A quick look at .22-15-60 Stevens, nothing but a blip on the radar in the world of cartridges.
One of a number of cartridges for the Stevens 44 or 44½ series of single-shot rifles, this cartridge was introduced by Stevens in 1896. Actual design is credited to Charles H. Herrick, of Winchester, Massachusetts. It did not enjoy a particularly long life, as most shooters preferred the .25-21 or some of the larger-caliber cartridges. Many shooters claimed the .22-15 Stevens gave better accuracy than the .22 WCF.
This is an excerpt from Cartridge's Of The World, available now at GunDigestStore.com.
General Comments
This is an improved centerfire .22 of better killing power than other .22s of its day. With the heavy 60-grain bullet, it would shoot flat for 125 yards or so. As a target or match cartridge, most of the blackpowder .22s fouled the bore badly and required frequent cleaning. Most shooters preferred the larger calibers of .25 on up.
*Estimated
The .22-15-60 was displaced by the .22 WCF and smokeless powder developments in the rimfire group. Original primer was the 1½ size, the same as the modern small rifle or pistol primer of .175-inch diameter. Charge was 15 grains of FFFFg or FFFg. Lyman No. 22636 or 22637 in 54- to 60-grain weight is the proper bullet. Therefore, if you should have one of these old rifles in shooting condition, you can still shoot it—if you can find cases.
Some tips on how to find big success when reloading cartridges with small projectiles.
The processes involved in reloading a centerfire rifle cartridge don’t vary drastically when comparing case and bore size, but there definitely seem to be some idiosyncrasies involved with the smaller cartridges. Perhaps it’s the accuracy expectations of a small-bore cartridge, or the game species that are hunted with those smaller cartridges, which have us looking for one-hole groups … or at least tiny little clover leaf groups.
In my experience, the moderate velocity big-bore cartridges can often be more forgiving than the speedier small-bores, or perhaps I should say I’ve often been able to reach the goal line faster with a big-bore cartridge. Along the line, I’ve had some trials and tribulations with the smaller cartridges, and depending on the application for your reloading needs, there are some ideas and techniques that might save you some time.
Learning The Hard Way
I started the small-bore journey by loading for the .223 Remington and .22-250 Remington, in a couple of rifles that gave me fits. My dad had purchased a Ruger Mini-14, which, no matter what we fed it, was a 2-inch rifle. We tried multiple factory loads and then began to handload for the clunker. I thought I didn’t know what I was doing, until we tried the handloads in a buddy’s bolt rifle and saw ½-MOA groups; the strict regimen was working, but the rifle didn’t read the script.
The Sierra 53-grain flat base MatchKing that saved the author’s Ruger .22-250 Remington; it remains his go-to bullet for that rifle. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
My next experience was with a Ruger Model 77 MKII in .22-250, with a sporter-weight barrel, that I purchased for hunting coyotes, fox and woodchucks. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get the gun below an inch, often with a flier. Some shooting buddies who had heavy-barreled Remington 700s with finely tuned triggers were routinely printing ¼-MOA groups, and they were kind enough to share their load data.
No dice in my rifle.
What it took was a change of projectile and a new trigger—those mid-1990s Rugers had a non-adjustable trigger that broke at about 6 pounds, and my rifle has a crown that much prefers the flat-base Sierra MatchKing bullet. A Timney trigger and a 53-grain MatchKing, plus an appropriate charge of Hodgdon’s H380, saw the rifle finally print ½-MOA groups.
Both those rifles had issues, but they taught me some lessons that came in handy later in life. Because I couldn’t get them to print, I started to examine each and every detail of the equation, from the components and their consistencies to the fine-tuning of the cases and the methods of assembly. Small-bore cartridges—especially those which generate higher velocities—can magnify any errors or deviations, and the target board can reflect that. So, I learned some tricks and tips to obtain the best results with these little guys.
The .223 Remington can be a very forgiving cartridge to load, able to use a wide array of powders. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Small Projectiles, Small Details
Velocity comes at the price of pressure, and consistent pressures can equate to consistent velocities, and correlative precision. If your cases are of differing volumes, the same powder charge will generate a slightly different pressure level, so trying to keep things as uniform as possible will best keep velocities even.
If you’re after the finest precision, weighing your cases after trimming and resizing can indicate which cases have slightly thicker walls; the outside dimensions being the same, a case with thicker walls will be heavier and have a smaller combustion chamber. For best precision and consistency, sort your cases into lots, using the most uniform for the best match-grade accuracy.
Primer choice can make a big difference in small-bore loads, and I’ve long felt this class of cartridge is more susceptible to differences in primer heat. If you like the .220 Swift or .22-250 Remington, any large rifle primer will get things to go bang, but I like a match-grade primer like the Federal Gold Medal Match GM210M. That primer has given such excellent performance across the board that I generally reach for that first to save me time and effort.
The same can be said for the small rifle primers, where the Federal GM205M Gold Medal Match offers the same consistency for the smaller cases, though I’ve had good results with the CCI 400 or the CCI BR-4 Bench Rest primers. In the end, whichever primer gives the lowest velocity spread is usually the one that gets the nod from me. The point: Simply switching a brand or type of primer has made all the difference in some rifles.
Powder choice is also highly important, as it has made an absolute world of difference in some cartridges. Where I can feed my .375 H&H Magnum just about any powder, from IMR 3031 to H4350, some of these little cases are very particular about the powders they like. My .22-250 shows a marked preference for Hodgdon’s H380, and the 17 Hornet likes Hodgdon’s CFE BLK and Accurate LT-30.
The diminutive .17 Hornet has very little case capacity; powder charges should be weighed in order to achieve safe, accurate handloads. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
On the other side of the spectrum, the .223 Remington is one of those cases that seems to be more forgiving. I’ve used H335 and BL-C(2) with great effect, and a couple of Shooters World powders—the AR Plus and Tactical Rifle—have been excellent performers, with the latter giving very tight and consistent groups.
Case preparation can also help tighten up groups; I like to full-length resize in most instances, and I also feel that a uniform flash hole can make a real difference. When it comes to the highly frangible varmint bullets, or those match bullets that stake their reputations on highly concentric jackets, a poor chamfer on a case mouth can scratch and sometimes deform a bullet to the point where the ballistic coefficient will change, and long-range accuracy will degrade.
A good VLD chamfer tool, like Redding’s piloted P15 chamfer tool—which uses the cartridge’s flash hole to keep the chamfer as concentric as possible—will allow for easier seating of your projectile and minimize any damage to the jackets.
Lastly, I feel small-bore cartridges warrant the weighing of every powder charge, especially when it comes to the smaller cases like the .17 Hornet and .22 Hornet. With minimal case capacity, an overcharge of 0.2 or 0.3 grain can push pressures into the red, so err on the side of caution and weigh each charge—it’ll also give the best accuracy and consistency in your handloads.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the January 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Which is better for sharpening your handgun skills, steel or paper targets?
When shooting a handgun, steel targets are the most fun to shoot. This is because they provide immediate audible feedback. And, depending on the target, they can also provide immediate visual feedback when the target moves. Another appealing feature of steel targets is that you don’t have to go downrange and paste up your bullet holes. Sure, you might want to paint them every now and again, but even that’s not mandatory. Steel targets are just easy to use and fun to shoot at. But are they the best target for training with a defensive handgun?
Yes and no. To conduct the best defensive handgun training, you need a variety of targets, some made of steel and some made of paper, and there are several reasons for this.
When you need to make precise shots in certain areas of the target, paper is often better than steel.
Basic Marksmanship Training
When you’re first learning to shoot a handgun, you’re primarily working to master sight alignment and trigger control. To do this, you need to know exactly where every bullet you shoot lands so that you can evaluate the influence your sight picture, trigger press, grip and every other element of marksmanship had on every shot. This is how you learn if you’re doing the right and the wrong things when you’re shooting.
For this type training, ideally, you’ll want a paper or cardboard target large enough that none of your shots miss the target and are lost. If you’re shooting at a small steel target, you’ll get that satisfaction of a hit. But if you miss the target, you won’t know where your miss went, and this makes determining your mistake difficult. Sure, you could use a large steel target but when shooting steel, it’s not as easy to see the exact points of impact.
Four hits and a miss. If this had been a 10-inch steel target you wouldn’t have known where your miss landed.
Dynamic Drills
There are all sorts of dynamic drills that can be conducted with a defensive handgun. With dynamic drills, I’m talking about drills where you’re incorporating things like drawing from the holster, movement, reloading and multiple targets into the drill. For these types of drills, marksmanship matters, but in many cases, your focus is on gun handling—drawing the handgun, safely handling the handgun while moving, reloading and transitioning between targets.
I consider this type of shooting as advanced shooting, and it should only be conducted once you have a decent mastery of the basic marksmanship skills. In other words, you should be able to reliably hit what you’re shooting at before you embark on this type of training. For this type of work, pinpoint precision is not as important, and steel targets work exceptionally well. This is partly because of their immediate feedback, but also partly because you don’t have to stop your shooting, lose focus and paste your targets.
When first starting dynamic shooting, a steel torso target like this is great. It will let you know you’re getting your hits and allow more concentration on the other aspects of the drill.
Tactical Drills
Tactically focused shooting is the logical next step once you’ve developed proficiency with basic marksmanship and dynamic shooting. Tactical drills should incorporate decision making, the use of cover and concealment and situational management. Tactical drills should also sometimes incorporate specific shot placement, because knowing where to shoot an attacker is a tactical consideration. For this type of training, I think both steel and paper can be effectively used for targets.
In fact, it might be best to start tactical training with steel targets so that you can focus more on what you’re doing than on how well you’re shooting. This is where a torso-shaped steel target can be beneficial. As your working through the problems, you know you’re getting your hits because of the audible feedback. The hits might not be great, but they’re hits. Once you become comfortable with the tactical elements of the drill, it’s a good idea to replace the steel targets with lifelike paper targets so that you can now concentrate on the tactics and on putting your bullets where they need to go.
Advanced Marksmanship Drills
As your shooting skills develop even more, you’ll begin to be able to call your shots. I’m talking about when the trigger breaks you should be able to reliably predict where the shot will land. Experience teaches this with evaluation of the sight picture and the trigger press when the shot was fired. Once your shooting is at this level, having a paper target to evaluate your shooting is not as important anymore, and using steel speeds up the training process with less time looking at the target and pasting holes.
A steel plate rack can be a good training tool, but only after you have developed your basic marksmanship skills.
For example, I often shoot at an 8-inch steel plate from extended distances. Because of experience, when I miss, I most often know that I pulled the shot low, high, right or left. If I was shooting at paper, the holes would provide the same information, but I’d have to walk down range too see if I hit or missed, and this would interrupt my training and focus. The problem with shooting at steel in instances like this is when you’re missing more than you’re hitting, and you don’t know where your misses are going.
Another example of an advanced marksmanship drill is one that includes dynamic action, like when shooting at a plate rack. Sure, you could line up six paper targets and shoot them very fast just as you would a steel plate rack. The problem is you’ll not know if you hit every paper plate until the drill is over and you go down range to score. With a steel plate rack, you get the feedback as you go so that you can make up missed shots.
Which Is Best?
I believe steel and paper targets are great for defensive handgun training. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. If you’re running a drill and you want to know whether steel or paper is the best target to use, here’s one way to decide. Run the drill two or three times on either steel or paper. If you’re not getting your hits in the desired area at least 80 to 85 percent of the time, you should probably be using a paper target so that you can see where your misses are going and potentially evaluate what you’re doing wrong. Also, and this is good to know, with most steel targets, you do not want to shoot at them closer than about 10 yards.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the September 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Reloading a handgun is a basic skill, but there’s more than one way to do it. Here, the author discusses a practical variation of the tactical reload.
Reloading a defensive handgun is a basic skill. It’s something every defensive handgun training course should spend a good bit of time teaching and something everyone who carries a defensive handgun should spend time practicing. Most doctrine separates reloading into three techniques: the administrative reload, the tactical reload and the speed reload. Although all three serve the same purpose of keeping your pistol full of ammunition, they all have different applications.
