Innehållsförteckning för March 2022 från Guns & Ammo

BANS & CONFISCATIONS I think we need a new religion, one that requires all to carry a M1911A1 in condition one, or a Hi-Power for the more delicate. Service would involve shooting at least 50 rounds a week every Sunday. Our government is being overrun by mentally incompetent individuals. I am old enough to remember when some high schools had target ranges in the basements, and there were no mass shootings. Above the U.S. northern border, the Canadian government is trying to ban BB guns. They brought in registration and not many guns were registered. The next party struck down the registration and destroyed the records. Then the loonies got back in power and the records were found intact. Now that same government is planning to grab all military style…

DAKOTA 76 .300 WINCHESTER MAGNUM An elegantly understated Dakota Model 76 Safari rifle in .300 Win. Mag. realized an impressive $7,250 in a November 20, 2021, Sportsman’s Legacy sale. This 23-inch-barreled, unfired rifle, selected by one of Dakota’s major distributors for his personal collection, includes such special features as a ramp front sight with flip-up night bead; island express rear sight; full-length claw extractor for controlled-feeding; and a drop box magazine with inside-the-bow floorplate release. The rifle is stocked in a AAA-walnut with an ebony forend tip, wrap-around borderless checkering, a steel grip cap and scalloped cheekpiece with shadow line. All-in-all, a unique and superb package. For more information about this and future sales, contact Sportsman’s Legacy by visiting sportsmanslegacy.com.…

LIKE ME, many firearms enthusiasts walk a tightrope between interest in the latest guns and gear and an appreciation for the tried-and-true. We can laud the durability and click -fit of Kydex holsters one day and pledge allegiance to the comfort and style of well-made gunleather the next. The result for most of us is a bin of holsters in the garage. When it comes to gunleather, though, the attraction starts with its look and feel. Warm, natural and soft to the touch, a holster that features clean cuts, burnished edges and tight stitching effectively elevates sheets of steerhide to a functional work of art. Well-made and maintained leather is also capable of withstanding years of hard use. Unlike some synthetic materials that may crack, fade or break, leather ages…

WITH THE CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE and the penchant for the left side of the aisle to assert gun control on society, many gun-control schemes will soon be recycled. We should all expect a more overt push for gun control from the left in the coming years. Anticipating this got me thinking about so-called “microstamping,” and what it really is. I have a cursory knowledge of it and am aware of some of the arguments for and against it. I decided to research the subject in more depth to be able to discuss it more intelligently. (And I learned a number of interesting things about it.) Recent legislation in California aims to create a market for microstamping by requiring it for guns sold to the state’s 86,000 members of law enforcement,…

WHILE FILMING a segment for Guns & Ammo TV that celebrated Taurus USA’s 40th anniversary, Handgun Editor Jeremy Stafford and I were allowed to review a 1911 that Pro-Shooter Jessie Harrison used to win 26 championship titles. It’s unusual that a professional competitor allows another person to run their gun, which is why I wasn’t surprised to learn that it was recently decommissioned and replaced. However, Stafford and I both produced benchrestsize groups from a standing position, which caused us to wonder, Why was this pistol retired? I called her to ask. “I had that pistol made in 2012,” Harrison recalled. “I wanted 1911s built for Steel Challenge and Single Stack matches since a 10-round capacity is suitable for those competitions. I worked with Derek Janowicz, a now-retired gunsmith with…

From the middle of the 17th century until the first years of the 20th, Great Britain was the preeminent world power. Its influences were manifest around the globe. Such a vast empire could not have been maintained without a well-trained, well-equipped military and regulatory forces. British martial firearms were normally state-of-the-art, prime examples of which were the many variations of single-shot pistols used by cavalry and ground forces. “British Ordnance Single Shot Pistols” provides a superb record of these fascinating firearms, displaying 120 cavalry, foot, sea service, customs, and Portuguese flintlocks and percussion arms in more than 900 full-color illustrations. Graphics are ably abetted by a profuse, detailed explanatory text. The authors provide dimensions and details on the pistols as well as appendices highlighting locks and proof and stock marks.…

THERE’S NO DENYING the benefits of a red-dot sight. Dot sights provide an intuitive aiming point that enhances speed and accuracy. Since a reflex sight is used with both eyes open, it also improves situational awareness. However, a quality red-dot sight can be expensive, which means many rifle owners either do without or settle for one that’s not worth betting their life on. Aimpoint has established itself as a leading innovator of red-dot sights, but retail prices have placed its optics on the top shelf. In 2022, Aimpoint is changing that with its new Duty RDS at a more accessible price point: $499. This isn’t the first time Aimpoint repackaged a flagship optic to meet the price-point needs of its customers. The Patrol Rifle Optic (PRO) was the first. If…

