When Meindl reached out to me to try this Toskana Trail Walker, I initially turned them down. I’m not someone who normally buys shoes or boots online. It’s just hard to get the right fit, you know? I’ve run into that before with other companies. But as I was chatting with their rep, he managed to convince me to give them a shot.
And am I glad he did!
We’ll get into the details in a second, but here’s a spoiler. These are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn.
What’s In the Box?
Made in Italy, the Toskana Trail Walker from Meindl is built for comfort as well as stability no matter what sort of terrain you’re facing. There is Gore-Tex lining to keep you dry on rainy days and premium suede leather construction that’s handsome and comfortable.
Comfort Fit® Last and Comfort Fit® cork footbeds give you a fit that feels like each shoe was custom-made for your feet. Their proprietary technology results in an anatomically correct fit with a wider foot box. As someone with wide feet, this is definitely appreciated.
The multigrip sole provides amazing traction on virtually any surface, from dirt to gravel to concrete. At the same time, while the sole is thick and sturdy, there’s plenty of flex, so it doesn’t feel like you’re walking on pieces of wood.
The Toskana Trail Walker is 4.25 inches high. This is definitely more shoe than boot, and that’s fine with me. The pair weighs 2.30 pounds. This isn’t an ultralight footwear option, that’s for sure. However, for years I’ve been wearing low-cut boots that tip the scales at nearly a pound more for the pair. So these didn’t exactly feel like boat anchors.
The Meindl website advises ordering one full size down from your Brannock or current U.S. shoe size. However, I ordered the same size that I wear in everything else, and it fit fine. Your mileage may vary, as they say. These take 40-inch laces. Mine arrived with red laces on the shoes and black laces in the box.
How Do They Perform?
I mentioned at the outset that these Toskana Trail Walker shoes are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn. I’ll add to that statement by saying that there was zero break-in period with them. They felt great right out of the box. I can’t say that this is the first pair of footwear I’ve had like that, but it’s pretty rare.
I’ve worn these shoes every day since they dropped on my doorstep. They’ve gone on a couple of hikes, puttered around in the yard, and even went along on a two-day semi-business trip to a knife manufacturer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They’ve felt amazing everywhere I went.
On trails, they provided excellent traction, even when the terrain was muddy. Full confession, I did slip once. But that was due to getting tangled in some brush because I wasn’t watching where I was stepping. Totally my fault, not the shoes.
In addition to hiking, I spent a few days in an industrial setting, on my feet for upwards of 10 hours a day, standing and walking on concrete floors. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Trail Walkers did there. While I can’t say I was exactly invigorated at the end of each day, I didn’t feel like I was going to collapse into a puddle of aches and pains either. I’m counting that as a definite win.
What’s the Verdict?
I can’t recommend the Toskana Trail Walker highly enough. It not only surpassed every expectation I had, it set the bar pretty high for any footwear to follow. Find them online at MeindlUSA.com.
[For transparency, Meindl provided a pair of these shoes to me at no charge for the purposes of evaluation. This has had zero impact on my opinion of the shoes or on this review.]
The firearms used by the United States military have been cataloged extensively. Every small variation of these various weapons has been cataloged and collected. What’s not so clear, and often cloudy, is the military’s use of suppressors. The reason why it hasn’t been cataloged extensively is that until relatively recently, suppressors haven’t been used in great numbers by modern military forces. However, the history of suppressors in military use is downright fascinating and likely goes further than you know.
The First Suppressor in Military Use
Hiram Maxim designed the first silencer in 1902 and received his patent in 1909. He continued to develop suppressors for hunters and plinkers and often touted their usefulness beyond martial use. However, he also saw the advantage of military contracts. He created the Model 1910 to sit offset and allow the user to maintain the ability to use their sights.
The US military purchased Maxim Model 1912 suppressors and a limited number of Moore suppressors. Both were tested, but neither was adopted wholeheartedly. The military didn’t see the benefit. Maxim continued to develop the Springfield suppressors and would release a Model 15 designed for the Springfield.
The first time we saw military use of suppressors was during the American Punitive Expedition to Mexico in 1916. A silencer-equipped sniper squad followed General John Pershing into Mexico. Sadly, there don’t seem to be many records of what the squad did or how well the suppressed rifles worked.
Suppressors In The Great War
Americans were only involved in about 180 days of fighting in World War I, but it is unclear if any suppressed sniper rifles ever found their way to combat in American hands. We know some soldiers brought suppressed rifles. The US Army did order 9,100 suppressed sniper rifles, but the war ended before the order was fulfilled.
While we are focused primarily on American military use of suppressors, it’s worth mentioning that British snipers used silencers to great effect during the war. This included Maxim suppressors. They became known as the Whispering Death amongst the Germans.
World War II – Suppressor Use In The Wild
One of the best stories concerning suppressors and World War II comes from the time ‘Wild’ Bill Donovan, head of the OSS, met with President Roosevelt in the Oval Office. As the President dictated a letter, Donovan fired a round from a suppressed High Standard HDM into a sandbag, told the unbelieving President he had done so, and handed him the still smoking gun.
(Rock Island Auction)
The High Standard HDM was one of many silenced weapons used during the war. Springfields with suppressors were fielded in limited numbers. The Brits devised the Welrod, which entered American OSS hands. The OSS also wielded M3 Grease Guns with internally suppressed barrels.
World War II saw a rise in special operations and espionage as the war reached all corners of the globe. Suppressed weapons became valuable tools for commandos who were blowing up airfields and sabotaging Axis war efforts. The weapons were used for assassinations to cover troops’ tracks and avoid drawing attention when necessary.
This gave suppressors new life inside the United States military. They became demystified, and with the development of special warfare units, they grew in commonality.
Vietnam – Asymmetric Warfare
In Vietnam, the United States faced long-term guerilla warfare. The Vietnam War created modern special operations forces. Asymmetric warfare put a new focus on special operations, and special operations troops needed suppressors. Suppressors don’t completely eliminate noise, but they allow troops to hide their positions longer, making them harder to find in a firefight.
Special Operations troops commonly used submachine guns with suppressors, including the Swedish K and UZI. Suppressors from companies like Sionics and the HEL M2 suppressed the M16A1 rifles, a blessing for special operations troops. Handguns like the PPK would be surprised and could operate reliably due to the blowback action. Nielsen devices wouldn’t be invented for another decade.
However, the Navy did develop the Mk 22 MOD 0, a suppressed S&W Model 39. This gun became known as the Hush Puppy. It was developed to eliminate sentries and guard dogs at close range. It was suppressed and featured a slide lock that prevented the slide from cycling, which cut the noise to nothing.
