Recreational

The 21 was Glock’s biggest gun until the arrival of the models 34 and 35, which feature a longer slide and 5.3-inch barrel. The .45 ACP 21 incorporates a 4.6-inch barrel, but at about 27 ounces unloaded, it is still the heaviest pistol in the Glock lineup. This is the result of beefing up the original design to handle the pounding of .45 ACP ammunition. For example, the current 9mm Model 17, which is similar in dimensions to the GL21 and closest in design to the original Glock pistol, weighs only about 22 ounces. Our GL21 arrived with two 13-round magazines.Palm swells and finger grooves with helpful checkering molded into place have helped the Glock pistols become more shooter friendly, and adding a rail to the dustcover allows accessories to be added easily. The magazine release is prominent, making reloading faster. The extractor offers plenty of surface area to the case rim and serves as a loaded-chamber indicator, sticking out just enough to tell the shooter visually or by touch when the gun is charged.

A gun that breaks in half? Well, this shouldn’t really be much of a manufacturing problem. After all, shotguns have been hinged for years with precision. What about the polymer and steel construction, and the orange plastic front sight blade? The skepticism that polymer once rang up should be well faded by now and besides, the Sub Rifle 2000 feeds from Glock magazines, synonymous with reliability.

Bolt-action 22 rifles are among the most basic and useful of all firearms. They are fine trainers and excellent tools for a variety of uses limited only by the imagination of the owner. We’ve seen ‘em used for just about anything, and about the only constant is that decent 22 bolt rifles generally have long and useful lives. The street price of the Marlin Model 980S rifle is about $250, averaging three sources.

In the course of preparing our report on the .45LC lever rifles, we also examined an original Winchester 1873 rifle, made in 1884, chambered in .38/40 caliber. This rifle was in excellent condition, though minus most of the finish on its receiver. It was fitted with a folding Lyman #1A aperture sight from the period in which the rifle was built, and also had a four-piece original cleaning rod in the trap in its butt stock. We compared the Cimarron version with it, and were pleased to find the new rifle was a close copy f the original, at least to casual observation.

Like most Beretta’s we’ve opened a box on, the Teknys Gold Sporting is immediately eye-catching. Our sample sported a chocolate-cherry piece of wood that while not fancily figured, showed some very handsome striation. With an oil finish that’s polished enough to look like a lacquer finish, this stock is nice enough that it justifies the gun’s steeper price tag.

Charter Arms has released an explanation about why the company’s new rimless-ammunition firing revolver is not yet out.

Below are examples of operations performed on firearms and guidance as to whether or not such operations would be considered manufacturing under the Gun Control Act (GCA).

What does Fulton put into a carbine? How about: Original USGI receivers; all USGI parts, all checked with applicable gauges; an excellent-condition (refinished) original USGI stock and hand guard; a period sling and oiler; plus “The M1 Carbine Owner’s Guide,” a 140-page book by Ruth & Duff (autographed by Duff). This book was so filled with intensive details about the M1 Carbine that after reading portions of it, we had to rewrite portions of this report. Also in the Fulton package was one 10-round magazine. There’s a 30-day money-back guarantee, which gives you ample time to fall in love with your new purchase, or to find some good reason to reject it, which we don’t think you will.

Thompson/Center Arms Company Inc. has begun shipping the new Triumph® Bone Collector™ Series of muzzleloaders. The series consists of two .50 caliber magnum muzzleloaders that carry the look, feel and attitude of Michael Waddell’s “The Bone Collector” series currently airing on The Outdoor Channel.

Buffalo Bore now offers a round that was designed to be similar to the old FBI-standard round that featured a soft-lead 158-grain bullet at very good velocity.

Heckler & Koch is marketing a variant of its G36 assault rifle as a heavy-barrel accuracy rifle for the U.S. market. What struck us as unusual was the marrying of a heavy barrel or other heavy componentry to what was originally a lightweight field rifle configuration. The SL8-1 is a grey polymer-stocked unit that sells for $1,249.

The problem of reliably driving one bullet into the center of a target at long range has plagued riflemen ever since the first rifled arm was created. In the quest for this holy grail, thousands of shooters have fired millions of groups over the years, and from time to time these groups have achieved incredibility. Still, after generations of riflemen, the problem is still with us.A group of products, generically called tactical rifles in their use by law enforcement and military sharpshooters, purports to solve this problem. Instead of tactical rifle, we prefer the moniker “precision rifle,” for such a firearm is built to put one or two shots—precisely—into a very small target at very long range. These precision tools are generally heavy-barreled scope-sighted bolt-action rifles with synthetic stocks, which themselves have adjustments for length of pull, buttpad position, and comb height. The rifle typically will have an optional bipod, adjustable target-type sling swivels, and whatever else the shooter thinks will aid his task.