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January 2012 No. 260

Display until 2/13/12 Printed in USA7 25274 01240 4

0 1

$5.99

NEW Ruger No.1.475 Turnbull!

Winchester

Model 1892

BrowningHigh-Power

January 2012Volume 44, Number 1

ISSN 0162-3593Issue No. 260Sportiting FiFirearearms Joururnal al

Page 38 . . .

Page 30 . . .

8 Ruger No. 1 .475 Turnbull Spotting Scope - Dave Scovill

12 The State of Marlin Firearms Mostly Long Guns - Brian Pearce

16 Unwanted Screw Holes Light Gunsmithing - Gil Sengel

20 Supporting Shooting to One Degree or Another Straight Talk - Ron Spomer

22 Mechanical Zero Down Range - Mike Venturino

26 .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire Classic Cartridges - John Haviland

30 Winchester Model 1892 Once a Classic, Always a Classic Mike Venturino

38 The All-American Carbine Why We Love ’em Short Terry Wieland

46 Leupold & Stevens, Inc. Continual Innovation in Sport Optics Brian Pearce

Page 30Page 60Page 8

Page 46 . . .

On the cover . . .A unique pair of Ruger No. 1s withconsecutive serial numbers, bothchambered in the .475 Turnbull.The scope is a Nikon Monarch UCC1.5-4.5x20. Photos by G. Hudson.

Issue No. 260 January 2012

Sportiting FiFirearearms Joururnalal

Publisher/President – Don Polacek

Publishing Consultant – Mark Harris

Editor in Chief – Dave Scovill

Associate Editor – Lee J. Hoots

Managing Editor – Roberta Scovill

Assisting Editor – Al Miller

Senior Art Director – Gerald Hudson

Production Director – Becky Pinkley

Contributing Editors

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Rifle® (ISSN 0162-3583) is published bimonthly with oneannual special edition by Polacek Publishing Corporation,dba Wolfe Publishing Company (Don Polacek, President),2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, Prescott, Arizona 86301. (Alsopublisher of Handloader® magazine.) Telephone (928) 445-7810. Periodical Postage paid at Prescott, Arizona, and ad-ditional mailing offices. Subscription prices: U.S.possessions – single issue, $5.99; 7 issues, $19.97; 14 is-sues, $36. Foreign and Canada – single issue, $5.99; 7 is-sues $26; 14 issues, $48. Please allow 8-10 weeks for firstissue. Advertising rates furnished on request. All rightsreserved.

Change of address: Please give six weeks notice. Send both the old and new address, plus mailing label ifpossible, to Circulation Department, Rifle® Magazine,2180 Gulfstream, Suite A, Prescott, Arizona 86301. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Rifle®, 2180Gulfstream, Suite A, Prescott, Arizona 86301.

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Wolfe Publishing Co.2180 Gulfstream, Ste. APrescott, AZ 86301Tel: (928) 445-7810 Fax: (928) 778-5124© Polacek Publishing Corporation

John Haviland Ron Spomer Brian Pearce Stan TrzoniecClair Rees Mike VenturinoGil Sengel Ken Waters

Terry Wieland

Publisher of Rifle® is not responsible for mishaps of any nature that might occur from use of published loading data orfrom recommendations by any member of The Staff. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permissionfrom the publisher. All authors are contracted under work for hire. Publisher retains all copyrights upon payment for all man-uscripts. Although all possible care is exercised, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for lost or mutilated manuscripts.

54 New Winchester Rimfire Loads The Latest in Varmint Ammunition John Haviland

60 Browning High-Power 7mm Remington Magnum A Classic Example of Bad Luck John Barsness

68 Mauser Military Rifles of the World, Fifth Edition Book Reviews - R.H. VanDenburg, Jr.

70 Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 Product Tests - Clair Rees

79 2011 Master Index

82 A Unique Rifle for a Unique Force Walnut Hill - Terry Wieland

The Marlin Firearms Co. moved

operations from New Haven,Connecticut, to Ilion, New York,during the fall of 2010. The relo -cation was intended to help thecompany become more efficient,improve quality and in effect mod-ernize – all components generallyrequired for manufacturing com-panies to survive in today’s eco-nomic climate.

