Veterans will see fees waived for initial and renewal gun licenses beginning November 5.County sheriffs will be able to waive the conceal-carry fees for active and former members of the US armed services, according to a social media post from the Athens County Sheriff's Department.

The Trail LRF series offers a thermal laser range finder. (Photo: Pulsar)

Pulsar announced its Trail LRF series is finally on its way to consumers, officially shipping in four different models.

The XQ38 LRF, XQ50 LRF, XP38 LRF and XP50 LRF feature similar attributes to the rest of the Trail lineup; however, the units boast the added benefit of integrated LRF allowing the devices to display target distance up to 1,100 yards.

“Whether you’re hunting varmints from inside close range or predators from afar, the integrated LRF will help you take the perfect shot,” Pulsar said in a news release.

The Trail LRFs offer WiFi remote viewing through the Stream Vision app with built-in recording as well as audio and picture-in-picture digital zoom. In addition, the Trail LRF series packs in an eight-hour rechargeable battery. The laser rangefinders finishes off its design with a 640×480 AMOLED display with an optional 640×480 sensor.

The Pulsar Trail LRF line is now shipping with prices hovering around the $6,000 mark.

The LRF features an eight hour rechargeable battery. (Photo: Pulsar)

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The RT-S Mod 7 4-32x56mm offers a first focal plane design. (Photo: Riton Optics)

Riton Optics brings a new scope to its lineup, adding the 4-32x56mm illuminated reticle rifle scope to its Mod 7 series aimed at long range and tactical shooters.

The scope uses an illuminated reticle. (Photo: Riton Optics)

Developed in the field with Riton dealers and consumers, the scope follows the company’s belief that optics should offer functionality without breaking the bank. The RT-S Mod 7 4-32x56mm introduces a first focal plane design paired with a Riton illuminated precision shooting reticle and Riton HD/ED glass. The scope’s rugged construction enables it to tackle tough environments while its “performance coating” lends itself to durability.

Riton Optics said the scope has been in development for the past year, with the company focusing on bringing an affordable FFP model to consumers.

“The challenge of this optic was putting all these amazing features into one optic and control costs to still provide it at a price point that beats all of the competition and is clearly, by Riton’s mission, the best value in the industry,” Brady Speth, Founder and CEO, said in a press release.

The RT-S Mod 7 4-32x56mm scope is available now through Riton Optics and its dealers with a MSRP of $599.

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Three vintage rifles that went missing in the aftermath of a catastrophic fire at a Washington museum have been found by area police.

The Aberdeen Police Department announced in late October that they had recovered nearly a dozen guns as a result of a search warrant carried out in an unrelated burglary case that resulted in the arrest of a 56-year old area man for Unlawful Possession of Firearms.

Three of the rifles — including what appears to be a rare Winchester-Hotchkiss and a German Mauser — were among seven missing guns that had been secured in a locker in an office at the Aberdeen Museum of History when the facility suffered a fire in June. Museum officials are grateful the rifles were recovered.

“It was a really happy day. I mean, it felt like, oh, we didn’t think, possibly, that we’d see them,” Dann Sears, museum conservator, and archivist, told local media.

Immediately after the fire that took 77 firefighters over 10 hours to contain, the Museum, located in a historic building constructed in the 1920s, was boarded up and placed off limits to archivists until the structure could be determined safe to enter. During the intervening time, an employee at the Museum noticed a sheet of plywood had been pulled away but it wasn’t until Oct. 8 that the staff were able to enter the gutted building and discover that the guns were missing.

“You get very upset and you’re mad and you want to get the little slimeballs that took them,” said Sears.

Still unaccounted for is a Japanese Type 94 Nambu pistol, a Japanese Arisaka Type 99 rifle, a Springfield 1903, a Winchester lever-action rifle from the 19th Century, and two bayonets.

The museum’s building was used as a National Guard Armory until 1978 and opened to the public in 1981. Its primary claim to fame was a collection of items associated with Nirvana frontman Kury Cobain who was an Aberdeen native.

Those with information about the stolen firearms are encouraged to contact the Aberdeen Police.

Police recovered a number of firearms as a result of a burglary investigation including three that belonged to the museum. (Photo: APD)

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Black Aces Tactical on Friday announced their line of $199 polished walnut, above, and birdseye maple furniture sets for the Mossberg Shockwave (Photos: Black Aces)

Florida-based Black Aces this month announced a new line of aftermarket walnut and birdseye maple furniture for Mossberg Shockwave owners.

