Hook & Barrel Magazine Announces ActionPacked Christmas Giveaway

“Welcome to the party, pals!” Hook & Barrel Magazine®, The Lifestyle Magazine for Modern Outdoorsmen™, is kicking off the holiday season with a Yipee-Ki-Yay Christmas Giveaway designed to thrill firearms enthusiasts and fans of every dude’s favorite Christmas movie (yes, it’s a Christmas movie!). Hook & Barrel readers are invited to take their shot at an unforgettable prize package—one grandprize winner will receive:

• Heckler & Koch SP5
• Beretta 92FS
• One case of Hornady ammunition
• A fully loaded holiday kit, including a white tank top, a pair of men’s sneakers (“Nine million terrorists in the world and I gotta kill one with feet smaller than my sister”), a Hook & Barrel-branded Zippo lighter, and the original Die Hard movie on 4K disc with digital download

Five runnersup will each score a pair of Gamo Daisy Red Ryder BB Guns. Read more

Contests, Firearms

NEXTORCH Introduces WL25 Tactical Weapon Light with Green Laser

Seattle, WA –– NEXTORCH North America, the primary U.S. distributor of global manufacturer NEXTORCH Industries, proudly introduces the WL25 Tactical Weapon Light with Green Laser. This rail-mounted tactical light blends a high-output white light with an integrated green laser for fast and precise target acquisition in low-light and no-light situations. Delivering up to 1,200 ultra-bright lumens and 44,100 candela, its focused beam can reach a distance of up to 459 yards.

The WL25 state-of-the-art tactical weapon light was designed in Germany and engineered to meet the demands of law enforcement, military personnel and professionals requiring crucial forward illumination and aiming in time-critical situations. It features a three-mode toggle switch control (Laser / Laser + White / White) for quick and intuitive operation, even with gloves on. The ambidextrous toggle switches allow users control from either side; a single click for constant-on, a press-and-hold for momentary-on, and double-click to switch between high and low modes. Once switched off, this intelligent weapon light resumes the previous brightness setting when powered back on.

Laser aiming calibration is simple and easy; its click-to-adjust system enables fast, repeatable zeroing. Use of a hex-wrench allows precise micro-adjustments of 1.5 MOA per click at 10 yards. A front-loaded battery access system enables lightning-fast battery swaps without removing it from the firearm. The tool-free quick-detach rail mount system guarantees a secure mount even under heavy recoil. Five adapter plates support compatibility with mainstream pistol rails. Built to endure real-world use, the WL25 combines high-output illumination, precision laser aiming, and mission-ready ergonomics; delivering dependable performance when every second counts.

Key Features: Read more

Optics

MDT Launches the Hand Cannon Slingshot

A Precision-Built, Fully Modular Evolution of a Timeless Classic

MDT, a leader in precision shooting innovation, is proud to announce the launch of the MDT Hand Cannon Slingshot, a modern reimagining of a childhood staple, engineered with the same rigor and performance-driven mindset behind MDT’s Chassis Systems.

Built from CNC-machined anodized aluminum and designed around a fully modular architecture, the MDT Hand Cannon Slingshot elevates simple backyard fun into a precision shooting platform. With interchangeable grips, sighting options, accessory interfaces, and tunable flat bands, it adapts to nearly any shooting style: competition, training, hunting, or pure recreation.

The MDT Hand Cannon Slingshot is built as a modern precision tool, far beyond the simple slingshots most shooters grew up with. Its rigid 6061 aluminum body eliminates flex, giving every draw and release a consistent, controlled feel. The result is a level of repeatability that turns casual backyard shooting into something far more refined.

Customization is at the core of the design. A rotating ambidextrous handle mount allows shooters to position the grip left, right, or centered to match their preferred draw style. With multiple grip options, including small, large, and AR pistol-grip compatible choices, users can create anything from a compact, minimalist build to a full-featured setup with added palm support.

The platform’s modularity takes things further. Integrated Picatinny rails, sling studs, and bolt-on sight interfaces give shooters room to add lights, lasers, SEND iT levels, lanyards, and other accessories. Whether kept clean or fully outfitted, the system adapts to the shooter’s needs. Read more

Hunting

Trump Admin Enacts FPC Proposal to Create New DOJ Second Amendment Rights Section

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) welcomed reports that the Trump Administration will establish a dedicated Second Amendment rights section within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice—an action that directly reflects FPC’s top executive-branch recommendation and a priority first proposed by FPC during the previous Trump Administration. The new office is expected to officially ramp up in early December.

