Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2023 i Gun Digest

I was recently looking back on last year’s February issue, in which my First Shot editorial was titled “Trickle-Down Ammo-Nomics,” detailing my continued frustration with our collective inability to find ammo in any reasonable quantities. In the closing paragraph, I wrote, “I hope to hell I can look back a full year from now and write, ‘Well, that really sucked … and I’m glad it’s over.’” Well, it’s been a full year, and it’s finally over. Kinda. As I’m sure you’ve also noticed, I don’t hear the phrase “supply chain issues” near as often as I did 12 months ago, and I can go to most any place of business that sells ammo and find—more or less—what I’m looking for. That’s all good news. But holy Hanna has ammo gotten…

For a new riflescope to be successful these days, it must do one of two things: introduce original features and capabilities … or provide increased performance at a lower cost. Vortex Optics’ new Strike Eagle 3-18x44mm FFP delivers the latter—well. It’s not the first 3-18x44mm FFP scope on the market, but it certainly might be the best for the money. BUILT FOR SPEED The Strike Eagle’s features are sure to make it popular with competitors, especially those who participate in midto long-range dynamic target shooting. This is partly thanks to the scope’s middle ground magnification range of 3-18x, but another reason is its size. Designed to be versatile and lightweight, the new Strike Eagle is shorter and lighter than its 5-25x56mm cousin, with its 13.3-inch length and weight of 27.3…

The saying goes: Want to know what it’s like to own a boat? Tear up hundred-dollar bills under a cold shower. Something might hold analogous for long-range shooting. Maybe, rip up fifties while a buddy hits you in the shoulder. Luckily for boat and precision-shooting freaks, the payoffs of endorphins and bragging rights are well worth the physical and fiduciary discomfort. And for the latter category, when it comes to decimating legal tender, marksmen are more likely to get away disembodying Jacksons as opposed to Grants nowadays. Still white-hot popular, the laws of supply and demand have bent long-range shooting’s price curve mercifully in the shooter’s favor. Case in point, the Mossberg Patriot LR Tactical. Designed as an everyman’s precision iron—with an MSRP of $1,085—the rifle looks to set more…

When I was learning gunsmithing, there weren’t a lot of specialty tools to be bought. You had to make them. (Yes, I walked uphill through the snow barefoot to school. And back.) When the Glock came out, we all had to learn how to work on them with one hand, while holding it with the other. Well, no more: Midwest Industries has a new Glock maintenance block. I didn’t realize such a thing didn’t exist until one arrived, and then I thought, How had this not been made earlier? The answer was simple: We were used to working on Glock pistols, basically in our laps, all this time. So, what changed? Pistol-caliber carbines. Most of them are based on the AR-15, and a lot of those are designed to feed…

01 Citadel Levtec .410 Up to this point, Citadel’s handy leveraction carbine family has been composed of pistol-caliber offerings. Recently, this has changed in a significant way. Moving the Levtec series into the scattergun realm, the company unveiled a .410 mode of the handy little iron. In addition to being a nifty option for general shooting, the 18-inch barreled Levtec has practical applications—be it self-defense or a fast-shooting turkey gun. Furthermore, the lever gun comes with some desirable features, including a lightweight synthetic stock, oversized Model 92-style loop, modular M-Lok forend and a Picatinny rail on the receiver. Boasting a 4+1 capacity, the carbine should prove a unique addition to most shooters’ collections. MSRP: $899 02 Savage Arms 110 Carbon Predator The Savage 110 Carbon Predator gets its name from…

Nosler is a company living in two eras simultaneously. It has its roots in the very dawn of the premium bullet market, with John Nosler’s development of the famous Partition bullet back in the 1940s, as well as the Ballistic Tip, which helped usher in the era of the polymer-tipped bullets we take for granted today. At the same time, Nosler has become a company that looks forward, in their line of proprietary cartridges and modern long-range projectiles as well as their rifle division. Both ends of the equation are equally valuable, as a company that doesn’t grow will invariably wither. Nosler has had much success with their M48 rifle—a unique push-feed design that has proven to be very accurate—and followed that rifle up with the M21. Using a receiver…