Both sets use a full fill finish and sport a deep checker on the foregrip. Further, Black Aces says they are compatible with other Shockwave accessories such as their Quad Rail and Side Shell Holder kits.

There is deep checkering on the foregrip

“These beautiful wood packages add class and style to any Mossberg Shockwave,” says the company. “The wood gives the weapon a great feel and a warm glow. Nothing sets off the look of the weapon more.”

The maple has a much more blonde look to it

Black Aces characterize their new wood furniture as “the peak of quality,” saying, “Everything else is fence posts.”

Retail on each is set at $199.

Notably, Mossberg last week announced the release of their new Nightstick series of M590 Shockwaves with factory walnut furniture, sporting a ribbed corn-cob on the pump action and a birds-head style Shockwave pistol grip.

The Mossberg Nightstick! Who wants one?! #Mossberg #ArmYourself #FirearmsFriday pic.twitter.com/Srck5Ww4Rt

— Mossberg (@MossbergCorp) November 3, 2018

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Rick Dosch is an inactive Marine who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He promised his pastor that he would always be armed to protect the church and its congregation, so he carries his gun to church every Sunday. He is also not the only member of the flock that does this.

Dosch always sits in the back of the church –  but not so he can sleep as many would like to think. He sits in the back because the entrance doors are there and it’s a likely point of egress for anyone intent on doing harm.

Dosch believes that if you’re going to carry a weapon you should always train regularly. “I was trained to shoot in the Marines, but I still train daily using actual distances equivalent to the space between the doors and my sitting position,” he said. He feels that this is the only way to be really prepared for any instance that could occur in that location.

Dosch is an inactive Marine with a permit to carry a concealed weapon. He promised his pastor that he would always be armed to protect the church and its congregation, so he carries his gun to church every Sunday — and he’s not the only one. (Photo: Don Summers/Guns.com)

Photo of Dosch’s church, a typical rural church in anytown America. (Photo: Don Summers/Guns.com)

Dosch is quick to mention that society today is much different than from the past and he is not the only one with that realization. Dosch mentions his sister attends a church nearby and that parish maintains two armed guards and locked doors at all times. His church is in a rural area and it would take close to five minutes for police or first responders to arrive at the scene.

“In Maryland at the Gazette Newspaper office the police reached the shooting in sixty seconds yet there were four people already dead when they arrived,” he said. “We here feel that it’s best to be able to protect ourselves for a period of time … instead of being ‘minute men’ we’re ‘one to five-minute men’. That’s the average time that it takes for first responders to arrive and I’m here to fill in that time-gap.”

To be sitting in his church when someone comes through the door and only being able to watch the people he loves being shot is something Dosch could never imagine. “As horrible and hard as it would be to shoot a person, it would be even more horrible to watch that person shoot my family,” he said. “I just couldn’t stand by in good conscience knowing that I have the ability and the skills to stop something like this instead of just watching it happen.”

Dosch’s choice of conceal carry, a Glock 17. (Photo: Don Summers/Guns.com)

Dosch carries in a typical outside the waistband leather holster. (Photo: Don Summers/Guns.com)

The Glock 17 is the weapon Dosch prefers. “There are a lot of smaller and easier to conceal weapons out there, but I’m just not comfortable shooting them with real accuracy at any distance,” he said. This Glock is a larger weapon and Dosch carries extra magazines on his belt, so he can reload and be shooting again in just a few seconds.

“It’s not my intent to harm anyone,” he said. “It’s my intent to protect and to save people.” He is truly the guardian of this blessed flock.

The post Meet Rick Dosch, concleaed carrier and guardian of the flock (VIDEO) appeared first on Guns.com.

Offered in .45 ACP, 9mm and 38 Super, Wilson Combat’s newest Supergrade 1911 models come in a more compact Commander Special variant.

Starting with an in-house machined forged steel frame and slide, the new Commander-sized Supergrades feature a 4.25-inch match barrel and 7.85-inch overall length.

