Gun Digest is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews and practical how-to instructions. With your Subscription, you’ll also learn about threats to your Second Amendment rights. Click here to begin your subscription to Gun Digest.
Inside this issue:
Taurus .25 PLY
Newbold Targets
Double Barrel Tactical Shotguns
Gun Review: Blackheart AR-15
Gun shows, auctions, classifieds and more!
Not a subscriber? Make sure you don’t miss another issue! Subscribe now
Leatherwood/Hi-Lux is offering a reproduction of the long-tube style USMC scope. For lovers of vintage military arms, this is indeed exciting news. Here's a look at the Leatherwood USMC Sniper Scope.
As we reported in this blog a few months back, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) recently launched a new category of competition known as the Vintage Sniper Match. As interest in this contest gains traction, a few manufacturers are coming out of the woodwork to bring reproduction vintage military guns and gear to market, the type you can take to the range and shoot.
Now, Leatherwood/Hi-Lux is offering a reproduction of what I consider to be the most attractive of all optics — the long-tube style USMC scope. Today from Leatherwood:
One of the most recognized names in military sniping during the Vietnam conflict was Marine Corps marksman Carlos Hathcock. During his two tours, he was credited with 93 confirmed kills. The rifle he relied on for very precise long range shot placement was a Model 70 Winchester, of .30-06 caliber, topped with an 8x Unertl scope. The accompanying USMC photo shows Hathcock in Vietnam, sighting in on a distant target.
Leatherwood/Hi-Lux now offers a reproduction long-tube USMC scope for Winchester Model 70 vintage sniper rifles.
Scopes of this design, with micrometer click external adjustment, were once favored by long range precision shooters, and quite a few different scope manufacturers offered very similar models. Today, an original USMC marked scope in mint condition can sell for as much as $5,000 to $6,000. And with the current interest in shooting and competing with vintage style sniper rifles, just a working standard model scope in very good condition can still bring $2,000 or more
Leatherwood/Hi-Lux Optics is now adding an extremely well built 8X USMC-SNIPER model to its Wm. Malcolm line of vintage style riflescopes. Not only will this scope match the originals for extremely precise adjustment of windage and elevation, the new made scope also offers the advantages of modern lens making, with fully multi-coated lens surfaces for maximum light transmission. This scope offers the brightest, clearest, and sharpest optics ever in a riflescope of this design.
The scope will be marked with the Wm. Malcolm name over the USMC-SNIPER model designation, and each will be serial numbered – as were the original USMC models. The Marine Corps utilized this style of scope on sniper rifles during WWII and Korea, commonly relying on the old WWI vintage .30-06 Springfield Model 1903-A1. (Modified specifically for sniper use, the WWII rifle was also known as the USMC Model 1941 Sniper Rifle.) During the Vietnam conflict, some of the earlier snipers, such as Carlos Hathcock, continued to rely on the external adjustment “target scopes” the Corps had adopted during WWII.
The new Wm. Malcolm 8X USMC-SNIPER captures the look, the precision and the accuracy capable with riflescopes of this type. And at the $549 suggested retail price, it is far more affordable than a serviceable original from the 1940s, or even the 1970s when they were still in production. Like all Leatherwood/Hi-Lux Optics, the Wm. Malcolm USMC-SNIPER model comes backed with a limited lifetime warranty.
All of this is exciting news for anyone with an interest in vintage military arms. Especially nice is the fact that the scope's price tag — at $549 retail — is affordable, unlike the very rare period models floating around out there in the online auctions.
My question is, will Winchester follow suit with a reproduction heavy barrel pre-64 style Model 70?
For more information, please contact :
Hi-Lux, Inc. 3135 Kashiwa St., Torrance, CA 90505 Tel: (310)257-8142, Website: www.hi-luxoptics.com
Remington Arms Company, LLC, recently announced contracts with two West Virginia Law Enforcement agencies, with both contracts for Remington’s workhorse shotgun, the Model 870.
Remington Law Enforcement Sales was awarded a statewide term contract to supply the West Virginia State Police with Remington Model 870 Police shotguns. Police took delivery of their first order in August 2011.
The shotguns are also available to Law Enforcement Agencies across West Virginia through the state contract.
In addition, Remington Law Enforcement Sales was selected to supply the Charleston Police Department, West Virginia’s capital city, with two different versions of the Model 870 Police shotgun.
Partnering with Town Police Supply, the Remington Authorized Law Enforcement wholesaler for West Virginia, Remington will service the needs of the West Virginia Law Enforcement community for years to come.
The Model 870 was introduced in 1950, and since then has sold over 10 million units. The Model 870 Police remains the overwhelming choice of law enforcement agencies across the nation, due to the shotgun’s proven dependability and performance.
In 2009, a very popular public shooting range within the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA), near Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, was closed over safety concerns. That left a lot of shooters without a place to shoot. Until, that is, three new, privately owned ranges opened nearby.
When the Sleepy Creek range was closed, “Initially, state officials said the shooting range would be relocated elsewhere in the WMA,” the State Journal reported. “But local business owners announced they wanted to take a shot at accommodating gun-lovers’ needs.”
“What we saw happen was that private enterprise stepped in to meet the demand,” explained Larry Hines, wildlife manager at Sleepy Creek WMA.
“Each is unique and will appeal to different clientele,” said Hines. “Now with these new ranges, we’re going to see the area continue to be a destination for sportsmen. It’s actually going to grow because these new ranges are offering all kinds of classes, services and facilities that we never could as a public range.”
In the nine or so years he's had it, Delmar Polite had never fired his .357 revolver before Monday.
A pack of jackals changed that for him, however, when they decided it'd be a good idea to smash in his front door at 2:30 a.m. and attempt to make off with his stuff.
“I was in the bed asleep,” he said. “I was scared.”
Frightened or not, Polite did what a lot of us would do. He grabbed his pistol and went downstairs to defend himself and his home. He got off a couple of rounds — Polite didn't hit a blessed thing — but managed to ward off the home invaders.
Polite called police and, when they showed up, they confiscated his gun — standard practice, nothing out of the ordinary — until they finished their investigation. Thanks to a 13-year-old misdemeanor conviction, Polite might not get his gun back at all.
Prior convictions
As records go, the one Polite accrued as a younger man isn't pristine, but it's not that bad, either.
Aiding and abetting larceny, misdemeanor (1988); misdemeanor worthless check (1991); and misdemeanor assault on a female (1998).
Three misdemeanors, three guilty pleas. Far worse people walk the streets every day.
It's the last one, the domestic-violence charge, that's hanging him up now. Under federal law, anyone convicted of anything related to domestic violence — felony or misdemeanor — isn't supposed to have a gun. Ever.
“I don't know what would have happened if I didn't have that gun,” he said. Read more
CBS News has obtained secretly recorded conversations that raise questions as to whether some evidence is being withheld in the murder of a Border Patrol agent.
The tapes were recorded approximately mid-March 2011 by the primary gun dealer cooperating with ATF in its “Fast and Furious” operation: Andre Howard, owner of Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona. He's talking with the lead case ATF case agent Hope MacAllister.
The tapes have been turned over to Congressional investigators and the Inspector General.
As CBS News first reported last February, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allegedly allowed thousands of weapons to “walk” onto the streets without interdiction into the hands of suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels in its operation “Fast and Furious.”
The conversations refer to a third weapon recovered at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
Agent: I was ordered to let guns into Mexico
Court records have previously only mentioned two weapons: Romanian WASR “AK-47 type” assault rifles. Both were allegedly sold to suspects who were under ATF's watch as part of Fast and Furious. Read more
The GSG-1911 is manufactured by German Sport Guns and imported by American Tactical Imports.
