Search results for: "springfield"

[…] is offered for several subcompact handguns including the GLOCK 43, Springfield XD-S and Smith & Wesson M&P Shield (9mm, .40, […]

The Springfield Armory Hellcat is the world’s highest-capacity micro-compact defensive pistol.

Alien Gear announces the ShapeShift Modular Holster System for the Springfield Hellcat and Hellcat OSP.

[…] a nice custom-stocked Mauser 98 in 7×57, a 1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer 6.5×54, a Winchester 1894 or Savage 1899, or a Springfield .30-’06.

[…] in the rain, I’ll ru-u-ust!’” Then she rested her elbow on the polymer-framed 9mm Springfield Armory XD(M) in her White Dog Kydex holster, and glared pointedly at the Old School hardware on my hip. I was wearing a Springfield Armory pistol, too, but it was a 1911 Range Officer .45 in a Safariland scabbard. The 1911 and I both did the logical thing. We surrendered… but we survived. Modernity Vs. Tradition The scene of the discussion was the Power Line gun club range near Ocala, Florida. We were shooting an IDPA match run by champion shooter Deon Martin. I had happened to walk up to where The Evil Princess, behind the firing line, was chatting with another “shooter chick” (again, her term, not mine). Something old and obsolete had inadvertently entered the discussion, and just happened to be carrying a 1911 pistol on his hip. IDPA, the International Practical Shooting Association, focuses on “street guns.” At this particular match, there was exactly one double action revolver, and some 1911s, all absolutely swamped in a sea of Glock pistols, Smith & Wesson M&P autos, and XD-series Springfields. That’s pretty much the lay of the handgunning land these days. Familiarity Factor I had just come off of carrying one or another flavor of Glock for six months, and was due for something with some tradition to it, so I had chosen the 1911. I had worn one for a good bit of the previous year, that being the centennial of the gun and all, and had been shooting one since I was 12. I wasn’t wearing it just for tradition. Heck, my granddad carried a .32, but I ain’t that traditional. A part of it went beyond tradition and into habituation: I’d been shooting a 1911 for more than half a century, and it wasn’t a cliché to say that it felt like the handshake of an old friend. Yeah, I know, “familiarity breeds contempt.” But familiarity also breeds, well, familiarity. The old cocked-and-locked Colt and its clones fit my hand well, carry flat and comfortable inside the waistband, and point naturally for me. Two-Sided Argument There’s an old saying, “Beware the man with only one gun; he probably knows how to use it.” Not always true, but true most of the time. Of course, you can also argue that life is too short to drive only one car, or shoot only one handgun. In the spirit of total disclosure, this writer has been called a gun slut, though he prefers to think that he “celebrates diversity in firearms.” The simple fact is, there is more than one good gun. An instructor needs to be sufficiently familiar with their foibles to teach them all; an enthusiast simply enjoys shooting them all. If the older ones work for you, well, use ’em and consider the whole nostalgia thing as icing on the cake. On the day in question, that Springfield 1911 won me “most accurate shooter” honors, and second place overall when accuracy and speed were factored together. I’d say “advantage: old metal,” except that Deon Martin beat me for first place with his 9mm Smith & Wesson M&P. That would be “advantage: new polymer.” Except that I know darn well Deon would still have beaten me if he’d shot one of his 1911 .45s instead, so maybe the real takeaway lesson is, “advantage: whatever works best for you.” The Evil Princess and I walked back to the car. She had her plastic XD(M) on her hip and her iPhone 4S in her hand. I had my “Ol’ Skool” steel gun on my belt, and felt like I should have had a carrier pigeon on my shoulder to stay in character, and “in period.” But, ya know, at the end of the day, we were each carrying something with which we were confident, competent, and comfortable, and that may be where the real “advantage” is found, after all. By Massad Ayoob Springfield Armory 420 W. Main St. Geneseo, IL 61254 (309) 944-5631 www.gunsmagazine.com/springfield-armory >> Click Here GN1112col GUNS Magazine Nov 2012

[…] where Tutt was when Hickok traded shots with him. A Springfield, Missouri, history expert (below) shows Mas where Hickok stood […]

