Tuesday, February 9, 2016

GUNS Magazine April Issue

With its first commercial .45 ACP, Walther's "power-packed PPQ" makes its presence felt on the cover of GUNS Magazine's April issue. Massad Ayoob examines the high-cap, big-bore pistol to see how the .45 iteration compares to the popular 9mm version.

"With a $699 retail price, this sophisticated Walther is right in the GLOCK/M&P ballpark for pricing," Ayoob says. "It's reliable and fun to shoot. The trigger pull was lighter than I'd personally want for self-defense, but I think the .45 chambering of the PPQ was a good move by Walther. I expect the company to sell a lot of these pistols."

In "Ruger's Versatile Redhawk," John Taffin reviews the Ruger .45 Colt Redhawk. John was impressed with the increase in versatility in being able to shoot both rimmed .45 Colt and rimless .45 ACP from the same double-action platform.

"Ruger's Redhawk .45 Colt/.45 ACP now allows both cartridges to be fired in the same cylinder. This is not all that easy to accomplish. Just as with any other DA revolver, the .45 Colt rim on the back of the cylinder provides headspace and easy extraction, however the .45 ACP cartridge… requires clips. The standard clips (usually of the 1/2- and full-moon variety around since WWI) are too thick for use in the Redhawk. Ruger offers vastly improved full-moon clips of the proper thickness. They are thin and slotted between cartridges for very easy insertion of the .45 ACP rounds. They are available only from Ruger, at least at this time, and they are definitely not inexpensive. My fingers, however are much appreciative of the ease in loading."

In "Takes A Lickin'," Field Editor John Barsness shares his insights on how to ensure your scope outlasts the stressful effects of recoil and provides decades of quality service.

"My own rule, derived from decades of broken scopes, is to put either light fixed-powers or really rugged tactical variables on hard-kicking rifles," Barsness says. "The mid-weight, mid-price variables purchased by most shooters go only on lighter-kicking rifles, and by light-kicking, I mean a rifle chambered for cartridges no larger than the .243 Winchester."

Other features in the April issue of GUNS includes an article by M.L. McPherson on the remarkable consistency of the .416 Rigby in Ruger's .77 Magnum, a feature by Mike "Duke" Venturino on the two rifles that really "Won the West"—the Sharps Model 1874 and Remington's No. 1 Rolling Block, plus a column covering high-performance optics. Finally, Will Dabbs explores the concept of "aquatic lumberjacking," namely, how a precision rifle can double as a chainsaw on dead submerged trees with the aid of a bit of explosive compound.

North American Arms' PUG-TP Mini Revolver is the highlight of the April GUNS Giveaway. Also in the giveaway is a complete gun cleaning system from Tetra Gun, including the company's Action Blaster, the Gun Cleaning Degreaser, a quick-evaporating, spray formula Gun Lubricant and a tube of gun grease. Readers can enter for free by visiting www.gunsmagazine.com/giveaway.

Each issue of GUNS includes links to online-only extras. In this month's online feature, Mark Hampton provides tips on how to select the right hunting handgun. Readers can sign up for a free digital subscription at www.gunsmagazine.com/digital-version.