Berger bullets are exceptional target bullets for several reasons. Walt Berger, the company’s founder, established extremely high quality-control standards to ensure every bullet is manufactured to exact tolerances. He is also one of the most accomplished benchrest shooters in the world.

But, Berger bullets became match winners for other reasons: like because of the legendary J4 jacket. More than 40 years ago, a man named Jim Spivey left Sierra Bullets and opened up a deep-hole draw house that manufactured dynamite caps, lipstick tubes and such. The no compete bullet-making clause Spivey signed with Sierra soon expired, and he began making bullet jackets. These jackets were known as J4 jackets because the four guys who formed the company all had first names that started with the letter “J.”

J4 Jackets had a maximum total run-out of 3/10,000 inch or less at the base and 5/10,000 inch or less at the mouth. These gilding-metal jackets were received very enthusiastically by bulletmakers and benchrest shooters. Berger was one of the first to use them. His company still uses them to this day. Berger even supplies J4 Jackets to other bullet manufacturers.

The other thing that set Berger apart was the very low drag (VLD) bullet. In the mid 1980s Dr. Louis Palmisano teamed up with military ballistician William Davis to develop this bullet, which incorporated a secant as opposed to the common tangent ogive with a long, tapered boattail. Together, these features increased the ballistic coefficient of the bullet, giving it a laser-like trajectory and better wind resistance. Berger started making these super slippery bullets, too.

Berger asked whether its VLD bullets would be included in the book, because they were being used successfully by customers for hunting. I had serious doubts about the VLD’s ability to effectively take big-game animals, a field test was suggested. In the end, I was stunned at how well these bullets killed hogs—so much so another hunt in New Zealand for red stag and feral goats was scheduled. After more than 50 animals were harvested using VLDs—in calibers ranging from .257 Roberts to .308 Win.—I was convinced, and can confirm Berger VLD hunting bullets tend to put game down faster than any other bullet I’ve used.

How do they work? How could this flat-shooting match bullet go against the laws of physics and demonstrate such effective terminal performance when it only retains about 50 percent of its weight? For starters, it’s due to the VLDs streamlined shape or sharpness, which is able to penetrate deeper inside a critter before it begins to deform. Secondly, when the bullet does begin deforming, it does not really expand, it implodes.

You see, the hollow-point cavity in the Berger VLD is massive, and when its jacket gives way due to resistance, it collapses from the center. This generally occurs after about 3 to 4 inches of penetration. When the collapse occurs, the pure-lead core erupts. This eruption happens at a very high velocity compared to traditional expanding bullets, because it has not been slowed by traditional expansion. So, the resulting wound cavity is massive, and occurs on the side of the ribs where vital organs are housed. Penetration is moderate, but the resulting tissue damage is extensive. If you’re looking for a long-range bullet capable of extreme lethality, the Berger VLD has no equal.

Folks looking for load data or related technical information on Berger bullets used to have to call or e-mail Berger for information. Very often, these questions were answered by Walt Berger himself, who is now semiretired, but still works as a consultant for the company. Now, you can have that type technical information right at your fingertips, because the company has just published its first load manual.

Not only does this 829-page manual contain load data for more than 70 cartridges, you’ll find technical reloading information dealing with lot to lot variations in powder, the use of QuickLOAD software, powder burn rates and interesting information about cartridge overall length. The book also contains a comparison between G1 and G7 ballistic coefficients, barrel twist-rate information and 10 chapters dealing with various rifle shooting disciplines, all from trusted sources like John Barsness, John Haviland, Ron Spomer, Tom Burczynski, David Tubb, Robert Forker, Rick Jamison, Bryan Litz and many others.

As an added bonus, the book includes the story of Walt Berger, with whom I’ve had the privilege of shooting and hunting. I’ve heard his story from the source, and Berger has my respect. Not only is he a pioneer, this depression-era American built a respected and successful company and never borrowed a penny from anyone to do it. Yep, he built it. Berger is a gentleman and immeasurably humble. He has been gifted with one of the best trigger fingers ever bestowed on any man. If you like shooting little groups at long range, you need this book. After you read it, you’ll never look at a Berger bullet the same way again.

In the world of firearms, I doubt there’s a subject more controversial than defensive handgun ammunition. Before delving into the specifics of Hornady’s Critical Duty and Critical Defense loads, you need to understand something about terminal ballistics. Defensive handguns are very inadequate at stopping bad guys. The bullets make small holes and damage small amounts of tissue. Like Gunsite instructor Charlie McNeese says, “Humans are hydraulic machines; they run on fluid.” All you can really hope a defensive handgun bullet will do is let a lot of fluid out in a hurry.

The problem with this approach is that even with a big leak, a bad guy can operate long enough to return the favor. It might come down to who leaks the most, the soonest. There are really only three factors that contribute to wounding with any defensive handgun bullet: expansion, penetration and velocity. In other words, a bullet’s effectiveness is determined by how big a hole it makes, how deep it penetrates and how fast it hits.

You could say, all else being equal, the bullet that expands the most is better. But, you could also say the same about the bullet that penetrates the deepest or the one going the fastest. It’s easy to make a bullet go fast, penetrate deep or expand wide, and these three factors are what bullet engineers must balance when designing any defensive handgun load. What balance is best?

Hornady has its opinion on balance, and the balance the company achieved with its Critical Duty ammunition meets or exceeds FBI standards. Hornady reports that when Critical Duty ammo is subjected to the FBI’s intermediate barrier tests—auto glass, heavy clothing, plywood, drywall and sheet steel—you can expect at least 13 inches of penetration and expansion of between 1.2 and 1.6 times the bullet’s original diameter.

This is relatively common performance for most modern law enforcement loads. The difference is most use bonded bullets, while Hornady’s Critical Duty loads are not bonded. The Critical Duty utilizes a projectile called the FlexLock bullet, which is the latest in the evolution of Hornady’s XTP bullet that has been loaded in defensive handgun ammunition for more than 20 years.

