Rifles

The Ruger 10/22 is among the most popular rifles of all time. It has been in use for nearly 60 years. The simple blowback-operated rifle was a fresh and innovative design in 1964 and remains a valid choice for sporting use.

The least expensive rifle in our match up by several hundred dollars was the Savage Axis II Precision, which uses the guts of the Axis II hunting rifle fitted to the bones of a Modular Driven Technologies (MDT) chassis made of aluminum and skinned with polymer.

The features you notice right away with the MVP are the Luth-AR MB-3 buttstock, 20-minute-of-angle (moa) Picatinny rail, M-Lok handguard, and a fully enclosed action with a straight-line stock design.

We found the Ruger Precision Rifle to be a hefty piece at 11.5 pounds without a scope, and that weight is appreciated because it steadies the rifle and is less affected by the blood pulsing through body as you take a shot.

The other Brazilian-made rifle is a used Taurus M62R, which is a copy of the iconic Winchester Model 62. Winchester made the Model 62 from 1932 to 1958.

The Gallery 22 gives the old-time look of a Gallery Gun a makeover in polymer, oversized trigger guard, and fiber-optic sights.

Like the Taurus, the style of the Henry Pump is reminiscent of the Winchester Model 62 with a straight pistol grip buttstock and ribbed, corn-cob fore end, and traditional iron sights.

Gun Tests magazine has covered Tikka centerfire rifles in the past (see the March 2020 and October 2021 issues) with very favorable results. While certainly not cheap, neither are they expensive and, we feel, offer a great value for the cash required.

Ruger introduced the centerfire Precision Rifle in mid-2015, thereby starting a revolution. The rifle turned out to be pretty accurate (0.75-moa groups were common for us).

Coming in at a bit more than 9 pounds, the Bergara B14R was the heavyweight in our selection. The 18-inch barrel measured around 0.85 inch just behind the threaded muzzle, tapering down from 1.3 inch in front of the receiver ring.

In direct contrast to the Bergara, Christensen Arms decided to forego recoil mitigation and opted, instead, for portability. Everything in this rifle is designed for maximum weight savings.

With the design and development of the AR-15 in the 1950s and 1960s, Eugene Stoner was able to begin the process of bringing the...