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28 DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 VOLUME 57, ISSUE 11
44 52 64 72 76 A Potent Pair Kimber unveiled two new “pocket pistols” this year—a .357 Magnum revolver and the 9mm Micro—and both are powerful personal-protection guns. Joel J. Hutchcroft
2
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
78 82
SIG Mission-Configurable Carbine With 100-percent reliability, the MCX is sure to make a good impression in personal-defense and combat environments. Steve Gash
A Practical Powerhouse The .35 Whelen is considered by some to be a far more useful sporting cartridge than the .308 Winchester or the .30-06. Joseph von Benedikt
Revolver Cartridges in Rifles Rifles and carbines chambered for revolver cartridges are great for hunting, cowboy action competition, and home defense. Layne Simpson
Browning’s New Ammunition “Leave no gun behind” could have been Browning Ammunition’s motto when it introduced its comprehensive line of ammo. Joseph von Benedikt
Quick Shot Ed Brown Special Forces SR Ed Brown’s Special Forces Model 1911 now comes complete with a suppressor-ready threaded barrel. Joel J. Hutchcroft
Quick Shot UM Tactical UM3 Scope Mount Designed to be used with pistols that have accessory rails on their frames, the UM3 scope mount is easy to install and extremely secure. Joel J. Hutchcroft
Quick Shot PolyCase .38 Special Interceptor ARX The innovative copper powder metal and glass-fiber-reinforced nylon ARX bullet is now loaded in revolver cartridges. Jake Edmondson
Shooting Times Index February–December 2016
CONTENTS
DEC. 2016 // JAN. 2017 VOL. 57, ISSUE 11
SHOOTER’S UPDATE
An Outdoor Sportsman Group® Publication
PUBLISHER
8 Readers Speak Out
Chris Agnes
The Model 12 is smooth as silk, “AR Exchange” was great, wants a Stevens side-by-side shotgun, and muzzle cover considerations and suggestions
10 New Guns & Gear LaserLyte Trigger Tyme Laser Revolver, Alliant Blue MZ Pellets, Remington Ultimate Defense 12-gauge shotshells, and Honor Defense Honor Guard 9mm pistol
12 Ask the Experts Shooting .300 AAC Blackout in an AR chambered for .300 Fireball and how to make .25-20 brass from .32-20 cases
SHOOTER’S GALLERY 14 The Shootist
EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Joel J. Hutchcroft COPY EDITOR Michael Brecklin CONTRIBUTORS Jake Edmondson Steve Gash Allan Jones Lane Pearce Layne Simpson Bart Skelton Joseph von Benedikt Terry Wieland
ART ART DIRECTOR Luke M. Bouris GROUP ART DIRECTOR David A. Kleckner STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Michael Anschuetz
PRODUCTION
Ruger’s Original Vaquero Joseph von Benedikt
PRODUCTION MANAGER Terry Boyer PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jenny Kaeb
18 The Ballistician A Bullet Penetration Puzzler Allan Jones
ENDEMIC AD SALES NATIONAL ENDEMIC SALES Jim McConville (440) 791-7017 WESTERN REGION Hutch Looney (818) 990-9000
22 The Reloader Inspect, Inspect, Inspect Lane Pearce
SHOOTER’S SHOWCASE
MIDWEST REGION Rob Walker (309) 679-5069 EAST REGION Pat Bentzel (717) 695-8095
CORPORATE AD SALES EAST COAST ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Kathy Gross (678) 589-2065
84 Gunsmoke Fun Makes Perfect Terry Wieland
MIDWEST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Kevin Donley (248) 798-4458 MIDWEST & MOUNTAIN ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Carl Benson (312) 955-0496
88 Hipshots The Perfect Shot Joel J. Hutchcroft
DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING/NON-ENDEMIC Anthony Smyth (914) 693-8700 Shooting Times (ISSN 0038-8084) is published monthly with a bimonthly issue in Dec/Jan by Outdoor Sportsman Group®, 1040 6th Ave., 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018-3703. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Shooting Times, P.O. Box 37539, Boone, IA 50037-0539. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to 500 Rt 46 East, Clifton, NJ 07011. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product/Sales Agreement No. 41405030.
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SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
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Readers Speak Out Illustration: ©mstanley13 - fotolia.com New Guns & Gear Illustration: ©Oleksandr Moroz - fotolia.com Ask the Experts Illustration: ©rukanoga - fotolia.com
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SHOOTER’S UPDATE READERS SPEAK OUT
NEW GUNS & GEAR
ASK THE EXPERTS
How About a Stevens Side-By-Side? The September issue offered a lot of excellent articles for all shooting enthusiasts. I especially enjoyed the Quick Shot on the Stevens Model 555 shotgun. It looks like a quality-made firearm. Now if they could turn the barrels sideways and make a sideby-side double-barreled shotgun with the same wood stock in all gauges from 10 gauge to .410 Bore, I think they would sell really well here in the USA. Michael Trimmer Cross Roads, PA
Muzzle Cover Suggestions Tape can leave glue on a barrel and attract more dirt and dust. A small balloon stretched over the barrel is very good protection. You can use orange if you are concerned about safety, black or green if you are not. Frank Condon, NRA Instructor Via e-mail
Try Finger Cots
I VERY MUCH ENJOYED “THE SHOOTIST” COLUMN ABOUT THE WINCHESTER
Model 12 in the September issue. I owned one back in the 1970s along with a slick little Model 42 .410. For years I’ve regretted selling them. I recently picked up a 20-gauge Model 12 made in 1946. They sure did make great guns years ago! The slide is smooth as silk. Thank you for the great column! Mark Farr Jeddo, MI
AR Exchange Was Great! I cannot describe my emotions when I began to read Joseph von Benedikt’s article “The AR Exchange” in the September issue. I thank the editors and writers of Shooting Times, particularly Mr. von Benedikt, not only for writing and publishing such an informative piece, but also in crediting me with promoting the idea. Even though the gestation period for the article was longer than an elephant’s and in the intervening period I had built several ARs of various calibers, I still found it extremely informative and exactly as I had hoped it would be. My hope is that others will also find it so and it assists them to enjoy building their own ARs. Thank you all for printing such a great magazine filled with interesting and educational articles. I’m already looking forward to the next edition. Martyn Adshead Jacksonville, FL 8
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
Just picked up my latest Shooting Times and read a question regarding covering the muzzle of rifles with tape to prevent rain and snow from getting into the barrel. May I suggest using finger cots? You know, the latex medical product used to protect fingers. Thanks for the great magazine and keep up the good work. Mike Nunziato Weaverville, NC
Finger Cots & Saran Wrap First of all, I really enjoy your magazine. Every issue has something in it for everybody. On your answer to the “covering the muzzle” question, CVA, Walgreens, Walmart, etc., carry finger cots, which are used to cover individual fingers. They are only about $2 per 20. These are waterproof and will not come off from temperature change or rain. They will not affect shot placement. Also, for a side-hammer muzzleloader, put the cap on then place a 2-inch-wide, 6-foot-long strip of Saran Wrap around the rifle between the hammer and
the cap. Let the hammer down easy, now the cap is waterproof, too. I have done this many times in the rain, and it works great. Gary Badger Via e-mail
Ruger Should Finish the 77/17 Joel Hutchcroft’s review of Ruger’s 77/17 WSM in the September 2016 issue was very well written and tested. The five, five-shot group accuracy testing really wrung out the true accuracy potential of this fine rifle. It is obviously not an entry-level rifle but a quality-made rifle anyone would be proud to own and shoot. But for this price and quality, a mediocre trigger and non-free-floated barrel is disappointing to say the least. Paying this price for a rifle shouldn’t require you to go aftermarket to improve its performance. I think Ruger should “finish” the rifle. Reports like this one are why Shooting Times is such a great gun magazine. A three, three-shot accuracy test like other
magazines use wouldn’t have exposed these shortcomings. Maybe Ruger will read this test and finish this fine rifle and justify its price. Greg Lee Newbury Park, CA
Collector’s Guide to the Savage 99 I read with interest the letter by James W. Bequette about the book A Collector’s Guide to the Savage 99 Rifle and its Predecessors in the October issue of Shooting Times. I found that I can order it on Amazon with no problem, but I have been unsuccessful twice in trying to order a signed and numbered copy at the e-mail address that was given. Both times, I received an e-mail failure notice. Please advise. Alan Malis Via e-mail Thank you for letting us know that the e-mail address published in the letter was non-functional. I did a quick Google search and found the website of the author of the book. It’s www.davidroyalsavage99.com. On that site he gives an e-mail address for ordering books. It is wyomingsavage1895@ gmail.com. I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Joel J. Hutchcroft Editor in Chief
SERIOUS COMFORT Concealment Holsters from Brownells
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SHOOTER’S UPDATE READERS SPEAK OUT
NEW GUNS & GEAR
ASK THE EXPERTS
LASERLYTE NOW OFFERS A TRIGGER TYME LASER-TRAINING REVOLVER
for those who prefer a snubnose wheelgun for self-defense. Made of highimpact ABS polymer, the Trigger Tyme Revolver looks, feels, and balances like a Smith & Wesson J-Frame, and it fits into standard holsters for quickdraw training. It provides the same grip angle and a similar trigger pull for practical laser-training. The integrated muzzle laser is activated by a double-action trigger pull and gives instant feedback on shot placement. It is compatible with any LaserLyte Trainer Target. MSRP: $149.95 laserlyte.com
Alliant Blue MZ Pellets Alliant’s new Blue MZ 50-grain pellets for muzzleloaders ignite reliably with 209 shotshell primers and burn consistently, even in extreme weather conditions, and they allow for fast, easy cleaning with water-based solvents. The pellets are said to produce higher velocities than competing pellets and to provide excellent accuracy. MSRP: $19.95 for a 48-count pack alliantpowder.com
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The new polymer-frame, striker-fired Honor Guard subcompact pistol from Honor Defense has a modular stainless-steel chassis, a wide trigger with a short reset, an ambidextrous magazine release, an ambidextrous slide catch, snag-free three-dot sights (white rear and orange front), and interchangeable backstraps. It’s chambered for 9mm, and it’s capable of handling +P ammunition. The ergonomic grip has custom texturing. Barrel length is 3.2 inches. Overall length is 6.2 inches. Weight, empty, is 22 ounces. It comes with a seven-round magazine and an extended eight-round magazine. All Honor Defense pistols are built by American veterans. MSRP: $499 honordefense.com
Remington’s Ultimate Defense 12-gauge shotshells are offered in two 2¾-inch loadings. The standard loading has nine 00 Buck pellets at a rated velocity of 1,325 fps. The managed recoil loading has eight pellets of 00 Buck at a rated velocity of 1,200 fps. They are designed to produce tight short-range patterns in smoothbore barrels. They’re packaged five rounds per box. MSRP: Not available at presstime remington.com
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SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
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SHOOTER’S UPDATE READERS SPEAK OUT
Q:
NEW GUNS & GEAR
ASK THE EXPERTS
I HAVE AN AR THAT I PUT TOGETHER FROM A KIT. IT HAD A STRIPPED
lower, and I bought an upper kit marked .300 Fireball. I have fired .300 Whisper factory ammo and handloads made from that brass. The .300 Whisper ammo is harder to find than .300 AAC Blackout, so I want to know if I can shoot .300 AAC Blackout ammo instead. I have asked several gun-store workers whether I can do that, and I got answers varying from no problem to don’t ever do that. Could you shed some light on this please as I won’t try it until I know it is safe? Mike Peters Via e-mail
A:
According to Robert Silvers, who developed the .300 AAC Blackout for Advanced Armament Corp. in association with Remington Defense, you should not fire .300 AAC Blackout ammo in guns chambered for .300 Fireball wildcats, including the .300 Whisper, because they are not SAAMI standard rounds, and so guns chambered for them may have slight variations in the chamber dimensions, which might lead to unsafe high pressures with .300 Blackout ammunition. The .300 AAC Blackout is a SAAMI standard cartridge. That said, Smith & Wesson chambers its M&P15 AR-style rifle in .300 Whisper and states on its website that those guns can safely fire .300 AAC Blackout ammo as well as .300 Whisper ammo. For those who don’t know it, the .300 Whisper was developed by cartridge wildcatter J.D. Jones, owner of SSK Industries, in 1992. Formed by necking up the .221 Fireball case to .30 caliber, the .300 Whisper was designed so that it would launch heavy bullets slower than the speed of sound; there would be no “crack” caused by a sonic boom. The .300 Whisper was designed to be compatible with the AR-15 platform, and adding a suppressor gave you a potent law enforcement or military asset. It was not the first .300-221 Fireball wildcat, but it is perhaps the most successful. The .300 AAC Blackout was developed specifically for military purposes in 2009 and 2010, and it received SAAMI approval in 2011. It is also based on the .221 Fireball case, and while it is very close to the .300 Whisper, there are some slight differences in the dimensions. Lane Pearce
How to Make .25-20 from .32-20?
Q:
I’ve lost the issue of the magazine that gave steps for forming .32-20 cases into .25-20 cases. Can you publish them again? Luke Michaels Via e-mail
A: 12
That information appeared in “The Reloader” column in the February 2016 issue of ST. Here’s what Lane Pearce wrote in that column.
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
“Forming cases successfully is strictly a trial-and-error process. You start with the form die and finish with the full-length sizer. However, it must be done carefully in multiple steps. You have to determine just how much lube to apply, redistribute, and/or wipe off as you proceed. And I guarantee you’re going to have some wastage. “Using Redding dies and Starline .32-20 brass, I backed the form die off the shellholder one full turn. Then I sparingly applied Redding’s Imperial lube with my fingertips to the case and slowly ran it into the die. After each incremental adjustment of the form die, I checked the case neck to judge how much lube was present. “If it felt too dry, I redistributed lube from the body to the neck. If it felt too slick, I wiped the neck with my fingertips or a cloth to remove excess lube before resuming the process. I only sized each case neck about 90 percent. In other words, the shoulder was still a bit forward of the final location. Then I wiped the residual lube off the case neck, adjusted the form die so it just touched the shellholder, and fully formed the neck and shoulder. “If you’re careful (and with some luck), the case neck will not be scored or creased, and the temporary shoulder will not have any dents caused by applying or not removing excess lube. Note: Even if you wipe excess lube off the case neck, the die may still accumulate too much inside and cause a dent to form on the next case neck or shoulder. If this happens, you’ll have to flush the die with solvent to clean it before continuing. “When you’re done with the form die, you simply repeat the same process with the sizer die to final form the .32-20 cases into usable .25-20 brass. I first reworked about 80 cases and ended up with only 65 ‘good’ ones. A few of those had small lube dents that were ironed out with the first firing. Of course, manipulating the lube when resizing is also necessary to preserve these precious .25-20 cases.” Joel J. Hutchcroft
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SHOOTER’S GALLERY THE SHOOTIST
THE BALLISTICIAN
WHEN COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING BURGEONED
Ruger’s original Vaquero was introduced in 1993 to meet the demands of cowboy action shooters. It was replaced by the New Vaquero in 2005. Joseph contoured and checkered the original grips and also replaced the revolver’s original front sight.
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in popularity in the late 1980s and early ’90s, serious competitors soon discovered that reproduction Colt single-action revolver springs often fatigued and broke, moving parts of soft steel wore, and timing suffered. Ruger’s Blackhawk revolver was far more durable, but its adjustable sights placed it in the “modern” division, so in 1993 Ruger introduced a traditionally configured single action and called it the Vaquero. “The Shootist” column typically focuses on vintage firearms, but this discontinued Ruger single action was an influential powerhouse in its genre, and tens of thousands continue to provide yeoman’s service in the hands of competitors, cowboys, and outdoorsmen across America. As such, it deserves a spotlight here.
Mechanicals Featuring almost indestructible coil springs; robust, overbuilt construction; and easier loading mechanics
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
THE RELOADER
than the Colt-type single actions, the Vaquero was burdened by only one perceived flaw: Its frame was larger than that of Colt revolvers, and as a result it was heavier, felt more ponderous in the hand, and didn’t fit in western-type holsters designed for Colt SAAs. That didn’t matter much, and within a short time the bulk of cowboy action competitors were shooting Vaquero single actions. The model also caught on with working cowboys that wanted a traditional-looking revolver that was just as strong as the classic Blackhawk. Original chamberings were .45 Colt, .44 Magnum, .44-40, and .357 Magnum. Barrel lengths included 4.5, 5.5, and 7.5 inches. Both a standard grip and a Bisley grip were offered. Like most single-action revolvers, the original Vaquero is fired by earing back the hammer to full cock and then squeezing the trigger. However, unlike traditional Colt-type single actions, the hammer does not have to be on halfcock to load.
Provenance
VAQUERO MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER CYLINDER CAPACITY BARREL OVERALL LENGTH WEIGHT, EMPTY STOCKS
Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. Single-action revolver .44-40 WCF 6 rounds 5.5 in. 11.5 in. 42 oz. Walnut
FINISH
Blued, casecolor
SIGHTS
Square-notch rear, blade front
TRIGGER
2.75-lb. pull (as tested)
Simply open the loading gate located at the right rear of the cylinder and thumb cartridges into the cylinder chambers. Also, since the Vaquero has a trigger connector that allows the firing pin to be activated only when the trigger is pressed fully rearward, the hammer may be carried safely at rest on a loaded chamber, unlike traditional Colt-type revolvers that must be carried with an empty chamber beneath the hammer/firing pin to avoid accidental discharges should the hammer suffer a blow.
