If you are looking for tools for medium-sized hunting games, a 270 rifle is a version worth owning. It has a compact size with a long enough range to flexibly hunt large animals such as wild deer or bears. How far can a 270 shoot? How is its performance? In this article, we will give a complete answer on the maximum distance that this version performs. Scroll down for details!

What is .270 Rifles?

A .270 rifle is a type of firearm that is designed to fire ammunition chambered for the .270 Winchester cartridge. The .270 Winchester, often simply referred to as the .270, is a popular and versatile rifle cartridge known for its long-range accuracy and relatively flat trajectory. It is commonly used for hunting a wide range of game, including deer, elk, and various other large and medium-sized game animals.

The .270 Winchester cartridge typically uses bullets with a caliber of .277 inches (7mm), and it can deliver high muzzle velocities and energy, making it effective for shooting at extended ranges. This cartridge was introduced in 1925 and has remained a popular choice among hunters and sports shooters for many decades.

Rifles chambered in .270 Winchester are available in various configurations, including bolt-action, semi-automatic, and lever-action designs, allowing shooters to choose a rifle that suits their preferences and needs. These rifles are known for their accuracy, making them suitable for target shooting and hunting applications where precision is important.

What Seed .270 Bullet Is The Best?

You can choose from different types of ammunition for the 270 rifles. People will use 130-grain, even 150-grain, or 165-grain bullets. This number will depend on the characteristics of the hunt, such as terrain, climate, temperature, and target.

130 grain

If you need to take down deer, 130-grain ammo is the best product. For large-scale games and larger opponents like elk, a larger caliber bullet will be the best solution. The best thing I usually do is to search for information on the internet and consult experts to make the best choice.

The 130-grain ammunition is perfect with the balance between the power it produces and the weight that makes it a choice for many hunters. The extra energy of this bullet makes it work better and fly farther than other ammunition for the 270 guns.

150-165 grains

When you need to hunt large animals, you should choose larger ammunition such as 150 – 165 grain bullets. They will have better attack power when penetrating the animal’s skin.

90-110 grains

At distances of more than 5000 feet, the lighter 90-110 bullets would be ideal as they will measure longer distances for hunting deer or antelope. This projectile is subject to wind resistance at lower altitudes.

How Much Does .270 Winchester Drop?

The 270 rifle is a worthwhile investment because it increases your experience with high accuracy when hunting. According to many experimental studies, a 270 Winchester will drop about 3 inches if you aim 200 yards from the target.

If you are 300 yards away, the 270 Winchester will drop about 11 inches. Based on the above theory, you need to aim higher to accommodate the distance between you and the target to get the right shot.

Moreover, the 270 rifles can shoot up to 500 yards with accurate accuracy, but it will be less effective than close range. If you are not a professional and seasoned hunter, experimenting with longer than 500m may not work. A closer range will help you take out the target better. At the same time, you need to practice patiently to master the 270 rifles.

Factors Affecting Shooting Distance

The shooting distance of a firearm, such as a .270 rifle, is influenced by several key factors. Understanding these factors can help shooters make accurate shots and assess the effective range of their rifles. Here are the primary factors affecting shooting distance:

Bullet Ballistics

• Muzzle Velocity: The speed at which the bullet exits the barrel greatly affects its range. Higher muzzle velocities generally result in longer effective distances.
• Bullet Weight: Heavier bullets tend to retain energy and velocity better over longer distances, making them suitable for extended ranges.
• Bullet Design: Different bullet shapes and designs, such as boat-tail or spitzer, can impact the bullet’s aerodynamics and trajectory.

Rifle Configuration

• Barrel Length: Longer barrels can provide higher muzzle velocities, which can extend the shooting distance. Shorter barrels may limit effective range.
• Accuracy: The precision and consistency of the rifle’s construction and components, including the chamber, barrel, and trigger, play a critical role in achieving accuracy at long distances.
• Scope Quality: A high-quality optic with appropriate magnification and clarity is essential for accurately assessing and engaging targets at extended ranges.

Shooter Skill

• Marksmanship: A shooter’s skill, including their ability to control breathing, trigger squeeze, and follow-through, greatly affects accuracy at longer distances.
• Training: Regular practice and training in long-range shooting techniques are crucial for improving skills and maximizing effective range.
• Environmental Conditions: The shooter’s ability to read and adjust for factors like wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, and elevation can significantly impact accuracy.

Environmental Factors

• Wind: Wind has a substantial effect on bullet trajectory. Understanding wind patterns and using wind-reading techniques can help compensate for its influence.
• Altitude and Atmospheric Conditions: Higher altitudes typically result in lower air density, which can affect bullet flight. Additionally, variations in temperature and humidity can influence air density and, consequently, bullet performance.
• Terrain and Obstacles: The type of terrain and the presence of obstacles between the shooter and the target can limit or enhance the effective shooting distance.

Ammunition Quality

• Consistency: High-quality, consistent ammunition is essential for achieving predictable and repeatable ballistics. Variations in ammunition can affect accuracy at long ranges.
• Handloading: Handloading or reloading ammunition allows shooters to fine-tune loads for specific rifles and shooting conditions, potentially extending effective range.

Target Size and Type

• The size and type of the target play a significant role in determining the effective range. Larger targets are easier to hit accurately at longer distances.

Understanding and accounting for these factors is crucial for shooters looking to maximize the effective shooting distance of a .270 rifle or any other firearm. It requires a combination of the right equipment, skill development, and environmental awareness to consistently achieve accurate shots at extended ranges.

How Far Can A 270 Shoot?

You can use the 270 rifles up to 500 yards to defeat the big beast on your hunt. This is a product that receives a lot of attention and is an excellent choice if you want to take down large prey. The maximum distance a gun can shoot will depend on the barrel length and caliber.

If you own a long barrel, you will shoot accurately even when aiming long distances to the target The 24-inch barrel length is ideal for big hunting games. Besides the barrel length, the caliber is also a feature to consider.

Is the .270 Acceptable for Long-Range Shooting?

Long-range shootThe 270 rifles are ideally suited for long-range shooting Furthermore, expert tests have proven it to be one of the best in the range, with the best long-range performance available today. As with any rifle, gun construction and payload determine how far you can hit your target.

Most users expect to shoot at an ideal distance of 500 yards This range could undoubtedly be more extensive if you have the skill and seasoned experience for similar games. The 270 is the perfect product of a sizable long-range rifle.

It is an indispensable accessory for many professional hunters because of its stable and flexible operation in different terrain and situations. The device also works accurately and powerfully to hit multiple targets quickly. The 270 rifles have overcome many limitations of a conventional long-range gun version.

What’s The Max Effective Range For 270?

The maximum range you can shoot with a 270 rifle will depend on your target size. For animals weighing 1,200 pounds, you should stay within 450 yards. For a 1,000-pound beast, you can increase the distance up to 500 yards and use 130 or 140-grain ammo. In case you need to hunt coyotes, a distance of 300 yards will be optimal for the 270 Winchester.

