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Browning BPR: A Winning Pump Action Rifle In .270

The bolt action rifle is easily the most popular type of centerfire hunting rifle in this country, and for good reasons. They are accurate, reliable and easy to use. The second most popular type of hunting arm is the lever action rifle. Such guns aren't accurate at long distances, but these easy-handling firearms are just what is needed in the brush where distances are short.

Excluding rimfire models, the least popular type of hunting firearm is the pump action rifle. This is probably because one of the main contact points between a rifle and a shooter or rest, the forend, isn't fixed and typically has some side-to-side play. If a gun isn't held steady, it is difficult to hit the intende...

Ruger M77RSP Mk II Edged Out Remington, Winchester .30-06s

Anyone seeking an all-around cartridge for North American hunting would be well served by the .30-06. In fact, the cartridge would be pretty handy just about anywhere one wanted to hunt, worldwide. Make the rifle out of stainless steel, put it in a synthetic stock, and you've got a versatile, durable tool that ought to last several lifetimes.

The .30-06 is the most popular cartridge all over the world, and rightly so. The many varieties of bullet weights, types and velocities available, in both factory loads and as components for the handloader, are unmatched in any other cartridge. There are saboted lightweight bullets at varmint-getting velocities, heavyweights up to 220 grains with eno...

Remington Model 700 BDL Edges Out Ruger, Savage .25-06 Rifles

Nobody seems to know exactly when the .25-06 was first worked up as a wildcat cartridge. Weve read opinions that it was 1914, while others lean into the 1920s. Most historians credit Adolph O. Neidner, a maker of custom rifles, as its originator, however.

It was Neidners intent to develop a varmint round that drove 80+ grain bullets at higher velocity and flatter trajectory than the .250-3000 Savage or .25 Krag, then widely used for Chucking. He achieved this by retaining the overall case length and shoulder angle of the .30-06 while necking it down to accept the smaller projectile. For a combination of reasons, not the least of which were the Great Depression, World War II, and the ex...

Ruger 77/22 VMBZ Our Pick In .22 Magnum Varmint Rifles

About 50 or 60 years ago, every boy had a .22 rifle, knew how to shoot it and had a place to shoot it. We are quite sure that each and every one of those boys longed for a bit more power from their rimfires. They figured they'd be happy if the darned bullet shot just a tiny bit flatter and hit with a bit more power. Unfortunately, the .22 Winchester Rimfire (WRF) was in the process of becoming obsolete, and anyone who bought one of those rifles seeking just a bit more power was doomed to run out of ammunition. However, its replacement was already on the drawing boards.

The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (WMR) came into being in 1959. The first guns available were actually Ruger and Smith &...

Marlin Model 30 AW Our Pick In A .30-30 Lever-Action Rifle

Deer rifle. Cowboy gun. Saddle carbine. The .30-30 lever-action rifle is well known, no matter what you call it. Whether you want a knock-about rifle for hanging in the back window of your pickup, slinging under your foot on a snowmobile, or to use for the serious work of knocking down your yearly supply of venison, the .30-caliber lever rifle is one handy tool.

Where does it shine? Actually, the lever-action rifle doesn't really shine for much of anything, truth be told. Normally, today's lever rifle isn't known as a tack driver, but there are exceptions. Neither is the .30-30 an overwhelming powerhouse. Lever rifles tend to be reliable and, above all, handy. They're slimmer by far than...

The Browning BAR Lightweight is Superior to Remington 7400 Carbine

In spite of what some people may say or think, we feel a semiautomatic rifle is a worthwhile hunting arm. A bolt-action rifle may work just fine for most hunters, but manually-operated firearms are extremely difficult, if not impossible, for physically disadvantaged people to use. Also, a semiautomatic rifle's ability to deliver a fast follow-up shot can prevent wounded game animals from suffering needlessly.

There is, of course, a downside to the semiautomatic rifle. It typically weighs about 1/2-pound more than most bolt-action sporters, making the gun tiresome to carry around for any length of time. However, the .30-06 Springfield rifles in this test solve the weight problem. They are...

