Changes recently posted on the Federal Register by the Commerce Department and State Department on July 23 signal a major change for a growing segment of the firearm industry. The rules transfer export licensing of firearm suppressors from the State Department to the Commerce Department. They finish a U.S. Munitions List to Commerce Control List (USML to CCL) transition process launched by the Trump Administration in 2020. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) issued the coordinated rules. They remove suppressors from the USML and place them on the CCL. “Eight years…

Author’s Introductory Note: Please remember all of my writings are a Gedankenexperiment, not a form of advice, but an extended thought experiment. I can safely conclude that the Republic has likely fallen just before its 250th Birthday. My ancestors were founders of the original Republic and I am one of the small percentage of Heritage Americans left with 97.5 percent of people who reside in the United States having no original colonial Patriot blood flowing in their veins. I do not make this pronouncement lightly or gleefully, but solemnly as my family has for generations warned against the dangers of…

Smith & Wesson charged boldly into the AR-15 market with its introduction of the M&P15 series in the early 2000s, and these rifles quickly became some of the best sellers on the market. Smith & Wesson continues to introduce new and innovative models, and its latest is the M&P15 AXE pistol and short-barreled rifle chambered in .300 Blackout. The new M&P AXE pistols (pictured) and SBRs mark the first Smith & Wesson firearm to be offered in .300 Blackout. In 2025, Smith & Wesson introduced its AXE series. The new model’s key feature was the Gemtech GVAC system, which uses…

There is a particular jolt of joy when a shooter nestles behind a perfectly stable rifle and puts the ideal bullet exactly where intended. The dopamine dose is often correlated with the difficulty of the shot. Thus, we riflemen spend a lot of time seeking the best possible support to steady the rifle and guarantee a hit. As the makers have given us ever-improving rifles, optics and loads capable of precision deep within fish-story territory a generation ago, there has been a parallel development in bipods, tripods and rests. With these, a shooter can lock the rifle into position to…

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00:00:08 Speaker 1: If this is the me Eater podcast coming at you shirtless, severely, bug bitten, and in my case, underwear. Listening toast, you can’t predict anything brought to you by first Light. When I’m hunting, I need gear that won’t quit. First Light build, no compromise, gear that keeps me in the field longer, no shortcuts, just gear that works. Check it out at first light dot com. That’s f I R S T L I T E dot com. Holy Smokes joined today by bercard Builder, the Writer. We’re gonna talk about Alpha Gala syndrome and the…

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One of Garmin’s notable new products for 2026 is the new Garmin Xero C2 chronograph. The company showcased its next-generation design right before SHOT 2026 started, and I saw it at Beretta’s customary pre-show range event. Of course, that day, I was expecting to see new handguns and shotguns. And I sure did, but I wasn’t expecting running into Garmin’s staff, which had a brand-new chronograph to show off. You’ll recall that the original Garmin Xero C1 launched at the end of 2023, which wasn’t too long ago.  Before shifting the discussion to the new Garmin Xero C2, it’s important…

The reduction of the National Firearms Act (NFA) tax on short-barreled rifles (SBR) this January from $200 to $0 made compact rifles more accessible to a larger swath of the public, and manufacturers responded by adding SBR options to many of their popular models. While many of these were the latest and greatest high-tech firearms, a few classics snuck in as well, such as Auto-Ordnance’s M1 Carbine SBR. Auto-Ordnance’s M1 Carbine SBR reduces the carbine’s traditional 18-inch barrel to 12 inches. While the Auto-Ordnance name is synonymous with the Thompson submachine gun, which the company makes semi-automatic civilian-legal versions of,…

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