CZ’s 75 has been around for almost 40 years and today there is a wide variety of different options. The 75 Compact, shown here, is a short-recoil operated semiauto that is small enough for concealed carry.
Here's a look at some of CZ's oustanding pistols.
The P-09 has a polymer frame and a magazine capacity of 19 rounds in 9mm. It is also available threaded for a suppressor and has a decocker that can be converted to a manual safety.
The CZ 75 is one of the most successful handguns of the modern era and it is the weapon of choice for law enforcement and military officers around the world. This short-recoil operated semiauto first appeared in the mid-1970s and it was a major hit immediately. The 75 has proven to be very reliable and accurate, thanks in no small part to its superb balance. Today, CZ offers over a dozen variants of the 75, including several small versions ideal for personal defense.
For those who are shopping for a concealed carry gun, the CZ 75 Compact has all of the features you’d expect from the full-size gun like SA/DA operation, a large manual safety and decocker, and a wide, double-stack grip. The 75 Compact comes with a steel frame, which is slightly heavier than other carry pistols in the CZ line (about 33 ounces), but that weight helps reduce recoil.
If you’re looking for a lighter carry gun, the CZ P-01 in 9mm is ideal. The alloy frame reduces weight, and at 28 ounces unloaded the P-01 is large enough to reduce recoil and shoot accurately but still light enough for carry. There’s also a conversion kit to turn your 9mm or .40 S&W 75 into a .22 for cheap, low-recoil practice.
Competition shooters also have several options available as well, including the IPSC-ready CZ-75 Tactical Sport. Designed for competition, the Tactical Sport offers competition-ready features like an extended magazine release and competition hammer. The magazine well is large so that it is easy to make rapid mag changes during the heat of competition, and the front and rear straps have heavy checkering for a secure grip.
If you want to step up another level, try the CZ 75 TS Czechmate. This semiauto pistol is designed for IPSC Open or Limited division competition and it offers a long list of features like an ambidextrous slide racker, four-port compensator, four magazines (three 20-round, one 26-round) and much more. The price for the Tactical Sport is $1,310, and the feature-loaded Czechmate sells for $3,317.
The Dan Wesson RZ-10, (that's 10mm).
The P-09 is one of the best full-size, high-capacity, polymer-frame 9mms on the market. It’s very well balanced, accurate, and the grip is comfortable. In addition, the P-09 has a large magazine capacity – 19 +1 in 9mm – so you’ll cut down on time between reloads and you’ll always know that you’ve got plenty of firepower on tap.
The P-09 also comes with a decocker that can be transferred to a manual safety, and there are new versions that come with a flat dark earth frame, and another version that is threaded for suppression. MSRP on the P-09 ranges from $530 to $577, making it one of the best buys in full-size polymer guns.
Dan Wesson, which is owned by CZ, is offering a full lineup of 1911 handguns for every need and budget. Some of the standouts in that lineup are the Razorback RZ-10, which is chambered in the mighty 10mm Auto and comes with defensive sights, cocobolo grips, a 5-inch ramped match-grade barrel, a smooth front strap and much more.
The Razorback is an ideal gun for defense (for those who can handle the recoil) and will also serve as a close-range hunting gun. Also from Dan Wesson is the compact ECO, a 25-ounce concealed carry 1911 available in either 9mm or .45 ACP. It has a solid one-piece guide rod and a flat recoil spring rated for an incredible 15,000 rounds. MSRP on the Razorback is $1,350 and the ECO is $1,662.
Everything old is new again. The old saying seems no more relevant than in the second .327 Federal Magnum Ruger has released in the last year.
Hot on the heels of New Hampshire/Arizona manufacturer’s introduction of the Single-Six in the light magnum comes a SP101 bored for the cartridge. But this isn’t the first time the double-action revolver has been mated with the relatively new round.
In fact, the small-frame beast was one of the original handguns that grazed on the cartridge when Federal Ammunition introduced it in 2007. But the revolver had a short lifespan, with Ruger pulling it from the market in 2013.
The .327 Federal Magnum SP101 is back again and boasts a number of features and refinements that has hit the line in recent years.
Perhaps the handiest for what should make a dandy field gun are the fully adjustable rear sights. The gun’s windage and elevation can be tailored to the shooting conditions and distance, a plus for anyone who aims to be in total control.
Aiding the gun's sighting system is a fiber optic front sight, which helps shooters focus where they should. Given the hard-hitting light magnum would make a top-notch small game choice, these features alone should get many shooters excited.
The light recoil of the .327 Federal Magnum has the potential to be further mitigated by a number of aspects of the SP101. The gun’s weight, a shade under 2 pounds, is one; its grips are the other.
The .327 version of the SP101 features engraved wooden grips — something that should appeal to traditionalists. But this classic feature is surrounded by rubber that runs along the backstrap and the front of the grip.
The synthetic material should reduce felt recoil considerably. In addition to this, it also will aid shooters in getting a solid positive grip on the revolver every time the draw it.
The new SP100 should get the most out of the .327 Federal Magnum cartridge with a 4.2-inch barrel. This gives the six-round revolver an overall length 9.12 inches, which might make it an option for some as a carry piece.
The cylinder has three lock points in the frame (front, rear and bottom) creating more positive alignment and dependable operation. And it features Ruger’s patented transfer-bar safety, which secures against accidental discharges if the gun is dropped.
Presently, the new .327 Federal Magnum SP101 has an MSRP of $719.
Figure out what that baby's worth with our incredible catalog of gun-value references. Get in the Know
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Rock Island Auction Company is gearing up for its first premiere firearms auction of 2015 and the April 24-26 event is shaping up to be a doozy.
The Illinois-based auction house will have over 2,700 firearms and 3,000 lots crossing the block. As always some of the most historic firearm manufacturers will be part of the event, with RIA ready to auction off more than 500 Colts, 400 Winchesters and 300 military arms.
The auction will be highlighted by four incredible collections that should leave rare-gun fanatics' tongues hanging.
The Gene Smith military collection is certain to prick up the ears of German military arms aficionados. RIA has featured guns from this encyclopedic collection in the past and have had a huge response from those hungry for rare and historic arms.
April will be bittersweet in one respect, it will feature the final installment of the iconic Ralph Shattuck collection. Described as a “dream collection,” Shattuck had an unmatched catalog of Lugers, Mauser and Borchardts.
Those who have a taste for 7.65mm pistols will be left drooling over Dr. Joel Glovsky’s collection. Dr. Glovsky is renown for the most complete collection of the German-born caliber, amassing rare prototypes, tool-room samples and test models in 60 year of chasing these pistols.
Finally, RIA will host part two of the William Baird collection. Filled with Colt revolvers of every stripe, collectors who yearn for historic American wheelguns won’t get enough.
The badge, ID wallet and S&W Model 29 revolver of Captain Bob M. of the Texas Rangers.
Whether it’s a Texas Ranger revolver or a warhorse rifle, each gun has a story to tell.
A pair of Colt 1911Ai Government models of Texas Ranger Manuel T. Gonzaullas, known by bandits as “El Lobo Solo,” or the Lone Wolf.
The citation next to the Smith & Wesson Model 29 in the display case said that Texas Ranger Bob M. had been carrying that particular pistol when he was called to the scene of a domestic disturbance. A man had been released from prison, and had promptly gone to the home of his estranged wife and taken her hostage at gunpoint. The police had the house surrounded when Ranger M. arrived, and the suspect was barricaded behind a couch in the living room.
