by David Crane david@defensereview.com The folks at Knoxx Industries had a great display at TREXPO East. I think it’s fair to say that when all is said and done, combat shotgun lovers will probably owe Gary Cauble, President of Knoxx Industries, and Jim Bentley, Vice President, a big thank you. Knoxx Industries has come out with two products that are …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Smith & Wesson has just come out with a high-tech lightweight, five-shot .357/.38 Special +p revolver that’s actually light enough to be carried comfortably inside the pocket of a pair of cargo pants(you need pockets large enough, of course). Now, I realize that "high-tech" and "revolver", don’t usually go together well in a sentence, but bear …

FN has a bunch of new pistols on the table. Perhaps most importantly, they’ve just re-introduced the classic Hi-Power Pistol in Mk III configuration. This, of course, used to be known as the Browning Hi-Power Mk III, but Browning’s name will no longer be on the gun. Now, it’s called the FN HP-SA. FN is apparently working with members of …

Heckler & Koch has just introduced their new G36C mini-assault rifle, which incorporates an 8 ½ inch barrel and is even more compact than their G36K model. Mini-assault rifles are currently the biggest trend in tactical and special operations weaponry, as they provide much better performance(i.e. penetration) against both hard targets and body armor than submachine guns. The new gun …

The November 2001 edition of SAR (Small Arms Review) has an interesting article, written by Charlie Cutshaw, about American built Ak’s being built by Arsenal USA. Apparently, production of these rifles is being overseen by Ivan Kolev, formerly of Arsenal Bulgaria, who "holds the equivalent of a master’s degree from Tula Institute in Russia and is one of the world’s …

If you’re a fan of the Armalite AR-180 rifle (semi-auto version of the AR-18 assault rifle), guess what? It’s BAAaak!!! Armalite has just reintroduced the rifle as the AR180B, and they’ve instituted a few updates. These include a new polymer lower receiver, AR-15 trigger group, AR-15 style safety and mag release, so the gun now takes standard AR-15 magazines. One …

The September 2001 issue of SAR (Small Arms Review) has an interesting article on a mini High Power produced by gunsmith Art Leckie. The article is written by Peter Kokalis. If you’re not crazy about the mini Glocks, or you already own one of them and now you just want something a little higher end (and single action), then you …

S.T.I. International has a new compact hi-cap .45 designed specifically for CCW holders, called the V.I.P. The new gun holds ten rounds, and is obviously designed to give people an alternative to carrying a Glock 30. The main plus over the 30 is it’s 1911 layout which includes a frame mounted sweep-down safety. It’s main disadvantage, compared to the G30, …

We all know that $4,000 to $5,000 for a custom 1911 is probably on the outrageous side, and that one’s money would probably be better spent on a Glock (or slightly modified Kimber) and a whole lot of ammo and training. However, that being said, "American Handgunner" just did a fluff piece on a "Special Operations" 1911 by Larry Vickers, …

DefRev has found a very interesting ghost ring sight system for combat shotguns. The system consists of a BAR series rear ghost ring sight and SG series fron sight. The rear ghost ring sight is fully adjustable. Almost any tactical pump or semi-auto shotgun can be upgraded with the system. The sights are made by LPA, and are being marketed …