Category Archives: gun culture

Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo: ‘the Flux Raider we have at home’

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Taurus took its flagship micro 9mm pistol and added a chassis engineered with Strike Industries for seamless brace integration to create something truly interesting.

The Taurus GX4 debuted in 2021 and has been a favorite with consumers. An easy on the wallet micro compact double-stack 9mm that reviewed well and came in at about $300– a good bit less than its competition– Taurus followed up on the hit by introducing optics-ready TORO models, which are direct milled for the Holosun K, as well as larger format Carry series guns with flush-fit 15 round mags.

The original GX4

Now, with the new GX4 Strike Bravo, Taurus takes the GX4 Carry TORO and puts it inside a new chassis and modular grip system co-developed with Strike Industries, specifically engineered to accept the latter’s side-folding FSA Single Stabilizer. Added to the package is a reversible charging handle, a suppressor-ready 3.7-inch extended barrel, and a long MIL-STD-1913 accessory rail for lights and lasers.

Thus:

The GX4 Strike Bravo falls into PDW territory but is NFA-compliant. (Photos: Taurus) 

The Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo,
The overall length of the pistol with its Strike Industries FSA extended and locked into place is 18.38 inches. 
The Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo,
The weight, unloaded and sans optics or accessories, is 34.9 ounces. 
The Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo,
The reversible charging handle comes in handy when it comes to racking the slide due to the rear of the chassis. 
The Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo
It compacts down to about 10 inches, which makes it a tough but not impossible concealed carry piece, and more likely a bag gun. 

Shipping with two GX4 Carry-sized magazines (15 rounds or 10 rounds, depending on state restrictions) the Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo has an MSRP of $795.99.

If you already have a brace with a rear Picatinny interface, the GX4 Strike Bravo is sold without one, with an ask of $606.99.

The Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo
The Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo, in its less spendy but brace-less format. 

Compare that cost to the SIG P365 Legion Flux, which has a $1,199 MAP in its cheapest format, and the $2,500 B&T USW-A1, and you see the value.

In short, Taurus is now offering what could be termed “the USW/Flux we have at home” for a fraction of the price.

CZ P-10 C Ported: Best Budget Compensated 9mm?

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The big takeaway on this model is that it takes a well-liked gun that has been around for almost a decade and gives it a series of small updates, as well as an integrated single-port compensator.

The compact, semi-automatic, striker-fired P-10 C 9mm was first introduced in 2017 and has continued to evolve over the past decade. Featuring a 15+1 magazine capacity, its 4-inch cold hammer-forged barrel, in addition to its new compensator, now sports a heavier profile to help keep the gun flat. The sights have been brought over from the new Nocturne P-09 series. The optics footprint uses a plate system.

CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
The P-10 C Ported has an overall length of 7.3 inches. Note the large port on the 4-inch heavy barrel, directed out the top of the slide, which creates a setback on the front sight. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
The unloaded weight is 26.8 ounces.
CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
The pistol is roughly the same size as the G19. 
CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
And compared to the company’s recently introduced P-09C Nocturne. 

The short answer to this one is that the CZ P-10 C Ported is one of the most reliable pistols we have evaluated. Over the course of about 800 mixed rounds across several ammo types and loads, we did not have a single stoppage.

We didn’t even suffer from a slide failing to lock back on an empty mag. And that is on a gun right out of the box with no additional lube or prep.

CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
The P-10 series has a reputation as one of the most durable and reliable pistols on the market. One of our favorite exports from Czechia. We feel Jan Zizka would approve. 
CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
The majority of what we fed the P-10 C was Remington 115-grain FMJ Range 1,145 fps bulk pack (500 rounds loose-packed inside a bag in a cardboard box). 
CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
Swapping it up, other loads included Federal’s red-tipped 150-grain Syntech Action Pistol flat-nosed rounds, CCI Blazer 115-grain FMJ, Winchester 124-grain NATO ball, and Federal’s 147-grain Gold Medal Action Pistol.
CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
After chugging through about 700 rounds of range loads, we switched to self-defense rounds and found the P-10 C to run Speer 124-grain Gold Dot, Federal 124-grain Punch, and 135-grain Hydra Shok Deep JHPs without issue. 
CZ P-10 C Ported Optics-Ready Compensated 9mm Pistol
Besides enduring use with the Czech military and others, the German Army recently tapped CZ to provide as many as 186,000 P-10Cs to replace that country’s P8 (Heckler & Koch USP) series pistol. 

The full review is in my column at Guns.com.

