The Big-Bore Chronicles

Coming soon to the Winchester website.

Introduction:

Demonstration:

New products from Freedom Arms, Winchester and Engel

I’m attending the SHOT Show in Orlando, Florida this week and from the appearance of things some companies are doing well while others seem to be facing uncertain times. Overall, my impression is that attendance is way down but then the show is always less well attended when it’s held outside of the normal Las Vegas venue. Here are some quick updates but I’ll have more info later today and tomorrow.

224-327 Freedom Arms

There are several items I’ve come across that are of interest. One of those is the 224-327 from Freedom Arms. The 224-32 FA case is very simple to make. Basically just lube the 327 Federal case and run it into the properly adjusted sizing/forming die, then trim the case to 1.115/1.120 overall length. This cartridge headspaces off the shoulder, not the rim. This is easily checked by inserting a formed and trimmed case into a chamber, rotate it around so the case head shows at the top of the loading gate cutout in the receiver, then use a .005 shim as a go/no-go gage and a .010 shim as a no-go gage between the case head and firewall.

Bullets
At this time only load data for the 40 gr. bullets have been provided as this weight seems to give the best performance. Both the Sierra Blitz King and Hornady V-Max have performed well in this cartridge.

Powder
So far the two best powders for the 224-32 FA have been IMR4227 and AA1680. The IMR4227 isn’t as temperature sensitive. The AA1680 has a slower burn rate which will give more trouble free results as well as better accuracy. This cartridge has a small case capacity so be precise on weighing out the powder. A few tenths of a grain variance in a case that only holds 10 to 12 grains is a lot of variance.

Primer
The 224-32 FA is setup to use a small pistol primer. This primer has shown to provide reliable and consistent ignition of the powder. Both WSP and CCI 500 primers were tested with both giving similar results. As always, care must be taken to seat the primer below the case head to prevent recoil from firing a cartridge that is not aligned with the barrel.

Fireform Loads
40 gr. Blitz King or V-Max Starting Load Fps Max. Load Fps
IMR 4227 9.5 1830 10 1940
AA 1680 12 1900 12.5 2020

Standard Loads
40 gr. Blitz King or V-Max Starting Load Fps Max. Load Fps
IMR 4227 10 1900 12 2270
AA 1680 12.5 1965 14.5 2295

These data are for a 10″ barrel. With the 7.5″ barrel you can expect to lose about 100 Fps and another 100 Fps for the 5.5″ barrel. The 4.25″ barrel will lose another 120 FPS or 320 Fps difference from the 10″ gun.

Freedom Arms 25th Anniversary Model 83

After much effort designing the artwork the FA 25th Anniversary gun is done and it is truly a work of art. There are only to be 25 of these guns and while the price of $9300 is steep, a serious collector won’t want to miss the opportunity to own this beauty.

You’ll notice the grips on this gun have the appearance of genuine ivory but they are actually ivory micarta and they are very very nice. If you can’t quite go the price of an Anniversary gun you can get these grips installed on your Freedom Arms.

Winchester Ammunition
Winchester produces some of the best hunting ammunition for big-bore revolvers and this year they have introduced a double jacketed hollow point in 45 and 50 calibers. You can get them in the .454 Casull, 460 Smith & Wesson Magnum, and the 500 S&W. They are uniquely designed with a thin inner jacket chemically bonded to a lead core and an outer thick jacket mechanically bonded to the inner jacket. Expansion is impressive in the samples I was able to view and the 45’s will expand just shy of 1 inch of diameter. The advertised velocity for the .454 Casull is 1800 Fps. Winchester will continue to produce their other line of premium hunting ammunition using the Ballistic Silvertip and the Partition HG projectiles. Of course many of you know I used Winchester’s reduced recoil loads in 454 this year with excellent success.

1 - Bullet within a bullet
Revolutionary “bullet within a bullet” delivers an unprecedented 12 segment design with two times the expansion for maximizing stopping power.

2 - Hollow Point
Massive hollow point cavity provides lethal stopping performance at a variety of ranges and impact velocities.

3 - Proprietary bonding process
welds lead and inner bullet jacket together—improving retained weight and penetration for quick kills.

4 - Heavy outer jacket
mechanically bonded to the inner bullet, protecting it during penetration through thick hide and heavy bone, and ensuring maximum retained weight and penetration.

5 - Revolutionary design
delivers unprecedented knockdown and penetration—retaining nearly 100% of the original weight.

Engel Rugged Coolers
Engel coolers are literally grizzly bear tough, I’ve seen the video, and will keep ice for several days. The coolers have some great features including a pitched floor to allow complete draining without tipping the cooler, non-skid feet, an air-tight freezer gasket and 2″ of high quality insulation. In the video, which I’m trying to get, a 1000 kodiak bear stands on the cooler and it stays shut; most coolers would simply crush under the weight. Of course the bear tried standing on the cooler because he couldn’t get it open. If often hunt in warm weather conditions you’ll want to check out coolers from Engel.
www.engel-usa.com

While visiting at the Dallas Safari Club annual convention I met up with Doug Turnbull of Turnbull Restoration. Doug is the premier refinishing expert and once you’ve seen his color case hardened frames, whether they are on a vintage Colt or lever gun, you will want one. I missed a great opportunity a couple years ago to pick up a Hamilton Bowen 41 Magnum Blackhawk with a Turnbull finish and I still regret not buying that gun.

