Sunday Gun Day 2021

I shoot PRS-style and short-range benchrest matches for "agg" and score, but I wanted to diversify so I made a foray into F-Class shooting. For this purpose, I put together this F-Class rifle in 6mm Dasher with a Sawtooth Rifles barrel and some excellent Vortex glass on top. She shoots smoother than silk, and with her I took the local club's annual 600-yard championship!

This Colt Police Positive chambered in .32 "Colt New Police" (actually .32 S&W Long - Colt didn't like using their competitor's name) is my pride and joy. In the 41 years I was married to his daughter while he was alive, my father-in-law was NOT into shooting at all and never showed any interest in guns. After he passed away, I was helping my mother-in-law pack up some of his things, and in the back of his closet I found this beauty. My mother-in-law had no idea he owned it! After completing a legal transfer of ownership, it became mine. It has never been shot, and as you can see, it still has its original box, paperwork, and even its factory cleaning brush. This is not just a beautiful gun, but to me it is a treasured memento of the man who gave me my wonderful bride.

This pistol is inspired by the now-defunct IPSC Modified competition division, which was the "anything goes" division: as long as the gun fit in The Box, you could compete with it. I set out to build a modern daily carry/personal-defense pistol that would squeeze out every bit of performance capability from the SIG Sauer P320 platform, while maintaining a reasonable overall size and weight. Here's the parts list for this pistol: P320 Compact FCU and slide, Icarus Precision Tactical Carry aluminum grip module, Bar-Sto Precision threaded barrel, Springer Precision ESP magwell and Open compensator, Atlas Gunworks optic mount, Holosun 508T reflex sight, DPM Systems recoil spring assembly, Apex Tactical Flat Forward-Set trigger, and - let there be light! - a Surefire X300U-B. What I’ve ended up with is the most broadly capable, best-shooting pistol I have EVER had in my hands. This gun is my do-all EDC CCW pistol, and I carry it in a one-off custom Kydex® holster made for me by OTG Hex.

Here's my "loadout" for squirrel hunting. The CZ 455 American .22 rimfire has become one of my favorite rifles. It’s exceptionally accurate, easy to use, and very enjoyable to shoot. The Leupold VX-1 rimfire scope complements the rifle extremely well and allows the full potential of this CZ to be realized. Its sidekick is a 1965 Colt Frontier Scout in .22 LR. I purchased this revolver several years ago - unfired in its original box! Upon payment, the previous owner asked me if I would leave it unfired and display it. I grinned and said, "I’m heading straight for the range." There was a look of dismay on his face, but my view is that a gun is meant to be used, not kept in a display case like a museum piece. Another favorite tool of mine shown in the photo is the Victorinox Swiss Army knife, Cadet model. The Cadet is a handy, perfectly sized, effective tool. One is always within my reach. I’m looking forward to wandering through the woods of Michigan this fall and winter to keep the bushy-tailed population under control.

My favorite guns are a pair of EMF Great Western II Single Action Army clones, of which this is one. They're chambered in .45 Long Colt and were special-ordered with Bisley hammers. Then I had pistolsmith Bob Munden give them a proper Cowboy Action setup. (Renowned for his custom single action revolvers, Bob Munden was also a fast-draw exhibition shooter who was, at one point, called "the fastest man with a gun who ever lived" by the Guiness Book of World Records.) They're not the latest, polymer-framed, tactically tricked out, red dot sight equipped raceguns. But they are a heck of a lot of fun to shoot. They're my Sunday fun guns!

This is my Winchester 1894 Saddle Ring Carbine, suitably chambered in .32 Winchester Special. My great-grandfather purchased it brand-new in 1925 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Even though it's been used quite a bit to put food on the table in the last 100 years, it's still a darned handsome gun. And it still serves me well out here in El Paso, Texas.

If we've learned anything in the last two years, it's that mental health is just as important as physical health. And let me tell you, "range therapy" is a real thing! There's nothing better than unwinding and blowing off some steam with my 6.5 Creedmoor bolt gun built by Roberts Precision Rifles in Spring, Texas. I went with a heavy Bartlein barrel, Defiance action, Triggertech trigger, McMillan stock, and Area 419 muzzle brake. I topped it off with a Nigthforce 7-35x56mm ATACR scope. (Next up on deck will be a Spuhr mount to make sure I get the most out of that optic.) Shooting this rifle generates about as much fun as a fellow can have in broad daylight!

This is my version of the M4A1 Mk18 Mod 1 Block II carbine used by USSOCOM. It is nearly "clone"-correct (and state compliant, too, of course), with a few exceptions. I used a Griffin Armament Mk1 stripped lower receiver, Magpul BSL® Arm Brace, Colt upper receiver (stamped "13629," with a square forge mark), Daniel Defense Mk18 RIS II rail handguard, Andro Corp 10.3" CRANE-spec MK18 barrel, Geissele M4 bolt / carrier group, Geissele SSA trigger, Precision Reflex Gas Buster charging handle, EOTech EXPS3-0 red dot sight with G33 magnifier, Griffin Armament M2 front and rear backup sights, Knight's Armament A2 pistol grip, and a Blue Force Gear sling attached via HK clips to CQD mounts. The Magpul Gen M3 PMAG is loaded with Black Hills Mk 262 ammo. Got the Surefire M600U weapon light mounted via a Haley Strategic Scout mount, and the switch is mounted in a Cloud Defensive LCS. It's a compact carbine that's FULLY equipped and ready for pretty much anything!

This is my daily carry pistol. It started out as a factory-stock SIG Sauer P320X Carry. I carried the gun for a year before I started to mod it, first swapping the factory grip module for a Wilson Combat WCP320 grip module because it felt much better in my hand than the factory unit. The next mod was the custom slide from SIG, which took a while to get (out of stock), but patience paid off. When SIG finally sent me an email stating it was back in stock, I jumped on it. The gun is very accurate, and I have not had any issues with it. I originally carried a Glock® 19 for work, but this SIG has rapidly become my personal go-to carry gun!

I love the sport of shooting and all it entails, including collecting C&Rs - older guns designated by the ATF as "Curios and Relics" - since 1972. In my collection, I like to have rifles and carbines with "matching" handguns chambered in the same cartridge, to carry along as I traipse through the Kentucky woods and trails. Just a "Kentucky Quirk" of mine, I guess. The lone standout in my collection is this Korean M1 Carbine. By "standout," I mean I have no same-caliber handgun to carry along with it. But I've had it for a long time, and it's become a dear old friend who accompanies me on my jaunts in the bush. [Psssstttt! Fred, that M1 doesn't have to be lonely. Ruger offers their Blackhawk revolver chambered in .30 Carbine. - The Editor.] I’m 77 now, and I thank the Good Lord above for every minute, especially the time I've spent shooting and enjoying firearms. And long walks!

This is my Brownells BRN-10™ that I customized to look like the original ArmaLite AR-10 prototype I saw at the NRA museum in Fairfax, Virginia. The original AR-10 had a Titanium muzzle brake that was essentially a silencer (take a look at it here). I had the barrel on my BRN-10™ cut down to 15.5" and permanently attached a Dead Air silencer adapter to get it up over the NFA-required 16". The Dead Air Sandman-S suppressor stands in for the ArmaLite original, and it functions perfectly. This is one of my absolute favorite rifles to shoot. It’s accurate and soft-shooting - and very, very quiet!

I have over 100 firearms, but this H&K XM8 DMAR rifle is my favorite. It was built with a custom Tommy Built Tactical receiver and an original XM8 parts kit from the 2004 U.S. Army trials held to explore replacements for the M4 carbine. There are quite a few SL8-to-XM8 conversions in circulation, thanks to the work of Tommy Built Tactical. (The SL8 is H&K's civilian version of the G36; parts of the XM8 are based on the G36.) The XM8 is a popular weapon option in various video games, but I have a real gun that I can really take to the range and really shoot. It is also ONE of only TWO XM8s rebuilt from original XM8 parts, and as far as I know, the only XM8 DMAR in a private collection.