Hornady’s 165-grain .40 S&W Critical Defense load delivers very good performance for this cartridge, with mild recoil.

The jacketed-hollow-point (JHP) XTP bullet has a lead core and a copper jacket.The jacket gets thicker the closer it gets to the bullet’s base. XTPs have a reputation of moderate expansion, high weight retention and deep penetration. The weak link of standard JHP bullets like the XTP is the hollow-point cavity must fill with something uncompressible, like bodily fluids, during penetration. If not, or if the hollow point gets clogged with barrier material, this hydraulic reaction—expansion—cannot occur.

In 2009 Hornady found a solution with what it calls the FlexTip (FTX) bullet. The FTX was essentially an XTP with a polymer ball inserted inside the hollow-point cavity. It’s loaded in Hornady’s Critical Defense ammo and circumvented the problem of hollow points clogging, because the bullet already had an uncompressible material inside the nose cavity. When the bullet impacted something, force on the bullet’s nose pressed the polymer ball out against the sides of the cavity and caused the bullet to expand. It sort of mimicked Federal’s Guard Dog EMFJ (expanding full-metal jacket) and Cor-Bon’s Pow’RBall loads.

With Critical Defense, Hornady also provided an option for civilians looking for effective defensive handgun ammunition with controllable recoil. Since the expansion of the FTX bullet was not so dependent on velocity, Hornady chose lighter-weight bullets. This reduced recoil and made compact handguns easier to shoot. The lighter bullets at moderate velocities also reduced concerns of overpenetration.

Now remember, building defensive handgun ammunition is a balancing act. With Critical Defense, Hornady achieved a certain balance of velocity, expansion and penetration for a wide range of cartridges—.22 WMR to .45 Colt—which had yet to be offered by any other manufacturer.

With Critical Duty, Hornady focused on the bullet’s ability to defeat the intermediate barriers called for in the FBI testing procedures. These loads were designed for duty- size handguns and specifically for law enforcement use.

Although there are subtle differences between the Critical Defense FTX bullet and the newer Critical Duty FlexLock bullet, the major difference is the jacket of the FlexLock bullet is mechanically locked to the core. About midway along the bourelet—the section of the bullet which is of caliber diameter—there is a thick band which protrudes into the core material. This band holds the core in the jacket, preventing separation potentially induced by tough intermediate barriers like auto glass.

Does this mean that Hornady’s Critical Duty ammunition is the best option when it comes to stopping bad guys? Is it better than Hornady’s Critical Defense ammo? Nope. It just means Hornady has found a different balance, one capable of exceeding or meeting the FBI requirements. But, as with most things, there’s more to the story.

Bullet weights for the three Critical Duty loads are odd: 135 grains for 9 mm and 175 grains for .40 S&W. Also, like with Critical Defense loads, Critical Duty ammunition is loaded in nickel-plated cases, which increases feeding and extraction reliability. There’s also something not so obvious: The core of the FlexLock bullet has a high antimony content, which makes it harder than pure lead.

You can view the specifications and FBI test results for all three Critical Duty loads on the Hornady website. If you’re a law enforcement agency, this is all good info. If you’re just an average guy like me, looking for a good load to stuff in the magazine of your carry gun, the important question might be, “What is best for carry in a defensive handgun, Critical Duty or Critical Defense?”

Steel is tough on bullets and often makes them come apart—the core sheds the jacket. Even though the Hornady 9 mm Critical Duty load did not expand after passing through 16 gauge steel, it held together and penetrated 25.5 inches.

I’m a trust-but-verify kind of guy, so I conducted my own testing of both Critical Defense and Critical Duty ammo using 10-percent ordnance gelatin, denim fabric and 16-gauge stainless steel. (The FBI tests specify two layers of hot-rolled 20-gauge steel separated by 3 inches.) I also used long- and short-barreled 9 mm pistols for the tests to see how the bullets would react to reduced velocities. The first thing I found was the velocities of both were very consistent—as consistent, if not more so, than any handgun ammunition I’ve tested. When testing advanced to terminal performance, things got really interesting.

On average and through all barriers, the Critical Duty loads penetrated 25 percent deeper than the Critical Defense loads. However, the Critical Defense loads showed 9 percent more expansion. Interestingly, in my four layers of denim tests, the 9 mm Critical Defense load expanded more than the Critical Duty load. When both .40 S&W loads were fired through the four layers of denim, the Critical Duty load did not expand at all, and the Critical Defense load expanded well, but penetration was limited.

As for the steel tests, it would appear one layer of 16-gauge stainless steel is much harder on bullets than two layers of 20-gauge hot-rolled steel. None of the bullets expanded and all penetrated about 2 feet.

The Critical Duty loads did much better through two layers of denim than four. The 9 mm load expanded to 0.490 inch and the .40 S&W to 0.515 inch. The Critical Defense loads performed so well through four layers of denim, they were not subjected to the two-layer tests.

When fired through two layers of denim and into 10-percent ordnance gelatin, the 175-grain Hornady .40 S&W Critical Duty load expanded to 0.515 inch and penetrated 20 inches.

What does all this data tell us? First, understand I did not try to duplicate the FBI tests. My goal was to see the terminal performance differences between Critical Defense and Critical Duty ammo. Also, 200 rounds of each load were fired through the test handguns, and there were no hiccups. Accuracy was totally sufficient for head shots on zombies at any handgun range.

