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The Descendants of the .45 ACP

By
Travis Pike
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The old .45 ACP is still around and is still one of the more popular handgun rounds. It’s easy to find, it’s common, and new .45 ACPs are still being produced. It’s crazy that the cartridge has stuck around when newer rounds like .40 S&W have come and gone. The .45 Auto is historically an important round, and people who love .45 ACP will always love .45. That love has generated a number of .45 ACP descendants.

.45 ACP: Historical Inspiration

I’m talking about cartridges that took some form of inspiration from the .45 ACP and tried to improve its performance in various ways. Today, we are going to look at some of the more popular descendants of the .45 ACP. Admittedly, none have ever been as successful as the .45 ACP, but they are worth mentioning. Let’s dig into the .45 ACP children and grandchildren.

The .45 Auto Rim

We’ll keep things simple for the first one. In World War I, we didn’t have enough 1911s, and S&W and Colt could produce large-frame revolvers faster than they could produce M1911s. The Government wanted .45 ACP revolvers, and Colt and S&W both produced M1917 revolvers in .45 ACP. These guns needed moon clips to function, as the .45 ACP is a rimless cartridge.

In the post-World War I world, these revolvers flooded the surplus market. A cartridge company called Peters Cartridge Company developed a round called the .45 Auto Rim. This cartridge featured a prominent rim that allowed it to be fired in M1917 revolvers without the need for moon clips. The Auto Rim copied .45 ACP load data and produced a simple solution to the fragile moon clip problem of the M1917.

.45 Peters

The people at Peters weren’t done with the .45 ACP. They later designed a cartridge designed for riot control based on the Thompson SMG and .45 ACP round. The idea was to shove a .45 ACP cartridge full of small No. 8 shot. You slap that into a Thompson, and it becomes a straight-pull bolt-action rifle. The technique was called skipping shot, and you shot at the ground and let the shot ricochet into the rioters.

All a Thompson gunner needed to do was swap magazines. The .45 Peters needed a little extra room, so the mags were bigger and fit fine in the Thompson. The rounds were used extensively, but the U.S. Military issued them to aircrew as a survival tool.

.45 GAP

Remember when Glock produced a .45 caliber cartridge? Glock worked with CCI/Speer to develop the .45 GAP. GAP stands for Glock Automatic Pistol. The .45 GAP’s idea was to create a round that mimicked .45 Auto, but it used a shorter case. The use of a shorter case allowed the .45 GAP to be chambered in medium-frame Glocks.

You didn’t have to deal with the bulky Glock 21 grip to shoot a .45 caliber bullet. That was the idea, and Glock made full-sized, compact, and subcompact pistols chambering the cartridge. It never caught on, and you can get those Glocks super cheap, but the ammo is pricey and harder and harder to find.

.45 Super

The .45 Super came from Dean Grennell, a famed firearms writer and expert. Dean wanted to amp up the .45 ACP, and to do so, he created a round that was essentially identical to the .45 ACP, but used a thicker internal case wall that resulted in a tougher case that would rupture with higher pressures.

This added somewhere in the realm of 300 feet per second of velocity to the cartridge. A 230-grain projectile was moving at 1,100 feet per second. A 185-grain bullet could move at 1,300 feet per second, putting it in the 10mm realm of power. These rounds could damage .45 ACP guns, and that worked against the cartridge. It never reached any major degree of popularity.

.460 Rowland

Who doesn’t want to shove the power of a .44 Magnum into a semi-auto platform without having to deal with a .44 Magnum semi-auto handgun? Johnny Rowland certainly did when he developed the .460 Rowland cartridge. Rowland kept the majority of the .45 ACP case design, but the case was lengthened to .957 inches.

This way, the round couldn’t be loaded into a .45 Auto firearm. However, it is safe to shoot .45 ACP in a .460 Rowland. The amped up cartridge moved a 230-grain projectile at 1,300 feet per second. It’s not quite .44 Magnum, but it’s a powerhouse. It’s good for bear defense, and the fact that you could convert guns like the Glock 21 to safely fire the cartridge.

But Wait, There’s More

The .45 Auto would evolve into a wide variety of wildcats, like the .400 Corbon, the .38/.45 Clerke, and the .451 Detonics magnum. These were far from successful, not mass-produced, and not popular outside of a few niche users. The .45 ACP has lived quite a life and still hasn’t gone into retirement, even after spawning a few descendants.

How-To: Loading a Twig Stove

By
Reuben Bolieu
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A large twig stove can accommodate more fuel loaded from the bottom.

Building a fire in a small bio/twig stove isn’t the same as making a campfire. Loading a twig stove seems simpler because of its size. However, there is a learning curve, or so I’ve experienced. For years, I’ve been using small, homemade, and production stoves fueled by twigs and sticks with excellent success. Here’s why!

Campfire vs. Twig Stove

A campfire roars with primal charm, but it guzzles wood like a hungry giant at an all-you-can-eat buffet. A twig stove sips fuel politely, turning twigs into steady heat without leaving a scar on the earth. Campfires demand space, patience, and a tolerance for smoke. Meanwhile, twig stoves light quickly and keep your jacket smelling less like barbecue.

A campfire gathers people in glowing circles, but a twig stove falls short on this. Both deliver warmth and flame, yet one feels like an ancient ritual while the other feels like clever efficiency.

Safety First

The same rules apply as for any fire-making outing. Clear an area of debris using your foot, Y-branches, or any tools at your disposal. Account for the wind that can blow leaves or combustible debris into your fire space. Have extra water in case things get out of control, or be willing to sacrifice drinking water if needed. Use leather gloves if possible to handle hot twig stoves or sticks.

Be cautious and do things slowly. Unless you flipped your canoe, there’s no rush to make fire! 

Loading a Twig Stove

Get organized, don’t downplay fire prep because the fire won’t be a bonfire or council fire. Take the proper steps to achieve greater success.

Picture this: an endless fuel stash in the wild. Twigs, pinecones, dry leaves, and grasses await you. Even larger sticks and dry moss are fair game. Don’t forget the humble piece of paper. Anything that burns can be your trusty fuel source. It’s no wonder folks also call it a hobo stove! 

The author split and placed hardwood at the bottom. Then, he stacked smaller fuel on top of it for a top-down burn.

Stack It – The stack method of loading a twig stove is similar to a conventional campfire. Igniting tinder, then adding fuel to the top, is ok for a campfire, but it gets choked out in a small, confined space like a twig stove. It’s even worse without a breeze to help accelerate airflow.

Depending on how deep your twig stove is, you’ll have to ignite tinder inside or drop it down the top. Then, you need to drop small twigs on it from 4 to 6 inches above. Tinder is somewhat delicate, and I hate dropping debris on it and building from there. There are two methods for creating a general fire that also work for loading a twig stove. These are common arrangements called fire lays! 

Top-down Fire Lay

I’ve been using a top-down burn method for years, especially during winter. It opens with a fierce flame to boil water while the fuel continues to burn down. In the colder months, it warms the hands and gets the blood flowing. This approach lights up the larger wood and gets those coals going.

Loading from the front feed port is standard on manufactured bio/twig stoves.

I start by layering thicker hardwoods, such as maple and oak, at the bottom of the stove. I cut them with a saw to ensure a perfect fit and arrange them neatly and uniformly. Next, I place slightly thinner sticks on top, crossing them over the bottom layer. I repeat this process, filling the top third of the stove with twigs as thin as toothpicks, stacking them like a log cabin. Here’s where loading a twig stove resembles playing Lincoln Logs. 

Top-Down. When you light the tinder and kindling, they burn down to a nice, even coal bed for cooking.

Finally, I crown it all with fine feather sticks, shredded poplar bark, dry grass, or cotton balls smeared with Vaseline. Have a good supply of thin twigs, ready to add if needed, up to pencil-thick sticks. 

Bottom-up Fire Lay 

This setup works like a traditional fire, burning from the bottom up. Start by placing tinder at the bottom of your stove, where you can easily ignite it. Next, add some feather sticks, shavings, or sticks that are about the thickness of a toothpick. After that, layer in some pencil-thick and finger-thick sticks.

Finally, crown your masterpiece with larger hardwood pieces on top. Another idea is to save the hardwood fuel for last. Then, place the wood on or in the stove once it’s going full-bore. 

Here’s a bottom-up fire lay that will ignite from the bottom and allow the flame to rise.

Just remember, building a fire is all about the right pace. Add these layers gradually—don’t stuff everything in at once! It’s just like preparing a delicious meal; you can’t rush the best recipes!