There were lots of experimental suppressed weapons. This includes M1 carbines, a Silent Sniper Rifle firing a massive subsonic cartridge, a silenced revolver, and more. The Vietnam War made the suppressed weapon a common sight in special operations units.
The Modern Era
From Vietnam til now, we have seen a shift in suppressor usage. Special Operations troops, snipers, and similar cool guys had suppressors, but they began leaking to the infantry. Marines carrying Mk 12s carried suppressors. Suppressors from Knight’s Armament, Qual-A-Tech, and more have entered the scene.
The Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon comes with a suppressor and aims to arm all infantrymen with a new long-range rifle option. The Marine Corps conducted a massive experiment with infantry-suppressed weapons and is going full steam ahead. Suppressors are commonly issued amongst infantry Marines and the M27 IAR.
Tomorrow’s War Will Be Silenced
Suppressors allow troops to hear commands, maintain situational awareness, and make troops tougher to find at moderate to long ranges. The cat is out of the bag, and the United States seems dedicated to a future of suppressed weapons with modern fighting forces. These are no longer tools dedicated to special ops troops, but the average Joe will be toting a suppressed weapon for the foreseeable future.
The specific revolver depicted above has been in my family for some time. Unfortunately, I’m not fully aware of its history other than it was purportedly built in 1907, according to a serial number lookup. It’s likely a newer 5th model change revolver.
Early Double Action
Fundamentally, this double-action-only revolver works like any other, with both the internal hammer and trigger feeding off mainspring tension to function correctly. The trigger is interlinked with a hand that actuates the ratchet on the cylinder. It also actuates a rudimentary but precise cylinder stop. It’s worth noting that more than a century later, the timing on this revolver is impeccable.
Due to their nature, Safety Hammerless revolvers have a very long and heavy trigger pull. I’d estimate the one on this specimen to be at least fifteen pounds. Unfortunately, my digital trigger pull scale is too sensitive to measure this trigger reliably. Its pull is smooth, but it’s just horrendously heavy and long. I suspect this has to do with the configuration under its sideplate and the physical distances between the major internal components.
Cylinders on modern Smith & Wesson revolvers rotate counter-clockwise, but this isn’t true of these earlier 19th-century designed guns. Safety Hammerless cylinders spin clockwise, and for that matter, their sideplates are found on the left side of the frame.
Breaking Frame
A view of the Safety Hammerless’ spring-loaded topstrap latch. The two shiny spots in the top middle are the ears of the diminutive rear sight. The second photo shows a view of the cylinder and the charge holes with the revolver broken up. Notice how wide the spacing between the teeth on the ratchet over the ejector star is.
The biggest novelty of this revolver is its sophisticated top-break mechanism. The frame and barrel conjoin in two places: on the bottom, where both parts hinge and pivot, and on the corner, where both parts are secured by a spring-loaded latch. This latch, which also serves as the platform for the rear sight, is unlocked by the thumb.
Like any modern revolver, Safety Hammerless models also include a star and ejector rod to manage brass. However, the rod itself is inaccessible from the outside. Instead, it’s automatically actuated when the action is broken open, and the barrel hinges past the first ⅓ of its arc to dead bottom. This movement is elegantly executed and speaks to the fit-and-finish standards that these guns of old needed to simply function.
The surfaces that make contact with each other on that lower portion where they hinge are extremely polished and smooth and have more in common with a mechanical watch than a handgun. After the barrel pivots to dead bottom, the star and ejector assembly spring back to their resting position, allowing the shooter to insert five fresh cartridges.
Sights And Barrel
The barrel on my Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless measures just short of 3 ¼ inches from the start of the forcing cone all the way to the muzzle. Throughout the product lifespan of the Safety Hammerless product family, the 3 ¼ barrel length was the default standard for both .32 and .38-caliber top break revolvers.
The barrel, topstrap, and pivoting juncture that mates into the frame are all elaborately machined from a single piece of steel. (For what it’s worth, during its heyday, Smith & Wesson ads used to boast about the quality of its steel compared to those used by their competitors in their Safety Hammerless clones, especially when .38 S&W ammunition shifted from black powder to more modern smokeless propellants at the industry level).
Regardless, it’s hard not to appreciate the intricacies in manufacturing. Especially considering how many steps it takes to mill, machine, and finish off what is essentially the front half of this revolver from a single piece of metal. I also couldn’t help but notice the relative thinness of the barrel walls. Then again, the .38 S&W cartridge has never been a hot screamer.
Similarly, the half-moon bladed front sight on this particular Safety Hammerless is directly affixed onto the top of the barrel. The rear sight is part of the T-shaped spring-powered latch that locks the top break action in place. It’s one of the most diminutive rear sights I’ve seen on any gun.
It amounts to two tiny ears that make a very shallow U-shaped rear sight notch, which lines up imprecisely (in my opinion) with the half-moon blade front sight. Even at three yards, the rear U-notch was too small compared to the height of the front sight, making shots at a two-inch circle more challenging than I expected.
A New Departure In Grips
One of the recurring themes in this article is about the tone the Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless set for the rest of the storied company’s compact and snub-nosed revolvers. The shape of the Safety Hammerless’ grip, its profile, and generous sinus (the space between a revolver’s fronstrap and the trigger guard) was certainly a departure from the earlier grip shape of the S&W Model1 tip-up revolver, whose stocks had more in common with a 1851 Colt Navy cap-and-ball black powder revolver than a Model 36 Chief’s Special.
In fact, Smith & Wesson J-frames are still profiled in this manner. However, skinny stocks like the ones found on models like the Safety Hammerless, Models 30, 34, 36, 37, 39, 40, and all of their descendants have not fallen out of favor for stocks that cover a frame’s sinus gap and lend themselves better to double-action focused defensive revolver shooting.
My Safety Hammerless has two black stocks with very fine, almost smooth checkering and the classic Smith & Wesson “diamond motif” over their center. These stocks are likely fashioned from an early polymer material, likely bakelite. The back of the grip itself has a round-butt.
The grip safety that lies over the backstrap of the Safety Hammerless is well-fitted with diamond-checkered surface for extra texture. It doesn’t need to sink too deeply into the back of the grip in order to disengage and allow the revolver’s double action to fire.
For normal adult-sized hands, the Safety Hammerless grips are too small and not comfortable. It’s certainly one of my least favorite aspects about the revolver, along with its hard-to-see and imprecise sights.
The S&W Safety Hammerless Trigger Pull
In Part 1 of this series, I briefly describe the top-break action and the trigger pull of the Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless. While the trigger pull is objectively smooth, the travel arc is long and heavy, and I made the educated guess that it breaks somewhere around the 15-lb mark. Unfortunately, it’s heavy enough that I cannot use my digital trigger pull scale to measure the pull weight directly.