As a low-cost training option, trail companion or plinker the GSG-1911 is a reliable little pistol faithful to its big brother the .45 ACP. Scott Wagner provides a 1911 review of this affordable pistol.
It seems the latest trend these days for firearms manufacturers, licensee manufacturers, or sometimes totally independent entities is to provide realistic replicas of modern combat/tactical firearms in .22LR versions, especially since centerfire ammunition has been in short supply or so expensive that actually shooting any of it is cost prohibitive. Therefore shooters have been turning to the modern wave of “understudy” firearms to be able to have something they can actually shoot, in a realistic replica version of the gun they would really like to be shooting.
This has resulted in the introduction of some outstanding firearms that at first glance can’t be distinguished from their full power siblings. I can’t really say full size, as these are full size weapons, mimicking the weight, balance, ergonomics and handling of their full power relatives. And usually, not only is the ammunition for them much less expensive, but so are the guns themselves, being rimfire, blowback versions of the “real” thing.
Now, this has been a great thing, especially for those of us who remember the first of the .22LR “replica” (boy was that term a stretch) AR-15s from companies like ERMA. Their gun had about as much in common with a real AR-15 as the toy Mattel M16 rifle from 1969 did. This new generation of replica guns is outstanding and long overdue. But one of the best of this new breed isn’t an AR-15 or MP-5 replica. It’s a 1911, one very nicely done by German Sport Guns in (you guessed it) Germany, and imported by American Tactical Imports: the GSG-1911.
The GSG-1911 is accurate! It points like a 1911 and hits where you look.
To put it mildly, this is a great pistol for anyone seeking a .22 for whatever reason. It is a 1911 after all (albeit with a few design modifications). As such it has so much more to offer over standard .22 pistols that look like, well, standard .22 pistols, especially considering its price. Even the Ruger .22/45 — which has a grip frame designed to feel like a 1911 — isn’t a 1911.
It still clearly looks and handles like a .22 target type pistol, its grip only feels a bit like a 1911, but it certainly doesn’t look like one. The GSG-1911 IS a 1911, and as such it offers the shooters all the shooting advantages of its full power relatives without the recoil. And believe me, although they won’t admit it, there are plenty of folks out there that would like to shoot a 1911 without the noise and recoil of the .45 ACP round. So let me detail what those advantages are, particularly in terms of this particular 1911.
GSG-1911 Construction
In terms of construction, the GSG-1911 does exhibit some differences as compared to a true 1911. First, the slide of the GSG-1911 is aluminum and the frame/receiver body of the pistol is cast Zinc #Z410 (Zamak), which gives it a heft that totally absorbs the miniscule recoil of either standard or high-velocity .22LR rounds, making it an ideal gun for new shooters. While some of you may be put off by a 1911 frame that is constructed of zinc as opposed to aluminum or steel, you won’t know it is zinc by the appearance, which is a pleasant matte gray. It took me awhile to figure out what the frame was made out of. I finally emailed the factory. You won’t recognize it as Zamak, at least externally. Where you will notice the Zamak construction — if you are a 1911 aficionado — is in terms of weight distribution.
The GSG is grip heavy, enhanced by the light weight of the aluminum slide. Here’s the thing though — because of the materials used in its construction, you can purchase this pistol for about $339 retail. Sure, they could make the frame out of steel, but that would shoot the cost up by at least $200 a copy. Considering the low pressures involved with the .22LR cartridge, there shouldn’t be any significant wear and tear on the frame. The slide is marked .22LRHV but the owner’s manual advises that the gun is set to work with either standard or high-velocity rounds. For what I envision the uses of this pistol are, I would stick with HV loads when running it. The grips are nicely checkered walnut colored wood of the traditional Colt style “Double Diamond” pattern. They are held in place by flathead screws.
The extended thumb safety is ambidextrous — again a nice touch for the new left handed shooter, or a shooter who wants to use this pistol for self-defense (steady now, I will get to that part). There is a magazine safety, which, for a house defense gun, is a nice touch. In a household with young children, a round can be kept in the chamber of the gun, ready to rock with the safety on and the magazine kept in a separate location. Should the need arise the homeowner can grab the gun, slap in the magazine, and the pistol is ready to go — no need to even rack the slide, just snick the thumb safety off (from either side).
Speaking of charging the pistol and retracting the slide — and here is where I find a huge advantage for certain shooters who wish to use this pistol for self defense – the aluminum slide and lightweight recoil spring of the blowback action takes almost no effort to pull back and retract. In fact, when holstering in a tight fitting holster, you will want to make sure the slide is cocked and locked, or held in place by your thumb as you holster as it will not take a whole lot of rearward pressure to take it out of battery. This characteristic makes the GSG-1911 ideal for those with hand strength issues — the small-statured, the elderly and others.
The sights are adjustable — but not adjustable in what I would term the traditional sense. In fact, and I hate to admit this, but I had to read the directions to figure them out (not being a mechanical rocket scientist myself). The rear sight can be slid back and forth in its dovetail after loosening the set screw that holds it in place to adjust for windage.
Elevation is a different story. The pistol, along with the instruction manual and cleaning and disassembly tools, comes with two spare front sight blades of different heights to change elevation. Loosen the set screw on the front sight and slide it out of the dovetail. This is an important feature as the GSG-1911 I tested shot about 2 inches high and 2 inches right when using the 36 Grain Federal Hi Speed Hollow point ammo. Changing the blade to the tallest choice and adjusting the rear sight to the left did the trick — it was a relatively simple procedure and the pistol shot dead on. You may want to make this adjustment after you pick what will be your standard “duty” load.
Speaking of directions, keep them handy, while the GSG-1911 looks exactly like a 1911, it doesn’t take down like one, so read the directions first. Yes, it is fairly close, but there are some minor differences between it and a full power 1911. The slide release is standard size, the grip safety is of the beavertail variety and shields the web of the shooter’s hand from the skeletonized hammer and trigger. All these items are constructed of steel, along with the barrel liner. The guide rod is polymer, but so are the guide rods on Glock pistols. In my book, just about everything on this pistol makes it suitable for a wide variety of shooters. Now, let’s take a look at those who would benefit the most from owning or using a GSG-1911.
The author argues that while the .22LR is not the recommended defensive caliber, it sure beats a “clenched fist” and angry words.
Beginners
I was not the first to get to fire the GSG-1911. I took it out on a Saturday to introduce a father and his two teenage sons to the world of shooting, and the GSG-1911 seemed a great place to start. Again, let’s see, great sights (easy to explain), lightweight trigger in the four-pound range, and the excellent 1911 safety system, and, oh yeah, zero recoil, little noise and no blast. Definitely a recipe for success. Ammo was Federal’s bulk pack 36-grain high-speed copper plated hollowpoints — the main .22 load I had in stock.
Of course, it worked out exactly as I planned. The boys and their dad took to the gun like ducks to water. They handled it with aplomb and enjoyed the experience.
Using the GSG-1911 allowed them to easily transition to a Glock 17 and Wilson Combat ULC .45. But it was the GSG-1911 that taught them sight alignment, grip, and trigger management.
Defensive Shooters
Ok, most of us agree that the 1911 is an excellent, if not the very best combat pistol extant. Part of the reason for that belief is due to the .45 caliber round it was designed for. The other reason is because of all the ergonomic qualities I have been pointing to throughout this article. But the problem with a true 1911 pistol is that not everyone can handle the recoil of the .45 ACP.
