Category: Weapons

CRKT BT-70, by Pat Cascio

I don’t remember where I first heard about custom knife maker Bob Terzuola, but I remember where I was and when it was. My family and I had just moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in June of 1984. During that summer I managed to get my hands on a brochure from Terzuola, and it was pretty plain. There were no pictures at all, just drawings of his fixed blade knives. However, I was impressed by what I saw and ordered one of his knives, which was my very first custom knife. I fell in love with custom knives after that …


Can You Buy a Budget Sniping Rifle That Is Effective?, by B.F.

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There are many definitions of what sniping is. A google search results in 242,000 hits. What one writer calls sniping, another may call precision marksmanship, counter-sniping, or just plain shooting. For the purpose of this article, we will look at rifles capable of acceptable accuracy and sufficient stopping power at distances beyond those of a typical 5.56 or 7.62×39 modern sporting rifle. I’ll compare several budget rifles to a couple that are quite a bit more expensive. Shooting will be done at both 100 and 550 yards, both cold barrel and warm barrel. Honestly, I am not convinced that a …


Sig Sauer P226 Scorpion, by Pat Cascio

My first exposure to any Sig Sauer firearm came in 1980, shortly after I was married and I opened a gun shop in my home. Later, I moved to a regular store front location. A customer asked me to order him a Browning BDA .45 ACP handgun. I readily admit, that back then, I had no idea what the BDA was. I knew the Browning name but wasn’t familiar with the BDA (Browning Double Action) model. After some research, I found out that the “Browning” BDA was manufactured by Sig and imported into the USA by Browning. I was impressed …


Two Letters Re: The 9mm Parabellum vs the .40 Smith and Wesson vs the .45 ACP, by B.F.

Hugh, I enjoyed BF’s “The 9mm Parabellum vs the .40 Smith and Wesson vs the .45 ACP”. It brought back some great memories of my police days and the El Presidente drill we conducted at the end of our range sessions every year. I can attest to his results. When I came on the job in the 1980s, we were issued Ruger .357 Magnum handguns and carried .38 +P rounds. In the early 90s, we went to 9mm because “the criminals are outgunning us with their semi-autos”! In the early 2000s, we went to S&W .40 because “the 9mm doesn’t …


Letter Re: Sheath for Rawles Voyager XL

JWR, Hey, I sent you an email some time back about a sheath for the new knife of yours that my wife bought for me and you recommended “Wicekleather”, a company from Poland. I just wanted you to know, I ordered the sheath and it came today. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL workmanship, and the knife fits into it PERFECTLY. I was thrilled with the sheath and for anyone who bought the knife, I can highly recommend Wiceleather. Thanks for the recommendation! – W.R.


Two Letters Re: The 9mm Parabellum vs the .40 Smith and Wesson vs the .45 ACP, by B.F.

Good Morning Hugh, Read with interest the article posted today about handgun calibers. I agree, the topic is beaten to death, and I agree with the author’s conclusion 110%: You should practice, practice, practice and use what works best for you! I found the following website/report to be extremely useful in my own research, and it provided me with the information I needed to choose a carry-ammunition for my family (Federal 124 gr HST 9mm). YMMV, however, the data was presented extremely well and un-biased. Please pass this link along to your readers for them to use as well. I …


The 9mm Parabellum vs the .40 Smith and Wesson vs the .45 ACP, by B.F.

I recently wrote a letter to SurvivalBlog suggesting that preppers who were looking to upgrade their handguns consider some of the bargains currently available in .40 S&W. In recent weeks, I have seen police trade-ins dropping even more in price with Sig Sauer P226s and P229s selling for as low as $305 and Glock 22s selling for $279. Hugh asked me about my experience with the .40, and I sent him back a note that covered a bit of ground on that topic. I’ve been shooting and reloading for the .40 S&W since Glock introduced the G35 in 1998. That …


Letter Re: Pat Cascio’s VP-9 review

Pat, While most of us who have had some experience with the VP9 agree that it is a reliable and affordable pistol we also have found that the trigger guard has a groove in it that will really mess up your finger from friction if you shoot it a lot. One guy I know loves the gun so much he has altered the trigger guard a bit to mitigate this problem. – M.


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: H&K VP9

I’ve always been a big fan of H&K (Heckler & Koch) firearms, at least most of them. They’ve had a few that weren’t to my liking. One thing that most folks will agree on is that the price point on many H&K Products is very high, VERY high, and that scares away a lot of gun buyers– guys like me who are the average guy! I have to spend my hard-earned money very carefully. The H&K firearms I’ve owned in the past were all used ones. I couldn’t afford new guns from them. Well, that is changing. H&K is listening …


Fighting Words: An Open Letter to Publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.

The New York Times just published the newspaper’s first front page editorial in 95 years. It urged America’s legislators to outlaw civilian ownership of semiautomatic battle rifles. This editorial twisted words to castigate our militia arms as follows: ” These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection.” The editor went on to urge: ” Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership. It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective …


Pat Cascio’s Product Review: Springfield Armory XDm Compact .40 S&W

Make no mistake, I’m a huge fan of Springfield Armory firearms– all of them. When the XD handgun first came out, I picked one up; it was in .40S&W. At first appearance, it looked very much Glock-ish to my way of thinking. However, once home, I tore the gun down and examined it. While some of the parts look like Glock parts, none of them will interchange with a Glock. None! Something very rare for me is to carry any one particular handgun for two years, which is what I did with the XD .40, only changing to a different …


Letter Re: .40 S&W

Hugh, I’m in agreement with the recent postings regarding .40 cal pistols. I have been shooting .40 for more than a decade now and am a firm believer. During the shortages I was still able to consistently locate ammunition, and as mentioned by another contributor you can swap parts out on the Glock easily. I carry a Glock 23 and run full power ammunition for daily carry, but when attending a Front Sight four day pistol course I dropped in a Storm Glock 19 barrel. The pistol functioned just as well on 9mm ammunition as it did with .40. After …


Schrade SCHF3 Survival Knife – By Pat Cascio

It’s probably been at least 20 years since I owned any sort of Schrade knife, and the last one I had was a fixed blade hunting knife. It worked just fine, near as I can recall, dressing out a deer. Schrade has been around for a long, long time, well, sorta. Schrade is now owned by Taylor Brands, and I’m not sure when this takeover took place. As far as I know, all Taylor Brands cutlery is produced in China. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so. I recently purchased a Schrade SCHF3 fixed blade survival knife for …


Letter Re: Multi-Caliber Firearms

Hugh, I was wondering what were your thoughts on rifles capable of shooting multiple calibers? Examples are the Sig Sauer SIG556xi and Colt MARC 901. I can see the utility of pistols having this capability, but I was wondering if you thought the extra investment would be worth it for rifles? HJL responds: I haven’t tried any of the new offerings on the market, but the Thompson Contender has long been a staple of my collection. I have both the original frame and an Encore frame with a barrel for each caliber for which I reload. I use it as …


Letter Re: Question About the Transfer of a Pre-1899 Antique Gun

Dear Mr. Rawles, Thank you for your work on the excellent antique gun FAQ page. I have a question regarding a recent purchase. I recently acquired an all matching 1897 dated (barrel and receiver tang, both dated 1897) Tula M1891 Mosin Nagant, Finnish capture marked, from my local Cabelas. I would estimate it at 85%+ condition, and it was Finnish Arsenal re-blued and has no importer markings, shiny sharp rifling and not counter bored. The Finns re-worked the Russian stock into the two piece grooved configuration. The gun was clearly marked “97r” under a T, which makes it an antique …