SIG Sauer’s new MCX Rattler is being described as the world’s smallest rifle, and it packs a lot of firepower into an incredibly small package.
SIG Sauer has been doing a lot of innovative things with its already-innovative MCX platform recently. Earlier this summer, the manufacturer debuted its MCX Virtus, an upgraded version of its standard MCX, modified based on input from various special operations soldiers and built to achieve a service life beyond 20,000 rounds without replacement parts. Now, SIG has officially unveiled another impressive adaptation of the platform: the new MCX Rattler.
Designed, again, based on requests from Tier 1 operators, the MCX Rattler is billed as the world’s smallest rifle. With its stock folded, the entire package is smaller than just the MCX Virtus’ standard 16-inch barrel alone.
And folding the stock does nothing to hinder the functionality of the rifle. All controls remain accessible, and the gun can still be fired with ease. Plus, the stock can quickly and simply be switched back and forth between the extended and folded positions, meaning it can be stored discreetly and rapidly brought into the fight.
Externally, the rifle appears to share quite a few characteristics with the previous MCX Virtus. However, the differences are also pretty obvious as well. The MCX Rattler features a much shorter barrel and a correspondingly shorter handguard.
Given its very short barrel, the standard MCX Rattler is an NFA affair. Some will be just fine with that. Others might not be.
Luckily for those individuals, it looks like SIG might also be offering an MCX Rattler pistol variant, which will feature an SB brace. This is sure to be a popular item and big seller, given the lack of NFA hassles.
Check out the video above to learn more about the groundbreaking new MCX Rattler and to see the rifle in action.
Christensen Arms has expanded its bolt-action rifle collection to include the Mesa Long Range, a little number tailored for precision work both at the range and in the field.
The Mesa Long Range rifle is configured for precision long-distance work, whether it’s long-range target shooting or hunting.
The carbon fiber composite stock is the bedrock of the rifle, providing convenient user adjustments and a rigid shooting platform.
The Mesa Long Range has a removable side-baffle muzzle break, taming the rifle’s recoil.
The precision rifle utilizes Christensen Arms’ Invar pillar bedding system, to reduce accuracy fluctuations caused by temperature change.
Christensen Arms has had a busy year, adding some notable new pistols and AR-style rifles to its catalog. But the Utah-based company hasn’t turned a blind eye to its high-performance bolt-action rifle lineup, with a recent and intriguing new addition: the Mesa Long Range.
The new Mesa Long Range rifle puts the company’s materials know how to work to produce what looks to be a true tack-driver. And it comes at a relatively reasonable price for a Christensen rifle. While the bolt action should be a hit with long-range shooters of every stripe, its late-summer release definitely shows the company has its sights set for those aiming to take distant cracks at elk, deer and other critters.
The heart of the Mesa system is an attractive carbon fiber composite stock — black with a gray webbing pattern — that offers shooters a rigid base for precision work, and a key adjustment to ensure a proper fit to their frame. In particular, the adjustable cheek riser facilities a solid weld to the stock and proper eye alignment with the optic. Interestingly, the system operates with spacers, which, while perhaps not as easy to tune on the fly, should add an element of ruggedness to the rifle, maintaining fit even on the longest of hunts.
Christensen Arms has opted for a stainless-steel barrel on the Mesa, button rifled. It adds weight to the rifle, which isn’t a bad thing when it comes to precision work. The barrel is a medium Palma contour, so it should be a bit more manageable in the field, yet rigid enough to maintain accuracy. And it comes topped off with a slick-looking side-baffle muzzle brake, aimed at cutting down on felt recoil.
Like all of Christensen Arms’ bolt-action rifles, the barrel is free floated, utilizing a unique pillar bedding system. The company uses Invar — a nickel-iron alloy — for its pillars because it does not expand or contract with temperature change, thus minimizing accuracy fluctuations that are commonly found in more sensitive materials. Furthermore, Christensen spot beds the area around the recoil lug to ensure the stability and rigidity of the system even further.
Presently, Christensen Arms is offering the Mesa Long Range in five caliber choices (6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Win., 28 Nosler, 7mm Rem. Mag., .300 Win. Mag.), each with an optimized barrel length and twist rate for long-distance work. It also gives the shooter everything he needs to squeeze off the most accurate shot possible with its match-grade trigger, preset at the factory at 2.5 to 3.5 pounds.
The Mesa Long Range, relative to the rest of Christensen’s catalog, is affordable with a MSRP of $1,595. For some shooters, that price still might be pretty steep. But, as always, precision comes at a price.
Those of us who enjoy the pursuit of dangerous game spend an extraordinary amount of time focusing on the gear we use; it has to perform flawlessly, as our very lives depend upon it. I’m not the kind of hunter who holds one form of hunting above another, as though dangerous game is somehow superior to other game animals, but I do know if my deer rifle malfunctions, odds are my life won’t be in danger. The same cannot be said for the truly dangerous game animals.
One malfunction — whether from an errant shot, a misfire or a bullet that simply doesn’t reach the vitals — and things can turn nasty in the blink of an eye. Rogue elephants, mauling leopards, grizzlies that just won’t die, or the charge of the Cape buffalo — ”Black Death” as he is affectionately known — all can very easily turn the tide with tusk, tooth, horn and claw.
While there are volumes written about appropriate cartridges and rifles for dangerous game, we must agree that in the end it is the bullet, and only the bullet, that does the job. Let’s look at what makes a good dangerous game bullet tick.
First, you’ll want a bullet heavy enough to penetrate sufficiently to reach and destroy the vitals from any angle. Second, you’ll want a bullet tough enough to resist premature expansion, which prevents sufficient penetration. Different animals require different levels of performance, but here are my choices for good dangerous game bullets, based upon my own experiences.
The Nosler Partition
The Godfather of Premium Bullets still makes a fine choice for dangerous game, for anything smaller than elephant. Having been developed for penetration, John Nosler ensured his bullet would hold together by leaving a horizontal partition of thick copper between two lead cores; this way the front core expands upon impact, while the rear core stays intact to ensure deep penetration. This design has been with us since 1948, and, in any suitable dangerous game caliber at sane impact velocities, you’ll end the argument. Choose the heaviest weight for your given caliber for the best results.
The Swift A-Frame
This is my particular favorite soft-point for everything south of elephant. It is a design similar to the Nosler Partition in that there is two lead cores separated by a thick wall of copper, but in the Swift A-Frame’s case, the jacket is thicker, and the front core is chemically bonded to the core, slowing the expansion and increasing penetration. The A-Frame simply works. It is an accurate bullet that will retain 90 percent of its weight when recovered, and I’ve trusted it to perform all over the world, from North America to Africa, on game as gnarly as Cape buffalo. The classic recovered A-Frame has a slight rivet shape just behind the partition and expands well enough to wreck the vitals of the largest buffalo or grizzly bear, while often penetrating the entire animal. For dangerous game like buffalo, grizzly, lion and hippo, you really can’t go wrong with an A-Frame.
The Hornady InterLock
For a cup-and-core bullet to be used on dangerous game, I like the Hornady InterLock, preferably when in the round-nose configuration and with a high sectional density. Hornady makes some great models within this line, like the 300-grain .375-inch and 400-grain .416-inch. Both will cleanly take bear and buffalo and are just about perfect for lion. There is enough exposed lead at the nose to provide good, but not radical, expansion, and at the aforementioned weights the sectional density figure will be well over 0.300, the accepted minimum for good performance on dangerous game. The bullet’s cannelure locks the jacket to the lead core (hence the name), and among the other qualities, I’ve found these bullets to be very accurate. I also like the fact that Hornady makes them in lighter calibers like a 160-grain 6.5mm, or a 220-grain .308-inch, which would be perfect for the African leopard.
The North Fork Semi-Spitzer
The Oregon firm of North Fork bullets makes a fine bullet for dangerous game. Its semi-spitzer bullets are a chemically bonded marriage of pure copper and pure lead, with the lead core taking up the front half of the bullet. The rear section of the bullet is a pure copper shank and the bearing surface is comprised of small grooves to keep pressures down. This design keeps the weight forward and it gives straight-line penetration, often exiting the offside of even the largest animals. North Fork also offers these bullets in heavier than normal weights, such as 350-grain .375s, 430-grain .416s, and 550-grain .458s. I firmly believe that the heavier bullets are a fine choice for settling an argument when things get up close and personal. The semi-spitzer meplat transfers energy quickly, and those few North Forks that have been recovered from game animals have shown good expansion. North Fork has a winner with this bullet.
The Woodleigh Hydrostatically Stabilized Solid
The solid bullet, which has no exposed lead or is designed not to expand at all, is usually reserved for the toughest jobs like penetrating the skull of an elephant or for back-up shots on Cape buffalo or hippo. They are called upon when penetration is a must and the vitals must be reached from any angle. For decades, these bullets were comprised of a lead core, a thick steel jacket and a thin covering of gilding metal. That has changed with the Woodleigh Hydro solid. It is a monometal bullet with driving bands on the shank to reduce pressure and fouling, but the neat feature of this bullet is the small cup at the meplat. This tiny addition creates a hydrostatic shockwave, destroying tissue in an 8- to 12-inch radius around the entire path of the bullet, while the bullet exits at caliber dimension. This gives us a bullet that can be used on smaller game without the huge exit wounds, yet works perfectly for dangerous game. I used this bullet in Africa in my Heym .404 Jeffery, at 400 grains, and took impala and blue wildebeest very cleanly. I also put the penetrative qualities of this bullet to the test with two body shots on a huge-bodied Zimbabwean bull elephant. The Woodleigh Hydro passed through the entire body with two quartering-toward shots and put the bull down quickly and effectively. I think this design represents the future of dangerous game bullet technology. I know I’ll be using them again.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2016 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Pistols chambered for .380 ACP have grown in popularity due to their compact size and concealability. But does the round bring enough to the table to be viable for self-defense?
Should you trust your life to the .380 ACP?
When John Moses Browning designed the .380 ACP in the early 1900s, he built it for the era’s blowback pistols.
The different .380 ACP rounds tested had vastly different penetration capabilities, and a number of them were unable to defeat various barriers, let alone reach FBI penetration minimums.
Wound-cavity analysis tells a similar story concerning the .380 ACP, with individuals shot by the round able to function seconds to minutes after being shot.
As might be expected, larger-diameter bullets produce more devastating wound cavities and have a greater likelihood of striking vital organs.
While any gun is better than no gun at all, it is the author’s contention pistols chambered in .380 ACP are best served as backup guns and not primary self-defense handguns.
Nearly three-quarters of a century ago, on January 30, 1948, Hindu nationalism advocate Nathuram Godse carried out an assassination. At 5:17 p.m., he used a possibly stolen Beretta M1934 to shoot Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi three times in the chest, point-blank. In doing so, Godse sealed his own fate — he would be hanged in 1949 — and made Gandhi a martyr to his cause. The Beretta used was chambered in 9x17mm Corto, another designation for the cartridge more commonly known stateside as the .380 ACP.
Gandhi’s assassination is just one of many instances — famous and otherwise — where the cartridge has been utilized with deadly results. Does this mean the .380 ACP is a powerful round, or is it only fatal in rare instances?
