I headed across the pond with a Savage 110 PPR to test its practical precision in the hunting fields.
I enjoy all sorts of big game hunting, both here in the U.S. and Canada—as well as more exotic locations such as Africa and Australia. But I must report that the United Kingdom has a different allure; it has deep-rooted traditions and a different approach to the sport than much of the rest of the world.
Having experienced a traditional stalking hunt for Scottish red stag, I jumped at the opportunity to hunt the Cotswolds, a beautiful, forested region in the southwest of England, for fallow deer and roe deer. In addition to a great hunting opportunity, my host would be world-renowned chef Mike Robinson, whose fallow deer culling operation provides a good percentage of the venison to England’s restaurants.
Upon arriving, Mike and his guides took us to the larder—the hunt headquarters, if you will—where the shooting range was also situated. Mike’s face was beaming as he and Savage’s Beth Shimanski unveiled the Model 110 PPR rifle. Designed for the rigors of stalking and culling in England’s wet, heavy vegetation, while delivering the precision needed for the head shots taken on those game animals destined for the public, the 110 PPR—the Professional Pursuit Rifle—had input from Robinson, drawing on his vast experience in the Cotswolds.
Savage’s 110 PPR is a sensible and serviceable design. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Holding History
The famous Savage 110 action has been relied upon for being a part of the company’s accuracy equation, and on the Professional Pursuit Rifle, it houses a fluted bolt, and a bolt face with dual plunger ejectors and a larger extractor. Atop the 110’s receiver is mounted a 20-MOA Picatinny rail, to extend the long-range capabilities of the rifle. The safety remains on the tang, under the thumb, and the bolt release remains in its traditional location.
The PPR—Precision Pursuit Rifle—is a variant built on the proven and well-loved Savage 110 action. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
The bolt handle features an oversized ball, so that even with wet hands the action can be cycled. The Savage 110 PPR features a carbon-fiber-wrapped Proof Research barrel—20 inches long in all calibers—that’s threaded for the use of a suppressor, which was used on our hunt in England, or the use of a muzzle brake that’s shipped with the rifle.
Coming from the factory with a 20-MOA Picatinny rail, the 110 PPR will give plenty of elevation adjustment for long-range shooting. The author mounted the new Leupold VX-6HD Gen 2 3-18x44mm scope on board for testing. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Savage has equipped the 110 PPR with the AccuTrigger; though fully user-adjustable, my test rifle broke consistently at 2 pounds, 4 ounces, allowing the shooter to accurately place shots. In my time in England, I had the opportunity to use three different examples of the 110 PPR—two in 6.5 Creedmoor and one in 6.5 PRC—and I was impressed by the uniformity of the rifle. Taking precision headshots in field positions, though we had the excellent ViperFlex quad sticks, is not the easiest of tasks, but the accuracy of the Savage rifle laid the blame of any mishaps on the shooter.
I took three spike fallow deer—known locally as a “pricket,” as their small, under-developed antlers aren’t desirable for a healthy gene pool—without issue, as well as a roe buck at the end of his days. A crisp trigger is integral to accurate shooting, and I don’t think it’s any surprise that Savage has a winner with their AccuTrigger design.
Different, But Good
The most interesting and unique features of the Savage Model 110 PPR is the stock they’ve chosen: the Grayboe Phoenix 2. This is a sophisticated, well-thought-out and well-engineered rifle stock, even if it is radically different from the classic figured walnut stocks I am so personally fond of.
While it may not have the appearance of a traditional hunting rifle, the Grayboe Phoenix 2 is all business, offering options that a hunter and precision shooter will appreciate. The stock is adjustable for both comb height and length-of-pull. The test rifle I was sent had a length of pull that measured 13¼ inches, with the addition or removal of spacers at the butt of the rifle, just ahead of the recoil pad. The comb height is adjustable via a large set screw on the right stock of the stock, allowing the cheek piece to raise or lower when loosened, being secured when the screw is tightened. The cheek piece is adjustable with just one hand.
The Phoenix 2’s grip is nearly vertical, with an ergonomic palm swell that allows the shooter to afford a solid grip on the rifle, while still being able to comfortably engage and disengage the tang-mounted safety, and without introducing additional heartbeat shake by having the trigger-hand thumb over the tang. At the front end of the trigger guard is the spring-loaded lever, which releases the polymer magazine; a gentle push sees the magazine drop from the well.
Savage equips the Model 110 PPR with the familiar three-position tang safety but features an oversize bolt knob for easy manipulation with bare hands or gloves. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
The forend of the Phoenix 2 is rather square—perfect for the use of a shooting cradle on a tripod—and the bottom of the forend is equipped with a 9-inch section of M-Lok rail for attaching a shooting aid. Both sides of the Grayboe stock are equipped with a flush cup sling attachment point at the front of the forend and at the rear of the buttstock. The barrel is completely free floated.
Despite the traditional English weather—if you don’t like it, please wait 10 minutes—where we experienced the transition from bright sunshine to pouring rain to a gentle mist, the design of the Grayboe stock allowed the rifle to stay on the shoulder while walking/stalking, comfortably in the hands while closing in on a croaking fallow buck, or safely across the back while helping to transport a roe buck or fallow buck.
Painted in a camo pattern based on green and earth tones interspersed with a thin black web, the Grayboe stock has a flat finish, so there’s no worry about glare scaring off the game. And unlike many polymer stocks, the Phoenix 2 isn’t “loud” stalking through the brush and limbs don’t make a loud noise when rubbing against the stock. Frankly, it isn’t hard to see why Mike Robinson & Co. took a shine to this design, as it checks all the boxes in the area they hunt.
Set Up to Shine
To prepare the 110 PPR for the range, I mounted the new Leupold VX-6HD Gen 2 3-18×44 scope in Leupold rings. This scope is similar in size, shape and weight to the original version, but Leupold has made some interesting tweaks to improve performance. The lens coating seems to lend a bit more clarity, especially in low-light situations, and they’ve moved to a smaller and more ergonomic power level throw knob, but the feature I like best is the new turret design.
Instead of using a tiny Allen wrench (which I lose more often than not) to reset or slip the elevation and windage turrets, Leupold now uses a spring-loaded set screw. Depress the screw, pull up on the tab and you can quickly and easily reset the turrets to zero without the use of tools—I am absolutely a fan. The same left-side focal knob is still there, as is the illuminated reticle (my test scope featured the excellent FireDot).
The Leupold VX-6HD Gen 2 scope has the new Speedset dials that are simple to reset yet stay put no matter the conditions. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Add up all these features and you’ve got one of the best scopes on the market, giving an excellent balance of price, features, and sheer reliability, all in a lightweight package. The 110 PPR rifle and Leupold scope combination tipped the scales at 8 pounds, 4 ounces unloaded. The 30mm main tube gives plenty of elevation adjustment, especially when used in conjunction with the PPR’s 20-MOA rail, in addition to providing a bright image. And Leupold offers an additional CDS turret marked out in yardage, correlating to your chosen load and elevation, free of charge.
Additional Testing
Having proved itself across three different rifles in England, so far as functionality goes—I didn’t have a single feeding or extraction issue, nor any failures to fire—I grabbed a quartet of different types of 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition to test at my little backyard range. In the mix was the Hornady Precision Hunter ammo, using the 143-grain ELD-X bullet, the Hornady Outfitter ammo featuring the 120-grain monometal CX bullet (we used this with great effect in England), the Federal Fusion Tipped ammo at 140 grains and the Federal 130-grain Barnes TSX load. I also had the opportunity to measure velocities with the Garmin Xero C1 Pro and was impressed with this unit.
All four of the 6.5 Creedmoor hunting loads the author tested gave sub-MOA three-shot groups, with the rifle showing a preference for the monometal bullets. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
Using three-shot groups for testing, the Savage 110 PPR I tested showed a preference for the monometal projectiles, with the best groups being delivered by the Federal Barnes TSX load and the Hornady CX load. Both averaged 0.6-inch groups at 100 yards, with the Federal load giving just a slightly more even velocity reading. The Hornady Precision Hunter load printed three-shot groups averaging 0.72 inch, with the Federal Tipped Fusion load coming in at an even 0.8 inch.
During the bench testing, there were no feeding issues at all, nor any problems with extraction. The bottom line is that the test rifle, much like the guns I had the opportunity to shoot in England, was wonderfully accurate for a rifle of this length and weight.
Savage Model 110 PPR 20-inch barrel
LOAD
CARTRIDGE
BULLET WEIGHT
ADVERTISED VEL.
OBSERVED AVG. VEL.
SMALLEST GROUP
AVERAGE GROUP
LARGEST GROUP
Hornady Outfitter
6.5 Creedmoor
120 grain CX
2,700 fps
2,586 fps
0.52”
0.60”
0.81”
Hornady Precision Hunter
6.5 Creedmoor
143 grain ELD-X
2,700 fps
2,586 fps
0.65”
0.72”
0.89”
140-grain Fusion Tipped
6.5 Creedmoor
140 grain Fusion Tipped
2,175 fps
2,604 fps
0.70”
0.80”
0.98”
Federal Premium
6.5 Creedmoor
130 grain Barnes TSX
2,825 fps
2,705 fps
0.48”
0.61”
0.78”
NOTES: Three shot groups at 100 yards. Velocities measured on Garmin Xero C1 Pro.
A Tradition Continued
Savage’s Model 110 Professional Pursuit Rifle might not look like Grandpa’s fetchin’ iron, but it surely makes an ergonomic and effective hunting tool. What you have is a well-balanced rifle, capable of fine accuracy, with a practical stock constructed of weatherproof material. All the metalwork is coated in a black Cerakote, and the Proof Research carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel both reduces weight and dissipates heat very well. The shorter barrel makes perfect sense for those who spend time in the confines of a deer or bear blind yet offers the capability of making shots on the longer side of the spectrum, without a huge loss in velocity.
The author used the Savage Model 110 PPR in the Cotswolds area of southwestern England to take this young fallow buck, called a “pricket”; the rifle performed very well. Photo: Massaro Media Group.
The rifle balances well, and with the muzzle brake onboard, measures just 41½ inches from stem to stern. You get the famous Savage AccuTrigger, as well as the barrel nut and floating bolt head, which greatly help to enhance the rifle’s accuracy potential, as well as that impressive Grayboe composite stock. With an MSRP of $2,399 and a street price of right around $2,000 at the time of this writing, you could spend more and still not have all the features wrapped up in the 110 Pro Pursuit Rifle.
Available in right-hand configurations, it’s chambered for the 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, .270 Winchester, .28 Nosler, 7mm PRC, 7mm Backcountry, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, .300 Winchester Short Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Want to buy an AK-47? I brought in a few of the best AK rifles chambered for 7.62×39 and ran them through their paces to help you make your choice.
AK-47s are probably more popular in the U.S. now than they’ve ever been. Surprising, since the cost of the rifles and their ammunition is also at their zenith. Once viewed as the poor man’s alternative to the AR-15, that is no longer the case. Today, you can get an AR for $400, and the cheapest .223 Remington ammo is less expensive than the cheapest 7.62×39.
No, the AK is no longer the budget option it once was. The AK has become a rifle purchased by historical enthusiasts, collectors and shooters just interested in owning the exotic weapon of the enemy. Given their inflated prices, however, you want to spend your money wisely and choose the best AK that you can for your needs and desires. So, I brought some in for hands-on testing and evaluation to help you make that decision.
How I Made My Picks
The very first gun that I shot was an AK, and it’s the firearm that sparked a lifelong interest in this hobby and led to my eventual career. Consequently, I’ve spent more time researching Kalashnikovs than any other firearm platform and own more of them than I can shake a stick at. It’s fair to say that I had some preexisting notions before starting this project, but it didn’t stop me from testing and assessing the guns as objectively as possible. Many of my biases were confirmed, but there were a couple of surprises as well.
Ultimately, the goal of the testing was simply to identify any problems if they exist, ensure their reliability and juxtapose the shooting experiences of each AK side-by-side. Testing them like this allowed for some hair-splitting and revealed some nuanced differences between them. Based on criteria like their fit and finish, their cost, the feel of their recoil impulse and the included furniture, I determined what each model does best.
The AK-47 Review Process And Notes
First things first, I should clarify that this buyer’s guide is only discussing 7.62×39 AK rifles that are currently available new, colloquially referred to as AK-47s .
To test each AK, I headed to the range with a duffel bag full of loaded mags and a couple of additional cases of ammo to top them off. 2,000 rounds of Wolf Polyformance 123gr HP were provided by AmmoToGo and an additional 500 rounds of Grom 124gr FMJ were provided by Atlantic Firearms. That comes to a grand total of 2,500 rounds or 500 rounds per gun.
For an AK, or any rifle worth its salt for that matter, 500 rounds is not a lot. It is, however, enough that any possible issues should rear their head. The good, and unsurprising, news is that not a single malfunction occurred. That means for all intents and purposes, you should expect all of these rifles to be equally reliable out of the box.
A wide variety of magazines were used to see if any combinations of AK and mag didn’t like each other. Between my surplus steel mags, various polymer mags (Bulgarian, PMAG, Tapco, and US Palm) and the mags included with each rifle, I didn’t experience any issues, but that said AK mags sometimes require a bit of filing to properly fit. The AKs with tighter magwells needed some convincing to seat some polymer mags, but all worked fine.
As for accuracy, I tested out to 200 yards with a steel half-size silhouette. Every rifle hit the target with ease. At the very least, they’re all minute-of-man accurate.
The rest of the differences I gleaned from the testing process will be discussed in the buyer’s guide portion.
A WASR-10 sporting replacement wood furniture and a surplus sling.
Country of Origin: Romania Pattern: AKM Barrel: Cold Hammer Forged, Chrome-lined Weight: 7.5 Pounds Furniture: Wood or polymer Muzzle Device: Slant brake Muzzle Threads: 14×1 LH Side Scope Rail: Yes, AKM-pattern Bayonet Lug: Yes MSRP: $1,070
Pros
Rugged, reputation for excellent reliability
Chrome-lined hammer forged military barrel
AKM-pattern, good host for modifications
Enjoys being abused
Cons
Included furniture is garbage
Rough, grayish finish isn't attractive
No magwell dimples (purely aesthetic)
Comes With: One 30-round mag, no cleaning rod OtherAvailable Variants: WASR-10 UF (underfolder stock), WASR Paratrooper (side-folding stock, combo gas block/front sight)
The WASR-10 that was tested is my personal rifle, and I stand by my decision to put it at the top of my list. Why? It embodies the rough, rugged reliability that AKs are known for. In terms of provenance, it’s the closest to a “true military AKM” of anything on the list.
Long story short, these are made in Cugir, Romania, at the same factory that’s been pumping out AKs since the early 1960s. Millions of select-fire models have been exported and spread throughout the world since then, and starting in the late 90s, semi-auto variants became available on the U.S. civilian market. They quickly gained a reputation for being workhorses and offered some of the best value you could find at the time.
They’re not as cheap as they once were, but they’re not as expensive as many comparable models either. For someone looking for a basic, no-frills AK-47 at a middle-shelf price (it's frequently priced below MSRP), you couldn’t go wrong with a WASR.
As far as shooting one goes, it feels like an AK should. It’s such a standard, true-to-form AK in fact that it served as the baseline for which all the other test guns were compared.
The only real downsides in my mind are that WASRs sport a rough utilitarian finish on their metal parts and ship with low-quality polymer or wood furniture designed to be replaced (as has already been done on the example featured here).
The best parts of the WASR include its production at a legacy factory—initially set up by the Soviets—its use of quality military-grade parts like a cold hammer forged chrome-lined barrel and its widespread compatibility with all standard AKM components and accessories. It's roughness is also a quality in my eyes, because you'll never feel bad about throwing it around and scratching it up, and that's what AKs are meant for.
One final note is that the rifle featured in this review is an original WASR-10, but a few years ago Century Arms began importing a model called the WASR-10 V2. The only noteworthy difference is its gas block does not feature a bayonet lug. If having a bayo lug is important to you, just track down one of the plentiful original WASR-10s instead.
WASR-10 Deals
Midway USA
WASR-10
$930
Midway USA
WASR-10 Underfolder
$1,100
Best Budget AK: PSA GF3
The PSA GF3 and its included PSA magazine.
