Have you seen “Band of Brothers”? For the men of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 101st Airborne Division, the frozen foxholes in the Bois Jacques were where they defended the road from Bastogne to Foy during one of Europe’s coldest winters. And the American Rifleman Television crew was there. 75 years later, those fighting positions remain. A then-young paratrooper who fought just due east of Easy Company, Don Burgett from Able Company, tells us his story of close combat during the defense of Bastogne. One of the guns the 101st used there was the Browning Model 1919A4 air-cooled machine gun. Also in the segment from American Rifleman Television, we visit the exact spot where a Sherman tank from the 37th Tank Battalion, Cobra King, lifted the siege of Bastogne.
Nearly every major manufacturer offers optics-ready handguns, and it’s convinced some that pistol iron sights are destined for extinction. We asked seven of the industry’s foremost if they’re indeed on the endangered species list. Even they can’t come to a consensus.
Watch American Rifleman staff on the range this week with a version of the JP Enterprises JP-5, a competition-ready, pistol-caliber carbine in 9 mm Luger.