I always loved this July 1974 National Geographic image by David Alan Harvey of Sheila E. Denison, one of the first early coed Officer Candidate School class members at USCG TRACEN Yorktown, cleaning her M1 Garand while touching up her hair.
The 10.5-pound wooden-stocked Garand, officially the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, was used by every class at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, for half a century, only replaced by the M16/M4 in the early 2000s.
However, for those (un)lucky enough to find themselves in Cape May’s Recruit Aptitude and Motivation Program, or RAMP, “The Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised” gets pulled out of the armory to add some emphasis to the daily program.
As these images, captured in September, show USCG Company Commanders providing RAMP recruits with “enhanced and personalized training in order for them to succeed.”
(U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Danielle Layton and Seaman Juliana Thornton)
According to the GAO, in 2024, the attrition rate for recruits at Cape May was about 15 percent —higher than in most of the larger services, which average about 11 percent. RAMP aims to turn that around a bit.
Of course, the Coast Guard isn’t the only service still using the Garand, as the WWII icon still often appears in service academy and ROTC training programs, in heritage events such as those hosted by the “Old Guard” of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, at the CMP’s National Matches in the hands of military competitors, and, last but not least, with the Silent Drill Platoon of the Marines.
“The United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, Alpha Company, Marine Barracks Washington, execute the ‘bursting bomb’ sequence at the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 2026. The 24-Marine rifle platoon executed a series of calculated drill movements and precise handling of their hand-polished, 10.5-pound M1 Garand rifles with fixed bayonets, all without a single verbal command. The unique precision drill exhibition showcased the uncompromising attention to detail and rigid discipline that exemplify the United States Marine Corps.” (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brynn L. Bouchard)
Fact: Tri-Lug Barrels are the oldest, easiest, and one of the best ways to quickly mount a suppressor.
However, the attachment style is also limited in what it can do and, sadly, is overlooked.
Where did Tri-Lug or 3-Lug come from?
In Oberndorf, Germany, in the early 1960s, Helmut Baureuter, Manfred Guhring, Tilo Moller, and Georg Seidl cooked up probably the most mature sub gun of the 20th Century– the Heckler & Koch MP5. Recycling a roller-locked action first used on legendary machine guns in WWII and carried over to the G3 7.62 NATO battle rifle, it proved durable enough to become legendary.
It also had a funky, albeit innovative, barrel accessory mounting system on the muzzle: three equal-sized (roughly 0.310-inch) raised external lugs, spaced equally about 120 degrees apart center-to-center around the outside of the barrel, and ramped towards the muzzle.
These lugs were not an afterthought, welded, screwed, or pinned in, but something machined directly from, or forged with, the same piece of steel as the barrel.
Tri-lug, as seen on a Springfield Armory Kuna (male) and SilencerCo Spectre 9 and 36M (female). (Photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Even back in 1966, when the HK MP5, developed from the HK54, was introduced with its slimline handguard and straight waffle-pattern 9mm magazines, it had a tri-lug barrel.
Talk about a blast from the past…
The tri-lug barrel endured through the Cold War and into the GWOT era and is still seen on classically styled MP5s and other SMG/PCCs.
Seen above with casual SF types in an Afghanistani aloha snackbar joint in 2003. (Photo: National Archives, magnification by Guns.com staff).
The funny thing was that the tri-lug barrel wasn’t meant for attaching a suppressor. The lugs were originally for affixing accessories (Zubehör) such as a flash-hider (Feuerdampfer), a blank firing adapter (Manoverpatronengerat), and a sleeve for a 22mm cup-style tear gas grenade launcher (Granatfuhrung) fired with a blank round.
Thus:
Via an early HK MP5 manual.
Over the years, the accessories fell away while the MP5’s use with suppressors skyrocketed, especially after N (Navy) model MP5s entered the market in 1986, which included both a threaded barrel and tri-lug.
By 1988, inventor Timothy Bixler, with AWC Suppressors (Dr. Phil Dater’s old company) and Knights Armament, took out a patent (US4893426A) for a rotating collar utilizing Tri-Lug, and the rest is history.
How to use Tri-Lug
First off, Tri-Lug is a left-on (clockwise), right-off (counter-clockwise) kind of thing. Remember, “Left gets tight, right takes flight.”
