Innholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2022 i Ballistic

Welcome to the fourth annual edition of Ballistic’s Best Guns Of The Year Awards issue. Let us nutshell the mission for first-timers. We utilized 10 three- to five-man groups of firearms evaluators to testfire the newest and the best guns within 10 specific gun categories. Every gun in every category was awarded points based on nine criteria. All guns within a category get ranked based on the total points awarded. The maximum final score is 45. This year we had no ties. There were 10 categories, and 10 total winners. As you’ll note from our covers, the total number of guns reviewed in this 164-page special is a whopping 80. And since 2021 was another record-breaking year for new gun owners, this awards magazine is a valuable resource for those…

FORTHRIGHTTM SLINGBAG MULTICAM🅁 BLACK & BLACK $115-125 Originally designed for officers working plainclothes duty at high-threat events, the Forthright™ slingbag can pack a large amount of firepower in a low-optic chassis. Short barrel rifles and magazines can be fastened to the internal MOLLE system for secure transportation and quick access. Multiple pocketing solutions allow access to the included CCW holster, capable of carrying full-size pistols with optic. Should your daily gunfight requirements be a bit more mundane, the rear compartment incorporates a 16” padded laptop sleeve. The ambidextrous shoulder strap is padded for comfort with full load-outs. Overall dimensions 18” H x 11.5” W x 7” D. FOOTWEAR, GLOVES, AND TECHNICAL APPAREL PURPOSE BUILT FOR YOUR DAILY GUNFIGHT GO TO WWW.VIKTOS.COM FOR MORE…

When it comes to personal and home defense, 9mm semi-autos are the current gold standard. Today’s 9mm semi-automatic pistols come in all sizes, from diminutive sub-compacts to large-format, hand-carry versions. People who belong to the T-shirt and shorts set tend to look for the smallest concealable gun to carry for personal defense in hot weather, while many homeowners and outdoor enthusiasts looking for a home-defense or camp gun tend to favor large-format 9mm pistols. Given all the attention that has been given to smaller 9mm pistols over the last several years, our editors asked us to assemble an assortment of large-format semi-automatic 9mm pistols and evaluate how well they stack up against Ballistic’s Best’s demanding criteria. MEET THE BEASTS For the purposes of this article, a “large-format” 9mm semi-auto is…

“Each of these companies were chosen for their reliable products and sound reputations.” When the team at Ballistic asked me to participate in this year’s AR-15 showdown, I was beyond honored. I consider it a privilege to be able to work in the firearms industry as a firearms instructor and a content creator for some of the top publications in both print and digital platforms. The firearms industry is my passion and as the saying goes, “If you are doing what you love, you will never work a day in your life.” Spending the day shooting and evaluating rifles out in the Arizona desert as a part of “my job” proves that saying to be accurate. While my career is fun and enjoyable, it is something I take very seriously.…

While micro-compacts may be all the rage right now, full-size pistols are still where it’s at when you want to squeeze out every drop of performance possible from a handgun. It’s the form factor of choice for tactical work and competition, and for good reason. It has several advantages including capacity, longer sight radius, and both size and weight for recoil reduction and better control. The smoke hadn’t cleared for very long after our compacts evaluation (see next feature) on the first day before the guys and I settled in to evaluate the batch of full-size pistols we had on hand. Unlike the first roundup evaluation, there were no major, ground-breaking designs to be had like we found with the new micro-compacts earlier. What we had before us was a…

We were all licking our wounds as we rolled into 2021. Coming off a summer of extreme civil unrest, Covid shutdowns and an election that left us with more questions than answers, I think we all shared a belief that things would get better. All of these factors affected the firearms industry, too. The pandemic affected every aspect of firearms manufacture. From getting raw materials from suppliers to having an adequate workforce with socially distanced workers and a sanitized facility to even packaging and shipping, new guns slowed to a trickle. With backorders unfilled and demand for existing guns unmet, there was little reason for manufacturers to introduce new models. Three of our regular contributors to the Ballistic’s Best 1911 challenge just didn’t have guns to send us this year.…

