The PAR has a stock that folds

and is collapsing. It comes with a

10-round magazine. It has a pistol
grip, and it’s black. By defnition,
this is not an “assault rife” ...
Governor Cuomo is going to
hate this rife.
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GUNS & AMMO JULY 2014 | VOLUME 58, NUMBER 7 | PUBLISHED MONTHLY

CONTENTS

In commemoration of Samuel
Colt’s 200th birthday, Guns &
Ammo’s subscriber edition fea-
tures a Colt Single Action Army
(SN# S65452A) on its cover�
This Colt Modern Masters SAA
is chambered in �45 Colt and
wears a nickel fnish highlighting
exquisite engraving across 50
percent of its surface� Engraving

48
was accomplished by Colt’s two
master engravers, Steve Kamyk
and George Spring� The engrav-
ing has been ink baked to bring
out its details, and this beautiful
revolver is complete with one-
piece ivory grips� These models

BY RICHARD NANCE TROY’S AR BEATS THE SYSTEM. are very limited production and

HOW NEW YORK LOST

are a special-order item from
the Colt Custom Shop� View
more images of this revolver at
gunsandammo�com/coltmm�
COVER PHOTOS: MICHAEL ANSCHUETZ, ABOVE: ALFREDO RICO

54 70 MAKING MEN EQUAL

The legend that was Sam Colt
POSITIVELY SPECIAL
A favorite of private eyes, plainclothesmen and mystery writers
78 REMINGTON’S
BLACK BELT BULLET
The Golden Saber has evolved.
began 200 years ago. alike, the Colt Detective Special is one of the most by richard mann
by arnold m. chernoff evocative and effective snubbie sixguns ever made.
by garry JameS

Reader Blowback � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 6 Rifes & Glass by Tom Beckstrand � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 33

Q&A “The Gunny” R� Lee Ermey � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10 Lock, Stock & Barrel by SGM Kyle Lamb [Ret�] � � � � � � � � � � � � 39
Editorial by Eric R� Poole � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 15 Proofhouse Mossberg MVP Patrol � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 88
SKYLINE © PICSY - FOTOLIA�COM

Gun Room by Garry James � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17 G&A Almanac � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 95

Gun Notes by Craig Boddington � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 23 Spent Cases Bill Jordan � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 96
Handgunning by Patrick Sweeney � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29

GUNS & AMMO Magazine, Copyright 2014 by InterMedia Outdoors Inc. All rights reserved.
CAUTION: Some advertisements may concern products that are not legally for sale to California residents or residents in other jurisdictions.
Guns & Ammo (ISSN# 0017-5684) July 2014, Volume 58 Number 7� Copyright 2014� Published monthly by INTERMEDIA OUTDOORS INC�, 1040 6th Ave�, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10018-3703� Periodical postage paid at New York, NY, and
at additional mailing offces� POSTMASTER: Send address change (Form 3579) to Guns & Ammo, P�O� Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235� Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: 500 R� 46 East, Clifton, NJ 07011� Canada Post
Publications Mail Agreement No� 41405030�
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Articles in each issue are authored and edited by
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 J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 5

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brownells.com
Copyright 2014 by InterMedia Outdoors, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be repro- 800-741-0015
duced without written permission. Source Code: EBP
6 G & A J U LY 2 0 1 4
READER WRITE US! “Letters,” Guns & Ammo, 2 News Plaza, 2nd Floor, Peoria, IL 61614, or email us at gaeditor@imoutdoors.com.
BLOWBACK Please include your city and state of residence. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity.

BOOMING
HANDGUNS
I bought a T/C Contender
with a 14-inch .44 Magnum
bull barrel and a 10-inch .45
Colt/.410 bull barrel close
to 30 years ago. I have shot
both barrels with almost no
recoil (although the blast
is pronounced). It sure
beats today’s handguns,
which seem to abound
in the 9mm, .40 “Short &
Weak” and .45 ACP, all with
micro-barrels. This gun with
a scope is a magnifcent
target/hunting gun. It’s a
SIMPLY TWISTED? shame that more manufac-
Writers use the word “simplistic” when what they want turers don’t follow in T/C’s
to use is “simple” or some other term denoting “uncom- footsteps with a cheaper
plicated” or “straightforward.” Simplistic means none of price. What ever happened
these things. Rather, it means overly simplifed or incom- to the .327 Federal with re-
plete. For instance, a simplistic defnition of a machine volvers in 6 inches, 8 inches
gun would be, “You pull the trigger, and then a bunch of or greater barrel lengths?
bullets fy out of the barrel.” Let us stop this madness now. The same could be said of
My wife asked me why most gun barrels have a right- the 9mm Winchester Mag-
hand twist. The most likely explanation I could think of is num. Manufacturers prefer
that this is due to the standard rotation of machinery used to build guns for a cartridge
for imparting lands and grooves in barrels. Then I began to that was not designed for an
wonder. Since most of the frearms manufactured in North auto pistol instead of using
America will be used here, might not the Coriolis effect the cartridge that was de-
have something to do with it? I doubt that lefty Craig Bod- signed to replace the .357
dington has all his safari rifes rebored for a left-hand twist, Magnum in an auto pistol.
so I guess I will go with Occam’s razor on this one. I hope Guadalupe Lujan,
it’s not a simplistic answer. El Paso, Texas
David Fischer,
via email FACEBOOK
720,000+ likes
JANUARY 1966
To celebrate the sesquicenten-
nial of Samuel Colt’s birthday,
the Colt Industries company
made up 1,000 revolvers,
which were elegantly cased and
engraved to varying degrees,
and offered them as presenta-
tion models. The Single Action
Army .45 featured on the cover
of the January 1966 issue of
Guns & Ammo was one of 50
models, which were selected
by serial number and engraved
accordingly. It has gold and
silver inlays and special wood
on the grips. Included was a
ftted presentation case, which
contained a book describing
a short history of Col. Colt’s
frearms collection and a com-
memorative medal. In 1966,
standard models started at
$225, while the 50 presenta-
tion-grade specimens sold for
$1,000. All 50 were subscribed
before they were made.
DEAR G&A EDITORS
You’ve done it, and with
the help of your writers,
you’ve turned the maga-
zine around. The articles
by Tom Beckstrand on the

Not all rifing is right-hand. I believe the fact that most
American rifing is dexterous is due to the simple fact that
most early rifing machines were set up to impart a right-
hand twist, and the tradition has just continued. I can’t
imagine any other reason. That would be the simplest
explanation.
— G. James
Like us at GunsAndAmmoMag to join trending discussions and
weigh in on current debates.
JEFF TUCKER. [Re: Heizer Pocket AR] So, does this mean that
the U.S. government will now ban the importation of .223/5.56
ammunition because someone made a pistol for that round?
JIM BAKER [Re: 9mm Automatic] Just what we need, another
solution to a nonproblem.
 8 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | r e A d e r b l o w b A c k

Tac-Con 3MR trigger SIMILAR, BUT

and Nightforce’s new DIFFERENT?
BEAST scope make me I thought the article on
want to break open my Smith & Wesson’s new
piggy bank and go wild. guns was wonderful. I
Eric Poole’s article on have just one question.
the POF-USA next-gen Is it me, or does the
rifes in “True Patriots” S&W Governor strongly
I NG HER … wow. Not to mention resemble the Taurus
OT I the interview with Sarah Judge? In a side-by-side
O
TA
H

Palin in “Amazing Ameri- photo comparison, the

AS

ca.” I mean, what could grips are almost iden-

E

be better than a woman tical, the button on the

who’s a hunter wearing
camo and holding a great rife? She’s
as smart as a whip, and her husband
EST is one lucky guy.
. 1939
david Porter,
Junction city, oregon
MY PRODUCT
OF THE YEAR
As an aging gun enthusiast, I am
saddened to look at my collection and
know that I have problems racking the
slides. I’ve tried an old wetsuit to aid
in my grip, and I’ve even thought of
having ears welded onto a couple of
my favorites. Recently, I saw a product
called the Handi-Racker (handi-racker.
com) in small, medium and large for
$20. Hoping against hope, I ordered a
size medium, and it worked great on
my Taurus PT940 and PT938, as well
as my two most diffcult slides to rack,
a Walther PP and PPKS. I’ll be placing
an order for a large and small version
shortly. I can’t tell you what a won-
ENDLESS derful feeling it is to know that, after
giving up sky diving, shark flming and
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Everything to maintain, repair, full confdence in shooting my pistols.
customize and shoot guns col. will Young (ret.),
bellevue, kentucky
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catalog Each month, we’ll spotlight your most interesting tweets here as well as the most
Favorited tweets.
Dan Cannon @Guns_Save_Lives You know you’re a gun guy living in the wrong part
of town when you try to guess the caliber of the gunshots you just heard. #guns #2a
Si Longworth @Si_Army_Phot The one thing any #Soldier needs lots of. #Ammo
brownells.com
800-741-0015
Source Code: EBP
left side is in the same
place, and so is the location of the
logos. It appears that S&W’s new gun
isn’t new at all, just new for Smith &
Wesson.
Tim evans,
baltimore, Maryland
Let me preface by saying that I’d
choose a Smith & Wesson revolver
above all others. Until Colt starts
making its snake series again, this
will remain so. It was so refreshing to
see a lineup of fve-, six-, seven- and
eight-shots amidst the sea of square,
personality-lacking black plastic that
seems to grace the cover of every oth-
er gun magazine out there. Does any-
one remember this little fedging com-
pany from Brazil who used to make
parts for Smith & Wesson and made
originally licensed variants of the
Beretta 92 and 96 series? Well, Taurus
has given me two pistols that have
not malfunctioned once. It offers nice
blued models with wood grip panels,
though it does have its own safety
systems. I have a beautiful Model 85
fve-shot .38 snubbie, and it is one hel-
luva concealed carry piece. During all
this hoopla everyone is making about
 J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 9

S&W’s new Model 69 fve-shot L-frame

.44 Magnum, Taurus has had that
model in its Tracker series for years. I
do own an original model 686 and a
2½-inch-barreled .357 Smith, and the
latter is the revolver I carry most. The
new Model 66 .357 Combat Master is
a true K-frame, and it looks great, but
Taurus still has had that covered for
years, only with a full underlug barrel.
Plus, the Taurus is cheaper. That being
said, I probably won’t be able to resist
the new Model 66. With the Governor,
it looks like Smith & Wesson is starting
to copy Taurus. Isn’t this supposed to
be the other way around?
name withheld,
Crestwood, Kentucky

The Taurus Judge frst appeared as a

stainless model in 2006, and the Smith
& Wesson Governor with a matte-
black fnish appeared in 2010. They
are different in exact dimensions but
similar in proportions. They do differ
in many ways. Most distinctive is that
the Governor offers a capacity of six
rounds, whereas the Judge can hold
fve. The Judge is available in various
confgurations, to include a model
that accepts the .454 Casull, called the
Raging Judge. The Governor will not
only shoot the Judge’s standard .45
Colt and .410 loads, it will also accept
.45 ACP loads with the use of the
supplied moon clips. The Judge was
introduced in a stainless model and
is now offered in other fnishes, and,
until this year, the Governor was only
available in a matte-black fnish over a
Scandium alloy. For 2014, the Gover-
nor became available in a matte-silver
fnish over the same Scandium alloy
frame with a stainless cylinder.
— Eds
10 G & A J U LY 2 0 1 4
Q&A
“WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR
MALFUNCTION?”
R. LEE ERMEY IS “THE GUNNY.” Having starred in more
than 60 feature flms, he is best known for his
role as a drill instructor, GySgt. Hartman in
Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket.”
For his continued service in supporting
the troops beyond the silver screen,
Marine Corps General James L. Jones
offcially promoted him to the rank of
Gunnery Sergeant in 2002, making him
the frst retiree to receive this honor.
On May 15, 2014, he accepts a new
mission: “Saving Private K-9 With R. Lee
Ermey” on the Sportsman Channel.
When did you enter boot camp?
I arrived to Parris Island on April 3rd, 1961.
I was a farm boy, so I was plenty strong,
and I was very wiry.
Weighed only 145
pounds. When I got
out of boot camp, I
weighed 160 pounds
and was a little stronger
even. It was a good ex-
perience. I was certainly
not top of my class,
because I was a little
small. However, I
could get the
PT done and
hump as well
as anyone.
Did you
channel
any of your
own drill
instructors’
traits into
the character
of Gunnery Sergeant
Hartman?
Yes, I did. In fact, I can still
close my eyes and they’re there
right before my eyes. Their
names were Staff Sergeant Spottenberg, Sergeant Deborg
and Staff Sergeant Freestone. They loomed before my eyes
any time they loomed. One of them was always there to
straighten me up.
What were you issued as Recruit Ermey, and how did
that compare with what you were issued at the end of
your service?
I was initially issued an M1 Garand and herringbone util-
ities. At that time, those utilities were just being phased
out. They had also gotten rid of Sergeant E4s and incorpo-
rated the lance corporal rank. Looking back, the M1 was
my favorite. I had malfunctions with the M14. I realize the
M14 is nothing more than a dressed-up M1 Garand, but
Garands were built differently. The gas system was better.
Were there rife and pistol expert badges on your uni-
form in those days?
Absolutely! Well, I didn’t have the chance to earn a pistol
badge in boot camp. The M1911A1 was only issued to
NCOs. If you were not an NCO, you just fam-fred the pis-
tol. Once you made corporal, then the .45 was considered
a frearm you had to qualify with.
You served 11 years during the Vietnam War in the
Marine Corps. You arrived in Vietnam in 1968 and were
a drill instructor for two years. How did you go from
being a DI to landing a role in “Full Metal Jacket”?
When I was retired from the Marine Corps, I found myself
outside of the Recruit Depot. I never really had any real
friends. Growing up, brothers were the only ones I had
to play with, so I didn’t have a reason to go home right
away. Instead, I appeared in a couple of comedy clubs,
but nothing really serious. Then, a buddy said [flm crews
were] shooting Vietnam War flms in the Philippines. I got
over there and worked as technical advisor on a few sets,
including “Apocalypse Now.” I did fve Vietnam War flms
by the time I got the call from Stanley Kubrick to work on
“Full Metal Jacket” as an advisor. It was a chance to get
my foot in the door and score the role of Gunnery Ser-
geant Hartman. They had already hired another actor to
play the role, but real Marines don’t give up.
You see, they flmed that backward. They shot the
scenes about Vietnam frst, then went back and shot the
scenes about training at the Recruit Depot. I memorized
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12 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | q & A
the frst scene, and, as technical
advisor, I interviewed all of the extras.
I gathered a bunch of them together
and put them in a platoon formation
such as they would be on the yellow
footprints at the receiving barracks. I
stopped by wardrobe and put on the
uniform and Smokey Bear. I inter-
viewed those extras as a drill instruc-
tor and had Leon Vitale, Kubrick’s
right-hand man, tape it. When Stanley
heard the recording, he called me to
his offce and asked if I’d like to be
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. Once
Kubrick saw the scenes, he said he
wished he had known I could act.
He wouldn’t have killed off Gunnery
Sergeant Hartman the way he did so
early on in the movie. He would have
“The Gunny” served as an actual Marine
sent Hartman to Vietnam. Corps drill instructor between 1965 and
1967 at MCRD San Diego.
Did you bring back any war souve-
nirs? (Please tell.)
I did have an AK47, but they didn’t let me bring it back.
Looking back, what are the most signifcant differences
between the military then versus what it is now? Do
you have any concerns for America’s fghting capability? a trade show and there’s a never-ending line waiting for
I do believe in the adage “There’s nothing tougher than
a 20-year-old pissed-off Marine.” All the services have
changed. I’ve been with the Marine Corps for 53 years.
Most of the changes have been benefcial. We’re on the
verge of a very huge step, and that’s females serving in
combat. I’ve met a few female Marines who have graduat-
ed infantry training. It will be interesting to see how they
sort out toilet facilities and unit cohesion. How are they
going to billet male and female Marines? Certainly, these
issues are going to be addressed, but I think that’ll create
major changes in the near future. Life goes on.
Are you going back to the National Matches at Camp
Perry this summer?
I always try to get back to Camp Perry every year. It
doesn’t always work out with my schedule, but I hope to
get back on that fring line this summer. I hope to be using
a .223 space gun for Highpower matches that Dennis De-
Mille at Creedmoor Sports built for me. He was a Marine
and national champion. When people look at his groups,
they just cry. I call him “The Machine.”
Do the Marines at these matches ever sweat and worry
that you’re going to snap back into drill instructor
mode and lock them up?
They want me to! I’m probably the only guy in the world
that gets asked to choke them. I’ve even had a guy ask me
to choke his wife for a picture. I told
him, “That’s your job.”
What can viewers expect to see
on “Saving Private K-9 With R. Lee
Ermey” when it launches on the
Sportsman Channel May 15th?
This is a show that gives the audience
the untold stories of working canines
serving our military and police. K-9s
are an important member of various
teams. Handlers develop an amaz-
ing relationship with their dogs, and
that’s a part of what you get to see on
the show. These guys and their dogs
would give their lives to save their
partners. You’ve got to tune in to see
it for yourself. Who doesn’t support
our men and women in uniform, and
who doesn’t love dogs? It should be
a great show. From Afghanistan to
Vietnam to the streets on our own
soil, working dogs have protected their handlers and offer
the teams they work with unique skills. The handlers fnally
get to share their stories.
How does it feel when you arrive at the Glock booth at
an autograph or a grip-and-grin?
It’s always been that way. I’ve been working with Glock for 11
years now. The reason I choose to work with Glock? I don’t
have to lie about it. If it’s not the best product, they won’t
put it out. I’m not disparaging other pistols. I’ve got them all,
including SIGs and Smiths. But I have 13 Glocks in my collec-
tion, and I’ve never had a malfunction with any of them.
What’s your go-to long gun?
That’s easy. M1 Garand. It’s the best rife ever made.
What’s your go-to pistol?
Well, I’m partial to an M1911, but it requires a lot of main-
tenance and needs to be cleaned and cared for. It can’t
hold a candle to the Glock, and the new G41 is my favorite
.45. It was introduced at SHOT Show. I love it because it
has the recoil of a 9mm. The recoil is designed to come
straight back at you. There’s little muzzle rise.
What would you tell your younger self?
If I could do this sh*t over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.
When I die, I want to come back as me. Maybe I’d tell my-
self to stop smoking earlier; maybe I’d get rid of the dip.
There are a few bad habits I could do without. But life has
been great for me.
The Gunny answers more questions at gunsandammo.com!
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EDITORIAL J U LY 2 0 1 4 G & A 15

“I asked him if he thought Illinois would ever enact

a positive carry law. ‘Not a chance,’ he replied.”