Loading a Twig Stove Summary

These tips can make using these fuel- and time-efficient stoves more enjoyable while practicing fire-building skills. Try them both on DIY Hobo Stoves and manufactured stoves. See what works, be safe, and have a blast! 

Real Guns Ripped Out of Science Fiction

By
Travis Pike
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I love science fiction, especially gritty science fiction. Science fiction where the guns still fire bullets and not lasers. I also love weird guns, innovative guns, and odd guns. Somehow, those two loves combine well. As a science fiction fan, more than once I’ve purchased a gun for its science fiction appeal.

When Real Life Looks Like Science Fiction

Most guns are kind of boring, and that’s simply due to the fact that some platforms just work and work well. Glocks (and other striker-fired polymer frame pistols) and ARs are the orthodox right now because they are so effective, efficient, and well-suited for those tasks. But they bore me.

With that in mind, let’s look at five guns that could be in an episode of The Expanse and look right at home.

Calico Light Weapon Systems

The Calico Light Weapon Systems represent a variety of rifles, submachine guns, and pistols that were available in both .22LR and 9mm. Their claim to fame was the massive top-mounted helical magazine. These magazines held either 50 or 100 rounds in a double-stack helical configuration.

The magazine also famously housed the gun’s rear sight, which was certainly a choice, but it seems to work okay. The 9mm variants were roller-delayed guns, and the .22LR were simple, straight blowback designs. Notably, they used polymer construction for the frames before it was cool. Reliability varied a fair bit; my early Bakersfield model of the M950 pistol works exceptionally well.

These science fiction subguns were featured in classics like Spaceballs and The Running Man, as well as the not-so-classic RoboCop 3. The oddball look makes it perfect as the blaster of choice to capture a gritty or hilarious sci-fi feel.

KelTec CP33

The KelTec CP33 is one of the newer guns out there that looks like it’d fit in perfectly in Stargate, Star Wars, or any other science fiction or fantasy film. This giant pistol is not all that complicated for the most part. It’s a straight blowback .22LR gun. What makes it interesting is the overall layout and magazine design.

The 33 in CP33 stands for 33 rounds in the magazine. Yep, it holds a pile of ammo in a quad-stack magazine that sits flush in the pistol grip. The magazine design is impressive and makes for a unique .22LR pistol. The CP33 doesn’t use a traditional slide and provides you with a huge, stationary optic rail.

Like most of KelTec’s guns, it’s affordable. Reliability depends most on the .22LR ammo you use, but overall, it’s pretty dang reliable. Sadly, the CP33 hasn’t become a sci-fi icon in movies and TV. It’s only appeared in one futuristic video game called Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts 2.

SRM 1216

The SRM 1216 is a semi-automatic, roller-delayed, 12-gauge shotgun that feeds from a tubular magazine. Roller-delayed is neat, but the real draw is the magazine. It’s removable and made up of four different tubular magazines that rotate. Once you run dry in tube one, rotate tube two, and you have another four rounds on tap. In total, the 1216 can hold 16 rounds of 12-gauge.

There are short-barrel variants that hold less ammo due to length restrictions. The 1212 and the 1208 are both notable short-barreled variants that get quite small overall. The platform comes with a long optics rail and the ability to swap controls to the left side. Select-fire prototypes also exist for military and law enforcement sales.

The SRM 1216 made its most famous appearance in the futuristic sections of Black Ops 2, where it’s super handy for knocking drones out of the sky. The SRM 1216 also popped up in one of my favorite games, Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Personally, if I had to go fight the bugs on some distant planet, I’d want a 1216.

The Ounce

The Ounce may have been announced three years ago, but it’s only now arriving on the market. This gun is truly out of this world and would be perfect in Firefly. The Ounce is a .22LR semi-automatic pistol that uses a locked breech, which is so rare for .22LRs that I think it might be the first to do so.

The pistol uses long recoil operation to cycle the firearm and is a bullpup design. The magazine is fixed and loaded from the top of the gun. That’s not where the weirdness ends; it also folds in half. When folded, the trigger is secure and the gun doesn’t need a holster to be safely carried. The Ounce is brilliantly disguised and effortless to conceal.

As you’d imagine, it has yet to make its way into a movie. The Ounce is brand new, but primed to be the pocket pistol of the next big science fiction series. However, Third Bay will need to up production to get enough of these guns in movie armories anytime soon.

Chiappa Rhino

Sometimes the best science fiction guns combine old with new, and that’s the case with the Chiappa Rhino. Revolvers fall into a world of old-school design that’s always charming. The Chiappa Rhino takes a traditional revolver design and revamps it into a science fiction-friendly platform.

Chiappa moves the barrel down and aligns it with the bottom cylinder. This lowers the bore axis and directs recoil directly into the wrist and minimizes muzzle rise. This makes it a comfortable shooting gun in magnum-powered cartridges like .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum. The Chiappa Rhino uses an angular design to give the gun a futuristic appeal, but then mixes a wood grip to keep it a little old school.

The Rhino has been around long enough to be a sci-fi staple. It’s been featured in the Total Recall remake, Terminator: Dark Fate, Captain America: Brave New World, and the live-action Ghost in the Shell film.

Going Science Fiction

I love guns that look like they are ripped right out of a science fiction film. In reality, guns will probably continue to remain a bit boring as they get better and more efficient. That tends to be the theme with weapon design. Still, we can celebrate the guns that try to be a little different.

Free Gun Friday October: IWI Zion 15 SPR and Vortex Viper PST Gen II and Black Hills Ammo

By
248 Shooter
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Free Gun Friday October: IWI Zion 15 SPR and Vortex Viper PST Gen II and Black Hills Ammo

If the contest is not loading, Click Here

Leatherman Micra – A Toolbox on Your Keychain

By
Jim Cobb
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Leatherman Micra

I have a love/hate relationship with multi-tools, if we’re being honest. I think they’re useful in many capacities, but they’re rarely better than the actual tools they’re emulating. That’s the trade-off, right? You’re packing a bunch of tools into one easy-to-carry package. The Leatherman Micra is the same idea, but with a great design and excellent execution.

The Leatherman Micra

What Tools Is the Micra Packing?

The Micra is a small, keychain-sized multi-tool. Folded closed, it’s just 2.5 inches long and 0.75 inches wide. It weighs only 1.8 ounces. Drop this in your pocket and you’ll forget it’s there until you need it. Yet, it packs a lot into that small size.

When you unfold the Micra, the first thing you’ll see is the spring-action scissors. These take the place of the traditional pliers found in most multi-tools. I gotta say, these scissors are outstanding. They’re perfect for nipping loose threads on clothing, cutting tags, and such. The action on them is smooth, too.

Micra - scissors

The rest of the tools are folded into the handle. On one side, we have a pair of tweezers, a bottle opener, and two different-sized screwdrivers. On the other side, you’ll find a knife blade, nail file, nail cleaner, and one more screwdriver. Running along the outside of the handle are markings for a 12 cm ruler.

Micra - left side
Micra - right side

With the obvious exception of the scissors, each of the tools can be folded out and then used with the handles closed.

Micra - knife blade
The knife blade is quite sharp right out of the box.

Is the Micra Actually Useful?

One of the basic tenets of EDC, at least from my perspective, is that the gear you carry should serve to make your life easier. I mean, sure, there are a few things we tend to put in our pockets that are more just for the cool factor rather than functionality. A good luck charm, for example. But by and large, we want to bring things with us that will solve problems.

Need to open or break down a box? A knife will handle that. Lights go out at work? A pocket flashlight will be handy.

Micra - cutting with scissors
The scissors on the Leatherman Micra are outstanding, light years beyond what you typically find on a multi-tool.

Here are some of the problems the Micra can solve. The extra-small screwdriver will tighten your glasses if they come loose. The scissors will cut open the bag of chips you just bought from the Wheel of Death in the breakroom at work. The nail cleaner will help you look more presentable when you suddenly realize you have a meeting with the boss about a raise in about an hour. Need to pop the back off your phone to replace the battery? The Micra has you covered.

It’s a multi-tool, but not something you’ll use to defuse bombs or fix a broken fence. It’s exactly what you need if you work in an office, inside or outside the home. Honestly, this thing is a dream for any parent of a young child, too. You’ll find yourself reaching for it all the time, whether it’s to open the latest blister-packed toy or cut off the wristband they were using at the carnival.

Micra Color Options

The Micra comes in ten different color styles. The one shown here is Parakeet. I chose it specifically because it was likely to stand out on my desk, rather than blend in with everything else. But they have everything from plain black to pink-toned Heather Blush.

