Reloading is tough these days. Powder shortages and insane price hikes make this already pricey hobby even more stressful. Hodgdon Powder one of the most popular powder manufactures out there and thankfully, didn’t leave us without an update in this new year. See the update below. If you have specific questions about your type of powder go ahead and click here and peruse through the comments, a lot of commenters are asking about specifics.
QUICK SUMMARY: In 2023, we anticipate powder availability to return to Pre-COVID conditions. Our powders will be readily available on dealer shelves and for purchase on our website. While demand has remained at a record high for now nearly 3 years, we look forward to closing the gap between demand and supply and thank you for your patience.
WILL ALL YOUR POWDERS BE READILY AVAILABLE?
While there are some exceptions such as our Enduron and Trail Boss powders, the majority of our powders will be easily located via various retailers.
WHY CAN’T HODGDON MAKE MORE POWDER?
We wish it were that simple – what we have experienced since 2020 is a demand issue and not a supply issue. The reality is we are doing everything possible to maximize shipments to our customers, including running overtime in production, packaging and shipping areas and working with our shipping partners to add new inbound and outbound shipping options. During the past 3 years, we broke record after record for powder shipments. We learned what worked best in terms of distribution and will continue to maximize all efforts to maintain this high level of shipping.
WILL HODGDON BUILD ANOTHER PLANT TO KEEP UP WITH FUTURE SPIKES IN DEMAND?
A new powder production facility would require an investment far beyond our finances and no financial institution would finance this type of building project. While the past 3 years of demand appears to be different from demand spikes in the last 20 years, the “normal” powder demand for the U.S. would not support an additional manufacturing plant.
WHY IS HODGDON SELLING POWDER TO AMMUNITION MANUFACTURERS?
Our focus is the handloading enthusiast. Yes, we sell some powder to strategic, mostly smaller ammunition manufacturers, but that is a small part of our business. The heart of our business is smokeless powder for the handloading enthusiast. Every day, we receive calls from potential OEM customers who are looking for powder to load in ammunition. Every day, we politely decline this new business so we can focus on our long-term customers and sales channels and most importantly, our costumers who have supported us for decades.”
There you have it. Hodgdon is passionate about the normal everyday handloader, they aren’t building a new facility, and well, they’re still trying to get back to where things were as far as readily available powder and are forecasting that this will be done in 2023.
Remember though, prices will NEVER be back to normal due to natural supply and demand and other tax hikes. The price of powder isn’t due to Hodgdon, or IMR, or Alliant, it is due to well..everything just kind of sucking due to COVID and other changes that may have happened in the year 2021..cough.
In one of the few Facebook gun groups I still frequent, someone shared a photo of something that caught their attention.
They saw this person with a hip-bag walking around the mall, and it struck them as odd.
Now these hip bags are popular among motorcyclists, but the person didn’t quite fit that look. They were just wearing a hoodie and jeans.
Given that it was a concealed carry group, most of the discussion obviously revolved around the concept that it was a holster bag.
The interesting point worth highlighting is this:
The subject of the photo is pretty innocuous, and the thread established several benign/non-gun justifications for the bag.
BUT
The subject of the photos strayed far enough outside social norms that OP went “huh, that’s unusual, I wonder what/ why that is?”
This is EXACTLY how it goes with exposed belt clips, mis-sized clothing, etc.
People are good at pattern recognition, so it’s best practice to exist within the pattern.
What’s funny, in kind of an unfortunate kind of way, is that it’s not uncommon for there to be regular debates (arguments) in this group about whether or not “printing matters”, yet many failed to recognize that this was the exact same set of circumstances.
The reality is that concealment is, at its core, a magic trick. It’s misdirection and subterfuge.
The most effective concealment isn’t just covering the gun. At its most effective, it’s a combination of showing people what they expect to see, and misdirection.
This can be as simple as proper garment fit to avoid printing or foregoing tactical brands, or it can delve deeper into concepts like social camouflage.
Social Camouflage breaks into two basic categories:
The first is the “grey man concept”, where you’re dressed in an unassuming way that draws no attention.
The other element is dressing in a manner that would make people go “there’s no WAY that person is carrying a gun”
The PHLster Enigma facilitates this by making carry easier in pants that previously wouldn’t support a gun (sweats, gi pants, joggers, board shorts, etc.)
Going back to my original point though, you never know who is paying attention or what they notice, so it’s best to dress for your environment.
This means not just climatically (no bulky cover garments in hot weather and such), but also the social fluency to know what “dressing appropriately” means where you’re going to be.
This hip back is certainly a fairly obvious example of the concept, but it highlights a critical point that more people should consider.
Don’t deviate from the norms and understand the cultural expectations where you are, because you never know who’s watching.
As a rule I don’t haunt the shops looking for some blast from the past. Modern revolvers offer good accuracy superior sights and more choices in configuration. However- there are a few vintage revolvers that offer certain utility that isn’t present in modern offerings. I admit that nostalgia sometimes is a factor and that’s fine as long as function and reliability is present. Among the best revolvers of the previous century is the Ruger Speed Six. Built on the old Security Six frame but with fixed sights rather than adjustable sights this six shot .357 Magnum revolver is among the best balanced and useful of all Ruger handguns. Built on a medium frame the Ruger Security Six features a rugged lock work. It is plenty accurate. The Speed Six is modified with a round butt and fixed sights to facilitate concealment. The improved GP100 has proven stronger and more durable than most revolvers while the faster handling Speed Six has much merit. The modern fixed sight versions of the GP 100 are too large and heavy for good concealment.
The example illustrated was no beauty queen when new. But then ability makes a firearm attractive! The Ruger has been refinished in a durable non reflective phosphate finish. The round butt revolver feels good in the hand and allows cupping the grip for fast work. The design, like the square butt Security Six in standard figuration, is the reason Ruger went to rubber grips on the GP100. Recoil stings and becomes uncomfortable with Magnum loads. Most of my revolvers wear Hogue Mono Grips. Hogue grips change the handling qualities of the revolver. The Ruger Speed Six is now comfortable to fire and use with Magnum loads. The revolver is fired more often with fully interchangeable .38 Special loads. Magnum loads feature a cartridge case about 1/8 inch longer to prevent chambering in the .38 Special cylinder.
The DeSantis Wild Hog is an ideal all around holster for packing in the wild.The Speed Six’s original finish is long gone but the action remains reliable.
