WED | AUGUST 3, 2022

Developed by the NSSF, National Shooting Sports Month encourages newcomers and experienced gun owners and hunters to visit a local shooting range with their handgun, rifle or shotgun to enjoy the target-shooting sports, which boasts more than 56 million adult and youth participants.
On July 14-17 S3DA hosted the 5th annual S3DA Outdoor Target National Championship at Joyce Park in Fairfield, Ohio. Over 250 student archers from sixty-three S3DA teams across twelve states gathered to compete for their chance to earn the title of “2022 S3DA Outdoor Target National Champion”
Hornady sponsored shooters Clay Blackketter, Austin Orgain, Matt Partain, and Tate Streater will represent the United States at the International Precision Rifle Federation’s World Championship, August 6-12, 2022, in France.

After winning the ASA Classic event in Cullman, Alabama, Black Gold pro TIM GILLINGHAM locked up the Shooter of the Year title .
Hornady congratulates team shooter Jessie Harrison on her performance at the Area 5 Championship, July 27-31, 2022, in Brooklyn, MI.
Members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit proved their talents at the 2022 National Trophy Pistol Matches. USAMU’s SP4 Jason Gregoire took the President’s Pistol Trophy for the overall win and SSG Carl Clegg, 36, led the National Trophy Individual Match with a score of 291-15X.

The start to the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s 2022 National Pistol Matches was celebrated through the induction of two new trophies. The inaugurated trophies featured included the Steve Reiter Cup, named after decorated bullseye pistol marksman and Olympian Steve Reiter, as well as the T.D. Smith Memorial Trophy, named after Olympian, National Record holder and American hero T.D. Smith.
Hillsdale College hosted the 2022 USA Shooting’s Shotgun National Championships where over 150 athletes competed for top Trap honors and the chance to be selected for the World Team. Krieghoff shooters shot strong and took home one Gold, three Sliver, and one Bronze Medal across four categories and secured three spots on the World Team.
Liberty Ammunition will be attending the OSG roundtable in Grinnell Iowa this week.

Breaking a flying clay target, hitting the bullseye or knocking over a steel plate and then sharing the fun of that experience awaits all who participate in National Shooting Sports Month this August.
Springfield Armory is proud to announce it will host the inaugural GUNFEST at the renowned Sturgis, South Dakota, 2022 Motorcycle Rally August 5th through the 7th.
1791 Gunleather offers several options for everyday carry with the Ruger MAX-9 outfitted with optics.
The Galco Combat Master professional grade belt holster is now available for the Browning Hi-Power/Springfield SA-35 lines of pistols.
The NRA Foundation Board of Trustees has approved a $252,000 grant for USA Shooting to be used exclusively for the purchase of ammunition that will be used by the National Team, National Development Team, and National Junior Team. The new partnership with the Foundation and USA Shooting will help remedy an unexpected and critical shotgun ammunition shortage facing the USA Shooting Team.
Primary Arms has named U.S. Foreign Military Sales expert Kelly Rosenberger to lead as Director of Government Programs & Sales.

MidwayUSA’s Travis Rodgers was recently promoted to Director of Merchandising – Hunting & Outdoors. Travis joined MidwayUSA part-time in 2010, working in the Logistics Department (shipping and receiving).
Primary Arms has announced the hiring of Tyler Helgeson as the new Firearms & Ammunition Buyer. As a buyer for Primary Arms, Tyler will undertake key responsibilities in stocking and maintaining inventory on the latest firearms and ammunition products.
Media Lodge, an outdoor industry digital media platform, has hired media maven Jenn Jacques for a newly created Brand Strategist position, announced company president, Christen Everly.

