Today in Bolt Guns
Let’s take a highly condensed look at the state of the bolt gun market as it stands today.
Remington
Winchester got first billing last time, so this time we’ll give it to Remington.
The Remington 700 is still going strong, offered in a variety of configurations from wood-stock sporters to full-up Tacticool. The great old BDL is still for sale, along with the lower-priced, blind-magazine ADL. And Remington is still offering the carriage trade, $2400 Model 700 200th Anniversary Limited Edition Model 700, of which rifles only 2,016 have been made. Remington even offers a muzzle-loader on the Model 700 action, in which the bolt opens to allow a 209 shotgun primer to be placed into the breech for ignition.
Remington also offers the light and handy little Model 7, a short-action, light-barreled carbine in several varieties with wood, laminate and synthetic stocks. I considered one of these rifles for Mrs. Animal and handled several although I didn’t take the chance to shoot one. It’s a neat little rifle and would be great for close-quarters work, as they handle quickly and point very naturally.
The Model 783 is something new. This rifle started out life as the Marlin X-7 rifle and was absorbed into Big Green when Remington acquired the old lever gun manufacturer. The 783 and continues that weapon’s floating bolt head, detachable box magazine and small ejection port, which makes for a very strong receiver. The 783 more or less fills the role once held by the old Model 788.
Winchester
This great old company now offers two bolt rifles. The first is of course the Rifleman’s Rifle, the Model 70, now only offered with the blade ejector and controlled-feed claw extractor. An improved trigger was recently added. You can get this fine old rifle in Super Grade with a French walnut, American black walnut, or fine blonde maple stocks. Stainless versions are offered, with wood or synthetic stocks.
If you’re on a budget Winchester has the XPR, a push-feed, synthetic-stocked, no frills hunting rifle. The XPR, like the Remington 783, departs from the traditional Model 70 with its 3-lug bolt, detachable magazine and slide safety.
One thing I find interesting about Winchester is that they have eschewed the Tacticool craze in their bolt guns. While Remington offers several Tacticool varieties of the Model 700, Winchester’s rifles are sporting rifles, pure and simple. Mind you I’m not saying that’s good or bad, but it’s interesting, speaks somewhat to the new Winchester’s marketing strategy, and honestly, makes me like that company just a little bit more.
It’s probably a bit odd that I don’t have a Model 70 in the rack. If I could find a Safari-grade, pre-64 rifle in .375 H&H, I might just be tempted to buy it – if I could get it for a price that wouldn’t put me in Mrs. Animal’s sights.
There are, of course, lots of other bolt guns on the market.
The Other Guys
It should come as a surprise to no one that I’m a fan of Browning products. While the modern-day Browning and the modern-day Winchester share their corporate owners, their bolt gun offerings are quite different.
The Browning A-bolt has been discontinued, but the general pattern of the action lives on in the AB3 and, to some extent, the X-bolt, both of which shares the earlier rifle’s three locking lugs and 60-degree bolt throw. Both rifles feature detachable magazines, but while the AB3 uses the traditional style box magazine, the X-bolt uses a new design, a rotary magazine roughly like that of the Savage 99.
While both rifles have good reputations, I haven’t fired or handled either, so can’t offer any personal recommendation. Ruger bolt guns, on the other hand, I am more familiar with, and I have to say my experiences have been positive.
Of all the American manufacturers, Ruger probably has the largest lineup of bolt guns. Ruger’s supply covers a very wide range, so I’ll mention a couple I find particularly interesting.
The latest version of the basic Model 77 platform is the Hawkeye Standard Rifle. Like the original M77, it uses an updated, modernized version of the 98 Mauser action, but unlike the original M77 it uses a Winchester-style three position four-and-aft safety. It comes in a good variety of calibers and finishes. Ruger sells cheaper rifles on the same basic action, but the American has a cleaner finish and is available with some good wood furniture.
An interesting variant on the M77 is the Gunsite Scout, made to the concept first floated by the late Colonel Jeff Cooper. This bolt gun has an 18” barrel, muzzle brake, a Picatinny rail allowing for an intermediate eye relief scope, a ten round detachable magazine and either a laminated wood or synthetic stock. Unlike the late Colonel Cooper, I see little application for this rifle in a modern military, but it is even so a short, handy rifle; five round mags are available to meet most state’s hunting rifle restrictions. The Scout was first put out in .308 Winchester and .243 Winchester but is available now in the thumping .450 Bushmaster, which would make an interesting brush gun. If they only made it in .358 Winchester, I would probably own one by now.
Both rifles, along with most of Ruger’s stable, are available in left-handed versions for you southpaws.
Mossberg may be better known for their shotguns, but after some experimentation that old family-owned company offers a couple of good bolt guns. The Mossberg Patriot is a standard push-feed bolt gun offered in traditional wood furniture as well as synthetics. The bolt body is cut with spiral flutes for some reason; the Patriot also has a good, clean externally adjustable trigger unique to Mossberg. Also available is the MVP, which mates the Patriot action to a synthetic stock and detachable, AR-pattern magazines. If you live in a jurisdiction that is hostile to AR-pattern rifles, you can at least get a bolt gun to use your stockpile of AR magazines.
And then we have Savage. Their entry into riflery may have been the Model 99 lever gun, but we have already discussed their 110 bolt gun. Savage these days seems to be in competition with Ruger for the biggest variety of bolt guns for sale; they still offer the 110 in a great variety of finishes and calibers but also the Axis bolt gun and the Savage 11 hunting and 12 target rifles. Like the original 110, Savage offerings tend to be robust, reliable and affordable. Better, their more recent offerings are more attractive than the original, clunky 110, but only the 11 and 111 Hunter rifles feature wood stocks.