Pig Safari

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Some 40 years ago this month, September 1985: “A Marine aboard the battleship USS Iowa (BB 61), armed with an M60 machine gun, participate in a self-defense force test during Exercise Ocean Safari ’85.”

Note the stern 16″/50 triple gun turret in the foggy Atlantic background and the battleship’s new Douglas fir deck which replaced her WWII-era teak. PH1 Jeff Hilton. 330-CFD-DN-ST-86-02496

Note the Woodland M81 pattern camo, and new PASGT kevlar frag vest (but not a K-pot, still rocking the WWII-era M1 steel helmet). The M60 appears to be a Vietnam standard “Pig” model. Around this time the Corps was replacing these heavy guns with the pared-down M60E3 which shaved a few pounds and, post-Desert Storm, would ultimately move (slowly) to the FN Mag 58 M240G variant in the 1990s.

As for Marine Dets on battleships and carriers, they went the way of the M60 in 1998.

For reference, the MarDet on Iowa in 1942 was 110 men, and by 1985 had shrunk to just 58.

Their jobs in the 1980s were primarily to man the ship’s eight M2 .50 cal mounts as well as the 27-member crew for Mount 55– their dedicated 5″/38 Mk 28 twin turret– spearhead the ship’s reaction force, as well as provide a guard for the skipper and admiral (if aboard) and protect any “special weapons” that may or may not have ever been carried by the battleships. 

Collector’s Dream: A Visit to the Colt Archives

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While visiting Colt in Connecticut recently, we were within striking distance of the Colt Archives, so you know we had to stop in and check it out.

We visited Colt historian Beverly Haynes and her staff of dedicated archivists, who have decades of historical research experience within the Colt factory records. And the demand is fierce, with more than 7,000 research requests filed per year. That’s 150 to 200 letters a week. The average turnaround time is 120 days, and requests, unless expedited, are researched on a first-come, first-served basis.

Samuel Colt’s Firearms Manufacturing Company dates to 1855, and while some of the earliest records of production books, invoices, and shipments have been lost to history, the Archives has a tremendous amount of data on hand.

Colt archives
You can almost smell the history…
Colt archives
It can be a challenge to read older handwritten records, such as this one from 1862, during the height of the Civil War, listing guns headed to the Washington Arsenal and New York State Armory. (Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Colt archives
While many of the records have been digitized and are in controlled storage off-site, the Archives has some books on hand. 
Colt archives
Rows of them…

On a personal note, I have sent in requests in the past for research letters from the Archives and have been delighted with the results. However, keep in mind that the historians can only report what they find, which may be very detailed and interesting, or scant. The books only hold so much data.

As it was, I had a pending record with the Archives that I had sent in months prior that was nearing completion when we visited. It was on a circa-1967 Colt Agent.

Colt agent
While it had replacement Pachymar grips when I bought it that were not correct to the gun, it also had a very well-fitted Colt-marked hammer shroud that looked way too good to be aftermarket. 
Colt Agent Colt archives
It turns out that my guess was right, and the Archives were able to find that the Agent left the factory with a shroud installed. Super happy = me.

Check out the full 16-minute video we made at the Archives, here. 

We want to thank Beverly and her crew at the Colt Archives for opening their doors to us.

Beretta M9 Still Riding the Seas with the Navy

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A recent photo series released by the U.S. Navy showcased the iconic Beretta M9, still in service with the country’s maritime forces.

The crew of the Pearl Harbor-based Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) was recently seen putting the M9 service pistol through its paces on a makeshift range set up on the ship’s helicopter deck.

Plus, you gotta love the old school “blue blob” silhouette transitional targets originally developed by the Treasury Department back in the 1990s.

250606-N-VM650-1158 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (June 6, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250606-N-VM650-1041 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (June 6, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1574 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) U.S. Sailors fire the M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1535 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1473 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1357 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor reloads an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250529-N-VM650-1125 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo

250529-N-VM650-1303 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (May 29, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250606-N-VM650-1118 U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (June 6, 2025) A U.S. Sailor fires an M9 pistol during a small arms gun shoot aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

“Watchstanders must prepare for anything, including the use of force when necessary,” said the ship’s social media feed on Wednesday. “Wayne E. Meyer ensures its Sailors are ready with regular small arms training to ensure we can protect the ship and its crew from anyone at any time!”

Adopted to replace the M1911A1 .45 Government Issue in 1985, the Beretta M9 became the standard sidearm across the then-Department of Defense, with some exceptions for specialty units. The initial five-year $56.4 million contract, to produce 315,930 units for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, ended up running more than three decades, greatly surpassing those numbers.

