Blog

Reviews, guides and range notes

Hands-on reviews, hunting and range guides, cleaning and carry advice — written by shooters who own the gear. 165 posts and counting.

Gun LawsArizona firearms transport laws for huntersA reader wrote in a few weeks back asking whether he could keep his hunting rifle loaded and racked in his truck while driving out to a unit near…Marcus Webb · Sep 19, 2026

Gun ReviewsGlock 19 vs Sig P320: which compact 9mm winsThree customers asked me the same question in one Saturday last month, standing at the counter with a Glock 19 in one hand and a Sig P320 Compact in…Tasha Odom · Sep 18, 2026

Gun ReviewsChoosing hunting scope magnification that worksHad a fellow at a local shop bench a month back, sighting in a 6-24×50 for a whitetail lease he’d never actually walked. Nice glass, expensive turret…Priya Anand · Sep 18, 2026

Gun ReviewsS&W M&P Shield Plus review: capacity without the bulkHad a guy at a shop counter in Mesa a couple months back tell me his Shield Plus was “basically a Glock 43 with more rounds and a better trigger.”…Wyatt Coale · Sep 17, 2026

EducationWhat to expect at your first range dayA woman came into the shop on a Tuesday asking if she needed to bring her own targets. Simple question, and it told me exactly what she needed, which…Tasha Odom · Sep 17, 2026

Gun ReviewsThe Winchester Lever Gun’s Real Frontier LegacyThere’s a Winchester Model 1873 hanging above the register at a little hardware-turned-gun-counter store outside Sheridan, Wyoming, that hasn’t fired…Earl Whitfield · Sep 16, 2026

Gun ReviewsBest AR-15 uppers for the money in 2025A guy at the counter last week had two uppers laid out side by side, both around $550, and asked me flat out which one wasn’t going to embarrass him…Nico Bianchi · Sep 16, 2026

Gun LawsTennessee Gun Storage and Transport Law, ExplainedI was standing in the parking lot of a sporting goods store off Charlotte Pike in Nashville a few weeks back, listening to two guys argue about…Marcus Webb · Sep 15, 2026

Gun ReviewsWisconsin Whitetail Season: What Actually WorksNine days into a cold snap outside Antigo a few Novembers back, I watched a buck that had ghosted three separate hunters walk out into a picked…Dale Hutchins · Sep 15, 2026

Gun ReviewsDesert Mule Deer Hunting in Nevada: What Actually WorksFour-thirty in the morning outside Ely, and the thermometer on my truck read 28 degrees. By noon it’d push past 80. That’s the Nevada desert in…Earl Whitfield · Sep 14, 2026

Gun LawsConcealed carry reciprocity map explainedI had a reader email me last month from a rest stop off I-81 in Virginia, asking whether his Ohio permit would carry him through to a hunting trip in…Marcus Webb · Sep 14, 2026

Gun ReviewsHog Hunting in Texas: Gear and Tactics That WorkSomewhere around Menard County a rancher once told me his corn feeder was costing him more in hog damage than it saved him in deer season. That stuck…Renee Castillo · Sep 13, 2026

Gun ReviewsDaniel Defense DDM4 V7 Review: Worth the Money?Last October, up near the Bitterroot on a hog cull my buddy Cody runs out of a lease off Skalkaho Highway, a fella showed up with a DDM4 V7 slung…Dale Hutchins · Sep 13, 2026

Gun ReviewsElk Hunting Basics for First-Timers in MontanaMontana Fish, Wildlife & Parks sold roughly 130,000 elk licenses last year, and by most estimates fewer than one in five nonresident first-timers tag…Marcus Webb · Sep 12, 2026

Concealment9mm vs .45 ACP for concealed carry, honestlyLast month at the range up in Prescott, a guy two lanes over ran a full box of .45 ACP through a Commander-length 1911, then turned to me and said…Colt Reyes · Sep 12, 2026

EducationThe 1911: A Century of American SteelZamboanga, 1906. A Moro warrior high on betel nut and religious fervor takes six rounds of .38 Long Colt center mass and keeps coming with a bolo…Earl Whitfield · Sep 11, 2026

Gun Reviews.308 vs 6.5 Creedmoor: what actually matters afieldThere’s a gun counter in a little shop off Route 9 outside my hometown where I’ve spent more Saturday mornings than I probably should admit, and…Earl Whitfield · Sep 11, 2026

Gun LawsPump vs semi-auto shotgun: the home defense legal angleA deputy I spoke with in Maricopa County a few years back told me something that stuck: in his experience, the sound of a pump shotgun racking in the…Marcus Webb · Sep 10, 2026

Gun ReviewsAero Precision M5 review: the AR-10 that earns itThree hundred rounds through a borrowed M5 at a buddy’s place outside Kerrville back in October, and the groups was tighter than expected off a cold…Colt Reyes · Sep 10, 2026

EducationHow to zero a rifle scope the right wayLast month a guy came into the shop with a brand-new scope mounted crooked on a rifle he’d bought secondhand, three boxes of ammo already burned…Tasha Odom · Sep 9, 2026

EducationHow to grip and stance a pistol the right wayWatch any lane at a public range on a Saturday morning and you’ll see it inside thirty seconds: a guy bladed off like he’s in a cop show, teacups the…Hannah Voss · Sep 9, 2026

Gun ReviewsBest .22LR handguns for practice: what to actually buyLast Saturday at my local indoor range I counted four different guys shooting rimfire off the same bay, and three of them were running pistols that…Wyatt Coale · Sep 8, 2026

Gun ReviewsBowhunting vs rifle season: what to knowOpening morning of archery season in my county starts about six weeks before anyone’s allowed to carry a rifle into the woods. That gap matters more…Hannah Voss · Sep 8, 2026

Gun LawsFlorida CWP requirements: what applies in 2025I had a reader email me last month from Ocala asking why Florida still makes him carry a laminated card when Texas, right next door in the…Marcus Webb · Sep 7, 2026