Viewpoints

Mini-14 Accuracy
Re October 2003, Firing Line:

I was reading Firing Line and saw where someone was asking if the aftermarket sleeves would improve the accuracy of a Mini-14. Here is my low-tech, cheap method to see if those sleeves will work on your gun. I took a 2-by-4 and cut a chunk one inch long. Then I bored a hole the size of the barrel through it. Then I bored two holes through it to put two bolts (3/8 inch by 2 1/2 inch) to clamp it. Then I split the block of wood in half and clamped it onto the end of the barrel of my Mini. Results were astounding. Most groups were cut in half. My gun started pushing toward MOA. The whole cost was 50 cents for the bolts. Consider...

In Missouri, the legislature has voted to override Gov. Bob Holdens veto of state legislation that would allow concealed carry in the Show Me State.

In mid-September, the Republican-controlled Missouri House and Senate representatives voted on consecutive days to override Holdens veto, with one vote coming from State Senator Jon Dolan, who returned from active duty with the U.S. Army in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in time to help his GOP colleagues. The legislature also has joined 30 other states in enacting protection from lawsuits for companies whose products are misused without their knowledge in criminal acts, another law the Governor vetoed earlier.

Despite panicked claims that innoce...

LAST CHANCE TO MAKE RESERVATIONS. Activists from around the country will converge on Houston for the 18th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference September 26 through 28 at the George Bush International Airport Marriot Hotel. Grassroots activists compare notes on the gun rights movement in their local communities and learn about the future of the national movement to secure our freedoms. Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation urged activists to: be there to celebrate the major victories weve had in extending the right to carry. The people of Colorado, New Mexico, Michigan, and Minnesota are safer now that their fundamental right to self-de...

Looking at Laser Sights
Re September 2003, Looking at Laser Sights: Whats Right for the Self-Defense Shooter:

I found your comments to reflect my experience with the Crimson Trace laser on my Taurus 85 .38 Special. However, what you did not say anything about was accuracy of the weapon with and without the laser. I found my Taurus to be very inaccurate with just the iron sights. About as accurate as throwing a baseball, I always said. This is due to the nonadjustable sights and the short length of the sight radius. No slight to Taurus, the gun is designed for lightweight carry and close-proximity defense, not target shooting. After adding the Crimson Trace laser, my accur...

I turn over my column this month to John R. Lott Jr., a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of the recently released The Bias Against Guns. -Todd Woodard

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June 26, 2003 - The June 14 deadline for Iraqi citizens to turn in banned weapons worked about as poorly as any gun buy-back program in the United States. After the two-week program ended, a guard at one of the designated places to turn in guns said, We have had plenty of reporters, but no weapons come in.

American soldiers are laying down their lives to protect Iraqi citizens, and the last thing that we want to do is put them in harms way. On Tuesday, six British soldie...

Testing the .45-70
Re August 2003 Trapdoor Springfields, Whats Your Best .45-70 Choice?:

Congratulations on another great issue, thats about 176 in a row, or thereabouts. You are absolutely right about not wanting to test the service charge of the original .45-70. Those things create about 22 foot-pounds of free recoil; they really grab your attention. I have an original, cut to a carbine for movie work. It is an absolute joy to shoot with a 300-grain cast roundnose pushed with 50 grains of Pyrodex.

-Bruce Krohn
Los Lunas, NM

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Colt SSA 1st Generation
Re July 2003 45 Single Action Colts and Clones, USFAs Rodeo is our C...

.380 Versus .38 Special
Re: June 2003 Firing Line:

I read with interest the two letters taking Gun Tests to task for daring to say the .38 Special was more powerful than the .380. The .380 (either the Colt Mustang or the AMT Backup) is certainly more concealable than the .38 special, but the round is simply a weaker load. My Colt Detective averages 955 fps with Cor-Bon 158-grain lead bullets. That is only 45 fps slower than the advertised velocity on the box, and is probably due to the 2-inch barrel. The measure of energy is 320 foot-pounds using Hatchers formula. (The no-longer-produced 115-grain Cor-Bons screamed out at 1207 fps for 372 foot-pounds of energy, but I pref...

ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP
The U.S. Supreme Court justices have altered their summer schedule to make room for lengthy and complicated arguments against the campaign-finance reform law enacted by Congress last year. The National Rifle Association is challenging it in 12 related cases and others arguing that preventing involvement in political campaigns is a violation of the First Amendments freedom of speech protection. Oral arguments are scheduled for September 8, at a time when the court usually is standing down in preparation for a new session that starts in October.

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WAL-MART SETTLES IN NY
The nations largest retailer has agreed to pay $200,000 in a co...

A 12-member advisory jury in the NAACPs Brooklyn lawsuit against the firearms industry exonerated manufacturers and distributors with a decision that found unanimously for 38 of the industry defendants. Jurors found for seven other defendants by a vote of at least 10 of the 12 jurors, and in 23 additional instances the jury failed to come to a decision. Not a single defendant was found to be either intentionally or negligently responsible for a public nuisance the NAACP claims occurs within the highly regulated and federally licensed chain of distribution and sale of firearms in America.

We welcome the advisory jurys common sense finding that the manufacturers and distributors of firea...

Beretta Accuracy Questioned
Re June 2003, 9mm Pistols: We Compare Beretta, SIGArms, and Magnum Research:

On page six, you show the SIGArms P226 with the smallest groups all the way down the chart. However, in the text you write, Despite the Beretta 92F being the accuracy winner…. You have me confused.

-O. Thomas Rork
Topeka, KS

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SIG The Tightest?
Re June 2003, 9mm Pistols: We Compare Beretta, SIGArms, and Magnum Research:

You wrote that the Beretta is the accuracy champ of these three, yet the SIG shot the tightest group (1.8 inch vs. a best of 2.5 inch for the Beretta), and had the tightest average groupings (1.8, 2.4 and 2.0 inc...

HESTON STEPS DOWN. At the NRAs annual convention in Orlando April 26-27, Charlton Heston stepped down as the groups president. Unquestionably, Hestons celebrity helped amplify the NRAs gun-rights message and put supporters in Congress and the White House.

As the NRAs public face for five years, he successfully steered the organization through several public-relations disasters involving shootings, and he won wide favor with fellow celebrities and politicians. For example, as part of his going-away event, country music singer Toby Keith performed in Orlando, and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush gave the conventions keynote speech.

It helped the NRA immeasurably to have Charlton He...

The Unsung CZ
Re May 2003, Fine .22 Rifles - We Like The Anschutz 1710 Bolt Action:

I thoroughly enjoyed the .22-caliber reviews of the Cooper, Anschutz, and CZ 451. Yes, we would all like to have the Cooper or Anschutz, but being practical, the CZ is more likely what we will end up with. I was not surprised to see the results of the CZ, however. I own a CZ 452 in .22 LR, and using Federal Gold Medal Ultra-Match ammo, I consistently have one-hole groups. To date, my smallest group measured 0.258 inch, and one-hole groups 0.5 inches or smaller are commonplace. This rifle is woefully under publicized, though it is stiff competition for rifles costing four to five times as mu...