Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2019 i Gun Digest

Making Meat With the .50 BMG The “Choosing Your Next Big Bore” (p. 34, June 2019 issue) article was very interesting, even though I doubt I’ll ever be in the market for one! I was interested if anyone is using any of the .50 BMG rifles for dangerous-game hunting? There wasn’t a mention of this in the article. David White Via e-mail While the .50 BMG cartridge certainly presents an impressive level of energy and muzzle velocity, the practicality of using it as a hunting cartridge isn’t quite there. Most shoulder-fired rifles chambered for the .50 are designed to be used from the prone or bench positions; they are seriously heavy—too heavy to be of any use in the field—and require a muzzle brake so large and loud that your…

Also known as the “my-arms-are-too-short” disease, presbyopia is the normal occurrence of your eyes gradually losing the ability to see things up close. It’s nothing new. In fact, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the term, “presbyopia,” comes from a Greek word that means “old eye.” Most humans start experiencing this problem around age 40, and the first indication of its onset is that you have to hold reading materials farther away. This, of course, is when you start thinking your arms have gotten ... shorter. What does any of this have to do with shooting? Well, it ought to be obvious: When shooting a handgun, the sights are generally held at about reading distance. If you can’t focus on them, you can’t hit the target with precision. And,…

The arguments will never end. The competition shooters tell you that you must have a great, big funnel on your pistol, because warp-speed reloads are vital. I’ve seen funnels at matches that were big enough to get your fist into. The tacti-cool set will tell you that if you need a reload, you’ve already done something wrong (I guess the subtext here is: Because you’ve screwed up, you deserve whatever happens). But I don’t buy it. I’ve had magwells and funnels on my pistols, competition and carry, for many years—decades, in fact. I think the first funnel was a Bill Wilson plastic one. It broke eventually, and I ended up with it super-glued in place. My first few carry guns didn’t have funnels, but magwells back then were “competition-only,” and…

Some people—and companies—just can’t leave well enough alone. Mostly, that’s a bad thing, but there are always the exceptions … and Sig is one of them. The basic P320—Sig’s evolved pistol—now with a striker-firing system, has gone from strength to strength. The good parts of the P320 are still there in the P320X Compact. THE GOOD PARTS The slide is machined from a billet of stainless steel and, for the Compact, is made short enough to meet the demands of the barrel, which is slightly more than 3½ inches long. It gets the same sculpting as the original, with angled flats on the slide to make it easier to draw and re-holster. There are cocking serrations fore and aft, and the barrel locks up in the slide by using the…

As any campfire debate will attest to, there’s no one rifle cartridge that can do it all. There might be one gun, however: Meet the Titan 6. The Rößler, often called the Roessler (Rowa) Titan 6, is an ultramodern, accurate, interchangeable, rotary bolt-action rifle that gives hunters access to enough gun for any adventure. Any of them. With authority. From antelope to zebras—not to mention Cape buffalo, coyotes, mountain sheep, Kodiak brown bears and elk—the Titan 6 and its ability to be configured to more than 31 different “flavors” of proven cartridges ensures any hunter who is willing to invest in the Titan 6 system will always have plenty of gun for the occasion. While the idea of interchangeable-barreled rifles isn’t new, the concept of one that offers a follow-up…

Firearms history was made three score and 10 years ago, when the first Ruger was introduced. An ad in August 1949 presented to the shooting public not only a new gun, but also a new manufacturer: Sturm, Ruger & Co. Luger/Ruger The ad read, “The .22 Ruger Pistol represents the first overall improvement in automatic pistol design since the Browning patent of 1905. For simplicity, strength and handsomeness, it has no equal.” It went on to describe the unique design. “A cylindrical bolt moving in a tubular receiver provides a strong, simple action with unmoving sights. It can be dismantled in five seconds.” The image in the ad bore a striking resemblance to the German Luger. Not only were the names similar, the profile, angle of the grip, trigger guard,…

The Hodgdon name has long been synonymous with excellent smokeless powders, and it has been marketing, developing and selling powders for reloaders since the end of World War II. Bruce Hodgdon started it all, selling surplus U.S. military rifle powder via small classified ads. Today, the company is nothing shy of wonderful ... and still has the Hodgdon family at the helm. Smokeless Powder Evolution The process of creating a reliable smokeless powder has been as much of an evolution as—and has gone hand-in-hand with—the improvements in bullet technology. Modern powder has been an important ingredient in the successes of our long-range cartridges, because they will produce the consistent pressures and velocities that are so important to accuracy. Before the advent of our single- and double-base smokeless powder, Cordite was…

Right up there with hen’s teeth and leprechaun skivvies in rarity are guns that look as good as they shoot. Yeah, I know, I know … your polymer-framed, striker-fired is beautiful. I’ve got unfortunate news for you: It’s not. It’s effective. It’s reliable. It’s accurate. It’s a lot of things, but “beauty queen” isn’t among them. No, the sad truth of the matter is that few guns are knock-down, drag-out good-looking. Those that are, in many cases, don’t cut the mustard compared to generally more economical, less attractive options. But does it really matter? Not in particular. Plug-ugly that gets the job done is ultimately better than eye-catching and ineffective. That said, it’d be nice to have the best of both worlds. Luckily, Colt might have struck these elusive nails…