As expected, there have been somechallenges to get the company upand running to full (or planned)capacity. Some of the experiencedemployees chose to retire, muchof the tooling was replaced withmore modern and efficient CNCmachinery, which potentially willyield a better product. Programsand blueprints had to be rewritten,as many of the drawings dated back60-plus years and were not suit-able for CNC tooling. Naturally,production has been largely scaledback, which resulted in many ofthe cataloged items being tem-porarily discontinued. Examplesinclude most stainless steel lever-guns, all “cowboy” models, the SBLseries and others. These modelswill return as soon as productionhas the capacity and are not dis-continued on a long-term basis.

highest demand or havethe greatest volume, arestill being manufacturedat this time and as fast as the plant can producethem. The X7 Series cen-terfire bolt-action rifle isin production but is nowbeing manufactured inMarlin’s Mayfield, Ken-tucky, plant.

In visiting the MarlinNew Haven plant not longbefore the move, I wasamazed by the old-worldtooling, some literally be -

ing a century old! Nonetheless,Marlin was building quality forgedreceivers, parts and cut-rifled bar-rels. Unfortunately, manufactur-ing methods were labor intensiveand thus expensive. Some of theequipment and tooling was in theprocess of being updated at thattime by the relatively new owner,Freedom Group, the same outfitthat owns Remington, BushmasterFirearms, DPMS, Dakota Armsand many others.

Some will criticize moving Mar-lin to Ilion, New York, but I wouldsubmit that a large-scale changewas inevitable, or the companywould have eventually becomebankrupt, or at least not prof-itable. Today’s manufacturing in-

The most popular variations ofleverguns, autoloading and bolt-action rimfire rifles and the excel-lent Model 39A, which are in the

MOSTLY LONG GUNS by Brian Pearce • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

THE STATE OF

MARLIN FIREARMS

Marlin has recently movedoperations from NewHaven, Connecticut, toIlion, New York. Produc-tion of low-volume modelshas been tempor arily discontinued, but highlypopular rifles are in fullproduction. Stainless steeland “cowboy” versionswill return as productioncapacity is increased.

dustry is very competitive, andCNC tooling is essentially manda-tory for a company to competeand remain viable.

A rumor came to me in August2011 in the form of a phone call,and in effect stated that “The Mar-lin Firearms Company had shutdown all production due to qualityissues. And there would not beany more lever-action rifles builtuntil they could get quality backup, which may take months oreven years.” Other rumors have in-cluded discontinuance of all lever-guns, etc.

The above are strictly rumors, asI immediately placed a phone callto my Freedom Group media con-tact, who assured me that produc-tion was neither shut down norwere there plans to shut it down.

In response to the rumors thatlikewise bounced around the In-ternet, Marlin Firearms issued thefollowing statement: “Thanks toall our Marlin fans and customers

out there for your questions andcomments today. There seems to be some incorrect informationfloating around, so we wanted toassure all of you that Marlin isdoing great and continues to pro-duce lever-action, bolt-action andrimfire rifle offerings on a dailybasis. We are currently focusingour production efforts on specificproduct offerings to ensure effi-ciencies for the immediate future,based on demand for certain mod-

els. To learn more about Marlinproducts, please visit our website:at www.marlinfirearms.com.”

Marlin will certainly have someobstacles to overcome, and we asconsumers need to express oursupport. However, in the samebreath, we need to let them knowthat we still demand and expectthe same quality that Marlin hasoffered since 1871. I believe thecompany will do just that!

During the late 1970s and ’80s, Itook note of a gun writer namedMike Venturino. He wrote aboutreal guns, usually guns and car-tridges that were not a fad, such asSmith & Wesson, Colt and Rugerrevolvers, bolt-action rifles oftenchambered for standard cartridges,Sharps pattern rifles, leverguns,handloading and cast bullets. Thenin the middle 1980s, while attend-ing a shooting event held in Wy -oming, Mike and I stayed at the

same motel. We spent considerabletime discussing editors, guns, car-tridges and bullet casting. Severalthings impressed me about him, butabove all he was writing because ofhis love and enjoyment of firearms– and the fact that he shared a gen-uine appreciation and respect forthe Colt SAA revolver, as I do! Now,25 years later, Venturino is still cast-ing bullets and writing about vin-tage firearms, with an occasionalmodern gun thrown in the mix.

* * *

Shooting Lever Guns of the Old West

Venturino has authored four books,including Shooting Colt Single Ac-

tions, Shooting Sixguns of the

Old West, Shooting Buffalo Rifles

of the Old West and Shooting Lever

Guns of the Old West, the latterbeing reviewed here. Having re-cently read it from cover to cover,this is a classic work that shouldbe in every shooter’s library, andfor that matter school and publiclibraries. It contains 300 pages,and although photos are in blackand white, they are of high qualityand appropriate for the subject.

