Your ammo choice is more important than what you attach to your quad rail.
Considerations to find the best AR-15 ammo:
Chambering
Ramp Type
Case Material
Twist Rate
Bullet Style
Choosing ammunition for your AR is as important as every other gear consideration. You have to feed the machine in order for it to function properly — and “properly” starts with reliability. Accuracy, which becomes more critical as distance increases, is another consideration. For defeating a violent attacker, the round has to stop the threat as efficiently as possible. And let’s face it: The AR fires a small round, and the smaller the round, the more critical ammunition becomes.
Loading For Reliability
Choosing ammo starts with identifying how your AR-15 is configured. Start by determining what chamber your AR has. There are three type chambers you’ll come across — discounting aftermarket variations like the .300, 6.8 and 7.62 versions. AR-15s come with a .223 Rem. chamber, a 5.56 NATO chamber and the .223 Wylde chamber, and they’re all slightly different.
You can fire .223 Rem. ammo in the 5.56 and Wylde chamber. And, 5.56 ammo can be used in a Wylde chamber. But never shoot 5.56 ammo through a .223 Rem. chamber. Chamber size is usually stamped in the barrel, along with twist rate, but if you’re unsure, contact the manufacturer to confirm.
What type feed ramps does your AR have? The feed ramps are located at the end of the barrel extension and guide the bullet into the chamber. Older ARs usually have “rifle” ramps that don’t extend down into the upper receiver.
Newer ARs have M4 ramps. These are cuts machined in the upper receiver that lengthens the ramps to ensure feeding of longer bullets into the chamber. With M4 ramps, there shouldn’t be any problem with any bullet type you choose to shoot. Some older rifle ramps, however, will have problems with different types of bullet tips, such as soft points. Just be sure to test fire enough ammo to ensure it feeds in your weapon — every time.
In addition, I use brass-case ammo almost exclusively. The AR was not designed to cycle steel-case ammo, so if you choose to shoot it, you’ll need to keep an eye on a few things: Clean the barrel and chamber more often.
The receiver on the left is cut for M4 feed ramps. This provides a smoother transition for the round to feed from the magazine into the chamber. At right, the receiver is a “rifle” receiver, or older-style AR. This design can cause feeding problems with some types of ammo.
Steel doesn’t expand as much or as fast as brass, so there’s more blowback of powder residue and carbon into the chamber. And if the chamber becomes too tight due to residue, cases start sticking. This is especially true if you switch to brass-case ammo after shooting a lot of steel-case rounds. Steel is also rougher on the extractor than brass, so inspect it and the extractor spring regularly, which you should do anyway.
Most steel-case ammo is loaded with a bullet featuring a steel jacket with some sort of thin copper coating over the steel. There’s a big debate on whether steel-jacketed bullets are harmful to the barrel or not. I think they do harm the barrel. An average shooter may not have a problem, but a full-time shooter will shorten their barrel life by about 50 percent, from around 10,000 rounds down to 5,000 or so.
During classes, I see more function problems with steel ammo than with brass rounds because steel-case ammo can cause additional feeding problems by binding up in the magazine — it’s not very slippery. My advice: If you’re spending a lot of time and money on a shooting trip, take brass-case, high-quality ammo. And no matter what, always test-fire enough of any ammo to make sure it functions properly in your gun.
After you’ve selected a round, you’ll need to test-fire it for function. When you’re at the range, inspect each round prior to loading it in a mag. Ammo companies are running high production rates, and increased production means more faulty rounds. Physically and visually inspect each round before jamming it into your mag.
There’s no reason your AR should not be reliable. Keep it well lubed, clean as necessary and feed it the right ammo, and it will serve you well. If you try to run questionable ammunition through your gun, you’re going to see problems. For plinking on the range, this might not be an issue, although I can’t abide it. When shooting in a match, for hunting or for personal defense — life and death — a stoppage due to faulty ammo is unacceptable. Good ammo ensures you hit the target time after time.
Loading For Accuracy
There is a variety of ammo available for the AR. You can easily identify the type of tip the bullet has, but to know the rest of the details — including bullet style, weight and length — you’ll have to check the manufacturer’s specs.
The definition of accuracy is very subjective. For precision shooters, accuracy is hitting the target at hundreds of yards. For many military applications, it doesn’t really matter where you hit them, as long as you hit them — though precision is always best of course. A sniper needs pinpoint, surgical accuracy. For defensive purposes, things are going to be a lot closer, usually “handgun” distances. So, the question becomes, “How much accuracy do you need?” For self-defense, a round that will hold 1 to 2 minutes of angle is more than suitable.
One of the big considerations is the twist rate of your barrel. Heavier bullets, which are longer, require a faster twist rate. The original 55-grain M193 round worked well with a 1:12 twist rate. As bullets began to get heavier and longer, the twist rate increased. Today 1:7, 1:8 and 1:9 twist rates are the norm, and each will stabilize heavier, longer bullets that weigh 60 grains or more.
Loading For Self Defense
Manufacturers invest a lot of research and study into designing, testing and constructing a round for defensive purposes, and the various departments and agencies on the ground will research, study and test when choosing their duty ammo. Selecting ammunition for self-defense is just as serious.
Self-defense ammo must stop the threat efficiently, transferring its energy into the body. The better the round dumps its energy into the body, the less chance of over-penetrating and passing through the threat. I still like the original M193 55-grain full metal jacket round: It tumbles and fragments in the body, creating multiple wound channels. Just be careful when purchasing it. True M193 has an exposed lead base at the back of the bullet, hence the “explosive” results.
Due to environmental concerns, a lot of companies make a “M193” round, but with a copper jacket that covers the entire bullet — including the base — in order to reduce the shooter to lead exposure created by that round as it’s fired. This completely changes the dynamics of the round, and it doesn’t perform the same as the exposed-base design.
Accuracy is subjective. What might work fine for self-defense may not provide the accuracy necessary to place a surgical shot at 100 yards. Think about your application, then don’t get too caught up in how tight a group your AR can shoot. Most of them shoot much better than we’re capable of as shooters.
Steel-case “ball” ammo should never be used for self-defense, unless it’s “the end of the world as we know it” and that’s all you have. Steel-jacketed rounds punch right through the threat, doing little damage — and over penetration is also a major concern. The same is true of M855 “green-tip” penetrator ammo. I’m also not a fan of soft-point rounds. Often, these will not deform, expand or tumble, leading to over penetration.
Matt Weathers, Chief of Alabama’s Conservation Officers, issues his officers a 55-grain hollow-point round. He has personally had to shoot over three hundred deer in his career — putting down severely injured deer and for fetal research — with the .223/5.56 AR. This field research has shown that the 55-grain hollow-point performs best, with little chance of over penetration. For interior work, such as personal defense in the home, a 40-something-grain hollow-point reduces the chances of over penetration even more.
Remember the research that departments and agencies put into choosing a duty round? Their concerns are the same as yours (military matters are completely different.) This might mean the ammunition they use is a good candidate for you, too.
Final Thoughts
The ammo you choose is dictated by what you’re shooting at. Make sure the ammo fits the application — taking into account chamber size and barrel twist. Then, test for function to ensure reliability and accuracy. And then practice. After all, the purpose of shooting is to hit, and hitting the target depends on your skill.
Modern Shooter gets a first-hand look at firearms training taken to the next level.
This isn’t your everyday defensive shooting class — not by a long shot.
Specializing in tactical training, Houston-based MAST Solutions’ courses are akin to boot camp at Paris Island, with potentially as many superlatives. Physically and mentally challenging, the advanced weapons training steeps its students in more than simply the art and science of modern combat. It breaks down and rebuilds its pupils, forming a knife’s edge, ready to operate at the highest level under the most demanding circumstances. And it boasts the personnel to get this job done.
One such example, Ray “Cash” Care. A former Navy SEAL, the MAST instructor knows about the next level — he’s lived there most of his professional career. Through some pretty unorthodox methods, Care hollers and challenges his students to do the same, pushing them to the brink until the beg to go over. Extreme it may be, but it serves a purpose.
Beyond honing everyday armed citizens, MAST counts the U.S. Military, Homeland Security, Border Patrol, DEA and various SWAT teams among their clients. High-level operators require high-level training. And at MAST the focus far exceeds mere firearms. Hand-to-hand combat, knife combat, CQB, fitness, emergency medical procedure and leadership are all part of the curriculum. Be you professional or citizen, MAST strives to teach you how to tap into you’re A-game.
Catch more of this extreme form of firearms training on the next episode of Modern shooter, 10 p.m. EST Friday on the Pursuit Channel. The episode rebroadcasts Monday at 12 p.m. EST and Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. EST.
The backbone of a concealed-carry system, don't waste time on anything other than quality gun belts.
What to look for in quality gun belts:
Quaily leather or synthetic material
Ability to hold holster and gun in place
Comfortable to wear throughout the day
Lightweight
Resistant to stretch
Gun belts don’t get the respect they deserve. All the glory goes to that top-notch pistol you spent weeks if not months poring over, nailing down every pertinent particular. It goes to the ultra-concealable, not to mention comfortable, holster that took forever to find and now feels like a second thought. It even goes to the defensive ammo you researched and test shot and compared against a litany of other viable options.
Bigfoot Gun Belt Leather Gun Belt
When it comes to a belt, typically, there isn't any enthusiasm left. Any old one will do, right? Maybe, you can save a buck, passing off your everyday dress one for a while.
If this sounds comparable to your experience, don’t feel alone. Perhaps no other concealed-carry accessory is more overlooked by newly minted armed citizens. Yet, perhaps no other single piece of gear plays a more important role in ensuring a successful concealed-carry system.
Get it right and a gun belt enhances every aspect of carrying a defensive handgun. Choose wrong or ignore it all together and it will leave you dragging.
What Gun Belts Do
Feel the middle of your back. Unless you’re a jellyfish or sea slug, you ran your fingers over that familiar vertical stack of 33 bones known as your spinal column. It’s the support system that makes walking, running, sitting, lifting objects and nearly any other activity consider human — or mammalian for that matter — possible. Pretty important, to say the least.
Crossbreed Crossover Gun Belt
A quality gun belt plays a similar role. It’s fair to consider it the backbone of your carry system. All other aspects of how you carry and how well you do it branch off this simple strap around your waist, so you’d better know what your getting when you go to buy.
Similar to any accessory, gun belt makers promise all sorts of benefits to their product. The intricacies shouldn’t be ignored, but any quality gun belt should be capable of the following:
Hold a pistol and holster in place
Distribute the weight of gear
Resist stretching over time
Aid in concealing a handgun
Prevent a gun drop
Enhance the ability to access a firearm
Additionally, a gun belt should be comfortable, because you’ll curse the day you bought it if it isn’t. And it won’t hurt if it looks good. A minor point, but stylish gun belt options abound today, so might as well take advantage of them.
How A Gun Belt Does Its Job
Hang a gun off your dress belt and almost immediately you’ll see a couple things happen. Right off the bat, it will likely twist, jutting the gun’s grip away from your body. And it will probably transfer a great amount of the pistol’s weight to your britches, inevitably making them slouch like a high school freshman. Neither is ideal, making concealment difficult and a clean draw more like a comedy routine.