ERIC R. POOLE
WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET? @BLACK5PROJECTS

I RECALL A LINE FROM A CONVERSATION with a friend To become editor here, however, I had to accept a corpo-
who lobbied for the National Rife Association’s Institute rate decision to relocate with G&A offces to central Illinois. It
for Legislative Action in the last year I worked for the NRA. was a personal decision to accept the offer, a conficting one,
After noting the progress that concealed carry was having as my in-laws own a remote farm near G&A’s new home that
throughout the U.S., I asked him if he thought Illinois would could provide a rural, familial infuence for my children with
ever enact a positive carry law. “Not a opportunities to shoot and hunt. It can be
chance,” he replied. “That’ll be the one argued whether the choice was worth the
state we’ll probably never turn.” forfeit of my right to personal protection
Last August, I applied to be an Illinois outside the home, and it was an uncom-
concealed carry instructor and was ap- fortable transition for me since carrying a
proved on January 31, 2014. Even after I frearm had been as natural an activity as
became a state-certifed instructor, I still any since joining the military.
had to fll out an online application for a Five years after moving to Illinois, I’m
concealed carry permit in order to legally relearning how to adjust to the life of a
carry. That was February 6th. On April lawfully armed citizen. I’ve resorted to
1st, I received my permit, and today, I carrying a pistol inside the waistband, just
still look at it with a bit of disbelief. behind my hip, because that refects my
All my life, I’ve been surrounded by recent training. What probably sounds like
loaded guns. My father, a retired police a statement from Captain Obvious is that
offcer, carried off duty, as did my mother. I need to go out and humbly buy fatter
She experienced jeans and longer belts. I’m relearning
Driver’s License a couple of vio- what it’s like to actually live with different
What It’s For: Driving lent encounters designs and styles of holsters and consid-
State Fee: $30 that required the ering how to dress appropriately ahead
Renewal: Four years presence of a fre- of summer’s weather. The experience of
Firearms Owner arm (more on that wearing Kydex and leather has improved
Identifcation (FOID) in a future “Ed- signifcantly in the last half-decade, but
What It’s For: Purchase itorial”). Shortly each holster requires compromises. On
and/or possession of
frearms and/or ammo by after I graduated this point, I’ve decided to incorporate a
Illinois residents (non- armorer school at 30-day evaluation in coming issues on a
residents may purchase Aberdeen Proving Grounds, the Ma- new or available holster for different handguns.
ammo over the counter
without this card) rine Corps saw me ft to carry an M9 I participated in combat with some of the fnest heroes
State Fee: $10 pistol as part of the facility’s security. of the legendary 1st Marine Division, and I retain a heavy
Renewal: 10 years Ironically, I was only 18. Certainly, understanding of the consequences that follow the death
Illinois Concealed Carry all armorers are qualifed handgun- of a man attempting to kill you and your brethren. In my
What It’s For: Lawful ners and tasked with protecting the current position, I am fully aware that stupidity on my
carry of a concealed storage site of a unit’s small arms part would only serve the agenda of those who wish to
handgun per Illinois
Firearm Concealed Carry inventory. Having the prerequisite diminish our constitutionally protected rights. I am cogni-
Act 430 ILCS 66 training three years later, I quickly zant of the responsibility that goes along with carrying a
16-Hour Class: $200 applied for my concealed carry concealed frearm and the need to blend in. Incidentally, I
(state avg.) + $25 (ammo)
Biometric Fingerprints: permit as a Virginia resident the fnd myself more attentive to obeying traffc laws, I avoid
$75 (state avg.) morning I turned 21. Until the day circumstances that are potentially dangerous, and I strive
State Fee: $150 ($300 I decided to chase the childhood to be courteous in every disagreement. If only those who
for nonresidents)
Total: $450 dream of working for Guns & Ammo opposed right-to-carry laws considered that an armed
Renewal: Five years magazine, I had lived armed. citizenry creates a more polite one.
 ™ In 1990 a Navy SEAL was navigating a minefield when his pack failed. As his gear tumbled to the ground,
he vowed that if he got out of there alive he would make gear the right way. Today this obsession with
quality applies to everything we do. We’re constantly researching, refining and perfecting every detail
to provide gear that won’t let you down. Because we’re not just making stuff. We’re honoring a vow.

GEAR AS PREPARED
AS YOU ARE.

© 2013 BLACKHAWK!® NORFOLK, VA U.S.A. BLACKHAWK.com

GUN ROOM
“I wish I could fnd keen pistols like that at garage sales.
All I seem to run across are romance novels, old 33¹⁄³
RPM Mantovani LPs and stuffed Care Bears.”
IDENTIFICATION
& VALUES
Condition is excellent. The
serial number is 16XX. The
top of the barrel reads
“COLT’S PT FA MFG. Co/
HARTFORT, CT. U.S.A.” An
estimate of value would
also be appreciated.
J.F., address withheld
A: You have a Colt New Line
revolver in .30 Rimfre. Some
11,000 of these single-action
pocket fve-shooters were
produced from 1874 to 1876
NAZI HI-POWER in 1¾- and 2¼-inch barrel
Q: I have a Browning 9mm pistol. On the slide it reads lengths. New Lines were
“FABRIQUE NATIONAL D’ARMES DE GUERRE/HERSTAL also offered in .22, .32, .38
BELGIQUE.” The serial number is 176XXX. The number and .41 RF calibers, some
is on the barrel and frame. There is a Nazi eagle on the being built as late as 1884.
left side of both the slide and frame. Below each eagle is Your revolver, which was
“WaA 140.” The fnish is smooth, with 50 to 60 percent of made in 1875, assuming
the bluing still extant. The grips are wood. The sights are 90 to 95 percent condition,
standard, and it has an original magazine. Can you tell me is worth between $625
what I have and its value? and $700.
R.D., Miami, FL
THE AUCTION BLOCK
A: You have a World War II-vintage Browning
GORGEOUS L.C. SMITH
Model 1935 Hi-Power produced by Fabrique A gold-encrusted 16-gauge L.C. Smith
Nationale in Belgium during the German Deluxe-grade ejector double shotgun sold
occupation and employed by the Nazi war ma- for an amazing $207,000, including pre-
miums, at the March 11, 2014, James D.
chine. There were three variants manufactured, Julia auction. This extremely rare piece is
some with tangent rear sights and slotted for one of only two of its type known to have
shoulder stocks, others with tangent sights been manufactured. Fully engraved and
festooned with three-color gold embellish-
and no slot, and a third style with fxed sights ments depicting foliate designs and game
and no slot. The last, which is what you have, is birds, it is a true American masterpiece.
the most common. The WaA140 is a standard For more information about this and fu-
ture auctions, contact James D. Julia Inc.,
period German Hi-Power Waffenamt proof, 207-453-7125, jamesdjulia.com.
others (slightly more scarce) being WaA 613
and WaA103. A third-type Nazi Hi-Power in 50
to 60 percent condition is worth $600 to $800.
COLT NEW LINE
Q: I have a Colt revolver I would like some in-
formation on. It reads “COLT NEW 30.” The
barrel is 2 inches long, and fnish is nickel.
JULY 2014 G & A 17
G A R RY J A M E S
REMINGTON-
UMC M1911
Q: Sometime in the 1950s
or ’60s, I was at a yard sale.
In a milk crate were old
boxes of shotgun shells, a
.22 cleaning rod and some
holsters. In one of the
military holsters was this
Remington 1911 UMC, se-
rial number 533XXX. It was
painted with green paint.
Condition was good — no
rust. I would like a little
info on it and its value.
M.G., address withheld
A: I wish I could fnd keen
pistols like that at garage
sales. All I seem to run
across are romance novels,
old 331⁄3 RPM Mantovani
LPs and stuffed Care Bears.
In any event, it appears that
you fell into a nice item
there. Remington-UMC was
one of the contractors for
1911 Government Model
.45-caliber pistols during
World War I. The company
turned out around 21,500
M1911s in 1918 and 1919.
They were serial numbered
between 1 and 21,676.
Most found today have
been refurbished, so I’m
inclined to think the “green
paint” might actually be a
later Parkerized fnish. All
Remington-UMCs were
originally blued. The other
thing that bothers me is the
serial number. Are you read-
ing it correctly? The number
you note is actually for a
 18 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | G u n r o o m

Colt made in 1918. This
further leads me to specu-
late that the gun might be
a rework with mixed parts.
As such, according to the
“Thirty-Fourth Edition Blue
Book of Gun Values” (blue-
bookofgunvalues.com),
value on your pistol, in 80 to
90 percent condition, would
be $995 to $1,225.
TED WILLIAMS
MODEL 300
Q: Can you help me fnd
the manufacturer and value
of a Sears, roebuck semiau-
to shotgun? It’s a Ted Wil-
liams model 300 12-gauge
2¾ with a 26-inch ribbed
barrel and Poly-Choke. It
has a deluxe blue fnish
and wood stock. The gun
belonged to my father, who
bought it in the 1960s.
R.N., San Francisco, CA
A: The Model 300 is actually War and reassembled using
a Winchester Model 1400 a variety of mixed parts. For
made for Sears. M1400s a time, they were for the
were sold from 1964 to most part shunned by col-
1981. I believe the Ted lectors, but they now have
Williams 300 came with and something of a following.
without a Poly-Choke. Value They certainly are a legiti-
on your gun is in the $225 mate piece of history. For
to $275 range. the most part, they are not
scarce. Good numbers have
RUSSIAN CAPTURE been brought into the U.S.,
MAUSER many fairly recently.
Q: I have a K98k mauser
that is a russian capture
WHAT IS IT?
and nonmatching. The
PUCKLE UP!
receiver is marked “S/147 In 1718, British inventor James
1936.” I realize this is pre- Puckle patented an early multi-
war. Could my rife have shot “Defence” intended for
“Defending KING GEORGE your
been in Spain? How rare is COUNTRY and LAWES, Is De-
it with the early date? The fending YOURSELVES and PROT-
serial number is 46XX. ESTANT CAUSE.” Described by
many modern frearms historians
R.F., Mogadore, OH as a formative machine gun, it was
actually more of a large-bore (1¼-
A: These guns were gener- inch) fintlock revolver. Involving
an 11-chambered cylinder that
ally captured by the Soviets fred cylindrical bullets for use
during the Second World
ENGLISH DOUBLE
PERCUSSION PISTOL
Q: I have a pistol I would
like you to research. It is
percussion, double-barrel,
and the barrels are detach-
able from the stock with a
sliding clip at the forend.
The word “LonDon” is
against Christians and square
projectiles against Turks, the
tripod-mounted gun was said to be
able to fre 63 shots in seven min-
utes. Though of intriguing design,
it failed to gain many backers or
adherents and early on was rele-
gated to being nothing more than
an interesting, albeit patriotically
intended curiosity.

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20 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | G u n r o o m
HAVE AN HEIRLOOM? Curious
about a vintage frearm? Email
Garry at garry.james@imout-
doors.com, or send a descrip-
tion with detailed photos to
Gun room, Guns & Ammo, 2
news Plaza, Peoria, IL 61614.
Please include your name and
state of residence.
Due to the volume of requests
each month, personal replies
are not possible. The most
interesting or unusual queries
are answered in Guns & Ammo
magazine.
engraved on the top rib.
There are two gold ribbons
of approximately 1⁄16 inch
in width, a half-inch apart
on the rib closest to the
nipples. There is a silver
oval plate embedded
into the top of the stock
behind the nipples about a
quarter-inch wide by three-
quarters-inch long. on
both sides of the engraved
sideplates is what I assume
to be the maker’s name,
MATCH-GRADE ACCURACY
WITHOUT THE
MATCH-GRADE WEIGHT
WINCHESTER MODEL 92 RIFLE
Q: Any info you can provide
as to the age and value of
my Winchester rife would
be appreciated. It is a model
1892, patented october 14,
1884. The serial number is 66XXX. on top of the barrel, it’s marked “.44 WCF.” It is
missing a forend screw and has a very old patch on the stock. otherwise, it is in very
good condition. It was given to me in 1953.
A: Your Winchester Model 1892 lever-action .44-40 rife was manufactured in 1912. As-
suming it is a straight rife with no extras and embellishments, value in very good (assum-
ing this means 60 to 70 percent) condition would be around $2,200 to $3,000. Without
actually seeing the piece, it’s diffcult to be more specifc.
“Clarke.” Both hammers attach the hammers with from around 1840 to 1845.
have safety devices with chrome nuts. overall length Quality appears to be good
slide bars that slide into is 14 inches. The bag-style and condition not too bad;
notches on the base of the buttstock is checkered. it looks like a quality piece.
hammers. The gun has a J.K., San Leandro, CA R.S. Clarke had a shop in
swivel ramrod. Caliber is London in the 1840s, so it is
.670. The nipples are in A: From your photos, I can a good bet that he was the
poor condition. An ama- tell you have a British dou- maker. It’s a pretty straight-
teur replaced the nuts that ble-barreled holster pistol forward piece, a nice gun.
Up to 64% reduction in weight. Unmatched durability. Match-grade accuracy.
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 738 FS
It’s my choice.
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It’s my Taurus.

TM

Brittney L. Decatur, GA
TM

/TaurusUSA @taurususa CarryOnMovement.com

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GUN NOTES
“If it’s a familiar frearm, you should absolutely know
when the trigger is going to break with every shot.
The secret is to pretend that you don’t know.”
STILL TRIGGER HAPPY
IN THE PREVIOUS ISSUE, I addressed some of the
mechanics of rife triggers and pull weights, so let’s
now turn to a different but closely related subject:
actual use of the trigger. While we casually refer to
the action of fring as “pulling the trigger,” any coach
will tell you this is a poor choice of words. Preferred
language is “squeezing” the trigger, but I’m not
sure this is a whole lot better. In fact, in the English
language, we may not have one word that properly
describes actuating a trigger for the best and most
consistent accuracy.
“Pull” is what you really do, but that implies an
action that’s a bit too abrupt. “Squeeze” is a whole
lot closer, but have you ever actually squeezed
anything with your index fnger alone? Probably
not, and the last thing you want to do is activate
the trigger with your whole hand. Instead, the
trigger should be activated by slow, steady,
consistent pressure until the sear releases and
the fring pin or striker drives home. That isn’t
the end, but let’s start at the beginning.
Trigger use actually starts with the entire
shooting hand. Keeping the index (trigger)
fnger clear, you assume a comfortable grip
LETTERS FROM KEITH
“It takes a big lump of lead to settle a gunfght with
one shot, and I believe all offcers should have .41
or .44 Magnum guns and full loads of my hollow-
points if they want the slug to stay in the body of a
criminal.”— Elmer Keith, Nov. 27, 1974
J U LY 2 0 1 4 G & A 23
CRAIG BODDINGTON
on the frearm. Placement of the palm, thumb and
the other three fngers varies considerably
depending on stock or grip style and the
size of your hands, but the theory isn’t
different among rifes, handguns and
shotguns. The idea is to grip the frearm
comfortably and consistently. On a bench
and in some supported positions, the actual
grip may be very light; in unsupported po-
sitions, the grip must be frmer because the
shooting hand is supporting at least some
of the frearm’s weight and helping to
keep it steady. The main thing is to avoid
a tremor-inducing death grip.
Now, if you’re ready to fre, you may
address the trigger with your index fnger.
Actual placement of the fnger on the
trigger is not especially critical, although
consistency is. The actual fngertip is
probably not good. Some coaches prefer
the center or pad of the fnger, where a
fngerprint would be taken; others prefer
closer to the frst joint. In reality, it de-
pends on the size of your hand in relation to the
size of the grip. The main thing is to curl the fnger
naturally to the trigger so that fnger pressure will be
straight back (as opposed to up, down or sideways).
The more fnger engagement you have, the more
leverage you can exert on the trigger. Finger engage-
ment can vary from frearm to frearm depending on
the stock or grip style, and people with smaller (or
weaker) hands may need a lot more leverage for a
double-action trigger pull. The main thing is to place
the fnger so that you can operate the trigger with the
trigger fnger alone with no sympathetic squeezing
from the other fngers.
It is often said that it should come as a surprise
when the trigger breaks. That’s horse pucky. Maybe
the frst time you fre a totally unfamiliar frearm it
24 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | G u n n o t e s

will surprise you, especially if the pull

weight is a lot different from what
you’re used to. However, before ac-
tually shooting an unfamiliar frearm,
the smart money is to dry-fre it a few
times and get used to the trigger. If
it’s a familiar frearm, you should abso-
lutely know when the trigger is going Three common ways of actuating the trigger with the index fnger are to use the tip of the
to break with every shot. The secret fnger (above left), the pad (above center) or the crease of the joint (above right).
is to pretend that you don’t know. In
rifes and handguns, you must not
anticipate the break but instead maintain that slow, steady, remains frm and steady. The trigger fnger rests gently on
consistent pressure until (and after) ignition occurs. the trigger and is operated independently of the rest of
the hand. When the lead or “sight picture” is correct, the
operating a shotgun trigger on fying targets (as opposed trigger is pressed with enough pressure to fre the shot-
to a turkey gobbler’s head or a buck with a slug gun) is gun. When it’s right, the brain tells the fnger, and the shot-
different. The shotgun must fre when the lead is right, gun must fre, so while you still need steady and consistent
so, while hastily jerking a shotgun trigger is just as bad as pressure, it doesn’t need to be slow.
when aiming a single projectile, the shotgun trigger is fred
with a quicker, one-fnger press. Here’s another misnomer: We experienced shooters think we know everything. I
We often talk about “slapping” the shotgun trigger, but had a great coach when I was shooting smallbore rife and
have you ever actually tried to slap somebody with one pistol, and of course we had wonderful marksmanship in-
fnger? Even if you could, that’s much too violent. The grip structors in the Marines, but a lot of time has passed since
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26 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | G u n n o t e s

I had any formal coaching. The last

few years, I’ve spent some time at the
SAAM shooting schools at Tim Fal-
lon’s FTW Ranch in Texas. Fortunately,
I haven’t developed any disastrously
bad habits, but everybody can beneft Don’t slap the trigger or release it too soon! Shotgunners are faced with the challenge of
from some objective coaching. In These poor habits are most often the real manipulating a trigger while shooting mov-
reason a shot impacts the target off its mark. ing targets. Follow-through is the secret.
watching these guys coach other
shooters (as well as me), one of the
things that struck me, once we got past the basics, was needed, the greater the damage.
how the coaches would stare intently at the shooters’ trig- All shotgunners know that follow-through is critical; the
ger fngers as the trigger broke. lead must be maintained until the charge leaves the barrel.
There is a tendency to release the trigger as soon as it The converse of this is slowing or stopping the swing
breaks. This is probably stronger with a semiauto than with when the trigger is pressed; you’ll shoot behind the target
other repeating actions. Here’s the deal: The shot cannot every time. In rifery and handgunning, the equivalent
end until the bullet leaves the barrel. Since we can’t react follow-through is maintaining that steady, consistent pres-
fast enough to know exactly when that is, effectively the sure on the trigger until the shot is long gone. In fast feld
shot shouldn’t end until the bullet impacts the target. and action shooting, this may be a matter of milliseconds.
Immediate release of the trigger with recoil ongoing is too In precision long-range shooting, it may be a noticeable
abrupt and disruptive. Although perhaps well intentioned delay. In any case, call it “pull,” “squeeze” or “press,” the
so as to quickly set up the next shot, premature release of action of your fnger on the trigger cannot stop when the
the trigger will impair accuracy, and the more precision is trigger breaks.

