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All work and no sleep make Jack a dull boy. All work and no sleep make Jack a dull boy. All work and no sleep make Jack a dull boy. All work and no sleep make Jack a dull boy. All work and no sleep make Jack a dull boy. All work and no sleep make Jack a dull boy. All work and no sleep make Jack a dull boy…
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If you’re a preparedness minded individual like myself, you probably have a well stocked larder, ample survival gear, and a few ammo cans full of rifle and handgun ammunition. But if Uncle and NJT are wrong, and the Zombie Apocalypse happens, AND if it turns out that shotguns ARE the best tool to put down brain eating shamblers, I’m going to be woefully short on ammo. The one thing I’ve not seen for sale in, well, ever, is replicas relojes bulk defensive shotgun ammunition.
Sure, you can buy a case of 12 gauge loads, but I’ve only ever seen Dove, Waterfowl, and trap or skeet loads available by the case. I’m sure you CAN get bulk 00 buckshot loads or slugs, but for the life of me I can’t think of a good source.
So, does anyone have a good (and cheap) source for full-power 12 gauge 00 buck loads and/or slugs?
 All of this stuff lives in a bag that is very nearly always with me or at least no further than in my vehicle. There was a lot more crap in that bag than I remembered. Perhaps it’s time to pare things down a bit and upgrade from EDC Bag 1.0 to EDC Bag 1.1 with a little bit lighter load. |
Say Uncle started it. And being a good lemming, I’m following.
Everything you can see in this photo fits in the bag (including the laptop, charger, etc.) and, for the most part, has a dedicated purpose. There is often a pistol and a few extra magazines tucked away inside as well. Laying it all out like this, it’s a lot more stuff than I realized.
I think I’ve fallen into the trap usually reserved for large purses in my attempt to cram tons of stuff in there. Going through it, there seemed to be a fair amount of junk that needed to be tossed, along with some redundant items. There are a few things I probably should add to it as well.
What all is inside of Bag 1.0?
Rust is probably the number one enemy of rod and reel, knife, and gun owners. In just a few short weeks, unprotected firearms left alone in even a moderately humid environment will begin to grow an orange or brown colored 5-o’clock shadow. Steel pistols carried concealed during the hot summer months are even more susceptible to rust as corrosive sweat and oils from the wearer encourage rapid rust formation. Fishing reels that are not cleaned and rinsed on a regular basis, especially saltwater rigs, will quickly oxidize to the point that they lock-up completely.
Most owners of fishing, hunting, and shooting equipment know that their gear requires thorough cleaning and oiling after each use, but even clean and oiled if left alone, unprotected, for months at a time in a garage, closet, attic, or gun safe your expensive gear can quickly become ruined, even permanently damaged beyond repair.
 When opened, this little pack of dessicant is able to dehumidify up to 3 cubic feet of storage space. |
The key to keeping the rust bug away, in addition to keeping your gear well oiled, is to keep the ambient humidity down as low as possible. There are a number of ways to do this, such as a GoldenRod or other electrically powered dehumidifier, but the cheapest and most portable is the lowly pouch of silica gel.
Online retailer Lucky Gunner sent me a sample of Dry-Packs reusable silica gel for review not too long ago. The problem with reviewing desiccants such as this is that you either need a very long time, or a high humidity level, to see how well they work. North Texas isn’t a region well known for its particularly high humidity, though compared to areas located in mountainous ares out west, the ambient 50%-60% RH (relative humidity) is sufficient for a test spanning a month or so.
The Dry-Packs silica gel canister holds about 40 grams of desiccant in a perforated metal box about the size of an Altoids tin. In the center of the can is a small window that can be used to observe the color of the silica gel. This particular type of desiccant has had methyl violet added to it, an indicator that turns from orange to green when it is hydrated. Other brands use cobalt chloride or ammonium tetrachlorocobaltate (try saying that five times fast) and turn from blue to pink when they have absorbed enough moisture to become saturated.