Part One of SLGOW, “The Guns,”contains a brief history of Win-chester rifles beginning with the1860 Henry (yes, I know it wasn’tactually a Winchester, but it was apart of Winchester’s developmentand history) the 1866, 1873, 1876,1886, 1892, 1894 and 1895 and includes reproductions of selectmodels. Additional chapters in-clude the Marlin Models 1881, 1888,1889, 1894, 1893 and 1895 in bothvintage and modern variations.

Part Two is dedicated to reload-ing and includes data for vin tage“pistol length” rifle cartridges, suchas the .25-20, .32 WCF, .38 WCF,.44 WCF and modern revolver calibers, including the .38 Special,.357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .45Colt. Additional data is offered forvintage big-bore calibers found inWinchester Models 1876 and 1886and Marlin Model 1895. Naturally,vintage cartridges for WinchesterModels 1894 and 1895 are featured.Data includes cast and jacketedbullets when appropriate, pushed

by smokeless and black-powderpropellants.

Additional chapters include “Ri-vals to Winchester and Marlin,”“The Lever Gun as a Fighting Rifle,”“Sights for Old West Lever Guns”and “The Lever Gun for Hunting.”

The primary focus of the book isrifle designs and cartridges priorto 1900 but, as previously indi-cated, includes reproductions andsuitable modern cartridges withthe primary intent for the sport ofcowboy action shooting.

Of special interest and appre -ciation are the vintage frontierphotos sprinkled throughout thebook, many as a courtesy of HerbPeck, Jr.

Some consider the lever action a cowboy rifle, an antique black-powder shooting iron or even justnostalgic, but it is much more. Itremains a viable choice for hunt-ing, personal and home-defenseapplications, is particularly fun,accurate and available in a varietyof cartridges that are suitable forsmall, large and dangerous game.Mike Venturino’s Shooting Lever

Guns of the Old West is a worthystudy and makes for enjoyablereading. To order call 1-800-899-7810, or send $30.00 plus $7.25 forshipping to Wolfe Publishing Co.,2180 Gulfstream, Ste. A, PrescottAZ 86301-6182.

Shooting Lever Guns of the OldWest by Mike Venturino is a worthy addition to your library.

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Building DOUBLE RIFLES on ShotgunActions, 2nd Edition - By W. Ellis Brown

This book is written to take the gunsmith or advancedhobbyist step by step through the process of building adouble rifle, using the action of a side-by-side shotgun.Chapters include evaluating actions and cartridges; build-ing monoblocks; ribs; bushing firing pins; and proof test-ing. Of particular interest is the chapter on regulating thebarrels to shoot to the same point of aim. Brown detailseach step of the entire process, to end with a functional,well regulated double rifle. Double rifle ribs are nowavailable on the web site.HB, DJ, Large Format, 217 pages with over 300 b/w photos,color photos and diagrams . . . . . . . . . . $54.95 + $5.00 S&H*Colo. Res. add 3% sales tax ($1.65) *Orders outside the U.S.: S&H is $13.00Also available: 2006 Double Rifle Builders Symposium DVD (visit our website)

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R

A Classic Exampleof Bad Luck

of Gun Digest. (Gun Digest appears the year beforethe cover date, just as November magazines appearin October.)

John Amber, who edited Gun Digest from its firstissue in 1944 until 1979, test-fired a .30-06 High-Powerfor his column “U.S. Rifles and Shotguns.” It mightseem odd for a foreign-made rifle to be called Ameri-can, but Browning was an American importing firm.It also had a solid relationship with FN going back tothe days of John Moses Browning, who eventuallydied at FN headquarters in Liege, Belgium, at age 71.Today Browning is owned by FN Herstal, the descen-dant of Fabrique Nationale.

Amber mounted a 23⁄4-10x Weatherby scope and re-ported the weight of the rifle as 73⁄4 pounds withscope, mount and sling. This is pretty light forwalnut-stocked rifles even today, but

John Barsness

What is really meant bythe term “classic rifle”?Those two words havebeen applied to hun-

dreds of factory models, along withthousands of custom rifles. Somedaysoon classic will probably even applyto stainless steel, synthetic-stockedRemington 700s – especially since2012 will mark the golden anniver-sary of the 700, and anything goldensimply has to be classic.

Shortly before the 700 appeared in 1962, the classicfirearms firm of Browning introduced a centerfire boltaction called the High-Power, based on the Mauseraction produced by Fabrique Nationale (FN),considered one of the best commercial versionsof the uber-classic Model 98. The stock was amodern classic, without the space-age stylingthen common in everything from station wagonsto Weatherbys, though it did feature a sedate MonteCarlo comb. The rifle even came equipped withsturdy, precisely adjustable iron sights, and the origi-nal chamberings included the old classic .270 Win-chester, .30-06 and .300 and .375 H&H Magnums,along with the new classic .243 Winchester, .308 Win-chester and .338 and .458 Winchester Magnums.