It is possible to “stage” the trigger on most double-action revolvers by carefully controlling it with the trigger-finger. However, the unit on the Safety Hammerless is somewhat unusual because if the trigger is pulled back at a slower to moderate pace, there is a very definite wall at 80-90% of the trigger arc.
Its trigger stages itself in a roundabout way, and this is something I had not noticed until I was trying to shoot the revolver for accuracy. Keeping in mind that my specimen is both very old, along with the fact that I have no idea how many rounds of .38 S&W it has sent downrange, I am not thrilled at the weight and sluggishness that the wall added to the final portion of the trigger break. It was annoying enough that it canceled out the overall smoothness of the rest of the trigger’s travel arc.
In fairness to this gun, which is over a century old, there’s no telling what kind of grit, grime, and crud lies underneath its sideplate. I know enough about revolvers that I know better than to remove that sideplate.
To Be Continued In Part 3
Special thanks to Lucky Gunner for providing some .38 S&W ammunition for this project.
One of the common complaints we saddle on shotguns is low capacity. Most repeating shotguns hold anywhere from four to eight rounds of 2.75-inch buckshot. Compared to a modern rifle that often holds 30 rounds minimum, that doesn’t seem like a whole lot. The more I’ve used shotguns and the more training I’ve gone through, I’ve started to think that shotguns really aren’t low-capacity weapons.
Are Shotguns Low-Capacity?
While they have a lower capacity than a modern semi-auto rifle, I think context matters. We use the term low to describe something as inadequate based on a specific number. When I think about shotguns in this context, I can say a single or double barrel is pretty much capacity. In fact, the stock capacity of a Remington 870 at four in the tube seems a little low to me, but that’s like a 20-round mag in an AR.
Sure, you can go higher, but 20 isn’t exactly lacking either. We also have to look at weapons in the context in which they are deployed. In a perfect situation, a shotgun would be deployed in a scenario where it works best. Shotguns work best at close quarters. Essentially, they tend to perform very well inside pistol ranges.
In that situation, you have a shoulder-fired weapon without much distance from you to the threat. It’s unlikely you’ll miss with any shoulder-fired weapon. The advantage of the shotgun at this range is the amount of lead it puts into a target per pull of the trigger. You have to aim, but if you are an inch off from a terminal shot, you are still putting so much lead in a threat that an inch doesn’t matter, and you’ll likely stop the threat.
These fights often run over quickly due to their close range, and in that situation, speed matters more than accuracy. Not much more because we still need to stop the threat, but a little more. Whoever gets the lead on target first is likely to win.
Aiming might still be required to shoot a shotgun, but you have more room for error in sight alignment, sight picture, trigger pull, follow-through, etc. You can go faster while still seeing excellent results.
When Are Shotguns Low-Capacity
Shotguns become low-capacity weapons when they are deployed in situations where they don’t excel. In military use, a shotgun is a very niche weapon because most combat isn’t close enough to take advantage of the shotgun. It’s also a poor weapon to use to suppress a target, which is a common military tactic.
In police situations, shotguns fail when asked to do tasks they aren’t suited for, such as the North Hollywood shootout. However, for most police encounters, the shotgun seems like a fine weapon.
That leads us to the civilian context, and I feel the deployment most strongly supports the idea that the shotgun is a low-capacity weapon.
The Civilian Deployment of the Shotgun
In a home defense situation, the shotgun is in its element. Unless you’re living in a mansion, your home is likely a close-quarters playground. Now, we are in an environment where speed matters just one percent more than accuracy. In this situation, four to eight rounds seem to be enough to go around.
In scouring the internet and Active Self-Protection’s YouTube channel, I’ve yet to find a civilian use of a shotgun that required a reload. I’m not just looking for an example of when a shotgun ran dry, but even when a partial reload seemed necessary. In most cases where a round is fired, only one is needed to end the fight, with two being unlikely and more than three being downright impossible to find.
A home invasion scenario in Texas created a one vs three situation where the homeowner wielded a shotgun. He exchanged gunfire with the home intruders and ended up killing all three with his shotgun.
The benefit of using a shotgun is simple. When you pull that trigger, you’re firing multiple pellets. The best home defense loads typically include eight pellets of buckshot. An eight-round tube is holding 64 projectiles. Doesn’t sound like a low-capacity weapon to me. Misses are certainly rough, but at close quarters, misses are unlikely with a shoulder-fired weapon.
If you land a torso shot with a shotgun, the effect is devastating. It’s traumatic and often a fight-stopper. It’s going to create significant amounts of pain, muscle damage, and blood loss if it’s not fatal.
The Multiple Invaders Scenario
Since most of us aren’t fending off a horde of ninjas, a shotgun can deal with one or multiple home invaders. If you get to the point where a half-dozen armed home invaders are bearing down on you, then your gun might not be the deciding factor. Rather, it’ll be about how fast good guys with guns can show up to provide support.
In a multiple home invader situation, if it comes down to needing to reload a four to eight-round capacity shotgun, you have two situations at hand. You’re missing entirely too much, or your enemies are climbing over their dead friends to get to you.
The modern defensive shotgun with a modern capacity isn’t a low-capacity weapon. At least not in the context of the civilian deployment of a shotgun. Even with multiple home invaders, it can be a decisive, fight-stopping option for home defense. There might be plenty of problems and downsides to shotguns, but capacity isn’t one of them.
Chuck Taylor is one of the earliest civilian defensive firearms instructors. He worked for Jeff Cooper and ran Gunsite at one point. He served in Vietnam and was an encyclopedia of knowledge. Searching For Chuck Taylor these days mostly comes up with shoes, but Mr. Taylor was a legend. He passed in 2020, and the shooting industry is less for it. Chuck Taylor established something called the Combat Master certifications.
He established these standards in 1982 and used them as a baseline for student skills. The Combat Master certification covers four weapons: the handgun, the submachine gun, the shotgun, and the rifle. If you could pass all four, you were a 4-way Combat Master. According to the archive version of Chuck Taylor’s website, there are only five 4-way Combat Masters.
Today, to memorialize Mr. Taylor and his lasting imprint on the training industry, let’s look at the handgun Combat Master standards. Maybe you can go out at your local range and see if you’re up to snuff with Mr. Taylor’s standards?
The Handgun Combat Master Test
The stages use Mr. Taylor’s own target. It’s a Taylor Combat Target. These are vaguely silhouette targets with distinctive hit zones. They come in black and white, but there are also partially camouflaged variants. Camo targets create an interesting challenge at moderate ranges. They are still available and sold at Action Target.
