Editorial

During the Vietnam War, the Soviet Union played a critical role in supporting North Vietnam's revolutionary fight against the United States and South Vietnam. The Soviet Union’s involvement was primarily defined by providing aid to a like-minded nation with the means to defend itself. It provided everything from food and medical aid to firearms and advanced weaponry, military training, and intelligence collaboration.

Recently, the TROY Defender PSW in 5.56 was released, and many asked for the obvious. That has now been fixed, as the 300 Blackout version of the TROY Defender PSW is now available on their website. For this Photo Of The Day, we have a mix of images of the 5.56 and the new 300 BLK version. Which caliber would you prefer? As much as I like the 5.56, I think it needs a longer barrel, so I’d go for the 300 BLK, which also would suppress a lot better.

Deer season is almost here for most of North America, and that means some of us are looking to upgrade our firepower. If you want a hard-hitting muzzleloader that will be very easy to use, the new Traditions NitroBolt has arrived.

This year at the DSEI 2025 defense expo in London Singapore’s ST Engineering displayed their newest AR-15 pattern rifles and their new bullpup - the AME-B514. We first saw ST Engineering’s ‘Next Gen SAR’ at the Singapore Airshow 2024 but the design is still developing and its externals have noticeably changed. This week at DSEI, TFB had the honour of being the first to get up close and handle the new rifle.

At London’s DSEI 2025 defense exhibition FightLite showcased some of their newest machine guns - the DFX and the AMG-3. Florida-based FightLite talked us through the new guns and explained their features. The DFX, Dual-Feed Conversion, is an upper receiver group which can be paired with any MIL-Spec AR-15/M16/M4 lower receivers. Like other FightLite firearms the DFX uses M27 linked ammunition belts (or AR-15/Stanag magazines). Unlike other FightLite weapons the DFX doesn’t have a quick-change barrel which FightLite say aims to make the DFX simpler, cheaper and more streamlined.

How do you write an interesting article about a piece of bent metal made in Italy? Well, if the piece of metal sits in the latest Staccato and has the potential to replace Glock magazines in those Austrian handguns, it might be a good start? If I also told you that the same magazine holds 18 rounds, one more round compared to factory magazines and still offers a flush fit, do we have your interest? I bought one magazine from a local Mec-Gar dealer for the sake of this review. At the time, he only had two and wanted to keep one as a demo for others.

SK Guns is releasing a limited run of 500 Colt 1911 pistols chambered in .38 Super, named the “Kingdom of Atzlán” series, starting with the “Huitzilopochtli” model. Yes, I’m having problems trying to pronounce that as well, so let’s admire this magic Photo Of The Day instead. Aztlán is the mythical homeland of the Mexica (Aztecs), described as a northern paradise. The Mexica migrated from Aztlán, guided by their god Huitzilopochtli, to found Tenochtitlán in 1325. Huitzilopochtli, the deity of the sun and war, directed them to a promised land marked by an eagle on a cactus eating a snake, which is now the Mexican national emblem.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about some of the most popular alternative carry methods. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to talk about when it's a good idea to carry certain handguns. Of course, you may have your own preferences and that's completely understandable, but there are certainly situations where having a specific type of handgun that you may not have thought about before can be beneficial.

You may have heard that our very own James Reeves, the Managing Producer for TFBTV and occasional writer for TFB, collaborated with 5.11 to produce the Stache Sneaker - a globetrotting shoe that can handle all manner of adventures. Well, as we head into autumn, a new colorway has been announced in “Iron Grey” for all of us to choose from.

Both sides of the Russo-Ukrainian war are engaged in a highly intense arms race to develop more sophisticated drones and countermeasures against them. We previously took a look at the Dronoboy anti-drone muzzle device designed by Russian company BRT (Balanced Rifle Technologies), which allows firing heavy payloads of birdshot from a standard rifle. In this article, we’ll examine another anti-drone warfare gadget recently released by BRT called “Setkomet”, which is a muzzle-attached net launching device.