Which should you choose for your defensive handgun? If you don’t mind recoil, like more penetration and think you might have to deal with bad guys shooting at you from behind barriers, go with Critical Duty. If you prefer wider expansion and less recoil, choose Critical Defense, which is optimized for use in short-barreled, compact handguns. For what it’s worth, the Kimber Solo Carry I used for the tests is my wife’s. When she carries it, it’s loaded with Hornady Critical Defense ammo. Poke a bad guy in the solar plexus with any of these, and I’m betting he will leak and the coroner won’t be able to tell if your handgun was loaded with Critical Duty or Critical Defense.

Hornady Critical Defense vs. Critical Duty Velocities

NOTES: Average velocity (AV), maximum velocity deviation (MD) and standard velocity deviation (SD) are all reported in fps and were established by firing 10 shots over a Shooting Chrony positioned 10 feet from the muzzle. Temperature: 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Guns are indicated as: Kimber Solo Carry with a 2.7-inch barrel (K), Smith & Wesson M&P with a 4.25-inch barrel (S) and TriStar C-100 with a 3.9-inch barrel (T).

Gelatin Testing

Velocity (VEL) measured in fps and was recorded 4 feet from the muzzle prior to gel-block entry. Gel blocks were placed at 3 feet and penetration (PEN) was measured in inches to the nearest quarter inch. Expansion (EXP) measurements represent the average expanded diameter of the recovered bullet in inches and the recovered bullet weight (RW) was rounded up to the nearest grain. * = Advertised performance per Hornady website. Temperature: 83 degrees Fahrenheit. Guns are indicated as: Kimber Solo Carry with a 2.7-inch barrel (K), Smith & Wesson M&P with a 4.25-inch barrel (S) and TriStar C100 with a 3.9-inch barrel (T).

Hornady Critical Duty Accuracy Results

Accuracy measured in inches for five, five-shot groups from a sandbag rest at a distance of 25 yards. A Smith & Wesson M&P was used for testing the .40 S&W load and a TriStar C-100 for the 9 mm.

Look at the gear many suggest you need for long-range shooting, and you’ll quickly see why the experts think we’re all trust-fund kids with money to burn. There’s no question the tools of the long-range shooting trade have become highly sophisticated and amazingly precise. They can also be overly complicated for the fellow who just wants to hit the range every month or so and impress onlookers.

Most modern long-range tools are designed for practiced military snipers. If that’s who you are, you’re wasting your time reading this; go play X-Box or watch “The Bachelorette.” This article is a reality show for real folks. With the right equipment, real, average guys can be just as effective out to 500 yards as most wannabe ninja operatives who call themselves a sniper—even if they have been to high-dollar, long-range shooting schools.

The Gear

For about $3,000, you can put together a system capable of nailing targets out to 500 yards using quality ammo. It starts with a quality rifle like this Remington Model 700 SPS Tactical.

You’re gonna need a rifle, and rifles can be expensive. I recently tested a very fine-shooting, custom sniper rifle that could repeatedly put five shots into a single hole at 100 yards. That rifle cost almost $4,000. I cannot afford a four-grand rifle, and the fact is, you don’t need a high-dollar model. If you want one and have the money, go for it. I have three kids and a mortgage, so I took a more practical approach and chose a Remington Model 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD in .308 Win. Suggested retail: $780. Street price: $645.

With the Black Hills 175-grain Match hollow-point load, this rifle shoots astoundingly well; just as well as the four-grand custom rifle. Combine this precision with a 1:10-inch twist, 20-inch heavy barrel (which also has a threaded muzzle), a Hogue OverMolded Pillar Bed Ghillie Green Stock and Remington’s externally adjustable X-Mark Pro trigger—which felt every bit as good as a Timney—and you’ve got yourself an incomparable bargain when it comes to precision rifles.

For long-range shooting in the field, a good bipod is a must. This Harris model adjusts from 6 to 9 inches high and is ideal for working from prone.

You’ll need accessories, too. For starters, there’s the bipod. Harris bipods have been the industry standard for a long time, and that’s the route I went. Serious long-range rifle work is conducted from the prone position, and from there, a 6- to 9-inch bipod is ideal. Both fixed and swivel versions are available. The latter offers a bit more leeway in positioning, but it’s not a must. I chose the fixed version and Brownells had one headed my way for $80.

A butt-cuff or cheek rest is a good idea, too. It positions your eye properly behind the scope and provides storage for extra ammo and important accessories. Shop around and find one you like. I selected the IVS Performance Cheek Pad from Blackhawk. It’s adjustable, and you can build up under it to create an optimal cheek weld. It also holds five cartridges externally and has a generous storage pocket that comes in handy.

Finally, you’re going to need a sighting system, otherwise known as a riflescope. The selection of the proper optic is the key to my tacti-simple long-range concept. Most tactical riflescopes have a mil-dot reticle, which is a very effective tool for long-range shooting, but can be confusing without a good deal of study and routine use. Also, it’s best suited to working with a spotter—who can give the shooter corrections in mils—and most average guys don’t have a skilled spotter to take with them to the range. Your girlfriend does not count.

There are bookoo long-range reticles in varied configurations, however. They all work. The problem is, many are as hard to decipher as Sudoku puzzle. You need to use them often to be able to employ them with efficiency and speed. Most tactical riflescopes also come with target turrets, which are elevated windage and elevation adjustments with ¼-MOA or .1-mil clicks. These turrets help you to dial in your hits at long range, but you have to know how many clicks to make at any given range.

I’m sorry: my life is already confusing enough. I spend a half-hour each day arguing with my smartphone. Leupold’s CDS (Custom Dial System) riflescope seemed like the hillbilly solution to the physics problems of long-range shooting. This riflescope utilizes a common duplex reticle and custom elevation dials, which have been marked to match the trajectory profile of your ammo from your rifle. If you want to hit at 400 yards, you turn the dial to “4” and shoot. Stupid simple!

With a Leupold CDS riflescope you can have an elevation dial custom built to match your ammo. You can also have multiple dials built for different loads and conditions.