In addition to making guns more beautiful and in some cases, bringing them back from the dead, Doug has come up with a couple of cartridges of his own. While speaking with Doug and admiring his work, he handed me a couple of dummy rounds for the 470 Turnbull designed to function specifically in the Marlin Model 1895 action. Of course I’m thinking T/C Encore.

The 470 Turnbull from the rifle will do about 1850 fps. with a 400 grain bullet but I’m betting you could get similar performance from a 15″ barreled Encore. One of the advantages to the 470 Turnbull over some other cartridges is that it is a rimmed cartridge which means you can unload very quickly in the Encore simply by tipping up the barrel.

Shown above are 400 grain bullets from Barnes and the 470 Turnbull cartridges.

If you’re interested in exploring an Encore in the 470 Turnbull you’ll simply need an Encore barrel in .475 caliber and Doug will rechamber it for about $100.

For more information on the 470 Turnbull visit Turnbull Restoration

Have you ever wished you could remember just how much to adjust your hold on a target that is at an up or downhill angle? Well there is a shooting do-dad that will help your long-range shooting. It’s called a cosine indicator.

Precision-machined, aircraft-grade aluminum instrument eliminates guesswork when adjusting your scope to fire at elevated, or very low targets. The orange needle moves with your firearm and displays a number that indicates the percent your gun is off level. Multiply the indicated percent by the target distance to easily calculate the adjusted distance for gravity. Dovetailed bottom fits onto the aluminum mount (shown above) which fits Picatinny and Weaver-style rails. Or, mount an extra Weaver-style ring on your scope tube and clamp the Indicator in the ring’s dovetail.

The Lewis Lead Remover from Brownell’s is the perfect tool to solve the problem of leading in barrels and chambers. It handles calibers from .32 up to .45.
Click to Buy

FIOCCHI’S XTP ROUNDS CREATED FOR EXTREME PERFORMANCE!

Fiocchi’s latest entry in its new Extrema Pistol X.T.P. line is the .357 Magnum XTPHP 158-Grain round (Item No. 357XTP). The experts at Fiocchi Ammunition have created the new, high-performance Extrema Pistol X.T.P. line with the intention of producing the best possible defense and hunting handgun ammunition.

Fiocchi chose the X.T.P. bullet for this cartridge due to its exceptional performance characteristics of controlled expansion and down-range performance. This round’s bullet design, coupled with Fiocchi’s renowned nickelplated brass cases, has been specifically engineered to provide trouble-free, completely reliable feeding and smooth chamber extraction. Fiocchi has balanced this round’s fine components with reliably performing powders to obtain the perfect ballistic equilibrium.

Fiocchi XTP bullets are well known for their ability to expand across a wide range of velocities and are built to withstand incredible speed, yet still deliver controlled expansion and weight retention. Special construction of this bullet’s nose facilitates and controls expansion upon impact. The bullet’s cannelure is engineered to ensure the jacket and core remain locked solidly together during expansion. The result is Fiocchi’s top of the line XTP bullet with its ability to consistently deliver the deep, terminal penetration needed for one-shot kills.

Fiocchi’s .357 Mag. XTP round charges out of the muzzle at 1,250 fps and generates 548 ft./lbs. of energy. At fifty yards, its bullet has lost little velocity at 1,146 fps nor energy (461 ft./lbs.). At 100 yards, the round still produces an impressive 1,068 fps velocity and an impressive 400 ft./lbs. of energy.

I recently range-tested Fiocchi .44 Magnum loads in a 200 gr. (item 44B) and 240 gr. load (44XTP). The 240 grain bullets would be my choice for hunting deer and hogs while the 200 grain bullets are better suited to smaller game like coyote. Shot from a Ruger Super Blackhawk over my Oehler 35 proof chronograph, the 200 gr. loads zipped along at an average of 1465 fps and the 240’s showed an average velocity of 1252 fps. The heavier 240 grain loads produced 835 ft./lbs. of energy and like the new .357 Magnum rounds, they are also in the Extrema XTP line of ammunition. The XTP bullet is a proven performer and Fiocchi’s XTP loads should serve hunters well this fall. Note: The .44 brass is not nickel plated.

For more information on Fiocchi’s .357 Magnum XTPHP load, or Fiocchi’s full line of rifle, pistol, rimfire, shotshell and unique rounds contact:

Fiocchi Ammunition
1662 Nevada Way
Boulder City, Nevada, 89005
702-293-6174 • or visit www.fiocchiusa.com.

by Gary Smith

Amid all the chatter about whether Tom Cruise will be in a Top Gun 2 movie — yawn — a surprising top gun may be emerging in spite of the typical Hollywood anti-gun hand wringers. Unlike so many Hollywood stars who’ve made their fortune by performing in movies with violent content yet coming out against the right to actually own the guns they’ve glorified on-screen, Angelina Jolie has told London’s Daily Mail, “I’ve got my Tomb Raider Guns - and I’m not afraid to use them… If anybody comes into my home and tries to hurt my kids, I’ve no problem shooting them”.