On today’s episode of TFB’s Behind the Gun podcast, I have the pleasure of bringing you two of the key players behind TANDEMKROSS - Alex Whiteside and Luke Diamond. Providing rimfire shooters like myself with all sorts of great aftermarket parts. TANDEMKROSS has been hard at work expanding their already extensive lineup of over 250 individual parts to include whole firearms now. With the introduction of the ADX receiver, TANDEMKROSS finally has the final piece for DIYers to build themselves a complete 10/22-style firearm, using only TK parts. Today we’ll chat about all that, as well as get a behind-the-scenes look at what both Luke Diamond and Alex Whiteside bring to the table for the team at TANDEMKROSS.

As a lifelong pistol shooter who has spent almost two decades shooting Glocks, I’ve always appreciated their reliability but secretly always found their ergonomics—specifically the grip angle—a bit of a sticking point. The factory Glock grip angle, often described as steep, can feel unnatural for shooters accustomed to platforms like the 1911 (which I grew up shooting) or other modern handguns with less aggressive angles. When Kiral Defense reached out and offered to send their Reduced Angle Backstraps for my Glock 48 and Glock 45, I was intrigued but not entirely sold on the idea. Could this add-on accessory truly transform the Glock’s ergonomics without compromising its legendary dependability? Here’s my take after putting these backstraps through their paces.

It’s time for TFB’s Photo Of The Day and a series of extremely fresh images of the new Aimpoint Duty RDS MR multi-reticle red dot. This red dot sight was literally delivered to me earlier today, and I removed the current setup (an Aimpoint Comp M5b 2 MOA) from my B&T APC9. The Aimpoint Duty RDS MR runs a 2 MOA dot and or a 65 MOA circle. I begged for Aimpoint to send me a 3x Magnifier as well, and the wish was fulfilled, and I look forward to trying them together. First, time for some unboxing. If anyone cares, this is probably Aimpoint's best box ever, with a Police-blue interior.

Welcome back to Wheelgun Wednesday. Over the last few months, Smith & Wesson has dropped a number of modern variants of their classic line, with the Model 29, Model 19 as well as the Model 10 all having variants released as a part of their classic line. One of the newest additions to the classic line is the Mountain Gun variant, which brings a modern take on the classic wheelgun era. I received a copy chambered in .44 Magnum for review and over the last few months, I've been taking it for range sessions. Let's take a closer look at the new 629-9 Mountain Gun.

FALCO Holsters has officially expanded its Kydex offerings, bringing three new carry options into a space where most manufacturers stick with the usual inside-the-waistband (IWB) or outside-the-waistband (OWB) formulas. These new kydex options will help those who prefer or need a chest carry, small of the back, or cross-draw holster to get what they need for the gun that they carry.

The Zastava Master FLG is a compact 9mm submachine gun developed by Zastava, the renowned Yugoslavian (now Serbian) arms manufacturer located in Kragujevac. Known for its heavy-duty line of military small arms, Zastava developed the Master FLG in the early 1990s as part of its effort to modernize personal defense weapons (PDWs) for military, police, and special operations forces. Although not widely known globally, the FLG represents a blend of Balkan engineering philosophy: durable, simple, and purpose-built.

I don’t want to make any kind of links between drug use and gun ownership, but there’s a quote from the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) that keeps on ringing: “Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can.” ( Source). I’ve never ever touched any kind of drugs, except alcohol, in my life, but it seems that collecting guns, optics, suppressors and other similar accessories becomes an addiction as well. We don’t really need all that for our next visit to the range (or for those who play the safe queen game only), but we still push the collection as far as we can.

Welcome back to TFB’s Small Business Spotlight! In this weekly article series, we talk about small firearm-related businesses. In today’s edition, we’ll take a look at Operator Survival Tool (OST), a manufacturer of an AR-15 maintenance/survival tool and other accessories.

After July saw sales at American gun stores drop below the one-million mark for the first time in many years, August saw a rebound. Although August 2025 saw fewer guns sold in the States than August 2024, the number was still over one million firearms sold (more or less), putting the industry back on track.

KelTec’s PR-5.7 is one of the strangest and most practical new pistols to hit the market this year. It is a clip-fed, top-loading 5.7x28 that skips interchangeable magazines entirely, which lets it stay thin, light, and high capacity. On paper, it reads like a carry cheat code. In hand, it feels even weirder, and that is a compliment.

