Innehållsförteckning för April 2025 från Shooting Times

I ENJOYED JOSEPH VON BENEDIKT’S “THE SHOOTIST” COLUMN IN THE October 2024 issue. In the mid-1990s, I was checking Moscow Pawn on a weekly basis, or so it seemed. One lucky day I picked up a Springfield Armory M1A, the Loaded version. It was in excellent condition, even beyond its appearance. At the range, it proved to be a very capable tool; with a handload consisting of the Nosler Custom Competition 168-grain BTHP, Reloder 15 powder, the Federal case, and the CCI #34 primer, this rifle makes cloverleaf groups at 100 yards. That’s with the traditional iron sights and 80+-year-old eyes. Long live the shooting sports! Carl Thomas Zmuda Via email A Link Between Two Discoveries After reading the October 2024 issue containing the reloading column by Lane Pearce about…

AS WORLD WAR II DREW NEAR ITS CLOSE, GREAT Britain was acutely aware that its primary fighting firearm (the legendary Short Magazine Lee-Enfield) in all its iterations was too heavy and too long. This was particularly the case in the torrid tropical jungles of the South Pacific. In 1944—just one year before the war would end—the No. 5 Mk. 1 carbine was introduced. Although it was developed for the airborne forces mostly being used in Europe, its inspiration was rooted in feedback generated by jungle combat. Colloquially known as the “Jungle Carbine,” the model was around 2.0 pounds—nearly 25 percent—lighter than the various full-size Enfield rifles. This was accomplished by aggressively trimming weight from the action, shortening the barrel, and eliminating a superfluous bulk from the stock. The receiver was…

CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT SHOOTERS COME IN ALL shapes and sizes, manufacturers do a remarkable job of mass-producing shotguns that come close to fitting everyone. But as in the game of horseshoe pitching, just getting close may not always be enough. If we lived in a perfect world, all upland guns would place the centers of their patterns dead on the shooter’s hold point or, at the very worst, only a few inches high. The last time I looked, the world was a long way from being perfect, and the chance of a shotgun doing exactly that with all shooters is less than certain. Competitors who are seriously into clay target games, such as trap, skeet, and sporting clays, spend a lot of time pattern-testing their guns, but all too…

IN LAST MONTH’S ISSUE OF SHOOTING TIMES, WE HIGHLIGHTED what our sister publication Firearms News has to offer through our subscription-based outdoor streaming service MyOutdoorTV. This month we’re spotlighting one of our other sister publications, Guns & Ammo. You probably don’t need an introduction to Guns & Ammo because it’s been around for a long time. In fact, just in case you don’t already know it, G&A was started by Petersen Publishing Co. in 1958. Our company acquired it in 2001. Then in about 2003 we started a television show called Guns & Ammo TV. That show has won numerous awards over the years. As far as MyOutdoorTV goes, you can find 13 seasons of Guns & Ammo TV there, with literally hundreds and hundreds of episodes. MyOut-doorTV also offers Guns…

MANY FEDERAL AGENTS ARE VERY WELL KNOWN to us. G-men like J. Edgar Hoover, Eliot Ness, and Melvin Purvis come to mind quickly. Lesser-known agents, such as Jelly Bryce and Walter Walsh, may be familiar to many of you, but I suspect not many of you have heard of Herman Hollis. That’s a shame because he was instrumental in bringing down both the notorious John Dillinger and the infamous Baby Face Nelson, two of the most hardened Depression-era criminals. Herman Edward Hollis was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 27, 1903. Not much information is available on his early life, but by 1927, Hollis had earned a law degree from George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C. He signed on with the U.S. Bureau of Investigation (the…

