gun

Trophy Room: Photos of the Week

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:20:25 -0500

Dream Bucks: Your Trophy Deer Photos From the 2005 Hunting Season

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 05:00:00 -0400

Red Alert: Philip Bourjaily Reviews Three Dot Sights for Turkeys

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 30 May 2006 16:00:00 -0400

A friend of mine always brings an Aimpoint-mounted Remington 11-87 to his turkey camp. When hunters can't hit gobblers, he lends them "Maggie." No one has ever missed a bird with Maggie.

Beads and iron sights simply aren't precise enough to consistently center the very tight patterns thrown by good turkey loads through X-Full chokes. You also have to block out the bottom half of the bird when aiming, increasing the temptation to raise your head for a better view. Do that when you pull the trigger and you'll get a good look at a turkey running away.

Peek through a red-dot sight like an Aimpoint and you'll understand why Maggie is batting a thousand. These sights don't project the dot onto the target but onto the front lens of a 1X scope. You just put the dot on a turkey's neck and shoot. Keep both eyes open; the dot appears to be floating in space, allowing you to view the whole bird. And red dots have unlimited eye relief. As long as you can see the dot, it doesn't matter where your head is.

Three new models represent the state of the red-dot art:

Bushnell Holosight A Holosight projects a hologram of a circle with a dot in its center onto a lens. In my opinion, it's the fastest of all the dot sights to use because to aim you simply put the bird's head inside the circle, which can be adjusted to 15 levels of brightness. The new low-profile XLP sits half an inch closer to the bore than did previous Holosights (many of which are currently on active military service), so you don't have to crane your neck off the stock to see the reticle.

The XLP runs for 100 hours on two AAA batteries. If battery strength falls to 20 percent, the reticle blinks for a few seconds after you turn it on. $299; 800-423-3537; bushnell.com

Aimpoint 9000SC The original red dots, Aimpoints were invented in 1975 in Sweden, where they're practically standard issue on moose rifles. They are the undisputed endurance champs of the red-dot world, running for literally thousands of hours on a single battery.

The military uses an Aimpoint designated the M68 Close Combat Optic. For turkey hunters, there's the 9000SC. It has a 30mm tube and is available in black with a choice of a two or a four MOA (minute of angle) dot, or in camo with a four MOA dot only. (I prefer the larger dot for turkey hunting because it makes for easier sight acquisition). There are 10 brightness settings. My only quibble is the red coating on the lens. It makes the dot brighter at the expense of showing you the woods with a faint bluish tinge. $359 in black; $379 in camo; 877-246-7646; aimpoint.com

Zeiss Z-Point At under 4 ounces, the Z-Point is about half the weight of an Aimpoint or Holosight. It's also the only one of the three with a self-regulating dot that automatically brightens on sunny days and dims on dark ones. Although the Z-Point requires a battery to turn on, its solar panel takes over to keep the dot burning without draining any more juice, greatly extending battery life. The Z-Point's sole drawback is its steep price, which is more than what any of my turkey guns cost. $489; 800-441-3005; www.zeiss.com

Mounting All three sights mount easily on one-piece Weaver-style bases. More and more shotguns come tapped for a scope mount. For untapped guns, add a B-Square ($62; 800-433-2909; b-square.com) or an AimTech ($41Â¿Â¿Â¿$75; 229-226-4313; aimtech-mounts.com) saddle mount. These fit most popular pumps and autos and install without gunnsmithing.

Red Alert: Philip Bourjaily Reviews Three Dot Sights for Turkeys

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 30 May 2006 16:00:00 -0400

A friend of mine always brings an Aimpoint-mounted Remington 11-87 to his turkey camp. When hunters can't hit gobblers, he lends them "Maggie." No one has ever missed a bird with Maggie.

Three new models represent the state of the red-dot art:

The XLP runs for 100 hours on two AAA batteries. If battery strength falls to 20 percent, the reticle blinks for a few seconds after you turn it on. $299; 800-423-3537; bushnell.com

The 50 Best Guns Ever Made, Revisited

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 05 May 2006 12:00:00 -0400

Click here to read this story and post your comments on David E. Petzal's blog, The Gun Nut

Editor's Note: Last February, Dave wrote a cover story titled "The 50 Best Guns Ever Made" that generated lots of heated opinion. In case any of you missed the piece, we've posted links to it in photo gallery form in Dave's blog. Keep an eye on the story next week as he returns to the subject with updates to the list and some fresh thoughts on these guns.

