Articles

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A Tale of Two Very Old Thirties

Return with me now to the thrilling days of yesteryear when bolt action rifles were catching on!  No time machine required.  All you will need is curiosity about Winchesters  and Savages, namely, the Winchester Model 54 and the Savage Model 40, both of which are older than any of us.

Newer Article:

The Incomparable Savage Model 99

One of the best gun stories of the 20th Century is the story of Arthur W. Savage and his famous, lever action rifle.  You can find out how it works and how it shoots.

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A Tale of Two Thirties

They say that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.  That is especially true of gun show merchandise.  The title article looks at the .30-30 Winchester and .30-40 Krag and a couple of old rifles that fire these patriarchal rounds.  I report, you decide whether they are junk or treasure.

John M. Browning Favorites: The Winchester Models of 1885 and 1894

Everyone agrees upon John M. Browning’s greatness as a gun designer.  His many patents and commercial successes attest to the fact.  Could you choose his greatest gun designs?  Very difficult.  It is more fun just to choose your favorites.  In this article I choose mine and I write a little about Browning’s abilities and how he worked.

Evaluating Ammunition Performance
Getting the best performance from our rifle, which we all seriously desire, is usually approached through bench shooting of individual shots or groups, using different rifles, techniques, or loads. But how much shooting is necessary to make good choices, and how does one evaluate results of shooting tests?

Don’t care for math? Don’t want to think about Standard Deviations? That is OK. In this article I will attempt to present a non-mathematical and more intuitive approach to analysis of data that strives to be nonetheless reliable in evaluating shooting results.

Factory Loads for the .30-30 Winchester

Thirteen factory loads fired in five different rifles and a T/C Contender.  Lever actions, bolt actions, and single shots did their best.  Check out the tables of velocity and accuracy results, and see if you agree with the author’s idea of efficient methods for range testing a large number of different loads.

How To Be A Wildcatter

Think there is no need or room for another experimental cartridge? Maybe not, but that did not stop me from trying.

The Remington 788: What To Do With A Plain Rifle

Just shoot it and enjoy it. Don’t do what I did. But if you are a real amateur like me and want to play dress-up with your gun, also like me, you might get an idea or two here. Plus, you will find out a lot about one of the best plain rifles ever made.

Precision With A Peep: Using Aperture Sights

The words “precision” and “iron sights” are not usually found in the same paragraph. However, if your iron sight is an aperture sight, you could be in for some fun and fine shooting, and yes, the word “precision” might even apply. Here we take a semi-scientific approach to getting the most from a peep sight.

Hornady’s LEVERevolution

Is it Evolution or Revolution?  Now Hornady has made available the cartridges, the powder, and the bullets.  Find out how these components worked for me in five different .30-30 rifles.

A Kouple of Krags: Springfield Model 1896 Sporter vs. Ruger No. 3

You won’t find many modern rifles chambered for America’s first .30-caliber military cartridge. The Ruger No. 3 single-shot carbine is one of the few. The No. 3 was a carbine version of Ruger’s famous No. 1 single-shot rifle, and only a few were produced in the .30-40 Krag chambering. We get a tale of two thirties by comparing the No. 3 to an original Springfield Krag, but not just any Krag. This comparison Krag is a fine sporterized version of an original Model 1896 Springfield. We will describe the rifles and especially how they shoot with still-available Remington and Winchester .30-40 Krag ammunition.

Thoughts on the Winchester Model 94
Probably no rifle has bagged more game in its long tenure in the field than our hero, Mr. Slim, the Winchester 94. This rifle has also bagged more column space in the shooting press than any other, so you might say “Don’t bother me!” OK, but you haven’t heard all of the thoughts on the 94 until you hear mine.

Coming When I Get Around To IT:

Krag versus Mauser

The standard story is that America’s Springfield Krag-Jorgensen rifle was bested by the Spanish Mauser on the battlefields of the Spanish-American War in 1898, and that this led to a speedy replacement of the Krag as the U. S. Army’s standard arm.  We know, however, that the Krag and the Mauser met in competition at an earlier time, with a somewhat different outcome.  This article describes that earlier meeting.

A 1903 Springfield and its Wood

Few bolt action, military rifles have a stronger reputation than the 1903 Springfield, especially when it comes to accuracy. A rifle must have a good relationship with its wood for that kind of reputation to develop. In this article I check out the performace of a 1903 with factory .30-06 ammo while wearing a couple different types of walnut. Not me, the rifle.