I’ve always been drawn to compact firearms. There’s something about the balance of size, weight, and capability that makes them not only practical, but genuinely enjoyable to train with. They occupy that space between a daily carry pistol and a full-size rifle, that compact yet capable footpr...
Welcome to today’s Photo of the Day! Here we have a Smith & Wesson Model 50 Chief’s Special Target, one of 568 manufactured in the range 930J45-936J19. The factory letter states this shipped March 27, 1973 and confirms the Model 50 was manufactured as special orders with no standard...
More than a century after the debut of John Browning’s most celebrated handgun design, the year 2020 marked the beginning of Springfield Armory’s most recent 1911 makeover. Long known as a premium purveyor of the .45-caliber, two-time World War champ, Springfield’s catalog of 1911s had grow...
Military aircraft design of the Cold War era could be described as akin to physics, or, more specifically, to Newton’s Third Law of motion, which states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” From lessons learned in the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force determi...
The AK family of weapons is notorious, but the platform’s infamous partner is the 7.62×39 cartridge. Like Bonnie and Clyde, the AK’s reputation is inseparable from its chambering. That the cartridge is historically simple, robust, and effective is the key variable that makes the...
If you had asked me 30 years ago to recommend an inside-the-waistband (IWB) holster for a double-stack 1911 9mm, I would have thought you were completely out of your mind. Fitting that much gun into a low-profile holster seemed like a truly impossible task. Back in the early to mid-1990s, the dou...
I’ve carried plenty of everyday folders over the years, including some pretty weird ones. While I’m often more for simple and practical tools that disappear in the pocket and get the job done without fanfare, now and then a knife shows up that catches my fancy because it’s just plain di...
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. —   In today’s contested and increasingly complex operational environment, the concept of “lethality” is expanding beyond the physical realm of weaponry and into the cognitive domain.  Space Systems Command (SSC) is investing in the mental readines...
The M28 and M29 Davy Crockett Weapon System emerged during one of the most volatile phases of the Cold War, a period when the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a global contest of ideology, influence, and military capability. In the early 1950s, as tensions escalated in Europe, th...
Master recoil management by shifting from active control to predictable return—improve speed, accuracy, and consistency with this mindset.