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NOVEMBER 2017 VOLUME 58, ISSUE 10
40 50 54 60 62
Seven Is Better Shooting Times recently received three new versions of the Smith & Wesson L-Frame revolver—one in 9mm Luger, the other two in .357 Magnum/.38 Special. And all are seven-shooters. Layne Simpson
2
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
64
Handloading the .338 Win. Mag. The well-behaved medium-bore .338 Winchester Magnum is a beautifully balanced cartridge that works well on all North American game. Joseph von Benedikt
Hunter’s Delight Uberti’s new Model 1886 Hunter Lite Rifle is a classy lever action that shoots—and looks—great. Steve Gash
Train with Air SIG SAUER’s advanced sport air pistols replicate the weight and feel of centerfire pistols, providing more realistic training. Jake Edmondson
Quick Shot T/C Encore Pro Hunter Pistol .308 Win. This classy break-open single-shot pistol is strong enough to handle high-performance centerfire rifle cartridges. Jake Edmondson
Quick Shot Burris Signature HD 20-60X Spotting Scope The new Signature HD 20-60X Spotting Scope offers a wide field of view, excellent edge-to-edge resolution, and a plethora of other fine features. Joel J. Hutchcroft
Quick Shot Remington R1 LS ORB Hunter 10mm Exclusively distributed by Davidson’s, the 10mm Auto R1 LS ORB Hunter has a 6.0-inch barrel and a special oil-rubbed bronze finish. Joel J. Hutchcroft
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CONTENTS
NOVEMBER 2017 VOLUME 58, ISSUE 10 An Outdoor Sportsman Group® Publication
SHOOTER’S UPDATE
PUBLISHER Mike Schoby
8 Readers Speak Out Wants .32 ACP PolyCase ammunition, the seriousness of static electricity for handloaders, and an easy way to dissipate static electricity
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Patrick Hogan
EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Joel J. Hutchcroft COPY EDITOR Michael Brecklin
10 New Guns & Gear Lyman Pocket Touch Digital Scale, Hodgdon CFE BLK Powder, Starline Rifle Brass, and Hornady M-1 Case Tumbler
12 Ask the Experts One shooter’s source for .256 Winchester Magnum ammunition
SHOOTER’S GALLERY 14 The Shootist A German Sporting Mauser in 8x60mm Joseph von Benedikt
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 PRODUCTION MANAGER Terry Boyer
20 The Ballistician Why the .38 Special Is .36 Caliber Allan Jones
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jenny Kaeb
ENDEMIC AD SALES NATIONAL ENDEMIC SALES Jim McConville (440) 791-7017
24 The Reloader Handloading for a Vintage .44-40 Lane Pearce
SHOOTER’S SHOWCASE 68 Gunsmoke The 8x50 Austrian: A Cautionary Tale Terry Wieland
WESTERN REGION Hutch Looney — hutch@hlooney.com MIDWEST REGION Rob Walker (309) 679-5069 EAST REGION Pat Bentzel (717) 695-8095
NATIONAL AD SALES EAST COAST ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Kathy Gross (678) 589-2065 MIDWEST ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Kevin Donley (248) 798-4458
72 Hipshots A Toxic, Tubercular Traveler Joel J. Hutchcroft
MIDWEST & MOUNTAIN ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Carl Benson (312) 955-0496 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 • NOVEMBER 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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PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jim Liberatore EVP, GROUP PUBLISHER, HUNTING & SHOOTING Mike Carney SENIOR VP, TV OPERATIONS, GROUP PUBLISHER, FISHING Steve Hoffman VP, FINANCE & OPERATIONS Derek Sevcik VP, CONSUMER MARKETING Peter Watt VP, MANUFACTURING Deb Daniels DIRECTOR, MARKETING Kim Shay SENIOR DIRECTOR, PRODUCTION Connie Mendoza DIRECTOR, PUBLISHING TECHNOLOGY Kyle Morgan OUTDOOR SPORTSMAN GROUP® DIGITAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, FISHING Jeff Simpson DIGITAL EDITOR, HUNTING Drew Pellman For questions regarding digital editions, please contact digitalsupport@outdoorsg.com MEDIA outdoorsg.com TELEVISION outdoorchannel.com thesportsmanchannel.com worldfishingnetwork.com
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Copyright 2017 by Outdoor Sportsman Group®
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All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission. Shooting Times® is a registered trademark of Outdoor Sportsman Group® in the United States. The Publisher and authors make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of the information contained in this publication. Any reliance or use of the information is solely at your own risk, and the authors and publisher disclaim any and all liability relating thereto. Any prices given in this issue were suggested prices at the press time and are subject to change. Some advertisements in this magazine may concern products that are not legally for sale to California residents or residents in other jurisdictions. SUBSCRIPTIONS INQUIRIES: Should you wish to change your address, order new subscriptions, or report a problem with your current subscription, you can do so by writing Shooting Times, P.O. Box 37539, Boone, IA 50037-0539, or E-mail us at stmcustserv@cdsfulfillment.com, or call TOLL FREE 1-800-727-4353. BE AWARE THAT SHOOTING TIMES ONLY ACCEPTS SUBSCRIPTION REQUESTS FROM AUTHORIZED AGENTS! WE MAY NOT HONOR REQUESTS FROM UNAUTHORIZED AGENTS, AND YOU THEREFORE MAY LOSE YOUR MONEY IF YOU BUY FROM AN UNAUTHORIZED AGENT. If you are offered a subscription to Shooting Times, please call 1-800-727-4353 to determine if the agent is authorized. For more information on subscription scams, please visit www.ftc.gov. Subscription rate for one year is $23.98 (U.S., APO, FPO, and U.S. possessions). Canada add $13.00 (U.S. funds) per year, includes sales tax and GST. Foreign add $15.00 (U.S. funds) per year. Occasionally, our subscriber list is made available to reputable firms offering goods and services that we believe would be of interest to our readers. If you prefer to be excluded, please send your current address label and a note requesting to be excluded from these promotions to: Outdoor Sportsman Group – 1040 6th Ave, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018-3703 Attn: Privacy Coordinator, or email your label information and note to privacycoordinator@outdoorsg.com FOR REPRINTS: For Reprints/Eprints or Licensing/Permissions, please contact: Wright’s Media - TOLL FREE 1-877-652-5295. CONTRIBUTIONS: Manuscripts, photographs and artwork must be submitted to the editorial department with a SASE. The Publisher assumes no responsibility for loss or damage to unsolicited material. Please send to: Shooting Times, Editor, 2 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61614.
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LEGENDARY
GUN
SHOOTER’S UPDATE READERS SPEAK OUT
CARE I TEND TO AGREE WITH THE ASSESSMENT OF THE .32 ACP (7.65MM BROWNING)
in “The Ballistician” in the June issue, although some of the current ammo increases the performance of this round. I’d like to see PolyCase Ammunition produce its ARX in .32 ACP. I suspect a round like that would overcome the “weak” performance of the .32 ACP by increasing velocity and solve the “feeding problems” exhibited by some pistols. I think it would move the thousands of .32 ACP pistols from the status of “safe queen” to that of viable carry pistol. The Colt 1903; the Walther PP and PPK; the CZ 27, 50, 70; the Beretta; the Seecamp; the Kel-Tec; the NAA; and others would suddenly be powerful enough to be carried as true pocket pistols. We don’t need more polymer striker-fired pistols when we already have a raft of proven performers that just need an ammo upgrade! Bill Lupton Via e-mail
Static Electricity Is a Serious Situation I read Allan Jones’s “The Ballistician” column on static electricity in the July issue, and I found it very informative. But it was not forceful enough to make people follow the precautions. I injured my hand in just such circumstances, and not three weeks prior to my accident a friend of mine also had a very similar one—except he lost an eye. Steve Snyder Via e-mail
Over Explained, Under Advised CLEANING AND LUBRICATING YOUR FIREARM JUST GOT A LOT EASIER THANKS TO BIRCHWOOD CASEY’S PREMIER PRODUCTS.
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SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
I have been a subscriber for a few years now and generally enjoy Shooting Times magazine. Until now I haven’t needed to comment on anything. I was reading Allan Jones’s column on static electricity in the July issue and have to say you will find better advice from computer professionals. We have been dealing with static electricity for quite a while. I agree it is a great safety concern and also agree with the explanation of why it is of concern, but reducing or eliminating the dangers posed by static electricity is quite easy, safe, inexpensive, and certainly does not require being “...designed and installed only by qualified engineers and electricians.” Static electricity dissipation mats (commonly called “anti-static mats”) are very easy to find and purchase at virtually any large office supply store. Also readily available are anti-static wrist straps that can be found anywhere electronic components and supplies are sold. Simply attach one to your wrist like a watch and attach the alligator clip on the end of the line to any grounded metal object: done, no worries. Christopher Morris Toledo, OH
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SHOOTER’S UPDATE READERS SPEAK OUT
NEW GUNS & GEAR
ASK THE EXPERTS
Starline Rifle Brass Starline Brass has a sterling reputation for producing top-quality handgun cartridge cases, and recently the company added rifle cartridge brass to its lineup. Offerings include .223 Remington, .243 Winchester, .260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08, .300 AAC Blackout, .308 Winchester, .338 Federal, .358 Winchester, .444 Marlin, and .450 Bushmaster. The new rifle brass is sold in quantities of 250 pieces, 500 pieces, and 1,000 pieces. MSRP: $116 to $540 depending on quantity and caliber starlinebrass.com
THE NEW POCKET TOUCH 1500 IS A COMPACT, PORTABLE DIGITAL SCALE
(measuring 2.25x4.5x0.75 inches) that provides the performance of a fullsize scale. It features advanced touch screen controls, a 1,500-grain capacity, a hinged dust cover, and an easy-to-read lighted display. The set includes a funnel pan (which combines a pour spout and a funnel end), a powder scoop, and a 100-gram calibration weight. MSRP: $29.95 lymanproducts.com
Hodgdon CFE BLK Powder Featuring Hodgdon’s special Copper Fouling Eraser formula and developed specifically for the .300 AAC Blackout, CFE BLK powder provides full function of AR-type rifles throughout the range of bullet weights and is perfect for subsonic reduced loads, too. It is also great for smaller-capacity rifle cartridges like .17 Hornet, .218 Bee, .221 FireBall, and others, plus it’s a top choice for 6.8 Rem. SPC and 7.62x39mm Russian. MSRP: $26.99 (1-lb. bottle); $180.99 (8-lb. keg) hodgdon.com 10
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
Hornady M-1 Case Tumbler The new M-1 Case Tumbler was designed to clean and polish large quantities of cartridge cases quickly and efficiently through cyclonic and vibratory action. Combined with Hornady Tumbling Media, the M-1 Tumbler cleans brass to a brilliant shine. Running time varies based on the condition of the cases and degree of cleanliness desired. The Tumbler holds up to 400 .38 Special cases, 180 .30-06 cases, or the equivalent of other cases. The included sifter is used to separate the polished brass from the media. MSRP: $75 hornady.com
SHOOTER’S UPDATE READERS SPEAK OUT
NEW GUNS & GEAR
ASK THE EXPERTS
A:
Q:
I ENJOYED TERRY WIELAND’S “GUNSMOKE” COLUMN IN THE SEPT-
ember issue entitled “The Disappearance of the Classic Small-Game Rifle.” However, his comment about loving to shoot his Marlin Levermatic .256 Winchester Magnum left me wondering where he finds ammo. I have a T/C Contender barrel chambered in .256 Win. Mag. but haven’t been able to find ammo for years. What’s his source for ammunition? Jim Vincent Sr. Henderson, KY
.256 WINCHESTER MAGNUM ACCURACY & VELOCITY POWDER (TYPE) (GRS.)
BULLET
Sierra 70-gr. BlitzKing
VEL. (FPS)
Marlin Model 62, 23-in. Barrel IMR 4227 16.0 2657
Lyman No. 257420 72-gr. FNGC Sierra 75-gr. HP Speer 87-gr. SBT
2400 IMR 4227 IMR 4227
10.0 15.0 13.5
2057 2500 2213
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
100-YD. ACC. (IN.)
27
10
1.59
81 28 15
38 11 5
2.61 1.59 1.42
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, three-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured nine 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.