The Speed Six had fired thousands of handloads. Most have been hard casts bullets from 140 to 160 grains. For most practice a modest charge of Titegroup provides 800 fps of velocity. This a good small game load as well. I occasionally fire a stout load using Matt’s Bullets 160 grain SWC at 1,060 fps. This +P loads makes for good practice for Magnum loads without Magnum recoil and is very accurate. As for accuracy this isn’t a match grade revolver or something for hunting, but for defense use. I have tested several of Buffalo Bore’s hard hitting .38 Special loads. With a 125 grain JHP or all copper Barnes bullet at over 1,000 fps, some as fast as 1,100 fps, these are excellent defense loads with comparatively mild recoil and superb accuracy and control. For most defense shooters this is a fine home defense choice. For outdoors use the Outdoorsman load uses a 158 grain SWC at over 1100 fps. This isn’t a poor copy of Elmer Keith’s semi wadcutter but the real thing with a flat meplat and sharp cutting shoulder. For animal defense this loading will give the shooter confidence in the heavy .38.
If you are willing to practice to master the .357 Magnum the philosophy is to get one hit that stops the attack. A string of shots with a hard kicking Magnum is feasible. At least with a revolver the size and weight of the Ruger Speed Six. Get on target, press the trigger is a smooth rolling arc, and get a hit. The 125 grain .357 Magnum is a tremendous asset in personal defense. This load breaks about 1400 fps in the Ruger. The 140 grain loading is an excellent compromise with greater penetration at 1330 fps. For a combination personal defense load that is also useful against feral dogs and the big cats the .357 Magnum is a good choice. I don’t fire the Ruger Speed Six often perhaps a box or two a year. But the piece remains on the front line as one of the most trusted handguns in my battery.
Hogue grips make for easy shooting.Buffalo Bore ammunition is accurate, reliable and powerful.
An extremely limited P7M13-SD has come up for auction on GunBroker and closing on February 12th.
A little history on the gun below from my friend James, but the the short version is 50 of these were made, 34 made it into the United States, the one on auction is NIB/Never Fired condition.
They are hen’s teeth, only secondary market and only from VIPs and H&K employees to those who can pass it onto another deserving owner.
This is one of those grail guns for some, cool and collectable rather than practical. Do you need it? Maybe, you know better than I.
I have a love/hate relationship with hunting season. I love it because I enjoy hunting but, I hate it because I live in an area where lots of weekend warriors come to hunt. Every year I see hunters that always remind me of Fred Bear’s 10 Commandants of Hunting. Fred Bear was certainly experienced enough to write them.
I nearly have them memorized as a local gas station with odd hours had them posted on aged yellow paper to the side of the deli portion that served fried chicken way too early in the morning. I wish everyone grew up reading these commandants, and maybe I’d be less jaded by visiting hunters.
Fred Bear was a legendary bow hunter and a pioneer of the sport. Believe it or not, in the 1940s and fifties, bow hunting wasn’t common. In fact, most states didn’t have a set bow hunting season, and some didn’t even permit bow hunting. Efforts by Fred Bear spread bow hunting across the United States. He had a storied career, to say the least, and in his wake, he left us 10 Hunting Commandments.
Fred Bear’s Ten Hunting Commandments
While it’s easy to apply these rules to just bow hunting, I think they are applicable to most of all hunting. (Except for dog hunting, but that’s not real hunting anyway.) I’m sure my dad saw that yellowed piece of paper every day we went hunting, but I don’t know if he ever paid that much attention to them. Yet, at the same time, these are nearly the same rules or commandments Papa Pike imprinted on me while hunting. Maybe that’s why I remember them so fondly.
1. Don’t step on anything you can step over.
It’s pretty simple. Don’t make unnecessary noise, and disturb an area as little as possible. Let as little scent, noise, and destruction in your wake as possible.
2. Don’t look for deer, look for movement (and remember it’s what they’re looking for, too.)
Animals tend to be naturally camouflaged in their environment. Seeing a brown deer in the fall can be tough, so don’t just rely on seeing the deer, pig, or squirrel. Watch for their movement, and they’ll reveal themselves.
I can still hear my dad say the words “sit still” in his quiet whisper. If you’re moving, you might as well be shouting.
3. Always approach downwind. In the cool of the day, move uphill; in the heat of the day, move downhill.
Noise, movement, and your scent are all dead giveaways. With all the modern tech we have, it’s superbly easy to know which way the wind will be blowing in the morning and evening. Admittedly northwest Florida isn’t very hilly, but moving up and down hills depending on the temperatures allows you to approach the animal from an advantageous angle.
4. The best camouflage pattern is called, “Sit down and be quiet!” Your grandpa hunted deer in a red plaid coat. Think about that for a second.
I don’t think Fred Bear was anti-camouflage. In fact, I know he wasn’t. This is my favorite commandment, and I think he was basically saying the highest-tech camouflage doesn’t replace discipline. (As a side note, I killed my first deer in blue jeans and a grey jacket.)
5. Take only the gear to the field that allows you to hunt longer, harder, and smarter.
This is a great fieldcraft skill for anyone. The message conveyed then is the same as it is now. Does the gear allow you to succeed in your mission? If not, it’s dead weight.
6. A rainstorm isn’t a reason to quit the hunt. It’s a reason to stay.”
Animals move differently depending on the weather, and that might be the best reason to get a little wet. I admittedly didn’t understand this commandment until recently. To me, we stayed in the woods because all the weekend warriors would leave, meaning fewer people to deal with, and vehicles moving would scare them off the dirt roads and, hopefully, to us.
7. Camouflage your appearance, your sound, and your scent.
I told you Fred Bear wasn’t anti-camouflage. Animals tend to be sensitive to their environments, skittish, and anything out of the ordinary can scare them off. You are out of the ordinary, and so is your movement, noise, and Gain laundry detergent. Be smart, think natural, and be scentless, soundless, and still. Mosquitoes are a test you just gotta pass.
8. Be sure of your shot. Nothing is more expensive than regret.
If you’ve hunted for a bit, you know that the biggest buck you’ve ever seen is going to approach you from the worst angle possible. Eventually, you’ll be forced to try and shoot, or maybe for a more advantageous position.