I’ve only scratched the surface of standard domestic bolt gun offerings, but I wanted to take a little space to describe some upscale offerings as well.
The Semi-Customs
Up in Kalispell, Montana, there is a company making high-end bolt guns based on what is essentially a 98 Mauser action with a Winchester 70-style fore and aft safety. Their basic model, the American Standard Rifle, starts at about $1,500; the price of the fancier models rises rapidly from there. I’ve toyed with the idea of buying their American Legends Rifle in my favored .338 Win Mag, and in so doing gain a rifle that for all intents and purposes is a brand-new pre-64 Model 70 Winchester. But given our pending move north to the Great Land, I may instead look at The Alaskan, a stainless steel and synthetic rifle made for wet, cold climates. One of these in .375 H&H would be good medicine for big bears and moose.
A step up the price and fanciness ladder will get you another Montana production from the Cooper Firearms company. Their Model 21 (.17 Fireball through .300 Blackout) and Model 22 (.22BR through .35 Whelen, including belted magnums) Classic rifles carry a ½ MOA accuracy guarantee, AA Claro walnut stocks, hand-cut checkering and a detachable box magazine for quick reloads.
Kimber is a company known for some fancy 1911 clones, but they also produce some high-end bolt guns. The Kimber bolt action, like the Montana, is a well-made clone of the pre-64 Model 70. Kimber offers their Traditional and Dangerous Game versions with fine walnut furniture, along with the likes of the Hunter and Mountain series with synthetic stocks.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, more great bolt guns are being cranked out.
Around the World
Advertising themselves as Das Original, Mauser is still in the bolt gun game, producing their Mauser 12 bolt gun. It’s interesting that this latest Mauser lacks the classic big claw extractor of the classic Model 98, but the M12 is gathering a good reputation as a solid, smooth reliable rifle, especially in those European nations where the peasantry is still allowed to own firearms.
Best of all, though, is the fact that Mauser still – still, after almost 120 years – offers a Model 98 sporting rifle.
The new Model 98 presents that classic action in both standard and magnum versions, featuring a fully milled action, a cold hammer-forged barrel, plasma nitride finish on the steel parts, a three-position safety and a gorgeous European walnut stock. The Magnum version features a beefy square-bridge, double cross-bolted action and one of the highest capacities in a dangerous-game bolt gun; six shots in the .375 H&H, five in the .416 and .450 Rigby calibers. And if you really want to drop some bucks into a beauty, Mauser offers the 98 Standard Diplomat with Grade 7 walnut furniture, guaranteed to cause excess salivation in anyone who loves fine guns.
Mind you these rifles start at the $7-8,000 range, so much as I’d love to own one, it’s probably not in the cards any time soon.
Mauser isn’t the only German manufactory to produce bolt guns I can’t afford. Blaser produces their pricey R8 and R93 bolt guns, which couldn’t be more different than the great old Mauser. The Blaser is a straight-pull bolt gun, very fast in operation, and with one big advantage: The action has no ejection port, instead opening the top of the action when the bolt is withdrawn. This is a neat feature in a hunting rifle, as when the action is in battery it is sealed up, with no way for moisture or dirt to get in and gum things up. The Blaser action is also shorter than traditional bolt guns, allowing for a shorter overall length with a standard barrel. Combine that with a smooth, simple trigger and coil spring throughout, and you’ve got an innovative, well-made sporting rifle.
Still, tradition has a place in the gun world, and across the Channel, the Brits are big on tradition. Rigby offers three classes of bolt guns, all on 98 Mauser actions: The Highland Stalker, The Big Game, and The London Best. Were I suddenly discovered to be a long-lost heir of John Rockefeller – unlikely, as the Animal family tree is already pretty well documented, and not a billionaire in the bunch – I would be interested in The London Best, hand-fitted from end to end, with Grade 7 Turkish walnut and London Best oil finish, hand-blued and hand-fitted. Given that one of these costs as much as a good-sized house, I suspect I will have to keep wishing.
Holland & Holland is still in the game as well. H&H today still offers the what they call “The Bolt Action Magazine Rifle” (those Brits just aren’t big on euphemistic names) in standard and magnum versions. Like the Rigby, Holland & Holland rifles are based on Model 98 actions; like the Rigby, they are hand-built and hand-fitted, with high-grade walnut stocks; like the Rigby, I can’t afford one, and neither can you, so we’re going to have to settle for looking longingly at the pictures.
European companies seem to be determined to produce expensive bolt guns, but in Japan, a company called Howa is aiming at the middle-class trade. Howa has a history in martial arms, having produced Arisaka rifles during World War II and copies of the M1 Garand and M1 Carbine after the war for the Japanese Self Defense Forces. Nowadays they produce the M1500 bolt gun; Howa bolt guns have been imported into the U.S. as the Smith & Wesson 1500 and now under Howa’s own name. Mrs. Animal once owned a Howa 1500 rifle in .270 Winchester; it was a decent, solid push-feed bolt gun, nothing fancy but certainly reliable and reasonably accurate, regularly turning in 1.5 MOA groups.
Again, I’ve barely scratched the surface of the non-U.S. bolt gun market. Doing the topic justice would make a fair-sized book. But we’re not done yet; the modern Tacticool craze hasn’t left the bolt gun market behind.
