Innehållsförteckning för November 2018 från Guns & Ammo

I take exception to the Safari Essentials article in the August issue (“Range Bag,” page 57). In it, you show items that are very much luxuries rather than essential gear. One does not have to spend more than around $100 on a solid, quiet pair of boots that will work just fine in the bush. For about half the cost of the shooting sticks, you can get a Primos Jim Shockey hunting tripod that is more adjustable and was what my professional hunter used on my safari to South Africa. Also, it is doubtful you will do any of your own skinning while you are there, but should the need arise, there are several good skinning knives that cost well under $100. The same applies to the binocular strap. Hunting…

BRITISH SIGNAL PISTOL Q: In 1964, as a teenager, I was living in Tripoli, Libya, for my father was the drilling manager on an American drilling company. On a visit to the desert, he took me to a place where arrowheads and spearheads could be found, and while kicking around in the crusty sand looking for arrowheads, I uncovered this flare gun. I have done nothing to it other than light cleaning and removing sand from the barrel. Wooden grips are original. Can you identify it and estimate its value? T.T. Angel Fire, New Mexico A: You unearthed a British Mark III* Very Signal Pistol, named after its inventor, U.S. Navy Lt. Edward W. Very. This version, which chambered a one-inch flare shell, was a follow-on to the Mark…

MARK CRAIGHEAD’S LEGACY continues to inspire those who carry pistols everyday, more than six years after his untimely death at age 43 on August 24, 2012. Craighead was never shy about discussing his Christian faith or explaining why symbols of the cross appear in the brand’s name, logo and on the holster’s belt clips. He lived by his own mantra, “When you learn to bless other people, you truly get blessed yourself.” If you’re already familiar with Crossbreed holsters, you know that the brand popularized the concept of attaching a Kydex shell to leather to offer a hybrid holster that form-fits to the waist as it is worn, but doesn’t collapse when unholstered IWB. The Founder’s Series is no different. Introduced in 2017, the Crossbreed Founder’s Series is distinguished from…

THERE WAS A TIME for about 10 dark years where shooters didn’t have the freedom of choice to put what we wanted on the end of our modern sporting rifles. But today, most shooters enjoy the options in the form of muzzlebrakes, compensators, flash hiders, as well as suppressor adapters. With that said, choosing what is optimal has many scratching their heads. As an instructor, I often hear “I want one that does it all.” We will get to the bottom of that in just a minute. For now, let’s review the options. The Muzzlebrake (aka, the “Flame Thrower”) Almost all muzzle devices that control recoil and muzzle rise will produce a hellacious muzzle flash. The size of a muzzle flash is relative. If you’re a competitor or only conduct…

In honor of Dan Wesson’s 50th anniversary, we look back to October 1971 when Col. Jeff Cooper reviewed a Dan Wesson revolver in .357 Magnum with interchangeable barrels — a 2.5-inch snub nose and a 4-inch option. Today, we would call what Dan Wesson did as “modular.” Back then it was revolutionary. It was the first revolver to offer this flexibility and featured large, adjustable sights making it easy to rezero. Cooper proved it was a shooter using full-power loads and scoring 4-inch groups at 50 yards.…

In reading August issue’s “Reader Blowback” (page 8), I agree with Greg Simpson’s comments on Jeremy Stafford’s article about trigger reset. In the 1960s, and while in law enforcement, officers were trained by the FBI in firearms and using pistols in close quarters. At that time, the FBI preferred revolvers rather than semiautomatic pistols. Trigger reset was new to me, so I tried Stafford’s advice. I discovered that it works! I have also noticed that some of your readers that write in have a hostile tone. A difference of opinion can be expressed in a polite manner. There is no acceptable excuse for being rude. The topic in that letters section was trigger pull and we were given a lesson in the use of the word “press.” My position is…

A superb New England Westinghouse Model 1917 Browning Machine Gun with tripod and accessories sold for an impressive $40,250, including premiums, at the March 21, 2018, James D. Julia/Morphy firearms auction. This fully-transferrable .30-’06 1917 is unmodified and in excellent condition. It came complete with a World War II-era 1917A1 tripod, two wooden ammunition boxes, linen belts, a gunner’s box, two steam condensing hoses in their original canvas covers and a scarce, period Model 1917 manual. The gun’s original arsenal Parkerized refinish is in very good shape and the mechanicals are top-notch. Certainly, a fantastic setup that would delight any machine gun or World War II enthusiast. For more information about this and future sales, contact Morphy Auctions/James D. Julia, Inc. ( morphyauctions.com , 877-968-8880).…

RIFLE SHOOTERS have been trying to figure out a way to mitigate the effects of heat for decades, and for good reason. Heat destroys barrels. Pushing hot, burning gas down the bore causes the steel around it to rapidly transition between solid and liquid states. It melts a little bit each time the rifle fires. The portion of the barrel that is most vulnerable and sustains the most rapid wear is the first couple inches of rifling just in front of the cartridge’s case mouth. If you need to shoot a lot and shoot fast, don’t pick cartridges with high case volume and small calibers. Pushing lots of powder down a tiny hole is the most damaging combination for heat-induced wear. If the shooting sport or hunting scenario you participate…