All the cops, bristling with rifles, pistols and teargas guns, were hunkered down behind their patrol cars outside. Ranger M. calmly walked up to the porch and called inside to the suspect, telling him to put down his gun and come out with his hands up. The suspect called back with words to the effect that, if the Ranger wanted him, he was welcome to come in and get him.
So he did.
Ranger M. walked into the house, grabbed the culprit by the scruff of his neck, gave him a few whacks with the Model 29, dragged him out the door and handed him over to the local police. And then he went on about the rest of his work day.
A tear gas billy club and the engraved Colt Model P revolver with personalized grips of Texas Ranger “Doc” White.
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, overlooking the banks of the Brazos River in Waco, Texas, still has that particular Smith & Wesson on display, along with hundreds of other guns and various equipment that officers carried during the famous law enforcement agency’s 191 years of existence. If those guns could talk, every one could tell stories of bravery, honor and adventure akin to the citation describing Ranger M.’s tale of unusual enforcement of the law.
The first time I saw the Model 29 in question, my friend had taken me to visit the museum, but first he said he wanted to show me a tractor he was working on. We drove to a small farm near Waco, looked at the tractor in the barn and visited with the owner, a friendly, ordinary-looking, retired gentleman.
Arriving at the museum, my friend pointed out the Model 29 in the display case, and told me to read the citation. When I had, he asked me what I thought. I said the fellow who had carried that gun must have been quite the hombre in his day. My friend said, “He was. That’s the man you met a while ago. He owns the place where my tractor is.”
In an age when America has been sissified and civilized and watered down almost beyond recognition, it’s good to know there are still brave men who aren’t afraid to do what it takes to get the job done. Most of the time they look like regular, ordinary folk, but when the time comes to make a stand, they step out and put themselves in harm’s way for the rest of us. To paraphrase John Wayne, they may be scared, but they saddle up anyway.
The guns carried by such men are similar to the men themselves. They’re not wimpy, delicate or fragile. They are tools, designed to fit a specific need and to hold up well under abuse and still function. They’re usually the best of their kind available during the times they’re employed, and are retired and replaced only when a better tool comes along for the job at hand. Their stories would fill libraries the world over, if written down.
The guns in the Texas Ranger Museum are some of the lucky few. Having seen their service, they’ve been offered a respite from their labors. Others, particularly surplus military guns, are often subjected to less auspicious fates. But their stories, if known, might be just as interesting.
Firearm History At The Local Gun Shop
A pair of .45 Colt Commanders with personalized grips.
The line of old Mausers had seen better days. There were about 20 of them in a rack at my local gun shop, in various stages of decay and neglect. Picked up en masse for a song, or even a verse or two, the price tags attested to the fact that these guns were no longer the proud warriors they’d once been. Any one of them was available for $125, as is, no guarantees, no sad songs and no returns.
Enjoying a Saturday morning at the shop with four friends, I made the owner a pitch—how about $75 apiece, provided all five of us bought one. The haggling settled at $100 each, with 100 rounds of 8-millimeter surplus ammo thrown in with each rifle. We all agreed and proceeded to coon-finger the guns, inspect bores and rub already well-rubbed stocks. One gent amused the rest by shouldering his choice and goose-stepping out the door.
The five of us convened at “the shooting bench,” a private range that belonged to a member of the group, and we spent the afternoon seeing what the old rifles could do. Some were more accurate than others, none was a tack driver, but all of them worked fine.
Mine was capable, we found, of putting three rounds into an 8-inch cactus pad at 300 yards, using the old flip-up ladder rear sight.
The guns of Texas Ranger Walter Russell: Winchester .30 cal. 1895 carbine, Colt S.A. Army Model 9 revolvers in .357 mag. and Colt Pre-and Post-WWII 1911A1 Government Models.
The World War II ammo we were using was less than optimal, however. Some of the rounds failed to fire, whereupon the shooter would hold still for a count of 10, and then open the bolt and fling the round away like a hot potato. After a while we decided we were pushing our luck, and fell to removing bolts and scraping old cosmoline from nooks and crannies.
All the stocks were scarred, pitted and abused from years of warfare, more so from decades of storage and mishandling. The wooden stocks probably told the story of those rifles better than anything else. They seemed to be the unsung heroes of a bygone era.
One stock had a group of notches carved into it, a testament, perhaps, to the marksmanship of a previous owner. Which war, and which side in that war, were left to the imagination.
Another, in perhaps a still more ominous vein, was adorned with a crude swastika. Whether the carver was actually a Nazi or just a fellow who wanted to make his rifle appear villainous we can never know.
Still, we all gathered round and got quiet when the offending symbol was pointed out. All guns are new at one point, but unless they’re safe queens, they all see service of one kind or another, acquiring nicks, scrapes and abrasions throughout their lifetimes. Most firearms change hands several times, and rarely are their histories documented. But every gun tells a story. Where have your guns been?
This article appeared in the February 1, 2015 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Improve your aim with these simple shooting drills.
Practice drills on hostage targets.
Although we shoot our defensive pistol at center mass, shooting it precisely is also important. Shooting groups with a pistol is fun and also helps us develop better trigger control and trigger reset ability. Trigger reset is the amount of return your finger allows on the trigger until it clicks or resets for the next shot. This of course pertains to semi-autos but is part of trigger control.
By only releasing the trigger enough to reset, we avoid taking the finger off of the trigger and developing trigger slap, which deteriorates accuracy.
I like to start all of my training sessions shooting circles. Many instructors use similar training, and I got this drill from Ed Santos of Center Target Sports.
It consists of a target that only has to be made once and then copied as many times as you practice. It has four 2-inch circles drawn on it with a heavy marker. It is a precision exercise and requires the shooter to attempt to put the bullet though the same hole. It’s a simple drill, but when practiced regularly, will do wonders with your accuracy.
Start by standing directly in front of the target. First shoot one of the circles at 3 yards and fire three shots. This is not a speed event; try to put each round in the same hole and concentrate on trigger reset. If you’re not happy with the group, shoot the next circle three times trying to do the same thing.
Groups shot at 10 yards.
When you get a clover leaf consistently at 3 yards move back to 5 yards and then to 10 yards. After that, if you’re really confident, move back to 15 yards. I don’t spend a lot of time on these drills, maybe 24 rounds each training session. I even do it with a .22 sometimes, but it’s good to do with your carry pistol to manage the recoil and become more accurate with the handgun you may be called upon to use in an actual situation.
This practice will perfect sight alignment and trigger control and the training drills will generate notable shooting improvement. While shooting this exercise, remember to use proper grip and stance. There are many versions of hostage targets that can also be added to your training, and they are good for putting a face on something you might hit if you spoil the shot.
Remember as a concealed carry citizen there may be a time you will be called into action. In many situations, there will be a bunch of people running around in a frenzy. Never take a shot that could harm innocent bystanders.
Accuracy is certainly critical at such moments and being able to deliver a round precisely where you intend it will prevent you from getting into trouble. Keep up the training and be sure to work shooting circles into your training regimen.
Eugene Stoner is perhaps best known for designing what has become America’s most popular rifle — the AR-15. However, there is another creation of the renowned weapons designer that is held in high regard in many firearms circles — the AR-7.
The quirky rifle was designed with one purpose in mind, keeping downed U.S. Air Force crews alive. Nowadays, the firearm, chambered .22LR, is a popular choice with those heading into the backcountry or to remote areas. Sooch00 shows exactly why in the above video.
