In America, John and Jane Q. Public work 40+ hours a week for a whole year in the hopes of enjoying two weeks on a sandy beach or the dockside of a lake. Of course, once the Public family actually arrives on vacation, the humidity, family bickering, bugs, crowds and humidity will make them yearn for the peace and quiet of cubicle life (yes, I said humidity twice). Nonetheless, memories will be made and fun will be had. For many TFB readers, going on vacation means a new set of routines for concealed carry. This week’s post on packing in National Parks made me want to share my gun travel tips in the hopes of perfecting a more safe and efficient means for carrying a firearm on vacation.

Great, a Best Revolver article written by a guy who believes a defensive handgun should be a semiautomatic and be made of polymer. You can go ahead and stop reading now. All kidding aside, my advice to everyone looking for a defensive weapon is buy something that works for you and learn how to shoot it accurately. But, I’m still not a revolver guy. Model advice seen below comes on the advice of TFB staff who do use and carry a broad range of wheel guns, and honestly, I’m surprised at the volume of recommendations. For this list, I used the staff pics and sorted them based on a range of prices, availability and reputation. After looking at the numbers, I think we may have to revisit the topic in two or three subcategories: maybe snub nose, large frame and full-sized best revolvers.

I recently polled the TFB Staff on what they would consider the Best Summer Carry Guns. After the usual focused expletives and suggestions of flashbangs and SIG Rattlers tucked away in backpacks, I started getting some serious answers. Obviously, with the summer heat comes the inability to conceal a pistol under jackets, sweaters and (gasp) fishing vests. So instead we turn to thinner and smaller guns that fit in pockets or appendix carry rigs. Below are some of the summer carry gun suggests from our top-notch writers. See if you can pick which staffer suggested each of the below guns. The first one to guess correctly in the comments section below gets a TFB patch.

Welcome back to another edition of TFB’s Round Table sponsored by Ammunition To Go! For those who are first joining us, this is a multi-part series where TFB will discuss the characteristics of great ammunition for specific applications. This could vary from big game hunting, plinking, precision rifle matches, small game hunting, or even pistol competitions. Chances are there is someone here at TFB who can offer you advice on buying the right round for your task at hand. This week I will offer up some tips on picking the best hunting ammunition for your .308 Win rifle.

Whether you just bought your first AR15 rifle or you’re working on building your third AR15 pistol, buying a few extra top quality magazines every so often is a great idea. As part of TFB’s Top Picks series we are bringing you a list of the best AR15 magazines currently on the market. What makes a magazine ‘the best’. To start, the best AR15 magazines will feed reliably, remain strong in all climates and conditions and has a proven track record of performance. Of course, it’s important to pick a magazine that is the same caliber as your host weapon and recent tests have shown that magazines designed of 300BLK function better than using 5.56mm magazines. So stock up – you can never have too many. Might as well buy the best AR15 magazines you can find at great prices.

Hello everyone and welcome to the first installment of TFB’s Round Table sponsored by Ammunition To Go. In this multi-part series, TFB writers will discuss the characteristics of great ammunition for a particular application. Be it self defense, small game hunting, precision rifle matches, target/plinking or pistol competitions, chances are there is someone here at TFB who can offer you advice on buying the right round. This week, not surprisingly, I’ll offer up some tips on picking the best suppressor ammunition.

Finally, summer has arrived, and we can start the long slide from the longest day of the year down to the shortest. In the meantime, let’s all enjoy a nice dose of humidity, a helping of mosquitoes and those noisy pool parties put on by your idiot neighbor. “I asked you to keep it down, Stan!” Sorry, can you tell that I am already looking forward to the Fall harvest? Anyway, even with the bugs, heat and handyman projects, the Fourth of July is one of the highlights of the year. When else can you launch exploding rockets in your back yard? In the spirit of 1776, I thought it might be appropriate to suggest some American guns and gear that you can purchase leading up to our Independence Day – suck it United Kingdom. (Kidding, thank you for your friendship and support.)

For the last three years, I have been running the First Spear Strandhogg SAPI cut plate carrier. I have tried other plate carriers and there are always positive and negatives associated with each. I started with a few older style carriers but the main issue with them was the lack of options and the minimalist style most of them had.

Firearms instructor, police officer, Marine Corps veteran, private military contractor, and use of force expert Brannon LeBouef takes us through the what and why of his every day carry. A little more than a pocket dump, Brannon LeBouef of NOLATAC explains his gear selection for life in New Orleans, LA and the logic behind his choices. He also brings up some “bigger picture” mindset issues for the average person to consider as they make selections for their personal defense plan. He speaks about the importance of the ankles as a place to carry, having options in your response, and the huge role medical should play in your EDC plans.

Every December when the holiday season starts to unfold, I volunteer myself to write TFB’s 12 Days Of Christmas. Yes, it’s my favorite time of year and I enjoy giving you all gift ideas for friends and family, but a I also have a secretly selfish motive factored into the maneuver – my wife reads the series looking for presents for me. As such, it is my opportunity to play the counterintelligence game, sprinkling as many gun gifts to the rest of the world, hoping one or two make it full-circle back under our own tree. So far I’m batting a .666 average over three years.

