The space-age LCR is Ruger’s latest revolver, one that’s a marvel in design and modern material. The letters LCR stands for “Lightweight Compact Revolver.”
Introduced in 2009, the polymer-framed (that’s plastic!) LCR is chambered in .38 Special +P, .357 Magnum, .22 LR, and .22 WMR.
It features a five-shot stainless steel cylinder in the two larger rounds, while the .22 LR is an eight-shot and the .22 WMR is a six-shot.
The stainless steel barrel is a short 1.875 inches, keeping with the compact theme, the LCR has fixed sights, and it’s available with rubber Hogue grips or Crimson Trace laser grips. The frame is finished in a matte black. The little LCR tips the scales at a whopping 13 ounces!
The LCR is unique in a number of ways. In a more conventional revolver design, the hammer and trigger assemblies are located in two separate housings (e.g. in single-action revolvers, a cylinder frame and a grip frame).
In a more conventional revolver design, the hammer assembly and the trigger assembly are located in two separate housings. In the case of the LCR, the hammer and trigger—the “fire control center”—are located in the same fire control housing.
In the case of the LCR, the hammer and trigger—the “fire control center,” as Ruger calls it—are located in the same housing (the fire control housing), eliminating the increase to the tolerance stack common in conventional revolver configurations and their separate housings.
By locating the entire assembly in one housing, Ruger gets a rigid, repeatable fire control system that requires no fitting or gunsmithing to achieve a best-in-class trigger pull.
True stories of everyday armed citizens taking action to defend themselves and others.
A gas station owner in Shelby, N.C., saw a man entering his gas station carrying a canister of pepper spray. The owner immediately drew his concealed carry handgun and pointed it at the would-be-robber, FOX Carolina reported. The robber turned tail and fled and was later apprehended by local police.
A husband and wife were spending a quiet evening at their home in Miami-Dade County, Fla., when they heard the sounds of a break-in. The husband secured his handgun and headed toward the noise, Local10NEWS.com reported, and discovered two men in his home. The husband fired, hitting one man; both home invaders ran from the scene. Police found the wounded man in a local emergency room.
An employee at Joe’s Used Cars, Amarillo, Texas, recently discovered a burglary in progress and held the alleged burglar at rifle-point until police arrived. According to the Amarillo Globe-News, “The employee told officers the dealership had been targeted by criminals several times over a period of weeks and employees had started staying at the business to guard the lot overnight. Authorities said the employee heard noise in the shop area of the business and took a semi-automatic rifle to investigate.”
A man holding a knife entered Mac’s Convenience Store in Rutland, Vt., and told store clerk Don Pitaniello to empty the cash register. Instead, Pitaniello, a Vietnam War veteran, drew his .380 concealed carry pistol. The man immediately left the store. Pitaniello told the Rutland Herald that he could very well lose his job—the store prohibits employees from carrying firearms. “That store has been robbed eight or nine times and I always work nights,” Pitaniello told the newspaper. “I’m a firm believer in having a gun and not needing it rather than the other way around. I can always find a new job.”
Colt sponsored shooter Mark Redl continued his fantastic season Aug. 16-17, winning the Custom Defensive Pistol Division at the New England Regional match.
Colt sponsored shooter Mark Redl has been on a roll this season and kept it going recently in Harvard, Mass.
Redl earned first place Aug. 17 in the Custom Defensive Pistol Division at the New England Regional IDPA Championship. Redl scored 277.82 match points in the CDP Master Class in the two-day match at the Harvard Sportsmen’s Club, with 82 points down.
This victory also increases Redl’s lead in his division for the 2014 King of New England title, which he looks to claim again after his victory in 2013.
“We are all very excited for Mark and another outstanding win,” Joyce Rubino, Vice President of Marketing for Colt’s Manufacturing Company said. “It is wonderful to see him continue to put in the hard work and get closer to achieving his goal of repeating his King of New England CDP Division title. Colt’s Manufacturing Company is also proud to have been a sponsor of this popular IDPA match.”
The King of New England series pulls scores from four stages, plus one alternate stage, at three of New England’s IDPA competitions. The four stages from the New England Regional Championship that count towards the King of New England rankings are stages one, three, six and seven, with stage 10 as the alternate.
Redl finished first in his division in three out of the four stages.
“This match was an extremely technical one, with very tight shots,” Redl said. “I relied on a Colt Combat Elite factory gun to navigate through each stage with precision and match-grade accuracy. I am ecstatic about the win and look forward to the final match in the King of New England series in October.”
The New England Regional Championship is the second match of the three-leg concurrent King of New England series. The first leg was the Massachusetts State Championship in June. The third and final leg is the New Hampshire Live Free or Die Blockbuster State Championship in October.
