Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2022 i Guns & Ammo

WRITE US! “Letters,” Guns & Ammo, 2 News Plaza, 3rd Floor, Peoria, IL 61614, or email us at gaeditor@outdoorsg.com. Please include your city and state of residence. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity. A STORY WORTH TELLING Back in the 1920s and ’30s, my grandfather, Sterling Edge, was a deputy sheriff in McMullen County, South Texas. McMullen was an untamed, sparsely populated county. He farmed, ranched and did his part to maintain the peace. He carried a Colt Single Action Army (SAA) in .45 Colt, too. He passed in 1968 at the age of 80 when I was 7 years old. A few months after he died, the owner of the saddle shop in Three Rivers, Texas, which was the next county over, asked my grandmother if she…

A cased Colt Single Action Army revolver realized an impressive $90,000, including premiums, at the November 17, 2021, Morphy Auctions sale. This factory, deluxe-engraved, nickeled Single Action Army chambered in .455 Eley was sent to Colt’s London agency on January 22, 1880. Engraving, likely by Colt Master Engraver Cuno A. Helfricht, was contained in an oak case that includes a number of accessories. Engraving exists inside the cylinder flutes and a unique, feathered, double-width “wedding band” wraps around the rear of the cylinder. One-piece pearl grips, fire-blued screws and cylinder pin complete this spectacular package. For more information about this and future sales, visit morphyauctions.com.…

“DOES SPRINGFIELD ARMORY manufacture its XD pistols?” That question has been asked a lot. Scroll down the internet’s search results to find the answer: “HS Produkt, Karlovac, Croatia.” I’ve traveled extensively to tour many factories of the firearm industry, but Springfield Armory and HS Produkt didn’t allow visitors until June 2021. I was part of a small media delegation, along with several employees, including Rob Leatham, invited by Springfield Armory CEO Dennis Reese and HS Produkt CEO Željko Pavlin to learn Croatia’s history, see inside the factory, and examine the new Springfield Armory Hellion. Reese has been making trips to HS Produkt on behalf of Springfield Armory since the beginning. The relationship began with the introduction of the HS2000, which led to an exclusive agreement to import it in 2001.…

During World War I, the French government arranged with Remington-UMC in the United States to produce 200,000 Model 1907-15 Mannlicher-Berthier rifles. The contract was cancelled after about half that number was built due to French inspectors’ claims the guns’ barrel and chamber dimensions were not to spec. Few Remington Berthiers made it overseas. Those in the U.S. were used for training American soldiers and sold surplus after the war. Many were employed by movie-makers. Berthiers were particularly favored by film makers as Model 1886 Lebels were scarce in the U.S., and even when available, the tubular magazine arrangement was not reliable with available 8x50mm blanks. Mannlicher-Berthiers were seen in numerous movies about the Great War as well as in Foreign Legion films such as “Beau Geste” (1939), which featured Gary…

FROM ITS FIRST USE to label the J-Frame revolver, the “Chief’s Special” was an innovative approach to concealed carry. The revolver was introduced at the 1950 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference. Smith & Wesson’s sales team asked police chiefs to vote on a name for the revolver, and “.38 Chief’s Special” won. The company moved to using model numbers in 1957, but the name reappeared in 1999 on its 3rd Generation semiautos. Though written out on the left side of the slide, “Chiefs Special” was abbreviated in the model name as “CS” for the CS9, CS40 and CS45. Those compact pistols were discontinued in 2002 (CS40) and 2006 (CS9/CS45) ahead of the launch of the polymer-frame M&P series. In the 16 years since, S&W has not applied…

BY THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, the British firm of Webley & Scott (W&S) had firmly established itself as the purveyors of a large and successful line of double-action revolvers. Though the double-actions (DA) of such makers as Nagant, Colt and Smith & Wesson were certainly arms to be reckoned with, it can be said that W&S arms resided at the apex of military and civilian self-cockers. Things were soon to change. In 1893, naturalized-American Hugo Borchard’s revolutionary 7.65mm recoil-operated pistol, while not perfect, became a harbinger of things to come. Soon, repeaters designed by the likes of Georg Luger, Ferdinand Mannlicher, Peter Paul Mauser and John Browning all presented more sophisticated designs that established the practicality and marketability of semiautomatics. As early as 1898, Webley & Scott had…

SOME FIREARMS COMPANIES turn a deaf ear to potential customers, ignoring the pleas and suggestions of their base. Hence, some guns don’t change much year-to-year. Taurus is not one of those companies. Led by a young-for-a-CEO Bret Vorhees, Taurus has changed for the better. The company is listening to those of us who buy their guns, which is evident by the release of the new Taurus G3X and G3XL pistols. There was nothing wrong with the original G3, which just came out in December 2019. As a matter of fact, the G3 and G3c are now two of Taurus’ top sellers. With a retail price near $350, there’s a strong case that the G3 offers the best value of any semiauto 9mm. Introduced at the 2022 SHOT Show, the G3X…

BROWNING’S X-Bolt Max Long Range in 6.8 Western is a rifle configured for hunting at distance with a short action. Few, if any, factory rifles at this price — $1,380 to $1,460 — offer Western hunters more than this model and chamber. The barrel measures 26 inches, which has a 1:7.5-inch twist rate designed to stabilize the long, heavy-for-caliber bullets loaded in the 6.8 Western. The barrel’s diameter measures .925 inch just in front of the chamber; .8 inch at the forend’s tip; and .74 inch at the threaded muzzle. This barrel length and contour is just about ideal for a short magnum. It’s light enough that the rifle can travel easily, but heavy enough to soak up the heat that comes from firing magnum cartridges. There were no point-of-impact…