FPC has consistently called for the creation of such a legal arm as part of a broader, long-term strategy to challenge and dismantle unconstitutional state and local restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. The new section represents a vital infrastructure piece needed to confront what FPC has described as the ‘Axis of Authoritarianism’—governments that continue to defy Supreme Court precedent and block the exercise of fundamental rights.

FPC described the administration’s move as a major step toward properly recognizing the Second Amendment as protecting a real right that warrants the same institutional protection as all other enumerated rights. FPC also emphasized the importance of appointing leadership with deep expertise in original-public-meaning jurisprudence to ensure that the new section’s work remains faithful to the Constitution, as recommended in FPC’s White House briefing. Read more

Gun Control

Will Primos’ Historic Purdey Shotgun Collection to be Auctioned December 5 with 100 Percent of Proceeds Benefiting Conservation

Renowned conservationist and outdoorsman, Will Primos, partners with the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, to bring awareness to what conservation is and the role sportsmen and women play through the ‘Truth About Conservation.’

A rare collection of five Purdey hammer shotguns owned by famed outdoorsman and conservationist Will Primos will be auctioned on December 5, 2025 at 9 a.m. CT at RockIslandAuction.com, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support wildlife conservation. The collection, featuring shotguns in .410, 28, 20, 16, and 12 gauges, is the cornerstone of the ‘Truth About Conservation’ campaign, an initiative to promote science-based habitat management.

In an unprecedented arrangement to ensure every dollar supports conservation – with no buyer’s fees or seller’s fees –100 percent of the auction proceeds will be donated directly to five of the nation’s leading conservation groups: the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever.

The funds raised will advance the campaign’s mission to spread awareness of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and highlight how hunters’ and anglers’ contributions create healthy landscapes and abundant wildlife for the public. This unique auction allows a supporter to acquire a piece of firearms history while making a significant and direct contribution to the future of conservation.

Reflecting on the auction, Will Primos shared, “It dawned on me one day how important the habitat is to everything we value in the outdoors. I wanted to give back in a way that was special, something that would make a lasting impact. Read more

Firearms

Theodore Roosevelt’s World’s Record Cougar

The following is from the Boone & Crockett Club

Colorado 1901

Theodore Roosevelt is the only U.S. president with his name in the Boone and Crockett records. And as far as we know, he’s the only hunter to kill a World’s Record with a hunting knife.

On November 6, 1900, William McKinley was elected the 25th president of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt would serve as his vice president until McKinley’s assassination on September 14, 1901. Before being sworn in as vice president, Roosevelt needed an adventure and a little fresh air, far from politics and the East Coast. In January 1901, he left for Meeker, Colorado, to chase cougars for five weeks. He was heading to the White River between Coyote Basin and Colorow Mountain.

Because Science

Roosevelt insisted his hunting expedition was in the name of science. After all, he was collecting cougar and bobcat specimens for Dr. C. Hart Merriam, head of the Biological Survey, now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To be fair, Roosevelt did turn over the spoils of his hunt to the Biological Survey, including 14 cougar specimens. Dr. Merriam was pleased. “Your series of skulls from Colorado is incomparably the largest, most complete, and most valuable series ever brought together from any single locality and will be of inestimable value in determining the amount of individual variation,” Merriam wrote.

For his Colorado hunt, Roosevelt chose local hunter and houndsman Peter Goff to guide him. Goff and his dogs were well-known in the tracking business. After 16 years of chasing cougars, Goff had roughly 300 lions to his name. “This was always Roosevelt’s secret as an outdoorsman; he had a genius (and the money) for finding the best hunt guides available for every expedition,” writes historian Douglas Brinkley.

aa_tr-cougar-johngoff.jpg

Goff and Roosevelt (right) stand over the first of 14 cougars taken on the trip.

While riding through the pinyons and canyons by horseback, Roosevelt enjoyed watching the hounds work. In writing about his hunt in With the Cougar Hounds, he describes the dogs as he would an old hunting buddy, enamored with the quality of their training, unique personalities—and, of course, their ability to climb trees and latch onto their quarry.

