Rifle March/April 2019

Our editor recently asked if I might consider a column about open and/or aperture iron rifle sights. Apparently the subject comes up on a reasonably regular basis, enough so to consider a refresher course on the proper use of open sights. ...Read More >

Considering the .17 Winchester Super Mag’s unheard-of rimfire velocities, one might think it would have left the gate like a well-conditioned thoroughbred. Instead, it came out with a limp. When unveiled at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in 2013, I wrote it off – thinking it likely would slowly go nowhere due to several economic factors. ...Read More >

When scopes started gaining acceptance among hunters, they were soon labeled as unreliable. They fogged, lost their zero adjustment, crosshairs dislodged, tubes bent and lenses became loose. The value of quick- detachable mounts (QDMs) soon became apparent because hunters could instantly remove the scope and rely on old trustworthy iron (open) sights. ...Read More >

A rifle that has not been zeroed is just about useless for any sort of shooting. Most riflemen today have a good handle on zeroing rifles with optical sights. The same is not so true for rifles with iron sights, and it’s especially untrue for their front sights. Most American rifles of yore, and their modern replicas, carry iron sights – Winchesters, Sharps, rolling blocks, Marlins, etc. Of course, so do the vast majority of the world’s vintage military rifles that are so much in vogue currently. ...Read More >

The .22 Long Rifle has been the most popular sporting rifle and cartridge combination sold for as long as most of us can remember. The reason is its low noise, relatively low cost and light recoil; perfect for hunting small game, pest control, teaching the fundamentals of firearms to new shooters and just for the fun of shooting. It’s also perfect for searching-out rifles of different makes and action types to collect, study, repair, restore or just have fun with. ...Read More >

Even for someone taken aback by the rows of puzzling buttons on a television remote, SIG Sauer’s Ballistic Data Xchange (BDX) Technology is easy to use. I was able to download the SIG BDX app to my iPhone to configure bullet ballistic profiles, transfer that information to a SIG KILO BDX rangefinder, and then to a SIG SIERRA3BDX riflescope that displayed an illuminated aiming dot that compensates for bullet drop and drift out to 800 yards. ...Read More >

The first words of this column were set down at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 2018 – 100 years to the day, and even the hour, of the end of the Great War. ...Read More >

Legendary Arms Works has had its starts and stops, and now it’s making rifles again. Legendary Arms started as a combination of Mark Bansner’s Ultimate Rifles and his High Tech Specialties gunstocks. He partnered with David Dunn, who owned the rights to the Ed Brown-designed Model 704 action. Financial difficulties put a stop to the original Legendary Arms. The company has now been restructured and is back in business as Legendary Arms in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. ...Read More >

Big Horn Armory began developing a new lever-action rifle in 2008 that became known as the Model 89 SpikeDriver, with production underway in late 2012. It was the first production levergun to be chambered in .500 S&W Magnum. The action is based on a scaled-down Winchester Model 1886, or an enlarged version of the Model 1892, but with additional engineering and the use of high tensile steels to obtain the necessary strength to easily handle modern, high-pressure revolver cartridges. ...Read More >

From what can be gleaned from my collection of shooting literature going back to the late 1800s, home “accurizing” of rifles didn’t become popular until the 1950s due to several factors. ...Read More >

It is almost impossible to correct factual errors about guns that have been repeated for decades. A most persistent error of fact is that the Imperial Japanese Army’s (IJA) World War II small arms were crude, poorly made and dangerous to fire – junk. They were not; at least not until the last-ditch rifles were made near war’s end, and it’s doubtful if any of those saw action. ...Read More >

A few months ago, a friend of mine went to a discount store to buy a first shotgun for his grandson. He came back with two – both Stevens pump guns, priced at an unbelievable $149. “They were so cheap,” he told me, “I bought one to keep in the truck. Practically chump change.” Undoubtedly, these are sound, durable shotguns that will go bang when they are supposed to, but it shows just how far the Stevens name has sunk in the last hundred years. At one time, a rifle made by Joshua Stevens’ company was a hallmark of quality. Today, it’s a discount brand. ...Read More >

The Hammer Bullets Steve Davis and Brian Holtmeyer manufacture are the result of a 30-year quest for a better game bullet. Davis said he had always been disappointed with the amount of blood-shot meat caused by regular lead-core bullets. When mono-metal bullets became available, they significantly reduced meat loss, yet Davis and Holtmeyer were still less than satisfied. ...Read More >