Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2024 i RifleShooter

Rifleman’s Rifle—Not I have been reading Scott Rupp’s articles over the years and enjoying them as much as his latest article featuring Sako’s new Model 90 (September/October). The rifle is pleasant to the eye and brings an ingenious trigger design as well as the magazine release lock. However, I must disagree with Mr. Rupp for naming it “the rifleman’s rifle,” as the controlled-round-feed action of the Winchester Model 70 is a proven better design, and its three-position safety is simpler to operate and actually safer. And to the savvy hunter, a hinged floorplate is of more practical use than having an external magazine. With regard to aesthetics, the classic Winchester Model 70 is second to none among other production rifles, while preserving the essence of the functional American sporter stock…

These days, America’s sportsmen and women are clamoring for more “content,” as we call it in the media: more articles, more television shows, more website info. Outdoor Sportsman Group—which publishes this magazine as well as bringing you the Sportsman Channel and Outdoor Channel—has answered that call with the My Outdoor TV (MOTV) app. It’s a resource like no other, a curated treasure trove of outdoor-oriented television shows and videos. Think of it like your own personal Neftlix, with episodes of “Gun Stories” with Joe Montegna, the gun restoration show “The Gunfather,” “Guns & Ammo,” “Shooting USA” and more. The universe of content is even bigger when it somes to hunting, and I know a lot if not most of you enjoy your time in the field. Check out “Petersen’s Hunting…

When Springfield Armory released the 2020 series of rifles, I was impressed with what I saw. I’ve tested a couple over the years and found them to be well-designed and well-executed rifles available at attractive prices. The only elements I was not a fan of were the vertical grip and detachable magazine which, for a hunting rifle, are not my favorite features. The new 2020 Boundary does away with those—harnessing the elements of the 2020 Waypoint that make it such a great rifle but in a more traditional hunting configuration. The 2020 Boundary uses the same push-feed action as the other center-fire models in the 2020 series. It bears noting that, unlike many other designs on the market, the 2020 action is not a pure 700 clone. It uses a…

The new Force B1 from Hammerli Arms is a high-quality, legal-in-50-states takedown .22 Long Rifle built to be the ultimate in versatility. Whether you call it a prepper rifle, a truck gun or just a good, solid .22, it’s definitely a useful and practical rifle. If you are familiar with the Hammerli Arms name, it is likely due to the company’s history as a maker of target pistols for Olympics-style competitions. Founded in 1863 to manufacture barrels for military use, this Swiss gun making firm has established a long tradition of quality. In 2006 Hammerli Arms was acquired by Carl Walther GmbH and it is now part of the PW Group. U.S. operations are located in Fort Smith, Arkansas, alongside those of Walther USA and Umarex. The Hammerli Arms Force…

Ruger’s Small Frame Autoloading Rifle puts AR-10 capability into an AR-15 size package. Originally introduced in 7.62/.308, it’s now available in 6.5 Creedmoor. I was able to shoot this one extensively out to 600 yards at an introductory event at FTW Ranch in Texas (FTWSAAM.COM) and came away impressed. The SFAR uses a rifle-length direct-gas system, and the 6.5 Creedmoor version sports a 20-inch barrel and either a Magpul MOE SL or Magpul PRS Lite stock. It ships with a single 10- or 20-round Magpul PMag on the SR25/ AR-10 pattern. My sample came with the MOE stock and 10-round mag. The barrel is cold hammer forged and features 5R rifling. This style of rifling reduces bullet-jacket stripping, and that produces better accuracy and reduces copper fouling. The barrel is…

There’s a lot of tech out there to help shooters increase their effectiveness at longer distances. Some of these require a full-blown IT department, or at least a seventh-grader, to understand and use to their fullest potential. The Burris Veracity PH riflescope is not one of those. It’s easy to set up and even easier to use. The Veracity PH line is available in the 4-20x50mm I tested ($1,560), plus 2.5-12x42mm and 3-15x44mm. To complete the system you need to put the Burris Connect app, a free download, on your smartphone. Setup is a snap, and here are the basics. First install the two CR2450 batteries back to back, stacked + to +. Turn the illumination/power knob, which is located outside the parallax adjustment knob, to the Bluetooth symbol. Be…

For a lot of guys and gals, Winchester’s 9422 (1972-2005) was pretty much the peak of lever-action rim-fires, and I must confess I agree with them. By 1991, more than 600,000 9422s had been produced. By the end of the run, that number is estimated to be around 850,000. Later in the course of its production run, the 9422 was also offered in .22 Mag. (9422M), .17 HMR (9417) as well as the XTR upgrade with select walnut and nice checkering. In the mid-1980s the company introduced a 22.5-inch version featuring a pistol-grip configuration more in keeping with the centerfire Model 64 rifle rather than the Model 94 carbine. There were also several other variants under the U.S. Repeating Arms banner including Big Loop, Trapper and laminate-stocked versions. The .22…

