The Firearm Blog

[ I am pleased to present this guest post written by Ed Friedman. Ed is the Associate Editor at the NRA's Shooting Illustrated magazine and blogs at Tell Me Why?. ]

First off, thanks to Steve for letting me guest blog. It's an honor to be here.

I just got back from an antelope hunt in Wyoming with Barnes, Weatherby and Zeiss (the best perk of working for an NRA publication). Weatherby supplied a very nice shooting Vanguard in .257 Wby. and ammo topped with 80-grain Barnes Tipped TSX bullets. As you might imagine, these lead-free projectiles simply scream out of the barrel-with a muzzle velocity of 3,870 fps.

Photo Credit: Kyle Wintersteen of the NRA's American Hunter.

Fortunately, Wyoming is overflowing with pronghorn, and finding one was not a problem. We also had a guide who knew how to judge wind, though he wasn't 100 percent certain how the little 80-grain bullet would handle the roughly 25 mph gusting winds accompanying the lovely sleety snow falling as we came up on my goat. I ended up holding about 2 feet behind the vitals to compensate for the wind. At 230 yards with a .257 Wby., I didn't need to worry about bullet drop. A single shot dropped the antelope, though the wind pushed the TTSX bullet to the critter's neck. Still, it was about as humane a kill as possible-essentially koshering the animal.

We couldn't find the bullet, which obviously passed through the animal, what with its solid-copper construction and a velocity of more than 3,000 fps at 230 yards, but I'd say it performed as advertised. The TTSX is hyper-accurate and even a lightweight model can do a ton of damage when you push it so darn fast.

We spent the next day of the hunt shooting prairie dogs to see if the TTSX would have a chance to expand in tiny varmints. I don't recommend trying this with .257 Wby. simply because it's on the expensive side, but when the ammo is free, knock yourself out. The velocity causes the TTSX to expand even in prairie dogs, which vaporized into a fine red mist to the delight of all spectators.

With the growing restrictions on lead ammo, Barnes has a bunch of all-copper bullets that perform as well or better than traditional lead. They tend to be a bit pricey, but the accuracy and terminal performance make them well worth the cost.

I was very surprised when a reader email me about this new rifle from Winchester. The poor Browning BAR hunting rifle has been through yet another evolution and rebranding.

In early 2008 FN announced a tactical sniper rifle, the FNAR, based on the Browning BAR (FN owns both Browning and Winchester Arms). It added a detachable magazine, pistol grip and top, bottom and side picatinny rails.

The new SX-AR is a heavy barreled FNAR in a Mossy Oak camo finish but without the side rails and full length top rail (interestingly the bottom rail remains). It comes full circle, taking the tactical FNAR improvements back to the hunting market.

Winchester SX-AR

This rifle will have been developed to fight the new AR-10 based hunting rifles that have been coming into the market, for example, the Remington R-25. I suspect the reason it is being rebranded and marketed under Winchester, and not Browning, is so that the risk of the BAR being named in any Assault Weapon Ban (federal or state) is reduced. The Browning BAR can continue to be a "traditional" styled hunting rifle.

For comparison, there are photos of the SX-AR ancestors ...

Browning BAR

FNAR

A big thank you to Reese for emailing me about this new rifle.

Guy Sagi, the Editor in Chief of Shooting Illustrated, has written about his experience hunting antelope with an AR-10.

It is great to see semi-automatic rifle hunting going mainstream.

Caleb discusses the bizarre and seemingly arbitrary rules which regulate what firearms can and cannot be used to hunt deer in Indiana:

The list of approved Indiana deer hunting equipment can be found here if you’d like to read the whole list. The short summary is “.357 Magnum and up in rifles, but no rifle calibers, and .243 and up in pistols, plus slug barreled shotguns”. It’s weird and nonsensical, but it’s the law for better or for worse.

Tam, who never fails to make me smile, weighs in on the issue (emphasis mine):

No scoped .30-’06s, no old Winchester “thutty-thutties”, not so much as a single shot Thompson/Center rifle if it’s chambered in an honest-to-O’Connor bottlenecked rifle cartridge suitable for Bambi zapping.

