Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2023 i Gun Digest

The year: 1873. The cover of this issue currently in your hands is honorably dignified by two of the most revered guns of all time: the Winchester Model 1873 lever gun and the Colt 1873 Single Action Army. Why are these guns so highly regarded? Well, history has a way of both dethroning kings and making kings, and these two guns—often paired together in the saddle and on the hip—made a lot of history across the Western frontier. But as these guns were being slung by the likes of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, Jessie James and Butch Cassidy, the likelihood is slim that any of them fathomed—or even cared—that the guns in their hands would elevate to the same legendary status that they themselves eventually would. Am I overselling…

The less-fun part of shooting is loading magazines. Oh, it can be useful, like when you’re mulling over some tidbit of info you just learned from the previous drill or plate rack. Mostly, however, time spent loading magazines is time not spent shooting. And, time spent loading .22 LR is even worse, as each round is small, coated in wax and not easy to load. So, what do we do? Use a loading tool. THANKS, TIPPMANN! Tippmann makes a .22 LR magazine loader for AR-15s that’s slick—so slick that, were it any more slick, you couldn’t pick it up. (OK, I just couldn’t resist that one.) Using it is simple: Slide open the top cover and pour .22 LR ammo into the feed hopper. The tray built into the hopper…

01 Marlin Model 336 Marlin (now under the Ruger banner) has slowly been releasing its legendary lever guns. Its latest reintroduction should turn deer hunters’ heads. Welcome back, Model 336: It’s been too long. Anyone familiar with the classic .30-30 Winchester will be happy to know the new model is dang near identical to the old. The rifle features a steel alloy receiver, a 20.25-inch cold hammer-forged barrel and a six-round magazine tube. All metal parts are richly blued, and the forend and stock are made of checkered American black walnut. And just like the original Marlin model, the new Ruger-made version features a gold trigger as well. MSRP: $1,239 02 Ruger Super Wrangler Nothing offers as much throwback fun as Ruger’s SAA rimfire revolvers. With the introduction of the…

Described as living “behind enemy lines,” California is a state like no other: amazing weather, hot sandy beaches, snow-capped mountains, an entire season dedicated to wildfires … and some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. While most people have seen the words “California compliant” when looking through gun catalogs, many people outside of California—and none of the politicians inside of California—know what it means. In fairness, it’s complex, really dumb and ever-changing. I’ll shine a light on it for you in case you ever find yourself in the Golden State … or if you just feel the need to pour one out for your 2A brothers and sisters trapped behind the lines. HOW DO YOU HOLD THAT THING? The California Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) bans, by name,…

When walking the aisles of the Dallas Safari Club Convention, I always enjoy seeing the handiwork of those bespoke rifle makers and smaller rifle shops. While SHOT Show has a huge selection of firearms, ranging from airguns to the latest high-tech black rifles, the DSC Convention is geared more toward hunters. If you want to hold the finest double rifle or a rifle made specifically for the most rugged terrain on earth, it’ll be at DSC. Bradshaw Gun & Rifle is renowned for rising-block single-shot and double rifles, as well as the side lever falling-block designs. But after catching up a bit, I spied a unique rifle among Bradshaw’s better-known stuff, one with a perfectly round receiver; I was immediately intrigued. “This is my take on the Hoenig-style rifle, but…

HISTORICAL NOTES Introduced with the Remington Model 8 semi-automatic rifle in 1906, the .35 Remington was later also chambered in the Remington models 14 and 141 pump actions, the Model 81 semi-auto, Model 30 bolt action and, for a short time, in the Winchester bolt-action Model 70. At one time, the Marlin 336 lever-, Mossberg 479 lever- and Savage 170 pump-action rifles were offered in .35 Remington. Currently, only the Marlin 336C rifle (70506) is still available. GENERAL COMMENTS The .35 Remington is the only one of the Remington rimless line of medium-powered cartridges still alive. It has proven itself over the years as a reliable short-range woods cartridge on deer or black bear. It has far better knockdown power than the .30-30 under any conditions and at any range.…

Smack in the middle of my reloading bench proudly sits a RCBS MatchMaster electronic powder dispenser. It’s fast, it’s accurate, it’s precise … and it has the potential to weigh powder charges to 0.04 grain. While I think the world of this high-tech machine and its capabilities, in some instances it might be too much, especially considering the cost (street price is right around $900) to the average reloader. Like so many pieces of cutting-edge technology, the new features can be fantastic. But, every reloader must ask one simple question: Do I need this? SIGNIFICANT DIGITS Strolling into my local gun shop, I found proprietor and friend Geoff Koonz modifying his Redding Model No. 2 balance beam scale to make it a bit easier to get his fingers to the…

