CMMG has just announced the DISSENT pistol line, a new family of buffer-less AR pistols initially offered in three calibers.
People love AR pistols because they’re small, but a limitation of the original design has always been the buffer tube permanently protruding from the rear. With ultimate compactness as the goal, CMMG has just announced the DISSENT pistol line, now featuring a buffer-less action with folding stock capabilities.
At the core of every DISSENT pistol is CMMG’s new patented Compact Action. Rather than using a buffer tube to contain the recoil spring, the Compact Action uses internal dual guide rods and springs to cycle. The upper can be mated to any standard AR lower, and the Compact Action functions with both standard AR gas systems (as with the 5.56 and .300 BLK DISSENTs) as well as CMMG’s proprietary Radial Delayed Blowback system (as with the 5.7 DISSENT). The charging handle is non-reciprocating and located on the left side of the weapon as standard, but a configuration for left-handers will be available separately as well.
The DISSENT pistol will initially be available in 5.56x45mm, .300 BLK and 5.7x28mm, with all models sporting a 6.5-inch free-floated barrel. The barrels are also threaded 1/2×28 and ship with a CMMG ZEROED Linear Compensator installed. The guns are compatible with standard AR handguards and grips and each pistol will ship with a 5.5-inch M-LOK rail. As for mounting a brace or a stock, every DISSENT receiver will feature a segment of 1913 Picatinny rail on the rear, ready to accept most popular models on the market. Without a stock or a brace installed, each DISSENT has an overall length of 14.7-inches and a weight of 4.6-pounds, making these some very handy little firearms.
Regardless of the caliber chosen, all DISSENT pistols have an MSRP of $1,999.95 and will be available in one of six Cerakote colors. They will all also each include two magazines and a TriggerTech AR-D 2-Stage Trigger. They are available for preorder now.
Armasight has just debuted the Contractor thermal optics line, featuring two new, American-made thermal imaging scopes.
Armasight specializes in night vision and thermal technologies, and they’ve been one of the leading names in that field since the company’s founding over 10 years ago. The most recent addition to their catalog is the Armasight Contractor thermal optics line, featuring two new America-made thermal scopes with different levels of digital magnification.
Armasight Contractor 320 6-24x.
The heart of the Contractor thermal optics is the new detector called the ArmaCORE, a high-performance, 320×240 12-micron pixel thermal core. The captured image is then displayed on a 60 Hz 1024×768 display. This allows the Contractor thermal optics to be useful in a myriad of poor-visibility conditions, including total darkness, smoke and fog. Both new optics are also capable of recording video, featuring four hours of onboard storage and USB and WiFi streaming capabilities to watch what you’ve saved. Many of these features can also be controlled using the Armasight smartphone app. Both scopes are powered by two CR123A batteries and have up to four hours of runtime depending on temperature.
Armasight Contractor 320 3-12X.
Other noteworthy features of the Contractor thermal scopes include their eight reticle options, six color palette choices and durable yet lightweight metal alloy housings. Both optics also feature a digital compass, an inclinometer and stadiametric reticles to assist the user with calculations in the field. Whether being used for hunting or more tactical applications, the Contractor thermal sights can provide a huge advantage, not only when it comes to target identification but for making accurate hits as well.
The Contractor 320 3-12x25mm has an MSRP of $4,299 while the Contractor 320 6-24x50mm has an MSRP of $4,799. Both models are available for purchase now.
Looking to upgrade your Ruger 10/22 stock? Here are five great options for improving your plinker.
The Ruger 10/22 and AR-15 have something in common, and it’s likely one of the biggest reasons for the popularity of both rifles in the U.S. That feature is modularity, and in the land of rugged individualism, the ability to majorly customize one’s gun is greatly appreciated.
There may not be quite as many 10/22 stocks on the market as there are for ARs, but there are still an impressive number of options. Whether you’re looking to make your Ruger 10/22 more ergonomic, less cumbersome or just want to give it a facelift, there’s a 10/22 stock out there for you.
Ruger 10/22 Barreled action and a Luth-AR MCA-22 Chassis. Photo: Luth-AR.
Why Upgrade A 10/22 Stock?
The Ruger 10/22 is a very versatile rifle with many practical applications. They serve as many individuals’ first gun to learn on as a youth while remaining fun plinkers at all ages. From shooting cans at the farm to participating in NRL22 competitions, or hunting small game to conducting pest control, the 10/22 is America’s go-to option.
For many 10/22 owners, a factory Ruger rifle will have all the functionality they need, but there are many potential areas of improvement that can benefit certain types of shooters.
If precision is your goal, there are stocks that add higher cheek combs for use with scopes. Others add adjustability to help ensure a perfect fit between the shooter and the gun. If you plan on lugging your rifle around your ranch or on a hunt, some 10/22 stocks add the ability to fold or reduce the overall weight.
Different materials used in the stocks also affect their durability and ergonomics, all of which shine in certain settings while falling short in others. After deciding to upgrade your 10/22 stock, the next step is identifying exactly what you want it to do for you.
Even if none of your reasons are practical and you only want to give your Ruger a fresh look, that’s still a legitimate pursuit with plenty of different options to choose from.
Archangel Nomad G36-style 10/22 stock conversion.
Replacing A 10/22 Stock
Thankfully, another similarity between ARs and the Ruger 10/22 is just how easy it is to replace most of the components.
No master gunsmithing is required here. Using a screwdriver or Allen wrench, the factory barrel band must first be removed, followed by the takedown screw on the underside of the rifle. After doing this, one should be able to simply lift the barreled action out of the original stock.
Installing a new 10/22 stock is essentially the same process in reverse, but details may vary depending on the exact stock being used. Some require the replacement of the barrel band, while others rely only on the single takedown screw. More detailed instructions exist online if you need them, but be aware there’s no reason to fear the task of replacing a 10/22 stock.
Before browsing and selecting the aftermarket 10/22 stock for you, there’s one more thing that should be kept in mind, and that is compatibility.
There are over 50 models currently listed on Ruger’s website, not even including the .22 Charger pistols or discontinued variants. Differences between these models, especially regarding barrel profiles, may affect your Ruger’s compatibility with aftermarket stocks (though many models include inserts that make them compatible with multiple barrel profiles).
Ruger 10/22 Carbine and 10/22 Takedown.
That said, the vast majority of the variants could still be categorized as “standard” 10/22s and will therefore be compatible with most “standard” 10/22 stocks.
The most common compatibility issue encountered has to do with takedown models, as one will need to specifically seek out an aftermarket 10/22 takedown stock to use with it.
Samson Manufacturing is probably most famous for making the A-TM Mini-14 folding stock, a faithful and quality reproduction of the original Ruger folding stocks that came on the Mini-14 GB and AC-556. The striking design was made iconic through its use on the A-TEAM TV show, but many more Americans today own a 10/22 than a Mini-14.
Whether you want to overhaul your 10/22’s aesthetics or are looking for a solidly built folding stock to make your rifle more handy and compact, the Samson B-TM stock is an easy way to do it.
The only downsides to this model are its price and weight (2.244 pounds). There are cheaper and lighter folding 10/22 stock options on the market like the ProMag Ruger Tactical if functionality is your only goal.
Just keep in mind that none of the plastic models will be as durable as the steel Samson B-TM. MSRP: $279.99 (Stainless) $299.99 (Black) // samson-mfg.com
Best Adjustability: Luth-AR MCA-22 Chassis
There have been plenty of 10/22 stocks over the years with an adjustable length of pull and comb height, but few have achieved it as handily or as sleekly as the MCA-22 Chassis.
New for 2022, this chassis is built using high-strength glass-filled nylon, 6061 aluminum and steel, making it both strong and light. It’s also completely ambidextrous.
As for adjustability, the MCA-22 features a cheek piece that has .750 inches of lateral movement and 2 inches of vertical adjustment. The LOP can be extended by 4.5 inches, and the butt pad itself has one inch of vertical adjustment as well.