Country of Origin:U.S. Pattern:AKM Barrel: Gas Nitride 4150 steel treated Weight: 6.5 Pounds Furniture: Polymer Muzzle Device: Slant brake Muzzle Threads: 14X1 LH Side Scope Rail: Yes, AKM Bayonet Lug: Yes MSRP: $700
Pros
Very affordable
Impressively soft recoil
Nice finish
Enhanced safety lever
Cons
Barrel is not chrome-lined
Not overgassed, won't be as reliable in adverse conditions
Comes With: One 30-round PSA mag, cable lock, no cleaning rod OtherAvailable Variants: PSA offers the GF3 in dozens of configurations with polymer, wood and railed furniture in several colors
If you’re looking to get into AKs while spending little money, look at Palmetto State Armory.
The company’s first couple of generations of AK-47s had some kinks, but it’s widely accepted that the current-generation GF3 rifles are absolutely rock solid. Like every imported AK on the list, this domestically manufactured rifle features a hammer-forged bolt, carrier, and front trunnion. When it comes to those parts, you should accept no substitute.
Besides the attractive price tag, the GF3 has a lot going for it. In fact, it even does quite a few things better than some of the others. First off, it has a nice black finish and its polymer furniture is good enough quality to keep installed if you like the way it looks. It also ships with an enhanced safety lever installed that features a shelf for quicker actuation. Another note on the safety is that while most AKs feature rather tight levers that often need to be broken in a bit, the GF3’s was the smoothest, best AK safety I’ve ever felt right out of the box.
I was shocked by how soft-shooting PSA's AK is.
As for how it shot, the GF3 had the lowest recoil impulse of the standard AKM-pattern rifles tested (WASR, GF3 and WBP). PSA clearly dialed the gas on this gun very carefully to be just enough to keep it reliably cycling. While this made it a dream to shoot, it could also be considered a drawback depending on how you look at it. If you had to pick an AK to trust your life with on some muddy battlefield, the GF3 isn’t the one. Harsh conditions are why AKs were designed to be overgassed and it’s partly what made them so reliable—it keeps the gun running in the face of excessive fouling or debris in the action.
Another potential downside is the barrel is not chrome-lined, but unless you plan on shooting corrosive ammo through it that shouldn't be an issue.
That all said, thankfully, most of us aren’t planning on going to war and are simply buying an AK as a range toy. If that’s all you want it for, the PSA GF3 is an excellent option that shoots surprisingly softly and spits less gas in your face than anything else on this list.
PSA GF3 Deals
Palmetto State Armory
PSA GF3 Gray
$650
Palmetto State Armory
PSA GF3 FDE
$700
Best Looking AK: WBP 762SC Jack Classic
The WBP Jack wearing its included sling.
Country of Origin: Poland Pattern: AKM Barrel:FB Radom Hammer Forged, Chrome-lined Weight: 7.2 Pounds Furniture: Wood Muzzle Device: Slant brake Muzzle Threads: 14X1 LH Side Scope Rail: Yes, AKM Bayonet Lug: Yes MSRP: $1,100
Pros
Gorgeous finish
Handsome furniture
Barrel is chrome-lined and made by FB Radom
Reliable, faithful AKM clone
Cons
A bit pricey
Finish and wood look so nice, you'll be scared to properly abuse it
Comes With: One 30-round magazine, NcSTAR VISM 2-point sling, front sight adjustment tool, cable lock, cleaning rod OtherAvailable Variants: WBP offers its rifles with several colors of wood, polymer and tactical furniture, as well as a DIY configuration that includes no furniture
In many ways, the WBP 762SC Jack Classic is just a higher-end WASR. Like the WASR, it’s made in an ex-communist country with a history of producing excellent guns, it’s a very faithful copy of the AKM (including its hammer-forged chrome-lined barrel made by FB Radom) and its recoil impulse suggests its gas is tuned to military specifications, so it's plenty reliable. What it does better than a WASR are all aesthetic improvements—a gorgeous glossy black finish and handsome, original-looking laminate wood furniture. It may not come across through the photos, but the finish really looks better and of higher quality than any other rifle on this list.
That said, one angle to consider before you choose the best AK for you is how you plan on treating it. Yes, the WBP is a beautiful rifle, but that could easily result in you babying it and worrying about every ding and scratch like it's a new car. If you want to shoot your AK and treat it as roughly as it deserves, you won't feel nearly as bad about doing that to a WASR.
Unsurprisingly, shooting the WBP felt the same as the WASR since both are essentially AKM clones. There isn’t much more to say about it than that. Simply put, if you’re after classic AK aesthetics and are willing to pay a bit more for it to look beautiful right out of its box, the WBP Jack Classic is your ticket.
Milled receiver limits aftermarket parts compatibility
Subpar finish, prone to flaking
Comes With: One 10-round mag, Arsenal 2-point sling, buttstock cleaning kit, oiler bottle, cleaning rod OtherAvailable Variants: SAM7SF (side-folder stock), SAM7UF (underfolder stock) ; all offered in several colors of polymer furniture and with various muzzle device options
While most AK-producing countries completely abandoned milled receivers as soon as they had the technology to manufacture stamped receivers instead, Bulgaria is the exception. Once importation began, Arsenal became the gold standard for shooters in the U.S. who wanted a milled AK-47.
The question then is why does anyone want an AK with a milled receiver? The manufacturing process not only results in heavier guns, but more expensive ones too. Militaries don’t want to pay more for guns than they have to, and soldiers prefer lightweight rifles since they carry them far more than shoot them, but that doesn’t apply to those of us looking to have fun on the range.
The first thing you’ll notice when you pick up an Arsenal SAM7R-62 is its weight. While you wouldn’t want to hump it over a mountain, that weight also makes for one very nice shooter. Further aided by the included compensator and the wonderfully crisp flat trigger, the Arsenal was by far the best AK to shoot on this list. It really tames 7.62×39 and makes it feel more like a 5.56. Another benefit of the milled receiver is that the action feels much smoother than any of the stamped AKs.
So, why not go with an Arsenal if it shot and felt the best of them all? It mostly comes down to price and parts compatibility. Quality comes at a cost and Arsenal rifles have price tags significantly higher than any other AK on this list. Even if you have the money for it, a milled AK may not be the direction you want to go. The vast majority of aftermarket AK furniture is designed for stamped receiver AKs. This means that parts like buttstocks, handguards and some internal components won’t fit an Arsenal. If you plan on tricking your AK out, whether that be tactical or with classic wood, you’re going to have far fewer options to choose from.
It's also worth noting that for the price, Arsenals have a surprisingly rough-looking painted finish. This finish is also known to be prone to flaking, especially when cleaned with certain chemicals, although I didn't experience this on the test rifle.
That all said, if you just want the softest shooting AK out of the box that money can buy, Arsenal is undoubtedly the way to go.
Arsenal SAM7R-62 Deals
Atlantic Firearms
Arsenal SAM7R-62 Black
$1,840
Atlantic Firearms
Arsenal SAM7R-62 Green
$1,880
Wildcard Option: Zastava ZPAP M70
The ZPAP M70 with a TangoDown grip, aftermarket sling and “Serbian Red” wood furniture.
Country of Origin: Serbia Pattern: Yugo Barrel: Cold Hammer Forged, Chrome-lined Weight: 7.9 Pounds Furniture: Wood Muzzle Device: Slant brake Muzzle Threads: 14×1 LH Side Scope Rail: Yes, Yugo Bayonet Lug: Yes MSRP: $1,063
Pros
Soft shooter
Nice finish
Good hardwood furniture
Safety features bolt hold open notch
Cons
Heavy
Yugo-pattern design limits aftermarket parts compatibility
No cleaning kit trap door in buttstock
Comes With: One 30-round magazine, cleaning rod Available Variants: ZR7762UFSR (underfolder stock), ZR7762RTF (side-folder triangle stock), ZR7762RT (fixed triangle stock); other combinations of wood (various types), polymer and tactical furniture offered as well
Zastava’s ZPAP M70 has become one of the most popular AK options in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. The company is offering some very high-quality rifles at middle-of-the-road prices, and their fit, finish and hardwood furniture make them attractive to many.
What makes this the wildcard option is, like Arsenal's AKs, ZPAPs are not the standard AKM-pattern. They are Yugoslavian or “Yugo” pattern, and that means they use a thicker gauge of metal for their stamped steel receivers and have bulged front trunnions. These features were added by the Yugoslavians to ensure the guns were strong enough to handle firing rifle grenades, but that’s irrelevant in a civilian context. For us, the extra weight merely helps dampen the recoil and makes for a slightly more pleasant shooting experience than with the standard AKM-pattern rifles.
The downside of this difference is again similar to Arsenal’s—parts compatibility. Buttstocks, handguards and some internal parts will need to be specifically designed for Yugo-pattern AKs. The aftermarket for this has grown substantially, but it’s nowhere near as big as that for AKM parts. The optics rail is different as well, which further limits scope and mount options. The ZPAP also loses a point in my book for not having a trapdoor in its buttstock for a cleaning kit, but it earns the point back for coming with a safety lever that has a bolt hold-open notch.
If the parts' compatibility and higher weight don’t bother you, a ZPAP will make for a very nice shooter.
Zastava ZPAP M70 Deals
Battlehawk Armory
ZPAP M70 Dark Walnut
$1,063
Battlehawk Armory
ZPAP M70 Underfolder
$1,220
AK-47 FAQ:
What does the A and K stand for in AK-47?
The A and K stand for Автоматы and Калашникова, respectively, which translate to Automatic and Kalashnikov in English. Kalashnikov is the last name of the rifle's inventor.
What is an AK-47? What is an AKM?
Technically speaking, there has never been a rifle to ever be officially designated as AK-47. If anything can be called an AK-47 it's the first three patterns of Kalashnikov rifle developed in the Soviet Union between the late 1940s and mid-1950s. In the West, AK-47 is a catch-all colloquialism used to refer to any Kalashnikov rifle chambered for 7.62x39mm, even though the rifles in question are typically AKMs. The “M” in AKM stands for модернизированный meaning modernized. The primary difference is the AKM features a stamped steel receiver. This is the version that's been made in the tens of millions across the globe making it so prolific and well-known.
Why is the AK-47 so famous?
The exact production numbers are debated, but many believe that over 100 million Kalashnikov-type firearms have been manufactured since its invention. The rifles were (and in some cases still are) made in Russia, Romania, Yugoslavia/Serbia, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Finland, Bulgaria, Albania, Iraq, North Korea and other nations. Many of these countries provided Kalashnikovs as military aid to politically friendly nations and non-state actors, resulting in massive global proliferation. The AK is almost certainly the most recognizable firearm in the world, and it's the only gun to be featured on a country's flag (Mozambique).
Should I get an AK-47 or AK-74?
This question is really asking whether one should get an AK chambered for 7.62×39 or for 5.45×39. Both are excellent cartridges, but which is best for you depends on what you want it for. If for some reason you really want your AK to have ballistics similar to 5.56x45mm NATO, then 5.45 offers comparable performance. However, 5.45×39 ammo and magazines are far less common in the United States than 7.62×39 ammo and mags. For most American shooters, the abundance and commonality of 7.62 AKs makes them the better option. A third path to consider is an AK chambered for .223/5.56. These have gained popularity in recent years and besides 5.56 AK mags not being as common as 7.62 ones, these are an excellent option as well.
Want to speed up your reloading process? Here we take a look at Hornady’s new 3-in-1 Power Case Trimmer.
Prepping brass to be reloaded can be a tedious task, and any method that can expedite the process without sacrificing accuracy is appreciated. Hornady’s new 3-in-1 Power Case Trimmer does just that. In a single step, it allows you to trim, chamfer and debur simultaneously, all while saving precious reloading bench space.
The Hornady 3-in-1 Power Case Trimmer is compatible with .22 caliber up to .30 caliber and lengths from 1.450 inches to 3.5 inches. Its motor is not only quiet, but it's capable of rotating at over 2,000 RPMs. The trim length can be set easily, quickly and precisely thanks to the click‑adjustable micrometer. The 3-in-1 Power Case Trimmer has a macro adjustment dial as well, so not every click needs to be .001 inches.
Each trimmer comes with .22 caliber, 6mm, 6.5mm and .30 caliber pilots, as well as two collets that can accommodate .223, PPC, standard and magnum head sizes. The cutter housing is also transparent and features a removable shavings tray to keep your workbench tidy. An attachable cartridge bin is included as well for high-volume reloaders.
We take a quick look at the 6mm GT cartridge, the “Glorious Tiger” of 6mm chamberings.
The 6mm GT is a 2019 collaboration between George Gardner (GA Precision) and Tom Jacobs (Vapor Trail Bullets). Designed with competition shooting in mind, they wished to create a 6mm cartridge that could use forgiving propellants and feed reliably from AICS magazines. They also wanted the round to extend barrel life yet still provide high muzzle velocities with tight rifling twists to stabilize long, high-BC 6mm bullets.
Accordingly, the 6mm GT has a 35-degree shoulder angle for easy feeding, an optimized case nearing 100 percent capacity with about 35 grains of Varget and develops 3,020 to 3,080 fps with 103- to 105-grain bullets.
The 6mm GT works very well on deer, pronghorn and sheep as a hunting round. The 6mm GT can also be chambered in AR-type semi-autos, though it’s used primarily in bolt guns.
General Comments
Known jokingly as the “Glorious Tiger,” the 6mm GT took off in the PRS and NRL match scene from 2019 onward. From the base to the shoulder junction, the 6 GT case is 0.100-inch longer than the 6mm Dasher, and it has a 35-degree shoulder versus the Dasher’s 40-degree design. Gardner and Jacobs also increased the neck length by 0.050 inch compared to the Dasher, making the brass 0.150-inch longer overall. Both dimensional changes help the 6 GT feed well from unmodified .308-size magazines, unlike the 6mm Dasher. Because it uses less propellant, the 6mm GT marginally increases barrel life compared to the 6mm Creedmoor.
Hornady 6GT brass is available from GA Precision. According to Gardner, the 6mm GT cartridge was specifically developed to use Varget powder, but Hodgdon H4350 is also a good choice. The 6mm GT shoots 107-grain Sierra Match Kings at around 3,015 fps MV with 37.8 grains of H4350. Berger 105-grain Hybrid bullets generate 3,015 fps muzzle velocity with 34.2 grains of Varget. Brass is available from Hornady and Alpha Munitions. GA Precision and Clays Cartridge Co. supply loaded ammunition.
The 300 Blackout Vs 5.56 conversation is like debating apples and oranges.
The Bright Line Between 300 Blackout and 5.56 NATO:
Similarities between the cartridges end with them sharing the same case and being tailored for military use.
Thanks to its higher velocities, the 5.56 is much more adept at longer ranges.
The standard .22-caliber also performs better out a longer barrel.
300 Blackout is less finicky about barrel length and is excellent out of SBRs.
The .30-caliber is hands down the more suppressible of the two, with ample subsonic loads available.
By now, most everybody knows the 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge. Its fortunes are tied to America’s most popular rifle—the AR-15—the small-bore thunderbolt has become among the most shot centerfire cartridges in the world. As it goes, success breeds competition, and since its adoption by the U.S. military more than one contender has attempted to knock it off its throne. Most have proven mere pestering flies to the king, but not the 300 Blackout.
Admittedly, Blackout—formally known as the 300 AAC Blackout—is still a comparatively niche chambering compared to the 5.56 NATO. AR-smiths across the board offer the latter, not as often the former. Yet, the .30-caliber cartridge’s popularity and stability are impressive, especially for an AR option dubbed by many naysayers as a “flash in the pan” from the start. By far, the .300 Blackout is the second-most popular AR chambering of all time and arguably earned consumer shooters’ respect quicker than even the old standby AR cartridge.
For those who don’t already have both in their gun locker, the 300 Blackout vs 5.56 NATO question is pertinent. There are few dividing lines quite as bright as the one drawn between the two most popular AR cartridges on the market. I'm a big fan of both, but you need to understand how they vary if you want to employ them in the correct context.
