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All About Guns Ammo Anti Civil Rights ideas & "Friends" Cops Gun Fearing Wussies Paint me surprised by this You have to be kidding, right!?!

New York bill would let police ‘briefly seize’ firearms during domestics By Lee Williams

Police in New York want the legal ability to seize firearms during a domestic violence call – even if no arrests were made. However, instead of going through normal legal channels and obtaining a search warrant or court order, police just want the legal ability to take the guns on their own.

New York State lawmakers plan to reintroduce a bill during the next legislative session that will go farther than the state’s Safe Homes Act of 2020, which allows officers to seize firearms found during a consensual search when police respond to a domestic dispute.

New York State Senator Peter Harckham, a Democrat from Westchester County, has sponsored a bill that would
“mandate” officers to confiscate all firearms left out in the open during a domestic call.

“This is not gun control, this is gun safety; and this is domestic safety,” the senator told Spectrum News. “This is keeping the victims of domestic violence alive. We had two fatalities through domestic violence and firearms in my district in the last month. This is very real. This is very deadly and this is not a permanent seizure.”

Senator Harckham’s bill would allow police to keep the seized weapons for five days – most likely to seek restraining orders or other legal options – before returning them to their rightful owners. Also, police would likely extend this five-day time limit as needed.

Tom King, president of New York State’s Rifle & Pistol Association, balked loudly about the new bill.

“No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law,” King told the reporters. “That means a search warrant or an order from a judge to confiscate the firearms, and they’re doing this without that.”

King pointed out the more than 100 New Yorkers who had firearms seized under the state’s newly expanded red-flag law. This group contacted King’s nonprofit seeking help getting their guns back. Some have already paid more than $10,000 in legal expenses, King said.

Takeaways

The main problem with the new bill is that it offers police yet another illegal mechanism to seize someone’s guns.

Our federal law does not allow law enforcement to go traipsing through someone’s home looking for firearms that were never used in a crime, which they will then seize for no evidentiary value.

These types of laws are passed solely for one reason – harassment. They want to harass gun owners. They want gun owners temporarily disarmed and then forced to make several trips to the police station to get their property returned, at great cost, too. Don’t forget that.

Today, gun owners have fewer rights in places like New York than they do in free states. This new bill will only make it worse.

Article courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Click here to support the project.

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Ammo

.458 Winchester Magnum History: The Complete Story By Layne Simpson

Introduced in 1956, the .458 Winchester Magnum is still one of the best dangerous-game cartridges in the world. Here’s the complete story and some history behind the big-bore rifle cartridge.

Introduced in 1956, the .458 Win. Mag. (right) is a direct descendant of the .450 Nitro Express 3 1⁄4 inch (left) and the .450 Watts. (center).

The .458 Winchester Magnum is a fairly modern cartridge, but its story begins back in 1898. That’s when John Rigby, an Englishman famous for building high-quality double-barrel rifles, loaded the case of the old .450 Black Powder Express with 70.0 grains of a then-new high-nitroglycerine-content smokeless propellant called cordite and renamed it the .450 Nitro Express 3¼ inches.

Advertised velocity for three styles of 0.458-inch bullets weighing 480 grains was 2,175 fps, but since they were from 28-inch pressure barrels and mixed with a pinch of exaggeration, actual velocity from the 26-inch barrels of double rifles usually ranged from 2,025 to 2,075 fps.

Cordite had a tendency to become less potent as it aged, with velocity sometimes falling short of 2,000 fps. Even so, that level of performance obviously proved to be quite sufficient for taking on the biggest game Africa had to offer.

To quote professional ivory hunter John Taylor from his classic book “African Rifles & Cartridges” (1948), “The .450 Nitro Express 3¼” became the most popular and widely used caliber for all heavy and dangerous game throughout the world. It took the big game hunting world by storm and immediately became a standard caliber in the British gun trade.

The full-patch (solid) bullet is excellent for elephant; the soft nose is quite effective when taking side-on shots at buffalo and frontal chest shots on lion. For a broadside shot on lion, the split-jacket soft nose is preferred.”