Together, these features allow the MCA-22 to conform to just about anyone’s preferred shooting position. Other notable characteristics include its M-LOK foregrip, its ability to accept QD sling cups and its compatibility with both bull and pencil-profile barrels. MSRP: $189.95 // luth-ar.com
Best Takedown: Magpul X-22 Backpacker Stock
For those who own a takedown 10/22 model and wish to continue utilizing that feature, a takedown-specific stock must be acquired.
Undoubtedly one of the best options, both in features and price, is Magpul’s X-22 Backpacker. It’s compatible with all Ruger 10/22 Takedown models and adds additional functionality to the takedown concept.
While standard takedown 10/22 models simply separate into two pieces, the X-22 Backpacker adds a unique provision for storing the barrel directly on the stock.
Made from an advanced polymer, the X-22 is both durable and lightweight, barely weighing over a pound total. It’s compatible with both bull and pencil-profile barrels and QD sling mounts are integrated as well.
Available in multiple colors and capable of storing three spare magazines inside, this is one of the most ideal 10/22 stock options for backpackers, survivalists and hunters who cover a lot of ground. MSRP: $109.95 // magpul.com
Best Budget: BlackHawk Knoxx Axiom R/F Stock
If all you need is an inexpensive, no-frills replacement for a standard 10/22 stock, the BlackHawk Knoxx Axiom R/F is a solid choice.
While it won’t be as durable or as feature-rich as most others on this list, it still offers a lot for one of the lowest-priced options on the market.
The stock free-floats your 10/22 barrel, regardless of profile, and it’s ready to accept a bipod as well. It has a basic, 6-position adjustable carbine-style stock, and the whole package weighs less than a pound.
The Knoxx Axiom may not satisfy all your needs, but it’s an inexpensive way to decrease the weight and increase the potential precision of your 10/22. MSRP: $95.95 // blackhawk.com
Best Cool: West One Products 10/22 USGI Stock M1
To be fair, coolness is subjective, and many may have already deemed the Samson B-TM as the coolest 10/22 stock on the list. Those who prefer modern, tactical guns may have already set their eyes on a P90 or G36-style chassis kit as well.
All three of these are expensive, and the P90 and G36 kits add a lot of bulk for very little functionality. The sleekest, most practical and least expensive 10/22 stock that will raise your rifle’s cool factor is the 10/22 USGI M1 stock from West One Products LLC.
The appeal of this rather basic wood stock is that it mimics the appearance of the iconic American M1 Carbine. The stock alone does a lot to change the rifle’s aesthetics, but for those who want to take things even farther, sights, magazines and a flash hider are available that can make a 10/22 even more clone-correct.
Each stock includes two upper handguards too, allowing for use with either the factory Ruger sights or the aftermarket M1-style irons. It also includes a replacement barrel band with the appropriate sling swivel. MSRP: $169.95
Looking for a new iron or piece of kit to enhance the one you already own? Check out these 7 new bits of guns and gear to grow your firearms wish list.
The M&P15 is a legend in its own right, at least when it comes to affordable ARs. But Smith & Wesson has given shooters the shot of upgraded options for the reliable iron with a sizable expansion of the line. Aptly named for the manufacturer’s new home—Tennessee—the Volunteer series offers up six new guns. The selection ranges from a base model carbine up to the XV DMR, a long-range specialist that comes decked out with a 20-inch barrel. In all cases, the Volunteers include some nice upgrades, such as chromed firing pins, flat triggers and B5 Systems furniture. All in all, the guns are solid additions to an already well-regarded line and certainly offer shooters options tailored to their mission. MSRP: Starting at $1,049
Springfield Armory Hellion
The HS Produkt’s VHS-2, or Springfield Hellion, may be a new design for the States, but the rifle already has a well-established reputation abroad. Used by the Croatian and Iraqi militaries, the bullpup has undergone the necessary improvements revealed during the testing of the original VHS. As a bullpup design, the Springfield Hellion features a 16-inch barrel in a package only 28.25 inches long, overall. The barrel is hammer-forged, has a 1:7 twist and comes with a 4-prong flash hider. It feeds from STANAG AR-15 magazines (unlike the original VHS-2 that uses G36 mags) and is a fully ambidextrous design. Compact and handy, the Hellion is also a very capable fighting rifle. MSRP: $1,999
B&T APC45 Pro
If you shoot pistol-caliber carbines or subs, you know the importance of Glock mag compatibility. That’s why the release of the APC45 Pro is music to tactical gun enthusiasts’ ears. A Glock-compatible lower, the .45 ACP subgun opens the doors to cheap and abundant enhanced-capacity magazines. Thus, it’s a wicked little system with the potential for plenty of firepower. The gun is manageable to boot, with the Swiss manufacturer outfitting it with all the assets that made its 9mm subgun so popular. Chief among these is a hydraulic buffer system that tames down the little rattler’s recoil, allowing you to pick up its pace. Other high points include an ambidextrous charging handle, improved lower ergonomics and M-lok compatible forend. MSRP: $2,300
Sig Sauer RomeoZero Elite
If you pack a single-stack pistol for self-defense, Sig has its sights set on you. The new RomeoZero Elite is tailored perfectly to ultra-thin guns, such as the 1911 and svelte polymers that have hit the market in recent years. At a whisper-thin 0.98-inch width, the red-dot maintains this class of pistols’ hair’s breadth, while its 1-inch height does little to bulk up a gun’s profile. Interestingly, Sig offers two reticle choices, a circle dot that has a 2 MOA dot in combination with a 32 MOA circle, or a standard 3 MOA dot only—both with eight brightness settings. The former gives the RMSc footprint sight AR chops. And with Touch Activated Programming (T.A.P.) and 20,000 of run life per CR1632 battery, it’s ready to go when you are. MSRP: Starting at $229
Rise Armament Rave PCC Trigger
Looking to milk the most out of your pistol-caliber carbine? Look no further than Rise Armament. The Oklahoma company recently unveiled its dedicated PCC drop-in trigger—the Rave PCC—and it has the stuff to get shooters drooling. In addition to a rugged design that reliably withstands the abuse of blowback systems, thanks to S7 steel interior components, the switch brings a healthy dose of improved accuracy potential to the table. Crisp as winter snow, the Rave has a 3.5-pound break—which not only ups hitting where you want but makes this baby ready to dance when pitching a bevy downrange. Corrosion resistant and nearly foolproof to install, the trigger is made to excel in any conditions. MSRP: $149.99
Let’s face it: Nobody’s overjoyed about gun maintenance. You should make it as easy on yourself as you can when it comes to this vital task. Breakthrough Clean Technologies gives a hand in this direction with the MSR Carbon Removal Tool. With two retractable tool heads, each with specialized geometry, the gadget can scrape every nook and cranny of an AR-style rifle … from lug to carrier and everything in between. Handiest of all, the device fits right into a hip pocket, leaving you no excuse not to have it on hand. MSRP: $18.95
CZ Scorpion 3+ Pistol
One of the most popular guns in its class, the CZ Scorpion has gotten better. The gunmaker recently pulled back the curtain on the 3+ iteration of the subgun, incorporating many of the features shooters have been demanding for years. First and foremost, this baby is righty and lefty friendly. You heard correctly: CZ made all the controls—from bolt catch to safety selector—ambidextrous, which also gives the piece a tactical edge. Additionally, the gun’s ergonomics are more refined, with a strong and lighter handguard increasing nimbleness and an improved pistol grip making it more comfortable. Even the iron sights have been dolled up, made of more durable aluminum, and the Scorpion redesigned to be even more modular. Overall, they’re really nice improvements to an already solid gun. MSRP: $1,299
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2022 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Remington Ammunition has just announced three new varieties of 10mm Golden Saber ammo, including Bonded, Defense and Defense Compact.
Remington Golden Saber is widely considered to be some of the best defensive handgun ammunition on the market. It was at one point only available to law enforcement, but thankfully a variety of Golden Saber calibers and loads can now be purchased by civilians as well. 10mm Golden Saber is the newest caliber to be added to the lineup, and it will feature three different varieties when launched.
All loaded with 180-grain hollow point projectiles, the new 10mm Golden Saber ammo will be available in Bonded, Defense and Compact Defense varieties. Of the three, the Bonded projectiles will naturally produce the most effective results on target due to how the bullets are constructed, but that also comes with the highest price tag of the lot.