Align, press down, turn to the left, release. Reverse to take off
Align the lugs, push in to depress the spring of the mount, twist about a quarter turn to the left until it passes the detents and stops, release the spring by letting go, boom. You are locked in. Reverse it to remove. Easy on, easy off, but still rock solid while in use.
Example:
Plus, with the Tri-Lug, you don’t have to worry about the suppressor backing off or loosening under rapid fire as you do with more common threaded-barrel models.
Tips:
You can’t attach the can to the muzzle by twisting in the wrong direction, as the geometry won’t work, so don’t freak out about that.
Also, new mounts and/or new barrels will likely be super tight, and the spring stout, so be sure to lube up and work them in on a safe firearm before heading to the range and trying it for the first time. Nobody gets confidence from the guy tugging on his can in the corner.
Not HK-only anymore
Besides assorted Heckler & Koch MP5/SP5 models and the myriad of clones such as the Century/MKE AP5 and SDS MAC-5, you have offerings from PSA like the AR-V and variants of the B&T APC9, GHM9, and SPC9 that sport in-spec Tri-Lug direct from the factory. Plus, you can get adapters from folks like SilencerCo that convert standard threaded muzzles to Tri-Lug.
SilencerCo’s Tri-Lug male muzzle adapter. As long as you are 1/2x28TPI, you are good to go. Other companies such as Angstadt, Griffin, and Rugged also make such adapters.
As far as making your suppressor Tri-Lug ready, there are adapters for that as well from Banish, Dead Air, SilencerCo, and others, so that’s not a problem.
SilencerCo’s Alpha Tri-lug coupler.
A new model to the market introduced earlier in the month is a dedicated Tri-Lug barrel version of the Kuna, a dependable roller-action that is fast becoming one of the most popular large-format 9mm pistols on the market.
The new Tri-Lug barrel Kuna, right, compared to the standard model.
The Springfield Kuna Tri-Lug in its natural environment, with a SilencerCo Spectre 9 attached.
MSRP for the unbraced model is set at $1,179, and the FSA-braced model’s MSRP is set at $1,330. Low-capacity 10-round options will also be available for those unfortunates living in restrictive states.
So, is Tri-Lug Perfect?
No.
As the design doesn’t support boosters (Nielsen devices), Tri-lug is tied to its original platform type: pistol caliber SMGs, PCCs, and large format pistols with fixed barrels. While primarily a 9mm offering, you also see Tri-Lug adapters for .45ACP (reverse to .578×28, 5/8×24, 9/16×24, and M16x1 LH threads), but that is about it. Plus, since the mounts are spring-based, they can wear out with extensive use, requiring new springs at some point in the distant future.
Still, for those classic MP5 styles and new offerings from folks like B&T and Springfield, the old standard can be a king when it comes to quick-detach.
I was today old when I found out that Harrington & Richardson (H&R) was the U.S. importer for Heckler & Koch from around 1965 to 1973.
This included the HK33-derived T223submitted for U.S. Navy trials for use with the SEALs, the caliber-fluid HK4 pistol, and early MP5s, HK11 MGs, and G3s for mil/LE use.
SEAL Team Two, with Rudy Boesch noted to the left, gave the H&T T223 (HK33) a whirl in Southeast Asia back in the Tiger Stripe and DDT breath freshener days.
After that, SACO in Arlington, Virginia, did it for a couple of years; then, by 1977, HK took control and established its own U.S.-based subsidiary.
I knew HK had been in the states as early as the mid-1960s, but didn’t know it was because of H&R.
I’ve dug what Pennsylvania-based Auto-Ordnance has done in the past with their WWII-themed M1911A1s, for instance, with their Black Sheep Squadron salute back in 2024.
A functional work of art, underneath the custom Cerakote finish, the Black Sheep 1911 is still an Auto-Ordnance Stainless 1911 in .45 ACP. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Also, note the “belly” of the gun is left in “the white” to emulate the aluminum body of an F4U Corsair. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Well, the company is back with two additions to its “Winged Warriors” series: the “Memphis Belle 1911” and the “Red Tails 1911”. Artwork in Cerakote is hand-done by the artisans at Altered Arsenal.
Price is $1,500, making these limited editions something more for an aviation buff’s man cave or gift to grandpa kinda thing, but it is nice to see them around.
