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“The day a Springfield Armory pistol is not reliable and straight-shooting is the day I will register as a Democrat,” warns Will Dabbs, MD after testing the XD-M Elite OSP featured in the July issue of GUNS Magazine. “Fret not,” he soothes, “the sun will burn out long before this happens.”
The XD-M Elite line of pistols consists of four separate handguns; each optimized for a specific mission, but there are common features across all four. All sport a true bilateral-pushbutton magazine catch, extra-deep cocking grooves on the slide, a dedicated loaded chamber indicator and an ambidextrous slide stop along with a generous magwell funnel. They also boast Springfield’s META trigger system which offers a clean take-up, a nice crisp break and a terse reset which Will argues is “the finest striker-fired trigger on any production handgun I have yet encountered.”
A step up from the cowboy guns of yesteryear, the Marlin Model 336C with curly maple stock not only looks good, it makes an excellent deer rifle, too. Available in .30-30 with a 20" barrel, the rifle’s curly maple stock is complemented by a blue finish on the receiver and barrel, gold trigger and deep-brown checkering on the grip and forearm. Field Editor David Freeman found the lever-action operates smoothly, with the trigger pull averaging just over 5 lbs. with a clean break. He notes, “I only see one drawback — it’s just too darned pretty to scratch up, so I’m not likely to take it to the woods much.”
A Rock River Arms BT92152 tops July’s Firearms Giveaway Package. The BT-9 pistol with SBA3 arm brace in 9x19mm has a billet aluminum lower with GLOCK-compatible flared maxwell and is equipped with a Smith Vortex flash suppressor. The winner will also receive a TRUGLO Ignite Mini Compact 22mm Red Dot Sight, an MTM Case-Gard Tactical Magazine Can, a Model CC-400-B fixed-blade knife from Bear OPS and a Real Avid Master Cleaning Station. Valued at more than $1,700, readers are invited to enter the free drawing at www.gunsmagazine.com/giveaways.
There’s plenty more inside July GUNS. In Campfire Tales, John Taffin begins a series on the deeply rooted .44 — and not the .44 Magnum commonly known today. The “9mm vs. .45” debate is nothing new. But for some, it’s possible to side with both calibers as Massad Ayoob explains in the Handguns installment. Jeff “Tank” Hoover announces size really does matter … when it comes to cast bullet accuracy. He reveals what he’s learned from casting, loading and shooting cast bullets in the Think Tank column.
Online, Joe Kriz suggests “6 Titles To Read While Quarantined” and includes a free PDF download of the American Handgunner Special Edition issue of Survive: Personal Defense. Access the latest GUNS Magazine Podcast episodes at www.gunsmagazine.com/podcast and other popular streaming sites. GUNS Magazine digital subscriptions and the July issue are available for purchase at www.fmgpubs.com.
CONTACT: BRENT T. WHEAT