Windham Weaponry is a new gunmaker operating in the old Bushmaster factory in Maine (which was shut down by parent company Freedom Group) and being run by the old Bushmaster crew. They are building a full line of ARs, including this varmint model. We gave the rifle high marks across the board. It had no trouble shooting sub-MOA groups, but we wished it came with a less creepy trigger and had a larger charging handle.
This 5.56/.223 AR is a handy little predator rifle. The round handguard has cute coyote prints on it (too cute, in the eyes of some testers). With its 18-inch barrel and collapsible stock, it is quite maneuverable and is light enough to carry with a scope mounted. The muzzle brake did a good job of keeping the gun on target, and the accuracy of the rifle (0.994-inch 5-shot average) should have coyotes quaking in their dens.
A newcomer to the crowded sporting optics field, Oculus brings a solid, utilitarian scope at a fair price. Our sample, in the versatile 4–16x44 configuration, featured a simple duplex reticle in a 1-inch tube and resettable turrets. Its side focus, a useful amenity for hunters who shoot at varying distances and magnifications, didn’t work well at low powers, and we noted some color fringing in this otherwise capable hunting scope.
When anti-gun hysteria seeps into the fuzz box that is bureaucratic wonk-think, common-sense initiative by rank-and-file employees becomes a fireable offense.
Such is the case in Wayne County Public Works Department, which has a sacrosanct policy forbidding employees from possessing weapons while on the job. Violators are immediately fired. No exceptions.
Therefore, firing a 23-year department employee for finding a handgun and turning it over to police makes perfect sense to county functionaries and fiddlers. He possessed a weapon on the job. He must be fired.
It didn’t take long for this little 28-gauge from the Turkish firm Akkar to charm the entire test team. It’s as nimble and handy a bird gun as you could want and comes at such a great price ($523), we couldn’t help but anoint it this year’s Great Buy in the shotgun category. A 28-gauge doesn’t have much recoil to begin with, but when you shoot it through a gas-operated semi, what little it does have disappears completely.
Washington Times Senior Editor Emily Miller has been writing a series of blogs and articles illuminating the hypocrisy of the anti-gun zealots in their quest to diminish your Second Amendment rights.
In her blog, "Emily Gets Her Gun," Miller documented the bureaucratic and regulatory obstacles she encountered while trying to get a firearms permit in Washington, DC. She has also chronicled other local and federal infringements on the Second Amendment as an opinion page editor at the Times.
The Franchi Affinity brings to mind the patriotic song written after the attack on Pearl Harbor: “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.” The Affinity has the magically elusive feel gunmakers always hope for when introducing a new shotgun. Its balance and handling are so lively that it springs to your shoulder with the speed and determination of a ruffed grouse exploding from cover.
The Professional is a new rifle built on the Nosler’s M48 action. It comes with a clever detachable magazine that is released by a tab similar to the one commonly seen with floor-plate magazines. The accuracy and craftsmanship of the Professional is exactly what one would expect from Nosler, which is to say excellent. This is a serious hunting tool and is a very good value even considering its hefty price.
The original Vanguard by Weatherby was a fine rifle by nearly every measure, but the trigger wasn’t very good and the bedding between the action and stock could be spotty. Well, with the latest Vanguard, the Series 2, Weatherby has worked out those kinks and added a couple of other upgrades. The result is impressive. The new trigger is as crisp as a ripe apple, the stock comes with rubber inserts to improve handling, and the action is smooth and easy to run.
With the top score on our resolution test and solid low-light performance, this scope is the best pure optic of the bunch. It also has appealing features for shooters: tons of mounting dimension on the 30mm tube, a precise ballistic reticle with clean aiming references, and a utilitarian 3.5–14x42 configuration. Its lines are classically elegant, but it badly needs a cap on its distressingly sloppy elevation turret.