The CDS concept works because you actually go to the range and chronograph your ammo to determine an average muzzle velocity. Then, just send that velocity, along with some other information, to Leupold and it will custom engrave a turret for your new scope. This is precisely what I did using the Black Hills 175-grain load, which averaged 2,525 fps from my Remington SPS Tactical at 2,200 feet above sea level. Leupold created an elevation dial to match that trajectory. Cost: $875.

Obviously, a riflescope has to be mounted, and the mount has to be solid. I learned a long time ago not to skimp on scope mounts—no matter what—so Leupold’s Mark 4 rings, which are also used by military and police snipers, were the logical choice. However, instead of going with a two-piece base, I chose a one-piece Leupold Mark 4 base that has a 15-MOA cant built in. This offset ensured I would have plenty of adjustment to zero the riflescope and still dial in a 500-yard trajectory correction. Cost: $359.

The last piece of gear needed was something to help me estimate range. Most tactards and professional snipers use the mil-dot reticle to estimate range. By comparing the size of known objects to the reticle and working a math problem, this is an effective method. I do enough math at tax time to last me all year, so I wanted a simpler solution. I found it for $399: Leupold’s RX-1000i TBR with DNA Digital Laser Rangefinder.

No more guessing and no more math. I’ve yet to point this at a target inside of 600 yards and not get a solid reading. Additionally, with True Ballistic Ranging (TBR) technology, compensation is made for the angle to the target, so it does not matter if you’re shooting at steep angles, up or down. Just put it on target and push a button. Also, the unit fits inside the accessory pouch on the Blackhawk IVS Performance Cheek Pad.

Leupold’s compact RX-1000i rangefinder fits nicely in the Blackhawk IVS Performance Cheek Pad.

Proper Application

The heavy-barreled rifle with a good trigger, bipod and cheek piece provides a comfortable and solid platform. Fantastic optics in the Leupold VX-3L scope give a crisp view of the target and the RX-1000i rangefinder will tell you target distance. Once in position with a known range to target, simply dial in the distance. The only thing left to consider is wind. As complicated as correcting for wind can be, there’s a simple trick.

Let’s say you’re shooting at an IPSC silhouette target at 500 yards. Side to side, this target will measure 18 inches. Wind is rarely full value, and even more rarely is it constant from muzzle to target. But, let’s assume you have a constant, full-value 5-mph wind. It will cause a 175-grain SMK .308 Win. bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,525 fps to drift about 12.5 inches at 500 yards. Your correction is simple: If the wind is left to right, hold on the target’s left edge.

What if you miss? Assuming you ranged the target correctly and didn’t bugger the shot, your miss was due to wind. If it is indeed blowing left to right and you held on the left edge, yet still missed, you misjudged wind velocity. So, take a calculated guess. When dealing with a known wind direction but an unknown velocity, the correction is always a half target. In other words, you hold a half-target more into the wind.

In this instance, with the 18-inch IPSC target, you’ll now be holding a half target (9 inches) to the left. If the wind is double your initial guess of 5 mph, your bullet will drift about 20 inches to the right. Since you’re holding 9 inches left, on an 18-inch target, the bullet should strike about 2 inches right of center.

By applying the half-target wind-correction technique, you can shoot accurately in the wind without consulting a log book or memorizing a bunch of holds. (click to enlarge)

It’s really a simple process. If you think there’s no wind, hold center. If you miss, correct with a half-target hold in the direction you think the wind might be coming from. If you’re already holding a half-target into the wind and miss, make another half-target correction. Granted, if you see the bullet splash off to one side of the target, simply correct an equal amount in the opposite direction.

Does It Work?

There was only one way to find out if my long-range tacti-simple approach works. I precisely zeroed my Model 700 SPS at 100 yards with the 175-grain Black Hills load and set the custom CDS dial to zero. I then went to a large crop field near my home, set up a target and limited my test to five shots: one shot each from 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 yards. I figured a miss at any range would constitute failure.

There was no failure. Every shot was a hit. Not a perfect, dead-center hit, but a hit. On the day I put these simple methods to the test, the wind was gusting from about 4 o’clock at an estimated 3 to 7 mph. To compensate, I held dead on at 100, 200 and 300 yards, and on the target’s left edge at 400 and 500 yards.

So there you have it. A $3,000 solution to long-range shooting that requires you to work no math problems or memorize wind values. The keys are knowing your rifle and zeroing it with a specific load, and then using a bit of technology while keeping it simple.

Of course, even though these techniques are uncomplicated, you still need to practice. Marksmanship fundamentals still apply. Get those down, and the rest will come much easier.

If you really want to be tacti-simple and tacti-cool, you can install an Advanced Armament Corporation suppressor on the threaded muzzle of the Remington 700 SPS Tactical and you won’t even need to wear ear protection. It will add about another $700 to your rig, but you’ll be able to hear the zombies screaming when you hit them from five football fields away.

I have no idea who coined the term wildcat with regard to metallic cartridges. According to Frank Barnes, author of “Cartridges of the World,” which was first published in 1965, he had no idea either. The conventionally accepted definition of a wildcat cartridge would be any Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer’s Institute (SAAMI)-approved cartridge, the shape of which has been modified.

Actually, every cartridge started out as a wildcat— a new idea based on something else—but traditionally, the term refers to the modification of a commercial cartridge by a handloader who is not working for a major manufacturer. Probably the most famous of all wildcats is the .257 Roberts, developed by gun writer Ned Roberts in the late 1920s. In 1934, a very similar version of Roberts’ wildcat was adopted by Remington and given his name.

How does commercial adoption of a wildcat occur? The cartridge becomes so popular, a major manufacturer realizes money can be made by loading it. The manufacturer then submits cartridge drawings along with load and pressure data to SAAMI for standardization, and voila—a commercial round is born. A recent example of this would be the .300 AAC Blackout, legitimized by Advanced Armament Corporation and Remington. This cartridge had been around for many years in a very similar form called the .300 Whisper—a proprietary wildcat—developed by renowned wildcatter J.D. Jones.

