Let me start off by saying that this subjective list of TFB’s ‘Top 5’ best guns from 2017 is not rooted in scientific study nor is it the result of massive data crunching of user polls. The below guns were picked by general popularity, page views, innovative designs and overall accessibility. Point being, there were a lot of awesome firearms released this year and these are only a few of them.

It seemed like only yesterday when myself, Steve Johnson, and Alex C. started  TFBTV on January 20 at SHOT Show 2015.  Steve and Alex have moved on, but despite the loss of a top-tier executive producer and a personality with an enviable arsenal, the channel has seen explosive growth: 380 thousand subscribers, over 800 years of total  watch time, and now it will close out 2017 with over 100 million views. TFBTV continues to improve, as 50 million of those views came in 2017 alone.

Ruger has taken their wildly popular centerfire rifle, the Ruger Precision Rifle or RPR, and adapted it for small-bore enthusiasts with the newly unveiled Ruger Precision Rimfire chambered in .22 Long Rifle. This iteration of its bigger brother touches on many of the features that draw shooters to the Precision rifle.

Although details are slim at the moment, information from multiple sources is revealing a variety of new Marlin lever action rifles set to be available to consumers soon. Heavy on the pistol calibers, Marlin is featuring the 1894CST, a threaded barrel carbine chambered in .38 Special/.357 Magnum. Long sought after by silencer lovers, lever gun hosts were sent to gunsmiths for barrel threading and, in many cases, magazine tube shortening.

Ruger has just announced the PC Carbine – a pistol caliber carbine chambered in 9mm. And to answer your most immediate question: YES, it takes GLOCK mags. As well as SR/Security-9 magazines with an included interchangeable magazine well. At an approximate street price in the mid $500 range, the PC Carbine appears to pack in a lot of features. Take down capability, a threaded barrel, reversible magazine release and charging handle and, once again, GLOCK mags. Add in a direct-machined optics rail and Ruger set projected to sell the PC Carbine by the container full.

Arsenal Firearms has changed the name of their company; thereby, setting back the release of their heavily anticipated Stryk B pistol. This announcement was made to customers, suppliers and business partners of Arsenal Firearms.

Nighthawk Custom, the quality custom shop from Arkansas, is used to having one gunsmith labor to build one gun at a time. With their new Boardroom Series of pistols, this should be pretty evident. To the tune of $4,195 (not legal for our California friends), you can get a subtly high-class 1911 that will be a gem to shoot as well.

We all know that Glocks are the glorified tinkerer-toy of the handgun world. With decades of reliability, law enforcement backing and an abundance of aftermarket parts, many manufacturers want to get in on the game.

The Department of Justice anticipates issuing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would interpret the statutory definition of “machinegun” in the National Firearms Act of 1934 and Gun Control Act of 1968 to clarify whether certain devices, commonly known as “bump fire” stocks, fall within that definition. Before doing so, the Department and ATF need to gather information and comments from the public and industry regarding the nature and scope of the market for these devices.

Shooters looking for a capable, feature-rich polymer pistol with a value price point could be in luck. Ruger just announced the release of the Security-9 – an internal hammer-fired pistol with a manual safety and a fire control system with roots back to the LCP line of pistols. But, with only a cursory glance available to us at the moment, the most striking feature appears to be the price. With an MSRP of $379, we have a realistic chance at seeing the Security-9 break the $300 mark when it finally lands on local store shelves.

Target shooters, hunters and those who conceal carry for their own personal protection often seek out and use specialty ammo; ammunition that is created by manufacturers for specific applications. To that same extent, law enforcement can have specific needs based on their intended use in the field. To fill that need, a category of Hornady Law Enforcement ammunition exists. Ammo that supports tactical applications in a wide array of calibers. Some new offerings Hornady will be presenting to law enforcement in 2018 will come through their TAP (Tactical Application Police) and Critical Duty series.

The Speer Gold Dot load of ammunition has always been a benchmark of quality and performance for law enforcement. Now, as of December 19th, Speer has been awarded a contract with the DHS (US Department of Homeland Security) and ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) to the tune of 120 Million Rounds of ammunition.

Western Powders is preparing to publish their very first, full-fledged reloading book. For those who are unaware, Western Powders owns multiple, reputable companies within the reloading industry that you probably are already using.

Leupold has a new line of optics coming out for 2018 and it should inspire some patriotism and hopefully a desire to open your wallet. The VX-Freedom line of optics will support muzzleloader, rimfire and centerfire options for consumers in an array of magnification choices.

