Taurus has always had the reputation of being one of the more budget-friendly companies out there whether you’re into revolvers, rimfire pistols, or micro-compact handguns. While Taurus excels in the affordability department, on the sophistication and feature side of things they’ve always come up a bit short – until today. Today Taurus is proud to announce their new GX4 Graphene which features a new DLC-Coated barrel for better corrosion resistance and longevity, as well as a brand new slide featuring their new Gray Graphene Finish.

ADIHEX is an important regional show that each year gathers outdoor and firearm companies in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Playing on its own turf, CARACAL usually displays its wide catalog and finds the opportunity to reveal new models, such as UAE-inspired Merkel hunting rifles and a special edition 2011 pistol.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we discussed the biggest mistakes concealed carriers make when starting out. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. For this week’s topic, I wanted to dive into some of the most common carry methods and rank them from best to worst in my experience. I often question why I carry a certain way, so I figured this would be the easiest way to break down how and why I carry the way I do. Let’s take a closer look at some of the best to worst carry positions.

I recently had the chance to visit Springfield, Massachusetts while giving a talk at the Arsenals of History Symposium at the Springfield Armory. While in Springfield, I checked out their local museum (technically 5 museums in one!), tucked away in the  Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History was an interesting firearms gallery. The museum boasts “more than 1,600 firearms, with the largest collection of Smith & Wesson guns in the world”. While only a fraction of those firearms are on display, the museum definitely had some very interesting pieces.

Canik is launching a new Canik Creations variation of their popular TP9SF pistols in Cerakote flavors. Honestly, these are some really good-looking camos in my opinion. Canik has been delivering a lot of gun for the money for some time now but it’s nice to see them expanding into different opportunities. I’m not saying everyone needs to start including a paint job with these pistols but people do like options. It will be interesting to see how these slides wear with the Cerakote finished on Kydex holsters.

Bond Arms introduced the Cyclops single-shot break action derringer at SHOT Show 2023. It was initially chambered in .45-70 Government only, however, when it was released, the company said that other big bore caliber options like .44 Magnum and .50 Action Express would be added in the future. Well, the second chambering for this mythical creature is now announced and it’s the .44 Magnum. Let’s take a quick look at the specs and features of the new Bond Arms Cyclops 44 Magnum derringer.

Photo Of The Day: TFB’s James Reeves recently wrote an article about the  CZ Shadow 2 Compact, and I have to say that the Czech really know how to tease me and most likely the majority of the gun community to make another purchase. The new pistol is certainly worth a POTD, and I can’t wait to try it out at the earliest possible opportunity.

If you are feathering that fine line of you want a carry pistol, but you want ALL the ammunition. Additionally, if you are a Hellcat Pro owner (which firmly places you on that line of “carry size” and “capacity”), then you will be glad to hear that Springfield Armory is now offering extended 17-Round Hellcat Pro magazines in Desert FDE (Flat Dark Earth) as well as traditional black.

Taurus have announced the introduction of their full-size, polymer frame TS9. The pistol weighs in at 35.2oz unloaded, has a 4-inch barrel, is ambidextrous and comes with two 17-round magazines and  4 backstraps. MSRP for the new pistol is $499.99.

Last year I had the opportunity to visit the John M. Browning Museum in Ogden, Utah and I was thrilled to see Browning’s hammerless 1911 prototype on display. Very little has been written about the development of this particular pistol. The pistol is briefly mentioned in John Browning and Curt Gentry’s 1964 biography of John M. Browning, explaining that during the US Army’s long process to select a new service pistol John M. Browning decided to provide two versions of his .45 ACP pistol – one with an exposed hammer and the other with a shrouded hammer similar to that seen on his Colt 1903 and 1908 Pocket Hammerless commercial pistols.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about some of the biggest carry mistakes I see new concealed carriers make. This week, I wanted to do a follow-up part 2 of last week’s article, adding in a few other trends I see regularly. A few of you have great points in the comment section last week so I took those into consideration as well. Let’s take a closer look at more of the biggest carry mistakes people make when they start out.

