Guns & Ammo

DEAR S&W One of the most sought after, iconic revolvers is the Smith & Wesson Victory Model. Whenever they appear at auction, the bidding is astonishing. I don’t know why S&W doesn’t make a run of these, as they are already manufacturing revolvers at present. The re-issues could be close copies of the original World War II guns with serial numbers to avoid confusion with originals. I would think period-evoking packaging would create an instant collectible. S&W may find that they sell so many that it could be kept in the catalog for a good period of time. Even manufacturing would be simple due to less polishing needed to finish it. G&A editors, use your contacts to bring this about! Art Sweisfurth Springfield, Pennsylvania GREAT EXPECTATIONS I read “Serious Fun” by Alfredo Rico featuring…

@GUNSANDAMMOMAG THE BROWN-WRINKLE PAINTED Kennedy 520 tool chest has seven drawers, each prescribed to organize screwdrivers, punches, wrenches, files, stones and hammers. The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps & School, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps, once issued these to armorers. The top till contained miscellaneous tools, precision instruments, gauges and fixtures not assigned to a drawer. The contents of the box were inventory controlled and inspected, which meant that each one weighed the same. Armorer instructors ordered “Tool Box P.T.” when students made mistakes. Firmly holding these military toolboxes with both hands, we’d stand at attention next to our benches and wait for the command. The objective would be to lift the 35-pound steel box level with our chest and then lower it to our waist to complete one repetition.…

GARRY.JAMES@ OUTDOORSG.COM VINTAGE GERMAN GUN SHOP Q: I’m a regular reader of your Guns & Ammo column — which I love — but I hate not having inherited a family firearm to research. Then it came to me that I have a picture from my German-wife’s side of the family. It is of the O.G. Scherell hunting and gun store in Berlin from the mid-1930s. The store received a direct hit from Allied bombs in the ‘40s and passed into history. I see in the picture lots of double-barrel shotguns, shorter .22s (I think) behind the hunting stools and under the bags. I’m not sure if there are knives and revolvers under the glass counter in front of my wife’s great aunt, who was the original proprietor. I thought, just maybe, you…

Trapdoors in the Crimea In previous columns, I have (half-seriously) opined that without the availability of the .45-70 Springfield “Trapdoor” rifles and carbines, probably half of Hollywood’s Golden Age of adventure films would never have been made. Trapdoors were used unaltered and also converted to such things as blunderbusses, jezails, flintlock muskets and even pistols! In the 1936 Warner Brothers and Errol Flynn extravaganza, “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” we saw the indomitable Springfield breech-loader in the guise of a British “Victoria Carbine.” It was bobbed and kitted out with side-mounted slings, brass nosecaps, and faux ramrods. Two were employed during the dramatic “Defense of Chukoti” scene. One was prominently shouldered by child actor Scotty Beckett, who was being encouraged by Flynn to take careful aim at the minions of…

AS RESPONSIBLE FIREARM OWNERS, it’s our responsibility to guard our guns. While securely storing a handgun may deter unauthorized access, it can also make it difficult for you to access. That handgun you keep for home defense won’t do any good if you can’t get to it, should you need it. Hornady Security has developed several firearm storage solutions in recent years. Their focus has been on products that offer affordable security and fast access. If you are looking for a way to safely keep a bedside gun, Hornady Security’s new RAPiD Safe Keypad Vault should fit your needs. The RAPiD Safe Keypad Vault weighs a hefty 15 pounds, largely due to the 14-gauge steel construction. Its exterior dimensions measure 13.1 inches by 11 inches by 3.9 inches. Internally, it is 10.6…

IT’S NOT EVERY DAY that a writing assignment starts out from an argument. Editor-in-Chief Eric Poole and I were chatting on the phone when he pulled up an email he received from a reader about an article I wrote. I had just reviewed an expensive optic and the reader mentioned that it seemed like a great scope but that it was beyond his budget. Another optic that cost far less was recommended, which was the scope that he used the most. Poole asked, “Why don’t you write an article about that one? It’s a less-expensive option!” “I don’t like that scope,” I grumbled in reply. “For the money, there are far better scopes out there.” The gauntlet was thrown down. “You only like the expensive stuff,” Poole said. “Oh, cut it out. In that…