Innehållsförteckning för March 2019 från Gun Digest

In 1927, Colt introduced one of the true icons of American handgun history: the Detective Special. The snub-nose .38 Special revolver became very popular with the shooting public, as well as the market for which it was created, undercover and plainclothes police officers. At the time, it was considered an ideal compromise between size and power — a compact and relatively lightweight gun chambered for the popular .38 Special cartridge. Hollywood caught on quickly, and for years, a “snubby” or “belly gun” appeared in virtually every movie about cops and robbers, including many of the film noir classics of the ‘40s and ‘50s. Many of these movie guns were Detective Specials or one of the Colt variants, which made them even more popular with the general public. The Detective Special…

As if it weren’t already potent enough with its various factory loadings, handloading for the .30-06 Springfield is one of the easiest — and most rewarding — tasks a new handloader can take on. The initial cartridge, carrying many of the attributes of the 7x57 Mauser, popped onto the scene in 1903, and it received an immediate revision in 1906, when the Army shortened the case length from 2.540 inches to 2.494 inches. In addition, they lightened the bullet from the 220-grain slug of the .30-40 Krag to the 150-grain spitzer bullet. The military history of the .30-06 Springfield is evident: It had the starring role in a pair of World Wars, but the hunting and civilian shooting history is equally important. The Springfield represents what might be the most…

CZ P-10 F As a scaled-up version of the original compact pistol, the P-10 F offers the same incredible performance in a full-sized iteration. With 19+1 capacity and an optics-ready slide, the 4.5-inch barreled 9mm arms you with overwhelming firepower and the ability to utilize the most cutting-edge aiming solutions. Furthermore — and common to all P-10 pistols now — the P-10 F also features a reversible magazine release, making it the perfect option as a righty or a lefty. When it comes to home defense, the new pistol most certainly gives you an unfair advantage over any threat you might encounter ... and that’s a great thing. MSRP: $524 MOSSBERG 590 SHOCKWAVE WITH CRIMSON TRACE LASER SADDLE Undoubtedly the most intimidating self-defense firearm to hit the market in recent…

A little after 5 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2017, I was sitting in the Sig Sauer booth at SHOT Show discussing new products with one of the company’s media relations representatives. It was an important day and time for Sig Sauer, and for the U.S. Army. That’s when Sig Sauer got the news they’d been awarded the $580 million contract to manufacture the Army’s next service pistol. As you can imagine, there was some excitement in the booth that day, and, well, $580 million is a hell of a lot of money! The Army had announced the competition for its new XM17-MHS (Modular Handgun System) in 2015. The new handgun was to replace the Cold War era M9 pistol — which had been in use for 30 years, and…

One of the most interesting snub-nosed revolvers of the early 20th century was the Fitz Special. Created by Colt engineer and exhibition shooter J. Henry “Fitz” Fitzgerald, the Fitz Special was a customized revolver with two distinguishing features: These were a bobbed hammer and trigger guard with the front half ground completely off, both designed to help the shooter get his double-action revolver into action faster. Fitzgerald performed these modifications to several Colt models, including the Detective Special. In fact, his Fitz Special modification to the Colt Police Positive led to the company’s introduction of the Detective Special. No Fitz Specials ever appeared in a Colt catalog, and the exact number made is not known. These were essentially custom guns made to order. Some estimates are that no more than…

One of the most heated debates among hardcore AR users is where to position the support arm and hand when firing. The “traditional” shooters position the support arm underneath the hand-guard, with the support hand relaxed, located somewhere around the middle of the handguard. The “magwell-grip” supporters favor clamping the support hand on the front of magwell of the lower receiver. The “high-bore axis” group extends the support arm out as far forward on the handguard as possible, gripping the handguard between the thumb and fingers. And there you have your argument: Which is best? The ‘Traditional’ Approach The purpose of shooting — regardless of application — is hitting the target. To hit you need stability, and the amount of stability depends on the accuracy necessary, which is dictated by…

