Some members of the U.S. Army will begin receiving a new XM8 carbine for testing in October 2026, a shorter, lighter version of the M7 rifle introduced under the branch’s Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program. The carbine version was developed by SIG Sauer as part of its joint Product Improvement Effort with the U.S. Military. The gun received the official XM8 designation and stock number from the U.S. Army in March, according to Soldier Systems. The XM8 trims one full pound off the M7’s 8.3-pound heft. Its shorter barrel contributes to the weight savings, along with modifications to the…

Few things are more deflating than missing a turkey. If you think successful hunts are unforgettable, misses will etch themselves into the part of your brain that handles long-term memory. Months later, when you think you’ve gotten over it, you’ll wake up from that nightmare, drenched in sweat and panting as you think of all the things you could have done differently. If only you hadn’t moved or sat next to that sapling. Maybe you should have yelped to stop that bird before you shot. Meanwhile, phantom gobbles ring in your head like a chorus of mocking children. Even worse,…

Armed Citizen® Today In Rancho Cordova, Calif., a man approached a home on the evening of March 19 and allegedly began threatening to kill the occupants inside. They called 911 and repeatedly told the man to leave; however, he reportedly broke a window and entered the home, whereupon one of the residents shot him. The alleged intruder was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and booked in jail on suspicion of felony burglary and making threats to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury. (sacbee.com, Sacramento, Calif., 3/20/26) From the Armed Citizen® Archives – March 1987 Charles…

If there are two things that are popular in the firearms world right now, it is suppressors and pistol-caliber carbines (PCC). Silent Steel USA has both bases covered with its new Streamer Series PCC suppressors. Silent Steel USA is adding a new line of pistol-caliber carbine (PCC) suppressors to its Streamer series. A Finnish company that has been in the suppressor business for more than a decade, Silent Steel opened its U.S.-based manufacturing subsidiary in late 2025. The company’s Streamer line of suppressors use a controlled gas flow design with the company’s patented FLOW-IQ technology. This is a baffleless filter…

00:00:01 Speaker 1: Welcome to Backwoods University, a place where we focus on wildlife, wild places and the people who dedicate their lives to conserving both. Big shout out to ONEX Hunt for their support of this podcast. 00:00:12 Speaker 2: I’m your host, Lake Pickle. 00:00:14 Speaker 1: And on today’s episode, we’re gonna be talking about the liquid that fuels life itself, water, but even more specifically, we’re gonna be talking about a water crisis, one that’s been going on for over a century really, and to do this story justice, we’re gonna have to head south, and…

Releasing a new revolver, especially one aimed at the concealed-carry/self-defense segment of today’s firearm market, with plentiful micro-9 mm, double-stack pistols, seems about as sensible as releasing a new automobile with a standard transmission. I mean, modern automatic transmissions are far from the clunky, three-speed horror shows of the malaise era, right? The manual transmission is an anachronism, championed mainly by drivers who harken to a romanticized version of the past where automatic transmissions were expensive, slow and took all the driving experience out of the hands (and feet) of the driver. You know, much like how semi-automatic handguns were…

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On March 30, 240 BC, Halley’s Comet made its first recorded perihelion passage. (Photo courtesy of NASA, from the 1987 comet passage, photographed from Easter Island.) — March 30, 1856: The Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, France, and the Kingdom of Sardinia signed the Treaty of Paris. This ended the Crimean War. — Today’s feature article is by our Field Gear Editor, Tom Christianson. Read the full article here

Few proprietary eponyms in the knife world are as well-recognized as KA-BAR, the combat/utility design originally requested by the U.S. Military during World War II and used with success by countless troops in conflicts since. So, updating such a classic was a sobering task for the manufacturer, as devotees of the icon were inevitably prone to draw critical comparisons with any reboot. In this case, though, KA-BAR’s new U.S.-made Slabby, at slightly more than a pound and more than 12 inches long, appears ready to not only hold its own—albeit through more modern design and materials—but is likely even tougher…

Colt CZ Group announced earlier this month that the Canadian Defence Investment Agency (DIA) has awarded a contract valued at $273 million CAD to Colt Canada, one of its global family of firms. The agreement is part of the Canadian Modular Assault Rifle Project (CMAR), which will provide a modern replacement for an aging C7/C8 rifle fleet (C7 seen above) that has been in service for more than 35 years. “Colt Canada is proud to continue supporting the Canadian Armed Forces through the CMAR program,” said Sean Congdon, president and CEO of Colt Canada. “We remain committed to delivering high-quality,…