I’ve detailed these techniques here before, but to refresh, the administrative reload is a range reload that’s conducted at leisure, and the speed reload is done when your handgun is out of ammo and you need more ammo in it immediately. The tactical reload is something between an administrative and speed reload, and its conduct and proper application is one of the most misunderstood concepts of defensive handgun management.
Hurry, Just A Little Bit
A tactical reload should be conducted when you have time … but when there are also tactical considerations remaining. It’s suggested that you conduct a tactical reload during a lull in the gun fight or action. I’m not sure how to precisely define “a lull in the action,” but I am sure that the more ammunition you have in your gun the better off you are, and that you should never holster a handgun that’s not fully loaded. Those two considerations are what drives the conduct and need of a tactical reload.
At the basic level, with a tactical reload you retain the magazine you’re ejecting from the pistol because it’s not empty and you might need it later, or because you’re in a situation where you might need the ejected empty magazine later on so that you can load it with more ammunition.
Most trainers teach the conduct of a tactical reload as follows:
Bring your pistol into your workspace while retrieving a fully loaded magazine with your support hand, holding it in your palm and between your index and middle finger.
As you eject the partially expended or empty magazine, grab it between the thumb and index finger of your support hand.
While holding both magazines, insert the fresh magazine into the pistol.
Store the ejected magazine in a pocket, or if it’s the only extra magazine you have, put it your magazine pouch.
This is not a timed activity, but it’s one you should be able to conduct smoothly and with minimal focus, while keeping at least some of your attention on your surroundings. Those talented at conducting a tactical reload can accomplish the task with graceful fluidity in about 5 seconds.
My main problem with the above method is that you must manage two magazines with one hand at the same time. Granted, you’re not supposed to be doing this with blistering speed or while you’re being shot at, but there’s still a reasonable possibility that you’ll drop one—or both—of the magazines. That’s not a good thing, and I think it makes just as much sense to conduct a tactical reload as follows:
Bring the pistol into your workspace.
Eject the partially expended or empty magazine into your support hand and store it in your pocket.
Retrieve a fully loaded magazine and insert it into your pistol.
If you still have time and the partially expended magazine is your only other magazine, move it to your magazine pouch.
Though speed is not a principal concern, this second method can be conducted just as swiftly, and it limits the possibility of dropping the partially expended magazine, or more importantly, the fully loaded magazine. Admittedly, the second method leaves your pistol unloaded for a second or so longer. But remember, you should only be conducting a tactical reload when time is not a priority, such as when there’s no immediate threat or when you’ve solved the problem and are holstering your handgun.
If time is of any concern, conduct a speed reload.
Don’t Drop It!
Outside of tactical considerations, the tactical reload can and should be frequently used on the range during practice or training sessions, too. Why? Well, the worst thing you can do with a pistol magazine is drop it on the ground where the feed lips might become bent, or where it can be gobbed off with dirt, debris or mud. Yes, when practicing a speed reload, your ejected magazine goes to the ground, but the most common reason for stoppages in pistols is magazine related. There’s no reason to risk damage unnecessarily.
I’m not suggesting you replace the practice of a speed reload with a tactical reload. What I am suggesting is that if you’ve finished a drill and have depleted your magazine to the point you cannot run the next drill, if you conduct a tactical reload—especially if you use the second method described above—you’ll circumvent the possibility of a magazine being damaged or fouled because it was dropped either intentionally or accidentally.
Hopefully, you’ll never be in a dangerous situation where you need to conduct a reload of any type. And, hopefully, if you do need to reload your pistol in conjunction with some sort of dangerous situation, you’ll have the time and cover necessary to allow for you to do it tactically. Pick either tactical reload method described here, the one you like the best and feel is the most practical, and practice it. It might save you from fumbling when you can’t afford to drop the ball.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the January 2024 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Need to move an old gun? We give you the tips and tricks to getting it sold on GunBroker.com.
Selling a gun—even one that doesn’t get your attention like it once did—is always a difficult deal. Aside from the money, the only positive in cashing in a piece of your steel 401K is it makes more room in your safe for more guns.
Finding yourself at this point, however, generally places a big question mark in your path: Exactly how should you sell your firearm? There is no shortage of avenues—some good, some not so good. But among the most established and well-known options at your disposal is GunBroker.com. Likely, if you’ve ever done some online window shopping, you’ve tripped upon the site and its vast array of guns.
In this article, we’re going to break down exactly what GunBroker.com is, how you can use it to move an old iron that doesn’t get shot the way it once did and some tips to get the best possible price for your merchandise. Ready to sell? Then let's go!
What Is GunBroker.com?
Despite what your local anti-gunner or pearl-clutching politician might say, the website isn’t some unregulated gun bazaar or super-secret dark web denizen. Debunking their calculated hyperbolism, buying and selling firearms online is 100 percent legal, even for you—the average non-FFL American citizen. Yes, there is an FFL involved in online transactions, but you needn’t be Federally licensed to take part in the bustling online marketplace.
If you can think up the firearm, GunBroker.com most likely has a seller looking to move theirs.
Now that’s cleared up, let’s focus on GunBroker.com properly, because there are some wrinkles with how the website works. While it’s loaded with firearms of every stripe, it is not itself a gun retailer. Nor is it an FFL. Instead, as alluded to a moment ago, it is a marketplace—simply a middleman connecting those who have guns to sell with those who have money to buy guns. Pretty simple.
This may raise the question, what does GunBroker.com get out of the whole deal? Like any business concern, it’s in it for the money, which it makes on transaction fees (we’ll touch more on this in a moment). After all, connecting you with someone willing to buy your gun is worth a little something—particularly if you live in Puckerbrush, Nev., and the buyer resides down in Bucksnort, Tenn.
Understand GunBroker.com’s Fee Structure
Since we touched upon it, one of the first things worth considering when planning to sell a gun on GunBroker.com is exactly what you’ll end up paying the site. The good news is joining the site and simply posting a gun for sale costs you nothing, the fees are only assessed after the sale is made. Outside of some particulars—we’ll touch on those below—the costs are fairly straightforward—a percentage of the total sale.
In GunBroker.com parlance, this is called a Final Value Fee. Where most folks get thrown for a loop is it’s a tiered structure. For the first $325 of a sale, the site charges a 6-percent fee. Every dollar above that amount is assessed at a 4-percent fee. Perhaps a quick example will clarify.
You sell a gun for $1,325. From this, $325 is assessed at 6 percent (or 325 x .06), while $1,000 is assessed at 4 percent (or 1,000 x .04). You’d calculate each rate, then add the two products, which in the case of the example would add up to $59.50. This is what you’d owe off your sale.
As mentioned, there are some particulars—addons if you will—GunBroker.com charges for sales. Some of these include boldface titles, showcase listings and reserve prices, to name a few. But fees on these only occur if you opt-in on using them, if you believe they’ll help your sale.
Pricing Your Firearm
Honestly, pricing may be the most difficult aspect of the whole rigmarole. If you ask too little, you’re leaving money on the table. Put the price too high and your gun will waste away, unbought and mocked by savvy gun buyers who know their stuff.
Perhaps the best thing to remember is, the value of your gun is what someone is willing to pay for it. Also, temper your expectations. Your gun has depreciated since you bought it, so you aren’t going to get what you originally paid. Sorry, that’s life.
There is, however, a way to hit the sweet spot in gun prices that will put the most money in your pocket, while moving your gun fairly quickly. This magic wand is research.
Doing Research
Gun Digest’s latest edition of the Standard Catalog of Firearms is a worthwhile starting place, especially if you’re dealing with rarer arms or models. But, GunBroker.com is a wealth of information in and of itself and can give you a solid idea of pricing for your particular firearms. All you have to do is search the existing listings.
Perusing auctions is one of the best bet for pricing intelligence. Once you choose your make/model, simply look for the auctions with the most bids to start building your pricing model
Unless you’re dealing with a very specific model of a firearm, general queries typically suffice. But you want to pay attention to a particular type of sale when researching—auctions. This even goes if you’re using the buy-now straight-up sale. Why auction? Because this type of sale produces—on average—the most realistic prices for a particular firearm at that moment and time.
To start, use the advanced search setting, enter your particular make/model, select auction, and then sort your results by highest bid volume. Doing this gives you the most active listings and likely the clearest picture of what the pricing is like on your particular gun.
From here, take your time and use your critical thinking skills. If a similar gun has an abnormal number of bids and an extremely high price, you’d likely want to consider it an outlier. Firearms with special features or customizations should also be omitted because they likely don’t accurately reflect what you’re selling. From there, you’re left with a good representational sample to work with.
Don’t just take those prices at face value, however. A solid strategy is to follow those auctions to see how they conclude and find out the final bid. This gives you a much clearer picture of what the market is willing to pay. This also raises another point, give yourself time to gather intelligence. You won’t do your best looking at guns one day and posting the next.
What Sort Of Sale?
How should you sell? That all depends on you and your risk tolerance. Penny auctions—ones starting at $0.01—generally finish with a higher final bid. But, boy, if your blood pressure is going to go through the roof waiting for that bid then this might not be the best route. Yes, you can set a reserve bid, but as mentioned GunBroker.com will charge you a fee for this—2 percent on the final sale.
For the more risk-averse, setting a sane starting bid—one you’re willing to accept if only one person bids—is a safer route. Likely you’ll achieve market price, but if you don’t you won’t drop tears in your beer.
Spelling Counts At GunBroker.com
Some long-time GunBroker.com patrons will grit their teeth when I spill the beans about spelling at the site. That is, folks have an entire strategy of querying make/model misspellings—particularly in auctions—because they’ll likely get a deal on the gun. This is a factor of the misspelling suppressing searches for the correct spelling. See, your fourth-grade teacher was right about not studying your spelling words coming back to bite you. Get someone to proofread before you make your sale live or you could walk away from your experience kicking yourself.
On the subject of writing, elaborate on the gun as much as possible in the description. If the stock’s finish is scratched, mention it. If it’s a unique chambering, make sure it’s in the copy. If you know the history of the gun—easy to find out online—throw that in. Buyers read this stuff and it makes for a richer product page, thus a more sellable product.
Get The Picture
We live in a visual world, particularly online. In turn, the pictures of the firearm you’re selling could prove to make or break in getting the gun moved. Even if you aren’t Ansel Adams, you should be as professional as possible in presenting your merchandise. No, that grip-and-grin of you, the gun your selling and the forky buck you took two years back isn’t going to cut it. Neither is a cell phone pic of it leaning in your closet next to a dirty pile of socks.
Overall, this is a pretty tidy and attractive picture from a GunBroker.com listing. Not only does it display the gun, but everything that come with the purchase. Photo: GunBroker.com
You want it to look as close to the pictures you see on gun retailer websites as possible, which boils down to clear and clean images. Here are some points to consider when photographing your gun:
Background: Make sure it’s neutral, does not clutter the image or take away the details of the gun.
Lighting: Have plenty of it, preferably not casting obscuring shadows. If possible, photographing outside on a clear day should provide the light you require.
Focus: For God's sake, make sure your pictures are in focus! Blurry pics of a gun-shaped object don’t close sales.
Details: Take shots of your gun from every angle and focus on important features and extras.
There is a school of thought you should make the images interesting and kick a little flair into them. However, this may be dangerous ground. For every seller who might have an innate feel for composition, there are likely 10 who will junk up their pictures and hamper their sale doing so.
Overall, buyers will appreciate clean and clear over photographically eye-catching most times.
Parting Shot
Honestly, there are a ton of other tricks and tips to selling at GunBroker.com, but what was covered in this article should get you off on solid footing. Take your time, do your research, have realistic expectations and likely you’ll walk away from your sale satisfied and a bit richer.
Looking to start a CCW training regimen? Have a plan and take one bite at a time.
In 2019, Jack Wilson used his concealed handgun to stop a bad guy in a church. Reportedly, the head shot that saved the congregation was taken at about 50 feet. More recently, Elisjsha Dicken saved more citizens when he took out a shooter in a mall at a reported 40 yards. As a result of instances like these, many have taken a page out of Jeff Cooper’s book and created training drills to replicate these real-world scenarios.
