lot of choices in dot brightness. All of these settings are controlled with a memory function that will power on to your last used settings every time.
Osight XE AMRS has a 61,000 to 105,000-hour battery life using a CR1632 battery.
MSRP is $249.99! Osight is running a Prime Day Amazon from June 23rd 03:00:00 EDT to June 27th 02:59:59 for 10% off!
OSIGHT SE
Smaller than the XE AMRS the Osight SE 6MOA is great for CCW and everyday carry. 6 MOA dot, enclosed emitter, side-loading battery, RMSc footprint. Slightly smaller window, but still packed with features.
The same Motion Sensor Function found in the XE AMRS to preserve battery life, lower power indication, and high-quality aspherical lens make this a CCW optic that doesn’t skimp on options and features. The smaller footprint size for smaller guns is great, but the Osight SE 6MOA also has a low-deck height that allows it to co-witness with most factory iron sights. If you don’t have factory iron sights, the Osight SE 6MOA has a backup rear sight as well.
Plus, the same 10-brightness settings and memory function of the XE AMRS!
The Osight SE 6 MOA is ideal for CCW and EDC. RMSc footprint fits on micro-compact and compact pistols, and the 6 MOA dot is great for rapid target acquisition.
Osight SE 6MOA has a 63,000-hour battery life from a CR1620 battery.
MSRP is only $179.99, also on sale at Amazon from June 23rd 03:00:00 EDT to June 27th 02:59:59, but for 20% off!
Snubnose revolvers are prolific in American cultural consciousness, but few people properly understand their practical capabilities.
One of the most quintessential American guns is the “snubnose” revolver, a staple of our heritage since it started to spin. The need for a compact and reliable weapon has never abated, and, sure enough, the little revolver has been there for us for countless generations. Due to the general saturation of this type of gun in the media and as an ingrained staple of our cultural consciousness, it’s both significantly overrepresented and, at the same time, poorly understood.
The Hollywood Effect on Snubnose Carry
In general, our focus here will be on the most commonly used chamberings inherent to the snubnose, the .38 Special and .357 Magnum. These rounds, while related and very closely intertwined, do behave like different animals in a small revolver, and the benefits largely depend on use.
The .38 Special (left two cartridges) next to its slightly bigger but substantially more powerful brother, .357 Magnum.
For our general purposes, we are limiting this discussion to the truly short barrels: the 2-inch class. While it might not seem like much, going longer starts to enter “big handgun” territory pretty fast, and even a 3-inch barrel is enough to start a whole new discussion when it comes to both .38 and .357 performance. However, most people looking at these guns don’t consider the ballistic performance when buying a gun like this. Most people carrying them don’t put a lot of weight on ammo choice or accuracy. The common idea is that it “just works,” a sort of set-it-and-forget-it mindset.
Now, this contrasts heavily with the ongoing debate about 9mm, 10mm and .45 ACP that never seems to end. The .40 S&W might have been ousted in general disgrace, but the discussion hasn’t stopped and, in fact, has even progressed now that suppressors are common and the rumble about subsonic performance has entered the arena. Barrel length, bullet weight and suppressor types are heavily reliant on each other. Now, we’re back at square one with many considerations, such as the superiority of .45 ACP in subsonic form over 9mm and 10mm—which really need that speed.
Ergonomics and handling are often considered a downfall of the short revolver. A full-featured 1911, such as this new Springfield Armory TRP in .45 ACP with a new Vortex enclosed red dot, is obviously easier to shoot and make hits with even at extended range. However, the simplicity and short-range dedication of the J-frame make it formidable at close range.
Yet here we are, looking at snubnose revolvers with no significant changes to the technology in generations, even in terms of ballistic performance. With all the hubbub about semiauto pistols and technology, is it true that revolvers are an afterthought in our modern age, or was it that we got it right so long ago?
To answer that, we need to look back at history and culture. Media, be it dime-store novels or detective TV shows and movies, has cemented the snubnose revolver as an expert’s choice. When that character has it slipped in his pocket, it speaks to the reliability of the character himself, the weapon choice being one that requires them to get into the thick of it, frequenting back alleys and smoke-filled bars in the little hours of the morning, always in just a bit of danger but not seeking out a fight. If that fight does come, it will be close and personal.
Media culture absolutely does impact the way we use and carry weapons. You’re not the only one who feels like a noir detective sticking that .38 in your pocket when you run a late-night errand. Yes, you could take a modern setup with lights and a red-dot, but there’s a special confidence that comes from a snubnose that is hard to define … yet certainly exists.
The author’s two most common carry guns, both Smith & Wesson J-frames. The M&P model in black is a .357 but is most commonly carried with .38 +P loads.
This metaphysical attribute isn’t backed up by ballistic science; there are some pretty serious performance issues with such short barrels. But what is certain is that there’s seldom any doubt that they will work as intended, a rare thing when it comes to the shooting world, where people actually believe that 5.56 will stop in drywall, big-bore rounds won’t get deflected by brush and any number of other bits of lore that people are completely sure makes a given gun or cartridge suck.
People put a great deal of emphasis on snubnose revolvers being the safest and purest choice for a carry gun, especially for women. Many think of it as something of a performance basement or starting point of sorts, but this is somewhat unfair to the good ol’ snubby. These guns have a lot going for them—although there are some myths (many recent) that need to be addressed.
Performance Myths and Gel Tests
While snubnose revolvers have always maintained their status in shooting culture, there has been, especially recently, quite a bit of speculation as to whether they are still relevant. The claim that ballistic science has advanced to the point where the 9mm is the superior firearm—and that there is only wasted energy out of a 1 7/8-inch barrel in .38 and .357—is based on shaky ground. There is a fundamental lack of understanding in terms of what these guns offer for the size, a misinterpretation of barrel length and a proliferation of media that has contributed to myth.
Bullet failure or success largely depends on the bullet’s construction and impact velocity. Not all guns do well with all bullets and vice versa.
It seems like every other day there is an article popping up somewhere with a clickbait title claiming revolvers are dead. “Experts” are out there showing that the wound channels are small, and you need 21 rounds of 10mm +P+ JHP or whatnot to survive on the street. It is true that these short-barreled guns don’t generate the same “impressive” results as others, but it’s smoke and mirrors to a large extent.
In the real world, not our ramblings across online platforms, bullets kill, and it doesn’t take a lot to make that happen. In recent years, people have been trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, and develop “better” projectiles for snub revolvers, but all that we ended up with is snake oil.
I’ve written on this before, but ballistic gel testing is virtually all bunk: Gel is a standardized test, nothing more. The protocols that are specifically designed around gel testing are very specific to FBI requirements and are not, in fact, a universal standard for most ammunition types. When you start adding in fake bones, fake organs and all that stuff, it changes the initial test parameters, which was to provide a homogenized material simulating universal tissue and bone density. Living tissue does not behave like ballistic gel. Naturally, the slower velocities out of shorter barrels aren’t going to gather many clicks, except when trying to prove the point of disparaging them.
Bullet construction gets complex, and different designs will produce different results. Not all are winners in short barrels.
In general, the snubnose revolver is a truly lethal weapon. The velocity in these cartridges out of these short barrels can be lacking, and they can be difficult to handle with any degree of accuracy due to light weight and often heavy trigger pulls. The notion here is that they are inferior to more modern options, but the stats in real-world use don’t fully add up to this display of mediocrity. It doesn’t take much to kill a person, and you don’t need high-tech bullets to do it. A 158-grain hardcast Keith 38+Pat under 800 fps is easily able to go straight through a person, and you can create lethal injuries at even slower velocities. Just like with a knife, you don’t need a huge blade to create terrible injuries. This is what I mean when I talk about the infantilized view people have on these things. Many times I’ve heard that “38 Special will just piss them off,” and this is just absolute nonsense.
