Bullpup shotguns, such as this Kel-Tec KSG outfitted with a Mesa Tactical SurShell Carrier, have been just the ticket in Arizona. Photo curiosity Mesa Tactical.
Richard Sprague – Sprague’s Sports, Yuma, Ariz.
Richard Sprague is a little surprised at the popularity of bullpup-style shotguns like the UTAS UTS-15 and the Kel-Tec KSG, both of which are 12 gauge and pump-operated.
“They’re definitely being bought by people interested in a self-defense shotgun” the owner of Sprague Sports said. “But they’re also sought after by guys who like cool and innovative guns.”
Sprague’s sells the UTS-15 for $1,199, the KSG for $1,100.
Gun cleaning and maintenance supplies are moving very well, both individual products and packaged sets of cleaners, lubricants, patches, rods and brushes.
“We stock all we can get and it all sells,” Sprague said.
Champion and Do It All Outdoors ground reactive targets are big sellers, too.
Kids and plinkers like the movement created when these targets are hit, and they can take thousands of rounds and bounce back for more.
This brief originally appeared in the January 13, 2014 edition of Gun Digest the Magazine.
A petition aims to help remove suppressors from NFA regulation.
As would be expected with suppressors, their popularity has silently crept up in the shooting world.
Presently, the gun accessory is legal to own in all but a handful of states. And, much to the joy of hog hunters, the noise-reducing device has been OK’d in many area’s for taking game.
Even with the growing acceptance of suppressors, there remains one major hurdle in the device becoming more commonplace – the National Firearms Act. The 1934 legislation regulates the ownership of the suppressors; in turn there are plenty of hoops to jump through to obtain one.
Perhaps, the most onerous aspect of being a NFA regulated accessory is the $200 tax stamp that must be paid to purchase a suppressor. This effectively more than doubles the price of most suppressors.
However, there is an effort afoot to have the legislation changed to make it easier to purchase a suppressor. Recently a petition went up on Whitehouse.gov in an effort to get suppressors removed from NFA regulation.
The text of the petition reads:
Removal of suppressors as an NFA regulated item would eliminate the $200 tax stamp, eliminate legality and travel issues between states, reduce hearing safety concerns related to discharging firearms, and would help people be courteous neighbors when discharging firearms.
Even though the petition won’t immediately affect change, it has the potential of getting more shooters interested in the issue. Texas-based retailer, the Silencer Shop, is among the petition’s supporters and has promoted the effort on their social media platforms.
The petitioners are aiming for 100,000 signatures by Aug. 5, 2014. Presently, 75 people have signed. For more information on suppressors, their use and legislation regarding them, please check out the American Suppressor Association.
Want to start a lively debate the next time you’re at the range? Toss this one out: Revolver or semi-auto for concealed carry?
Concerns over self-defense continue to be the single largest driving force behind gun sales in America. That alone continues to prompt more people—both new and longtime shooters—to spend their hard-earned cash on handguns and ammunition.
Indeed, even with the consumer buying frenzy of 2013 behind us, new handgun models such as Glock’s 42 and 41 and those from the likes of Ruger, SIG, Walther, Taurus, Colt, Smith & Wesson and others have a shorter shelf life in a store than bread and milk before a Southern snow storm. That is if the stores can even get ahold of these new guns.
The demand has even put a crimp on gun writers, some struggling to get test models in their hands because the manufacturers are scrambling to put every single gun they can in the pipeline to satisfy current consumer demand.
Whether a gun buyer has their name on a waiting list, finds a hot new or previously introduced handgun model on the shelf or hits the used market, I’m always intrigued at the factors that go into deciding which gun to buy when it comes to choosing a carry firearm.
For some it comes down to the caliber and its perceived adequacy, for others the overall size of the gun itself with smaller often better for concealment and yet for others, it’s simply a matter of what looks cool. One chief debate over what makes the ultimate “carry” gun often centers on whether a semi-auto or revolver is best.
