In the stress of a gunfight, sympathetic muscle response can cause you to unintentionally fire your weapon. Here’s how to avoid it.
Firearms trainers are always warning you to keep your trigger finger “indexed” along the frame of the gun until you have something to shoot — that is, keep it out of the trigger guard.
There are many reasons for this but the dangers posed by sympathetic muscle response rank high on the list.
Sympathetic muscle response occurs when the muscles of the hand contract involuntarily to an environmental stimulus that causes the major muscle groups to contract. If you have your gun out in response to a threat this might happen if you tripped, or were startled, or had to duck a close strike with a weapon.
Under those circumstances, if your major muscle groups contracted and you had your trigger finger inside the trigger guard (and safety “off” if a semi-auto) or a revolver (no safety) there is a good chance you will fire the gun whether you intend to or not. The trigger finger pulls the trigger “in sympathy” with the other muscles that are contracting.
Remember, you are legally responsible for where every bullet ends up whether you intended to put it there or not.
In your shooting drills, always keep the trigger finger outside the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot. If confronted with a threat you should still keep your trigger finger indexed until you run out of de-escalation options.
Editor’s Note: Got a question for Joseph Terry about concealed carry not covered here? Log in and post your question in the comments below.
Neck sizing is a snap, all that is required is a specialized neck-sizing die such as this one made by Redding. Photo courtesy Massaro Media Group and JNJphotographics.
For those aiming to milk the most accuracy from their bolt-action rifles there is a reloading technique right up your ally – neck sizing. By only resizing the neck of the cartridge shooters can tighten up their groups in a jiff.
For those accuracy hounds who love to tweak their ammunition to wrangle every possible bit of hair-splitting accuracy, neck sizing the cases is an often employed technique.
This requires a special neck sizing die, which doesn’t resize the fired cases like a conventional sizing die, but only resizes the neck portion of the case. The case body and shoulder are left to the dimensions that the case had after firing, allowing a tighter fit to the chamber, and more consistent placement in the rifle’s chamber.
Please note that this is a technique that only the bolt action can use, as the lever, slide and autoloading rifles don’t possess the camming power to close the breech on anything other than full length resized ammunition.
What advantage does this give the shooter? Well, it makes ammunition that is a near perfect mirror of the rifle chamber.
This means that the ammo will slide back to the same place in the chamber each time, taking as much of the room for play out of the equation as possible. The bullet is sent into the rifling from the very same spot each time the rifle is fired, and after all, accuracy comes from repeatable results.
It also saves the life of the brass cases, as only the neck portion is worked and reworked. The shoulder of the case stays firmly in place, and case stretching is even brought to a minimum.
What are the disadvantages? The fired cases can only be used in the rifle from which they were fired. However miniscule, the difference between chambers exists, and if you try to neck size cases fired from one rifle to make ammo for another, you’re asking for trouble.
Another point to remember is that because the bolt action has to cam over the case to get the breech closed, the act of chambering a cartridge will feel more difficult than with standard-sized ammunition. This can pose a bit of a problem on a follow-up shot, if you use neck sized ammunition for hunting.
For the target crowd, I can say that I feel neck sizing is worthwhile. I’ve seen a significant improvement in group size.
My Ruger Model 77 in .22-250 Remington shot much better groups when I neck sized my ammunition, bringing group size from ¾ to 3/8 inch at 100 yards.
I also had a customer with a Remington 700 in .300 Remington Ultra Magnum that loved factory ammunition loaded with the Nosler Partition 180-grain bullet. He tried to handload that bullet to find the same barrel harmonics and replicate the accuracy (due to the ammo crunch of ’13, he simply couldn’t find his favorite load), but to his chagrin, he couldn’t get it to work.
Long range bolt guns can be made more accurate by neck sizing. Photo courtesy Massaro Media Group and JNJphotographics.
He called me, and I made him some ammunition with the 180-grain Swift Scirocco II. Close, very close, but he wanted better. I suggested neck sizing the cases, and by George (George who?), we had it! Three shot group size returned to just over ½ MOA, and he was back in business with his long-range elk rifle.
If you decide to neck size, make sure you set the die up properly. You want as much of the neck resized as possible to give you proper bullet tension, without moving the shoulder at all.
