Guns Magazine articles from April 2003

Guns Magazine archives from April 2003

Love those leverguns! (On a Positive Note).
April 1, 2003... In the January issue, It was my pleasure to tell you of Winchester's redesign of the Model 94 to remove the egregious crossbolt safety and replace it with a tang mounted thumb safety. I also hinted of another pending announcement from...

Crossfire letters to guns.
April 1, 2003... GUNS MAGAZINE[TM] welcomes letters to the editor for "Crossfire." Send your letters to: CROSSFIRE, GUNS Magazine, 591 Camino de la Reina, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92108. Email: ed@gunsmagazine.com Letter Of The Month John Taffin's...

The romance of lead shot. (Shotgunner).
April 1, 2003... Often taken for granted, lead shot is really an intriguing projectile. Lead is a very ancient metal, known as early as 3000 B.C. It's mentioned in the book of Exodus. In my high school chemistry book (texts were more practical in those days), I...

Alpen binoculars. (Quartermaster).
April 1, 2003... Binoculars and spotting scopes generally come in two flavors --very fine quality (read extremely expensive), and bargain priced. Bargain optics can be appealing due to their low sticker price, but usually perform so poorly as to be a very...

Walters' wads. (Quartermaster).
April 1, 2003... If you shoot black powder cartridge rifles -- as an increasing number of shooters seem to be doing these days -- you know a card wad is normally used between bullet and powder. It prevents damage to the base of the bullet, and seems to tighten...

Blue Wonder gun cleaner. (Quartermaster).
April 1, 2003... To be honest, I really don't like to review cleaning products. Not only do most of them work fairly well, once you've reported that: "Boy, I cleaned my rifle with this stuff and it was a lot cleaner than before I started," you're pretty much...

Organizing your loading setup. (Handloader).
April 1, 2003... This is going to be one of those, "do as I say, not as I do" stories, because my loading bench is a disaster area. It is 2 1/2 feet wide and a shade under 6 feet long. Most of the time you'd have to move something to see the wood bench top. But...

Reloading safety. (Rifleman).
April 1, 2003... Last fall I was browsing the reloading section of my favorite gun store and fell into conversation with a young fellow who was looking at a Redding Pro-Pak kit. He wanted to know if Redding made good equipment, and if the RCBS .25-'06 Rem. dies...

More bang for your buck: survival tips for buying used guns.
April 1, 2003... Shopping for a used firearm can be compared to looking for a pre-owned vehicle. There are good ones waiting for the knowledgeable consumer, and bad ones destined for the unwary. The secret to being satisfied with your purchase is learning the...

Cast bullet primer: a beginner's guide to pouring your own.
April 1, 2003... Slowly, the cold gray mass in the lead pot takes on a darker hue. First a bluish tone, and then a slight coppery blush before the last cold crust is swallowed up and the pot assumes the uniform brilliant shine of quicksilver. Give it a few...

Lassen College: forging gunsmiths since 1945.
April 1, 2003... Having been burnt a number of times, I'm not a real fan of custom gunsmithing. It's as simple as that. Why you ask? Well, it's amazing how quickly a hack can ruin a fine firearm. Something I learned the hard way when I was younger. Back then, I...

Merkel's petite 16/20: a svelte double from the land of fine gunmaking.
April 1, 2003... One of the endearing qualities of the 16 gauge is that fine sixteen's can be crafted onto smaller 20-gauge frames. The result is n light, fast handling, upland game gun with real punch. Of course the Europeans have known this fact for a long...

Romance on the range: when a rifle looks and shoots like this, love is inevitable.
April 1, 2003... It has been said that even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then. To that we can now add that sometimes even a jaded gunwriter gets his "trigger tripped" when he least expects it. The assignment was simple-- call Cooper Firearms, get a rifle...

Touring Cooper Firearms.
April 1, 2003... Pundits say you can't have your cake and eat it too. I take great exception. With a Cooper rifle you can, and get a big serving too. The definition of custom rifle is a lot more flexible than it used to be. To my eye, the key was always a...

The real reason we. (Handguns).
April 1, 2003... "It must be the best, because so-and-so uses it." How many times have we heard that? And how many times, heaven help us, have we bought something for that reason, only to find out later that so-and-so had different needs than we did, and...

Levergun loads: the .35 Remington.
April 1, 2003... 1952 -- a truly wonderful year. Ike was elected -- president and I started high school a year ahead of time. To this day I'm not sure how I got Out of grade school early. That is, I have never figured out if I was smart enough to make the leap,...

Pumping up the .223: experiments with a self-loading .223 Ackley Improved.
April 1, 2003... With all the new cartridges appearing in recent years, it's curious that the selection of .22 centerfire cartridges seems to be declining. Such once famous wildcats as the .219 Donaldson Wasp and 2R Lovell, and such good factory rounds as the...

Para-Ordnance C7.45 Carry Option LDA. (You Can Win This).
April 1, 2003... The widespread adoption of "shall issue" concealed carry laws has put a new face on the semiauto pistol. the modern handgun buyer wants a pistol that is smaller and easier to carry, but is unwilling to give up fight-stopping power. Downsized...

450 AutoBond. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From Bond Arms The new .450 AutoBond 1911-style pistol from Bond Arms propels a 100-grain bullet at 2,300 fps with a kinetic energy of 1,174 ft-lbs. The recoil generated is slightly more than a typical 230-grain .45 ACP round. The AutoBond...

American western elk. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From Eagle Grips Eagle Grips is offering stunning American Eagle elk grips for most popular semi-automatic and revolvers. These handmade grips are paired and matched for the ultimate in performance and eye appeal. Contact Eagle Grips for a...

New Military knives. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From George Tichbourne Master Canadain knife designer George Tichbourne has added a pair of handsome and highly functional Military knives to his line of fine blades. Available in both a large (8-inch blade) and small (5 1/4-inch blade),...

Rossi muzzleloader. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From Taurus The new line of Rossi muzzleloading .50 rifles from Taurus International are offer reliable performance at an attractive price. They come standard with breech plugs, sling swivels and frame-mounted telescoping ram rod. They use...

Benchmite folder. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From Benchmade Benchmade's nifty new compact Benchmite folding knife is the latest creation from designers Bill McHenry and Jason Willams. A slight squeeze or the outside scale raises the locking device pin allowing the 1.92-inch stainless...

.50 cal Browning ammo. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From Mitchell's Mausers Mitchell's Mausers announces the arrival of its new .50 caliber Browning ammunition. Designed for tighter tolerances for long range shooting, it propels a 700-grain FMJ bullet a velocity of 2,910 fps. The ammo is so...

Special 1851. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... Navy Revolver From Colt Blackpowder Arms a special 150th Anniversary commemorative Colt Model 1851 Navy revolver is available from Colt Blackpowder Arms. The revolver features striking engraving with gold tone accents and the traditional...

Scoped rifle case. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From Blackhawk Industries Blackhawk Industries has a new scoped rifle case, which offers lightweight carry protection for most popular rifles. Features include wraparound handle, detachable shoulder strap, non-slip shoulder pad and full...

Duck Stamp knife. (New Products).
April 1, 2003... From Imperial Schrade Shrade and the Dept. of the Interior have teamed to produce a special Federal Duck Stamp commemorative folding knife in a handsome laser-engraved hardwood presentation case. The dual blade knife has a clip-blade with...

America: it's still out there! (Campfire Tales).
April 1, 2003... At one time in this country, there was one America. Today there are several. There's the America presented by the media. It is most often distorted and oblivious to the values of real America. Everyone has seen the map showing "blue"...