Click here to read this story and post your comments on David E. Petzal's blog, The Gun Nut

At the Range: David E. Petzal tests the .325 WSM Browning A-Bolt

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 05:15:00 -0400

THE INSIDE STORY: When it first came to me, this A-Bolt rifle couldn't have hit Montana if I were standing in downtown Billings. Why? The fore-end had warped and was pressing against the barrel. I sent the gun back to Browning, where the problem was quickly corrected. When I got it back, the A-Bolt turned out to be a nice firearm, albeit a somewhat temperamental one. It does not shoot the three available bullet weights anywhere near one another, and it finds a certain weight to be much more to its taste than the others.

Here's how it went on the target range: 180-grain Ballistic Silvertips averaged 1.649 inches; 200-grain AccuBond CT slugs went into 2.74 inches, and 220-grain Power-Point groups measured .598 across. This A-Bolt really likes Power-Points.

All told, it is a light, handsome rifle with a nicely figured, well-checkered claro walnut stock, a good-not great-trigger pull, and very positive feed for a gun that handles shortfats. I wish Browning would dispense with the gold-plated trigger, but that is a minor quibble.

Browning considers this an all-around gun, but I disagree. It's not really a deer gun, but I would certainly use it on bear, elk, or African game. Its real advantage is that it's a genuinely light gun that shoots a heavy bullet and won't kick you to death in the process.

CALIBER: .325 WSM

PRICE: $764; right-hand, $734

WEIGHT: 7 pounds 1 ounce without scope

BARREL: 23-inch, chrome-moly

STOCK: Checkered walnut

TRIGGER PULL: 3 pounds 12 ounces

SCOPE USED IN TEST: Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5XÂ¿Â¿Â¿10X

ACTION: Left-handed A-Bolt

MAGAZINE CAPACITY: Three

The Father of 100 Million Rifles

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 04:25:00 -0500

The designer of the most successful rifle ever made sat at a table in a quiet corner of the Kremlin. He was nearly 86 years old, but he retained the upright posture of the general he is. His pale blue gaze was firm and clear.

Virtually everyone in the world has seen the firearm that bears his name, the AK-47. AK stands for "the automatic by Kalashnikov," the one-time Red Army sergeant who created its prototype at the opening of the Cold War. The number signifies 1947, the year the Soviet army accepted the prototype for mass production. With its short barrel, stock stained a brownish orange, and distinctive banana clip, the AK-47 and its derivatives long ago transcended their medium. They are not merely the world's most widely recognized firearms. They are among the world's most widely recognized things.

Now nearly 60 years and perhaps 100 million rifles later, Mikhail Kalashnikov is both a general in semiretirement and Moscow's unofficial firearms ambassador to the world. He agreed to share with FIELD & STREAM his observations as a designer and as a lifelong student of firearms, and to discuss his experiences as a hunter and shooter.

On this day a limited-edition series of decorative daggers had been released for public sale, each bearing Kalashnikov's signature and the unmistakable silhouette of the rifles he designed. The daggers, each of which would be offered for prices running into the thousands of dollars, seemed to have been created as much to boost profits for the Russian firm that makes them as to salute the general. And so when a craftsman presented him with the first dagger in the series, Gen. Kalashnikov seemed to recognize the incongruity of it all. He abruptly reached into the decorative box, withdrew the diamond-studded weapon, and thrust and swung it a few times through the air. It was a reminder of just what a dagger does.

The gesture was playful, but its message was implicit: Tools are supposed to be used. Things are only as good as they work.

Of the many things that the name Kalashnikov has come to symbolize, for better or for worse, one is undeniable: functionality. Kalashnikov's series of rifles, now ubiquitous, achieved global circulation in part because of two reasons central to their design. They are simple to use. And they almost never fail. In an industry often enamored with the new, his rifles remain riffs on simplicity. They have undergone only modest modifications in more than five decades.