Might The .270 Beat A Deer?

When participating in hunting, you always need to choose a good rifle and have the ability to shoot flexibly on many terrains. Of course, the 270 is the perfect version for hunting large-sized deer within 200 yards of any terrain.

This distance can be longer if you are a professional hunter. In dense jungles, you’ll need to reframe this to a shorter range for the best accuracy. Most skilled hunters prefer a 270 to take down animals with the most suitable ammunition.

In this regard, the 270 Winchester cartridge is on the most popular list even though it has been around since 1925. Its performance is excellent, with speeds up to 2700 ft/s at close range. But when you need to shoot at a distance of more than 500 yards, accuracy may decrease because of a wind speed or orbital fall rate.

Tips for Maximizing Shooting Distance

Maximizing shooting distance with a .270 rifle, or any other firearm, requires a combination of equipment, skills, and knowledge. Here are some tips to help you achieve longer and more accurate shots:

Select the Right Ammunition

• Choose high-quality, consistent ammunition suitable for long-range shooting.
• Experiment with different bullet weights and designs to find the one that performs best in your rifle for extended distances.

Optimize Your Rifle Setup

• Ensure your rifle is in excellent condition and well-maintained.
• Use a high-quality scope with appropriate magnification and clarity for long-range shooting.
• Consider a bipod or shooting rest for stability.

Learn Ballistics

• Understand the ballistics of your chosen ammunition, including muzzle velocity, bullet drop, and wind drift.
• Use ballistics software or smartphone apps to calculate and adjust for bullet trajectory.

Practice Regularly

• Develop and maintain your marksmanship skills through consistent practice.
• Focus on breathing control, trigger squeeze, and follow-through.
• Practice at various distances to gain experience and confidence.

Study Wind Patterns

• Learn to read wind speed and direction accurately at different distances.
• Use wind flags or vegetation as visual cues to gauge wind conditions.
• Adjust your aim and hold-off for wind drift as needed.

Understand Environmental Factors

• Be aware of how altitude, temperature, and humidity affect air density and, consequently, bullet performance.
• Make necessary adjustments for these factors using ballistics data or calculations.

Keep Records

• Maintain a shooting log or journal to record data on your rifle’s performance, ammunition, and environmental conditions for each session.
• Use this data to refine your shooting techniques and equipment settings.

Use Stable Shooting Positions

• Practice shooting from various positions, including prone, supported, and offhand, to determine which is most stable for long-range shots.
• Employ sandbags, shooting sticks, or bipods to enhance stability.

Learn from Experienced Shooters

• Seek advice and tips from experienced long-range shooters.
• Attend shooting courses or events to gain valuable knowledge and insights.

Safety First

• Always prioritize safety when handling firearms.
• Ensure you have a safe backstop and a clear line of sight to your target.

Know Your Limits

• Understand your own shooting capabilities and the limitations of your equipment.
• Avoid taking shots beyond your skill level or the effective range of your rifle.

Stay Calm and Patient

• Maintain composure and patience when taking long-range shots.
• Avoid rushing shots, especially in high-pressure situations.

Remember that maximizing shooting distance is a skill that takes time to develop. Consistent practice and a commitment to improving your marksmanship, knowledge of ballistics, and understanding of environmental factors will help you achieve longer and more accurate shots with your .270 rifle or any other firearm.

Conclusion

This article has answered your question: How far can a 270 shoot? The maximum distance that a 270 rifle can shoot is 500 yards. This number can vary depending on your ammo and the surrounding physical conditions. If you want to hunt big animals quickly, the closer the distance will help you win them. We hope you can choose and use the best 270 rifles and ammunition for your effective hunting trip. Thank you for reading!

Description and Range:

Adult white-tailed deer are about three feet tall at the front shoulders. Maryland yearling bucks (males) weigh an average of 105 pounds; yearling does (females) average 90 pounds. During the warm months, deer possess reddish-brown hair. A grayish-brown coat with a thick undercoat replaces the reddish hair during the cold time period. The white-tailed deer’s distinctive white tail and white rump patch is readily visible when they bound away from real or perceived danger. White-tailed deer sprint up to 35 miles per hour and are able to leap over 8 foot tall barriers.

Only white-tailed bucks possess antlers. In extremely rare cases, does may grow antlers. Bucks use their hard antlers to establish dominance over other bucks during breeding season. Antlers are grown and shed each year. Antlers, which are composed of true bone, begin to grow in late March and early April. The growing antlers are covered with skin and blood vessels called velvet.

White-tailed deer can be found in every county in Maryland. White-tailed deer are also common throughout much of the United States, southern Canada and even parts of central America.

Doe (left) by John White and a buck withvelvet antlers (right), by Kerry Wixted

Habitat:

Maryland white-tailed deer habitat includes most of the state except for open water and intensely developed urban areas (e.g. downtown Baltimore). Deer thrive in landscapes with wooded/brush sections and open areas such as cropland, pasture or landscaped yards. Deer use the wooded areas for food and cover, and open areas provide food. Landscapes with an abundance of edge habitat (areas where forested and open habitat meet) support prime deer habitats. Because of this, suburban sprawl creates ideal habitat conditions for white-tailed deer. When forested areas are converted into housing developments, portions are cleared for roads and home sites, while other sections remain forested. When open farmland is transformed into residential areas, new homeowners plant trees, shrubs and perennials. Both of these types of residential conversions provide excellent deer habitat. To learn more about managing deer damage, then click here.

The typical, annual average home range for white-tailed deer is considered about one square mile (640 acres). However, the sex and age of the deer and habitat types will influence varying size home ranges. Yearling males will move many miles while adult females usually have smaller stable, annual home ranges. Deer in good quality habitat will need to travel less than deer in poor quality habitat.

Diet:

Deer feed on nuts and berries, leaves, woody shoots and stems, grasses and cultivated crops. Some of their favorite natural foods include acorns, honeysuckle, poison ivy, green briar, young tree seedlings and mushrooms. Soybeans, corn and ornamental shrubs are several of their favorite foods planted by humans.

Deer have a four-chambered stomach that is required to digest the vegetation. Food first travels to the rumen that contains the bacteria and protozoans, which begin the digestive process. The reticulum circulates food back to the mouth so that the deer can chew the food again. The omasum functions as a pump and directs the partially digested food from the reticulum to the abomasum. This final chamber functions as a true stomach and completes the digestive process. Because of this special digestion process, it is generally not recommended to feed deer during the winter. Click here to view White-tailed Deer Facts​.

Reproduction:

Maryland white-tailed deer begin breeding in October and continue to breed through mid December. The shortening of day length (photo period) triggers the breeding season. Most does become pregnant during the first half of November. Because white-tailed deer are polygamous, one dominant buck can breed numerous does. Any receptive doe that does not become pregnant will cycle back into estrous (heat) in about 28 days and will mate again.

