Hickok45

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Hickok45 On The GP-100 In .44 Special

February 15, 2017 by

Ruger recently released the GP-100 in a five-shot, .44 Special version. It was one of the firearms I had wanted to shoot at the SHOT Show before life intruded. The cartridge itself seems interesting and I had hoped to try out the world’s greatest dentist’s Ruger Redhawk with that cartridge today but it is raining.

Hickok45 just released a video today reviewing this fine revolver. Given the way it shoots, I’d love to have one and have been seriously considering buying one. It won’t be this month as my everyday driver needed new brakes plus new tie rod joints which just shot my gun buying budget. The kid in me objects but the adult in me realizes that being able to stop and steer the car is more important than a new shiny GP-100 in .44 Special.

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Hickok45 On The Kimber K6S Revolver

December 15, 2016 by 1 Comment

I got to shoot prototypes of the Kimber 6KS revolver in January at the SHOT Show’s Media Day. It is a very nice revolver and is very smooth. One thing I noticed about it is that it took only a half of a trigger pull to advance the cylinder and cock the hammer. In other words, nothing on the gun is moving during the last half of your trigger pull but your finger and the trigger.

I didn’t realize that Kimber had finally released this revolver. I thought they had sent the prototypes back to do a bit more work before going into production with it. That was the impression I got from Grant Cunningham who had consulted on the design. Hickok45 noted that he obtained this test gun courtesy of Bud’s Guns so I am making the assumption that this is a production gun.

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Great To See A Detective Special Reviewed

October 12, 2015 by

Colt hasn’t been making the Detective Special since the latter part of the 1990s. Still there are a lot of old ones hanging around. Heck, one is even in my gun safe.

Hickok45 did a review of an earlier edition Detective Special in .32 Colt NP that was published today. He did a good job on it. He is absolutely correct about the Colt trigger and stacking. It really does stack when shooting it double-action.

You have to wonder how much it would cost to make one of these revolvers nowadays. Probably too much to be economically viable.

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An Interesting Review Of The Glock 41

February 12, 2014 by 2 Comments

Almost lost in all the hoopla over Glock introducing a single stack .380 ACP pistol was their other introduction at the SHOT Show – the Glock 41. This new pistol is a long-slide Glock along the lines of the Glock 34 and 35 but in .45 ACP. Greg Hickok in his review below refers to it being “practical-tactical” in that is could both be used for competition and for self-defense.

The reason I’m posting the review by Greg aka Hickok45 is that it is one of the best reviews of this new pistol that I’ve seen. I think the Glock 41 will probably sell well and give other double-stack .45s a run for their money. I don’t know if I’d trade my 1911s for it but I might add it to the gun collection.

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Just In Time For Halloween

October 31, 2013 by 1 Comment

If you are a fan of the YouTube videos of Greg Hickok aka Hickok45, then you know in addition to his marvelous gun reviews he has a thing about pumpkins. He shoots them, he blows them up, he knives them, he mows over them, he bashes them with a baseball bat, etc. You get the picture.

Now someone has taken four years of Hickok45 killing pumpkins and done a mashup of it. I didn’t know there were that many ways to kill a pumpkin!

As to my favorite way to kill a pumpkin, it will always remain eating it as in a pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

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Just Because..

May 24, 2013 by 1 Comment

I’m posting this just because it entertained me. I love Greg Hickok aka Hickok45’s YouTube videos and this one is no exception. Who among us wouldn’t want to shoot a Sten submachine gun? I know ammo is in short supply but I’d scrounge the “ammo bunker” to find enough 9mm to go shooting for an afternoon with the Sten.

While you can’t legally make and register a new Sten under the NFA with the ATF thanks to the Hughes Amendment, full blueprints are available. If we ever enter a TEOTWAWKI (or the new acronym, WROL) period, I have no doubt that a competent machinist with a decent workshop including a milling machine could make one.

Below is an animation of the Sten firing. You can see that it is an open bolt, blowback operated, firing mechanism.

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Neutrality Through Marksmanship

March 30, 2013 by 3 Comments

Greg Hickok – Hickock45 on YouTube – just did an excellent overview of the Swedish M96 Mauser and the 6.5×55 cartridge. This is a rifle and round that I really like. My very first rifle purchased with my C&R license was a Swedish M38 Mauser made by Husqvarna. Over time my collection of Swedish Mausers has expanded to the point where I’m only missing the M94.

Greg goes through some of the history of the M96, compares it side-by-side to the German K98, and then provides some shooting demonstration of the rifle. For those that think the 6.5×55 round is a bit light for big game, it has taken many an “elk” (or moose as we call them) in Sweden.

The title of this post comes from Doug Bowser’s excellent guide to all the Swedish Mausers and the Ag/M42 Ljungman. The book which had long been out of stock is now available from Empire Arms. If you have a Swedish Mauser or want one, I can highly recommend this book.

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Hickok45 Tests Out Joe Biden’s Advice…Kinda

March 25, 2013 by

Greg Hickok – Hickok45 on YouTube – decided to test out Vice-President Joe Biden’s advice that a double barrel shotgun is the best thing for home defense. He compared its ease of use and effectiveness to the AR-15 with a standard capacity magazine. Greg didn’t fire through a door or shoot into the air as Mr. Biden famously suggested.

Greg decided, unsurprisingly, that the AR-15 would be his choice for home defense. It has less recoil, it is easier to reload in a stressful situation, it provides more rounds of ammunition, and it would be more effective against multiple attackers as in many home invasions. The double barrel shotgun, by contrast, would have significantly more recoil, requires aiming – not mere pointing – to be accurate, has limited capacity, and would be prone to difficult reloads in stressful situations like when facing home invaders or other intruders.

One of the objections that some might raise to the AR-15 as compared to the double barrel shotgun is the issue of over-penetration. Olympic Arms conducted tests on this and also examined other studies comparing penetration of the .223 versus typical handgun and shotgun rounds. They found that the 5.56/.223 55 grain HP tended to break apart in drywall. The results of another test are shown here. This test used five different .223 rounds. Like all things, it comes down to the choice of ammo.

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Good Advice For Newbies

February 23, 2013 by 2 Comments

Greg Hickok – Hickok45 on YouTube – has some good advice for new shooters on how not to shoot a semi-auto pistol. I’m glad he’s doing videos like this as they are needed.

At my company’s regional meeting that I mentioned yesterday, I spoke with at least two of my colleagues who were considering getting their first firearm. One of these colleagues also said his dad, a NRA-hating retired college professor, was also considering buying a gun for the house. My point is that there are a lot of new shooters out there who could use this type of info.