Up next for Team Colt’s Redl and Maggie Reese is the USPSA Area 8 Championship Aug. 28 – 31 in Fredericksburg, Va.
After a few years off the market, Ruger has re-released its Red Label over-under shotgun. And from initial reports, the New Hampshire-Arizona manufacturer has made all the right refinements.
Brad Fitzpatrick did a review for us on the shotgun and gave a fairly interesting perspective on the shotgun. He competed in college with the old model Red Label and while he liked that iteration, he was blown away with the smoothbore’s evolution.
In particular, Fitzpatrick found the redesigned Red Label a more forgiving shotgun with a much improved receiver. But our Gun Digest the Magazine scribe isn’t the only one to find the shotgun a winner.
Jeff Quinn over at GunBlast.com also found the stainless steel and walnut of the shotgun too much to resist.
Quinn admits, his forte is not over-under shotguns and that breaking clays is not his area of expertise. But he knows guns and knows what he likes in guns and he likes Ruger’s Red Label.
One aspect of the shotgun not mentioned in other reviews that Quinn points out in his, is the ease of the Red Label’s break. Opening the shotgun is effortless, a definite plus for anyone who’s had a double-barreled shotgun that requires two hands and sometimes a knee to reload.
Quinn gives an excellent rundown on what the Ruger Red Label is all about and the entire video is worth a gander. But be warned.
If you happen to have the shotguns MSRP of $1399 lying around, watching this review won’t do much in helping you save it for a rainy day.
In this Ruger SR-762 review, see why Ruger's piston-driven .308 is a standout in the crowded AR-10 platform market.
The Piston Driven Part
The SR-762 is capable of excellent accuracy with iron sights. These groups were shot from a bench at 50 yards using only the irons. Author Photo
The system runs cooler and cleaner than a gas one, and there are a number of serious AR fans who prefer piston systems to gas systems. Among them is Kyle Lange, a crack helicopter hog pilot from Texas (see page 64). Lange sees dozens of AR’s firing thousands of shots every week, and he believes that the piston system is the very best.
The SR-556 is a reliable, accurate rifle, and plenty of shooters understood why the gun cost a little more. On the heels of the success of the SR-556, Ruger has now introduced a bigger, beefier AR-10 version of the rifle, the SR-762. It’s chambered in 7.62×51 NATO (.308 Winchester), and it has the same type of high-performance piston-powered operating system you’ll find in its little brother, the SR-556.
The SR-762 is a hefty gun, but it’s not heavy by typical AR-10 standards; at 8.6 pounds, it’s still actually light enough and portable enough to be carried in the field. Furniture wise, the SR-762 has a telescoping M4 stock with 3.25 inches of adjustment and Ruger’s lightweight aluminum handguard that is comfortable and easy to grip and is drilled and tapped to accept additional accessory rails at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions.
The flattop receiver has a Picatinny rail that extends to the front of the handguard, so you’ve got more than enough space for mounting optics and other accessories. The flip-up combat sights are easy to adjust and are surprisingly accurate; at 50 yards from a fixed bench, the sights were dead-on and produced tight groups.
Ruger SR-762 Sights
The front sight is adjustable for elevation and has a square blade profile, and the rear aperture is windage adjustable. In addition, the rear sight has two different aperture sizes, a large one for close shooting, and a smaller peep for shooting at longer ranges.
Rotating the rear aperture allows the shooter to switch between aperture sizes, and both the front and rear sights fold down and lock securely in place if you opt for a different sighting system.
When you need the irons, simply pressing a button raises them and you’re ready to fire. The sights are biased toward battle, and the flat-topped front sight isn’t designed for precision shooting.
No matter, you’ve got about a mile of Picatinny rail to mount whatever sighting system you’d like, and the sights will serve as backup for close-range work. From a fixed rest, the iron sights were plenty accurate. During the course of the test, the piston system didn’t need adjustment, and it fired Winchester Razorback XT ammo without a hitch.
The real beauty of the piston system is the ability to adjust the piston to match your desired load. If you’re shooting suppressed and you choose to shut the system off that’s easy to do as well.
Ruger SR-762 Maintenance
The piston system is also extremely easy to maintain, and cleaning the rifle primarily consists of wiping down the internal parts without the need for hard scrubbing or heavy solvents. The bolt and bolt carrier are chromed, so the SR-762 is an easy gun to keep in working order.
The rifle sports a 16.12-inch fluted barrel that is cold hammer forged and chrome lined, topped with a flash suppressor with 5/8-inch 24 threads. If you’ve got a suppressor and you want to tone down the SR-762’s impressive bark, you can simply remove the flash suppressor, install your suppressor and turn off the piston system.
Each SR-762 rifle comes with a zippered carrying case that unfolds into a fine shooting mat and has three pouches that house 20-round magazines and a trio of rail covers. Overall, I was impressed by the SR-762. I think Ruger made a rather unexpected move by utilizing a piston system and pricing their guns higher than most of the competition.