Fawns (baby deer) are born during May and June after a gestation period of about 200 days. Yearling does usually give birth to single fawns. Mature does in good physical condition frequently produce twins.

Newborn spotted fawns remain hidden and solitary for about three weeks. The doe visits her young only two to three times per day in order to nurse and groom the offspring. When the fawn is strong enough to run with the doe, it will follow its mother and begin to sample foods eaten by the doe. Fawns can live independently of their mother at about two months old.

Sounds:

Deer typically make three different types of sounds: alarm, maternal, reproductive.

Alarm calls help to warn other deer of real or perceived danger. When a deer is surprised, it will snort by forcing out air rapidly from the nostrils. When fawns or young adults are captured by a predator or trapped, they will make a bleating or groaning sound.

Does also use low grunts to communicate with her young and to maintain contact. Fawns respond with a mew like sound. Fawns will also use bleats to get attention from the maternal doe. Communication between does and young help to maintain a close pair bond.

During the breeding season, bucks make grunt sounds while searching for receptive does and while tending does. Bucks also advertise their presence to prospective does and potential competitive bucks with grunts of varying pitch and volume.

Behavior:

Bucks are often solitary creatures aside from the breeding season and occasionally during the summer when they form bachelor bands. In the breeding season, bucks will actively seek out females to mate with as well as spar with other males to fight for the rights to breed.

Does, on the other hand, can often be seen traveling together particularly in the winter when food tends to be scarce. Often, fawns will remain with their mothers through the winter and into early spring. Typically, young bucks leave their mothers earlier than young does.

Management:

White-tailed deer are primarily managed by hunting in Maryland. Click here to learn more about hunting as an effective tool for white-tailed deer management. Click here to learn more about white-tailed deer management, in general.

For an information sheet on common deer sign, please click here​.

Photo Acknowledgements:

• Doe by John White
• Buck with velvet by Kerry Wixted
• Fawn by Kerry Wixted

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Selecting the appropriate travel bow case for your next trip is an important step for flying with your archery equipment. When purchasing your case, be sure to take into consideration the type of bow that will fit the case (hunting compound, takedown recurve, etc.), and how you will be using the case. Will it be getting abuse in the bag of pickup truck on bumpy off-road trails, or have a comfy spot inside a minivan?

You will have to decide between a soft-side and hard-sided case. For air travel, what with the way baggage is treated these days, a hard-sided cases is usually the better way to go as it offers the ultimate protection for your bow and quiver, and typically offers options for lockability. Soft cases are more comfortable to handle, may not withstand the abuse that can be dished upon your bow case by the luggage handlers at the airport.

Here we have compiled a quick list of highly-rated travel bow cases. All of these cases have been highly recommended and are some of the best-selling bow cases to be found on the market today.

List of Recommended Items in This Article

Flambeau Outdoors 6461SC Archery Safeshot Compound Bow Case

Case Club Waterproof Parallel Limb Compound Bow Cas

Plano Mil Spec Fieldlocker Compound Bow Case

SKB 3I 4214 PL iSeries 4214 Parallel Limb Bow Case

Flambeau Outdoors 6461SC Safeshot Compound Bow Case

The Flambeau Outdoors 6461SC Archery Safeshot Compound Bow Case is well-built solid archery travel case, providing protection for 1 bow and up to 12 arrows in a rubber stacking system. We’re big fans of the structural pillars that prevent the case from getting crushed, offering additional protection for your bow.

A big feature of the Flambeau Safeshot are the multiple closing latches and multiple lock hasps for additional security, especially when travelling.

View the Flambeau Outdoors 6461SC Archery Safeshot Compound Bow Case on Amazon

SKB iSeries 3i 4214 PL Parallel Limb Bow Case

The SKB 3I 4214 PL iSeries 4214 Parallel Limb Bow Case offers a rugged ultra high-strength waterproof, dustproof, immersion-proof construction for maximum protection. This case features an automatic pressure equalization valve great for air travel, and multiple re-inforced padlock locations keep your bow secure.

The SKB is on the heavier side of these travel cases, but if spending $1600 on a bow, you want maximum protection when you travel. We appreciate that this case has built-in wheels for rolling around the airport with ease.

Buy the SKB 3I 4214 PL iSeries 4214 Parallel Limb Bow Case on Amazon

Plano Mil Spec Fieldlocker Compound Bow Case

Plano is a well-know name in the sportsman world, and the Plano Mil Spec Fieldlocker Compound Bow Case offers everything you would expect. The tight-fitting closure with dri-loc gasket keeps out water and dust, and multiple lock locations keep your bow secure.

The inline wheels glide well through the airport, and the customizable foam inside will keep your bow safely in place while travelling. The arrow storage on the upper flap offers convenience and quick easy access. Like the SKB iSeries, the Plano Fieldlocker also offers a built-in pressure release valve to equalize on the go with changes in altitude.

View the Plano Mil Spec Fieldlocker Compound Bow Case on Amazon

Case Club Waterproof Parallel Limb Compound Bow Case

The Case Club Waterproof Parallel Limb Compound Bow Case is a heavy-duty, air-tight padlockable case that fits your bow and 12 arrows (no quiver). Multiple padlock locations keep your bow latched and safe at home and on the go, and the silica gel canister inside absorbs any humidity that may be inside.

It is a fairly heavy case, but offers maximum protection for all of your gear. In-built wheels make it easy to get around the airport, and it’s crush-proof design will handle any abuse the luggage handlers can throw at it. There is a reason why this case has earned a 4.6/5 star rating on Amazon.

Shop the Case Club Waterproof Parallel Limb Compound Bow Case on Amazon

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So, which to choose? Although a regged PCP may seem the ideal, unregged PCPs have been around for many years and are still popular. Indeed, much R&D has been undertaken in the PCP world, so the simple ‘knock-open’ valve of old is a far cry from what we see on today’s airgun hardware. The Slingshot hammer/valve set-up used in some unregulated Brocock and Daystate PCPs is one such example of how far unregged PCP design has evolved. Nevertheless, characteristics of unregged and regged systems are an important consideration when choosing a PCP for your specific shooting needs.

UNREGGED PCP Between the first and last shots of an unregged PCP’s charge of air – its ‘usable’ range – the output will follow a power curve, peaking somewhere around the mid-point of the curve. While the duration of the peak depends solely on the rifle’s inherent design, this part of the curve is referred to as the ‘sweet spot’. It’s where the shot-to-shot consistency – and so the rifle’s accuracy – will be at its best. The longer the sweet spot, the better. Ideally, that is where you want to be doing most of your shooting (and where you should zero your scope). Of course, you can shoot either side of the sweet spot, but you may well see a slight change in the pellets’ POI. At relatively close ranges this probably isn’t a problem, but it may shift your pellets outside acceptable limits for hunting or competitive target shooting at longer distances. Therefore, with any unregulated PCP, it pays to familiarise yourself with the characteristics of its power curve so that you can compensate for POI shift if required.