During about the first three decades of the 20th century, the cost of an African safari was beyond the reach of most Americans. That eventually began to change, and among American manufacturers, Winchester was first to respond to the demand by offering the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum in the Model 70 in 1937.

In the hands of a cool-headed hunter and good shot, the rifle was capable of handling all African game, but when the chips were down, larger calibers had proven to be more reliable stoppers of elephant, buffalo, and rhino.

When seated with the front edge of the crimp groove aligned with the mouth of the case, the bases of Hornady and Swift 500-grain bullets rest 0.625 inch into the case. After shortening a case by that amount, Layne used a 7-inch drop tube to determine the charge weights of various powders that filled the full-length case to the bases of those bullets.

During the 1940s, Alaskan school teacher James Watts began planning a lengthy safari in Rhodesia and decided to duplicate the performance of the .450 Nitro Express 3¼” by necking up the .375 H&H Magnum for 0.458-inch 480-grain bullets made by Kynoch and fireforming the case to straight taper with no shoulder. He called it the .450 Watts, and obtaining a rifle was as easy as switching barrels on a Winchester Model 70 in .375 H&H Magnum. Except for being 0.050 inch longer, the .450 Watts case is identical to the .458 Lott introduced about 30 years

Jack O’Connor wrote about using a custom rifle in .450 Watts on buffalo and other dangerous game, and the cartridge took off like a rocket. Fully formed cases with the proper headstamp were offered by Dick Speer of Lewiston, Idaho, who founded Cascade Cartridge Co. and was a brother to Vernon Speer, founder of Speer Bullet Co. Today, .450 Watts cases are made by Quality Cartridge of Hollywood, Maryland. I have rifles in the Watts and Lott chamberings and use Hornady .458 Lott cases in both. Reloading dies and load data are interchangeable.

During the early 1950s, Winchester began planning a new family of belted magnum cartridges for the Model 70, with .45 caliber first on the list. The .450 Watts was seriously considered, but at the time, military-surplus 1898 Mauser rifles were abundant and cheap, and gunsmiths across the country were busy building custom rifles around them. So the entire family of Winchester cartridges was made short enough for the Mauser action. The .450 Watts case was shortened from 2.850 inches to 2.500 inches and introduced in 1956 as the .458 Winchester Magnum.

The original goal was to match the performance of the .450 Nitro Express, but in the spirit of one-upmanship, bullet weight was increased to 510 grains for the softnose and 500 grains for the solid, both at 2,125 fps. Claimed muzzle energies of the two loads were 5,140 and 5,010 ft-lbs compared to 4,110 ft-lbs for the .450 Nitro Express. Advertised velocities of the two bullet weights were later reduced to 2,040 fps.

Not long after the .458 Win. Mag. was introduced, complaints of drastically reduced velocities caused by excessive compression of the powder charge in factory ammunition began to trickle in from professional hunters in Africa. Winchester eventually corrected the problem, but it would haunt the cartridge for many years.

Many of today’s hunters have switched to 450-grain bullets. With a sectional density exceeding .300, along with higher velocity than is possible with 500-grain bullets, penetration on large, dangerous game is about the same and recoil is noticeably less.

Despite that very large bump in the road, the “four-five-eight” became a favorite among sport hunters headed to Africa and among professional hunters there who used it for backing up their clientele. Various African game departments adopted the Model 70 and other rifles chambered for the cartridge for animal population control.

Many thousands of elephant and buffalo were taken over the years. During my first hunt for buffalo in Rhodesia during the 1970s, I saw several tons of biltong drying on racks in the sun, all of it harvested by government-employed cullers using rifles in .458 Win. Mag

There are several reasons why the .458 Win. Mag. eventually became hugely popular around the world and remains so today. For starters, when Kynoch ceased production of all calibers of rifle ammunition in 1970, an abundant supply of .458 ammo was available from Winchester and Remington at far less cost.

Once Winchester sorted out the velocity variation problem, the performance of the cartridge on large, dangerous game left nothing to be desired, at a level of recoil easily tolerated by experienced hunters.