Shooting the SR-762
The Ruger SR-762’s piston system is easily adjustable and can be customized to match different loads. Author Photo
But there’s a reason that the gun costs a bit more because of that piston system, which the more I shot, the more I really liked. Accuracy was pretty good with the iron sights, and I spent quite a bit of time firing the rifle at different ranges and from a variety of shooting positions.
No matter how I positioned myself, I never felt uncomfortable shooting the rifle. I am a big fan of the soft Hogue Monogrip, which is comfortable and offers a secure grip on the rifle, which also helped in maintaining the rifle’s comfortable impression.
Admittedly, the trigger wasn’t exactly the best, breaking at roughly six pounds, a bit stout for my preference. That was about the only negative I could find, because otherwise this is an extremely nice shooting and carrying rifle.
Despite the uninspiring trigger, the SR-762 is a solid choice for a tactical rifle. I think that the handguard, stock and pistol grip are all well thought out (and if you disagree you can swap them out; this is, after all, an AR rifle).
The sights are pretty good, and the rifle has a lot of nice features like the removable flash hider and the chrome-lined bolt.
To me, however, the functional and effective piston system is what sets this rifle apart. It runs clean, and it can put up with some serious punishment.
Is it worth the money? That is hard to say. It is, however, a functional and effective piston-powered AR-10 platform rifle that is worthy of the Ruger name.
This article is an excerpt from the July 17, 2014 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Sightmark's new Ultra Shot M-Spec Reflex Sight promises to be a rugged addition to any firearm.
Reflex sights continue to grow in popularity for a simple reason, they work. And Sightmark's new reflex sight looks to have all the bells and whistles shooters are looking for in the handy optic.
Reflex sights have grown in popularity over the recent years. There is a logical reason for the the expansion of the optics’ acclaim – they work.
The biggest advantage of such sights is they encourage shooting with both eyes open. In turn, reflex sights have shown they produce faster target accusation and more accurate shooting, even by beginning shooters.
Sightmark have given shooters hunting for the optic another choice with the Texas manufacturer expanding their catalog of reflex sights. The company is now selling its Ultra Shot M-Spec Reflex Sight, a sight solution that looks to come with all the bells and whistles, but without the typically hefty price tag.
The Ultra Shot M-Spec appears to have a number of features aim for in a reflex sight, but one of its big selling points is its digital switch controls. The controls allow for a vast amount of adjustment on the sight to match whatever light conditions are present with six variable brightness levels for daytime use and six settings in night vision mode.
With 1x magnification, the sight is perfect for close-range work. This is enhanced with its 65 MOC outer circle, which helps for quick target acquisition. The sight, however, is set up to do some long-distance work, with its 2 MOA central dot small enough to aid a shooter who needs to reach out.
Ultra Shot M-Spec Reflex Sight allows for a vast amount of adjustment on the sight to match whatever light conditions are present with six variable brightness levels for daytime use and six settings in night vision mode.
The Ultra Shot M-Spec isn’t just on target when it comes to drawing a bead, but also has the features that make it rugged. The optic is housed in a magnesium-alloy body that is water resistant up to 40 feet and has been tested to handle the recoil of a .50 caliber rifle.
The optic is outfitted with an intuitive quick release throw lever, which makes attaching it to a firearm literally a momentary task. The device is compatible with both Weaver mounts and Picatinny rails, making it a snap to add to almost any modern firearm.
The Ultra Shot M-Spec stays in the fight with minimal energy usage. The optic operates off a single CR2 3V battery, which runs 90-1000 hours, depending on usage. It is also a relatively light unit to add to a firearm, weighting in at a svelte 8 ounces.
Sightmark has made getting into the Ultra Shot M-Spec fairly easy. The optic has an MSRP of $239.99, making it quite a cheaper option than most reflex sights on the market.
For many years, the .30-30 was the most popular cartridge in North America. In part, this acclaim grew due to the cartridge's usefulness in deer hunting.
Introduced to the public in 1895 and mated up with the Winchester Model 94 lever action rifle, this duo was the most popular rifle and cartridge in North America for a long time. They are both still quite popular today.
The Model 94 was the first commercial rifle specifically developed for use with smokeless powder. Last count I had, more than 7.5 million had been produced and sold, the vast majority of which were chambered for the .30-30.
Other manufacturers have also manufactured rifles chambered for the cartridge. Two other lever action rifles, ones made by Marlin and the Savage Model 99 were available in .30-30. Mossberg also made a few lever action models for the cartridge.
Some single shot rifles have also been available in .30-30, most notably those made by Thompson-Center, and I believe that I've seen a Stevens and Savage single shot rifle so chambered.