Some sources claim the High-Power appeared in1959, while others say 1960, but in 1961 it was stillnew enough to be reviewed twice in the 1962 edition

BrowningHigh-Power7mm Remington Magnum

not all High-Powers were lightweights. He tested therifle with 180-grain Remington Core-Lokts and Win-chester Silvertips, 220-grain Winchester softpointsand a handload featuring 180-grain Nosler Partitionsand 56.0 grains of IMR-4350, firing five-shot groups,rather than the three-shot groups favored by twenty-first-century hunters so they can brag about their .5-inch rifles.

Groups with the 180-grainfactory loads ran 1.25

to 1.5 inches, a level of accuracy that normally trans-lates into sub-inch, three-shot groups. The 220s didn’tshoot so well, grouping from 1.5 to 3.0 inches, but the180-grain Nosler handload averaged a flat inch forseveral groups. With some of today’s super-accuratebullets, such as the Nosler Ballistic Tip, Amber’s testrifle would definitely have put three shots into themagic .5 inch.

The annual “TESTFIRE” report from Rifle’sown Ken Waters also included a

The Browning High-Power was a trueclassic – but unlucky in several ways.

the September 1984 (No. 111) issueof Handloader, where Ken said itweighed just under 10 poundswith a 1.5-4.5x Weaver. The other1984 test rifle was a Holland &Holland Best Grade a friend hadbuilt for Ken. (We should all have

such good friends!) Again theBrowning shot very well, with sev-eral loads averaging an inch orless for five, five-shot groups.

Both Amber and Waters empha-sized that neither of the test rifleswas modified in any way, so obvi-ously the rifles were extremely ac-curate right from the factory, as

well as good-looking. Yet the High-Power line only lasted until themid-1970s.

The conventional thinking is thatthe infamous “salt wood” fiascokilled the Browning High-Power.In the late 1960s and early 1970s,a couple of wood suppliers in California and Missouri startedcuring freshly sawn walnut bypacking the stock blanks in rocksalt. This dried the wood muchfaster than kiln or air-drying butalso permeated each blank withsalt. Obviously, nobody in eitherwood company ever took basic biology in high school, where theywould have learned about the phenomenon called osmosis. (Orat least high schools taught osmo-sis in Montana high schools in1970; for all I know it may sincehave been replaced by “IntriguingiPhone Apps.”)

BrowningHigh-Power

Magnum model High-Power rifles featured an extra recoil lug on thebarrel (below) and two through-bolts in the stock at either end of themagazine box (right).

Some sources claim the High-Power

appeared in 1959.

Browning High-Power chamberedin .300 H&H. He called it “the finestfinished and appearing standardfactory rifle I’ve ever had thepleasure of testing.” Ken didn’t re-port the exact weight of the testrifle but did state that Browning’slisted weight for the magnumHigh-Powers was 8 pounds. Hemounted a 6x Lyman All-Americanscope and, like Amber, shot five-shot groups.

The most accurate load was Win-chester’s 220-grain Silvertip fac-tory ammunition that averaged .5inch! I’ve owned and fired a bunchof modern synthetic-stocked cus-tom rifles that wouldn’t do anybetter – and some not as well.Ken’s handloads with 180- and 220-grain Sierras averaged .75 and .94inch, respectively. Of all the loadstried, the worst five-shot groupwas 1.75 inches. Ken concludedthe report with the sentence: “Agood rifle, and one we’d like toadd to our gunrack.”

He did add the Browning to hiscollection, mentioning it briefly in his “Pet Loads” feature on the.300 H&H in the second issue ofHandloader (July 1967). The weightwas given as 8.75 pounds, whichmust have been unscoped, sincethe Browning was also one of two rifles mentioned in his second.300 H&H “Pet Loads” feature in

Beneath the stock, John’s rifle didn’t have any rust, a sure sign the stockisn’t made of salt-cured wood.

work, and eventually had to re-place the stocks entirely, alongwith any severely rusted steel. Ap-parently a few salt stocks occurredright up to the end of High-Powerproduction in 1974. (Today Brown-ing is an entirely different com-pany, so it has quit doing freerepair and replacement on “saltguns.”) Luckily, most salt guns werediscovered years ago, though everyonce in awhile one still turns up.

ber a factory rifle for a wildcatcaused a minor stir in the fire armsbusiness – though the same thinghad been done in reverse over 30 years before, when Winchesterstarted making .22 Hornet ammu-nition before any factory rifle waschambered for the Hornet.)