 Little cans of desiccant such as this are small enough to keep in a gun case, tackle box, first-aid, or survival kit, and are cheap insurance to make sure that humidity and moisture don’t ruin your gear. |
To test the effectiveness of this particular brand, we placed it in a long-gun case along with two older shotguns that I’d recently inherited. These particular shotguns had been stored in soft cases, tucked away in a late family member’s closet for a number of years with no cleaning or maintenance. When they came to me, one of them was so corroded and damaged that the action had completely locked up. I took them to one of my local gunsmiths and had them completely disassembled, detailed, and put back together. All of the surface rust was completely removed, and the few parts that had pitting were replaced.
Now restored to clean and working order, well oiled and rubbed down with a silicon impregnated cloth, the shotguns were ready to go back in the closet. Inside the case, I placed the little metal can. There, until some time in late January when the light-geese conservation order begins, it will stay and quietly do its job sucking moisture from the air while keeping my precious scatter-guns dry and rust free.
Once the little rust-killing can has sucked up all the moisture it can, I can simply toss it in the oven at 250-280 degrees Fahrenheit for a few hours and watch in amazement as the indicator turns from green back to orange once all the water has been baked out.
Priced at only $10 each, these little canisters are fantastic insurance to keep your equipment dry and rust free.
FTC disclaimer: I didn’t get paid a damn thing to write this, but they did send me the desiccant, unsolicited, for free. That was nice of them.
December is right around the corner, and the cold north winds have begun to slowly slide south. In an unusually cold fall storm, the Northeast was socked in by a massive heavy wet snowfall, leaving millions without power. This is just a taste of the winter weather that is coming.
I know, I know: every year it’s the same thing. But the summer warmth always seems to leave us a little complacent. It won’t be long before we hear the evening news reporting on some poor unfortunate soul who succumbed to the cold while stranded on the side of the road.
It doesn’t have to be that way. With only a minimal amount of planning and a compact, but well stocked, cold weather travel kit, it’s easy to make sure that you’re not one of those chilling statistics found by the snow plows the next morning after a heavy snowstorm.
My work keeps me on the road for the most part, though this winter it appears that I will be lucky enough to be down south where snow and ice are a rarity. Still, I’ve assembled a cold weather kit that I can easily toss in the back of the truck should I need to head up north. It fits neatly into a waterproof Rubbermaid tote that can ride in the bed of my pickup, but if you’re in a car, a duffle bag works equally as well.
The kit is divided into two parts: the first keeps me from getting stranded, or helps me to self-rescue, and the second part keeps me alive if I’m well and truly stuck and left waiting for assistance.
Jumper Cables Cold weather is very hard on batteries. A car that won’t start is probably the most common cold weather problem. Buy a set of jumper cables and learn to use them: positive to positive first (that’s the red terminal) and negative (that’s the black one) from the good vehicle to ground (the frame or alternator body) on the dead one last in order to avoid catastrophes such as this.
Shovel If you’re stuck in a snow bank or just skidded off the road on a patch of ice, a shovel is an indispensable tool for freeing yourself from snow and mud. Also, should you become stranded, you’ll need the shovel to keep your exhaust clear of snow so that you can run the engine and heater for brief periods without running the risk of asphyxiation from carbon monoxide. At a minimum, I carry a small folding shovel. If I’m heading somewhere like the mountains where I know the snow might fall in feet instead of inches, I’ll toss in a larger purpose-built snow shovel.
Kitty Litter, Sand Bag, or Granite Chips Many people swear by kitty litter as a traction device. I’m not too keen on using it, as it tends to clump and then dissolve away if there is moisture on the ground. Instead, I like to carry a couple of full sandbags, or ideally some sandbags full of granite chips. You can find granite chips, often for free, from your local funeral home or monument carver.
Tow Strap or Chain There’s no need to wait for a tow truck if you’ve got a tow strap or chain. A helpful passing motorist can render assistance if you’ve got your own tow strap. Remember to attach it to a tow point on both your car and the rescuing vehicle: most trucks and many cars have dedicated tow hooks beneath the bumper. Don’t use the bumper itself, as it will rip clean off, and never attach a tow strap to an axle or portion of the suspension.
