Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2017 i Gun Digest

Admit it: There’s something soothing about the crack of a rimfire and the distinct odor of burned rimfire powder. It’s a shooter’s version of chicken soup, aromatherapy and a good book next to a cozy fire all rolled into one. Good news. The world just became a better place for those of us who love the sounds and smells of a rim-fire. Gun makers, ammo manufacturers and companies that make accessories for those small calibers have introduced a variety of products that will stir the soul of any rimfire enthusiast. 1 BROWNING BLACK LABEL 1911-22 Who doesn’t love the look and feel of the iconic 1911? With the release of Browning’s new Black Label 1911-22, shooters everywhere will have another reason to love the popular style. Chambered in .22 LR,…

It was in 2002 that the Hornady folks set the rim-fire world on its ear with the introduction of the .17 HMR (Hornady Magnum Rimfire), a cartridge based on the .22 WMR (Winchester Magnum Rimfire) case necked down to .17-caliber. Launching a diminutive 17-grain V-Max poly-tipped bullet at 2,550 fps, it opened a whole new world of possibilities for rimfire hunters and shooters. Actually, the development of a tipped jacketed bullet that wasn’t much bigger than a grain of rice was an achievement in and of itself, let alone launching it at centerfire-cartridge velocity. To produce that kind of speed, the little bottlenecked cartridge operated at a MABP (Maximum Average Breech Pressure) of 26,000 psi, only 2,000 more than that generated by the .22 LR and the .22 WMR. With…

Replaceable-blade knives have been around for a while now, but new for 2017 from Browning knives is a replaceable-blade knife that features ceramic rather than metal blades. While ceramic knives have been a more common feature of late in many kitchens, Browning is one of the first hunting knife companies to bring them to the outdoor world. The new Speed Load Ceramic comes with three different styles of inserts—drop point, gut hook and caper. And if you don’t happen to have a ceramic insert on hand or you want to do some heavy-duty box cutting, the Speed Load knife is also compatible with standard-size razor/utility knife inserts. The advantage of ceramic is that it keeps an edge longer than many metal counterparts, is rust-free and is extremely lightweight. As Russ…

Older shooters remember when Sturm, Ruger & Company appeared, and how its reputation grew as a maker of some of the most robust, yet reasonably priced, firearms available. The first offering was a .22 Long Rifle semi-automatic handgun, which has evolved from the Standard model to the newly introduced Mark IV. After WWII, Bill Ruger decided he wanted to build a .22 Long Rifle semi-automatic pistol of his own design, and about that time he met Alexander Sturm, a young man who had access to the capital needed. Ruger told Sturm about his pistol idea, and in 1949, with Sturm’s money, created Sturm, Ruger & Company. In a small building they called the “red barn” in Southport, Connecticut, they produced 2,500 Standard model pistols during their first year in business.…

It was a warm October afternoon, and my Dad was sitting maybe 10 or 12 yards away, on a smooth oak stump, looking up. The subtle, furtive motion of his index finger directed me to look up into the big oak we were watching, and I could see the flicking tail of the gray squirrel. Within seconds, a fuzzy head appeared, replete with yellowing chompers, and twitching whiskers. The younger me slowly raised the rifle, aligning the iron sights just as Ol’ Grumpy Pants had so often instructed, and squeezed, not jerked, the trigger. The resulting report and the sound of something landing in the freshly fallen leaves were music to my ears, for something monumental had just happened: I became a hunter. I still have that .22 LR; it…

There we sat, a group of gun writers perched on a rolling South Dakota hill on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, blasting away at prairie dogs with a host of new Savage rifles. The summer sun baked down on us and the barrels ran hot, but none of it was enough to deter us from slinging round after round at the hundreds of dogs scattered before us. We drank from giant, frozen jugs of ice melted in the sunlight, quenching our thirst but not our appetite for more shooting. It was on that trip that I inherited a fondness for Savage’s new B.Mag, a bolt-action rifle chambered in .17 Winchester Super Magnum (WSM). At first glance it’s just another black, synthetic-stocked rifle, but upon closer inspection, there are plenty of features…

“EVERYONE HAS TO START SOMEWHERE.” This is a phrase that’s commonly used in a variety of situations, but one that also has a great deal of relevance to shooters. Most of us didn’t begin our shooting careers firing large-caliber hunting rifles, 12-gauge shotguns or full-size centerfire handguns—at least hopefully not. More often than not, we started small, some with rimfire rifles and handguns. And of course, some start even smaller, plinking aluminum cans or hunting backyard squirrels with air guns. In many, if not most, cases these air guns are simple break-barrel spring-piston designs or CO2 powered and shoot .177- or .22-caliber pellets. These tools are plenty effective for plinking or hunting small-game animals that are stationary: squirrels on the ground, birds on a tree branch, etc. But what if…