IF YOU SEARCH for “Guns of the Battle of the Black Sea,” or as it seems to be referenced lately, the “Battle of Mogadishu” and “Black Hawk Down,” you would find a bunch of links with info; some good, some not. If you are not aware of the events surrounding the 1993 mission, I recommend getting with a friend willing to give you a “One Free Google Search” coupon. There is a plethora of information and disinformation about this battle. Unsurprisingly, I receive lots of questions about the weapons we carried on October 3rd to 4th. I am not a historical gun expert, but since I carried the CAR-15, I figure that I have a pretty good pedigree to discuss the armament. For the tour to Somalia in 1993, I…

ALMOST EVERY HUMAN ENDEAVOR, whether business or sport, has its own terms and almost its own language. Shooting certainly does. To me, one of the most confusing messes we deal with is how cartridges are named. Let’s start with the most basic concept: A “cartridge” has a formal name. This designation often relates to a unique set of case dimensions and a specific bullet diameter. In America, the primary body for standardizing ammunition and tying a “name” to specific cartridge dimensions and specifications is the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturing Institute (SAAMI). In Europe, this is primarily accomplished by the Commission Internationale Permanente Pour L’Epreuve des Armes a Feu Portatives (CIP). A cartridge’s name is not directly tied to performance characteristics, but specifications approved by these organizations will include pressure…

EUROPEAN BLANK PISTOL Q: I would like to know more about this pistol. It may not be a pistol given that the barrel is not drilled through. However, the breech appears to accept a small rimfire cartridge of some type. To access the chamber, you have to cock the hammer and flip a gate that’s hinged by a screw to the left. There is a marking “11E” on an extractor lever that flips back to remove the case by the rim from the chamber. The grips appear to be made of black checkered plastic and are in good condition, but the flats of the frame have been sanded at some point, perhaps to remove rust. Could this have rubbed off the maker’s mark? There is also an angled hole at…

WHY 10MM? WHY NOW? With Smith & Wesson and Springfield Armory introducing portable 10mm pistols, some shooters are wondering, “Why? Isn’t there still a shortage of ammunition and firearms?” There are immutable truths regarding the purchase of firearms, and Col. Jeff Cooper summed it up nicely with this little gem: “Of all sorts of personal possessions, the personal firearm is the most nearly unique. This is because of its permanence. When you have acquired a good gun, there is no real need to ever acquire another — except possibly for replacement in case of loss. This makes the marketing of firearms a frustrating enterprise. Except when dealing with adolescents, the marketer must aim at making a prospective purchaser unhappy with what he already has. You wear out clothes and automobiles,…

OPTICS FOR MILITARY ISSUE and law enforcement use must possess certain attributes not necessarily required for other optic categories, although these attributes would certainly be appreciated anywhere. Durability comes to mind because both military and law-enforcement action can become contact sports, and that’s hard on both the uniformed and their equipment. Simplicity is a good idea because there’s no guarantee the individual carrying the piece of gear is an enthusiastic student of it. Image quality is also a prime consideration, or should be, but it’s a feature that frequently gets overlooked because the people doing the buying rarely understand optics and those who use them can struggle to explain what an expensive scope offers versus a cheaper model. Leupold announced its Patrol 6HD 1-6x24mm riflescope for 2022, and it provides…

YOU CAN ONLY PUSH a .38-caliber projectile so fast in the .380 ACP chambering. Its performance potential relies on a small case that was introduced in 1908. With a 99-grain bullet traveling around 1,000 feet per second (fps), even Federal Premium’s Hydra-Shok Deep load — one of the best .380 loads on the market — doesn’t perform as well as we’d like them to, especially against intermediate barriers and heavy clothing. Along the same line, you can only scale down a 9mm-chambered pistol before they become too uncomfortable to shoot, or reliability issues appear. There is always a struggle between portability, shootability and effectiveness. Federal took aim at the performance gap between .380 ACP and 9mm and created the .30 Super Carry (SC) cartridge. So far, I like what I’m…

ON OCTOBER 1, 2021, the custom gunmaking community lost its most storied members: Jerry Arthur Fisher of Big Fork, Montana. He died at the age of 91. For 66 years, Fisher spent his days at the bench crafting some of the finest firearms ever built. He was capable of highly detailed metalwork and meticulous stock-making. Fisher’s guns were not flashy, but elegant in their clean and simple lines. He was the rare talent who worked on anything including bolt-actions, single-shots, lever-actions and shotguns. Though many view Fisher’s creations as art, he rejected the notion and insisted that he was a simple craftsman. He completed his final project, a detailed and beautiful Savage 99, months before his death. Fisher’s legacy will live on in his work with walnut and steel. He…