Ballisticの February/March 2020 の目次

Second Lieutenant Johnny Rico cut his chute at 50 feet and let the actuators in the legs of his armored suit take his 600-pound weight. The image intensifier in his visor cleared away the smoke and battlefield obscurants while his suit’s AI tracked the rest of his platoon. Rico’s Roughnecks had all survived the orbital drop from the “Rodger Young” corvette transport. This attack on the bug home world of Klendathu had been months in the planning. If the mobile infantry could neutralize the arachnids’ brain caste, the war would be over. This fact drove Rico’s troops like men and women possessed. Rico reached toward his utility pack and unlimbered his Tavor TS12. This semi-automatic bullpup fired tiny fission grenades with enough yield to collapse a bug tunnel or burn…

Friends who know me well know that I don’t get excited about much. However, those with whom I share my daily goings on know that I get a bit animated when I find a rifle that can put five rounds into a 0.5-inch cluster at 100 yards. A rifle with that kind of consistency holds promise. My most recent source of excitement? Weatherby’s Mark V Accumark Elite. A few weeks prior to this writing, I joined several peers in Driggs, Idaho, to get a peek at new guns, optics and ammo during the Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous. Early in the event, I took a seat behind one of Weatherby’s new rifles set up on a DOA Shooting Bench. I also got to talk to Kevin Wilkerson of the legendary rifle company.…

Umarex also brought along another cool new airgun to the most recent Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous. The latest addition to Umarex’s Legends line is the select-fire M1A1, a near-perfect BB-firing replica of the iconic Thompson submachine gun carried by American forces in World War II. Let’s take a closer look. The Umarex M1A1 is cocked using the charging handle on the bolt (which reciprocates just like the real thing when you shoot), and the safety, selector and magazine release are fully functional. Most of the gun is made from zinc castings with a low-gloss black finish that looks a lot like military Parkerizing. I thought the furniture was real walnut as well, but it’s actually a very realistic plastic. All told, the Umarex weighs 7.75 pounds with its 30-round magazine, compared…

The man eked out a living as an illicit pharmaceutical salesman. The hours were long and the working conditions austere, but it was a good way to meet girls. In truth, he liked the work. He had grown up in the field and was good at it. The biggest challenge, however, was managing the competition. The details of the original insult have been lost to history. It was likely some disagreement over efficacy or purity. It’s equally possible that the initial offense concerned the bonny affections of some fair lass or perhaps a quarrel over territory. Regardless, this amicable discussion morphed into an argument, and things got out of hand in short order. Both parties reached for guns. Crouching reflexively, the amateur pharmacist reached for the 9mm pistol he kept…

No matter what type of job you’re facing, it always helps to have the best-quality tools on hand. Sometimes that job might be simply trying to survive and possibly wrecking a few things along the way. For this article, we’ll compare a couple of tools that can be used not only to survive in the outdoors, but also for rescue and extrication as well. They are the AF Survival Knife from Winkler Knives and the Survivalist Hatchet from Hardcore Hammers. While some overlap exists in their capabilities, each has particular features that make it ideal for specific missions. AF SURVIVAL KNIFE While Daniel Winkler garnered due recognition for the traditional weapons he crafted for The Last of the Mohicans, it seems that he and his company found their true calling…

We sometimes neglect working on the fundamentals. These are the core skills around which everything rotates. It’s sometimes necessary to lie flat on your belly and work on your basic rifle marksmanship (BRM). Practice building a position to achieve a natural point of aim. Understand that without a natural point of aim, there is muscular input, and where there is muscular input, the weapon will move when fired. This will have an adverse effect on your desired point of impact. I like to define “natural point of aim” as being comfortably on target with zero muscular input. When prone and building a natural point of aim, I like to leave my support hand off of the rifle initially so that I can breathe in and out and watch my sights…

It was a beautiful September afternoon when I stepped off the plane in New Hampshire. As a writer, I find myself stepping off of a lot of planes, but this trip was special. I was in New England to take part in a unique and interesting event being hosted by the team at Sig Sauer. I was headed to the first Camp Legion. The function would be based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but we were scheduled to visit the company’s headquarters in Newington and spend some time at the Sig Sauer Academy in Epping as well. THE BASICS First, let me explain exactly what the Legion is. The name has roots reaching back to the great Roman armies, and today it designates elite membership among the world’s military and professional…

