Firearms News

It has only been relatively recently that you’ve seen Glock “clones” on the market, simply because Glock’s patent had not expired, and they showed a willingness if not an eagerness to send “Cease and Desist” letters threatening lawsuits to anyone who produced any product which even remotely resembled a Glock, whether it was a toy or airsoft gun. When it comes to innovation, Glock has been their own worst enemy. Their pistol is “perfection,” after all, and that’s not just a slogan, a lot of people at the company (including those at the very top) believe it, which was why for years in the Glock Annual magazine you couldn’t find photos of any pistols which even sported aftermarket sights, much less the custom triggers, grip mods, etc. that were becoming popular…

Now, it may come as a bit of surprise to those readers who are not familiar with my earlier scribblings on small arms but, over the past two centuries, the French have been responsible for some of the most important advances in military small arms. The Minié ball, pinfire cartridge and rimfire ignition were all invented by persons of the Gallic race. France’s navy was the first organization to adopt a cartridge firing revolver, the Modéle 1858 Lefaucheux, while their army’s Fusil Modèle 1866 Chassepot was a vast improvement over the famous German Dreyse Needle Rifle. It is also a little-known fact that they adopted a repeating rifle, the Fusil d’Marine Modèle 1878 Kropatschek, six years before the Germans took the Infanterie-Gewehr M.71/84 Mauser into service. Perhaps their most notable achievement occurred…

1 “The first smokeless powder military rifle.” 2 In honor of its inventor, the French army referred to the new propellant as Poudre “V.” 3 While the French were the first to use pointed bullets, the new projectile was kept a secret so the credit was given to the Germans who adopted the “Spitzer” bullet in 1907. 4 www.gunboards.com/threads/lebel-surplus-ammo-1948-production.11 76210/#post-10548106 5 This cartridge was originally developed for the Fusil Mitrailleur Modèle 1924. 6 http://armesfrancaises.free.fr/FR%20Mle%201886%20M93%20M27.html…

It is a bit hard to believe that Springfield Armory unveiled the Hellcat series just back in September of 2019. Back then, things looked pretty darned good. The economy was pumping, the election projections looked good, ammo was available, and Bernie Sanders continued to beclown himself in public. Then came Covid. During all this time, Springfield has brightened the news with one new Hellcat after another, making the blursday schedule much better than it could have been. And here we are, with another Hellcat, and I’ve got to say this one is one I’ve been looking forward to, the Hellcat Pro. The Pro (can we just make things easier?) has all the goodness of the other Hellcats we’ve seen. The Pro has the same cold hammer forged barrel, rifled, chambered, machined to…

What if you are a fan of a red-dot that is not a Springfield sight? (These things happen.) Well, you can use an adapter plate from EGW (EGWGuns.com), and mount your other-brand red-dot sight to your Hellcat Pro. A quick check of their catalog shows me a slew of adapter plates, and even some that are meant for pistols that do not have the slide machined for a red-dot mount. That’s one of the things that we all love about America (and apparently, that some people hate) not only can you buy the pistol of your choice, but you can match it up with the red-dot optic of your choice. Even if you are not a fan of red-dot optics, you’ve got to love that kind of customer-centric approach.…

One of the bedrock laws of Thermodynamics boils down to “you can’t get something for nothing.” Everything costs. So, the really compact Hellcat Pro magazine, that holds fifteen rounds? What does it cost? Loading it. That’s what. When I first opened the box, I noticed the inclusion of a magazine loading tool. Oh, OK, they toss that in, just in case. No big deal.” No, big deal. The Hellcat Pro magazine starts out like others, just a bit more oomph perhaps to get the rounds in. But once you get past eight or so, you really need the loading tool. And once you get past ten, you aren’t getting another round in there until you dig the tool out of the box and start using it. When I go to put…