Savage .30-06, BuShnell Scope and Minox 10x Bin ocS! $4.95 OUTSIDE U.S. $7.95 OCTOBER 2009 MIGHTY MINI MAG! RUGER HAWKEYE .300 R
More pint-size protection than a POISON DART FROG. pistol and poison dart frog shown actual size THE POTENT P238 SUBCOMPACT Reli
New! Cleaning Kits for Hunters in RealTree® and Mossy Oak® ® Extra Brushes & Optics Care for Hunters! OTIS TECHNOLOGY, INC. The
Vol. 56, Number 10, 647th Issue 6 8 MIGHTY MINI MAGNUM Ruger and Hornady’s compact magnums deliver power in a small package. STO
92 PHOTO: PHOTO: JOSEPH JOSEPH R. R. NOVELOZO NOVELOZO GUNS MaGaziNe GUN OF THe MONTH SAVAGE .30-06, bUSHNELL SCOPE AND MINOX bI
THE FINEST IN THE FIREARMS FIELD SINCE 1955 CROSSFIRE GUNS MAGAZINE AUGUST 2009 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Thomas von Rosen, CEO; Thomas
HANDGUNS • MASSAD AYOOB • BACk UP GUN DRILLS Stay up to speed with your hideout gun. n an article on a custom I S&W .357 J-frame
MODEL R-15 (Scope and base not included) INTRODUCING THE NEW 30 REMINGTON AR. It’s the world’s only 30-caliber big-game cartridg
around a requirement of five shots at a time, allowing for the in-gun capacity of the J-frame .38/.357 revolver, the quintessent
OPTICS • JACOB GOTTFREDSON • OPTICAL ILLUSIONS Do you see what you’re seeing? t has been decades now since Warren Page coined th
target, just like the fish he saw in the water was not exactly where his eyes told him it was. This phenomenon is not a problem
HANDLOADING • JOHN BARSNESS • HANDLOADS FOR HUNTING The steering end of the case matters most. or some years it’s been fashionab
» LOWEST-PROFILE RECEIVER » INNOVATIVE REVERSE STRIKER FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM » RECOIL ABSORBING INFLEX TECHNOLOGY RECOIL PAD » TOT
The new 300 and 338 Ruger Compact Magnums (RCMs) are purpose-built to outperform the 300 and 338 Win Mag cartridges, but in a co
HANDLOADING This Remington 700 .223 is the most accurate factory rifle Barsness has ever owned. The sub-1/4" 5-shot group taped
RIFLEMAN • DAVE ANDERSON • BARREL TURNING GREEN? Just clean it. ver the years I’ve made O some pretty good buys in used rifles.
Taurus856MODEL New for 2009, Taurus pushes its small frame revolvers to the next level with the Model 856. Offering 6-shot capac
RIFLEMAN These are patches from a couple of cleaning sessions with a Savage rifle Dave has been testing. Initially groups began
cleaners. Right now I have a couple of big bottles of powder solvent and 50BMG copper solvent from Montana Extreme, and they wor
MONTANA MUSINGS • MIKE “DUKE” VENTURINO • PHOTOS: YVONNE VENTURINO THE 1918 COLT 1911 “Duke’s Luck” strikes again. ack when I wa
WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM 23
MONTANA MUSINGS Duke’s new Colt Model 1911 at left with a Colt Model 1911a1 at right. The army made subtle changes between WWI a
Order Your Copy While Supplies Last! ONLY $9.95 (outside U.S. $17.95) A LOOK INSIDE: • Pistol or Rifle? • Everyday Practice • Ro
GUNSMITHING • HAMILTON BOWEN • RIFLE READy? Hunting season prep. Shooting your gun before hunting season is critical to preparat
Fieldstripping most rifle bolts is fairly straightforward once you’ve done it a time or two. Checking and tightening the screws
RANGING SHOTS • CLINT SMITH • AR STUFF Good gear for your rifle. any feel the number 7 is lucky and it may well be. Dealing with
“Americas Choice for Reloading Value” Start Reloading With The Stuff You’ll Keep RANGING SHOTS Brands That Perform Lyman’s Exper
