Recent content by Youngster

Tavor Ts12, so new it hasn't even been officially announced yet.

I like 'em, one of my favorite rifles, especially in SRC guise.

The U.S. didn't get to evaluate the AK-74 and cartridge until the early '80s, so how did anyone on this end know what level of armor would be sufficient or not? Not to mention, the Soviet changeover from AKM to AK-74 took a long time, some troops didn't actually receive AK-74s until well into...

That must be why "rifle" armor only started becoming a thing in U.S. service in the late '90s? Today, there are rifle plates that will defeat ANY rifle caliber, 5.56 included, that does not utilize a tungsten core or some other configuration that would make it impractical for mass issue.

7.62x39 was never really phased out of Russian service, it's still in use as as an alternate standard and they likely still have more AKMs in their inventory than the total number of M16s ever produced. They've also developed new service ammunition for it fairly recently in the form of the 7N23...

Who was widely issuing rifle plates decades ago? The Soviets changed rounds mainly because with the advent of 5.56, they were about to lose their riflemen's volume of fire and controllability advantage they'd previously held over their battle rifle armed NATO counterparts.

The 7.62x39 sucks as traditional rifleman's round, but it was a great intermediate round for a fighting carbine, and still is a solid choice for CQB given its surprising close range barrier penetration. I bet it would be a lot more popular than it is if not for import restrictions and other...

IMO the Carbine is a handy and fun little platform that can still be useful at times, but its days as a serious choice were done once the cheap surplus guns and ammo were gone.

The lesser longevity on the aluminum receiver pumps could be due to what's probably a lower grade of aluminum used by Mossberg and other budget oriented brands. Certainly Benelli semiautos don't seem to have issues standing up to huge shot counts.

I could see Ruger entering the traditional lever market if Marlin ends up going out of business. That's assuming they or some other corporation doesn't buy up the remnants of Marlin and "reboots" it.

New build? An 870 from one of the "tuner" shops like Vang Comp. However I'd take a Benelli or Beretta semi over any pump gun for defense these days.

There's no compelling reason for a full stocked fighting shotgun to be as long as a battle rifle. IMO, 18-20" fighting shotguns would be unusual at this point if not for the NFA. That length gives you little more than 1-2 rounds extra capacity at the expense of a huge loss in handiness.

In the military and police context I think its mostly due to institutional conservatism, and the fact that the combat shotgun as a system has largely been neglected since the Vietnam era.

They're alright for hiking and other outdoor activities since they're easy to pack and store, and door breaching I guess, but I don't see them being all that useful besides that. I will say however that if not for NFA restrictions, I believe most "social" and animal defense style shotguns would...

The Shockwave grip hurts my wrist unless I've got it down at the hip, and I mean just holding it, not even shooting. I can run a regular pistol grip no problem even with full power ammo, but my wrist just does not like the position it has to be in to allow eye level shooting with the Shockwave.