Although an unregged PCP lets you shoot throughout its usable pressure range (200 down to 100 BAR in this example), the best consistency, power and accuracy will be obtained by shooting in its ‘sweet spot’ (165 down to 120 BAR in this example) For example, your rifle may fill to 200 BAR and then, 150 shots later, need a refill at 100 BAR. Let’s assume its sweet spot spans 65 of those 150 shots. Then it would be worth noting on the rifle’s manometer what pressure range relates to that 65-shot section – perhaps between 165 and 120 BAR. If the number of shots you get per charge of air doesn’t bother you, you could choose to fill the rifle only to 165 BAR each time, and always refill it at 120 BAR. Yes, the trade-off is that you’d be reducing the rifle’s shot count, but in return, you’d be getting an output performance on a par with a regged PCP. Plus, by starting at lower pressures, charging the rifle from a manual pump will be less effort, and you’ll get longer periods between scuba tank fill-ups.

REGGED PCP Where an air regulator is fitted to a PCP, air release is far more controlled for the entirety of the rifle’s charge and there is, therefore, no power curve. Effectively, a regged PCP offers a sweet spot that extends from the first to the last shots of the usable shot range. In some cases, because a regulator deals with air delivery more efficiently, the rifle also returns more shots between fill-ups. Generally, a regulator system incorporates a secondary air chamber (the plenum chamber) which is designed to operate at a constant pressure. This means that as the rifle’s air pressure drops, the main firing valve always delivers an exactly-metered volume/pressure of air. The benefit of this is that the rifle’s power output is the same, no matter where it is within its charge cycle. That said, it is important not to let the pressure in the rifle’s main air reservoir drop below that of the regulator’s operating pressure, else the regulator effectively becomes redundant in the airflow chain. Many gunmakers now incorporate an additional gauge on their regged PCPs to specifically indicate the regulator status, like on the Brocock Commander PCP. The regulated Brocock Commander has two manometers – one for its HuMa regulator’s fixed pressure (top) and one to show the pressure status of the rifle’s main air reservoir The regulated Brocock Commander has two manometers – one for its HuMa regulator’s fixed pressure (top) and one to show the pressure status of the rifle’s main air reservoir While ‘managing’ the power curve of an unregged PCP isn’t exactly a headache for most shooters, there’s no denying that the fill-and-forget operation of a regged PCP is more straightforward. However, regulated PCPs cost more than their unregged counterparts, so you have to weigh up their worth in your particular scenario. FT, HFT and benchrest competition shooters, who seek ultimate precision in every aspect of their sport, may be able to justify the outlay for a regged PCP, but for everyday shooting/hunting assignments, a good quality, unregged PCP is equally as good if you have a full understanding of its power curve. Yet never dismiss the addition of a PCP regulator as ‘just another thing to go wrong. That may have been the case when air gunsmiths were experimenting with them many decades ago. But just like knock-open systems have evolved, the PCP regulator has also graduated. Specialist regulator manufacturers have risen to the forefront of the airgun industry, with many gunmakers incorporating their proven designs in their regged PCPs. Daystate, for instance, has partnered with the world-renowned HuMa-Air to develop a metering system in their regulated HR Huntsman Regal, Renegade HR and Wolverine R air rifles.

For many hunters, harvesting a moose is a once-in-a-lifetime bucket list trip. In that case, you want to make sure that you do everything possible before the hunt to ensure that it is successful once you arrive in your moose hunt camp.

One of the most important things you can do to set yourself up for success is to choose the right moose hunting cartridge.

The 10 Best Moose Hunting Cartridges

If you ask ten people for their opinion on the best moose hunting cartridge, you’ll get ten different answers – or maybe more. That is to say, there’s no one best cartridge for a moose hunt. There are a variety of variables that you have to take into consideration and make a personal decision for you and you alone.

With that in mind, here are ten moose hunting cartridges for you to consider.

.30-06 Springfield

It has been said that there’s not a single big game animal in North America that cannot be felled by a .30-06 bullet, and that’s no exaggeration. The .30-06 was the caliber of choice for hunters of all kinds for most of the 20th century. Even though newer calibers have come on the market, the .30-06 has remained a faithful standby that is certainly more than capable of harvesting a moose.

30-30 Winchester

There are plenty of old deer rifles floating around in .30-30 Winchester. You may have inherited one from your granddad, picked one up at a pawn shop, or even bought one new because of the cartridge’s versatility for lots of different hunting opportunities. Whatever the case, there’s absolutely no reason that you can’t take a moose with the old “Thutty-Thutty” standby – so long as you know the limitations of yourself as a shooter, your rifle as a platform, and your chosen load in the cartridge.

.308 Winchester

While the .308 Winchester is certainly not restricted to semi-automatic rifles, it’s a caliber that is certainly well-suited to them. If you wanted to hunt a moose with a semi-auto, then an AR-10 style rifle chambered in .308 is a good place to start. You’ll also have the advantage of using a platform that many shooters are already very familiar and comfortable with, making it an easy transition from the training or tactical environment to the hunting environment.

6.5 Creedmoor

For hunters who want the utmost precision in their shot, it’s hard to beat the 6.5 Creedmoor. Since it was designed for competition shooting, it’s beyond capable of delivering an exacting blow to the vitals of a moose so long as the shooter behind the rifle is capable of making the shot. Another advantage for the 6.5 Creedmoor is its availability in a wide variety of firearms, including semi-auto, lever-action, bolt-action, single-shot, and more.

.300 Winchester Magnum

The .300 Winchester Magnum is something of a Goldilocks cartridge for use on a moose. Whether you choose from one of the many factory loads available or you hand-load your own, the .300 Win Mag has proven itself time and time again as a more-than-capable moose cartridge with felt recoil that, while certainly noticeable, is more than manageable for most shooters.

.375 Ruger

If you’re looking to pack an equitable punch to that of the .375 H&H in a more manageable package, look no further than the .375 Ruger. It’s an absolute powerhouse of a cartridge that is more than capable of taking down the moose of a lifetime.

7mm Remington Magnum

Sometimes it all comes down to the proper bullet selection, and that couldn’t be more true than with the reliable 7mm Remington Magnum. If you load a 7mm Rem Mag cartridge with a heavy bullet that is tough and designed to stay together, then it becomes a low-recoil caliber that is hard to beat when it comes to moose.

.338 Winchester

The .338 Win Mag cartridge was made for the challenges of big, tough game, and it is capable of taking on that challenge and defeating it. With the right heavy-grain bullet, you can be confident that your projectile is traveling faster than most comparable loads on the market and will deliver the devastating punch needed for a quick and ethical harvest on your moose of a lifetime.

