Innehållsförteckning för August 2021 från Gun Digest

I like ARs as much as the next guy, but honestly, I’m getting a little tired of that entire platform being called “America’s rifle.” Don’t get me wrong: I certainly get it. The “A” and the “R” play very nicely into that marketing campaign, but there are plenty of other all-American guns worthy of all-American distinction. Like the lever gun. Or the 1911. Or the revolver. I talk about this often, but there’s something intrinsically romantic about palming a highly polished hand cannon. And, regardless of brand or chambering, rotating a cylinder and thumbing the hammer of a wheelgun evokes some sort of patriotic rush in me that has yet to be matched. There’s a local indoor shooting range I hit on a very regular basis. After I get done…

It never fails, or at least it didn’t in the old days: We’d tell law enforcement students, “You need to take care of your rifle,” on the Monday morning of a week-long class. Soon after lunch on Tuesday, we’d start to see rifles choking, dry as a bone. On Wednesday morning, some shooters would have groups start to open up, because the shooter had never so much as poked a cleaning rod down the bore. With 2,000 rounds after they first bought it or it was issued to them, the bore was so fouled that the bullet is struggling to get out pointed anywhere near the target. Right now, I’m prepping to head off to the Pin Shoot, where ammunition consumption is measured by the cubic foot. It might be…

Have you ever let the efficiency of a cartridge dictate your firearm purchase? Does cartridge efficiency weigh on your mind? With the scarcity of reloading components, those cartridges that give the most “bang for the buck,” quite literally, have a bit more appeal. I’ve recently had conversations with fellow reloaders who are reaching for their .308 Winchester instead of their .300 Winchester Magnum due to the fact that the former burns so much less powder than the latter. SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF Each cartridge will require a primer, so there’s no savings there, but powder consumption can make a considerable difference, especially when you compare those larger-cased magnum cartridges to the standard designs. Looking into the example above, and using the 165- to 168-grain bullets so popular for hunting and…

We all own guns for a variety of reasons and purposes. Hunting, competition, training, investment … or simply a wintertime build project are all reasons. Good reasons. Then, there are the firearms we own just because they’re fun to shoot. The primary caliber of this segment is the lowly .22 Long Rifle, mostly because it’s both inexpensive and has low recoil. (And yes, the recent ammunition-buying panic has changed the actual cost, but the relative cost to centerfires is still in favor of the rimfire.) One of the useful lessons I learned from the late Jeff Cooper was to ask a simple question: “What is the purpose of the exercise?” If the purpose of teaching new shooters how to shoot is to convert them into continued shooters, then fun is…

It’s been more than a decade since I first reviewed a BFR revolver in .500 JRH. Surely not much has changed in those 10 years, or has it? What’s so significant about this revolver configuration warranting a reprisal? I’ve been delving into the half-inch cartridges heavily for more than a dozen years, from load development, bullet design, bovine flesh testing, grip technique and, most importantly, big-game hunting—that’s truly the purpose and calling of the .50 calibers. Of all of the big .50s, the .500 JRH is the stand out in a very capable field. Developed by gun builder/dangerous game hunter Jack Huntington, the .500 JRH amounts to a shortened .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum (with a smaller rim), although it predates Smith & Wesson’s king-of-the-hill .50 caliber. Huntington recognized the…

If you look closely, 1873 was one helluva year for cartridge development. The Civil War was over, and things were on the mend. The Westward expansion was fully underway, and the centerfire metallic cartridge was ascending to the throne, supplanting the percussion cap muzzleloaders and large-caliber rimfire cartridges that had come before. Also, 1873 saw the .45-70 Government cartridge take the baton from the .50-70 Government, and 1873 saw the release of the .44-40 Winchester, in the Model 1873 Winchester rifle (check out the 1950 movie Winchester ’73, starring Jimmy Stewart). But my personal favorite cartridge of that fateful year is the .45 Colt, which the U.S. Army would adopt in the Colt Single-Action Army revolver. While the .44-40 would go on to grab the lion’s share of the glory—any…

HISTORICAL NOTES With the coming of bulkier smokeless powders, the .44 Russian cartridge case proved too small to permit efficient use of full charges of the new pro-pellants. Though originally a black powder cartridge, the .44 Special—which is about 0.2-inch longer than the Russian—eliminated this problem and provided more power, while using the same bullets as the older .44 Russian. This cartridge was introduced about 1907. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson made revolvers in this chambering, and a few Spanish and other European revolvers were also made to handle it. There has been a rebirth of interest in the .44 Special in the past few decades. GENERAL COMMENTS The .44 S&W Special is one of the most accurate and powerful big-bore revolver cartridges. However, it was never factory loaded…

Turkey is one of largest producers of shotguns in the world, and Hatsan USA imports many different models into the United States. Their popularity around the globe is partly due to their affordability, and while the Escort DF12 might not be the cheapest shotgun Hatsan has to offer, it’s easy to see where the extra money is going. IT’S RUGGED The Escort DF12 is constructed from robust aircraft-grade metal alloy, with both the upper and lower receivers built tough enough to handle the hottest of 12-gauge magnum slugs. Its barrel has been hard chrome-plated to prevent oxidation and withstand wear. The Cerakote finish offered in either black or FDE provides good resistance against the elements as well. IT’S VERSATILE The DF12 is chambered for 3-inch magnum shells, but Hatsan insists…