Let’s Talk About Refresh Rate and Red Dots

By
Travis Pike
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Holoson’s red dot may be a good fit for the SIG.

Whenever I review a red dot, I talk about its refresh rate. Refresh rate is critical to a red dot’s performance. When I mention flicker or blink with a low refresh rate optic, I see people claim their red dot doesn’t do that, and I’m wrong. I’m wrong about a lot of things, but I think the misconception comes from a misunderstanding of what refresh rate is and how it affects shooting.

What is Red Dot Refresh Rate?

Vortex offers affordable but useful RDS designs.

Today, we are going to try and clear that misconception up. A high refresh rate is important enough that it might be one of the more critical features of a red dot sight. A red dot uses an emitter that shines an LED light against an optic’s lens. The lens has a coating that allows the LED to reflect against it and form your reticle.

That bluish tint is the coating used to reflect the dot. To help preserve battery life, the LED isn’t always on. It’s rapidly turning itself on and off so fast you can’t perceive it, well, most of the time you can’t perceive it. The higher the refresh rate, the faster the LED is coming on and off, and a higher refresh rate is ultimately more desirable.

Refresh Rate and Red Dot Performance

I can’t think of any modern red dots, even cheap ones, with a refresh rate so low that you can see it flicker with the naked eye when holding the weapon and optic stationary. An easy way to observe a low refresh rate is to use the camera on your phone. The rolling shutter design used in smartphones can capture the flicker.

Hold the camera up to the optic and move the optic a bit. You’ll be able to see it flicker. Even dots with a high refresh rate will flicker a little under a camera, but it won’t be as apparent as an optic with a low refresh rate.

If your naked eye can’t see the difference, then what’s the big deal? Well, you can see the difference primarily when shooting fast and when moving the gun from target to target, or just moving the gun quickly. The shooter’s eye can see the dot flicker or lag when moved, which can slow a shooter down since they can’t maintain a great sight picture.

A high refresh rate dot will blur, but will be easy to track and see during fast movements. A low refresh rate is most apparent on handguns. The slide reciprocates rapidly, which can cause the dot to flicker and stall. If you’re tracking the dot so you can make multiple hits, then the refresh rate becomes critical.

When it comes to defensive shooting or competition shooting, being able to track that dot absolutely matters for shooting fast and accurately.

Under Night Vision

I’ll admit I don’t care about night vision. It’s neat, but the happiness it brings just isn’t worth the price tag to me. I’m taking this information from folks who shoot a lot under night vision and all say the same thing. Refresh rate matters a lot under night vision.

When viewing a low refresh rate under night vision, you’ll be able to see the flicker and blink, even more so when moving. Remember, we want that refresh rate to be high for fast shooting.

Astigmatism and Refresh Rate

Using red dots is always a pain if you have astigmatism. Astigmatism varies a lot depending on the individual. Some can use the optic with relative ease, and others cannot. A high refresh rate can’t fix the astigmatism issue. A low refresh rate can exacerbate an astigmatism issue. A low refresh rate can make a red dot seem even worse for a shooter with astigmatism.

Go High

A high refresh rate is just better. Quality optics have high refresh rates. Heck, even cheap brands like Cylee tend to have decent refresh rates. These days optics are getting better, but every so often a company will plop out an optic with a low refresh rate, and it will be a real pain to deal with.

Skills for the Road: Hobo or Good Living?

By
Reuben Bolieu
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The author’s hobo skillet was from a heavy-gauge aluminum baking pie pan.

I’ve been called a hobo for my style of packing and camping. I reply, “Is it hobo or good living?” The term hobo may be thought of in a derogatory way, but not to me. Hobos had tools and skills, yet were used to roughing it in the true sense. Here are a few hobo skills we can all learn from and ways to utilize gear and refuse in an old-school way. 

Hobo Skills

A “hobo” is a migratory worker or wanderer who travels by freight trains. They seek employment and opportunities. Hobos have a unique culture shaped by their nomadic lifestyle. Unlike “tramps,” they are willing to work for food or money. “Bums” often avoid work altogether. Hobo culture includes distinct skills, symbols, and traditions passed down through generations.

You can utilize hobo skills in survival scenarios, making the most of what you find, create, or trade for. Like backpackers and minimalists, hobos also had that multiuse mentality. Carry items that have multiple uses whenever possible, and consider modifying your gear accordingly. Finally, hobos are ingenious and have the tools and skills to create what they need while on the go! 

Pie Tin Skillet

I refer to it as a pie tin, loosely. In fact, it’s not the cheap foil tin type that is disposable. I saw a baking pie pan on sale and tried incorporating it into my camp cook kit. First, I procured a broomstick-thick piece of wood and cut it to length. Then, I made a notch for the pan to fit into with a simple cut from a Swiss Army Knife. The rim of the pan needs to be bent to increase grip and stability, especially when full of food. I played with it until it fit just right. 

A handle was made by the author using a broomstick-thick stick and a Swiss Army Knife saw.

I converted the baking pan into a Hobo Skillet and found another use for it after removing the handle. The empty, clean pan easily fanned the flames for my campfire. So, hobo or good living? I call it good living!

Good Living with Cardboard

Cardboard is an insulator. In the 2012 movie, Big Miracle, there’s a scene on the ice where a kid is selling cardboard. The idea was to stand on it while watching trapped whales in a small town in Alaska. At first, the cardboard was priced very low, but the smart kid eventually raised the price drastically. 

That’s the power of cardboard as an insulator. So, when I toted a large Priority Mail box to the woods for my insulation, I was expecting good results. As expected, it insulated well, as I slipped down the smooth surface all night. I should have adjusted the hammock, but I like a little suffering. It was definitely a case of hoboing over good living. 

Cardboard and an empty wine bag add comfort, and you can easily replace them.

Good Living Hobo Stove

A hobo stove is a genius concept. They’ve been in production for decades before Emberlit and Uberleben entered the game with their twig stoves. Original hobo stoves come in various sizes, each with its own unique design. Many hobos create stoves from food or coffee cans. They all run on combustible fuel like paper, sticks, scrap wood, and rags. Some of these stoves feature a round surface on top that serves as a griddle, while traditional stoves have an open top. 

Starting with an open can, poke holes in the bottom and top rim for airflow. Decide if you want a fuel port to add sticks and fuel. The port can be at the bottom, allowing you to slide fuel in, or atop, where valued coals can’t escape. Remember, hobos had tools and skills. In reality, you need a can opener and a knife, but tin snips would make it safer and easier. Hobo or good living? I call it good hobo living!

Here’s a small coffee can hobo stove the author made last winter with a top fuel port.

Box Wine For Hobo Comfort

Spoiler alert. Box wine is really in a bag. Several years ago, putting together my Covid Hunker Down Camp, I decided to add items that were easy to obtain. Rather than stash a good camp pillow in the forest, I used an empty wine bag. It was easy to adjust the firmness with the valve. However, you had to deal with a certain amount of Pinot Grigio or White Zinfandel in the air. 

I tried it in a hammock first, with minimal air, since a hammock doesn’t really require a pillow. It was in the hot summer months, and the hammock was the way to go. However, during the colder months, I used the wine bag on my pole bed on several overnight trips. It worked ok, but obviously I needed to cover the bag with a hanky or some cloth. It can be slick and want to glide off the wooden poles, so I put it inside my bivy. Hobo or good living? Both.

Hobo or Good Living Conclusion 

A tracker once said after studying tracks and constantly looking for signs, “You’ll never look at the ground the same.” The same is true when looking at bottles, tin cans, metal, and other waste—it will never look the same!

Innovative But Flawed – Gun Design Gone Amok

By
Travis Pike
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I love weird guns, but more than that, I love when people are brave enough to do something different with firearm design. People being able to innovate is why we have guns like the Glock, the AR-15, and inertia-driven semi-auto shotguns. Innovation can be amazing, but it can also be flawed. Today we are going to look at some innovative, interesting gun designs that went amok throughout history.

Innovative. Interesting. Flawed?

The FG-42

Operation Mercury was a disaster for German paratroopers. German paratroopers parachuted with handguns and had to retrieve their rifles and machine guns from dropped crates. This led to massive casualties and changed Hitler’s tactics and use of paratroopers. The paratroopers sought to develop a selective-fire rifle that they could jump with and that would act as a rifle, machine gun, and submachine gun.

This led to the development of the FG-42. The FG-42 was a 7.92x57mm weapon that doesn’t neatly fit into any category of firearm. When fired in semi-auto, the gun used a closed-bolt design. It was selective-fire, and when the selector moved to full auto, the gun switched to open-bolt.