There’s nothing wrong with this, especially since the shots taken in both instances were a bit farther than what’s commonly associated with civilian shootings. However, conducting these drills aren’t the best way to train with your defensive handgun.
It’s About The Basics
Yeah, I guess it’s cool to say you “did the drill” and maybe even shot as well or better than the “Good Samaritan” the drill has been named after. However, the only way you’re going to be good enough to perform the drill to standard is by executing the basics of shooting. And, as boring as it might sound, the basics are what you should be practicing.
Proper training with the defensive handgun requires more than just a gun and ammo. The right tools allow you to get more from your training.
What are the basics of the defensive handgun? Well, it always starts with safety, and it always ends with proper maintenance and care of your firearm. If you can’t handle a firearm safely, and if your firearm isn’t in good working order, it might not matter how well you can shoot.
Next, you have gun handling and marksmanship. These are the skills you need to practice and master to be successful in a gun fight. Tactics matter, too, but they should only be addressed once you have a solid shooting foundation to work from.
Make A Plan
Haphazardness isn’t a plan. Just going to the range and banging away, while it might be fun, is not how you get better. The best way to get better is to start with a notebook or logbook that allows you to schedule your CCW training and keep track of your progress. A logbook like this could also be handy if you’re ever taken to court; it’ll show your methodical dedication to safe gun handling and self-defense.
Just as with sight alignment, trigger control is a foundational element of marksmanship. It should always be a part of your sustainment training.
The next thing you need to do is establish a CCW training program. The program you select will vary a great deal based on your skill level, and you might need to attend a training school—or at least shoot with a qualified instructor—to determine the areas you’re good at … and the areas you need to work on.
The training plan should be two pronged: It should include sustainment training for what you already do well, and it should include the additional skills you want to develop. As you progress in skill, your training plan should progress, too. You need to set goals, continually strive to meet them … and then set new goals.
Dry Practice And Live Fire
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that live fire is the only way you can practice or train. Dry practice—as boring as it might seem and is—is one of the most important aspects of firearms training. And, you can dry practice almost every skill you need to work on. You can dry practice drawing your handgun, reloading your handgun, manipulating your handgun and shooting your handgun. A training plan without dry practice can be effective, but what it will most assuredly be is a waste of money; ammunition is expensive.
Sight alignment is foundational when it comes to marksmanship training.
Just as important is incorporating dry practice with live fire. When you’re at the range conducting live fire, intermingle dry practice. Let’s say, for example, you’re working on single shots from the holster. You’ll probably want to do this at least 25 times with live ammo. However, before you start with the live ammo, dry practice the process five to 10 times. Also, after every five to seven live-fire repetitions, again insert several dry practice runs. These dry practice repetitions intermingled with live fire are a great opportunity to slow down the process and look at each step.
One Bite At A Time
Regardless of whether you’re conducting a dry practice or live-fire training session, you must approach defensive handgun weaponcraft like you’re eating an apple—one bite at a time. If you need to work on your draw from concealment, then work on that.
For the best results when training with your defensive handgun, make a plan and then follow it.
Don’t confuse the training by trying to improve that skill while also working to get better at reloading or firing multiple shots fast. You master the basics of the defensive handgun one bite at a time, which is the same way you get to the core of the apple.
Measure Your Performance
Another good aspect of any CCW training plan is to have a benchmark of performance that you at first strive to meet, and then later try to exceed. This is where the logbook comes in handy; it allows you to keep track of how well you’re doing. If the logbook indicates you’re not progressing, it might be time to seek professional help. This benchmark should be a self-defense-style drill you conduct at the beginning and at the end of each training session, regardless of what you train on in between.
A logbook is an important tool when it comes to firearms training. It’s not just for long-range shooters.
This is where the life-like scenario drills—such as the El Prez, Mozambique or Dozier—come into play. The same is true for the Jack Wilson or Dicken Drill. These drills aren’t so much CCW training drills; they’re evaluation drills to determine your capabilities, and identify the basic marksmanship skills you need to work on.
A benchmark drill is also a great time to test fire carry ammunition. By conducting it before and after a training session, you’ll test your handgun’s clean and dirty reliability with the ammo you expect to use to save your life. A box of 20 carry rounds should last you through four or five training sessions. The more training sessions you complete with the carry ammo without a stoppage increases your trust in that load and proves its compatibility with your carry gun.
Don’t Overdo It
One mistake that many shooters make is trying to shoot too much at one time. While taking a week-long self-defense handgun class at Gunsite Academy, you’ll probably shoot about 1,000 rounds or a bit more. During a five-day class, that works out to about 200 rounds per day. It’s set up that way because most shooters began to lose focus and get tired after about 200 to 250 rounds. And that’s under the tutelage of, and pace provided by, a competent instructor.
When conducting defensive handgun training, don’t overdo it. About 150 to 250 rounds per session is generally ideal.
By incorporating dry-fire practice with your live-fire practice, you get the advantage of more trigger pulls and/or repetitions without excessive stress, and the added expense of more ammunition. At first, limit your live-fire sessions to about 100 to 150 rounds and make a concentrated effort to make every trigger pull count. In other words, don’t do mag dumps or ring steel just for the hell of it.
Rest is also important. Don’t step up to the line and fire all the rounds you’ve set aside for live fire at one time. After every 15 to 25 rounds, take a break, hydrate and think about your performance. This is a good time to make notes in your logbook and consider why you might be performing well … or poorly.
Tools Of The Trade
There are some tools that can help make your training sessions more enjoyable and rewarding, and this is especially true if you’re conducting all your training by yourself.
You can video your practice sessions with your smartphone, even in slow motion. This can show you where you’re making mistakes, particularly with gun handling.
Smartphones can be a great tool when trying to master any physical activity. I coached high school soccer for five years and frequently used the video feature on my smartphone to illustrate to players things they were doing wrong. When my son was learning to long jump, we slow-motion videoed his jumps to critique his performance. Not only did he win several meets, but in his senior year, he set the school record. Set your smartphone up on a tripod and slow-motion video yourself while training. Then, watch the video to look for the mistakes you’re making.
A shot timer is also a great training tool. Though some trainers don’t like shot timers because they tend to make shooters go too fast to learn, I believe they’re fantastic if used correctly. In training, a shot timer should be used to measure how long it takes you to conduct a skill or drill correctly. Your goal is then to work to decrease that time. You’re already using a target to evaluate your accuracy; the shot timer is just a tool that’ll allow you to evaluate how you’re spending your time.
Don’t discount how much a shot timer can help with your defensive handgun training.
Laser trainers have become popular for dry practice. Though I don’t believe they’re necessary for successful dry practice, I’m sure they add some spice to the process. Some laser trainers are very simple and just flash a dot on the target. Others can be combined with targets or your smartphone to record each shot. Since most laser trainers are inserted into the barrel of your handgun, they do have the potential to make dry practice safer.
Laser training devices aren’t necessary, but they can make dry practice more fun.
For dry practice and even for live fire, dummy rounds are a must. During dry practice, they help you maintain safety, and during live fire, they help you replicate stoppages. Dummy rounds are very affordable and well worth the money when you consider the safety and training value they can provide. You can tell how serious a shooter is about training by asking how many dummy rounds they have.
Also, targets matter. From a self-defense training standpoint, the targets can be very rudimentary. In some cases, a full sheet of copy paper works. In other instances, a sheet of copy paper folded once or twice will work, too. At other times, a simple dot on a sheet of paper is sufficient.
However, there’s a mindset element at play here. The adage to “train the way you intend to fight” has merit and applies to the conduct of your training as well as to the targets you shoot at. Life-like torso targets add realism.
Gun handling, especially handgun presentation, is a critical defensive handgun skill. It can be practiced dry—without ammunition—as well as when conducting live fire.
Build A Foundation
The most important part of training with a defensive handgun—or any firearm, for that matter—is to build a solid foundation. This is extremely hard to do on your own because the unexperienced don’t understand what that foundation needs to support.
Without question, the best way to build this foundation is by attending a reputable training course, and there are none better than the Gunsite Academy 250 Pistol Class. The good news is that now Gunsite offers CCW training in multiple locations across the United States. I’d suggest anyone serious about the defensive handgun start there before you end up building a structure on a foundation that won’t reliably support what it needs to.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2022 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
A look at the Wheeler 43-Piece Professional Gunsmithing Screwdriver Set, featuring all the bits and drivers you need for common firearms.
Back in the old days, I’d buy screwdrivers whenever I found them at garage sales and harden the tips and grind them to fit. Fit what, you ask? Whatever needed fitting. Regular screwdrivers didn’t fit firearms screws and trying usually meant cosmetic damage and heartache.
Well, that ended a long time ago when those who make firearms tools started offering properly fitted and hardened screwdrivers. Now, we have a plethora of choices of brands and sizes—and Wheeler is right there in the mix. They offer a wide array of kit sizes. Here, I focus on the sweet spot of kits: the Wheeler 43-Piece Professional Gunsmithing Screwdriver Set.
All The Things
One of the first things you learn when looking into tools is that you can’t have a complete toolkit—unless you’re willing to stock a rolling cabinet. You know, the steel box on wheels that’s larger than your grandmother’s china cabinet and has everything needed to pull maintenance on any machine? Try and take that to the gun club “just in case.” (Even then, it won’t fix everything.)
The Wheeler 43-piece kit has all the bits and drivers for all the common firearms you’ll most likely encounter or have with you, at home or at the gun club. The handle is rubberized and has a magnetic insert, so the bits won’t fall out when you invert them to start tightening something. And all its bits come in a closable hard case.
The Wheeler 43 -piece gunsmithing screwdriver set has all the firearms-common bits, as well as a handle, adapter and space for more bit if you need them.
The bits themselves are hollow ground (the flat blade ones), properly hardened and given a phosphate coating to slow down corrosion. They’re hard, so they can’t be rust-proof, but the phosphate slows down corrosion. The rest is up to you. There are also hex, Torx and Phillips bits in there, so you have almost all the bases covered.
Now, the 43-piece kit isn’t the most compact screwdriver set you’ll come across, but it is compact enough. It’s protected, and it’ll fit into your range bag. And the design of the case means it won’t slide off of a shelf; it latches shut. Plus, the front and sides are printed with what it is, so you won’t have to take everything off the shelf to see what is what. Those who commonly label everything can relax—the job’s been done for you.
You get all this for a list price of $45, which is a very fair price. Plus, the case has a small, recessed section inside, so if you have some specialty bits that you need for the specific firearm you use at the range, you can drop those into the recess and count on them being with you if and when you need them. You can make your 43-piece kit a 50-piece kit … or whatever number you need.
Don’t be that guy at your gun club. You know, the one walking the line saying, “Anyone got a screwdriver to fit my pistol?” Be the guy who can say, “Probably, what is it?”
Be that guy.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2023 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Just because a classic cartridge has served you reliably for many years doesn’t mean that you can’t upgrade to something more modern.
Standing over the zebra stallion—bedecked in his finest pajamas, in a pattern best described as art by God—I tapped the stock of my Mauser 98 to say thanks for a straight shot. I was using an obscure cartridge released in 1906, the .318 Westley Richards, and was more than happy to have revived an African classic.
Fast-forward 2 years, and I’d be standing in ankle-deep snow in northwest Colorado over a handsome mule deer buck, holding the then-unreleased 6.8 Western, the latest development in the .277-inch bore diameter. On that hunt, our group had taken both mule deer and elk at ranges between 25 yards and 475 yards, and I came away very impressed with the design.
I love cartridges, whether big or small, and I always do my best to give any new design a fair shake before deeming it unneeded. Reading the comments regarding any article on these new developments, traditionalists are the first to declare any deviation from their “ought-six” or “two-seventy” as heresy, and that any attempt at releasing a new cartridge is just a demonstration of corporate greed and should be shunned.
In the first two decades of the 21st century, there have been some great cartridges released, including the aforementioned 6.8 Western, PRC family of cartridges, .350 and .400 Legend, Federal’s .30 Super Carry, Nosler’s line of cartridges and, yes, the 6.5 Creedmoor.
