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Are You Using Too Much Scope?
By Clair Rees
Winter was setting in along the Utah-Colorado border. It was two days before Thanksgiving, and I was slogging slowly through a foot of snow blanketing the Dolores Triangle. I’d drawn a late-season permit for the area. Hunting had been spotty here during Utah’s 10-day October deer season, when only “so-so” bucks were in resid... READ MORE
Which .22 Centerfire?
By John Haviland
It’s hard not to like cartridges with names like Swift, Hornet and Fireball. Here’s what they do best in the field. Photo: The .22-250 Rem and .220 Swift have the reach when shots are long. There really are only a few popular .22-caliber centerfire cartridges, and each one covers only a certain range of bullet velocities. That makes try... READ MORE
Are Wildcats Worth It?
By Ron Spomer
Your heart palpitates for a custom chambering, but think before you leap. Forty years ago, as a new shooter and handloader, I was wild about wildcats. Not the furry, spotted kind. The mysterious, esoteric, hot-shooting, custom-formed brass kind. Cartridges like the .22 Varminter, the .224 Clark, the .243 Page Pooper and the .219 Donaldson Wasp soun... READ MORE
How to Read a Ballistics Chart
By Ron Spomer
All those columns, numbers and abbreviations become clear as you explore. The majority of hunters are not ballistics experts. Nor do they have to be. Some of the most successful hunters know nothing more about rifles than which cartridge to shoot through it, usually to deadly effect. Many of us, however, become curious, sometimes fascinated by bal... READ MORE
Marlin’s XT Youth .22s
By Richard Mann
The XT series of rimfire rifles are budget models with kid-worthy features. It took a long time for gun makers to come around to the notion they needed to build rifles for kids. Maybe this is because when the generation that is now in charge was growing up, there were few youth guns. They learned to shoot dad’s rifle, even though it did not f... READ MORE
Don’t Sell the .308 Win Short
By John Barsness
The .308 is a superb whitetail round, but don’t believe it’s too puny for elk, pronghorns, black bears or plains game. Whenever hunters gather around a campfire to discuss big-game cartridges, you’ll hear talk about the .270 Winchester versus the .30-06, some chatter about the 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Win Mag, .300 Weatherby Mag an... READ MORE
Mossberg’s New Lever Action
By Clair Rees
The Model 464 is a classic reborn. With so many semiauto tactical rifles introduced over the last few years, it was refreshing to see O.F. Mossberg & Sons resurrect a style many consider out of fashion. The company’s Model 464 lever rifles would seem right at home in the 19th century. When it comes to hunting rabbits and squirrels, one of... READ MORE
Advanced Scope Mounting
By John Barsness
Prevent ring damage and range problems by following these tips. Many shooters think scope mounting is simple. Just tighten a few screws, and the job is done, right? Well, there’s a little more to it than that. All too often, a new scope runs out of clicks before bullet holes appear anywhere near the center of the target. And sometimes the adj... READ MORE
Going Full Bore
By Dave Henderson
They may not be as accurate or flat-shooting as saboted slugs, but wide-bodied slugs continue to dominate the slug market. For the better part of the 20th century, smoothbore shotguns and rifled or full-bore slugs were the only ordnance deer hunters in parts of the Midwest and Northeast could legally use. Back then, slug shotguns had little more th... READ MORE
Trick Out a 10/22 Part 1
By Dave Henderson
With just a few simple tools, you can build a semi-custom .22 that looks good and shoots great. The Ruger 10/22 rimfire rifle was heralded as a masterpiece in firearm design when it hit the market in 1964. The 5-pound semiauto was easy to work on and featured a 10-round rotary magazine that fit flush in the stock’s action well, precisely at t... READ MORE
Don’t Skimp on Scope Mounts
By Richard Mann
“Just any old rings and bases” can be the wrong choice and the weak link that fails at the most inopportune time.
There you stand, rifle in one hand and a riflescope in the other. Since duct tape and baling twine are not options, how shall you bring them together?
Sifting through the myriad riflescope rings and bases on the market see... READ MORE
The .25-06: Deadly on Deer
By Russell Thornberry
In the hands of an experienced hunter, the quarter bore shines. One thing I’ve learned over the years as a hunter and writer is that hunters seldom agree about which rifles and cartridges are best, particularly those used for deer hunting. The truth is, no one caliber can do it all across the whitetail’s vast range: open prairies,... READ MORE
Muzzleloader Myths
By Ralph M. Lermayer
Voodoo ballistics and other misconceptions still abound in blackpowder shooting. Photo: This double barrel rifle from Traditions provides the fastest second shot possible with a muzzleloading rifle. It’s also deadly accurate with the right load. Prior to the 1980s, hunting with muzzleloaders was confined to a small cadre of traditionalists, h... READ MORE
CZ’s Little Mauser
By Jon R. Sundra
The M1 American is the most attractive rifle in CZ's 527 line of bolt-action sporters.
One of the most respected firearms manufacturers in the world is Ceska Zbrojovka, which explains why the company goes by the simple acronym CZ. Based in the town of Uhersky Brod in the Czech Republic, the company’s 200 acres of buildings make it the larges... READ MORE
Field Shooting Effectively
By Ron Spomer
When your target of opportunity knocks, you need to answer in seconds. Greg was as enthusiastic as an 8-year-old on Christmas morning. His first pronghorn hunt! He had a new .257 Weatherby Magnum with a Zeiss scope that could shoot a country mile. Back home on the bench, he was punching sub-MOA groups with 115-grain Barnes Tipped Triple Shocks. No... READ MORE