The Tacticool Stuff
I commented earlier that Winchester seems to have eschewed the hardcore Tacticool market, and that I like that about them – I do. But other American gun companies have shown no such restraint.
The Remington 700 is available with what that company calls a “Tactical Chassis,” with an adjustable, telescoping stock, a Picatinny rail running from the dear of the action to the front of the fore-end, a pistol grip and a muzzle brake.
Mossberg offers the MVP, which we discussed previously, in a Tacticool version with (again) an adjustable stock, a Picatinny rail atop the action and, like the sporter version, the ability to use AR-style magazines, something unique among bolt guns.
Ruger has their Precision Rifle series, in standard and magnum calibers. This piece, as the other Tacticool offerings, offers an adjustable stock, an abundance of Picatinny railage, and a muzzle brake; but the Precision has the look of a dedicated sniper piece. Personally, I’ll stick with my M77 Mk IIT for long-range riflery, but given Ruger’s reputation, I don’t doubt this piece would likewise get the job done at extended distances.
Savage offers tactical versions of their 110 bolt gun, most notably the 110 Tactical with their AccuFit stock and AccuFit adjustable trigger, a barrel threaded for suppressors and a 10-round detachable magazine.
There are, of course, many more.
It’s been a while since the bolt gun market was given a book-length treatment. It certainly merits one; were my personal bandwidth a little less crowded, I might consider taking the project one. Meanwhile, I hope I have at least given you a good thumbnail sketch here.
And Then This Happened
Another series draws to a close.
I’ve noted previously the omission of Roy Weatherby from this series. People either seem to love Weatherby’s work or hate it, and while I admire his marketing acumen and his innovation with the old Mark V action and his stable of high-velocity, proprietary cartridges, I didn’t care for the flashiness of the first couple of generations of Weatherby rifles. I also don’t care for the direction the company has gone now that old Roy is gone. But that’s a story for another day.
So, what’s next? Honestly, I don’t have another six-part history in me for a few weeks, at least. But I have the Weatherby piece and at least one more Profile in Toxic Masculinity in the works, as well as a couple more (hopefully) amusing tales of my mis-spent youth in northeast Iowa. So, stay tuned! I find I really enjoy bringing all you folks this stuff and will try to keep up the pace to the extent my meat-space workload and my aging and partially fossilized brain allows.
Comments
241 responses to “A History of Bolt Guns, Part Six”
Which part of this series will cover tools used for stunning animals prior to slaughter?
It’s the installment after the one on lightning guns.
I am disappointed that YOU went there (to “lightning guns” which are NOT called “bolt guns”) instead of the “bolt guns” of Warhammer 40k. The double entente (or if you prefer, double entendre) of the joke is I was going with stuff actually called “bolt guns.”
So sad that you want predictable. I pity thee.
And lightning guns fire bolts.
* applause *
The other term (for those googling from home) is Humane Killer.
Figures in one of John Dickson Carr’s murder novels, IIRC.
My R agrees with yours. Real small government (unlike today’s “conservatives”), you like John Dickson Carr, an engineer, and a woman? Haven’t done a proper study, but sounds rare. NTTAWWT
It really does come from spending at least a little time on a farm.
You realize your makeup runs (solution: no makeup), you sweat and your hair gets mussed up, it’s all about, can you/ will you do the work?
I’ve hauled enough bales with those medieval looking hooks, strung enough barbed wire fence, run enough trot line, emasculated enough steer (and fried up the proceeds) that no one can convince me to depend on the Govt for anything.
TL; DR version
Murica, fuck yeah
I stand by my comment. Women who grew up on farms are more common.
Yeah ok, acknowledged
Have you read The Burning Court?
Maybe you will think less of me for admitting this, but I have not read any Carr that has neither Gideon Fell nor Henry Merrivale.
I think nothing less of you but do recommend The Burning Court .
Screenplay/ movie waiting to happen
First
I just punch them.
Well, you are just an animal.
I think that series runs on Wednesday mornings; different author, though.
But that’s a story for another day.
Encore! Encore!
Stay tuned.
Good stuff Animal.
Man, those are some gorgeous guns pictured. I can’t decide between the M98 or the Rigby as to which is more visually appealing.
Yes. The stock on that 98 is to die for.
The Model 70 is on my wish list. I don’t hunt, but I’d like to have a couple of bolt-action rifles just for long-distance target shooting. I’ve also been interested in picking up a Ruger American Predator as a cheap, entry-level gun I don’t have to worry about banging up.
Holy shit is that Rigby beautiful! I’d be afraid to take it our of the case.
Thanks for the series, Animal. I learned a lot and really enjoyed your writing style.
10/10
Tundra is correct.
The debate is settled.
The jury is in, unanimous vote on the Rigby
On topic, sort of: New Zealanders are ignoring the new gun laws.
https://www.libertynation.com/kiwis-just-say-no-to-gun-ban/
Doesn’t matter. Give up your guns or be a criminal. Fine hold onto them. Now if they get popped for anything, no matter how unrelated, if the illegal weapon comes to light, there’s one more piece of leverage the police have over them.
That assumes that the police will actually enforce that law. Seems probably that some will and some won’t.
I can see not going house to house for confiscations but an illegal firearm is discovered in the course of some other interaction or investigation and it’s going to be ignored or returned to the owner?
This is the time to go on the offensive. Like GL says, if you just hide the gun, you kill the culture, which is as good as confiscation.
So, what you’re saying is, when you see New Zealand pols, shoot to kill?
