To readers of The Armory Life and many 1911 afficionados, Hilton Yam is going to be a familiar name. In the company of the many great gunsmiths and competitors who have built their professions around the construction or use of 1911 pistols, Yam offers a very unique perspective. Excepting, perhaps, a dwindling corps of old-guard military armorers, few have amassed more experience using, maintaining, and improving real-world, hard-use duty 1911’s than Hilton Yam. The Springfield Armory 10-8 Performance Master Class combines Hilton Yam’s decades of FBI duty experience with Springfield Armory’s 1911 manufacturing capabilities. Image: Carson McDaniel The late 1980s and early 1990s…
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The brutal killing of 30-year-old Eliza Morales and her unborn child in Downers Grove has highlighted the extreme risks of meeting strangers for online sales at a private residence. The suspect, Nedas Revuckas, allegedly stabbed Morales 70 times and set her home on fire following a dispute over a Facebook Marketplace vehicle transaction. DOWNERS GROVE, IL (3-minute read) — A horrific act of violence has left the Downers Grove community in shock and a young family shattered. On January 26, 2026, 30-year-old Eliza Morales, who was five months pregnant with her second child, was fatally stabbed 70 times inside her…
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Editor’s Note: In today’s article, Dr. Will Dabbs examines the versatile Heinkel He 111 in World War II. The German medium bomber became one of the most recognizable Luftwaffe aircraft of the war. Originally designed as a civilian airliner, the He 111 evolved into a versatile combat aircraft that participated in every major campaign. Lt. Mikhail Petrovich Devyatayev was a Russian P-39 Airacobra pilot during World War II. The peculiar mid-engine P-39 offered fairly poor high-altitude performance and was subsequently relegated to second-line duties by the US Army Air Corps. However, the Russians desperately needed a nimble ground attack plane.…
I lost my BB gun after I shot the windows out of our old barn when I was 6 years old. Seems that Dad did not agree that they were great reactive targets. Read the full article here
A look back on the Smith & Wesson Model 52, a classic dedicated target pistol in .38 Special.Sometime back in the early 1990s, my shooting mentor and boss at Ranger Ammunition, Rob Virkus, introduced me to what may still very well be my most favored target pistol of all time: the Smith & Wesson Model 52-2.Rob and I used to shoot weekly at the Tampa Police Range after delivering their orders of several thousand rounds of ammo. I always had either my 1911s or Magnum revolvers with me, because I was young and poor, but Rob was a master-class shooter…
The deer was small in the 4X Redfield. But the October air was still, and I trusted the .300 tugging the sling taut. Crosswire quivering a half-body-depth over the buck’s withers, I pressed the trigger. Recoil jarred the image. It cleared to show the buck wilt. A faint “thwuck” trailed the blast. The previous year, a buck in a ridge-top copse of stunted pines had escaped notice as, soft-footing along, I glassed distant gaps at timberline. I turned as much to see dawn fire the pines as to look for deer — and froze at sun’s glint on antler tine…
Editor’s Note: This article is intended for discussion purposes only. Please acquire adequate training in self-defense from a qualified instructor. Several years back, my daughter had a recital at her college. I was off duty, out of my jurisdiction and, under Florida law, could not carry my Springfield Armory XD on school grounds. As soon as I approached the venue, I began scanning… Police officers of the 50th Security Forces Squadron enter a building during training at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado on May 8, 2025. Image: Cody Friend/U.S. Space Force If you have gone to “gun-free zones” such as…
Bullet weight for self defense is one of those topics that gets thrown around a lot in gun shops and online forums. And honestly? It matters. But probably not in the way most people think. Here’s the reality. When considering carrying a 9mm with 115-grain hollow points or 147-grain rounds, the difference on paper looks significant. Lighter bullets go faster. Heavier bullets move more mass. But when you’re talking about a self-defense scenario inside seven yards, which is where most defensive shootings happen, the practical difference gets muddier. Shot placement beats bullet weight every single time. Bullet weight matters for defensive…
I’ve heard many new shooters ask “Is +P ammunition safe?” Yes, +P ammunition is safe to use in modern firearms. The “+P” designation means the round is loaded to higher pressure than standard pressure ammunition — typically 10% more pressure for most pistol calibers. Modern materials used in fireams mean that the gun’s barrel, slide, and frame are sufficiently strong to handle that extra force. Standard pressure and +P cartridges look nearly identical from the outside. The headstamp is where manufacturers stamp the pressure designation you need to know. Check your firearm’s manual or the barrel markings. If it says…
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Wilson Combat has just rolled its second-generation interpretation of the SIG Sauer P365 product line with the new Wilson Combat WCP365 2.0 models. These new pistols can be had in either the standard, X, XL or P365 X Macro formats. The P365 variants from Wilson feature Wilson Combat’s latest P365 grip modules, which are laser textured and designed to provide the shooter with a hand-sculpted grip that conforms seamlessly to the shooting hand. The Wilson Combat P365’s chromoly barrel is finished with black DLC finish, one of the most advanced handgun finishes commercially available. These guns also rely on chromium…
In this review, Randall Chaney evaluates the new Code Blue Public Service boots from Rocky Boots. For training, duty and even working out, these boots proved to be comfortable and durable. The boots were provided for this review by the company. After some quick math, I figured that I had walked, run or climbed a minimum of 12,000 miles while on duty in a police patrol capacity. No, I was not relegated to a foot beat. So, 25 years in a street uniform and hundreds of K9 tracks later, I think I know a thing or two about good boots. Rocky Boots…
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