Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Gun Digest

Evolution can be a fickle mistress. I guess what I’m trying to say is that as a gun-loving, flag-waving, old-school patriot, there are things going on these days that are hard to swallow. If you’ve got at least one eye on the news, you know what I mean. It all reminds me of the chorus in “Old Hippie,” by the Bellamy Brothers: “Should he hang on to the old, should he grab on to the new?” Granted, there are a few things that I’ve not only come to accept, but I actually appreciate: I’m OK with trucks now having four doors (but you’ll never convince me that a real truck should have a sunroof). And, as far as I’m concerned, whoever first invented the electric knife sharpener and gas-powered log…

Loading magazines is a hassle. Loading high-capacity magazines, with few exceptions, is even more of a hassle. There are now machines, some even electrically powered, that load magazines. But they take up space, and they cost money. How to save your thumbs and not bust the bank? BEML to the rescue. A thumbs-up to the sweetest mag loader available. SO EASY The BEML, or Ben’s Easy Magazine Loader, is one of those “Why didn’t I think of that!” devices that I find fascinating. It’s dead simple: a handle with two parallel rods. To use it, you place the magazine on the bench, base down. Put a loaded round on the two rods. Use the rods to push the follower or top round down until there is clearance, and then slide…

For a supposedly obsolete, old firearm, the 1911 is well-represented on the silver screen. It always has been. However, what you see on the screen may or may not be a 1911 or 1911A1. It may also not be a .45 ACP. There are several reasons for that. OK, let’s set the stage. (See what I did there?) Our hero needs to prevail, and he needs to be properly armed for the climactic shoot-out. But that shootout—the part you see on the screen for a minute or even a few seconds—takes months of planning and practice. The director must lay it all out on what are called “storyboards,” which are drawn representations of how they want the camera to see the scene. Then, the producer plans the distances, timing and…

Listings are FREE! Simply go online to create or manage your Gun Show Listing. Login or Register to create an account – GunShows.GunDigestMedia.com ALABAMA Mar 21-22 AL, Hoover. Spring 2020 Gun Show. Hoover Met Complex, 100 Ben Chapman Drive. May 16-17 AL, Birmingham. Gun & Knife Show. Civic Center, 2100 Richard Arrington, Jr Blvd. Jul 18-19 AL, Hoover. Summer Gun Show. Hoover Met Complex, 100 Ben Chapman Drive. Oct 10-11 AL, Hoover. Fall Gun Show. Hoover Met Complex, 100 Ben Chapman Drive. Nov 28-29 AL, Birmingham. Gun & Knife Show. Civic Center, 2100 Richard Arrington, Jr Blvd. ARKANSAS Mar 28-29 AR, Conway. Gun Show. Expo Center, 2505 East Oak St. Jun 13-14 AR, Conway. Gun Show. Expo Center, 2505 East Oak St. Jul 11-12 AR, Mountain Home. Gun Show. Baxter…

HISTORICAL NOTES Developed and introduced by Savage Arms Co. for the Model 99 lever-action rifle in 1920, the .300 Savage was later chambered in Savage’s models 20 and 40 bolt-actions. The .300 Savage was intended as a cartridge that would work through medium-length actions and deliver ballistics similar to the .30-06. Remington chambered it in the Model 81 autoloader, 760 pump-action and 722 bolt-action. The cartridge achieved considerable popularity, but it has since lost out to the superior .308 Winchester. GENERAL COMMENTS The .300 Savage provided fans of lever-actions, pump-actions and semi-autos with performance close enough to the .30-06 to make rifles of this type useful for most American big game. The original factory load used a 150-grain bullet and matched the original .30-06 sporting load at 2,700 fps. If…

The firearms industry is inexorably tied to history. While we have some great, new names that are delivering some excellent products, names such as Winchester, Remington, Rigby, Mauser, Holland & Holland, Marlin and Savage have all been bringing us great firearms since the 19th century. Among those greats—quietly making superb firearms since 1865—is the German firm of Heym. Establishing its reputation by producing fine double-barreled shotguns and rifles and three-triggered drillings (Friedrich Wilhelm Heym actually patented the first hammerless drilling), Heym survived the tumult of a pair of world wars by making cuckoo clocks and slide rules in West Germany after 1946. Fast-forward to the end of the 20th century, and you’ll find Heym with a modern firearms facility in a united Germany and Thomas Wolkmann at the company’s helm,…

For a handloader, one of the beauties of a canister-grade powder is that it’s consistent (within reason) from decade to decade. Rifle or pistol, if the brand and type of powder, primer, and make and weight of bullet stay the same, the load should give consistent performance. I know loaders who reach for a recipe they’d cooked up during the late Carter administration, put it all together and head to the range or woods just as happy as can be. And frankly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that if it fits the bill and performs in a manner you’re happy with. But, as with any other aspect of the shooting industry, great pains have been taken to improve both powders and projectiles. For the first time in shooting…