You have to love this line of the Camp Lejeune-based 3/6 Marines in a slow-walk live-fire line while underway in the Caribbean.
Official caption:
Sighted In! U.S. Marines with Battalion Landing Team 3/6, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), conduct live-fire drills aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Sep. 17, 2025, during Deployment 25-26. U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the U.S. Southern Command mission, Department of War-directed operations, and the President’s priorities.
USMC Photo by Sgt. Tanner Bernat.
Rifles all seem to be the M27 IAR (HK 416 piston gun assembled in Georgia), almost all are seen with PEQ-15 target pointers, the Squad Common Optic (Trijicon VCOG 1-8×28), and KAC QDSS NT4 suppressors. Also note the near-universal use of a single belt-mounted mag carrier off-hand (in addition to the six on the plate carrier) as well as a left-rear SSE bag/dump pouch.
Formed 14 August 1917, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines deployed to France just two months later and earned its “Teufelhunden” (Devil Dogs) nickname against the Germans, fighting eyeball-to-eyeball at Aisne-Marne, Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne with the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division– keeping an Indian Head on its patch to mark this time. They also earned a French Croix de Guerre and Fourragère for their war “Over There.”
Reactivated for WWII, the unit initially garrisoned Iceland, then was folded into the 2nd MarDiv for Guadalcanal, the Southern Solomons, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. Cold War operations included Lebanon, the DR for Power Pack in 1962, Panama for Just Cause, Desert Sheild/Storm, Mogadishu in 94, the Haitan Vacation (also in 94), and numerous trips to the sandbox during GWOT.
As with every Marine unit, their stated mission is to
Locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver or repel the enemy’s assault with fire and close combat
Some 30 years ago this week, the ultimate Prohibition-era anti-hero hit the screen in Walter “every film I’ve ever done has been a Western” Hill’s Last Man Standing, featuring Bruce Willis as dual-1911-equipped John Smith, passing through the off-map Texas town of Jericho.
Twin shoulder holsters, 1911s, three-piece suits, and fedoras should be sold in sets
John/Bruce duly becomes caught between two rival bootlegging gangs, Strazi and the Italians vs. Doyle and the Irish.
The ensuing 1920s take on Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars is almost spectacularly over the top in terms of gunplay, but probably sold another million 1911s.
John Smith long ago hung up his crushed fedora, and Bill is, well, not Bill any more, but you have to love it.
Some 85 years ago, during the epic eight-month siege of Sevastopol.
Wehrmacht soldiers of II/Artillerie-Regiment 814, 11th Army, Army Group Sud, cover their ears as a Czech-made Skoda 9.45-inch Howitzer Model 39 (24 cm Haubitze vz.39) fires at Red Army positions, probably during the siege of Perekop, on or about 24 September 1941.
The two-battalion/four-battery AR 814 was the only German unit to use the rare gun, of which only 16 were made for the Wehrmacht after two early tubes had been sent to the gun’s original customer, the Turkish Army, in early 1939.
Firing a 366-pound anti-concrete shell to 11 miles when all five bags were loaded behind them, these 35-ton beasts were only ever meant to be siege howitzers– making it likely the Turks planned to use them if needed against the Soviets in the Caucasus, as their other traditional enemy, the Greeks, had few such fortified positions worthy of such heavy ordnance.
The Germans used them at Sevastopol and at Leningrad.
A 24 cm Haubitze 39 of AR 814 in 1942 during the Siege of Leningrad.
They were withdrawn in 1944, and the guns were lost to history, although part of one may have been captured by the U.S. 79th Infantry Division in the Rhine in March 1945.
I/814 melted away near Königsberg in Wehrkreis I in early 1945, while II/814 was bagged by the Soviets as part of the 18th Army in Courland.
If anyone knows about the history of the two guns delivered to Turkey in 1939, please pass it on.
Spotted aboard the 6,200-ton Italian Thaon di Revel-class patrol frigate Giovanni Delle Bande Nere (P 434) at sea on her way back from RIMPAC: Beretta Mx4 Storm 9mm SMGs.
Beretta introduced the 12-inch-barreled, 1,000 rpm Mx4 in 2003 for consideration in military/LE contracts to fill the place in the company’s catalog left when the PM12 burp gun and its semi-auto PM12-S2 brother were curtailed.
Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro (better known for his car designs including the Maserati MC12 and the DeLorean DMC-12), the Mx4/Cx4 was designed to use assorted grip-fed double-stack magazines with patterns including the Beretta 92, Beretta Cougar, and the Beretta Px4 Storm.
Beretta marketed the semi-auto Cx4 Storm tactical carbine with its 16-inch barrel for sporting purposes and as a patrol rifle in 9mm and .40S&W, and .45ACP in the U.S. and 9×21 overseas at the same time.
The Cx4 and Mx4 compared, seen at Beretta last year. Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com
Besides a good bit of movie, TV, and video game use (see Colonial Marines in Battlestar Galactica), the Cx4 never really garnered a lot of popularity, and the Mx4 got even less. Notably, and as witnessed above, the Italian Navy purchased a few hundred in 2013-14.
Check out these shots, courtesy of Nighthawk Custom Shop in Arkansas, of a Springfield Armory SA-35 in Smoked Nitride with some jaw-droppingly beautiful details.
Once Browning/FN stopped production on classic Hi-Powers in 2018, I was afraid that stuff like this wouldn’t be possible moving forward, as collectors would rather make their BHPs safe queens rather than send them into Nighthawk, Cylinder & Slide, or BH Customs for work like this.
I mean, the SA-35 is a decent U.S.-roll marked platform for $700-ish, and lends itself to easy customization and upgrades, so it’s a win-win for sure.
Of note, the final MSRP catalog prices for the last runs of Portugal-assembled BHPs before production ended in 2018 were $1,109 for the Hi-Power Mark III and $1,199 for the Hi-Power Standard, $1,500-$1,600 adjusted for inflation.
Mossberg broke the mold on short-barreled shotguns in late 2016 with the 590 Shockwave pump-action “firearms,” which use 14-inch barrels and bird’s head grips that aren’t SBSs and therefore don’t require federal NFA paperwork for transfers.
(Mossberg)
With its funky hard plastic (or walnut) Shockwave Raptor grip with a sort of clumsy recoil control, and the fact that you could opt for a more standard pistol-grip-only shotgun with a gently longer (16- or 18-inch) barrel that offered more control, some folks never warmed to the concept, and that’s fine. However, those who have reviewed Mossberg Shockwaves, with its proven stainless-steel 590 series action, have warmed to the concept with the proper techniques and loads.
Plus, the new 590 Bliksem brings a few new things to the table that the more basic 590 Shockwave did not, making it easier to shoot.
Observe the 590 Bliksem:
With a 14.375-inch steel barrel and AfterShock grip, the Mossberg 590 Bliksem has an overall length of 26.37 inches. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Weight, with its steel receiver and heavy-walled barrel, is 6.3 pounds. It has a 5+1 shell underbarrel magazine tube.
With its AfterShock grip (which actually feels nice), oversized controls, and improved forward recoil strap, the Bliksem performs in the hand better than the Shockwave. Not only does it feel better and shoot better, but it is also flat-out more functional, ready to fill the bill around camp or cottage, veldt or villa.
So, who would the Bliksem appeal to?
First off, it is a great-looking gun that will turn heads, be it on the wall of the man cave or on the range.
For someone who may encounter tight corners and hallways or must move and shoot in a compressed space for high stakes, the Bliksem offers a serious option, especially with the right ammunition. For instance, think about Federal’s X2 9P 00, which helps avoid overpenetration while delivering softer recoil.
Add the included Esstac card and drop a sight atop the Pic rail (Holosun 507C shown), and you have something special, especially when you practise it. We were able to make easy hits on a 3/4 silhouette with reduced recoil buck to 15 yards, and slugs to 25. Loaded weight as shown, with optic, 5+1 in the pipe and 5 on the card, is right at 7 pounds.
The Bliksem could easily excel in off-road situations such as in a camp environment, especially when venturing overnight in hog or bear country. It is something that can be kept in the truck or tent, stoked with heavy, deep-penetrating solid slugs (think Brenneke’s Black Magic, or Federal’s Tru-Ball Deep Penetrator, et. al.) as a “just in case.” Yes, you might set your tent on fire in the process. Just saying.