9. Hunt where the deer actually are, not where you’d imagine them to be
Have you ever found a nice, dry piece of dirt with great angles of fire that seems mosquito free? It’d be great if deer passed through that area. However, if you can’t find any tracks, scat, rubbing, old antlers, or any other sign, then maybe you should keep looking.
10. Next year’s hunt begins the minute this season’s hunt ends.
I certainly didn’t understand this commandment until I became an adult and planned my own hunts. Nowadays, I know that scouting and learning are a continual process. Ensuring your skills with your chosen weapon stay sharp and you have ammo to boot ensures you aren’t scrambling when fall sets in.
The Commandments
Fred Bear’s Commandments remain relevant to this day. Adhering to these commandments will make you a better hunter, and if you’re a new hunter, it’s wise to remember and understand these commandments. It gives you good footing to be successful. If you’ll excuse me, I’m headed to the stand.
All three of the boys are back this week discussing the aftermath of SHOT Show and then veering off into the topic that’s on everyone’s minds, the ATF’s ban on pistol braces for guns that definitely aren’t rifles but kinda are.
I was fortunate enough to appear on the Primary & Secondary 6th Annual Airing of Grievances, and one of the things I shared was my perception of how out of balance some people can get in regards to their various skills and abilities.
With the proliferation of shot timer aps and various dry practice tools, it’s now easier than ever to improve our technical shooting for relatively nominal investments of time and money.
This is doubly appealing because the related gear gives us immediate feedback and a very clear roadmap to improvement.
The siren’s song of measurable performance standards can unfortunately distract people from the other facets of defense craft that aren’t as quantifiable.
Mark Luell of Growing Up Guns has a great diagram called The Path that highlights the various disciplines that go into being a well rounded practitioner.
The Path
Other than Strength & Conditioning, where you’re measuring resting heartrate, squat/deadlift/bench press, BMR, various body measurements, etc., it’s hard to put a number on the performance of the other areas like combatives, medical (aside from the Lone Start Medic par time for tourniquet application), and so on.
The problem as I see it is that someone’s shooting performance is only relevant if a situation degrades into a defensive shooting, at which point virtually everything has gone wrong.
Aside from some rather hand-wavey lip service to “situational awareness”, there doesn’t appear to be nearly the focus on the proactive side of the equation (Left of Bang) vs. the reactive (after the beep, as it were).
PHLster recently aired a great interview between Jon Hauptman and Craig Douglas on this subject of what happens “Before the Beep” that I encourage everyone to go watch.
Now don’t misunderstand me. At no point am I saying that technical skill doesn’t matter. The more skill you have, the less net effect degradation will have when you’re performing under duress (another concept highlighted by John Hearne in his “Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why” lecture.
My point is simply that it’s easier to work on technical shooting, and the mechanisms to do so are readily available.
I just caution people to not let their skills get so out of balance that the only arena in which they’re truly competent is a gunfight, otherwise they may miss all the opportunities up to that point to avoid one all together.
If you’ve ever used the wagon-wheel style competency chart, the ideal goal is for all the relevant skills to form as close to a circle as possible. Having a nice tight circle with one big spike that looks like an ice cream cone should highlight what areas may warrant more focus than trying to get splits down from .20 to .17 (as an arbitrary example)
DISCLAIMER: This is all predicated on the assumption that the topic of discussion is self defense and personal protection. Obviously the priorities will differ for those in an armed profession, avid competitive shooters, etc.
One of the more interesting rifle-related things unveiled at SHOT Show 2023 was also one of the most interesting Foxtrot Mike products available yet: an AK AR hybrid called the Mike-102. The Foxtrot Mike Mike-102 is a hybrid AR 15 and AK 47 rifle with some HK influences forged in. That may or may not appeal to some folks, but you can bet it will to many others.
Why? Because we can. ‘Merica.
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Foxtrot Mike Products: the Mike-102
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AK AR HK Hybrid?
…
The FM Mike-102 is an AR15 platform chambered in .223 Wylde that feeds from AK magazines. It utilizes the Foxtrot Mike compact DI system, features a folding stock, and sports an HK-style forward charging handle.
This is an intriguing combination that provides AR handling, the use of rock-and-lock AK mags, and the option of using the “HK slap” to drop the bolt.
Maybe we’re shallow, but we like that.
Here are some other FM Mike-102 things to know:
• Production testing was at least partially conducted during KalashBash and Red Oktober.
• It’s a bufferless system (i.e., no buffer nor no buffer tube).
• Some have a non-reciprocating side charging handle; others have the “slap mod”.
• The “slap mod variant” echoes HK charging handles.
• You can lock the bolt to the rear.
• It takes AK102 compatible magazines in 5.56×45
• Will be available in sizes ranging from a 9-inch pistol all the way up to a 16-inch rifle.
• A 13.9 pin and weld model will be inbound soon.
• So will a 7.62x39mm version.
Via Atlantic Firearms
Foxtrot Mike describes the Mike-102 as a “…modern AK-Hybrid, designed for the modern shooter to use a wide variety of AK 5.56/223 magazines and offer the familiar Rock N Lock magwell. The 102 is lightweight, accurate, and modular, much like an AR-15, but with the added benefit of using most AK magazines. It uses a simple direct impingement operating system that is simple and reliable.”
An old joke is that the hundred dollar bill and I have a lot in common. We aren’t what we used to be. It is quite true. A thousand dollar target gun was once a superb handgun capable to the finest accuracy available. Today we have some of the finest handguns in the world that will outshoot anything available in the past. They are also proportionately quite pricey. A handgun priced below one thousand dollars that performs like much more expensive race guns is the SAR K12 Sport. This pistol will get you into the shooting sports and serve will until you have outpaced its ability and need something superior. That may be a long time.
This isn’t a concealed carry pistol by any stretch but a purpose designed target pistol. It would be a fine home defense and small game pistol based on its handling reliability and accuracy. If you are not a competitor just the same you will enjoy firing this handgun. The SAR K12 Sport features modest recoil even with the hottest loads. The SAR K12 sport is based on the CZ 75 pistol. SAR has manufactured standard CZ 75 clones in the past and it wasn’t a stretch to manufacture a target grade CZ type pistol. The CZ design has been re-designed and modified into compact handguns as well as long slide pistols and the type has proven versatile with the many versions successful in a given role.
