Reviews

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday, brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturer of the new Victra 20-gauge shotgun suppressor. This week we have exciting news in the world of clones and silencers. The Sig Sauer LVAW is back. Kind of.

The Federal Trade Commission's announcement about Beretta Holding and Sturm, Ruger & Company sounds dramatic. The agency says it is stopping an anticompetitive arrangement between two major firearm manufacturers. TFB covered the companies' cooperation agreement in May; this is the regulatory decision that followed it.

Today's TFB Photo of the Day is a rare look at Japan's newest rifle earning its passport stamps. At the Indonesian Marine Corps 9th Infantry Battalion base near Lampung, Indonesia, a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force service member with the 2nd Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment, Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, fires their Howa Type 20 during Exercise Super Garuda Shield 26. This is Japan's current-generation service rifle and the replacement for the long-serving Type 89.

Despite the marketing success of the Winchester ‘73, the Springfield trapdoor rifle was more likely the rifle that really tamed the Wild West. The U.S. government equipped its cavalry and other troops with these robust, hard-hitting rifles. A repeater like Winchester or the competition sold might have been more desirable, but the single-shot Springfield was still capable of a faster rate of fire than old muzzleloaders, and the cartridges were much more reliable and easy to deal with than a cap-and-ball carbine. The Springfield made peace with the warring factions in the West — natives and non-natives alike — and it kept the peace.

SK Guns is back with another gorgeous, limited-edition 1911 handgun for us to drool over in the “Charro Negro,” or the legend of the Black Horseman. This limited run of only 200 Full Size Government Model Colt 1911s chambered in .38 Super blends traditional charro imagery with what some might call supernatural mystique. Each pistol will include a special engraved edition number.

Some background—the state of Connecticut banned the sale of pistols with cruciform triggers earlier in 2026, when Governor Ned Lamont signed H.B. 5043 into law. The idea behind this bill is to stop the sale of pistols that can be converted from semi-auto to full-auto with the installation of drop-in parts by replacing the slide backplate.

MDT has a new magnesium chassis optmized for night hunting. The DRT chassis system is fully outfitted for pursuits like hog hunting and all of the specialized equipment that requires. Keep reading for all the details.

Welcome back to Front Line Friday. This week is an editorial, and the topic is the gap between the school safety plan sitting in a binder and the response capability that actually shows up when the call comes in. Front Line Friday is brought to you by Dead Air Silencers, whose support keeps this column going every week.

A few months back, Safariland and Haley Strategic Partners flew a handful of us out to HSP's headquarters in Arizona. The main event for this trip was the Incog XS, the new single-clip concealment version of the Incog X, and that's where most of our range time went. But before we packed up, they pulled out something that hadn't leaked yet: BASELINE, a full belt system Safariland and HSP had been building quietly on the side. I've been running it since, and while I've got more testing planned, here's where I've landed so far.

Trade show booths don't usually draw a head of state, but the opening day of MSPO 2026 in Kielce, Poland's largest defense industry exhibition, did exactly that. Poland's president stopped by the Radom arms manufacturer's stand to examine a display example of the MSBS GROT3 rifle, marketed there as combat-proven, a reputation earned after GROT carbines were among the first weapons shipped to Ukrainian forces following Russia's invasion.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we took a look at the big difference between having fun with your handguns by upgrading them versus practical upgrades that make a difference. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, with the rise of red dots and almost all major manufacturers offering some sort of optics-ready version of their handguns, there's a wide variety of options at almost every price point imaginable, but how do you determine what's best? I would absolutely be willing to do a buyer's guide to carry optics in the coming weeks, but I wanted to set the groundwork by explaining what's important to look at when deciding on carry optics.

If you ventured out into the wild and currently own a rifle chambered in the new 300 HAMR cartridge, Remington has got your back by not only producing and cataloging that ammunition, but it will also be available this hunting season. They have announced that their Remington Core-Lokt flavor of 300 HAMR is now shipping to dealers across the US.

Henry Repeating Arms isn’t simply known for making quality lever-action rifles, but also making some of the best and most timeless commemorative firearms in the industry as well. Their newest announcement is a true throwback as they announce their Founding Fathers rimfire rifle collection that includes 7 unique offerings.

This week on TFB's Behind the Gun Podcast, Dan Wolgin from Ammunition Depot is back on the show. We had him on a while back to talk tariffs and pricing, and this time we're covering two bigger stories: the launch of AmmoVault, their new buy-now-store-later ammo reserve service, and Ammunition Depot's new partnership with the NRA to help fund Second Amendment litigation. That includes Rhode v. Bonta, the ammunition background-check case that Ammunition Depot has been fighting as a plaintiff for years. Dan walks us through how AmmoVault actually works, where Rhode v. Bonta stands now that it's before the full Ninth Circuit, and why an ammo retailer decided to get involved in the legal fight instead of just selling a product with almost endless demand.

