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One sure indicator of a hot market is when new suppliers attempt get in on the action, and so SIG Sauer’s soon-to-be entry into the .50 BMG rifle category confirms what military operators, 1,000-yard competitors and tactical shooters have all discovered—the big, long-range round’s time has come.
June 15, 2011
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Rows and rows of perfect pyramids run down the frontstrap of your pistol, all of them aligned with the precision of 8th & I Marines on Parade. It looks sharp, but it is also practical for assisting in handling the gun under stress. When your hands are wet with sweat, water, grease, mud or even blood, and you still need to shoot, those little pyramids bite into the skin of your hand and give you a solid grip on that life-saving tool.
June 14, 2011
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There are lot things I do and don’t do because of my self-defense philosophy. I don’t wear earphones when exercising. I always look in the backseat of my car before entering. I always observe a store before walking in to make a purchase, and I’m always aware of my surroundings and am constantly planning for situations that can occur in the location where I’m at.
June 10, 2011
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Picking up where we left off with the Insider’s trip to Hartford, Conn., to visit Colt, we come to the storied company’s most distinguishing product. It’s not the legendary Single Action Army nor the venerable Government Model—those are so last century. It’s the M4A1, the U.S. military’s official issue-rifle.
June 09, 2011
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I recently picked up a gun that establishes just how small a true functional automatic pistol can be made. In fact, this tiny Bernardelli pistol is a fine example of the gunmaker's craft.
June 09, 2011
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Little did I suspect this past February that the Insider had momentarily become some sort of unknowing psychic—more accuratey an idiot savant in my case. I was hunting in the Central African Republic with my favorite rifle, a .375 H&H Magnum custom built on a Winchester Model 70 by noted gunsmith Sterling Davenport, and also shooting a handload featuring my nominee for the single-best, all-around, big-game bullet—Swift A-Frame. I had no clue that I held in my hands two entities that soon would merge in a business deal.
June 07, 2011
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I’ve often wondered why the TV self-defense experts always rack the slide when performing a speed reload on a semi-auto handgun rather than releasing the slide via the slide stop. I always though it was to provide that extra eighth-of-an-inch of spring power to ensure the gun went fully into battery.
June 06, 2011
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It’s quite common for Alaska bear-hunting guides to carry revolvers for backup, but outfitter Greg Jannen from Valdez, Alaska, told me he’s interested in getting a semi-auto pistol for that purpose. He likes self-loaders, only he wants one more powerful than a .45 ACP when he has to face down angry brown bears or other dangerous critters.
June 06, 2011
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All things, apparently, are a matter of perspective. When I told my teenage son that I was going to interview Emmy-nominated and Tony-award-winning actor, producer and writer Joe Mantegna, the first words out of his mount were, “Hey, isn’t he Fat Tony on the ‘Simpsons’?”
June 02, 2011
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Wall Street executives are scrutinized for their compensation packages, stock option plans and other bonuses. Personally, the Insider doesn’t have a problem with a free market exchange of services for compensation, especially when the paychecks are approved by a board of directors representing share holders.
June 02, 2011
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At the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Pittsburgh, a great many members stopped me to say hello and chat for a few minutes. This is one of the most rewarding aspects of the job. Conversations of this sort are fun, develop new gun information and provide a lot of data on what shooters might really want to read about. But I fear that some of those who approached me may have come away with a wrong idea about my responses to their questions that was not a reflection of any kind of bad attitude on my part. The truth is I have a pretty severe hearing loss and I may have not understood correctly, if I heard at all. It is also an entry to one of my pet rants—the need for effective hearing protection for anyone involved in the shooting sports.
June 01, 2011
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Over the past two weeks I made a new friend, Craig Hill, from Galena, Alaska. Craig was my guide for the unforgettable adventure of a brown bear hunt on the Alaska coast. Although our long days glassing and looking for bears were mostly spent in silence, we took time to get acquainted, too. I learned that Craig is always good-natured, upbeat and funny, but when it’s time to get after the quarry he’s as focused as they come.
June 01, 2011
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