The Real Guns CZ 550 FS Goes 375 Ruger Part I-Only Europeans really like the 9.3x62
A lot of folks skip over the idea of owning a functionally customized firearm, because they assume all custom rifles come with a price tag similar to the functional custom’s far distant cousin, the superfluously customized firearm. Personally, I’ve not had the desire to own a superfluous custom for several […] [Read More]
The Ruger M77 MK II RSI Project Part II-The .243 Winchester... of course.
I really like the .243 Winchester cartridge. In fact, when I got to the handloading portion of this project I found that I had: three sets of dies, including small base, three headspace gauges, sixty types and weights of 0.243″ bullets, and four rifles in bolt and lever action, with […] [Read More]
The Ruger M77 MK II RSI Project Part I-American made, old world styling
After finishing a series of articles with an emphasis on high end firearms, AR type firearms and tactical bolt action firearms, writing about the Ruger International is a bit like coming home. I’m not being critical of the other types of firearms, far from it as I enjoyed each and […] [Read More]
Blaser's R8 Modular Rifle Part II-Didn't he sing bass for Shan-Na-Na?
Part I of “Blaser’s R8 Modular Rifle” addressed some of the more unique aspects of the R8’s design, but ultimately aesthetic appeal and interesting engineering take a back seat to how accurately a rifle places shots and how reliable it is in operation. Fortunately, operating out of rural Maine means […] [Read More]
Blaser's R8 Modular Rifle Part I-A system's approach to firearms
One of the benefits of reaching the chronological age of tree bark is having had the pleasure of handling many excellent mass produced and custom made firearms. That means I’m a grumpy old guy who isn’t impressed by big price tags, ego tickling brochures or pretentious sales and marketing types […] [Read More]
Remington's Model 700™ VTR A-TACS™-Big company innovation
It is a major gamble for a large corporation to release a product with controversial functional or aesthetic design elements. Get it right, Ford Mustang. Get it wrong. Ford Edsel. The fact that most of you have never heard of an Edsel, much less have seen an Edsel, makes my […] [Read More]
Hornady's Lock-N-Load Sonic Cleaner-No, it's not for blue hedgehogs
I am always looking for cleaning methods that are not messy and can do a good job with a minimal amount of labor. No, this search is not a function of me being lazy, I just don’t have a lot of free time for tedious, mind numbing work… although it […] [Read More]
Wild West Guns' 460 Rowland-my week with The Son of Chucky...
It isn’t every day I get to shoot a relatively light weight, standard size autoloader that can put an aggregated twelve thousand three hundred fifty foot pounds of kinetic energy onto a target without reloading. Nor is it a daily occurrence when I can change a Springfield Armory XD Tactical […] [Read More]
Building an LR-308 in a Box...es Part II-The LR-308, Joe Cocker's "Cry Me a River", Pizza...
Within the previous project activity, the upper and lower receivers were assembled, there was a large hole at the back of the assembly, a very nice Magpul adjustable stock sitting on the bench and everything was missing that was required to connect the two. There was also no optimal ammo […] [Read More]
Remington's Model 750 - Part II-Scoped and handloaded and...how did it shoot?
The Remington Model 750 has been an interesting gun to spend time with as documented in Remington Model 750 Part I. The .30-06 Springfield cartridge is stout. It’s been a standard for the big game hunter, a solid cartridge for close up and long range shooting and a primary cartridge of […] [Read More]