Gun Digest January 2023

Think back to when you were a kid, and ponder what would’ve happened had you told Grandpa that you were consistently hitting a dinner-plate-sized target at 500 yards with those tiny little 40-grain bullets your .22 LR spits out. I don’t think mine would’ve cracked me alongside the head for lying, but he definitely would’ve sent me home with my tail between my legs … for lying. But, oh, if Grandpa could see me now. In his defense, however, he wouldn’t have been wrong: There was no way I could ring steel that those ranges with my wispy little pump-action Model 61 he used to watch me shoot. Hell, to hit anything with that gun, I had to learn how to adjust my sight picture to accommodate for the front post that was…

HISTORICAL NOTES Winchester Ammunition, in conjunction with Savage Arms, introduced the .17 Winchester Super Magnum rimfire rifle cartridge at the 2013 SHOT Show. A Winchester announcement called this “the most revolutionary rimfire cartridge in the company’s almost 150-year history.” Further, the company said, “The .17 Win. Super Mag. offers the downrange performance of a centerfire cartridge at only a fraction of the cost. For the first time in history, hunters can expect pin-point accuracy and devastating performance from a rimfire cartridge, at ranges well past 200 yards.” One of Winchester’s goals with the new .17 was to keep it affordable. A box of 50 retails for about $22, which is much cheaper than almost any centerfire varmint load. According to a Winchester spokesman in 2013, “At 3,000 feet per second, it’s the fastest modern…

In 1982, the handgun world changed. That was the year the Austrian Armed Forces selected the Glock as their issue sidearm. Initially, the gun was vilified in the press because its frame was made of plastic and, at that time, plastic was considered a cheap alternative to steel when it came to anything that mattered. Glock jokes were favorites at the range, and the pistols became known as “Tupperware guns” that would melt in the sun … and that your dog would chew up. I’ve never known of a Glock melting because of exposure to direct sunlight, but I have seen some with chew marks. The jokes and aversion to plastic, however, wasn’t enough to stifle what would become the most popular hand-gun in the world. Not only did the Glock eclipse…

You might be a gun writer if … you have a collection of tactical lights by the back door to choose from when taking the dogs for a walk. One I pick up routinely is a Streamlight ProTac HL. It was a high lumen (for the time) LED light that runs on a pair of 123 cells, and it now shows its hard use. The ProTac HL is an aluminum body with a rear button and the Streamlight Ten-Tap programmable operating parameters. I just stuck with the basic, so it’s instant-on “high,” a quick second tap gets me “strobe,” and the third gets me “low.” You have two other patterns to choose from if you wish. I’ve used this one for years. I’ve dropped it on concrete, in snow, mud and water,…

Following my professional hunter through the acacia thorn and scrub brush of South Africa’s Waterberg district, the long, spiraling horns of the kudu bull made me forget all about the blistering heat. The late October temperatures had soared to more than 110 degrees, and though the morning hunt had been thirsty work, that bull made it all worth-while, especially when the tape stretched to just over 55 inches. For that safari, I loaded my .300 Winchester Magnum ammunition with IMR 4451—from the then-new Enduron line—in the event of just such a heat wave in late-season Africa. Engineered for temperature insensitivity, the Enduron powders made a considerable splash when they came onto the market; they possess a burn rate correlative (yet not interchangeable) with many of the popular IMR powders dating back…

Bond Arms, the go-to manufacturer of new production Derringer-style handguns, has just released two new double-barrel concealed carry pistols. They’re called the Stinger RS .22 LR and the Rawhide .22 LR, and both are a new caliber offering of existing Bond Arms models. The Rawhide .22 LR has been designed for plinking at the range, or fun and varmint control when camping or at the ranch. Its barrels are 2.5 inches long, it has an overall length of 4.5 inches and a weight of 21 ounces. It has a cross-bolt safety and no trigger guard, and its stainless-steel barrel and frame feature Bond Arms’ Rough & Tumble finish. The Stinger RS .22 LR is advertised as being designed with more defensive uses in mind, such as a concealed carry or backup pistol.…