Less Lethal

The Springfield Armory Echelon has been the darling of Geneseo, Illinois ever since its inception for innumerable reasons. The supremely-clever optics mounting system, texturing/stippling that borders on coming from a Custom Shop, a chassis design for ultimate modularity, and flat out performance from the first magazine. Over the few years it has been out, it has evolved through different frame sizes, barrel configurations, and factory packages to please as many shooters as possible. What if you want the hot rod, but money is tight? We get it and so does Springfield. They have now announced the Echelon Alpha with a very sharp price point of $599 compared to a standard Echelon being sold for $710 and up. So, today we are going to take a look at the new Springfield Armory Echelon Alpha 4.0C 9mm to see how it performs on the range. Let’s dive in! 

The Beretta Gold Cup 2026 in Malmö, Sweden brought together elite IPSC competitors from all over the World, for a match that raised the bar on stage design and volunteer execution. What stood out immediately were the creative course-of-fire elements: moving targets triggered by sensors, innovative stage layouts, and carefully crafted designs that gave each stage its own character and challenge. There was even a stage with flames and fire, as you stepped on one of the activators.

You don’t hear a lot about handgun hunting these days, and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the rise of the autoloader—I’d argue there was more interest in handgun hunting when six-guns were the norm. Or maybe it’s just because hunters interested in the up-close-and-personal action have moved on to archery equipment. Maybe it’s because they decided that blasting away at long-range targets Elmer Keith-style is too difficult, and they want to make clean kills with a rifle that requires less practice.

Sightmark’s solution for Glock owners who want optics is the G-Shot. That’s not the name of a West Coast gangster rapper with smooth delivery; it’s the name of this optic that’s intended to work on a Glock without any milling, adapter plates or any other gunsmithing trickery or accessories. It’s supposed to work with the majority of Glock’s Gen 3, Gen 4 and Gen 5 pistols, including the G17, G19 and G26, fitted directly to their unmodified factory slides.

Say “bonjour” to an upgraded French rifle! PGM Précision's Ludis arrives as a deliberate bet on a specific shooter profile: the long-range competitor or sport shooter who doesn't need a magazine, doesn't need semiauto capability, and doesn't need the feature set of the Ultima Ratio platform. What they need is interchangeable barrels, match-grade precision, modularity, and the build quality that justifies the PGM name without the operational overhead or cost of a full professional rifle. The upgrades include a new chassis with an integrated ARCA rail along the entire length of the handguard, as well as a new fixed stock that offers the new adjustment options.

Welcome back to Front Line Friday. This week is a gear week, and the topic is the radio hardware nobody issues you: the accessories, the earpiece choices that actually fit your assignment, and the battery discipline that keeps a working radio from turning into a brick at hour ten. Front Line Friday is brought to you by Dead Air Silencers, whose support keeps this column going every week.

I will start with an example of that: a weapon that I had plenty of experience with - MGPK, a combination of German MG 34 and Soviet PKM. It was created for the largest Soviet movie film studio called Mosfilm.

Two decades back, a watermelon-obliterating revolver posted to the internet and changed everything. The Taurus Judge didn't just go viral; it invented the category. Now, for its 20th anniversary, Taurus is marking that legacy with an engraved commemorative edition that elevates the Judge to presentation status while keeping the working gun intact underneath.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about navigating unwelcoming areas. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I wanted to look at some of the realities of self-defense and how it starts to change your behavior over time. When people start carrying a concealed firearm, they oftentimes think it's as simple as putting their gun on and heading out, but it's certainly more than that once you start living in it every single day. Let's take a closer look at some of the realities of self-defense.

Surefire’s long-discontinued MR07 light mount for the 1911 is back, in a manner of speaking. Major Kong Industries is now selling a reproduction model of this sought-after retro 1911 part. Keep reading for all the details.

The stalwart ammunition manufacturers of Remington and Federal have a couple new announcements for us as we head into fall, and the many hunting seasons that come with the changing of seasons. Remington has announced that their Core-Lokt Tipped will now be offered in 7mm Backcountry while Federal is debuting some of their Power-Shok handgun lineup in .45 Colt.

On today's episode of TFB's Behind the Gun Podcast, I'm happy to welcome back Harrison Benson, founder of Double Tap Coalition, a Georgia-based firearms training and advocacy organization serving the greater Atlanta area. Harrison was last on the show back in episode 175, and we've got plenty of new ground to cover today. Please give Harrison a warm welcome back!

Previously, I wrote about the HK43 and how it eventually evolved into the MG4. From there, the design continued, leading to the HK121, better known today as the MG5. That’s where this picks up. The Heckler & Koch MG5 is Germany’s modern general-purpose machine gun, developed to replace the long-serving MG3 in Bundeswehr service. Chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO, it represents a noticeable shift in German small-arms. While older machine guns like the MG3 emphasized raw firepower and extremely high rates of fire, the MG5 leans more toward control, adaptability, and ease of use.

Some rifles are built to disappear into the field. The CDX-30 X-LITE Gold FX Edition is built to be noticed, then shoot holes in your expectations anyway. Quebec-based Cadex Defence has long paired uncompromising precision engineering with distinctive aesthetics, and this custom shop offering in Cerakote FX Gold with a battle-worn treatment might be the most visually arresting expression of that philosophy yet.

Welcome back to another edition of Wheelgun Wednesday. Last week, we took a look at the Manuhin MR88's return, so if you missed that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to look at why we love revolvers despite their limitations in capacity and overall size. There are certainly benefits to carrying a revolver, but these types of handguns trigger an emotional response for a lot of us. Let's take a closer look at why we love revolvers.