Very few bolt-action rifles have been made for the .30-30 as the cartridge uses a rimmed case which is generally unsuited for bolt actions. A few did make their way to market though.
Early on, Winchester chambered its Model 54 bolt-action rifle for the .30-30, but it did poorly in the marketplace. Stevens and Savage produced a bolt-action model or two for the cartridge and the Remington Model 788 was also available for the .30-30.
The cartridge got its name from the fact that it had a bullet diameter of 30 caliber, and its original loading used 30 grains of smokeless powder. Although it has been factory loaded for an assortment of bullet weights from 110 grain to 170 grains, plus an assortment of cast bullet weights are available for it, the 150-grain and 170-grain factory loads are the most popular.
Until the introduction by Hornady of the Leverevolution bullet, all bullets intended for the cartridge were either flat-nosed or round-nosed in design and construction. This was caused by safety concerns with the tubular magazines of the Winchester and Marlin lever action rifles.
Like so many American cartridges, the .30-30 has a somewhat confusing name. The .30 connotes the cartridge is a 30 caliber, the other 30, however, is less intuitive. It comes from the cartridges original loading using 30 grains of smokeless powder
It has been a very popular round for deer hunting in the eastern US, and equally popular in the western US as a saddle gun/pickup truck gun. Lever action Winchester model 92s and 94s were popularized in Hollywood western movies, which, I suspect, had much to do with its overwhelming acceptance. The compactness, lightweight, and very modest recoil, of most rifles chambered for the .30-30 also had a great deal to do with its popularity.
Even though the cartridge is loaded to modest velocities, these days the 150 grain around 2,400 fps, the 160 grain around 2,300 fps, and the 170 grain at 2,200 fps, it is perfectly adequate for moderate range hunting for animals the size of deer and black bear.
I would estimate that Canadian hunters have taken a ton of moose and caribou with it. It is difficult to make a satisfactory argument with success, although I wouldn't personally take one on a moose hunt unless it was all that I had. There are better choices.
I have two friends of mine that have Thompson Center handguns chambered for the .30-30, and they are superbly accurate. They use handloaded ammunition with pointed boat-tail bullets in their single shot TCs, and they are as scary accurate as any rifle I've come across, and more so than most.
One of these days when I have nothing better to do and a few extra bucks in my pocket, I'll pick up a TC Contender rifle chambered for the .30-30 just to see how well I can make it shoot. I'd almost bet that groups in the .2s are achievable. It'll be fun to find out.
I don't have a lot of experience with TC rifles, having owned but one, but the seem to be exceptionally accurate. The two that my friends own chambered for the .30-30, and my rifle chambered for the .338 Federal, are all capable of teeny tiny groups.
There are reasons why autoloaders are more popular than revolvers today. However, many fail to maximize semi-auto handgun performance by overlooking firepower and shootability.
While double-action revolvers still offer certain advantages in some tactical situations, law enforcement has followed the military into virtually total reliance upon the semi-automatic pistol as a sidearm.
However, many users don’t gain the full tactical potential these modern handguns offer. Let’s examine a few different areas.
Firepower
Some purists like to say that firepower is an element that doesn’t kick in until the discussion reaches the level of squad automatic weapons. I beg to differ.
Firepower has been an advantage in any sort of human combat since the first two tribes of Cro-Magnons started throwing rocks at each other and figured out that whoever threw the most rocks fastest and straightest generally won. Unfortunately, many people who discuss firepower miss a word in that last sentence: straightest.
There are two components to handgun firepower: cartridge capacity when fully loaded, and reloading speed. It takes three six-shooters to equal the in-gun firepower of a Glock 17 pistol loaded to its full designed capacity of 18 9mm Luger cartridges.
That’s why the semi-auto, usually with double column magazine, is what you’ll likely find in the holster of your friendly neighborhood policeman, and why you may have to go to a police museum to find an example of the old .38 Police Special. Moreover, in a sustained firefight, a reload may become necessary with any firearm.
It takes a five-shot and a six-shot .38 snub to equal the 11 rounds of 9mm held in the Glock 26, shown at right with Tactical Advantage sights. Author Photo
World Champion Jerry Miculek is on record firing six shots from his.45 revolver, reloading with a moon clip, and firing six more in an incredible 2.99 seconds overall. There is only one Jerry Miculek. Most folks take longer to recharge a wheel gun.
The single most popular revolver speedloader, the HKS brand, originally was advertised as the “Six Second Loader.” When you look at how long it takes to reload a revolver one cartridge at a time from cartridge loops or belt pouches, a six-second reload was indeed a major selling point, and that’s not a bad time for the average shooter to recharge his six-gun.
By contrast, a committed shooter can quickly learn to perform a two-second reload with a semi-automatic pistol. The spent magazine is ejected by the firing hand at the same time the support hand snatches a pre-loaded fresh magazine from the belt pouch, brings it to the pistol and slams it home. The slide is closed on the next live round, and the shooter is quickly back in business.