It is very easy to get more than 1,000 fps from these short barrels, even with .38 Special. With .357, you can very easily exceed 1,200 fps in this tiny space. What we run into is the fact that most projectiles out there are marketed with expansion in mind, and it is, in fact, difficult to achieve reliable bullet expansion from these barrels at modest velocity. We are asking a bullet to do a lot in such a small space, and this demand is our fault due to attempting to shoehorn performance where it doesn’t belong. Simple guns like these should have simple ammunition that won’t cast doubts. Penetration, not expansion, is king in both .38 and .357 snubnose revolvers.
Bullet expansion in gel can be reliably achieved in some cases, but there’s no guarantee.
This is not to say that it’s impossible; focusing on a projectile construction out of a shorter barrel should be looked at differently. What we run into is a direct comparison between popular rounds and various barrel lengths in these calibers that end up muddying the waters significantly. Many “short” 9mm pistols would realistically qualify as midsized revolvers in terms of the space a cartridge occupies in the design. The missing component to a lot of this is that barrels are measured differently between semi-automatic pistols and revolvers. Barrel length on semi-auto pistols is measured to the breach face, meaning that the chamber is also included in that length. Revolver barrels are measured from the front of the cylinder gap to the muzzle. If we measured revolver barrels like we measure semi-auto barrels, it would change a part of our discussion.
If we measured revolver barrels the same as we do semiauto barrels, the conversation does shift a bit. Instead of thinking you’re working with “only” 1 7/8 inches, think if the cylinder as part of the equation when discussing cartridges and their abilities.
Keith’s School Might Still Be in Session
After doing a substantial amount of testing on these calibers over the years out of these short barrels, it is my opinion that bullet construction needs to be solid. I believe that, at these lower velocities, the mechanical action by the bullet to expand in tissue is unreliable, and going with softer material more frequently leads to bullet fragmentation and projectile failure. Hard cast bullets have been around for well over a century and have never lost reliability. Point of fact, popular rounds such as the 10mm Auto gained a lot of their reputation based on this old technology. I would say that the 10mm especially owes its reputation to hard-cast bullets in bear country: Its performance with jacketed hollow-points and other modern ammunition types is not that impressive.
Most of the factory-loaded ammunition out there today is designed with a universal barrel length in mind. This is where we run into problems with projectile performance; not all bullets are designed to expand at lower velocities. Likewise, the burn rate of certain powders, and even the primer being used, don’t often take shorter barrels into account.
This is where you get a lot of the conversation that centers on using .38 or .38+ P in a .357, the idea being that they are more efficient for the smaller guns. I do tend to agree, and I have not found a .357 load that truly does well in a short barrel. The energy being released will, of course, create a great deal more recoil and noise, not to mention muzzle flash, but in all likelihood, you are launching a bullet meant for a much higher impact velocity, and there is some wasted potential. This is again something that is lost in translation. Bullets are designed to expand at certain velocities, not out of certain guns. Muzzle velocity and impact velocity are going to be critical for anything a projectile does.
This alloy .357 bullet is half the length of the barrel itself. Consider this when asking the bullet to expand; it really doesn’t have much of a chance to build up speed. Note that this fired bullet failed to expand at all.
There are plenty of .357 loads clocking upward of 1,500 fps, but they lose significant speed to a snubnose barrel.
Students of Elmer Keith, such as myself, tend to look at constants as the best thing when it comes to handgun bullets. I believe that, when it comes to snubnose revolvers, bullet mass is more important than velocity, and simple bullet construction is more important than mechanical function.
It is, in my opinion, true that we did reach the pinnacle of revolver ammunition more than a century ago. Elmer Keith and his bullet designs have stood the test of time, a solid, high-mass projectile being the center of the discussion. Both .38 and .357 snubnose revolvers benefit substantially from a solid, high sectional density, flat-point bullet moving at around 800 to 1,100 fps. Nothing crazy, but easily the most reliable option for getting through clothing and moderate barriers at close distance. These will not produce crazy wound channels or spectacular results on ballistic gel, but they will be able to get through nearly anything an attacker is wearing and reach a vital spot.
Final Thoughts
Making simple things complicated is something that we are very good at in the gun world. We are constantly finding new things to add to our guns: new barrels, new cartridges and new stock materials. At the end of the day, most of this just ends up making things muddier with more things to go wrong … and more gear choices to question.
When it comes to snubnose revolvers, it is my advice to stop making things complicated. We had things right this whole time—the old detectives, dime-store novels, you name it.
A stout, lead bullet in a snubnose is hard to beat, and it is pretty cool to boot.
Ammo Notes
Buffalo Bore 38 Special +P 158-Grain Outdoorsman
If I had to pick one snubbie cartridge, this one is it. I have tested this load, and it’s one of the most reliable performers in both large and small guns. I personally carry this load in my J-frame revolvers; it’s very hard to beat out of a short barrel. Velocity is excellent, and penetration is deep.
My average velocity for this load ranges from about 950 to 1,025 fps depending on the revolver, but this is right where I want it.
Buffalo Bore .38 Special +P LSWCHP-GC 158-Grain
Right at the top of my list next to the outdoorsman is another Buffalo Bore product, this time a load very similar to the old FBI special. This is a mouthful of letters, but it works out to be a softer projectile with a non-jacketed hollow-point. This bullet hits hard, and it stays right around that 1,000-fps sweet spot that I really like. I do sometimes put a couple of these in my cylinder with three of the outdoorsman loads, just a nice little switch up.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Every armed citizen needs to understand the risks of civil liability after a self-defense shooting.
Criminal acquittal or prosecutorial decision not to prosecute is not the conclusion of legal exposure following a self-defense shooting. The criminal and civil justice systems operate under fundamentally different rules and apply different standards of proof. A person can emerge from criminal proceedings without a formal charge and still face years of costly civil litigation. Understanding this distinction is a practical necessity for any citizen who carries a firearm.
Two Parallel Systems, Two Different Standards
In a criminal proceeding, the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, a standard that reflects the severity of criminal consequences. Civil litigation operates under no such constraint. In a civil action, the plaintiff need only establish negligence by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant’s conduct fell below the standard of a reasonably prudent person, meaning it is more likely than not that the defendant acted unreasonably. The evidentiary bar is lower, the procedural protections are fewer, and the financial consequences can be substantial.
A person who uses force in self-defense may satisfy the legal standard for criminal justification and still be found civilly liable for the same conduct. The underlying facts do not change, only the framework through which they are evaluated.
The Range of Potential Plaintiffs
The most straightforward civil plaintiff is the individual who was shot, or the estate and surviving family members of a decedent. Many states limit or bar civil recovery by persons engaged in criminal conduct at the time force was used, but the scope of those provisions varies considerably, and their existence does not necessarily prevent a suit from being filed.
The more legally complex scenario arises when innocent third parties sustain injury or death because of a defensive shooting. A real-world example illustrates the problem. At a Detroit Lions tailgate event, a concealed carrier engaged an attacker in what prosecutors subsequently determined was a lawful act of self-defense. The shot that stopped the attacker, however, also struck and killed an uninvolved bystander who had been standing in the line of fire. Wayne County prosecutors declined to bring criminal charges, and the use of force against the aggressor was legally justified.
