Modern Gun Values has traditionally split its coverage between guns having more recently come on the market and those that, in some cases, are now more than 100 years old! While this book addresses a wide variety of interests—everything from home-defense and waterfowling guns to those for elk, squirrels, and long-range target competition—it’s the collector who tends to gain the most from such a comprehensive reference. But think about this: Today’s collectibles were once “modern,” “hip,” and “gotta have ’ems.” That means today’s modern, hip, and gotta have ’em firearms are tomorrow’s treasures! To that end, we thought we’d highlight just a few of the hundreds of new firearms introduced each year by the likes of Colt’s, Browning, SIG, and others leading the way in cutting-edge technology and design. Enjoy, then do a little shopping—50 years from now, we think you’ll be glad you did.
The Colt New Agent is a compact, big-bore semi-auto designed for deep—and we do mean deep—concealment. Despite being chambered in a sledgehammer of a cartridge (.45 ACP), it has a teensy little three-inch, bushing-less barrel. You can yank it from your pants quick-like, due to its smooth top slide and trench-style sights.
It took quite a gun to displace the venerable Colt 1911A1 Government as the military’s primary sidearm. But the 9mm Beretta 92FS (above) did just that, unseating the single-action .45 ACP, in 1985. The slightly modified version, the Model 90-Two, saw improved fit, function, and form over the original, including a subtle restyling effort, weight reduction, interchangeable wrap-around grips, and a MIL-STD-1913 accessory rail and rail cover..
Long a favorite of concealed carry practitioners, the tip-up barrel PT-22 from Taurus got a makeover with a polymer frame and fish-scale texturized slide in the PT-22 PLY model. The DAO gun, with is also available in the .25 ACP PT-25 PLY variant, holds eight rounds in the magazine, which has a nicely angled floor plate for more finger purchase on the grip.
The hot pink Mosquito from SIG Sauer is chambered in .22 LR and scaled to fit smaller hands. While the screaming fuchsia variant is certainly marketed toward the fairer gender, it’s an excellent choice for getting both women and young adults started in the shooting sports (and, if you can’t dig the pink, then the Multi-Cam version covers the other end of the aesthetic spectrum). SIG Sauer’s Mosquito is a 90-percent scale version of the original, full-size 9mm P226. Standard equipment includes the integrated rail on the frame’s underside for accessory mounting, as well as multiple safety features.
The North American Arms 1860 Hogleg is a five-shot, single-action, mini-revolver chambered in .22 Magnum. The pistol features a half-way notch cylinder that allows the hammer to rest on a loaded chamber without fear of accidental discharge. It has a fixed bead front sight and rosewood grips.
The Ruger Bearcat is a single-action .22 LR revolver with a one-piece, six-shot cylinder frame. Compact and light, it was designed to be an easy to carry trail gun for general use in the outdoors—think snakes and other small, generally disagreeable creatures you might come across as you wander the the fields and mountains. It comes in a blued or satin stainless finish.
The Smith & Wesson Classic Model 586 is a retro-styled revolver modeled after the old school Model 586, a handgun favored by decades of law enforcement officers. Chambered for .357 Magnum and, of course, its shorter .38 Special brother, the double-action revolver has a carbon steel frame and cylinder with a blue finish. It is available with 4- or 6-inch barrels.
Did you know Rossi’s been making firearms for more than a century? Revolvers like the forged steel Model R46202 are as strong as any other on the market, yet usually are priced significantly lower than comparable guns from other makers. This particular model is chambered in .357 Magnum and, with its low-profile front sight and short barrel, it makes an excellent carry gun. Especially beneficial is the shape of the forward-push cylinder release tab, which is angled on the backside and serrated to easily engage the thumb.
Most of today’s prairie dog and coyotes guns you wouldn’t call pretty. But Dakota Arms’ Heavy Varminter in a Claro walnut stock gets high marks for good looks that are exceeded only by its accuracy.
True or false: barrels are round. Answer? False, at least if it’s the barrel on Remington’s VTR (Varmint-Tactical Rifle) A-TACS. Here the barrel is triangular, a design that speeds heat dissipation. The A-TACs is a digitized camo that performs with a chameleon effect, perfect for aiding concealment from sharp-eyed varmints like coyotes.
For the plains of Africa, the highly figured AAA Myrtle wood stock on the Montana Safari Supreme bolt-action rifle will do anything but give you away to sharp-eyed game.