Last but certainly not least in importance, the Winchester Model 70 African was durable, reliable, and accurate enough, and for the money, it was the world’s greatest big-game rifle. It had a 25-inch barrel and weighed 9.25 pounds. There is some recoil, and the Model 70 Super Express I have today, weighing 10 pounds with a 1.5-5X scope, leather sling, and three rounds in its magazine, is none too heavy. A custom rifle on a Weatherby Mark V action

I used to take a dozen buffalo weighed 10.75 pounds, and carrying it on 25-mile treks under an African sun was never a task.

Everything including charge compression, accuracy, and velocity considered, Accurate 2230, Hodgdon H335, and Accurate 2460 are the best choices in powders for use with 450-grain and 500-grain bullets.

Handloading Tips

HornadySwift BulletsFederal PremiumBarnes BulletsNorma Shooting, and Winchester continue to catalog ammo, and it is not unusual for some to exceed the long-standing 2,040 fps rating from a 24-inch barrel. Handloading the .458 increases its versatility by making an elephant rifle suitable for use on deer. Hornady and Winchester offer unprimed cases, and since the mouths of cases have to be belled slightly prior to bulletseating, die sets contain a third die.

To ensure a uniform roll crimp, virgin cases are trimmed to the exact same length. Cases can lengthen slightly with each firing, so keeping them trimmed to 2.490 inches is important.

Due to the limited capacity of the .458 Win. Mag. case, only a few powders of fairly high density have the correct burn rate for producing the desired velocity with 500-grain bullets. As illustrated in various reloading manuals, many powders of lower density can be used, but charge compression is often excessive. Some compression is needed.

It is important to keep in mind that a heavy roll crimp alone may not prevent bullets in cartridges in the magazine from being pushed more deeply into the case due to recoil.

In addition to increasing chamber pressure, this can cause feeding issues, something that cannot be tolerated with ammunition to be used for taking dangerous game. Choosing a powder with a density that allows a maximum charge to be compressed just enough to prevent bullet shove-back while delivering adequate velocity is important.

When the Hornady and Swift 500-grain bullets are seated with the front edge of their cannelure aligned with the mouth of a case measuring 2.490 inches long, their bases rest 0.625 inch from the mouth of the case. In other words, 25 percent of the powder cavity is occupied. After shortening a case by 0.625 inch, I used a seven-inch drop tube to determine the charge weights of various powders of the correct burn rates that would fill the case to the bases of those bullets.

Layne has been hunting potentially dangerous game with the .458 Win. Mag. cartridge since the 1970s, and he says that when the right bullet is placed properly, it does an excellent job.

Beginning with H335, 71.5 grains filled the shortened case to the brim, and increasing it to a maximum of 74.5 grains for a 500-grain bullet resulted in just enough compression in a full-length case to prevent bullet movement during recoil. Moving to Accurate 2230, 68.0 grains filled the case to the base of the bullet with a maximum of 72.0 grains, resulting in about the same amount of charge compression as with H335.

Only slightly less dense, 66.0 grains of Accurate 2460 was a 100 percent density load with a maximum charge of 74.0 grains compressed only slightly more than H335 and Accurate 2230. Everything considered, those are the best commonly available powders for use in .458 Win. Mag. handloads.

Accuracy is quite good, and when loaded behind a 500-grain bullet, they are capable of exceeding a velocity of 2,100 fps as promised by Winchester back in 1956. Regardless of which is chosen, the Federal 215 and CCI 250 Magnum primers ensure uniform ignition.

Handloading properly constructed 450-grain bullets in the .458 Win. Mag. has become popular among many hunters because they take up less space in the short case and recoil is noticeably less. A sectional density of .300 or greater has long been the benchmark for bullets to be used on large game, and due to the .307 rating of a 450-grain bullet along with its slightly higher velocity, penetration on the largest game has proven to be equal to that of a 500-grain bullet of the same construction. From my rifles, the Swift 450-grain A-Frame and the Cutting Edge Bullets 450-grain Safari Solid shoot to the same point of impact at 100 yards.