When John Moses Browning designed the .380 ACP in the early 1900s, he built it for the era’s blowback pistols, specifically the Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless. Blowback-operated pistols lack a barrel-locking mechanism; the combination of the slide’s mass and the recoil spring’s strength bear the brunt of recoil.
Today, many pistols chambered in the cartridge follow the original blowback design, but others use a locked-breech action in which the slide and barrel initially recoil in tandem, but then the barrel stops moving while the slide continues rearward (of course, variations abound). Browning’s design might be more than one century old, but it continues to influence the firearms world to this day.
When it comes to the .380 ACP, gun owners tend to love it or hate it — middle ground is uncommon in the “great caliber debate.” Many claim it’s too small, and it is, indeed, a diminutive cartridge. It has an overall length of .984 inch, a bullet diameter of .355 inch and a maximum pressure of 21,500 psi.
When compared to a cartridge such as the 10mm with its SAAMI overall length of 1.250 inches, bullet diameter of .400 inch and maximum pressure of 33,000 psi, it appears even smaller. However, the .380 vs 9mm, with its matching bullet diameter of .355 inch, the issue becomes more complex.
So, what it comes down to is real-life performance. In the gun world, ballistic knowledge is power, so let’s take a look at how the .380 ACP performs in gel tests and wound studies.
Ballistic Gel Testing
Ballistic gel is the medium used by manufacturers and writers to test the terminal ballistics of various bullets. Protocols for its use are typically based on the FBI’s ammunition test, which the agency undertook almost 30 years ago following the Pyrrhic victory of the 1986 FBI Miami Shootout, during which two agents were killed and five were wounded in a firefight against a pair of serial bank robbers. The shootout brought up questions regarding caliber capabilities, and the ammunition testing protocols the FBI created a few years later remain the guidelines to this day.
According to the protocol, bare gel or gel covered by heavy clothing, automotive sheet metal, wallboard, plywood or automotive glass is shot from a distance of 10 feet. Bullets must then penetrate to a minimum depth of 12 inches to be considered effective, a number based on anatomical averages and the belief that erring on the side of too much is better than too little. When the FBI performed their tests in 1989, they used 24 tons of gel, and measurements were made blind — agents didn’t know what caliber they were measuring — for statistical accuracy.
As for ammunition, there are untold numbers of manufacturers in the United States, thanks to startups and relatively unknown or new companies, but there are only a few dozen that are well established and even fewer well-known manufacturers. For the purposes of this test I used defensive .380 ACP loads from Federal Premium Ammunition, Hornady, Barnes Bullets, Dynamic Research Technologies (DRT) and Snake River Shooting Products (SRSP) Team Never Quit. The variation of loads among these established brands made them ideal for comparison. Handguns used included the Ruger LCP II, Kimber Micro Advocate, Remington RM380, Glock 42 and Browning Black Label. Some data was supplied by manufacturers.
In bare gelatin, the most impressive performance came from DRT’s 85-grain Terminal Shock JHP with an average penetration depth of 11.40 inches, although the SRSP Team Never Quit 75-grain Frangible HP was right behind it at 10.90 inches. Conversely, the Barnes 80-grain TAC-XPD penetrated the shallowest, with an average penetration depth of 7.75 inches.
Of course, the average assailant will be clothed, meaning further testing was required. With heavy clothing over the gel block, Hornady’s Critical Defense 90-grain FTX reported the greatest average penetration of 10.25 inches; Federal Premium’s Personal Defense 99-grain HST was fairly close at 9.325 inches.
So, what do all these numbers mean? Going by the FBI’s protocol requiring a minimum penetration depth of 12 inches, frangible HPs such as DRT and SRSP Team Never Quit come close — but not quite — while rounds such as Barnes’ TAC-XPD fall noticeably short.
Analyzing Wound Cavities Although ballistic gel is designed to simulate the density of human tissue and potential resulting wound cavities, nothing beats going to the source. Numerous gunshot wound studies have been done by surgeons, coroners and, of course, the FBI. This means there’s a decent amount of data readily available.
As reported by Dr. Andreas Grabinsky, the program director for emergency and trauma anesthesia at Harborview Medical Center, which is the only Level I trauma center in Washington State, approximately 76 percent of gunshot wounds are from handguns. Dr. Grabinsky also states relevant wounding factors include bullet diameter and penetration depth, both of which correlate to tissue damage. Tissue damage refers to the temporary and permanent wound cavities a bullet creates; the immediate, temporary cavity occurs when the bullet enters, but it quickly collapses, resulting in the permanent cavity.
Dr. Grabinksy repeatedly states the significance of penetration, saying even millimeters matter when it comes to damaging vital organs, blood vessels or arteries. He references experiences of gunshot wound victims shot by calibers 9mm and smaller — which includes the .380 ACP — having had no problem walking around and functioning anywhere from seconds to minutes after being shot.
In 2006, a coroner wrote a report titled, “Terminal Ballistics as Viewed in a Morgue.” He stated he performed an average of 8.2 autopsies a day and chose to be blunt in his findings. “I absolutely despise a 9mm for defensive situations … and a .380 ACP as well,” he wrote, adding he will “take a slow-moving .45 ACP to a gunfight any day.” In addition, he stated that when a gunshot wound victim crossed his autopsy table with multiple rounds in their bodies, those bullets were typically .380 ACP or 9mm, while single-shot gunshot wound victims were usually shot by .40 S&W or .45 ACP.
Finally, there’s the real-life experience of now-retired police Sergeant and US Army veteran Tim Crawford. Sergeant Crawford made his feelings immediately clear: “Never .380 ACP as a defensive round. I made a run one night on a guy who had been shot 7 times with a .380 ACP. It was a drug deal gone bad. [After being shot] the guy whooped the shooter’s ass and took his gun away from him. Made my mind up on it. And the guy lived.”
.380 Handguns In Stock:
Expand Your Knowledge on .380 ACP Firearms and Ammo
From a medical perspective — and here I delve into my own relevant experiences in my past life in emergency veterinary medicine — there’s no denying that a bigger hole drops an assailant faster, as they lose vital fluids. Hydrostatic shock is an oft-argued reality influenced by factors such as velocity, proximity, placement and bullet diameter. Larger diameter bullets also mean a better likelihood of striking vital organs and breaking through bone, rather than potentially ricocheting harmlessly away. Other factors also come into play, such as psychological state and the ingestion of drugs capable of spiking adrenaline and strength.
Ballistics has come a long way in recent years, with vast improvements in propellants and bullet designs. But even with those improvements, some things haven’t changed. For example, bullet diameter for a given round hasn’t suddenly increased. From a self-defense perspective, the .380 ACP performs to its greatest ability at close ranges, and by close I mean less than 3 yards — closer is even better.
And, as always, shot placement is king.
.380 ACP Ammo In Stock:
Trauma center studies report cranial shots to be the deadliest, with multiple close-range center mass shots —those striking vital organs or arteries — being second deadliest. In short, a .380 ACP is best served as your BUG (backup gun), the pistol you pocket or ankle carry as insurance.
This is not to disparage the .380 ACP, but it’s simply to state the facts medically, in terms of ballistics and based on the personal experiences of law enforcement officers and doctors. It’s enjoyed popularity for some time now based largely on affordability and concealability — which are undeniably fantastic — but where gun owners tend to go wrong is in utilizing it as their EDC (every day carry). There are situations where a pocket pistol is the only option due to legalities or other matters, but throughout our 50 states, those scenarios are the exception to the rule.
The late Col. Jeff Cooper once said, “The first rule of gunfighting is to have a gun.” It’s a good rule to follow, meaning any gun — even one of a smaller caliber — is better than no gun at all. A gun collecting dust in your safe does you no good, so get the gun you’ll actually train with and carry. Of course, Cooper also said, “Perhaps the first thing you should demand of your gun is that it be unfair.” Do you think a .380 ACP gives you an “unfair” (read: good) advantage over an attacker? Based on the aforementioned facts, I don’t think it does. Not at all.
And I, for one, want that unfair advantage.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the Concealed Carry 2017 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
There have been a number of factory and wildcat cartridges that have played with case design. But has it had any real effect on ballistics?
Hot shots about a case design’s effects on ballistics:
As far back as 1946, gun writers and experts already concluded case shape had no effect on velocity or pressure.
No matter how a case is shaped, if it is measured against one of the same caliber and capacity, it will have near identical internal ballistics.
Col. G.O. Ashley did a load of range work comparing the .257 Ackley and a wildcat of the same caliber called the .25x60mm C.A. to support the conclusion case shape has little to no effect on ballistic performance.
Despite this evidence, there are still wildcatters and manufacturers who claim to have innovative case designs and promise the moon when it comes to performance.
Ackley himself acknowledged the limitations of cartridge design, saying: “There is no evidence which substantiates the claim that one cartridge design is more accurate than another.”
As far back as July, 1946, American Rifleman ran an article by C.C. Merideth discussing this very question of case design. His conclusion, “… we must arrive at the conviction that any variation in pressure to velocity ratio ensuing from any alteration in chamber shape is negligible as compared to other purely mechanical changes, such as altering bullet diameter, wear in the throat and many other possible differences between any two apparently identical rifles.”
Bob Hutton knew of the Merideth article mentioned above; he was sure he could disprove the conclusions drawn there almost 20 years earlier. He created a wildcat with the same case capacity as the .219 Donaldson Wasp in a short, fat configuration. Prior to testing, he expected that the design would allow the use of slower burning powders for better overall results. In testing, he found that it required the exact same powder and charge and delivered identical results.
Hutton, while discussing the concept of modern cartridge design (including improved cases), wrote, “Shape, in the mathematics of interior ballistics, makes no difference.” It’s important to understand that we are talking about internal ballistics not how the case functions in a given chamber design. The idea is simple and easily demonstrated. If a cartridge holds 40 grains of powder and if all other variables are equal it will produce statistically identical results along with any other design of the same caliber with any shape chamber you can imagine so long as it also holds 40 grains of powder.
Col. G.O. Ashley did an article that required a fair amount of actual range work. He and a couple of gunsmiths used a .257 Ackley Improved and a wildcat called the “.25x60mm C.A.” The idea was to have cartridges of the same caliber and capacity with totally different shapes (the exact discussion we are interested in here). The two cartridges ended up within 1.1 grains water weight capacity, about as close as you could get. These tests showed that the Ackley case delivered between 3 and 12 fps more velocity than the .25x60mm C.A., statistically that is a zero, especially since the 1.1-grain edge in capacity belonged to the Ackley Improved. All this is in support of Hutton’s statement that case shape has no effect on internal ballistics or how the powder is consumed in the process of driving a projectile down the bore.
Most recently, the SMc line of cartridges came to the market. Mic McPherson and By Smalley partnered to create www.superiorballistics.com (a now defunct web site) to promote their ideas. “SMc naming designation accounts for caliber and usable case capacity. For example, our 5/35 SMc is a 20-caliber (5mm) cartridge holding about 35 grains of water (to base of neck). One important patented design characteristic of all SMc cartridges is a powder column that is between about 2 times and about 2.1 times bullet diameter.”
This is the newest design to claim improvements in ballistics via case design. In reading over the data provided on their site no pressure data was provided. Knowing that pressure and velocity are directly correlated you have to assume from the velocities reported for the 5/35 SMc that they are not afraid to load hot. Now to be fair, they are using high quality brass and this probably helps with handling pressure as the cases are relatively thick in the wall and designed for top pressures.
