Today is July 18th, 2024, which means it’s The Firearm Blog’s 17th anniversary. That’s right, TFB is almost old enough to buy a rifle! I understand it’s tradition for the Editor in Chief to write a post commemorating the occasion, so please allow me to introduce myself: I’m Josh, and as of July 1st, I am the Editor in Chief of The Firearm Blog, as well as AllOutdoor and OutdoorHub.

This week on Wheelgun Wednesday I have the great pleasure of talking about one of my personal favorite revolvers and this time with some historical province. We are covering Pat Garret’s Presentation Engraved Colt 1877 “Thunderer”. Everyone has heard of Billy the Kid. Western anti-hero, reluctant outlaw, or no good people shootin' runt to some. Billy’s name is synonymous with Western history but much less so is the man who killed Billy the Kid - Sheriff Pat Garrett. Let’s dive right into his revolver and the history behind it!

In Part 1 of this article, I wrote about the fascinating history of CZ99 which involved the shady international arms dealer, the collapse of Yugoslavia, and an unknown gunsmith who couldn’t tell the difference between numbers “8” and “9”. In the second part of this story, I want to talk about the intricate destiny of this design after Yugoslavia was sanctioned in 1992 and lost access to the US market. From the beginning, CZ99 was developed specifically for USA customers, and losing your main client is always challenging.

Welcome everyone to the 241st edition of 'Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?', one of our many series here on TFB. If you’re new to the series, this is where we look at the most obscure firearms that are actually for sale and ask the question - is this Gat a sweet deal or only have Fudd appeal?  Each week the TFB staff weighs in with their thoughts, but readers get the final say in the poll at the bottom of each article.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is about the rimfire firearm world and its many different types of firearms, ammunition, shooting sports, and history. We’re taking a break this week from our ongoing series of ammunition tests to take a look at a new revolver I’ve recently had the pleasure of picking up from the FFL - The new North American Arms Sentinel (NAA-SNT) 22WMR pocket revolver.

Welcome to TFB Weekly Web Deals 97! We’re back with more deals on guns, gear, ammunition, and accessories from some of our most frequented online retailers like Primary Arms, Natchez Shooters Supply, Palmetto State Armory, Brownells, and more. Whether you’re looking for deals on new or used guns, ammo to add to your reserves, or specific accessories like flashlights, range bags, optics, bipods, and magazines, each week we’ll have new sets of deals that might fulfill one of those needs and save you a few dollars.

The appalling assassination attempt on former president and current candidate Donald Trump has been dominating the news cycle. By now you have probably seen pictures and videos of that event. One of our own, Pete, wrote a very good article covering the security situation and looking at this event from the perspective of a former Secret Service agent. This article is not going to opine on those matters, but we will look at the guns and gear of the United States Secret Service (USSS) from the events of July 13th.

On the afternoon of Saturday, July 13, 2024, former President Donald Trump was injured in an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump, only days away from becoming the official Republican nominee for President in the November 2024 election, was rushed to a nearby medical center for evaluation and later released with only minor injuries.

Welcome everyone to the TFB Armorer’s Bench! As mentioned in the little blurb below, this series will focus on a lot of home armorer and gunsmith activities. I had a friend ask me about how to shoot a cheap black powder revolver he picked up. It’s an old ASM Colt 1851 Army reproduction. While I was showing him the basics I noticed that things were not quite right. He mentioned he was going to try to clean up the rust but when it was in my hands I could tell that we were dealing with a broken gun. Could it function? Yes. BUT not correctly. When at full cock the cylinder was free to rotate forward as it pleased. I knew the issue and told him what part to order up. Let’s dive into doing Maintenance on a Colt 1851!

Retro is all the rage these days. Though flat top uppers remain the standard and are much easier to use with optics, the nostalgia factor of the classic carry handle still has a certain allure. Springfield Armory is one of the first major manufacturers to embrace that trend with the SA-16A2.

