Author: Michael Crites

Michael Crites has served as executive editor of AmericanFirearms.org since 2016 and previously held positions as associate editor and range correspondent dating back to 2000. He discovered his passion for precision shooting at age 12 during his first visit to his grandfather's shooting range, eventually earning an Expert classification in three different shooting disciplines before age 18.

During his studies at University of Wyoming, he earned four varsity letters on the collegiate rifle and pistol teams, serving as team captain for three consecutive years. He became the first UW student to complete the NRA Range Safety Officer certification while maintaining full-time student status. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Communications.

His diverse career has included roles as Range Safety Coordinator for the National Rifle Championships in Camp Perry 2001; editor-in-chief, Precision Shooter Quarterly; series editor, Modern Firearms Handbook collection; managing editor, National Shooting Sports Foundation Newsletter; editor, Competitive Shooter Magazine; operations director for Western Arms & Ammunition Co.; senior editor for the Shooter's Reference Annual (Cheyenne); content director for The Firearms Report, published by the American Shooting Coalition in Billings, MT; firearms correspondent for Hunting & Shooting, produced by Outdoor Sports Media Group in Jackson, WY; and publisher for Wyoming Shooting Sports Journal in Casper. He has contributed as a regular columnist for American Rifleman (NRA Publications), technical editor for Precision, a publication of the National Bench Rest Shooters Association (Phoenix, AZ); and as firearms specialist for the Gun Owner's Annual.

As a digital content creator, he has written more than 400 articles on AmericanFirearms.org, developed shooting technique coverage for the Brownells Shooting Blog (Montezuma, IA) and Federal Premium "Range Notes" platform (Anoka, MN), and served as lead content strategist for International Defensive Pistol Association (Berryville, AR). Beyond Tactical Firearms, his current endeavors include content development for the Wyoming State Rifle Association (Cheyenne, WY) and technical manual production for High Plains Publishing of Laramie, WY.

He has contributed to the 12th, 13th, and 14th editions of Modern Sporting Rifles Guide and edited The Complete Guide to Tactical Shooting and Competitive Shooter's Reference Manual (Gun Digest Books).

ATF Drops the Hammer on 80% Glock-Style Pistols

Going well past its final “Definition of ‘Frame or Receiver‘” rule that has been two years in the making and needed reams of corrections just before its final release, the ATF just issued another 10 pages of extra clarification of the rule, taking specific umbrage with Polymer80 and Lone Wolf “80 percent” Glock-style frames. In… Continue reading ATF Drops the Hammer on 80% Glock-Style Pistols

TSA Bumps Fines to $15K for Guns at Airports

Just in time to drop bummers on holiday travelers, the Transportation Security Administration announced two things last week: that it had tallied an all-time high of about 6,600 firearms found in carry-on bags at airport security checkpoints thus far in the year, and that it was raising the maximum civil penalty for a firearms violation… Continue reading TSA Bumps Fines to $15K for Guns at Airports

Savage Goes 1911

Savage Arms dates to 1894 in one form or another. Its most recent version broke away from the 800-pound gorilla that is Vista Outdoors– the folks that own Federal, CCI, Speer, and other ammo brands– in 2019 and has since been trying to reinvent itself ever since. Branching out from its bolt-action rifle bread and… Continue reading Savage Goes 1911

New (Affordable) Beretta Tactical Shotgun?

In other SHOT Show leaks, it appears that Beretta has been working on a more affordable tactical semi-auto 12 gauge than its well-liked but expensive ($1,300) Model 1301 series shotgun. Lots of well-known names in the shotgun training game have been talking about this mysterious project and most thinking is that the new autoloading Beretta… Continue reading New (Affordable) Beretta Tactical Shotgun?

FN now has a Baby SCAR (Awww)

FN America, which has always had the design and production of the SCAR platform of 5.56 (Light) and 7.62 NATO (Heavy) rifles located here in the states, has finally moved to introduce a pistol variant to the consumer market. Now to be clear, they have made a chopped-down variant of the SCAR-L for the past… Continue reading FN now has a Baby SCAR (Awww)

Glock G47 To Hit The Consumer Market, New Glock Trigger Pack

Besides seeming confirmation about the rumors of a Gen 5 Glock 21 in .45 ACP and a similar Gen 5 G22 in .40S&W hitting the shelves in 2023, the Austrian plastic fantastic gunmaker is set to release the G47 to the consumer market as well as deliver their own branded performance trigger pack. Dealer sheets… Continue reading Glock G47 To Hit The Consumer Market, New Glock Trigger Pack

New Sig Sauer P320-XFive DH3

Daniel Horner is– without being smug about it– probably the best multi-gun champion in the world. Since leaving the Army Marksmanship Unit a few years ago, he had been Sig Sauer’s resident champion, cleaning clocks across the globe and leaving everyone else in his events fighting for second place. Sig has already tapped Horner to… Continue reading New Sig Sauer P320-XFive DH3