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Is the Stoner 63 Really So Good? Shooting the Mk23, Bren, and 63A Carbine
s the Stoner 63 really as good of a gun as everyone says? Today is my first opportunity to try one out on the range, and I'm going to look at it in three different configurations: the Mk23 SEAL light machine gun, the "Bren" style automatic rifle, and the carbine. Let's see how it handles!
I ow...
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Cobray Terminator at the Range: The Worst Shotgun Ever
Most of the guns made by Cobray are pretty awful, but one can at least understand the market they were made for. The Terminator is different, because it really is rather incomprehensible who would have actually thought that a single shot, open bolt 12 gauge shotgun with a terrible stock would be ...
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H&K VP-70M on the Range: How Useful is the Burst Fire?
After looking at the history and mechanics of the VP-70 yesterday, we are heading out to the range to try it out (and thanks to Trijicon for generously offering use of their range!). I am curious to see just what that 2200 rpm rate of fire is like to shoot, and whether the awful trigger is as muc...
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Shooting the HK G41: Like an HK33 But Worse
We took a look at the history and mechanics of the G41 yesterday; now it's time to actually try it out on the range!
It, ah, did not go so well. But I did get to see a cool new malfunction I had never seen before! In fairness to HK, this was a demo gun that has been used and abused. On the ot...
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Iron Sights at 800 Yards: New Mexico Milsurps Match!
While traveling through Albuquerque, I was invited to join the New Mexico Milsurps club for one of their long range rifle matches. This is no typical shooting challenge - the course of fire is 20 rounds (after the spotting shots to figure out your hold) on a 21" x 43" silhouette target at 800 yar...
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Feeling the Bern: Shooting the Swiss Furrer MP-41/44 SMG
When I filmed yesterday's video on the MP-41/44, and did not know I would have a chance to actually do some live fire with it. But we snuck off to a little shooting range to have a try (sorry for the poor lighting!). The question going in for me was whether the locking system and the weight of th...
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M1918 Chauchat: First Shots (Will It Work?)
This M1918 Chauchat is still awaiting NFA transfer, but my dealer was able to bring it out to a public range where I could do some initial testing on it. I was expecting to get extraction problems as soon as it got warm, as that is what the literature suggests will happen. The .30-06 American Cha...
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8mm M1915 Chauchat Fixing and Range Testing
Well, my 8mm French Chauchat finally cleared transfer, as did my application to reactivate it. This was a "dewat", or "Deactivated War Trophy" - a machine gun put on the NFA registry but modified to be non-firing. This is not the same as legal destruction, as the receiver of the gun remained inta...
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Turkish Orman/Berthier Carbine at the Range
During WWII, the Turkish government wound up in possession of several thousand (between 5k and 10k) French Berthier rifles, mostly 1907/15 models, but also some Mle 1916s. There is some question as to exactly how, but the most likely explanation appears to be a shipment of arms from Syria to Iraq...
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The Pig: M60 in Theory and on the Range
The M60 light machine gun is something of a contentious subject. Many veterans who used it in combat in Vietnam remember it very fondly despite its design defects, while many more recent users detest it. I think I know why - because many of the M60s flaws were related to its long-term durability,...