Tag Archives: new rifle 2025

Glenfield is Back: Meet the new Glenfield Model A Bolt-Action Rifle

Posted on by Leave a comment

Marlin dates to 1870 and is one of America’s iconic and best-known firearms makers. Before its acquisition by the Freedom Group (Remington Arms) in 2007, Marlin had several subsidiary brands under its umbrella.

These included legacy firearms makers that it had purchased over the years, such as Harrington & Richardson, Hunter Arms, L.C. Smith, and New England Firearms. Other brands, on the other hand, Marlin invented from whole cloth, such as the Glenfield Products Division, an idea of then-company CEO Roger Kenna, who led Marlin from 1948 through 1959.

Hitting the scenes at a time when big box catalog sales were the Amazon of its day, Glenfield became a staple for outfits like Sears and J.C. Penney, back when they sold guns and every house on the block had one or more of their catalogs on the living room table.

I give you a circa 1972 JCPenney’s Christmas ad:

The Glenfield brand is back… (Photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The original Glenfield models were based on Marlin’s standard catalog but offered in a more affordable package with fewer options. For instance, the Marlin Model 60, a popular semi-auto .22, was sold as the Glenfield Model 60, with a plainer stock that featured an engraved squirrel logo. Likewise, the Marlin 336 was also marketed as the Glenfield Model 30 with non-specified hardwood furniture rather than the walnut seen on the Marlin, and with minor style differences.

The concept proved popular with consumers, who got a good firearm at a great price.

Glenfield cruised along into the mid-1980s and was then quietly put to bed, but the rifles and shotguns made under the banner continue to circulate and have a soft spot with nostalgia-minded collectors. As an aside, my first sporting rifle that I purchased over the counter, looking back some four decades ago, was a Model 30A in .30-30.

With Ruger acquiring Marlin in 2020, resurrection was in the cards.

Nice to see the roll mark again.

“We’re excited to bring back the iconic Glenfield Firearms brand with a new product that reflects Ruger’s dedication to manufacturing affordable, American-made firearms for any and every hunter,” said Ruger President and CEO, Todd Seyfert, at the brand’s relaunch.

The Model A Rifle: Familiar Newcomer

Glenfield’s inaugural 21st-century platform is the no-frills Model A bolt-action centerfire sporting rifle, which is “highly inspired by” the Gen I Ruger American Rifle. Ruger introduced that platform almost 15 years ago, and it has been well-vetted by America’s hunters, with over 2 million sold since then.

The company tells us that the Glenfield Model A carries forward the most valued elements of the Gen I Ruger American Rifle but has an MSRP about $100 below comparable Ruger-branded rifles – all without skimping on features.

Glenfield Model A rifle
The current Glenfield Model A, in .308 Winchester, seen equipped. The series uses a splatter-finished Moss Green synthetic stock with sling swivel studs and a recoil pad.

Full review in my column at Guns.com.

Ruger goes walnut for a throwback Mini

Posted on by Leave a comment

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.

New S&W Axe AR line includes as many SBRs as carbines

Posted on by Leave a comment

Featuring “Ambi X Enhancement,” Tennessee-based Smith & Wesson debuted a new line of 5.56 NATO M&P15 rifles this week.

Besides full ambidextrous controls on the receiver, the new AXE line utilizes Gemtech GVAC technology in the uppers to minimize gas blowback when shooting suppressed. They also have a Gemtech ETM flash hider system; an improved BCG with a Carpenter 158 steel bolt, 8620 steel carrier, and a chromed firing pin; an Armornite-finished 4150 steel barrel with 5R 1:8 rifling; and an M&P grip with interchangeable palm swells.

Other standard features include a Radian Raptor charging handle, Williams folding sights, M-LOK slots on a Midwest Industries free-floating handguard, and Magpul stocks.

The Smith AXE series is introduced in four models, including factory SBRs with 11.5 and 14.5-inch barrels, a standard carbine with a 16.1-inch barrel, and a more upscale Performance Center rifle. The first three are all black with a Magpul CTR adjustable carbine stock, while the Performance Center model sports a Gray Cerakote and a Magpul DT stock. (Photos: S&W)

More in my column at Guns.com.

Lightweight and Wastelander Tommy guns

Posted on by Leave a comment

While covering the NRA Annual Meetings in Atlanta recently, I made sure to stop by the Auto-Ordnance booth, as they always have something interesting.

One of these was a neat limited edition Wastelander Thompson, which carries a custom Cerakote finish that looks fresh from some post-apocalyptic badlands.

limited edition Wastelander Thompson
The Wastelander Thompson carries a custom finish that goes far deeper than just some exotic Cerakote and ships complete with a sling crafted from a salvaged motorcycle chain. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
limited edition Wastelander Thompson
“Forged for over 80 hours with grit and ingenuity by the survivors at Koted Arms, every detail of the Wastelander Thompson, from the graphic designs to the rusted-out Cerakote finish, reflects the harsh realities of a post-apocalyptic world,” notes Auto-Ordnance. 
limited edition Wastelander Thompson
Note the intricate, deep laser-engraved markings that feel like it has seen the abuse of some far-off end-of-times battlefield. 
limited edition Wastelander Thompson
The walnut furniture has been given a plasma-cut treatment that gives it a distinctive lightning bolt pattern. 
limited edition Wastelander Thompson
The Wastelander Thompson is chambered in .45 ACP and features a 16.5-inch finned barrel that extends to 18.5 inches with its compensator.
limited edition Wastelander Thompson
It has an overall length of 41 inches and a solid weight of 13 pounds due to its steel construction.

They also have the new T5P, a polymer-stocked Thompson. Black on black, it is a standard 1927A1 but with wood grain polymer furniture, which drops almost five pounds from the hefty .45 ACP carbine. Seems like they could have shaved a few more ounces dropping it down to a 16.1-inch barrel rather than the 18 it ships with, but hey. MSRP is expected to be $1,558.

Spec sheet below:

The new models come as the old-school “Chicago Typewriter” has been getting a lot of time on the silver screen in recent weeks. The iconic drum-magged Tommy gun is seen in both the trailers and extensively, in the end scene of the smash new horror movie “Sinners.”