Gun Digest July 2022

Do you remember your first gun? Now, I’m not talking about the make and model … that’s almost irrelevant. I’m talking about really remembering that gun, such as the first time you wrapped your fingers around the forend, or exactly how you felt the first time you pressed your cheek against her stock. I consider myself lucky enough to have two. The first was a Daisy Eagle 0.177-caliber pellet gun that hung above the cash register at the local farm and fleet. Of course, none of that actually mattered then. It was black and sleek and scoped, and I was an 8-year-old boy who immediately fell in love. If I had to guess, Dad and I were in that store about once a month, and I’d go straight to her. Every time. I…

HISTORICAL NOTES Originated by the British firm Holland & Holland in 1912, the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum is one of the original belted, rimless, magnum-type cartridges—and it has been used as the basis for numerous wildcats … and most of the Weatherby cartridges. H&H furnished it in a magnum Mauser action, and Griffin & Howe chambered rifles for it beginning about 1926. The Western Cartridge Co. first offered it in 1925. At present, Federal, Remington and Winchester load the .375 H&H. The first commercial rifle of American make to chamber the round was the Model 70 Winchester in 1937. Weatherby rifles were at one time available in .375 H&H, as was the Remington Model 725 Kodiak. Currently, several American manufacturers list the .375 H&H as standard, including Ruger, Winchester and Remington.…

The ability of a handgun to stop a threat is often debated. Most often these debates center around the cartridge the handgun is chambered for, and/or the type of ammunition being used. Though terminal performance is a very important part of the stopping equation, shot placement matters, too. In fact, disregarding extremes, shot placement might matter more than anything. The ability of a handgun to deliver the shot placement you desire depends on two things: accuracy and precision. An accurate handgun will place the bullets where you want them. The more precision a gun delivers, the smaller the target you will be able to hit. For example, if you can hit a softball at 10 yards every time with your handgun, it’s accurate. If you can hit a golf ball at…

OK, one easy bit of advice: Otis. There you are at the gun club, you get a bit distracted and get some sand in your firearm. No problem—you’ve got a cleaning kit in your gun bag, right? Right? Oh, you left the bag at home, or you forgot to put the kit back after using it? Well, your day here is done… unless you plan. Deep in the trunk of my car, there’s an Otis cleaning kit: The Defender Series, 5.56/7.62/9mm version. Why? Because with that and an extra .45 brush I forced into the bag, I can clean anything but 12-gauge shotguns. (Alas, I couldn’t fit that brush in the bag.) I go to the range on a regular basis and spend a bunch of time shooting, and then comes the occasional photo-op…

Recently, the world has been fascinated by two acts of violence from celebrities. First, there was the “slap heard around the world,” when actor Will Smith went onstage at the Oscars and assaulted Chris Rock. The second incident involved former boxing champion Mike Tyson punching some dude harassing him on an airplane. Both should be viewed as criminal acts, but due to the celebrity “status” of the two, neither will likely be charged with a crime. “If a person is being harassed verbally, there isn’t much you can do but walk away. If you stick around and try to stop the verbal harassment with physical force, you’ll likely be prosecuted for assault.” Regardless, lessons can still be learned from these incidents. SLAP HAPPY CELEBS In the first event—on live, national TV—Rock made a poorly…

Several years back, I needed a different front sight and a good trigger job on a Ruger hawk. Gary Reeder at Reeder-Black-Custom Guns sorted that revolver out for me. He also sent me several of his custom guns to look at: Two were revolvers he’d given a full custom treatment to, and they were exquisite fire-arms. But the gun that really got my attention was a custom Thompson Center Contender. Not so much because the custom work was all that special, but because the handgun was chambered for one of Gary’s custom wildcat cartridges. Reeder has developed more than 50 wildcat cartridges, ranging from 0.224 to 0.610 caliber. He’s done this by reshaping cartridge cases, from the .32 H&R Magnum to the .577 Snyder, and just about everything in between. If…