Author: news

While the first Marlin Model 336 was introduced in 1948, that was just the latest incarnation of a gun that had been evolving since 1895, when the .30-30 Win. cartridge first made its appearance. That year, two previously existing lever-action rifles were chambered for this new smokeless round: the Winchester Model 1894 and the Marlin Model 1893. Indeed, the Model 336 is in essence the grandson of the Model 1893. The 1893 resulted from a collaboration between John Mahlon Marlin and the inventive genius of Lewis Lobdell Hepburn, a rifle designer and champion long-range target shooter who had been on…

AUSA 25 – Galvion Update First off, Galvion caught us up on their new Caiman UL (Ultra-Light). Available in five sizes, it incorporates the latest version of their APEX liner system. It incorporates their new proprietary low-profile 3-hole shroud which signals a move away from the Wilcox shroud they’ve been using. It incorporates ballistic mounting hardware and uses rubber bumpers for rattle prevention and a more stable platform for NVGs. You’ll notice a slight color difference in the center portion of the shroud pictured above. That is an interchangeable metal plate to accommodate a variety of NVG and future headborne…

E-4 Mafia E-4 Is Not A Pay Grade Its A State Of Mind When I joined the Army Reserve during my Junior year of High School in 1985 we still had Spec-5 and Spec-6s in my unit although they would change later that year to hard stripe NCOs. Until the late 70s there was an also E-7 version. They were abbreviated SP4 through SP7. When they dropped all but the E-4 version the abbreviation became SPC. The current rank is a leftover from a period during the Cold War Army which had a traditional striped NonCommissioned Officer track for combat…

This was cool. I am not super interested in historic reenactments of Revolutionary or Civil War battles, but I would love to try do a multiday expedition with 1870-1920s gear. Having spent 20 years working in modern technical gear, I could really learn to dig the old way of doing things. Read the full article here

A couple of weeks ago we shared a 5 from the Grinder with knifemaker Gary Graham. As the two of us engaged in email correspondence, he shared a project he recently completed… Hi Clay, Here is another project that I just finished. This was a fun project that has a lot of sentimental value since I grew up farming tobacco in Eastern Kentucky. A friend wanted a knife made from his grandfather’s tobacco knives. There wasn’t enough material by themselves so I added some pieces from one of my dad’s old hand saws and some saw mill bandsaw blades to…

A Critical Tool for U.S. Army Airborne Soldiers During World War II: Communication in Warfare Transcended WordsSignals evolved beyond spoken language, becoming a matter of life and death. Among the myriad of innovations during this time, one particular device gained a unique reputation for its simplicity and effectiveness: the clicker. Commonly used by U.S. Army airborne soldiers during night operations, clickers were not just noise-makers; they were essential tools that ensured the safety and coordination of troops in some of the war’s most chaotic environments. Origins and Development The clicker, formally known as the ‘cricket’, was developed to counteract the…

Mission First Tactical just released the Guardian Duty Holster, a bucket-style tactical belt holster meant for law enforcement, military and end users in search of a rigid shell external OWB (Outside the Waistband) holster. The Guardian’s contemporary design includes a security hood and a retention system that keeps the gun anchored to the holster in order to keep the gun secured in place while going hands-on or moving about. In addition to its retention devices, the Guardian also uses similar magnet technology found in some of Mission First Tactical’s other holster designs. As a new product, the new Guardian holster…

By Andy Grossman Posted in #Gear Ever wonder what it takes to make ammunition on a massive, commercial scale? I’ll admit that I had never really thought about it. I, like everyone else, just go to the store and buy ammo and never think about what goes into the manufacturing process behind it. I recently had a chance to find out for myself exactly how much is involved when I got to visit the “Big Green Mini-City” that is Remington’s Lonoke, Arkansas ammunition facility. Whether it be 9mm target rounds or 12-gauge buckshot, if it says Remington…

Many gun owners who begin carrying their handguns concealed outside the home don’t do so for very long. Either they wind up carrying their guns infrequently or often they just give up altogether. People who stop carrying daily don’t quit because their guns are too heavy or too complicated, they quit because their setup makes daily carry miserable. I’ve seen it countless times: Someone buys a quality pistol, loads it with good ammo and then stuffs it into a cheap, poorly designed holster. Within a week, the gun is in the glovebox or left at home instead of on their…

Major Order Worth Over €300 Million: Rheinmetall to Supply Armoured Medical Facilities for Deployment Near the Front Line Rheinmetall has received an order from the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) to supply highly mobile medical facilities to the German Armed Forces. The framework agreement concluded in September 2025 has an initial call-off value of over €300 million. The first of these protected, highly mobile medical facilities, which meet NATO Role 2B standards, is scheduled to be delivered to the Bundeswehr as a series model in 2029. The systems are intended for use by the…