Tag Archives: nra 2023

Henry Gunfighter?

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Henry continues to add interesting new pages to its catalog with the new Big Boy series of double-action revolvers, chambered in the profoundly serious .357 Magnum caliber.

The Henry Big Boy .357 revolver came out of nowhere and was likely not on anyone’s bingo card when it was introduced earlier this year. Few companies these days elect to get into the medium-framed .357 Magnum caliber double-action revolver market, and some (looking at you, Colt and Rossi) have even tried to exit that space in recent memory.

Still, Henry is doing a lot of things right with its inaugural wheel gun. It is accurate, has a decent trigger, and borrows enough things from proven legacy designs to seem familiar while having a very “Henry-ness” about it at the same time. You just don’t see lots of brass-accented revolvers in a double-action format, but Henry has pulled it off while still delivering a very solid-feeling and capable handgun to the market.

Chambered in .357 Magnum, the Big Boy also runs the slightly shorter .38 Special and is meant as an easy complement to the company’s popular Big Boy Brass Side Gate rifle in the same caliber. The Side Gate has an octagonal 20-inch blued steel barrel, American walnut furniture, and a polished hardened brass receiver. It has a 10-round capacity via its underbarrel tube magazine and feels like shooting a .22 Magnum.

One use I could see for the Henry Big Boy revolver is as a sidearm for outdoorsmen – particularly bow hunters in states that allow it – headed into the backwoods where interactions with black bears, feral hogs, or hostile bipeds can occur.

I’ve been putting one of these medium-framed wheel guns through its paces for the past few months and have a full breakdown of this new gem in Henry’s crown over in my column at Guns.com.

A Closer look at the FN 15 Guardian

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For the past couple of months, I’ve been working with FN’s most entry-level AR-15, the Guardian.

It shares a lot of FN’s M4 DNA and has a great barrel– I’m talking a 16-inch nitride-coated specimen made of 4150 chrome-moly-vanadium (CMV) steel. FN tells us it is MIL-B-11595 high-pressure tested and subjected to magnetic particle inspection after proof firing. It runs a 1:7 twist rate, which is one of the most common twists on AR-15s today and great for stabilizing heavier bullets, which have become more popular.

Now, it uses a slick-sided NBS-made billet upper, which does away with the jam enhancer (forward assist), on a forged lower, and carries the same general furniture as seen on the company’s TAC3 series which costs twice as much. Everything else (trigger, charging handle, etc) is mil-spec.

At a $999 asking price – typically much lower with retailers – the FN 15 Guardian delivers a lot of performance for half the price of the company’s $1,889 TAC 3 and likewise comes in at a fraction of the cost of the $2,439 DMR3. In fact, the Guardian is the most affordable FN 15 in the company’s catalog, coming in at a price point lower than the $1,359 Patrol Carbine, its former “budget” offering.

I’ve only got a few hundred rounds through it thus far, but it is holding up well and I haven’t had a single jam even with mixing 14 wildly different loads across four different style mags.

500 Rounds with the Reflex (x2)

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FN over the past few years has been trying to shrink down its 9mm carry offerings as an answer to market demands sparked by guns like the SIG P365 and Springfield Armory Hellcat. While the 6+1-shot FN 503 was small and dependable, people seem to have that double-stack micro 9 itch and, to scratch it, FN has debuted the Reflex.

With a 3.3-inch barrel that gives it a 6.2-inch overall length, the FN Reflex falls into the increasingly familiar micro 9 subcompact category blazed by some rivals in the past few years. (All Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Hitting the scales at just 18.4 ounces right out of the box, it runs a flush-fit 11+1 round mag with a pinky extension for better grip support and ships with an extended 15+1 round mag.

FN sent me a pair of the guns– one a plain black standard model, the second an optics-ready MRD in FDE– and I’ve put 500 rounds through each.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The revolver is dead, right?

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Just 20 years ago, revolvers were dead. Colt and Dan Wesson had stopped making revolvers altogether. Taurus had just bought Rossi and was closing their revolver lines. Smith was trimming down their wheelgun offerings as was Ruger. Anyone forecasting what was to come would have surely pegged the downward spiral as one that would continue.

Well, a funny thing happened. Turned out, folks liked revolvers.

Colt is back making more than ever before. So is Smith. Two of Ruger’s top-selling product lines are the Wrangler .22 and the LCR, announced in 2017 and 2009, respectively. The biggest splash at SHOT Show 2016 was that Kimber was making revolvers. Rossi came back to the wheelgun world at this past SHOT Show.

Now, Henry, who has been a stalwart rifle and shotgun maker since they were re-booted in 1996, is making a .357 magnum revolver– and you know that I had to get one to try out.

The Big Boy is very S&W K-frame but with a brass backstrap/trigger guard.

A six-shot double-action/single-action medium-frame six-shooter, the Big Boy revolver is meant as a complementary wheel gun to the company’s popular Big Boy Brass Side Gate rifle, which carries an octagonal 20-inch blued steel barrel, American walnut furniture, and a polished hardened brass receiver. Likewise offered in .357/.38, it has a 10-round capacity via its underbarrel tube magazine.

More on what I have found out about the Big Boy in my column at Guns.com.

14 Shot Tip Up .380: Meet the EAA Girsan MC 14T

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At first look, the EAA-imported Girsan MC 14T appears to be a clone of the original circa 1970s Beretta Cheetah series, now a classic.

However, you will note that the EAA carries an M1913 Picatinny accessory rail on the dust cover for mounting lights and lasers– a feature never cataloged on any old-school Cheetah variant.

Using a simple straight blowback action, it is chambered in .380 ACP and uses a double-action/single-action trigger with a manual frame-mounted safety lever.