The salt wood started showingup about 1966. At first Browningtried to seal the wood on the af-fected firearms, but that didn’t

“finest figured walnut”). It was lesscommon on the plainest grade,called the Safari.

In 1963 Browning introduced alighter version of the High-Power,built on Sako barreled actions forsmaller cartridges such as the .222Remington and .22-250, also avail-able in all three grades. (This wastwo years before the .22-250 be-came a Remington factory round,and the Browning decision to cham -

BrowningHigh-Power

Safari-grade High-Powers had engraved floorplates(below) and some figure in the buttstocks (right).

Ken Waters called it “the finest finished and appearing standard factory rifle I’ve ever

had the pleasure of testing.”

My unabridged Webster’s definesosmosis as “the tendency of a fluid(usually water) to pass through asemipermeable membrane wherethe solvent concentration is higher,thus equalizing the concentrationon either side of the membrane.”The walls of wood cells are semi-permeable membranes, meaningthey allow liquids to pass backand forth, the reason wood swellswhen wet and shrinks when dry.When fresh-sawn wood is packedin salt, some of the water insidethe wood is drawn out – but thewater remaining in the wood alsosucks in salt, “equalizing the con-centration on either side of themembrane.”

This salt-cured wood was thensold to various firearms firms, in-cluding Weatherby and Winches-ter, but Browning used more thanany other company. Browning wasknown for highly figured walnuton many models, and in the 1960s,there was a shortage of fancy walnut. The finer wood available

needed to be cured quickly, thusthe salt “solution.” The salt-curedwood rusted any steel it contacted,and the problem almost bank-rupted Browning.

Salt wood was most common onSuperposed shotguns and High-Power rifles, especially the twohigher grades of the rifle, Medal-lion (with some engraving and “se-lect figured walnut”) and Olympian(with lots of engraving and the

Left, many later High-Powers had toggle-type extractors and

plunger ejectors. Despite this “fault,”

the rifle still feeds cartridges perfectly.Right, the interior of

the action is as finelyfinished as the out-side. Even the feed

ramp is polished like a mirror.

Apparently an effective sealantnever has been found, even amongmodern epoxies.

Other factors also affected thelong-term viability of the Brown-ing High-Power, one being cost.The 1962 Gun Digest listed it asthe “Browning Mauser High PowerRifle,” with a price of $164.50. Thiswas the plain model that soon be-came the Safari grade. In the sameissue the “standard” WinchesterModel 70, in one of the last yearsof pre-64 production, was pricedat $139. Medallion and Olympiangrade High-Powers first appearedin the 1963 Gun Digest, priced at$295 and $495 – and the price ofthe Safari grade had been jackedup to $175. The last pre-64 Model70s were still $139, and WeatherbyMark V rifles (then considered really expensive by most Ameri-cans) were priced similarly to theMedallion and Olympian High-Powers, with prices ranging from$285 to $495.

To put these prices in perspec-tive, in 1960 the average income of an American household wasabout $6,000, so the price of anOlympian-grade High-Power wasa month’s income, the equivalentof $3,800 in 2011. Additionally, asevere recession hit America in1960-61, right when the Browningrifle first appeared.

Another factor was the introduc-tion of the Remington 700. TheADL model was initially priced at $114.95, and even the fancierBDL grade (hinged floorplate, im-pressed fleur-de-lis checkering andwhite-line spacers between theblack buttplate, grip cap and forendtip) was $139.95. Remington alsomounted a very successful adver-tising campaign about the “threerings of steel” surrounding thecase head of a chambered car-tridge, implying that no old-fash-ioned controlled-round feed actionwas nearly as safe. Rifles with “obsolete” actions, of course, in-cluded the pre-64 Model 70 andthe Browning High-Power. In 1967Browning changed most of theFN-actioned High-Powers to push-

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BrowningHigh-Power

The firstBrowning High-Power I can rememberwas purchased by one of theyounger brothers of my first wifein 1974, a Medallion model cham-bered in 7mm Remington Mag-num, then still enjoying its run asthe most popular big game car-tridge introduced since World WarII. My brother-in-law was amongthe true believers, telling his grand-father as he handed him the newrifle that, “It’ll knock a moose onits butt at a thousand yards.” Idon’t recall how well the rifle shotbut do remember hanging it froma Zebco De-Liar fishing scale. Theweight with a Lyman 3-9x scope,wide “cobra” sling and a magazinefull of ammunition was around 11pounds.