12
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
As Terry detailed in a previous Shooting Times feature article printed in the November 2014 issue, he handloads his .256 Win. Mag. ammunition because factory-loaded ammo hasn’t been available since the 1980s. The .256 Win. Mag. is the .357 Magnum cased necked down to .25 caliber. Brass is easy to make, using standard (nonplated) .357 Mag. cases and C-H forming dies. The brass is resized in two passes and then trimmed to length to ensure it does not stick in the chamber. Winchester originally produced ammunition loaded with a 60-grain flatnose bullet at a muzzle velocity of 2,760 fps. At various times, it was offered in roundnose, spitzer, and hollowpoint form, all 60 grains. According to Terry’s 2014 article, the .256 Win. Mag. is great for hunting rampaging armadillos, small whitetails at close ranges, and even feral hogs if you have the right bullet and place it carefully. It can also be handloaded with many cast bullets, ranging in weight from 60 to 90 grains. With a gascheck, velocity can be pushed to 2,000 fps and still have negligible blast and recoil. Maybe even more importantly, the round is, in Terry’s words, “purely and simply fun to shoot. Plinking tin cans, water balloons, clay pigeons on a dirt bank—one can go out and practice rapid fire, offhand, different positions, without a lot of Sturm und Drang and without having to worry overmuch about noise or ricochets.” Some of Terry’s favorite handloads for his .256 Win. Mag. Marlin Levermatic are listed in the accompanying chart. Joel J. Hutchcroft
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SHOOTER’S GALLERY THE SHOOTIST
THE BALLISTICIAN
OF ALL THE MAUSER-TYPE RIFLES EVER BUILT,
The author’s 8x60mm German Sporting Mauser is a superb work of huntingtool art. It has fine engraving, a butterknifeshaped bolt handle, a walnut stock with handcut checkering, double-set triggers, and an integral fulllength barrel rib. The rear sight has one standing leaf and one folding leaf.
14
the early versions handcrafted for German Jägers— big-game hunters—are among the finest. Typically termed “German Sporting Mausers,” such rifles were built by boutique gunsmiths using highly modified military actions or, in rarer cases, dedicated sporting Mauser actions without a stripper clip guide cut or the stripper clip “thumb” cut on the left side of the action. Ranging from fairly modest to incredibly ornate, German Sporting Mausers showcased the outstanding craftsmanship of astute master gunsmiths. Metal work frequently exhibited a degree of handcrafted skill and innovation startling to today’s master machinists. Stocks were of good, dense, often-figured walnut, usually shaped to offer beautiful lines and light-in-the-hand, fit-to-perfection ergonomic contours.
Mechanicals The rifle featured in this column has several remarkable characteristics. Most notable is the full-length rib atop the barrel, which is machined integral to
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
THE RELOADER
the barrel itself. Also, the barrel gracefully transitions from octagon to round at the fore-end tip. The bolt handle is bent and forged into a butterknife shape, and the double-set triggers denote this gun as a practical upper-crust rifle. Furthermore, the rifle was elegantly set up for a scope, using quick-detach claw-type mounts backed up by fine iron sights with a standing leaf and one folding leaf. Fine but almost spartan engraving graces the rifle. A delicate pattern down the length of the barrel rib reduces glare, and a distinctive but minimal double border sets off the trigger guard, floorplate, receiver rings, and barrel/receiver shoulder. Handcut checkering lends texture to both upper and lower surfaces of the bolt handle and the nose of the safety. Finishing off the elegant lines of the stock, a horn buttplate is handcarved in a basketweave pattern. At its core a typical K98-type Mauser, the turnbolt action features the classic dual, opposing locking lugs; full-length rotating, controlled-feed claw extractor; three-position safety; and so forth.
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German Sporting Mausers
MAKER TYPE
Provenance The rifle shown here was built in Breslau, Germany, some time prior to World War I. Originally chambered in 8x57mm Mauser, which the Armistice made illegal at the end of the Great War (along with most other military calibers), the rifle was rechambered to a now-obscure cartridge called the 8x60 Mauser. The modification was a simple deepening of the chamber to a case length of 60mm, making it no longer compatible with 8x57 ammo and thus legal to own. The rifle was permanently lost to its original owner at some point and migrated to America. Once here, it received shabby treatment. Somewhere along the way the all-important claw-type rear scope base was lost. Readers familiar with claw mounts and rings understand what a tragedy this was. To get them just right, building and fitting claw mounts required art, skill, science, and a bit of magic. The front base is dovetailed into the front receiver ring, so losing the rear base effectively rendered the rifle incompatible with a scope. In addition, a chamber cast shows that an underinformed soul appears to have run a .30-06 chamber reamer into the vintage 8x60’s chamber. Presumably, the idea was to convert it to an 8mm-06, which would make forming brass for handloads much easier. Unfortunately, all it did was create an odd shelf in the throat area. I first became acquainted with the lovely old rifle in my teens. I had borrowed it from the retired army major who was my shooting mentor.
P. Mossiers Bolt-action repeater
CALIBER
8x60mm
MAGAZINE CAPACITY
5 rounds
BARREL
22.75 in.
OVERALL LENGTH
43.12 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY
6.8 lbs.
STOCK
Walnut
LENGTH OF PULL
14.30 in.
FINISH
Blued barrel and action
SIGHTS
Leaf rear on full rib, gold-bead front, claw-type scope bases
TRIGGER
8-oz. pull set trigger (as tested), 9.38-lb. pull w/o set trigger (as tested)
SAFETY
Three-position military type
Cautiously using 8x57 dies, I trimmed, necked up, and shortened the shoulder of .30-06 brass to snugly fit and properly headspace in the rifle’s chamber. My eyes were young then, and the vintage hunting rifle performed well with the fine iron sights, accounting for a young mule deer buck that fall. I never forgot the rifle, and a quarter-century later I acquired it through a trade with my old friend.
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GERMAN SPORTING MAUSER ACCURACY & VELOCITY Forming cases for the modified 8x60 chamber is somewhat challenging. To ensure that I 100-YD. VEL. E.S. S.D. ACC. created the best cases possible, I took a chamBULLET (TYPE) (GRS.) (FPS) (FPS) (FPS) (IN.) ber cast using Cerrosafe chamber-casting alloy 8x60mm, 22.75-in. Barrel and sent it, along with a couple of fired cases, Hornady 170-gr. SST Varget 50.0 2641 48 15 1.23 to Redding with an order for a set of custom Hornady 180-gr. GMX CFE 223 51.0 2558 74 31 1.75 reloading dies. Hornady 195-gr. InterLock IMR 4064 46.0 2360 35 14 1.43 While waiting for the dies, I took the old NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, three-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Mauser to master gunsmiths Joe and Brett Velocity is the average of nine 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 Smithson to have a new rear claw mount they are safe in each of your guns before proceeding to the high test loads listed. Since Shootfitted. After measuring the bolt lift, handle ing 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 responsicharacteristics, and other critical elements, bility for the use of this data. the Smithsons created a perfect mate for the front base—right down to scanning the handcut checkering atop the front base and programming it into their CNC 1.0- to 1.5-MOA groups with the SST and InterLock mill and checkering the rear base to match—then fitted and tuned 1-inch loads and sub-2-MOA with the GMX. rings and installed my 1.5-5X 20mm Leupold VX-3i scope. The Smithsons Even though it’s over 100 years old, my vintage also perforated the scope rings with a small oval window, thus allowing German Sporting Mauser is right at home hunting the shooter to use the iron sights with the scope mounted. just about any deer or antelope species, whether elk After the dies arrived, I trimmed a double handful of Norma .30-06 or whitetails in thick timber, mule deer in sage-filled canyons, or moose in North Country swamps. It’s cases to 60mm (2.350 inches to be precise), necked them up to 8mm, and slowly worked the shoulder back until the cases chambered. equally capable on African plains game. But what Using three styles of Hornady 8mm bullets and 8x57mm load data, I really yearn to do is take it home to Germany and I assembled 10 rounds each with 170-grain SST, 180-grain GMX, and wander the European forests in search of wild boar, 195-grain InterLock bullets. To my delight, the rifle printed tidy little roebuck, and stag. 18
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
HIT ’EM WITH YOUR BEST SHOT. Maxus Wicked Wing
browning.com
SHOOTER’S GALLERY THE SHOOTIST
THE BALLISTICIAN
THE RELOADER
Colt conversion cartridges (left to right: .32, .38, and .44 Colt) started with case-diameter, outside-lubricated bullets. Later changes to smaller-diameter hollowbase bullets (far right) proved to contribute little to accuracy but threw cartridge naming into some disarray.
The cap-and-ball concept ended abruptly with the introduction of fixed cartridges, those where propellant, ignition system, and projectile were merged via a cartridge case. Rather than replace a percussion revolver with new, expensive cartridge models, people sought ways to convert the old veterans to fire fixed ammunition. The most expensive and hard-to-recreate revolver part was the barrel, so conversion efforts focused on leaving the barrel relatively untouched and altering or replacing the cylinder. Even Colt is said to have used in-house conversions to make unsold stocks of percussion models relevant in a “cartridge world.” There were many patents issued for ways to convert revolvers and each was different, so I’ll not try to make this a gunsmithing column but rather look at the next item that affected conversion: the cartridge.
The Story Gets Messy IF YOU THINK THERE IS ONE NAMING SYSTEM THAT WORKS FOR
100 percent of the cartridges out there, you will be disappointed. The basic thing is to understand that cartridge designations are usually trade names and not precise technical definitions. Those few that achieve some state of technical correctness seem almost accidental. The story of why a “.38” is a “.36” is a twisted tale of internal barrel diameters, obsolete percussion revolvers, and abominable accuracy. Rifled barrels start with a boring operation that produces a smooth bore. Then tooling cuts into the smooth surface and creates the rifling. The surfaces left sticking up to engrave and spin the bullet are lands and the deeper areas are grooves. The land-to-land diameter is roughly the same as the boring tool, so the land-to-land dimension is also called the bore diameter. The groove diameter is always greater than the bore diameter and should be close to the bullet diameter if you want good accuracy For a very long time the smaller bore diameter was used to set the caliber designation. Look at so many of our .30-caliber rifles cartridges; they are called “.30” or “.300” but use 0.308-inch bullets. Their bore is 0.300 inch, but the grooves are 0.308 inch. Barrels for .36-caliber cap-and-ball revolvers were bored about 0.360 to 0.365 inch—thus the designation—then rifled to a groove diameter of around 0.370 to 0.374 inch. Proper round ball diameter is 0.375 inch for most of these if you desire a proper gas seal. 20
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
When such conversions began, almost all ammo was rimfire and most was loaded with outside-lubricated bullets—the bullet was the same diameter as the case and perched on the case mouth. Examine a .22 Long Rifle cartridge to see those surviving characteristics. Because outside-lubricated bullets were the same diameter as the cartridge case, a revolver chamber could be bored straight through; no smaller “chamber throat” was present. Look in any .22 LR revolver’s chambers— you’ll see what the straight-through chamber looked like. The converted .36-caliber percussion revolvers used the .38 Short and Long Colt rimfire cartridges and later centerfire versions of the same. A bullet of roughly 0.370 to 0.380 inch perched atop the case mouth with only a small “heel” section of reduced diameter entering the case. The outside-lubricated bullet was big enough to fit the rifling and probably allowed decent accuracy. But shooters discovered a problem. Lubricant on the outside of the cartridge is not a user-friendly arrangement. Early lubes were usually based on animal fat and were very soft. If they
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Confusing Cartridge Names
didn’t rub off in handling and storage, they picked up every bit of grit in a pocket and carried it into the revolver’s barrel on firing. Today’s rimfire ammo enjoys modern lubes that remain hard until the heat of firing softens the lube. The response was not to change lubes but rather reconfigure the bullet so that the lube was inside the cartridge case. It’s called inside lubricated, and it’s the method used on all modern centerfire lead bullets. This meant reducing the bullet diameter enough for it to slide into the cartridge case
where all lube grooves were protected. For the .38 Colt cartridges used in conversions, the new diameter had to be in the range of 0.355 to 0.359 inch. Fixing one problem created another. The new undersized bullets could barely get any purchase on the original rifling, and groups were replaced with scattered patterns and keyhole bullet strikes. That meant another change. The lead bullets received a deep hollow base that, in theory, was supposed to swell at firing to engage the rifling, but success was inconsistent. I have recovered a lot of fired hollowbase .38 and .41 Colt bullets and never found one that expanded properly. The base cavity expansion was either insufficient, resulting in severe gas leakage, or it was asymmetrical, making decent accuracy impossible.
