FIREARMS

America has long been a country of rifleman. It began with the flintlock rifle and self-sufficient mountain men like Daniel Boone. Rebels with Pennsylvania deer and squirrel rifles helped defeat the mighty British regiments with their inaccurate, close-range smooth bore muskets. Rifles are more than mere tools for bringing home the bacon. They can become passionate pursuits in and of themselves, luring otherwise sane men and women into a never-ending search for precision perfection. Let's discuss rifles here, their history and their pedigree, their performance and their promise. What makes them work and what makes them fail. What’s new and what’s old.

Ballistics | Firearms | Cartridges

Spomer's History With Firearms

By Ron Spomer (editorial)

Hunters are interested in guns to varying degrees. For some they are basic tools. So long as they shoot straight and every time, good enough. But many hunters dote on rifles and shotguns and want to know all the details -- where, when, what and how, if usually why. I started my hunting career with the notion that firearms were mere vehicles to adventure. I knew a few basics about actions and sights and cartridges, but I didn't much care if a bolt-action was a push feed or a controlled round feed, whether it used an in-line magazine or staggered. Only later in life did I begin to appreciate guns in and of themselves, to care how they were designed and built as well as how they performed. I still do not consider myself a firearms know-it-all or a true rifles nutcase, but I've learned enough to apply my knowledge effectively to the important aspects of shooting and hunting well. And, thanks to my job, I've had many chances to use dozens and dozens of firearms in pursuit of accuracy and game around the world, so I can comment on firearms with a certain combination of experience and research. In addition, I resist the urge to pontificate on things I know only second-hand. So when you hear that rifles weighing less than eight pounds are too light to be accurate and I say "bull," that's because I've hunted sheep, goats, moose, elk, eland and even grizzlies with roughly a dozen rifles weighing less than 7 pounds – some less than 4.5 pounds. I may not know the last word in super lightweight rifles, but I know the many I've used have worked quite well -- and I have the antlers and horns to prove it. When you hear that walnut stocked rifles are inaccurate because they warp and I say "bull," it's because I own and have hunted with many walnut stocked rifles that maintain zero year after year and shoot sub-MOA. In short, I've had considerable experience and I tell it like it is. In this section I will be posting reviews, or overviews, of various rifles from time to time. I'll tell the good and the bad from my experiences and perhaps some experiences of others. I might report on rumors or historical performance. But I won't pretend to know things I don't. And if readers have burning questions, I'll try to answer them or refer you to sources that can.