I have shot a few rifles with Proof Research Carbon Fiber barrels, and they are really good. The 6.5 Creedmoor I tried at 300 meters I only had to shoot 5 rounds with. As they were all dead center I thought more rounds downrange is just a waste, obviously, it has the accuracy and it’s up to the shooter.

As spring approaches I look forward to more trips to the range and some more long distance shooting. In my preparation, I knew I needed to upgrade some of my equipment. At SHOT Show this year I visited Lyman and saw their Bag Jack and Match Bag combo. My old bag rest is showing wear so the Match Bag was a no brainer, but the Bag Jack is another story.

Ok, so there are more than just five items on my list; I couldn’t decide which of the SIG Sauer ammunition should take the top five slots. But since SIG has been nice enough to supply me with ammo for decibel testing for TFB’s Silencer Saturday, I thought it would be a good idea to return the favor and outline some of their best rounds (and give you a direct link to buy your own). Yes, my list is heavy on the 9mm and 300BLK flavors of ammunition, but if a different cartridge tickles your fancy, chances are that SIG has you covered with multiple bullet weights and types to choose from.

We are getting near the end of the voting phase for the Best Factory AR15, so if you haven’t had the time to weigh in, now’s your chance. We’ve updated the list to include your suggestions as well as a few that we neglected to add from the beginning. Review the orginal list of candidates, check for updates and cast your vote for the best AR15.

There are many traditions associated with Saint Patrick’s Day: wearing green, window-mounted shamrocks, disgusting green beer and now TFB’s Skilled Shooter, Lucky Shot posts. I’d like to think that we have included a little something for everyone (who doesn’t need more magazines).

Not all product or press releases get the attention they deserve, not initially anyway. Try launching a product at, for instance SHOT Show, and it will easily drown in the constant flow of wonderful – and not so – products.

Almost two years ago TFB mentioned the Portable shooting and training barricades by GTGConsult.

This is Snigel Design‘s first appearance here at TFB ( well almost).

It’s remarkable, but TFB has not covered Fix It Sticks until now.

TFB has never covered the CKYE-POD but it looks like a really nice bipod for Long Range and Practical Shooting.

As one of our readers kindly reminded us, we had forgotten that SB Tactical released a PDW-styled brace for the CZ EVO S1 Scorpion Pistol.

At the First World Shoot Rifle in Russia there were some interesting firearms, some more unique than others.

With the entry of Optics in a lot of Divisions in both USPSA and IPSC (Production, Production Light and Open) more and more shooters are following the red light.

I’m happy to say this is the first TFB Review in 2019 – I am sure there will be many more during the year.

‘Twas the night before Christmas… something, something subsonic 300 Blackout. That’s the way the poem goes, right? One of the best parts about Christmas is thinking about how the generations before us celebrated the season in years past. Candles instead of LED lights. Wooden toys instead of iPads. Flintlocks instead of open tip match bullets. Today we are blessed with groceries full of food from around the world as well as the technological advancements that have made shooting firearms both safer and quieter – Silencers for a Silent Night.

Merry Christmas you filthy animals and thanks for putting up with more of our 12 Days Of TFB Christmas. If you can bear with me for a few more days I promise to leave you alone on December 25th (maybe). Picking perfect pistols is a personal and polarizing topic of discussion. Some of you are comfortable carrying a five shot revolver, others require a single stack .45ACP, while the rest of you carry porcelain guns that can defeat magnetometers and have limitless amounts of ammunition in their feeding devices. I could proclaim my love for polymer and lack of manual safeties until I was blue in the face, and a good portion of you would still reach for a turn-of-the-century design. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Welcome back, TFB holiday goers, my apologies for the brief hiatus in the 12 Days Of Christmas series here on the blog. With all the bump stock news and events this week, our Saint Nick programming was preempted by the DOJ/ATF announcements and analysis. On top of that,  I now realize that you will most likely have to suffer through at least one double-dose of “12 Days” before the jolly old elf makes his way down your chimney. For that, I am sorry. As for today’s episode, bags, cases and associated range gear is not always the sexiest topic in our line of work. But even with closets full of ballistic nylon, many of us are still on the hunt for that one perfect bag.

The Finns have some of the best competition shooters around. Strange, as there are only around 5.5 million Finns around, and it’s dark most of the year. In some way they still manage to become World Champions in many of the practical shooting divisions.

The death of the shotgun as being a viable defensive tool has been greatly exaggerated. Sure, ammunition capacity is not exactly in the 30 round magazine territory, but the short range power that comes from some of today’s modern shot shells will protect Saint Nick from the overwhelming majority of beasts on his Christmas Eve route.

My apologies for the delay in posting the Rimfire For Rudolph edition of TFB’s 12 Days Of Christmas. A little eggnog, the Grinch playing on TV, a roaring fire and visions of sugarplums were soon dancing in my head. Besides, I thought that our intelligent but dedicated readers had better things to do on a mid December’s eve than sit at home and read about my personal rimfire gun recommendations for yourself or as gifts for that special someone.