Use a consistent brand and lot and you should see the difference during your next trip to the range.
Shooters who have had their eye on the Beretta ARX 100 have waited patiently for the carbine to hit the American market. That day has finally arrived, but does the rifle live up to the hype it's generated since appearing at the Shot Show a few years back?
Well, MAC at the Military Arms Channel feeds a few rounds to the semi-automatic version of the ARX 160 in the above video and finds plenty to like about the rifle. As his “First Shots” gun review shows, the gun chews through ammunition without a hitch, proves to be truly ambidextrous and, while different from many semi-automatics, takesdowns easily.
The most intriguing part of the review is a peek at the ARX 100's flexibility with the rifle switching from righty to lefty in a blink of an eye. There is also a glimpse of how easily the rifle can change calibers during the field striping segment. The barrel pops right out, piston and all, making for a painless switch from the 5.56mm factory barrel.
The ARX 100 offers plenty for its $1,950 MSRP. But the rifle has a few bugaboos that confounds MAC in the review and are certain to draw tongue clicks from some corners of the shooting world. This is particularly true concerning magazine compatibility. According to the video, G.I. Magazines and Generation 2 PMAGs were the only ones that worked with the carbine (there is more on the issue at The Bang Switch blog).
The entire video is worth a watch, particularly if you've been drooling over the potential of putting a Beretta ARX 100 in your gun cabinet. Even if you haven't still check it out, it's worth it to get a look at much different take on the semi-auto rifle than most are accustom.
As part of Del-Ton's summer promotional, shooters can get a Rapid Assault Tactical Case with the purchase of rifle.
In its first ever summer promotional, Del-Ton is giving shooters a couple more reasons to get behind the trigger of one of its firearms. The North Carolina manufacturer is offering two generous perks with the purchase of one of its AR-15-style rifles.
First, the company is giving a $50 gift certificate to its online store, offering shooters the shot to accessorize their new firearm. This includes merchandise such as: Barrel assemblies, barrel kits, barrel parts, barrels, bolt & carriers, buttstocks, charging handles, flash hiders/brakes, grips, handguards, magazines, mounts & rings, optics, sights, tools, upper parts, and uppers.
Second, Del-Ton is giving buyers a place to store their new rifles with a free U.S. PeaceKeeper Products case, while supplies last. The Rat Rapid Assault Tactical Case, has an MSRP of $81.99 and is decked out to handle the needs of casual and tactical shooters alike.
The 36-inch case fits most modern sporting rifles and has a number of practical features. It offers firearms maximum protection with interior padding, which can be removed for rapid drying – if exposed to moisture. It includes a removable and adjustable shoulder strap for comfortable transportation. And it has ample storage pockets and pouches to keep ammunition and gear organized.
The $131.99 offer is available with the purchase of any Del-Ton factory built, complete rifle. Shooters, however, will have to hurry – the promotion runs until Aug. 31.
As this replica Winchester Model 1887 demonstrates, a lever-action shotgun is a unique design.
Typically, when Winchester and shotgun appear in the same sentence one thing comes to mind – the Model 12.
The pump-action is among the most storied guns of the 20th Century, having perhaps collected more game than any other smoothbore. But it is far from Winchester’s only venture into the world of repeating shotguns.
In fact, the company produced what it billed as the first “successful” repeating shotgun nearly 25 years before the Model 12. Of course, the Model 1887 is a much different concept than most are use to when it comes to smoothbores.
The gun was yet another brainchild of prolific gun designer John M. Browning, who utilized one of the most popular actions of the day – the lever. Strange as a lever-action shotgun sounds, it was a natural choice for the time the 1887 was designed.
The blackpowder shotgun – offered in 10 and 12 gauges – appeared on the heels of one of Winchester’s most fabled firearms of all time – the Model 1873. The lever-action rifle earned fame as, “The gun the won the West.”
While the 1887 – and the later 10-gauge smokeless powder version, the 1901 – was a gun of its time, it seems quite out of place to modern eyes. The video below from the NRA National Firearms Museum points out perhaps the gun’s biggest flaw, the inordinately long lever stroke required to cycle the shells.
Of course, as the video also points out, the unique look and sound of the action did make the shotgun iconic appearing in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hands in Terminator 2.