Things are only as good as they work. This is Kalashnikov, man and gun. "Some people think a simple weapon means that it is a slapdash job," he says. "They are wrong. To make something simple is a thousand times more difficult than to make something complex."

I have met with the general several times in the last two years, visiting him at his dacha and in Izhevsk, a formerly secret city tucked deep in the forests of the Ural range where Kalashnikov rifles are made, and now here at the Kremlin. He is a small and spry man, with an often beguiling mix of Russian hospitality and military formality.

He is also a mass of paradoxes. He mixes nostalgia for the Soviet Union with an appreciation that his once-closed world has been opened. He is gentle and unfailingly polite but also impassioned and eager to refute his critics. He seems to wear the world lightly, but after spending years helping to arm the Soviet army and having seen his firearms end up in the hands of terrorists, he admits to pondering questions of the soul.

His mind is largely decided. He designed firearms, he said, to defend the rodina--the motherland. When he set out to fulfill that task, parts of his homeland were under Nazi occupation. He does not rue his choices. "I am a gunsmith," he wrote in his 1997 memoir. "That explains everything." [NEXT "A Gun Born of Necessity"]

A Gun Born of Necessity
Born in 1919, two years after the Bolshevik Revolion brought the Communists to power, he lived his early years in poverty on the Altai steppe, one of 19 children his mother bore in a peasant home. The privations of Russian rural life in the early 20th century were such that of those 19 children only eight would survive. And the hardships of the steppe were soon exacerbated by the state-ordered miseries to come. Stalin sought to bring the peasants under the socialist yoke, seizing their land, crops, and livestock and forcing them onto collectivized farms.

The Kalashnikov family would not be spared. Before Kalashnikov was a teenager, his family was blacklisted and shipped to Siberia, where his father died trying to scratch out a living in a new land. The young Mikhail eventually fled exile and took up an illegal life in Kazakhstan--a daring move and a secret he would hide for decades.

By the time Kalashnikov reached conscription age and entered the Red Army, the Soviet police state had reduced his country to near paralytic terror. But the rise of Adolf Hitler and the threat of German invasion served as a unifying force for a nation that had turned on itself. With war approaching, Kalashnikov thrived in the army, finding in this social leveler a sense of purpose and an outlet for his energies. It was at this point that he showed the first hints of his design sense. The fugitive farm boy, with little formal training, invented a successful tachometer that could be installed in his unit's tanks.

Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Kalashnikov, by then a sergeant, was injured within months when a shell stopped his T-34 tank and sent shrapnel through his shoulder. As Soviet history tells it, while Sgt. Kalashnikov recuperated, he began tinkering with infantry weapons, eventually setting his mind on designing a lightweight automatic assault rifle that would expel the better-armed Nazis from Russian soil.

Soviet infantry fought World War II with two basic small arms: one was the badly outdated Mosin-Nagant Model 1891 bolt-action rifle. The other was the PPSh series of submachine guns, reliable arms that were effective but only at short range. Something better was needed, and that something was in the hands of the Nazi Wehrmacht.

It was called the MP44 Sturmgewehr (assault rifle), and it could fire in full or semiautomatic mode. Chambered for a revolutionary new cartridge, a short 7.92mm round that was less powerful than a full-size rifle cartridge, yet far more powerful than the pistol cartridges for which submachine guns were chambered, the Sturmgewehr made a deep impression on the Soviets who faced it. [NEXT "Borrowing, Brilliantly"]

Borrowing, Brilliantly
"I worked for our soldiers," Kalashnikov said. "I knew that our soldiers did not study in academies. What they needed had to be simple and reliable."

His first rifle, made in a Kazakh rail yard while he was on convalescent leave, was flawed. But the fact that he had made it without advanced training or specialized tools, and on his own initiative, so impressed the Soviet officers who examined it that Kalashnikov was transferred to a military design bureau.

As Kalashnikov worked, the Wehrmacht crested, withdrew, and collapsed. When the war ended, the Red Army sponsored a contest among firearms designers to create a new line of rifles that would fire the 7.62x39, a "short rifle" round that was similar to the German cartridge. Kalashnikov was credited with developing the rifle that won, the AK-47, which became the standard infantry rifle for the Soviet army.

