Shooting Gear Review | Western Shooter

Lyman 1200 DPS3 Automatic Powder Dispenser – Review

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the average life expectancy of a human being is 78.3 years. I am nearly half way there. I was introduced to the joys of firearms when I was a young lad, by a neighbor who spent some time on the Air Force pistol team. I was introduced to two truths, one obvious, and one that was somewhat of a limit to my fun.

The obvious truth was that pulling the trigger and making noise was a lot of fun. I spent a good deal of time behind his old S&W .38 special, and when I switched to the 10/22, I earned the comment “think your Rambo don’t ya?” Soon enough, I was learning the proper way to fire a 1911.

The second truth was that the ammunition must be purchased, or handmade. I knew that ammunition for the .22 was cheap, as I had free reign to reload that 10 round cylindrical magazine and blast away with little regard to pinpoint accuracy. When I shot the pistols, the whole dynamic changed. When I was about 11 years old I was asked to help with the reloading process. I can say that I remember the process to be excruciatingly boring. How could it possibly take Continue reading Lyman 1200 DPS3 Automatic Powder Dispenser – Review

Sinclair F Class Bipod

The Sinclair F Class bipod has been around for a couple of years. Last year Sinclair made a few changes and updated a few things on the Bipod. This review will cover the latest model.

The Sinclair F-TR Bipod is made of aluminum. The bipod legs are adjustable independently for height and the bipod has Continue reading Sinclair F Class Bipod

Weaver Tactical Multi-Slot Bases for Savage Short and Long Action

Savage-10-&-110-Weaver-Tactical-MultiSlot-Base-mounted-sideview — Weaver Multi Slot Tactical Bases mounted on Savage 110 and 10 rifles.

Weaver has added to their line of Tactical Multi-Slot Bases by adding Savage Short and Long Action Bases to the Lineup. This is great news for Savage shooters as the Weaver bases are high quality, lightweight, and extremely affordable. They are also much lower profile than competing base designs and will allow for very low scope mounting options. You Continue reading Weaver Tactical Multi-Slot Bases for Savage Short and Long Action

Savage MKII Mako, Tac 65, and Aguila Subsonic .22lr

A while back I decided that a suppressed .22lr would be a fun addition to my collection. Not being one to settle for the bare minimums, I decided to build a well thought out package that would be as quiet as possible, pleasing to the eye, and accurate as well. There are a pile of .22 rifle and pistol makers, a much smaller pile of .22lr suppressor makers, and just a few producers of subsonic .22 ammo.

For the rifle, I had to choose from a bolt action or semi automatic. As being quiet as possible is a factor in my decision making, I choose to buy a bolt action. Semi automatic .22’s are plenty accurate, but are not nearly as quiet due to the excessive noise that the bolt creates while cycling. This reduced the available number of rifles to choose from Continue reading Savage MKII Mako, Tac 65, and Aguila Subsonic .22lr

CMMG AR-15 .22 LR Conversion Kit review

Ceiner has been producing AR 22 Conversion kits for many years. Some of them worked well and some of them didn’t. If you were lucky enough to get one that worked well then you were laughing all the way to the shooting range. If you didn’t get a good one it was a nightmare working with Mr Ceiner to get it fixed or replaced. The best resolution was to start over and buy a new one hoping you had better luck next time around.

After having owned a Ceiner kit I was a little sceptical about the new CMMG AR-15 .22 Conversion Kit. I bought 3 of them just to test for quality control and function. I bought 2 carbon steel and 1 Stainless kit as well as a whole pile of magazines. I couldn’t be happier. CMMG is committed to their customers and their products. The quality control is excellent as all 3 kits have worked flawlessly. Maybe it’s the AR’s I have, but my kits love the Federal bulk pack ammunition you can buy at Wal-Mart. If you want total reliability buy the Federal 325 round Semi Auto Match packs. I haven’t bothered to test much else because the Federal stuff works so well. Continue reading CMMG AR-15 .22 LR Conversion Kit review

Weaver 6 Hole Picatinny Tactical Rings

Weaver continues to impress me with their scope mounting offerings. Granted, you can spend more elsewhere but you might not get better. For the money they are pretty tough to beat. Take for example Weavers relatively new 6 HoleTactical Picatinny Scope Rings. The rings are available in both 30MM and 1 inch models. They have 6 Torx screws in each ring and are strong. They feature a crossbolt that is to Picatinny specs and will fit tightly on the rail of an AR-15. Ironically, they don’t fit Weaver rails so you can’t buy Weaver’s Tactical Scope Bases and use their Tactical Rings together. Not sure what they were thinking, but I’m still a fan of both products. The finish on the rings is professional and on par with rings costing 3x as much $. Weaver says the finish is Type-3 hard coat anodized. The rings are aluminum and very lightweight.

Continue reading Weaver 6 Hole Picatinny Tactical Rings