/kathy newman
I don’t know enough about kiwi politicians, but I would like to see an arm demonstration in front of the capitol, demanding a repeal of the law. The violence is implied.
Knowing commonwealth realms, such an event would get attacked with armored vehicles and spark a crackdown.
Live on your knees or die on your feet.
They have armored vehicles in NZ? How many sheep does it take to pull one of those?
Yep – Unless they use their guns to shoot the gun-grabbers, it’s over.
Mahalo for the excellent series.
I hate to go OT so early but the intersection of proggism and the haunt of Swiss is too much to miss.
https://arcdigital.media/the-case-of-sue-the-woke-dinosaur-52515d08ac64?sk=7308a27c609d6ecdb6f15155794d72a9
Filthy neutrals, never know what they’re thinking. You can’t trust them.
How much would you pay to hunt a T. Rex? /trying to keep it somewhat on topic
You’d have to be more specific with the details of the hunt and what sort of precautions against being eaten by a TRex were being taken.
>>precautions
Well it’s no fun without a little danger.
We’ll carve that on your cenotaph. No one volunteered to dig through dino shit for your bones.
This.
I’d love to try it. But I can’t even afford a Cape buffalo hunt, which is also dangerous game, albeit smaller and less toothy. I could name prices for a tyrannosaur hunt, but if it were ever to be possible, the cost would certainly be more than my net worth.
Agreed. Also, only single shot rifles allowed.
I would think your gun would be the precaution against being eaten.
The question is, what gun would you use?
Ruger no. 1 .375 H&H
Not .375 Ruger?
I said what I said. But yes, ruger 375 is also acceptable
Something with over the horizon kill capability that can be fired from a neighboring island since you guys don’t seem to want to talk about properly reinforced hunting blinds.
Here you go:
https://youtu.be/llzKYdjeSzQ
I was thinking more like a railgun tuned so that the projectile makes a single, smaller hole rather than anything with an explosive payload.
Single shot – check.
Not crew-served – check.
Looks legit.
I was going to post the 50 BMG with computer scope, but found this instead:
https://youtu.be/7QYsFz4c_Ts
M2A1
Too many unknowns. What would it take to penetrate the skull? How easy is it to hit and damage vital organs?
With whales you use harpoons but they take awhile to die. Would you use something more like a ballista and a reinforced hunting blind. Would they in fact attack after being wounded or run away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raufoss_Mk_211
I’m thinking these would work.
Obviously a rifle chambered in .577 Tyrannosaur.
Hilarity ensues. May not be SFW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrImp-ek3bI
Note to self: don’t fuck with the guy at 4:22.
Any man strong enough to wear jorts…
The only guy in the video who knows how to shoot.
What do you think that costs? $5 a round? $10?
Wow, I wasn’t even close.
There’s no dispute- BFG9000.
.22lr Cowards.
Nothing. Under your thought experiment, the T. Rex is not hurting or threatening me or mine. You are proposing hunting an air-breathing animal that is neither herbivore nor omnivore, and therefore not fit for human consumption.
People hunt and eat alligators.
Some people eat Tide pods. What’s your point? Even the choicest alligator meat (from the tail of one that is two years old or less) needs to be marinated to death to be able to be cooked to be edible. Wild alligators are for subsistence eating. Farm-raised are for curious people who do not know better. Then there is what you might come down with eating wild instead of farm-raised. And dietary restrictions, religious and otherwise.
“Some people eat Tide pods. What’s your point?”
I would bet that gator is a lot tastier (and is surely more nutritious) than tide pods.
“Even the choicest alligator meat (from the tail of one that is two years old or less) needs to be marinated to death to be able to be cooked to be edible.”
If you say so. My son had it when he was a kid, and liked it just fine. He thought it was chicken.
“Wild alligators are for subsistence eating. Farm-raised are for curious people who do not know better. Then there is what you might come down with eating wild instead of farm-raised.”
Cooking the meat properly should take care of any pests.
“And dietary restrictions, religious and otherwise.”
Um.. what?
Unless birds are the descendants of dinosaurs, in which case it kinda tastes like chicken.
Seals are both mammals and obligate carnivores – people eat them.
Hey, man. This article is about guns, not clubs.
You are Heroic Mulatto. If your reputation is accurate, then eating seal meat (other than the flippers) would not be the most disgusting thing you ever put in your mouth. /jk
Fair enough.
HM eats seal ass.
WOA!
Now that’s a guy that really likes to get it on!
Well, he never will survive unless he gets a little crazy….
something, something, …blew a seal
*sniggers*
Constructed the sentence wrong. Meant that the flippers are supposed to be the least disgusting seal meat, not the most.
Seal meat is for the orphans. I only want their fur to line my Monocle boxes.
Now do dragons, Mr. Buzzkill.
Dragons are technically fire-breathing.
Ackshually, fire-exhaling.
Because you asked: I thought since Tolkien (I know the idea predates him), dragons were “intelligent” in the sense of the word as in SETI. Does NAP apply to a paid hunt of them? Is your standard for libertarian NAP?
Hunting them just for sport? Or hunting them to collect a bounty because the dragon keeps burning down the village and stealing all of the valuables? Tolkien’s dragons may have been intelligent, but they were also immensely belligerent.
I meant that since Tolkien even non-Tolkien dragons are usually portrayed as intelligent, regardless of how well or not they co-exist with humans, for example, the Jane and the Dragon series of books. If NAP does apply to dragons, then there are circumstances via NAP under which it is permissible to retaliate.
What did the fire breathing dragon ever do to you?!?!?
