Direct Impingement vs Piston Driven Systems There are a number of semi-auto platforms out there with a large number of them using either the Direct Impingement system or the Piston-Driven system. The one that really seems to garner the most controversy is the AR-15 system. The Direct Impingement system was the original design. The AR-15‘s gas system uses…
Category: Firearms History
Building a Crickett Rifle for Survival
Building a Crickett Rifle for Survival Normally viewed as a children’s training rifle, the Crickett rifle is a small single-shot bolt-action that incorporates a manual striker. So after inserting a round into the chamber and closing the bolt, the striker must be manually cocked before firing. Nothing fancy here, just a straightforward design that…
The Marine Corps Iwo Jima Stinger
The Marine Corps Iwo Jima Stinger Good God, do I love the United States Marine Corps. Not just because I served in the Marine Corps and because the cult brainwashing runs deep, but because of the Marine Corps attitude of improvising, overcoming, and adapting. Until recently, the Marine Corps has been famously known for…
The Guns of the Rooftop Koreans
The Guns of the Roof Koreans The Roof Koreans, or Rooftop Koreans, have become a steady part of gun culture. They live on as an example of why the Second Amendment is so important. The origin of the Roof Koreans comes from the 1992 LA riots. These riots left first responders and law enforcement too…
Ammo Files: Don’t Use FMJ Ammo for Self-Defense
Don’t Use FMJ Ammo for Self-Defense Occasionally I’ll see someone using cheap, ball ammo for self defense. Sometimes this is borne out of simple frugality. More frequently it is the result of misunderstanding how modern, expanding, hollowpoint ammunition behaves. In this article I hope to convince you otherwise. Bottom line up front: don’t use…
The Ammo Files: The .450 Bushmaster
Gunmagopedia: 450 Bushmaster In the world of straight-walled cartridges, some are better known than others. Perhaps one of the most popular straight-walled options in the rifle world is the 450 Bushmaster, a cartridge that’s known for packing quite a punch whether on steel or while hunting. This cartridge has been around for some time…
Know Your Firearms History: The ‘Tiffany Guns’ of the Spanish-American War
The ‘Tiffany Guns’ of the Spanish-American War President Joe Biden has repeatedly suggested when it was first drafted there were restrictions to the Second Amendment. He pressed the point by stating that “you couldn’t own a cannon,” while more recently he’s made the argument that the Second Amendment isn’t absolute in that Americans today…
Armed Citizen’s Corner: Review of Jim Cirillo’s “Guns, Bullets and Gunfights”
Cirillo’s “Guns, Bullets and Gunfights” Jim Cirillo was probably the last real gunfighter in America. Without a doubt the combat arms fellas in our military are gunfighters, but they ply their trade overseas. Jim did it at home, in the grim streets of New York city. He was a member of the city’s Stake…
Old School Pistolcraft: Mastering Jim Cirillo’s Technique For Coarse-Aim Shooting
Mastering Jim Cirillo’s Technique For Coarse-Aim Shooting (From the Tactical Hermit: This is one of the early uses of the “Metal on Meat” technique. Field Proven!!) Lethal-force events can happen in a split second, you need the capability to respond in kind. Here’s how law-enforcement legend Jim Cirillo got the drop on the…
Armed Citizen Corner: Rifles vs. Pistols – The Basics of Terminal Ballistics
Rifles vs. Pistols: The Basics of Terminal Ballistics For the last 100+ years, a great deal of the effort expended in ammo technology has gone toward trying to make pistol bullets act more like rifle bullets. Every few years, a new cartridge or bullet design arrives on the scene, claiming to have gotten us…