The January 28, 2013 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine features the publication’s new, glossy high-quality format. Included are a gun review of the FNH FNX-45 handgun, 7 new shotguns for 2013, Glock vs. the 1911, Ultimate Survival Rifles and beefed up gun columns and coverage.
“In 2013, you will find Gun Digest the Magazine with a new look: glossier paper, a better binding and a nicer overall feel as you turn every page,” said James Card, Managing Editor. “The only thing that hasn't changed is great writing on guns that serves all firearms enthusiasts and the best gun classified listings in print.”
“This is going to be an exciting year for Gun Digest The Magazine. We've improved the look and feel of the magazine; have redesigned it to better cover a broader array of firearms coverage, both new and collectible; and will also deliver even more shooting and gun care tips and advice, along with an increased number of gear reviews to help shooters—both new and old—improve their skills and make the best choices when making purchases at the gun shop.”
“We hope to bring a whole new attitude to the pages of GDTM with expanded gun and gear coverage, more quality writers and a more attractive, easy-to-read design for the readers. Whether you compete, hunt or just love to plink targets, shooting is one of the most fun and exciting activities a person can engage in and we hope the new GDTM reflects this in every page.”
– Doug Howlett, Editor-in-Chief
Gun Digestthe Magazine is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. With a subscription to Gun Digestthe Magazine, readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews, how-to instructions and Second Amendment issues.
Considering the price of barrels versus the price of a rifle in another caliber, the Rossi Wizard is a great choice for a shooter that wants to shoot a variety of calibers on a budget.
Gun review of the versatile Rossi Wizard, a unique multi-gun you can change from .22LR to .243 to .50 caliber muzzleloader!
Rossi’s transformer of a firearm known as the Wizard is one gun with many barrels. Overall I liked the little gun outfitted with the .22LR barrel. The Wizard was plenty accurate enough to justify carrying her into the September squirrel woods. And when you consider you get three guns (.243, .22 and .50 caliber) versus just one, all for under $500 – well, that tends to make an attractive offer even more attractive.
Originating in Brazil, Rossi firearms – at least the long guns – are imported into the United States by Braztech International, LC, headquartered in Miami, Florida. In her purest form, the Wizard is a single-shot hammer gun and she doesn’t get much more complicated than that.
How It Works
Beginning with the receiver, Rossi’s Xchange-a-Barrel break-action is opened via a thumb release to the right of and slightly behind the hammer. Press down, the barrel hinges open, simple as that. Interestingly enough, the little gun features not one or two, but three safety mechanisms – a traditional transfer bar safety; a manual toggle-esque S/F safety on the port side of the receiver, which prevents the hammer from reaching the transfer bar; and Rossi’s – or Taurus’, actually – keyed security system.
Locking the system, in the case of the Wizard, prevents the hammer from being fully cocked. Speaking of the hammer, the MZL does come complete with a hammer spur that is very necessary for those, such as myself, who would immediately mount optics.
The .50 caliber MZL barrel features a 1:24 twist, measures 23 inches and is drilled and tapped for a Weaver style base. It comes equipped with fiber optics sights, front and rear. A single thimble secures the ramrod to the underside of the barrel; the remainder of the rod is housed inside the forearm.
The ramrod itself is brass, with a wooden (3-3/8 inch by 3/8 inch) 8-groove handle, and measures just 15-1/2 inches long, but does telescope to a full 23-1/8 inches. The barrel exchange process is as simple as is the gun itself: unscrew the front (forearm) sling swivel, remove the forearm, break the action, and lift the barrel away from the frame.
The Wizard’s stock might best be described as a high Monte Carlo style, with no checkering on the pistol grip and only a black plastic ROSSI-emblazoned cap on the grip.
The stock attachment screw, a metric hex bolt, is located underneath the pistol cap; not in an inline configuration accessed by removing the recoil pad as is typical. The one-inch ventilated rubber recoil pad is substantial, and separated from the buttstock by a wafer-thin white spacer.
Variety is the spice of life, and that’s particularly true with the Wizard. In addition to the .50 caliber muzzloader barrel, the company also offers a .45 caliber barrel. Along with the black powder options, Rossi also makes available three rimfire barrels (.22LR, .22WMR, and .17HMR); 10 centerfire barrels ranging from .223 to .45-70; and shotgun tubes including 12-gauge (rifled and smoothbore), 20-gauge, and .410 caliber. Several different aesthetic variations will be available such as such as black synthetic, traditional wood and blued, and camouflage.
Field Tested
I was impressed with the performance and functionality of Rossi’s .22LR, so the proverbial bar had been set relatively high before the .50 caliber ever got out of the house and onto the range. Perhaps not surprising, I wasn’t disappointed with her performance.
Although typically a pelletized powder kind of guy, I decided to test the Wizard with both pellets and granulated powder, basically out of curiosity. Pyrodex products got the nod here; I’ve had nothing but good fortune with the company’s RS granular material and 50-grain pellets over the past decade or so.
For bullets, I chose a variety – 295-grain PowerBelt AeroTips (AT) and Hollow Points (HP); 290-grain Barnes Spit-Fire TMZ (TMZ); PowerBelt AeroLites in a 300-grain format; and 300-grain Knight Red Hot bullets using the High Pressure (black) sabot. Like the powders, I’ve used all of these projectiles over the years, and all with good success both on the range and in the field. Ignition was supplied by Remington’s Kleanbore 209 muzzleloader primers, and the barrel was swabbed clean between shots.
Mechanically, I experienced absolutely no problems throughout the course of the 50-shot run at the bench. Ignition was immediate and reliable and recoil was noticeable, though tamed somewhat thanks to Caldwell’s Lead Sled and a PAST shoulder pad. In terms of downrange performance, it was the 295-grain ATs that won out, printing 2- to 2-1/2-inch three-shot groups at 50 yards; however, I’ve never been extremely impressed with the ATs’ on-target performance in the field on whitetails.
The Red Hots, though a close second with their consistent 2-1/2-inch clusters, provide, it’s been my experience, extraordinary knockdown power on deer-sized creatures – and based on those observations will be what we’re stuffing down the Wizard’s gullet come December. Post-range cleanup was minimal, quick, and easy; pull the plug, scrub the bore, take a toothbrush to the plug, lube, install, wipe, and it’s over.
What didn’t I like about the Wizard .50 muzzleloader? At almost 9-1/2 pounds, she’s a heavy little thing, and quite barrel heavy and unbalanced. The telescoping ramrod, though understandable in this particular situation, does, at least for me, take some getting used to. Afield, my thoughts are to either pack a lightweight 25-inch fiberglass rod with me, or telescope the OEM rod and lay it alongside my pack – just in case I need to reload the Wizard with the quickness.
And I think the transfer bar and manual safeties are a bit of an overkill; in fact, I found the left-side manual switch to be rather inconveniently located for a right-hander, not to mention tremendously noisy when allowed to fall forward by itself. That said, a little practice with manual safety can help overcome both inconvenience and noise. Price? Online, I found the Wizard Matched Set, which includes wood-stocked .243Win, .50 caliber MZL, and 28-inch 12-gauge barrels for – ready?—only $325 (hinterlandoutdoors.com). That, if my math is correct, makes for three very different firearms for just a touch over a C-note each.