Welcome back to another Falco Holsters rundown. If you happened to miss the last article about Carbon Fiber holsters, be sure to click the link here. For this edition, I really wanted to look at the various ways to carry when you can't use traditional carry methods. In certain situations, you may not always be able to carry an IWB holster on a belt. Sometimes you may have to have sweatpants or clothing with a drawstring. It's one of the toughest ways to figure out how to carry, but a belly band is certainly one way to carry a concealed handgun without having to be unarmed while doing various physical activities. Let's take a closer look at when you should have accessories.

I think it’s pretty obvious why this one is named as it is. The Fat Butcher from Backup Tactical and legendary bladesmith Andre Devillers have just been announced as the second official OTF release in their combined knife line. Some of you will remember that the Stinger OTF was released just about a year ago, and I was actually very impressed with the build quality, reliability, and the styling of the knife. The Fat Butcher adds a whole new dimension to the blade style and even one or two other tricks that might make it worth picking up for the hardcore blade collector.

Strike Industries is always hard at work to provide a plethora of firearm parts and accessories, and today, we’ll be taking a look at their recent muzzle blast diverter, the Oppressor Lite V2. The Oppressor Lite V2 is designed to lock onto a number of muzzle brakes, compensators, and flash hiders via a quick attach and detach operation. Let’s dig in.

In my opinion, Offensive Marketing Group takes some of the best photos in the industry. These images of the HK SP5 9x19mm “Sports South Exclusive” in Woodland Camo don't disappoint, and are great for TFB’s Photo Of The Day. The barrel length of this SP5 is 8.86". The red dot reflex sight is the FDE version of the Aimpoint ACRO P-2™ 3.5 MOA, and the perfect color for this build.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! Back in May, Sam S filled in for me one week to give everyone a first look at the new formula Remington Standard V 38-grain ammunition. Sam did an excellent job demonstrating that the ammo is not only pretty inexpensive at about 8¢ per round, but had excellent reliability, if not simply lacking in the accuracy department. Today, we’re going to take a deep dive into this specific bulk ammunition in the hopes of exploring why this ammo might not be the Remington equivalent of CCI Standard that most of us are probably looking for. Let's dig into a good chunk of this box to see what the ammo is made of.

In the USA, the Remington 700 pattern is synonymous with “bolt-action rifle”. Whether it's for hunting, military, or sport shooting, the manual precision rifle almost invariably ends up being a derivative of the venerable Remington design. While many have brought to the market gradual improvements on the original receiver, its limitations have mostly been carried over for over 60 years. With modern design tools and the manufacturing freedom granted by 3D printing, NOR23 modernizes the platform, growing its strengths and minimizing its shortcomings.  

Welcome back to TFB Weekly Web Deals! We’re back with more deals on guns, gear, ammunition, and accessories from some of our most frequented online retailers like EuroOptic, Palmetto State Armory, Brownells, and Optics Planet.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday, brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the YHM R45 Multi-Host Suppressor. It's currently early September. Most rifle hunting seasons start in the next few weeks. Is there still time to get a silencer? If so, what should you consider buying?

The good old M1A, it's a rifle we have talked about over and over again here at TFB. While its a design that is coming up on being 70 years old, there are still many people today who love this rifle. Whether it's for the rifle's historical importance, aesthetics, or a personal connection, it's a firearm that simply won't die even in the year 2025. With myself being someone who always dreamed about owning an M14 / M1A ever since watching Black Hawk Down when I was a teenager, you can imagine my excitement when Springfield Armory agreed to send me one of their M1A Standard Issue rifles to review. With this rifle, I aim to answer one simple yet apparent question: is the M1A still relevant in 2025?

SRU Precision from Taiwan makes chassis for various firearms, or in their own words, specializes in crafting aesthetically designed and other innovative firearm parts. In this Photo Of The Day, their SARB-15 chassis got a major upgrade, now paired with the BRN-180 upper for a sleek, compact, low-recoil package. According to the company’s description, you get reduced overall length, uncompromised barrel performance, and a bold, futuristic look.