Innholdsfortegnelse for December/January 2022-23 i Shooting Times

I ENJOYED LANE PEARCE’S COLUMN ON LT-32 POWDER IN THE JULY ISSUE. I still have just under six pounds of original IMR 8208 left of my 32-pound order from a couple of decades ago. I’ve tested it against quite a few powders to try to find a good match. Just like Lane, I found new-production 8208XBR to be significantly slower than surplus 8208/T32. However, my lot of the surplus powder matches LT-30 almost exactly and is a tad quicker than LT-32. I suspect lot variation and age can account for the burning rate and energy differences in my powder and his. As good as 8208 is in my 6mm PPC, it may be even better in my .222 Remington (a Ruger No. 1V rechambered from .223 Remington). And a bonus…

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF handling and writing about a family heirloom firearm that has deep history. The Smith & Wesson Victory revolver I wrote about a while back was one. It flew on bombing missions in the South Pacific with my friend’s grandfather. More recently, the Arisaka bring-back from Iwo Jima was another. It was picked up by my friend Brad Kendrick’s father while he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. This month, I have the privilege of shooting and writing about a Winchester Model 1895 Saddle Ring Carbine that belonged to Marilyn Kendrick’s father and was handed down to her. Introduced in 1895, the Model 1895 action is the strongest lever gun ever designed by Winchester. Its box magazine enables the use of…

MOST READERS SHOULD BE AWARE of Shadow Systems because the Texas-based company has been producing Glock-like semiautomatic pistols since 2017. When the company first got off the ground, the technicians were making exciting and effective improvements to Glock pistols. Since then, the company has evolved to the point of making everything except the magazines in-house (including molding the frames, machining the slides, and making the barrels) and turning out premium-grade, premium-performing pistols that sell for premium prices. Shooting Times is pleased to announce that the newest pistols from Shadow Systems (called the Foundation Series) are top-performing guns but are priced substantially less than their premium-priced stablemates. Currently, there are three Foundation Series models: the XR920FS, the MR920FS, and the DR920FS. All three models are chambered for 9mm Luger. We received…

FN 509 Midsize Tactical FN’S 509 POLYMER-FRAME, STRIKER-FIRED, 9MM SEMI- automatic pistol is now offered in the Midsize tactical configuration. It features a 4.5-inch cold-hammer-forged stainless-steel threaded barrel; FN’s low-profile optics-mounting system; interchangeable backstraps; ambidextrous controls; suppressor-height three-dot night sights; FN’s duty-safe trigger; and 10-round, 15-round, and 24-round magazine capacities. It’s offered in black and FDE finishes. MSRP: $1,069 fnamerica.com SnapSafe In-Wall Safes SnapSafe (a Hornady company) In-Wall Safes install between wall studs that use the standard 16-inch on-center spacing, mounting flush against the wall, and are offered in two sizes: 22 inches tall and 44 inches tall (pictured). The safe body is 16-gauge steel, and the door is extra-thick 8-gauge steel with an innovative latch mechanism and hidden hinges. The battery-powered electronic keypad and spring-loaded door provide quick…

THE TITLE OF MY COLUMN IS SOMEWHAT FACE- tious because there are several British cartridges that qualify. My interest in them is twofold: I own a very shootable Webley & Son “WG” Target revolver marked “.450/.455” and an early Colt New Service. I also get questions about converting .455 revolvers to shoot more common ammo. There are more ballistic issues at play than meet the eye. Britain’s series of .45-caliber centerfire service cartridges dates to 1868 with the .450 Adams revolver and cartridge. The Adams was issued until about 1880 but saw secondary service into World War I and remained popular for target shooting well into the 20th century. The stubby case was only 0.690 inch long. The .450 cartridge was underpowered, and the revolvers were as slow to load…