…

You know where this leads? This leads to crazed young men taking measurements of exotic AR-15 cartridges and thinking strange thoughts, that’s where it leads.

Albert A Rasch has written a review (Part 1 and Part 2) on SeigeWorks “American” Longbow. These beautiful traditional style bows, without all the ugly gears and pulley that modern compound bows feature, really appeals to me.

Earlier this year author Neil Strauss published a book about survivalism. I was planning on reading Emergency until I read the Boston Globe review:

Next he takes a course in killing with a knife, during which an instructor named Mad Dog demands that he slaughter a live goat. Strauss also studies wilderness survival, learning to build a shelter from leaves, find water, and live off the land. After getting instruction in shooting, he finds himself changing from wimpy writer to would-be killer: “Something strange had occurred. I developed a bloodlust I’d never felt before. I actually wanted an excuse to shoot a bad guy.”

Taking an animals life is saddening, and I think most hunters would agree. To this day, and even as a child, I could not bring myself to kill a bird, or even a worm for that matter, that was not doing any harm and was not eatable. The so-called blood lust is a myth.

Outdoor and Hunting blogger Albert A Rasch put it succinctly in a post about PETA:

You also refuse to acknowledge that there is more to hunting than killing. You refuse to observe and experience the hard work and perseverance that goes into hunting. I don’t deny that I enjoy hunting. I don’t deny that there is satisfaction in a clean kill. But let me be clear, there is little joy in the actual death of an animal. As many hunters will attest, there is frequently a moment of regret or sadness, but that is tempered by the basic satisfaction that the hunter feels knowing that he can provide and secure sustenance. It does not matter whether it is necessary or not in this day and age of mass produced food, it matters to me, and that is all that matters, regardless of the moral high horse you think you sit on.

UPDATE: I may have been a bit harsh basing my opinion on one line and a few gun bloggers disagree with me. Foxtrot in the comments wrote that he thought the quote was out of context, 1withabullet enjoyed the book and Michael Bane, an outdoor author himself, really enjoyed it.

I still stand my my comments above that going on about blood lust in hunting is a load of hollywood fantasy.

Those hardworking boys at American Rifle have been plinking African style with a double barreled rifles chambered in .470 Nitro Express.

A spectator shouts “Fix bayonets!”

A question to those who know more about these things than me: I noticed that the first rifle shown in the video featured ejectors while the other two rifles did not, Is there any reason not to have ejectors on a dangerous game rifle? In a real-life situation a fast reload could be the difference between taking home a trophy or being taken home in a coffin so I would have thought ejectors would be standard.

Hat Tip: Ed @ Tell Me Why?

Brian, who blogs at SKS’s and More, emailed me photos of his Mosin-Nagant M44 which has been configured for short range ( 75 yards ) hog and deer hunting. The scope mount attaches to where the front sight would have been.

Click to expand the photos.

I love that laminated stock.

If you are into SKS and other comblock firearms I recommend checking out Brian’s SKS’s and More blog.

Leupold’s new RX-1000 Rangefinder is very impressive. It is lightweight, compact, has a 6x zoom and can measure out to 1000 yards.

Standard model RX-1000

There are two models, the standard and the TBR model (True Ballistic Range). The TBR model includes an integrated ballistics computer which can calculate MOA elevation adjustment or the hold over point and the equivalent horizontal range when firing at an angle … the only thing it does not do it skin the game

I am not sure what the official MSRP is, but OpticsPlanet.net have the standard model listed for $350 and the TBR model for $400.

The Google Street View photo taking van ran over a deer in Rush, NY while capturing every moment of the encounter on their 360 degree camera system.

The images have since been removed by google.

Hat Tip: Reddit via. The Daily What via. Gizmodo.