Magnum Research’s MagnumLite .22 LR rifle is definitely a head-turner. And, as if looks weren’t enough, this rifle has a graphite barrel—that’s right, graphite—with claims of super accuracy and faster cooling over steel barrels.
The elements won’t give you a slippery grip, when you’re using one of Thompson/Center’s Venture bolt-action rifles. Available in a wide variety of readily available cartridges, these synthetic-stocked rifles feature raised traction panels at the pistol grip and forearm, to make sure you’ve got a steady hold when you need it most.
Tikka’s T3 Hunter is simply beautiful, with a high-gloss blued barrel, burled wood, and ergonomic checkering at the hand points. It also has a free-floating, match-grade barrel and an adjustable trigger, to make every shot count.
Browning’s Citori XT Trap 12-gauge comes with 30- or 32-inch tubes, HIVIZ ProComp fiber optics, and stretched forcing cones. Now, left-handed shooters have a version cast just for them. Straight runs of 25 are nothing but a walk in the park.
Love slugs for deer hunting? Remington’s 11-87 Sportsman Shurshot Camo Cantilever is prime for mounting a low-powered scope, and the thumbhole stock ensures a dead-on hold when the big one walks up.
The Veloce SP 20-gauge over/under from Benelli is a classy, gorgeous example of its Italian heritage and, at just 51⁄2 pounds, is a beautifully swinging choice for quail, woodcock, and grouse.
Benchrest shooters are those most notorious for being picky about their ammunition, but there are definitely a number of shotgunners out there who rival the BR practitioners’ level of tweakiness. For those scattergun lovers who can’t stop fooling with a tenth of a grain of powder here and there, Beretta offers up its A400 Xcel Sporting. The turquoise receiver houses Beretta’s revolutionary GunPod system that digitally reads out ambient air temperature, cartridge pressure, and numbers of rounds fired.
An eye-catching twist on engraving really brings the CZ Wingshooter to life. A striking contrast of blue, gold, and stainless is both unique and attractive. We especially like that CZ builds this gun in a traditional, non-ejector .410-bore that has fixed chokes in Improved and Modified. For 12-gauge and 20-gauge shooters, the gun chambers 3-inch shells and comes with the American preferred auto-ejectors.
You can run any 12-gauge shell you wan from standard 23⁄4;-inch through the magnum 31⁄2-inchers through Stoeger’s P350 pump. The Steady Grip version, complete with full-coverage camo, is made specifically for turkey hunting.
This hard-hitting carbine from Armalite, chambered in 7.62 NATO (.308 Win.), is compact and powerful with a 16-inch barrel and collapsible buttstock. The AR-10A4 features a clamping gas block, which allows the removable front sight to be rotated to zero. This assures that the rear sight is centered, giving full left and right windage movement for enhanced accuracy tuning in strong winds. As part of Armalite’s “A” family of rifles, this newer offering also accepts third-party magazines from Magpul (PMAGS), Knight’s Armament, and DPMS, in addition to the traditional style “waffle” mags.
Armalite’s AR10A SuperSASS is a suppressor-ready 7.62 rifle that has an adjustable gas system to fine-tune performance with a variety of ammunition and suppressors. Its 20-inch, stainless steel, match grade barrel and two-stage match trigger group—first stage 21⁄2 pounds, second stage 41⁄2 to 5 pounds—ensure pinpoint accuracy. With a quad Picatinny rail handguard and adjustable Magpul buttstock, it is highly customizable. The rifle weights 11.84 pounds and shoots 1 MOA from the factory.
You can shoot just about anything you want to with the Arctic Panther from DPMS, but this white-garbed AR is a particularly sweet choice for winter coyotes. Clad in a hard coat anodized Mil Spec white on the A3 flattop receiver and fore-end, this .223 has a 20-inch fluted and Teflon-coated barrel. An optics-only rifle (i.e., DPMS did away with the iron sights you wouldn’t use anyway), it weighs a totally tote-able nine pounds when empty.
Hi-power match rifles shooting .223 and .308 are a dime a dozen. Be different and shoot a DPMS Panther 6.5 Creedmoor! Introduced by Hornady, in 2007, the cartridge mimics the .300 Win. Mag.’s flight, but with less recoil and a high ballistic coefficient, both of which can be a huge bonus in long, drawn-out matches.