[…] World War II. My rifle racks hold many samples of US M1 Garands and Springfield ’03s. German K98k Mausers are also plentiful. All the above rifles are held in near reverence by most Americans with an interest in such things. That is logical. The M1 is America’s most famous battle rifle and the ’03 Springfield has a reputation as being awesomely accurate and finely made to boot. Which brings us to the German K98k; it is a version of Peter Paul Mauser’s Model 1898, which American ordnance officers copied to get their US Model 1903. (Early in the 20th century the US Government had to pay Mr. Mauser a hefty sum for infringing on his patents.) Conversely it is safe to say among Americans that several battle rifles of WWII can be lumped together as The Contemptibles.  Shooters of Springfields and Mausers cannot help but curl their lips in sneers when The Contemptibles’ names are mentioned. Just last weekend I heard a shooter at a match refer to one of them as “horrible junk.” And I must admit—just as with all those thousands of American shooters who despise the rifles to be described shortly—for many decades I did too. I was wrong. The Contemptibles may not be paragons of fit and finish like American ’03s and German 98s. Instead they are simply battle rifles, intended primarily to function well, and secondly to deliver at least enough precision in regards bullet placement to hit human beings out to a few hundred yards. My opinion is that among the unenlightened The Contemptibles of WWII battle rifles are: Italian Carcanos, Japanese Arisakas, French MAS 1936s and Soviet (and Finnish) Mosin-Nagants. Disregarding “last ditch” types made under wartime duress, not one single model of the above battle rifles deserves contempt or disgust. When I bid on an Italian battle rifle on a firearms auction site, it was for a common Model 1891 generically called Carcanos. What I luckily got instead was the rare Model 1941 version with slightly shorter barrel and odd rotating rear sight. Of course caliber is 6.5x52mm. Carcanos including Model 1941s are an adaptation of the basic Mannlicher design. That is cartridges are inserted by means of an en-bloc loader that falls out the bottom of the action when the last round is chambered. Whereas ’03 Springfields and Mauser 98s hold only five rounds, Carcanos hold six. By Mike “Duke” Venturino >> Click Here GN1112col GUNS Magazine Nov 2012

March 2020 Cover Gun: Springfield Armory M1A Tanker Cover Story: “Springfield Armory M1A Tanker” by Will Dabbs, MD “The Springfield […]

[…] VP70Z and the P9 series—but they most certainly popularized the concept, laying the groundwork for today’s Springfield Armory XDs, S&W M&Ps and many more. The 1911 wasn’t commercially available in any caliber but .45 ACP until Colt’s introduction of the .38 Super in 1929, nor in any but its original size until the Commander of 1949/50. Within five years of the Glock’s introduction in the USA, it could be had in standard size, compact, longslide or even large frame; in calibers .40 S&W, 10mm Auto and .45 ACP, in addition to its original 9mm Parabellum chambering. The hugely popular “baby Glocks” would follow in 1996. Today, they are also available in .357 SIG and .45 GAP, with .22 conversion units readily available. Some countries can buy Glocks in .380, though they’re not imported into the US in that caliber for general consumption. The first Glock 17, now known as Gen 1, was distinguished by a smooth grip-frame with subtle cobblestone surfacing. Some found it a little too slick in wet hands, so within those first five years we had Gen 2. Its frontstrap was still straight, but it had a molded-in coarse checkering that fit many hands better. Soon, Gen 3 was introduced, with fingergrooves on the frontstrap, but its frame still displayed the sleekly tapered dust cover of the first two generations. Next, it was time for a gun-mounted light and Glock went with a molded-in light rail. >> Click Here GN1011col GUNS October