The gun utilized an inline stock design to help control muzzle rise and increase its controllability. The magazine was mounted to the side of the gun, which allowed the bolt to extend into the buttstock and provide a more compact design. The overall length was 38.4 inches, which made it shorter than the 43.7-inch KAR 98K.

While the FG-42 is all kinds of cool, it had issues. It was difficult to control in full auto, and the 20-round magazine capacity meant it ran out of ammo quickly. The bipod was flimsy and rattled, and the side-mounted magazine made the rifle unbalanced. It was also complex and expensive to produce. Only about 7,000 were made.

Calico Light Weapon Systems

I might be one of the few hardcore fans of the Calico guns. The Calico Light Weapon Systems came in .22LR and 9mm and used a top-mounted, double-stack helical magazine. Magazine capacities were between 50 and 100 rounds total and mounted to the top of the gun. This allowed you to have lots of ammo in a fairly small amount of space.

The 9mm versions of these innovative guns were roller delayed, which resulted in light recoil and an easy-to-control gun. The ammunition sat on top of the gun and created a balanced gun, and also helped tame muzzle rise. The gun was surprisingly ambidextrous with downward ejection and a multitude of ambidextrous controls.

For the era, the use of polymer in the receiver was new and ambitious. It helped drive the price lower and increase production capability. The downsides were also tied to that innovative magazine. Some magazines had reliability issues, leading these guns to be considered unreliable.

The magazine placement leads to height-over-bore issues, and 9mm tends to be used at close ranges. The rear sight is placed on the magazine, which means its indexing wouldn’t always be the same. It’s also difficult to mount optics to the gun. A lot of people didn’t see the advantages of the helical magazine, and the 1994 AWB more or less killed the company’s momentum.

The Pedersen Device

The Pedersen device wasn’t a gun, but an innovative conversion kit. World War I showed the need for close-range, rapid-fire weapons, namely submachine guns. Spinning up development and deployment of submachine guns would be slow, so what if you could convert a M1903 Springfield rifle into a semi-automatic weapon?

John Pedersen developed the Pedersen device, which would drop into a Springfield M1903 and convert it to a semi-auto .30 caliber weapon. The .30-18 caliber cartridge was proprietary but would later inspire the 7.65 Longue. It fired from a 40-round magazine. It was a simple blowback, and at its core was basically a pistol without a frame or grip.

The project was designed to be a part of the Allied Spring offensive of 1919. An entire infantry division would be armed with it. Soldiers had 40 rounds and low recoil. They could storm trenches and rapidly fight the enemy at close range.

Sadly, it had reliability issues. The extractor was small, and the firing pin was also the ejector. It wasn’t ready for prime time in the trenches. The cartridge was also underpowered. The war also ended before it could be issued and used. Sadly, the Army destroyed them, so they became rare.

The Nambu Type 14

Japanese military sidearms are an interesting mix of interesting and terrible. The Nambu Type 14 reflects that well. The Nambu Type 14 was first completed in 1902 and presented a locked-breech pistol design, which was rare and innovative for the era. The gun is recoil-operated and fires an 8x22mm Nambu cartridge.

Adoption was slow, with the Navy only adopting the gun in the 1920s, and in 1926, the Army adopted the pistol, which served until the end of WWII. Besides being a locked breech, it had interesting and innovative features for the era, which included a magazine safety. The striker-fired design used an interesting striker that was both the firing pin and the striker spring housing.

The Nambu Type 14’s good features end there. The gun had a fragile construction, but one could argue that this was due to poor and cheap construction rather than a design flaw. Small parts were known to be fragile; the striker was weak and would break or offer light strikes.

The 8x22mm Nambu was also somewhat anemic and reportedly poorly made, which led to reliability issues. The magazine was also an issue. The slanted grip made reloads difficult; the magazine did not eject, and had to be stripped from the gun. Oh, and the safety required a second hand to activate. Bill Ruger was inspired by the Nambu and created the Ruger Standard.

The AN-94

Russian arms design tends to create guns as simple as possible, or overly complicated Rube Goldberg machines posing as guns. The AN-94 falls into the second category. The gun’s main claim to fame is the recoil impulse system. Essentially, the gun delays the recoil of the gun until the first two rounds are fired.

It does this by featuring a barrel and receiver that move rearward as the first shot fires and the second round is fired before this rearward motion is complete. This delays the recoil impulse. I think I’ve explained that right because it seems overly complicated, and no GIFs could help my crayon-eating brain figure it out.

It also had a hyper-burst feature that fired a two-round burst at 1,800 rounds per minute. This allowed shooters to engage with two rounds before they felt recoil. A weird feature of the gun is the offset magazine, which is necessary to work with the recoil impulse housing. It’s not noticeable in flat photos, but in real life, it’s rather fascinating.

The downsides are the predictable high cost and complicated manufacturing. It also seems to be a fairly delicate system that could easily break or malfunction. The AN-94 has seen some limited use, and somehow, there is one in the States bouncing around big YouTubers. The gun’s innovative, but might be a little too innovative for the time being.

Innovative But Flawed

I love seeing innovation, I love seeing the weird and odd, but admittedly, sometimes weird and odd just doesn’t work all that well. Still, if you’re an enterprising gun designer, be innovative, be willing to take some risks, and please, release some of this cool stuff to the public.

Stress Tests Are Important – Drill Down Emergency Plans

By
Jim Cobb
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Drill

Remember doing fire drills in school? Most of us probably didn’t take them too seriously, given that we were just kids, but those practice evacuations had multiple purposes. They taught us what to do and where to go if the fire alarm went off. This meant we wouldn’t have to think it through, should there be a real fire. That, in turn, reduces the potential for panic.

Those drills also tested how well the established plans worked. They were dry runs so the folks in charge could iron out wrinkles and watch for problems.

Making Drills Part of Your Emergency Plans

Evacuation drills aren’t just for schools, either. Rick Rescorla was a British-American who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. After retiring at the rank of Colonel in 1990, he entered the private security arena. As the director of security for Morgan Stanley, he conducted numerous evacuation drills at their offices at the World Trade Center in New York City.

He’d anticipated that one day the towers might be attacked in some way. His insistence on those drills is credited with saving thousands of lives on September 11, 2001. Rescorla lost his own life when he ran back into the South Tower in an attempt to help others.

There are a few different emergency drills you might consider running at home on a regular basis.

Fire Drill

Drill - fire
Test your smoke detectors at least a few times a year, and make sure you can hear them clearly.

Does everyone in the home know what to do if the smoke alarms go off? Each person needs to know how to get out of the house as quickly, and as safely, as possible. They need to remember to feel the doors before they open them. Get down low so you’re under most of the smoke and crawl. Practice Stop, Drop, and Roll in case their clothing catches fire.

An important element of your fire escape plan is ensuring that all family members can actually hear the smoke detectors from their bedrooms if their doors are closed, fans are running, and such. Is the alarm loud enough to wake them at night?

Once they’re out of the house, there should be a rally point where everyone gathers to make sure nobody is left behind. This could be a tree in the neighbor’s yard, for example.

Run this drill at least quarterly and at different times of the day and night. Start on the easy setting and tell everyone what you’re doing ahead of time. As they gain confidence, make it less predictable.

Home Evacuation Drill

Drill - evacuation
While you’re probably not leaving the country, passports for each family member aren’t a bad idea.

This is a step up from the fire drill, with the scenario being a disaster or emergency that’s causing you to flee the house, possibly for a few days or more. The goal is to get everyone into the family vehicle(s) as quickly as possible, while also remembering to grab the evacuation kits and other supplies you feel may be necessary.

There are a few different elements to this drill. Family members need to stop whatever they’re doing immediately. If they’re using an appliance or non-portable device, it should be turned off. For example, you wouldn’t leave the stove on when you leave the house. They should locate their evacuation kit, get dressed if needed, and head out to the driveway.

All of this needs to happen quickly, with younger family members getting assistance as needed from others. Who’s in charge of the pets? Which animals are coming along and which might have to be left behind?

Once everyone is at the vehicle, inspect the evacuation kits. See if they’re still stocked with the gear and supplies that should be there. Check to see what else everyone may have grabbed that they felt was important. You should also time these mock evacuations, with the goal always being to beat the previous drill’s time.

Grid Down Drill

Drill - grid down
Make sure you have plenty of candles, oil lamps, and such on hand.

This one is a little more involved, as well as challenging, but it can also be fun if you have the right attitude. Spend 24-48 hours or more experiencing a mock power outage. Some folks suggest actually turning the power off at the breaker box, but I don’t know that you need to take it quite that far and risk having to toss out food from your fridge and freezer.

