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.45 ACP: First Among Equals

1 month ago | gundigest.com | Patrick Sweeney |Vols. I

Back when John Browning fine-tuned the .45 ACP (he didn’t invent it, but he did make it perfect), the premier arm of the military was the cavalry. Part of their job was stopping opposing cavalry—even if it meant stopping horses. (As horse lovers, that had to hurt.) That’s why the U.S. Army insisted on something .45 back then, when Roosevelt the First and Taft were presidents, and they would not accept the newfangled .30 and 9mm pistol cartridges that were gaining popularity in Europe.
Hardware Talk: Ram-It AR-15 Speed Loader

2 months ago | gundigest.com | Patrick Sweeney |Vols. I

A day at the range is fun. Well, there are some un-fun parts. You know … taping targets, picking up brass and loading magazines. Fortunately, J&M Innovative Products (aka Fastloaders.com) has a solution to that last one: Their Ram-It patent-pending gizmo makes loading an AR-15 magazine easy. The tool is bigger than a magazine, so it won’t fit into your pocket … but that also makes it easier to keep track of.
Hardware Talk: Mission First Tactical BUIS

2 months ago | gundigest.com | Vols. I |Patrick Sweeney

You’ve heard the phrase, “Two is one, one is none.” But, do you really know what it means? If you have just one tool, and it breaks, you are out of luck. If you have two of them, and one breaks, you can still get the job done. Some tools never break … and some situations cannot abide the risk of the only one breaking. That’s why it’s prudent to have backup sights. Yes, you have a high-performance optic on your rifle, and it does everything but look around corners (give the optical engineers time).
The Art Of Running A Shotgun

Dec 9, 2024 | gundigest.com | Vols. I |Patrick Sweeney

I’m switching shotguns. I’ve used a variety of Remington 1100s for something like 4 decades now, but time overcomes everything. They’re elderly; keeping them running is work, and there are better options. The one I’ve selected is the Mossberg 940 JM Pro. Built by Mossberg for competition and defense, the 940 in the JM Pro model is advanced to being a top-tier competition shotgun, with input from my friend Jerry Miculek.
Hardware Talk: Gemtech Direct-Thread Rear Caps

Nov 27, 2024 | gundigest.com | Vols. I |Patrick Sweeney

A lot of suppressor users are not going to swap their silencer across a whole rack of rifles. Not the first suppressor, anyway. It will spend its range time on one or two—maybe three rifles—ever. If that’s the case, there’s no reason to invest in a QD mount system. Oh, they are cool, but they cost and add weight. A typical rear cap for a quick-attach system, and the muzzle brake it fits on to, can run up to 7 ounces. Especially on a rifle meant for hunting, 7 ounces can matter.
Hardware Talk: SilencerCo Gas Defeating Charging Handle

Oct 14, 2024 | gundigest.com | Patrick Sweeney |Vols. I

Got gas? No, not that kind of gas. I’m talking about gas in the face from your suppressor. Yes, there’s gas out of the ejection port, but the real eye-watering gas can be the little jet of gas that spurts out of the rear of the upper, underneath the charging handle. Directed straight back at your face and jetting just above the level of the cheekpiece, it’s almost evilly aimed at your eye. One of our club members had a real problem with that back in the 1980s.
Hardware Talk: RTS Blowout Kit

Aug 30, 2024 | gundigest.com | Vols. I |Patrick Sweeney

Firearms are dangerous … and that’s why we have them. But we also have “blow-out” kits, right? Right? A blow-out kit is a first-aid package meant not to deal with sunburn and insect bites, but gunshot wounds and other serious injuries. A specific one I have strapped to my range bag comes from RTS, called the IFAK. It’s meant to be attached to a soldier’s load-bearing or plate carrier, but it also attaches to a range bag by its MOLLE straps.
Snap Caps: Save The Pins!

Aug 16, 2024 | gundigest.com | Vols. I |Patrick Sweeney

A lot of firearm designs have robust firing pins—but not all. Finding out the hard way is … well … hard. Still, even when I gunsmithed for a living, it felt wrong to dry-fire on an empty chamber using the firearms I knew to be robust. I ended up making my own snap caps with silicone goo in the primer pocket of fired and deprimed cases, with no powder but bullets in them. (I epoxied the bullets in place after I used them a bunch.)Most snap caps have a short service life.
Easy-to-Handle Defensive Handguns Buyer's Guide

Aug 7, 2024 | gundigest.com | Vols. I |Patrick Sweeney

We aren’t all airborne-qualified. A lot of us can’t bench press our own weight. The bad guys know this, and preferentially target-select from those who aren’t likely to put up much of a fight. So, insisting that “the only proper self-defense cartridge starts with a four” is doing those among us who are less capable to handle that horsepower a disservice. If you need an example, consider your grandmother.
Hunting With Class: The Pre-War Model 70

Jul 25, 2024 | gundigest.com | Patrick Sweeney |Vols. I

Sometimes you get lucky. And sometimes not. Back in the early 1990s, the boss took in a Winchester Model 70 chambered in .30-06, a thoroughly plain and ordinary rifle. Too bad the stock was too long, and it kicked him hard. So, he sold it to me for what he paid: $200. Even in 1992, that was a steal, but hey, that’s what he paid, so not a big deal, right?