Golden Saber Defense and Defense Compact in 10mm are not bonded, resulting in a lower cost per round but also less consistent weight-retention between fired projectiles. Both kinds should still offer excellent expansion, however, making any of the new Golden Saber loads in 10mm a good choice for concealed carry or home defense. The 10mm Defense Compact ammo also has the advantage of being specifically tuned for reliable function in small handguns.
Joel Hodgdon, Remington’s Director of Marketing, said this on the new ammunition:
Adding 10MM to our Golden Saber line is exciting and it allows us to bring another great personal defense product to self-defenders and concealed carriers nationwide…We have a defensive load for everyone, and the three offerings in this caliber give 10MM fans a leading option.
10mm Golden Saber Bonded will have an MSRP of $41.99/20-round box, and both kinds of Golden Saber Defense will have an MSRP of $35.99/20-round box.
For more info on Remington Ammunition, please visit remington.com.
One of the most common manipulations of a firearm is also one of the most often overlooked, so here’s a rundown on the safest handgun holstering practices.
I sold my first gun article a quarter-century ago while I was still working as a patrol officer. The article was about holstering a handgun. I’m not sure it was all that well written; I think it was partly accepted by the magazine because the topic was one that was important and often overlooked. The thrust of the piece was safety related because negligent, self-inflicted gunshot wounds often occur when holstering.
Nothing’s changed. Because shooters often holster too hurriedly with their finger on the trigger, it’s still a problem. I highly doubt anyone who read that article is reading this magazine, and since a lot of folks have been born since the original article was written, I felt the topic worth revisiting. It could save you from a scare capable of causing dirty underwear, an embarrassing moment or, more importantly, a lot of pain.
With striker-fired handguns, it’s a good idea to press your thumb against the back of the slide to prevent the slide from attempting to cycle as the handgun is pressed into the holster. Also, as always, keep your finger off the trigger.
Watch What You’re Doing
The first thing to recognize when it’s time to holster a handgun is that there’s no need to be in a hurry. Without question, there could be a need to draw a handgun quickly, but after lots and lots of contemplation, I’ve yet to discover a need to holster one with the same urgency. I’m not saying there doesn’t or never will be a reason to holster in a hurry, especially a hurry so great you can’t take a couple seconds to make sure it’s done correctly. What I’m saying is I don’t know what that circumstance is.
By the same token, other than having to potentially holster a handgun in the pitch dark, I’m also at a loss for a reason to put your gun away without looking it into the holster. I’ve heard the arguments, like, if you have to look your gun into the holster, it looks like you don’t know what you’re doing. On the contrary, if you look your gun into the holster, might it not be the opposite? Might it be that you know exactly what you’re doing while you’re doing it, because you’re watching what you’re doing? I’ve also heard that you shouldn’t take your eyes off the threat when holstering. Um, dude…if you’re in the presence of a real or potential threat, why in the hell are you holstering your pistol?
Think of it this way: With the exception of the draw, with almost every other element of weaponcraft it’s a good idea to see what we’re doing. If you’re conducting a reload, you bring the handgun back into your workspace, high, where you can see what you’re doing, while also keeping your head erect, alert to potential threats. Similarly, when conducting immediate action to clear a stoppage, you do it where you can see—even if it’s just peripherally—what’s happening. Also, very importantly, when unloading a handgun, you should be visually checking to see that it's clear.
When holstering a handgun, it’s perfectly acceptable to look that gun into the holster. This allows visual confirmation that your finger is off the trigger.
I’m not suggesting that it be mandatory to watch your handgun all the way to the holster every time you holster. What I’m saying is there’s nothing wrong with doing so. If you’re skilled enough to do it safely without looking, good for you. My only question would be what is it that you’re gaining by not looking at what you’re doing?
Clear Your Digits
This is tied to the reason negligent discharges occur when holstering, and that’s leaving your trigger finger on the trigger. If you do, as you holster, your trigger finger can be pressed against the trigger by the mouth of the holster and the gun can go bang. If you’re wearing a hip holster, maybe you’ll be lucky, and the bullet will miss your ass or leg. If you’re carrying appendix style…um, I hope someone is there to administer first aid and call 911. If you’re watching what you’re doing, you’ll have the opportunity to observe your finger on the trigger before it’s too late.
When working with a pistol that has a thumb safety that locks the slide in battery, holster that pistol with your finger off the trigger and with your thumb under and pressing up on the safety.
The simple answer is to keep your damn finger off of—well away from—the trigger when you’re drawing or holstering a handgun. When you’ve decided the world would be a better place if your handgun was in your holster, relax, take a deep breath, conduct a tac-load addressing any ammunition issues if necessary, and then, reluctantly and slowly, holster your handgun while keeping your finger away from the trigger and straight along the frame.
If your handgun is equipped with a manual thumb safety, engage it, and if it’s a thumb safety that locks the slide in battery, keep upward pressure on the safety with your thumb until the gun is fully holstered. Some people wonder what the purpose of a manual thumb safety is, it’s partly to keep you from shooting your fool self.
If you’re using a striker-fired handgun, place your thumb against the rear of the slide with pressure to circumvent the possibility of the holster, pushing the slide to the rear and potentially creating a jam as you press the gun into the holster. If you feel the need to watch what you’re doing, then watch. If anyone tells you that you shouldn’t be watching what you’re doing, find comfort in the fact that you don’t have any extra holes in your body. Short of piercings—at least some piercings—common sense and the data are indisputably clear; extra holes in your body are a bad thing.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the September 2021 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Taurus has just announced the G3 Tactical 9mm, a new full-size, polymer-framed, striker-fired pistol that’s both suppressor and optics-ready.
Taurus’ G3 family of pistols has quite a few members at this point, even including optics-ready options. Until now, however, there were no models that included the full suite of tactical features like the new Taurus G3 Tactical.
Featuring a Patriot Brown Cerakoted slide and tan polymer frame, the Taurus G3 Tactical comes ready to accept a slew of tactical accessory options. Like other standard G3 pistols, the G3 Tactical includes an accessory rail for a light or laser, and like existing T.O.R.O (Taurus Optics Ready Option) models it is optics-ready as well. There are four styles of optics plates available for the G3 Tactical that can accept most popular pistol red dot patterns on the market.
The newest feature of the G3 Tactical is its ability to accept a suppressor right out of the box. The pistol’s 4.5-inch stainless steel, DLC-coated barrel is threaded 1/2×28, and each pistol comes standard with a set of tall, suppressor-height iron sights. These sights are not only useful for aiming with a large-diameter suppressor mounted but when using a red dot sight as well by providing co-witness capability.
Other features worth mentioning are its loaded-chamber indicator, omission of a manual safety and its 17-round magazine capacity (10-round mags available for ban states). Each G3 Tactical includes two magazines, a threaded muzzle protector and a matching soft case. MSRP is $582.98.
The 1911 is an iconic, effective and time-tested pistol, but is it a good choice for beginners? Or is the 1911 a weapon better left to professionals?
There’s an old wives’ tale going around. It falls under the illusory truth effect, which is the tendency to believe false information as fact after repeated exposure. This phenomenon was first identified in a 1977 study at Villanova and Temple universities. Later, in 2015, researchers discovered that familiarity could overpower rationality. As our modern-day media has proven, this essentially means if you hear something that’s not factual long enough, you’ll ultimately begin to believe the falsehood.
The myth in question is that the 1911 is a professional’s handgun and unsuited for beginners.
I’ve no idea where this notion originated, but I’ve heard who I thought were smart people repeat it. Possibly, it has something to do with the fact a lot of gun professionals carry 1911s. I’m talking about legendary gunners like Jeff Cooper, Bill Wilson and Ken Hackathorn. No doubt these gentlemen have the requisite skill to run any pistol they like, so maybe their association with the 1911 has something to do with the perpetuation of this fiction.
Some of the reasons for this claim are that the 1911 is too heavy for everyday carry; it has a manual thumb safety that’s too complicated for average shooters to learn; it has a grip safety that must be deactivated before the handgun will fire; affordable versions of the 1911 are unreliable and their parts break; and finally, the single-action trigger is too light or “touchy” for all but an expert.