You can make this drill as strict or loose as you’d like. For example, maybe you don’t allow the use of any electronic devices of any kind. Or, maybe they’re allowed for as long as the internal batteries hold out. You could change things up from time to time and use some of your emergency power gear, like a generator or a portable power station with solar panels.

Depending on your situation, you might go so far as to disallow the use of gas appliances like the water heater or gas stovetop. If it’s winter, turn down the thermostat as low as possible without risking frozen pipes. This would be a great opportunity to try making an indoor microclimate.

See how quickly family members can adjust to living off the grid for a bit. Explore different ways to prepare food and make the best use of whatever supplies you have on hand. Some of them might just find they kind of like being unplugged for a day or three.

Do a quick recap after each drill, highlighting what went well and where things could improve. Remember that a big point to doing these drills is to find what works and what doesn’t, so you can adjust and adapt your plans as necessary.

Breaking Down Nonsensical Movie Guns

By
Travis Pike
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I love movies, and I especially love movies that involve firearms. It’s a natural combination of two things I enjoy. If Michael Mann releases an action flick, you can bet your last dollar I’ll be seeing it in theaters and have the Director’s Cut Blu-Ray. As much as I love movies and guns, I don’t get wrapped around the axle when movies get guns wrong. In fact, it’s often humorous. Today, we are going to dissect some of Hollywood’s most nonsensical movie guns.

Movie Guns Where Ridiculous and Awesome Collide

I avoided a lot of fantasy-style movies. I’m not going to dissect the Star Wars guns because, well, it’s Star Wars, and I don’t know how lasers work. Everything I’ll dissect will be a real gun firing a real cartridge. Let’s dig into it.

Escape from New York: MAC-10

Snake Plissken is so damn cool. The voice, the eye patch, the attitude, he’s just so over the top and campy, it’s hard not to be charmed. He’s an antihero that’s tough not to love, and he surfed into our hearts in 1981 in Escape From New York. Plissken, a hardened convict and former commando, is tasked with rescuing the President from the penal colony of Manhattan.

Before going in, he’s armed with a MAC-10 that’s trying its best to be somewhat futuristic. It’s as futuristic as 1997 can get! The MAC-10 is a classic submachine gun bordering on a machine pistol. It’s a .45 ACP gun and was commonly paired with the Sionics suppressors. That’s the case here, but other than the can, the gun doesn’t make much sense.

For one, they chopped the stock off, which is silly since it doesn’t add all that much bulk. To make chopping the stock even worse, they handed a magnified optic to the gun. To take it a step further into nonsensical Hollywood guns, they mounted the scope to the suppressor. Even if it’s a long eye relief scope, mounting it to the suppressor is ridiculous.

First, it’s not going to be stable, indexing will be a mess, and suppressors get absurdly hot. It’s silly and over the top, but fitting of the character. This same configuration makes a cameo appearance in The Walking Dead a few decades later.

South Central: M14 and Revolvers With Potato Suppressors

South Central is a 1992 independent film that’s an adaptation of a novel called The Original South Central L.A. Crips. It was a movie that received a ton of praise for its story, acting, and realism. I can’t speak for its realism in terms of South Central in the 80s, gang lifestyles, etc, but I can say its use of potatoes is ridiculous. These are less movie guns and more movie suppressors.

The film portrays some gang violence, and in more than one scene, our enterprising criminals equip their firearms with potatoes that act as suppressors. Yep, potatoes, and it works, at least in the film. The suppressors reduce gunshots from BOOM to pew. Suppressors work by slowing down and cooling gas; a potato cannot do that.

They equip revolvers with potatoes, which is utterly ridiculous. Even if a potato works as a suppressor, it wouldn’t work on a revolver. The gap between the cylinder and the barrel emits plenty of blast that makes suppressing most revolvers impossible. However, some, like the Nagant revolver, can be suppressed.

They even equip an M14 with a potato suppressor, which is hilariously ridiculous. It’s firing a supersonic round that’s quite powerful. A .38 Special would turn potatoes into mashed potatoes, and I can’t imagine what an M14 would do to a potato at the end of the barrel.

Ant-Man: Hammer-Fired Glock

Ant-Man, the superhero whose power varies widely depending on what’s convenient to the writers, can wield and control ants. I like the movie; it’s silly, fun, and Paul Rudd is always great. A scene near the end has Ant-Man and his army of ants invading a tech bro’s office to stop him from doing whatever big bad thing he’s planning.

Ant-Man fights his way through an army of nameless bad guys and uses ants in creative ways. One such way is having dozens of ants cling to a handgun and get between the hammer and the firing pin. This renders the bad guy’s gun useless, and in reality, could work. If you can stop the hammer from dropping, the gun can’t fire.

However, the camera zooms out, and the gun of choice is a Glock 17. Keen eyes will recognize that the Glock is not a hammer-fired gun. It’s a striker-fired gun. There is no external hammer, and the gun releases a striker that fires the gun. Ants would have a lot harder time jamming a striker-fired gun, so if you’re an Ant-Man villain, jot that down.

What’s crazy is that there are dozens of movie guns that could have made this an accurate portrayal. We have guns from SIG, Beretta, and even some old S&Ws that could have filled the slot. It’s an easily avoidable error, but if they had avoided it, I couldn’t have made my wife sigh while pointing it out.

The Tomorrow War: The AR Abomination

Alright, so time travelers come back to the past to recruit you to fight a war in the future. Humanity is losing, and losing badly. The invaders are ravenous beasts that can’t be negotiated with, can’t be reasoned with, and they are winning. The aliens are massive animals that fall into the dangerous game category. If I tell you this, what gun are you taking to fight them?

Maybe an AR-10? Hell, the SIG M7 seems like a great choice for killing big, armored beasts. Maybe even a semi-auto rifle chambering a futuristic big-game cartridge. Hell, I’d settle for a Browning BAR, the original WWII BAR in .30-06. Well, how about an AR-15 with a 7.5-inch barrel?

What do you mean? An AR-15 that’s best used in close-quarters combat, firing a fairly small round that requires velocity to kill, isn’t a good idea? A 7.5-inch barrel doesn’t render a 5.56 round useless, but against giant, seemingly thick-skinned alien beasts, it’s less than optimal.

Don’t worry, we’ve also equipped the rifle with Hera Furniture, ACOGs, RMRs, and Inforce lights. Wait, no, that doesn’t make me feel better at all! The guns are a futuristic take on the AR, but aren’t so dressed up that they don’t look like an AR. This is why it doesn’t violate my no sci-fi movie guns rule for this article. At least the guy with the Beretta 1301 makes a little sense.

Napoleon: Scoped Baker Rifle

I like Ridley Scott movies, but Napoleon let me down. I didn’t care for the film and would rather watch Gladiator 2. Maybe the 4-hour Director’s cut version will be better, most Ridley Scott director’s cuts are, but I’m not counting on it. I’m no historian, but a leading historian in Napoleonic studies, Patrice Gueniffey, wasn’t a fan.

Again, I’m no historian, but I know a little about guns, even guns from Napoleon’s era. In the Battle of Waterloo, we see a British sharpshooter armed with a Baker rifle, which is accurate. Both historically and in the gun’s ability to make hits. The Brits learned from the American Revolution that rifled long arms were valuable tools to engage their enemy.

The Baker rifle was fielded by sharpshooters to engage the enemy at longer ranges and to disrupt the command and control elements of a military unit. Where the Napoleon film goes wrong is showing a scoped Baker rifle in 1815. The Brits weren’t issuing scopes with the Baker rifle, and we wouldn’t see practical rifle optics until about 1830.

Best yet, the scope isn’t a scope, it’s a spyglass. There is no reticle, no adjustment method, or anything that would make it useful. It’s also mounted with what appears to be burlap that’s wrapped around the gun and the spyglass. That’s not exactly a well-mounted scope. It’s silly, but honestly, the film is kind of silly.

Bad Movie Guns Are Great

There is a horseshoe-shaped scale of greatness to movie guns. On one extreme side, we have great movie guns. Movies like Heat and Collateral are on that extreme side. In the middle, we have the boring films that don’t do anything bad or anything great. On the other extreme side, we have the guns we listed today. Their designs are hilarious and entertaining. The point of a movie is to be entertaining, so I prefer bad movie guns to boring movie guns.

WARDEN Studios: Affordable Communications

By
Cory Ross
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Warden Retrofit on Walker Razor with Baofeng Radio.

