All ArticlesShow More
-
THERE’S GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS: Black Hills Gold Ammunition
In July 1874, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills, Dakota Territory with the goals of finding a location for a fort, a route to the west, and gold. The Black Hills, sacred to the Lakota (Sioux) people, were promised as “Indian Country” by the 1868 Laramie Treaty, so the
-
LIONHEART REGULUS: Double Action Plus!
Over the years, semi-automatic handguns have operated by blowback, retarded blowback, delayed blowback, short recoil, and long recoil. This includes the Webley-Fosbery semiautomatic revolver, which could be in the long recoil category. In terms of fire control systems, such handguns generally fall under single-action, double-action, and double action/single action (DA/SA—usually verbalized as SA/DA). This last
-
NEW-AGE BLUNDERBUSS: Remington V3 TAC-13
Whatever the term used—combat, tactical, self-defense—shotguns can be had in various forms ranging from double-barrel to pump-action, semiautomatic, and even lever-action. Recently, a new genre has arrived labeled non-NFA “pistol-grip firearm.” Make no mistake, these are true smoothbores chambered in potent 20 and 12 gauge. Remington and Mossberg have been leading the way in this
SurvivalShow More
-
AIRBORNE BUGOUT: Winging It to Safety When the World Goes Sideways
It all started with a text message from his wife that read, “Check news.” He caught something about an unexpected seismic event off the coast and then the power went out. The man rushed to the window of his office to see a dirty gray cloud forming in the distance. He could feel a rumble
-
AGAINST ALL ODDS: Portable Emergency Stoves
More survival and camp stoves are on the market than ever before. They range from large, heavy tent style to small bottle stoves that weigh only a few ounces. It’s challenging to sift through all the options and find something that fits every need. When it comes to camping and survival, wood-burning stoves are generally
-
PRIORITIES FOR PREPPERS: From Gasoline to Gardens
I recently ran into an acquaintance at a gun show. He moved here a couple years ago from the east coast, bought 60 acres and a nice house up in the hills, and got interested in preparedness. He launched into telling me about his newest purchase, a .338 Lapua with the Hubble Telescope mounted on
WeaponsShow More
-
THERE’S GOLD IN THEM THAR HILLS: Black Hills Gold Ammunition
In July 1874, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills, Dakota Territory with the goals of finding a location for a fort, a route to the west, and gold. The Black Hills, sacred to the Lakota (Sioux) people, were promised as “Indian Country” by the 1868 Laramie Treaty, so the
-
LIONHEART REGULUS: Double Action Plus!
Over the years, semi-automatic handguns have operated by blowback, retarded blowback, delayed blowback, short recoil, and long recoil. This includes the Webley-Fosbery semiautomatic revolver, which could be in the long recoil category. In terms of fire control systems, such handguns generally fall under single-action, double-action, and double action/single action (DA/SA—usually verbalized as SA/DA). This last
-
NEW-AGE BLUNDERBUSS: Remington V3 TAC-13
Whatever the term used—combat, tactical, self-defense—shotguns can be had in various forms ranging from double-barrel to pump-action, semiautomatic, and even lever-action. Recently, a new genre has arrived labeled non-NFA “pistol-grip firearm.” Make no mistake, these are true smoothbores chambered in potent 20 and 12 gauge. Remington and Mossberg have been leading the way in this
Tactics & TrainingShow More
-
APPENDIX CARRY: Keepers’ Concealment Triad
It’s been a long time since I was a student in a firearms class. My mavens were from the old school: Military, FBI, Cooper, Chapman, Shaw, Leatham, Rogers, Hackathorn, and Barnhart, although the latter five introduced changes that brought gun training to higher levels. So I thought I was pretty well grounded in the art
-
LONG GUNS: Maadi AK-47
For many who weren’t buying semi-auto rifles 35 years ago, it’s hard to imagine that the ubiquitous AK-47 was virtually unobtainable then. For those of us who wanted an AK-type rifle, the earliest choice was the Finnish Valmet M62, a fine AK-based rifle but not really that similar to a Cold War AK-47. For that
-
LONG GUNS: FN 15 Military Collector M4
I took the vow not to buy any more AR-15s a couple of years ago. I had enough variants to fit any normal shooting/self-defense needs, plus a couple of extras as test beds for optics, illuminators, etc because I write a lot of tactical articles. However, that was all before I received the FN 15
GearShow More
-
THE CUTTING EDGE: Hogue EX-F01 Fixed-Blade Knife
Hogue is best known for its outstanding firearms accessories, but Hogue also makes some of the best knives on the market. All Hogue knives are designed by custom knifemaker and former Recon Marine Allen Elishewitz. They are made using only the best materials and employing state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. The Hogue EX-F01 was designed as a
-
LAWFUL CARRY: 5.11 Tactical Defender-Flex Jeans & Pants
5.11 Tactical® originated the concept of the tactical pant. Originally designed and sold by Royal Robbins as utilitarian pants for mountain climbers, they were adopted by the FBI Training Academy in 1992. The name 5.11 comes from the rating system used by mountain climbers to rate the difficulty of climbs, with 5.11 being the most
-
OFFBEAT: Thyrm CLENS Weaponlight Lens Protector
Photos Courtesy Thyrm If you shoot a lot with a weaponlight attached to your firearm, you have encountered an annoying problem: Carbon buildup from muzzle blast eventually begins to fog up the lens. With today’s higher-output weaponlights, it’s not as much of a problem as it was in the past, but it does still happen.
More from S.W.A.T.Show More
-
AGAINST ALL ODDS: Urban Survival Sheltering
Many books and classes teach the importance of building and maintaining a shelter in the wild. Harvesting deadfall, cutting trees, and lashing logs together are all essential elements of building an emergency shelter, but what about in an urban environment? Urban areas are growing rapidly. As cities develop, people spread out and vast metropolitan complexes
-
FRONTLINE DEBRIEFS: You Had To Be There
Not too long ago, a Krispy Kreme Doughnut truck in Kentucky succumbed to fire in an event best described as “vehicle flambeau.” Officers on scene displayed various stages of grief and dismay at the tragic and grievous loss of such a culinary staple to those sworn to protect and serve. Funny. Certain aspects of police
-
ENEMY AT THE GATE: Gun Bans for “Thoughtcrimes”?
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, because the gun ban zealots have been heading in this direction for a very long time, but it’s still somehow shocking to see them actually come out and try to make it become the law of the land that anyone deemed by “the authorities” to hold objectionable views be