Sarsilmaz of Turkey (SAR’s full name) is a respected maker of service grade weapons. They have well over on hundred years experience. The K12 Sport in SAR’s own words is their Crown Jewel. This is a bold statement and one that fits the pistol. This is a full size CZ 75 styled pistol. The pistol features a locked breech short recoil system. The K12 locks the barrel into the slide on the barrel hood and unlocks with angled camming surfaces. The majority of the pistol is stainless steel. The safety and slide lock as well as the sights are nicely blue finished. The handles are aluminum stocks. They offer and excellent balance of adhesion and abrasion. Both the front strap and the rear strap are nicely checkered. This pistol sets solid in the hand and doesn’t squirm at all- with the strongest 9mm loads. The pistol is modified from the original double action first shot format to a single action only trigger. The ambidextrous safety operates in a manner different from the CZ 75. The safety when activated keeps the hammer locked. The slide isn’t locked in place however. The safety may be applied with the hammer down and in this position the slide is locked in place. An advantage of the single action safety is that the pistol may be loaded and unloaded with the safety applied. The pistol is supplied with a two seventeen rond magazines. The rear sight is a sturdy fully adjustable unit. Windage and elevation adjustments were positive and precise. The front sight is a solid post.
In common with the CZ 75 the K12 features a low riding slide. The slide rides inside the frame rather than mounting over the frame in conventional designs. This results in greater contact between the slide and the frame and a lower bore axis. A trade off is that the slide is more difficult to rack due to the design but this isn’t difficult to deal with. The long dust cover helps provide balance in a heavy pistol. The barrel is 4.7 inches long. The slide lock magazine catch and safety are positive in operation. The pistol features a target grade magazine well that makes for excellent speed in reloading. Sliding a tapered magazine into this magazine well quickly doesn’t require much practice. The trigger is clean and crisp breaking at 5.9 pounds at the end of the test period. The trigger requires acclimation. I recommend considerable dry fire before you attempt the best results the same as with any target grade handgun.
The handle is comfortable for average size hands despite its size. The pistol is heavy at 44 ounces. Recoil is inconsequential. Muzzle flip is subdued. After firing the pistol for several hundred rounds over the past few months there have been no failures to feed chamber fire or eject. Like most quality handguns the K12 prefers one load to the other in terms of absolute accuracy but no loads were not accurate some were simply stand outs. The Remington 115 grain jacketed load is among the cleanest burning and accurate ‘generic’ loads. I have fired the Remington/K12 combination extensively with good results. When clocking loads and firing for accuracy I determined most loads generated 40 to 50 fps more velocity over the typical 4 inch barrel service pistol. As for absolute accuracy I have fired the pistol from the MTM Caseguard K Zone shooting rest with good results. I have averaged five shot groups of an average 2.25 inches with a variety of loads. The smallest five shot group has been 1.85 inch while the largest has been around 3.0 inch, certainly my fault. The pistol is accurate enough for most chores.
SAR K12 Sport 9mm specifications
Overall Length: 8.5 inch
Barrel Length: 4.7 inch
Action: Single Action
Caliber: 9mm
Capacity: 17
Weight: 44 ounces
Thanks to SARUSA for photo support.
There are many SAR variants each offering good performance.SAR offers a high grade X version of several of their handguns.Fit and finish are excellent.The author’s K12 has been a reliable and accurate handgun. The only trace of wear is a slight burnishing of the barrel hood.
There are many parts that make up a 10/22 rifle, and each one of them plays an important role. However, the most critical component of the Ruger is the bolt.
The trigger may be what initiates every shot, but it’s the bolt that’s responsible for the shot-to-shot operation.
A high-quality bolt affects more than just reliability. The bolt face, its consistency, and how the firing pin strikes the bullet significantly contribute to the rifle’s accuracy.
Faxon Stainless Steel Bolt Assembly for 10/22
Whether you’re building up a new gun or keeping an old favorite running, the Faxon 10/22 Bolt Assembly is the best choice.
Compatible with the OEM receiver, trigger group, charging handle, and bolt stop pin, the Faxon 10/22 bolt is fully assembled and ready to drop into your Ruger 10/22.
Specs
Material: 17-4 PH Stainless steel, H900
Hardness: HRC 40 – 47
Round Firing Pin
Sharp Extractor
Why Upgrade a 10/22 Bolt?
Upgrading the bolt improves reliability and accuracy on any 10/22 rifle.
A high-quality bolt such as the one from Faxon Firearms is properly radiused and polished to enhance the reliability of the cyclic action.
Additionally, the Faxon 10/22 bolt has the proper head spacing in order to improve the reliability of the bullets feeding from the magazine into the chamber.
Lastly, proper firing pin protrusion ensures optimal striking of the rimfire case.
For these reasons, upgrading your 10/22 bolt does have its advantages.
All these small gains add up to overall reliability, consistent performance, and improved accuracy.
Does The Ruger 10/22 Have a Bolt Hold Open?
Out of the box in the stock configuration, the Ruger 10/22 does not have a last-round bolt hold open feature.
To add the bolt hold open feature, you need a third-party upgrade such as the CST Auto Bolt Stop.
What is a 10/22 Bolt Buffer?
A bolt buffer replaces/upgrades the bolt stop pin in your 10/22 receiver. The OEM bolt stop pin is made from steel, whereas the bolt buffer is made from a polymer material.
Over time the steel bolt stop pin can cause micro-cracks in the receiver due to repeated impacts of the bolt during shooting. The bolt buffer mitigates that and several other issues by being manufactured out of a polymer material.
There are three main benefits of replacing the bolt stop pin with a bolt buffer.
It reduces the sound when the bolt slams rearward during the cycling action during shooting. This is also a benefit when shooting suppressed as it greatly reduces the noise signature even more.
The 10/22 blowback action is less shaky because of the dampening of the recoil and bolt cycling vibrations.
It can prevent cracks in the 10/22 receiver resulting from prolonged usage, high round count shooting, or the added stress of high-velocity ammo.
The Ruger 10/22 bolt by Faxon includes a bolt buffer to replace the OEM bolt stop pin. If you’re interested in learning more, check out more on the Ruger 10/22 Bolt here.
The big bore era of defensive pistols has come and passed, but in its wake, we have countless stories, guns, and calibers. One such caliber, and by extension numerous guns, is the .44 Special. In the day and age of black powder firearms, the big-bore revolver reigned supreme. If it didn’t have four in the name, it must be made for pocket carry. The most famous being .45 Colt, but that’s not to say that there weren’t plenty of other .45s and .44s.
