Category: Review

Star BM 9mm Pistol, by Pat Cascio

12

I’m a fan of military surplus firearms, of all kinds – unfortunately, there aren’t too many in my meager gun collection. Once again, everyone believes that because I’m a writer – mostly about firearms and knives, that I have a huge collection. But in fact I don’t. I can’t afford all of the guns I’d love to have, so I’m a habitual gun trader. My local FFL dealer recently purchased two huge gun collections, and they obtained quite a few M1 Garands and M1 Carbines in these collections. I’d love to own one of each, especially since those are in …


Glock 43X Pistol, by Pat Cascio

13

To start out this review of the Glock 43X, let me first mention another Glock pistol: I love my Glock 26, and it is my usual everyday carry piece, with a spare magazine on the opposite hip. About the only time I’m not carrying my Glock 26, is when I’m testing other handguns for articles. However, I always switch back to my 26, at the end of my testing period – it just seems to fit me perfectly. The 26 came with several 10-round magazines, and they have a flat base on them. I don’t care for that, because it …


Smith & Wesson Shield M2.0, by Pat Cascio

11

I’m not going to make any bones about it, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool, 1911 fan. No matter what size, or who makes them. And I love my Glocks – I haven’t found one that I don’t especially like. I still remember getting my first Glock 17, back when I lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado in the mid-to-late 1980s. I believe I got my Glock 17 in 1987. I actually went to the Long’s Drugs store there, and they carried a nice selection of handguns at the time. I was planning on buying a  Model 1911 in .45 ACP. However, when I got there, …


Buck Ground Combat Knives, by Pat Cascio

8

I’ve had my Buck Knives Ground Combat fixed blade knives for a month and a half now, and wanted to give them a good workout before writing about them. However, this isn’t always the case with many other writers and websites. Many of these writers simply took the Buck press release, that was sent to them – I got it, too – and wrote their articles based on that piece of paper, without ever actually having the knives in-hand to test. As an aside: One big-name knife company – that I won’t mention by name – once had a new …


Ruger American Compact 9mm LEO, by Pat Cascio

4

As I’ve said many times before, Ruger produces firearms to match the budget of blue-collar workers. However, that’s not to say, they aren’t suitable for anyone – they are. Ruger produces some of the most over-built firearms in the world, and that’s a good thing in my feeble mind. I like the fact that, Ruger firearms are not over-priced, not in the least, and you can usually find them for a lot less than retail, if you shop around – again, that’s a good thing. Ruger had a rough start, when they attempted to come out with their first center-fire …


Work Sharp Bench Stone, by Pat Cascio

5

I’ve been around knives all my life – ever since owning my first one, at about age 5 or 6. So I know a little bit about cutlery. Over the past 28 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to test hundreds of new knife designs — and perhaps more than a thousand new designs. I’ve lost count. It’s exciting to get new knife designs to test and write about – no doubt about that. And, just when I think I’ve seen it all, when it comes to cutlery, someone comes out with a new design, or new locking mechanism, or new …


Taurus Model 85, by Pat Cascio

9

Taurus Firearms has been around since 1941, when it began producing near clones of some of the Smith & Wesson revolvers. Since then, Taurus has produced near clones of other makes of firearms, as well as some models of their own design. Today, some Taurus firearms are being produced in the USA, and that’s a good thing if you ask me. Early on, the quality of Taurus firearms was really lacking, they didn’t hold up very well with a lot of use. Still, for the money, they were a decent gun. Today, that has changed for the most part, as …


Kershaw Knives Fringe, by Pat Cascio

7

Kershaw Knives, never ceases to amaze me, with the number of new and exciting knives they come out with each year, and what is even more amazing, are the prices on these knives – very affordable, to say the least. I like Kershaw products, they are right here in my “adopted” home state of Oregon. Actually, I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois – but I’ve lived most of my life in Oregon – it is my selected home state, even with the messed-up Liberal politics they have, it’s still a great state to live in. We have it …


Springfield Armory Hellcat, by Pat Cascio

9

I don’t really hate anyone in this world – I mean, really hate them, but I do have some serious dislikes when it comes to some people. Many readers will know that I have been carrying a Glock Model 26 as my daily carry gun for several years now. About the only time that I didn’t carry it was when I was testing other handguns – and I really do carry every handgun that I test. Sometimes I carry a test gun for a week, other times, it might be carried for two weeks. However, I always go back to …


Ruger PC9 #19122 Variant, by Pat Cascio

16

In January of 2018, I did a review of the then fairly-new Ruger PC9. I was more than impressed with this little 9mm carbine, as was my wife. She insisted on getting one, and loves shooting it. I have to ration the 9mm ammo when we go out shooting, or she’ll shoot-up every round we bring with is…she is fast on the trigger and deadly accurate as well. I knew it was only a question of time before Ruger, brought out different models. I correctly predicted that they’d bring one out with a telescoping stock and a pistol grip. The …


FNS-9 Compact, by Pat Cascio

If you’re old enough to remember back 50-years or longer, you’ll recall that guns we called “compact” back then, were quite a bit different than what we call “compact” today. Back in the day, a compact handgun was still quite large, compared to those made today. Sure there were some compact guns back then, but most were revolvers on a small frame that only held 5 or 6 rounds. Maybe back then, 5 or 6 rounds was more than enough to end a gunfight. Today, things have changed – a lot! We live in a very violent world, and odds …


CRKT Linchpin, by Pat Cascio

9

As I’ve mentioned many times before in my review articles, I’ve been packing some kind of folding knife since I was about five years old, so did most of my friends I grew up with, back in Chicago in the mid-1950s. My wife and I watched a movie a few weeks ago, called “Mr. Scout Master” and without going into the details, it was about a grumpy old gent, who decided to take on the task of being a Boy Scout Leader. At some point in the movie, this fellow actually needed to be rescued by an 8-year old, and …


Springfield Hellcat Review, by G.L.W.

22

I am an amateur shooter at best and three years new to concealed carry. My goal is to give you my impressions of this newly-introduced gun and hopefully assist anyone considering one of these “micro-compact” handguns. I am in no way affiliated with Springfield Armory. After beginning our family in 2015, it was clear that the best, most responsible way for us to protect ourselves was to relocate us into the beautiful American Redoubt. You can be protected by the biggest arsenal, but in my mind, if your own local government is against you, you are at a disadvantage. Following …


Taurus G3 Pistol, by Pat Cascio

12

I’ve been a fan of Taurus firearms for a lot of years. This wasn’t always the case, however, Taurus has come a long way in improving their quality. Back in Chicago, when I was the Investigation Manager for a huge detective agency, with offices all over the USA, I also was their armorer, and most of the handguns issued to security officers, were made by Taurus. I had my hands full caring for those guns, and I kept a good supply of parts on-hand, for making repairs. Today, that isn’t the case, Taurus manufactures most of their handguns in Brazil, …


Zero Tolerance 0223, by Pat Cascio

8

I’m a real sucker, for a well-made, and stout knife, especially when it comes to folders. I carry two folders in my front cargo pants pockets each day. And when out hiking, I’ll carry a fixed blade knife, as a rule. However, folders get used every single day for some chores around our small homestead. I’ve written about this before, but for who might have missed it, I prefer an Everyday Carry folder, with a blade between 3.5-inches and 4- inches long, and I like a blade right around 3.75-inches long – just seems to balance better in my hand …