Accessories

The congregating arsenal was all perfectly legal as well as perfectly acceptable to the leaders of New Bethel, an Assemblies of God church in Louisville, Kentucky, that invited people to bring their unloaded guns to this first-ever event.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa -- Brownells has just completed the first successful live-fire test of its military contract of building M4/M16 magazine with the latest follower design.

If youve never carried a handgun in an ankle holster, consider this. If such carry is rare or unpopular, then it will likely prove unexpected as well, increasing the element of surprise- which is always a good thing when it comes to self defense. In this test we will look at three small revolvers that are suitable for ankle carry as well as other methods of deeper concealment. The revolver is a time-proven device, but making them small and light can present new challenges.The three revolvers are Smith & Wessons $600 Model 442 No. 162810, the $430 Charter Arms On Duty No 53810, and Rugers new $525 LCR, No. 5401. Each gun was chambered for 38 Special only, and thanks to the use of lightweight materials offered an unloaded weight of less than 1 pound. Maximum capacity was 5 rounds.To test our revolvers we fired from support at the nominal distance of 10 yards. One of the challenges of firing a short-barreled revolver from a rest is that once youve wrapped the snub-nosed revolver in your hands, there is not much gun left exposed for support. In addition, you have to be careful not to block off the cylinder gap. This is the area between the forward edge of the chamber and the entrance to the barrel, referred to as the forcing cone. As the bullet "crosses the break," gases are emitted that often carry unburned powder. In addition, if cylinder to bore alignment is not correct, debris can be sheared from the bullet as it enters the forcing cone. To prevent being splashed by debris we chose to use a flat, pillow-style bag, (sold as the Elbow Bag) from battenfeldtechnologies.com. These bags were tightly filled but lightweight, so shipping on top of the $20 price was nominal. Best of all, they were covered with an abrasion-resistant material.Our tests were performed outdoors at American Shooting Centers (amshootcenters.com) where the benches offered a vertical stop against which we could brace our support. Once seated, we rested our hands plus a radius of the trigger guard atop the bags. The Charter revolver was the only gun that could also be fired single action, so we tried that too. But the accuracy chart reflects the measurement of five-shot groups fired double-action only.Although ammunition was scarce, we were able to find what we needed at ASCs Pro Shop, (281-556-8086). For test ammunition we fired inexpensive 158-grain lead roundnosed ammunition from MagTech, remanufactured 125-grain jacketed hollowpoints from Black Hills Ammunition, and the latest high-velocity law-enforcement rounds from Speer. They were the +P 125-grain Gold Dot LE hollowpoints sold in 50-round boxes. Lets find out how they performed.

DoubleStar Corp. is selling the DS-420 Handguard, which is 12 inches of aircraft-grade 60-61 T6 aluminum.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa -- Brownells new ½'-28 thread, .22 caliber, Tactical Muzzle Brake solves a problem for shooters using the AR-15: muzzle rise.

Wilson’s new Quad Rail offers a more comfortable handhold on the fore end while maintaining four rails for accessories.

The NRA Competitions Division recently announced four bits of news important to shooters:

Administrator's Note: We saw Frank Brownells' advice in the March 27 Brownells Web Bench e-letter and thought his comments about current AR15 market shortages were on point. We got permission to post them on GunReports.com.

Montezuma, Iowa, (March 18, 2009)--Brownells, the Iowa gunsmithing tool and firearm accessory supplier, announced today that it has been awarded another contract for magazines by the U.S. Army TACOM, Rock Island, Illinois.

SOG’s new Twitch XL is a locking folder knife made from AUS-8 stainless steel heat treated to a final Rockwell hardness of 57-58, then cryogenically treated for toughness and edge retention.

…The Burner Series, $230, is a ten-VHS-tape set covering virtually every aspect of the popular run and gun sport of Practical Shooting. This collection is so named because the lessons are designed and performed by one of the most prolific champions of all time, Jerry "The Burner" Barnhart.

WASHINGTON, D.C.–The Brady Campaign has released its annual state scorecards, which the group claims 'rate each state on the strength of its gun laws.'