Lockheed D-21: Cold War Spy Drone

In October 1962, the C.I.A. and the U.S.A.F. requested that Lockheed study a high-speed, high-altitude drone concept for reconnaissance flights over particularly hostile territories to avoid endangering aircrews. Created during the height of the Cold War and following the shootdown of a U-2 spy p...

By Friedrich Seiltgen

History Shows Pistols Were Common in Revolutionary America

Were pistols common in Revolutionary America? Historical evidence from Cramer and Olson’s Willamette Law Review article shows pistols were privately owned, commercially available, and familiar to Americans at the Founding.

By Dean Weingarten

Story of the .308 Win.

Another step, and two deer scooted from a foggy clearing. But their dash into the alders suggested they’d not go far. Circling downwind, I drifted onto a deer trail, pausing at each step, glassing not yards ahead but feet. Then: a glint from the shadows. Stay still! Presently, beside ...

By Wayne van Zwoll

USS Hornet (CV-12): Carrier that Stung Japan

The USS Hornet (CV-12) stands as one of the most storied aircraft carriers in United States naval history, playing a decisive role in World War II as part of the Essex-class fleet. From its origins as a replacement for the lost USS Hornet (CV-8) to its participa...

By Peter Suciu

A Tactical .380? Meet the Beretta 80X Cheetah Tactical Special Edition

Beretta has continued to iterate on their surprisingly popular revival of the 80X Cheetah platform with this Tactical Special Edition. Built for real dirt-and-weather days, the new 80X Cheetah Tactical SA/DA .380 ACP now rocks a blacked-out slide, barrel, grips, and mag base pad against the bronz...

By Luke Cuenco

The New Bronzed & Comped Beretta 80X Cheetah Tactical Special Edition

While it’s not bronzed in the literal sense of the word, Beretta continues expanding the modernized 80X Cheetah platform with the introduction of the newest Tactical Special Edition. The “80X Cheetah Tactical” is a dual-tone variant that layers additional “tactical” ...

By Luke C.

Triumph and Tragedy: The USS Indianapolis

No one on board the USS Indianapolis (CA-35) knew anything about the cargo they were carrying. What they did know was that the veteran cruiser (launched in 1931) made the trip from San Francisco to the island of Tinian in the Marianas in just ten days. The crew was proud of the “Indy”, and fo...

By Tom Laemlein

Curtiss P-36 Hawk: Hero Plane of Pearl Harbor?

At the National Museum of the United States Air Force, many visitors will see an unfamiliar aircraft at the entrance to the WWII gallery. The museum’s display of the gleaming silver fighter coded “86” on the fuselage, features a pilot boarding the plane in his pajamas, with an M1911 pistol ...

By Tom Laemlein
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