Table of contents for September/October 2022 #62 in Recoil

“More regimes have been brought, piecemeal, to their knees by what was once called ‘Irish democracy,’ the silent, dogged resistance, withdrawal, and truculence of millions of ordinary people, than by revolutionary vanguards or rioting mobs.”—James C. Scott It’s been an interesting couple of years. Even not-so-astute observers will have been shocked not only by the utter incompetence of our so-called elites, but their dogged determination to blame you, dear reader, for their shortcomings. We’ve been treated to unelected and highly paid “experts” flat-out lying to us regarding their bungled response to a virus with a 99.9-percent survival rate, forcing small businesses to the wall while enriching corporate donors. We’ve seen politicians from both sides of the uni-party shovel money into the economy, idling workers while increasing demand for goods and…

Like it or not, the manual transmission is going the way of the dodo, at least when it comes to new vehicles. According to a study by CarMax, only 2 percent of the vehicles sold by the company in 2020 had manual transmissions, a number that has plummeted from 27 percent in 1995. For most drivers, it’s less hassle to simply press the gas pedal and let a computer do the shifting, but for those who enjoy modulating the clutch and smoothly changing gears, this extinction feels tragic. Tim Seargeant, a lifelong sports car enthusiast who has never owned a vehicle with anything but a manual transmission, is firmly in the latter category. When Tim decided to purchase a truck, he knew it had to have a six-speed, but he…

The invasion phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom took place not even two years after 9/11 and officially lasted a mere 43 days. While there had been some fighting in Afghanistan as well as a couple of other smaller “police actions” going on at the time, the vast majority of the 160,000-plus strong coalition force had never seen combat, including their training cadres and leadership. We recently reached the realization that babies born during the “Thunder Run” to Baghdad are now old enough to serve themselves, sparking a bit of nostalgia for us. In hindsight, the buildup to war always seems quick, the lessons learned obvious with the patina of time. But gearing up the war machine, especially one that was three decades out of practice concerning large-scale campaigning, takes time…

About five years ago, RECOIL hosted its first-ever live event, Summit In The Sand. The idea was to bring RECOIL readers face-to-face with the gear, staff, and subject matter experts that make our brand what it is. Ever since, we’ve been working to figure out a way to replicate that experience for both long-time RECOIL fans as well as those who may not be familiar with what we’re all about. This past March, in conjunction with Blade Show Texas, RECOIL hosted an after-party at the Texas Gun Experience in Grapevine. Participants got the chance to get on the line with an assortment of guns and accessories provided by a number of partner companies, shooting a whopping 8,000 rounds of ammunition provided by Global Ordnance and Ammo Inc — with the…

Choosing your first thermal optic can be a confusing set of hard choices. You know you want thermal capabilities. You think you might want a stand-alone sight to gleefully eradicate hogs at 100 yards, but then it occurs to you that you might get more use out of it if it were small enough to helmet-mount so you can walk around and stalk. But then again, maybe it’s best to get a clip-on that goes in front of your day scope so you can get more distance use and don’t have to re-zero every time you swap scopes. But then you might not be able to really use it as a handheld. Deep frustration sets in as analysis-paralysis whispers wait and-see justifications to your wallet. With the release of the…

In 1953, my grandfather Ralph Hubbell was a high school sophomore in Montrose, Colorado. For his first firearm, his family bought a second-hand target rifle for about $50 so he could join his high school rifle team. As it turns out, that secondhand target rifle is a gorgeous first-year production Remington Model 37 from 1937, the year of Ralph’s birth. Ralph’s rifle team practiced after-hours once a week, setting up a bullet trap in the high school gymnasium. They shot four positions at 50 feet: prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing. The paper target had a .22-inch bull’s-eye. I remember shooting this rifle with my grandfather as a kid, and I especially recall its remarkable heft. We would brace it on a fence wire and shoot cans and other small targets,…

Cigar smoking often holds a special significance for veterans — especially those who picked up their taste for cigars on a deployment or while in the military. Time spent in quiet reflection or bonding over a shared vice can be hard to come by in austere environments, and a good cigar can offer a much-needed respite from the strains of military life. This passion runs two-generations deep for this father/son Veteran Vices duo. Robert Minor, Jr. and his son Devante are both U.S. Air Force veterans — Robert as a traffic controller and Devante as a fire protection specialist. Both are also combatant campaign veterans: Robert served in Operation Just Cause and Devante in Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2019, on a father/son trip to the Dominican Republic, the two were…

01 ELFTMANN TACTICAL ELF 700 PRECISION RIFLE TRIGGER MSRP: $296 URL: elftactical.com The Remington Model 700 has been a reliable workhorse for all sorts of roles, from hunting and killing varmints to police and military operations. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be improved upon. The ELF 700 is a drop-in trigger system for this Remington rifle (and clones) that lets you change the pull weight from less than 2 ounces to more than 5 pounds. In fact, thanks to an externally accessible screw, you can even make adjustments between shots. The aluminum trigger shoe (which comes in red or black) can also be adjusted, while the sealed bearings provide a smooth, crisp break — even at higher weights. Available with or without an internal bolt release. Made in the…