I purchased the Vaquero shown here soon after the model was introduced. It’s chambered for .44-40 and has a standard grip and a 5.5-inch barrel. I sent it off to a gunsmith who specialized in Ruger guns and had the action polished and tuned. As an aside, most original .44 WCF and .44-40 Winchester-marked rifles were rifled with a groove diameter of somewhere around 0.427 inch, and most factory ammunition is manufactured with bullets of that diameter. While Italian reproductions of the time typically had bore diameters ranging from 0.426 up to 0.430, Ruger .44-40s were fitted with the same 0.429-inch-bore barrels that the company used on its .44 Magnum revolvers. Fortunately, the cylinder mouths were bored the same. Predictably, factory ammo pushing 0.427-inch-diameter bullets provided woeful accuracy. Handloading standard 0.429-inch-diameter jacketed and cast bullets was the only way to ensure good accuracy. My Vaquero’s custom-tuned trigger (its pull averages 2 pounds, 12 ounces) made shooting good groups easy, but like most handguns with non-adjustable sights, the point of impact with my favorite cast-bullet load was off, impacting quite low. I zealously applied a sharp bastard file to the front sight—too zealously. To fix the then-high point of impact, I filed a hard steel washer to shape and silver-soldered a wedge of it to the top of my Vaquero’s front sight, being careful to maintain the bond between the original blade and the barrel. This time I applied the file cautiously and achieved the perfect height. A moment on the buffing wheel and a dab of cold blue later and I was in business. DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
15
RUGER VAQUERO ACCURACY & VELOCITY
BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
VEL. (FPS)
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
25-YD. ACC. (IN.)
.44-40 Winchester Hard cast 200-gr. RNFP Nosler 200-gr. JHP
Universal
7.0
860
109
41
1.79
2400
16.0
1030
72
30
2.56
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 10 feet from the gun’s muzzle. All load data should be used with caution. Always start with reduced loads first and make sure they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding to the high test loads listed. Since Shooting Times has no control over your choice of components, guns, or actual loadings, neither Shooting Times nor the various firearms and components manufacturers assume any responsibility for the use of this data.
I didn’t mind the weighty feel of the robust revolver, but I did miss the sleek, hand-fitting contours of my reproduction Colt’s grip. So I spent an evening with a couple of wood rasps, slenderizing the stocks and blending all the square, broad edges with the frame and panels. I also checkered the grips.
Rangetime My all-around load of choice in the .44-40 for cowboy action shooting and for recreational plinking consists of a hard alloy cast 200-grain lead RNFP over 7.0 grains of Universal powder. For a deer-hunting load, I have settled on Nosler’s 200-grain JHP over 16.0 grains of 2400. (It’s important to note that there are two categories of firearms chambered for the .44-40: strong ones like the Ruger Vaquero, Marlin
1894, and Winchester 1892 and weaker models like the Colt SAA, Colt Lightning, Winchester 1866, Winchester 1873 and clones. Only mild handloads are suitable for the latter.) I have no concrete idea how many rounds my old Vaquero devoured, but I do know that between it, another stainless version like it, and a Navy Arms Henry, I wore out the priming system of my Dillon 550B progressive press twice. I carried the Vaquero for countless days working cattle in the harsh desert environs of southern Utah, shot varmints, and slaughtered beef cattle with it. I even took second place in the Utah Territorial Cowboy Action Championships with it. And the sturdy revolver still shoots as well as it ever has.
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SHOOTER’S GALLERY THE SHOOTIST
THE BALLISTICIAN
MY EDITOR FORWARDED A READER’S LETTER
Targets damage bullets that strike them, affecting penetration. These .375-caliber Hornady DGX bullets were expanded at 2,000, 2,300, and 2,600 fps, demonstrating how more speed causes more damage, which affects penetration.
18
with a very good question about bullet penetration. It could be answered badly in a letter or completely overdone in an engineering thesis, but I thought the everyman’s answer would be just about column length and fitting for this issue of Shooting Times. The principles apply as much to defense as to hunting. The reader questioned a statement he saw on a website that said a popular .45-caliber FMJ rifle bullet penetrated less at high velocity than it did at lower velocity. He thought this was counterintuitive; it doesn’t fit the notion of how the world works. Had I not spent the last 40-plus years dealing with bullet impact testing from time to time, I would probably have agreed with that reader.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion Applied to Bullets I found the Web reference the reader mentioned, and although it says the testing was done with the Hornady .458-caliber 500-grain FMJ, it does not say
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
THE RELOADER
whether they used the older roundnose design or the current flat-tip DGS version. Neither does it specify the test medium. However, assuming the medium simulated tissue and not a concrete wall, the article’s results would not change a lot because of the laws of the natural world. In 1686 Isaac Newton stated in his Third Law of Motion that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The Third Law has never been proven wrong. Most shooters think this just applies to recoil— squeeze the trigger and you feel a “kick”—but it is far more pervasive. When you do something as simple as tighten a trigger guard screw, you feel pressure in your hand. That is the Third Law reaction to the forces you applied. Have you every belly-flopped into a swimming pool? From the low board, your freefall velocity from dropping 1 meter is about 15 mph. Hitting the water’s surface is a definite sensation but usually more than tolerable. Do it from the 3-meter (or “high”) board and your freefall velocity at impact is 27 mph. It will
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A Bullet Penetration Puzzler
hurt very much and rank among those, “Hey, guys— watch this!” moments that you will remember long after the swelling and redness subside. The same principle applies to bullets striking a target. Regardless of the material struck, that material will exert forces against the bullet in serious quantities. We could not have expanding bullets unless this happened. This is why expanding bullets will “roll back” farther as velocity increases until they reach such speed that the reactive forces overcome the physical strength of the bullet and destroy it.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.
Bullet Type & Composition This was easily seen in the early days of jacketed hollowpoint bullets. Almost all ammomakers had a “one size fits all” attitude toward expanding bullets and used the same projectile to load both .38 Special and .357 Magnum. In the gelatin testing we did in Dallas, it was common to see a 110-grain .357 Mag. bullet at 1,300+ fps stop in 15cm of gelatin fully expanded and having shed considerable weight. The same bullet fired from the .38 Special at under 1,000 fps completely penetrated the same amount of gelatin and lost little weight. The slower bullet experienced less force directed against it. The only reason bullets can do work inside a target—break bone or create a temporary wound cavity—is that they overcome the target’s initial resistance using their velocity and a small point of contact. Without sufficient velocity even a pointed bullet will not enter a soft target, and the most blunt bullet shape, the full wadcutter, can penetrate if driven fast enough. What about those FMJ bullets that are designed not to expand? The Hornady FMJ has for years featured a tough, copper-clad steel jacket and a hard,
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SHOOTING TIMES
high-antimony lead core. It is one strong bullet. Still it experiences a lot of action as it strikes a target. The front of the bullet starts to slow before the rear portion, setting up stresses in the bullet. Depending on the bullet design, such stresses could cause temporary deformation with the potential to affect penetration. Even if a bullet nose bulges under impact and springs back to its original shape once it slows, penetration will change. More velocity means more stresses and more chance for deformation, even if it is temporary. The Speer African Grand Slam Solid (AGSS) was designed with a flat tip because aeroballistics modeling predicted such a tip configuration would be much more stable upon encountering a change in medium. Examples are air to soft tissue and soft tissue to bone. At a SHOT Show, a customer showed us a .416-caliber 400-grain AGSS that had destroyed both shoulders of a big rogue elephant with practically no deflection. It was found in a pocket of crushed bone under the hide on the downrange side of the animal and, on initial inspection, appeared to have no damage other than the rifling marks. However, on closer exam, the onceflat tip was now slightly dished in by the impact, and putting a caliper to the nose section showed it had minimally bulged. The nose was solid commercial bronze and hard as the gates of Hades, so any changes due to impact were minimal but certainly present in the sample I viewed. Thwacking an elephant from 40 feet at 2,350 fps had shown the effects of a major encounter with Newton’s Third Law on one of the toughest solids ever made. There are secondary influences, such as rifling twist rate, that may have an effect on penetration, but Newton’s Third Law is the major explanation for what our reader found so “against the grain.” Today a flat nose is common on dangerous-game solids. Yes, the extra resistance will reduce total penetration, but that penetration is already enough to shoot through the largest of our dangerous-game animals. I don’t see a problem, and I’m glad our reader thought to ask.
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SHOOTER’S GALLERY THE SHOOTIST
THE BALLISTICIAN
THERE’S A COMMON SAYING IN THE GUN WORLD
Can you find the double charges of W231 (left) and 800-X (right) in .45 ACP handloads? The safe handloader will inspect every case before powder charging—for defects—and after powder charging— for correct powder level—every time.
22
about how to be a better shooter. It goes like this: Practice, practice, practice. For handloaders, the statement ought to be inspect, inspect, inspect. If there is one thing I’ve learned over the decades that I’ve been handloading, it’s to inspect everything. Take the brass that you’re using. For handloaders, the cartridge case remains the most expensive component, although some premium bullets are closing in. You need to take good care of your brass, and that starts with inspecting it. I’ll get back to that in a moment, but first here are some other tips about taking care of your brass.
Before Powder Charging Clean brass saves sizer dies. In addition to tumbling your cases in corncob or walnut hull media, several attractively priced ultrasonic cleaners will quickly
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
THE RELOADER
expunge the oil and powder residue from fired cases, both inside and out. It’s best to decap your brass before the ultrasonic and tumble it after sizing to achieve the shiny finish. Some handloaders adamantly caution, “Don’t bother with range pick-up brass!” Members of my gun club refer to me as “the hoarder” because I gather any and all unclaimed brass left at the range. I handload more than 100 different cartridges, so if it’s fairly clean and not smashed, I can usually reprocess the brass and use it safely. You can, too. But you have to take the time to inspect it carefully. If I accumulate too much or find cases I don’t need, I save them anyway and give them to another handloader. (I have a box of RWS 7x57R if anyone needs it.) I deprime Berdan-primed and damaged brass and toss it all in the scrap bucket with the rest of the discarded cases.
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Inspect, Inspect, Inspect
Resizing straight-wall pistol brass with a carbide “no-lube” sizer die was a boon to me and other now-mature handloaders who started out resizing with a hardened steel sizer die. I recall rolling .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and .44 Magnum cases on the lube pad, resizing them, and then undertaking the tedious job of wiping the sticky lube off with an old tee shirt.
Today, you rarely see a lube pad because there are several wax and spray lubes that are both slicker to apply and easier to remove after sizing. If I’m resizing several hundred pistol cases, I spread them over a shallow tray, squirt a little lube, and jostle them around a bit before running them through my carbide sizer. After sizing, I dump the batch onto an old bath towel and roughly wipe them down before tumbling them clean. After your brass is clean and you’ve carefully inspected each piece for defects, don’t forget to check case length. For handgun and some rifle handloads, you typically crimp the case mouth to securely hold the bullet in place. You can’t obtain uniform crimping if the case lengths vary more than a couple thousandths of an inch. And if the case is too long, the neck will buckle when you apply too much crimp. I said it earlier—and I’ve said it many times in the past—but it bears repeating: Always inspect your brass One important lesson Lane has learned over the four decades that he’s been handloading is to always inspect cartridge cases carefully for defects—neck splitting and body cracks, incipient case head separation, corrosion, etc.
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carefully for defects: neck splitting and body cracks, incipient case head separation, corrosion, etc.
After Powder Charging You also should inspect every case after you charge it with powder. Every time. I’ve only fired one of my handloads that didn’t have the desired propellant type and charge weight. I was reloading several hundred rounds of 9mm Luger on a semi-progressive tool. The FMJ bullet lodged in the barrel throat, and I concluded I must have not thrown the powder charge.
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I have on at least two occasions caught a similar mistake and corrected it before seating the bullet. Once, the powder bridged in the measure before all of the charge had dropped into the case. With the next throw, the residual propellant and a full charge fell together without completely filling the .270 Winchester case. Fortunately, I carefully inspected the tray and noticed the different powder levels of the two adjacent cases. It was only a few grains difference, but it was enough for the overloaded one to possibly blow a primer. The second incident occurred when I was loading .44-40 ammo for my first Colt SAA. I was preparing loads with cast bullets and minimum charges of Unique. After throwing all the powder, I performed my usual inspection. It’s quite easy to overlook even a double charge of a fast burn-rate smokeless propellant in a relatively large handgun case. I always use a small penlight to aid my vision, so I noticed the case in the middle of the tray was double-charged (13.5 grains!). The predicted .44 Magnum pressure would have probably destroyed my .45 Colt revolver and possibly injured me, too.
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IREARMS ENTHUSIASTS LOVE CONTROVERSY.
No facet or feature is too small to elicit a spate of friendly wrangling. For handguns, it is the perpetual “revolvers versus semiautomatics” debate. Of course, both sides have a winning argument. For rifles, the comparison is of one cartridge to another (.270 versus .30-06, ad infinitum) and different action types reign supreme. For the immensely popular modern sporting rifles on the AR-15 platform, a hot topic is the operating system: direct gas impingement or gas piston system. The well-known gas impingement system has been in use for decades and has earned its stripes in peace and war. Such rifles are accurate and reliable and are used by zillions (well, millions) of happy shooters worldwide. The so-called disadvantage of the impingement system is that powder gases are blown back into the action, delivering crud that eventually has to be cleaned out. Guns with the piston system still produce gases and heat, but they vent them in a different place, so the bolt and its carrier are much cleaner after many rounds than with the impingement system. Some experts say that the additional mass of the piston apparatus creates the potential for vibration on the barrel that degrades accuracy. And piston guns are somewhat more costly. However, they are very popular and highly functional. 28
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
The SIG SAUER MCX (Mission Configurable Weapons System) is a good example of a piston gun. Shooting Times received an MCX Patrol Rifle for testing, and I put it through its paces on the range.
MCX Features The MCX rifle from SIG SAUER is a modern sporting rifle that uses what SIG calls a short-stroke gas piston system. It is available in five versions, identified as the PDW, CQB, Tactical Patrol, Patrol, and Pistol. All MCX models are chambered for three popular cartridges: 5.56mm NATO/.223 Remington, 7.62x35mm/.300 Blackout, and 7.62x39mm. The features of the MCX vary slightly, depending on the model. The rifling twist rate is 1:7 for the .223 (1:6 in the CQB .223), 1:6 for the .300 Blackout, and 1:9.25 for the 7.62x39mm. All are available with a folding stock—except for the Pistol version, for which a folding pistol brace is available. The folding stock on ST’s MCX was difficult to fold and open, but once locked in place, it’ll no doubt stay put. Of course, the folding stock is possible because there is no buffer tube in the stock. Length of pull was 13.8 inches.
The SIG SAUER MCX uses a gas-piston system with a two-position adjustable gas valve and is available chambered for 5.56 NATO, .300 Blackout, and 7.62x39mm. MCX stands for Mission Configurable Weapons System.
MISSION-CONFIGURABLE CARBINE
The MCX Patrol Rifle fired for this report came with a 16-inch barrel, a 30-round magazine, an 11.75-inchlong KeyMod handguard, flip-up iron sights, a SIG SAUER textured grip, and a side-folding buttstock.
The MCX comes with one 30-round magazine, but it accepts all standard AR-15 magazines. The 11.75-inch KeyMod handguard comes with two 2-inch rail adapters for the attachment of various accessories. There are 13 attachment points on each side of the handguard and 11 on the bottom. Just for fun, I attached one of the rail adapters to the left side of the handguard and mounted a SIG SAUER STL-100C high-intensity light on it. It slipped on and off in a jiffy and was convenient to turn on with my left thumb. When the rifle was shouldered, it provided great illumination of the field of fire.
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All MCX barrel muzzles are threaded. The .223 has a 1/2-28 thread; the .300 Blackout and 7.62x39mm have 5/8-24 threads. The test gun arrived with an A2 flash hider. The MCX PDW has a 9-inch barrel in all three calibers. A 6.75-inch barrel is also available for the .300 Blackout version of the PDW. The CQB model varies slightly with an 11.5-inch barrel. The Tactical Patrol comes with a 14.5-inch barrel, the Patrol (sometimes
MCX PATROL RIFLE MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER MAGAZINE CAPACITY BARREL OVERALL LENGTH
referred to as the “Carbine”) has a 16-inch barrel, and the Pistol barrel is 9 inches long. Triggers are listed as “MIL-STD,” and the stated pull weight range is 5.5 to 9.0 pounds. More on this later. The MCX has several noteworthy features only occasionally found on other AR-type rifles. The magazine release and fire control selector are ambidextrous. Of special interest is the two-position gas valve that controls functioning of the MCX by regulating the amount of gas that is delivered to the action. This adjustment also permits changes in gas volume and pressure for suppressed and unsuppressed operation or for adverse operating environments. The adjustment lever is visible through the handguard. Inserting a tool (like the bullet tip of a cartridge) through a hole in the handguard and pushing up or down on the adjustment lever easily changes the gas block setting. There are two settings, and they are detailed in the MCX owner’s manual. I put the test sample MCX gas block setting on its “normal”
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SIG SAUER sigsauer.com Gas piston 5.56mm NATO/.223 Remington 30 rounds 16 in. 27 to 35.5 in. 7.19 lbs. Side-folding buttstock 13.8 in. SIG
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setting, since I did not use a suppressor, and had no problems with any of the 20 loads I fired. The carbine comes equipped with highly functional flip-up iron sights. These are easily moved or removed, if necessary. Equipping the MCX with all manner of other sights is easy with the flat-top upper and full-length rail with Picatinny slots. Initially, I mounted a Trijicon 3X ACOG on the MCX. So equipped, the rig weighed a hair under 8 pounds.