What Kalashnikov's design team did was not only to invent but to borrow and improve, often brilliantly. As is common in firearms evolution, the automatic Kalashnikov bears distinct traces of previous infantry weapons. From the Sturmgewehr MP44, the AK-47 assumed its silhouette: pistol grip; short barrel; high front sight; and long, slightly curved magazine. Also as with the MP44, the weapon's gas tube, which operates the action, is located above the barrel. This helps keep recoil in a straight line and reduces the rifle's climb during automatic fire.

Its bore and chamber were chrome-lined (as had been done with the Japanese Arisaka rifle). This reduces corrosion when the rifle is not cleaned. The action and trigger mechanism owe much to the American M1 Garand rifle. One element that made the recombination so successful was the spareness with which it was done. There were few parts in this weapon, and very few moving parts. And they were all simple, strong, and relatively easy to assemble.

Kalashnikov also built considerable "slop" into the gun. Its tolerances, by American design standards, were huge. As Kalashnikov explains:

"Mr. Tokarev (Fedor V. Tokarev, a noted Soviet arms designer) used to say that all parts should be put together as tightly as possible, so that not a fleck of dust could get in between. I, on the contrary, was always saying that it must be designed so that even a handful of sand wouldn't stop the mechanism working."

And it won't. Nor will mud, dust, rust, ice, powder fouling, and neglect--it makes no difference. The AK almost always keeps on firing.

Soviet designers never bought into the concept of precision fire for the average infantryman, and so the AK-47 is inaccurate by our standards, and the low velocity of its cartridge (2300 fps) limits its effective range to 300 yards or less. But within those limits, it is remarkably effective. As it happens, almost all combat occurs within these ranges, making the Kalashnikov a tool that is actually matched to its task and not to chalkboard standards that rarely exist in use. [NEXT "The Universal Rifle"]

The Universal Rifle
No one knows for certain how many Kalashnikovs exist, but one point is beyond dispute: They are the most abundant firearms on earth. Since the Red Army accepted the AK-47 prototype, licensed variants of that design have been made in at least 19 countries, including Poland, Cuba, North Korea, East Germany, Bulgaria, Egypt, China, Russia, Romania, and Iraq. Knockoff versions, or weapons incorporating main elements of the Kalashnikov operating systems, were developed in Finland, South Africa, Israel, and Sweden. A single comparison provides a sense of the scope of the Kalashnikov's spread. The second most abundant rifle on earth is the American M16; roughly 8 or 10 million have been made. Serious estimates put the number of Kalashnikovs and its derivatives as high as 100 million.

This vast circulation has given rise to one of the enduring myths about the general--that he has not enjoyed any material reward for the product made in his name. It's true that he did not become a wealthy man, but he himself rejects wealth as the only measure:

"I am told sometimes, 'If youith the MP44, the weapon's gas tube, which operates the action, is located above the barrel. This helps keep recoil in a straight line and reduces the rifle's climb during automatic fire.

Kalashnikov also built considerable "slop" into the gun. Its tolerances, by American design standards, were huge. As Kalashnikov explains:

And it won't. Nor will mud, dust, rust, ice, powder fouling, and neglect--it makes no difference. The AK almost always keeps on firing.

"I am told sometimes, 'If you

Cover Story: The Gun Nut Survey

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 04:15:00 -0500

In the 12 days it was out there, we got over 2,000 responses to our Gun Nut Survey. Some of the results were flat startling. We learned that Remington rules the roost as far as popularity goes, that the highest-ranked handgun was designed before the First World War, and that our No. 1 big-game and deer cartridge is even older. But this nod to tradition aside, we found that most of you do not yearn for the good old days. You think modern guns are better, and you are perfectly happy to break with tradition if it results in a better firearm. We also learned that firearms hunters won't cross certain technological barriers if it means violating their code of ethics.

The best part of the survey may be your comments. We've published as many of them as we could.

Click here to read the rest of the story on David E. Petzal's new blog, The Gun Nut

Hot New Shotgun: The Remington 105 CTi

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 17 Feb 2006 04:05:00 -0500

Remington's new 105 CTi autoloader is the most innovative new shotgun I've seen in a long time. The company set the standard for all-load autos with the 11-87 almost 20 years ago, but had fallen behind the "B" guns (Browning, Beretta, Benelli). This state-of-the-art auto catches Remington up with the competition and maybe even puts it a step ahead.