The Hunt

One of the first set of tracks ended when Roosevelt thrust his knife behind the shoulder of the smallest cougar of the hunt. The dogs had subdued an older female cougar that weighed just 47 pounds. As the dogs latched onto the lion with their powerful jaws, Roosevelt finished it. He writes Read more

Hunting

Federal Custom Shop Introduces Six New Turkey Loads

Federal Custom Shop offers expertly handloaded ammunition, built to order with the highest-quality components. It has recently added six new turkey-load options to its overall TSS shotshell lineup. Custom Shop loads are for hunters seeking specific loading options not available in factory-loaded ammunition.

The six new loads are two 3-inch 12-gauge, 2-1/2-ounce in No. 7 and 9 shot options; two 2-3/4-inch 12-gauge, 2-1/4-ounce in No. 7 and 9 shot options; and two 3-inch 28-gauge 1-11/16-ounce in No. 7 and 9 shot options.

“Launched in the fall of 2019, the product line in our Federal Custom Shop continues to grow,” said Federal Shotshell Product Manager Josh Vickers. “This year, we have added several options of Tungsten Super Shot (TSS) with hefty payloads to deliver maximum pellet counts. These are the types of ultra-heavy payload shotshells that we can’t load on our factory machines effectively and efficiently. They really can only be built as handloads, so we are happy to offer them as Custom Shop offering.”

The Federal Ammunition factory is located in Anoka, Minnesota. Its online Custom Shop is a separate, secure room within, featuring a state-of-the-art reloading workshop focused on the utmost attention to detail, quality, and care for each hand-loaded round. An elite group of the Federal’s most experienced employees was selected to work in the Custom Shop. Using the best components available, these expert engineers handcraft this ammunition to order. Each round is hand-checked, then cleaned and inspected, before being packed in Custom Shop packaging and shipped out. Each box of Custom Shop ammunition is signed by the Federal employee who hand-loaded it. Read more

Ammunition

Federal Custom Shop Introduces Eight New Centerfire Rifle Options for Big Game Hunting

Federal Custom Shop offers expertly handloaded ammunition, built to order with the highest-quality components. It has recently added eight new options to its overall product lineup. Custom Shop loads are for hunters and shooters who cannot find specific bullet options in factory-loaded ammunition on the retail shelf.

The new loads are Barnes Tipped TSX 6.5 PRC 120-gr, Hammer 6.5 Creedmoor 121-grain, Hammer 6.5MM PRC 121-grain, Fusion 284 Win. 140-grain, Trophy Bonded Tipped 284 Win. 140-gr, Hammer 7mm PRC 131-gr, Barnes Tipped TSX 7MM PRC 140-grain, and Barnes LRX 300 WSM 200-grain

“Launched in the fall of 2019, the product line in our Federal Custom Shop continues to grow,” said Federal Centerfire Rifle Product Manager Eric Miller. “This year, we have added several options of bonded or all-copper bullets that our customers have been asking for. This includes Hammer bullets, which are a brand of high-performance, solid copper projectiles designed for hunting and manufactured to have a unique terminal performance, so we are excited to see how well they do in our Custom Shop loads.” Read more

Ammunition

Magpul Expands Hunter Lite Stock Line with Ruger American Short Action Variant

Magpul is continuing to grow in the outdoor space with its extensive collection of hunting stocks, the newest being the Hunter Lite-Ruger American Short Action for the Ruger American rifle; the Hunter Lite is compatible with both Gen 1 and 2 rifles.

As the name implies, the goal with the Hunter Lite line of stocks is to keep weight to a minimum; the Hunter Lite stock for the Ruger American comes in at 2.5 pounds – 25% lighter than the standard Hunter stock, and it’s 25% narrower, too.

While the stock cuts weight, it doesn’t cut features. The stock works for both right- and left-hand shooters thanks to a reversible inlet insert. The aluminum V-bedding block – the bedrock of the stock – is another way weight was slashed, though the block still uses reinforced steel pillars to prevent compression and deformation while shooting.

Adjusting stock fit and adding accessories is simple, too, and keeps the weight down thanks to the polymer components. The buttstock uses removeable half-inch spacers for LOP adjustment, and snap-on cheek risers for comb adjustment, while the forend features M-LOK attachment points, as well as integral sling swivel studs for use with a variety of slings and bipods.

Other features for the Hunter Lite include an enlarged trigger guard for comfortable use with gloves and easy access to the ambidextrous magazine release. The forend of the Hunter Lite is compatible with barrel profiles up to Medium Palma. Read more

Firearms
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