Wednesday Wisdom: 15 April 2026

Medal of Honor: John J. Duffy

Major Duffy directed the defense of Fire Support Base Charlie, which was surrounded by a battalion-size enemy element. In the morning hours, after a failed effort to establish a landing zone for resupply aircraft, he moved close to enemy anti-aircraft positions to call in airstrikes. At this time, Major Duffy was again wounded by fragments from a recoilless rifle round and again refused medical evacuation. Shortly thereafter, the enemy began an artillery bombardment on the base and he remained in an exposed position to direct gunships onto the enemy positions which eventually silenced the enemy fire. Following the bombardment, Major Duffy assessed the conditions on the base and personally ensured the wounded friendly foreign soldiers were moved to positions of relative safety and the remaining ammunition was appropriately distributed to the remaining defenders.

Shortly thereafter, the enemy resumed indirect fire on the base, expending an estimated 300 rounds. Nevertheless, he remained in an exposed position to direct gunship fire on the enemy positions. In the late afternoon hours, the enemy began a ground assault from all sides of the firebase and Major Duffy moved from position to position to adjust fire, spot targets for artillery observers, and ultimately to direct gunship fire on a friendly position which had been compromised. As the evening wore on, it became clear that the defenders could not withstand the overwhelming enemy forces and he began to organize an evacuation of the firebase under the cover of night. With the goal of a complete withdrawal, Major Duffy was the last man off the base, remaining behind to adjust the covering fire from gunships until the last possible moment.

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North Korean hackers hijack popular Axios open source project to spread malware

A suspected North Korean hacker has hijacked and modified a popular open source software development tool to deliver malware that could put millions of developers at risk of being compromised. On 30 March 2026 a hacker pushed malicious versions of the widely used JavaScript library called Axios, which developers rely on to allow their software to connect to the internet. The affected library was hosted on a software repository that stores code for open source projects.

Axios is downloaded tens of millions of times every week. The hijack was spotted and stopped in around three hours overnight, according to security firm StepSecurity, which analyzed the attack. It’s unclear at this point how many people downloaded the malicious version of Axios during that time span. Security company Aikido, which also investigated the incident, said anyone who downloaded the code “should assume their system is compromised.”

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3D Printed Suppressors

 

When you hear the phrase 3D printing, you likely picture a machine printing plastic toys and gadgets for Etsy. What if we told you that 3D printed suppressors are now a reality? This isn’t your cool uncle’s 3D printer. This revolutionary manufacturing style, known as additive manufacturing, uses a process called Direct Metal Laser Sintering. DMLS employs a high-powered laser to fuse metal powder into a single, cohesive, three-dimensional shape.

Traditionally, a suppressor uses subtractive manufacturing: a solid block of metal is cut and milled down to the final tube shape. DMLS flips this on its head by building the product up layer by layer. This allows manufacturers to design complex, weight-saving internal geometries that were previously impossible to achieve with standard machining, leading to extremely durable cans that offer excellent back pressure reduction and improved sound suppression.

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The Gun, the Master, and the Student

Few of us who grew up loving to watch the “shoot 'em up” cops and robbers movies will ever forget that great scene from the 1971 movie Dirty Harry where Inspector Callahan pulls out his 61⁄2 inch Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum and blows away the bad guys trying to rob a bank in downtown San Francisco. There was Clint Eastwood, looking all macho and everything, eating a hot dog, firing the “most powerful handgun in the world” while taking down the bad guys all by himself. I went back several times trying to count the number of rounds he fired to see how accurate the film makers were, after watching Clint taunt the bad guy, “I know what you're thinking, did I fire six rounds or only five... well, do you feel lucky, punk?”

 

There is not way to know how many Inspector Callahans there might have been in law enforcement carrying .44 Magnums in 1971, but the numbers would have been few and far between. That's why it was more than interesting that the El Cajon Police Department, in a small town of about 40,000 residents, had authorized their use for general duty purposes as early as 1961, ten years before Dirty Harry. You might say that Chief O'Connor, an old-time western style cop, was leading edge back then when he authorized his department's officers to carry this magnificent but not-so-popular weapon. Having consulted with Officer Elden Carl, O'Connor was convinced the Model 29 had a place in his officers' arsenal of handgun choices, particularly after reading of Elden's incredible accomplishments in pistol competitions.

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Tips & Suggestions For Surveillance Detection Operators

The following tips and recommendations come from actual operational experience, and address a few common points that come up in private sector surveillance detection operations. The recommendations I give here are not, strictly speaking, focused on covert protection, but on surveillance detection.