You can earn a total of 400 points with a passing score of 360 points. The scoring is broken down into major and minor power factors. Any hit on the X is five points. Hits outside the X are 2 for Major and 1 for Minor. Penalties earn -5 points and include:
Premature Start; “Creeping”.
Overtime shot. SPECIAL NOTE: If the overtime shot was caused by a malfunction and it was CORRECTLY cleared, no penalty will be assessed.
Hit on an object designated as cover or hostage. In the case of an “edger,” if more than half of the bullet diameter is on the target, no penalty is to be assessed, and credit for a peripheral hit will be given.
Overtime Speed or Tactical Reload, Malfunction Clearance.
To be a handgun Combat Master, we’ll need to conduct a fairly long course of fire. If fired from concealed, you can add 2/10ths of a second to each drill.
Part 1 – At 1 meter, draw and fire two shots from close retention in one second. On Mr. Taylor’s website, it’s called the Speed Rock technique.
Part 2 – At 1 meter, draw and fire two shots as you step rearward.
Part 3- You’ll fire two shots at various ranges from the holster at various time points. They are as follows:
From 3 meters, draw and fire two shots in one second.
From 7 meters, draw and fire two shots in 1.3 seconds.
From 10 meters, draw and fire two shots in 1.8 seconds.
From 15 meters, draw and fire two shots in 2.3 seconds.
From 25 meters, draw and fire two shots in 2.8 seconds.
From 50 meters, draw and fire two shots in 6 seconds.
Stage Two – Presentation Evaluation
For this stage of the Handgun Combat Master Course, we’ll stick to seven yards. Start with your weapon holstered. You’ll draw and fire one shot at the go signal in seven seconds. You’ll repeat this drill five times.
Stage Three- Responses To Left, Right, and Rear
This portion of the Combat Master test will involve moving. We’ll start at seven yards, and one shot will be fired per repetition. Start with your weapon holstered and your body will face parallel to or in the opposite direction of the range.
Respond to the left, draw, and fire one round in 1 second.
Respond to the right, draw, and fire one round in 1 second.
Respond to the rear, draw, and fire one round in 1.2 seconds.
Repeat each of these positions five times.
Stage Four – Small Targets
The small targets portion of the Handgun Combat Master will focus on headshots to the target. You’ll start with your weapon holstered.
At 5 meters, draw and fire one headshot in 1 second. (Repeat four times.)
At 7 meters, draw and fire one headshot in 1.2 seconds (Repeat five times)
Stage Five – Hostage Situations
You’ll need four total targets. Two will be hostage, and two will be threats. Use the hostage targets to cover 40% or so of the head of the hostage taker. One target should have 40% of the right side of the head covered, and the other should have 40% of the left side of the head covered. You’ll need to cant the hostage targets at 40 degrees as well.
From 7 meters, draw and fire one shot to the hostage taker’s head on the right (Repeat five times)
From 7 meters, draw and fire one shot to the hostage taker’s head on the left (Repeat five times)
Stage Six – Multiple Targets
This is not a quick course of fire. You’re likely figuring out that you’ll need to dedicate a lot of time to make this work, but you’ll be a Combat Master! Not really, because you have to do it in front of two Combat Masters to earn that title.
Stage 6 requires four targets placed 1 meter apart. You’ll draw and fire one shot on each target. You’ll engage the strings of fire as follows:
Two Targets in 1.2 seconds
Three targets in 1.5 seconds
Four Targets in 1.8 seconds
Stage Seven – Ambidextrous Shooting
At seven meters, place three targets one meter apart. Load two magazines with three rounds. Load one magazine into the weapon.
At the beep, draw and fire one round per target. Reload, transition the gun to your weak hand and fire one shot per target. You have six seconds for semi-autos and eight seconds for revolvers.
Stage Eight – Targets At Odd Angles
At seven meters, you’ll setup two targets in a canted position. One should cant left, and one should cant right. The targets should be 40% hidden by ‘cover.’ You’ll need to pick between head and chest shots and, according to the test, stick to one for the entirety of the stage.
Draw and fire one shot to the right target. (Repeat five times)
Draw and fire one shot to the left target. (Repeat five times)
Stage Nine – Speed Reloads
There is no shooting here. It’s just reloading. You’ll reload your gun from empty five times. For semi-autos, you have 1.5 seconds. For revolvers, you have four seconds. Repeat the drill five times.
Stage Ten – Tactical Reloads
There is still no shooting. This is reloading with retention. You have four seconds for both semi-autos and revolvers. Repeat the drill five times.
Stage Eleven – Malfunction Clearing
This is the last drill of the handgun Combat Master. There is no shooting. It’s weapon handling only. You’ll defeat three types of malfunctions.
Fix a type one stoppage, aka failure to fire in 1 second.
Fix a type two stoppage, aka a failure to eject in 1 second.
Fix a type three stoppage, aka a feed way stoppage, in four seconds.
Repeat each of these techniques five times.
Are You A Combat Master?
Oh boy, that’s a long qualification. It seemed to expand and grow throughout the years. It’s most certainly a challenging course of fire. I’m not a handgun combat master, but are you? At the very least, it’s a very well-made course of fire that will give you some guided training. Who doesn’t need a little more training?
Caleb and I recently went on a tangent about rifle zeroes
Something that we touched on too is optic-bore offset, or called optic height over bore. The placement of an optic and the rifle’s inherent design have a dramatic influence on which zeroes are most useful and usually, for all rifles, the closer the zero the less useful it is.
This 9-Hole video (above) tackles several details about why zeroes and comparative optic height are so important. A poor zero can give you a tremendous amount of vertical variance for shots where you do not want it, close and quick, while proper zeroes, heights, and optics give you flat and predictable trajectories with logical progressions at range.
Also, if you haven’t, go check out Josh and Henry’s channel too. Good information to add to the files.
Rossi USA just announced the expansion of its R95 lever action rifle line. They’ve added four new cartridges: the 44 Mag, .357 Mag, .444 Marlin, and the .360 Buckhammer. This expands the caliber options for folks in states with straight wall cartridge hunting regulations.
The new rifles are built to the same high standards as the rest of the R95 series. They feed from a tube magazine, with capacity varying by caliber. The .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum R95’s hold 10 rounds each. The .360 Buckhammer model holds 5 rounds and the .444 Marlin R95 holds 6.
All of the new versions come with classic walnut finish wood stocks and black oxide finished steel frames and barrels. The stocks are fitted with Soft Touch recoil pads and integrated sling mounts.
The straight wall R95’s have the classic lines that American shooter’s have come to expect out of a lever action rifle. Whether for hunting, camp use, or just for fun Rossi is giving shooters a lot of options to choose from. MSRP on the new R95’s is $946.99 for the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum models. The .360 Buckhammer and .444 Marlin models go for $1060.99.
