For many shooters, a lever action rifle is just another pretty rifle. Yet for others, it represents a life style, a way of life long gone by. A time when a man was truly free. Its a living part of the Wild West. There are several companies that do a wonderful job at capturing the spirit of the Wild West in their modern reproductions of these classic cowboy style lever actions rifles. You can get everything from reproduction Henry 1860s to the Winchester 73s and beyond. These new reproduction rifle can cost $900 and sometimes more depending on the model. Then you have to purchase the 44-40, 45lc, and other cowboy loads that are rapidly going up in price. But what if you are on a limited budget and want to keep the spirit alive in your home? Fortunately, the Henry Repeating Arms Company, has the answer. The Henry Repeating Arms Company is keeping the spirit of the Old West alive for us budget shooters with their line of .22 cal. lever actions. I will be talking specifically abo ut the rifle known simply as the Henry Lever Action.

I first noticed the pretty lil’ eye catcher in my local Walmart at a price of about $220. As I asked the lady behind the counter if I could hold the rifle she looked at it and with a surprised tone remarked, “I don’t believe we have this in stock!” Being unfamiliar with this rifle, I asked why. Was it not a hot seller? She proceeded to tell me that rifle was the most popular selling rifle in the store (despite the 5 or so cheaper bolt action and semi auto .22s next to it) and to have one on the shelf for more than 2 days was a very rare thing. Taking hold of the rifle was like taking a step back into time. Its all American craftsmanship and old world look immediately made me fall in love with it. I felt as if I should be wearing spurs and riding a horse in a wild chase after some thief who just held up the stage coach. I cycled the action a few times and to my surprise it was as smooth and crisp as any rifle I have held before it. It wasn’t long before I sold myself on the rifle and proudly walked to my truck with some .22 ammo in hand and gun under arm.

The rifles 36 1/2 inch overall length made it an easy handler and weighing in at only 5.25 pounds it was easy to hold and shoot from just about any position. The American Walnut stock is smooth and finished to perfection and the steel has a nice deep bluing. This particular model has a grooved receiver so you can easily mount a scope.

The first day at the range, I mounted an old Simmons Deerfield scope I had laying around. I wanted to see what this little rifle was capable of so I took it out to 50 yards to start off with. My ammo of choice was the Federal .22 550 Round Value Pack. It only took me a few rounds to zero in my scope and once I did, the rifle shot true every time. From a resting position on an old rag and ammo can, I was able to consistently hold groups of no more than a 1/2 inch. Sometimes I was even achieving 1/4 groups. Impressed with the accuracy of my new rifles(and my bad eyes) I took the target out to the 100 yard mark. Once adjusting for the drop of the bullet I could shoot nice groups, the largest being just a hair over 3 inches and the smallest being about 1 3/4 inches. Seeing what the Henry is capable of and being very pleased with the results, I settled into some “reactive” target shooting. Finding shot gun shells on the range, I began taping them to the top of my target stand. The Henry lever action made easy work of hitting the 3/4 inch wide shells at 50 yards. I fired over 500 rounds that first day at the range, with many more boxes of .22 on the days following. It has never had any failures to feed, fire, or extract. The Henry Lever Action is accurate, beautiful, and reminiscent of the old days. It promises to a great addition to any firearm or western collection.

I went to the range recently and took with me a Walther P22. My objective was to see what kind of .22lr ammo works best in the gun. It was going to be a straight forward test. I stopped by my local Walmart, bought a box of each kind of .22lr they had in stock, and went happily off to the range. After setting up my targets about 10 yards away, I thoroughly cleaned the pistol in preparation for the testing. The test consisted of firing 50 rounds of each of the seven kinds of .22lr ammo I purchased, with a cleaning in between each set of 50 rounds fired. For the cleaning, I field stripped the gun and used a nylon stiff bristle brush to knock off any large deposits of fouling, followed by a nice bath of Break-free spray cleaner, a light oiling, and a wipe down with a clean rag. This was done to give each ammo fired a clean, unhindered testing. No fouling from the previous test ammo was left on the gun for the next test. The results are as follows:

Federal 550 round value pack, 36gr bullet, 1280fps

failure to fire: 0
failure to feed/extract: 16

CCI Stinger, 32gr bullet, 1640fps

failure to fire: 0
failure to feed/extract: 0

CCI Mini-Mag HP, 36gr, 1260fps

failure to fire: 0
failure to feed/extract: 0

Remington Thunderbolt, 40gr bullet, 1255fps

failure to fire: 1
failure to feed/extract: 0

Remington Subsonics, 38gr bullet, 1000fps

failure to fire: 1
failure to feed/extract: 1

Remington Target, 40gr bullet, 1150fps

failure to fire: 0
failure to feed/extract: 0

Winchester Super X High Velocity, 40gr bullet, 1255fps

failure to fire: 0
failure to feed/extract: 1

After seeing the results, I found that my new favorite .22lr ammo was the CCI Stinger and Mini-Mag. Both of the CCI loads worked great. The Stinger was my favorite as it had the highest velocity. When fired from the short barrel of the P22, it sounded more like the crack of a 9mm or 40 caliber than a standard .22lr. When I was shooting the Stinger it made people do a double take, not believing that the little gun I was shooting was making such a ruckus. I would definitely recommend the CCI Stinger or Mini-Mag for this pistol. These functioned flawlessly and even though I was not testing the accuracy of each ammo, I did notice a significant difference in the group I was shooting.

All the Remington ammo I fired did fairly well, with only one or two malfunctions with the Thunderbolt and Subsonic. The Remington Target however did very well with no malfuctions at all. Earlier in the week I did basically the same test with all the same ammo as recorded here, but for my own personal information. Those tests yielded very similar results. At that time I had one more kind of Remington ammo that I could not locate this time around. It was the Remington Yellow Jacket, which has a 33gr bullet, and an advertised velocity of 1,500fps. That particular round actually tested badly in the P22, resulting in about 8 failures to feed/extract.

Now, to my surprise the Federal ammo did terrible in the P22. So bad in fact, that I tested it a second time that day. The second test suffered 14 failures to feed/extract. This surprised me due to the fact that this ammo is all I ever use in my Ruger MKII and various .22lr rifles with few to no problems at all.

All in all, the Walther P22 is a very nice pistol. It is comfortable in your hand and rather accurate for such a short barrel. It also has an interchangeable back strap. There are two extra backstraps of different sizes to accommodate a variety of different sized hands. Though it seems to be a little picky about ammo, it will run just fine if you stick with the higher end .22 rounds. Steer clear of the cheaper, bulk value packs.

During this test I ran my Ruger MKII (my .22 cal pride and joy) right next to the P22 as a comparison. Only difference is I didn’t clean the MKII. It didn’t experience any problems until several (close to 6) hundred rounds in. Most of those several hundred rounds consisted of the Federal ammo.

Since there are so many more kinds of .22lr out there, I will most definitely be obtaining more kinds and testing them as well.

Just about all of us have seen the Discovery Channel’s hit TV show, Future Weapons. Its very likely that just about as many people that have seen the show, want one of the weapons featured on the show. Well now thanks to Bushmaster Firearms International and Magpul Industries Corp., you can! Bushmaster will be teaming up with Magpul, a Colorado based company, to produce law enforcement and civilian versions of the Masada.

In a January ’08 press release Bushmaster announced that its new ACR (adaptive combat rifle) will be available for sale to law enforcement and civilians in the second quarter of 2008. Military versions of the ACR will be released in the 3rd quarter of 2008.

The Bushmaster ACR will keep the same basic design of the Magpul Masada with only a few advances such as a true ambidextrous charging handle and firing pin block for safety. Having a gas piston operating system, the ACR will be more reliable than the M16 series of rifles’ gas tube operating system. The ACR will also have a quick change barrel that requires no tools, as opposed to the M16’s need for a barrel wrench and vise. With a number of M16 parts that are compatible with this rifle and the controls’ similarities, the ACR will be easy to transition over to from the M16 series with little retraining required.

The Bushmaster ACR will be sold in three versions initially. The SPR ( Special Purpose Rifle) with precision rifle stock, the Standard Carbine with fixed stock, and the Entry Carbine with folding stock . All models will be supplied in the popular 5.56 NATO round.

Being the tactical fan that I am, I must thank Magpul for developing this magnificent firearm and Bushmaster for producing it. With two great companies such as Magpul and Bushmaster, teaming up could only lead to greater things. I look forward to the release and will be first in line at my local gun shop!

