Innehållsförteckning för November/December 2020 #51 från Recoil

At RECOIL, we tend to stay out of politics as much as possible. Like Mencken, we’re of the opinion that every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under, and that a good politician is every bit as unthinkable as an honest burglar. Unfortunately, politicians don’t have any reservations about trampling our fundamental human rights and inserting themselves into our chosen livelihood and lifestyle — were they to simply leave us the hell alone, life would be better for all concerned. Every four years, we get the opportunity to participate in an advance auction for stolen goods, where the political parties lay out their plans to bribe us with our own money. It’s worth paying close attention to this, as although politicians’ promises are worth roughly the same…

Even if you consider yourself a paragon of fiscal responsibility and level-headed decision-making, you’ve probably made at least a few impulse buys throughout your life. These might’ve been inexpensive items, such as a candy bar from the grocery store checkout line, or more substantial expenditures, such as a new gun you just couldn’t resist. For Jason Squires, a spontaneous purchase led to a sudden feeling of buyer’s remorse and an especially awkward conversation with his wife. “I said, ‘I think I purchased a 1991 M998 HMMWV.’ She thought I had a stroke.” Squires, who you may recognize from his written contributions to RECOIL and its sister publications, is a lawyer by trade. Several years ago, he was speaking with a close friend who was going through law school, and who…

Way back in January this year, we wandered by the Hatsan USA booth at SHOT 2020 to check in with Blaine Manifold, its jovial owner and airgun guru. We came away with a smirk on our faces. We’ve always been suckers for high-powered airguns, as they’re a fun way for gun owners to thumb our collective noses at idiotic regulations. Hatsan’s newest addition to their lineup was very much a continuation of this theme. According to Manifold, the company was about to import a model equipped with a happy switch, so we signed up to put it through its paces. YOU’LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT The new Blitz is available in .22, .25, and .30 calibers, and naturally we opted for the biggest of the three. In terms of efficiency,…

Lately, low-power variable optics dominate the CQB optic market, but magnifiers for red-dot sights have graced many a rifle for more than 15 years. To be fair, the popularity of magnifiers has waned, but we’re beginning to see more of them on rifles again. The purpose of this article is to give you a clear pro/con of each setup so you can make the decision of what’s best for your needs. Understand that since we’re discussing these products in general and not each and every SKU out there, there’ll be some outliers. So if something doesn’t apply to your favorite pet LPVO or RDS, that’s 100-percent A-OK. Think about each use case, and compare and contrast with your own anticipated uses. EYE RELIEF / OFF-ANGLE VIEWING WINNER: RDS + MAG…

The folks at LANTAC first caught rumor of an exciting new round in development for the AR-15 back in 2018. They were part of a military research project looking for both a new rifle and corresponding intermediate caliber. In January of 2019, they were among a small, select group of companies handpicked to further develop the 6ARC and the rifle to go with it. Hornady, PROOF, and E-Lander were also a large part of this project. Once they had their base design with Hornady supplying the ammunition, Lantac decided to invest a lot of research and development on the capabilities of shorter barrels with 6ARC. Because some companies actually do the R&D, Lantac started with an 18-inch barrel with an extremely short gas system, then cut off an inch at…

While many veteran-owned businesses are small or fledgling, this one truly puts the start in “start-up.” At time of writing, Batch #001 has been on the market for just over 60 days. We had a chance to speak with Jeff Miller, Toxic’s PR point man. Miller may well embody the most toxic of males. He joined the Army in 1966 and worked briefly in Combat Development Command before winding up in 6th Special Forces group, where he worked on a project involving “forensic analysis of the intelligence failures that led up to the TET offensive.” After a break in service, he returned to active duty, first with 1/26 Infantry; then 10th Special Forces Group before leaving military service for a full-time posting in the intelligence community. He went back into…

01 COLUMBIA RIVER KNIFE & TOOL JENNY WREN COMPACT MSRP: $135 URL: crkt.com RMJ Tactical makes some of the best tomahawks on the planet … which is why you’ll have to pay a pretty penny for them. Makes sense. So how can you get one without having to fork over five C-notes — short of, you know, robbing someone? Check out the Jenny Wren Compact from CRKT. It’s a faithful production version of RMJ’s Jenny Wren Spike, just an inch or so shorter at 10 inches — and about $330 cheaper. Of course, the materials used aren’t super steels, but the balance, threeedge head, and overall design are very similar. It’s a short ’hawk with a lot of bite, making it ideal for a basecamp, a bug-out rig, or a…

Guns and knives seem to go hand in hand, or one in each hand, if you prefer. Both can be viewed as tools as easily as they can be viewed as weapons. A hunter needs a good skinning or caping knife as much as an infantry man needs a good field knife in addition to their rifles. Most of us can’t imagine leaving the house without a sharp blade in the pocket, and let’s face it, you’re more likely to use your pocketknife daily than your carry gun. Some firearms manufacturers got hip to this connection and collaborated on efficient knife designs that represent their brands well. Others just had their name laser engraved on a piece of metal as they would any other tchotchke to use as a giveaway…