As always – no article, book, or seminar can actually teach people how to perform surveillance detection. Though some of the wording in this article might seem instructional, please keep in mind that this article is not intended to teach anyone how to execute surveillance detection operations.

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Those who suggest the feasibility of a nationwide pistol permit must realize that such a procedure would be un-constitutional according to the Tenth Amendment (assuming anyone still pays any attention to the Tenth Amendment). However, since the Constitution preceding the Bill of Rights makes it clear that states are bound to honor the acts of other states it would seem to follow that a citizen who has a permit to carry in a permit-to-carry state may expect his permit to honored in any other permit-to-carry state. The legal aspects of this issue are not fully understood and one should not expect the gendarme on the beat to be fully apprised of the situation. Jeff Cooper's Commentaries; Vol. 4, No. 3; February 1996

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Top Break Revolvers

 

What is a Top Break Revolver? A top break revolver uses a hinged frame that opens at the top so the barrel and cylinder can tip down. First introduced in the mid-1800s, the break top system allows faster loading and ejection compared to its gate loading counterparts like the Colt Single Action Army. 

In 1836, Samuel Colt's Paterson design introduced a revolver that would serve as the blueprint for decades of cap-and-ball wheel guns. Early Patersons were slow to load, however, requiring disassembly and the removal of the cylinder. Some later iterations, like the Ehlers Improved Paterson models in the 1840s, incorporated an attached loading lever and capping window, enabling faster powder charging, ball seating, and capping directly on the frame.

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Don't Post Photos of Your Keys!

Few among us would knowingly hand out copies of our keys to strangers. Many of us do, however, provide strangers with all the necessary information to generate a working copy of our key(s). Within two minutes of scanning this site I found at least half a dozen unredacted photos of common, residential keys - bad business.

First, it is important to understand the pieces of information necessary to generate a key. They are the key profile, the number of cuts, and the depths of each cut. All of this information is available from the lock itself by a sufficiently skilled attacker, but the information is much more easily acquired from the key. If you're interested in learning key generation, go to Deviant Ollam's outstanding Keys to the Kingdom: Impressioning, Privilege Escalation, Bumping, and Other Key-Based Attacks Against Physical Locks.

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Scoping Gang Violence

 

To say that gangs are the principal source of gun violence in America is akin to saying a Russian invasion is a little noisy. We at Gun Facts have repeatedly noted that gangs cause most of the bloodshed. A new (to us) academic work helps to illustrate this and to compare with some of our estimates as well. It’s worse than we thought in some respects. Take-aways. Gun homicides are primarily street gang related.

This violence is highly concentrated in a handful of metro areas.
Focusing on core gang members reduces street gang gun homicides.

Gang related… multiple definitions. We first must discuss yet another problem with criminology data consistency. There is no single and uniformly applied definition of “gang related” for crime circumstances. Each locality applies their own… if they even bother with writing down a formal definition. Hence, any national data you have seen concerning gang-related violence is ± a lot.

How broad are the definitions? Enough so that one academic review of crime data claims that between 30-50% of homicides are gang related. That’s a wide gap, and that is far below our estimate of 85%.

Much like the concept of “mass shootings,” the devil is in the definitions. The “Chicago definition” holds that a homicide is gang related only when there is evidence the killing was motivated by gang concerns. Conversely, the Los Angeles definition is when gang members participate even if the motive is not clearly gang driven. Because of this, LA will report gang-related homicides at twice the rate of Chicago.

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The Compact, Concealed Handgun in Law Enforcement: A Fascinating History

Most uniformed law enforcement personnel in the U.S. carry a full size ‘service’ pistol. Among plain clothes officers, smaller variants, such as the Glock 19 and Glock 27 are very popular. This offers plain clothes and undercover officers the ability to carry full power pistols, but in a more concealable package. While the advantages of this are obvious, the story of how this came to be is fascinating, and for the most part, untold.

The first practical, multi-shot ‘service’ handguns were the Colt Paterson, created in 1835, and the Colt Walker, created in 1847. These were initially called ‘Holster’ pistols by the factory, not because they were intended to be carried in holsters on the belt, but because they were intended to be carried in Pommel Holsters on a horse. When you consider that the .44 caliber Colt Walker weighed in at 4 lbs., 8 oz., and had a 9-inch barrel, then horse carry, with the nick name of ‘Horse Pistols’ becomes obvious. These huge revolvers were used with great success by the Texas Rangers, but it goes without saying that attempting to carry one concealed would be a challenge at best. (Comment: Link downloads a .pdf file)

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That Time Germany Wussed Out

In mid-April of 1918, Germany rained high-explosives and chlorine gas on American troops protecting the French village of Seicheprey … for a solid 36 hours. Then, 3,000 elite Sturmtruppen overwhelmed the American trenches with flamethrowers and stick grenades, forcing the battle into a house-to-house brawl.