For more info and some great products check out Magpul Industries

I have been asked many times in the past few weeks, “What’s the difference between a magazine and a clip?”. Some people will tell you nothing at all. Some will say it really doesn’t matter. Yet others will even get bent out of shape and yell at you until you do understand the differences. What do I think? I think that despite the way some people act when this topic comes up, that the world in fact will not come to an end when a clip is called a magazine and a magazine called a clip. However, that being said, there IS a difference. For instance. If you place a real clip in your AR, release the bolt, and attempt to fire, you will only hear a click and wonder why the rounds and little metal thingy fell out of the magazine well. To be taken seriously at some ranges and around some shooters you must know the difference and when to use what term.

The differences between the two are vast. The American Heritage Dictionary’s definition for a clip is: Any of various devices for gripping or holding things together; a clasp or fastener, a cartridge clip. A clip for a rifle or revolver grips or holds the cartridges in place. For most rifles, the bolt is opened all the way, a clip is inserted into grooves in the receiver and the rounds are pushed into the rifle, then the clips discarded. Yet other rifles have the full clip inserted into it and once the last round is fired, the clip falls out the bottom or pops out the top. Some revolvers have what is called moon or half-moon clips. They hold in a circular pattern however many rounds the cylinder takes(moon) or half that number in a half circle(half-moon). They are all very simple consisting of one or two pieces of stamped metal.

The American Heritage Dictionary says a magazine is “any of various compartments attached to a machine used for storing or supplying necessary material” and “ a compartment in some types of firearms, often a small detachable box, in whi ch cartridges are held to be fed into the firing chamber”. A magazine is slightly more complex then a clip. It normally consists of a body, spring, follower and a floor plate. The magazine when inserted into a rifle or pistol will actively feed rounds into the chamber by the force of the spring as the rounds are fired off. The fixed magazine on a rifle such as the Russian M91 series is one that can not be detached. The fixed magazine still incorporates a spring that is needed to feed the rounds into the chamber when the bolt is cycled. Many military detatchable magazines can be loaded with the aid of the correct clips.

Well there you have it. The whos who and the whats what about clips and magazines. Now get out there! Go to the range and use your new found knowledge to impress a friend! Or at very least, avoid a scolding from an uppity shooter. Stay safe and happy shooting!

A great injustice is brewing in Annapolis. Our leaders have found it necessary to bring up a bill that would violate the basic rights that this country was founded on. Once again they have introduced a bill to take firearms and ammo out of the hands of the law abiding citizens of this state.

HB 517: Regulated Firearms – Encoded Ammunition – Tax HB 877: Possession of Regulated Firearms by a Person under 21 Years

The bills, in a nut shell, will require all ammo sold in the state of Maryland to be serial numbered and registered in a statewide database. On top of that a tax of 5 cents PER ROUND will be added in order to maintain the database. Apparently, any ammo not numbered will be banned from the state. Those in possession of unmarked ammo will be required to turn it in or face penalties under this law.

The second bill will prohibit anyone under the age of 21 to be in possession of a regulated firearm such as a handgun. This means even in a lawful manner such as someone’s son or daughter going to the range. If stopped and caught with a regulated firearm, penalties will ensue. It is still unclear as to what the penalties might be.

We must be vigilant in these turbulent times. Laws such as this only punish law abiding gun owners like you and I. Hunters and other sport shooters would be affected greatly with the increase of ammunition price and decrease of availability. We should not be held responsible for the awful actions of evil people.

Please contact the committee members to express your displeasure with these bills meant to violate our second amendment rights. To contact them call the numbers below plus the extensions following each name.

410-841-xxxx or 301-858-xxxx

Sandy Rosenberg 3297, Curt Anderson 3291, Ben Barnes 3046, Jill Carter 3283, Frank Conaway 3189, Kathleen Dumais 3052, William Frank 3793, Benjamin Kramer 3485, Susan Lee 3649, Gerron Levi 3101, Susan McComas 3272, Tony McConkey 3406, Victor Ramirez 3340, Todd Schuler 3526, Chris Shank 3636, Luiz Simmons 3037, Kriselda Valderrama 3210, Jeffrey Waldstreicher 3130

Its late February in Maryland and the air is brisk. For alot of outdoor shooters the cold means less time at the range. For me, it means, less people at the range and more room for me and my guns! Its time for a range trip! In the coming weeks I will be talking about range gear and etiquette. Things such as:

• pistol bags/cases
• ammo bags/cases
• cleaning kit
• tools
• gun accessories
• safety measures
• handling of firearms
• seasonal clothing for outdoor ranges

Along with tips for the range, I will be reviewing various pistols, rifles, and shotguns. With pictures and video, I will show the take down and cleaning methods I use, that may help you with your firearms.