This is my Shadow Systems MR920 Elite, chambered in 9mm Luger. It is by far my favorite gun of my collection. Despite its compact size, it's the smoothest, flattest-shooting pistol I’ve ever owned. Coupled with the Rugged Obsidian9™ sound suppressor and the Trijicon RMR red dot sight, it makes for an amazing setup - and a darned quiet one, too. Perfect for when things go "bump" in the night!

My Sunday Gun Day photo shows my diverse collection of different guns. But they all have one very important thing in common: LOTS of lumens. I firmly believe that any firearm you use "seriously" should have a weaponlight on it. You can’t shoot what you can’t see. And it’s dark, like, every night. So be prepared!

This past Sunday, I dug around in the safe and pulled out the Colt 1911 issued to my great-grandfather during his service in World War I. I put it in my range bag, along with a few other high-end 1911s, and headed to the range. Great-grandad's "Forty-Five" never ceases to amaze me. It held its own and performed on par with the Kimber, Colt Gold Cup, and my Nighthawk. Sure, these others are prettier, but function over form- that old Colt ran like a champ! I'll pass it down to my sons and so on. Love ya Pappy! Thank you for your service.

This is my favorite gun, special to me because of its unique history in my family. My father, Capt. Robert S. Hensler, seen in the small photo at the left, relieved the German major in the righthand photo of it during heavy combat in Normandy, France, in July 1944. It's a standard-issue P08 Luger, still in superb condition. My father's unit, the Iowa National Guard 113th Cavalry Group, fought across Normandy, ultimately linking up with the Russians on the Elbe River in Germany in April 1945. My father's service was the first of three generations of family combat veterans, including myself in Vietnam and my son in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will pass this pistol on to my grandson someday.

I am a Type 07 SOT FFL holder, which enables me to build full-auto firearms. Several years ago, I acquired a Finnish Suomi M-31 demilled parts kit to rebuild into a functioning submachine gun. The M-31 is a robust, extremely well-designed subgun put into production by Tikkakoski Oy (aka "Tikka") in the early 1930s for the Finnish Defense Forces. It was used by the FDF in both the Winter War (1939-40) and the Continuation War (1941-44) with Russia. It's chambered in 9mm Parabellum. These parts kits can be pretty rough, and this one was no exception. I did a lot of work to bring it back to life, but my resurrected M-31 shoots great. For its rarity and uniqueness, this gun is the highlight of my collection!

When people ask me what my "favorite" gun is, I have a real hard time deciding. I have quite a fondness for the old Winchester pumps, as well as single-shot rifles. But I have shot double-barreled shotguns since 1969..... When I look over the many I own, my eye keeps returning to this 1931-vintage Fox Sterlingworth. I have another Sterlingworth, but this one is the winner just because it has nicer wood. If I had to be limited to only one shotgun to hunt with for the rest of my days, it would be this one right here. It fits me nicely, shoots where it's pointing, and has never let me down. The other one might be a half-pound or so lighter and a tad quicker to get on target, but when you're sitting in a duck blind, that quickness isn't as important as it is in the grouse woods or hunting quail or pheasants. This old Fox double really is a fine representative of America's "golden age" of gun making.

With only a .357 Magnum Ruger® LCR® in the safe, I wanted to add a heftier, all-steel revolver to the collection - one with a little "extra." I found it in the hard-to-find Ruger® Super Redhawk Alaskan® Toklat with a 5" barrel. I like Ruger for the reliability, robust design, and top-notch customer service. With a mission in mind, I went to Robar Guns, now Wright Armory, in Arizona for customization. One year later, I ended up with this awe-inspiring wheelgun with a cylinder machined to accept multiple calibers: .460 Rowland, .45 ACP, and .45 GAP (with moon clips, of course). But wait, there's more! Other custom goodies include a two-tone Cerakote® finish, ported barrel, laser-cut frame recontouring, perfected trigger spring and firing pin, and custom dovetails for fiber optic sights. I’ve owned an old large-frame Colt revolver, and this gun blows it away. With hard-cast loads from DoubleTap Ammunition, I’d confidently go up against any critter in North America with it!

I grew up around firearms. As a child, at the age of 6, I was given a single-shot .410 bore shotgun. My early shooting experiences revolved around it, a Ruger® 10/22®, and a few hunting rifles. I was about 13 when my dad returned home after a long stint from working away. He had a box with him and told me to come see what was inside. I opened that box - and there was a WASR 10/63, a Romanian variant of the Kalashnikov AK-47. It was love at first sight!

It was built from an original numbers-matching parts kit drawn from a surplus Romanian military rifle dating from 1976, with an original chrome-lined barrel on a new receiver. I have since added a Romanian wood pistol grip, a slant brake, and a Romanian leather sling. I also have a Romanian bayonet but need to get the lugs back on the rifle somehow, one day, before I can mount it. She has seen thousands of rounds and never once let me down. This rifle single-handedly sparked my lifelong love of firearms and collecting of military-style sporting arms from around the globe. Now, at the age of 25, I wouldn’t trade this rifle for the world!

My favorite gun is this long-range Barrett M99 chambered in, appropriately, .416 Barrett. It's topped with a Vortex Razor Gen II 4.5-27x56mm scope anchored by Barrett Zero-Gap Rings. With it, I can launch 500-grain Hornady A-Tips at 3,005 fps and land 1/4" MOA groups out past 1,000 yards! As cool as its performance is, this is my favorite rifle because it was a project I shared with my two teenage boys to teach them the art of precision reloading and shooting, along with gun safety fundamentals. It's a way to help preserve our precious 2nd Amendment rights by passing along a respect for them - and firearms - to the next generation. The memories we created are irreplaceable.

This Smith & Wesson Model 296 AirLite has a special place in my heart. It was S&W's first lightweight Titanium/Scandium revolver, chambered in .44 Special. I carry it in a nylon chest holster 24/7 when I'm hunting here in Alaska. I was on a Brooks Range sheep hunt, when I found myself 15 miles in country hiking a game trail in a narrow canyon. Suddenly, I became aware of a brown object to my front about 30 yards ahead. It was a large grizzly bear! He bounded uphill across my front and stopped on the trail. I shouted to let him know what I was, but he immediately came for me in an arc, using the vegetation to partially cover his movements. I drew the 296 and opened up when the bear was 15 ft. away. My second shot dropped him. He was emaciated and coming to kill me. I believe he had lain by the trail all night with the wind in his favor, waiting for his next meal to come down the trail. When I came along, he moved to attack. The Smith certainly saved my life that day! I added the grizzly bear engraving on the frame to commemorate the day this gun saved my life.

I was out shooting one day, when I turned and discovered my dog Dobby had sneaked up behind me. Pretty soon I realized she had gone deaf from the sound of the rifle fire and only responded to visual commands. After three long weeks, her hearing gradually returned. I felt terrible about what had happened, and the grief made me look at getting a suppressor and a good rifle to mount it on. I'm not into AR-15s, so I looked for an alternative. What I found was a Mossberg 464 SPX "tactical" lever action in .30-30. My wife said it looked like zombie videogame gun, and I agreed. But it had the threaded barrel I needed for the Q Trash Panda suppressor I was waiting on. (The wait for the tax stamp turned out to be surprisingly short.) When I got the 464, I replaced the plastic factory stock and forend with proper Walnut furniture, and after the struggle of getting the Samson flash hider off, I mounted the Trash Panda, as well as a Leupold scope. I think it turned out nicely, plus I have excellent hearing protection during hunting season. Now, I make sure Dobby is in the house before I go shooting. And good news: she can still hear the dogfood rattle in her bowl.