Rossi Wizard Specs
Make/model – Rossi Wizard Caliber – .50 Caliber Muzzleloader Operating system – Inline; black powder only Barrel – 23 inches Overall length – 38-3/4 inches Weight – 9.4 pounds Trigger pull – 5.6 pounds Safety – Transfer bar; Rossi/Taurus key lock; manual SAFE/FIRE safety Sights – Fully adjustable rear, fiber optic; fixed front bead Finish, metal – Blued Wood – Walnut stock/forearm Recoil pad – One inch ventilated rubber, with white spacer Accessories – Sling swivels; Weaver style one-piece base Ramrod – Brass; expandable from 15-1/2 inches 23-1/8
This article appeared in the Gun Digest the Magazine 2013 Shooter’s Guide.
Gun Digestthe Magazine is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. With a subscription to Gun Digestthe Magazine, readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews, how-to instructions and Second Amendment issues.
A power outage in any season is a challenge, but winter blackouts are especially difficult. Freezing temperatures can burst pipes, conjure hypothermia and make comfort a distant memory.
Being prepared and thinking smart will take the edge off a winter blackout. Here are a few tips.
Before the Winter Blackout
* First and foremost, having blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothes ready is essential.
* Figure out what to do about refrigerated medicine. It's tempting to think cold-storage medicines (insulin, for example) can be put outside during a winter blackout. That's not the best idea if the medicine must not freeze.
One idea is to have a small cooler on hand for storing the medicine in the fridge. That extra insulation will extend the life of the medicine until the power comes back.
* Identify a warm room. This would be a room with a door that shuts and space for everyone to sleep. Bedrooms and offices are the best options.
Sleeping together in one room with the door shut concentrates body heat. Even without a heater, this could make all the difference.
* Insulate windows. The old trick of using a hairdryer and plastic wrapping will go a long way during a winter blackout.
* Plan for how a heater will be used, if at all. Is there enough firewood in reserve for that wood stove? Are there extension cords for that electric heater drawing from the generator? Do you understand why bringing a portable gas stove indoors is a bad idea?
* Learn how to make a basic candle heater. This is perfect for warming hands indoors. Turn a ceramic gardening pot upside down and place it on three glass jars of equal height. Light a candle under the pot. The heat trapped by the pot is ideal for warming cold, stiff hands. This simple trick is surprisingly effective.
During the Winter Blackout
* As with any blackout, it's a good idea to unplug appliances and electronics. When the power is restored, the surge could knock out those items.
* Don't sweat it, both literally and figuratively. Moving around gets warm blood flowing, but don't overexert. Break a sweat and you'll get cold in a hurry.
Also, cold weather survival is a state of mind. Know that everything will be OK. Stay positive. Chances are only made worse by negative thinking.
* Don't open doors to the outside unless absolutely necessary. That may mean people and pets go to the bathroom indoors. If it makes the difference between freezing and not, the mess is worth it.
* Try to enjoy the positives of a winter blackout. It's time for family activities, minus the gadgets. Play games, prepare food together or just talk.
A journey outside can be rewarding, too. Ever seen the International Space Station traverse the western sky through Orion just before dawn? Or appreciated how incredible Venus or Mars look in the east each morning? Cosmic sights may have been obscured by light pollution prior to the winter blackout. Take advantage of the opportunity.
After the Winter Blackout
* Hindsight is 20/20. Make a list of everything that went well. Then make one of the things that did not. Update emergency plans accordingly.
* Appreciate the fact it's over. As stated before, survival is a state of mind. Getting through a winter blackout provides a frame of reference for other events. If a winter blackout can be managed, other emergencies may seem less potent.
Gun collecting: The Swiss Vetterli rifle is worth looking at. Image courtesy of RIA auctions.
FREDERICH VETTERLI was an engineer working for Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft (SIG) in Newhausen, Switzerland. In the late 1860s he worked on a repeating cartridge rifle for the Swiss government. Fixed metallic cartridges had only been perfected a few years previously and several nations were already working on single shot designs but the Swiss realized the limits of single shots and bypassed that stage in rifle design.
The Mauser-designed box magazine, that now seems so simple and should have occurred to designers after about ten minutes of thought, was still almost two decades away. The first generation of rifle-feed systems used magazine tubes, usually located underneath the barrel. The challenge here was how to get the cartridges from the tube to lift up to be loaded into the chamber.
This is where Vetterli got inspiration. He borrowed a design from the United Stated and the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The Model 1866 lever action rifle was already well known in global arms design circles.
Lever action designs were not very attractive to military buyers because of the complexity of the designs and cost of manufacture. However, Vetterli liked what he saw in the Winchester 66’s feed system. It used a lever-actuated elevator to lift the cartridges from the magazine tube. The elevator mechanism and much of the Winchester’s receiver design was incorporated into a bolt-action rifle.
In January 1869, Switzerland became the first nation to adopt a magazine-fed repeating rifle. The Model 1869 had a 33-inch barrel and the magazine held 12 rounds. There were 150,000 Model 1869 Vetterlis made by nine contractors.
The rifles originally were issued with a loading gate cover, that kept dirt out of the action, and a magazine cut off, which allowed the rifle to be used as a single shot. Both of these features were deemed unnecessary and were phased out of later models. There were several models of Vetterlis made: 1869, 1869/71, 1871, 1878 and 1881. All used the same action design and the differences were minor.
Changes included rear sights, magazine capacity, checkering on forearm, and butt plate shape. There were also a limited number of carbines made with barrels of 18-19.5 inches long. Also made in limited numbers is the Stutzer rifle, which has double-set trigger. These were for sharp shooting and target use. The Swiss used the Vetterli until it was replaced by the Schmidt Rubin Model 1889 rifle in 7.5x55mm.
All Vetterlis were chambered for the 10.4x38R rimfire cartridge. It is loaded with black powder and the bullet weighs 334 grains. This cartridge is usually called a Swiss .41 rimfire here in North America and Remington once manufactured the .41 rimfire here. Many Vetterlis were imported in the early 20th century. It was one of the first foreign military surplus arms that were available to American shooters for very low prices.
They were even somewhat popular as hunting rifles and many gunsmiths built shortened “sporters” out of them. In 1942, Remington dropped the .41 Swiss from their line and the Vetterlis fell into the oddity category where they languished for years.
When I started selling at gun shows in the mid 1980s there were a few firearm models that seemed to turn up frequently but very few buyers were interested. These would languish on sellers’ tables or be carried around by attendees looking for a buyer. They were not worth much money. I remember seeing examples of these guns sell in the $50-100 range all the time.
And even then it was a hard to find a buyer. If ammunition was not readily available, shooters had no interest in these historical relics. A few of the under-appreciated rifle designs that come to mind are the Dutch Beaumont, Austrian Werndell and the Swiss Vetterli. Of all these models, the Vetterli has a unique distinction that makes it special to collectors of military firearms. The Swiss Vetterli was the first bolt-action magazine-fed rifle ever adopted as a service weapon.
The days of $50 Vetterlis are long gone. The current going rate for a Vetterli is $250-500 depending on variation, maker and condition. The Stutzer and carbine versions bring as much as three times what a rifle will. Be aware that there were many carbines made by shortening standard rifles. This was done by importers such as Bannermans that had thousands of long rifles on hand that were hard to sell.
For detailed information on the Vetterli rifles I recommend the book, Swiss Magazine Loading Rifles 1869-1958 by Joe Poyer from North Cape Publications. It is as an excellent reference on Swiss rifles. Also there is an excellent website that features Swiss firearms, www.swissrifles.com.
