Category: Gun/Ammo Tests

How To Sell

Gun/Ammo Tests, Marketing / Advertising

Got the usual email from the folks at Lucky Gunner for 7.62x39mm ammo (among others), and I want to highlight the product blurb from the manufacturer.  Note the highlighted parts:

The big “knocks” against inexpensive “39” ammo are that:

  • the steel casing can damage a gun’s action (it doesn’t)
  • steel casings can’t be reloaded like brass casings can (true)
  • Berdan primers are corrosive (not anymore), and
  • a lot of ranges (e.g. the one where I used to shoot) won’t allow steel / alloy-steel bullets because of potential damage to the backstop.

Every single issue is addressed in the copy — nay, not just addressed but trumpeted.  As marketing/advertising copy, it’s absolutely brilliant.

I know that 40c/round is expensive compared to the old 15c price bracket, but these are different times we live in.  And for AK owners, like I used to be, this looks like a decent bargain.

And who the hell reloads 7.62x39mm anyway?

Well, Now

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

This is one of the better comparisons between the .45 ACP and 9mm Europellet, because the targets are actually similar to the intended targets in self defense.

Quote of the day:  “Guys who support gun control have wives who have boyfriends.”

Also:

“I learned one thing today… ”
“What?”
“I’m going to continue carrying 10mm.”

Fucking Millennials.  I nearly did a little wee in my pants.

But food for thought, nevertheless.  Me, I’m going to go for .45 ACP with lighter bullets.

Oldie But Goodie

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

I saw this ad a couple days back, and it brought back fond memories.

The Silvertip has been around for donkey’s years, and I recall that of late, its effectiveness has been somewhat derided by the usual tests (ballistic gel, whatever).

Here’s what I know.

Back in the early 1980s, I saw an autopsy of a corpse in a police morgue (long story, not important) of a man who had been shot once with a .45 ACP Silvertip.  The entry wound was, well, .45 inches, and the exit wound about double that.  Nothing much to report, there.

What really impressed me was what damage the bullet had caused along the way.  It hadn’t hit any rib bone on the way in, but the guy’s insides still looked like they’d gone 5 seconds in a commercial blender.

After seeing  that, I carried Silvertip ammo in my carry guns exclusively until the early 2000s, when it just got too expensive.  I see that Lucky Gunner, among others, now has the 9mm Silvertips on sale for about a buck a round, which is expensive but not massively so, in today’s Bidenflation World.

In .45 ACP, however, the cost per squeeze (IF you can find any in stock) is between $1.80 and $2 (!!!), which is definitely too spendy for my wallet.

But if you want to put only the best ammo in your carry gun for those unexpected antisocial occasions (and there’s nothing wrong with that), do consider the Silvertip as well as your usual suspects in premium self-defense ammo.  I’ve seen first-hand what it does, after all.

And of course, I get no kickback from Winchester or anyone else from my recommendations.

Range Report: Howa HCR (.308 Win) & Meopta Optika6

Boomershoot, Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

Here’s this year’s Boomershoot rifle — headed towards one lucky Reader after the event:  the Howa HCR 1500 (.308 Win), topped with the Meopta Optika6 3-18x50mm glass.

So postponing my Breakfast Gin, I hie’d me off to the range.

Some background:  I popped the scope on last night without boresighting it — just bolted it on, and trusted to luck and the several craftsmen who had built this rig.

Here’s the gun’s very first target (point of aim was the black diamond, at 100 yards):

Explanation:  Shot #1 was actually an accidental discharge because the trigger caught me by surprise (despite having dry-fired it a dozen times the night before).  Anyway, I cursed a little, and then took some care and touched off the next 9 shots (#2-#10).  I should remind everyone that all these came from an unsighted scope and a cold virgin barrel.

So I adjusted the scope, and of course Stupid Kim can’t tell right from left, hence the appearance of #11 and #12 way off to the right.  So I said some Bad Words again, and clicked back to the original setting (#13), then adjusted the reticle to the left this time, and a tad upwards (#14-#16).

The target was starting to look a little cluttered, so I put up a new target, sent it out and popped off the last four boolets in the box — but alas, at this point the barrel was hot — way too hot, because I was getting excited — and the group opened up with the last two shots.

Lesson learned:  in future, only five shots at a time before letting the barrel cool properly.

Still, I was moderately pleased.  I came home and gave myself a reward:

Some additional thoughts:

Holy crap but this Howa is a sweet gun.  (Here’s a pro’s take.)  Everything works as advertised, BUT:  the stupid plastic adjustable stock is a little loose, and I can’t get it tight.  (Wouldn’t have happened with a proper wood stock, of course, but these are the times we live in.)  Still, I’d prefer a regular-style stock over this “chassis” thing… even a plastic one like the Hogue:

There is apparently little difference between this gun and the Weatherby Vanguard as they’re made in the same factory. No prizes for guessing which one I’d like.

Okay, enough about the gun.

The Meopta scope is likewise a gem.  Crisp, clear sights (I forgot the battery, so no illuminated reticle, but it didn’t matter), and the clicks are positive and accurate.

Ammo was the excellent PMC Bronze 147gr FMJ/boat-tail.  I’m not going to try anything else, for obvious reasons.

The entire rig cost a tad under $1,500 — and I have to tell you all, I would have to spend a LOT more to get even marginally better results than I did, because it’s far more accurate than I can shoot it.

In Mae’s words, if war were declared, I’d take this rig off to battle, without hesitation.

Not Another One

Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

Ah, jeez… just when I thought I’d seen everything I wanted to see about old guns (thankee Othias/Mae at C&Rsenal, and Ian McCollum on “Forgotten” Weapons), I came across 9-Hole Reviews…

…and good-bye to the rest of my so-called free time.

My favorite so far:  the K98 and the K98 mounted with what Gun Jesus calls “the worst German sniper scope of WWII” (or something like that).  Of course, in the hands of a decent (!) rifleman with good eyes, it’s pretty damn good.  Note how his accuracy improves over iron sights, with a simple 1.5x scope and a German #4 post reticle.

No need to thank me — or curse me, for that matter — it’s all part of the service.

Belated Recognition

Gratuitous Gun Pics, Gun/Ammo Tests, The Gun Thing

I have to say that I have not been remiss in not talking about Othias and Mae at C&Rsenal before, simply because I only recently discovered this outstanding EeeewwChoob channel.

That said, an impossibly-long amount of watching has since followed — I probably spend about two hours a day watching this pair talking about, and shooting, the old rifles that I love so much.  Between Othias’s historical background on the guns’ development and manufacture, and Mae’s well-informed opinions on the guns’ actual operation, it’s just about a perfect show for an old gun geek like myself.  And when they’re talking about a gun which I own, I feel an irresistible urge to get it out of the safe and work the action while I’m watching.  (I won’t even talk about the irresistible urge to go to the range afterwards.)

Between this show and Ian McCollum’s Forgotten Weapons series, there is a veritable encyclopedia of information about guns — so much so that from now on, I’m not going to do any lengthy exposition on the guns I feature in my Gratuitous Gun pics, but simply hand them over to one or the other of these two channels where they are covered.  (If I do a range report, however, I’ll put my two cents into the mix.)

Damn, I love this gun thing.