Letters: Reader Backs Light Magnum

Hornady’s premium ammunition satisfies an elk hunter from New York.

As a new subscriber, I read the exchange in your November 1996 issue regarding the Hornady Light Magnum ammunition with interest. Three days ago, I returned from an elk hunt in Montana. I was armed with a Remington 700 VSSF in caliber .308 Winchester, loaded with Hornady 165-grain BTSP Light Magnum factory ammunition. This ammunition grouped 1 MOA for three shots. I did not chronograph the loads.

The outfitter, noting my rifle, advised that .308 Winchester was marginal for elk and that I should “just keep shooting” at a bull elk if I hit him on the first shot. On opening day, I spotted a spike bull following several cows. Firing from a sitting position, I fired one shot at a measured distance of 285 yards. The bull dropped as if its “off” button had been pushed, and was dead almost instantly. Estimated live weight was 400 pounds. Examination of the carcass revealed that the bullet entered just behind the shoulder, pierced both lungs, making 1-inch-diameter holes in each, and exited on the opposite side after breaking a rib.

The performance of the rifle and ammunition was entirely satisfactory. In fact, it substantially outperformed a Remington 700 .30-06 rifle with 22inch barrel using Remington 180-grain PSP factory ammunition used by another hunter in camp. The latter combo did not completely penetrate a similarly sized bull on a paunch shot at 150 yards.

Your editorial comments about barrel length did not appear to apply to long-range Western hunting. Of the seven hunters in camp, one used a 22inch barrel, four used 24-inch barrels, and two used 26-inch barrels. No barrels less than 22 inches were observed among any of the other hunters I have met. In my experience, the Light Magnum 165 BTSP .308 ammunition performed as advertised and as desired.

-David L. Coletti
Dix Hills, NY

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.45 Auto Modifications
In the July 1996 issue on .45 modifications, Doc O’ Meara is out in left field! A 1991A1 (or Norinco) is $400 to $500, and groups 3 to 4 inches at 25 yards, not 8 inches. We choose it because it is single action and single column. The S&W and Glock do not outgroup it, and the Sig Sauer is $800. One need only fit a $15 Brownells barrel bushing (1 hour) to cut those groups in half and 5 minutes Dremel work on the feed ramp will get a 1911 to feed anything it needs to, such as Silver tips, No. 68 SWC’s or Mag Safes. Also, O’ Meara left out the most important modification, the 1/2-hour trigger job using a $15 trigger with overtravel screw. Gunsmiths overcharge real bad, but for fast, precise work, you can’t shoot well with a creepy, crunching, 7-pound full-of-backlash trigger pull. You need a crisp, no overtravel, 31/2- to 4-pound pull, but Glock, Sig, and S&W don’t come with these either! Nor do they have a ducktail tang (to position your hand properly and prevent snags on a fast draw).

-Name And Address Withheld

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Taking A Stand
I greatly enjoy your publication and read every issue cover to cover. Being involved in Pistol Metallic Silhouette and IPSC shooting, I find your articles on equipment and techniques especially interesting.

In your August 1996 coming up section, you mention an upcoming article “Improve Your Standing Shooting.” I have been eagerly awaiting this article for two months now and I have not seen it in the past two issues. I would like very much to see this article in Performance Shooter and indeed improve my standing shooting and my corresponding scores in both disciplines.

Once again, thank you for your wonderful publication, and the useful information it contains.

-Joseph D. Cullison
Bend, Oregon

You have a point. We schedule articles for Performance Shooter as much as four months in advance, and especially in the case of equipment comparison, we can run into equipment problems that may delay an article by a month or two. As a result, we are careful not to say “coming up next month in Performance Shooter.” In this case, we’ve moved back the standing article simply because we had more timely technique pieces, and because we had a chance for Lones Wigger to tackle the subject. We hope to run that revised article in the next two months.

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.223 Reloading For Semi-Autos
I wanted to drop you a note on the recent article on reloading the .223. While I thought the article was good and very informative, it was lacking in a very important area. It needed a very strong message interlaced in the article with respect to the ammunition used in semi-auto rifles. Since more rifles are available in this caliber in a semi-auto platform than in a bolt or single-shot type action, the area of crimps and their subsequent need in semi-auto rifles was not even covered as far as I read. This is area that is very much untouched by most articles that I read. Since I make my living as a custom gunsmith dealing with semi-auto rifles as my “bread and butter” this is an area of great sensitivity to me. The Boyles gas laws are laws of physics that directly affect every shooter. These laws say basically that the volume, temperature, and pressure are all directly related.

