Innehållsförteckning för June 2024 från Shooting Times

I GREATLY ENJOYED READING THE FEBRUARY ISSUE’S “THE SHOOTIST” column on the J.C. Higgins Model 50 by Joseph von Benedikt. Back in the early 1980s, I was able to convince my brother-in-law to trade to me his FN-made Model 50 (it’s chambered for .270 Winchester). The rifle was in excellent shape, with very little usage, but after a few seasons of hunting, I decided to replace the trigger with an aftermarket Timney trigger. For years after, it was one of my favorite deer rifles. I owned much prettier and more modern rifles in various calibers, but that old FN with a handload of IMR 4831 and a Speer 130-grain BTSP shot 0.5-inch to 0.75-inch groups and accounted for numerous Southern whitetails. I still own that rifle, but now with many…

UNTIL RECENTLY, ORIGINAL COLT PYTHONS WERE scarce. Although production was plentiful through the 1980s, Colt struggled to get its act together and produce revolvers for decades after that. Those 1st Generation Python sixshooters were coveted by all and sold by few. Being featured as the chosen sidearm of the primary character in the hit TV show The Walking Dead drove the popularity of the Python through the roof and contributed to the demand that ultimately inspired Colt to bring out the 2nd Generation Python in stainless steel in 2020 and the subsequent blued version that’s new for 2024. (See Joel Hutchcroft’s report on the new blued Python elsewhere in this issue of Shooting Times.) The new 2nd Generation Pythons are said to be built of better steel than the originals…

AS THE WORLD’S #1 SUBSCRIPTION-BASED OUTDOOR STREAMING service, MyOutdoorTV has more than 20,000 episodes of premium hunting, fishing, and shooting content in a variety of both short- and long-form content. MOTV offers original series, live streaming events, how-to videos, wild game recipes, and much more. While Shooting Times doesn’t have its own dedicated space on MOTV, a few of our sister shooting-oriented titles do, and I’d like to draw your attention to one of them. I’m talking about Firearms News. For anyone who doesn’t already know it, Firearms News started way back in 1946 (it was called Shotgun News then). It’s gone through several modifications over the decades, and it’s still going strong. As stated on MOTV, Firearms News is the only “paper gun show” in the industry, and now…

IN CELEBRATION OF THE COMPANY’S 75TH ANNIVERSARY, RUGER IS OFFER- ing commemorative SR1911s, 10/22 rifles, LCP Max pistols, and Mark IV .22 Auto pistols. The special Mark IV pistol features a 6.88-inch tapered barrel, fully checkered wood laminate grips, a fully adjustable rear sight, an undercut Patridge front sight, and two 10-round magazines. It has special laser engraving on the receiver and the back of the bolt, and it comes in a throwback-style 75th anniversary printed box. MSRP: $599 ruger.com Savage Model 64 Color Series Savage Arms has announced new color options for the classic Model 64 .22 LR semiautomatic rifle. According to Savage Director of Marketing Beth Shimanski, “The Model 64 is a staple for small-game hunters and plinkers. We’re happy to offer six new color options in this…

CHALLENGES CULTIVATE EXCELLENCE. BALLISTICS challenges are real, and it is a credit to smart people in our industry that we enjoy such excellence in our ammunition today. Here are some challenges that I’ve seen the industry work through. Rimfire cartridge challenges lurk in three areas: case size; thin metal; and volume of production. Sheer volume makes rimfire ammo one of the most cost-sensitive ammo product groups. That necessitates finding efficient ways to safely make the greatest number of perfect parts per hour day after day. Case size and thin metal almost go hand in hand. Rimfire propellant charges are tiny, typically measured in milligrams, not grains. One grain of propellant is 64.8 milligrams. Try metering one-grain charges accurately and repeatably on your home powder measure at several per second. Creating…

HARDLY A DAY GOES BY THAT THE IN-BASKET does not receive a notice of yet another new shotgun, rifle, riflescope, red-dot sight, or handgun. Truth to tell, many are not really new, and others you just know will be gone from the market within a year—if, that is, they actually appear at all. It was a pleasant surprise a while back when I got notice from Smith & Wesson of not one, but three handguns that would be worth more than a second glance. None of the three was completely new, but all were manifestly interesting. I couldn’t decide which one to try, so I solved the problem by requesting all three. And lo and behold, after some months (close to a year, actually) S&W caught up with its backorders…

Q. I WOULD LIKE TO START TEACHING MY GRANDKIDS HOW TO SHOOT a rifle, so I want to find out if there are reduced loads for the .30-30 Winchester using pistol powders like W231, Bullseye, etc. What does Lane Pearce say about that? Jack DeYoung Via email A. The short answer is, I don’t think so, because I’ve never seen any published .30-30 data for fast-burn-rate handgun propellants. Lyman offers several recipes for 2400 and Unique powders for handloading cast bullets. The company also lists loads for Trail Boss and Herco. Although Herco is a pistol and shotgun propellant, both 2400 and Unique were originally developed many years ago as rifle powders that today are also used to load some handgun cartridges. None of them exhibits burn rates as fast…

SHOOTING TIMES HAS A LONG HISTORY OF announcing new products in the June issue following the annual SHOT Show. Carrying on that tradition, here’s a quick look at three new reloading products. 2024 Hodgdon Annual Manual (MSRP: $14.99) Hodgdon has a new-for-2024 Annual Manual. I’ve been contributing to the Annual Manual for close to two decades and keep copies of every edition near my loading bench. While comparing the first one with the latest one, I discovered a few interesting facts. Both contain about 200 pages. They include rifle, handgun, and shotgun load recipes, usually with both velocity and pressure data. Propellant descriptions include suggested applications. There’s a comprehensive powder-burn-rate chart for almost all currently available powder options. The list has expanded from 103 to 164 different propellants over 20-plus years,…

I’VE SEEN PHILIP B. SHARPE’S NAME MENTIONED in gun-related articles for a long time. I’m 63 years old and started reading about guns and such when I was around nine years old. That means I’ve seen his name for better than 50 years, but I never looked into his accomplishments and history. Until now. I knew he had done some significant things in this industry, but I wasn’t aware of the huge impact he had. Some of it is apropos since we are reporting on the new-for-2024 blued Colt Python in this issue of the magazine. You’ll learn why in a few moments. Philip Burdette Sharpe was born in Portland, Maine, on May 16, 1903, to Elias and Jennie Sharpe. Philip was raised in the Portland area and later graduated…