Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2025 #78 i Recoil

In 1939, international tensions were high, and war was on the horizon. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) Act, the mission of which was to train pilots who could be called up for military duty if needed. The CPT was only available to White applicants, and, in 1941, Yancey Williams, a licensed pilot and senior at Howard University, filed a lawsuit. With the NAACP preparing to represent him and protests from civil rights groups, Black aviators, and a few politicians, the program was opened to everyone. Six Historically Black Colleges were selected for the program, including the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, founded by Booker T. Washington. PREPARING FOR WAR Frederick D. Patterson, president of the Tuskegee Institute, wanted a training program at his school, and the…

Having been fortunate enough to be around a multitude of firearms in my military, professional shooting, and overseas contracting careers, as well as writing for RECOIL, I can say I have never after seeing it, wanted another man’s rifle. This all changed on the cold side of a mountain in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho during an epic elk hunt. This unknown lust is the fault of none other than RECOIL’S own Iain Harrison. He had the brilliant idea of conducting a Lewis-and-Clark level expedition, which comprised of flying into the Frank Church, hand inflating two white water rafts — which he did not help with at all — and then rafting down the Salmon river through class III and IV rapids for days while…

The Kurdish people are the largest ethnic group in the world without their own country. They are a non-Arab ethnic group who live in northern Iraq, western Iran, and southern Turkey. The independent Kurds were a threat to Saddam Hussein, and, in 1988, Hussein embarked on a campaign (Anfal) to exterminate the Kurdish people. This campaign consisted of chemical weapon attacks on Kurdish villages, notably Halabja, mass executions, and the destruction of villages and infrastructure. These were acts of genocide, and it’s estimated that over 100,000 Kurds were murdered during this campaign. The exact number is hard to know, as there are still many mass graves yet undiscovered in the desert. In 2003, American troops captured Hussein, and he was subsequently incarcerated at Camp Cropper in Baghdad for trial. To…

Stun grenades, commonly called flashbangs, are diversionary devices intended to distract and disorient enemies in a non-lethal manner. First used in the 1970s, they’re explosive devices that rely upon a blinding burst of light, painfully loud noise, and overpressure to disorient the enemy. The flash of light is generally measured in millions of candela, and the bang is typically over 170 decibels. That’s some serious flashing and banging. The military-issue M84 stun grenade uses a pyrotechnic mix of ammonium and magnesium. Pulling the pin and releasing the safety lever starts a time-delay fuse. There are also multibang devices that produce two, three, and even nine sequential flashes and bangs. Naturally, these are single-use explosive devices, and even if effects are usually temporary, there’s still the possibility of permanent injury, not…

In 1977, a competitive handgun shooter from Berryville, Arkansas — who just happened to be a watchmaker by trade — started building custom 1911 handguns. Bill Wilson was a good jeweler and a good shooter, and he became one of the most recognized and best modifiers of the 1911 platform. Wilson said in an interview in 2020, “As I became a high-level competitor, I needed a better pistol, and when guns from the top pistolsmiths of the day did not satisfy me, I used my jewelry and watchmaking skills to work on 1911s.” And Wilson did make them better. In fact, his 1911s were so much better that they became highly sought after. Wilson said, “My goal was always to build the best product I could, charge what I had…

EDITOR’S NOTE It was in the middle of the pandemic we first ran this article on an exciting new round, 6ARC, and the rifle it rode in also graced the cover of RECOIL Issue 51. To say that some were skeptical is an understatement — after all, we’ve seen this type of thing a lot. But now, a full five years later, we can confidently state that we weren’t the only ones who took notice of the capabilities, like a four-digit range from a rifle many would say is solely for close quarters. No surprise that it’s only seen increased use and saturation in SOCOM in the intervening years. Oh, and a data point you might want to add to your SA: our sources in Border Patrol indicate that the…

If you’re like me, you’re sick of hearing and reading the word iconic in firearms-related media. In many cases, the word isn’t being used correctly, and where it is, iconic is somehow applied to that one thing somebody is trying to shill. So, let’s start with a different question: What guns are you likely to find in an American household? I think you’ll find the Model 94 Winchester would make the list. It wasn’t the last lever design from Winchester, and it certainly wasn’t the first. It wasn’t exotic or really particularly sexy, even for its time. It was, however, a reliable, do-most-things workhorse, and although we could never prove it, it probably killed more deer in the United States for the span of four or five decades than any…

