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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.
CANCON East is back in the Carolinas for another year!
Welcome to CANCON A Fully Suppressed Range Day! The World’s Favorite Suppressed Shooting Festival!
CANCON is back again on the East Coast: Clinton, South Carolina. Join us at The Clinton House, May 8th-9th, 2026 for an action-packed weekend of fully suppressed shooting!
The Clinton House Plantation Shooting Complex is a massive venue and gives CANCON the room we need to expand! Located just 45 minutes south of Greenville, South Carolina, 1 hour north of Columbia, and 2 hours southwest of Charlotte, NC.
More space means more shooting lanes and more sponsors! Find more guns to shoot, more suppressors to test, all for one low ticket price!
Get on the 1,000-yard and 1-mile range and send some lead way, way down range!
Clinton House has tons of FREE onsite parking! Shooting all that free ammo will make you hungry, so stop by the concessions to refuel!
General admission is available Friday and Saturday, May 8th & 9th, $50 per day, or save money and get the entire weekend for just $85!
More information and ticket pre-sales are now available at the CANCON WEBSITE!
Early Access to CANCON from 2PM to 4PM on Thursday May 7th, followed by a catered dinner. Access to CANCON from 9AM to 4PM on May 8th & 9th, plus the legendary VIP Swag Bag!
VIP SWAG Bag from CANCON, Arizona
PROS Vs. JOES, SHIRTS, AND MORE
Returning to CANCON is PROS Vs. JOES! We select a random participant from the crowd to go head-to-head against a seasoned pro shooter. Can an everyday Joe outshoot a Recoil Pro in a high-stakes shooting competition? If they do, they win BIG!
CANCON T-shirts will be available for pre-order and at CANCON! These are high-quality shirts that feel great and look awesome.
CANCON Carolians 2024 shirts, new shirt coming soon!
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Prioritizing four mandatory traits of a concealed carry handgun.
There are hundreds of pistols marketed as being suitable for concealed carry. Choosing one that might be the best option for you can seem daunting, but there’s a method you can employ that is very practical. It involves prioritizing the most important aspects of a concealed carry pistol, which include—in order of importance—carry and concealability, reliability, shootability and effectiveness.
This hierarchy might surprise many who believe effectiveness/ballistics should be most important, so let’s look at each aspect individually and some rules I think should apply.
Ease of Carry & Concealability
If you have a pistol for concealed carry that you find uncomfortable to carry or hard to conceal, you simply will not carry it—no matter how effective it might be. As they say, the first rule of participation in a gun fight is to have a gun.
The compact 9mm pistol has become the most popular for concealed carry because for most it offers the best balance of everything that matters.
For example, few would argue the effectiveness of a 10mm pistol, such as the 6-inch barreled Kodiak from Dan Wesson. After all, it can launch a 180-grain bullet to almost 1,300 fps with double the kinetic energy of the 9mm Luger. But it also weighs more than 50 ounces when fully loaded and is almost 10 inches long.
This Wilson Combat SFX pistol in 9mm is soft shooting and accurate. But, fully loaded, it is heavy and may be too much gun for some to comfortably carry and conceal.
Rule 1: Find the size of pistol you can comfortably carry and easily conceal. Then, assemble your options accordingly.
Reliability
If you are required to shoot your concealed carry pistol to try to keep from becoming un-alive or seriously injured, it must work. It must work for the first shot, the second shot, and every shot thereafter. (I once responded to a shootout behind a bar early one morning and on the ground beside the dead guy was a pistol with a stove-pipe jam.)
Fortunately, most modern pistols from reputable manufacturers are very reliable, but you might discover that you do not interface with a certain pistol very well and that lack of a smooth interface can cause stoppages. You might also find out a specific pistol—no matter how trusted the model—has reliability issues.
Rule 2: Settle for no less than 100 percent reliability from your carry gun when shooting self-defense ammunition.
Shootability
You need to be able to hit what you’re shooting at. Yes, just pointing a pistol at, or shooting at, a bad guy might be enough to make them stop doing bad things. But if that does not work, you’re going to need the bullets you launch to find their mark. You might interface wonderfully well with a specific pistol, and it might never malfunction, but if you cannot hit what you’re shooting at—and you know you can shoot better—it’s not the pistol for you.
Sub-compact pistols can be difficult to shoot fast and accurately, but a compensator like the one on this Wilson Combat P365 2.0 can help without sacrificing ease of carry and concealability.
What you’re looking for is a pistol you can shoot fast and accurately, but it’s hard to give a performance threshold when it comes to shootability, because of the different skill levels of shooters. Consider using a common defensive handgun drill—something like the Forty-Five Drill—to evaluate your abilities with any handgun you’re considering carrying.
Rule 3: If, from 5 yards, you cannot put five shots into a 5-inch circle in 5 seconds with your chosen pistol, it might very well be the wrong handgun for you.
Effectiveness
This is the aspect of defensive handguns that often causes the most worry or disagreements, and it deals with the cartridge more than the pistol. Although, the pistol matters, too, because a particular cartridge might generate a recoil impulse that makes the pistol unshootable for you. The most carried self-defense pistol cartridges are the 9mm Luger, .40 S&W and .45 Auto. Less popular are smaller pistol cartridges like the .22 LR, the .25, .32 and .380 Auto, and the semi-recently introduced .30 Super Carry.
Itty-bitty pistols like this Beretta chambered for the .22 Long Rifle are difficult to shoot with speed and finesse, but you can hide them very comfortably.
In attempting to answer the question of which cartridge is the most effective, the answer is really very simple: It’s the cartridge that’s capable of delivering the largest caliber bullet at the fastest velocity. However, between the three most popular cartridges, and even the .30 Super Carry, the distance between their effectiveness is not as broad as you might think. Given good shot placement, they will all work about the same.
A shooter’s needs vary due to skill and hand and arm strength. Maybe for you a lightweight pistol like this Sig Sauer P322 is all you can manage.
Rule 4: Choose the largest caliber cartridge with the fastest velocity that you can comfortably manage and shoot well, in a pistol that you can carry and conceal reasonably easy.
Starting Your Search
When all these considerations are looked at in totality, the little itty-bitty guns are often avoided because they’re either hard to shoot or because they do not offer optimum effectiveness. Conversely, the big pistols are rarely chosen because they’re very hard to comfortably carry and conceal.
Today, handgun weight is a great classifying metric and the compact handguns—weighing between 24 and 32 ounces—in 9mm Luger have become the most popular. This is because for most people they offer the best balance of carry ease, shootability and effectiveness with 100 percent reliability.
This classification of pistols is where I would suggest most start their search. You might find that a compact pistol in 9mm Luger recoils a bit much for your shooting comfort. Your option then is to step up to a full-size pistol or drop down to a lesser cartridge. If you find a compact 9mm soft shooting, you could opt for a more powerful cartridge that might be more effective or for a sub-compact pistol that could be easier to carry and conceal.
Most shooters trade or upgrade their carry gun in the first few years because they’re either looking for something that fits them better or because they want a better quality or more powerful pistol. There’s nothing wrong with that.
As you learn and become a better shooter, you might go through multiple pistols before you find the one that’s just right for you. However, if you’re just beginning your search or are unhappy with your first purchase, consider these four aspects of a carry pistol and maybe try a compact 9mm, at least as a point of departure.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Optics get dirty, but the Otis Lens Cleaning Kit helps you keep seeing clearly.
These days, it seems most guns are wearing optics. From magnified scopes on hunting rifles to red-dot sights on carry pistols and everything in between. The reality is that if you shoot or even just carry your guns, their optics will eventually get dirty, some a lot sooner than others depending on how you’re using them. Between range practice and daily carry, I noticed that the Holosun SCS on my Glock 26 had gotten pretty nasty, but thankfully getting it clean again was a quick and easy process thanks to Otis’ Lens Cleaning Kit.
The compact kit includes everything you need to clean a dirty lens: a mohair lens brush, a spray bottle of anti-fog lens cleaner, a few anti-fog lens swabs, a lens cleaning cloth and a pack of lens tissues. I’m not entirely convinced that the “lens swabs” aren’t just Q-tips, but that doesn’t matter; they work and aren’t the reason you buy the kit, regardless. Besides, when you run out of the ones provided by Otis, sourcing some more should be pretty easy.
What you buy the Lens Cleaning Kit for is the spray, the premium lens brush and the tissues. Not to mention the convenience of having everything you need in a handy little box.
The cleaning process is easy. First, you wipe off any loose dust and debris with the lens brush, then you give it a squirt of the lens cleaner. A little goes a long way, so the bottle should last a good many cleaning sessions. Next, you clean the surface by gently wiping the lens with one of the cotton swabs before drying any remaining fluid with one of the absorbent lens tissues. The whole process only took a couple of minutes for me to have my Holosun SCS looking as good as new.
The Otis Lens Cleaning Kit has an MSRP of $23.69, and you can usually find it being sold online for decently less than that. For the convenience the kit provides, and how many optics you’ll be able to clean with it before the bottle runs dry, I think it’s well worth that price.
Smith & Wesson has just upgraded its classic defensive snubby with the Bodyguard 38 2.0.
Snub-nose Smith & Wesson revolvers have been a staple of self-defense for a very long time, and one of the go-to models is the Bodyguard 38. While the last incarnation of this revolver has been discontinued, Smith just gave it a facelift and replaced it with the new Bodyguard 38 2.0.
Firstly, let’s talk about what’s stayed the same. It’s still a 5-shot, double-action only .38 Special +P snub-nose revolver. It still has a 1.875-inch stainless steel barrel, and it still features an aluminum alloy upper frame and polymer grip module to keep the weight at a minimum. The base model weighs a scant 14.2 ounces unloaded. Also, it still has the neat center-mounted ambidextrous cylinder release.
The new features of the Bodyguard 38 2.0 may sound insignificant, but they should make a noticeable difference when shooting it. Namely, the sights have been improved. Now, instead of a simple black front post and a rear gutter sight, the 2.0 has a bright orange dot front sight and a U-notch rear sight integrated into the gutter. Secondly, it features an enhanced boot-style grip that should go a long way to help absorb the recoil from defensive +P loads. Finally, the extractor rod has been improved to help kick out cases a bit more smoothly.
Like its predecessor, the new Bodyguard 38 2.0 is available either with (MSRP: $550) or without (MSRP: $450) an integrated Crimson Trace laser.
Want a premium double-stack 9mm 1911? Check out Wilson Combat’s new eXperior Elite Commander.
