TAFFIN TESTS THE .38 SPECIAL …JOHN TAFFIN Smith & Wesson has made and continues to make some of the most beautiful revolvers in the world. Beginning in the 1860’s with the various American, Russian, and Schofield Models, Smith & Wesson began a tradition of building reliable as well as esthetically pleasing revolvers. The tradition almost […]
MARLIN’S LONG RANGE COWBOY LEVERGUNS THE .38-55 IS BACK!JOHN TAFFIN At the SHOT Show two years ago it was my privilege, along with Bob Baer and Brian Pearce, to meet with three of the top brass from the Marlin Firearms Company. Baer had set up the meeting through Marlin’s Tony Aeschliman, so the three
The .38-55 is Back! Read Post »
TAFFIN TESTS: THE .30 CARBINE …JOHN TAFFIN I’ve been a long time fan of the Ruger Single Action sixgun. My first sixgun was an early Ruger Single-Six with the old-style flat loading gate. Then the big bores beckoned and it has been a long-time love affair with the Blackhawk since I bought my first .357
Bowen Classic Arms .327 Federal Magnum Custom Sixguns By John Taffin Looking back over my 50 plus years of shooting sixguns I see a long list of heavy-duty cartridges being introduced; the .44 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .454 Casull, .475 Linebaugh, .500 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .500 S&W Magnum, .460 S&W Magnum, .500 Wyoming Express, and
Hamilton Bowen’s .327 Federals Read Post »
RUGER’S .45 REDHAWK JOHN TAFFIN In 1992 while on assignment touring gunmakers in the East, I found myself in Bill Ruger’s office to conduct an interview for this publication. I was ushered into his modest office which was piled high with gun magazines of every description, and which also contained some notable firearms as well
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.45 COLT: DAN WESSON STYLE JOHN TAFFIN The year 1873 was monumental in the history of firearms. That year saw the introduction of the Winchester 73 in .44-40, the 1873 Springfield in 45-70, and the Colt Single Action , serial number 1 of which was chambered for a cartridge that was to become legendary, the
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"The truth is that the fat, stubby .45 ACP cartridge can reach its greatest potential in a handgun for which it was never intended for– the old fashioned, much maligned revolver. And this is much more true in the progressive year of 1973 than ever before because we have strong, modern sixshooters that will
JOHN TAFFIN The modern beginnings of the 10MM go back to the early 1970’s with the creation of the .40 G&A. At the time, there were three semi-auto cartridges of any serious consequences available, the 9MM, the .38 Super, and the .45 ACP. The idea was to come up with a cartridge that combined the
TAFFIN TESTS: THE 10MM Read Post »
Never in the entire history of handgunning has the imagination of the shooting public been set afire as it was by the ten bore. No, not a long obsolete elephant gun for hunting Africa, but the latest ten bore, the 10MM family of handgun cartridges. First came the 10MM with Norma producing the ammunition utilizing
TAFFIN TESTS: THE 10MM MAGNUM Read Post »
The latest Magnum offering, at least as this is written and certainly subject to no less than immediate change, turns out not to be so new after all. In fact it has been around for nearly fifteen years, a cartridge without a home. Sometime in the late 1970’s Winchester introduced two new cartridges to rival