Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i Shooting Times

I ENJOYED THE OCTOBER 2019 “THE BALLISTICIAN” COLUMN BY ALLAN Jones about light loads for the .30-06. I make very soft loads for my wife who is very recoil sensitive. Now she will not give back my .308! There is a statement about avoiding jacketed bullets below 1,600 fps. However, the referenced Hodgdon .30-06 load with Trail Boss powder uses a Nosler 150-grain jacketed BT bullet with a starting load rated at 1,061 fps. The cartridge for my .308 is the same as the .30-06 except for the case length, and Hodgdon has a similar Trail Boss starting load at 1,176 fps. Hodgdon also lists a maximum load with a Sierra 168-grain jacketed bullet at 1,080 fps using Titegroup. I have run tests on Titegroup and found it does not…

MANUFACTURED BY STAR BONIFACIO ECHEVERRIA, in Eibar, Spain, Star’s Firestar series was a groundbreaking pioneer in the embryonic world of compact, concealable 9mm-and-larger pistols. So much so, in fact, that it earned Guns & Ammo’s “Handgun of the Year” award in 1991. Unfortunately, even with that illustrious accolade, the pistol was discontinued shortly before the company went defunct in 1997. While the M-40 Firestar was produced, it was imported via Interarms. According to the L•2 proof stamp found beneath the left-side grip panel on my pistol, it was produced in 1992. (Be warned: With the grip panel removed, the safety can be over-rotated and the detent released and lost. Finding a replacement is next to impossible, so protect that safety lever from rotating with the grips removed.) I confess that…

WITH A MATTE-BLACK steel slide, three-dot sights, a polymer-frame, a 4.0-inch barrel, and a trigger safety, Taurus’s new G3 9mm semiautomatic pistol might not sound like anything new, but it is. It’s the next generation of Taurus G-series pistols. The new G3 is a full-frame semiautomatic pistol, and as such, it takes the popular Taurus G2 to the next level. For anyone who doesn’t know, the G2 and G2c guns are compact pistols. They were introduced in 2013 and upgraded in 2018 and have earned a good reputation for being easy to carry and easy to shoot. Plus, they perform as well or better than a lot of similar-size pistols that cost twice as much. Safety First The new striker-fired G3 pistol has all the features most handgunners demand in…

IN 1940, DAISY INTRODUCED THE LEVER-ACTION RED Ryder air rifle. With its wood stock and forearm, saddle ring, and leather thong, it would eventually become iconic as the most famous BB gun. 2020 marks the Red Ryder’s 80th anniversary, and the company is offering a special-edition model, complete with engraving on the forearm, a commemorative medallion in the stock, and all the features that made the original the No. 1 American Christmas present. MSRP: $39.99 daisy.com RCBS MatchMaster Competition Dies Offered for 30 of the most popular rifle cartridges, RCBS’s precision-machined MatchMaster Competition Dies are available in Full Length and Neck Sizing configurations. Using neck bushings to put the right amount of neck tension on each round, the MatchMaster Full Length die set comes with a titanium-nitride-coated expander, which provides…

IN 1915 CHARLES NEWTON OF NEWTON RIFLE CO. fame created a rifle cartridge for Savage Arms to showcase in the excellent Savage 99 lever rifle. The cartridge pushed velocity boundaries and opened doors for future rounds. We know it today as the .250 Savage. Newton based this cartridge on a shortened .30-06 Springfield case. A 26-degree shoulder gives the case a decidedly modern appearance. Shortening allowed proper function in the Model 99 action while surpassing the existing .25-caliber performance leader (the .25-35 Winchester). Winchester’s 1899 catalog shows the .25-35 driving a 117-grain RN bullet at 2,000 fps; the current standard is 2,200 fps. The tubular-magazine rifles that represented most .25-35 chamberings required a roundnose or flatnose bullet. The Savage rifle had a rotary magazine under the bolt and could safely…

AMERICA’S FAVORITE CZECH GUN COMPANY RECENTLY REINTRODUCED ITS SLEEK little Bobwhite double-barreled shotgun. Dubbed the G2, it’s “back by popular demand,” according to the company. Why the need for this particular side-by-side? Well, first, any hunter with a modicum of taste has a thing for a good side-by-side field gun. Yes, that’s an unequivocal statement, and I’m unwilling to moderate it. Second, the Bobwhite G2 ticks all the classy-configuration boxes. It has an English-style straight-grip stock, which I believe is an uncompromisable element of a proper side-by-side. Further, it has two triggers, unlike the “modern” single-trigger travesties that masquerade as a double-barrel field piece. And many other virtuous characteristics grace the Bobwhite G2. I’ll get to those shortly. What this fine little gun doesn’t have is the gaspingly high price…