In 2017, the SIG P320 won the Army’s Modular Handgun System contract to replace the Beretta, and the last military contract M9 left Beretta’s Gallatin, Tennessee factory in September 2021.

While the Navy has acquired 60,000 SIG M18s to replace its current M9s, as shown by the photos from Meyer, the ol’ “Italian Stallion” continues to ride with some units.

And it’s not just on the Meyer, as photos taken recently on the cruiser USS Princeton and the amphibious ship USS Iwo Jima show.

250717-N-BT947-1457 SOUTH CHINA SEA (July 17, 2025) U.S. Navy Chief Fire Control Toby Hughes, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, fires an M9 pistol during a small arms weapons qualification aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), July 17, 2025. The Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group is underway, conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jacob I. Allison)

ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 11, 2025) Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Kaleb Jenkins, from Huntsville, Alabama, fires a Beretta M9 pistol at a target during a small arms firing exercise on the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Andrew Eggert)

This shouldn’t be surprising, as most ships traditionally maintain the same small arms locker inventory they were originally outfitted with when commissioned into service, unless they go through a long-term multi-month/year overhaul/SLEP process. As a warship can be in service for 20 or 30 years or more, that can leave its small arms locker a bit…dated.

For instance, in the first couple of years of World War II, it was common for Navy ships to still have supplies of cutlasses in their inventory for boarding teams, items that ironically became useful as ersatz machetes for Marines fighting across the jungles of the Western Pacific. During Vietnam, some vessels still had Tommy guns and Garands in their armory. As Meyer commissioned in 2009, still having Berettas on board tracks.

Further, the service tends to keep older small arms on hand much longer than is typical for Army and Marine units. After all, the M14 is still often seen in service afloat. 

Nonetheless, the cool and classy Beretta 92 remains a thing of beauty and a great shooter, so we don’t blame the Navy at all for keeping it around.

CZ Nocturne P-09 C Extended Review after a year

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The CZ Nocturne series builds on the company’s well-received P-07/09 line, which puts a DA/SA CZ-75-ish pistol with a polymer frame in the gun case for a price that compared well to competitors. The upside is better ergonomics and the ability to add a direct-mounted (no plate) red dot in a super common pattern. Sounds like a love story told in polymer and steel, right?

Well, once we got our test pistol running, it was.

Sure, every romance has its bumpy phase. We made it.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Ruger goes walnut for a throwback Mini

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Ruger has gone full walnut on an anniversary model of the company’s famed Mini-14carbine to celebrate more than half a century of the rifle’s production.

Designed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by Bill Ruger and L. James Sullivan, the latter one of the engineers behind the AR-15, the Mini-14 took visual and naming cues from the Army’s 7.62 NATO M14 battle rifle (albeit with mechanical cues from the M1 Garand), but was scaled down to fire a .223 Remington/5.56 NATO round.

Since its introduction in 1974, the gun has captured the public’s imagination and chalked up over 200 film and TV credits, making it an icon.

I mean, who can forget Colonel John ‘Hannibal’ Smith and his khaki tuxedo?

The new 50th anniversary model remains a modern variant of the Mini when it comes to its 580-series Ranch Rifle gas system and internals, while sporting a laser-engraved anniversary logo on the bolt, polished stainless steel accents, and full walnut furniture, including a wood handguard rather than the plastic one that was introduced in 1978. In an ode to the old and highly collectible “GB” models, it sports a bayonet lug and a birdcage style flash suppressor.

​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14
Note that the full-size walnut stock includes a wood top cover and has a slot cut to utilize an M1 carbine sling/oiler. Meanwhile, the gas block features a left-side sling swivel. (Photos: Ruger) 
​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14
The 18-inch cold hammer-forged has a 6-groove 1:9-inch RH twist (rather than the old 1:7 twist) and ends in a 1/2″-28TPI threaded muzzle under the flash hider. 
​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14
Sights include a ghost ring rear aperture and a non-glare protected blade front sight on the GI-pattern bayonet lug. Meanwhile, the receiver is drilled and tapped for mounting an included Picatinny rail.

​​​​​​​The 50th anniversary Ruger Mini-14 ships with a hard case, two 20-round magazines, and scope rings with an MSRP of $1,399. For comparison, the standard sans bayonet lugged blued model with a simpler walnut stock and plastic top cover has an ask of $1,339 and ships with a 5-round mag.

Strongpoint

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Talk about pucker factor. It happened 75 years ago. 15 September 1950, “Somewhere in Korea,” but we know now it is in the newly established Inchon enclave.

