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M.D. Johnson

The Practical Mathematics of the .22 Caliber Firearm

The Champion .22 Long Rifle Fresh Fire Pack has 325 36-grain copper-plated hollow-point cartridges in a nitrogen-sealed can that prevents corrosion and keeps powders and primers dry. Once opened, it has a resealable plastic lid to keep the ammo protected. $20.(federalpremium.com)
The Federal Champion .22 Long Rifle Fresh Fire Pack has 325 36-grain copper-plated hollow-point cartridges in a nitrogen-sealed can that prevents corrosion and keeps powders and primers dry. Once opened, it has a resealable plastic lid to keep the ammo protected. $20.(federalpremium.com)

Let me make my case for the .22 Long Rifle as the ultimate survival choice in terms of rifle cartridges. What does the .22LR have that would make someone even consider it as a survival choice, let alone the best all-round?

I was able to find a chart on the Internet that compared the weights of various pistol and rifle (both rimfire and centerfire) cartridges in bulk. I did a bit of checking on my own using a postal scale, and found it took 143 rounds of .22LR to equal 16 ounces.

Digging a bit deeper, I learned that one pound equals:

•10 rounds of 12-gauge shells
• 21 rounds of 30-30 cartridges
• 23 rounds of .243 cartridges
• 17 rounds of .30-06 cartridges

My point? Though very much concerned with pinpoint accuracy, I am also a believer in the mantra: Peace (or Continued Existence) through Superior Firepower.

That said, I would opt for 143 effective, though admittedly circumstantially limited, cartridges over 17 or 21 or 23 bigger, more powerful rounds. The bottom line is the .22LR offers the option to carry an absolutely ridiculous number of rounds easily; the others, not so much.

Even in the most out-of-the-way country grocery store, there’s almost a 100-percent chance they’re going to have a box—or several boxes—of some sort of .22LR ammunition lying around.

Inside 100 yards, you should be able to hit what you are shooting at easily with a .22LR. If it’s a meal you’re in need of, there’s really no cause to look further than a .22LR. Whether it’s red squirrel or cottontail rabbit or sitting duck, the .22LR works with precision shot placement.


Recommended Rimfire Rifle and Pistol Resources

Gun Digest Book of the .22 RifleThe Gun Digest Book of the .22 Rifle

Customize the Ruger 10/22

The Ruger 22 Automatic Pistol

Gun Review: The Rossi Wizard

Considering the price of barrels versus the price of a rifle in another caliber, the Rossi Wizard is a great choice for a shooter that wants to shoot a variety of calibers on a budget.
Considering the price of barrels versus the price of a rifle in another caliber, the Rossi Wizard is a great choice for a shooter that wants to shoot a variety of calibers on a budget.

Gun review of the versatile Rossi Wizard, a unique multi-gun you can change from .22LR to .243 to .50 caliber muzzleloader!

Rossi’s transformer of a firearm known as the Wizard is one gun with many barrels. Overall I liked the little gun outfitted with the .22LR barrel. The Wizard was plenty accurate enough to justify carrying her into the September squirrel woods. And when you consider you get three guns (.243, .22 and .50 caliber) versus just one, all for under $500 – well, that tends to make an attractive offer even more attractive.

Originating in Brazil, Rossi firearms – at least the long guns – are imported into the United States by Braztech International, LC, headquartered in Miami, Florida. In her purest form, the Wizard is a single-shot hammer gun and she doesn’t get much more complicated than that.

How It Works

Beginning with the receiver, Rossi’s Xchange-a-Barrel break-action is opened via a thumb release to the right of and slightly behind the hammer. Press down, the barrel hinges open, simple as that. Interestingly enough, the little gun features not one or two, but three safety mechanisms – a traditional transfer bar safety; a manual toggle-esque S/F safety on the port side of the receiver, which prevents the hammer from reaching the transfer bar; and Rossi’s – or Taurus’, actually – keyed security system.

Locking the system, in the case of the Wizard, prevents the hammer from being fully cocked. Speaking of the hammer, the MZL does come complete with a hammer spur that is very necessary for those, such as myself, who would immediately mount optics.

The .50 caliber MZL barrel features a 1:24 twist, measures 23 inches and is drilled and tapped for a Weaver style base. It comes equipped with fiber optics sights, front and rear. A single thimble secures the ramrod to the underside of the barrel; the remainder of the rod is housed inside the forearm.

The ramrod itself is brass, with a wooden (3-3/8 inch by 3/8 inch) 8-groove handle, and measures just 15-1/2 inches long, but does telescope to a full 23-1/8 inches. The barrel exchange process is as simple as is the gun itself: unscrew the front (forearm) sling swivel, remove the forearm, break the action, and lift the barrel away from the frame.

The Wizard’s stock might best be described as a high Monte Carlo style, with no checkering on the pistol grip and only a black plastic ROSSI-emblazoned cap on the grip.

The stock attachment screw, a metric hex bolt, is located underneath the pistol cap; not in an inline configuration accessed by removing the recoil pad as is typical. The one-inch ventilated rubber recoil pad is substantial, and separated from the buttstock by a wafer-thin white spacer.

Variety is the spice of life, and that’s particularly true with the Wizard. In addition to the .50 caliber muzzloader barrel, the company also offers a .45 caliber barrel. Along with the black powder options, Rossi also makes available three rimfire barrels (.22LR, .22WMR, and .17HMR); 10 centerfire barrels ranging from .223 to .45-70; and shotgun tubes including 12-gauge (rifled and smoothbore), 20-gauge, and .410 caliber. Several different aesthetic variations will be available such as such as black synthetic, traditional wood and blued, and camouflage.

Rossi Wizard Stainless.Field Tested

I was impressed with the performance and functionality of Rossi’s .22LR, so the proverbial bar had been set relatively high before the .50 caliber ever got out of the house and onto the range. Perhaps not surprising, I wasn’t disappointed with her performance.

Although typically a pelletized powder kind of guy, I decided to test the Wizard with both pellets and granulated powder, basically out of curiosity. Pyrodex products got the nod here; I’ve had nothing but good fortune with the company’s RS granular material and 50-grain pellets over the past decade or so.

For bullets, I chose a variety – 295-grain PowerBelt AeroTips (AT) and Hollow Points (HP); 290-grain Barnes Spit-Fire TMZ (TMZ); PowerBelt AeroLites in a 300-grain format; and 300-grain Knight Red Hot bullets using the High Pressure (black) sabot. Like the powders, I’ve used all of these projectiles over the years, and all with good success both on the range and in the field. Ignition was supplied by Remington’s Kleanbore 209 muzzleloader primers, and the barrel was swabbed clean between shots.

Mechanically, I experienced absolutely no problems throughout the course of the 50-shot run at the bench. Ignition was immediate and reliable and recoil was noticeable, though tamed somewhat thanks to Caldwell’s Lead Sled and a PAST shoulder pad. In terms of downrange performance, it was the 295-grain ATs that won out, printing 2- to 2-1/2-inch three-shot groups at 50 yards; however, I’ve never been extremely impressed with the ATs’ on-target performance in the field on whitetails.

The Red Hots, though a close second with their consistent 2-1/2-inch clusters, provide, it’s been my experience, extraordinary knockdown power on deer-sized creatures – and based on those observations will be what we’re stuffing down the Wizard’s gullet come December. Post-range cleanup was minimal, quick, and easy; pull the plug, scrub the bore, take a toothbrush to the plug, lube, install, wipe, and it’s over.

What didn’t I like about the Wizard .50 muzzleloader? At almost 9-1/2 pounds, she’s a heavy little thing, and quite barrel heavy and unbalanced. The telescoping ramrod, though understandable in this particular situation, does, at least for me, take some getting used to. Afield, my thoughts are to either pack a lightweight 25-inch fiberglass rod with me, or telescope the OEM rod and lay it alongside my pack – just in case I need to reload the Wizard with the quickness.

And I think the transfer bar and manual safeties are a bit of an overkill; in fact, I found the left-side manual switch to be rather inconveniently located for a right-hander, not to mention tremendously noisy when allowed to fall forward by itself. That said, a little practice with manual safety can help overcome both inconvenience and noise. Price? Online, I found the Wizard Matched Set, which includes wood-stocked .243Win, .50 caliber MZL, and 28-inch 12-gauge barrels for – ready?—only $325 (hinterlandoutdoors.com). That, if my math is correct, makes for three very different firearms for just a touch over a C-note each.