In recent years there has been a growing interest in shooting the old black powder cartridge rifles. The original 10.4x38Rmm being a rimfire round does not make reloading a practical option. The answer is simple. Change the Vetterli bolt to shoot centerfire ammunition.
This is a fairly easy conversion to make for someone with access to a lathe and a bit of machining skills. All that is done is adding a centered firing pin to the striker and drilling a hole in the center of the bolt face. New centerfire 10.4x38Rmm brass can be formed from .348 Winchester brass. The forming dies are not inexpensive but once the investment is made a 130-year-old Vetterli can once again belch smoke.
This article appeared in the December 3, 2012 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
The semi-auto Magnum Research MLR22AT .22LR rifle takes rimfire accuracy to the next level. It's based on the Ruger 10/22 receiver in an improved package.
HERE’S SOMETHING you’ll very seldom hear me say: I couldn’t find a single disagreeable thing about Magnum Research’s MLR22AT. Strip away everything from this particular rimfire, and you’re left with the very familiar and highly praised Ruger 10/22, a foundation that is rock-solid.
The rifle is ridiculously accurate. She’s light, easy to clean, and favors a diet of reasonably priced ammunition.
But before we begin this gun review, allow me some translation of the rimfire’s model designation. MLR stands for MagnumLite Rimfire, while the AT portion of the name reads as ‘ambidextrous thumbhole (stock).”
The foundation for the AT is a Ruger 10/22 receiver and blowback operating system. Standard is the Ruger’s tried-and-true 10-round rotary magazine – same push button behind-the-mag release and forward cut-out allowing fingertip access to ‘pry’ the magazine out, if necessary.
A single screw just ahead of the magazine cut-out connects the stock to the barrel/receiver. The crossbolt safety is located in the forward portion of the trigger guard; a scalloped bolt lock behind and slightly to the left of the magazine release holds the bolt open (press lower) or closed (press upper).
Different, however, from the traditional stock 10/22s are several features unique to the AT. In milling the receiver, the folks at Magnum Research have incorporated an integral Weaver style rail atop for mounting optics. In the rear of the receiver, a hole allows for easy barrel maintenance. The bolt handle on the AT is large – one inch long, and 11/16-inch in diameter – and hollow, i.e. light to allow for sufficient bolt speed with the relatively slow .22LR ammunition.
The barrel, which still attaches to the receiver using the Ruger’s two-bolt V-block locking system, is feather light, weighing approximately 14 ounces. Barrel composition is steel covered with what the company calls “uni-directional graphite (laid) parallel to the bore axis.” The result, they claim, is a lightweight, incredibly accurate bull-style barrel that’s six times stiffer than the equivalent weight in steel.
This, then, reduces barrel vibration and improves accuracy, while simultaneously the graphite composition dissipates heat rapidly. The barrel does sport silver steel caps at both the muzzle and receiver.
In a final boost to accuracy, the AT features a Benz target chamber –by their explanation, a tighter chamber with a shorter tapered throat leading into the first cut of rifling. A reverse false muzzle, I assume, which guarantees the bullet is chambered true, and in line with the bore, rather than canted even slightly.
Rounding out the AT is a polypropylene thumbhole stock, with deep checking and semi-swells on the pistol grip, a high optics-friendly comb, and a uniquely-shaped fore-end designed both for weight reduction, as well as to allow the barrel to free-float.
For testing, I mounted an Alpen Apex XP 4-16×44 scope wrapped in Weaver Quad Lock rings atop the AT’s receiver, and scooped up a variety of .22LR ammunition. With the rifle settled into a Lead Sled, and working at a laser-ranged 25 yards, it took us fewer than 30 rounds to get her dialed in. And when I say dialed in, I’m talking everything inside the half-inch square black diamond at the center of a Birchwood Casey Shoot*N*C target. Everything.
After a half dozen such 5- and 10-shot groups, I left my stepson and stack of ammunition at his side, to his own devices. Eventually he wandered over to where I was shooting digitals, with a perma-smile etched on his face. “Would this even be fair on squirrels?” he asked, showing me his targets. One, a 30-round cluster, measured 3/8-inch from center to center. At one point, he began shooting a single hole, and then using that as a target. “This gun is ridiculous,” he said. “We need to buy it.”
And the boy is right; the MLR22AT is ridiculously accurate if you feed her the proper ammunition. Based on the company’s printed suggestion, we sighted the rimfire in with CCI’s Mini-Mag (36-grain/hollow point/1260fps) ammunition.
Problems experienced? Absolutely none; however, I can’t say the same about some of the other ammunition we tried. The company’s printed material did warn of possible function issues when using promotional or bulk ammunition. They weren’t lying.
This article appeared in the December 3, 2012 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Workman tried both CCI and Winchester .22 Magnum loads and found that both performed superbly in Ruger’s new single-action.
When Sturm, Ruger announced the stainless steel Single-Nine in September, I had to get my hands on one immediately, and that’s just about how this handgun review happened.
Within several days, this .22 Magnum single-action “nine-gun” was getting acquainted with my gun-hand palm. It is an idea I wish Ruger had come up with back when I was a much younger fellow, hunting raccoons with a guy who became my mentor. It’s a revolver I could have used on any number of occasions when I bumped into a bunny at dusk along some abandoned logging spur or out in the woods and tangles along the Snoqualmie River’s Middle Fork Valley.
For plinking, the Single-Nine is a winner. That Champion target is about 6 ½ inches tall, and anyone who can hit that thing consistently at 25 yards will have no trouble putting rabbits in the cooler.
The .22 Magnum is a flat-shooting, hard hitting little rimfire and out of the Single-Nine, this cartridge realizes its potential thanks to the 6 ½-inch barrel topped by a Williams fiber optic front sight, and the Williams click-adjustable rear fiber optic sight. Being a fan of tritium night sights, I can say without fear of rebuttal that fiber optic sights are the next best thing in subdued forest light, and Williams did it right with green tubes.
What caught my immediate attention was that this revolver tucked rather well into an old George Lawrence holster I had built several years ago to accommodate a Ruger Blackhawk with a 6 ½-inch barrel. Packing this “hogleg” in the woods became no problem at all.
It is widely known I’m a sucker for Ruger single-action revolvers. I own, uh, several in .45 Colt, .41 Magnum and .32 H&R Magnum. The only credible reason I don’t own a Single Six is because I own a vintage Ruger Standard semi-auto that was designed with the nine-round magazine, and is a remarkably accurate pistol.
If I want to clobber a rabbit or grouse with a rimfire, I’m set, and for those longer shots, well, there’s that Ruger 10/22 semi-auto rifle topped by a 4X Bushnell scope that frequently rides in my pickup truck.
Ruger calls the laminated hardwood grip panels “gunfighter” grips, but I don’t know a gunslinger who would risk such a pretty pair of panels in a shootout where the handgun might be dropped. Suffice to say I was favorably impressed with the smooth feel and comfort, which I think contributes to the long-appreciated Ruger frame’s accuracy. A gun that fits the hand well enhances a person’s ability to comfortably aim and squeeze the trigger, and Ruger’s Single-Nine is no exception to the rule.
However, I confess to not really caring for thin grips on a single-action because they just don’t fit my hand as well as traditional wider grip panels.
Nine rounds, count ‘em! This new Ruger single-action has plenty of firepower.