According to Wilson Combat, the eXperior Elite Commander got its name from mashing the words “excellence” and “superior” together, and it combines refined ergonomics with a large capacity and a performance-driven design. The name may be a bit on the nose, but who cares? The pistol is packed with features and capable of some serious shooting.
Built for extreme accuracy while still being compact enough to carry, the eXperior Elite Commander features a precision-machined 4.25-inch match-grade stainless fluted bull barrel with a flush-cut reverse crown and dual locking lugs. That’s why Wilson Combat guarantees an accuracy of 1.5-MOA at 25 yards, a feat that shouldn’t be hard to achieve thanks to its crisp 3.5- to 4.5-pound trigger and optics-ready slide. Like other Wilson Combat handguns, it uses the company’s adjustable Pin Mounting Platform system that allows for direct-mounting red dots without using adapter plates.
To keep things lightweight, the pistol has an aluminum frame, and it features an accessory rail and an integrated magwell. Capacity is 18+1 rounds of 9mm and each pistol ships with two mags. Other features of the eXperior include TRAK-textured front and backstraps, removable G10 Starburst grips, a concealment hammer, and an ambidextrous thumb safety and magazine release.
The eXperior Elite Commander Double Stack has an MSRP of $4,000 and is available now.
Want to get better at handling the hard hitters? Here are six ways to reduce felt recoil from the bench.
When we shoot from a bench rest, we’re usually sighting in a rifle or testing ammunition. When doing either, it’s important to get the best shot to shot results we can. The problem is that sustained recoil can negatively impact not only your shooting but also your enjoyment. There are some ways you can mitigate felt recoil when shooting from a bench rest, and these techniques become very important when you crawl behind a hard-kicking rifle.
The general consensus among firearms trainers is that most experienced adult shooters can withstand about 20 shots from a bench rest with a .30-06 Springfield rifle without experiencing excessive discomfort or a negative impact on accuracy and precision. The amount of free recoil energy the average .30-06 rifle with a scope will generate is right at about 20 foot-pounds. Of course, some rifles recoil much harder. A .338 Winchester Magnum can generate almost twice as much free recoil energy.
But it’s not always about free recoil energy.
Due to the configuration of some rifles and their lack of a soft butt pad, even lighter recoiling rifles can be uncomfortable to shoot, and too, everyone has different recoil tolerance levels.
Years ago, I purchased a Marlin 1895 Cowboy lever action rifle in .45-70 Government. Based on recoil calculations, that rifle recoiled with just a tad more than 20 foot-pounds of free recoil energy. However, because of the way the rifle was configured with its thin hard plastic butt plate, it was painful to shoot from the bench. Shooting while standing offhand wasn’t bad at all, but after four or five shots off a bench with full-power loads, your eyes would start watering.
Shooting a hard-kicking rifle off hand will not hurt as bad as shooting from a bench because of how you hold the rifle and how your body can rock with the recoil while standing.
If you’re going to be doing a good bit of shooting from a bench rest with a rifle that has a bit of bite, try some of these techniques to help diminish that bite. Individually they all work, but by combining them you can usually make a rifle that’s no fun at all to shoot from a bench at least tolerable enough to allow you to test several loads and/or sight it in.
1: Hold Her With Passion
As soon as a rifle fires, it will begin moving to the rear. If there is a space between the rifle’s butt pad and your shoulder, that movement and impact will enhance recoil pain. This is especially true if the rifle does not have a soft butt pad.
Holding the forend of the rifle in your hand and placing your hand on the front bag can help slightly with recoil control, but wrapping the rifle strap around the front bag is a better technique.
Before you press the trigger, make sure the butt stock is snug against your shoulder—but be careful not to pull the rifle back into your shoulder forcibly. The stress of your muscles will make it more difficult to hold the rifle on target steady.
Make sure the butt pad of the rifle has solid contact with your shoulder, but do not apply extreme force.
2: As Mom Would Say: Sit Up!
When most shooters get behind a rifle positioned on a bench rest, they tend to position the rifle as close to the bench as possible. If you do that and you’re about 6 feet tall, with most benches you will need to lean over to get low enough to place your shoulder on the rifle stock and your eye behind the sights. This position puts more of your body behind the rifle and when the rifle recoils your body will absorb—feel—more of the recoil because your body will not move easily to the rear.
The more erect you can sit behind the rifle, the less unpleasant the felt recoil will seem.
The closer you can sit to an erect position when you shoot from a bench the less you will feel the punch on your shoulder. It more closely replicates shooting from a standing position. A gunsmith I know who builds dangerous game rifles built his test shooting bench high enough to shoot from while standing to limit felt recoil.
3: Get Yourself a Sissy Pad
One of the easiest ways to limit the pain associated with recoil when shooting from a benchrest is to use a sissy pad. These are pads you strap on your shoulder to help mitigate recoil. Caldwell and PAST offer several versions—and they do work. Your range buddies might call you a sissy and rag on you for using one … but just ignore them.
A recoil shield or sissy pad like this one can help reduce felt recoil.
Remember, the reason you’re shooting from a bench is to evaluate ammo or sight in your rifle, and both need to be accomplished with as much precision as possible. You don’t shoot from a bench rest to demonstrate your manhood.
4: Slings Aren’t Just For Shoulders
When I am doing a lot of shooting from the bench with a rifle that has stiff recoil, I like to take the rifle strap and loop it firmly around the top front sandbag(s). This can tremendously reduce the reward force of the rifle during recoil, because the rifle must pull against the weight of the sandbag as it moves to the rear. If you’re using a real sandbag—filled with sand—as opposed to those filled with polymer pellets, this technique works like a lead sled.
By wrapping the sling around the front sandbag(s), it will effectively serve as a recoil restraint without putting undue stress on the rifle.
5: It’s Time to Get a Suppressor
The baffles inside a suppressor redirect and slow the gas produced when a rifle is fired. This, in conjunction with the weight a suppressor adds to the rifle, helps reduce free recoil energy, sometimes by more than 25 percent.
A suppressor can substantially reduce the felt recoil of any rifle.
But when it comes to felt recoil, the reduction can seem even more. With big-bore, hard-kicking rifles, the reduction is very noticeable because big-bore rifles require big, heavy suppressors. For example, the Banish V46 V2 suppressor, which will work on 0.375- and 0.458-caliber rifles, weighs right at 1 pound.
6: It’s OK to Put on Weight
The Caldwell Lead Sled is a mechanical rifle rest that has a cradle for your rifle’s forearm and a pocket for the butt stock. It’s adjustable and holds the rifle reasonably firmly. If you add one or more bags of lead shot to the undertray, it can eliminate a lot of felt recoil. The system, however, is not perfect because you are dramatically altering the way the rifle reacts to recoil … and this can alter your point of impact.
Recoil from rifles shot from the bench feels harder, but it is unavoidable for zeroing and testing ammo.
If you sight in your rifle with a lead sled, you should confirm your zero without it. Also, with extremely hard-recoiling rifles, the lead sled can strain the bedding of the rifle and, in some cases with extensive shooting, cause damage.
A lead sled still has application and is especially useful with new or young shooters who are very recoil sensitive, but if you properly employ the first five techniques a Lead Sled is not necessary.
Don’t Overdo It
All these techniques—individually or combined—can help you make hard kickers more tolerable to shoot. But even with these techniques, some rifles can still be uncomfortable. It’s not just the impact on your shoulder; it can be the sort of whiplash sensation applied to your neck.
One of the best things to do when shooting a heavy recoiling rifle is to shoot in moderation. A sustained pounding is what puts professional fighters on the canvas, and it does little to help you shoot your best.
Physics Lesson: Free Recoil Energy
If you use the internet as a source for recoil calculation, you’ll find various calculators you can plug data into to determine the recoil velocity, recoil energy and recoil impulse of a gun. Ironically, just as two shooters will experience the felt recoil of the same gun differently, these calculators will give you different results—they’ll be close but rarely identical.
But does it matter?
Not really, because none of these calculators will tell you exactly what it feels like to shoot a specific gun with a specific load. Still, because humans are conditioned to rate or score everything by numbers, we want a numerical answer to everything including how hard a gun will kick.
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) sets the specifications manufacturers follow when they make guns and ammo and is a great source for free recoil energy information.
According to SAAMI, the momentum of a free-recoiling firearm is equal and opposite in direction to the momentum of the bullet (or shot charge/slug and wad column) and the propellant gases. Because propellant gases are extremely difficult to weigh, SAAMI equates the propellant gas weight to the powder charge weight.
But SAAMI tempers the velocity of the propellent gases based on gun type. The way the different calculators express the velocity of propellent gases is one reason you’ll see different results from different formulas.
According to SAAMI, the formula for determining the free recoil energy (FRE) of a firearm can be expressed as:
FRE = WF/(2×32.17) ((WEVE + WPCVEf)/(7000 x WF))2
where:
WF = weight of firearms in pounds
WE = weight (in grains of the ejecta—bullet or shot and wad column)
VE = velocity of the ejecta in feet per second
WPC = weight of projectile charge in grains
7000 = conversion factor for grains to pounds
VEƒ = velocity of the propellant gases (VE) multiplied by gun factor (ƒ)
where the value of ƒ =:
High Powered Rifle – 1.75VE
Shotguns (average length) – 1.50VE
Shotguns (long barrel) – 1.25VE
Pistols & revolvers – 1.50VE
Given this formula, a 7-pound high-powered rifle firing a 165-grain bullet with a powder charge weight of 40 grains at a muzzle velocity of 2,700 fps would have 18.26 foot-pounds of free recoil energy (FRE):
I plugged this same data into three online recoil calculators, and the results were: 18.19, 18.2, 18.88, for an average of 18.42 foot-pounds for free recoil energy. You can take the time to work the formula, but that time will be mostly a waste because we’re all going to experience recoil force differently … at least by as much as the varied results provided by online calculators.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Taurus has just launched the RPC, a 9mm PCC with a roller-locked action.
A roller-locked 9mm PCC from Taurus wasn’t on my bingo card this year, but that’s exactly what we’re getting with the RPC. It’s an exciting new option in this increasingly popular class of firearm.
Built on a lightweight yet durable aluminum receiver, Taurus says the RPC is duty-grade and made to NATO standards. The gun’s controls are similar to an AR, so they should be familiar to most, and they’re fully ambidextrous as well. That includes the bolt release/lock and the mag release, and the non-reciprocating charging handle is reversible.