As I have stated many times in the past, I take no pleasure in reporting bad news. Yesterday a federal judge sentenced Adam Webber, owner of HKParts, to four years in prison starting at the end of January. Details of the hearing can be found in the below excerpt from the Salt Lake City Telegram.

It is nearing the end of the calendar year once again so it is time for Guns and Ammo to announce their different firearm awards for 2017. In the last issue of the year and the most recent, December 2017, Guns and Ammo published that the Barrett Fieldcraft™ won their 2017 Rifle of the Year award.

Rest in Peace Interim Combat Service Rifle, we hardly knew thee. The Army’s ICSR program has joined the much more ambitious Advanced Combat Rifle program of the 1980s and the more recent ill-fated Individual Carbine program in the annals of US Army rifle procurement history.

Back in July we reported that the Civilian Marksmanship Programme was in line to receive 10,000 newly surplused M1911A1 pistols in 2018. With the United States Senate passing the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on the 18th November the bill will now be sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

SilencerCo President Jason Schauble has resigned his position at the West Valley Utah based suppressor company due to health complications of a family member. Jonathan Shultz will take over the position effective today. Prior to his position at SilencerCo, Schauble worked at both Tracking Point and Remington Arms Company.

Cyber Monday means something a bit different to the folks at CZ USA. Quietly dropping a bomb on their Instagram page, CZ released a design mock-up of an integrally reflex suppressed Scorpion. In what they are referring to as a sneak peak at the 2018 new products lineup, a fully welded titanium reflex silencer sits under an HB Industries handguard. From the looks of the picture, the barrel is not ported, so the term “integrally suppressed” is used a bit loosely*.

If any firearm company in the last month has been kicked around more than Slidefire, I would like to hear about it. After a horrific event of historic magnitude occurred in Las Vegas where a Slidefire stock was used they have been completely murdered in the press.

Those who expected the slump in the gun market to extend to the buyingest day in the year will be surprised: Black Friday, November 24 shattered the record for most NICS checks in a single day by over 17,000, reports USA Today. The total? 203,086 background checks processed, up from 185,713 in 2016 and 185,345 in 2015.

According to the website Augen Geradeaus (meaning Eyes Straight Ahead) the German-American company Sig Sauer is now out of the competition for the successor of the HK G36 rifle for the Germany Army.

A few days ago The Firearm Blog told you about the new FN Herstal SCAR-SC, a Subcompact Carbine with a 7,5″ barrel chambered in 5,56 NATO.

FN Herstal is introducing a new baby to the FN SCAR family at Milipol 2017 in Paris; their FN SCAR-SC where SC stands for Subcompact Carbine.

CMMG has announced that they have a new pistol caliber carbine (PCC) on the block, and it is not just the same ol’, same ol’ like you have come to expect from PCC rifles. Their new MkGs Guard 9mm has the looks and functionality to be a champion, but that does not win matches, protect yourself or win over your range buddies. What can though, is a highly reliable PCC when a lot on the market are suspect or not 100% reliable everyday of the week.

In another possible sign of a continued softening firearms market, three top executives from Remington have left the company to pursue other opportunities. The three VPs represent some of the hardest hit subsections of the firearms industry – Firearms/Accessories, Ammunition and Sales divisions.

We at TFB reported on October 9th, courtesy of Hrachya H., that Lobaev Arms from Russia had previously set the long range shooting world record. They used a wildcat cartridge based off of the .408 Chey Tac called a “.40 Lobaev Improved” to accomplish the tremendous feat. What the .40 Lobaev Improved offers, similar to Ackley cartridges, is an increased case capacity. Unbeknownst to the Lobaev Arms team, an American shooting team had reached out even further without their knowledge because they had not gone public with it yet. That American shooting team was led by former Navy SEAL Sniper Charlie Melton.

Coincidentally, the day before TFB published Part 1 of a photo report on DIY weapons seized in Brazil ( http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/10/17/bunch-diy-weapons-seized-brazil-part/), news broke  that the São Paulo State Civil Police had just busted a small – but very active – illegal weapons factory in the Ferraz de Vasconcellos suburb of São Paulo, the capital city. Although clandestine firearms manufacture is not something unusual in the country, this particular facility called the attention not only due to the fact that its main product, a 9x19mm stockless submachine gun, shows a somewhat decent general finish and apparent (hand-operated by agents) smooth functioning of components, but also that the type has for long (four years, at least) been found in criminal hands in different parts of Brazil.

Ruger Day is not only coming, it has arrived! Today is October 22nd. If you break that down into a shorthand date of 10/22 you get one of the most widely loved and utilized rimfire rifles in history. Ruger firearms has officially declared October 22nd (10/22) as the official day of Ruger paying homage to their historically-phenomenal, rimfire rifle.