That justification, however, applies specifically to the conduct of the aggressor. The deceased bystander played no role in creating the threat, and a civil claim on behalf of his family presents a meaningfully different legal question than one brought by the attacker’s estate. The family need not contest the legitimacy of the defensive act itself. They need only argue that the manner of its execution was negligent, specifically that the shooter failed to account for what was positioned beyond his target before firing. Stray rounds, over-penetration and ricochets are foreseeable ballistic realities, and courts have long treated foreseeable consequences as relevant to the determination of negligence.
The Negligence Framework and Firearm Safety Rules
In a civil negligence action, plaintiffs typically argue that the defendant used greater force than the circumstances required, failed to properly assess the surrounding environment before firing or handled the firearm in a manner inconsistent with reasonable care. It is within this framework that the four universal rules of firearm safety acquire legal, and not merely tactical, significance.
Rule Four instructs the shooter to be certain of the target and what lies beyond it. Its violation in a self-defense context provides a ready foundation for a negligence argument, and a plaintiff’s attorney does not need to contest the legitimacy of the defensive act itself to advance it. A defendant who can articulate a clear, consistent, and reasonable account of the decisions made before and during the use of force is in a considerably stronger position than one who cannot. Documented training, familiarity with safe handling principles and a coherent account of the threat assessment process all bear on the reasonableness inquiry that governs civil liability.
A prosecutorial declination or criminal acquittal carries meaningful evidentiary weight in most civil jurisdictions, and some states treat a formal finding of justified self-defense as presumptive grounds for dismissing a related civil claim. These protections, however, are the exception rather than the rule.
State Civil Immunity Statutes
A growing number of states have enacted civil immunity statutes designed to limit litigation arising from justified uses of force. Florida’s framework is among the most frequently cited, permitting a defendant to seek a pre-trial evidentiary hearing at which a finding of justification results in dismissal of the civil action. Indiana, Texas, Colorado and several others have enacted statutes reflecting similar objectives, though procedural mechanisms differ.
Indiana’s approach illustrates the model effectively. Under state law, a justified use of force confers complete immunity against civil claims initiated by the person whose conduct gave rise to that force. A prosecutorial declination establishes a prima facie basis for immunity, shifting the burden to the plaintiff to overcome a motion for summary judgment. Should the plaintiff fail to meet that burden, the statute provides for the recovery of attorney’s fees by the prevailing defendant, a fee-shifting mechanism that functions as a meaningful deterrent against suits brought primarily to extract a settlement. The statute was enacted after a woman, Kystie Phillips, who lawfully shot an impaired man attacking an off-duty law enforcement officer was never criminally charged, but endured years of civil litigation before the action was dismissed.
A critical limitation applies across virtually all such statutes. Civil immunity provisions of this kind are generally confined to claims brought by the aggressor. They do not extinguish claims brought by innocent third parties who sustained harm during a justified shooting, a limitation that reflects the same policy logic illustrated by the Detroit tailgate incident.
Practical Measures for the Armed Citizen
Several concrete steps can reduce civil exposure before an incident occurs.
Legal protection plans: Organizations such as the United States Concealed Carry Association, Second Call Defense, and the CCW Safe offer membership programs covering criminal defense costs, civil litigation and expert witness fees. Coverage terms vary substantially, and prospective members should review exclusions and coverage limits carefully before enrolling.
Familiarity with applicable state law: Whether a jurisdiction imposes a duty to retreat, whether a civil immunity statute exists and what it covers, and how local courts have interpreted the relevant statutes are all material considerations for any person who carries a firearm.
Documented training: Formal instruction from a reputable firearms instructor creates a contemporaneous record of the student’s commitment to safe and responsible handling, one that may be introduced in a legal proceeding as evidence that the defendant’s conduct reflected an established standard of care.
Pre-incident legal consultation: Identifying an attorney with experience in self-defense law before an incident occurs is considerably more valuable than locating counsel in its immediate aftermath. Voluntary statements made to law enforcement at the scene can introduce complications in both criminal and civil proceedings.
Conclusion
The legal consequences of a self-defense shooting do not terminate when a prosecutor declines to file charges. Civil liability operates on its own timeline, under its own standards and produces its own financial and personal consequences. Responsible firearm ownership has always required an appreciation of consequences that extend beyond the immediate encounter. The time to think about what comes after is before the trigger is ever pulled.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
The triple-barreled Luftwaffe Drilling is proof that the German air force took its survival guns very seriously.
Beginning in World War I, there was a serious debate over how to arm aircrews. Many pilots carried a sidearm before planes were even armed, and the apocryphal story concerning the beginning of aerial combat is that the first “dogfight” was with pistols from passing pilots. This then quickly evolved into rifles—rifles with extended magazines, multiple pistols and then finally (and thankfully) machineguns being usefully mounted on aircraft.
As aerial warfare evolved, aircraft were armed with an array of machineguns, cannon, rockets, bombs and eventually air-to-air missiles. However, all of these armaments generally did the pilot little good if he or she was shot down. Space constraints meant, and still mean, that everything carried by aircrew must be compact, and it all has to have a use. There is no room for superfluous equipment.
Most pilots during World War II had little more than perhaps pistol, a compass and an escape map. Some U.S. naval aviators had sealed kits with trade goods in them including gold coins that would theoretically allow them to bribe their way to safety, along with life rafts and some basic survival gear. Following World War II, there was a concerted effort to expand useful survival gear. Most pilots in most nations now have an array of survival gear to help them cope when shot down. The United States and other countries experimented with survival rifles. Soviet cosmonauts even had shotguns in their survival gear to help cope with an unforeseen threat—(ironically) bears upon landing in often primitive areas of the Soviet Union.
Perhaps the most handsome of all survival weapons ever issued to any pilot, and certainly the most expensive of those available on the U.S. market is the Luftwaffe Drilling from WWII. For those of you unfamiliar with a drilling, it is usually a German three-barreled hunting gun with two shotgun barrels and a rifle barrel. These are often found with differently choked shotgun barrels, and a rifle barrel in a caliber considered to be appropriate for the game in the area where the gun was to be used. The differently choked barrels were a necessity in an age when removable chokes were yet to be invented. It was a “one gun” solution for most hunting needs.
The Luftwaffe Drilling is set up in a traditional method. It has two 12-gauge shotgun barrels, with the left barrel being unchoked for use with slugs, and the right barrel being fully choked for birdshot. The rifle barrel is 9.3x74R caliber. The 9.3mm rifle round was considered more than powerful enough for medium game, and in many instances suitable for large game. The theory of this setup was simple. The unchoked shotgun barrel can accommodate slugs. The fully choked barrel is useful for hunting birds. The rifle barrel useful for larger game.
Lockup is still tight. Note Greener-style barrel selector for the 9.3×74 rifled tube.
The Luftwaffe Drilling seems to have been issued only in the Mediterranean Theater and North Africa, but it would not be surprising to find evidence they popped up elsewhere. The reasonable theory behind their issue is that downed pilots would be able to hunt game and possibly protect themselves against dangerous wildlife (or even Allied ground troops) if downed in this admittedly hostile environment. Unlike Western Europe, in North Africa one can walk hundreds of miles and find no trace of civilization. However, the combination of calibers could seem excessive for this use in North Africa. While 12-gauge is acceptably fine for any sort of wing shooting, 9.3mm is a bit excessive for almost all of the game in the area, making one wonder whether it was added with the intent of possibly moving further afield.
Makers markings are still visible after almost a century of use.
There is no denying that the Luftwaffe Drilling is an exceptionally handsome firearm. Even this example, which had been used in the field extensively after WWII, still retains its charm. Traces of case hardening remain on this gun, but from the factory, the case hardening work, created with a method little used in the modern world, produced an exceptionally vibrant finish, a product to be expected from J.P. Sauer, the sole producer of the Luftwaffe Drilling. Although Sauer made large number of small arms for the Wehrmacht during World War II, it was and remains primarily a sporting arms corporation.