Hank's Belts Gunner Freedom Belt
The simple reason why this is, the belt was designed to hold the weight of your pants, little else. Gun belts are devised for much greater loads, 20-ounces-plus of holster, pistol and perhaps extra magazines. And there’s little secret to how it accomplishes this feat —better material, more of it and, in many cases, reinforcement.
Leather Gun Belts
Top-notch gun belts are made from double-thick leather, stiff as an oak stave and, in heavy-duty models, wrapped around a solid core. In many cases, the core is Kydex, a strong yet flexible type of plastic, favored in holster making. But in the top-of-the-line variety, the reinforcing material is spring steel. The combination of this material, when properly constructed, a belt is malleable enough to comfortably serpentine around the waist, yet yields little to vertical pressure. Leather is by far the most common material available and options abound, including excellent examples from Bigfoot Gun Belts and Alien Gear. On the plus side, they’re extremely durable and typically sharp looking. But, over time some show surface wear where the belt contacts the holster loops.
Synthetic Gun Belts
Like leather gun belts, the synthetic variety get the majority of their strength from extra material. Thick nylon webbing provides support, but they are also available in reinforced models with a steel or synthetic cores to increase stiffness. Though tactical in appearance, thus perhaps not the three-piece-suit armed citizen’s cup of tea, synthetic gun belts tend to offer more comfort and flexibility. Not limited by pre-punched holes in most cases, the belts easily adjust to fit perfectly every time. Older models did have some wear issues, fraying at the tip after time. In recent years, companies have addressed the issue through the use of epoxies, such as with Galeco’s Instructor’s Belt, which virtually eliminates this unsightly erosion.
Gun Belt Considerations
Aside from a gun belt’s functionality and comfort, holster compatibility is of significant importance. If the two don’t play nice, well then you’re not going to get the most out of your system. In general, gun belts come in 1 ¼- to 1 ¾-inch width, so check your loop size before you buy.
Galco Instructors Belt
Size is also an extremely important consideration and sometimes a frustrating number to come up with, simply because how makers measure. Some start at the loop at which the buckle attaches, others at the end of the buckle. You should plan on legwork to eliminate guessing. Get on the gun belt makers' websites or give them a call and find out how they want you to measure your size and proceed accordingly. They want to get it right as much as you do, so take advantage of their expertise.
Parting Shot
Concealed carry is greater than simply the gun, like good marksmanship is more than just front-sight focus, grip or trigger pull. It’s a system — from mindset to training to gear. And, inevitably, it’s only as strong as its weakest link. Given the wealth of options and superior modern construction, there’s no excuse to allow something as simple and vital as a gun belt to turn into the faulty linkage.
For more information on concealed carry holsters check out:
Ensure your AR is safe, secure and ready at a moment's notice.
In terms of self-defense, an unloaded gun makes a dandy club, not much else. But does it always make sense to have one in the chamber, particularly when it comes to firearms that aren’t on your person continuously? Say an AR-style rifle.
One of the most popular options in home defense, AR-15s and M4-style carbines take consideration as to how they’ll be secured, yet kept at the ready. The bad news, there’s not a set-in-stone correct answer. Much of it depends on your lifestyle and living conditions, say if you have children or others in your household who might gain access to your guns. What mode they should be kept in the home takes a bit of consideration.
Breaking down nearly every potential condition – if that term can be loosely applied to a long gun — shooting instructor Ken Hackathorn gives shooter some valuable food for thought. The brass tacks of this conversation, how the gun is stored should reflect the state of readiness you deem necessary for your personal situation. For some that means a loaded magazine secured away from the rifle, others a fully chamber gun that simply requires a flick of the safety to be ready for action.
Obviously, this takes some forethought and reflection on what makes the most sense for you. It also requires being honest with yourself and accurately assessing your circumstances. Do these things and the answer should become self-evident.
For more information on Colt, please visit: www.colt.com
Given its near-global presence, the Browning Hi-Power goes by many names.
Hi-Power name variations and acronyms:
Hi Power
Hi-Power
High-Power
High Power
Inglis
HP
GP
BHP
P-35
What do we call this pistol? Verbally it is no problem, because all the choices, save one, sound the same. But is it Hi Power? Hi-Power? High Power? Or High-Power? FN and Browning varied the spelling over the years and have even used a variant of these to describe the bolt-action rifles FN made and Browning imported. The editorial form is Hi-Power, but advertising over the decades has used all of them.
Then there are the acronyms. There’s HP, GP, BHP, and P-35, the year of introduction. If you travel in Canada, you’ll run into shooters there who call it the Inglis, and on an expedition to (of all places) the island of South Georgia, I ran into a former British serviceman who simply referred to it as “the Browning.”
A pedant would scatter the spelling throughout a scholarly work according to the time, place, and origins of the model being discussed. While precise, it would be somewhere between annoying and maddening to read, and best to be avoided.
Me, I opt for the shorthand (BHP) where I can get away with it. Hi Power everywhere else unless it is a specific model like the Inglis. And “Browning”? In Britain, there may be only the one, but for the rest of us there are more than a dozen Browning guns worth considering. Make it Hi Power or BHP for me, then.
For more information on the Browning Hi Power pistol: Eulogy to the Browning Hi Power Upgrading A Surplus Browning Hi-Power The 9 “Best” John Browning Firearms France, Belgium, Nazis and the FN Hi Power
Building from the bottom up, the first step to solid pistol marksmanship is a good grip.
Intricate and nuanced, pistol shooting – done well – is about sweating the small stuff. Not exactly college-leave linear algebra tough, it requires particular attention to where you focus when aiming, how you present the gun and the steadiness of your trigger squeeze. This is especially true in the beginning, before you program muscle memory to auto drive. At the base of it all, before you learn to concentrate on the front sight or how to break a shot like a dry twig, is a proper grip.
Often overlooked for sexier aspects, if you don’t have a solid handle on your gun you’ll never truly build the speed and accuracy of a proficient shooter. As hand placement on a baseball bat is the foundation of slugging, grip on a pistol lays the groundwork for marksmanship. And few men or women and speak more knowingly on the matter than Mark Redl.
Multiple practical pistol titles to his name, the professional shooter stresses the importance of accurate shooting starting from the ground up. Breaking it down step-by-step, Redl gives you the inside on how to properly grip a semi-automatic pistol so you have the most control over the gun and greatest potential for accuracy. Correctly executed, these simple tips should have you managing recoil better, shooting faster and placing more rounds where you want them to go.
An addendum to anything along these lines, it, of course, takes practice. But a little sweat equity perfecting your grip pays big dividends in the long run.
For more information on Colt, please visit: www.colt.com.
Holster selection for women gets dicey because a lot of holster stuff on the market is designed by and for men. Thus, many of the principles in previous chapters need to be looked at differently to ensure comfortable and successful carry. “Concealed carry for women poses some important questions and challenges,” the blog Well ArmedWomen.com declares. “Women have some unique challenges to effective and safe concealed carry such as: holster locations on our curvy bodies, a variety of clothing styles that can make concealed carry challenging and the way a woman lives out her life.”
Demonstration of the notorious Flashbang bra holster. It clips to the band between the cups and holds the handgun front-and-center for quick deployment.
Overcome the Clothing Challenge
As a man attempting to write generalities about how women should dress I might as well just stick my head in the microwave and hit the popcorn button. But a few observations are warranted, like how tight-fitting, thin materials don’t bode well for concealing things like handguns and extra ammo. Concealed carry is not just about picking a gun and a holster. It entails a radical change in lifestyle, and that seems especially true for females. If you’re a woman you can still be fashionable, but you may need to rethink how you dress. Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger.
Yes, it’s true there are holsters to cover many of your existing styles. We’ll cover some of the better-known ones here. But also keep an open mind in looking anew at your wardrobes. Surely some of your stuff will work with the right holster, but there may be even better dress options for that holster and gun combo. Concealed carry is an awesome responsibility, so make it central to everything and dress around it, rather than trying to cram it into your existing daily dress.
A few tips on clothing include working a gun belt with jeans or slacks into your daily wear. A belt holster is one of your best carry options, and the gun belt is, well, a necessary part of the support system. Consider a loose-fitting vest or light over shirt as an outer concealing garment. Lower-riding jeans will help offset a shorter torso, giving you enough room to get a grip on a beltholstered gun, and still be able to draw. This is one of the biggest challenges handgun trainers see when trying to teach women in concealed carry classes. A handgun that rides too hide for your body’s length simply won’t leave any room to grip and draw. Men — don’t give your wife (girlfriend, daughter, etc.) your belt holster and gun belt and assume that because it works for you that it’ll work for her. Holster systems are like clothing, they need to fit the individual, or you’ll virtually guarantee she has a frustrating and unsuccessful experience.
Belt Holsters for Women
Due to the shape and angle of a woman’s hip platform, many of the holsters on the market — which seem to have been designed for men — simply don’t work when used in the strong side position. However, there are a few ways around this conundrum.
“With practice, you will find a place on your figure that is least susceptible to printing a holstered gun,” writes Gila Hayes in Concealed Carry for Women. (Available at GunDigestStore.com). “For women with a less curvy ‘boyish’ figure, this spot may be immediately behind the strong-side hip; for ladies with a very curvy hourglass figure, it may be just forward of the strong-side hip or in cross draw position just in front of the weak-side hip. A short-barreled gun carried at an angle right behind the strong-side hip conveniently allows you to conceal the gun with even openfronted jackets and vests.”
More and more women are finding success with appendix carry, at about the 1-2 o’ clock position in the front. The Crossbreed Appendix Carry is an inside-thewaistband holster designed specifically for this use.
Recently, my girlfriend decided to become armed and we tried several holster options for carrying the Sig P232 — an all-steel single-stack .380 ACP. She is quite petite and very shapely, and likes to wear tight jeans. Ultimately she settled on an outsidethe- waistband holster from Pure Kustom, positioned at about the 4-o’clock position just behind the hip platform. It was mighty comfortable, and with a light shirt over it, completely concealed.
Another good option for women seeking a spot for comfortable belt holster carry is appendix carry. An inside-thewaistband holster located just to the side of the navel in the front is very concealable and many women have found this to be the best solution to comfortable carry.
Shoulder Holster Carry for Women
In the holster type discussion back in Chapter 2, I noted that shoulder holsters are somewhat of a niche application not widely used. However, they do happen to make an excellent choice for armed women. For one thing, they keep the handgun up above the waist and hip platform, the region that causes headaches for so many. For another, they work well with business casual dress.
Many women find shoulder holsters appealing and comfortable. Just be sure you take into account the lines of your torso and choose one with a downward, vertical orientation so it doesn’t print through your shirt. Photo: Concealed Carry for Women by Gila Hayes.
“Most men, in my experience, don’t have the upper body flexibility necessary to draw efficiently or safely from a shoulder holster,” Grant Cunningham notes in the Gun Digest Book of the Revolver (GunDigestStore.com). “Most women do. The more muscular the man, the less likely it is that he’ll be able to make use of the shoulder holster, while women seem to not be so limited regarding their figure. For this reason I tend to recommend shoulder holsters for women more often than I do for men.”
Ankle Holsters
Ankle holsters are another option for those women who can’t find any other carry method or position for a given wardrobe. This method should be reserved for a backup gun, as access is less than ideal. But if there really is no other option it’s better to have a piece on the leg than none at all.