The .44 Special is descended from the rounds of this era. Specifically, it came from the .44 Russian. The .44 Russian is an already interesting design. It was a black powder, center-fire metallic cartridge. It was the first caliber to use an internally lubricated bullet. The Russian nomenclature comes from its development for the Russian military by S&W. The .44 Russian took advantage of new and better metallurgy, and S&W amped it up.
The .44 Russian cartridge launched a 246-grain cartridge at 750 feet per second. That’s not that far from the 45 ACP, even though it was designed in 1870. The projectile was actually a .429 projectile, and they reduced the diameter by adding lubrication grooves to the base.
Aren’t We Talking About the .44 Special?
Yes, but we really have to establish where it came from. Fast forward from 1870 to 1907, and S&W we still in the early 1900s. S&W decided to take advantage of that fancy smokeless powder and designed the Smith and Wesson .44 Hand Ejector 1st Model New Century. They weren’t fans of short, catchy names. This gun became known as the Triple Lock. The name comes from the third locking lug on the cylinder crane.
This new lock allowed the gun to fire the hot and heavy .44 Special cartridge. Alongside this new revolver, S&W had taken the .44 Russian and turned it into the .44 Special. The case was lengthed a bit, and of course, it’s a smokeless powder round. This new cartridge and revolver succeeded and did well for itself.
Elmer Keith declared it the finest revolver ever made. That’s high praise from a man considered to be one of the foremost firearm experts and revolver shooters at the time. S&W’s cartridge was capable of throwing a 246-grain projectile at 750 feet per second. We are getting fairly close to 45 ACP territory and speeds.
That was just the factory loadings. It wasn’t long before hand loads became the legacy of the .44 Special. The factory loadings were good, but the hand loads went hot and heavy. Handloading this round improved its overall performance and helped prove the versatility of the round.
The .44 Associates
A group of shooters, including Elmer Keither and Skeeter Skelton, formed a loose collective known as the .44 Associates. These men would experiment with hand loads and share tips and tricks. Writers in the group penned articles and reloading data. Sometimes they blew up a revolver, but that was the nature of the beast. The .44 Special had grabbed hold of the American revolver shooters. This popularity would eventually effectively kill the popularity of this round.
Elmer Keith is well known for two things, revolvers and magnum loadings. He helped create the .357 Magnum cartridge by continually pushing the limits of the .38 Special cartridge. He eventually started to do the same with the .44 Special. He loaded it heavier and heavier and reached .44 Magnum levels.
He was getting this magnum performance from the .44 Special. Eventually, Remington decided to develop this hot loaded cartridge into the .44 Remington Magnum. They did lengthen the case by .125 of an inch. This wasn’t necessary to reach those magnum levels, but Remington’s rationale was one of safety. These hot loads weren’t appropriate for all .44 Special revolvers.
You likely didn’t want one slipping into a 1907-made Hand Ejector.
The Birth of the .44 Magnum
Thus the .44 Magnum was born. Its power quickly outshined ye olde .44 Special, and the round declined in popularity. It chugged along, and in the 1970s, the Charter Arms Bulldog produced a more modern .44 Special revolver. It became one of the best-selling revolvers of the 1970s and 80s, giving a reinvigoration to the round. After that slight bump, the round has somewhat faded to a niche loading.
This fourty-four shares the same relationship with the .44 Magnum as the .38 Special does with the .357 Magnum. If you own a .44 Magnum, you can drop a .44 Special in it and safely shoot the cartridge. It tends to be lighter recoiling but doesn’t seem to be much cheaper than standard .44 Magnum food.
Finding ammo isn’t tough. Underwood makes a load that hits 950 feet per second. Federal makes a .44 Special loading in their Punch lineup that’s a bit light at 180 grains and moves at 815 feet per second. Plenty of companies still produce the cartridge in seemingly small batches, and I found a couple of boxes in the first gun store I walked in.
The .44 Special delivers some big bore fun without big bore recoil, and what’s not to love with that? As the owner of a Charter Arms Bulldog, I’ve long enjoyed this dose of big bore It might not be the bee’s knees in 2022, but it has an interesting history. It came from one innovative round and became another.
The Senate’s usual suspects wasted no time getting in their token efforts to appeal to the gun control voters. With the House in Republican hands for the next two years at least they won’t even have to see the consequences of passing it, they can simply sit and bemoan how the Republican’s hate children and that the 2nd Amendment wasn’t a suicide pact (their latest bit of Californication) and reap the social capital.
It’s genuinely disheartening how often this is the play, and it makes sense… it works on the low-info rubes of the world who are busy with other things. I don’t blame those people for the priority they take on things like this when it isn’t a day-to-day like it is for me. I blame congress critters for using a cheap trick to do less work and not damage their social standing. This is best for all of them if it never passes and continues to be argued about. If it passes then they have to experience the fallout, again, and they can’t use it as a recruiting, fundraising, and campaign button anymore.
Here’s the statement out of Chris Murphy’s office,
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) this week introduced a pair of bills to protect communities from assault weapons. The Assault Weapons Ban would ban the sale, transfer, manufacture and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and other high-capacity ammunition feeding devices. This includes the gun used by a shooter on January 22 to kill 11 people and injure 9 more at a Lunar New Year’s celebration in Monterey Park, Calif. The Age 21 Act would raise the minimum age to purchase assault weapons from 18 to 21, the same requirement that currently exists in law for handguns.
“It’s no coincidence that almost all of America’s deadliest shootings – including this weekend’s tragedy in Monterey Park – involve a military-style assault weapon. These are firearms designed with the sole purpose of killing as many people as possible and should not be sold to the public. Period,” said Murphy. “The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act proved there is growing consensus that we should require greater scrutiny for buyers under 21. If we don’t have the votes to ban assault weapons altogether, we should start by making sure that no one under the age of 21 is able to get their hands on these killing machines.”
“As used by the Lunar New Year’s shooter only days ago in Monterey Park, assault weapons have only one practical purpose – to kill or injure human beings,” said Blumenthal. “These military-style combat weapons – built for the battlefield and designed to maximize death and destruction – have brought bloodshed and carnage to our streets and continue to be the weapon of choice in countless mass shootings. Guns don’t respect state boundaries, which is why we need a national solution to restricting the ownership and use of assault weapons. Now is the time to honor gun violence victims and survivors with this common sense action.”
