I wanted to write about the S&W Shield at an earlier point in time, but S&W never seemed to stop releasing new models long enough for me to jump in. Two 45 Auto versions of the M&P Shield were introduced in May of this year, joining eighteen other Shield models […]

Yes, I am neglecting a number of other projects so I can play with… I mean work with, the Winchester Model 70 Safari Express rifle and the 416 Remington Mag cartridge combination. There are bullets to fly, recoil to absorb and paper targets to stop in mid charge. It has […]

The term “express”, according to British gun maker W.W. Greener in his 1881 book “The Gun and its Development”, originated with muzzle loaders, muzzle loaders that held a large powder charge and pushed a light weight projectile to long ranges. Originally referred to in 1855 as a Cape rifles, named […]

It is tough to watch the news these days and not feel the country slipping away. I am fortunate to have grown up in America 50 years ago, when there were role models that set good examples and high school students didn’t major in cynicism. People were a little more […]

One day I shall retire and move to Todamcold, Alaska and star in a wilderness TV show called Frozen Old Men of the North. Joining the tiny home nation, my cabin will be 100 square feet, so as to minimize my carbon footprint and to reduce the amount of firewood […]

I don’t usually write about equipment. Mostly because I get two or three sentences and I’ve said all I have to say, or because I fall asleep typing, fall forward and hit my nose on my desk. Nothing shouts excitement like a new shell holder or pair of pliers, but […]

The S&W manual for the Model 686 does not preclude the use of handloading ammunition, but it does so with the caveat that any reloaded or handloaded ammunition be subjected to an internal pressure test to assure it is in compliance with industry standards. The passage goes on to further […]

This morning, a collection of bullets was pulled for this project. And hour or two later they were returned to stock and another pull, a different pull, was made. The first selection included machine turned copper and hybrid lead/copper bullets that cost approximately $2.25 to $2.75 per and do not […]

Living in a rural environment brings firearms into part of a routine; hunting, ridding property of varmints, self defense, and work assignments in my case. Still, my current preoccupations are fixing a well, pulling water and soil samples, harvesting and generating a new plan for Maine’s Tree Growth program, and […]

In the early 1920’s, Germany’s Waffenfabrik Mauser AG, introduced the 10.75×68 Mauser cartridge. The round was chambered initially in Oberndorf Mauser Sporters and French Brevex and Rival rifles. Post WW II the round was also offered by Belgium’s Browning Arms Company and France’s Dumoulin for European customers. The 10,75×68, including […]