H&R (A Remington company) have produced a new shotgun designed specifically for slugs. H&R Pardner Pump Slug features a proprietary rifling design called Ultragon which was designed to provide greater slug accuracy. From the press release:

Rifling further enhances the accuracy potential of the Pardner Pump Cantilever Slug Gun. Ultragon is a proprietary rifling design comprised of six lands and grooves without sharp edges like traditional rifling. This design imparts bullet spin without leaving sharp impressions on the sabot jacket or foster-style lead slug. The result is a better gas seal and less loss of pressure, which equals higher velocity and better accuracy

Specs:

Model: Pardner Pump Slug (NP1-12C/NP1-2SC)
Gauge: 12 (2 3/4 and 3-inch)
Stock: American Walnut / Black Synthetic.
Barrel: 22 inches. Ultragon rifling.
Metal Finish: Blued
Sights: Cantilever Scope Mount
Length: 42 1/8 inches
Length of Pull: 14 1/2 inches
Weight: 7 1/2 lbs.

Stag Arms have a new 6.8mm hunting AR-15 called the Model 7 (Hunter).

Model 7 (Hunter). Click to expand.

The rifle features a 20.77″ 1:11 twist barrel, 2 stage match trigger, 5 round magazine and a Hogue pistol grip. Stag Arms has the price listed as $1,055.

Although I have not read an evaluation of hunting performance for commercially available 6.8mm SPC, the round produces similar energy to the .30-30 at the muzzle and offers significantly better downrange performance than the .30-30 or 7.62×39mm. Whitetail deer should be no problem.

More info @ Stag Arms

GunPundit stumbled across a photo at Marines.mil with a caption that suggests that some Marines are hunting ducks with 5.56mm NATO rounds and/or 5.56mm blanks.

My take on it: They reckoned punt guns are pretty cool for duck hunting but rifle grenades (fired with a blank round) are even better!

(Just joking)

In 2006 Sauer, a 257 year old German company, produced their first semi-automatic rifle the S 303

(Sauer should not be confused with Sig Sauer, which is the American arm of the European conglomerate that owns J. P. Sauer & Sohn).

In the January 2009 issue of Guns Magazine they review the S303 and call it a “new” rifle. I think they mean “new in the USA”.

Sauer S 303 Elegance model with scope.

The rifle is a high-end elegant rifle (in other words: a non-evil non-black rifle) designed for European drive hunts. In drive hunts game is flushed out towards hunters and quick shots are needed as they run past; at least that is my understanding of drive hunts, never having seen one.

The S 303 includes some interesting features. It has a feature called the Silent Cocking System (SCS) which Guns magazine describes:

With the magazine in place if the cocking lever is pulled back and allowed to go forward the firearm is cocked and ready to go. However, if you allow the lever to go forward slowly, it stops about 1″ shy of actually closing and then can be pushed into place silently.

I can’t quire figure out what this mean in practice. Walking around with the bolt open 1″ with a round not quite chambered seems to me like asking for a jam but I am sure there is more to it than that.

The cocking/decocking lever can be seem at “1″.Click to expand.

The S 303 also features a innovative detachable mounting system called isiMount. The scope can be move into two different positions, depending on desired eye relief, without effecting point of impact.

isiMount bottom diagram. Smart Tube gas system top diagram.

The under barrel gas system, Smart Tube, has been designed with accuracy in mind.

Specs:

Models: Classic (least expensive), Elegance, Individual (most expensive)
Barrel length: 510 / 560 mm – 20″ / 22”
Total length: 1065 / 1115 mm – 41.9″ / 43.9”
Weight: 3.25 / 3.35 kg (7.16 / 7.38 lbs)
Calibres: 7×64mm, .30-06, 8×57mm IS, 9.3×62mm, .300 Win. Mag.
Magazine: 2 rounds (optional 5 round magazine available)

Guns Magazine says that the price will be $3999 (presumably for the least expensive Classic model).

The top end Individual model. Look at that wood!

With its elegant non-threatening appearance I think Sauer have a winner on their hands. While the rifle is expensive, it is not when compared with the double rifles it is competing with. It also has many advantages compared too double rifles such as decreased recoil (semi-auto action) and increase accuracy (one barrel).

It is available in 9.3×62mm which is the minimum African dangerous game caliber so it should be more than sufficient for any animal found in Europe or North America. Due to import restrictions on semi-automatic rifles it is unlikely that many (if any at all) will end up hunting the Big 5.

More info available at Sauer and Guns Magazine (Jan 2009 issue).

(Photos and diagrams from Sauer-Waffen.de)