Rifle November/December 2022

About the time dedicated Rifle readers find this issue in their mailbox, fall big-game hunting will be in full swing, and in some localities, deer and even elk season might be running down toward its end. So, it’s not unusual at this time, to get a letter or two from readers asking for information regarding feral hogs. These riflemen and women are looking to expand their time in the woods. Who can blame them! ...Read More >

Q: I so much appreciate the quality of your magazines and that the content is geared for real shooters. I especially enjoyed your article on the “Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle .308 Winchester” in Rifle No. 321 (March-April 2022). I finally found a stainless steel version in .308 Winchester that are very hard to find and purchased it. I temporarily mounted a 3.5-10x Leupold Vari-X III scope (that I have owned for many years) using the Ruger receiver mounted dovetail rings. The rifle is accurate and I don’t think that it has ever produced a group over 1 inch using both Hornady and Nosler factory loads. I have just begun developing a suitable handload and am trying to duplicate the accuracy and ballistics of 165-grain factory loads using either the Hornady SST or Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. Can you suggest a super accurate powder and perhaps a charge weight? ...Read More >

Without counting, I’m confident that during the last 50 years I’ve fired several hundred rifles. They have ranged from ordinary .22 rimfires to one huge .577 double rifle with the length of experiences varying from a single elephant rifle shot to tens of thousands from my many BPCR Silhouette competition rifles. Some thoughts on buttplates gained from this experience have been formed. ...Read More >

Most rimfire rifles are so darn reliable that little thought is given to anything more than pushing a patch through the bore and wiping off the blued surfaces if the gun resides in a humid environment. Unfortunately, just like people, time and lack of upkeep take its toll. Some .22s are more susceptible to this than others and the Remington 500 series is one of them. ...Read More >

I’ve developed a real affection for Czech-made Meopta riflescopes. I’d enjoyed extensive use of a couple models before receiving this latest example, including a MeoPro 6.5-20x 50mm HTR (Hunt/Tactical/Range), and more recently a Optika6 MeoPro 4.5-27x 50mm SFP. “Extensive” translates to multiple hundreds of rounds fired with each while belaboring burrowing rodents with various varmint rifles. Those were turret scopes retailing in the neighborhood of $1,000, finding not only did they hold gin-clear glass, but rock-solid and wholly practical designs. Though a grand isn’t an inconsequential wad of cash for most, those scopes compete favorably with optic brands offering comparable features, but including much higher prices. They offer plenty of long-range-capable, top-quality bang for your buck. ...Read More >

In 1963, Winchester gathered the country’s most influential gun writers at its plant in Alton, Illinois, to give them a peek at what the company had in store. History has shown that 1963 was not exactly a high point for Winchester and rumors had been rife about major changes to its lineup, especially the revered Model 70 bolt action. ...Read More >

An American tradition has been that rifles adopted by our armed forces also become enormously popular with civilians. Not so much anymore. The change began with the 1957 adoption of the M14 chambered for the 7.62mm NATO. Because all M14 receivers were built with select-fire potential, they could not be sold as surplus to civilians after they were dropped from military service. Comparatively, hundreds of thousands Model 1903 Springfields, M1 Garands and M1 .30 Carbines were sold at bargain basement prices in the twentieth-century. ...Read More >

Henry Repeating Arms is a relatively young company that started producing rifles in 1997 and is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. Its roots go back to the West German produced Erma Werke lever-action rifles that were imported by the Ithaca Gun Company as the Model 72 Saddlegun from 1973 through 1978 and by Erma from 1976 through the early 1990s. ...Read More >

When I think of O.F. Mossberg & Sons – or just “Mossberg” to most – my thoughts involuntarily turn to shotguns. After all, the company is the largest shotgun manufacturer in the world, the post-World War II 500 Series pump shotgun alone is one of the top-selling shotguns in American history, selling more than 10 million units. ...Read More >

The description in the auction catalog was sketchy, and seemed somewhat puzzled, as if the writer could not decide exactly what the rifle was, or its intended purpose. Still, it was correctly identified as having a Werndl action, and since anything Austrian is intriguing, I made a point of looking at it when I arrived at the viewing hall. ...Read More >

The history of rifles has been chronicled by technological advancements ever since the invention of spiral rifling in what is now Germany, about 500 years ago. However, as bores became smaller and smaller, one problem turned out to be examining the lands and grooves. Pointing a barrel toward a light source only revealed whether the bore was shiny or not, and the “not” could include fouling, machining marks and severe erosion or corrosion – but not fine details. ...Read More >