Yes, I know the 1911 is available in the milder recoiling 9mm, too, but I would submit if you can’t handle a .45, then a 9mm could be a problem as well. Maybe cost is a factor. There ain’t nothing cheaper to shoot than the .22LR, right? And yes, yes, I know, the lowly .22 LR is not considered to be any sort of proper self-defense caliber, but, 10 rounds of .22LR HV HP out of a five-inch barrel sure beats a clenched fist or mean words — particularly if that fist is restricted by strength issues! Besides, the .22LR has probably accounted for more non-military/police civilian deaths than any other caliber.
Add to this the fact that the person who is standing on the business end of a determined civilian pointing a GSG-1911 at them isn’t likely to notice that the bore is “only” of .22” diameter. They will likely think something along the lines of “crap-that #@$%&+ is about to shoot me with a .45!” Let me tell you, when I get to the age where I physically have problems handling “full power” cartridges for home defense I feel that the GSG-1911 would be perfect for me. If you are to use it as a self-defense tool, pick out the hottest loads the GSG will cycle with 100 percent reliability. You might want to consider high velocity solid loads like the Remington Viper 33-grain truncated cone round for deeper penetration on human or larger animal targets.
Another area that the GSG-1911 shines is as a trail companion, at least in areas where a .22 would suffice. I have taken to carrying it in a Gould and Goodrich belt holster with thumbreak when walking the dogs in my woods, a task formerly relegated to my former duty revolver, a Model 67 Combat Masterpiece .38. I’m not likely to encounter anything larger than a dog in my area (or a coyote) and a 10-shot .22 should suffice in most any situation I would encounter. Even if I was going camping or hiking for example, in a place where a larger gun was needed for animal defense, the GSG would be nice to have along as a camp gun. Great for potting small animals or plinking with, and of course additionally available for defense.
As you can see, the GSG-1911 really does it for me. I hope I have given you some ideas for its use that you may not have thought of. I can tell you, I will be sending a check, rather than the gun, back to ATI.
The first S & W 44 Magnum with 4-inch barrel, engraved and stocked by the Gun Reblu Co., Biltmore, N. C.
The world's most potent handgun cartridge in the year 1958, its history and development, plus notes on handloading and shooting it, by the man whose dream came true!
In 1953 while at Camp Perry, Ohio, I had several long sessions with C. G. Peterson of Remington. He was very much interested when I asked him to bring out a heavy 44 Special load with my bullet at 1200 feet. He asked me to come up to the Remington plant and handload it for pressures and velocity readings. I also had several long talks with Carl Hellstrom, President of Smith & Wesson, and he also urged me to visit his plant after Camp Perry. When I finally arrived at the Remington plant, Mr. Peterson was away on vacation, but Henry Davis took me to Gail Evans, who made notes on all my work and findings and promised to take it up with Mr. Peterson as soon as he returned. They promised me nothing, except to see what could be done about a heavy factory 44 Special load.
They were afraid that the old Triple Lock, even though it had been handling my heavy loads for many years, might, in some instances, blow up. They said, and rightly, that it was made long before the days of heat treatment or magnafluxing, and some could have dangerous flaws.
After several days at Remington, I put in a week at the Smith & Wesson plant, urging them to get together with Remington in the production of a heavy factory 44 Special load with my bullet and, if necessary, make a new gun to hold it. If they were afraid of the old gun’s strength, I said a new gun could be made with a longer, recessed-head cylinder, the amount of barrel extension through the frame cut to the minimum, but with room for a gas ring.
During my last day at the Smith & Wesson plant Mr. Hellstrom told me he could build a safe gun around any heavy 44 Special load that Remington would make. I then suggested that they could lengthen the 44 Special case until it would not enter any of the older 44 Special guns, and again strongly urged them to get together with Remington and bring out a powerful 44 gun and load. I vamosed then but continued, in letters to both companies, to urge such a load and, if necessary, a gun to handle it. Actually, all this had been covered in my book, Sixguns, years before!
From the late summer of 1953 until early in 1956 I had no word from either company on what they were doing about the heavy 44. In January, 1956, Smith & Wesson phoned me one evening to tell me they had built a big 44, and that the first one finished would be sent to me! This was great news, and I learned also that Remington would ship me some of the new “44 Magnum” ammunition with 240-grain bullet at 1570 foot seconds velocity. I immediately gave General Hatcher — he was also being sent the new gun — the good news.
Well, that’s the story behind the Smith & Wesson 44 Magnum gun and the Remington 44 Magnum cartridge, and it’s all well documented. Thousands of shooters the country over, their interest spurred by my writings and the articles of others, created the demand.
Mr. Peterson and the Remington ballisticians put in a lot of hard work designing and perfecting the load, Mr. Hellstrom and his staff of gun makers likewise did endless work on the new gun. At last my dreams of thirty years are a reality. Today we have the world’s finest big sixgun and load, and my hat is off to every man in both organizations who had anything at all to do with the development. They did a wonderful job.
First the men behind the gun. Carl Hellstrom, Bill Gunn, Harold Austin, Walt Sanborn, Fred Miller, Harold Steins and many others at the Smith & Wesson plant, had their part in the production of this fine arm.
Right, Keith 250-gr. bullet cast and plated by Marked, compared with Remington factory 240-gr. gas-check bullet.
The .44 S&W Magnum
The new gun employs the heavy N frame regularly made for the 357 Magnum, 38/44 Heavy Duty, 44 Special and 45 Smith & Wessons, but this gun has all major parts made from a premium lot of special alloy steel, perfectly heat treated for greatest strength in the Smith & Wesson furnaces. The hammer and trigger are case hardened to a new high in this treatment, insuring a perfect and lasting, crisp, clean trigger pull. The heavy barrels are 6½” or 4″ in length with a wide rib and encased ejector rod. The top of frame and barrel are grooved along the rib and sandblasted to prevent glare and reflection.
All lockwork parts and bearing surfaces are honed to a mirror finish to insure a maximum smoothness, either single or double action. The hammer has a wide target spur and the trigger has a wide flare that perfectly contours the trigger finger for easy cocking and maximum contact area of finger to trigger. The trigger pull runs from three to four pounds, and is as clean and sharp as breaking glass.
The S. & W. rear sight, fully adjustable for both elevation and windage and of locking micrometer-construction, has a white-outlined rear notch of adequate width to insure a strip of light on each side of the front sight, a one-eighth inch red-insert ramp, when held at arms length. The red-insert ramp front shows up well on a black target or game in any shooting light. Stock straps are grooved to prevent slippage. Stocks, of Goncalo Alves fancy figured hardwood, are of the S. & W. Target shape and offer a filler behind the trigger guard as well as covering the front strap and the butt of the gun.
They are hand filling and the left stock is hollowed out for the right thumb. They are perfectly shaped to fit and fill the hand and distribute the recoil over as wide a surface as possible. They are also finely and attractively checkered. The big gun weighs 47 ounces empty. Main spring is the standard S. & W. long spring with compression screw in front strap. Cylinder and barrel clearance are held to a minimum, yet the gun has the smoothest possible action. Cylinder locks tight and lines up perfectly. The cylinder is a full 1.75″ long and has ample room for my 250 grain bullet reloaded in the one-eighth-inch longer 44 Magnum case, still leaving a sixteenth of an inch clearance when the bullet is crimped in the regular crimping groove.
Shooting the .44 Magnum
Left, two Remington 44 Magnum bullets found in necks of a big steer and a 1400-Ib. cow. Right, two Keith 250-gr. Markell-cast bullets (backed by 22 grs. of No. 2400 powder) taken from necks of two large cows. Skulls were completely penetrated.
The new gun is the finest target arm I have ever fired with standard 44 Special factory ammunition or a light reload with my own, or any, accurate target bullet. It holds steadier than any gun I have used on target. Double action pull for fast work is superb and for the target shooter the broad hammer spur is ideal for fast cocking in single action, timed, and rapid fire matches.