The Supergrade Commander Special models are offered in .45 ACP, 9mm and 38 Super. (Photos: Wilson Combat)

As well as in both blued and two-tone variants

Tipping the scales at 37.2-ounces while still unloaded the handguns are stacked with custom features that come standard such as burl walnut grips, checkered front straps, flattop slides, a full-length guiderod, thick flange bushings with a reversed crown, and a fluted chamber.

New features to the Supergrade line include a throwback USGI-style thumbsafety, battlesight with a white gold bead front sight.

The slide has GI style rear serrations and minimalistic, low-key roll marks

Besides the caliber options, the Commander Specials come in either a hand-polished blued version or a two-tone finish with a stainless steel frame and blued carbon slide.

Retail (wait for it) is $5,350 for the .45 and $5,455 for the 9mm and .38 Super versions.

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The 6.5 PRC first appeared on Hornday’s lineup bringing match and hunting options to the table. (Photo: Hornady)

The 6.5 PRC — or Precision Rifle Cartridge — is the latest Horandy creation to gain attention and favor among shooters. An interesting competitor to the 6.5 Creedmoor, the 6.5 PRC is ready to take the long range shooting community by storm; but, what is the cartridge and why exactly is it poised to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Creedmoor cartridge?

Often referred to as the 6.5 Creedmoor’s “big brother,” the 6.5 PRC offers precision rifle shooters and hunters the advantage of a flat shooting, heavy bullet with manageable recoil. Delivering 2,000 foot-pounds of energy at 500-yards, the 6.5 PRC provides an 8-percent increase in velocity over the Creedmoor cartridge as well as 28-percent more capacity within the cartridge itself.

The 6.5 PRC began as an idea formulated in George Gardner’s head. The president of GA Precision Rifles and an avid participant in precision rifle series, Gardner said the first inkling came around 2012 when the PRS rule book was published. The rules dictated that competitors could use any caliber bullet, 30 cal. or below, so long as it did not exceed 3,200 feet-per-second.

“I just kind of, as a whim, thought there’s got to be something out there that can give a guy an edge,” told Hornady in a video interview.

A size comparison between the Creedmoor cartridges and the 6.5 PRC.  (Photo: Hornady via YouTube)

Gardner knew the 6.5 caliber bullets could push 3,150 feet-per-second safely; but there were no casings at that time that could accomplish what he wanted, so he started exploring other options. Eventually Hornady got involved, bringing their engineers to the table to fully bring the 6.5 PRC to life.

Based on the Ruger Compact Magnum, the 6.5 PRC features a .264-inch diameter bullet paired to a 2.030-inch case length. The cartridge’s neck measures .297-inches while its body comes in a .5158-inches. Designed for long range shooting, the 6.5 PRC round uses a 6.5 caliber bullet that delivers a high ballistic coefficient ensuring greater impact energy even over long distances.

“The 6.5 PRC is the ultimate short action long range caliber for target shooting. It’s also evolved to probably being the ultimate long range short action caliber for hunting,” Gardner said. “The 6.5 PRC is very versatile in that it’s firing a heavy bullet, very fast, very flat. It’s recoil is very manageable.”

The 6.5 PRC alongside Hornady’s other latest creation the .300 PRC earned approval from the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute in 2018, opening the door for other manufacturers to begin churning out 6.5 PRC gear.

“It’s the one that gives you everything,” Gardner commented. “It’s a rifle cartridge that other people in the industry can get behind and build rifles.”

Though it likely won’t completely replace the 6.5 Creedmoor, the 6.5 PRC does offer another alternative for hunters and PRS competitors.

“We’ve kind of nicknamed it the ‘Big Brother’ of the 6.5 Creedmoor and I think that’s exactly what it is,” Gardner explained. “I expect it will be here for the long haul, just like the 6.5 Creedmoor.”

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Back in the days of the $99 SKS, the $279 Norinco Type-56 was king! Chris Bartocci with Small Arms Solutions reaches back into the 1980s and looks at some classic pre-ban semi-auto AKMs to include a Type-56S and S1 cranked out by the Communist Chinese to ship to the States by the boatload.

The golden days before the ban hammer came down saw such new in the box guns sold for bargain prices as well as 1,300 round crates of 7.62x39mm ammo to boot. Bartocci chronicles these at length, touching on such briefly-imported models as the PolyTech Legend (with a milled receiver) and compares the differences between these Chicom guns and the Soviet-style Kalash.