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I fired several factory loads with the ACOG from the solid rest in my shooting building over the Oehler Model 35P chronograph. Midpoint of the skyscreens was 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle. The accuracy averaged 1.89 inches for three, five-shot groups at 100 yards with six different loads. I next tried six handloads, which averaged 2.69 inches, but the average was skewed by four loads with 75- and 80-grain bullets. I examined the MCX bore, chamber, throat, and rifling with my Hawkeye borescope, and it looked perfect and as smooth as glass. And it is significant to note that after lots of shooting, there was very little jacket fouling. Another boon was the cleanliness of the bolt and carrier after a lengthy range session. After shooting 100 or more rounds, the boltface and carrier were literally as clean as after the last cleaning. That’s a big advantage of the gas piston system. At 100 yards, precise aiming was somewhat difficult with the 3X ACOG, so I hypothesized that the low-power sight might be a factor. I had a brand-new Burris Veracity 4-20X 50mm scope with a 30mm tube on hand, so I mounted it on the MCX in a Burris P.E.P.R. mount. This brought the total weight to 9 pounds, 5 ounces. I retested the six factory loads with the Burris scope set at 8X, and the average was 1.81 inches—virtually the same as with the ACOG. (In fact, a simple t-test showed that the probability of there being a cause-and-effect difference due to the sight change to be much less than 50 percent.) The addition of four more loads brought the overall average for factory ammo down to 1.73 inches. Again, there was no statistical difference. Returning to handloads, I retested the same loads fired with the ACOG, plus a few more with a variety of different bullet weights. This resulted in an average group size of 2.31 inches, with the loads with 69-, 75-, and 80-grain bullets producing the largest groups. The MCX’s 16-inch barrel has a 1:7 twist, so one would think that heavier bullets would shoot well, but these didn’t. Again, the results were virtually the same as with the ACOG sight. Lastly, one cannot discount the heavy trigger on the MCX, which made shooting good groups difficult. The actual pull weight was 9 pounds, 15.5 ounces on a Lyman digital pull gauge, and the range was 11.5 ounces. Factory specs call for a range of 5.5 to 9.0 pounds, so my carbine’s pull was about a pound above that limit. The MCX has several noteworthy features not commonly found on your average This is not to say that there weren’t some AR-15, including ambidextrous maggood groups produced by the MCX. Cream azine release and fire control selector of the factory load crop was Federal Premium and levers on both sides of the charging handle. Because it’s a piston-driven AR, ammo loaded with the Fusion 62-grain bullet. the MCX runs clean. Shown here is the It averaged 1.24 inches, and one five-shot bolt after 100 rounds had been fired. group was a dazzling 0.63 inch.
TacticalWalls.com
32
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
SIG SAUER MCX ACCURACY AND VELOCITY
PRIMER
VEL. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
100-YD. ACC. (IN.)
POWDER BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
CASE
.223 Rem., 16-in. Barrel Sierra 63-gr. SMP
CFE 223
26.1
Fed.
CCI 41
2709
18
2.11
Nosler 64-gr. BSB
CFE 223
26.0
Fed.
CCI 41
2763
22
2.10
Sierra 65-gr. SBT Sierra 69-gr. MatchKing
CFE 223 Varget
25.7 26.0
Fed. Fed.
CCI 41 CCI 41
2645 2725
29 23
1.95 2.88
Sierra 69-gr. MatchKing
CFE 223
25.0
Fed.
CCI BR4
2527
37
2.02
Sierra 69-gr. MatchKing
IMR 4166
23.0
Fed.
CCI BR4
2453
50
2.48
Swift 75-gr. Scirocco II Swift 75-gr. Scirocco II Sierra 80-gr. MatchKing Sierra 80-gr. MatchKing Hornady Superformance 35-gr. NTX Federal 40-gr. Ballistic Tip Federal 43-gr. TNT Winchester 45-gr. JHP Federal 55-gr. TSX Hornady 55-gr. V-Max Hornady 60-gr. TAP FPD Federal 62-gr. Fusion Black Hills 69-gr. MatchKing Federal 69-gr. MatchKing
CFE 223 IMR 4166 CFE 223 IMR 4166
24.5 Fed. 22.5 Fed. 24.0 Fed. 22.0 Fed. Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load
CCI BR4 CCI BR4 CCI BR4 CCI BR4
2528 2378 2418 2253 3319 3237 3011 3121 2835 2772 2747 2674 2637 2547
12 31 36 8 24 41 27 19 19 31 36 35 12 13
3.15 3.25 2.69 2.29 1.68 1.80 1.20 1.91 2.18 2.14 1.80 1.24 2.02 1.24
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, five-shot groups fired from a benchrest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle. Range temperature was 71 to 79 degrees F. Cartridge overall length for all handloads was 2.255 inches. All load data should be used with caution. Always start with reduced loads first and make sure they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding to the high test loads listed. Since Shooting Times has no control over your choice of components, guns, or actual loadings, neither Shooting Times nor the various firearms and components manufacturers assume any responsibility for the use of this data.
LASER ENHANCED
G10
EXOTIC HARDWOODS
DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
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The MCX produced an overall average accuracy of 2.08 inches for 100 five-shot groups fired at 100 yards with 20 different loads. It functioned perfectly during the entire shootout.
Another good hunting load was the Federal Premium loaded with the Barnes 55-grain Triple Shock X-Bullet. It grouped into 2.18 inches. This load is no slouch in the game fields, either, as it will shoot through a 300-pound hog’s shoulders side to side and exit. I’ve done it. Should I wish to decimate a few varmints with the MCX, I’d use the Federal Premium loaded with the Speer 43-grain TNT hollowpoint because it shot very well at a velocity of 3,011 fps. It averaged 1.20 inches. The highest velocity recorded was a sizzling 3,319 fps from the Hornady Superformance load with the 35-grain NTX lead-free bullet. Speaking of velocities, the average velocity of factory loads from the 16-inch barrel was 13 percent less than the listed velocities. Overall, the SIG SAUER MCX carbine is a quality example of the gas piston system. Over the course of many range sessions, it never missed a beat, there were no malfunctions of any kind, and it was 100 percent reliable. The advantages of much less fouling on the bolt and carrier were not unexpected but are noteworthy. It is available in a variety of formats to fit almost any shooting situation and is offered in several larger calibers that are sure to gladden the hearts of field operators everywhere. While the accuracy results may not set hearts aflutter, this was only one gun. The overall average accuracy of all 20 loads tried with both sights was 2.08 inches. However, if the four heavy-bullet loads noted above are discounted, the resulting average is 1.96 inches. For the rough and tumble world of personal defense and combat environments, minute-of-bad guy accuracy, 100-percent reliability, and ease of maintenance are sure to make a good impression.
SecondCallDefense.org 34
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
Julie Golob Champion, Author, Veteran, Hunter, Ambassador & Mom Captain of Team Smith & Wesson
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SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
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The all-steel, double-action-only K6s revolver is chambered for .357 Magnum, and its cylinder holds six rounds.
OU’VE PROBABLY ALREADY HEARD
that Kimber brought out its very first revolver this year. You very well may know that the company also has created a 9mm version of its popular, little .380 Micro semiautomatic pistol. The guns made quite a stir when they were first announced earlier this year. Well, Shooting Times just received shooting samples of both guns, and I had the pleasure of putting them through our standard evaluation procedure for this report. Actually, I had an advance look at the new K6s Stainless double-action revolver last year in preparation for writing the article that appeared in Kimber’s 2016 magalog. That project involved visiting the Kimber factories in New York, where I got my hands on the new wheelgun and fired it on Kimber’s state-of-the-art indoor shooting range. For this report, Shooting Times received another K6s and a Micro 9, both right off the production line, that I put through our standard shooting review on my home range.
K6s Stainless The K6s Stainless is chambered for .357 Magnum, and it has a double-action-only trigger mechanism, an internal hammer, a swing-out cylinder, a small frame, and a 2-inch barrel. The “s” stands for small, as in the frame size, and the frame is all steel. The firing mechanism uses a floating firing pin that’s held in the frame by a pressed-in firing pin bushing. The internal action parts are accessed via a sideplate that is attached to the frame with three torx-head screws. The mainspring is contained within the grip frame, and it is a coil type. The stainless-steel cylinder holds six rounds of .357 Magnum or .38 Special ammunition. The charge holes are countersunk, and the cylinder swings out to the left side. It rotates counterclockwise. One primary design criterion Senior Product Manager Ron Dudzic, who oversaw the design and development of the K6s Stainless, was tasked with was to make the cylinder the smallest diameter on the market that could hold six rounds. Kimber never even considered building a five-shot snubnose revolver. 38
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
In order to achieve the goal of making the K6s Stainless’s cylinder the smallest in diameter yet be strong enough to withstand the firing of the most powerful .357 Magnum cartridges, the engineers modeled it on the computer, then remodeled it, then built samples, and then tested those samples extensively, including plugging the barrel and firing prooflevel ammo. The material they settled on is 410 stainless steel. The engineers designed the cylinder with six flat flutes. It locks up via a centerpin, which is activated by a checkered, rectangularshaped cylinder latch. The latch actually pushes in, not up or to the side as with other brands of swing-out-cylinder revolvers. Pushing in on the latch is a more natural movement and makes operating the gun quicker and more effective. The trigger’s fingerpiece is smooth and measures 0.3 inch wide. The double-action trigger pull is factory-rated at between 9.5 and 10.5 pounds. The sample I got my hands on averaged 10 pounds, according to my RCBS trigger pull scale, and it is crisp, smooth, and consistent. The one-piece barrel is 2 inches in length and is threaded to the frame. It’s made of the same 410 stainless steel as the cylinder, and it has broach rifling at a twist rate of one turn in 16 inches. The serrated front sight is pinned to the barrel; the rear sight is dovetailed. The style of the rear sight is unique for a revolver, and it reminds me of a combat-style Model 1911 rear sight. Its face is serrated. Both sights are all black, and sight radius is 4.1 inches. The standard version of the K6s Stainless comes with blue-gray rubber grips made by Crimson Trace. They don’t have the builtin laser Crimson Trace is so famous for, but a Kimber spokesman K6S STAINLESS MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER CYLINDER CAPACITY BARREL LENGTH
Kimber kimberamerica.com Double-action revolver .357 Magnum /.38 Special 6 rounds 2.0 in.
OVERALL LENGTH
6.62 in.
WIDTH
1.39 in.
HEIGHT
4.46 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY GRIPS
23 oz. Blue-gray rubber
FINISH
Smooth Satin
SIGHTS
Fixed rear, ramped front
TRIGGER MSRP
10-lb. DA pull (as tested) $899
KIMBER K6S ACCURACY & VELOCITY
AMMUNITION
VEL. (FPS)
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
25-YD. ACC. (IN.)
.357 Magnum Barnes 125-gr. TAC-XPD
1188
76
27
3.05
HPR 125-gr. JHP
1131
47
18
3.95
SIG SAUER 125-gr. JHP Federal 158-gr. Hydra-Shok
1245 1130
68 56
32 23
4.05 1.34
Hornady 158-gr. XTP
1166
35
18
2.69
.38 Special PolyCase Inceptor 77-gr. ARX
1013
44
16
3.66
HPR 125-gr. TMJ Moylan 125-gr. TMJ SIG SAUER 125-gr. JHP +P Black Hills 148-gr. SWC
754 598 893 663
55 43 89 55
22 15 35 22
3.72 4.18 4.27 3.11
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle.
The K6s’s dovetailed rear sight looks more like an auto pistol’s combat-style sight than a traditional revolver rear sight. It is drift-adjustable for windage. The front sight is pinned to the 2.0-inch stainless-steel barrel.
told me a laser-gripped version of the K6s is a natural, and Crimson Trace has already announced just such a grip for the K6s. The K6s Stainless is 6.62 inches long, 1.39 inches wide, and 4.46 inches high. It weighs 23 ounces. Its finish is called “Smooth Satin.” The backstrap has vertical serrations that are designed to help provide a secure grip. All edges of the K6s have been softened. Usually, swing-out-cylinder double-action revolvers have a flat area on the side of the frame up front that butts up against the yoke when the cylinder is opened fully. Consequently, their yokes typically are not symmetrical. The K6s Stainless’s yoke shape is symmetrical. According to Dudzic, the K6s Stainless doesn’t have that flat area on the frame because a special axle was designed into the crane to allow a hard stop for the cylinder when it’s opened. I fired the K6s Stainless with a variety of .357 Magnum and .38 Special ammunition, and the results are listed in the accompanying chart. Overall, the gun was easy to shoot, even with the .357 Magnum ammo. In fact, I did my most accurate shooting with the Magnum ammo. The shape of the grip comfortably filled my shooting hand, and the sweep of the backstrap kept the gun from shifting up in my hand. Felt recoil was not harsh, even with the most powerful loads. And as I said earlier, the trigger pull was excellent. By the way, I used a DeSantis Speed Scabbard black leather holster made specifically for the K6s revolver for some drawand-fire drills. It’s a nice holster.
easily fits in a pants or jacket pocket, but it’s not so small that it feels odd in the hand. In fact, it feels quite good in my hand, and it points naturally. Standard magazine capacity is six rounds, and the pistol comes with one flush-fitting magazine. An extended sevenround magazine is available for purchase as a separate item. The magazine release button is checkered, and it protrudes just enough to be easily activated. The low-profile, all-black sights are dovetailed into the slide. Sight radius is 4.3 inches. The combat-style hammer is skeletonized, and the pistol’s thumb safety operates sort of like one on a full-size Model 1911. However, when the hammer is fully cocked and the safety is engaged, the safety does not lock the slide, so the slide can be racked to empty the chamber with the safety engaged. With the hammer down, the safety can be engaged, and engaged this
Micro 9 The new Micro 9 is based on Kimber’s popular recoil-operated .380 ACP Micro semiautomatic pistol that was born in 2013. The 9mm version is a tad bigger than the .380 Micro, measuring 6.1 inches long, 1.06 inches thick, and 4.1 inches tall. It looks and handles a lot like a small Model 1911, and it
The new Micro 9 Two-Tone model comes with a 3.15-inch barrel; fixed, all-black sights; a solid aluminum trigger; an alloy frame; and rosewood grips. Joel switched out the factory grips for a set of Crimson Trace aftermarket lasergrips.
DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
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MICRO 9 TWO-TONE MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER MAGAZINE CAPACITY BARREL LENGTH OVERALL LENGTH WIDTH HEIGHT WEIGHT, EMPTY GRIPS
Standard magazine capacity for the Micro 9 is six rounds, and the pistol comes with one flush-fitting magazine. An extended seven-round magazine is available for purchase as a separate item.
way, it does lock the slide, plus it prevents the hammer from being fully cocked. The hammer can be positioned in its halfcock notch. There is no Model 1911-style grip safety, but a disconnector prevents the hammer from falling unless the slide and barrel are fully into battery. Also, there’s a firing pin block that prevents the firing pin from contacting the primer of a chambered cartridge until the trigger is pressed.
Kimber // kimberamerica.com Recoil-operated single-action autoloader 9mm 6 rounds 3.15 in. 6.1 in. 1.06 in. 4.1 in. 15.6 oz. Rosewood
FINISH
Black steel slide, brushed aluminum frame (as tested)
SIGHTS
Fixed
TRIGGER
8.5-lb. pull (as tested)
SAFETY
Manual thumb safety
MSRP
$654
Three versions are currently offered: the Two-Tone model that I fired for this report; the Stainless model that comes with rosewood grip panels; and the Crimson Carry version that comes with Crimson Trace Master Series lasergrips. Note that for my report, I switched out the factory-standard rosewood grips with a set of aftermarket Crimson Trace lasergrips, and I also used a DeSantis Mini Scabbard brown leather holster. CrossBreed also offers holsters for the new Micro 9.
KIMBER MICRO 9 ACCURACY & VELOCITY
AMMUNITION
VEL. (FPS)
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
25-YD. ACC. (IN.)
9mm Barnes 115-gr. TAC-XPD +P
1021
54
23
3.24
Hornady 115-gr. FTX
1056
20
7
2.67
HSM 115-gr. XTP HPR 124-gr. JHP
1165 920
34 22
13 9
1.35 2.31
SIG SAUER 147-gr. JHP
912
11
4
2.64
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle.
The Micro 9’s low-profile, all-black sights are dovetailed into the slide. Sight radius is 4.3 inches.
Shooting the Micro 9 from a sandbag benchrest at 25 yards, I was able to produce group averages measuring 3.24 inches or less with five different factory loads. That’s well within the accepted standard for self-defense pistols. Out of the Micro 9’s short 3.15-inch barrel, the 9mm ammo I fired produced velocities ranging between 912 and 1,165 fps. For comparison’s sake, those same loadings range in velocity from 1,052 to 1,374 fps out of my 5.5-inch-barreled 9mm Model 1911. The Micro 9 functioned perfectly with all of the ammo I fired, and its trigger pull was very good. It was heavier than I prefer, averaging 8 pounds, 8 ounces, according to my RCBS trigger pull scale, but it was smooth. Both new pocket pistols from Kimber functioned perfectly during my shooting session. They are easy to conceal, and they are accurate. They are the kind of personal-protection handgun you can stake your life on. But that’s not surprising. Kimber has been making dependable self-defense and duty handguns for more than two decades.
DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
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To the delight of .35 Whelen fans, major cartridge companies offer factory-loaded ammunition, including Barnes, Hornady, Nosler, Remington, and Federal.
A
LTHOUGH THE .35 WHELEN IS COMMONLY
assumed to have been designed by the legendary Col. Townsend Whelen, many astute researchers believe it was actually designed by James Howe, a toolmaker/gunsmith at Frankford Arsenal and later cofounder of Griffin & Howe, and named in honor of the colonel. It was originally spawned around 1922 and having Colonel Whelen’s name attached to it certainly helped bring it celebrity. It was commercialized by Remington in 1988. 44
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
While its origins are shrouded in mystery, the .35 Whelen’s strengths are clear. Created by simply necking up a .30-06 case to accept 0.358-inch-diameter projectiles, it’s a superbly practical cartridge that fits in standard-length actions, is inexpensive and mild-mannered to reload, and, with correct bullet choice, is capable of cleanly taking almost anything that walks. All this at a minimum of recoil (my handloads range from 25.2 ft-lbs to 29.9 ft-lbs of recoil in an 8-pound rifle). Plus, for those who care about such things, four or five rounds will fit in a boltaction magazine instead of the two or three that typically fit in a magnum rifle.
Nosler 250-Gr. Partition Nosler 225-Gr. Partition Nosler 225-Gr. AccuBond Barnes VOR-TX 200-Gr. TTSX Hornady Superformance 200-Gr. SP Barnes VOR-TX 180-Gr. TTSX
Interestingly, the .35 Whelen is considered by many knowledgeable engineers and shooters to have the maximum neck-up diameter feasible when using an otherwise unmodified .30-06 case. Necking it up much larger leaves such a minimal shoulder to headspace against that consistency is compromised. Of course, there is a solution to that: sharpen the shoulder and reduce the amount of case taper. However, that is a lot more work than simply necking up the .30-06. When the .35 Whelen was developed, resources were few. World War I was over, the Great Depression ahead, and World War II already germinating. The Springfield 1903—and its .30-06 cartridge—was the rifle of the century at that point, and the ability to simply rebarrel it (or any other standard-length bolt action), chamber it appropriately (no modifications to boltface, follower, rails, or extractor are necessary), and easily form cartridge cases from .30-06 brass was important. Plus, the .35 Whelen performed decently with propellants designed for the .30-06. Because Remington chambered pump-action and semiauto rifles in .35 Whelen, factory ammo (and load data) is kept to rather modest pressures. It’s an unfortunate disservice to .35 Whelen fans shooting strong bolt-action rifles because the cartridge is capable of considerably better performance than provided by almost all factory loads. Shooters today enjoy an embarrassment of riches, and with the projectiles and propellants available, the .35 Whelen is far greater than it was at its birth almost 100 years ago—and it was pretty spectacular then.
Forming .35 Whelen cartridge cases is as simple as necking up .30-06 brass to accept 0.358-inch-diameter bullets.
Handloading the .35 Whelen While its ancestry sometimes causes shooters and reloaders to default to .30-06 powders, because of its capacity-to-borediameter ratio, propellants engineered for the .308 Winchester are ideal and will eke more performance out of the .35 Whelen. For the heavier 225- and 250-grain bullets, IMR 4064 is superb. For 180- and 200-grain bullets, the cutting-edge IMR 8208 XBR provides unprecedented velocity at moderate pressure coupled with outstanding accuracy. Varget is also appropriate. I’ve found considerable disparity in capacities between various brass manufacturers. While none of my favorite loads show any signs of high pressure, when loading for peak performance in my .35 Whelen, I prefer Nosler cases. They’re consistent and have the highest capacity of those I’ve tested. Typically, I get from 98 percent load density to very slightly compressed loads with the powders I’ve listed.
Shooters can amp up the performance of the .35 Whelen by handloading. Powders designed for midcapacity cartridges, such as the .308 Winchester, excel in the .35 Whelen. IMR 4064, IMR 8208 XBR, and Hodgdon Varget are exceptional.
DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
45
A PRACTICAL POWERHOUSE It’s important to note that I shoot a lot of maximum loads in my rifle, but I work up to them very carefully and tend to seat bullets out a good 0.10 inch farther than typical maximum overall length, which my rifle’s chamber throat and magazine length allow. The result is a fair amount of additional internal capacity (which helps keep pressures safe) and less bullet jump before the projectile engages the rifling, which commonly aids accuracy. With the Barnes 200-grain TTSX, I leave one groove exposed and crimp in the second, which puts the bullet about 0.050 inch off the rifling.
If you prefer to seat your bullets not to kiss the rifling— or are loading a dense projectile like any of the all-copper bullets on the market—crimping the mouth of your cases may significantly reduce extreme spread and standard deviation numbers. As for bullets, every major manufacturer offers several variations in 0.358-inch diameter. For game bigger than whitetails, avoid bullets designed specifically for the .35 Remington, as they tend to be very lightly constructed in order to expand adequately at the slower cartridge’s minimal impact velocities.
The .35 Whelen in Namibia IN A LAND WHERE EVERY GOLDEN SUNSET MEANS FRESH
meat on the grill, we’d been three long, hot, thirsty days in pursuit of a really good free-range kudu bull. The night before we’d finally found one. Dawn broke with rain clouds threatening across the distance as we climbed a mountain ridge to glass. Namibia in early fall can be as appealing as a new bride—and as dramatic. Jacques Strauss, Kowas Adventure Safari’s young, eagle-eyed PH, found the bull a quarter-mile below us as it filtered through a belt of thick camelthorn trees where mountain merged with veldt, surrounded by a vanguard of younger bulls. Lifelong friend and hunting partner Dan Kennedy was on the gun, and he climbed into a contorted position in a pile of rocks that offered a semblance of support. He was packing my custom .35 Whelen, and although the distance was far, it was the only chance we were going to get. In a tiny clearing the bull turned and stopped. He was facing almost directly away. Elbows propped on knees, I steadied my Zeiss RF binocular and pressed the button that activates the laser rangefinder within. “He’s exactly 463 yards,” I whispered. Time slowed, seconds felt like minutes. A smaller bull wandered by, obscuring the big bull’s vitals. About the time I was beginning to tremble from the strain of holding my binocular focused on the big bull, he moved. The emphatic report of the .35 echoed down the mountain range as the Barnes 200-grain TTSX knocked the heavy-bodied bull flat. “That,” said Strauss, “was the best shot I have ever seen.” Familiar with the toughness shared by most African game, Kennedy stayed in the scope, steady on the fallen bull as blood trickled from a cut over his eyebrow. Strauss noticed the blood. “The scope cut you,” he said. “It was my position. I knew it was gonna get me, but I wanted the shot,” said Kennedy. “He’s getting up! He’s up!” I found 46
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
the bull in my binocular just in time to see a second shot flatten him. Forensics would show that Kennedy’s first shot had impacted slightly to the right, just at the juncture of the neck and shoulder. The second had landed squarely on the shoulder. Amazingly, both knocked the heavy old bull down—something that just doesn’t often happen on tough African game. Kennedy proved the cartridge’s ability again that same day in Namibia. He wanted a good oryx, and as we hauled his 55.5-inch kudu bull back toward headquarters for processing, a herd in the distance beckoned. It was still early and cool. With two water bottles, a Clif Bar, and a few shreds of jerky, we went in hot pursuit while the trackers took the kudu to process. There was a lot more heat, thirst, and miles to it than this, but as last light fell across the desert, he made a 397-yard shot with the .35 Whelen on the holy grail of oryx bulls: an honest 40-incher. Joseph von Benedikt
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Because chamber and magazine length allow it, the author seats bullets out a good one-tenth inch or so longer than standard, which adds internal capacity and aids accuracy.
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One of the .35 Whelen’s only failings is that 0.358-inch-diameter bullets in typical weights have relatively low BCs. The Nosler 225grain AccuBond (left) is about as aerodynamic as they get, and it still rates only .430, as compared to the 160-grain 7mm bullet (BC: .531) shown for comparison.
The .35 Whelen does have a weakness. Almost all 0.358-inch-diameter bullets have low ballistic coefficient (BC) numbers. The cartridge produces velocities similar to the .30-06 with much heavier bullets, but those bullets just aren’t as aerodynamic. As a result, most aficionados consider the .35 Whelen a 300-yard cartridge, and for the most part—and for most shooters—they’re correct. However, there are exceptions. My custom Remington Model 700 in .35 Whelen was built by Hill Country Rifles using a Benchmark barrel. While it shoots most bullets well, it really shines with the Barnes 200-grain TTSX and the Nosler 250-grain Partition. While I’d choose a heavier bullet for use on a hunt for big, toothy bears, the TTSX is my magic bullet for all-around hunting. Pushed to 2,910 fps with no signs of high pressure, the 200grain TTSX carries 1,925 fps of bullet-expanding velocity to 500 yards, where it impacts with about 1,650 ft-lbs of energy. In drop and drift it’s a ballistic twin to most 150-grain .30-06 loads, but it impacts much harder and has considerably greater frontal diameter.
.35 Whelen Authority There’s only one reason to neck a perfectly good .30-06 cartridge case up to .35 caliber. You want more authority. How much more authority can you gain? Let’s look at some numbers, contrasting the .35 Whelen to its parent .30-06. The accompanying chart details bullet weight, velocity, and energy generated. As you can see, the .35 Whelen generates from 20 to 26 percent more energy at the muzzle than the .30-06. Don’t think that’s a lot? Compare it to the legendary .375 H&H. ENERGY COMPARISON BULL.T (GRS..
.30006 V.L. (FPS.
M... (FT0LBS.
BULL.T (GRS..
V.L. (FPS.
M... (FT0LBS.
BULL.T (GRS..
150
2910
2820
200
2910
3780
250
2800
4374
165
2800
2872
225
2700
3657
270
2700
4391
180
2700
2913
250
2550
3625
300
2500
4263
.35
browning.com 48
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
.375 V.L. (FPS.
M... (FT0LBS.
Comparing these numbers shows us that the .375 H&H offers about 32 to 36 percent more energy than the .30-06. It doesn’t sound like a lot, yet practical experience has shown that’s a very big difference indeed. Another factor that enables the .35 Whelen to hit much harder than the .30-06 is frontal diameter. As the engineers tell me, increasing diameter increases capacity exponentially, so the seemingly small jump from 0.308 inch to 0.358 inch actually adds a bunch of surface area on the front of that bullet. Plus, that bigger bullet expands into a much bigger mushroom. For pure thumping effect, it makes an eyebrow-raising difference. There is one downside, though. That same bigger frontal area that does so much more damage encounters considerably more resistance than a smaller bullet, resulting in greater deceleration. Greater deceleration in general equals less penetration. Sometimes, choosing a tough bullet that minimizes expansion is the way to go. For any commonly hunted game and a whole bunch of uncommonly big stuff, the .35 Whelen is a capable cartridge. It’s below the legal threshold for elephant and buffalo (.375 in most African countries), and frankly, it’s pretty marginal for those, along with hippo, Asian buffalo, rhino, and so forth, but for any other hooved game and the big cats and bears, it’s very good indeed. However, as mentioned, the importance of choosing the right bullet for the task is of vital importance with the .35 Whelen because of the dramatic difference in the various cartridges that 0.358-inchdiameter projectiles are designed for. Light-jacketed “soft” bullets designed for the .35 Remington may knock the stuffing out of a whitetail, but they definitely should not be used on a grumpy brown bear. On the other end of the stick, bullets like the Barnes 225-grain TSX and the Swift 250-grain A-Frame are tough projectiles that expand slowly, hold together even when encountering heavy bone, and penetrate deeply. They are ideal for big bears, moose, and so forth and actually work well on deer-size game if minimal meat damage is important to you, but they won’t have a lightning-bolt effect on a whitetail.
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.35 WHELEN ACCURACY AND VELOCITY POWDER BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
VEL. (FPS)
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
100-YD. ACC. (IN.)
Custom Remington Model 700, 22-in. Barrel Barnes 200-gr. TTSX
IMR 4064
60.0
2791
9
5
1.11
Barnes 200-gr. TTSX Barnes 200-gr. TTSX
IMR 4064 IMR 8208 XBR
63.0 60.0
2903 2909
12 10
6 5
0.93 0.80
Nosler 200-gr. AccuBond
IMR 8208 XBR
59.0
2890
47
13
1.29
Barnes 225-gr. TSX
IMR 4064
58.0
2656
29
11
1.06
Barnes 225-gr. TSX
IMR 4064
61.0
2779
7
3
1.31
58.0 58.0 58.0 55.0 50.0
2671 2643 2678 2461 2343 2960 2744 2926 2657
36 25 13 13 85 71 59 44 15
13 9 5 4 27 38 22 22 6
2.07 1.26 0.91 1.51 1.04 0.97 1.15 0.81 3.27
2551 2338
35 16
15 8
0.91 0.92
Nosler 225-gr. AccuBond Nosler 225-gr. Partition Swift 225-gr. A-Frame Swift 250-gr. A-Frame Swift 280-gr. A-Frame Barnes 180-gr. TTSX Barnes 200-gr. TTSX Hornady 200-gr. SP Nosler 225-gr. AccuBond Nosler 225-gr. Partition Nosler 250-gr. Partition
IMR 4064 IMR 4064 IMR 4064 Varget IMR 8208 XBR Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, three-shot groups fired from the prone position with a bipod. Velocity is the average of six rounds (handloads) and 10 rounds (factory loads) measured 12 feet from the muzzle. Ambient temperature: 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Elevation: 5050 feet. All load data should be used with caution. Always start with reduced loads first and make sure they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding to the high test loads listed. Since Shooting Times has no control over your choice of components, guns, or actual loadings, neither Shooting Times nor the various firearms and components manufacturers assume any responsibility for the use of this data.
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50
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
A Gentleman of a Cartridge With all the savage downrange ability that I’m attributing to the .35 Whelen, one might mistakenly get the idea that it’s a rip-snorting cartridge with bite on both ends. It has some recoil, sure, but I’ve shot more than one lightweight .300 Win. Mag. that loosened the fillings in my teeth more. The .35 Whelen is a true gentleman of a cartridge, offering considerable performance at a very civilized cost. Like many big thumpers, its recoil is more of a push than a vicious smack. Additionally, the .35 Whelen is, in my experience, a very easy cartridge to handload. It’s not finicky about powder charge weights, is not prone to pressure spikes, and tends to do its best with whatever bullet you put in it. That’s not to say that it shoots everything perfectly—for whatever reason, mine just won’t shoot Nosler 225-grain AccuBonds accurately. The .35 Whelen has one other great advantage. You’ll shoot long and hard for many summers to burn the barrel out. Barrels heat slowly and hold accuracy well—at least mine does—over a long string of shots. Odd as it may sound, I consider the .35 Whelen a far more useful sporting cartridge than the .308 Win., and in some ways it’s more useful than the .30-06. It hits considerably harder but is just as easy and inexpensive to handload. Brass lost in the field during the heat of the moment can be left behind without regret because more is just a crank of the sizing press away.
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SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
I
n the old days people living in remote places, away from readily available sources of ammunition, recognized the value of having rifles chambered for the same cartridge as their revolvers. Although doing so is no longer as necessary as it once was, the custom remains quite popular today. The abundance of rifles and carbines chambered to .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44-40 Winchester, .44 Magnum, and .45 Colt is proof of that. Not as many are used for hunting as during my youth, but changes in hunting regulations in Michigan and Ohio—and possibly other states that allow only straight-wall cartridges for hunting deer during special seasons—have given them a boost in popularity. Cowboy action shooters also have had a hand in their popularity gain. And we can’t forget the countless revolver-caliber rifles and carbines that do duty as home-defense guns.
The ability to handle cartridges of different power levels also makes the rifles attractive. Don’t need .44 Mag. power for bumping off that pesky groundhog in Grandma’s cabbage patch? Simply switch to .44 Special and lower the boom on the marauding marmota. All lever-action rifles in .44 Mag. I have shot fed the .44 Spl. without a hitch. The rotary magazine of the bolt-action Ruger Model 77/44 in .44 Mag. fed .44 Spl., .44 Colt, and .44 Russian ammunition from Black Hills without a hitch. The .38 Special works fine in most .357 Mag. rifles, and the same applies to .41 Special in those chambered for the .41 Mag. The Rossi R92 and the IFG/Pedersoli reproduction of the Colt Lightning in .45 Colt gobbled up .45 Schofield cartridges with no complaints. But the actions of some rifles usually have to be cycled briskly in order to make the short cartridges flow through smoothly.