What's so great about this gun? It's light, for one thing. CTi stands for Carbon/Titanium. The receiver is made from a piece of skeletonized titanium with a carbon fiber insert filling in the holes. The rib is carbon fiber as well. The result is a gun with the solid strength, profile and feel of an 1100/11-87, that weighs a good pound less. The 12 gauge 105 CTi with a 28-inch barrel comes in right about 7 pounds Â¿Â¿Â¿ perfect for carrying all day through waist-deep CRP grasses after pheasants.

You'll notice, too, that there's no ejection port in the side of the receiver; the 105 CTi is the first bottom-ejecting autoloader ever made. We left-handers will love that feature, as will trap and skeet shooters, whose empty hulls will be deposited in a neat pile about a yard in front of their toes. Waterfowlers won't have to worry about bouncing empties off the head of the shooter to their right anymore, either. To load the gun you simply open the bolt and shove a cartridge up the magazine tube. The action shuts automatically, whisking the shell into the chamber.

Finally, the 105 Cti kicks less than any autoloader I've ever shot. It has a soft R3 recoil pad on the butt, but the real secret is the unique oil-filled shock absorber called a "rate reducer" in the stock. The rate reducer's main job is to control the speed of the bolt so the gun can function without beating itself to pieces. The faster the bolt comes back, the more the oil resists. As a pleasant side effect, the rate reducer absorbs the recoil energy of the bolt and other moving parts in the gun. I always believed 1100s and 11-87s to be the softest shooting of all gas guns, but the 105's recoil is even milder.

In late January, I was one of a group of five writers Remington invited to Deer Creek Lodge in Sebree, Kentucky. We were the first people not involved with the project to shoot the new gun. In two days we ran a couple of hundred rounds apiece through the 105s at pheasants, quail, and flighted mallards. The guns functioned with light game loads and high velocity waterfowl ammo alike, handling smartly and soaking up recoil. I should mention that the guns we shot were not final production models. They did exhibit a couple of small glitches with the trigger and extractor that have already been fixed as of this writing.

The 105 CTi has been a long time in getting off the drawing board and into the hands of shooters (I think the "05" in its model number refers to its intended year of release). It will be available at first with a satin-finished walnut stock and blued metal, in 12 gauge with either a 26 or 28-inch overbored barrel. The gun lists for about $1200, and, frankly, I had expected a higher price tag after looking at and shooting it. Remington plans to have them available before mid-year.

Shotgun Roundup: 20 More New Guns for 2006

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 04:15:00 -0500

Check out Phil Bourjaily's SHOT Show shotgun roundup, featuring hands on looks at some of the guns mentioned here, by clicking this link

In terms of sheer numbers of new products, this is not a big year for the smoothbore community, but a few innovations have found their way into the mix.

Winchester and Browning have a new semi-auto gas-operating system that is likely to form the basis for a significant family of arms. Remington has made welcome improvements to its venerable Model 1100 in the clay-target arena and continues with its camouflaged hunting line for deer and turkey enthusiasts. In fact, camo finishes are appearing on an increasing number of established models in 2006.

Click on a gun to see a bigger picture

Browning Cynergy Classic Field

Distinctive game-bird scenes on both sides of the receiver mark the model. In addition, a 12-gauge version comes on board for 2006.

Browning Cynergy Classic Sporting

The Classic Sporting model features special engraving, with a Browning Buckmark logo in the center, and a traditional-style walnut stock and forearm in an oil finish. The advanced Cynergy design incorporates an ultra-low-profile receiver and MonoLock hinge, reverse-striker ignition system and mechanical triggers with the lines of a traditional stock and forearm.

Browning Gold Superlite Hunter

Weight reduction is the name of the game for 2006. A new alloy magazine tube knocks nearly a half pound of weight off this year's version. It comes with a 26- or 28-inch-long barrel.

Browning Silver

The Silver 12-gauge features an aluminum-alloy receiver in a semi-humpback design and Browning's Active Valve gas system, which automatically adjusts to fire a wide range of loads.

