Guns Magazine articles from December 2008

Guns Magazine archives from December 2008

Boycott.(CROSSFIRE LETTERS TO GUNS)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... American Handgunner, GUNS and American COP magazines are welcomed monthly to my humble abode. Being ex-infantry, Connor stirs parts of my character long dormant and I hear my father in John Taffin's writing. Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.) has...

Team guns.(CROSSFIRE LETTERS TO GUNS)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... I looked at your June issue on the newsstand at the Navy Exchange in Virginia, liked what I saw and bought it. I very much liked John Sheehan's story "From Rifle to Grenades 1914-1918" and am now a subscriber. In the August issue on page 8...

Wheelguns forever.(CROSSFIRE LETTERS TO GUNS)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... I have always read Mr. Ayoob's articles on defensive handguns, long guns and the many stories of the defensive use of these firearms. His sage advice kept me abreast of these issues while I was a Denver-area police officer in the late 1990s....

Choose: simple: and try to separate the wheat from the chaff.(RANGING SHOTS[TM])
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] There are a lot of shooting schools available and there will be a lot more opening in the next couple of years. We get a rock solid three to five requests a month about how to open/start a shooting school. It has...

Field positions: it's the final test for a hunter.(RIFLEMAN)
December 1, 2008... Usually you can find some sort of expedient rest when shooting in the field; a handy tree, rock or fencepost, for example. Many varmint hunters and some big game hunters use bipods attached to the rifle's forearm. Shooting sticks are another...

Lessons learned: Illuminating the problem.(SHOTGUNNER)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Do you remember the first time you shot a round of skeet, trap or sporting clays? You didn't have the foggiest idea where the bird(s) would be coming from, at what height, at what angle, at what speed or maybe it...

Trigger slap: the pros and cons of the method.(HANDGUNS)
December 1, 2008... At one end of the scale, "slapping" the handgun's trigger works for champions going for the last 1/100th of a second, but on the other hand, it's an absolute accuracy-destroyer for most shooters. A middle ground might work better. Trigger...

Triggers: these slender little things get everything moving.(MONTANA MUSINGS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] One item all firearms have, from Derringers to huge .50 BMG rifles, is a trigger. There are single triggers, single set or double set triggers, light triggers, hard triggers, smooth, serrated or checkered triggers,...

Sixgun shotshells: roll your own.(HAND LOADING)
December 1, 2008... "Success breeds success." I do not have the slightest idea who first uttered those words but he certainly must have been a teacher of some sort, as any good teacher knows these three words are very important. Now what does this have to do with...

Savvy sizing: the case, that is.(UP on ARs)
December 1, 2008... Since it's a semi-auto, full-length spent case resizing is mandatory. Further, I think full-length resizing is mandatory for anything other than a Benchrest rifle, but I'll leave additional details dormant along with that statement, just...

Those curious Carcanos: underappreciated for no real reason.(SURPLUS LOCKER[TM])
December 1, 2008... Carcano short rifles and carbines in 6.5x52mm are among my favorite milsurps. Light, handy, pleasantly accurate, easy on the shoulder, quick to reload and gratefully cheap, the Carcanos offer the collector a wide variety of models, makers and...

An adult air rifle: the Tech Force/Compasseco Contender Series 89.
December 1, 2008... It's big, it's bulky, it's heavy and the darn thing kicks more than a .22, yet it's an air rifle. But don't think I didn't like it! Because, in fact, I did. The single-shot .177 Contender was a bit of a surprise to me. I'm used to light,...

Unfired guns.(QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS)
December 1, 2008... Q: In 1966 I won a Winchester Model 94 in a sales contest. Yeah I know. Things were different then. I kept it unfired in the box until one day my wife pointed out it was not doing me any good being used a dust collector. "Shoot it" was her...

Light loads?(QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS)
December 1, 2008... Q: I just bought a new Ruger Vaquero in .45 Long Colt. Since I reload nearly everything, and have reloaded for decades, I took a look at my reloading manuals. It's astounding how much they vary. Which should I believe? The newest manuals seem...

10mm loads.(QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Q: What is the proper ammunition to use in a 10mm Glock 20 for defense against black bear, mountain lions and wild dogs? Should I choose a heavy hollowpoint, FMJ or light hollowpoint? What velocity is necessary for...

A modern American classic: Mossberg Model 464 .30-30.
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It truly is a strange world we live in. Modern medicine allows anti-change dinosaurs like me to live longer and longer while at the same time society is changing more and more rapidly. Change happens so rapidly that...

Hunter's delight: S&W's new hunting rifle is affordable, accurate and dependable.
December 1, 2008... Smith & Wesson is best known for its excellent array of fine revolvers and autopistols, and now the firm is adding sporting rifles and shotguns to its line. Although S&W previously sold hunting rifles by other manufacturers, such as Howa, the...