The only new information that this line of cartridges brings to the table is a fairly extensive test of barrel heating. The conclusion of McPherson in a nutshell is that the SMc design produces less barrel heating and possibly less throat damage than other cases tested.
It appears from the data reported that contentions about barrel heating were proved out in McPherson’s tests. He went on to say that the test should be repeated to insure the results were accurate. So, how does this relate to our axiom that case design has no effect on internal ballistics and velocity? I would say that only further testing could determine if the ideas of the SMc really have merit. Nearly thirty years of experience in gunsmithing, reloading, and barrel making tell me that it’s not likely that any increase in velocity is a result of the design in question, but rather a result of hot loads.
So where does the increased velocity come from in an Ackley Improved case design? It’s very simple — more case capacity. Ackley did not merely change the shape of the case. He added, in most cases, a fair amount of case capacity, which allows for more powder while holding the overall pressure to the same limits. This added capacity is only available for increased loading after the cases are fireformed to the chamber.
Customers often ask, “What pressure does that wildcat operate at?” The answer is, exactly the same pressure as the factory counterpart, or parent case.
Ackley thought he could exceed the pressures of the factory cases … that might be true with antiquated designs like the .30-30 WCF or the .25-35. Cases with a lot of taper were often originally held to lower chamber pressures. It is not true of more modern designs that already have relatively straight walled cases and sharp shoulders, also modern cases normally are designed for higher pressures. A good example of a high pressure design is the .270 Winchester, it was one of the first cases to be loaded to full potential by the factory, modern SAAMI specifications show the .270 at 65,000 psi.
The .30-06, which many consider to be modern in design, is limited to 60,000 psi by SAAMI. The factories tend to load .30-06 ammo below that pressure level. Why? Because there are large numbers of older and often weaker rifles in general use, so it is wise of the factories to hold those pressures down.
In the case of the .270 Winchester, it was never available in these weaker actions from the factories, and they do not have to take responsibility for custom guns on old actions, so they load it to full potential. This gives us an insight into the reason that Ackley perceived his .270 AI to be no real improvement over the .270 Winchester.
Once fireformed, a .30-06 AI can be loaded to the full potential of the brass. In a modern high quality action that is at least 60,000 psi, and most wildcatters will go straight for the 65,000 psi as SAAMI uses with the .270 and many other modern cartridges.
If you check the pressure on the average handload in any caliber you will find that it is well above the pressures of factory ammunition. So it’s easy to see why folks think that case shape increases velocity. In reality it is simply more powder and the fact that you are probably loading hotter than the factory.
Ackley should have the final word here. “There are no Wildcat cartridges which are actually revolutionary. There are a few which fill gaps between existing commercial cartridges. There are many more which are no better and perhaps not as good as their commercial counterparts.
“There is no evidence which substantiates the claim that one cartridge design is more accurate than another. It certainly cannot be demonstrated that inaccurate barrels can be made more accurate by simply rechambering them to some so-called ‘improved’ cartridge or Wildcat caliber.”
The Turnbull Ruger Mark IV leaves a unique mark on the iconic rimfire pistol.
The Turnbull Ruger Mark IV marries the iconic rimfire handgun design with a truly recognizable firearms finish to create an instant classic.
As custom as the Turnbull Ruger Mark IV looks, it’s actually pretty easy on the pocketbook — only $30 more than the MSRP Ruger lists its Target model.
Outside of Turnbull’s aesthetic touches, the Ruger Mark IV is identical to the Target model and comes with all the usual accoutrements.
For shooters searching for a unique firearm that performs as good as it looks, and doesn’t break the bank, the Turnbull Ruger Mark IV nails the bullseye.
The legacy that Bill Ruger left behind at Sturm, Ruger, & Co., Inc., has had an incredible amount to do with his Ruger Standard pistol, which was originally introduced in 1949 and has seen several updates that endure to this day. Designed by Ruger himself, chambered in .22 Long Rifle and based off the WWII-era Japanese Nambu pistol, the Standard has gone through several iterations, first as the Mark I, II, and III, and most recently as the Mark IV. Nothing qualifies as a classic firearm like a design that’s endured over a span of almost 70 years and continues to be one of the most popular firearms ever made.
But what happens when you take a legendary brand like Ruger, with the latest version of perhaps its most quintessential firearm, and pair it with one of the most recognizable gun restoration and finishing companies around? You get the Turnbull Ruger Mark IV, a pistol that joins two iconic looks for a finished product that is sure to turn heads at the art gallery or the shooting range.
Make Your Mark Although Doug Turnbull’s New York-based Restoration & Manufacturing Co. does a full scale of restoration and finishing of firearms, it is best known and most easily recognizable for its color casehardening. Not surprisingly, that’s what sets the Turnbull Mark IV off from a standard Ruger-issued firearm, and boy does it make a difference. While Ruger offers several models of the newly released Mark IV, the Turnbull edition plays off the Target pistol and is, of course, chambered in .22 LR.
One of the biggest questions I’ve gotten so far about the pistol on the Gun Digest Facebook page is how much more expensive it must be than a standard Ruger Mark IV. After all, for a pistol that sexy, most people assume there would be a hefty price tag to match. Interestingly enough, the Turnbull version comes in at $595, just $30 more than the MSRP listed on Ruger’s website for the Target model.
Features
Along with the color casehardening, the Turnbull Mark IV also features a Turnbull engraving on the right-hand side of the barrel, while maintaining all the standard Ruger engravings. Outside of the casehardening and the engravings, all other features are identical to the Mark IV Target model.
The Mark IV comes with two 10-round magazines and features a bull barrel that measures 5.5 inches in length. The barrel has a 1:16-inch twist and an overall length of 9.75 inches. Total weight of the pistol is right around 36 ounces (unloaded), while height measures 5.5 inches and width is 1.2 inches. The Mark IV features an adjustable rear sight, checkered synthetic grip and fixed front sight.
In terms of controls, the Mark IV is designed with an ambidextrous, manual thumb safety, contoured side ejection port and rear bolt operation. Ruger also gives you the option of converting the safety to left side only. The bolt features grooved bolt ears that are easy to grasp, gloves or not, and a left-side magazine release. The pistol will not fire without the magazine, and the mag drops free when released. The frame is a one-piece, CNC-machined, aluminum design, with alloy steel barrel and receiver. Conveniently, the receiver is drilled and tapped for a Weaver-style rail, perfect for optics mounting.
The huge change from the Mark III to the Mark IV is the ease of disassembly for cleaning and maintenance. With the Mark III, introduced in the early 2000s, disassembly seemingly required an entire gunsmithing toolkit, which made field stripping a nightmare. Ruger listened to its customers, however, and the Mark IV now features an incredibly easy push button takedown procedure. The takedown button is located at the rear of the grip frame, just below the bolt. To disassemble, simply lock the bolt back, flip the safety up, and push the takedown button. The rear of the receiver will release, and as you push the barrel/receiver forward it disconnects at the front of the grip frame. The bolt slides out. It’s really that simple; no tools required.
While it seems like a relatively minor upgrade for some folks, those of us who burn through countless rounds at the target range know how important the takedown and cleaning process is. I’ve hated certain vehicles I’ve owned simply because the oil was a nightmare to change — similar issue with cleaning the older Mark pistols. Now that Ruger’s simplified the takedown and maintenance process, there are going to be a lot of happy campers in the .22 pistol world.
Accuracy and Function At the range, the Mark IV did not disappoint. Sure, it’s a head-turner, but it’s also a tack-driving workhorse. I fired 100 rounds as quickly as I could reload two 10-round magazines, utilizing CCI’s 36-grain, copper-plated .22 LR Hollow Points, and had exactly zero feeding or function issues. As it’s always been — and hence the longstanding popularity of the design — the Mark IV is exceptionally well built, functions flawlessly, and delivers pin-point accuracy.
For testing, I shot from 20-yards at the Caldwell B.R. Pivot bench from sandbags, with average five-shot groups coming in between 1.5-2 inches. I also shot two 20-round groups in as rapid succession as I could muster while maintaining accuracy, and all but a pair of holes hit within a 5-inch circle. The trigger is decent, with an audible reset. Overall, the Mark IV is extremely fun to shoot, produces little recoil (making it great for teaching new shooters proper pistol mechanics), and is highly accurate.
Parting Shots It’s hard to imagine a more winning combination of companies than Turnbull and Ruger. At one level, you could say Turnbull’s take on the Mark IV is merely cosmetic, and in a sense that’s true. But it’s such a riveting, eye-catching makeover that it drastically turns a mass-produced pistol into a standout work of art. From the gun store to the range, and Instagram to Facebook, the Turnbull Ruger Mark IV has had folks drooling over keyboards and glass counters, and rightly so.
Not only does the Mark IV function well and produce stellar accuracy, it’s now got a simple takedown procedure thanks to a friendly little button at the rear of the gun. It’s optics ready, and it features Turnbull’s iconic color casehardened look. The pistol gives shooters the rare opportunity to own a relatively inexpensive handgun with a custom look and feel. Definitely worth the price of admission.
SIG Electro-Optics’ LevelPlex sets new standards in long-range riflescopes.
What makes SIG Sauer’s LevelPlex digital anti-cant system a game changer?
LevelPlex is an integrated leveling system designed to eliminate the cant to improve accuracy, particularly at long range.
The system features two indicators, one on either side of the reticle. These indicators come in the form of yellow arrows, which describe the direction the scope needs to be adjusted to remove the cant.
It is six times more accurate than a typical bubble level with a +/- 0.5-degree of accuracy, with a user-selectable option of +/- 1-degree of sensitivity.
Take a minute to think about the cell phone you were holding to your head a decade ago. Did it have a hinge? How about a telescoping antennae? Heck, did it even have a screen?
And now look at the cell phone sitting on your desk, hanging on your hip or resting in your pocket as you read this. Things have definitely changed in the world of cell phones due to technological advancements and consumer demands.
But let’s bring this back to the gun world. Are things really so different here? Think back to the setup you were shooting a decade ago — competition, long-range, hunting, long gun, handgun — the platform doesn’t much matter. Does it look anything like the setup you’re shooting today? The odds are good that it doesn’t, and if it does, you might be missing out.
With this being the new technology column inside the Gun Digest long-range issue, it’s fitting to dive a bit deeper here and examine the recent technological advancements in a long-range setup. These days, half-MOA groups from rifles that are also capable of delivering consistent hits well past 1,000 yards are not exceptional … they’re expected. And shooters who, a decade ago, considered 600 yards to be long range now test the limits of their setups on 1-mile targets. In the words of Tracy Lawrence, “The only thing that stays the same is that everything changes.” Everything.
So what’s changed? Man has not evolved so dramatically during the past 10 years that new hand/eye coordination techniques have allowed us to suddenly ring steel at previously unreachable distances. We have, however, discovered new manufacturing techniques for building rifles, new tweaks for enhancing the ballistic coefficient of ammunition and improved components for optics that allow us to see farther and aim more precisely than top shooters of a decade ago ever imagined.
In today’s long-range shooting world, there is no keystone. A setup is only as good as the weakest link in the chain, and with thanks given again to the technological advancements in rifles, optics and ammunition, it’s become much easier to make sure the weakest link in your setup is you — and that’s a very good thing.
