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Wilson Combat Makes Matched AR Lower/Upper Receivers

Wilson Combat’s new BILLet-AR receiver set was engineered from the ground up to address structural design weaknesses in standard USGI receivers and enhance overall tolerances which improve shot to shot consistency. A complete matched set is $600.

APO Tactical Rifle Goes Wylde

Ashbury Precision Ordnance Mfg (APO) has expanded its line of Asymmetric Warrior Precision Tactical Rifles by introducing the bolt-action ASW223 chambered in .223 Wylde. Ashbury's selection of the Wylde chamber in the ASW223 allows shooters to use either commercial 223 Remington or military-specification 5.56mm NATO ammunition with high levels of accuracy.

Smith & Wesson 1911 .45 ACP

The SW1911 operates with two functional variations on traditional 1911 design. The first variation is an externally mounted extractor. John Browning himself saw the extractor as the one weak point in the 1911 system and developed the external design to enhance reliability and maintenance.

Glock 23 Gen 4 40 S&W, $650

We tested two 40 S&W handguns in the May 2013 issue. Here's an excerpt of that report, "Two Midsize 40 S&W Pistols: Taurus and Glock Square Off,".

New Videos Added to Gunreports.Com This Week

Here are new videos added to GunReports.com this week: Birchwood Casey's new splattering Pregame Targets offer shooters three new games for shooting alone or for some friendly competition with other shooters; Jerry Miculek puts a 19 rounds on target in under 3 seconds with an FAL; Brownells shows how to properly clean a Beretta 92.

Colt Mustang Pocketlite .380 Auto

The .380 cartridge has been around since early in the last century. It was another of John Browning’s designs, and has been known as the 9mm Kurz, 9x17, 9mm Browning Short, and .380 ACP. We also know it as the .380 Automatic, or simply the .380 Auto. It’s been chambered in a host of small autoloading pistols, some of them quite famous, such as Walther’s PPK.

The .380 is not a cartridge many of us would pick for all-around use. It’s hardly a plinking cartridge, because of the relatively high cost of ammunition, and because the pistols that chamber it are generally not all that accurate. Reloaders don’t exactly flock to the diminutive cartridge, for a variety of reasons. Ammunition manufacturers have produced some excellent fodder in recent years for the tiny guns, but none of it can make a mountain-size “stopper” out of the molehill .380 Auto.

New Videos Added to Gunreports.Com This Week

Here are new videos added to GunReports.com this week: Two bullets too many; Jerry Miculek takes a close look at the Tavor bullpup rifle; and a Brownells' gunsmith goes through, step-by-step, how to properly disassemble a Beretta 92.

Springfield Armory Enhanced Micro Pistol 9mm, $1253

This Gun Test-evaluated pistol is chambered for shooter-friendly 9mm ammunition. It offers single-action fire and a thumb-operated safety to simplify operation. Matching short slides to the proper-strength recoil spring can be challenging. The tested Springfield Armory EMP (Enhanced Micro Pistol), $1253, sprang from the Browning 1911 design.Matching short slides to the proper-strength recoil spring can be challenging. All four of our test guns utilized a two-spring plunger-style guide-rod system that seems to be the answer to providing the proper balance of compression and rebound. Despite this operational similarity all four pistols offered their own unique features. Our test pistol, the Springfield Armory EMP (Enhanced Micro Pistol), $1253, sprang from the Browning 1911 design.

Springfield Armory XD40 Pro Carry XD9302HCSP06 40 S&W

The Pro Carry version of the XD pistol is a Springfield Armory Custom Shop pistol with a specified set of modifications. The Pro Carry package is the most basic of three available levels, providing a 4.5- to 5-pound trigger job, optional sights, the application of a national match barrel, a slick Armory Kote of all internal metal parts, and extension of the magazine release to one side as specified by the customer.

Tricks of the Gunsmithing Trade

Every gunsmith has secrets he would never share with a competitor. Here are a few you can claim as your own (but don’t tell anyone else).

New Videos on GunReports.com: Tavor, SIGTac, Harley Ride and Shoot

There are three new videos available at GunReports.com.: Harley Ride and Shoot -- For Juvenile Diabetes, SIGTac Adaptive Carbine Platform, and IWI Tavor MTAR-21 SAR first impressions with Jerry Miculek.

Smith & Wesson M&P Compact No. 109003 40 S&W, $569

We recently tested compact 40 S&W handguns in the March 2013 issue. Here's an excerpt of that report.

For this test we looked at a S&W M&P Compact 40 ($569) and a Kahr CW40 ($485). They are a bit larger than the tiny nines we've been trying, and there are good reasons for that. The 40 S&W is a lot more cartridge than the 9mm Parabellum, and when forties get smaller than these two test guns, recoil is entirely unfriendly.

More California Nonsense

I often write about outlandish judicial decisions in this space, but on March 15, 2024, Federal District Court Judge Josephine L. Staton raised the bar...