Rifle September/October 2017

My introduction to 6.5mm rifle cartridges was sometime in the fall of 1955. There were three – the 6.5x54 Mannlicher- Schönauer (M-S), the 6.5x50 Arisaka (aka 6.5 Japanese) and 6.5x257 Roberts – in the then-current Ideal Handbook. The latter is certainly among the first 6.5 wildcats, along with the late Ken Waters’ .263 Express, circa 1953. ...Read More >

With interesting features and modern lines, the Browning X-Bolt rifle is a unique blend of forethought and engineering – an enhanced version of the A-Bolt, if you will. Yet before getting into any detail, summarizing the progression of the company’s centerfire bolt-action rifle line seems appropriate. The changes briefly noted below were no doubt the result of both economic decisions and a desire to keep up with trends. ...Read More >

Mention the name Nosler, and most shooters and hunters think of the Partition bullet. Developed by company founder John Nosler and first offered in 1948, it was a giant leap forward in premium hunting-bullet design intended specifically for taking big game. Perhaps the Ballistic Tip will come to mind, a bullet known for top-notch accuracy and favoritism among many deer hunters; it has proven to be devastating when placed in the heart or lungs of deer-sized game. ...Read More >

Being fond of carbines in general and levergun variants especially, I was intrigued when handed a Chiappa Model 1892 takedown .44 Remington Magnum with a 161⁄2-inch barrel and a weight of five pounds. It was an attractive levergun with perfectly smooth functioning. ...Read More >

If ever a mechanical device deserved the term “classic,” it’s the Savage 99. It is not, however, without its idiosyncrasies. The first of these is buttstock fit to the action, where many accuracy problems originate. Removing the bullstock is easy, because it is held on by a longitudinal bolt. As the stock slides back, we are treated to an amazing sight. The top action tang is wide, thin and only a little over half as long as the bottom tang – and it is attached to nothing at all! It protrudes from the back of the receiver like a swimming pool diving board. The bottom tang looks more sturdy, but it’s riddled with grooves, slots and pinholes required to fit a half-dozen moving parts. ...Read More >

There are unclear issues on the subject of barrel movement as a bullet passes through the bore. It is known that some bore expansion takes place upon bullet passage. The incipient effects of such expansion may vary markedly among barrels as a result of barrel and bore size, bore condition, barrel length and diameter, type of steel and the cartridge and load used. ...Read More >

Every year, rangefinders take a stride forward with features well beyond simply displaying a distance. SIG Sauer’s KILO2400ABS Laser Rangefinder is one such innovative electro-optic rangefinder. The KILO includes an Applied Ballistics System calculator, bullet database and sensors that calculate shot angle, temperature, air density and altitude. Pairing the rangefinder with a tablet or smartphone and SIG’s Applied Ballistics application, information is keyed in to create a ballistic profile that can determine holdover to compensate for bullet drop, hold-off to counteract wind direction and velocity in milliradians or minutes of angle (MOA) for a specific cartridge. ...Read More >

Years ago, I had the pleasure of using a Rifles, Inc. Signature Series .25-06 Remington and shot a nice pronghorn with it. When using good equipment, the memory of the experiences always sticks with you. With that in mind, I contacted Lex Webernick at the company to see what new avenues he had drifted down since our last meeting. ...Read More >

There was a day, more than 50 years ago, that I still recall with nagging regret and a touch of disbelief: It’s the day I was offered a pristine, all-original and matching Czech G33/40 BRNO- made Mauser 98 for $30 and chose instead to spend the money on a cut-down, semisporterized Enfield P-17. ...Read More >

New rifle ammunition options abound this year. Target shooting has grown in interest, and there are lots of choices for “ringing” steel with slender bullets that look fast and accurate just sitting motionless. Still, the majority of rifle cartridges are shot by small- and big-game hunters who are mostly concerned with accuracy and how bullets perform when they hit game. What follows is a survey of several new loads. ...Read More >

In 40 years of testing guns, this is the first I’ve had in my hands that was made in Australia. Not that I shied away from any, but with the strictest gun-control laws in the world, frankly, there are comparatively few guns made down under. This one is a fine-tuned rifle from Lithgow Arms, a company manufacturing military-type arms since 1945. After World War II, it seemed the perfect time to design and build sporting rifles, so Lithgow embarked on the production of a set of rimfire rifles to include both a single shot and a repeater. Both were discontinued in the early 1970s. ...Read More >

One irrefutable fact about military rifles over the past 150 years is that they have grown steadily shorter. There are a number of reasons: One is that black powder required a long barrel for maximum velocity; another was their additional duty, with bayonet fixed as a replacement for the ancient pike, for confronting cavalry charges. With the horse gone from the battlefield by 1945 that reason disappeared as well. ...Read More >

Among the rifles accompanying me to the range a few years ago was a “parts gun” based on what had originally been a Remington 700 Varmint-Target Rifle (VTR) .204 Ruger. With its triangular barrel and olive green, injection-molded stock, the VTR was no beauty contest winner, but it was very accurate and had served as my primary prairie dog rifle for four years until the barrel became triangular toast. ...Read More >

Bill Ruger designed the Ruger .22 Standard Pistol in the 1940s, founded Sturm, Ruger & Co. in 1949 and began production in a humble “red barn” located in Southport, Connecticut. The .22 Standard was built with pioneering manufacturing methods and sold for $37.50. Industry “experts” expressed considerable skepticism, but Ruger’s success was inevitable. ...Read More >