Due to huge demand for lever action rifles and carbines, Smith & Wesson (S&W) has introduced a modern version designed for hunters and shooters, and is also intended to serve for home or property protection. The Model 1854 was initially offered in 44 Magnum when it was unveiled in early 2024. However, it is now offered in 45 Colt, available (at the time of this writing) in brushed stainless steel with a black synthetic stock or stainless with black coating and walnut stock, which is the version chosen for this column. ...Read More >

Barely hanging on by its fingernails at the edge of American history is a snippet remembered perhaps only by cartridge collectors and inquisitors of cartridge development. While every shooter knows the 5.56x45 NATO (the 223 Remington in uniform) is the smallest caliber widely adopted for general issue among the world’s militaries, few know the U.S. Army considered the 22 caliber - and a 20 caliber, as well – as far back as 1895, when it ordered Frankford Arsenal to make up a batch of experimental cartridges. ...Read More >

The name Greener has been associated with gun making since the 1830s when William Greener began making muzzleloading percussion sporting arms. Greener was very inventive and deeply interested in anything that used gunpowder. He was soon making a percussion harpoon gun that became the standard of whalers worldwide. ...Read More >

Karl Steiner founded Steiner-Optik in 1947, producing the Steinette camera. By 1955, Steiner had shifted its focus to binoculars, winning German military contracts first with the 8x 30mm FERO-D12 – the first nitrogen-purged binoculars – and then Bundeswehr Fernglas between 1966 and 1972. The U.S. Army ordered 72,000 M22 7x 50mm binoculars in 1989. Steiner was also the first to incorporate bearing compasses and laser protection filters into binoculars. ...Read More >