In preparation for this report, I went back a bit in time and retrieved cartridge performance data for the .357 Mag. and .44 Mag. from some of my previous projects. Those were updated with some of the newer factory load introductions. Shooting the Group 1 and Group 2 .44-40 Winchester loads took place more recently. And my .41 Mag. and .45 Colt data were too old to include, so they were fired specifically for this report. A word about the title of this article is in order. I realize that the .44-40 was introduced as a rifle cartridge in 1873, so strictly speaking it was not created as a revolver cartridge. Revolvers chambered in .44-40 did not appear on the scene until 1878. However, Editor In Chief Joel J. Hutchcroft exercised his editor’s prerogative and went with the title. Reloading manuals separate load data for some of the cartridges I’ve included in this report into two pressure-level groups DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
53
REVOLVER CARTRIDGES IN RIFLES
The Profile Crimp die from Redding is necessary for crimping bullets in .41 Special handloads. The same type of die helps to avoid crumpling the thin wall of the case when seating .44-40 bullets. Note the express aperture sight from Skinner Sights on this .41-caliber Henry Big Boy rifle.
for use in firearms of varying strengths. Examples are .45 Colt data in the Hornady manual and .44-40 data in the Lyman manual. One data group (Group 1) contains standard-pressure loads, while the second group (Group 2) is loaded to higher pressures for stronger guns. Examples of Group 1 lever-action rifles are the Model 1860 Henry and the Models 1866 and 1873 Winchesters. They share the same toggle-joint breech-locking design and are plenty strong for smokeless powder loads at original blackpowder pressures. Because of its stronger action, the Winchester Model 92 is classified as a Group 2 rifle capable of handling heavier loads. The Lyman manual separates 19 different rifles that have been available in .44-40 into the two action-strength groups. It is not all about chamber pressure; the head surface area of the cartridge case also comes into play. The larger the area, the greater the pressure exerted on the locking bolt of a rifle during firing. For example, the head surface area of the .45 Colt is 36 percent greater than that of the .357 Mag., and the .44-40 is 43 percent greater. This explains why the owner’s manual accompanying the IFG/Pedersoli replica of the Colt Lightning rifle used in this report lists absolute maximum chamber pressure for .357 Mag. ammunition used in that rifle as 2.9 times higher than the maximum recommended for the .45 Colt and 3.2 times higher than recommended for the .44-40. Despite the high expansion ratios of the cartridges covered in this report, velocity gain in longer barrels is often more than might be expected. As an example, when fired from a revolver, the Buffalo Bore .41 Mag. load with a 230-grain bullet churns up close to 1,100 ft-lbs of muzzle energy. When fired in the 20-inch barrel of a rifle, energy is increased to just over 1,700 ft-lbs. That 50 percent jump in punch makes easy-toting, quickpointing rifles quite effective for taking deer, feral hogs, and black bear at fairly close distances in wooded terrain. 54
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
Some factory loads exceed the SAAMI maximum overall length, which is okay in most revolvers, and while some are still short enough to work in some repeating rifles, others are not. Some rifles will handle longer cartridges than others. According to Tim Sundles of Buffalo Bore Ammunition, the introduction of the .454 Casull option to the Rossi R92 lever gun required lengthening the action just enough to handle that cartridge. Most R92s built today in .45 Colt should be on the lengthened action and should feed that cartridge loaded to a longer overall length than is the case for pre-.454 Casull rifles. The Buffalo Bore .41 Mag. load with the 265-grain hardcast bullet has an overall length of 1.705 inches (compared to a SAAMI max of 1.590 inches for that cartridge), yet the Henry Big Boy cycles it perfectly. Regardless of the cartridge, venturing much beyond SAAMI max overall length for some lever-action rifles can result in refusal of cartridges to feed from a tubular magazine. Should that happen, you’d best know how to disassemble the gun for removal of a loaded round or hope it is a front-loader like the Henry Big Boy. I used RCBS and Redding dies for loading ammunition for this report, and all powder charges were thrown with a Redding
One of the best powders available for full-power loads in the magnums is W296. Trail Boss powder is a great choice for reduced-velocity loading of all the cartridges included in this report.
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REVOLVER CARTRIDGES IN RIFLES
Replicas of lever actions and pump actions aren’t the only rifles chambered for revolver cartridges. Ruger’s Model 77/44 is chambered for .44 Magnum, but it also handles .44 Special, .44 Colt, and .44 Russian ammo.
10X Pistol/Small Rifle Measure. A Redding Profile Crimp die was used to avoid crumpling the thin wall of .44-40 cases during the bullet-crimping process. The introduction of .41 Spl. cases by Starline eliminates the hassle of shortening .41 Mag. brass, and while a .41 Mag. die set works fine for full-length resizing, case-mouth flaring, and bulletseating, a shorter Profile Crimp die from Redding is needed for crimping bullets in the stubby case. Now for a brief look at the rifles included in this project.
Marlin Model 1894CSS The Marlin 1894 used for testing had a stainless-steel barreled action. It gobbled up .357 Mag. and .38 Spl. ammo, and while it did feed .38 Spl. with a semiwadcutter bullet, it preferred bullets with smoother nose profiles. The little carbine shot inside 2 inches at 50 yards with some .38 Spl. and .357 Mag. loads, and the 1:38 twist of the Ballard-style rifling in its 18.5-inch barrel did a great job of stabilizing all bullet weights up to 180 grains. Let us hope this and other variations of the Marlin 1894 will soon be back in full production.
Henry Big Boy Henry Repeating Arms offers the blued-steel receiver version of its Big Boy lever-action rifle in .357 Mag., .41 Mag.,
.44 Mag., and .45 Colt. Barrel length options are 16.5 and 20 inches. The receiver is shallower than the Winchester 94, and its breech-locking design copies the Marlin 336, making the Big Boy a very strong and easy-carrying rifle. The tubular magazine is loaded at the front rather than through the more common port in the side of the receiver. Feeding was flawless with all .41 Mag. and .41 Spl. loads. The Big Boy proved capable of shooting small groups for a rifle of its type, and the installation of an express aperture sight from Skinner Sights made doing so easy. The biggest surprise was its accuracy with one of the .41 Spl. loads.
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.38- & .41-CALIBER REVOLVER CARTRIDGES IN RIFLES POWDER BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
CASE
PRIMER
COL. (IN.)
VEL. (FPS)
M.E. (FT-LBS)
50-YD. ACC. (IN.)
.357 Magnum Marlin 1894CSS, 18.5-in. Barrel, 1:38 Twist, Weaver V3 1-3X Hornady 140-gr. FTX
Accurate No. 9
14.0
Hornady
CCI 350
1.590
1710
908
2.19
Sierra 170-gr. JHC Swift 180-gr. A-Frame
W296 W296
15.0 13.5
Hornady Hornady
CCI 350 CCI 350
1.585 1.590
1609 1521
976 923
1.68 2.34
Black Hills 125-gr. JHP
Factory Load
1.565
1836
935
2.17
Hornady 140-gr. FTX
Factory Load
1.585
1564
760
2.18
Federal 180-gr. A-Frame
Factory Load
1.565
1752
1197
1.92
905
1.89
Remington 180-gr. SJHP
Factory Load 1.580 1506 .38 Special Marlin 1894CSS, 18.5-in. Barrel, 1:38 Twist, Weaver V3 1-3X Federal Nyclad 125-gr. HP Factory Load 1.450 1239 Black Hills 158-gr. LRN Factory Load 1.440 912 Magtech 158-gr. Lead SWC Factory Load 1.445 816 .41 Magnum Henry Big Boy Steel, 20-in. Barrel, 1:18.75 Twist, Skinner Aperture Sight Sierra 170-gr. JHC W296 26.5 Starline CCI 350 1.580 2023 Hornady 210-gr. HP XTP Accurate No. 7 16.4 Starline CCI 350 1.580 1649 Sierra 210-gr. JHC Lil’Gun 22.5 Starline CCI 350 1.580 1735
426 292 233
2.35 1.95 2.28
1543 1267 1402
3.10 1.60 1.54
Swift 210-gr. A-Frame Buffalo Bore 170-gr. JHP Remington 170-gr. JHP Winchester 175-gr. Silvertip Barnes VOR-TX 180-gr. XPB Swift 210-gr. A-Frame
W296
20.0 Starline Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load
CCI 350
1.585 1.560 1.580 1.575 1.580
1625 2126 1936 1462 1553
1230 1704 1413 830 962
1.71 1.87 2.45 3.08 2.44
1.560
1519
1074
2.80
1707
3.92
395 457
5.31 1.89
Buffalo Bore Hard Cast 265-gr. LWN Factory Load 1.705 1704 .41 Special Henry Big Boy Steel, 20-in. Barrel, 1:18.75 Twist, Skinner Aperture Sight Sierra 170-gr. JHC Unique 8.0 Starline Fed. 150 1.455 1023 Sierra 210-gr. JHC Blue Dot 10.0 Starline CCI 350 1.455 991
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of 10 or more rounds measured 12 feet from the guns’ muzzles. All load data should be used with caution. Always start with reduced loads first and make sure they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding to the high test loads listed. Since Shooting Times has no control over your choice of components, guns, or actual loadings, neither Shooting Times nor the various firearms and components manufacturers assume any responsibility for the use of this data.
Henry .44-40 Preparing for this report reminded me of the number of rifles in .44-40 I have shot over the years, and the most fun of all is the lever-action Henry. Today’s rifle differs in only two ways from the one used by Union troops during the American Civil War. It is chambered to .44-40 rather than the long-obsolete .44 Henry Rimfire, and groove diameter of its rifling is 0.429 inch rather than the 0.427 inch once common to all .44-40 rifles. Shooting almost everything inside 2 inches at 50 yards, the Henry .44-40 proved that a design introduced 156 years ago could be as accurate as those of more recent introduction.
Rossi R92 Safely loading the .44-40 to higher velocities than the 1,250 fps of the original blackpowder load is not a recent idea. Shortly after the Winchester Model 1892 was introduced, Winchester offered high-velocity loadings with 180- and 200-grain bullets at respective velocities of 1,850 and 1,600 fps. Each box carried a warning against using the ammunition in the Winchester 1873 and various revolvers. 58
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
Group 2 data for the .44-40 in the Lyman reloading manual has a 200-grain jacketed bullet moving along at 1,638 fps for a duplication of the old Winchester high-velocity load. The strong action of the Rossi R92 digested Lyman’s maximum loads with ease, with muzzle energy approaching 1,200 ft-lbs. By today’s standards a 200-grain bullet at 1,600 fps is not very exciting, but it will kill any deer dead enough for the frying pan. I also used a Rossi R92—now made at the Taurus factory in Brazil—chambered in .45 Colt. That the R92 has been available in .454 Casull is proof of its great strength. Mine is post-.454 Casull and may handle .45 Colt ammo loaded to longer overall cartridge lengths than earlier R92s. The overall quality and workmanship have fluctuated through the decades, but R92s being built now are as good as Winchester Model 92s being made anywhere in the world and at less than half the price of some of the competition. My rifle has a 16-inch barrel, and its 1:30 rifling twist rate stabilized all bullets up to 325 grains in weight. It fed all loads without a single bobble, and accuracy was plenty good. Rifles with slower twist rates may not stabilize bullets heavier than 250 grains.
.44-CALIBER REVOLVER CARTRIDGES IN RIFLES POWDER BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
CASE
PRIMER
COL. (IN.)
VEL. (FPS)
M.E. (FT-LBS)
50-YD. ACC. (IN.)
.44-40 Henry, 24.5-in. Barrel, 1:20 Twist, Factory Open Sights Group 1 Loads Hornady 180-gr. LFP Sierra 180-gr. JHC
Unique 2400
7.5 16.0
Starline Starline
Fed. 150 CCI 350
1.570 1.590
1294 1257
669 631
2.16 1.44
IMR 4227
17.0
Starline
CCI 350
1.590
1241
615
1.56
RCBS #44-200-CM* 205-gr. LFN
Unique
8.0
Starline
CCI 350
1.585
1133
584
1.88
RCBS #44-200-CM* 205-gr. LFN
IMR 4227
15.0
Starline
Fed. 150
1.585
1240
700
1.55
Lyman #427666* 212-gr. LFP Lyman #427666* 212-gr. LFP Sierra 210-gr. JHC Black Hills 200-gr. RNFP Hornady 205-gr. LFP
Titegroup 2400 2400
6.3 Starline Fed. 150 1.580 16.0 Starline Fed. 150 1.580 15.0 Starline Fed. 150 1.590 Factory Load 1.585 Factory Load 1.570 .44-40 Rossi R92, 20-in. Barrel, 1:30 Twist, Factory Open Sights Group 2 Loads 2400 21.0 Starline CCI 350 1.590 2400 20.0 Starline CCI 350 1.595
1137 1272 1216 1027 982
608 761 689 468 439
2.49 1.57 1.59 1.94 1.79
1714 1589
1173 1120
2.26 2.18
19.0 Starline CCI 350 1.590 1506 1056 9.0 Starline Fed. 150 1.585 1332 807 10.5 Starline Fed. 150 1.580 1449 987 18.5-in. Barrel, 1:38 Twist, Weaver Grand Slam 3-10X 24.0 Hornady CCI 350 1.600 2011 1615
1.97 2.36 2.19
Sierra 180-gr. JHC
Sierra 180-gr. JHC Hornady 200-gr. HP XTP
Sierra 210-gr. JHC 2400 RCBS #44-200-CM* 205-gr. LFN Green Dot Lyman #427666* 212-gr. LFP Unique .44 Magnum Ruger Model 77/44, Sierra 180-gr. JHC Accurate No. 9 Barnes 200-gr. XPB Sierra 210-gr. JHC Hornady 240-gr. HP XTP Lyman #429640* 250-gr. LHP Hornady 265-gr. IL-FP Federal 180-gr. JHP Barnes 225-gr. XPB
Enforcer W296 VV N110 2400 W296
22.5 Hornady 26.0 Hornady 21.0 Hornady 19.0 Hornady 23.0 Hornady Factory Load Factory Load
CCI 350 CCI 350 CCI 350 CCI 350 CCI 350
1.590 1.600 1.600 1.610 1.610 1.600 1.590
1888 1860 1776 1527 1707 1883 1828
Hornady 225-gr. FTX Factory Load 1.645 1812 Buffalo Bore 240-gr. SCHP Factory Load 1.605 1914 .44 Special Ruger Model 77/44, 18.5-in. Barrel, 1:38 Twist, Weaver Grand Slam 3-10X Black Hills 210-gr. FPL Factory Load 1.425 987 .44 Russian Ruger Model 77/44, 18.5-in. Barrel, 1:38 Twist, Weaver Grand Slam 3-10X Black Hills 210-gr. FPL Factory Load 1.245 721 .44 Colt Ruger Model 77/44, 18.5-in. Barrel, 1:38 Twist, Weaver Grand Slam 3-10X Black Hills 230-gr. FPL Factory Load 1.375 626 .44 Magnum Winchester M92 Short Rifle, 20-in. Barrel, 1:26 Twist, Factory Open Sights Speer 270-gr. Gold Dot SN Lil’Gun 19.5 Hornady CCI 350 1.600 1565 Swift 280-gr. A-Frame W296 20.0 Hornady CCI 350 1.610 1577 Sierra 300-gr. JSP IMR 4227 20.0 Hornady CCI 350 1.600 1519 Swift 300-gr. A-Frame W296 19.5 Hornady CCI 350 1.610 1538 SIG SAUER 240-gr. JHP Factory Load 1.600 1750 Federal 280-gr. A-Frame Factory Load 1.600 1444 Black Hills 300-gr. JHP Factory Load 1.600 1312 Hornady 300-gr. XTP Factory Load 1.600 1426 .44 Special Winchester M92 Short Rifle, 20-in. Barrel, 1:26 Twist, Factory Open Sights SIG SAUER 200-gr. JHP Factory Load 1.545 853 *Cast of scrap wheelweight metal with a BHN hardness of 10
2.80
1581 1611 1679 1293 1713 1416 1668
1.83 1.55 1.86 2.10 1.92 1.69 2.02
1639 1950
1.78 3.64
454
4.17
242
5.06
183
4.68
1467 1545 1537 1574 1630 1295 1146 1353
2.16 1.76 2.10 2.45 1.93 3.18 1.58 1.65
323
4.56
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of 10 or more rounds measured 12 feet from the guns’ muzzles. All load data should be used with caution. Always start with reduced loads first and make sure they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding to the high test loads listed. Since Shooting Times has no control over your choice of components, guns, or actual loadings, neither Shooting Times nor the various firearms and components manufacturers assume any responsibility for the use of this data.
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SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
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.45-CALIBER REVOLVER CARTRIDGES IN RIFLES POWDER BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
CASE
PRIMER
COL. (IN.)
VEL. (FPS)
M.E. (FT-LBS)
50-YD. ACC. (IN.)