“Looking” Into The Future Even the best long-distance rifles out there, those capable of shooting a group measuring a fraction of MOA, are all but worthless without a riflescope of equal — or superior — quality. That’s not the rifle’s shortcoming; it’s the shooter’s … we simply can’t see without them.
So what measures quality in a long-distance riflescope? Superior glass with state-of-the-art technology is obvious, and so are meticulously machined components for precise and accurate windage and elevation adjustment. And given the wide range of people who have recently taken to long-range shooting, a handful of reticle options should also be available. Of course, a rugged design is also necessary to withstand the hard and active use of a modern gunner.
But in my opinion, all those are standard, must-have qualities to establish a baseline. It’s 2017, and anything short of exceptional will not keep pace with the rapidly changing and growing world of long-range shooting and long-range hunting.
A short time ago, SIG’s Electro-Optics division unveiled its LevelPlex technology, which is nothing more than an integrated leveling system designed to eliminate the cant from a long-range shooting setup. I say “nothing more” because the system is amazingly simple to operate even though the technology is refining industry standards.
Think about this: Even with today’s ultra-high-end riflescopes, the reticle is very unlikely to sit perfectly plumb with the turrets. I’ve heard varying statistics, but most sources put the reticle off plumb from the turrets anywhere from 0.1-5 degrees. Think about that — 5 degrees! Even at half that deviance, you’ll miss your target by as much as 2 feet at 1,000 yards for simply assuming that the reticle sits plumb with the scope’s turrets that you used to level the scope to your rifle.
The takeaway here is to remember that accuracy depends on having your reticle plumb to your rifle, not the turrets plumb to the rifle. This same principle also applies to shooter-introduced cant on a riflescope that’s already been mounted plumb to the rifle: A perfectly mounted riflescope is futile if the shooter cants the rifle upon firing. You’ll likely never notice a 3-degree cant at 300 yards, but you can bet the farm that the repercussion will be measured in feet — not inches — as you close in on 1,000 yards.
Here’s how LevelPlex works: When you look through the riflescope, two indicators will be present, one on either side of the reticle. These indicators come in the form of yellow arrows. So, if your rifle is canted to the right, the right “up” arrow/indicator will illuminate, instructing you to raise that side back to level, at which point the illuminator will turn off. Same goes for left cant. It’s literally that simple.
According to SIG, the LevelPlex anti-cant system is 6 times more accurate than a typical bubble level with a +/- 0.5-degree of accuracy, with a user-selectable option of +/- 1-degree of sensitivity. At present, the technology comes in SIG’s Tango6 line, available in 5-30x56mm, 4-24x50mm and 3-18x44mm models with four reticle options — though it’s likely a safe assumption that this technology will spread like wildfire through other SIG riflescopes, including the “tactical hunting” Whiskey5 line.
While LevelPlex is the coolest and arguably most technologically advanced piece of the Tango6 riflescope, SIG has incorporated a pile of other sweet features, including a free SIG Ballistic Turret (SBT) Dial that’s custom-engraved to match your unique ballistics and environmental conditions — and a fully transferrable lifetime guarantee.
Here’s the hitch: Depending upon model specifics, the SIG Electro-Optics Tango6 with LevelPlex will hit you in the pocketbook at a tune of $1,700-$3,200. Now, that said, let me remind you that there’s nothing else on the market like this and, when playing the 1,000-yard game, nothing comes cheap — or easy.
Editor’s Note: This “Modern Gunnery” column is an excerpt from the June 2017 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
ROBAR Guns helps to revive and revitalize a standard surplus Browning Hi Power, and the result is a beautiful, functional pistol.
Some classic or historical firearms of value probably shouldn’t be customized, but if you do want to go that route with a standard surplus Browning Hi Power, here are some options:
Upgrading the sights, stippling the front strap, installing an extended safety and adding quality grip panels are a few basic ways to improve the gun.
More in-depth customizations can include extending the beavertail and enhancing the trigger.
With the help of ROBAR Guns, you can also have them apply a variety of durable and lubricating finishes — Teflon, Roguard and NP3 finishes were applied to parts of this gun.
How many times has the following statement been made? “I wish this gun could talk. Think of the stories it could tell.” There’s a mystique about a well-used, old gun that spurs the imagination. Where was this gun during its service? Who carried it? Has it been fired in combat? Those are just some of the questions such a gun evokes.
While some wish to keep a vintage gun in its aged condition, others want more. So some firearms with a history, however obscure the history may be, are reworked to bring them back to even better condition than when they left the factory. Doing such work on a gun with a verifiable connection to a particular historical event or famous person is probably not a wise choice, but taking a run-of-the-mill old firearm, resurrecting it and turning it into a work of beauty is sometimes a worthwhile pursuit.
The Browning-designed Hi-Power, or High Power, was adopted as a military sidearm by Belgium in 1935. Originally built by Farbrique Nationale (FN) and eventually called the Grande Puissance (High Power), it was also manufactured in the U.S. by Browning Arms Company.
To avoid confusion with Browning’s High-Power rifle, Browning called its pistol the Hi Power. So technically, a gun made by FN is a High Power and one made by Browning Arms Company is a Hi Power. Because most readers are used to the name Hi Power, that will be used here.
In continuous production somewhere in the world since 1935, it has been adopted for use by military and police units around the globe. And as older Hi-Powers are replaced, they often find their way into the U.S. surplus market, like the one featured here that was purchased from AIM Surplus (AIMSurplus.com).
It is a Mark II version, and according to the serial number decoder found on the Browning website (Browning.com), it was originally built in Belgium by FN in 1985. AIM Surplus’ price was $430. Not bad for a functioning handgun made by FN.
The Before In full working condition when received, it had obviously led a rough life as evidenced by scratches and gouges on the surface. The trigger broke at about 6 pounds after a bit of creep, followed by some overtravel. It was not a really bad trigger, but the shooter needed to concentrate carefully on the press to obtain good results. Groups at 25 yards from a rest averaged from just less than 5 inches to a little more than 9 inches. The gun was reliable and adequate, with no malfunctions encountered in testing.
But the gun could be improved, so it was taken to ROBAR (ROBARGuns.com), a specialty gunsmithing company located in Phoenix, Ariz. Among other areas of expertise, ROBAR can take a well-used Hi Power and make it into a like-new gun that’s a better shooter than when it left the factory. ROBAR’s Hi Power specialist is gunsmith Jodi Gritus.
Despite the rough appearance of the gun when turned over to ROBAR, Gritus displayed no hesitation in taking on the task of turning the vintage Hi Power into a gun its owner would be proud to display and that could be used in confidence for self defense.
Upgrading A Classic Sights on the Mk II Hi Power are less than optimal, so a set of three-dot LoMount Carry tritium night sights were obtained from Novak (NovakSights.com). These are superb sights that have become an industry standard but required ROBAR to cut dovetails into the slide in order to install them.
To give the gun a truly custom look, other features were added. Hi Powers have a small beavertail, allowing the hammer spur to bite some shooters, so ROBAR extended the beavertail, shaping it to accommodate the custom Cylinder & Slide Type 2 hammer with its skeletonized spur. Despite welding additional metal to the frame and then shaping by hand, the frame appears to have left the factory with the extended beavertail.
Another unique custom feature is the lanyard ring. Lanyards served a valuable purpose years ago, and kept a dropped gun from disappearing. They lost favor for a period but have seen a comeback. Many original Hi Powers had a lanyard ring, and the ring on the surplus gun featured here was misshapen and of little value. But ROBAR designed a new one that fits sleekly into the heel of the gun.
ROBAR lightly stippled the frontstrap to provide a more secure gripping surface. Light stippling was chosen because heavy stippling can abrade the hand, especially during extended training sessions where the gun is drawn and holstered repeatedly.
Light stippling on the frontstrap provides just enough friction for a solid grip without drawing blood. Nicely checkered Cocobolo panels were installed and also improve the grip. And the beautiful grain compliments the gun’s two-tone finish.
ROBAR is well known for metal finishes; its sister company, Coating Technologies, Inc., specializes in that field and is located in the same building. Three finishes were applied to the Hi Power.
The frame was coated with OD Green Poly-T2, which is a modified epoxy coating that is embedded with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) — commonly known by the trademarked name of Teflon. Available in different colors, Poly-T2 provides both lubricity and corrosion resistance, being able to withstand over 1,000 hours of salt spray.
The slide was finished with black Roguard, a tough molybdenum-disulfide based polymer finish that also provides lubricity and is corrosion resistant. It is very thin, about .0005 inch, so it does not significantly change the dimensions of gun parts. Like the Poly-T2, it has a lifetime warranty.
Internal parts and the magazine were finished with NP3, an electroless nickel finish, which is very hard, corrosion resistant and is embedded with small particles of PTFE to provide lubricity. NP3 is so slick that most residue from shooting wipes off with a soft cloth. Incidentally, NP3 is used on critical parts of the International Space Station. Even the outside of the new, match-grade Bar-Sto barrel was finished with NP3.
ROBAR also performed a trigger job, removed the bothersome magazine disconnector, polished and installed a new sear and installed a Cylinder & Slide trigger pull reduction spring kit. Those new parts and the NP3 finish resulted in a much better trigger pull. Although the pull weight is only a little less than the original, the creep has disappeared and the break is very crisp.
A Cylinder & Slide extended strong side safety replaced the old stock safety, making activation much easier and more positive. Dings and dents acquired over the years were removed, and the feed ramp and breach face were polished to improve feeding.
The After Range testing was done using two holsters available off-the-shelf from Comp-Tac (Comp-Tac.com) and Blade-Tech (Blade-Tech.com), into which the customized Hi-Power fit despite the installation of the larger Novak sights. The customized gun now displays much better handling characteristics, and accuracy off the bench has improved dramatically — from the previously mentioned 5 to 9 inches to about 3 to 4 inches.
The price for customization depends on the parts and features ordered, but retail for the test gun, including the cost of the original surplus gun, was just under $3,000. Sure, a new Hi Power will cost less, and not everyone can afford the custom touches, but for others, the end result is worth it. And the gun is impressive.
For more information, contact ROBAR Companies, 623-581-2648, ROBARGuns.com.
This article is an excerpt from the Summer 2017 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
A design truly ahead of its time, the Savage Model 99 is deadly on deer, and it can command quite a bit of value on the open market.
What made the Savage Model 99 an innovative design, and why is it collectable today?
Like Savage’s Model 1895, which preceded it, the Savage Model 99 was a hammerless lever-action rifle.
It used a rotary magazine, which circumvented the issue of using cartridges with pointed bullets in a tubular-fed lever gun.
Over its lifetime, the Model 99 was available in a wide array of calibers (including more modern ones), but the two most popular were the .250 Savage and the .300 Savage.
Rifles chambered in some of the more obscure calibers are quite valuable in the collector’s market, with the .22 High Power commanding the highest values.
The sleek and streamlined Savage Model 1895 looked like something out of the future when it appeared in the last decade of the 19th century. It was the first firearm produced by the Savage Repeating Arms Company, and its slim, flat, hammerless design was in sharp contrast to the popular, visible-hammer models available from Winchester and Marlin since the 1860s. The rounded profile let shooters know that something new in hunting rifles had arrived.