The action on my test gun (Serial No. 815-00323) was superbly finished with a matte stainless surface that was consistent from the butt to the muzzle. The cylinder is counter bored so case heads are fully protected, and naturally, Ruger designed this wheelgun with its proven transfer bar and frame-mounted firing pin.
Now, for the very good news: Out of the box, the Ruger Single-Nine shot right to point of aim at 20 yards. I did not have to adjust the rear sight one bit. I cannot guarantee they will all come like that, but my test gun did and I’m impressed.
I had a Champion target, one of those self-sealing rubber numbers that spin around on a tubular steel frame when hit, and I set it at 15 yards with a tree as a backstop and began pumping rounds through it. Mine was one of those orange models about the size of a chipmunk, with a weight at the bottom to — in theory anyway — bring it back standing right side up. I hit that thing so hard with a couple of rounds that it stuck upside down, which just about spells what this revolver will do on live game.
Anybody who can hit one of those rubber targets repeatedly will have no trouble at all hammering cottontail rabbits or snowshoe hares all winter long. Raccoons are doomed, and if you want to put the hurt on a coyote, be my guest.
A .22 Magnum hollowpoint to the noggin of some yodel dog is going to ruin his whole day, and the handgunner who can do this consistently will never have to prove himself or herself in any other way. My guess is that the accuracy is due to six lands and grooves cut on a 1:14 right-hand twist.
Check how those fiber optic sights light up.
Oh, yes, this revolver would be a gem for the ladies because there is virtually no recoil thanks to the weight. That 39-ounce weight diminishes recoil to zero for folks used to shooting centerfire revolvers.
Ruger’s chronograph results were pretty much my experience. A standard 40-grain bullet out of that barrel will clock around 1,400 fps, and that’s bad news for any small game on the business end within, say 50 to 100 yards.
I remember once shooting a raccoon out of a very tall tree late one afternoon many years ago, using just .22 Long Rifle rounds out of a nine-shot Harrington & Richardson revolver that was my dad’s. It had a thin barrel, the sights were pretty basic and that gun — I keep it tucked away for nostalgia — would not hold a candle to the Single-Nine under any conditions.
The Single-Nine is rugged, like every other Ruger single-action revolver I’ve ever fired. Like the Blackhawk, I doubt if you could break this gun without deliberately abusing it with a ballpeen hammer, and even then I’m not so sure the Single-Nine wouldn’t still come up shooting. It seems just that tough.
The stainless steel construction is perfect for my Pacific Northwest home country, and is good for guys who like hunting big grouse late in the season up in Southeast Alaska. That fiber optic sight will just soak in every bit of available light, and in those drab gray days of winter, that’s the kind of edge that small game simply can’t escape.
Here’s an inescapable fact: Ruger’s new Single-Nine is going to be a smart investment for a small game handgunner who likes the extra punch of the rimfire magnum round. Anyone who purchases one of these single-action sizzlers is going to love it, or he’s just not from around here.
This article appeared in the Gun Digest the Magazine 2013 Shooter's Guide.
In this Gun Digest handgun review, Mark Kakkuri reviews the FNH FNX 9mm – an American-made pistol from a venerable European gunmaker.
Many people have never heard of it, and if you’re not careful, just saying the name “FNH FNX” can sound like you’re mad or something is wrong. In the case of this polymer 9mm duty pistol, however, almost everything is right.
A little bit of history: European firearms manufacturer Fabrique Nationale (FN) has been producing legendary firearms since the late 1800s, including collaborative products with the late John Moses Browning. In 1977, FN acquired Browning Arms and in 1989 FN became The Herstal Group.
During the late 20th century, the company would produce weapons such as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, the M240 machine gun, the P90 machine gun, and the Five SeveN pistol. In more recent years, the company would create and deploy the FN SCAR 16 and 17 globally. In addition to these and other military and law enforcement weapons, the company also created the pistol you see here.
The FNH FNX design includes a polymer frame with a serious gripping surface, a trigger guard that’s large enough to be used with a gloved hand, a tactical rail, a larger ambidextrous magazine release, and an ambidextrous decocker/safety.
In double action mode — available only if you use the decocker to lower the hammer — the trigger stroke was still smooth but very long, so much so that some of the shooters who were helping me wondered if something was wrong with them or with the gun.
The FNX service pistol was introduced in 2009 and incorporates many of the ergonomic improvements initially developed under the U.S. Joint Combat Pistol Program for the FNP-45 USG.
Chambering a round resulted in the gun having the hammer back, ready to fire in single action mode. Those who would want to carry in Condition 1 would at this point push the decocker/safety up to activate the trigger safety. To fire, the user would thumb the decocker/safety switch down and the gun would be ready to fire, a very 1911 feel.
The decocker/safety was easy to engage, fairly positive in its travel, but too easy to decock when merely trying to take off the safety. This would result in the need for the long, double action stroke to fire the gun. Of course, a shooter could manually pull the hammer back and return to Condition 1.
When decocking the FNH FNX, the right side of the ambidextrous decocker/safety switch would at times push against my hand, which was annoying. The decocker/safety was not as crisp as other levers or switches I’ve used and let down the hammer with a fairly loud thud.
Regardless of the position of the hammer, a shooter could activate the safety. With the safety on, the FNH FNX allows a full trigger stroke but with no activity in the fire control system. In other words, while some safeties prevent any trigger motion, the FNH FNX’s safety actually disables the fire control system, allowing the shooter to pull the trigger all the way back in single action or double action mode.
The FNH FNX is easy to shoot and very accurate in single action only mode. The single action stroke, in fact, is clean and crisp but with more takeup than you would expect. The break surprised the shooters every time. The gun’s trigger was smooth-faced and caused no problems with fingers after squeezing off hundreds of rounds.
The FNH FNX sported a smaller than normal slide release lever or button, which we never used. The shooters preferred to tug the slide manually to let it close and pick up ammunition from a fresh magazine.
The FNH FNX’s larger than normal ambidextrous magazine release reliably ejected empty magazines, as long as we used the release on the left side. Pushing the release from the right side would release the magazine but hold it in place.
The sights on this pistol offered a typical three dot configuration, but with a large white dot on the front sight and regular size white dots on rear sights. Although only slightly bigger than what we were used to in a front sight dot, the larger dot on the FNH FNX’s front post was very helpful in aiming.
We put all 400 rounds down range and the FNH FNX reliably ejected all of them. Out of 400 rounds, however, seven failed to go into battery. Each of these mishaps resulted in the nose of the round sticking into the top of the chamber. These stuck rounds were never the first round of a magazine but usually the second or third or fourth in line. More telling: The failures to go into battery only occurred with the less experienced or weaker shooters in our group. I attributed these few problems to limp wrists.
The FNH FNX’s three included magazines each hold 17 rounds of 9mm ammunition. As such, a 50-round box of ammunition was enough to fill two magazines with 17 rounds and an additional magazine with 16 rounds.
We experienced no sore fingers from shooting the FNH FNX but several sore thumbs from loading the magazines. High Precision Range (HPR), a relatively new ammunition manufacturer based in Peyson, Ariz., supplied 400 rounds of 9mm ammunition for this test. For the record, every HPR round looked good in the box, loaded well, fired reliably and accurately, and impressed all the shooters involved in this test.
The FNH FNX 9mm is made in the USA and retails for $699. With its first outing resulting in 400 rounds of HPR 9mm ammunition easily, safely, and accurately down range, you too might have the opportunity to introduce your friends to a gun with an enviable and interesting lineage, one that gets just about everything right.