STEVE SMITH NOT FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. FIT FOR RUNNING AFTER HIKERS.
Do I hear a sound of thunder?
There is one and only one personal pronoun in English that is acceptable for non-humans – “it”. A dinosaur, regardless of its sex or even “gender” is an it, as it is not human. The same goes for cats, dogs, roses, tables, and mountains. (But not boats).
The ultimate irony is that “he”, “she”, and “it” all have the same etymology, all coming from the (reconstructed) Proto-Indo-European particle /*key-/, meaning “this”.
There is one and only one personal pronoun in English that is acceptable for non-humans – “it”.
Does this run into the “broad usage makes it right” rule? Because people refer to animals with “he” and “she” all the time, and generally use it only when they don’t know the sex of the animal.
In my experience referring to pets and such as he/she is an Americanism. It might have spread further, but, descriptivism would suggest that the usage is shifting. Semantically, I still view it as a fallacy of personification, though.
*dog lifts leg, pisses on HM’s shoes*
That is my new fetish.
Ah, puppy play. I’ve heard of that one.
I’m think that going down HM’s new fetish rabbit hole eventually leads to SugarFree.
I guess I’m just going to be wrong on this one, then.
That’s a British and Canadian thing too, I think, maybe common to the Anglosphere generally.
+1 Ain’t she a beauty!
Serious question- how would the French (or Spanish, I think) deal with this since they only have two grammatical genders?
I note with amusement that the French word for vagina is masculine and the French word for penis is feminine.
Fucking frogs, no wonder they keep losing wars.
Yep, une bite == a dick. I couldn’t believe it, when I learned it.
If it’s like German, they just assign one.
In German, a train is masculine, “der Zug”, and the correct pronoun is “er” (he), but most will understand if you use “es” (it).
Yes, but German has a neuter gender as well, so while it may not be genetically correct you could use neuter pronouns and articles for things like non- binary fossilized skeletons.
Tangentially related, I think it would have been better to resurrect the old English neuter pronouns instead of making up new ones, but that ship has sailed.
*grammatically correct, not genetically. We’re talking gender not sex. Stupid phone.
First get your name approved by the correct German office by filling out this form, then the pronouns and articles can be assigned by the office down the hall.
Back in my HS days, when I was taking French, that’s the one thing that drove me crazy – memorizing the la vs. le
The word dog is masculine in French (le chien), so a dog us referred to as “he” — il. Cat is also masculine — le chat. That’s how it works if you don’t know (or care about) the sex of the animal. On the other hand, If you know that the dog is a bitch, you call it “la chienne” and use “she” — elle.
Does that mean pets are family or replaceable property?
The latter, unless you are going to go through the bother of legally establishing filiation, with all of the rights and responsibilities thereof.
Consistent with every animal is an “it.”
Excuse me?
Wow. I never thought I’d see the day when a Glib would complain about being mispronouned.
HM’s position that all pets are replaceable property instead of family is consistent with HM’s position that the proper pronoun for all animals is “it.” If Animal self-identifies as an animal…
Blasphemy like this is why we need hate speech laws
Ahem, I believe you mean “ships”, sir.
Oh go fuck yourself. Yes, I have an anti-idiot sentiment.
My dad has a Remington 700 that he likes. I think he used to have a Browning A bolt. Next time I talk to him I’ll ask.
I’m seen some videos on the Blaser straight pull action. It looks interesting but slightly complicated.
I briefly considered a Scout from Steyr since it had Cooper’s seal of approval. I never moved on it.
It’s been a while since the bolt gun market was given a book-length treatment. It certainly merits one; were my personal bandwidth a little less crowded, I might consider taking the project one. Meanwhile, I hope I have at least given you a good thumbnail sketch here.
That would be one hell of a book. The latest edition of Skennerton’s book is around 600 pages. Vanderlinden’s book on only FN Mauser rifles is around 350 pages. The North Cape publications books are all two or three hundred pages long.
I have to fill in the gaps on the series. I’ve been traveling and missed a few parts. I like the series.
The Deerminator is a Remington 700. I’ve had a little work done on it – trigger tuned to a nice crisp 3 lb pull, barrel crowned and polished. It shoots sub-MOA off a rest. I honestly don’t feel the need for another hunting rifle.
At the last SHOT show there were a lot of companies that make chassis for R700s. Like this one, all shiny and bullpup.
Too bad I didn’t see this during your revolver series.
Still want one. I like the jeweler’s saws.
Turns out that story about the University of Alabama returning the $21mm donation and taking the donors name off of the law school because of the new Alabama abortion law was Fake News.
the donors name
Yo, Ted. Hopefully, the omission of the apostrophe there balances my books on apostrophe use after last week’s cock-up.
Yeah, it was one of those “You can’t fire me, I quit!”.
Just home. On the way I listened to the radio. Good God. It seems the MSM has abandoned all regard for the truth and are just making complete transparent bullshit up hand over fist.
First report: CBS ‘reporting’ that no, Trump’s tactic didn’t work, this is not a new or unprecedented deal. It is an old deal. Trump bad is the narrative and gets credit for nothing.
Second report: A recording of the official Mexican govt spokeslady announcing the new, unprecedented deal with the Trump admin.
Third report: CBS calls Mexican government liars. I am surprised they didn’t try to give credit to Obama. They may have and I just didn’t hear it.
Question:
Both the Mauser and the Rigby have a sling attachment point directly on the barrel. Wouldn’t that affect accuracy if you use a sling when you shoot?