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SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
So someone fixed this, right? Eventually, but it took decades. Some newer cartridges, like the .45 Colt, .38 S&W (the short one), and the .44 Russian, started as inside lubricated, but the “conversion cartridges” like the .32 and .38 Long Colt retained the unhappy combination of oversized barrels and illconceived hollowbase bullets until the competition jerked them into the 20th century—literally. In 1902 Smith & Wesson introduced the most successful revolver cartridge ever: the .38 S&W Special. It was the .38 Long Colt with a slightly longer case length. It retained the same 0.358-inch bullet diameter, but the seismic change was found in the new revolver that fired the cartridge. First, the chambers were drilled with a step-down section at the front that was close to bullet diameter. The new barrels were reduced in diameter, with a bore diameter of about 0.345 inch and grooves at about 0.357 inch. This combo produced superb accuracy. We don’t know why S&W kept the “.38” moniker, but it was likely to avoid confusing a cartridge revolver market already familiar with that “.38.” Ironically, the .38 Special’s success led Colt to eventually abandon its old proprietary conversion cartridges in favor of the more accurate S&W versions.
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SHOOTER’S GALLERY THE SHOOTIST
THE BALLISTICIAN
NOT LONG AGO I BECAME THE PROUD OWNER OF st
Plenty of lowpressure cowboy .44-40 factoryloaded ammunition is available, but Lane likes to handload, so he put together a bunch of good smokeless-powder recipes for his newly acquired vintage 1st Generation Colt SAA.
24
a nice, vintage, smokeless, 1 Generation Colt Single Action Army chambered for .44 WCF, a.k.a. .44-40. I immediately set out to build some handloads for it. A nice 1st Generation Colt SAA is rather costly, so you can be sure I carefully assembled only moderate-power handloads.
Building the Handloads The first step was measuring my gun’s bore groove diameter, the chamber throat diameters, and the barrel-cylinder gap. Typically, with vintage revolvers such as mine (which was built in 1917, according to the factory letter I received with it), these measurements are different than what they would be on recent-production SAAs. The early SAAs often have tighter throats and smaller bores.
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
THE RELOADER
Armed with that information, I then squeezed down the diameter of several Oregon Trail, Lyman No. 42798, and Hornady Lead RNFP bullets to 0.427 inch with a Star lubricator/sizer tool. I consulted several manuals and industry-sponsored websites and soon had an extensive list of propellant recipes suitable for loading safe handloads. Unlike most modern, straight-walled handgun cartridges, the .44-40 is slightly bottlenecked, so there’s no handy no-luberequired carbide sizer die. I lubed each case before running it into the RCBS precisionmachined, hardened-steel sizer die. Just a little Redding wax lube applied with my fingertips was plenty, and it wiped away easily after sizing. I had several brands of brass to load and soon discovered I had to use either an RCBS No. 28 or No. 35 shellholder depending on which batch I was reloading.
1
5
2
6
3
7
4
8
www.smith-wesson.com/pc
#PerformanceCenter
Handloading for a Vintage .44-40
Since I intended to apply a light roll crimp later, I trimmed each case to uniform length and deburred the case mouths. After seating a standard Large Pistol primer, it was time to charge each case. Because I was assembling only a few rounds of each test load (and also to be extra careful), I weighed each charge. I used a Lee dipper spoon and dribbled powder into the scale pan until I achieved the desired weight. There are only a few bulky or slower-burn-rate pistol propellants suitable for loading the relatively low-pressure .44-40 handgun loads, and IMR 4227, Accurate 5744, and IMR Trail Boss pretty much cover the options. However, as you can see from the chart on page 28, several shotgun propellants with faster burn rates cross over as suitable candidates for this handgun cartridge. And I had just received a sample of the new IMR Unequal powder, so I used it, too. It provided an interesting comparison with Alliant Unique and Hodgdon Universal propellants.
The Results My first results shooting the old Colt SAA were not what I was expecting. At 25 yards, the shots were centered okay but struck the target about a foot low with vertical stringing. Since my old eyes couldn’t clearly focus, I likely hadn’t aligned the front sight consistently. Getting closer to the target and firing from 12 yards produced groups that were just a couple of inches low. As my gunsmith—who fitted the onepiece wood grips to my revolver—observed, this old SAA is “definitely a gunfighter’s sixgun.” I can’t say for sure how long I’ve hankered for a 1st Generation Colt SAA, but my quest to find a good one is complete. I’m satisfied with the handloads’ performance, and I’m convinced my gun shoots better than I can aim it. The first step in building safe and accurate hadloads for the vintage .44-40 Colt single-action revolver was measuring the gun’s bore groove diameter, the chamber throat dimensions, and the barrel-cylinder gap. With that information, Lane was then able to squeeze down the bullets to the appropriate diameter with a lubricator/sizer tool.
.44-40 ACCURACY & VELOCITY
BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
CASE
PRIMER
VEL. (FPS)
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
12-YD. ACC. (IN.)
Colt SAA, 4.75-in. Barrel Lyman No. 42798 200-gr. Lead RNFP
Unique
7.2
Starline
CCI 300
828
91
35
1.95
Lyman No. 42798 200-gr. Lead RNFP
Unequal
7.2
Starline
Fed. 150
741
78
20
1.42
Oregon Trail 200-gr. Lead RNFP Oregon Trail 200-gr. Lead RNFP
Trail Boss Unequal
6.2 7.2
Hornady Starline
WLP WLP
748 795
32 124
8 28
1.75 2.38
Oregon Trail 200-gr. Lead RNFP
Unique
7.2
Starline
WLP
808
70
21
1.73
Oregon Trail 200-gr. Lead RNFP
Universal
7.2
Starline
Fed. 150
797
87
29
2.28
Hornady 205-gr. Lead Cowboy Hornady 205-gr. Lead Cowboy Hornady 205-gr. Lead Cowboy Hornady 205-gr. Lead Cowboy Hornady 205-gr. Lead Cowboy Hornady 205-gr. Lead Cowboy Black Hills 200-gr. Lead RNFP HSM 200-gr. Lead RNFP Hornady 205-gr. Lead Cowboy Winchester 225-gr. Lead RNFP
Trail Boss Universal True Blue IMR 4227 Titegroup IMR 800-X
6.0 Starline 7.2 Starline 8.2 BHA 15.5 Starline 6.0 Hornady 8.2 Hornady Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load
Rem. 2½ Rem. 2½ Rem. 2½ Rem. 2½ WLP WLP
716 810 825 812 822 790 769 721 682 739
53 36 45 93 48 64 79 67 80 49
21 15 12 27 19 18 24 18 23 14
1.78 2.04 1.88 2.07 2.66 2.74 1.72 2.31 2.97 2.85
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of at least three, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of 15 rounds measured six 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.
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30
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
F
OR THOSE WHO DON’T ALREADY KNOW, GUNS ON THE
medium-size Smith & Wesson L-Frame are a bit larger and heavier than revolvers built on the K-Frame but smaller and lighter than those on the N-Frame. It had been quite some time since I had worked with the latest from S&W, and I was anxious to get my hands on them. Here’s a look at the Performance Center Model 986, the Performance Center Model 586 L-Comp, and the standard-production Model 686 Plus Deluxe.
Performance Center Model 986
The Performance Center Model 986 in 9mm Luger was introduced in 2014 with a 5.0-inch barrel, and shortening the barrel to 2.5 inches as on the latest version makes it more suitable for concealed carry. The shorter barrel also decreases weight a bit. Fully loaded with seven cartridges, the gun weighed 34.6 ounces on a digital postal scale.
NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
31
The 9mm Performance Center Model 986 comes with a 2.5-inch barrel, seven-shot titanium cylinder, and custom wood grips.
I like the looks of the slab-sided barrel with its recessed crown, full-length ejector rod housing, and deep flutes on both sides of the front sight. Dovetailed to a solid rib machined into the top of the barrel, the black front sight has a red insert, same as on my early S&W Model 29 in .44 Magnum. Some shooters may not like that type of sight, but it is one of my favorites on handguns used for hunting and personal-defense carry. The Model 986 also has S&W’s fully adjustable (and extremely durable) rear sight. The barrel and frame are stainless steel (with a satin finish), and the non-fluted, seven-shot cylinder is titanium. It’s about 40 percent lighter than a cylinder made of steel. The owner’s manual warns against the use of any abrasive material for cleaning the exterior of the cylinder or inside its chambers because disruption of a surface layer protecting the titanium from erosion during firing will shorten service life. Stick with bronze bore brushes for cleaning the chambers along with Hoppe’s No. 9 or Tetra Gun Powder Solvent for fouling removal and you’re fine. I am impressed by the comfort of the laminate wood grip panels. Rounding the butt lessens the possibility of the revolver printing through clothing while being carried concealed. Fine stippling and deep grasping grooves at the front make for a secure, three-finger hold. Wood-to-metal fit is Performance Center perfect. MODEL 986 MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER CYLINDER CAPACITY BARREL
Double-action/single-action revolver 9mm Luger 7 rounds 2.5 in.
OVERALL LENGTH
7.88 in.
WIDTH
1.56 in.
HEIGHT
5.75 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY
31.7 oz.
GRIPS
Custom wood
FINISH
Satin stainless
SIGHTS
Fully adjustable rear, red-ramp front
TRIGGER
12-lb. DA pull, 5.25-lb. SA pull (as tested)
SAFETY MSRP
32
Smith & Wesson smith-wesson.com
Key-activated internal locking system $1,129
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
The 9mm Federal DO YOU REMEMBER THE 9MM FEDERAL?
Don’t be embarrassed if you can’t recall it because I doubt many people do. I had forgotten about the cartridge until a red-and-white box caught my eye while I was rummaging through my 9mm ammo stock looking for loads to shoot in the new Performance Center Model 986. Visualize the 9mm Luger case with the rim of the .38 Special and you have the 9mm Federal. It was intended for use in double-action revolvers chambered for the 9mm Luger and has not been produced for several years. Federal introduced its 9mm cartridge in 1989 with a 115-grain JHP at an advertised 1,280 fps from a 4.0inch barrel. It did not have a +P rating, yet advertised velocity was 30 fps faster than 9mm +P with the same weight bullet. When fired in the Model 986 it delivered more energy than the 9mm Luger loads I fired. In addition to Smith & Wesson, Ruger and Taurus now offer 9mm revolvers, so perhaps it’s time for Federal to bring back the rimmed cartridge. Starline offers .45 AutoRim cases, and I would like to see that company offer 9mm Federal brass as well. Moon clips are better for concealed carry because they make reloading quicker, but for paper-punching and general use, the 9mm Federal makes a revolver more enjoyable to shoot. —Layne Simpson
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The .357 Magnum/.38 Special Performance Center Model 586 L-Comp comes with a ported 3.0-inch barrel, seven-shot cylinder, and Altamont laminate rosewood grips.
The Model 986 came with a pair of moon clips. Difficult to load at first, with use they eventually became a bit easier to load. Extras are available from S&W and TK Custom. The latter company also offers a spent-case stripper tool, although I found needle-nose pliers to work quite well. In case you are wondering if the Model 986 will reliably fire 9mm Luger cartridges without the moon clip, the answer is: “No.” As cartridges drop into the chambers, they come to rest with their heads flush with the rear surface of the cylinder. This might give one the impression that the gun will fire them, but easily overlooked is the spacious gap between the cylinder face and the standing breech of the frame. It has to be wide enough to accommodate the combined thicknesses of the moon clip and the rim of the cartridge case. If the gun is tilted only slightly muzzle up, axial movement of cartridges in the chambers brings their heads to rest against the standing breech, and they may remain there when the gun is leveled for shooting. Then when the hammer falls, the firing pin may (if you are lucky) deliver enough energy to the primer to light the fire. But since the cartridge is free to move forward and away from the firing pin hammer strike, it likely won’t fire. If a cartridge is resting farther forward, with its head flush with the rear of the cylinder, the firing pin is not MODEL 586 L-COMP MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER CYLINDER CAPACITY
Double-action/single-action revolver .357 Magnum/.38 Special 3.0 in.
OVERALL LENGTH
8.0 in.
WIDTH
1.56 in.
HEIGHT
5.38 in.
