DEP-
Great rifle, entertaining to look at, way over my price limit. My Savage 10 in .223 has most of the advantages stated at about $1500 dollars less, but it sadly does not have the Schnabel fore-end. But, it is more accurate! Also, no detachable mag to lose.

From Clays archives of bookmarks, places, information and things to read,

January 28, 2009
Petzal: Random Wisdom from SCI

from Clay Cooper wrote 24 weeks 8 hours ago

“You know what the trouble with some of these gun companies is? They’re run by yuppies who don’t know anything about guns?
Gee Mr. Wizard, it sounds like Coops echo from the past! Instead of calling them they’re run by yuppies, I called them Goober Smoochers from I don’t no didly squat University and may I add, the only “Wild Turkey they hunt is in the bottom of a bottle!”
No one knows how to use a file.”—a Beretta gunsmith? NO JOKE!
Before I told the Trucking Industries to take this job and shove it, I could not believe how those maintenance monkeys didn’t know how to even use a wrench yet alone a cutting torch. I wish I had a nickel every time someone would say, what do you know you’re just a truck driver and my response where were you on the first Space Shuttle Launch Pilgrim, not only I was there to setup the operations center at White Sands I was also there to assist in the recovery of the Space Shuttle!
Why do you don’t see any new Colt revolvers? Just like all the rest, you can give thanks the Unions for that doing what they do best, putting their own selfish interests before the company. Right when Colt needed the cash to fight the Goons from Clintons Sarah Braden and city suing the firearms manufacturers, the Machinist Union just had to show there butt and walk out causing Colt to fold under the pressure and guess what, they lost their job because of it!
The bottom line is this; years ago the Owner of a European Gun Manufacturer was right when he was asked what he thought about American Made Guns. His answer, “UNFINISHED!”
What do you here now when you call customer service? Some fella named Johnny from overseas and when it comes to shooting? O’BROTHER, “DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THIS ONE!”
From computers to shooting, The United States has lost the edge on every skill imaginable!
Food for thought, the national average of job performance of an individual being hired is 60%. The reason why skilled workers are laid off because the Company has turned their position into nothing more than warm bodies apply only!! Did you know that Companies pays 3 time more in salary for that one position replacing a person for a position rather than keeping them and giving them a pay raise costing much less.

What did you say bottles up?

NO STUPID,

IT’S TARGETS UP!!!!

To make an umlaut on a Mac, press option and then the letter on the keyboard. You can also use the "International Pane" in system prefs to turn on the keyboard viewer and see the entire character pallet. Good article by the way. I try to read your articles everyday.

I truly believe that walking around shooting groundhogs with a .222 Remington was what made me a better than average game shot. Walking up groundhogs led to all types of shots at different ranges. Some close on 'hogs running for their holes and some as far away as I could stretch a .222 and a 6X Weaver. All taken from different rests and positions that made each trip a training session. Nowdays here in Southern Indiana a person could walk many a mile and never see a groundhog but when I was growing up in the 60's it was a different story indeed.

Anschutz makes good stuff. Perhaps that is an understatement.

Interesting that the gun in the picture with the open sights and huge scope with low rings and tall "receiver" looks like a Merkel KR1. Perhaps it is the Merkel tag, but it just doesn't look like an Anschutz. Are you breaking in a new intern?

This Anschutz 1770 might be a masterpiece of workmanship but it certainly is one UGLY sucker. No wonder only one is available as they probably can't sell two plus it won't be manufactured in a couple years anyway. Thanks but I would rather have a Cooper, a Montana, a Kimber, a local custom, or maybe even a Darcy if he would make a little rifle, well maybe I wouldn't go so far as to order one of Darcy's expensive pieces of craftsmanship but you get my drift. Certainly a Savage or Shaw is more worthwhile in my opinion. I have a walk around varmint rifle and sometimes wonder why I bought it but then remember its tiny groups. A heavy barrel varmint suits my shooting better as one thing I agree with the cowboys on is "why walk if you can ride".

I've never used the international pane or the keyboard viewer that chrishuge suggested to make an umlaut on the Mac, but an easy way to do that without memorizing keystroke combinations is to use the special characters palette. The easiest way to access it is to click the American flag icon at the upper right of your screen. A drop-down menu will appear and one of the selections is "Show Character Palette." Select it and your typesetting world will change for the better.

Here is a video that demonstrates an alternate way of accessing the Characters Palette, but this method isn't available if you're using MS Word on a Mac, or at least not on my version version of Word.
http://www.apple.com/business/theater/#specialcharacters

Great article, Dave. Keep up the good work!

I think I might own your old rifle, rlriggins. It's a Remington 722 in .222 Remington with a 6X Weaver. A classic in every sense of the term.
Dave was kind enough not to show the cheekpiece side of this rifle. If it's anything like the "Bavarian style" CZ's, it would make you weep to see such a waste of fine walnut.

It does look like a Merkel KR1. Are they affiliates?

I really don't know why so many are appalled by detachable magazines. What really puzzles me is that most of the time, the same gunwriters who abhor detachable magazines on rifles are also HUGE fans of the All-American 1911 pistol. Ross Seyfried, a known hater of detachable magazines (and a favorite writer of mine), even wrote that "'clips' belong on pistols."

