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2 weeks ago | 
americanrifleman.org | B. Gil Horman
To say that 2011-style pistols have caught on with the shooting sports community in the last year or two would be an understatement. These semi-automatics were developed by gunsmith Virgil Tripp and engineer Sandy Strayer who patented the design in 1994. The first models were produced by Strayer Tripp International (STI), which is the company now known as Staccato.
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3 weeks ago | 
nrawomen.com | B. Gil Horman
Charter Arms has been manufacturing affordable, reliable, American-made concealed-carry revolvers for more than 60 years. Although they have not wandered too far from their original wheelgun formula, their designers keep mixing, matching and adding features in innovative ways to expand their catalog. Near the end of 2024, Charter launched two new series dubbed the Double Dog and the Coyote.
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3 weeks ago | 
americanhunter.org | B. Gil Horman
In recent years, I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of high-quality BFR revolvers made by Magnum Research. They have included a 'custom cowboy' .357 Mag., a six-shot .350 Legend hunting handgun and a pair of 'thunder snubs' chambered in rifle calibers. It's been quite the adventure! But just when I thought the BFR's caliber options had been thoroughly explored by the company and its single-action revolver enthusiasts, we found some fresh ground to plow.
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3 weeks ago | 
americanhunter.org | B. Gil Horman
In recent years, I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of high-quality BFR revolvers made by Magnum Research. They have included a 'custom cowboy' .357 Mag., a six-shot .350 Legend hunting handgun and a pair of 'thunder snubs' chambered in rifle calibers. It's been quite the adventure! But just when I thought the BFR's caliber options had been thoroughly explored by the company and its single-action revolver enthusiasts, we found some fresh ground to plow.
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1 month ago | 
americanhunter.org | B. Gil Horman
These days the selection of well-made bolt-action rifles sized for medium to large-frame hunters is about as diverse as it has ever been. Folks can stroll into most sporting goods stores and find a good fit right off of the rack. But finding quality guns configured specifically for small-framed shooting-sports enthusiasts can be more of a challenge. In 2024, Bergara Rifles stepped into the compact hunting-rifle market with the release of the B-14 Stoke series of bolt actions.
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1 month ago | 
americanhunter.org | B. Gil Horman
These days the selection of well-made bolt-action rifles sized for medium to large-frame hunters is about as diverse as it has ever been. Folks can stroll into most sporting goods stores and find a good fit right off of the rack. But finding quality guns configured specifically for small-framed shooting-sports enthusiasts can be more of a challenge. In 2024, Bergara Rifles stepped into the compact hunting-rifle market with the release of the B-14 Stoke series of bolt actions.
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1 month ago | 
americanrifleman.org | B. Gil Horman
The popularity of Ruger's semi-automatic 10/22 rimfire rifles and carbines has been fueling third-party accessory production for many years now. It's also inspired other gunmakers to try their hand at offering their interpretation of this rugged, reliable and modular platform. That’s why it wasn't exactly earth-shattering news to find out at the 2024 SHOT Show that Bear Creek Arsenal, better known for its budget-priced ARs, was launching its own 10/22 clone.
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1 month ago | 
americanrifleman.org | B. Gil Horman
In 2015, my working relationship with the chronographs used to measure bullet velocities improved significantly. This was the year I had an opportunity to test drive the original Labradar chronograph. Its overall design, controls and use of Doppler radar instead of optical sensors provided immediate relief to several of the problems that attended the devices I had used up to that point. Optical chronographs have to be placed in front of a gun's muzzle.
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2 months ago | 
americanrifleman.org | B. Gil Horman
In 2018, Glock introduced its first crossover pistol, the G19X chambered for 9 mm Luger. This model came unconventionally mixed-matched with existing features found in other Glock pistols. By pairing a G19 Compact-size slide assembly with the Standard-size frame of a G17, the resultant pistol came a bit handier and lighter than the company's G17 while also preserving a duty-size pistol's ammunition capacity.
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2 months ago | 
americanhunter.org | B. Gil Horman
Among the best-known and longest-serving military and civilian defensive pistol calibers in the United States is the .45 ACP. Many enthusiasts still praise this member of John Moses Browning's Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP) cartridge family, which was developed in 1905. It was eventually paired with Browning's 1911A1 semi-automatic pistol to form one of the most successful gun and ammunition combinations in this country's shooting-sports history.