Perhaps the neatest aspect about the 1887, at least from a collector’s standpoint, is the shotgun’s accessibility. The Standard Catalog of Firearms puts the gun’s value, in excellent condition, at $2,750. A quick look at some popular online firearms auctions/retailers had the shotgun selling for right around that price.
By modern standards, the 1887 might not be the most functionally practical gun. But at its price, the shotgun is very affordable option in 19th-Century firearms.
CrossBreed Hosters has expanded a number of its lines to hold the minute Double Tap Tactical Pocket Pistol.
As far as purely defensive pistols go, few match the Double Tap Tactical Pocket Pistol’s ease of carry and the ability to be concealed.
The double-barreled handgun is absolutely minute. It weights less than a pound, it is no wider than most people’s index finger and can it can be hidden in the palm of the hand.
Even with its slight dimensions, the pocket pistol might have just become more clandestine. That’s because one of top reviewed concealed carry holster manufacturers is giving shooters a place to hand their Double Tap pistol.
CrossBreed Holsters announced recently, it is tailoring several of its holsters to fit the Tactical Pocket Pistol. This includes one of the company’s flagship holsters – the MiniTuck. The company bills the holster as among the most comfortable inside the waistband options on the market.
CrossBreed will also offer Double Tap options for: the Appendix Carry, MicroClip, Purse Defender, SnapSlide, Belly Band, Last Ditch, Ankle Holsters and Modular Holsters.
A number of the Missouri-based company’s offerings help make Double Tap's pistol a logical back-up gun. CrossBreed’s Ankle Holsters and Belly Band, in particular, have the potential to work well in a secondary system.
Like the company’s name implies, CrossBreed's holsters are made of multiple materials. The company uses cowhide for backing and Kydex for the holster itself. This even goes for the Belly Band, which itself is made of a elastic material, but works in conjunction with the leather and Kydex Modular Holster, which attaches to the band via Velcro.
The same Modular Holster system used with the Belly Band also makes the Tactical Pocket Pistol viable for off-the-body carry. The system can be mounted nearly anywhere, whether it is the handlebars of an ATV or a nightstand.
CrossBreed’s Double Tap Tactical Pocket Pistols holster options start in the $50 range.
Open carry has caused waves in recent months. But at one Colorado eatery, it’s just another day on the job.
Shooters Grill in Rifle (my God how apt!) has gained national attention because of its stance towards open carry. Put simply, it’s encouraged among both staff and patrons.
Yup, most of the wait staff have a pistol or revolver hanging off their hips, as do many hungry customers.
As restaurant owner Lauren Boebert points out in the above video from Grand Junction’s KJCT8.com, this is not a stunt meant to drive business. Instead, she initiated the practice around a year ago when Shooters opened as a way for she, her staff and her customers to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
According to the KJCT8.com’s report, carrying is not mandatory by employees. But if they do plan to strap on their shooting irons, they much go through a handgun training course that is a prerequisite to obtain a concealed carry permit in Colorado.
The restaurant has even gone a step further in advocating the Second Amendment, hosting monthly concealed carry permit classes – complete with a free meal.
Mount a Hawke HD IR 3-9X40 Rimfire scope on your favorite .22 rifle and the way you approach squirrel hunting will never be the same.
The squirrel sitting on a branch far, far away is now within reach. The illuminated holdover reticle has glass-etched yardage numbers set next to hashmarks just above the lower vertical post.
The yardage numbers are in 25-yard increments: 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200. There is no need to memorize those numbers as they are right there inside your sight picture.
The reticle is illuminated in green or red and can be adjusted at five levels of brightness. The scope is calibrated to work best when set at 9X magnification and used with .22 ammo with a velocity of around 1,300 fps.
If the magnification is decreased, the scope can be recalibrated with the ¼ MOA fingertip turrets for use with subsonic or other types of ammo.
Long-Range Rimfire Scope
This past winter while hunting along a cross-country ski trail, I took a shot at a gray squirrel that I normally would have passed on or at least would have tried to sneak in for a closer shot. After some practice at the range with the scope a week before, I was confident enough to take the 125-yard shot.
Kneeling next to a boulder and using my backpack as a rest, I put the corresponding hash mark on the squirrel, fired and it tumbled off the oak.