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HANDGUNNING
Dead cow never goes out of fashion.
WHEN LEATHER WAS
THE NEW KYDEX
I REMEMBER THE FIRST SYNTHETIC HOLSTER I ever
encountered. This was around 1981 or so. A new holster
showed up for IPSC competition, which was two pieces of
plastic, riveted on one side. You could draw normally, or
you could just shove the pistol forward, out through the fex
of the clamshell. I tried it for
an afternoon soon after but
had to go back to my leather
holster, a Gordon Davis. IPSC
had changed just a short time
before I entered it, and the old
drop-rig holsters were no lon-
ger allowed. Those had been
on the thigh, secured with an
extra belt around your leg.
By the early Reagan Era, we
were using holsters attached
directly to our trouser belt.
They were really fast, and you
know what? That old Gordon
Davis of mine would make a
smokin’-fast carry rig today. As
fast as it was, we wanted faster.
Let me stop for a moment
and give you an idea of what
it was like in the early 1980s to
be choosing a holster. Your choices were simple: leath-
er. Very few nylon pouch holsters existed. The names
were familiar: Bianchi, Galco, DeSantis, El Paso Saddlery.
Designs mostly dated from a half-century before, but that
changed. By 1981, John Bianchi
had branched out from a few
holsters made in his garage to a
COOPER
“The ‘Spray and Pray’ system advances trium-
huge catalog with holsters made phantly in law enforcement. In a recent case in
in a real factory. He even made a a southwestern city … a police offcer, when
poster showing him dressed in a
tuxedo. Jacket on, you didn’t have
a clue that he was carrying. Jacket
off and pants rolled up, you saw
the two-dozen handguns he was
packing, all in Bianchi holsters.
Holsters back then were still
considered part of daily wear by
IPSC shooters, even though con-
cealed carry was something only
J U LY 2 0 1 4 G & A 29
PAT R I C K S W E E N E Y
a very few could opt for. I was a Gordy Davis guy. I wore
his holster in matches, and I wore his holster when I carried
around town. My favorite, one that I packed for a couple of
decades, was his interpretation of the Summer Special.
Originally designed by Bruce Nelson, the Summer Special
is a rough-side-out, in-the-waist-
band holster with a stiff ring
at the top. The ring kept the
holster from collapsing when
you drew, and thus you could
reholster one-handed. These
days, everyone makes a version
of the Summer Special, but
three decades ago, few did.
Fast? My daily carry was a Light-
weight Commander (LWC) in a
Summer Special for daily wear.
I wore that pistol in that holster
to four classes at Gunsite. In the
two handgun classes, I received
an “E” ticket with that pistol/
holster combo. I didn’t win the
graduation shoot-offs on Satur-
day, but I wasn’t eliminated in
the frst run either.
That holster is also secure. I
was wearing it a couple of years after my Gunsite 250 when
a driver carelessly made a left turn and ran into me as I was
crossing the street. I managed to stay topside (if you’re
going to get hit, get your feet up so you don’t go under the
vehicle). After the driver hit me and
stopped to ask whether I was all
ON HANDGUNS right, I found the LWC still frmly in
its Summer Special, as well as the
spare magazine, also in a Gordy
threatened with a hand-
gun, emptied his 15-shot
Davis holder.
pistol at his would-be Why was leather so popular?
assailant, achieving two Besides the tradition factor, it was
peripheral hits. The
citizen was charged with
easy to work. Or so many thought.
brandishing a frearm, You could cut a pattern from leath-
but the cop was not er, then stitch it into a holster, and
charged with anything,
lousy shooting not being
violà, you were a holster maker.
a disciplinary offense.” Of course, not all designs were
— Jeff Cooper, June 1990 equally good. The machines it took
to stitch leather were not easy to
 Cleaning 30 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | h A n d G u n n i n G

your frearm fnd. One could not stitch up

a holster with Mom’s singer

made easy! sewing machine. When a

saddle maker or leather-work-
ing shop went out of business,
there were fghts among
holster makers to bid on a
century-old leather stitching
machine. These machines
were strong, useful and worth
rebuilding. Likewise, leather is
good-looking and durable.
So we had this divergence.
Gordon Davis may You could have a classic holster in leather that may or may
be gone, but his hol- not have been comfortable, or you could have a super-fast
sters are still made,
and the old ones competition holster (we’ll set aside the Gordon Davis rig
still work. On the I was using for the moment). Competition holsters were
left is the holster the often not at all comfortable, but some could be. Some of
author was wearing
when hit by a car. the really fast ones were from the Ernie Hill line. Ernie came
On the right is his to holsters for IPSC from the Cowboy Fast Draw arena, and
competition holster his designs showed it. They were indestructible: steel-lined
from the 1980s and
’90s. It would be a leather holsters and steel-lined leather belts. You didn’t so
smokin’-fast carry much put on an Ernie Hill holster as you lashed yourself to
holster today. it. Unlike the Cowboy Quick Draw rigs he made, which were
basically leather-lined steel buckets (and even referred to
that way), his IPSC rigs were reasonably secure and blin-
dingly fast. Why the difference? The cowboy shooters (and
this was long before Cowboy Action Shooting) were stand-
ing still. They were interested in utter, blinding speed. They
were cocking the revolver in the holster, even twisting it in
the holster as they cocked, then lifting the muzzle and fring.
Ernie Hill made IPSC shooters had to run, jump and carry things. The
lightning-fast standard holster tests back in the old days included doing
holsters, just secure somersaults and handstands (with unloaded handguns, of
enough for IPSC.
This one is not at course), and if your gun fell out, you were out.
all a carry holster By the mid-1980s, Ernie was taking over IPSC, along with
for today, but it’s other changes that were happening. As an example, at the
still plenty fast for
today’s competitive 1984 Nationals, my squad had a mix of holster makers, and
Birchwood Casey’s 1-2-3
circuit. we also had a mix of .45 and .38 Supers. By the 1988 Na-
Aerosol Pack includes
tionals, I was the only shooter on the squad not
Bore Scrubber®, Gun
using an Ernie Hill, and I was the only one still
Scrubber®, and Barricade® to
using a .45. (I hadn’t built my Super in time.)
Dissolve, Clean Magazine holders also evolved. The early
ones were two-mag pouches that gobbled up
& ProteCt. three-quarters of the length of a magazine. You
see, there is nothing new about run-and-gun
competition. We were running from the start.
Remember that Cooper Assault? You needed
secure mag pouches to have any left, after the
wall. Designs of the day held two magazines in a
Visit your local retailer fat pouch, and we all reshaped ours to hold the
or contact us at bullets forward. They were originally designed
to hold one in each direction, and we all learned
(usually in the frst match) that having half your
magazines pointed the other way made for
slow stage times. Plus, they were dead vertical.
 J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 31

The author abused his twin-mag pouches un-

til they held both magazines nose-forward.
The single pouch has been on his left side,
THESE LITTLE PIG-NOSE
on and off, for more than 30 years. BAFFLES CAME TO MARKET...
It didn’t take long for mag pouches
to become individual, angled and
as low profle as possible. Yes, they
TO START A
still held magazines, but the tension
screws were relocated to hold them
only enough to hold them. The old
REDVOLUTION
style, with the tension screw at the
top, required you to weasel the mag The frst shots fred in the SureFire Redvolution belong
all the way out. to the SF Ryder 22-A, which changes everything about
At the 1993 USPSA Nationals, we .22 suppressors from the inside out. Starting with the
shot for a week in an ice-cold mon- red-anodized fnish on its patented pig-nose baffes to
soon. We had to carefully dry our its lightweight fluted tube design, everything you
thought you knew about .22 suppressors just got turned
leather each night and re-oil it to keep
upside down. Experience the SureFire difference.
it from cracking. That was the year I
Join the Redvolution.
decided I was done with leather for
competition. ≥ PATENTED PIG-NOSE BAFFLES
The names you see today are many Extremely quiet at 117dB
of the names we saw back then: Bian- ≥ NUMBERED, INDEXED & SEALED BAFFLES
chi, Galco, DeSantis, El Paso Saddlery, Simple user disassembly/reassembly for easy maintenance
Safariland. Safariland? Yes, despite
≥ SLEEK FLUTED BODY
starting with a bonded synthetic/ A mere 3.1 ounces overall
leather holster and making all-synthetic
≥ FOR .22 LR PISTOLS & RIFLES
duty rigs, Safariland now also makes
leather holsters as well as synthetics.
It isn’t the only big company to do
leather. Blackhawk, which you probably surefre.com/sfryder22
associate with tactical web gear and
camo patterns, makes a line of leather
holsters. If you want more, guys such as
Alex Nossar, Andy Langlois and John
Ralston can make you a breathtaking
piece of leather art, and not just from
dead cow, but from horsehide, shark,
ray or who-knows-what. If you want
something more discreet, less gunny,
Sneaky Pete is your man.
Leather can’t really be back be-
cause it was never really gone. There’s
a whole generation of new concealed
carry gun owners out there who have
been raised to think of plastic frst.
What a shame.
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RIFLES & GLASS J U LY 2 0 1 4 G & A 33

“My dad always taught me to try and fnd something

to rest my rife on when it came time to shoot,
regardless of whether I was standing or sitting.”

TOM BECKSTRAND

POSITIONAL SHOOTING
MANY OF US SPEND a fair amount of our shooting and taught in formal shooting schools. However, these
time at a range. This usually requires safety offcers and a are not the only shooting positions, nor are they even the
willingness to stop shooting so that others may check our ones I’d recommend unless the rules of a particular match
targets or paste up new ones on occasion. It also means mandate their use.
we’re probably shooting from either the prone position or
off a shooting bench. While these positions are great for Standing support? Offhand shooting is a subject unto
learning, load development and mastering fundamentals, itself, so we’ll focus here on supported shooting from the
we must also work on positional (or feld) shooting if we standing, sitting and kneeling positions. A good gener-
expect to improve our practical marksmanship. al principle for accurate shooting is to use all available
Positional shooting is only lim- support, especially if we can create it. While it might often
ited by our imagination. The look like we don’t have much in the way of natural supports
most well-known positions at hand, we can usually create some if we look at items we
are offhand, kneeling and have with us beyond just our rife and scope.
sitting because these are all My dad always
used in competition taught me to try
and fnd something
to rest my rife on
when it came time to shoot,
regardless of whether I was
standing or sitting. I’d like to
think that just about all of us had
that lesson early in life. When I
watch people shoot, most will
try to rest the forend on some-
thing solid when shooting while
standing. It’s fast and easy, and
we can almost always fnd a tree
limb, fence post or large rock on
which to rest the forend prior to
breaking the shot.
Almost no one tries to fnd a
The standing sup- way to support the rear portion
ported position ben- of the rife because the percep-
efts greatly when we tion is that there’s not enough
have some additional
support under our time to do so or that it’d be im-
fring elbow. Here, a possible to support both ends
boy stands under his of the rife and still be able to
father’s elbow while
the forend rests on a put our crosshairs on our target.
simulated tree limb. This is not true.
34 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | r i f l e s & G l A s s

Getting under the

fring elbow when
the shooter is in the
kneeling position
takes some contor-
tion. It requires both
shooter and support
to get close together,
but the stability gains
are defnitely worth
the effort.

The sitting position

becomes much more
stable when we get
support directly
under our knees so
they aren’t foating
in space. With his
son’s bent leg under
his right knee and his
backpack under his
left knee, this shooter
is in a very stable
sitting position.

We’ll refer to the arm and elbow that support the forend
as our support elbow and the arm that fres the rife as our
fring elbow. The forgotten fring elbow is where we can
make magic happen. The easiest way to support the back
half of the rife is to get a solid support under the fring
elbow. There are huge stability gains to be had in applying
this very simple principle.
From a standing position with the forend on a tree limb
or fence post, the fastest and easiest way to support our
fring elbow is to have a shooting/hunting buddy or child
get underneath it. An adult will likely have to bend at the
waist to allow our fring elbow to rest on the back of his
shoulder. Sometimes it helps if the assistant faces in the
opposite direction of the shooter. I get uncomfortable if
another adult gets really close to me (other than my wife),
but the substantial stability increase in the standing posi-
 WHICH WOULD YOU
36 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | r i f l e s & G l A s s
RATHER HAVE UNDER
THE HOOD OF YOUR CAR?

This is the fastest and

most stable kneeling
position. The forend
rests against/on a sim-
ulated fence post that
supports the front of
our rife. Our knee and
lower leg get directly
underneath and sup-
port our fring elbow.

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An even better option is to use some of your shooting
time practicing this technique with one of your children.
Kids are the perfect size and super-fexible, so they make
the ultimate fring-elbow feld rest. I have a very young
daughter, and one day she’ll be well trained and understand
the solemn duty she has to “stand under Daddy’s elbow”
when he has an important shot to make. It’ll probably be
her frst lesson in teamwork, and it’s a great way to teach her
to shoot. We’ll probably have a few laughs doing it, too.
Jokes aside, once we work out basic commands to ei-
ther raise or lower the “rest” and when to freeze in place,
the partner-assisted standing position is much more stable
than the forend-only approach. It takes a little practice,
and it looks unorthodox, but the small amount of time and
effort invested will pay huge dividends the next time we
need to hit what we’re aiming at.
Use what you have already Most of us learned to assume the
kneeling position by placing the support elbow on our for-
wardmost knee. This leaves our fring elbow foating in space,
which means our position isn’t as stable as it could be.
When we have the opportunity to support the forend on
a solid object while kneeling, we should then try to place
one of our knees under our fring elbow. This is the fastest,
most stable kneeling technique for the individual shooter.
Just like with our standing positions, our goal is always to
support both ends of the rife and/or both elbows.
When it isn’t possible to support the forend on a solid
object while kneeling, we then use our forwardmost knee
for our support elbow and our shooting partner/child to
support our fring elbow. This is a tougher position to work
 r i f l e s & g l a s s | J U LY 2 0 1 4 g&a 37

Escalating sanctions, because of

The classic sitting po-
sition has been around
for a long time and
works. However, with
a little help from our
gear or a friend, we
could get those knees
shored up, and this
position would become
much more stable.
the confict between Russia and
Ukraine, are expected to prevent
any more of these valuable rifes
coming to America. Prices will
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In the premium example shown
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and this same Serial

Number is also marked
on the rife’s barrel shank,
into as a team of two adults because the spaces get a little
tighter and the shooter and his buddy get closer together.
Snipers will use it, as will parent/child teams. Two male,
heterosexual adults are going to have to really want to
make the shot to use this one, though. which tied this scope to this
Traditional sitting positions don’t require as much help rife at the factory in 1943.
from an assistant, but there is still some work for them and We only have a few of these
a ton of improvement to be made in general. Normally, our snipers in our warehouse in
sitting position has us cross our ankles or lower legs and America. We do not expect to
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fast and easy and can be made by repositioning our feet. for these last rifes will rise
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I like to stuff backpacks, jackets or the crossed knee of Read “Notes of a Sniper”,
my shooting partner between my knee and my foot under- Vassili Zaitsev’s frst-hand
neath. Stacking relaxed appendages or stuffng gear under book about dueling snipers at
our knees gives tremendous stability to our sitting position Stalingrad. See this rife in action
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LOCK, STOCK & BARREL
“Now we had eight bulls upset with us ...
steadily snorting and stepping a few steps at a time.”
TACTICAL GLASS FOR HUNTING
EARLIER THIS WINTER, I received a call from my friend
Wayne Black, who offered me an opportunity to head to
Florida to hunt with the folks of J&R Outftters. I’ve got to
admit, I was pretty stoked for this trip. We would have the
ability to hunt hogs, quail and even Eurasian water buffalo.
In addition to hunting, we were also planning on getting
some tactical shooting in with a few friends and other
Floridians for a couple of days.
Before I departed on this trip, I contacted Ray
Brock, tactical brand manager at Leupold, and
discussed using the Mark 6, the 1-6x20mm. It’s
the same scope that I use on my AR.
Ray was excited for me and thought this
opportunity would be a great way to test the
scope in the feld. The Mark 6 isn’t like your
average hunting optic. It is a front-focal-plane
scope, so you are able to use Leupold’s Tactical
Milling Reticle (TMR-D) at any power and
the mil holds will be correct. This is a great
option for the hunter who wants a nonballis-
tic reticle. Not only does this scope feature
a usable reticle, Leupold has also added
an illuminated broken circle. The illuminat-
ed circle works like a red dot scope when
dialed down to 1X.
“The 1-6 has a broad feld of view,” Ray said.
“It’s a true 1 to 6 power, has an extremely bright,
daylight-visible red dot. It allows you to shoot
effectively to 600 meters and has a 34mm main
tube to increase travel for the erector system.”
Now, that is a mouthful, but you get the idea.
This is a real-deal scope.
I wasn’t really happy with the mounts I had
on hand to attach the Mark 6 to my Ruger M77
Hawkeye, but I really wanted to use this setup
on this trip. Ruger has a proprietary built-in
mount that works well right up until you need
to mount a scope with a 34mm main tube,
which the Mark 6 has. I had to use an aftermar-
ket adapter to convert the Ruger system to a
Weaver style to properly mount it. Because of
this, I had to use Leupold’s steel Mark 4 rings,
which were not optimal for this setup, as they are
J U LY 2 0 1 4 G & A 39
S G M K Y L E L A M B [ R E T. ]
a little high and heavy. Even with these complications, my
concerns quickly diminished as I mounted the rife to my
shoulder. It just felt natural to be looking through the same
scope I use on a daily basis for tactical shooting. When this
scope is dialed down, it is every bit as fast as a small red
dot sight, yet it has the midrange accuracy built in on the
top end when you hit 6X.
The rife I was shooting was chambered for .375
Ruger. Unfortunately, this round is notorious for not
being a very fat shooter, so I planned on keeping
my ranges within 300 yards. I would be shooting
Hornady’s new 250-grain GMX bullet, which helps
to fatten the trajectory of this cartridge.
With the Mark 6 dialed to 6X, 300 yards
would be an easy day, especially when shoot-
ing the large, 1-ton buffaloes we’d be seek-
ing. I chose to zero the rife at 100 yards. In
retrospect, I believe I would have been better
off zeroing at 200 yards, as it would have
helped with the hold-offs at 300 yards. The
difference in holds from 100 to 300 was 1.2
mils, which was pretty easy to hold on the
TMR reticle, but if I had zeroed at 200, the
300 zero would have only been a .6-mil hold.
That might not seem like much, but it makes a
lot more sense to me.
After stopping by J&R Outftters Range to
confrm our zeroes, we headed into the feld.
I must say I was confdent, not that we would
fnd the right bull, but in the gear I had chosen
to bring along; I was completely comfort-
able. I began to think about the day before our
buffalo hunt, when we had been on the range
conducting several drills with our ARs, driving
the rife quickly to a target immediately to our
front, as well as on our fank. This could happen
when hunting animals that hunt back. I knew
that during the stalk I would keep the Mark 6 on
low magnifcation for just such an opportunity. I
didn’t want to have to search in the scope for a
charging animal.
Once in the feld, it took only a few hours to fnd
 40 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | l o c k , s t o c k & b A r r e l
ILLUM. TMR-D RETICLE AT 6X
a bull that fell into the “ginormous” category. All of these
bulls were big, but we were on the lookout for one that
took it to the next level. We found that bull; the only prob-
lem was that he had seven of his closest friends there with
him. This was going to be interesting. I’ll openly admit it: I
was a little nervous. Normally, a hunting trip doesn’t involve
this large of an animal that has this bad of an attitude.
After driving around for a good while, we found a place
where we could park the rig and start our stalk. My trusty
guide, Jamie O’Bannon, took the lead. This wasn’t his
frst rodeo, so I fgured things would be fne. It didn’t take
long for the excitement to start. Right out of the box, we
bumped into two bulls that we hadn’t originally seen. They
were not happy with our sneaking, and to show us their dis-
dain, they started stalking us. Not cool. Jamie quickly de-
cided that we needed to get down and crawl, masking our
movement so these two angry bulls wouldn’t see us. After
slipping past them, we continued on with the mission. As
we got closer to the other bulls, we encountered large pal-
mettos that helped conceal our movement. This allowed us
to get to a point where I could safely determine how close
we actually were. I knew we were close, and my Leupold
RX1000 TBR confrmed that we were within 90 yards of the
largest bull. The wind was still in our favor, but as we slowly
sneeked a peek, the herd bull was looking directly at us. My
bull didn’t seem upset, just curious. After 20 minutes in this
Weighing in at close to a
ton, this Eurasian water
buffalo was no match for the
250-grain Hornady GMX.
location, Jamie decided to try and fank the bulls, hoping
to get us in a position for a better shot. We pulled back the
way we had come and skirted a few more palmettos. After
crossing a muddy ditch, we found ourselves within 85 yards
of the bulls, and they hadn’t a clue of our presence.
the waiting game isn’t new to me. I fgured we would stay
in position until the bulls fed in front of us. As soon as this
thought crossed my mind, the bulls started to lie down for
a morning siesta. At this point, I guess Jamie decided he
wanted to hunt other bulls, or at least get a better look at
the ones to our front, because, without warning, he stood
up and stepped right out into the open, giving away our
position to all the bulls, who could now see us clearly. They
didn’t appear to appreciate this at all, and to be quite
honest, I wasn’t all that happy either. Now we had eight
bulls upset with us, the largest of the bunch centered in
the herd, who was steadily snorting and stepping a few
steps at a time. Well, Jamie’s wish came true; we were
getting a better look at all of the bulls. I fgured this was
a good time, so I took the opportunity to dial the Mark
6 to 6X and gave it a glance to ensure that I wanted that
much magnifcation. Everything looked good, so I decided
to maintain that setting. I continued to glance through
my rangefnder, updating Jamie on distance as the bulls
moved closer in an attempt to scare us off.
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42 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | l o c k , s t o c k & b A r r e l

