Rifle January/February 2022

Making a living – or just simply supplemental cash – by posting modest firearm reviews here and there is no easy task for unknown freelancers, though it seems increasingly common these days. When reading such cartridge and firearm descriptions, it sometimes appears to me the author may have never fired a shot with the rifle/cartridge of interest. Such reports often parrot what someone else said, and all the “facts” are included. There is rarely a hint of any “personal familiarity” with said cartridge/load, or even a mention of shooting a rifle so chambered, and often does not include a photo. Apparently, the scribe has no further interest in the topic, which I guess is fine so long as readers don’t mind. ...Read More >

Recently, as I was thumbing through reader letters, emails and other forms of communication and couldn’t help but notice that there was one type of question that seemed to be repeated. This was in regard to barrel twist rates. There were several inquiries as to the best twist rate for several 6.5mm and .30-caliber cartridges and others, each with specific bullet weights or designs and sometimes at specified velocity, but the overwhelming number of questions were in regard to the 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington cartridges. Some readers wanted to use lightweight varmint bullets, others wanted to use long-range, heavy-for-caliber match bullets, but others were looking for the magical all-purpose twist rate that can do it all. ...Read More >

Do you have a rifle that is strictly for utility? In other words, it wasn’t purchased for its beautiful stock, or engraving or collector value or for competition. You don’t take it out for shooting pleasure or for hunting game. It’s with you “just because.” Yvonne and I keep such rifles at our rural Montana home. ...Read More >

The two major considerations of stock fit are comb height and length of pull. Neither has been given much consideration by manufacturers until quite recently. Oh, yes, civilian target shooters whose courses of fire required prone, sitting, kneeling and standing, often had large adjustable and replaceable aluminum buttplates. Obviously, such a thing was not practical on sporting rifles. The hunter had to make do with a stock intended for a small to average-size person firing offhand. ...Read More >

I’ve admittedly had little experience with Steiner wares. Its binoculars have held little appeal, including decidedly blocky, militaristic lines that just don’t appeal to me. I was certainly aware that Steiner made riflescopes, but until a press release arrived in my email heralding the new T5Xi 3-15x 50mm under discussion here, I had given them little thought. ...Read More >

It seemed pretty simple when the editor suggested it. “Why don’t you,” he asked, “Compile a lexicon of all the new words and terms that are being used to describe what used to be called rifles, but are now commonly referred to as shooting platforms?” (No kidding: They really are called that. Although not by me.) ...Read More >

On the surface, 1922 would not seem to be a good year to start an ammunition company in America – and truth to tell, when Charles Horn acquired the building and equipment of a moribund shotshell company, he had no intention of doing so. ...Read More >

One of the most interesting aspects of “gun writing” is getting to discuss the details of custom rifles with their makers. One I know particularly well is D’Arcy Echols of Millville, Utah, a suburb of Logan. We first met in Reno during the winter of 2001, at the annual convention of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, where I was invited to talk about rifle scopes, due to the 1999 publication of my book Optics for the Hunter. D’Arcy had a booth in the Foundation’s “Expo,” partly because he could drive from Millville to Reno in a day. ...Read More >

It all started on a Puget Sound duck hunt, more pointedly when Wayne York’s boat flipped in freezing water. He was forced to swim ashore while wearing a vest full of lead shot and clinging to a bag of decoys for flotation. Despite the real threat of drowning, he kept a death grip on his deceased father’s 20-guage Winchester Model 12 shotgun. York reached shore no worse for wear, but the saltwater did a number on that shotgun. ...Read More >

My guide and I had been successfully hunting brown bear, caribou, wolves and other game on the vast tundra of southwestern Alaska for more than a week. We had been hiking many miles daily on the soft tundra with heavy packs and gear, fought severe winds, snow, rain, etc., and had paid the price to finally find a trophy moose spotted at more than a mile away. As we stalked within rifle range, it bedded down and became concealed in a draw filled with willows, alders and brush, but was unaware of our presence. ...Read More >

If I had to pick one of the most unique rimfire rifles around, the top honor would certainly go to the Browning T-Bolt. With its classy lines and its straight pullback bolt design, it’s a very convenient rifle ...Read More >