Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i Gun Digest

As I write this from the well-armed confines of my work-from-home desk, the number of confirmed corona virus cases in the United States sits at approximately 100 people. By the time these words hit the printer, those stats will be obsolete. And, by the time you read this Gun Digest issue? Well, that’s anyone’s guess … and that’s exactly why this home-defense issue is so perfectly timed. Oddly enough, it’s times of large-scale “scare” that make people think smaller than normal, redirecting global focus inward toward the four walls we call “home,” along with the invaluable people who reside within them. The bare Costco shelves that once held toilet paper and bulk rice prove that people are thinking small right now. As I talked with my wife a few evenings…

In the old days, you’d see a lot of really ugly ARs. (One might say there are ugly ones today, but that’s another discussion.) One mar on an AR build was the various and sundry scratches you’d see from someone trying to install the bolt hold-open roll pin. Basically, you’re trying to use a part to compress a spring that’s driven by a plunger, line up the hole in the part and then drive a small roll pin through the holes—all with a small, lightweight aluminum part you can’t easily hold. Back when I was early to wrenching on ARs, I had an elaborate assemblage of old towels in a vice that would hold the receiver, along with small blocks, with masking tape to hold the parts in place ...…

Listings are FREE! Simply go online to create or manage your Gun Show Listing. Login or Register to create an account – GunShows.GunDigestMedia.com APRIL Apr 3-5 MI, Lansing. Gun & Knife Show - 3 Days. Ingham Cty. Fairgrounds, 700 E Ash St, US 127 to Kipp Rd. E. SH: Fri. 2pm-7pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 10am-3pm. A: $6. T: 440. F: $55. Sport Show Promotions. PO Box 404, Mason, MI 48854. PH: 517-676-4160. www. migunshows.com. Apr 4-5 GA, Clarksville. Gun Shows of the South. Habersham County Fairgrounds, 4235 Toccoa Hwy. SH: Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 10am-4pm. F: . RK Shows. PO Box 334, Manchester, IA 52057. PH: 563-927-8176. www.rkshows.com. Apr 4-5 IN, Kokomo. Gun & Knife Show. Kokomo Event Center, 1500 N Reed Road. SH: Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-3pm. A: $5. F:…

HISTORICAL NOTES The .32 Smith & Wesson Long cartridge was developed for the Smith & Wesson First Model solid-framed, hand-ejector revolver, which was introduced in 1903. The same cartridge, loaded with a flat-nose bullet, is called the .32 Colt New Police. Colt, Harrington & Richardson, Iver Johnson and Smith & Wesson were the principal companies making revolvers in this chambering in the United States. Many Spanish and other European revolvers, such as the Bayard and Pickert, chambered the round. In Europe, it had not been as widely used as the shorter .32 S&W until some ISU centerfire target-shooters discovered the .32 S&W Long. Now, there are several high-class European target auto-loaders for the wadcutter loading of this cartridge. GENERAL COMMENTS The .32 S&W Long was the smallest revolver cartridge deemed…

Production, semi-production, custom shop. We have several choices when it comes to purchasing a firearm. Most of the time, I speak about production- or semi-production-class rifles—products you’ll find on the shelf locally. Shooters like to be hands on, so buying rifles sight unseen can be a daunting task. I’ve been very fortunate in my shooting career to work with some of the very best custom gunsmiths. The custom rifles in my collection have a lot of personality and some deep connections behind them. GAIN-TWIST BARRELS Today, I still start with a barreled action—it’s the heart of every rifle. My first step is to decide what caliber I want. Then, I look to Bartlein barrels to customize the twist rate. Today, I’m entirely sold on this company’s gain-twist barrels. Bartlein, because…

Humans tend to make things more complicated than they really are. This is probably because in this modern world, we have way too much time to think about stuff. Back when work and chores consumed almost all our waking hours, we didn’t have time to deliberate every nuance of personal protection. Anyone who felt he needed a handgun for protection picked one he liked, carried it with him every day and then put it on his nightstand when he went to bed. Modern practitioners of personal protection would almost surely consider this approach shortsighted and argue that a home-defense gun is a completely different animal than a carry gun. From a tactical perspective, there might be some truth to that—but from a practical standpoint, it could be a bad idea.…