For more information on the new R95 rifles, check out Rossi USA.
5.11 Tactical has released a new set of tactical uniform-style pants and shirts designed to embrace the modern world. I’m talking about the new V.XI (get it, Roman numerals for 5.11) XTU series. 5.11 reportedly teamed up with top-tier LEOs and military teams around the world to develop the XTU pants and shirts. These are ultra-modern designs with a number of exciting features that were a nice surprise. 5.11 Tactical sent me a set of the Multicam pants and shirt for test and review.
The XTU Shirt
A combat shirt is a utility uniform designed to be worn with a plate carrier or other body armor type. The US Military developed combat shirts to provide soldiers with a cooler, lighter-weight uniform that can breathe when worn with body armor. The sleeves take on the color of the combat uniform and often have the same thick nature to protect the arms. The torso portion is much more lightweight and lacks a camouflage pattern.
The XTU takes the combat shirt design to the next level of modernity. Most combat shirts, especially those of the USGI type, are built to be disposable. Other companies have certainly made better, more durable shirts, and 5.11 Tactical joins their ranks. The XTU Shirt and shoulders are made from a durable 58 percent cotton and 39 perfect nylon Cordura blend. The torso portion is made from a 60 percent cotton and 40 percent Nylon 66 Cordura jersey material. It’s moisture-wicking and odor-proofed.
The XTU shirt is super comfy and light around the torso. The seams are flatlock and don’t rub or chafe. In addition, the front has a quarter-zip design to allow for some breathability. The cuffs are fit with hook-and-loop cuffs for tight adjustments, or they can be rolled up and out of the way. The pockets on the sleeves are zippered and face outward for easy access. You can fit all the little goodies you want in the shirt pocket.
The XTU shirt allows for excellent mobility. You can move, groove, shoot, and climb into a variety of positions with ease. Shouldering a rifle or climbing into the prone position isn’t restrictive. Upon initial wear, the shirt is a little itchy but softens up with a wash.
The XTU Pants
The XTU pants are our classic cargo utility pants with a twist. They have a lot going on, so let’s start from the top and work our way to the bottom. At the top and rear, we have Ortholite foam support for comfort when paired with a belt, especially one of those rigid, heavy-duty belts that carry mags, a sidearm, and more. The belt loops are especially wide and supportive, perfect for an underlayer belt to hold up your duty kit.
The pants have a ventilation opening on the inside of the leg, which is nice, especially in Florida during the heat of what’s supposed to be Fall. The pants feature cargo pockets on the legs, but they are positioned more to the front than the sides, which makes them more accessible and easier to access. The pockets are zippered, as are the rear pockets. We have N6 nylon Mag Pockets—inside the cargo pockets—for a spare handgun magazine.
Right below the cargo pockets are built-in knee pads. The external portion is polymer, and the inside is soft foam. They are super comfy, even when kneeling on concrete. A rear strap allows you to tighten the knee pads down and keep them locked in. As you’d expect, any tightened rear strap can be a little less comfy. So, I’d undo them until game time.
At the bottom, we have a shoelace hook to lock the pants down to your boots, and blousing straps allow you to keep critters and hazards out. The pants are plenty baggy and quite comfortable. Even the knee pad portions don’t rub when worn. They move with ease, and I don’t feel anything, just waiting to grip as I crouch, climb, and shoot.
The Collection
As you’d expect, 5.11 tactical makes the XTU gear in numerous patterns, including black, storm, Multi-Cam, Ranger Green, and Dark Navy. The gear is clearly aimed at military and law enforcement, but it’s perfect for LARPing. Likewise, things like the pants can be awfully handy when camping, working, or doing anything physical outdoors.
The material is a no-melt, no-drip fabric, which was a concern the GWOT quickly discovered. The XTU series embraces an extremely modern design and is 5.11 Tactical’s premier series of uniforms. Give them a peek if you want a modern, tactical uniform with all the bells and whistles.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I watched Rebel Ridge on Netflix. In one scene, the protagonist, a former Marine named Terry Richmond, briefly discusses the PACE acronym. As I was already familiar with the term and its meaning, I earned a couple of cool points from my wife, which is always appreciated.
What is PACE?
PACE is an acronym that outlines a four-stage planning methodology. It was originally developed by the military for communications, but it has much wider applications. You can use PACE as a tool for nearly any type of emergency planning.
P = Primary
This is the first plan or tool to be used. It should be the method that’s most likely to succeed on the first attempt. It’s also often the easiest approach for all involved to use.
A = Alternate
If the primary means isn’t working for some reason, this is the first backup method. Ideally, it will be almost as good as the Primary in terms of likelihood of success, as well as ease of use.
C = Contingency
If both Primary and Alternate methods aren’t working or are for some reason unavailable, this is where you’ll turn. It might not be as convenient or reliable, but it should definitely be workable.
E – Emergency
This is your Hail Mary. If all else fails, this is what you’ll do. It may be far from ideal, but it should still be absolutely feasible. Always keep your plans firmly rooted in the real world, not fantasy land.
How Does It Work?
Here’s an example of how PACE can work. Let’s say we’re talking about emergency evacuation and how a family is going to get from home to their chosen bug-out location.
In this example, we’re looking at a husband, wife, and two children (ages 8 and 10). They also have two medium-sized dogs. They live in a predominantly middle-class suburban neighborhood.
For the purposes of our discussion, we’re just focused on their transportation options.
Primary – Ideally, they’ll use the family minivan. It’s large enough for everyone to ride in comfort, even with the dogs. It’s in good shape, gets decent mileage, and there’s room in the back for bug-out bags.
Alternate – If the van is in the shop or otherwise unavailable, they’ll take dad’s commuter car. It’s smaller than the van, so it’ll be a tight fit, but they can probably make it work even with the mutts.
Contingency – If neither vehicle is working for some reason, they’ll borrow a truck from their neighbor. They’ve lived next to each other for years and have become good friends. They’ve had conversations about this in the past, and he has given the family his blessing to borrow a truck in an emergency. He has two of them, one for work and one for personal use. If he’s not home, they have a spare key for the house, and they know where the truck keys are located.
Emergency – If no vehicles are operational, then the family will hop on their bicycles, with the dogs running alongside.
PACE is an excellent planning tool. It can help you discover holes in your plans and give you the opportunity to address them before they become real problems.
KelTec has quietly released a new SUB 2000, which will change the entire platform. Well, kind of. This new Gen 3 SUB 2000 is a 5.7×28 variant of the famed pistol caliber carbine. Is this still considered a PCC? The 5.7x28mm isn’t necessarily a pistol round, so what exactly does this gun qualify as? It’s too big to be a PDW, so I think the 5.7 SUB 2000 is best described as a light rifle. It falls into the same vein as the M1 Carbine.
