Innehållsförteckning för March 2025 från Guns & Ammo

THE CATALYST FOR THIS COLUMN was the announcement of two new MP5-pattern pistols from Military Armament Corporation (MAC), but it is also about the state of Turkish-made firearms. MAC (milarmamentcorp.com) is a brand of SDS Arms (sdsarms.com). SDS Arms resurrected the storied MAC name — everyone has hea rd of the “MAC-10,” right? — and has introduced fire arm designs that embrace the testosterone-fueled legacy of the 1980s and ’90s. MAC offers everything fro m Joint Special Operation Command (JSOC)-inspired 1911s to a copy of the U.S. Marines’ M1014 shotg un. They are getting a lot of attention. The new-f or-2024 MAC 5 pistol is a clone of the ven erable Heckler & Koch MP5, and the M AC 5K is an MP5K clone. What got eve ryone’s attention, though,…

@GUNSANDAMMOMAG THOUGH I AM THE CHIEF STEWARD of the Guns & Ammo brand, its continued reputation as “the world’s most widely read firearms publication” would not be without the hard work of corporate leadership, advertising sales, art, editorial and the production staff. Guns & Ammo has resolved to guard the brand’s future with the installment of three talents. The Outdoor Sportsman Group (OSG) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jack Oller to the position of managing editor, Guns & Ammo. Oller began working for OSG in 2018 as an editor with Guns & Ammo’s Special Interest Publication (SIP) Division, and most recently as the digital editor for OSG’s shooting websites including Firearms News, Handguns, Rifleshooter and Shooting Times. In his new position, Oller assumes a key role in managing…

FEW THINGS make a rifle more enjoyable to shoot than a good trigger. It’s one of a handful of parts on a rifle that get touched and used every time the rifle fires. Having a great trigger has an immediate impact on the rifle and shooter’s quality of life. Unfortunately, in today’s era of cost-cutting, triggers on many rifles are just functional. There’s also the fact that we live in a society with too many lawyers, so triggers often come with ridiculous pull weights to prevent negligent discharges by the less safety-conscious shooters among us. The good news is that changing the factory trigger for a quality aftermarket option is pretty easy, especially if the rifle has the ubiquitous Remington Model 700 footprint. All that’s required is to drive out…

HIGH-PRESSURE AMMUNITION is unlikely to be a passing fad. The United States military got this ball rolling several years ago when it challenged the industry to find a solution that could penetrate the inexpensive foreign body armor distributed to conflict zones worldwide. I, like many others, thought this was a horrible idea because such ammo would only shorten the life of rifles and offer no significant performance gains. I was wrong. Federal announced the 7mm Backcountry on January 7, 2025. It is the first high-pressure one-piece-case cartridge designed for the American commercial market. The shooting and hunting community will inevitably form many opinions on the 7mm Backcountry, but my fie ld research told me that Federal got this right. I could thin k of no changes or improvements to the…

NEW RELEASES are a tricky subject to cover in the firearms industry. Media is incentivized to be the first out the gate with as much information as possible. Traditionally, Guns & Ammo achieved this through “First Look” articles in print and on gunsandammo.com. In these reports, we aim to provide a clear, objective overview of the product’s features and performance potential, usually with support provided by the manufacturer. The downside of these briefs is that they can be too impersonal or may not address every question. To bridge the conversational gap, Guns & Ammo has launched the “Buzz Podcast,” where editors and contributors sit down with manufacturers to discuss the development and testing surrounding new products. There’s no set length to each episode; they run as long as the conversation…

1886 WINCHESTER INFO Q: I inherited an old Winchester Model 1886. I assume it’s a Winchester from the model number, but it doesn’t say Winchester anywhere on the rifle. It looks like, from the markings, it was patented October 14, 1884, and maybe produced on January 20, 1885. Or, is the second date another patent date? It’s in .45-70 Gov’t. with what I assume is serial number 17XXX. The rifle is well used. I checked the action with dummy rounds and it seems to function, but I haven’t shot it since I assume it should only be fired with blackpowder cartridges. I don’t know where it was purchased or acquired. Any help you can give me on the history of it would be greatly appreciated. I have no intention of…

ANYONE WHO HAS RELOADED AMMUNITION for any length of time probably has several reloading guides, and has referred to numerous websites while searching for load data. Often, after looking up load data, one may be left feeling confused. There can be significant differences in the maximum load s listed across various sources for the same propellant a nd load. Some have asked, “Why are there such big dis crepancies?” and “What do I use for load data? ” Let me preface with this: If you stick to sources th at are members of or follow S porting Arms and Ammun ition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) standards and test protocols , there is considera ble care and effort pu t into what is published for reloading data. SAAMI established test barrel and…

I’M TOLD THAT IT’S IMPOSSIBLE to hunt coyotes to extinction. The more you shoot, the more they breed. Most of the coyote activity in my area takes place at night, and some states allow them to be hunted after dark with night vision and thermal devices. Much like anything electronic, thermal optics have become smaller, less expensive and feature excellent resolution. I mainly target coyotes when the deer are dropping fawns, and are most vulnerable. I evaluated a prototype Pulsar Thermion 2 LRF XP60 thermal optic ($6,200, pulsarnv.com) and mounted it to a Horizon Firearms Vandal X .22 Creedmoor to protect the local deer herd ($2,799, horizonfirearms. com). The XP60 represents the latest in premium thermal riflescope technology. At its core is a 640x480 sensor and a 60mm lens. Without…