And while I'm on the topic, I'm even more puzzled by Col. Jeff Cooper's distaste for autoloading rifles [calls them jammatics] when he too is a great advocate of the 1911 pistol. Is there something in the 1911 that other autoloaders don't possess? Oh, to make matters more complicated, Col. Cooper also tried to sell us in the last several years of his life a ridiculously expensive, ugly bolt-action Steyr "scout" rifle with detachable magazines and a fold-away bipod. And nobody took him to task for such obvious shilling (I just offended millions of Jeff Cooper fans).

The people who literally stake their very lives on their weapons, the soldiers and marines (they call them warfighters now) and police officers, use detachable magazines. Why is it OK to use detachable magazines on a fighting tool, and not on a hunting one?

Sure would like the scope though.

looks and sounds like a very nice, but expensive rifle. i also agree that with some tuning, the groups could have been shrunk a bit, unless this one was a pooch. i wonder why they opted to use the 223 exclusively. it would seem to me that many varmint hunters would like to have a choice of at least 3 calibers.

If it's anything like the 1712, then it fits like an old trusty work glove that never lets you down. Then it will shoot easily a 1/2 moa with good loads. It does look like it does not have the monte carlo comb, which is the icing on the cake for me. Annies are top notch, so much so that if any of you go look at the hunter class at a smallbore silhouette match, more than half the line will have an annie 1712. I would for sure own one of these if I had a wad of cash to blow.

I could never understand what the big deal was over Cooper's scout rifle idea. I see very little in terms of usefulness with such a rifle design. The guy made out to be the best thing since sliced bread but it falls far short in my opinion.

My walking 'round the farm gun is a Weatherby Mark XXII - an Annie in disguise. Has the tube mag. Bought it used for short money.
DP - This Country had a War-Time President who also had cowflop experience. His statement for the ages was:

" Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day "
H.S.Truman
( Yuk,Yuk )

Y'all are talking about a lot more rifle than I want for a "walking around rifle". My idea of the perfect WAR is a fondly remembered and often missed Remington Mohawk
in .222 Rem. Light, short, no recoil, dogleg bolt, handy to carry or out of a pickup, and rigged out with a 1 1/2 X 4 all steel Weaver over a see through mount.
One of the cheapest rifles I ever owned, but it accounted for deer, hogs, coyotes, turkeys, small game, varmints and many, many prairie dogs and armidillos. The secret of that little rifle's success was it was a true WAR, always there, always dependable, and always THERE!

Blue-
Wasn't so much the hunting that I did with that little rifle, I just had it with me almost everywhere. In a previous occupation in a better, more gun friendly world, I was able to carry that handy little .222 almost 24/7. When what you shoot is a big part of what your family has to eat, "shots of opportunity" can put a lot of meat on the table. My job called for a lot of time spent in pastures and around stock tanks, hence the shots of opportunity. Almost any farmer or rancher was glad to swap hunting privileges for coyote, armadillo and varmint control. A lot of them knew me, and didn't even bother to ask if I had my gun, it was a given. Some gave advice about where a particular coyote or bobcat could be seen. Like I said, better times in a better world!

crm3006....
it sounds like you might have spent a good deal of time in Tejas. Nice state...spent some quality time there, myself, and the .222 on prairie dogs or pests was just the berries. Was your little Remington accurate? I know, 'accurate enough'...but I just have to wonder how the little portable musket did.

I am in Virginia, now, and never see the 'specialist' rifle like the Anshutz, with a relatively skinny barrel, for sale. I wonder if Dieter Anshutz is going to galvanize one of the American or Brazilian gun factories into bringing out the 'walkabout' .222 or .223? I take it you traded your little rifle, in a weak moment?

Blue

I hear you, Compadre...also spent a while in Oklahoma. Bad woman, good gun, equals a real loss there somewhere. Somewhere, after this Anschutz 1770 is circulated, a guy will be saying, "you take the Chevy, Babe...I'll take the Anschutz." Of course, she will take both.

Hey, Petzel...how about some more on the portable .222/223? You and Dieter Anschutz may have kicked off something here.

Blue

CZ modelwhat is it, 527? nice wood nice blue, shoots lights out, weighs 5-6 pounds... 600 bucks or so? I'm not an anti High dollar guy at all either. I just think the CZ is a sharper looking euro rifle that does all that this one does. Of course its not an anschutz...

to ishawooa,

thanks for replying.

I somewhat anticipated your answer, and you are right that soldiers and cops often have spare magazines, just in case they run out or accidentally drop the one already loaded in the gun. I'm not really arguing about increased capacity there, after all, detachables on hunting rifles have about the same capacity (even less in some cases) as fixed mags. I'm just curious about why they're avoided, even downright loathed. I understand the biggest issue is with losing them, which never happens with a fixed.

Which reminds me, what happened to that sub-$1,000 Anschutz? Model number escapes me. Oh, sorry, that was a rimfire.

To Blueridge,

It's the II-WW German Army sniper patch (eagle head & oak leaves). The current patch is exactly the same with a small German flag added to the lower side of the oval.

That makes me feel better. I thought you had horrible taste. The new rifle is truly handsome. Now, am I the only user who doesn't know what an umlaut is?

capture your moment in history with the enduring leagacy of art. www.lavinstudio.com

cz is a good cheep priced gun but has the assembly line flaws as well ( metal filings from the bolt cycling) .removable clips are the way to go as you can unload your rifle with ease ....as for those of you who loose the clips do you still have your mittens attached to you coat with a string as well????