Moving down another step in bullet weight, the Swift 400-grain A-Frame is constructed to perform at .458 Win. Mag. velocities. One of my brown bear guides carried a .458 for backup, and its magazine was filled with the 400-grain Swift handloaded to 2,375 fps. He called it the deadliest little bear-stopper in Alaska. For those who do not load their own, Federal ammo is loaded with the 400-grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw.

Winchester hit a home run with the .458 Magnum back in 1956, and for close-distance stopping of elephant, buffalo, Alaskan brown bear, and other big animals capable of hurting you, it remains one of the best friends you can have on your team.

 

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Shooting 1954 Chinese Type 53 with 1971 Soviet factory 10 (Bulgaria) ammo

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The new Mauser M 98 Magnum

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MARLIN’S TRIPLE-FOUR

A STORY OF LEAD, LOVE AND LEVER GUNS
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Testing .308″ Bullets in the Mosin Nagant

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The Best Handgun Caliber – A Real World Study

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Beginner’s Guide to Pistol Ammo

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BLACKPOWDER 101 BY JOHN TAFFIN

Colt Single Actions manufactured before 1900 should only be used with black powder such
as Goex or their substitute, such as Clear Shot or others.

 

Ken Wegman, a Handgunner reader, asked about using black powder and substitutes in modern pistols, comparing their characteristics in velocity, energy, accuracy, cleaning etc. along with a historical review of the actual black powder loads used in handgun calibers. Ken also wondered if there are special requirements/cautions when storing black powder and using modern reloading equipment with black powder? Great questions, Ken!

Historically speaking, black powder was the main propellant for firearms until well into the 20th century, with smokeless powder arriving in the 1880’s. Any Colt Single Action made before 1900 should be considered for black powder use only and all Smith & Wesson .44 and .45 Top-Break sixguns were manufactured for the use of black powder; this, of course, also applies to all percussion revolvers. The Smith & Wesson .44 Russian had a well-deserved reputation for accuracy with the records being set using black powder loads in the 1880’s which stood for decades.

When the Army tested the .45 Colt they had strict requirements for accuracy and Elmer Keith wrote of someone with a 71/2″ Cavalry Model being able to keep someone off of him firing at long range with black powder loads. I tested his theory using a 255-grain bullet loaded over 40.0 grains of black powder, again back in the time when I could really shoot, and I found at 50 yards I could keep them all in the head of a standard silhouette target, 100 yards saw them all go into the body and at 200 yards I could definitely keep the target pinned down until someone showed up who could really shoot. Black powder loads can be just as accurate, or more so, than current smokeless powder loads.

Measuring

All black powder loads, whether using actual black powder or substitutes, are measured by volume not by weight. Using a 40-grain volume measure I came up with the following weights: with black powder Goex FFg weighed 39.9 grains; Goex FFFg, 38.0 grains, and Goex Cartridge, 39.2 grains. Switching to the most popular substitute, Pyrodex P with a volume of 40 grains weighed only 29.6 grains while Pyrodex Select came in at only 25.5 grains.

Different loads will print to different points of impact on the target and only experience with one’s sixgun of choice can answer just what this will be. I did find using a 71/2″ .45 Colt with a 250-grain bullet, 35 grains of Goex Gartridge and Pyrodex P both shoot to the same point of aim with muzzle velocities of 873 fps and 929 respectively.

The original loads for both .45 Colt and .44-40 were 40 grains of black powder. Modern brass, with its solid head, will not hold this much powder, more like 35.0 to 37.0 grains is normal. I have tested the full 40.0-grain load in old balloon head brass and I can definitely tell you there was nothing wimpy about those original loads, with the .45 Colt doing about 900 fps and the .44-40 over 1,000 fps using modern black powder and magnum primers.

The Ruger Old Army is an exceptionally accurate black powder percussion revolver. Used ones
are still found regularly in gun stores so keep your eye open! John found three in the past year.

Loading/Cleaning

Loading black powder cartridges is not quite the same as loading modern smokeless powder. For best results, bullets chosen should be relatively soft and lubricated with a soft lube specifically designed for black powder use. I’ve found I get the best ignition and cleanest burning results using magnum primers. When shooting black powder loads I usually swab the barrel after each cylinder full.