The Gen 3 SUB 2000 series is KelTec’s latest implementation of the SUB 2000. This is the first generation to make adding optics easy. They lopped off the iron sights and added a rotating handguard similar to their CQB model. This isn’t KelTec’s first 5.7mm gun, either. They had the rather interesting P90 magazine consuming P50.
The 5.7 SUB 2000 Changes Everything
What’s the big deal with using the 5.7 cartridges over something like 9mm? As noted, it changes the genre of the gun entirely. It’s not just a PCC anymore. It’s a light rifle—the use of the 5.7x28mm cartridge gives you a rifle that handles a helluva lot differently than the stand 9mm model.
The gun still uses a straight blowback design, but the 5.7x28mm generates a lot less recoil than a 9mm or .40 S&W. It recoils a bit like a .22 WMR from a direct blowback gun. That’s cool, but the big benefit comes from the cartridge’s long-range capabilities. It can reach 100 to 150 yards, much easier than 9mm.
The 5.7 SUB 2000 shoots much flatter. At 100 yards, it drops about three inches compared to 9mm’s 12 inches. (This can change depending on zero and sight height.) The round also has great penetration, tumbles, and yaws, more like a 5.56, which helps make up for its small size.
Since the KelTec Gen 3 SUB 2000 is easy to optically enhance, I think a lightly magnified optic would be nice. However, I don’t think the eye relief will work unless we go with a scout scope.
The 5.7 SUB 2000 – What Else?
KelTec famously uses popular pistol magazines for their varied SUB 2000 incarnations. With the 5.7 SUB 2000 the gun uses an FN Five SeveN magazine. (They spell it all weird, not me.) This gives you 20 rounds in a flush-fitting magazine, and there are thirty-round magazines and drum magazines out there from the aftermarket.
That’s a good bit of lead. Additionally, the 5.7 SUB 2000 is likely to be the cheapest 5.7x28mm rifle on the market. In my mind, I see a very capable, very low-recoil defensive weapon for recoil-sensitive shooters. It’s like a 10/22, but you have centerfire reliability and a substantially more powerful round.
At 4.36 pounds, this is a very lightweight rifle. It could be a great backpack gun, a ranch rifle, and more. I can see it being the handiest of SUB 2000 rifles, and I’m a SUB 2000 fan. Toss a red dot on, fold it up, and toss it in a bag, and you have a super handy and effective weapon.
Leatherman just announced its latest product on social media—the Malloy Special. Leatherman is known for packing a bunch of tools into a compact space. The Malloy Special only has one tool though, the blade. Check out the latest from Leatherman’s limited edition Garage Series knives and tool.
The Malloy Special
The Malloy Special is part of The Leatherman Garage limited-batch release series. Less than a thousand knives or tools are made in each batch. This one is batch 007. Despite the batch number, there’s nothing spy related with the Malloy. It’s a practical design made for the field. Whether it’s hunting, fishing, farming or just some outdoor recreation.
The Malloy Special was created in collaboration with the Malloy Brothers, a family of musicians, directors, surfers, and ranchers. It’s a compact knife with a 2.7-inch drop-point blade of Magnacut steel. The full tang design is fitted with polished white Micarta scales. It has jimping along the spine and a lanyard hole near the pommel. It’s a classy design with clean lines and is made in the USA.
The Malloy Special comes with a custom leather sheath that’s also made in the USA. It has an MSRP of $300.00, and once Batch 007 is gone, these are gone for good.
Another entry into what’s becoming an interesting class of pistol-caliber carbines is Ruger’s LC Carbine in 10mm. The LC series started with a 5.7 rifle, then moved to a .45 ACP rifle, and has expanded to 10mm. This means Ruger currently produces two lines of PCC: the PC Carbine and the LC Carbine. The LC Carbine seems to be formed for the more powerful classes of PCCs. These rifles tend to stretch into the light rifle concept.
I’m sure Ruger will sell tons of these things. It’s a 10mm rifle that uses Glock mags. According to every comment on any article about PCCs, if you make it in 10mm and ensure it uses Glock mags, those commenters will buy it, and I’m sure they’ll most certainly keep their word!
The LC Carbine – The New 10mm
The LC Carbine series are interesting guns. They look like Glocks in mech Tech kits from a different dimension. The gun houses the magazine in the pistol grip, which reduces the overall length. The LC Carbine series comes with folding stocks and collapsing stocks, an M-LOK handguard, a threaded barrel, flip-up sights, and modern ergonomics.
The modern ergos include an ambi safety, reversible charging handle, and an enlarged magazine release. The stock can be reversed to fold to either side, and a section of Picatinny rail at the rear allows you to swap stocks easily.
The carbine’s handguard is CNC-machined aluminum, so it’s quite sturdy. The sights are flip-down Ruger Rapid sights, which are just AR sights. The LC Carbine series features a 16.25-inch barrel and has an overall length of 30.6 inches. At 7.1 pounds, the gun isn’t quite light, but it’s no anchor.
The gun comes with a 30-round magazine from SGM. Overall, the LC Carbine has a great layout. It’s a solid little design that’s held back by the NFA and the requirement for a 16-inch barrel. This thing with an 8- to 10-inch barrel would be amazing. Although I’m not sure what the purpose of the rail in front of the trigger is, it’s there.
The biggest downside is the straight blowback system. It doesn’t even seem to use the dead-weight blowback system of the PC Carbine. Blowback 10mms might have some stiff recoil and stiff springs.
Why 10mm Carbines
The 10mm is like a mini magnum round. It’s long been compared to a .357 in an automatic gun. It can even reach the low end of the too cool for this world .41 Magnum. The round is great in handguns but even better in slightly longer barrels. The LC Carbine’s 16-inch barrel can substantially increase the 10mm round’s velocity.
It can throw the always-powerful Buffalo Bore 180-grain round at 1,700 feet per second and hit a target with 1,000-foot pounds of energy. Admittedly, compared to a proper rifle round, that’s not much. However, for a pistol round, that’s quite powerful. Unlike a .44 Magnum lever gun, you get 15 to 30 rounds of 10mm instead of seven or eight.
In reality, the 16.15-inch barrel is longer than it needs to be. It seems like 10mm excels with a 9- to 10-inch barrel. After that, we don’t see any significant improvements. The NFA keeps that from being a stocked reality, but knowing Ruger, there will be a Charger version sooner or later.
What’s the Point?
It’s still a pistol-caliber carbine. It’s fine for home defense, but it excels outdoors. The hard-hitting rounds can penetrate very deeply through muscle, bones, and beyond. It’s a great woods gun. It could be used as a lightweight camping rifle and could be a great defensive option for two-legged pests up to bears in a pinch.