This article appeared in the Gun Digest the Magazine 2013 Shooter's Guide.
We're alive! Either the Mayans miscalculated or we've gained a reprieve from the end of the world happening today.
Here at Living Ready, our back-up plan banked on being around beyond Dec. 21, 2012. We're happy to announce that Living Ready is growing in a big way for the new year.
On the heels of the wildly popular first issue of Living Ready magazine, we'll be publishing four print issues in 2013. Each issue will be available on the newsstand approximately at the turn of the seasons, so watch for the Spring 2013 issue around March 19, 2013. (Haven't read the first issue yet? Download it now!)
Plus, we're hard at work this very minute on our new website, which will be completely devoted to the true meaning of Living Ready. That means promoting a sustainable way of life that assures you are prepared, will survive and will thrive, no matter the situation.
We're not focusing on preparedness because it's a current fad. Nor are we interested in fear-mongering. This is about a way of life. Living Ready will help you plan long-term for a way of life that gives you control over your necessities. This means offering critical information on topics like growing a garden, canning and storing food.
We'll also be a guide for outlining an emergency plan to keep yourself and your loved ones safe in the face of catastrophes, especially natural disasters. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast in late 2012, it's never too soon to start planning.
And, yes, we'll even share what you need to know to protect yourself again the Zombie Apocalypse, or the onslaught of any other bad guys.
Until the website is live, we're growing our online community of like-minded souls over on our Facebook page. Come ‘Like' us and let's start sharing our ideas, questions, experiences, failures and successes. Let's Live Ready together.
Gun Digestthe Magazine is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. With a subscription to Gun Digestthe Magazine, readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews, how-to instructions and Second Amendment issues.
Officials in Florida expected that the total number of Sunshine State concealed carry permit holders would exceed one million by the end of 2012.
Doubling since 2007, the number of concealed weapons license holders will top 5 percent of Florida's 19.1 million residents in a state that is number one nationally in licenses issued, the News Service of Florida reported. Florida has been licensing concealed weapons since 1987, when state officials took over authority from counties that had a patchwork of requirements regarding who could carry and what was needed to qualify for a license.
Clearly it is a popular law and has been taken advantage of by a large number of Floridians who have acted responsibly, said Adam Putnam, commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the agency which oversees the state¹s concealed carry program.
Floridians who are obtaining these licenses are obtaining them for the right reason and are using them in an appropriate way.
Of the two million Florida carry permits issued since 1987, only 0.3 percent have ever been revoked.
License holders are predominantly male and most are over 31 years old, with more than 219,000 at least 65 years old, the News Service of Florida noted. While still a relative minority, representing about 20 percent of all license holders, more than 200,000 women also have licenses to carry.
A U.S. Coast Guard petty officer from Maritime Safety and Security Team 91106 armed with an M870P fitted with a Trijicon reflex sight and a Speedfeed stock.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the savvy Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, is often quoted as saying, “You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.”
It’s a great quote, but he may have never said it. Entire armies of couch warriors have devoured tons of Cheetos while debating the authenticity of this quote on the Internet. I wish I had their free time. I wish I had their Cheetos.
But even if the quote is misattributed, we all know the notion is true: America is a land of gun owners and as such it would be hell to pay for any invading foreign army.
However, in a new book by shotgun expert Nick Hahn, The Gun Digest Book of the Remington 870, we learn this truth: Today you cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be an 870 behind every blade of grass (and many would be slug guns).
Indeed, Remington’s 870 shotgun has been the company's grand slam in terms of quality and value. In a testament to modern mass production efficiency, to date we have been blessed with 10 million of these rugged scatterguns. A remarkable number of other countries have benefited, too.
Writes Hahn:
No other shotgun is found more often in the racks of the police patrol vehicles and in the hands of S.W.A.T. team members in the United States, than the Remington Model 870. In addition to North America, here’s a partial listing of countries that have and still use the 870: Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Poland, Norway, Finland, Thailand, Philippines, Panama, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Jamaica, Haiti, U.A.E, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Oman, Djibouti. That’s 35 countries, and it isn’t even the complete list!
The 870 MCS—Modular Combat System is used by dozens of military and police organizations worldwide. It allows the shooter set up at least three different configurations based on the mission’s needs.
Hahn tells of the “Pumas” — the Ecuadorian Army Special Forces — and Mexico’s special narcotics units using the ‘ol “Eight-Seventy.” And certainly the pump-action is the reigning king in American law enforcement, plus among U.S. Army Special Forces Green Berets and U.S. Navy SEALS.
It really says something about a gun when that many countries choose the American-made 870, many over their own domestic pump shotgun manufacturers, for police and military use.
Notable examples of Remington’s global market hegemony include Belgium (who can ignore the giant Fabrique Nationale?) and Italy’s Beretta.
Heck, even the super-elite British SAS agents — of Britain, the home of Holland & Holland and birthplace of the very “gauge” system we use in shotgun nomenclature today — have been using the Remington 870 since 1969.
The Remington 870 rules. And you can thank your lucky stars that here, in America, there really is one lurking behind every blade of grass.
Learn about camo rifle painting so it, as well as you, can blend in no matter where you are with this easy do-it-yourself project.
There is nothing that visually stands out more than a rifle. It can be a modern urban environment, a dusty village in Iraq, or the middle of dense bush and the first thing that will grab someone’s eye will be the shape of a rifle. Rifle painting is one solution.
Camouflaging your equipment can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Here are three techniques for custom rifle painting.
Sponging
You can be wearing great camouflage and blend into your environment, but a black weapon attracts attention like a clown at a funeral. Notice how the solid green pants stand out; stick to the idea that camouflage does its best to replicate nature’s random patterns.
“Sponging,” using a rough sponge to blot on color, is one of the easiest techniques to use when painting your gun. Most people who have painted the inside of a home are familiar with this interior decorating standard.
The first step is to tape off any areas that you don’t want to be painted or damaged, such as the lens and dials on optics, and iron sights. Make sure you cover other areas that are critical to its operations, such as the muzzle crown or bolt.
After donning a pair of gloves, I degrease the weapon to ensure there isn’t any oil present. Depending on the weapon, you may need to prep the surface by lightly scuffing the parts. If you have wood stocks — especially anything with a slick clear finish — you may need to take extra time and sand it. Once you’ve prepared the surface, degrease again.
Spray a base coat using at least two colors, and blend one into the other to create the “blurring” effect. Then, taking a coarse painting sponge (available at any major hardware store or craft shop), sponge the next color onto the areas where the base colors meet.
I cut the sponge into different sizes and shapes and constantly rotate the shapes so I don’t end up with a repetitive pattern. To apply the paint to the sponge, just spray it until it’s good and moist, then sponge until it’s dry. Then repeat.
Once this is done, I’ll sometimes use a fourth color and sponge on the highlights using a lighter color, or create shadowed areas using a darker paint.
The finished products are pictured here. The AR was painted using the sponging technique and the shotgun was camouflaged for urban environments using the masking technique. Several of the different techniques were used on the bolt rifle.
Stenciling
“Stenciling” is about as easy as the sponging method. The prepping process is the same.
Again, start by laying down a base coat using at least two colors. Once it’s dry, use a stencil to add more defined patterns.
Stencils can either be positive — such as a section of fake plastic plant — or negative, created by cutting patterns from cardstock to create a silhouette or a negative stencil.