Tire Chains with Bungees or Chain Tensioners Even if you’re not traveling in the mountains or where the snow can get truly deep, carry a set of tire chains sized for your tires. You may never need them, but if you do get stuck, they are a fantastic traction device for getting you unstuck. Learn to use them in the safety of your driveway at home before heading out, so that if you need to chain-up on the side of the road you will already be familiar with them.
Ice Scraper and Brush I’m still amazed by the number of people who don’t keep an ice scraper in their vehicle. Even down south, a light frost can leave your windshield obscured. Go out and buy an ice scraper now, put it in your trunk and forget about it until you need it.
Extra Sub-Zero Windsield Fluid While not quite as important as an ice scraper, sub-zero windshield wiper fluid is an absolute necessity anywhere flurries may fly. Without it, your windshield will quickly become an icy mess that is impossible to see through. If you don’t have sub-zero fluid in your reservoir now, flush out that summer-time stuff and replace it with sub-zero, and carry an extra gallon with you in your cold weather kit.
 Aftermath of the Chicago blizzard of 2011. *image used without permission |
The remainder of my kit consists of things that help me stay safe and warm while waiting out the storm. These items also go with me in my backpack whenever I’m out hunting or hiking in potentially cold environments, even in the summer such as when exploring the mountains or anywhere the weather can turn suddenly.
Warm Clothes A parka, extra socks and base layer of wool or waterproof moisture-wicking clothing, will go a long way towards keeping you warm. Often times, people go about with just enough warm layers to keep them comfortable while they hustle from vehicle to building and back. If you’re one of these, make sure you keep some heavy winter clothes in your vehicle. And even if you’re not, having a backup set is a godsend should you find yourself wet or muddy from trying to free a stuck vehicle.
Cold Weather Sleeping Bag (ECWS) If I’m going to be stuck in an unheated vehicle, or really anywhere overnight, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I’m snug as a bug. New and lightly-used military surplus Extreme Cold Weather Sleeping systems (ECWS) are fantastic at keeping you warm, even at temperatures as low as -40 degrees. Most come in a handy compression sack, so they don’t take up much room. New ones are a bit pricey, but bargains can be found, so hunt around until you find a deal you can afford.
Flashlight and Spare Batteries I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: the cold is hell on batteries and electronics. You should have a flashlight in your kit, but also make sure to stock extra batteries.
Spare Phone and/or Batteries Nearly everyone has a smart phone these days, and when it comes to getting the word out to your friends and loved ones, they are great. If you can’t get a signal, try sending text messages. SMS messaging systems use a relay and hold system that will hold onto your message until it can be delivered, and SMS messages take up very little bandwidth, so getting one through on with only tenuous signal strength is much easier than actually connecting a voice call. As with your flashlight, carry an extra battery and charger if you can. Alternatively, keep an older phone that you no longer use on a daily basis in your kit, along with a 12v charger. Even deactivated and/or without a SIM card, most mobile phones are capable of making an emergency 911 call.
Water, MREs and heaters Water is important for two reasons: the first and most obvious is that it keeps you from becoming dehydrated in dry cold air. The second reason water is important is that it keeps you warm. Mixed with a tasty drink mix and heated with an MRE heater, it warms you from the inside out. The calories from MREs and drink mixes are also critical in helping your body stay warm. Even just sitting still, your body can burn as much as 5,000 calories just keeping warm. Help it out by keeping some high-calorie snacks and non-perishable food in your kit.
Hand Warmers Behind warm food and liquids, hand warmers are the ultimate morale booster in cold environments. Keep a few in your kit. They don’t take up much room, and as long as they are unopened they will last for years until you need them.
