Indice dei contenuti per June/July 2019 in Ballistic

→ Developed by General John T. Thompson during the last years of World War I to fulfill the need for an “auto rifle” to replace the bolt-action rifles then in service without the complexity or cost of a recoil or gas system, the Thompson submachine gun was designed to act as a “trench broom” for clearing enemy trenches on the front lines before being introduced to the public in the early 1920s. It has been said that the Thompson is the gun that “made the ’20s roar,” but costing around the modern equivalent of $3,000, the weapon was definitely limited to those who had the means. The M1921 achieved most of its early notoriety in the hands of Prohibition-era gangsters like John Dillinger, George “Machine Gun” Kelly and Al Capone.…

To honor the brave men who fought on the beaches of Normandy 75 years ago, Auto-Ordnance is now offering limited-edition D-Day Series weapons, including the Soldier M1 Carbine, the Ranger Thompson and The General 1911. The Soldier M1 Carbine has special engraving all over, including newspaper headlines announcing the invasion, Eisenhower’s famous address, the beach landings, U.S. Army patches, paratroopers, the map of the landings and commemorative dog tags. More features include a Patriot Brown Cerakote finish, an 18-inch barrel, American walnut furniture, a flip-up rear sight and a 15-round magazine. The Ranger Thompson honors the U.S. Army Rangers tasked with scaling the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc with several engraved images, including the Ranger patch, as well as the date of the battle and Ronald Reagan’s famous speech on…

→ There’s a lot of bravado in the firearms industry. Many firearms manufacturers out there, especially the newbs, tend to base their marketing strategy around this thinly veiled promise: We are the biggest, the baddest, the toughest and the most durable—and of course, we promise our customers that our rifle will make you appear to be the most OAF (Operator As F$%@) son of a gun at the range. And if that doesn’t work, supplement your social media with gun bunnies. But for those actually putting lead downrange, for service work, competition or defense needs—and not just adding expensive paperweights to their collection only to be polished and ogled whilst sucking down beers with buddies during poker night—it’s the brands that produce reliable, quality, die-hard firearms that last during prolonged…

→ Within the firearms industry, the Dillon family name is widely recognized. Dillon Precision has developed some of the finest reloading equipment on the market, and Dillon Aero is known for producing the formidable M134 minigun in use with every branch of the U.S. military. A family of service members and engineering-minded entrepreneurs, the Dillons have quite the track record for improving upon and developing new technology. But the most versatile and eye-catching tech to emerge from the Dillon empire is not exclusively reserved for the firearms industry. Dillon’s latest development is blazing its own trail across multiple industries and changing the way the world views not just the company, but everything else as well. BEHIND THE SCENES When touring the Dillon industrial complex, which includes multiple factories, showrooms and…

Our man on the beat at the New York Auto Show, Andrew Link, had the following thoughts on the Karlmann King: “It’s definitely not quite ready for prime time. To me, it’s not worth nearly $2.2 million. I don’t even think it’s worth more than $20,000 over the price of the donor truck. Karlmann’s reps were having trouble getting the front door open and closed, there were a bunch of fit and finish issues inside, and the front lights were fogged up from not being properly sealed. The underlying body work was also showing through the paint, and the paint itself was bubbled all over. The body work was rather poorly done as well. We’ll see if later samples are better.”…

→ When I think of outdoor summer activities, I see steaks on the grill, a camp in the mountains and beers on the river. Outdoor adventures are good for the soul, and the perfect way to get your head on straight and remember what’s important in life. But being in the field also means being prepared. Nature cares not about your plans. The proper gear is essential. So here are some cool new products to make the most of your time, space and experience this summer. 1› BEYOND K4 VENTUM ULTRALIGHT PANTS & HOODIE Anyone who spends time in the outdoors during the summer months knows that just because it’s perfect outside now doesn’t mean it will be tomorrow. Having stowable layers is key to handling unforeseen conditions. Lightweight, easy to…

→ September 11, 2001, forever changed the lives of most Americans. Almost everyone can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when the first plane plowed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. That morning, I was working in my Dallas office, and my pager went off: America was under attack, and my team was being deployed. I had just finished my training for one of FEMA’s Urban Search & Rescue teams. Working through the rubble of the aftermath would forever impact my life. Fast-forward 15 years and you begin to see how intricate our world truly is. I received a photography assignment from the editors of Ballistic magazine. Capturing a helicopter hog hunt that was organized by a group of North Texans for…

