Feature Articles

I was ready to rock ‘n roll earlier this month when I made my way to central Texas to try my hand at a 1000-yard target with the new Long-Range Rifle (LRR) from Smith & Wesson’s Performance Center and Thompson/Center. Like many gun owners in 2018, my long-range shooting knowledge exceeded my experience. I’ve been geeking out about D.O.P.E. cards, bullet trajectories, and MIL vs. MOA for years, but I hadn’t had many chances to pull the trigger.

Georg Luger left an indelible mark on the firearms world that persists to this very day. His extraordinary eponymous handgun was not an altogether original design, however. His mentor, a German engineer named Hugo Borchardt, was actually the first to realize the human knee would translate into a serviceable firearm.

Uziel Gal was a German-born Israeli who served half of a six-year sentence after having been arrested for carrying a gun illegally in the British Mandate of Palestine. He was released in 1946, two years before Israel declared her independence. A gifted designer, Gal began work on a new submachine gun and completed his first prototype in 1950. Christened the Uzi after its designer, this rugged combat

There’s nothing worse than having the zero on your rifle shift or change. I’ve had it happen on several occasions and it can be a frustrating experience. Below are three things that I’ve started doing that have helped prevent loss of zero on my rifles.

Long-range hunting continues to gain in popularity. But just because you want to go long doesn’t mean dropping in bullets at 1,000 yards. Most deer hunters, for example, take their shots at 100 yards or less. Yet, if those same hunters could extend their range to 400 yards? Their chances at filling their tags would go up greatly.

While it’s not a perfect, crisp as a Pringle 1911 trigger, it’s close. Very close. For a striker-fired pistol, it’s extraordinarily good. The flat face took me a few rounds to get used to, but when I allowed my finger to rest naturally on the trigger, migrating toward the lower end of the shoe as intended with the resulting increase in leverage, I grew to like it. For the final analysis, I applied the Lyman trigger gauge once more.

Before I talk about the features of the gun, let me say that this gun and my time behind it has led me to rethink my immediate negative reaction when some gun writer pens the phrase, “Practical Accuracy.” When seen within context of most articles I have always winced, viewing it as a dog whistle indicating poor accuracy. However, my off-the-shelf Hudson H9 that I purchased from a retailer has me re-defining practical accuracy more generously, i.e., being able to hit targets of a size commensurate with the defensive use of a handgun, effectively at practical distances and speed. 

As optics companies strive for ever better and cheaper scopes, a clear winner has emerged. The consumer. We live in the golden age of optics and weapons, as evidenced by this weeks test of the Leupold Mark 5. At a combined cost of under $4000 for optics and rifle, using .60 cent per round ammo, I was able to test a sub half MOA weapons system. Even 15 years ago, you would be lucky to match that at any price outside of a benchrest rig.

In a scene more reminiscent of Hollywood than real life, Officer William Umana of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department can be seen exchanging over 60 rounds of gunfire with two men suspected of fleeing the scene of a homicide.