Rossi Wizard Specs

Make/model – Rossi Wizard
Caliber – .50 Caliber Muzzleloader
Operating system – Inline; black powder only
Barrel – 23 inches
Overall length – 38-3/4 inches
Weight – 9.4 pounds
Trigger pull – 5.6 pounds
Safety – Transfer bar; Rossi/Taurus key lock; manual SAFE/FIRE safety
Sights – Fully adjustable rear, fiber optic; fixed front bead
Finish, metal – Blued
Wood – Walnut stock/forearm
Recoil pad – One inch ventilated rubber, with white spacer
Accessories – Sling swivels; Weaver style one-piece base
Ramrod – Brass; expandable from 15-1/2 inches 23-1/8

This article appeared in the Gun Digest the Magazine 2013 Shooter’s Guide

Gun Review: Magnum Research MLR22AT .22 LR

The Magnum Research MLR22AT is based on the proven Ruger 10/22 action.

The semi-auto Magnum Research MLR22AT .22LR rifle takes rimfire accuracy to the next level. It's based on the Ruger 10/22 receiver in an improved package.

HERE’S SOMETHING you’ll very seldom hear me say: I couldn’t find a single disagreeable thing about Magnum Research’s MLR22AT. Strip away everything from this particular rimfire, and you’re left with the very familiar and highly praised Ruger 10/22, a foundation that is rock-solid.

The rifle is ridiculously accurate. She’s light, easy to clean, and favors a diet of reasonably priced ammunition.

But before we begin this gun review, allow me some translation of the rimfire’s model designation. MLR stands for MagnumLite Rimfire, while the AT portion of the name reads as ‘ambidextrous thumbhole (stock).”

The foundation for the AT is a Ruger 10/22 receiver and blowback operating system. Standard is the Ruger’s tried-and-true 10-round rotary magazine – same push button behind-the-mag release and forward cut-out allowing fingertip access to ‘pry’ the magazine out, if necessary.

A single screw just ahead of the magazine cut-out connects the stock to the barrel/receiver.  The crossbolt safety is located in the forward portion of the trigger guard; a scalloped bolt lock behind and slightly to the left of the magazine release holds the bolt open (press lower) or closed (press upper).

Different, however, from the traditional stock 10/22s are several features unique to the AT. In milling the receiver, the folks at Magnum Research have incorporated an integral Weaver style rail atop for mounting optics. In the rear of the receiver, a hole allows for easy barrel maintenance. The bolt handle on the AT is large – one inch long, and 11/16-inch in diameter – and hollow, i.e. light to allow for sufficient bolt speed with the relatively slow .22LR ammunition.

The Magnum Research MLR22AT is extremely accurate.

The barrel, which still attaches to the receiver using the Ruger’s two-bolt V-block locking system, is feather light, weighing approximately 14 ounces. Barrel composition is steel covered with what the company calls “uni-directional graphite (laid) parallel to the bore axis.” The result, they claim, is a lightweight, incredibly accurate bull-style barrel that’s six times stiffer than the equivalent weight in steel.

This, then, reduces barrel vibration and improves accuracy, while simultaneously the graphite composition dissipates heat rapidly. The barrel does sport silver steel caps at both the muzzle and receiver.

In a final boost to accuracy, the AT features a Benz target chamber –by their explanation, a tighter chamber with a shorter tapered throat leading into the first cut of rifling. A reverse false muzzle, I assume, which guarantees the bullet is chambered true, and in line with the bore, rather than canted even slightly.

Gun review of the Magnum Research MLR22AT. Rounding out the AT is a polypropylene thumbhole stock, with deep checking and semi-swells on the pistol grip, a high optics-friendly comb, and a uniquely-shaped fore-end designed both for weight reduction, as well as to allow the barrel to free-float.

For testing, I mounted an Alpen Apex XP 4-16×44 scope wrapped in Weaver Quad Lock rings atop the AT’s receiver, and scooped up a variety of .22LR ammunition. With the rifle settled into a Lead Sled, and working at a laser-ranged 25 yards, it took us fewer than 30 rounds to get her dialed in. And when I say dialed in, I’m talking everything inside the half-inch square black diamond at the center of a Birchwood Casey Shoot*N*C target. Everything.

After a half dozen such 5- and 10-shot groups, I left my stepson and stack of ammunition at his side, to his own devices. Eventually he wandered over to where I was shooting digitals, with a perma-smile etched on his face. “Would this even be fair on squirrels?” he asked, showing me his targets. One, a 30-round cluster, measured 3/8-inch from center to center. At one point, he began shooting a single hole, and then using that as a target. “This gun is ridiculous,” he said. “We need to buy it.”

And the boy is right; the MLR22AT is ridiculously accurate if you feed her the proper ammunition. Based on the company’s printed suggestion, we sighted the rimfire in with CCI’s Mini-Mag (36-grain/hollow point/1260fps) ammunition.

Problems experienced? Absolutely none; however, I can’t say the same about some of the other ammunition we tried. The company’s printed material did warn of possible function issues when using promotional or bulk ammunition. They weren’t lying.

This article appeared in the December 3, 2012 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine

.22 LR: The Best Survival Ammunition?

22 Long Rifle Ammunition
The author states that the .22 Long Rifle is the best cartridge for survival situations. What do you think? Be sure sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the article.

Let me make my case for the .22 Long Rifle (.22 LR) as the ultimate survival choice in terms of rifle cartridges. What does the .22LR have going for it that would make someone even consider it as a survival choice, let alone the best all-round?

.22 LR Weight

Not surprisingly, I was able to find a chart on the Internet that compared the weights of various pistol and rifle – rimfire and centerfire – cartridges in bulk. According to this chart, there are 133.3 Remington 36-grain hollow points in a pound.

Curious, I did a bit of checking on my own using my wife’s postal scale, and found it took 143 rounds – Federal 36-grain copper-plated hollow points – to equal 16 ounces. Digging a bit deeper, I found there to be in that same pound, ten rounds of 3-inch 12-gauge steel #1 shot, 21 rounds of 170-grain 30-30 Winchester, 23 of .243 Winchester in a 90-grain Power Core hollow point format, and 17 of 150-grain pointed soft point .30-06 Springfield.

My point? Though very much concerned with pinpoint accuracy, I am also a believer in the mantra: Peace (or Continued Existence) through Superior Firepower. That said, I would opt for 143 effective though admittedly circumstantially limited cartridges over 17 or 21 or 23 bigger, more powerful rounds.

The bottom line is the .22 LR offers the option to carry an absolutely ridiculous number of rounds easily; the others, not so much.

.22 LR Availability

Use ball ammunition with brass cases for your survival guns.
Click the image to continue reading about survival ammunition. Scott Wagner discusses the benefits of ball ammo.

Even in the most out-of-the-way Mom ‘n Pop grocery, there’s almost a 100 percent chance they’re going to have a box – or several boxes – of some sort of .22LR ammunition lying around.

It’s true, and I can’t argue the fact the same might be said of 12-gauge 2-3/4-inch shotshells, or .30-06 or 30-30 Winchester cartridges; however, we go back to the rounds-per-pound comparison above. Should you have to trade folding money for ammunition, the rimfires are going to be much less expensive, as in $22 per 400 rounds of .22 LR versus $22 per 20 rounds of .30-06.

Apples to oranges? Perhaps, but you get the point here, I’m sure. And going back to availability, if your particular situation involves the End of Days, aka Armageddon, and legal tender isn’t an issue, there’s a better chance you’re going to be able to successfully scrounge .22 LR ammunition anywhere around the country, and to a large extent abroad, than anything other type of ammunition – with the possible exception, before anyone speaks up, of 7.62×39, but now you’re back to 27 rounds per pound.

.22 LR Accuracy

Out to 100 yards, and for some, beyond that, the .22 LR can be a deadly accurate cartridge. And accuracy, of course, has a bearing on ammunition expenditure, a variable that might play a very important role, particularly in a long-term survival situation. Inside 100 yards, you should be able to hit what you are shooting at easily. For more on the .22 LR and accuracy, see the ammo test results to the left on this page.

.22 LR Audio Level

Should audio level, that is how noisy or quiet a firearm is, even be a consideration in terms of a whether or not a firearm is the perfect choice in a survival scenario? I think certainly.