Maximizing Firepower
If you lawfully carry a gun, for heaven’s sake, carry spare ammunition. A spare magazine on the belt takes up less belt space than a six-loop slide of spare revolver cartridges, and bulges less than a single revolver speedloader in most comparisons.
A popular theme in gun forums when concealed carry is under discussion is, “Do you carry spare ammo?” There are always a few people who post, “Why should I? I’ve already got 16 rounds of 9mm in my Glock 19! When would I ever need more than that?”
To answer that question, since there’s no central repository gathering statistics from shootouts involving law-abiding armed citizens, we have to look at the police departments that keep track of such incidents involving their own officers.
True, the average guy with a CCW isn’t a cop, but he’s carrying that gun to protect himself and his family from the exact same bad guys the cops carry guns to protect us from. Seen in that light, the gun-carrying private citizen stands in the same shoes as the lone officer.
In the last statistics I was able to find from the NYPD and LAPD, three percent of the officers involved in gunfights in The Big Apple needed more than 16 shots to finish the fight, and five percent of the cops in shootouts in the City of Angels went past 16 rounds, too.
Three percent and five percent, respectively, doesn’t sound like a lot, until you ask yourself whether you’d turn down a raise in pay of that amount or extending your lifespan by three percent or five percent.
We can’t base our choices on averages because the very fact that you need to fire a gun to survive means that you’re already in a statistically improbable situation. There’s no such thing as a “statistically average aberration of the statistics.” Better to prepare for the worst.
Another reason to take advantage of the convenience and speed of a spare magazine on your person is that a huge number of auto pistol malfunctions involve a defective cartridge or a damaged magazine.
With many such stoppages, the quickest fix is to simply dump the bad magazine with the bad ammo, reload and start over. Thus, a spare magazine is the best, fastest fix for a jammed gun in many cases.
It’s important to remember that a substantial cartridge capacity doesn’t need to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. “Spray and pray” is an irresponsible strategy. We want to shoot our autos as we would a revolver that simply had a larger ammunition reservoir attached, just in case we needed more rounds
The Austrian-made pistols have become icons to a certain segment of the handgun world; for good reason. It is fair to say, the forward-looking company was one of the main movers in popularizing polymer frames on pistols, as well as the striker-fired system.
Glock has been so ahead of the curve, it is easy to forget the company has been producing pistols since 1982. Truly, that’s enough time for the company’s handguns to build a pretty dedicated following. And it has.
To be sure, the main thing that gets Glock fans’ hearts a thumping are the pistols themselves. But for those who can’t get enough Glock, there is some swag they can hunt after to compliment their handguns.
Some of the coolest out there and most obtainable, with patients, are early reviews of Glocks. The video above from Gun Websites documents the first review of the company's pistol in an American publication.
The article ran in the October 1984 edition of Solider of Fortune and was written by Peter Kokalis. As the video points out, Kokalis traveled to Austria to get a first-hand look at the European pistol and was blown away by the company's first gun – the Glock 17. The review turned out to be highly positive, helping lay the groundwork for the pistol's dominance in the American market.
The other interesting point the video touches on in regard to Kokalis' article is why Glock did not enter the race to replace the M1911 as the U.S. Military's sidearm in the 1983 trials. To get the skinny on that part of Glock's history, however, you'll have to watch the video proper.
For Glock fans out there, early reviews – especially the very first one – are a pretty cool additions to a collection. And they are certainly a reason to keep eyes peeled for more than just firearms at a gun show.
Press-mounted bullet pullers, such as this one from RCBS, make disassemble of a cartridge a snap. If done correctly, nearly all the cartridge's elements are salvageable. Photo courtesy Massaro Media Group and JNJphotographics.
To err is human, and that goes for precision-minded folks like reloaders, too. However, when things go awry at the reloading bench there are ways to rectify the situation.
We’ve all done it. A bullet gets seated way too deep. You forgot to put powder in the case. You look at your cartridge and don’t see a primer. Or maybe while trying to get the roll crimp just right, you accidentally crush a cartridge neck.
Now what?
Well, there a couple methods for disassembling ammunition that are completely safe, and that you can often reuse the components after. They are divided into two types: the inertia hammer, and the collet-style bullet puller. I’d recommend that sooner or later you own one, if not both.
The inertia hammer is the simplest method, and very reliable. It looks like a hammer, with a head made of high impact plastic, which has a threaded cap at the rear end. They usually come with three collets that are designed to hold the various rim shapes and diameters of the most popular cartridges.
The use of this tool is simple and rather stress-relieving. You insert the cartridge into the appropriate collet, screw on the threaded cap, and beat the snot out of that mother against a block of wood until the abrupt stopping of the hammer forces the bullet out of the case.