→ When discussing the most “influential” inventors, a number of names quickly makes the short list, including Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers. But added to that list should be such names as Christian Sharps, Samuel Colt, Hiram Maxim and Eugene Stoner. And even if you don’t know their names, you most likely know their inventions. HIRAM MAXIM Like Richard Gatling, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim was an inventor who held numerous patents. In this case, that included those for a mousetrap, a curling iron and various steam pumps. Maxim even laid claim to inventing the light bulb and experimented with powered flight. Yet it was his gun design that the U.S.-born British inventor is now best remembered for. As the story goes,…

This year, Hornady Manufacturing celebrates its 70th anniversary. Having begun in 1949 as a one-man operation making .30-caliber bullets in a small shop in Grand Island, Nebraska, founder Joyce Hornady could never have envisioned his company becoming the largest independently owned manufacturer of bullets, loaded ammunition and reloading equipment in the world. Yet, here we are in 2019, and it’s true. In addition to the 250,000-square-foot main manufacturing facility where some 250 people are employed, last year saw the opening of another brand-new 150,000-square-foot facility 6 miles west of its main plant where another 250 Grand Islanders are employed. It’s called Hornady West. But never mind the size of the company. I believe it can also lay claim to being the most dynamic and innovative in its field. Consider this:…

→ In September of 2017, three friends and I took a dream trip to Europe to visit the historic World War II battlefields of D-Day. June 6, 1944, marked the opening move of Operation Overlord, the Allied plan to invade France at Normandy and open a second front against Hitler in Western Europe. Had it failed, Hitler could have concentrated his forces against the Soviets on the Eastern Front and possibly won the war. We had a lot of ground to cover, to say the least. We made our base of operations at a small hotel in the coastal resort town of Arromanches-les-Bains in the British sector. From our balcony, we could see some of the barge-like, rectangular steel “Mulberries” still floating offshore where they formed a huge artificial harbor…

→ The Ghost Gunner is just a machine. It occupies about half the volume of a 10-gallon fish tank and runs off of standard wall power. The thing is so easy to operate that any American who can read can use it to legally finish firearm receivers at home. The Ghost Gunner is a gun-grabber’s worst nightmare. It is also the greatest hedge against tyranny ever conceived by mankind. FIGHTING BACK There are literally unprecedented forces at work in our great republic. Socialists serve proudly in Congress and are making respectable bids for the presidency. An entire generation of perpetually offended young Americans has lost the capacity to differentiate between freedom of speech and freedom from speech. Leftists frequently justify violence against those with whom they disagree and see the…

→ It’s just you and nature, with nobody else around for miles. You don’t have any cell phone service, so there are no calls to answer. You dip a line at your favorite secluded hotspot, enjoying all that fishing has to offer. But there could be trouble. Think about it. You’re all alone and possibly hours away from the authorities, and unless you have a radio, you won’t be able to communicate. You could easily become a sitting duck—easy prey for bad guys looking for boats, gear and money. This is also why a whole lot of fishermen and boaters carry firearms as part of their gear. Piracy still exists in various forms around the world, and boaters in the Gulf, for example, might come across migrants or traffickers. So…

While Dillon Optics doesn’t currently have ballistic-rated eye protection in its lineup, these three companies offer some options worth checking out. 1> MAGPUL EYEWEAR: The brand synonymous with manufacturing high-quality firearm accessories also produces some of the finest ballistic-rated glasses on the market. Setting a high bar in the protective eyewear arena with the Explorer, Terrain and Summit models, which meet exceptional standards of impact protection, Magpul’s protective eyewear options are also attractive enough for daily use. Because Magpul eyewear features the strongest thermoplastic eyewear frame material available and “unbreakable polycarbonate lenses,” you can rest assured your eyeballs will be protected in the field against most hazards, including harmful UV rays. These glasses meet ANSI and mil-spec ballistic safety ratings while sporting an oleophobic treatment that minimizes smudging from liquids,…

→ For a protective detail, “controlling the environment” is the catchphrase for hotel stays. This normally entails tradeoffs among luxury, convenience and security. It is normally a given that a principal who needs and can afford a security team will want to stay in luxurious accommodations. Opulent suites are the norm for VIPs. The last time I checked, the world’s most expensive was the royal penthouse suite at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva at $83,200 a night. A friend who was on a security detail in Macau a couple years ago told me that The 13 in Macau was the world’s most expensive hotel, though I believe they have since had some financial woes. Among other perks, they had a fleet of 30 Rolls-Royce Phantoms to chauffeur guests around.…

