Rifle July/August 2020

It was brought to my attention shortly before the new year began that the Winchester Model 95 would be celebrating its quasquicentennial, 125 years since its introduction in 1895. Four years ago in 2016, Winchester celebrated its sesquicentennial, 150 years since Oliver F. Winchester acquired the company and introduced its first rifle, the Model 1866. The comparison was interesting because it only took 25 years for Winchester to go from a black-powder, lever-action rifle fashioned from gunmetal (brass alloy) and iron to heat-treated nickel steel for the much more powerful smokeless cartridges. ...Read More >

Bergara bolt-action rifles are known to shoot well, and the company has been making headway with its sporting and long-range options in the last several years. Nonetheless, given the occasional letter sent to the office, it appears many hunters are not quite sure where the rifles are made. A brief history may help clear up some of this confusion. ...Read More >

In 2010, Andy Larsson purchased Skinner Sights and in the past decade has worked continuously to improve the design, quality and has developed many new products. Andy becoming the owner of Skinner Sights was a perfect match. For example, he has been a serious shooter and hunter all of his life and has won many Bullseye matches, including the Indoor Open Sectionals National Championship in 1998. Being a shooter, Andy knows what good sights are and what features are necessary to shoot small groups or take game in the field. Skinner is currently supplying aperture sights and a new ladder sight for Marlin Firearms, Henry and others. ...Read More >

In the early 1940s, there happened to be a firearms miracle the likes of which will probably never occur again: A military firearm was manufactured to the tune of 6.25 million in less than four years, and that included time spent at drawing boards before the first steel and wood were cut. Ancillary points to the miracle were that the M1 Carbine’s basic design was accomplished in 13 days by Winchester Repeating Arms, and nine of the 10 companies that produced them from 1941 to 1945 had never manufactured a firearm previously. Of course, Winchester was the exception. ...Read More >

Many hunters today use single shots and even classic doubles in the pursuit of non-dangerous big game. These folks consider such rifles entirely adequate and much easier on the eye than modern designs. ...Read More >

It’s a question posed frequently among deer hunters, particularly whitetail fanatics from back East: “What’s a good scope to put on my levergun?” Despite Remington’s laser-like Ultra Magnums, Hornady’s whizbang PRC rounds and Noslers double-digit proprietary cartridges – and the 6.5 Creedmoor, of course – many serious deer hunters still place complete trust in a .30-30 Winchester, .35 Remington or .45-70 lever-action rifle. ...Read More >

It had to happen eventually. With all the varmint shooting I have done over the years, production grade rifles were always on call. While off-the-shelf rifles have always been more than adequate, there was always the calling for a custom centerfire rifle. ...Read More >

About 15 years ago, there occurred one of the less pleasant memories of my pursuit of the perfect rifle. For many years, I’d entertained a lurking desire for a .250-3000 built on a Mauser Kurz action, if I could find one I could afford. That never came to pass, but instead, Dakota Arms began offering a short version of its 76 action, an enticing cross between the Mauser 98 and the pre-’64 Model 70. ...Read More >

Rhe Ruger M77 Hawkeye’s long lineage began back in 1968 with the original M77 made with an aluminum floorplate and trigger guard, two-position safety on the tang and an action that looked like – but wasn’t – a true controlled-round feed. A redesign of the M77 into the Mark II in 1989 turned it into a true controlled-round action with a large extractor that fastened to a cartridge as it was stripped from the magazine and included a blade ejector, a three-position wing safety located near the tang and hammer-forged barrels. A facelift of the Mark II in 2006 resulted in the third generation M77 Hawkeye with a slimmer stock and new LC6 trigger. Today, the Hawkeye remains Ruger’s flagship bolt-action rifle in 10 models from the Compact to the African. ...Read More >

During the past couple of decades, rifle manufacturers have been working diligently to increase accuracy, with emphasis placed on better barrels and chambers, more precise actions, positive stock bedding, out-of-box triggers that break lightly and crisply, etc. Nonetheless, the accuracy of most rifles – including vintage and modern – can be further improved through the careful selection of ammunition, including premium-style factory loads and handloads tailored to a given rifle. ...Read More >

Willard Milton Farrow is not exactly a household name, and when mentioning the Farrow rifle to most shooters today, you get a blank look. Everyone knows Winchester and Remington, the cognoscenti know Ballard and Stevens, and the Sharps is famous for many reasons. The Farrow? Never heard of it. ...Read More >

The development of what are generically called “plastics” began in the mid-nineteenth- century, when the long molecules of cellulose – abundant in plants – were treated to form various polymers used in products from camera film to billiard balls. Traditionally, billiard balls were made of elephant ivory, but the popularity of billiards kept increasing while the supply of elephants kept decreasing. In 1869, a New York chemist named John Wesley Hyatt developed a suitable polymer – which could also be shaped into various other items normally made from animals and plants, including cloth fibers. ...Read More >

The Savage A17 may just be the quintessential jackrabbit/ground squirrel hunting rifle, finally fulfilling the dream many riflemen had since the little .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire cartridge (HMR) was introduced in 2002. Almost immediately after it hit the market, thousands of small-game and varmint hunters fell in love with the .17 HMR round and its accuracy. ...Read More >