As the bulls made their way closer, I made up my mind
to take the largest bull. He appeared to be the herd bull. If
he wasn’t, at least he had the worst manners of the bunch.
Finally, Jamie gave me the call. “If you’re sure that’s the
bull you want, you better go ahead and take him.” I was
relieved to hear this. I knew I was either going to get to
shoot a big buffalo or piss my pants, and I didn’t have
spare 5.11s with me, so shoot it would be.
I took my time, got into a solid kneeling position and picked
out a good spot on the bull’s brisket. I could easily see where
I was holding with the glowing red dot in my scope. I was
reminded what a great feature this is for hunters. The point
of aim doesn’t light up, but the broken circle of the TMR-D
reticle gives you a reference that drives your eye to the
center. I thought I made a good shot, and the buffalo started
to limp away. I had hit slightly to one side and broke his
front shoulder. As he turned to the left and started to move,
I once again had a clear shot. Placing a black crosshair on
a black animal isn’t easy, so the optic’s illuminated red dot
once again shined true. This was a quartering-away shot, so
I picked a spot that bisected the vitals and fred. I quickly
repeated with the same aiming point on his side.
I knew he was hurt, I just didn’t know how badly. These
animals are very large and have skin that is more than an
inch thick in places. The rest of the herd realized he was
injured and surrounded their wounded mate to protect
him. There wasn’t much we could do but watch, I thought.
Jamie told me we were going to slowly walk toward them.
I am pretty sure he was dropped on his head as a baby,
because he just isn’t right. (In all seriousness, he really is a
great man to hunt with.) As we moved toward the protec-
tive bulls, the one I had shot fell over. He wasn’t dead, but
he was close to it. The herd slowly walked away, allowing
us to get in a position to fnish him.
I was extremely excited, but the day was far from over.
Skinning and dressing an animal this large are real chores.
I couldn’t believe the size of the buffalo when I later saw
him hanging in the barn.
What a great hunt. I was thankful I had been able to use
some of the same gear I use while training military and
law enforcement professionals. It’s defnitely a confdence
booster knowing you have proven gear that can be used
across multiple disciplines. I remain impressed with the
Mark 6 and am confdent it will sit atop many other hunt-
ing rifes during my travels.

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ILLUSTRATION BY ALFREDO RICO

 J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 49

SINCE THE SUNSET of the federal “Assault Weapons Ban” in The SAFE Act bans the possession of any “high-capacity mag-
2004, supporters of stricter gun laws have had black rifes in their azine,” stating that the maximum capacity for all magazines, with
sights. With a decade’s worth of images portraying select-fre an exception for .22-caliber tubular magazines, is 10 rounds.
M16/M4 variants in the hands of soldiers and Marines fghting Previously legal magazines with a 30-round capacity had to be
the War on Terror overseas and a couple of unbelievable trage- sold to an out-of-state resident or turned in to law enforcement
dies on our homeland, a sweeping ban on AR-15-type rifes must within one year. Originally, this law was only going to allow
have looked like low-hanging fruit this last year for gun control magazines to be loaded to a maximum of seven rounds, but
advocates. Though efforts were made in a majority of states to a federal judge struck down this provision on December 21,
ban semiautomatic rifes with magazine capacities greater than a 2013. New Yorkers also became subject to an “assault weapon”
handful of rounds, only California, Colorado, Connecticut and registry, and, like Connecticut, the identifying list of features
New York were signifcantly affected by gun control legislation went from two to one. As an illustration of the state’s atti-
passed within their own assemblies. tude toward these gun control measures, 52 of New York’s
Already having some of the most restrictive gun control laws 62 counties passed offcial resolutions in direct opposition
in the country, in 2013 California attempted an outright ban on to the SAFE Act within those jurisdictions. Though the law
semiautomatic rifes fed by detachable magazines. Governor Jer- continues to be denounced and modifed and is threatened
ry Brown (D-CA) vetoed the “overly broad bill,” saying, “I with repeal, most of its provisions will likely remain
don’t believe this bill’s blanket ban on semiautomatic rifes Troy’s in effect.
would reduce criminal activity or enhance public safe- Pump “The SAFE Act isn’t working,” Assembly Minori-
ty enough to warrant this infringement on gun owners’
Action Rife ty Leader Brian Kolb (R-NY) told Guns & Ammo.
“There’s little chance it ever will. Today’s registra-
rights.” He did sign laws further restricting ownership
of magazines, requirements concerning frearm stor- is a NY/CA- tion deadline reminds us of what happens when
age and a ban on lead hunting ammunition. compliant elected leaders choose to make a political state-
In Colorado, two state senators, Angela ment at the expense of the people forced to pay
Giron (D-Pueblo) and John Morse (D-Colo-
alternative to the price for fawed policies. The SAFE Act
rado Springs) were recalled after supporting the “evil” AR. is the worst piece of legislation I have seen
gun control laws that limited a magazine’s in my 14 years as a member of the Assembly.

HOW
ammunition capacity and universal back- From its inception to the process by which
ground checks. Magpul gave away 1,500 of it was enacted to the disastrous attempts at
its 30-round magazines as a parting gift be- implementation, it has been an unmitigated

NEW
fore its move from Colorado to Texas. failure across the board. This is a law that was
Connecticut quickly passed gun control created absent of any public input or partic-
laws in April 2013, just four months after ipation. It has been costly. It has been con-
blaming guns for the tragic shooting at Sandy fusing. And it has not made New York any

YORK
Hook Elementary School. The laws included safer than it was prior to its enactment. Bad
background checks on private gun sales, a legislation does not get better with age, and
ban on new-manufacture standard-capaci- time will not make the SAFE Act acceptable

LOST
ty magazines of 20 and 30 rounds, and the
creation of a registry for existing magazines
capable of holding more than 10 cartridges.
On April 4, 2013, Governor Dannel Malloy
(D-CT) signed a bill that added 100 specifc
models to the state’s existing ban and rede-
fned the term “assault weapon” to mean a
semiautomatic rife that contained just one
feature on its list, features designed to en-
hance modularity, improve comfort and add
functional versatility for the greatest number
of shooting participants.
The New York Secure Ammunition and
Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act was
just one of the new gun control legisla-
tions passed in 2013. Signed by Governor
Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) a half-hour after it
was passed by the state legislature, Gover-
nor Cuomo insisted that it was the “tough-
est” gun control law in the United States.
words by richard nance
photos by alfredo rico
to those whose constitutional rights have
been compromised.”
The Workaround Typically, anti-gun politi-
cians know remarkably little about frearms,
which makes for some interesting laws.
Legislation is usually focused on a gun’s cos-
metic appearance or accessories, which have
little bearing on lethality. It’s unlikely that a
collapsible stock or pistol grip could make a
rife any more deadly.
The frearms industry is constantly com-
ing up with new designs to circumvent
gun control laws and provide law-abiding
citizens with products they need and want.
However, some contend that circumvention
is a double-edged sword. After all, might
the anti-gun politician, in response to these
new frearms skirting a law, draft even more
stringent or broader-reaching legislation?
50 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | h o w n e w y o r k l o s t
The AR-15
platform has
been around for a
half-century, but
in recent years
its popularity has
soared. To the
uneducated and
uninterested, an
AR looks like a
“machine gun,” ca-
pable of automatic
fre as pictured
in the hands of
troops in battle. It
is often regarded as
an instrument of death with no legitimate
purpose in a civilized society.
Detractors, or those persuaded by their
arguments, don’t take into account that the
AR has become America’s rife of choice for
hunting, competitive shooting and home
defense due to its lightweight handling,
modularity and adaptability to virtually
any body type. One company keenly
aware of America’s affnity for this platform
is Troy Defense.
Its parent company, Troy Industries, has
manufactured top-quality AR accessories
for years. At the 2014 SHOT Show, Troy
Defense unveiled a new AR variant that’s
been fying under the radar but gaining a
following in California and New York. It’s
called the Pump Action Rife, or PAR.
Since the PAR’s action is cycled manually,
it is immune to laws aimed at semiauto-
matic rifes in gun-restrictive states — even
New York and California. As such, the
PAR brazenly displays a Troy muzzlebrake,
more commonly known for improving con-
trol during rapid-fre strings while shooting If a round wasn’t already chambered, the
semiauto models. signature pump-action sound familiar to
shotgunners when loading could serve as
The PAR features a pistol grip extending an audible deterrent against an ill-intend-
conspicuously below the lower receiver. ed intruder.
Pistol grips are sometimes enough for anti-
gun advocates to categorize modern semiauto rifes as “assault
weapons.” Troy calls this one a “Control Grip.”
Additionally, the PAR utilizes a fve-position telescoping stock.
Due to the fact that the PAR does not need a buffer-tube assembly,
common to semiauto ARs, the PAR stock is also side folding, which of operation. If you’ve taken any pump-action frearm into the
reduces the rife’s overall length from 365⁄16 inches (open and ex-
tended) to just 26¼ inches when folded and collapsed.
Despite the appearance of these features, they have real
function when adaptability is needed to conform to shooters of
different physical
statures or possess-
ing various degrees
of dexterity.
The PAR doesn’t
require the infa-
mous California
“bullet button.”
The bullet button
is a replacement
since the PAr is pump operated
by this clever forend design, it’s
for a standard
exempt from extremely restric- detachable mag-
tive laws aimed at semiautomat- azine release and
ic rifes in states such as new
york and California.
requires the use of
a tool, such as the
tip of a bullet, to
remove the magazine.
Obviously, how many rounds a mag-
azine holds is not dependent on a rife’s
action, so many states are legislating
specifc capacity restrictions. In Califor-
nia, a magazine can hold no more than
10 rounds (a pre-ban magazine being the
only legitimate exemption in California).
Hence, the law-abiding PAR is delivered
with a 10-round magazine from Troy
Industries. (It is a high-quality one.)
Without the extra action parts necessary
for semiauto fre, the PAR is lightweight
and easily maneuverable at only 6 pounds.
With its stock folded, it’s easier to trans-
port this rife in a discreet case, even one
intended for something such as a tennis
racket. This feature means that it can also
be deployed and fred within the confnes
of a vehicle much more compactly than
even an AR with a fully collapsed stock.
Not to skew reality, the folded-stock
PAR is fundamentally a heavy, clumsy
pistol without a shoulder mount and
happens to fre the .223-caliber bullet. If
you can live without the semiautomatic
capabilities of an AR, the PAR is actually
a more adjustable system. Plus, there are
benefts to a pump-action rife, such as
saving brass. By manually cycling the action with the forend,
you can control how fast you fre and where spent cases end up.
Theoretically, at least, accuracy potential could be improved for
the lack of the mechanical action used in a standard AR’s cycle
hunting felds, you know that you can more quietly load a round
into the chamber by cycling the pump action than you can by
slapping the bolt catch to release the spring-loaded carrier group.
Working the forend seems to intuitively help the hand in
 h o w n e w y o r k l o s t | J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 51

PERFORMANCE

WEIGHT VELOCITY AVG. BEST

driving the muzzle LOAD (GR.) (FPS) SD ES GROUP (IN.) GROUP (IN.) bing and weaving
between multiple HPR Spire Point HyperClean 55 2,762 27 69 1.44 .94 a bit. Although
targets, and it runs Winchester PDX1 Defender Split Core HP 60 2,910 22 63 2.34 1.88 this problem was
cleaner. All the ex- Black Hills MatchKing HP 69 2,611 27 71 1.38 .95 largely mitigated
panding gases exit Federal Sierra Gold Medal Match BTHP 69 2,649 45 139 1.41 1.05 through proper
the muzzle with Hornady TAP Urban 55 2,966 18 39 1.40 .68 positioning and
the bullet, meaning Notes: Average velocity is determined from fve shots across an Oehler 35P chronograph at a distance approximately the use of sandbag
15 feet from the muzzle. Average accuracy is determined from four fve-shot groups 100 yards from a metal bench with
there’s less carbonic a sandbag rest. rests, a sturdier or
debris littering the more rigid stock
bolt-carrier assembly and chamber. Troy Defense PAR for future production models would un-
Drawbacks? Perhaps there’s a bit more Type: Pump action doubtedly provide a more stable shooting
felt recoil because a buffer system isn’t pres- Caliber: .223/5.56 NATO platform. (Then again, a folding stock on
Capacity: 10 rds.
ent to help absorb energy within the stock. Barrel: 16 in., Melonite, 1:7-in. twist
a California-compliant AR-style rife more
Though the PAR is not an AR, it’s actu- Overall Length: 36 5⁄16 in. (stock extended), than makes up for a little stock wobble.)
ally kinda cool. But on the range, is this 33 7⁄8 in. (stock open and
At the bench, I fred four fve-shot
collapsed), 26¼ in. (stock
just a gimmick, simply designed to make a folded) groups with fve different loads ranging
political statement? Weight: 6 lbs. in weight from 55 to 69 grains. In order
Finish: Type III hardcoat anodized
to assess the accuracy of the PAR, I folded
Grips: Troy Control Grip
Trigger Time Accuracy testing was Sights: Troy BattleSights, folding down the included set of Troy BattleSights
accomplished at the industry-standard Trigger: 7.5 lbs., Mil-Spec and mounted a Bushnell Elite Tactical G2
100 yard line. I fully extended the PAR’s Price: $1,100 DMR 3.5-21x50mm scope atop its contin-
folding stock for a stable prone position. I Manufacturer: Troy Industries, 413-788- uous Picatinny rail.
4288, troydefense.com
noticed that the stock ft wasn’t perfectly I opted for the HPR 55-grain Spire
tight, so I contended with my target bob- Point HyperClean ammunition for the frst

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52 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | h o w n e w y o r k l o s t

near right: the fve-position

adjustable buttstock can be
extended to achieve an appro-
priate length of pull.

Center right: the PAr’s unique

buttstock can be confgured
to fold to either side, reducing
its overall length to just over
26 inches.

Far right: the manual bolt-

release button functions the
same as an action lock lever
on a pump-action shotgun.

testing. The round performed well, printing a sub-MOA group,
with an average group size of 1.44 inches. It was readily apparent
that the PAR was capable of sub-MOA accuracy and only held
back by a stiff Mil-Spec trigger. (I later measured its trigger
weight at 7½ pounds.)
Since the PAR will accommodate any AR trigger group, swap-
ping out the trigger shouldn’t be a problem and will result in
more consistent groups.
The 60-grain Winchester PDX1 Defender was not the PAR’s
favorite pairing. Groups measured from just under 2 inches to
nearly 3 inches, with the best group coming in at 1.88 inches and
the average group registering 2.34 inches.
Black Hills’ 69-grain MatchKing load produced the best overall
showing, with a 1.38-inch average grouping, but only bested a
respectable .95-inch group.
The other 69-grain round tested was Federal Sierra Gold Med-
al Match. It performed consistently with an average group size of
1.41 inches, with the best group printing 1.05 inches.
The tightest two groups of the day were achieved with 55-grain
Hornady Tap Urban. The runner-up measured .83 inch, and the
winner was a mere .68 inch. If an AR enthusiast worked at it and
installed a different trigger, the PAR could be a real tackdriver.

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 h o w n e w y o r k l o s t | J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 53

Not limited to the victims

of the SAFE Act, the PAR is a
viable alternative for those who
have recently had their rights
infringed upon. Regardless of
whether you live in a prohibi-
tive state such as New York or
California or in any other state,
Above left: thanks to its pump action, Californians won’t need a bullet button for the PAr. Above Troy’s PAR offers a few unique
right: the PAr’s bolt group should appear familiar to Ar afcionados, the most notable difference benefts that deserve consid-
being the addition of a pump rod.
eration to round out the tools
in your safe. Not only is this
After accuracy testing, I loaded the 10-round magazine, cham- unique rife fun to shoot and hunt with, it’s also practical for home
bered a round, then topped it off for maximum capacity. I was able defense purposes.
to fre all 11 rounds in rapid succession with very manageable recoil. The lawful use of frearms is more a part of our culture than
Was it as fast as I could fre 11 rounds from a semiautomatic AR-15- headlines would have us believe. The AR is often regarded as
type rife? No. But Californians would sure save time by not having “America’s Rife.” The PAR is a solution for citizens who choose
to contend with a bullet button in order to reload. to reside in prohibative jurisdictions. Regardless of what laws
The PAR did not incur any malfunctions during this evaluation, may be passed against gun owners, innovators like Steve Troy are
and I suspect that, being that it’s a pump action, there’s less likeli- clever and persistant. With the SAFE Act, New Yorkers have only
hood for one of the common malfunctions associated with the AR’s enabled the bad guys to effect their violence with less concern
gas-impingement system to occur. However, as with any pump of facing an adequately armed victim. Unfortunately, the greater
gun, it is still possible to short-stroke the action. state of New York has lost to its city.

