It's not unusual to approach Santa this time of year with a wish list, however Santa's workshop was running a bit behind and just about everything cool that was gun related is back ordered until at least a year from next Christmas, so I called my buddies over at Hardened Arms and asked them if they could whip me up a little Christmas cheer in the way of a custom build for this month's Guns and Lace review.  My under the tree wish list was pretty short, it read like this, "Dear Santa, Please bring me something to shoot that will get my blood pumping, wake the neighbors, and has a cool factor of plus 15 on a scale of 1 to 10! Forget diamonds, guns are a girl's best friend!"

Santa Pat, the owner of Hardened Arms, an up and coming boutique gun manufacturing shop located in Friday Harbor, Washington, was more than happy to oblige and appeared at my door ( I do not have a chimney) bearing a Hardened Arms box wrapped with a big red ribbon, that contained one very hot, custom built by the Hardened Arms elves, AR15 short barreled rifle.  Now, before we take off in Santa's sleigh and test drive this cool new custom toy, let's get the disclaimers out of the way: SBRs are not legal in all states, so check your state laws before ordering a short barreled AR15. If you are one of the lucky ones that live in a pro gun state, you still need to be prepared to pay up, as Uncle Sam will be right there with his hand out, asking for a $200.00 tax stamp (gotta pay for those vacations you know).

I could hear reindeer on the roof and my heart started to pound as I looked at this Short Barrel Rifle with its Spike's Tactical lower receiver, complete with spider logo, Magpul flat dark earth furniture, 7.5" barrel and a BAR Spikes Tactical rail that had my head spinning with joy, visions of sugar plumbs and 5.56 ammo dancing in my head!

So as I took stock of my list, I'd no doubt Hardened Arms had hit the proverbial ball over the North Pole fence at the park! The cool factor was off the charts, and with the 7.5 inch barrel I'd no doubt we'd be waking the neighbors for miles around when we test fired it.

I could appreciate the care that Hardened Arms took building out this SBR, the barrel correctly dimpled for the gas block screws, for a rock solid lock up, anti rotation pins to keep the hammer and trigger pins from walking, and a Magpul MOE grip with a built in compartment to hold the SBR paperwork in the rifle in case an official ever got uppity about wanting to see a copy of your tax stamp.

Can you say BOOM?! Sure you can! I recommend both in ear and over the ear hearing protection when shooting an SBR, as the report is about as loud as a cannon and every bit as much fun.  The kick however, was surprisingly manageable, this is not one of those fire it, brag about it, and then put the beast away and never ride it again kind of rodeo reindeer. It was a joy to fire and now the real surprise, though SBRs are known for point and shoot, combat style close quarters action, with an EOTECH 517 optic on this little powerhouse I was hitting consistent groups at 50 yards!!  BOOM, RAH, BOOM... or translated into happy girl gun talk.... Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good and Safe Night!
 - Anna

What do Guns and Lace and Playboy have in common? Why, Guns and Lace girl Melissa Jean of course!  Melissa travels the world as a high end model, doing photo shoots for some of the best. She knows the importance of confidence and safety for a woman and she learned to shoot long ago to make sure that she was capable and proficient when it came to taking care of herself. 

Melissa Jean loves to travel, experience new places and is truly a people person!  To know her is to love her.  Super model yes, super ego no, she is a sweet, personable and adorable girl next door, that knocks the socks off of every one she meets and every photographer she works with.  Mellisa Jean literally wrote the book on poses for Playboy as she was the only model featured in Arny Freytag's book "Shoot the Centerfold."  She is currently relocating to New York City to be closer to the hub of the modeling scene, but you may very well find her practicing her skills at a range near you, as she often goes shooting to stay sharp when she travels.