This past June, I had the opportunity to attend GunCon as a media member, and what a great (and wild) time it was. At the event, I crossed paths with many familiar brands and faces. However, there were also many newcomers and unknowns. And with those came ingenious and innovative ideas. My favorite innovation came from WARDEN Studios, a small company based in Chardon, Ohio.

The WARDEN Studios Retrofit

Comms Are Expensive

Over the past few years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown, people have focused on preparedness. This includes a focus on items such as food, water, firearms, ammunition, and logistical gear. During this time, these people also learned about communications and its significance during major world events (such as a national food shortage, blackout, etc.).

For shooters and enthusiasts, being able to communicate with others while wearing hearing protection is highly valued—but it has often been costly. For example, a Peltor ComTac headset—that’s comms-enabled—and widely considered the gold standard for tactical communications, starts at around $800. Otto Communications headsets are twice as much.

That price often doesn’t include necessary cables, nor does it include any radio or push-to-talk functions out of the box. Furthermore, operating the types of radios required for this necessitates a license (HAM radio operator license).

Unfortunately, no one has yet developed a better solution. And yes, Walker did introduce a walkie-talkie attachment for their Razor line of electronic hearing protection. These are simple devices. They operate on FRS frequencies that do not require licensing. However, these frequencies are accessible to anyone, which means someone could be listening to your private conversation.

I’d argue that these provide basic-level functionality but aren’t suitable for serious communication. In addition to the FRS-only frequencies, these clip-on units offer inferior range (<100 yards line of sight), require extra batteries, and can only use “VOX” activation instead of push-to-talk. So, it transmits your voice constantly, along with wind, gunshots, and loud breathing.

These also occupy the 3.5 mm port on your earpro, so you can’t use the attachment to talk on your phone, nor can you listen to music while this module is attached. Again, there must be a better option—and there is.

Who Is WARDEN Studios?

Firstly, WARDEN Studios is a design and engineering company that specializes in solving unique problems. Their background is heavily rooted in the design and manufacturing world, with a focus on communications. So, it makes sense that WARDEN’s featured product is a headset retrofit that converts your existing electronic hearing protection into a capable comms solution. And after using them for the past few months, they are the real deal.

Retrofit

From WARDEN, the Retrofit is “civilian comms from the ground up. Tailor-made specifically for civilians—not just repurposed military headsets. The simplest, cleanest, most durable way to get comms connected with your existing earpro.”

So, how does WARDEN go about this?

“This conversion process was developed to provide an affordable, rugged, civilian-oriented alternative to high-end tactical headsets. The Retrofit replaces your existing 3.5MM jack with an improved 3.5MM connector and allows you to connect to a phone or radio using various detachable cables. Unlike other offerings on the market, our microphone is hard-mounted to your ear protection, ensuring durability and reliability in all conditions.”

Front View of Walker Razors with Retrofit.
Side View of Walker Razors with Retrofit. Note that the Boom
Mic Swivels and articulates.

Almost sounds like it’s too good to be true—but I assure you that it’s not. These are a legit solution. The boom mic is adjustable, but doesn’t feel flimsy. The mount itself is sturdy. The system is passive and doesn’t add additional drain to your hearing protection’s battery.

While I could provide you with all the technical specifications here, I’ll direct you to WARDEN Studios for that information. Instead, I’d like to share my experience with them and why you should consider them for your own communications needs.

How I’ve Used Them

To be honest, radio communications are pretty new to me. I have a passing interest in the subject, but no clear direction. It’s something I hope to expand my knowledge and skills in, but I haven’t done so yet. That said, I still found the WARDEN Retrofit incredibly useful.

To this point, I’ve primarily used them with my iPhone 16 Pro, utilizing the USB-C cable (which can be purchased as a kit or separately). And I’ve found a ton of functionality with them.

First, the Walkers perform as they did before, serving as hearing protection—there is no diminishing return when doing the retrofit. Second, I’ve used them when I’m on the lawnmower and my friend Ryan wants to talk about the gun he’d like to purchase (he always calls me for guidance, because, you know, I’m an expert…right?). When talking, I hear him perfectly through the headset, and he never knows that I’m actually doing yardwork.

And the other is listening to music while shooting. Generally, when I’m testing or training, I’m by myself. So, I like to throw on music or a podcast—call it multitasking.

Warden Cable Kit Featuring a 3.5mm to 3.55, USB-C to 3.5mm,
and a TP120 to 3.5mm.

Running the Warden Retrofit with Zello

However, as a communication device, I’ve used them with the app Zello. Zello is a push-to-talk solution that doesn’t require any licensing. And it’s free for the basic version! When I spoke with Andrew from Warden, he described the app as a “mesh” system, where you can communicate with multiple friends or the broader community.

For those interested in radio communications, I recommend this as a starting point. It works well with the retrofit, and I’m easily able to talk with friends. The only downside is that it relies on a cell signal. Not the best in an SHTF scenario. Which is why I plan to continue my education and build up a radio skillset.

After speaking with Andrew, this is the recommended path he suggests:

“I recommend going from Zello to GMRS to Ham Amateur radio. Zello only requires a USB cable and nothing else. GMRS requires a radio, a TP120 cable, a PTT, and an FCC license. The license is valid for 10 years, doesn’t require a test, costs $35, and covers your entire family to use a radio. It provides access to multiple frequencies and significantly higher transmit power compared to FRS.

“If you genuinely enjoy GMRS and wish to advance your communications education, HAM radio is the next logical step. It involves taking classes and passing a rigorous test, but it allows you to use many more frequencies and transmit at higher power. Beyond that, there are private business licenses that let you operate on your own frequencies and enable data transmission, texting, GPS, and encryption.”

As you can tell, Andrew is an expert in this field. For my purposes, I have a basic Baofeng radio from Amazon, but if you’re looking for something with significantly more capabilities at a reasonable price, I recommend checking this out.

Even with the Retrofit, the Walker Razor retains it’s normal
shape and function.

Final Thoughts

The WARDEN Retrofit was one of the most exciting products I’ve come across. Andrew and his team offer a solution to a real problem. They make communication systems affordable and approachable for normal shooters, campers, or general preppers. The system is durable and feels as if it came that way from the factory.

Currently, the Retrofit is available for Walker Razors, Sordin Supreme Pro-X, Howard Leight, and the Walker Recon, with additional cable bundles also available. When you make your order, Andrew will send a confirmation email with the shipping address. Then, go to your local UPS or Post Office and send them to Northeast Ohio. Currently, turnarounds are quick—about a week.

Current pricing for everything but the Sordin’s is $125.00. The Sordin Retrofit is $150.00. Currently, there is a sale if you buy the bundle—that’s the option I recommend going with.

You can never beat cool stickers and branding.

Do Circle Dot Reticles Make a Difference?

By
Travis Pike
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My friend, and one of my favorite gun writers, Daniel Reedy, recently wrote a short article about the new Aimpoint with a circle dot reticle. He states he hates circle dot reticles, and immediately I was in a “why” mode. Why hate circle dot reticles?

Circle Dot? Or No?

I like circle dot reticles, so I have a bias. However, I stopped thinking about why Mr. Reedy dislikes circle dot reticles and wondered why I liked them. Have they ever improved my performance? Do they offer any major advantage over a simple 2 to 6 MOA dot? I got to thinking and I got to shooting.

Maybe they offered some advantage, maybe they didn’t, but I figured I could experiment and find out for myself. What started with carbines and red dots ended up with me considering the idea of both shotguns and handguns, and some external conditions. Please keep in mind I’m talking about red dot sights and not holographic sights.

Stated Upsides

There are upsides to circle dot reticles. The first is for shooters with astigmatism. Astigmatisms vary more than new AR calibers, so it’s not always a conclusive solution. However, my wife suffers from astigmatism, and a circle dot reticle is easier for her to use than just a dot.

The circle dot reticle can be used as a range-finding device. Most circle dot reticles copy EoTech’s reticle, and in doing so make it possible to find range at a couple of hundred yards using a man-sized target. If they fill the reticle top to bottom, they are about a hundred yards out. If they fill it from the dot to the bottom, they are about 200 yards away.

However, this also requires you to be aiming at a man standing broadside, totally exposing their body, and hoping they stay still. Outside of an ambush, I hesitate to think it’s all that handy, and when it is handy, it’s only handy for military or police users at best.

Circle Dot Reticles: The Downside

The biggest apparent downside is how much of the lens the optic takes up. The smaller the optic, the more crowded the lens gets by the circle and dot reticle. On optics like the AEMS, it’s less of a problem because the lens size is quite efficient, same with the HS510C. It’s still eating up a lot of your view.