ANNOUNCED FROM AIMPOINT’S factory in Malmö, Sweden, “ACRO” stands for “Advanced Combat Reflex Optic.” Though it will likely be referred to soley by its acronym, the ACRO also possesses the suffix “P-1,” which indicates that it was developed specifically for use on pistols. However, when fitted with an optional Picatinny rail adapter plate, it could be just as effectively used on carbines, shotguns or in tandem with magnified scopes. The ACRO P-1 is a small, nonmagnifying sight design. Given a suggested retail price of $660, the ACRO will battle directly at the counter with the Leupold DeltaPoint Pro ($520) and the Trijicon RMR with an adjustable LED ($700). The big difference between the ACRO and other mini red dots is that most are open-emitter sights. The ACRO is a closed-emitter…

THE .375 H&H IS LIKE COCA COLA, a century-old icon that gets the job done. The .375 Ruger is like Red Bull, a younger upstart with a bit more kick. But when you need a powerful cartridge to stop a dangerous beast, you need it bad. However, which big bore should you be carrying to get the job done? It is understood that when cartridges exceed .30 caliber, sales drop like a rock. Even so, interest in large-caliber cartridges has always exceeded need, so these days we have lots of choices in .375, .416 and at least three in .458, plus a slew of resurrected British big bores. For this work, the .375 is generally considered the minimum, but it’s a sound minimum and also a versatile caliber. The .375…

When I read the short article on African Sporting Creations in the August issue (“Range Bag,” page 57), I felt compelled to share my experience. It is true they stock some of the coolest, one-of-a-kind, high-quality, safari gear, but that’s not what makes the company special. Customer service is what distinguishes African Sporting Creations. A year ago, I bought an Arno Bernard knife from them. When I visited their booth at the Dallas Safari Club in January, I mentioned to the owner that, while I loved the knife, I wish I had bought a bigger one. Without hesitation, the owner told me to send the smaller knife back and that he would give me full credit towards a larger one. He never asked if my smaller knife had been sharpened,…

JOEL HUTCHCROFT, editor of Shooting Times, owns a superb example of Dan Wesson’s Model 15-2. This was a barrel-convertible revolver that was designed by Karl R. Lewis and first reviewed by Col. Jeff Cooper in Guns & Ammo ’s October 1971 issue. (Visit gunsandammo.com to read Cooper’s take on an early Model 15 in .357 Magnum.) It’s worth noting that Lewis had also designed the M79 40mm single-shot grenade launcher as well as the Colt Trooper in .357 Mag. Daniel B. Wesson II worked at Smith & Wesson from 1938 to 1963. There, he had a reputation for strict quality control management before his family sold controlling interest of S&W to Bangor Punta in 1965. Less than three years later, in 1968, Wesson incorporated his own manufacturing business and started…

“Enemy at the Gates” Mosin-Nagant 1891/30 Sniper Rifle One of the best World War II films in recent years was unquestionably “Enemy at the Gates” (2001), wherein an ongoing sniper duel between Russian sharpshooter Vasily Zaytsev (Jude Law) and German Major Erwin König (Ed Harris) was vividly and beautifully orchestrated. The author has the good luck to be friends with the film’s producer, John D. Schofield, and was invited to Germany to observe them shoot several scenes. Walking around the massive Stalingrad set in Babelsburg was eerie and evocative in the extreme. I had plenty of time to check out all the guns, uniforms, etc. Everything was done beautifully thanks in large part to Schofield’s insistence on authenticity, being a gun collector and World War II militaria buff himself. The…

AS SHOOTERS, we are living in a golden age of information and access to information. In a matter of seconds, we can find information or data about nearly anything we want. This unprecedented access has opened up windows to highly technical information that 40 or 50 years ago was unavailable to the public. For instance, exterior ballistics solvers were only wishful thinking not that long ago. Now, nearly every bullet company has an online solver. Applied Ballistics, Gunwerks and JBM Ballistics all offer advanced ballistic coefficient (BC)- based solvers. Hornady took it a step further with its Four Degrees of Freedom (4DOF), which is a drag-coefficient, projectile-dynamics-based program that previously was only available to defense contractors and the government. Today’s reloading guides are outstanding, all based on standardized equipment and…

WHILE NOT AS CELEBRATED as July 4th, March 29, 1911 is an important date that should be almost as revered as our nation’s independence. On that day, the United States Army adopted the Colt Model 1911 semiautomatic and designated it the “Government Model.” For a century, it lived on in various forms as an official sidearm in our military, playing a crucial role in supporting U.S. conflicts. Even today, the Model 1911 remains one of the most popular handguns sold every year. This year, as Americans shot off fireworks on July 4th, I headed to the range with four of the latest offerings by the premier makers of custom 1911s: Ed Brown Products, Les Baer Custom, Nighthawk Custom and Wilson Combat. As history has demonstrated, the features we find on…