Rifle May/June 2021

Rifles tend to come and go in this business. Sometimes this is partly due to the fact that some of them become outdated, seemingly less useful at times (as can happen when moving to another state) or sold to raise cash for something deemed immediately important – like another rifle, which is my general excuse. ...Read More >

My sons and I stood there gazing in amazement at the completely empty ammunition shelves, then moved to the next aisle that normally contains powder, primers and bullets in hopes of finding something there that we needed. This was the sixth sporting goods store that we had visited that day, and just like all the others, there were no powders or primers, but there were a few boxes of lead roundballs for cap-and-ball sixguns and a few boxes of .17- and .20-caliber bullets. ...Read More >

With the change in our government, the term assault rifle will be negatively bandied about in the coming years. This will be from people and groups who don’t actually know what the term means or how it began. ...Read More >

Most shooters think that the lighter the trigger pull, the smaller the groups their rifles will produce. Old ideas die hard, and this one started with the flintlock! At that time, and through the percussion and early cartridge era, reliable ignition required a hard slap from a heavy hammer driven by a big, horse-killin’ mainspring. To hold the hammer back while the trigger was pulled required a fairly large sear area to prevent the thin case-hardened surface from wearing through too quickly. Heavy trigger pulls were the result, which made firing when the sights were on target difficult to impossible. ...Read More >

Swarovski Optik North America, a subsidiary of the Absam, Tyrol, Austria, company founded in 1949, is likely familiar to most rifle shooters. Swarovski is inarguably among the “Big Three” of European-made sports optics and is considered by many as producing some of the finest optics technology on the planet. The Z8i line of riflescopes was released in 2016, including four magnification ranges, and the 3.5-28x 50mm P under discussion here is the latest addition to that series. ...Read More >

Most readers have one or two guns that have been on many a hunt, and they look like they could use a little refreshing. I know, some people like the marks of a hunt on the stock, but then there are others who would like the gun brought back to next to new. In addition, you could have a family heirloom dating back years that you might want to pass on in like new condition. ...Read More >

The year was 1883 when The Field and its indomitable editor, J.H. Walsh, sponsored an extensive trial of rifles of all calibers in London, and set Holland & Holland on its way to becoming Britain’s dominant riflemaker for more than a century. History shows that Holland’s won every category, from tiny rook rifles to four-bore behemoths. ...Read More >

The search for the perfect .22 may not rank up there with the quest for the Holy Grail, or even for the perfect deer rifle. But, to men of a certain age, holding the perfect .22 in our hands before we depart this vale of tears is a fond hope that only grows fonder as we grow older. ...Read More >

Advancements in bullets, scopes, cartridges, rifles and accessories have significantly changed the definition and capabilities of long-range shooting. Making a given “shot” today compared to making the same “shot” just a couple of decades ago, is much easier and even practical. ...Read More >

The ultimate rifle for an avid student of American Western history is a true 1870’s vintage “Big Fifty.” My opinion is the most sought after rifle is a .50 Sharps Model 1874 Sporting Rifle. A close runner-up is a .50 Remington No. 1 Sporting Rifle (Rolling Block). Although Sharps .50s usually bring the highest price, in my experience Remington No. 1 .50 Sporting Rifles are very difficult to find. Note that I’ve capitalized Sporting Rifles. That term was used by both Sharps and Remington to differentiate rifles meant for hunting as opposed to target shooting or military use. ...Read More >

How many arguments involve an all-around hunting rifle? A reasonable guess would be 1,000 a day in the U.S., thanks to the internet. Multiply that by other countries with plenty of avid hunters (more than many Americans would guess) and 365 days, and the total might be over a million a year. ...Read More >

I don’t know exactly how I missed it, but sometime between the annual deer-hunting camps of my youth and discovering my beard turning snowy white, the .257 Roberts became a nearly dead cartridge. I easily recall multitudes of Roberts rifles in those early deer camps of the mid-to-late 1970s, and the men who owned them speaking glowingly of the cartridge’s potent nature in open western muley habitats. I understand that Ned Roberts’ brainchild has been around since 1934, created by necking the venerable 7x57mm Mauser down to accept .257-caliber bullets but, dang it, there just isn’t anything wrong with the round that comparable cartridges are doing that much better. Firearms luminary Ken Waters counted the .257 Roberts among his all-time favorite cartridges, while Jack O’Connor often praised the round. ...Read More >