Guns Magazine articles from March 2008

Guns Magazine archives from March 2008

Ruger a blast.(CROSSFIRE LETTERS TO GUNS)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I was firing my Ruger Vaquero .44 Magnum with a 200-grain load and having my picture taken. This picture was the second attempt at the photo and my last round of .44 Magnum for the day. The photo was taken by Christopher McGovern, no special...

Get real.(CROSSFIRE LETTERS TO GUNS)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Of all the sporting magazines I get, I a most anxiously await the arrival of GUNS. In any issue, there is a smattering of BS fostered by your know-it-all writers. That is OK, everyone has an ego, but your January 2008 issue confuses me as to...

Young readers.(CROSSFIRE LETTERS TO GUNS)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... I thought I'd share this picture. My son and I were enjoying the latest GUNS Magazine issue a few evenings ago. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tom Ropers via e-mail

No difference?(CROSSFIRE LETTERS TO GUNS)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2008... Once again, I'm curious what any $4,000 or $5,000 .30-06 can do any better than the Model 70 Featherweight I purchased new in 1955 for $125. With a Weaver K4 scope, it does the job as well as I can. My apparently otherwise mature 65-year old...

Set goals, do them: it's later than you think.(RIFLE MAN)
March 1, 2008... Weatherby recently introduced a new interactive Web site called Weatherby Nation (www.weatherbynation.com). The value of this site to Weatherby, of course, is the opportunity to get information and feedback from hunters and shooters--what they...

New ammo for US military service pistols? 9mm ball ammo hasn't been cutting it in Iraq and Afghanistan. A new military load from federal may change that.(HANDGUNS)
March 1, 2008... For more than a 100 years, 9mm ball ammunition has proven itself to be an impotent man-stopper on the battlefield and, for that matter, on the street. It tends to punch deep, narrow, puckered wounds like an ice pick. People die from it, but...

Hastings' smokin' 20-gauge slug: who needs a rifle?(SHOT GUNNER)
March 1, 2008... By any measure, Hastings' new slug load for the 20-gauge is big news. It is long, the case measuring 3-1/2" and it is heavy, weighing 15/16 ounce. It is fast, averaging 2,070 fps. And it packs more energy at the muzzle than a .300 Winchester...

Understanding and choosing optics part 1: some simple things you can do when choosing your next optic.(OPTICS)
March 1, 2008... I have been evaluating and writing about glass for close to 20 years. As an engineer, the complexity of the physics and the beauty of the result fascinate me. The question is: What are the factors upon which you make your choice? Certainly...

Make your own medicine: will Clint make match .308 ammo ... or blow himself up?(RANGING SHOTS[TM])
March 1, 2008... I Wish I May, I Wish I Might? The goal, or what I was hoping for, was to replicate as closely as I could Federal 168-grain .308 Match ammunition. Although considered by some to be archaic--some people say I am too--I like the Federal 308M...

Guns I'll never shoot again! Not for the reasons you might think.(MONTANA MUSINGS)
March 1, 2008... When I was younger and dumber there was nothing I wouldn't shoot. Despite a total lack of elephants everywhere I've lived, if someone stuck a .458 Winchester, .416 Rigby, .470 Nitro, or .375 H&H in my hands, I would happily pull the trigger....

Handloading for precision part 1: squeezing the last extra bit of accuracy from your rifle.(HAND LOADING)
March 1, 2008... There are many ways to improve the accuracy of a centerfire rifle, such as bedding, trigger tuning and myriad others. But as much as all this is done, all barrels still have their own harmonic signature, and ammunition has to be tuned to that...

The last Lee-Enfields: India's 2A/2A1.(SURPLUS LOCKER[TM])
March 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] First adopted by the US Army as the Remington-Lee Model 1879, production of service rifles built around the Lee platform came to an end in 1974 when the last of India's Model 2A1 was completed at the Ishapore...

DS ARMS TP9: is this the ultimate truck/home/tactical pistol?(OUT OF THE BOX[TM])
March 1, 2008... I've always been pretty much of a traditionalist leaning towards the true classic sixguns, semiautomatics and rifles. One might say change is a word I am not real fond of, however our editor keeps opening new windows of opportunity and...

Para-ordnance LDA .45 ACP: could this "light double action" make John eschew his beloved sixguns?(OUT OF THE BOX[TM])
March 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the "problems" associated with the 1911 from the very beginning has been how it should be carried. Choices include hammer down on an empty chamber, which of course requires racking the slide to chamber a...