Attach the stencil to the rifle by the stencil to conform to the weapon’s shape, and tape it to the rifle. It doesn’t have to be perfectly formed to fit the rifle; anywhere the stencil is not touching will create a blurry area to provide a sense of depth.
With the stencil attached, spray the next color, being careful not to spray too heavily (once you remove the stencil, there’s usually too much contrast). Then move the stencil to a different location or attach another stencil and repeat the process.
Using different colors or stencil shapes will create a more random pattern. This technique works really well for field environments where you’re trying to reproduce the chaos found in nature. Let your wild side guide you.
This is the sponging technique pictured in stages. The AR is taped to protect the barrel, receiver and the light’s lens. The stock, handguards, light, and grip have been sprayed with the base colors, blending them together. The handguard, light, and grip have already been sponged.
Masking
“Masking” is a little more complicated and time-consuming, but also produces some of the best results.
Use masking tape to create shapes as you layer on your paint. I recommend starting with your darkest color and working your way to the lightest. You can always blend colors for depth.
Begin with your base color. Cut out masking tape to cover the areas that you want to remain that color. Any areas left uncovered will be painted over, so advance planning is necessary — especially if you’re trying to reproduce or match an existing camo pattern.
Once you have the areas masked off, apply the next color. Let it dry. Mask off the areas you want to remain that color and spray again. After completing all the masks and colors, remove the tape to reveal the finished product.
The cool thing about these techniques is that you can combine them to obtain a variety of results. Consider the environment in which you’re most likely to use your weapon and use colors and shapes that match that area. When in doubt, use lighter colors rather than darker.
For practice, use wood 2x4s until you have your technique squared away. If you run a paint application on your weapon you don’t like, you can always scuff it up and paint it over again. If you’re a little squeamish about painting your weapon, just paint the “furniture” (stocks, grips, and handguards), leaving the receiver and barrel plain.
Think about the practical “field” applications of camouflage: Don’t stand out and draw attention. For the sniper, this means blending into the environment for a successful mission. For a hunter, it can be the difference between putting meat in the freezer and just spending a nice day in the field.
Tiger McKee is director of Shootrite Firearms Academy, located in north Alabama, and author of The Book of Two Guns. McKee can be reached at www.shootrite.org.
The prototype of the Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle was described in the essay “The Scout Rifle Idea” by Jeff Cooper in the 1984 edition of the Gun Digest annual.
The prototype of the Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle was described in the essay “The Scout Rifle Idea” in the 1984 edition of the Gun Digest annual. The renowned gun writer Jeff Cooper put forth his rationale for the scout rifle and the technical details underpinning the concept. He passed away in 2006 and five years later his vision was realized through collaboration between Ruger and the Gunsite Academy.
In his essay, Cooper quoted the army definition of a scout: “A scout is a man trained in the use of ground and cover, movement from cover to cover, rifle marksmanship, map reading, observation, and accurately reporting the results of his observation.”
He expanded the definition further as the rifle must be the perfect shooting tool in the world of the scout:
“This term also was an honorific, for obviously a scout was a very high type of soldier — an active, intelligent, trustworthy, courageous, skillful athlete. He acted alone, not as a member of a team. By choice he did not fight, but he had to be an expert at the hit-and-run art of single combat. By choice he did not shoot, but if forced to shoot he shot quickly, carefully, and as little as possible. “One round, one hit — and then vanish!” — that was his motto. He did not need an assault rifle. He needed a scout rifle.”
The Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle – does it live up to Jeff Cooper's standards?
Select Jeff Cooper Quotes on the Scout Rifle
Cooper: “There are all sorts of plastics, but the best sort can produce a stock that is both lighter and stronger than wood. Fine wood is prohibitive in price and common wood is no prettier than plastic, so plastic would seem to be the wave of the future.”
Living Ready Magazine: Ruger deviated here and put a black laminate stock on the Scout even though synthetic stocks are popular. It is prettier than the proposed plastic and it is tougher and more resistant to moisture than wooden stocks. A fair trade-off.
Cooper: “Detachable box magazines are, except for the Mannlicher, of reduced capacity, and experimental modifications taking the 20-round M-14 magazine are awfully clumsy with the big box in place. At this time nobody except Mannlicher offers point protection for reserve rounds in the magazine.”
Living Ready Magazine: Magazine design and quality have come a long way since Cooper wrote this. The Scout has a push-forward Mini-14-style magazine release. There are 3, 5, and 10-round magazines available.
Cooper: “The scout rifle now evolving will be a bolt gun, as the semi-autos are overly long, heavy, and bulky, and the volume of fire they afford is of little consequence to a true scout.”
Living Ready Magazine: The bolt action is one-piece stainless steel with a Mauser-typer extractor and three-position safety.
This article is an excerpt from the new Winter 2012 issue of Living Ready Magazine.
Original ArmaLite AR-7 rifles are now quite collectible and will often sell in the $250 to $400 range.
SURVIVAL RIFLE. When someone says those words what do you think of? I bet many of you think of the AR-7, a .22 LR semi-automatic rifle. The AR-7 is one of the few firearms that have been marketed with the “survival rifle” moniker. In fact, any gun can be utilized as a “survival” gun but relatively few have been marketed as such.
Eugene Stoner designed the prototype of the AR-7 at ArmaLite in the late 1950s. Stoner is well known as the designer of the AR-15/M-16 series adopted by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1963. The AR-7 was born in a program to design a survival arm for the USAF to arm pilots and other personal in survival situations.
The main survival guns of the time included the M-4, a .22 Hornet bolt-action made by H&R and the M-6, a .22/.410 over/under gun. Stoners’ contribution to the program was not actually the AR-7 but the AR-5. The AR-5 had the advantage of repeat fire over the then-standard M-6, using the same .22 Hornet cartridge. When the AR-5 was adopted as the MA-1, but not placed in issue because of the numbers of M-4 and M-6 survival weapons in USAF inventory, ArmaLite used the research and tooling for the AR-5 in developing the AR-7 for the civilian market.
ArmaLite introduced the AR-7 Explorer on the American market in 1959. The ArmaLite guns were made in Costa Mesa, California. They were offered with three colors of plastic stock: black, swirled green and brown. The early plastic stocks have a tendency to develop cracks around the front opening for the action.
This is caused by over tightening the assembly screw when putting the gun together. As long as they are not stressed further at the cracked area, the stocks can be used for many years. All of the ArmaLite-made AR-7s are now collectible. They will currently sell in the $250 to $400 range. The brown stocks are the scarcest and they bring the higher amounts. ArmaLite ceased operations in 1973 and Charter Arms bought the AR-7 design .
ArmaLite made another variant and sold it to the Israeli military for pilot and aircrew use. The Israelis further modified these rifles, adding the telescoping stock that holds two spare magazines, a pistol grip from a FAL-type rifle, shortening the barrel to 13.5-inches, and adding a front sight based on the K98 Mauser. After Israeli service, some of these rifles were re-imported into the U.S. by Bricklee Trading Company.
The barrels are marked with the BTC identification as required by U.S. laws on imported guns. In order to comply with U.S. federal law, a 3-inch muzzle brake had to be permanently attached in order to meet the minimum 16-inch barrel requirement. These Israeli-contracted AR-7s are the rarest on the U.S. market and have been sold for upwards of $500 for nice specimens.