Welcome to TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday, where we take a look at as many aspects of revolvers as we can, one week at a time. Today, we’ll take a look at a newly available speedloader, called the Wrapid Loader. The aptly named Wrapid Loader uses links to hold revolver cartridges, between which are housed some springs to wrap the connected links into a cylinder shape. Because of the springs, the Wrapid loader can be carried flat in a belt pouch, but when deployed, it returns to the designated cylindrical shape to reload a revolver. The shooter then pulls the ring at the end of the loader, and the links release their cartridges one by one as the revolver’s cylinder turns from the force.

Rock Island Auction Company’s premier auctions always contain firearms that belonged to prominent figures such as renowned political and military leaders, artists, celebrities, etc. The recently-ended August 2023 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction was no exception and there was a Smith & Wesson Model 53 revolver consigned to this auction that once belonged to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Elvis Presley. The estimated price range that this revolver was expected to be sold at was $60,000 – $90,000, however, the King’s wheelgun was sold for over twice the estimated high price – $199,750.

Last week we took a look at the  “St Michael’s Banderole” pistol from Cabot Guns  OAK (One-Of-A-Kind) Collection. Today we have another masterpiece from this collection of deluxe 1911-style handguns – The Phoenix pistol. As its name implies, the design and engraving motifs of this pistol are dedicated to the immortal mythical bird.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to TFB’s Silencer Saturday brought to you by Yankee Hill Machine, manufacturers of the new YHM R45 Multi-Host Suppressor. Last week I ran the Silencer Central Banish 46 through with some subsonic .300BLK and .45-70 Gov’t. There are more Silencer Central reviews coming up in a few weeks, so let’s do a summer recap the of the Banish silencers we’ve seen to date. We can pumpkin spice it up in a few weeks with a couple .22LR suppressors.

James Reeves puts the Springfield Echelon pistol to the test at Thunder Ranch. James subjects the Echelon to a 3 day Thunder Ranch advanced pistol course plus a battery of somewhat unrealistic dirt tests. James, Ryan, and the staff and students have pushed about 3,000 rounds through this gun without cleaning it. Can the Echelon keep up?

In the world of 45 ACP pistols, there are a number of options as well as styles to choose from on the market today, whether that’s a classic 1911-style firearm or something modern like an HK45 or the new FN 545. What most people overlook Is the Glock line of 45 ACP pistols so I decided to pick one up and give it a proper shakedown. Let’s take a closer look at the brand-new Glock 21 Gen5 MOS.

Cabot Guns have added another masterpiece to their  OAK (One-Of-A-Kind) Collection of deluxe 1911-style pistols. Dubbed the  St Michael’s Banderole, this 9mm pistol is made of Damascus steels from Jason Morrisey and Robert Eggerling, is fitted with meteorite-made sights and is embellished with engravings dedicated to Saint Michael.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about the perfect do-all pistol. If you happened to miss that article be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to talk about a few topics I often times see people do when they first start carrying a concealed firearm. There are a number of things that could find their way on this list but these are the three most common mistakes I often will see from beginners. Let’s take a closer look at the biggest carry mistakes.

The Kimber K6s was dubbed the world’s lightest 6-shot .357 Magnum revolver at the time of its launch and has only been succeeded slightly by the ever-so-slightly smaller K6s revolver. However, what the K6xs lacks is a true rear iron sight. Last time we did an XS Sight review we took a look at the Taurus 605 Defender with the dedicated Taurus front Glow Dot. Like the K6XS, the Taurus also doesn’t have a true rear iron sight, instead, both pistols have trench-style rear sights which can be difficult to get a solid sight picture on if accuracy is your goal. In stark opposition to both of those revolvers, the K6s features a replaceable and drift adjustable rear iron sight and XS Sights just happens to make their XS R3D Night sights for that particular platform. So today we’ll be talking about those and see what advantages or disadvantages they might offer you should you choose to make the upgrade over the standard sights that the K6s ships with.