With a barrel length of 4.5 inches and an overall length of 12.2 inches, the RPC is incredibly compact, and it’s pretty light too with a weight of about 4.5 pounds. For mounting accessories, it features a full-length Picatinny rail on top, an M-LOK handguard and a threaded muzzle. It has a quick-change barrel system as well that Taurus says may come into play down the road.
The standard RPC variant comes with a vertical segment of Picatinny rail on the rear of the receiver for attaching braces or stocks, but it can also be ordered with a Strike Industries FSA folding brace preinstalled. It uses 32-round magazines, and two are included with each gun, but they’re unfortunately proprietary. The RPC is offered with 10-round mags as well. Other features include its single-stage flat trigger, use of AR-pattern grips (soft rubber over molded grip included) and three QD sling attachment points throughout.
Bret Vorhees, President and CEO of Taurus USA, said this about the new PCC:
The RPC marks an important step for Taurus as we expand into a new category … It's a platform built to be reliable, easy to use, and adaptable – while staying true to the value our customers expect.
MSRP for the standard Taurus RPC is $940, and is $1,100 for the braced version.
If you carry a Glock 43X or 48, you can now get factory mags with 50 percent greater capacity.
A lot of people enjoy carrying Glock’s Slimline pistols, the 43X and 48, because of their small size. What these guns were always lacking compared to similar micro 9mm concealed carry pistols, however, was capacity. Their 10-round mags certainly pushed many to consider other makes and models, while others relied on aftermarket 15-round magazines to up their capacity. When it comes to the tool you trust your life with, reliability is paramount, and some shooters don’t have faith in anything that doesn’t have a Glock logo stamped on it. Given the company’s reputation for good quality control, that’s understandable. Well, now no compromise is needed, as Glock has just launched factory 15-round mags for the G43X and G48. Oh yeah, and for the G44 too, but increasing your plinker’s capacity isn’t quite as exciting.
To squeeze the extra rounds in the Slimline models, Glock had to ditch the polymer sleeve that their mags typically feature, now sporting bodies made entirely of metal. That said, the new mags also feature a redesigned magazine catch recess that still works with original, standard mag catches.
Existing G43X, G48 and G44 owners will need to purchase the new 15-round mags separately, but the good news for future buyers of those models is that they will now ship with the 15-round mags standard. They’re not available yet at the time of this writing, but some online retailers have the Slimline magazines available to pre-order for around $30 a pop.
These ain’t your kid’s BB guns. They’re powerful enough to take deer. Here we explore the rising trend of air rifle hunting.
I was first introduced to modern-day PCP (Pre-Charged Pneumatic) air rifles a bit over a decade ago by a good friend who built custom air rifles. My buddy had been shooting and hunting with PCP air rifles for several years and had taken many exotics and wild boar in Texas, usually shooting .45-caliber round balls. Years before he began making custom rifles, he had hunted with airguns from some of the early custom big-bore air-rifle makers, such as the well-known custom builder Dennis Quackenbush.
I was fortunate to have an experienced air rifle expert introduce me to these powerful sporting arms. I’ll never forget the first conversation we had. I was interviewing him over the phone for an article I was writing, and our visit went something like this: “Luke, you need to come out and let me show you one of my .45-caliber PCP rifles. You might even want to sit in a blind late in the afternoon and try it out on one of the big boars we have roaming the ranch.”
At the time, I knew these custom air rifles had plenty of power, but enough to kill a boar? I was a bit dubious! I was also full of questions: How do you pressurize the rifle? How many shots do you get per charge? And how effective would it be on game? With his invitation in hand, I was all in from the get-go. I’ve always enjoyed learning about new ways to pursue my lifelong passion for hunting. I had learned to shoot and hunt with everything from a longbow to a flintlock in past years and was excited to experience the power of air compressed to 3,000 psi.
The next morning found myself at my new friend’s ranch, watching him attach a hose to the fitting on the air chamber of his rifle and crack the valve on an air tank. I watched the gauge slowly climb to 3,000 psi. He explained that the charge would deliver five hard shots. We stepped behind his shop to the range. From a solid rest, I fired a 50-yard three-shot group that almost touched, then watched it slowly drop on the target as the air chamber lost pressure. My learning curve with modern air rifles had begun.
Like most kids back in the day, I had cut my shooting teeth on BB guns first, and when I graduated to a .177-caliber pump air rifle, I thought I was really in the big leagues as a hunter. But with these first few shots from a PCP air rifle, I knew I was shooting a powerful weapon. The rifle’s report wasn’t quite as I had expected. The release of 3,000 psi of pressure pushing a 350-grain chunk of lead down the barrel is anything but quiet!
My education in contemporary air rifles continued while attending an outdoor sports show in Waco, Texas. My friend introduced me to John McCaslin, owner of Airforce Airguns, a Fort Worth-based company that had a powerful .22 air rifle on the market named the Condor. McCaslin had an indoor range set up and invited me to shoot his rifle, which looked to me like something out of a Star Wars episode. The tank was actually the rifle’s stock. I could easily see it was well-constructed, and when I nestled the stock against my shoulder, it fit comfortably.
Space was limited inside the building, and the target was set only about 25 feet from the bench. After the first two shots, I thought I had completely missed the target. There was only one hole, and it was not “ragged.” This little rifle was a shooter, and I added it to my must-have list. Back then, there was no air-rifle squirrel-hunting season in Texas, but I knew one was being discussed. The Condor was also available in .25 caliber, which would be deadly on squirrels and rabbits, and possibly foxes and coyotes, at relatively close range.
John invited me to tour his facility, see how the air rifles are made, and spend some time shooting at the range. I was impressed by the rifle’s performance indoors at the sports show, but after shooting at 40 yards on the outdoor range, I was all in. I left the factory with a brand-new Condor, and my love of shooting PCP air rifles was in full bloom. There was some talk about Airforce Airguns releasing the first production big-bore air rifle at the time. I remember thinking that I was experiencing the very beginnings of something big.
I was not wrong. Soon, the company introduced the Texan, a .45-caliber PCP air rifle with pressures topping 3,000 psi and enough power to kill deer-sized game cleanly. I was fortunate to test one of the first 10 Texans. At the time, air rifle hunting was not allowed for deer in Texas, but I put a lot of fresh pork in the freezer with my Texan and even managed to shoot an aoudad, surely a first with an air rifle.
Texas first amended its game laws in 2018 to allow air rifle hunting for squirrels and, later, for big game such as deer, javelina, and turkey. Lawmakers from across the country were learning that today’s big-bore air rifles provide an ethical means of harvesting game. Back in 2008, Missouri was the first state to allow big game to be taken with air rifles, and, through the years, many other states have come on board with regulations allowing game to be taken with them.
The list continues to grow each year as more lawmakers are introduced to the power of air. Each state has adopted its own regulations for the taking of game with both lead slugs and air-powered arrows. (It’s essential to study regulations regarding caliber and air pressure before choosing a rifle for hunting.)
Today’s big-bore air rifles are not only fun to shoot but accurate and powerful enough for deer-sized game.
Getting Started
When I was introduced to PCP air rifles, I was full of questions and rightfully so. I knew very little about them other than the fact that they pressured up to what I thought was an astounding level—3,000 psi at the time was the standard maximum fill. But how were the rifles pressurized? What was the maximum distance I could expect them to produce enough energy to kill the game I wished to hunt cleanly? In the 12 or so years I have been shooting and hunting with them, I’ve learned a great deal.
As hunting editor for Airgun Hobbyist, the only national publication devoted to airguns in the country, I’ve been exposed to most of the major brands, both small caliber and the big bores. As a general rule, PCP air rifles are not available at the big box stores, but several companies offer online shopping and quick shipping. For many years, I have ordered all my airgun supplies from Pyramyd Air, an Ohio-based company I consider a one-stop shop for airgunners. With a map that is kept current on each state’s airgun regulations, a ballistic calculator, and a wealth of other helpful information, the Pyramyd Air website (pyramydair.com) is an excellent source for airgunners.
The result of a successful air rifle hunt near the Brazo River in Texas.
Charging
There are three ways to pressurize PCP airguns: an air tank, a compressor, or a hand pump. Unless you have plenty of time and the desire for a workout that makes Marine Corps boot camp seem like child’s play, I strongly suggest against using the hand pump unless you are young, strong, and wish to get stronger! Many airgunners still use carbon-fiber air tanks, but even with one, a compressor is needed, and it takes a good while to charge a tank with a portable compressor.
A decade ago, compressors were rather costly, and many air rifle shooters went to paintball ranges, local fire departments, and similar places to pressurize their tanks. I remember driving 15 miles to a paintball range to pressurize the one tank I owned. Today, there are plenty of economically priced compressors on the market. I stopped using air tanks several years ago and opted for a portable compressor that runs on both AC and DC. When shooting at a range without electricity, I simply run the compressor off my truck battery or bring a fully charged battery. When hunting, I charge the rifle before the hunt. I seldom need more than two shots on a deer, hog, or exotic game. After a shot or two on a morning hunt, I plug in my compressor back at camp during midday and recharge the rifle before the afternoon hunt.
Small air tanks are available and can be carried in a day pack on a hunt, but I don’t see the need to pack the extra weight. All the big-bore air rifles I hunt with are capable of two or three strong shots on a full charge, and I don’t see the need for more.
Before hunting with a new big bore, I like to measure the drop in pressure with the first four shots. With a charge of 4,000 to 4,500 psi, the bullet drop on the first three shots is minimal; the third shot is always powerful enough to serve as a ‘finishing’ shot on wounded game, but it usually drops 2 to 3 inches. Almost all production big bores today fire that third shot as hard, or harder, as air rifles from a decade or so ago, which were pressured to 3,000 psi.
But looking back through my many years of hunting, how often have I needed a third shot? I don’t recall a single time. Having three or four powerful shots is not only handy for hunting but also when testing for group sizes at the range. It would be a bit inconvenient if the rifle’s air chamber had to be recharged after each shot.
The “Big Guns”
Seneca Dragon Claw II
The author shoots his .50-caliber Seneca Dragon Claw, a conventional-looking big bore that is not only economically priced but versatile, as it takes both slugs and air bolts. He has used this rifle to harvest many wild hogs. While not the most powerful big bore on the market, the Dragon Claw has plenty of power to harvest deer-sized game to 50 yards. Cape buffalo have been killed with “The Claw,” shooting air bolts tipped with broadheads.