SHOTGUNNER • HOLT BODINSON • REMINGTON’S NEw wEATHER BEATER The Model 887 excels where other guns just rust. Remington stylists
The exterior of the barrel is faceted with a series of cut panels running along the bottom of the barrel as well as along the to
™ • HOLT BODINSON • AN ENFIELD GEM The L39A1. Shooting the 7.62mm NaTO enfield brought back fond memories of Holt’s days shootin
SURPLUS LOCKER generated by the 7.62 round was to replace the existing No. 4 bolt head with a bolt head proofed for 19 tons per
marked “CR141A 65” on the magazine wall and “CR1256 1965” on the top of the follower. The magazine design is ingenuous. Rather t
• JOHN TAFFIN • Guncrafter Industries’ Glock .50 GI Conversion Unit. he best thing about being T a gunwriter is not all the grea
Amplifies Sound While Automatically Blocking Hazardous Noise • Directionally placed stereo microphones enhance sound for more na
The .50 GI Conversion Unit delivers fine accuracy and plenty of power at 20 yards. Note point of impact change as the power is i
.50 GI FACTORy AMMO PERFORMANCE LOAD VELOCITy GROUP SIzE (BULLET wEIGHT, TyPE) (FPS) (INCHES) 275 JHP 762 2-1/2 275 JHP 895 1-7/
• Jeff John • Q: How do you measure a bullet? Being in the Navy, we shoot NATO What’s In A Name? 7.62x51mm. I own a CZ 52 in 7.6
Mule Deer rif M y friend Milo McLeod likes to say, “Mule deer are the poor man’s bighorn sheep.” Both animals prefer steep count
fles Brad Ruddell took this nice Colorado buck with a 7mm Weatherby Magnum and a Weatherby 175-grain Hornady Spire Point factory
Texas riflesmith Charlie Sisk made this custom .300 Winchester Magnum on a Ruger 77 tang-safety action. Barsness used it in Sono
leave them there. My wife Eileen, on the other hand, finds 6X a little wimpy. All her big game rifles have variables topping out
It seems optics, guns and ammo are getting smaller and more powerful every time we look. The Ruger Hawkeye Compact Magnum in Hor
RugeR and HoRnady’s CompaCt magnums deliveR poweR in a small paCkage. “Y ou need a .223. You need a .308. You need a .375. That’
50 WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM • OCTOBER 2009
WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM 51
m77 HaWkeye ComPaCt magnum maker: Sturm, ruger & Co. inC. 411 SunaPee Street neWPort, nH 03773 (603) 865-2442, WWW.ruger.Com Cal
great .375 H&H, while fitting standard-length actions. Ruger designed the stainless/synthetic Alaskan and blue steel/walnut Afri
The Ruger 77 Mk II Sporter in .300 Win Mag with Zeiss 3.5-10X scope shoots 180-grain bullets at 2,960 fps. The Ruger 77 Mk II Ha
The best 3-shot 100-yard group (above) with the Ruger Compact Magnum was with .300 RCM Hornady ammunition loaded with 150-grain
Wh en it co me s to tec hn ology, Wh ich kn ive s ma ke th e cu t? he technological advances in knives have been a constant ever
heat-treating the lead edge of their D2 blades (using a technique DBK calls “friction-forging”) to greatly enhance their cutting
While there has been great experimentation with handle designs over the years, the human hand hasn’t changed and here again basi
been proven over time while newer ones can offer more durability. If you are a hard user, chances are you’ll want the latest gre
onsidering my gun magazine persona, what cartridge would you C think I have loaded and fired more of in the first half of 2009?
