Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2022 i Gun Digest

Do you remember your first gun? Now, I’m not talking about the make and model … that’s almost irrelevant. I’m talking about really remembering that gun, such as the first time you wrapped your fingers around the forend, or exactly how you felt the first time you pressed your cheek against her stock. I consider myself lucky enough to have two. The first was a Daisy Eagle 0.177-caliber pellet gun that hung above the cash register at the local farm and fleet. Of course, none of that actually mattered then. It was black and sleek and scoped, and I was an 8-year-old boy who immediately fell in love. If I had to guess, Dad and I were in that store about once a month, and I’d go straight to her.…

“See, this one goes to 11.” Why don’t they just make 10 louder?” “This one goes to 11.” The classic exchange from This Is Spinal Tap has been referenced more times than you could count, but it immediately came to mind when I heard of the release of Alliant’s Reloder 15.5—“it’s 0.5 better.” But there’s more to this new powder than just modifying Reloder 15—which is incredibly useful in cartridges like the .17 Remington, 5.56mm NATO, .22-250 Remington, .308 Win-chester, .30-06 Springfield, .375 H&H Magnum, .404 Jeffery and .470 Nitro Express—and the new release needs a fair shake. TEMP THROUGH TIME Well, let’s start with its proper name: Reloder TS 15.5. The “TS” stands for Temperature Stable, and that’s been the buzzword among the latest powder releases. Exactly how instable…

The Swedish M96 Mauser rifle is one of those guns that just feels so damn right in the hands. It’s long but well balanced, not particularly heavy and, boy, is it accurate. The fit and finish of these guns is so good that it puts even the best modern rifles to shame. While I can go on and on about the grace and beauty of this rifle, what really intrigues me is the combination of rifle and cartridge … and just how influential it is for us today nearly 130 years after its official adoption. MODERN-DAY PROMETHEUS The first and most important discussion to be had is that of hindsight, which, as the adage goes, is always 20/20. In 2022, we like to think we have the very best of…

When it comes to single-action revolvers, there’s seldom a more accurate and ergonomic choice than those designed around the Bisley grip. While the common understanding is that this is a relatively unique and specialized design, perhaps a bit modern in style points, it dates back to the earlier years of the Colt SAA. Not only was this grip style offered by Colt from the factory, but it also eventually migrated to the revolvers of other firms and still exists today on top-shelf wheelguns. A GRIP ON HISTORY When shooters think of the Bisley grip style today, they usually do so from the point of view that it manages recoil better than the old “hogleg” or “plow handle” type found on the Colt Single Action army, its replicas and descendants,…

HISTORICAL NOTES Originated by the British firm Holland & Holland in 1912, the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum is one of the original belted, rimless, magnum-type cartridges—and it has been used as the basis for numerous wildcats … and most of the Weatherby cartridges. H&H furnished it in a magnum Mauser action, and Griffin & Howe chambered rifles for it beginning about 1926. The Western Cartridge Co. first offered it in 1925. At present, Federal, Remington and Winchester load the .375 H&H. The first commercial rifle of American make to chamber the round was the Model 70 Winchester in 1937. Weatherby rifles were at one time available in .375 H&H, as was the Remington Model 725 Kodiak. Currently, several American manufacturers list the .375 H&H as standard, including Ruger, Winchester…

01 Sauer Introduces 270th Anniversary Collection of Limited Edition Rifles When it comes to longevity, few gunmakers match J.P. Sauer and Sohn. For 270 years, the German manufacturer has turned out magnificent irons, more than one responsible for taking once-in-a-lifetime trophies. In celebration of this legacy, Sauer has offered up a special set of commutative rifles long on timeless elegance and maximum precision. In a nice twist, three of the rifles—100, 101 and 404—are chambered .270 Winchester in honor of the anniversary, while the 303 comes in .308 Winchester. Additionally, the guns come stocked in grade 5 and 7 walnut, and each features Sauer’s 270th-anniversary logo in black and gold on the grip cap. Furthermore, the grip cap features “Wild Man with a Club” verbiage. Only 10 sets of these…

