Richard Johnson is an American author, editor and entrepreneur.
A former police officer and trainer, he left public service and founded Tac6 Media, LLC.
Richard is a prolific writer with hundreds of articles related to firearms and law enforcement published by Harris Publications, Athlon Outdoors, NRA, Police & Security News, The Firearm Blog, Human Events and more.
He currently consults with clients who need online publication management, editorial services, content production and organic traffic acquisition through search engine optimization.
Ahead of the 2012 SHOT Show, Magnum Research announced a new .22 LR rifle called the MLR22AT. This rifle is part of the Magnum Lite series of rimfire rifles offered from Magnum Research.
The MLR22AT uses a graphite bull barrel which is supposed to be six times stiffer than steel, up to a pound lighter than steel and dissipates heat up to 43% faster than steel. This rifle has a 17″ barrel and synthetic stock, making a total weight of 4.25 pounds.
The MLR22AT uses the Ruger 10/22 trigger group and magazines. I admit to not knowing much about the Magnum Lite line of rifles, so I do not know what kind of arrangement Magnum Research (owned by Kahr) has with Ruger for the parts production. But, it certainly speaks to the quality of the 10/22 rifle.
If you want a holster for the Ruger SR-22 pistol announced yesterday, you do have a few options available immediately. These are going to be the more generic, “one size fits many” type holsters, but they will work.
There were some interesting tidbits of information in “Firearms Commerce in the United States 2011” published recently by the ATF.
Manufacturing – There are 5400 licensed firearms manufacturers in the United States. Going through my web browser’s bookmarks, I clearly have only a small fraction of that number on my radar.
It stands to reason that if the USA is built on small business, so is the firearms industry. While not everyone is a Remington, Ruger or Smith & Wesson, a manufacturer doesn’t need to be massive to be profitable. There are a lot of small manufacturers that are building custom rifles, race guns and other niche firearms. Thousands of them, actually.
I may be the last person to have heard, but CMMG is making AR-style rifles chambered for the .300 BLK cartridge. (As it turns out, I was not. I got an e-mail from a guy who had been stranded in the arctic for the past six months who had not heard about these rifles either.)
Essentially, there are four variants of the M300 Blackout rifle. All four of the carbines have 16″ barrels with 1:8 twist and a six position M-4 style buttstock. Two of the models have a flat top receiver, no sights and a mid-length quad-rail.
The other two CMMG M300 versions have the flat top receiver, A2 front sight, Magpul rear BUIS and the standard carbine length handguard (no rails).
Concerned about zombie gophers? Maybe a hog that’s turned undead?
Hornady once offered an ammo line they believed was the best ammunition for zombies. Called the Z-Max line, the completely real ammunition used a polymer tipped hollowpoint bullet that was identical to those found in the A-Max line.
Depending on when you are reading this article, you may not be aware that a zombie craze dominated pop culture from about 2008 through 2013. There were movies, TV shows and video games around the idea of a post-apocalypse zombie nation.
Before the fad faded, the gun and outdoors industries were hit by the same bug.
Gun accessories, knives and other things were offered in zombie green – a near-fluorescent green that people frequently associated with chemical substances that would turn a man into the walking undead.
Here are just a few of the zombie-themed goodies that were offered by companies:
Hornady got in on the act with the Z-Max line of ammunition.
Z-Max: Best Ammo for Zombies
The Z-Max line of loaded ammunition used polymer-tipped hollowpoint bullets. That polymer tip was zombie green, but the rest of the bullet’s construction was identical to the company’s existing A-Max line.
In other words, the difference between the Z-Max line and the A-Max line was purely cosmetic.
That also meant that Z-Max ammunition was serious business.
Specifically designed to “…vaporize zombie varmints,” Hornady claimed the Z-Max bullets had “ultra-flat trajectories” to “send mangy menaces to the varmint graveyard.”
In rifle calibers, the Z-Max loads performed identically to the A-Max loads. Deer, hogs and bear all went down when hit by the Z-Max. I am not aware of any that became zombies afterward.
According to Hornady, the Z-Max bullets are built to “make dead permanent.” I’d still suggest headshots. I’m sure the new technology is good, but the tried-and-true headshot is the reliable method for zombie killing.
My experience with the Z-Max rifle rounds was limited. However, I did have a chance to shoot some and see their results first hand.
Z-Max Review: Hog Hunt
In 2012, I went on a hog hunt with Paul Carlson of Safety the Solutions Academy. Carlson had a new Desert Tech SRS rifle he wanted to test. As it was the middle of an ammo shortage, Carlson was only able to turn up a few boxes of Hornady Z-Max in .308 Win for the hunt.
Carlson flew down to my home state of Florida where we have more feral hogs than retirees.
Before heading out to the field, Carlson sighted the rifle in. Five shot groups were all touching with the Z-Max ammo. Not bad for factory stuff sold as a gimmick.
While my group wasn’t as tight as Carlson’s, it wasn’t bad for my first time shooting the gun.
I also got some time behind the Desert Tech rifle. Like Carlson, I was eating the center out of targets at 100 yards from a prone position. The rifle combined with the Z-Max ammo made it look easy.
Initially, we had a guide take us upriver to a private hunting preserve. However, conditions were not optimal and we had to change our plans.
The guide was fantastic, and he immediately shifted to plan B. He arranged for a hunt on the lands of Ross Hammock Ranch near Inglis, FL. The folks there treated us like kings, and their facilities are top-notch!
Later in the day, we set up in an elevated box near a feeding area the hogs liked to use. As the evening brought dwindling light, we thought that the hogs weren’t coming. So, like rookies we descended from the box.
Once on the ground, they came in. From a prone position about 85 yards from the hogs, Carlson took a single shot on a sow that had turned to expose her left shoulder.
The track was short – maybe 15 yards – with lots of blood plainly visible. At the end of the run was a 220-ish pound hog that put meat on the table and in the freezer for both of us.
The Z-Max bullet entered the center of the left shoulder and exited a little lower on the right side of the body. It did extensive damage and caused massive bleeding. The kill was quick and as clean as one could hope for.
After examining the results, neither Carlson nor I could find any performance issues with the Z-Max round.
Hornady Z-Max Bullets for Reloading
Hornady also released its Z-Max bullets as a component for all of the handloaders out there.
The green polymer-tipped bullets were initially offered in a variety of popular varmint sizes and weights (see below for the specifics and a video). The company later expanded this to include additional bullet sizes and weights.
The initial Hornady Z-Max bullets manufactured were:
17 caliber (0.172″, 20 grains)
20 caliber (0.204″, 32 grains)
22 caliber (0.224″, 40 grains)
22 caliber (0.224″, 50 grains)
22 caliber (0.224″, 55 grains)
6mm (0.243″, 58 grains)
7.62×39 (0.310″, 123 grains)
I don’t know where the zombie meme ends, but it abated during the past several years. Maybe we’ll someday see a anti-zombie revolver from Taurus called JUDGEment Day.
