VIDEO: Overview Of New M8 Rifle

Well that was quick. It appears that the M7 is already being shuffled off the stage for an upgraded version: the M8. 

    What upgrades?

    According to the video, the weapon is about 1 lb. lighter than the M7. This was made possible by shortening the barrel from 13 inches to 11 inches; making the handguard lighter by shortening it and removing some material; removing the folding stock feature (so the M8 will just have a collapsible stock); and using a shorter silencer. (There is a thermal cover for the silencer also to reduce thermal signature and prevent contact burns). 

    The weapon is supposed to be slightly more accurate as a result of the shorter (hence, stiffer) barrel, now capable of sub-2 MOA using commercial ammunition. And it will be issued with 25-round magazines instead of the 20-round magazines that are standard now. 

    The downside is that there is some loss of velocity. The SIG representative downplayed this, saying the M8 was an 800 yard rifle. But the M7 had been represented as a 1,000 yard rifle. That seems a significant difference when the primary purpose of the M7 program was to overmatch the Soviet machine guns used by the Taliban.

    It may be that, in the end, this turns out to be a fine weapon. But it feels like we are still in the Beta testing stage.  

 VIDEO: "Did the Army Replace the Sig M7… Already? Meet the New Sig M8"
TFB TV (12 min.)

Richard Mann Tests Four "Apocalypse-Ready" Rifles

Richard Mann is probably the most vocal apologist of Jeff Cooper's Scout Rifle concept in the firearms media. As I've noted before, the Scout Rifle concept seemed to have grown out of Cooper's own thoughts on the ideal post-SHTF survivalist rifle. So it always catches my attention when Mann delves into the topic of survivalist or prepping rifles--a fun topic even if (we hope) it is theoretical. 

    In any event, I recently came across a 2018 article that Mann wrote for Shooting Illustrated entitled "4 Apocalypse-Ready Rifles: Which One is Best?" The four rifles considered are: (i) Century Arms RAS47 (i.e., a pretty stock AKM style rifle) shooting, of course, 7.62x39mm; (ii) a Marlin 336 lever action in .30-30 Win.; (iii) a Savage 110 Scout, a bolt-action rifle shooting .308 Win. from a 10-round detachable box magazine; and (iv) a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 shooting 5.56 NATO, representing a fairly stock AR with a 16-inch barrel. Each of the rifles mounted some form of optic: the AK had a red-dot while the other three rifles all had a magnified rifle scope. 

    Mann devised a course of fire to test the weapons which he describes:

    By running the rifles through this course, I compared their friendliness and effectiveness. There were five stages, and at each I conducted a snap shot on a torso target and a precision shot on a 6-inch target. Engagement distance varied from 60 to 160 yards, and time stopped when both targets had been hit.

    On stage one, I engaged the targets across-cab, while seated in a UTV. For stage two I exited the UTV, kneeled and used its hood for support. Stage three started standing, before engaging the targets from the prone position. For stage four, I moved from standing to sitting, and at the last stage, both shots were fired standing, using a tree for support. Ten hits were required to clean the course and scoring was simple. Both targets had to be hit to stop the clock at each stage. I added total shots fired to the total time, and the lower the number, the better the rifle and I performed. Additionally, three, three-shot groups were fired with each rifle from a sandbag rest at 100 yards. In total, 100 rounds were fired with each carbine.

Unsurprising, the AR scored the best at 49.23. Interestingly, though, because of its limited magazine capacity requiring it to be topped off, the lever action had an almost identical score to the AR at 49.45. There was a 9 second jump to the score for the bolt action rifle--58.68. And the AK finished last at 65.93 although, Mann pointed out, "the lack of magnification made precision shots challenging". He also made some general comments that expanded on this:

Most notable [of points that don't show up in the raw scores] was the inferiority of the red-dot sight. For snap-shooting it was fast, but hindered the ability to deliver precision shots with speed. This was partly due to the lack of magnification, but also due to the optic’s inability to deal with varied light conditions. On a pristine range these sights can work like magic; in the field—woods—they can be problematic. Had the AK been fitted with a magnified optic, it would likely have performed on par with the others. The red dot is also battery powered, which may not be wise for a rifle kept in storage until the world happens to fall apart. 

On the other hand, in a course geared more at CQB (and even the shortest distance in this course was beyond what is generally considered CQB) the red dot probably would have been at its best. He used a very inexpensive red dot, as well, and I have to wonder if a different red dot with different features might have worked better.  

    Mann has some more points that he raises concerning each rifle and other topics such as ammunition, appropriateness for different locations or environments, whether the speed differences are really that determinative, and when you might want a more powerful rifle than the 5.56 (or 7.62x39, for that matter), so be sure to read the whole thing.  

