Innehållsförteckning för July 2020 från Guns & Ammo

WHERE CAN I GET…? I recently read Craig Boddington’s article on the .348 Winchester in the May issue of G&A. I was glad to see the feature on such a classic rifle and cartridge. My father has a Winchester Model 71 that is missing the aperture sight on the bolt. I am trying to track down a replacement sight for him. Any ideas on where I can find such an item? Nick Gavenas Email That “bolt” aperture was only offered on the Model 71 in the first two years of manufacture, so I think an original will be hard to find. In 1939, Winchester went with a more common Williams receiver sight. As I read the Williams website at williamsgunsight.com, it didn’t appear that they were still making anything exactly…

WE ARE A NATION that claims to prize up-by-your-bootstraps social mobility and making good through hard work and innovation. When it comes to familiar brand names, however, we can turn into stuffy, straitlaced dowagers from a Thackeray novel, determined to keep companies in lanes we apparently regard as divinely ordained. Business school case studies are full of firms that attempted to raise their standing through better and more advanced products only to be regarded by the buying public as getting “above their raisin.” We are always happy to see a prestigious maker offer well-priced guns to the masses, but it is a tough chore to go the other direction. Savage is stepping up to that challenge with its new Renegauge semiauto. Younger readers are probably prone to think of Savage…

RACHELLE IS MY YOUNGER SISTER. She looks up to me but doesn’t understand how someone could hold her in the same esteem. But I do. She’s the mother of four ranging in ages from three to 17 years old, and a devoted healthcare professional. Her dream was to be a forensic pathologist, but life steered her onto a different path. She first worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and accepted a nursing internship while making wages from side jobs. She did this all while balancing family and attending college in the evenings to become a nurse. Rachelle earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2007 and a Master of Science in Nursing 6 years later. She continued developing her skills and became a flight nurse before earning a…

HOWA IS ONE OF THOSE RIFLE COMPANIES that many still don’t know, but probably should. Their rifles are produced in Japan and belong to a small manufacturer demographic that produces both economical and high-quality rifles. The easiest way to conjure a mental understanding of Howa’s 1500 barreled action is to imagine a Remington 700 bolt with an improved extractor stuffed into a Winchester Model 54 receiver. While that may sound odd to some, this combination makes for a stable receiver with an easy-feeding bolt. From this, the Howa 1500 has earned a reputation as a reliable rifle. New from Howa is the combination of adding a carbon-fiber barrel to its receiver and dropping the barreled action into the latest H-S Precision stock made from carbon-fiber, Kevlar and fiberglass. Together, the…

THE RUGER GP100 has been the mainstay of the company’s large-frame .357 Magnum line since it was introduced in 1985. It quickly became popular as a durable and serviceable double-action revolver at an attractive price. Now that revolvers are seeing a bit of a resurgence in popularity, Ruger made the decision to drag this modern classic into the 21st century with the Super GP100. An interesting evolution of the GP100 line up, the Super GP100 is different in both function and appearance. Its predecessor, the GP100, continued some notable design elements when it hit the market. These include a spring-loaded cylinder latch located on the crane rather than at the forward end of the ejector rod. A second innovation was the use of a peg-style grip frame, which allowed more…

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC triggered an unprecedented run on firearms and ammunition by first-time gun buyers. Approximately 75 percent of firearm purchases in March 2020 were by people who didn’t own a gun. Not surprisingly, many of these new shooters gravitated towards the inexpensive and simple options available to them. Few guns better meet that description than those made by Hi-Point. The 995 TS WC is an entirely American-made blowback-operated carbine that is easy to shoot. While it can be found selling for less than $300, it is not poorly made. Its blowback operation is one of the reasons that this firearm so inexpensive. The bolt is larger and heavier than what is commonly found because there are no locking lugs to hold it in place when chamber pressure drops. Instead,…

MOUNTIE NEW SERVICE? Q: Could you tell me the history of this Colt New Service revolver? I acquired it in 1976 from a gentleman I felt to be a grandfather figure. I was told it may have been used by the Canadian Royal Police. Any history would be appreciated. D.R. Email A: While the Royal Canadian Mounted Police did carry Colt New Services from around 1905 until 1954, a check of the serial number on the gun shown in your pictures, backed by the type of proofs and backstrap unit markings it has, indicates that it was more than likely used by the British military during World War I. The serial places its date of manufacture at 1916. Most Mountie New Services, depending upon date of issue, had markings specific…

FINDING A HOLSTER for a pistol with a mini red-dot sight attached to the slide is challenging. The problem for holster manufacturers is that there are so many different makes and models of pistols and reflex sight, that making standard patterns can become financially prohibitive. For larger makers, new holsters require an investment in tooling, molds and templates, while smaller businesses can only afford to support a few popular guns for low-volume custom production. Now that red dots on pistols are becoming widely accepted for carry, holsters are changing. The SuperTuck has been the flagship model for Crossbreed since 2005. Invented in the kitchen of Mark and Carol Craighead, It was the brand’s first commercial offering. Mark began the business by molding kydex shells in their oven, which didn’t last…

WHEN I SHARE the experience of handling or shooting a Nighthawk with anyone, the reaction is always the same. Joe Hitchcock, a friend and police sergeant, saw the green soft-sided pistol case and pointed, “Wow, is that a Nighthawk?” I simply removed the new Agent 2 Commander, locked back the slide and inspected the chamber before handing it to him. He inspected it for himself and a smile grew across his face as he charged the slide and dry fired the trigger. “Oh my. That’s butter,” he said. “You can feel the money that went into this gun.” Recapping Acts 1 & 2 The Agent 1 debuted at the NRA Annual Meetings in 2017. It came as the result of a rare industry collaboration between Nighthawk Custom, Agency Arms, Railscales…

AUGUST 14, 2020, marks the 75th anniversary of V-J Day and the end of World War II. Regardless of the fall of Germany in June 1945, and despite crushing defeats, drastic shortages and diminishing material, an intransigent Japanese military continued to present a dogged resistance. For almost two years, Imperial forces had been on the defensive with the loss of the Philippines in February 1945, and disastrous earlier dire setbacks in the Marianas campaign. These pivotal events, combined with the virtual destruction of its merchant fleet and bombing of the homeland, rightly caused many to think Japan’s fall was inevitable, but not to some in the stubborn Japanese hierarchy. Raw supplies were waning, or in some instances, non-existent. Manufacturing, when accomplished at all, was catch as catch-can, and the institution…