Tactical Life June/July 2021

Anyone savvy in the world of Glocks knows Lone Wolf as a household name. They have been the king of aftermarket Glock parts since 1998. Over the past 23 years, Lone Wolf has given us trigger components, drop-in barrel conversions, slide kits and pretty much anything we needed to make our Glock go. Without question they have been the go-to spot for Glockophiles. As a company, Lone Wolf has enjoyed their success and has continued to add to their lineup. There is one area, though, that Lone Wolf felt they needed to enter if they really wanted to up the game. With that, Lone Wolf has announced the introduction of a new Lightweight Tactical Defense (LTD) pistol. That’s right: Lone Wolf took their two decades of experience in making enhanced Glock…

In 2016, Kimber introduced the Micro 9—a semi-auto 9mm pistol that weighs less than 1 pound and possesses 1911-style features. The pistol is single action in operation, has a manual thumb safety and can be safely carried “cocked and locked.” Sales of the tiny 9mm pistol were so phenomenal and unexpected that a Kimber executive told me confidentially that the demand for the gun took production time away from the Kimber Solo Carry and led to its eventual demise. My initial review of the Micro 9 showed the gun to be completely reliable and possessing a great degree of inherent accuracy. In fact, I enjoyed shooting the Micro 9 so much that I purchased my test sample. To keep the Micro 9 line from stagnating, Kimber has offered a number of…

Central Missouri Machine Gun (CMMG) of Boonville, Missouri, is well-known for its AR-pattern firearms. It also makes suppressors, complete uppers, and other custom parts and accessories. Altogether CMMG offers guns in 27 different chamberings. Among the newest are several 6.5 Grendel models in its Resolute Series of AR carbines. CMMG has a reputation for building top-of-the-line custom guns, so we requested a 300 Series Resolute MKW-15 to find out just how well the Grendel performs in a well-built MSR. WHY 6.5 GRENDEL? The 6.5 Grendel cartridge was designed by Arme Brennan, Bill Alexander and Janne Pohjoispaa in 2003 to address concerns that existed about the effectiveness of 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge at medium and longer distances. Long shots were the exception during the jungle fighting of the Vietnam War, but they became more of…

The outlook for rifle ammo in 2021 is a mixed bag. On one hand, you have a rise in crime rates and some far-reaching gun control proposals, both of which are driving up sales, availability and prices of guns, reloading supplies and ammo. On the other, a new flat-shooting 6.8mm cartridge has been jointly introduced by Winchester and Browning, and there are also new loads being introduced for other popular cartridges that upgrade their performance. For the time being, these new products are likely to be in short supply as manufacturers replace depleted inventories of their established products that are in high demand. Hopefully, however, both new and established products will increase in availability in the upcoming months and prices will begin to gravitate downward toward their pre-panic levels. BROWNING 6.8 Western:…

Approximately 20 million Americans now have concealed carry permits, and millions more keep handguns for home and business protection. In addition, a handgun is the basic firearm of almost every law enforcement agency in the United States. Given this large and competitive market, it’s easy to understand why ammunition companies, both here and abroad, frequently develop new and improved handgun ammunition to stay ahead of the competition. However, 2021 is a rather unusual year. Concern that the pandemic could cause social unrest, the existence of political violence in some large American cities and the possibility of more restrictive gun control legislation have combined to cause a run on ammunition in most parts of the country. The result is that most ammunition companies are back-ordered from six to 18 months, and many…

The ammo shortage has impacted the introduction of new loads for shotguns as much as it has for rifles and handguns. I had expected that fewer new slug and buckshot loads would be introduced, as ammo manufacturers concentrated their efforts on keeping up with the increased demand for existing personal and home defense loads. However, I was surprised to find that new small game and target loads for shotguns would be equally scarce. Evidently shooters are so concerned about the increase in crime in American cities and the political push for new, highly restrictive gun control laws that new versions of all types of shotgun ammo are disappearing from dealers’ shelves. Fortunately, despite this high level of demand for existing products, some ammo manufacturers are moving forward and introducing new loads.…