The rear end of barrel projects through the frame about 1⁄8-inch and with the long cylinder adds strength to these, the two weakest parts of a sixgun. The 6½” barrel job is ideal for the hills, for target shooting, or for hunting with a sixgun, and a perfect gun for running cougar with hounds. It gives maximum sight radius as well as maximum velocity. It is a great two-hand weapon for game shooting, as it feels muzzle heavy and hangs well on the object.
In a 4″ barrel the weight lies more in the hand and is better balanced for emergency double action shooting, hip shooting and fast aerial double action work. The four-inch job will also be the gun for the peace officer as he can stop either man or automobile, and yet it is short enough to ride high on the waist belt where it will not poke the seat of a car or chair. It will also be the faster to get into action.
External finish of the new gun is the traditional Smith & Wesson high bright blue. A new high in polish has been attained on this gun and even the edges of the trigger guard and the hinge of the crane are polished like a mirror. The ramp front sight is pinned through the rib with two pins before polishing, so that careful examination is necessary to detect the two pins. Attractively packaged in a presentation, hinged-lid case of blue leatherette, it sells at $140.00 and is worth every cent of its cost. It all adds up to a finer gun than I thought anyone would ever build.
Remington has produced the greatest and most powerful sixgun cartridge ever made. The new case is an eighth-inch longer than the 44 Special and it will not fully enter any 44 Special chamber we have so far tried, including S. & W., Colt and Great Western. The solid head case is the heaviest sixgun brass I have ever seen. There are no worthless cannelures to cause the case to stretch when fired and resized. The new case appears to be of the same length as the 357 Magnum brass. The bullet is a modification of my design, with two narrow and shallow grease grooves instead of one heavy, wide and deep grease groove, and with the case crimped down into the soft lead of the forward band, leaving a very small full caliber band in front of the case. The crimp is heavy, and so far no bullets have jumped their crimp from recoil.
The 240-grain bullet has a shorter nose than my slug, the same wide flat point, slightly larger on the flat surface. It is made of very soft lead, a necessity because it is extruded in long ropes fed to the cutting and swaging machines. The soft bullet requires a gas check cup, not only to prevent deformation of the base but to help hold the soft slug in the rifling at high velocity. The slug upsets to fill the chamber mouths perfectly and the gas check is the best I have ever seen on a bullet, being crimped into the rear grease groove. The factory bullets do not carry as much lubricant in both grooves as my original bullet does in its one grease groove. The slug mikes .431″ and the groove diameter of my gun is 429″. Pressure is high with factory loads; I would estimate it to be at least 40,000 pounds and possibly 42,000.
The gun is made to take it, and the case is made for high pressure; fired cases fall out of my gun with a tap on the extractor rod. Accuracy is high at all ranges and the gun shoots good to a half mile. Once we managed to put five out of six bullets on a rock one foot high by 18 inches long at over 500 yards (two of us paced it), shooting with both hands out of a car window, which is plenty good enough for any sixgun. They would have hit a buck deer at that range five times out of six.
At close range it shot quite small groups on targets and, like my original bullet, cut clean full-caliber holes in the paper. My first shot at game was a big Goshawk in the top of a cottonwood 100 yards away. I used both hands, rested my left arm and shoulder against a post and shot with just his head showing over the front sight. The gas check slug caught him dead center and splattered him all over.
The buck mule deer that Keith hit twice out of four shots at over 600 yards, using the S & W 44 Magnum.
Handloading the .44 Magnum
The powder charge is 22 to 22.2 grains of what looks like Hercules 2400 but may be a duPont version of this powder with similar characteristics. We removed the slugs from a few loads, opened the crimp and put the original charge back in the case with my 250-grain 44 Special bullet, cast hard by Mar-Mur Bullet Co., copper plated and sized to .429″. It seemed to shoot in the same group as the factory load but clearly indicated at least 5,000 pounds less pressure, estimated from primer comparisons. With factory bullets the primer is well flattened, the firing pin indentation is not deep or full, and the primer flows around the perimeter of the firing pin indentation slightly.
When the Keith 250-grain hard .429″ slug was fired, the firing pin indentation was deep and the primer was not flattened to anything like the extent of the factory load. This clearly shows the value of one to 16 tin and lead, or harder bullets, when reloading this cartridge.
We also reloaded the fired factory cases with 22 grains No. 2400 and my 250-grain solid and 235-grain hollow base and hollow point bullets, getting, at an estimate, at least 5,000 pounds less pressure. This is a good way to leave it. Let the factory, with their pressure guns and precision instruments for managing heavy pressures, use the high pressure load. I’m well satisfied with either the factory load or my hand load, which develops far less pressure. It is on the safe side, yet a load substantially as powerful. It penetrates even better in beef, perhaps because it is harder, and gives equal accuracy.
The new 44 Magnum S. & W. does not group all loads of the same bullet weight to the same point as do many 44 Special guns. The new Magnum lighter loads print high and right at 1 o’clock; my heavy 44 Special loads a bit lower and nearer center; 20 grains No. 2400 with the Keith 250-grain slug in the Magnum case, just out of the black at 7 o’clock, while the full hand load of 22 grains 2400 and Keith 250-grain bullet print low and left at 7 o’clock. We settled for the full reload and the factory Remington (as both shoot to the same sighting) and sighted the gun for them. The target shooter wishing to use factory 44 Specials will have to sight for that load and change his sights when using the factory Magnum 44 load. Each load made small groups at all ranges tried. I have fired the big gun at least 600 times, both hand loads and factory hulls.
The factory bullet is soft enough to expand readily on impact with flesh and acts just like a soft nosed bullet from a 45–70 or 38–55. With my hollow point 235-grain bullet and 22 grains of No. 2400 expansion is even more rapid than with the factory bullet. It disintegrates on large bones and explodes jack rabbits, chucks, torn cats and similar vermin. The tests prove beyond any doubt that the 44 Magnum factory load will penetrate to the brain of the largest bear on earth or the biggest elk or moose if directed right. It will stop any mad cow or bull on the range with one well-placed shot if the cowpoke gets wound up and has to kill a critter. The fisherman or camera hunter, working the Alaskan streams, now has a gun for protection against a suddenly surprised Brownie with which he can stop the animal if he uses his head and shoots for the brain or spine. The prospector can kill all the meat he needs with this gun and factory loads or my heavy reloads.
Remington 44 Magnum, an unfired bullet, and two fired and expanded bullets.
22 grains No. 2400 and Keilh 250-grain bullet and also factory loads were tried on car bodies, old cook stoves and motor blocks. They’ll penetrate a lot of car body material and even get through the heavier steel braces. Each load cracks up motor heads and will penetrate the block and ruin a piston. One shot through a radiator un-corks it and these big heavy slugs placed almost anywhere on a motor will put it out of commission. The peace officer can stop a car with it, or stop the criminal in it by shooting through the body of the car. I only asked for a duplication of my old time tried 44 Special heavy load with 18.5 grains 2400 and the 250-grain Keith bullet, but the boys went me one better by producing a load that is even more powerful!
The big gun is, I would say, pleasant to shoot, and does not jar the hand as much as do my heavy 44 Special loads from the much lighter 4″-barrel 44 Special S. & W. guns. It is definitely not a ladies’ gun but I have known women who would enjoy shooting it. The recoil has not bothered me in the slightest, nor have several other old sixgun men complained who have fired it extensively, including Hank Benson and Don Martin. The recoil is not as severe as that of a two-inch airweight Chiefs’ Special with high speed 38 Specials. With 44 Special factory loads it is just as pleasant to shoot as a K-22 and with the 44 Magnum loads, which give heaviest recoil, it will not bother a seasoned sixgun man at all. Recoil with my heaviest loads of 22 grains of 2400 and the Keith 250 grain bullet is much less than that of the factory load. The factory load, fired with one hand, flips the barrel up almost to the vertical.
