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39mm 123-grain Full Metal Jacket ammunition to anearby shooting spot. We had 40-round magazines– the rifle comes with two – and 30-round maga-zines and even a five-round magazine available tous. Remember, all AK mags should work in thisrifle. As usual, Danny, an excellent rifleman, gotmore rounds on target than out of it, while I did theopposite. Firing from the bench in deliberate aimedslow fire, it was easy to stay on the BirchwoodCasey (birchwoodcasey.com) Shoot.N.C target at50 yards. I intend to take the AES10B out soonagain and see what I can actually do with it when Iexercise a little patience. I like the rifle so muchthat I really want to get good with it.

Clearly, the Century Arms AES10B rifle is aserious firearm. But, when we think of Romania,we don’t always think of guns. As the CenturyArms people relate, a few hundred RomanianRPKs were readied for paratroopers to employduring a planned attack by Romania on its then-sister Communist Bloc country of Hungary. TheRPKs, destined to become the basis for the semi-auto only AES10B, were discovered in the townof Cugir, held within a sealed building. Cugir isin the portion of Romania known as Transylva-nia, immortalized in vampire lore. However, nobite marks were found on any of the rifles – tomy knowledge.

If you find yourselfinterested in the ulti-mate civilian legalsemi-auto-only rifle fordefending the home-stead, I think you’ll likethe Century Internation-al Arms AES10B asmuch as I do. And, it’seven reasonably priced.

Something else I likeand see as terrifically useful is a good knife. I havea wide range of tastes in fixed-blade knives, but Ifind myself ever-more partial to the non-fixed-blade knives from Benchmade (benchmade.com).Benchmade’s automatic opening knives are trulyamong the best to be had. What is, perhaps,Benchmade’s most unique auto is the “Infidel.” Ithas an “out the front” opening blade. Just as thereare many variations of the basic lockblade foldingknife, so are there various types of automaticknives. When one refers to the actual openingmechanism, the device can be a true “switch-blade,” wherein the opening is achieved by rotat-ing a switch-like device a full one hundred eightydegrees to open and lock the knife open, thenrotating it in the reverse as one manually folds theblade closed. A “push button” knife works thesame way, except that a button is depressed tofacilitate opening and for closing. Benchmade’s“Axis Lock,” used quite successfully in non-auto-matic knives, is also used in automatics. For this, asmall, hardened steel bar is shifted forward and

rearward in a machined slot. It engages the knifeblade when it is opened, using springs positionedon each liner. Operate the Axis Lock to open andto close. To enhance safety, the push button styleautomatic definitely needs a safety lock, whichmodern Benchmade knives have. The Axis is lessneedful of a safety lock, but has one anyway. All ofthese knives, whatever the opening system, pres-ent the blade by means of rotation from betweenthe handle scales. An out-the-front knife employsno rotation. Usually, such knives are under con-stant spring pressure. They are analogous to acoiled snake, ready to strike.

Benchmade’s out-the-front knives – all are inthe “Infidel” series – are “double action,” in thiscase referencing the fact that a thumb slide bothopens and closes the knife. When closing, it alsounlocks the blade. Push the thumb slide forwardand the knife opens as if by magic. Pull it rearward– it’s ambidextrous, by the way – and the knifecloses. No lock is required.

The full-size Infidel comes with a double-edged, spear-point blade or a single-edged droppoint. The newest Infidel is the “Mini-Infidel,” fea-turing a 3.1” spear-point blade, rather than a 3.91”blade. Overall length is proportionately smaller, ofcourse. The original Infidel’s open length is just

under 9”, while theMini-Infidel is just a bitover 7”.

Both the full-sizeand Mini-Infidel featureremovable deep pocketclips, allowing theknife to be carriedquite unobtrusively.

Either double-edgedversion of the Infidel isan ideal knife for our

heroic men and women who are fighting the ene-mies of freedom. Similarly, either double edge Infi-del – large or small – might be just the thing for anundercover or even uniformed law enforcementprofessional. The knives are great for collectors,too. As automatic knives, it is incumbent uponsomeone interested in them to make certain theyare legal to possess in one’s local and state juris-dictions. All that said, in most parts of The UnitedStates, when one carries a double-edged knife, it isclassified as carrying a dagger or dirk, hence ille-gal to have on the street.

The Benchmade Infidels are not made foropening boxes and cutting string. They are out-standing equipment for military or law enforce-ment personnel, as they are also wonderful piecesfor the knife collector. As with anything carryingthe Benchmade name, you couldn’t ask for better.

There are quite a number of names I trust inpersonal equipment. Century International Armsand Benchmade are two of those names. I recom-mend them.

Benchmade’s Mini-Infidel (top) and original, full-size Infidel.

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