Given that, for 75 years, young American GIs seemed to manage and effectively use 1911s to win wars and save lives, this “professional” association is hogwash. Since apparently this blatant fact isn’t enough to settle the debate, let’s look at these reasons individually.
Weight
A full-size 1911 weighs about 35 ounces. Fully loaded, it’ll tip the scales at around 2½ pounds. A fully loaded Glock 21 in .45 Auto is only 1/10th a pound lighter. But if you look at what might be the best 1911 for concealed carry—the alloy-framed commander-sized pistol—it weighs about the same as the smaller Glock 30. Yeah, I know: The Glocks hold more ammo, but we’re talking about weight, not capacity. If you can carry a Glock 30 comfortably, then you can carry an alloy-framed 1911 just as happily.
Thumb Safety
Some experts claim that the manual thumb safety on the 1911 complicates its use to the point that average humans cannot figure it out. This is ridiculous; even the dumbest humans can flip switches, otherwise they’d live their lives in the dark. Deactivating the thumb safety as the handgun is being rotated from the holster to the target is so simple, well, a caveman could do it.
One advantage of the thumb safety is that, when used as intended, the chance of a negligent discharge while holstering is nearly non-existent.
Additionally—and this might be the most important aspect of the manual safety—its proper management is one of the best ways to prevent shooting yourself in the ass cheek or leg. Regarding self-inflected gunshot wounds, most occur while holstering with a finger on the trigger. With an activated thumb safety, a finger on the trigger when holstering won’t result in loud noise and a pain in the backside.
Grip Safety
Additionally, 1911s have a grip safety that must be fully depressed before the handgun will fire. This feature was included to prevent the handgun from firing without being securely held. It’s true that some shooters have trouble fully depressing the grip safety, but there are grip safeties with extensions that make this easier.
Also, switching from an arched to a flat mainspring housing can help. But what’s often overlooked is that the grip safety helps you learn to grip the handgun correctly by not allowing it to fire unless the correct grip is obtained.
A grip safety, like the one found on the 1911, requires you to obtain a good shooting grip prior to firing the handgun. That’s a good thing.
An Inexpensive 1911?
It’s true that, since Colts’ patent on the 1911 expired, 1911s have been built by countless manufacturers and garage gun plumbers who have no idea how to make a 1911 work. This has resulted in a market flooded with crappy 1911s that won’t work out of the box, and if they do, they’re prone to breakage.
Mostly, with a 1911, you get what you pay for, but there are exceptions. I’ve recently been working with a Turkish-built 1911 that’s imported into the United States by SDS Imports. They retail for as little as $400, and I’d rate them as good or better than the current pistols being manufactured by Colt costing twice the amount. Buyer beware: Lemons are out there; do your research.
Topnotch Trigger
One of the things that makes the 1911 such a great competition or match gun is its single-action trigger. It moves straight back and, when tuned properly, it only takes about 3 to 4 pounds of pressure to release the sear. Of all the aspects of shooting a handgun, pulling the trigger correctly is the hardest to learn.
It’s even harder to learn when the trigger is hard to pull and has an excessively long and/or inconsistent travel. A trigger on a 1911 might be the easiest trigger to learn to pull. Could it be too easy to pull for the beginner? Not if they exercise Rule 3: Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
One of the greatest assets of the 1911 is its excellent trigger, which is much easier to learn to pull than a trigger on a striker-fired pistol.
Maybe the notion that the 1911 is the professional’s pistol isn’t deceitful. After all, many experts and professionals choose it. Regardless, what’s blatantly false is that the 1911 isn’t for beginners. If your firearms instructor tells you as much, find another one. He’s seriously underestimating your ability, and possibly posturing to show his superiority by insinuating you gotta be good to shoot the gun I use.
Still though, for whatever reason, the 1911 might not be the gun for you. It might not fit your hand, might not have a high enough capacity…or maybe you just don’t like the damn thing. That’s fine and all those reasons are valid, but the notion that the 1911 isn’t for beginners is, well, wrong.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the August 2021 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
There may be no true universal powder when it comes to reloading, but here are a few types that can keep you shooting when supplies are tight.
Of the numerous questions I’m asked by new reloaders, the choice of powder ranks among the most often repeated. “Is there one powder I can use for all my cartridges?” Sadly, the answer is no, but there are several powders that can cover an awful lot of ground. Considering that our supply of reloading components is drying up fast, a universal powder—much like a universal cartridge—can be the wise choice.
“Universal” can be a highly subjective term, and for the reloader, it’ll depend highly on the choice of cartridges you’re loading for. For more than a few years, my centerfire rifles consisted of a .22-250 Remington for varmints, a .308 Winchester and .300 Winchester Magnum for medium game, and a .375 Holland & Holland for the big stuff.
IMR4064
I searched for a powder that’d effectively fuel all four cartridges, and there are a few which will check all the boxes. I settled on IMR4064, for two reasons: One, it worked in all four cases, but two, because I had it on hand at the time. Good ol’ IMR4064 is a medium-burning powder, long popular in the .308 Winchester—where I first used it—and rather flexible. It’s a good choice in the .22-250, though Hodgdon’s H380 is probably the powder best-suited for that case. H380 would probably have been an equally universal powder, as it’ll work just as well as IMR4064 in the .300 Winchester Magnum, though both powders work best in the .300 with lighter bullets.
I did, however, find reliable data for IMR4064 in an older Sierra manual for bullets all the way up to 220 grains for the belted cartridge; though I’ll be the first to admit that slower burning powders like IMR4350, H4831SC, Reloder 19 and Reloder 22 are much better performers in that cartridge. The .375 H&H Magnum runs well on medium to moderately slow powders—my favorite loads use IMR4350—but IMR4064 is a solid candidate even if at the faster end of the spectrum.
.375 H&H Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum, .308 Winchester and .22-250 Remington; the author fueled them all with IMR4064.
For that particular quartet, Alliant’s Reloder 15 or Hodgdon’s Varget would’ve worked just as well. The .308 Winchester needs the fastest-burning powders, and if we take that cartridge out of the mix, we could easily bump up to Hodgdon 414. Take the .300 Winchester Magnum out of the mix, and IMR4064, Varget and RL-15 are perfect choices. If the choice of cartridges is widened much further, say to include the .300 RUM or the 7 STW, or the .218 Bee or .22 Hornet, and you may be looking for two entirely different powders on opposite ends of the burn rate spectrum.
Reloder 15
Looking at Alliant’s Reloder 15—with a burn rate ever-so-slightly slower than IMR4064—you’ll find a powder that can solve more than a few problems, to the point where it’s never far from reach. I’ve used it in the .30-30 Winchester, .308 Winchester, 7×57 Mauser (.275 Rigby), .243 Winchester, .223 Remington and .30-06 Springfield. It’s my go-to powder (probably as a result of the excellent data I’ve found in the Woodleigh Reloading Manual) for the .404 Jeffery, .470 Nitro Express and .505 Gibbs, as it produces the velocities I’m after, at a significant reduction in felt recoil. That’s not to say that IMR 4064 or 4166 wouldn’t do the same; I had the Woodleigh data and because of the performance I never looked elsewhere, though I should develop a Plan B.
Alliant’s Reloder 15 is usually associated with medium bore cartridges, like the .308 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield, but it has proven wonderful in the big cases like the .470 NE (shown), .404 Jeffery and .505 Gibbs.
Universal Powder For Handguns
Handgun cartridges are much more forgiving. Looking at some of the most popular choices for defensive handguns—I’ll throw the 9mm Luger, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .40 S&W and .45 ACP in the mix—and you’ll see several powders that’ll fuel them all very nicely. I like TiteGroup from Hodgdon, as it’s not only a universal choice, but it also generates healthy velocities with very little powder, making a pound of powder go an awful long way. But TiteGroup isn’t the only choice; Hodgdon’s CFE Pistol, the aptly named Universal and HP-38 will also work well in all five of these cartridges.
Hodgdon’s TiteGroup is a very flexible pistol powder; it generates respectable velocities with just a small amount.
