Innholdsfortegnelse for Volume 75, Issue 19 i Firearms News

Wilson Combat still to this day I think is known to more people as the “custom 1911 company” than anything else, and that may have been how they started, but that’s not where they are now. Today they produce far more firearms than just John Browning’s baby. In addition to their bestselling EDC X9, Wilson Combat Berettas, custom Glocks and SIG P320s (which feature the best P320 grip module made by anyone, anywhere, including SIG), and a few AR-10 models, Wilson Combat offers AR-15s in twelve different calibers and dozens of different variations. For this article I secured one of their Recon Tactical models chambered in .458 SOCOM. Let’s talk about the rifle before we dive into the oddity that is the .458 SOCOM cartridge. Bill Wilson, founder of Wilson…

“Yea, though you walk through a valley brimming with the tracks of coyotes and other ornery predators, you shall fear no sore shoulders or a strained back, for a lightweight AR variant rifle is with you.” — From The Book of Eichler; Chapter 5.56; Verse .223 Any predator hunter who’s ever hiked, slogged, climbed, snowshoed, cross-country skied, or channeled their own brand of non-motorized, ambulatory finesse to go on the offensive against their chosen quarry can agree on one thing: a light-weight rifle can turn a mileage-accruing frown upside down. If you’ve ever humped a pack and rifle through a swamp, post-holed through belly-button deep snow, or climbed into the nosebleed section of insufferably vertical terrain, I’m preaching to the choir. That’s right … and the angelic voices here at…

Question: What do the Taliban, who are now ruling Afghanistan, and American gun-control proponents have in common? Answer: A lot when you compare current events in that beleaguered country and the ongoing movement to kill the Second Amendment here in the United States. That answer might get a lot of noses out of joint within America’s gun-ban movement, including in the hallowed halls of the White House, but we’ll simply present the facts and let the chips fall where they may. Last week, after a botched, hurried withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan after 20 years in the region, the Taliban took control of the country in just a few days with very little fighting by the Afghan army left to protect citizens. Shortly thereafter, Taliban fighters began distributing all…

Both thermal and night vision optics have become far more popular on the commercial side than most people ever would have expected, and I believe a large reason for that is pig hunting. While you can hunt the pesky critters during the day, you’ll have more luck at night, if you’ve got the equipment for it. With the feral hog population in this country exploding, putting a lot of money in an expensive scope you can use at night seems a good investment. When it comes to night vision or thermal optics, there are no laws prohibiting you from buying the best of the best, but some companies won’t sell the very top-of-the-line stuff to private citizens for various reasons. However, what is more likely to keep you away from…

Although in their conflicts with Finland, the Soviets kindly surrendered thousands of weapons for use against them, the Finns still created some excellent weapons of their own. One of these, the Suomi SMG (official designation KP/31), is generally rated one of the best infantry weapons of World War II. In fact, if a weapon could be chosen as a symbol of a country, the KP/31 would qualify, as “Suomi” actually means Finland. Originally intended to serve as a squad automatic weapon, once the Finns had captured enough Soviet DP-27 light machine guns, the Suomi reverted to the more traditional role of an SMG — close range firepower. When the Winter War began in November 1939, about 4,000 KP/31s had been issued to Finnish troops. Actually, the Suomi was still used…

In a world of bolt-action Kar 98ks, Carcanos, and Arisakas, the GI’s semi-automatic M1 “Garand” rifle was a game-changer on the battlefield. Its higher rate of fire, higher magazine capacity and fast reloading combined with its accuracy and reliability effectively provided over-match to the enemy’s bolt-action rifles. These features endeared it to the soldiers who carried it into harm’s way. GI’s loved it, the enemy respected it and today firearm collectors seek them out. As M1 rifles remain hugely popular with both collectors and shooters, I decided to take a closer look at this historically significant design. I wanted to delve into both what made the Garand a great fighting rifle, yet also examine some of its weak-points. Hopefully, this will be useful to those interested in learning a bit…

Most gun owners who follow politics closely realize that a record number of states have passed constitutional carry legislation so far in 2021. In fact, 21 states now recognize law-abiding citizens’ right to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense without having to navigate bureaucratic red tape and pay high fees to practice that right. So far in 2021, five states — Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — have passed such a law, increasing the total number of constitutional carry states by nearly 30 percent since January. And if getting an early start on support for the next legislative session counts for anything, Florida might just be the next state to clear that hurdle. As most Firearms News readers likely know, Florida is the birthplace of the modern concealed carry…

No AK-pattern rifle imported into the United States can accept a standard AK magazine. If this is news to you, then you’re probably not up on firearms import laws or the whole 922r process. To educate myself on the government overreach and bureaucratic nightmare that is federal firearms law in regards to imported guns, I recently took a trip down to Pioneer Arms US in Florida. They import the AKs produced by Pioneer Arms in Radom, Poland. However, the AKs they’re allowed to import barely resemble the AKs they actually sell. I had no idea how much work it took Pioneer Arms and other AK importers to get you the guns you want to buy. Stand by for an education: Unsportsmanlike Conduct The story starts way back with the Gun…

The U.S. Supreme Court has set Nov. 3 to consider an all-important case dealing with whether the Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to keep and bear arms outside the home. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v Bruen is the first Second Amendment case that the Supreme Court will have considered in more than a decade and will give the court a chance to once and for all to affirm the right to bear arms in public for self-defense, as millions of Americans do every day. The case revolves around New York’s refusal to grant concealed carry permits to law-abiding citizens without them having to show some kind of “proper cause” to qualify. The NYSRPA contends that the states’ refusal to grant carry permits simply on…