GRIPS
37.5 oz. Altamont laminate rosewood
FINISH
Matte blued
SIGHTS
Fully adjustable rear, tritium-dot front
TRIGGER SAFETY MSRP
Performance Center Model 586 L-Comp Snubnose .357 Magnum revolvers are known for their serious recoil, but the L-Frame Model 586 L-Comp is not among them. I was greatly surprised at how comfortable it was to shoot. I was also surprised at how easy it was to control and how quickly it tracked back on target between shots with fullpower .357 Magnum loads. A port machined into the top of the 3.0-inch, full-lug barrel, just forward of the front sight, vents propellant gas toward the sky and in doing so effectively reduces muzzle rise. The excellent grip shape also helps in controlling the gun during recoil. The Model 586 L-Comp is all carbon steel with an attractive matte black finish. Weight with seven .357 Magnum cartridges on board was 40.5 ounces. The revolver wore Altamont grips of laminate rosewood with checkered sides and grooves at the front that allowed me to get a solid grip with two full fingers plus about a quarter of a third finger. The Hogue rubber grip
7 rounds
BARREL
WEIGHT, EMPTY
34
Smith & Wesson smith-wesson.com
long enough to reach the primer. So unless you have a supply of 9mm Federal ammo on hand (see the accompanying sidebar), stick with moon clips in this revolver.
12-lb. DA pull, 5.25-lb. SA pull (as tested) Key-activated internal locking system $1,208
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
The three new L-Frames were accurate and comfortable to shoot. This five-shot group fired at 25 yards with the Performance Center Model 586 L-Comp and Black Hills .38 Special match ammo measured 0.708 inch. The center-to-center spread of four rounds measured just 0.423 inch. The compensated barrel made the gun quite comfortable to shoot with full-power .357 Magnum ammunition.
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The .357 Magnum/.38 Special standard-catalog Model 686 Plus Deluxe comes with a 6.0-inch barrel, seven-shot cylinder, and textured laminate wood grips.
included in the package is long enough for two and a half fingers, so my initial plan was to switch to it after firing a few rounds with the gun wearing its wood grips. During shooting it for accuracy, I fired just over 200 rounds of .357 Mag. and .38 Special over a sandbag and then rapid-fired another 100 rounds at IPSC targets. The wood grips felt so nice I never got around to switching them out. And as they’re a bit shorter than the rubber grip, they make the gun a bit more concealable. Like the Model 986, the action of this one was made silky smooth by those talented guys in the S&W Performance Center. Some double-action triggers have a hesitation point just prior to hammer drop, but the triggers of all Performance Center guns I have shot through the years travel smoothly all the way through. Pull weights usually average around 5.25 pounds (single action) and somewhere between 11 and 12 pounds double action. The new Model 586 L-Comp and Model 986 fired for this report were within those specifications. When shooting offhand out to 25 yards, the excellent double-action trigger of the Model 586 L-Comp enabled me to easily keep all shots inside the A zone of USPSA targets. That level of accuracy was easily repeated at 50 yards when shooting single action from a rest. MODEL 686 PLUS DELUXE MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER CYLINDER CAPACITY BARREL OVERALL LENGTH
Double-action/single-action revolver .357 Magnum/.38 Special 7 rounds 6.0 in. 11.13 in.
WIDTH
1.56 in.
HEIGHT
6.13 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY GRIPS
44.9 oz. Textured laminate wood
FINISH
Satin stainless steel
SIGHTS
Fully adjustable white-outline rear, red ramp front
TRIGGER SAFETY MSRP
36
Smith & Wesson smith-wesson.com
12-lb. DA pull, 5.25-lb. SA pull (as tested) Key-activated internal locking system $899
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
The Model 586 L-Comp has S&W’s fully adjustable rear sight combined with a ramped, 0.135-inch blade housing a Trijicon tritium dot up front. This brings up a single nit I finally found to pick in an otherwise impressive revolver. The dot is so small I could barely see it, even in total darkness. Pinned to the barrel, the sight could be easily switched out, but specifying a bigger dot when placing an order for a Model 586 L-Comp would be more convenient.
Model 686 Plus Deluxe Shooting the Model 686 Plus Deluxe reminded me of a handgun hunt at the famous King Ranch in Texas during the late 1990s. Three revolvers in .357 Mag., .44 Magnum, and .454 Casull I used on that hunt accounted for nilgai, whitetail deer, feral hogs, and javelina. I still have the .357 Mag. Model 686. It’s the Power Port version with a muzzle-jump-reduction port machined into its 6.0-inch barrel just forward of the front sight. It is exactly the same as the port on the Model 586 L-Comp. Today’s standard Model 686 has no port on its barrel, and it holds six .357 Mag. cartridges. Like my old gun, it has a rubber grip and a 6.0-inch barrel. The Model 686 Plus Deluxe I fired for this report holds seven rounds and is available with a 3.0or a 6.0-inch barrel. It also has fancy laminate wood grips that are covered with a combination of fine stippling and rather coarse checkering. The grip of the 3.0-inch gun has a rounded butt, but the 6.0-incher’s is square. With the exception of its wood grip, the Model 686 Plus Deluxe is the same as the seven-shot Model 686 Magnum Plus introduced by Smith & Wesson back in 1996. Like today’s standard and Plus Deluxe guns, its frame and barrel were stainless steel. All have a full-lug barrel, a pinned and ramped front sight with red insert, and a fully adjustable rear sight with a whiteoutline notch.
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S&W SEVEN-SHOT L-FRAME ACCURACY & VELOCITY VEL. (FPS)
AMMUNITION
E.S. (FPS)
M.E. (FT-LBS)
25-YD. ACC. (IN.)
Performance Center Model 986, 2.5-in. Barrel 9mm Luger Hornady Critical Defense Lite 100-gr. FTX
997
27
221
2.87
Black Hills 115-gr. TAC-XP +P Hornady American Handgunner 115-gr. XTP
1033 1008
38 32
272 259
3.22 2.47
Hornady Critical Defense 115-gr. FTX
1015
8
263
1.45
1041 19 298 887 27 257 911 30 271 9mm Federal Federal Hi-Power 115-gr. JHP 1165 22 346 Performance Center Model 586 L-Comp, 3.0-in. Barrel .38 Special Hornady Critical Defense Lite 90-gr. FTX 962 9 185 Federal 129-gr. Hydra-Shok +P 912 43 238 Black Hills Match 148-gr. Lead HBWC 721 10 171 .357 Magnum Black Hills 125-gr. XTP 1178 94 385 Barnes VOR-TX 140-gr. XPB 1214 45 458 Black Hills 158-gr. XTP 1083 65 411 Remington Express 180-gr. SJHP 1047 14 438 Swift High Grade 180-gr. A-Frame 1012 57 409
2.74 1.94 2.26
SIG SAUER 124-gr. JHP Federal LE 147-gr. HST SIG SAUER 147-gr. JHP
Model 686 Plus Deluxe, 6.0-in. Barrel .38 Special Federal 129-gr. Hydra-Shok +P 933 84 Black Hills Match 148-gr. Lead HBWC 747 14 .357 Magnum Black Hills 125-gr. XTP Hornady LEVERevolution 140-gr. FTX Hornady 158-gr. XTP Remington Express 158-gr. Lead SWC Swift High Grade 180-gr. A-Frame Winchester Partition Gold 180-gr. JHP
1315 1283 1225 1294 1155 1110
67 58 84 89 72 124
1.80
2.62 2.10 1.66 2.24 2.15 1.84 2.72 1.90
249 183
1.73 1.84
479 511 526 587 533 492
2.19 1.78 1.65 2.22 1.77 1.96
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of five, five-shot groups fired from a Brownells Bulls Bag atop a Lyman Bag Jack. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the guns’ muzzles.
As to be expected, the double-action trigger travel of the Model 686 Plus Deluxe was nowhere near as smooth as the triggers of the two Performance Center guns, but the single-action smoothness and pull weight were quite close to the same. Checkering on the hammer and cylinder release thumb tab of all three revolvers was equally good. Their triggers have contoured corners for comfort, but the Model 686 Plus Deluxe did not have the adjustable overtravel screw of the two Performance Center guns. The three guns have the internal lock mechanism introduced by S&W in 2001. Swing out the cylinder to make sure it is unloaded, insert a supplied key into a small receptacle located on the side of the frame adjacent to the cylinder release thumb tab, and turn counter-clockwise. A metal flag with “Locked” engraved on its surface popping up beside the hammer indicates it and the trigger are blocked from movement. During an age when semiautomatic handguns bask in the limelight, it is easy to forget how much fun high-quality revolvers are to shoot. These S&W guns reminded me of that with each pull of the trigger. 38
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
40
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
N THE WORLD OF MID-BORE CALIBERS, BETWEEN
the ever-popular .30s and the honest big bores, the .338 Winchester Magnum stands alone in popularity. No other mid-bore cartridge has achieved and maintained such widespread support from hunters. Introduced in 1958 by Winchester, along with the .264 Winchester Magnum and .458 Winchester Magnum, the .338 Win. Mag. was largely inspired by Elmer Keith and his peers. A devoted proponent of big, heavy bullets for large game, such as elk, Keith experimented extensively with various cartridge cases necked to .33 caliber. Based on a shortened .375 H&H case necked down and blown out to reduce body taper, the .338 Win. Mag. offered a few refinements but was much like the .334 OKH of Keith and his partners. Today, specialized rounds like the .338 Lapua play a role in the mid-bore scene, as does the cult-inducing .35 Whelen, but only the .338 Win. Mag. is widely available. Almost every rifle manufacturer chambers multiple models in .338 Win. Mag., and almost every ammunition maker produces cartridges for it. As with the .30s, 7mms, and other calibers, there are plenty of competing cartridges, many of which push .338 bullets at higher levels of performance. Examples are the .340 Weatherby Magnum, .338 Remington Ultra Mag, .338-06 A-Square, .338 RCM, and the .33 Nosler. All are outstanding performers. However, not one has gained a serious toehold against the .338 Win. Mag.
Handloaders appreciate that the .338 Win. Mag. is not overbored and doesn’t guzzle powder like some of today’s supercharged cartridges do.
NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
41
Several bullet weights are available in factory-loaded ammunition, and the availability of component bullets makes the easy-to-load .338 Win. Mag. a handloader’s dream cartridge.
So why not? The .338 Win. Mag. predates all of them, which certainly plays a part, but more importantly, it’s a beautifully balanced cartridge that fits in standard-length actions, provides more-than-adequate levels of performance from an efficient case, and does so at recoil levels that most shooters can master.
Performance It’s difficult to draw comparisons because the .338 Win. Mag. occupies a realm of cartridge performance and purpose that no other plays a major role in. That point made, let’s compare it with two cartridges I consider to be its most useful siblings: the .300 Win. Mag. and the .375 H&H. Beginning with the biggest of the three, the .375 Holland & Holland is known as the smallest cartridge that is adequate for elephant, positively decent for buffalo, and absolutely prime for lion and the biggest bears. Most popular bullet weights for the .375 are various 300-grain pills, used for big tusked and horned critters likely to stomp you into jelly, and 270-grain projectiles, which offer more velocity, flatter trajectories, and a dramatic effect on toothy critters with big claws. Muzzle energy ranges
from about 4,200 to 4,500 ft-lbs. Although there are exceptions, even the best riflemen typically agree that the .375 H&H is most useful inside 300 yards. Jumping down to the .338 Win. Mag.’s smaller sibling, the .300 Win. Mag. is arguably the most popular magnum cartridge in America. It offers outstanding performance on big game ranging from tiny Coues deer and pronghorn antelope right up through mule deer, elk, and moose. With appropriate bullet choice and careful shot placement, it is adequate for big bears, although it lacks “stopping” authority during close encounters of the toothy kind. In addition, the .300 Win. Mag. is an exceptional long-range cartridge, performing well on distant game and on targets to distances way, way out there. Popular bullets
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SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
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range from sizzling-fast 150-grainers for deer through 180- and 200-grain bullets for elk- and moose-size game to 220-grain deep-penetrating hunting bullets and sleek, aerodynamic match projectiles. Muzzle energy ranges from 3,400 to 3,600 ft-lbs. As for the .338 Win. Mag., it offers energy and penetration characteristics approaching those of the .375 H&H and versatility akin to that of the .300 Win. Mag. Its overwhelming popularity among Alaskan hunters, who pursue game ranging from hardy little Sitka blacktails up through massive coastal brown bears, testifies to how effectively it bridges the performance gap.
Featuring bullets from 185 grains to 275 grains, these six handloads performed extremely well. From left: Barnes 185-grain TSX, Swift 210-grain Scirocco II, Hornady 250-grain InterLock RN, Nosler 250-grain AccuBond, Barnes 265-grain LRX, and Swift 275-grain A-Frame. The details are included in the accompanying accuracy chart.