Germany’s objective at Seicheprey wasn’t to gain ground, but to embarrass America. Nonetheless, the 102nd Infantry rallied at nightfall and repelled the Sturmtruppen back to their original trench lines, thereby reversing Germany’s humiliation attempt: the Kaiser deployed his very best, and America’s Doughboys sent them packing.

In addition to encountering U.S. grit for the first time, Germany was also introduced to a new American weapon that helped turn the tide at Seicheprey, and beyond. Except … the Germans couldn’t figure out what this Sturmtruppen-defeating armament might be. The High Command demanded answers! After all, their elites couldn’t possibly be defeated in a fair fight. The enemy must be winning through some unnatural means.

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Controlling Fear

When a responsible person first begins going armed, he is usually haunted by two recurring questions, or self doubts:

-- If I’m really attacked, and my life is at stake, will I be able to handle it?

-- What if I screw up and kill an innocent person?

This is a normal reaction, and to a degree it is healthy. We do, however, need to address these issues and resolve them, before a conflict, so that they will not raise their ugly heads when we should be concentrating on winning the fight. Remember, if an unavoidable fight is thrust upon us, we MUST WIN! The alternative can be death, or crippling injury.

The first issue to face is that of FEAR. Fear is a normal reaction to physical violence for most people. In addition, since most of us no longer have military experience and live in “civilized” surroundings, we may not have ever actually engaged in a true fight before our moment of truth in a criminal attack. This fear of the unknown is, for many, worse than the fear of being hurt or killed.

Unless you are an exceptional person, a nutcase, or a liar, and you have actually been involved in armed conflict, you have tasted fear. I’m not ashamed to say I have been scared several times, and I fully expect to be scared again before my life is over. What you must learn to do is control your fear and do what you must to win. 

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The Range Master April 2026 Drill of the Month

When I read the April 2026 Range Master monthly newsletter, I realized that the Sensible Self Defense Academy (SSD-A) monthly match was scheduled for 11 April 2026. April 11, 2026 was the 40th anniversary of the infamous shoot-out in Miami, FL, involving a squad of FBI Special Agents and two serial murderers/bank robbers.

To commemorate the FBI agents who fought these murderers, I wanted to use Tom Givens and Range Master’s monthly drill for the SSD-A standards drill for April 2026. Per the Range Master newsletter, the drills sought to approximate some of the conditions the agents encountered as they fought the two bank robbers. The drill names reflect the name of the agent who did something very similar at some point in the fight.

I adapted the drills to reflect the SSD-A match’s standards drill requirements. We used the modified Shoot Steel target covered by a T-shirt that generally obscures the scoring area and we used SSD-A scoring as follows:

Hits in the target’s center area or the ocular cavity are down zero (worth five points). Hits in the remainder of the target or head are down three (or worth two points). Lines count for the higher value; however, bullet must clearly cut the line--edge hits and misses are down five (earn zero points). 

I started competitors from the twenty-five-yard line (thirty yards for PCCs) and moved forward. Competitors using pistol caliber carbines (PCCs) fired from longer distances than those shooting pistols. Per the Range Master newsletter with my adaptations:

Risner Drill - At 25 yards, holstered. On signal, draw and fire four hits to the upper chest on T1 (target 1). Standard: 10 seconds or less.

Hanlon Drill - At 10 yards, holstered. On signal draw, drop to kneeling or assume a cover crouch and fire two hits on T1 and two hits on T2. All to the upper chest. Standard: Six seconds or less (comment: the range we use has a fair amount of rocks, fired brass, etc. so we allowed the “cover crouch” that Massad Ayoob teaches to preclude any knee injuries for those without pads).

Mireles Drill - Start at 7 yards, gun in dominant hand. All shots fired with dominant hand only. Fire two hits on T1. Take two steps forward. Fire two hits on T2. Take two steps forward. Fire one head hit on T1 and one head hit on T2. Standard: 10 seconds or less.

McNeil Drill - At 3 yards starting from Low Ready. On signal, fire one head hit on T1, and one head hit on T2. Standard: 2.5 seconds or less. You will do this three times.

The SSD-A match has two divisions – concealed and unconcealed. Within the divisions, we have three categories as follows: carry pistol (a pistol the competitor states that they routinely carry), back-up gun (e.g. SIG 365, Glock 26, Springfield Hellcat, etc.), and non-carry pistol which is any other pistol the competitor wishes to use.

