Idaho Rifleman

Hey everybody! This week I've got two products for you. First: The Beretta APX Compact 9mm. The APX was Beretta's response to the US Military saying "we've used the M9 (Beretta 92) forever, we want something shinier" ... or something to that effect. So Beretta developed the APX Family.  Currently, the APX Family consists of: - The APX - APX Combat - APX RDO (red dot optic) - APX Target - APX Compact - APX Centurion - APX Centurion Combat - APX Centurion RDO - APX Carry All are chambered in 9mm, some are available in .40 caliber. There are also color options for black, flat dark earth, and olive drab green; the APX Carry has a black and "Wolf Gray" option as well.  The APX boasts modularity with a claimed ability to change out the 9mm to a .40 and vice versa with some part swappage. By the way, there are 45 parts to these guns. From what I've read, there's no definitive answer how... but the idea is to have a gun that is capable of eit...

Hey y'all, welcome back to blog. This week we have another Winchester. This one is the Model of 1894 25-35 WCF Saddle Ring Carbine and she's beautiful! Seriously, serial records put this rifle somewhere between 1901 and 1910 (1908 is the most likely) and it's in beautiful condition. I'm almost scared to shoot it because it's so nice! Up until I got my hands on this rifle, I'd never heard of the 25-35, so I did some research and found that it was introduced in the same year as the 30-30, 1895. I also learned that in the hyphenated calibers, it typically meant caliber- grains of powder. So the 25-35 is a 25 caliber with 35 grains of powder. Winchester stopped producing rifles in 25-35 around the year 1964. I really don't know much about shooting this or how the ballistics perform for this. I've read that this was a pretty popular caliber back in the day and that it bagged alot of deer. Which makes sense because its parent cartridge is the 30-30...

Hey y'all! This week we've got what I consider a very iconic US Military rifle. The .30 Caliber M1 Carbine. This rifle was used from World War 2 up until Vietnam until it was replaced largely by the M16. The particular M1 Carbine I'll be demo'ing this week is made by Plainfield Machine. These rifles were manufactured between 1962 - 1978 and around 112,000 were made in that time from what I've read about them. They also made M2 Carbines that were select fire; these were marketed to law enforcement and our foreign military allies. Plainfield also made some rifles in the .22 Carbine (5.7mm Johnson or .22 Spitfire) which I hadn't heard of until I started looking into this rifle.  So far looking at this rifle, I'm a huge fan. The action is incredibly smooth and really easy to work. And it just sounds amazing when you rack it. You'll hear what I mean in the video. The stock is a little bit wide for my preference, but it's still very comfortable...

What's up everyone, welcome back! This week is going to look a little different as we review the Clear Ballistics block I shot last week.  As I mentioned in the last video, I bought the 9mm Test Kit #1, a 10% FBI Block, and a reheating mould. So let's talk about the gel. When I unboxed the gel, I was incredibly impressed with just how clear it really is. You can see right through it with ease which made shooting the ballistics test alot of fun. In hindsight, I would have taken the time to run a hair dryer over the gel and smooth out the packing wrinkles as recommended... live and learn.  Anyway, I bought the 9mm Test Kit #1 which came with a 10% FBI Block, and 6 different types of defensive ammo, and I bought a second FBI Block and the reheating mould. The block measures 16" long, by 6" square, but I just had a feeling I should buy a second block, so I did, and I'm really glad, half of the ammo brands included in the test kit exceeded 16 inches of pene...

What's up everybody, welcome back! This week I spent some money (much to the dismay, but with the permission of Mrs. Rifleman) and bought some ballistics gel! I bought a 10% FBI Block (16"x6"x6"), a mould, and the 9mm Test Kit #1 (10% FBI Block, and 12 rounds of various 9mm defensive ammo: listed below) from Clear Ballistics, and so far, I've been incredibly impressed with their service. I haven't opened the product yet, I'll be doing that this weekend in our video.  This is not a paid sponsorship. The gun I'll be demo'ing this week is the Smith and Wesson M&P9 Shield. This is an older Shield, so it's not the M2.0 or Shield plus. I really like the feel of this gun, it's slim and comfortable. The grip seems to be at a good angle to index quickly and has just enough texture to hang on to, but not so much to be abrasive if you're holding onto it for awhile. I'm pretty excited to have gotten my hands on the Shield for t...

What's up everybody! In our first post, I mentioned that Idaho Rifleman won't be just about shooting. I hope to bring videos to you all in the future shows that really showcase the outdoor spirit of Idaho. So this week I'm going to be sharing a recipe with you along with a ballistics video! The Gun: This week, I got my hands on a 12 gauge shotgun and some different loads for it. For our video, we'll be demo'ing the H&R 1871 Pardner Protector pump action 12 gauge. This shotgun is stout, weighing in at 7 1/2lbs. It's chambered for up to 3 inch shells, and holds 5 in the tube. The shotgun also has a magazine block to only allow 3 shells for hunting. It has an 18 1/2" barrel and an overall length of 37 5/8" making it a very nice home defense shotgun.  The Ammo: We have several different types of ammo we'll be using in this week's video. Below is the Ammo and the advertised ballistics: Federal 2 3/4" Top Gun - 7 1/2 shot  Muzzle...

Welcome back! This week, we're facing off and rippin' leather with the .45s for a good old show down. We're pitting the .45 long colt against the .45 auto. The Guns: For this duel, we'll be using a Cimarron Pistolero chambered in .45 Long Colt and a Rock Island Armory 1911-A1 CS chambered in 45 ACP. The Old: The Cimmaron Model 1873 Pistolero is a single action, six shot revolver. For those that aren't familiar, a single action revolver is a hammer fired revolver that requires the shooter to cock the hammer before each shot. This revolver weighs in at 2.4lbs and features brass accents on the frame and wood grips with a 4 3/4" barrel length. This gun feels great in your hand and just rests naturally when you hold it. The action is smooth and what I would consider fairly light for a single action, but I have felt much lighter. The rear sight is merely a groove cut into the top of the frame and the front sight is a more traditional blade style. For such...