The You Tube gun guru does a solid job giving the history, specs and review of the now Henry Rifle-made AR-7. But it’s worth taking a moment to point out why this particular firearm's design has withstood the test of time.
In short, the rifle performs when put together and breaks down into a miniscule package. When the barrel and receiver are packed away into the stock, the 3.5-pound AR-7 measures in at just 16-inches. Few will argue, at that size and weight anybody can make space in their rucksack for a tool this important.
There is a little bit of everything in A*B Arms' Mission Critical Kit.
Part of owning a gun is keeping it running right through proper maintenance. For most, this means some quality time in their designated gun room pampering their baby.
Of course, whiling away the day on upkeep isn’t always an option. Whether it is tactical, competition or what have you, there are times that a vital part of a firearm needs to be fixed on the fly.
American Built Arms Company has come up with what appears to be an ingenious solution for just these situations. The Pennsylvania company’s A*B Mission Critical Kit shoots too keep AR-15-style rifles in the fight when in the field.
“There are hundreds of cleaning kits on the market today, but no real kit to help you replace mission-critical parts,” president and founder of A*B Arms Jason Combs said in a press release. “We wanted to design and manufacture a kit that would meet those goals. We accomplished that with the MCK.”
The kit comes with 13 items that are designed to tackle some of the most common failures of the AR system. This not only includes replacement parts, but also maintenance material and a little first-aid gear to boot.
The MCK includes:
1 A*B Complete Nickel Boron Coated Bolt Assembly
1 A*B Arms Firing Pin
1 Firing Pin Retaining Pin
1 A*B Arms Extractor
1 Extractor Axle
6 Gas Rings
1 Bolt Assembly Instruction Card
2 UV Resistant Black Gear Bands
1 A*B Arms Latex Barrel Cover
1 5.56 Broken Shell Extractor
2 Vials of 3M Breakthrough Battle Born High-Purity Oil
2 Latex-Free Adhesive Bandages and Alcohol Prep Pad
1 Tactical Black, Ballistic Nylon Case
Certainly the kit doesn’t cover every probable malfunction or failure that can occur. However, it looks as if A*B Arms has covered a lot of bases in keeping an AR running, particularly with the extra bolt assembly, firing pin parts and shell extractor.
The company has also thrown a few less intuitive items into the MCK, such as the gear bands and barrel cover. But, in a pinch and with a bit of lateral thinking they could be mission-saving equipment.
The Mission Critical Kit comes in a 5”x3.5”x1” black nylon case, which shouldn’t make it an imposition to tote along. The MSRP of the kit is $149.99.
With this handy kit we give you the tools and the knowledge to keep your AR-15 in tip-top shape. The collection includes five references focused on the popular rifle and three tools that are perfect to keep it going any time or anywhere it runs into problems. Check It Out
The Modular Optics System changes the game for this popular firearm maker.
Glock MOS Review
Three MOS models are in various states of dress. Author Photo
Optical sights mounted on handguns have been popular with competitive and target shooters for quite some time now, but the setup is also becoming popular for fighting weapons. It’s clear the advantage that optics provides for fast target acquisition, but it’s also an advantage for faster follower up shots and transition between targets.
In a hostile situation, optics also make it easy to rack the slide if one of your arms is incapacitated. The biggest advantage, however, is the plane of focus. With iron sights, whether pistol or rifle, the shooter must focus on the front sight, leaving the target blurry. No one wants a blurry bad guy. It’s best to have him or her in focus.
A red dot optic places the dot in the same focal plane as the target, so both are in focus. These reasons are also what make red dot optics great for handgun hunters, which is the primary intent of the G40.
It’s also for these reasons that optics are becoming popular with police tactical units, and—some will find this surprising—many concealed carry people are using them on their weapons as well. People who do use them for carry claim the optics are not as hard to conceal as one would think.
For me, the whole MOS package with the optic plus the long slide wouldn’t be my preference for carry, but everyone has different circumstances. Just to see how it feels I strapped one on and carried it for a day and found the optic to be less burdensome than the long slide, which was hard to conceal even with a long shirt. Plus it’s uncomfortable when sitting.
The outward corner of the optic printed a little, but otherwise I couldn’t tell it was there. I was also pleased to find that my current carry holster worked with the optic mounted on the MOS.
Not all will work, depending on how low the cut on the front of the holster goes, but I have a Tucker Gunleather holster that I use for my G26, G19 and G22 (it works with all the standard frame Glocks), and the front is cut low enough that it didn’t impede at all with the Trijicon RMR I had mounted on it. No More Aftermarket Needs
Prior to the MOS line, competitive shooters who wanted optics on their Glock either had to purchase an aftermarket slide or have their slide machined by a gunsmith. Now for an MSRP of $840, you can buy a Glock that is optics ready.
The G40 is not meant for competition shooting, but for hunting and as a defensive weapon. It does not have slide length restrictions because it doesn’t need to fit into an IPSC box. It has a full-length 9.49-inch long slide with a sight radius of 8.19 inches. That makes it about .6-inch longer than the G41 and .75-inch longer than the G34 and G35. That will give the 10mm more range and accuracy potential.
The G34 MOS comes in at 8.74 inches long with a height of 5.43 inches and a width of 1.18 inches. The bore axis is 1.26 inches and the sight radius is 7.55 inches. It weighs 25.95 ounces. Comparing the standard G34 Gen4 to the MOS version shows little difference.
Glock lists a measurement difference of .07 inches between the two, and the difference in weight is .07 ounces. Non-MOS versions of the G35 or G41 were not on hand to compare with the MOS versions, but Glock lists the specs of the MOS variants of those models as right in line with the standard Gen4 variants, just like as in the G34. Magazine capacity, trigger pull, trigger travel and other specs remain unchanged from the standard to MOS variants.
MOS Features
The MOS pistols come with five interchangeable plates: 00 is the cover plate for when using iron sights and no optics; 01 for use with Eotech, Doctor, Insight and Meopta; 02 for using Trijicon RMR; 03 for C-More; and 04 on the Leupold Delta Point.
Installation is simple; unscrew and remove the base plate, position the plate designed for use with your optic and screw it in position. Then attach your optic to the plate with screws, using the method outlined by the optic manufacturer. The end result is a system that is versatile, simple to use and provides a very secure mount.
For the MOS, Glock cut out a section from the slide that is .196 inches deep at its deepest and 1.929 inches long. The cover plate weights 1.416 ounces and the four other plates weigh in at approximately .71- to .77-ounce each. All models use the same set of plates, even the 10mm G40. The G40 is able to use the same plates, because according to Glock techs, unlike the G20, which has the large frame wide slide, the G40 has a narrow slide, like the G41.
One of the details noticeable about the G34 and G35 is that toward the front of the side cutout, the wall between it and the ejector is very thin (this is not an issue with the large frame G41 and G40). I measured it at its thinnest point, and it’s .020 inches thick, which is almost paper-thin.
This isn’t anything to be alarmed about. Glock assures that it’s strong enough, and closer inspection shows that it curves down and becomes thicker by the time it reaches the extractor. Take an even closer look and you’ll see that this area of the slide isn’t even a load-bearing section. Even if the thin wall were to get chipped, it would not affect the function of the handgun.
