Rifles

Some time back a reader asked us which 375 H&H Magnum rifle we'd suggest for his son, who was going to Africa for an extended hunt. He wanted to know if the current crop of Winchesters and Remingtons were any good in that caliber, and which one we'd recommend for his son. We knew Winchester was producing a new Model 70 Winchester, made by FN in the U.S., but had examined only a Lightweight Compact 308 Model 70. We thought it was a pretty good rifle, but those who can make a good 308 cannot necessarily make a good 375. We knew Remington used to make a decent 375, and a quick search of the Remington website showed us a current offering in that caliber. We acquired a new Model 70 Winchester (MSRP $1400) and a new Remington 700 CDL 375 100th Anniversary Edition. (MSRP $1450) and put them to the test. We tested with Hornady Heavy Magnum 300-grain FMJ RN solids and 270-grain Hornady Heavy Magnum SP InterLock, and with handloads using 235-grain Speer Semi-Spitzer Hot Core, 270-grain Hornady Spire-Point, and 300-grain Nosler Partition bullets. Here are our findings.

Due to overwhelming grassroots opposition from law-abiding gun owners and California’s firearms industry members, SB 249 was pulled from the Assembly Appropriations Committee hearing calendar for Thursday, Aug. 16. This means that the bill is dead for the year.

Auction 11278485 at GunAuction.com is a left-handed deer hunter’s dream: a Remington Model 721 in .243 Win. This customized left-hand bolt-action rifle has several indications that it was built by a true rifleman: a nice-looking walnut Monte Carlo pistol grip stock, a 26-inch medium-heavy-taper barrel with no rust, wear, scrapes, or scratches, and a 4-pound trigger pull. And this: The rifle is a custom chambering of the .243 Win. cartridge because the Model 721 was not made in that round.

Three basic subassemblies, the barreled action, trigger group and bolt assembly, are involved here. For the sake of simple cleaning, the rifle need only be taken down to these groups. If other problems exist, you'll need to go well beyond the instruction pamphlet provided with the firearm. To disassemble the Mini-14, the first thing that you must do is remove the magazine and set the hammer in the cocked condition. Pull the bolt handle all the way back, cocking the hammer, then release the bolt forward. Push the safety back to place it in the on position. Place the rifle in your padded jaw vise with the trigger guard pointing up. It works best for me if I hold the barrel in the leather-faced jaws of my vise.

Here are current 2012 shooting-event results from the London Olympic Games, with finishes for U.S. shooters.

We recently had the pleasure of testing one of the first copies of Ruger's just-announced new 10/22 Takedown, $389, and as is usual in this magazine, we wanted to test it against other takedown rifles. To that end we organized the simultaneous testing of the age-old but still in production semi-auto Browning SA-22, $700, and the even older lever-action design by Marlin, the 39A, $702. All of these rifles come apart easily for storage or transportation. Other than that feature, the rifles were miles apart in design and also in overall weight. However, considerations of not only weight but also shortness, ease of disassembly, and retained accuracy when reassembled, have major effects on the choices of one or the other of these for boat, off-road, or light-aircraft use. We kept that in mind as we examined each one. We tested with Federal AutoMatch, Eley Match EPS, CCI MiniMag solids, and Winchester Power Point HPs. Here's what we found.

Monroe, NC-based I.O. Inc. is bringing the Beryl Polish assault rifle to the United States as a civilian model. Named the “Archer,” this I.O. Inc. rifle is manufactured in Poland’s Fabryka Broni 'Łucznik' – Radom plant, and prominently displays the trademark FB (Fabryka Broni) on the left side of the receiver.

Magnum Research, Inc.'s new Magnum Lite .22 LR semi-automatic rifle, the MLR22AT, includes an ambidextrous lightweight thumbhole 10/22 stock, a graphite bull barrel, and a 22 LR Benz target chamber designed specifically for semi-automatics. The MLR22AT weighs only 4.25 lbs., has a barrel length of 17 inches, and an overall length of 35.5 inches.

Stag Arms has said that the Cleveland, Ohio police department has chosen a custom configured Stag Arms Model 2 as the official rifle of the department. The rifles are being delivered this week.

The Gun Tests/GunReports.com video team recently did a range review of the Fulton Armory FAR-308 Phantom, a $1,910 retail unit before optional equipment is added. The gun’s basic weight is 9.65 pounds before the upgrades.

Everybody knows firing pins detonate primers, but not everyone can define esoteric aspects of these parts.

Anschütz has introduced the MSR RX22 small-bore tactical training rifle, a full-featured, precision .22-caliber training and small-game hunting rifle.