After high school, Jack attended a four-year program in small-arms engineering and ballistic science at Lassen College in Susanville, California, at which he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1983. He then interned in engineering in firearms manufacturing for two full years to further his education before taking a job in a tool-and-die company in Los Angeles. In addition, he continued gunsmithing part time. He performed warranty work for a number of major manufacturers, including Smith & Wesson (during the heyday of metallic silhouette IHMSA), Colt, Remington, Browning and Winchester—to name but a few. His rifle-building education came from none other than Gil Van Horn and Ryan Breeding. He purchased Breeding’s shop and ran it for five years before opening a gun-smithing shop within The Gun Shop of Lancaster, California, for…

Because I’m both a handloader and an aficionado of metallic cartridges, the choice between buying a rifle or pistol chambered for one of the proven—and readily available—cartridges and one of the more obscure, yet “cool,” cartridges has been a struggle. Yes, ammunition for the .30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester and 7mm Remington Magnum are available at pretty much any store that sells ammunition, and they’re also very effective hunting cartridges, but it’s great fun to carry an equally effective, yet more obscure, cartridge you’re personally passionate about. If you’re on any form of social media where cartridges are discussed or perhaps one of the hunting forums, you’ve surely seen the fervor (and sometimes, venom) with which certain cartridges are attacked and/or defended. Shooters will insist that 100 fps or 100 ft-lb…

I would like to introduce you to a new defensive handgun. It’s the EDC X9S from Wilson Combat. Now, unless this is the first gun magazine you’ve ever read or your Internet is broken, you’ve surely heard of Wilson Combat. The company was founded by Bill Wilson, who started his gunsmithing business in 1977 in the back of his family’s jewelry store in Berryville, Arkansas. Wilson Combat has now grown to become one of the largest employers in the area and a premier manufacturer of what many consider the best custom 1911s in the world. Younger shooters might not know Bill Wilson’s history. In addition to building an impeccable reputation as a gunsmith, he was the Pistolsmith of the Year in 2002, a top-level IPSC competitor, former director of USPSA…

01 Uberti USA Courteney Stalking Rifle Uberti pays tribute to Frederick Courteney Selous, a giant among hunters, with a stunning throwback rifle he would’ve been proud to shoulder. The 7.1-pound, 24-inch Courteney Stalking Rifle is built around the tough-as-nails 1895 falling-block action and comes chambered in .303 British. Sure, .303 isn’t exactly falling off the shelves nowadays, but it goes well with the sweeping and clean English lines of the Uberti rifle. This includes an African hardwood-tipped forend that gives the single-shot a unique look and stays true to the rifle’s inspiration. At the same tick, Uberti includes modern amenities that contemporary hunters find a must, such as a machined base that accepts Weaver-style scope rings. MSRP: $1,729 02 Marlin 1894 Dark Series Lever-action rifles are enduring, but…

The CZ-75 pistol came about because the Czechs were trying to do the right thing. Working within the Warsaw Pact, they were using their experience as firearms designers and manufacturers to make what the Soviet system wanted. Alas, what the Russians wanted (which was what really mattered) were clones of their issue firearms, the AK-47 and Makarov. The Czechs couldn’t earn hard currency selling the same firearms the Russians were giving away, so they had to make different, market-desired firearms. And that’s how the world got a high-capacity, double-stack 9mm pistol with a traditional double-action trigger ... and the world’s sexiest grip. No, really; the grip of the CZ-75 (first offered in that year, of course) was so ergonomic that no less than Jeff Cooper—of Gunsite and the 1911—liked it.…

“God created men, but Sam Colt made them equal.” That adage was more of a premonition than a witty saying. When you look into it, what Colt did with its original revolvers was to offer the individual the first widely produced and available compact repeater for means of defense and offense. It could be said that Colt designed the gun that popularized handguns in general. The SAA is still produced today by Colt. It’s difficult to get this gun brand-new from the factory, but there are many thousands of fine examples available out in the “wild.” There are three main generations of these revolvers. First-generation Colts entered production in 1873 and were manufactured right up until the beginning of World War II in 1941. These guns are some of the…

As a teen enjoying the fur market spike of the late 1970s and early ’80s, pockets bursting with trapping cash, I coveted a Remington XP-100 chambered in the enticingly labeled .221 Remington Fireball (RFB). But alas, my stepfather, a three-tour Vietnam veteran with conspicuous PTSD, forbade me to own any handgun, no matter how rifle-like. He only grudgingly allowed long-arms in his house—and only after I’d been trained to shoot military style (assuring all potential fun was removed) and had passed a New Mexico hunter’s safety program. I left home at 17, the XP-100 still in my thoughts, but I was too busy making a living and attending university to run one down. By the time I graduated from college and climbed out of abject poverty, original XPs chambered in…