A gun like this would be capable of reliably stopping predators with ease. It’d be a real coyote buster and hog killer. Even something like southeastern deer at close range could be taken with good ammo selection. If I did my shooter’s calculator right, the round would stay flat enough to 100 yards and not have a significant drop at 125, and even out to 150 shots would be possible with a slight holdover.
Sadly, I think the gun’s slightly over $1,000 MSRP will be a turn off. A 5.56 rifle could do all of the above and more quite well and could be had for less than a thousand dollars. Still, I’m intrigued. I like the 10mm and could see some real potential behind LC Carbine in 10mm.
While there may one day come an economic collapse in the United States, it hasn’t happened yet. The reality is that cash will have value right up until it doesn’t. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to have a cash stash.
Setting Up a Cash Stash
Today, I can walk into any grocery store in the United States with a $20 bill and walk out with food and water. Maybe not as much of it as I could have 20 years ago, but I’m still not going to go hungry. The same goes with buying fuel for my car or other needed supplies.
Some advocate squirreling away precious metals instead of a cash stash. While that’s not entirely a bad idea, you might want to diversify a bit. Think about it like this. Let’s say there’s an emergency evacuation in your area. Maybe it’s a wildfire or an approaching hurricane. You and your neighbor both stop at the gas station at the edge of town for provisions and fuel.
You have $100 in cash and he has some silver rounds. Between the two of you, who is more likely going to be able to buy what they need?
How Much Cash?
So, how much should you have in your cash stash? More is always better than less, but few people can afford to have a ton of money tied up into something like this. Ideally, you should have enough cash on hand for:
At least one full tank of gas
One or two nights in a decent motel
Meals on the road for a couple of days
Add all of that together, then toss in another 10% or so for a cushion. Consider that total figure a minimum to keep on hand. Add to it as you can.
While big bills reduce the size of the cash stash that needs to be hidden, strive for a variety of denominations. If all you have are $100 bills, then that’s the minimum you might be paying for something if the person doesn’t have change.
Where to Keep It?
The cash stash should be immediately accessible to you. Depending on the nature of the crisis, hitting up an ATM might not be practical. While you don’t want to just leave your cash stash sitting out in the open, you don’t want to have to spend a lot of time digging up mason jars from the backyard. A safe might be a better option.
If you go that route, don’t keep the safe in the master bedroom, as that’s one of the first places burglars look. A better location would be the basement or maybe the closet in a spare bedroom if that’s available.
There are plenty of places in an average home where a cash stash could be hidden but easy to access quickly.
There is often empty wall space inside closets right above the door. An envelope can be taped or tacked up there with none the wiser.
Pull out a utensil drawer in the kitchen. Tape an envelope to the back of the drawer on the outside, then replace the drawer.
Do you have an electric garage door opener? Take the shroud over the motor off and you could put your cash stash inside, taped to the interior of the shroud.
Get creative, and you’ll undoubtedly be able to come up with some more ideas of your own.
This is your catastrophe survival money and shouldn’t be touched for any reason other than true emergencies. Once you have the cash stash established, forget it exists other than to add to it. Even if you never have to evacuate your home, this money could come in quite handy in the event of unexpected job loss or other similar situations.
My knowledge of packs, hiking, and hauling a load was beat into me during my time in the infantry. I used the terrible ILBE pack, the old-school ALICE pack, and the not-so-terrible FILBE packs. After my time in the Corps, hauling a heavy load wasn’t something I wanted to do again. That’s what I have a vehicle for! However, I recently was sent a Stone Glacier Avail 2200 pack and started a workout program called Tactical Barbell.
Part of the Tactical Barbell workout plan is long-state cardio, and hiking is one of the three activities I plan to do to achieve that long-state cardio. It was just great timing. I don’t know who from Stone Glacier had my address or why they sent me a pack, but I figured it had to do with gear reviews. To be completely upfront, I also got a wallet, and in that wallet was five dollars. I’m not sure why, but hey, it’s five dollars free.
I also promise you that five dollars isn’t going to win my opinion, but it feels worth mentioning. Stone Glacier isn’t a brand I’m familiar with, but looking around the internet, I see that it seems they are held in pretty high regard. The Avail 2200 isn’t a dedicated hiking pack for long overland trips. It seems more devoted to hunters and skiers.
It’s not a long-term sustainment pack, but a 200 cubic inch pack that’s 20.5 inches tall, 12 inches wide, and 8 inches deep. The pack weighs three pounds and eight ounces, and day pack best describes the Avail 2200. For a minimalist camp, it’d be fine, and for someone like me who’s rucking for about an hour once or twice a week, it’s well suited for my needs.
The Inside and Outside of the Avail 2200
The pack itself appears to be a mess of straps on the outside. There are enough straps and buckles to decorate a goth kid’s pants. There are straps for everything. You have an external compression panel that’s perfect for rain gear or anything that gets wet along the way. Likewise, it has a strap above the panel for oversized gear.
Straps on the side allow you to tie down sleeping mats, tents, tripods, or similar items. There are straps on the bottom for gear, straps on the sides, straps to adjust the waistband, and straps for the shoulder straps. There are lots and lots of straps.
Beyond straps, we also have shock cords in multiple parts of the pack. Four sections of shock cord are inside the main pack, and four other sections are on the outside of the pack. Between the straps and shock cords, you can attach just about anything to this pack.
The pack comes with a minimalist-style frame. To haul heavier loads of gear, that minimalist frame can be swapped for a more serious Krux frame. The base-level frame is good enough for my use. The bag comes with a fairly sizeable padded waistband and a chest strap.
The pack has a main pouch that has two internal pouches. There is a secondary outside pocket for gear as well. The main pocket is quite large, and the pack can be unzipped from top to bottom, making everything easy to access.
Going For a Walk With the Avail
Tactical Barbell focuses on the physical fitness needs of soldiers, cops, EMTs, firefighters, etc. This includes strength and cardio. A big part of this is endurance training. One day a week I run, one day a week I work the heavy bag, and my longest endurance session is always a ruck. The Avail has been my go to, and I’ve loaded it with sandbags for weight.
I started with 25 pounds and am working my way up to 50 pounds. My last hike was 35 pounds for an hour at a 3-mile-per-hour pace. I’ve found the pack to be quite supportive for a minimalistic design. The straps and waistband are highly adjustable, and I was able to get the Avail to fit me just right. I’m a tall, wide guy, but the pack fits me with just a few adjustments.