Ankle holsters should be carried on the inside of the leg on the weak-side of the body. Experts advise wearing two pairs of socks — one under the rig for comfort and to prevent abrasion; the other pulled over the holster to aid concealment when the pants leg lifts up, as in seated positions. Speaking of the seated position, Hayes cautions that while the ankle holster is virtually impossible to draw from while moving — running or walking — it is a very good choice for vocations where one is seated or driving.
Thigh Band Holsters
For women wearing dresses or skirts the thigh holster is an option. For men wearing dresses or skirts I can’t help. The thigh-band holster is like a larger version of the ankle holster, and sometimes ankle holsters are actually modified for use on the thigh. They wrap around the leg with either elastic or Velcro to keep the handgun concealed inside the thigh. This is not to be confused with the military or police-style thigh, drop-leg or tactical holster, which attaches to the belt and hangs the handgun in a low position on the outside of the thigh.
Thigh band holsters are basically just ankle holsters only made to wrap around the upper leg. Photo: Concealed Carry for Women by Gila Hayes.
In Concealed Carry for Women, Gila Hayes describes this holster as a “a deep concealment option” sometimes referred to as a “garter holster.”
“Most come with the addition of a nylon waist strap and at least one garter, and often two, attached to the thigh band as insurance to keep it from slipping down,” she writes. “Unlike the belly band, which stops at the hips if it slips down, there is nothing but the tight elastic to keep the thigh band up without the garters.”
You’ll find good thigh band holsters made by Galco, The Well Armed Woman and UnderTech to name but a few.
Bra Holsters
This idea isn’t new and actually has some historical use dating back to the good ol’ days. Today, the brassiere scabbard has been perfected by Lisa Looper of Flashbang Holster fame. Looper’s Flashbang rig wraps around the center support strap of the bra and hangs a smallish pistol or revolver just under the breasts in the front. To draw, you simply “flash” — by yanking up the shirt — and then “bang.”
The Teddy from Flashbang Holsters, attaches to the bra.
I’ve seen mixed reports about this holster design and, like every other holster for women, it comes down to an individual’s physiology. My girlfriend tested both the Flashbang and the Marilyn (which attaches to the shoulder strap and top of the cup, is accessed via the neck opening of the shirt) and did not like it at first. All holsters take some getting used to, but I reckon hanging a pound or pound-and-a-half piece of steel from one’s bra makes for a very unusual day. Even so, every woman who carries should have a Flashbang and Marilyn in their holster drawer and give it a try because it does open up more concealment options. See more on bra holsters in the next chapter.
For more information on concealed carry holsters check out:
Making a single gun fit multiple purposes, conversion kits are proving the wave of the future.
Getting more out of a gun, what shooter wouldn’t be intrigued? For the most part, the industry has moved this direction in recent decades, fueled, in part, by the versatility of AR-style rifles. Modular in design, jumping between calibers and configurations generally is no more difficult than removing a few retention pins and swapping parts. Like wildfire when it comes to long guns, this simple and versatile concept has lagged behind in handguns — until recently.
Spurred on by the U.S. Military’s Modular Handgun System competition, pistols that jump caliber and configuration are starting to swamp the market. One might even argue, they’re the wave of the future. Most certainly, they’re light years away from what it used to take to modify an existing handgun, which required enough effort that it was likely cheaper just to buy a second gun that met your desired specifications.
Before manufacturers took up the cause, a pistol conversion kit generally involved a competent gunsmith, plenty of hand fitting and time. It still takes time to modify the likes of a SIG Sauer P320, but it’s measured in seconds, not weeks and months. The results are quite striking, allowing many pistols to jump from full-sized to compact in just over the wink of an eye. There’s even the potential to incorporate specialty features, such as reflex sights milled directly into a slide, while maintaining a gun’s overall practicality.
With conversion kits, the only limits are the marketplace and your imagination.
For more information on SIG Sauer, please visit: www.sigsauer.com.
It May Be Surpassed, But There’s Nothing Like a Genuine Browning Hi Power!
Basics of the Browning Hi Power:
Designed from 1914 to 1935.
Served from 1935 nearly to present day.
One of the most widely used military pistols in history.
Chambered in 9x19mm, 7.65x21mm and .40 S&W.
10- to 17-round capacity, depending on caliber.
Lock-breach semi-auto.
Browning discontinued production in 2017.
The Browning Hi Power is still an entirely suitable pistol for everyday carry, or EDC. However, you must want one for sentimental or historical reasons, because it will cost you more than a modern polymer handgun.
In the immortal words of the great Dr. Who, “There comes an end to everything. The last door you walk through. The last room you enter.” To which I add: The last Browning Hi Power to be made.
The question is, which one was last? What was its serial number? Where is it located today? I don’t know, because, well, Fabrique Nationale just doesn’t talk much about what goes on inside the walls of their plant. What happens in Liege, stays in Liege, I guess.
But you can hardly buy a brand new Hi Power any longer, and those who import them, or try, can’t get them. How did this happen? To figure that out, we must go back to the beginning.
After the Great War, aka World War I, the smart military establishments planned and stockpiled for subsequent conflicts. However, governments and people were tired of paying for war and, as a result, budgets were tight. It took a while to get around to purchasing new handguns.
The FN-Browning Connection
When the French Army came looking, FN turned to the late, great John Browning as they had for so many previous firearms. He worked up a prototype and it was a doozy. Browning’s creation was chambered in 9mm, held 17 rounds, and the slide portion of the firing mechanism could be removed as a complete assembly. It was, in that regard, just like the Savage pistols. Potentially, you could change the same pistol from a duty trigger to a target trigger and back again in a few seconds. The Browning Museum, in Ogden, Utah has the prototype on display.
The original safety was hopeless. This is the one Ted Yost uses in his builds. It is beautiful, but you must have Ted build the gun to get the safety.
Alas, before he could complete it, John Browning passed away. Work on the pistol then went to Dieudonné Saive, the FN designer who would later design the FN-49, the forerunner of the FAL. Saive ironed out the details of a double-column magazine, which fed to a single feed point, for use in pistols.
By the early 1930s, the French Army was ready to begin trials but, (and apologies here) being French, they just couldn’t decide. After a few fruitless attempts at trying to satisfy the French, FN made the pistol its own as the P-35. (In the end, the French selected a single-stack .32-caliber pistol, which used a cartridge remarkably like the .30 Pedersen. It was designed and manufactured in France.)
The P-35 was hardly through its initial production run when the whole world came apart. In 1940 the Germans overran Belgium, and once the Nazis had cleared the dust and rubble from the machinery in Liege they had the plant up and running again for the Reich. Despite the quick advance, a few of the essential staff and designers managed to get out of Dodge, as it were. The Hi Power blueprints were spirited off to Canada, where John Inglis & Co. set up production for use by the Allies. Thus began the decades-long irony of both sides in a conflict using a pistol of the same design.
The Germans produced hundreds of thousands of the P-35, noted in inventory and marked as the “Pistole 640(b).” Pretty much everywhere they went, when the Germans took over they kept the production lines of whatever was being made going in their name. Those 640(b) pistols were, for the most part, shipped off to the Eastern Front where they were used, captured, picked up, and later stored in Soviet warehouses.
The Canadian model, the Inglis P-35, went to the armed forces in Commonwealth service, as American troops received 1911A1s and various Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers, for use in the war.
Sweeney Discovers the Browning Hi Power
My first introduction to the Hi Power came when I was working at The Gun Room, a gun store I called employer from 1978 to 1982 or so.
Collectors get excited over things like this. For a while, Canada used decals to mark property. To find a Browning Hi Power with the decal still more-or-less intact is wondrous.
One time, we had a weekend barbeque at the boss’s house out in the country. This included shooting all the odd, rare, different or just loud firearms that we had in the shop or in our personal safes. When the rain began we retired into the walk-out basement and fired out of the sliding door, across the patio. (A brief aside: when firing a handgun chambered in 7.63 Tokarev from inside of a room, it is best to be wearing both earplugs and over-the-ears muffs.) I was handed a Browning Hi Power to shoot.
To give you the full flavor of the event, the pistol was a commercial-polished blue, pre-war, tangent-sight model, but with Waffenampt proofs. It was a pre-war commercial gun, cut for a shoulder stock as many back then were, that had been appropriated by the Germans while still in the FN vaults, stamped, and issued for use in the war effort. It was most likely shipped to a Waffen SS or Fallschirmjaeger unit.
I slapped in a 20-round magazine and began shooting. “Hmm, the recoil seems a bit sharp compared to the other handguns. It does hit to the sights. The grips are a bit blocky.”
Just as I was finishing, my internal monologue was interrupted by the owner. “What are you doing?” Looking down, my reply was, “Bleeding, I think.” The sharp recoil was caused by the hammer biting the web of my hand, and the result was me bleeding all over the Browning. Sorry about that, Roger.
Two valuable lessons learned that day: The P-35 bites if you use the then-new IPSC hand grip. And blood, when properly cleaned from blued steel and wooden grips, does not leave any lasting marks or stains.
Think so-called hi-cap magazines are new? Here is a pair of 20-round Hi Power mags, complete with belt pouch, for use with a Hi Power.
Hi Powers in WWII
During the war, we bombed and rained artillery down on the FN plant in Liege to deny its output to the Germans, and when they had to leave, they returned the favor. The place was a wreck by late 1944. The Belgians cleaned up the mess, rebuilt the plant, and began planning. You see, the war had changed many things, including the tools to be used in the next war. Nearly everyone took the lessons learned and began improving what they had. But not us. We pretty much stuck with what we had. Hey, we won the war, and what we used had won, so there wasn’t much pressure to change or upgrade.
A lot of countries felt differently. The rifle got the most focus. Once the U.S. Army had forced our allies to adopt a “new” rifle cartridge — the .308 Winchester — new rifles were needed for it. The .308, aka the 7.62 NATO, is essentially a .30-06 with a shorter case and ball powder, which takes up less volume for the same energy. The difference between them is essentially naught.
In the U.S., the rifle change was to adopt the M14, which is pretty much an M1 Garand with a 20-round box magazine. Even the Italians rebuilt their Garands into the M14 configuration, calling them the BM-59.
The rest of Europe went a different route. Saive, still at the helm at FN, took the 10-shot box magazine-fed FN-49 rifle and changed the externals, which produced the FN-FAL — a 20-round box magazine-fed battle rifle of amazing durability, adaptability, and reliability. It was also almost four feet long, but in the 1950s that wasn’t seen as that much of a problem.
How, you ask, does the worldwide adoption of the FAL figure into the history of the P-35, the Browning Hi Power? Simple: the same FN salesmen who were making sure the FAL earned the name “The Free World’s Right Arm” were also busy pushing the P-35. And why not? If you are going to re-arm your military with top-of-the-line battle rifles complete with service, repair, upgrades, and warranty, why not do the same with the sidearm?
It didn’t hurt that it used the ubiquitous 9mm Parabellum cartridge, and that it was used with great enthusiasm by all sides in World War II, and that it was made in the world-famous FN plant in Liege.
An FN pistol taken into police service in 1946. The proof marks and inspectors’ stamps tell an involved tale. Whole books have been written on marks alone.
A Hi Power for the World
That’s how the Hi Power ended up in service in pretty much every noncommunist (and even some communist) countries. The Commonwealth countries were going to use the Hi Power once it was officially adopted by Great Britain. That meant Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and all the colonies.