Why would anyone want to develop a wildcat? Generally, it’s the quest for more, or sometimes less, velocity, but other factors influence development. A new law in Indiana, which allows .35- or larger-caliber cartridges to be used in rifles for deer hunting—as long as the cartridge case is no longer than 1.80 inches—has spawned a wide variety of wildcats like the .358 Gremlin, which is based on the 6.5 Grendel cartridge. Ironically, at the time of the Gremlin’s conception, the 6.5 Grendel was a wildcat, too (the Grendel has since been adopted by SAAMI). Hoosiers, once limited to shotguns, can now deer hunt with an AR-15—the platform wildcatters had in mind when engineering the Gremlin.

The 6.5 Grendel (left) and the 6.8 Rem. SPC (right) were once wildcat cartridges designed for the AR-15. Both have now been recognized by SAAMI, and factory ammunition is available from multiple sources.

Some wildcatters have visions of fame and fortune. This rarely happens. Even if a major manufacturer adopts a cartridge you design, don’t expect it to pay you anything. At best, your name might be linked to its development. Or, if you happen to be a famous gun writer (and I’m not sure if there even is such a thing anymore) like Roberts or Col. Townsend Whelen, there’s a chance your name will be on the cartridge headstamp. That’s something you could brag about, I guess.

This is precisely why some wildcatters keep their cartridge proprietary. They want some recognition and payback for all the hard work they’ve invested. They’ll sell you cases, dies, reamers and so forth, but the fact remains: a cartridge must go mainstream and see adoption by SAAMI and major manufacturers before it will ever truly make money or be historically important. While some might consider it genius, altering the shape of a brass cartridge case is not all that difficult or groundbreaking. Creating one everyone wants, now that is something.

I spent the last year editing the new  edition of “Cartridges of the World,” and part of my job was finding new and previously unlisted wildcat, proprietary and factory cartridges for inclusion. Many of the cartridges I uncovered, like the .358 Gremlin and the .25-45 Sharps, were specifically wildcatted for the AR-15 platform.

The development of a wildcat cartridge starts with an idea, but its realization is made possible by reamers. You see, for every cartridge—wildcat, proprietary, or factory—you need reamers, several reamers. You’ll need a chamber reamer to cut the chamber in the barrel. You’ll also need reamers for reloading dies. And, you’ll need Go/No-Go gauges so proper headspace on firearms can be set.

Dave Kiff at Pacific Tool & Gauge is probably the first stop if you want to make a wildcat. He will know if it’s already been done, if it can be done and how to do it. The company is the leading source for cartridge reamers and gauges for wildcatters and major manufacturers. Kiff recently helped American ballistician Jimmy Sloan develop a cartridge many consider superior to the .338 Lapua Mag. The new cartridge performed so well, Norma legitimized it as the .338 Norma Mag. Kiff also helped me put two wildcats together.

One problem with wildcat development is predicting or measuring pressure. Garage wildcatters often preach the velocity virtues of their creation, but have no idea what pressures it’s generating. There are some do-it-yourself pressure-measuring tools, but the best option is a ballistics laboratory. This is precisely what fellow hillbilly Mike Cyrus of Lehigh Defense did when he developed the .500 Cyrus. He purchased a pressure barrel and commissioned the experts at Hornady to safely sort it all out for him.

About every metallic cartridge you can imagine has already been created. Still, every year we see a new spin offering more velocity or one that is more compact and presumably more accurate. If you think you have the next, best idea, go for it. Maybe your wildcat will make it in the next edition of “Cartridges of the World.” Maybe some manufacturer will start loading it and even building rifles for it. Just don’t expect to get rich.

What are the problems with the Hi Power? For starters it has a magazine disconnect. This means the pistol will not fire if a magazine is not fully inserted. Some consider this a plausible safety feature, arguing if you are wrestling with a bad guy for control of your pistol, you can depress the magazine-release button and, well, just let him have it.

The other side of the argument is if, for whatever reason, during a struggle the magazine-release button gets depressed and the magazine is partially ejected or falls from the pistol, your gun is rendered useless. For what it’s worth, the magazine-disconnect button on the Hi Power was part of its original design criteria and is one of the reasons some Hi Power magazines do not drop free.

At any rate, no matter your take on the magazine disconnect, one thing is for sure: It makes the Browning Hi Power’s trigger atrocious. The good news is it’s a relatively easy fix to disable the magazine disconnect.

The Hi Power's short tang and long hammer spur have a tendency to bite the shooter's hand, which can be quite uncomfortable.

Another problem with the Hi Power is the short tang and long hammer spur, which combined give the pistol a tendency to bite the hand that shoots it. This is particularly a problem if you are accustomed to a high grip, like most competent shooters use. Fixing the Hi Power’s overbite problem is a bit more involved. No, you won’t need an orthodontist, but you will need a new hammer.

Fortunately, a savvy pistolsmith, a spring kit and the aforementioned hammer can correct both the bite and magazine-disconnect problems at the same time, and it will not cost nearly as much as a set of braces.

The third problem with the pistol is the ambidextrous safety. If you are right handed and shoot with a high grip, the bulbous end of the safety on the right side of the pistol—where the pin for the safety passes through the frame—will wear into your knuckle like in-laws on Christmas. You’re probably thinking that, like many gunwriters, this Mann guy is a wimp. Maybe so. But, with so many comfortable pistols on the market, why would anyone shoot one that isn’t? The good news is this safety is also an easy fix for a gunsmith.

While the Hi Power's factory sights were fine when the gun was introduced 75 years ago, better options abound in the 21st century.