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54 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4

MAKING
MEN
EQUAL
The legend that was Sam Colt began 200 years ago.
words by arnold m. chernoff | photos by allen phillips, wadsworth atheneum

IT WAS IN THE WINTER of 1831 that Sam Colt saw a revolving in size giving a gain of power. A large drum, ftted with power-
pistol for the frst time. This occasion was so important that he ful brakes, held the load in place. Sam reasoned that instead of
lied about it in later years. The gun shop he visited in Calcutta having the force applied to the drum and holding the pawl fxed,
had a few examples of the Collier revolving fintlock pistol. Study- he would move the pawl, attached to the hammer, and then, by
ing them gave Sam ideas for improving the revolver. The main cocking the hammer, the cylinder would revolve to the next fring
fault of the Collier, Sam thought, was the method by which the position and lock into place automatically. The idea was simple,
cylinder was rotated. After each shot was fred, the shooter had yet no one had ever thought of it before. Sam eagerly grasped
to set the cylinder into a fring position by hand, always making his penknife and applied these attributes to his wooden revolver.
sure that a loaded chamber was in line with the barrel. This had Once fnished, he patiently waited for the Corvo to land at Boston.
to be done each time the pistol was fred. Then, too, the Collier With fnancial aid from his father, Christopher, Sam sought the
had too many parts; more than 40 separate pieces went into the services of Anson Chase, a gunsmith of Hartford, Connecticut.
lock, not including the lockplate, attaching screws, stock, cylinder Chase agreed to produce the working models Colt needed and
and other essentials. His invention would cut down the number of set himself to the task. He made a pistol, which closely followed
parts, but, more important, he would devise a method of turning Colt’s wooden pattern, then turned his efforts toward producing
the cylinder automatically, not by hand. a revolving rife. On December 30, 1831, using
While the Corvo ship sailed back to Boston, Editor’s Note: This article money he received as a Christmas gift, Colt paid
Massachusetts, Sam occupied his leisure time on the legend of Samuel Chase $15 on the account, but where or when he
with the hobby of many sailors, whittling. His Colt is condensed from would get the balance lay in doubt.
subject matter was to be an improvement on the two articles written by When he left his home in Ware, Massachu-
Collier guns he had seen in India. As he worked Arnold M. Chernoff and setts, the youth Samuel Colt was no more. In
on the scrap of wood, his vision took shape. He published in Guns & his place stood Dr. Coult, the celebrated lecturer
bored six holes in the wooden cylinder with a hot Ammo’s October and and scientist of New York, London and Calcutta.
wire. The hammer of his wooden gun was very November issues in 1962. The deception was magnifcent and enabled Sam
similar to those of the actual pieces he would With the assistance of Colt to collect fees for lecturing on natural philoso-
later produce. Bit by bit, the gun was taking its Manufacturing Company phy and chemistry. After each lecture, he would
desired shape, but the all-important fnishing (colt.com) and the Wad- delight his audience with a demonstration of
touch was still missing. Sam had to fnd a way to sworth Atheneum Museum laughing gas. Using a willing participant, Sam
make the cylinder rotate automatically. of Art (thewadsworth.org), administered the gas, which induced a form of
He spent many hours on the deck of the Corvo Chernoff’s feature has harmless intoxication.
thinking over his problem. Then, one day, as he been updated to serve Within 10 days after his frst appearance as Dr.
watched the men unloading a hold, he saw the as an authoritative work, Coult, Sam had managed to save enough money
answer unfold before his eyes, but in reverse. The reviving historical aware- for a trip to Washington. Before leaving, he stopped
operation he witnessed was the working of the ness of the infuences be- off at Anson Chase’s gun shop and picked up his
common windlass. As he watched it, he found his hind Samuel Colt’s inno- crudely fnished pistol and rife. Sam was confdent
idea. The windlass had a large cylinder, con- vations and celebrating that once he arrived in Washington, a patent could
ventionally termed the wheel, turning a smaller his 200th birthday on July be secured for his invention.
cylinder or barrel, termed the axle, the difference 19, 2014. Upon his arrival, Sam looked up an old friend
J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 55
56 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m A k i n G m e n e q u A l

The elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt

Collection came to the Wads-
worth Atheneum when mrs. Colt
died in 1905. Highlights include
the wooden model carved by Colt
aboardship in his youth (below)
that led him to the design of the
perfect revolver as well as scarce
examples of Colt’s own products.

A fne example of the famed Collier fintlock (above), patented in

1818. elisha Collier invented this arm in America back in 1813, but
because the public lacked interest in his invention, he took it to en-
gland for patenting. The Collier used a rotating chambered breech
that had to be turned by hand. From the Wadsworth Athenium
Collection, Hartford, Connecticut

of his father’s, Henry Ellsworth. He wanted Ellsworth’s help, for two men, the revolver burst apart. It was a disheartening thing
besides being a family friend, he was also the Commissioner of to have happen, but it was the frst hint of a trouble that would
Patents. Ellsworth reviewed the rudely fnished arms with great plague Colt for several years — re-fash. A front plate, which
interest and, as a friend, offered held the loose bullets from falling
Sam some sound advice. He told out, trapped the lateral fash at
him to hold off on his patent until the breech end of the barrel. This
the time when the arms could be “IT WAS IN THE WINTER OF pushed the hot particles of gun-
smoothed out and fnished prop-
erly, making them the mechanical
1831 THAT SAM COLT SAW powder into the adjoining cham-
bers, setting off the other charges.
marvels they were intended to be. A REVOLVING PISTOL FOR When all the charges fred at once,
As they were at the time, they left THE FIRST TIME. THIS OC- they literally tore the barrel right
much to be desired. Sam agreed
and accepted a caveat, which in
CASION WAS SO IMPORT- off the gun. Sam was dejected
over his gun’s failure, but, being a
today’s terminology means and an ANT THAT HE LIED ABOUT good showman, and needing more
Affdavit of Claim of Invention. IT IN LATER YEARS.” money for future experiments, he
This would ensure Sam’s priority headed to Baltimore to continue
until the time when suffcient capi- his lectures.
tal could be raised to promote his invention. Ellsworth deposited The shop of A.T. Baxter was well known by the townspeople
the model arms in the archives of the patent offce, and Sam once for its skilled craftsmen. It was only natural that Sam visit Baxter
more took to the back roads as Dr. Coult. with the hope that he could produce a few working models of his
When Sam arrived in Hartford in December 1833, Chase revolver. Colt was shown some examples of Baxter’s work, and,
showed him another crude specimen fashioned from the original being impressed, he was excited to let Baxter tackle the job. Baxter
model. They were eager to test it, and the revolver was promptly detailed one of his best men, John Pearson, to fll Colt’s needs,
loaded, placed in a vise and fred. Much to the dismay of the then left the men to themselves. Colt explained his revolver design
58 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m A k i n G m e n e q u A l

to Pearson, stressing certain points he felt the gunsmith should

know. They talked for several hours, and before Sam left the shop,
he was assured that the task of making several revolving pistols
and rifes would be accomplished to his satisfaction.
From March 1 to May 24, Sam had given Baxter and Pearson
more than $400 for the work Pearson had done on several pistols
and two rifes. Sam realized that there was still a lot to be done
before the arms reached the desired degree of perfection needed
to obtain a patent, so he decided to offer Pearson a private deal.
Pearson liked the idea and agreed to leave Baxter to work for Sam
exclusively. They drew up a contract whereby Sam agreed to pay
a set amount to Pearson each month, as well as provide a shop
for him to work in. By June 1834, Pearson was settled in his new
shop and working diligently on Colt’s arms.
In July 1835, Sam visited Washington and was assured by
Henry Ellsworth that his arms were now ready. It was only a mat-
ter of time until the government granted Colt his patent. Feeling
secure and somewhat relieved over Ellsworth’s confdence, Sam
decided to return to Hartford for a visit with his father. After all,
Christopher Colt was the only successful businessman Sam knew
well enough to ask for money.
Arriving at home, Sam found that it didn’t take much to convince
his father that his invention had great possibilities. Christopher had
faith in Ellsworth, and if Ellsworth thought enough of Sam’s idea
to patent it, why shouldn’t he back his son? Besides, Sam’s cousin,
Dudley Selden, a prominent New York lawyer, had seen the revolv-
er and thought it had great business potential. The overwhelming
majority of confdence shown toward Sam’s invention benefted
him greatly. His father agreed to advance him $1,000 against an 8
percent interest in the yet-unissued revolver patent.
Cousin Dudley was also helpful in bringing another import-
ant matter to light. If the revolver proved a big success, other
countries could copy its design without reprisal. On the other
hand, if Sam were to go to England and France to take out
patents for his invention, no one could infringe upon
them. They all agreed that Dudley was right, so Sam
prepared for a trip to Europe.
After a few days’ wait on arriving to London, and
with the helpful work of his agent, John Hawkins,
Sam Colt received the patent (No. 6909) he so desired
from the British Crown. It wasn’t easy, as they both
had to appear before the High Court of Chancery to
obtain a patent. But all went well, and on October
30, 1835, a color drawing of Sam’s revolver design
was placed in a vault along with the other treasured
records of England.
number 1 rife, serial Arriving in Paris, Sam sought the services of
number 189, 1838
Patent Arms manu- A. Perpigna, a well-known advocate. Perpigna,
facturing Company, like Hawkins, was well qualifed to fll Sam’s
Paterson, new Jersey, needs. It was only a matter of time and mon-
caliber .34. The barrel
measures 317⁄8 inches, ey until Colt received his revolver patent
giving the rife an overall from France.
length of 441⁄8 inches. In January 1836, Colt returned from
Europe. His mission accomplished, he
now set out to obtain his American
patent, which was coming due, and
 m a k i n g m e n e q u a l | J U LY 2 0 1 4 g&a 59

formed a company for manufacturing arms.

Christopher gave Sam an additional $300 to help promote his
invention, but warned him against spending it foolishly. Sam took
the money, cleaned up a few of his debts (as usual, he owed Peder- Colt Paterson
son some back pay) and set out to fnd investors for his company. “Holster model,”
With the help of Dudley Selden, several prominent New York busi- patent august
29, 1839.
nessmen became
interested in the
Colt revolver. How-
ever, they wanted
proof of Colt’s
patent claims before
they invested their
money. They didn’t
have long to wait,
for on February
25, 1836, Sam Colt
was granted patent
No. 9430. (This
was later changed
to patent No. 138
because of a fre
that destroyed the
patent offce.) The
patent covered four
basic principles
that would enable
Colt to produce his
revolvers without
competition until
the patent expired
in 1857. The four
principles were, in
brief:
elisha k. Root
• Centrally placed nipples at the rear of the cylinder, some- “Revolver,” patent
times referred to as a rotating breech or receiver; December 25,
• Each nipple isolated by partitions to prevent simultaneous 1855.
discharge; To view PDFs of
• Rotating the cylinder by the act of cocking the hammer; these patents
• Blocking the cylinder in proper adjustment at the moment of and other Sam
Colt innovations,
discharge and unlocking it by lifting the hammer when cocking. visit uspto.gov and
With the American patent secure, Colt’s cousin now had some- select “Search for
thing tangible to show his friends. They readily invested their Patents” link in the
upper right section
capital, and a Charter of Incorporation was granted on March 5, of the page.
1836, for the newly formed concern known as The Patent Arms
Manufacturing Company of New Jersey.
It was decided that the gun works would be built on the Passaic
River in Paterson, New Jersey, and it wasn’t long before things
began humming at the Paterson factory. Colt had hired Pliny Law-
ton to act as superintendent, and the responsibility of setting up
a workable plant operation lay on his shoulders. It was a diffcult
job, as friction constantly arose between Sam and Dudley. Sam
had studied the methods of Eli Whitney, in regard to using ma-
chine-made interchangeable parts, and wanted to employ similar
methods at Paterson. Dudley, however, felt that the arms should
be fabricated by hand and, as general manager of the company
60 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m A k i n G m e n e q u A l

number 3 Belt Pistol, serial number 186,

1838 Patent Arms manufacturing Com-
pany, Paterson, new Jersey, caliber .34.
Barrel length measures 51 inches, and
overall length is 913⁄32 inches.

experimental Pocket Pistol, serial number

5. it was created between 1849 and 1850
at Colt’s Armory in Hartford. Caliber is
.265. The barrel length is 3 inches, and it
has an overall length of 7 inches.

(because of his large investments in the concern), wanted to do formulated. He thought that if the fronts of the cylinder chambers
things “his way.” They were never in complete agreement, but a were beveled, it would provide a desirable plane to turn away
semi-happy medium was fnally reached, and the arms produced the fash. These early experiments helped pave the way later for a
at Paterson were partially fnished by hand, partially by machine. much needed improvement, the loading lever. The lever made it
Sam realized that for any large arms company to be successful, possible to wedge an oversize ball into the chamber, effecting an
it would have to be patronized by the government. If he could airtight seal. Once this was accomplished, the chance of re-fash
interest the Army in his revolver, his fortune would be made. Un- was nil.
fortunately for Colt, when the
Army trial board met at West
Point in 1837, there was a
great deal of opposition to his “THESE EARLY EXPERIMENTS HELPED PAVE
frearms. It was the old story of THE WAY LATER FOR A MUCH NEEDED
“If it was good enough to fght
with last year, why change to
IMPROVEMENT, THE LOADING LEVER.”
something new this year?” In
any case, the board agreed to
examine Colt’s entry and not actually test it. The gun Colt chose Even though the Ordnance Board gave Colt’s rife a poor
to show the board was a seven-shot revolving musket weighing recommendation, the activities of the Paterson factory continued.
more than 15 pounds. It was a monstrosity for a military rife, In the latter part of 1837, the American Institute of New York
but as part of the examination, it was test fred. Four volleys were for the Encouragement of Science and Invention awarded Colt’s
fred at a distance of 180 yards. In each volley, two simultaneous rife a gold medal. At the same time, his pistol was pushed aside
discharges took place. It was the old “Colt curse” of re-fash that by the Institute with the comment: “Colt’s revolving chambered
caused the mishap, but it gave the board the necessary evidence pistols — best ft only for military uses.” Again, in 1838 the Colt
to offcially condemn Colt arms for the military. rife won the Institute’s award, but the revolver was still consid-
It was a blow for the 23-year-old inventor to return to Paterson ered to be strictly a military frearm.
a failure, once again faced with the age-old problem of preventing The Seminole Indian War had broken out in Florida, and Sam,
re-fash. At once he started experiments with various ideas he had being a resourceful New England Yankee, saw an opportunity
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62 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m A k i n G m e n e q u A l
to prove his guns worthy in the toughest
test of all: actual combat. He packed 50
revolving pistols and an equal number
of rifes into two crates and headed for
Florida.
Leading the 2nd Regiment of U.S.
Dragoons was one of the most progressive
offcers in the Army, Colonel William S.
Harney. He was a fghter, not a Washington
pen-pusher, and, as such, he believed in having his men well armed
with the best equipment available. Colonel Harney saw the useful-
ness and advantages of having repeating arms in combat, and Colt
made his frst government sale.
Serving with the Army in Florida at that time was a young man
who was to become the most important individual in Sam Colt’s
life, Samuel H. Walker. Though they were not destined to meet
until December 1846, the lives and fortunes of the two men were
bound together by a common tie: Colt’s revolver. Walker, like Har-
ney, was a fghter, and to him the Colt revolver was the greatest as-
set a fghting man had. However, it was many years before Walker
was asked to voice his opinion of the revolver.
In 1839, another important link was added to the Colt chain of
developments. John Fuller, one of Sam Colt’s representatives, was
visiting the newly formed Republic of Texas. Call it coincidence,
but one of his oldest friends, Colonel George W. Hockley, was
Holster Pistol, serial number 15016, 1856
Colt’s Patent Fire Arms manufacturing
Company, Hartford. Caliber is .44, and
barrel length is 71 inches. Overall length
measures 14 inches.
new model Holster Pistol, serial number
43831, 1862 Colt’s Patent Fire Arms man-
ufacturing Company, Hartford. Caliber is
.44 in an 8-inch barrel. Overall length is 14
inches.
Sam Walker was a Texas Ranger
captain and military offcer who had
served with Colt pistols in several con-
ficts. He proposed several improve-
ments including that a sixth round be
added to the popular fve-shot Colt
Paterson revolver.
now Chief Ordnance Offcer for the Re-
public. Through him, Fuller became well
acquainted with other important heads of
the Texas government and soon received
an order from Memucan Hunt, Secretary of
the Navy. The order was for 180 revolver
carbines and 180 revolvers, complete with
proper appendages for both.
Although Colt’s pistol was worth more
than a single-shot, its cost was prohibitive to many prospective
purchasers. At that time, the average pair of single-shot fintlocks
cost between $6 and $9; a single Colt revolver cost $26. This
price was not competitive, and, as a result, many orders were lost.
It was Lawton’s job as superintendent to keep the quality and
quantity of Colt arms up and the price down. This was essential,
for the Depression of 1837 made available buying capital scarce;
failure would cause the company to go into bankruptcy.
In August 1839, Sam Colt was granted an additional patent
(No. 1304) from the U.S. government. This patent records the
improvements brought about by experimentation at Paterson
prior to the start of actual production. There was no mention of
a permanently attached loading lever in any of the patent claims,
so it is assumed that it wasn’t yet perfected. However, the use of
exposed hammers on Paterson-made shotguns and carbines made
its debut in this patent.
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64 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m A k i n G m e n e q u A l

new model Pocket Pistol, serial number

6373, 1863 Colt’s Patent Fire Arms man-
ufacturing Company, Hartford. Caliber
is .31 in a 41-inch barrel with a 9-inch
overall length.

new model Pocket Pistol, serial number

7162l, 1863 Colt’s Patent Fire Arms man-
ufacturing Company, Hartford. Caliber is
.31. Barrel length measures 31 inches,
and overall length is 8 inches.