When you start shooting at longer ranges and at smaller targets, it feels quite crowded. For example, at 100 yards, it’s easier to use a 2 MOA circle on a 33% reduced-sized target than trying to lock the circle dot over the target.

Now, to truly test this idea, I went to the range with a Holosun AEMS.

The Circle Dot At the Range

I liked circle dots because I used to think they made me faster. Fill the circle and start shooting. I used the AEMS because I could swap between a 2 MOA dot and a circle dot reticle.

I practiced doing simple ready-up drills and transitions between IPSC-sized A-zones. I ran several of each drill with both the circle dot and dot reticles. According to my timer, there is no difference between the two. Namely, because I’m not trying to find the dot or the circle. I see red on the target at close range, and I start pulling the trigger.

I’m target-focused, and all I need is a red dot to make my shots quick and efficient. I never felt the circle dot helped me land shots faster. I think this is still true for shooters with less experience. They might benefit from having the bigger reticle. With a target-focused mindset, I’m not looking to fill a circle anymore.

What about height over bore compensation? Circle dot reticles aren’t all that useful for that either. They aren’t big enough to make a difference, and while they might help a little, they still won’t provide you with correct height over bore compensation.

Outside of the Carbine

Circle dot reticles are present on plenty of handgun red dots, namely the Holosun optics, but others have adapted this reticle as well. On a handgun, they are typically around 32 MOA in size. That’s massive, and it takes up a lot of window space. With a target-focused shooting style, it’s not a problem, but personal preference has me leaning into using dot reticles.

At the range, I didn’t notice a difference in speed at close ranges, but at 25 yards, it’s a bit much and puts a lot of reticle in a tiny lens. Hitting a big target is easy. However, hitting smaller targets becomes a little trickier.

On the shotgun is where I found a real benefit. To be fair, I found this out years ago. In using a shotgun, I can use a circle dot reticle with a handgun-style optic for patterning purposes. It’s not going to make a difference when it comes to making fast shots from a ready-up drill.

Instead, it’s useful for taking a precise shot with a shotgun when using tight-patterning ammo. I know that my chosen defensive shotgun load, which is Federal FliteControl 8 pellet 00 buckshot, stays within that 32 MOA circle at 12 yards 100%. At 15 yards, it’s still basically inside that circle.

If I have to take a precise shot with a shotgun within these ranges, I know my pellets are going to stay within that circle. If a threat is using cover and all I can see is a small portion of the threat, I know my pellets are going to land within that circle. At that point, I can ditch the dot entirely and just use a circle.

My Final Thoughts On Circle Dot Reticles

I don’t hate circle dot reticles. I still like them, but I do understand why others don’t, especially on a carbine or similar weapon. They have some limited utility, especially with shotguns, but wouldn’t be enough to get me to choose one optic over the other, all things considered.

Compact First-Aid for Both Rural and Urban Adventures

By
Michael D'Angona
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The human body can be tough and strong, but it definitely has its limitations. From wood slivers to thorn bushes, to sharp metal, prickly cactus, or partially hammered nails, injuries can happen in the wild or in the concrete jungle. Unfortunately, your bathroom’s medicine cabinet can’t join you on your adventures, but a compact first-aid kit can.

These carry-anywhere packs hold essential first-aid gear to patch you up and get you back to your task at hand. From minimalistic kits to comprehensive packs and everything in between, the assortment below is your answer to the unpredictability of life.

First-Aid Kits for the Trail

Lifeline Prepared Weather-Resistant First Aid Kit

Good things come in small packages, and the Lifeline Prepared Weather-Resistant First Aid Kit backs that statement up. With one of the smallest first-aid footprints available, you’ll be able to carry this kit just about anywhere. It offers a highly durable ABS plastic case, chock full of twenty-eight useful first aid products. These include bandages, insect sting relief, antiseptics, towelettes, and more. Ideal for minor cuts and scrapes while on the go. An integrated carabiner is included for easy attachment to your belt or gear bag. Get big results from going small!

Specifications

  • Weather-resistant ABS case
  • Full 28-piece set
  • Offers basic first-aid essentials
  • Compact, pocket-size design
  • Includes a convenient carabiner

MSRP: $7.99

North American Rescue Creek Mini Kit

No matter where your adventures take you, the Creek Mini First-aid kit has you covered. The unit offers waterproof protection with its sealable pack. Inside, enjoy the peace of mind with over two dozen diverse first aid products. From a variety of bandages to gloves, wraps, gauze, and even a tourniquet, normal mishaps won’t be a problem for you. This assortment is ideal for deep woods, marine, or urban activities.  

Specifications

  • Compact design for outdoor trekking
  • Covers minor to severe injuries
  • Waterproof and dustproof outer pack
  • Overall weight: 1.30 pounds
  • Over two dozen components

MSRP: $207.99

Lifeline Prepared 125 Piece Essential First Aid Kit

Prepare against inevitable cuts, scrapes, and scratches with this comprehensive kit. Enclosed within its soft canvas pack are a mind-blowing 125 useful first-aid items. From bandages to gauze, to a cold pack, tape, and alcohol pads, your answer to minor injuries is with this portable collection of items. The pack offers a durable handle, tough soft canvas, and a zippered closure that keeps all products secured inside. Don’t head out without the 125 Piece Essential First Aid Kit!

Specifications

  • 125 Basic first-aid products
  • Zippered closure  
  • Heavy-duty carry bag
  • Compact, easy-to-carry anywhere
  • Includes an informative first-aid booklet

MSRP: $14.39

Lifeline Prepared Realtree Medium Hard-Shell First Aid Kit

Deep woods activities can bring minor cuts and scrapes, and the perfect solution to these is the Realtree First-aid Kit. Sporting the famous Realtree camo pattern, the pack offers hard shell protection for fifty-three useful items. All sizes of bandages, gauze, antiseptic towels, tape, scissors, tweezers, and a convenient first-aid guide go along on all your outdoor adventures. This medium-sized kit fits easily inside your vehicle, cabin, backpack, or store it in your emergency kit for future needs.

Specifications

  • Hard-shell foam case
  • 53 basic first-aid pieces
  • Authentic Realtree camo pattern
  • Compact for easy carry and storage
  • Includes a carabiner for easy attachment

MSRP: $15.99

North American Rescue Mini T-Pack First Aid Kit

Waterproof, re-sealable, and highly portable, the Mini T-Pack packs a load of first-aid items in a small, ultra-tough package. This mini kit offers aid for both minor and major issues. From cuts and scrapes to heavy blood loss and bone fractures, and everything in between, you’re well covered when outdoors. First-aid items include basic bandages, tape, gloves, and bleeding control dressings. It also offers more unconventional items like a CPR mask, chafing ointment, a survival blanket, and a C-A-T tourniquet. The Mini T-Pack is ideal for all urban and rural excursions.

Specifications

  • Patented film with a hermetic seal
  • Water and air-tight design
  • Covers minor and major first-aid needs
  • Convenient see-through pack
  • Ideal for all outdoor activities

MSRP: $101.19

Sawyer Extractor Pump

This unique and highly useful product removes venom and poisons from snake bites, bee stings, and mosquito bites when you’re out in the field. This compact kit comes packed within an easy-to-locate, bright yellow container. Inside the Extractor Pump kit, you have everything you need to combat nature’s pests and their painful bites. The kit includes four different-sized suction cups, sting relief pads, adhesive bandages, a disposable razor, and the extractor pump. An included how-to manual rounds out this highly valuable outdoor essential.

Specifications

  • Easy-to-use system
  • Four cup size options
  • One-hand pump operation
  • Compact and reusable
  • Brightly colored, durable containment case

MSRP: $19.49

North American Rescue Out-Pak Kit

Super compact and full of essential first-aid components, the Out-Pak Kit offers gauze, bandages, sting and bite packets, tape, gloves, a survival blanket, and more for any outdoor adventure. All items are easily accessible within the case’s clamshell design with elastic interior straps to keep everything stable and in place. The Out-Pak Kit can be attached both vertically and horizontally to larger packs for maximum access where needed. A PVC medical patch, large zipper pulls, and multiple color options add to this kit’s vast amenities.

Specifications

  • Rugged nylon bag
  • Both vertical and horizontal attachment options
  • Integrated MOLLE webbing
  • Includes PVC patch for easy identification
  • Available in six distinct colors

MSRP: $98.49

Adventure Medical Kits Trauma Pack Pro

Sometimes injuries are far beyond a simple cut or scrape. To handle heavy bleeding, turn to the Trauma Pack Pro. This assembly consists of two feet of QuickClot gauze, a trauma pad, latex gloves, duct tape, and an easy-to-use tourniquet. All items are focused on stopping blood flow and stabilizing the victim until professional help can arrive. Trauma response instructions are included, so anyone without even the hint of medical experience can help when needed. A rugged, nylon pouch with a secure hook-and-loop fastener keeps all items secure and compact for easy carrying.