If you were to trace through human history from the Stone Age to the present, you’d find three things that every culture has in common: dogs, drums, and knives. Although each is different in each culture, there’s enough similarities to make them truly universal. The knife is clearly mankind’s oldest tool, with some estimates placing it over 1 million years old. Blade shapes may differ as well as materials, reflecting our diversity as human beings while showcasing what unites us. When it comes to an EDC knife, today’s connoisseur of steel has a wide variety of choices between designs and materials. Modern blades can take these traditional forms and put tools into our hands that are quite frankly much better than anything our ancestors could’ve dreamed about. These designs transcend…

Do fun-sized candy bars taste better than the full-size versions? This has been a debate amongst candy scholars through the years. The correct ratio of chocolate to filling varies depending on the size of the candy, but the truth is it depends more on the kind of candy itself. Some do better in smaller sizes, while others shine in the diabetes-filled king-size wrapper. So why even bother with a smaller candy bar? More isn’t always better. Sometimes a smaller amount is just the right amount. Plus, the nostalgia of the middle-school lunchbox treat brings joy. As we grow up and start watching calories, we intend to consume smaller portions. But this usually ends with an empty bag and feelings of guilt and shame. When you’re older, you realize the fun-size…

American manufacturing is better and more accessible than ever. Our collective knowledge and understanding of the AR-15 platforms has resulted in mid-market rifles in 2021 with more accuracy potential than the premiums of the past. The modern AR-15 is the most accurate and reliable mass-produced rifle in all of human history. In fact, there’s a strong argument to be made that ARs are now mechanically outclassing the optics being made for them. That’s not to say the optics industry is lagging or resting on its laurels — that’s simply not true. What’s happening is that the mechanical accuracy of ARs is evolving in a specific way that’ll necessitate a new class of scope optimized for them. And it’s not that ARs are getting more accurate — it’s that those more…

Advocating for the Second Amendment is never a simple job. Your opponents have easy, emotionally driven arguments that appeal to people who have no interest in the topic beyond the fear generated by highly sensationalized events that are rare in practice, but horrible and terrifying enough to leave a mark on the public psyche. Meanwhile, the people you’re advocating for often understand the situation better from a technical perspective, but their arguments are often just as emotionally driven, but coming from the other end of the gun. If your focus is outreach, or raising funds, this can be a benefit; emotional arguments are the easy button for getting attention and donations, as plenty of gun-control groups can attest. However, if your only goal is advancing the 2A through legislation and…

Pistol-caliber carbines have come a long way in the past decade, so in this build we wanted to construct something that would serve as a cost-effective training tool, a decent competition gun, and something that was just downright fun to shoot. It’s a quintessential parts bin special, pulled together from components we had laying around gathering dust. It wasn’t until we’d bolted everything up that the discovery that one of the parts was no longer available came to light. The core of the build is a KE Arms polymer 9mm lower, equipped with their DMR trigger and 45-degree selector, coupled with a heavy, 9mm-weight buffer. One of the attributes this lower brings to the table (apart from the considerable weight savings over an aluminum version) is its adjustable,…

There was a time when silencer ownership used to be infuriating. You might want to put a can on every gun you owned, but between different bore diameters, different thread pitches, and the way most silencers were built, it was an exercise in futility as well as a great expense. Over the decades, this has changed. Advances in materials, designs, and engineering have given us silencers that’ll work on a diverse variety of firearms. A .45-caliber suppressor will work on a 9mm pistol as well as a .45-caliber pistol. Pistol silencers will work on pistol-caliber carbines and in some cases with subsonic 300 Blackout. Likewise, a .30-caliber silencer will work on smaller rifle calibers such as 5.56 NATO. Most modern .22-caliber cans will silence 22LR, 22 Magnum, and even 5.7mm.…

It’s a tale as old as time: Someone hits the range with their brand-new 5.56 silencer, tax stamp still fresh off the printer — and when they pull the trigger for the first time, they start gagging on gas, their eyes watering from the assault on their senses. Not all silencers increase gas pressure by pushing it back through the bore, but most of the good ones do. Adding this pressure back through an AR-15 not only increases cycling speed but parts wear too. Not to mention that face full of leaded gas — assuming your gun even runs, that is. Decades ago, we’d sometimes swap buffer weights and springs when attaching a suppressor, effectively bringing cyclic rates closer to the norm, but that doesn’t really help you avoid inhaling…

When the U.S. Army launched their search for a Modular Handgun System back in 2015, a ton of companies stepped up to the plate. Though SIG Sauer would ultimately be rewarded the MHS contract with their M17/M18, most of the rest became available on the American civilian market, giving us many brand new pistol options. Something similar is happening right now, but instead of offerings for DoD and soldiers, it’s a smattering of European police contracts. A number of new designs are popping up across the continent, some of which will hit American shores. Today, we bring you the latest from Grand Power in Slovenia; though it may be designed with police in mind, you can still grab one for yourself. FEATURES AND DESIGN The Arex Zero 2 is the…

As you turn off the sleepy Texas country backroad onto an unmarked gravel road, you question if your GPS directions are correct. Nearly a ¼ mile down the lane, the road is blocked by a nondescript ranch gate; the only hint that you might be in the right place is a small sign that reads “Coryell County Sheriff Training Facility.” You cross your fingers as you punch in the gate code. Welcome to Mission Critical TX, home to Rogers Range. The private facility is owned and operated by Brooks and Maggie Wilson, who call the nearly 4-square-mile ranch their home, so there are no day passes or memberships for the general public. There are two options if you want to shoot here — and you do. Either book a closed…