The Patent Arms Manufacturing Company was fghting a By late 1843, the contents of the Paterson factory had been
losing battle. The constant disagreements between Sam and liquidated, and Sam Colt was left stripped of everything save his
cousin Dudley over production methods and foolish spending patents. These the company let him keep, for they were deemed
ended when Dudley resigned as manager. Taking his place was useless. Little did it know that Sam was still destined to make his
John Ehlers, an employee who had risen from the status of chief fortune utilizing the seemingly worthless patents.
clerk to treasurer. Ehlers was a capable man, but the affairs of the In the summer of 1844, Samuel H. Walker, now a Texas Rang-
company had gotten so out er, received a small shipment
of hand that the beginning of of Paterson revolvers. These
the end was near. Although were part of the order that Colt
prices for Colt’s pistols and “IT WAS A DECISIVE VICTORY had originally placed with the
carbines had been lowered FOR THE RANGERS, BUT A Texas Navy. Walker’s experi-
considerably, they were still far
from being competitive. Ehlers
GREATER ONE FOR COLT’S ence with the Seminoles had
convinced him of the Colts’
knew the company needed REVOLVER.” superiority, and he was certain
large orders to survive, but the revolvers would provide
none was obtained. the added frepower he needed
In the government trials of to quell the bands of maraud-
1840, the United States Ordnance Board took a more favor- ing Comanche warriors in Texas.
able attitude toward Colt’s frearms. It placed an order for 100 Shortly after receiving the revolvers, Walker and 14 other
repeating carbines in March 1841 and in July of the same year Rangers under the command of Major John Coffee Hays encoun-
followed it up with an additional order for 60 more. The carbines tered a party of 80 Comanche braves near the Nueces River in the
cost the government $45 each, a substantial reduction from the Pedernales country. The Comanche, confdent in their fve-to-one
$125 price paid in Florida several years before. However, this strength over the Rangers, attacked twice in rapid succession. This
token of government patronage came too late to help the faltering was done to draw the Rangers’ fre from the single-shot rifes and
concern, and in 1842 John Ehlers threw the company into pistols they normally carried. Then, a third attack was launched
bankruptcy. with the hope of catching the Rangers in the process of reloading.
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66 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m A k i n G m e n e q u A l
For the frst time, the Indians’ strategy didn’t work. Instead of
riding into a band of helpless man, they were torn by the sudden
fashing fre of a new weapon. Volley after volley spit death into
the attacking horde, and when the last shot was fred, more than
half of the arrogant war party lay dead or wounded on the feld. It
was a decisive victory for the Rangers, but a greater one for Colt’s
revolver.
“USING A MODEL OF A PATERSON PISTOL
... COLT SET OUT TO MAKE THE REQUIRED
CHANGES THAT WALKER SUGGESTED.”
The same fateful infuences that crossed the life paths of the
two Sams were still at work. In the spring of 1846, Samuel
Walker joined the newly formed U.S. Mounted Rifes in the Army
of Brevet Brigadier General Zachary Taylor. Walker was now
fghting for the State of Texas.
Many of the men in Taylor’s command were former Rangers
who had made careers of battling for Texas’ freedom. Among
them was John Coffee Hays, now a colonel heading his own regi-
ment in the Mounted Rifes. He and Walker both knew that Colt
revolvers were urgently needed by every man in the command,
and they lost no time in convincing “Old Rough and Ready”
Zachary Taylor of their needs. Because Captain Walker was the
logical man to go, General Taylor dispatched him to Washing-
ton. His job was to fnd Sam Colt and do everything possible to
expedite the immediate production of 1,000 revolvers. Sam Colt
didn’t know it yet, but he was going back into the gun business.
In 1846, a trip from the Rio Grande to Washington took quite
a long time. By the time Walk-
er found Colt, General Taylor
had already fought the battles
of Palo Alto and Resaca de la
Palma and was pushing deep
into Mexico. Walker explained
his mission and further ex-
pressed his personal feelings
toward the Colt revolver. The
two Sams became immediate friends.
Suddenly, after 10 years of bitter failure to get adequate Ord-
nance recognition of his design, Colt was sought out and asked to
furnish 1,000 revolvers to the Army. Walker’s intervention came
at a time when the future of the Colt revolver had never looked
darker. Colt had no machinery, no factory and, surprisingly, not
even one of his original Paterson pistols to use as a model.
Colt always loved the arms business, and with an order for
1,000 revolvers at hand and a promise of an additional order for
2,000 more, it didn’t take much to convince him. Colt immedi-
 m a k i n g m e n e q u a l | J U LY 2 0 1 4 g&a 67
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ately left for Connecticut to fnd Eli Whitney (son of the

cotton gin inventor), who had both the fnances and the
factory equipment to undertake such a project. This was
in December 1846. Whitney was a hardheaded business-
man, but so was Colt. One of the most important terms
of their contract was that Colt would retain ownership
of any special machinery acquired for the work. He was
thinking ahead to the additional order for 2,000 revolv-
ers promised by the Army. Whitney agreed and promised
to start manufacturing the arms whenever Colt was ready.
Using a model of a Paterson pistol he either borrowed
or bought, Colt set out to make the required changes
that Walker suggested. Vivid memories of his Comanche
fghting games may well have infuenced Walker into
recommending a six-shot cylinder for the new revolver.
An added shot for each man could be the narrow margin
between victory and defeat. Also to be considered was
the caliber. The Paterson, a .36-caliber weapon, was
good, but Walker wanted a real man-stopper. They
decided that the new pistol would be a .44. The grip was
then lengthened for better grasping, and a 9-inch barrel
was added. The next main problem was the trigger. On
the Paterson, the trigger dropped down from the frame
when the hammer was cocked. The new gun would be
 68 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m A k i n G m e n e q u A l

made with a fxed trigger, protected by a large, brass, squareback cavalry armed with revolvers engaging a larger force of Indians.
guard. This would enable a soldier to carry his pistol cocked This scene was rolled on the cylinder of each revolver as a tribute
without fear of accidental discharge. Under the barrel, an im- to Walker’s Ranger exploits, but of course it was also political,
proved loading lever was attached for driving the lead balls into under the circumstances, to illustrate U.S. mounted troops. As an-
the six-cylinder chambers. All these ideas and more were added other gesture to show his gratefulness for getting him back in the
to the new design, and when it was fnished, a larger and heavier arms business, Colt named the new revolver the “Walker-Colt.”
handgun than its predecessor emerged, but one obviously better When the arms were fnished, they were to be numbered accord-
suited to the rigors of frontier Army duty. ing to Walker’s instructions, by pairs and Companies. Each man
Colt had Waterman L. Ormsby (the engraver who made the in the Mounted Rifes was to receive a pair of the new revolvers.
dies for his Paterson pistol and subsequently all the later models The Companies ran from “A” to “E,” and each was to be stamped
of percussion Colt arms) make up a die depicting a small body of with the Company letter and number. It is a known fact that these
numbers ran from “A” Co. 1 to “A” Co. 220,
“B” Co. 1 to “B” Co. 220, etc. There is only
one doubt, and that is to the numbering of
the “E” Company guns. As only 1,000 were
DMR STOCK BECAUSE FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION® ordered and 220 were to be placed in each
of the frst four Companies, it is assumed
that the numbering on “E” Company arms
stopped at 120. This is further confrmed
FITS 7.62 AND 5.56 RIFLES WITH by the fact that, today, the highest “E”
MIL-SPEC CARBINE EXTENSION TUBE Company Walker known bears the number
115. (The pistols that bear “C” Company
markings are most desirable since that was
Sam Walker’s Company.)
By October, Sam Walker had returned
to Mexico to rejoin his regiment. He was
informed by an Ordnance Department let-
ter that his Company’s revolvers had been
shipped to Vera Cruz. The letter was dated
July 8, but for some unknown reason, the
1.125" ADJUSTMENT
Colts were still undelivered. On October
FOR CHEEK REST HEIGHT
5, 1847, Walker wrote his brother from
SOPMOD CHEEK Perote, saying he had just received a pair
REST FOR COMFORT
CONCEALED MIL-STD of the new revolvers direct from Sam Colt.
1913 STANAG 4694
As for the others, they were still delayed.
COMPLIANT RAIL FOR
MONO-POD ATTACHMENT The pair of pistols Colt had sent to Walker
were part of an overproduction of 100 that
1.25" ADJUSTMENT FOR were made to give away as gifts from the
4 QD SLING SWIVEL LENGTH OF PULL
SOCKETS “Inventor.” These guns wore no Company
numbers, but were numbered as civilian
pieces starting with serial number 1001
SOPMOD BUTTPAD FOR and ending with serial number 1100.
REDUCED FELT RECOIL Ironic as it may seem, four days after
Walker received the revolvers he helped to
create, he was mortally wounded during
the battle of Huamantla by a shotgun fred
from a balcony. Capt. Bedney F. McDonald,
one of the 3rd Artillery, sent Colt one of
Walker’s revolvers as a memento of Sam’s
deceased friend. The gun is still preserved
in the Colt Cabinet of Arms at Hartford.
Colt, having fulflled his bargain to fur-
nish the Army with 1,000 revolvers, now
set out to establish a new gun factory for
himself. He knew that time was all-import-
ant, as the government’s order for another

2,000 pistols was at hand. He looked about for a suitable site and
fnally decided to establish his factory in Hartford.
The frst Hartford location was at 33 Pearl Street. Here, Sam
set up his machinery and commenced work on August 1, 1847.
He was to remain on Pearl Street until 1850, when he moved his
factory to a new location in Hartford.
In quick succession, the War with Mexico ended, and the
California Gold Rush began. The orders for Colt revolvers were
pouring into the factory. In 1851, the newly elected Governor
of Connecticut, Thomas Seymour, fulflled one of Colt’s fondest
wishes by appointing him Lt. Colonel and Aide-de-Camp. Colt’s
only duties were social ones, and he performed them gracefully.
However, he was now able to call himself “Colonel.”
Colt’s belief was that once a man tried and tested his revolv-
ers, he would become a staunch supporter of his products. The
years 1855 and 1856 were important ones for Colt. In 1855, his
new factory at Hartford was completed, bringing an even greater
perfection to Colt manufacturing processes. The factory was
incorporated as Colt’s Pt. F. A. Mfg. Co. Inc. Much of the credit for
improving labor-saving devices and machine designs went to the
factory superintendent, Elisha K. Root.
In 1856, now wealthy and successful at the age of 42, Sam
decided to fulfll one of his greatest ambitions. He married
Elizabeth Hart Jarvis. They left for Europe on their honeymoon
and, because of Sam’s aggressiveness, succeeded in obtaining an
invitation to attend the coronation of Czar Alexander II.
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m a k i n g m e n e q u a l | J U LY 2 0 1 4 g&a 69
When his patent fnally expired on February 23, 1857, arms
companies such as Remington, Whitney and Manhattan all begin
producing revolvers using Colt’s system and design. It affected
him somewhat, but his revolver had long been established as a
superior handgun, and his sales continued to mount.
With the start of the American Civil War in April 1861, de-
mands for Colt pistols increased rapidly. Sam had given up his
heavy Dragoon pistol designs and was now producing sleek new
models. Of these new guns, greatest favor from the Ordnance De-
partment was found in the .36-caliber 1851 Navy Model and the
improved .44-caliber 1860 Army Model. Colt employed the ser-
vices of Waterman L. Ormsby to make a die for the rolling of the
Navy and Army cylinders. Remembering the Paterson purchases
made by the Texas Navy many years before, Sam decided to honor
those early fghters with a suitable memento. The die Ormsby
engraved depicted the fght between the Texas Navy and Mexican
warships on May 16, 1843.
In the spring of 1861, Sam Colt was in poor health. His
10-month-old daughter, Elizabeth, had died in October. It was a
devastating blow to his heart. Colt’s physician, Dr. John F. Gray,
opinioned his illness as gout, but even Sam knew it to be more
serious. It was a short time later that Colt was confned to his
bed. He was stubborn, however, and refused to lie around and
be idle. Through couriers, he directed the activities of his vast
holdings and successfully ran the factory. Finally, all his suffering
ended on January 10, 1862.
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70 G&A JULY 2014
The Colt Detective Special was actually
nothing more than a variant of the
longer-barreled Colt Police Positive Spe-
cial. The example shown here (at right)
with the 1934 DS was made in 1923.
Positively Special
A favorite of private eyes, plainclothesmen and mystery writers alike,
the Colt Detective Special is one of the most evocative
and effective snubbie sixguns ever made.
by garry james | photography by jill marlow
THE COLT DETECTIVE SPECIAL is one of America’s most
romantic frearms, popular with both policemen and sleuths-
for-hire. In .38 Special, it’s an effective hideout with a career
ranging from the gangster era of the 1920s and ’30s through flm
noir escapades in the ’40s and ’50s right up to present day. First
appearing during the Roaring ’20s, like most infuential arms it
was based on designs and features extending back many years
prior to its debut.
Small, snubnose double-action (DA) revolvers weren’t anything
new in the Colt line. A number of models, most prominently
the 1849 Pocket, 1855 “Root” and 1862 Pocket Police and Navy,
could be had from the factory with barrels in the 3- to 3½-inch
range during the percussion era. Attenuated cartridge conver-
sions of some of these guns were also available for a time, as were
other, later diminutive single-action (SA) revolvers. Colt’s premier
DA cartridge shorty was the Model 1877 “Lightning,” which
could be had with a barrel as short as 2½ inches.
In 1889, the company introduced its frst swing-out-cylinder
model, the 1889 Navy revolver, a handgun that, in improved
form, was adopted by the U.S. military as its primary issue
revolver. This arm, variously known as the Model 1892, 1894,
1895, 1896, 1901 and 1903 (because of a series of modifcations)
New Model Army and Navy and Model 1905 Marine Corps, was
found lacking in the mechanics departments, but the swing-out
cylinder proved to be a real winner and was adopted for use on a
number of highly successful arms, the ancestors of which are still
being made to this day.
In 1899, Colt’s rival, Smith & Wesson, came out with one of
the most infuential handgun cartridges in history, the .38 S&W
Special. Offering greater power for its size than other previous
.38 loadings, the revolver with which it was paired, the S&W .38
Military & Police, was so popular over the years that it moved
from the frearms arena into that of legend.
Early on, Colt began chambering the .38 Special in its revolv-
ers, including the superb Police Positive Special (PPS), which frst
appeared in 1908. A popular sidearm for police, civilians and,
yes, the bad guys, this sixgun, which sported a common barrel
length of 4 inches (though 6-, 5- and even rare pre-Detective
 JULY 2014 G&A 71

As this cluttered 1930s private eye’s

desk refects, the Colt Detective Spe-
cial was a handy gun to keep around
to deal with mobsters, molls, murder-
ers and other urban lowlifes. It’s simply
one of the best snubbie sixguns ever.

Special 2-inch versions were also offered), proved to be a versa-
tile, handy piece of hardware because of its small frame size. The
main difference between it and the standard Police Positive was
its cylinder, which was a quarter-inch longer in order to handle
the .38 Special case.
Based upon sales fgures and the look of the 2-inch PPS, the
folks at Colt knew they had a good thing going. As concealable
as the Police Positive was, they felt it could be made even better,
so in 1927 they introduced the aptly named Detective Spe-
cial. Sporting a 2-inch barrel, it retained all of the other Police
Positive’s internal and external features, to include fxed sights
involving a rounded blade front and notch-milled-into-the-top-
72 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | p o s i t i v e ly s p e c i A l

this 1935-vintage colt Detective special exhibits all

of the revolver’s innate charm and implied effective-
ness. the attenuated round butt was standard begin-
ning after 1933. Blue or nickel fnishes were available.

strap rear, and a square butt (changed to a rounded con-

fguration in 1933 for easier access when concealed).
While undoubtedly the initial .38 Special offering
was its most popular chambering, others, after 1946,
became available, to include .32 New Police, .32
Colt, .32 S&W (Short and Long), .32 Police Positive
(Short and Long), .38 Police Positive and .38-44. Scarce
3-inch-barreled versions were also available for those in
the .38 calibers. Standard fnishes were blue or nickel.
the colt positive
Like the Police Positive, the Detective Special mechanism lock safety was
incorporated the Colt Positive Lock, an internal safety device that an internal feature
prevented the hammer from moving completely forward until in the Detective
special and police
the trigger was drawn fully to the rear. This meant that the gun positive, among
would not discharge if dropped or otherwise roughly handled. others, that made
Weighing 21 ounces and measuring just 6¾ inches overall, the the revolvers safe
from accidental
“Dick Special,” as it sometimes came to be known on the street, discharge. the guns
was great for secreting in a shoulder, waist or ankle holster; a could not fre unless
trouser pocket; or the pocket of a trench coat. According to the the triggers were
pulled to the rear.
factory: “This special Colt is particularly adapted for the ‘plain
clothes man’ on special duty, who must be prepared for a surprise
attack with no time to draw a regulation arm from a holster or
hip pocket. The plainclothes men of the Detroit Police Depart-
ment are equipped with this arm. The outstanding feature of this
Colt Model is, of course, its compact size. Its length and shape
permit it to be carried conveniently in the pocket. There is no
more rugged frearm in its size and weight than the Detective
Special and none of more businesslike appearance.”
In 1928, Colt came out with a Banker’s Special, a revolver that
74 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | p o s i t i v e ly s p e c i A l

loading the Detective special was no

different than other colt swing-outs
of the day. one simply pulled back on
the latch, rolled open the cylinder and
inserted six rounds. though .38 special
was the most popular, the gun could
also be had in other chamberings.

is often confused with the Detective

Special. It certainly looked similar,
but, like the Police Positive versus the
Police Positive Special, it had a shorter
cylinder, as it was not chambered in
.38 Special. Perhaps Colt marketers
felt that bank employees, railway mail
clerks and their ilk, to whom sales
of the gun were directed, were not
up to dealing with the added recoil
and bullet penetration that both law
enforcement and gangsters were more
comfortable with.
Basically, there were four series of
the Detective Special, the initial one
running from 1927 until 1946, the sec-
ond from 1947 to 1972, the third from
1973 to 1986 and the fourth from
1993 to 1995. Needless to say, there
were evolutionary differences. The
main changes from the frst to the second involved making the
ejector rod longer and slightly altering the rod tip with a groove.
As well, the knurling was removed from the cylinder latch, and
the trigger spur was grooved rather than checkered. The front
sight was changed to a ramp type with partial rear serrations.
At the beginning of the second series, issue grips were plastic
“Coltwood,” but these were changed back to walnut in 1955. An
optional hammer shroud was cataloged in 1950. Said Colt: “For
the police offcers on plainclothes duty this new Colt Hammer
Shroud facilitates quick draw, eliminates chances of hammer
catching on clothing.”
Grip frames were also slightly shortened in the ’60s, and
13 years later a shroud protecting the ejector rod was added,
the lockwork was spiffed up, and oversize grips were offered.
Fourth-series guns had rubber wraparound grips.
One of the more interesting variants of the Detective Special, Despite the barrel’s
the Cobra, came out in 1950. Looking virtually identical to the 2-inch length, there
was still room for a
parent revolver, the Cobra featured a lightweight aluminum “Colt model and caliber
alloy” frame, a frst for the company. Offered in 2-, 3-, 4- and designation, as
5-inch barrel lengths, the 2-incher weighed 15 ounces, which well as the colt
address.
 76 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | p o s i t i v e ly s p e c i A l

was 6 ounces less than the admonition that the gun was
standard Detective Special. “primarily designed for close
Some 100 “Fitz Special” range” and “surprisingly
Detective Specials were also accurate up to 15 or 20 yards,”
customized by Colt employee we took our evaluation piece
John Henry Fitzgerald. The to the range and targeted it
changes usually involved cut- offhand, double and single
sights were typical service-revolver style, involving a rounded front
ting away the forward portion blade and milled-out, notch-in-the-topstrap rear. these were the action, at a happy medium
of the triggerguard, removing same as the revolver’s parent arm, the colt police positive special. of 30 feet using Black Hills
the hammer spur and cutting 125-grain JHPs.
off the ejector-rod ends. Bank- The trigger pull was smooth
er Specials, and even the large- and unhesitating. The gun was
frame New Service, among comfortable in the hand, and
others, were also favorites for recoil was surprisingly light.
this treatment. Today, originals The trigger was snappy and
bring extremely good money responsive, coming in just over
from collectors. 3 pounds SA and 9½ pounds
Of course, such a neat little DA. My best groups ran 3½
revolver as the Detective Spe- inches pretty much to point of
cial would not go unmolested aim single action and 4 inches,
by authors and Hollywood. As slightly left, double action —
well as appearing in countless certainly OK for all practical
crime novels and short stories, offhand at 30 feet, the Detective special used in this evaluation purposes.
the diminutive little revolver, turned in good results. Best groups measured 3½ inches while Despite being overshadowed
shooting single action and 4 inches using a double-action pull.
according to the Internet Movie in recent years by smaller, lighter,
Firearms Database (imfdb.org), more potent hideouts, the De-
has appeared in no less than 157 flms — crime dramas, romances, tective Special still holds its title as the romantic revolver of its type to
comedies and science fction, the frst being “Death Kiss” in 1932 date, and deservedly so. It has a lot going for it: great quality, a no-non-
— and this isn’t even counting innumerable TV shows. sense appearance, a romantic history, versatility and, in .38 Special,
an effective punch unequalled in any gun of its type when it frst hit
Shooting I was able to rustle up an excellent-condition 1935 the scene. To quote private eye Sam Spade at the end of the 1941 flm
Detective Special and give it a go-through. Following Colt’s “The Maltese Falcon,” it’s “the stuff dreams are made of.”