Original Caption: “Marines with a bazooka and a protecting machine gun set up a security post against a possible tank counter-attack. 1st MarDiv. Korea.”

Photog: Sgt. Frank Kerr. 127-N-A2747. National Archives Identifier 5891325

Note the M20 3.5-inch “Super Bazooka” with a rocket loaded and at least four more on standby, as well as the M1919 air-cooled Browning .30 cal with three cans of belted ammo ready to go. All in all, at least a few minutes’ worth of “tough resistance” before these Devils had to be reinforced or fall back. Their jute bag protection, however, is more concealment than cover.

Rushed to Korea in July 1950, the Marines quickly fell in love with the new Super Bazooka, which replaced their smaller and much less effective 2.36-inch M9 Bazookas. Besides putting the T-34 on the menu, at least at close range, it proved useful in knocking out enemy bunkers and clumps of positions.

“Marine riflemen in the background stand by while their 3.5 bazooka man puts a round into a Communist position down the hill. This action took place in mopping-up operations in Korea.” 18 September 1950. From the Photograph Collection (COLL/3948), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections

The rearview on 18 months with the Rost Martin RM1C

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We weren’t sure what to expect when the Rost Martin RM1C was first announced at SHOT ’24. Was it going to be a made-in-Turkey import with someone else’s name on it? A “game-changing” G19 Gen 3 clone but without its muse’s reliability? A vaporware gun that ever left the drawing board?

No, after 18 months and 1,500 rounds, we found it to be a solid American-made (from the land of Whataburger and Buc-ee’s, no less) double-stack 9 with lots of backend support and a lineage drawn from a proven design. Affordable, we found it dependable, accurate, and intuitive in use.

Plus, it is optics-ready.

That big ole Trijicon RCR actually costs about twice what the gun does, but both work.

About the only rocks we could toss its way were in the safety tab in the trigger shoe, which we have talked about and is easily overcome with a bit of training, and the very stout recoil spring, which is common in a lot of striker-fired pistols of its size.

Full review in my column over at Guns.com.

New (to Steyr) ATc and ATd Series Hammer-Fired Pistols

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Austria-based Steyr last week debuted a NEW (!) series of pistols designed for both competition (ATc) and defense (ATd) with a familiar feel to them.

As reported by the European gun sites All 4 Shooters and MilitaerAktuell, Steyr made the public debut of the new all-metal, optics-ready, hammer-fired pistols at a media event in Slovenia at the beginning of the month.

As such, these are the first hammer-fired pistols branded by Steyr since the old Gasbremse (GB) gas guns of the 1970s and 80s.

You remember the old Steyr GB, ja?

And the first all-metal pistols since the M.12 went out of production in 1945.

And who can forget the Steyr 1912?

The all-stainless ATc is pitched to competition users and features tuned 3-pound SAO triggers and heavy match barrels with options for 5- and 6-inch lengths.

Meanwhile, the three ATd model 6-pound DA/SA guns, geared more for defensive use, will have alloy frames in three barrel sizes (4, 5, and 6 inches). These use 18-shot double-stack 9mm magazines, with extended magazines available up to 25 rounds. The guns will have modular recoil spring and hammer spring options to allow easy user-level tuning.

The competition-oriented Steyr ATc
The competition-oriented Steyr ATc. (Photos: Steyr via Militaer Aktuell)
The more defensive-minded Steyr ATd
The more defensive-minded Steyr ATd. (Photos: Steyr via Militaer Aktuell)

The new guns appear to be rebranded and upgraded Arex Rex Alphas, a pistol teased in 2017 and delivered to the market in small numbers since 2018. These have typically been imported to the States by the FIME Group.

The Arex Rex Alpha is a more competition-oriented version of the company’s Zero 1 and Zero 2 series pistols, which were essentially updated SIG P226 clones. (Photos: Arex)

Arex, based in Slovenia, has been owned by the Czech Republic-based RSBC Investment Group since 2017. RSBC purchased Steyr last year, making it all make sense. It will be interesting to see whether the guns’ production line will be in Austria or Slovenia.

Price is reported to start at €999, which translates to about $1,170, not counting tariffs. As for the likelihood of these guns making it to America, Steyr has a much more robust in-house Alabama-based importing ability over Arex, so the logic on the branding would seem to point towards the U.S. market.

On this side of the pond, the ATc could be a good competitor against SIG’s P226 X5, while the ATd could take on assorted DA/SA P226 SKUs, if the price were right.

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