Here are two of my favorite guns, a pair of Smith & Wesson Model 1 revolvers, both dating from the 1870s. These guns both have period "New York"-style engraving and fancy mother-of-pearl grips. All this artistic expression is on tiny guns chambered in the low-powered blackpowder .22 Short cartridge. But to me they epitomize the beauty of the earliest cartridge revolvers - and that hand-cut engraving is absolutely breathtaking in its precision!

This is my JP Enterprises GMR-15 carbine clone in 9mm Luger. I saw my first GMR-15 on a visit to the Brownells Retail Store while I was on vacation in 2017. What a nice rifle! But it's an AR, and you can't just buy one off the shelf. I had to build it myself. Brownells supplied the factory GMR-15 lower that conveniently uses Glock® mags and has the last-round bolt hold-open function, which is a must-have for me. The 9mm bolt assembly and Colt lightweight 9mm barrel also came from Brownells. I stuck with JP Enterprises parts for the trigger group, handguard, and compensator. It's a great rifle to shoot, and thanks to Brownells, I was able to build it my way! [Glad we could help, Jim. For anybody passing through Iowa on Interstate 80 this summer (or any time), take a break at Exit 182 and visit our retail store.

When you live in Maine, you've got to have a winter gun, right? So I put this AR-15 together. For optics, I've got a Vortex Venom red dot CQB sight supplementing the Vortex 1-8x24mm Strike Eagle scope, which helps me wring out max accuracy from the spiral-fluted .223 Wylde barrel capped with a three-port compensator. That's a left side-charging upper mated to a Sota Arms billet lower with flared magwell, with a CMMG small parts kit and a flat-faced trigger with a nice 1.5 lb. pull. Furniture includes a Magpul MOE-K2® pistol grip, UTG Pro Stock, Arisaka handstop, and a UTG bipod to give me a stable shooting platform. The camo? I created it using DuraCoat® in Tactical White, Tungsten, and HK Black. I didn't want to do the clichéd "storm trooper" or birch-tree camo, so I let the shape of the parts and my love of comics dictate the camo pattern.

During my career in law enforcement (I'm now retired), I dreamed of having a pistol and a rifle chambered for the same cartridge and used the same magazine - at a price the average officer could afford. There wasn't anything that met those requirements 25 years ago. But I now have this Glock® 34 pistol in 9mm Luger and this AR-15 PCC (pistol caliber carbine), also in 9mm, that uses the Glock's magazine. The G34 has a SilencerCo threaded barrel, a featureless slide machined with front and rear cocking serrations AND with a dovetail for an adjustable rear sight. It has a Stone Grey Cerakote® finish and some other mods, too.

The "AR-9" carbine started as a stripped CMMG lower and upper with a delayed blowback 9mm bolt assembly. I machined the custom barrel with integral compensator from one solid piece of steel. The barrel/comp's overall length was determined by the length of the handguard. I based the comp design on pistol compensators, and it's proven much more effective than screw-on rifle-type comps. With 9mm +P ammo, this little PCC consistently rings a 10" steel plate at 150 yards. And I really like it's two-tone O.D. Green/FDE Cerakote® finish.

In the past couple years, this pair has become my go-to tools for all my personal-defense and competition needs. When it comes to self-defense firearms, I demand the highest level of reliability because, as the old adage goes, "two is one and one is none." These two guns always deliver!

You're looking at the only exposed-hammer shotgun made by Krieghoff (as of 2018). It was special ordered for a fine gun dealer in Nashville, Tennessee. I was invited by Dieter Krieghoff and his lovely wife Betty to take part in a pheasant hunt held at the spectacular Cheyenne Ridge Lodge in South Dakota. This beautiful side-by-side had just been finished, and its owner graciously let me shoot it on its inaugural hunting day. I can only say this is a magnificent upland gun on a par with the finest English "best guns." It's a 16 gauge with ejectors, 30" barrels, and fixed modified and improved modified chokes. It was custom designed for the owner with exhibition-grade stock and forearm and very impressive hand engraving. This Krieghoff was more than a pleasure to shoot! The lab is Reba, my friend and hunting companion for the last 12 years. She appreciates this example of the fine shotgun maker's art. I hope you've enjoyed seeing it, too!

According to my mom, my first deer hunting trip with her and Dad was about five months before I was born, since Mom was pregnant with me at the time! That would have been in the fall of 1958. Dad went hunting whenever he could, both deer and elk, as well as duck. His favorite hunting ground was the beautiful remote wilderness of Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon, where he harvested a nice 4x4 mule deer and a 5x6 Rocky Mountain elk with his favorite rifle - a Savage Model 99 lever action in .300 Savage. By 1966, I started going along on these trips, but at first I stayed in camp with Mom to protect her with my trusty lever action cap gun.

By 1982 I was in college and wanted another picture of Dad with his Savage 99, so we took one in our back yard. He passed away in 1993, and I now have his mule deer and elk trophies in my own trophy den, along with his old Savage 99. He always loved to brag on his beloved .300 Savage and how powerful it was, pointing out his "one-shot kill" on his big elk. He claimed it was the most powerful cartridge in the world.... He was kidding, but he loved to do the bragging, with a smile on his face! [And yet, it's always so difficult to get dads to smile for photographs! - The Editor.]

My dad Joseph is a selfless, loving, caring, and honest man who worked 20-hour shifts at the local electric utility to provide for his family. My childhood memories are filled with target shooting, camping, fishing, and gardening. He is an intelligent and patient teacher. By the time I was 10 years old, I was hitting spent shotgun shells from 100 yards away with an old rifle.

After graduating from college, I made the wrong kinds of friends and began making bad choices that led me to drug addiction. Those bad decisions put hurt and sadness in my dad's eyes, along with shame and regret in mine. How could I do that to a man whose very presence inspired those around him? My dad never gave up on me. He gave me the strength to finally get clean and remain that way.

We are back to our special days of shooting, gun collecting, and loading our own ammunition. Recently at our gun club, we had the rare opportunity to shoot a .50 caliber rifle together. This was a wonderful, happy day neither of us will ever forget - and we look forward to many more to come. My dad is a protector and a savior. I thank him for saving my life, being my best friend, an inspiration, and the most supportive dad that any woman can ever imagine.

My father and I hunted together for 22 years and never missed a deer season, until I lost my hunting buddy on Monday, October 26, 2020. His funeral was on Friday, and immediately afterward, I drove up to my in-laws' farm for the Minnesota rifle season. I brought my dad's beloved Sako rifle with me. Dad bought this rifle 1999, and in all the years we hunted together, he never shot a deer with it. He passed up many over the years, always telling me that he was "waiting on his buck."

On the following Tuesday, I'd been in the blind since 5:45 am. I spent most of the time talking to my dad. I told him I brought his rifle along, so we could still hunt together. And I told him how special it would be if his cherished Sako finally took a deer. Snow started falling, and shortly before 4:00 pm, a doe darted past the blind. "I wonder what spooked her?" I thought to myself, only to see a buck in hot pursuit! The buck stopped in the only shooting lane I had on this side of my blind. I quickly settled the crosshairs of the scope behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. That buck dropped right where he stood.

As I walked up to my buck, I was overcome with emotion. I thanked God for such a beautiful animal as well as my dad, for I knew that he was with me on this hunt. I told him, "I did it, Dad! Your Sako finally got its buck!" The buck didn't have the largest set of antlers, but it meant more to me than any record-class deer ever could. Thank you, Dad, for showing me that, even though you are in your Heavenly home, you are also still with me here. I love you Dad!

