Have you ever had a handgun that you immediately loved the way it shoots, feels and carries? That is, beyond question, how I feel about the Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro 9mm. In my many years with it, the Hellcat Pro has proven to be reliable and accurate — truly a premier carry pistol. W...
Private Dwayne Hicks sat in an expansive classroom alongside the rest of his platoon of newly minted boots. Each Marine had a well-used Pulse Rifle sitting on the table in front of them. The weapons were clean enough to be used as surgical implements and smelled vaguely of CLP. Gunnery Sergeant M...
I recently heard someone say that handguns have no place in military combat. History shows us otherwise. For the tanker, artilleryman, radio operator or medic whose hands are too busy at designated tasks to hold a rifle, the pistol makes enormous sense. Behind the lines when unpleasant surprises ...
The idealized concept immediately took root and blossomed: the Royal Air Force saved Britain from invasion in 1940. The conventional wisdom holds that Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s legendary “few” handed Nazi Germany its first defeat in World War II and paved the road to eventual victo...
Before World War II, and especially before World War I, the rifles of the whitetail-hunting world looked a lot different from today. Lever-actions ruled supreme, and they were often chambered for rounds that have fallen from favor. These include .33 Winchester, .303 Savage and even .44-40. But to...
The older I get, the less keen I am on having a different bag for every occasion. I’d much prefer to have one bag that does it all for traveling, work and everyday use. I’ve gone through a couple of dedicated flight bags, duffels and backpacks over the years and while most are excellent a...
Hearing is one of those things in life that you simply can't get back; once it's gone, it's gone. Growing up in the military, this was preached to us at every possible moment on the firing ranges, when operating around loud machinery and so on and so forth. Personally, I have alway...
Duty belts have changed very little in decades. Threading pouches on in the right order, fighting keepers that fall off mid-shift, and liner belts that lose their grip after months of hook-and-loop abuse. It's a long list of small frustrations that add up fast for the officers who wear them ...
The USS Saratoga (CV-3) was one of just three United States Navy aircraft carriers—along with USS Ranger (CV-4) and USS Enterprise (CV-6)—to survive the entirety of the Second World War. Although outdated by 1943, as the newer and more capable Essex-cla...
To me, there’s nothing quite as sad as a well-made machine not being used in the role for which it was created. Life’s too short for Corvettes that only sit in climate-controlled garages, beautiful timepieces that won’t ever be strapped to a wrist, or “safe queen” 1911’s that never se...