Unfortunately, on match day we only had about one-half of our normal turnout due to some early rain in the San Antonio, TX area which caused several competitors to drop out. We still had fifteen competitors complete the standards stage: six shooting concealed and nine starting from no concealment. Several competitors shot the stage twice, some with different pistols. Of the competitors starting concealed, five made the time limits with six of the nine competitors starting unconcealed making the time limits.

My Target #1

We had two people shooting BUGs, one revolver, eight carry pistols, and five non-carry pistols. I personally shot the stage two times with my every day compact carry pistol starting from concealment. I scored 100 on my first run and a 94 on my second run and placed first and third respectively (my 25-yard target #1 shown above). We had a total of six competitors score in the nineties, three in the eighties, and the rest scored seventy-nine or below.

The Range Master Drill of the month is a good drill and I enjoyed shooting it. The Range Master Monthly Newsletter has a lot of good information and is available at:

https://rangemaster.com/newsletter/

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Wednesday Wisdom: 8 April 2026

Medal of Honor: Edward G Wilkin

Corporal Wilkin spearheaded his unit's assault of the Siegfried line in Germany. Heavy fire from enemy riflemen and camouflaged pillboxes had pinned down his comrades when he moved forward on his own initiative to reconnoiter a route of advance. He cleared the way into an area studded with pillboxes, where he repeatedly stood up and walked into vicious enemy fire, storming one fortification after another with automatic rifle fire and grenades, killing enemy troops, taking prisoners as the enemy defense became confused, and encouraging his comrades by his heroic example. When halted by heavy barbed wire entanglements, he secured bangalore torpedoes and blasted a path toward still more pillboxes, all the time braving bursting grenades and mortar shells and direct rifle and automatic-weapon fire. He engaged in fierce firefights, standing in the open while his adversaries fought from the protection of concrete emplacements, and on one occasion pursued enemy soldiers across an open field and through interlocking trenches, disregarding the crossfire from two pillboxes until he had penetrated the formidable line 200 yards in advance of any American element.

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Colt’s Cloverleaf – The House Pistol

The Colt Cloverleaf revolver was the first Colt revolver designed specifically for metallic cartridges, making them a quintessential addition to any Colt collection. Besides the handy ejector rod, it is also noteworthy to Colt collectors or students of handgun design that the Cloverleaf was the first incorporation of the countersunk or recessed cylinder breech.

This small recess where shells were loaded allowed the rim of the cartridges to sit flush with the surface of the cylinder. Much like the cylinder pin, this innovation was also promptly shelved by Colt and not to be seen again until the following century when it was marketed as the "embedded head cylinder." Smith & Wesson wouldn't commonly use this feature until the 1930's with the advent of their .357 magnum (Smith & Wesson's Straight Line single shot technically first used this in 1925).

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Springfield’s New A-CUT Echelons with Pre-Mounted Aimpoint COA Red Dots

The Aimpoint COA is a fully enclosed red-dot optic with a new mounting system Aimpoint calls the A-CUT. What makes it different? Aimpoint advertises the COA as a red dot that’s optimized for concealed-carry pistols: ultra-compact, built for slimline and standard frames, and engineered for reliability, simplicity, and a great shooting experience.

The front of the optic with the new mounting system dovetails into a matching cut on the slide and the rear sight clamps the optic firmly in place. The A-CUT is one of the strongest, most robust mounting systems to come along in years. Why talk about a 2025 optic in 2026? Because Aimpoint’s COA was exclusive to GLOCK until SHOT Show 2026 when Springfield Armory became the first non-GLOCK Aimpoint partner to adopt the COA A-CUT mounting system. Springfield will now offer the Echelon 4.5F, Echelon 4.0FC, and Echelon 4.0C with the A-CUT, each shipped with an Aimpoint COA included.

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Which Medium-Frame .22 Revolver Is Best? A 5-Gun Comparison

What are these guns actually for and why do they cost so much? We’re used to semi-auto .22s being cheaper than centerfire pistols because they’re mechanically simpler and use fewer expensive materials.

Double-action .22 revolvers are different. They’re essentially the same as their centerfire counterparts but with smaller holes. In some cases, they require more machining, and they’re usually produced in smaller quantities. So, if you’re comparing otherwise identical models, the rimfire version will typically cost about the same, or sometimes even more.

So why spend $1,000 on a medium-frame .22 revolver if they’re not ideal for self-defense? For a lightweight kit gun, a small-frame .22 usually makes more sense and for a dedicated target gun, semi-auto .22s are generally more accurate. There are two main reasons to own one of these. First, they’re outstanding training tools. You don’t need a centerfire revolver to get the training benefits that come from mastering a double-action trigger.