I skiied over to where it fell and observed that it was a clean shot through the upper vital area. My conclusion: the scope is a game changer for small-game rimfire riflemen.
As long as your marksmanship skills are solid, it will allow a hunter to take some longer but ethical shots at small game which means a heavier game bag at the day’s end. ($140, hawkeoptics.com)
This review is an excerpt from the Gun Digest Shooter's Guide 2014.
Ready for duty, .300 Win. Mag. cartridges loaded with Swift's bonded core Scirocco II bullets. Photo courtesy Massaro Media Group and JNJphotographics.
In the fall of ’46, when Mr. John Nosler raised his .300 Holland & Holland Magnum and held true on the vitals of that famous moose that refused to die, the premium bullet industry was about to be born.
The failure of the traditional cup-and-core bullets led to the development of the first (and still viable!) premium offering: the Nosler Partition. Hunters around the world have relied on its combination of expansion and penetration for generations, and that single development caused the engineers of the bullet world to rethink bullet design.
A traditional bullet is made of a lead core, swaged into a copper cup jacket. At moderate velocities, these bullets have performed just fine on game that is appropriate for the bullet size and weight. However, when the animals get large, and the hide and bone becomes thick and difficult to penetrate, the shortcomings of the traditional bullet design come to the forefront.
Moose, large bears, bison, elk, Cape buffalo and the like all make a good case for more than a standard bullet. For years, professional hunters in Africa recommended solid (non-expanding) bullets on the heavyweights, because of the unreliable penetration associated with a conventional softpoint, even in the big calibers.
Well, modern technology has delivered the solution to the softpoint problem: the bonded core bullet. The lead core is chemically bonded to the copper jacket, to allow for good expansion (like a softpoint) and making the bullet tough enough to ensure deep penetration (like a solid).
The common problem of jacket separation, often associated with boat tail cup-and-core bullets has been resolved, giving us shooters the high ballistic coefficient we love for long range shooting, with excellent terminal performance once the game is hit.
Nosler has its Accubond, with a polymer tip and boat tail. There are others similarly constructed; the Hornady InterBond, and the Swift Scirocco II. These make great all-around bullets for the hunter, as they can be very accurate and perform well at standard velocities yet can be driven to the high speeds of the largest magnum without fear of bullet failure.
Mr. Nosler’s design incorporated a dual core, one front and one back, separated by the “Partition”. Bill Hober at Swift beefed the idea up by bonding the core, and his Swift A-Frame is, in my opinion, one of the best big game bullets ever produced. I’ve personally taken eleven different species of African game with it (in various calibers) and numerous heads of North American game. Weight retention often exceeds 90%, and I’ve seen it penetrate the tough shoulder bones of Cape buffalo and eland, and be recovered just under the offside skin. You really can’t argue with that kind of performance.
Classic expansion of a bonded core bullet, a 400-grain .416 Swift A-Frame recovered from a Cape Buffalo. Photo courtesy Massaro Media Group and JNJphotographics.
The Trophy Bonded Bear Claw is a similar design, but only uses a lead core in the front, leaving a solid copper shank in the rear. It performs similarly to the A-Frame. The Australian firm of Woodleigh makes a bonded core called the Weldcore, a great bullet that is made to the same nose profile and shape as the old Kynoch ammunition, so it will perform well in the older double rifles and bolt guns still in service. Weldcores have a great reputation, and deservedly so; their performance engenders an awful lot of confidence in those hunters who pursue dangerous game.
North Fork Bullets have a bonded core bullet also, their softpoint semi-spitzer. It is a pure lead core bonded to a pure copper jacket, with grooves machined into the rear portion of the bullet to keep pressures low. It does just that, and makes an accurate, hard hitting hunting bullet. I have great expectations for this bullet, and plan to take it in the field this fall.
The nice thing about these bullets is that they require no special loading techniques, and often your favorite cup-and-core load will prove accurate with the bonded core bullets.
So, if you’re hunting large mammals, or if you’re headed off on the hunt of a lifetime, you can hedge your bets by loading up some bonded core ammunition. Remember, the bullet, and only the bullet, is the only portion of the rifle/optics/ammunition that ever touches the game animal, so be sure to use the best you can get.