For the faster handgun cartridges, like the .44 Remington Magnum, .41 Remington Magnum and .454 Casull, powders like Hodgdon’s H110 and Alliant 2400 certainly shine, helping to wring the most velocity out of the bigger cases. But, in a pinch (which we are definitely in), all three of these can be fed Hodgdon’s TiteGroup—though at the cost of significantly lower velocities. But there are times where ammunition at lower velocities is better than no ammunition at all.
Trail Boss is another powder with a whole bunch of applications. It can, again at the price of low velocities, function in all sorts of cases, from the smaller handgun cases all the way up to the .416 Rigby and .458 Winchester Magnum. In many applications, like the rifle cases I’ve mentioned, Trail Boss is a wonderful tool to create low-velocity ammunition to train shooters who are unaccustomed to the severe recoil.
I’m sure the ammunition/component drought will pass, and we’ll all be able to buy what factory ammunition and reloading components we want. When that happens, let’s stock up on the items we need, but also take the time and make the effort to build a library of suitable loads for each of the guns, so we’re not married to that one combination.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2021 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Anderson Manufacturing has just announced the AM-10 Gen 2 Series, the second generation of the company’s AR-10 rifle line featuring three new models.
While AR components are Anderson Manufacturing’s bread and butter, the company’s complete firearms have become popular choices as well. After releasing the A4 series of complete AR-15s earlier this year, Anderson has just announced the AM-10 Gen 2 Series. It’s the second generation of the company’s .308 AR-10 rifle line, featuring three new models at launch with more promised for the future.
Anderson AM-10 Gen 2 Series 16″ Battle Rifle.
All of Anderson’s AR-10 rifles are DPMS-pattern, and the rifles in the AM-10 Gen 2 Series all share a handful of common features and improvements. All three models have improved contouring and tolerances, a flared magwell and are compatible with standard AR-15 grips.
Anderson AM-10 Gen 2 Series 18″ Ranger.
The three AM-10 Gen 2 models all feature different barrel lengths. The 16-inch version is called the Battle Rifle, the 18-inch version is called the Ranger and the 20-inch model is the Marksman XL. Naturally, each one is advertised as being particularly suited for certain kinds of tasks. The 16-inch Battle Rifle is the most basic, general-use model available, as well as the least expensive with an MSRP of $950. It features an adjustable Magpul MOE stock, a K2 grip and a 15-inch M-LOK handguard. Besides the one obvious difference, the 18-inch Ranger model is almost identical to the Battle Rifle except for its MSRP of $1,000, different flash hider and inclusion of a 2-stage trigger to improve long-range shooting capabilities. Both the Ranger and the Battle Rifle use a mid-length gas system as well.
Anderson AM-10 Gen 2 Series 20″ Marksman XL.
With its 20-inch barrel, the Marksman XL is the most precision-oriented rifle in the AM-10 Gen 2 Series. It features a Magpul PRS Lite buttstock instead of a carbine stock, but otherwise has the same pistol grip and rail system as the other AM-10s. The Marksman XL also uses the same Night Stalker flash hider and two-stage trigger as the Ranger. It has an MSRP of $1,075 and should be softer-shooting than the other two models thanks to its rifle-length gas system.
The .223 Remington cartridge and its AR-compatible offspring.
The M16/AR15 was originally chambered for the .223 Remington (1962), and since then that cartridge has become the patriarch of several very useful cartridges that are also AR-15 compatible.
Metallic rifle cartridges come in families. In the .30-06 family, you have the .270 Winchester and .280 Remington. In the .308 Winchester family, you have the .243 Winchester and 7mm-08 Remington. Though the .223 Remington now has its own family, it was based on the .222 Remington (1950), which was a proprietary cartridge, meaning it wasn’t based on another SAAMI-approved cartridge.
If you want an AR-15 that’s multi-cartridge compatible, it makes sense to choose cartridges from the same family. This will allow a conversion with nothing but a barrel or barreled upper receiver. Since the cartridges all come from the same family, you won’t need to replace the bolt carrier or bolt, because the rim diameter for all the cartridges is the same.
With an AR-15 chambered for the .223 Remington, you can do this and run five other cartridges. Here’s a look at the .223 Remington, and the family of AR-15-compatible cartridges it has fathered.
For those who might like to have multiple uppers for the same AR-15 lower, Wilson Combat now offers a 30-round magazine that’s compatible with the .223 Remington, the .300 Blackout and the .300 HAMR.
.223 Remington (1962)
The development of the .223 Remington is intrinsically linked to the M16, which is the full-auto version of the civilian rifle now known as the AR-15, or in more politically correct circles, as the MSR (modern sporting rifle). The military would ultimately replace the .223 Remington with its twin, the 5.56 NATO, but that didn’t have any impact on the cartridge’s popularity. Since its introduction, it has become very popular for competition, hunting and self-defense.
The .223 Remington was the original cartridge of the AR-15. Even though it has spawned several excellent offspring, it remains the most popular chambering for the platform.
Though many will argue it doesn’t suffice for deer or any type of big-game hunting, it is, in fact, legal for that pursuit in more states than not. And as far as factory ammunition goes, you’ll only find more options for the .308 Winchester. Most importantly, the .223 Remington has served as the basis for five other cartridges that have all become viable options in the AR-15.
Next to overall length, rim size is critical when it comes to AR-15 compatibility. With the same 0.378-inch rim diameter, an AR-15 can be easily converted to any of these cartridges.
5.56 NATO (1980)
Maybe the best way to describe the 5.56 NATO, which was created to deliver better reliability and performance for military use in the M16, is to say it’s the better-performing identical twin. It’s the twin that ultimately became the career soldier of the family. From an external dimension standpoint, the .223 Remington and the 5.56 are identical. The real differences involve maximum average pressure (MAP) and how the chamber is cut into the barrel.
The 5.56 NATO is a dimensional twin to the .223 Remington, but the cartridges aren’t 100-percent interchangeable.
Regarding pressure, 5.56 NATO ammunition is loaded to a MAP of about 58,000 psi. The .223 Remington is loaded to a MAP of 55,000 psi. The throat of the chamber for the 5.56 NATO is also cut 0.125-inch longer. Because of these differences, if you fire a 5.56 NATO cartridge in a rifle chambered for the .223 Remington, pressures can spike to as high as 65,000 psi. This isn’t safe and can cause primers to back out—or even a catastrophic firearm failure. On the other hand, it’s safe to fire .223 Remington ammunition in a rifle chambered for the 5.56 NATO. Reliability and accuracy might not be optimal, but it’s safe.
Interestingly, the 5.56 NATO isn’t a SAAMI-approved cartridge. However, most of today’s AR-15 rifles are chambered for it as opposed to the .223 Remington to allow for maximum ammunition compatibility.
By staying in the family, you can swap upper receivers and shoot different cartridges without having to change out the bolt in your rifle.
.204 Ruger (2004)
Most families have that one member who never seemed to grow up. They’re cute, smart and good at their job, but they just never were all that popular. That’s the case with the .204 Ruger. Though the .222 Remington Magnum is credited as the parent case for the .204 Ruger, the .222 Remington Magnum is like the older and bigger brother to the .223 Remington. However, like the .222 Remington, the .222 Remington Magnum has, for the most part, fell into obscurity. Though not originally thought of as a cartridge for the AR-15, given it’s .223 Remington-sized 0.378 rim diameter and less than 2.26-inch overall length, it’ll work well in MSRs.
The .204 Ruger is the fastest AR-15 compatible offspring of the .223 Remington and is ideal for vermin and predator hunting.
With its ability to push a 32-grain bullet faster than 4,000 fps, the .204 Ruger is the fastest-shooting cartridge within the .223 Remington family. With that speed and explosive results on small vermin, it’s a favorite for shooting prairie dogs, fox, bobcats and coyotes. Ammunition is available from most of the major manufacturers, but with only about 20 factory loads, bullet choices are limited.
