Steve Balestrieri

Smith and Wesson 10MM. Image: Industry Handout.

Aerospace & Defense

I’d Love a 10mm, but as a Former Green Beret I Stick With 9mm. The Ammo Math and the FBI’s Own Hit Rates Explain Why.

I've always had a soft spot for the 10mm Auto. The FBI adopted it after the 1986 Miami shootout, bought Smith & Wesson Model...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 24, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO and I Never Liked the Beretta M9. The US Army Carried It From February 1985 to 2017. The New $1,249 M9A4 Finally Cuts the Slide for a Red Dot and Still Weighs 33.4 Ounces Empty.

The Beretta M9A4: The Army’s Old Sidearm Finally Got A Red Dot – A generation of American soldiers can’t stop arguing about the Beretta...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 23, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: I Have Fired the M24, Which Is Built on a Remington 700 Action. The Rifle Is Still Good. The Company Settled a Class Action Covering About 7,500,000 Rifles, Went Bankrupt in 2020, and Closed the Ilion Plant in 2024 After More Than 200 Years.

Mike Walker designed the 721 and 722 after the war as a cheaper answer to Winchester's Model 70, and the 700 that came out...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 23, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: I Carried a Carbine-Gassed M4 Carbine for a Living and Learned to Live With the Snap. The New Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport III Runs a Mid-Length Gas System on a 16-Inch Barrel, and It Shoots Softer Because of It.

The S&W M&P15 Sport III: The expensive things are already right: mid-length gas, a 15-inch free-float M-LOK handguard, a 5R barrel with a 1:8...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 23, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The Canik METE SFT Sits Between a Glock 19 and a Glock 17 on Size, Beats Both on Capacity at 18 Rounds, and Undercuts Both on Price at About $340.

The Canik METE SFT runs 7.56 inches long and 27.8 ounces empty, with a 4.46-inch barrel — bigger than a Glock 19, smaller than...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 23, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: SIG Sauer Put 10 Rounds Into a Grip 1 Inch Wide in 2018. The P365 Was the Best-Selling Handgun in America That Year and the Next One, and Every Micro-Compact Since Has Been Answering It.

The brief handed to design director Phil Strader was single-stack width with double-stack capacity and no compromise on either. The answer was an offset...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 22, 2026

.38 Special. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The Smith & Wesson Model 442 Holds 5 Rounds of .38 Special and Weighs 15 Ounces. You Give Up 10 Rounds of 9mm and You Get a Gun That Does Not Jam.

The original Model 40 arrived for the company's 100th anniversary, and the aluminum-framed Model 42 Airweight followed the same year. Both died in 1974....

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 22, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: My Father Brought a Karabiner 98k Home From World War II With Its Matching Numbered Bayonet. Germany Built 14,600,000 of Them, and Every One Had to Put 3 of 5 Shots Into an 8cm by 12cm Box at 100 Meters Before Leaving the Factory.

The whole Mauser 98 rifle is 44 parts, and only 29 of them are in the action — fewer moving pieces than the British...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 22, 2026

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The AK-47 Weighs 7.7 Pounds, Cycles at 600 Rounds a Minute, and Is Good to About 350 Meters. Between 40,000,000 and 100,000,000 Have Been Built. The Entire M16, M4 and AR-15 Family Totals About 20,000,000.

Most rifle actions need tight-fitting parts to cycle cleanly. The AK-47s bolt carrier rattles around inside the receiver with room to spare, and that...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 22, 2026

SIG Sauer P229. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: SIG Sauer Introduced the P229 in 1992, and the Cartridge It Is Famous For Did Not Exist Until 1994. The Secret Service Carried It in .357 SIG for Decades and Switched to 9mm in 2019.

The P228 had a stamped steel slide. The P229 got a CNC-milled stainless one, because .357 SIG and .40 S&W drive a slide harder...

Steve BalestrieriSeptember 21, 2026

19FortyFive

Steve Balestrieri

Aerospace & Defense

I’d Love a 10mm, but as a Former Green Beret I Stick With 9mm. The Ammo Math and the FBI’s Own Hit Rates Explain Why.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO and I Never Liked the Beretta M9. The US Army Carried It From February 1985 to 2017. The New $1,249 M9A4 Finally Cuts the Slide for a Red Dot and Still Weighs 33.4 Ounces Empty.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: I Have Fired the M24, Which Is Built on a Remington 700 Action. The Rifle Is Still Good. The Company Settled a Class Action Covering About 7,500,000 Rifles, Went Bankrupt in 2020, and Closed the Ilion Plant in 2024 After More Than 200 Years.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: I Carried a Carbine-Gassed M4 Carbine for a Living and Learned to Live With the Snap. The New Smith & Wesson M&P15 Sport III Runs a Mid-Length Gas System on a 16-Inch Barrel, and It Shoots Softer Because of It.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The Canik METE SFT Sits Between a Glock 19 and a Glock 17 on Size, Beats Both on Capacity at 18 Rounds, and Undercuts Both on Price at About $340.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: SIG Sauer Put 10 Rounds Into a Grip 1 Inch Wide in 2018. The P365 Was the Best-Selling Handgun in America That Year and the Next One, and Every Micro-Compact Since Has Been Answering It.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The Smith & Wesson Model 442 Holds 5 Rounds of .38 Special and Weighs 15 Ounces. You Give Up 10 Rounds of 9mm and You Get a Gun That Does Not Jam.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: My Father Brought a Karabiner 98k Home From World War II With Its Matching Numbered Bayonet. Germany Built 14,600,000 of Them, and Every One Had to Put 3 of 5 Shots Into an 8cm by 12cm Box at 100 Meters Before Leaving the Factory.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: The AK-47 Weighs 7.7 Pounds, Cycles at 600 Rounds a Minute, and Is Good to About 350 Meters. Between 40,000,000 and 100,000,000 Have Been Built. The Entire M16, M4 and AR-15 Family Totals About 20,000,000.

Aerospace & Defense

I Am a Retired US Army Special Forces NCO: SIG Sauer Introduced the P229 in 1992, and the Cartridge It Is Famous For Did Not Exist Until 1994. The Secret Service Carried It in .357 SIG for Decades and Switched to 9mm in 2019.

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