December 2008

Best-In-Class Firearms 2008: Handguns, Rifles, and Shotguns
Every December I survey the work Ben Brooks, Roger Eckstine, Ray Ordorica, Joe Syczylo, Gene Taylor, Randy Wakeman, Kevin Winkle, and Ralph Winingham, have done in Gun Tests, with an eye toward selecting guns the magazine’s testers have endorsed without qualification. From these evaluations I pick the best from a full year’s worth of tests and distill summary recommendations for readers, who often use them as year-end shopping guides. These 'best of' choices are a mixture of our original tests and other information I’ve compiled during the year. After the magazine’s FFLs sell high-rated test products to readers, I keep tabs on how many of those guns do over time, and if the firearms continue performing well, then I have confidence including them in this wrap-up. This is our second year of letter-grade scoring, and all the guns in this compilation are 'A' or 'A+' choices—the Best in Class.

Over/Under 410 Bores: We Like Padrone's Snipe Sub-Gauge
Seasoned bird hunters are often more interested in savoring quality time in the field than in trying to crush targets with big guns and big shells. Many are turning to sub-gauge offerings such as the tiny .410 to help them relive the memory of what might have been their first shotgun experience. Unfortunately for some shooters, that first experience may not have been as encouraging as it could have been. While a .410 has less recoil and is easier for a young, slightly-built shooter to handle, they are not the best choice for a new and inexperienced shooter. The main problem is with the pellets. A standard .410-bore 2.5-inch shell with one-half ounce of No. 8 shot will contain about 164 pellets, compared with about 410 pellets in a standard 12 gauge 2.75-inch shell with 1 ounce of No. 8 shot. Increase the shot size to No. 6 shot — an effective dove load in a .410 — and the shot differential is about 155 pellets in a .410 3-inch shell with 11/16 ounces of shot, compared to about 281 pellets in a 12 gauge 2.75-inch shell with 1.25 ounces of shot.

Bolt-Action 22 Trio: Two Old, One New, All Good for Our Team
Bolt-action 22 rifles are among the most basic and useful of all firearms. They are fine trainers and excellent tools for a variety of uses limited only by the imagination of the owner. We’ve seen ‘em used for just about anything, and about the only constant is that decent 22 bolt rifles generally have long and useful lives. In this comparison we look at two older 22s by Winchester and Marlin, and a new Marlin as well. The rifles are an early Marlin Model 80-DL, $200, a Winchester Model 69A, $400, and a new Marlin Model 980S, $298. The two early rifles take Shorts and Longs as well as Long Rifles. The new one takes only 22LR. They all had iron sights and detachable magazines. They were grooved for 'tip-off' mounts. The two early rifles had walnut stocks and blued barrels.