Specifications

  • Compact and lightweight
  • Easy-to-use tourniquet
  • Rugged containment pouch
  • Six trauma-centric items
  • Includes a quick reference first-aid guide

MSRP: $71.49

The .38/.45 Clerke – A Bizarre 1911 Cartridge

By
Travis Pike
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The .357 SIG was produced by taking a 9mm projectile and necking down a .40 S&W case to accommodate it. This produced a high-pressure, fast-moving 9mm round that was attempting to replicate .357 Magnum performance. Bottleneck pistol rounds are odd, but many people thought the .357 SIG was the first to try to combine a popular case with a popular projectile. However, there was a cartridge called the .38/.45 Clerke that came before it.

The .357 SIG did achieve a SAAMI spec, which pulled it out of the wildcard market. The .38/.45 Clerke never made it that far. A man named Bo Clerke designed the cartridge in 1963, and it premiered in Gun and Ammo magazine. The .38/.45 Clerke combined a .357 projectile with a .45 ACP case. The case was bottlenecked to accommodate the smaller projectile.

The .38/.45 Clerke: Same Idea, Different Purpose

The .357 SIG wanted to replicate .357 Magnum performance in a semi-automatic format. They wanted to maximize velocity and accepted the increase in recoil. The .38/.45 Clerke had a different goal. Bo Clerke’s intention was to design a low-recoiling target round. Bo Clerke also wanted the gun to work with a wide variety of projectile types.

International Ammunition Association

You could use a standard round-nose bullet, but the use of .357 projectiles opened up the market to wadcutters. Wadcutters were immensely popular for shooting targets. They left a perfect circle in the target and made scoring easy. The problem was that flat rounds don’t feed well in semi-autos.

Mr. Clerke’s solution was to use a much larger case to ensure it would feed in a semi-auto 1911 platform. This would make it one of the few semi-autos that could handle wadcutters. The 1911 format also meant you didn’t need one of those crazy expensive target pistols. A shooter could get into an NRA Bullseye Match with a semi-auto without having to buy a pricey S&W Model 52.

The .38/.45 Clerke could project a 130-grain bullet at 1,245 feet per second. It wasn’t a slouch, but it wasn’t a high-performing cartridge either. It’s a bit more powerful than a basic 124-grain 9mm round, but not exceptionally so. Of course, you still got the same limited capacity you’d get with a .45 ACP due to the size of the case.

Cast Booolits

Running and Gunning with the .38/.45 Clerke

The use of a .45 ACP case and .357 bullet made it easy to reload the cartridge. You need form and sizer dies, but it wasn’t out of this world. Most M1911 pistols can be converted to .38/.45 Clerke. You need to swap the barrel, and typically, the easiest way to accomplish this task is to ream out a .38 Super barrel. Bar-Sto even made .38/.45 Clerke barrels as drop-in replacements.

The round made some headway with Bullseye Shooters, but never climbed out of the wildcat market. These days, a few dedicated M1911 aficionados still reload the cartridge, and the dies are available if you want to do something a little crazy.

The .38/.45 Clerke is a largely forgotten part of both Bullseye history and M1911 history. It was a simple and creative solution to a fairly niche problem. Mr. Bo Clerke was clearly a smart man, and he simplified a complicated problem.

The Rare, Weird, and Awesome Japanese Guns Of WWII

By
Travis Pike
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The Japanese military in World War II fielded a variety of interesting weapons. Most military forces in this massive war produced some interesting designs while relying on guns from the war before. What was different about the Japanese military was that their firearms’ design didn’t do much to advance firearms design, but Japan was creative.

Let’s look at the rare, weird, and awesome guns of Japan in World War II

The Japanese Garand

The American military was the only one to field a semi-automatic main rifle in World War II. Everyone else was playing catch-up. Imagine being a Japanese soldier fiddling with the bolt of your Arisaka when a Marine with a Garand unloads a half dozen .30-06 into your chest. The Japanese forces wanted a semi-automatic rifle.

They decided to copy the M1 Garand in the form of the Type 4 rifle. The Japanese Garand chambered a 7.7x58mm Arisaka cartridge and fed from a fixed ten-round magazine. Instead of En-Bloc clips, the Japanese soldier would use two five-round stripper clips to load the gun.

The Type 4 kept the long-stroke gas piston design, and it looks like someone described an M1 Garand from memory. Japan lost before the rifle could be fielded, and very few existed, with numbers ranging from 125 to 250 examples.

The Type 2 TERA Rifle

World War II saw the mass use of airborne troops. Paratroopers became a force in every major military. The United States even had ParaMarines. The Japanese had their own paratroopers and ran into the same problems all paratroopers run into: How do I jump with all my gear? Rifles were a lot bigger, so the Japanese solution was the TERA rifles, the weirdest one being the Type 2.

The Type 2 TERA rifle is a takedown rifle. Specifically, a bolt-action takedown rifle. The barrel separated from the receiver. The barrel and receiver were held together by a tapered wedge. Paratroopers used a folding wire ring to tighten the wedge lock. This allowed the rifle to be taken down fairly quickly and put back together fairly quickly.

The Type 2 would be kept in two-leg bags, split in half. The Japanese military experimented with folding bolts and bayonets, but drew the line there. These rifles were fielded, and about 19,000 were produced.

The Type 26 Revolver

Technically, this wasn’t a WWII design but was fielded during WWII since Japan needed handguns. The Type 26 replaced the No. 3 Russian. The Type 26 was an oddball. It was a mix of design influences from around the world. The double-action lockwork was French-inspired, and the hinged frame was S&W-inspired. It had a dose of weird Japanese influence.

The revolver fired a novel 9mm cartridge, which was similar to the .38 S&W. The top frame hinged open to eject cartridges and load the gun. The side panel was hinged and easy to open for cleaning and lubricating. This was a double-action only gun with the world’s ugliest hammer.

That’s fine, but the cylinder didn’t lock when the trigger wasn’t being pulled. This meant it free-wheeled, so anything could spin the cylinder. It’s a stupid design, to be fair, and the trigger was terrible, and the cartridge anemic.

Experimental Model 2 SMG

I’ll give it to the Japanese military; the Experimental Model 2 SMG had a cool aesthetic. It looked like it came right out of some steampunk dystopia. The Model 2 was designed to address complaints that came from the Model 1. It remained a simple blowback-operated firearm but featured a unique operating system.

The Model 2 featured a barrel shroud that reciprocated with the bolt as the weapon fired. The return spring was located behind the shroud rather than the bolt. The recoil spring pushed the shroud forward, and it carried the bolt forward. The shroud also acted as the charging handle, which was intrinsically ambidextrous. Some early models even featured a pneumatic buffer that would make B&T jealous.

The Model 2 SMG fired the 8mm Nambu cartridge and came with 30-round magazines, but the 50-round Type 1 magazine would work. Initially, the gun was rejected in 1935, but World War II changed the game. Not many were produced, and only one is known to exist.

Type 11 Light Machine Gun

The Type 11 comes from lessons learned in WWI, namely, machine guns make the right of way. The Japanese saw that a light, easily portable machine gun would be useful, so they designed the most useless version of that gun. The Type 11 was a man-portable machine that weighed 22.5 pounds and fired the 6.5x50mm Arisaka from a 30-round hopper.

Yep, a hopper, like a paintball gun. The hopper could be removed to be reloaded or reloaded by an assistant gunner. Five-round stripper clips fed the hopper, and they were stacked flat and secured by a spring arm. Rounds were stripped from the lowest clip, and the clips would then eject out the bottom of the gun.

Admittedly, it used the same stripper clips as the infantry rifles fielded by Japanese soldiers. It seemed clever, was slow to reload, and the open hopper made it easy for dirt and debris to enter the hopper and the gun. Also, the buttstock was bent far to the right to compensate for the weight of the gun. Good luck feeding this thing while on the assault.

The Japanese and Their Oddballs

The Japanese military had some truly oddball guns; we aren’t even talking about their oddball features. Like, who puts anti-aircraft sights on a bolt-action battle rifle? Leave it to the Japanese to make that a thing. If you enjoy the weird and odd, and debunking charts to trace the various Japanese battle rifles, then start looking into Japanese weaponry of WWII.

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