Recoil May/June 2022 #60

While it’s always fun to point and laugh at anyone who claims their poverty pony AR is “just as good as” an LMT or FN, like a stopped clock, sometimes they’re right. Truth is, like the automotive industry, almost nobody in the firearms biz is making complete garbage these days, and the era of turds like the K car, AMT Hardballer, and Speshul Wepuns MP5 clones are thankfully in the rearview mirror. So we argue over minute details and get bent out of shape when someone on social media doesn’t like exactly what tickles our fancy. Yes, there are still appreciable distinctions between products, but when it comes to purchase decisions as uniquely individual as personal weapons, we have a natural tendency to get hung up on minutiae. There’s a reason…

01 BENCHMADE KNIFE CO. LONGHAND AND SHORTHAND MSRP: Starting at $150 each URL: benchmade.com Benchmade recently released two high-quality and functional tactical pens: the Longhand and the Shorthand. The latter is (you guessed it) the smaller model at 3.49 inches in length, while the former clocks in at 4.62 inches overall. Both open via an ambidextrous AXIS-style bolt action and are available in either 303 stainless steel or black 6061-T6 aluminum. The Shorthand is ideal for minimalists who prefer compact, durable everyday-carry items. And while the Longhand is really not that long — we would’ve preferred it to be at least a half-inch longer — it’s a classy, ergonomic pen that’s reliable in all sorts of environments, from the boardroom to the shooting range. Both are made in the USA. 02 SWAMPFOX ULTIMATE RED DOT SCREW…

Philadelphia is a city rich with history. It was the nation’s original capital and where the Declaration of Independence was signed. It’s a city with many impressive museums, but one often overlooked is the Independence Seaport Museum, home to the oldest steel warship afloat anywhere in the world. That vessel, USS Olympia (C-6), is also the warship that arguably ensured that the United States would become a major world power. Constructed nearly 130 years ago, the vessel has survived wars, economic downturns, and even the harsh passage of time, but there was one battle that the USS Olympia, flagship of the American Asiatic Fleet during the Spanish-American War (1898), was almost unable to win. Until recently, the future of the ship remained very much in jeopardy due to the rising costs of…

With an 8,600-pound curb weight — roughly equivalent to three Toyota Corollas — and 35,000-pound maximum towing capacity, this Ford F-450 is about as much truck as you can get before graduating to a commercial-grade model. Unlike its F-250 and F-350 Super Duty siblings, the 2019 F-450 was only available with a 6.7L turbo-diesel V-8 that produces 450 horsepower and 935 pound-feet of torque, and only offered in dual-rear-wheel (aka “dually”) configuration. It’s perfectly suited to driving coast-to-coast with a massive trailer in tow but might be considered overkill for an overland vehicle build — that is, unless you’re the Peru family. Justice Peru writes, “What you see today definitely wasn’t our Plan A or even our Plan B. If I had to guess, I’d say we are on Plan E…

The reverse tanto seems like a modern design. Take a standard American tanto and invert it, right? Actually, this style of blade has an ancient origin in principle and shape, if not the name. Like its close cousin the Wharncliffe, it can be traced to the Migration Period in Europe (300-375 A.D.) when it was known as the Seax. The blade style and shape were single edged, sometimes with a point, but often without it. Seax is presumed to be the Old English word for “knife” and how the Saxons gained their name, but on the other side of the world, similar designs came into use. In Japan, a style of knife known as the kubikiri or kubigiri came into use. The translation for this is “head cutter” and was possibly designed…

It’s been said before that “the most dangerous weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle.” While I wasn’t a Marine, I’d like to think that a capable rifleman and his rifle are a force to be reckoned with, Marine or otherwise. As such, a well-tuned and highly capable carbine is an absolute staple of prepared living. There are many like it, but this one is mine. I started with the military’s “recce rifle” concept (essentially an accurized AR), scaled down to leverage current advancements in barrel technology. This build sports a tube from Rosco Manufacturing. Specifically, this one is their collaboration barrel, built with input from Aaron Cowan of Sage Dynamics. It’s a 12.5-inch barrel made from 416R stainless with a 1:7 twist and NATO-spec 5.56mm chamber. The…