organizations. Of course, Germany was the 8mm Mauser’s most noted user in two world wars. But it also was standard at one time o
and carried a scope: not much of a scope to be sure but still better than open sights. On this K98k, the German Wehrmacht instal
NATO. In it is the information that the sS Patrone load used a bullet weighing 12.8 grams. That translates to 198 grains. Finall
The FNAR has a pistol grip stock, adjustable for length of pull and an interchangable cheekpiece adjustable for three different
The 9-pound FNAR is at home in the police cruiser or as a self-defense tool for the civilian. Note the hefty mag release just ah
VIEWS NEWS AND REVIEWS RIGHTS WATCH • DAVID CODREA • This ATTAck On Gun RiGhTs shOuldn’T Fly ed Kennedy had a problem a while ba
FiRe up ith the help of Royal Artillery soldiers, the Afghan Army has taken another step towards fighting the Taliban on its own
In this sequence, warriors from the new Artillery Company of the 3/205 Brigade of the Afghan National Army fire Russian D-30 art
YOUR #1 ONLINE RESOURCE FOR GUN TRAINING ri e pistol shotgun trap skeet self-defense ar-15 maintenance cleaning gun smithing gun
Lance Corporal Joseph Byrnes (right) and Private Adrian Titiriga (left) behind the F89 mini machinegun, soldiers from the 1st Me
helpinG heAl DOES IT AGAIN! With the NEW KWIK-MOUNT®/ 22 ADAPTER FOR RIFLES with GROOVED RECEIVERS Letter to Wounnded Warriors:
watch the girls swim and feel like he wasn’t missing everything. We were able to visit many locations during our trip. We went t
Sierra .30 caliber, 165 grain SBT GameKing Speer .30 caliber, 165 gr. Trophy Bonded Hornady .30 caliber, 165 gr. InterBond Swift
those who consume game harvested with traditional ammunition. He also pointed out to lawmakers and regulators there is no eviden
exercise their Second Amendment rights as “insurgents” who participate in a process that “erodes core democratic values,” Keane
bAck TO bAsics When evading capture in the South African bush, grassy juice from an impala’s stomach quenches thirst. Noisy hipp
away,” Seifert said. “We don’t train like this anymore. It reemphasized our need to get back to basics.” The course, just one ph
RAF ends 18 yeARs OF cOMbAT OpeRATiOns in iRAq The last Tornado GR4s and VC10 tanker aircraft returned to the UK from the Middle
to assist, dropping munitions if the situation warranted it. The process involved working in close cooperation with Army ground
sideARMOR hOlsTeRs Justin Carroll I appreciate a quality piece of handgun leather as much as the next guy — probably more than t
standard for rear rifle support systems and, being true to their nature, the newest addition to their product line in the form o
OCTOBER 2009 Classified ads $2.00 per-word insertion. ($1.50 per-word insertion for 3 or more) including name, address and phone
Accu-TAc AR FlAsh hideR From Wilson Combat The Accu-Tac AR flash hider sports a 3-pronged external profile and exclusive externa
For more New Products visit us online at www.gunsmagazine.com TAcTicAl scoPe From sWiFt optiCs Swift Optics introduces a new Tac
MAGAZINE 2009 CATALOG SHOWCASE Turn to page 2 to visit with A.G. and for information on AKTI's fight to KEEP FOLDING KNIVES LEGA
THE BELTMAN THE BELTMAN makes sturdy, top quality, DUAL LAYER, Bull Hide belts for dress wear, concealed carry or competition. O
Catalog $5 Volume #107 Since 1889 Finest Quality Holsters & Belts A century of handcrafting superior gunleather. 2025 E. Yandell
PROMAG INDUSTRIES If there’s one characteristic about our magazines we vowed never to change, it’s the quality that goes into th
sAvAGe .30-06 PHOTOS: JOSEPH R. NOVELOZO T BUSHNELL SCOPE AND MINOX BINOCS he rifle’s stock has dual pillar beds and the Bushnel
111Fxp3 MAkeR: sAvAGe ARMs 100 spRinGdAle ROAd, WesTField, MA 01085 (413) 568-7001 WWW.sAvAGeARMs.cOM. AcTiOn Type: Bolt action
ODD ANGRY SHOT • JOHN CONNOR • The FAce OF Gi JOe He wasn’t a toy. od bless candy-stripers. You know, the teenage girls who G vo
perhaps, the entire war in the Pacific. Screaming Banzai! Banzai! the Japanese charged out of the jungle treeline by the hundred
ADVERTISER PAGE ADVERTISER PAGE OCTOBER 2009 ADVERTISER’S INDEX The companies listed have featured advertisements in this issue.
continued from page 98 however, something happened and that happening was the .44 Magnum. Bill Ruger made his original Blackhawk
A hAlF-cenTuRy WiTh sixGuns The .45 Colt. he year was 1957. Maverick and Wagon Train had arrived on T TV, Pat Boone was watching