Finally, there are the sights. From a sight-picture standpoint, Hi Power sights—even the early ones—are better than original 1911 sights. For some unfathomable reason, however, factory Hi Power sights have never evolved into the new millennium. As a matter of fact, they have never really evolved at all. The lone exception was the Hi Power clone offered by Charles Daly a few years back. It came with XS Sight Systems’ Big Dot sights. Here again, it is simple for a gunsmith to replace the factory sights with better options.

So, with everything wrong with a Browning Hi Power, you might be thinking: “Why mess with one at all?” Well, with very few exceptions, the Hi Power is the only true single-action 9 mm available. It’s also one of the most reliable pistols in any configuration, and field-stripping and assembly are as simple as it gets. The Hi Power’s grip might also be the most ergonomic of any handgun. Slim, trim and just about the perfect weight for carry, the Hi Power is almost perfectly balanced, with the barrel and slide weighing within an ounce of the frame. This, in conjunction with the grip, makes the Hi Power one of the easiest-shooting, easiest-to-control 9 mm pistols in the world.

Nuff said.

I finally decided it was time to permanently add a Hi Power to my arsenal—one that had been fixed. Robbie Barrkman at Robar told me he could build a Hi Power I’d like so much, I’d want to be buried with it. Did he deliver? Check out “High-Class Hi Power” in the April 2013 issue of Shooting Illustrated and see for yourself.

We’re living in the age of the modern pistol, which is typified by a polymer frame and a striker firing mechanism. Some like it. Others long for the days when pistols were made of steel. The majority of cops don’t care—most cops are not gun guys like many believe. Modern police officers want a pistol that is reliable, accurate, comfortable to shoot and light enough to carry all day, every day. Most cops would like to start their shift with a .44 Mag. By shift’s end, they’re ready to trade it for a .22. It wasn’t always like that.

Back in the day, cops were big men with big hands. It was easy for departments to arm their offi-cers with a single handgun model because most were about the same size. Cops complaining their pistol was too heavy got jail duty or became car salesmen. There might have been a few Barney Fifes, but there were no women wearing a badge. Not all that long ago, diversity was unheard of. Modern cops are men and women, some as big and ugly as Brock Lesnar, others as petite and eye-catching as Eva Longoria. It’s the ability of the FNS-9 to comfortably interface with this diverse mix that will make agencies take notice.

This is primarily accomplished with the polymer frame, which has a grip angle identical to a 1911. There’s also a wide and high beavertail that allows for a low bore axis. Like the 1911, backstraps are interchangeable. Each pistol is shipped with two—one flat, one arched. Just as with the rest of the grip’s surface, the backstraps have very aggressive pebbling or checkering molded in. This might sound uncomfortable; however, due to fear of cuts, punctures and blood-borne diseases, most street officers now wear some sort of gloves. The assertive checkering helps gloved hands hang on.

The handgun’s extractor slightly protrudes when the chamber is loaded, allowing a tactile check of its status. A red dot also makes a visual check possible.

Both backstraps also have an integral lanyard loop. Lanyards on police pistols are a thing of the past and really have no purpose on defensive handguns, though some special law enforcement teams, particularly those with water-centric missions, should appreciate this feature. If you carry a pistol on your bass boat—just in case of a pirate attack—you’ll appreciate it, too. Regardless, the lanyard loop is unobtrusive.

To sort out the lefty-righty problem, FNH USA equipped the FNS-9 with an ambidextrous magazine release. It’s in the usual location and works identically from either side. According to my thumbs, it was easier to depress from the left than from the right, but the difference was minimal. The magazine release was also large, more than a half-inch long and a quarter-inch wide.

It was not perfect, at least in my hands. In fact, it constituted the only real flaw I found with the pistol. The ergonomics of this pistol are outstanding, and I could depress the magazine release with my shooting-hand thumb without altering my grip. But when I did, the magazine-release button on the opposite side pushed out against the middle finger of my shooting hand and prevented complete magazine disengagement. I had to alter my grip to complete the process.

The FNS-9 is FNH USA’s first striker-fired gun, as evidenced by the striker spring in the slide.

Being totally ambidextrous was the design criteria for the FNS-9, and this diverse concept extends to the slide lock. One is positioned on each side of the pistol, where it can easily be reached with the thumb of the shooting hand. Whether you train to use the slide lock as a slide release or not, with the FNS-9 you have that option, regardless of which hand the pistol is in. The slide lock on the left side, like the magazine release, was easier to actuate.

The thumb safety is also ambidextrous and is positioned in the common location. Up is safe, down is fire. This is just a safety; it does not lock the slide like on a 1911, which means the FNS-9 can be loaded while on safe. Surprisingly, the safety is the smallest control on this pistol. It’s only a half-inch long and protrudes a mere 0.17 inch beyond the side of the slide. My initial speculation was it was too small. However, I ran the FNS-9 through a dozen or so defensive pistol drills and not once did my thumb fail to disengage it, even when gloved.

The only non-ambidextrous control lever or button is the takedown lever. It is .9 inch long and fits flush with the frame on the left side. Field stripping is easy. Completely unload the pistol and lock the slide to the rear. Rotate the takedown lever 90 degrees down, hold on to the slide and depress the slide lock. Ease the slide forward, press the trigger and pull the slide from the fame. You can then remove the captive recoil spring and barrel from this linkless, locked-breach, recoil-operated pistol.

Not only is the FNS-9 ambidextrous, it can be employed with the same diversity you will find among police officers. On the bottom of the frame, just forward of the large trigger guard, lies an integral accessory rail with four slots. This could be used for the attachment of a Crimson Trace Rail Master laser or a SureFire weaponlight. The rail extends the serviceability of the FNS-9 from just a duty weapon to a tactical-team sidearm.