Three respected brands joined the EasyExport network of international sellers in July. With their addition, 13 American companies are now using EasyExport to export guns, parts, optics, and accessories to customers in 82 countries. The companies are XS Sights, Griffin Armament and Potomac Armory/Charlie’s Custom Clones.
MidwayUSA’s Ryan Cokerham was recently promoted to Director of Merchandising – Shooting. Ryan began his career at MidwayUSA as a Photography Specialist in 2008, shortly after earning a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Missouri.
Umarex Airguns will be an official sponsor of the Airgun Village at the inaugural GUNFEST in Sturgis, South Dakota, August 5-7 at The Sturgis Buffalo Chip. Fans should visit the Umarex Airgun Village for the opportunity to shoot some of the most popular air powered hunting rifles and airguns.
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE: RGR) will file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q after the close of the stock market today (August 3, 2022).
Creedmoor Sports, a manufacturer and supplier of premium precision shooting equipment, has promoted John Teachey to Vice President – Operations and Marketing. Teachey, who previously served as Vice President of Operations, will now oversee the Sales and Marketing functions.
The Des Moines Police Department has adopted the EOTECH BinoNV night-vision goggle for use in SWAT and special operations. DMPD is the largest and most urban law enforcement agency in the state of Iowa with over 370 sworn officers.
Introducing BDE -- Bravo Delta Echo -- the revolutionary new suppressor line from Primary Weapons Systems. Constructed of lightweight titanium alloy, the BDE 762 is the first suppressor manufactured by PWS and the first to be released in the BDE line.
If you’ve ever wondered what gun professionals and people who hunt for a living are shooting, this weekly video series is for you. Scope This Gun is a fast-paced video series that helps you make decisions on firearm/optic pairings in a way that’s entertaining and educational.
Houston Safari Club Foundation (HSF) recently awarded its annual Dan L Duncan scholarships.
MidwayUSA Foundation has a 2020 Colt Python featured for their August online auction, and funds generated will support youth shooting sports. The starting bid is set at $750. This fun way of funding youth shooting sports could not be possible without generous sponsors like Colt.
The Second Amendment Foundation is wondering how far Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson will go to politicize his agency, after hiring Ben Carr, identified by the Alliance for Gun Responsibility—a Seattle-based gun control group—as vice president of its foundation board of directors.
Inside Shooting Industry’s first-ever Range Issue, content provides range operators with a look at innovative technologies, the merits of pursuing NSSF’s range-rating program, how to make facilities more welcoming to women and more.
The new Girsan MCP35 PI, with its 3.88-inch barrel, was created to be easy to carry and conceal, whether on the job or at the beach. The steel-framed MCP35 PI features a 15+1 capacity in its staggered-column magazine.
This week, Shooting USA attends the largest industry Range Day on the East coast that is open to the public. The PSA Gathering makes up for a lightly attended SHOT Show.
The popular “Lethal Weapon” movie franchise is tackled on this week’s episode of Hollywood Weapons on Wednesday on Outdoor Channel. Join U.S. Special Forces veteran Terry Schappert, and weapons expert Larry Zanoff, as they test four different scenes from the movie series.
 

Most of us are aware of the fixed sight, plain finished and appointed Military & Police revolver. Not meant so much for target shooting, it was – as the name implies – destined to be a service revolver for duty use.

In the early days, it’s written, such guns were chambered for 32 caliber cartridges, 38 caliber cartridges – and, for training – a few in 22 caliber.

In the era before light-for-caliber hollow point bullets using jacketed lead bullet technology, the option to increase perceived effectiveness of a defense/service handgun was to increase the bore diameter and the mass of the projectile. S&W made fixed sight service-style revolvers in 44 Special, 45 Colt, 45 ACP, 455 Brit., and perhaps others. With skimpy stocks (including the improved service stocks, the “Magna”), they could be a chore to shoot.

As I was in grade school at the time, I was unaware that a few handgun experts had made the rounds of manufacturers of guns and ammo to make a “medium” caliber cartridge. Elmer Keith had already taken that trip in the 1950s, asking for a cartridge that amounted to a “41 Special.” I don’t have the source at hand, but I believe I recall that the cartridge was to have a 200 grain Keith-style bullet (sharp shoulder semiwadcutter) traveling at about 850-900 fps out of a four-inch barrel.

His arguments fell on deaf ears, but the seed was planted.