History Of Service
Most times, the history of a cartridge’s development sheds light on its particular aptitudes, given they were tinkered to specific performance specifications. This is especially true when it comes to the 5.56 NATO and 300 Blackout. Both were tailored for military service, and used the Soviets’ 7.62×39mm cartridge as their measuring stick. But each was dialed in for much different operational settings, and thus excel in different areas.
5.56 NATO
Advantages:
Can reach out further than 300 BLK
Better against body armor
Lower recoil allows for faster follow-up shots
Lighter ammo, easier to carry
Standard military cartridge—better availability of ammo and parts
The 5.56 NATO origin story runs through the turbulent 1960s and the Vietnam War. The knives had been out for the service rifle America entered the war with—the M14, chambered in .308 Winchester/7.62×51 NATO. Lackluster performance against North Vietnamese’s AK-47s sealed the rifle’s and cartridge’s fate, as politicos and the Pentagon went searching for a lighter, intermediate option that mirrored its adversary’s weapon.
Outside of dry times like 2020, 5.56 is typically abundant and low cost.
Eventually, the AR-15 (M16 when adopted by the military) and 5.56 NATO became the choice. What made the 5.56 NATO so appealing for warfare were two main factors: weight and cost.
A single round of 5.56 NATO weighs substantially less than a single round of 7.62. Therefore, a soldier could carry more on his person, and the logistic corps could fit more rounds per truckload. Given numerous post-World War II studies showed proximity to the enemy and volume of fire were keys to winning a firefight, the .22-caliber was perfect for the job. Since it’s a smaller round, requiring less material to construct its bullets and a smaller powder charge to launch it, it was also less expensive—particularly compared to its .30-caliber predecessor.
While it might irk some old-timers—and not delving into the horrendous rifle failures of Vietnam—the 5.56 made for better marksmen as well. The 55-grain bullet moving at 3,250 fps (original specs from the military’s first load) from the AR-15’s muzzle showed improved hits over the M14 and 7.62. The round remained supersonic out to 500 yards and passed the Army’s penetration tests in spades, making it a deadly effective intermediate option—one that's been serving the country well since 1964.
Of course, our military is now supposedly planning on replacing 5.56 NATO with .227 Fury/6.8x51mm, a full-power cartridge that is as roughly heavy as 7.62 NATO and even more expensive to produce. I'll save my thoughts on why I think that's a very dumb idea for a separate article.
Pros
High velocity, flat trajectory
Very low recoil
Excellent terminal ballistics at optimal velocity
Lightweight
Most common rifle cartridge in U.S., more affordable ammo
Cons
Ballistics are very dependent on barrel length
Subsonic loads unviable for most tasks, so shooting suppressed will still result in supersonic crack
Bigger bullet, can be more effective at closer ranges, good for hunting
Retains good ballistics out of very short barrels
Commonly offered in both supersonic and subsonic varieties
How do you get 7.62×39 ballistic performance out of an AR? Seems the answer is the 300 Blackout. Just don’t think the relatively new cartridge was the first crack at seating a .30-caliber bullet in a .223 Remington case. J.D. Jones did a spell before Advanced Armament Corporation got the Blackout standardized by the Sporting Arms And Ammunition Manufacturers Institute (SAAMI) in a little wildcat known as the .300 Whisper. (Patrick Sweeney has an exceptional write-up on the 300 Blackout vs .300 Whisper and their minute differences.)
Close to medium range, the 300 Blackout is right on target, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Whisper or Blackout, the cartridge is extremely innovative on several levels. Not only does it do a bang-up job of replicating the iconic Soviet cartridge’s ballistics, but it does so with minimum modification to the AR platform. Barrel switch and that’s it; you've gone from 5.56 to 300 Blackout. Bolt, magazine, gas system can all stay the same.
That’s handy, but what the cartridge is best known for is what its wildcat predecessor was created for—suppression. Go heavy with bullet weight, say 220 grains, and subsonic in velocity, and the 300 Blackout is as quiet as a church mouse fart (my favorite quality of 300 BLK). Suppression isn't it's only forte, however, as the Blackout doesn’t lose a beat when shot out of short-barreled rifles. If you want a super short AR as a truck or backpack gun, I think .300 BLK is the only sane choice. Don't believe me? Go look at the ballistics for 5.56 NATO when it's coming out of an 8-inch barrel.
The combination of all three traits is what piqued the military’s interest, but not for any mainstream duty. Instead, special operations—hamstrung by suppressed pistol-caliber sub-machine guns and carbines—found it an especially potent upgrade. The punch of a rifle round, quiet as a graveyard when suppressed and adaptable to most configurations made it a flexible tool, malleable to mission criteria.
Pros
Subsonic loads great for shooting suppressed
Still effective out of very short barrels
Heavier bullet can have ballistic advantage at closer ranges
Available in supersonic and subsonic loads
Cons
Not as effective at longer ranges, steeper trajectory
Heavier ammo
If loaded into a 5.56 rifle and fired it could blow it up
More expensive than 5.56
300 Blackout vs 5.56 NATO Ballistics
Given their much different ends, it’s no surprise the two cartridges contrast each other in performance. As a general rule, the 5.56 NATO shoots flatter and, true to its original parameters, doles plenty of damage out to 500 yards. Farther out, as the round stays supersonic for a spell, it takes a steady hand to keep the light, wind-sensitive bullets on targets.
Head to head, it's simple to see where each cartridge excels in terms of range.
Theoretically, supersonic 300 Blackout has the ability to make it a threat at 500 yards, though I doubt I'd want to take that distance on a target I must land a shot on. Given the mild velocities—somewhat akin to the .30-30 Winchester—and pedestrian ballistic coefficients for the caliber, its bullets drop relatively quickly. This is especially true compared to the 5.56.
An example is in order. Take the U.S. Military’s 5.56 M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (.371 BC, 2,970 fps MV) and a somewhat comparable load for the 300 Blackout, Hornady’s 125 gr FMJ Frontier (.250 BC, 2,160 fps MV). At a mere 200 yards with a 100 zero, the 300 Blackout drops nearly 5.5 inches more than the 5.56, at 300 yards it drops a whopping 19-inches more. From there it really degrades. By and large, the relatively rapid loss of velocity confines the 300 Blackout to near medium and close ranges.
Terminally, especially in the context of hunting anything larger than a coyote, the Blackout has the upper edge. True enough, the 5.56 and .223 Remington have taken deer and are popular (and legal) options in many corners of the county. However, numerous hunters consider a .22-caliber too light for big game, and quite a few state divisions of wildlife agree.
For instance, according to my home state of Colorado’s DOW, a big-game hunter must be armed with “Rifles using center-fire cartridges of .24 caliber or larger, having expanding bullets of at least seventy (70) grains in weight, except for elk and moose where the minimum bullet weight is eighty-five (85) grains, and with a rated impact energy one hundred (100) yards from the muzzle of at least one thousand (1000) foot-pounds as determined by the manufacturer's rating … .”
There are plenty of 300 Blackout loads that meet the criterion laid out by the Centennial State to hunt every one of its big game species. Though, dust up on your stalking skills if the smallish .30-caliber is your choice.
Cartridge/Load
G1 BC
Muzzle Velocity
5.56x45mm NATO 62gr M855A1
0.371
2,970 fps
300 BLK Hornady 125gr FMJ Frontier
0.250
2,160 fps
Rifle Configuration
For most, this is where the rubber hits the road in the 300 Blackout vs 5.56 NATO discussion. Every shape and size of AR is chambered for both cartridges, but each excels in different configurations. I like to think small with the 300 Blackout and go long with the 5.56 NATO.
Since it was designed with short-barreled rifles in mind and is suitable for close-in work, the 300 Blackout makes a much more logical AR pistol option. For hunting, carbine length has served me well and I've found makes for a nimble companion in the woods. When suppressed, the ability to eschew one's earpro while traipsing around is the cherry on top.
Be warned, if you have both calibers, the 300 Blackout will chamber in a 5.56 … not good.
The 5.56 is more than functions in a pistol configuration, but at the sacrifice of velocity. You’ll have more than enough for CQC if that’s your aim. But if you have a yen to let the reins out on your rifle or want to pick off called coyotes, you’ll likely be happier with a carbine-length barrel or longer. Hell, if you don’t foresee pieing corners, you might even consider a classic 20-inch barreled rifle–my favorite barrel length for the caliber–many of which are out and out tack drivers. Being the original configuration, I think it's a shame how 20-inch ARs have fallen out of popularity these days, with many younger shooters having never even shot one. If that's you, do yourself a favor and try one sometime, they're buttery smooth shooters compared to any carbine.
One last note, suppressed shooting is a no brainer … 300 Blackout. It’s where the cartridge’s roots are laid and there’s ample subsonic ammunition available.
Parting Shot
It should go without saying, when talking 300 Blackout vs 5.56 in the AR platform, there’s little reason to settle for one or the other. You always have the cost-effective option of having different uppers for each cartridge, in case you can’t make up your mind. But if you run a domestic-beer budget, define mission parameters for your AR, and the clear choice of cartridge will shine through.
We hit the range with the Gunwerks Nexus rifle along with its accoutrements to see how much Gunwerks’ system simplifies making hits at distance.
If you’re interested in shooting at long range, particularly as it relates to hunting, there’s hardly any doubt you’ve heard of Gunwerks. Gunwerks gained their initial fame through their acclaimed Long Range Pursuit television show. Founded by Aaron Davidson in Otto, Wyoming, Gunwerks’ 45,000-square-foot headquarters that’s built around a 100-yard shooting range is now located in Cody, Wyoming. Though generally thought of as a rifle manufacturer, you could better describe Gunwerks as a full-service, long-range shooting syndicate. Gunwerks can provide you with all the gear you need to go the distance.
I’ve been writing about rifles, professionally, for more than a quarter century, but somewhat embarrassingly, during all those years I’ve never shot a Gunwerks rifle. Not too long ago, my friend Neal Emery, who previously worked at Hornady, went to Gunwerks, and we were finally able to change that.
To give me an idea of what Gunwerks rifles and the company is all about, Emery sent me one of their Nexus rifles to review. The Nexus is the flagship rifle from Gunwerks, and not only did Emery loan me a rifle, but he also provided some of the other gear Gunwerks is becoming known for and that some shooters might be overlooking.
The Nexus
Gunwerks Nexus Specs Length: 41.5 Inches Weight: 6 Pounds, 14 Ounces Barrel: 20 (tested) or 24 Inches Action: Gunwerks NXT Trigger: Trigger Tech Primary trigger Capacity: 3+1 Finish: Hard anodized black or FDE Stock: Carbon fiber with leather accents and an ARCA and Picatinny rail Chambering Options: 6.5 PRC (tested), 7mm PRC, 300 PRC, and 28 Nosler MSRP: $6,475 (base price) Website:gunwerks.com
This rifle is unique in several ways. For years and even to this day, many precision rifle manufacturers build their guns on a Remington 700 action or Remington 700 clone. Gunwerks builds the Nexus rifle on a proprietary aluminum action that allows you to switch the barrel to change between cartridges. Gunwerks makes this possible by using barrels with an extension similar to what’s used on an AR-15 or the Q Fix rifle. The forward section of the action is split and held together by three screws. You simply loosen those screws, slide out the old barrel and slide in the new one. Also, to accommodate different cartridges with different rim diameters, you can change the bolt head and even the bolt handle.
But there are many other unique features with the Nexus rifle.
Gunwerks smartly machines the Picatinny scope bases into the aluminum action of the Nexus rifle.
Instead of drilling the action for scope mounts, Gunwerks machines Picatinny rail sections into the action, and this eliminates a connection and potential failure point for optics mounting. Gunwerks has also engineered a bolt-shroud mounted, three-position safety that locks the bolt in the rear position and allows for safe unloading in the middle position.
The grip on the stock of the Nexus rifle is near vertical and is wrapped in hand stitched leather for comfort and to help maintain a secure grip.
Then, there’s the stock, which is carbon-fiber that has very unusual hand-stitched leather accents at the grip and comb locations for handling comfort. The bottom metal is also unusual because it extends from the grip all the way down the forend. There’s a short section of Picatinny rail at the end and a full length ARCA rail behind that for bipod and tripod attachment.
For those who appreciate maximum interface options with bipods and tripods, the Nexus rifle has a full-length ARCA rail and a short Picatinny rail on its stock.
But the ingenuity and uniqueness does not end there. Gunwerks designed an aluminum, flush-fitting, three-round, detachable magazine box that allows for easy top loading while it’s in the rifle. With the carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel, you have the option of 20 or 24 inches, and it comes with a threaded muzzle and a muzzle break with a timing nut. The stock is outfitted with numerous quick-detach sling swivel mounts at the front and rear. And a user-adjustable, Trigger Tech Primary trigger is standard.
The detachable magazine on the Nexus rifle is well made and you can easily top load it when it’s in the rifle.
When you order the rifle, you first select your cartridge, and the options include the 6.5, 7mm, and .300 PRC, and .28 Nosler. Next, you choose either a black or flat dark earth chassis color, select your barrel length of 20 or 24 inches and set your length of pull at either 13, 13.5 or 14 inches. You can also specify the riflescope you want included with your rifle, and that’s where things can get a bit technical.
Not only will Gunwerks mount and zero one of seven riflescopes from Revic, Leupold and Kahles, and they’ll also provide you with a long-range data package ($1,275). This includes a Gunwerks long-range ammo loaded with a Berger bullet and a ballistic turret for your riflescope that matches that load. But this is all tuned to the elevation and temperature you want. In fact, you can even order an additional data package ($595) for ammo loaded with a lead-free bullet that also includes another ballistic turret.
Shooting Results
Gunwerks had chambered the test rifle Neal loaned me in 6.5 PRC, and they outfitted it with the Revic Acura RS25i riflescope. It also came with a data package for a 140-grain Berger bullet Gunwerks load that had a muzzle velocity of 2,972 fps. Ordered, this rifle, optic and data package would have cost $9,945. That’s a hell of a lot of money for a rifle/scope/ammo combination, so I expected great things on the range.
And great things are what I got.
At $140 for a box of 20, the Gunwerks 6.5 PRC 140-grain VLD ammunition is expensive, but it shoots with laser precision.
I installed a Silencer Central Banish Backcountry suppressor and set up at the bench with the Gunwerks factory ammo and two other loads. The first five-shot group I fired with the Gunwerks ammunition measured 0.89 inch, and I fired all five shots—as I normally do when I precision test a rifle—in less than 60 seconds. After two more five-shot groups, the average group size for that load was 0.88 inch. I then fired three, five-shot groups with the other two factory loads, and the average for all nine, five-shot groups fired was only 0.92 inch.
Shooting Results
LOAD
VEL
SD
ENG
PRECISION
Gunwerks 140-grain Berger VLD Hunting
2,972
12.2
2,746
0.88
Federal 140-grain Fusion Tipped
2,996
16.7
2,790
0.96
Hornady 143-grain Precision Hunter ELD-X
2,937
22.1
2,681
0.92
NOTES: Reported muzzle velocity (VEL), standard velocity deviation (SD) and muzzle energy (ENG) were established by firing 10 shots over a Caldwell G2 chronograph with the screens placed 10 feet from the muzzle. Reported precision for each load represents the average of three, five-shot groups fired at 100 yards from a sandbag rest. A Silencer Central Banish Backcountry suppressor and a Revic Acura RS25i 5-25x50mm riflescope set at maximum magnification were used for all precision testing. Temperature: 62 degrees F, humidity: 32 percent, pressure: 29.87 in-Hg and elevation: 2,200 feet.
To evaluate the data package, I shot the rifle out to 450 yards with 8-inch steel plates as targets. I corrected for trajectory by dialing to the correct distance with the Gunwerks supplied custom turret on the Revic riflescope. I never missed.
The Gunwerks’ system, which encompasses the rifle, scope, rangefinder, bipod and ammo, is all about simplifying hits at distance.
I cannot rate the Gunwerks rifle as anything but outstanding: It performed flawlessly in every way. However, it is not the rifle for everyone. Clearly, the cost alone is a bit staggering. But aside from price, this is not what I would consider a general-purpose hunting rifle. By itself, the rifle weighs 6.875 pounds. That’s not bad, but if you add in the Revic scope, which weighs 2.4 pounds, the weight jumps to more than 9 pounds. I did all the shooting from Gunwerks wonderfully engineered, quick-release 12.3-ounce Elevate Bipod 2.0 ($395), which upped rifle weight beyond 10 pounds.