It might. But that’s pretty traditional for European guns, especially heavy-caliber ones, where recoil might split the fore-end if you have the sling drawn up tight against a stud sunk into wood.
I don’t think that Rigby is designed for 1000 yard matches. At the ranges you hunt big game and the power of that thing, 1/2 inch of accuracy isn’t a big deal.
(Somewhat in reference to an obscure reply thread above)
How about instead of Peace Corps and Young American draft talk, we offer every city dweller (offer, not force) to come work at a farm for a summer?
It would grow more libertarians.
It might grow more socialists, on net. For some people, the thought process would be “Its welfare or this? I’ll take welfare, thanks.”
Aren’t the biggest welfare queens in the US their farmers? For example, partisanlines.com/threads/biggest-welfare-queens-are-farmers.1252/
Anyone familiar with modern cities in the North knows that no man who wears an infinity scarf and jeans that suffocate his testicles is going to do actual physical labor. Besides, they are more likely to be misgendered if they went to rural communities. We can’t have the government funding such affronts to their faith.
Just like transferring money to government, it’s only acceptable when done at the barrel of a gun.
And for the *right* reasons
What reason would that be? “You didn’t earn that, brah”?
Taxation is theft, up until it’s popular to take people’s money for popular programs. Then you get this from people who constantly complain about spending, because, well, this is different.
https://reason.com/2015/07/30/will-planned-parenthood-be-defunded
no man who wears an infinity scarf and jeans that suffocate his testicles is going to do actual physical labor
That’s well put and probably correct. But my hold-my-beer cousins certainly work long and hard in unspeakable** conditions in jeans sans scarf. Just because something is stupid doesn’t mean there isn’t half a demographic somewhere fetishizing it.
** We are a stupid people, but we are incredibly tough.
Hipsters do fetishize the working class (with their bizarre love for PBR and their flannel shirts) just not the whole “working” part
+1 ironic trucker hat worn while eating avocado toast with chia seeds and sprouts.
I had to google infinity scarf.
Can you tell me what it is? I don’t want to give Google the traffic….
An infinity scarf is a loop of fabric, instead of a long strip. Since it is a large loop, it technically doesn’t have a beginning or an end, so it is infinite, thus the name.
I said google….but I use DuckDuckGo. I don’t give google clicks either. My fingers reflexively type google.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/87/d1/4e/87d14e658795b1637ea0847d7df9299f.jpg
What kind of Glib are you? DuckDuckGo. At the risk of sounding un-Glibly by suggesting reading an article that accompanies the comment thread: glibertarians.com/2019/01/glibertarian-search-engine-survey/
*surhenboy whips his dick out*
Suck it , liberals !! He shouts
“We can’t have the government funding such affronts to their faith.”
Government-run is acceptable if funding is voluntary, not taxes or the kind of borrowing for which the payments to the creditors are paid by taxes, and the non-government programs (such as Farms for City Children) are not made illegal so that the government has an artificial monopoly.
I grew up in a suburb … my childhood/teenage physical labor consisted of mowing the lawn and shuttling logs around to keep the wood stove burning. That, and spells of entry-level factory work, made sure I didn’t want to do that kind of labor the rest of my life. I will also admit that I stupidly looked down on the “working class” or even tradesman.
Now, after almost 25 years of office work, wished I had become an electrician or a carpenter or even a mechanic. I’ve found that I _do_ enjoy working with my hands and fixing things. I’m not very good at some of it but I could get better with practice.
Cosigned.
Woman calls her husband at work – “Honey, the faucet is leaking badly”
Husband: ” Call the plumber”
An hour later the plumber arrives and spends about 30 minutes fixing the faucet.
Wife: “Ok, how much do I owe you?”
Plumber: “That will be 300 dollars”
Wife: “what? 300 dollars to fix a faucet?! You only spent half an hour on it! That is ridiculous! My husband is a lawyer and he doesn’t make that much!”
Plumber: “I know. I used to be a lawyer too”
That, and spells of entry-level factory work, made sure I didn’t want to do that kind of labor the rest of my life.
Pater Dean arranged for my summer jobs. They were brutal entry-level manual labor. He later told me he did it on purpose so that I would know what my life would be like if I fucked up in school.
It worked.
Assuming that you are not suggesting using tax money, like this: farmsforcitychildren.org ?
I think this sort of thing would need to be done at a very young age when kids are still curious about the world. Before school squashes that curiosity with a thousand “sit downs”, “be quiet”, and “pay attention”.
Yeah, get the 6, 7, & 8 years olds up there and that would be something.
I could be wrong, but I understand that organizations such as Alphabet Farms and Farms for City Children focus on children that have not yet had their 10th birthday (or sooner if the birthday is February 29).
Thanks for enacting my labor.
Wasn’t that a reality show with Paris Hilton?
Uffdah.
So you’re saying the only way it worlds is “Weekend at Splosives”.
Could be good, could be very very bad.
Well, it could have a novel gimmick for removing the contestants that couldn’t hack it. You could put a big [CENSORED] bar over the free/broadcast version then sell the uncensored version in the season Blu-Ray boxed sets. Or PPV.
The hero we need.
“Thank you, Iowa. Congratulations to tonight’s honorees. Welcome to my fellow candidates,” Swalwell said as he walked onto the stage. “Whom I consider — we are all a part of being The Avengers. The Republicans in 2016, that was ‘The Hunger Games.’”
“We are in this with your help and support to save this country we love so much,” Swalwell continued, pointing out things that the Democratic Party had already done in pursuit of his stated goal.