One of the drawbacks to this method that I have found is that the inertia of the bullet coming free of the case can damage the meplat of the bullet. If this happens, the bullet can be used for practice or for rough sighting-in. I often place a small piece of foam rubber at the far end of the hammer to minimize bullet damage.
The other drawback is that once that bullet escapes to freedom, the powder will spill throughout the chamber of the inertia hammer. Be careful cleaning it up, as nobody needs powder all over the floor!
The other tool, which I am a huge fan of, is the press mounted bullet puller. My RCBS model is a simple and effective little rig, having an all purpose, reloading die shaped body, threaded screw cap and caliber specific collets that grab hold of the bullet.
Here’s the skinny: The collet is loosely threaded into the cap, and the press’ ram is raised, securing the bullet into the collet. Next the cap is tightened, to really grab the bullet firmly, and on the down stroke of the ram, the case is pulled away from the bullet.
Most of the time, if you did it right, the bullet is completely intact and can be reused as if it were new. Powder can be dumped out, case inspected (and resized if necessary), and you can start all over again. Done! It’s like it never happened.
Removing a stuck case is a two part process. First, the case's flash hole and web is drilled out. Then a hardened steel screw is placed in the hole, such as above, to extract the case. Photo courtesy Massaro Media Group and JNJphotographics.
How many of you have ever stuck a case in a resizing die? C’mon, admit it; you’ve all done it at least once. Whether you failed to lubricate the case enough (the usual culprit) or the die is gummed up enough to make it stick, when you try to extract the case from the resizing die and you rip off the rim, odds are you have become an angry human being.
My first episode with this issue was with a nickel coated .375H&H case. I tore the die up so bad trying to get that case out that it was no longer useable. Silly man, I wish I’d know about the stuck case remover earlier. This gem can save your reloading session. The only piece of gear you’ll need to provide is the drill.
When the case is stuck, simply remove the resizing die from the press, chuck the drill bit provided into the drill, and drill a hole through the flash hole and web of the case. The specific tap then threads the hole you’ve drilled, and the hardened steel screw is used with an Allen key to back that stuck case out of the resizing die.
Voila! One little caveat: Before drilling the hole, back the expander ball and decapping pin out as far as you can to avoid damaging it with the drill bit.
There you have it. Problems can be solved without abandoning the reloading session and reaching for the bourbon bottle. MacGyver would be jealous.
For the best handgun tactics in a gunfight, use cover – just don’t hug it too close.
I’m from a generation that didn’t hug much. Between guys an iron handshake, an upper-arm grasp and a shoulder bump was about as far as it went. Now, hugs supposedly lower your blood pressure, increase your sense of well-being and foster good relationships. But there is one thing you don’t want to hug and that is your cover in a gunfight.
Keep in mind that the most likely armed encounter you’ll face is three shots against a single adversary at close range. Even so, it is important to understand the tactical use of cover if you have to deal with an active shooter, a bump-in-the-night or multiple armed adversaries.
Cover is something that will stop a bullet. Concealment is something that hides you from observation. All cover is concealment but not much concealment is cover.
If you have time to take cover when you present your weapon and issue your verbal commands it can provide an increased sense of control and get your head back into the fundamentals of grip, sight picture and trigger press.
One of the mistakes rookies often make in tactical live-fire exercises is that they “crowd their cover,” which means they get too close to it for maximum tactical advantage. Think about being close to cover, but not glued to it. Here are the reasons:
1. You will have better view of the total surroundings if you are back from your cover. 2. Tactical movement is easier if you are on your feet and able to scoot. 3. Being right next to your cover exposes you to ricocheting bullets.
In a gunfight, you want to be able to peek around the edge of your cover and deliver aimed fire with most of your body protected by the cover. Being too close can hinder that and make you vulnerable. For example, if you lead with the gun as you peek around a corner the handgun is easy for your adversary to grab.
Better to be back about ten feet from the corner and move laterally in short side-steps with your gun in high-ready to expand your view a little bit at a time. At the PD we call this “slicing the pie.”
The point is to clear progressive segments of the threat zone with as little personal exposure as possible.
Remember that when the lethal threat stops, so must your lethal response. Getting close to cover, but not crowding it could give you the tactical advantage you need to avoid shooting at all.
But the most important thing is that if you have to shoot, doing so from cover can help you prevail — so you can return home safely to your family … and give them a great big hug.
Blaser's new Ladies F3 boasts all the features of earlier iterations of the popular shotgun, but in a package tailored for women.
For more than a decade, Blaser has seen its F3 shotgun line soar in popularity. And its favor with smoothbore fans continues to grow with the introduction of a lady's model.
It’s fair to say that for the better part of Blaser’s existence it’s filled a unique place in the firearms world.