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78 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4
REMINGTON’S
BLACK
BELT
BULLET
The Golden Saber has evolved.
words by richard mann
IN 1991, REMINGTON intro-
duced the Golden Saber bullet. It
was purpose-built to meet Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requirements and has sort of become
the standard with regard to defensive handgun ammunition.
It was later modifed to a bonded bullet and, more recently, to
perform better from short barrels. In 2014, Remington gave the
Golden Saber a black belt, and, as with martial arts, that belt
might represent the highest achievable level of accomplishment.
Firearms enthusiasts revere names such as Mauser, Colt,
Kalashnikov and Browning. However, without bullets, the iconic
guns these men created would be nothing but ill-formed clubs. A
Golden Saber bullet fred from a Glock serves the same pur-
pose as the round ball fred from a Colt Dragoon. However, few
recognize that since 1848 the bullet has evolved as much as the
handgun. This is why you’ve probably never heard the names
Schluckebier, Sachse, Imhoff or Burczynski. Bullet engineers
never get any credit, even though creating a tool the size of an
M&M that’s capable of doing work while traveling at 700 mph is
an engineering marvel.
Origin of the Golden Saber
The story of the Remington Golden
Saber actually starts at Winchester
in 1990. It was there that bullet engineer Dave Schluckebier
conceived of what might be the most notorious bullet of all time,
the Winchester Black Talon. Schluckebier left Winchester to work
for Remington before the Talon was introduced. Upon his arrival,
Remington immediately tasked him to build a premium defensive
handgun bullet.
Like with the Talon, Schluckebier started with a reverse jacket,
meaning that the jacket was drawn from the base forward, and
the core was inserted from the nose of the bullet. However, he
went a different direction with the jacket material. He selected
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL ANSCHUETZ
cartridge brass (70 percent copper and 30 percent zinc) be-
cause it is stiffer than gilding metal, the commonly used bullet
jacket, and it also has a higher yield and tensile strength.
Then, instead of using wax, water or bare gelatin for terminal
performance testing, Schluckebier used heavily clothed gelatin.
Remington and Schluckebier wanted to target the FBI, which
specifed cloth-covered gelatin testing when evaluating service
 J U LY 2 0 1 4 G&A 79

Remington Black Belt, 9mm, 124 gr.

80 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | r e m i n G t o n ' s B l A c k B e lt B u l l e t

REMINGTON’S 10% BALLISTIC GEL BARRIER TEST RESULTS

DATE: DECEMBER 3, 2013 • LOCATION: LONOKE, AR • LOAD: 9mm +P, 124 gr.

BARRIER ROUND 1 ROUND 2 ROUND 3 ROUND 4 ROUND 5

PENETRATION [IN.] 13 ¾ 14¼ 14¼ 13 13 ½
BARE GEL

EXPANSION [IN.] .550 .568 .545 .567 .562

WEIGHT RETAINED [GR. / %] 123.2 / 99.4 122.5 / 98.8 115.7 / 93.3 122.0 / 98.4 120.4 / 97.1
PENETRATION [IN.] 13 ¾ 13 12 ½ 13 ½ 13 ¼
HEAVY CLOTH

EXPANSION [IN.] .598 .596 .591 .550 .574

WEIGHT RETAINED [GR. / %] 123.2 / 99.4 123.9 / 99.9 123.8 / 99.8 125.1 / 100 123.5 / 99.6
PENETRATION [IN.] 17 16 15 16 ¾ 15 ¾
STEEL

EXPANSION [IN.] .486 .462 .470 .494 .495

WEIGHT RETAINED [GR. / %] 123.0 / 99.2 123.0 / 99.2 124.6 / 100 122.0 / 98.4 112.2 / 98.5
PENETRATION [IN.] 12 11½ 12 ¾ 14 13
WALL BOARD

EXPANSION [IN.] .611 .633 .648 .633 .606

WEIGHT RETAINED [GR. / %] 119.8 / 96.6 124.4 / 100 124.4 / 100 120.2 / 96.9 121.2 / 97.7
PENETRATION [IN.] 14 14¾ 16 ½ 12 ½ 13 ½
PLYWOOD

EXPANSION [IN.] .563 .597 .499 .607 .602

WEIGHT RETAINED [GR. / %] 125.1 / 100 125.3 / 100 123.5 / 99.6 124.1 / 100 124.6 / 100
PENETRATION [IN.] 14¾ 15 15 14¼ 16
AUTO GLASS
LAMINATED

EXPANSION [IN.] .486 .521 .576 .517 .421

WEIGHT RETAINED [GR. / %] 100.5 / 81.0 107.0 / 86.3 107.7 / 86.9 106.9 / 86.2 98.0 / 79.0
PENETRATION [IN.] 14 13 ¼ 13 ¼ 13 ¾ 13 ¾
(4 LAYERS)
DENIM

EXPANSION [IN.] .623 .573 .609 .608 .549

WEIGHT RETAINED [GR. / %] 124.4 / 100 122.4 / 98.7 124.4 / 100 124.6 / 100 124.6 / 100

FBi ammo evaluation testing for duty handgun ammunition consists of eight different regardless of barriers encountered, the
penetration tests, most of which are through various barriers. even shooting through 9mm 124-grain Black Belt bullet will reli-
angled automotive glass, Black Belt bullets resisted defection. ably deliver between 12 and 18 inches of
penetration. these results were consistent,
as illustrated by these three rounds fred
through two pieces of auto sheetmetal.

handgun ammo. They knew that if their bullet met FBI standards, areas of the jacket at the hollow point to help the bullet deform
federal, state and local law enforcement agencies would consider widely and reliably. However, unlike with conventional hollow-
it for service. If that happened, civilian shooters would follow suit. points where the core is the primary element of expansion, these
In addition to the brass jacket, there were two spiral nose cuts made the jacket expand wider than
other unique and patentable features. The Golden Black Belt am- the core. It also translated to more weight retention
Saber had what Remington called a driving band, munition boxes and deeper penetration.
are marked
which was bore diameter, at the rear of the bullet. “Designed for In testing almost every Golden Saber load available,
This raised section of the jacket reduced the bearing law enforce- I’ve found them all to offer reliable expansion, even
surface, allowed for precise bullet-to-bore alignment ment,” but by when fred through a varied selection of barriers. If
early 2015 they
and permitted higher velocities with less pressure. will be sold to there’s one complaint, it’s that sometimes the core can
The bullet also had spiral nose cuts and pre-stressed civilians, too. separate from the jacket, yet this generally only occurs
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82 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | r e m i n G t o n ' s B l A c k B e lt B u l l e t

when the most rigid barriers VELOCITY and I’m one of them, feel that
are encountered. TEST GUN BARREL AVG. (FPS) MD SD this restriction was unwar-
Remington R51 3.5 in. 1,075 52 19 ranted and discriminatory.
The Benefts of Bonding Browning Hi-Power 4.6 in. 1,184 46 19 However, Remington had its
Enter another smart guy, bullet notes: Average muzzle velocity (AVG.), maximum muzzle-velocity deviation (MD) and
standard muzzle-velocity deviation (SD) were established by fring 10 shots over a Shoot-
reasons, and, from a practical
engineer Nick Sachse. Sachse ing Chrony 10 feet from the muzzle. standpoint, the standard Gold-
came to work at Remington en Saber will arm you almost
in 1992. One of his frst as- ACCURACY as well but for less money.
TEST GUN BARREL (IN.) BEST (IN.) WORST (IN.) AVG. (IN.)
signments was to improve the Bonding bullets is not cheap.
Golden Saber, a bullet many Remington R51 3.5 2.22 2.80 2.40

considered almost perfect. His Browning Hi-Power 4.6 .92 2.10 1.29 A Nonbonded Alternative
notes: Accuracy results were obtained by fring fve fve-shot groups from the standing
response was to bond the brass off-hand position at a distance of 10 yards. With modern projectiles, it’s
jacket to the lead or lead-alloy common for the jacket to be
core. At that time, bonding confgured to sort of lock the
bullets was not as common as it is today, and Remington found it core inside the jacket. This lock is often in the form of a crimping
tricky, particularly with regard to fnding a fux — or glue, if you groove that impresses a thin section of jacket into the core. This
will — that would work. lock helps to hold the core in place as the bullet deforms. Bullets
Sachse discovered that, with bonding, a pure-lead core was designed in this way are better at core retention, but it’s not a
required to prevent voids inside the bullet. He also had to re- foolproof system.
engineer how the driving band was formed. In the end, bonding Remington promoted Sachse to a managerial position and
proved to be the answer to the unwanted but also rare core-and- once again asked him to improve the Golden Saber. He turned
jacket separation. Testing I’ve conducted with bonded Golden to another engineer, Jason Imhoff, who astutely sought out the
Sabers has confrmed their effectiveness at defeating barriers such expertise of handgun bullet guru Tom Burczynski. All real bullet
as sheet steel and even the bear of all barriers, auto glass. geeks know of Burczynski; he has given us the Quick-Shok,
The bonded Golden Saber became available in 1998, but Rem- Eldorado Starfre, Hydra-Shok and Expanding Full Metal Jacket
ington restricted its sale to law enforcement. Some consumers, (EFMJ) bullets.

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 r e m i n g t o n ' s B l a c k B e lt B u l l e t | J U LY 2 0 1 4 g&a 83

Burczynski and Imhoff Testing the Black Belt Like

decided to try to achieve bond- the Golden Saber, the Black
ed-bullet performance without Belt was engineered to meet
bonding. If this could be done, FBI requirements. When the
it would greatly reduce bullet FBI tests duty ammunition, it
cost. Their answer was to ft exposes the loads to an overly
a belt around the bullet, just detailed and somewhat bi-
forward of its bearing surface or zarrely scored assessment. Half
driving band. This would work the score is based on obtaining
similarly to a weight-lifter’s to simulate shooting a person, a block of 10 percent ordnance penetration between 12 and
belt, which keeps things from gelatin was covered, front and back, with sections of pork ribs, 18 inches, 33 percent on ex-
then it was dressed in a t-shirt and a heavy winter coat.
busting when extreme stress is pansion and weight retention,
applied. On the bullet, this belt and the fnal 17 percent by
prohibits expansion past the how many shots fail to pene-
belt and holds the core in place. trate at least 12 inches.
Ultimately, they settled on a Remington provided me
black, nickel-plated belt made with 300 rounds of 124-grain
of the same cartridge brass 9mm +P Black Belt ammo for
as the Golden Saber’s jacket, testing. Instead of trying to
hence the name Black Belt. if you look closely in this block of 10 percent ordnance gelatin, duplicate the FBI’s analytical
Remington is just now you can see where the bullet dragged or pushed tissue from the evaluation, I opted for more
pork ribs inside the block.
releasing 9mm Black Belt loads practical testing by subjecting
to law enforcement, but by the ammo to tests I felt that
early 2015, Black Belts in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP will be average gun owners could relate to. After all, it could be argued
available for average guys like you and me. They’ll sell for about that FBI requirements evaluate barrier penetration more than
the same price as the standard Golden Sabers. bad-guy stopping ability.
 84 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | r e m i n G t o n ' s B l A c k B e lt B u l l e t
HALEY
HEATH TERMINAL PERFORMANCE TESTING (TESTS ONE THROUGH FOUR)
TEST MEDIUM
#1 Bare 10% Ordnance Gelatin (31-inch barrel)
IV (FPS)
1,070
PEN (IN.)
15
EXP (IN.)
.55
RW (GR.)
124.0
TV show host and #2 Bare 10% Ordnance Gelatin (4.6-inch barrel) 1,187 14.5 .58 123.8
#3 T-Shirt, Pork Rib, 10% Ordnance Gelatin 1,088 13 .57 123.3
all-American
#4 Winter Coat, T-Shirt, Pork Rib, 10% Ord. Gel. 1,090 14 .52 122.1
girl-next-door. notes: The target distance was 10 feet, and all shots, with the exception of test #2, were fred with a Remington R51
In full camoufage. with a 31-inch barrel. (IV) = impact velocity, (PEN) = total penetration (penetration was only measured inside the gel
block and does not include the pork ribs or clothing), (EXP) = average diameter of expanded bullet, (RW) = weight of
recovered bullet.

TERMINAL PERFORMANCE TESTING (SIMULATED BAD GUY)

TEST IV (FPS) EXP (IN.) RW (GR.) PEN (IN.)
#5 1,061 .55 122.6 11 (Centered rib when exiting gel block.)
#6 1,088 .53 120.8 16 (Centered rib when exiting gel block.)
#7 1,062 .47 117.8 8 (Bullet stopped against winter coat.)
#8 1,079 .50 116.0 8 (Bullet stopped against winter coat.)
#9 1,077 .50 115.3 8 (Bullet stopped against T-shirt.)
notes: Two test mediums were used. In tests #5 and #6, bullets were fred into an 8-inch block of 10 percent ordnance
gelatin sandwiched between pork ribs. A second block of 10 percent ordnance gelatin was placed behind the last
section of pork ribs to serve as a bullet stop. In tests #7, #8 and #9, bullets were fred into an 8-inch block of 10 percent
ordnance gelatin sandwiched between pork ribs, a T-shirt and a heavy winter coat. Target distance was 10 feet. All
shots were fred with a Remington R51. (IV) = impact velocity, (PEN) = total penetration (penetration was only measured
inside the gel block and does not include the pork ribs or clothing), (EXP) = average diameter of expanded bullet,
(RW) = weight of recovered bullet.

First, I established average accuracy and velocity from 31- and

4.6-inch-barreled handguns. Next, I fred the load into bare gelatin
with those same handguns. Then, using the shorter-barreled hand-
gun — a new Remington R51 — I shot into gelatin covered with a
section of pork ribs and a cotton T-shirt in order to simulate a sum-
mer shooting. A winter shooting was replicated by shooting into
a gel block covered with pork ribs, a cotton T-shirt and a heavily
insulated canvas coat. In these tests, penetration ranged from 13
to 15 inches, expansion was
between .52 and .58 inch, and
retained weight was between
122 to 124 grains. The addition
of the clothing and ribs had no
measureable impact on termi-
nal performance.
If you have to shoot a real
person, he’ll have ribs on both
sides of his body. To simulate When all the tests are considered, it should be
this, I created an imaginary obvious that the remington Black Belt bullet might
represent the pinnacle of defensive handgun bullet
bad guy by placing an 8-inch development.
THURSDAYS
9:00 p.m. EST FBI TEST RESULTS
TEST MEDIUM SHOTS FIRED IV (FPS) PEN (IN.) EXP (IN.) RW (GR.)
THE SPORTSMAN CHANNEL Bare Gelatin at 10 ft. 5 1,152 13.75 .56 120.8
Heavy Clothing at 10 ft. 5 1,150 13.20 .581
123.9
Steel at 10 ft. 5 1,151 16.10 .48 123.0
Wallboard at 10 ft. 5 1,154 12.65 .63 122.0
Plywood at 10 ft. 5 1,157 14.25 .49 124.5
Auto Glass at 10 ft. 5 1,165 15.00 .481
105.8
OVERALL AVERAGE 5 1,154 14.10 .54 120.0
notes: These results illustrate the average performance of the Black Belt bullet in six out of eight FBI-specifed tests.
(1) Denotes number of bullets out of fve experiencing core-and-jacket separations. (IV) = average impact velocity,
(PEN) = average total penetration, (EXP) = average diameter of expanded bullet, (RW) = average weight of recovered
bullet.
WWW.THEFORDOUTFITTERS.COM
Dear friend,
There are some people out there who think
folks like you and me are a bit “odd”.
They think having a stockpile ready for a
disaster is something they can put off for
“someday” or “never”.
But those people are just hiding their heads
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You’ve seen the evidence and you know
the situation is way too serious not to do
something about it. When a crisis hits, you’ll
be ready. You’ll make darn sure your family
won’t go hungry or get herded into a FEMA
camp.
The fact is, if you don’t take action or if you
stockpile the wrong foods, you could be
setting your family up to starve. It sounds
harsh, but the truth is too many people with
good intentions are making critical mistakes
with their food stockpiles.
MISTAKES LIKE…
n Buying MREs (meals ready to eat)
with a 5 year shelf life (depending on
where you buy them, they could be
nearly expired)…
n Getting gross survival foods that taste
terrible and are so high in salt, MSG
and preservatives you could clog your
arteries and get yourself sick…
n Or simply buying the wrong foods and
leaving a critical hole in your meal
plan, which means your family can
become malnourished…
Well, I decided to stop worrying. Obviously,
waiting for FEMA to give me a handout in a
disaster just wasn’t an option for me. And I
was completely turned off by the crazy prices
of survival food sold by most stores.
So I got in touch with my buddy Frank
Bates and put my order in for his Food4Pa-
triots survival food kits.
This is Frank’s new line of survival food and
there are 4 reasons why it’s literally fying
off the shelves:
n Food4Patriots is an incredible
value. This high quality survival food
is without any fllers or poor-quality
“franken-food” that the other guys use
to pad their survival meals. They are
made and packaged right here in the
U.S.A. You won’t believe the prices on
these kits – a fraction of the price that
other brands charge.
n There’s no fancy packaging, it’s mili-
tary-grade sturdy stuff and can stand
up to the crazy things that happen in
a crisis. This food has a shelf life of
up to 25 years, so you have complete
peace of mind for the long term. And
he’s using the most compact kits
so you can store them anywhere in Protect your family in a crisis with 25-year
your home without any extra hassle. shelf life survival food from getfood25.com
They’re sturdy, waterproof and stack
easily. And extremely covert too. I want to make sure you don’t miss out on
this because this is the #1 item to hoard
n You can make these meals in less in 2014.
than 20 minutes; just add boiling wa-
ter, simmer, and serve. I tried ‘em and Here’s why… If you don’t take action to get
I think they taste as good or better your food stockpile right now, you’ll be in
than any other survival food I’ve the same boat as the brainwashed masses
EVER had. And you get a whole slew who think “everything is fne.” And if a crisis
of choices for breakfast, lunch and hits and your family asks, “What are we
dinner so you don’t get stuck eating going to eat?” your mouth will go dry and
the same thing day-in and day-out. you’ll feel powerless.
n Frank has come up with some impres- But what if you decide right now to secure
your food stockpile instead? Just imagine
sive FREE bonuses that are ONLY
how much better you’ll feel right away.
available to folks who purchase one of
his kits on a frst-come, frst-served ba- And if a crisis hits and your family asks,
“What are we going to eat?” you’ll calmly
sis. For example, my 3-month kit came
reassure them that they’re safe and they
with 5,400+ heirloom survival seeds,
will have plenty to eat.
4 hard copy books, an 11-in-1 survival
tool, and some other cool stuff.
Listen, I can’t predict the future. I don’t
know exactly when or how a crisis will hit.
But from everything I see, it could be soon
and it could be a big one. That’s why I really
want you to get the same peace of mind
that I do.
P.S. Got a call from Frank and you’ll never
believe this… FEMA and DHS just tried to
buy up his entire supply of food! Can you
believe that BS?
86 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4