The Seneca Dragon Claw II .50-caliber air rifle is one of the best values on the market. It is an improved version of the original Dragon Claw, which has been around for about 15 years and is available in both standard wood-stock and tactical models. I own both and absolutely love shooting and hunting with them. With a 3,000-psi, 500cc fill pressure in the dual air cylinders, the Dragon Claw air rifle is not the most powerful big-bore on the market, but it packs plenty of power to harvest deer-sized game cleanly. I’ve killed a truckload of wild hogs and exotics with my “Claws” through the years.
As a rule, the trigger pull is a bit heavier than most shooters are accustomed to, but once you learn the pressure to apply, it’s not at all unmanageable. I often put six or more shots in a 2-inch group at 50 yards at the range without having to recharge. From the beginning, the Dragon Claw has been a 3,000-psi rifle, and it remains so even in a market where most big bores are pressurized to over 4,000 psi. The trend today is more pressure, but, in truth, air rifles filled to 3,000 psi have accounted for a significant number of exotics and wild hogs long before many of the states made air rifle hunting legal.
I absolutely love stalking close to wild hogs at night with an air rifle topped with a thermal scope, and the Dragon Claw II is a solid, economical rifle for hunters who keep their shots on game relatively close, inside 50 yards. The Dragon Claw II is a dual-purpose rifle: it shoots both slugs and air bolts. Whether you wish to go after your game with a big, 336-grain chunk of lead or an air bolt tipped with a sharp broadhead, the Dragon Claw II deserves a spot in every airgunner’s gun cabinet.
Tex Rex
This past season, I did a good bit of hunting with the .51-caliber Tex Rex by Airforce Airguns. I found the rifle to be solidly built, just like its predecessor, the Texan model, and very accurate. The carbine model I chose is also very maneuverable when hunting from a blind or stalking game in heavy cover. Shooting the 388-grain hollow-points by Nielsen Specialty Ammo (available through Pyramyd Air, pyramydair.com), this big .51-caliber is high on the list of production big bores that pack a punch big enough to harvest the biggest of North American game cleanly.
I hunt wild hogs a lot here in Texas, where I live, and usually shoot them in the neck, aiming just behind the jaw. I hit a solid 225-pound boar through the front shoulder, and the bullet penetrated the thick protective shield, went through the shoulder blade and lodged just under the skin on the off side. While bench testing, the Tex Rex consistently delivered four to five shots that produced 730 ft-lb of energy with the big bullets. The Tex Rex is not the cheapest big bore on the market, but hands down, it’s worth every penny.
The Airforce Airguns line is built to last a lifetime. I still hunt with one of the first .457-caliber Texans the company produced a decade ago, and have taken everything from aoudad to turkeys with it.
Umarex Primal 20
Dusty Vickrey, manager of the Choctaw Hunting Lodge in Oklahoma (owned by the Choctaw Nation), with an oryx taken with his Umarex 20-gauge Primal 20 rifle with a 395-grain sabot slug.
The Primal 20 uses a special 20-gauge slug fitted with a plastic “wad” that seals the barrel. Both the slug and the invector choke installed in the barrel are rifled to ensure excellent accuracy. A 395-grain slug leaving the muzzle at 700 fps generates 430 ft-lbs of energy. The two-shot Primal 20 features a 24-cubic-inch onboard air tank that can be pressurized to 4,000 psi. Filling this tank is easy with the end-mounted Foster Quick disconnect fitting.
Fully ambidextrous, the Primal 20 is an absolute breeze to set up for shooters of either handedness. In an industry first, it offers shooters a true drop safety in addition to the push-through manual safety. I was introduced to the Primal 20 at the Choctaw Hunting Lodge in southeast Oklahoma while hunting with my friend Larry Weishuhn. Larry and lodge manager Dusty Vickrey were on a quest to harvest a broken-horned oryx, a big African antelope weighing about 350 pounds. The bull was running with a herd of about 10 trophy bulls and females, which made the hunt challenging. This was Dusty’s first hunt with an air rifle, and he was unsure of just how much stopping power the big slug would have when pushed with the power of compressed air rather than powder.
Shooting a particular animal out of a herd can be challenging. Each time the targeted bull gave Dusty a clear shot, another oryx was standing directly behind. Finally, the bull broke clear of the herd for an instant, and Dusty eased back on the trigger. The shot was perfect, and Dusty had his first animal on the ground, thanks to his new Primal 20 and the power of 4,000 psi of compressed air.
Air Rifles for Hunting Small Game
The Umarex Komplete is new on the market and is charged with nitrogen canisters that screw into the valve system, just below the barrel and become part of the forestock. I’ve been hunting squirrels with one of these innovative new rifles for several months and found them to be not only accurate but also pack plenty of punch for cleanly taking small game. The Komplete is excellent for both experienced PCP shooters and newcomers alike. Since the power comes from pre-charged nitrogen canisters, there is no need to spend several hundred dollars on a compressor or large air tank; the compressed nitrogen canisters supply the power, and you can expect upwards of 40 shots per canister.
Air rifles chambered in .177, .22, or .25 caliber are ideal for hunting small game such as rabbits and squirrels. There are many fine small-caliber rifles on the market, and I’ve hunted with a good number of them. Air Venturi offers the Avenger in small-bore calibers up to .25 caliber, making it an economically priced rifle for small game or target shooting. Airforce Airguns offers the Condor and TalonSS, both well-built, accurate rifles of the same quality that have earned the company its reputation. The Umarex Komplete is a relatively new small-bore that is pressurized by small nitrogen bottles. I’ve found these little rifles to be highly accurate and a good choice for beginner airgunners without a compressor. Each nitrogen bottle provides about 45 regulated shots, more than enough for a morning squirrel or rabbit hunt.
The Air Venturi OmniStorm is a break-barrel air rifle available in .177 or .22 caliber. It is a power-adjustable single-shot. Thanks to its OmniPiston gas piston powerplant, you can quickly adjust the pressure within the piston to change the power and cocking effort. This is done with the included OmniTuner pump, allowing kids to use the same rifle as their parents with a simple adjustment. Additionally, the OmniPiston is a set-it-and-forget-it system, meaning once you have the gun performing the way you want, it will remain at that setting.
When it comes to adjustment, the OmniPiston powerplant operates from approximately 205 to around 550 psi. Cocking effort increases with pressure, ranging from 25 lbs. on the low end to about 50 lbs. As pressure and cocking effort are increased, so is the velocity and power capability of the rifle. In .177 caliber, 7-grain lead pellets reach speeds between 500 and 1,100 fps, while 11.9-grain .22-cal. lead pellets travel between 500 and 850 fps. The rifle is built around an all-weather synthetic stock and boasts a pair of adjustable fiber-optic sights and an 11mm dovetail rail for the included 4×32 scope. A two-stage trigger and a 19-inch rifled barrel help land accurate shots while an automatic safety prevents unintended discharges. This gas piston rifle is excellent for hunting small game, pest control, teaching beginner fundamentals, or serving as a survival rifle with its own power source.
Biggest Boar with the Umarex Hammer
Some folks are devout deer hunters; others’ dreams are dominated by trophy-class elk. I have, for many years, been ‘eaten up’ with hog hunting. I hunt hogs with big-bore air rifles and absolutely love stalking them up close at night, using my ATN thermal scope to make a good, close shot. I live in the center of some of the best hog hunting in Texas, here in Kaufman County.
On one such hunt, I was leaving a corn feeder I had been hunting at since about 10 pm, when nary a porker had shown up. I drove out of the ranch near my home, stopped at the gate, and glassed a 50-acre wheat field. There, near the middle of the open field, I spotted a boar that I had seen once before during daylight while still-hunting along a thick creekbed during the summer. This was hands down the most enormous boar I have encountered while hunting, weighing close to 300 pounds, which, regardless of what you might have read, is extremely rare in truly wild hogs. The monster boar was throwing dirt 10 feet in the air with his snout as he rooted up the field. I had already seen the destruction he was causing to the field; that’s why I stopped to scan it with thermal.
When I spotted the boar, adrenaline surged, and I forgot I was armed with an air rifle that would give me only one shot at the very close range I hoped to make. There was a stiff north wind blowing, and I eased within 75 yards, downwind. I wanted to drop this big hog in its tracks and planned to shoot it in the center of the neck, just behind the jaw. I closed the distance to 50 yards, and then 35, and the boar never knew I was in the world. I sat down on the ground, set up my shooting sticks, centered the ATN Thor LTV on the hog’s neck, and began the trigger pull. He must have heard me over the strong wind, but I doubt he smelled me.
A millisecond before I got the slack out of the .50-caliber Umarex Hammer, the hog moved a few inches, and the shot centered his left shoulder and angled toward the middle of his body. No doubt the protective shield was at least an inch thick. I watched the bullet kick up dirt on the other side of the boar; the shot had probably taken out one lung. There I sat in the middle of the field, 35 yards from the most enormous boar I’d ever seen in the wild, with no tree to climb or way to escape a charge. Luckily, he ran for the nearby fenceline and, to my dismay, crossed over to property that was strictly off limits.
A couple of days later, I watched a flock of buzzards landing in a dead tree near where the boar went down. I desperately wanted the big boar for photographs, but that was not in the cards.
Had the big chunk of lead hit the center of the boar’s neck, you would be looking at a photograph of a giant boar and one very “pumped” old hog hunter rather than the video. It’s a good reminder that while today’s air rifles are more powerful and capable than ever before, they also provide a new challenge to hunters who want to expand their skills and get close.
Today’s air rifles pack plenty of punch to down the biggest boar in the woods.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Springfield Armory has just announced the Saint Victor PDW, a compact 9mm AR with a 5.5-inch barrel.
The concept of a personal defense weapon, or PDW, originates with militaries looking to arm second-line troops with something small, handy, and easier to shoot than a traditional handgun. Springfield’s new take on the concept is the Saint Victor PDW, and it looks like it will be able to fill its namesake role very well.
Chambered for 9mm, the Saint Victor PDW features a 5.5-inch barrel, a retractable SB Tactical HBPDW pistol brace and a simple but reliable direct-blowback action. It feeds from Colt-pattern magazines and has a standard capacity of 32 rounds.
For mounting accessories, the Saint Victor PDW has a full-length top Picatinny rail for optics, an aluminum free-float M-LOK handguard and a 1/2×28 threaded muzzle. It comes with a hand stop pre-installed on the handguard and an SA Muzzle Drum blast diverter on the barrel, but that could be replaced with a suppressor as long as it has a diameter small enough to fit inside the handguard. Other features of the PDW include an ambidextrous 45-degree short-throw safety, a B5 Systems Type 23 P-Grip, a nickel boron coated flat trigger and a Tungsten Gray finish.
