Rifles

USA-based Magnum Research, Inc. (MRI) has re-engineered the Magnum Lite MLR22 Win Mag rifle series in a semi-auto configuration.

The Delaware State Police Special Operations Response Team (SORT) has chosen SIG Sauer’s SIG516 as its new duty long arm.

Visit a public shooting range and it becomes apparent that the M16 platform has successfully made the transition from military weapon to serving the public as a means of recreation as well as home defense in the form of the AR-15 semi-automatic. Accordingly, model development for this platform continues apace, so in this article well consider three new carbine-length AR-15s in 5.56mm NATO and 300 Whisper. Our first two AR-15s were chambered for 223 Remington or 5.56mm ammunition, by far the most popular calibers for the AR.They were the Mossberg MMR Tactical Rifle (w/sights) and the Olympic Arms K3B-M4-TC-M4 Tactical Carbine, which Oly calls the alphabet gun for obvious reasons. Our third test gun is Smith & Wessons M&P15 300 Whisper, which stands out because it uses magazines interchangeable with the 223/5.56mm models but fires 30-caliber bullets. Our previous test of a 300 Whisper AR-15 featured a carbine directly from SSK Industries, the home of 300 Whispers inventor, J.D. Jones, (SSKIndustries.com). The Smith & Wesson M&P15 300 Whisper is, to our knowledge, the first production model of this chambering from a high-volume major manufacturer. Mossberg is another volume manufacturer, but the MMR is the companys first production-model AR-15.To establish accuracy data, we visited the 100-yard range at Houstons American Shooting Centers, (AMshootcenters.com). To determine muzzle energy, we utilized an Oehler chronograph to measure velocity so we could enter it into the appropriate equation: Does computation of muzzle energy truly measure stopping power? Not necessarily, but it does provide a reliable indicator of the amount of force the projectile starts out with, just like MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) indicates possible retail pricing.Test ammunition for our 223/5.56mm guns featured the three most popular bullet weights. We fired Sellier & Bellot 55-grain FMJ rounds, and two selections manufactured in Rapid City, South Dakota, by Black Hills Ammunition. They were the 60-grain V-Max and the 69-grain OTM. The Black Hills OTM (Open Tipped Match) rounds were marked 5.56mm NATO while the other rounds were designated 223 Remington. To test our Smith & Wesson rifle, we chose 208-grain Hornady A-Max and Hornady 110-grain V-Max 300 Whisper ammunition. Plus, we shot Remington 125-grain Accu-Tip rounds marked 300 AAC Blackout.We should note that the use of names other than 300 Whisper was reportedly an attempt to avoid the expense of paying royalties to its inventor. This practice appears to be fading out. That Smith & Wesson lists 300 AAC Blackout only as a co-chambering but chose to designate this rifle as the M&P15 300 Whisper tells us that the Whisper name will win out.Optics for our bench session consisted of the same Burris Xtreme Tactical 6-24X50mm with Mil-Dot reticle on each rifle (previously tested in our May 2011 issue). We also tried the new Brownells CQB T-Dot holographic sight by EOTech for offhand shots ($549, from Brownells.com). This scope provided a hologram-style projection that offered a large circle surrounding a central dot for zero and a second dot for hold over to extend aim to additional points of elevation. The CQB T-Dot can be used as a standalone sight or in co-witness with iron sights. An outer shell provided impact protection and a quick-release mounting system. This type of sight is a popular add-on, and we wanted to know how our test guns would accommodate this system. Our team of test shooters included a highly ranked High Power competitor and a third generation United States Marine recently discharged and now serving in law enforcement. Lets see how each of our AR-15s performed.

Advanced Armament Corp. has announced an economical option for 300 AAC BLK enthusiasts – the AAC Handi-Rifle chambered in 300 AAC BLK.

Bill Hicks & Co., Ltd., has released a fully-anodized Colt M4 Carbine. Chambering is in 5.56mm/.223 Rem with a chrome-lined M4 profile barrel, A2 flash hider, bayonette lug and folding front sight.

Readers can legitimately question the wisdom of buying a $650 AR and spending $700 more on it. Such is the case with the Modern Sporting Rifle. It is a hole into which you can just keep pouring money.

Our recent report on firelapping in the June 2012 edition ended with a note that the process can also be applied to 22 rimfires, but we had not yet tried that. Soon after publication of our report, reader John B. sent us an email wondering if we were interested in firelapping his old 22 rifle. John had an ancient Marlin lever-action 22 that no longer shot well, he said. He offered to send it to our Idaho office to see if we could resurrect its bore. We had just experienced a disaster testing a modern Marlin 39A (August 2012). We thought this would be a good opportunity to examine an old Marlin to see what they used to be, and maybe we could even help its bad old bore. We were having fits trying to get publishable results firelapping any of the 22 firearms we had on hand. They were in excellent condition, and we were stymied trying to make excellent guns shoot even better. We decided to give Johns questionable 22 a shot, so to speak, and asked him to send it along.

Whether you're an adherent of Cowboy Action Shooting or not, you've been the lucky recipient of development in guns suited for the sport, such as new or improved single-action revolvers, more choices and gunsmithing of period shotguns, and in the expansion of slide actions and levers actions in rifles. Two months ago, we compared three single-action revolvers chambered in 357 Magnum, with the nod in that test going to the Cimarron Evil Roy No. ER4104 357 Magnum, which comes from the factory tuned for fast shooting with a slicked-up action and a great trigger. If you plan to play in that game and simplify your cartridge coverage, pairing an Evil Roy with a companion 357 Mag lever-action rifle makes sense.