According to Glock marketing coordinator Connie Kempffer, Glock has no current plans to discontinue the G34, G35 or G41 Gen3 or Gen4 non-MOS versions. Glock is a business, however, and as a general rule plans can and will change. If sales of the non-MOS Gen4 plummet, as they likely will, Glock will probably not keep them around for sentimentality. It could be one of those deals, like the compensated models, where every once in a while they are pulled out of mothballs and a run is made. The G40 will not have a non-MOS variant available. The G34 and G35 will continue to also be offered in Gen3, and since the G41 was introduced post-Gen3, it will not.
It will be interesting to see how long Glock continues to sell the Gen4 non-MOS variants of these pistols. There’s no downside to buying an MOS as compared to the standard Gen4, other than the additional cost. If a shooter owns an MOS and decides they don’t want optics, they don’t have to use optics—just put on the cover plate. However, if a shooter owns a standard configuration Gen4 and decides they do want optics, they can’t, unless they revisit one of the two options mentioned before. If you already own a G34, G35 or G41, Glock will not be offering MOS slides for sale, so you’ll have to spring for a new pistol.
Realize that Accuracy Potential
Accuracy-wise, nothing about the MOS models is different from the standard Gen4 models. They will have the same accuracy potential, and the addition of the optical red-dot will just give another tool to help realize that accuracy potential. Being a relative newcomer to optics mounted on handguns, I can tell you this—mounting a red-dot on a handgun is not a magic pill that will have a shooter hitting the 10 mark every time or shooting gnats off a hog’s behind.
It will still require practice to become proficient, specifically in the acquisition phase. The high line of sight of the optic will take some getting used to. Once the dot is on the target, it’s good to go, though.
I’m just a slightly above average pistol shot, and I fired tight groups with this gun. The G34 with a Trijicon RMR at 45 feet, using Federal HST 124-grain JHP, fired a five-shot group that I could almost cover with a quarter. I fired groups just as good with the G35 and G41, and groups almost as good without the optic. So even without the optic these are still very accurate.
After using iron sights with handguns to acquire a target for the better part of 25 years, using an optic doesn’t feel as natural, so it will take some time to get used to shooting with one. I really like it though, and given some time behind the trigger, it’s something I could really appreciate.
It’s a given that the MOS line will be a hit amongst completion and target shooters, but this is going to really change the game in the tactical and defensive carry community, as well, not because Glock was the first to put a MOS-type model on the market—because they weren’t—but due to how prolific and accepted Glock is in the shooting universe as well as in American culture as a whole. Nearly every movie and TV show with guns in it features Glocks, and if a pop song mentions a gun it’s a Glock. Nearly three-fourths of law enforcement has a Glock visible on the hip, and almost every gun store you go to sells them. There’s little chance that the MOS line won’t be a hit.
Safety should be the first and foremost concern when it comes to reloading ammo.
When it comes to reloading techniques, there are some tricks and tips master ballistician Phil Massaro has picked up that make it safer and more efficient.
Everyone has their own style in this world, different strokes for different folks. However, some things that people attribute to style can be downright dangerous. Let’s talk about some simple and safe reloading techniques, which might save you wounded pride, or worse, body.
Priming
When it comes to priming your cartridges, I used to just dump a bunch of primers into the tray, and have at it. I’ve ended up trying to prime a case that is already primed (ruining the existing primer), and I’ve ended up with a case that has powder trickling out of the unprimed pocket.
Nowadays, I dispense the exact amount of primers I need for the cases I have in the case block. If I end up with more cases than I have primers for, I know to get on my hands and knees and check the floor for a primer that has dropped so it doesn’t end up in the vacuum cleaner or elsewhere.
Charging
I have friends, who are safe people in general, that will set 40 or 50 primed cases into a case block, and charge each case before seating the bullets into them. It makes for a good system, but it leaves open the opportunity for a double charge, or no charge at all.
I have done the ‘no-charge-at-all’ thing; it’s a mistake that almost everyone will make if they load enough cartridges. I’m not proud of it, and I’ve taken every precaution to see it never happens again. Thank goodness I’ve never had to deal with a double-charge, as the results of those can be deadly, or at least maiming.
I have modified the procedure a bit, to make things a bit safer. I still place the primed cases into the blocks, but I charge them with powder one at a time, and then immediately install the bullet and seat it. This alleviates a couple different problems.
There is no risk of a double charge, because I visually identify that there is no powder in the case before I charge it, and there is no risk of ‘no-charge-at-all’, because I can verify that there is powder in the case before seating the bullet. This works out well for any single stage press, whether for pistol or rifle.
A pre-measured dummy round is a grand trick to save time adjusting the seating plug for different bullet sizes for the same cartridge.
Seating
If you load more than one bullet for any particular cartridge that you load for, the seating depth will more than likely change. The time spent readjusting a seating plug can become a pain, so I make a dummy round for each bullet that I load for, set to the exact seating depth required, and I keep it in the die box, labeled in permanent marker, with the bullet weight and name.
This way, when it comes time to switch bullets, you may back off the seating plug, raise the dummy round into the die, and screw the plug down until you feel it kiss the ogive of the bullet. That will get you very close, but one minor adjustment and a quick check with the micrometer and you’ll be in business much quicker.
Basic tips, I know, but sometimes it’s the little things in life that make things go smoothly.
This hardcore full-sized duty pistol is capable of shooting in extreme conditions.
Guncrafter Frag Review
My first Guncrafter gun was the CCO, an Officer-sized 1911 designed for everyday carry. The CCO was as accurate as a match gun, perfectly fitted and finished, with all the sharp edges contoured for comfort. The trigger broke like a glass rod, and through extensive shooting, functioned perfectly every time. When I received the latest Guncrafter offering, the Frag, I expected the same level of quality, and I received it.
While the CCO was a compact pistol for daily, concealed carry, the Frag is a hardcore full-sized duty pistol capable of handling extreme conditions without complaint. The Frag gets its name from the unique gripping surfaces of the grips and front and rear backstraps.
Reminiscent of the old pineapple grenade, the gripping surface is both aggressive and comfortable. The surface is deeper cut than normal checkering, yet there’s enough rounding to keep it from snagging on clothing or collecting lint as some aggressive checkering patterns do.
The front sight is another departure from the norm that’s something of a blast from the past. There’s a bright brass bead centered in the modified Patridge front sight, and the rear sight is a U-notch with a ledged surface to allow one-handed cycling of the slide against a cornered object like a doorframe. While all guns are ultimately a sum of their parts, the Guncrafter guns are the sum of some very high quality parts.
There’s a bright brass bead centered in the modified Patridge front sight. That's a blast from the past.
The Frag has a forged frame and slide, and features a 5-inch match-grade barrel. The hammer, sear and disconnector are made from fully machined tool steel. The slide stop is fully machined from bar stock, and there’s a single side thumb safety and a generous beavertail grip safety with a big comfortable bump at the bottom.
The magazine well is beveled, and there’s a match trigger. The slide has generous cocking serrations and is flat topped with longitudinal grooves. It’s fully dehorned and the standard version has a black melonite finish.
True to the custom pistol mindset of Guncrafter, there are multiple options for sights, the magazine well, main spring housing, the finish and other options, as well as a 6-inch-long slide version. While my test gun was a .45, the Frag is also available in 9mm.
All this reflects a truly quality pistol, but for real perfection, everything must go together in harmony. Simply assembling quality parts will produce a quality pistol, but really exceptional guns have something that’s a bit more elusive. The Frag has no tricks or gadgets. There’s no ramped barrel, no extended guide rod, no trick spring system. What makes this gun special is the precision with which everything was fitted. When you disassemble the Frag, this becomes patently obvious.