Almost all of the color case hardening has been worn off this example through years of postwar use in the field.
It’s perhaps not surprising that the Luftwaffe Drilling found its way into Luftwaffe aircraft. It was not a bad solution to a complicated problem before the advent of better search, rescue, and location methods. However, Göring’s tastes show through in this firearm. Göring was a dedicated hunter who even went so far as to carve out sections of Nazi occupied territory to turn into his personal hunting preserves. He was well-known for giving firearms as gifts to people he admired or found worthy, and the Luftwaffe Drilling seems to fit his M.O. even though it was an issue piece.
You can just about see the difference in muzzle thickness between the full choke birdshot barrel and cylinder slug tube. Muzzle checkering is entirely superfluous, but why not?
As issued, the Luftwaffe Drilling came with a case that contained the firearm, ammunition, a sling and a cleaning kit. This example is missing the contents of the kit, and finding one intact is far rarer than finding a drilling, which is arguably the rarest of all issued German arms from WWII that was not experimental or part of the ad hoc attempt to maintain logistics at the end of the war. There is little record of these being used during wartime beyond recreational use by the pilots and aircrew for wing shooting and perhaps clays.
Weapon storage container, listing contents.
Luftwaffe Drillings have been faked, and for such a valuable gun, it shouldn’t be surprising. All of the Luftwaffe Drillings were produced by J.P. Sauer, and they were all case hardened on the receiver. Forged markings tend to be irregular and uneven when applied later on. Also, watch for differences in the patina around the markings. Keep in mind the sole caliber combination and the choke setup of the shotgun bores as well.
Note there are more registered German-produced WWII machineguns, and even K98 sniper rifles and Krieghoff Lugers than there are Luftwaffe Drillings in the U.S. market. Prices will vary greatly depending on condition and completeness of kit. A complete Luftwaffe Drilling with the case and the contents is an extremely expensive find indeed and rare enough to not make the market with any frequency.
Despite the high-end nature of the rest of the gun, most Luftwaffe drillings had plain, serviceable stocks.
The obscurity and the fact that it was not a combat weapon keeps its value a bit in check. A very nice example without the kit in the 90 percent range will easily exceed $5,000. With the kit, the value is probably best determined by following the auction market when they appear—which is rarely. Because of the utility, many like this one will have been used as field guns after the war. Utility is the great killer of military collectibles. If it was useful after a conflict, it was used—just ask a U.S. Civil War collector how difficult it is to find an original haversack. This example was rescued by Jay Cobb who had to clean the dirt out of the pad on the stock and from under the foregrip where it was used as a both a game gun, a walking stick, and climbing aid in rural West Virginia.
Each barrel has its own extractor. Lockup is by means of a sliding bolt through the barrel extension.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
PROOF Research is advancing barrel technology with its new exponential twist PXT barrels.
Rifle barrel technology has been relatively stable for a long time, but PROOF Research may have just changed that. The company’s new PXT barrels, standing for PROOF Exponential Twist, are introducing a seemingly simple change to barrel design that could offer a big improvement to performance and lifespan.
While traditional barrel designs use constant-twist rifling, PROOF PXT barrels instead use a progressively changing twist profile. PROOF says that this reduces initial bullet stress, helps maintain rotational stability and prolongs barrel life while improving consistency and performance. As modern high-pressure, high-velocity cartridges gain popularity, accelerated barrel wear and bullet deformation are only becoming bigger concerns, but PXT barrels should help solve those issues.
Brandon Hulzebosch, director of sales and marketing, said this about the new barrels:
PXT is a complete redesign of how the bullet engages the rifling during initial rotation. As the industry advances and ammunition continues to evolve toward higher pressures and performance, we set out to address the technological gap between current barrel systems and where ammunition is headed … PXT gives shooters smoother, more controlled engagement that translates into greater consistency and improved performance. We are excited to be at the forefront of modern technology that will redefine barrel performance across the industry.
PROOF Research PXT barrels are currently being offered as bolt-action blanks, AR-style barrels and select pre-fit models with more options on the way. You can also get a PXT barrel in a complete rifle build with the PROOF Elevation FDX and Elevation MTR.
The Caldwell ClayCopter Hand-Held Thrower is putting a new spin on the age-old pastime of clay shooting.
Several years ago, against the base of a mountain north of Spokane, friends and I escaped from our service-industry jobs to shoulder shotguns, sling clays and let fly strings of lead, watching as the discs turned to dust and showering pines and dirt in bursts of orange. It was cheap fun—gas was likely more expensive than the $10 for 90 clays and the other $10 for the handheld disc thrower we forgot back at home.
Crushing clays was fun, but I also really enjoyed rearing back and serving up a fast pigeon like some MLB submariner. In some ways, it seemed more fun than wielding the boomstick itself.
Then, at SHOT Show 2025, Caldwell demoed its ClayCopter. Their product managers launched thousands upon thousands of plastic copters for range-day attendees to blast from the sky. The product managers, smiles on faces, never seemed to tire of the fun.
The concept of the ClayCopter is fairly simple: From a handheld launcher, the operator sends soaring one or two plastic 90- or 110-millimeter-wide clay copters at speeds ranging from insanely fast to somewhat slow. The launcher itself is powered by a lithium-ion battery that claims it’ll launch 300 targets before it needs to be recharged. It’s my understanding Caldwell plans to sell separate batteries at backup.
Weeks ago, a couple buddies and I headed to a private range in South Central Kansas to baptize windy hills with sprinklings of plastic copters. The hype had been building ever since we first watched videos of the ClayCopter in action.
ClayCopter target discs tend to start low and only start to rise after approximately 20 yards, so it’s important to aim higher than one might expect.
Ease Of Use
Everything on the launcher is intuitive. The plastic copters fit snuggly in the rungs of the launcher. An on/off switch sits on the left side, just to the right of a knob that allows users to dial the launch speed up or down. To send copters flying, one must first depress the button at the front of the launcher—sort of a “safety” button—then the trigger itself. So even if an operator exercises poor trigger control, he or she cannot launch a copter without first depressing the yellow button at the front of the launcher.
A mag-release-style button exists on the left side and will eject the battery. Above the speed knob and on/off switch is a four-bar meter displaying at what speed the launcher is set (one yellow bar for slowest setting). That same meter, after launching copters, will display a cooldown period. When firing copters at higher speeds, the red meter will more slowly go down. Whereas when launched at the slowest setting, four green bars will quickly disappear. Regardless, the cooldown period is negligible no matter what speed you choose. Basically, seconds before you can load the next set of copters, the launcher has cooled down.
The flight patterns may take some getting used to, but that’s part of the fun. Even in Kansas wind, the copters, for the most part, maintained their course. Still, we all had to get used to the copters initially flying low or parallel with ground—versus up like how a clay pigeon might climb after slung from a hand thrower.
It almost seems like Caldwell’s ClayCopter was sketched from the flight patterns of ringnecks.
A New Challenge For An Age-Old Pastime
Caldwell touts their ClayCopter and the target discs it launches as “lifelike.” As someone who’s shot his fair share of fur and feather species, I can agree with this with the following caveat: “It depends on the life to which you’re likening it.”
But that caveat has more to do with my literal interpretation versus the product. Is it more “lifelike” than traditional clay pigeons? Yes, especially when it comes the speed possible, as clay discs simply cannot replicate the speed of greenheads when pass-shooting. Also, while I’ve visited sporting clay courses that do rabbits well, the ClayCopter does rabbits very well—it’s just a matter of kneeling and tilting the launcher slightly toward ground and letting ’er rip.
