Tag Archives: Smith and Wesson

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

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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.

It Looks Like Thompson/Center Arms is Getting a Reboot

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The Thompson/Center Contender and Encore were legendary in their day…then S&W bought the company in 2006

Billed as “America’s Master Gunmaker,” the iconic firearms brand that dates to 1965 is once again independent and has big plans for the future. 
 
Outdoor industry figure Gregg Ritz announced last Monday that he had acquired Thompson/Center Arms and plans to “reinvigorate the brand and its legacy in the firearms market.” Ritz was previously the CEO of the company before 2007. 
 
Thompson/Center was founded 59 years ago in Rochester, New Hampshire, and over the decades has concentrated on single-shot pistols, rifles, carbines, and shotguns as well as muzzleloaders and the short-lived R-55 series semi-auto rimfire rifle. 
 
Since it was acquired by Smith & Wesson in 2006 and gradually moved production to Springfield, Massachusetts, T/C  expanded its catalog to produce bolt-action rifles such as the Compass, Dimension, Icon, and Venture lines, but seemingly cut back on production. 
 
In 2007, ATF figures list T/C in its heyday as producing 9,375 pistols and 47,564 rifles. By 2011, with T/C’s guns after that being folded into S&W’s figures, the ATF detailed that production had declined to just 330 pistols and 31,708 rifles.
 
In 2019, Thompson/Center reentered semi-auto rimfire rifle production with the new T/C R22 series rifles. 
 
However, after S&W split from its parent company, American Outdoor Brands Corporation, five years ago and began to blaze a new trail for itself that cumulated in shifting its headquarters from Massachusetts to more gun-friendly Tennessee, T/C kind of fell by the wayside to the extent that Smith announced the subsidiary was for sale in 2021. 
 
Now, with Ritz in the driver’s seat and operations shifted to Wabash, Indiana, the company’s website and social media feed showed new activity this week for the first time in months. 

One of Lawrence of Arabia’s hoglegs surfaces

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The UK’s National Army Museum recently announced they have received a historic revolver tied to an iconic British adventurer from World War I.

The revolver, which looks to be an early Smith & Wesson 1st Model Hand Ejector in .44 — the company’s first N-frame– is engraved with the name of Ashraf Bey.

Who? More in my column at Guns.com

Smith’s game changer

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Debuted last October, the S&W M&P M2.0 Compact, a 15-round capacity medium-sized entry to Smith and Wesson’s line, was from the beginning thought to be a direct contender to niche populated by the well-liked Glock 19. The G19 has long been the people’s champ when it comes to a double-stack 9mm handgun that is serious enough to provide solace if needed while compact enough to carry without pulling your pants down every other step.

Over a five-month period, I put 2,000 rounds through the new Smith, give or take a handful, and carried it for approximately 400 hours, and compared it directly to the G19.

In short, Smith got a lot of things right.

Jump to my column at Guns.com to see what I found.

One of these things is not like the other…or is it?

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Just got my hot little hands on S&W’s new M&P 2.0 Compact in 9mm, which Smith plans on pitting against the always-popular (in polymer pistol circles) Glock 19.

Going through the specs, the Compact uses a 4-inch barrel and has a 15+1 round capacity in 9mm and 13+1 in the .40 variant with an unloaded weight of just under 24-ounces. This is a dead ringer in comparison to the Glock 19 and 23 and a hair lighter than the 26-ounce P-10 C series from Czech gun maker CZ.

I plan on having fun shooting them head-to-head and I have already found things I like about it over the Glock, though it does have a few thorns.

Those holsters, tho

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Thowback Thursday from July 1943

WAVES used .38 Military & Police Victory Models

Safety Nazi finds your lack of eye and ear pro disturbing.

Original title and caption: “Weapons for WAVES, Norfolk, VA– This group of gun-totin’ gals is plenty dead-eyed, as you will see. They are WAVES stationed at this Naval Base who carry important, confidential messages between various section units. On the outdoor range ready to let loose at a target are WAVE Ensigns Louise Hunn, Plainfield, N.H.; Pamela Birmingham, Rye, N.Y.; Sussie Nelm Hill, Atlanta, G.A.; Louise Shiriver, Baltimore, M.D.; and Priscilla Harrington, Malden, Mass.”

The WAVES used .38 Smith and Wesson Military & Police Victory Models.