A low-level report from a .22 LR which, again using the Internet, falls roughly between 118 and 134 decibels won’t (1) frighten game nearly as dramatically as might a substantially louder round. The .243 Winchester comes in at approximately 160 decibels.

And again returning to the Armageddon scenario, the softer-sounding .22 LR won’t attract unwanted human attention over great distances, thereby eliminating or decreasing the instances of unfriendly reconnaissance to the sound. As a final note, the .22 LR can be, should the world end, easily quieted using any number of commonly-found household items.

.22 LR Versatility

If it’s a meal you’re in need of, there’s really no cause to look further than a .22 LR. Whether it’s ground squirrel or groundhog rabbit or sitting duck, the .22 LR works. Animals as large as wild hogs or whitetails can be taken cleanly with a .22 LR and proper shot placement.

There are few, if any, reasonably sized life forms, edible or otherwise, that cannot be dispatched with either a 36- or 40-grain bullet launched from a rimfire case. Would I want to go toe-to-toe with a 350-pound black bear armed only with a .22 LR? Or would my first choice for moose be a rimfire? No, but here we’re discussing the acquisition of nourishment, first, and the preservation of life only when evasion and/or avoidance strategies have been tried and deemed unsuccessful.

The reality is, if you shoot a deer in a survival situation, you will need to preserve a lot of meat. If you shoot a rabbit or a squirrel, you eat your meal and move on with your 143 rounds of ammo.

Gun Review: Classic Remington Model 1100

Gun Review: Remington Model 1100

This classic field gun still serves many. But these days specific models can be difficult to find. The iconic Remington Model 1100 is still one of the best.

CHRISTMAS, 1979, and my Old Man was at it again with his traditional – “Well, Jake,” he’d say with as mischievous a smile as my Old Man ever mustered. “You’d better look under the couch. There just might be something there for you.”

Or maybe it was another of his favorites, the box of ammunition with the handwritten note inside; the note, like his one-liner, directing me to peer into the darkness that was the underside of the davenport. Either way, the Old Man got his point across – there was something under the sofa, and I best be looking for it.

I was 15 that Christmas, and a veteran, or so I thought, of some seven hunting seasons. I had graduated from school to school in terms of field firearms, many of which you folks have read about here – a single-shot H&R .410, a Stevens M107B 20-gauge, and a Winchester M24 16-gauge double, to name but a handful of my diplomas.

But this year – 1979 – Boy Howdy, I’d hit the big time, for there was something underneath the sofa. A long green cardboard box bearing the white script REMINGTON across the top. Inside, the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, including any icky ‘ole girl I’d encountered throughout the whole of my middle school career.

Laying there, encased in flaking white styrofoam, was THE shotgun – Big Green’s Model 1100 semi-automatic. Mine was identical to the Old Man’s never-without field piece, only instead of his 12-bore, mine was of a gauge to which I’d grown most accustomed – the 16. Here was my version of Ralphie “A Christmas Story” Parker’s Red Ryder BB gun, minus, of course, the compass in the stock. From his perch in his faux leather reclining chair, the Old Man watched, just a hint of a grin on his lips. Christmas, that year, was a success on several different fronts.

That was – Holy Cats! – 32 years ago, and since being first assembled later that same Christmas morning, the M1100 16-gauge has accounted for multitudinous species of North American game and fowl, including several whitetails.

It’s interesting to note that upon my receipt of the shotgun in ‘79, dedicated slug barrels, smoothbore or otherwise, weren’t available. Fortunately, my Uncle Jim owned a sporting goods store, and was able, I know not how, to obtain a shortened, no-rib tube for the 16 to which he had brazed a set of adjustable iron sights.

At least half a dozen Ohio whitetails fell to that combo over the years, including my first buck. Prairie chickens, sharp tails, ruffed grouse, doves, pigeons, snipe, rails, woodcock, teal, Canada geese; the only fowl not on the list for the M1100 is a wild turkey. But, should you be interested, I’ll keep you posted on that matter following this Spring season here in Iowa.

Gun Digest Gun Review Remington Model 1100.Technically Speaking

The first thing my Old Man did upon getting my new prize down into his corner of the basement was to, step by step, demonstrate the disassembly/assembly process. Having owned an M1100 since 1970, Pop was quite familiar with the mechanical workings of the autoloader. Today, in fact, he has enough spare parts – highly organized, mind you – to build a complete new shotgun, if, that is, he’d so wish.

Secondly, the Old Man’s rule on shotgun maintenance was, and still is, quite simple – if you take a gun into the field, it gets wiped down afterwards; if you shoot that gun, it gets broken down, cleaned, and reassembled. But I digress.

Though there have been some slight internal modifications to the M1100 over the past three decades, the gas-operated semi-automatic appears, both inside and out, much as it did back in The Day.

Outwardly, the M1100 – we’ll use my 16-gauge here as an exhibition item – falls, at least to me, somewhere between Moderately Ornate and Plain Jane. The American walnut stock and fore-end are finished in a high-gloss epoxy coating, with both the pistol grip and the underside of the fore-end being handsomely, albeit simply, checkered.

Present is the hard black plastic grip cap inlaid with Remington’s traditional, though now sadly absent, elongated white diamond. Both the receiver and barrel are blued; the left and right sides of the receiver sport tasteful engraved scrollwork, as does the chrome bolt.

The barrel, in this case a 28-inch tube, is topped with a wide ¼-inch pillared rib, and culminates in a fixed modified choke. Newer guns, not surprisingly, feature Big Green’s interchangeable Rem-Choke system. A single 3mm silver bead sits atop the muzzle. The M1100’s cross-bolt safety sits where it should – behind the trigger guard. The bolt/carrier release button is located underneath the receiver as an integral part of the carrier/elevator.

To disassemble the Old School M1100 is to understand its inner workings. Inside the fore-end and riding the magazine tube, two gas pistons – or, technically, a gas piston and a gas piston seal – assist in the gas-metering process.

Usable pressure enters the mechanism via two ports located underneath the barrel in the upper portion of the gas cylinder; the gas cylinder slides over the magazine tube as the firearm is reassembled. Upon firing, gas pressure forces the action bar assembly — it too riding the magazine tube — and bolt rearward. A metal link or rod connecting the bolt and bolt plate slides back, compressing the recoil spring in the stock.

The kinetic energy created assists in returning the bolt, bolt plate, and action bar assembly forward and into a firing position. In the midst of this instantaneous process, a fresh shotshell is released from the magazine, and elevated into an active loading position via a carrier.

Gun Review Remington Model 1100 Classic Field.
The Remington Model 1100 Classic Field.

My Personal Report Card

I’ll admit it; I’m biased and not entirely unsentimental when it comes to Remington’s Old School M1100, especially should that piece, like mine, come in a 16-gauge format. I mean really, what’s not to like about a gun that looks good, cleans up easily, and works each and every time you pull the trigger?

True, I’ve heard that the newer generation autoloaders from Big Green have had their issues; we won’t even broach the subject of the ill-fated Model Cti105. Still, I believe it says something about a firearm, and here I’m speaking specifically of my M1100, when I say that after 32 years and tens of thousands of rounds, this particular autoloader still sports her original rubber O-Ring – as fragile a part as was ever put on this field piece.

Honestly, I can’t recall one mechanical misfortune where this shotgun is concerned, and I believe if you ask him, my Pop would say the same about his M1100. Perhaps it’s true; they – whoever they are – just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Now for the bad news. If you’ve read this and are thinking – “Boy, howdy! I’d love to get my hands on one of those Old School M1100’s in a 16-gauge!” – well, you probably have your work cut out for you.

There are guns out there. However, many you find on the Internet are Remington’s reintroduction of the M1100 16-gauge, this one built on a 12-gauge frame, and thus not a “true” 16 to my way of thinking. That said, I did run across one of these 12/16-gauge pieces, new in the box, with a 26-inch barrel and three choke tubes at gunsamerica.com for $650. Other new/old examples averaged from $200 to $400.

This article appeared in the May 9, 2011 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

Winchester’s New Load Blindsides Waterfowl

Winchester's new Blindside ammo.

When the folks at Winchester called to invite me down to East Alton, Ill., home to Winchester’s legendary NILO Farms, last October, they said they wanted to introduce me to a new type of non-toxic waterfowl ammunition, one they assured me would be quite eye-opening. Little did the men realize just what an understatement they’d made.

