Category: Review

Work Sharp Bench Stone, by Pat Cascio

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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 …


Hawkeye’s First Gun – Part 2, by The Novice

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) — First Impressions The safety on the MAPP FS 9mm was a little stiff at first, but became easier to manipulate with use. The grip was comfortable, unusually small for a double stack 9 mm. The grip angle is also good, so that the sights line up naturally when the handgun is raised to eye level. There was some initial creep in the single action trigger before a crisp break. The double action pull was long and hard, but since there is no decocker, I would not recommend using the gun in …


Hawkeye’s First Gun – Part 1, by The Novice

We saw images of looting and burning everywhere. In the midst of chaos, some civic leaders promised to eliminate their police department. Other civic leaders abandoned a portion of their city to anarchists. The world seemed to be going mad. Some people paid attention. They decided they needed to take steps to protect themselves from the madness. One of these people was my friend, “Hawkeye.” He stopped by my office one day, concerned about what he was seeing in the news. He asked, “Can you help me find a gun for home defense?” I knew Hawkeye was from a family …


Compact Survival Radios, by Pat Cascio

Today, I’m describing some of my experiences with compact survival radios: Both the good and the useless. To start, I should mention that I don’t have a landline home phone any longer – just a phone line for my Internet service. I’m fine with that, because 95% of the calls I got on my home phone were people trying to scam me or sell me something. So, I don’t miss a hone phone line. When I was 25-years old, I lived for the phone, because l was dating three girls – all named Cindy. (True!) My wife and I both …


Century Arms C308 Sporter, by Pat Cascio

If you’ve been on the firearms scene for any length of time, you will surely know the company called Century Arms. Century used to import a lot of military surplus long guns and handguns, at quite good prices. Then, some years ago, they started making AK-47 style rifles – using a mix of used mil-surplus parts and some brand-new parts. Now, if you know anything about the AK-47 rifle, you know it is simplicity at its best. They were designed that way, so they were easy to maintain by fighters in Third World countries, who didn’t know anything about firearms. …


Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced, by Pat Cascio

Its always fun to test 1911 handguns — at least its fun for me. I never tire of them, and I can’t begin to count how many different gun makers are producing 1911s these days, or the number of models being made. Today, we’re looking at the Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced variant. (You may recall that I already reviewed the R1 “Carry” variant, back in 2018.) As many readers may know, Remington-UMC produced a few M1911 pistols in .45 ACP during World War I, and Remington Rand–best known for its typewriters–produced an even larger quantity of M1911A1 pistols, during World …