Shooting with both eyes open is an underappreciated skill, one of which it is easy to turn, well, a blind eye.
When it comes to basic target shooting, whether thumbing off rounds with a pistol or rifle, it really doesn’t matter if one or both eyes are open. The name of the game is placing the bullet in the X-ring by whatever means necessary. But move into the real world and it’s a whole different game.
Applied shooting – tactical, self-defense or hunting – happens in a dynamic environment. The shooter, the target or both might be moving. There could be action to the periphery of a shooter of which they need to take account. There is even the potential for more than one target spread over a wide geographic area. In turn, a full-field of view can be the the make-or-break element to a successful engagement.
The above video by Sootch00 touches upon these and other reasons why it's important to shoot with both eyes open. But more importantly, the video goes over a number fundamental concepts and drills that help shooters keep both peepers open and in the game.
While the video is full of useful tidbits, perhaps one of the most vital areas it touches upon is determining the dominant eye. Really, this is a relatively simple task, one that goes a long way in being able to shoot with both eyes open. But, unfortunately, it is also process that flies under many shooters' radar.
Watch the entire video. For the lack of a better way to put it, it's eye opening.
The lighter and easier-to-conceal compact 1911-style semi-auto has met with considerable success, and for good reason. The Para Executive Carry tested in this handgun review is a top contender in the category.
The author shot ragged, one-hole, 10-shot groups on silhouette targets with the Para Executive Carry, and shooting steel plates at 10 yards was just as easy. Author photo
The Para Executive Carry is a single-stack 1911 with a 3-inch barrel and a lightweight aluminum frame. Magazine capacity is eight rounds in a standard-length single-stack magazine, but the ability to conceal the Executive Carry is enhanced by an Ed Brown-style Bobtailed mainspring housing.
Sights are easy-to-see Trijicon night sights, and there’s a match-grade, skeletonized trigger. The stainless steel barrel is ramped for reliability. The slide is also stainless with an Ionbond anodized mat finish that is not only corrosion resistant but also increases lubricity of the moving parts.
As one might imagine, the Executive Carry isn’t a low-recoil pistol. The full-sized grip certainly makes recoil manageable, though, and I found it to have more than acceptable accuracy for a carry gun. I really liked the full-sized grip.
The oversized beavertail grip safety has a bump on the bottom side to assist with thin-handed guys like me in engaging it, and the machined G-10 grips provide more than adequate hand purchase for fast follow-up shots.
Made for Carry
Galco's Miami Classic Shoulder Holster was the perfect solution for carrying the Para Executive Carry.
Everything about the Executive Carry is engineered for easy carry and concealing. The edges have all been melted to make it easy to carry without snagging on clothing, the sights are unobtrusive, and the rounded bobtail contributes.
The full-sized grip might create some issues for certain holster choices, but I found it more than acceptable for both appendix carry and the Galco Miami Classic shoulder system I chose for the test.
The Miami Classic shoulder rig made the perfect carry system for the Executive Carry. With the gun nestled snugly beneath my left armpit, the pistol was completely hidden, even when I was wearing nothing but a light jacket. The double magazine pouch under my right arm balanced the outfit and provided me with 25 rounds of Winchester Silvertip defensive hollow points at the ready.
The easiest way to make a great personal protection gun better is to add a laser sighting system. I chose the Crimson Trace LG-401G front activation green lasergrips.
Shooting the Executive Carry impressed me with the accuracy level that can be obtained with a carry .45. At 10 yards, ragged-hole groups were the standard.
I actually do like the modern striker-fired compact-carry guns, but there’s no substitute for the excellent trigger that can be obtained with a 1911, and the Para Executive Carry has a good one; it’s crisp and clean at just over 4 pounds with almost no backlash. I’m sure the Executive Carry was built with a little heavier trigger than the 14/45 Custom I recently tested at Gunsite, because a carry gun shouldn’t have the same kind of trigger as a match gun for safety reasons.
I expected accuracy from the Executive Carry, because last year at Gunsite I shot its little brother, the Elite Officer. Even with the shortened grip of the Officer, I managed a couple of one-hole 10-shot groups that got the attention of Para’s Daniel Cox and Travis Tomasie.