.45 Colt IFG/Pedersoli Colt Lightning Sporter, 20-in. Barrel, 1:16 Twist, Factory Open Sights Group 1 Loads RCBS #452-230-CM* 230-gr. LFN Lyman #452664 LFN* 250-gr. LFP
Unique CFE Pistol
9.3 9.2
Starline Starline
Fed. 150 Fed. 150
1.575 1.570
853 831
371 384
4.17 4.29
Hornady 255-gr. LFP
Trail Boss
5.9
Starline
Fed. 150
1.575
1191
802
4.40
Remington 250-gr. LFN
Factory Load
1.575
1062
625
4.54
Black Hills 255-gr. RNFP
Factory Load
1.550
982
545
4.36
Hornady 255-gr. LFP Factory Load 1.570 944 504 .45 Schofield IFG/Pedersoli Colt Lightning Sporter, 20-in. Barrel, 1:16 Twist, Factory Open Sights Group 1 Loads Hornady 255-gr. LFP Unique 6.5 Starline Fed. 150 1.480 988 552 Black Hills 180-gr. RNFP Factory Load 1.375 910 331 .45 Colt Rossi R92, 16-in. Barrel, 1:30 Twist, Factory Open Sights Group 2 Loads Hornady 225-gr. FTX Longshot 9.5 Starline Fed. 150 1.645 1121 627 Sierra 240-gr. JHC W296 25.0 Starline CCI 350 1.595 1563 1300
4.15
Hornady 250-gr. HP XTP Buffalo Bore 225-gr. XPB +P Hornady 225-gr. FTX Buffalo Bore 260-gr. JHP +P Buffalo Bore 300-gr. JFN +P Buffalo Bore 325-gr. LFN +P
Hornady 255-gr. LFP Black Hills 180-gr. RNFP
W296
26.0 Starline Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load
CCI 350
1.600 1.585 1.645 1.585 1.575
3.60 4.10
2.82 1.94
1644 1811 1232 1814 1543
1494 1637 757 1898 1584
2.10 3.23 3.06 3.17 2.67
Factory Load 1.683 1545 .45 Schofield Rossi R92, 16-in. Barrel, 1:30 Twist, Factory Open Sights Group 2 Loads Unique 6.5 Starline Fed. 150 1.480 1003 Factory Load 1.375 964 *Cast of scrap wheelweight metal with a BHN hardness of 10
1721
1.84
569 373
4.23 4.16
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of 10 or more rounds measured 12 feet from the guns’ muzzles. All load data should be used with caution. Always start with reduced loads first and make sure they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding to the high test loads listed. Since Shooting Times has no control over your choice of components, guns, or actual loadings, neither Shooting Times nor the various firearms and components manufacturers assume any responsibility for the use of this data.
Ruger Model 77/44 & Winchester M92 I included two rifles in .44 Mag. because rifling twist rates vary considerably. The more common 1:38 twist usually delivers the best accuracy with bullets weighing 240 grains and less, although some rifles will handle the Hornady 265-grain InterLock FP. Rifles with twist rates ranging from 1:18 to 1:30 shoot accurately with all bullets weighing up to 300 grains, and some will deliver acceptable accuracy with even heavier bullets. The Ruger Model 77/44 I used to shoot the included data has a 1:38 twist, while the twist rate of the Winchester Model 92 Short Rifle is 1:26. The Model 77/44 fed all four of the .44 cartridges; and the M92 digested .44 Spl., but it balked on the .44 Colt and the .44 Russian.
IFG/Pedersoli Colt Lightning The Colt Lightning reproduction came from Italian Firearms Group of Amarillo, Texas, the largest importer and distributor of Pedersoli-built firearms in the United States. (The company is partly owned by Davide Pedersoli.) The Colt employee who 62
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
gave the little slide-action rifle its name back in 1885 hit the nail squarely on the head as the Lightning slings lead as fast as, well, lightning. Using a PACT timer, I pitted it and Black Hills Cowboy ammo against a lever-action Winchester Model 1873 reproduction on five steel plates at 25 yards. My averages for six runs with each rifle were 5.5 seconds for the Winchester Model 1873 and 3.1 seconds for the IFG/ Pedersoli Colt Lightning. Its speed along with total reliability with all loads makes it easy to see why the rifle is popular among cowboy action shooters. Both the IFG/Pedersoli Colt Lightning and the Rossi R92 in .45 Colt fired were great fun to shoot, and switching to .45 Schofield increased the fun factor even more. Having a rifle or carbine chambered in the same caliber as your handgun may not be the survival necessity that it was in the 19th century, but the practicality of the pairing still exists. Firing handgun cartridges—especially carefully crafted handloads—in rifle-length barrels produces the benefits of increased velocity, accuracy, and energy.
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LATE IN 2015 THE NEWS LEAKED
that Browning was about to introduce a line of ammunition. Gleeful little clairvoyant neurons in the back of my mind postulated that it was sure to be an upper-crust line of hunting ammunition. November 2015 brought the opportunity to hunt Wyoming whitetails with some final preproduction ammo, and in addition to being thoroughly impressed with the deer load, I was informed by Browning marketing guru Rafe Nielsen there would be an entire line of ammunition offerings: centerfire rifle hunting ammo; centerfire handgun ammo for personal protection and for practice/training; shotshell lines for upland bird hunting, waterfowl hunting, and clay target shooting; and rimfire ammunition. As most of you know, Browning and Winchester Repeating Arms are sister companies run from the same headquarters. And although the firearms manufacturer has been under entirely different ownership since the ammunition side was sold to Olin in the 1930s, Winchester Repeating Arms and Winchester Ammunition maintain the deep-rooted ties that only common ancestry can provide. That said, it’s important to note that Browning’s ammunition is not just Winchester ammo that’s been rebranded. It’s entirely new technology, meant to compete primarily on the premium ammunition market. According to Browning Ammunition Brand Manager Ben Frank, “The goal isn’t to just be different from Winchester Ammunition. It’s to provide designs new and different from anybody out there.” It’s pretty hard for a brand-new ammo division to hit the ground with products that are genuinely innovative and that perform as promised. I like Browning’s approach, which, I think, was to evaluate the predominant uses for all types of ammunition and try to build better mousetraps, rather than invent some that had never been done. For instance, Browning opted to engineer the best whitetail deer bullet possible. Here’s a look at each different ammunition line. 64
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
Centerfire Rifle Divided into two primary categories, Browning’s new centerfire line of hunting rifle ammunition features two vastly different projectiles for different purposes. The BXR (Browning Rapid Expansion—don’t ask me why the “X” is before the “R”) ammunition is designed specifically for deer-size game; the BXC (Browning Controlled Expansion) ammunition is for densely muscled, heavy-boned big game, such as elk and moose. For starters, the BXR bullet is a cup-and-core flatbase bullet with a fairly thin, tapered copper jacket. However, the similarities between it and traditional deer bullets stop there. At the forward end is a huge composite tip made of a 70/30 percent mix of copper dust and polymer. Termed the “Matrix Tip,” it is engineered to cause immediate, massive expansion on impact. Unlike typical Delrin polymer tips seen on most current bullet designs, the Matrix Tip does not have a stem that protrudes down into the lead core of the bullet. Rather, as may be seen from the photos, it has a flat base that sits atop the flat forward end of the lead core, pinched firmly in place by the mouth of the copper jacket.
On impact, the Matrix Tip disintegrates, in essence leaving the biggest hollowpoint this side of a .50-caliber muzzleloader bullet. During the aforementioned Wyoming whitetail hunt, which was hosted by Ralph Dampman’s Trophy Ridge Outfitters, I shot one mature buck and saw three others shot, including a monster 163-inch 11 point. Plus, I was present when one of the guides shot a 140-pound mountain lion with Browning ammo. As gun writer David Petzal put it, “I’ve rarely seen deer drop so quickly…and die so quickly.” Impressively, every single one of the .30-06 Browning X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed rifles that our group of writers was issued shot three-shot groups with the 155-grain BXR bullets into groups measuring less than an inch at 100 yards. Making a super-soft, explosively expanding deer bullet carries risk. Such bullets often fall short in terms of penetration. On impact they cause tremendous—although somewhat shallow—damage and tend to put deer down very quickly. However, long, stressful tracking jobs can result after less-than-perfect shot placement. When your bullet doesn’t hit exactly where you meant it to, penetration is your friend. Deep penetration
raises the likelihood of a vital being hit and of the bullet exiting, which makes for a more profuse blood trail. I was concerned initially that with such a big composite tip engineered over such a hollowpoint, penetration would be woefully inadequate. I was pleasantly surprised. We recovered only one bullet; the rest exited after impacting the various bucks from quite different angles. Although built for immediate, massive expansion, the BXR maintains enough weight and shank integrity to penetrate adequately. Voila! The perfect whitetail bullet. On the far end of the spectrum, the BXC is a heavy-fordiameter, thick-jacketed bullet with a protected tip. Its primary purpose is to punch through bone that defies lesser bullets and drive deep into half-ton (or heavier) animals. Its lead core is bonded to a very thick jacket; a cannelure provides a mechanical core-to-jacket lock, and an anodized, machined-aluminum tip—yes, you read that correctly—protects the critical business end of the projectile from early disruption. It’s not a high-BC bullet. It’s not designed for dime-group accuracy. It’s designed to kill stuff that’s kill-resistant, at practical distances. DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
65
Engineered for toughness, Browning’s BXC bullet is a thick-jacketed, bonded projectile with a machined, anodized aluminum tip. The preproduction prototype shown (left) was made with a brass tip. The BXR bullet (right) uses a copper dust/polymer “Matrix Tip” bullet, and it worked perfectly on this 140-pound mountain lion.
Early iterations featured a slight boattail and a machined brass tip, which had a nice gold color to it. For various reasons, including a troubled center of gravity that resulted in somewhat erratic accuracy, the brass and boattail were dropped for aluminum and a flat base, after which the BXC flew comfortably with an accuracy more than adequate for the ranges it’s designed for. Armed with a manufacturing lot of .30-06 BXC cartridges of the original variety that showed reasonable accuracy, I hunted Southwest Texas in late February 2016. Mature aoudads were scarce, but as the second-to-last evening closed, we finally found a good ram and stalked as close as the terrain would allow. The BXC bullet did its job on the legendarily tough, sinewy ram, and it returned to camp with us that night. Initial calibers in the BXR line include .243 Win., .270 Win., .30-30, .308 Win., .30-06, .300 WSM, and .300 Win. Mag. Initial calibers in the BXC line include .270 Win., 7mm Rem. Mag., .308 Win., .30-06, .300 WSM, and .300 Win. Mag. 66
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
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EW
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Browning introduced two types of pistol ammo. One is engineered for personal protection and features an innovative X-shaped metal cross designed to prevent heavy clothing from plugging the cavity inside the hollowpoint. The other line features same-weight FMJ projectiles for practice.
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Not surprisingly, Browning’s flagship line of pistol ammunition features an advanced-performance personal-protection bullet. One of the most common reasons for bullet failure against a deadly threat is because on impact the hollowpoint becomes plugged with heavy clothing and fails to expand. How to effectively circumvent the issue is one of the biggest headaches for every ammo manufacturer’s R&D department. Various designs have been employed with varying success. Browning’s magic takes the form of an X-shaped lead structure inside the hollowpoint. Dubbed the BXP (Browning X-Point), it is said to shed cloth and other foreign material yet enables hydraulic expansion. According to Frank, the company’s 9mm load typically achieves 15 to 17 inches of penetration in gel covered with heavy cloth, and the .45 load goes around 14 to 16 inches. And it is accurate, too. I ran the 9mm Luger version through a Dan Wesson 1911 Discretion fitted with my SilencerCo Osprey K45 suppressor, and three consecutive five-shot groups at 25 yards averaged less than an inch. One cool thing about the 9mm load is that it pushes the 147-grain bullet just below the speed of sound from the 5.5inch barrel of the suppressed 1911. Carrying an accurate self-defense sidearm is all very well, but unless you practice with it your proficiency will be no more likely than becoming the next Jimi Hendrix if your guitar gathers dust in the corner. To make practice as effective as possible as well as affordable, Browning introduced a BPT (Browning Performance Target) line loaded with same-weight FMJ bullets at the
Two .22 LR hunting loads (shown) and one target load will be offered in Browning’s rimfire line. Both hunting loads shot sub-half-inch 25-yard groups from the author’s CZ Model 452 boltaction rifle.
same speeds as the defense loads. Point of impact should be the same whether shooting the less expensive FMJ loads or premium BXP ammo. To aid reliability and prevent corrosion, the cartridge cases of both pistol ammo lines are plated with black chrome, making them slick for easier feeding. Initial calibers in the BXP/BPT line include .380 ACP, 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.
Rimfire At the time of this writing, two premium rimfire hunting .22 LR loads and one plinking .22 LR load make up the current line, although Frank admitted that zestier rimfires, such as the .17 HMR and .22 WMR, are on the company’s radar for future introductions. I couldn’t get any of the bulk roundnose target/plinking ammo to test, but the BPR (Browning Performance Rimfire) hunting loads both shot sub-half-inch groups out of my CZ-USA Model 452 rifle at 25 yards. Impressively, the segmenting 37-grain hollowpoint shot a 0.39-inch five-shot group at 25 yards. In the past, the segmenting projectiles I’ve tested have not shot nearly so well. Seemingly, the process of manufacturing a bullet that predictably breaks into pieces on impact isn’t conducive to accuracy, but Browning seems to have broken the code. Both hunting loads feature copperwashed, well-lubed projectiles. Reliability was stellar through both the CZ bolt action and a customized Ruger 10/22 with a Magnum Research barrel that I used to test semiauto ammo reliability. Even with a Trijicon RMR with a goodsize red dot, the latter averaged right at an inch with both loads at 25 yards. I’m sure it would group even tighter with a good magnified optic on the 10/22.
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DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
69
BROWNING’S NEW AMMUNITION
Intense morning sun was washing across my chronograph, and I’m certain that it was reading erratically on the tiny .22-caliber bullets, so don’t put too much stock in the wide extreme spreads and standard deviations on the accuracy chart. Interestingly, although the 40-grain hollowpoint is listed as the fastest on Browning Ammo’s website (1,435 fps to the 1,400 fps for the 37-grain segmenting bullet), I found that the lighter bullet was faster. Neither reached advertised velocities, but that could be because both rifles have 16.5-inch barrels, and I’m sure that factory speeds were developed in full-length barrels. Performance Target .22 LR ammo features a 40-grain bullet with a black oxide coating optimized to feed and function in semiauto firearms. It will be sold in 400round bulk packs.
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Tidings of Comfort
While it has history with handguns and rifles, Browning is particularly famous for fine hunting and sporting shotguns. It stands to reason, then, that shotshell lines would include premium upland bird ammo refined enough to complement the finest double barrels, waterfowl loads that hit big ducks and geese like a wrecking ball, and target loads that turn clays into dust. Browning’s shotshells don’t disappoint. Upland BXD (Browning Extra Distance) shells feature premium nickel-plated lead shot pushed at high velocities. The plating protects the pellets from deforming, making for even, dense patterns and aiding velocity retention. Waterfowl BXD is also pushed at impressive speeds and features a special “aerodynamically stabilized wad” engineered to help the plated steel shot reach out and maintain as much velocity as possible. Slits in the side walls of the shot cup allow the cup to flex and the shot to equalize in it and disperse evenly and consistently, making for impressive steel-shot patterns at distance. The combination of high speed, perfectly round shot, and a cup designed for distance makes it a pretty good choice for wary geese or high-flying mallards. As for Browning’s BPT (Browning Performance Target) shotshells, very hard, highantimony, lead-alloy shot resists deformation, which helps maintain velocity and keep patterns even and dense. It also helps break stubborn clays. Additionally, a high-strength hull so smooth that it looks like polished black steel makes for low-friction feeding.
BROWNING AMMO ACCURACY & VELOCITY
NEOPRENE PADDING STEEL RETENTION CORE ZERO BREAK-IN TIME CLOAK TUCK 3.0 IWB HOLSTER
AMMUNITION
$43
88
VEL. (FPS)
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
.270 Win. Rifles Inc. Strata, 23.5-in. Barrel Browning 134-gr. BXR 2967 50 18 ---9mm Luger Dan Wesson Discretion, 5.5-in. Barrel Browning 147-gr. BPT 1042 21 9 1.01 Browning 147-gr. BXP 1020 85 30 .22 LR CZ-USA Model 452, 16.5-in. Barrel Browning 37-gr. BPR 1416 113 43 Browning 40-gr. BPR 1297 35 14 .22 LR Custom Ruger 10/22, 16.5-in. Barrel Browning 37-gr. BPR 1382 54 22 Browning 40-gr. BPR 1241 116 55
AlienGearHolsters.com Questions? 208 215 2046
25-YD. ACC. (IN.)
100-YD. ACC. (IN.)
0.93 ----
0.92
----
0.39 0.43
-------
0.82 0.99
-------
NOTES: Accuracy for the .270 Win. ammo is the average of three, three-shot groups. Accuracy for the 9mm ammo is the average of three, five-shot groups. Accuracy for the .22 LR ammo is for a single five-shot group. All groups were fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the guns’ muzzles.
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SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
Browning’s full line of shotshells include 12-, 16-, and 20-gauge offerings. Categories include target, upland bird, and waterfowl shotshells.
That, of course, equates to enhanced reliability. I haven’t had the opportunity to hunt with Browning’s shotshell line, but I’ve worked out the Performance Target 12-gauge load through my Benelli Montefeltro. Featuring 1⅛ ounces of #8 shot, it functions perfectly through the semiauto and smashes clays with authority when I do my part.
One of the coolest aspects of Browning’s shotshell line is that right from the get-go the company included 16-gauge shells. I’m not sure what the motivation was—perhaps the new Sweet Sixteen A5 autoloader from Browning Arms—but lovers of the classic bore aren’t forgotten. Like I said before, Browning’s motto could have been “Leave no guns behind” when introducing this new line of ammunition. In fact, by the time you read this report, the company undoubtedly will have introduced more loadings in some, if not all, categories.