At first glance, Winchester’s new Blind Side appears to be just another 1-3/8-ounce steel load housed in a black hull with a silver base. Even the advertised velocity – 1,400 feet per second (fps) – isn’t out of the ordinary; however, once the technicians began describing the new load in detail, it quickly became apparent that this non-toxic offering was something unique.

To fully understand Blind Side, let’s break a single shotshell down internally, component by component. The first noticeable difference is the shot itself; not your traditional round pellets, but rather hexahedrons – six-sided cubes of zinc-plated steel. The technicians explained there are two primary reasons for the unusual shape.

Winchester Blindside ammo.One, the cubes allow individual pellets to be stacked inside the hull, effectively eliminating the empty space created when round shapes settle against one another. The resulting packing density increases payload by 15 percent; meaning a 1-3/8-ounce charge now fits into a 1-1/4 ounce hull. Secondly, the flat surfaces, along with the corners and edges of the new Hex Shot increases on-target trauma dramatically – this trauma translates into tremendous energy and shock transfer. The proverbial bottom line here is simple; you have more pellets and each pellet is more effective.

Next, you need to see the wad. For several years now, shotshell manufacturers have been experimenting with radical new wad designs, as they apply to non-toxic applications. Many waterfowlers are familiar with Federal’s FliteControl  (FC) wad; a rear-braking cup that distinguishes itself through increased pattern densities at longer yardages. Unlike the FC wad, the Blind Side cup sports three diamond-shaped cuts on the aft (forward) portion of the wad proper.

Upon leaving the muzzle, the diamonds open and flex rearward, slowly separating the wad from the Hex Shot charge, but not before remaining with the charge long enough to ensure consistent patterns downrange. Interestingly, the Blind Side wad is a two-piece unit made up of the cup and a second hinged, base upon which the cup and charge sit. Because the Hex Shot creates room inside the hull otherwise occupied by pellets, more space now exists for this hinged wad. This contributes to pressure reduction, increased velocity, and reduced perceived recoil.

Blind Side is loaded using Winchester’s proven Drylock system, a sealing process that serves to keep both the powder charge and the primer watertight. Two formats – 3-inch, and 3-1/2-inch – are available, those in 1-3/8 ounce and 1-5/8 ounce loads, respectively, and containing either #2 or #BB Hex Shot in black hulls. Blind Side hit the shelves in June 2011.

Browning Buckmark Review: Timeless .22 Rimfire Pistol

The Browning Buck Mark Hunter, with its bull barrel and integral scope mount is ready for action in the woods. This pistol would do just fine for bringing down squirrels or the odd cottontail that happens to stand still long enough to present an ethical shot.
The Browning Buck Mark Hunter, with its bull barrel and integral scope mount is ready for action in the woods. This pistol would do just fine for bringing down squirrels or the odd cottontail that happens to stand still long enough to present an ethical shot.

There’s nothing more fun than shooting a .22 pistol that’s accurate, reliable, and attractive. The Browning Buckmark pistol makes the cut.

I got to thinking the other day – something I’m not prone to do – that it’s been quite a while since I’ve written about a .22 rimfire here at Gun Digest. That oversight needs to change since, short of a brand new box of 64 Crayola crayons with the sharpener in the back, there are few things on the planet nicer than a .22 rimfire, such as the Browning Buckmark.

I have had – and still have – my fair share of .22s. They’re somewhere around this big old schoolhouse we call home – the Schmidt EIG E15 revolver, the H&R M922 nine-shooter, the Remington M514 bolt-action, the Ruger 10/22, and that modern day reminder of the Wild West, Winchester’s Model 9422 lever-action.

All are what I’d consider Old School guns; not antiques, but certainly not new by any stretch of the imagination.

The Latecomer Browning Buckmark

Recently, though, I had occasion to plink for an afternoon with two very impressive .22 rimfires, both of which are quite a bit more modern than are the Long Rifles and pistols to which I’m accustomed. Browning’s Buckmark pistols, and a sister long gun, were introduced in 1985.

For you mathematicians, that’s 91 years after John M. Browning invented his first auto-loading pistol.

The Buckmark pistols are offered in a dozen different configurations, ranging from the plain Jane Camper model – my personal favorite – to the semi-futuristic looking Buck Mark Lite, complete with fluted alloy barrel and nitrile rubber grips.

As for the Buck Mark Rifle, she’s more than simply an auto-loading pistol with a stock attached, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Buck Mark Plus UDX offers a distinctive slab-sided barrel, fiber optic sights and grooved walnut grips. It is a very good-looking pistol.
The Buck Mark Plus UDX offers a distinctive slab-sided barrel, fiber optic sights and grooved walnut grips. It is a very good-looking pistol.

Browning Buckmark: Technically Speaking

In terms of technical operation – in fact, in terms of general overall appearance and operation – both the Browning Buckmark pistols and rifles are quite similar. Both cycle rounds via a reliable blowback action.

Both short and long versions position a slide lock (stop open latch) and a manual sear block safety on the left side of the receiver directly above and slightly behind the top of the left grip.

The magazine release, again on both, is a checkered push-button located behind and integral to the trigger guard, on the left side. Both use a 10-round coil-spring magazine; a spring assist helps drive the cartridge supply out of the magazine well with no hesitation.

During my time with the pistols, I had the opportunity to work with the Buck Mark Plus UDX (Ultragrip Deluxe wood, ambidextrous), as well as the slightly less expensive – $469 versus $509 – but heavier by four ounces, Hunter model.

Visually, the UDX, with her squared “Slabside” barrel, grooved walnut grips, gold trigger, and green fiber optic front sight is quite the looker – Old School, but not ancient.

The Hunter model, on the other hand, with her matte finish rounded bull barrel, integral scope mount, and silky smooth laminate grips, appears, at least to me, a bit more of a Speed Gun.

A Browning Buckmark Rifle?

Regarding the Buck Mark rifle, the most eye-catching characteristic was the skeletonized stock structure, which attaches a high-comb walnut short stock directly to the pistol frame.

Technically, everything about the rifle mirrors the Browning Buckmark pistol; gone, however, is the Hunter’s 7-1/4-inch barrel, replaced with an 18-inch flat matte finish heavy target tube, complete with recessed crown.

All that’s missing here are the weight-reducing barrel flutes, but I’m certain those are just a matter of time.

My Personal Report Card

Granted, I like every .22 rimfire, no matter how slowly or quickly she fires, or how fancy she looks. However, the folks in Morgan, Utah, have made it really easy to fall in love with these little guns – and for several reasons.

One, they work, and they worked each and every time our group of a dozen shooters pulled the little gold trigger.

That particular afternoon, we were feeding both the pistols and the Buck Mark Target Rifle a never-ending supply of Winchester’s 40-grain Power Point/High-Velocity rounds. And as far as I know, the better part of 1,000 rounds, went downrange with nary a hiccup. That, folks, is what I’m looking for in an old-fashioned plink’n rimfire.

Buck Mark Accuracy

Secondly, they’re accurate little guns. The Buck Mark rifle, our test model topped with a Bushnell Elite 3-9, particularly so.

While I would have preferred a full day on the range with the Brownings, the short time I spent in front of the targets proved all of the models more than capable cottontail and squirrel pieces, with most of the shooters being able to keep everything inside a golf ball sized circle at 25 feet with the pistols, and 50 yards – once we got the long gun dialed in – with the Target Rifle.

And third, they’re mechanically simple, a design characteristic for which Mr. Browning was well known. Disassembly for routine maintenance involves breaking the pistols down into five major parts – frame, barrel, sight base, recoil rod/firing pin housing, and operating slide – and requires, with some practice, less than 60 seconds.

It’s as easy as tying your shoe. Hell, it’s as easy as Velcroing your shoe, and you folks know me – I like simple.

Browning Buckmark Price

Price? True, it’s more than you’ll pay for a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic or a Nylon 66, but then again, you’re not buying either of those long guns here. Suggested retail for the Browning Buckmark pistol ranges from $359 to $549, depending upon the model.

A bit more expensive, the Buck Mark Rifle will wear a price tag of roughly $650. Internet prices were on par with MSRP, however, many of the websites I called up listed the Buck Mark pistols as being Out of Stock. That probably says something about the popularity and quality of the little guns, now doesn’t it?