My dad, my hero, my buddy! I have been lucky to always be close to my dad, having him to guide me and be a great role model to follow. Two years ago, he went prairie doggin' for the first time and came back grinning from ear to ear and full of stories. We immediately started planning a .223 Remington bolt action build for him. The result was a Remington XR-100 built and tuned to his satisfaction. We headed to South Dakota with enough handloaded ammo to take our fair share of critters. But we came home with more loaded rounds than empties just because we had such a fun time taking in the beautiful scenery, telling stories, and enjoying free time in God's creation with each other. I can't thank my dad enough for that trip or our other hunting adventures, but more importantly, for always being such a great inspiration in my life. Thanks Dad, love you!

It was a Saturday in November of 1954, the weekend before opening day, Monday, of deer season in Pennsylvania. Dad was going to use his brother's .35 Remington rifle and was sighting it in - until he ran of shells. As my mom was going into Punxsutawney to do some shopping, Dad asked her to pick up some more shells. When she came home about 6:30, Dad asked for the shells and she said, "I forgot them." Dad was not happy, as back then stores were closed on Sundays, and it was too late to run back into town before the stores closed. Mom let Dad grumble for a while..... and then she walked into the room with a box containing a brand-new Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .30.06, plus two boxes of shells. Mom was immediately forgiven! I shot my first deer with that rifle. What I would give to spend another Father's Day with Dad!

My dad Ike would be 106 years old if he were still with us today. I was 12 years old in 1964, and we lived in western Pennsylvania. Dad was a coal miner. We sure didn't have much. My folks gave me my first real gun for Christmas that year, an H&R Topper single-shot .410 bore shotgun they got with Green Stamps. [Ah, S&H Green Stamps - who didn't collect those in the 1960s? - The Editor.] I was thrilled! Later, we went rabbit hunting with our beagle dog, Andy, who was running a rabbit - the first rabbit I had the opportunity to engage in my life, with my first gun! My first and only shot did him in. Dad was so proud! That gun took many rabbits, though not quite so many birds. I still have it. The photo is of Dad and me in our house's dugout basement. Those were good days with many memories. I am blessed to have them.

This M1911A1 was given to my father by a Navy veteran who was wearing it aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered. It was manufactured by Union Switch & Signal, which produced only 55,000 1911s, so it's already quite rare. (In contrast, the typewriter company Remington Rand manufactured about 900,000 1911s, while Colt and Ithaca each produced 400,000. The 500 or so made by the Singer Sewing Machine Co. are the rarest WWII 1911s of all.) More importantly, this gun was present at one of the most pivotal moments in American history - the end of World War II. It will forever be a cherished heirloom in our family!

My favorite gun is this Remington 870 shotgun. Years ago at a skeet match, I bought a stock that would fit either a Remington 1100 or an 870. It was a beautiful piece of figured wood from the Remington's Custom Shop, with hand checkering and Trap dimensions. I started looking for the parts to assemble a new shotgun around it. The first thing I found was an 870 Wingmaster receiver manufactured in 1954 and still in perfect shape - so my new gun would be a pump instead of a semi-auto! In time, I got a Timney trigger group, a polished bolt, a 30" full-choke barrel, and the bolt carrier and front pump mechanism. But I still didn't have a forend, until a skeet-shooting friend suggested I contact.... the Remington Custom Shop. They asked me to send in my stock so they could match it up to a forend. About a week later, a package arrived containing a hand-checkered forend of beautifully figured wood that matched my stock perfectly. I sent the barrel to Ballistic Specialties to Angle Port it, lengthen the forcing cone, and thread the muzzle for screw-in choke tubes. I had a great-shooting gun for trap and sporting clays, and then I was lucky enough to find a 26" barrel with a skeet choke. At last, my 870 was complete. My high scores with it have been a 98x100 at doubles trap and two 94x100 at sporting clays. It took about five years to find all the parts and build this very special pump shotgun, but it was worth it!

These two guns have been passed down through a couple generations in our family. The Colt 1911 was carried by my wife's great grandpa Roy when he served in the Army during World War I. It is an original "M1911," with the flat mainspring housing, rather than the more common M1911A1 developed in the 1920s. The revolver is a Smith & Wesson .38/44 that Roy carried during his time as a sheriff/coroner from 1942 to1946. It's a lot more than just an ordinary Military & Police duty revolver, though. The .38/44 was built on S&W's large N-frame so it could handle an extra-powerful version of the .38 Special cartridge that pushed a 158-grain bullet at about 1,125 fps - pretty close to a modern .38 Special +P. The .38/44's popularity with police officers like Grandpa Roy encouraged Smith & Wesson to develop the .357 Magnum revolver - but that's a different story. These two old, blued-steel and checkered-wood classics are the favorites of my collection!

Of all the rifles in my collection, this is my absolute favorite: a Sharps Model 1874 "Billy Dixon" in .45-70 made by Pedorsoli in Italy. (If you like the history of the Old West but don't know who Billy Dixon was, Google his name. Among his many achievements: a one-mile shot from a Sharps Model 1874 rifle.) It's a beautiful rifle, great fun to shoot, and I've taken two mule deer and an antelope with it, all at ranges between 200-300 yards. I wanted to see how far this rifle could really reach, and after working with it for a while, I finally achieved my goal of ringing a steel gong at 750 yards! For all of these accomplishments, this Sharps surely is a keeper.

I've shot centerfire and rimfire guns for pleasure and in competition for 65 years: Steel Challenge, IPSC, silhouette, Quigley, and benchrest, as well as trap, skeet, and sporting clays. I've competed in sanctioned events and am a retired ATA A-class and retired NSCA AA-class shooter. These days, I devote most of my range time to teaching others how to shoot, though I started years ago with my wife and our two boys. Later, I instructed the grandkids. Today, they all are highly capable shooters. This photo of one of my grandsons was taken a few years ago when three generations of the family gathered together for Opening Day in a North Georgia dove field. The shotgun in his hands is an old 28-gauge over-and-under he had never shot before. But as you can see, he brought a little dinner home that day. There's something about pairing decent equipment with a 14-year-old's natural capabilities. I think that's what philosophers call "Closing the Circle."

I've shot centerfire and rimfire guns for pleasure and in competition for 65 years: Steel Challenge, IPSC, silhouette, Quigley, and benchrest, as well as trap, skeet, and sporting clays. I've competed in sanctioned events and am a retired ATA A-class and retired NSCA AA-class shooter. These days, I devote most of my range time to teaching others how to shoot, though I started years ago with my wife and our two boys. Later, I instructed the grandkids. Today, they all are highly capable shooters. This photo of one of my grandsons was taken a few years ago when three generations of the family gathered together for Opening Day in a North Georgia dove field. The shotgun in his hands is an old 28-gauge over-and-under he had never shot before. But as you can see, he brought a little dinner home that day. There's something about pairing decent equipment with a 14-year-old's natural capabilities. I think that's what philosophers call "Closing the Circle."

This photo was taken at the 2019 CMP Trophy Pistol Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. I was standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the best pistol shooters in the nation, about to fire at a bank of 100 turning targets. This Les Baer Premier II 1911 in .45 ACP has been my go-to gun for Service Pistol competition for years. A trigger job and a fitted trigger shoe are the only upgrades it's received. These modest improvements, combined with its inherent accuracy and rock-solid reliability help me have a LOT of fun competing in these matches!

This SIG Sauer P226 in 9mm is the first handgun I ever owned, issued to me shortly after I entered the police academy in 1990. At the time, it had a DAO trigger. In 2010, my department transitioned to a DAK P226 in .40 S&W. (The "Double Action Kellerman" trigger is also DAO but with a lighter, smoother pull and two reset points. If a shooter under stress short-strokes the trigger by releasing it only half way, it will still reset but with a heavier pull to discourage a negligent discharge.) Everyone was required to turn in their old pistols as part of the transition, and they were sent back to SIG. Months later, I gave the serial number of my old 9mm P226 to my local FFL and asked him to call SIG to see if it could be located. SIG reported back that it was at a store in another state. I contacted that store and bought the gun I carried on patrol for nearly 20 years. It had been refurbished and converted to DA/SA. I'm very happy to have my old friend back!