6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum

Everyone has a 6.5 cartridge these days, and Weatherby is no different. The 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum claims to be the fastest 6.5 cartridge on the market. Because its case has comparatively larger volume than others in this caliber, it’s capable of fantastic velocities. This makes it a flat-shooting cartridge that is perfect for long-range shots on a moose.

.270 Winchester

The .270 Winchester meets the three A’s: accurate, affordable, and available. Hunters have been using the well-rounded .270 Winchester to bring down all sorts of wild game for decades – and that includes moose. Therefore, there’s no reason that you can’t take your hunting rifle that you use for other pursuits and put it to good use on a moose. A .270 is right at home on a moose hunt as well as in pursuit of deer, hogs, sheep, and more.

What to Look for When Choosing a Hunting Caliber

There are a lot of different things to consider when choosing a hunting caliber, but let’s take a look at three of the most important ones.

Availability

You can do all the research in the world and settle on a specific caliber for your moose hunt, but if you can’t find the ammo that you need, then it’s all been for nothing. That becomes even more important if you fail to bring enough ammo with you on the hunt. Your moose camp may be remote and the likelihood of finding some calibers may be slim if you need to restock.

Performance

Perhaps the most important part of choosing a hunting caliber is evaluating its performance. You’ve got to be sure that the load you choose is going to be capable of taking down the type of game you’re hunting in a quick and ethical manner. This is especially true when it comes to large animals like moose.

Cost

That ammo prices have risen exponentially in recent years is an unpleasant yet cold, hard fact. Similar to our point on availability, you’ve got to be able to afford the ammo when you find it. Some calibers are less expensive than others, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be any less effective at bringing down a moose.

Suppressed Hunting

Once you experience your first hunt with a suppressor, you won’t ever want to hunt without one again. If you’ve never done it before, that may sound like an exaggeration, but trust us, it’s not. Here’s why.

Benefits of Hunting With a Suppressor

Even when they were first commercially introduced in 1909, suppressors were actively marketed to hunters, and for good reason – they make hunting safer and quieter, eliminate the need for bulky hearing protection, and improve accuracy when shooting.

Here are just a few of the reasons why suppressed hunting is better hunting:

It makes the outdoors quiet again

Suppressors, when paired with the right firearm and ammo, reduce the sound of a gunshot to hearing safe levels, and “dull the edge” of the sound of a gunshot.

A suppressed rifle doesn’t disturb the game that you are after

Animals have great hearing, and that’s to their benefit – not yours. The hearing of coyotes, squirrels, wild pigs, mule deer, whitetail deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, moose, caribou, and plenty of other game animals all have incredible hearing. The sound of a gunshot can keep them out of their known territory for weeks at a time.

Hunting with a suppressor is safer

While in recent years electronic ear muffs that allow you to hear ambient noise while blocking the sound of gunfire have hit the market, the simple fact is most hunters still choose between no ear protection or wearing something that makes it hard to hear what is going on around them. Using a suppressor on your hunting rifle allows you to hear everything that is going on around you, and not damage your hearing when taking a shot.

Accuracy is improved when shooting with a suppressor

This benefit has also been touted since the early 20th century. This is because the physics of a silencer reduces felt recoil and muzzle climb. With both of these factors greatly reduced, shooters find their rifles easier to shoot. So it isn’t that silencers make the gun more accurate per se, but they make it easier for YOU to shoot your gun more accurately.

Georgia is a diverse state with a wide range of habitat types spread across its 159 counties. From the mountains of North Georgia to the swamps and coastal plain of South Georgia, that diversity yields differences in both the quantity and quality of deer from one region — and even one county — to the next.

Even the rut dates vary by county!

With that in mind, we decided to take a deep dive into Georgia’s deer harvest data by county to see which counties held the best opportunities to fill the freezer and which were more likely to give you a shot at that big buck you’re after. The results are interesting to say the least.

Best Georgia Counties for Big Bucks

Before we dive into which counties produce the biggest bucks, I first need to break down how we ultimately chose the counties we did.

For this particular article, we looked at GON’s big buck records for the past five seasons, looking at how many bucks 140 inches or better were taken in each county. The 140-inch designation was somewhat arbitrary, but we felt it was a good benchmark for what most would consider an exceptional buck here in Georgia.

Now, let’s take a look at the results.

Number of Bucks Killed Over 140 Inches by County

When sorting through the data, one thing was for sure. When it comes to shooting big bucks in Georgia, Worth County reigns king!

Over the last five seasons, hunters have taken 28 bucks in Worth County that measured 140-inches or better. That was nearly twice as many as its closest competitor!

Tift County was second on the list at 15 bucks over 140 inches, with six of those being harvested last season – the most of any county for the 2022-2024 season.

Dougherty and Fulton counties came in third and fourth place with 14 bucks each, and Macon County rounded out our top five with 13.

Morgan and Pulaski counties were next with 11 and 10 bucks respectively, but both only had one 140-inch or better buck killed there each of the last two seasons. Is that a sign they are going downhill as far as quality goes? It’s probably too early to say at this point.

Cook, Colquitt and Lee counties finish out the top 10 with 10, nine, and nine bucks over 140 inches respectively.

Keep in mind that these numbers are all based on bucks that were officially scored and reported to GON. Obviously there are plenty of bucks taken every season that never get officially scored or reported. But enough of them do to give us a good enough baseline to see county-level trends

Best Counties for Filling the Freezer

If you’re more interested in filling the freezer than a trip to the taxidermist, we have you covered there, too!

Fortunately for Georgia hunters, there are healthy deer numbers across most of the state. Most counties provide excellent opportunities to fill the freezer. The exception would be some of the northernmost counties where deer densities are low, and there are limited opportunities to harvest does.

For this part of the article, we looked at the state’s deer harvest data for the 2022-2024 season.

With that in mind, here are our top 10 Georgia counties for filling your freezer with venison:

Because some counties are much larger than others, it wouldn’t be fair to simply look at the total number of deer killed, so to level the playing field, we instead looked at the number of deer harvested in each county by square mile.

As you can see in the table, Hancock, Warren, Wilkes, Madison, and Gordon counties all saw harvests over 9 deer per square mile. Polk, Hall, Dade, Meriwether, and Oglethorpe weren’t far behind with harvests in the 8-9 deer per square mile range.

As far as overall total deer harvest, Hancock County reigned supreme at 4,584 deer harvested, including 1,435 bucks and 3,149 does.

10 Worst Counties for Deer Hunting

For our 10 worst counties list, we looked at both the deer harvest per square mile and the number of 140-inch or better bucks harvest over the last 5 seasons. The resulting “worst counties” are those with a relatively low harvest and few, if any, big bucks being killed.