MSRP for the Saint Victor PDW is $1,400 and each gun ships with one magazine and a soft case.
Guns evolve, and here we look at how the saddle carbines of yesteryear have morphed into the brush guns and truck guns of today.
One of the many things we really enjoy doing in our industry is finding excuses to put together new guns for ourselves. Every so often, an existing category pops up with new bells and whistles. It’s usually a little bit wild, and people often take an interest.
Just 10 years ago, the pistols that were commonly available with red-dot optics, lights and built-in compensators were considered exotic, with the concept being dubbed the “Roland Special” after a popular fictional character. Today, those setups are everywhere, and nobody bats an eye.
Another popular class of arms that has grown in the past few years is the “truck gun,” a concept that started with the uniquely American “brush gun,” itself a very wide category.
So, let’s look at brush guns and their derivatives, as well as a common set of myths regarding the category and theory of use.
Brush Gun Origins
Brush guns have something of an interesting history. Based on the research I have committed to this topic, it’s very regional and somewhat culturally diverse. Truck guns, what you could call a modern derivative of the brush gun, occupy effectively the same space that this particular class of arms has for centuries. Effectively, all of these owe their heritage to saddle carbines.
The common theme for all of these is the fact that they are shoulder-fired rifles designed to be compact for mounted use and offer benefits over a handgun for dismounted use.
If you look back into our history, one of the most common elements of the armed American is our habit of moving around with our weapons. America has a very unique relationship with transit and the ideas surrounding it. Something about it calls to our deeper selves, and there is a romance about it. However, that romance is also rooted in inherent risk: Taking the wrong one can often have unknown dangers.
It is the general unknown of the road that leads us to this fear of the unknown. You read the news saying to yourself, “Maybe they wouldn’t have gone missing if they had a gun.”
The roots of American culture are forever founded in frontier expansion. As a people, it’s who we are. And due to the vast nature of our country, we’ve always had a relationship with horses, trains and innovations that necessitated arms that fit our lifestyles … which has continued into the modern era.
The formative brush guns of the 1800s came about as repeating rifles, typically lever actions. These were saddle guns that were fast to deploy and often shared ammunition with a sidearm. This base concept of a fast moving, lightweight, repeating rifle is something that has continued to carry over for us. At the time, however, this was people using the best technology they had; they weren’t coming up with guns with the idea that it would be talked about for 150 years.
A custom Henry in .45 Colt, a short-range rifle for sure, but a great option if you’re looking for something quiet. Axe by Wolf Valley Forge, knife by Architect Knives.
Now, there are a variety of things that should be addressed regarding this topic because our modern brush guns are often considered to be “big bores.” However, back when this technology was first emerging, there wasn’t a great deal of what we would consider to be small-bore center-fire rifles available, and once there was, bore sizes did shrink quite a bit. The .45-70, while always remaining steady, was not until somewhat recently considered to be an ideal brush gun caliber.
Rounds like .30-30 Winchester and other bottlenecked, high-velocity (for the time) cartridges were definitely preferred for heavy cover. Even back in the old days, people liked to have flat trajectories … and that hasn’t changed until recently as we look back, instead of forward, for inspiration.
Whether or not it’s apparent, the brush gun concept is severely outdated, and, today, the utility isn’t backed by any sort of fact other than nostalgia being a valid reason to have fun.
The Evolutionary Tree of Handy Rifles
In general, the distinctive brush gun that we know today is generally considered to be a medium range, big-bore repeating rifle. Truck guns, what you would likely consider the next evolution of “compact American transportation weapon,” is a more linear transition from the original saddle carbine intent. The original brush guns were high tech for their time; the Winchester repeater was state-of-the-art during its day.
Today, truck guns represent that same spirit, usually in the form of SBR-style centerfire rifles with detachable magazines. Most typically, these are chambered in 5.56 NATO, .300 Blackout or 7.62x39mm. It’s less common to find larger rounds, like .308 Win. or 6.5 Creedmoor, in truck guns.
Brush guns have taken on a much more uniform set of features lately. These being lever-action rifles with short barrels, typically in .30-30 Win., .45-70 Govt., .360 Buckhammer, .44 Rem. Mag. and .357 Mag., with the latter being less ideal given a dramatically reduced effective range. There are people, including myself, who argue these are marketing parameters the industry seems set on promoting rather than a distinct subgroup.
Who would win: .45-70 or a small branch? Don’t underestimate a twig’s ability to cost you a trophy buck because you thought it could make it through.
Branding and repeated tropes are being used to define this category, but since there is no strict definition, I want to examine what counts and what doesn’t. Lever guns have become very popular in the last few years, but I remain on the fence about their realistic utility compared to other options.
Brush guns are generally considered to be of big bore and short range, but what’s considered “short range,” and why do they need to have a big bore? What does big bore even mean?
Thirty-caliber isn’t, by common consensus, considered a big bore, yet the .30-30 Winchester is a common option for “brush busting.” Do they need to be intentionally handicapped in power and capacity to fit this definition, or does an M14 count? And, does it need to be a lever action? Lever actions aren’t superior to bolt guns or semi-autos. In fact, I’d argue they are severely inferior by a wide margin on virtually all criteria. Accuracy, capacity, reliability, reloading speed and ease of carrying ammunition are all against them.
Now, factor in that none of these common brush gun chamberings are as effective as .308 Win. or .30-06 at any barrel length. Well, you see where I’m going with this.
So, then, what is considered “medium range?” On man-sized targets, and we’re assuming up to deer-sized game, the effective range of a .30-30 is arguably better than larger bores. Again, .30-30 was very advanced for its day. You can take shots past 300 yards, but it’s more about the setup of the gun than the potential accuracy of the cartridge.
Rounds like .450 Bushmaster and most straight-walled cartridges are usually 200-ish-yard propositions due to their steep bullet drop. Most of these rounds are fine at modest hunting distances, but rounds like .357 Mag. and .44 Mag. are going to struggle past 100 yards. The closer the better for these guys.
The .450 Bushmaster, something of a Cooper brainchild in that it adheres to his somewhat iffy “Thumper” concept, is a very common short to medium range hunting cartridge. The author has dropped countless deer with it. His advice: Get close and stay out of the close cover. The .450 is easily deflected.
Taking our M14 and adding a red-dot optic on a scout rail, we’re effective from zero to 800 yards easily, even more with a magnified optic. Plus, it’s more powerful than most “brush” chamberings with less recoil and greater magazine capacity.
So, if that’s the case, is a traditional brush gun an intentionally bad idea or just dated? I think that there is a missing link in the brush/truck gun narrative … and that is the scout rifle. It has the DNA we’re looking for, but it doesn’t fit neatly into either other category. However, it delivers the best of all worlds—short, light, fast and powerful with good magazine capacity.
A visual comparison of loading speed and capacity. On the left, an M14 magazine with 20 rounds—self-contained and changed in one set of steps. On the right, we have a five-round AICS magazine common in many scout rifles—again, a quick and compact means of reloading quickly. Compare this to six rounds of .360 Buckhammer for lever guns. It takes as long to load one round of this into a lever gun as a whole mag change for these other magazines—something to consider. Highland Hatchet by Winkler Knives.
Jeff Cooper’s scout rifle was designed as a set of parameters to create a fantastic all-purpose rifle that could be used for survival, fighting or hunting. While he had his own definitions, the scout concept has evolved since Cooper has gone. Today, it encompasses a variety of rifles in full-power calibers, such as .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor, that offer superior ballistic performance to most anything you’re going to find in traditional lever-action chambers.
Unlike truck guns or brush guns, the scout concept was heavily defined and narrow in scope, but many common brush guns have borrowed scout features due to their effectiveness. I’d say that the brush gun concept is only relevant today because of the known relevance of the scout rifle concept and how those two have intermingled.
Light, fast bolt actions are a great option across the board for truck, brush and scout rifles. Here is a Faxon FX7 build in a KRG chassis.
Beating the Brush
Brush gun lore has led to something akin to survivorship bias. Back in the old days, people just used what they had. Sporting rifles from generations back typically consisted of lever-action platforms because that’s simply what was available and what people thought they needed at the time. Because we live in a time where we’re actively resurrecting models of old guns and revisiting these concepts in an attempt to modernize them, we simply cannot break away from what is believed to be historical precedent.
The modern lever action, as the base of the brush gun category, is an anachronism. There have been better options for generations, yet people continue to buy marketed brush guns because they are led to believe that they are better in the brush. Again, there is absolutely no factual basis for this whatsoever.
While this might surprise you, brush guns are not better in the brush. Larger bullets do not deflect through foliage or brush any better than smaller bores. In general, in my own testing, I have discovered just the opposite. The takeaway that I have is that there is no such thing as a gun that is good in the brush. There is also no such thing as thick or thin foliage; it’s all foliage and will cause bullets to deflect.
Now, if you want to get into the weeds on this topic, even grass and leaves can divert a bullet’s trajectory. There was a good amount of discussion on this topic, although it’s somewhat dated now, that took place during the Vietnam era. There were attempts to create projectiles that did better through foliage, but the short version of this story is that shotguns with nail-like flechettes tended to do well at close range. There’s no real conclusive evidence I’ve seen that says the military ever arrived at a conclusion for rifles and machine guns.
The M193 cartridge does indeed perform poorly in very thick vegetation—this much is true from the issues had by soldiers using it in the jungle. The jury, however, is out on if the larger 7.62mm rounds did any better or worse.
Bullet shape has as much to do with it being “better” in the brush as mass and speed. Unsurprisingly, bullets with narrow meplat diameters do better.
One of the conclusions that I have come to is that velocity and bullet shape matter quite a bit, with mass playing a secondary role. Bullets moving at speeds over 2,500 fps and of .30-caliber tend to be the best. The 175-grain .308 Winchester is, in my experience, the most effective at avoiding significant deflection in brush; the 6.5 Creedmoor and .30-06 are also quite good.
The best brush busters are modern, high(er) velocity bottlenecked cartridges. The 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Win, .30-06, and .300 Win Mag are extremely good in a bad situation. Knife by Winkler Knives.
Testing handgun cartridges in brush is again sort of pointless. I will say that there aren’t many, if any, good ones. Velocity is not on the side of any handgun cartridge.
Pistol rounds, even out of rifles, aren’t very good at getting through brush.
No Right Answers
Because our country is so vast, every region is going to have a firearm solution that makes the best sense for them. Here in Michigan, I’m limited to straight-wall cases for most of my fieldwork, and these cartridges are at a pretty severe disadvantage against bottlenecked cases. What you keep handy should fit what adventures you plan on having … and what dangers may be waiting for you.