I  find her response particularly refreshing and somewhat ironic in issuing this statement to media in England. A country who has not only eliminated the right to own firearms but has virtually outlawed the right to defend yourself in any way. Of course I think many of the Hollywood elite have someone with a gun close at hand to protect them, they just don’t want you and I to have the same ability.

So what did she carry in Tomb Raider? An H&K USP Match pistol. Maybe there is hope.

by Gary Smith
I know there are a lot of us out there who would prefer to be a better shot. Let’s face it, unless you’re using sandbags, your sights are wobbling all over the place when you’re trying to get lined up on that buck. One thing that helped me immensely when I was trying to master the handgun was to regularly shoot under stressful conditions. For me, this meant shooting competitively. In the early 80’s I took my Contender with a 2x Leupold scope and went to my first NRA Hunter’s Pistol match which was held in Beckley West Virginia. I shot a 13 out of 40. Not too bad I suppose considering I wasn’t accustomed to the rigors of competitive shooting. Two years later I was shooting scores that fell in the low to mid-30’s.

What had changed? Several things come to mind. For one I had gotten used to other guns going off just as my shot was about to break and I was able to hold steady (relatively speaking) during the fusillade. I had also developed a rhythm of shooting. In NRA Hunter’s Pistol you have 2 minutes to fire 5 shots. It’s plenty of time really but personally I’ve found that as the stress level increases the trigger seems to get heavier and heavier. So intent on a perfect squeeze that you can’t seem to make it break. At the same time you’re beginning to feel the stress of the timer ticking down and of holding your breath for a few seconds. You’ll feel the same stress when a deer is walking steadily and you can’t seem to stop him as he goes behind tree after tree as you try to get off a shot before he’s gone — the timer is running out and the stress level is rising quickly.

What do you do? Just like in competitive shooting, remain calm, pick a spot where the shot will be taken, concentrate and shoot. The “shoot” part should be able to be done with out much thought at this point because hopefully you’ve fired thousands of rounds through handguns.

To add some stress to your shooting get a small timer that has an audible alarm when time runs out. They can usually be found at the grocery store. Set up a target, going back to my roots I prefer steel, at a distance where you can hit the target with over 90% certainty during un-timed fire. To start with put 30 seconds on the timer, make your gun ready and start the timer. Make the shot on target in the 30 second time frame.  When you can score hits with the same regularity of un-timed fire shorten the time to 20 seconds. Keep practicing and reducing the time as your skills progress until you can bring the gun up from the low ready position and fire an accurate shot in 5 or 6 seconds. I prefer to set the target at 50 or 75 yards depending on which gun I’m shooting. For sustained practice sessions I don’t recommend that you use heavy hunting loads. You’re trying to develop a rhythm and muscle memory so the handgun becomes an extension of your body — there is no need to use anything but target loads, even a 22 rimfire may suffice if it’s of the same action type as your big game gun.

Try shooting under stress on a regular basis with the proper discipline and you will be a better field shot.

My son and one of his buddies, Justin, wanted to go shooting today on their day off. Justin had never shot a gun before and it makes me wonder how many young people there are out there who would really enjoy going to the range but never get the opportunity. We shot a few rounds of skeet and then moved down to the pistol range where Justin did a little better on targets that were not moving. We shot about 300 rounds of 22’s, a few 45’s, and a few rounds from my Contender in 300 Whisper.

There is something about a semi-automatic .22 pistol that seems to make my son, and probably many other shooters, want to shoot lots of bullets fast. I might even fall into this category at times myself. This is one gun that I’m really glad doesn’t hold more than 10 because I’m fairly certain the barrel would have been melted by now. It certainly has been too hot to touch on a number of occasions.

Justin shooting my 300 Whisper.

After we finished shooting Justin came back by the house and I asked if he had fun. Of course the answer was very positive, so I informed him that bHussein O. want’s to take away his right to own a gun. This, like so much other anti-gun legislation, is under the guise of “reasonable restrictions”. Obama has confirmed on several occasions that he supports the D.C. gun ban, believing it to be constitutional. In his home city of Chicago, they have a similar ban which the NRA recently filed suit to overturn. It sounds to me like we all know perfectly well what Obama considers a “reasonable restriction” on our rights. A total ban. I find this rather ironic considering he has more secret service agents protecting him than any other candidate in history. I guess it’s ok to be protected by guns as long as the guy making the rules can have his. Perhaps he should stick to the streets of Chicago and D.C. where the strict gun laws have made those cities each a veritable paradise.

Never turn down an opportunity to introduce a young man or woman to shooting. If we all introduce just a few people to firearms that have an interest just think how the tide could be turned in just a few short years. I don’t know if Justin will vote or not but I hope he does and I hope he thinks about his day shooting before he pulls the lever at the voting booth this fall. I hope we all think about a day of shooting before any of us pull that lever.