During the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Yamato was feared due to its immense size and power. She was the most heavily armed battleship ever built, with nine 18.1-inch (460mm) main guns, the largest ever mounted on a warship. Each shell weighed nearly 1.5 tons and had a range i...
The VSS Vintorez emerged during the late Cold War as part of a highly specialized Soviet effort to develop a quiet, compact rifle capable of delivering accurate fire without revealing the shooter’s position. Designed in the 1980s at the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (T...
Editor’s Note: The author received a Springfield XD Mod.4 pistol on loan from the company for the purposes of writing this review. I’ve always appreciated the Springfield Armory XD series for what it is: a simple, reliable and accurate 9mm pistol. While the original may have more than two dec...
Hunting rifles have evolved drastically over the years, with modern precision machining and materials such as carbon fiber introduced into both the stock and the barrel, and an off-the-shelf rifle can now outperform custom-built actions from a decade ago. Many people with older rifles seek ways t...
Let’s get this out of the way up front. I believe the 1911 pistol is just about the finest handgun ever made. A well-built, custom 1911 represents mechanical elegance, history and performance all rolled into one. In my opinion, a pistol of that caliber deserves to be carried in nothing less tha...
When you are faced with a deadly threat, you may only have fractions of a second to respond. Are you prepared? Do you have the right gear and training to respond when you must? Let’s say that you do. What if that response does not work? The most basic of self-defense training is the center-mass...
The Tiger II tank, officially designated as Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B and introduced in 1944, was Germany’s most advanced heavy tank of World War II. Known as the Königstiger (King Tiger) by the Germans and often referred to as the Royal Tiger by Allied forces, it was designed to dominate...
It would be hard to find two more complementary market sectors than firearms and tactical knives. As a case in point, I imagine you’re likely reading this article simply because you’re the kind of person who appreciates a quality tool in whatever form it takes. Similar to what drives the engi...
A wide range of really well-known aircraft types were used in World War II, by both sides. But for every Mustang, British Spitfire, Bf109, Zero, Flying Fortress, Corsair or Mitchell bomber, there were many other hard-working planes that received little to no attention. Quite often their operation...