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Want a .22 stainless-steel target pistol that is fun to shoot, packed with features, customizable—and also easy to take down for cleaning and reassemble? Then take a look at the new Smith & Wesson SW22 Victory. Some of this gun's features include a removable interchangeable match barrel, Picatinny-style rail, fiber-optic front sight and adjustable fiber-optic rear sight, two 10-round magazines, and textured grip panels with finger cuts for easy magazine removal. American Rifleman's Joseph Kurtenbach had a chance to fire the SW22 during SHOT Show 2016's Media Day at the Range. Watch it above, and learn more about this pistol at Smith-Wesson.com.
In 2024, former owner Gregg Ritz purchased Thompson/Center Arms. Now the company has introduced a modern take on its classic Contender/Encore concept: the ENCORE PROHunter.
While it's certainly a saturated marketplace these days, the AR-15 has never been more popular with American firearm enthusiasts, and many manufacturers are continuing to feed the need with new options loaded with new features.
Like any hobby or pastime that is in any way even vaguely related to machines or technology, firearms attract a (possibly) disproportionate number of “right-brained,” STEM-oriented personalities who like numbers.
Slingshots are fun, but they can also be a legitimate backup defensive tool—in 2023, a 13-year-old Michigan boy saved his 8-year-old sister from being kidnapped by using a $3 slingshot to fire a marble and a rock at the assailant, striking him in the chest and head.