SHOOT
HUNT
DEFEND
TRAIN
QUICKSHOT
LAST YEAR IF YOU WANTED A THREADED MUZZLE ON YOUR ED BROWN
Special Forces Model 1911 you had to buy the pistol with a standard barrel and then purchase an extra barrel with a threaded muzzle. This year you can buy the pistol set up with just the threaded barrel. The Special Forces SR (Suppressor Ready) also comes with a light-rail frame, a Trijicon 3.25MOA RMR reflex sight, G10 grip panels, and the proprietary Chainlink III stippling on the grip frame. Chainlink III consists of small dimples, so it’s easier on the hand than sharp checkering, but it offers a very positive grip. This is the third iteration of Ed Brown’s Chainlink dimple stippling. Chainlink II dimples are a bit larger in diameter, and Chainlink I dimples are slightly elongated. The pistol has a flat mainspring housing, a Memory Groove beavertail grip safety, a tactical-style extended thumb safety, a precision-machined Commander-style hammer, and a lightweight aluminum trigger. The frame has been undercut where the grip frontstrap meets the trigger guard and has a blended magwell at the opposite end. The match-grade stainless-steel .45 ACP barrel is 5.5 inches long, comes with a thread protector,
72
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
85% SIZE. 100% BROWNING.
Browning 1911-380
Scaled at 85% of John M. Browning’s original 1911 .45
browning.com
ED BROWN SPECIAL FORCES SR
SPECIAL FORCES SR MANUFACTURER
and has a twist rate of one turn in 16 inches. The feedramp is polished. And the thread size is 0.578x28 tpi RH. The slide has serrations at the rear and at the front. And the ejection port is lowered and flared. Extra-tall Trijicon sights with green, tritium-illuminated dots are dovetailed into the slide and are ideal for use with or without a suppressor installed. They co-witness with the factory-installed Trijicon RMR reflex sight. The pistol came in a padded case with two internal pockets, two seven-round magazines, a bushing wrench, a sight-adjustment wrench, a cable lock, Firearm Lubricant No. 960, and an owner’s manual. The new Special Forces SR did not disappoint when I put it through a standard shooting review. I fired five different .45 ACP factory loads, with bullet weights and types ranging from 185-grain JHP to 230-grain FMJ. The pistol fed and fired every round without a single hiccup. And as you can see from the chart, accuracy was top-notch. In fact, every five-shot group fired with the gun mounted in the Ransom Rest had at least four shots touching, and in many cases all five shots were one ragged hole. I also fired the gun offhand at my swinging steel plate target and Birchwood Casey Hex ball reactive target, and I have to say shooting a really well-built 1911 at fun targets
74
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
TYPE CALIBER MAGAZINE CAPACITY BARREL OVERALL LENGTH WIDTH HEIGHT WEIGHT, EMPTY GRIPS
Ed Brown Products edbrown.com Recoil-operated autoloader .45 ACP 7 rounds 5.5 in. 9.13 in. 1.30 in. (grip) 6.13 in. 44 oz. Black G10
FINISH
Black Gen4
SIGHTS
Trijicon RMR, Trijicon suppressorheight night sights
TRIGGER SAFETY MSRP
4.25-lb. pull (as tested) Extended thumb safety; beavertail grip safety $3,995
such as these has just about become my favorite shooting pastime. By the way, the Special Forces SR’s precision-fitted trigger averaged 4.25 pounds of pull. The Ed Brown Special Forces SR with Trijicon RMR already installed retails for just under $4,000, so it should be a top performer. The pistol I fired for this report met and exceeded all my expectations.
The Ed Brown Special Forces SR comes with a 5.5-inch threaded barrel, Trijicon suppressor-height night sights, a Trijicon RMR reflex sight, an integral accessories rail, and G10 grip panels. Our pistol has the black Gen4 finish, but optional colors are Stealth Grey and Battle Bronze.
ED BROWN SPECIAL FORCES SR ACCURACY & VELOCITY
AMMUNITION
VEL. (FPS)
.45 ACP, 5.5-inch Barrel Aeris 185-gr. HP 1057 Hornady American Gunner 185-gr. XTP/HP 961 Federal Gold Medal Match 230-gr. FMJ 853 HPR 230-gr. JHP 831 Winchester Win1911 230-gr. FMJ 823
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
25-YD. ACC. (IN.)
15 35 28 31 39
5 14 11 13 15
0.77 1.15 1.13 1.22 0.88
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, five-shot groups fired from a Ransom Rest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle.
YOUR NEXT FIREARM IS WAITING
Firearms can only be sent to a Cabela’s store for pickup. We’ll ship it to your nearest Cabela’s store for free. Possession is only transferred in-person after all applicable government requirements, including background checks, are fulfilled. Check your applicable federal, state and local laws before attempting to acquire a firearm.
SHOOT
HUNT
DEFEND
TRAIN
QUICKSHOT
I FIRST SAW UM TACTICAL’S PISTOL SCOPE MOUNT MORE THAN TWO YEARS
ago, but I didn’t get around to buying one until this year. Now that I’ve tried it, I wish I’d bought one back then. The UM3 scope mount fits on full-size handguns with standard 1913 accessory rails. The mount is T6 aluminum, weighs 2.5 ounces, and is split on top. Inside the bottom of the mount is a spring-loaded detent that mates with the cross-slot of the pistol’s accessory rail. On top, the UM3 has six slots for scope rings and optical sight bases. The mount’s bottom also has slots, two in this case, and they are designed for use with a laser or light. Installation takes only a few seconds. The UM3 mount slides over the pistol’s muzzle, and the spring-loaded detent engages with one of the pistol’s accessory-rail cross-slots. The top of the mount is held together by the sight base or scope rings. The UM3 allows the shooter to use the pistol’s sights if so desired; however, it is not compatible with elevated or tall front sights. It is compatible with ported pistols as long as the ports vent the gas in front of the mount, not into it. For this quick review, I employed the UM3 mount on a SIG SAUER 1911 TACOPS, and it fit like the proverbial glove. Once in place and with the scope rings tightened, the mount was extremely secure. Using my favorite Burris pistol scope, my group shooting with the pistol improved dramatically. Specifically, using the pistol’s iron sights, three factory loads averaged 3.05, 2.77, and 3.38 inches respectively for three, five-shot groups at 25 yards. With the UM3 mount and the scope installed, those same factory loads averaged 2.13, 2.03, and 2.36 inches. I am 55 years old, have been near-sighted my whole life, and have been using bifocal eyeglasses for about 15 years, so I’m excited about having the UM3 scope mount at my disposal. Its easy on-and-off makes it perfect for switching from handgun to handgun, and that makes it extremely valuable to me personally. I shoot a lot of different handguns in my line of work, and many of them are not easy to install a scope on, but shooting them with a scope would offer a better picture of their accuracy potential. The UM3 allows me to shoot pistols with accessory rails in a manner so that my poor eyesight does not adversely affect their accuracy. Like I said at the beginning of this report, I wish I had purchased one years ago. MSRP: $99.99 umtactical.com 76
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
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UNTIL NOW, ALL THE POLYCASE AMMUNITION WE’VE FIRED FOR REVIEW
in Shooting Times has been pistol cartridges or rifle cartridges. Recently, I got a small supply of .38 Special revolver ammo featuring PolyCase’s innovative 77-grain ARX bullet, and I put it to a shooting test in two revolvers. ARX stands for Advanced Rotation eXtreme, and the ARX design has three unique power vanes that cut as they rotate through tissue. They don’t look like typical handgun bullets, and they don’t expand in tissue. They are made of a proprietary formula of copper powder metal and glass-fiber-reinforced nylon made by PolyOne. They have approximately 35 percent less weight than jacketed lead-core bullets, higher velocity, flatter trajectory, less recoil, less potential for ricochets, and highly effective and predictable terminal ballistics. ARX bullets have been proven to produce deep penetration and large wound cavities, causing devastating shock through fluid dynamics and lateral force. Operating like a hydrodynamic ram, the ARX bullet compresses the fluidfilled tissue ahead of it and creates a temporary cavity as it dumps rotational energy into the tissue. The bullet’s vanes cause the fluid in the target’s tissue to be accelerated and displaced, causing the wound cavity to increase. As the fluid’s velocity across the bullet’s vanes increases, shock waves are produced. (There is an illustration of how this unique bullet works on PolyCase’s website, and it helps explain the ARX’s effect on the fluid-filled tissue.) PolyCase lists a velocity of 1,116 fps for the .38 Special ARX ammo. I fired it for this report out of revolvers with 2.0- and 4.0-inch barrels, and the velocities I recorded were 1,013 and 1,071 fps respectively. Those results are the average of five-shot strings with each revolver, and they were measured 12 feet from the guns’ muzzles. Fired for accuracy from a benchrest at a selfPOLYCASE .38 SPECIAL INCEPTOR ACCURACY & VELOCITY defense distance of 7 yards and also at our standard protocol distance of 25 yards, the Poly7-YD. 25-YD. Case ammo averaged from 1.02 inches to 3.66 VEL. E.S. S.D. ACC. ACC. AMMUNITION (FPS) (FPS) (FPS) (IN.) (IN.) inches in the two revolvers. Those results are as Kimber K6s, 2.0-in. Barrel good as or better than what I can achieve with PolyCase Inceptor 77-gr. ARX 1013 24 16 1.14 3.66 other personal-defense factory ammunition with S&W Model 586, 4.0-in. Barrel these guns. Felt recoil, admittedly a subjective PolyCase Inceptor 77-gr. ARX 1071 22 12 1.02 3.28 thing, seemed noticeably less than from more NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. conventional ammunition loadings. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the guns’ muzzles. polycaseammo.com 78
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
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ON NEWSSTANDS
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Accessories LaserLyte Mighty Mouse Grip Laser Jake Edmondson [Feb. p.67] Tetra “Green Formula” Cleaner Degreaser Jake Edmondson [Mar. p.75] Crimson Trace Master Series 1911 Lasergrips Jake Edmondson [Apr. p.66] OWB Versus IWB Layne Simpson [May p.36] LaserMax Green Guide Rod Laser Jake Edmondson [June p.74] Composite Stock King Joseph von Benedikt [July p.40]
7mm Weatherby Magnum Joseph von Benedikt [Nov. p.54] Hornady Lock-N-Load Iron Press Steve Gash [Nov. p.80]
Shooting Sticks 101 Joseph von Benedikt [Aug. p.62] Boyds SS Evolution Stock Joel J. Hutchcroft [Aug. p.74] Pocket Holsters Layne Simpson [Sept. p.62] LaserLyte Glock Laser Trainer Barrel Jake Edmondson [Oct. p.82] UM Tactical UM3 Scope Mount Joel J. Hutchcroft [Dec./Jan. p.76]
Joseph von Benedikt [Dec./Jan. p.44] Revolver Cartridges in Rifles Layne Simpson [Dec./Jan. p.52] Browning’s New Ammunition Joseph von Benedikt [Dec./Jan. p.64] PolyCase .38 Special Interceptor ARX
Game-Changer Joseph von Benedikt [Feb. p.36] Hornady’s Hot Tip Lane Pearce [Feb. p.44] .577 Snider: Colonel Boxer’s Masterpiece Terry Wieland [Mar. p.46] New from Lyman Layne Simpson [Mar. p.54] .30 Nosler D. Faubion [Apr. p.30] The Revolutionary FTX Layne Simpson [May p.54] Remington Top Five Layne Simpson [June p.54] The 7.35x51mm Carcano Lane Pearce [Sept. p.68] Handloading for Autoloaders Layne Simpson [Oct. p.68] 7mm Winchester Short Magnum Steve Gash [Nov. p.36] 7mm Remington Magnum Steve Gash [Nov. p.46]
82
Ed Brown Special Forces SR Joel J. Hutchcroft [Dec./Jan. p.72]
Miscellaneous Shooting Range Industries Ready Range Joel J. Hutchcroft [Sept. p.82] Shooting Times Index For February–December 2016 Volume 57 [Dec./Jan. p.82]
Jake Edmondson [Dec./Jan. p.78]
Handguns Glock MOS Joel J. Hutchcroft [Feb. p.30] Heavyweight Hybrid Layne Simpson [Feb. p.56] Traditions Rawhide .22 LR Joel J. Hutchcroft [Feb. p.64] Five-Shot Super Magnums Lane Pearce [Mar. p.30] Discretion Joel J. Hutchcroft [Apr. p.26] American Pistol
Ammo/Reloading
Joel J. Hutchcroft [Dec./Jan. p.36]
A Practical Powerhouse
Gun Storage Solutions Rifle Rod Kits Jake Edmondson [July p.74]
A Potent Pair
Joseph von Benedikt [May p.24] Coonan .357 Magnum Automatic Jake Edmondson [May p.64] Victory! Joel J. Hutchcroft [June p.26] Long Slide Bart Skelton [June p.32] New Handguns Joseph von Benedikt [June p.40] Remington Top Five Layne Simpson [June p.54] Hunt SMART D. Faubion [July p.26] Walther PPS M2 Jake Edmondson [July p.70] Shooting the EMP4 Layne Simpson [Sept. p.30] Legion Joseph von Benedikt [Oct. p.44]
Optics/Sights Burris BC4 Plus 4.5-14X 42mm Steve Gash [Feb. p.66] Nikon Prostaff Rimfire II 4-12X 40mm Joel J. Hutchcroft [Mar. p.74] AccuPower Evan Brune [Apr. p.52] Bushnell Super Banner 3.5-10X 36mm Steve Gash [Apr. p.64] Leupold VX-6 3-18X 44mm CDS-ZL Joseph von Benedikt [May p.66] ScopeAid Joel J. Hutchcroft [May p.67] Nikon Monarch 7 3-12X 56mm Jake Edmondson [June p.72] Sights Vs. Red Dot Reflex Sights Vs. Riflescopes Layne Simpson [July p.54] Weaver Grand Slam MultiStop 4-16X 44mm Jake Edmondson [July p.72] Steiner GS3 Riflescopes with A4 Reticle Jake Edmondson [Aug. p.72] Das Beste Joseph von Benedikt [Sept. p.36] SIG SAUER Whiskey3 2-7X 32mm Joel J. Hutchcroft [Sept. p.80] Leupold VX-R 4-12X 40mm CDS Jake Edmondson [Oct. p.80] LaserLyte Glock Laser Trainer Barrel Jake Edmondson [Oct. p.82] Bushnell Trophy Xtreme 12X50mm Binocular Jake Edmondson [Nov. p.78]
Shooting the RM380 Layne Simpson [Nov. p.64] Colt Competition Government Model 9mm Joel J. Hutchcroft [Nov. p.74]
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
Rifles XPR Stands for Accuracy, Reliability & Value Steve Gash [Feb. p.48]
Range Warrior Joel J. Hutchcroft [Mar. p.40] A Lever-Action MSR Steve Gash [Mar. p.60] Springfield Armory M1A Precision
Brune, Evan AccuPower [Apr. p.52]
Adjustable Stock
Edmondson, Jake
Joseph von Benedikt [Mar. p.72]
LaserLyte Mighty Mouse Grip Laser [Feb. p.67] Tetra “Green Formula” Cleaner Degreaser [Mar. p.75] Crimson Trace Master Series 1911 Lasergrips [Apr. p.66] Coonan .357 Magnum Automatic [May p.64] Nikon Monarch 7 3-12X 56mm [June p.72] LaserMax Green Guide Rod Laser [June p.74] Walther PPS M2 [July p.70] Weaver Grand Slam MultiStop 4-16X 44mm [July p.72] Gun Storage Solutions Rifle Rod Kits [July p.74] Steiner GS3 Riflescopes with A4 Reticle [Aug. p.72] Stevens Model 555 .410 Bore [Sept. p.78] Ruger 10/22 Takedown Lite [Oct. p.76] Leupold VX-R 4-12X 40mm CDS [Oct. p.80] LaserLyte Glock Laser Trainer Barrel [Oct. p.82] Bushnell Trophy Xtreme 12X50mm Binocular [Nov. p.78] PolyCase .38 Special Interceptor ARX [Dec./Jan. p.78]
Problem Solved Steve Gash [Apr. p.44] Thumper Steve Gash [May p.46] Remington Top Five Layne Simpson [June p.54] New Rifles Steve Gash [June p.62] Lightweight Hunter Steve Gash [July p.62] New from T/C Steve Gash [Aug. p.28] Masterpiece Bart Skelton [Aug. p.40] An AR to Be Proud Of Layne Simpson [Aug. p.46] Winchester Top 5 Joseph von Benedikt [Aug. p.54] Traditions Crackshot .22 LR Joel J. Hutchcroft [Aug. p.70] Small-Game Super-Zapper Joel J. Hutchcroft [Sept. p.44] The AR Exchange Joseph von Benedikt [Sept. p.52] Hunter Joseph von Benedikt [Oct. p.32] An AR Mountain Rifle Steve Gash [Oct. p.60] Ruger 10/22 Takedown Lite Jake Edmondson [Oct. p.76] SIG Mission-Configurable Carbine Steve Gash [Dec./Jan. p.28]
Shotguns V3 Brad Fitzpatrick [Mar. p.66] TriStar Viper G2 Bronze 20 Gauge Joel J. Hutchcroft [Apr. p.62] Benelli ETHOS 20 Gauge Brad Fitzpatrick [June p.70] Sanctified Brad Fitzpatrick [July p.32] Winchester Top 5 Joseph von Benedikt [Aug. p.54] Stevens Model 555 .410 Bore Jake Edmondson [Sept. p.78] The Element Brad Fitzpatrick [Oct. p.52] Beretta’s New Autoloader
TriStar Viper G2 Bronze 20 Gauge [Apr. p.62] ScopeAid [May p.67] Victory! [June p.26] Traditions Crackshot .22 LR [Aug. p.70] Boyds SS Evolution Stock [Aug. p.74] Small-Game Super-Zapper [Sept. p.44] SIG SAUER Whiskey3 2-7X 32mm [Sept. p.80] Shooting Range Industries Ready Range [Sept. p.82] Colt Competition Government Model 9mm [Nov. p.74] A Potent Pair [Dec./Jan. p.36] Ed Brown Special Forces SR [Dec./Jan. p.72] UM Tactical UM3 Scope Mount [Dec./Jan. p.76]
Pearce, Lane Hornady’s Hot Tip [Feb. p.44] Five-Shot Super Magnums [Mar. p.30] The 7.35x51mm Carcano [Sept. p.68]
Simpson, Layne
V3 [Mar. p.66] Benelli ETHOS 20 Gauge [June p.70] Sanctified [July p.32] The Element [Oct. p.52]
Heavyweight Hybrid [Feb. p.56] New from Lyman [Mar. p.54] OWB Versus IWB [May p.36] The Revolutionary FTX [May p.54] Remington Top Five [June p.54] Sights Vs. Red Dot Reflex Sights Vs. Riflescopes [July p.54] An AR to Be Proud Of [Aug. p.46] Shooting the EMP4 [Sept. p.30] Pocket Holsters [Sept. p.62] Handloading for Autoloaders [Oct. p.68] Beretta’s New Autoloader [Nov. p.26] Shooting the RM380 [Nov. p.64] Revolver Cartridges in Rifles [Dec./Jan. p.52]
Gash, Steve
Skelton, Bart
XPR Stands for Accuracy, Reliability & Value [Feb. p.48] Burris BC4 Plus 4.5-14X 42mm [Feb. p.66] A Lever-Action MSR [Mar. p.60] Problem Solved [Apr. p.44] Bushnell Super Banner 3.5-10X 36mm [Apr. p.64] Thumper [May p.46] New Rifles [June p.62] Lightweight Hunter [July p.62] New from T/C [Aug. p.28] An AR Mountain Rifle [Oct. p.60] 7mm Winchester Short Magnum [Nov. p.36] 7mm Remington Magnum [Nov. p.46] Hornady Lock-N-Load Iron Press [Nov. p.80] SIG Mission-Configurable Carbine [Dec./Jan. p.28]
Long Slide [June p.32] Masterpiece [Aug. p.40]
Faubion, D. .30 Nosler [Apr. p.30] Hunt SMART [July p.26]
Fitzpatrick, Brad
Hutchcroft, Joel J. Glock MOS [Feb. p.30] Traditions Rawhide .22 LR [Feb. p.64] Range Warrior [Mar. p.40] Nikon Prostaff Rimfire II 4-12X 40mm [Mar. p.74] Discretion [Apr. p.26]
von Benedikt, Joseph Game-Changer [Feb. p.36] Springfield Armory M1A Precision Adjustable Stock [Mar. p.72] American Pistol [May p.24] Leupold VX-6 3-18X 44mm CDS-ZL [May p.66] New Handguns [June p.40] Composite Stock King [July p.40] Winchester Top 5 [Aug. p.54] Shooting Sticks 101 [Aug. p.62] Das Beste [Sept. p.36] The AR Exchange [Sept. p.52] Hunter [Oct. p.32] Legion [Oct. p.44] 7mm Weatherby Magnum [Nov. p.54] A Practical Powerhouse [Dec./Jan. p.44] Browning’s New Ammunition [Dec./Jan. p.64]
Wieland, Terry .577 Snider: Colonel Boxer’s Masterpiece [Mar. p.46]
Layne Simpson [Nov. p.26] DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
83
SHOOTER’S SHOWCASE GUNSMOKE
HIPSHOTS
WHY IS THAT A RADICAL THOUGHT? SIMPLE.