These days, carbines equipped with low-power variable optics have become very popular. A good way to characterize these LPVOequipped carbines is “Cooper Scout Rifle meets modern 21st century warfare.” It’s important to remember that the origin of this system has martial intent — there has been a disconnect among many shooters, as the original inception of the optically sighted carbine is a little dark and grim. Even from the early proliferation of optics on the battlefield, the purpose was simple — to enhance the capabilities of the basic rifleman in his/her task: THE FUTURE IS NOW, OLD MAN Up until the last 20 years, the progression of the modern carbine hadn’t pushed much beyond World War II concepts. Sure, we did some stuff with polymers and aircraft-grade aluminum for that…

The bare bones of what you need to go shooting consists of a firearm and ammunition, but in reality, we know you need more than that. If you’ve been shooting for even a little while, you’ll come across items that you know you can’t leave home without. What you see in the following pages are what RECOIL staffers try not to leave home without when we’re hitting the range. After much discussion and argument about who’d cover what, we’ve boiled down our personal essentials and provided explanations of why we like them. This list is by no means all inclusive, but it’ll give you a great place to start when you’re putting your own range bag together or adding items to an existing one. Iain Harrison 01 PACT CLUB TIMER…

Before we begin, I want to state that you want a 100- yard zero with all rifles with tactical, raised, or what we call target turrets. A 100-yard zero is the best option out there, even for hunting rifles. I will expand after a few other topics. BORE-SIGHTING Prior to firing our first rounds, we want to bore-sight the rifle on a target at distance. Sure, there are a host of ways to skin this cat, I get it, everyone has their own idea of zeroing. It can definitely depend on the type of rifle you are shooting whether you can “look” down the barrel in order to line up the sights. Some rifles make this process easier than others. You can certainly shoot the rifle inside 100 yards, like…

The British Museum in London is home to the Rosetta Stone, while the Mona Lisa hangs on the walls of the Louvre in Paris, but on the outskirts of Springfield, Illinois, is an object that might almost seem at home in TV’s The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield, State Unknown. It’s an object that was actually fictionalized in another animated TV series, King of the Hill. It’s the prosthetic cork leg worn by Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón — more commonly known as Santa Anna, the Mexican politician and general who fought to defend royalists in New Spain and later for Mexican independence, before fighting against Texas Revolutionaries and then the French and finally the United States. During the brief Pastry War with…

The build for this issue is all about small. And if something wasn’t small enough, we followed the best traditions of the Wile E. Coyote School of Gunsmithing and busted out the hacksaw and Dremel. The center of this story revolves around an 8.5-inch Rainier Arms Ultramatch Mod2 barrel chambered in .223 Wylde. Most everything about this barrel is built to Rainier specs: Starting with a Melonited 416 stainless barrel with a 1:7.5 twist barrel, a TiN barrel extension is added, and the barrel is atypically contoured and profiled. Instead of a standard 0.750, skinny 0.625, fatty 0.875, or 0.936-inch gas block seat, Rainier Arms determined 0.800 inch was ideal for their purposes. Therefore, a Rainier Arms gas block must be used, which they’ll happily bundle for you. Unfortunately, we…

It started on a whim while in a rural town in Ohio looking for a local gun shop to peruse for a little bit of business and mostly grins. The Google map highlighted “Curtis Tactical Suppressors,” and the journey began. While driving down a dusty country road, the realization hit that this may either be an incorrect address or a small backyard shop, but plenty of damned good work takes places in garages and sheds across the great American nation. There was no hesitation. Mowing the lawn in front of his house, the location of his former backyard shop, was Joe Jones. Jones is the founder and owner of Curtis Tactical, and by mere happenstance he happened to take a day off to perform yardwork on his large property. Introductions…

Over the past several years, interest in rimfire shooting has soared, especially in the precision rifle world. With the evolution of the NRL22 series, and now with the Precision Rifle Series introducing its own precision rimfire series, the demand for top-tier rimfire rifles is growing. But not just in the competition world — the 22 Magnum was introduced by Winchester in 1959, and for many years, the 22 Magnum cartridge has remained a favorite of sportsmen. This cartridge is similar to the 22 LR, but has a longer case and more propellant, meaning it hits with more “oomph” than its little brother. This makes the cartridge perfect for hunting all sorts of small game, even coyotes, at shorter ranges. The 22 Magnum is even used by some for self- and…

For a long time, many museums have had unofficial policies not to collect artifacts considered “nefarious.” At the same time, other museums only focus on spirited objects associated with cultural trauma. Rarely do you find a happy medium. Assessing what fits the definition of “nefarious,” however, always seems to be up for debate. There’s no true set of criteria for determining what should or shouldn’t be displayed at a particular institution. That’s usually left up to the discretion of the curator or those in charge. When making the decision though, institutions first assess their mission. Does collecting this artifact make sense for the overall content and messaging of the museum or historic site? If so, another question that’s often asked is “Is it too soon?” Meaning, has there been enough…