When cleaning in the garage several weeks ago, a somewhat unfamiliar, modest-sized box showed up on the back of a low shelf near some dusty toolboxes. It had no writing on it whatsoever, with no subtle hint as to what the cardboard and packing tape held inside. So, the equally dusty tape was cut at one end and in the box was an embarrassment of riches – an embarrassment of .22 Long Rifle ammunition riches. ...Read More >

It has been 25 years since my first trip to Quebec, Canada, which was a self-guided caribou hunt that proved to be especially fun. The opportunity to take this hunt came up fairly sudden, so I grabbed a previously tuned Ruger M77 MKII All-Weather rifle chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum topped with a 3-9x variable scope with a drop chart attached and carefully tailored handloaded ammunition that would easily group under an inch. ...Read More >

Way back in 1984, a particular Winchester launched me on an everlasting fascination with vintage leverguns and eventually to writing my book, SHOOTING LEVER GUNS OF THE OLD WEST. That Winchester was an 1897 vintage Model 1894 rifle with an extra cost octagonal barrel as opposed to a standard full round one. Also in its favor was its .38-55 chambering, which I figured ideal for a predominately cast bullet shooter such as myself. ...Read More >

A rifle, like any other mechanical device, must be maintained if it is expected to perform its intended purpose when required. The problem is that sporting arms today are so darn reliable. When was the last time you experienced a failure to feed, fire or eject from a manually-operated rifle made after 1960 – and the problem wasn’t the fault of the cartridge or the rifle operator? Rarely, I’ll wager. Probably never. If it did happen, chances are, it was a broken firing pin (caused by dry firing?), which is a repair or operator problem, not maintenance. Maintenance is done to prevent having to do repair. ...Read More >