.300 Blackout (2011)
If there’s a cool kid in the .223 Remington family, it’s the .300 Blackout. The cartridge was developed by Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) to provide intermediate ballistics like the 7.62×39 Russian cartridge, while also performing very well as a subsonic cartridge. Though AAC, in conjunction with Remington, get credit for the cartridge’s development, it actually began life as a wildcat developed by J.D. Jones and was known as the .300 Whisper.
The .300 Blackout is really two cartridges in one. On one hand, it’s the best subsonic cartridge for the AR-15, and on the other, it’ll suffice for smallish, big-game hunting and limited tactical application.
Jones shortened the .223 Remington case and necked it to fit a .30-caliber bullet. AAC and Remington took Jones’ creation, refined the concept and submitted it to SAAMI for approval. The rest is history; next to the .223 Remington/5.56 NATO, the .300 Blackout is the most popular chambering in the AR-15 platform.
If subsonic shooting is what you desire, the .300 Blackout is the best cartridge for the AR-15.
Smart marketing and a cool name get some of the credit for the Blackout’s success. The rest of its success is attributed to the availability of factory subsonic and supersonic ammunition. Shooters could go quiet with subsonic ammo and a suppressor, or tackle deer and feral hogs with supersonic loads. Though early subsonic blackout loads delivered dismal terminal performance, today there are several expanding subsonic offerings. However, it’s rare an AR-15 will shoot both subsonic and supersonic loads with great precision. There have also been instances where a .300 Blackout cartridge was chambered in a .223 Remington. This generally results in the permanent disassembly of the rifle and sometimes an injured shooter.
For AR-15 compatibility, cartridge overall length is critical and must be around 2.26 inches or less to work in magazines.
.300 HAMR (2020)
Some families have that kid who just happens to be good at everything he tries. He’s good at basketball, soccer and track. He’s smart, good looking and seems to get all the girls. In the .223 Remington family, that distinction goes to the .300 HAMR.
Designed by Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat, the .300 HAMR is a shortened .223 Remington case that’s been necked up to .30 caliber. The cartridge was SAAMI approved in 2020 and will work with bullets weighing between 95 and 150 grains. Essentially, it duplicates or betters the external and terminal ballistics of the .30-30 Winchester and for big-game hunting, outclasses all its siblings.
Mostly thought of as a hunting cartridge, the .300 HAMR has broad application and maybe the best general-purpose cartridge for the AR-15.
Like that athletic kid who does well in all sports but is mostly remembered just for one, the .300 HAMR has the same problem. Initially promoted by Wilson Combat as the ideal big-game cartridge for the AR-15, that’s the task the cartridge is most often associated with. However, with the wide range of projectiles available—Wilson Combat currently offers 14 loads—including everything from bonded to mono-metal bullets, the .300 HAMR also performs admirably in a tactical setting. Wilson Combat now also has a multi-caliber 30-round magazine that’ll work with the .300 HAMR, .300 Blackout and the .223 Remington.
.350 Legend (2019)
The .350 Legend is kind of like that fat uncle who still drives a Chevy Nova, smokes cigars, tells good jokes and drinks all the beer in the fridge every time he comes to visit. It’s a bit of an oddity when it comes to cartridges. Most cartridges are created to deliver a level of external or terminal ballistics unobtainable with the parent cartridge or any other cartridge in the family. While the .350 Legend sort of does that, the prime motivation behind its development was to comply with straight-wall deer hunting cartridge legality in some Midwestern states.
The .350 Legend is unique in that while a descendant of the .223 Remington, it was created to meet hunting regulations in just a few states.
Using the .223 Remington cartridge case, Winchester got rid of the shoulder and made the .350 Legend case with only minimal taper down to a bullet diameter of 0.357. This lack of a shoulder and the .35-caliber bullets allowed it to meet straight-wall deer hunting cartridge requirements, and feed and function in an AR-15.
Designed for states with straight-wall cartridge restrictions for deer hunting, the .350 Legend has surprisingly found nationwide acceptance.
What might be most surprising about this cartridge is that it has found favor from coast to coast. It offers good big-game hunting performance out past 200 yards with minimal recoil. This makes it a great deer hunting round in an AR-15 or a compact bolt-action rifle for new, young and recoil-sensitive shooters.
.22 Nosler (2017)
The .22 Nosler (2017) is sort of a crossbreed cartridge. Like in many human families, sometimes there’s a bit of cheating going that can result in a bastard. The .22 Nosler isn’t based on the .223 Remington case. Instead, it’s based on the 6.8 SPC (2002) cartridge case, which is actually a descendant of the .30 Remington (1906).
The .22 Nosler isn’t based on the .223 Remington case, but it does share the same rim diameter, making it an easy conversion for an AR-15 chambered for the .223 Rem.
But Nosler wanted to make it easy to convert an AR-15 chambered for any cartridge in the .223 Remington family to the .22 Nosler. So, they reduced the rim diameter of the parent 6.8 SPC case from 0.422 inch to 0.378 inch. You could say that the .22 Nosler cartridge case is slightly deformed, because its rim is rebated … or smaller than the base diameter of the cartridge. From a velocity standpoint, the .22 Nosler approaches the .204 Ruger and outclasses the .223 Remington. The downside is limited availability of factory ammunition.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2021 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
Colt has just announced the Colt King Cobra Target .22 LR, a “Baby Snake” addition to the company’s serpentine family of revolvers.
Colt began reintroducing its iconic snake revolvers starting with the Cobra series in 2017. Since then, we’ve seen new-production versions of everything from King Cobras to Anacondas to Pythons, both as classic reproductions as well as new, reimagined concepts. One snake revolver we were yet to see reintroduced by Colt was the Diamondback, which was essentially a .22 LR Python that was made from the 60s through the 80s. While the Diamondback name hasn’t made a return, the concept has, and the new rimfire revolver has even more to offer. Named the Colt King Cobra Target .22 LR, when released it will feature a 10-shot cylinder and a choice between two barrel lengths.
Lovingly being referred to as the “Baby Snake”, the new Colt King Cobra Target .22 LR follows the release of the .357 King Cobra Target in 2019. Despite being in the Cobra family which tends to feature vent-rib barrels less often than Colt’s other snake guns, the King Cobra Target .22 LR includes one anyway. This is perhaps another callback to its spiritual successor the Diamondback which featured one as well. Regardless, it provides a very iconic look. The Baby Snakes will feature an all-stainless-steel construction and a shiny, polished finish. Unfortunately, like the new Pythons, blued is not a finish option.
Besides its new 10-shot capacity, the Colt King Cobra Target .22 LR will feature an adjustable target rear sight, a fiber optic front sight and each gun will come with a set of Hogue rubber grips. It will be available with either a 4- or 6-inch barrel, both with a 1:16RH twist. The MSRP or release date is not yet known, but like Colt’s other snake guns, expect it to be expensive. Regardless, this new Baby Snake seems like it will be a nice new premium option for plinkers, competitors or hunters who want Colt-quality in a new-production rimfire revolver.
A look at a Boer War relic and family heirloom from South Africa, a re-barreled Martini-Henry from 1873.
They’re in every family. Guns that are maybe not all that special to their original owners, but guns that families cherish and hold onto. Forever. If, for no other reason, than to keep a loved one who has passed close to their hearts.
If you spend time talking to any longtime gun owner, you can find a good gun story. It might be about their grandfather’s pistol that he took off a German during World War II, or maybe the revolver he carried during Prohibition when he was running moonshine. It might be a story about their father’s old Model 12 Winchester that he handled with the all the grace and skill of an artist’s paintbrush. Or, it could just be about an old Remington 22 rifle their uncle taught them how to shoot with.
These are the guns in our safes or hidden in our closets that’ll never be parted with. These are the guns we’ll pass onto our children, along with the stories that have made them so much a part of our hearts and our family history. And we’ll expect our children to pass the gun and the story along to their offspring. These are the guns that instill that ghostly sensation or make your hands tingle when you pick them up.
There are several guns like that in my safe, and they all have a story that’ll pull a laugh and maybe even draw a tear. On occasion—a rare occasion—you might get to experience a gun like this that doesn’t belong to you. And by experience, I don’t mean to hold and look at it, I mean to shoot or hunt with. I’m talking about guns with history and emotion tied to someone else’s heart. In 2006, just south of the green, greasy Limpopo River in South Africa, I got to handle and hunt with just such a gun.