Factory load velocity is claimed to be 1570 feet with 1,314 pounds energy as against 1450 feet velocity and 690 pounds energy for the 357 Magnum factory load. We are a bit skeptical about the claimed 1570 feet velocity. Our own estimate would be somewhere nearer 1400 feet. We base this on a lot of reloading for the 44 Special with 18.5 grains 2400 which gave the Keith 250-grain slug something over 1200 feet from 6½ barrels. Pressure of the factory load is high, make no mistake on that score. Don’t rechamber any 44 Special cylinder to take the big load. Cylinders, as well as guns, should be made especially for this load, and I certainly won’t convert any of my 44 Specials to take the 44 Remington Magnum. A Model 1892 Winchester carbine, however, built to handle this load would make an excellent companion gun, especially useful to the peace officer, or to anyone in the back country.
The Remington 44 Magnum is the best case to reload I’ve seen. With the Keith 250 grain slug cast one to 16 tin and lead and sized exact groove diameter, to cut down pressures, the cartridge gives wonderful accuracy with 5 grains of Bullseye and would shoot accurately with even less of this fast powder. With 8½ grains of Unique it makes a fine medium load of around 1,000 feet or more; with 20 grains of 2400 one gets a good fairly heavy load about equal to my old 44 Special heavy load. If you don’t reload you can always buy a box of Remington factory loads and be sure of getting the most powerful and perfect sixgun ammunition ever made anywhere.
I’ve killed enough beef animals with an 85-pound yew bow, and broadheads that went entirely through the beasts, to know that an arrow gives a slow, painful death with no shock. Now we have a sixgun and load that is infinitely better in every respect as a big game weapon than any bow ever drawn. It kills two-year old steers too dead. They do not bleed well after being hit in the brain with the factory 44 Magnum load. One big porcupine, shot about dead center from the side, was killed instantly leaving a two-inch exit hole on the far side. This gun and load will kill deer just as dead as a 30-30, up to at least 100 yards, if well placed, and the big slug will leave a better blood trail, as it is so soft it expands on contact and continues to expand as it penetrates. Velocity is high enough to carry considerable shock to any animal.
Friends who returned from Korea, after fighting through that unpleasant affair, tell me that they encountered many enemy soldiers with body armor which our 45 auto ammo would not penetrate. The 44 Magnum loads go through quarter-inch dump truck beds like cheese and would penetrate any body armor a soldier would be likely to carry. Loaded with a full metal-jacketed bullet for military use, it would take care of any useful body armor.
After a lifetime of working with all manner of sixguns and loads, answering thousands of letters about them, and the writing of two books on the subject, as well as a great many magazine articles, I consider the 44 Remington Magnum Cartridge and the great Smith & Wesson gun that chambers it the greatest sixgun development of our time! I am happy to have had even a small part in its development.
This article originally appeared in the 1958 edition of Gun Digest.
One of the most overlooked areas of the bolt-action rifle is the bolt itself. We clean the rifle chamber and bore with care and diligence but many times the bolt is never taken apart until it doesn’t work. This is unacceptable for any rifle let alone a precision or professional rifle. Most of this is attributed to unfamiliarity with the bolt and lack of tools to take them apart.
I have used a vise and some elbow grease for years to get the bolt apart and the spring out. The hard part is holding the spring tension while trying to get the stay pin lined up and in. Then there is the sending the ejector spring into orbit when trying to get it out. There must be an easier way.
Disassembled bolt and tools.
I decided to give Sinclair International’s bolt disassembly tool a try. It comes with all the tools to easily take apart the bolt for routine maintenance. It can also be used in the field because it doesn’t require a vise or tools other than a punch and small hammer to get the spring retaining pin out. The tools are stored in a neatly divided plastic box to keep them all together and organized.
The tools can be purchased all together in a kit or separately if you want to put it together to suit your needs. The tools include a firing pin removal tool, which replaces the vise as a holding device. This tool holds the spring tension pushing the upper part of the firing pin assembly out so the bolt shroud and firing pin assembly can be screwed apart. The mainspring disassembly can be done with the disassembly tool, and there is a tool to hold the ejector in place while removing and replacing the ejector-retaining pin. Also with the kit is a plastic block for holding the bolt while tapping out pins.
The firing pin removal tool fits over the Remington bolt shroud and has a hook that reaches over the bolt block. By screwing the hook tight the shroud is pulled back and can be unscrewed from the bolt housing because the spring tension is relieved. The firing pin assembly is easily removed by unscrewing the shroud from the housing. There is no chance of damage to the block sear edges because it is not clamped into a vise like most guys do without the tool. The bolt housing can then be cleaned out with a brush of any residual solvents and dried and coated with a light lube. My housing was wet with residual lube and only had to be wiped out. Sometimes this oil over time will harden and grit will stick to it causing build up.
An exceptional Remington master engraved and gold inlaid Model 11-48 premier F Grade semi-automatic shotgun commanded $18,400.
Collectors from two different worlds had the opportunity to join forces this weekend to break 8 World Records at Rock Island Auction Company. The veterans of Rock Island Auction were out in full force driving prices on antique and collectible firearms, but there were some new faces that joined in to take home part of the first collection of pottery to ever be sold at RIAC.
Rare Early Production U.S. Colt Model 1911 Semi-Automatic Pistol Serial Number 33 realized $109, 250.
Three major collections were up for auction this September as part of the 2,700 lots featured, the first of which was the Putnam Green Collection. This outstanding collection of rare, historic, and high condition U.S. & German Military Arms set records for four genres. The first record of this collection was a rare early production U.S. Colt Model 1911 semi-automatic pistol serial number 33 selling for $109,250 — a world record for a U.S. Colt 1911 Army — making it the top lot of the auction. Other records broken within this collection include: The finest known U.S. DWM Model 1902 American Eagle cartridge counter Luger pistol with holster which sold for $74,750; a serial number 1020 Walther prototype P38 semi-automatic pistol set the record for a WWII P38 at $43,125; and a DWM U.S. Army Model 1900 test Luger pistol with U.S. holster and accessories brought the most ever for a U.S. Army test Luger at $40,250.
The second incredible collection in this auction featured the finest factory engraved Remington shotguns from the pristine collection of James Tipton. An exceptional consecutively numbered four-gun set of Remington custom shop R.P. Runge engraved Model 1100SF semi-automatic shotguns lead this impressive collection with a final sale price of $31,625 after a flurry of bidding. An exceptional Remington master engraved and gold inlaid Model 11-48 premier F Grade semi-automatic shotgun commanded $18,400.
The Finest Known Historical U.S. DWM Model 1902 American Eagle Cartridge Counter Luger Pistol Serial Number 22430 with Holster went for $74,750.
A rare late WWII Nazi VG1.5 Volkssturmgewehr semi-automatic rifle reached $51,750 and a cased model 1893 Borchardt pistol rig complete with matching walnut shoulder stock and accessories commanded $43,125. U.S. military arms also brought strong prices with the highlight being a U.S. Contract Henry Rifle bringing $51,750. Military uniforms, helmets and militaria were in extreme high demand with prices being driven well past the estimates. An SS Oberscharfuhrer's jacket with Deutschland Regiment, and SS combat helmet flew past the pre-auction estimate reaching a final sale price of $14,950. A very rare historic “Tombstone” Colt single action Army with Samuel L. Hart marked loop holster brought an impressive $37,375 and the first lot of the auction, a unique U.S. contract Smith & Wesson 1st Model Schofield revolver with Kelton safety and factory letter set the stage with a sale price of $19,550.