WINCHESTER 1873 LEVER-ACTION The Model 1873 lever-action rifle was one of the most prosperous Winchester rifles of its day, though to be fair, it didn’t have an overwhelming amount of competition. Even today, the Model 1873 is known as “the gun that won the West,” and likely forever will be. Manufactured between 1873 and 1923, and originally chambered for the .44-40 cartridge, the Model 1873 was later produced in .38-40 and .32-20. Not surprisingly, each of those cartridges also became prevalent handgun cartridges, thus allowing frontiersmen, cowboys and every other Great Plains and Rocky Mountain explorer to carry just one type of ammunition and feed both their long-gun and sidearm. The 1873 Winchester gained popularity so quickly, at least in large part, to that original hard-hitting yet light-recoiling .44-40 chambering.…

If you’ve read my Gun Digest published, Handgun Training for Personal Protection book, you were introduced to a man by the name of Joe Bonar. If you’ve not read that book, which was published a decade ago, it’s still available, and Gun Digest still sends me about a dollar every time someone buys one, hint, hint. I met Joe more than 30 years ago. We shot together, drank together and he was in my wedding. Joe tragically died in a car accident 20 years ago. I miss him. Why am I telling you about one of my dear departed friends? Because that man and his son crafted what I consider to be the best pistol I own. It’s also because the story of Joe and the pistol he built is…

When it comes to collecting, the time to collect is before everyone else becomes a collector. Well, that time, for the Garand, passed a couple of decades ago. They were relatively inexpensive, as full-sized .30-06 military rifles go, until the beginning of the 21st century. That’s when prices shot up. This was reflected in the prices at the CMP (back then, the DCM) in auctions and at gun shops when you could acquire a good-condition Garand for under $1,000. It wasn’t unusual to score a rack-grade Garand, and maybe even some ammunition with it, for $800. There was a time when you could buy eight Garands a year from the CMP, at the grade or grades you wanted, and see what showed up. Then, things changed, and the political situation…

A press check with a semiautomatic handgun is the slight retraction of the slide so that verification can be made that there’s a cartridge in the chamber. Put another way, a press check is a way to confirm your pistol is loaded. I’ve found that many shooters do not fully understand when a press check should be conducted or how it should be done. As with many things firearms related, there’s not a single specified or correct way to do a press check … if it’s done safely. WHEN TO PRESS CHECK The correct time to conduct a press check is when you’re unsure a cartridge is in the chamber of a semiautomatic pistol. If you’re conducting a press check for any other reason, you’re just trying to look cool.…

Most AR-15 shooters are aware that .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO are not exactly the same, and that it’s generally considered prudent to never fire the latter in a rifle chambered for the former. Because of this, most ARs today are designed with 5.56 NATO chambers to allow the safe firing of either. Now, many rifles are available with a .223 Wylde chambering as well. The .223 Wylde is a chamber dimension, developed by gunsmith Bill Wylde of Greenup, Illinois, that aimed to balance the differences between 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington chamber dimensions. Why? To understand, we need to dive a little deeper into the differences between .223 Remington and 5.56x45mm NATO. In the beginning, the earth was void. Some years later, the .223 Remington was developed as the…

One-of-a-kind, completely custom, 150th anniversary set. The two firearms featured in the article—Winchester Model 1873 lever-action and Colt 1873 Single Action Army—are part of a very unique set, completed by ABS master smith Harvey Dean’s custom knife created specifically to commemorate the 150th anniversary of these two iconic guns. In a spin-off of Harvey’s Olympus dagger design, the 9-inch blade is his thunderstorm damascus. It’s complemented by a guard based on an antique one Harvey modified a bit to resemble a cloud that ties in with the thunderstorm theme. He picked the coffin handle because it was a design popular circa 1873. The damascus cross features a 14k-gold pin, as does the balance of the walrus ivory handle, and 24k-gold inlay. The handle frame is 42 layers of twist damascus…

There’s something about the blending of old and new firearms technology that’s always gotten my motor running. So, when I saw that Taurus had red-dot-equipped revolvers at SHOT Show 2023, I naturally had to take a closer look. Despite never being much of a revolver guy, and only recently venturing into the world of red-dot-equipped handguns, I immediately liked the concept. I mean, why not? Virtually every other style of handgun comes optics-ready these days, so why not revolvers, too? It was only a matter of time until someone put the two together, and Taurus happened to be the first with the release of the 605 and Defender 856 T.O.R.O. The 605 is a five-shot .357 Magnum, and the 856 Defender is a six-shot .38 Special +P; I brought in…

Announced in 2021, the original Springfield Armory Operator 1911 was only available in .45 ACP, but the company has just added a new 9mm Operator variant to its catalog. This makes sense, as the Operator pistol’s design is mostly that of a classic 1911 but with a few small upgrades and modernizations. While some shooters will undoubtedly prefer to stick with the original chambering, others feel that, as long as this old handgun is already being modernized, 9mm makes for the more logical caliber choice. Everything about the new 9mm Operator 1911 is identical to its .45 ACP counterpart, save for its chambering and magazine capacity, as the 9mm variant holds nine rounds instead of eight. That said, it still ships with two magazines in the box. Otherwise, the pistol’s…