Rifle January/February 2019

In 1966, the first issue of Handloader magazine came off the presses, and the first magazine dedicated to handloading was born. Dave Wolfe had a vision and it paid off. Handloader magazine was on the way to a successful start. ...Read More >

A few months back, someone at the Wolfe Publishing office mentioned that the 50th anniversary of Rifle was coming up. It didn’t really strike home until later. Somewhere in the 50 years of both magazines, I had been with Wolfe Publishing as a columnist, editor and retired editor emeritus, and back to columnist, serving three owners/publishers and wound up 33 years older. ...Read More >

By the time Rifle magazine was established in 1969, the .243 Winchester cartridge had certainly found its own niche as a sporting round in the U.S. However, it took many years (not to mention the end of a world war and attendant prosperity) for American hunters and shooters to accept the idea that 6mm bullets could be used effectively on big game. Following decommission of the rather short-lived, semi-rimmed 6mm Lee Navy cartridge (otherwise known as the 6mm U.S.N., the case for which was later used for the .220 Swift) and its Winchester Lee Straight Pull rifle near the end of the nineteenth century, and further attempts by Winchester and Remington to market 6mm Lee sporting rifles, a gaggle of 6mm/.243 wildcats such as the .243 Rockchucker and .240 Page – and several others of varying case capacity and ballistic potential – appeared before the first truly commercially successful 6mm cartridge in the U.S. was introduced. ...Read More >

As small-bore smokeless powder cartridges began appearing in the late nineteenth century designed specifically for lever-action rifles, the popularity of the proven big-bore black-powder levergun cartridges began to decline. When the Great Depression became especially severe in the 1930s, business economics mandated discontinuing all big-bore leverguns such as the Winchester Model 86 (aka 1886). ...Read More >

It was not long ago that the major complaint regarding .22 rimfire repeating rifles was they had a tendency to stop repeating. Often these rifles had tubular magazines using little stamped sheet metal parts powered by tiny wire springs to move cartridges out of the tube and into the chamber. Lots of use wore these parts out, and hard usage without cleaning caused them to bend. ...Read More >

Sometimes I think gun writers have over the decades, done a great disservice to American riflemen by emphasizing shooting groups. The truth is shooting groups can be a great aid in marksmanship, or it can serve no purpose at all. The difference is in how shooting groups is viewed by the rifleman. ...Read More >

Instead of offering different spotting scopes with fixed objectives and magnification, Swarovski’s X-series scopes includes three different eyepieces that can be mixed and matched to three optional objective lenses to provide a scope that is perfect for a specific use or, if money is no issue, several purposes. ...Read More >

According to Alamo Precision Rifles, “If the customer is not completely satisfied with any purchase, Alamo Precision will fix it!” By looking at its wares, the description of the company’s rifles and what goes into them, I don’t think anyone would have a problem with any rifle they make. ...Read More >

The name “Rock Island” has been prominent in the consciousness of American shooters for almost a century and a half. Initially, it was because of the Rock Island Arsenal, a government installation that produced the Springfield Model 1903A3. Today, if you mention Rock Island to a shooter, his immediate thought is more likely to be, Ah, the auction! What have they got? ...Read More >

After years of engineering, testing and obtaining patents, the Ruger M77 was formally announced in 1968. Although its action is based on the revered Mauser ’98 design, there were several significant differences and distinct improvements, but other changes were controversial. The rifle showed up in an era when many competing rifles were gussied up with high-gloss finishes, contrasting forend caps and Monte Carlo stocks. However, the Ruger bolt action was conservative and usually featured a straight-grained, American walnut stock in classic configuration with a simple, yet attractive checkering pattern. Its design and appearance were refreshing to many riflemen as the initial production run quickly sold out, and over the next 22 years more than 1,000,000 rifles were produced, which is impressive by any standard. ...Read More >

When the first issue of Rifle was published 50 years ago, the 7mm Remington Magnum cartridge stood at the height of popularity. The 7mm Remington Magnum had been introduced seven years earlier along with the company’s new Model 700 rifle, and the pair were quickly outselling all other rifles and cartridges. ...Read More >

When the American economy started booming a few years after World War II, hunters who had been happy to own one centerfire rifle decided they could afford two, three or even more. They also wanted more exciting cartridges than their grandfather’s .30-30 or their father’s .30-06. ...Read More >

In the fall of 1968 in Huntington, West Virginia, a local store with a huge gun department became my “safe space.” It had everything in stock that I had never seen in my small, coal mining hometown. Its inventory included everything from bullet moulds to “elephant rifles.” For someone who was already nearly obsessed with casting bullets and loading my own ammunition, there was a magazine on the counter of which I had never heard. It was Handloader by Wolfe Publishing, and I was hooked. ...Read More >

If you want to experience complete and total bewilderment, there is nothing quite like walking into a well-stocked gun shop and trying to decide what kind of .22 Long Rifle ammunition to buy. Even worse, try browsing online. Americans have never had such a wide variety of .22 ammunition to choose from, but that can be a mixed blessing. Confusion is not conducive to good shooting. ...Read More >