Want to start a lively debate the next time you’re at the range? Toss that one out. Indeed, many modern shooters wouldn’t think of leaving their home without a sleek, low-recoiling semi-auto with a quick-swap spare mag at the ready should the need arise. Others will staunchly argue for the timeless reliability of a cylinder gun.
Where Do You Stand?
Where do you fall on the issue and why? We’d love to know.
The rimfire is alive and well. Just ask anybody who is still hunting down ammo. Once you find it, here are four new rifles worth firing some rounds through.
This photo gallery is an excerpt from the Gun Digest Shooter's Guide 2014.
Given the shear volume of striker-fired pistols, it's a difficult proposition to get shooters fired up for a new model of the gun. But Heckler & Koch appears to have hit a sweet spot with the introduction of the VP9.
The 9mm (MSRP $719) is the company's first new striker-fired pistol in around three decades and the sleek and sturdy looking handgun has caused ripples across the gun world. As Colion Noir points out in the above video, the gun's aesthetics and ergonomics are top notch and right in line with H&K's hammer-gun catalog. But for Noir and others who have put the pistol through its paces, one feature has stolen the show – the trigger.
Noir makes a pretty bold claim about the VP9's trigger in his review, rating it in the top-three of all stock triggers available. In his opinion, the feel and performance of the pistol's trigger is only second to that of the Springfield XD. He gives some pretty solid reasons why the VP9 stacks up so well, but you'll just have watch the video to see why it has what it takes to beat out the competition.
Does Noir find nits to pick? You bet, but most are slight. The only one that really resonates in the gun review is Heckler & Koch's choice of luminescent dots on the handgun's three-dot sights. While bright after being charged up, their illumination quickly dissipates in the dark – not the best news for those who might have plans to use the 9mm for concealed carry.
The one area not touched upon in the gun review is how it shoots; Noir promises that facet will be covered in an upcoming edition of his new show. Despite no rounds being thrown down range, the short overview is worth watching in its entirety. The video does a fair job of showing exactly what the Heckler & Koch VP9 is all about.
Editor's Note: One of our readers recently took us to task over an article that covered rifle twist rate and bullet stability in relation to long-range shooting. His response is thought-provoking.
I read with interest Dick Jones’ article “Shooting’s Ultimate Challenge” (March 27). Although Jones is no doubt an excellent long range shooter, and his qualifications are good, I must point something out regarding the side bar “Understanding Twist.”
Jones wrote that “…as the bullet slows down, the spinning motion that stabilizes the bullet slows, and it can become so slow the bullet becomes unstable.”
This statement is rather misleading. Although the spinning of the bullet most certainly slows down over time, its rate of deceleration during the flight time of the bullet is, at worst, negligible. For many of us, our first experiments in physics involved the rotation of toy tops and the forward travel of marbles. If you have ever spun a top, you know that there is little resistance and the spin speed takes a long time to slow down, maybe minutes.
At the 3,600 rotations per second of Mr. Jones’ bullet when it leaves his 1:10 barrel, it would take many minutes for the bullet to slow down enough to affect its stability, but it takes less than 2 seconds for it to reach it’s 1,000-yard target. The sidebar suggests that 1:10 twist is the ultimate rate for this caliber with this bullet, and 1:12 twist rates will not do. That, however, may not necessarily always be the case. Berger Bullets ballisticians recommend the slowest twist to correctly stabilize its 185-grain VLD match bullets as 1:12. This is the recommendation for a bullet actually designed for long-range competition.
The rate of spin for a certain bullet has everything to do with “calming” the bullet down shortly after it leaves the barrel, and less to do with maintaining its stability at long ranges. The current trend in ever increasing rates of twist is introducing a whole new set of problems to the long-range shooter. Gun writer Jim Carmichael once wrote that “No shooting subject is more likely to make one sound like an expert, and at the same time prove him a fool, than a discussion of rifling twist.” I hope I haven’t proven myself a fool but a contrary opinion is always helpful to initiate thought.
—T. C. Knight, Davis Creek, Calif.
What do you think about rifle twist rates, bullet stability and long-range shooting? Sign in and leave a comment below.
This letter originally appeared in the June 12, 2014 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
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.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 of the best concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