Even after they shrugged off the status of a colony, a lot of the new countries kept using the Hi Power. Once in service, it was treated to various modifications, improvements, markings, and tests. The sights were changed and finishes applied. Generally, since there were a million of them out there, the users (or rather, the using organizations) felt free to try their hand at improving it any way they thought possible.
There were other countries that were more interested in having the production of essential arms in-country, and they licensed the manufacture from FN.
The handmade prototype that John Moses Browning had developed before things changed.
Argentina, for one, and Canada kept on using the ones built by Inglis and added more as they needed them. India, after becoming independent, began using the arsenals built by the British to manufacture firearms for their own use. The Indian government licensed the manufacture of the Browning Hi Power from the Inglis company and began making them in Ishapore. One of the other places those pistols went was Nepal.
In my travels around the world, I keep an eye out for the local police and military (in some places one and the same) to see what they are using. In Nepal I saw a truly historic range of firearms.
One museum had two Gurkha guards. One was armed with the utterly wretched Indian-made AK clone-compromise, the INSAS. It takes real work to make an AK-derived firearm that is unreliable, but trusted sources say the INSAS comes as close as any. The other Gurkha guard was armed with an Enfield three-band model 1853 rifled musket, complete with bayonet. I asked if I could take a photo and was given a smiling “No.”
The author hard at work on 300-meter pop-ups, dropping them like bad habits with a Hi Power. Later that day, at the entrance to the local army base, I saw a sergeant armed with a holstered Hi Power. It had to have been either a British pistol dating from WWII or an Indian-made Inglis-licensed copy, but it was a Hi Power.
Later that day, at the entrance to the local army base, I saw a sergeant armed with a holstered Hi Power. It had to have been either a British pistol dating from WWII or an Indian-made Inglis-licensed copy, but it was a Hi Power.
Which brings us to the question.
Why Did the Hi Power Remain in Service for So Long?
The size and shape, to start. The pistol held a useful amount of ammunition, 12 or 13 rounds of 9mm in the magazine. The grip, depending on the panels installed, ranges from comfortable to alluring.
Its size is not burdensome to pack. It isn’t a bundle, as even the smallest carbines of the day would have been. As lightweight and handy as the US M1 Carbine is, it is still a carbine with a stock. Yes, that’s better than a handgun when you need to shoot, but until then a lot less handy, and a lot more of a hindrance than a holstered handgun.
Before the Hi Power, a British officer would likely have carried a revolver like this Webley in .455.
Pistols smaller than the Browning Hi Power often don’t hold sufficient ammo or, if they do, it’s of an undersized cartridge. A sidearm larger than the Hi Power starts to verge into M1 Carbine territory, more hassle. The recoil was not a big deal, as some shooters back then (and yet today) felt the .45 ACP presents.
In many militaries and police departments worldwide, a handgun is a badge of office. In many places, the police are armed with the same rifle that the military uses because law enforcement is just the army dressed in blue instead of green.
The guy in charge of the local group has a holstered handgun because it is his job to supervise the rifle-armed guys, not enforce the laws himself. The holster marks him as the head guy in charge. For that purpose, pretty much anything that fits the holster and fires a bullet will do the job.
Two police pistols. On top, the author’s Novak FBI Hostage Rescue Team clone. Below, a Belgian police lightweight BHP turn-in exchanged for something more “modern.”
Hi Power, High Rank
The panache of the Hi Power extended beyond issue handguns. It was apparently not uncommon to see someone in the Vietnam War, someone who just couldn’t quite be placed as to what organization they were with, armed with the Hi Power. (That was true for non-GI rifles and submachine guns as well.)
Then again, if your senior NCO didn’t object, what was carried as personal gear in Vietnam seemed to be pretty much whatever you wanted. Some organizations were a lot more freeform than others.
The Browning Hi Power was more than just a badge of rank.
The frame was made from forged steel, with the magazine well, slide rails, and other openings machined from the forging. The barrel used the John Browning tilt-down method.
The slide and frame were locked together for a short distance until a cammed face on the bottom lug of the barrel struck the cross-lug in the frame. This caused the barrel to cam down out of the path of the slide, as the slide continued rearward.
Once to the rear of its travel, the slide moved forward, propelled by the recoil spring underneath the barrel. The slide forced a round out of the magazine, collected the barrel, then cammed the barrel up to lock it. Once closed, it was ready to fire again.
Aluminum frame shaves 6 whole ounces from the weight of a comparable all-steel Browning Hi Power.
The locked-breech design allowed the Hi Power (and all other locked-breech pistols) to readily handle the recoil forces of the cartridge.
Without some means of locking the slide and barrel together at the start of the cycle, the upper limit of force the pistol cartridge can generate is limited — limited by the weight of the slide and the force of its spring, and the ability or willingness of the shooter to fire it.
For handguns chambered in anything larger than the .380 Auto cartridge, weight and required recoil spring forces become too great to make a handy pistol, or to find willing shooters.
The efficiency of the cam surfaces makes the Hi Power function with a relatively light slide and recoil spring. That means less weight to carry and less force needed to initially work the slide.
High Power Downsides
However, the design is not without its costs or drawbacks. One is the lack of a barrel bushing on the front of the slide. This makes barrel and slide manufacturing easier, as it eliminates several machining steps. But, the barrel can only be removed from the slide through the rear — unlike the 1911’s barrel that can be removed out the front or rear once the bushing is unlocked from the frame.
This became a stumbling block for pistolsmiths wishing to improve performance decades later. Fitting a replacement bushing in a 1911 allows for a more precise barrel fit and can improve accuracy. You can’t do that with the Hi Power.
When compensators or muzzle brakes became popular in IPSC competition, the Hi Power was left behind. On the P-35, once the brake or comp was attached the barrel could not be removed from the slide. This made cleaning a bit more difficult. On the 1911 it was easy to remove even with a comp or brake installed.
Another obstacle to pistolsmithing was the barrel lockup — specifically, the frame and what FN calls the “barrel seat.” The 1911 cams up and down on the slide stop pin, a removable, replaceable, and easy-to-fit part. The timing can be adjusted by using different-sized barrel links.
The Hi Power employs a cam that is pressed and staked into the frame. It cannot be serviced by anyone but the factory. The cam surfaces on the barrel are machined to a given dimension. Again, they are not serviceable by a pistolsmith, unless he or she obtains a barrel that has those surfaces over-sized and files and machines them to fit the frame and slide.
The Browning's Trigger Pull and Other Issues
The trigger pull is a problem. When it’s good, it’s fine. When it isn’t, it’s hard to work on. The 1911 (the exemplar here) has a few parts that operate in a simple manner, and many, many replacements to be had. The Browning Hi Power? The trigger pivots or cams against a lever, which likewise pivots, pressing down on the edge of the sear. Working on the Hi Power trigger requires the patience of Job and specialized skills.
If Ted Yost built it, you’ll know it.
The thumb safety is worse. It is small, unusable as-is, and difficult to replace. You see, the thumb safety shaft is the hammer pivot shaft. Replacing a safety can adversely affect your trigger pull.
In a military setting those were not obstacles, they weren’t even noticed. If a slide, frame, or barrel became unserviceable, it was simply exchanged for a replacement part. That the new part fit somewhat loosely was not a problem, the old one was often no better.
Military organizations were interested in “minute of opponent” accuracy at just-outside-of-the-foxhole distances. And the standard carry method of a handgun in military service was with the hammer down, safety off, and chamber empty. Thumb safety shortcomings were not even noticed.
But, those were big deals to competition shooters and especially American users, who were interested in better ergonomics. Unlike most of the world, where the sidearm is a backup and often even just the badge of rank mentioned above, we Americans view the handgun as a fighting tool.
Yes, you use it to fight your way back to the rifle or shotgun you should not have put down, but you fight with it. It isn’t just a status symbol, and in many instances it is the only tool used.
Two .40 S&W Hi Powers. On top, the author’s range rental score, and below, his Ted Yost custom. One is an off-the-rack, the other a bespoke suit.
The Browning Hi Power in Competition & Police Use
In the early days of the now common but then radical competition known as IPSC, the Hi Power acquitted itself well. Today, IPSC is seen as a 9mm or .38 Super competition. Back then, it was a .45 competition. And yet, of the first four IPSC World championships, two were won with 9mm pistols, and one of those was a Hi Power.
Back in that era, the Hi Power was involved in one well-known conflict where both sides were armed not just with the same pistols, but the same rifles and machine guns as well.
We won’t go into the ownership of Las Malvinas, or The Falklands, but I do point out that the British and the Argentines used Hi Powers, FALs, and MAG-58 GPMGs all made by or under license from FN in Liege, Belgium.
I’ve been to the islands a few times and it is interesting to note that pretty much every bar or restaurant, museum, or public office has a captured, welded-inoperative FAL on display, but there are no Hi Powers similarly shown.
Not only did Charles Daly bring in Hi Powers, but improved the safety. These guns are very good, too bad they’re virtually impossible to find.
Hi Powers and the FBI
Here in the U.S., one agency that showed a lot of interest in the Hi Power was the FBI, specifically for its Hostage Rescue Team. Although, that was back when the FBI allowed personal weapons for service and the Hi Power was on the approved list.
They went to a great deal of effort in the mid-to-late-1980s to have Wayne Novak build up a batch of Hi Powers for them.
The initial build was to install Novak sights on the pistols, but after various shipments, returns for repairs and overhaul, and requests for improvements, they were a buffet of 9mms with a host of custom features. The plain guns went to the field agents, and (no surprise) apparently the ones with the custom features went to supervisors, office heads, and the like.
What the FBI found out was what we IPSC shooters had learned some years before: the original Hi Power was not a heavy-duty pistol. The FBI did not feed its Hi Powers anything but a steady diet of standard-pressure 9mm ammunition, unlike the U.S. Army and its first problems with the M9 pistol.
The M9 had issues in part because the idea of 9mm ammunition was new to the army. To the FBI, not at all. And despite using only standard pressure (not +P) ammunition, the FBI found, as the rest of us had, that the Hi Power couldn’t take the volume of shooting IPSC required.
In the days of Bullseye competition, you’d be hard pressed to shoot more than 5,000 rounds a year. A match ran you 50 rounds of ammunition. If you shot a match every single weekend and practiced once in between, that came to 5,200 rounds a year. That was considered a lot of shooting.
When I began IPSC competition I was shooting 10,000 rounds a year, and I was not keeping up with the Joneses. When I went to a Dillon loading press, I jumped up to 35,000 rounds a year and kept at it (or more) for the next 20 years.
A 1911, even when firing .45 ACP +P, or 9mm +P or +P+ ammo, can do that for as long as the barrel’s rifling holds up. Once you’ve worn out the bore, you can refit the slide to the frame, install a new barrel, and start over again.
I have several 1911s that have had 100,000 rounds or more through them, and you’d be hard-pressed to tell them from the lower mileage pistols. I am a slacker, as I know of people who have much more than that through their 1911s. The Hi Power? Tens of thousands in the old Mk II or earlier guns meant the end of service.
A Look at the Market
Browning was the importer of Hi Powers made by FN. When Browning wasn’t bringing in as many as the market wanted, other importers shipped in pistols made in places other than Liege. Sometimes, especially once the patents expired, the manufacturer would see if an American importer wanted to buy a batch of “just like Liege” licensed Hi Powers.
