Years ago, there was a small amount of ugly chatter and insults tossed about on the internet from cyber trolls who, for whatever strange reason, decided my choice in toting a new Mossberg 4x4, bolt-action .300 Winchester Magnum to the Alaska Range in 2008 was counterintuitive for hunting Dall’s sheep. I just laughed it off, and still do when thinking about that hunt and when catching a glimpse of the sheep mount in my home office/reloading room. I can agree that the rifle, with its somewhat futuristic stock, was not very traditional, but it shot well. Plus, with today’s standards, especially modular stocks, it would not be far out of line. ...Read More >

Many years ago, I needed a Remington Model 700 chambered in .17 Remington specifically to develop handload data for LoadData.com. This is a relatively hard rifle and caliber to find. I had several dealers searching for me, but to no avail. One of the dealers inquired if I had any experience with Match Grade Machine barrels, which I had not. ...Read More >

The last four decades of the nineteenth-century was a time of great learning in regard to metallic cartridges and their rifles. Prior to that, most rifled barrels were not meant for bullets – as in elongated projectiles. Most civilian rifles were muzzleloaders shooting round balls, or in military usage, muzzleloading rifle muskets that shot Minié balls. Those firearms were rifled with very slow rifling twists, often as slow as 1:72. ...Read More >

In the last issue, I looked at the most common form of set trigger, usually referred to as the double-set because it has two triggers like a double barrel shotgun. The rear “trigger” is the setting lever that cocks the mechanism; the front trigger fires the rifle. A more technically correct term is one-lever, or one-piece set trigger (the setting lever is never counted). More on this in a moment. ...Read More >