“We were tragically reminded this weekend of the deadly nature of assault weapons when a shooter used one to kill 11 people and injure 9 more at a Lunar New Year celebration in California,” said Feinstein. “The constant stream of mass shootings have one common thread: they almost all involve assault weapons. It’s because these weapons were designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible. They have no business in our communities or schools. It’s time we stand up to the gun lobby and remove these weapons of war from our streets, or at the very least keep them out of the hands of young people.”
The Assault Weapons Ban:
Bans the sale, manufacture, transfer and importation of 205 military-style assault weapons by name. Owners may keep existing weapons.
Bans any assault weapon with the capacity to utilize a magazine that is not a fixed ammunition magazine and has one or more military characteristics including a pistol grip, a forward grip, a barrel shroud, a threaded barrel or a folding or telescoping stock. Owners may keep existing weapons.
Bans magazines and other ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, which allow shooters to quickly fire many rounds without needing to reload. Owners may keep existing magazines.
Requires a background check on any future sale, trade or gifting of an assault weapon covered by the bill.
Requires that grandfathered assault weapons are stored using a secure gun storage or safety device like a trigger lock.
Prohibits the transfer of high-capacity ammunition magazines.
Bans bump-fire stocks and other devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at fully automatic rates.
Exemptions
The bill exempts by name more than 2,200 guns for hunting, household defense or recreational purposes.
The bill includes a grandfather clause that exempts all weapons lawfully possessed at the date of enactment.
The Age 21 Act:
Under current federal law, an individual is required to be at least 21 years old to legally purchase a handgun but only 18 years of age to legally purchase an assault rifle such as an AR-15.
The legislation would create parity in federal firearms law by prohibiting the sale of assault weapons to individuals under 21.
U.S. Representative David Cicilline (D-R.I) will introduce a companion version of the Assault Weapons Ban in the House of Representatives.
“Once again, on Sunday morning, Americans woke up to the tragic news of another massacre perpetrated with an assault weapon. It is far past time to reenact an assault weapons ban and get these weapons of war out of our communities,” said Cicilline. “We passed the assault weapons ban in the House last year with bipartisan support, which was then blocked by Senate Republicans. We need to come together to enact this commonsense, effective, and proven policy to reduce gun violence and save lives. I thank Senator Feinstein for her partnership in this fight and look forward to introducing the House companion bill in the coming weeks.”
So yeah, we’ll see what noise the Senate makes on this.
If the reading of that title leads you to believe that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed (the set armorer) being charged with their negligence is going to be subverted into a discussion about America’s ‘gun’ problem, you would be correct. After three paragraphs covering how the family wanting Alec to face the consequences anyone should face for involuntarily killing and injuring people by negligence, and not get a pass for being rich and famous, because.. yeah, that is normal expected behavior, we get this point.
At that point, surely, we need to stop and ask ourselves: are we not missing a much bigger point? Is all that talk about what happened on that set distracting us from something far more dangerous — namely some Americans’ utter obsession with firearms, and the nation’s collective failure to properly regulate those weapons?
No, it isn’t. The coverage out of California should be proof of that.
It should also be proof of something else, since there were three shootings that are being discussed to extremely different degrees.
Dance club shooting, Monterey
Media: All High Capacity Assault Pistol! All The Time! This has been the common theme in the reporting
Illegal in California (probably, its a really old design so may actually have been legal to acquire)
Very poor reporting on the suspect. Described as 30’s, was 72.
Immediate Anti-Asian motive alleged. Suspect was Asian and known to the studio as a patron.
Suspect now known as deeply suspicious, distrusting, and often alleged people talked behind his back.
Half Moon Bay
Media: Another Mass Shooting in America!
More quiet about it being California, again…
Another elderly Asian perpetrator, is this an angle we can take? No, no we probably shouldn’t.
Weapon? *Crickets*
Legally owned handgun
Oakland
Media: “Oh, Oakland? No that makes sense. Never mind that place.”
But let’s circle back to the point, whatever one there may be and not harp on media biases in coverage where semi-auto 9mm scary is the headline they’re rolling with and pointing out that every semi-auto 9mm is.. well.. a semi-auto 9mm, with the same approximate lethality, would be unproductive.
Paragraph 2 after the pivot,
The plain truth is, people don’t get shot dead on films set. Or at least, they do very occasionally, such as in the case of Hutchins, and Brandon Lee, who died after being struck by a stun gun while filming the movie The Crow in 1993.
Immediately contradict your own point, bold play.
And to revive a middle school era phrase for this weird point, ‘no duh’. Of course shootings rarely happen on movie studio film sets, there are layers, upon layers, upon layers of protections in place that, when followed correctly, will prevent the vast majority of probable preventable incidents. Paying special attention to the most probable in a given scene, like checking firearms props because we’re going to be pointing them at people, is the normal work environment, not the exception to it.
There are other fatalties, and non-lethal accidents, while makiing films. Yet these tragedies are not common, so much so that when, in the aftermath of Hutchins’ death, the Associated Press was forced to search back decades for a piece on other notable set accidents.
Yes, both the spelling errors are from the original. Whatever, I make them too. All this paragraph says is film safety folks are usually good at their jobs.
Far more common are shooting deaths in America’s streets and schools and grocery stores, where people are routinely shot and killed, almost always by young men who feel aggrieved or left out or depressed.
People are most often murdered in frequented locations and by people with motive and opportunity? Not accidently killed on a movie set? Shocking revelations here in the hot pocket take on American firearms.
Far more common too, are the suicides or attempted suicides that can lead to devastating injuries that can maim and harm for life.
People die on purpose, theirs or someone else’s, more than they die by accident in an environment that employees professional safety staff and whose goal is to shoot entertainment and not each other? Jesus, the profound profoundries of this work are limitless.
A few weeks ago, there was brief outcry when a six-year-old boy took a gun into his school in Newport News, Virginia, putting it in his backpack as casually as one might pack their lunch. He shot his 25-year-old teacher, Abby Zwerner. Thankfully, she lived.
I remember that. There was a great deal of noise made that ‘if the child had been Black, the headline would read different’… The child was Black, the headlines read what they read. The child had also been quoted as wanting to set the teacher on fire. His home life must be great.