I love the modularity of my SIG P365. I can change the grip to a different one as needed, including the P365XL grip, which feels better in my hand than the standard grip. The 12- and 15-round magazines come with floorplate options for both the standard and P365XL grips, so I can easily switch my gun between concealed carry and target/range fun configurations. I have changed the factory trigger to a flat-faced trigger, and I'm just waiting for Brownells to start carrying the P365 SAS slide (hint! hint!), so I can upgrade to one of those. But wait.... maybe a True Precision threaded barrel first? That's the beauty of the P365 - its modularity makes it SO easy to configure exactly the way I want it!

This SIG P320 XFive Legion is my very first firearm - and one of my most prized possessions. Given the Legion's awesome feature set, I don't think I'll be making any changes to it, aside from picking up some more magazines. [Who doesn't need more of those?! --The Editor.] There are much more expensive pistols, but I went with the P320 because it seems like SIG really thought carefully about how the gun should interact with the shooter, AND they put all the upgrades on it at the factory. Love this gun!

This is one of my favorite Colt 1911s. I have always loved two-tone guns, and this Colt Competition in .45 ACP fits the bill perfectly. The black-and-gray grips with the iconic Colt logo really tie the dual color scheme together. It's an accurate shooter, too, and extremely well made - up to the highest standards you'd expect from the company that introduced the 1911 more than a century ago!

When I was growing up, my dad had an original H&K SP89, the semi-auto version of the MP5K. I was allowed to see it only once in a while, and it has never been shot. When I came across this SP5K recently, I couldn't resist.... I bought it the next day. With the EOTech 518 sight on it, this is by far the most exciting pistol I've ever shot - you bet I SHOOT it! And I appreciate the sturdy Heckler & Koch quality every time I pick it up.

I built this custom Ruger® 10/22® pistol pretty much exclusively with parts from Brownells. The arm brace folds to the side and makes it extremely compact. The low-slung Holosun red dot sight helps me get on target fast. And of course, the Ruger® factory BX-25 "banana" magazine is the ONLY way to go on this setup. With its short barrel, this gun is a literal blast to shoot!

Nobody has to settle for just a plain, basic black AR-15! This is my "Thumper Bomber Boomstick," packing a whole lotta .450 Bushmaster punch. It has the Aero Precision XL upper with the enlarged ejection port that helps those big .450 Bushmaster shells clear the gun fast. The good news is this upper is totally compatible with standard mil-spec lower receivers, even though I went with a Sota Arms billet lower with an integral triggerguard for extra strength. There are a lot of Battle Arms components on this gun - and custom parts, too, including the wood pistol grip and forend (with handstop) attached to the handguard. Add in the custom World War II graphics and scale model airplane "weathering," and Thumper attracts a lot of attention at the range. Everyone wants to shoot it - until they see it go BOOM!

This is my long-range target rifle chambered in 6.5 PRC ("Precision Rifle Cartridge"). It has a Defiance Tenacity action nestled into an Accuracy International AT chassis, with an Area 419 spiral-fluted barrel (to match the fluting on the bolt!) capped by an Area 419 Sidewinder muzzle brake. The scope is a Vortex PST Gen 2, and that's a Harris bipod providing support. The chassis is painted Candy Apple Red because.... it looks so cool, doesn't it? The groups it shoots are even more beautiful!

In 1980 I discovered IPSC shooting, joined an IPSC club, and got this Series 70 Colt 1911 in .45 ACP. I tightened the slide-to-frame fit and upgraded it with a Millet rear sight, a home-made front sight, a Safari Arms beavertail grip safety, and an ambi thumb safety. I used a checkering file from Brownells to put the 20 lpi checking on the front strap. The magwell is a piece of 4140 steel I welded onto the mainspring housing, then drilled, hacksawed, and filed into the right shape before rust bluing it. The grips are also homemade from a piece of Padauk wood. After more than 120,000 rounds through it, the slide-to-frame fit is STILL tight, but the barrel wasn't, so I re-barreled it with a Kart gunsmith-fit barrel from Brownells. This is my first 1911, and it will always be my favorite, because it's old and has a lot of holster wear, just like me.

During the summer between my senior year in high school and the start of college, I was determined to buy a shotgun, figuring college expenses would prevent me from buying another gun before I graduated. When I found this 1969 Remington 870 Wingmaster at an estate sale for only $220, I knew I had to have it. The action was smooth, the wood was pristine, and the finish was… Well, the finish was part of what made it so affordable. Within a couple weeks, I replaced the original 30" barrel with a compact 18.5" one, added a +2 magazine extension, installed a heat shield, and mounted a homemade sling to turn it into the World War I trench gun that I always wanted. This was the first time I had ever “built” a firearm, and I was extremely satisfied with the results. This success later gave me the confidence to start building my first AR-15 - long before graduation!

I've been shooting since I was a very young man, and for many years, I've taught my kids and grandkids how to shoot. Recently, I started my grandson on a custom Ruger® 77/22® bolt action rifle to boost his confidence. He has been an awesome student, and the time we spend together shooting and attending benchrest competitions has been great. We even stay after the matches so he can practice with his rifle. He asks me to go the range all the time now, having just recently stepped up to an Accuracy International custom rifle in .223 Remington. He's pretty accurate at 100 yards - less than 2" all the time! On a recent outing he said, "Paw-Paw, I think I'm ready to go deer hunting now." My heart is filled with love and anticipation. I can't wait until fall for our first hunt together!

These are the moments that make a dad so proud! Took my daughter Colleen Rose to the range to shoot her grandfather's Smith & Wesson Model 41 pistol and his Remington Model 7 rifle with a Bobby Hart barrel in .221 Fireball. I am so proud that she knows and carefully follows all the safety rules, AND she enjoys ringing steel. These are the moments when you know you're raising 'em right!

The story of this Ruger® 10/22® could fill a book. I bought it used at a pawn shop in 2002. I needed a rifle for prairie dog hunting but was in college and so on a tight budget. Over the years, it morphed from a small game rifle to a tack-driving "bench sled." Advice from Brownells techs Dean and John gave me the confidence to purchase the larger-ticket parts, and I haven't looked back. During this COVID year, I was afforded the wonderful experience of rebuilding the 10/22 with my daughter Raegan. Components on the gun now include an E.R. Shaw barrel, Timney trigger module, Kidd bolt, Volquartsen bolt handle, Power Custom V-block/buffer, Tactical Solutions stock, Harris bipod, and a Trijicon scope set on a Weigand mount with TPS rings. The rebuild was a great opportunity for us to spend time together AND great way for Raegan to learn in detail how firearms work. [If she grows up to become an engineer or a gunsmith, we'll know why! - The Editor.]

This project was a labor of love. My 12-year-old daughter, my youngest, never expressed an interest in shooting. My two older daughters have won awards in shooting competitions. So when Brownells had Polymer80 80% pistol frames on sale in some unique colors, I took a chance to see if a more colorful gun might spark my youngest's interest.... It worked! During a single Sunday afternoon, I built this gun with a Titanium Blue PF940C frame and stainless steel slide and barrel. (My daughter wanted the "top" to be "shiny".) Of course, the sights had to be color-coordinated with the frame! This compact 9mm looks great AND shoots great, and now my daughter has caught the shooting bug. Thanks to Brownells and Polymer80 and an afternoon's work, we have another happy shooter in the family!

When I was on active duty, one of the rifles we used was the SOCOM MK13, a military version of the Remington 700 chambered in .300 Win Mag. I always thought it important to train on your issued weapons as much as possible, so I built this clone in 2009. Many of the components were purchased from Brownells, including the trigger, muzzle brake, bipod, and scope rail. [Paul served 41 years as a Pararescue Airman in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard before retiring from the military in 2015. His "retirement" job is running his own custom gunsmithing shop. - The Editor.]