The 1895 was unique in many respects. Its internal rotary magazine was the first of its type and was designed for cartridges with pointed bullets, unlike the tubular-fed Winchesters and Marlins that were limited to round-nose bullets.
The Savage was also the first lever action with a coil mainspring, an improvement over the leaf springs on other brands. One of its advantages was a faster lock time.
Another interesting feature was a hole in the top of the bolt that showed the status of the firing pin. A “C” was visible if the rifle was cocked, and an “F” indicated that the round had been fired. This opening apparently led to cleaning problems and was eliminated on the later Model 1899.
Photo courtesy of Wayne Van Zwoll.
Humble Beginnings Arthur William Savage was just 30 years old when he received a patent for his first rifle in 1887. It was a lever action with a small Martini-type lever meant to be operated with the shooter’s little finger. In 1892, a prototype of what was known as the Savage No. 1 with a 29-inch barrel and full-length stock was submitted to the Ordnance Trials for the military market.
When the Krag-Jorgensen bolt action was chosen to be the U.S. Service Rifle, Savage went back to the drawing board and made a few changes to the rifle to make it more suitable for the civilian market. He received a patent in 1893 for this new design and then went on to develop a new cartridge, the .303 Savage with ballistics similar to the .30 WCF/.30-30 Winchester.
At the time, Savage was a prominent citizen of Utica, New York, and was Superintendent of the Utica Belt Line Railroad. He put together a group of investors and founded the Savage Repeating Arms Company in 1894.
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The following year, the Model 1895 rifle went into production. Barrel lengths of 20, 26 or 30 inches were offered, either in round or half octagon/half round design and chambered only in .303 Savage.
Only about 6,000 Model 1895s were made in its short 4-year life span, making it a rare and popular model among Savage collectors. Exact production numbers apparently do not exist. Some published sources say more than 8,000 were manufactured.
The first Model 1895s were manufactured by the Marlin company, which also made the original tooling for the rifle. Savage was a new company and didn’t have the tooling or manpower to produce the guns, and Arthur Savage contracted with Marlin to make the 1895. These rifles are marked with “JM” for John Marlin on the barrel under the fore-end.
Once again, Savage production files are sketchy. Some sources indicate that all 1895s were made by Marlin while others say it was only the first 5,000.
Arriving at the Model 99 The action and several other features were modified in 1899, and the Model 1899 was born. These included a cartridge indicator visible through a hole in the left side of the receiver to show remaining rounds. A cocking indicator consisting of a small bar on top of the bolt was added and replaced a few years later with a small pin that protruded through a hole atop the receiver.
The original safety was located near the rear of the trigger and locked the lever and the trigger. In 1960, Savage placed a two-position thumb safety atop the rear of the receiver. Throughout its almost 100-year run, there were several iron sight variations.
The Model 1895s were chambered for only one round, the .303 Savage. With the Savage Model 99, the .30-30 was added, plus several other Winchester calibers like the .25-35, .32-40 and .38-55. Later models were made in .22 Savage High Power (1912), and then the two most popular Model 99 chamberings for many years, the .250-3000 (1915) and .300 Savage (1920).
This was about the time the official name of the model had become the Model 99.
In the 1950s, more modern calibers were offered like the .243 Win., .308 Win., .358 Win. and .284 Winchester. It would also become available in 7mm-08 Remington and .375 Win.
The Savage Model 99 became one of the most popular deer rifles in America, in part because of the excellent .250-3000 and .300 Savage cartridges that it introduced. As the first factory round to break the 3,000 feet-per-second (fps) velocity barrier, the .250-3000 received a lot of attention from outdoor writers. There were a few rather exaggerated claims about the killing power of high-velocity bullets on big game, but it was ideally suited for deer. The recoil was less than most other deer rifles of the day, and that made the fast little .250 a popular choice with many hunters for that reason.
When the .243 and 6mm Remington came along in the 1950s, the .250 Savage — as its name had officially become — lost some of its sizzle, as did the similar .257 Roberts. But the .250 still has a place in the heart of many who know that for most deer hunting, it is all the gun you will ever need.
The .30 caliber has long been an all-American favorite, and the .300 Savage fit neatly into the list of the .30s. It created a nice little niche between the .30-30 and .30-06, a position it held for more than 30 years, until the .308 Winchester came along in the ‘50s.
To this day, like its little .250 brother, the .300 Savage remains an excellent cartridge for deer-size game at reasonable ranges. Some hunters believe the larger and heavier .300 bullet is a bit better in the brush than the lighter and faster .250, but that’s always been difficult to prove.
Valuable Collector Models More than 25 variants of the Model 1899/99 were manufactured over its 98-year life span. Some of the more interesting are these:
Combination Cased Set .300 Savage/.410 Shotgun – Made from 1922 to 1934, the interchangeable shotgun barrel could only be used as a single shot because the rotary magazine was not designed for shotshells. Estimated value today, very good to excellent condition: $2,000 to $4,000.
Model 99K – The highest grade 99 with engraved receiver and high-grade walnut stock. President Franklin Roosevelt presented one of these in the 1940s to the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a renowned big-game hunter. Estimated value: $2,500 to $3,000.
Model 1899-D Military Musket – Made from 1899 to 1915, including several hundred for the Canadian Home Guard during World War I. In .303 Savage with a 28- or 30-inch barrel with two barrel bands and a full-length military stock. Estimated value: $5,000 to $6,000.
Model 99-H Carbine – Made in .250 Savage, .300 Savage, .303 and .30-30 from 1923 to 1940 with a curved, carbine-style buttplate. Later models had a barrel band on the fore-end and a ramp front sight. Estimated value: $800 to $1,200.
Many other variants were produced in the period from the 1960s to the 1990s and can be found on the used gun market in the $400 to $800 price range, not collector’s items but solid, serviceable hunting rifles.
The rarest calibers are the .22 Hi Power, .25-35, .32-40, .38-55, .284 Win. and .375 Win. Expect to pay a premium for these, up to 100 percent for the .22 High Power.
The last Savage Model 99 came off the assembly line 20 years ago, in 1997. Why Savage didn’t keep it going for another couple of years is anyone’s guess, but it probably had something to do with the cost of production. As a fan of the rifle, I remember looking forward to seeing a 100th Anniversary edition, but it was never to be.
Editor’s Note: This “Collector’s Corner” column is an excerpt from the August 2017 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Hunting season is creeping up, so there’s no better time to start considering what you’ll feed your trusty deer rifle. Federal Premium has four solid new choices for this year, each perfect for putting meat on the table and trophies on the wall.
Federal Premium has you covered if you’re on the hunt for a new deer round:
Fans of .30-caliber magnums have a few new choices when it comes to monometal bullets with the extension of the Federal Premium Power-Shok line. The company recently added its first rounds topped with full copper-alloy projectiles for the .300 Win. Mag., and .300 WSM. And those looking to tackle nearly any game in North America — and most of the world for that matter — should be pleased with the offerings.
Both rounds boast 180-grain hollow point bullets and deliver the goods for hunters looking to really reach out. Both leave the muzzle at right about 2,960 fps and deliver a crushing 1,500 ft-lbs of energy 400 yards out. The bullets themselves are designed for controlled expansion, delivering deep penetration and devastating wound channels. The rounds are loaded in Federal’s brass and feature the company’s Catalyst high-performance primers, ensuring efficient ignition of all the propellant in the large cases.
The MSRP of the rounds fall in line with a majority of monometal offerings available today — $45.95 for 20 rounds of .300 WSM and $39.95 for the .300 Win. Mag.
6.5 Creedmoor Trophy Copper
The 6.5 Creedmoor has really come into its own over the past several years. This is as true in the hunting field as it is in the category of long-range target shooting. The excellent ballistic coefficients of most of the 6.5 bullets alone speak volumes to the long-range potential and inherent accuracy of the cartridge. And Federal Premium has introduced what looks to be a solid option for those on the stalk in areas with lead-ammo restrictions or looking for a round with the potential for deep penetration.
The 6.5 Creedmoor Trophy Copper round puts a 120-grain monometal projectile tailor-made to produce the most devastating wound channels possible, even at the most distant ranges, at a hunter’s disposal. Helping the bullet to this end is a polymer-tipped cavity, designed to reliably expand the bullet once it reaches its target.
On top of that, and common to monometal bullets in general, the bullet retains 99 percent of its weight, even on the deepest penetration. The bullet also features grooved shanks, ensuring the best possible accuracy over a wide spectrum of firearms.
The new 6.5 Creedmoor Trophy Copper round presently has a MSRP of $47.95 on a box of 20 cartridges.
6.5 Grendel Fusion MSR
Once purely a round favored by target shooters, hunters have come to embrace what the 6.5 Grendel brings to the table. Harnessing the superior ballistics of 6.5 bullets and slapping them in cartridges that excel in ARs has been a boon for those who get the opportunity to take long shots at whitetails.
Federal Premium has given Grendel hunters more fodder to consider with the recent expansion of its Fusion MSR line. Topped with a 120-grain projectile and tailored for peak performance in 16-inch-barreled black rifles, the new round looks ready to put meat on the table this hunting season.
The soft-point bullets leave the muzzle at an impressive 2,600 fps and hit like a freight train, dumping nearly 600 ft-lbs of energy into a target 500 yards out. And hunters have the peace of mind that the bullet will perform, even at range, with the meaty, copper jackets skived at the tip to ensure complete expansion and deadly wound channels. On top of that, the jackets are molecularly fused to the soft lead cores, ensuring the bullets retain a maximum amount of weight deep into a target.
Presently, the MSRP on a box of 20 6.5 Grendel 120-grain Fusion MSR is $29.95.
The Springfield Armory RO Elite Series takes what works under the hood of the original Range Officers and makes it better with a number of notable upgrades.
Springfield Armory’s new RO Elite Series offers the same tried-and-true functionality of the the original Range Officers but with a number of enhancements.
The Black-T treatment is the most noticeable upgrade, with the self-lubricating finish offering superior corrosion resistance.
This is the same treatment found on the 1911s Springfield Armory built for the FBI’s regional SWAT and Hostage Rescue Teams.
The RO Elite Series pistols are outfitted with Gen 2 triggers, but few details are out yet about this newly designed system.
Springfield Armory’s Range Officer Series of 1911 pistols has earned a pretty solid reputation over the years. An up-to-date take on the age-old design, it has offered shooters an attractive handgun with clean lines that, more importantly, performs dang-near flawlessly. From its rock-solid forged steel frame to its eye-catching Cocobolo wood grips, the Range Officer and its iterations can handle any shooting chore flung at it and look good in the process.
Honestly, there aren’t many nits to pick off the Range Officer variations and few ways they could really be pepped up from their present state. But Springfield has found a way.
RO Elite Series Target Model
The company recently released the RO Elite Series, which retains all the under-the-hood features that count on the pistol, while tacking on some notable and welcome upgrades that should make it a true gem.
The most noticeable improvement to the RO Elite Series is the 1911’s striking jet-back finish. While Black-T treatment certainly has aesthetic appeal, it is most definitely a functional upgrade. The treatment is self-lubricating and offers superior corrosion resistance to most other options on the market. To boot, it is the same treatment found on the 1911s Springfield Armory built for the FBI’s regional SWAT and Hostage Rescue Teams.