For the purposes of this comparison, the most popular weights for the .338 Win. Mag. are bullets from 185 grains through 250 grains. Light, fast versions are devastating on deer and pronghorns. Medium-weight 225-grain bullets are outstanding on game from mountain lion to moose. And well-constructed
Medium- to slow-burning powders like Reloder 19 and 22, H4831SC and H4350, IMR 7828, and Hunter work beautifully in the .338 Win. Mag.
heavy bullets penetrate deeply. Muzzle energy ranges from 3,600 to 3,900 ft-lbs.
Bullets Beginning with light, fast, dramatically expanding bullets and working up through the heavy projectiles designed for either deep penetration or long range, here are several of the most useful in the .338 Win. Mag. Barnes 185-grain TTSX: Featuring homogeneous construction, this boattailed, polymer-tipped bullet offers flat trajectories inside traditional hunting distances yet still penetrates quite well because it doesn’t shed weight like a traditional cup-and-core bullet. However, because it doesn’t offer the inherently high sectional densities of the heavier .338 bullets, the penetrating ability simply isn’t that of a similarly tough weightier version. Use should be limited to game up to and including elk-size animals. Expect velocities of around 3,000 to 3,100 fps. Swift 210-grain Scirocco II: If you want speed combined with decent penetration, this bullet offers a good compromise of velocity, respectable sectional density, and inherent toughness.
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SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
It is boattailed and polymer tipped; has a lead core bonded to a thick jacket; and will take down big deer, elk, and moose quickly and cleanly. Expect velocities of 2,800 to 2,900 fps. Nosler 225-grain AccuBond: According to writer David Petzal, who is a staunch proponent of the .338 Win. Mag.,
.338 WIN. MAG. ACCURACY & VELOCITY
BULLET
(TYPE)
(GRS.)
VEL. (FPS)
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
100-YD. ACC. (IN.)
Legendary Arms Works Professional, 24-in. Barrel Barnes 185-gr. TTSX
Hunter
78.5
3159
79
21
1.53
Swift 210-gr. Scirocco II
Reloder 19
76.0
2976
51
21
1.35
Hornady 250-gr. InterLock Nosler 250-gr. AccuBond
Reloder 19 H4831SC
72.0 71.5
2663 2667
44 25
15 8
1.21 0.70
Swift 275-gr. A-Frame
Reloder 25
71.5
2470
53
23
0.92
Hornady 185-gr. GMX
Factory Load
3028
40
13
0.91
Barnes 210-gr. TTSX Barnes 225-gr. TTSX Hornady 225-gr. SST Federal 250-gr. Partition
Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load Factory Load
2891 2736 2834 2652
43 52 43 32
13 17 17 13
0.79 0.98 2.40 1.11
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, three-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of 10 rounds measured 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle. Ambient temperature: 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Elevation: 5,050 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.
the 225-grain weight range is the most useful of all weights. Offering just enough mass coupled with a sectional density beginning to be interesting, 225-grain projectiles work beautifully on game up to and including the big bears, although choosing appropriate construction is paramount. This bullet is
perhaps the best available for all-around work on elk and moose-size game but offers too much expansion and too little weight retention to be great for big bears. Expect velocities of 2,700 to 2,850 fps. Swift 225-grain A-Frame & Barnes 225grain TSX: These bullets are not as aerody-
namic and will not expand as abruptly and extensively as the Nosler 225-grainer, but they offer far more toughness. Both will expand adequately; neither will shed much weight. As a result, they offer an ideal balance of speed, internal devastation, and deep penetration. Hunters will be hard-pressed to find a better bullet for crossover use on moose, big bears, and the biggest African plains game, such as eland and giraffe. Expect velocities of 2,700 to 2,850 fps.
Hornady 250-grain InterLock & Sierra 250-grain GameKing: Featuring simple cup-and-core con-
struction coupled with outstanding sectional density, these bullets tend to be very accurate. Since they aren’t excessively tough in construction, they impact with shocking force, expanding dramatically and penetrating relatively well. Inside
NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
45
moderate distances they are very effective on big, non-dangerous game. Expect velocities of 2,550 to 2,650 fps. Nosler 250-grain AccuBond: With its superb sectional density and a BC of .575, this bonded, polymer-tipped, boattail bullet offers big expansion, very good penetration, and outstanding downrange performance. Although it does not have quite the bone-smashing integrity of a true dangerous-game projectile, it’s arguably the single best all-purpose .338 bullet. If you want to hunt game from pronghorn antelope to brown
UBERTI 1886
bear with one load, this is your poison. Expect velocities of 2,550 to 2,650 fps. Nosler 250-grain Partition, Swift 250-grain A-Frame & Barnes 250-grain TSX: Here’s where .338 projectiles get really
interesting to dangerous-game hunters. A very high sectional density of .313 (compared to the .305 of 300-grain .375-caliber bullets) and extremely tough construction enable these bullets to reliably penetrate to outstanding depths, particularly the Swift and Barnes versions, which are bonded and homogeneous respectively. The Partition will shed a good portion of its front core, causing added devastation but reducing penetration. These bullets are great for anything you can legally shoot with a .338, and they advance the cartridge into the realm of a big bear stopper— not just killer. Expect velocities of 2,550 to 2,650 fps.
When you lock the 1886’s front sight on that trophy, America’s finest hunting tradition stands behind you. Harness that tradition with the full power of the .45/70 and the smoothest lever action you’ve ever cycled.
1886 Hunter Lite Rifle .45/70, 3+1 capacity 22" round barrel, 7.11 lbs. 1886 Sporting Rifle .45/70, 8+1 capacity 26" octagonal barrel, 9.1 lbs. Both models feature fully-adjustable sights; drilled and tapped barrel; receiver drilled and tapped for Lyman peep-sight.
Uberti-USA.com
Nosler 265-grain AccuBond Long Range & Barnes 265-grain LRX: While
these bullets were really designed for use with the .338 Lapua, .33 Nosler, and similar cartridges with high case capacities, they were engineered right on the cusp of usefulness in the .338 Win. Mag. Velocity isn’t profound, and trajectory is not particularly flat, but an outstanding BC of .778 gives staying power. Expect velocities of 2,450 to 2,600 fps. Swift 275-grain A-Frame: Were I a professional brown bear guide with a .338 Win. Mag. as a backup rifle, this is the bullet I’d choose for a stopping load. Offering a very high sectional density of .344 paired with extremely tough, thickjacketed, bonded construction, it will give close to full stem-to-stern penetration on even the biggest bear. Controlled expansion will wreak havoc along the way without appreciably reducing penetration. Where legal, it’s even adequate for Cape buffalo. Expect velocities of 2,400 to 2,500 fps. Although some may point out the outstanding BCs of specialized long-range bullets, such as Sierra’s 300-grain MatchKing and Nosler’s 300-grain AccuBond, they are really a bit too heavy for the .338 Win. Mag. Looked at another way, the cartridge case just doesn’t have the powder capacity to drive such heavy bullets at useful velocities.
Tips A much-loved attribute of the .338 Win. Mag. is the ease of handloading the cartridge. It’s not overbored, so it doesn’t guzzle powder like so many of today’s supercharged cartridges. It has a generous case mouth that is easy to charge with propellant and swallows bullet bases comfortably. Given my druthers, I prefer Nosler’s sorted, weighed, and prepped brass, but I’ve had excellent luck with Hornady, Winchester, and Federal cases as well. Federal’s 215 Gold Medal primers work beautifully. Although it’s a magnum cartridge in name, the .338 Win. Mag. is well balanced and prefers powders of a medium-slow burn rate, such as H4350, IMR 4350, Reloder 19 and 22, H4831SC, IMR 7828, Hunter, and VihtaVuori N160. In many cases, Reloder 25 gives maximum velocity but offers slightly less consistent standard deviations. Unlike the .338 Lapua and several other extreme-range cartridges often used for target work, the .338 Win. Mag. is purely a hunting cartridge. Neck sizing fired cases in an effort to milk a fraction more accuracy isn’t prudent. Full-length size every time you handload, ensuring that cartridges flow easily into and out of your rifle’s chamber. With soft, lead-core bullets, such as Hornady’s InterLock and Sierra’s GameKing, accuracy can benefit from seating the bullets to just kiss the rifling leade. Don’t push it—you don’t want a chambered cartridge to leave a bullet stuck in the rifling when you extract it. “Hard” bullets like Swift and Barnes bullets should be loaded at least 20 thousandths from the rifling leade to prevent pressure spikes, and sometimes best accuracy is found with such bullets seated as much as a tenth of an inch from the rifling. The .338 Win. Mag. offers substantial recoil, so it’s usually worth crimping to prevent bullet movement within case mouths while in the magazine. Crimping can also reduce velocity extreme spread and standard deviation numbers by holding the projectile in place a microsecond longer, thus enabling more complete, consistent propellant ignition. On the flip side, crimping pretty much eliminates the handloader’s ability to experiment with seating depth in search of accuracy.
When testing loads, make a practice of filling your rifle’s magazine and feeding test cartridges into the chamber from the magazine. Doing so allows you to confirm that your homebrewed rounds will feed smoothly and reliably and, if you haven’t crimped, enables you to test for bullet creep over a series of shots. As a side benefit, testing from the magazine will help you discover any latent feeding or reliability issues with your rifle—critical in a gun that may be required to stand between you and a big critter with uncivilized intentions.
NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
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The Adventurer’s Best Friend My most recent hunting adventure with the .338 Win. Mag. was in Africa. I hunkered down behind a scarred camelthorn and tried not to swat at the flies pestering my sweaty neck. Clenched in my fist was a Legendary Arms Works Professional rifle based on the 704 action and chambered in .338 Win. Mag. Across a dry basin, 280 yards away, dozed a spectacular old specimen of the world’s largest antelope species, the eland. I was about to send one of those high-sectional-density .338 bullets across the flat and into the bull’s shoulder. As slowly and smoothly as cold molasses pours, PH Jacques Strauss of Kowas Hunting Safaris eased his shooting sticks up, and I slid—somewhat less smoothly and elegantly—into position. The distance was far for a standing shot, and the crosshair bounced around the eland’s rib cage as my adrenaline-fueled heart beat like an enthusiastic drummer. Mature eland bulls often weigh 2,000 pounds—fully as much as a Cape buffalo—and have bones of mind-warping mass, not to mention shoulders that put a Brahma bull to shame. We were running out of cover, but literally hundreds of kilometers of dense thornbush wilderness lay beyond the bull, and as much as I enjoy watching African trackers work, this was no time to take a questionable shot. I eased back into a squat and shook my head. “Too far.” Talcum-like dust stung my nostrils, and the
Namibian noonday sun sucked sweat from my pores. We bellied down and crawled. I was painfully aware that no matter how accurate and authoritative my .338 was, it was no protection against a scorpion or a puff adder at contact distance. Thirty painful yards closer, with my heart under somewhat better control, I took the shot, placing a Nosler 250-grain Partition directly on the shoulder of the quartering-away bull. A sizeable herd of previously hidden eland—each the size of a ’68 VW Bug—stampeded in every direction, but the old monarch didn’t even flinch at the impact. Neither did he show signs of distress, although the entrance hole spread a slow blossom of scarlet on his shoulder. Concerned that my bullet had angled through his cavernous thoracic cavity and only single-lunged him, I waited until he turned and stopped, now quartering to me, and put a follow-up shot on the point of his shoulder. This time he staggered. Seconds later he caved to the ground in a billow of dust. Although neither bullet exited, both achieved full penetration, even after passing through heavy shoulder muscle and bone and traveling angle-wise through a vital cavity big enough to shove a full-grown elk into, and were recovered against the hide. One of the perfectly expanded Partition bullets had lost its front core; the other remained intact and could have been used in a Nosler ad.
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A particularly well-balanced cartridge, the .338 Win. Mag. is well suited for any big game from antelope to the biggest bears. This massive eland bull fell to a pair of Nosler 250-grain Partitions after a long stalk in Namibia. Both bullets were recovered beneath the offside hide.
If you procure a well-made, reliable, accurate rifle chambered in .338 Win. Mag. and work up a couple of versatile loads with good bullets, you’re ready for any adventure continental North America can offer. From the Florida Keys to the Alaskan Peninsula, whether reaching 500 yards across a desert canyon or snowplowing a freight-train bear, that one rifle will cover any hunting task you care to undertake. It’s also perfect for much of the large game hunted in Africa. Considering that, it’s no wonder the .338 Win. Mag. is America’s stand-alone favorite mid-bore hunting cartridge.
NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
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PAGE
50 SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
T
HE WINCHESTER MODEL 1886, DESIGNED
by John M. Browning in 1883, is historically significant because it was the first lever action to have vertical locking bars, a feature that was continued in almost all of John Browning’s later lever actions. It also could be chambered for several of the largest, most powerful cartridges of the day, and in fact, the Model 1886 was offered in at least 10 big blackpowder cartridges, including the .45-70 Government. Adding to the contemporary popularity of the Model 1886 was the fact that it was offered in an almost endless array of barrel lengths and styles, magazine lengths, and stock shapes. The Model 1886 is quite strong for a lever action. Although originally designed for blackpowder cartridges, with minor modifications, it made the transition to smokeless-powder cartridges with the .33 Winchester in 1903. The Model 1886 has been in off-and-on production for decades, and replicas of varying quality and ostentation have been made. Nowadays, Model 1886s are almost exclusively chambered for the .45-70 because it is the only one of the original chamberings for which ammo is still factory loaded. One company currently making the Model 1886 is Uberti. The company has a couple new versions of the Model 1886 this year, and the one reviewed here is called the Model 1886
Hunter Lite Rifle. It’s chambered for .45-70 and has a 22-inch round barrel. Twist rate is one turn in 18 inches. The new Hunter Lite is a delight to look at and great fun to shoot. This spiffy new Model 1886 creates a mental step back to a time when buckskin-clad mountain men trekked over mountains, at one with nature and living free. The rifle shows excellent workmanship throughout. Uberti says the Hunter Lite is “the smoothest lever action you’ve ever cycled.” That pretty much sums it up.
The Model 1886 was the first lever action to have vertical locking bars that engaged mortises in the breechblock, a feature that vastly increased the strength of the action.
NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
51
1886 HUNTER LITE RIFLE MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER MAGAZINE CAPACITY BARREL OVERALL LENGTH WEIGHT, EMPTY STOCK LENGTH OF PULL
A Uberti S.p.A. uberti-usa.com Lever-action repeater .45-70 3 rounds 22 in. 41.25 in. 8.0 lbs. European walnut with 0.75-in. rubber buttpad and sling-swivel studs 14.0 in.
FINISH
Polished blued barreled action, semigloss wood
SIGHTS
Buckhorn rear, brass bead front, receiver drilled and tapped for peep sight
TRIGGER SAFETY MSRP
6.28-lb. pull (as tested) Halfcock notch on hammer $1,899
The rifle’s rear sight is a traditional buckhorn with an elevator bar and a notch that is properly sized for precise aiming with the front sight’s classic brass bead. The front sight’s ramp is finely grooved, and the entire unit attaches to the barrel with two screws.
can easily spice up the ballistics with the many pressure-tested loads available in various loading manuals. Even though the Model 1886 is very strong for a lever action, handloaders should not use loads that exceed the proofed pressure.
Features
Accuracy
The Hunter Lite hammer has a halfcock safety notch, and the receiver is beautifully color-casehardened. The barrel, lever, hammer, spring cover base, spring cover leaf, and trigger have a lustrous blue finish that looks about a foot deep. The forearm has a steel cap that is also blued. The trigger pull on my test rifle was 6 pounds, 4.5 ounces, and it was very crisp. The open sights are a traditional buckhorn rear and a brass bead front. The semicircle notch in the rear is perfectly sized for the brass front, and this makes group shooting a bit easier. The rear has a sliding bar for elevation and is drift-adjustable for windage. As with other Uberti rifles, the rear sight has a small setscrew in the base that can be loosened for adjustment and then tightened so that the sight stays put. Speaking of sights, the receiver is drilled and tapped for a Lyman peep sight, and the gun comes with two small plug screws in the holes at the left rear of the receiver. According to Uberti, the Lyman Model 66 WB sight fits. It’s available from Brownells. The stock and forearm of my Hunter Lite are an attractive but relatively straight-grained walnut with a nice semigloss finish. The pistol grip has excellent cut checkering, and the forearm’s steel cap has a sling-swivel stud. The buttstock also has a swivel stud on an inlaid base, and the wood-to-metal fit is excellent. The half-magazine protrudes about an inch in front of the forearm cap. Uberti lists the Hunter Lite’s weight at 7.11 pounds, but according to my scale, the test gun weighed exactly 8 pounds. The stock wears a 0.75-inch rubber recoil pad. The Hunter Lite is proof-tested at 29,000 psi, so any modern factory ammo is perfectly safe in it, and the judicious handloader
I selected six .45-70 factory loads and put them to a test in the Hunter Lite. Firing three, five-shot groups at a target distance of 50 yards, out of deference to the open sights, revealed that the rifle is capable of achieving very good accuracy. At that distance the front bead appeared slightly smaller than the target’s bullseye, and that made precise aiming easier. I had nary a bobble with any load, and all shot about as well as I can expect to do with open sights. Thanks to the welldesigned buttstock and the functional recoil pad, recoil was brisk but not terrible. The only slight hiccup was that the two opposing forearm and tenon screws worked loose a little during long shooting sessions, but they were easily tightened. Velocities of all loads were slightly lower than the velocities listed by their manufacturers. The load with the highest velocity and muzzle energy was the Hornady 325-grain FTX at 1,936 fps and 2,706 ft-lbs. This load produced a group average of 2.21 inches. The most accurate load was the Winchester 300-grain JHP, but it had the slowest velocity at 1,609 fps and the lowest energy at 1,725 ft-lbs. The redeeming feature of this load was its excellent accuracy: 1.18 inches. A contrast in extremes, it seems. I also tested an interesting new load from Fort Scott Munitions that fires a solid-copper bullet with an ogive that is designed to tumble—not expand—on impact. This load averaged slightly under 2.00 inches. The average group size of all loads fired in the Hunter Lite was 1.80 inches; however, I must take most of the responsibility for the group sizes as my eyes and open sights haven’t been on speaking terms for several years.
52
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
The European walnut stock has checkering in the pistol grip area, a 0.75-inchthick recoil pad, sling-swivel studs, and a metal cap on the forearm.
UBERTI MODEL 1886 HUNTER LITE RIFLE ACCURACY & VELOCITY
AMMUNITION
VEL. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
.45-70, 22-in. Barrel Hornady LEVERevolution 250-gr. MonoFlex 1905 20 Federal 300-gr. Fusion 1768 13 Federal Power-Shok 300-gr. HP 1746 34 Fort Scott 300-gr. Solid 1736 14 Winchester 300-gr. JHP 1609 22 Hornady LEVERevolution 325-gr. FTX 1936 27
RECOIL (FT-LBS)
M.E. (FT-LBS)
50-YD. ACC. (IN.)
16.7 18.5 18.0 17.2 14.5 25.7
2015 2083 2031 2008 1725 2706
1.77 1.93 1.73 1.97 1.18 2.21
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of 15 rounds measured 10 feet from the gun’s muzzle. Range temperature: 76 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit.
Overall, the Model 1886 Hunter Lite Rifle produced impressive accuracy and performance. It delivers plenty of practical accuracy, and there are plenty of factory loads for the grand old .45-70 cartridge that the hunter can test and select the best one for his or her rifle and game. It’s been said that old soldiers never die, and I guess the same thing can be
said about old soldiers’ cartridges, too. After 144 years, the grand old .45-70 Government is still going strong and has found a new and worthy home in Uberti’s new Model 1886 Hunter Lite. The Model 1886 Hunter Lite has a lot of class. It is aesthetically pleasing, well made, and accurate.
.357Sig .380 (MOST)
The test rifle’s overall average accuracy for five-shot groups at 50 yards with six different .45-70 factory loads was 1.80 inches. Winchester’s 300-grain JHP loading was the most accurate with an average of 1.18 inches.
.40S&W
9mm
10mm .45ACP
THE TRUE DEFINITION OF SPEED LOADER!
S
IG SAUER HAS BEEN LEADING THE PACK
in developing airguns—both handguns and long guns—that feel like their centerfire counterparts. The impetus for such airguns is practice and training. Shooting Times reported on some of the models a little over a year ago, and now we have two more new models for your consideration. Both are pistols. Both are .177 caliber. One shoots pellets and BBs, and the other shoots BBs only. The two SIG airguns featured here are powered by 12-gram CO2 cylinders (both guns have convenient cam lever loading ports for quick, easy loading of the CO2 cartridges, which I’ll get to in a moment), and they have removable, multi-round magazines. The magazine of the new P320 ASP holds 30 pellets or BBs. For the new 1911 Spartan, the magazine holds 16 BBs. Both pistols are blowback operated.
P320 ASP The .177-caliber P320 ASP (ASP stands for Advanced Sport Pellet) mimics SIG’s popular P320 centerfire pistol. As such, it comes with a 4.7-inch barrel and three-dot sights that are dovetailed into the slide. My sample has a black finish, but you also can have it in Coyote Tan if you prefer. 54
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
The integral grips have the same textured pattern as the centerfire P320, and the pistol also has an integral accessory rail on the frame dustcover just like its centerfire mate. The magazine release is located in the same place as on the centerfire P320. The P320 ASP weighs 35.2 ounces, and in the hand, it feels very much like my sample of the centerfire P320. Plus, it fits perfectly in my centerfire P320’s holster. The P320 ASP has a metal slide and a rifled steel barrel, and as I said earlier, it shoots both pellets and BBs. It can provide a muzzle velocity of up to 430 fps, and trigger pull measured 8.0 pounds on my trigger pull scale.
1911 Spartan The .177-caliber 1911 Spartan looks and feels like the centerfire .45 ACP SIG 1911 Spartan Full Size. It has a 5.0-inch barrel and three-dot sights that are dovetailed into the slide. It shoots BBs only. SIG SAUER’s new P320 ASP and 1911 Spartan air pistols are the same size and weigh almost the same as their centerfire counterparts. They have similar features and controls that are located in the same places as the centerfire pistols. They have removable, multi-round magazines. And they fit in holsters designed for the centerfire pistols. All that makes for very realistic training.
NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
55
The CO2-powered P320 ASP looks, weighs, and handles like SIG’s centerfire P320 pistol. Its magazine release button is located in the same place, and its sights mimic those of the centerfire pistol.
The grip panels have the same Spartan helmet and motto design as the .45-caliber 1911 Spartan, and the air pistol has an integral accessory rail on the frame dustcover, again just like its centerfire mate. The magazine release is located in the usual Model 1911 location, and the air pistol has a functioning grip safety. The gun weighs 41.6 ounces, and its trigger pull measured 7.5 pounds. Like the P320 ASP, the 1911 Spartan BB gun has a metal slide and a rifled steel barrel. Its finish is a custom ORB (oil-rubbed bronze) PVD finish, and the left side of the slide is engraved with the Greek motto “MOLON LABE,” which means “come and take them.” And, you guessed it, the centerfire 1911 Spartan has the same ORB finish and motto engraved on its slide. The 1911 Spartan BB gun has a skeletonized hammer and a skeletonized trigger. This pistol can produce a muzzle velocity of up to 410 fps. And it fits in current Model 1911 holster systems.
815.874.8001 • competitionelectronics.com 56
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
P320 ASP MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER MAGAZINE CAPACITY BARREL
SIG SAUER sigsauerasp.com .177 pellets or BBs 30 rounds 4.7 in.
OVERALL LENGTH
8.25 in.
WIDTH
1.33 in.
