Rifle July-August 2025

The Models 1860 and 1865 Spencer lever-action rifles (and carbines) hold a unique position in the history of firearms. While the original Spencer rimfire cartridges, including the 56-56, 56-52, 56-50 and 56-46, have been long obsolete, Chiappa Firearms is producing a respectable reproduction chambered in 44-40 Winchester, 45 Colt and 56-50 Spencer, which are practical calibers to shoot and enjoy this piece of history. For today’s review, a Cimarron Firearms Model 1865 45 Colt carbine with a 20-inch round barrel was selected. ...Read More >

Each year, SHOT Show starts off with a bang outdoors and outside Las Vegas with Industry Day at the Range for invited media (e.g., yours truly), hosted at the expansive Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club shooting range in Boulder City, Nevada. Two years ago, a new, family-owned company in Charleston, Utah, brought a unique, scaled-down AR-15 chambered in 22 Long Rifle, designed and intended for training youngsters in the safe handling of the modern sporting rifle. The diminutive firearm encored at SHOT 2024, but the company had changed its name and now instead markets the little gun as a survival rifle. ...Read More >

The last column covered the Greener Police Gun, a combination club, single-shot shotgun made on a large Martini action, essentially the Martini-Henry of the 1860s. Unlike the military rifle, the Police Gun had a safety, though it didn’t always work as intended. ...Read More >

There’s no beating German- or Austrian-made optical glass or mechanical systems. All of us are familiar with names like Zeiss, Leica, Swarovski, and more recently, Zero Compromise Optic. The Teutonic influence on optical systems is world-renowned. Blaser Optics was added to that list in 2018, an offshoot of the Blaser Group, which includes Blaser, Mauser, J.P. Sauer, John Rigby & Company firearms, Minox and Liemke optics. ...Read More >

In days of yore, one of the mainstays of gun writing was the article called “The Ideal Battery.” The author would recommend several basic guns that would constitute everything the average guy needed to hunt elk, down ducks at 80 yards and defend his property against woodchucks. ...Read More >

Half a dozen years ago, I had the pleasure of wringing out two of the finest factory rifles it has been my good fortune to encounter: Montana Rifle Company’s SCR-SS (Seven Continents Rifle, in stainless steel), and its MTR (Montana Tactical Rifle). One was chambered in 300 Norma, the other in 338 Norma. ...Read More >

Pistol Cartridge Carbines, or PCCs as they are more commonly called today, have become wildly popular in the modern shooting world. I see them as a natural offshoot of the popular AR-15, with generic pistol ammunition making them cheaper to run and mild-mannered pistol rounds making them even more fun to shoot. Well, mild- mannered at least in the case of the popular 9mm Luger, or even 45 ACP, but maybe not so much when chambered in the newer 10mm Auto Ruger LC Carbine model, which introduces a serious can of whup-ass to the PCC genre. ...Read More >

The story of the Pennsylvania-based company once known as E.R. Shaw and recently changed to Shaw began in 1913 with the founding of Small Arms Manufacturing, a major supplier of .30-caliber barrels for the United States Army during World War I. The company later supplied barrels of .30 and .50 calibers for various U.S. military firearms used in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Sometime during the 1950s, the Shaw division of the company was formed to serve the commercial market by selling hundreds of rifle barrels each month to gunsmiths who used them when building rifles on 1903 Springfield, 1917 Enfield and various Mauser actions that were both abundant and inexpensive on a thriving military surplus market. A mail-order service supplying barrels to hobbyists across the country was eventually added. ...Read More >

Of the various cartridges based on the full-length 30-03, 30-06 Springfield case, the 270 W.C.F., more commonly known as 270 Winchester, is by far the most popular and cherished. While its history started at least 107 years ago, it was formally launched 100 years ago (1925) along with the Winchester Model 54 bolt-action rifle. It was way ahead of its time, as it offered a unique blend of high velocity, power, modest recoil, a flat trajectory, and became a standard for hunters from east to west but was especially appreciated by those who hunt in open and mountainous country where long shots are expected. In addition to enjoying huge success, it has influenced many other cartridge designs and, in spite of several other .277-inch cartridges being introduced, it remains more popular than all the others combined and is as useful today as it was 100 years ago. ...Read More >

An iconic World War II semiautomatic carbine converted to fire a cartridge performing way out of proportion to its diminutive size is a match that should be celebrating a happy Diamond anniversary today. Instead, the 22 Spitfire that advertised near-223 Remington ballistics from the M1 Carbine became a failed marriage traced to a lack of interest from ammunition manufacturers and a lack in launching the platform. ...Read More >