Innehållsförteckning för November/December 2024 #75 från Recoil

When the Hummer first came became available as a civilian version of the original AM General Humvee, people were excited about the prospect of owning a tactical vehicle with battlefield roots. When GM took over production, the Hummer steadily devolved into a bloated, blinged-out hoopty that bore little resemblance to its rugged progenitor. Nowadays, a roughly 10,000-pound electric version [insert muffled giggle here] is attempting to rekindle interest in a model that’s become a parody of itself. If sh*t really hit the fan, would you want to be driving one? Spoiler alert: It’s survival of the fittest, not the most politically correct. Over the years, RECOIL has shown you lots of armored badassery on four wheels, ranging from DIY to bespoke turnkey. With vehicles of this type, however, there tends…

According to laws just passed in Congress, the government has mandated that you now must carry a tracking device, so they can monitor your every movement, what you’re buying and thinking about, and everyone you associate with. And they want you to pay for it. Hey, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear, right? Echoes of Orwell’s dystopian 1984, much? OK, so the government didn’t actually make this a legal requirement. But what’s worse is that we’ve all voluntarily opted in to a surveillance society, and for the most part, any notion we may have had of privacy in our day-to-day affairs is dead. That smartphone you have in your hand or pocket right now is spying on you. What’s worse, you’re the one who gave…

In the Global War on Terror, there’s one vehicle marque that stands out, used by both the Islamic extremists and the Western forces who were fighting them: Toyota. In 2010 and 2013, I had the honor to serve alongside the Third Infantry Division in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was a law enforcement professional, a contractor assigned to advise on identifying, targeting, and actioning the improvised explosive device (IED) bomb makers. I also served as a rule of law advisor, a battlefield investigator, and advised the host country police and intelligence services. During these tours, I was overwhelmed by the number of Toyota Land Cruisers used by coalition forces, nongovernmental organizations, and just all over. There were 100 series, 70 series, 200 series, and Hilux trucks. Virtually all of these trucks…

Developing a new gun isn’t easy, unless your desired level of quality involves a piece of scrap lumber, a length of galvanized pipe, some hose clamps, and a nail to serve as the firing pin. Professional firearm designers must first tackle the design and mechanical engineering phase, creating a mechanism that functions reliably while navigating a minefield of existing patents that cannot be infringed. Then comes prototype testing, revisions, tooling, and mass manufacturing. Even if an objectively excellent product is produced, it must be priced and marketed appropriately in order to achieve even a modicum of commercial success. And ultimately, many consumers will write it off as an oddball and stick to tried-and-true alternatives — we call this the “why not just buy a Glock 19” effect. Over the years,…

Silencer Central made its name and shook up the industry with its novel approach to selling and shipping suppressors — direct to your home in most states, due to their local presence in each of those states. They made the process dead-nuts simple, with real live customer service to help and hand-hold customers every step of the way, free NFA gun trusts, and interest-free payment plans. But over the years, they also developed their own line of suppressors, in part to ensure they’d always have product available given short supply and high demand. Dubbed the Banish line, Silencer Central released various silencers of the type you’d expect — .223- and .30-caliber cans, a rimfire can, multicaliber and modular pistol and rifle cans. Most are constructed of titanium, with some Inconel…

Smith & Wesson’s Victory Model was originally produced as part of the massive Lend-Lease effort on the part of the United States to help equip British and Commonwealth troops fighting against the Axis powers, before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II. The program continued throughout the war following United States’ participation, with Victory Models being produced from 1942 to 1945. In short order, the Victory Model was also produced for domestic military consumption. The “Victory” Model Smith & Wesson is believed to have derived its name from the “V” prefix on the series’ serial numbers, and it wasn’t a new design by any means. Depending upon how one approaches the issue, and what verbiage one leans toward in describing this family of…

01 DELTA V SOLUTIONS  GEN 2 3MR MSRP: $349 URL: deltavusa.com When upgrading, some folks focus on aesthetics and flashy elements, like what color to paint their rifle. A far more important component is the fire control group. After all, it’s ultimately what makes your gun go boom. So, it only makes sense to put a lot of thought into which trigger assembly to get. Enter the Gen 2 3MR, a drop-in kit with three modes: safe, semi-auto, and Delta V’s 3rd mode. This latter mode has a positive reset that reduces split times, achieved by transferring the force from the bolt carrier through the trigger assembly to assist the trigger back onto the front sear. Its semi-auto and 3rd mode have a non-adjustable 4.5-pound pull weight. The 3MR also…