When properly adjusted, the pack didn’t kill my shoulders or lower back. My hiking has been pain-free as far as the pack went. I can’t say the same thing for my feet, but my back and shoulders were good to go. I’ll be curious to see if the minimalistic pack holds up to 50 pounds or more with the base-level frame.
The Stone Glacier
Stone Glacier is a company that’s new to me. The company seems to have a cold weather theme, and as a Florida guy, I don’t have to worry about that. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a well-armed, comfortable, easy-to-adjust, and easy-to-organize pack. This isn’t a sustainment pack, but it is pretty nice as a day or assault pack.
Check it out on the Stone Glacier website, and if you’re the guy who lost his five bucks packing my bag, hit me up on Instagram.
Dear reader, I took a little break between Part 3 of my Taurus 692 Executive Grade revolver review and this installment. Prior to shooting any 9mm ammo, the Taurus 692 Executive Grade has crossed the 300-round threshold. Since the end of Part 3’s evaluation, I fired another 50 rounds of mixed Fiocchi 125 and 158 grain .357 Magnum at a local indoor range to get more reps in.
Other than the Hornady .38 Special +P loads featured in the last installment, the Taurus 692 Executive Grade has seen at least 280 rounds of .357 Magnum ammo. Up to this point, I can feel a difference in the smoothness of the gun when actuating its double-action trigger. It’s very subtle, but the way the cylinder turns feels slicker, as does the double-action trigger pull.
Forgive me for making a very subjective comparison. However, I can best describe the feel of the fully broken-in Taurus 692 Executive Grade to the warmth and comfort of wearing a sweater and walking outside to feel the cool, crisp Autumn air for the first time after a long, humid, and hot, sweltering summer.
Enter LOK Grips Veloce Stocks
I’ve made no changes to this revolver other than swapping out the original factory stocks for more ergonomic LOK Grips Veloce palm swell stocks that fit Taurus revolvers. Waiting for these grips to be made to order and shipped was part of the reason I paused the review. Now that they’re here and installed on the revolver, it’s time to get back to work!
This set of LOK Grips for the Taurus 692 (also fitting other Tracker models, Judges, and Hunters) not only fills in the frame’s sinus but also extends the length of the frontstrap and provides additional real estate for the fingers of the firing hand. LOK’s Veloce style texturing also increases the hand’s purchase over the grip.
This aftermarket pair of stocks will remain on the Taurus 692 Executive Grade for the remainder of the review since they’re more practical for shooting.
Shooting 9mm Luger With The Taurus 692 Executive Grade
With newly installed stocks and a freshly broken-in revolver, I returned to the 15-yard firing line with the 9mm Luger cylinder on the gun. I wasn’t expecting the action to feel as smooth with the 9mm cylinder because it had never turned inside the frame before. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see this wasn’t the case.
Since the 9mm Luger cartridge is rimless, shooting with this cylinder requires the use of a moon clip. Five are included in the Nanuk case the 692 Executive Grade ships with.
Moon clips hold rimless semi-auto cartridges in the exact position so that the frame-mounted firing pin can reach their primers. They also prevent the casings from sliding and getting stuck into the charge holes. The other benefit is that upon ejection, a moon clip holding spent cases ejects quickly as a single unit.
To evaluate accuracy and muzzle velocities, I repeated the exact same protocol that I used with .357 Magnum and the .38 Special +P load in Part 3. Thumb-cocking the hammer, I fired two 10-round groups from rest using a bag at a target 15 yards away. Each load was measured with my Garmin chronograph, and I used the same 6 o’clock hold while shooting.
It’s worth mentioning that the single-action-only trigger pull also felt smoother than the previous session referenced in Part 3.
In this instance, my chosen 9mm Luger factory loads consisted of the 147-grain flat-point Federal American Eagle AE9FP, the 115-grain Fiocchi Defense Dynamics JHP, the Hornady 124-grain Critical Duty JHP and the amazingly consistent Staccato Range 124-grain FMJ. I fully admit fault for most of the vertical stringing in the groups, as there’s a bit of a gist to shooting a revolver off a bag—even single action.
Federal American Eagle AE9FP 147-Grain Flat Point
Fiocchi 115-Grain Defense Dynamics JHP
Staccato Range 124-Grain Range FMJ
Hornady 124-Grain Critical Duty JHP +P
Bonus Cartridge: Blazer Aluminum 115
After shooting groups with all of the different factory 9mm Luger cartridges referenced above, I decided to shoot a quick 20 rounds of factory 115-grain Blazer Aluminum offhand. I wanted to know how the 692 Executive Grade behaved with case materials other than brass.
All 20 rounds fired without issue, but ejecting the spent moon clip full of empty cases was not as smooth as it was with empty brass cases. In this instance, I had to firmly grasp the revolver and swiftly smack the ejector-rod with some authority.
Due to the heft of the Taurus 692 Executive Grade and the fact that it has a ported barrel, 9mm Luger “bullet jump” isn’t an issue.
A 9mm Revolver?
Because felt-recoil is subjective, it can be hard to describe it. In this instance, shooting factory 9mm Luger cartridges through the Taurus 692 Executive Grade feels like shooting mild to moderate .357 Magnum factory loads. 9mm rounds certainly won’t feel like the old-school full-house screaming hot .357 Magnum loads, either.
Honestly, the only actual downside to shooting 9mm Luger ammo through this revolver is how cumbersome it is to insert live or spent cartridges into the moon clips without the special moon-clip tool.
I understand that 9mm Luger bullets are slightly smaller in diameter (0.355”) than most .38 Special / .357 Magnum bullets (0.357”). So, I wasn’t sure what to expect with regard to accuracy and constancy from using slightly undersized bullets. However, the results more than exceeded my expectations.
Even though the distance was only 15 yards, I think the groups are satisfactory and not all dissimilar from the .357 Magnum groups from the previous part. Just like with the varying .357 Magnum factory loads I shot, the different 9mm Luger cartridges also varied in their points of impact.
Fortunately, the Taurus 692 Executive Grade revolver has that adjustable rear sight, which removes any concerns. In fact, I’d argue it’s practically mandatory on a “hybrid” revolver like this one. I think the same goes for the 1:10 rifling twist in its barrel. That rate seems to land on a happy medium that can stabilize a realistic cross-section of .35-caliber bullets between 110 to 160 grains.
Parting Shots
Even though the total 9mm Luger round-count through the end of this installment is only 114 rounds, I think shooting and grouping this popular semi-automatic pistol cartridge warrants further exploration. Perhaps it deserves a separate editorial piece beyond a general review of this Taurus revolver.
I’d like to establish whether this .357 Magnum revolver merely happens to handle 9mm Luger as an extra-value add or whether it stands on its own as a purpose-built 9mm Luger on its own, too.