When I was still a teenager, I owned a Remington Model 700 chambered for the .270 Winchester. It was the rifle I learned to handload for, and I once fired a one-hole group at 100 yards with it. I carried that target around in my wallet so I could brag—with evidence—when I needed to. I figured it was a pretty good shooting rifle and that I was a pretty good shot. I just didn’t know what I didn’t know. A one-hole group that’s so rare you carry the target around with you is not representative—it’s an example of one. And when it comes to measuring precision or skill, examples of one mean nothing. RIFLE PRECISION It’s not uncommon to hear shooters proclaim they have a 1 MOA rifle. But just…

About 11 years ago, I met a young man in Texas who’d designed a minimalist holster. The heart of the design was a polymer rod that inserted into the handgun’s muzzle and a clip that allowed the handgun to be carried inside the waistband. It was revolutionary because it was incredibly small and lightweight, but also because it was caliber specific as opposed to gun specific. Some poo-pooed the concept because the trigger guard wasn’t covered, and later models addressed this. However, worn and used correctly, this was a non-issue. Justin Sitz with Versacarry took this unique gun-toting device and built a business around it. In essence, Sitz reached out and grabbed the American dream. Now, his Texas-based company employees 50 hard-working Americans, and they have vastly increased the types…

Each step in the process of reloading a metallic cartridge is important, from the proper sizing of the case, to seating your primer, to precisely weighing your powder charge. Seating the bullet into the case is the culmination of the reloading process; a crimp may be applied afterward, but that’s optional in some instances and often a rarity among the cartridges designed for long-range shooting. And, make no bones about it: Our bullets are getting longer, the ogives are growing sleeker and the older round-nose bullets are becoming increasingly diffcult to find. My first handloads were designed to feed my then-new Ruger Model 77 MK II in .308 Winchester. Because my dad—dear Ol’ Grumpy Pants—had been shooting his .308 Winchester since he came out of boot camp in 1968, there…

I was a bit shocked when I saw the announcement of the Equalizer pistol from Smith & Wesson. This is partly because Smith & Wesson already has a diverse collection of respected self-defense handguns. It’s also partly because just last year they launched a brand-new self-defense handgun called the CSX. But at the same time, this new pistol is just a perfect example of American gunmaking at its best. Smith & Wesson’s new Equalizer pistol epitomizes the refinement of design to best interface with customers. NOTABLE FEATURES The Equalizer is a poly-framed, micro-compact, 9mm pistol. It resembles the M&P Shield EZ, but the Equalizer uses double as opposed to single-stack magazines. In fact, it uses S&W Shield Plus magazines. But unlike the Shield Plus, the Equalizer—like the Shield EZ—is a…

What to say about the 8.6 Blackout? It’s been roughly a year since the official commercial launch of this quirky cartridge, and, for the most part, it hasn’t really caught on. Across these pages we’re going to take a look at the theory behind this cartridge from an unbiased standpoint by delving into what it is, what it does and what might or might not be true. A LONG, UPHILL BATTLE The 8.6 Blackout and its necessary twist rate was developed by Q, notable for their uniquely named guns like The Fix bolt action and the tiny Honey Badger, and suppressors like the Jumbo Shrimp and Trash Panda. The round has been excitedly covered by the press and billed as a revolutionary game-changer. It hasn’t made much progress here into…

Savage Arms released its first handgun in over 100 years in 2021 with the introduction of the Stance pistol, but the company is now expanding its catalog to include Savage 1911 Government Model pistols as well. There are 12 different model variations to choose from, with half chambered for .45 ACP and half chambered for 9mm. Of the 12 Savage 1911 models, all feature a 5-inch machined stainless-steel barrel with an 11-degree target crown. Externally, the pistols appear to be mostly traditional 1911s with forged stainless-steel frames and slides, but Savage implemented a few non-traditional performance upgrades as well. Internally, Savage 1911s feature dual recoil springs and fully machined sears and hammers. The ejection ports have been lowered and flared, and the firing pins are titanium with a nitride finish.…