While it’s rarely said, a selfdefense gun should be fun to shoot as well as safe, ultra-reliable, and uncomplicated. Two that Terry particularly enjoys are the S&W Model 60 and the Walther PPK.
84
A gun that’s fun to shoot gets shot a lot, even by people who are not die-hard shooters. A lot of shooting adds up to a lot of practice, and that translates into a vital aspect of any defense gun—that it be operated instinctively as an extension of the shooter’s body. Now, obviously, a defense gun must also be reliable, but that’s something you find out with a lot of shooting and trying different ammunition. The debate over the relative merits of this gun or that cartridge is never-ending. But like rifles for dangerous game, there is more to it than paper ballistics, accuracy, or cartridge capacity. These other factors become particularly important when choosing a gun for a family member who may not have your serious interest, won’t practice nearly enough, and couldn’t care less about foot-pounds of energy.
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
In a defense gun, two things are of paramount importance: ease of use and reliability. That applies to concealed guns, car guns, and guns kept by the bed. In the last case, where it’s most likely to be used in the dark, those two factors become even more critical.
Instinctive Use Comes from Lots of Shooting Regardless of the gun’s mechanism, instinctive use comes only from practice—a lot of it. The way to ensure that someone gets enough practice is to make sure they’re armed with a gun they like and find fun to shoot. Different people have affinities for different firearm types, often for inexplicable reasons. Some prefer a double shotgun, others like a pump. Personally, I love double rifles, but I’m more at home with a bolt gun, and that’s what I’ve always had in my hands in dangerous situations.
MCS Upper with
Integral Forend, Barrel Locking Arms & Retainer
My preference in a defensive handgun is either a Smith & Wesson J-Frame revolver or a double-action semiauto like the Walther PPK. I shoot both types a lot simply because they’re fun to shoot. What I am talking about is not taste but affinity. I am comfortable with those mechanisms, but not so much with either a Glock or a Model 1911, and no amount of shooting seems to change that. Trying to force someone to use a gun they aren’t comfortable with is a mistake. Forget ballistics and cartridge count. What matters are things like how to deal with a misfire and how confident you are carrying the gun or reaching into the drawer beside the bed with your heart racing. Take the .38-caliber J-Frame. It holds five rounds and has a long, safe, double-action pull. You grab the gun and squeeze the trigger. If it misfires, you simply squeeze the trigger again. It can’t jam unless you stuff it full of over-pressure loads. In a tight situation, it requires no conscious thought. It’s all instinct and muscle memory. Sheer firepower is overrated; a defensive gun exists to get you out of a bad situation, not get you into a gunfight.
Finger-Groove Grips Generally speaking, finger grooves on double-action revolver grips will help keep the gun from sliding down through your grasp in recoil.
America may be a nation of 1911 lovers, but the 1911 is really an expert’s gun. It’s difficult to master, and the .45 ACP is hard to handle. Even in a car, where weight is not a consideration, my preference is a Walther P38, not a 1911. For carrying, I have a .380 PPK. And beside the bed is an old 9mm S&W Model 39-2. That mechanism and I just have an affinity for each other. Occasionally, I carry an S&W Model 60 in a shoulder holster. For me, all of them are just fun to shoot. That is not true of the 1911, even though I do shoot them a lot. Those are my particular choices. You might prefer a 1911 on your hip and a semiauto shotgun under the bed. The point is that in helping to choose a gun for another person, you should tailor the choice to what they like and not what you theorize is “best.” If a person enjoys shooting a particular gun and thinks it’s fun, they are more likely to practice than if they find it unpleasant, complicated, or intimidating.
.223 / 5.56mm Barrel with MCS Upper & Integral Forend
The Windham Weaponry MCS System offers a quick change barrel capability in its Upper Receiver and interchangeable Magazine Wells in the Lower. The complete MCS System offers 4 different calibers with appropriate bolt carriers and magazines interchangeable in no more than a few minutes. A variety of kits are offered, and individual components are available so that you can choose the calibers you want, or “grow” the system as you desire.
Magazine Well for 7.62x39mm with AK Type Magazines
.300 Blackout Barrel
7.62 x 39mm Barrel Bolt, Bolt Carrier & Magazine
9mm Barrel, Blowback Bolt Carrier & Magazine
Magazine Well for 9mm Magazine Well for .223/5.56mm, .300 Blackout Colt Type Magazines & 7.62x39mm with AR Type Magazines
Made In
The U.S.A.
Get all the details at: www.windhamweaponry.com or call Toll Free: 1-855-808-1888 Windham Weaponry, Inc. • 999 Roosevelt Trail • Windham, Maine 04062
MCS Lower Receiver with Telestock & Interchangeable Magazine Wells
The Perfect Shot // Continued From Page 88
easily dispatched with one shot apiece. Later, but still early in his career, another gunfight produced his most lasting nickname. After ferreting out a certain wanted criminal, Bryce called for him to surrender. Instead, the gangster fired on Bryce, which resulted in Bryce shooting the perpetrator. As the criminal lay dying, he said, “I can’t believe I was killed by a jelly bean like you.” The “Jelly” part stuck, and Bryce became known as D.A. “Jelly” Bryce. A few more years with the Oklahoma City Police and later the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
Bryce and Jordan D.A. “Jelly” Bryce (left) and “Long” Bill Jordan (right) were two of the deadliest law enforcement officers of their time primarily because of their extraordinary hipshooting skills. Both men had a preference for doubleaction duty revolvers.
produced several more gunfights and many more dead criminals. Word of Bryce’s encounters spread all the way to the FBI, and in 1934 J. Edgar Hoover waived the FBI’s requirement of a college degree and inducted Bryce, who served mostly in Oklahoma and Texas.
Bryce’s Guns During his gunfights, Bryce was armed with everything from a Thompson submachine gun to a .38-caliber Colt revolver. One of his favorites was a Smith & Wesson .44 Hand Ejector revolver with a 4-inch barrel, fixed sights, and pearl grips. Bryce served out his law enforcement career with distinction, surviving at least 19 gunfights. Toward the end of his career, he became an FBI shooting instructor and exhibition shooter. He retired in 1958 but continued his shooting exhibitions. One of his most famous stunts was to hold a silver dollar shoulder high, drop it, draw his revolver, and shoot before the coin reached waist level. He was once clocked doing the trick in less than two-fifths of a second. D.A. Bryce passed away in 1974 at the age of 68. He was one of the deadliest lawmen of his time.
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900 PEAK/ 700 RUNNING WATTS 2 HP (63 CC) 2 CYCLE GAS RECREATIONAL GENERATOR
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LIMIT 8 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day.
At Harbor Freight Tools, the “comp at” price means that the same item or a similar functioning item was advertised for sale at or above the "comp at" price by another retailer in the U.S. within the past 180 days. Prices advertised by others may vary by location. No other meaning of "comp at" should be implied. For more information, go to HarborFreight.com or see store associate.
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• HarborFreight.com • 800-423-2567
t calling 800-423-2567. Canno l or HarborFreight.com or by LIMIT 4 - Good at our stores or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from originaal be used with other discount t. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Origin purchase with original receip through 3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day. coupon must be presented. Valid
WOW
QUALITY TOOLS LOWEST PRICES EVERYDAY SUPER COUPON
20%
ANY SINGLE ITEM
OFF
$19.97
Customer Rating
$
Limit 1 coupon per customer per day. Save 20% on any 1 item purchased. *Cannot be used with other discount, coupon or any of the following items or brands: Inside Track Club membership, Extended Service Plan, gift card, open box item, 3 day Parking Lot Sale item, automotive lifts, compressors, floor jacks, saw mills, storage cabinets, chests or carts, trailers, trenchers, welders, Admiral, Badland, CoverPro, Daytona, Diablo, Earthquake, Franklin, Grant’s, Holt, Jupiter, Lynxx, Maddox, Portland, Predator, Stik-Tek, StormCat, Union, Vanguard, Viking. Not valid on prior purchases. Nontransferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 3/15/17.
SAE
FULLY POLISHED COMBINATION WRENCH SETS
YOUR CHOICE
comp at
$599 $899
ITEM 42305/69044/63171
METRIC
ITEM 63282/69043/42304 shown
R 9 PIECE PE ON Customer Rating SU UP CO
R PE ON SU UP CO
$
$5499 SAVE 60
ITEM 62520/60238 shown
8", 5 SPEED BENCHTOP DRILL PRESS
LIMIT 5 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day.
COUPON SAVE 70%
$29999
SAVE $453
ITEM 61256/61889 60813 shown
12,000 LB. ELECTRIC WINCH WITH REMOTE CONTROL AND AUTOMATIC BRAKE
Customer Rating
comp at
On All Hand Tools
• 700+ Stores Nationwide • Lifetime Warranty
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comp at
$ 99 $752.99 $ 99 399 $115.56 69 LIMIT 5 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day.
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R PE ON Customer Rating SU UP CO
SAVE 66%
72" x 80" MOVING BLANKET
$ 99
5
ITEM 66537 shown 69505/62418
8
$ 99$17comp.97at
2999
ITEM 60581 60653 shown
12 VOLT, 10/2/50 AMP BATTERY CHARGER/ ENGINE STARTER
LIMIT 8 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day.
R PE ON SU UP CO
Customer Rating
SAVE 57%
$
$69.99
$4999
comp at
LIMIT 4 - Good at our stores or HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Cannot be used with other discount or coupon or prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase with original receipt. Offer good while supplies last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day.
comp at
Customer Rating
WOW SUPER COUPON
29 PIECE TITANIUM NITRIDE COATED HIGH SPEED STEEL DRILL BIT SET
ITEM 5889/62281 61637 shown
99 SAVE 78%
1999 $59.97
$12
$
m or by calling stores or HarborFreight.co LIMIT 5 - Good at our used with other discount or coupon or prior 800-423-2567. Cannot be from original purchase with original receipt. purchases after 30 days last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be Offer good while supplies3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day. presented. Valid through
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1.51 CUBIC FT. SOLID STEEL DIGITAL FLOOR SAFE
ITEM 91006 61565/62678 62977 shown
$9999
comp at
12999$289.99
SAVE $190 $
m or by calling stores or HarborFreight.co LIMIT 4 - Good at our used with other discount or coupon or prior 800-423-2567. Cannot be from original purchase with original receipt. purchases after 30 days last. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be Offer good while supplies3/15/17. Limit one coupon per customer per day. presented. Valid through
SHOOTER’S SHOWCASE GUNSMOKE
HIPSHOTS
“THE PERFECT SHOT,” “JELLY BEAN,” “THE FASTEST
From his beginnings as an Oklahoma City Police detective through his long career as an FBI agent to his days as an exhibition shooter, D.A. “Jelly” Bryce trained relentlessly. He was a master of the quick draw and an expert at hipshooting.
88
gunfighter ever,” and “the special negotiator” are just some of the names Delf A. Bryce has been called. Regardless of what you call him, Bryce was a legendary lawman who survived 19 gunfights during his 32-year career. Bryce was featured in a Life magazine photo article in 1945 and is the subject of Legendary Lawman: The Story of Quick Draw Jelly Bryce by Ron Owen, Jelly Bryce: The Legend Begins by Mike Conti, and Jelly Bryce: FBI Odyssey also by Conti. He was so successful largely because of his amazing shooting skills. He could move, draw, and shoot quickly and accurately under stress. Bryce, who was born in 1906, possessed natural shooting talent, but he also trained relentlessly, both with live fire and with an unloaded gun in front of a mirror. On numerous occasions, he displayed his prowess at quickly discerning the situation and then shooting while on the move.
SHOOTING TIMES • DECEMBER 2016 // JANUARY 2017
He became a police officer sort of by happenstance. After high school, he became an Oklahoma State Game Agent but quit after six months because he had decided to attend college. While driving to the university, he passed through Shawnee, Oklahoma, and saw a sign for a shooting competition. He had grown up shooting, so, thinking he could win, he entered the match. He also asked the presiding official if he could draw, move, and fire during the match. The official had Bryce do a trial run to see if he was capable, and Bryce rapidly put six shots in a target in a group no larger than a silver dollar. The official was the night chief of the Oklahoma City Police Department and convinced him to join the force and forego college. During his first year of duty, Bryce had at least two shootouts (one occurred on his second day of duty) wherein he fired his revolver as fast as he could squeeze the trigger and put down the crooks. That second gunfight involved two criminals, whom Bryce Continued on Page 86
Flawless performance on the range or at the ready. With its lightweight polymer frame, thin profile, and ramped 3.2” barrel, the Taurus Millennium® G2 is the perfect Everyday Gun™—at an unbeatable price. Available in 9mm Luger or 40 S&W Ideal for concealed carry Proven performance Picatinny accessory rail MIL-STD-1913 Adjustable rear sight Taurus Security System®
TaurusUSA.com
Kimber Two-Tone II and Stainless II The new look for an iconic foundation.
The sophisticated twotone slide and frame finish features brush-polished flats on slide and is accented by rosewood grips. Offered in 45 ACP and 9mm.
The Stainless II family offers models in stainless steel and aluminum construction. Kimber logo rosewood grips complete the classic look on all Stainless II models. Available in three sizes and in .45 ACP and 9mm.
Transforming our foundation, the 2016 Kimber Two-Tone II and Stainless II families have the custom features that promote intuitive operation and absolute dependability. As with all Kimber pistols, each part is manufactured to the tightest tolerances and fit together by hand. Three sizes and 2 calibers are available in each family; the Ultra Carry II, pictured here, features a 3-inch barrel and weighs in at 25 ounces.
MADE IN A MERIC A
WHAT ALL GUNS SHOULD BE
TM
(888) 243-4522 kimberamerica.com
Š2016, Kimber Mfg., Inc. All rights reserved. Information and specifications are for reference only and subject to change without notice.