Author: Gunner Quinn

The M3 Fighting Knife was designed with a single purpose: to kill the enemy. It was designed to penetrate deeply into an opponent during hand-to-hand combat, severing arteries and veins along the way, so that the opponent would quickly lose enough blood to cease to be a threat. The M3 and the KA-BAR were evaluated together for the US military in 1942 by civilians on the Smaller War Plants Corporation Board. It was adopted by that board based on civilian rather than military criteria. The chairman of that board was eager to select designs that could be quickly and economically…

On March 9, 1776, Adam Smith published the influential economics book “The Wealth of Nations”. — March 9, 1916: Pancho Villa‘s men killed more than a dozen in a raid on Columbus, New Mexico. — March 9, 1945, the U.S. Army Air Forces bombed Tokyo with napalm, causing fires that destroyed a quarter of the city and killed some 80,000 civilians. — Today’s feature is by SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Tom Christianson. — We still need entries for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. More than $981,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this…

Several industry developments indicate the post-pandemic decline in gun sales may finally be coming to a halt. The most widely publicized barometer is the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) monthly estimate of gun sales. The organization’s comparison of January’s purchases to the same month in 2025 reflects a barely palpable decline of 0.7 percent. NSSF just issued its February’s findings. Roughly 1,265,320 gun purchases resulted in the buyer’s name being cleared through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check system. That’s a 3.5 percent improvement over February 2025. There are other hints the long-awaited stabilization—and potential rebound—has arrived. Here are a…

The need to be prepared to defend one’s self in an increasingly uncivil, hostile world is apparent. I strongly recommend the daily carriage of a defensive sidearm, backed up by a reliable edged weapon whenever possible, and I strongly encourage regular practice with these essential tools. More important than simply having hardware is cultivating the mindset of awareness and preparedness. But all too often, our increasingly intrusive nanny state governments, both national and local, enact laws and encourage policies designed to disarm us in public places. Some jurisdictions will go out of their way to prosecute any use of armed…

Richard “Dick” Hyman turns 99 today! (He was born March 8, 1927.) Dick Hyman is a jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, pioneering electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters fellow in 2017. — March 8th is also the birthday of famed revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told…

Billed as the oldest continuously operating rifle club in the United States, though several other clubs also claim the title, the Newport Rifle Club (NRC) near Middletown, R.I., is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026. It’s not the NRC’s longevity that’s headline-worthy; it’s also the fact membership is way up and shows no signs of slowing. The secret to the longevity, according to officials interviewed by American Rifleman, is a mix of community outreach programs, hearty mix of competitions, dedication to safety and family-friendly atmosphere. The fact it was established long ago by one of the era’s most accomplished long-distance…

United Kingdom manufacturer Shield Sights is a pioneer in the field of electronic optics on handguns for competition and self-defense. While most of the company’s contributions were behind the scenes, its introduction of the RMSc (Reflex Mini Sight Compact) brought the red dot into the mainstream for compact, concealed carry firearms. New for 2026, the company is bringing out its latest product, the OSMx, a micro red dot designed for competitive shooting. The Shield OSMx takes the OMSsc sight introduced last year and gives it a larger lens. The OSMx is based on the OMSsc (Open Mini Sight subcompact) introduced…

While shotguns provide a host of benefits, one of the most overlooked is that they are a fair bit quieter than most pistols and rifles. To that end, adding a suppressor to one only expands their versatility. Suppressing a shotgun is easier said than done, though, as options are limited, and mounting one involves using the threads that normally hold a choke. Alas, at that point, weight becomes an issue, as shotgun shells require more suppressor volume to house and vent the enormous amount of gas created when they are fired. Taking these issues into account, Yankee Hill Machine (YHM)…

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Meat, Dairy, and Eggs My first cow to calve this year is due in a couple of weeks, and being that she is a first time heifer, she could calve any time now.  So, I’m trying to finish up house projects, cleaning the farmhouse top to bottom. and get the garden going before I need to ensure a healthy calf, and train its mother to the milking machine.  I’ll be honest.  I’m apprehensive about training this particular heifer.  She’s a big Guernsey, taller than me, and has long “kickers”/legs, and she’s a little skittish.  Some heifers settle…

On March 7, 1644 Massachusetts established the first two-chamber legislature in the American colonies. — March 7, 1707: The birthday of Stephen Hopkins, a Governor of Rhode Island. He was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. — And March 7, 1944 was the birthday of Townes Van Zandt, a gifted Texan singer/songwriter. (He died in 1997.) — SurvivalBlog Writing Contest Today we present another entry for Round 123 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include: First Prize: A Gunsite Academy Three-Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one,…