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Belly Down for Accuracy
By Clair Rees
Prone isn’t the fastest shooting position – nor is it always practical, but it’s by far the steadiest. Photo: When shooting from prone in mountain country, a backpack adds steadiness. It was a wild, exhausting stalk. Guide Reg Collingwood and I had spent five grueling hours climbing to the crest of British Columbia’s Skeena ... READ MORE
Classic Styling is Everlasting
By Tom Turpin
Jack O’Connor’s favorite Model 70s are great examples of timeless elegance in rifle design. Photo: Two of the author’s custom rifles based on Model 70 actions. The top rifle wears a stock of New Zealand walnut. The bottom rifle is in Circassian walnut. It makes little difference whether comparing boats, cars, watches or firearms. ... READ MORE
The 7-30 Waters
By J. Wayne Fears
Great First Deer Caliber for Youngsters! The offspring of the .30-30 has mild recoil, and is effective on whitetails out to 200 yards.
The cabin door opened with authority as my 13-year old grandson Justin walked in. It was his first time to hunt deer alone, and I thought for him to be coming back to the cabin so soon, there must be a problem.
&l... READ MORE
A Wild Hog Sledgehammer
By J. Wayne Fears
The stout .45-70 cartridge is bad medicine for big pigs. Photo: Winchester recently reintroduced the modern .45-70 Model 1886. It’s a dandy. Few calibers available to the wild hog hunter have a more colorful history than the .45-70 Government. Popular among settlers, buffalo hunters, cowboys, lawmen and others, the cartridge was with Gen. Geo... READ MORE
The Truth About Long-Range Shooting
By Ron Spomer
Ever since humans first threw a stone to kill a bird, we’ve been searching for tools that can extend that range: slingshots, muzzleloaders, centerfires, rangefinders. To facilitate extreme-range sniping, today’s hunter can use VLD bullets, multi-reticle scopes, laser rangefinders, calculators, angled cosine indicators and PDA computer p... READ MORE
150 Years of Winchester Lever Actions
By Ron Spomer
In this special preview of the May 2016 issue just sent to subscribers, Ron Spomer explains why lever-action rifles remain ideal for big-game hunting after a century and a half of use. Photo: It wasn’t until John Browning designed the Model 1886 that Winchester produced a lever-action repeating rifle strong enough to handle powerful rounds li... READ MORE
Safe Sense
By Richard Mann
Are your guns safe from boogeymen, fire and kiddies?
For a gun owner, the question should not be “Do I need a safe?” It should be “Which safe should I get?”
Hunters are often hesitant to spend money on a gun safe. That cash could go toward a new rifle or a guided hunt.
Many think they can hide their guns from burglars. Mo... READ MORE
Hunting Accuracy: How Much Do You Need?
By Jon R. Sundra
Ever been at a shooting range prior to the season opener and overhear someone say, as they’re looking at a retrieved target, “That’s good enough for hunting” or “More than minute of deer”? Those and similar comments suggesting pinpoint accuracy isn’t really needed for hunting are voiced at shooting ranges a... READ MORE
A High-Tech .45-70
By Ralph M. Lermayer
Rock River’s .458 SOCOM has the thump of a .45-70, but feeds in AR-15 platforms.
There are several ways new cartridges come into the world. One is the military. They put out a request for a set of specs they want, and arsenals and commercial manufacturers go into high gear until the round is created. The .308, .223, 7mm Mauser and venerable ... READ MORE
How Low Can You Go?
By Ralph M. Lermayer
Recoil (ri koyl) — To move back suddenly and violently, for example, after impact. Any way you look at it, recoil means something’s coming back at you. And as it relates to firearms, how fast and hard that is depends on a lot of factors. But no matter which caliber, gauge or style firearm you use, there are steps you can take to minimiz... READ MORE
Evolution of the .22
By Ralph M. Lermayer
The .22 rimfire reigns supreme for controlling pests and filling the stew pot. It was conceived as a parlor game, a way for cooped-up people to amuse themselves, by tipping over little targets with a round not powerful enough to do any damage. M. Flobert patented the Bulleted Breech Cap (BB Cap) in 1845. It was simply the existing musket cap with a... READ MORE
Legacy of the ’98 Mauser
By Jon R. Sundra
Can you think of any 19th century product still being made and used today? Such is the genius of Peter Paul Mauser’s M98. Photo: One of the finest examples of the Mauser ’98 was the 1909 contract built at the DWM factory for the Argentine government. The machining and smoothness of the action have never been surpassed in any commercial ... READ MORE
The Core-Lokt Stands the Test of Time
By Larry Teague
Granddad’s ammo saves bucks and still brings home the bucks. Photo: A 150-grain Core-Lokt pointed soft point instantly dropped this 9-point Kansas whitetail. The Marlin XL7S rifle with a stainless action and barrel is new this year. Let’s say it didn’t already exist, and you wanted to develop a good-performing, inexpensive deer ca... READ MORE
The Traditional Way
By John Haviland
Hunting with a caplock or flinter connects us with our ancestors and a simpler time. Some shooters claim the last improvements to muzzleloading rifles came in the early ’60s — the 1860s, that is. These traditionalists prefer shooting a pure lead projectile, a rifle that belches a cloud of smoke and requires almost a minute to reload. Ca... READ MORE
King of the Quarter Bores
By Ron Spomer
The .257 Weatherby is a good alternative to the hard-thumping .30-cal. magnums. Photo: Long, sleek bullets are pushed to top velocities by the .257 Weatherby Magnum, making it effective for everything from varmints to moose. It’s often said but seldom appreciated that quarter bores are America’s finest deer cartridges. And the finest of... READ MORE