Second and perhaps more important--they’re just fun. These guns have the weight, balance, and mechanical feel of a centerfire revolver, without the noise, recoil, or ammunition cost. Unlike a lot of semi-auto .22s, they feel like serious guns instead of range toys.

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Marking and Numbering Magazines

Why Number Your Magazines? There are a couple of good reasons for numbering magazines. First, it helps you keep track of magazines that might have issues. There is an old saw that, "if it malfunctions, sledge-hammer it flat" so it can't be used again. That's probably best-case scenario. In the military (with an unlimited supply of magazines) that's exactly correct. Here in the real world where we buy our own magazines. One failure to lock the slide to the rear isn't enough to destroy a $25-50 magazine. It is worth keeping track of, though. If that issue arises again with that magazine - it might be time to replace the spring, the follower, or the entire magazine. If that issue arises with several other magazines, it probably indicates a need to troubleshoot technique or examine the firearm. Numbering your magazines lets you keep an eye on issues like this and identify the culprit.

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Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, March 1995:

I was asked by a magazine editor what sort of sidearm I would suggest for "the elderly." This caught me somewhat aslant, since I am pretty elderly myself and I do not feel a need for a firearm especially attuned to my aged condition. For one who has handled firearms since early adolescence, as most of us have, it is hard to discern any age differentiation when it comes to shooting. Certainly eyesight tends to degenerate with the advancing years, but as long as one can see at all he ought to be able to use Gun A as well as Gun B.

An exception to this, however, may be the "pistol ghost-ring" devised by Steve Wickert of Wells Sport Store in Prescott. Several old timers now have reported that this sighting system does wonders to make up for the increasing stiffness of the cornea that normally comes with age. This arrangement is somewhat more obtrusive than conventional rear sights on a pistol, but not enough to invalidate it as a holster weapon. If you find it increasingly hard to pick up that front sight in a hurry, you might well give this arrangement some thought.

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AMERIGLO Ghost Ring Pistol Sights

 

The AMERIGLO GL-325 Ghost Ring Sights come in a small package and are very simple to install. If you’ve never installed Glock sights before, then there are several YouTube videos online that will show you safe and effective ways to install them, or if you want to take the easy route, you can always have your local Glock Certified Armorer install and drift them properly for you.

The tritium inside both the rear and front sights was very fresh and started to glow even in the early hours of the evening when the sun hadn’t completely set. Aiding in the visibility was the really impressive green outline of the front sight post and this single feature turned out to be both a benefit and a detriment in my opinion depending on the situation. After the sights were seated and drifted it was time to take the rig to the range and see what all the rage with ghost ring sights was about.

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Surveillance Mapping

 

Surveillance Mapping is a term used to describe the mapping out of the area around a given property, as it relates to potential surveillance vantage points, and the information that can be collected on the property from those vantage points.

A vantage point is a location from which a hostile surveillance operative can conduct surveillance, and a good surveillance vantage point is one that will give the operative access to a large amount of visual information, while allowing him/her to collect this information covertly.

The idea of a fortress makes for a good analogy here. Many people think that fortresses are made to be impenetrable, which is quite incorrect. The general idea of a fortress is simply to narrow down the probable avenues of attack, and then concentrate more attention on those avenues, instead of thinly spreading your attention over all locations equally. Ultimately, there is no such thing as an impenetrable fortress because even fortresses have weaknesses. Any entrance, for example, is an obvious weakness, and yet, what would be the point of a fortress with no entrances? The idea is simply to limit as much as possible the number of such weaknesses, and then understand and protect the remaining ones.

To fully understand the weaknesses in your property, you need to find out where your adversary can observe these weaknesses from in the first place. After all, the knowledge about your facility’s weaknesses does not simply materialize in the mind of an attacker, it must first be observed – and must be observed from somewhere, i.e. a vantage point.

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Toward a Neurobehavioral Taxonomy of Trauma

The human body has only so many ways to defend itself, and those defenses often look similar even when the causal agents are entirely different. The response to nerve agent poisoning can resemble the flu in important respects, even though the cause is completely unrelated. Similar outward effects do not prove a common source. They only tell us that the body has a limited repertoire of reactions available to it under stress, injury, or insult.

The same problem appears in our understanding of trauma. Human beings also have a limited repertoire of defensive responses to danger, helplessness, prolonged threat, violent action, and moral shock. Hypervigilance, emotional numbing, intrusive thoughts, withdrawal, irritability, guilt, sleep disruption, dissociation, and aggressive overreaction can appear after very different kinds of experiences. Because the symptoms overlap, they are often grouped together under the same broad label. But similarity in symptoms does not mean sameness in cause.