That incident was not alone. In 2021, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four student at his high school in suburban Detroit with a gun his parents had bought for him.
We seem to be shifting focus here to tragically stupid parenting decisions, which is tangentially related since it is being argued in court that Crumbley’s parents are guilty of negligent homicide for arming their teen and ignoring concerning behaviors up to that morning at the school.
Others get caught up in random shootings.
Can we stop with the random shooting nonsense, very very few shootings are random. None in fact, if we want to get into the weeds about it. But I’ll allow that things like people shooting into the air in celebration, or just because others are, or just because they felt like shooting their gun in a rather inappropriate place and time are all reasonably the random category.
Someone catching a bullet during an ambush or gunfight that wasn’t meant for them isn’t random, its collateral damage during the commission of a crime.
Every day, America is rocked by such horror, from large headline-grabbling incidents such as the massacre at Ulvade, Texas, or the El Paso Walmart, to numerically smaller, but no less individually tragic. These are the stories that fill the local news.
If it bleeds it leads.
It is estimated there are 400 million firearms in America, more than one for every single person, and they are used to devastating effect.
Yes, they are. That just doesn’t mean what you believe it does and the association you are trying to insinuate is undermined by the very volume of firearms the United States public has. If firearms volume were really the factor it is insinuated to be, repeatedly by unqualified sources, then no other nation could possibly be as blood soaked and body strewn as we are.
Top nations sorted by actual murder count, the rate, region, and guns per 100 residents also listed.
We own between 9 times (South Africa) to over 281 times (Ethiopia) as many firearms per capita as any of the 13 nations who have more murders than we do. We are also the 3rd largest nation on the planet by population, Only China, number 12 for murders, and India, number 2 for murders, have more.
Both of those nations only have about 4% of the firearms ownership the United States does, yet India’s murder rate is almost 4 times that of China, nearly matching the US in rate and tripling it in volume. How? When guns are so much less prevalent in these places.
In 2020, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were 19,384 gun murders, the most since at least 1968. A further 24,000 people killed themselves with guns, according to statistics from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Yes. Those are the CDC numbers.
Here’s the FBI’s
Since crime is a sociological phenomenon influenced by a variety of factors, the FBI discourages ranking locations or making comparisons as a way of measuring law enforcement effectiveness. Some of this data may not be comparable to previous years because of differing levels of participation over time.
The cautionary statement by the FBI is well taken.
Just think about it: at least 44,000 Americans were killed in a single year, and with honorable exceptions to the activists and community groups who fight on incident after horrific incident, most of us do nothing about.
Oh? So the armies of social workers, hotlines, support groups, friends, family, rehab centers, medical professionals, police officers, and so forth, to say nothing of the people and money spent from my industry specifically on education and prevention, are all just sitting around with their thumbs up their asses?
It’s just David Hogg and the really demanding moms against the evil pile of inanimate objects?
Instead, we have politicians such as Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott bragging about protecting the second amendment even as the bodies pile up.
Trump banned bumpstocks. Didn’t that help? Oh wait, it didn’t, nobody cared, and it was thrown out by the 5th circuit. Trump doesn’t get to brag, honestly at least, about protecting the 2nd Amendment. Cruz and Abbot, more so. I notice we picked Texas here.
You have situations where people seeking elected office argue that any American aged 18 or over should have access to the safe weapons as the military to protect the people against the alleged “tyranny” of the state,
Thanks to your typo there, yes. We want personal weapons at least as safe and effective as the military’s personal arms, kinda why we like the AR and 9mm’s so much.
Last year, Joe Biden and his supporters patted themselves on the back for signing a piece of gun safety regulation. It was feted as the most significant for 30 years, and yet everyone knows it was all but without teeth.
Thank you, finally someone on the other end calling the BSCA out for the anemic nothing burger it is. Just bureaucratic noise that won’t do anything.
America’s real Wild West is not the film sets of westerns, it is our schools and streets and shops and places of worship. It is the playing fields close to the Capitol, where members of Congress got shot and perilously wounded.
I mean, DC is really bad on their homicide rates but its mostly stuck in highly impoverished and crime ridden locations where violence is a currency. The weirdo looney who thinks shooting at congress while they’re playing baseball is a capital idea (pun intended) is at the least arguably more right in their utter wrongness than the one who shoots up a classroom full of elementary children for attention and/or to die.
It is clear this ought not to be a one thing or the other situation. America can work to address the way it thinks about guns and making them safe, while also improving standards on film sets and holding those responsible to account.
Ah, the tie in. We’re back to Baldwin’s blunder. We can do both!
So, all credit to the family of Halyna Hutchins for pushing for justice in the case of their loved one. Let’s hope the case proves that nobody is above the law.
Hunter Biden, please double check your 4473. Hunter Biden, Form 4473 please.
But if America is going to address its real gun problem, it needs to engage with a cold sharp dose of reality.
Reality of what?
That the three top states for mass shootings the past 4 years are always Illinois, California, and Texas, with New York coming in 4th for 2020 and 2021 (only 10th in 2022, good job NY!).
That Texas was only 1st in shootings in 2022 with 36, down from 2021 like everyone was thankfully, while Illinois took top “honors” the two previous years with 69 in 2020 and 80 in 2021?
That only one of those four states has permissive and ascribed ‘problematic’ gun laws?
That the common allegation that ‘permissive gun laws make states more dangerous’ falls apart if you look at Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire along with New York, Illinois, and California?
If you claim ‘Those aren’t valid comparisons’, you’re right but neither is the original claim.
That most ‘mass shootings’ (4+ injured or killed in any combination, not including the shooter) went unsolved these last 4 years (55-75%)?
That among the known perpetrators of these mass shootings, never more than 45% known also, 68-75% of them in any given year are of a particular demographic?
That the two larger demographics, who make up 75.8% of the total population vs. the of note demographic’s 13.6%, account for only 12% to 15% each of the mass shooters in any given year
The largest combined percentage (2022) of these two larger demographics coming it at 29% of the year’s mass shootings vs. the smaller demographic’s 71% portion?
That mass shooting occurrences dropped 43% in 2022 over 2021?
Despite more states than ever legalizing carry without a permit
The Bruen decision
Millions more first time gun owners
Millions of more AR type weapons than ever before in history
Is that enough cold sharp dosing of reality for you?