Flares and/or Warning Triangles Visibility is universally poor during snow storms, and accumulations can camouflage your stranded car on the side on the road. Use road flares, electronic flares, or even reflective warning triangles to warn approaching vehicles to keep a wary eye out.
Blaze Orange Fabric Flagging tape, blaze orange fabric, or any brightly colored cloth tied to your radio antenna or the top of your vehicle is a great way to alert passing motorists or rescuers to your location.
First Aid Kit This is not so much a necessity for a cold weather kit, as it is something that should be with you at all times. I keep a large first aid kit in my vehicle, and carry a small one with me everywhere else.
Whether you’re hiking a trail in bear country, or simply resting at home, having a firearm for personal protection is something everyone should consider. There are many schools of thought as to what constitutes an appropriate home defense, concealed carry, or trail gun, and just as many options available for purchase.
 Mom commented after firing the PMR-30 that “…this is the perfect gun for me. It makes little holes, but it can make 30 of them. And it doesn’t beat me up.” |
Debates over the “perfect” handgun caliber have raged on for dozens of years. Is it better to have a caliber that begins with “.4” or is the 9mm “Euro-pellet” sufficient when topped with modern expanding hollowpoints? Many seek to find the perfect “man-stopper,” “bear medicine,” or basically any bullet capable of a “one-shot stop” but they’re more likely to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow that’s been crapped out by a unicorn. Such a cartridge simply does not exist.
Still, millions of dollars have been spent on countless studies analyzing the effectiveness of various calibers. The result has been a few exotic cartridges, few of which have ever made it into large-scale production. In the past 30 years the 10mm, .40 S&W, and .357 Sig have been the only handgun cartridges that have reached any level of prominence and, of those three, the .40 S&W is the only caliber to come anywhere close towards becoming as common as the 9mm or .45 ACP.
As with handguns, thousands of words and millions of dollars have been spent determining the suitability of the 5.56/.223 caliber “poodle shooter” versus any number of larger rifle cartridges, and even more hybrid and wildcat rounds have been spawned by this debate than were ever conceived of by the 9mm and .45 brouhaha. Still, by virtue of its use by the US military, not to mention the performance of the round, the 5.56/.223 caliber remains one of the more common rifle chamberings, and thousands of hunters pursuing everything from varmints to white tailed deer have proven its efficacy in the field.
What is not often considered is the person who will be utilizing the firearm. Many people neglect the human element. Having a revolver that can drop a bear with a single well-placed shot is admirable, but can just anyone pick up a .44 Magnum, .454 Casull, or .500 S&W chambered revolver and be proficient with it? A 12 gauge may work well for home defense but how many people, with little or no training, can accurately fire multiple rounds of full-power 00 buck loads?
Perhaps the perfect example of the wrong solution being over-hyped is the ultra-lightweight .38 Special/.357 Magnum snub nosed revolver, which is often wrongly promoted as the perfect weapon for a small woman. It’s easily concealable, and the double-action is reliable, but accuracy is sub-par at best, and it kicks hard enough to make even the most ardent seekers of “recoil-therapy” reconsider firing off more than a couple dozen rounds at a stretch. I know very few women who will tolerate hard hitting firearms (with the notable exception of Jennifer, who is just, odd when it comes to recoil).
Put a hard hitting pistol or rifle in the hands of many women, and almost all new shooters, and you’ll find their taste for the shooting sports quickly sours. That’s no way to gain new shooters and, for someone seeking a gun for self-defense, is a great way to convince them that there are many other things they’d rather do instead of run a few hundred rounds through the firearm while training.
And then we come to my own mother. Mom is not someone who I would consider old, though I suppose she’s getting there, nor infirm, though she has a few problems here and there that have left her on disability. Mom never has spent as much time at the range as I do, has only owned a gun on a few occasions, and never carried one for self-defense. In addition, she has problems with her hands that make it difficult for her to manipulate a stiff double-action trigger, and intense recoil leaves her wrists or shoulder sore and her nerves frayed.