Here’s what we came up with:

Even though Rabun produced a couple of 140-inch or better bucks over the last five years, it was the only county that yielded less than one deer per square mile. It had the third lowest total harvest behind Clayton and DeKalb counties, which have very limited hunting due to their urban setting.

With the exception of Brantley County, none of the remaining nine worst counties had a 140-inch or better buck taken, and all had harvests under two deer per square mile.

A Few Caveats

Now before you send that hate mail informing me how wrong my article is, let me issue this disclaimer: These lists are primarily for fun, and were created based on averages calculated at the county level.

You may have a hunting property in one of the counties we designated as “the worst” and have great success there. Or you may hunt one of our “best counties” and not have any luck at all. Deer numbers and quality can vary greatly, even across a small county, based on the habitat and hunting pressure found on individual properties within that county.

So don’t let anything in this report upset you or keep you from hunting an area where you’ve had success. This is just a simple guide to point you in the right direction if you’re trying to figure out where to deer hunt based on either quantity of deer or quality of bucks.

So go ahead and delete that hateful email and just go deer hunting! Prove us wrong.

Hammered In The Mountains

By: Pedram Parvin (Western Hunter Magazine)

Most of us long time hunters have a set, or if we’re lucky enough, a bag of elk ivories that we have laying around that we have always wanted to do something memorable with, but never have. I found myself in this exact situation, when I came across Autumn Fahnholz of Hammered In The Mountains. I was amazed by her attention to detail and her ability to capture the essence of a hunt through her work. I reached out to Autumn to learn more about her story, her work, and her life experiences. Autumn shared with me how far her work has come, and how it all began as a devoted hunter.

With a background and bachelor’s degree in Biology, she expressed that finding a year-round position that she was passionate about in Salmon, Idaho was not easy to come across. Her life experiences from working with the Idaho Fish & Game taught her a lot and led her to learning western bright cut engraving from a local silversmith. That is where Autumn’s interest with silver and becoming a maker was immediately sparked.

She expressed to me that she knew from the very beginning that engraving wasn’t what she wanted to delve into, so she went her own way carving her own path. At the time she did not have a lot of money to her name. In fact, her first hammers, files, and pliers were purchased from the trading post in Salmon. They were well used and had a little rust on them, but that was not going to stop her from using them. While working random jobs with not much to do in the evenings during the cold and dark winters, she found herself sitting at a makeshift workbench in a little primitive cabin in the mountains. Autumn spent countless hours and nights trying to figure out how to solder, saw, forge, and stamp silver by hand, and there it was, Hammered In The Mountains was born.

Teaching herself this skillset came with wasted silver, failure, frustration, and more experimentation than she could begin to mention. However, when she would finally start to see the end result of what she had imagined, that moment of joy significantly outweighed all of the bad. Two years ago, Autumn took a big chance and decided she wanted to become a full-time silversmith. Although she knew it was the right decision, it was not an easy task with losing a steady income. Her husband, Benjamin, was behind her 100% of the way and paid the bills until she could get on her feet. Benjamin and his family own and operate Life-Like Taxidermy in Carmen, Idaho. Her husband, his dad, and his brother have entered in many taxidermy competitions over the years and in 2019 Benjamin brought home a Best in World Title with a pedestal antelope, and his brother Brandon, a 2nd Best in World Title with a life-size Mountain Lion.

Their passion and attention to detail with their clean and precise work when recreating animals is something she looks up to. She learned a lot from those guys when it comes to detailed work and strives to keep her work neat and clean just like them. The passion and tradition with hunting in the Fahnholz family is something that runs deep through their blood. While the guys at Life-Like Taxidermy are recreating animals from memorable hunts, she has also found a way to relive those memorable hunts with her very own skillset involving elk ivory. The Fahnholz name values family, tradition, and the stories that come from their times afield and strive to create things that will not only last a lifetime, but can be passed down to the next generation with a story behind it.

In life there are small moments that cannot be summed up by simply looking at the physical actions that have taken place. There are times when those actions hold a meaning deeper rooted into our souls, forged into our hearts and minds by the preparation, determination, hard work and faith we put forth. One instance that Autumn recalls took place deep in the wilderness on one of the most physically demanding hunts Benjamin and her had ever embarked on. After sealing the deal on potentially the bull of her lifetime with a perfect cross canyon shot, they made their way up to the huge bodied bull elk. Flooded with emotions that one can only feel after taking part in such an amazing hunt, Benjamin got down on one knee and asked her if she would spend the rest of her life with him. Some may have questioned the fact that he did not have a ring in hand, Autumn however, knew that the moment they shared on that mountain could be forever symbolized by creating something with that bull’s ivories. Where a person lacking in the ability to relate to and know such feelings might just see a tooth from an animal, she saw an opportunity to memorialize a life changing experience. She has since made him a ring and still has the other ivory she plans to use in a very special piece for herself. Benjamin and his brother, Brandon, still wear matching pendants from a bull hunt that they shared together years ago. For their family, there is no better way to symbolize the bonds and ties created in the mountains and woods.

Autumn’s true passion with Hammered In The Mountains is to turn those elk ivories into wearable memories. As an avid backcountry hunter herself, she knows the significance of each hunt and how those memories are so meaningful to us all. Her handcrafted, rugged, and creative hard work is an extension of your hunts and celebrations. Three custom pieces that she just finished up for the Western Hunter Magazine are a men’s elk ivory ring, a talisman, and a Benchmade Hidden Canyon knife inlay.

Hammered In The Mountains jewelry is sawed, soldered, forged, hammered, stamped, filed, sanded, and polished all by hand making each piece irreplaceable. Her work is meant to be used and worn, and people are always asking the stories behind these pieces, which gives you an opportunity to relive each of the amazing hunts and experiences all over again.

If you’re interested in a custom piece, give her a call (814-221-2408) as she would be happy to hear about your hunt and work with you to capture exactly what you are looking for. You can also see and choose from any of her previous elk ivory work on her website Hammeredinthemountains.com Autumn’s work is meticulously designed, ruggedly crafted, and handmade for hunters, by a hunter.

Skinning your first raccoon can be a daunting task but it should not much different than skinning a coyote. Remember that a raccoon is more delicate than a coyote and you should take your time especially on the first one to make sure you get a good pelt when you are done.

The method we are going to discuss in this article is how to tube skin a raccoon. Tube skinning is one of the most common ways and it can be used when selling your fur to a fur buyer, tanning, wall hanging, or slightly modified for taxidermy purposes.

Tube skinning works for many types of animals in North America. This includes the fox, coyote, bobcat, raccoon, and anything in between. If you are looking to trap raccoon then checkout our raccoon trapping guide. It explains what traps, bait, and sets to use when trapping raccoon.

Is It Hard To Skin A Raccoon?

Skinning a raccoon can be a little hard at first. If you are skinning a raccoon for the first time it may take an hour to skin it. Take your time though you should not be in a hurry when you are first starting out and raccoon pelt will turn out good.