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Estimated gun sales declined double digits last month, marking the slowest October since 2011, according to federal data, and continuing a pattern first established over the summer.

Dealers processed just over 2 million applications through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System last month. Estimated gun sales — the sum of transfers in the NICS’s handgun, long gun, multiple and other categories — declined more than 12 percent and totaled just 928,474.

Dealers processed over 460,000 applications for handguns and just under 418,000 applications for long guns last month. The latter represents the slowest October recorded in a decade. Likewise, long gun tallies for July and August sank to 10-year lows, returning to levels not seen since before the election of former President Barack Obama. September fared even worse, ranking dead last in the 20-year history of NICS.

NICS checks serve as a proxy measure for gun sales, albeit an imperfect one. Applications for concealed carry permits, periodic rechecks for licenses and a slew of smaller categories for pawns, redemptions, rentals and other rare situations undercut the total amount of checks processed in one month. Guns.com removes these categories from the total figure to more accurately assess actual transfers, though it’s still an estimate.

These types of background checks have consumed larger percentages of the total amount recorded each month since the banner year of 2016, federal data shows. So far in 2018, these administrative-type checks have consistently inflated monthly totals, but haven’t translated into boosted sales.

Historical patterns for the industry suggest checks and sales will hit annual highs as the holiday season nears — typically the busiest time for retailers. Publicly traded gun companies — including Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger and Company — consider fall and winter months the most profitable.

The current year remains on track to rank as the second busiest for NICS checks since the FBI first began keeping records in 1998, eclipsing the first 10 months of 2017 by 5 percent. Estimated sales, however, are trailing 6 percent, according to the data.

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Glock has course-corrected with the new Glock 19 Gen5 MOS FS, answering customer complaints with improvements and making what may be the best Glock ever.

The post Still Champion: The New Glock 19 Gen5 MOS appeared first on GunsAmerica Digest.

SIG's M400 TREAD is moderately-priced premium rifle which gives the consumer the freedom to tailor the rifle to their application and budget. The extensive TREAD line delivers with the sheer number of upgrade options as well as in terms of quality.

The post SIG TREAD Rifle: Tailored Upgrades for Under $1000 appeared first on GunsAmerica Digest.

Stern Defense makes great AR magazine well adapters and conversion kits which turn your AR Lower into a Pistol Caliber Carbine. They come in 9mm versions for Glock, Beretta and M&P magazines, but the one that caught my eye uses S&W M&P .45 ACP mags and installs in seconds.

The post Turn Your AR Lower into a Pistol Caliber Carbine: Stern Defense Conversion Kit appeared first on GunsAmerica Digest.

On a recent South Texas hunt with the Nosler M48 Handgun, the Burris 3-12 let me see well enough to shoot right up to dark and then several minutes beyond. It took some good bouncing around, in hunting blinds and vehicles, and held zero.

The post Gear Review: Burris 3-12x32mm Handgun Scope appeared first on GunsAmerica Digest.

A first-time bowhunt for pronghorns. Throw in a bit of hubris and a couple of small mistakes, and here's a list of do's and do-not's for your next hunt.

The post Bowhunting Pronghorn: Success Despite Mistakes appeared first on GunsAmerica Digest.

Some hate the idea of appendix inside waistband–carry (AIWB). But the PHLster holster is a game-changer, and may even convince a few of the naysayers.

The post PHLster Glock Classic Holster Review appeared first on GunsAmerica Digest.

It reads the temperature. It measures the altitude. It senses the pressure. It computes the angle. And of course, it lasers the range. Zeiss' New Victory RF meets a lot of needs in one package.

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My rifle features a 24-inch stainless fluted barrel with a 1-in-9 rate of twist. It’s factory threaded for a muzzle brake or suppressor and comes with a thread protector installed. The action is stainless and boasts a 3-position, model 70 type wing safety, a Mauser controlled-round-feed claw extractor, and a magazine capacity of four.

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It may have been ugly, almost impossible to cock, and "rubbish, really," but the PIAT gun was also a fierce weapon against Nazi tanks.

The post The PIAT Gun That Saved the World: “It Was Rubbish, Really.” appeared first on GunsAmerica Digest.

The North Dakota Democratic Party is discouraging hunters from voting in the upcoming election, claiming they could lose their out-of-state hunting licenses if they do so.