Bone Up On Browning:


Browning Buckmark Pistol Specs
Make/model – Buck Mark Hunter Pistol
Action/design – Semi-automatic
Caliber – .22 rimfire
Operation – Blowback
Overall length – 11-1/4 inches
Barrel – 7-1/4 inches
Weight – 38 ounces
Magazine – Detachable; 10 round
Trigger pull – 4.0 pounds
Sights – Tru-Glo fiber optic front; fully adjustable rear
Additional sights – None; aftermarket scope rail
Finish – Matte blued
Grips – Cocobolo with Buck Mark logo
Safety – Sear block (thumb operated; left side of receiver)

Learn more at www.browning.com

Corey Graff contributed to this article.

Gun Review: CVA Optima Pro

CVA Optima Pro Gun Review

For a beginning muzzleloader, the CVA Optima Pro makes a good impression in the field. Its features make it easy to use when that special muzzleloader season rolls around.

The story behind this week’s Field Gun – a CVA Optima Pro – involves two whitetails, neither of which I killed. The first, a late-season shed-antler buck, was taken in eastern Iowa by 15-year-old Tannor Peska, a young neighbor on his inaugural deer hunt. The shot was made at approximately 40 yards in an open field; the 295-grain PowerBelt hollow point put the buck down as if the proverbial rug had been pulled out from underneath him. No chasing that one – and perhaps best was we could drive right to the fallen whitetail, and load him up simple as that. As one ages, factors such as that become quite significant.

The second, I’m sad to say, was accomplished in my absence; still, I was able to relive each and every second of the hunt via the hunter’s father. As the story goes, this young hunter dropped the hammer on his whitetail, also his first, at an estimated 70 yards. Though the shot was a bit high, the big Iowa doe nonetheless dropped on the spot, the PowerBelt – this one a solid AeroTip style – performing perfectly.

Impressive, yes, that these two young men did so well; however, equally as impressive was the performance of the rifle in the hands of these young nimrods. The gun was a .50 caliber Connecticut Valley Arms (CVA) Optima Pro muzzleloader, which I more than happily loaned the boys. This gun is as fine an introductory frontstuffer as has come down the pike in recent years. Oh, and did I mention accurate?

Technically Speaking

Before I begin, let me throw out one important note about this particular muzzleloader – it’s no longer available. Now before you throw your hands up and shout “What!” allow me to explain. The Optima Pro, i.e. the one I currently own, is no longer available; however, a new version is on the shelves, and doing quite well.

“We first introduced the Optima in 2003,” said Dudley McGarity, CEO for the Georgia-based Blackpowder Products, Inc. (BPI), umbrella company to CVA. “This was the turning point for CVA in terms of unit sales. Bottom line is the Optima rifles were the right guns at the right time.”

And, it seems, at the right prices, as the company’s dollar sales doubled between 2002 and the introduction of the gun in 2003. But all good things, as they say, come to an end. “The original Optimas were put out to pasture in late 2009,” continued McGarity, “and the new Optima presented to the public at the 2010 SHOT Show.” New technology, as is often the case, was the cause for the demise of the original Optima. “We decided it was time to update the Optima before it got stale in the marketplace,” he said. “But we still inventory all the parts for the original guns.”

My personal Optima, aka The Old Gun, is fundamentally as simple as they come. Technically, she’s a break-action. Think Topper single-shot 20-gauge but as an in-line .50 caliber muzzleloader, with a 1-in-28 twist.

A grooved barrel release, or breeching lever, located at the rear of the trigger guard opens the gun, revealing a removable breech plug into which a #209 shotgun primer fits. Cocking the hammer, extension included, is the final act prior to firing the piece; an internal transfer bar style safety prevents and accidental discharge. Both the ambidextrous Monte Carol stock and forearm are of composite, and the barrel is lightly scored with five 13.5-inch flutes. Fiber optic front and rear sights are standard, as are integral sling swivels.

The new Optima differs from the old largely in aesthetics and niceties; options such as a stainless steel finish, thumbhole stock, and standard DuraSight scope mounts (thumbhole stock only) being but three. There are, however, three significant changes to the new model. These include BPI’s patented Quick Release Breech Plug (QRBP), which allows the plug to be removed without tools – fingers only – after the gun has been fired.

Other easy-out plugs exist; however, removing them after the rifle has been fired has, until now, been questionable or impossible. Secondly, the breeching lever has been relocated to the front of the trigger guard, while the third is a slight redesign of the hammer. Have these modifications created a better beast? If conveniences translate into improvements, then perhaps the answer is yes.

My Personal Report Card

To be brutally honest, I’ve not had the opportunity to spend any time behind the trigger of the new Optima; however, I have had the model in hand, and have come to one rather unscientific – and perhaps biased – conclusion: I like my Old School model much better. Not, mind you, that there’s a world of difference between the two.

Yes, the Second Generation Optima does feature some nice-to-have bells and whistles, e.g. the thumbhole stock option, and a slimmer, more streamlined appearance. And while for some, the quick-release breech plug of the new model might seem an absolute necessity, for me, a fanatical cleaner of guns, it’s an improvement somewhat lost personally.

By now, all you folks know how I feel about firearms and simplicity, and if you don’t, my mantra is as follows – The Simpler, The Better. And that, I believe, is what I like best about the Old School Optima, and to damn near the same extent, the Second Generation model; they’re basic firearms, with very few things to go wrong.

Visually, I like the looks of the Old School gun more than the new. There’s just something, well, ruggedly handsome about it; nothing fancy, gaudy, nor high-tech, but not mud fence homely either.

The barrel flutes, at least to me, add to the appearance, but whether or not they contribute to significant heat dissipation is a mystery. As for weight reduction – well, there too, I don’t know how much actual metal has been removed, plus by the time most hunters are finished hanging aftermarket accessories on their Optima, it’s still a 10-pound gun, give or take a couple ounces.

Aesthetics aside, though, my personal Optima is an accurate little rifle, capable of maintaining regulation baseball-sized, or three-inch, groups at 100 yards when stuffed with two 50-grain Pyrodex pellets and a 295-grain PowerBelt bullet.

Interestingly enough, point of impact doesn’t change between hollow points and the polymer-nosed AeroTip style bullets; I had thought it would, at least to some degree. At 50 yards, my Optima prints two inches high which, according to the company’s trajectory tables, brings the 295-grain PB back to zero at not quite 150, or in plain English, plenty of distance for most Midwestern whitetail situations, and then some.

Oh, and as for the bane of many a blackpowder shooter, the cleaning – well, and I mean no disrespect here, but if you’re capable of changing an ordinary light bulb, then you’re more than intellectually suited for maintaining the Optima, old or new.

A half-inch socket – or the supplied tool – removes the breech plug, which is dropped into a Mason jar with a couple inches of #13 black powder solvent. A spritz of bore cleaner, a .50-caliber brass brush, a little elbow grease, and a light coating of Bore Butter tends to the barrel. The breech plug gets scrubbed, the threads lubed with Anti-Seize, and replaced. A final wipe-down of the exterior – and maybe some Viz-Wiz on the scope lenses – and she’s ready for the rack.

Accuracy, aesthetics, simplicity; what more could a hunter ask for, except perhaps a killer bargain? Well, there’s that, too. Digging around on the Web, I found one Old School Optima, a .50 caliber identical to mine, listed on The Sportsman’s Guide site (sportsmansguide.com) for a club price of $197.

Hell, even the non-member price of $249 seems to me a clear cut case of money well-spent. New versions of the Optima range in price from $300 for the gun only (midwayusa.com) to Bass Pro’s (basspro.com) kit that features a scoped and bore-sighted .50 caliber, plus a padded case, for $400. In this day and age, when a tank full of fuel that’s gone in a week can cost $110, $300 for a firearm that lasts a lifetime is a damn good deal.

By the numbers

Make/Model – Connecticut Valley Arms Optima Pro
Caliber/Gauge – .50 caliber
Action/Firing mechanism – Exposed hammer; break-action
Ignition system – #209 Primer; in-line
Weight – 9.13 pounds (with scope)
Barrel length – 28 inches; fluted
Overall length – 44.25 inches
Trigger pull – 2.5 pounds
Sights – Adjustable fiber optics
Scope (as tested) – Cabela’s Alaskan Premium 3-9×40
Stock length – 13.25, with pad
Finish – Matte black
Recoil pad – one-inch;
ventilated rubber
Safety – Transfer bar

This article appeared in the February 28, 2011 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

Field Gun Review: Remington R-25

Remington R-25 in .243 Winchester.

Built on an AR action, the Remington R-25 is the definition of the ‘Modern Sporting Rifle.’ In an attractive camo finish, it's an ideal varminter or target rifle.

When I was just a kid I remember my Uncle Jim – Dad’s younger brother – having a Class 3 firearms permit. He owned both a Colt M16A1 and an MP40 “Schmeisser” machine pistol. While the MP was interesting, especially to a 12-year-old, it was the M16 that attracted and held the lion’s share of my attention.

The fact he also owned a .22 rimfire upper receiver for the piece certainly helped; not only with the enjoyment factor, but more notably from a financial standpoint. It was a fun gun – nothing more, nothing less.

That was 35 years ago, and in the time between the Then and Now I haven’t so much as slipped a magazine into an AR-type rifle. This status changed recently, however, when I received Remington’s latest introduction – the Model R-25. Futuristic in appearance, the mottled green thing lay there in its hard case, ugly as a 1980 Chevrolet Citation.

I didn’t know whether to pick it up and fondle it, or poke it with a stick and hope for the best. Fortunately, and after the initial shock wore off, I resisted the urge to simply close the lid and wander away – and I’m glad I did, as I found what Big Green refers to as a “masterpiece of game-dropping performance that will load any camp’s meat pole with unrivaled efficiency” to be quite the shooter. Even if I do phrase it a little less dramatically.
Available in .243 Winchester, 7mm-08 Remington, and .308 Winchester, Remington’s latest centerfire, the R-25, is a gas-operated AR-style semi-automatic rifle.

Technically Speaking

Available in .243 Winchester, 7mm-08 Remington, and .308 Winchester, Remington’s latest centerfire, the R-25, is a gas-operated AR-style semi-automatic rifle. All but the barrel and dust cover are cloaked in Mossy Oak’s ‘Treestand’ camouflage pattern.

In true AR Style, the R-25 consists of an upper receiver, which includes the bolt assembly and barrel, and the lower, comprised of the trigger group, magazine, safety, and bolt latch. Both upper and lower are milled from aluminum; the tubular hand guard is also aluminum, all of which help keep weight to a minimum.

The 20-inch barrel, with recessed crown, is fluted, and is wrapped at 5.5 inches back from the muzzle in a gas block cut with a 1.5-inch Picatinny rail, and secured by twin set screws underneath. The stock is made of a rugged Zytel plastic, with a .5-inch hard black plastic pad, and aluminum-doored cleaning gear compartment measuring 1 x 2 x 8.25 inches.

The pistol grip is cut from Zytel. The R-25 arrives sans sights; however, and in addition to the forward Picatinny rail, the upper includes a 6.75-inch Picatinny for scope or tactical optic mounting. Cartridges are fed via a supplied four-round magazine; however, the company website does state that any DPMS (dpmsinc.com), a sister company to Remington, .308 Winchester-style magazine is compatible.

Filled with Remington’s 75-grain Accutip-V Boattails, and topped with an Alpen APEX 6-14x44SF cranked up to 10x, the .243 version I tested printed an amazing .625-inch group at 50 yards.

My Personal Report Card

Mind you, my meeting with the R-25 is, for all intents and purposes, my first introduction to firearms of this nature during my adult life. As you might have picked up on via my scribblings here in Field Gun Review, I’m somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to weaponry, especially in terms of aesthetics. That is, I want the gun to look as good as it functions. And while this may be subjective, I’m just not used to this new style of rifle.

This said, don’t hate me when I refer to the R-25 as homely. I think she would look much better draped in her original black finish; however, I’m sure it was Remington’s intent to take the Black Rifle label. To some extent, they’ve succeeded in creating an Old School camouflaged autoloader wearing radically new clothes. It’s a case of semantics, or at least it is to me. Regardless, I don’t find the R-25 aesthetically pleasing; some might, I don’t. Still, good looks don’t consistently kill whitetails or hogs or coyotes or antelope or what have you. Accuracy and reliability do, and in this arena, the R-25 is stunning.

Filled with Remington’s 75-grain Accutip-V Boattails, and topped with an Alpen APEX 6-14x44SF cranked up to 10x, the .243 version I tested printed an amazing .625-inch group at 50 yards. Not three shots or five shots, but 10 rounds split evenly between two shooters into a ragged cloverleaf just barely 5/8-inch from center to center. Groups did open up a touch at 100 yards; still, all of our three- to five-shot clusters measured between 1.25 and 1.5 inches. I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the R-25 from the cabinet and carry it afield for anything from whitetails to coyotes.

While we’re on the topic of carrying things, the R-25, at 11.5 pounds, 19 ounces of which is scope, isn’t meant to be toted for very long, or at least I don’t want to pack it around the hills of western Washington in search of blacktails, black bears, or for that matter, blackberries. Plainly put, it’s heavy.

That said, if you’re of a mind to sit in a box blind, ground blind, or treestand, then it doesn’t matter. On a positive note, the R-25 is exceptionally easy to break down for routine maintenance, as are all the members of the AR family. As is often the case upon receiving a new anything, my initial move is to take it apart and then, hopefully, put it back together. Doing so with the R-25 is amazingly simple. Push two pins, and the upper and lower receivers separate. From this point, it’s a truly simple matter to reduce the weapon’s innards to individual parts, clean thoroughly, and reassemble.

Running anywhere from $1,350 to $1,500 retail – and that’s before you begin the addictive process of buying and attaching aftermarket gadgets and gizmos – the R-25 makes, in my humble opinion, for a rather spendy deer rifle. However, the weapon doesn’t falter in the field accuracy department, nor in terms of reliability. And as far as getting noticed when you pull it out of the case at this year’s Upper Midwest deer camp – well, there should be no shortage of “interesting” comments.

This article appeared in the December 6, 2010 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine

Gun Review: Remington Model 514

7

The sparrow slayer of the author’s youth gets a second look with the eyes of experience. M.D. Johnson reviews the Remington Model 514, a sweet little .22 LR rifle.

WHEN I WAS 13 or 14 – NOTE: For you mathematicians, the years would have been 1977 or ’78 – my Slovak grandparents moved from the family farm, which like many in northeastern Ohio had been swallowed by progress, onto a much smaller parcel some 10 miles to the north and west. Always the farmer, Dzedo, Slovak for grandfather, put the back 14 acres into sweet corn, with a huge family garden on the side. “M.D.,” he told me often, “you’re in charge of keeping the birds out of the corn, especially those damned sparrows.”

I took my avian eradication responsibilities very seriously, a task made much simpler due to the fact that thanks to my father, Mick, I had access to quite the arsenal of English sparrow-sized firearms, including such fine pieces as a Harrington & Richardson .410 single-shot, a similar single in 20-gauge, and a Fox B Grade, also in 20-gauge.

But despite this wealth of wonderful weaponry, all of which performed quite admirably on sparrows, as well as the occasional starling, crow, and passing pigeon, I had quite the unusual favorite field gun; unusual, at least many would think, for the task at hand.

On permanent loan from my Mother’s brother, Neal, the little single-shot .22 caliber bolt action seemed a tad out of place along the edges of Dzedo’s cornfield. However, when primed with CCI’s .22 Long Rifle shotshells, each tiny blue-tipped cartridge containing 31 grains, or 0.07 ounces, of #12 shot, the rimfire became quite the sparrow eliminator – all at understandably close range, to be sure.

This need for proximity, however, did, I believe, assist in my education and improvement as a hunter; that is, I soon learned the importance of stealth, patience, timing, and other qualities vital for success afield. Was I stalking a full-curl Dall sheep on a shale slope at 5,500 feet elevation? Literally, no. Still, to a 13-year-old charged with protecting the whole of northeastern Ohio’s sweet corn supply, my adventures were no less exciting.

Technically Speaking

Although at my then-young age only moderately interested in variables such as make and model, I was aware the little bolt action was a Remington product. Today, I, along with the sporting community, recognize the piece as a Remington Model 514. According to the Firearms History on the company’s website – NOTE – If you haven’t discovered these pages, I highly recommend them – this particular piece was manufactured from 1948 through 1970, during which time approximately 757,000 were made.

The rifle, as mentioned earlier, is a single-shot bolt action of .22 rimfire, capable of handling Shorts, Longs, and Long Rifle rounds. Here, and at great risk of offending fans of the piece, I’ll say the M514 might best be described as extremely basic; however, that was Remington’s intent, as the rifle was brought into play to compete with similarly elemental and inexpensive rimfires from Stevens, Savage, and others. At introduction, the M514 set the buyer back the princely sum of $14. Today, the same model can range from $75 to $150, depending, of course, on condition.

In keeping, I’m assuming, with the budget-mindedness surrounding this particular rifle, the M514 features a one-piece walnut stock, Old School though adjustable iron sights, solitary extractor, and a single takedown screw nicely recessed 2.5 inches ahead of the trigger guard. A rotating safety is located at the rear of the bolt. With the bolt closed, twisting a knurled end-piece clockwise swings a black stud to the 10 o’clock, or SAFE, position; counterclockwise, and a red stud at 4 o’clock indicates the OFF SAFE condition.

Again, I’m sure, for the frugal, the M514’s receiver is non-grooved, and thus wasn’t out-of-the-box ready for glass optics. Some owners had the receiver drilled and tapped for readily available Weaver-style mounts; others, not wishing to modify the gun as such and perhaps lower its collector value, opted to stay with the standard iron sights.

My Personal Report Card

As I wandered through my teenage years, corn-nibbling English sparrows were eventually replaced by fox squirrels. And here, the M514 proved outstanding, a status it holds to this very day. Light at just a smidge over 4.5 pounds, the little rimfire was a joy to carry as I stalked among the towering hardwoods of my native Ohio. Certainly, it would have been a simple matter to drill the stock for sling swivels; however, like adding a scope, such an act of customization seemed rather sacrilegious. Or at least it did to me.

Overall, I’m quite pleased with the M514, particularly given the fact Grandpa Verity probably gave less than $20 for the rifle back in the early 1950s. The iron sights, earlier described as Old School, are indeed just that; however, I had no problem printing a .875-inch (horizontal) by 1.375-inch (vertical) 10-round group at 25 yards with Winchester’s Wildcat 40-grain cartridges – and this from a man who’s been sporting full-time prescription glasses for less than a month now. Aesthetically, the rifle, at least to me, epitomizes the traditional affordable .22 rimfire in a package combining basic beauty, simplicity, and more than acceptable accuracy.

Are there negatives? Myself, I don’t cotton much to the bolt-mounted rotating safety. It’s – and I may be nitpicking here – a bit inconvenient in terms of ease of operation; not impossible, but not nearly as handy as either the cross-bolt or right-receiver thumb styles.

And as for the trigger, while the pull itself isn’t atrocious, the amount of creep is, to stay kind, extraordinarily significant. Still, shooters have somehow managed to squeeze satisfactory groups out of their M514s for the past 62 years, and Lord knows how many bushytails have been harvested by hunters packing this popular Remington rimfire. Oh, and lest we forget, English sparrows, too.

This article appeared in the August 30, 2010 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine

Remington Model 514 Specs

Caliber – .22 Short, Long, and Long Rifle
Action – Bolt
Magazine type – None
Overall length – 41.5 inches
Weight – 4.13 pounds
Barrel length – 23.625 inches
Stock length – One-piece; 27.75 inches
Trigger – 5.13 pounds (average of three)
Pad – Thin (.375) hard plastic, black; checkered; circled Remington logo
Sights – Step-style (ramp) adjustable for elevation rear; dovetailed blade/bead front
Wood–Walnut

Gun Review: Model 11-87 Sportsman Field

Gun Diges Gun Review: M11-87 Sportsman FieldThe Model 11-87 Sportsman Field shotgun is no cheap knock-off, but is designed with the wallet in mind. Available in 20 and 12 gauge, it sports many of the features that made the original Model 11-87 so great.

I BOUGHT MY first Remington Model 11-87 a year after the shotgun’s debut, which – perhaps not surprisingly – was in 1987. Mine was a purchase born out of necessity, or so I reasoned. I’d been invited to the Finger Lakes Region of central New York to hunt Canada geese, and didn’t, as the saying goes, have a thing to wear. Or in my case, a thing to shoot. A brief discussion with Rich Vance of Vance’s Sporting Goods in Columbus, Ohio, and a few dollars saved from a bartending gig, and I was headed home in the company of the familiar long cardboard box treasured by all shooters.

Today, my original M11-87 is semi-retired; however, over the course of its 22-year coast-to-coast life, it accounted for a tremendous variety of game, both furred and feathered, ranging from whitetails to grey fox to my first harlequin tagged on Washington state’s Birch Bay. Certainly, the piece looks its age – scars, scratches, dents, and wear – but then again, so too do I. That said, the autoloader has never once failed me, and that says a lot given the muck and mire and general abuse to which I oft-expose my firearms.

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with the M11-87s 21st Century cousin, a spin-off known simply as the M11-87 Sportsman Field. And while it’s true I did notice some, let’s call them, economical downgrades which set this version apart from its older brother, the Sportsman Field is definitely not a cheap knock-off; rather, a well-made – and actually quite nice-looking – piece designed with the wallet-watching ‘fowler or clays enthusiast in mind.

To learn more about shotguns, click here. Technically Speaking

Like the original M11-87, and the wildly-successful M1100 before it, the Sportsman Field is a gas-operated autoloader of, at least in my opinion, elemental design. Operational innards, i.e. the gas-regulating system for the 12-gauge model consists of a barrel-mounted gas cylinder and separate gas collar; a gas piston and barrel seal, also known as the familiar Remington O-ring, ride the magazine tube, and round out the assembly. It was interesting to note the 20-gauge version also included a thin-walled barrel seal activator in addition to the twin pistons and O-ring.

A second item of note is the 20-gauge’s skeletonized action bar assembly, the component which travels fore and aft on the magazine tube, and upon which the bolt rides. I’m assuming the change was not prompted by cosmetics, as the muzzle-most portion of the assembly is encased, and thus concealed, by the forearm.

Aesthetically, as well as operationally, the Sportsman Field remains, for the most part, Old School M11-87. Checkered American walnut, matte finish, twin beads, ventilated rib, simple one-piece two-pin trigger group, cross-bolt safety – this really is your father’s M11-87, with the exception of a gold-plated trigger and a nickel-plated bolt. Both of these upgrades, I’ll call them, are purely visual; an effort to psychologically transform a mid-priced autoloader into something slightly more upper crust, perhaps.

Barrel length options are 28 inches for the 12-bore, and 26 for the 20-gauge. Both feature 3-inch chambers, and both come packaged with a single choke tube, which in this case is modified. Both models, too, sport Remington’s ‘R’ logo laser-engraved on the pistol grip cap.

My Personal Report Card

Overall, my only less-than-positive comments about the Sportsman Field either are related to cosmetics or have to do, I’m sure, with the company’s goal to produce a reliable yet affordable shotgun; a note which then translates directly back to the aforementioned cosmetic factor. For example, while I would imagine the nickel-plated bolt lends somewhat to corrosion-resistance, the golden trigger is but gingerbread on an otherwise relatively utilitarian firearm, and as such, seems slightly out of place.

Sling swivels are absent, as perhaps they should be on a piece of this nature and price point – NOTE: New-in-box firearms can be found online from $600 to $660 – as is the traditional slotted recoil pad, both elements I do enjoy having. And yes, it’s nitpicky and has everything to do with visuals, but I do miss the M1100’s white diamond inset on the underside of the pistol grip. Call me sentimental, if you wish.

To break from the discussion on aesthetics, I have experienced two mechanical problems, perse, with my M11-87s during the time I’ve owned them. On three or four different occasions, the feed latch, a long flat piece located on the inboard ejection port side of the receiver responsible for holding rounds inside the magazine tube, on my 1988 model has detached while in use afield.

While not rendering the shotgun inoperable, it does effectively transform an autoloader into a single shot – and that’s a somewhat frustrating situation when the mallards are on the move. The second situation involved my wife’s M11-87 (1994) and a broken breech bolt buffer, the hard plastic sleeve encasing the rearward portion of the firing. This I attributed, albeit unscientifically, to my installation of a Sure Cycle System in this particular piece, and the subsequent increased impact force imparted on the rear of the bolt upon firing. In the first instance, the feed latch was reinstalled by a local gunsmith; the broken bolt, on the other hand, was quickly replaced, no questions asked, by the folks at Remington.

Positively speaking, the Sportsman Field offers plenty. Internally, the switch from a two-piece piston seal assembly to a one-piece unit in the 12-gauge model does, to me, make a certain amount of sense from both a routine maintenance, as well as a design standpoint. Remington, in the case of the M11-87, has done an excellent of keeping their firearms internally simple. By my count, a good cleaning requires the removal of but two parts – gas cylinder collar, and piston seal assembly – excluding the barrel and O-ring. An end-of-year wash increases this parts count by six; however, the gun is now as naked as it need be, with the task of reassembly taking not more than a couple minutes.

For more than two decades and after having digested thousands of rounds, my M11-87s have performed admirably. Minor mechanical glitches aside, the shotguns have proved themselves exceptionally reliable through all types of conditions and environmental situations, including repeated exposure to saltwater. I have no reason to doubt this new version, the Sportsman Field, will handle itself – and anything that flies, flushes, or is thrown before its muzzle – just as well.

Model 11-87 Sportsman Field Specs
Action – Semi-automatic; gas-operated
Gauge – 3” 20- and 12-gauge
Length – 48”
Weight – 8.4 pounds (12-gauge); 6.13 pounds (20-gauge)
Trigger – 4.15 pounds (average of three)
Sights – Traditional (silver) front bead – small mid-bead
Barrel on model tested – 28”
Stock – American walnut; 13.5”
Finish – Flat matte
Choke – Interchangeable Rem-
Choke system
Recoil pad – .875” solid rubber

This article appeared in the July 5, 2010 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine.

Gun Review: Shooting the Browning Maxus

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Created by duck hunters for duck hunters, the Browning Maxus is big on reliability, accuracy and power.

The very first sentence in the 2010 Browning catalog in reference to the company’s latest autoloading shotgun, the Maxus, is as follows – “The Browning Maxus – Maximum Reliability.” From experience, those five words certainly do say it all.

My first date with the Maxus was in Alberta in late 2008. Our group had, if memory serves me right, five of the new guns – a number which I believe represented, at that time, the whole of the population. Our host for the hunt, Browning’s Scott Grange, sheep-dogged his tiny stockpile of innovation with more intensity than did Golem guard The Ring.

However, at the end of our three-day stint north of Edmonton, there wasn’t a one of us writers who wasn’t plotting some way to sneak one of the Maxus’ back into The States. Yes, they’re that good.

A year later, Grange allowed me four days on the Great Salt Lake behind the recoil pad of a Plain Jane black-and-synthetic Maxus. Goldeneyes, pintails, mallards, widgeon, grey ducks, and bluebills all fell to the gun; so, too, did my first tundra swan and first drake cinnamon teal.

This time, the now year-old SKU was put through a brutal battery of field tests, including freezing cold temperatures, exposure to saltwater, and absolutely no maintenance whatsoever, and emerged with a report card sporting all As.

The catalog write-up goes on to list what Browning describes as the Maxus’ “innovative technologies.” Certainly, so-called such cutting edge technology can be nice and, at times, even useful. However, ‘tis often the case where one man’s innovation is another man’s gingerbread – or rather, fluff disguised as innovation. Fortunately, the latter is not case with the Maxus.

Technically Speaking

To me, the Maxus is without question the spawn of a waterfowler’s collective, a duck gun if there ever was a duck gun. A goose gun, too. In its purest form, the piece is a 3.5-inch gas-operated semi-automatic 12-bore; but it is more than that.

Gun Digest Browning Maxus Gun Review. The Maxus’ efficiency begins where it should, with a trio of elements designed to enhance the gun’s on-target performance. Browning has combined their already-existing Invector-Plus choke system, with a lengthened (2.5-inch) forcing cone and back-bored barrel – the result being minimal shot deformation, and vastly improved pattern density, consistency, and uniformity.

These attributes are particularly noticeable when using larger non-toxic pellet sizes, and especially true in the case of steel shot.

Function for the Maxus is via what Browning calls their Power Drive System.

Elementally, it’s a port-and-piston design; however, oversized ports quickly bleed off excess gas with heavy loads, while a 20-percent longer piston stroke allows the piece to operate smoothly and reliably with the light stuff.

The unit itself is, for all intents and purposes, uniquely sealed, thus helping keep what my father always referred to as “mud, muck and corruption” out of the inner workings.

Recoil with the Maxus has been greatly reduced – An 18 percent reduction, as compared with other modern autoloaders – thanks to a combination of the Power Drive System, back-boring, and a space-age recoil pad, complete with what’s being deemed Inflex Technology.

Additional, if not novel features include an excellent trigger mechanism, Browning’s grip-tight Dura-Touch Armor Coating on all composite surfaces, a tricked-out Speed Lock forearm that eliminates the traditional threaded magazine cap, and a TurnKey magazine plug that allows for quick removal and/or installation of a two-round plastic plug.

The Maxus does sport the company’s decades-old Speed Load Plus feature, which automatically sends the first round in the magazine directly into the chamber. 26- and 28-inch barrel options are available, as are color schemes of matte black or Mossy Oak’s Duck Blind.

My Personal Report Card

It’s no secret that to stay competitive, firearms manufacturers must continually introduce – pardon the cliché – new and better mousetraps. And if not the entire trap, at the very least a new twist or feature designed specifically to make you, the potential buyer, understand that life ends should you not purchase Product X.

This said, the Maxus certainly does sport a long list of so-called better mousetraps; some of which I find useful, and others, at least to me, are burnt umber where brown would suffice. First, the 3.5-inch chamber is lost on me. Yes, I know there are thousands of 3.5-inch fans out there; however, I probably don’t shoot five 3.5-inch shotshells annually.

I don’t like the expense, I don’t enjoy the recoil, and, finally, I’m of a mind that if I can’t kill it with what’s in a 3-inch hull, I probably shouldn’t be shooting at it in the first place. Still, to some the option to shoot a 3.5-inch shotshell is a bonus.

Both the Speed Lock forearm and TurnKey Magazine Plug, while nice enough features, are likewise personally moot points. Since working with my first in 1979, I’ve somewhat grown accustomed to a screw-type magazine cap. True, the Speed Lock forearm does allow for quick and easy sling installation; however, so too do modern caps, the majority of which come sling-ready from the factory.

As for quickly removing and then reinstalling a magazine plug, I again quote my father, a long-time semi-automatic man, as saying – “If I haven’t killed it in three, it’s probably getting away.” Ever since I can remember, our autoloaders, as well as our pump-actions, have been plugged out of the box, and have stayed that way for all time. I agree here with my Pop on his Three And Out theory.

So what do I particularly like about this piece? I could definitely see the positives inherent in the Maxus’ Lightning Trigger System; not so much in the mechanism’s speed, which is undeniably fantastic, but more so the fact that the whole of the trigger group is easily removed, thus making it easy to clean.

And while on the topic of cleanliness, the Maxus’ internal workings, i.e. the gas operation system, contribute greatly to an elevated ease of maintenance – a huge plus, especially for those somewhat frightened by gun oil and greasy rags. And once I got accustomed to it, the Speed Load Plus feature did prove convenient, particularly in the tight confines of a layout boat or ground blind.

What I like most about the Maxus are three things. One, the gun points and handles as if it were an extension of my own arms. Only one other off-the-shelf shotgun has ever fit me out of the box like the Maxus does, and that was a loaner Winchester Super X2 that I sent back to the factory because money was tight at the time.

Do I regret that decision? Without question. The second is the Maxus’ recoil, or more precisely, the lack thereof. Not only is the piece balanced extraordinarily well, but recoil, even with 3.5-inch shotshells, is negligible. Physical punishment is practically absent; so, too, is the target-to-target interruption common with heavy waterfowl loads, lighter guns, and oft-brutal recoil.

Third, and finally, the Maxus goes boom every time I pull the trigger, and this often despite both internal and external coatings of everything from mud and sand to sunflower seed hulls, Skoal drippings, and Dorito crumbs. It’s frighteningly reliable, plain and simple, and that, above all else, is what I’m looking for in a waterfowl gun.

This article appeared in the June 21, 2010 issue of Gun Digest the Magazine

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