“It’s difficult to imagine the name of a gun being more appropriate,” reflects Roy Huntington of the Dan Wesson Vigil CCO featured in the December issue of GUNS Magazine. “While ‘Devastator’ or ‘Annihilator’ may exude a certain flamboyance, if not style,” he continues, “the quiet authority of the Vigil’s platform speaks louder than any click-bait moniker might.”

Like any “custom” auto, the Vigil is chock-full of high-quality specialty parts, including a match-grade barrel with a reverse crown and fully supported feed ramp; tritium fixed front sights and all-black, serrated rear; and a single-action trigger of medium length. Roy found the gun ran like the “proverbial top,” mags were easy to load, recoil was mild, the 29-oz. weight was “just enough” and accuracy certified with groups in the “1.5" or better” range.

If engraved metal, hand-fitted parts and checkered wood brings a gleam to your eye and quickens your pulse, Greg Moats thinks the Browning Double Automatic would be a gratifying acquisition. The challenge is you’ll be hard pressed to buy only one. In “Browning Double Automatic — An Ingenious Classic,” he suggests, “The Double Auto was, and is, the enigma of the shotgun realm and certainly one of the grandest autoloaders to ever grace the field or range.”

A Bravo Company BCM RECCE-14 KMR-A Carbine tops December’s Firearms Giveaway Package. Chambered in .556 NATO and featuring a chrome-lined USGI government-profile 14.5" barrel, the RECCE-14 is one of the highest-quality carbines on the market. Additional prizes include an MRO 1x25 Red Dot Sight from Trijicon and a TLR RM 1 from Streamlight. Valued at nearly $2,400, readers are encouraged to enter the free drawing online at: http://www.gunsmagazine.com/giveaways.

Additional highlights of the issue include why the .356 TSW — a promising cartridge, but victim of poor timing and marketing in the early ’90s — is back from the dead with good reason in Massad Ayoob’s Handguns column. In the Surplus & Tactical installment, Payton Miller pays homage to the Model 58 Winchester and its inexpensive simplicity. The lightweight, gumwood-stocked rifle may not be a looker, but it’s a nostalgic keeper. Hunters on the prowl for a compact knife capable of voracious skinning and light field chores need look no further than White River’s Hunter according to Pat Covert in the Knives column. And when inspiration strikes Editor Brent T. Wheat while indisposed, it prompts a discussion on self-defense tactics in the most unlikely of places … the public restroom.

This month’s Online Exclusive invites readers to view the collection of Roy Huntington’s “First Look” videos where he goes hands-on with new guns and gear. GUNS Magazine digital subscriptions and the December issue are available for purchase at www.fmgpubs.com.

GUNS Magazine Podcast is celebrating its first anniversary! Find all 49 episodes published to date online at www.gunsmagazine.com/podcast and other popular streaming sites.