Innehållsförteckning för May 2017 från Gun Digest

Cartridge trends come and go, as each year we see a new cartridge released that is guaranteed to be the best thing since toilet paper. As time has proven, some are totally valid designs, and some go the way of the dodo. While I’m not about to speculate as to why some major companies release or back a particular cartridge, only to abandon the prospect of producing ammunition for those customers who have purchased rifles in that chambering, it happens. I’ll cite the .25 WSSM as a prime example; I get more inquiries for that ammunition than just about any other because guys can’t get it anywhere. Another example is the 7mm Shooting Times Westerner (STW). It was touted as the baddest 7mm Magnum available, and Layne Simpson, who had…

Most people familiar with the Springfield Armory brand, or with the firearms industry as a whole, know that the company built a name for itself, at least initially, with its production of classic designs like the M1911 and the M14, which it produced in a commercial variant as the M1A. The M1A was synonymous with Springfield Armory ever since its official founding in 1974, just six years after the U.S. Government closed the original Springfield Armory, which had been in service as a federal armory since George Washington ordered its creation almost 200 years prior in 1777. The American manufacturer has diversified its handgun offerings since its inception. It introduced the XD series back in 2001, and it has brought out many different versions of the XD in the following…

Marc Krebs from Krebs Custom in Wauconda, IL, is arguably the best custom AK manufacturer around. It seems he’s always experimenting, looking for ways to improve the AK platform. He even manufactures several after-market improvements as well as working on customers’ rifles. And makes his own complete rifles, usually from Russian Saiga receivers. His latest, the KV-13, really exemplifies what he has achieved. For this build, he selected another Russian AK-pattern rifle: the VEPR made by the famous Molot (Vyatskie Polyany Machine Building Plant) factory. VEPR AKs are rock-solid reliable. What sets them apart is that the traditional gun made by Molot was the RPK squad automatic weapon. Notably, the VEPR uses a standard stamped receiver that has been beefed up for heavy use and is 50 percent thicker on…

With the incredible boom in the AR market in recent years, lots of optics and accessory manufacturers have been developing products specific to black rifles. Nikon is one of the latest companies to bring out an optic line built for America’s favorite rifle, as well as other tactical-type rifles. New for 2017, Nikon has introduced its new BLACK riflescope line, designed to meet the needs of both precision long-range shooters and action-shooting AR enthusiasts. One of the new offerings in this line is the manufacturer’s BLACK X1000 riflescope. Tailored toward precision shooters, the BLACK X1000 is a second focal plane scope that’s available in 4-16x50 and 6-24x50 models featuring either X-MOA or X-MRAD tactical-style reticles synchronized to elevated windage and elevation turrets. The riflescope features a 30mm main body tube…

At its annual new products media seminar held this past October, Remington and Remington Law Enforcement showed off its latest AR-15 rifle, the R4 New Mexico, a rifle made for a law enforcement agency located in the state of the same name. “Oh, another AR,” I thought. “Uh-huh.” I didn’t yawn. Yet, the truth is, it’s pretty tough for me to get excited about yet another AR in a firearms world (and market) already awash in AR-15s. But something in the New Mexico’s spec sheet did catch my attention: a barrel twist rate of 1:7. I regularly use the .223 Rem./5.56mm for deer and hog hunting and have taken a good number of each animal with the round, including a 310-pound West Texas boar. The AR-15 will do the job—but…

Whether it’s because of preference or state restrictions on optics, many hunters rely on iron sights for muzzleloaders when heading afield. While most muzzleloader manufacturers offer the choice of fiber optic sights, they often don’t optimize longer-range shots. Instead, the fiber optic bead, which is usually pretty large, covers the target and makes long-range accuracy a difficult proposition. There is an alternative way to extend your accuracy with an open-sighted muzzleloader, however, and it’s both quick and easy. With only a few parts ordered from Brownells, the right sight setup is right around $100 and a few minutes of installation away from becoming part of your future. The only tools required are a screwdriver and a tube of Loctite, and the whole process takes just minutes (minus the time spent…

Back in the Halcyon days of the firearms trade, guns could be shipped directly to you in the mail. Vast quantities of military surplus firearms poured in from overseas and could be had dirt cheap. This wasn’t all that long ago, and we seem to forget just how much freedom we have lost over the ensuing decades since the Gun Control Act of 1968 put the kibosh on all the fun. That legislation was a gross overreaction to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (allegedly committed with a mail-order military surplus rifle). It did nothing to help Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., George Wallace or John Lennon from getting shot, either. One of the most lamebrained aspects of the law was to apply a “sporting test” to imported…

In my Gun Digest book, “Handgun Training for Personal Protection,” published in 2013, I included a chapter on red dot sights. The first line of that chapter read, “Breath deep and you can smell the future.” From there I went on to describe what a red dot sight was and gave a lot of credit to former XS Sights pointman Dave Biggers for pushing the concept of red dot sights on defensive handguns. I concluded the chapter with, “The future is coming. When it gets here, we will all shoot better and faster.” Sometimes it seems like the future is a long ways off. In this case, it’s already here. Yes, I know, for some time various firearms manufacturers have offered handguns that are reflex sight-ready. However, with SIG Sauer…

The legacy that Bill Ruger left behind at Sturm, Ruger, & Co., Inc., has had an incredible amount to do with his Ruger Standard pistol, which was originally introduced in 1949 and has seen several updates that endure to this day. Designed by Ruger himself, chambered in .22 Long Rifle and based off the WWII-era Japanese Nambu pistol, the Standard has gone through several iterations, first as the Mark I, II, and III, and most recently as the Mark IV. Nothing qualifies as a classic firearm like a design that’s endured over a span of almost 70 years and continues to be one of the most popular firearms ever made. But what happens when you take a legendary brand like Ruger, with the latest version of perhaps its most quintessential…

Carry holsters are, it sometimes seems, like opinions — everybody’s got one. From Kydex to leather, and everything in between, it seems there’s an almost unlimited supply of options from an ever-increasing number of manufacturers, which makes it hard to know where to start. A recent review of two holsters from Clinger — the V2 No Print Wonder and the Stingray — hit the sweet spot for carry rigs, whether you’re toting around a full-size or compact handgun for personal defense. The V2 No Print Wonder is designed to handle heavier loads like the Springfield XD 4-inch 9mm that I test-drove the carry rig with for a month. It features a Kydex shell with two tabs, one a Kydex Cling Tab, the other a leather tab. Both tabs feature belt…

The lever-action rimfire rifle has always been a favorite with American shooters and hunters. Not only does it bring with it a connection to the iconic old west, it is a viable and useful tool. Countless shooters have cut their teeth on a lever-action rimfire rifle, and countless others have relied on one to pot small game and serve as a sort of makeshift ranch rifle. At one time, lever-action rimfire rifles were prevalent, but that’s not the case anymore. Fortunately, Henry Repeating Arms has not forgotten their usefulness. The company’s Lever Action Octagon Magnum is sort of a big boy’s toy to take you back to simpler times. Henry Repeating Arms is now America’s leading builder of lever-action rifles. It is also one of the top five long gun…