Ballistic Magazine June-July 2023: We Heart Guns!

If there’s one thing to be learned from the Ballistic/Skillset issue ahead it’s that the magazine’s print and digital editors and content creators like to have fun. Also, guns are fun, and we have mad crushes on subject matter revolving around all things pew-pew. That said, guns in the wrong hands, say, in the hands of a mentally deranged, truly evil being or a person who doesn’t know (and practice religiously) the tenets of gun safety can make life go off-the-rails deadly in a hot second.

We Heart Guns–Here’s the Proof: Ballistic Magazine June-July 2023

Since we’re responsible adults and realize that there might be some first-time gun owners in the audience, it’s worth spelling out the late Colonel Jeff Cooper’s four rules of firearm safety:

All guns are always loaded.
Never let the muzzle cover anything you’re not prepared to destroy.
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target.
Be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.

Knowing the rules by heart doesn’t end the lesson. Cooper also drove home the point that gun owners must practice safe gun handling skills until they become part of our personalities. Alright, safety talk over. Onward to the fun-gun stuff.

STAG PARTY!

Let’s kick summer off with a party—a Stag Arms party! OK, that’s a lame-ass dad joke, but still, set your sights on the cover-exclusive story that packs in new big-bore hunting and defense/sport models from the now Wyoming-based Stag Arms. To say we’re happy that Stag escaped communist Connecticut is an understatement. Other party favors include the first-look review of Sightmark’s new day/night Wraith Mini Thermal scope. You won’t believe its killer street price, especially when considering this optic’s umpteen functions. We can’t confirm, but the Wraith Mini might even be able to wash and fold laundry! We’ll know more after the companion video of author Fred Mastison hunting hogs in Texas goes live on ballisticmag.com. Hint, hint: Look for the QR code.

Speaking of Fred, QR codes and hot summer fun…FORE, look out! Don’t miss content on Strike Industries’ 5.56-driven Oppressor Golf Ball launcher (muzzle device). Grip and rip over to the “Hot Pick” story if you think you have the nuts to be a real Golf-AR.

Who asked for “big party nuts”? Somebody did, clearly, as you’ll see when you read Jay Langston’s take on Taurus’ .460 S&W-chambered Raging Hunter Magnum. If ever there was a true hunter’s hand cannon, this one is definitively it!

Ballistic Belly Laughs

To keep bellies full of laughter during this party, we’ve leaned on crew clown Francis Macomber. His “Brew Ha Ha” column is comical, but his “Roundtable” discussion with a flamboyant IPSC master and a SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) blaster is pure gold.

Those are just a few highlights of what’s ahead on the Ballistic side of the issue. Our Skillset compadres are bringing 36 pages of “dry and edgy” heat straight outta Arizona. It’s headlined by the masked (and goggled), 3-D-gun-printing, HK-slapping, song-singing, mega-interwebs sensation known as “Print Shoot Repeat,” or PSR for short.

At the book’s end, we hope you’ll direct a Bill Murray Stripes quote at us, “Lee Harvey, you are a madman…I wanna party with you, cowboy.” Editdesk@athlonoutdoors.com is the best way to hit us with after-party notes.

Ballistic & Skillset June/July 2023, Volume 9 Issue 4

FEATURES

ON THE COVER

All the Rage: Taurus redefines the hand cannon market with its new 460 S&W Raging Hunter Magnum
Go Stag!: The new Pursuit and SPCTRM lines deliver new-age AR badassery no matter the mission

WELL DONE OVER-UNDER

Starter shooting sports tips plus a look at CZ’s All-American blaster

INTO THE FOLD?

Smith’s M&P line continues to turn heads with the Folding Pistol Carbine

SURVIVAL SHOP TALK

Q&A with Leo Espinoza and Joe Flowers

SMALLBORE SHOWDOWN

Air-powered Umarex Gauntlet 2 tries to outdo the Vudoo Three 60

DOUBLE PLAY

Why Springfield’s 4.25- and 5-inch 1911 DS Prodigy guns are true do-it-alls

SAFE & SECURE?

How about letting SecureIt’s CEO Tom Kubiniec be the judge of that

COWPOKE VS. IPSC STUD

Let’s gas it up and burn it down at the “Roundtable”

DEPARTMENTS

BREW HA HA: Meanderings of a modern cavalier
HOT PICKS: Have some FORE FUN with Strike Industries’ Oppressor 5.56-driven Golf Ball Launcher
BOX OFFICE: Top Gun: Maverick goes under the microscope
GLASS REPORT: Exclusive first-look at Sightmark’s new Wraith Mini thermal riflescope
WILD RIDES: It’s no speed demon, but Robo Systems’ affordable 2×2 Ultra is a post-SHTF gem
WILD KITCHEN: Backyard dads play the ultimate high-steaks grilling game
AFTER HOURS: Four killer cocktails that help Cubans bear the brunt of Communism
HEALTH: HOIST lets you ditch silly sports drinks and H2O and stay sharp on the range or battlefield
THE UNKNOWNS: It’s in your face time with a pair of eccentric companies
POP GUN CULTURE: Let’s set the record straight on where the Sci-Fi flicks got their famous blasters