“I’ll tell you what you did, you cut our time in Hell in half,” he said, referencing the 2018 midterm elections and the fact that Democrats had regained the majority in the House of Representatives. “You gave us a shot to save the country. But I think it is time that we don’t just play defense, but we actually go on offense.”
What an asshole.
Swalwell is uniquely awful at being a politician. He’s so incredibly bad at it.
Nobody believes this shit:
https://twitter.com/ericswalwell/status/1137113422242426880
He’s getting ratioed pretty hard.
He always does. He’s THAT bad.
I hate follow him. It’s a train wreck that you can’t look away from.
I carry around this insulin vial that one of my constituents gave me so that I can carry the burden that everyday Americans face every day when paying for prescription drugs and treatments.
JFC…But this did make me laugh. Carry on.
Me: Read A book- any book.
Them: Voldomore…
Me: For Christ’s sake, not Harry Potter again. What are you twelve?
Them: The Avengers…
Me: My God, you are twelve
I agree with him, at least as far as the “go on offense” thing. Show the voters what you really want, so we can make an informed decision. Get your pet bills – Green New Deal, gun control, UBI, immigration amnesty, defunding the Border Patrol – through the House and over to the Senate. Sure, they’ll die there, but you will have made a statement.
he’s very unimpressive.
“…that was ‘The Hunger Games.”
All projection, all of the time. I wonder if this sociopath has looked at the prog-run cities lately. His supporters have to be developmentally disabled.
The Hunger Games is actually current Washington, constantly amassing more and more wealth at the expense of outlying regions.
Have a gay ole time.
Several U.S. embassies have reportedly disregarded the State Department’s directive not to display rainbow flags on flagpoles during Pride Month.
Several ambassadors and diplomats have decided to step around the instructions, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
“This is a category one insurrection,” one diplomat who wished to remain anonymous told WaPo, responding to the wave of disobedience to the State Department’s rule.
The U.S. embassies in Seoul, South Korea, and Chennai, India, have prominently displayed rainbow flags on the sides of their buildings for Pride Month, according to the report.
The embassy in New Delhi also bypassed the State Department’s instruction by decorating its building with rainbow lights for the month-long celebration.
The chief diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile, raised the rainbow flag to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on May 17, seen in a video posted on the embassy’s website.
The embassy in Vienna flew a rainbow flag below the American flag on a pole hanging from the side of the embassy’s outer wall, as shown on its website.
Several U.S. diplomats in Jerusalem tweeted photos of themselves at local pride events, including a March for Pride and Tolerance, WaPo reported.
The U.S. ambassador to Nepal, Randy Berry, tweeted a picture of himself surrounded by embassy employees holding up rainbow letters that read “PRIDE.”
I’m sure all of these places love them some gay pride. But really the government should not be celebrating any particular demographic anyway.
Fire them.
Yep. Every goddamned one of them.
Send them on a Pride parade down main street in Riyadh.
Watch Saudi Arabia give a giant fuck you to the US by making sure nothing happens.
The federal government should not be involved with this celebration, and those involved in the insubordination should be fired. They need to understand that they are cogs in a machine and are just as easily replaced. If you want to be an individual, there’s a perfectly nice private sector for that.
I’m sure that hanging a pride flag outside of embassies in Nepal and India has greatly engendered us with the people of that country. If we had hung the cross outside those embassies it would be viewed the same way by those people: religious indoctrination. Though we dare not speak of it in such terms in the West.
directive not to display rainbow flags on flagpoles
displayed rainbow flags on the sides of their buildings
I’m not seeing a problem here.
Spoken like a true lawyer.
*bows, flourishes top hat*
Well played, sir!
But isn’t an embassy building just a uniquely shaped, concrete flagpole?
Unless the flags are on flagpoles on the side of the building…
I mis-typed that as fagpoles the first time … Freudian slip?
The rot in the permanent bureaucracy goes deep indeed.
I have yet to find a U.S. embassy that was not surrounded by a tall ugly fence. A rainbow flag will not hide the bunker image.
When are we going to arrive at the point where I can safely and comfortably ignore what people want to do with their genitalia?
When it stops being a political advantage to Dems.
What you just said is sacrilege.
This.
Verboten.
You must celebrate everyone’s choices. Failure to do so will be punished accordingly.
I’m confused why the United States is signaling to various cultures and ethnicities around the world that all the colors should be separate and in their own place.
I am pro-prism!
ETA until 4chan rebrands the rainbow flag as a white nationalist symbol?
shouldn’t be too long a stretch since the clown face paint and wig are rainbow colored.
HONK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4OhbzSFpnk
Serious question: Do you think Christians would abandon the cross if 4chan linked it to fascism? Obviously, not. So why do you think the practitioners of a different faith would abandon their iconography if others said it was linked with fascism?
All religions are exclusionary in one way or another
Including Reason-tarianism apparently.
ASMR is so great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24x54yds9c0
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/06/06/discrimination-lawsuit-lakewood-jack-phillips-masterpiece-cakeshop/
Masterpiece Cakeshop sued for the THIRD time by the same woman.
When does this chick get labeled a vexatious litigant?
Its past time for a judge to either hold her in contempt, or for her to be countersued for abuse of process.
You expect her fellow religious congregants to sanction her for evangelization? Aren’t you an optimistic person
She keeps going like this and she’s going to be found dead in an alley, suffocated to death on cake and buttercream frosting.
Also, when is Duncan Hines going to get #metooed over Confederate ties?
If she keeps going like this she is going to get a job at CNN and get a slavish profile in the New Yorker where the word “brave” will be repeated ad nauseam.