The German manufacturer built its reputation in Europe and beyond producing versatile over-under rifle/shotguns. The company then expanded to equally as niche single-shot rifles.
Blaser, however, has come light years from its namesake’s – Horst Blaser – original visions. While the gun maker still produces its renowned original guns, it’s expanded its catalog to included highly touted bolt-action rifles and much celebrated over-under shotguns.
The latter, the Blaser F3 shotgun, has been among the company’s most popular lines. It has grown since its introduction in 2003 to fill nearly every role in the realm of smoothbores.
And the line continues to find new shooters, with the release of the Ladies F3 model this summer. The shotgun is outfitted with all the design refinements that made previous iterations popular, but is made to conform to a woman’s frame.
The biggest asset the competition over-under shotgun has in adapting to its shooter is its adjustable butt stock.
The Ladies F3 boasts an adjustable comb, with both the drop and cast modifiable for a tight cheek weld and intuitive point. Its pad can be tweaked in drop, cast and pitch, for a comfortable and solid mount, no matter how long a lady is at the range.
Finally, the over-under shotgun’s length of pull can be adjusted from 13 ½ inches to 14 5/8 inches.
Like earlier editions of the F3, the model’s balance can also be adjusted. This is done through a weight system – Blaser Balancer – in the stock and forend. This allows the shotgun to be modified to enhance any shooter’s style, whether they swing through on their clays, have a maintained lead or what have you.
The Ladies F3 is outfitted with the same trigger as earlier models, which is a big selling point on the gun. The trigger break is crisp and clean at 1,500 grams with an extremely short travel.
The barrel selector is thoughtfully situated just in front of the trigger. The purely mechanical, selective single trigger function is independent from recoil. And it has a lightning fast lock time, between 16 and 18 millionths of a second.
The shotgun features Blaser’s IBS anti-doubling system to prevent fan firing. And it is outfitted with the company’s EBS ejecting system. The system activates when the gun is fired and cocks the ejecting spring when the gun is opened, keeping resistance to a minimum.
Blaser didn’t turn its back on the safety features it has always made a priority. The new F3 has the same mechanical safety common to the line, with a thumb control engaging a safety that both blocks the trigger and sears.
The shotgun also comes standard with Briley Extended Spectrum Choke Tubes and key. The firearm has a number of other aesthetic and functional features that for the sake of brevity aren’t listed here.
While the Ladies F3 won’t break the bank when it comes to competition shotguns, Blaser isn’t exactly giving its German engineering away. The MSRP for the new over-under shotgun is $7,995.
When it comes to defending home and hearth, there are many options.
For one Southern California retail chain, there has been one type of firearm that has won favor when it comes to personal protection.
“Home defense shotguns are our biggest sellers in the gun department, year round,” said Mike Etienne, merchandise manager for the 16 stores in the Turner’s Outdoorsman chain.
As for the top selling brand?
“Any flavor sells fast—Mossbergs and Remingtons at the top, then probably Benelli,” he said.
This past fall saw a surge in entry-level big game hunters, and they bought up Howa and Savage rifles in the $450 price range and under. Favorite calibers for those cutting their teeth on big-game hunting were .308 Win and .30-06 Sprg.
And there has been a notable trend when it comes to optics in recent years.
“By far, our most popular optics are red-dot models, mainly bought by the people who purchased the many, many black rifles we sold over the last 18 to 24 months,” Etienne notes.
Keeping to the tactical theme, the next most popular optics are the 1-4x tactical scopes. Leupold models, Bushnell scopes with illuminated reticles and the Nikon 1-4 options with BDC reticles are top sellers.
This brief originally appeared in the February edition of Gun Digest the Magazine.
TriStar Arms new Raptor Youth 20-gauge, semi-automatic shotgun. This model boasts Muddy Girl camouflage.
TriStar has expanded its Raptor line with a new youth shotgun, a 20-gauge just right for new shooters to cut their teeth.
It’s been a busy year for TriStar Arms, when it comes to its Raptor shotguns. Every time you turn around, it seems like there is a new model being added to the line.
The impressive growth of the Turkish-made semi-automatic shotguns suggests the firearms are making inroads with smoothbore fans. And TriStar is not resting on its laurels, with its most recent Raptor model tailored for the newest shooters.
The Missouri-based importer recently released a youth model of the Raptor, giving newbies what appears to be a solid gun of which to cut their teeth.
The Raptor Youth has a number of features that lends it to beginning shooters, but perhaps the most important is its bore. The shotgun is a 20-gauge, a sensible bore to learn on, given it has less recoil than the ever-popular 12-gauge.
Learning to deal with recoil is something every shooter runs up again. But the lighter kicking 20-gauge makes it less likely a youth will become intimidated when being introduced to shooting sports.