This September Auction brings the total for 2011 to nearly $22 Million, with another auction in December already filling up. Join RIAC for their December Premiere Auction featuring the second installment of Putnam Green Collection Part II, the evolution of Winchester featuring Volcanic pistols and carbines and Henry rifles, quality Lugers, and two of the finest Colts in their respective genres – Ainsworth ‘K’ Company inspected single action revolver and ‘B’ Company Walker. Rock Island Auction Company is currently seeking consignments of one piece or an entire. Contact Pat Hogan or Judy Voss at 800-238-8022 for more information on selling at auction.
Weapons linked to ATF's controversial “Fast and Furious” operation have been tied to at least eight violent crimes in Mexico including three murders, four kidnappings and an attempted homicide.
According to a letter from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the disclosed incidents may be only a partial list of violent crimes linked to Fast and Furious weapons because “ATF has not conducted a comprehensive independent investigation.”
When added to the guns found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in the U.S., the newly-revealed murders in Mexico bring the total number of deaths linked to Fast and Furious to four. Read more
A Walgreens pharmacist was fired by the company after fending off two armed robbers with a gun.
In Benton Township, Michigan, two armed robbers wearing masks burst into a near-deserted Walgreens at 4:30 a.m. To pharmacist Jeremy Hoven, it was a prescription for trouble. So he filled it with hot lead.
A video, newly released by Hoven's attorneys, shows how events unfolded.
Drawing his own gun, Hoven fired at the attackers and drove them off, saving not just himself but two Walgreens co-workers as well as the pharmacy's valuable prescription drugs.
By way of saying thanks, Walgreens fired him.
Hoven, in an interview with the Benton Township Herald-Palladium, said he had acted out of fear. “The adrenaline was taking over,” he said. “You could have probably taken my pulse from my breath, because my heart was beating that much.” Only 42 seconds elapsed, start to finish. All the action was captured on surveillance video.
Before firing, Hoven first tried dialing 911. But before he could complete the call, the first of the two robbers had vaulted over a counter and was standing five feet away from him. That's when the pharmacist went for his own gun and opened fire. Read more
Lumens measure light output at the source. Candelas measure the light that falls on a surface. As the surface area (where the light lands) increases, the number of candelas will decrease, while the number of lumens remains constant.
lluminate, Identify, Incapacitate. This is the defensive triad of any good tactical lighting system, whether it’s truly a “tactical light” (one developed with SWAT teams as the end users) or a patrol-type light for general use by officers on a daily beat. Let’s break down the concept a bit.
Illuminate
First, all flashlights are designed to illuminate. They help us clearly define an area in total darkness, allowing us to maneuver or navigate safely. Any light can do that to varying degrees, and that’s what most police patrol and civilian flashlights are designed to do at a minimum.
Identify
The next “I” of the triad is identify. Here the flashlight concept becomes more specialized because we’re talking about threat identification. Are we looking at friend or foe? It’s this area in which previous generations of incandescent lights with halogen or krypton bulbs fall flat. They simply don’t have enough lumens and candelas to do the job.
Lumens and candelas are the more modern terms used to define light output, as opposed to the older measurement of candlepower. Lumens measure light output at the source, while candelas measure the light that falls on a surface. As the area of the surface increases, the number of candelas will decrease even as the number of lumens remain constant.
The beams from the old tech lights can only identify a small centralized viewing area, allowing the user to see possibly only the face and hands of a person, and not necessarily both at the same time. Even with the best of those ancient generations of lights there was a lot of shifting of the beam from hands to face during any type of confrontation because you couldn’t see what you needed to see —the face and hands at the same time. With modern lighting systems, that technique is no longer necessary.
Incapacitate
The final “I” is incapacitate. The concept was pioneered by the Surefire Corporation in the early 1990s: Use the light as a part of the combat arsenal to incapacitate a suspect through disorientation. Using a light to disorient a suspect was first used with the Surefire incandescent xenon gas bulb 6P lithium battery-powered lights. The strategy is now applied to the latest generations of patrol lights.
The understanding of this concept is critical. In the old days, the best we could do was illuminate and identify our opponent. With today’s more powerful and flexible lights, we can use the light system to disorient and stun the opponent. If we don’t bring enough light (an update of the adage “bring enough gun”) to “stun” our opponents, they can use our illumination source as a target to shoot at.
Seeking ways to boost the local economy, officials in Crossville, Tennessee, decided to hold two events this summer at the local Cumberland County Community Complex: a music festival and a gun and knife show. The run-away winner was the gun and knife show.
“The place was packed all weekend,” Community Complex Manager Donnie Moody told district commissioners, the Crossville Chronicle reported. “We had a lot of vendors and customers that came from everywhere and we had the support of a lot of local businesses.”
The county made a profit of $13,700 on the gun and knife show; the music festival brought in approximately one-tenth of that. The gun and knife show also helped funnel people into other local businesses, further helping the economy. In addition, “Moody said that officials from the National Rifle Association (NRA) told him they were convinced that Cumberland County is the only county that sponsors a gun and knife show.”
Hearing all that good news, district commissioners unanimously approved another gun and knife show for the future.
A third gun linked to “Operation Fast and Furious” was found at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, new documents obtained exclusively by Fox News suggest, contradicting earlier assertions by federal agencies that police found only two weapons tied to the federal government's now infamous gun interdiction scandal.
Sources say emails support their contention that the FBI concealed evidence to protect a confidential informant. Sources close to the Terry case say the FBI informant works inside a major Mexican cartel and provided the money to obtain the weapons used to kill Terry.
Unlike the two AK-style assault weapons found at the scene, the third weapon could more easily be linked to the informant. To prevent that from happening, sources say, the third gun “disappeared.”
In addition to the emails obtained by Fox News, an audio recording from a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent investigating the Terry case seems to confirm the existence of a third weapon. In that conversation, the agent refers to an “SKS assault rifle out of Texas” found at the Terry murder scene south of Tucson.
The FBI refused to answer a detailed set of questions submitted to officials by Fox News. Instead, agency spokesman Paul Bresson said, “The Brian Terry investigation is still ongoing so I cannot comment.” Bresson referred Fox News to court records that only identify the two possible murder weapons.
However, in the hours after Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010, several emails written to top ATF officials suggest otherwise.
In one, an intelligence analyst writes that by 7:45 p.m. — about 21 hours after the shooting — she had successfully traced two weapons at the scene, and is now “researching the trace status of firearms recovered earlier today by the FBI.” Read more
Greatness in firearms is a pretty subjective judgement. But when a gun is nearing its hundredth birthday, hasn’t been out of production for much longer than somebody’s coffeebreak, and is still a favorite of hunters and precision shooters everywhere, calling it great may be an understatement. About the closest estimate one can acquire of the quantities of the Mauser Model 98 produced thus far is somewhere between 91 million and 125 million. It’s hard to come up with a firmer figure, for the rifle was produced in twenty or more countries, most of which used it as a military rifle, and another large group of nations produced clones, copies and ripoffs of the original, often in quantities so vast they couldn’t give a production figure if they wanted, and they don’t want.
Only the Russian AK-47 design comes anywhere close to the production figures of the Model 98. It’s probably not that close, but no one knows for sure. The Chinese and Japanese produced Model 98 rifles and copies in vast quantities, both for themselves and for client states. The Belgians, Poles, Austrians, Czechs, Iranians, Yugoslavs, Turks, Spaniards, Argentines, Brazilians, Mexicans and others produced military M98s in quantity; others produced near-copies and “improvements” for military use like the U.S. M1903 and ‘03A3. (Yes, the Mauser firm was paid at least $400,000 in royalties until at least 1914.) There were also the U.S/British P17/P14 “Enfields” and the late French MAS derivatives in this category.