I have one like that, which was imported under the Charles Daly name, back when. These were Hungarian-made clones, and while I haven’t tried to see if small internal parts fit (none have shown signs they need to be replaced) magazines and grips fit just fine.
Interesting tidbit of info: they were imported as parts, assembled and fitted here in the U.S. — hence the “Made in USA” markings they bear.
Don’t get me wrong, the Hi Power will still be dependable even when heavily used. Our gun club’s treasurer a couple of decades ago, who used to work for the city of Detroit, carried a brace of T-Series Hi Powers.
This was during the bad old days when Detroit was aflame, and no one who needed a CPL back then could get one. He carried anyway. He used his so much that the recoil springs were more than a bit tired. I had a spring tester and the standard Hi Power recoil spring measured at 17 pounds.
His two 9mms had springs worn down to 10 and 11 pounds. They still worked.
But when parts start breaking or falling off, it’s time to move on. And move on we all did. So did the FBI HRT. One agency I still wonder about is the Hong Kong Airport Police.
I encountered them while traveling to the 1999 IPSC World Shoot in the Philippines. We changed planes in Hong Kong and the police made us get off the plane and identify our bags, and inspected our firearms transport paperwork.
They were bored, we were fascinated. We closely studied (all of us were gun geeks, there were 30-40 IPSC competitors for the match on that plane) the MP5s they carried, their handguns, holsters, etc. One thing we got tired of studying was their sloppy gun handling.
When one supervisor had trouble reading the paperwork in the fading light (we were out of the plane, on the tarmac, with the other passengers peering out through the plane’s windows at us), one of his subordinates lifted his MP5 over the boss’s shoulder and clicked on the light on its handguard.
Me, I looked around to see what I could hide behind should the inevitable accidental discharge happen. It didn’t, thank goodness.
FN’s SFS, or Safe-Fast-Shooting system, is immediately obvious, in part due to the odd hammer. And the real clue: the hammer is “down” but the safety is on.
FN Struggles with the High Power
FN tried to keep up. One such change was the SFS. The Safe-Fast-Shooting system was an attempt to gain the benefits of a double-action (DA) pistol while retaining the upside of a single-action. The main benefit of the SFS was that the hammer was down. This made it appear to be a DA pistol and not one with a cocked hammer.
Once you loaded the SFS, you pushed the hammer down with your thumb. When it clicked into place, the thumb safety popped up to engage the system. You now had a hammer-down pistol with a thumb safety. On the draw, you could thumb the safety down, which caused the hammer to automatically pop up, ready to go to work.
.40-Caliber Hi Powers
The one big change that made a difference was the introduction of the .40 S&W cartridge. When Jeff Cooper and others were experimenting with a cartridge that was called the .40 G&A, they used a Browning Hi Power as their base pistol. They were happy with the results, but when the actual .40 came out in 1990 (their experiments had happened in the 1970s), things were different.
The prevailing wisdom of the time was that a .40 S&W pistol could be had simply by plugging a .40-caliber barrel into a 9mm model and installing a stiffer recoil spring. When the various pistol manufacturers did that, they found that the job was a lot tougher than they thought. It took a few years and a few model variants for everyone to work out the details.
FN built some .40 prototypes on their Mk II frames and tested them. Those R&D guns died in an embarrassingly short time span. The word on the street was that they lasted about 2,500 rounds, and then were simply scrapped.
The problem? The frames. A forged frame, one in which 85-90 percent of the steel is machined away, simply cannot be all that tough. So, FN went to cast frames for the Mk III.
Since the machining needed is just for cleanup or to reach the final dimensions, they could make the frames of much, much tougher steel. I have one of these, and Wayne Novak built it into his top-end clone of the HRT gun.
Testing the High Power
During testing for an article of the time, I put 23,000 rounds through it. I had two malfunctions in all that time. One was a low-powered lead bullet reload that had somehow gotten all the way to the chamber (but only partially into it) with a great big glob of bullet lube stuck to the case. The other was a seriously tired old 20-round magazine.
The spring, when I extracted it, was a full inch shorter than the spring in a brand-new 20-round magazine. So, both malfunctions were blamed on things other than the pistol.
For those willing to indulge a Major League Baseball analogy, these were chalked up to errors on the part of the fielders, and so not hurting the Hi Power’s ERA.
I have two other Mk IIIs, one a box-stock .40 that was a rental gun at Double Action range in Madison Heights, Michigan. They lost count of the ammo that had gone through it, but other than the usual handling and shop wear from going through a thousand hands, it looks, feels, and works fine. The other is a custom .40 built by Ted Yost. I managed to acquire it for less than the cost of the custom work Ted had done, so it’s a keeper for sure. It is also a tack driver.
The rarest one I have is a lightweight Hi Power. These were made a few times, and only in short runs with aluminum frames, which pared a few ounces off the weight.
A “Made in the USA” Hi Power. Well, assembled in the USA from parts made in Hungary.
Custom & Collectible Hi-Powers
Just before Hi Power production ended, Nighthawk Custom imported a batch of FN Mk IIIs and built them into custom guns. The result was a hi-cap 9mm with more style than most people could handle but at the price of a custom 1911.
They also solved the hammer bite problem by welding on a tang to protect your hand. It was a love-it-or-hate-it proposition. If you must have the ne plus ultra of 9mm pistols, then track down a Nighthawk Hi Power. There will be no one who is not envious of you.
The Hi Power has a lot going for it — mystery, panache, style, grip-fit, and great looks to boot. So why has FN stopped making it? And why should you acquire one anyway? The word is that the tooling is worn out.
Me, I don’t buy it.
Modern CNC machining uses slabs of steel called tombstones to hold the parts. The “tooling” consists of the cutters that are shaped to make the exact cut needed for a part or dimension. Cutting tools are purchased by the gross by big-time manufacturers.
No, the truth is much simpler: the polymer-framed, striker-fired pistols have won. The soul-less, industrial, common-as-dirt with no heart pistol has taken over.
No one wants to pay what it would take to make a competitive Hi Power when you can literally buy a ready-to-go polymer handgun for half that amount.
The author’s Novak BHP on a pile of brass and the stacks of ammo it chewed through during testing.
Oh, FN could make a ready-to-go Hi Power, one with a nice trigger, no bite, durability, and a thumb safety you could use. It would cost as much as two Glock G17s or more, and it would still, at best, hold 15 rounds to the G17’s 17+1.
Luckily, there are still makers of Browning's Hi Power, but those that are not Liege-made will be rougher, and you may have to do some persuading to find a pistolsmith to tame them. My advice? Get a Liege-made one now, while you still can. The Browning Hi Power, there’s nothing like it.
True-to-life courses and the high-stress to succeed, the competition pushes shooters to their limits and asks for more. While pro’s such as Mark Redl make it look like a stroll in the park, when the safety is off and the pressure is on most find it’s anything but. Of course, the Aguila Ammunition-sponsored shooter — self-taught for the most part — has spent decades honing his craft to collect a trophy-room full of championships.
The Modern Shooter crew catches up with the sharp shot in this week’s episode and do more than marvel at Redl’s game-winning practical marksmanship. They get down and dirty, running the courses and try their hand at besting the champ. Note, they “try.” While none can get the upper hand on Redl, through his deft coaching they find out the secrets of scoring big when running and gunning.
While it might sound counterintuitive, putting two on target is possibly the easy part of a shooting competition. Forethought, transition, reloads and safety — these are all essential to a top performance and, if executed imprecisely, are wet sandbags weighing one down. Sharpen up those aspects and you’ll run a course like a pro. Luckily, Redl gives the crew and you the tips you need to take the next step in the competitive game.
For more information on Aguila Ammunition, please visit: www.aguilaammo.com.
Shooters do not live by firearms alone. Find out the great new must-have gear that will make carrying, shooting and caring for your firearms easy as pie.
The Safariland Model 575 holster is a multi-fi t inside the waist belt holster, shown here with the Glock 19X.
I’ve been using the Safariland 575 Pro-Fit for some time. As I’ve had to move my concealed carry pistol to the front at times, the 575 Pro-Fit is a good IWB alternative for so-called AIWB carry (say, at 12:30 – 1 o’clock or so). The Pro-Fit accepts takes a wide variety of handguns with minor adjustments. I’ve used this for the Glock 19 Gen4 and Gen5, and the Glock 19X — as well as the S&W M&P9 M2.0 Compact and the new Ruger Security-9. The holster features the “GLS” Grip-Locking System. Seat the gun into the holster and it snaps into place. When you take a firing grip, the middle finger of the shooting hand has to occupy the same space as the lever, releasing the gun. Foam pads are included and can be located in one of two places to force the muzzle out and the grip back into your body, hiding the gun under a shirt.
The same maker offers the Model 7371 7TS ALS holster, which is a compact paddle design. A secure rig, the automatic locking system (pistol locked into the holster simply by seating the gun fully) is as fast and as simple as any open-top holster can be. Closing your hand into a firing grip causes the thumb to draw the ALS latch back, freeing the gun. Like other 7TS holsters, the 7371 is durable, weather- and temperature-resistant. Made for the Shield, Glock 42, 43, Ruger LC380, LC9 and LC9s, the 7371 comes with the 571BL Paddle.
The Safariland Model 7371 features the auto-lock system. The thumb-tab release is visible from the back of the holster. Note the small paddle.
I found that my front IWB holster for the Glock pistol line, the Eidolon by RCS, didn’t work for Gen5 Glocks. Enter the Perun. It’s a modular rig that works on either side of the shooter and for southpaws. It’s a “pancake” style rig with the mounting attachments fore-and aft, not behind the holster pouch. The holster is supplied with three pair of 1.5-inch belt loops to allow different modes of carry. The Perun uses a retention slider to adjust the holster to the gun, and it features both inboard and outboard full-height body shields, an open muzzle and will accommodate suppressor-height sights and red-dot optics. You can get it to fit the Glock 17 (22), Glock 19 (23) or Glock 43. For less than $40, there may not be a better modular synthetic OWB available.
Carry For Larger Guns
I’ve recently come to use discreet gun bags, one for an AR pistol and the other for the Ruger Pistol Caliber Carbine. The first was for the Springfield Armory Saint AR pistol. I found the gun fits into the large but “non-gun” looking Elite Survival Systems 7725-B Stealth Covert Operations Backpack without being disassembled. There’s room for magazines and other gear — but consider weight — and the Saint-P just barely fits, which is perfect. Padded sides and bottom keep the gun from unnecessary dings. As the Saint I have is configured with Troy Industries flip-up Battle Sights and the Aimpoint Micro T-2 red-dot sight — and still fits — I’ll be interested in seeing what happens when a light gets attached.
The Elite Survival Systems 7725-B Stealth Covert Operations Backpack is a fi t for the Springfi eld Armory Saint pistol with an optic.
For the Ruger PC Carbine, I found the Copper Basin, LLC Gen 3 Takedown Firearm Backpack. An attractive pack with modern sport styling, it doesn’t scream “GUN!”. Originally designed for the Ruger 10/22 Take Down models and other takedown guns, I’d wondered if it’d fit the new Ruger centerfire take down. The website now shows it does accept the PCC — and I’ve confirmed it. If you’re trying to be discreet about being a gun owner — think burglary prevention — having a run-of-the-mill, nondescript bag to throw into the car is a big help to maintain a low profile.
