Tabla de contenidos para November/December 2021 #57 en Recoil

This year, RECOIL as a team committed to pushing outside the usual safe audience of middle-aged white guys in order to reach people in the gun community not typically served by firearms publications. This is the very antithesis of the woke culture currently infecting the rest of American discourse, with our litmus test being that if you support Second Amendment rights not just for yourself, but for others, you’re part of our tribe and an ally in the fight to keep Washington out of our gun safes. I first became aware of Alaina Hicks earlier this year while shooting the first major three-gun match of the season in Arizona. Although she was on a different squad, word soon spread that a former adult actress was on the range and shooting…

We’re not big on the idea of classic cars that just sit in a garage or get trailered everywhere because the owner is too afraid to drive it. That’s kinda like being married to a Playboy bunny and having separate beds. It’s not often RECOIL gets the opportunity to have a vintage ride grace its pages. In this case, it’s a model that’s celebrated over 50 continuous years of production. So, it’s only befitting that it serves as the platform for a build done by an organization whose mission is to get injured and disabled veterans into the therapeutic surroundings of nature, outdoor adventure, and some serious horsepower. Meet the Veterans Sportsman Alliance (VSA) and its ’67 Mustang, “Scorned Woman,” which, as it should be, is far from being a…

It wasn’t so long ago that 9mm ARs were little more than range toys — novelty items that were kinda fun when they ran, but not particularly reliable and somewhat crude. Even Colt’s version didn’t have a stellar reputation, despite being designed around the double stack, two position-feed Uzi submachine gun magazine. The first company to really crack the code when it came to getting a blowback AR to run consistently was JP Rifles, and their combination of dedicated 9mm bolt carrier and silent captured spring system allowed users to quickly tune the gun to their ammo. Further refinements evolved, including a short stroke kit that reduced bolt throw and recoil, but the basic physics of using mass and inertia to balance the rearward thrust of a 9mm projectile remained.…

Silencers are awesome, and assuming you live in one of the still-somewhat-free 42 states that allow them, you should own a few. Here, we take a look at the new Elimin8r 45 silencer from Lone Wolf Distributing. Lone Wolf has been in the Glock accessory game since 1998. They were (and still are) a huge supplier of aftermarket Glock threaded barrels, so their roots run deep with silencers. Frankly, we’re surprised it took them this long to make their own, seeing as a silencer is one of the best Glock accessories available. With so many different silencers on the market, the Elimin8r 45 touts features that may not necessarily be unique, but they’re definitely desirable for first-time can buyers as well as seasoned NFA enthusiasts. ANY WAY YOU WANT IT…

Precision rifle competitions have ascended past the point of uncertainty as a proper shooting sport. They’re here to stay. As with many shooting sports, many people are intrigued but have trouble finding a starting point. So PRS (precision rifle series) has come up with a production division to help funnel these newbies into the sport, and growth is a surefire way to ensure the shooting sports survive the political wasteland of today. The idea of a production division is to level the playing field with respect to equipment. Production divisions have been successful with other shooting sports like USPSA and IPSC, but in the pistol game you can make do with a $500 gun. Rifles tend to be a bit more spendy. The defining factors with production division pistols are…

In the spring of 2020, Alaina Hicks was going stir crazy in her Southern California home. Information about COVID-19 was slowly rolling in, and Hicks was adjusting to homeschooling her 5-year-old daughter. “I was going nuts,” recalls Hicks. “One day, my social media manager calls me up and says, ‘Get ready, because we’re going out. We’re going to go have some fun.’ He brought me up to Taran Tactical, and I shot a gun on my own for the first time. I was bad, but I loved it.” Hicks shot with a Glock 17 Combat Master that day, staggering as she got accustomed to what felt like an explosion going off in her hands. She had to be shown where to put her fingers and how to aim (not that…

Brandon Allen has been a law enforcement officer for just over six years. Despite working in what’s arguably one of the least popular and most misunderstood careers in American pop culture today, he still loves what he does. Starting out on patrol, he eventually worked his way into his department’s Crisis Response Team as well as becoming a Traffic Homicide Investigator and K-9 handler. The long, odd hours required of LEOs everywhere are what pulled Allen into the coffee-making business. He says: “Coffee, to me, has always been a form of camaraderie; no matter who’s at the coffee pot that day you can always meet a friend and have a great conversation. I think that’s what pulled me into the coffee business — the fact that a bag of ground…

01 CRIMSON TRACE CMR-301 RAIL MASTER PRO MSRP: $315 URL: crimsontrace.com No one will blame you if the first thing you do to your newly built AR-15 is to get a light and a laser for it. We all love new toys, after all. But you can save some forend space and some money by getting both devices in one. The CMR-301 Rail Master Pro from Crimson Trace offers a weapon-mounted light with a peak mode of 1,000 lumens and a powerful green laser that’s visible in various lighting conditions, including when it’s bright out. It’s user programmable and can be operated with either the tail-cap switch or a pressure pad. This device fits on any standard AR platform with Picatinny rails or similar accessory rails measuring at least 2.75…

Although they can obviously take many forms, when one thinks of a tactical folding knife it’s the tanto that predominantly comes to mind. Tanto literally means “short sword” and dates to the Heian period of Japan from 794 to 1185 A.D. Although a few came home with G.I.s who served in Japan during WWII, they retained an air of mystery until the mid ’70s when the late Bob Lum began making custom knives based on the design. In the ’80s, the late Phill Hartsfield became known for his tough and sharp tanto designs, and Cold Steel propelled them into the mainstream by introducing high-quality production pieces. This would be followed by Ernest Emerson introducing designs that somewhat resembled tanto blades and were called that by the gun and knife press…

