The Remington 700 is the best-selling bolt-action rifle in American history. Since its introduction in 1962, more than five million have left the factory floor. It has served as the foundation for two of the United States military's primary sniper weapons systems, anchored a multi-hundred-million-dollar aftermarket industry, and established the dimensional standard that virtually every...
Bear Creek Arsenal BC-9 Bufferless: The Compact 9mm AR That Deletes the Buffer Tube
Disclosure: Powder & Lead may earn a commission on purchases made through affiliate links in this article, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we believe in.A Bufferless 9mm AR for Under $500. Seriously.The first time I saw Bear Creek Arsenal's bufferless BC-9 pistol, I had the same reaction most people do:...
The Volcanic Pistol: How a Gun That Couldn't Kill a Rabbit Created Winchester and Smith & Wesson
Two of the most iconic names in American firearms history — Winchester and Smith & Wesson — share a single origin point. Not a common era or a common city, but a single failed company that produced handguns so underpowered they generated roughly the muzzle energy of a modern air rifle. The Volcanic Repeating Arms...
The Reichsrevolver: Germany’s First Standard Military Sidearm
When the German Empire unified in 1871, it inherited a logistical headache that would have made any quartermaster reach for a bottle of schnapps. Prussian officers carried one sidearm, Bavarians another, Saxons something else entirely. The Franco-Prussian War had exposed the absurdity of fielding an army where even the revolvers spoke different dialects. The solution...
PSA JAKL Review: The Long-Stroke Piston AR That Showed Me a Whole New Side to Palmetto: Innovation
When Palmetto State Armory announced they were building their own long-stroke piston AR from scratch, I rolled my eyes. PSA makes solid budget ARs. Great value. But designing an entirely new operating system? In-house? That felt like a reach. Then I actually shot one. The PSA JAKL isn't just another piston AR bolted onto a...
The Mauser C96 Broomhandle: The Pistol That Won Wars
The Mauser C96 Broomhandle is one of the most recognizable firearms ever made, and also one of the least understood. That boxy frame, the long barrel, the integral box magazine ahead of the trigger, the round wooden grip that earned it the nickname "Broomhandle" -- there is nothing else that looks like it. It was...
The Browning Hi-Power: It Armed Both Sides of WWII
John Moses Browning designed more successful firearms than any other person in history. The M1911, the Browning Automatic Rifle, the Browning machine guns, the Auto-5 shotgun, the Winchester lever-actions -- his catalog reads like a history of 20th-century small arms. But the last handgun design he worked on may be the most consequential of all:...
Judge Roy Bean: The Law West of the Pecos
If you wanted law and order in the desolate stretch of West Texas along the Rio Grande in the 1880s, you got Judge Roy Bean. You also got his saloon, his pet bear, and whatever brand of justice he felt like dispensing that afternoon. Bean was a saloon-keeper, a justice of the peace, and one...
Montrose March 14 Live Firearms Auction Preview
Montrose Auction was founded in 1977. Since 1992, it has been owned and operated by company president Trey Cottle. Conducting approximately 24 auctions per year, Montrose has positioned itself as Georgia's leading auction house for the most-desired antique, vintage and modern firearms, edged weapons and sporting-related items. In addition to its popular gallery and online...
The Lincoln County War: Blood, Power, and Guns
The Lincoln County War wasn't a war in any traditional sense. It was a vicious, drawn-out power struggle in southeastern New Mexico Territory that ran from 1878 to 1881, driven by greed, political corruption, and personal vendettas. It turned ranchers into gunmen, merchants into targets, and a teenage drifter named Henry McCarty into the legend...