Bren 10.(QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS)
March 1, 2008... Q: I am a 14-year veteran of a local police department (currently rank of Sergeant and all 14 years on patrol) in North Carolina, which puts me as a teenager in the 1980s. Although my wife says I am sad, in my opinion, then and now, the...

Group drift.(QUESTION AND ANSWERS)
March 1, 2008... Q: I have a question about the mount for the Swiss K-31 produced by St. Marie Holt Bodinson wrote about in the October 2007 issue. Since the mount places the scope off-center of the bore, how difficult is it to zero for windage? A: Zeroing...

Come aboard the Marlin Express: the levergun revolution continues.
March 1, 2008... For more than 115 years, after the adoption of the .30 Jack O'Connor, Warren Page, Pete Brown, Robert Ruark and their colleagues provided me with many pleasant hours of reading each month. I was going to hunt the world with every type of...

Swift response pistol: Les Baer's SRP combines accuracy with reliability--something its maker is famous for.
March 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Les Baer SRP (Swift Response Pistol) rests in an unpretentious shipping box marked "CHROME / 1-1/2" GROUPS / EXTENDED SAFETY." (The "1-1/2" group" part catches your attention even faster than "CHROME" in all...

Shootoff: Mossberg 100 ATR vs savage 116.
March 1, 2008... What better way to celebrate a high school graduation than with a central coast trophy pig hunt? My friend Bill s twins, Doug and Steve, were quite eager and have been chomping at the bit for the proffered hunt with veteran guide Tom Willoughby...

What guns really won the west?
March 1, 2008... Winchester used to advertise that the Model 1873 levergun won the West, which actually didn't see wide distribution until a couple of years later. Disputing the claim, we Sharps shooters long ago coined the comeback, "Sharps made the West safe...

Novesken4 light carbine: this short-barreled carbine works.
March 1, 2008... I am constantly answering inquires from students and readers asking, "Which AR rifle should I buy and what should be put on the rifle to make it serviceable for home defense?" There is, of course, a group of people reading this who staunchly...

The hallowed halls of learning.(RIGHTS WATCH)
March 1, 2008... "You don't like the fact you can't have a gun on your college campus? Drop out of school." These were the words of Brady Center Communications Director Peter Harem, reacting to Students for Concealed Carry on Campus wearing empty holsters...

Navy SEAL awarded Medal of Honor.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The family of US Navy SEAL, Lt. Michael P. Murphy was presented the Medal of Honor, awarded posthumously, during a ceremony at the White House last October. The Medal of Honor is the nation's highest military...

New mobile gun system.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Soldiers are training and testing a new Stryker mounted cannon at Fort Wainwright this month. The 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, is the third Stryker brigade to receive the M-1128 Mobile...

Deadly deer disease.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... Recent tests for insect-borne Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in several Albany County, New York, whitetailed deer have come back positive, marking the first confirmed cases of the deadly disease in New York. Several other states have...

Olin sells metals division.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... Olin Corp. (NYSE:OLN), makers of Winchester Ammunition, announced it signed a definitive agreement to sell its metals business to a subsidiary of Global Brass and Copper Holdings Inc., an affiliate of KPS Capital Partners LE for a purchase...

Beretta honors police.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... Beretta last week announced Project Allegiance, a new program created to honor the commitment of law enforcement officers across America. Through the program, which takes effect Dec. 1, Beretta will offer active-duty law enforcement officers...

Parliament's gun range doomed?(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... British lawmakers are calling for the replacement of Parliament's shooting gallery with a swimming pool, the Associated Press reports. They said the move would be aimed at helping members of Parliament get into shape. A decision to close the...

Pirates attack.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... The crew of a North Korean cargo vessel, Dai Hong Dan, regained control of their vessel last October after fighting with the pirates who had taken over their ship the day before. The crew was able to control the steering and engineering spaces...

A-square moving to SD and Wyoming.(VIEWS, NEWS AND REVIEWS)
March 1, 2008... Firearm and ammunition manufacturer A-Square will move its non-ferrous division to Chamberlain, SD, Gov. Mike Rounds announced last week. The company will manufacture bullets, cartridge cases and sporting ammunition in Chamberlain, which will...

Slip-on decelerators.(Quarter master)
March 1, 2008... Earlier last year, Lyman's Pachmayr division offered a new recoil pad now part of the essentials found in my working pickup. Pachmayr has been offering items to make a shooter's life more pleasant for many years and one of the best things they...