“FROM THE TOP-RANKED GUN TO THE BOTTOM THERE IS ONLY ABOUT A SIX-POINT SPREAD.” Two years ago, we limited the Ballistic’s Best Tactical Shotgun competition to semi-auto shotguns. Last year we tested only pump guns. This year, we broke the mold and tested only “non-conventional” platforms. Eleven shotguns made the event, and I had three cops who are firearms instructors (including me) plus one very talented, 20-year-old 3-Gunner for the test. In the end, it turned out our rankings were all pretty similar. From the top-ranked gun to the bottom there is only about a six-point spread. Last year’s spread was over 15 points. The most shocking part is how radically different the guns were from each other. SPONSORS Before I start discussing the guns, there are a number of…

The lines have blurred over what a “hunting” rifle is over the past couple of decades. Since the vast majority of big game hunting over the past 130 years has been for Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer), the appetite for different weapon types evolved as their numbers expanded back into habitat devoid of deer for decades. Since this is a review of hunting rifles, we’ll cast a wide net to haul in what this writer considers rifles that fit today’s loose criteria for a deer rifle. Spice that soup with hunters’ and shooters’ desires to be able to shoot at targets—steel, paper or furred—at longer ranges, and you’ll see the influence of long-range precision rifles moving modern markets. For this reason, you’ll see our selection of rifles dominated by bolt-actions. Within…

A thick veil of fog stood forever in front of me as I cruised down the highway at 6:30 in the morning. A large cup of coffee gave up a column of steam as tribute to the cool mountain air as I nervously checked my six in the rearview mirror. After all, it’s not every day that I drive a vehicle stuffed with 20 pistols and more than 10,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition. We’ve all heard the news stories about the guy caught with an “arsenal” of guns and ammo in his car that later turns out to be a couple of pistols, a rifle and a few hundred rounds. As Jack Nicholson once said, “Wait until they get a load of me.” The first of a couple of days…

We all hoped that 2021 would be better than 2020! In some cases, things improved, but ammo and firearms continue to be hit or miss. Manufacturers continue to maximize production while the consumer buys just about everything on the shelves. As I write this, ammo is becoming more plentiful and prices are getting more reasonable. The shelves at the local gun stores are full of polymer wonders and black rifles. I was happy to see more revolvers on the shelves. So, we can hope things will continue to improve in 2022. THE LINEUP This year, there is good news and bad news. We started out this roundup with commitments from six manufacturers. Unfortunately, three of those companies were unable to deliver samples prior to the deadline. The good news is…

“The competition between rifles was very tight, with less than a half a point between them in many categories.” Full disclosure: The year 2021 wasn’t, by any stretch, a stampede of new AR-15s. Oh, plenty of ARs were bought, but manufacturers were mainly trying to play catch-up with fulfilling existing orders on old-standby models. Nonetheless, I was honored to be involved with this project. Like previous articles in this issue, we pulled together a group of fantastic rifles and put them through a head-to-head battle royale. Our testing took place on a private range just south of Phoenix. The weather and location were perfect for the testing, and we were soon hard at work. The evaluators for the day were all professionals in the industry with a combined nearly half…

This fourth running year of the Ballistic’s Best competition has made something clear: Bolt-action rifles continue to gain popularity. More companies than ever are making these manual-drive freedom-pill-spitters, and the cream is rising to the top. While 2020 was a bit of a difficult year for new bolt-action rifles, 2021 has made up for it in many ways. What we did find interesting, though, is that there weren’t many new offerings in the general-use or hunting arena. In fact, every rifle in this year’s competition has a slant, if not strongly so, toward the competitive precision shooting space. Each rifle comes with a chassis that is (mostly) designed for competitive/positional style shooting. They are all highly adjustable, helping to ensure a good fit for the potential shooter, and nearly all…