 The FN Five-seveN, AMT Automag II, and Kel-Tec PMR-30 are all low recoil semi-automatic handguns that can function as trail guns or self-defense handguns. |
When it came time to find Mom a suitable pistol, rifle, and shotgun, low recoil was an absolute priority. This meant that a number of standard firearms were immediately tossed out. The pump action 12 gauge, favored by many for home defense, was simply too much gun. Instead, a semi-automatic 20 gauge was more appropriate. When outfitting Mom for hunting season, we skipped the .30 caliber rifles completely and went straight to the 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser and .223 AR-15, both of which are more than capable of taking deer and feral hog alike.
And pistols? Pistols are, and always have been, a study in compromise. In reality, anything a pistol can do, a rifle or shotgun can do better. So why the big fuss over caliber when it comes to pistols?
It’s not uncommon for a rifle to fail to yield a “one shot stop” even with a well placed round. I’ve seen deer, hogs, elk, and all manner of medium and large game run for hundreds of yards, sometimes even miles, despite a fatal wound. Stories abound of bears and moose who charge and injure or even kill a hunter, only to later fall dead from a lung or heart shot.
Can we really expect a pistol to reliably stop a determined attacker, no matter what the caliber? Of course not.
At the end of the day it is far more important to have a gun, any gun really, and preferably one that you can use accurately, and that you have trained with extensively. When I took Mom to the range, I didn’t give her a snub-nosed .357 Magnum, nor did I give her a semi-automatic .40, .45 ACP, 9mm, or even a .38 Special. Instead, we started out with .22 Long Rifle and worked our way up, next to the .22 Magnum and eventually to the 5.7×28.
 Mom fires a 5.56mm AR-15, another low recoil firearm suitable for both hunting and self-defense. |
Both the .22 Magnum and 5.7×28 were easy shooting cartridges that Mom, despite her aversion to recoil, could shoot all day long. And on top of that, she was deadly accurate with them. No flinches, no jerking of the trigger, just round after round put on target in a tight little group at distances up to 25 yards away. In the case of the PMR-30, that meant she had 30 rounds in a tight group about the size of a softball right in the center-of-mass.
Caliber isn’t everything. My friend Caleb proved that a cup of Starbucks’ brew and a .25 ACP Jetfire pistol can be exactly what is needed to dissuade a goblin. It’s been said that a .25 ACP may be great to carry when you don’t have a gun, but in this case it did the trick.
Even if you are forced to rely upon the ballistic performance of a particular firearm, when avoiding the conflict doesn’t work and merely the threat of force fails, whether it be against a criminal assault or a bruin who thinks you’re in their territory, small caliber firearms can work, especially when you can put more rounds down range faster. FBI statistics even show that more firearm-related deaths are caused by the lowly .22 LR than by any other caliber. That’s primarily due to the prevalence of guns chambered for the round, but it goes to show how effective it can be.
Dave Sevigny once told me to “just get the biggest caliber you can hit with or the one you’re most comfortable with,” and I think that’s key. For some people, that means a magnum rifle cartridge and a 10mm handgun. For Mom, that means a Five-seveN or .22 Magnum pistol for self-defense, and a .223 or 6.5×55 rifle for hunting.
This blog started out as primarily a hunting, outdoors, and survival/preparedness-oriented blog, but I seem to find more articles to write concerning firearms and gun ownership than anything else at the moment. Perhaps that’s because it is a subject that is near and dear to my heart.
Regardless, I want to take the time to address “sportsmen” and hunters who disclaim the natural and inalienable right to keep and bear arms. Though I’m an advocate of concealed carry and self-defnese, I’m going to address this from the perspective of a hunter. Fellow blogger Weerd took to task a self-proclaimed hunter and writer, whose article I will not link to here, over his claims that the “NRA Extremists” do not represent him. These “Fudds” (as in Elmer Fudd), as they are referred to by those who champion 2nd Amendment rights, claim that it does no harm to restrict or even ban ownership of handguns, standard capacity semi-automatic rifles, or other firearms with “scary” features such as folding stocks, flash suppressors, or muzzle brakes. Such claims could not be further from the truth.