What this means to the shooter is that if he is loading for a semi-auto rifle or pistol and shoots uncrimped loads, these loads are a time bomb waiting to go off. As the gun cycles the bullets in uncrimped loads can “telescope” into the case, thus reducing the volume. If the volume is reduced the pressure will go up. This can even blow up a gun in the case of high-intensity powders not loaded to 100-percent density. The rule I always give my customers is if the load is not compressed, crimp it. If you can’t crimp, use a load that is compressed like H4895 is in .223 Remington application. This is a problem, and in many instances the crimped loads shoot better due to the more uniform ignition by the primer. I learned this lesson years ago and have a hat with a hole in it from a piece of a casehead hanging over my loading bench as a safety reminder.

-Tim Lewis
Odessa, TX

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Otis Gun Cleaning Product
Where can I get the Otis Kit & Kaboodle gun cleaning kit mentioned in the October 1996 comparison of .22 STC rifles?

-Rob Bruton
Elk River, MN

Contact Doreen Marks at Otis, Dept. PS, P.O. Box 582, Booneville, NY 13309, telephone (315) 942-5484.

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Right On
Last year I purchased a Browning A-Bolt II .22-250 varmint rifle, and after a lot of research on my own, I installed a Burris Signature Series 6x24 scope on it. Your February 1997 article about variable scopes was right on.

This year I purchased an Olympic Arms Matchmaster (a compensated version from the specialty shop) after reading your May and June 1996 issues on IPSC pistols. I was ready to buy the Colt before I read the article. Again, you were right on. Olympic Arms promised a two-week shipping date on a custom gun and came through.

Now I would like to set my new Matchmaster up with an alternate .22 LR conversion and need your help. How about checking out the various 1911A1 .22 LR conversion units that are on the market? There are three manufacturers I am aware of: Wilson Combat, J. A. Ciener, and Jarvis. Thanks for all the good info, and keep up the good work!

-Harvey Pierman
via Compuserve

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Personal Best
I have enjoyed my subscription to PS, thank you. However, the January issue has been an amazement.

I’m 50 years old and have shot as a hobby since 10. I was taught target shooting by a retired Marine rangemaster at that point, and although I never bothered with any competitions until recently, I’ve benefitted from his advice all my life. Last year, I took up NRA .22 LR pistol silhouette shooting and settled in as a winning class A shooter very quickly. So, I’m no master, but I do okay.

I have asked other shooters for advice, and they had offered information I already had or affirmed that I was good enough and to simply enjoy it. Nice compliments, but they didn’t help me get any better.

In practice or competition at 50 meters, the best silhouette series I’ve had is seven hits in a row with 11 or 15 down. But since reading Launi Meili’s article, I have had two 50-meter practice series with 15 hits in a row. Shooting paper groups at 50 yards, I have gone from 7-inch groups to 3 3/4 inch-groups (with an increase from 20 percent to 60 percent 10-ring hits). In one week, I’ve begun to shoot like an AAA shooter.

So, suddenly, Performance Shooter has helped me onto my next personal plateau. Thanks very much.

I’ve also enjoyed the .22 ammo comparisons. But I’d like to suggest you add PMC Zapper and Target 22s to your tests. They seem to have poor priming and misfire a lot, but in my Wichita, they never fail and group very well.

-Dennis Ciscel
Austin, TX

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Which Pistol?
I am a Performance Shooter subscriber and would appreciate some information regarding the Victor TX 9217 and 10X Citation as made by High Standard of Houston. Do you feel they are the highest-quality .22caliber pistols made in America? If I were to get serious about target shooting, would it be wiser to purchase the 10x Citation at $869 rather than the Victor at $532? The major differences are that the 10X Citation has a five-year warranty, assured accuracy, and is made from hand-picked parts by High Standard’s best pistolsmith.

-Frank J. Mitchell
Canal Fulton, OH

It’s difficult to say what’s best for you. One strategy might be to get your feet wet with the less expensive model, since you seem not to be committed to extensive target shooting. However, nearly every day we remember something David Tubb wrote last year: You’re rarely dissatisfied with the best. Of course, that attitude has cost us untold thousands of dollars, but its truth is hard to ignore.