RifleShooter

Trapdoors and Krags Grievous historical error in the July/August issue. In the article on the CMP, the author states that United States forces were equipped with Trapdoor Springfield .45-70 rifles in the Spanish-American War. While there may have been some Trapdoor Springfields at San Juan Hill, most U.S. troops and volunteers would have carried the .30-40 Krag-Jorgensen (pictured above). The basic fact that the U.S. was ill equipped against the Spanish 7mm Mauser rifles is still quite true! Hugh Scott Yes, they carried Krags, but those ran out and the National Guard troops carried Trapdoor Springfields, so there were soldiers facing 7mm Mausers with .45-70s.—Brad Fitzpatrick Kinda Light, Don’t You Think? Jeff John’s excellent “The Nifty Ballard” article (July/August) says the cast iron and steel model Ballard weighed “a hefty two pounds, 10 ounces.” Surely…

The “06” in .30-06 tells you how long it’s been around, as in 1906. It was adopted as a military cartridge for the 1903 Springfield, adapted to a British rifle design for the 1917 Enfield and then, perhaps most famously, was the cartridge chambered for what Gen. George Patton called “the greatest battle implement ever devised”: the M1 Garand. And, man, did it catch on with the sporting public. Rifle makers jumped on it quickly. Winchester adopted it for the Model 1895 lever action as early as 1908, and bolt actions followed from Remington (1921), Winchester (1925) and Savage (1928). In fact, the introduction of the Winchester Model 54 bolt gun in 1925 included not only the .30-06 but also the then-new .270 Win.—which was based on the ’06 case. That sparked…

Even if you’re not all wrapped up in vintage military arms, studying firearms design history can be fascinating. Such is the case with Jeff John’s book on the Fallschirmjäger 42, a battle rifle ahead of its time. This “machine rifle” was a select-fire arm chambered to 8x57 Mauser yet small enough and light enough (relatively speaking) to be utilized by paratroopers in World War II. John’s book details the gun’s development—both in terms of design and the political hurdles it faced in order to exist at all. He dives into the gun’s variations and takes an in-depth look at its optical and iron sights, magazines, slings and more. John provides a lot of excellent shooting and handloading notes, based on his work with a modern repro FG42, and there are nicely…

The .204 Ruger arrived in 2004 and was the first centerfire rifle cartridge to bear the company’s name. A joint venture between Ruger and Hornady, the .204 is based on a necked-down .222 Rem. Mag. case with a 30-degree shoulder—as opposed to the parent’s 23-degree shoulder. With plenty of space for propellant, the .204 drives a 32-grain bullet over 4,200 fps and a 40-caliber bullet at 3,800 fps. When zeroed at 200 yards, a 32-grain Hornady V-Max bullet drops just over four inches at 300 yards when fired from a 26-inch barrel, and at 400 yards it’s just 13.1 inches low. Even at 400 yards the 0.204-inch bullet still clings to 367 ft.-lbs. of energy and shoots eight inches flatter than a .223 55-grain V-Max at that range. During the mid-20th century,…

CZ 457 Left-Hand There’s not one but two southpaw versions of the excellent 457: the Varmint and the American (shown). The 457s feature a short 60-degree bolt throw, adjustable trigger and a safety that operates like Americans expect: push forward to Fire. Barrels are cold-hammer-forged with a 1:16 twist, and muzzles are threaded. The Varmint has a shorter 20-inch barrel with a heavy profile and is available in .22 LR. The American has a 24-inch barrel and can be had in .22 LR or .22 WMR. Both feature Turkish walnut stocks. >> $589 (American), $625 (Varmint); CZ-USA.COM Steelhead Outdoors Nomad 38 Got a bunch of guns and looking for a modular safe that can be assembled in places a standard safe can’t go? While total weight is 600 pounds, Nomad 38’s panels weigh less…

Bullet pulling takes many forms. All remove projectiles from cartridges that weren’t correctly loaded. Some damage bullets, rendering them impractical to hand-load and shoot. Others inflict little to no scars, leaving them still suitable for duty. Why would one want to pull bullets from perfectly good ammo? Powder charges go over or go under. Overworked, brittle case necks crack when bullets are seated. Handloads optimistically created sometimes don’t shoot nearly as well as we’d hoped. Usually, however, a propellant charge that went wrong is the culprit. I used to pull all bullets with an inertia or hammer-type puller that captures bullets in its hollow head. It’s a lot of work, and it often damages the bullet’s tip. I finally broke that tool. I replaced the broken “unloading sledgehammer” with a Pow’r Pull…