SAFARILAND’S NEW EXT CARRIER SYSTEM OFFERS IMPROVED ADJUST- ability and storage and enhanced comfort and ergonomics. Features include an assortment of functional chest pockets and slots for various equipment; customizable badge and ID shape options for the upper yoke and rear placard; front and rear plate pockets for ICW plates sized 5x9, 7x9, 8x10, and 10x12 for male and female officers; integrated elastic side cummerbund with stretch for greater comfort and adjustability; integrated front and rear wire channels; laser micro-cut mic tabs in the upper right shoulder; new adjustable and replaceable ergonomic straps; and reinforced zipper cover with integrated laser micro-cuts for a body-worn camera or other small accessories. In addition, the EXT Carrier System offers a variety of uniform carrier styles, with both front opening and side opening variants,…

PARKER O. ACKLEY (1903–1989) WAS A PRE- mier American custom gunsmith and gunsmithing instructor known for his rifle cartridge enhancements. He remodeled existing factory ones to increase performance. That gave the name Ackley Improved. His classic book, Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders (1962), shows that few bottleneck factory cartridges escaped Ackley’s attention. Ackley’s formula was simple—increase case volume without significantly changing case or cartridge lengths. He made two relatively simple alterations, and they were to reduce the case body taper by increasing the case diameter at the shoulder origin and to increase the shoulder angle significantly. His claims were never extravagant. His Improved cases averaged about a 5 percent increase in capacity over the parent cartridges. He wrote that the greatest benefits from his designs were with heavier bullets and…

Q. I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED JOSEPH VON BENEDIKT’S “THE SHOOTIST” column on the CMP M1 Garand in the December 2024/January 2025 issue of Shooting Times. I love old military rifles, and seeing a great reloading piece on such a great rifle of the past was a rare treat in today’s world of plastic. Kudos! I didn’t see the cartridge overall lengths for Joseph’s handloads, and they are kinda important. Can you relay that info to me to complete his data? I’ve been using the old standard of H4895 in my Garand with excellent results, so I was elated to a see an alternate powder/recipe since H4895 is as scarce as hens’ teeth around my area. James Younce Belhaven, NC A. I take full responsibility for that omission because Joseph included the…

I WON’T KID MYSELF THINKING THAT MOST OF us who enjoy shooting handload. Today, people are so busy that it’s often less hassle to just buy what you need when you need it. If you can afford it, everything’s just fine until the local gunshop’s shelves are sparsely stocked, and a successful mail order is, at best, iffy. Hoarding ammo is rampant, and many common calibers like 9mm, .38 Special, .223/5.56, .30-30, etc. just can’t be purchased anywhere. Recently, my wife and I returned from a trip home to celebrate her Aunt Louise’s 94th birthday and our 54th wedding anniversary. It’s about 600 miles from north Alabama to Raleigh, North Carolina, so we stop in the Smokies both ways to break up the long drive. I always visit my friend…

A FLAGSHIP OF THE SAVAGE ARMS LINE IS the Model 110 bolt-action rifle. Originally introduced in 1958, today there are literally dozens of Model 110s available with many different feature sets. The company has introduced riflemen to many innovations with the Model 110, including the Accu-Trigger and the AccuStock. It has been said that if you can’t find a Savage Model 110 you want, maybe you’re just too picky. A prime example of the innovative Model 110 is the new Model 110 Pro Pursuit Rifle (PPR for short). Savage has teamed with Mike Robinson, host of his Farming the Wild presentations, in the design of the Model 110 PPR. Robinson envisions and describes “hunting” as just another way of “food gathering” by people who spend a lot of time in…

HEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM: I LIVE IN THE FOOT- hills of the Ozarks, on seven acres of land bounded by trees in three directions and a well-traveled road on the fourth. My house has three outside doors, and from any one of them I might look out and see a coyote, armadillo, raccoon, or ’possum coming my way. Equally, I might see turkeys, a whitetail, a horse or two, cars on the road, and distant houses screened by trees. Some of the critters will be targets anytime, others only in season, and still others not at all. And you have to be ready. If a marauding armadillo is crossing the lawn, he’s unlikely to wait while I rush down to the gun room, pull out a rifle, and get back…