Either way, the brush gun, truck gun and scout rifle all have unique ties to our culture, and there are happy mediums across all categories. The silver lining is that you can define what you need, be it in your saddle scabbard or the backseat of your F-150.
The Author’s Top Brush Guns
As you might’ve gleaned from this article, I’m a big fan of maximizing potential. My number one brush gun would be an M14-type rifle with a forward scout rail. You can whip up your own or get a version of this from places like Fulton Armory or Springfield Armory. In my testing, the .308 Win. showed to be one of the better options working in cover. The rifle itself is lightweight and fast handling, can be loaded by stripper clips from the top if necessary … and has very little recoil.
Ruger’s Scout rifle series, including their newest generation, offers a wide range of handy features, reliable feeding and a large number of chamberings. Their original Scouts are still highly desirable and offer virtually all the features important to Cooper. Marlin, now under Ruger, offers a wide range of lever-action rifles suitable as brush guns, scout rifles and truck guns.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Steiner has just released the MPS-C, a compact version of the enclosed MPS red-dot sight.
Pistol optics are strongly trending toward enclosed designs, and for good reason. They simply offer more protection for the emitter than open designs, and that means better reliability, something that’s pretty important for any tool you plan on using to protect yourself. One of the latest enclosed red-dot options on the market is the MPS-C from Steiner.
You know you can trust it, as it features the same internal design as Steiner’s full-size MPS enclosed sight, the MPS-C is just smaller. It mounts via an RMSc footprint and at a minuscule size of 1.46×1.27×1.08 inches and a weight of just 1.13 ounces, it’s perfect for concealed carry. Despite that, Steiner built the aluminum housing to be tough, and its reinforced sidewalls should keep it protected from impacts. Also, for being small, it has a good-sized 20x16mm viewing window.
The MPS-C has a 1.6-MOA red-dot for a reticle, and the sight features 10 manually adjustable daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings. It’s powered by a CR1632 battery that can provide 46,125 hours on the lowest brightness setting and 13,000 hours on the medium setting. The shake-awake feature will majorly help prolong the lifespan as well.
The Steiner MPS-C has an MSRP of $575 and it’s available now.
Heckler & Koch has just launched a micro-compact version of the VP9 called the VP9CC.
The Heckler & Koch VP9 family of 9mm polymer-framed pistols has a new member, the VP9CC. Made in Oberndorf, Germany, the VP9CC is a micro-compact designed for concealed carry.
Based on the proven full-size VP9 pistol, the scaled-down VP9CC has most of the same features and should be just as reliable but in a more concealable package. To ensure a good fit across a wide variety of shooters, each pistol comes with six different interchangeable backstraps, and each gun also ships with one flush-fit 10-round mag and an extended 12-round mag so you can choose between maximum concealability and a larger grip with a greater capacity.
Also, as an optics-ready pistol, the VP9CC has a proprietary deep slide cut plate mounting system that allows for co-witnessing standard-height iron sights. Speaking of iron sights, the pistol has a tritium front and a black serrated rear. Other features include patented HK charging supports on the rear of the slide for easy racking, an ambidextrous slide release, an ambidextrous paddle magazine release and a Picatinny accessory rail.
HK Director of Sales & Business Development Nathan Scheuth said this about the new carry pistol:
The best thing about the VP9CC is it is simply a micro-compact VP9, our most successful, best-selling pistol family … While the size is new, the design is not. You can trust it to perform like an HK.
The VP9CC has an MSRP of $1,050 for the base package or $1,400 for one that comes with a Vortex Defender-CCW enclosed red dot sight pre-installed. Each version is also available either with one 10- and one 12-round mag, or with two 10-round mags for ban states.
When it comes to modern shotgun shells, science beats size all day long.
The 3.5-inch shotgun shell has long been marketed as the ultimate answer for hunters who believe that more power automatically translates into more success. Introduced as a way to push heavier payloads at high velocity, it promised longer range and denser patterns, particularly for waterfowl and turkey hunters seeking an edge.
But in today’s hunting landscape, advances in ammunition design, shotgun technology and a deeper understanding of effective range have rendered the 3.5-inch shell unnecessary.
Simply put, the 3.5-inch shell needs to die.
History of the 3.5-Inch Shell
In the 1970s, there was a large push for lead ammunition to be banned. Specifically, this ban was focused on people hunting over water, as it had a negative impact on our waters and the fish and birds that utilized those waters. It took some time, but in 1991, lead was officially banned for waterfowl hunting.
Companies like Federal Premium Ammunition and O.F. Mossberg & Sons were already preparing for the changes, and, in 1988, the two companies teamed up by introducing the Mossberg 835 Ulti-Mag pump shotgun, which allowed for 3.5-inch shells available from Federal Premium. The pitch was straightforward: More room in the hull meant more pellets or more powder, resulting in either denser shot patterns or higher velocities.
At the time, this made sense. Steel shot replaced lead for waterfowl hunting due to environmental regulations, and early steel loads were less dense and less effective at longer ranges. Hunters felt underpowered. The 3.5-inch shell was positioned as the solution to compensate for steel’s lower density by simply throwing more of it downrange.
But times have changed, and ammunition has evolved.
Modern Ammunition
Today’s ammunition is dramatically different from what was available when the 3.5-inch shell gained traction. Advances in wad design, shot composition and buffering have improved performance across the board. High-density materials, such as tungsten-based alloys, have revolutionized shotgun effectiveness.
Companies like Federal Premium Ammunition, Hevi-Shot, Apex Ammunition and Winchester Repeating Arms now produce 3-inch shells loaded with tungsten super shot (TSS) or other dense materials that outperform traditional 3.5-inch steel loads in both energy retention and pattern density. Because tungsten is significantly denser than steel, smaller pellets can be used without sacrificing lethality. That means more pellets in the same payload, and more effective hits on target.
In practical terms, a modern 3-inch TSS load delivers better performance than a 3.5-inch steel magnum. The extra half inch of hull simply isn’t necessary anymore.
Recoil Is Bad
One of the most obvious drawbacks of the 3.5-inch shell is recoil. Physics simply do not lie: More powder and heavier payloads generate more kick. Even in semi-automatic shotguns designed to mitigate recoil, 3.5-inch shells produce punishing levels of force compared to 2¾- or 3-inch loads.
This recoil affects more than comfort: It reduces shooter confidence, slows follow-up shots and can contribute to flinching, especially among younger or newer hunters. In a sport that relies heavily on instinctive shooting and smooth follow-through, excessive recoil is a liability. It also increases the risk of a new shooter not continuing with the sport, as they see shooting as punishment rather than reward.
To put things into perspective, the approximate free recoil energy felt is as follows. A 2 ¾-inch steel load puts out about 26 ft-lb of recoil, a 3-inch steel load puts out about 32 ft-lb of recoil, and a 3.5-inch steel load puts out about 44 ft-lb of recoil.
If you’re more of a rifle enthusiast, imagine roughly double the amount of kick felt over a .30-06. That’s not subtle; it’s significant. Let’s also factor in recoil velocity, which is how fast the gun moves rearward.
The jump in recoil velocity from a 3- to a 3.5-inch shell is about 30 to 40 percent, depending on the specific load being sent downrange. What does that mean? It means that your shoulder might hate you after shooting 3.5-inch loads all day.
Shotguns chambered for 3.5-inch shells are often heavier to accommodate the longer receiver and thicker barrel walls required for the increased pressure. While this can help absorb some recoil, it also results in a bulkier firearm that is less nimble in the field. Studies have shown that carrying a heavier shotgun in the field increases fatigue and shortens the length of time the hunter spends afield.
Diminishing Returns
The central argument for the 3.5-inch shell has always been range and pellet count. But shotgun ballistics impose natural limits. No matter how much shot you cram into a shell, pellet energy decreases rapidly with distance due to air resistance. The difference in effective range between a well-patterned 3-inch load and a 3.5-inch load is often marginal, sometimes only a few yards. Ethical hunting depends more on proper shot placement and realistic range estimation than on brute force.
In turkey hunting, for example, many experienced hunters have transitioned back to lighter loads because modern choke systems and dense shot types deliver tight, lethal patterns without the need for magnum recoil. A carefully tuned 3-inch tungsten load through a high-quality choke out of a small-bore shotgun often performs just as well or better than a 3.5-inch load.
What About Cost?
There is also a financial argument to be made. Shotguns chambered for 3.5-inch shells typically command higher prices. The ammunition itself is more expensive, and the additional wear on firearms can increase long-term maintenance costs. When a 3-inch load can achieve similar or better performance, the additional cost of 3.5-inch capability becomes difficult to justify. Hunters are essentially paying for theoretical advantages that rarely translate into meaningful real-life gains.
Some could make the argument that tungsten ammunition is even more expensive than 3.5-inch loads, but when you factor in the wear and tear on your firearm, and the environmental impacts, it’s easily justifiable.
Game and Ethical Considerations
The marketing of the 3.5-inch shell often encourages a mindset of “more is better.” But ethical hunting is not about maximizing power; it’s about maximizing effectiveness within reasonable limits.
The illusion of extended range can tempt hunters to take longer shots than they should. Even if a 3.5-inch shell delivers slightly more pellets at 50 yards that does not make 50 yards an ethical or reliable distance for most shooters. Pattern degradation, wind drift and target movement remain significant factors.
For turkey hunters, the introduction of TSS completely rendered the 3.5-inch shell useless. With most modern turkey hunters running-and-gunning after wary, pressured gobblers, smaller and lighter is better. TSS patterns very well, increases lethal range and produces less kick. And, when you factor in that most turkey hunters shoot less than a box of shells in a season, the cost is a non-issue.
With waterfowl, the argument can get a little tougher. Hardcore waterfowl hunters are measuring the amount of shells shot in cases, not boxes, so cost is a consideration. But you don’t have to break the bank on TSS; you can shoot modern 3-inch steel that’s simply better.
Federal Premium’s Raptor Steel or Kent FastSteel, when teamed with a good choke, will outperform any standard 3.5-inch steel load on the market. Hevi-Shot offers other options like copper and stacked alloys that perform much better than steel. These options come at a far lower cost than tungsten and are still better than any 3.5-inch steel offering.
In many cases, the confidence inspired by a powerful shell may actually reduce ethical discipline.