Charter Arms manufactured the AR-7 from 1973 until 1990. They made the gun in a basic black color and added a silver tone version, which they called the AR-7S. In 1986 a camouflage version was offered, called the AR-7C.
And it floats! The AR-7 breaks down easily and its components store in the floating buttstock for convenience and safety.
The big contribution Charter Arms made to the AR-7 story was the addition of the Explorer II pistol version of the AR-7. It resembled a broom-handle Mauser. The receiver had a built-in pistol grip with no provision for the rifle stock (the internal parts are interchangeable between rifle and pistol). The rear sight of the pistol was an open notch adjustable for windage and elevation. The Explorer II front sight was integral with the barrel shell and was not adjustable.
The magazine well in front of the trigger guard would accept any magazine designed for the rifle. A spare eight-round magazine could be carried inside the grip. The most common barrel was 8 inches. Optional barrel lengths included 6- and 10-inch versions. The Explorer II was not as popular as the AR-7 rifle. Without the store-in-the-stock feature the gun was a bit large and oddly shaped to carry around in an assembled state. There were no sling swivel add-ons or holsters made for the Explorer II pistol.
Because NFA 1934 regulations set minimum rifle barrel length at 16 inches, the barrels on the rifle and pistol are not interchangeable to prevent installing the pistol barrel on the rifle. The AR-7 barrel has an alignment lug that mates a notch in the receiver.
The receiver notch and barrel lug for the rifle are on top; for the pistol, they are on the bottom. If a pistol barrel were installed on a rifle (or vice versa), the extractor on the bolt would be opposite the extractor slot in the barrel, preventing the bolt from closing (plus the front sight would be upside down). Modifying the pistol barrel to fit the rifle, or cutting a notch in the rifle receiver to accept the pistol barrel, would in the eyes of the law, make it a short-barreled rifle and would require federal registration on an ATF Form 1 with payment of a $200 tax.
In 1990, the design and production rights passed on to Henry Repeating Arms and the compact rifle was slightly revised. The AR-7 is now known as the Henry U.S. Survival rifle. An ABS material replaced the original plastic, which was prone to cracking and failure. The receiver recess in the Henry stock allows storage of receiver with a magazine in place and the rifle is normally sold with two magazines.
The latest versions of the Henry allow for storage of three magazines total, with two in the stock recess, and one in the receiver. The modern Henry U.S. Survival rifle is also waterproof (all prior versions were known to leak water inside the stock). They now include a full Teflon coating on the outer surface. A 3/8-inch rail milled into the top of the receiver for mounting a wide variety of optics is now a standard.
During its 53-year production span, the AR-7 has inspired a number of companies to offer after-market parts. The fact that both the barrel and stock are detachable has led to after-market accessories, similar to those available for the Ruger 10/22. Barrels, stocks, and grips of varying finishes and utility, can be added to the rifle.
These include collapsible stocks, wire-framed stocks, pistol grips, flash suppressors, shrouded barrels, high-capacity magazines, telescopic sights, red dot sights and other fanciful-looking hardware, usually at a cost greater than the rifle. Such accessories usually make it impossible to use the original floating stock for storage of modified parts.
This article appeared in the November 5, 2012 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Some shooters are under the mistaken impression that their rifles shoot better at long range than they do at closer range. This simply is not, can not be true.
Want to be a better rifleman? First, disregard these common rifle shooting myths.
Down through the years, many gun writers have warned shooters that flattened and damaged bullet points can severely affect shooting accuracy. The issue is one primarily a product of cartridges having been stored inside the magazine of a heavy-recoiling rifle.
In such a case, when the rifle is fired, the cartridges sometimes are forced forward, causing the bullet points to impact the front of the magazine, thereby resulting in the flattening of the soft lead points. Over the years, it seems that many shooters have accepted the pretense that such imperfections can cause a bullet to go astray in flight. Until a few years back, I had no way of either validating or discrediting those claims, so, I decided to find out for myself how large a problem this really was.
I began by severely damaging the bullet points of a diverse variety of cartridges. Those cartridges were then shot along with an equal number of pristine, undamaged cartridges at 100 yards. Test rifles were sandbagged front and back to ensure the maximum degree of steadiness.
Without getting into a great deal of detail, I will only say that, at 100 yards, the amount of accuracy deterioration was so slight that I don’t believe any shooter under normal field conditions would notice the slightest degree of difference between the damaged and undamaged bullets.
In order to determine what effect damaged bullet points would have on shooting accuracy, the author purposely battered the soft lead tips, possibly deforming them more than would occur naturally inside a magazine under heavy recoil.
Of course, whenever the aerodynamic lines are disrupted, a decrease in the bullet’s ballistic coefficient would result, and that would translate into slightly poorer trajectories and a reduction in the bullet’s ability to resist the effects of the wind. But, in most cases, and with the exception of shooting at extremely long range, I feel the consequences would be minimal.
What I believe to be a larger potential problem is the fact that the same heavy recoil could result in driving the bullets deeper into their cases. If this should occur, it could result in elevating chamber pressures. The best way to prevent this from occurring would be to tightly crimp the case mouths around the bullets.
Rifle Shooting Myth 2: My Bullet Hit a Twig!
I’ve often heard hunters attempt to justify a missed shot because the bullet clipped a small limb or twig on its way to the target. Even the legendary Jack O’Connor occasionally used this as an excuse for a failed shot. It’s certainly logical that a bullet encountering an obstacle could be disrupted, but I was at a loss to as to how serious a problem this could be.
In an effort to find out, I constructed a type of wooden manifold, wherein I inserted a series of hardwood dowels to simulate limbs. The dowels were positioned close enough together to ensure that a bullet traveling to a paper target on the other side would be sure to contact at least one.
Three calibers were selected for testing, the .300 Win. Mag., .30-30 Winchester, and .22-250 Remington. Because of the current variety of .308-caliber bullets, three different bullet weights and styles were shot in the .300, with one style for each of the .30-30 and .22-250.
I began with doweling measuring 3⁄16-inch and placed the obstruction 10 feet in front of the target. In my first rounds of testing, and in all calibers, the amount of deflection was nearly indistinguishable. So, next, I increased the dowels to ¼-inch and moved the obstruction 30 feet from the target.
This increased group sizes, but still not substantially. Of course, as the size of the object struck increases or the distance between the obstruction and the target is increased, you should expect a greater degree of deviation. The important thing here is that shooting through grasses and fairly light vegetation should not be problematic for a hunter, as long as the game is a reasonable distance behind the interfering obstacle.
It is believed by many shooters that blunt-nosed bullets are the better choice when hunting in dense brush, but the author found no substantial difference between the performance of those bullets and pointed styles, the latter of which typically possess considerably higher ballistic coefficient values.
Rifle Shooting Myth 3: Round-Nose Bullets Penetrate Deeper and are Better in Brush
My previously mentioned bullet deflection tests included both pointed and blunt-nosed bullets. After seeing no noticeable difference in the amount of deflection between the two, I decided to take the tests one step further and see if blunt-nosed projectiles had either or both a tendency to penetrate deeper or retain a higher level of retained weight when shot into a bank of old magazines.
You have to be a bit careful, when drawing a conclusion like this, because both these traits are closely related to the quality and construction of the bullets.
Nevertheless, as long as the bullets were of the same high-quality construction, I saw nothing in these tests to indicate that a round- or flat-nosed bullet would perform any better. Pointed bullets routinely carry a higher ballistic coefficient and, for that reason, will buck the wind better and shoot flatter at long range.
