Karl-Gerät Mortar: Germany’s Tracked Giant

In the mid-1930s, Adolph Hitler cast his eye towards France and dreamed of revenge for the outcome of World War One. Standing in his way was the French Maginot Line, a collection of massive concrete strongpoints, casemates, armored turrets, and observation posts. Among the barbed wire, mine field...

By Tom Laemlein

SCOTUS Rules the Feds Can't Disarm You Just for Smoking Weed

The Supreme Court handed down its decision in United States v. Hemani this week, and the headline writes itself: Marijuana users can own guns. The Court ruled that the government can't prosecute Ali Danial Hemani under the federal law that bars drug users from possessing firearms, at le...

By Josh C

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver — The Big-Tailed Beast

In 1937, the Curtiss SBC Helldiver entered service, but even at that point, the carrier-based two-seat scout/dive bomber was on the verge of being obsolete. Interestingly, it was also the second aircraft produced by Curtiss-Wright to earn the designation “Helldiver” after the United States Ma...

By Peter Suciu

War Stories: Bill the Tommygunner

Bill was a happy, jovial man. He was a patient of mine for many years. He always came to the clinic in the company of his sweet wife, who clearly adored him. Bill looked like a professional grandfather. He was also my friend. Bill was a gifted woodworker. He loved football, golf, and dancing with...

By Will Dabbs, MD

Ayoob: The 1911 at War

I recently heard someone say that handguns have no place in military combat. History shows us otherwise. For the tanker, artilleryman, radio operator or medic whose hands are too busy at designated tasks to hold a rifle, the pistol makes enormous sense. Behind the lines when unpleasant surprises ...

By Massad Ayoob

Review: Springfield M1A Tanker

The Springfield Armory M1A Tanker represents the synergistic combination of a compact, full-power rifle with a timelessly attractive aesthetic. Pushing a full-sized 7.62x51mm/.308 Win. round in a chassis that lends itself to maneuverability and easy portage, the M1A Tanker also captures...

By Will Dabbs, MD

Battle of Britain: Myth vs. Reality

The idealized concept immediately took root and blossomed: the Royal Air Force saved Britain from invasion in 1940. The conventional wisdom holds that Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s legendary “few” handed Nazi Germany its first defeat in World War II and paved the road to eventual victo...

By Barrett Tillman

M1 Abrams — Best Job I Ever Had

The M1 Abrams was conceived with a singular, unyielding purpose: the total destruction of enemy armored formations. Over the last four decades, it has become the absolute pinnacle of tank warfare made manifest. Its sheer battlefield dominance has not only won conflicts, but forced militaries acro...

By Mason Berryman

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

Fudd Friday: O'Connor, Keith and The Killing Power Controversy

These days, the gun world is obsessed with all things tactical and self-defense oriented, but it wasn’t always that way. In the days before and after World War II, gun mags were oriented more towards the Fudd market, and people cared about hunting and outdoors living in general. And in that...

By Zac K
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