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EDITOR’S FOREWORD: This article originally appeared in the 1965 Gun Digest annual, and was the first significant coverage of the then-new AR-15. Funny how politics is always involved in weapon procurement. Note the nonsense about “hydrostatic shock” and reports of 5.56mm nearly taking limbs off in Vietnam. This article has been edited and curated to fit this format, but the complete piece with more extensive testing can be found in our archives. The much-maligned M14 is being quietly phased out of production. It has apparently been abandoned by the Pentagon brass, though not yet openly repudiated. A search is in…
Founded in 1949 by three former Mauser engineers, Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel, the success of the G3 Rifle started Heckler & Koch’s changeover in the German defense industry from parts to weapons. The HK MP5A1 and the A2 (shown) launched the firm’s status as a top contender, following the introduction of the world’s most well-recognized submachine gun. It has been in non-stop service since 1966. The MP5A2 circa 1977 was the basis for nearly 100 different configurations and truly epitomized the company’s famous motto: “Keine Kompromisse …” (“No Compromise!”) Author Photo. MP5 Courtesy Indian River Sportsman.The H&K…
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Auto-Ordnance has just launched an 18-inch variant of its Thompson TAO50 .50 BMG bolt-action rifle.When it comes to .50 BMG rifles, there’s no getting around their size. They will always be huge by necessity. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be made a little more compact. That’s what Auto-Ordnance just did with its Thompson TAO50 bolt-action.The standard TAO50 sports a 29-inch barrel, and the integrally suppressed model has a 35-inch barrel, and both end up being even longer thanks to their giant, high-efficiency muzzle brakes. For those who need serious firepower in a more compact package, the 18-inch model is…
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Most preparedness plans for putting meat on the table start and end with a rifle. That makes sense until the ammunition runs out. Americans watched that happen in 2020 and 2021, when gun stores had empty shelves and a box of common cartridges cost double what it did a year earlier. A rifle also announces your location to everyone within a mile every time you pull the trigger. That can matter a great deal when times are hard and other people are hungry too.In a world where modern conveniences can quickly disappear in the blink of an eye, the ability…
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In 1969, an armed citizen named Richard Davis shot it out with a trio of armed robbers and survived — but was hit a couple of times during the melee. Deciding that there had to be something better to stop bullets with than one’s own flesh, he conceived soft, concealable body armor and became “the man who bullet-proofed America’s police.” The final Richard C. Davis Pin Shoot was held at the Davis Range in Central Lake, Michigan. Image: Gail Pepin By 1975, his company — Second Chance Body Armor — had saved numerous officers. That year he hosted a party for…
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