Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2024 i Shooting Times

ALLAN JONES’S COLUMN ON THE .348 WINCHESTER AND .405 WINCHESTER in the April issue repeats a common misconception that the .348 Win. cartridge was offered with only 150-, 200-, and 250-grain bullets in factory-loaded ammunition. As my photograph shows, Peters offered a 210-grain load. Peter A. AndersonBangor, ME .300 AAC for Deer I appreciate Layne Simpson’s perspective on not having tried the .300 AAC on deer, given his focus on its original subsonic design. Being trapped behind enemy lines in the People’s Republic of Illinois, where we can’t have fun and useful stuff like suppressors, I have focused on maximizing energy with supersonic loads. We started with cheap 147-grain FMJ pulled bullets for load development and function testing and then switched to some 150-grain tipped hunting bullets that were factory…

DURING THE DESIGN UPHEAVAL THAT FOLLOWED the invention of smokeless gunpowder, Britain came up with a rifle that many would call the best bolt-action battle rifle ever made. It was the Lee-Enfield (in many variations), and there’s some substance behind that claim. As great as the Mauser 98 and Springfield 1903 were, the Lee-Enfield had some undeniable advantages. Introduced in 1895, it held 10 rounds in the magazine; it had a cock-on-close bolt that optimized fast functioning; and its ergonomics made it easy to work at the shoulder without giving up one’s sight picture. Case in point: British Sergeant Instructor Snoxall set a world record firing the “mad minute” at 300 yards in 1914 with a Lee-Enfield. He put 38 rounds into a 12-inch target in 60 seconds, and that…

THE NEW RANGE DEFENDER PISTOL CASE IS CROSSBREED’S first-ever pistol case, and it is a multifirearm, multimagazine case that keeps handguns and magazines securely stowed for safe transportation to and from the range. This rugged all-weather ballistic nylon case has padded interior panels and a detachable zippered interior pocket that accommodates full-size handguns. It also has a full-size hook-and-loop interior panel that works with CrossBreed’s modular gun and magazine holsters. The Range Defender Pistol Case can accommodate up to 12 magazines, and elastic MOLLE-style straps keep the magazines organized. Plus, a convenient internal pocket behind the magazines panel is great for storing range supplies. The 12x10-inch case has tough ballistic nylon handles and a zippered exterior pocket for small items. MSRP: $89.95 crossbreedholsters.com Federal High Over All Shotshells Federal Premium…

THE FIRST LETTER I RECEIVED AFTER PUB- lishing my column on priming chemistry was from Barry Kelly. He wrote, “You discussed old corrosive military primers and primer cups getting brittle over time. Does embrittlement happen to commercial primers (noncorrosive) as well? If so, at what age should primers be considered too old to use? Also, does cartridge brass get brittle with age and can we detect it?” Regarding brittleness, most mercury embrittlement of metal arises from firing residues, not unfired mercury fulminate. Any embrittlement in modern primer cups is almost always a metal-forming issue. Metal embrittlement due to unfired primer mix is, at best, a third-order factor. Cups are punched from thin brass sheets and folded to shape. The resulting cups retain residual stresses from forming, requiring a low-temp heat-treat…

IF YOU ENJOY GOOD OLD SHOOTING FUN, THEN YOU’LL WANT TO check out one of our more colorful shows available on MyOutdoorTV. com. I’m talking about “Shootout Lane.” “Shootout Lane” follows the family of Jerry Miculek and Kay Clark-Miculek. They don’t really need an introduction here, but I’ll remind readers that Jerry is world famous for his speed-shooting skills and holds 20 sanctioned and unsanctioned shooting records, including rapid-firing 12 shots with a quick reload from a revolver in 2.99 seconds as well as a 1,000-yard offhand shot with a revolver. Kay is a champion shooter in her own right. She won two IPSC Handgun World Shoot gold medals and one silver medal. Plus, she won two gold medals from the IPSC US Handgun Championships, eight gold medals and one…

AS JOSEPH VON BENEDIKT REFERRED TO IN HIS “The Shootist” column on the Lee-Enfield S.M.L.E. beginning on page 16 of this issue of the magazine, Sergeant Instructor Snoxall [sic] is credited with firing 38 shots in 60 seconds at a target placed at 300 yards using the Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle. In doing so, he beat the first Mad Minute record set by Major Jesse A. Wallingford, who was commonly referred to as “The Prince of Riflemen,” “The Human Machine Gun,” and “The Best Shot in the British Army.” Snoxall is somewhat of an enigma. Some confusion remains about his incredible shooting feat, as well as the proper spelling of his name, but according to the definitive source, the shooter who beat Wallingford’s record was most likely Sergeant Instructor Frank Snoxell.…

Q. IN LANE PEARCE’S MAY 2024 COLUMN ON .32-CALIBER CARTRIDGES, he lists some handloads for the .32-20 that should not be used in older revolvers or the 1873 Winchester rifle. What about the 1892 Winchester lever-action rifle? I have an 1892 Winchester that is in good functional condition that has been checked out by a gunsmith. The serial number indicates it was made in 1918. It is hard to find information about rifle loads for the 1892 Winchester, so would his handloads be safe in my rifle? Bill SaundersVia email A. As you probably can tell from my column, I have a fondness for .32-caliber cartridges, and the 1892 Winchester rifle chambered for .32 WCF (a.k.a. .32-20) is a major reason I like them so much. Your 1918-vintage rifle is…

UNFORTUNATELY, THE .300 SAVAGE IS JUST ONE of many old cartridges that have been relegated to obsolescent status. But that was not the case back when I was a kid in the early 1950s. The .300 Savage was quite popular then, and many hunting rifles were chambered for it. I recently acquired a first-year production Remington Model 760 pump-action rifle chambered for it; it joins my collection of like-chambered rifles, including a Remington Model 81 autoloader, a Remington Model 722 bolt action, and a Savage Model 99 lever action. The .300 Savage has an exemplary, if not widely known, legacy. During the Great World War (1914-1918), two events occurred that significantly affected Savage’s future. In 1915 the company was sold. Along with several other firms seeking to secure contracts with…

IT’S GOING MUCH TOO FAR TO SUGGEST THAT carbon fiber is the new French walnut, but maybe we could call it the new mesquite. That was the rather gaudy stock wood Roy Weatherby favored as a means of drawing attention to his then-new Mark V rifles in the 1960s and setting them apart from boring old walnut. And truth to tell, mesquite worked well and looked great. Devotees of wood stocks will find several points to dispute in that paragraph, but you get my point. When choosing material for a stock, there are two major qualities to consider—looks and utility—and any good stock should have both. My main objections to fiberglass stocks when they first appeared 30-some years ago were that they were ugly and gave a rifle the feel…