The Indian branch of Webley & Scott have just announced a new pistol for the Indian firearm market, the WP20 Fox Pistol, which is chambered in .32 ACP. In 2020, Webley began setting up shop and producing their iconic MKIV revolver as part of the Made In India initiative. The new Webley Fox Pistol, also known as the WP20 is actually a very close CZ83 clone that features a different slide profile. Webley India’s product announcement can be read below.

Alchemy Custom Weaponry, a division of Cabot Guns, have released the shorter Commander-length version of their Quantico HiCap 2011-style 9mm pistol. Other than the slide and barrel length (4.25″ vs 5″), the Quantico HiCap Carry is identical to its full-size sibling. Let’s take a closer look.

CZ just released the CZ Shadow 2 Compact this morning, and the full details can be found here on CZ’s website. I was lucky enough to see the CZ Shadow 2 Compact when I was in Nuremberg at IWA 2023 this year. Champion shooter Eric Grauffel himself walked me through the features, although this was still pretty early so price and full specs had not been nailed down yet. Accordingly, the video below is more of a broad overview:

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves is with CZ Pro Shooter Eric Grauffel at the CZ booth in IWA. James was lucky enough to get an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at CZ’s new top-tier carry gun, the CZ Shadow 2 Compact. The CZ Shadow 2 Compact is totally different and totally the same at once. It uses a shorter barrel and smaller, lighter, aluminum frame to make a smaller and concealable package while retaining all of the benefits of the CZ Shadow 2 itself, like an excellent trigger, optics readiness, great sights, and the performance and reliability CZ Shadow owners are used to. What do you think of this new pistol?

Welcome to our Photo Of The Day! Today you’re in for a real treat from Laugo Arms, with a series of images you need to take a closer look at. We have their new Alien Creator USA 500 Limited Edition pistol in a variety of configurations.

Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we took a look at the importance of magazines when it comes to your carry pistol. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I want to talk about a common topic for people who have become comfortable with carrying a concealed firearm but tend to shuffle between full-size handguns and sub-compact depending on the season and time of year. People who reach this point often talk about the mythical do-all size pistol that can be carried all year round comfortably. Every person is different but there are certainly a few models that can fill the spot of that particular need. Let’s take a look at some options for the mythical do-all carry pistol.

.357 Magnum revolvers are kind of like 1911 pistols – despite being obviously outdated and outclassed in many cases by modern concealed carry options, they’re still loved and carried by many. Taurus’ 605 Defender is one such .357 Magnum option that fits in this category and also comes in at a bargain street price of just $400 for the matte stainless version. Released in 2022, the Taurus 605 Defender has had a bit of time in the market to earn a reputation for being reliable, lightweight, and accurate, with a bit of an excessively heavy double-action trigger pull. The Taurus 605 Defender already comes standard with trench-style sights built into the frame with an orange faceted night front sight. XS Sights wanted me to give the revolver a go with their revolver front sight. Seeing as I haven’t shot any .357 Magnum in a while I figured this would be a fun dive back into defensive revolvers for me so here we go!

At SHOT Show in January of this year, Smith & Wesson busted out their take on a 5.7x28mm pistol in the form of the M&P 5.7. The 5.7 series began much like the Ford Model T’s black color scheme, but Smith & Wesson has just announced they’re adding FDE (Flat Dark Earth) to the color options of the M&P 5.7 series of pistols. At present, the FDE M&P 5.7 will feature a two-tone scheme, with an FDE frame, while the slide retains a black finish. You can read S&W’s full press release below.

FN America has a new .22 LR pistol, the 502 MRD. It takes the existing 502 and adds an optics-ready slide. Much like the original, it features a 10-round capacity and a single-action-only hammer.

In this episode of TFBTV, James Reeves is proud to announce the official arrival of the Hi-Point Yeet Cannon 9mm a.k.a. the YC-9. After unveiling the YC-9 to the world at SHOT Show 2019, Hi-Point has taken a painstaking length of time to bring the YC-9 to market. In this video, we go over the features and specs, and we send 1,000 rounds of 9mm downrange with the YC-9. Was it worth the wait? Watch today’s video to find out.