When you hear “CZ”, the first thing that comes to mind is the Česká Zbrojovka factory in Czechia (Czech Republic), famous for their CZ pistols, Scorpion submachineguns, and Bren rifles that our own James Reese recently tested. But there was one more CZ, the Yugoslavian factory called Crvena Zastava (which means “Red Banner” in Serbian), which also used the “CZ” designation for some of their rifles and pistols, the most famous being CZ99.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last time we talked about my top 5 favorite summer carry guns. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to give it a read. This week, I wanted to talk about another important aspect when it comes to carrying concealed which is rotating between too many guns. This isn’t typically a problem for beginners who are just getting into guns but will more than likely impact those of us who have a number of options to carry on a given day. Let’s take a closer look at switching your carry gun too often.

If you head southeast toward Arlington from the heart of Fort Worth, Texas, you will soon come to a small industrial park just off of Highway 287. Nestled in with several other businesses including a manufacturing company and machine shop, a laser etching/engraving operation, and a metal and Cerakote finishing service, you will find a premium firearms manufacturer: Lone Star Armory. Founded in 2006, LSA’s Texas-proud DNA is comprised of critical lessons learned from warfighting and law enforcement, a heritage of competition shooting and auto racing, and an obsessive passion for the pursuit of absolute excellence in every aspect of the mission, right down to the minutiae of every individual component or process.

When it comes to firearms, we all start somewhere. Many of us began our shooting experience as kids, often being handed the family rimfire rifle or side-by-side shotgun in bone-stock configuration. It’s not until months or years later that shooters decide to add functional improvements in the way of accessories, and then continue to refine these changes by adding (or removing) pieces as we improve. Silencers (or suppressors) should be viewed as just another accessory that adds functionality to a system that is outfitted for you and your missions. To be clear, a ‘mission’ can be a defensive situation or a purely fun range toy.

Charter Arms has once again unceremoniously debuted some more revolvers that we needed to hunt down to learn more about. We previously spent 6 weeks covering “The Professional” series, and I heard your feedback - you were utterly burnt out listening to me prattle on about one manufacturer for a month and a half. So, today we are going to introduce you to the Charter Arms Mastiff series which consists of 6 unique models to tempt your wallet, and we are covering all of them today!

Bergara rifles have a rich history rooted in the Basque region of Spain, known for its long-standing tradition of fine craftsmanship in firearms. Established in the early 2000s, Bergara gained recognition for their precision barrels, which were initially produced for other firearm manufacturers. Their popularity soon led to the development of their complete rifle systems. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques with traditional gun-making skills, Bergara quickly earned a reputation for producing accurate and reliable rifles, catering to hunters, shooters, and tactical users worldwide. Over the years, Bergara has expanded its product line and continued to refine its offerings, becoming a prominent name in the long-range precision market.

Now back to his week's edition, here's the seller's description:

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of guns, history, shooting sports, and ammo! Last time we took a look at the relatively inexpensive CCI “Green Tag” 40-grain ammo. Billed as a more affordable alternative to genuine match ammo - CCI Green Tag is produced via a hand-picked process where particularly good lots of CCI Standard Velocity 40 grain are separated for their consistency which in turn typically leads to smaller group sizes. As with any rimfire ammo - whether or not one particular lot of ammo is going to group well out of your specific rifle is another matter entirely and probably the reason many of you commented that while the appeal of CCI Green Tag is there, CCI Standard does it better for the price that it is being asked for. I would tend to agree with that assessment of my level of skill and the type of shooting that I do.

Welcome to TFB Weekly Web Deals 96! We’re back with more deals on guns, gear, ammunition, and accessories from some of our most frequented online retailers like Primary Arms, Natchez Shooters Supply, Palmetto State Armory, Brownells, and more. Whether you’re looking for deals on new or used guns, ammo to add to your reserves, or specific accessories like flashlights, range bags, optics, bipods, and magazines, each week we’ll have new sets of deals that might fulfill one of those needs and save you a few dollars.

In the previous chapters of this interview, Travis Haley talked about his experience with the AK platform and his thoughts about necessary upgrades for the AK platform.

We’re back again with another roundup of fresh firearms-focused podcasts in TFB Podcast Roundup 136. Each week we’re bringing you a new set of podcasts from across the web that cover a wide variety of topics including gunsmithing, hunting, precision shooting, war stories, competition shooting, gun industry news, and much more. In addition, we’re also featuring the most recent episode of TFB’s own Behind The Gun Podcast which airs every week on Thursday mornings. If you’d like to check out the full episode list for TFB’s Behind The Gun Podcast, you can find it here on the TFB website or on your favorite podcast app. Sit back, relax, and enjoy listening to this week’s selection of gun podcasts.

