January 2008

.17 Mach 2s: New England Firearm's Sportster Is An Affordable Blast to Shoot
If the last time you tuned in to the world of rimfire ammunition the .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire (HMR) was all the rage, then you probably missed the arrival of Hornady’s .17 Mach 2 cartridge. The year was 2004, and the difference between the two rounds is this. Just as the .17 HMR can be described as being descended from the .22 Magnum, the .17M2 is related to the .22 Long Rifle—the .17M2 is based on the .22 LR case, slightly lengthened and necked down to .17 caliber. Photographed close up, the .17M2 looks remarkably like a full-size centerfire round, but it’s nearly small enough to be hidden beneath a quarter. The .17M2 round does not develop the velocity of .17 HMR ammunition (by about 350 fps on average), but it still offers a very flat trajectory and the advantage of the modern .17 caliber bullet is touted as being more accurate than traditional rimfire slugs.

Side-by-Side Showdown: S&W's Elite Gold Outshoots L.C. Smith
At one time, the shotgun that was the must-have tool for many a bird hunter was a finely crafted side-by-side. Fixed chokes, lots of drop in the stock with the resulting hefty recoil from all but the lightest loads, and a wide view down the barrels were what serious wingshooters had to accept. Times have changed, and the 'double barrel' has fallen out of favor in most shooting circles. Semiautomatics and over and unders dominate most scattergun venues, with their owners citing less recoil, smoother handling and more availability among the reasons for their selection of more modern shooting tools.

Taurus, Rossi Snubbies Get 'F' Grades—Unless You're Handy
We were recently informed by a friend of Gun Tests in the ammo-making business that .38 Special and .380 ACP ammunition are some of the best-selling types out there, so we decided to immediately give our readers a look at a few of the snubbies available in .38/.357. We secured a blued five-shot Taurus Model 605B2 ($391), and a stainless-steel six-shot Rossi Model R46202 ($377), and concentrated our testing on .38 Special ammo.

Full-Size Polymer .45s: S&W's M&P45 Beats H&K and Glock
Gun Tests readers sometimes ask why reviews on certain guns vary over time. For instance, they wonder why Gun A, reviewed two years ago, got a 'Don’t Buy' rating, but in a more recent evaluation, it gets a B+. The short answer is that test to test, guns vary, ammunition varies, the story angle varies, and, perhaps most important, the match-ups vary. In an earlier draw, Gun A may have run up against other models that made it look like chopped liver. Then when we tested it again, Gun A may have whipped Guns B and C because the latter two weren’t much good, and Gun A benefited from the comparison.