The 6.8 Western uses heavier bullets and a tighter twist rate to step up performance in the .277-inch bore. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Do they surpass the classics like the 30-06 Springfield, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum and .243 Winchester? It truly depends on the application, your style and/or distance at which you hunt or shoot, and what you’re looking for in a cartridge. Let’s look at the concepts associated with the new cartridges and put them next to their older counterparts to see whether or not it might be a good idea to look into replacing your old favorite.
Shoot Longer, Shoot Flatter
The first design concept that needs mentioning is the sleek bullets that perform so well at longer ranges and in windy conditions. In order to increase the ballistic coefficient of a bullet (resulting in a flatter trajectory, better resistance to wind deflection and higher retained energy), the ogive of the bullet is elongated, using a flatter curve profile.
If you load these projectiles in a cartridge case of traditional length, quite often the resulting cartridge will be too long to fit in the magazine. The engineering answer was to shorten the case in order to provide more room for a longer bullet, whose longer ogive needs to be outside the case mouth.
This is a big part of the reason the 6.5 Creedmoor pushed the .260 Remington out of the limelight: If you stay within traditional hunting ranges, there’s nothing wrong with the .260 at all, but when distances get truly long, those higher B.C. bullets show their advantage. The Creedmoor has a definite edge. Add in a bit of marketing genius, and voila! … you’ve got the Creedmoor phenomenon.
The second concept, often tied in with the first, is the tightening of the twist rate within the barrel. I’ve shot a .22-250 Remington for almost a quarter-century, but I’ve always felt that the 1:12 is a handicap. The case has plenty of capacity to launch a bullet heavier than 55 or 60 grains (where the .22-250 tops out) and would be well-served by a heavy bullet. But, alas, the cartridge was designed when riflescopes were a rarity at best, so the 400-yard performance wasn’t really an issue.
Enter Federal’s .224 Valkyrie, with its 1:7 twist rate; slugs as heavy as 90 grains will be properly stabilized, and it’ll be able to utilize all the advantages of a higher B.C. bullet. The same can be said for the new 6.8 Western when compared to the .270 Winchester or .270 WSM. Where the latter pair use a 1:10 twist rate, which translates to the ability to stabilize bullets weighing 150 grains or, in some rare instances, 160-grain round-nose bullets, the 1:8 or 1:7.5 twist of the 6.8 Western allows the use of spitzer boat-tail bullets as heavy as 175 grains, in a case slightly shorter than that of the .270 WSM.
While the 6.8 Western (left) might seem like nothing more than a rebrand of the .270 WSM (right), it uses a slightly shorter case and a considerably faster barrel twist to use longer, heavier bullets. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
If you want the ability to use the heaviest slugs in 0.277-inch diameter, to my mind it makes perfect sense to buy a 6.8 Western—and I did exactly that. I can still use the 130-, 140- and 150-grain bullets common to the .270 Winchester, but if I want the option of reaching for a heavier bullet with a better sectional density value, I have it. The .27 Nosler delivers a similar performance level, topping out at 165 grains, in a faster package. Its 1:8.5 twist rate again allows the use of a 165-grain spitzer boat-tail bullet, offering both a velocity and bullet weight advantage over the .270 Winchester.
The .27 Nosler is a speedy cartridge based on the .404 Jeffery case and uses a tighter-than-normal twist rate to take advantage of heavy-for-caliber projectiles. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Do those points warrant a change on cartridge? Perhaps there’s something to this …
The Case Chase
Case design has also changed in the past 25 years, with the trends showing a general dislike for the Holland & Holland-style belted case. Instead, many designs have turned to the beltless and rimless .404 Jeffery as a platform, which uses the case’s shoulder for headspace rather than the belt of brass.
Belted cases are notorious for stretching, especially in the area just ahead of the belt, as the brass expands from each firing. This can not only have a negative effect on group size (as the case designed to headspace off the shoulder can offer better chamber concentricity), but it also reduces the life of the brass case. If you have no interest in reloading ammunition, the latter point likely won’t bother you, but if you appreciate an accurate rifle, the former point should.
Berger makes some bullets that need specialized twist rates to be properly stabilized and are best served by a case that’s short enough so these longer bullets can be seated on the shank and not the ogive. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Looking at the ballistic differences between the popular 7mm Remington Magnum and Hornady’s new 7mm PRC, you might not see much at first. The newer cartridge gives a velocity advantage of 150 fps or so over Remington’s classic design. It’s also apparent that the 7mm PRC is built around bullets on the heavier end of the spectrum, as it’s offered in 175- and 180-grain configurations in the ELD-X and ELD Match bullets, and 160 grains in the monometal CX bullet.
Wait, can’t we get 175-grain bullets in the 7mm Remington Magnum? Yes, but not with the profile that can be used in the 7mm PRC.
Hornady’s 7mm PRC is a long-action cartridge designed around the heavier 7mm bullets with higher B.C. values for long-range work. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
If you’re a handloader, the PRC’s 1:8 twist will allow use of 180- to 195-grain bullets. Would this matter to the hunter who spends the vast majority of his or her time shooting at game animals inside of 300 yards? Probably not, but if a hunter wanted a new rifle fully capable of handling both hunting duties and weekend shooting competitions at long range, the 7mm PRC is the smarter choice.
I’ve used it in both circumstances and came away impressed by the performance. Will it kill the 7mm Remington Magnum? I don’t think so, as there a ton of rifles chambered for the 60-year-old cartridge, and they will still need to be fed.
New, But Necessary?
Remington’s new .360 Buckhammer surely doesn’t look like some newfangled wizardry; in fact, it could have blended in among the classic lever-gun designs of the late 19th century. It’s a straight-walled, rimmed affair, loaded with Remington Core-Lokt round-nose bullets.
So, what’s the big deal about this, and why would Remington go through the trouble and effort when they already make the hugely successful .35 Remington?
Well, it fits the criteria specified by several Midwest states and hunting areas, including a minimum bullet diameter of 0.357 inch, a straight-wall conformation (bottleneck cartridges are prohibited in many places) and a case length not exceeding 1.800 inches. The .35 Remington is bottlenecked (as is the .30-30 Winchester), and the .38-55 Winchester runs at relatively low pressure and lower velocity.
So, with a relatively blank slate, Remington offered a new cartridge that runs at even higher pressure than the .35 Remington, driving a 180-grain to 2,400 fps and a 200-grain bullet to 2,200 fps. This makes a great woods gun, as it hits harder than does the .35 Remington. And in the wonderfully accurate Henry rifle I had the opportunity to test, recoil was mild enough for a young shooter. Devotees of the .35 Remington might not be lining up to trade in their Marlins, but for a new hunter who likes lever-action rifles, this cartridge should certainly be in the lineup of prospective purchases.
The .30 Super Carry—Federal’s new handgun cartridge—is touted as a smaller cartridge that gives two additional cartridges in a double-stack magazine, or one more round in a single-stack mag designed to handle the 9mm Luger. With a 0.312-inch-diameter bullet weighing 100 or 115 grains, the .30 Super Carry gives a performance level mimicking the 9mm Luger with 125-grain slugs and surpasses that of the .380 Auto.
Federal’s .30 Super Carry is designed around a .312-inch-diameter bullet and smaller case to give the user additional magazine capacity.
Is the shooting public ready for a deviation from the 9mm or .45 ACP? It doesn’t seem so, as I feel the .30 Super Carry is struggling to catch on, and the famous duo I just mentioned seem to check all the boxes for the vast majority of the concealed carry autoloader crowd.
Time Marches On
At one point in time, the .270 Winchester was a newfangled idea, and I’m certain the older hunters in 1925 just shook their heads, as a young Jack O’Connor championed the new speed demon. I’ve often written that there isn’t a hunt on Earth that I couldn’t handle with a cartridge released before 1930, which includes the .30-06 Springfield, .300 Holland & Holland Magnum, .257 Roberts (in wildcat form anyway), 7x57mm Mauser, .404 Jeffery and .375 Holland & Holland Magnum.
Both the 9mm Luger and .45 ACP were in service, and while the majority of the speedy varmint/predator cartridges were a ways off, I’ve had a bunch of fun hunting woodchucks and coyotes with a .22 Hornet. But I also feel there’s plenty of room for those new designs that truly offer something unique, like the 6.8 Western, .27 and .28 Nosler, and the 7mm PRC.
Our optics have certainly evolved and improved, and the metallurgy and uniformity of our rifled actions are better than they ever have been … and there should be a logical correlation in cartridge development.
But I’m not retiring my good-old .318 Westley Richards any time soon.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
A quick look at 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser, the 6.5mm pioneer.
Jointly developed by Norway and Sweden in 1894, this cartridge was adopted by both countries as an official military chambering. Originally, both countries loaded and used essentially identical ammunition. Later, the Swedes modified dimensions and loaded it to a higher pressure for use in their Mauser rifles, while the Norwegians kept the original version for use in the Krag rifle.
In 1990, the National Rifle Associations of Denmark, Norway and Sweden agreed on a standardized set of drawings and specifications, renaming the cartridge 6.5×55 SKAN. It’s quite popular throughout Scandinavia for hunting all types of game, including moose. It’s also a popular choice for 300-meter target shooting and other forms of rifle competition.
Prior to World War II, the 6.5×55 Swedish was almost unknown in the United States. After the war, Canadian and U.S. sportsmen became acquainted with this chambering through the thousands of surplus Swedish Mauser rifles sold in North America. Canadian sportsmen were first to appreciate the virtues of this cartridge in the 1950s and 1960s. U.S. sportsmen arrived at the same conclusions in the 1970s and 1980s.
Other than imported rifles from Scandinavian countries, few sporting rifles in this chambering were available in the U.S. until the 1990s. This has changed, as Winchester has offered its Featherweight M70 rifle and Ruger its M77 rifle in this chambering and Barrett, CZ, T/C, Mauser, Howa and Sauer & Sohn have also chambered bolt actions in this round.
6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser loading data and factory ballistics.
General Comments
The 6.5×55 was one of the first 6.5mm cartridges to catch on in the United States. For many years, Norma of Sweden was the only manufacturer of this cartridge, until 1991-92, when Federal Cartridge Co. added it to its Premium product line. The cartridge continues to gain popularity, as surplus Swedish Mauser rifles are still being imported.
Two reasons for its growth in popularity are low recoil and superb accuracy. It’s an excellent deer and antelope cartridge, and it’s also suitable for bear and elk under good conditions at moderate ranges. Because of its flat trajectory, it’s an outstanding choice in lightweight rifles for hunting sheep and goat in mountainous terrain.
Lack of suitable bullets and handload data handicapped the full potential of this cartridge for many years. This has changed, as good bullets and reloading data are now available from most component manufacturers. The 140-grain bullets are best for most types of hunting and are also the most accurate. The 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser case is not related to typical Mauser cartridge cases.
Tired of losing springs, screws or roll pins while working on your AR? Let the AR Parts Holding Template remedy that.
Ever be in the middle of an assembly project or reassembling something after cleaning and drop a part? Sir Isaac Newton had no clue regarding the physics of small parts: The smaller and more necessary a part is, the faster it scurries to the darkest corner of your workshop to hide behind a bench leg. I’m convinced when the old neighborhood revives and someone rehabs the building my gunsmithing operation used to be in, they’ll find parts. Lots of ’em.
Other times, you’re holding a part up to the light, wondering which one is this one?
Let Edge Independent Product Developers help you with that. They make a tray they plan for use as an assembly template for your AR-15. Me, I see it as that and a great aid in keeping things straight during cleaning and rebuilds.
The template is simple: a laser-cut and laser-labeled sheet of wood bonded to a backer, so you have parts-shaped pockets. And this isn’t even the best part—they have them numbered. There’s a laminated instruction sheet in the kit that tells you what number goes with what part, but the cut slot for each makes it pretty easy to figure out.
Somebody out there is all set to be insulted. “I know my AR parts,” one will say. Yes, you do, but once you bump the table and the various springs all roll together, have fun sorting them out. There’s even a small magnet set into the board to let you keep ferrous parts from escaping, parts that you might want to keep close at hand. And there’s an inset marked “misc” for the “whatever” parts. It even comes with tweezers so you can pick the small springs up out of the slot into which they fit.