But when it comes to woodcock weaving through timber like screwballs or even dove that start dipping and diving and barrel-rolling once the lead starts flying—no mechanical device will be able to replicate such sporadic wild flying, at least not any time soon. For roosters and other larger winged beasts with more predictable flight paths, the ClayCopter is very much “lifelike.”
Learning Curve
We initially started on the highest speed setting and even with the gun mounted at low ready, it was difficult to knock two from the sky using a Mossberg 940 JM Pro (9+1 capacity) and Vortex’s Viper Enclosed Micro Red Dot. Those copters zipped (both in terms of speed and sound). Even for launches flying straightaway at 12 o’clock, the second copter was quickly out of range (with a cylinder choke installed).
You better be quick thumbing off the safety if you plan to knock out two on ClayCopter’s highest speed setting.
We started at Level 1 and worked our way up, getting more creative in terms of flight angles—sometimes crossing, sometimes quartering—then altering height at which the copters launched. Even at Level 1, if the shooter wasn’t ready to “boom, boom” quickly, that second copter was easily at 30 yards if launched straightaway from the shooter.
Another thing worth noting is that while we didn’t test extensively, it seemed possible to have two target discs have two separate flight paths if the person operating the launcher maintained a swimming motion when launching the discs.
Is It As Fun Or Satisfying As Clay Discs?
Short answer: It depends on what you’re going for. If you want to see shotgun targets burst like fireworks, stick with clays. The truth is, especially on higher speeds, it’s difficult to see if a target disc is even hit. Some will explode if hit dead-on, while others will barely deflect from their course.
When we went down to retrieve discs—any un-shot discs are reusable—we discovered we hit more than we realized. One or two fragments or rungs were missing from well more than half the discs we launched when we thought we hit maybe 25 percent. Some discs simply had the outer rim cut.
Some barely scratched discs (left) indicate more hits than not (clean discs on right).
For context, targets were landing on a rocky hillside. Many fully intact discs were recovered as they sat atop hard, rock surfaces, which made us believe these discs were pretty tough upon ground impact and only affected by pellets when in flight.
Strictly speaking on the surface area, ClayCopter target discs have less compared to clay targets. Shotgun pellet strings open up quite a bit after 20 to 25 yards, regardless of the choke sitting at the end of one’s shotgun.
The fun lies in the challenge, speaking from the shotgunner’s perspective. From the launchers POV, it’s always fun. When those two minds come together, the fun is exponential.
Ideas For Next Time
Spray paint. If competing with friends, it might not hurt to spray paint one versus the other, as it can be difficult to be sure when hits are made. A more fun spray paint idea? Glow in the dark.
Is It Worth The Price Tag?
The ClayCopter itself is priced at $218. That’s approximately $100 less than most automatic clay throwers, which aren’t nearly as fun. The target discs themselves are approximately double the price of clay targets at $10 for 50, but they’re also reusable if not shot, which means if your best friend forgets to thumb off the safety, that disc is ready to rock in round two.
And how many times have we clay shooters stood ready only to watch the Day-Glo orange disc bust in the automated launcher when we yell, “PULL!” Sigh.
Logistics
ClayCopters have an MSRP of $218 and will be available at Walmart, Bass Pro Shops/Cabela’s, Academy, Scheels, Sportsman’s Warehouse and caldwellshooting.com.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Cans get hot, but Federal’s new Suppressor Case helps remove and store them.
If you shoot a lot of suppressed firearms, you’ve almost certainly spent time at the end of a range session sitting around waiting for one to cool down enough to transport. We all have things to get to, so that can get annoying, quick. Thankfully, the new Federal Suppressor Case is here to solve that.
This durable case features a heat-resistant internal lining with side-pinch pockets that allow you to easily remove your suppressor from your firearm while it’s still hot. Once removed, you can then store it in the case without worry. It can accommodate suppressors up to 10 inches long and also features a full-length zipper with a T-handle and a zippered external pocket for storing things like suppressor tools and other accessories.
Jake Jacobs, Federal’s Accessories Product Director, said this about the new case:
Modern shooters are running suppressors more today than ever before … Our unique Suppressor Case helps keep cans secure, protected, and ready to go wherever the day takes you. Its convenient design also acts like an oven mitt to help take a suppressor off a rifle easily, even when it’s still piping hot. Any shooter not patient to wait for their can to cool off will love that feature, I certainly do!
The Federal Suppressor Case is available now in Coyote Tan and it has an MSRP of $40.
Shooters store cartridges, firearms and other valuables in their gun safes, with the idea that the big metal boxes will give up the goods when asked. But what happens when your safe says, “No”?
I got my Liberty Lincoln L-15 Deluxe model gun safe back in 1995 because I was a new father who had guns and ammunition in the house and a couple of just-ambulatory children. Anyone who has faced this problem probably worked through the process much like I did. The worst outcome wasn’t some bad guy getting in, though that would be plenty bad, of course. No, the worst outcome I could imagine was one of my kids getting a gun and ammo I left out and hurting themselves. So, secure storage was a requirement.
The Liberty Lincoln safe before the drill out. The author used the magnetic strip at 10 o’clock to hold a light while he examined the wires in the electronic keypad.
I quickly realized that I needed a perfect system. Not pretty good, but foolproof. One way to do that would be to lock up the guns and ammo separately, and never allow both to be out unattended, ever. Because the guns were much bulkier and took up much more room, the easier answer was to store cartridges in the safe, so that there were never loaded rounds available for guns I might temporarily store in my office for photography or administrative use. Then, I could lock the gun actions individually outside the safe while I was on site and store them when I was away. So, I wound up putting a lot of ammo in the Lincoln over the years. Because of these safety features, we never had any issues or scares.
Well, great, right? The kids grew up with only the holes that God gave them, and as adults, they moved away. But, out of habit, I kept the same storage system until 2020. I had a chance to go deer hunting for the first time in years, so I went to the safe to get my pet 25-06 Remington loads and go to the range.
When I bought the safe, I chose a Sargent & Greenleaf electronic lock because it was much faster to open than a dial lock, and I was in and out of the safe a lot, so I appreciated the convenience. This time, however, I hit the combination, and the numbers beeped when I keyed them, but I didn’t hear the “wearnt-wearnt” of the locking bolt moving. Just a “wearnt” sound, and no movement.
The balky Sargent & Greenleaf electronic lock that died during COVID. For the 25 years previously, entering a six-digit code on the keypad retracted a bolt, allowing the handle to turn and unlock the door bolts.
No worries. Probably just needed to change the batteries. Swapped them out with brand-new Duracells, and the keypad beeps sounded fine, but I still heard just a single “wearnt” sound after the combination. And the handle wouldn’t turn. Hmm.
The back of the keypad face is at left, with the exterior mounting bracket for the electronic lock on the right. The old unlocking code is on the envelope, with some digits blurred out. Two 9-volt batteries powered the lock.
This had actually happened before when one of the four leads from the keypad to the lock mechanism had pulled loose, and needed to be reinserted. So, I popped off the keypad and checked the wires. All looked good.
Well, this was no bueno. I messed around for a couple of weeks trying to get the danged thing open to no avail. So, I eventually called a locksmith referred by the Liberty website, and that’s when the fun began.