Precision Fitting
With precision fitting parts there is no slop or play in the action. Author Photo
I disassemble 1911s by removing the recoil spring cap to release the tension on the recoil spring. To do this, you depress the cap and rotate the barrel bushing. On the Frag, you instantly notice there’s absolutely no slop in the bushing. It’s perfectly fitted to both the barrel and the slide. Once out, you feel just how precisely the slide fits and slides on the frame.
With the slide off, the barrel slides back into the slide to take it out, but there’s no looseness or slop at all. Everything is precision fit and as perfect on the inside where you can’t see it as it is on the outside where you can. Without all the tricks, it outperforms other guns with the modern tricks because it’s so perfectly fitted. True Guncrafter guns aren’t cheap, but this level of quality is what you pay for.
Shooting the Frag, the impression is that everything is solid 1911, yet remarkably butter smooth. One is reminded of this even when loading the pair of Wilson Combat magazines that come with the gun. Holding the slide in one hand and the frame in the other, there is no sense of movement. The gun feels monolithic, yet when the slide is operated, it moves as on a ball bearing motion system.
I shot several boxes of Winchester 1911 230-grain FMJs through the Frag without a hint of hiccup. I also ran a few rounds of several defensive hollow-point loads without problems. Of the two Guncrafter guns I’ve tested, this has been the case.
Rapid-fire shooting at 15 yards put this group in the A-zone. Author Photo
Deliberate two-handed shooting at 15 yards yielded a ragged hole that indicates my ability to hold. Shooting rapid fire at the same target’s chest A-zone produced a snug group that was slightly left of center. At 38 ounces, the Frag is neither a lightweight nor a heavy target gun, yet it seems perfectly tuned for the hardball Win 1911 round.
Recoil is easily manageable, the gun rises but the recoil is a push, not a snap. The subdued edges of the Frag checkering pattern provide a great gripping surface, but didn’t abrade my “old man hands” at all.
I generally prefer a rectangular notch rear sight, and there are several sight options available for the Frag, but the U-notch with the brass bead worked fine. When I tested the gun extensively, the sun was behind my back but I could clearly see the sharp corners of the front sight to line up with the top of the notch. The trigger isn’t overly light, but it feels light because it’s so crisp. It reminded me of the 41⁄2-pound trigger that graced my old M14 match rifle, breaking precisely and feeling the same every shot.
In summary, the Guncrafter Frag isn’t a gun that will be purchased on price, but a gun that will be purchased because the owner wants the best 1911 he can get. I know there may be higher quality 1911s being made, but I haven’t tested one yet that’s better built.
The U-notch rear sight with a ledged surface allows the gun to be cycled against another object. Author Photo
Guncrafter Frag Caliber: .45 ACP or 9mm Luger Capacity: 8 + 1 as tested Magazines: Two Wilson Combat Barrel: 5-in. match-grade Sights: U-notch rear with a cocking notch and semi-Patridge front with a brass bead insert Frame: Forged steel Slide: Forged steel with grooved, flat top Length: 83⁄8 in. Height: 6 in. Weight: 38 ozs. empty Options: Multiple options for sights, the magazine well and mainspring housing, the finish and other options, as well as a 6-in.-long slide version. SRP: $3,535 in 9mm, $3,285 in .45 ACP Website: guncrafterindustries.com
Have a hankering to chase varmints or knock out the bull's eye? Then Browning might have what you're looking for in two new variants of one of its popular X-Bolt Eclipse rifle.
Browning’s X-Bolt Eclipse rifle series has always offered shooters something a bit out of the ordinary.
Stocked in a light and hardy laminate, the rifles have been a perfect option for those who put their firearms through the wringer. But the stock also has the features to make it a precision shooter, in addition to being rugged.
The Utah gun designer has expanded the traditionally large-game focused X-Bolt variant, now offering options to those searching for a rifle perfect for smaller game or knocking out the X-ring off the firing line. Browning introduced the Eclipse Target and Varmint models this year, giving shooters all the advantages of the unique line, but in calibers perfect for competition and coyotes hunts.
The Eclipse Target is offered in two of the most popular competition calibers — the 6.5mm Creedmoor and .308 Winchester. While the Eclipse Varmint is set to mystify rock chucks and other critters, slinging .204 Ruger, .223 Remington and .22-250 Remington rounds.
The new rifles have many features those familiar with the X-Bolt and Eclipse lines will quickly recognize. But each also has some particular tweaks that tailor them to their task — mainly pertaining to their barrels.
Both of the new Eclipse variants are outfitted with target-crowned heavy bull barrels, offering shooters superior harmonics and heat dispersion, thus aiding in the accuracy inherent to their missions. The Target version, however, has a slightly heavier and more stable 28-inch barrel, while the Varmint model's 26-inch barrel should make it a more maneuverable firearm in the field.
The barrel differences, however, does not equate to a huge jump in weight, with only around a half-pound variance between the Target and Varmint models. Of course, given many varmint shooters take aim off a portable bench or tripod, this should not put a crimp in their style.
Browning’s new X-Bolt Eclipse rifles not only have the calibers tailored to their tasks, but also barrel lengths.
As far as the features common to the X-Bolt line, one that should win plenty of fans is the line's Feather Trigger. The company’s proprietary adjustable trigger allows shooters to modify pull weight to their preference or the task at hand. The triggers can be tuned from 3 to 5 pounds, giving them plenty of versatility on or off the bench.
The cut of the Eclipse's stock should also be an attraction for those searching for every advantage at the range in the field.
The most obvious attribute is its thumb-hole, which allows for a comfortable and natural grip on the rifle. But there are other features that have the potential to win favor. The stock also has a Monte Carlo cheek piece, helping with a firm weld and clear sight line. And the forend is wide and flat, adding to its stability when placed on a rest.
The rifles also come with the X-Bolt’s X-Lock scope mounting system. Browning touts the four-screw system as being a more stable optics platform, compare to the conventional two-screw systems.
Both the Eclipse Varmint and Eclipse Target have an MSRP of $1,069.99
Buying a gun and ammo is just the first small step. Perfecting your skills and nerve in a threatening situation is key to your safety. Concealed carry training will get you there.
To be properly prepared to defend yourself, you must be able to shoot fast and on-target under extreme stress. This is why regular practice and training is so important. Author Photo
While choosing and carrying an effective firearm is important, the time and effort you spend learning to properly operate that firearm will probably pay more dividends in effectiveness should you ever have to use it. To be effective, you must be completely comfortable with every aspect of putting your concealed carry gun to use.
You should be so familiar and comfortable that you can draw, shoot, clear malfunctions and reload without consciously thinking about what you’re doing. If you have to use conscious thought to accomplish these tasks, your ability to defend yourself is diminished, because as a concealed carry citizen, you only have the right to use deadly force when you literally fear for your life or the life of someone else, and fear almost always diminishes performance.
Even low pressure situations like competing in an organized shooting competition degrades the performance of most people. That stress level will be ratcheted up tenfold should your life be in danger. For the best performance, there’s no substitute for confidence, and regular practice generates that level of confidence while developing the motor skills necessary for performance under stress.
When you get in your car to drive to the grocery store, you know you have to step on the brake to allow the car to be shifted into drive. You don’t think about this process, it just happens as a conditioned response to achieve the goal of making the car go forward. When you first learned how to drive, you had to consciously think about the process of stepping on the brake before it could be shifted into drive. Most likely, you tried to shift into drive without applying the brake and had to correct the sequence. After enough repetitions, the act of stepping on the brake before shifting became a normal part of your driving routine—so much so that you weren’t even aware you were doing it.