It’s hard to believe we’re almost a quarter of the way through 2025, but it’s already shaping up to be a good year for gun owners. By signing an executive order aimed at protecting the Second Amendment, the new president did something never seen before, and while it’s a great gesture, we’ll have to wait to see just what effect it has. One could argue that, like his proposed 2A task force mooted in 2015, it’s simply window dressing and a sop to the NRA for their endorsement on the campaign trail. Or you could take the opposite tack and ask how we ever got to the point where it should even be necessary, given the oath to the Constitution our civil service is supposed to swear. With fair seas…

Let’s face it, current truck prices are borderline insane. Post-COVID sticker shock has become the new normal, and your average working stiff is being forced to pay through the nose for a daily driver that’s also pressed into service to transport kids and groceries, as well as running to the range or out to the woods. We figured we’d take a cold hard look at the current midsized truck scene, and see if we could come up with a vehicle that would cover all the bases without cleaning out our bank account — something that could serve as a household mule, while still offering decent offroad capabilities and the ability to shuffle all our shift to the backcountry. As this was to also serve as emergency transport to a bugout…

We crept into position along a fence line, using what little cover was available to break up the outlines of our group. Ray, a guide on the Jumping Horse Ranch near Ennis, Montana, motioned to use the structure on the near side of a cattle guard as an improvised bench while we watched the elk herd below us unconcernedly mill around. Lasing a bull at 420 yards as he chewed the cud, we waited for him to stand up and offer a clear shot. With this many animals in the herd, there was a real chance of a pass-through hitting a second elk, and we didn’t want to risk that eventuality — the other problem, that of a hundred sets of eyes scanning for danger, didn’t help either. He finally…

Originally created as a homage to Stoner’s other design, the BRN-180 has undergone not so much an evolution, but a caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation. Almost no parts on the Gen 3 version will interchange with previous iterations, but the family lineage is still obvious. When Stoner came up with the AR-18, it was to provide countries with less advanced manufacturing capabilities a means to access a modern assault rifle, by substituting a stamped and folded sheet metal receiver for the AR-15’s machined aluminum components. The hard-to-make bolt carrier with its linear piston was swapped for a tappet system, but he retained the successful multi-lug bolt, adding twin recoil springs located inside the upper receiver. This design change allowed for the addition of a folding stock, which was a major improvement to the…

In the summer of 2025, policy changes enacted by the Trump administration slowed the flood of migrants across the U.S./Mexico border to a steady stream. The cartels, in order to protect their income, stepped up their efforts to corrupt local law enforcement in the border region, and where they couldn’t bribe, they intimidated, beefing up their armed security teams. It wasn’t long before one of the more hotheaded outfits got into a running firefight with U.S. cops, leaving multiple dead and wounded on both sides, and the media had a field day, portraying the new administration as being soft on the problem, and reneging on their campaign promises to protect U.S. citizens. Stung by the accusations, the admin unleashed Ground Branch and CAG personnel, who had been training for just…

If you’ve been following the development of concealed carry handguns for the past several years, the base properties of the FN Reflex won’t be surprising: 9mm, high capacity for its size due to a stagger stack magazine, polymer construction, and a width of about an inch. To their credit, FN is aware that they’re not the ones currently setting the benchmarks and breaking new ground in this arena, so they knew they’d have to do it right … and do it better. THE ORIGINAL REFLEX FN launched the 503 in March of 2020. It wouldn’t be entirely incorrect to say the FN 503 was a single-stack variation of the much larger FN 509, but the striker-fired FN 503 featured a capacity of 6+1. Seven rounds on tap was popular in…

Every few years we see a technological leap in optics, even though these feats aren’t always immediately obvious to the non-nerds among us. Sometimes these take place in the form of advanced coatings or novel approaches to increasing contrast or reducing optic aberrations, but occasionally it’s much more conspicuous … or maybe not so much. In fact, if you don’t know what you’re looking at here you might mistake it for a large dot optic or perhaps a prismatic. But no, there’s a whole 3 to 9 power variable optic under that hood. Let’s talk about this new Vudu. The range and ratio aren’t going to bust down doors; 3x9 might be the most classic variable scope range ever. It’s not the 1:3 magnification ratio either. Hell, EOTech themselves manufactures…