Remington Black Belt will be offered in

9mm initially, but .40 and .45 loads will
likely appear sometime in 2015.

gel block between two rib sections. The

frst shot penetrated the test sample and 3
inches into another gel block. (The bullet
centered a rib when exiting the frst gel
block.) The second shot penetrated the
fake felon and 8 additional inches. (That
bullet passed between rib bones after exit-
ing the frst gel block.)
Finally, I dressed up my bad guy with a
T-shirt and a heavily insulated coat. Three
shots were fred, and in every case the bul-
let penetrated the bogus villain and came to
rest against the winter coat. For these three
shots, the retained weight averaged 120.63
grains, and average expansion was .53
inch, or 1.49 times original bullet diameter.
Considering the accuracy delivered,
the absence of malfunctions while fring
300 rounds from duty and compact-size
handguns, and the terminal performance
results obtained with a compact handgun,
what more could you ask from a 9mm
defensive handgun bullet? A felonious
fend taking a Black Belt center mass best
hope his criminal accomplice is a trauma
surgeon or have a genie in a bottle with at
least one wish left because a Band-Aid is
not going to solve his problem.
Thanks to savvy bullet engineers, the
original Golden Saber bullet is a fne de-
fensive handgun load. If defeating barriers
is a priority, the bonded version is even
better. The latest incarnation of the Gold-
en Saber, the Black Belt, continues this
evolution and does what the others will
do more affordably and, it would appear,
even better. During FBI testing, the Black
Belt outscored the bonded Golden Saber
by 20 percent.
I know what I’m feeding my nines.
What’s in your magazine?
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 88 G & A J U LY 2 0 1 4
PROOFHOUSE Mossberg MVP Patrol
A HIGH(ER) CAPACITY BOLT GUN
THE HISTORY OF BOLT-ACTION RIFLES with detachable
magazines is not encouraging. Mostly, they were modif-
cations of existing designs, designs that used low-capacity
magazines of dubious reliability. One quandary with mak-
ing a bolt gun feed from a detachable magazine is getting
the bottom edge of the bolt face low enough (or the top
edge of the round to be fed high enough) that the bolt
can push it to the chamber.
Mossberg solved that problem with an ingenious pusher,
a hinged lip that springs down to reach the top round.
With this modifcation, the Mossberg MVP series could
be made to work with the near-ubiquitous AR magazine.
The bottom metal of the MVP is designed to accept
any AR-15-type magazine and feed reliably. Instead of a
button on the side to release the magazine, the MVP uses
a lever inside the bottom metal, forward of the magazine.
Through a series of levers, the MVP receiver has a latch at
the proper location to hold onto an AR-15-type magazine
and position it so the bolt can strip off the top round.
The frst MVPs were released as full-size rifes, with
barrels and stocks aimed at the varmint crowd. The overall
length and weight of the frst generation are great for
prone prairie-dogging, but the rife wave would have been
less than ideal for use as defensive rifes.
PHOTOS: RICHARD KING
Enter the MVP Patrol. With a barrel just over 16 inches
and an overall length of just over 35, the MVP Patrol is
pretty much the same size as a basic AR carbine. The syn-
thetic stock with forearm and grip is proportioned less for
varminting and more for general use.
The action is built to be a .223-size
rife, not a full-size rife blocked off for
the shorter cartridge. This helps keep it
light, and the bare rife feels much the
same as a bare AR carbine would.
The weight that it does have is
mostly found in the barrel. For a short,
handy carbine, the Mossberg MVP does not have a slim
barrel profle. It’s in between a sporter-weight and a bull
barrel, defnitely larger than you’d expect for as light as the
carbine feels. The barrel can be purchased with a threaded
muzzle and a fash-hider. On top, the barrel has iron sights
with a fber optic insert. Along with the Mossberg name
and other information, the barrel is marked “5.56,” which
bodes well for handling the hotter 5.56 NATO ammo
instead of sporting .223.
At the rear of the receiver, the MVP has two buttons.
One is located on the left side, which is the bolt removal
tab. Press it down as you pull back the bolt and you can
remove the bolt. On the right is the safety. Back is Safe;
forward is Fire.
The receiver comes with a Picatinny rail mount already
installed. You have a lot of options here. You can clamp on
a pair of scope rings that ft the rail, install a quick-detach-
type scope mount or remove the mount and simply use
the iron sights. If desired, you could also replace the
existing mount with a different design. We opted to stick
with the factory rail and install a scope using a QD mount,
 JULY 2014 G&A 89

A hinged lip under the bolt head scoops up the

top round from most AR-type magazines.

taken directly from an AR that we’d fnished testing.

The MVP features what Mossberg refers to as its LBA, or
Lightning Bolt Action trigger. The LBA is a user-adjustable
trigger that can be set from 2 to 7 pounds. The inner blade
of the trigger locks the sear until the blade is pressed, then
you can engage the trigger properly. The rife, as received,
didn’t require adjustment, as it was already set at under 3
pounds in pull weight. Even at the higher weights, the LBA
is crisp enough that adding weight is not an impediment
to accuracy.
The scope selected for this evaluation is a Leupold VX-6
3-18x50mm variable mounted in an American Defense QD
mount. The scope and mount are both built for maximum
performance and durability and weigh an appreciable
fraction of the starting weight of the Mossberg. If you want
to extract all the performance possible out of a rife like
this, the biggest and clearest scope you have on hand is
recommended.
The stock, as mentioned, is not a varmint style but more
along the lines of a classic stock, with a high-enough comb
to make using a scope intuitive.
The MVP Patrol came with a single 10-round magazine.
Along with it, G&A staff tested the MVP Patrol with the fol-
lowing magazines: USGI (Okay Industries), D&H, PMAG30, The foorplate on the Mossberg
Lancer, HK and SureFire. All were 30 rounds except the MVP is absent and converted to
accept standard AR magazines.
Lancer, at 20, and the SureFire, at 60. Granted, a 60-round
90 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4 | m o s s b e r G m v p pAt r o l

PHOTO: RICHARD KING

magazine in a Performance
bolt-action rife WEIGHT VELOCITY ACCURACY
is stretching the LOAD (GR.) (FPS) SD (IN.)

limits of tolerable Black Hills FMJ 55 2,744 31.2 1.0

weight for such a Winchester FMJ 55 2,911 12.9 1.0
rife confguration. Hornady V-MAX 55 3,079 15.2 .75
G&A selected Federal XM193 FMJ 55 2,979 18.5 1.25
a reasonable Liberty Ammo All-Copper HP 50 2,865 35.2 1.0
cross-section Winchester PDX1 60 2,687 35.8 1.25
of ammunition: Black Hills BTHP 69 2,645 9.5 1.5
four loads in the Hornady BTHP TAP T2 75 2,654 14.8 1.75
50- to 55-grain Notes: Chrono results from a PACT Mark IV with Skyscreen separation of 18 inches and
the screens centered 15 feet from the muzzle. Accuracy is the average of four fve-shot
range, one groups from a Sinclair front rest and rear bag fred at 100 yards.
60-grain and two
heavies of 69 and 75 grains.

testfre Getting the rife zeroed was not a problem, as the

half-MOA clicks of the Leupold are both positive and easy
to notice. The Mossberg MVP Patrol is a joy to carry, fun to
shoot, but like other light, compact rifes, it is unforgiving
of sloppy bag technique. It can be rested on just about

PHOTO: RICHARD KING

The magazine ft is a bit loose, so it pays to test magazines and stick with the ones that work
reliably. For accuracy testing or punching holes in paper, a big scope with high magnifcation
is fne, but for real-world use, a compact scope with a low power range is a smarter option.
 m o s s b e r g m v p pat r o l | J U LY 2 0 1 4 g&a 91

anything, in any position, and get a hit on target. Howev- on the subject of magazines, this rife also proved to be
er, if you are trying to shoot the best groups possible, to particular. All the magazines tested locked in place and fed
compare with other groups, you have to be on your game reliably. However, to call it reliable, you’ll have to accept
or the MVP Patrol will make you pay. A light rife with an that some of the magazines fed hard. Testing was limited
easy-hold forearm will do that pretty much regardless of to one magazine per manufacturer. Some, such as the
the make or model.
The MVP Patrol barrel has a 1:9
twist rate. On paper, that means it
should handle the heavier (but not the
Mow Fence Lines 3X FASTER!
heaviest) bullets well. This particular
rife was not so forgiving. It grouped with the 3-POINT HITCH DR® TRIMMER MOWER
well with 50- to 55-grain bullets and MOW FENCE LINES FAST
even the 60-grain Winchester PDX1. Spring-loaded mowing arm automati- TRIM
AND MOW
However, when testing the 69- and cally deflects around fence posts. WHILE YOU
75-grain loads, it always threw one MOW ROUGH GROUND RIDE!
Deck pivots up and down to mow
or two shots out of the groups. One ditches and roadsides without scalping.
group was only four holes, which NO STEEL BLADES
means it was either a perfect double Commercial-duty, 175 mil cutting line
in one of the four holes there or the is flexible and durable. Goes where a
bladed mower can’t.
bullet departed the vicinity of the
cardboard back, then diverged sever- NEW FOR 2014!
al feet from the point of aim.
If this is a matter of the Mossberg NOW FOR ATVS
or any other vehicle SHIPPING
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barrel design, the twist rate being just with a pin hitch FOR A LIMITED TIME.
a bit slower than 9 inches per rotation (UTV, Riding Mower,
or this particular barrel just wasn’t co- Compact Tractor).
Clean up all the Plus!
operating, we don’t know. It might be hard-to-reach
a matter of barrel break-in, and once corners of your BEST DEAL EVER!
the barrel has been used for a few property! on Walk-Behind
Models
more range sessions and scrubbed
DRtrimmer.com
clean, it will settle down and behave.

83733X © 2014
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wants only 55-grain bullets. Includes models, product specifications, and special factory-direct offers. 0% MONTHLY
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 92 G&A J U LY 2 0 1 4

SPORTSMAN’S DIRECTORY Mossberg

Type:
MVP Patrol
Bolt action
Caliber: 5.56 NATO
Capacity: 10 (OEM magazine)
Barrel: 16.25 in.
Overall Length: 35 in.
Weight: 7 lbs.
Finish: Matte-blue steel
Stock: Synthetic, black or tan
Sights: Fiber optic, adjustable
Trigger: LBA, 2 to 7 lbs.
Price: $709
Manufacturer: Mossberg & Sons, 203-230-
5300, mossberg.com

USGI and Magpul’s PMAG30, fed like

butter. The others fed with a bit of
resistance. There were no issues with
Mossberg’s supplied magazine.
GUNSMITHING AT PIEDMONT COMMUNITY
COLLEGE. Two-year, hands-on program; fnancial
PROTECT YOUR NUTS The magazines that fed hard all
With Americaʼs Top
aid available; approved for GI Bill benefts. P.O. Box Pre-Charged Airgun tilted down at the front when the
1197, Roxboro, NC 27573; (336) 599-1181; www.
bolt hit the top round. A clever
piedmontcc.edu
• Most Powerful! gunsmith could do well by making a
® ®
• Most Accurate! spring-loaded plunger that tensioned
RUGER 10/22 STOCK KITS • More Quiet!
• More Fun! the magazine, counteracting that
CondorSS
shown with
tendency.
The preferrred choice for accessories.
small game hunting, pest
control and long distance
shooting. The Takeaways If you want a light-
Chicago and Squad Leader Kits
Also available in colors. weight, walkabout varmint rife, this
Bolt-on, no gunsmith needed . See our website for details.
Quality Metal & Walnut
would do the job. With a standard
WWW.1022FUNGUN.COM made in the usa 30-round AR magazine in and a spare
www.airforceairguns.com 877-247-4867
Scott Werx or two on your belt, you’d be able
-1139 3047 Piedmont Ave to walk and shoot varmints for some
La Crescenta CA 91214 time before needing to resupply. As
a defensive carbine, in a location
where a self-loading rife might be
frowned upon or even verboten, the
MVP Patrol would work very well. It
would serve you well if you take the
time to identify what ammunition
performs optimally and stock up.
Test your magazines to know which
ones feed the best, and mark them
accordingly.

WWW.RIFLESHOOTERMAG.COM
PHOTO: RICHARD KING

Nickle Boron Coating on Steel, Stainless Steel, Titanium, Aluminum Alloys

NiBron coating improves lubricity and performance & reduces wear
We coat bolt carriers, pins, extensions, etc.
While this particular MVP didn’t need any
NiBron “Slick as a whistle, hard as a rock” adjustment, the LBA trigger is user-adjust-
Purecoat International, LLC • WPB, Florida • Tel: 561-844-0100 • Fax: 561-845-7480 • www. purecoat.com able for weight of pull.
 500 Stores
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PE ON PE ON
U
S UP LOT NO. 68048/69227/62116 SAVE U
R !
PE ON 30", 11 DRAWER LOT NO. U
S UP 3 GALLON, 100 PSI
CO S UP CO
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3 TON 68048 SAVE
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n 50% 60637/69486/61615

STEEL FLOOR JACK

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R ! R !
PE ON TORQUE PE ON 8" HUNTING/ 12" SLIDING COMPOUNDR
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R !
U
S U P
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R ! R ! WIRELESS SECURITY R ! 4000 PEAK/

UPE ON 17 FT. TYPE 1A UPE ON UPE ON
S UP MULTI-TASK S UP ALERT SYSTEM S UP SUPE R
QUIET!
3200 RUNNING WATTS
CO LOT NO. CO CO
6.5 HP (212 CC)
67646 LADDER • 70 dB
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Covers your R ! GUN SAFE/VAULT R ! ADJUSTABLE SHADE

ER N!
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Non-transferable. Original

If You Buy Tools Anywhere Else,

You're Throwing Your Money Away
 When we decided to build our own line of
AR rifles, we knew they couldn't be like everyone
else's. So, from the beginning, our AR rifles have
featured the very best parts available anywhere,
Les Baer Custom AR many of them forged for toughness, then precision
Super Varmint Rifle
machined on our own CNC horizontal machining
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 G & A J U LY 2 0 1 4 95

G&A ALMANAC
television
The Sportsman Channel features “G&A TV” every
Monday at 8 and 11 p.m., Tuesday at 5 p.m. and
Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. [all EST] during the
month of June.
Week of June 2
Kahr Arms is fnding success with shooters look-
ing for a reliable semiauto pistol that carries an
affordable price tag. Armscor has been doing its
homework, and the results are found in the newest
.45-caliber M1911. Leupold brings us the next-gen
Delta Point II, and it will catch your attention.
Week of June 9
The year 2014 is a banner one for new handguns.
S&W and Ruger have brought us new revolvers,
and SIG Sauer introduces a new pistol. We move
on to a special report on low-light training scenar-
ios. Finally, we “lose” a rife and ammo in a pond
overnight.
Week of June 16
Walther introduces the new PPQ .22 rimfre. We

Best States for Gun

range-test the new Armscor pistol and cartridge.
We also take a look at Black Hills and Hornady
loads in 9mm and Redfeld’s new Revolution tacti-

Owners In 2014
cal rifescope. We also pit a classic Springfeld 1911
against the new Glock.
Week of June 23
We check out advanced tactical rife training, a How does your state stack up against the 49 others and
trending training tool for serious rifemen. Next,
another G&A exclusive: SIG Sauer’s own line of fac-
Washington, D.C.? G&A announces this year’s analysis
tory ammo. Finally, our torture team literally crawls and ranks the states based on carry laws, restrictions on
through the mud with a Springfeld M1A. modern rife platforms, NFA restrictions, castle doctrine
Week of June 30 and the overall percentage of gun owners. You’ll also
Award-winning “Guns & Ammo” TV kicks off the be able to see which states are becoming more friendly
second half of the year with some new and never- toward gun owners as compared with last year’s results.
before-seen frearms, accessories, shooting tips
and techniques. Segments for the last 26 weeks gunsandammo.com/states2014
of the year will include “At the Range,” “Civil War
and World War I Classics,” “Tactical Hunter” and
“Learn and Shoot Better With the Best.”

FIND THE CURRENT ISSUES OF OUR OTHER CALL 800-260-6397, OR VISIT

https://store.intermediaoutdoors.com
FAVORITE MAGAZINES ON NEWSSTANDS: TO ORDER NOW!

SHOOTING TIMES RIFLESHOOTER BOOK OF THE AR-15 BE READY SHOTGUN NEWS

• EXCLUSIVE: Windham’s New
Lightweight .308
• Ruger’s 10/22 Turns 50!
• Exploring the AR Aftermarket
• Republic Forge 1911
• Nesika Now Makes Rifes
• Tested: DPMS GII
• .17-Cal. Winchester Low Wall
• Going Long w/Alexander Arms’
New .338 LM Semiauto
• Wilson’s New Paul Howe
Tactical Carbine
• Shooting Around Vehicles
• Is KeyMod Killing the Pic Rail?
• 2014 Weaponlight Roundup
• “I Survived a Direct Hit From a • SGN’S 14th Treasury
Tornado!” • Russian Military Handguns
• How to Stockpile Ammo • Build a .40-Cal. UZI Carbine
• Police Response to a Disaster • Plus: Best Articles From 2013
96 G & A J U LY 2 0 1 4
SPENT CASES
NEVER SECOND PLACE
LEGENDARY BORDER PATROL LAWMAN William Henry
“Bill” Jordan was also a Marine Corps veteran of World
War II and Korea, as well as a Guns & Ammo contributor.
His book, “No Second Place Winner,” is considered a
must-read for the real-world use of a defensive handgun.
Jordan’s holster rig is sometimes regarded as the
“Jordan” or “Border Patrol” style. It is rigid and locates the
grip in close proximity to the dominant fring hand. The
holster is designed to keep the triggerguard of a revolver
completely exposed, allowing the trigger fnger to enter
the triggerguard as the handgun is drawn.
G&A ARCHIVES
Jordan’s name has also been given to a unique style of
wood grips designed with Walter Roper for large-caliber,
double-action revolvers. These are now offered by Her-
rett’s Stocks as the “Jordan Trooper.” Jordan favored Smith
& Wesson double-action revolvers for law enforcement use
and was largely responsible for compelling Smith & Wes-
son to adapt the medium K-frame series to accommodate
the .357 Magnum cartridge in 1956, resulting in the S&W
Model 19 and Model 66 “Combat Magnum.”
He was once recorded drawing, fring and hitting a tar-
get in .27 of a second. A McAvoy timer measured .28.
“Only accurate rifes
are interesting.” - Col. Townsend Whelen

5 Shot Group at 100 Yards

with a CORE30® TAC LR

where mil-spec is just a starting point...

www.corerifesystems.com
Visit us online to locate an authorized dealer near you.
 Available in .223 & .308 Calibers
The new leader in AR Rifle Systems - with Decades of Experience.
www.windhamweaponry.com
Made In

The U.S.A.
P.O. BOX 1900 • WINDHAM, MAINE 04062 • TOLL FREE: 1 855 808 1888 “The Quality Goes In Before The Rifle Goes Out”