By David E. Petzal

Thompson/Center has come out with a brand-new rifle--the Dimension--that really is a brand-new rifle and not a firearm that’s been around for 60 years and has had a new stock slapped on it. It doesn’t look like a conventional rifle, and T/C doesn’t even call it a rifle—they refer to it as a “bolt-action platform.”

The basic Dimension is comprised of a universal stock (with a nice squishy recoil pad that has removable spacers), an aluminum receiver, and trigger (so-so at best). The barrel(s) interchange, as do the magazine(s), magazine well(s), and bolts. This enables you to convert the Dimension to .204 Ruger, .223, .22/250, .243, 7mm/08, .308, .270, .30/06, 7mm Rem Mag and .300 Win Mag. T/C divides these ten into four Groups: A, B, C, and D.

Here’s how it works: You can buy a Dimension in any of the 10 calibers. Let’s say you get a .270, which is a Group C cartridge, and then decide you want a .30/06 because everyone needs an ’06. So you buy a new barrel, and since the ’06 is also a Group C round, all you need is a new magazine and magazine well,... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

Let’s start with some basic facts:
1. No two rifles shoot alike. Consecutive-serial-numbered rifles from the same manufacturer do not shoot the same, either in degree of accuracy or in what ammunition they prefer.

2. There is good ammunition, average ammunition, and bad ammunition. However, good ammunition will not always shoot well in some rifles, and average or poor ammo will sometimes shoot well in some rifles.

So. Ammo that shoots well in a given rifle versus ammo that doesn’t is comparable to a suit that really fits versus a suit that doesn’t fit. Ammunition manufacturers turn out loads that will work acceptably in most rifles of that caliber. Suit makers glue (Mostly, they don’t sew them. Gluing is cheaper and faster.) suits that sort of fit men in any given size. They can’t afford to make them fit a particular physique.

[ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

As many of you requested, I walked the hallowed (and semi-ventilated) halls of the 2012 SHOT Show with your requests for inexpensive stuff ringing in my ears, instead of just the usual ringing. Riflescope-wise, the standout is Meopta, which I originally thought was an Asian firm, but turns out to be Czech. Meopta has been around for over 70 years and makes rifle scopes, spotting scopes, and binoculars. I’ve used only the rifle scopes, of which there are two lines. MeoStar (pictured here) is the more expensive, made and assembled in the Czech Republic, while MeoPro scopes have their components made abroad and assembled here. Cabela’s sells both MeoPro instruments and its own Euro brand, which is made by Meopta.

The first time I used a Meopta rifle scope I guessed its price was $300 higher than what it actually cost. Think of it this way: A MeoStar that goes for $650 is a $1,000 scope on which you’re getting a $350 discount. A MeoPro scope that sells for $450 is a $750 scope, ditto ditto. Don’t let the modest prices fool you; these are very, very high-grade instruments.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Phil Bourjaily

To segue from my previous post about movies back to shotguns via paraphrase: “Patches? We don’t need no patches!”*

That would be the motto of Remington’s new Bore Squeeg-E. As you can see in the picture, it’s a rubber bore cleaner that attaches to a pull-through cable. According to Remington’s claims for it, the Squeeg-E does in one pass what it used to take several cloth patches to accomplish and it cuts down on the need for brushes, too.

I am all for anything that lets me clean guns less so I gave my Browning Cynergy and a couple of revolvers the one-pull Squeeg-E test. They came out literally (thing makes a squealing noise as it goes through the bore) squeaky clean. They Cynergy had been fairly dirty, the revolvers were not, but as far as I could tell the Squee-G got down into the rifling as advertised and left it shiny. The shotgun's bores were very clean, too.

[ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

The other night I had the pleasure of listening to a talk by Tony Sanchez-Arino who, at age 82, is about to begin his 60th season as an African professional hunter. In addition to countless safaris, he was also an ivory hunter and, I would guess, a game-control shooter. His numbers of animals taken are staggering: just under 1,300 elephant, 2,044 Cape buffalo, and 322 lion. His talk dealt with the three questions he is most often asked.

Which is better, a double rifle or a bolt action?

Answer: "They’re both good. You go with whatever is most familiar to you. Don’t go to Africa with a rifle that’s new and strange."

What’s the most dangerous animal?

"That’s impossible to answer, because a lot of it depends on the country in which you hunt them. For example, Cape buffalo in open country are as easy to kill as cattle, but in heavy cover they’re something else. I can tell you what is most likely to kill you if it gets hold of you, and those animals are, in order, elephant, Cape buffalo, and lion."

[ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

One of the things I picked up on at both SHOT and SCI was that shooters may be getting away from cartridges that cause your eyeballs to pop out of their sockets, and back to rounds that normal humans can handle.

Part of this, I’m told, is due to the growing popularity of ARs and their small cartridges. Last September, when the young guy next to me stared at my cartridge block full of .30/06s and asked, “What’s that huge cartridge?” I knew a different day was dawning. If you were weaned on a 5.56 or a 6.8mm, you’re going to think that a .300 RUM, for example, is an artillery round.

Part two is the proliferation and near-perfection of laser rangefinders and range-compensating scopes and binoculars. Up to this point, the only way to hit at long range was with some horrific round that had an ultra-flat trajectory, courtesy of a colossal powder charge and its side effects of short barrel life, killer recoil, and ear-shredding report. Now you can take a mild-mannered cartridge, consult with your scope, and drop a bullet right where you want to without walking in circles afterward.

[ Read Full Post ]