The gauge also keeps the gun a practical choice. While not ideal for shooting clays or some game, there are few tasks a 20 bore can’t tackle. TriStar has further expanded the shotgun’s usefulness by adding a 3-inch chamber, allowing shooters to use both light and heavy loads.
The Raptor Youth has a cool factor to it, as well. The 20-gauge is available with Muddy Girl camouflage and a version featuring the Vista Next Micro Print pattern.
The Raptor Youth boasts a 24-inch barrel that is outfitted with an intuitive sighting system. The shotgun has a matted sight plane, with a fiber-optic sight, making drawing a bead a snap.
The smooth bore is a gas-operated semi-automatic with a five-round magazine. And it has a chrome-lined chamber to ensure a long life and smooth feeding.
The gun is designed to be manageable in the field, weighing in at 6.1 pounds. It also comes with a number of accessories, including: three choke tubes (IC, M, F), shot plug and barrel swivel studs.
The gun is also priced right to get young shooters behind the trigger. The MSRP of Raptor Youth camouflage is $489.00 while the 20-gauge Raptor Youth Muddy Girl pattern is $459.00.
Over the past 100 years, the .45 ACP has become one of the most iconic American pistol cartridges every devised.
The .45 ACP cartridge was a development of necessity. It was designed in 1904 by one of our most prolific firearms geniuses, the brilliant John Moses Browning, to be used in his newly designed Colt semi-automatic pistol.
At the time of the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines, the US Cavalry there was armed with double action handguns chambered for both the .45 Colt and .38 Long Colt cartridges, and the .30-40 Krag rifle. The Moro insurgents proved to be a formidable opponent. Both the .38 Long Colt and the .30-40 Krag cartridges proved to be largely deficient in stopping the Moro warriors effectively.
Largely as a result of the Philippine experience and the results of the Thompson-LaGarde testing of 1904, the US Army and the US Cavalry decided that a minimum of .45 caliber would be required for any new military handgun.
At the time, Colt and John Browning were working on a .41 caliber cartridge for Browning's newly designed pistol. They then modified both the pistol and cartridge resulting in the Model 1905 pistol and the new .45 ACP cartridge.
After considerable experimentation involving several different government departments and other involved American companies, they settled on a load consisting of a 230-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 850 fps.
In 1906, the army decided to conduct a series of tests to determine the best pistol to be adopted as the military's new sidearm, and invited the firearms industry to submit their example to be tested. Models from three manufacturers made it through the first series of tests, Colt, DWM, and Savage. One company, DWM, even though they had made the cut in the first round, withdrew, leaving a shoot-off (no pun intended) between Colt and Savage for the gold medal.
The second trial was held in 1910, with the Browning designed Colt handily coming out on top. It was then adopted as the Model 1911, now an icon among handguns. From that time until 1985, the 1911, and the modification of it, the 1911 A1, chambered for the .45 ACP, was the standard firearm of the US military, a very long time, attesting to the success of the handgun for military applications. It was eventually replaced by the Beretta M9 9mm, although some units retained the 1911A1 as their primary sidearm.
As a youngster, surplus 1911A1s were common items in gun shops, pawnshops and at gun shows. They were not very expensive and surplus .45ACP ammo was plentiful and cheap. The first one I can remember that came my way in a trade was a surplus 1911A1 that someone had chrome plated and fitted with simulated stag grips.
The 1911 pistol is one of the main reasons why the .45 ACP grew in popularity. After 74 years of service as the U.S. Military's sidearm, the pistol and its cartridge more than proved they were battle ready.
I got the pistol and 100 rounds of surplus military ammo for something like $25.00. That would have been in the late 1950s I believe. At the time, I thought the combination was the cat's meow. In retrospect, it was pretty hideous although it shot well and would have served its purpose admirably if needed.
The ballistics of the .45 ACP is pretty anemic by today's standards. Even though the standard military load of a 230-grain FMJ bullet at 830 fps is, by most assessments, formidable, ammo manufacturers are continually tinkering with the round.
The SAAMI max pressure is set at 21,000 psi. Higher and higher velocities seems to be the holy grail of loading ammo these days, and consequently, SAAMI approved a pressure increase to 23,000 psi for .45 ACP +P ammo. Why, I can't say.
For home defense and self defense purposes, it has done very nicely without the increased pressure. It seems to me that the increased pressure and therefore velocity, is a solution to a nonexistent problem.
Added to that opinion, there is a downside to adding pressure to the cartridge. While the standard military .45 ACP cartridge, fired in a Colt 1911A1 or one of the many, many equivalent clones, is by no means a horrifically recoiling combination, it does require training to master. Add to the recoil, and one must also add to the training.
The most common complaint that I heard during my military career when on the pistol range with the 1911A1 firing standard ball ammo, was that it kicked too hard.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