Taurus has entered the single-action six-shooter fold with their Taurus Deputy in either .357 Magnum or 45 Colt. This blacked-out bad boy, inspired by the legendary Peacemaker, made its debut at the beginning of 2024 and made a good impression on yours truly. After handling it at SHOT2024 I had to get my hands on it and see how it performed under some old soul range time. Does it stand up to competing models? What sets it apart? Let’s dive right into my review of the Taurus Deputy!

Possibly the most influential Supreme Court decision of this term is much bigger of a deal than it sounds like at first. For decades, courts have been limited in their ability to review the actions of executive agencies due to a case called Chevron. That has now ended. This article will briefly explain what administrative law is, what the Chevron case did, and how the Loper Bright case has changed the landscape.

Happy Independence Day from all of us here at TheFirearmBlog! We’re back with more deals on guns, gear, ammunition, and accessories from some of our most frequented online retailers like Primary Arms, Natchez Shooters Supply, Palmetto State Armory, Brownells, and more. Whether you’re looking for deals on new or used guns, ammo to add to your reserves, or specific accessories like flashlights, range bags, optics, bipods, and magazines, each week we’ll have new sets of deals that might fulfill one of those needs and save you a few dollars.

Happy Canada Day to our hoser readers—but if you’re a Canadian shooter, can you be happy at all, or is your life a big ball of depression thanks to ever-increasing gun laws? The reality is that yes, Canadian firearms laws are very strict, but they’re not always as strict as shooters from other countries might imagine. Or at least they weren’t until very recently, and that might change soon with a new government. On July 1, Canuckistan’s national holiday of Canada Day, let’s take a look at the shooting scene in Canada.

Hello and welcome back to another edition of The Rimfire Report! This ongoing series is all about the rimfire firearm world and all of its different types of cool guns, unique history, and of course its ammunition. Last week we took a look at CCI’s Quiet-22 Segmented Hollow Point Subsonic ammunition. Apparently, I am quite the ammo snob as while I thought that the performance of the round was a bit lackluster at longer (50 yards) ranges, most of you said you’d be more than satisfied with that performance since most of you only plan on using that ammo at about 15-25 yards max. Most of you who reached out also commented that the major selling point was really how quiet the round is - so quiet that it can be shot out of a bolt action or lever action gun without hearing protection. However, since I am a creature of habit, we once again will be chasing numbers in this week’s ammunition test of CCI’s Green Tag ammunition. So let’s see how this “budget match ammo” stacks up!

Good evening everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the brand new YHM 338 Bad Larry Suppressor. Last week we discussed holsters for suppressed pistols and a handful of models currently on the market. This week we get out our pocket protectors and nerd caps and talk about the importance of the optimal twist rate for a specific bullet length when shooting a suppressed platform. Fear not, there is no test at the end of today’s lesson. Let’s take a look.

In  Part 1 of this interview which was recorded in 2018, Travis Haley talked about his first gun, a Chinese AK rifle, and why he bought it. In Part 2 he discussed the pros and cons of this AK weapon platform in general. In Part 3, we talk about the upgrades for the AK platform that make it more effective.

We’re back again with another roundup of fresh firearms-focused podcasts in TFB Podcast Roundup 135. Each week we’re bringing you a new set of podcasts from across the web that cover a wide variety of topics including gunsmithing, hunting, precision shooting, war stories, competition shooting, gun industry news, and much more. In addition, we’re also featuring the most recent episode of TFB’s own Behind The Gun Podcast which airs every week on Thursday mornings. If you’d like to check out the full episode list for TFB’s Behind The Gun Podcast, you can find it here on the TFB website or on your favorite podcast app. Sit back, relax, and enjoy listening to this week’s selection of gun podcasts.

In  Part 1 of this interview that I recorded in 2018, Travis Haley talked about his first gun, a Chinese AK rifle, and why he bought it. In Part 2 I asked him about the pros and cons of this AK weapon platform in general.