IDF Attacks Iran's Largest Natural Gas Infrastructure

Yesterday, it was reported that Israel had struck the South Pars gas field--the largest natural gas field in the world--notwithstanding that Trump has previously told Israel to not attack the oil and gas infrastructure in Iran. From the Institute for the Study of War (footnotes omitted):

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck Iran’s most important energy infrastructure, including facilities linked to the South Pars natural gas field and the Asaluyeh processing hub in Bushehr Province on March 18. These facilities are central to Iran’s domestic natural gas supply and broader energy system, which supports a significant portion of Iran’s economic activity and regime revenue. Iran consumes roughly 94 percent of its natural gas production internally, according to data by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, meaning disruptions will primarily strain domestic supply. Damage to these facilities will likely disrupt Iran’s electricity generation capacity, given their role in supplying fuel to the power sector. Over 90 percent of Iran’s electricity is generated by gas-powered thermal plants. Israeli media reported on March 18 that the strikes reportedly damaged up to one-fifth of Iran’s gas processing capacity. Israel previously struck Iranian energy infrastructure, including gas processing facilities linked to the South Pars field and the Fajr-e Jam Gas Refinery in Bushehr Province, during the June 2025 Israel-Iran War.     

Iran, in turn, "retaliated with attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure, including a missile strike on Qatar's Ras Laffan, one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas export terminals." 

    Trump apparently posted on his Truth Social account that Israel had attacked the gas field "out of anger," that the United States and Qatar had no knowledge of the attack, and Israel had promised to make no more attacks on the gas field; but, he also warned, if there were any more attacks on Qatar, the U.S. will "massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field...." The AP reports, however, that the Administration did have foreknowledge of the attack:

The United States was informed about Israel’s plans to strike Iran’s massive South Pars natural gas field, but did not take part in it, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, would not say if the Trump administration agreed with the Israeli decision to attack the gas field — part of the world’s largest such resource and a pillar of Iran’s energy supplies. 

All this must be taken with a grain of salt, though, as the AP is not the most reliable of sources when it comes to reporting on Trump and unnamed sources could just be some buddy of the reporter who has a friend, who knows a guy, who ... well, you get the idea. 

    In other news, it is being reported that Israel has closed holy sites within Old Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which, tradition states, marks the tomb where Christ was interned after His crucifixion and where His resurrection occurred. Although there are reports stating that this is unprecedented and has never happened before, this is incorrect: a similar closure occurred in June 2025 when Israel and Iran were fighting. The church/shrine has been destroyed several times over its history as well. The Church is very important for several Christian denominations, including the Greek Orthodox, for Easter celebrations and worship, so there is an effort to convince Israel to at least allow some limited access to the church for Easter. 

    The problem is that once a government shuts down a church or shuts down worship for an emergency, it becomes easier to justify doing the same subsequently--the whole camel's nose in the tent. 

Minnesota Politicians Killed Government Program To Forestall Investigations?

 Stephen Green at PJ Media reports on something extraordinary. In 2017, Minnesota had figured out another way to siphon money from American taxpayers and passed a law authorizing a Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program, which program went into effect in 2020 once approval had been obtained from the Federal government. As Green relates, "HSS was one of those innocuous-sounding and ostensibly well-meaning programs purportedly meant to, as the Minnesota Prairie County Alliance put it, 'help people with disabilities, including mental illness and substance use disorder, and seniors find and keep housing.'" This, as we've learned through sad experience, is just Lefty speak for fraud and embezzlement. And sure enough, the program which in 2020 was estimated would only cost $2.5 million had ballooned to over $100 million by 2024.

    But a local news affiliate--KARE 11--began investigating the program "ultimately uncovering widespread fraud that included questionable billing, bribes, falsifying of records, and even billing for dead clients." 

The state that threw untold millions of education dollars at Somali-run "Learing Centers" also saw a greater than 40-fold increase in Medicare money at a housing program that "led to several criminal indictments of accused fraudsters, including two Philadelphia men who pleaded guilty to starting businesses in the state and enrolling in the program because it seemed like a 'good opportunity to make money.'"   

But here is the weird part:

"Minnesota House unanimously passes bill to remove Housing Stabilization Services from state statute." Similar legislation is moving forward in the state senate, and Walz is expected to sign it. 

As Green comments, "[i]t's probably safe to assume that the real motivation is to forestall any investigation into who got what out of all those defrauded millions." 

If The Intelligence Community Can't Be Trusted It Is A Liability

From Just The News: "US intel hid Chinese 2020 election meddling from Trump because they opposed his policies, memo says." From the article:

    Analysts inside the U.S. intelligence community sought to conceal evidence of Chinese influence efforts from President Donald Trump during the 2020 election, with analysts saying they didn’t want their intel used by “that vulgarian in the Oval Office” to pursue policies toward China they personally disagreed with.