The Rise of Small-Bore Efficiency
Perhaps the strongest indictment of the 3.5-inch 12-gauge shell is the rise of high-performance sub-gauge loads. With tungsten-based shot, even the .410 has become a legitimate option for turkey hunters, and a 20-gauge is a completely viable option for waterfowl hunters.
A modern 20-gauge, 3-inch TSS load can deliver pattern densities that rival or exceed traditional 12-gauge 3.5-inch steel loads, while producing far less recoil. If a smaller gauge can match the performance of the biggest mainstream 12-gauge offering, the argument for the latter weakens considerably.
In fact, many hunters are downsizing their shotguns to improve handling and reduce fatigue, relying on superior ammunition technology rather than brute force.
TSS has completely changed how we look at things such as pellet counts and terminal velocity. A 3-inch .410 shell containing No. 9 TSS can contain about the same number of pellets at a 3.5-inch lead load. While each pellet is smaller in the .410 shell, TSS retains velocity far better and penetrates more effectively due to its density. The TSS load will routinely produce more lethal patterns at 50 yards, out of a lighter gun, with far less recoil. Choosing the smaller bore seems like a no-brainer.
Limitations of 3.5-inch Shotguns
Not all semi-automatic shotguns cycle 3.5-inch shells reliably without tuning. Some shooters report increased fouling, cycling issues or sensitivity to load variations. Pump-action shotguns handle them more consistently, but the added length can make the action feel slightly slower.
The longer receiver required for 3.5-inch shells can also affect balance. While subtle, this can matter in fast-paced shooting situations, such as waterfowl hunting.
And for what? A marginal increase in pellet count that modern ammunition science has largely made irrelevant.
Marketing Versus Reality
The 3.5-inch shell thrives more on perception than necessity. It represents the upper limit of what the 12-gauge can handle, and there is undeniable appeal in owning the “most powerful” option.
But firearms history is filled with examples of maximum-power offerings that eventually fell out of favor as more efficient alternatives emerged. Power without proportion rarely survives long-term scrutiny.
The same forces that made black powder obsolete, replaced fixed chokes with interchangeable systems and ushered in high-density shot materials are at work here. Efficiency, comfort and precision are replacing sheer volume.
The reality is that pellet count doesn’t always equate to better results. If we think of the initial marketing push, using 3.5-inch steel BB as our example for killing geese at longer range, we can break down the numbers and show that it’s not what we all thought we were getting.
A 3-inch steel BB shell contains approximately 79 pellets, and a 3.5-inch steel BB shell contains about 93 pellets. So, the 3.5-inch shell gives us 14 extra pellets, which is roughly a 17 percent increase in pellet count. That sounds good, right? That’s if we’re assuming that the patterns are identical, which is rarely the case, as larger payloads often make for longer shot columns and deformation.
We can’t forget the 30 to 40 percent increase in felt recoil.
Current marketing should be on the side of “more power isn’t always better.”
Yesterday’s Problem
The 3.5-inch shell was created to solve a legitimate issue: early steel shot’s poor performance compared to lead. At the time, throwing more steel made sense. The 3.5-inch steel loads, upon release, were groundbreaking and solved a real issue for hunters.
Today, we have better steel, better wads, better chokes and access to high-density alternatives that far outperform any 3.5-inch offering. The technological landscape has changed, but the 3.5-inch shell remains largely the same, a brute-force solution in a precision era.
Its continued presence in the market is simply unnecessary.
Conclusion
The 3.5-inch shotgun shell is not useless. It still works, and it still harvests game. But obsolescence does not require total failure, it simply means being surpassed by better solutions.
Modern 3-inch loads deliver comparable or superior performance with less recoil, lower cost, lighter firearms and improved shooter confidence. Advances in shot composition and pattern control have eliminated the need for excessive payloads. Ethical hunting practices emphasize effective range and shot placement over raw pellet count.
In a world where ammunition science has advanced dramatically, the 3.5-inch shell stands as a relic of an earlier era, of a time when more seemed like the only answer. Today, smarter, not bigger, wins every time.
For those reasons, the 3.5-inch shotgun shell should die—not because it cannot perform, but because it no longer needs to.
Field Notes: Predator Hunting
Initially, 3.5-inch shells weren’t marketed for predator hunters, but those in the know found them to be of great use. For many predator hunters, the 3.5-inch loads were a big deal, game-changing in the early ’90s. It gave them a few extra pellets to throw at a predator that came in tight … too tight for a clear rifle shot. A few 3.5-inch 12-gauge BBB or T-shot shells were probably laying around in many predator hunter’s bags, and before the introduction of modern predator loads, they were considered to be the top choice for most shotgunning predator hunters.
Modern technology changed that. Hevi-Shot introduced the Dead Coyote loads in 2008, designed specifically for predator hunting with high-density 12 g/cc pressured tungsten pellets. Dead Coyote 3-inch 12-gauge 00 Buckshot has incredibly dense patterns and is lethal out to 70 yards on everything from fox and coyotes to bobcats and hogs.
Other manufacturers have jumped on board with premium 3-inch offerings. Apex has the TSS Predator loads, Winchester has the Varmint X, and Hornady has the Heavy Magnum Coyote. All of them are viable options that outperform anything in the 3.5-inch arena.
Just one more reason for 3.5-inch shells to die.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Check out the latest piston-driven AR to hit the U.S. market, the IWI ARAD 5.
Israel Weapon Industries‘ ARAD 5 has finally landed in the United States! Developed in 2019, the ARAD 5 is a short-stroke piston AR designed for modern users. Taking some notes from the HK 416 platform, the ARAD 5 has a lot of features that make it stand out from the sea of black rifles normally seen.
Features
Semi-Monolithic Upper: Enables the use of varied optics and thermals while maintaining a rock-solid zero.
Modular Handguard: M-LOK rails at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions for maximum versatility.
IWI QD CamLok System: Features the same fast, easy barrel-change retention system found in the world-famous Tavor X95 and Tavor 7.
Short-Stroke Gas Piston: A highly dependable system with a 2-position gas regulator, ensuring reliability across environments and suppressed/unsuppressed configurations.
MIL-SPEC AR-15 Lower Receiver
American-Israeli Rifle
Everything about the ARAD 5 is a mix of American and Israeli. From design to manufacturing, this is a mutt of a rifle. The barrel blank, lower receiver, and lower internal parts are all made in the United States. The piston system, gas block, barrel extension, and upper receiver parts are imported from IWI in Israel.
Good news, this means this rifle doesn’t run into any weird importation laws. Bad news, this kind of leaves the American ARAD 5 as the slightly watered-down version of the ARAD.
The ARAD has found a home with several governments and top-tier units around the world, and those contract rifles feature a CHF Chrome Lined barrel and full-ambi lower receiver. But the American ARAD 5 uses a MIL-SPEC AR-15 receiver with no ambi controls and a 4150 CMV barrel.
While the barrel material difference isn’t a huge deal, the lack of chrome lining is notable for longevity, especially in this FRT/FRS world. Missing out on the ambi-lower is a major bummer, but at least the MIL-SPEC lower is fully parts compatible with other standard AR-15 parts.
That said, the most important bits of the ARAD are still here. Short-stroke piston, thick barrel, adjustable gas block, semi-mono handguard/upper receiver, and the IWI QD CamLok system for the barrel.
Internal Changes
Differences between the ARAD and a normal AR-15 are easy to spot on the outside, but the inside is more interesting (at least to me). One look at the BCG and it’s obvious that this isn’t what you’re used to seeing.
ARAD 5 on top, Walker Defense Research AR-15 BCG on bottom
Nearly all modern military black rifles share some common parentage. The AR-15, AR-18, and HK 416 can be seen in one form or another almost everywhere. The ARAD BCG is no exception. Thicker, rounded bolt lugs, spring-loaded firing pin, oversized firing pin, BCG safety lever, and dual ejectors make the ARAD 5’s BCG a non-standard and very robust system.
Range Time
This pre-release ARAD 5 didn’t have much time to see the range, so long term testing will have to wait. But so far, this is a solid rifle. Weight is heavy and balanced to the front, not surprising with a piston rifle. Handguard feels incredible and rock solid. Wider on the bottom than most handguards, this gives a more connected feel when shooting off a bag or prop.
B5 Systems buttstock and grip are often what get added to my personal rifles, so these feel right at home for me.
The magazine that shipped with the ARAD 5 isn’t the standard Gen 2 PMAG we’re used to seeing paired with almost every other AR-15 on the market. Instead, IWI classed it up by sending the PMAG M3 Windowed magazine. This 3rd-generation PMAG has some improvements that make it a better magazine overall, plus the addition of the window for easy round counting.
Today’s red-dot sights are a far cry from those of yesteryear, which wasn’t all that long ago. We’ve come a long way fast.
History is fascinating. A look into the past often feels like shaking hands with someone long dead. Some inventors were ahead of their time with an intellectual panache limited only by their place in history. Like da Vinci’s helicopter, their inventions could not get off the ground without supporting technology. The history of the red-dot sight or optical sight is long and filled with brilliant inventors and inventions.
The optical sight was well on its way when mankind first began to grind glass, and with Sir Isaac Newton’s optical experiments. Practical innovation led to the first reflex sights around 1900. The problem addressed by the reflex sight was speed and accuracy with iron sights. While very accurate and well-designed iron sights were in practical use before 1900, they required extensive training to be effective.
One example was the Buffington rear sight used on the U.S. 1873 Springfield rifle. With graduated adjustments to 2,000 yards and an azimuth knob, the Buffington sight allowed real precision. But the basic problem of iron sights remained. The eye must focus on the front sight, keeping it sharp in focus. The rear sight was slightly blurred, and the target was not in sharp focus. This allowed for excellent accuracy, especially in the hands of trained marksmen.
However, not all the training was that good, and not all the rifles were that accurate. Long-range rifle fire was important at the time. The development of telescopic sights led to the creation of specialized snipers in every army by World War I. The reflex sight originated in 1900, according to patents by Howard Grubb. His 1901 patent shows a similarity to modern designs.
The 1901 patent diagram illustrates a relatively compact instrument compared to similar designs for cannon and artillery. I collect old cameras, and the optical similarities between some of the lenses and aiming devices are interesting. All are optics.
The Grubb sight used outside lighting; there was no battery. Light bounced into the sight through a relay mirror, then off a curved collimating mirror. The sight was apparently designed to compete with telescopic sights. At the time, telescopic sights were far less developed than today. Parallax error and low eye relief, as well as a small field of view, were the norm for telescopic sights. Then and now, a shooter pressing too close to the telescopic sight would get a crack across the brow when the rifle fired. A reflex sight with its unlimited eye relief does not share this defect.