Some of us have greater security concerns than others. Due to working in conflict zones, we’re acutely aware of the threat from both state actors and local freelancers and take digital hygiene very seriously. On one recent assignment, two days after we left, the building we were working out of was targeted by a pair of missiles. One impacted in the street outside, peppering a local maternity clinic with frag, while the other scored a direct hit, blowing out the center of the structure. We’re reasonably sure we weren’t compromised by our digital footprint — HUMINT was the likely source — but it brought home the consequences for failure. While it’s impossible to erase all evidence of our presence, there are a number of steps we take in order to…

The crackling of a campfire. The feel of worn leather. The sizzle and sear of a steak. The dry dust in the wind and smoke in the air. While John Wayne Westerns don’t have the draw they used to, you’ll still find their themes all over American media, from the overt Yellowstone to the more-subtle Star Wars. The mythology of the Old West can be infectious, and even those with no love for country music or cows can find themselves drawn to that transitional time in history — that space immediately before and after slavery all the way to industrialization. And there isn’t a gun more emblematic of the American frontier than the lever gun — how the West was won. Though a cynic might say modern lever actions are…

Welcome to CANCON, a fully suppressed range day! The world’s favorite suppressed shooting festival moves to the Carolinas! We can’t wait to welcome you to the new home of CANCON on the East Coast: Clinton, South Carolina. Join us on November 8 and 9, 2024, for an action-packed weekend of fully suppressed shooting! BUY TICKETS IN ADVANCE HERE: CanconEvent.com/tickets With a new, bigger venue to host CANCON, there will be more sponsors, more bays, more guns, more suppressors, and more fun. The Clinton House Plantation Shooting Complex is a massive venue and gives CANCON the room we need to expand. It’s located just 45 minutes south of Greenville, South Carolina, 1 hour north of Columbia, and 2 hours southwest of Charlotte, North Carolina. Find more guns to shoot and more…

Since their inception, Maxim Defense has consistently produced and developed designs that others would ape — after all, a large part of the problem is knowing if something can be done in the first place. We’ve said that Maxim Defense does the hard part first, so it’s fitting that their earliest offering in the silencer space was for a machinegun. Not just any machinegun, but the M240 (see more in RECOIL Issue 59). It does seem difficult to get further from precision than a machinegun, but the same technology that lets you have a conversation while dumping a belt-fed also applies to your PRS piece. Maxim Defense suppressors, based on those hardy designs, use what they’ve dubbed M-Core technology. They’re deceptively simple, appearing to be nothing more than monocores, but…

Most historians today will agree that while we may celebrate the Fourth of July, the United States of America was essentially born on April 19, 1775, at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, where the first “shot” of the American Revolution was heard around the world. In addition, the nation secured its independence at the Battle of Yorktown when the British Army surrendered on October 19, 1781. However, the United States was arguably saved at the Battle of Baltimore on September 15, 1814. Though the United States may not have fallen under British control again, the country may have been greatly weakened had the British succeeded at the battle — and more importantly, we certainly wouldn’t have the “Star-Spangled Banner” as a national anthem. Most Americans also know some of…

Formula 1 racing is the apex of motorsports. It’s on the cutting edge of technology, but in a conservative way. To clarify, totally new concepts are very risky, so refining existing ideas is a safer game plan, with a goal of getting an advantage without going off the deep end. An entirely new technology has a chance of not working out and when you’re dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars per season, no one can afford to take that risk. The focus becomes finding combinations of “safer” ideas that will net a better result. The problem is there are no new ideas; so evolving existing ideas is the order of business. Finding ideas from outside arenas to fit the racing circuit is a thought process in and of itself.…

We’re all gun nerds at heart here at RECOIL. So while it’s neat to check out the latest and greatest AR or the umpteenth refinement of a Glock, we love seeing weapon systems that stray off the beaten path. M+M Industries is based in Colorado and was started by two fellows named Mike, hence the company name. One of the original Mikes, Mike Meier, now runs M+M. Born in Switzerland, he also lived in Venezuela before moving to America. Meier saw firsthand the economic and political upheaval there, including the new government disarming citizens and instituting changes, one after another, that harmed the populace. This solidified his belief in the importance of firearms ownership. M+M got started in 2005 importing guns, parts kits, and accessories, building a particular expertise in…

The Tactical Games was born in 2018 from the brain of Tim Burke, a career Special Forces soldier. The premise then remains the same as today: merge CrossFit-style exercises with a 2-gun event (rifle and pistol) for purposes of testing one’s accuracy under the stress of both physical exhaustion and competition. Yet despite a faithfulness to the initial concept, a lot has changed over the past several years. With competitions growing annually, as much as 100 percent or more in terms of participant numbers, new faces with varied levels of skills, combined with being able to host events at sites with more square footage, created the opportunity to offer greater challenges. Nathan Drumm, 43, served in the Marines for several years, got out of active duty in 2005, out of…