To see which rifle comes closest to taming the New West of Cowboy Action Shooting, we compared Henry's Big Boy, Cimarron's Evil Roy Brush Popper, and the LSI/Chiappa 1892 for fit, feel, performance, and accuracy using the same modern and cowboy action loads from the revolver test.

The first of our test lever actions was the Model 1873-style Evil Roy Brush Popper No. ER2022SS 357 Magnum/38 Special from Cimarron Firearms Co. in Fredericksburg, Texas. Cimarron gets criticism from shooters who complain that the firm's products are overpriced, but we're not sure that's legitimate. We know that we almost always get what we pay for, and if we want period pieces that perform out of the box, that's going to cost more money. Some GT readers complained that putting the Evil Roy-tuned handgun against two straight-factory guns from Ruger and Heritage was tilted too far on the customized side. But we believe that teams have to play the game in order to determine a winner, so we stuck with the Evil Roy Brush Popper, $1875, which comes with a Short Stroke Kit installed, instead of the Texas Brush Popper, still pricey at $1364. Made by Uberti in Italy, the ER Brush Popper has a real Western look, with a case-hardened-color receiver, checkered grip and forend, and a leather buttstock sheath.

Our second lever action was the Chiappa LSI Puma 1892 No. PCH-51241 357 Magnum/38 Special, $1020, based on the famous Winchester Model 92. The Model 1892 is the pistol-caliber rifle designed by John M. Browning and has been a favorite with hunters for 100 years because it was lighter, stronger, and faster than previous lever guns made in the 19th Century. Not many firearm designs today can boast of having had over 1 million produced, but the Model 1892 is one of them. Similar in construction to the Winchester Model 1886, these famous lever-action rifles have compact receivers, and when their internal components are scaled down and simplified to handle smaller calibers, the resulting rifles are light weight, produce little recoil, and have responsive, easy handling. Early Model 92s were primarily made in 44-40, 38-40, 32-20, and 25-20.

Puma's modern-day Model 1892s, proofed for modern ammunition, are built by Armisport Chiappa in Brescia, Italy, to Browning specifications and distributed in the USA by Legacy Sports International (LegacySports.com). Currently, Puma sells eight round-barrel carbines with 20-inch barrels and blued or color-case-hardened finishes. Twelve models with 20- or 24-inch octagonal barrels and blued or color-case-hardened finishes are available. Both octagonal-barrel models hold 10 rounds in the magazine with a capacity-limited plug removed. All are available in 357 Magnum, 44/40, 44 Magnum, and 45 Colt. We picked the 24-inch barrel to assess how the longer tube affected handling, and also to see if the longer sight radius helped accuracy.

Our third gun, the Henry Big Boy No. H006M 357 Magnum/38 Special, $900, differed markedly from the other two. The Big Boy is one of many rifles from Henry Repeating Arms, based in Bayonne, New Jersey. Chambered in 44 Magnum, 45 Colt, and 357 Magnum, Henry also offers special-edition rifles in the Deluxe II, Wildlife II, or Cowboy II editions. Our test gun was the standard Big Boy in 357 Mag, fired from a monolithic brass receiver that smoothly ejects to the side, rather than out the top, as with the other guns. The Big Boy has brass appointments elsewhere, too: the yellow buttplate and barrel band combine with the blued octagon barrel to create a great overall look, we thought.

Little more than a month before the United States entered the war against Germany in 1917, Browning officially demonstrated his two newest brainchildren for an audience of senators, representatives, military officers, and assorted members of the press. One entry was a .30 caliber, water-cooled machine gun capable of discharging 600 rounds per minute. The other was a rifle light enough to be carried by a foot soldier, fired from the shoulder or hip and instantly convertible from single shot to fully automatic fire at 480 rounds per minute. The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) was an immediate hit.

The Hornady 17 Magnum Rimfire promises and delivers on the fun factor. With negligible recoil and a reasonable cost per shot compared to most centerfires, the Hornady 17 HMR is easy on the shoulder and not especially damaging to the wallet, either. In our quest for value, performance, and fun, we looked Henry Lever Action Frontier Model No. H001TV Octagon-Barrel 17 HMR, $550. It's interesting to review this smaller Henry as preparation for an in-depth look at the company's Big Boy lever gun in the upcoming October 2012 issue of Gun Tests.

Gun Tests magazine recently looked at the Ruger SR-22R No. 1226 22 LR, $625. Here's what they had to say

The SKS is a homely brute, and many of its simple mechanisms are largely outdated by today's weapons' standards. But it works. It, like so many rifles based on the tapered 7.62 x 39 round, catches the cartridges that its two-piece bolt strips out of that fixed, ten-shot magazine with great ease. It fires them reliably and slings out the empties like an outraged matron encountering last week's garbage. The accuracy isn't generally good enough to be called that, unless you've got a lucky specimen on your hands. On average, they seem to shoot M1-Carbine-size groups. They'll put most of their shots into a four- or five-inch circle at a hundred yards, and that's plenty good enough for their intended job. But you'd never write home to mama about how attractive a rifle an SKS is.