Not all gun people are knife people, and not all knife people are gun people. Those of us who balance both (or who can at least appreciate both) without going too far overboard either way are probably the most well-adjusted. Nevertheless, there are folks who balk at carrying a pocketknife. They open their delivery boxes with a box cutter and probably never scrape weeds out of their driveways, but if you reach out to these folks and ask them, chances are that they have at least a half-dozen knives in their kitchen. Knives have been used for food prep for thousands of years. Although we mostly tend to segregate kitchen knives from EDC knives, there really is no reason to do so. I’ve used my EDC knife to cut meat…

Happy birthday, S&B. It’s not often a company marks its 200th anniversary, especially one based in a country that’s been invaded by both Nazis and Communists, experienced the death of an empire, survived the transition from state control to free market capitalism, and recently, acquisition by another firm. But here we are. Founded in 1825 by two French businessmen, Louis Sellier and Jean Maria Niclaus Bellot, S&B originally made percussion caps for the Austro-Hungarian empire, after being granted a contract by Franz I. By 1870, the company had added cartridge manufacturer to its portfolio, turning out rimfire metallic ammunition, as well as pinfire shotgun shells, quickly expanding production to over 10 million cartridges annually. By 1936, production had outgrown their original factory in Prague, so they picked up and established…

‘‘K” cans are compact suppressors, designed to be short, nimble, and maneuverable. This reduces the overall length of your weapon system, making it easier to handle inside structures and tight spaces. However, physics never takes a holiday, so a smaller silencer will take a hit on sound suppression compared to a larger one. Everything’s a trade-off, and it’s a bargain that many operators leaving the wire and armed citizens wanting to defend their homes are willing to strike. That said, a short suppressor is still a suppressor, so it’ll still protect your hearing and those around you. Based in West Virginia, Wolfpack Armory specializes in building custom and high performance AR rifles and pistols in various calibers, including 7.62x39mm. They’ve also added suppressors to their portfolio, with their Disruptor line.…

For most of us, it’s a staple of action movies and an icon of first-person shooter video games that’s rarely seen in the American wild. For others, it’s a gun they love to hate — or perhaps a gun they hate to love. The somewhat obscure and oft-misunderstood weapon we now know as the Brügger & Thomet TP9 rarely gets discussed in any depth and sometimes catches an unjustly bad rap — likely the result of being analyzed outside of its intended role or without an appreciation for its inner workings. After spending several months with a complete test setup in hand — a factory short-barreled rifle with suppressor and full accessory suite — we’ve gained a new appreciation for this smooth shooting, compact PDW with undeniable sex appeal. But…

If we’re talking survival, few items are as essential as a reliable, compact firearm. And if we’re talking cool, few items are as fun as a suppressed takedown. Dark Mountain, a veteran-owned company, designed their Stowaway series to meet the needs of outdoor enthusiasts, survivalists, and really anyone looking for lightweight, packable firearms. These single-shot firearms aren’t just ultralight — they’re adaptable, suppressor-ready, and easy to break down for transportation. We got handsy in order to explore the features, practical applications, and real world performance of the Stowaway series of firearms. Available in rifle, pistol, and “brace”/SBR configurations, the absolute standout feature of the Dark Mountain Stowaway is its packable design. The rifle has a legal-minimum barrel length of 16 inches, and can be taken down into two parts, reducing…

George Gardner, owner and founder of G.A. Precision, is considered one of the world’s premier gun manufacturers. In addition to his talent for building barrels — his attention to the minutest detail, which has set him and G.A. Precision far apart from other manufacturers — Gardner is an accomplished competitive shooter, having notched a few national titles in F-Class Open and won numerous matches from 2005-2014 in Precision Rifle Matches and PRS Series Matches. A passion for shooting, which started at the age of 10 when his grandfather took him rabbit and dove hunting, evolved into a career in the military as an MP investigator followed by 12 years in stateside law enforcement, including time as North Kansas City’s department armorer, SRT unit sniper, then spending the last seven years…