The EAA Girsan MC 14T, left, compared to a Beretta Cheetah. Note the Girsan is slightly longer, and we’ll get into that. Of note, it uses the same magazine as the double-stack 13+1 round magazine of the Beretta 84.

This extended barrel length is to allow a “tip up” barrel easily actuated by a one-push lever on the right-hand side of the frame. For the gun nerds out there, Beretta briefly made a tip-up .380 Cheetah, the Model 86, but it was a single stack, and collectors, due to its rarity, tend to drive prices on those into the $1,500 region.

This is comparable to Beretta’s pipsqueak mouse guns such as the Model 21A Bobcat shown here in .22 LR.

More on the MC 14T in my column at Guns.com.

Hammer-Fired Micro 9: First Looks at the New FN Reflex

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Setting itself apart from the rest of the itty bitty 9mm double-stack pack, FN’s new Reflex 9mm is a hammer-fired micro-compact with a great trigger.

Debuted just before the NRA’s Annual Meetings in April, I’ve been taking a closer look at the Reflex series as part of an extended test and evaluation that will push this little palm-sized parabellum past the 2,000-round mark.

The Reflex ships in a cardboard box with a plastic tray and comes with two magazines. For most states, this means a 15+1 round extended mag and a flush-fit 11+1 round mag with a pinky extension for better grip support. (All photos: Chris Eger)

The unloaded weight is 18.4 ounces with an empty mag. We found the Reflex in its most svelte form, with 12 rounds of Federal’s Punch JHP 124-grain self-defense loads and no optic, to hit the scales at 23.4 ounces. Shown with a DeSantis Inside Heat which, although made for the single stack FN 503, fits it like a glove.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Everything old is new again, DW 1911 edition

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If you have followed this blog for more than a week or so, you’d know that I have a soft spot for 1911s. Well, at Indy last week, it was obvious that Dan Wesson is keeping a foot in both the vintage and contemporary 1911 market.

The newest version of the DW Specialist debuted at the 152nd NRA Annual Meetings in Indianapolis over the weekend, adding an optics-ready slide to the .45 ACP rail gun. The factory cut has three optic plate options while a front fixed Novak-style fiber optic night sight and a tactical rear sight are also mounted.

Dan Wesson 1911 Specialist Optics-Ready includes a tactical hammer and a long solid trigger in addition to an ambi safety.

Note the Picatinny accessory rail, G10 VZ Operator II grips, and 25 LPI front strap checkering. The forged stainless steel frame and slide has a matte black duty finish.

Then there is the Heirloom.

The company’s Heirloom 1911 series are typically only offered in limited runs each year, usually just in .45 ACP. Now, for the first time, Dan Wesson is rolling with a .38 Super chambering for this top-shelf Government Issue-sized pistol. Made with premium parts while remaining eminently shootable, the pistol uses hand-fit 70 Series frames and slides paired with a match-grade barrel.

One of the big selling points is that these are rock-solid guns and that DW refuses to use any MIM small parts in the construction of an Heirloom. The idea is that it is built to withstand the test of time and is made to be handed down from one generation to the next– still as accurate and dependable as it was on day one.

Note the Black DLC high-polished finish, scrollwork, brass front sight, and Ivory-colored G10 grips.

The Heirloom ships with a solid medium-length trigger, undercut trigger guards, hand-polished flats, a beveled magazine well, and an overall carry bevel treatment.

I wouldn’t toss either one out of my safe. 

Henry Has Entered the Wheel Gun Game

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Wisconsin-based Henry Repeating Arms continues to grow from its traditional lever-gun line and on Thursday introduced a pair of new 357 Magnum six-shooters.

The company’s first two entries in what is dubbed the Henry Big Boy Revolver line are both medium-framed double-action/single-action guns with swing-out cylinders. Each features a 4-inch barrel and is chambered in .357/.38, with the difference coming in the grip– one ships with square Gunfighter-style grips while the second has rounded compact Birdshead-style grips.

Featuring polished blued steel finishes and deluxe American walnut grips, these new wheel guns are meant more for target shooters and collectors. Note the exposed ejector rod and barrel profile that are very much akin in styling to a circa 1950s Colt Official Police.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Peanut butter Hellcat travels

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I wouldn’t classify myself as a Springfield Armory fanboy, but after spending a lot of time and brass with the Hellcat Pro, I may become one.

Springfield introduced the Hellcat 11+1 round 9mm series in September 2019, becoming one of the first real competitors to SIG’s P365, a 10+1 round micro compact 9mm of about the same size that hit the reset button on the carry market the year prior.

Then, in 2022, Springfield updated the design with the Hellcat Pro series, which brings a 15+1 capacity and an optics-ready slide to the platform.

I’ve been kicking around one with a peanut butter (officially Desert FDE) hued finish since around Thanksgiving and have well over 2K rounds through it.

The full details after the jump.

Ruger does what it should have done in the first place

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When the Ruger Wrangler popped out in 2019, it was a basic no-frills .22 LR single-action revolver styled on their well-liked Single-Six but cheaper. 

Made with a zinc alloy frame and finished in Cerakote, it had basic fixed sights but it worked.

I handled the above early model at NRAAM four years ago and thought it was okay, but wished it had better sights, a longer barrel, and was sold with an option to swap out the .22 LR cylinder for a .22 Mag, which would make it a lot more capable. After all, Heritage makes their little single-actioned rimfires in Georgia with much the same convertible option, and for a bargain basement price.

Well, Ruger has heard me and legions of others and today, I can share that I have been evaluating the new Super Wrangler. As you may have figured out, it has better sights, a longer barrel, and is sold complete with a .22 LR cylinder and one for a .22 Mag.

Behold, the Super Wrangler! Notably, it comes in at half the price of Ruger’s Single-Six convertible.

More on the new Super Wrangler in my column at Guns.com.

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