 Laugh if you want, but this “tactical” shotgun can easily do double-duty as both a home-defense firearm as well as an effective dove gun by simply inserting a magazine tube plug. |
First, let’s take a look at the current tax scheme that weds hunters and 2nd Amendment supporters together. Ammunition sold in the United States is subject to a federal excise tax. Every round that is sold is taxed, and that revenue goes directly into the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund, also referred to as the Pittman-Robertson Trust Fund. Every year over 700 million dollars are sent to this fund, and that money goes directly to establishing, restoring, and preserving huntable wildlife habitats.
As a hunter, you may think that you are the primary source of revenue for this fund. Based off of just the number of shot shells expended chasing dove last season, it’s easy to see why someone might think that way. But if you’re a hunter who does no range shooting other than to sight in a rifle and fire some #8 shot at a few clays, the amount of ammo you expend is FAR less than what a shooting enthusiast might go through in a given year.
I don’t know a single person with hunting as their only firearm-related activity who will go through more than a couple of hundred rounds a year. On the other hand, an active IDPA or USPSA shooter can easily run through tens of thousands of rounds in a season, all of which are taxed as “hunting equipement”. In fact, every firearm and firearm-related accessory, whether intended for hunting or self-defense, is subject to this same Federal excise tax.
Who’s supporting the wildlife now?
 There’s nothing quite like the grin on the face of a new hunter who’s just bagged their first quarry. |
Second, let’s address the claims that restrictions upon the types of firearms that are legal for an individual to own will not impact or hamper hunters. For hundreds of years, soldiers and warriors who went off to war brought back with them a fondness for the rifle that kept them alive throughout the conflict. Whether it was the Brown Bess musket of the American Revolution, the 1903 Springfield, M1 Garand, M14/M1A, or even the M16/AR-15, after the war the soldiers who returned often sought out similar, if not identical, rifles for hunting and shooting at home. And why not? The rifles proved themselves accurate and supremely reliable under combat conditions, and that same accuracy and reliability would continue to be useful in bringing home a little venison every fall.
Yet, the excuses from the Fudds pour forth:
“Nobody needs that much firepower in the woods.”
“Those rifles are only good to spray-and-pray.”
“…hunting rifles can be used to kill people as well as deer and ducks, but they’re not designed for that, and that makes a big difference.”
“My shotgun has as much in common with a machine gun as a Piper Cub has with an F-16.”
These and other excuses make up the bulwark of the Fudd’s reasoning for further violations of our natural rights guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment, but when you break down and examine each excuse, they fall flat. Nobody needs that much firepower? A .300 Win Mag has more than twice the energy of a standard issue 5.56 NATO round, and .308 hunting rifles are virtually identical in form and function to a 7.62 NATO “sniper” rifle. Only good for spray and pray? Modern military training with the M16 discourages automatic fire, and in fact many rifles issued to our troops these days are only equipped with a 3-round burst. Instead, soldiers are trained to use deliberate-aimed fire for maximum effectiveness, much as hunters use carefully aimed shots to quickly down their prey. Hunting rifles aren’t designed for killing people? Au contraire, every black powder, bolt action, and semi-auto hunting rifle on the market today was derived from, or is a direct copy of, a military rifle design. Every. Single. One.
Firearms were first developed as a weapon of war and a means of self-defense. It was only later that their usefulness in pursuing game was realized. Ancient cannons, muskets, and handgonnes begat modern punt guns and shotguns, while nearly every modern bolt-action rifle is based in part off of the Mauser brother’s 1871 design.
And what about handguns? I’m using a handgun as my primary hunting weapon this year. It presents an interesting challenge and forces me to hone my skills stalking close to my prey, and it’s much lighter and easier to tote around the woods than a long gun. If there were restrictions on handgun ownership, I might not have that option.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to basic human rights. Everyone has the right to self-defense, and I believe hunters have the right to provide food for the table. Hunters also have the right to restrict themselves to muzzleloaders, shotguns with slugs, single shot centerfire rifles, or modern bolt actions. Or, they can utilize the latest magazine fed AR-based semi-automatic rifle (where hunting laws allow it).