That makes it an easy choice in my own mind, regarding which bullet style to shoot. As long as you aren’t shooting a rifle with a tubular magazine that requires the use of blunt-nosed bullets for safety reasons, my choice will always be pointed projectiles.
Some shooters mistakenly believe that the firearms marketed as stainless are impervious to rusting. This assumption is wrong. What the factories call stainless is not true stainless steel, and, like a blued firearm, they will rust if not properly cared for.
Rifle Shooting Myth 4: Stainless Guns Require Less Maintenance
The trend in firearms clearly seems to be away from the classic blued ones and in favor of those being marketed as stainless. But, a big misconception comes into play, when a person thinks these stainless in appearance firearms are impervious to rust.
In reality, they are every bit as susceptible to rusting as a blued gun—it may take a little longer for the rust to take hold, but rust they will, if proper precautions aren’t taken. The reason this happens is based on the fact that, while the gun metal may look like stainless steel, it really isn’t stainless at all.
Because of this, it is advisable to take the same precautions to prevent rust on both blue and these so-called “stainless” guns. The best protection comes from thorough cleanings and frequently wiping down the metal surfaces with an oil-soaked rag.
Rifle Shooting Myth 5: Bore-Sighting is a Good Way to Get Your Rifle Zeroed
Bore-sighting a firearm should never be considered an alternative to actual live-fire zeroing on the range.
Just because the center axis of the barrel may be perfectly aligned to the crosshairs of your scope does not necessarily mean that your bullet will follow that same line of flight. In fact, it rarely does. Bore-sighting should be used only as an intermediary step, after which actual live-fire shooting should follow to fine-tune the adjustments.
But the usefulness of a boresight is not limited to only getting your initial shots on paper. Once you have completed the sighting-in process, you should take another reading, followed by recording that relationship on paper. That way, if your gun gets bumped hard or dropped, you have an easy way to confirm that no ill effects have occurred.
If you are recoil-sensitive, it is always a temptation to let someone else sight-in your rifle, but it is much better if you do it yourself.
Rifle Shooting Myth 6: I Always Let Someone Else Sight-In My Rifle
Some shooters who have a tendency to be recoil-sensitive may be inclined to let someone else sight in their rifle for them. This should, however, never occur. There are several advantages to sighting-in your own rifle.
First, it gets the shooter used to the recoil of the rifle, and, second, it familiarizes them with the gun. But aside from those very valuable advantages, it is important to recognize that differences in how people actually see things can effect where the bullets will impact on a target.
Different shooters shooting the same rifle and ammunition will quite often have their bullets impact at a different point on a target.
Rifle Shooting Myth 7: A Clean Firearm is a Better Firearm
It’s always good to clean your gun and keep it in top-notch shape. For shooting consistency, though, it’s best to foul the bore by sending a shot down the barrel prior to heading out on a hunt. Why? Typically the first shot from a clean bore will impact in a different spot than the follow-up shots. This was the case in the photo below, with the clean bore round printing high and to the left.
How could anyone make an argument against firearm cleanliness? Well, I can think of only a single instance when a little dirt might be a good thing, and that is inside your gun barrel when it comes to heading out for a hunt.
One of the factors necessary for consistent shot placement has to do with the consistency of the firearm bore. Simply put, a round fired through a clean bore will almost always impact at a different point that those shots that follow—and that first shot is often the most important you will take in a hunting situation.
I have frequently found the amount of variation can be from about an inch all the way up to three or four inches at 100 yards. If you never shoot past 50 yards, this might not be an issue of concern, but, if you find yourself trying to pull off a shot at a record-book bighorn ram on that once in a lifetime hunt at 400 or 500 yards, it could easily become a substantial problem to overcome.
I like to remove all the variables I can and, in so doing, I always send a round down the barrel and foul the bore before heading out to hunt.
Rifle Shooting Myth 8: I Always Carry My Rifle Muzzle Down in the Vehicle
When traveling, it has become a common practice for many shooters to position their rifle with the muzzle down against the floorboards. I suppose most believe that placing their rifle in this position provides a degree of safety, but there is a problem in doing so.
The condition of the barrel crown is crucial to good accuracy. Floorboards, particularly in hunting rigs, are frequently dirty, and this dirt can easily result in a marring of the crown. A better way to carry a rifle in a vehicle is in a carrying case, but, sometimes a hunter likes to have their rifle more accessible (for obvious reason).
If you fall into this category, and as long as the rifle is unloaded with the action open and the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction and away from people, carrying it upright, muzzle towards the truck roof, simply makes good sense and can go a long way towards preventing damage to your rifle that can affect its accuracy.
Is factory ammo really better than reloads?
Rifle Shooting Myth 9: My Rifle Shoots Better at Long Range
I have occasionally heard shooters purport that their rifle shoots more accurately at long range than at close range. This is simply untrue and cannot be.
One of the major factors in accuracy has to do with the yawing of the bullet. Yawing is when the back of the bullet begins to wobble in flight. This eventually results in the entire bullet moving about in a circular manner, as it makes its way to the target.
The theory is that the yawing eventually begins to settles down, resulting in a lessening of the size of the bullet’s circular movement. Nevertheless, whether the yawing is lessened in flight or not, when the bullet initially starts to oscillate, its destiny is then cast.
Having begun these movements, it is impossible for the bullet to lessen the size of its rotation and get itself back on a straight-line track. In reality, if your rifle is capable of shooting, say, a two-inch group at 100 yards, it won’t be capable of one-inch at 300 yards—in fact, under the best conditions, that same rifle will most likely shoot a six-inch group at that range.
Rifle Shooting Myth 10: You Can’t Beat Factory Ammo with Handloads
Without a doubt, factory loaded ammunition has never been better than it is today. A shooter has more choices in bullets styles and weights than were ever available in the past. But mass production can never equal attention to detail—and that is why factory loaded ammunition virtually always falls short in the area of accuracy and performance, when compared to handloads.
For years, it puzzled me why that was the case. The factory frequently loads the same bullets that handloaders use, using the same primers and cartridge cases, and, while the factory seldom divulges what types of powders they’re loading, I feel their choices are of equal quality to what handloaders use. I eventually decided to investigate the situation a little closer and began pulling the bullets from a wide variety of factory-loaded cartridges to check the weight of the powder charges.
I took five cartridges from each manufacturer and each load type, weighed the charges, and what I found shocked me. While most handloaders attempt to hold their charges to within plus or minus 0.1-grain or less, apparently the ammo factories aren’t so critical. To my surprise, the factory-load charge weights varied from a low of 0.5-grains all the way up to a whopping 1.7-grains! In most cases, I found the cartridges containing the heavier powder charges usually possessed the largest amount of deviation in their charge weights.
Also, it was the larger cartridges that typically contained the coarsest grained powders, which can pose a problems when it comes to metering accuracy. I wondered how such a slack standard could take place, so I followed up by contacting several mainstream ammo manufacturers and was told by each one that their powder charges are metered out in volumetric form, rather than being measured by weight.
Of course, the factories usually run their own in-house checks to make sure they fall within their own preset standards. But my issue is with what those standards are, when it comes to fluctuations in powder charge weight. I am quite sure that, if my own handloads contained powder charges that varied that much, my loads would be shooting on par with those of the factories.
This article appeared in the 2013 Annual Gun Digest book.
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