Freedom arms adjustable front sights.(Quarter master)
March 1, 2008... "Why don't they sight in fixed-sighted revolvers at the factory?" The answer is they do and they don't, they can and they can't. Doesn't make much sense does it? The reason is quite simple. If I sight in a sixgun for my eyes, my hands, my load,...

Birchwood Casey's barrel cots.(Quarter master)
March 1, 2008... The hunting season is a spectacular time of year to be out and about, but the weather can be fickle. Rain and even snow are frequently encountered, yet those very weather conditions can prove to be some of the most productive times to be...

Extreme shock ammunition.(Quarter master)
March 1, 2008... My two main house guns, those most likely to be at instant reach whether I am awake or sleeping are both semiautos loaded with jacketed hollowpoints. Next to the chair where I spend a lot of time reading is a favorite Smith & Wesson 3913. I...

10X Dominator.(Quarter master)
March 1, 2008... I am an anomaly of sorts. I teach the use of tactical illumination tools, but on the other hand, prefer not to use them if possible. I prefer not to use illumination tools because the light may draw fire in tactical environments, yet I choose...

Tab rifle cover and shooting mat.(Quarter master)
March 1, 2008... I am not much on fancy gear. I usually default to the stuff that functions and serves an existing purpose. I recently had a long-range rifle school here at TR in Oregon and was fortunate to meet a young man named Tony Burkes of Houston, Texas....

Jim Cirillo, rest in peace: his gunfight experience enhanced survival training for cops and armed citizens alike. Jim will be missed.(A GUNS MEDLEY)
March 1, 2008... It was early morning in Northern California, where I had come to review a homicide scene for a court case, when my cell phone rang. It was Jim Cirillo, Jr. "Mas," he began, "I have bad news... " His dad, Jim Cirillo, the living legend of...

AR-15/M-16 Armorer's wrench.(NEW PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2008... From GUNTEC USA This wench combines many of the functions necessary for anyone building or repairing an AR-15. It is a two sided implement. At one end, it attaches either multi-point or peg-style barrel nuts on barrels up to 1" in...

Speedbead.(NEW PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2008... From Burris Burris Company introduces the Speedbead, a red dot reflex sight system that provides wing shooters the advantages of optics without the height, weight or loss of balance normally associated with adding optics to shotguns. This...

Quickrange.(NEW PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2008... From Advanced Interactive Systems For firearms professionals in need of an improved capacity to provide live-fire training, Advanced Interactive offers outstanding value for state-of-the-art shooting ranges. Quickrange is a complete full...

The tipped TSX.(NEW PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2008... From Barnes Bullets Since its introduction in 2003, Barnes' Triple-Shock X-Bullet has earned a reputation as "the perfect hunting bullet." Now, Barnes has improved on perfection by adding a streamlined polymer tip. The new Tipped TSX...

The new 5th edition shotshell reloading handbook.(NEW PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2008... From Lyman Products Lyman products--the shooting sport's leading publisher of re-loading handbooks--has introduced the 5th Edition of their popular Shotshell Reloading Handbook. As with all earlier Lyman Handbooks, this new publication...

The new Kydex sheet paddle holster, style D94 DS.(NEW PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2008... From DeSantis Holster and Leather Goods This model is made entirely from KYDEX sheet and is an exceptionally light and compact holster. Minimal friction between gun and holster results in a smooth draw. The paddle is adjustable for forward...

Built to survive: Verizon combines phone, camera and GPS in one small, tough package.(SPOTLIGHT)
March 1, 2008... Yeah, I'm really hard on cell phones. It's not my fault the average cell phone is not made to withstand the rigors of hunting, camping and the occasional accidental dip in the pool. Having maxed out my policy when it comes to replacing...

True confessions: the horror and the heresy.(ODD ANGRY SHOT)
March 1, 2008... It happened again, and I can't stand it anymore--the muffled whispers and furtive pointing; the sidelong slitty-eyed glances and snide snickering. I have to confess; get it off my chest and out in the open: I don't shoot by The Book! I was...

Of heroes and helpers: some folks who make the world go 'round a little better.(CAMPFIRE TALES)
March 1, 2008... I gave up regularly watching the alphabet channels for news a long time ago. Real news, so important to the country especially during WWII, has become entertainment. I realized this some time ago. In fact it was the day the final findings on...