If you are an admirer of custom firearms or have browsed 1911 forums online, you've probably come across the name Les Baer. Les Baer's Monolith Stinger Heavyweight pistol is a combination of two of the company's signature-style guns—the Monolith and the Stinger. This pistol contains an all stainless-steel frame that features a full-length dust cover aiding with recoil for the .45 ACP cartridge. It also has a foreshortened slide and shortened grip frame. Additional features include Rolo Night Sights, rear-slide grip serrations for assistance with the tight slide, Cocobolo stocks, and a high beavertail grip safety. And since it is a custom gun, the pistol can come in different calibers other than .45 ACP as well as different finishes including Blue or Les Baer's Dupont S finish.
Despite the wide acceptance of the .40 Smith & Wesson defensive handgun cartridge in its early years, the round has since faded from armories around the U.S. and replaced by an older, smaller-caliber cartridge.
Zastava USA announced it would be expanding its lineup to include an M72 "RPK" model. Now, in 2025, that model has finally arrived and is shipping to dealers.
A 12-ga. shotgun can be a devastatingly potent defensive platform, but even the tactical models often aren’t configured terribly well for installing accessories.
Available as a TALO distributor exclusive, the Glock 49 Gen5 blends the the longer G17 slide with the comfortably compact frame of the G19, and it also includes Glock's MOS optics-mounting system.