I will not pass judgement on someone who uses a modern sporting rifle in pursuit of deer. We have enough problems trying to grow the sport. Instead, we should be encouraging firearm ownership of all sorts and helping those who have the interest in hunting to learn the ways of the woods, to learn the ethics of hunting, and to learn the skills it takes to bring a meal from hoof to table.
At the end of the day, we’re all in this together, seeking to protect the rights that are valuable to us.
I will end with this offer: If you are a hunter in the North Texas area, and want to learn how to carry and shoot a handgun for self defense, contact me and I will take you to the range at my expense and safely teach you the basics of pistol safety and concealed carry. Likewise, if you are a shooter or CHL holder in the North Texas area, and want to learn how to hunt safely and effectively, contact me and I will help you pass a Hunter’s Safety Education course, help you get a hunting license, and then take you out on a dove, deer, hog, or squirrel hunt (your choice).
UPDATE: Via Thirdpower we find that Weer’d has learned a bit more about this particular Fudd.
A few weeks back, AmongTheLeaves.com was contacted by Lucky Gunner to see if we’d be interested in reviewing some of their ammunition on this little website.
Free ammo? Here, twist my arm a little.
Naturally I agreed, and sent them a list of featured articles I was working on for the next few months. Not long after that, a box of 240 grain .44 Magnum Fiocchi “Pistol Shooting Dynamics” ammunition showed up on my doorstep. Sweet! Hunting season was just around the corner, and this year, instead of using a rifle, I’d already made the decision to hunt deer and feral hog alike with a pistol.
My firearm of choice, a Ruger Redhawk, has a 7.5″ barrel with a 1:20″ twist rate, and is topped off with fiber optic sights. The contrasting red and green dots make it very easy to get a clear shot, even in the dusky conditions just before and after sunset. The long barrel gives a longer sight radius for increased accuracy, while allowing for more complete powder burn and higher muzzle velocities.
The 240 grain ammo is a little lighter than I prefer for hunting, and Fiocchi isn’t well known in the US market as a manufacturer of quality hunting ammunition, but I figured “What the heck. It’s free ammo, let’s see how it does.” The first step I took in evaluating the ammunition was to try and figure out what type of bullet it was loaded with. Other than the fact that it was labeled as weighing 240 grains and that it was quite obviously a hollow point, no other information was on the box or website. I can’t say for sure, but it looked for all the world to me that it was a Hornady XTP, or else something very similar (and if anyone help me figure out the bullet manufacturer with any certainty, I’d appreciate it). If indeed it is an XTP, any shooter would do well to use this cartridge. The Hornady XTP is well known for its accuracy and is favored by hunters for the superior expansion characteristics it exhibits.
 4 shot group fired kneeling, off-hand, at 50 yards using iron sights. |
Normally, at this point in the review, I’d pull a few bullets and weigh the bullet and the powder charge. That gives an indication of both accuracy and consistency. But, with only 50 rounds to review, I thought it prudent to save the few I had, as we’re planning on doing more than just a range review.
These are hollow points, and as such are intended for self-defense and/or hunting. Since .44 Magnum handguns aren’t commonly used as defensive firearms, and since Among The Leaves primarily focuses on hunting and the outdoors, we’re going to proceed along that path.
Texas white tailed deer and feral hogs are the two medium sized game animals that I pursue here in the Lone Star State. Texas white tails are small and slender compared to those found in the rest of the country, and are easily dropped with as little as a .357 Magnum or 10mm handgun and a well placed shot. Wild pigs are built a bit more stoutly, but can still be taken using similar loads with shots that don’t have to penetrate the thick shield and shoulder blade.