Like many rifleloonies, I admire classicrifles and always kind of wanteda Browning High-Power. But thefew higher-grade rifles made withsalt-free walnut cost more than Iwanted to pay, so I kept an eye outfor a Safari grade without any indication of rust. Obviously, itwould be risky to buy a High-Power over the Internet, so my casual search took place in gunshows, pawn shops and sportinggoods stores that dealt in used rifles.

It finally happened last year,when a 7mm Remington Magnumwith what Browning collectorscall the short extractor showed upon the consignment rack at Capi-

tal Sports & Western Wear in He-lena, Montana. I didn’t really careif it was push-feed, since I’ve yetto be charged by any deer or elk,the animals I might hunt with a7mm Remington Magnum. TheHigh-Power is in very good shapefor a rifle made in 1969, as the serial number indicated, and in-cluded a 3-7x Pecar scope in Bur-ris Signature mounts. (Pecars weregood German scopes and rela-tively popular among knowledge-able shooters for many years.)The only modification to the riflewas the replacement of the fac-tory recoil pad with a new Pach-mayr Decelerator. There wasn’t

feed with a toggle extractor (todayoften called a “Sako” extractor)and a spring-loaded ejector – aboutthe time the salt-wood disasterbegan.

A sturdyramp front sightis protected by the factoryhood. The muzzle of the 24-inchbarrel is .68 inch in diameter, onereason the rifle shoots so well.

In 1960 the price of an Olympian-grade

High-Power was amonth’s income.

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proven rifles, since it’s impossibleto know whether any accuracyproblems come from the scope orrifle, the Pecar was replaced witha proven 6x36 Leupold. With scopethe rifle weighed 9.75 pounds, noteven a middleweight by today’sstandards, but also not unsuitablefor some hunting, and it provedvery shootable over a benchrest.A dozen handloads with 150-grainBallistic Tips and H-4831 werethrown together, and after a cou-

ple of preliminary rounds at25 yards, the first three-

shot group at 100yards meas-

ured .68

any rust show-ing along the mar-gins of the stock, and theprice was right.

Back home the barreled actionwas removed from the stock, andthere was still no rust. Through aHawkeye borescope, the barrellooked as if it had never been firedand appeared hand-lapped. Thevery crisp trigger tested exactly 3pounds. Like all the magnum-chambered High-Powers, the riflehas two recoil lugs, the secondmounted on the barrel 4 inchesahead of the action, and the stockalso has two through-bolts, one ateach end of the magazine box.

Having learned long ago not toshoot unproven scopes on un-

inch. After someload-tweaking, therifle grouped very close tothe twenty-first century .5 inch.

The Browning High-Power is justas good-looking and accuratetoday as it was when John Amberand Ken Waters test-fired a pair 50years ago. If the salt-wood fiascohad never occurred, if Americahadn’t gone into a bad recession in1960, and if Remington had heldoff the makeover of its homely

syntheticstocks. All wecan really do today,however, is look hard forrifles without any trace of rust. Ifwe find one, it will be one of thefinest classic factory rifles evermade.

721/722 rifles for a few moreyears, we might still be able to

purchase brand-new Brown-ing High-Powers, though

doubtless somewould have

The rifle’s first group at 100 yards measured .68 inch. A highpercentage of High-Powers werechambered in 7mm RemingtonMagnum, the hottest-selling“new” round for most of the years the rifle was made.

The 7mm Remington Magnum isstill considered plenty of cartridgefor such medium-sized game aselk, sable and wildebeest, whilenot being “too much” for 200- to 300-pound animals like muledeer and nyala.

R

INDEX to Volume 43

ISSUE NUMBERS 254 to 259January 2011 to December 2011

AMMUNITION/CARTRIDGES

Designer Powders and RifleDevelopment.........................................No. 254, p. 66

Intermediate Cartridges ...........................No. 257, p. 60New Classic Cartridges, The ....................No. 256, p. 46Savage Model 110 BA .338 Lapua ...........No. 259, p. 38

BOOK REVIEWSColumnFor Trade and Treaty ................................No. 259, p. 78Leupold & Stevens – The First Century ...No. 255, p. 74Obsessions of a Rifle Loony ....................No. 257, p. 84Powder Horns, Documents of History .....No. 257, p. 85

CLASSIC CARTRIDGESColumn.220 Swift ................................................No. 257, p. 12.280 Rimless Ross...................................No. 255, p. 12.32 Winchester Special ............................No. 254, p. 24.350 Remington Magnum........................No. 259, p. 12Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum...............No. 256, p. 26.458 Winchester Magnum .......................No. 258, p. 26