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The Pros and Cons of Defensive Revolvers

There are people in the gun world who wonder why this far into the 21st century anyone would choose a revolver over a modern semi-auto pistol. Well, we’re glad you asked. We’re reminded of the late Pat Rogers and his old axiom: “The mission drives the gear train.” In short, for some people, and some situations, the revolver can be the dreaded “just as good as,” or an even better.

While it is true that the modern military-grade semi-auto service pistol has replaced the revolver for hard use in defensive carry, police and military service, this in no way means the revolver isn’t a capable handgun for defensive and sport use.

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Fluted Ammo – No Longer a Fad

It has been a little over ten years since Ruger and the original manufacturer of ARX ammunition introduced us to the concept of ammunition using fluted bullets. Ruger bowed out of the deal fairly early, and the original ARX ammunition is now branded as Inceptor ARX. The concept caught on and we now have cartridges using fluted bullets prevalent in mainstream manufacturing and the bullets are popular with reloaders.

The flutes have no effect on mechanical operation within the gun or stability in flight. Once the bullet reaches the target, the rotation of the fluted design traveling at a high velocity causes havoc. The spinning flutes create lateral dispersion of energy with the forward dispersion along the bullet’s path causing a significant wounding effect.

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American Kabuki Security Theatre

Last weekend a retired Law Enforcement Officer — and gunnie — acquaintance of mine ran afoul of the institutionalized security theatre that the Federal Government straight-facedly calls the “Transportation Security Administration”. Bad luck for her — actually bad preparation — but good luck for me and you, because it gives me some blog-fodder.

Yes, this retiree had been to the range earlier in the week, haphazardly unpacked the range bag when she got home, and a couple of days later threw in some clothes and headed for Albuquerque International. Guess what the TSA drone spotted2 in her carry-on at the X-ray? If you said, “A bang-stick,” congratulations.

Comment: This happened to a close friend who was going through security while getting on a cruise ship. My friend had inadvertently left a speed strip with five rounds of .38 special in their carry-on. No firearm. From what I was told, you would have thought those bullets could have sunk the ship. The ship’s Captain allowed them to complete the cruise; however, much hassle was endured. Good advice in this article.

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Iran’s Shift Toward Intercontinental Missile Capabilities

Iran’s decision to target Diego Garcia with two missiles represents a calculated expansion of Tehran’s operational strike geometry beyond the Middle East theater. That neither missile reached its intended target—one suffered an in-flight failure, while the other was intercepted—does not diminish the operational significance of the attempt.

Instead, the launches demonstrate that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intends to stress-test its extended-range delivery systems under live operational conditions, and target locations previously considered beyond Tehran’s reach. The attempt aligns with Iran’s geopolitical objective of delivering strategic effects on a global scale to pressure the administration of US President Donald Trump into ending the war.

Israeli military assessments characterize the weapon systems Iran employed in the strike as a two-stage ballistic missile with an estimated operational range of approximately 2,500 miles. That characterization carries considerable analytical weight for any attempt to determine the system Iran may have used.

Comment: Long read, but very informative concerning Iran’s current and potentially future capabilities.

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Covert Ninja Ammunition

The team over at Barnes has built an entire line of subsonic ammunition just for those of us who love the challenge and pure joy of shooting subsonic, both on the range and in the field. With the $200 NFA Tax stamp for silencers finally gone—Barnes saw the writing on the wall. A massive uptick in suppressor sales was coming, so they went to work. The result is the Suppressor Series, a line specifically designed for shooting through cans. Combining premium Sierra bullets with a clean-burning propellant, they engineered semi-auto reliability with reduced gas blowback and tighter accuracy downrange.

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FBI Labels China-Linked Hack of Surveillance System a “Major Cyber Incident”

 

Suspected Chinese hackers breached a sensitive FBI wiretap system, compromising surveillance target data and triggering the bureau's highest cybersecurity alert classification. This cybersecurity incident represents one of the most serious breach classifications available under current federal statute and indicates that sensitive FBI law enforcement data may have been substantially compromised.

The Targeted System

The system at the center of the breach is reported to be an unclassified component of the FBI’s Digital Collection System Network (DCSNet), the bureau’s internal infrastructure used to manage court-authorized wiretaps and foreign intelligence surveillance requests; specifically, DCS-3000 (known as Red Hook). The system processes pen register and trap-and-trace surveillance operations, which law enforcement use to monitor calls made to or from a specific phone or websites visited by an internet-connected device. While these tools do not capture the content of communications, they collect call metadata, including numbers dialed, routing data, and the identities of individuals under active FBI investigation.