The other, and maybe most important, frame-mounted control is the trigger. The FNS-9’s trigger is .38 inch wide and smooth. It’s a jointed affair with a bottom section that must be engaged with the finger before the trigger can be pulled to release the striker. If the bottom section of the trigger is not depressed, an extension of that section engages the pistol’s frame and prevents rearward movement of the trigger.

Tritium vials fore and aft, in a three-dot configuration, ensure a fast sight picture regardless of light conditions.

This is a revolver-like, pivoting trigger with a very audible and precise reset. The trigger was consistent and smooth, but heavy. After shooting, 10 pulls with Timney Triggers’ trigger-pull gauge showed an average pull weight of 8 pounds with only .25 pound of variation. Out of the box, this was not the case. To my fingers it seemed to have an inconsistent pull and seemed to break at different locations during dry-fire. I’m sort of at a loss to explain this issue. During the first magazine I fired from the FNS-9, the trigger felt just fine except for one shot. This was a slow-fire session to get acquainted with the pistol, and I was paying particular attention to the trigger. That one pull felt a bit mushy and released the striker at the rearward extent of its travel. After that, during the firing of 75 rounds from the bench and another 225 rounds through various drills, the trigger felt, well, normal for a striker-fired pistol.

I only mention the out-of-the-box, weird-feeling trigger because it’s my intention to keep the review objective and honest. Maybe it was so early in the morning my fingers were not completely awake, or maybe I was having a Glock flashback from my uniform days. Whatever the cause, after the first magazine was fired I never experienced the weird-feeling trigger again, and it did not adversely affect my shooting.

Results tell the tale. I subjected the FNS-9 to my standard test drill: the Forty-Five. This is a five-shot drill from the holster with the goal of putting all bullets inside a 5-inch circle at 5 yards in 5 seconds. I passed on my first run and the next three. No problems there. I also flipped all six plates on an Action Target Dueling Tree at 10 yards in just a shade more than 4 seconds. No misses mind you. My 12-year-old son also did well on the dueling tree, going five for six on his first run, which took him about twice the time.

There are a few other aspects of the FNS-9 that should be addressed. The magazine well has a moderately wide bevel. This is appreciated when you’re trying to hastily shove a new 17-round magazine in the pistol. And, this bevel is not just internal; it extends to the outside of the grip and sort of provides a shelf to rest the bottom of your hand. I really liked this feature because it made it almost impossible to pinch the tender part of my hand between the magazine base pad and grip frame.

I’ve never demanded a loaded-chamber indicator on a handgun. However, a loaded-chamber indicator does have merit. It can serve as confirmation that, when you have attempted to chamber a cartridge, a cartridge actually has been chambered. This precludes the necessity for a press-check. Press-checks are a handgun manipulation I believe best left off most law enforcement training ranges unless the department has a comprehensive—at least quarterly—training program. Most do not.

On the FNS-9, the extractor serves as the loaded-chamber indicator. When a cartridge is in the pistol’s chamber the extractor protrudes .06 inch out from the side of the slide. This may seem inconsequential, but it’s plenty to easily feel. In addition to being able to feel the extractor when the pistol is loaded, the top of the extractor is colored red, so in decent light you have visual confirmation, too. Whether you like a loaded-chamber indicator or not, the one on the FNS-9 is not obtrusive and I’m willing to bet that you’ll come to appreciate it. If you still want to look range-ninja-cool on the firing line, go ahead and do your press-checks.

Field stripping the FNS-9 is straightforward, with the gun breaking down into only five main components.

Front and rear grasping grooves have been machined into the slide and provided plenty of texture for slide operation or press-checks. The slide on the FNS-9 measures exactly 1 inch wide, but is narrower at the top than the bottom. It is also devoid of sharp edges, which will be appreciated during weapon-manipulation drills and concealed carry. And, for the patriotic among us, “Made in USA” is engraved on the slide along with “FNH USA Fredericksburg VA.”

Sights are of a combat configuration with a nice, tall, easy-to-see front blade that’s almost .25 inch high. I like robust, sharp-edged front sights. They’re easier to see, and if a bad guy grabs a policeman’s pistol by the muzzle, that sharp front blade will help him rip it from the bad guy’s hand. The blade has a white-outlined, tritium vial from Trijicon inserted in the center top half and the rear sight has Trijicon inserts without a white outline. This provides a three-dot system that seems to be the law enforcement standard. The rear sight is a wedge-shaped affair with a deep U-notch. My eyes would have liked to have seen the notch a tad wider, but I don’t see eye to eye with my eyes like I used to.

As a police pistol, I believe the FNS-9 has a great deal going for it. Of course, that opinion is coming from a man who no longer wears a badge—though I did spend most of my law enforcement career training other police officers how to shoot. From that perspective, I’m confident the FNS-9 has validity as a police service weapon. The design has been subjected to and passed a 25,000-round torture test. Most agencies and civilian shooters will replace their pistol well before it consumes that much ammo.

Concisely speaking, the FNS-9 will fit most any officer’s hand. It has a manual safety—a safety small enough to be ignored if you feel it’s something that has no place on a duty handgun. It’s completely ambidextrous and has a very healthy magazine capacity. It’s also compatible with gloved hands and, due to the accessory rail, the FNS-9 will be user friendly to tactical entry teams.

Some may balk at the 9 mm chambering. If you do, a .40 S&W version is in the works. I consider this of little consequence. Years of conducting terminal performance testing has shown the best 9 mm +P loads drive as deep and damage just as much tissue as most .40 S&W or even .45 ACP loads. To find any perceived advantage with either of these larger-caliber cartridges, you’ll have to step up to a stouter-recoiling load—one that probably won’t be appreciated or be as controllable by some of today’s law enforcement personnel.

Of course, FNH USA did not intend for the FNS-9 to be a police-only handgun. For many of the same reasons a police department adopts a duty handgun, so do citizens looking for personal protection. If you think modern police departments are diverse—around 10 percent of police officers are women—consider the diversity of the civilian population at large.