Over the years I’ve found Windex works as good as anything for this and I simply spray a patch with Windex and run it down the bore. If the cylinder starts to get sluggish in its operation I simply spray Windex at the front and the back without removing the cylinder to clear out some of the fouling. I follow the same procedure when using percussion revolvers. With substitutes, such as Pyrodex, sixguns will normally go through longer strings before they need any attention. With Smith & Wesson replicas or originals fouling is much more pronounced than with a Colt Single Action or replicas.

When I first started shooting black powder there was only one cleaning agent I knew of — hot soapy water. Today there are several excellent black powder cleaning solutions available.

If I’m shooting a particular sixgun on a regular basis I thoroughly clean the cylinder and barrel and wipe down all the other parts after shooting. About every third time, I completely dismantle the sixgun and clean all the interior parts. If I’m going to put the sixgun back away after only one shooting session, I perform the same operation. Substitutes are much easier to clean, however they do require cleaning. My friend Ray and I traveled to Texas for a shooting match several years ago and using loads assembled with Hodgdon’s Triple Seven we found we had forgotten to bring along anything for cleaning. A bottle of Listerine worked just fine.

When shooting percussion revolvers, powder is first dispensed into the hand

powder measure on the left and then loaded into the percussion cylinder.

Cautions

When loading black powder cartridges I do not use a normal powder measure but rather the Lyman Black Powder Measure. People still argue about whether or not a spark is possible with the regular measure, which would ignite the black powder. I prefer to err on the side of caution and use only a powder measure designed for black powder use. When using percussion pistols I never load directly from the flask into the cylinder. The reason being there could be a spark lurking in the dark confines ready to give a very dangerous ka-boom.

Instead, the powder is first poured into a hand powder measure, and then only this one load is placed anywhere near the cylinder. I keep several brass flasks with a measuring spout for a particular amount of powder and then this is easily transferred into a hand powder measure. Or I use an adjustable hand powder measure to come up with the proper charge.

Lyman offers this Black Powder Measure for safely
dispensing black powder into the cartridge cases.

Dies

The same press and dies can be used for loading black powder cartridges as for those with smokeless powder. However, RCBS has special Cowboy Dies for .45 Colt, .45 Schofield, .44-40 and .38-40. These are designed to be used with the soft lead bullets normally used in loading black powder cartridges. Black powder substitutes are “probably” safe to use in a regular powder measure, however, since I already have a black powder measure I use it for substitutes too.

Black powder is classified as an explosive and must be handled as such. Always keep it in the original container, always keep the lid on when not actually transferring powder, and especially stay away from any type of spark. Black powder should be stored in its original container and also away from heat and any possibility of a spark. The back room off my garage is always cool and dry and this is where my powder is stored. Check with any local regulations through the fire department to make sure safety is being observed. I also do not like to have a large amount of black powder on hand, so when sample powders become more than I need for normal use I donate it to the local black powder club.

Many shooters will find black powder is not available in their area. We are fortunate to have a black powder club locally and they maintain a black powder storage facility at the shooting range well away from any activity. They sell black powder to members so I can get what I need at any time. At one time we had a local gun shop which also specialized in black powder and black powder accessories, however they are now gone and the large franchise shops only carry Pyrodex. The reason being black powder substitutes are not classified as an explosive and do not require the special handling reserved for black powder. Recently, ATF talked of classifying all powders as explosives, however, thankfully they did back off from that regulation; at least so far.

Black Powder substitutes such as Hodgdon’s Triple Seven or Pyrodex are measured and
loaded the same as “real” black powder but are not classified as “explosives.”

Accuracy

 

I earlier mentioned the accuracy of black powder loads. Ruger has dropped their Old Army percussion sixgun, however these show up from time to time in gun shops. I picked up three in the last year. They are exceptionally accurate revolvers when properly loaded and at the last State & Territorial Muzzle Loading match I attended and took part in, I shot my Old Army bullseye style, standing on my hind legs and shooting one-handed as required, and managed to shoot a 95×100 using a round ball and Pyrodex. The .45 Colt, .44-40 and especially the .38-40 and .44 Russian can be especially accurate using black powder or black powder substitutes.