RO Elite Series Compact Model
It is further set off with the addition of black, thin-line G-10 grips — specific to the RO Elite Series — which give the pistols an overall ominous appearance. At the same tick, the slim grips make the handguns less bulky for concealed carry, while still promoting a strong purchase in the hand.
As far as operation goes, the major upgrade to the RO Elite Series is the newly designed Gen 2 trigger. Though, there is a bit of a shroud of mystery to this aspect of the pistol because the company has released few specifics on what it brings to the table. At time of writing, the pull weight was not even listed. Hopefully, more details will be available in the near future.
RO Elite Series Operator Model
Like the other Range Officer iterations, the RO Elite is outfitted with an ambidextrous thumb safety, fiber optic front sight and white-dot rear, and high-carbon steel slide. And the RO Elite is being offered in four models: Compact, Champion, Operator and Target.
Both the Compact and Champion have 4-inch barrels, but vary in capacity. Each has a flat wire recoil spring that utilizes a full-length guide rod. The Operator and Target have 5-inch barrels, but the Operator is outfitted with an integral rail under the barrel. Like all of Springfield’s full-sized 1911s, the pistols have a traditional GI-style guide rod. All models are available in 9mm or .45 ACP.
RO Elite Series Champion Model
Presently, the MSRPs of the RO Elite Series pistols aren’t far off Springfield’s original Range Officer counterparts — $125 more. Depending on model, they run from $1,030 for the Compact and Champion to $1,145 for the Operator. That doesn’t look to be too bad for a 1911 that’s set up to perform as wicked as it looks.
Paired with Aguila’s Minishell, the new Mossberg 590 Shockwave is taking the personal defense world by storm.
What makes the Mossberg 590 Shockwave so exciting?
It has a 14-inch barrel but avoids NFA classification by being factory produced with a pistol grip instead of a stock and because it’s just above 26 inches in overall length.
With the addition of an OpSol Mini-Clip, a rubber adapter, the gun reliably feeds Aguila’s Minishells.
At its heart, it’s still Mossberg’s utterly reliable 590 pump action, just in a much more compact package.
The name of the game is not only to be the best, but also to be first. Mossberg can check both items off its list for 2017, having introduced its Mossberg 590 Shockwave into the marketplace as really the first of its mass-produced kind: a super compact shotgun, perfect for personal or home defense, that features a 14-inch barrel but conveniently avoids classification as a National Firearms Act (NFA) firearm.
Since its introduction at the 2017 SHOT Show, the Mossberg 590 Shockwave has taken the gun industry by storm, and other manufacturers like Remington — which introduced its own Model 870 TAC-14 at the NRA Show in April — have been forced to follow suit. When Gun Digest editors first shared news of the new Shockwave on our Facebook page, the hum of online chatter immediately went through the roof, signaling the widespread popularity and rapid cult following the compact shotgun was to receive.
And all for good reason. The beauty of the 590 Shockwave is its simplicity: As the name implies, it’s built around the legendary and ultra-reliable 590 platform and features a 14-inch barrel with Shockwave Technologies Raptor grip, giving it an overall length of 26.32 inches.
How does it avoid classification as an NFA-governed item? According to the BATFE, an NFA shotgun would be classified as one having a barrel less than 18 inches in length, or an overall length less than 26 inches. For such NFA items — which include short-barreled rifles (SBR), machine guns and suppressors — there is of course the $200 tax stamp and a mountain of bureaucratic red tape tall enough to warrant the interest of serious alpinists.
Because the Shockwave is fitted with a pistol grip at the factory instead of a shoulder stock, however, it is considered a Pistol Grip Only (PGO) firearm, and as long as the overall length remains greater than 26 inches the barrel can be shorter than 18 inches (hence the 26.32 inches of overall length provided by the Shockwave Raptor grip). Per Mossberg’s website, this means the buying age is 21 years and state laws still apply, so do your research.
I first got my hands on the 590 Shockwave at the SHOT Show 2017 range day, and my first thought was that it’d be a perfect fit for Aguila’s Minishell. The problem with the Minishell, as I’ve discovered with previous reviews of the pint-sized load, is that it doesn’t function well in pump or semi-auto shotguns — because of its length, the shell has a tendency to flip over in the action, creating an obvious functionality problem.
I’ve also used it in sporting clays competition in Mexico with a Benelli over/under shotgun, though, and in that capacity it is phenomenal for its ability to minimize recoil, something that’d obviously come in handy with a small-sized firearm like the Shockwave. If only, I had postulated at the time, there was an adapter that would fit a receiver and keep the shell from tumbling.
Mossberg really did think of everything on this project, which is why the Shockwave is compatible with an OpSol Mini-Clip, a rubber adapter that turns your 590 into a Minishell-loving machine. The rubber block ($15 on Amazon) presses into the rear underside of the loading port and is angled to function as a feed ramp for the Minishell.
For review, I rapid-fired 40 rounds of 1¾-inch Minishell buckshot loads without a single failure to feed. Not only did the Minishell function flawlessly, the recoil difference between it and the 2¾-in. shells I also fired through it was astounding.
After six shots with the full-size loads, my left hand, placed inside the nylon forend strap, screamed for a cease-fire. There’s no way I would have shot 40 times with full loads — it’s simply that uncomfortable to shoot, and all the more reason, in my opinion, that this particular platform works precisely because of the pairing with Aguila’s Minishell.
Shotgun Features
The Shockwave is, at its core, a 590 Mossberg pump action, so all controls and features are the same except for the barrel length and Shockwave Raptor grip. The shotgun, which has been tested and proven true by military and law enforcement personnel, features dual extractors, positive steel-to-steel lockup, twin action bars, and an anti-jam elevator for smooth, reliable operation. The 590 also features a top-mounted safety for ambidextrous functionality.
A strapped forend helps keep your forward hand from clearing the muzzle, while sling studs are attached to the magazine tube and grip. The Raptor grip is designed to minimize felt recoil, though for my money the greatest aid to recoil mitigation is the Minishell.
In terms of capacity, the Shockwave holds eight plus one of the Minishell, five plus one in 2¾-inch shells, and four plus one if you’re brave enough to shoot 3-inch loads, in which case a good pair of shooting gloves would be highly advisable. The Shockwave also comes with a rugged, black case and carries an MSRP of an unbeatable $450.
Range Ready
While it does obviously lack a typical stock for shouldering the shotgun, it’s a common myth that you can’t raise a pistol-grip shotgun like the Shockwave to eye level and use your sights. After all, there’s a front brass-bead sight for a reason. Even with 2¾-inch loads and the increased recoil, the shotgun is not going to hit you in the face (unless you seriously and intentionally noodle arm the thing for the sake of a viral YouTube video).
That said, with just a little bit of practice you can make hip shooting an effective tool in your defensive shotgun craft, especially at close range. The general tendency is to shoot high, so training with a steel target will help you lower your aim. Once you shoot a few rounds it’s easy to get the hang of it.
As I said earlier, the Minishell is the perfect pairing for the Shockwave. Without it, I’d probably opt for a different defensive shotgun option or forend, but with the 1¾-inch buckshot I’m simply in personal defense heaven. At standard defensive ranges, the buckshot loads are absolutely lethal, making the Shockwave the ideal bedside or truck companion. As it so happens, the Shockwave and Minishell are also lethal on kamikaze ground squirrels, albeit completely overkill.
The 1¾-inch buckshot Minishell grouped admirably at 10 and 15 yards, as did the 2¾-inch sporting loads, both excellent products from Aguila. I had exactly zero functionality issues with either load, and the OpSol Mini-Clip worked 100 percent as well as advertised.
Parting Shots
As far as I’m concerned, the 590 Shockwave from Mossberg, when paired with the Aguila Minishell and OpSol Mini-Clip, is an absolute home run. Not only does it make for an extremely compact, lethal personal defense shotgun, it can also be had without going the death-by-paperwork route of a typical NFA governed item. Now that I’ve reviewed it, I can’t imagine a better bed- or truck-side companion. Or, for that matter, a better price.
This article is an excerpt from the Summer 2017 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Shooting an AK, or any gun for that matter, is only fun if you hit your targets. And to hit intended targets, one must know how to properly sight in the AK.
The AK’s aiming system has an adjustable front sight and a fixed rear that has a provision for range adjustment.
The rear sight ranging system consists of a spring-loaded cylinder that slides on a sight leaf and can be positioned on pre-set marks representing 100-meter adjustments.
All sighting-in procedures are performed on the front sight only with a sight adjustment tool.
Elevation is adjusted by screwing the front post in or out; windage is adjusted by shifting the cylinder in which the sight post is screwed.
Elevation is adjusted first, moving the post up for a POI that is high and down for POI that is low.
The AK aiming system contains an adjustable front sight and a non-adjustable rear sight that has a provision for range adjustment. If one takes a look at the front sight of an AK, it appears like a straightforward post sight with protective hood. The post is screwed into the cylinder that is pressed into the front sight block. Both the threads on the sight post and the cylinder will come into play a bit later.
The rear AK sight is a conventional “U” slot type and made out of a solid piece of steel. It is hinged on the rear sight block of the rifle and has gradations representing 100-meter range adjustments. A spring-loaded cylinder slides on the rear sight leaf and can be positioned at any of the pre-set marks, elevating the sight to adjust for the desired range.
For example, if the target is set at 400 meters, the rear sight cylinder is moved to the position marked “4.” There is also a setting marked “П” or “P” for some of the European AK models or “D” for some Chinese. This represents the “Permanent” or “Battle” setting that falls somewhere between 300-400 meters, which is considered to be an average engagement range.
To aim an AK rifle one simply shoulders it and sights the aiming eye over the top of the gun. The shooter can close or squint the other eye. Most advanced shooters keep both eyes open during firing. In the case of novice shooters, the idle eye should be taken out of action by closing it or squinting.
Using a small and smooth movement with cheek firmly resting on the gun’s stock and the stock itself firmly pressed into the shooter’s shoulder, the front and rear sight have to be positioned in such a way that the front sight post is even with the rear sight’s upper edge and is centered in the middle of the “U” slot.
All that’s left to do is position the aligned sights over a clearly visible target. The proper way to aim with the AK is to position the sights or point of aim (POA) at the lower edge of the 12-inch round target set at 100 meters. This should produce hits or point of impact (POI) at the center of target. If the deviation between POA and POI is more then 6 inches vertically, i.e., it is less or more than 6 inches or any distance away from the vertical centerline, the AK rifle needs to be sighted in.
All of the sighting-in procedures are performed on the front sight only. Elevation or vertical adjustment is done by screwing the front post in or out using a sight adjustment tool provided in the gun’s tool kit.
The windage, or horizontal adjustment, is done by shifting the cylinder into which the front sight post is screwed. Note that all of the front sight adjustments for the purpose of sighting in a rifle are done in the direction of deviations. i.e., if the gun shoots low, the front sight needs to be lowered or screwed in, and it needs to be raised or unscrewed if the POI is high.
It is the same with the windage adjustments. If all of the hits impact too far left, the post must be moved left to bring POI to the center. The sighting of the AK can be done without any special tool except those provided with the gun.