1> BLACKHAWK T-SERIES HOLSTERS Balancing security with draw speed, the new L2D and L3D T-Series holsters from BlackHawk offer Level 2 and Level 3 retention, respectively. These duty rigs will hold your handgun securely until you activate the release with your thumb, following the “master grip” principle. Each holster is durable enough for rough handling, and the low-friction internal material ensures a quiet, smooth draw. Several fits are currently available. (blackhawk.com) 2> BUSHNELL NITRO 1800 The new 6x24mm Nitro 1800 takes all of the latest advances in laser rangefinders and packs them into a high-performance optic perfectly suited to long-range hunting or competition. With an Applied Ballistics engine, the Nitro 1800 can crunch bullet load and range data and effortlessly provide a perfect firing solution—while also communicating near-instantaneously through Bluetooth…

→ I had a job in Eastern Europe during the Cold War that, in a nutshell, consisted of emplacing spy networks for would-be double agents. It was in a spy hotbed—high-speed ’80s stuff in a low-tech ’80s world. Practicing “good demeanor” was a constant mantra. Good demeanor was flavor-of-the-day jargon, so we even had demeanor classes. This cracked me up a bit. When it comes to deportment, you’ve either got it or you don’t. Stevie Wonder could’ve picked out some spec-ops knuckle dragger trying to pass as Eurotrash. Anyway, in order to blend in, one had to walk a line between truly not giving a shit and being completely switched on at the same time. And if you think a true spy walks around all nonchalant, unprepared for the worst,…

There are lots of good bus tours you can take that include lodging and most meals. Advantages of the package tours include a lot of time saved in planning your itinerary and booking hotels, and you don’t need to worry about driving and figuring out where to eat. A nice D-Day tour package can cost around $2,700 for a single person. If you decide to make your own way, you can load up in an SUV and see whatever you want for considerably less expense. We drove more than 900 miles, starting in Paris and visiting Normandy, Belgium, Luxembourg and Holland, and returned the car at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, for less than $1,000, which included the extra fee for the GPS. You should absolutely pay the extra fee for GPS!…

→ As far as gun companies go, Rise Armament is a relative newcomer. Rise had previously machined parts for the aerospace, defense, and oil and gas industries but came up with an idea for a better AR trigger in 2014. The RA-535 became the new company’s flagship product, and other parts, including a compensator and receivers, followed. It was inevitable that Rise Armament would offer complete guns, and in 2017, the company introduced the 1121XR in .308 Winchester/7.62mm NATO. More recently, I got the chance to shoot one of the first 1121XRs chambered for the 6.5 Creedmoor. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Athlon Outdoors had invited a number of firearms manufacturers and writers to Montana for its annual editorial Rendezvous—three packed days of shooting hundreds of new guns. We got rained on and…

→ The Karlmann King is the most expensive SUV on the planet. It is the off-road vehicle for the guy who has quite literally everything else. You’ll look into one of these bad boys after you’ve got the house paid off, put the kids through school, retired the debt on the wife’s breast augmentation and donated to every deserving cause that came asking. Once you’ve inked the title on this puppy, you’ve entered a whole new world. Only 12 of these vehicles will be made, and Ballistic recently got inside of one at the New York Auto Show. It should be easy to find in a crowded Walmart parking lot. Around 1,800 different people contributed to the F117-stealth-fighter-inspired design. Each vehicle is unique and reflects the personality of the high-net-worth…

→ Though the underlying theme of this “Wild Kitchen” column is the taking of fin, fur or feather and preparing it for the table in gourmet style, one doesn’t always have an immediate supply of critters in the fridge or freezer. Nor is it always hunting season. Such was the case when Ballistic Editorial Director Nino Bosaz asked if I could come up with a couple of recipes combining pasta and game. “The pasta part’s no problem, Nino. I’ve got hundreds of tried recipes pairing pasta with anything that walks, flies or swims. But game-wise, all I have on hand at the moment is some venison sausage and a few duck breasts.” “That’ll work.” “OK, when’s my deadline?” “The usual.” “You mean yesterday?” “Of course. Start cooking, pronto!” THE INGREDIENTS…