Gun Digest February 2021

Like nearly everyone else, I couldn’t kick 2020 to the curb fast enough. I realize that there are others out there who defi-nitely got kicked in the teeth harder than I, and I know little has really changed around us other than the numbers on a calendar, but that page turn is definitely a refreshing one. So, here we are, tiptoeing into 2021 with our eyes open and nose to the wind. When I write this column for each issue, I always look back at the corresponding issue from the year prior to reflect. It gives me perspective of where we were and where we’re going, not only from a Gun Digest perspective but as a community of armed citizens as a whole. Last year, this February issue adorned the…

HISTORICAL NOTES: After introducing its Short Magnum family of cartridges in 2000, Winchester recognized the need for another cartridge capable of launching 200-grain bullets (and heavier) with high inherent accuracy, energy capable of stopping the largest North American game and lower perceived recoil. .325 WINCHESTER SHORT MAGNUM LOAD DATA After considering different calibers, Winchester engineers determined the .325 caliber provided the best performance using the Short Magnum case. Released in 2005, the new .325 WSM cartridge delivers similar energies as the .338 Winchester Magnum, while using a smaller case. GENERAL COMMENTS: In addition to delivering excellent ballistics, the .325 WSM also exhibits exceptional accuracy. Initially, Winchester fielded three loads for the .325 WSM: a 200-grain Nosler AccuBond CT, a Winchester 220-grain Power-Point bullet and a 180-grain Ballistic Silvertip. Hunters can…

I’m going to tell you a story about the best bolt-action hunting rifle ever created. What will surprise you is the name attached to this rifle isn’t Browning, Winchester or Mauser. In 1979, a West Virginia gunsmith began experimenting and quit his job as a machine shop instructor at a vocational school to introduce the lightest but most-balanced, best-shooting but easiest-carrying, hunting rifle ever made. Since 1984, he has turned out more than 7,000 examples of this perfection. Melvin Forbes of New Ultra Light Arms started this venture, not by trying to take an existing rifle and fixing it, but by creating his own. Forbes based his design around a cylindrical bolt-action receiver with a two-lug bolt. The bolt was fitted with a Sako-style extractor because of its shortness and…

I get calls, emails and messages on social media all the time, wanting my advice on which carry gun someone should buy. Sometimes the requests are serious; other times those asking are just looking for me to validate a choice they’ve already made. In every case, I try my best to offer some helpful advice, but the notion of letting someone else select your carry gun is about as absurd as letting someone else arrange your marriage; selecting a handgun that might save your life is too important of a task to trust to someone who won’t be using it to save their own. The thing is, just because a handgun works well for me and my lifestyle doesn’t mean it’ll do the same for you. Sure, I’ll freely comment…

I’ve had the benefit of a father who understood hearing protection. Having spent a fall, winter and spring engaged in Uncle Sam’s European Tactical Hike, he knew how loud firearms could be. Then, as an engineer for the auto companies, loud factories were a known quantity. Even as kids, shooting “only” a .22 LR rifle, he insisted on us wearing hearing protection. I continue this today, having spent my entire life and shooting career wearing earpro. A lot of them were uncomfortable, expansive, poorly protect-ing and awkward. But that was a long time ago. Electronic protection is a leap forward, and now you can get affordable in-the-ear electronic protection from Tetra. “When the AlphaShields are in, you have both hearing protection and electronic amplification.” The Tetra AlphaShield series are electronic…

LEUPOLD’S DELTAPOINT MICRO You ain’t never seen nothin’ like this before. For a huge number of shooters, red-dot sights and magnified optics are less of an accessory and more of a necessity—especially on long guns. It’s simply a generational thing. The days of the open-sighted .30-30 Winchester were long ago replaced by the .270 Winchester with a riflescope for many shooters. And that’s for good reason: A riflescope and red-dot increase accuracy by simply providing a finer aiming solution than iron can offer. This same principle is equally relevant to defensive handguns, though the trend never really took off due to the concealability issues a red-dot presents. It’s a fact that we’re all less likely to carry a concealed gun that’s bulky and uncomfortable, regardless of how well it shoots.…