The First Visit
The locksmith came up to my second-floor office. He was a contractor for the local dealer who had humped the safe up the stairs many years ago. We looked at the safe documentation I had, and I got more bad news. I had the Deluxe L-15, which had a recessed 3/8-inch-thick hardened-steel door with triple relockers, 10 1-inch shielded bolts, and internal hinges. The sides and top were 10-gauge steel. The 24.5×60.5×20-inch box had 16 cubic feet of storage and weighed about 450 pounds unloaded. But with the ammo on its floor, it was much heavier than that. A Diamalloy hardplate, heat-treated to achieve a much harder surface, sat between the interior door surface and the front of the lock body to, of course, resist drilling of the lock. The only good news was that the safe wasn’t bolted to the floor.
Here are the basic implements needed to drill out a safe lock. Might as well buy your carbide-tipped drill bits by the dozen. Fun fact: The locksmith was insistent that he never be photographed or recorded on video. Reason: He does frequent law-enforcement work (with search warrants), entering into criminals’ gun, drug, and money safes, where firearms they shouldn’t own and cash they’ve acquired through bake sales and other methods are stored. It is an important life lesson to realize that people with tattoos on their faces don’t take kindly to having their stuff seized, and the guy who gets their safes open isn’t immune from retaliation.
The locksmith used the master code. It didn’t work.
He said, “The lock mechanism is dead. Happens with the electronics. Sometimes they just quit. And we can’t get replacements these days because the boards are sourced out of China.” There weren’t any in the U.S., and there was no prospect of any becoming available for years.
The long stick with the loop on the end is used to exert extra leverage on the door handle. A chain can be hooked on the loop (arrow) and then wrapped around the base of the handle to turn the spindle.
He explained that when the correct code is entered into the lock keypad, the electronic circuit activates a solenoid or motor that retracts the bolt (“wearnt-wearnt”), allowing the locking bar inside the door to move the locking bolts when the handle is turned. Because the circuitry had died, that bolt was stuck in place.
Well, crap.
Factory-suggested locations for the lock body didn’t pan out, so the locksmith began a grid search.
More common issues than a circuit-board failure are people forgetting their combinations, losing their keys, or damaging a mechanical lock, so being locked out wasn’t that uncommon. He said there were a couple of ways to get in.
Several holes drilled through the door are apparent, with one designated by the arrow. The locksmith asked the author not to show how the lock body fits into the door locking mechanism because other safes have similar geometry, and revealing their design could make breaking into them easier for unauthorized users.
Grinding or torch-cutting a hole in the sides or back were two ways to get in, but both posed fire hazards, and the safe was in an upstairs carpeted office. Besides not wanting to burn the house down, I also ruled out grinding and cutting the safe open because of the sizable amount of handgun and rifle ammunition that was in there, along with several backup drives that couldn’t tolerate sparks or slag, and some guns and documents. Fortunately, there was no gunpowder, primed cases, unboxed primers, or other hazardous chemicals that could go boom in an enclosed steel box.
The lock mechanism. When you enter the device code, the wheels underneath the arm align, allowing the arm to retract the gold-colored bolt at the bottom. With the bolt out of the way, the handle can turn the spindle, retracting the door bolts. Part of the trick of drilling out the safe lock is bypassing the safe relocker (arrow). It provides an additional layer of protection, ensuring that even if the primary lock is compromised, the safe remains secure. These devices are designed to lock a safe automatically if an unauthorized attempt is made to tamper with or break into it. The locksmith kept the mechanical relocker from engaging during the drill out.
The locksmith also mentioned that the lock could be drilled out, basically a process of drilling to locate the lock inside the door and then driving the lock housing off the door with a punch. With the locking bolt moved, that would allow the door handle to retract the bolts in the door, et voilà.
After nearly a dozen holes, the locksmith was able to drill into the lock body on the S&G mechanism. This shows the full length of the inside of the safe door with the lining off.
Conclusion
When your gun safe goes kaput, it can be a real pain in the keister. If my experience with a failed electronic keypad has you second-guessing a gun safe purchase, you might consider a good, old-fashioned combination lock type. Either way you decide to go, learn from my experience and avoid the pitfalls. The final tally for my little misadventure? All in for drilling and new lock: $1,100. The experience of watching the process? Priceless.
Part of the Sargent & Greenleaf lock body that sat inside the door. Pray you never get to see this on your safe.
FN has just announced the ARKA, a 5.56 rifle that blends AR ergos with the SCAR operating system.
Aiming to meet the demands of modern militaries and law enforcement, FN Herstal has just launched the ARKA, and they’re calling it a next-generation service rifle. Chambered for 5.56x45mm NATO, the ARKA combines the short-stroke piston system of the SCAR with the controls and ergonomics of the AR-15.
Benefits offered by the short-stroke gas system include excellent reliability and optimized function with suppressors. Meanwhile, the AR-style controls offer widespread familiarity and easy manipulation. The AR-inspired controls on the ARKA include its T-shaped charging handle, magazine release, fire selector and bolt catch, all of which are fully ambidextrous as well. The ARKA is also compatible with standard AR-pattern buttstocks and pistol grips.
A few different configurations of the ARKA will be available, including a 14.5-inch barrel version with either a short or long M-LOK handguard and an 11.25-inch barrel version with a short M-LOK handguard. Both are also available in black or FDE. FN also says that the ARKA will be offered with either a select-fire or a semi-auto-only fire control group, but despite that, there’s no word on civilian market sales at this time. At least initially, the ARKA will only be for military and LEO customers.
Christophe Soleil, VP of Small Arms for FN, said this about the ARKA:
FN is pleased to complement its rifle portfolio with this new AR-15-type platform that is built upon the proven performance of the FN SCAR, currently in service with over 20 armed forces worldwide. The FN ARKA provides equivalent levels of reliability, durability, and performance, allowing customers to select the ergonomics and architecture that best suit their preferences.
More information will be available when the ARKA is displayed at EUROSATORY in Paris (June 15-19).
To read more about the FN ARKA, visit fnherstal.com.
These days, upgrading your AR-15 trigger is easy, but is it always a good idea?
Back in the not-so-good old days, triggers for ARs were crappy. All we had were mil-surplus parts or whatever Colt deigned to send us. The mil-spec was “anything under 7 or 8 pounds was good, anything under 6 was unsafe.”
So, of course, we went through all kinds of work to improve triggers.
Now? Really, you have to ask?
Triggers now come in two types and two flavors (I’m leaving out the forced-reset triggers because I’m not a fan): “packet” triggers and parts triggers.
Plug and Press
Packet triggers (sometimes called “cassette or drop-in triggers) are complete assemblies that you insert into your lower after you’ve removed the original parts. The hammer, trigger and disconnector are in the “box” or packet, and you install it as-is. The advantage is that since the packet is assembled by the maker, they can set the trigger pull to as clean and crisp as it can be and know that you won’t be messing with it. Also, the vagaries of trigger and hammer pin hole locations won’t mess up their work.
Packet triggers go into your lower as an assembled unit. You don’t take them apart—ever. You simply insert and press the hammer and trigger pins into place.
The original packet trigger was offered to eager shooters by the late Chip McCormick, and we snapped them up. The field is crowded now, which is good for us. It means we have lots of choices, and competition keeps quality up and prices down. Timney, TacCon and American Gold all offer packet triggers, and I’ve had excellent results with all of them.
Improved Pieces
Parts triggers are just that: individual parts like the ones currently in your AR lower, but better made and machined to closer tolerances. You remove the original parts and install the new set in their place. The maker still must account for the potential variances of hole locations. So, you may or may not get a significantly improved trigger pull, but it will be better.
Here are two excellent two-stage trigger parts kits, LaRue (left) and Geissele (right). You assemble them into your lower just as you would a regular trigger parts kit.