The British have a saying (or did, before the anti-hunting zealots made riding horses a heretical offense), “horses for courses.” That is, if you want to win, you ride the correct horse for the course to be ridden. Cowboys understand this, as the smart ones would not select a Budweiser Clydesdale for a barrel-racing event. And so it is with firearms. While there are good “do-all” firearms that can cover a lot of problems, you still want the best for the job. And you want the best technique. That was the problem faced by Jim Cirillo, and the rest of the NYPD Stakeout Squad, when dealing with bad guys. In this sedate and safe second decade of the 21st century, it’s difficult to imagine just how hard and dangerous our…

I’ve carried a Glock 19 concealed for almost 18 years on a rather regular basis. The first few years I was still on the job. After that, I had our state’s version of the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, plus I got a permit to carry from the state — belt and suspenders style. I first started carrying concealed handguns in the 1970s — remember Jimmy Carter, double-digit inflation and double-digit unemployment? Yes, I started carrying that far back, and long before a movie actor was ever elected. With that in mind, I was stunned to find out that the Glock 19, a service compact by design, was just too much to carry for many people. And, once I really thought about it, it makes sense. If you’re in a…

Riflescopes, regardless of how much money you spend, are the weakest link in the shooting system. Why? Well, it’s mechanical and often only tested in small batches back at the factory. Errors in scope adjustment are far more common than people realize. In today’s “precision shooting economy,” less than $1,500 spent on a scope is considered the low end. Thanks to a steady training schedule, we see a lot of different setups across a wide variety of optics. In other words, we have experience. It’s typical to see a 2 percent error factor in scopes at or below this price point, and that has a cascading effect on accuracy results. If you’re using any ballistic software, this is your most significant point of failure when the ballistic curve does not…

Perhaps golf, maybe fishing. If there are any other pursuits that out-do shooting in regard to gizmos and systems for improving your performance, those would be it — though it can’t be by much of a margin. Sauntering through the SHOT Show, it takes your breath away when realizing exactly how rife the industry is with these products. There are a handful of targets and training schemes that are worth their salt and have the chops to do what they promise — make the most of your trigger time. But there are many more (many, many more) that aren’t even worth the pressure-modeled plastic they’re made from. Buyer beware. This is the point we interject the pleasant surprise to the latest iteration of the world’s largest firearms/outdoors expo. Because that’s…

There are three types of ballistics as the study relates to firearms. The first is internal ballistics, which deals with everything that happens from the time the primer is struck until the bullet leaves the barrel. The second is external ballistics, which deals with the flight of the projectile. And, finally, there’s terminal ballistics. Terminal ballistics encompasses the interaction between a bullet and the target it strikes. For the average shooter, all elements of ballistics seem somewhat like witchcraft because their occurrence is invisible to conventional observation. This has led to a lot of — well, BS — spread by everyone from the geek at the gun shop to even the most celebrated gun writers. I’m here to change all that. BS: Bigger Is Better There was a time when…

MARCH Mar 1-2 UT, Logan. Gun Show. Cache County Fairgrounds , 450 South 500 West. SH: Fri. 3pm-8pm, Sat. 9am-5pm. A: $12. T: 350. PO Box 290, Kaysville, UT 84037. PH: 801-544-9125. www.crossroadsgunshows.com. Mar 1-3 VT, Rutland. Arms Fairs. Franklin Center at the Howe, 1 Scale Ave #92. SH: Fri. 4pm-8pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-3pm. T: 90. F: . NEACA. PO BOX 385, Mechanicville, NY 12118. PH: 518-664-9743. www.neaca.com. Mar 2-3 AZ, Tucson. Gun Show. Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S Houghton Road. SH: Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-4pm. A: $12. T: 350. PO Box 290, Kaysville, UT 84037. PH: 801-544-9125. www.crossroadsgunshows.com. Mar 2-3 GA, Lawrenceville. Gun Show of the South. Gwinett Co Fairgrounds, 2405 Sugar Loaf Parkway. SH: Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 10am-4pm. A: $12. F: . RK Shows. PO Box 334,…