FN-built Peruvian M1946 short rifle accepting five rounds in a stripper clip of the 30-06 for which these post-WWII rifles were chambered.
And that’s just the military rifles. Handmade Model 98s in calibers up to 50 Browning are still being turned out by builders like Fred Wells of Prescott, Arizona. French, Dutch, British and Italian sporting rifles and actions have been made in standard, miniature and magnum lengths. The Finnish Sakos and the Swedish Carl Gustaf and Husqvarna are all 98-type actions. Many of the countries which used the 98 as a military rifle produced and most still produce the action as a hunting piece. The famous Swiss annual Waffen Digest recently (1992 edition) carried a couple of unusual announcements: One was descriptive of a “new” product called Mauser Jagdrepetierer Modell 98, a rather familiar model introduced by the mother firm, Mauser-Werke, Oberndorf-am-Neckar, absent from the thriving market for their most famous product for 46 years. Waffen Frankonia also introduced their new K98k military rifle, actually a reworked and specification updated military rifle with new parts and stocks, as and where necessary.
So why introduce — at fairly high prices, incidentally — technology almost a century old as a new product at a time of worldwide economic recession? Simply put: demand. The Mauser 98 is closer to a true basic product than nearly any other firearm, and though the analogy seems strained, it occupies a market position similar to eggs, flour or rice.
If one needs an accurate rifle for hunting, sniping, experimenting or target shooting, the ancient three-lug “safety” action is a fine place to start. Indeed, structurally, there’s little to choose between any M98 and the latest bolt guns from, say, Weatherby or Remington; there have been refinements, but the nuts and bolts have been very similar for a long time, and almost anything in the way of doo-dads one can imagine or concoct for a Model 70 Winchester can be acquired, built or purchased for the Mauser.
Of course, for civilians, even purchasing an old military action for very little money and doing the full custom job on it doesn’t save a penny over a top-of-the-line commercial product. The main difference is, when the consumer reworks his own Model 98, he gets exactly what he wants — no more, no less — and if he can do some or all of the work, he really can save a few bucks. What is unique about this time-honored process is that such rifles can be built up slowly, on a sort of self-regulating installment plan, adding a new trigger in January, scope or mount in March, stock in June or July, total refinish some other year. That you cannot do with a new rifle which comes in a fancy box.
But there’s more to the Mauser 98 saga. From 1898 to about 1962, military Mausers were built in considerable variety. All specifications called for minimum vise-secured accuracy level under two minutes of angle. Most performed better. Of course, given the limitations of a broad V rear sight and skinny front blade, or pyramidal “barleycorn” post, shooter-limited factors meant such a level of accuracy was seldom maintained in the field. There were no mystery alloys used in Model 98 Mausers, and if the odd stamped or roughly soldered or welded part found its way onto a wartime K98k, it was always someplace where it bore little stress. The 98s were made for so long that whole metallurgical techniques changed, but, surprisingly, this had almost no impact on the rifle’s quality or durability. Even the military finishes of the rifles generally exceeded the workaday qualities of most of today’s civilian firearms.
Mauser K98.
Most original specification rifles from about 1898 through World War II used what are today considered rather primitive ordnance steels, but carefully heat-treated so that while the core remained very soft, the surface was often as high as 62 on the Rockwell C scale. FN rifles and many from Eastern Europe used tighter dimensional tolerances overall, used far more sophisticated metallurgy, and show lower hardness figures. However, this latter group comprises generally superior actions, far more durable.
I am often compelled to repeat to shooters and collectors that hardness very decidedly is not strength; most materials in use today develop their strengths at hardness levels way below the vogue of forty years ago, and are, in fact, dangerous at high hardness levels. Hardness is relevant in any respect only to a given material in a given application and lately, more often than not, optimum strengths are obtained at levels far below what was popular thirty to forty years ago. When someone in a gun store begins to talk hardness level as some kind of quality determinant, your best response is to turn on your heel and leave. The very strongest bolt actions in the world, the Japanese Arisakas, are quite soft. Dimensions, design, venting and strength determine the overall safety and quality of a rifle action; hardness alone as a factor is bunk. Read Hatcher’s Notes to get a more specific idea of how these matters translate to reality.
The third locking lug in the 98’s receiver bridge is not its sole distinguishing feature, but is usually held to be the most important single distinction between the M98 and its predecessors.
The engineering factors which made the M98 a landmark were simple progressions from the M1892–1896 designs, but they were significant enough that few countries could avoid discarding whatever they had been using to adopt the new system. Rifles just three to ten years old in military service became second-line materiel in most of the world. The third or “emergency” locking lug, the inside receiver ring collar, and the vastly improved, safer, more reliable firing mechanism with its lockout to prevent premature ignition with a broken firing pin, combined with a conglomerate of earlier Mauser evolutionary features and improved metallurgy to produce a rifle which looked and worked very much like its predecessors. In terms of safety under rough conditions and rapid-fire, though, the Model 98 stood alone.
It surprises many collectors and shooters that relatively few Mausers were actually built by the designing firm. “Few” is, of course, a relative term: The Oberndorf factory produced millions. But almost from the beginning, demand was so vast and deep that firms in Europe and elsewhere were licensed to produce the guns. Loewe, DWM, Steyr, Sauer and Son, Fabrique Nationale, the Czech works at BRNO, Radom in Poland, all the German government arsenals and all their subcontractors, and as many as a hundred small factories in Central Europe were producing actions and/or complete rifles by the mid-1920s.
If one wishes to analyze the impact Paul Mauser had on the world, he should dig through the cartridge specifications in one of the better reloading manuals and refer back to Paul Mauser’s 1880s and 1890s cartridges. He’ll find almost every currently popular medium-power rifle cartridge owes much to the compatible cartridges Mauser designed from their inception to be quickly and cheaply adapted to standard rifle actions. The Mauser originals — 7.92×57, 7×57, 7.65×53 (sometimes called 7.65×54) — and the Brenneke cartridges developed in direct consultation with the Mauser firm do not resemble the 308, 30/06, 270 and others by accident; from case heads to bottlenecks, modern cartridge configurations are virtually all derived from original Mauser ideas.
This assortment is only a part of the new cornucopia of Mauser 98 delight brought to us by the changing world picture. The author’s point is that any one of them in barely decent condition is a fine rifle for real rifle work.
Before World War I, the Turks, Argentines, Chileans, Mexicans, Brazilians and many others had adopted the military 98. By the mid-1920s, there were already so many Model 98 Mauser versions and variants that a complete listing would’ve been almost impossible. And by the late 1940s, another World War later, such a catalog was literally impossible. Many countries had ordered rifles in that period from several manufacturers and in several configurations and lengths. Rifles were also refurbished, of course, and calibers were sometimes changed.
Brazil, at one time or another, for example, ordered quantities of rifles from virtually all the major European manufacturers and in 1954 began to manufacture receivers at Itajuba Arsenal. So when one says “Brazilian Mauser,” he may be describing a Model 1908 29-inch long rifle, similar to the German Gew.98 or K98a revision built by DWM; a Czech 08/34, almost identical to the Nazi K98k but with a 22-inch barrel and in 7mm; the Oberndorf-built M1935 long rifle, essentially a later clone of the original Model 1908, the “2nd Variation” 08/34; various rifles shortened to 24 inches and barrels rebored to 30-06 and appropriately modified; the M1954, a 30-06 rifle receiver built as such, but completed with parts left over from all kinds of surplus rifles, including German 98ks; or as many as a dozen other fairly obscure variants ordered in small quantities for special purposes or from firms unwilling to advance normal credit to the Brazilian government and therefore delivered only on a cash in advance basis.