    The revelation is found within a January 2021 report written by — and never before reported upon comments by — analytic ombudsman Barry Zulauf, who conducted a review of the spy community’s handling of Russian versus Chinese meddling efforts during the 2020 election. Among his conclusions was that intelligence analysts downplayed China’s actions because they had disdain for the “vulgarian” Trump and did not want to support the policies and priorities of the Trump administration toward China with which they “personally disagree.”

In other words, no matter their excuses, they were acting (or failing to act) in order to preserve Chinese influence over U.S. elections, placing them into the category of domestic enemies. The article continues:

    This is not the only piece of evidence pointing to Chinese government election influence efforts in the 2020 election. Although much about China’s activities in 2020 remains classified, Just the News conducted a thorough review of publicly-available intelligence assessments, federal indictments, foreign government warnings, and cybersecurity firm analyses.

    There is credible evidence that Chinese government-linked cyber hackers and Chinese social media troll farms took aim at the U.S. presidential election in 2020 and sought to undercut Trump during his run against now-former President Biden. There are also indicators that Chinese intelligence and law enforcement agencies — China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) and its Ministry of Public Security (MPS) — also played a role in 2020. 

More Abuse Of The H1B Visa Program

Instapundit has linked to a couple posts from X noting that Amazon received 10,044 H1B visa approvals in 2025 while at the same time laying off 14,000 American employees.  One of the X posts also indicates that 71% of those H1B visas went to Indian nationals. However, that is old news as Amazon was letting go another 15,000 corporate jobs in January 2026 with the stated goal of not growing its American workforce. On top of that, as the video explains below, Amazon is investing tens of billions in India. 

 VIDEO: "Amazon Just Replaced 30,000 Americans with $75B in Indian Labor (And No One Noticed)"
Dr. Josh C. Simmons (12 min.)

HR Funk: Should You Have A Carry Rotation?

Having regularly carried a concealed handgun for almost 30 years, I have to agree with Funk's assessment. 

There are those that maintain that you should carry the same gun in the same manner all the time. This makes sense on a theoretical level because all your training and practice are aimed at that same setup; and so you will exhibit a greater proficiency and won't suffer any momentary confusion about where is your gun or differences in operation should you have to use it. But this often breaks down in a real world because different seasons, different clothes, different environments, different threats, etc., change what, where and how you can carry a gun upon your person. The most basic is seasonal changes between cold weather (which makes it easier to carry larger handguns) and warmer weather with more abbreviated clothing. It can also change between work and more casual settings (e.g., business attire or a uniform at work versus casual clothes in the evening or weekend) or activities (e.g., gym or exercise, regular everyday activities, the late night run to the convenience store, hiking or hunting in bear country, etc.). And I'll admit that there are times when civil unrest was widespread when I opted for something more powerful or with greater magazine capacity. 

The closest I came to having the same gun and same carry method all the time was for the years that I carried a 5-shot snub nose revolver almost all the time, whether under a suit coat or sports jacket during the work week or a loose button up shirt at other times. This set up also worked well for several years when carrying my Beretta 84 in a shoulder holster. I would sometimes carry different weapons, but I probably carried the J-frame or, later, the Beretta, about 90% of the time. Now I tend to have one handgun that I typically carry at work and another handgun that I use when dressed casually. Again, however, these two handguns and the methods I use to carry them suffice for 90% or more of the time.

Funks assessment, and I've this echoed by other gun writers and trainers, is that a carry rotation dictated by circumstances such as I've outlined above are acceptable, but it is unwise and counterproductive to change up guns based simply on mood or for the sake of carrying different weapons.  

VIDEO: "Should You Have a Carry Rotation?"
hrfunk (8 min.)

Second Amendment Foundation Victory Against Post Office Carry Ban

From the Second Amendment Foundation: "SAF WIN: POST OFFICE CARRY BAN INJUNCTION COVERS CURRENT AND FUTURE MEMBERS" (h/t Anonymous Conservative). The Feds had tried to limit the injunction to only those members of the SAF at the time the suit was filed, but the judge held that it applies to future members of the SAF as well. 

Judge Boasberg Continues To Protect Deep State

NPR reports that Judge James Boasberg has quashed grand jury subpoenas issued as part of an investigation into cost overruns in the construction of a new headquarters for the Federal Reserve because "Orange Man Bad". 

Harvard To Focus More On Recruiting Jews

From the Washington Free Beacon: "Harvard to Recruit at Jewish Day Schools After Study Finds Steep Decline in Jewish Enrollment." Maybe Harvard should instead focus on recruiting from the pool of National Merit Finalists representing the top high school students. But they won't because that would mean letting in more white Christians.