Needed Tools
I always keep a lookout to find easier ways to get maintenance done. Lyman now offers Pachmayr Master Gunsmith Screwdrivers. The Master Gunsmith 10-Piece Screwdriver Set includes a “3-wing” handle design to enhancing turning force while preventing the screwdriver from rolling off the bench. Tips are magnetized and parallel-ground, and included are T-10 and T-15 size six-lobe drivers as well as a 5/32-inch hex driver.
In addition, I received some tools from Real Avid. These included their Accu-Punch Hammer and Punches kit. The hammer face can be brass, steel, rubber and nylon, which is a handy touch. The 10 steel pin punches are labeled for size and feature rubber gripping rings. Made from non-scratching, non-marring materials, the Accu-Grip Picks and Brushes really get into the crevices and recesses of the gun.
Tools from Real Avid included their Accu-Punch Hammer and Punches Kit, and Accu-Grip Picks and Brushes.
I also just received the HolsterOps Rogers Enhanced LCR Grip. Adding support for the full hand, the stock moves the hand higher on the back strap of the revolver to substantially reduce muzzle flip. The material allows a smoother draw from pocket holsters and prevents the grip from grabbing clothing while drawing, and the aggressive textured pads increase control of the revolver while firing. Tabs protrude on either side of the trigger guard allow it to catch and sit on top of the belt so it can be worn as an IWB without a holster. I found out a few things: The hammer can’t reach the distance needed for the single action notch to catch, but the gun can be fired double action. Also, the nice high horns on the stock deliver a resounding blow to the thumb. I imagine these would be just the thing for the .22 caliber LCR lines, but it can get dicey for 38s.
Hearing and Eye Protection
Top focal eyewear from SSP and new, high-quality amplified ear protection from Safariland, the Liberator HP
I saw the news about Safariland’s U.S.-designed and manufactured Liberator HP advanced hearing protection headset. The Liberator HP headset offers dual-mode electronic noise compression and active noise cancellation with sound localization for maximum situational awareness and sound detection. Some would consider it pricey at nearly $260, but what’s your hearing worth? You can’t find this kind of quality cheaper with a comparable feature set.
I recently discovered Specialized Safety Products. Makers of SSP Eyewear, I found their “Top Focal” shooting glasses. Featuring a magnifying segment atop the lens (unlike bifocals with the near vision enhancement at the bottom), they sharpen the view of the front sight — not so much for me with handguns, but definitely when shooting carbines with iron sights. Kits are available with amber, clear and smoked anti-fog lenses, and a zippered pouch.
Range Estimation
Vortex Optics Impact 850 laser rangefi nder.
Since I’d had several trips to Wyoming on rodent-strafing safaris, my inability to effectively estimate range has bothered me. I also used it on the club range on some of the range bays. During a recent trip, I took the Vortex Optics Impact 850 rangefinder to our second pistol bay – which is unmarked. I was working out with new pistols and wanted to nail down distances. The Impact 850 quickly sorted through those chores, but I also checked distances to various other locations. Use of the device was quick and easy, the controls intuitive. I had to do nothing to set it up beyond installing the battery. It’s a steal at the mid-$200 price range.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the Great Gear 2018 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Among the most unique long guns, there's no shortage of choices when it comes pistol-caliber carbine makes and models.
There's really no need to be PC … unless you’re talking about long guns. Handy and manageable, rifles and carbine that feed off of pistol-caliber ammunition have grown in popularity. There’s no secret why, the firearms are ideal shooting range diversions, teaching tools and home-defense – particularly close quarters.
Shooters tend to think there is only one style of pistol-caliber carbine, the dominant and versatile modified AR-style system. Readily available, these guns are far from the only option out there. Honestly, like the majority of the firearms world, pistol-caliber long-guns are designed to suit every need.
Showcasing a swath of popular options, John Tupy of The Modern Sportsman gun store in Burnsville, Minn., breaks down what this class of firearms has to offer. For close range plenty, from the highly versatile SIG Sauer MPX Carbine to the bit more traditional Ruger PC Carbine. The simple-blowback operated pistol-caliber carbines are chambered in everything from 9mm all the way up to .45 ACP. And they boast some of the more cutting-edge designs in the semi-automatic world, too boot.
As interesting and useful as pistol-caliber carbines are, they tend to have some notable limitations. Chief among these is range. Certainly, kittens in the recoil department, they’ll rattle through a magazine in no time flat, and accurately in competent hands. However, practically speaking, they are a little rusty once they get past the 50-yard mark.
This is a different kind of gun article. It took weeks to put this together because a cursory review was not the goal: I wanted to unequivocally determine the level of reliability that could be expected from the Sig Sauer P320 and the Sig Electro-Optics Romeo 1. This takes time — days, in fact — and lots of ammunition.
I’d been hearing good and bad things about the P320, as well as a lot of pontification on the durability and effectiveness of the Romeo 1 on defensive handguns. I wanted to see some results for myself.
You don’t often read articles like this in gun magazines, because they’re not profitable for the writer. I’ve been in this gun writing business — professionally — for more than two decades. Articles are most commonly generated when a writer sees a gun and queries an editor. Almost as frequently, editors assign writers to review and report on a gun of potential interest.
In both cases, the gun is often fired only a couple hundred times to get a feel for it. If a writer allots a day to arrange an article, a day to shoot, a day for photos and two days for writing, on average they’ll make about $17 per hour. The report then essentially involves one day on a range. This is partly because that’s all the free ammo the writer can get, and partly because the more time spent shooting, the less money is made.
Pull it out of the mud, slosh it off in a water hole, rack the slide using the refl ex sight as a handhold — and if your handgun is a P320 equipped with a Romeo 1, expect it to work.
This model provides hands-on review to the reader while maintaining some efficiency for the author.
However, the best gun writers learn how to provide more than a basic review, and the best editors — thus, the best gun magazines — provide content that goes much deeper than most.
Less common is when a writer fundamentally journals about a specific firearm with which they have extensive experience. In such case, you’ll get to read about weeks, months or even years of experience with a certain gun. In other words, instead of getting a snapshot, you get a comprehensive evaluation.
And, that’s what you have here. It’s a look at how these guns performed — not 1,000 words about how they’re made and how pretty they are.
Building The Gauntlet
I convinced Sig Sauer to send me four pistols, and I convinced various manufacturers to send me lots of ammunition. My goal was to see how reliable the Sig Sauer P320 and Romeo 1 reflex sight were. I did not conduct the usual velocity and accuracy testing: I shot these pistols and had others do the same. We abused these guns and sights — you could say we treated them like a borrowed hammer. We waited for the right conditions, on multiple days, and then did the work.
The four guns:
Sig Sauer P320 FDE Compact: $679
Sig Sauer P320 X-Five Full-Size: $1,005
Sig Sauer P320 RX Compact with a Sig Sauer Romeo 1 reflex sight: $952
Sig Sauer P229 RX with a Sig Sauer Romeo 1 reflex sight: $1,440
The munitions:
Hornady 9mm +P, 124-grain, XTP, American Gunner: 500 rounds
Remington 9mm, 124-grain, Golden Saber: 1,000 rounds
Remington 9mm, 124-grain, Black Belt: 800 rounds
Sig Sauer 9mm, 115-grain, Elite Ball, FMJ: 500 rounds
Sig Sauer 9mm, 124-grain, Elite V-Crown, JHP: 200 rounds
Sig Sauer P320 FDE Compact
The first pistol we took to task was the P320 FDE Compact. This pistol feels good in the hand and, importantly, it’s not too big — only 7.2 inches long and 1.3 inches wide — for everyday carry. I shot it, my son shot it and a friend of his who was preparing to enter BUDs training with the Navy shot it. We shot it in hot weather, cold weather, in the rain and in the snow. It digested a 1,000-round mixture of all the loads without an issue.
Sig Sauer P320 X-Five Full-Size
Next up was the X-Five. This is a big handgun intended for competition, though I imagine — given its 21-round capacity — it could serve in a tactical environment as well. It has a 5-inch barrel, is 8.5 inches long and some of its unique features include a detachable, wide-mouth magazine well, a straight X-Series trigger and Dawson Precision adjustable sights. This pistol weighed 30.7 ounces without a magazine.
This is obviously a pistol for high-volume fire, and that’s how we tested it. We repeatedly conducted a drill where we dumped four 21-round magazines, as fast as we could, while trying to keep all shots inside a five-inch circle, at five yards. Our best run was one miss out of 84 in 35.02 seconds. Like with the P320 FDE Compact, we shot it in the rain and the snow, and out of 840 rounds of a mixed variety of ammo, there were no stoppages.
Sig Sauer P320 RX Compact
The RX — Romeo 1 equipped — pistols were included, not as much to test the pistol as to test the suitability and ruggedness of the reflex sight on a defensive handgun. This pistol weighed 24.5 ounces — only 0.8 ounce more than the P320 FED Compact without the Romeo 1. Yes, it got the rain and snow treatment, but we also tossed this pistol in the deep mud and drove over it with a big Jeep.
When we dug it out of the goo it was, like a coal miner would say, “gobbed off.” We had to slosh it around in a waterhole to even identify it. A magazine was inserted, the slide was racked — we did have to thumb the slide forward the last ¼-inch — and not only did the pistol run, the sight still worked and was still zeroed. Rounds fired: 750. Stoppages: 0. That’s impressive.
Sig Sauer P229 RX
Figuring 2,590 rounds fired through three P320s in harsh conditions provided a reasonable idea how reliable that platform was, the P229 RX was included to give a second look at the Romeo 1 sight. This pistol/sight combination did not get the mud treatment, but it arguably got something worse. We dropped it repeatedly, stomped it, threw it as far as we could and even beat it against a railroad tie. The Romeo 1 did not fail. Not only did the aiming point remain illuminated, it held perfect zero. At the end of the abuse, we fired a nearly one-hole, 10-shot group, at 10 yards from the off-hand position. Total shots fired: 410. Stoppages/issues: 0.
Observations
I was impressed with all three variants of the P320. They were reliable, the triggers were clean, I shot them well and they felt good in my hands. In fact, I liked P320 better than the P229, and I’m not a fan of striker-fired guns. I especially liked how easy the P320 is to disassemble. You can take it apart and put it back together with one hand in a matter of seconds. Yes, the chance you’ll have to do this is slim, but it illustrates the simplicity of the process. I also really liked the smooth, flange-free trigger.
On the P320 Compacts, I really liked the location and diminutive size of the slide lock. On some handguns — particularly Glocks — the slide lock is positioned well forward and I struggle with keeping my support thumb from contacting it during recoil. When that happens, the slide locks back. On the P320, the slide lock is positioned more like a thumb safety or de-cock lever. Not once did I inadvertently activate the slide lock, which is, by the way, present on both sides of the frame.
With the P320, you can fi eld strip and assemble the pistol, even in the pouring rain, while using only one hand.
However, on the P320 X-Five — again, a gun intended for competition — the slide lock, though un-shrouded, was just as small. During competition, releasing the slide with the thumb/slide lock — though not something I recommend with a defensive handgun — can be faster. But, it often necessitates an extended slide lock. On a defensive handgun, an extended slide lock might lead to that inadvertent lock-back — which is not good! On the other hand, competition shooters train much more than your average citizen carrying concealed. For those with judicious training, an extended slide lock can make sense, and maybe help them win a match. In my opinion, Sig ought to consider this alteration on the X-Five.