Late-issue German WWII K98k.
The most common general action configuration of the M98 Mauser is the so-called “large ring, standard length.” The receiver ring measures 1.410 inches. The “small ring” rifles measure 1.3 inches. There are also differences in overall configuration, but the ring size is readily discernible and is, therefore, the main identifier. The standard action is 8.75 inches long; the “short” action measures 8.5 inches in length and, at 43 ounces, is 2 ounces lighter than the standard length. There are also large ring, small thread actions which accept M93/95-style barrels, and these — especially those built by FN — are very handy to gunsmiths who wish to stock actions that can be delivered in a variety of configurations.
However, the differences in size are minimal; a person chooses one or the other usually based upon aesthetics or, more commonly, what’s available at a given time. The truly short or miniature actions and the magnum length units are either carefully modified and sectioned militaries or civilian actions. Virtually any Model 98 action that has been checked for cracks and has been rebarreled with correct headspace is quite safe for any standard cartridge which can be stuffed into it. Smiths have become adept at opening up magazines and adapting receivers even to the longer magnum rounds.
But I have always been fond of shooting military rifles, in general, and Mausers, in particular, in their original configurations. The performance is surprising, the variety amazing, and the original cartridges are at least as good as the 30-06 and 7.62×5lmm rounds to which many were later converted.
In the six years or so since GCA ‘68 was modified to allow curio and relic firearms to enter the country again, quite a variety of Mausers have entered. The pictures accompanying and the information with them will supply some specifics, but I’ll relate some general data here.
The first big batch of Mausers to enter the U.S. recently arrived from China, and encompassed virtually all eras and nearly all manufacturers. The Chinese ordered millions, made more millions, apparently bought used specimens of other country’s service rifles after both World Wars, and may have gotten some from the Soviets. So the variety was startling. I saw several hundred rifles, which ranged from truly oddball 16½- to 17-inch barreled 8mm carbines to standard German-issue Gewehr 98s from World War I, German Standard Modell rifles, K98ks in German-issue style and complete with World War II fits and codes, and just about everything else one can imagine finding its way to that part of the world. Since these rifles saw as much as sixty years of hard duty, most were pretty beat up, though some were far better than average.
Marking on standard German K98k of WWII vintage, circa 1944.
Springfield Sporters (Penn Run, PA) brought in most of the Model 98 Mauser supply from Yugoslavia. These were mostly rebuilt in Yugoslavia, and to very high standards. There were several variants, including the enormous quantity of VZ.24/G.24t rifles captured from the Waffen SS; K98ks and refurbished G.98s from the same source; Yugoslavian-built pre- and post-World War II rifles; Czech contract rifles from the late ‘20s and the ‘30s; and oddments of other Central European Mausers captured by the Yugoslavians.
These rifles, in addition to being well-maintained and beautifully rebuilt, contain more of the “if this rifle could talk” history collectors appreciate than most other hardware on the market and genuinely deserve a place in any European Mauser collection, despite — maybe because of — the applied Yugoslavian markings.
They’re also good actions for conversion, although most bear mint-like 8mm barrels, and throwing them out would be foolish. Century International Arms supplied virtually all the Latin American Mausers pictured within this article. If the close-ups reveal anything, it’s that the “export” guns were often made to higher standards than those for German domestic consumption. And why not? Foreign contracts were open to competitive commercial bid and nothing was locked in automatically. Most were made to very high standards, like the best sporting rifles of the period. And since I had an opportunity to compare directly with German rifles of the same years, it was pretty obvious that finish quality was higher on the DWM, Steyr, and even Mauser/Oberndorf guns for Latin America. What was interesting was the shooting quality delivered down-range.
Before developing that data, however, let me note that every Mauser I shot that’s pictured here was in the very best available condition. This cost me extra; it’ll cost you extra, but it’s dollars well spent. It always pays off. Of course, this caution does not apply so much if you’re doing a full-house sporter conversion; Century sells actions in various conditions, already stripped of their barrels and wood; often, complete rifles in fair to good condition cost less than the actions. But if you mean to do any shooting as-is, get the best condition available. If you’re a collector, this is especially true. Pay the extra money, and it’ll always be reflected in the gun’s long-term value. It also always costs much more to restore a clunker than to purchase a better rifle in the first place.
It’s also wise to shoot the best ammo you can. Surprisingly, the quality of surplus ammo is now very high. The FN Belgian 7.65mm Argentine and the San Francisco (Argentina) 7.65 shot as well as any military ammo I’ve ever shot. Yugoslavian PrviPartizan and Yugoslavian surplus 8mm, also from Century, performed beautifully and very accurately, as did the Yugoslavian 7×57.
A composite “Kar.98b,” made in 8mm to approximate the interwar German specification, bearing parts from at least six countries, but primarily comprising a Greek-issue FN 24/30 action, German M1936 “Olympic” target barrel and Argentine stock, with fittings from Turkey, Austria and elsewhere. Shoots well.
Several of the rifles shot very close to MOA, and the Peruvian M1935 7.65 — which looked quite rough but sported a superb bore — actually delivered a 7⁄8-inch group at just over 100 yards. The 7mm long rifles also performed exceptionally, especially the two M1935 Brazilian Mausers, one of which was the proverbial gnat’s eyelash below the Peruvian gun in on-target performance.
The Chilean Steyr M1912 was not far behind. Even the ugly M1954 Brazilian — as rough a rifle as I’ve ever seen and dared to fire, but sporting a pristine bore and perfect head-space even by commercial standards — performed right up to the standards of my National Match M1 in 30-06. The Yugoslavian PrviPartizan 7mm 175-grain loading shot to point of aim in the Brazilian M1935 at 300 yards, but with the sights set for 100 meters. The trajectory suggested high velocity and excellent power, but I determined — since there were no signs of high pressure — chronographing was unnecessary.
The little Argentine M1909 carbines — one an Argentine-built DGFM, the other a DWM from Germany — delivered 1½-inch groups at 100 yards. Those are five-shot groups. I fired three rounds of Norma’s excellent softpoints per gun and did a little better.
Again, as noted early on, these were best groups. No Model 98 sight is quite discriminatory enough to deliver this sort of accuracy anyway, except from a rest, and even then, eyesight limitations and the hard realities of real shooting don’t allow the shooter to do that consistently. But the potential is there. I’ve lately been recommending B-Square’s long eye relief scope setups because they don’t demand anything be drilled or ground up, and the military Mausers thus retain their collector’s value. Also, the stripper loading capability is maintained, and the bolt handles need not be modified.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the tradeoff equation with high-powered rifles. That is, the little 6½- to 7½-pound carbines are light and handy, but the Mauser buttplate is downright abusive, and short barrels generate serious muzzleblast.
The 29-inch barreled long rifles are cumbersome, but sweet to shoot and easy to balance, even over long sessions. The 22- to 24-inch barreled guns, as one might expect, are about midway between the two. Military ammo in 7mm and 8mm is loaded stiffer and shoots better than most American commercial ammo; in fact, I recommend RWS or Norma factory loads in 7.92×57JS (8mm) or handloads. American 8mm is so underloaded that European publications list it as a whole different caliber.
Paul Mauser died in 1914. But you can bet on it: Come 2014, his last major rifle design will be alive, well, and living almost everywhere.
This article first appeared in the 1994 edition of the Gun Digest.
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
Inside this issue:
