Gun Digest 2015

GunDigest

2015

Edited by

JERRY LEE

33RD ANNUAL

It is our pleasure to announce that Paul Scarlata is the recipient of the 33rd Annual John T. Amber Literary Award. The award is presented in recognition of his excellent story, The Remarkable Ross, which was published in last year’s 68th Edition of Gun Digest. Paul presented a very thorough and well-researched story on the confusing and complicated history of the straight-pull, bolt-action Ross rifle in the early decades of the 20th century. The infamous Canadian rifle was plagued with controversy and problems during its years of service in many different variations from 1903 to about 1940. Several soldiers were seriously injured due to failures of the rifle’s pull-bolt design, but the gun’s creator, Sir Charles Ross, blamed the incidents on faulty maintenance procedures. Politics and favoritism also played a role in the interesting tale of the Ross rifle.

We asked Paul to tell us a bit about his life and his interest in firearms.

"I guess my ending up as a member of the firearms media was a foregone conclusion. My father, an avid hunter and fisherman, taught my two brothers and myself a respect for the outdoors, wildlife and firearms at an early age. Many of my happiest memories are of those days the four of us spent afield pursuing small and large game and deep-sea fishing. I often tell people that my childhood resembled a Hemingway novel.

"In my teens I developed a fascination for the, then inexpensive, military surplus firearms flooding the market. Over the years I accumulated – and sold off – several collections until I began specializing in Krag-Jorgensens. A fascinating, if expensive, hobby.

"I graduated college with an MA in Russian and Middle Eastern history and a minor in journalism, and over the years I worked as a teacher, medical office manager and business owner. After a life-changing event in my 40s, a divorce, the opportunity presented itself for me to pursue a career that involved two things that I loved – firearms and history.

"With the urging of my daughter and the help of my brothers, one an engineer for a major firearms/ammunition company and the other a photographer, I began submitting articles to various firearms publications – and almost starved to death for three years! But my perseverance paid off and my work has been published by gun and military history magazines in the U.S., Switzerland, Finland, Russia, the Netherlands, Great Britain, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. I have also had three books on classic bolt-action military rifles published, all of which have proven successful.

Paul and one of his beloved Krag-Jorgensen rifles. Photo by Becky Leavitt

Paul Searlata

Today I continue to contribute to publications in the U.S. and around the world and am about to begin my fourth book. In my leisure time I am an active Action Pistol shooter, a sport that I share with my fiancée and photographer – Becky, and continue to pursue the Holy Grail of Kragdom – an all original U.S. M1892 rifle!

The John T. Amber Award is presented each year to a Gun Digest contributor whose work demonstrates significant knowledge of the subject matter through experience and research, and also for the ability to express it in a way to inform, inspire and entertain the reader. Each recipient receives a handsome plaque and a $1,000 honorarium. The award is named for the late John Amber, who served as the editor of Gun Digest from 1951 to 1979 and is fondly remembered by many readers and industry people for his knowledge and love of fine firearms. Amber died in 1986 on his Creedmoor farm in Illinois at the age of 82.

Congratulations Paul. We look forward to seeing your stories in future editions of Gun Digest.

Jerry Lee

Editor

INTRODUCTION

It’s hard to believe another year has gone by and that this edition of The World’s Greatest Gun Book is in bookstores and gunshops all over the country. Or, these days, on a truck or plane headed to someone’s front door from gundigeststore.com, Amazon or some other online retailer.

From its early years, Gun Digest has set the standard for firearms-related journals and as editor, it is my goal to continue that tradition. We have put together a mix of stories, field reports, gun tests and reference sections that cover a wide range of the shooting sports from some of the top writers in the field. This edition has stories on everything from investing in machine guns to a women’s-only African safari; from historical articles on Webleys, Rolling Blocks and Enfields, to tests on a modern-day sniper rifle and the latest Glock; and from holsters of the Hollywood Westerns to the handgun that’s number one in battlefield fatalities. (It’s not a 1911.)

We are very proud to add Dick Williams’ byline to our ever-expanding list of Gun Digest contributors. Dick has been published in many gun magazines for years and is recognized as a leading expert in the field of handgun hunting. He has taken a number of big-game animals in Alaska, Africa and Australia, as well as all over the United States. Dick’s story in this edition is about the very first .44 Magnums from Smith & Wesson and Ruger.

It’s great to welcome back two writers whose names haven’t been seen on our table of contents page for many years: Garry James and Nick Sisley. Garry has been associated with Guns & Ammo magazine for decades, having served as editor in the past and now as senior editor and contributor. He frequently appears as a host or guest on various gun-related television shows and is a regular contributor to the NRA’s American Rifleman magazine. Garry’s contribution to this edition is about the early .303 British rifles that were made for black-powder cartridges. No one, and I mean, no one, knows more about early English and French military rifles than Garry James.

Nick Sisley is Mr. Shotgun to many readers of gun books and magazines over the last 40-plus years. He has written thousands of magazine articles, eight books, is an NSCA, NSSA and NRA shotgun instructor, and a private pilot with many ratings. In this edition of Gun Digest, Nick covers the fine products of the Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company, and reviews the Caesar Guerini Invictus over/under. You can find a lot of Nick’s thoughts and opinions at www.shotgunlife.com/author/Nick-Sisley.html.

Highlights of This Edition

For many years Wayne van Zwoll has hosted safaris to Africa for women hunters. In his Safari Sisters story, he says he discovered long ago that neither machismo nor magnums are required for a successful hunt. He tells us that women tend to be more careful in shooting big game, partly because they are inexperienced, but also because they aren’t reluctant to acknowledge their inexperience, unlike many male hunters. To quote Wayne, Circumstantial evidence suggests many men think they were born shooting bull’s-eyes. And …such fellows commonly attempt shots beyond their ability. That sounds like good advice for some of us.

Many of us recall the golden age of Western movies and television shows in the middle of the last century. Those formative years are when I’m sure many of the readers of Gun Digest developed an interest in guns. Most of us will recall that along with the sixguns of the Hollywood cowboys were all those wonderful leather rigs in which they were carried. My friend Rick Hacker is a walking, talking encyclopedia of the guns and gear of Western films and TV programs. His story on Arvo Ojala takes us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear (sorry, I couldn’t resist it), and tells us how a champion fast-draw shooter became an artist in leather whose holsters appeared in virtually every TV Western. Rick also reveals which famous TV scene you have probably seen many times that features Arvo Ojala.

Values of many types of machine guns have skyrocketed in recent years and Frank James provides a fascinating look at the subject in this edition. Frank is a recognized expert on the subject and has owned and fired many full-auto weapons. In addition to his fine book on the Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun (published by Gun Digest Books/Krause in 2003), he has written hundreds of articles on machine guns for many gun magazines in the U.S. and Europe. By the way, Frank suffered a severe stroke in early 2013 but as we go to press in June, he is recovering quite well and hopes to be back at the keyboard soon.

Many gun books and magazines have articles about the different shooting schools around the country that teach the skills needed for personal defense and the various competitive disciplines. But the FTW Ranch in Texas has a training program that is different, one that is designed specifically for hunters. Buck Pope took one of the courses and reports on what he and other students learned in Shooting School for Hunters. The 12,000-acre ranch in the Texas Hill Country also offers hunting opportunities.

Terry Wieland’s Shooting Stars story is on the history and development of the 7mm Sharpe & Hart cartridge and the Schultz & Larsen rifles chambered for it in the years following World War II. The 7x61 S&H was the only alternative to the 7mm Weatherby Magnum during the 1950s and developed quite a following. Then the 7mm Remington Mag. came along in 1962 and soon became America’s favorite big seven. Terry tells a good story about Philip Sharpe’s dream and clarifies some confusing claims and statements that have been published in the past.

Other highlights of this edition include Jon Sundra and his favorite cartridge. He quotes Jack O’Connor telling him one time that no one wanted him to ever change his mind about his favorite cartridge, the .270. Jon tells us about his own favorites and how they have changed over the years. John Taffin gives us a look at the history and lots of photos of the great .44-40 WCF and its compatible pairings of sixguns and rifles. And James and Kathleen House celebrate 50 years of the Ruger 10/22, America’s favorite rimfire.

We hope you enjoy this edition of what we like to call The World’s Greatest Gun Book. A lot of people have put in a great deal of effort to get it into your hands.

State of the Industry

The firearms industry continues to grow and prosper in this time of a slow recovery in the overall economy. The $6 billion industry has experienced growth for several years with a good sign being that many new shooters are young, more female and more urban, due obviously to interests in personal defense and home protection products.

The industry still faces many attempts at the state and federal level to further restrict the ownership of certain kinds of firearms. The good news is that violent crimes committed with guns have decreased steadily over the last five years. This is in spite of the fact that more people are buying more guns than ever before. It is also true that no matter what you see or hear in the mainstream media, accidents with firearms account for less than one percent of all accidental fatalities in the country.

Attendance at the industry’s SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show in Las Vegas in January 2014 once again set a new record. More than 67,000 people involved in the business of marketing firearms and associated products attended the four-day event, which is closed to the general public.

More and more firearms manufacturers are on the move. Remington has a new plant in Huntsville, Alabama, and will be relocating several of its other production facilities there: Para USA from North Carolina, LAR from Utah, DPMS from Minnesota, Bushmaster from New York, as well as production of the R1 pistol from New York. Other companies that are expanding some of their production to more gun-friendly and tax-friendly states are Kahr Arms from New York, and several from Connecticut including Mossberg, Ruger, Colt and Stag Arms. Beretta USA is moving some of its facilities from Maryland to Tennessee and has already relocated part of its company to Virginia.

At one time almost every major gun manufacturer in the U.S. was in gun valley of Connecticut and New York, but for a variety of reasons—mainly political and economic—those days are no more.

Standard Catalog of Ruger Firearms

Shameless Plug: Standard Catalog of Ruger Firearms by yours truly will be published by Gun Digest Books in the fall of 2014. It is the latest addition to the series of Standard Catalogs devoted to the products of a single firearms manufacturer and the first one on the guns of Sturm, Ruger & Co. Previous editions have covered the guns of Colt, Winchester, Smith & Wesson, Browning and others. Included in Standard Catalog of Ruger Firearms are articles on the founding of the company by William B. Ruger and Alexander Sturm in 1949, stories and photographs of the rarest and most collectible Rugers, plus production dates and serial numbers for virtually every model. The history of each model and its variations is included, from 1949 to the present, plus many color photographs, complete specifications and estimated current values for different condition grades on today’s collectible and used gun market. Another section features reprints of early articles about the company’s most famous firearms from the pages of Gun Digest over the years. If you’re a Ruger aficionado, we hope you check out this new publication. Here’s a look at the introduction to Standard Catalog of Ruger Firearms.

There have been few individuals involved with the American firearms history who have made a real difference to the industry—individuals who possessed an inventive mind and knew how to get things done, but also understood how to make a business become successful and grow. Their names are familiar to anyone who is a student of the gun.

Samuel Colt, Horace Smith, Daniel B. Wesson, Eliphalet Remington, Oliver Winchester, John M. Marlin, John Browning and Arthur Savage were sons of the 19th century. The companies that bear their names are still going today, many generations after they were founded.

One other name should be added to that list of visionary giants in the word of firearms, William Batterman Ruger. He started his company in 1949, in the middle of the 20th century just a few years after World War II in a small building now affectionately known as the Red Barn in the tranquil little New England town of Southport, Conn. Sturm, Ruger & Co. has been one of the biggest success stories in the industry, reaching a point where it can be said to be the only full-line manufacturer of rifles, shotguns, revolvers and auto pistols, all made in the U.S.A. From the first .22 pistol 65 years ago to the almost 200 firearms in the latest catalog, the company has offered a gun for every need for the average shooter. Within these pages will be found historical information, specifications, photos and estimated values of the guns of Bill Ruger.

Gun Digest-The Magazine

Many readers of this annual publication do not know that there is another Gun Digest published by the same company, Gun Digest the Magazine. I asked the magazine’s editor-in-chief Doug Howlett for a description and some background.

"For 70 years, Gun Digest has served as the preeminent source of information on firearms both new and old, firearm values and on-point reviews by the top writers in the firearms industry as they personally test the most popular guns of the day. As an off-shoot of that success, the publishers of Gun Digest morphed the former Gun List classified tabloid into a more recently redesigned Gun Digest the Magazine, an 18 times-a-year publication that boasts the same type of great firearms and shooting gear reviews and information familiar to annual readers, combined with up-to-date gun and accessory classifieds and complete gun show listings familiar to readers of the old Gun List. Now Gun Digest fans don’t have to wait an entire year to read the best information on firearms, but can get it right in their mailbox or from their favorite newsstand every three weeks.

"‘We Know Guns, So You Know Guns’ isn’t just a tagline with Gun Digest the Magazine; it’s what makes this publication unique among firearms titles. Gun Digest’s team of editors and writers—some of the most recognized in the business—not only deliver detailed reviews of the latest guns and shooting accessories to hit store shelves, they offer the tactics and insight needed for shooters of every skill level—from novice to hardcore veteran—to improve their own knowledge of, ability with and level of fun, safety and preparedness with firearms. Each issue also offers in-depth interviews with the most compelling personalities in the shooting world, as well as profiles of the most awesome shooting destinations located around the country. Whether it’s rifle, handgun, shotgun, collectible, historical, reloading, tactical, concealed carry or simply cutting edge, if it has to do with shooting, it can be found in the pages of Gun Digest the Magazine. Visit our website at gundigest.com for more details on how to subscribe, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/gundigest to be a part of the most dynamic online community of shooting enthusiasts in the world."

—Doug Howlett

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GunDigest®

2015

John T. Amber Literary Award

Introduction

FEATURES

Rifles of the Safari Sisters

by Wayne van Zwoll

The Classic .44 Magnum

by Dick Williams

The Ever-Changing Perfect Cartridge

by Jon R. Sundra

The Holsters of Arvo Ojala

by Rick Hacker

Connecticut Shotguns

by Nick Sisley

Britain’s Black-Powder .303

by Garry James

.44-40 Sixguns and Lever Guns

by John Taffin

The Machine Gun Investor

by Frank W. James

.38 Super: Too Good To Die

by Jim Wilson

The 10/22 Turns 50

by James E. House and Kathleen A. House

Shooting School for Hunters

by Buck Pope

Why Not the Webley?

by John Malloy

Red Dots of the 21st Century

by Kevin Muramatsu

Shooting Stars

by Terry Wieland

Bastille Day Elephant

by Tom Caceci

Evolution of the Beretta Military Pistol

by Paul Scarlata

Browning’s First Twenties

by Nick Hahn

The Twenty

by Gary Zinn

Series 70: Colt’s Best

by Robert K. Campbell

Custom and Engraved Guns

by Tom Turpin

In Praise of the Grande Puissance

by Nick Hahn

The Heym-Martini Odyssey

by Tom Turpin

Snubnose Specials

by Mike Thomas

The Guns of CZ

by Brad Fitzpatrick

New Generation Airguns

by Tom Tabor

The Lazzeroni Story

by Holt Bodinson

The Remington Space Gun

by L.P. Brezny

Understanding Powder

by Philip Massaro

Gun Powder and Recoil

by Brad Miller

5 Biggest Challenges to Long-Range Accuracy

by Dave Morelli

The 3 Deadliest Gunfighting Pistols of All Time

by Jim Dickson

Young Guns

by Doug Howlett

The Mystery of the Egyptian and Greek Remingtons

by George Layman

REPORTS FROM THE FIELD

New Rifles

by Wayne van Zwoll

New Shotguns

by John Haviland

New Semi-Automatic Pistols

by Kevin Muramatsu

Revolvers and Others

by Jeff Quinn

Muzzleloaders

by Wm. Hovey Smith

Ammunition, Ballistics and Components

by Larry Sterett

New Optics

by Tom Tabor

ONE GOOD GUN

The .32 Caliber Smith & Wesson Hand Ejector

by Bob Campbell

The M1 Carbine – Shooting with a Real WWII Vet

by Rick Hacker

Rosie’s .270

by Steve Gash

Browning Model 12

by Brad Fitzpatrick

TESTFIRES

Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel Hunter

by Steve Gash

Finally, After All These Years, a Glock .380

by Al Doyle

A New Original Henry

by Jeff Quinn

The New Invictus from Caesar Guerini

by Nick Sisley

Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper

by Al Doyle

2015 FIREARMS CATALOG

BALLISTICS TABLES

Average Centerfire Rifle Cartridge Ballistics and Prices

Centerfire Handgun Cartridge Ballistics & Prices

Rimfire Ammunition Ballistics & Prices

Shotshell Loads & Prices

HANDGUNS

Autoloading

Competition

Double-Action Revolvers

Single-Action Revolvers

Miscellaneous

RIFLES

Centerfire – Autoloaders

Centerfire – Levers & Slides

Centerfire – Bolt-Actions

Centerfire – Single Shots

Drillings, Combination Guns, Double Rifles

Rimfire – Autoloaders

Rimfire – Lever & Slide Actions

Rimfire – Bolt-Actions & Single Shots

Competition – Centerfires & Rimfires

SHOTGUNS

Autoloaders

Pumps

Over/Unders

Side-by-Sides

Bolt Actions & Single Shots

Military & Police

BLACKPOWDER

Single Shot Pistols – Flint & Percussion

Revolvers

Muskets & Rifles

Shotguns

AIRGUNS

Handguns

Long Guns

REFERENCES

Web Directory

Gun Digest Store

Media Catalog

Copyright

Tables

Rifles of the Safari Sisters

Machismo earns no points on safari, where accuracy and hunting skills trump recoil. Just ask the Safari Sisters.

BY Wayne van Zwoll

Julie’s .280 bullet deflected on a limb, but expert tracking and a fast shot finished this kudu.

Noon’s sun is ferocious; still, my Zeiss turns up several red hartebeest on the vlei. We swing wide through the thorn. Downwind, Emily gets as low as the grass allows, palms the bolt and grabs the sticks. She’s sweating; the heat has little to do with that. She breathes deeply and levels the Browning. The old bull moves, now clear of the others but quartering.

Wait. Wait! Minutes drag by – or seconds. The hartebeest turns slightly, then lurches at the strike.

Sub-Saharan Africa is a tough neighborhood. Animals there grow up durable. They take a lot of killing, we’re told. Aim well forward. Break a shoulder. Sound advice – especially as many of the big antelopes carry their vitals up front between the shoulders. Don’t fret about meat. Bring the beast down.

Dutifully, hunters on their first safari bring plenty of firepower. Africa is magnum country, sure as ice on the crest of Kilimanjaro.

But what about recoil? Few shooters perform at their best with hard-kicking rifles. I don’t. And I’m much bigger in frame than the women I’ve hosted on safaris for nearly a decade. Outfitting them might seem a challenge if you cotton to guns that belch mightily and hurl themselves viciously against your clavicle.

For me, recoil has all the appeal of Obamacare, and I’ve become adept at avoiding it. Killing big, tough animals with rifles of civil demeanor requires no more from you than does killing them with rifles that buck violently and leave your ears ringing.

A .308 or a .30-06, I say. If you shoot better with a lighter cartridge, use that. Choose a proper bullet and send it to the right place. I’ve repeated that advice many times, after offering it to a youngster on his first elk hunt 25 years ago.

Emily took this heavy-horned kudu with a Browning rifle in .270 WSM, with .30-06-level recoil.

The young man could have used his father’s .30-06. After all, elk are tough. But at my urging he chose the 6mm Remington he shot more comfortably. Early the first morning we spied a herd, sneaked within 150 yards and bellied onto the frozen Utah hill. Tight in the crease, I whispered needlessly. The rifle settled over a pack, the teenager launched a 95-grain Nosler. The elk collapsed.

The next season in that same unit, a fellow with a .300 Magnum opened up on another elk. The stricken bull struggled up a butte as the shooter followed with a barrage. The animal’s legs gave way, but it clung to life, struggling on. Nearly a box of ammunition later, the last softpoint found vitals at over 400 yards.

Tamar used a .270 on this impala. The suppressor reduced noise and recoil but added a bit of length and weight.

Now, there’s nothing inhumane about belted .30s. And I can’t say the recoil of that rifle kept the first shot off the mark. Still, the biggest elk I’ve seen shot fell to .30-06s. Of elk I’ve seen crippled, most were hit with more powerful rounds.

In Africa, animals as big as elk drop readily to the likes of the .30-06. Many on our safaris have fallen to the .270, partly because most women who don’t bring their own rifles are loaned a .270.

Kudu! We creep forward, a bloody evening sun to our backs. The bull is a flicker of movement ghosting through thin thorn. Leslie slides the Sako onto the sticks, bracing her slight, 110-pound frame. I feel her pulse – or is it mine? The barrel quivers as her finger tightens. Leslie has never shot an animal. The blast jerks the rifle from its rest, but she recovers quickly, closing the bolt on a fresh round. The bull vaults through a gap in the thorn. His legs wilt, and he noses into the winter-hard earth.

Such one-shot kills are the rule on our High Country Adventures Safaris. The .270 has no magic; nor do the 130- and 150-grain softpoints we carry for that Sako. But the women who use them are careful.

No. I’ll wait. Cathy smiles, as if losing her rifle in transit on her first safari doesn’t matter. She has now gone three days without it, politely declining the .270. And my ‘06. Time is passing quickly.

She demurs. There’s lots of game. I’ll just watch.

Even a zero check at the range (here in Namibia) gives better results when rifles don’t kick hard.

One of the most versatile cartridges, even in sub-Saharan Africa, is the civil .270 Winchester.

Few men I know would take this setback with such equanimity. You might have concluded, as I’d come to think, that she cared little about killing game. You’d have been half right. She didn’t care that she had first crack at game, though she knew I couldn’t guarantee last-hour success.

With just two days left to hunt, Cathy’s rifle arrived. Three dead-center hits later, she had killed a kudu, a gemsbok and a blue wildebeest. I saw genuine delight in her grin. Her Remington 700 .30-06 had little to do with those one-shot kills. Credit instead her serenity. I can’t recall ever seeing Cathy tense. Nothing rattled her. As cool behind the scope as at a luggage counter filling out claims forms, she calmly executed each shot.

OK, Cathy had logged more range time than most Safari Sisters. And some of them have literally shaken with excitement as the crosswire swung onto the shoulder of their first African game.

Gemsbok are famously hard to kill. They’re big, hardy, determined. The lungs lie tucked between the shoulders. When I spied a bull quartering toward us on the fringe of a pan, Donna took my silent cue and eased her Sako ahead on the sticks. The animal moved cautiously; Donna began to shake. Not yet! At 90 yards it paused, but the angle was wrong. Uh-uh. By now the rifle was chattering on the hardwood. I whispered a low Easy. We have time. Relax. I can’t say she heard me.

At last the bull turned. Still the rifle vibrated. Then, with visible resolve, Donna gripped the neck of the sticks and stilled the .30-06. A second later the blast blew tiny leaves from the thorn by the muzzle. The gemsbok galloped off, but not before the whup of a solid hit floated back. We eased forward. The bull lay dead just a few steps from where she’d shot it, perfectly.

The .30-06 is no pipsqueak. Indeed, when it appeared more than a century ago, the ‘06 was the most powerful infantry round in the world. For another decade, it remained more potent than every other smokeless big-game cartridge in common use in North America! Frisky loads in lightweight rifles hit you with nearly 20 foot-pounds of recoil. Small-framed shooters can find that intimidating. But since the postwar trend to magnums has upped the power ante, hunters have come to endure even more violence.

Whatever the load, marksmanship counts! Sticks steady rifle and nerves for that first-round hit.

The .30-06 still tops most lists of all-around hunting cartridges. New bullets enhance it.

When you trigger a rifle, a small bomb goes off in front of your nose. Hard to ignore that, even if you don’t think about pressures of 60,000 pounds per square inch accelerating lead shrapnel from zero to Mach 3 in a short eye-blink. Recoil not only belts you on the gums and pounds your shoulder – it reminds you the explosion would take your head off if the rifle didn’t contain it. Now, you may not think that, but your body responds reflexively. Reducing recoil helps you shoot better because it absolves you of such instinctive action. The roll of distant thunder doesn’t make us jump. If each clap brought a lightning bolt that hit us with voltage enough to light a stadium, we’d leap at the slightest burp from above. To claim some loads are good for women is to say men don’t flinch. This is the purest hokum. At a range bench not long ago I watched one veteran shooter close his eyes and turn his face from the comb as he yanked the trigger. I’ll have to check that bedding, he said, frowning over scattered holes in the target. That’s sometimes helpful, I replied.

Keeping Scopes Modest Too

For most hunting you need little magnification in a riflescope – 3x or 4x will do fine. But beginners have a hard time keeping variable-power scopes at the low end. Once, after a Safari Sister shot a gemsbok, she and I approached through tall grass. Spotting the bull, I hissed, Get ready. A gemsbok’s lunge can gut a lion. This bull was dead – fortunately for my friend, who couldn’t find the beast in her scope, dialed to 9x.

Another lady brought to Africa a rifle she’d carried in the high desert of the Intermountain West. Her first shot in Namibia came at 80 yards. The bullet landed a few inches off, in part because the field of the 6-18x sight was filled by shoulder and rib, also because the shot had to be taken offhand, with little time to steady the rifle on the sticks. Every heartbeat bounced the reticle all over the animal. High-power scopes also add unnecessary weight and bulk. A young lady who’d borrowed a long-barreled .270 for her first safari bought a lightweight Kimber 84M for the next. She scoped it with a slender 1.5-5x scope. Her new rifle relieved her of two pounds dead weight but killed a nyala, a bushbuck and a zebra with dispatch.

A happy young lady’s first African game! One shot with a .270 at 90 yards took the bull for 13-year-old Thea.

The .270 is comfortable at the bench, where all hunters must spend some time without flinching.

Though this eland fell to Wayne’s 6.5 Creedmoor, he considers it light for such big animals.

You can, of course, carry a cartridge too light for the game. I did a few years back, when in South Africa hunting eland. The 6.5 Creedmoor is a marvelous round, flat-shooting and civil. I’d killed several animals with it, including an elk at extreme range. A big eland is twice as heavy as a big elk, but I figured a careful shot with my Creedmoor, out of the T/C rifle, would deck an eland. My chance came after an approach on my belly toward two bulls browsing in thin thorn. At 70 yards, I slinged up to kill the nearest. But it was quartering sharply away – not a good lie. I declined. Then the wind shifted. The bulls moved. When the second eland paused at just a slight angle, I held in line with the off-shoulder and fired.

Wayne used this T/C rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor to take tiny vaal reebok and a 1,600-pound eland.

Three gentle but effective 6.5s: From left: 6.5x55 Swedish, .260 Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor.

Trailing turned up little blood. My tracker worked his magic into rocks that gave up fewer prints as the bull climbed. But the waning sign slowed us as the sun sank low and scarlet. Dispirited, we halted. Then, hoofbeats! Across a draw, perhaps 100 yards away, the eland broke cover. I swung, fired offhand, missed, cycled the bolt and anchored the animal with a follow-up shot as it entered the bush. It was dead when we arrived. My first bullet, an hour earlier, had landed well, centering the far lung. It tired itself in the massive shoulder. But each eland lung is the size of a big Styrofoam cooler. One 120-grain 6.5 bullet had simply cut too small a channel to cause quick death.

When a man hits a target they call him a marksman. When I hit a target, they call it a trick. Never did like that much.

— Annie Oakley

Oakley in her twenties (1880s)

Annie Oakley shooting a shotgun in front of dozens of spectators. Pinehurst, NC

A Girl Like No Other

The notion that women need help choosing rifles and killing game has less credence now than when men alone went afield. You could say the shift started with Annie Oakley, an extraordinarily gifted shot whose celebrity derived from beating men at their own game.

Born in a cabin in Darke County, Ohio in August 1860, Phoebe Ann Moses had a hard childhood. But subsistence hunting would propel her to fame. She shot her first squirrel at age 8. Soon she was killing quail on the wing with her .22 and dominating turkey shoots. At a local match she beat visiting sharpshooter Frank Butler – who apparently didn’t know his opponent would be a 15-year-old girl. A year later they married, and Annie joined Frank’s traveling show under the stage name of Annie Oakley. When exhibition shooter Captain A.H. Bogardus left Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, Annie got on that docket, aiming into a mirror to shoot over her shoulder at glass balls Frank threw in the air.

Petite at 100 pounds, and sweet-tempered, Annie became an audience darling. Sioux Chief Sitting Bull called her Watanya cicilia, or Little Sure-Shot. The German Crown Prince, later to become Kaiser Wilhelm II, asked her to shoot a cigarette from his lips. She obliged, allowing in the wake of World War I that a miss might have changed history. Annie shot coins from Frank’s fingers, split playing cards set on edge. She could make one hole in the middle of a card, firing 25 shots in 25 seconds with a .22 repeater. In 1884, using a Stevens .22 at an Ohio exhibition, she hit 943 glass balls of 1,000 tossed. Johnny Baker, another Wild West Show marksman, tried for 17 years to outshoot Annie Oakley. She would not throw a match, he said ruefully. "You had to beat her, and she wasn’t beatable."

Annie used iron sights for her exhibitions. At age 62, after a train wreck and an automobile accident crippled her, she could still hit with rifle bullets 25 airborne pennies in a row.

Annie was once quoted as saying, I would like to see every woman know how to handle firearms as naturally as they know how to handle babies. She believed women should know how to defend themselves. It is believed that in her lifetime she trained nearly 15,000 women on how to use a gun.

After its extractor broke, Sarah made three one-shot kills with her .260, including this hartebeest.

Fine shooting with a mild cartridge brought Kelsey this red hartebeest, her first African game.

Janice used a Remington Model Seven in .300 WSM to kill this exceptional nyala at 110 yards.

Still, cartridges of that ilk are deadly on most plains game. One Safari Sister carried her .260, a lovely featherweight rifle from New Ultra Light Arms. But at our first-day range-check of scope zeros, an ambitious handload worked up in a cooler climate blew the .260’s extractor. We had a back-up rifle, but Sarah wanted to use her own. I crawled out on a long limb: You’re a careful shooter. The rifle is just not a repeater now. Center the first shot; you won’t need an extractor. Sarah made the best of her handicap, downing a gemsbok, a red hartebeest and a tremendous kudu with one bullet apiece.

Over the last decade, Safari Sisters have brought rifles much like those you’ll find in deer camps stateside. Remington’s 700 outnumbers other models, with the Tikka T3, Ruger 77, Winchester 70 and Remington Model Seven also popular. Some belong to husbands, boyfriends. No pink stocks. The range of cartridges is pretty narrow. The .30-06, .270 and .308 predominate. Of course, a few magnums have shown up. Emily downed her hartebeest, and a heavy-horned kudu with a .270 WSM. Teri used the .300 Winchester she carries for mule deer. Shannon knew her .300 Weatherby had more horsepower and recoil than she needed. But, a friend urged me to take it. I couldn’t say no.

A tense half-hour in thick thorn gave Tritia a close offhand shot with her .30-06. She made it count!

Springbok don’t require powerful rounds, but you’ll need a rifle that handles big antelopes too.

This friend evidently had a mean streak. A couple of years after our safari, Shannon called to say he’d coaxed her into firing his .338 Ultra Mag. from the bench. I should have known better, she sighed.

But most women are advised not to indulge punishing recoil – oddly enough, by men brandishing artillery with enough horsepower to disable a Panzer. In the 1960s, such chauvinism appeared on T-shirts: Get women, children and Chevys off the street. Not to disparage GM. Any automobile can be branded with the weakness of women and the frailty of youth.

An affordable Mossberg rifle drilled this fine group. The 7mm-08 kills big game and is very easy to shoot accurately.

On a hunt, however, horsepower doesn’t win prizes. Indeed, many of the least effective shots I’ve observed afield have been triggered by men with fire-breathing rifles. On the eve of one mule deer hunt, over a couple of thick fingers of Scotch, a loquacious chap told me he routinely rolled running bucks 500 yards out. Flat-shooting magnum, this. And I don’t miss.

Next morning he crippled a beautiful buck at 125 steps. I tracked it as a group of his colleagues formed an arc across a flat ahead of me. The deer met a merciful end.

I’d be painting with too broad a brush to say hunters who prefer magnum cartridges shoot poorly or irresponsibly at game, or that women shoot better than men. Still, in my experience, hunters who tout the most potent rifles are least apt to kill with one shot. Many in the magnum crowd seem to assume a big stick offsets mediocre marksmanship. In fact, I’ve heard as much: My UltimateSuperMag will knock an animal down no matter where it’s hit. Logic tells you this is balderdash.

A quick shot from her .30-06 tumbled this aged warthog for Dori. No time to get nervous!

First, bullets do not knock beasts to earth. A truck can. Ditto a falling tree. But animals stricken by bullets fall when they become too weak to stand, or when supporting bones are broken or the nervous system damaged so it can’t control supporting muscles. A shooter of scientific bent tested this notion by gripping handles welded on a thick steel plate barely supported by a table’s edge. He had confirmed the steel would stop softpoint bullets from a .458 Winchester Magnum. Using that rifle, a pal then fired at the plate, which instantly absorbed 5,000 foot-pounds of energy. The intrepid fellow holding it from behind was not knocked down. Of course, his trial carries the caveat: Do not try this at home.

Only hits to the vitals kill humanely. Bullets that open reliably but retain most of their weight as they plow deep channels make ordinary cartridges deadly. Few animals weighing less than a ton can long survive a well-placed hit from a .30-06-class cartridge.

Women on our safaris have taken this to heart. They’re uniformly careful with their shooting, in part because they’re inexperienced – also because they acknowledge they are. Circumstantial evidence suggests many men think they were born shooting bull’s-eyes. Loath to serve an apprenticeship behind a rifle, such fellows commonly attempt shots beyond their ability. Women, observed a veteran PH, mind fundamentals. They try to make each shot good, so they practice only good habits. He added that women tell you when recoil hurts, when they’re too tired to hold the rifle still. Men put their egos on the line.

A truly outstanding Namibian gemsbok! Encountered on an impala hunt, it dropped to one .30-06 bullet.

The Ideal Non-Magnum?

You needn’t brook the recoil of even a .30-06 to hit big game hard at distance. Our first high-velocity .25-caliber rifle, Charles Newton’s .250, was developed in 1912. It fired a 100-grain bullet at 2,800 fps, an 87-grain at 3,000. Ned Roberts took the high-speed notion farther in the 1920s by necking the 7x57 Mauser case to .25. The .25 Roberts was a joint effort with A.O. Neidner and F.J. Sage. By 1930 it had appeared in Griffin & Howe rifles. In 1934 Remington adopted it as the .257 Roberts, acceding to E.C. Crossman, who suggested the groove-diameter name. Remington moved the shoulder forward and increased its angle to 20 degrees.

The .257’s mild disposition prompted Jack O’Connor to predict at the close of World War II that this cartridge would soon rank among the three most popular. He was wrong. The Roberts didn’t match the .222 or .22-250 as a varmint round, and heavier bullets of the day didn’t have the profile to retain energy far away. By the early ‘50s Winchester-Western had an accurate 87-grain spitzer, Remington a 100-grain pointed Core-Lokt. But Winchester’s .243 was then in the works. The .244 Remington (essentially a Roberts necked down) arrived at the same time, later gaining traction as the 6mm Remington. They all but buried the .257 Roberts.

Captain Crossman praised the Roberts as a super .250. Whelen thought the .257 Roberts adequate for black bear and caribou. O’Connor considered it superb for mule deer and bighorns. Warren Page observed darkly that the .257 was too short to match .25-06 performance, too long for short-rifle actions. He was right.

A .257 revival has accompanied new, more efficient bullets and friskier loads. These carry more than twice as much energy to 300 yards as the .44 Henry, scourge of the Confederate Army, brought to the muzzle!

They deliver more at 200 yards than most .30-30 loads at 100. And they fly as flat as 150-grain bullets from a .270. While the .243, 6mm, .260 and 7mm-08 are worthy competition, the .257 remains an overlooked prize.

Remington’s 7mm Magnum has little more recoil than a .30-06, yet shoots flatter. Very versatile!

Because women recognize that lethal hits have less to do with hardware than with marksmanship, it’s easy to steer them to affordable rifles and ammo that are comfortable to shoot.

The 7mm-08 is one cartridge I expected to show up more often. It outperforms traditional loads in the 7x57mm, a 130-year-old safari veteran that in the hands of men like W.D.M. Bell, has killed game as big as elephants. Amber’s 7mm-08, a Remington Model Seven, was fresh out of the box when she arrived in Namibia. A gift from my parents. Serious about shooting it well, the young lady killed a gemsbok with one well-directed bullet, then focused her hunt on a warthog. Alas, old boars can be frustratingly elusive. They stay in thick bush, move little during the day and are easily spooked. But midweek we got a break. With her PH, Amber stole across an opening to waylay a huge boar slipping to water at thorn’s edge. Her bullet struck a bit far back but angled forward. We took the track cautiously. A wounded pig can shred your legs in one rush. We found the boar down but breathing. When Amber fired again, the animal burst into action. Tusks an ivory blur in a tornado of dust, it lashed out. We jumped clear; Amber fired again. And again! Her 7mm-08 duly broken in, Amber grinned over one of the biggest warthogs I’ve ever seen!

We’ve lost few animals on women-only safaris. Still, as on any hunt, a bullet barely off the mark can mean a long trail. Dori’s .30-06 downed a superb kudu and tumbled a thick-tusked warthog without a hitch. But then she stalked a blue wildebeest in fading light. Her bullet landed mid-rib. We didn’t find the bull until the next morning. It had died hard. Dori shed tears. Hunters understand her reaction; people who deride hunting can’t imagine how anyone who’d stalk game can care about its welfare.

When another woman lost a kudu, another a zebra, and others followed for hours to anchor poorly hit warthog, gemsbok and impala, the gloom at camp was palpable, if temporary. Neither rifles nor loads were to blame, of course. The shooter alone decides to fire, and when.

Responsibility for clean kills seems to weigh most heavily on women new to hunting. For some, the very idea of killing is a psychological challenge. Taking a life is a big thing. You can’t put life back. I empathize. Hunters reluctant to kill impress me; those who fire with robotic indifference don’t. Still, the kill is part of hunting. It could be argued that until you’ve killed, you’ve not completed a hunt. Certainly, until you’ve had the chance to kill you can’t decide to take a life – or decline a shot. Unless, after much effort, you’ve put game in the scope, you cannot know the imperatives of a predator that define hunting.

Are You Big But Not Tough?

Having fired both gentle and violent rifles for 50 years, I’ve come to appreciate women and youth more, recoil less. I have more fun with .22 rimfires than with uber-magnums whose blast rattles rocks on adjoining hillsides. Still, my 36-inch arms and skillet-size hands aren’t served by stubbed-off stocks with short, thin grips. And rifles fashioned without thought to weight distribution depress me. Balance matters in fly rods, tennis racquets, golf clubs. Certainly in upland guns. Why should rifles handle like fluorescent light fixtures? Balance, in weight and line, makes svelte rifles fit big-and-tall shooters. A slim, responsive grip needn’t be close-coupled, or a short barrel muzzle-light. Sleek, comely rifles that leap to the cheek, point like a wish and bring recoil to heel before it hammers face and clavicle are like Italian sports cars. They’re not big, but a lot of big people find them irresistible.

The eye for balance that makes an automobile look and feel alive can give rifles the same vitality. They’re nimble, yet easy to shoot accurately. As you strip ounces, felt recoil increases. But featherweight rifles needn’t kick brutally. A stock comb shaped to move off your face and a buttpad that cushions the blow and is proportioned to spread it, help you fire lightweight rifles as comfortably as if relying on mass alone to absorb kick. When a rifle rides naturally in your hands with a low center of gravity and a slight tilt to muzzle – when balance and proportion dictate design – recoil won’t ruin your day.

Bearing down on a sight-in target, Donna readies her Remington. It gave her three fine trophies.

Late one afternoon Teri and her PH were easing toward a distant gemsbok when a kudu suddenly appeared in a small opening. She settled her .300 on the sticks and fired. The animal spun and vanished in the thorn. A certain kill, we thought. But Teri hadn’t allowed for the slightly quartering presentation and her bullet had damaged only the near shoulder. The PH, an excellent tracker, pressed that animal, but when it jumped from several beds we couldn’t manage a lethal shot. With shooting light almost gone, the kudu collapsed just long enough for a finisher.

In the same way, Donna planted a softpoint just in front of a kudu’s heart. The animal sunfished, dashing into cover already in dusk’s shadow. We followed fast. I hesitated when the bull appeared, briefly – and lost my chance. The next time spiral horns popped into view I fired right away, killing the kudu as it leaped. Shot angle matters, as the vitals are a three-dimensional target, not a shadow on the ribs.

Heavy, deep-penetrating bullets can be driven faster from magnum rounds, so they have an advantage on beefy animals like zebras and eland. Magnums may also have a slight edge in cover, where deflection can scuttle a shot. Still, the only way to ensure straight flight in thickets is to shoot between the branches.

Last spring in a section of dense Namibian thorn, Julie waited, her Remington on sticks, PH at her elbow. I crouched, eyes glued to an alley to their left. A big kudu lived here. We’d heard a stick snap. In that unfathomable way native hunters sense the presence of game, this PH knew. Half an hour passed. The bull became a horn tip, then the glint of an eye. At 26 yards, closer than we’d expected, he came clear of the bush. Julie triggered her .280 and the animal rocketed away. I saw in that instant, a hitch in its step. But the PH spied what I had not – a wrist-thick limb centered and torn asunder by a bullet. A miss.

But the branch had been close to the rib and that off-beat snapshot of the kudu’s step played back in my mind. We searched the track; I found a drop of blood. Little daylight remained so we trailed at top speed. A couple of kilometers on, the bull jumped. My bullet quartered through both lungs and we heard the crash. Julie’s .280 softpoint, expanded by the branch, had deflected sharply. With less than three yards to travel before striking the kudu it had strayed to a hind leg, just above the hock.

The Mossberg rifle I carried that day, incidentally, was a 7mm Magnum. I’m sure a .308 or even a lesser round would have dispatched the kudu. It probably would have brought Sallie’s zebra to bag too. She’d paunched it, on an open plain that pulled the animal quickly out of range as she fired again. Clearly hit, the zebra plodded toward distant bush. The PH ranged the stallion at 500 yards. Too far, I said. With no time or cover for a sneak, I dropped to my knees and began a direct approach, crawling fast. A couple of minutes later he paused at thorn’s edge, now 420 yards out. I flopped prone, sling taut. Holding a foot into a light wind and adding two feet of elevation, I fired. The zebra collapsed.

For such tasks, cartridges that drive stout bullets fast and flat have a decided benefit. On the other hand, first-shot precision trumps all. And the cream of a hunt is still inside 100 yards. Quarter-mile shots come when you botch the close ones.

You don’t need magnums to kill animals that fall routinely to the .30-06. Intelligent bullet choice and careful shooting yield humane kills consistently. Just ask the Safari Sisters.

The Classic .44 Magnum

One writer's five-decade journey with the fabulous .44

BY Dick Williams

PHOTOS BY JOHN DOUKAS

One of the good things about being older is that I’ve lived moments in history younger folks have only read about. Starting this article, for example, did not require any 21st century computerized googling, but rather a stroll through my memories and a trip to my gun vault. As a young teenager I was already a longtime victim of the gun bug and read gun magazines voraciously, particularly anything about the newly introduced .44 Magnum. For me it was strictly a fantasy trip since any cartridge larger than a .22 Long Rifle was beyond my experience and budget. Little did I know what a huge role the .44 Magnum would play in my life.

In 1956 both Smith & Wesson and Ruger began the production of revolvers chambered for Remington’s .44 Magnum, the new king of handgun cartridges. Smith’s Model 29 double action was first to hit the stores, followed closely by Ruger’s Blackhawk single action. The S&W was the company’s N frame revolver, but with a stretched cylinder that filled the frame window as opposed to the shorter cylinders of the .357 Magnum. Ruger built their .44 on the existing Blackhawk, which at the time was the old style Flattop. While Smith offered the gun in three different barrel lengths, one of which was 6¹⁄2 inches long, the Blackhawk was initially available only with a 6¹⁄2-inch barrel; a limited number of Blackhawks were later made with 7¹⁄2-inch and 10-inch barrels. At the time, having never fired or even handled either brand of gun, I knew with the absolute certainty of youth that 6¹⁄2 inches was the perfect barrel length for a .44 Magnum. And while I would own a variety of .44 Magnums in different barrel lengths over the next several decades, I held that viewpoint through the mid-1960s when I finally acquired my first two .44 Magnums – one from Smith, one from Ruger, and both with 6¹⁄2-inch barrels.

Ruger produced the .44 Magnum Flattop until 1962 at which time three significant (to me) things happened. First, I became a 2nd Lt. in the USAF, which meant I had an income, a portion of which I planned to spend on .44 Magnums. Second, Ruger discontinued production of the .44 Flattop but continued to offer the big Magnum in the company’s larger Super Blackhawk, which had been introduced in 1959. Third, Ruger introduced the integral frame ribs on all centerfire Blackhawks. These were the ears that protected the rear sight, and their introduction meant the end of the original Ruger Flattop.

A pair of 50-year commemorative .44 Magnums from the original manufacturers that introduced the caliber to the world. When you hunt wild boar on the Tejon Ranch in southern California in the summer, you may find good use for a couple of CCI .44 Magnum shotshells on the resident rattlesnake population.

The original Ruger Flattop .44 Magnum from 1957 and an El Paso Saddlery Tom Threeperson’s rig make a great team. Over the years, the author has spent some enjoyable trail time with both.

Fortunately, there were some .44 Flattops in the distribution pipeline so new guns were still found in stores. More important for me, .44 Magnum revolvers, particularly the Flattops with their lightweight aluminum alloy frame, weren’t all that popular since they administered a beating on anyone who shot full magnum loads. I found one on the used gun market and subsequently became acquainted with a variety of .44 Special handloads. That Ruger and I spent a fair amount of recreational time together (but not nearly as much as I would have liked) in various terrain around the country, and I never felt ill equipped. In collecting the range data for this article decades after the Flattop’s discontinuation, and despite the physical abuse I’ve absorbed from shooting bigbore revolvers over the years, I was quite pleased to see how manageable the original lightweight magnum was when shooting the factory loads shown in the accompanying table. I wouldn’t want to take the gun through a five-day defensive training program with factory magnum loads, but for hunting or any hostile social engagement of limited duration, the old Flattop could still get the job done.

Sometime midway through the 1960s, I read an article by Bob Petersen of Petersen Publications about a brown bear hunt on Kodiak Island using a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum with a 6¹⁄2-inch barrel. It was one of two gun articles from that time frame that had a huge influence on my handgun interests, and I became obsessed with obtaining a Smith .44 Magnum. With a 6¹⁄2-inch barrel, of course.

By the ‘70s I had become a civilian and was spending more time camping and hunting. For strictly daylight events, I preferred the crisp sight picture presented by the Ruger’s black sights. The reduced lighting of early morning or late afternoon outings favored the red plastic insert of the Smith’s front sight. All of my .44 Magnum shooting was handled by one bullet and two handloads. The Ruger produced 1,000 feet per second with the Lyman hard cast Keith bullet over Unique powder, while the Smith yielded 1,200 fps with the same cast bullet over a subsequently discontinued ball powder, Winchester 630. The Ruger handled rabbits, javelina and other small game in Colorado and Arizona while the Smith took several deer and antelope in Colorado