Had you been sitting in an open Jeep during those first days of learning to drive, and been charged by an angry grizzly bear, there’s a strong chance you’d have tried to start the car and shift into drive without applying the brake. Early in your driving career, your mind related the brake to stopping, and with the charging bear, your objective would be to go. There’s a possibility the bear might have eaten you when you didn’t shift into drive because you simply forgot to press the brake. This illustrates why, as an armed citizen, you must practice until operating your gun comes as naturally as driving your car.
Take an intensive training course first and then follow it up with regular practice on the range for best results.
The best performance from humans always comes when we’re using non-verbal or operational thought. Verbal thought is when we work our way through a process using a mental checklist, such as mentally checking off the act of pressing the brake before putting a car into gear. New shooters must use a mental checklist in order to master the fundamentals. The sooner the new shooter shifts from mental-checklist thinking to conditioned-response thinking, the sooner that shooter will progress.
While it’s possible to shoot well using a mental checklist, it’s not possible to shoot well while shooting fast because our brains simply don’t run that fast when processing a mental checklist. Operational thinking allows you to group sets of actions into one thought command and allow fast response. Instead of thinking grip, stance, breath, sight picture, trigger press and follow through, in checklist thinking, operational thinking just processes the thought, “shoot.”
Eventually, by conditioning the shooter’s response patterns, the process for firing a shot becomes: sweep jacket back, grip pistol, bring weak hand close to body, draw pistol and bring it to horizontal, bring the pistol to eye level and reinforce grip with weak hand, extend pistol, align sights on target and fire if the threat continues.
Practice and developing conditioned responses allows grouping whole sets of actions into single responses, and this is why it’s so important to learn to do things the correct way and do them that way all the time.
Proper practice doesn’t just involve the act of firing the shot. You can be a dead accurate shooter and still be totally unprepared for defending yourself against a bad guy because being able to manipulate your gun up until the second you fire the shot is just as important as accuracy when you fire the shot. Gear manipulation is as important as shooting.
The acts of safe gun handling, accessing your gun, clearing a malfunction and going through the loading process are just as important as marksmanship. All these tasks must be ingrained into your process to the point they don’t require conscious thought, and this should be done with your carry gun or with a gun that’s operationally identical.
For this reason, practice for the concealed carry citizen should be done in the same way that a person would fight back in the event of an attack. There’s no doubt that simple shooting practice improves your shooting skills. Competition is even more likely to improve skills because it stresses accuracy, speed or both, and because it adds a level of stress and performance anxiety to the equation. The action shooting games also teach the shooter how to deal with problems like malfunctions and handling complicated decisions while under the duress of time constraints.
Developing Your Skills
Training should always be done with the gun and holster you plan to carry on a daily basis. Author Photos
An example of this is something my friend and former Federal Air Marshal, Chris Cerino, experienced during the History Channel TV show, Top Shot. Chris was shooting a double-action revolver and a round failed to fire. Chris has extensive training with semi-auto pistols and most of his training work is training military, law enforcement and civilians with semi-auto pistols. When the revolver failed to fire, Chris tried to tap-rack the gun.
A tap-rack is the procedure of tapping the base of the magazine to make sure it’s seated and racking the slide to chamber a fresh round. Tap-racking a revolver does nothing since there’s no magazine to seat in the butt of the grip and no slide to work.
When this happened, the show’s host, Colby Donaldson, saw it and asked him, “Chris, did you just tap-rack a revolver?” Of course, he had. Chris was so conditioned to tap-rack when a gun failed to fire that the conditioned response was to tap-rack the revolver, even though all he had to do with a revolver was pull the trigger again. On a TV show, this is a source of entertainment; in a life or death situation it could be deadly. A lot of training with equipment other than what you use can cause conditioned responses you don’t want.
Choosing a quality instructor or training facility can be difficult because everyone in the business is certain he’s ultimately qualified to share his vast knowledge. I once set up at a gun show with a group of young military looking guys on the next aisle. Their booth was back to back with my booth and it featured videos of shooting scenarios with them moving around in tactical clothing. The production quality of the videos was very good and these guys looked like young Navy SEAL Special Forces operators. If you’re in close proximity to me, conversation will ensue, and I was shocked to find these guys weren’t law enforcement, past military or even competitive shooters. They’d taken the NRA instructors classes for shotgun, rifle and pistol and were setting up shooting classes with absolutely no practical experience at all.
There are shooting instructors across the country who apply SWAT or military tactics to concealed-carry citizen situations and train citizens in these techniques. SWAT or military training simply doesn’t apply to an armed citizen. Citizens have no right to attack the bad guys. In no state I know can civilians use deadly force to detain, much less attack, a criminal.
Our odds of having a gunfight with multiple bad guys are similar to those of winning the Powerball lottery. Tactical training of this type might be fun, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that shooting at multiple targets from a speeding vehicle is suitable training for the concealed carry citizen, and I’d advise a wide berth from someone who tries to tell you otherwise. If you want to do Zombie training, that’s fine, but it doesn’t relate to concealed carry. In the Zombie apocalypse, I plan to carry my 3-gun rifle with a high-cap shotgun and a double-stack .45 for backup. That would be impractical for concealed carry to say the least.
There are two types of firearms training—episodic training and immersion training. You can become a proficient shooter on your own with episodic training, but only if you learn to shoot properly in the first place. This can be done through videos and text, provided you have the ability to analyze your own performance critically.
Many people simply don’t seem to have this ability, and as a result, they aren’t able to recognize their shortcomings and plateau at a point well below their potential. A better method is to train with a capable instructor who can critique your problems and help you correct them. Practicing on your own will accelerate your progress, provided you don’t fall back on your shortcomings when you’re not under the watchful eye of a good instructor.
Immersion training involves extended training over a full day or several days. This method will yield faster results, but unless you completely grasp the fundamentals and muscle memory involved, you’ll likely regress later. The best way is to begin with a period of immersion training and follow up with regular practice sessions and occasional episodes of training. Remember that many aspects of learning to shoot don’t need to involve live fire. Almost all national level shooting competitors dry fire and learn gear manipulation skills that don’t involve live rounds.
Concealed carry training should be done with the gun and holster or carry system you use every day. It should be done wearing the same kind of clothing you wear and be practiced both with winter and summer clothes. While it’s reasonable to say you can develop your own level of marksmanship and gun handling skills, I find this very rarely happens with most gun owners.
In reality, most people will progress much faster by spending time with a reputable trainer who shares a similar philosophy as they do. If you’re committed after study and consideration to daily carry with a small revolver, you’ll likely be frustrated with trying to learn with an instructor who advocates a full-sized, high-capacity semi-auto and considers anything less as lunacy. He may convince you to change; you certainly won’t convince him you’re plan is solid.
While the average armed citizen is better equipped to survive a violent crime than an unarmed citizen, a properly trained armed citizen is much more likely to perform well when it’s a matter of life or death. We can argue forever about what constitutes the best gun or caliber for concealed carry, but there’s simply no argument that a trained concealed carry citizen is far better equipped to deal with an adversary than an untrained one. Be sure you are among the trained.
This article appeared in the March 2015 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine. Click here to download the issue.