Marlin Model 7000 Our Pick In A Heavy-Barrel .22 Semiauto Rifle

Autoloading .22's are lots of fun and can be lots of gun. They tend to run you broke on ammunition because of the lure of easily and quickly firing off the entire magazine. In fact, this might be one reason to own a semiauto .22 that has a limited number of rounds in the magazine, say five to seven rounds. This limitation tends to force the shooter to make every shot count, much as the fellow with a six-shot muzzle-loading revolver is reluctant to shoot quickly because of all the work needed to make the gun ready to go again.

Be that as it may, self-loading .22's offer lots of shooting fun, but unfortunately many of them are not all that accurate. They would be more fun if they could hit...

New Steyr Scout Rifle! An Interesting .308 Performer

After many years of soaking in the think tank, the Scout Rifle is here. If you know nothing about Jeff Cooper and his Scout Rifle, it means you probably haven't read anything he has written in the last few years. When two gun enthusiasts get together, sooner or later the age-old question will pop up, "If you could have only one firearm, which one would it be?" Jeff Cooper has taken his answer to the next level by developing what he thinks is the only rifle you will ever need.

So, what is a Scout Rifle? In Mr. Cooper's own words, "its a general-purpose weapon suitable for any use to which a rifle may be put, with the exception of the pachyderms and the buffalo." The rifle's manufacturer,...

Winchester 70 CS BOSS Our Pick In A Braked 7mm Magnum

Ah, yes, the 7mm Remington Magnum. The blast, the roar, the kick-not bad prices to pay for all that extra performance, right? Actually, this cartridges performance isnt as great as you might think. Heres why.

Those who already have a .270, .280, .308, .30-06, or about half a dozen others of that ilk, and want to buy a 7mm Magnum to get a hotter, flatter-shooting rifle are simply paying good money to essentially duplicate what theyve already got. In actual fact, theres not a great deal of performance difference between any of those above calibers and the 7mm Remington Magnum. Take your pick, and within reasonable game-shooting distances any one will do as well as any other one, with r...

Marlin 1894 Cowboy II: A Winning Lever-Action Rifle in .357 Magnum

With Cowboy Action Shooting the fastest growing segment of the shooting sports, Gun Tests continues its in-depth look at the hardware fueling this impressive growth. The lever-action rifle is the primary long gun used by Cowboy Action competitors.

The criteria for a Cowboy Action Shooting rifle is straightforward. It must be a lever action with a tubular magazine and an exposed hammer. It must have open sights and a barrel over 16 inches in length (the minimum BATF requirement). It must fire a centerfire "pistol" cartridge larger than .25 caliber. The bullets it fires must be made entirely of lead and have a muzzle velocity of less than 1,400 feet per second.

In the January 1998 issue...

How to Evaluate Used .22 Handguns And Rifles Before Buying

Without question, there are more pre-owned .22 rifles, pistols and revolvers occupying table space at guns shows, rack and counter case space at dealers and house space than any other caliber firearm. Based on the popularity of the cartridge, the guns that shoot it and the number of years both have been around, such abundance isn't in the least surprising. Due in part to that abundance, the prices attached to other-than-collectable .22s can be irresistible to the uninformed. All too often, many of these "bargains" become nightmares of additional expense once its discovered they don't function very well or not at all. You can be reasonably certain of one thing. A used .22 rifle, revolver or p...

Firing Line 12/98

NAA Customer Service
I have been a subscriber to your publication since it began and consider it the finest publication that exists on the subject of firearms. I only wish you published such a magazine on computers.

Almost ten years ago, I purchased a North American Arms .22 Magnum Mini-Revolver. I carry it when I jog or rollerblade and as a backup to the .45 Colt Officers Model I routinely carry.

Three weeks ago, while disassembling the Magnum Mini-Revolver for cleaning I lost the $3 hand spring. Upon calling the factory, their representative (Mr. Wayne Martin) suggested I return the gun for replacement of the part and reassembly.

In less than three weeks, the gun was...

More California Nonsense

I often write about outlandish judicial decisions in this space, but on March 15, 2024, Federal District Court Judge Josephine L. Staton raised the bar...