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Wednesday Wisdom: 1 April 2026

Medal of Honor: Michael "Mike" Colalillo

He was pinned down with other members of his company during an attack against strong enemy positions in the vicinity of Untergriesheim, Germany. Heavy artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire made any move hazardous, when he stood up, shouted to the company to follow, and ran forward in the wake of a supporting tank, firing his submachine gun. Inspired by his example, his comrades advanced in the face of savage enemy fire. When his weapon was struck by shrapnel and rendered useless, he climbed the deck of the friendly tank, manned an exposed machine gun on the turret of the vehicle, and, while bullets rattled about him, fired at an enemy emplacement with such devastating accuracy that he killed or wounded at least 10 hostile soldiers and destroyed their machine gun. Maintaining his extremely dangerous post as the tank forged ahead, he blasted three more positions, destroyed another machine-gun emplacement, and silenced all resistance in his area, killing at least three and wounding an undetermined number of riflemen as they fled.

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The Lee-Speed Rifle

Lee-Speed rifles were civilian sporting arms typically chambered in .303 British. Commercial examples were marked “Lee-Speed Patents,” a reference not to a single patent, but to the combined intellectual property of James Paris Lee’s rear-locking bolt-action and detachable box-magazine system, along with later refinements patented by Joseph Speed, Superintendent at the Royal Small Arms Factory. The marking signified commercially licensed use of both Lee’s action and Speed’s improvements that were also incorporated into the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield British service rifles.

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FK Brno PSD Multi-Caliber Pistol

In 2015, a new manufacturer in the Czech Republic called FK Brno released its Field Pistol. Not only was this handgun superbly crafted, it was also chambered for a new cartridge, the 7.5 FK. Seeking to fulfill the needs of a private military contractor operating in the Middle East, the company designed a cartridge and a handgun to fire it that would enable almost anyone to consistently and successfully engage a hostile target at 100 yards. Not a rifle, mind you, but a handgun that would be roughly the same size as standard-duty sidearms and could be carried on a belt.

Such a task was a lot harder than it sounds. Consistently hitting a target at 100 yards with a handgun is something most mortals can’t do. Moreover, even if you are at the expert level of proficiency required to do so, most handgun calibers cannot be guaranteed to do the damage at that range required for defensive purposes.

FK Brno solved both of those problems with the 7.5 FK, which pushes a 95-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of about 2,000 fps from a 6-inch barrel. This is right around .30 Carbine velocity—out of a carbine-length barrel—yet it is achieved out of a pistol.

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Don't Use FMJ Ammo for Self-Defense 

Occasionally I'll see someone using cheap, ball ammo for self-defense. Sometimes this is borne out of simple frugality. More frequently it is the result of misunderstanding how modern, expanding, hollow point ammunition behaves. In this article I hope to convince you otherwise. Bottom line up front: don't use FMJ ammo for self-defense if (and only if) you have better options available.

Modern, expanding, JHP ammunition is carefully engineered. It is designed to expand within a certain velocity envelope and in a certain medium. It is also designed not to expand if the velocity is too low, or if it hits the wrong medium. The key term in the description above is "fluid filled tissue." Fluid is almost always required for the hydraulic action necessary to expand a hollowpoint. A round fired through the stuffing in your couch cushions is not going to expand. Even if it does expand a little, it will still have sufficient energy on the other side be a major problem for the bad guy.

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Finding a Balance

What is the Best Caliber for Beginning PRS Shooters? To begin, let’s establish a few terms. “PRS” refers to the Precision Rifle Series, but also in general, that type of long-range precision/tactical rifle competition. Several organization and rulesets comprise this world, such as PRS, NRL, NRL Hunter, and multiple matches that fall outside any governing body. Each organization also has many different divisions and classes, each with its own rifle limitations, so every subcategory will have its own optimal rifle and cartridge combination.

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Glock Announces Production of a Glock 1911 Pistol

Glock has just announced that the company, as part of their new technology initiative will begin to produce a version of the 1911. A spokesman for Glock stated that although the market is saturated with multiple companies producing versions of the 1911, Glock is certain that the company’s innovative manufacturing technology will enable Glock to produce a 1911 at a price point that will successfully compete in the marketplace.

