The Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Part I
Drizzle is turning to ice on ground contact, but ambient temperature is too high for a respectable snow storm. I know the weather is waiting for mid week to close the airport and leave me stuck in Maine… like the opening to a Steven King novel. Renegade machines will attack, […] [Read More]
Sights for the Marlin 1894 Lever Gun
There are few choices that are exclusively correct. I believe the expression was “There are more ways than one to skin a cat” before political correctness and text messaging removed it and two thirds of our cultural vocabulary. What follows is not a suggestion regarding the choice of sights for […] [Read More]
Marlin's Model 1894 Deluxe
The Marlin Model 1894 Deluxe is one of those guns that is a little too fancy to not handle with a little extra care, but not so fancy that it isn’t made to shoot and take hunting on a routine basis. Marlin Model 1894 Deluxe Manufacturer Marlin Firearms – Madison, […] [Read More]
Remington's M700 XCR II meets the 375 Remington Ultra Mag Part II
The 375 Remington Ultra Mag is a heavy hitting cartridge on both ends. So after working through a couple of boxes of ammo, I accepted that utilizing a lead sled during bench shooting was more productive than attempting to dampen the recoil with a grimace. While all of the handloads […] [Read More]
Remington's M700 XCR II meets the 375 Remington Ultra Mag Part I
Remington is making it difficult not to own some or all versions of their Ultra Mag cartridges by offering a $639 Model 700 SPS, chambered for the both 7mm and 300 Remington Ultra Mag cartridges, the XCR II, with an MSRP of $970, also chambered for the 7mm and 300, […] [Read More]
The Remington XCR II and the Pharonic 7 Part II
The 7mm Remington Ultra Mag is currently the largest production 7mm magnum, surpassing in capacity even the 7mm Shooting Times Western that is based on a full length .375 H&H case and the popular 7mm-300 Weatherby wildcat. However, for those familiar with the feel of shooting the original belted case […] [Read More]
The Remington XCR II and the Pharonic 7 Part I
One of the reasons larger magnums are less frequently the subject of articles appearing on Real Guns these days, as opposed to more general application cartridges, is that the typical cost of big magnum ownership tends to limit the number of people who shoot them… and who read about them. […] [Read More]
The Life and Times of a $400 Black Bear Thumper
In ancient days of street racing, it was a lot easier to hustle a race with a plain, white, 1964 Plymouth Savoy, hiding a full up 426 Hemi, than it was with a shiny, new, big block Corvette. Headers capped, slicks in the trunk, seats and floor buried under hamburger […] [Read More]
Smith & Wesson's Bodyguard Laser Lit 380
As a gun geek, I’ll sometimes buy a handgun for the sole reason it’s fun to shoot or because it has an interesting design. As a practical matter, I also believe in the use of handguns for self-defense. I’ve been around long enough to know that both interests are not […] [Read More]
Weaver's Red/Green Dot Sight
OK, I confess, initially I just wanted to hang a good-looking enclosed dot sight on my Mini-Thirty but then, as a practical matter, the Weaver Red/Green Dot sight turned out to be an excellent choice. The gun already had a Burris FastFire II on a bridged Picatinny mount in […] [Read More]