The quick-attach feature of the Gunwerks Elevate Bipod 2.0 is great for field applications.
This is a long-range precision rifle configured for hunting, and, within the context of that description, it is phenomenal. But, most importantly, you must look at the Nexus, as well as the other rifles from Gunwerks, as not just a rifle but as a shooting system.
Not Just A Rifle
You could just purchase the Nexus rifle at its base price of $6,475 and add your own riflescope and any other accessories you might desire, and then shoot factory ammunition or your own handloads. But the base premise of the Gunwerks concept is to let them put the complete package together for you.
“The vast majority of our customers want a full system, which is what we are known for,” Emery said. “They want a rifle that’s scoped, sighted in and comes with a scope turret cut for the ammunition we offer. While some shooters love to geek out about what scope to buy, which mounts to use and enjoy working up a load, there’s a ton of folks who just don’t have or can’t take the time for all that. They just want a system ready to go with all the best parts.”
Though at 38 ounces the Revic Acura RS25i 5-25×50 riflescope is heavy, it is ideally adapted for long-range work.
In that venue, Gunwerks is unique and singular, and it’s a very practical approach. And while at first blush it might seem extremely expensive, in the real world, it’s not altogether financially impractical. I’ve known several who embarked on the long-range hunting rifle journey and spent more on rifles, optics, range finders and ammunition that did not deliver the results they wanted than it would have cost them to let Gunwerks just do it all for them from the start. My results shooting the Nexus at distance is a perfect example of how the Gunwerks system comes together to make it easy.
If you use the Revic range-finding binoculars from Gunwerks ($2,695), you create a profile in the Revic Optics app and upload it to the binoculars. When you enter the custom turret data, the app knows your bullet, muzzle velocity, etc., and it also knows your custom turret has been cut for the environmental conditions you’re hunting in. The cool part is that the range-finding binoculars can compensate for changes for those conditions and tell you exactly where to dial to get your hit.
You can optimize your Gunwerks system with the Revic Acura BLR10b Ballistic Rangefinding 10x42mm Binocular.
Collectively, a fully kitted Gunwerks rifle and system are perfectly tuned to eliminate all your excuses for missing. Well, except for plain old piss-poor shooting, and, surprisingly, Gunwerks can help with that too.
Gunwerks’ Long Range University offers training to help you make quick, ethical, one-shot kills in the field. Not only will their courses teach you to interface with all the Gunwerks’ products, but the training will also help you learn when you should not take the shot, and for ethical hunting that is just as important as having the right gear, knowing how to use it and knowing how to take the shot.
If I were to summarize the Nexus rifle in as few words as possible, I think I’d have to quote Warren Buffet, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
However, if left to my own hillbilly upbringing, vocabulary and logic, I say: If you want to live at long range, stop drinking stupidly expensive boutique coffee and spring for the Gunwerks’ system and training. Encourage your kids to study enough to fund their higher education with scholarships.
Pros
Very accurate
Perfectly pre-tuned package when bought with scope and ammo
Cons
Very expensive
Heavy
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
We take a quick look at Strike Industries’ Oppressor Lite V2 blast-forward muzzle device.
Owning and shooting an AR-15 pistol, or SBR, is fun. Well, it starts out fun, but the muzzle blast gets to be a bit much after a short while. Indoors, it’s even worse.
And, if you happen to be working in a team environment … well, others will grow to hate you.
Quickly.
I’ve even heard of SWAT team members being retired with medical disability due to the muzzle blast of an SBR too close to them. What do you do? The “easy” answer is to put a suppressor on it. But that isn’t always an option. Some departments still won’t allow it. Or they do, but not personal equipment, and they “just haven’t finished the paperwork yet.”
And you? You’re still waiting for your suppressor.
So, how do you mitigate the blast and not make your pistol or SBR longer? Strike it—as in Strike Industries’ Oppressor Lite V2.
When it’s cool enough to handle, the Oppressor is easy to install or remove. No tools needed.
This is a two-metal assembly. The mount and interior are steel, but the housing is aluminum. This brings the weight down to 5 ounces. It looks like a really short suppressor, but there’s no front cap or baffle on it, so it isn’t one. But it diverts the muzzle blast forward away from you. So, you get less, the target gets more, and those beside you don’t get the blast from a flash hider or (far, far worse) muzzle brake.
The mounting system is really slick as well. Instead of a simple direct-thread (which means it has to be there all the time), the Oppressor Lite V2 uses a quarter-turn ratchet lock system. Now, to do this, you need a Strike Industries mount—which is not a problem, as the Strike Cloak flash hider is both a mount for the Oppressor and a superb flash hider just by itself.
The assembly is simple. Remove whatever mount or flash hider you now have on your barrel. Clean the threads and degrease the thread of the barrel and the Cloak. Now, apply some strong thread-locker on the threads and tighten the Cloak on. Let it cure, and when you want to use the Oppressor Live V2, simply press it down onto the Cloak until you feel the spring compress. Then, turn and hear the ratchet until it stops. Done. To remove, let cool (oh, it will get hot). Then, press back and rotate the other direction. You’ll hear and feel the system release, and you can then pull the Oppressor forward and off.
The Oppressor Lite V2 is short enough and light enough that it won’t alter the handling of your AR-15 pistol or SBR. In fact, at just 5 ounces, it’s probably lighter than some of the QD mount systems that you need to put on the muzzle in order to mount a suppressor. If you spend any time in the winter shooting on an indoor range, you and those around you will appreciate the effect that the Oppressor Lite V2 brings to the table. And to mount it, you get to use a really good flash hider. (There are other muzzle devices in the strike pantheon and others that the Oppressor can mount on.)
All this goodness doesn’t come cheap, but quality never does. To mount up, you’ll need the Cloak at $45 and the Oppressor Lite V2 at $95. Still, that’s less than the tax stamp you need to pay to lay hands on your very own suppressor, and the Cloak and Oppressor can be shipped right to your door as soon as the charge clears your credit card.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
SilencerCo has just announced the optics-ready SCO Slide for Glock 19 pistols, featuring three models with different red dot footprints.
Probably the easiest way to add a red dot sight to your factory non-MOS Glock is to just buy an aftermarket slide for it. Plenty of companies make these, but SilencerCo has just thrown its hat into the ring as well with the SCO Slide.
Designed for Gen 1-3 Glock 19s, the SCO Slide is being launched with three variants available each with a different optic footprint—RMR, ACRO and 509T. The best part is the SCO Slide allows for direct-mounting red dots, so there’s no need for an optics plate. The machined slides are made from corrosion-resistant 17-4 stainless steel and feature a black DLC coating.
As for the SCO Slide’s aesthetics, SilencerCo took inspiration from its integrally-suppressed Maxim 9 pistol for the slide serrations. The deep, aggressive cuts should make the slide easy to rack, and it features side-cutout windows too. It’s worth noting, however, that the SCO Slide does not ship with a cover plate or mounting screws except for the RMR variant which ships with two screws.
All three SilencerCo SCO Slides for the G19 share an MSRP of $299 and are available now.
CBC, owner of Magtech, has just announced that a new ammunition production factory will be constructed in Oklahoma.
Magtech is owned by CBC in Brazil, and that’s where the ammo has always been made as well. Now, the company is launching CBC USA and building a new state-of-the-art ammunition manufacturing facility in Oklahoma. The new plant represents a $300 million investment and CBC says it will create 350 new jobs in the area.
The most important aspect of this announcement is that the new CBC facility will not just be assembling ammunition, but will be making powder and primers as well. That’s huge news given the global shortage and it will hopefully result in lower prices in the U.S., at least for the common calibers CBC USA will be making.
CBC said this about the new Oklahoma-based facility:
CBC USA will manufacture a full range of cartridges, including 9mm, 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and .50 BMG, serving military, law enforcement, sport shooting, self-defense, and hunting markets. The facility will replicate CBC’s world-class manufacturing processes, ensuring full control over critical components cases, bullets, primers, powder, and nitrocellulose, a key energetic material in global short supply.
Fabio Mazzaro, President of CBC and board member of CBC Global Ammunition, said this about the new plant:
We are thrilled to bring our new manufacturing operations to Oklahoma … This facility will be a cornerstone for our future growth in the world’s most important market for small caliber ammunition. With in-house production of all components, propellant, and critical energetic raw materials, we envisage to build an industry-leading and fully vertically integrated company. We believe that the region’s supportive business environment makes Oklahoma an ideal location for CBC USA.
We hit the range to test out two freshly updated Springfield Armory 1911 TRP pistols, now available optics-ready and in 9mm.
What we love and what we hate about the 1911 is actually the same thing. An old design that has stood the test of time, the 1911 is not easy to manufacture. It is labor-intensive and requires expensive methods of production. If you want a top-tier 1911, you’ll also need it to be hand-fitted and that will cause the price to skyrocket.
What we love and what we hate about the 1911 is actually the same thing. An old design that has stood the test of time, the 1911 is not easy to manufacture. It is labor-intensive and requires expensive methods of production. If you want a top-tier 1911, you’ll also need it to be hand-fitted and that will cause the price to skyrocket.
This is the paradox of the 1911.
Springfield Armory’s 1911 TRP was released in the late 1990s after the FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) adopted the Springfield Professional as their primary pistol. The Professional was a more expensive 1911 that was semi-custom and hand-fit. But if you take everything else about the Professional, and reduce the cost of manufacturing a bit, you end up with the TRP.
The TRP is built for the balance between quality and cost but refuses to compromise on quality where it matters. Match-grade barrel, aggressive grips, easy-to-shoot iron sights and just enough aesthetics to make it sexy.
That is the TRP people have known and loved for almost 30 years. But like most things, technology can still make it a little better. Enter the TRP AOS.
Springfield Armory 1911 TRP AOS .45 Specs
Caliber: .45 ACP Color: Black or Tan Barrel: 5-Inch Forged Stainless Steel, Match Grade, 1:16 Slide: Forged Carbon Steel, Black Cerakote®, Optics-Ready Frame: Forged Carbon Steel, Two-Piece Magwell, Coyote Brown or Black Cerakote Sights: Tritium Front, Black Serrated Rear Recoil System: 2 Piece N.M. Full-Length Guide Rod Grips: VZ Grips Hydra G-10 Magazines: (3) 8-Round Weight: 39.2 Ounces Length: 8.6 Inches Height: 5.5 Inches MSRP: $1,999
Springfield Armory 1911 TRP AOS CC 9MM Specs
Caliber: 9mm Color: Black or Tan Barrel: 4.25-Inch Forged Stainless Steel, Match Grade, Fully Supported Ramp, 1:16 Slide: Forged Carbon Steel, Black Cerakote, Optics-Ready Frame: Forged Aluminum Alloy, Carry Contour, Coyote Brown or Black Cerakote Sights: Tritium Front, Black Serrated Rear Recoil System: 2 Piece N.M. Full-Length Guide Rod Grips: VZ Grips Hydra G-10 Magazines: (3) 9-Round Weight: 27.3 Ounces Length: 7.9 Inches Height: 5.5 Inches MSRP: $1,999
The Same But Different
A lot of the time when you try to bring back the classics with a modern style, it just doesn’t work. Take any live-action-remake Disney movie for example. They might have something in common with the masterpiece, but they’ve lost all the magic.
Maybe that is why Springfield has taken what feels like forever to finally update and expand the TRP line. It might have taken a long time, but the results speak for themselves. This is the TRP you should know and should love, but now made better with the AOS system and offered in 9mm.
The TRP has been a long-time favorite for a workhorse 1911 that normal people can still mostly afford. While $2,000 MSRP isn’t inexpensive, it’s a good middle-ground if you want a great American-made 1911 but aren’t willing or able to pay custom prices that can be double or more.
Just about any checkbox you could ask the TRP to fill, it does. It’s pretty enough to be a BBQ gun or a safe queen, but reliable and durable enough that you can honestly count on it as a duty or defense weapon if you want to.
That magic of the TRP wasn’t lost with this update, it was made better.
These new TRP models have the same iron sights if you don’t want to take advantage of the AOS system, but also have an industry-leading optics system if you do. A rock-solid mounting option that has been proven durable and easy to configure is a pure enhancement upgrade for the TRP. But one you can ignore if you choose to.
And at the same MSRP, there is just nothing to complain about.
Now In 9mm
Maybe this is my hot take for the week but let the record reflect that if you ask me: the best AKs are ones in 5.56 NATO and the best 1911s are in 9mm. .45 ACP might be the classic American cartridge, but 9mm is better.
The TRP in 9mm with the AOS system is a treat of a pistol to shoot. Even in the 4.25-inch barrel model instead of the clearly superior 5-inch model, the 9mm TRP still feels great in your hands. Made with an Aluminum frame instead of steel for the CC model, this comes in almost 12 ounces lighter than the steel full-size .45 ACP TRP and that weight reduction helps a lot if you want to carry it.
One of the small differences between the CC (top) and standard (bottom) versions is the addition of a larger mag well in the full-size.
I can only imagine the steel-frame 5-inch version of the 9mm would be an even softer shooting 1911 that might be the crown jewel of the new TRP lineup.
The only major difference besides caliber between this new 9mm version and the older .45 ACP models is the fact that these carry 9 rounds of 9mm in the mag instead of only 8 .45 ACP.
Putting the new 9mm TRP through the paces was a lot of fun. I tested a wide range of ammo like Federal HST, Hornady Critical Defense, and SIG Sauer V-Crown. Most of the ammo used in this review was 124gr Sellier & Bellot provided by Ammunitiontogo.com!
Throw a great red dot on top like the Trijicon RMR-HD and you have the final evolution of John Browning’s masterpiece.
Agency Arms AOS System
We’ve covered the AOS system a lot in the past but it is worth a more complete explanation if this is your first time reading about it.
The Agency Optics System was designed by Agency Arms and is hands-down one of the best optic mounting platforms around. Springfield has made great use of the system incorporating it into pistols like the 1911 DS Prodigy.
Springfield Prodigy Comp and Compact both with AOS plates.
AOS uses a plate system that combines the rear iron sight and a mounting plate for the optic into one unit. The plates are interchangeable in AOS system cuts so any plate will fit any gun cut for it. There are a number of plates available that cover just about all of the optic footprints on the market.
The AOS plates also let you choose between irons forward of the dot or irons behind the dot depending on what plate you get.
The plates are easy to install, easy to use, and are designed to actually take a beating.
Adding them to the TRP is the perfect way to update the TRP line.
Loose Rounds
If you’re a fan of the old TRP but want something a little more modern that can mount optics, the new TRP AOS is a fantastic choice. If you want to get into the 1911 world and need a Goldilocks 1911 that will last a lifetime, the TRP AOS is a clear front-runner and you won’t be disappointed.
The TRP is a known value and easily one of the best factory 1911s on the market. Springfield has kept all of that while only adding to it by enhancing the capability of it with the AOS.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
We’ve picked the best .22 Magnum rifles that will dependably cut down nuisance critters like ripe wheat.
I've always found something special about the .22 Magnum rifle. Dang near as tiny a cartridge as its little brother the .22 LR but able to unleash an entirely different level of devastation. And accurate… boy howdy. Unless I'm going for a long poke at a coyote or a prairie dog, I'll generally reach for one of my .22 Magnums. There might not be a better option to sending pests to varmint Valhalla that the red-hot rimfire in a trusty iron.
How We Picked The Best .22 Magnum Rifles:
Picking the best .22 Magnum rifles is no easy task, given the market is brimming with options. But after putting 1,000s of rounds downrange and in the field (shooting critters) these were the rifles that floated to the top. In all, I paid particular attention to the rifles accuracy, dependability, ergonomics and usefulness in the field. Overall, these were the guns that beat out many others tested and deserve to be called the best .22 Magnum rifles available today.
Among rimfire diehards, the 457 has achieved epic status—namely because of its modular design making it quick work to upgrade. However, don't believe you needn’t trick it out to reap the benefits of the Czech bolt-action. The 24.8-inch barreled CZ is a lights-out hunter, milking the most reach out from the magnum rimfire and delivering accuracy shot after shot.