The laminated guide gives you the number code just in case you haven’t committed them to memory.
Assembling And Cleaning
The fellow who got me onto this thought it was a great idea for those who are assembling an AR-15. I agree, but it’s even better for those cleaning one. The kit comes with links to assembly instructions (not that those are difficult to find online), just in case you need some guidance.
For me, the trick is in cleaning. For that, I plan to dig into the shop and find a spray can of something polyurethane to give the board an oil and carbon-resistant finish (it may already have one, I haven’t abused it to see), so I can easily clean it once I’ve dumped grubby parts into it.
I won’t have to worry about losing this or that (it’s amazing what parts will do if you take your eyes off of them for just a second) and can keep them corralled waiting their turn.
Just to indulge in one of my pet peeves of other gun writers: Patents have been applied for. So, don’t go thinking you can horn in on this great idea. And I’ve been told there are other popular firearms models receiving the same template treatment, so you can soon have control of parts for those when cleaning or building.
There’s a magnet for small parts you don’t want to lose, and tweezers so you can pick them up.
And the best part? The Edge template is smaller, edge-to-edge, than a sheet of copy paper and thinner than a politician’s promises. This means you won’t have to work hard to find room for it in your workshop or loading and cleaning bench. In fact, you might have to work hard to find it, once you’ve slid it in-between a couple of boxes on the shelves. Now that I think about it, I might, once the polyurethane is fully cured, just paint the edges bright orange or neon green, so I’ll be able to find it on the shelf.
Online, from Edge Independent Product Developer, it goes for $45. You might think that’s a bit high, but after dropping and breaking, or dropping and losing (or spending a half-hour fishing it out of its special crevice behind your workbench) a vital part, you’ll find it money well spent.
The author discusses the best times to use detachable scope rings, and when to avoid them at all costs.
It was so nearly dark as not to matter, and I was frantically waiting on the green light to shoot the enormous tom leopard feeding on bait just 60 yards away. When Tanya Blake uttered, “Take him,” I wasted no time settling the crosshair just behind the cat’s shoulder and broke the trigger. Blinded by the muzzle flash, I heard the bullet strike flesh, and Tanya told me I’d knocked the cat out of the tree, but he’d recovered and trotted away behind the bait, albeit very slowly.
Elation mixed with doubt combined for one of the strangest feelings I’ve ever experienced. After the celebration of the fact that we had good blood under the tree, and all the team’s hard work had come together for the opportunity alone, we knew we had to go to work. With just a sliver of moon to illuminate our efforts, we had to rely on the flashlights we’d brought in preparation for just such an event.
I pushed a couple of buttons on the Smithson mounts and slid the Leupold off the receiver of the Ramirez Mauser rifle, giving the wide-open view of iron sights in hopes of fending off a charging, wounded leopard.
Luckily, I wouldn’t need them that evening.
The author used a Todd Ramirez Custom rifle in 9.3×62 Mauser, with a Leupold VX-5HD in Smithson detachable rings, to take this tom leopard with Tanya Blake Safaris. Having the ability to use iron sights for the follow-up is priceless. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
After the leopard was recovered, the experience surely had me thinking about the decision to use detachable scope mounts on a hunting rifle. I’d been a proponent of the idea for nearly two decades, but I am also the first to admit that detachable aren’t always the way to go.
Examples Of Detachable Mounts
My first experience with “detachable” mounts was my dad’s .308 Winchester. The rifle—a Mossberg Model 800A—was purchased shortly after my father had returned from boot camp in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as a teenager. Enlisted in the National Guard at the height of the Vietnam War, he was shown the benefits of the .308 Winchester cartridge in the issued M14 rifle, and Dad bought the first decent rifle he could afford.
For a dangerous game rifle—like this Bansner & Co. custom rifle built for Alaska—detachable scope mounts give quick access to the iron sights. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Now, in 1969, riflescopes weren’t anywhere near as reliable as they are today; in fact, they were quite terrible. I’ve had folks tell me the story of how my father nearly ripped the 4x scope off that rifle, reverting back to iron sights because the scope wouldn’t hold zero. He ended up with a Redfield Widefield 3-9x scope, with the TV screen, set in Weaver Pivot mounts, so he could access the iron sights quickly. That rig has held zero for more than a half-century … though I’ve had those same mounts fail on me.
Modern detachable mounts are—quite like the scopes they hold—much better than they were just two or three decades ago. I’ve used all sorts, from the Ramirez proprietary design and Leupold’s Quick Release mounts, to the Griffin & Howe Sporting Top Mount and my personal favorite, Talley Detachable rings, with varying degrees of success and reliability.
A Browning BLR Lightweight Takedown rifle, chambered in .30-06, makes a great backcountry choice. Talley detachable mounts can give the shooter the option of using the iron sights should the scope be damaged in a remote area. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
I equipped my Winchester Model 70 Safari rifle in .416 Remington Magnum with a Burris 1.75-5x20mm scope, set in Leupold’s QR mounts. That rig never let me down, and it was the only rifle I brought along on safaris to both Tanzania and Zambia. I took my first Cape buffalo with that rig, as well as varying plains game species. Using a steel post with a small half-moon cut in the shaft, the system features two levers to engage that recess in the shaft to pull the scope downward, locking it into place. Reverse the levers and the scope and rings can be pulled upward, leaving only the shallow bases on the receiver and giving me access to my iron sights.
This is perfect for follow-up of any dangerous game species or to pursue elephant with iron sights, while carrying the petite scope in a pack, should I encounter a kudu or impala on the way back to the truck. On more than one occasion, I’d carry a second, smaller scope—zeroed in a second set of rings—in case something terrible should happen to the primary scope.
Being a skeptic, it took some convincing before I relied on that system. I’d load up a bunch of 400-grain ammo, take a cold-bore shot, remove and reinstall the scope, and then take another cold-bore shot. Despite the heavy recoil, that system never moved more than ½-MOA when tested at my backyard 100-yard range. Simply put, it worked.
I can say the same for the Talley Quick Detachable rings and mounts; they’ve been nothing but utterly reliable. I first used Talley stuff when I took the Heym Express by Martini on back-to-back safaris to South Africa and Zimbabwe; the South African leg would see us hunting plains game, and the Zimbabwean goal was a bull elephant. Covering the bases with just one rifle, I mounted a Swarovski 1-6x24mm in Talley detachables for any of the plains game species, and for the elephant, I’d revert back to the great iron sights on that rifle. With sub-MOA accuracy from the .404 Jeffery, I again repeatedly tested the rig for changes in point of impact, and despite the recoil of a true, big cartridge, the Talley system held things in place.
Talley offers their rings and bases in stainless finish to match rifles so finished. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Talley’s Quick Detachable system is similar to their fixed scope ring setup, but with a set of levers operating the screw that clamps the ring to the bases; tighten the levers and the rings are clamped to the dovetail of the bases, while loosening them allows the scope and rings to be removed. I haven’t seen more than a ¾-inch shift of point of impact at 100 yards, irrespective of the cartridge, and I’ve tested this system under recoil with cartridges as fierce as the .505 Gibbs Magnum.
My personal experiences with dad’s Weaver Pivot Mounts have been mixed. While not truly detachable, the Pivot mount swings the scope off the receiver, allowing the shooter to use the iron sights. With lighter-recoiling cartridges, it seems to be OK, as the flat springs that snap the unit into place are apparently capable of holding only so much recoil with repeatable results. I can say from experience that they don’t fare well with the recoil generated by the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, and either the Talley or Leupold system is a much better choice.
If you wanted to go with a high-end choice, Custom gunmaker Joe Smithson’s mounts are very hard to argue with. They use a pair of spring-loaded crossbolts to hold the rings in the dovetailed—and ball bearing-detented raceways in the receiver. These were supplied on the Todd Ramirez custom rifle I took on safari to Zimbabwe, and though costly, they’re the finest detachable mounts I’ve yet to come across.
The author’s Browning X-Bolt in 6.8 Western is a great long-range hunting rig, but probably wouldn’t benefit from detachable mounts, as any shift in point of impact could be magnified at long distances. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Practical Application
So, when should the detachable mounts get the nod? And, when should the not?
For a dangerous game rifle—one which might be relied upon to follow large, thick-skinned, dangerous game animals armed with horn, tooth, tusk or claw—into dense vegetation, it makes complete sense to have immediate access to the iron sights. Even scopes with 1x magnification or a red-dot sight don’t seem to have the wide-open feel of iron sights, which can be shot with both eyes open. And while I do appreciate fine iron sights, my eyes aren’t getting any younger, and I much prefer the single focal plane of a riflescope, at least for that first shot.
So, with the exception of my double rifle, my dangerous game rifles wear detachable scope mounts. These rifles are—generally speaking—used inside of 200 yards or thereabout, so in a worst-case scenario, where we have a shift of even 1 MOA, we’re talking about a 2-inch difference at 200 yards.
For the hunter who regularly pursues game at longer ranges—say the hunter after Coues deer, any of the sheep species, mountain goats and the like—the potential shift in point of impact could be an issue. For long-range precision shooting, one goal is to make your scope mounts as rock-solid as possible to allow your scope to “go to sleep.” The moving parts involved with any of the detachable mounting systems would probably not appeal to a shooter who has taken the time to assemble a rifle and ammunition capable of hair-splitting accuracy.
Using a detachable ring/base system allows the user to carry a second scope in rings, already zeroed, which can be taken from a pack in a flash if needed. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Other than a dangerous game rifle, a hunter who regularly pursues game in remote areas might truly benefit from the advantages of the detachable system. Many modern rifles come with a clean barrel, devoid of iron sights, and should you fall and hit your scope, you’re out of business, left with a fully functional rifle that you cannot aim. Even if you sought out the lightest possible fixed 4x scope and pre-zeroed the unit in a set of rings, you could easily stow it in a pack. The few ounces of additional weight on your back are nothing compared to the long trek back to civilization with a useless rifle and an intact tag.
A set of precision tools can help you install your detachable bases and rings properly—the first time. Setting the screws to the manufacturer’s recommended torque specs is an important detail, necessary to minimize any shift in point or impact. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
For the AR crowd, who often use the same rifle for hunting and home/personal defense, having a low-powered variable scope in detachable mounts makes complete sense. Many companies offer detachable mounts compatible with a Picatinny rail, allowing immediate changes from hunting rifle to bedroom gun, utilizing the iron sights or changing to a red-dot reflex-type sight. And like any bolt gun, the minute shift in impact—if any—won’t affect a rifle at hunting ranges.
Choosing The Proper Detachable Scope Rings
The choice of detachable mount that works best for you is highly subjective. In terms of functionality, most of the reputable manufacturers offer a dependable product. I like Talley rings and bases, as I’ve had great results with their conventional setups. Warne makes a good set of detachable as well, as does Leupold, Burris and others. Recknagel and Joe Smithson certainly take things up a notch, both in price and engineering, and are usually reserved for the higher-end rifles. NECG (New England Custom Gun Service) offers their Quick-Loc European-style mounts, with spring-loaded dual claws, for the traditional continental detachable mounts; while costly, these are utterly reliable.
Warne detachable rings with the signature steel spacer and levers quickly remove the ring from the base. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Best of all, the vast majority of these detachable systems can be installed by the user. Like a fixed base/ring system, I strongly suggest reading the manufacturer’s specifications and directions before beginning the install. I also recommend you become very familiar with all the moving parts and put a towel down on the table you’re working on to help catch little parts. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped the little internal springs of the Talley detachables, or the small screws and other parts of various systems—using a light to crawl around on the floor isn’t my favorite pastime.
Good scope rings won’t need to be lapped and will center the optic in a natural fashion; I can’t tell you how much ammunition I’ve saved from using quality mounts. If you’re serious about getting a detachable mount system to give the optimum results, don’t cheap out when buying the base/ring system. It’s one aspect where you’ll get what you pay for.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
More On Scope Rings And Mounts:
A Ring For Every Occasion: Scope Rings And Base Systems
Looking for a new iron or piece of kit to enhance the one you already own? Check out these 7 new bits of guns and gear to grow your firearms wish list.