I’m considering buying a P320, but I’m having trouble deciding which model, since there are nearly a dozen to choose from.
The Romeo 1 reflex sight impressed me most. The initial impression is that this sight needs to be babied. After all, it’s extremely petite and has glass in it for heaven’s sake.
That said, I was unsuccessful at making this sight fail. Admittedly, it has to be relatively clean to work; if you drop the gun in the mud you’ll have to wipe it off. However, heavy rain and snow did not render the Romeo 1 unusable. Unbelievably, this sight costs less than $400.
I will add, however, that I could not get hits as fast with the RXs fitted with the Romeo 1. To become proficient with a reflex sight, there’s definitely a learning curve — you don’t just pick it up and go to town on the targets. Accuracy was not the problem, rather it was conditioning myself to look for the dot instead of the sights.
When we worked with the P320 X-Five, the author conducted high-volume shooting drills using four, 21-round magazines.
On a 15-shot drill I often use for training, I was just as accurate but about 20 percent slower with the Romeo 1. With practice, I’m sure this gap would narrow and likely disappear, but I mention it in case you get yourself a Romeo 1-equipped Sig — it will take some getting used to.
This article took longer than most. I got wet, cold and muddy. And, in the end, I made about $5-per-hour while working on it. But it was worth it. No, this is not your average gun article, but now I — and you — have not just an idea, but a real-world, practical impression of the durability and reliability of the P320 and Romeo 1.
I can definitely say, I’d trust my life to both.
For more information on the P320 and Romeo 1 check out:
Weatherby partnered with Krieger to improve the rifle that made Roy Weatherby famous.
How the Krieger Custom Rifle is a cut above the rest:
26-inch fluted barrel from Krieger.
Cut rifling.
Weatherby Mark V action.
Oversized bolt knob.
Cerakote finished metal.
Hand-laid stock with an aluminum bedding block.
LXX adjustable trigger.
The color grabs you first. Not the matte-black, gel-finished synthetic stock, but the metal. Barrel, receiver and bottom metal wear Cerakote, in flat dark earth that borders on bronze. Barrel flutes and bolt (body, shroud and handle) are black. All told, it’s a fresh, striking look. The oversize bolt knob catches your eye, too. Semi-gloss black and profiled for a perfect cosmetic fit, it’s faster and more positive in operation than Weatherby’s standard knob. And to top it all off, the floorplate wears a distinctive KCR logo that adds to the rugged elegance.
The 26-inch cut-rifle Krieger barrel is fluted and threaded. Chamber specs, installation is done by Weatherby.
What you can’t see also defines the Krieger Custom Rifle. Its hand-laid stock boasts a long alloy bedding block for increased rigidity and more uniform action-stock seating. Last year, Weatherby tweaked the profile of all Mark V stocks, reducing grip circumference, adding a right-side palm swell and giving the forend a sharper, slimmer profile. They’re subtle changes, but palpable. The LXX trigger (for the firm’s 70th year) is also a recent upgrade: It now has a wider face, is factory set at 3.5 pounds and the pull adjusts down to 2.5 pounds.
Most distinctive is the KCR’s fluted, 26-inch barrel. Of medium contour, it’s manufactured and cut-rifled to .0001-inch groove tolerance in the shop of ace barrel-maker John Krieger. The bore is hand-lapped to 16 micro-inches in the direction of bullet travel, the muzzle threads get a protective cap and the barrel is cryogenically treated there, too.
All Weatherbys have a 1-MOA guarantee. This Range-Certifi ed KCR comes with data for best loads.
“Boring and rifling impose stresses on barrel steel,” Pete Paulin told me many moons ago. “Deep freezing relieves them. During bullet launch, a barrel expands radially and in length. Cryogenic treatment eliminates forces that skew expansion and contraction.”
While the principle has been used since 1940, he explained, it didn’t become practical for barrels until he refined a process in 1992. It begins with a bath at -300 degrees Fahrenheit (absolute zero, or 0 degrees Kelvin, is -457 degrees Fahrenheit). Slow cooling prevents cracking. Like Paulin, John Krieger says “cryo” is no sure fix for ho-hum groups, but it won’t cause any damage and often improves accuracy.
The idea for a Mark V with a cut-rifled Krieger barrel came by way of Adam Weatherby, now the company’s CEO, on a visit to the Krieger shop early in 2017. John readily agreed to send finished barrels, bored to Weatherby’s specs, to its headquarters and assembly center in Paso Robles. But they aren’t the first Kriegers on Weatherby rifles. In fact, button-rifled Criterion barrels, once a Krieger product, have been installed on Weatherbys since 1999 and are standard on Mark Vs now.
It’s All About The Barrel
All Mark V stocks got a recent overhaul: a slimmer grip with palm swell, a crisper profi le and more intricate details.
Rifling a bore can be done with a cutter, a button or a hammer-forging machine. The cutter was developed in Nuremburg in the late 15th century. It’s a small hook in a hard, bore-diameter steel cylinder. Most commonly now, a rod pulls the hook, removing a very thin slice of barrel wall with each pass. The rod indexes to deepen each groove, and the cutter’s rotation setting determines rate of twist.
“A single-point cutter imposes little stress on the blank,” John Krieger says. “But the process is slow.” Like leather seats in a fine automobile, cut rifling pairs with upscale custom rifles. It’s also standard in test barrels Krieger supplies to the ammunition industry manufacturers.
Much faster is the tungsten-carbide button. Mounted on a high-tensile rod and rotated by a head set to the desired twist, the button is pushed or pulled through the finished bore by a hydraulic ram, “ironing in” grooves. The most popular rifling option for .22 rimfires, buttons have an advocate in Steve Dahlke, who by 1982 was making barrels for John Krieger. Now president of the separate Criterion shop, he also supplies buttoned centerfire barrels.
The author likes the appearance and feel of the KCR’s oversize bolt knob for faster, more positive cycling.
Hammer-forging, pioneered on barrels for German MG 42 machine guns, is also speedy. A short, thick barrel blank is fed into the maw of a machine that costs more than the annual GDP of Angola. The machine “kneads” the blank around a mandrel that, like a button, wears rifling in reverse. The hammering produces a terrific din, and enough floor vibration to stagger a horse.
The barrel emerges about 30 percent longer via this process. Its slick bore has finished dimensions, though radial stresses can be hard to remove. Roy Weatherby may have been the first American rifle-maker to hawk hammer-forged barrels, later standard on Mark V rifles.
As for twist rate, “it’s better to over-stabilize a bullet than give it too slow a spin,” John Krieger says. “Lead-free bullets and those with thick jackets are longer than soft-points hunters used 50 years ago, and they require sharper twist.”
Accuracy Through Action
Roy Weatherby and Fred Jennie designed the Mark V Magnum action in 1957. It still features a nine-lug bolt.
Accuracy starts before the bullet meets rifling. A parallel throat acts like a piston sleeve: It must allow easy passage of all bullets, “but it can’t be oversize,” cautions John Krieger. “A little bullet wobble ruins accuracy.” As long throats keep a lid on pressure, Roy Weatherby used them to hike bullet speeds.
The uniformity of finished bores may be checked with an air gauge, a probe that moves through the barrel with air pressure “feeling out” variance down to 50 millionths of an inch! In addition, John Krieger lops an inch of barrel from the muzzle before crowning because “bore finishing can leave a flare.” The KCR has a recessed target crown to protect the bore lip and ensure perfectly square bullet exit.
The KCR’s Mark V action is a refined version of the mechanism Roy Weatherby engineer Fred Jennie developed to accommodate the .378 Weatherby cartridge after its 1953 introduction. To see how a current Mark V rifle comes about, I visited the Paso Robles assembly floor. The KCR had yet to emerge then, but the staff was boxing up rifles in the spanking-new 6.5-300 Magnum. Charitably, Ed Weatherby said: “You might as well build one.”
This 0.6-inch knot was the fi rst the author shot with ballistic tips.
He’d have been foolish to turn me loose in that shop. Instead, a handful of skilled rifle builders guided me through 36 shop operations to bring a Mark V from 33 parts to completion. In the test tunnel, it drilled a 0.7-inch knot. “All Weatherby rifles must now meet a 1-MOA standard,” confirms Adam. “Rifles marked ‘Range Certified’ come with a proof target from Oehler’s Ballistic Imaging System, and load data developed by Weatherby for that rifle.”
As I’ve known John Krieger for years and used his barrels on other rifles, I requested a sample of the KCR right away. It comes in four Weatherby Magnum chamberings: .257, 6.5-300, .300 and .30-378. Noise and recoil have become less appealing with age, so I was pleased the crew shipped a .257. One of Roy’s favorite cartridges, it was also one of his first. In fact, its 1944 debut predated his rifle company! Factory-loaded ammo appeared in 1948. The .257 was on Norma’s list when it began supplying Weatherby ammo in 1951. Norma currently lists seven loads under Weatherby’s label, with five bullet weights.
Under The Hood
At 3,870 fps, the 80-grain TTSX bullet in the .257 Magnum is faster at launch than any other load for any Weatherby cartridge. Three 100-grain spitzers at 3,500-3,600 fps also qualify as hotrods. But to get ballistic coefficients above .400 and weights suitable for elk, and to better tap the .257’s case capacity, I turned to 110-grain AccuBonds at 3,460 fps, 115-grain ballistic tips at 3,400 fps and 120-grain partitions at 3,305 fps. Roy Weatherby’s notes on the .257 during his African safari came to mind.
Unveiled in 1945, the .300 Wthby. was fi rst loaded by Norma in 1951.
“The 87-grain bullet seems to have more killing power at 100 yards than does the 100-grain.” Still, his unvarnished reports later showed that light bullet at nearly 4,000 fps didn’t excel in all situations. Thus, it’s no longer loaded. I have limited field experience with this hot .25, but bullets in all weights are much better now. A deer I shot in Idaho at 325 yards dropped as if lightning-struck when my 100-grain Hornady pierced its ribs. After the KCR arrived, I attached a Burris Veracity 2-10×42 scope in Talley mounts. This 30mm glass, with focus/parallax dial and mid-height target knobs, is long enough and heavy enough to dominate lightweight rifles, but it’s an ideal fit for the leggy, 8.5-pound KCR.
At the range, this rifle cycled smoothly and in all other ways behaved without fault. My Timney scale registered trigger weight at the specified 3.5 pounds, exactly. The big bolt knob was a delight. All groups stayed inside the 1-inch maximum, including five shots with the AccuBonds at 0.6 inch, the best three-shot group went to the ballistic tips. I’m still working with it, but 0.6 MOA is mighty fine accuracy. Also, successive bullets went to the same place even as their blazing speed hiked bore temperatures.
Yes, the KCR — one of three new Mark Vs in a field of 18 — is expensive. But in my view, it ranks among Weatherby’s best. Top chambering? I’m fond of the .300 Weatherby. On the other hand, this .257 is so civil in recoil that it’s hard to believe that the three loads I fired bring an average of more than 1,300 ft-lbs. to 500 yards, and the most accurate will keep all bullets inside the mouth of a coffee mug at that range!
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
An Alexander Arms AR in 6.5 Grendel bangs steel fast and furious past 600 yards with ease.
What the 6.5 Grendel has to offer:
The 6.5 Grendel was designed as a medium-bore hunting cartridge for the AR platform.
With high BC bullets in weights from 120- to 139 grains, the cartridge is a long-range winner.