The original Grubbs sight.
By design, the reflex sight is best suited for shorter-range use. At the time, this was a shortcoming. Changing conditions of war revised the military’s outlook and made short-range optics viable for wartime use.
In the Grubb sight, natural light projects a fine beam onto glass. Grubb wrote that his sight was designed to align with the bore axis and allow accurate shooting. Grubb sights were not widely used, but they were an important step. As design progressed, the reflex sight was adopted for aircraft and anti-aircraft gun use more often than on firearms. The speed and accuracy of the type were recognized as advantages. With their single aiming point, the reflex sight was a significant advantage in fast-moving situations.
In the 1930s, considerable advances were made. The British realized that 300 mph engagement in fighter plane duels left no room for error and little time to land a heavy blow on the enemy. The eight-gunned Hurricane and Spitfire fighter planes demanded an advanced aiming device. The French and British developed reflector sights for fighter aircraft. If you have seen the classic Battle of Britain cinematic masterpiece, you saw these sights. In one scene, a pilot desperately tries to replace the bulb illuminating the sight. These sights featured gyroscopes in later versions to account for speed and angle of attack.
In the American adaptation, the N-series sights had two reticles. One was to identify the direction the guns were pointed; the other was to predict the impact. (Consider the Primary Arms Vulcan reticle a modern development on more or less the same theory.) These were highly advanced sights, far superior to anything the Axis countries had, and changed the face of aerial combat. By 1947, small arms sights with batteries were beginning to be designed. They were miniaturized for aircraft use to improve viability.
So, do we owe the popularity and development of modern red-dot sights to military developments, including aircraft sighting systems? Yes, we do. The advantage of the reflector sight is that the shooter can fire with both eyes open. Aim and fire, and you do not lose your field of view. The sight has a beam projected onto a curved lens. The curved lens allows for infinite eye relief. You aim, and the red dot is superimposed over the target. Press the trigger, and you have a hit—if the optic is sighted in correctly.
While the development of the red-dot sight is impressive, the optic as we know it was not possible until the perfection of light-emitting diode (LED) technology. The LED has revolutionized manufacturing across many optical applications. The red-dot, with its LED design and single point of aim, is more closely parallel to the bore than any other type of sight. This makes for excellent hit probability.
My impression of the similarity between camera viewfinders and red-dot sights was confirmed by research into the history of optical sights. Lieuwe van Albada developed a camera-aperture aiming device that led to a type of gunsight later used during World War II on the Bazooka rocket launcher. It seems that telescopic and reflex sights were combined in some instances experimentally just after WWII, the beginning of the optical instrument now known as a magnifier. Research and inventors are interesting, but perhaps the most amazing thing is what they have to work with. That is the human eye.
For a moment, consider the wonder of the eye: the cornea, iris, vitreous humor, lens, layered retina, rods, pigments that moderate light intensity, and, perhaps most important, the photoreceptors that relay information to the brain. Animals have the advantage over humans in certain areas, as their nerve fibers go directly out the back of the eye; ours pass through the retina first. This results in the blind spot we all have but seldom notice.
This construction is a marvel and makes using red-dot sights second nature. Perhaps there is some notion of hydromechanics in the eye; for certain, there is plenty of adaptability in humans and the ability to reorient to different types of firearms sights. Binocular vision, in particular, leads to the ability to fire with both eyes open—a special advantage of the red-dot sight.
Red-Dot Sights For Astigmatism
I have been blessed with good vision. Just the same, I learned a great deal about vision problems in dealing with my mother’s failing eyesight and in obtaining corrective lenses for my children. Sometimes, just a little help goes a long way. The old shooter’s joke that the front sight has melted or gotten fuzzy over the years is to the point. We cannot hit the target if we don’t see the aiming point clearly. According to the Atlanta, Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control, the most common vision problem among adults over 40 is astigmatism. This problem includes nearsightedness, farsightedness, and other problems related to refraction.
Only an optometrist can provide an accurate diagnosis. The thing about these issues is that 1 in 3 of us over 40 has an eye problem. When playing tennis, the problem may not be that serious. However, when firing a handgun, the usually well-defined sight can be blurred rather than in sharp focus, and that can become deadly serious.
Eye strain is common with astigmatism. So, visit the optometrist once a year, even if no problems are evident, and if necessary, obtain corrective lenses. The good news is that red-dot sights alleviate many of the problems associated with astigmatism. Some of us wear glasses when driving or reading, but not as a matter of course when shopping or hiking. With astigmatism, the red dot itself may be blurred to some extent, perhaps with a tail like a comet, according to some, or, in severe cases, the dot may appear as a double dot—although this seems more likely with cataracts.
Red-Dot Sights: The Great Equalizer
Do a few speed drills, and you will find that although the red dot may not be a perfect round dot, you are plenty accurate. The aiming point is far superior to an iron front sight. Practice a little with brightness settings. I ran the red-dot sight by several shooters who usually wear glasses, and they found it fine with unaided vision. Aging eyes, in general, are helped by red-dot sights, and certain forms of astigmatism, especially, are ‘canceled out’ by using a carry optic.
Red-Dot Sight Developments
Among the developments leading to the success of red-dot sights were a series of battery-free optics that used a fiber-optic collector. The Singlepoint of Vietnam fame and legend was among the first. While not powered by electricity, similar types featured a tritium insert for dim-light use. Development began during the 1960s, and they were used experimentally during the Vietnam War. These sights enabled quick firing with both eyes open in combat.
On the sporting side, the Weaver Qwik Point was a similar sight that saw some popularity on shotguns for sporting use. I have used them on .22 rifles as well. Within their limitations, they were fast and accurate. If you chose to use a Qwik Point, you were married to it, as the mount required the shotgun receiver to be drilled and tapped for the sight. If you discarded or broke the Qwik Point, you were left with unsightly holes in the receiver.
The Qwik Point sight. It was interesting in its day.
The Qwik Point was an innovation that moved us toward today’s red-dot sights. Its advantage was that there was no battery. But then, this was also a liability in dim light. Given the battery technology at the time, I don’t think I would have trusted any battery-powered device. The Qwik Point was not intended for tactical or defensive duty, so it was OK for its role as a recreational shooter and hunting accoutrement.
Research and development continued, and in 1975, Aimpoint introduced what is widely regarded as the first red-dot sight as we know it today. Swedish entrepreneurs, focused on improving speed and accuracy, introduced a highly successful red-dot sight. The Aimpoint Electronic was not only innovative but also high-quality and effective. Sometimes a company’s first products are less than stellar. This wasn’t the case with the Aimpoint. It came out of the box running and performed well. There have been improvements, and the original is outdated, but it served as the avatar for the rest of the world during development. It was a rifle sight, but miniaturization was to come.
The author’s LWRC rifle wears a modern Aimpoint sight. They are still at the top of the heap.
Howard Grubbs’ ideas were the best possible with the technology available in 1900. Using a natural light source, the device was limited to daylight use. The device’s acceptance was also limited by attitudes of the day. The changing face of warfare and the need for a fast-operating system capable of delivering rapid hits eventually led to weapon-mounted red-dot sights. As often happens, wartime demands lead to amazing technology. The reflex sight was the ideal choice for fighter aircraft and had been highly developed by the end of World War II.
The modern reflex sight features an LED that reflects light directly onto the sight’s lens. When aiming, there is no attempt to line up the target with the front and rear sights; close one eye. With the red-dot optic, the aiming point superimposes on the target. With some sights at very long range, the front sight subtends and obscures the target. This isn’t a problem with the red-dot sight. The line of sight is clearer.
Electronic sights were eventually developed that were compact enough for mounting on handguns. Handgun sights were particularly in need of improvement. The rub was, even in the infancy of the repeating handgun, that some pistols were accurate enough for long-range fire. Texas Rangers routinely engaged enemies at 100 yards, although the .36-caliber Colt wasn’t powerful enough to inflict a great deal of damage at this extended range. The .44 Dragoon was another matter. I have fired the wonderfully accurate 1858 Starr revolver at a long 100 yards with near-100 percent certainty of striking a man-sized target. But most handguns used small sights that were difficult to line up correctly.
Eventually, better types were developed, but they had the shortcomings of all iron sights. A handgun is much more difficult to fire accurately than a rifle, and when the need for speed is added, we have a serious tactical problem.
The red-dot optic first caught on in competition. With the spread of freedom and a hard-won fight for the right to carry concealed handguns, affirmed by many states, citizens were taking their handguns seriously for self-defense. This led many shooters to compete and to be exposed to competitors using optical sights. The apparent advantages were not lost on defensive shooters.
Back in the day, this is what shooters had to work with. Modern compact red-dot sights are much more efficient.
A good shooter with iron sights will have a transition period when adopting red-dot sights. Some take to them more quickly, but training results in a smoother, faster shooter. The tacit expectation is of increased accuracy in speed shooting. The most significant advantage is seen when the shooter engages multiple targets.
This was initially proven in IPSC and USPSA contests, where the technology for adapting reflex sights to handguns was developed. The red-dot became an essential tool. Combat focus is much faster. Firing with both eyes open allows the shooter to focus on the threat while maintaining a much wider field of view. Even firing at night is faster and more accurate as the red-dot sight maintains its aiming point in all conditions.
A significant advance in practical red-dot technology came with the invention of the Picatinny mount. This rail, also known as the M1913, provides a stable, easy system of mounting optical sights on rifles and later shotguns. Several handguns also feature this mount, primarily target-grade rimfires. Milling the slide of a pistol to mount optical sights was common by the 1990s. There was no going back. The pistol was then permanently red-dot sighted.
The invention and evolution of slide plates, culminating in the Glock MOS and other models, made mounting a red dot much easier. Modern red-dot sights would not be viable without the CR2032 battery. This lithium metal non-rechargeable 3 Volt battery has a modulated output and incredible battery life. Up to 50,000 hours of battery life is possible. Realistically, a life of about half that is to be expected if you run the optic on higher settings.
While heavier, longer guns may still have an advantage, the disadvantages of a short sight radius are canceled out by carry optics.
In fact, a 10,000-hour lifespan has been confirmed when the red-dot is left on its highest setting continuously. That is a tremendous technological advance. Mounts and batteries were developed in tandem with red-dot technology, forming a modern, reliable optic. We are well away from the then-useful but comically large, ill-balanced pistol reflex sights of the 1990s. The carry optic is highly evolved.
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.