Is it time to jettison your bulky chronographs and Doppler radars? If Garmin has anything to say about it, then … yes. Perhaps a game-changing addition to the company’s catalog, the C1 Pro Chronograph puts the power of radar into a package small enough to fit into a jacket pocket. Shooters who clock their rounds on the regular understand what a big deal this is. Even better, the C1 Pro is completely wireless and works in conjunction with Garmin’s ShotView smartphone app to deliver precise data and catalog it, so you have a dead-nuts ballistic profile at your fingertips. In addition to velocity, the radar offers up a host of other vital information—from power factor to kinetic energy—to give you an unparalleled picture of your ammo’s performance. The unit reads velocities from 100 to 5,000 fps, making it just as handy for archery and airguns as it is your long-range tack driver. MSRP: $600
Brownells BRN-601
A bit out of the ordinary, retro AR builds have proven all the rage in recent years. Who doesn’t want a little something harkening back to the early days of Stoner’s creation? If you count yourself among these ranks, it might be time to check out Brownells. Long on throwback build components, the company has reintroduced one of its classic complete upper configurations—the BRN-601. A detail-accurate replica of the upper receiver on the first AR-15-type rifle adopted in the early 1960s, it features the correct “slickside” receiver, fine-quality matte gray anodized finish, a 20-inch 5.56x45mm NATO barrel with a 1:12-inch twist and chrome-lined bore. Additionally, a chromed slickside M16 bolt-carrier group with a robust 9310 steel alloy bolt comes as part of the package, as does the distinctive original three-prong “duckbill” flash hider. MSRP: $900
Mesa Tactical-KynSHOT Shotgun Recoil Reducer
If a shotgun is your preferred method of defense, one of the concerns in wielding it properly is recoil management. Mesa Tactical and Kyntec Technologies take a load off of dealing with kick in an intriguing partnership: Mesa is now the exclusive dealer of KynSHOT Recoil Reducers, which work seamlessly in conjunction with the company’s buffer mounts. Available in adjustable and non-adjustable models, the hydraulic buffer eats up nearly 60 to 90 percent of a scattergun’s recoil (depending on model), making the firearm much more manageable and faster, shot-to-shot. These hydraulic recoil buffers are exclusive to Mesa Tactical and are available as standalone components or as part of Mesa’s AR stock adapter. MSRP: Starting at $186
Real Avid Master Gun Workstation
Honestly, if you’re going to do any DIY firearms work, you’re going to need the right tools for the job. Real Avid gives you the foundation for this with its new Master Gun Workstation. At the heart of the Master Gun Workstation is a convenient quick-adjustable clamp feature that allows for fast and secure gun placement with one-handed tightening, ensuring a perfectly positioned firearm with minimal effort and frustration. The yoke is also one-hand adjustable for both width and height, and with an impressive 18.3 inches of travel, it’s easily accommodating the longest rifles and shotguns. Plus, it boasts a unique integrated leveling knob to aid optics mounting, with up to +/- 3 degrees of adjustment. MSRP: $200
MDT Field Stock
Few DIY rifle projects offer better results than a stock upgrade. This component, after all, is the foundation of an accurate iron. MDT has become one of the industry’s leaders in providing just this advantage, and the company now offers a hybrid system ideal for nearly any precision endeavor. Christened the “Field Stock,” the traditionally shaped polymer stock provides a rock-solid shooting base with its aluminum core, complete with V-block bedding—for air-tight matting with the action. It offers a one-size-fits-all system, with a fully adjustable stock boasting both length-of-pull adjustment and comb rise. The stock is configurable for any shooting discipline with sling swivel studs and its M-Lok forend enables you to customize your rifle for hunting, competition or casual long-range shooting. Presently, the Field Stock is compatible with Remington 700 SA actions. MSRP: $300
Luth-AR Titanium Nitride Coated Bolt Carrier
Getting the most out of your AR isn’t simply a matter of upgrading it to hit the mark every time—it’s also ensuring the rifle runs like a top every time you pull the trigger. Luth-AR goes a long way in delivering this peace of mind with the release of its Titanium Nitride (TiN) Coated Complete AR-15 Bolt Carrier. Known for its wear resistance, reducing friction and improving overall reliability, the TiN-coated BCG offers nearly failsafe improvement to your carbine’s internal components. If that doesn’t sell you, the fact the coating also reduced carbon buildup should—because who doesn’t want to cut down on cleaning duties? MSRP: $150
Hornady Lab Scale
Of all firearms DIYers, reloaders might be the most obsessive. If you count yourself among these ranks, Hornady has produced just the tool for you: Shake hands with the Lab Scale. Engineered to be a best-in-class device, the precise scale delivers unparalleled measurements so you can tune your loads with the smallest margin of error. How tight are the tolerances? Down to the hundredth of a grain, which is borderline ridiculous. But this is likely music to the ears of extreme-range shooters. The lab scale has a 3,000-grain upper limit and allows loaders some interesting functions, such as count, load compare and percentages. Heck, it even comes with a hood to minimize environmental factors when weighing. MSRP: $566
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
The ugly, the bad, and the very good of owning and shooting a suppressor.
Next to the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge, the other firearm-related item that’s exploded in popularity this century has been the suppressor. In recent years, suppressor sales have increased as much as 40 percent annually. They have become so popular that almost all new rifles and many pistols now come with threaded barrels. In fact, currently, one of the most popular gunsmithing services is barrel threading.
But, like with just about everything in life, all the good that comes with suppressors also comes with some not so good. If you’re thinking about purchasing one, here’s a look at the ugly, the bad and the good, with some really good news at the end.
The Ugly
Because a suppressor is considered an NFA item, and is also apparently detested by half the politicians in America and by the ATF, in order to purchase one, you must complete some paperwork, undergo a background check, submit your fingerprints and photograph and then pay a $200 tax. This seemingly Rubik’s Cube-like process surrounding suppressor acquisition turns a lot of buyers off. Also, and unfortunately, this tax you pay isn’t treated like other Pittman-Robertson firearms and ammunition taxes that help fund hunter education and target ranges. The $200 tax goes directly into the federal government’s general fund that can be used for anything they want, like sending money to Ukraine.
A quality suppressor like the Banish 30, which is a 0.30-caliber suppressor, can also be used with other firearms that shoot a bullet smaller in diameter than 0.30 caliber.
Fortunately, there’s a bill that’s just been written, and that should be introduced by the time you read this, that could correct some of this silliness. It allows for 85 percent of every $200 tax collected from the sale of suppressors to be allocated to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund to support wildlife conservation, law enforcement, hunter recruitment and other related activities. Additionally, 15 of that 85 percent would be earmarked for the development, maintenance and operation of recreational shooting ranges. For 2023 alone, the expected tax collected would approach $200 million, and 85 percent of that is $170 million.
The author testing a Silencer Central Backcountry suppressor on the new suppressor-ready Springfield Armory Redline rifle.
While suppressors continue to become more popular, the extensive registration and processing paperwork can have applicants waiting as long as a year for approval by the ATF. This is despite the Bureau’s recent implementation of an electronic form portal for processing applications. To address that, the same bill would direct the remaining 15 percent to the ATF’s NFA division and be strategically allocated to expedite the process of suppressor applications within a 90-day time frame. Today, the average wait time from application to suppressor delivery exceeds six months.
The rest of the ugliness surrounding suppressors is that they’re not legal to own in California, Delaware, Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. And there are only 40 states where it’s legal to hunt with a suppressor.
The Bad
The purchase of a suppressor and the distribution of the tax dollars you pay are the worst of it, but there are some other detractors. For starters, they’re not cheap. A good centerfire rifle suppressor starts at about $700, and the better ones can cost twice that much. Additionally, if you purchase a suppressor and decide you don’t want it anymore, selling it can be complicated, and of course whomever buys it will have to pay the same $200 tax you already paid, on the same damn suppressor.
A fabric heat shield is a wise accessory for your can. It protects you from being burned when it heats up and reduces heat waves between you and the target.
A suppressor also adds a good bit of weight to your firearm. Rimfire suppressors can be as light as 5 ounces, but some centerfire rifle suppressors can weigh nearly a pound. This makes your gun heavier, and it adds all the weight at the muzzle, which dramatically changes the firearm’s balance. If you only shoot from the bench, this isn’t a big deal. For offhand shooting, the added muzzle weight can make a rifle seem to hang on target better, but it also destroys a rifle’s handling qualities.
In addition to the weight, a can adds length. Adding 6 inches to a pistol’s barrel makes it unwieldly. The same is true when you add 7 to 9 inches to a rifle’s barrel, especially if the rifle already has a 22- or 24-inch barrel. Because of this, many new rifles are now being offered with suppressor-ready barrels that are as short as 16 inches.
Silencer Central’s Banish 30 suppressor is modular and can be shortened if desired.
For gas-operated semi-automatic firearms, like the AR-10 and AR-15, a suppressor forces more pressured gas into the action. With this comes more carbon fouling, and more carbon fouling makes your gun dirtier. You might find that your AR will have some cycling issues with a suppressor installed unless it has an adjustable gas block. Heavier bolt carriers and different buffer springs and buffer weights can also be used to tune an AR for optimum performance with a suppressor.
The Good
The primary goodness of a suppressor is that it reduces the noise or acoustic intensity of a gunshot. However, a suppressor doesn’t “silence” a gunshot. The “silencer” term comes from the patent for the first firearm suppressor, which was invented in 1902 by Hiram P. Maxim, son of Hiram S. Maxim of machine gun fame. Ironically, the muffler for internal combustion engines was developed in parallel by Maxim. A muffler doesn’t silence an engine and a suppressor doesn’t silence a gun, but here in America you can purchase a muffler at any auto shop and walk out the door with it the same day you buy it. You cannot do that with a suppressor.
In addition to making a firearm hearing safe and being a great tool for hunters, suppressors also have tactical application.
The primary goal of modern firearm suppressors is to reduce gun shots to below 140 decibels, which is considered to be hearing safe. This means that suppressors actually advance public health because they protect the hearing of those who are shooting and of others who are nearby. This makes communication on shooting ranges better, and better communication on shooting ranges makes them safer. But suppressors also reduce the noise around shooting ranges, and this makes shooting ranges less disturbing to local residents and businesses.
The reduction in recoil and noise a suppressor provides helps shooters shoot better.
Suppressors also reduce recoil by slowing down escaping gases and reducing the reward thrust of the firearm. The added weight of the suppressor also helps reduce recoil and the tendency for the muzzle to rise after each shot. A perfect example of how you can benefit from this noise and recoil reduction is my 19-year-old daughter’s first African safari. She hunted with a 5-pound Kimber rifle in .308 Winchester using full-power ammunition from Buffalo Bore, and she only weighs 100 pounds. The reduced sound and push from the rifle allowed her to deliver accurate shots on several animals out to nearly 300 yards.
A Silencer Central Banish 30 suppressor was an integral part of this author’s daughter’s shooting success on her first African safari.
Part of her ability to deliver those good shots at distance comes from being less intimated by the noise and recoil, but it also partly comes from the fact that the recoil reduction and added weight helps to prevent movement of the rifle as the bullet is exiting the barrel. For all of these reasons, most shooters shoot more accurately when shooting with a suppressor.
There are additional benefits for hunters, because when hunting you use all your senses and with a suppressor, you don’t have to put on hearing protection before you take your shot. Plus, after the shot, your ears aren’t ringing so they’re still a usable sense. (Professional hunting guides love suppressors just as much as they hate muzzle brakes.) This reduction in muzzle blast also has tactical application with regard to noise but also in shot signature, because it eliminates the ball of fire at the muzzle and greatly reduces dust and vegetation movement that can give away a concealed position.
There are two types of suppressors. Some come apart for service and maintenance and others are captive and sealed.
The Latest And Bestest News
As indicated in the ugly section, purchasing a suppressor can be an intimidating affair because of all the paperwork, because you’re dealing with the government and because of the wait and unfamiliarity of the process. Fortunately, a wise man who was working as a pharmacist in South Dakota has essentially solved all this.