First, the elevation is adjusted by installing a target at the 100-meter range and moving the rear sight elevation adjustment cylinder to the setting “1.” After a series of shots, the vertical POI deviation from POA is established. If it is outside of prescribed parameters, the adjustment is made by screwing in or lowering the front sight post for low impacts, and unscrewing or lifting the post for high impacts.
All the adjustments should be made in very small increments and remembering the geometrical progression effect. Each time the adjustment is made, it has to be verified by a series of shots to check the proper adjustment.
With elevation set, it is now time to adjust the windage, or make horizontal corrections. This is achieved by moving a cylinder side-to-side, depending on the desired result. The cylinder is press-fitted into the front sight block and does move freely. There are special AK front sight adjustment tools that can be purchased relatively cheaply.
However the front sight windage adjustment can be done in the field using a spent casing as a ramrod and heavy object (rock, piece of wood) as a hammer.
For that, the rifle is laid on a flat and hard surface in such a way that the tip of the muzzle and hood of the front sight are resting on the surface. With the bottom (primer side) of the spent casing placed on the side of the adjustment cylinder, the casing is tapped with a hammer (rock or wood) until the cylinder moves.
All of the windage adjustments should be done in very small increments. After each adjustment, the accuracy of the rifle should be checked. Most AK rifles have scale markings in the front side (muzzle side) of the front sight block and windage cylinder. The front sight block is marked with centerline and the cylinder with a series of vertical lines. After the sighting is complete, the position of the cylinder markings in relation to the block centerline is noted and should be memorized.
Now the AK rifle is ready for regular operation as described in its Military Training Manual.
This article is an excerpt from the Gun Digest Shooter’s Guide to AKs.
The .223 Remington is a highly versatile cartridge that can be loaded to meet the shooter’s exact needs, but there are certain considerations to keep in mind.
What are some important things to know when reloading the .223 Remington?
If you’re shooting an AR or a semi-auto rifle, consider using small base resizing dies to shrink fired brass back to specs and reduce the chances of a jam.
If you’re shooting a bolt gun, neck sizing ammunition can help wring more accuracy from your gun.
.223 Rem. and 5.56 NATO cases are not interchangeable. Make sure to keep pressure levels safe. This applies to using heavier bullets in .223 Rem. cases as well.
Match your rifle’s twist rate to the appropriate bullet weight. Heavier bullets won’t stabilize in barrels with slow twist rates. Also, pair your bullet choice to the task at hand, whether it be varmint or big-game hunting, target shooting or long-range shooting.
We are all fully familiar with just what a useful cartridge the .223 Remington is; whether you enjoy varmint and predator hunting, or just have a good time target shooting with an MSR, the .223 fits the bill. For a handloader, the .223 Remington can prove to be extremely versatile, especially if your rifle has one of the faster twist rates, like 1:8-inch or 1:9-inch, so you can take full advantage of the heavier .224-inch caliber bullets.
Depending on your rifle, you might want to take a couple different approaches to your reloading technique. Loading for the ARs — and any autoloader for that matter — might warrant the use of small base resizing dies, to shrink any fired brass back to specs, all the way to the base of the cartridge, for proper feeding. If you don’t get a good resize with a standard sizing die, the resulting jams can be a nightmare.
If you’ve chosen a bolt gun, you might want to take advantage of the neck-sizing die for the best concentricity and accuracy potential. I’ve seen neck-sized ammunition shrink group sizes by half or better in some instances, and if you want to wring every last bit of accuracy potential out of your bolt gun, this technique might work well for you.
Keeping Cases In Mind But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s look at the cases themselves. One of the obvious allures of the .223 Remington is the fact that it’s been a military cartridge for nigh on half a century, and with that comes the availability of surplus military ammo and cases.
That military ammunition (5.56 NATO) generally comes with cases that are thicker than the sporting variety, and because the outside dimensions of the case can’t change, the inner dimensions — read as combustion chamber — is smaller. That will increase pressure, sometimes to a dangerous level, so you absolutely need to sort your cases prior to any load development.
Both sporting and military cases can be used, but with different powder charges. What I do, to take advantage of both types of cases, is to use my military brass for a different powder/bullet combination, so it won’t get confused with other loads.
Bullet Options The .223 has a rather wide selection of bullets to choose from, so depending on your application, there will be a bullet for your needs. Bullet weights run between 30 and 90 grains, so there’s not only a bunch of flexibility here, but also multiple powders to fuel all those different bullets.
Twist rate is also going to play a big part in the equation. If you have a rifle with one of the slower twist rates — the 1:12-inch twist, like the .22-250s use — you’ll be limited to the 55-grain bullets, maybe a 60-grain bullet, but anything heavier than that probably won’t stabilize.
Varmint Hunting For the varmint crowd — we’ll use prairie dogs and woodchucks for an example — lighter bullets work perfectly, permitting high velocities, and as long as ranges aren’t crazy, they’re manageable in windy conditions. The 40-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint can reach over 3,500 fps to truly generate the red mist. I like Hodgdon H322, H335 and VARGET for bullets of this weight.
If you prefer a heavier bullet, say 50 grains, the same powders will suffice, but you’ll see a moderate velocity reduction, with speeds right around 3,200-3,300 fps. But, the increase in ballistic coefficient figures will make distant shots much easier on a windy day.
The classic 55-grain pills are a good all-around choice for any hunting — they offer a balance of downrange trajectory and wind deflection values — and will give excellent accuracy. Hands down, I’ve had the best results in both bolt guns and autoloaders when using H335 with 52-, 53- and 55-grain bullets. Add a match-grade primer (I like Federal’s GM205M small rifle primer), and you’re looking at some very serious accuracy. My dad’s Savage rifle, with a healthy bull barrel, will put Sierra’s 52-grain MatchKings into tiny little groups when seated above a proper load of H335.
Long-Range Shooting If you like to play the long-range game, I’d recommend using the longest bullets with the best ballistic coefficient possible. The 68-, 77- and 80-grain match bullets have some impressive figures, as well as performance, just so long as your rate of twist can stabilize the longer projectiles.
With the increased length of these bullets, case capacity can be compromised, so I like to look to the ball powders; and this is another reason I’ve relied on H335. However, Hodgdon’s new CFE223, optimized for the .223 Remington cartridge and including the Copper Fouling Eraser, is another solid choice for heavier bullets. Norma 203B, normally reserved for bigger cases, can also be a wonderful choice for heavier bullets like the Hornady 68-grain Match and its ilk, as can IMR 4895.
Hunting The longer bullets, designed with terminal performance in mind, can also be used for optimal hunting performance on big game with the .223, though you’ll want the higher sectional density figures as well, to ensure penetration.
The 62-grain and 75-grain Swift Scirocco II, with a good, thick jacket and boat tail, and a polymer tip to initiate expansion, makes a good choice for a hunting bullet. The 70-grain Hornady GMX, a sweet monometal spitzer bullet, will fit the bill perfectly as well, as there is no jacket or core to separate. All of these will take up room in the case, much like the longer match bullets, so keep an eye on load density, so as not to break the grain structure by over-compressing the powder charge.
Parting Thoughts Although it’s important with all cartridges, I firmly believe the .223 Remington is a cartridge with which pressures can quickly rise to unsafe levels. I strongly suggest, and it applies even more to the heavier bullets, that you use the data for the particular bullet, from the bullet manufacturer, as the conformation and construction of the bullet can have a dramatic effect on pressure levels and powder charges.
If you’re loading for one of the autoloaders, look to Redding’s bushing die to keep the proper amount of neck tension on your ammunition; this will avoid the tendency of having bullets pull out of the case slightly during the loading process. I don’t really like a roll crimp for the .223 Remington, as there is enough neck tension to keep things in place for the bolt guns.
The .223 is one heck of a versatile cartridge when equipped with a barrel with the proper twist rate. While I have often said I feel it’s a bit light for a deer rifle, and that there are many better choices, I certainly wouldn’t stay home if it were the only rifle available to me.
It is, most definitely, a top-notch coyote rifle, and, if the small-bore target game is your thing, it can be extremely accurate. Grab a good set of reloading dies, a rifle you believe in and some components for experimentation, and you’ll have countless hours of enjoyment with very little recoil.
Not only is the CZ Scorpion Evo 3 a blast to shoot, it is also a highly functional weapon — particularly with a buttstock.
As a pistol, the CZ Scorpion is a bit unwieldy, but slap on a buttstock and it becomes a highly useful firearm.
Opting for such a configuration, however, takes forethought, given it transforms the Scorpion Evo into a NFA-regulated short-barreled rifle.
The size and firepower a stocked Evo brings to the table makes it more powerful than a pistol and more convenient than a carbine.
There are a number of sling-mounting options for the Scorpion Evo, allowing users to adjust their carry method to the application.
The controls of the Evo are brilliantly executed and designed for easy manipulation, even with gloves on.
An important design point concerning controls is the non-reciprocating cocking handle, which opens real estate to grip this small gun.
The Scorpion Evo is outfitted with heavy-duty removable sights, complete with adjustable rear aperture.
The one complaint on the controls is the ambidextrous safety lever, which has the tendency to rub the trigger finger.
Disassembly/re-assembly of the Scorpion Evo 3 is a breeze and only takes a matter of minutes.
I’m a very utilitarian person — I don’t own a lot of frivolous stuff that doesn’t have a purpose. I don’t own a lot of fancy stuff, either. That is, with the exception of three things: I like a nice watch, I like fine leather, and of course…guns. But guns are the only thing I own that I’ll keep around just for the sake of keeping them around, even if one has no utility. Even my watch and leather items need to have a use.
Previously, when I’ve fired the semi-automatic versions of submachine guns (SMG), I felt that they fit into this category — fun gun that doesn’t really have utility. And honestly, they weren’t even that fun to shoot. In fact, of the two that I had fired, both were quite painful to shoot. They both had terrible trigger slap, and after a few magazines, my trigger finger throbbed.
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When I first laid eyes on the Scorpion Evo 3 S1, I erroneously thought that it would fit into this category — fun gun, no utility. I was correct about it being fun — it is by far the most fun gun that I’ve fired that isn’t belt-fed and/or full auto. It’s worth the price just for the amount of pure shooting enjoyment it provides. But, as far as a utilitarian firearm, in pistol form it’s pretty limited. It would make a good truck gun, or even a good home defense gun. Being in pistol form, though, it’s awkward to aim. It’s a little big to fire accurately one-handed, so the support arm has to be fully extended with the elbow straight, which leaves the primary arm bent. Not that’s there’s much recoil, but the minimal amount that it does have must be absorbed by the support arm. The whole thing is just awkward, and it’s not how it was intended to be used when it was designed. Mounting a laser on it does help, as does a nice, tight sling. A lot of users got some improvement by mounting an arm brace onto it, but even that isn’t a perfect solution.
A stock, though, turns it into a far more useful firearm. Not only that, as fun as the Scorpion pistol is, it doubles the fun of shooting it. Unfortunately, you can’t just put a stock on it, because that turns it into an SBR, subject to NFA regulation. But if you’re willing to go through the NFA process, a stock allows you to make well-aimed shots, and it also gives you complete control of the weapon for rapid follow-up shots. Suddenly you have a great gun for carrying in your ATV or truck as you’re driving about, and it also makes for a great home defense gun.