Sans sights, the .22 Magnum rifle has an 11mm dovetail milled into the top of its receiver for attaching scope ring mounts. What I appreciate is CZ anticipation of a shooters running a larger scope and going with a 60-degree bolt throw so you aren't hinder cycling the rifle. Trigger-wise, I love the 457. It has an excellent switch, an adjustable system with almost no creep and a crisp break.
While some might find the walnut stock and straight grip might not win some fans among modern shooters, it's right down my alley–it gives the gun a very classic look. Not to mention some overall rigidity that brings the most out of its long barrel. And you can take my word the wood doesn't weight you down.
The 457's action is small and keeps the rifle a lot less burdensome than you'd guess. I took the rifle on some varmint hunts where we moved stand to stand by foot and slung the 457 was barely an afterthought.
Overall, I'd recommend the American for anyone who's aiming at a light's out accurate .22 Magnum rifle, for hunting especially. If you need it for something else, the 457's molecularity allows you to upgrade it for other tasks.
I don't love the 93 F but I sure as heck respect it. It's about as plain Jane as you can get in .22 Magnum rifles. But don’t let bargain-basement iron fool you—it’s solid. Set up as a bit of a flexible platform, the bolt-action works well for casual plinking and hunting. However, be aware, its tapered 21-inch sporter profiled barrel heats up quickly and gets whippy. On long string at the range, I didn't care for how quickly groups opened up with the rifle.
Its synthetic stock is workable but leaves a little to be desired in the aesthetics department. And the sights (open) are only passible in my opinion. I recommend taking advantage of the drilled and tapped receiver if you're going to use it for anything besides close-range pest control.
It being a Savage, the rifle boasts the company’s snappy adjustable AccuTrigger, which I've loved since day one. I dialed it down to it's bottom and measured the break at around 1.75 pounds, doing a number on the gun's overall accuracy potential. Though, I think it’s worth mentioning the 93 had feed issues from the 5-round box magazine at one time. However, by all accounts, Savage ironed it out. If you come upon a faulty mag, I found it’s correctable by slightly bending the feed lips in a hair.
Bergara burst onto the rimfire scene a few years back and the shooting world is better for it. The Spanish manufacturer has turned out absolute gems, which includes its do-all Bergara Micro Rimfire. Originally only offered in .22 LR, the slick little bolt-action is available as .22 Magnum in 2021, a boon for any dead-serious varmint hunter. In complete honesty, I think that the BMR borders on overkill for hunting given that Bergara designed it with the NRL22 base class in mind. Yet, if you can afford it, the BMR makes an excellent field gun as well. It's not the lightest model on the list, but it's still light enough that I felt unburdened when hauling it in the field.
The 20-inch steel barreled BMR (the company also has a carbon-fiber barrel model) also has some interesting twists dedicated rimfire hunters are sure to appreciate. In particular, its trigger is upgradable with any Remington 700 aftermarket option. Though, Bergara’s stock Performance Trigger is nothing to turn your nose up at. In fact, I don't really think it warrants a change as I found it among the best of the rifles we tested.
Additionally, the BMR features 5- and 10-round detachable box magazines, an oversized bolt handle, a 30 MOA scope rail and threaded muzzle (1/2-28” TPI) with a thread protector. Not all .22 Magnum rifles come with a threaded barrel, so I especially appreciated this feature since I enjoy throwing suppressors on everything I can. For bolt-action .22 WMR hunting rifles, it’s difficult to do much better.
Bergara BMR Steel Deals
Sportsman's Warehouse
$550
Scheels
$550
Best Budget Semi-Auto: Savage A22 Magnum Pro Varmint
Features an AccuTrigger and a Boyds Pro Varmint stock
Cons
Heaviest model on the list
Rather pricey
Quick shots count in varmint hunting. That makes it a very good idea to consider a semi-auto like Savage’s A series .22 WMR rifle.
Essentially a clone of the company’s A17 .17 HMR rifle, the A22 uses the same delayed-blowback action, utilizing an interrupter lug until peak pressure has subsided and the round is downrange. Consider it insurance against a ruptured case and damage to the rifle or the person behind the trigger. Historically, good semi-auto .22 Magnum rifles have been hard to make so there aren't a ton of options out there. While this isn't the cheapest model on the market, I think it's the cheapest you should consider if you want a solidly reliable semi-auto in .22 WMR. I didn't have a hiccup with the gun cycling, running 10 different loads through it.
As for accuracy, the A22 has it in spades. Thanks to the .22 Magnum’s light recoil, it's almost frightening how quickly you can crack off hits, too. Savage gives you every opportunity to take advantage of this, outfitting the rifle with a fluted heavy barrel that keeps harmonics sound, as well as a very comfortable Boyds Pro Varmint stock.
The heavy barrel has its advantages, but I didn't care for the gun's more cumbersome feel compared to just about every other model we tested. Not a deal breaker, but something to keep in mind if you plan on carrying it in the field. A nice pistol grip and block stock offer the utmost control when setting up long shots on small targets.
Other features worth pointing out are Picatinny optics rail, AccuTrigger and 10-round rotary magazine. The A22 has everything you need, all you have to supply are the varmints.
If you're looking for a semi-auto .22 Magnum rifle and price isn't a limiting factor, we think that the Volquartsen VM-22 is the best that money can buy. Like all Volquartsen rifles, the VM-22 is extremely accurate thanks to its THM tension barrel. It's extremely lightweight as well because of the CNC-machined aluminum hard anodized receiver and carbon fiber barrel sleeve. The barrel is threaded 1/2-28” TPI as well and it comes with a blow forward compensator.
Because the VM-22 is made to order you can also choose your color of Hogue stock and the barrel sleeve. However, that also means the rifle won't ship to you immediately after buying it, but good things come to those that wait. Whether you want a .22 Magnum rifle for the field or the benchrest, we're confident that the VM-22 will be an extremely lightweight, accurate and reliable model to do it with.
Overall, I would have made the VM-22 the best overall .22 Magnum rifle, save one aspect–the price tag. The gun is well above what 90-percent of the rimfire market is willing to pay, so is a major roadblock to wider adoption. Custom rifle, custom rifle prices.
Volquartsen VM-22 Deals
Midwest Gun Works
$1,630
.22 Magnum Rifle FAQ:
What Is A .22 WMR Good For?
.22 WMR, aka .22 Winchester Rimfire Magnum or just .22 Magnum, has a variety of applications. Its niche exists between .22 LR and more powerful centerfire rifle rounds. In other words, it's an excellent round for varmint/small game hunting, pest control on your property and sport shooting at longer ranges than what .22 LR would allow for. Also, while it's not an ideal choice for self-defense, some individuals with hand strength issues employ .22 Magnum in that capacity.
Why Is .22 Magnum Ammo So Expensive?
.22 Magnum ammo is significantly more expensive than .22 LR ammo for a few reasons. The simplest reason is because it's bigger and requires more material to construct each cartridge. Additionally, the projectiles are usually more complicated to manufacture than the typical unjacketed .22 LR bullet. Finally, there's scale to consider, as .22 LR is so well-established and ubiquitous that much more of it is produced than .22 WMR ammo which is more specialized. The huge production volume of .22 LR helps to keep its price so low.
What Is The Effective Range Of A .22 Magnum Rifle?
The maximum effective range of a .22 Magnum rifle for hunting game can be impacted by the exact rifle, ammo and type of game in question, but it's typically accepted that 150 yards is about the farthest distance it should be used at. Beyond that range, .22 WMR simply won't have enough energy to humanely harvest most game, and that's assuming you correctly calculated the drop and made a good shot.
Does .22 Magnum Kick?
Hardly. It does have more oomf than .22 LR, but it's still very mild and pleasant to shoot. It's mild enough that it's a perfectly acceptable round for small children to use when learning how to shoot, though .22 LR will be easier on your wallet.
We take a closer look at the Second Amendment, from its original intent to the issues of later interpretations.
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution is one of the most fiercely debated and passionately defended provisions in American law. Enshrined in the Bill of Rights, it declares: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
While only 27 words in length, its meaning, scope and application have been the subject of centuries of legal, political and cultural debate.
The Second Amendment's Origins And Founding Intent
The Second Amendment was ratified in 1791, part of the original Bill of Rights demanded by Anti-Federalists who feared the potential tyranny of a centralized government. Not trusting that the newly formed government would abide by its limited, prescribed powers, they wanted explicit protections for individual liberties—including the right to self-defense.
At the time, English common law, as articulated by jurists like William Blackstone, already recognized a natural right to resist oppression and defend oneself. The Founders believed this right predated the Constitution and therefore should be preserved—not granted—by the Second Amendment.
The language of the amendment reflects this mindset. It doesn’t create a right; it recognizes one. That’s why it says, “the right of the people,” suggesting an existing, inalienable liberty. Importantly, the phrase “a well regulated militia” has often been misunderstood. In the 18th century, “well regulated” meant well trained, not tightly controlled by the government, and “militia” referred to able-bodied citizens, not a standing army.
Limited Reach—At First
Initially, the Second Amendment applied only to actions of the federal government. States were free to regulate firearms as they saw fit. Indiana, for example, included its own version in its state constitution: “The people shall have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves and the State.” This dual protection remained largely uncontested for decades, in part because federal firearms regulation was virtually nonexistent.
That changed in the 20th century, beginning with the National Firearms Act of 1934, passed in the wake of gangland violence during Prohibition. It imposed taxes and registration requirements on certain weapons like machine guns and short-barreled rifles. This law led to the Supreme Court’s 1939 decision in United States v. Miller, which upheld the act in a confusing and often misinterpreted opinion. Many lower courts would later use Miller to argue that the Second Amendment protected only a “collective” right related to militia service.
The Modern Legal Revolution
The tide began to shift in 2001 with United States v. Emerson, when the Fifth Circuit Court ruled that the Second Amendment protected an individual right. This created a circuit split, setting the stage for the Supreme Court to intervene.
That happened in 2008, with the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller. In a 5-4 decision, the Court confirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess firearms, particularly for self-defense within the home. It was a momentous ruling but limited in scope: The case involved Washington, D.C.—a federal enclave—not a state.
The Court addressed that gap two years later in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), incorporating the Second Amendment against the states via the Fourteenth Amendment. This meant that state and local governments were now bound by the same constitutional limits as the federal government regarding the right to keep and bear arms.
Expansion And Clarification in Bruen
Despite Heller and McDonald, many courts continued to uphold gun restrictions using “interest balancing”—weighing the government’s interest against individual rights. That changed dramatically in 2022 with New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The Court rejected interest balancing entirely and clarified the standard that should apply in Second Amendment cases: gun laws must be consistent with the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment. If there wasn’t an analogous restriction at the time of the founding, the law is likely unconstitutional.
The Bruen decision also distinguished between the right to “keep” arms (possession) and to “bear” arms (carry). It confirmed that the Second Amendment covers both, including carrying firearms in public for self-defense.
The Rahimi Decision: A Retreat?
Most recently, the Court addressed United States v. Rahimi (2024), involving a federal law that prohibits firearm possession by individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders. In an 8-1 decision, the Court upheld the law, finding it consistent with the nation’s historical tradition—despite the absence of a close founding-era analog that disarmed individuals without a criminal conviction.
Critics, like me, argue that Rahimi waters down the Bruen standard by using historical “analogs” that are only loosely similar, such as surety laws and laws against “affrays” (going armed in a way that terrified the public). Justice Clarence Thomas, the lone dissenter, warned that mixing historical justifications from different laws to justify modern restrictions undermines the originalist framework the court adopted in Bruen.
What’s Next?
The future of Second Amendment jurisprudence is uncertain. Challenges are already underway against bans on so-called “assault weapons,” restrictions on magazine capacity, and controversial ATF regulations such as those governing pistol braces. The outcome of these cases will hinge on how faithfully courts apply the methodology clarified in Bruen—and whether they adhere to the constitutional principle that rights are not privileges granted by the state but liberties inherent to the people.
As it stands, the Second Amendment continues to be forged—sometimes strengthened, sometimes tested—by each new ruling. Its history is a reminder that freedom is not preserved passively; it is upheld by vigilance, debate and, at times, resistance.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Depending on the load, a .30-06 has a power factor of about 400, but 12-gauge slugs can reach the 700s with ease.
If you really want to put the hurt on something, like a big critter, a 12-gauge slug does that. And here I will be speaking only of the 12-gauge variety, because while the 20 can come close, the rest … meh. The 16-gauge is so rare that it might not even exist, and 28 and .410 slugs are pointless.
First, what’s a slug?
Simply put: a single projectile, not a payload of shot or buckshot. And the shotgun slug goes back a long way. In fact, until the advent of the Minie ball, you could say that everyone fought wars with shotguns and slugs.
Really.
Modern slug loads use plastic over-powder wads and cups, not pasteboard and fiber. But they do the same thing.
The near-ubiquitous Brown Bess—the British Army standard from its finalization in 1716 or so until it was replaced by a rifled musket in 1867—was what ruled the world. The Land Pattern musket fired a round ball of about 0.700 inch in diameter: The black powder charge pushed it to over 1,000 fps, so it was essentially a “low-recoil” 12-gauge shotgun.
Well, round balls aren’t what we use today, but shotgun slugs are still with us. What are the slugs’ designs, you ask? Well, it depends. It depends on whether you’re using a smoothbore or a rifled-bore shotgun. Yes, it’s possible to have a fully rifled bore and still be a shotgun. That’s one of those regulatory determinations that had to be made, as the technology advanced and shooters demanded more.
We’ll go into that in a bit.
The basic slug is called the “Foster” slug. Think of a lead shot glass with a round base.
Load the slug/shot glass base-down and fire it rounded-end forward. No, it doesn’t act like a Minie ball. The open edges, or the skirt, can’t expand to grip the (non-existent) rifling, because shotgun slugs of the Foster design are loaded with wads underneath them, ahead of the powder charge. There’s often an assembly or stack of wads, with an over-powder card, then a cushioning and a slug base card. The slug and the wad assembly are pushed down the bore, and the slug continues while the wads drop off.
But the wads can be problematic. If you’re hunting, no big deal. The cardboard, pasteboard or other wadding will simply decompose in the woods. And the wads don’t go far enough to be a problem. But, in defense they might. Inside of, say, 15 yards, wads can hit hard enough to cause an injury … especially now that they’re all plastic, not card and fiber. They can stray wide of your line of fire, so if you’re using Foster slugs for defense, you have that to keep in mind.
How do we solve that problem?
Brenneke had a simple solution. Instead of the lead cup, the idea is to make a lead cylinder. Then, use a screw to attach the wadding column to the base of the cylinder. Fire the whole assembly, and voila, no wadding straying off your line of fire.
A Brenneke slug, showing the wad base and the screw holding it to the slug.
Typically, the Foster slug tends to be made of a soft lead alloy, so it can squeeze down if you happen to fire it through a barrel with some choke constriction or a choke tube installed. The Brennekes have the lead cylinder on the small size of bore diameter and use the wadding to keep it centered in the bore. So, it can pass through some chokes without damage.
Here you can see the Brenneke slug from the side, and the wad secured to the slug.
But, after all, rifling was invented for a reason. Modern shotgun slugs are more accurate than the smoothbore muskets of yore for a couple of reasons.
The Fiocchi Exacta Aero-slug uses the Brenneke approach but uses a plastic wad instead of one screwed onto the base of the slug.
One, they’re machined to tighter tolerances than a Land Pattern musket. Two, the modern slug is a lot closer to bore diameter, so there’s less “wandering” as it goes down the bore. The British soldier who was furiously loading his musket might be dropping a 0.680-inch ball down a .700 bore. The idea was speed of loading and volume of fire.
The dimensions don’t vary nearly as much today. And then there’s physics.
The best description of the stability methodology of a shotgun slug (so far) is “a rock in a sock.” The Foster slug has its center of mass forward of its center of shape, and that keeps it more-or-less traveling in a straight line. The Brenneke has the attached wadding column to do the same thing, making the center of mass forward of the center of shape. And the air flow over the wadding adds to that. The ribs on the slug do nothing for accuracy or create spin. They are to reduce stress on your choke, if you forget.
You can see the round nose of the slug, and the ribs on it. Inside the slug, the base is hollow, so it stays nose-forward in flight.