Above, the M58 41 Magnum revolver - this one formerly a San Francisco gun. Below, the obvious inspiration for the form of the "middle magnum," the M10 HB M&P revolver in 38 Special.

Along with Border Patrol Inspector Bill Jordan, Elmer made the trip again, to Remington for the ammunition and to S&W for the revolver. As we’d become obsessed with the “Magnum” moniker (even before Dirty Harry), Remington named the cartridge .41 Remington Magnum.

S&W barreled and chambered their flagship big revolver, the 44 Magnum – by then known as Model 29 – as the Model 57. Wonderfully polished and blued, with adjustable sights, a red ramp front sight and target stocks, it was easily priced out of the range of police buyers.

So, they made the biggest M&P. The Model 58 has a four-inch heavy barrel and, with its rear sight as a gutter along the top of the frame and the ramp front sight as well as the unshrouded ejector rod, it looks like a 4” heavy barrel Model 10.

A word about the perceived need: defense practitioners in the 20th Century before, say, 1968, had a compulsion about the ability of handguns to stop deadly threats immediately. Conventional handguns are not centerfire rifles any more than centerfire rifles are field artillery. Before the light-for-caliber, increased velocity softly constructed bullets, we were left with larger caliber with heavier bullets.

It literally was “either-or.”

The fact of the matter was – and is – that caliber of conventional handguns is largely irrelevant to defense capability. Placement is critical.

Still, the faux dichotomy allowed us some interesting handguns and one of those is the Model 58.

It’s a big, heavy heater with no frills. It looks all business and it is.

Think, as one writer put it, as a Model 10 with an excess of growth hormones. Weighing its caliber in ounces, the 41 oz. heavy barrel gun makes a powerful sap. The middle Magnum was hampered by the original ammunition choices. They couldn’t as easily or cheaply cast Keith semiwadcutters (sharp edges in a bullet mold makes for slow ejection of the cast pill) as they could swage soft lead into kind-of semiwadcutter configuration. The 210-grain pill was still a bit stout at an advertised 950 fps in four-inches.

 

The load for the Model 57 – or for those hale & hearty who wanted to carry it on duty – was a 210-grain jacketed soft (not hollow) point, in original form. These ‘rhino-rollers’ (h/t, Richard Davis) achieved an advertised 1,300 feet per second.

I’ve shot some of them, out of the cannon pictured here. It feels like every one of those 1,300 feet per second. The split times could likely be measured by sun dial.

What’s my history with this? A poorly refinished Model 58 made it into my possession in the late 1970s. An officer hired after me – someone who was considered more a ‘gun guy’ than I was, if one can imagine – carried a four-inch Model 57. He decided to have it “done up” for durability and shootability. He told me he was shipping it off to be refinished in Metalife or Metaloy, then to receive barrel porting from Mag-na-port. At that time, he could get “a deal” if he had two guns to port instead of one.

The Model 58 went off with his M57 to Larry Kelly in Michigan. The ports were beautifully cut, precise and sharp, without disturbing the blue finish on the barrel.

When you fired it, you still knew it was no 38 Special. The porting did help though.

 

The Model 58 was adopted or authorized by few departments. The guns were heavy and then, as now, cops weren’t impressed with having to deal with heavy, hard-recoiling guns. The gun pictured is marked “SFPD” – one of the agencies that issued it. I’d been looking for a SAPD-marked gun (San Antonio also issued the piece), but I long since gave up that hunt.

The gun was discontinued in 1977, the year I started in law enforcement. Tom Ferguson, an SAPD cop and columnist for Gun World Magazine, had carried the Model 58. When reading his material in the late 1970s, I was dismayed to see he was carrying a 4” heavy barrel Model 10 in 38 Special.

Didn’t he know about the 357 Magnum?

I guess I was young, once upon a time.

The 41 Magnum is a grand handgun hunting cartridge … if you can find or fabricate the ammo. It’s flat shooting, hits hard and is quite accurate.

-- Rich Grassi

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