When I skinned my first critter I was trying really hard to do a good job and didn’t have much practice skinning. There is a learning curve to it but it is something you can learn as you watch someone skinning a raccoon and then try it a few times.

I have added several example videos at the bottom of this article so you can see when different methods of skinning a raccoon. Watch when the person skinning the raccoon is pulling and when they are cutting.

Skinning a coyote and a raccoon are very similar. Checkout our article on how to skin a coyote for more tips on skinning.

How Long Can You Wait To Skin A Raccoon?

Usually, you are hunting and trapping raccoon in the cold months. October to February is when most raccoon have the best fur.

In cold weather, raccoon will not spoil for two to three days and can be skinned. A raccoon in warm weather needs to be skinned within a few hours. Raccoon fur left on the carcass can start to spoil or get green belly and the fur will start to turn a greenish color.

Green belly is not initially bad if it is light green but as it progresses and the bacteria growing on the raccoon skin can cause the fur to slip or fall off the hide.

Green belly can be cleaned off with hydrogen peroxide and may not initially ruin a skin.

Tools For Skinning A Raccoon

• Raccoon Gambrel
• Skinning Knife
• Tail stripper
• Tail zipper or splitter

How Do You Professionally Skin A Raccoon?

Most people professionally skinning raccoon are doing it to sell the hide and make money. The tube method is the most common method when selling raccoon pelts.

Steps To Skinning A Raccoon

• Cutting Direction: When skinning a raccoon you may think the cutting direction is down so you can get the skin off but that will cause you to nick the fur and put holes in it. Your cutting direction should be perpendicular to the carcass and should cut the white membrane that appears between the carcass and the hide when pulling down on the fur.
• Nicking the hide is not a huge deal and can be fixed. Even professionals do it. It can be sewn together later in the fur preparation process but it is best to avoid it. If you have nicked the fur be careful when you pull the fur down off the raccoon that you are not making the hole bigger and stretching it out.
• Hang the raccoon up upside down by the back feet with a gambrel or rope around the legs.
• Split the fur along the back of the legs where you see a color change in the fur. Start at about the back of the knee and cut in deep. and go around the top of the anus.
• Work the sin off around the legs by spreading the hair away from where you just cut and skinning the hide around the leg.
• Split the fur at the knee of the raccoon and leave the rest of the fur on the foot. When you have enough fur worked down and pull the fur down to about the level of the tail.

How To Skin a Raccoon Tail

• Skin down around the tail creating a gap between the fur on the back and the carcass. Work and skin the fur down the tail an inch or two.
• Use a tail stripper around the meat of the tail and pull down on the fur and tail stripper while you also push up on the raccoon with the other hand right where the tail connects to the rest of the carcass.
• Use a tail zipper or knife to split the tail all the way to the bottom so the tail can dry out.
• You should now be able to grab a large chunk of fur and pull down all the way to the shoulders and maybe a little farther.
• Now you should be able to stick a bar into the flesh between the neck and shoulder on both sides and pull down until the fur on the front leg goes over the elbow joint. The fur can then be cut around the leg and pulled through the leg hole.

How To skin a Raccoon Face, Ears, Lips and Eyes

• You can now give another good tug down now that the front legs are out. The head should be the only thing left in. The fur should have stopped at the ears.
• Cut straight into the head and you should be able to cut the ear cartilage at the base of the ear on both sides. You can now stick your finger in the ear and not too hard pull down on the hide and continue skinning.
• You should start getting into the lips on the sides of the head. They should start to split from the carcass at the corners of the mouth. You can stick your finger in there and pull fairly hard and keep skinning down the rest of the head remembering to cut perpendicular to the carcass.
• Next, the eyes should be cut fairly deep keeping the eyelashes intact. Again you will cut straight keeping the cuts a little deeper around the eyes.

How To skin a Raccoon Nose and Lower Jaw

• Once both eyes are cut skin the nose all the way down the front of the head until you are about a half-inch from the end of the nose. Then cut straight towards the bottom jaw and cut the nose off. The top of the fur should now be free.
• Next, skin the bottom jaw down about two inches from the end the cut it off leaving the bottom few inches of fur on the carcass. You won’t need that piece. You should now be done.

How To Skin Raccoon Paws or Feet

In the tube method of skinning a raccoon you should not need to skin the feet. As stated above you can cut the fur at the elbows and you will be done.

If you are skinning a raccoon for taxidermy then you will need to skin out the feet or paws. You also do not want to cut and leave any of the fur on the carcass.

When skinning out the feet first you will want to split the back of the leg instead of skinning down and cutting it off. Continue skinning down the leg until you ar a few inches from the top of the foot.

You can now split the back of the leg until you come to the big pad at the bottom of the foot. You will then start to skin down the foot until you reach the tird joint on each toe.

You will need to work down and skin each toe individually as you work the hide down. Split the third joint at each toe as you reach it. The middle toes are longer and will be farther to skin than the side toes so finish out the site toes first.

Learning More

I have added a few videos here to help you get a few perspectives on and tips on how to skin a raccoon. Watch these videos and you will see that each person has their own little tricks.

How to Skin a Raccoon Fast

Raccoon Trapping Equipment

• MB 450 Traps
• Best Coyote Traps
• Pack Basket
• Trapping Bag
• Buckets
• Trapping Hammer
• Trapping Sheds
• Trapping Cabins
• More Trapping Equipment

If you want see the Staccato P in action, check out the video review above.

As always, you can head over to Pew Pew Tactical on YouTube for more guns and gear.

Recently, Staccato came out with a 2011 pistol called P.

While marketing included a mixture of approaches, it was clear the P was at least partially intended for law enforcement.

Staccato claims the P is approved for duty use by more than 460 law enforcement agencies.

I think we can agree, calling a weapon duty rated sets a high standard.

Backed by over 22 years in law enforcement, the last seven of which I served as a POST-certified handgun instructor, I intended to test the P for myself and find out if it merited that ranking.

So read on as we walk you through the specs, talk about the features, and head out to the range with this gun to find out what it’s truly capable of.

Feeling lazy to read the article? We’ve summarized the pros and cons for you.

Staccato P: Pros & Cons

Pros

• Very accurate
• Great trigger
• Low recoil

Cons

• High MSRP
• Expensive magazines

What is the Staccato P?

So, after 100 years added to a gun’s legacy, how did Staccato evolve the 1911? What are the main differences?

First off, the general aesthetic is still the same.

Those familiar with the lines of the 1911 will recognize that DNA in the 2011.

The first big difference you notice is the grip. I’ve always appreciated the narrow but hefty feel of John Moses Browning’s beauty, but the grip on the Staccato is much thicker.

This accommodates the double-stacked, 9mm magazines. When you dig into the gun and take it apart, you notice some major differences.

The frame offers either a steel or aluminum build with a polymer exterior. This allows for increased capacity and helps mitigate some of the recoil.