Arms of the Boers
There were two Boer Wars. The first, from 1880 to 1881, was known as the Transvaal War. It was a brief conflict in which Boer settlers revolted against England’s attempt to annex the Transvaal. In an effort to expand their presence in Africa to include the Dutch Boer Republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State, England struck again in 1899. The gold mines located there were part of the reason, but Britain also looked to establish a Cape to Cairo confederation of British colonies, which would give England total domination of Africa. The result was a long and bloody war that lasted until 1902.
Though well over 100 years old, this old rifle still functions and shoots well enough to hunt with.
Most Americans have limited interest in, and even less connection to, this war. However, it has intrigued me since my first African safari. Boer is the Dutch word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Afrikaans speaking, stock-raising farmers who fled the British Cape colony to escape English rule. The area primarily settled by the Boers was the Orange Free State and Transvaal region, which together was known as the Boer Republic.
During the war, the Boers employed a guerrilla method of combat that stretched British logistics to the limits; 22,000 British soldiers died during that war. You would’ve thought British military leaders would’ve learned during America’s war for independence.
The letter “H” has been carved into the stock of the old battle rifle. The owner was unsure of its meaning, saying it had been there for as long as he could remember.
When I was there in 2006, Hennie Badenhorst was the owner of Lyon Safaris. Badenhorst, a veteran of the South African Defense Force, is a very accomplished professional hunter with over 100 lion, buffalo and elephant hunts under his belt. We were sitting by the fire ring one evening watching the flames dance between us when Badenhorst told me, “I have a rifle that was recovered from a battlefield during the Boer War.”
It seems Badenhorst’s great uncle, who was a young boy during the war, was out playing in the bush and came upon the unimaginable scene of a battlefield where he found a dead British soldier. Being the good Boer he was, he picked up the soldier’s rifle and carried it home. It was a late-model Enfield, Martini-Henry rifle chambered for the .303 British cartridge. Badenhorst remembers stories from his grandfather about having to hide the rifle somewhere out behind the house every time British soldiers came by.
The rifle had been in Badenhorst’s family since the war. It was kind of a behind-the-door gun. When Badenhorst left military service and began his career as a professional hunter, he frequently used the rifle when training his blood-trailing hounds. Badenhorst set an empty bottle of lager on the rock rim of the fire ring and asked, “Would you like to shoot it?”
“Absolutely!” I said. “What shall we shoot?”
“Maybe a warthog.” Badenhorst said as he removed his fedora exposing the scars left on his head by an angry leopard. “Tomorrow we will see many warthogs.”
I was excited to see the rifle and especially thrilled to shoot it. Before the hunt the next morning, we stopped by the range and I fired three rounds through the old rifle, just to make sure that I could actually hit something with it. Considering the crude iron sights, it shot well, and I managed a group of about 2 inches at 50 yards. We loaded up in the Land Rover and headed out with the gorgeous African morning sun at our backs.
Though the old Martini rifle is fitted with a tangent-style rear sight, it’s questionable it would match modern ballistics. And, as you can see, the sight leaf has been bent to match the trajectory of modern .303 British ammunition.
The Martini-Enfield Mk II
During the famous battle at Ruark’s Drift in Natal, South Africa, in 1879, where about 150 British troops held off an attack by between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulu warriors, the British were armed with the single-shot Mk2 Martini-Henry rifle chambered for the 577/450 Martini-Henry cartridge.
However, before the second Boer War, British forces began transitioning to the Lee-Metford bolt-action rifle chambered for the .303 British cartridge. Some of the Martini rifles were converted/made to also fire the .303 British. Could this rifle have been one of those that saved the day at the Drift? Unlikely, but possible.
Based on these markings, it’d appear this rifle was re-barreled to the .303 British cartridge in 1902. The original markings on this rifle indicate it to be an 1873 Martini-Enfield Mk II.
Based on markings, Badenhorst’s rifle was originally the Martini-Enfield Mk II of 1873, which, as best as I can decipher, was refitted with a 21-inch barrel as an artillery carbine in .303 British in 1902—the last year of the Boer War. Based on the unit markings on the brass stock pin, this rifle belonged to a soldier of the Royal Hampshire Regiment, which was a line infantry regiment that combined with the 37th North Hampshire Regiment of Foot and the 67th South Hampshire Regiment of Foot in 1881. The regiment served in the Second Boer War as well as the First and Second World Wars. Of course, I’m neither a Martini rifle nor British military expert. Even if I was, the cloud of military firearms manufacturing, refitment and assignment, combined with the fog of war, means my conclusions could be wrong.
After a full evening of hunting wildebeest and bushbuck, Badenhorst finally declared it was time and pulled the old rifle from behind the seat of the Land Rover. He then passed it to me up top in the high rack. Badenhorst said, we’re coming up on a place that’s filthy with warthog. If we can find a nice male that’s within range, we’ll stop and you can take him.
The warthogs were indeed thick and just at dusk, as the necessary light to see iron sights was creeping into the blackness of the African night, Badenhorst picked out a decent warthog at about 100 yards and asked, “Do you think you can take him?”
I shouldered the relic, covered the dark warthog with the triangular front sight, and pulled the crisp trigger, undoubtedly honed from years of use. We heard the “whop” of the bullet and, as they often do even when well hit, the warthog thundered across the veld. Immediately, Badenhorst released his massive tracking dog and moments later we were standing over the beast.
The front sight on the old Boer War rifle was crude but sufficient to take a warthog at about 100 yards in the dusk of Africa.
Badenhorst was all smiles and very proud that the old rifle had once again proven sufficient for the African bush by providing food for his staff. I was all smiles as well. It was an honor to hunt with a rifle with as much history as this one. A rifle that had undoubtedly been fired in anger, but also used by a family to provide security and food for more than a century. It was a rifle that was indelibly linked to the history of Africa, and that my friend cherished and had used on successful hunts as well. It’s also a rifle that, at least for now, no one needs to hide when the army/government comes by.
This Martini-Henry rifle was recovered from a Boer battlefield by the current owner’s great uncle. On occasion, the owner, who operates a successful safari company, still hunts with it.
Your Own Closet Gun
Very likely, and most hopefully, somewhere in your family there’s that special firearm that has a connection to the past. Make sure the story that goes with it is passed on through your descendants. Write it down in as much detail as possible and place the story in the case with the gun. Someday it’ll be even more special to someone else than it is to you.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the July 2021 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
An upcoming Cowan’s Auction will be selling Larry Ness’ collection of frontier-era firearms, including Sitting Bull’s rifle.
Officially titled the Frontier Firearms from the Lifetime Collection of Larry Ness auction, this assortment of frontier-era-related firearms will be up for sale on June 8th, hosted by Cowan’s. There are 244 lots in this auction, the majority of which are frontier-era rifles that have a connection to Native Americans. Many of these guns were owned, used and decorated by Native Americans of the frontier-era Dakota region, but the most famous by far is Sitting Bull’s rifle.
Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota leader in the Dakota Territory during the 1800s, is likely most famous for supposedly foreseeing a great victory over American forces just three weeks before the Battle of the Little Bighorn where Lt. Col. Custer made his last stand. Even excluding this prophetic vision, Sitting Bull led a very interesting life that is worth reading about, but it came to an end on December 15th, 1890, in South Dakota. After returning to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, fears of him promoting a suspected Native uprising lead to the order for his arrest. While attempting to do so, reservation police shot and killed him. Documentation included with the rifle being sold suggests that it was taken from Sitting Bull’s cabin on the day of his death. The rifle is a Winchester 1st Model 1876 lever-action chambered for .45-75 with a 28-inch octagonal barrel.
Sitting Bull’s rifle has been owned by multiple museums and private collectors over the years, and it’s expected to sell for $40,000 to $60,000 in the upcoming Cowan’s auction. If that’s a bit out of your price range, there will be plenty of other interesting, Native American-related firearms for sale that will be much less expensive. The collector, Larry Ness, was a banker in South Dakota for almost 50 years. Many of the other treasures he accumulated during this period will be featured in the June 8th auction.