Still, all things being equal, if using a handgun cartridge such as .44 Magnum, more is better. To that end, I developed my own heavy “buffalo bore” load that can generate over 2,000 ft-lbs of muzzle energy by launching a 320 grain bullet at speeds exceeding 1,700 feet per second. At short distances, this allows it to hit nearly as hard, if not harder, than a .45-70 Trapdoor, and with significantly more energy than any .30-30. That’s more than enough to take almost any medium or large game animal in North America.
 The 320 grain handloads have substantially more recoil than the lighter 240 grain Fiocchi hollow points. |
Now, to my way of thinking, the more energy I can (safely) get out of my .44 Magnum loads, the better. If I manage to get a shot on a big porker, I don’t want to have to wonder if it’s got enough “oompf” to knock down the hog. So, when I saw that the ammunition I had received was a standard 240 grain hollow point, I was a bit apprehensive. Would it be enough to take a large wild boar?
It was time to head to the range. The first step was to chronograph both the Fiocchi alongside my handloads. The testing was conducted in a pistol bay, with the chronograph 10 yards from the muzzle.
320 grain SSK Truncated Cone .44 Mag handloads:
Shot 1: 1692
Shot 2: 1712
Shot 3: 1698 FPS (2085 ft-lbs ME)
240 grain Hornady XTP .44 Mag Fiocchi
Shot 1: 1679 FPS (1561 ft-lbs ME)
Shot 2: 1684
Shot 3: 1671
The results from the chronograph are more or less what one would expect from a 240 grain .44 Magnum load. The median result from our very small sample gives us a measured velocity of 1,679 feet per second, and a calculated muzzle energy of 1,561 foot-pounds. I was a bit surprised to find that, though our 3-shot sample was too small to draw any solid conclusions from, the Fiocchi ammunition seemed to have a more consistent velocity than my hand loads.
After testing the loads on the chronograph, I did some accuracy testing. So to speak. Ideally, ammunition accuracy is tested from a machine rest like a Ransom Rest to eliminate any other variables that could affect the test. I don’t have a Ransom Rest (check them out: they’re pricey, but fantastic for handgun accuracy testing), and we’re going to be using this ammo for hunting, not for shooting a match. Instead, I replicated what most handgun hunters are likely to experience and fired from a kneeling position at 50 yards using iron sights. The ammo grouped adequately for this purpose. At 6.25″, it wasn’t the prettiest group, but then I’m looking for “minute of deer” not “minute of angle” and for that, it’s fine.
The Hornady XTP bullet is well known for it’s accuracy, consistency, and rapid expansion. I’ve found that in these Fiocchi cartridges, it remains a viable choice for hunting. As I mentioned earlier, Fiocchi is not known as a manufacturer of quality hunting ammo. Priced at $0.62 a round (on average, based on market prices October 2011) it costs far less than similar cartridges, and can be perceived as a budget load. Other budget brands have ammunition that is inconsistent, prone to failure, and extremely dirty. Fiocchi’s .44 Magnum ammunition is none of these things. Based on my experience so far, it performs as well if not better than other premium brands.
For the average hunter, Lucky Gunner’s 240 grain .44 magnum loads from Fiocchi are everything they’ll need. They’re accurate, and consistent, possibly even more consistent than my handloads, and that consistency is important for hunters when figuring how much the bullet will drop over a given distance.
But the testing of this ammunition isn’t complete just yet. Deer season opens this weekend for firearm hunters, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to bring home some venison or a bit of wild pork. Keep an eye out for more about this ammunition here on AmongTheLeaves.com.
FTC disclaimer: I didn’t get paid a damn thing to write this, but they did send me the ammunition for free. That was nice of them.
I’m out in the field this week, but hope to have a few gear reviews posted after this weekend.
Work has me out in West Texas, where I was equally amused and pleased to see that the little grocery store in Ozona has ammunition for sale in a display right next to the tobacco cabinet at checkout. Just as it should be.
Instead of “paper or plastic” the cashier can simply ask “hollow point or full metal jacket?”