01 Advance Warrior Solutions Trigger Time Range Bag Hitting the right size for a range bag is tricky—too big or too small is a problem. However, Advance Warrior Solutions has whipped up a mama bear option that hits all the right notes for a general range tote. Meet the Trigger Time Range Bag. Well-thought-out, the three-compartment bag offers ample space for all your guns, ammo and supplies for a full day at the range. Not only that, but it’s also outfitted with all sorts of organizational features, from mag holders to internal pockets to an exterior molly field. Among the nicest facets is an adjustable divider in the large midsection, keeping gear in its place on the go. With two hand-carry straps and a padded shoulder strap, it makes range…

The period between the Civil War and the turn of the century was critical to the establishment of our country. It was also the age of the revolver. The cylinder-fed handguns and men who wielded them became American icons. Though generally thought of as Western firearms, the single-action revolver was the coast-to-coast equalizer, and amazingly after more than 100 years, they remain very popular. We could write a book-length research paper on why this is, but what’s more important is that the shooters of today who are mesmerized by these handguns know how to use them correctly. Yes, the design is old—and yes, the design is simple. However, their antiquity and simplicity don’t mean these handguns don’t deserve the necessary respect to ensure that they’re carried, managed and fired properly.…

Over the course of my life, I’ve frequented dozens of gun shops and countless gun shows. The thing with these routines is that they seldom yield more than passing curiosities and the occasional sporterized atrocity. I find that gun shows today are better for buying and selling silver and gold than they are guns, and guns stores have gone from hubs of information and opinion to sterile retail spaces. On rare occasions, I find something truly valuable and interesting, and on one such foray I happened upon a very rare Smith & Wesson Model of 1989. THE SMITH & WESSON MODEL 1989 The reason I dropped a cool chunk of change on this gun was that it had personal significance to me: One being that it’s a .45 ACP, my…

Vortex Optics is known for making riflescopes that are of higher quality than their prices suggest. While there are several reputable manufacturers of optics, Vortex brings affordability and an unconditional lifetime warranty to the table as well. Their new Venom 5-25 ×56 FFP is no different. This scope is shockproof, waterproof and nitrogen-gas purged to ensure that the shooter’s view through the lenses remains immaculate. SCALING RETICLE The FFP in the scope’s name stands for—you guessed it—First Focal Plane. And if you get FFP and SFP easily confused, the reticle scales in size as the magnification level is adjusted on a FFP riflescope. The Venom 5-25 ×56 FFP’s magnification can be adjusted between 5x to 25x zoom, and the FFP feature keeps the reticle large and visible enough through-out for…

There’s an old wives’ tale going around. It falls under the illusory truth effect, which is the tendency to believe false information as fact after repeated exposure. This phenomenon was first identified in a 1977 study at Villanova and Temple universities. Later, in 2015, researchers discovered that familiarity could overpower rationality. As our modern-day media has proven, this essentially means if you hear something that’s not factual long enough, you’ll ultimately begin to believe the falsehood. The myth in question is that the 1911 is a professional’s handgun and unsuited for beginners. I’ve no idea where this notion originated, but I’ve heard who I thought were smart people repeat it. Possibly, it has something to do with the fact a lot of gun professionals carry 1911s. I’m talking about legendary…

New “Snake Guns” have been rolling out of Colt Manufacturing since the Cobra came out in 2017. Since then, the Cobra line has been expanded to include several versions in .38 Special +P and .357 Magnum. More big news came in 2020 when the Python was reintroduced and again become a bestseller. The biggest news, however, is that after an 18-year absence, 2021 has seen the reintroduction of the Anaconda. This large-frame revolver is the great-grandson of the Colt New Service, a large-frame swing-out cylinder, double-action (DA) revolver first introduced in 1898. This big wheelgun became the platform for the Colt Model 1909 and Model 1917—both used in wartime by the U.S. Military. It was also issued by the U.S. Border Patrol and the NY State Police among other law…

The revolver has been around since the mid 1800s, and the double-action revolver has been popular since the early 1900s. Historically, the double-action revolver dominated police and civilian use from the early 1900s to the 1980s, and up to the time when the semi-auto pistol eclipsed the modern-day double action revolver as a tool for self-defense. The semi-auto pistol has many things going for it, with two of the most popular reasons being it’s easier to shoot accurately and has a higher capacity. But the revolver isn’t dead. Popularity of the double-action revolver for civilian self-defense has never been greater, not on a percentage basis (the vast majority of people use semiautos), but because there has been an exploding growth in the concealed-carry market, with those new shooters buying up…

If you’re to believe the local gun shop expert, revolvers are 19th century technology and utterly useless for anything other than making noise. When you run into someone who says this, what you do is simple: ignore him. (If he also says “IPSC will get you killed,” move to the other side of the gun shop. Staying too close to such a concentration of mall ninja-ism can be dangerous to your brain cells.) Yes, double-action revolvers are old, but as I’ve pointed out before, the gladius used by the Roman legions is also old. If you meet someone who knows how to use it, he’ll be a dangerous adversary—even with “obsolete” technology. Skill is what matters. So, how do you improve your DA revolver skills? GET GOOD GRIPS First, get…