With the FNS-9, FNH USA set out to design a reliable and accurate duty-size pistol that would successfully interface with the widest selection of police officers and training doctrines being employed. I find it hard to argue the company has done anything less. For those same reasons, the FNS-9 should also interface well with a wide range of civilians who want to be armed for protection or various sport-shooting disciplines. The FNS-9 continues the evolution of the modern pistol, and it does so without prejudice.

Manufacturer: FNH USA; (703) 288-3500, fnhusa.com
Action Type: Recoil-operated, semi-automatic
Caliber: 9 mm
Capacity: 17+1 rounds
Frame: Polymer
Slide: Stainless steel
Finish: Matte black
Barrel Length: 4 inches
Rifling: 6 grooves; 1:10-inch RH twist
Grips: Polymer, interchangeable backstraps
Sights: Three-dot tritium
Trigger Pull Weight: 8 pounds
Length: 7.25 inches
Width: 1.55 inches
Height: 5.5 inches
Weights: 25.2 ounces
Accessories: Hard-plastic case, three magazines
MSRP: $699.99

Buffalo Bore’s first commercial loads were for the .475 and .500 Linebaugh—hardly plinking cartridges. I first became acquainted with Sundles in 2002, when I phoned in an order for a box of what he called “Heavy” .35 Rem. loads. Heavy was a good name for the stuff. Out of my Marlin lever gun, this ammo pushed a 220-grain Speer bullet to a shade more than 2,200 fps. You can’t buy ammo like this anywhere else, and good luck finding loading data to duplicate it.

Sundles likes to hunt griz in Alaska and spends most of his spare time hiking, hunting, camping and fishing in bear country. He saw a need for packable-sized revolvers capable of delivering a wicked payload. He also recognized the need for common-sense, innovative defensive ammo for all types of handguns and rifles, and Buffalo Bore methodically adds new loads that fit this description. With more than 200 offerings now, Sundles has aspirations to design and produce specialty ammo for almost every cartridge. Buffalo Bore is not mass-producing ammo that just goes bang, it makes a uniquely tailored product designed to be ultra-effective for critical applications.

Buffalo Bore is best known for its Heavy or +P ammunition, like a 9 mm +P+ load that pushes a 124-grain JHP to more than 1,350 fps from a 5-inch barrel. Ammunition loaded like this—often leaving barrels at speeds sure to make you drool on your chronograph—is what has made Buffalo Bore famous. When many folks first look at the advertised external ballistics of these Heavy or +P loads, they generally have one of two responses: “Those loads can’t be safe,” or “That has to be advertising hype.” Neither suspicion is correct.

You see, Sundles does a number of things to ensure his ammo is indeed safe. For the Heavy and +P stuff he utilizes ballistic-test labs to confirm pressures, and makes sure it is loaded with consistency, ensuring there are no wide pressure swings. He’s careful to post warnings on packaging telling consumers which firearms are safe for the cartridges in the box. Some Buffalo Bore loads may exceed SAAMI specs, but you can rest assured they have been exposed to extensive testing and actual firing in a variety of firearms. And, Sundles prints the actual—not a hyped-up—velocity on the box.

Sundles recognizes not all shooters are handloaders, and this means they are limited to what they find on the shelf. But, sometimes shooters need ammunition not found in the contemporary array of factory offerings available from the big manufacturers. For example, Buffalo Bore’s +P .38 Spl. Outdoorsman load blows a 158-grain Keith-Style hard-cast bullet out of a 4.5-inch barrel at 1,200 fps. You can expect it to shoot through a grizzly’s skull or a parade of bad guys.

Sundles is a big believer in flat-nose, hard-cast bullets for hunting and self-defense, and Buffalo Bore offers them in a number of handgun cartridges. While some Jell-O junkies—those who think ordnance gelatin is the ultimate predictor of a load’s lethality—scoff at non-expanding, hard-cast bullets, Sundles sees things a bit different.

Maybe this is partly due to success in the field. Like the off-duty Montana State Highway Patrolman who was fishing the Clark Fork River when a black bear decided it wanted to give the officer a hug. As the bear rushed, the patrolman drew his Smith & Wesson Model 65 and shot it in the left shoulder. The Buffalo Bore 180-grain hard-cast bullet broke the shoulder and right hip and might still be going. No hugging occurred that day.

Then there were the Marines clearing buildings in Iraq. They were assaulted, and one Marine ran his rifle empty. During the resulting hand-to-hand combat, the Marine was knocked to the ground by the butt of an insurgent’s rifle. Lying on his back, the Marine drew a .380 semi-automatic from his cargo pocket and while the insurgent was trying to bash in his skull, our hero got off one shot. The pistol was loaded with Buffalo Bore’s 100-grain hard-cast +P ammunition. The bullet struck the insurgent just above his hip, angled up diagonally through his torso, pierced his opposite scapula and stopped under the skin, instantly incapacitating the bad guy.

Buffalo Bore loads other bullets, too. Speer Gold Dot bullets are listed as common JHPs on the box at the request of Speer. Some loads—like the Heavy .32 H&R Mag. load that will drive a 100-grain bullet almost 20 inches deep in 10-percent gelatin—use Hornady’s deep-penetrating XTP bullets. Buffalo Bore also utilizes a lot of Barnes TAC-XP handgun bullets in its Buffalo Barnes line. Rifle loads are also available for a variety of cartridges, mostly for lever guns, but you’ll find a few for hunting and even two Sniper loads.

You may not need to shoot through a hippo with a handgun, and you may not routinely fight it out with grizzlies. However, if you want ammunition up for that sort of thing, Buffalo Bore has that kind of stuff. Just don’t call Sundles or me if the recoil is too much for your delicate little hands to handle. Man up! This is serious stuff.