I can't really say this particular Ruger® No. 1 is my favorite because I own several, but this custom job in 6.5-06 A-Square is definitely ONE of my favorites. While not the latest or hottest "6.5" cartridge, this wildcat holds its own. And the classic lines, Walnut stock and forend, and blued steel of the Ruger® No. 1 are hard to beat aesthetically. This rifle takes me back to my childhood, when I'd go on safari after school with a .22 single-shot to rid our pecan orchard of squirrels. Over the years, I've learned the first shot is often the one that counts. Knowing I have to "get it right the first time" really improved my concentration!

Of all the rifles I own, this long-range competition rifle is my favorite. It took more than three years to complete the build. It started with an American Rifle Company Mausingfield action bolted into a MasterPiece Arms MPA chassis and topped with a Vortex Razor HD scope. The X-Caliber barrel is chambered in one of the BEST short-action cartridges ever, 7 SAUM (7mm Short Action Ultra Magnum)! It launches a 183-grain Sierra MatchKing bullet at 3,000 fps, and I've taken it out to 1,200 yards in several matches. [That chamber flag is offering excellent advice! - The Editor.]

Here is my .300 Norma (left) and my buddy's 6.5 Creedmoor (right) custom-built rifles. Both have "blueprint" Remington 700 actions. A blueprint action has been accurized by squaring up the bolt lugs and locking surfaces to be precisely 90 degrees to the barrel / action centerline, with tolerances as close as possible to the specs on the "blueprint". Both rifles have Magpul Hunter 700 stocks and Clements Firearms (now Salt Fork Armory) suppressors, and both are topped with Athlon scopes. With the rifles so closely matched, who gets the better score really depends on the skill of the shooter!

This CZ Scorpion is one of my favorite firearms. It is a joy to shoot, and the suppressor makes it a perfect gun for teaching a first-time shooter. Quiet, comfortable, and accurate, it always brings a smile to the face of anybody lucky enough to be behind it pulling the trigger. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "Where can I get one?".... I'd probably have two Scorpions by now! Many of the goodies you see on it came straight from Brownells. Thanks for always having great products at great prices!

This is my favorite gun. It is a Darne shotgun that was custom made for me in St. Etienne, France. At first glance, it looks like a traditional side-by-side shotgun, until you go to load it. Pull up on the "T"-lever behind the breech, and the breech block slides rearward, enabling you to insert shells into the chambers. The barrels are fixed; only the breech block moves! This action allows for very quick reloads and the fixed barrels produce very consistent patterns. Another unique Darne feature: the design dates back to the days of paper shotgun shells, and when paper shells get wet, they sometimes swell up, making them difficult to chamber. The Darne action has a cam that squeezes wet, swollen shells into the chamber - something that really could save the day if you were hunting in the rain! My gun is a 20 gauge and weighs 6 lbs. 1 oz. I can carry it all day without effort when pheasant or quail hunting.

One of my passions is rifle silhouette shooting. I had wanted to build a custom smallbore silhouette rifle for a long time, when I finally got started with a Holeshot Arms Trident .22 rimfire action made by Jerry Stiller. I installed a Benchmark two-groove barrel with a Winchester 52D chamber, then added a Bix'n Andy two-stage trigger. It's topped with a Leupold FX-3 25x scope anchored with Talley rings. Steve Wooster in Chehalis, Washington, built a fiberglass silhouette stock for it, and then I had Perry Mallet in Spokane, Washington, paint it like a World War II Flying Tigers P-40 Warhawk fighter plane. [We're loving the silhouette scores on the side of the "fuselage"! - The Editor.] The result is a rifle that will stack bullets from Lapua Midas+ .22 LR ammunition into the same hole all day long. It has already performed incredibly well in competition. And who doesn't like a rifle that looks as awesome as it shoots?

My great-grandfather had polio and used crutches his whole life. I never had the opportunity to meet him, but this old over-and-under 16 gauge shotgun was passed down from him to the first son of each generation until it got to me. Someday, I will pass it on to my 7-year-old son, Hunter. The stock was modified to make it easier for somebody on crutches to shoot it. I shot my first pheasant with this gun, and now it accompanies me to the pheasant fields every year. It's not fancy, but it shoots well. The value of a gun like this can never be measured in a dollar amount!

When I was six years old, my grandfather finally caved in to my pestering and let me shoot his Smith & Wesson Model 29. I suppose he figured the massive recoil of the .44 Magnum round from a 4" barrel would shut me up. Instead, the result was the exact opposite: I was bitten by the Magnum Bug! The next year, Grandad's truck was broken into and the thief made off with his prized Smith. He eventually replaced it with this Colt Anaconda in .44 Magnum, also with a 4" barrel. He liked the Anaconda well enough but said it never quite lived up to that Model 29. When he passed away in 2006, I inherited his gun collection, and the Colt frequently accompanied me on hiking and hunting trips. Then on a visit to the local gun store in 2018, I saw something in the case that took me right back to being a six-year-old kid getting his first taste of shooting a Magnum down by the pond with his grandfather. It was a brand-new Smith & Wesson Model 29, just like Grandad's! Seeing the happy memories it brought back to me, my wife got it for me as an early Christmas present. I now carry this Model 29 around the farm and on other outdoor excursions. Every time I shoot it, I can almost see, out of the corner of my eye, my grandfather wearing a big grin!

The Ruger® Mark IV™ 22/45™ Lite is a fun little pistol to shoot. And for anybody who's wrangled with disassembling earlier Ruger .22 pistols, the one-button takedown is amazing! I bought this one with the intention of keeping it unmodified, but after my brother upgraded his, I just had to hop on the "mod train." I added a Vortex Venom red dot sight, Tandemkross Game Changer Pro compensator, and a Volquartsen Competition Kit. With these upgrades, this fun-to-shoot little Mark IV is now truly awesome!

This is a custom rifle in .260 Ackley Improved built for me by the crew at River's Bend Gun Co. in Weston, Missouri. Here's a rundown of the major parts and pieces: Terminus Zeus action with integral Picatinny rail, left-hand gain twist Bartlein barrel, and a Kinetic Research Group (KRG) Whiskey 3 chassis with a folding stock, enclosed forend, large grip panels, and an angled bag rider. The Minox ZP5 5-25x56mm scope rests in Badger Ordnance 306-27 rings. The bipod is a BT Industries Atlas Super CAL. A lot of the components came from Brownells. This rifle is a very solid platform, wonderfully accurate, and extremely satisfying to shoot!

I always thought the Ruger® 10/22® was a nice compact rifle, so when I decided to put a scope on mine, I chose a Leupold 2-7x28 for its small, lightweight profile. But even with low rings, I couldn't get the scope low enough to get a good cheekweld with the factory stock. I needed a stock with a higher comb but didn't care for the looks of the commercially available ones.... I wanted something with a classic profile, so I decided to make one from a block of curly maple I had lying around. As long as I was at it, I free-floated the barrel and pillar- and Acraglas®-bedded the action. I'm very happy with the result! The nicely figured blond wood really sets off the blued steel. As a bonus, the maple stock weighs even less than the factory one.

This rifle started as a stock CZ 455 Varminter. My first upgrade was a Timney trigger module from Brownells, then I installed a Murphy Precision scope rail and a Sightron scope. To take full advantage of its accuracy potential, I decided to convert it to a match prone trainer. That led to swapping the factory stock for a fully adjustable PDC Custom aluminum chassis, Grünig & Elmiger Spyder handstop, and a barrel extension tube on the turned muzzle of the factory barrel. Warner and RightSight metallic sights are swapped back and forth between this gun and my Palma rifle. Training with .22 Long Rifle is somewhat unforgiving. You'd think it'd also be financially friendly, but match .22 rimfire ammo is not cheap. This rifle has certainly helped me up my Palma game, as well as my rimfire match game!