I’m a minimalist, and as such I don’t want to complicate my life any more than necessary. I immediately deactivated the lane departure warning system in my truck, and I’m never going to download the app that my local grocery store keeps insisting I need. I suppose that’s why I like the Zeiss Conquest V4. In a world where popular hunting scopes weigh 30 ounces and offer Christmas tree reticles, Bluetooth connectivity, oversize main tubes and illumination, the svelte, simple-to-operate V4 3-12x44mm, is a delight. Weight is just 19.4 ounces, and it measures 13.8 inches long, making it compact and light enough for mountain rifles. There’s nothing complicated or intimidating about this scope. The Z-Plex No. 2 reticle offers a wide-open view of what’s in front of the rifle, and…

In North America, we have the luxury of planning for a specific encounter. On the bottom end, it might be a Coues whitetail or pronghorn at longer range or a big, tough black bear at closer range. Shots at elk and moose are all over the map, but we know they’re big, and we can plan accordingly. You have no such luxury in Africa. There’s no telling what a given day on safari might bring—from shooting conditions to species diversity. Including subspecies, there must be 150 varieties of African antelopes, from jackrabbit-size dik-diks and duikers to 2,000-pound elands. Then you have the pigs and the zebras. For this discussion, I’ll ignore the Big Five but will include Africa’s full suite of small predators. Today, at least 75 percent of all…

Nothing generates a buzz like a manufacturer working outside its realm and creating a product that not only shows it’s capable at something new but is pretty darn good, too. When Taurus introduced its Expedition hunting rifle at SHOT Show, I walked briskly to the booth to check it out. Not sure what to expect, I was not only delighted but impressed with what the company had put together. The design was fresh, smooth and, above all, handy. Taurus’s new bolt-action rifle marks a few key shifts in the company’s direction, starting with one that began in 2019 with the Raging Hunter revolver line. Taurus is making strides to reach beyond the self-defense market and accommodate outdoors folk. Second, we see the higher-end flavor that was introduced with the Executive…

Rock River Arms announced its move into the bolt-action rifle world at the 2024 SHOT show. Long a potent force in the AR-15 and AR-10 semiautomatic market, Rock River earned its reputation by building super-accurate rifles and best-value National Match two-stage trigger groups for ARs. The new XM24 bolt action carries on the accuracy legacy. The .308 Win. version sent to RifleShooter for testing shot absurdly well. The XM24 is fed by a detachable box magazine. The barrel-to-action interface is basically a Remage-type (a hybrid between a Remington 700 and a Savage 110), so the model has switch-barrel compatibility. Rock River touts it as a mission-ready, tactical-grade tool swappable between .308 Win. and .338 Lapua. Barrel and action are bolted into an MDT ESS chassis. The advertised weight is 13.2…

For someone who cleans a lot of guns and mounts a lot of scopes, this work station ($200) has proved a game changer—a big improvement over my old standard cradle. There are a ton of features you can read about on REALAVID.COM, but the two that stand out to me are the padded quick-clamp rear fork, which you can operate with one hand, and the light that’s part of the Smart-Assist Essential 3-Pack (light, magnifying glass and phone holder; sold separately, $100). I never realized how much easier a clamp would make typical chores, and being able to direct light where I need it is a huge help for detail-intensive tasks. The work station has a leveling knob for scope mounting, and the adjustable shuttle easily positions the forks for…

“Try Reloder 19,” the ballistician told the range tech who had just fired a 1.5-inch 100-yard group with my semi-custom 7mm WSM. Clearly, the initial charge of H4831sc didn’t produce good accuracy with the Barnes 145-grain LRX, but switching powders after just one three-shot test group seemed a bit extreme to me. The tech charged three of the short magnum cases with a starting load of Reloder 19. He fired a shot, then another. The second overlapped the first, and the third shot created a half-m.o.a. cloverleaf. “Yep, it likes 19 better,” the ballistician said with a grin. The range tech proceeded to find out whether the group was repeatable, and nine more rounds downrange created three more half-m.o.a. groups. I was convinced. If it had been me, I would’ve…

The gun club I shoot at has more than 1,000 members, and while weekends are crowded, on other days I can usually get my work done practically undisturbed. Only two of us were there while I was shooting the Savage Magpul Scout. The other fellow and I had hunted spring gobblers together a couple of times, so after the shooting was done we chatted for a while. First thing out of his mouth was, “I know why so many gun companies are building short rifles like that Savage you were shooting.” Before I could reply, he followed with, “Everybody these days either has a suppressor or is in the process of getting one, and with a can hanging on the barrel of your rifle it is no longer than a…

If you’re familiar with the golden age of cartridge developments, it doesn’t take long to notice that for, the most part, the .22 caliber was an important cartridge of choice. Good rifles were starting to appear, there was an upsurge in varmint hunting, and on top of all this, powders and bullets were making great headway. Defining the pace for all this, men like Harvey Donaldson, A.E. Mashburn, Lysle Kilbourn and Roy Weatherby set the tone for small game cartridges here in the United States. They started the trend for some of the very best .22 centerfire cartridges we have today, many of which have been formally commercialized by Remington, Winchester and others. While most present-day small game cartridges are readily available in off-the-shelf rifles, for those willing to spend…