Heavy barrels and long-range scopes tap the cartridge’s full capabilities.
This isn’t the scope the author used to whack steel at 640 yards, but were he to try that again, he’d be more than happy to do so with this optic. The performance of the 6.5 warrants the best glass you can park on top of it.
It was a warm summer day. We were a bunch of gun writers on a PR trip, and we had exclusive use of a 600-yard rifle range. At the back end, behind the target frames, was a steel half-silhouette. We lasered it at 640 yards.
We got a rifle zeroed to the point that it was hitting that steel, and someone came up with the idea of a contest. But what kind? Well, most hits. Hmm, we have a squad of competitive types and a mountain of ammo. Who wants to see a barrel burned up as we try to make it 20-30-40 hits in a row?
Best hits out of five shots. Yes, and when we’ve all shot five hits, then what? OK, here’s the plan: five shots, scored the most hits. Shortest time is the tie-breaker, but to add pressure, any shot over ten seconds doesn’t count.
Use anything on the range, table, chairs, bench, sandbags, to build a shooting position that isn’t prone. Time starts on the beep.
The 6.5 Grendel is the brainchild of Bill Alexander, and he makes cracking good rifles chambered in it. That doesn’t mean you can’t make your own rifle, and eventually you will. Trust me on this one.
For the longest time, four hits in just under ten seconds was the winning score. Then I found a shooting position that worked for me. It was awkward to look at, it had nothing in common with the classic shooting positions, but it afforded me one great advantage: I could see my hits (and misses) through the scope. On my last run I hit the steel five times in five shots, in just over seven seconds. Winnah!
The rifle was an Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel with a 20-inch barrel and a Leupold 3.5-10x on top. Having won the contest for the day, I had to have a rifle, so I asked Bill Alexander to send me one exactly like it.
Bill designed the 6.5 Grendel to be the best medium-bore hunting cartridge to be had in the AR. The bonus was the case length allows for long, high-BC (ballistic coefficient, a measure of how easily it slices through the air) bullets in 6.5, and that means it is a really good long-range cartridge as well. How much of a difference?
The competitor here is the 6.8 Remington SPC. A typical bullet for it weighs 120 grains and has a BC of .400. The 6.5 Grendel, with a similar bullet weight of 123 grains, has a BC of .510 (higher is better) and you can buy or load 6.5 with bullets of 139 grains and a BC of .578.
A higher BC means, with all other things being equal, less drop and less wind drift. Drop wasn’t the problem on that afternoon, but wind drift was. Once I knew the drift, I could hold off (Into the wind) and get my hits.
One conversion option of an AR to 6.5 Grendel is to buy a complete upper from Alexander Arms. The advantage is that you have a ready-to-go upper that you can simply install on a ready-to-go lower.
If, however, you want to build one yourself, you need a barrel in 6.5 Grendel, obviously. Brownells lists and makes them. You also need a different bolt. The 6.5 Grendel used as its parent case the 7.62×39. The case was blown out, necked down, and the result was the 6.5. So, you need a 7.62×39 bolt to go with your barrel. (Again, Brownells.)
With bolt and barrel on hand, the rest is all straightforward AR building. The barrel and bolt are designed to fit into standard receivers and carriers, respectively.
At first glance, the 6.5 (right) and the 6.8 (left) are similar in performance. But the 6.5 can use bullets with much better BCs, and that makes the difference downrange.
I did just this, once I had the AA rifle on hand. My barrel came from a maker no longer in business, and fluted to boot.
I used a VLtor CASV handguard (which they have discontinued, unfortunately) for my build. This gave me a big-enough handguard to hold, without weight, and plenty of room for cooling. I then painted it tan and brown, in a pattern I call “ropeflage.” Paint the base color, then drape rope across the surface and over-spray the second color. The base color shows as stripes, in curves, in the overcoat.
Then it is simply a matter of what scope base and scope fit the job I have in mind for this, or the Alexander Arms 6.5.
Oh, and that afternoon? We heated that barrel up to the point of not being able to touch it, just shooting five-shot groups. And the Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel still held zero. Nice rifle, indeed. Editor’s Note: This excerpt is from Gunsmithing the AR-15: Building the Performance AR, available now at GunDigestStore.com.
Mils and MOA are both useful angular units of measurements, but is one better than the other?
The basics on MOA and Mils:
Mils and MOA are angular mesurements.
MOA is equal to 1.047 inches at 100 yards.
Mil is equal to 3.6 inches at 100 yards.
MOA is converted to Mils by dividing it by 3.43.
Mils is converted to MOA by multiplying by 3.43.
This debate between milliradians (mils) and (minute of angle) MOA is never going to end, but we should at least agree on the facts right out of the gate. Every day we see the uninformed arguments about how one angular unit of measurement is better than the other. The truth of the matter is, one is not better — they’re simply different ways of breaking down the same exact thing.
Personally, outside of disciplines like benchrest shooting and F Class, I think minutes of angle should be retired. We have bastardized the unit to the point that people have no idea that a true MOA is not equal to 1 inch at 100 yards or 10 inches at 1000 — but 1.047 inches and 10.47 inches, respectively. If you round this angle, you create errors that exaggerate at longer distances.
Today, we shoot a lot farther than we have in decades past, and a 5 percent error compounding at an extended range will cause a miss. In fact, this is one of the main reason your ballistic software does not work: You default to MOA when, in reality, your scope adjusts in “inches per hundred yards” (IPHY).
Shooter MOA or IPHY is not a true MOA, and yes it does matter when companies mix them. Having someone question how IPHY is different when they don’t understand that we don’t use 1 MOA — or even 10 MOA — to hit a 1,000-yard target is frustrating to explain. If we consider a .308 Win. as a ballistic point of reference, we’re looking at almost 17 inches of variation between the two units of adjustment.
The Mil Advantage
We can quickly point to the adoption of mils here to demonstrate the ease of use, but then the Americans reading this will argue how they think in inches and yards, as if mils only work with the metric system. A Milliradian is an angle that subtends an arc whose radius is 1/1000th from the center. In other words: 1 yard at 1,000 yards.
Mils vs. MOA: One unit of measure is not more accurate than the other, and both are an angle-based unit of measure. The author recommends gaining a firm understanding of each system and then deciding which works best for your shooting needs.
So, 3,600 inches equals 100 yards, and 1/1000 of that is 3.6 inches. And when adjusting in 0.1 mils, we moved the bullet 0.36 inches per click at 100 yards. See what we did there? We simply moved the decimal point.
Some people believe an MOA is a finer unit of adjustment, but that’s failing to note that 0.3 mils is 1.08 inches at 100 yards. Contrary to popular belief, you can get a mil-based scope that moves the reticle 0.18 Inches per click. Mil-based scopes usually adjust in 0.1-mil increments; however, they do make scopes that adjust in .05 mils.
Mils vs. MOA: Which Is The Best Long-Range Language?
Mils are much easier to master than you might realize. Coming from the USMC Scout Sniper Program, our original M40A1 with the Unertl Marine Sniper Scope used a BDC Turret. The main turret was in yards, and the fine-tune lever was in MOA. Our dope was based on the range we were shooting more so than the MOA value.
In my case, my 500-yard dope back in the day was 5 minus 1. That meant to dial 500 yards on the scope, I turned the main turret to 5, and the lever to minus 1. The reticle was mil-based, and the lever was plus or minus 3 MOA. Today, the USMC is using mils.
Reticle options these days are as diverse as ammo options, and many are designed for specialized disciplines of shooting. Like all other decisions you need to make while building a long-range setup, figure out what works best for you and then get to know it intimately.
While milliradians were added to the metric system many years ago, it was never designed to be a metric-only unit and works outside the metric system because it’s an angle-based unit of measure. Every angle has a linear distance between it, but you should be ignoring this fact and using the angle vs. picking a linear value to adjust your correction. For example, if I’m shooting 873 yards away, saying the bullet struck 6 inches off the target is neither honest nor accurate. You’re guessing. In your mind, it looked 6 inches away, but what if it was 9 inches? Using the linear value is more work, so why not just adjust the angle?
Minutes of angle started out like that too, but — unfortunately — companies took shortcuts and ruined it for everyone. It was easier to manufacturer to 1 inch vs. adding in the 0.047 inch. “Long range,” back in the day, was considered to be distances of 400 to 800 yards. Read any old-school book on ballistics, and it rarely goes past those ranges in their examples. Today, we’re shooting well beyond 1,000 yards, so that extra 0.047 inch matters more than ever, and you have to take it into account.
Defaulting your shooting program to MOA when you’re actually using IPHY is a significant point of error. As a reference, JBMballistics.com is a great place to demonstrate this because you can include both MOA and IPHY in the output. The same amount of adjustment is accomplished with two different values. Mix these numbers, and the result is a miss: Did you dial 40.1 or 38.3 MOA?
I highly recommend you map and calibrate your MOA scope to confirm its actual value. It works both ways, but not every MOA-based scope is TMOA — some are SMOA — and the compounding error is a lot bigger than 0.47 inches.
Again, neither mils nor MOA is more accurate than the other. I can hit the center of any target using either unit of adjustment. You simply need to truly understand the system you choose to employ.
So, Which Is Right For Me?
This is the ultimate question, and it should not be up to someone else to answer it for you. Communication is your number one consideration: What are your friends and fellow competitors shooting? You want to be able to communicate and understand what a fellow competitor is talking about when he walks off the line.
You can convert using 3.43, by multiplying or dividing the competing unit of adjustment against the other. That will give you a direct conversion:
Next, you have your reticle choices. You will find more versatile options when it comes to mil-based scopes vs. one referenced in MOA. However, that’s changing a small amount as manufacturers adapt. But a reticle with 1 MOA hash marks is not as fine as a scope with 0.2-mil lines in it. You now have to break up an already small 1 MOA into quarters. The mil-based scope is already breaking up the milliradian for you.
Pick the reticle based on your initial impression as well as your use. You don’t need a Christmas tree reticle to shoot F Class, and you don’t want to use a floating-dot benchrest scope for tactical-style competition. Put your intended use into the proper context.
There are a lot of articles about the nuts and bolts of mils and MOA. You can dig deep, or you can focus on understanding that we’re using the angle and there is no need to convert to a linear distance. A mil is a mil, and an MOA is an MOA (unless it’s not because you didn’t check). Today, I don’t even teach 1 inch at 100 yards, 2 inches at 200 yards, or 5 inches at 500 yards. It’s an unnecessary step and confusing to a lot of people. Not to mention, it’s not right: That is IPHY, not MOA — remember?
We also match our scope reticle to our turret adjustment, so at the end of the day, “what you see is what you get.” It matches what we see in the reticle, so we can dial the correction on the turret. This helps remove the need to think about adjustments … you just read what your optics are telling you.
If you’ve not made the change to mils, I recommend that you consider it. With a slight learning curve, you’ll find it’s much more intuitive than an MOA-based system. You don’t have to be a resident of Germany to understand it, and you don’t have to use it with meters. All my data is in yards, as mils directly translates to whatever range measure you use.
If the impact is off in any direction, you measure with the reticle and then translate that reading directly to the turrets: 1 mil is always 1 mil, and 1 MOA in any direction is a 1 MOA correction on the turret. Learn to be multi-lingual and speak in both mils and MOA. After that, the choice is yours as to which unit best suits your needs.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2018 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
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