Remington 11-87 Sportsman

This fully rifled 20-gauge slug gun is the perfect antidote to hard-kicking 12-gauge deer guns. It has a cantilevered barrel for scope attachment.

Remington Model 1100 Competition

Designed for the serious clay-target shooter, this new 1100 comes only in 12-gauge with a 30-inch overbored (.735) barrel.

Remington Model 1100 Classic Field

Notable this year is a 12-gauge versi with a 26- or 28-inch barrel. Both use the Rem. Choke system and include a high-polish receiver and barrel.

Remington Model 11-87 Super MAG Special Purpose Thumbhole-Turkey

Fully covered in Mossy Oak Obsession camo, this new model sports a 23-inch barrel and Truglo fiber-optic sights.

Remington Model 11-87 Special Purpose Thumbhole-Deer

This new model uses a heavier laminated thumbhole stock and an R3 recoil pad to reduce recoil. The fully rifled cantilever barrel (21 inches) is designed for 2Â¿Â¿- or 3-inch sabot slugs.

Remington 870 Wingmaster NRA

The NRA Heritage logo is prominently featured on the receiver; a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the NRA. The 12-gauge comes with a 28-inch vent-ribbed barrel.

Remington 870 Express

This value-priced line (mechanically identical to the Wingmaster) gets two new cosmetic upgrades: one with a brown laminate stock, the other in Mossy Oak Break-Up.

Remington 870 Wingmaster Dale Earnhardt Tribute

This year's version, the last in the series, will be a 20-gauge with a 26-inch vent-ribbed Rem. Choke barrel (with 24-karat gold highlights) chambered for three-inch shells.

Weatherby Athena D'italia Deluxe

Designed for the most discriminating tastes, this high-end side-by-side features a single inertia trigger and is adorned with a Bolino-style game scene with Renaissance floral engraving.

Weatherby Athena D'italia PG

This new side-by-side is targeted at shooters seeking a quality double gun with a pistol grip and single trigger. It has a hand-selected, oil-finished walnut stock and comes in 12-, 20- and 28-gauge.

Winchester Select Midnight

The blued receiver carries extensive engraving, with gold-accented game birds on both sides and the bottom. The satin-finished Grade II/III walnut stock and forearm feature a unique oval checkering pattern.

Winchester Select White Field

The new Select White Field Extreme and Traditional models are designed to enable budget-conscious shooters to enjoy over/unders. The guns are available in 12-gauge and feature engraved silver nitride receivers.

Winchester SX3 Field

This new semi-auto is chambered for three-inch loads and weighs 6.5 pounds, thanks to a lighter magazine tube, recoil-spring system, slim-line barrel and machined rib.

Winchester SX3 Waterfowl

The new Super X3 uses the new automatic Active Valve gas system to handle a wide range of loads without adjustment. Camo versions come in three-inch chamberings only.

Winchester SX3 Composite

The Super X3 Composite models will be offered with 3-inch and 3.5-inch chambers, with Perma-Cote. Stock spacers allow cast and drop adjustments over a quarter-inch range. The composite forearms incorporate the Quadra-Vent forward ducting system, which helps bleed gases away from the shooter more efficiently.

Ruger Red Label 12-Gauge

Responding to the requests of upland game, wild turkey and waterfowl hunters, who believe blending in can mean the difference between success and failure, Ruger will offer the popular Red Label All Weather 12-gauge over/under in a Realtree Hardwoods HD camouflage finish. Both the metal parts and the synthetic buttstock and forearm are covered in a durable, abrasion-resistant coating that helps hunters stay stealthy and also protects the firearm.elect_white_lg.jpg",600,200)'>
The new Select White Field Extreme and Traditional models are designed to enable budget-conscious shooters to enjoy over/unders. The guns are available in 12-gauge and feature engraved silver nitride receivers.

Winchester SX3 Field

This new semi-auto is chambered for three-inch loads and weighs 6.5 pounds, thanks to a lighter magazine tube, recoil-spring system, slim-line barrel and machined rib.

Winchester SX3 Waterfowl

The new Super X3 uses the new automatic Active Valve gas system to handle a wide range of loads without adjustment. Camo versions come in three-inch chamberings only.