Plus, the outer texture is grippy. It’s got a raised pattern like an all-terrain tire that really hooks up in your palms.

In addition, there’s no barrel bushing. Shooters compress the guide rod and spring until a clip sticks out. This catches on the end of the muzzle and locks the compressed spring in place for removal.

This is called the Dawson Precision tool-less guide rod and it is a much-appreciated improvement.

The safety and hammer are still there as is the slide stop and the skeletonized trigger gives the impression of a higher-end 1911.

Ergonomics

Let’s talk ergonomics!

First off, the grip is really big. I wear a 2X glove and I had to make adjustments. While I could reach the mag release, I couldn’t reach the slide stop lever without adjusting my grip.

It is manageable, but police agencies are a lot more diverse nowadays and can’t follow the 6 foot or better hiring practices of old. Small-handed officers might struggle with this gun a bit at first but I think the rewards would offset this.

The P has an ambidextrous safety, but the mag release is currently only on the left side.

Interestingly, I found myself leaning more toward the aluminum frame for preference. Then again, I don’t wear a leather duty belt anymore.

The steel frame P weighed 2 pounds, 3 ounces on my digital scale, while the aluminum was 1 pound and 14 ounces.

To the Range!

There were a couple of questions I set out to answer with this test.

I wanted to see how the 2011 was improved for the average officer on the street and if Staccato was able to keep some of the qualities I loved about the 1911 while improving some of its shortcomings.

I carried a 1911 on duty which means I hold it in the highest regard. But it doesn’t mean the gun couldn’t stand some improvements.

I practically ran to the range when the Staccatos came in — that’s right, I said Staccatos.

They sent two Ps, an aluminum frame, and a steel frame. Before all was said and done, I tested both and developed some preferences.

Starting out though, I ran the aluminum frame with a Holosun 507c optic and the steel frame with the Leupold DeltaPoint Pro.

I’m a huge fan of both of these red dots. (Want more red dots? Check out our article on the Best Pistol Red Dots.)

After testing began, one thing became clear right out of the gate — I’m not used to external safeties anymore!

It took some practice to implement that into my draw stroke again.

The P comes with a slide lock safety and a grip safety.

There’s a philosophy associated with these, particularly as it applies to law enforcement — they serve as the final layers of officer safety, should de-escalation and weapon retention tactics fail.

With a good grip established, I started banging away. Going back to a hammer-fired gun is like reuniting with an old, familiar, lover.

Gone was the achingly long, sometimes squishy, trigger pull so commonly associated with striker-fired guns.

Nope, this was sheer point and click joy with a short, crisp break and reset.

Mine averaged just over 2.5 pounds on a Lyman Digital Gauge, though Staccato lists it as 4 pounds.

Looking back down Memory Lane, I used to love how well I grouped shots with my 1911.

I attributed much of that performance to the trigger and it felt like the Staccato P would repeat that.

Accuracy

At 15 feet I fired off three shots for accuracy. The first and last went through the same hole but I threw the middle shot about an inch away.

Accuracy is strong with the P.

Another impression I had was loving the magazines and their added capacity. The P comes with three magazines — two are 17 rounders and the third is 20.

This means officers can walk around with 20+1 in their holster and another 34 rounds in mag pouches. That first magazine is often the most important, for obvious reasons.

Moving onto reliability, I fired right around 1,000 rounds through each gun using American Eagle and Blazer, both at 115 grains. I also ran some 124 grain SAR USA ammo through the guns.

With the exception of two stovepipes, the guns ran flawlessly. I was able to pin this down to one box of Blazer ammo and it did not happen again.

I ran different drills from my academy curriculum during testing and really began to appreciate this new breed of gun – an evolved fighting pistol with a pedigree.

In short, both Staccatos were fantastic.

For a full breakdown on the P’s…breakdown, see our Disassembly and Reassembly video below.

By the Numbers

Ergonomics: 4/5

The grip is really big, even though I wear a 2X glove, I had to make adjustments. Smaller-handed shooters might struggle a bit. Overall, though, it’s pretty comfortable.

Reliability: 4.5/5

I really believe the two stovepipes I experienced were ammo-induced because they didn’t happen again during the course of testing. Otherwise, the Ps were perfect.

Accuracy: 5/5

These guns are at least as accurate as my 1911. The excellent trigger, combined with the red dots, (the fiber optic sights are nice too) really helps with getting on target.

Add in the 4.4-inch bull barrel and you’ve got a solid package that will deliver laser-like fire if you do your part.

Value: 4/5

The Staccato P is expensive. The standard version is $2,099 while the optics ready version will set you back $2,399.

Compared to a polymer, striker-fired gun, this might seem outrageous, but in the world of higher-end 1911s it’s entry-level to average.

Overall: 5/5

This is an outstanding firearm. I feel like Staccato honored the past of the 1911 with due reverence while vastly modernizing the design to fit the challenging role officers face today.

Upgrades & Accessories for Staccato P

You’ll definitely want a nice pistol light with your Staccato. And for that we usually go with our gold standard…the Surefire X300. Be sure to get the B model since that works the best with metal framed handguns.

As for optics…check out our Best Pistol Red Dots but otherwise we loved using a Holosun 507C and Deltapoint Pro in our test.

Now how about even more customization straight from Staccato themselves? They’ve recently unleashed their CONFIGURATOR for the P…and we’ve got our hands on one of the first ones.

More options will be rolled out…but we went with some custom lasering, DLC and threaded barrel, plus some front serrations.

It looks great especially with the DLC black barrel. You can also customize the grip for more grip but we stayed with the standard.

And how did it run suppressed? We’re only a few hundred rounds in but so far it’s been 100% and we love the suppressor height sights.

Next step is to get the correct optic plate for this P and then get shooting!

Holster-wise, I recommend the Tenicor Certum3 IWB/AIWB. This holster will get you where you need to go with the Staccato.

Field Strip & Reassembly

Don’t want to mess up your P? Check out our quick video to field strip and put it all back together again.

Conclusion

You might wonder how this information applies to the civilian customer, and to me that’s pretty simple.

Whether you love, hate, or feel indifferent about law enforcement, they can at a moment’s notice, be called upon to use a firearm to save their own life or that of someone else.

To me, this means the equipment they use must be of the highest quality — Staccato meets that standard.

Citizens wanting to harness the P for their own protection needs would be well advised to do so.

The accuracy, reliability, and capacity are top-notch.

Admittedly, factors like the overall size and magwell would make it a little tough to conceal, but it could be done. I could easily envision the P serving in a dedicated home defender role too.

Again, check out the full video review below.

Also please note Staccato offers a discount on the P to active duty law enforcement, veterans and first responders through their Heroes Program.

Have you tried a 2011 pistol? Would you be willing to try one out? Let us know in the comments below and make sure to check out our review of Staccato’s XC and XL models too!