When the dimensions all work out properly, the accuracy can be quite startling. I built a shotgun slug gun for use at the Second Chance combat shoot (now The Pin Shoot) way back when the elder Bush was president. That gun grouped Remington 7/8-ounce slugs into one ragged hole at 50 yards, all day long. (Of course, Remington stopped making that load.) But you can certainly get minute-of-whitetail out to 100 yards once you find the combo your shotgun likes.
The Sabot
Another approach, one not so common these days, is an aerodynamic sabot slug. Sabot, from the French word “sabot” for a wooden shoe (and the root of “sabotage”), throwing a wooden shoe into the gears of a machine as the origin. The sabot is a pair of molded plastic sections that fit around the slug, which rides in the center. The sabot was made sort of wasp-shaped and smaller than the 12-gauge bore. So, a .500-inch slug with plastic sleeves. The sleeves, or sabot, would fall away once it left the muzzle, and the aerodynamic slug would continue on. This has the same wadding problem as the Foster slug.
The modern iteration of that is to use a jacketed 0.50-inch bullet, with a spire point inside of a sabot in a rifled-bore shotgun. The accuracy of this arrangement can rival that of rifles. Why do this? Because some locations still require a shotgun, not a rifle, for hunting. And because the DNR would find keeping rifled-bore shotguns out of the hunting fields a herculean task, they approved them.
If you’re shooting slugs for competition, you want accuracy—but only as much power as you need. Otherwise, the cumulative recoil will hurt your performance.
The Lyman
Both of these are slug loads. The right one is a factory shell, with roll crimp. The left is a Lyman, with a folded crimp. Once loaded, you can’t tell the Lyman from a regular shotshell with pellets.
Now, in all these there’s one more slug to consider: the Lyman. I view it as the “12-gauge airgun pellet” slug … because that’s what it looks like. It’s cast (you must do the casting, no one I know of makes them, either for loading or as loaded ammunition) with a special mold that creates a hollow-base pellet, just like the airgun one but 12-gauge. It then gets loaded into a regular shotgun and into a shotgun hull. This leads me to the shotshell and its crimp.
The Shotshell
Slug loads use a roll crimp so you can see they are slugs, and to provide resistance for complete powder ignition.
A regular shotshell uses a folded crimp of six or eight petals, and it seals the shot or buckshot in the shell. In the old days, when shells were paper, it was an over-shot card, and the load data (shot size, weight, charge) was printed on the card.
Slugs were loaded with a roll crimp. This does two things. One, it makes the shot and slug loads instantly identifiable, even by touch. Two, the roll crimp resists unfolding more than a folded crimp, and this permits powder charges that create more velocity with slugs than birdshot. Where a fast load (in lead terms, steel shot is a lot zippier) of shot might be 1,350 fps, a slug can be made to produce 1,600 fps. And recoil to go with it.
The Lyman slug uses a regular folded crimp, with regular, if specific wads. So, in addition to needing to follow exactly the specific load data for the Lyman slug, you need to load it in hulls that you do not use for any other purpose. So, just as an example: If you use Winchester AA red hulls for your skeet and trap shooting, you cannot use them for the Lyman slug. Otherwise, someday you’ll mix them up, go to shoot a round of skeet and be hurling 12-gauge slugs off into the distance. No, load those slugs in something not red at the very least.
The Recoil
And that brings me to the last part: recoil. As in, shotgun slugs have it in spades.
Slugs recoil with enthusiasm, so be prepared. And if you load your own you can practice up to full power over time.
You might’ve noticed that I used quotation marks when describing some shotgun slugs as low recoil. Well, let’s take a common new one, the Federal Tru Ball, which is 438 grains of slug at 1,350 fps producing a power factor (PF) of 591. A .30-06 can tap in at “only” a 405-410 PF. Winchester matches that with their sabot and a 1-ounce slug at 1,350 but then ups the ante with a 1-ounce slug at 1,600 fps. That’s a 700 PF. Ouch. Dialing the recoil back to a “low-recoil” load, of 1 ounce at a mere 1,150 or 1,200 fps, is still a 504 or 526 PF.
So, keep in mind that, whatever thumping you’re doing on the other end, you’re going to be receiving a thumping of your own on this end. However, if you want something light and handy, fast to use, and that hits hard, a shotgun (pump or auto) loaded with slugs can be a winner. There’s a reason those who travel in bear country look favorably on a shotgun with slugs.
The difference between full-power and low recoil can be marked. The low recoil ones still kick, however.
I don’t do much of that traveling, and when I do, someone else is hauling the ordnance. But I do use shotgun slugs. In my case, it’s with the Lyman slugs, loaded to tolerable velocities, in The Pin Shoot. There, the task is to knock over hinged steel plates and complete the array faster than anyone else does.
Now, this is a specialized competition and perhaps not for everyone. But it does serve another purpose. If you were planning on going, say, fly-fishing in bear country and wanted to take a shotgun for defense, practicing with factory “ohmyrecoil” slugs would be both expensive and painful. However, if you pored over the Lyman shotgun loading manual and found a load for your Lyman slug that wasn’t painful to shoot, you could do a lot of practice without a lot of recoil.
And that’s always good.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
We hit the range to test out the EOTech Vudu 3-9×32 MPVO, a versatile little scope with an integrated red dot.
Every few years we see a technological leap in optics, even though these feats aren’t always immediately obvious to the non-nerds among us.
Sometimes these take place in the form of advanced coatings or novel approaches to increasing contrast or reducing optic aberrations, but occasionally it’s much more conspicuous … or maybe not so much. In fact, if you don’t know what you’re looking at here you might mistake it for a large dot optic or perhaps a prismatic. But no, there’s a whole 3 to 9 power variable optic under that hood. Let’s talk about this new Vudu.
The range and ratio aren’t going to bust down doors; 3×9 might be the most classic variable scope range ever. It’s not the 1:3 magnification ratio either. Hell, EOTech themselves manufactures a scope with a 1:10 scale, and we’ve seen glass go even higher than that. The big news here is the smallest thing. Namely, the whole hog is only 6.8 inches long. For comparison’s sake, an equivalent optic could easily approach twice that length. Hell, it’s a similar size to a 4x Trijicon ACOG with a kill flash.
EOTech has squeezed advanced capability into small packages in the past, like with their 5-25x Super Short and the latest batch of stubby magnifiers, but not anything like this — they are the first to pull off this level of optical magic.
We’ve previously discussed the need for a new kind of optic, the MPVO (Medium Powered Variable Optic). The MPVO wasn’t going to be anything groundbreaking in terms of magnification range, but instead in form factor.
There’s space under for irons, though they’re not much good unless you’re using a quick-release mount.
It would need to be smaller, more like an LPVO (or less) instead of a large objective bell and the rail-eating body of traditional optics, and importantly, also be designed to accommodate dots-on-top from the beginning instead of pretending that looking at a simulated 1x image through a tube was the same thing.
Essentially, we define an MPVO as a midrange variable stuffed into an LPVO shell, while addressing the downsides of each. There’s more nuance, but that’s the broad shape of it. While this isn’t exactly what we envisioned, EOTech managed to exceed our imagination regarding size; it’s clearly where the river is flowing.
Details & Controls
The build quality is exactly what you’ve come to expect from EOTech, with the body formed from a single piece of deeply anodized aluminum. No cheap Chinesium feel here.
In terms of controls, it’s fairly straightforward. The windage and elevation turrets have 1/4 MOA adjustments and are protected by caps; this is a set-it-and-forget-it optic, not one you’ll be dialing-in on the fly. The adjustments are chunky, and you can feel them even with winter gloves on.
There are 10 illumination settings with offs between each, so you can set it to your environment and turn it off with a short click in either direction. A single CR2032 battery will run the Vudu MPVO for about 300 hours. For one reason or another, the years-long battery life of dot sights hasn’t made it to other optics, but it’s also less of a problem because this’ll run without a battery regardless.
In addition to the shorter length, the front objective lens is only 32mm, which only adds to the magic trick. With traditional 3×9 designs and in addition to the much longer overall length, you’d expect to see 40mm or even 50mm glass and perhaps a sunshade to boot. This Vudu 3-9×32 does have a tube somewhere under there, but you’re not going to use it for scope rings because it’s compatible with mini ACOG mounts.
What little actual tube there is accommodates an optional EFLX dot sight, and you’ll save yourself a few bucks if you bundle them together.
The eye relief stays very consistent between the highest and lowest magnification levels, slicing off just 0.2 inches when maxed out. The color rendition of the Japanese glass is excellent, and the only real aberrations occur at the edges of the glass.
Reticle
This new Vudu is a second focal plane (SFP) optic, meaning that the reticle remains static regardless of the magnification level. Though broadly speaking this is a less complex optical arrangement than a first focal plane (FFP) reticle that scales as you zoom, it also allows for easier “daylight bright” illumination.
No, the HC1 reticle isn’t reminiscent of EOTech’s circle-dot like their SR5. Spend a little time with a ballistic calculator to maximize it.
On this first model EOTech features their HC1 reticle, which is shaped like a cross with a center dot complete with MOA stadia lines. Only a smaller inner portion is illuminated in red, and we have to admit it looks a bit like a Greek Orthodox cross at first blush. Even though the reticle doesn’t scale, EOTech went through the trouble of including a diagram displaying what each measurement means at both 3x and 9x. It’s nice of them to include the 3x scale, but max magnification is what we concern ourselves with.
Our recommendation is to bust out a ballistic calculator and figure out the major lines for your chosen rifle, zero, and caliber. For instance, with one of our 5.56mm rifles with 77-grain ammunition, the first major stadia line represents the drop at 312 yards, and the bottom 410 (needless to say, functionally it’s just 300 and 400 yards).
Loose Rounds
Even though you can immediately put a dot on top for close encounters, you can also shoot the Vudu with both eyes open à la Bindon Aiming Concept (BAC) just like with a Trijicon ACOG. It isn’t a problem or, rather, is no more a problem than regular BAC shooting. You might even find it easier with the Vudu because of the longer eye relief.
The Vudu 3×9 (top) is roughly the same size as a Trijicon ACOG with a killflash (bottom).
Speaking of military optics, perhaps due to the combination of the shape and reticle design, running around the range with the Vudu MPVO we couldn’t help but be reminded of the old 4x Colt carry handle scopes.
Are there some warts? Eh, not really — more like preferential differences, some that are likely to be addressed by future models. It would be great to see a higher top-end magnification somewhere down the line, but the present levels are just fine — especially in a world full of longer 1-8x LPVOs, fixed prismatics, and dot sights married to magnifiers. Similarly, SFP isn’t my preference but the small size makes up for a lot.
As to what it’s for — while the obvious answer to that question is anything you’d want a 3×9 on, the form factor really opens up a whole new world. Had this been in-hand in our last issue, it would have gone on our M16A5 build because it has versatile combat optic written all over it. As it stands, this one almost immediately found a home on an FN SCAR-H.
EOTech — keep it up! Other optic manufacturers — catch up!
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2025 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
We take a look at some British and European rifle cartridges that were years ahead of their time but still failed to catch on.
It should not be news to any reader that the British and European gun trades were highly active in cartridge conceptualization and design from the advent of the 20th century to the outbreak of World War II. Cartridge designs rode a near-permanent wave during this period, but not all progressed beyond the experimental or proposition stage. This article is about a few of those obscure bolt-action cartridge concepts of which we are aware. There are many more that are not covered here and even more that have disappeared in the fog of time, about which we will probably never know anything. An entire book could be written about them.
If I were a man of means, I would, just for the hell of it, have built a collection of British-style rifles chambered for some of these “never” cartridges on modern Granite Mountain Arms (GMA) or Prechtl custom Mauser 98 actions.
The disappearance or destruction of many European cartridge records during WWII and the recent closure of the historic Birmingham Proof House in the United Kingdom, followed by the sale of its records to an undisclosed collector, makes original research near impossible. I therefore relied on whatever sources of existing research I could find, sometimes almost verbatim. Sources will be acknowledged as best as possible, and where I omitted recognition, it is accidental, not intentional.
.250 Cogswell & Harrington Super High Velocity
The .250 C&H cartridge was conceived around 1920. Two drawings exist: one from Eley dated October 8, 1920, and another from Kynoch (BJ17-71) of July 18, 1922. They differ materially. The cartridge color sketch image follows the Kynoch dimensions as it is the most recent, and even the 1920 sketch already notes modifications and refers to earlier drawings. Although I have never seen a .250 C&H cartridge, Fleming speculates that it may have seen limited production by Kynoch as the primer was revised in 1928.
The Eley drawing stipulates the case at 2.400 inches (60.96mm), while the Kynoch drawing lists it as 2.500 inches (63.5mm). The Eley drawing shows a maximum commercial cartridge length of 3.26 inches (82.80mm) and the Kynoch 3.30 inches (83.82mm). The bullet diameter is given as 0.258 inch (6.55mm) and not the present-day 0.257 inch (6.53mm). For all practical purposes, we can use the same barrel specifications as the .250-3000 Savage: a groove diameter of 0.257 inch (6.53mm) and a caliber of 0.250 inch (6.35mm).
The .250 Cogswell & Harrison design is typically British period-related, but the final version’s body taper was an excessive 2.991 degrees. The original drawing with the lesser body taper was the better of the two versions in my book, even with its odd belt diameter. Its neck measures 0.300 inch (7.62mm), constituting 120 percent of the caliber. The shoulder angle is a shallow, Cordite-charging-compatible 17 degrees. The case capacity is in the region of 62 to 65 grains of water.
Tracing 745 circa 1920, most likely the conceptual drawing of the .250 Cogswell & Harrington cartridge. It was superseded in 1923.
I could not find a definitive pressure specification for the .250 Cogswell & Harrison. QuickLoad lists it as 50,763 psi, but obviously without substantiation, and I have no idea where that specification was sourced. The .240 H&H Apex, which hails from the same year, has a maximum average pressure limit of 60,191 psi. The .250-3000 Savage of 1914, a lever-action cartridge, has a Sporting Arms & Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) maximum average pressure limit of 45,000 CUP (Copper Units Pressure), while the Commission internationale permanente pour l’épreuve des armes à feu portatives (CIP) limits it to 52,939 psi. Given that it is a post-WWI bolt-action cartridge design, I can see no reason the .250 Cogswell & Harrison cannot be loaded to .240 Apex levels. Thus, it compares to contemporary 0.257-inch rounds as detailed in the .250 C&H Performance Comparison Table.
In practical terms, the .250 Cogswell & Harrington would have performed somewhere between the rimless .25-’06 Remington and the .257 Weatherby Magnum. It was hailed as an excellent option for “Hill-Shooting in India, or for Deer-Stalking in Scotland.”
.250 Cogswell & Harrington Drawing Differences
Identification Date
Rim Ø (R1) Diameter (in.)
Belt Ø (R3) Diameter (in.)
Base Ø (P1) Diameter (in.)
Shoulder (P2) Diameter (in.)
Case (L3) Length (in.)
COAL (L6) (in.)
1920
.500
.500
.480
.432
2.400
3.250
1923 (Kynoch)
.564
.532
.513
.420
2.500
3.300
The cartridge is quite interesting because it is belted but semi-rimmed with a rim diameter of .564 inch (14.33mm).
In the 1924 Cogswell & Harrison brochure, the cartridge was offered in a Mauser 98 action, and the Cordite ballistics listed it as 3,000 fps with a 110-grain bullet, which would have been achieved at pressures around 45,000 psi.
This Kynoch drawing seems to be a late rendition of the 1921 revision of the .250 Cogswell & Harrison cartridge since the notes and remarks date 1922 and 1928, respectively.
Drawings of two other belted Cogswell & Harrington cartridges also exist but have not been included here due to space restrictions; that of the .370 (Kynoch BJ17—71.4 dated May 5, 1921) and of a .380 (Eley 137.24 dated June 13, 1920) neither of which made it.
.26 BSA Rimless Belted Express
BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Company, Ltd.) was established around 1861. It played a significant role in British small arms manufacture until about 1973, when it closed. It offered airguns, rifles and cartridges of its own design, amongst which were the .26 and .40 BSA Rimless Belted Express. The earliest blueprint of the .26 BSA I have is Kynoch’s drawing numbered BJ17-55A, dated February 18, 1920. It was superseded by Kynoch drawing BK46-23, which I am still trying to find. At the time of the .26 BSA’s introduction, the company built its rifles on modified Enfield Pattern-14 bolt-action systems, not Mauser or Mannlicher actions common to other British gunmakers.