You get the best of both worlds: It’s compact for ease of transport, but open up the stock and you can get carbine-like accuracy. True, it’s not as compact as a handgun, yet if you can swing the extra size, it has increased muzzle velocity and is easier to aim and control. And yes, it can be fired with the stock folded.
There are other companies out there making handgun-caliber carbines, but they just don’t suit my needs as well as this one does. Many of them don’t have folding stocks, so they’re not any more compact than a rifle carbine. If you’re going to carry a firearm the size of a rifle carbine, might as well carry a rifle carbine — with the vast improvement in terminal ballistics, range and accuracy.
SMGs and their semi-automatic versions fall into two basic designs: those that are fed by magazine through the grip, similar to a handgun, like an Uzi; and those that are fed by magazine through a magazine well located in front of the trigger guard, similar to a semi-automatic rifle, like the Scorpion and the Heckler & Koch MP5 before it.
The Scorpion Evo 3 gives you a couple of sling-mounting options. On the left hand side to the rear of the receiver is a slot through which a 1-inch sling can be fed, which makes for a single-point option. Any number of third-party sling mounts that fit onto the accessory rail can also be mounted as a second point when using that configuration. There’s rail at the twelve, three, six and nine o’clock positions to do this. Another option is the four sling swivels located on the right and left sides for ambidextrous use. The rear swivels are polymer molded with the receiver located just under the accessory rail, and the front ones are metal, just in front of the magazine well, halfway up the receiver. I’ve seen metal key rings used in these swivels for clipping a sling, but my preferred method is the “Uber Loop” Quick Wire Loop from Blue Force Gear. It makes for an even more versatile attachment point, and the nylon-coated stainless steel wires and nylon body are quieter than metal key rings.
There’s a lot I really like about the Scorpion Evo 3, and the first thing is that I’m approaching 1,000 rounds and it hasn’t come close to a malfunction. It has cycled perfectly each time, regardless of suppressed or unsuppressed, ammo make, bullet weight, bullet type, bullet construction, +P, standard, or subsonic.
Second, I love the controls — other than the ambidextrous safety lever, which I’ll get to under dislikes. Everything else is brilliantly executed. It’s designed for use with gloves, so the controls are large, but they aren’t obtrusive. Not to sound all new-agey, but the weapon and controls meld nicely together and have a nice flow. An oversized paddle-style ambidextrous magazine release straddles the trigger guard to the front. It’s large, but completely out of the way unless you need it. The texture is not aggressive, but very effective — the graduated lines are reminiscent of the seating found at the Roman Coliseum. The bolt stop is located just above and in front of the trigger. It’s also oversized, yet it stays out of your way unless you need it. It has the same contoured steps as the mag release.
The pistol grip is smooth with no texturing on the sides, only the front and back straps have the same graduated step texture as the controls. It’s designed to be shouldered, not fired like a pistol, so texturing wasn’t as necessary in its original form. Fired like a pistol the lack of texture isn’t that big of a deal, with or without gloves. The bottom of the grip is a little bulbous. It looks like the blown-out magazine wells found on race handguns, except here it serves to keep your hand in position, not to insert magazines.
As for controls, I also like that the cocking handle is non-reciprocating. That’s important for a gun this small, since there’s not a lot of real estate to put the hand anyway. Having to worry about a reciprocating charging handle slamming into the digits would be a distraction, and probably lead to a lot of user-induced malfunctions. I dislike reciprocating charging handles. Before top rails were widely adopted (and mostly mandatory for today’s firearms) to mount optics, it wasn’t uncommon for SMGs to have a top-mounted reciprocating charging handle. Back then, it didn’t matter.
Today, those designs pretty much exclude the mounting of any type of optic, unless you buy a special mount. But, if you mount it on the side, you run the risk of the thumb-busting I just mentioned. Usually, it doesn’t occur while operating the firearm in its intended SOP; the thumb busting occurs during moments of use outside that box — such as when using a benchrest to sight it in.
The removable sights are of metal construction and are heavy duty. As far as I can tell, the only thing made of polymer on the sights is the adjustable rear aperture sight peep, which is actually four peeps on a rotary that allow you to choose the size aperture that you want. The front sight is a post-style sight that is adjustable for windage. These are the same sights that come standard on the 805 Bren S1 Pistol.
There’s only one thing I don’t like about the Scorpion Evo 3, and CZ fixed it right away. The ambidextrous safety’s right-side lever rubs really bad on the first joint of the shooting finger. It doesn’t take long for it to be painful to shoot. Fortunately, they offer a safety delete that gets rid of the left-hand (right side) safety lever. According to CZ-USA, there are three reasons for the safety lever issue. First, since the Scorpion Evo was developed and designed primarily for military/law enforcement agencies, it was made to shoot on full automatic. On full auto, the safety lever is pointing forward, so it wouldn’t rub on the trigger finger. It’s only an issue when it’s on semi-automatic, so it’s mostly an issue for us civilians, and wasn’t really discovered until it hit the U.S. market. Second, it was designed to be an SBR, with a stock, and when firing with a stock most of the pressure is on the shoulder, not on the hand (as is the case with the pistol version), so the finger doesn’t rub on the selector switch. Third, it was designed for tactical users who almost always have on gloves, particularly in the cool/cold Czech Republic.
Disassembly is a real chore, and I say that facetiously. It’s one of the easiest firearms to disassemble that I’ve come across, even more so than firearms famous for being easy to disassemble.
First, remove the magazine, clear it, then physically and visually inspect the chamber to make sure that it is clear. Pull the cocking handle to the rear, and lock the bolt open, pushing the cocking handle up. This is different from most firearms, where you keep the bolt in the closed position to disassemble. Push the disassembly pin all the way through; don’t worry, it’s captured so you won’t lose it.
Grasp the trigger case assembly and pull down, then forward to remove. Carefully place your thumb (you don’t want the heavy bolt to slam closed on you) on the front of the bolt, and push slightly rearward, then ease it forward slowly until you can pull it down and then out of the receiver. The bolt and recoil spring will come out as one unit.
That is as far as it needs to be disassembled for maintenance. Three part assemblies, none of them small, none of them easily lost in the field.
To reassemble, insert the bolt/recoil spring assembly buffer into position at the rear of the receiver, and using your thumb, push rearward and down until it is in position, then ease it slowly forward until the cocking handle engages with it. If the bolt assembly isn’t fully seated, the cocking handle won’t engage with it — you need to push the bolt farther to the rear and push downward.
Once engaged, remove your thumb and pull the cocking handle to the rear and lock the bolt open. Insert the rear of the trigger case assembly (the back of the trigger guard) into its slot, rotate the front of the trigger case assembly into position, and press the disassembly pin into place. Do a function check and it’s assembled.
When they fill a certain role, and do it well, military weapons can have long lifespans. How long can be astonishing. There are rifles, pistols and shotguns from around the world that have taken the battlefield for decades now, proving the latest isn’t always the greatest. But today, we’re going to focus on some true long-in-the-tooth warriors that have served for going on, or better than, a century. So without further ado, here are 4 Historic Bolt-Action Service Rifles That Still See Action.
The Mosin-Nagant is the undisputed champion of service rifle longevity. Consider this, it was adopted as the primary service rifle of the Russian Empire the same year the first game of basketball was played — 1891. And, astoundingly, the five-round bolt-action rifle, fed off stripper clips, is still on the active roster of some countries’ militaries today. China, North Korea and Russia all continue to employ variations of the 7.62x54mm rifle, albeit in diminished capacities, typically in the rear echelons and in reservist roles.
What has kept it relevant all these years is its simplicity, reliability and ability to pitch lead fairly accurately 500 yards and on out. The rifle didn’t start out as elegantly austere; however, after combining aspects of Russian Army officer Sergi Ivanovich Mosin and Belgian arms designer Léon Nagan’s original submissions, a robust and dependable rifle was born.
The Mosin-Nagant has earned its battle stripes, including action in both World Wars. It is now more commonly found at your local shooting range, a popular choice of firearms buffs with a yen for affordable history and those who just can’t get enough shoulder abuse.
Lee-Enfield
Really, the Lee-Enfield isn’t seeing that much military use any longer. The Canadian Rangers recently phasing out the rough-and-ready No. 4 MK 2, due to lack of replacement parts, somewhat marks an end of an era. But there is a smattering of the British Empire’s slogger in a number of Commonwealths’ reserve units. And it is still heavily utilized by police forces in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Its endurance since adoption in 1895 is due to it perhaps being among the best bolt-action service rifles ever produced. With 10-rounds of .303 British at his beck and call, “Tommy” had more firepower at his disposal than any other soldier armed with a bolt action he’d likely face. And it was as adept at sending a high volume of fire at an enemy in a “beaten zone” as it was with precision work. The redesign of the British black powder .303, the Lee-Metford, had a smooth and short bolt throw, aided by rear-position locking lugs, making the rifle lightning fast to operate.
Luckily, there are plenty of Lee-Enfields to be had, particularly of the SMLE variety. And there is nothing quite as stirring as sending rounds down range from the regal “three-oh-three.”
M1903 Springfield
The glory of the battlefield has long past the venerable M1903, with it last seeing action as a sniper rifle in Vietnam. But the U.S. Military just can’t quit this warhorse. The U.S. Army Drill team can still be found snapping to attention with bayonet-tipped Springfields. The five-round rifle’s superior balance makes it ideal for the precision movements that go into the team’s drills.
While ceremonial now, the M1903 was a tenacious service rifle. The Springfield was the U.S. Military’s primary service rifle in World War I, and proved to be a reliable and accurate weapon. Aiding the rifle on the latter facet was the .30-06 Springfield round it shot, which was more than adequate for long-range work. Its accuracy is what kept the M1903 relevant all the way through the late 20th century, even after it was supplanted by more advanced weapons systems. Decked out with a scope, the Springfield and its many variants were deadly sniper rifles in the hands of a trained marksman. Even today, one of these battle-worn beauties makes a fine match rifle, still able to find the X-ring with ease.
Karabiner 98k
Like the Springfield, the K98k is more of a ceremonial arm today. The German Bundeswehr’s precision drill unit, the Wachbataillon, prizes the rifle for much the same reasons the U.S. Army uses the M1903 — its balance. But unlike the Springfield, the Karabiner 98k has seen plenty of modern-day action, such as in the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s. And it can still be found in some small countries’ arsenals.
The 7.92x57mm (or 8mm Mauser) rifle was adopted by German forces in the dark days of 1935 and served as its primary service rifle throughout World War II. The K98k was a shorter and lighter firearm than the service rifles that preceded it, making it ideal for maneuver tactics that were dominating warfare of the time. It weighed in at around 8 pounds, scant for the day.
Like many of the classics on this list, reliability was one of the five-round Karabiner 98k‘s primary assets. But as many rifle aficionados know, there is something else highly desirable about K98ks — their actions. They’re rock solid. With two forward locking lugs, the rifle could fire high-pressured rounds safely and repeatedly. Another feature, highly prized, was the oversized claw extractor, which ensured jams were a rarity. Even today, these actions are sought after and likely to be found on slicked-out sporter versions that were fabricated from liberated arms after the war.
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And folding the stock does nothing to hinder the functionality of the rifle. All controls remain accessible, and the gun can still be fired with ease. Plus, the stock can quickly and simply be switched back and forth between the extended and folded positions, meaning it can be stored discreetly and rapidly brought into the fight.