This is my "rescue gun". It's a German-made double-barreled derringer, patterned after the classic Remington Model 95 and chambered in .38 S&W. It had been nailed to a board for a display. All the bluing was worn off, its internal parts had been removed, and it had poorly carved grips. It took me the better part of a year to locate the necessary parts - and even make some that were just totally unavailable. After niter bluing it, I found a talented engraver and had him do some magic on it. Then I located a man in Wyoming who hand-carved the beautiful stag grips, which really are the finishing touch!

I built this COVID-19 themed AR-15 with my two boys during the pandemic. They got laid off from their jobs, and I thought it would be a great bonding experience. We painted it in "Hazmat Yellow" and bright red Duracoat. A great thing about the old A2 rifle buttstock is the storage compartment inside, so you've got a place to stash a mask, gloves, and hand sanitizer. We started this project as a proof-of-concept rifle for my new custom firearms business, Fox Charlie Modern Firearms LLC, in Darlington, South Carolina, but we have dedicated it to ALL the health professionals and first responders on the front lines of the pandemic crisis.

While I was waiting for my suppressor, I decided to build the ideal "suppressor host" for it. I wanted something as quiet and reliable as a bolt action AND also compatible with the huge array of Ruger® 10/22® parts and accessories out there, so I'd never lack for future customizing options. I was ecstatic to find everything I wanted and more in a Volquartsen Summit bolt action receiver from Brownells. Of course, you also provide a ton of options for barrels, stocks, triggers, and other parts-n-pieces, so I could get everything I wanted in one place. Thanks Brownells!

Here are three early AR-15 / AR-10 replica rifles I built using Brownells Retro Rifle™ parts (top to bottom): BRN-10™ Carbine - When I saw all the parts were available to build an early AR-10 carbine replica, I snapped them all up. This gun generally follows the full-sized Portuguese BRN-10 configuration and, yes, it uses all Brownells parts. It is extremely light and handy and great fun to shoot. The second rifle is a BRN-Proto™/BRN-601™ hybrid built on a stripped Proto upper and 601 lower. The barrel is the Proto barrel you sold separately. The handguard retainer had to be swapped out. My idea was to build something that offered the best of both early guns. I like the Proto upper but prefer the triangle cross-section handguard of the later rifles. Since I was able to buy the parts individually from Brownells, I could build EXACTLY what I wanted. Still has a very retro, early AR-15 look to it, too! The bottom gun is my Improvised XM177 Carbine. It's made of all Brownells parts, except for the short handguard, which I found in my stash. It has a BRN-601™ upper, the early 601 flash hider, and a 12.7" barrel (with NFA SBR stamp), so I could explore what XM177 carbines might have been improvised in armories in South Vietnam during the war.

My name is Luis. I've never really had any hobbies or interests in much of anything up until I met Bart Miller of the Centennial Gun Club. You see, I was born with a disability called Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita. It's a muscle/skeletal disability that affects my upper and lower limbs. Because of this I am limited in the physical activities that I can do - even fishing is difficult. It all started with me wanting to be able to defend myself in my home if necessary. That's how I came to meet Bart, who is a gunsmith. I asked him if he could help me find a way to make it possible for me to shoot a firearm. So Bart came up with my Ruger® 10/22® and made some modifications so I can shoot it. I named it "Mona Lisa" because it's really a work of art! Now, I have a new hobby and something I'm really interested in - going to the range and shooting my Ruger®!

Meet my two favorite pistols: a pair set of Ruger® Vaqueros with 7-1/2" barrels chambered in that classic Old West round, .44-40 Winchester. This makes sense because I am a cowboy action shooter out of Kansas who goes by the alias of Major Art Tillery, and these are my main match revolvers. They are tuned up with Ruger® Super Blackhawk® hammers and Wolff springs, plus a short stroke and action job by Boomstick Arms out of Texas. The beautiful engraving was done by Aspen Filly of Colorado. These two pistols will be with me for a very long time! ["Veritas" and "Aequitas" - Truth and Justice.... we like it - and your taste in sidearms, sir! - The Editor.]

Brownells really hit one out of the park with their BRN-180™ AR-15 upper receiver line. I had wanted a short-stroke gas piston upper for some time, but there were just no real cost-effective options available until the 180 came along. I loved my BRN-180S™ upper so much that I had to complete the job properly by matching it with a BRN-180™ forged lower, so I could have an SBR that was ALL 180 through and through. Then I topped it off with a Dead Air Sandman-K suppressor. It cost me two ATF tax stamps, but the result is WELL worth it!

Dramatically pictured here at the moment of ignition is my .52 caliber Cushman Plains Rifle, from southern Illinois circa 1847. I've taken many whitetail deer with it here in Ohio. It holds a special place in my heart for the historic gun it is, but more importantly, it's the rifle I was using when my dad and I went on our last hunt together. We shot the same buck at almost the same instant. I had no idea that would be the last time I ever hunted with him. Every time I shoot this rifle, I think of the great times Dad and I had together.

This gun is my first frame-up build of a 1911. And it was paid for by the U.S. government! My COVID-19 stimulus check served as the entire budget for this project. It started when I found an orphaned Colt National Match slide at my hometown gun shop, and that prompted me to go straight home and watch all the Brownells videos on how to build a 1911. I ordered a BRN-1911™ Government Model frame [An outstanding choice! ~The Editor], plus all the parts and tools I needed from Brownells.com, and I asked for "in-store" pickup. Then I made a day trip to the middle of Iowa to pick everything up at the Brownells retail store. This sweet "Forty-Five" is the final result. The COVID-19 year has been difficult for all of us, but at least one good thing came out of it for me and my family to enjoy for a long time!

I've wanted to build my own 1911 "from scratch" for a long time. So I watched all the Brownells 1911 building videos I could find and bought a good manual that was recommended in them. I purchased the parts and necessary hand tools from Brownells, and I had a total blast building my own gun. Although it's technically a "2011", since it has a double-stack magazine, the parts are almost all the same as a standard 1911 from the frame rails up. As excited as I am to shoot this gun in Open Class USPSA, my itch hasn't been entirely scratched. I feel a 10mm Auto project will probably be next.....

This is a replica I made of the first M16 issued to me as a little bitty Marine in 1984. It has a Brownells "skinny" barrel with a 1-7" twist so it'll play nicely with modern commercial ammo, and the "guts" inside the lower all are semi-auto. Outside, I gave the upper and lower a DuraCoat® finish that replicates the look of old U.S. military M16s. All the steel parts got a hot Manganese Parkerized finish that I applied using the Brownells Benchtop Parkerizing Kit I even found a NOS Colt bayonet to complete the "Retro" look. Nice to relive a part of my time in the Marines, but I'm sure glad I don't have to go back to basic training!

As youngsters, my brother and I shared a Smith & Wesson Model 1500 rifle in .222 Remington as we learned to hunt whitetails in the Texas hill country. We loved that compact little rifle, and it proved very successful on many hunts. Fast forward 30 years, and the rifle now lives in my brother's gun safe. It's become my niece's favorite rifle, as it helps teach a new generation the joys of hunting. I've always wanted my own though, and when I came across a sweet deal on this S&W Model 1700LS in .243 Winchester, I had to have it. This is an upgraded version of our old .222 with a Zeiss Terra 3x9 scope on top. The grip cap with its signature Smith & Wesson medallion was missing, but I found a replacement. Now, I'm enjoying this amazing and semi-rare bolt action rifle from a top handgun manufacturer!