Brandon Maddox was a shooter who liked shooting suppressed, and he felt that if he could legally distribute prescription medications all across the United States, he could do the same with suppressors. Maddox created Silencer Central. By establishing dealers in every suppressor legal state and by working with the ATF, Silencer Central can now sell you a suppressor using the telephone and the internet, and they can then ship the suppressor right to your doorstep. You never have to leave the house!
The process is 100 percent legal and extremely easy. I know because working with Zach Ely, a Silencer Central sales rep, I just went through it. Not only did Ely make everything as simple as singing up for cell phone service, but he was also extremely knowledgeable about the process and suppressors in general—he provided detailed answers to every legal and technical question I had.
And, get this: As part of purchasing from Silencer Central, they’ll create a trust for you for free. The trust actually owns the suppressor, and this means you can share it—legally—with other members of the trust. It also means that when you go to that great gun range in the sky, the transfer of the suppressor to your designee is easier.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Most ARs these days already have a telestock, but many aren’t properly assembled. Here’s how to do it right.
One of the things that we find very important in the LE Patrol rifle classes is getting rifles to fit officers. While no one would consider for a moment the idea that the standard and only issue shoe should be a size 9, the uniform jacket a 38 Regular and trousers 30L-32W, management blithely assumes that one pistol will fit them all. And one rifle, as well.
Well … no.
So, in the early days, we saw officers arrive with fixed stocks, and they’d look enviously at the one or two who had telestocks. Now, it’s rare to see a fixed stock, they’re all telestocks. And yet, not all are properly assembled. Or even tightly assembled.
The telestock has a buffer tube, a sliding stock with some sort of latch, and the tube is secured to the lower receiver by being screwed in and then locked in place with what’s called a castle nut. It also holds on to the rear plate that guides the buffer tube and holds in the takedown spring and plunger.
Here’s a quick primer on how to take a telestock apart—not doing it correctly can damage parts:
Unload and disassemble, removing the upper and lower. Remove the buffer and spring. Use a castle nut wrench to loosen the castle nut, and then spin it back far enough to clear the retaining plate. Slide the retaining plate back from the receiver, and control, remove and set aside the takedown spring. You can, if you wish, now remove the buffer tube by unscrewing it. Once it goes back a turn or two, the buffer retainer and its spring will pop loose, so control those and set them aside.
Doesn’t sound so bad, right?
Well, we can now get to the mistakes, errors and dimensional problems that crop up.
Buffer Tube
The buffer tube has to be screwed into the lower receiver hoop far enough to trap the buffer retainer, but not so far that it binds the retainer down in its tunnel. If not screwed in far enough, the buffer retainer pops out, and it and its spring get to dance with the hammer, trigger or disconnector. Soon the rifle stops working. Install it in too far, and the retainer gets bound down and doesn’t keep the buffer under control. When you open the action to disassemble for cleaning, you get a spring-launched buffer flying across the room. (Or it hits someone, who rightly objects to such treatment.)
The solution is to check the engagement. If the engagement is minimal, you can remove the buffer and spring, loosen the castle nut, turn the buffer tube in another rotation, and tighten everything back down again. If your rifle has the hoop threads cut wrong, then you’ll have to either swap tubes until you find one that works or file the lip of the tube you have to fit properly. Screw it in until it holds the retainer down. See how much too much you have (and it may even stick out of the top of the hoop as well), then remove the tube and carefully file the lip back until it’s just right.
You might even end up with an uneven—or lipped—tube, with clearance on the top for the upper receiver, and enough protrusion on the bottom to hold in the retainer.
Or you can buy a buffer tube that’s been built to provide a retaining lip and still clear the upper. PWS makes one, and it works like a champ.
The PWS buffer tube, with an extended lip to retain the buffer catch, will still clear the upper receiver.
Tipped buffer tubes are those that have been allowed to move when the castle nut has been tightened. The tube, and the stock attached to it, needs to be vertical to the bore axis, or else it will be uncomfortable or difficult to shoot. The trick here is keeping the tube vertical while you tighten the castle nut. There’s no trick, just patience.
Castle Nut
The castle nut has notches in its front and rear edges. The big notches are for the wrench that tightens or loosens it, and the small notches are for staking. The big notches go to the rear. No, I’m not kidding: I’ve seen castle nuts put on the wrong way, in part because they’re sometimes screwed on to the buffer tube (as a parts kit) at the factory just to keep them from being lost and end up being screwed on wrong. The castle nut must be torqued on with a proper wrench. (Anything else will either not provide enough torque or mar the castle nut heinously.) You can use Loctite, but this is more a vibration control, and a belt-and-suspenders approach. Don’t depend solely on torque and Loctite.
This castle nut hasn’t been staked. That’ll be changed shortly.
The castle nut has to trap the retaining plate flat against the receiver, and once in place you must stake the castle nut. That’s what the smaller notches are for. Use a spring-loaded center-punch and put the tip against the retaining plate, then close to the gap of the notch. You want to kick up a staked nib that’ll interfere with the castle nut unscrewing. You won’t do this with just one click, you’ll have to keep at it until the nib is big enough to do its job. An un-staked castle nut can loosen, and when it does, the stock gets all wobbly. If, on top of everything else, the buffer tube wasn’t screwed in far enough, it may loosen enough to free the buffer retainer, and when you go to disassemble to fix things, you get the buffer surprise. So be careful when you take the upper and lower apart—you don’t want to take a buffer in the face.
A spring-loaded center-punch is the tool you’ll need to stake your castle nut.
Another quick warning here; if you have opted for a single-point sling and are using a retaining plate with loops on it to clip the sling onto, you can’t stake it. For some reason beyond understanding, those plates are made too hard to be staked. This is the one time you will have to depend on torque and Loctite—at least until you decide to give up on single-point slings and can rebuild to a regular retaining plate. If you just have to have a single-point sling, then go with the GG&G adapter, one that clamps on. With it you don’t have to rebuild your telestock to use a single-point sling.
You just have to have a single-point sling and use the GG&G adapter. That way you won’t have to rebuild your stock assembly and then undo that work once you’re tired of the single-point sling.
Castle Nut Torquing
You might think that the vise block that fits into the magazine well is the way to hold your lower while working on the castle nut. No. That risks breaking things. Instead, lay the receiver flat on a padded bench. The pistol grip will act as your lock. When you go to loosen the nut, lay the lower receiver down on its right side. This way you will by rotating the castle nut toward the pistol grip. You can place a hand on the pistol grip and lean on it with your body weight, to keep things still. When tightening, lay it on the left side, so again, the pistol grip is in the direction you’re turning the nut. The Mil-spec limit is 40 ft-lb. That’s a lot for this, and all you need, but you still have to stake it.
The center-punch goes onto the retaining plate, adjacent to the castle nut, at a locking notch.
And you use a padded bench because the various things that stick out, like the bolt latch, or the magazine button fence, would otherwise be pressed hard against the bench top.
Once you’ve clicked the punch enough times, you’ll have a staked castle nut.
Retaining Plate
If you look at the plate, you’ll see a dished section, and on the other side that section is raised. Plates are made by stamping them out of sheet steel, and part of the stamping is to create that raised portion. The raised portion fits into the recess machined in the lower receiver. It seems obvious but I’ve seen a couple of rifles that were assembled with the raised portion out. When that happens, the retaining plate can’t stay in place; it’ll rotate, and it’ll either take the buffer tube with it or it’ll gouge the buffer tube.
This buffer tube wasn’t screwed in far enough, and the buffer retainer fell out. And when it was opened, the owner got the “buffer surprise” that can be so hazardous.
The plate also keeps the takedown spring in place. A quick look to make sure the spring was pushed fully into the tunnel on assembly is warranted. If it wasn’t, it can be bent, and the plate is tipped. Also, the spring might not have enough force to keep the plunger under control, and you might lose the rear plunger on disassembly.
This buffer retainer escaped and rattled around until it could find a way to cause problems.
Stock Swap
While this isn’t something done by Wall Street, exchange the sliding portion of the stock on the buffer tube for another one. The latch on the USGI style is a hinged lever that pulls the plunger out of the drilled locking spots. (The originals had two: open or closed. Only later did we get more, now you can get up to eight positions.) The locking plunger rides in a slot machined on the ventral fin of the buffer tube. The lever can’t move the plunger enough to permit it to leave the groove. So, to remove the slider, you have to grab the whole lever, pull it away from the slider and then slide the stock off. Install the new one the same way.
To remove the slider, you’ll have to pull down on the latch, not lever it. On the Magpul stocks, you’ll have to pull down the crosspin of the latch.
Mil-Spec Versus Commercial
The buffer tube isn’t the same for all stocks. Less so now than in the old days, there are “commercial” tubes that differ. The original-spec tubes are made from forgings, and the tube is machined. If you look closely at a mil-spec tube, you’ll see that the tops of the threads are higher than the tube body. The commercial tubes (assuming anyone makes them anymore, but you might still run into an older rifle with one) are made by extrusion.
The original buffer tubes had two locking notches: open and closed. You can get a lot more today; this is a six-position tube next to a clone of an original.
Here, a heated cylinder of aluminum is forced through a shaping die, and the tube is brought down to diameter while the ventral fin is formed. Then, the tube is threaded. The threads can’t be larger in diameter than the tube. (Well … they can, but that adds time, machinery and cost to their manufacture … so it ain’t happening.) And if you look at a commercial tube, the thread tops are the same diameter as the tube.
The threads are the same; they have to be to screw into the receiver. But the slider portion differs, and a mil-spec stock won’t fit onto a commercial tube, while a commercial stock will be a sloppy fit on a mil-spec tube. The easy way to determine? Measure it. Mil-spec tubes are a nominal 1.148 inches while commercial tubes are a nominal 1.168 inches in diameter. Either will fit a lower receiver, but they won’t permit stock swaps without tube swaps. Both use the same springs and buffer weights. Most tubes, and thus stocks, are now the mil-spec diameter. If yours has a commercial-diameter buffer tube, and you want a different slider, you’ll probably find it easier to just rebuild the whole assembly with a new mil-spec tube, to get the stock you want.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the December 2023 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Looking for a quality EDC pistol that won’t break the bank? Here are our top carry handgun picks for below $500.
There’s a line of thought in the everyday carry field that you should not be carrying an expensive, custom pistol. Some object because it might give the DA another stick with which to beat you in the legal proceedings. Others claim that your custom 1911 (it always seems to be a 1911, in this argument) will spend years in evidence lockup, and you might not ever see it again.
Well, color me unimpressed.
To throw cold water on those, consider instead the incident itself. If it was in the parlance “a good shoot,” then the DA will do what he or she can or will do, but that’s all. And if it was a good shoot, you’ll be getting your property back. (Well, maybe not, in some jurisdictions, but that’s a life choice and real estate decision, not a pistol selection one.) And if your custom pistol has suffered somewhat in evidence, then the custom ’smith who worked on it will be glad to refresh it now that it has served you well.
EDC Pistols Get Gross
No, I encourage the use of inexpensive pistols for daily carry for an entirely different reason: sweat.
Not every inexpensive pistol has to be available in a host of options to be a smoking deal. The BRG9 Elite comes with everything you see in the case here.
I once had a customer who could rust anything, and quickly. Bart’s perspiration was so corrosive that you could see it on his carry gun. We ended up giving his carry gun a double hard-chrome plating, because we learned he could rust through the hard chrome with just one layer of plating. As I write this, it’s 82 degrees outside, with 88 percent relative humidity. You practically have to push yourself through the air, it’s so thick. A walk around the block has one dripping in sweat. That’s sweat that will drench your carry pistol.
Yes, modern coatings and finishes are much better than the high-gloss blue of the old days, but rusting a $5,000 custom pistol in a weekend of carry isn’t fun. Luckily, you can get a carry gun entirely suitable for daily use for a tenth of that, and you won’t care much if it does suffer some.
Less Can Be More
Let’s start right off the bat with Taurus and the G series. If you want a subcompact pistol, then the GX4 can be yours for under five bills—under four bills if you don’t need or want the option for mounting a red-dot sight. So, a 10- or 11-round magazine, compact size and a list price of $399? It’s hard to beat that, but Taurus does it. If you’re looking for something a little larger or that costs a bit less, then the full-sized G3 can be yours with a list price of $340.