Though there is a focus on armed defense, fundamentals of security, evasion, barricading, and non-lethal defensive actions are also covered. Pincus stresses the importance of being safe and secure inside your own home, regardless of whether or not you choose to utilize a firearm for protection. Because this book is concept and principle based, the information provided can be practically applied to any home, apartment, or workplace, and any family size or budget. Get it here
The non-profit has one of 33 videos presently in contention for the people’s choice award in the Online Video category. And it is up against an eclectic collection of entries, including music videos, public service announcements, advertisements and short documentaries.
The NSSF’s video, straightforwardly titled Gun Crimes Plummet Even as Gun Sales Rise, was launched a little less than a year ago as bid to undo many misconceptions regarding firearms that have flourished recent times. In particular, it tackles the fallacy that more guns lead to more crime.
That canard has lingered for years in the media, politics and public at large, but as the video demonstrates is not grounded in fact. Drawing from a number of Federal and institutional studies, the video shows how the exact opposite has been the case over the past few decades.
Since the 1990s, gun ownership has grown quite steadily. At the same time, gun crime has plunged. The video's focus is mainly on this point, but also touches on other firearm trends. One of the more dramatic is the enormous drop in unintentional firearm fatalities the nation has seen in the past 80 years.
For many outside the firearms world, these statistics likely came as a shock, given they are not the popular narrative in some corners of the country. But like the video says at the end, “[P]erception is not always reality.”
Voting for the 36th Telly award is open until April 10. If you are interested in voting in the Telly Awards please go here.
Staying Safe
Learn from the best. Famed firearms instructor Massad Ayoob talks about proper firearms handling, storage and etiquette in this indispensable reference. Gun Safety in the Home is a must for first-time gun owners looking to learn the fundamentals and life-long firearms enthusiasts who are up for a refresher. Learn More
Author lectures on Stand Your Ground and Castle Doctrine issues at Gun Rights Policy Conference, September 2013, Houston.
Will an increase in justifiable homicides in states with Stand Your Ground (SYG) laws mean that more lives are being lost? Not so fast, says Massad Ayoob.
Historian Clayton Cramer noted that when Time magazine did a story on every death by gunfire for one week in America, and returned a year later to follow up on the outcomes, a significant number of those fatal shootings which had originally been implied to be criminal homicides turned out to be justified self-defense incidents.
Cramer cited one study in which justifiable homicides by armed citizens had increased three-fold – but so had justified officer-involved shootings in the same region. The change in law as it affected citizens certainly didn’t change anything from the police side. Cramer considers it logical to conclude that, within the studied population, violent activity by criminals warranting defensive use of deadly force had simply increased.
The recent Texas A&M University study on homicides as related to SYG laws notes, “This indicates that, in addition, we look at justifiable homicide, which is a separate classification available in the Supplemental Homicide Reports. One concern with these data is underreporting; Kleck (1988) estimates that only one-fifth of legally justified homicides are classified that way by police.”
Many shootings which previously had to go to trial to determine justifiability – at the expense of many tax dollars, and much human suffering by the wrongly accused and their families – are now simply found justifiable earlier. Far from being A Bad Thing, early determination of justifiability reduces the cost in public treasure and private trauma, and better serves Justice in both respects.
Will criminals kill people and get away with it by claiming self-defense? Obviously not, as witness the jury’s recent verdict in Texas v. Raul Rodriguez. Skilled prosecutors have been winning convictions against murderers who falsely claimed self-defense for as long as there have been murder trials.
One need look no farther than the 2012 conviction for murder of Raul Rodriguez, the Houston area man who went to a loud neighbor’s house with a video camera and a gun, and as the prosecutor told the jury in her opening statement, used every “CHL (Concealed Handgun License) buzzword” in an incident that escalated until he had shot three men, killing one. Despite his on-camera statements of “I am standing my ground” and “I am in fear of my life,” the Houston jury saw it as a malicious set-up. Mr. Rodriguez is now serving a long prison sentence.
Will the families of men killed in SYG self-defense shootings be denied civil justice because of the civil immunity clauses? No. A finding of self-defense at the hearing level means that justifiability has already been proven to a preponderance of evidence. Wrongful killings are exempt from immunity, a fact obvious to anyone who reads actual laws instead of newspaper headlines or the catch-phrases created by people with agendas.
Will SYG laws mean that cops will slough off investigations of homicides as soon as the shooter claims self-defense? No, and with 38 years of carrying a badge this speaker takes personal offense at that false allegation. “The death of a citizen” is a top-tier priority for law enforcement and the prosecutorial bar alike, and it is a gross insult to both to suggest that either entity would cut corners in the investigation of any homicide.
The conscientious police and prosecutors of America well know that their duty is as much to exonerate the innocent as to punish the guilty. The recent, thoroughly-considered changes in the law from Texas to Florida to other parts of the country simply reinforce the principles of justified use of lethal force for the protection of the innocent from violent criminal assaults, principles older than American jurisprudence itself.
The bottom line is simple: sometimes, criminals are so violent that there is no way to stop them but with deadly force. It happens for cops, it happens for security professionals, and it happens with armed citizens. It is good to see responsible entities of the legal profession presenting both sides of this matter to those trial advocates who will take these cases to court.
The Browning Cynergy Micro Midas is tailored for smaller-framed shooters.
Have a youth aiming to get into shotgunning or know a small-framed shooter in the market for a new gun? Browning might have the answer with the release of the Cynergy Micro Midas.
Browning’s Cynergy shotguns have gotten more than one heart racing in the world of smoothbores. And the company appears set to hook another generation on the unique looking firearm.
While the Utah gun designer’s new Cynergy Micro Midas isn’t exclusively aimed at youth shooters, it appears to have everything a fledgling shotgunner requires in a top-end over/under. This is particularly true when it comes to the gun’s bore.
As a 20-gauge, the shotgun should provide a more pleasant experience for shooters unaccustomed to a smoothbore’s kick. And given the line’s history of being among the daintiest on the market, the new model coming out in a lighter bore was perhaps even more important. Particularly since kick is more pronounce to lighter-framed shooters.
Even so, at 6-pounds in the 24-inch barreled model and just 2-onces more with a 26-inch barrel, the gun has the potential to have a bit of kiss after the trigger is pulled. The laws of physics will not be denied, after all.
The dimensions of Browning’s new smoothbore should do its part to make it a more agreeable shooter, as well as a more intuitive pointer. This is especially true when it comes to shotgun's 13-inch length of pull. The length is 1 1/4-inches shorter than the standard models, which should fit smaller shooters well.
This pull is not so long as to create awkward shouldering and the inaccuracy certain to follow. And not so short as to give the shotgun a chance to really belt the shooter with a nasty kick. This, however, isn't the only measurement that counts when it comes to the newest Cynergy.
At 41 3/4-inches in overall length — that is, with a 24-inch barrel — the Micro Midas should provide a balanced firearm for smaller shooters. And with a 1 5/8-inch drop at comb and 2-inch drop at heel, it also should be quick to draw a bead.
The gun maybe cut for youths, but it’s decked out to be a keeper. Stocked in Grade I and II black walnut, the striking and abrupt lines common to Cynergy shotguns pops. Not to mention, the dark rich wood really makes the silver nitride finish on the receiver glimmer.
The Micro Midas has a number of features common to the entire Cynergy line. These include the Monolock Hinge that gives the receiver its low profile, shell ejectors, Invector Plus flush fitting chokes and Browning’s Reverse Striker Mechanical Trigger.
This last feature should be especially handy in insuring follow-up shots for newer shooters. The trigger pull on the first shot sets the hammer for the second, instead of the gun having to rely on inertia to do the job.