It’s really winter now. After ringing in the New Year, we’ve lost the insulation of “holiday cheer” and the insanity of family and errands to the mall that until now let us ignore the fact that it’s cold and dark outside. Well, cheer up, buckaroo! There is light, comfort, gear and tasty smoked meats still to be had! The stockings might have been put away, but there is always time for a last-minute shopping spree to lighten one’s mood. Start by checking out these fine recommendations from yours truly. CAMP CHEF WOODWIND SG 24 PELLET GRILL If you’re a fan of grilling, smoking and outdoor cooking in general, I suggest you check out Camp Chef’s line of Woodwind pellet grills. Housing the largest pellet capacity, the Woodwind SG line has…

Get around most high-level competitive pistol shooters and you’ll find a common trait among many of them: a firm grip. Champion shooters have long known that strong hands make for better recoil control as well as cleaner trigger presses. I recently got my hands on a tool geared toward shooters to improve both of those areas. The ProHands Tactical blends a tension hand exerciser with a battery-operated laser, providing instant feedback on “trigger discipline” while building finger strength. You can exercise each finger with spring-loaded pistons while you try to keep the laser on target. Five different weight resistance options are available, too, ranging from 5 to 13 pounds. My testing involved using the ProHands Tactical both with and without the laser attached. Like a bench press workout for your…

These Ballistic “Custom Challenges” are among my favorite things to cover. I’m a sucker for badass custom guns—especially when custom shops around the country are pushed to the limits to turn their guns into absolute masterpieces. We decided to reach out to Magnum Research for this larger-than-life “Custom Challenge.” Magnum Research sent out two massive, bone-stock, .50-caliber Desert Eagles. What better way to see what custom shops can really do but by giving them a whole lot of gun on which to showcase their skills? Everyone knows what a Desert Eagle is, so I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s get right to these incredible works of art that came out of Outlaw Ordnance and Dark Alliance Customs. With the large amount of steel real estate on the 4.5-pound…

SCCY Firearms is best known for its well-built, double-action-only (DAO) semi-auto pistols, giving concealed carriers quality guns at affordable prices. According to Scott McGregor, the company’s national sales manager, “We’re not the biggest guys out there, but people sure pay attention to us!” McGregor had flown to my hometown of Tucson to show me an exciting new gun from SCCY. “Our owner, Joe Roebuck, has been working on this tirelessly for the last couple of years, and we’re finally ready to launch the brand-new SCCY DVG series of pistols,” McGregor said. “We’ll formally introduce the gun at SHOT Show in January 2020.” DVG stands for “David Versus Goliath,” and like all SCCY firearms, the new guns are priced to make consumers notice. But larger competing manufacturers might be shocked by…

Six years ago, CZ introduced the 805 Bren S1, the civilian version of the rifle that replaced the venerable Vz. 58 for the Czech Republic’s military, to the American public. The S1 started selling to U.S. customers in 2014 as a pistol variant, and the carbine version soon found its way to our shores a couple of years later. Though the CZ 805 Bren was well received overall, there were a few things that designers felt could be improved to create an even better weapon, and the genesis of the Bren 2 began. Fast-forward to 2019 and history had repeated itself, as CZ-USA recently released the Bren 2 Ms pistol to the American shooter. A BETTER MOUSE TRAP While closely resembling the original Bren 805 pistol, the Bren 2 Ms…

Nearly 80 years after the first Jeeps rolled into action during WWII, a newly upgraded model for the 21st century could be the latest ride for U.S. warfighters as well as those looking for the most off-road-capable midsize truck available. AM General, a leading manufacturer of light tactical vehicles and developer of the Humvee, banded together with Jeep to develop the Extreme Military-Grade Truck (XMT) version of the Gladiator, the first production Jeep pickup truck since 1992’s Comanche was put out to pasture. “AM General and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are excited to show the Jeep Gladiator XMT at AUSA 2019, and look forward to gathering feedback,” said Deborah Reyes, global marketing and communications director for AM General. “We hope to partner further so that AM General may upfit and sell…

Hunters are always seeking the latest evolution in game-taking technology. This has been true since the prehistoric days of the atlatl. While using leverage to fling a dart was a marked improvement over manually throwing them, stringed weapons eventually took center stage for centuries. Bows and crossbows survived the test of time, but they still have many of their original shortcomings. For starters, considerable strength is needed to draw a bow or cock a crossbow. While the process is substantially easier today through the use of pulleys, small-framed and/or disabled shooters are still at a loss. Those of us who can ready these weapons without trouble still need considerable space to do so, limiting our shooting positions. Lastly, should we miss, there usually isn’t enough time to take a follow-up…