Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2024 i RifleShooter

They’re Coming, We Promise I read the “Commence Fire” commentary in the March/ April issue. I have to totally agree with the comments and sentiments of one of your readers. With all the offerings of the majority of new rifles on the market today, most are constructed of composite plastic fiber stocks and carbon-fiber-wrapped barrels. I find these cookie-cutter rifles to have no distinctive shooting personality within them at all. For me, they are about as exciting to use and shoot as a box wrench! Bring back the warmth of wood and polished blued steel! Carl A. DiMatteo Mr. Di Matteo: We hear you! We’ve got some traditional wood guns coming, including the Sako 90 Hunter (above), which is slated for our next issue. Wood-stock rifles from CZ and Montana…

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…

In the early days of precision shooting, it was widely believed that an accurate cartridge must sling a bullet of either .22 or .30 caliber. However, as time went on, we watched what were once considered benchmarks simply become bookends to a wide array of acceptable diameters. As scientists and tinkerers started experimenting, several calibers started to show promise, with many surpassing the old standbys. Above most was 6mm, with handloaders citing bench-rest success with .243-inch bullets as far back as the early 1960s. Aside from their superior ballistics, most found them relatively easy to load for; hitting low standard deviations and extreme spreads took little to no effort. Since the pioneer days, scores of 6mm cartridges have hit the scene, and there are probably more wildcat 6mms out there…

Many tools and skillsets are necessary for survival, but few items compare to the advantage a firearm provides. Enter front and center stage Rossi’s Poly Tuffy Survival rifle, a purpose-driven firearm built to deliver performance across a broad spectrum of hunting and survival situations. The single-shot is chambered to accommodate both three-inch .410 bore shotshells and .45 Colt ammunition. This feature alone expands the Tuffy’s abilities to take down everything from small game and turkeys on up to deer-size game—or human threats—with an adequate .45 Colt slug at reasonable distances. It is also compact in nature with an overall length of 31 inches and weighing barely over three pounds. The compact size and weight do detract from shooting comfort, but in a minimalistic survival scenario, the drastic cut in weight…

LANDS & GROOVES Chassis have taken the rifle world by storm. You can chalk it up to the popularity of long-range shooting, and this interest has bled over into the hunting-rifle world. The Element 4.0 from XLR Industries (XLR INDUSTRIES.COM)—which is based in Grand Junction, Colorado—looks like it would be right at home on the firing line of an NRL Hunter or PRS match. And it would, but it’s also a great choice for hunters. One of the big advantages of the chassis is its rigidity. Once the action screws are properly tightened, there’s no flex during recoil—which is an unavoidable trait in wood or synthetic stocks, even those with metal bedding blocks. Chassis are typically made from aluminum, a strong and light metal that has a long association with…

Back when I was a competitive smallbore prone shooter, 100 yards was a long way away. Not anymore. Today’s rimfire fanatics are stretching the distance to 200 and 300 yards in competitions like PRS Rimfire and NRL 22. And you can find places and events where they’re shooting even farther than that. So it’s a real thing, real enough that Lapua has developed a line of ammo specifically for it. Lapua has a long history of producing top-notch competition rimfire ammunition, and the new Super Long Range comes from production runs that performed the absolute best in factory tests. The 40-grain bullet has a G1 ballistic coefficient of .172. With a book velocity of 1,101 fps, using a 100-yard zero produces a drop of about 36 inches at 200 yards.…

If you spend much time at the range, you know how valuable a spotting scope can be for calling hits and making corrections. But the problem with most spotters is that they’re heavy and take up a lot of space in a range bag. When you’re already hauling rifles, rests, ammunition, chronographs and a host of other items to the bench, sometimes dragging a spotter along simply isn’t worth the extra effort. Vortex has solved this problem with the introduction of the new Razor HD 13-39x56mm, a pint-size spotter that’s ideal for a day at the range or packing in the field. Just how small is it? The Razor HD 13-39x56mm with angled eyepiece measures just 10.4 inches and weighs 28.6 ounces. By contrast, the company’s Viper HD 20-60x85mm spotting…

In 2008, Browning released the original X-Bolt, and that gun was a substantial departure from previous Browning bolt-action rifles. The X-Bolt was an immediate success, and 16 years after its initial launch Browning’s bolt gun remains among the top-selling centerfire rifles. But, as good as it was, the X-Bolt was due for a refresh. Browning understood that, and this year the company released the X-Bolt Generation 2. The Gen 2 X-Bolt is not a complete redesign. Instead, Browning’s flagship bolt action is receiving some upgrades that make it more competitive in a modern hunting rifle market dominated by guns with features lifted from target and competition guns. You’ll immediately recognize the X-Bolt 2’s close resemblance to its progenitor, and in large part the new Browning remains close in design and…

