Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i Shooting Times

I ENJOYED THE “GUNSMOKE” COLUMN WHERE TERRY WIELAND MENtioned the Marlin Model 62 and the .256 Win. Mag. I’ll admit that I am jealous of anyone who has one. I swore that I would buy one if I ever found one for sale. Fifty years later I’m still wanting one. Mr. Wieland stated that the Model 62 was the only rifle ever manufactured chambered in the .256 Win. Mag. I’ll remind him that Universal manufactured one in the M1 Carbine. Not as desirable (to me) as the Marlin, but I do own one. I don’t shoot it as much as I would like because of ammo availability, but I manage to occasionally pop a few caps now and then. I have found some ammo and factory bullets, and I ordered…

DESIGNED IN 1906, THE JAPANESE TYPE 38 RIFLE WAS arguably the strongest bolt-action design to ever serve on the battlefields of both world wars. Chambered in the mild 6.5x50mm Arisaka cartridge, the Type 38 was produced and fielded by Japan for 39 years, making this rifle the longest continually serving battle rifle used by the Imperial Army. Interestingly, some countries like Mexico and Great Britain purchased Type 38 rifles from Japan, which led to the design being used by multiple sides in conflicts ranging from the Mexican Revolution to the Vietnam War. Over the span of its production, more than three million Type 38 rifles and carbines were produced by various Japanese arsenals. In 1939 Japan began to make the gradual switch from Type 38 rifles to the more powerful…

THE CLEVER BALLISTIC WIZARDS AT HOR- nady developed the 6mm ARC in 2020 to fit the AR-15 platform (it also works well in bolt-action guns). The case design was developed to provide the highest velocities and best long-range performance that could be housed in the AR-15 platform. From that case, the .22 ARC was born, and its lineage goes back even farther than that. The 7.62x39 was introduced in 1943 and was reformed into the .22 Russian (aka the 5.6x39 Vostok) in 1961. Benchresters Dr. Louis Palmisano and Ferris Pindell modified the .22 Russian into the .22 PPC and necked up that case to make the 6mm PPC in 1987. The 6mm PPC case was necked up to form the 6.5 Grendel in 2002. The 6.5 Grendel was necked down…

FIRST INTRODUCED IN 2022, SMITH & WESSON’S MICRO-COMPACT CSX 9MM pistol has been enhanced with significant design upgrades in the new CSX E-Series line. The upgrades include a new modular grip adapter, an enhanced trigger, and an optic-ready slide with S&W’s ClearSight Cut. Four configurations are offered. Barrel lengths are 3.1 and 3.6 inches. Magazine capacities are 10, 12, 15, and 17 rounds. Other features include interchangeable back-straps, ambidextrous controls, standard white-dot sights, and black finish. MSRP: $699 smith-wesson.com Magpul TMAG 20 AR/M4 Gen M3 Magpul has just released a new 20-round 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington, translucent TMAG for AR and M4 rifles. It offers shooters a more compact magazine for their carbines. The new TMAG 20 AR/M4 Gen M3 provides round-identification ability; features front and rear ribbed straps for…

I CONFESS TO HAVING A PROBLEM WITH.32-caliber revolvers—I love ’em. I’ve done the full rundown on some cartridges in past columns but only a cursory look at the older ones that sired the .32 H&R Magnum and the .327 Federal. Their history is interesting, but only one is a relevant survivor. Early successful metallic cartridges were rimfires. Per S&W historian Roy Jinks, Smith & Wesson developed the .32 Long Rimfire in 1860 for the company’s then-new six-shot Model 2 revolver. The case was 0.791 inch long. A 90-grain bullet was outside-lubricated, meaning the 0.314-inch-diameter bullet perched on the case mouth like a .22 LR bullet does. S&W developed the .32 Short Rimfire in 1865 for the .32-caliber, five-shot Model 1½ pocket revolver. With less powder and an 80-grain bullet, it…

RIFLEMEN COME IN MANY SHAPES, SIZES, AND tastes, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve noticed this trend. Young shooters are attracted to anything new, older guys are more interested in older stuff. My theory on this, as I enter the fourth quarter of my own personal century, is that having lived long enough to see lots of “big new things” founder on the shoals of time—shiny and bright one day, forgotten the next—one comes to admire rifles that have survived for a century or more. This is the main reason the lure of the annual SHOT Show has faded for me, but the prospect of a high-end gun auction of old, magnificent stuff makes my mouth water. For a rifle lover, an auction like Rock Island, where you can see,…

Q. LANE PEARCE’S “THE RELOADER” COLUMN IN THE MAY ISSUE ABOUT handloading the .357 Magnum cartridge for a rifle left me with at least one question: Are the handloads he used in the Marlin rifle safe to fire in all wheelguns? Apparently, in the Old West, in the blackpowder days, selected cartridges were used in both handguns and rifles. Is this still true today with modern propellants? Ed Siccardi Jr.Via email A. The .357 Magnum handloads listed in that column are safe to fire in modern revolvers. We’ve reproduced them in the accompanying chart for readers’ convenience. The .357 Magnum originated as a handgun cartridge in 1935, nearly a century ago. Soon after, gunsmiths started converting Marlin and Winchester lever actions to fire this round. The SAAMI pressure specification does…

THE NEW UPM3-COMPETITION UNIVERSAL powder measure from RCBS is the latest “precisioneered” mechanical tool. The updated ChargeMaster Link electronic powder dispenser now features Bluetooth technology. And the MatchMas-ter funnel kit comprises a precision cast/machined aluminum core with multiple caliber spout adapters housed in a protective polymer case. These new powder-handling products deserve your attention. As many Shooting Times readers are aware, RCBS was recently acquired by Hodgdon Powder Co. Joel Hodgdon is the new RCBS products marketing director. Fred Huntington started the Rock Chuck Bullet Swage company in 1943, just three years before Joel’s great-grandfather Bruce founded his namesake powder company. Hodgdon’s theme for the once-again family business is “RCBS is back—and it’s better than ever!” As I’ve often said, handloading is not inherently dangerous. However, it is a hobby…

INTRODUCED BY WINCHESTER IN THE THEN-NEW Model 54 Winchester in 1925, the .270 Winchester is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Not many things introduced a century ago have survived, but the .270 Win. is still quite popular among hunters in America and in other countries as well. That first ammunition was loaded by Winchester-Western with a 130-grain Pointed Open Point Expanding bullet pushed by 55 grains of DuPont No. 15½ powder for a muzzle velocity of 3,140 fps from a 24-inch barrel. Remington soon followed with the 130-grain Bronze Point at the same velocity, and as the name indicated, its hollow nose contained a sharply pointed expansion initiator that was metal rather than plastic as seen decades later in the Nosler Ballistic Tip and others. Winchester and Remington eventually…

SINCE WE’RE CELEBRATING THE .270 WIN- chester’s 100th anniversary with this issue of Shooting Times (see Layne Simpson’s article beginning on page 40 and Joseph von Benedikt’s gun review starting on page 48), I just couldn’t resist writing about Jack O’Connor in my column. He advocated for the .270 Win. cartridge and hunted widely with it. He wrote about it and promoted it extensively. John Woolf “Jack” O’Connor was born on January 22, 1902, in Nogales, Arizona. His parents divorced when he was five years old, and his maternal grandfather ( James Woolf ) helped raise him and introduced him to hunting. Jack quickly developed a keen interest in big-game hunting. Jack grew up near Tempe, Arizona. He lied about his age and enlisted in the U.S. Army at age…