The thing you need to keep in mind when discussing anything retro is this: There was a time when it wasn’t. Like that 1970 Mustang Mach 1 you’ve been eying on auction websites (don’t kid us, you have, haven’t you?), there was a time when that was the newest and hottest thing to be had. I know. I street-raced one (and a bunch of other now-classic iron back then), and yes, it was fun. In the early days of the AR-15, you could have anything you wanted as long as it was what Colt was making. So … not a lot of variety. But it’s a wide-open field today, because you can make not just a box-stock Colt SP1 1970, but also a limited-production—or even a prototype—if you want. Well,…

I was raised in a household where both my father and grandfather shot a .308 Winchester. Though my first centerfire rifle was a .30-30 Win., I soon graduated to the cartridge my forefathers embraced for its accuracy and striking power. Even in the early 1990s, the .308 Winchester was considered the “newfangled .30-06 replacement” in some circles, and the comparisons still run rampant. News flash: Both cartridges are amazing, and both are wonderfully effective. Despite the changing technology of the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, I was privileged to hunt with some gentlemen my grandfather’s age, who fielded all sorts of rifles and shotguns for our deer season each fall. For some reason, I was immediately drawn to the diversity of those cartridges, as well as the statistics associated with them.…

Walther released the PDP (Personal Defense Pistol) in early 2021 to replace the PPQ, and it offered several areas of improvement over the older handgun. Redesigned, aggressive grip texturing was added, along with enhanced slide serrations, ambidextrous controls and an optics-ready slide. The standard PDP is available with a few different barrel lengths and frame sizes, but Walther has just announced the line’s expansion with the PDP F-Series. The tagline of the PDP F-Series is “engineered for women’s hands,” and several changes have been made to make the pistol more usable by individuals with smaller hands and weaker grip strength. Like the original PDP, the F-Series is chambered for 9mm and available with a 3.5- or 4-inch barrel. Unlike the standard models, however, the F-Series isn’t available with 4.5- or…

The ability of a handgun to stop a threat is often debated. Most often these debates center around the cartridge the handgun is chambered for, and/or the type of ammunition being used. Though terminal performance is a very important part of the stopping equation, shot placement matters, too. In fact, disregarding extremes, shot placement might matter more than anything. The ability of a handgun to deliver the shot placement you desire depends on two things: accuracy and precision. An accurate handgun will place the bullets where you want them. The more precision a gun delivers, the smaller the target you will be able to hit. For example, if you can hit a softball at 10 yards every time with your handgun, it’s accurate. If you can hit a golf ball…

After my father was released from the Army hospital in Fort Pickett, Virginia, he used the G.I. Bill to go to college. He and my mother were married soon after, and Dad worked odd jobs to stay in school. They never had much money, but they loved to hunt, and grandpa gave them a Winchester Model 61. After Dad got his degree and began teaching, they finally saved up enough money to buy matching Winchester Model 12 shotguns. They were then, as they say, “living high on the hog.” When I finally came along, Mom and Dad still didn’t have a lot of money, but they did have that Model 61. When I wasn’t much more than stirrup high, I used that rifle to kill my first critter; I shot…

THINGS PEOPLE DON’T THINK ABOUT One reason shooting is such a great hobby is that it’s a tremendously good stress-reliever. A lot of people don’t understand how this works. They think that we go to the range, imagine our boss’ face on the picture downrange, and act out some homicidal rage by shooting it again and again. That’s not how it works at all. The reason shooting is such a good stress reliever is that, like sky-diving or rock climbing or SCUBA diving, you have to concentrate on what you’re doing to the point where all other BS is excluded from your mind. You must concentrate or you can get killed! Our focus on safe shooting banishes our thoughts of job stress, family problems or whether our team won the…