For parts triggers, I have had excellent results with Bravo (such good luck all the parts kits are currently inside of rifles and not available for red-carpet photos), LaRue, Geissele, ALG Defense and Wilson Combat. One detail that you will find common on improved parts kits is that the engagement surfaces of the hammer and trigger will be precision-ground and polished to a smooth surface.
Other Factors
It is the toolmarks on a GI trigger parts kit that causes the gritty, grungy press you feel. The weight? That the spring pressure and deeper notch needed, for extreme durability and supposed safety.
The hammer hook is half of what matters in an improved trigger pull, and the top makers know this. So, they make the surface better than mil-spec.
The two flavors are single- and double-stage. The original trigger design is a single-stage trigger. Here, the disconnector hands off the hammer to the trigger, with one hook or catch and one sear. So, the disconnector hands off the hammer to the trigger, and your press levers the trigger nose down out of the hammer notch and fires your AR-15.
Here is a single-stage parts kit from ALG Defense. It looks just like a GI set, but it has improved hammer notch and trigger nose surfaces, and it is plated to prevent corrosion. Not a match trigger, but a great improvement over mil-spec, and you will find it a pleasure to use.
The two-stage trigger works a bit differently. The disconnector captures the hammer in a two-hooked assembly. The first hook is the initial press; some might call it taking up the slack. But the hooks are aligned in such a way that the second part of the press happens after the hammer hook contacts the spring-loaded stop built into the disconnector hooks. So, you have one hook to catch the hammer and start the press, and the second hook for the release. This permits the maker to keep a precise sear engagement for the second part of the press, regardless (well, pretty much, I’ve seen some epically awful lowers) of the hole alignment. The release happens on the second hook, and that can be precise because the first hook has taken up all the slop.
Wilson Combat offers a step up, with improved engagement surfaces and plating, and it won’t bust the bank. You can jump all the way up to the packet triggers, but remember, you might want to be matching your AR trigger to your pistol trigger.
You can have single-stage or double-stack in either packet or parts kits.
You might think this two-stage trigger is the newest, latest and coolest thing to ever come out of an arms company. Well, yes, you’d be right—if you thought that the end of the 19th century was the apex of small arms design. The two-hook arrangement comes to us via John Moses Browning and his excellent Auto-5 shotgun, circa 1898. Since then, it has been used by other designers, including Garand and Kalashnikov.
It’s So Easy
Swapping trigger parts to improve trigger pull is easy: unload, remove the pistol grip, disassemble the lower internals, install the new parts or packet and install the safety as part of this. Check to make sure the safety functions as a block to firing. If it does, reinstall the pistol grip and the safety plunger and spring. (You can do the swap with the pistol grip still on, but it sometimes makes for more work. It’s better to just bite the bullet, take it off and have the freedom to install without hassle or cursing.) If the safety doesn’t block the parts properly, find out why. It may be that your new trigger needs its own special safety—it’s rare, but it happens.
This is a single-stage trigger. Once the disconnector (the black part) has released the hammer (the silver part), it is all a matter of levering the trigger tip (hidden inside the packet) off the hammer notch.
You now have an AR-15 with a nice, clean, crisp trigger, one that will let you shoot up to your skill level.
But Should You?
Next question: Should you? “Of course,” you say.
Sigh.
OK, here it goes. I call on my years of experience in teaching Patrol Rifle in LE classes. At the culmination of the classes, we’d end up on a National Guard base and use the RETS course. This is a computer-controlled, hit-sensitive-targets range with pop-up targets out to 300 meters. In the course of teaching, the instructors all shot the course, repeatedly. (The class specifically required it.) In those years, I never failed to pass the qual course, even with the most wretched trigger, a mil-spec M4 with a trigger pull in the 8-pound range. With that same trigger pull and iron sights, I proceeded to get 20 hits out of 20 targets on the RETS course.
All bragging aside, trigger pull is not the sole determinate of outcomes. You don’t strive for an improved trigger pull to necessarily improve your skills; you do it to beat the other guy on the line you are competing against.
So, competition, cool, improve your trigger.
But, in those same LWE classes, I also saw an interesting (and at times a bit startling) event: ADs. An officer would step to the line to shoot the qual course. He had his new, match-trigger AR-15 in hand. On the commands, he’d be ready. When the “Fire” command was given, there’d be an early shot and a big puff of dust (or plume of mud) halfway downrange. What happened? Simple. In almost every case, we found that the officer had his issued pistol on him, and it was a Glock or some other heavy trigger-pull pistol. He had (this was also a common thread) recently fired his department’s pistol qual course.
If there is too great a disparity in trigger presses between handgun and rifle, inadvertent shots may occur. This has been observed more than once.
His mind and reflexes had been trained on the heavier, longer, mushier trigger of the Glock (not to pick on them, but they were common). On the fire command, as he raised the rifle, he was already prepping the trigger. Except, the AR-15 would fire halfway through the force, and trigger travel needed to discharge his Glock.
The disparity of trigger pulls created a potential hazard.
What About Handguns?
This leads to the next question: What is your handgun option? If you are in the habit of commonly carrying a pistol with a long, relatively heavy, trigger press, and you’ve shot it thousands of times, do you really want a match trigger on your AR-15? Especially if they are both going to be used for defense? Now, if your pistol trigger is an above-average trigger press, you might consider an improvement in the rifle’s trigger without going the full match trigger route. Changing a rifle trigger from 7 pounds to 5—to match your pistol—is prudent. But if your pistol is 7 pounds or more (not uncommon), adding a rifle trigger of 3 pounds to the mix is not prudent.
I can see someone who carries a 1911 with a nice trigger on it wanting their AR-15 to match. Conversely, if your daily carry pistol is a Glock (or other striker pistol) with the factory trigger parts and pull, you might be best served by sticking with the original AR parts. I know I say it perhaps too often but this is America, you have choices. Just make them wise ones.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
ZeroTech Optics has just launched the Green Dot Trace H.A.L.O pistol reflex sight.
ZeroTech Optics is expanding its Trace line with the new H.A.L.O Reflex Sight. H.A.L.O stands for Heavy-duty Aspherical Lens Optic, and this pistol optic features a highly visible, crisp 3-MOA green dot reticle to help with rapid target acquisition in very bright conditions.
The Trace H.A.L.O features a durable enclosed construction with a 7075 aluminum housing, and it’s designed to provide excellent visibility in bright, daylight conditions while reducing eye strain. It also features shake-awake technology, 10 brightness settings (including two night vision-compatible settings) and up to 50,000 hours of battery life powered by a CR2032. For mounting, it uses an RMSc footprint.
ZeroTech said this about the new pistol optic:
The Green Dot H.A.L.O gives shooters another option within our premium enclosed reflex sight platform … Many shooters prefer a green aiming point for enhanced visibility in challenging lighting conditions, and this optic delivers that advantage while maintaining the rugged durability and reliability the H.A.L.O series is known for.
MSRP for the ZeroTech Trace H.A.L.O Green Dot Reflex Sight is $400 and it ships with a Picatinny mount and a slip-on rubber cover.
The fight doesn’t end with the last shot. Here’s what you need to do in the moments after a defensive shooting.
Most of the conversation in the concealed carry world centers on the fight itself: draw speed, shot placement, threat assessment and the mechanics of stopping a threat. That’s essential training, and none of it should be shortchanged. Nevertheless, there’s another aspect that doesn’t get nearly enough attention:
What happens in the minutes after the shooting stops, before the first squad car rolls onto the scene?
