Accessories

Ballistics software has been around for some time now—in fact, the NRA Firearms Fact Book from 1989 lists a number of BASIC computer programs that can be used for some simple external ballistics calculations.

In less than a decade, available packages have advanced to an impressive degree, and Gun Tests recently looked at some of the commercial packages to see which ones are worthwhile‚ and which ones might best be consigned to obsolescence. The packages investigated were: PC Bullet For Windows (Shooting Chrony, $80), Ballistics Explorer (Oehler Research, $70), Barnes Ballistics for Windows (Barnes Bullets, $50), and ARMSCalc (ARMS Software, $50).

The first hurdle in using any commercia...

[IMGCAP(1)]Reloading is a happy time for many shooters, at least until they realize they’re spending more time in the loading room than at the range. Some of us, mostly former pistol competitors, well remember the mad scramble to get all the rounds loaded before the coming weekend’s events, using a simple RCBS Rock Chucker or Lyman single-stage press, automating as many of our movements as possible, having learned to be efficient drones to prepare our many needed cases.

That was before the days of progressive presses. Back 20 or 30 years ago, some makers brought out turret presses to make the reloading job easier. Those who tried them found out that the turret presses simply avoided havi...

[IMGCAP(1)]Reloading is a happy time for many shooters, at least until they realize they’re spending more time in the loading room than at the range. Some of us, mostly former pistol competitors, well remember the mad scramble to get all the rounds loaded before the coming weekend’s events, using a simple RCBS Rock Chucker or Lyman single-stage press, automating as many of our movements as possible, having learned to be efficient drones to prepare our many needed cases.

That was before the days of progressive presses. Back 20 or 30 years ago, some makers brought out turret presses to make the reloading job easier. Those who tried them found out that the turret presses simply avoided havi...

[IMGCAP(1)] Ever wonder what effect the barrel of your .45 has on the gun's overall accuracy? We suspect anyone who has ever fired a .45 ACP 1911 has wondered how much better his gun would shoot if he dropped a high-quality replacement barrel into it. Can such a transplant transform a 4-inch gun (best grouping capability at 25 yards) into a 2-inch gun?

We endeavored to answer this question, knowing one thing for sure: If a gun's original barrel was poor, almost any new barrel would improve accuracy. But a bigger question we wanted to answer for the hard-core Gun Tests reader was how much difference would there be between a standard, garden-variety replacement barrel that might cost $85, v...

For many years hunters have used rifled slugs when they go after deer with a shotgun, but it wasn't until the inception of fully-rifled bores and the introduction of saboted loads that the shotgun became an efficient tool for hunters. Now, in some cases, accuracy can approach that associated with rifles, and searching for the best or most accurate load could provide the "shotgunner" with lots of off-season fun. Moreover, wingshooters and waterfowlers may be able to add a rifled barrel that costs around $150 to $325, rather than buying a complete, new slug gun.

Thus, the idea of simply adding a rifled barrel to an existing pump shotgun and turning it into a tack-driver has enor...

[IMGCAP(1)]Always in search of that perfect load for our firearms, we can’t be exacting enough about our equipment. And anything that affects how much powder goes into the cases is critical. Proper gunpowder dispensing can not only make the difference between acceptable groups and unwanted flyers, it can mean shooting safely without fear of dangerously high or low charges.

To see how various units stacked up in their ability to throw an accurate, repeatable charge, we looked at four commercial powder measurers: Lyman’s Powder Measure Number 55 ($71.50), Redding’s Model 3BR ($150), the RCBS Uniflow ($77.95), and Lee’s Pro Auto-Disk ($45). Each unit was set up for manual use (not as part o...

[IMGCAP(1)]Always in search of that perfect load for our firearms, we can’t be exacting enough about our equipment. And anything that affects how much powder goes into the cases is critical. Proper gunpowder dispensing can not only make the difference between acceptable groups and unwanted flyers, it can mean shooting safely without fear of dangerously high or low charges.

To see how various units stacked up in their ability to throw an accurate, repeatable charge, we looked at four commercial powder measurers: Lyman’s Powder Measure Number 55 ($71.50), Redding’s Model 3BR ($150), the RCBS Uniflow ($77.95), and Lee’s Pro Auto-Disk ($45). Each unit was set up for manual use (not as part o...

[IMGCAP(1)]How often have you pulled out ol’ Betsy only to find fingerprints rusted into her blued surface? But you were sure you rubbed down this firearm a few months ago with a highly-touted rust-preventing goo. But there the fingerprint is. Moreover, what about the bore and guts of the action? Are they sprouting oxidized metal, too?

During the past decade we’ve periodically attempted to find good rust-preventing substances, and we’ve found a few. But since rust keeps coming at us, we keep fighting back against it, and to that end, it was time to test a few more rust preventatives, which we hoped would be easy to apply, effective, and cheap.

We picked some products that we keep on h...