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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.

EducationFirst-timer’s checklist before you hit the gun shopLast month I stood behind a guy at a counter in a shop off Route 9 who’d driven forty minutes, cash in hand, ready to buy his first handgun, only to…Hannah Voss · Aug 26, 2026

Gun LawsOhio permitless carry: what the law actually requiresI had a reader email me last month from a gas station off Route 42 outside Delaware, Ohio, asking whether he still needed a piece of paper in his…Marcus Webb · Aug 25, 2026

Gun ReviewsTurkey calling for beginners: what actually worksSix-thirty on a cold morning off a logging road outside a friend’s lease in central Missouri, I called too much. Bird gobbled twice on the roost, I…Wyatt Coale · Aug 25, 2026

Gun ReviewsThe Winchester lever gun’s real frontier legacyThere’s a Winchester Model 1892 hanging behind the counter at a little pawn shop off old Route 66 outside Kingman, Arizona, that I’ve been eyeballing…Earl Whitfield · Aug 24, 2026

Gun ReviewsBest truck guns for ranch and farm work in 2025Last spring I spent three days helping a buddy fix fence on his place outside Comanche County, Texas, and by the second afternoon we’d seen two…Jake Marlowe · Aug 24, 2026

Gun ReviewsAR-15 vs AK-47: the real ownership case for eachLast month at the range I run outside of Kerrville, a guy in his sixties set a stainless AR-15 next to a beat-up WASR-10 on the bench and asked me…Colt Reyes · Aug 23, 2026

Gun ReviewsField dressing a deer step by stepLast November, forty minutes before shooting light ran out, I dropped a doe about 200 yards off a two-track outside a buddy’s lease near Baldwin,…Colt Reyes · Aug 23, 2026

Gun ReviewsRemington 870 Fieldmaster review: still worth it?I put three boxes of Federal target loads through a Fieldmaster last October at a public range outside Waco, and the guy at the next bench asked if…Colt Reyes · Aug 22, 2026

Gun ReviewsHog hunting in Texas: gear and tactics that workA customer came into the shop last month with mud still on his boots, asking why the .223 load he’d used on a South Texas lease “just made the hog…Tasha Odom · Aug 22, 2026

Gun ReviewsBrowning Buck Mark review: the .22 that never quitsAsk ten guys behind the counter at a busy indoor range which .22 pistol they’d hand a nervous first-timer, and at least six say the same two words:…Wyatt Coale · Aug 21, 2026

EducationUnderstanding calibers: a beginner’s breakdownTuesday afternoon, a guy walks up to the counter holding his phone with a spec sheet pulled up, and asks me flat out: “What’s the difference between…Tasha Odom · Aug 21, 2026

ConcealmentBest CCW belts and gun belts that actually hold upLast month a student in my Tuesday evening class showed up with a brand-new appendix holster, a Glock 43X, and a belt from the same three-pack she…Renee Castillo · Aug 20, 2026

EducationThe 1911: A Century of American SteelFort Sam Houston, spring of 1907. Somewhere on that dusty testing ground, a board of Army officers was putting handguns through a wringer that…Earl Whitfield · Aug 20, 2026

Gun ReviewsBeretta A400 Xcel review: patterns don’t lieForty-one pounds of felt recoil on the chronograph rig, versus 58 for the fixed-breech gun sitting next to it on the bench at the same 1 1/8 oz, 1200…Priya Anand · Aug 19, 2026

Gun ReviewsBest AR-15 uppers for the money in 2025Had a guy at the counter last fall drop three grand on a lower he built himself and then ask me which $250 upper he should slap on it. That’s…Nico Bianchi · Aug 19, 2026

EducationHow to clean a pistol step by stepLast Saturday a guy walked into the shop holding his brand new Glock like it was a bomb, asking if he “did it wrong” because there was gray residue…Tasha Odom · Aug 18, 2026

Gun ReviewsBest shooting ear protection: what I’d actually buyA guy came into the shop last month holding a pair of muffs he’d had since maybe 2003, foam crumbling off the ear cups, band stretched out so bad…Tasha Odom · Aug 18, 2026

EducationHow to zero a rifle scope (the way that actually works)I burned through almost a full box of .223 the first time I tried to zero a scope, standing at a bench at a public range outside Prescott, wondering…Hannah Voss · Aug 17, 2026

Gun ReviewsWalther PDP review: the ergonomics finally match the triggerI had a range officer at a local indoor place ask me last month why I kept coming back with the same gun instead of rotating through my usual pile.…Wyatt Coale · Aug 14, 2026

Gun ReviewsBowhunting vs rifle season: what to knowLast October I sat in a stand off a logging road outside a friend’s property in Buffalo County, Wisconsin, watching a doe feed within eight yards of…Renee Castillo · Aug 13, 2026

Gun ReviewsBest turkey hunting shotguns: seven guns I’d actually carry this springOpening morning last April, sitting against a white oak off a logging road outside a buddy’s place near Coshocton County, Ohio, I watched a longbeard…Bud Sorensen · Aug 11, 2026

Gun ReviewsBest bolt-action rifles under $1000 (2025 field-tested picks)Last October, on a ridge above a hay field outside Livingston, Montana, I watched a guy miss a broadside doe at 140 yards with a rifle that cost more…Colt Reyes · Aug 11, 2026

EducationGun safety rules every new owner should knowLast Tuesday a guy came in holding a Hellcat box like it might go off on its own. First-time buyer, background check already cleared, and he asked me…Tasha Odom · Aug 10, 2026

Gun Reviews.308 vs 6.5 Creedmoor for hunting: what actually matters afieldI had a guy at the counter of a little sporting goods shop outside Miles City last October ask me flat out which one he should buy, the .308 or the…Bud Sorensen · Aug 10, 2026