Fifteen years ago, lever-action rifles were dying. The classic designs were associated with Elmer Fudd and his ilk while the shooting public was clamoring for the latest and greatest AR-pattern rifles. Remington’s acquisition of Marlin became a mess, adding supply problems to the mix. Today, the situation couldn’t be more different. Lever guns are seemingly everywhere. Not only are brands traditionally associated with lever-action rifles increasing their offerings, but entirely new players have come to the table. Among them is Smith & Wesson, which recently introduced the all-new Model 1854 rifle. This lever action was launched in January and is chambered in .44 Rem. Mag. Some consumers might view a lever-action rifle as being a stretch for a company that built its proud name on revolvers, but a closer look…

The “deadliest mushroom in the woods” is now available in all-copper form for those who either have to use no-lead ammo or simply like the superior weight retention and penetration all-copper bullets provide. The bullet features a precision hollowpoint that promises expansion across a wide range of impact velocities, with up to 100 percent weight retention. Core-Lokt Copper is built with a no-lead primer as well, I tested it through two different rifles. The Benelli Lupo, which has a 22-inch barrel, is a really accurate gun. The Ruger American Predator has a shorter, 18-inch barrel. This one is new to me, so I don’t have a track record for it yet. Both rifles turned in sub-inch averages with Core-Lokt Copper, as you can see in the accompanying chart—with the Ruger…

Savage’s signature Model 99 boasted a 99-year production run, with more than a million units made. During that span it served as the launching pad for an array of proprietary chamberings: .22 Hi-Power, .300 and .303 Savage, and the .250-3000. Toward the end of its run, the Model 99 was also chambered to such competitive short-action standbys as the .243 Win., 7mm-08 Rem., .308 Win. and .358 Win. If you’ve ever done any research on the Model 99, you’ve probably been somewhat befuddled by the avalanche of lettered ID suffixes after the “99”: C, DE, RS, T and many others. They all mean something. They indicate the degree of embellishment, whether the variant in question was a takedown or solid frame, whether it featured a tang-mounted receiver sight or was…

Recently approved by SAAMI, the .22 Creedmoor is simply the 6.5 Creedmoor case necked down to accept .224-diameter bullets and spec’d with a fast 1:8 twist rate. Engineered to shoot long, aerodynamic projectiles, it maximizes long-range .22 centerfire cartridge potential. It’s a .22 centerfire magnum if ever there was one. Fellow writer Ron Spomer may have said it best: “The .22 Creedmoor is the .22-250 of the 21st century.” The .22 Creedmoor has a case capacity of 52.6 grains of water and a SAAMI pressure spec of 62,000 psi. Cartridge overall length is 2.70 inches. Ammo is currently factory loaded by Hornady and Texas Ammunition, and both companies initially chose 80-grain ELD Match bullets. Hornady added an 80-grain ELD-X bullet designed for hunting. The .22 Creedmoor was designed by coyote…

I hear it all the time: “What’s the story with this new .360 Buckhammer or the .350 Legend? Why not just bring back the .35 Remington?” Or, “Why bother with the .450 Bushmaster? There’s nothing wrong with my .45-70.” Such comments usually come from shooters of my generation. There are a lot of us old-timers out there, and we’re still active. We remember great old cartridges, and we still have rifles in classic chamberings. We see new stuff come down the pike and scratch our heads. It seems like manufacturers are trying to fix something that isn’t broken. There may be some truth in this. Manufacturers introduce new product because they want people to buy. Ideally, they have some handle on their buying public. With new cartridges, they probably aren’t…

It’s been about a decade since states like Ohio legalized straight-wall cartridges for deer hunting, and since then there has been an increase in the number of straight-wall cartridge and rifle offerings. Winchester’s .350 Legend has become the favored new straight-wall round among Eastern whitetail hunters, and Rock River Arms now offers its new Ascendant All-Terrain Hunter (ATH) LAR-15M in this caliber. The rifle is also chambered for .450 Bushmaster and .223 Wylde, but for me the .350 Legend version is the most exciting. As an Ohioan, I am limited to straight-wall cartridges, and the .350 produces mild recoil coupled with sufficient energy to harvest Midwestern whitetails to moderate ranges. Other ARs have been chambered in .350 Legend, but few offer the reliability and accuracy of the Ascendant. The formula…

In 1962, Remington modified its models 721 and 722 a bit and reintroduced them as the Model 700. The Model 700 took off like a rocket and became one of the world’s most successful sporting rifles. But even though the Model 700 was proving to be a best-seller, Remington officials decided to offer a less expensive rifle, with its design initiated in 1964. Tooling for the new Model 788 ran into the millions of dollars, with the cost partially justified by using the same equipment to produce drastically scaled-down versions in .22 Long Rifle, called the 580 series. Fans of those rifles—including me—often refer to them as baby 788s. When the Model 788 came off the production line in 1967, Remington promoted it as an out-of-the-box tack-driver for value-conscious hunters…