Meanwhile if Alliance Defends continues to defend the baker they will soon be removed from YouTube and other social media accounts and banks will stop doing business with them, because tolerance or something.
That is more realistic.
I’m just waiting for Reason to pull their new found love for “freedom of association” (because the principals are different now) on banks not doing business with people.
Austrians are going to have an aneurysm seeing the inevitable ENB piece “Banks Don’t Have to Do Business With You, Because They’re Private Companies and I Literally Have No Idea How Banking Works”
TGA, you don’t understand. “Freedom of Association” is only supposed to mean “Freedom Not to Associate with Icky People”.
“Freedom of association is a sacred right necessary for a free society and it can only be exercised by large multinational companies that do the bidding of government and not small privately held bakeries.”
– New LP plank, most likely
My new piece: “I don’t have to do business with wanna-be prostitute bags-of-antlers now go make me a sandwich”
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/06/06/discrimination-lawsuit-lakewood-jack-phillips-masterpiece-cakeshop/
that crazy trans asshole is at it again.
https://www.scardinalaw.com/About/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPwrodxghrw
I’m seeing double! ::takes another drink::
Missed it by that much…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPwrodxghrw
So meta.
Since there are multitudes of his fans here: The Woking Dead Come For Morrissey
Wait a minute, there are still record stores? Have these fuckers not heard of the World Wide Web? Banning his stuff at stores is going to blow it up online.
By “banned” they mean “already sold the 10 copies they initially ordered and won’t order any more, just like 99% of the titles they order.”
Woking Dead … LOL.
Re RC’s question about sling swivels on barrels: barrels are funny things. most rifle barrels flex quite a bit upon firing. As the bullet enters the barrel it makes a lump in the barrel, an egg if you will that then travels the length of the barrel at the speed of the bullet. This can cause quite a whip-like effect as that wave travels. Changing the barrel length, thickness, and any anomaly in the composition will affect accuracy. Gas ports matter also.
The answer is yes, it does affect accuracy. Where it is placed on the barrel, how much of an anomaly it is all matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdwN5qlWMVA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcmrNDXq6ro
This is why the Ruger mini 30 target has a harmonic dampener on the end of the barrel, it lets you change the effective length of the barrel so that the crown is dead center of the waves every shot.
That used to be a big problem with the mini-14. Also, the gas piston movement vibrated the barrels like hell.
When it was introduced word spread fast and Ruger got stuck with train cars full of them. Next thing was Jenson’s gun store giving the damned things away for 85 bucks and they still couldn’t move them. (I should have bought one or two *kicks self*)
Yes, Ruger fixed it. the new mini’s are fine. I have one that. you can dot an I with at 100 yards.
The mini-14 is on my list of things to buy.
Rifle Slings – what the Pros use.
In case you were wondering.
Democrat state lawmakers in California have agreed to a plan that would extend health benefits to illegal immigrants…
It’s like California is trying to destroy all the old Reason crowd’s arguments for open borders.
It’s like California is trying to destroy all the old Reason crowd’s arguments for open borders.
Because they know they’ll go along with it anyway. So, why even bother trying to appease their claims to intellectual consistency.
It’s long past time to eject California from the union.
Illegal immigrants exist.
*CA inevitably panders by instituting a moronic welfare expansion*
“This discredits open borders”
I don’t think so. I think this discredits the notion that the welfare state can ever be tamed. If it wasn’t illegal immigrants it would be someone else. The dole is always the first action taken by government to pander to voters.
So, you’re saying they let illegal immigrants vote?
If Trump was truly a troll king, rather than a guy who accidentally makes his adversaries go insane, then he would sign an executive order granting legal residence to all people fleeing Venezuela. The equivalent of what was offered to Cubans. And then dare Democrats to challenge this in court. Guess how people fleeing former socialist hell holes tend to vote in the US?
Welfare state uber alles.
But not all illegal immigrants, just those in the prime of their lives.
And California tax payers won’t be the only ones paying for it. However, after all of the net tax payers have left…what then?
So, you’re saying they let illegal immigrants vote?
I have no doubt they do, in at least some parts of the state.
I’m pretty sure, but not 100% positive, that they will need to get federal consent for that.
California tax payers won’t be the only ones paying for it
If its Medicaid, 2/3 of the money will come from the feds.
But, this does give Trump a brilliant opportunity to send all of the young “refugees” to CA, since that’s the only state where they will have health coverage. Really, its the only humane thing to do.
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/06/10/dark-phoenix-100-million-loss-could-dwarf-upcoming-new-mutants/
Ouch.
Great article, Animal, as always. I think different companies made some generics for Sears, Wards and probably under other brands. I had a M. Wards, made by Mossberg. Good shooter, generic, no frills farm gun. Killed deer like the Model 70s and 700s but it wasn’t a gun to show off in the parking lot of the local tavern. Could be cased in a gunny sack and left in the trunk from year to year with or no depreciation.
Waiting for R. Weatherby’s California Dreamin’
I have been dragged out of my bed for a week at Dugway, hot on the heels of last 8 day adventure.
Ready to kick ass and take names.
Wish us luck.
I too had never really liked/understood the concept behind Cooper’s scout rifle concept……until I had one. Its true that the concept is better suited to a semi-auto, but man oh man can you ever get off a really fast aimed first shot with one. The use of a long eye relief scope means that there is zero time in finding your target in the scope and as a bonus you get to keep your peripheral vision while aiming.
Season 2!