Beretta's new A400 Solo slots into the Goldilocks zone of the A400 lineup: faster cycling and cleaner operation than the A300 family, but without the premium features and recoil reduction of the Xtreme Plus or AX800 Suprema. It's built for hunters who want the A400 platform's proven reliability in genuinely harsh conditions (which include flooded timber, salt marsh, upland slop) without the extra cost.

SB Tactical is adding another entry to its A-Series lineup with the SBA6, a collaboration with New Hampshire-based Die Free Co designed to expand the minimalist platform that made the SBA3 an industry standard. The SBA6 accepts MIL-SPEC carbine receiver extensions and ships now in black, with Flat Dark Earth and Olive Drab Green following later this year.

B&T USA (Brügger & Thomet) is a favorite brand for many TFB readers for their precision, quality, and incredibly cool firearms that they produce for both military and civilian sales across the globe. Now, they have announced that their USA facility in Utah has expanded for more employees, manufacturing, and output.

It’s finally happening, boys. The CMP has just announced that it will begin selling surplus M14 rifles. This has been a hoped-for but unlikely step for many years; however, it seems like it is coming later this year.

We’ve already told you that the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR), the country’s strongest gun rights organization, has managed to get its appeal against the seizures on the radar of the Supreme Court of Canada. They have a court date set for October of 2026. Until that court case is decided, which could take months, the government has extended the amnesty of its so-called buyback (technically, a seizure with payment).

There's something special about a properly configured rimfire that reminds you why precision shooting is genuinely fun. The Tikka T1x brings serious Finnish engineering to the rimfire game, sharing the same bedding surfaces and ergonomics as its centerfire T3x big brother.

Divide Gun Company has carved out a nice little niche for itself, building rifles, making ammunition, and now suppressors as a matched system rather than separable parts from different manufacturers. The new MTN Lite Ti is just a continuation of that same line of thinking. The can is machined from 6Al-4V titanium into a tubeless, welded shell. Inside, a proprietary kinetic diffusion end-cap works alongside the baffle stack to manage gas rather than just block it, which Divide says keeps tone controlled and point-of-impact shift predictable. Offered in 4-, 6-, and 8-baffle configurations with 5/8x24 and 1/2x28 threading, the MTN Lite Ti isn't locked to Divide's own rifles, though the company's pitch in their press release is clearly built around running its full ecosystem.

Steiner has introduced a significant upgrade to its M830rc X LRF 1535nm laser rangefinder binocular, adding native connectivity to the A.T.A.K. Battle Management System. The update rolls out via Bluetooth module firmware, meaning both new and fielded units can receive the capability through a software push, eliminating the need for hardware swaps or service center visits. With an MSRP of just below $20,000, this one might just fly a little too high for most of our readers, but let’s take a closer look to see if it’s worth a small car or not.

The calculus driving modern air defense has inverted in the last three years. Adversaries discovered that cheap drones can force defenders to spend six-figure interceptor missiles, and the math stopped working. The Marine Corps' answer is layered: keep electronic warfare as the first filter, then add a kinetic option that costs ten dollars per engagement instead of ten thousand. Allen Control Systems' Bullfrog autonomous weapon station is that kinetic layer, and it just landed a $6.2 million prototype contract to prove itself on the Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System.

EAA has a new entry in its Blue Label over/under shotgun lineup. This latest model includes barrel sets in both 20- and 28-gauge. This is a versatile combo that can cover a lot of needs without breaking the bank.

I have spent plenty of weekends on the clock in all sorts of competitions and classes, including Rimfire PRS, along with a handful of smaller regional and private precision matches, but until this year I had never shot in an NRL Hunter match, and I had never so much as watched its parent discipline, NRL, in person. That changed when Leupold, who happens to be based just down the road from me here in Oregon, invited me out to compete in this year's Relentless Rifleman match near Madras, an event they title sponsor from top to bottom. Including a particularly lucrative prize table for those participating in the competitive divisions (non-skills). So today I’ll take you through what many consider to be  “The Toughest NRL Hunter Match in the West” and share the newfound obsession I’ve discovered in this long-range precision shooting sport.

There's no mistaking a Desert Eagle, but Custom & Collectable Firearms has made sure this one commands even more attention. The new Ember Reaper drops as a limited run of just 300 consecutively numbered units into the collector market, each wearing a polished rose-gold camo plating that catches light with an almost liquid shimmer. The Mark XIX platform gets steel black camo grips for contrast, blending luxury aesthetics with unmistakable tactical intent.

If you’ve been keeping track of my ongoing ammunition testing series, you know we’ve been dabbling a bit on both ends of the spectrum of cost and reputation. On the higher end of the spectrum, we’ve been slowly going through ELEY’s catalog of 22LR offerings; today we’re finally getting into the territory of the truly expensive offerings with ELEY 40-grain Match Flat Nose. This highly expensive and unique ammunition is said by ELEY themselves to be second in the world only to ELEY’s own Tenex match ammo. As is my custom in this series, we’ll be testing a 50-round box of this stuff at 50 yards, out of a precision rifle ( Angstadt RPR), to see what $0.50 per round gets you out of a match-grade rifle.

Colt CZ Group will supply small arms, ammunition, and accessories to Montenegro's Armed Forces under an intergovernmental defense cooperation agreement between the Czech Republic and Montenegro, the company announced July 24, 2026. The contract marks the first adoption of the CZ BREN 3 rifle by a NATO member state.

The light and handy M1 Carbine just became even more so. Auto Ordnance is now selling a factory SBR version of the famous WW2 rifle. Keep reading for all the details.