RifleShooter, the magazine dedicated to advanced rifle enthusiasts. All rifle sports are covered including hunting, target shooting and collecting, while focusing on fine custom rifles, great classics, and new high-tech designs.
Wood Is Good I am very encouraged and excited to read in the July/August “Commence Fire” commentary that you plan to offer more coverage of traditional wood guns. I look forward to the article in the next issue on the Sako 90 Hunter, as well as future articles on CZ and Montana Rifles. If you really want to get into the wood-stock rifles, may I suggest you feature the Ruger model No.1 RSI International and/or the Ruger M77 II International. They both have full-length Mannlicher-style fore-ends that, in my humble opinion, only add to their exceptional beauty. Thanks again for keeping us older hunters in mind. We don’t have much use for “black guns.” Dick Parker, North Carolina Thank you, Mr. Carl A. DiMatteo (“Commence Fire,” July/ August). My guess…
LANDS & GROOVES We’ve been publishing our annual roundup of big game rifles for 15 years now, with Brad Fitzpatrick ably doing the heavy lifting once again. Rifle trends have come and gone, and come ’round again, but with cartridges it’s been more of a sea change. Yes, blips appear—new rounds that gain everyone’s attention for a little while and then fade—but there are some long-term trends that appear to be establishing themselves. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what this year’s cartridge list may or may not tell us, and I’ll go by caliber. Do keep in mind that this roundup, while extensive, is not all-inclusive, and just because a particular cartridge fares well or not so well in new-rifle offerings is not the…
In 1906 the military officially adopted the Ball Cartridge, Caliber .30, Model of 1906, the cartridge that would later become known as the .30-06 Springfield or, more simply, the .30-06. The ’06 saw use in both world wars and Korea, and aside from its long, distinguished military service career, the ’06 also became the darling of sportsmen. The cartridge arrived at precisely the right time. Bolt-action rifles with telescopic sights were coming into vogue, and bottleneck cartridges using smokeless powder provided hunters and target shooters with weapons far more capable than the guns their fathers carried. The .30-06 was well-positioned to become the universal standard for big game hunting, and that’s precisely what happened. After World War II, the U.S. military was again in search of a cartridge for use…
Last year, my wife drew a Colorado bighorn tag, and I was allowed to tag along. She’d hired a guide, but you can never have enough eyes on a hunt like this, so I decided to make myself useful. Years ago, I’d hunted Coues deer in Mexico and used 15X binoculars on a tripod. I’d always thought it was a superior way to glass for long periods while still having sufficient power, and I figured this kind of setup would be ideal for a sheep hunt. I already had the tripod, one I had carried to support a spotting scope I’d taken on several elk and deer scouting trips. It’s Leupold’s Alpine CF-425 ($400), a versatile and affordable tripod that weighs only 32 ounces thanks to its carbon-fiber legs. At…
A truly amazing rifle was created as the M1891 Mosin-Nagant. Amazing because the action never really evolved as did every other rifle born during the late 19th century’s smallbore/smokeless powder revolution. More amazing is its 7.62x54R cartridge—a living fossil that still serves strong 133 years later with no signs of slowing down, even though both rifle and cartridge were obsolete by Western standards well before World War I. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the Mosin-Nagant is the wallflower of guns. No one copied its design, although many countries fielded versions of the 10 million or more of all models produced. That makes the M1891 a hard rifle to ignore, and its size makes it stick out. The M91/30 version’s overall length exceeds 48.5 inches. Add the…
If there’s any place where it behooves us to be OCD about organization, it’s at the reloading bench. After all, we are creating small items that harness the power of explosions and use that energy to drive projectiles downrange at extreme speeds. A simple mistake can cause a catastrophic failure. And although good organization isn’t a cure-all for temporary stupidity, it goes a long way toward circumventing an absent-minded oversight that just could blow up your favorite shootin’ iron. Plus, it just feels good to work in a clean, organized space. Tidy up your loading area, and you’ll impress your spouse and make your workbench the envy of your shooting pals. Here’s how to get started. When I began this project I was embarrassed to even look at my loading…