Taurus magazines can hold an impressive amount of ammo. With one in the gun, and the spare on your belt, you’ve got close to a box of ammo on call.
Now, if your tastes run more toward the traditional, you’ll be looking for a 1911 pistol. OK, Armscor has you covered here, with a selection of sizes, finishes, capacities and even calibers, starting at $499. You can bling yours up by opting for a nickel finish, if you like flashy or want the corrosion-resistance it offers. If you’re a fan of the hi-cap striker approach, but not too keen on polymer, then the Armscor STK100 fits the need. Its aluminum frame won’t rust, and the STK100 takes Glock magazines, an item so common I expect to see them on the counter of the convenience store at my local gas station soon.
If you’re old-school and want something .45, or GI, then the Armscor 1911 series won’t hammer your wallet. And you have options in size, caliber and finish, if you’re willing to move up some in price.
If you’re looking to stick with steel magazines, then the Springfield Armory XD series is your choice. The new XDm series are the hot products from Springfield, but the XD line has been offered long enough that Springfield Armory has some real deals to offer. The current Defend Your Legacy XD series, in several sizes, offers you a 9mm pistol of 13- or 16-round magazine capacity, and the XD pistols are hell for tough. At a listed $440, you get steel magazines, grip safety, ambi mag release, striker cocking indicator and loaded chamber indicator, ultra-reliability and the option of using extended magazines to increase your XD's capacity.
The Springfield Armory XD series has been around long enough to now be affordable. You get steel magazines and many options in capacity (state law permitting, of course), and a pistol so tough it probably would shrug off hammer hits.
One of the sources of solid, dependable and inexpensive handguns of late has been Turkey. Century Arms offers the Canik line, and there you have an embarrassment of choices. If you want a full-sized pistol, then the TP9SF at a listed $399, offering 18- or 20-round extended magazines, is amazing. They have all the features you’d want in a pistol, with replaceable backstraps, an accessory rail, hi-vis sights and coming complete with a holster, spare magazine and cleaning tools, so you won’t have to buy extras just to get started. (Well, ammo, of course.) You do have to like a pistol done up in FDE, because that’s how the TP9SF rolls. Other Canik models offer basic black as a finish color. If you want something smaller than a full-sized duty pistol, then the TP9 Elite SC, a subcompact pistol and also set up for red-dot optics, will probably be in the display case next to the TP9SF and listed at $440.
The Canik pistols are an incredible value. And those who are fans of FDE can find several options in the lineup. The extra coating adds corrosion resistance as well.
Now, not all pistols have to be offered in a wide range of options in order to be a great deal. The BRG9 Elite is one such. Made by the Burgu Metal Company in Turkey, and imported by BRG-USA, it’s a duty-sized 9mm pistol. Coming in a lockable hard case with replaceable backstraps, two 16-round magazines, a mag loader and cleaning tools, the BRG9 Elite has a list price of $399.
Inexpensive guns like this BRG9 Elite can be accurate. In fact, most are—inaccurate guns don’t sell very well in today’s economy. Find what ammo yours likes and stick with it.
The selection of 9mm hi-cap pistols that retail for under four Benjamins is eye-opening to those of us who grew up with higher, relative to inflationary changes, prices in the old days. To give you a scale, if we backward calculate $400 in modern Biden dollars to when I bought my first 1911 (USGI surplus), the value then of $400 comes to $97 in 1979. I paid $189 for my 1911 back then. New pistols and revolvers cost even more than that. So, the bargain pistols of today really are bargains.
A Fistfight With Rust
One of the things that got me out of gunsmithing and into gun writing was rust. I was doing a survey of the work I had done and realized just how much of my income came from neglect. Hunting guns, rifles and shotguns that had malfunctioned during the previous hunting season, only now, weeks before Opening Day, were being brought in to be cleaned and checked. Carry guns needed the rust buffed off and the hardened oil inside chipped away. Then, there were the hunting guns that were forgotten until they had been pulled out as “pre-hunt planning” and the carry guns not discovered until they had failed to work at an all-too-rare practice session or required departmental qualification day.
The Canik TP9 Elite SC is a small gun that performs like a big gun. And if you feel the need for a red-dot optic on your pistol, the Canik can accommodate you there.
I’ll grant that the modern finishes are better than blue, and even the hard chrome Bart rusted. But since you’re paying so little, and treating your pistol so harshly, you can take an extra step and not shed a tear over it. The aluminum or polymer frame isn’t going to rust. If you want to give the slide extra protection, you can be careful and coat it with car wax. That’ll help it shed the moisture and sweat it experiences.
You could even (and this is really getting hard core) field-strip your pistol, degrease the slide and give it an application of spray paint. Now, I’d suggest this only if you lived in someplace even more humid than the Midwest, where I Iive, or if your body is as hostile to metal as Bart’s is, and need the extra rust protection. Be sure to use bits of masking tape to keep the paint out of or off of things that need to move, or need to be not covered, like your tritium night sights. And, once it has dried, be sure that you reassemble and give your carry pistol a thorough range session, just to make sure that the paint hasn’t gotten someplace it ought not to have, and your pistol still works.
The Armscor STK100, with its aluminum frame, is going to resist rust a lot better than a steel-framed pistol … and have better recoil control than a polymer-framed pistol.
Now, some might object. “Paint? You’re asking me to paint my firearm?” Well, what do you think a lot of the non-black finishes are, essentially, that you can have on your carry pistol? And, if you live in a truly awful environment, you can have paint on your pistol or you can have rust on your pistol. This is America, after all—you get to decide.
Last, and this applies to all daily carry firearms, not just the inexpensive ones, you should stop by your local computer store, or hit up Amazon, for canned air. The really big problem with daily carry isn’t the sweat, although that is a problem. It’s the lint. Lint accumulates, and once it builds up enough, it stops the small parts from working. Even expensive pistols stop working if there’s enough lint, and it doesn’t take as long as you might think for “enough” to build up. Blow the lint out before it builds up to “too much.”
The Taurus G3 is a full-sized pistol with a less-than-full-sized price tag. If the size isn’t a problem, the price might startle you.
Be Smart, Not Cheap
It’d be smart to take some of the savings you scored from going with an inexpensive carry gun and invest it in cleaning supplies and canned air. If not, it’d be most embarrassing to be standing and waiting at the pearly gates, where the bouncer is looking at you in scorn. “Lint? Really?”
Looking for inexpensive, given the harsh environment, is prudent, but taking care of your investment so it can take care of you is also prudent.
Do both.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2022 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Many armed citizens only trust their lives to factory ammunition, but here’s what you need to know about defensive handgun bullets.
We’ve all heard the rule from on high: Thou shalt not carry handloads in thine everyday carry weapon, lest thou be deemed guilty immediately for saving thine bacon. The concept and reason, loosely stated, is that a prosecuting attorney could possibly convince a jury that you intentionally made “hot loads” (I break out in hives just typing that), or that the threat—which you interpreted to put your life in danger—was farther away than you stated, based upon the penetration of the bullet and/or expansion. Those handloads could indicate—to the uneducated—that you were looking for a gunfight.
Just as I handload almost all of my dangerous game ammunition, on the basis of the idea that I can pay attention to each and every component and aspect of the loading process, I have no problem with handloading EDC defensive ammunition. In fact, handloading my defensive ammunition allows me to inspect all of the projectiles I’ll be using. It gives me an opportunity to tune each and every case, weigh each powder charge and use a consistent crimp. The factory stuff is great—there’s no doubt about that—but I’m the kind of guy who likes to hedge his bets.
Handloading defensive ammunition is not for a lot of people, and I certainly understand that.
A lineup of worthy premium defensive bullets, including the Federal Hydra-Shok, Hornady XTP, Speer Gold Dot, Barnes XPB and the Cutting Edge Handgun Raptor. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Choosing A Defensive Handgun Bullet
Not all defensive bullets are created equal, and the reloader (or those buying any defensive ammunition, actually) needs to be aware of the differences, similarities, pleasures and pitfalls of the various designs.
What exactly makes a defensive bullet? Well, that’s a highly subjective question, as just about any handgun bullet can be used in a defensive situation. I caught my father carrying plain old lead, round-nose bullets in his .38 snub nose the other day and gasped in horror. Dad replied, “They’ll work, trust me. The government issued them for decades.” Maybe he’s not entirely wrong, but with the availability of modern bullets of premium quality, I’m not carrying lead projectiles. Nor am I carrying a FMJ, which will certainly offer deep penetration, but nearly zero expansion.
I prefer a jacketed hollow-point bullet (as opposed to the plated bullets), engineered to give the best balance of penetration and expansion. If you’re trying to pick out which bullet will work best for you, try searching for some examples of the bullet’s performance in bare ballistic gelatin, as well as after passing through several layers of clothing and/or drywall. The latter two tests can often show you whether expansion is reliable; I’ve seen more than one model plug up with drywall and fail to expand.
Note the skived jacket on the Hydra-Shok; this helps initiate uniform expansion.
Federal’s Hydra-Shok handgun bullet has been around for more than three decades, yet it still checks all the boxes for an excellent defensive choice. Using a notched copper jacket and a post in the center of the hollow cavity for reliable expansion, the Hydra-Shok has long been a popular choice for law enforcement and is among my favorite designs. Speer’s Gold Dot is another favorite, which has its copper jacket bonded to the lead core. This process allows the hollow-point to expand reliably, yet the bonding process ensures the structural integrity of the bullet, providing very high weight retention. Hornady’s XTP (eXtreme Terminal Performance) handgun bullet is equally suited for a hunting scenario as it is a defensive scenario, using a jacket of varying thickness (growing thicker as you approach the base), which is serrated to initiate equal and even expansion. Both the Gold Dot and the XTP have the jacket slightly wrapped around the nose of the bullet, to protect the meplat during the feeding process in a semi-automatic handgun.
There are also monometal choices, such as the Barnes XPB or the Cutting Edge Handgun Raptor, and while both are hollow-points, they function very differently in the terminal phase. Where the Barnes will retain nearly all of its weight, the Cutting Edge is designed to actually break apart. The Handgun Raptor has cuts along the ogive, and that section along the hollow-point will break into four blades, radiating in a star pattern for some nasty initial trauma, while the base of the bullet (Cutting Edge calls it their Blunt Trauma Base) maintains caliber-diameter, penetrating up to 16 inches in ballistic gel. These aren’t your grandfather’s bullets.
The Cutting Edge Handgun Raptor is engineered to break into four blades, which radiate in a star pattern, leaving the caliber-dimension base to give deep penetration. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
If You Must Build Your Own
Looking at the lead-core bullets, you'll see those models designed for use in a revolver will sport a cannelure for using a roll crimp, while those designated for the semi-auto guns will not. Those cartridges generally use the case mouth for headspacing and cannot use a roll crimp; rather a good taper crimp will keep those bullets from moving within the case.
Irrespective of the crimp style, I’ve found that the more uniform you can keep your crimp, the more uniform your velocities will be. I reach for the Redding Profile Crimp die for the best roll crimp possible, applying the crimp in a separate operation, after seating the bullet. When I need a taper crimp, I like the Redding Micro Adjustable Taper Crimp dies, as they allow me to fine-tune the amount of crimp being applied, making adjustments for variations in case thicknesses.
The monometal bullets will offer at least one crimping groove, though there might be multiple grooves for different seating depths. Just as with rifle bullets, copper-alloy handgun bullets will be longer than their lead counterparts of the same weight and diameter, as copper is less dense.
Regarding velocities, I'm not necessarily looking to break any records, but rather achieve the most uniform, accurate and sensible speeds. I recommend using load data from the manufacturer of whichever component bullet you’ve chosen, as the configuration and conformation of that bullet can require a specific powder charge range, and often data isn’t interchangeable.
Lastly, I like to pick a bullet weight the same as my practice ammo, so that the recoil and overall feel of my handgun stays uniform when switching from range ammo to carry ammo. Once I’ve picked my defensive bullet, I can then search for a practice bullet, be it a cast-lead bullet or an FMJ.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2022 EDC special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
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.