Midwest Industries is most likely known for its various handguards, most notably its AR-15 and AK handguards. Today, with the massive amount of mission diversity that is necessitated by modern warfare, the ability to reliably mount a significant number of various accessories to a handguard is a greater demand for rigidity and adaptability for AR-based weapons. The need for increased rigidity in handguards has been recognised. Several companies have stepped up their game to facilitate these needs, and Midwest was also paying attention.

Allied forces rarely cross platforms when it comes to serious rifle training, but that's exactly what happened when these U.S. Marines went “down under”. The Marines from the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion of the 4th Marine Division fielded the Australian Defence Force's Enhanced F88 Austeyr during the Coral-Balmoral Cup at Puckapunyal Military Area in Victoria.

Pietta has added a second revolver to its partnership with Oregon's Pendleton Round-Up. The new Pendleton II is a decorated 1873-pattern single-action available in .357 Magnum and .45 Colt.

SIG Sauer introduced the P385 at its SIG NEXT event on September 22. It is a new family of modular, striker-fired 9mm pistols. The lineup includes the P385-MACH3D, P385-COMP, P385-FULL, P385-CARRY, and P385-COMPACT.

From September 1 through December 31, qualifying firearms, ammunition, and certain accessories are exempt from Florida sales tax under the state's 2026 Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Sales Tax Holiday.

One of the best firearms museums in the world, the Cody Firearms Museum in Cody, WY, has launched a new book shining a light on a part of their incredible collection which rarely gets displayed!

Ammunition Depot's AmmoVault lets customers buy ammunition a little at a time, leave it in the company's warehouse, and request delivery later. Purchases can be made individually or on a recurring schedule, with plans starting at $5.

Welcome back to another TFB Review. In this edition, we'll take a closer look at the new Canik MC9 Prime Radian, a collaboration between Canik and Radian Weapons that delivers a factory Ramjet pistol ready to go right out of the box. Over the last couple of months, I have had the opportunity to test out the Canik MC9 Prime Radian pistol and can confidently write up my review of this unique handgun. Let's take a closer look at the Canik MC9 Prime Radian.

How many remember Rutger Hauer in “The Hitcher” nowadays? Fewer and fewer, I’d presume, but everyone knows the SPAS-12 he used. It’s the shotgun that defined tactical shotguns for an entire generation, dominating everything from real special operations to the silver screen as the ultimate symbol of concentrated firepower. Now, Tactical Imports Canada has engineered a non-restricted interpretation of the Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun.

A divided Fifth Circuit panel has ruled that the federal laws blocking a direct handgun sale to an out-of-state buyer violate the Second Amendment. The September 18 opinion in Elite Precision Customs v. ATF reverses a Texas district court and enters judgment for a gun shop and its fellow plaintiffs. The court's answer is clear. What dealers should do next is not.

Both rifles carry over the modular chassis system that defines the ACE line, now built around a left-hand bolt-action. Jared Smethurst, Beretta USA's Product Manager for Long Guns, frames it as an overdue move rather than a novelty, noting that extending the ACE platform to left-handed shooters was a natural next step, since the platform was already designed around precision and adaptability that lefties have simply been locked out of in factory form.

By now, we should be familiar with the idea behind the Stratified series of shotshells, since Apex Ammunition already launched dove-hunting loads with a similar design.

The Justice Department says it cannot criminally prosecute federally licensed dealers for selling handguns to otherwise law-abiding adults ages 18 to 20 under the federal age restrictions in 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(1) and (c)(1). The department announced that position Friday after its Office of Legal Counsel issued a 49-page opinion dated September 17.

Magpul has added MultiCam as a colorway option across two existing glove models, the Patrol Glove 2.0 and the Technical Glove 2.0. Both gloves are available in sizes Small through 2XL, and the MultiCam versions join the existing Black and Coyote options.

Osight, known for pistol optics with clear glass, sharp multi-reticle displays, and competitive features at a budget-friendly price point, has entered the rifle red dot market with the new Osight R, a large-window, multi-reticle T1/T2 footprint optic with day and night vision settings, motion activation, up to 83,000 hours of battery life, a rugged 7075-T6 aluminum housing, built-in lens covers, and an included anti-reflective device (ARD), all for an MSRP of $279.99. If that got your attention, stick around for the details and how you can get even more for your money during the Osight R’s launch period.

When you woke up today, you didn’t expect to find this SIG M7 with a 13″ barrel and the strangest “suppressor” you ever saw. Strategic Sciences' Multi-Function Muzzle Device doesn't ask you to pick your poison. Traditional muzzle devices demand compromise: you suppress flash or manage recoil or kill sound, but rarely all three without penalty.