Bump stock ban? Wasn’t that a million years ago? We know it can be difficult to remember a time before 2020, but we assure you it was there. Look back with us through the mists of history to 2013, a time beyond imagination, with Joe Biden in the White House. A time when Democrats in the executive and legislative branches were fervently calling for a new Federal AWB, state-level background check laws were all the rage, and two Colorado state senators got tossed out in recall elections as a result. Ok so maybe it’s not actually all that different, but one thing that stands out, (and links back to the topic in the headline, we promise) is the passage of the SAFE Act in NY, and CT’s copycat bill.
Requiring registration of “assault weapons”, which especially in NY’s case included damn near anything designed after 1890, was to be the end of gun violence in New York. Certainly once everyone who legally owned a weapon that fell under this law was on a list maintained by the police, violence and hate itself would evaporate from the souls of all New Yorkers. Well, fortunately we’ll never know if that’s how it works because essentially nobody obeyed. Per Hudson Valley 1, 3 years after the passage of NY’s SAFE act less than 5% of the estimated 1,000,000 people who were supposed to be registering their newly minted Assault Weapons actually did so. CT had similar results, with both landing squarely in the ~95% civil disobedience zone. This pales in comparison to the rate at which Americans at large ignored the bump stock ban, but give the blue states some credit.
So now, when we see that the ATF’s own report detailing that, and let me bold this for emphasis, less than 0.2% of estimated bump stock owners obeyed Trump’s unconstitutional bump stock ban, are we meant to be surprised? Given that NY and CT both have 50% or more of registered voters listing their party affiliation as Democrat, how are we meant to imagine that something like a federal AWB would actually go over? 1/3 adults in CT consider themselves Republicans, and the gun laws enacted there were ignored despite being LESS draconian than the ones being proposed for the entire country. I realize this isn’t a humor column, but take a moment to imagine how deep red states like AL, TX, MS, GA, OK, FL, SC, MT, ND/SD, etc would react to this given the massive failure in powder blue New England. How is the near universal noncompliance with the bump stock ban not instructive to antigun lawmakers?
Lastly, with the recent overturning of the bump stock ban that nobody obeyed, the SCOTUS Bruen decision -and all of the evolving downstream state and federal court impacts thereof- and the general annihilation of anti-gun momentum that has accompanied that, is anyone taking the pistol brace ruling seriously? Looking at the record of such things, the answer is almost certainly “no”, but if you try to run a Form 4 in spring, let us know what the wait time is.
This GI gun is reliable but not as desirable for all around use as the Mil Spec.
It is an understatement if I say the 1911 is a very popular handgun. It is also fair to say that the majority are of recreational value only. I would never trust most makes for personal defense. There are pistols in the middle range from Springfield, Colt, SIG and Ruger I find reliable enough for personal defense. The 1911 offers a combination of emotional attachment, history, and deadly efficiency in the right handgun. Prices range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. While you may not need a Les Baer or Wilson Combat pistol you do need a reliable handgun. Springfield recently introduced the Garrison to replace the Mil Spec pistol. There are still plenty of Mil Spec 1911 handguns for sale. One local shop had three on hand. I don’t usually have the reader running about looking for older guns. Usually there are better guns to be had brand hammer new. In this case you may wish to grab a Mil Spec!
The Mil Spec is a reliable and useful handgun.GI sights, left, compared to the superior Mil Spec units, right.
Most Mil Spec 1911 handguns are parkerized. A very few are stainless steel. Some are two tone although I have seen only photos. Some are olive drab. The parkerized gun seems the majority finish. The pistol features a lightweight firing pin and heavy duty firing pin spring for safety. The action, then, is a Series 70 or Mil Spec without a firing pin block. Yet the lightweight firing pin and heavy duty firing pin spring make the pistol drop safe. A lowered ejection port and high profile sights separate the Mil Spec from GI handguns. GI guns are OK while the Mil Spec is more useful for most shooting chores. The pistol features a short trigger and arched mainspring housing. I find this set up superior for fast combat shooting versus target shooting. Before firing the Springfield Mil Spec 1911A1 .45 lets look at the specifications.
Specifications:
Barrel Length: 5″
Weight: 36 ounces
Overall Length: 8.625″
Trigger Pull Weight: 6.2 pounds.
Recoil Spring & Guide Rod: Standard GI
Sights Fixed: 3-dot
Safety: Slide lock and grip safety
Magazines: 7 round- compatible with all 1911 magazines.
The front sight measures .12 wide as far as I am able to measure. An .11 inch rear notch makes for a good sight picture. There is very little lateral play in the slide to frame fit. Barrel to slide and barrel to bushing fit isn’t tight but snug as it should be. There is room for foreign material and powder ash but enough tolerance to ensure reliability. The slide lock safety is tight and indents properly. The grip safety should release its hold on the trigger about half way into compression. The Springfield requires the grip safety be ‘mashed’ nearly to the frame so be certain you have a good hold on this 1911.
The Springfield is a useful base gun for custom work. This one features Novak Sights.Springfield 1911 handguns are useful personal defense pistols. This one has been to Novak’s Gun Shop.
Firing test went as expected. I fired fifty rounds of Black Hills Ammunition 230 grain full metal jacketed ammunition at 7, 10, and 15 yards. The pistol comes on target quickly. Good hits were easy enough. I have a lot of time in with the 1911. I ate the X ring out at 7 yards and made good groups at 15 yards. A steel frame .45 doesn’t kick that much. The pistol is controllable and handles well. The sights are leagues ahead of a GI .45 but certainly are not Novak sights. I find the Springfield Mil Spec well suited to personal defense. The final and least important test was firing for accuracy from a solid bench rest using the MTM Caseguard K Zone firing rest. I used three loads. These included the Black Hills Ammunition 230 grain FMJ loading, the Black Hills 185 grain JHP and the new 135 grain Honey Badger.
Results: Black Hills Ammunition 5 shot group in inches
230 grain FMJ 2.6 in.
185 grain Jacketed hollow point 2.8 in.
135 grain Honey Badger 2.5 in.
Note wider deeper ejection port, top, of the Springfield Mil Spec compared to a GI type gun, below.
The pistol’s sights are well regulated for the six o’clock hold at 25 yards with the 230 grain load giving a dead on hold at about 50 yards. The 135 grain load struck 2.3 inch low. The Springfield Mil Spec is a great shooter for the money. It is well worth your hard earned money.