CLASSIC RIFLES

Burgess Rifle?, A .....................................No. 254, p. 52Comedy or Tragedy?................................No. 256, p. 56Crucible, The............................................No. 257, p. 68In the Footsteps of the Masters ...............No. 254, p. 76Legacy of a Springfield Model 1873 ........No. 257, p. 42Mannlicher-Schönauer 6.5x54 Carbine....No. 258, p. 54Savage Takedown ....................................No. 258, p. 46Shooting an Aydt Schuetzen ....................No. 259, p. 70Westley Richards .300 Sherwood............No. 259, p. 62 Winchester Super Grade Rifle..................No. 256, p. 32Winchester’s Rivals .................................No. 259, p. 46

CUSTOM RIFLES

El Lobo Rifle ............................................No. 257, p. 34Original Black...........................................No. 255, p. 24

DOWN RANGEColumnFaraway Shooting ....................................No. 259, p. 16I’m a Lousy Shot! ....................................No. 257, p. 20M1 Garands & M1 Carbines by

Winchester ..........................................No. 255, p. 20New Scopes and Mounts for Old Rifles ...No. 258, p. 22Rifle Safeties............................................No. 256, p. 16What’s Wrong with BPCR Silhouette? .....No. 254, p. 30

HUNTING RIFLES/FIELD REPORTS

Lucky Legacy, The ...................................No. 256, p. 62Marlin Model X7S ....................................No. 255, p. 40Original Black...........................................No. 255, p. 24Practical Accuracy ...................................No. 254, p. 60Sauer 303 Semiautomatic........................No. 257, p. 76Working Rifles .........................................No. 254, p. 44

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT

Boyds’ Gunstocks....................................No. 258, p. 78SHOT Show Standouts ............................No. 256, p. 68

INSIDE PRODUCT NEWSColumnAR-Rest Light Shooting Rest...................No. 256, p. 77Aiming Aid for Aging Eyes .......................No. 258, p. 91Barnes Offers VOR-TX™ Factory Ammo ..No. 256, p. 80

Boyds’ SS Evolution ................................No. 259, p. 92Burris Fullfield E1 Riflecope.....................No. 259, p. 91Bushnell ImageView Spotting Scope .......No. 259, p. 90Caldwell Magnum Rifle Gong...................No. 258, p. 90DeadShot FieldPod ..................................No. 259, p. 90Gun Tool™ by Real Avid...........................No. 258, p. 86Leatherman MUT®....................................No. 256, p. 76Legacy Sports Detachable Extended

Magazines for Bolt-Action Rifles..........No. 259, p. 93M-Pro 7 Gun Oil LPX ...............................No. 257, p. 86MTM Bird Board ......................................No. 257, p. 88MTM Rimfire Ammo Pouch .....................No. 258, p. 88Minox ZA 3 Riflescope.............................No. 258, p. 86Nightforce Velocity Series Reticles ..........No. 256, p. 78Sinclair Remington Bolt Maintenance

Kit ........................................................No. 258, p. 87VisiColor Zombie Targets.........................No. 259, p. 90Winchester Segmented-Bullet Rimfire

Ammunition.........................................No. 258, p. 89Zeiss Victory 10x45 T* RF Laser

Rangefinding Binocular .......................No. 257, p. 89

LIGHT GUNSMITHINGColumnBending Bolt Handles ..............................No. 254, p. 16Drop-In Recoil Reducers .........................No. 259, p. 20Floorplate Releases..................................No. 256, p. 20Pillar Bedding ..........................................No. 255, p. 16Trigger Basics – Installing Trigger

Stops ....................................................No. 258, p. 12Trigger Basics – Overtravel ......................No. 257, p. 16

MILITARY RIFLES/CARTRIDGES

Intermediate Cartridges ...........................No. 257, p. 60Shooting the Model 1903 ........................No. 255, p. 326.5mm Bargains ......................................No. 255, p. 64

MOSTLY LONG GUNSColumnHunting Styles and Ethics........................No. 254, p. 26Keeping Your Guns Safe ..........................No. 258, p. 18Lessons from a House Fire ......................No. 255, p. 22Marlin Model 1881 .45-70 .......................No. 259, p. 26Swarovski Z5 Riflescope..........................No. 257, p. 28Winchester’s Power Max Bonded ............No. 256, p. 12

OPTICS

New/Old Scopes ......................................No. 258, p. 70SHOT Show Standouts ............................No. 256, p. 68ColumnAds Pull the Wool ....................................No. 254, p. 12Pros and Cons: Scope Dialing and

Subreticles............................................No. 257, p. 24

PRODUCT TESTSColumnCooper Phoenix .......................................No. 254, p. 86