HEIGHT
5.75 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY GRIPS
35.2 oz. Integral to polymer frame
FINISH
Black
SIGHTS
Three-dot sights; drift-adjustable rear, dovetailed post front
TRIGGER
8.0-lb. pull (as tested)
SAFETY
Manual thumb safety
MSRP
to a tight resistance, fold the screw handle back in place and then slide the backstrap back into place. That’s all there is to it. Installing a CO2 cylinder in the 1911 Spartan BB pistol is a bit different because the left-hand grip panel has to be removed. But that’s extremely easy, and all you need do is lift at the bottom of the panel. Then lift the bottom of the mainspring housing. Actually, it’s not a mainspring housing, but it sure looks like one. In SIG’s parlance, it’s called the puncture lever. After lifting it at the bottom, move it all the way down. It’s hinged, so the movement is easy. Insert the CO2 cylinder and push the puncture lever into the frame back into its locking position, closing it fully. Install the grip panel, and you’re all set. Loading the magazine for either air pistol is easy, too. Just remove the magazine by pressing the magazine release button and pulling the magazine out of the bottom of the grip frame. In the case of the P320 ASP, using .177-caliber (4.5mm) pellets or BBs, open the magazine loading door, place the magazine on a flat surface, and load a pellet or a BB in each seat of the rotary belt until flush. Rotate the belt clockwise until all 30 seats are filled. Close the loading door and insert the magazine into the pistol’s grip frame. And remember this: When using pellets, the head end goes down into the seat. Loading the 1911 Spartan’s magazine with BBs is even easier. With the magazine removed from the gun, simply move the
CO2 blowback-operated airgun
$119.99
Loading the Airguns Inserting the CO2 cylinder into the P320 ASP is easy thanks to the cleverly designed, patented lever system. First push down on the grip’s backstrap and slide the part off the frame. Fold down the screw on the bottom of the grip frame and screw it all the way down. Insert the CO2 cylinder and turn the screw clockwise to pierce the CO2 cylinder. When the screw comes
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Like the .45 ACP 1911 Spartan Full Size, the 1911 Spartan BB pistol has a 5.0-inch barrel, three dot sights, special grip panels, and ORB finish. It fits in current Model 1911 holster systems.
magazine follower to the locking notch and hold it firmly in place. Fill the magazine with BBs by loading them individually into the loading port. The magazine holds 16 BBs. Then carefully and slowly release the follower from the notch. Note that SIG recommends not allowing the follower to rapidly spring back into place as that can cause BBs to eject. SIG provides illustrated instructions that make inserting the CO2 cylinders and loading the magazines a snap. A word of caution is in order. When using BBs, never shoot at a hard surface or at the surface of water because the BB can bounce off or ricochet. Both air pistols were fun to shoot and were as realistic as possible. Obviously, they don’t have the sound or the recoil of their centerfire counterparts, but their sizes, weights, and handling characteristics are very similar, from how the 1911 Spartan’s safeties operate to its slide locking open after the last shot is fired. In case anyone is wondering, I got 110 shots from one
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1911 SPARTAN MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER MAGAZINE CAPACITY
SIG SAUER sigsauerasp.com CO2 blowback-operated airgun .177 BBs 16 rounds
BARREL
5.0 in.
OVERALL LENGTH
8.7 in.
WIDTH
1.46 in.
HEIGHT
5.88 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY
41.6 oz.
GRIPS
Polymer
FINISH
Bronze ORB PVD
SIGHTS
Three-dot sights; drift-adjustable rear, dovetailed post front
TRIGGER SAFETY MSRP
7.5-lb. pull (as tested) Thumb safety, beavertail grip safety with memory bump $110.99
CO2 cylinder in the P320 ASP, and both pistols averaged less than 2.00 inches for five-shot groups at 33 feet. Joseph Huston, vice president and general manager of the SIG SAUER Airgun Division, aptly stated, “Our airguns are an inexpensive alternative to live-fire training for those who want to practice but can’t make it to the range as often as they
Both air pistols have removable, multi-shot magazines. The P320 ASP’s (shown here) holds 30 .177-caliber pellets or BBs; the 1911 Spartan’s magazine holds 16 BBs.
would like, and the fact that the 1911 Spartan BB Pistol fits in a regular 1911 holster allows shooters to practice drawing in addition to accuracy. Shooting enthusiasts are really embracing SIG SAUER airguns as an additional method of training, and these airguns are also an excellent way to teach beginners firearm safety and how to shoot for the very first time.” After spending a day shooting the two SIG air pistols, I have to admit that I like the company’s slogan for them. Simply put, it says, “Shoots Like a SIG—Because It Is One.”
If paying too much for a quality 1911 makes you want to scream, grab a TCM from Rock Island Armory. We don’t cut corners to make a less expensive gun. We simply believe in delivering value and performance at a price that makes shooting affordable. Enough said.
SHOOT
HUNT
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QUICKSHOT
THE BREAK-OPEN SINGLE-SHOT ENCORE IS A BEEFED-UP VERSION OF
the classic Thompson/Center Contender, designed to handle higher-pressure, higher-performance centerfire rifle cartridges. It first appeared in 1998. In about 2006 the stainless-steel Pro Hunter variation of the Encore came out. After a short suspension in production, the Pro Hunter is back. New for this year is the Encore Pro Hunter pistol chambered for .308 Winchester. The .308 Pro Hunter pistol comes with a 15-inch-long, fluted, stainlesssteel barrel with a 1:10 twist rate. At the muzzle, the barrel’s diameter measures 0.72 inch, and the muzzle crown is recessed. The barrel wears a fully adjustable rear sight and a post front sight, and both sights are all black. The Pro Hunter’s forearm is black rubber and so is the grip. Shooting Times’s test sample Pro Hunter’s trigger pull was good but heavy. Pull weight measured 6 pounds, 8 ounces, according to my RCBS trigger scale, and it was nice and crisp. However, trigger reach was a bit too long for me. I have medium-size hands and my fingers are average length, and reaching the trigger with a secure hold on the pistol’s grip was a bit awkward. It just wasn’t as comfortable as I prefer and took some time getting used to, but I didn’t have any serious trouble firing the Pro Hunter.
ENCORE PRO HUNTER PISTOL MANUFACTURER TYPE CALIBER CARTRIDGE CAPACITY BARREL
.308 Win. 1 round 15 in. 19.5 in.
WIDTH
1.42 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY GRIPS
6.0 in. 4.5 lbs. Black rubber pistol grip and forearm
FINISH
Matte stainless
SIGHTS
Fully adjustable rear, post front
TRIGGER MSRP
SHOOTING TIME
Break-open single shot
OVERALL LENGTH
HEIGHT
60
Thompson/Center Arms tcarms.com
6.5-lb. pull (as tested) $779
The T/C Encore Pro Hunter comes with a 15-inch, fluted, stainless-steel barrel; an adjustable rear sight; and a black rubber pistol grip and forearm.
T/C ENCORE PRO HUNTER PISTOL ACCURACY & VELOCITY VEL. (FPS)
AMMUNITION
E.S. (FPS)
S.D. (FPS)
25-YD. ACC. (IN.)
32 17 28 17 12
0.97 0.90 0.99 1.03 1.00
SEE IT
.308 Winchester, 15-in. Barrel Hornady 150-gr. InterBond HSM 150-gr. Low Recoil HSM 150-gr. GameKing Federal 170-gr. Low Recoil Winchester 180-gr. Silvertip
2555 2086 2519 1704 2381
69 33 77 37 29
NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 feet from the gun’s muzzle.
I fired five factory loads with bullet weights ranging from 150 grains to 180 grains. They produced a healthy amount of recoil, but I was prepared for that. However, due to the combination of lots of recoil and the awkward trigger reach, I wasn’t as accurate with the pistol as I would like. Overall average accuracy of three, five-shot groups with each load at 25 yards was 0.98 inch. A quick calculation of the recoil for those loads produced values ranging from 11 ft-lbs to 25 ft-lbs. For comparison, a typical .44 Magnum 240-grain JHP out of a 7.5-inch revolver barrel produces recoil of between 16 and 19 ft-lbs. You might think that shooting five-shot groups with this pistol is not very practical (and I would agree), but that’s the standard protocol for Shooting Times, so that’s what I did. Since 25 yards is the standard distance for handgun reviews here at ST, I used that distance for the bulk of the shooting, but the Pro Hunter pistol is obviously designed to shoot at longer distances, so I fired several shots at a 10-inch steel gong placed at 100 yards. When I did my part, steel rang every time I squeezed the trigger. If I were to take this pistol big-game hunting, which I would like very much to do, I would install a handgun scope and do a lot of practice shooting at 100 yards before heading to the hunting fields. Once that work was accomplished, I wouldn’t hesitate to hunt whitetails, mule deer, and even elk with the Encore Pro Hunter pistol. I am by no means a “pro” hunter, but armed with T/C’s Encore Pro Hunter pistol chambered for .308 Winchester, I’d be sure to put venison on the dinner table.
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www.ProofBarrels.com NOVEMBER 2017 • SHOOTING TIMES
61
Watch Davidson’s Gallery of Guns Television to see unique and exclusive guns, learn about them, and buy them from your local GalleryofGuns.com retailer. Encore Presentations: Friday at 12:30am, Sunday at 7:00am, and Thursday at 2:30pm. All show times EST.
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BURRIS HAS A NEW SPOTTING SCOPE, AND, BOY, IS IT A DANDY! THE NEW
Signature HD 20-60X Spotting Scope features HD lenses and an apochromatic lens system that eliminates color fringing and delivers edge-to-edge resolution at all magnifications. The scope’s large ocular lens provides a wide field of view and offers maximum light transmission. The angled eyepiece and rotating tripod mount make spotting easier from standing or prone positions. The Signature HD 20-60X Spotting Scope comes with a builtin sun shade that helps reduce glare and protects the objective lens from rain and snow; a die-cast magnesium body that’s armored for greater protection in the field; a carry strap; a thick neoprene cover that keeps the scope dry, clean, and protected from inadvertent dings and scratches; and custom-fit removable lens covers. The forward-mounted focus knob allows both coarse and fine focusing adjustment, and the eyecup can be adjusted to accommodate eyeglasses. While the new spotting scope comes with a variable 20-60X eyepiece, a fixed 30X eyepiece is also available. Designed for use on the range or in competitive shooting, the 30X eyepiece can be had with Burris’s SCR Mil or SCR MOA reticle. Also noteworthy is the fact that a Burris FastFire red-dot sight can be attached to the scope on either side via recessed attachment points. The FastFire (sold separately) provides a fast, accurate way to acquire the target, eliminating getting lost in the magnification when sighting downfield. The Signature HD 20-60X Spotting Scope is 15.3 inches long and weighs 67.2 ounces. It’s waterproof, fogproof, and shockproof and covered by the Burris Forever Warranty.
62
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
SIGNATURE HD 20-60X SPOTTING SCOPE MANUFACTURER
Burris Optics burrisoptics.com
MAGNIFICATION
20-60X
OBJECTIVE LENS DIAMETER
85mm
EYE RELIEF
18 to 20mm
FIELD OF VIEW
60 to 117 ft.
FOCUS
Coarse and Fine
LENGTH
15.3 in.
WEIGHT
67.2 oz.
FINISH MSRP
Flat Dark Earth/black $1,895
Burris will repair or replace the scope if it is damaged or defective at no charge. The warranty is automatically transferred to future owners, so no warranty card or receipt is needed. The Burris Forever Warranty does not cover loss, theft, deliberate damage, or cosmetic damage that does not hinder the performance of the product. Here is how it works: For warranty service, contact the Burris Customer Service department for return instructions. You will need to insure the shipment and keep the shipment tracking records because Burris isn’t responsible for your scope until the company receives it. You must prepay the shipping charges and ship the scope by mail, UPS, or other parcel service. Burris will pay for shipping it back to you.
I don’t know if this spotting scope was designed with ornithologists in mind, but its performance is extremely good. I think even the most discerning ornithologist (and believe me, ornithologists can be really picky) will appreciate the high level of light transmission, accurate color rendition, and fine resolution this scope delivers. Shooters will appreciate all that, too. During testing, I found it to provide excellent resolution, a nice bright image, very neutral color rendition, and no detectable spherical aberration at the edges of the image. Old-time shooters like me used to always have one main criterion that they judged a spotting scope by, and that was whether you could see .22-caliber bullet holes on paper targets at 100 yards. Well, you certainly can with this one. In fact, I can read the 18-point print on my targets with it. I like the Burris Signature HD 20-60X Spotting Scope a lot. The amount of eye relief allows use with shooting glasses, which is a must-have for a spotting scope that shooters will use. I also like the rotating body. And I especially like the angled eyepiece. I grew up using a spotting scope with a straight eyepiece and encountered all kinds of awkward viewing situations. I much prefer the angled eyepiece. MSRP: $1,895 burrisoptics.com
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All firearms purchased through galleryofguns.com are covered by Davidson’s GuaranteeD Guarantee Lifetime Replacement placem Warranty. For more information, visit www.galleryofguns.com or call 800-367-4867.
LIFETIME REPLACEMENT
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THERE SEEMS TO BE NO SHORTAGE OF 10MM MODEL 1911S THESE DAYS.