THE MODEL 1911 SEMI-AUTOMATIC pistol has endured for more than a century, in the face of countless new handgun designs, new materials (i.e., polymers), and the development of new cartridges for it. But class is as class does, and shooters can still have a Model 1911 just about any way they want it, as many firms offer the iconic arm in a dizzying array of configurations and chamberings. However, the original construction of solid steel remains a perennial favorite. A recent version of the classic Model 1911 is from Auto-Ordnance Corp. It is constructed of stainless steel, with a couple of appropriate “polymer” parts thrown in to enhance utility. I recently received one of the new pistols for review, and it is indeed an impressive piece of firearms history: a…

AT THE TOP OF MY LIST OF STRANGE GUNS FOR self-defense is the High Standard Derringer, a neat, little two-shot number introduced in the 1960s and marketed as either an emergency car gun or a deep-concealment backup for cops. It looked very much like the classic Remington two-barrel derringer but was chambered in either .22 LR or the hotshot .22 WMR. In the 1960s High Standard was at the top of its game, producing semiautomatic target pistols as good as any in the world. The first American to win the Olympic rapid-fire gold medal did so in 1960 with a High Standard Olympic pistol. Those guns were that good. No one has ever questioned the quality and workmanship of even the cheaper models, and the derringer was no exception. Well-designed…

Q: INSPIRED BY AN ARTICLE STEVE GASH WROTE YEARS AGO ON THE 6x45 and the Kimber rifle chambered for it, I had a Howa 1500 rifle (originally in .223 Remington) rebarreled to 6x45. Now I have a question I hope he can help me with. The brass I used for my first reloads is once-fired .223 Federal. I used a Redding die set with the carbide button to prep them and loaded some starting-level loads using H335 and Accurate 2015 powders. I didn’t have to trim the cases after resizing as they came out pretty short from that step, and when I shot one each of those two loads, the H335 load backed the primer out, leaving me to think my headspace is wrong and the case shoulder isn’t right.…

TWO MAJOR EVENTS IN THE SHOOTING WORLD occurred in 1962. First, Remington announced the new Model 700 bolt-action rifle. Second, the 7mm Remington Magnum cartridge was simultaneously introduced. As most Shooting Times readers know, the 7mm Rem. Mag. is a belted, “short” magnum like the .264, .338, and .458 Winchester Magnums introduced a few years earlier. The 7mm Rem. Mag. is simply the .264 Win. Mag. necked up, but whereas the .264 Win. Mag. was offered with two bullet choices (a 100-grain JSP for antelope and a 140-grain, two-diameter JSP for mule deer), the 7mm Rem. Mag. was loaded with either 140-, 150-, or 175-grain Core-Lokt bullets. Although initial chamberings of the Model 700 included the .264 Win. Mag., the 7mm Rem. Mag. chambering soon overwhelmed the market, and the…

MOSSBERG’S STRIKER-FIRED, POLYMER-FRAME, 9MM PISTOL IS now optic-ready. The big change to this edition is the optics cut to the rear top of the slide just forward of the rear sight. I installed a brand-new SIG SAUER ROMEOZero red-dot reflex sight with the circle-dot reticle (32-MOA outer circle with a 2-MOA dot in the center) for this report, and it went on very easily. The pistol’s optic footprint matches the Shield RMSc footprint and allows direct threading of the optic to the slide. Coincidentally, the SIG ROMEOZero also has the Shield RMSc footprint, so I didn’t need a mounting plate. It is held in place by two screws, and I utilized the metal protection shroud that comes with it, although it is not necessary if the shooter prefers to mount…

OUR COMPANY RECENTLY HELD ITS ANNUAL EDI- torial roundtable at the fine Brownells facility in Grinnell, Iowa. For anyone who doesn’t know about the roundtable, it’s a weeklong event during which invited manufacturers present their newest products each morning, and during the afternoons, we shoot the new guns and ammo offerings at a local shooting range. The evenings are filled with social activities. New this time, we played trivia games that involved questions about the histories of the various manufacturers and our magazines. One question was: “What caliber was Oscar Mossberg’s first handgun?” The answer is .22 rimfire, and the handgun in question was a small, four-shot palm pistol called the “Novelty.” It was produced years before the O.F. Mossberg & Sons company was even formed. That Q&A inspired me…