SPORTING RIFLES

Accuracy Problems..................................No. 255, p. 48American Sporting Rifle Evolution ...........No. 256, p. 38Barrel Break-In Voodoo ...........................No. 258, p. 30Cooper Model 52 .....................................No. 259, p. 54Crucible, The............................................No. 257, p. 68H-S Precision SPR...................................No. 258, p. 62In the Footsteps of the Masters ...............No. 254, p. 76Kilimanjaro’s Walking Rifle ......................No. 257, p. 52Kimber Bolt Actions.................................No. 258, p. 40Lucky Legacy, The ...................................No. 256, p. 62Practical Accuracy ...................................No. 254, p. 60Savage Model 110 BA .338 Lapua ...........No. 259, p. 38SHOT Show Standouts ............................No. 255, p. 68Weatherby’s Euromark.............................No. 259, p. 30Winchester Super Grade Rifle..................No. 256, p. 32Zoli Nitro Express Double Rifle ................No. 255, p. 56.204 Ruger x Three ..................................No. 254, p. 34

SPOTTING SCOPEColumnGuide Rifle, A.............................................No. 255, p. 8Life ’n Times in Kansas..............................No. 256, p. 8Proven and Predictable?............................No. 257, p. 8Ruger M77 Mark II ....................................No. 254, p. 8Sharps Hepburn No. 3, C. ..........................No. 259, p. 8Sharps Remington-Hepburn, C..................No. 258, p. 8

STRAIGHT TALKColumnBuyer’s Guide to Pronunciation ...............No. 254, p. 22Tool Use and Proud of It ..........................No. 257, p. 32

WALNUT HILLColumnCNC Fallacy, The ......................................No. 254, p. 94Celebrating the Forgotten Man.................No. 257, p. 94Dawn of a New Hornet-Day......................No. 259, p. 98Down on Hooker’s Creek .........................No. 258, p. 98Weatherby’s Darling.................................No. 255, p. 82Weird Rifle I’d Love to Own, A.................No. 256, p. 86

Barsness, John – Designer Powders and Rifle De -velopment, No. 254, p. 66; Accuracy Problems, No. 255,p 48; The Lucky Legacy, No. 256, p. 62; Sauer 303 Semi-automatic, No. 257, p. 76; Mannlicher-Schönauer 6.5x54Carbine, No. 258, p. 54; Savage Model 110 BA .338Lapua, No. 259, p. 38.Ganyana – Practical Accuracy, No. 254, p. 60.Haviland, John – Shooting the Model 1903, No. 255, p.32; The New Classic Cartridges, No. 256, p. 46; Legacyof a Springfield Model 1873, No. 257, p. 42; Barrel Break-In Voodoo, No. 258, p. 30; Shooting an Aydt Schuetzen,No. 259, p. 70. Classic Cartridges appears in issues254 through 259.Pearce, Brian – Working Rifles, No. 254, p. 44; MarlinModel X7S, No. 255, p. 40; SHOT Show Standouts, No.256, p. 68; El Lobo Rifle, No. 257, p. 34; Kimber Bolt Ac-tions, No. 258, p. 40; Cooper Model 52, No. 259, p. 54.Mostly Long Guns appears in issues 254 through 259.Rees, Clair – Inside Product News appears in issues256 through 259.Scovill, Dave – Spotting Scope appears in issues 254through 259.Sengel, Gilbert – Light Gunsmithing appears in is-sues 254 through 259.Shoemaker, Phil – Zoli Nitro Express Double Rifle, No.255, p. 56.Spomer, Ron – Kilimanjaro’s Walking Rifle, No. 257, p.52; Boyds’ Gunstocks, No. 258, p. 78. Optics appearsin issues 254 and 257. Straight Talk appears in issues254 and 257.Trzoniec, Stan – .204 Ruger x Three, No. 254, p. 34;Winchester Super Grade Rifle, No. 256, p. 32; H-S Preci-sion SPR, No. 258, p. 62; Weatherby’s Euromark, No.259, p. 30.

Venturino, Mike – A Burgess Rifle?, No. 254, p. 52;6.5mm Bargains, No. 255, p. 64; American Sporting RifleEvolution, No. 256, p. 38; Intermediate Cartridges, No.257, p. 60; New/Old Scopes, No. 258, p. 70; Winchester’sRivals, No. 259, p. 46. Down Range appears in issues254 through 259.Wieland, Terry – In the Footsteps of the Masters, No.254, p. 76; Original Black, No. 255, p. 24; Comedy orTragedy?, No. 256, p. 56; The Crucible, No. 257, p. 68;Savage Takedown, No. 258, p. 46; Westley Richards .300Sherwood, No. 259, p. 62. A: There are several pow-ders that will offer top performance in the Whelen

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