One of the “evergreen” tactical problems that some obsess over is how and when to do a proper reload. Entire book chapters have been devoted to this subject, as well as countless magazine articles. After all, it would be most embarrassing to be standing at the pearly gates, trying to explain to Saint Peter, “Well, I would have done all right if I’d just had another round or two to use.” The mockery you’d receive from those behind you in line who “knew” they would have done better might be unbearable. (Do they issue halos with an asterisk in heaven?) Here’s a solution: Have enough ammo in your pistol so that you don’t need to reload. Instead of six, seven or 10 rounds, how about 17 rounds—or even more—and in…

Some firearms have a utilitarian look; some can be classified as beautiful; some look plain vanilla; and some firearms are flat out odd-looking. The PM-63 falls right into this last category of very odd-looking firearms. Nevertheless, although it might look pretty weird, it’s a very well-thought-out design, and it reflects solid build quality for that era, especially for a Combloc weapon. But the select-fire PM-63 has been out of the reach of most Americans ... until now. Thanks to Pioneer Arms, it’s been redesigned as the PM-63C—a civilian-legal, semi-auto pistol. THE PM-63 DESIGN The original PM-63 is a Polish-designed submachine gun (SMG) that’s blowback operated, hammer fired and select fire, with a full-auto rate of fire of 650 rounds per minute. It’s chambered in 9x18mm Makarov. Officially named the “Pistolet…

Would You .22? I just read the online article, “.22 LR for Self-Defense: Good, Bad or Crazy?” I have two 9mm pistols and a .45 ACP. I also have a Taurus TX .22 LR. With four mags of 16 rounds each, I can easily carry 64 rounds—which is very light compared to 64 rounds of 9mm! While I normally carry one of the 9mms, at self-defense distance, 16 rounds loaded ain’t no joke. I don’t advocate the .22 LR for a personal EDC, but if I shoot you with one—if nothing else—I’ll get your attention! Stan Robertson, online comment Stan, it’s hard to argue against anyone’s ability to carry a whole lot of .22 LR ammo with very little discomfort. But, as you already know, terminal performance of the .22…

I’ll admit that I quite often utilize Mexican carry. In case you don’t know what “Mexican carry” is, please don’t speculate that it’s a racist term conjured up by someone with “TDS” (Trump Derangement Syndrome) to describe carrying illegals back across the border. Mexican carry refers to the practice of carrying a handgun in your waistband without a holster. When Mexican citizens were stripped of their right to carry firearms, they began to carry handguns without the aid of gun belts and holsters. If approached by any federales, they could ditch their pistols, and there were no holsters to signify they’d ever had one. The practice is very similar to the OSS string holster, for which operatives in France during World War II would take a loop of string—or a…

Firearms training … there is life away from live fire and the shooting range. In fact, if you get to the brass tacks of the matter, the work you put into sharpening your skills with nothing more than your gun and an empty chamber might do to get you down the road to mastery than anything else. Look at some of the greatest gun gurus in the history of firearms, and you see that each had a rigorous and uncompromising dry-fire regime; it didn’t matter their pursuit. Why is pulling the trigger on an empty firearm so fruitful? One word: repetition. Excelling at a physical endeavor—from a wrist shot in hockey to a bull’s-eye in darts—requires doing it right over and over and over again (and again). Shooting is no…

As someone who owns a handgun and is willing to take action to defend you and yours, you’ve certainly given thought to the possible consequences of firing that gun within your home. There are many premium handgun bullet designs that will give fantastic performance through all sorts of media. But what happens in the event of a missed shot in the home? I was intrigued to see what these premium bullets would do in a few “real-world” environments, such as an interior wall with studs or an exterior wall with drywall, fiberglass insulation and plywood exterior. • Do certain materials cause different behavior? • Will the premium bullets whistle through a door with enough apparent energy to wound, maim or kill? • What will it take to stop a handgun bullet? • What…

What image pops into your mind? Cowboys? Gunslingers? Your favorite Western film? Shooting wadcutters in a bull’s-eye match? Hunting game at bowhunting distances? The vast majority of people don’t think of the 9x19mm cartridge when talking about revolvers. It offers some unique angles for revolver fans ... and some deficiencies as well. 9MM REVOLVERS VS. SEMI-AUTOMATICS There are very few revolver designs that are truly optimized for the 9mm cartridge. Of course, there have been many attempts at viability. But, for the most part, revolvers use rimmed cartridges. The frame size, barrel length and many other small design elements give a heavy preference to the use of a semi-automatic when looking at small, rimless cartridges such as the 9mm. In general, revolvers have never really been designed to use rimless…