I have been surveying land since I was 11. I’ve spent an awful lot of time in the rural, remote areas of New York in all seasons and am very familiar with both the fauna and flora. Undoubtedly, the populations of deer, bear and coyote have increased significantly, and while there are few instances when I’ve been truly concerned, there have also been some instances that stand out. Perhaps a decade ago, a young man working as summer help was supposed to be about 100 yards away, giving me a backsight in order to turn the angle to the forward station. Instead, I saw him taking giant steps toward me, his face as pale as if he’d just seen a ghost. When I inquired as to why he was “here”…

When polymer rifle stocks first emerged in the 1980s, they were viewed with skepticism and disdain by many hunters. It was argued that injection-molded plastic would never have the look and feel of traditional walnut. After all, wood-stocked guns have been serving hunters since the dawn of rifledom, and traditionalists saw no reason to change. As it turns out, polymer stocks do have some very real advantages over wood stocks: Polymers are tough, inexpensive and, perhaps most importantly, they make it very easy to customize a rifle to fit the shooter. Customizability + Classic Style Savage’s new 110 Classic bolt-action rifle manages to combine the customizability of a polymer stock with the classic look of walnut. At first glance, this rifle looks like a traditional wood-stocked rifle; a gun that…

Listings are FREE! Simply go online to create or manage your Gun Show Listing. Login or Register to create an account – GunShows.GunDigestMedia.com SEPTEMBER Sep 6-7 ND, West Fargo. Red River Range Gun Show. Red River Regional Marksmanship Center, 640 16th St NE. SH: Fri. 4pm-8pm, Sat. 8am-5pm. A: General: $5.00 age 12 and older. T: 98. F: $30. Red River Regional Marksmanship Center. 640 16th St NE, West Fargo, ND 58078. PH: 701-356-0677. www.rrrmc.com. Sep 7-8 IN, South Bend. Gun & Knife Show. St. Joe Cty. 4H Fairgrounds, ‚Äã5117 Ironwood Rd. SH: Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-3pm. A: $5. F: $40. Central Indiana Gun Shows. PO Box 32, Centerville, IN 47330. PH: 765-993-8942. www.centralindianagunshows.com. Sep 7-8 LA, Gonzales. Gun & Knife Show. Lamar Dixon Expo Hall, 9039 Landry Rd. SH:…

Up to when the peanut farmer was president, “grin and bear it” was the hearing-protection norm. It must have been hell, and tinnitus be damned—especially back when the Springfield 1873 was the service rifle. My, how the times have changed! Show up to a shooting range without protection nowadays, and they’ll 86 you quicker than if you stiffed a two-month-old bar tab. It makes sense, given what we know about bang-tubes and your auditory organs. One shot, in some circumstances, is enough to set your ears permanently ringing like the bells of St. Mary’s. Yet, even the most diligent shooters sometimes play fast and loose with hearing protections. For instance, there’s as good a case for not using it, as when you’re stalking deer. However, it’s a risky game and…

A pistol is a tool and, as with any tool—whether it’s a chainsaw or a hammer—the better you know how to use it, the better it’ll work for you. Just last week, I was repairing my back deck, and it required driving some nails. Now, I’m not a carpenter, but I’ve done my share of carpenter work. However, it was clear after just a few moments that I was bending more nails than I was driving. I was out of practice. You need to practice with pistols just as you do with hammers. The real question is, with the limited time we all have available, what skills and drills do you practice? Well, you practice the basics, of course; even a simpleton should know that. No use practicing multiple target…

The 10mm pistol cartridge has been a lot of things over its nearly four decades of existence. Evolving out of the .40 G&A, a cartridge developed with the impetus of Jeff Cooper back in the 1970s, it sprang onto the scene in 1983 in the Bren Ten and with ammo from Norma. The idea was a “better than .45 ACP” cartridge that held more rounds in a pistol that was just as, if not more, ergonomic than the 1911. In addition, it could be a short magnum if needed. What we got was “Holy Cow!” in a pistol. Somewhere in my archives, my earliest chrono log has the numbers; but simply put, the Norma specs of a 200-grain bullet at 1,200 fps were modest ... compared to real life. The…

“I STUMBLED ACROSS A NEW COMPANY RIGHT HERE IN THE STATES THAT CAN, AND WILL, MAKE ANY CARTRIDGE CASE YOU WANT. ROBERSON CARTRIDGE COMPANY USES A CNC LATHE TO TURN EACH CASE, RESULTING IN A VERY UNIFORM AND CONSISTENT PRODUCT WITH A DIFFERENT MOLECULAR STRUCTURE THAN DRAWN CASES POSSESS.” I’ve long been an aficionado of the “golden age” of African safaris, including its literature—and especially its rifles and cartridges. Those years when safaris really got going—from 1900 to 1914, and then again from 1919 to 1940—saw a parallel era of cartridge development, with some of the newly introduced designs going on to become undeniable classics ... and others fading into obscurity. The .375 Holland & Holland, .416 Rigby, .404 Jeffery, .333 Jeffery, .275 Holland & Holland and the .470 Nitro…