For the longest time, my dream rifle has been the M16A1 from the Vietnam War era. I love the iconic look of the triangular handguard and its light weight compared to a modern, heavily "accessorized" AR-15. A couple of years ago, when Brownells introduced their amazing line of complete Retro Rifles and Retro Rifle™ parts, I knew I had to build one. There were a few frustrating events during the build, when parts I needed were not always available. [Our apologies, Vincent. The Retro line proved to be extremely popular! ~The Editor.] So it took me two years to finally gather all the necessary parts and complete my retro M16 build. This rifle is my pride and joy, and it will stay in my gun collection for a LONG time. Thanks to Brownells for all the quality parts and excellent customer service!

I wanted a Ruger® 10/22® for the longest time, until I finally completed my own "Franken-Ruger" build on a Brownells BRN-22R™ railed receiver. The project took a little over six months to complete, and the result is a rifle configured with the exact features I like. Aside from the solid BRN-22™ foundation, there's a 20" match barrel, Pike Arms 2.5 lb. Match-Grade Billet Trigger Assembly, JWH Custom CNC bolt and Competition charging handle, Magpul® Hunter X-22 stock with Magpul® SGA cheek riser, and a Picatinny /Weaver rail on the forearm for the UTG Bipod to grab onto. The scope is a Vortex Optics Crossfire II 3-9x40mm V-Plex MOA. I'm really hoping to get in some range time soon to get that scope sighted in!

I've always liked long-barreled pistols and really wanted one. So I had a gunsmith friend of mine put a Ruger® 10/22® rifle barrel on my Mark I pistol. The balance is surprisingly good. Not as muzzle-heavy as you'd think - and workable for one-handed shooting! Both sights are on the barrel so sight radius is excellent, and they work well at arm's length. The super-comfortable ergonomic grips, by the way, came from an older Mark I target pistol. My Mark I "Buntline" functions perfectly AND gets a lot of attention at the range!

My son and I built this this custom Gen3 Glock 17® together, our very first handgun build. Starting with a stripped Glock® factory frame, we added stippling and made the undercuts to help the gun sit lower and more securely in the hand. Everything else was purchased from Brownells, including the Brownells RMR-cut "window" slide, threaded barrel, lower parts kit, slide completion kit, Lone Wolf adjustable trigger, ZEV Titanium pin set, Holosun 507C red dot sight, and the Streamlight TLR-7A weapon light. This is by far my son's favorite gun to take the range, and his accuracy and confidence have increased ten-fold from shooting it. Thank you, Brownells, for providing the parts and expertise to create a life-changing experience AND life-long memories!

My brother and I wanted to take a shot at building an "AR-9" - a purpose-built custom AR-15 chambered in 9mm Luger (9x19mm). After a couple of successful rifle-caliber AR-15 customizations, reading AR tech articles, and carefully watching some YouTube how-to videos, we went for it. With an Anderson lower, a parts kit, and an SB Tactical SBA4 brace, we decided to go the pistol route. We got a Faxon 9mm bolt carrier assembly and 10.5" barrel from Brownells. Actually, almost ALL the parts came from Brownells. We clamped a Magpul AFG-2® Angled Fore Grip onto the 10" M-LOK® handguard and opted for a Sightmark Ultra Shot M-Spec reflex sight and magnifier with a flip-to-side mount. We decided to keep the traditional AR-15 look by using Endomag 9mm conversion inserts that go into regular 30-round Magpul PMAGs. The result is a compact AR that's as fun to shoot as it's good-looking. Not bad for our first go at an AR-9, huh?

Some years ago, I asked my gunsmith, Walter Frear (W. Frear Innovations), to make me my "dream carry" gun, a 1911 Combat Commander in .45 ACP. This was before lightweight alloy frames had become popular, like on the Smith & Wesson "Scandium" framed revolvers. I wanted a lightweight Titanium frame, with an accessory rail (one of the first available), Damascus-finish on the stainless steel slide, night sights from XS Sights, Kart barrel, and a Videki trigger with Walter's full custom trigger work. I added a pair of custom ivory grips and a Milt sparks Sharkskin holster, belt, and magazine carrier. This pistol is a masterpiece of the gunmaker's craft, wonderfully accurate (2" at 50 yards), and a dream to shoot. It truly is a Dream Gun™ that's also practical and earns its keep!

Whenever there's an ammo shortage like the one we're experiencing right now, you shoot what you have. In my case, I have LOTS of 9mm Makarov (9x18mm), so I built a totally up-to-date, every day carry / EDC pistol chambered for this old Cold War Soviet cartridge. This Glock 42® has a Lone Wolf 9mm Makarov conversion barrel and a Streamlight TLR-6 laser sight / weapon light. The 9mm Mak round packs about as much punch as the G42's original .380 ACP chambering, but I tweaked the magazine to hold an extra round, so this gun has a little more firepower. I like to call it my "G42.5 Glockarov."

This is a Japanese Model 26 revolver chambered in the 9x22mmR Type 26 rimmed cartridge (similar to .38 S&W but not interchangeable). My dad acquired this gun in 1945 during the Battle of Okinawa. I inherited it in 1991 when Dad passed away. It is completely original, manufactured by Toyko Electric sometime between 1902 and 1908. [We love the Webleyishness of it! - The Editor.] The Type 26 was a double action only revolver that was long obsolete by 1945, a sign of how the desperate Japanese pressed any available weapons into service in the final months of the World War II. It had not been fired from 1945 until April 2019 because we could not find the extremely rare 9x22mmR ammunition. Then, thanks to the folks at Buffalo Arms, I was finally able get brass and dies to load the proper ammo and shoot this antique, after it had sat silent for nearly 75 years.

I look forward to reading about unique guns in each week's Sunday Gun Day e-mail, so I decided it was time to share a couple of my own. These are my "SpaceNAGs" - so called because they are out-of-this-world "Not-A-Glock®"pistols. The G34-sized NAG began life as a standard Polymer80 full-size frame with a Brownells RMR-cut Window slide on top. The G19-sized gun is built on a Polymer80 ReadyMod frame, also with an RMR-cut Window slide. Building this "NAG19" involved a lot of firsts for me, and Brownells helped me find all the parts I needed. I went with the un-stippled ReadyMod frame so I could customize it into a handgun that's truly unique to me. Aside from my first-ever stippling job, it has the first compensator and first red dot sight I ever installed myself. That's because this was my FIRST pistol build, period. I had a blast! While I experienced a lot of "firsts" in building these guns, thanks to Brownells I can assure you they won't be the last!

I've been following the progress of the KE Arms KP-15 polymer AR-15 lower receiver project since it was announced. My interest went into high gear when the actual production KP-15s hit the Brownells website late last year. I'm so glad KE Arms, Brownells, and InRange TV all got together to make the KP-15 possible! I got one ASAP and built this rifle on it using InRange's WWSD concept as a blueprint. Key items on my parts list include a carbon fiber handguard, slick-sided upper, and a Faxon "pencil" barrel. The "Gamer" components of the build include a Superlative Arms adjustable gas block, a stiffer Sprinco buffer spring, and a good ol' timeable Miculek compensator to keep this 4.5 lb. AR shooting as flat as it possibly can. Yes, 4.5 lbs.! This thing is ridiculously light, and its cycling is super-brisk. When my buddy and I took it to the range, he couldn't believe how well it handled, and how simultaneously futuristic AND retro it looked. (A shout out to Brownells for coming out with their Retro™ 25-round straight-body AR-15 mag!) I'm super satisfied with how this rifle turned out, and it's becoming be one of my go-to guns for matches and range fun!

This Colt 1911A1 was manufactured during World War II, in March of 1943, and issued to the U.S. Army Air Force the following month. It accompanied my brother-in law's father on 31 missions over France and Germany. It's shown here with his cap, wings, holster, and military ID, as well as mission lists and crew photos. When I acquired this piece, it immediately became the prize of my collection. It's not just a classic gun and some memorabilia - or even a piece of history. It is a memento of one of the millions of young men who served their country when it called on them, not just during WWII but in all the wars this nation has fought.