It’s a shame I can’t shoot this kind of group at race gun speed, or I’d be dangerous. Back on my range at home with the Executive Carry at 10 yards, I had no problem cleaning the plates within the prescribed 6 seconds from the Classic Miami rig or a belt holster.
The sights were easy to pick up and get back on the next plate. Recoil was certainly there, but the full-sized grip and machined G-10 grips helped make it manageable. Having put about 200 test rounds through the Para, I haven’t experienced a single malfunction.
The Executive Carry offers a reasonable capacity but still-concealable 1911 that is an alternative to the current crop of striker-fired carry guns, and that’s just the point. Both schools of thought make for a viable concealed carry gun; it’s just a matter of what you like. Ultimately, the new Para represents just how good a 100-year-old proven design can be as an everyday concealed carry gun.
Para Executive Carry Caliber: .45 ACP Capacity: 8 + 1 Magazines: Two single-stack magazines with base bumpers Barrel: 3-inch stainless ramped bull Sights: Combat-style Trijicon Frame: Aluminum Slide: Stainless steel Length: 7.685 inches Height: 5.5 inches without the magazine Weight: 30 ounces Options: Crimson Trace compatible SRP: $1,399 Website: para-usa.com
Shoulder holsters can be configured to carry handguns vertically (with the muzzle pointing straight up or straight down), horizontally, or at a 45-degree angle. Grant Cunningham explains the pros and cons.
Vertical Shoulder Holsters
Vertical holsters with the muzzle pointing up are generally referred to as upside-down holsters. They are very concealable, but because the butt of the gun is pointing toward the back and is on the backside of centerline, they are the hardest with which to achieve a good firing grip.
They are also limited in terms of the barrel length that can be accommodated, with the armpit serving as an upper limit.
Vertical holsters that carry the opposite direction – with the muzzle down – are superb choices for larger guns with longer barrels. (As a point of trivia, Dirty Harry’s six-inch Model 29 was carried in such a holster.)
Some are made to accommodate scoped hunting guns, though obviously not as a piece of concealment gear. Muzzle down holsters are relatively easy to draw from, but do sacrifice a bit of concealment – especially with the longer barrels.
Horizontal Shoulder Holsters
Galco's Miami Classic is a great example of a popular horizontal carry angle shoulder holster. Photo courtesy Galco.
Horizontal holsters seem to be the most commonly available, and they are certainly the easiest to draw from. The gun’s butt is in a position to afford a very natural grip and draw stroke, and the butt is carried the furthest forward of any style.
This makes them not the best choice for concealment, as the gun is carried with its longest dimension cutting across the body’s shortest dimension. The cylinder width is on the midline and pushes both the butt and the muzzle away from the body, leaving the gun in a sort of rocking position that I liken to a turtle on its back.
For more information on concealed carry holsters check out:
The muzzle tends to poke out at the rear and the butt in the front, a clear sign that the wearer has something under his coat. It is also the only shoulder holster where it is impossible to draw without sweeping the muzzle across an unintended target. If one insists on a horizontal holster, I can only recommend sticking to the very shortest barrels and smallest frames.
45-Degree Shoulder Holsters
Those carrying the gun at a 45-degree angle, with the muzzle pointing up, are a workable compromise. The grip is easier to access than an upside-down model, and the geometry of carry makes the gun easier to hide. The 45-degree also works with slightly longer barrels than the horizontal types.
Here’s something that might surprise you: most men, in my experience, don’t have the upper body flexibility necessary to draw efficiently or safely from a shoulder holster. Most women do.
The more muscular the man, the less likely it is that he’ll be able to make use of the shoulder holster, while women seem to not be so limited regarding their figure. For this reason I tend to recommend shoulder holsters for women more often than I do for men.
Shoulder holsters are generally available in leather and nylon cloth, though at least one maker has constructed them out of thin polyethylene. I recommend avoiding those made of nylon; I’ve not encountered any that were not cheaply constructed and/or very poorly designed.
If you decide to make the shoulder holster your default concealed carry option, be aware that virtually all shooting schools prohibit their use in class, and I know of no shooting competition which will allow them.
This is an excerpt from Grant Cunningham’s Gun Digest Book of the Revolver.
CMMG is shooting for accuracy, outfitting its Mk4 rifles with heavy taper barrels.
