Author: Pat Cascio

This isn’t my first Kel-Tec SU-16B rifle; I bought one around 2003 or 2004, if memory serves me correctly. What caught my attention back then was that it didn’t look like other so-called “assault rifles”. It was compact, lightweight, and shot the .223/5.56 caliber round. However, I had nothing but problems with that particular sample. The empty brass would stick in the chamber after firing, and quite often loaded rounds wouldn’t fit the chamber either. The gun was sent back to Kel-Tec, and several weeks later I got the gun back. I was told that the chamber reamer was worn …

As many readers will know, my wife is always chiding me about flashlights. She is somehow under the impression that I might have too many, until the lights go out and she asks, “Where’s a flashlight?”. To be sure, I keep flashlights within my reach– in my living room, bedroom, kitchen, and office. Living in the boonies does have some disadvantages; the power goes out quite often in the winter months, due to trees falling onto the power lines. We are used to the power going out and have prepared accordingly. We have LED lanterns, and we also have a …

I’ve been a huge fan of Kahr , since I laid my hands on the first one I ever spotted in a gun shop. The double-action only trigger pull on their handguns is second to none; it is butter smooth. Some have described the trigger pull as the Rolls Royce of DAO triggers, and I’m not about to argue the point either. The one “problem” I have with any of the Kahr handguns I get in for testing and for writing an article on is that I simply can’t return the samples; I end up purchasing them eventually, because I …

It happens! Sometimes, it just happens! I don’t know how or why and neither does my contact at Springfield Armory, but I was somehow left out of the loop on their new Saint AR-style rifle. Grrr! I didn’t get a sample on the day they were released; it took more than a month before I got a gun in my hand. Many “gun writers” that I’ve never ever heard of were invited to shoot the new Saint a month earlier at a top secret event. Again, I don’t know how I wasn’t invited, but it happened. Honestly, I don’t know …

I still remember when I was a mere lad, seeing Beauty and the Beast on television. It was, of course, a stage production. Still, I was pretty scared of “The Beast” in that production. Years later, we had a TV series with Linda Hamilton as “Beauty” and Ron Perlman as “The Beast”, and things weren’t so scary for me with that “Beast”. I must admit it; I watched the show for “Beauty” and not “The Beast”. It was a modern day version of the old fairy tale. There was another similar show on TV, but it didn’t last very long …

I know what the stats say that were put out by the FBI that the 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP loaded with a good JHP round are all about the same when it comes to stopping power. However, in their testing, they have no way of determining just how fast a bad guy goes down. Yes, there are results from the street from actual shootings; however, no one is there with a stop watch to time these events. I’ve been a fan of the .45ACP round for just about all my life, and I’m convinced in my own mind …

The Federal government is on the wrong track most of the time. If there is a hard, wrong, or difficult way to do something, they do it, nearly every time. I know this from first-hand experience when I worked for a large detective agency and we often bid on uniform guard services for the Federal government. It’s not quite as simple as being the lowest bidder, as many believe. There are a good number of loopholes involved in bidding on FedGov services, including whether your company has the capability to meet the requirements. They want to know if your business …

Many folks ask me what types of things they should put in their Bug Out Bag (BOB), and this is a hard one for me to answer. We all have different needs and different ideas about this. When I tell some of these folks what I put in my BOB, they question some of my choices. If they are smarter than I am, then why are they coming to me for advice in the first place? I don’t claim to be an expert in anything; I’m just a serious student in a lot of fields. However, over the course of …

My, how times change! It wasn’t all that long ago that a red dot sight was rather huge when mounted on a rifle, and no one even gave any thought to a red dot sight on a handgun. I still remember the first (sorta) red dot sight I ever owned. It was on a shotgun back in the 1970s. It wasn’t quite a red dot sight, but it appeared to project a red/orange dot in the air. It was quite the thing back in the day. Over the years, I’ve tried all manner of red dot sights on rifles, shotguns, …

The first shotgun I ever owned was a Harrington & Richardson single shot shotgun in 16 gauge, and I’m here to tell you that thing really kicked because it was such a lightweight gun. I was a pretty skinny 16-year-old kid, too. I took it pheasant hunting a number of times, and it never let me down. I don’t recall whatever happened to that shotgun, whether I traded it, sold it, or what. There is a lot of controversy over what type of firearm a person should buy first for survival purposes. Of course, we have to define in our …

My number one choice, if I could only own one handgun, is still the grand old 1911 in some configuration. Yeah, lots of new gun designs come along, and I’ve tested many different handguns over the past 25 years working as a gun writer, and most are outstanding in their own regard. However, when pressed, I’m going to still pick a 1911 in .45 ACP, of course. Here are some of my thoughts on my choice in a 1911. First of all, there is the proven fight-stopping .45 ACP round. Yes, I’ve read the report put out by the FBI …

A famous gun writer once said “only accurate guns are interesting…”, and I certain concur with that statement. If a gun isn’t accurate and reliable, I lose interest and get rid of it. It can similarly be said that “only sharp knives are interesting…”. I have no use for junk knives. If a knife isn’t up to my high standards, I won’t waste my time testing or writing about it. For quite a few years, I collected (and designed) custom-made knives, and I really enjoyed it. Even though it was an expensive hobby, it was still fun. When we moved …