The 2008 guns Christmas gift guide: stand by to stuff some stockin's, shooters!(WEB BLAST)
December 1, 2008... We know, OK? You'd rather be visiting the dentist for a root canal than go shopping--especially during the Christmas season. And your suspicions are correct: Without public notice, across the country, people confined in jails and mental...

Small arms of the Wehrmacht.
December 1, 2008... If any combatant nation of World War II could be said to have armed its military forces with a hodgepodge of small arms, it must be Germany. The German leaders never expected Britain and France to declare war over their invasion of Poland on...

Righets watch: use the first, lose the second.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
December 1, 2008... "... STRIPPED OF HIS SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS BECAUSE HE EXERCISED THOSE PROMISED IN THE FIRST." All he wanted was to talk to his representative about a political issue--something supposedly guaranteed by the First Amendment's right to...

Iron Duke seizes cocaine.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cocaine with an estimated street value of 40 million [pounds sterling] has been seized by Royal Navy warship HMS iron Duke during a major drug bust operation in the North Atlantic. Working with the US Coast...

US Navy rescues hiker from jungle.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
December 1, 2008... An Australian hiker is recovering in the intensive care unit of the Navy hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) after being rescued from a remote mountain range in Papua New Guinea last August 8. Debra Paver, a lawyer from Melbourne, had been...

Sniper ATP B-1B a combat first.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
December 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod-equipped B-1B Lancer had its first weapon employment in combat last August 4 successfully targeting enemy forces on the ground and dropping one guided bomb unit-38 in support of...

Bob Allen intercept gun case.(QUARTER MASTER)
December 1, 2008... Keeping guns from rusting under salt-air conditions is tough. In the Hemingway novel Islands in the Stream, the protagonist describes how he stores his Mannlicher rifle on his boat. He keeps it in a leather case lined with clipped sheep's wool...

Rapid rod.(QUARTER MASTER)
December 1, 2008... If you have ever been hunting and plugged or fouled the barrel of your long gun, you know it is quite the rodeo to find the right willow branch to shove the crud from your barrel. I recall in my younger days a ground hog expedition where I...

Operation Azada Wosa: the 24th MEU's progress in Garmsir, Afghanistan.(A GUNS MEDLEY: 24TH MEU PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
December 1, 2008... After arriving in mid-March 2008 the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit began planning counterinsurgency operations in the Garmsir District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. "The geography of Afghanistan is the geography of water. People live,...

Boy Scouts of America 100th Anniversary Commemorative Golden Boy.(NEW PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2008... From Henry Repeating Arms Co. "On my honor...." Remember the pledge? Now, after so many years, savor the words. "I will do my best...." Reflect on them. How many pledges of "honor" does a kid ever get to make? What would life be like if...

The SnapSlide holster.(NEW PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2008... From CrossBreed Holsters This new holster is a blending of the traditional slide-type holster and CrossBreed's hybrid concept of leather and kydex. Consisting of a hand-molded kydex scabbard attached to a flat leather backer and then...

Snow camo added to predator and rimfire packages.(NEW PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2008... From Savage Every year when the weather starts to cool down, the predator hunting starts to heat up. That's why Savage is expanding its very successful line of camouflage packages with the addition of snow camo, with the Model 10 Predator...

A pen which conveys strength and purpose.(NEW PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2008... From SureFire Here is a pen which belongs in the streets, on the battlefield, or in the boardroom. Here is a pen worthy of lofty thoughts and life preserving directives. Here is a pen for the common man and the celebrated leader. SureFire,...

The Lady Hawk.(NEW PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2008... From Nighthawk Custom This little sweetheart has all the classic features of the traditional 1911 we know and love, but is aimed at shooters who need something smaller and with less pronounced recoil. With a crowned barrel and chamfered...

Classic limited edition 1886 deluxe takedown rifle.(NEW PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2008... From Winchester In 1884, John M. Browning designed, and sold to Winchester, the 1886 lever action rifle. It was said that he received as much money for this design as existed in all of Ogden, Utah, at the time. Today, the legendary...

The 9.3x74R Uni 293-grain cartridge.(NEW PRODUCTS)
December 1, 2008... From RWS and distributed by Fiocchi of America Inc. With its long, sleek appearance, the RWS 9.3x74R cartridge has been called "one of the most elegant cartridges ever designed." Originally developed in Germany by RWS about 100-years ago,...

An August Christmas missive: and I don't mean like "inspiring," "eminent" or "majestic".(ODD ANGRY SHOT)
December 1, 2008... My wife, the Memsaab Helena, suggested I write about "most memorable Christmas gifts." For me, thinking of one was easy: It was a pair of socks. They were standard issue military boot socks; brand new, clean and dry in a plastic bag. No one had...

Our readers are special! In a .44 kind of way.(CAMPFIRE TALES)
December 1, 2008... I consider myself a connoisseur. Not of fine wines or delicacies, but rather of sixguns and cartridges. As a Cartridge Connoisseur I am one of the special group of sixgunners over the past century who truly appreciate that finest of all sixgun...