[…] this was written the Forbes rifle was chambered in .25-06 Remington, .270 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield, with the .280 Remington and .35 Whelen scheduled to appear soon. A Model 20 rifle is also planned. The actions are made at a factory in Maine. The stock is the same as the NULA’s but without any options. It’s made in West Virginia and comes painted in a dark gray they call “charcoal.” Douglas couldn’t supply enough barrels, so the Forbes rifles use E.R. Shaw barrels. Shaw completely retooled about a decade ago, and since then I’ve used a number of their barrels from .22 to .30 caliber. The accuracy and bore smoothness has basically been equal to the Douglas barrels used during the same period. The test rifle was a .30-06, a very handy deal because for the last 15 years one of my primary hunting rifles has been a NULA Model 24 .30-06 with a 24-inch No. 2 Douglas barrel. I’d ordered a 13-1/2-inch length-of-pull, the LOP of the Forbes stock. Essentially the Forbes .30-06 was a production version of my custom NULA, so it was easy to make comparisons between the production and custom rifles. About the only measurable difference between the two rifles was the muzzle diameter, 0.615-inch on the 24-inch Shaw barrel of the Forbes versus 0.600-inch on the 24-inch No. 2 Douglas barrel of the NULA. Otherwise the production rifle has the same blind magazine, plus Melvin Forbes’ version of the 3-position safety on the right side of the tang: When you push directly down on the top of the safety lever when it’s in the rear (safe) position, the bolt can be opened. Otherwise the bolt handle is locked down. The Timney trigger broke consistently at 2 pounds, 12 ounces, without any perceptible creep. The first job was to mount a scope, and a proven 3-9×40 Leupold VX-2 volunteered, since it was lying around loose after use on a couple of other rifles. With the scope in Talley Lightweight mounts the rifle weighed 6 pounds, 7 ounces, exactly the same as my NULA .30-06 with a 6×42 Leupold FX-III in steel detachable Talley rings. The steel rings weigh a couple ounces more than Talley Lightweights, but the 6×42 is also a couple ounces lighter than the 3-9×40, so the Forbes rifle weighs just about exactly the same as my NULA. I didn’t work up a handload specifically for the Forbes, instead shooting factory and handloaded ammo proven accurate in other .30-06 rifles. The first group at 100 yards, shot with Hunting Shack ammunition loaded with 185-grain Berger VLDs, measured 0.73-inch, just about what the same load shoots in the NULA, and follow-up groups did just as well. Like most NULAs, it shot just as accurately with the barrel hot. Groups with the other ammo averaged just under an inch. I’m confident some handloading would result in 3-shot groups around 1/2 inch, just as it did for the NULA. The Montana XWR is built around their proprietary 1999 controlled-feed action, a combination of the best features of the pre-’64 Model 70 Winchester and the 98 Mauser. The trigger, 3-position safety and bottom metal are basically the same as in the Model 70, but the bolt release is in the same place as a 98 Mauser’s, on the left rear of the receiver, a very trim toggle that works by pushing on the rear end. The front action screw is behind the heavy recoil lug, as in the Model 70, rather than screwing directly into the lug as in the 98 Mauser. The inside of the front of the receiver, however, is like the 98 Mauser’s, with an inner collar in the so-called “C-ring” configuration: The right side of the collar is milled out to accommodate the extractor, so if a cartridge case leaks most of the powder gas escapes along the extractor, away from the shooter’s face. In addition, the bolt shroud also fully covers the left bolt raceway, deflecting any gas that might escape there. Essentially the Montana action copies the gas-venting of the original 98 Mauser action, a much superior system than the almost non-existent gas handling of the pre-’64 Model 70. It’s an excellent action. For the last decade I’ve owned a custom 7×57 made by Serengeti (now Kilimanjaro) Rifles on the “short” Montana 1999 action. Like the XWR it also has one of the Montana company’s own button-rifled barrels. The 7×57’s action has proven extremely smooth and reliable on numerous hunts from Canada to Africa, and the barrel has always been very accurate. The XWR’s action was very smooth, right out of the shipping case, and the rifle also proved quite accurate. As with the Forbes .30-06, I didn’t work up a handload, instead firing a variety of factory and handloads that worked in other .270s. The most accurate load turned out to be a RWS factory load with their 130-grain H-Mantle bullet, grouping around 0.75 inch, and as with the Forbes Rifle the overall average of all the ammo was just under an inch. Aside from the controlled-round action of the Montana rifle, it varied in a number of other ways from the Forbes rifle. The obvious difference was weight. For my tests the Montana company mounted a 4.5-14×40 Leupold VX-3 in Leupold Dual Dovetail mounts, and with the scope the rifle weighed an ounce over 9 pounds. For open country or stand hunting a 9-pound rifle isn’t any real burden and holds very well. The XWR is also available in several .300 and .338 magnum rounds, where many shooters would appreciate the weight. The stock is a Bell and Carlson synthetic, featuring an action-length aluminum bedding block epoxy-bedded at the recoil lug and for the first inch or so of the barrel channel. The 24-inch barrel is free-floated—and correctly, with just enough space to allow the barrel to vibrate without touching the barrel channel. I’ve run into a bunch of factory and custom rifles where the barrel could tap the fore-end, resulting inerratic accuracy. The trigger broke crisply at 3 pounds, 3 ounces. One minor difference between the rifles was hot-barrel accuracy. When I shot the Montana more than three times without allowing the barrel to cool down, groups opened up noticeably—but this isn’t a big deal on a hunting rifle. After all, how often do we shoot more than three times at any big game animal? As with the Forbes rifle, the fit and finish on the XWR was excellent. Close examination of the bolt heads of both rifles also revealed the lugs had been lapped for 100-percent contact, unheard of in mass-produced rifles. In fact, over the decades I’ve encountered several factory rifles where one lug didn’t make any contact at all. The Forbes and Montana actions are also precisely made in every other way, essentially being “blue-printed” during manufacturing. Over the past decade I’ve used the Serengeti 7×57 and NULA .30-06 for more of my big-game hunting than any of the rest of my rifles, since they’ve both proven to be highly reliable and accurate. The Montana XWR and Forbes Rifle appear to be just as reliable and accurate, but at a much lower price! By John Barsness The Hunting Shack, Inc. 4406 Rathbun Ln. Stevensville, MT 59870 (800) 856-2857 www.gunsmagazine.com/hunting-shack RWS Ammo RUAG Ammotec USA, Inc. 5402 E. Diana St. Tampa, FL 33610 (813) 626-0077 www.gunsmagazine.com/rws >> Click Here GUNS May 2013 GN0513col