Shooting Times

shooting times

PUBLISHER Mike Schoby EDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Joel J. Hutchcroft COPY EDITOR Michael Brecklin CONTRIBUTORS Jake Edmondson Steve Gash Allan Jones Lane Pearce Layne Simpson Bart Skelton Joseph von Benedikt Terry Wieland ART ART DIRECTOR Stephan D. Ledeboer SENIOR CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tim Neher STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Michael Anschuetz PRODUCTION PRODUCTION MANAGER Terry Boyer PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jenny Kaeb ENDEMIC AD SALES NATIONAL ENDEMIC SALES Jim McConville (440) 791-7017 WESTERN REGION Hutch Looney — hutch@hlooney.com MIDWEST REGION Mark Thiffault (720) 630-9863 EAST REGION Pat Bentzel (717) 695-8095 NATIONAL AD SALES ACCOUNT DIRECTOR—DETROIT OFFICE Kevin Donley (248) 798-4458 NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE—CHICAGO OFFICE Carl Benson (312) 955-0496 DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING/NON-ENDEMIC Anthony Smyth (914) 693-8700…

light loads

I ENJOYED THE OCTOBER 2019 “THE BALLISTICIAN” COLUMN BY ALLAN Jones about light loads for the .30-06. I make very soft loads for my wife who is very recoil sensitive. Now she will not give back my .308! There is a statement about avoiding jacketed bullets below 1,600 fps. However, the referenced Hodgdon .30-06 load with Trail Boss powder uses a Nosler 150-grain jacketed BT bullet with a starting load rated at 1,061 fps. The cartridge for my .308 is the same as the .30-06 except for the case length, and Hodgdon has a similar Trail Boss starting load at 1,176 fps. Hodgdon also lists a maximum load with a Sierra 168-grain jacketed bullet at 1,080 fps using Titegroup. I have run tests on Titegroup and found it does not care where…

daisy 80th anniversary red ryder

IN 1940, DAISY INTRODUCED THE LEVER-ACTION RED Ryder air rifle. With its wood stock and forearm, saddle ring, and leather thong, it would eventually become iconic as the most famous BB gun. 2020 marks the Red Ryder’s 80th anniversary, and the company is offering a special-edition model, complete with engraving on the forearm, a commemorative medallion in the stock, and all the features that made the original the No. 1 American Christmas present. MSRP: $39.99 daisy.com RCBS MatchMaster Competition Dies Offered for 30 of the most popular rifle cartridges, RCBS’s precision-machined MatchMaster Competition Dies are available in Full Length and Neck Sizing configurations. Using neck bushings to put the right amount of neck tension on each round, the MatchMaster Full Length die set comes with a titanium-nitride-coated expander, which provides smooth case extraction, and…

show me the rifle?

I LIKED THE ARTICLE ON THE HORNADY A-TIP BULLETS IN THE Q : November 2019 issue, but I would have enjoyed seeing a photograph of the custom GA Precision rifle the author used for that report. How about running a picture of it? Ryan Johnson Via email A: George Gardner of GA Precision has built a precision-rifle empire. He was one of the first and continues to be one of the best riflemakers in the United States. My rifle is built on the Templar action made for GA Precision by Defiance Machine. It has a 24-inch Bartlein barrel with a 1:7 twist, GAP #7 profile, and APA Gen 2 Little Bastard brake. The trigger is Timney’s Calvin Elite unit. The barreled action is mated to a Manners Elite TAC T2-GAP mini-chassis stock finished in…

star m-40 firestar

MANUFACTURED BY STAR BONIFACIO ECHEVERRIA, in Eibar, Spain, Star’s Firestar series was a groundbreaking pioneer in the embryonic world of compact, concealable 9mm-and-larger pistols. So much so, in fact, that it earned Guns & Ammo’s “Handgun of the Year” award in 1991. Unfortunately, even with that illustrious accolade, the pistol was discontinued shortly before the company went defunct in 1997. While the M-40 Firestar was produced, it was imported via Interarms. According to the L•2 proof stamp found beneath the left-side grip panel on my pistol, it was produced in 1992. (Be warned: With the grip panel removed, the safety can be over-rotated and the detent released and lost. Finding a replacement is next to impossible, so protect that safety lever from rotating with the grips removed.) I confess that prior to…

.250 savage

IN 1915 CHARLES NEWTON OF NEWTON RIFLE CO. fame created a rifle cartridge for Savage Arms to showcase in the excellent Savage 99 lever rifle. The cartridge pushed velocity boundaries and opened doors for future rounds. We know it today as the .250 Savage. Newton based this cartridge on a shortened .30-06 Springfield case. A 26-degree shoulder gives the case a decidedly modern appearance. Shortening allowed proper function in the Model 99 action while surpassing the existing .25-caliber performance leader (the .25-35 Winchester). Winchester’s 1899 catalog shows the .25-35 driving a 117-grain RN bullet at 2,000 fps; the current standard is 2,200 fps. The tubular-magazine rifles that represented most .25-35 chamberings required a roundnose or flatnose bullet. The Savage rifle had a rotary magazine under the bolt and could safely handle pointed…