That doesn’t bother me one little bit. I am a fan of the Model 1911, and I’m also a fan of the 10mm Auto cartridge. One of the newest 10mm 1911s is the Remington R1 LS ORB Hunter that’s exclusively distributed by Davidson’s. The R1 LS ORB Hunter has serrations on the slide at the rear and the front; a fully adjustable target-style rear sight that’s recessed into the top of the slide; a dovetailed front sight with red fiber-optic insert (sight radius is 7.5 inches); a skeletonized hammer; a flat, checkered mainspring housing; an extended, ambidextrous thumb safety; a 6.0-inch, ramped barrel (diameter at the muzzle is 0.58 inch); and textured G10 grip panels. The grip frame’s frontstrap is smooth, and the pistol comes with a single flat-wire recoil spring, a full-length recoil spring guide rod, and an open-ended recoil spring guide plug. The standard R1 Hunter as available from Remington has a black PVD finish, but the R1 LS ORB Hunter from Davidson’s has an exclusive oil-rubbed bronze PVD frame and slide; a bright black barrel and bushing; and matte black slide stop, magazine release, grip safety, and mainspring housing. The gun comes with two magazines. Our preproduction sample came with eight-round magazines, but Davidson’s specs list the capacity as nine rounds.
64
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
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R1 LS ORB HUNTER 10MM MANUFACTURER DISTRIBUTOR TYPE CALIBER MAGAZINE CAPACITY
Remington Arms remington.com Davidson’s galleryofguns.com Recoil-operated autoloader 10mm Auto 9 rounds
BARREL
6.0 in.
OVERALL LENGTH
9.5 in.
WIDTH
1.47 in.
HEIGHT
5.75 in.
WEIGHT, EMPTY GRIPS
The R1 LS ORB Hunter is chambered for the 10mm Auto cartridge and features a 6.0-inch barrel, textured G10 grip panels, a checkered flat mainspring housing, a fully adjustable rear sight, a red fiber-optic front sight, and an integral accessories rail.
44.8 oz. Textured G10
FINISH
Bronze ORB PVD
SIGHTS
Adjustable rear, red fiber-optic front
TRIGGER SAFETY MSRP
4.6-lb. pull (as tested) Ambidextrous manual thumb safety, beavertail grip safety with memory bump $1,341
The beavertail grip safety’s memory bump is checkered and matches the mainspring housing. The three-hole trigger is adjustable for overtravel. My sample pistol’s trigger pull averaged 4.6 pounds, and it was smooth and consistent. The R1 LS ORB Hunter’s dustcover has an integral accessories rail with one cross-slot. I used it to install a UM Tactical scope mount with my favorite Burris 1X pistol scope for the accuracy shooting. I also shot the pistol with its factory sights on reactive targets.
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epoxy resin binder. It is very strong. The R1 LS ORB HuntI’ve had the pleasure of shooting three of Remington’s er’s grip texturing provides just the right amount of bite to .45 ACP R1 versions: the standard R1, the R1 Enhanced, give you a very secure grip on the pistol. Coupled with the and the R1 Carry Commander CT. All performed well, but checkering on the mainspring housing, the pistol stays put I really enjoyed shooting the new R1 LS ORB Hunter. I love shooting the 10mm Auto round in a good pistol. Accordin the hand when shooting, but I would prefer the frontingly, I fired five factory loads in the R1 LS ORB Hunter that strap to be checkered or stippled. ranged in bullet weight and style from 155-grain hollowThe R1 LS ORB Hunter performed great during my shootpoints to 200-grain lead SWCs. ing session, with absolutely no failures to feed or eject, and Weighing in at 44.8 ounces (empty) on my digital scale, it was nicely accurate with all loads. the R1 LS ORB Hunter has enough heft to tame the 10mm cartridge’s recoil. The factory loads I fired in it averaged 1.77 inches REMINGTON R1 LS ORB HUNTER ACCURACY & VELOCITY at 25 yards. The best accuracy came with 25-YD. HSM 200-grain lead SWC ammo, which VEL. E.S. S.D. ACC. averaged 1.49 inches for three, five-shot AMMUNITION (FPS) (FPS) (FPS) (IN.) groups. The Remington 180-grain Metal 10mm Auto, 6.0-in. Barrel Case ammo was next with an average of Barnes 155-gr. TAC-XP 1165 28 10 1.88 1.55 inches. Hornady 155-gr. XTP 1272 31 14 1.95 The pistol’s grip panels are made of Winchester 175-gr. Silvertip 1302 52 18 1.96 tough G10, with a brown color scheme. Remington 180-gr. MC 1161 30 12 1.55 For anyone who doesn’t already know it, HSM 200-gr. H-C Lead SWC 1212 23 8 1.49 G10 is a thermosetting industrial fiberglass NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest with a Burris 1X pistol scope installed. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured 12 composite laminate consisting of a continfeet from the gun’s muzzle. uous filament glass cloth material with an
9MM Mag Well
MCS Receiver
With alternate Barreled Uppers, Bolts, Mag Wells and Magazines, you can convert to .223 / 300 Blackout / 7.62x39mm or .450 Bushmaster.
For complete details, see: W W W. W I N D H A M W E A P O N RY. C O M o r y o u r l o c a l F F L D e a l e r.
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SHOOTER’S SHOWCASE GUNSMOKE
HIPSHOTS
THE SIGHT OF A CHARGE OF IMR 3031 FILLING THE The 8x50 Austrian Mannlicher Model 95 straight-pull rifle was used by the army of AustriaHungary in the Great War. It was a fine battle rifle in many ways. An innovative steel alloy developed by Steyr allowed a lighter barrel, and it was the first military rifle to use stainless steel for the bolt. It is fun to shoot, but ammunition is a problem.
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case to the base of the neck set my mental alarm bells ringing. The last time I saw that much 3031 in a case was during a destruction test I carried out on two rifles about 20 years ago. In that instance, I chose 3031 because it was a legitimate powder to use in the two cartridges of the test (.3006 and 6.5x55) and fast enough burning that a dangerous double-charge might conceivably occur. IMR 3031 is never compressed in a load, nor is it good with heavy bullets. In this immediate case— loading the obscure 8x50R Austrian with a 220-grain 8mm bullet—it would be both. This sent me scurrying to the reference library to double- and triple-check. My conclusion: Pull those bullets and start over. This is the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into the Great War, so it’s logical to pull out old rifles
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
from that conflict and give them an outing on the rifle range. With Springfields, Lee-Enfields, and Mauser 98s, this presents little difficulty. More obscure numbers, like my Mannlicher Model 95, are more of a challenge. The 8x50R Austrian was one of the original smokeless-powder military rounds, firing a 244-grain jacketed bullet at 2,030 fps. It even enjoyed some popularity in central Europe for hunting, so commercial ammunition was made for a while. Today, however, there is neither factory ammunition nor brass. I solved the brass problem through my friend Bob Hayley (Hayley’s Custom Ammunition, 940-888-3352) who fashions it from 7.62 Russian. The resulting brass has slightly less case capacity because of thicker web and case walls, but that can be dealt with. Any 0.323-inchdiameter 8mm bullet can be used.
8x50R Austrian Mannlicher There never was much loading data, and what little I found (courtesy of Phil Sharpe’s Complete Guide to Handloading) is useless because the powders listed have been discontinued. The only apparently workable load was in Cartridges of the World. It was first listed in 1965 and continued at least through the tenth edition (2003). The load called for 45 grains of IMR 3031 with a 244-grain bullet. No one makes 244-grain bullets, either, but I figured a 220-grain, which is the heaviest I could find, would be fine. For that matter, being naturally suspicious, I thought I could load 150-grain through 220-grain bullets with that load and shoot them, working up from lightest to heaviest, while watching for signs of pressure.
Trying to Find a Suitable Handload That was the plan. Then I got nervous, and the more I investigated, the nervouser I got. The .32 Winchester Special has just slightly less case capacity than the 8x50R and the same diameter bullet, so data for it can be used as a starting point. The heaviest load of IMR 3031 in that cartridge, with a 170-grain bullet, is a mere 31.6 grains (Hodgdon data), which is a far, far cry from 45 grains, especially with such a fast-burning powder. And this with a bullet 74 grains lighter! Gulp, and double gulp. By this time, I was sifting through other data in Cartridges of the World, which has always favored IMR 3031 as a starting powder for old cartridges. Loads given for the French 8mm Lebel and the 8x56R Hungarian, among others, use 3031 and heavy bullets. This doesn’t make them correct, only consistent. At this late date, it’s impossible to determine where that load for the 8x50R Austrian originated, or why it survived in subsequent editions for so long if it is, in fact, hazardous—as I firmly believe it is. The old (but still excellent) Powley Computer took the data from my refashioned cases and determined a starting load of IMR 4320 (considerably slower than 3031) and in a smaller amount (41 versus 45 grains) for a lighter (220 versus 244 grains) bullet. When I recover my nerve, I may try it.
The 8x50R Austrian Mannlicher cartridge was adopted in 1888 for the straight-pull Mannlicher Model 88 military rifle and was also used in the later improved Model 95 rifle. It was used by militaries in Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Greece, and it was also a fairly popular hunting cartridge in Europe. It is adequate for most North American big game.
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1873, and some have suggested that he left Georgia after shooting and killing at least one man, possibly three, because they were swimming in his private swimming hole. All sources I consulted agree that Holliday was hot-tempered and quick to use a gun or a knife. One reference stated that once he became a card shark, he realized he needed to hone his survival skills and started practicing with his sixguns and knives. He became an expert shot. From the winter of 1875 through the fall of 1881, Holliday moved from town to town, usually after some dust-up that involved a gunfight or some knife play. Over the years he went from Texas to Apache country in Kansas Territory (now Colorado) to Wyoming to New Mexico back to Texas then to Kansas, Colorado, and Arizona, sometimes being chased by one posse or another or the Texas Rangers or the U.S. Marshals. He occasionally settled in various towns, such as Denver, Dodge City, and Tombstone, for brief periods, and along the way he became friends with Wyatt Earp and Mary Catherine Elder Haroney, a.k.a. “Big Nose” Kate. He also took to carrying a handgun in a shoulder holster and another on his hip, along with a knife.
His Guns Speaking of guns, Holliday is known to have used shotguns, revolvers, and derringers. According to Guns of Outlaws by Gerry and Janet Souter, during the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone,
Arizona Territory, on October 26, 1881, which some sources indicate started as a dispute between Holliday and cowboy Ike Clanton, Doc used a shotgun, a Colt Thunderer revolver, and a Remington Rider Magazine derringer. The Souters believe the shotgun was either a Colt or a W.W. Greener or a Belgian Eclipse Meteor, and they think it was most likely the Belgian Eclipse Meteor in 10 gauge with its barrels sawed off and no shoulder stock. Doc’s Colt Thunderer was .41 caliber, and his Remington Rider Magazine derringer was .32 caliber. After the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Holliday continued his gambling career, getting into a fracas every now and then until November 8, 1887, when he passed away from tuberculosis. His obituary stated, “There is scarcely one in the country who had acquired a greater notoriety than Doc Holliday, who enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most fearless men on the frontier, and whose devotion to his friends in the climax of the fiercest ordeal was inextinguishable.” Doc Holliday played the piano very well, was a snappy dresser, displayed the manners of a Southern gentleman, and was a deadly shot.
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SHOOTER’S SHOWCASE GUNSMOKE
HIPSHOTS
I’D VENTURE TO GUESS THAT EVERY READER OF
John Henry “Doc” Holliday travelled from state to state and territory to territory throughout the Southwest during the 1870s and 1880s. He was an expert shooter and survived a number of gunfights, including the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.
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Shooting Times knows something of Doc Holliday. After all, he participated in one of the most famous western gunfights of all time. But how many of you know that he was involved in at least nine shootouts and two deadly knife fights before the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral? How many of you know that he was tried for murder several times and four attempts were made to hang him? And how many of you can name at least three different firearms that he used during his frontier days?
The Man John Henry Holliday was born on August 14, 1851, and he attended school at the Valdosta Institute in Valdosta, Georgia, where he studied Greek, Latin, and French. His mother died of consumption (a.k.a. tuberculosis) in the fall of 1866 when John was 15.
SHOOTING TIMES • NOVEMBER 2017
According to some sources, in 1870 he enrolled at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia (which was supposedly founded by a cousin named Robert Holliday), was conferred the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1872, and immediately began work as a dentist in Atlanta. Historian Leon Metz disputes much of that, writing, “The facts are that he did not graduate from anywhere. He learned the trade by observing other dentists. While he practiced dentistry off and on during his lifetime, it never became a primary source of income. Doc made more money in poker than he ever did in extracting teeth.” Shortly after starting his dental practice, Holliday discovered that he had contracted tuberculosis. He consulted a number of physicians, was told he had only a short time to live, and was encouraged to move to a drier climate. Holliday headed for Texas in Continued on Page 70
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