The gap between the last shot fired and the moment a badge walks through the door can get you killed, not by the bad guy, but by a responding officer who doesn’t know yet that you’re the good guy.
The Arvada, Colorado, incident illustrates this with brutal clarity.
A deranged gunman with a vendetta against law enforcement showed up at a shopping center and ambushed an Arvada police officer, killing him. Other officers nearby failed to engage. A Good Samaritan named John Hurley ran toward the threat, engaged the gunman and stopped him. Five of six rounds connected. The attacker went down.
By any measure, Hurley did everything right in the fight. Then, things went wrong.
After neutralizing the shooter, Hurley moved to the downed attacker and began trying to unload the man’s AR-15. He still had his own pistol in his hand while he struggled with the unfamiliar rifle. That’s when a responding officer emerged and shot Hurley from behind without warning or verbal commands. Hurley died from his wounds.
The district attorney declined to prosecute the officer, citing the fog of war. A civil complaint later alleged that the officer had observed Hurley for nearly 10 seconds before pulling the trigger and still could not distinguish the good guy from the bad guy.
That story should be burned into the mind of every armed citizen in America as a reminder that surviving the critical incident is not the finish line. You still have to survive the aftermath.
The Physiological Reality
When a fight happens, your body does things you cannot fully control. Your vision narrows. Your hearing shuts down. Your fine motor skills deteriorate. Your heart rate spikes. Time warps. Memory becomes unreliable. These are well-documented stress responses, and they hit trained police officers just as hard as they hit non-police.
Those same officers are rolling to the scene of a shooting flooded with adrenaline. They don’t know how many shooters there were, which one is alive or which one called 9-1-1. They’re seeing a person with a gun, and that person needs to immediately and unmistakably communicate that they are not the threat.
You cannot assume the cops know you’re the good guy. You have to prove it quickly through every signal available to you.
Holster the Gun
If there is one non-negotiable rule for the aftermath, it is this: The moment the threat is stopped and the scene is reasonably safe, holster your firearm or drop your firearm upon police arrival.
A skilled shooter with a 1.5-second draw can afford to be holstered. The gun is not gone. It’s accessible, but a holstered gun tells every armed person arriving on scene a critical story. It says, “I am not actively engaged in a threat. I am waiting. I am not a danger to you.”
Hurley’s pistol was still out when the officer shot him. That detail likely cost him his life.
Don’t touch the bad guy’s gun unless you have a specific, urgent reason—such as another threat reaching for it or a situation that forces you to move. Otherwise, leave it. A responding officer or bystander seeing you handle a rifle at a shooting scene will not think “concerned citizen;” they will think something far more dangerous.
Find a Better Position
After holstering, assess your position. Standing over a downed attacker with a gun in your hand is about the worst possible perspective you can present to someone who just drove 80 miles an hour to a shooting call. Move away and find a position that gives you a wider angle on the scene, keeps you visible, puts some distance between you and the attacker and ideally places you near cover.
You’re not fleeing. You’re repositioning to survive the next phase. There’s a meaningful difference, and it matters legally and tactically.
Build the Welcoming Committee
Firearms instructor Massad Ayoob teaches a concept he calls “the three rings of safety,” and it deserves serious consideration. Think of it as concentric circles radiating out from you.
The outermost ring is the 9-1-1 call itself. That call starts the information pipeline. Describe yourself precisely: name, age, build, clothing, etc. Use identifying details that won’t change: “I’m in my 50s, black T-shirt, jeans, hands visible on my white truck.” Clearly establish you were the one who called, that you defended yourself, and you need police and EMS.
The middle ring is what Ayoob calls the welcoming committee. If there is a trusted person near you, such as a spouse, a friend or a store manager, send them to the perimeter to intercept the responding officers before they reach the scene. This person’s job is to repeat your description, confirm who the good guy is and help bring down the officers’ anxiety before they walk into an ambiguous situation. They need to be completely nonthreatening in posture and movement, and they need to know exactly what to say.
The inner ring is you. Your hands should be visible, and your firearm should be holstered or on the ground. You should display a compliant posture. You are going to let those officers control the scene. You may be knocked to the ground. You may be handcuffed and treated roughly. You should expect that. Let them sort it out. Your goal in the inner ring is to stay alive long enough for the truth to surface.
The Halo Effect
There is a cognitive trap that kills good people in these situations. It’s the tendency to think, I know I’m the good guy, so everyone else must see it, too. This is not how it works. Officers rolling onto a shooting scene see a person with a gun standing over a body. That is all they see.
Shake off the halo effect. You are not automatically identifiable as the defender. You have to make them understand that—carefully, without sudden movements and without anything that could be misread as hostility.
Visualize Before You Need It
None of this works if you’re encountering these ideas for the first time when a gun is in your hand and someone is bleeding on the pavement. The time to work through these scenarios is now, sitting at your kitchen table or watching dashcam footage of real incidents. Visualize potential scenarios and think through where you would move, what you would say on the call, and who in your life could serve as a welcoming committee.
The goal is simple: When the worst happens, you don’t want to be the person who says, “This is surreal.” You want to be the person who says, “I knew this could happen, and I know exactly what to do.”
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Federal’s new 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak is supercharging the 6.5 Creedmoor with the company’s Peak Alloy Case Technology.
Changing a single component of a cartridge can make a massive difference. We saw this at the end of the 19th century with the advent of smokeless powder. By simply loading existing cartridges with that instead of the old, low-efficiency black powder, their performance was massively improved overnight. Federal has just done something similar, but with case technology instead of powder.
Federal’s Peak Alloy Case Technology was first introduced to the world with the 7mm Backcountry. While the new cartridge was a massive success and instantly exploded in popularity, its one drawback was that it required new rifles to shoot it. But, it sent a clear message to anyone paying attention: improved case material can allow for the loading of cartridges to higher pressures, and that means more performance. So, Federal has just used that technology to supercharge the well-loved 6.5 Creedmoor with the new 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak. The best part? It doesn’t require new guns. Just about any old, standard 6.5 Creedmoor rifle can shoot 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak. There are a few exceptions, such as CVA break-action models, so consult Federal’s website and your rifle’s manufacturer before shooting it to be safe.
Traditional brass cartridge cases can handle 65,000 PSI of pressure, but Federal’s Peak Alloy cases can handle 80,000 PSI. That extra 15,000 PSI may not sound like a lot, but it is. It allows for dimensionally identical 6.5 Creedmoor cases to be loaded hot enough to produce muzzle velocities that are 300 fps faster than conventional 6.5 CM loads without increasing perceived recoil. That means that 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak ammunition outperforms 6.5 PRC by 100 fps across all barrel lengths while having less kick, too.
The 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak’s impressive performance out of shorter barrel lengths has never been more important, as hunters across the country have overwhelmingly embraced the use of suppressors in recent years. With the added length of a can now in consideration, shorter hunting rifle barrels are almost a necessity. The excellent ballistic performance of 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak out of shorter barrels means that you don’t have to sacrifice terminal effect when you start taking inches off your hunting rifle. The high BC, heavy-for-caliber bullets used in 6.5 CM +Peak will still provide less drop, less drift and ample energy on target at increased ranges.
Federal is initially offering 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak in 130-grain Terminal Ascent and 155-grain Fusion Tipped, but Gold Medal Sierra Tipped MatchKing, Barnes LRX, Berger Elite Hunter and more loads will be coming soon as well. Federal says that 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak is “only the start” of this new era of ammunition technology, and that means the company will probably be using its Peak Alloy cases to revolutionize other calibers down the road as well.
Whether you’re a hunter or a competitive shooter, 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak is a game changer.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 of the best concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