It was more than a half century ago when Yisrael Galili (birth last name, “Balashnikov,” no lie) and Yakov Lior put pen to paper to make what was ultimately seen as the “Israeli AK.” Galili didn’t start with a Soviet original, instead opting for Finland’s own version, the RK 62. Usually when you make a copy of a copy you end up with less than your summation of parts, but thankfully we’re talking about manufacturing in a modern nation and not a cassette tape. It does mean there are some quirks, however. Though the Galil ARM would be relatively short-lived as the mass-issue rifle for the IDF, it would have a long life in foreign service, especially in South America. In 2008, IWI updated the Galil for the 21st century…

To see what a ban on “assault weapons” could look like, American gun owners need only to look north to Canada. Canada’s ruling Liberals introduced Bill C-21 on February 16 of this year. The bill brings new firearms restrictions that include a buyback for certain banned semi-auto rifles, allows municipalities to ban handguns, includes a ban on replica airsoft and pellet guns, and the introduction of a new system to report firearms owners of concern. To fully understand where this bill will take Canada, it’s necessary to understand existing gun legislation. Handgun registration has been in place since 1934. Hunting with handguns has been illegal since 1969, and to move a handgun from their home, an owner must have an Authorization To Transport (ATT permit). Under this system, gun owners…

Low-Power Variable Optics have been the scope du jour for several years now, with magnification scales reaching new highs on a regular basis. We’ve seen 1-4x, 1-6x, 1-8x, and a limited number of 1-10x models, and now Atibal is releasing a 1-12x. The upper level of magnification is now high enough that “low power” is no longer an accurate moniker, despite the bottom end being 1x. Eventually, Atibal settled on the name of “Hybrid” for their 1-12x because it bridges the gap between LPVOs and traditional magnified scopes. What you see here is a preproduction prototype. Though Atibal has gone through several iterations in development, this is the most accurate example of what you’ll soon see on the shelves. Atibal’s hope was to develop a 1-12x optic with the same…

Among devout AK fans, the phrase “mass-produced American AK-47” will usually result in more grimaces than a string of expletives in church. We specify mass-produced because there are plenty of reputable shops in the U.S. that build custom AKs — Lee Armory, who helped us with this project, is one noteworthy example. However, those custom builds involve substantial hand-fitting, cost, and lead time. If you’re looking for an off-the-shelf AK with a sub-$1,000 price tag, the typical recommendation used to be an imported Eastern-bloc gun such as the WASR-10. Unfortunately, prices for those rifles have climbed rapidly over the last few years, so the idea of an inexpensive, domestically produced AK has become more appealing. The Palmetto State Armory GF3 AK-47 is offered in various configurations, some of which are…

With little-to-no fanfare, the U.S. Army put out a solicitation in 2019 for a project they deemed NGSW: the Next Generation Squad Weapons program. The goal of the program isn’t exactly new: to “build a better mousetrap” than the M4/M16 for an individual soldier to carry into battle. It’s an idea that has been tried numerous times before, from the Advanced Combat Rifle program of the mid 1980s to the Objective Individual Combat Weapon program spawned a decade later, and multiple attempts since the start of the War On Terror. Thus far, there’s been no weapon system conclusively objectively better than the gas impingement, 5.56x45mm rifle that warrants the military revamping its entire supply chain system to accommodate it. The NGSW program seems to have progressed farther than previous attempts,…

The National African American Gun Association is a 2A organization open to people of all races, genders, religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, and political views that has 30,000 national members (60 percent of whom are women) across 75 chapters. The goal of NAAGA is to educate the wider community on the legacy of African American gun ownership, offering training, support, safety standards, and cultural inspiration for everyone who wishes to join. The past year has been a tumultuous one for everyone in this country, especially for gun owners. In a normal election year, we can expect shortages, NICS and NFA waits far longer than normal, and ramped-up rhetoric from every angle. Add to that the additional stress factors of COVID, street protests, counterprotests, calls for police reform, defunding, and even removal…

Those familiar with the bitter cold of the Northern Midwest know the plight of staying sharp year-round, when merely freezing temperatures are considered balmy in mid-January. This tends to force even the most ardent shooters, instructors, and professionals indoors — which brings its own set of baggage. Forced to choose between limited training space and fighting off hypothermia, it continues to be a surprise that some of the world’s best competitive shooters come from the frozen lands of the north. Vortex Optics is no stranger to this challenge, and they continue to manufacture some of the most sought-after glass in the world. Bringing that same mentality to their new training facility, we got a chance to go shooting at the brand-new Vortex Edge. Not just a range, Vortex Edge is…

The effects of massed fire-power during World War I led to demands for even more firepower, especially in the hands of the average infantryman. While numerous inventive but unsuccessful designs for a semi-automatic infantry rifle appeared in France, the United States, and even Mexico during this period, none of them were truly satisfactory. During the interwar period, research continued. By the time of the United States’ entry into World War II on December 7, 1941, as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it could field two reasonably competent semi-automatic infantry weapons, the M1 Rifle and the M1 Carbine. The Soviet Union fielded various designs from Tokarev including the SVT 38 and 40, and the interestingly optimistic AVT 40 with the full-auto fun switch (some of these were…