CMMG's Mk4 series of rifles has earned its share of fans in the AR community. The rifles now might win over precision shooters with the introduction of heavy taper barrel models.
When it comes to designing a highly accurate AR-style rifle, there are many ways to skin a cat.
The addition of a match-grade trigger or a low-mass operating system are a couple of ways to ensure bullets land where a shooter is aiming. While these options are popular, CMMG has gone another direction in helping a line of its rifles drive tacks.
The Missouri manufacturer has focused on the barrel in an effort to step up its rifles’ accuracy. And while reviews are still coming in, the heavy taper barrels of CMMG’s new Mk4 HT series looks like they will score a bull’s eye with precision shooters.
Heavier barrels have a number of advantages when it comes to accuracy, but their primary asset is the ability to absorb heat. The added material means the barrel takes longer to heat up, thus keeping it more rigid and groups tighter. This facet of heavy barrels is especially advantageous for individuals who need to shoot several rounds in succession.
CMMG is offering its new series in three calibers – .22 Long Rifle, .223/5.56mm and 300 BLK. The .22LR comes with nitride 4140 chrome-moly steel barrel, while the other two calibers come with the choice of either stainless steel or 4140 chrome-moly steel.
The barrels, for all calibers, are 16.1-inches long, giving the 7-pound rifle an overall length of 31 inches with the stock collapsed. The 5.56mm and 300 BLK each have 1:7 twist rates, while the .22 has a 1:16 twist.
The company has aimed to make its new series as versatile as its other rifles, outfitting it with RKM11 KeyMod hand guard and Picatinny rail. The Picatinny rail runs on the top, while the KeyMod slots are at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions.
Accessories that are not yet compatible with the KeyMod system won’t be left out in the cold. CMMG sells a five-slot Picatinny adapter rails separately that can easily attach to any of the KeyMod slots.
The Mk4 HT series comes equipped with an A2 pistol grip and a mil-spec M4 butt stock. The series is suppressor-ready and has a castellated thread protector attached to the muzzle to shield the threads from unwanted debris.
The rifles utilizes CMMG’s single stage mil-spec style trigger with a crisp break thanks to polished surfaces. The company also includes a 30-round Magpul PMAG with every 5.56 and 300 Blackout rifle. The .22 Long Rifle versions come with a 25-round magazine.
CMMG’s Mk4 HT series are moderately priced. The .22 version has a MSRP of $924.95. The 5.56mm and .300 BLK have a MSRP of $1,049.95 for stainless steel barrel models and $1,099.95 for nitrated models.
The AR-18 was designed for manufacture by unskilled labor. Made mostly of stamped metal, the number of machining operations were minimized. Author photo
Known for their development of the famed AR-15, Armalite's AR-18 was another important tactical trendsetter in the black rifle space.
Evolution of the AR-18
In the early ’50s, Eugene Stoner worked on the 7.62 x 51mm AR-10 rifle, and after several years of revision, in 1956-57, the rifle was offered up as Armalite’s entry into the U.S. military’s trials to replace the M1 Garand as the standard service rifle. Stoner’s AR-10 went up against the FN FAL (dubbed the T-48 in trials) and the M-14 (dubbed the T-44) in a competition to provide the U.S. with the “rifle of the future.”
The AR-10 was not selected, so ArmaLite licked their wounds and moved on to continue designing cutting-edge firearms using state-of-the art materials (plastics, polymers, titanium and Stellite) when other manufacturers were still dealing in steel and wood.
In 1956, Stoner was also working on a new lightweight rifle, the AR-15, which fired the 5.56mm/.223 round that the U.S. and NATO were exploring. This rifle was eventually adopted by the military, beginning with the U.S. Air Force in 1961, and became the standard military rifle.
At the same time he was working on the AR-15, Stoner collaborated with ArmaLite engineer Arthur Miller on a lightweight, easy to manufacture rifle to be shopped to U.S. allies whose armed forces couldn’t afford the expensive AR-10. The AR-16 was, for all intents and purposes, an experiment. It was made of sheet metal stampings and on machinery that was not expensive and could be operated by indigenous personnel in developing nations.