The Cyergy Micro Midas has plenty to offer, however, it comes at a price. The shotgun presently has a $1,869 MSRP.
The long-range rifle is generally a bit heavier than its thin-barreled, “pencil-piped” cousin, mounts a stock that won’t warp or twist with humidity or rough field use, carries a well-designed and tuned trigger, and retains a bedding system for the action that makes use of milled aircraft aluminum or glass.
The barrels of these rifles are “twist-tuned,” meaning the rate of rifling twist down every inch of the barrel is matched to specific bullet weights, and the actions are better tuned (at least to some degree), to hold the cartridge case in alignment with the rifle’s chamber. These are key points in gaining good accuracy from a rifle, and, today, a plethora of over-the-counter rifles in their factory boxes, untouched and uncustomized, can produce some outstanding accuracy of a degree not often seen in those early years of long-range rifle production.
Remington’s 700 VTR, the most recent upgrade from Big Green.
As an example of just what even a very standard out-of-the-box rifle—one not specifically designed for long-range work—can do when married even to a lightweight cartridge, a hunt that made use of the.223 Remington LV comes to mind. This rifle, described by Remington as a Light Varmint (LV) model, mounts a fluted stainless steel barrel, a short-stroke 700 pillar bedded action, and a scaled-down synthetic varmint stock. It is drilled and tapped for mounting a scope (no iron sights).
Hunting in Colorado, well west of Denver and the Front Range of the Rockies, I was paired up with a group of scope manufacturers and bullet makers, all of us sitting hip deep in prairie dogs or, as I call them, “grass rats.” Using a heavy but portable benchrest that featured a fully adjustable fore-end rest with sand bags, I set up the light rifle for shots across a wide valley. Rick Payne, a Pentax optics sales supervisor, was acting as my spotter and ranging helper. Rick was well versed in the business of taking long-range pokes at grass rats and, as such, came back quickly with an exacting range of 587 yards to my first target.
What I’m not about to tell you is that I simply adjusted my sights and plunked off the fur ball on the far ridge. No, this was an exercise in artillery school shooting. As I shot several rounds, Rick spotted my impact points and returned information so that I could make the required sight adjustments and walk in the bullets to the unsuspecting critter. Start to finish it took three tries. With the third round downrange, a Hornady V-Max 55-grain pill, the prairie dog rolled off the mound, a small cloud of dust echoing the bullet impact.
To get to that third shot, I had adjusted my Pentax target scope to the second Mil dot and pushed about a dog’s body width away to the right of the animal. There was a slight crosswind of about five to seven miles an hour, and with that wind coupled with the high elevation and warm air, I knew my little .223 Remington load had more going for it up there than what would normally have been the case at sea level. Anyway, once I was there I was set. With the first kill confirmed by Rick, I simply moved to the right and promptly dusted off two rats back-to-back, not with the artillery school tries of the first, but rather with one-shot, dead-on hits.
Left: Ruger’s Hawkeye Varmint Target rifle replaced the old heavy-barreled M77 models.
In reality, the little lightweight, lower-tech “walking” rifle was taking on work designed for much heavier guns with much bigger cartridges. For the most part, the .223 Remington is designed for work to about 300 yards. However, in the hands of a shooter who knows the cartridge, or by way of a good second man spotter, this little varmint/military round can be pushed far.
Of course, not everyone wants to push a rifle into work it’s not really made for. For them, specialized rifles paired with cartridges for long-range shooting are available as both over-the-counter, factory-built guns or as customized offerings. Really, you have a buyer’s market out there, if you want to get into a dedicated long-range shooting rig.
Remington is just about king of the hill, when it comes to factory-packaged, long-range critter-control rigs. I shoot a pair of Model 700 Varmint Synthetic (VS) rifles. The first is in .22-250 Remington, while the second is chambered in .243 Winchester. These rifles are exactly the same, save for the caliber difference. They both use HS Precision varmint/target stocks that retain aluminum pillar bedding, have medium-weight varmint barrels, and good, crisp, gunsmith-tuned 2¾-pound triggers.
Both rifles mount Redfield bases and rings, one with a Weaver 4-16x, the other a Simmons 4.5-14x tubes, with sniper Mil dot elevation and windage correction indicators. Accuracy with both rifles is sub-MOA at 100 yards, with good handloads punching one rough hole in the paper.
Remington offers the Model 700 Sendero SF in the heavy .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge, which is very popular with our military snipers doing long-range work in Afghanistan and Iraq. This rifle is also offered in 7mm Remington Magnum and 7mm Remington Ultra Magnum. Move off that mark a bit and the Remington Model 700 VSF (Varmint Synthetic Fluted) can be obtained in the 7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Winchester) cartridge. It doesn’t stop there.
According to its website, Remington now has more than a dozen centerfire rifles dedicated to varmint and tactical long-range use, everything from the rather plain-Jane but highly accurate 700 SPS Tactical on up to the highly specialized SPS Tactical AAC-SD (designed to be used with an AAC or similarly threaded suppressor), and the super souped-up 700 Tactical Chassis.
Ruger continues to make its lovely single-shot No. 1 in a heavy-barrel varmint version.
Of course, Remington isn’t the only maker of long-range rifles. Take, for instance, Ruger’s Hawkeye Varmint Target Rifle. In cartridges ranging from .204 Ruger and .308 Win. to the increasingly popular 6.5 Creedmoor, Ruger’s VTR includes a very nice two-stage trigger that has a crisp let-off. This rifle also has a barrel that is stainless steel, hammer forged, and target crowned. Add the laminated wood stock and you have an accurate shooting platform for sending long-range pills across fields of prairie dogs or incoming coyotes.
I entered the long-range club via the Varmint Hunters Association years ago by way of a Ruger MK II chambered in .25-06 Remington. Shooting a handloaded 87-grain Speer TNT, I dusted off a grass rat at 527 yards with my first shot.
From the .22-250 Remington, .220 Swift, and .25-06 Remington through the .308 Winchester, this rifle can cover all the bases with the exception of the ultra long-range powerhouse offerings. In other words, if you want a solid 600-yard shooter or more, Ruger can get it done with the best of them.
Another excellent rifle on my list, and by no means the last, is the Savage Arms Model 12 Varmint. Here again, value for the dollar is right up front. Savage has designed accurate rifles that won’ t kill the budget. These rifles use the AccuTrigger, which can be adjusted from 1½ to three pounds in complete safety. The system uses a double release shoe that is failsafe, in terms of an unintentional discharge.
Savage’s Model 12 VLP DPM will chamber the heavy long-range cartridges such as the .300 WSM and the .308. Move to still other hard-hitting rounds and a half-dozen variations in the Target Rifle Series, and you can choose from 6 Norma BR or .308 in something like the Bench Rest model, the 6.5 Creedmoor in the Long Range Precision variant, or the .308 Palma in the Palma model.
These are some serious long-distance firearms. Savage is known to build some of the most accurate and modestly priced rifles on the market today. I have suggested these rifles to many beginning varmint/long-range shooters, with some very pleased shooters coming to the forefront after they give these rifles a try.
I could go on and on with brand names of relatively affordable, out-of-the-box rifles, but the fact is that today it is a buyer’s market out there and the competition for your business in the big rifle department seems to have no upper limit. Just a quick glance at the sheer number of rifles dedicated to varmint and long-range use on almost any big-name website will tell you that. Your biggest chore will be wading through all that’s out there and picking the one that suits your needs best.
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