I LIKED THE ARTICLE ON THE HORNADY A-TIP BULLETS IN THE Q : November 2019 issue, but I would have enjoyed seeing a photograph of the custom GA Precision rifle the author used for that report. How about running a picture of it? Ryan Johnson Via email A: George Gardner of GA Precision has built a precision-rifle empire. He was one of the first and continues to be one of the best riflemakers in the United States. My rifle is built on the Templar action made for GA Precision by Defiance Machine. It has a 24-inch Bartlein barrel with a 1:7 twist, GAP #7 profile, and APA Gen 2 Little Bastard brake. The trigger is Timney’s Calvin Elite unit. The barreled action is mated to a Manners Elite TAC T2-GAP…

COMPARED TO WHEN I STARTED RELOADING nearly 50 years ago, today’s handloaders can choose from an overwhelming myriad of excellent reloading components. In addition to improved cup-and-core bullets, there are tipped, bonded, solid, polymer composite, etc., bullets that will often deliver much better ballistic performance. Many improved-formula propellants are relatively insensitive to temperature extremes and also reduce copper fouling. And new polymer-cased cartridges are appearing in the marketplace. In addition to the many choices of improved domestic products, we have almost unlimited access to excellent foreign-made components. One source of premium reloading products is Finland’s Nammo group. Many handloaders have tried VihtaVuori propellants and Lapua brass and bullets. Nammo recently expanded its market share by acquiring Berger bullets and introducing Berger-branded ammunition. Capstone Precision Group represents these three brands, plus…

HISTORIC BOONVILLE, MISSOURI, IS THE home of CMMG, one of the country’s prominent rifle manufacturers. CMMG was founded in 2002 by the Overstreet family: John, Jeff, Gretchen, and Stephanie. John and Jeff are brothers. Gretchen is John’s wife, and Stephanie is Jeff ’s wife. The firm specializes in high-quality ARs at affordable prices. CEO Chris Reinkemeyer told me the company’s mission is simple: “We strive to deliver rifles that are optimized to run efficiently for the long haul.” CMMG has grown steadily but carefully—and with a plan. Consequently, the company has developed some innovative designs and have several patents. CMMG offers a wide variety of AR-pattern firearms chambered for a diverse array of cartridges ranging from the .22 Long Rifle to the .458 SOCOM. CMMG has several sub-lines, and one…

THE BROWNING 1911-380 WAS INTRODUCED IN 2014, THREE YEARS AFTER the company created the .22 LR 1911-22 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the John Browning-designed Model 1911 .45 ACP pistol. It’s scaled-down from the original Model 1911 and is roughly 85 percent of its size. The new Black Label 1911-380 High Grade has a machined aluminum slide that wears a matte gray and black finish. It has grasping grooves at the rear only, and it’s fully engraved on the flats with a distinctive pattern. The pistol’s frame is a high-strength composite with a machined 7075 aluminum subframe and slide rails. The frontstrap is checkered and so are the mainspring housing and the grip safety’s memory bump. The trigger guard is rounded, and the frame and all controls have a…

THE FEEDERLE BROTHERS (FIDEL, FRITZ, AND Josef ) were the driving force behind the pistol that became known as the C96 or, more commonly, the Broomhandle Mauser. Western civilization owes them a great debt. The C96 is one of a very few pistols with a legitimate claim to the title “iconic,” and that is ironic because it was never adopted as the official sidearm of any major power. It did, however, see service just about everywhere shots were fired in anger during the first half of the 20th century. One of its very earliest admirers was the young Winston Churchill, who carried one whenever he saw action as a war correspondent. In 1898, at the Battle of Omdurman, Churchill found himself alone and facing four of the Mahdi’s horsemen. He…

I IMAGINE EVERYONE READING THIS MAGAZINE has heard of Winston Churchill. You probably learned that Churchill served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and led it through World War II, made a famous “iron curtain” speech in 1946 that was one of the first volleys of the Cold War, and served again as Prime Minister from 1951 to 1955. But you probably didn’t know, as Terry Wieland refers to in his “Gunsmoke” column beginning on page 64, Churchill used a handgun to shoot his way through a heated battle in 1898 while serving as a war correspondent in the Sudan and riding with the 21st Lancers of the British light cavalry. Wieland’s column details the gun he used, and I encourage you to read it…