In 1956, the AR-15 was designed by a team of engineers led by the late Eugene Stoner. It was a downsized variant of the AR-10, which had been previously submitted for military trials. The AR-15, for most of its life, has been chambered in either the .223 Remington or 5.56x45mm. The AR-15 was designed to…
Handguns have evolved and changed significantly since the Post-WW2 era. These changes include simplifying their manual of arms, increasing their capacity, and reducing their weight. One of the most important changes has been to exclude the external safeties that were present on older designs, such as the M1911A1. The best 9 handguns include a mix…
While the handgun plays a smaller role in the military than it does in the civilian and law enforcement world, it still has a place. It’s issued to service members both domestically and abroad. Some military handguns are iconic, while others are disliked. The current handgun issued to the US Army is the Sig Sauer…
Sporter barrels are very common. Manufacturers know they are a good compromise for what people want to do with many of the rifles they sell. In the last 10 years, barrels have trended toward being thicker, but the sporter barrel shouldn’t be overlooked. A sporter barrel is a rifle barrel that is designed with a…
The year is 1956 and Eugune Stoner is leading a team of engineers while working for ArmaLite Rifles, a sub-division of Fairchild Aviation. Eugene Stoner had previously designed the AR-10, a battle rifle chambered in .308 Winchester, but is now downsizing it into the AR-15. The AR-15 is technically a .22 caliber rifle. AR-15s in…
Frangible ammo is a specialty type of rifle and pistol ammunition. The bullets are designed to disintegrate when they impact a hard target. Ammo that uses these types of bullets has both pluses and minuses over traditional ammo. Frangible ammo uses bullets made of compressed metal powder. Generally, frangible ammo is for shooting at very…
In 2019, the US Secret Service chose the Glock G19 Gen 5 MOS to be their new service pistol. It replaced the long-standing Sig P229 as the agency’s standard-issue sidearm. The move represents an acknowledgment by law enforcement that simpler is better and is also part of a trend back toward the 9mm Luger. The…
Reloading ammunition is a popular pastime, both to save money and tailor ammunition to a shooter’s specific needs. For rifle cartridges, it’s generally very easy to produce ammunition that is both better and cheaper than the factory offerings. There are dozens of gun powders available for the reloader to choose from. None of them are…
Here at Backfire, we bought seven different rifles and spent over 100 man-hours testings them in seven different categories. After way too much time in the sun, the results are in on these various rifle models. While no rifle was best at everything, we were still able to pick two winners. The best overall rifles…
Lead bullets are the original bullet. Cast bullets come from molten lead that is poured into a mold and then allowed to cool. This soft metal has always been a desirable material for projectiles, being dense, abundant, and easy to work with. Even in modern times, cast lead bullets have certain advantages. A cast bullet…