The folding stock of the AR-18 is difficult to replace, so the author used a FAL-style folder on his rifle. Author photo
The rifle was designed to have only a few machined and milled parts, including the barrel, bolt and carrier, and flash hider. Surprisingly, this rifle wasn’t intended to supplant the U.S. military’s M-14 rifles, but rather, it was designed to be a cheap and easy to manufacture rifle to support Asian, African and South American allies in the battle against communism.
Unfortunately, the rifle didn’t really make it past the prototype stage, but the lessons learned in its design and construction would be used in ArmaLite’s next automatic rifle, the AR-18.
The AR-18 was designed and patented after Stoner’s departure from ArmaLite, but it still bore some design elements from his previous AR-10, AR-15 and AR-16 offerings. Arthur Miller, who worked on the AR-16 project with Stoner, along with two other engineers named George Sullivan and Charles Dorchester, began, in 1962, to design a new AR-16.
It would be in a 5.56mm format and easy for unskilled labor to manufacture. Miller and his team took the lessons learned from the AR-16 and put them into practice with the AR-18 design. Again, it was made largely of stamped metal, and the number of forging and machining operations required for manufacture were minimized.
When the rifle debuted in 1964, it was a pretty neat offering—shorter than the AR-15, with an 18-inch barrel instead of the 20-inch AR-15. It also had a clever side-folding stock that made vehicle transport much easier than carrying a full-sized rifle. Unfortunately, by the time it was released, the U.S. was entrenched in the Vietnam Conflict and had little to no desire to adopt the new AR-18, although they did test a few. It didn’t seem like too many other nations wanted the new rifle either.
Production was started in 1967 on the rifle based on some limited orders at the Howa factory in Japan (ArmaLite at the time was more of a design and prototype company, not a manufacturing facility), and even this was problematic. The Japanese government forbade the shipment of weapons to nations actively involved in the war in Southeast Asia. As a result, production was moved to Costa Mesa, Calif.
The AR-18 had a civilian counterpart called the AR-180. This was designed to be a sporting rifle or a police long arm, and was semi-automatic only. It sold marginally well. It seemed that the only enthusiastic users of the AR-18 were those in the Irish Republican Army, which used illegally purchased and stolen ArmaLite rifles in Northern Ireland against the British, and even nicknamed the rifle “The Widowmaker.” In 1980, after roughly 16 years of production in Japan, the U.S. and, later, in Dagenham, England, production ceased.
My First AR-18
One major design flaw is that the AR-18 cannot use AR-15 mags. Author photo
At a gun show in February of 2004, I got an almost identical representation of the AR-18/180 that Arnold used in The Terminator. It was even missing the butt stock just like the rifle in the movie. The best part was they were only asking $300 for it.
I bought the rifle and took it home with the intent of quickly getting a new stock from an online vendor. Wrong. Evidently, butt stocks for the AR-180 are made of “un-obtanium.” They were unavailable at any price, so I had my machinist friend make a mounting block to attach to the rear of the sheet metal receiver, and I put an Ace FN-FAL style folder on it. It wasn’t historically accurate, but I could at least fire it from the shoulder.
So by March of 2004, my dream rifle had a stock and could be fired. I took it for a test run. My impressions were that the designers did a lot of things right with the AR-18/180 and quite a bit wrong. It was fairly accurate, as long as I stayed with 55-grain bullets. The 1:12 rifling would turn heavier projectiles into boat-shaped holes in the target.
The trigger was very heavy compared to most AR-15s I’ve fired. Also, the proprietary magazine release and mag-locking cut in the magazine made finding the correct magazine difficult. The AR-15 can use an AR-18 mag, but not vice-versa.
What did they do right? The gas system is very, very good. My rifle has eaten every round I’ve thrown at it. The ergonomics are pretty good, too. Plus the folding stock makes it handy to carry. However, all things considered, I wish the Terminator had chosen a rifle with a better trigger. While I still think my AR-180 is cool, it’s not the go-to gun I imagined it would be after watching that film back in 1984.
I shoot it every once in a while, and my range mates all think it looks cool, but after owning my own ArmaLite AR-180, I came to the inexorable conclusion that I’d have to move on to my second favorite semiautomatic to appear in a film. I saw Robin Williams in this movie called The Survivors, and he had this Valmet M-76—maybe we’ll talk about that next time.
This article appeared in the June 12, 2014 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
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