The .26 BSA Cartridge Comparison Table shows its closest ballistic rivals. The .264 Winchester Magnum could also have been included, but it is more powerful than the cartridges in the comparison. The .26 BSA’s rivals are the 6.5 Remington Magnum and the recent 6.5 PRC. That is quite a revelation, given that this cartridge is over a century old.
Theoretically, the .26 BSA equals or marginally outperforms the highly touted 6.5 PRC cartridge if loaded to the same pressure levels. In practice, the 6.5 PRC is technically a much more sophisticated cartridge with better cartridge-to-chamber interface and combustion characteristics. (Not that the .260 BSA cartridge is the potentially better one; it already equaled the PRC’s ballistic potential a century ago.)
A 1920 drawing of the .26 BSA Rimless Belted Express. A note on the drawing indicates that it had been superseded three years later by a Kynoch drawing BK46-23.
The .260 BSA has a 2.400-inch (60,96mm) long case with a 107.69 percent long neck, which conforms to contemporary criteria. The shallow shoulder angle of 21 degrees is high for a British cartridge. British rounds were loaded with Cordite strings as the propellant, which were inserted into the cases before the shoulder and neck were swaged into final shape during production. A shallow shoulder angle was consequently preferred as the most process-compatible. On the Kynoch drawing, the rim and belt diameters are the same as those of the .375 H&H Magnum and typical American belted cartridges.
The .26 BSA belt and the unnecessarily sharp tapered body (1.786 degrees) are not as efficient and enduring as the shorter body, sharper shoulder and lesser body taper of the contemporary 6.5 PRC and similar high-precision designs. Unless you are a handloader, those benefits do not necessarily manifest in ballistic or precision superiority. It also shows that Britain was at least 39 years ahead of the USA in terms of the 0.260-inch caliber cartridge design because the U.S. only introduced the belted .264 Winchester Magnum in 1959 and the 6.5mm Remington Magnum in 1966. The rimless 6.5 PRC wouldn’t see the light of day until 2018—98 years later!
.280 Jeffery (.33/.280 Jeffery)
The .280 Jeffery originated with Kynoch drawing AY12-41 of November 19, 2013. It is a .333 Jeffery necked down to 0.287 inch (7.29mm), not the 0.284 inch (7.21mm) that later became the 7mm standard. W.J. Jeffery offered it in his Mauser 98 rifles. Most sources claim that it only went into production in 1915, but 1914 is more likely. As with the 7mm WSM and Remington’s UltraMag cartridges, its parent case was the .404 Jeffery, except the British took this approach 88 years before the Americans did. Loaded with 57 grains of Cordite, it launched a 140-grain bullet at 3,000 fps., Remember that the velocities listed for British cartridges were derived from 28-inch (711mm) proof barrels.
The .280 Jeffery is a forerunner of the modern 7mm Blaser Magnum, circa 2009. The Blaser, designed by my friend Christer Larsson, former head of ballistics at Norma Precision, has a marginally shorter case body (L1) and case length (L3) but less body taper and a sharper shoulder. These two cartridges have the same case water capacity and ballistics at identical pressure levels for all practical purposes.
This is a poor-quality drawing of the .280 Jeffery. Although the original drawing dates back to 1913, this version lists modifications up to 1959.
Apart from bullet diameter, the minor dimensional differences are detailed in the accompanying .280 Jeffery Cartridge Comparison Table. Although the .280 was loaded hot in its day, modern propellants enable it to exceed original ballistics in 24-inch (610mm) barrels.
Loaded with modern propellants to contemporary pressure levels, the .280 Jeffery trades punches with the .280 Remington, 7x64mm Brenneke, 7mm WSM, 7mm Remington Magnum and the 7mm Blaser without ever taking to the canvas.
This worn box of .280 Jeffery ammunition in the collection of Paul Strydom invokes a sense of nostalgia to accompany a discussion of these forgotten old cartridges. Photo: Paul Strydom
From a design perspective, its neck is a surprise for a British cartridge preceding WWI: It is short—around 98.2 percent of caliber. Even the .276 Enfield with which the British military experimented had a longer neck. The 22°57’30” shoulder was also rather sharp for a pre-WWI British round. The body taper is era-typical at a rather pronounced 1.687 degrees. It’s interesting that a cartridge would fall by the wayside, only to essentially be revived 96 years later as a solution to real or perceived needs. But that is the world of cartridges for you.
.322 Rigby Nitro
In the 1914 history section of the famous John Rigby & Co. website, there is a sentence that reads: “John Rigby had further plans for his .416 cartridge case. When World War I began in June 1914, he was working with Kynoch to develop the Rigby .322 Nitro cartridge. They intended to use a .330 diameter bullet weighing 250 grains. The velocity should have been about 3,000 feet per second, which would have produced more than 5,000 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. Completion of the project was delayed until after the war, but with John Rigby’s death in 1916 all development ceased.”
The .322 Rigby died with its conceiver and was never commercially produced. A few cartridges must have been made for experimental purposes because there are a few specimens in collectors’ hands. The 250-grain 0.330-inch bullet made the .318 Westley Richards (circa 1910) famous. Many years ago, I wrote: “The .322 Rigby was not conceived as a .350 Rigby Magnum necked down, but an original design. The various sources list slightly differing dimensions for the cartridge, but performance levels hovered around 2,500 fps with 275-grain bullets from 24-inch (610mm) barrels.”
However, John Rigby used the .404 Jeffery case as the basis for the .322, not his .416 case. That is abundantly clear from the March 17, 1914, letter posted on the Rigby website and the Kynoch drawing AY12-47 dated March 24, 1914. It is understandable because, as I explained in African Dangerous Game Cartridges (p. 277), he indirectly contributed to the creation of the .404 Jeffery.
Drawing AY12-47 shows the cartridge as having the same cartridge overall length of 3.75 inches (95.25mm) as the .416 Rigby (Mauser magnum-length action) rather than the 3.53 inches (89.66mm) of the .404 Jeffery. The latter can be fitted into a standard-length Mauser action with a stretched magazine box, as is commonly done to accommodate the .375 H&H Magnum (COAL 3.6 inches). Interestingly, this drawing does not specify the case body length (L1), but Ken Howell determined it by using CAD software to “reverse engineer” the dimension as 2.345 inches (59.56mm). Body taper has thus been calculated as 1.566 degrees.
The available drawing of the .322 Rigby Nitro cartridge dated March 24, 1914.
The case water capacity of the .322 Rigby Nitro is in the region of 102 to 103 grains. Rigby specified the muzzle velocity at 3,000 fps with a 250-grain bullet using Cordite. I can only presume that this performance was to be derived from the typical 28-inch (711mm) test barrels standard in the British trade. Using QuickLoad and a British-style Woodleigh 250-grain 0.330-inch bullet, I derived an approximate pressure level of 62,500 psi, which is way above what would have been acceptable in 1914. I submit that Rigby’s velocity expectation for the 250-grain bullet was optimistic.
If, however, I use a 275-grain bullet with a length of 1.34 inches (34mm), I can simulate 2,500 fps from a 24-inch (610mm) barrel at a mere 47,137 psi—identical to the pressure specification of the .416 Rigby.
The accompanying comparison table details the contemporary cartridges most comparable to the .322 Rigby Nitro. Since the .322’s modern adversaries are all loaded to maximum average pressures (MAP) exceeding 60,000 psi, I settled on the pressure level for the .322 Rigby for comparison in QuickLoad using a 24-inch (610mm) barrel. The average of five top-performing loads at 90 percent of maximum average pressure was used.
QuickLoad is not gospel, but it provides a solid comparative base for calculation. The ‘wonder kid’ .338 Lapua and Norma Magnums were essentially conceived 99 years ago! Reinventing the wheel seems to be the current pastime.
.354 Eley Rimless
The .354 Eley Rimless is a particularly obscure concept that never progressed beyond the drawing board. The drawing number, dY12-60, is especially odd. Even stranger is that it is a Kynoch drawing of an Eley cartridge marked “Working Drawing for Shop Use Only.” Its date is May 24, 1919, just more than six months after the end of WWI. I could not find any other reference to it except in Harding, but the timeframe Harding records raises more questions than answers.
Kynoch drawing AY12-60, dated 1919, shows the planned .354 Eley Rimless cartridge. It was based on the influential .280 Ross cartridge Eley also designed.
He may be referring to yet another cartridge when he writes: “In 1906 Eley were to start the manufacture of cartridges for rifles designed by Sir Charles Ross, a Scotsman who had emigrated to Canada.” At least three variants were made by Eley, including two distinctly different versions of the .280-inch rimless, together with the rimless 0.354 inch. Alternatively, an Eley drawing, which I have not been privy to, dating back to 1906, may exist.
The 0.354-inch Eley essentially is a .280 Rimless Nitro Express Ross necked up. Both cartridges share the .404 Jeffery parent case with the rim (R1) and base (P1) measuring 0.535 inch (13.59mm) and a common shoulder (P2) of 0.422 inch (10.72mm). The shoulder angle of the .354 Eley is much shallower than that of the Ross, a meager 9 degrees rather than 26°33’63”, and it also reduces the body length (L1) by 0.141 inch (3.58mm) to a length of 2.040 inches (51.82mm). The water capacity of the .354 Eley case is in the region of 88 to 90 grains.
The .354 Eley’s bullet diameter would have been 0.350 inch (8.89mm) rather than the 0.358 inch (9.09mm) that eventually became popular. Body taper would have been excessive, as on the .280 Ross, around 3.405 degrees. Such a sharp body taper will make it prone to case-head separation when reloading the case repeatedly and inhibits case water capacity. With less body taper, the .354 Eley would easily have outperformed the .358 Norma Magnum and the 9.3x64mm Brenneke cartridges.
Assuming it was intended for the same straight-pull design as the .280 Ross, ballistic calculations were based on the identical maximum average pressure specification of 47,137 psi. For its projected ballistics, refer to the .354 Eley Cartridge Comparison Table. The bullet specified for the .354 Eley weighed 262 grains.
.383 Vickers
Who does not remember the images of the water-cooled Vickers machine gun hammering away at the German lines during WWI? Vickers Limited, which produced that machine gun, also created several cartridges. An exciting one that never saw the light of day was the .383 Vickers. Harding covers it as follows: “This is yet another experimental calibre produced by Kynoch Ltd, in 1927, presumably for Manton & Co. of Calcutta who must have rejected it, given their name is crossed out. To date I have yet to find a specimen of this calibre.”
If Bill Harding has not seen a specimen, none probably exist because he was the historian and archivist to the Birmingham Proof House (among many other related positions), and he has most probably seen it all.
According to the cartridge drawing BJ17-11A of July 3, 1929, the .383 Vickers would have been based on a slightly shortened (2.75 inches, 69.85mm) .404 Jeffery case given a 14-degree shallow angle and a short-for-the-era 91.38 percent of caliber neck. Bullets (270 and 300 grains) and groove diameters were to have been 0.390 inch (9.91mm), and the bore/caliber to measure 0.383 inch (9.73mm). The body taper was 1.35 degrees. The case water volume would have been around 103.5 grains.
The drawing on which the .383 Vickers hunting cartridge was to be based. No information indicating that it progressed beyond this drawing seems to exist.
This oddball caliber was most likely designed to compete with the .375 H&H Magnum, any bolt-action .40 prospects, and the venerable .450/400 in double rifles. The .400 H&H Rimless only came about 80 years later, but its groove diameter is 0.410 inch. I own both the .375 and .400 H&H cartridges, so I have a reasonable understanding of cartridges in the caliber bracket. To make a reasonable comparison, I used the SAAMI maximum average pressure specification of the .375 H&H Magnum of 62,000 psi (427 Mpa) as a baseline in the accompanying .383 Vickers Comparison Table from 24-inch (610mm) barrels.
.383 Vickers Comparison Table (300 grains)
Cartridge
Bullet (gr.)
90% MAP (psi)
Velocity (fps)
.375 H&H Magnum
300
54,000
2,610
.383 Vickers
300
54,000
2,650
.400 H&H Magnum
300
54,000
2,775
The unusual bullet diameter could have been why Manton & Co. rejected the cartridge. It would have been a more capable design if Vickers had maintained the .404 Jeffery case length of 2.875 inches (73.02mm) and extended the cartridge length to equal that of the .375 H&H Magnum at 3.6 inches (91.44mm) and mated it to a .400–.410-inch bullet. Bear in mind that both the .404 Jeffery (1904) and the .416 Rigby (1911) had already established their reputations for the better part of 20 and 18 years, respectively. The .383 cartridge would not have brought anything new to the table.
.40 BSA
Although the .41 Roper (designed by Sylvester Howard Roper, the American inventor of the motorcycle), was the first belted cartridge, Holland & Holland in the UK cemented the concept with its .400/375 H&H in 1905, which the great .375 H&H Magnum later superseded. [Editor’s note: In all my years of research, I had always understood the .400/375 H&H, or Velopex, to be the first belted cartridge. This shows that you never stop learning.]
In the world of double and top-break rifles, cartridges in the .400–.411-inch bracket have been very popular since about 1884. The .450/400 Nitro Express 3”, introduced by Jeffery in 1902, is still highly regarded in Africa. This popularity has never migrated to bolt-action rifles and cartridges, but it is not for lack of trying. In America, Charles Newton, Kleinguenther, Townsend Whelen and Art Alphin tried it and failed. British Sporting Arms (BSA) and Holland & Holland also tried and failed in the UK. It is just not a caliber that grips the imagination of the hunting public in the face of competition from the .375 H&H Magnum and the .416 Rigby.
This cartridge, the .40 BSA, is highly sought after among collectors, and a premium specimen can easily cost $1,500!
BSA made one such UK attempt. Kynoch drawing BJ17-59, dated February 16, 1921, depicts the .40 BSA cartridge for which a light, copper-point .250-grain bullet of 0.408-inch (10.36mm) diameter was inexplicably specified. Bullets in the 400-grain class are preferred for cartridges in this performance bracket. The load was 69 grains of Cordite. It was a belted, stretched-length (2.8 inches, 71.12mm) straight-tapered wall cartridge geometrically comparable to the .458 Lott. BSA offered Enfield P14 rifles chambered for it.
.40 BSA Performance Table (24-inch barrel)
Cartridge
Bullet (gr.)
90% MAP (psi)
Capacity (gr.)
Velocity (fps)
.40 BSA
260
57,435
104
2,925
.40 BSA
400
57,435
104
2,375
Had the .40 BSA survived, its closest modern rivals would have been the .400 H&H Belted Magnum of 2002 and the .400 Pondoro. The BSA and H&H’s case capacities are virtually identical, while the Pondoro has about 2 percent more capacity. Capacity differences are negligible.
.430 Gibbs Nitro
Although the .430 Gibbs Nitro, based on Kynoch drawing AY12-24 dated January 4, 1913, never went into production, a few specimens were specially created by my friend Otto Planyavski and are floating around collections. Planyavski even recreated the typical Gibbs .430 Nitro headstamp with the Kynoch K at the six o’clock position.
The .430 Gibbs Nitro was based on the full-length .416 Rigby case with a marginally shallower 37-degree shoulder and about 128 to 129 grains of water capacity. Its neck length is 129.4 percent of caliber, and its body taper is 1.2 degrees. The cartridge’s overall length (L6) was 3.750 inches (95.25mm). Therefore, the .430 Gibbs would have required a Mauser magnum-length action.
The Kynoch drawing specifies a 0.435-inch (11.05mm) bullet weighing 410 grains. Its bullet diameter is identical to that of the .425 Westley Richards. The .425 Westley Richards, introduced in 1909, uses a 347-grain 0.435-inch (11.05mm) bullet and is based on the .404 Jeffery case shortened and modified to a rebated rim configuration. Its case’s water capacity generally hovers in the region of 107 grains. The .430 Gibbs concept had obviously been intended to compete with the .416 Rigby, the .404 Jeffery, and the 11.2x72mm Schüler rather than the more compact and sedate .425 Westley Richards.