A sampling of some of the other items for sale from the Larry Ness collection.
To learn more about the firearms listed in this auction or how to bid, please visit hindmanauctions.com.
Turning the twenty-two-caliber AR-15 into a big-bore beast with .458 SOCOM.
Ever wonder just how big a bullet we can hurl out of the standard AR-15 package? Well, Marty Ter Weeme was at a backyard barbecue a couple of decades ago with some guys who can’t put on their résumés where they’ve been and what they’ve done. You know, the lads who now sport beards, go to dusty places and bring surprises to the miscreants they meet.
The question arose because those present had experience at shooting people and weren’t entirely happy with the results they were getting from the M855.
Call Me Thumper
The requirements were simple: It had to be an upper, or a rebuild, that’d work on a standard AR-15/M16/M4 lower. It had to use standard AR-15 magazines. And it had to hit like a sledgehammer.
The .458 SOCOM feeds from a single position in the magazine, and the magazine holds 10 rounds.
Since the users wanted bullet choices that left out the usual suspects back in the pre-9/11 days, those rejected being potential cartridges that used pistol bullets. So, they chose the .458-inch bullet diameter. Next up, the case. What was the fattest case that’d fit through the barrel extension opening?
A .50 AE
However, that case was too short, and the rim too big. So, for the .458 SOCOM, Marty and Tony Rumore of Tromix chose lengthened .50 AE cases and had the brass maker trim the rims down from the .50 AE diameter of .514 to .473 inch.
If that latter number looks familiar, it is. It’s the standard rim diameter of the .30-06 family of cartridges, along with the 8mm Mauser and such. It’s also as big as you can make the AR-15 bolt face and still have enough locking lug metal left to be safe to shoot your rifle.
Here you can see how much the bolt face has to be opened up to accommodate the rim of the .458 SOCOM (Right). Any more and there wouldn’t be a bolt face.
The next step was to decide how much of a case neck to provide and what kind of case capacity, all while keeping one idea in mind: It had to hit like the news of an impending IRS audit. What really decided the case neck dimension were the heaviest bullets—at 500 or 600 grains, you need a lot of neck tension to keep a bullet in place in the case, even if you’re hurling it at less than elephant-whacking velocities.
And the cleverness of the design means it’s a relatively easy build. Heck, it’s as easy as any of them, because you can count on the parts makers keeping things inside the AR-15 envelope. You don’t have to invest in special, proprietary buffer weights or springs. The gas tube you use is the same gas tube you’d use for any other build of the barrel length you’ve chosen.
And magazines are simple: You use regular AR mags. Now, that last part is a bit more, shall we say, variable, than the others. More on that in a bit.
Starting the Mission
I grabbed a Brownells barrel and bolt off the shelf and looked for build candidates. Oh, hey, there’s a complete rifle on the end of the rack with a shot-out bore. (Yes, Virginia, ammo used to be cheap enough that you could wear out a barrel just by shooting.) Out with the old, in with the new.
Brownells’ barrel is clearly marked as to caliber and twist rate.
Old handguard off (so old it’s a quad-rail) and old barrel out. Then, plug the Brownells .458 SOCOM barrel into the upper, tighten the barrel nut (tight-loose-tight-loose-tight to alignment), install a gas tube into a gas block and then install that and tighten it into place. Pick the handguard back off the bench, install, align, tighten.
Grab a scope out of the scope drawer, in its mount, and put on top. Check alignment and also check eye relief. The .458 SOCOM comes back with a certain amount of authority, and you don’t want to be crowding the scope when you touch off one of the robust ones. The likely candidate that was up in the rotation was a Hi-Lux 1-4 in a LaRue QD mount.
Once you get your .458 zeroed and learn to deal with recoil, you can easily find a load that shoots this well.
Luckily, the lower came with a stock on it that has a rubber recoil pad, because cushioning rubber is a handy thing to have on a rifle chambered in .458 SOCOM. The Magpul UBR stock and its rubber recoil pad promised to keep the .458 SOCOM from being too much of a good thing, unlike the hard plastic checkered buttplate you’d find on a mil-spec carbine lower.
Feeding the Beast
The .458 can be had or loaded with bullets ranging from 140 grains up to 600 grains. The lightest-weight ammunition (if we can consider something that tips scales at 140 grains as “light”) leaves your immediate vicinity at more 2,400 fps, depending on barrel length. If you’re using a carbine with a 16-inch barrel, you might fall a few fps short of that. If you’re using a rifle and a 20-inch barrel, you can step on the heels, or even elbow aside, 2,400 fps. That’d be with the Polycase ARX ammunition.
The spectrum of weights you can hurl from a .458 SOCOM. Well, almost. There’s a 140-grain ARX loading that’s speedy to the max.
Up in the midrange bullets—300-, 350- and 400-grainers—you can jar your fillings with velocities in the 1,500- to 1,700-fps range. We’re talking about a 575 to 600 PF momentum.
It gets really interesting when you opt for the real heavyweights. If you move up to 500 grains, you can go for all the gusto, and generate some 1,300 fps out of a full-length barrel for a power factor of 650. Yowza! By comparison, a 12-gauge slug with a 1-ounce projectile at a listed 1,600 fps generates 700 PF, with a trajectory like a softball. The .458 SOCOM treads hard on its heels, but with a flatter (albeit still arcing) trajectory.
Accuracy results are the average of four, five-shot groups, over a Sinclair shooting rest, at 50 yards. Velocity is the average of five shots, measured by a Labradar chrono, programmed to measure velocity 15 feet from the muzzle.
And This Out Of An AR-15
Where the .458 SOCOM gets to be giddy fun is when you go with heavyweight subsonics. A 600-grain JSP (which has no hope whatsoever of expanding, just to be clear) in the subsonic velocity region becomes an entertaining range time. The thump is impressive. The noise, not so much. And whatever you’re shooting at gets thumped…hard. If you then team it up with a suppressor like the Wilson Combat Whisper (which is built to withstand the .458 HAMR, so no worries about your .458 SOCOM), then you won’t even need hearing protection.
It’d be wise to install a muzzle brake or suppressor when you go to shoot your .458 SOCOM.
Well, actually…you might want some. If you’re shooting on a relatively short range, say a 25- or 50-yard backstop, the thump of the bullet hitting the hill might be loud enough that you want a bit of audio suppression.
Odds, Ends
Reloading isn’t difficult. The .458 is like any other bottlenecked rifle cartridge, so you’ll have to lube cases for resizing. Then, clean the lube off for loading. It uses large pistol primers and slow-burning pistol powders or fast-burning rifle powders. For the speedy loads and the heavyweights going through your suppressor, you’ll want to use jacketed bullets. For the heaviest-recoiling loads, you’ll also want to trim cases and apply a firm crimp along with good neck tension.
If you’re interested in lower-cost fun thumping, then you can use coated bullets and load subsonic. Acme bullets makes a .458 SOCOM-specific bullet that’s 576 grains in weight and given a bright red Hi-Tek coating. I have to point out that, unless you’re shooting at steel plates that are both rifle-rated and placed 100 yards away, you shouldn’t be shooting steel with any .458 SOCOM load. As stoutly as it thumps you, it hammers what it hits. Non-rifle-rated steel will be dented. Steel less than perfectly smooth may bounce back fragments—which is why you want to be 100 yards away.
Make life easier, invest in .458-specific magazines and don’t spend expensive ammo testing others.
Oh, and the magazines? Yes, the idea was to make the .458 SOCOM feed out of standard AR magazines. And they usually do. But magazines can vary. You can burn up a lot of ammo determining if the mags you have and are already using will play well with your .458 ammo and rifle. May I suggest investing in 458-specific magazines? DuraMag makes .458-specific magazines, and the rounds are single-stack in the tube (as in any AR-sized magazine) but with .458-shaped feed lips and follower.
Go ahead, nickname your .458 SOCOM AR-15 “Thumper.” That’s what it does—on both ends.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2021 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.
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Holosun has just released the EPS and EPS Carry, two sizes of enclosed reflex optics ideal for both CCW and competition-oriented pistols.
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Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