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Armed in the Colonies: Firearms, Militia, and Early American Law

American society has always been connected to firearms culture in some capacity. And in the modern day there are endless discussions on the framework of firearms law and on best practices for citizens who do carry or utilize their rights. However, the conversations that we have in the modern day are different from the ones that existed in colonial times and would be completely alien to those who lived in colonial America.

The central martial and legal obligation a free man in the colonies had to his polity was service in the local militia. Service was compulsory with only a few legal exceptions due to health or if a reliable second could be found or hired. But for the common colonial citizen, between 16 and 50 years old, service in the militia was a fact of life. As a result, the furnishing of weapons and the provision of training to these men was a critical issue for the various states and governments that organized them.

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New York Miranda Warning Update 

The New York News reports that the New York courts have authorized the following modifications to the standard Miranda Warning:

"You have the right to remain a victim. Should you choose to waive this right, anything you do will likely be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an assailant. If you cannot find one for yourself, the court will release one for you."

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The Right to Be Left Alone

One of the things that irritates me about earnest young people screaming “First Amendment!” is their belief that their right to speak their minds also obliges me to listen to them do so.

They are convinced that their freedom of speech comes with a concomitant compulsion to listen to them; that it’s perfectly in their rights to trap me in my car and force me to listen to them run their cake-holes about whatever Outrage du Jour they’re directed to be passionate about this week. Whenever you see videos of “protestors” blocking traffic to vent their spleens about … whatever … the people trapped in their vehicles are being coerced into listening; when you see videos of “protestors” getting their stupid on in restaurants with loud-speakers and airhorns, those patrons are being constrained to listen.

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DOJ Legal Filing Renews Concerns About ATF’s Posture on Braced Pistols 

The saga of ATF’s enforcement of the National Firearm Act’s “short barreled rifle” provisions against braced pistols has been a roller coaster ride of shifting interpretations. NRA-ILA has been keeping up with, reporting on, and advocating for reform the entire time. It seemed we had reached a low point with the publication of the rule Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached “Stabilizing Braces” during the Biden-Harris administration.

Eventually, the rule was vacated in its entirety. Unfortunately, that did not provide the lasting relief many had hoped.Last year, we reported on ATF audaciously claiming, in the waning days of the Biden-Harris administration, that ALL braced pistols were subject to the NFA. It then quickly walked backed that position as “overbroad.”

But then NRA exposed the ongoing prosecution of Taylor Taranto for possession of an unregistered SBR, based on allegations concerning a CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 pistol with an attached SB Tactical stabilizing brace. Taranto moved to have the charge dismissed. In its opposition to the motion, filed during the Biden-Harris administration, the government claimed: Although the rule is stayed (and, now, vacated), ATF is not barred from continuing to enforce the underlying statute.

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Dirty Dozen tax scams for 2026: IRS reminds taxpayers to watch out for dangerous threats

The Internal Revenue Service today announced its annual Dirty Dozen list of tax scams for 2026 that threaten the tax and financial information of taxpayers, businesses, and tax professionals. The Dirty Dozen is part of a broader campaign conducted through the Security Summit, a partnership among the IRS, state tax agencies, and the nation’s tax industry, and reinforced by outreach efforts tied to National Slam the Scam Day on March 5. These initiatives educate taxpayers about identity theft schemes and other forms of fraud, particularly during filing season.

A notable change to this year’s list is the addition of abusive undistributed long-term capital gains claims as item #6, replacing prior fuel tax credit concerns, as the IRS sees an increase in overstated or fabricated claims tied to Form 2439, Notice to Shareholder of Undistributed Long-Term Capital Gains. The IRS advises all taxpayers to remain cautious year-round, as criminals will always be on the lookout for new ways to obtain money, personal identifiable information, and data.

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The .500 Auto Max Cartridge

 

Something you didn’t know you needed. “The .500 S&W Magnum, while a fine revolver cartridge, really comes into its own realm when chambered in a rifle,” said Greg Buchel, president and CEO of Big Horn Armory. “Chambering it in the AR platform created some challenges that required us to rethink how the .500 S&W could best be solved by slight changes in the case design. Removing the rim allowed it to work properly in existing detachable box magazines. The result of this is the .500 Auto Max cartridge.”

At first glance, you would think you are looking at a dolled-up AR-10—not so surprising, since the AR500 is based upon the AR-10/SR25 receiver. However, closer inspection reveals that this forged piece of 7075 black-anodized aluminum isn’t the same old mil-spec receiver often seen today. It’s actually stylized with a few swoops and curves that make it look a lot nicer. Opening it up, the bolt carrier group (BCG) is noticeably massive. The bolt face had to be opened up a bit and the extractor redesigned to accommodate the .500 Auto Max cartridge.

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