An early sketch of the .430 Gibbs Nitro cartridge dated 1913, most likely by Kynoch.
The case water capacity of the .430 Gibbs Nitro is almost identical to the brand-dependent average of the .416. Gibbs had specified a maximum average pressure of just 39,160 psi for its even bigger .505 Magnum Gibbs introduced in 1911. Given a difference of only two years between the introduction of the .416 Rigby and the .430 Gibbs and sharing the same case, it is reasonable to assume that the .430 Gibbs would have had a similar maximum average pressure specification to the .416 Rigby, namely 47,138 psi.
Using the .425 Westley Richards barrel specifications, the .430 Gibbs can be recreated in QuickLoad to approximate its ballistic potential. Due to the low pressures of the group of cartridges, 95 percent of the specified maximum average pressure was used for the QuickLoad calculations.
The .430 Gibbs Nitro would have been a formidable cartridge. However, the outbreak of WWI in 1914 and the likelihood that Rigby would not have considered parting with irreplaceable Magnum Mauser actions in hand during hostilities most likely scuttled the concept. Its only bullet diameter competitor would have been the less powerful .425 Westley Richards and the oddball Schüler, which never made it to the big time.
.480 Gibbs
A Kynoch drawing of the .480 Gibbs cartridge dated March 8, 1913, designated AY12-29.
The .480 Gibbs was conceived shortly after the .430 Gibbs because the only drawing (Kynoch AY12-35) is dated July 29, 1913. Unlike the .430, it was based on Gibbs’ massive proprietary case, the .505 Magnum Gibbs. Both cartridges require a magnum-length Mauser action and magazine box. The .505 Magnum Gibbs cartridge succeeded and is even more popular in Africa than in its heyday. However, the .480 Gibbs never made it out of the starting blocks.
Although the .480 Gibbs may be considered a .505 Magnum Gibbs necked down to fire a 520-grain bullet of 0.491-inch (12.47mm) diameter, the .480’s case body length (L1) is 0.0498 inch (1.265mm) shorter. It shares the same 45-degree shoulder and case head configuration, but its body taper is .764 degrees, whereas the .505’s is between .988 and 1.002 degrees, depending on whether CIP or Birmingham Proof House dimensions are used. Its neck length is 144 percent of caliber.
.480 Gibbs Nitro Comparison Table
Cartridge
Bullet (in.)
87.5% MAP (psi)
Capacity (gr.)
Velocity (fps)
.480 Gibbs Nitro
520
34,265
168.2
2,340
.505 Magnum Gibbs
525
34,265
178.4
2,300
.500 Jeffery/12.7×70 Schüler
535
41,879
154.2
2,450
The water capacity of the .480 Gibbs case would have been around 168.2 grains. For practical purposes, and in the absence of data, the maximum average pressure of the .480 should be identical to that of the .505 Gibbs: 39,160 psi.
Another Kynoch drawing of the .480 Gibbs. This time dated July 29, 1913, and designated AY12-35.
We will never know why Gibbs considered a cartridge so close to his existing .505 Magnum Gibbs and used an odd bullet diameter. He probably realized it was a bad idea from a commercial perspective and abandoned the design. The closest rivals to the .480 Gibbs Nitro would have been the more compact .500 Jeffery and the in-house .505 Magnum Gibbs. The .480 Gibbs Nitro Comparison Table shows how these three would have stacked up against each other.
Summary
Countless other fascinating British and European cartridge designs never made it beyond the conceptual, experimental or limited-production phases. Books could be written about them. The golden thread that runs through them all is that almost everything lately introduced as innovative or pioneering is nothing but a rehash of these abandoned old cartridges.
The most significant advance in cartridges, in my view, is not the changes in dimensions that turn obsolete designs into the modern counterparts lately hailed as the be-all and end-all. It’s the American awakening to rim and base diameter dimensions for rounds above and beyond the .223 Remington, .30-’06 Springfield, and .300 Winchester Magnum that hampered American cartridges for a century. Now that the Americans have accepted the .404 Jeffery and .416 Rigby as parent cases and introduced the rimless .375 Ruger base and head geometry, a new world has opened up for cartridge design. Weatherby also recently contributed by stretching the .284 Winchester case. The only outstanding awakening still required for America is the 8x68mmS case head, once pursued by Charles Newton.
Author's Note:I must thank and acknowledge the assistance of my friends Casey Lewis, Will Reuter, Paul Strydom and Nico Swart with material for this article.
Endnotes:
1. Fleming, Bill. British Sporting Rifle Cartridges. Armory Publications, 1993. Oceanside, USA
2. Fleming, Bill. British Sporting Rifle Cartridges. Armory Publications, 1993. Oceanside, USA
3. Ibid
4. Cogswell & Harrison catalog, 1924. Middlesex, UK
5. Barnes, Frank. Cartridges of the World 11th Ed. Gun Digest Books, 2006. Iola, USA
6. Hoyem, George. The History & Development of Small Arms Ammunition Vol III. Armory Publications, 2005. Missoula, USA
7. Van der Walt, Pierre. African Medium Game Cartridges. Pathfinder, 2018. Randburg, RSA.
8. Howell, Ken. Designing and Forming Custom Cartridges. The ICA, 1995. Stevensville, USA.
An interview with the late Dr. Phil Dater, a great mind that left a lasting impact on modern suppressor designs and the gun industry as a whole.
Editorial Forward: Dr. Phil Dater passed on January 20, 2025. He is fondly remembered, and I am honored to have known him. In this piece you'll get a glimpse of why he was so highly regarded, and we should all be so lucky to live such a full life. -Dave Merrill
If you own, use, or enjoy modern silencers, there’s one man you have to thank for the privilege: Dr. Phil Dater. Though suppressors have been around far longer than Dater, his designs and DNA is all over the industry. To this day, a great many silencers across the planet are simply clones or copies of older Dater designs (and they’re astonishingly easy to spot with an X-ray). Lug mounts and fast attach systems came from his brain, as well as modular silencers. There isn’t anyone who has had a greater influence in the industry, and a good part of this is because he famously didn’t go after those who violated his patents—he was too busy making the next thing.
But being the father of modern silencers wasn’t Dater’s life goal. Silencers weren’t even on his radar until he was well into his 40s. His love for tinkering and learning, and distaste for sitting around, put him on a journey to pave the way for practically every modern silencer company we all know.
Dater was born in New York City and spent most of his youth there. He moved to Kansas as a teenager and graduated high school in Wichita. Dater went on to study engineering at the University of Kansas. To put himself through school, he worked for the Coleman lantern company. Eventually, Dater had a change of heart and pursued medicine. He finished medical school in New Orleans. Then, he joined the Air Force in 1965 as a physician. In a hospital basement, Dater began his next—and to us his most important—career journey, shaping the way we enjoy and employ silencers in the 21st century.
We sat down with Dater at his home and then in his mad scientist workshop just outside of Boise. Though he’s getting up in age, Dater’s no slouch, as you’ll soon see.
Tell us about your time in the service.
PHD: Well, in 1965, I had finished medical school and was in the rotating internship at the time; halfway through one of the other interns got his draft notice. At the same time, I was notified to get the induction physical. I would have preferred not to have the full physical, as I could have done without the finger up my ass. I didn’t want to be drafted into the Army or Marine Corps, since I had no interest in going overseas. I reached out to both the Navy and the Air Force, and the Air Force called me back first.
So you went into the Air Force as a physician?
PHD: I did. I wanted to be stationed in southwest America, so they gave me Roswell, New Mexico, as a general medical officer assigned to pediatrics with the rank of captain. After two years in the Air Force, I took formal pediatric specialty training. I lost my son during that time and found that treating children became too difficult. Radiology then became my calling. I stayed in radiology for over 20 years, first with a large multi-specialty group in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and subsequently as a circuit doctor traveling to a few different rural New Mexico hospitals.
As the story goes, it was in the basement of a hospital that you began to dabble in silencers?
PHD: Correct. When I was on call, I had to be physically at the hospital so instead of sitting around doing nothing, I worked in the hospital’s small machine shop in the basement. I had learned how to operate lathes and mills at the Coleman Company during college summers. I could repair lanterns and stoves in my sleep. I had always had an interest in firearms and silencers, so that is where I started playing with them on the mechanical level.
What made you start to design silencers?
PHD: I didn’t begin with designs of my own. I had purchased a Ruger MKI pistol modified by Military Armament Corporation with an integral suppressor. After about 500 rounds, it was no longer quiet, and MAC told me it couldn’t be rebuilt. Their suppressor consisted of a lot of barrel holes with screen discs and a wipe assembly. I figured out how to disassemble the suppressor and replaced the screen washers with Chore Boy copper scouring pads and a non-wipe front endcap. I wanted to make it better, and knew that I would be able to. After that, making firearms quieter became a source of challenge and fun for me.
Dater’s first steps into the silencer industry was replacing the guts of a suppressed MKI like this one.
At what point did you begin making your own complete silencers?
PHD: In the late ’70s, I played with integral designs for pistols like Rugers and Hi-Standards, but they were not for large-scale production; few silencers were back then. Initially, I would make small batches with a friend with a license who would then sell them. From these rimfire designs came larger calibers like submachine gun silencers and rifle cans.
What has been your favorite weapon to suppress?
PHD: Without a doubt, the Ruger 77/22 is my favorite firearm; I have always preferred bolt actions for their accuracy. I currently own four or five. Some have integral suppressors, but not all. I very much appreciate the .17 HMR cartridge for varmints and plinking. It is my favorite round and an absolute joy to shoot.
A bearded Dater in his younger years.
What was your first firearm purchase?
PHD: I bought a 9mm Luger from a hardware store in Exeter, New Hampshire. I was 13 years old and paid $25 for it.
Do you still have it? Do you shoot it anymore?
PHD: Of course, but I haven’t shot it in at least 40 years.
Why did you decide to settle in Boise, Idaho?
PHD: In the early ’90s, Medicare had made me dislike practicing medicine, so I left and moved to Boise. I figured we would retire at that point. I took out an ad in Machine Gun News to be a third-party sound measurement tester.
Dater at home with Jane, his wife of 35 years.
How did that work out for you?
PHD: I was quickly contacted by a fellow named Jim Ryan of JR Customs in Washington. He and another gentleman by the name of Mark Weiss were developing a co-axial designed 9mm submachine gun suppressor similar to my MK-9K and wanted sound testing performed. It was the start of a very good partnership. We began collaborating on silencer designs and formed Gemtech in 1993. Contrary to some press out nowadays, Jim Ryan was the true designer of the Gemtech Aurora.
That’s still a popular silencer. What are your thoughts on wipes as a silencer part?
PHD: It doesn’t matter what I think about the ATF ruling on them, but as a piece of a silencer, they can be very effective when employed properly.
Who in the current silencer industry is doing things right?
PHD: Griffin Armament does a great job at production. They make some excellent silencers from the samples I have had the chance to test. I would say a close second is Dead Air; they are true silencer people with a skill in marketing. Lastly, I have always been impressed with Elite Iron. You don’t hear much about them, but I think their cans are some of the most rugged built today, particularly their 50-caliber silencer.
I recall that you have a Serbu 50 in your collection.
PHD: Mark Serbu and I are good friends from way back. I had the pleasure of going on a prairie dog hunt with him in Wyoming many years ago. We had a long drive together, and there I learned a great deal about weapon systems and material strengths. He knew an immense amount about weapon mechanics. We killed so many critters on that hunt. We shot a lot from the rental car. I doubt we got our deposit back, because we couldn’t vacuum all the empty brass out of the defroster vents.
Who else in the industry has had an influence on you over the years?
PHD: Dan Shea, of Small Arms Review and Small Arms Defense Journal, is one of my closest friends. We have traveled the world together many times. We have been able to go to the pattern room in the United Kingdom to study and photograph classic weapons like the SOE Welrod. We were even caught in the middle of a coup d’état in Thailand together. We met at a trade show somewhere at least 25 years ago. Doug Olson was also a hero of mine in the industry. He really helped me understand that silencer design was almost always trial and error. And Richard Feynman for his ability to make complex theory sound simple.
Much like Hiram P. Maxim, you also enjoy HAM radio, correct?
PHD: I was obsessed with HAM radio while I was in New Mexico. Almost every moment I wasn’t working I would be found on a mountaintop setting up a repeater or helping organize the local HAM community. It became a problem after a while. Like kids these days with their cell phones, I couldn’t get enough of the radios. I had to step back when it really started to interfere with my home life. I still have radios, but am not nearly as involved. I don’t even like to use my cell phone, so I keep it in the car where it belongs. And don’t even get me started on these new smartphones.
What are some of your other hobbies besides silencers and firearms?
PHD: I have always had a passion for the ballet — believe it or not. I took on some walk-on (non-dancing) parts in a few performances, like being the grandfather in The Nutcracker. I found that the movements in ballet were very closely related to another passion of mine, skiing. I skied for many years until bad knees made me stop a few years ago.
Philip's EDC: Ruger LC9, Benchmade Mini-Reflex, notepad and pen, thumb drive, reading glasses, wallet and, no phone!
You also enjoy trains and the rail system?
PHD: Driving in southern Colorado in 1971, I came across a live steam engine that was running. It was right outside of Antonito, Colorado, and it was a narrow-gauge engine, 3-foot gauge. It had been owned by the Denver Rio Grande and acquired by the historical societies of the states of Colorado and New Mexico for preservation. They offered rides, so I took a ride and rode over to Chama, New Mexico, and back. It was about 64 miles, each way, and this made me very interested in the railroad because the people who were working there were all volunteers. So I ended up becoming a volunteer. Denver and Rio Grande had run that as a revenue lineup until 1968. The narrow gauge was used in the mountains for how easy it was and cheaper for the tight corners of the mountain passes. The standard gauge was simply too large. Many of the tracks in southern Colorado at the time were three-rail, allowing mixed-gauge trains. In 1968, they abandoned the line and the two states, New Mexico and Colorado, joined together and bought the line because it was such a scenic area. They ran it the first 8 or 10 years with volunteers. I would go up on weekends and volunteer on the train as a historian, or we would work painting or restoring equipment in the yard. We also got to go out on little speeder cars and paint mileposts. It was really a lot of fun for me. I became interested in model trains about the same time. Of course, with a narrow-gauge focus. Jane and I still go to model train conventions. I am thinking of repurposing my shop for model trains.
You did some work with the California crime lab at one point. What did that entail?
PHD: In 2009, the California Criminalistics Institute contacted me to teach a class on silencers. The new examiners would be put through training on various weapon systems, and the program wanted this to also include silencers. I put together a three-day class that included silencer designs both professional and crude, historical silencers and inventors, and, of course, a day of testing silencers at the range. The Crime Lab would bring out confiscated homemade silencers. We would test them to see how they did. It was here that we made and tested several “field expedient” silencers such as potatoes, baby bottle nipples, pillows, tennis balls, and, of course, plastic bottles. Each of them serialized then promptly destroyed. I have the videos of all these somewhere. It was interesting to see how well some of them worked and how some of them actually made the various guns louder.
You have also worked with tons of companies in the industry over the years. Any of them stand out?
PHD: We worked with FN when the P90 was initially being imported. They wanted a silencer that didn’t change how the weapon functioned at all. They clearly didn’t know much about silencers. They believed what they had was perfect and any modification would degrade the product. We created a silencer called the SP-90 that eventually was sold to the Secret Service.
Dater with the Maxim Defense team.
What do you do with your time now?
PHD: Right now, I am involved with Maxim Defense. They just released the PDX, and I helped with high-speed video to check bullet stability, flash, and weapon functioning. I enjoy getting out of the house and working with those guys; it really is a great group of people. I also do some consulting and sound testing for silencer companies and occasionally write articles for Small Arms Review.
Philip H. Dater Born: 1937 in Manhattan, NY Family: Married, three daughters Education: University of Kansas, University of Wichita, McNeese State College in Louisiana Medical School: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA Military Service: U.S. Air Force, 1965-1967 Role models: Doug Olson, Wyatt Earp Favorite film: Second Hand Lions Daily driver: Audi A4 Favorite silencer: The Gemtech Outback-IID Favorite gun: Ruger 77/17
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the 2025 suppressor special issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
More On Suppressors:
The Suppressor: How They're Made, How They Work, And How To Buy One
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