Rifles

In November 2003 Sturm, Ruger & Co. announced that it would introduce five different rifles chambered for a new cartridge, the 204 Ruger, which was developed in conjunction with Hornady Manufacturing. The 204 Ruger would share the same overall length of 223 Remington ammunition, but with greater case volume. The purpose was to deliver the same stopping power for varmint or small game with less recoil, muzzle report, and barrel wear than similar high-velocity rounds such as 22-250 Remington and 220 Swift. Ruger claimed higher velocity and flatter trajectory would be achieved while burning less propellant, a major source of barrel wear.In this evaluation we will test three bolt-action rifles chambered for 204 Ruger, including Rugers $935 KM77VT MKII, the $1224 Kimber 84M Varmint, and the $1208 Model 12 Long Range Precision Repeating rifle from Savage Arms.Each of our test guns was designed with the varmint hunter in mind. Perhaps the most popular game in this category would be the prairie dog. Prairie dogs live in "towns," and they are likely to stick their heads up or run from one mound to another at any time. Opportunities to take a shot are oftentimes so plentiful that the rifles are challenged to maintain accuracy and function despite high operating temperatures. Some rifle tests only require a three-shot group, but in this case we felt justified to test for accuracy over the course of five five-shot groups.In addition we looked for smooth bolt action operation and a magazine that was easy to load to full capacity. We also looked for smooth operation when chambering one round at a time.Another attribute we checked for was flexibility in terms of mount. Many outfitters supply a shooting bench. But if the dogs start hiding in one field, the rifle should not be so heavy that slinging it over the shoulder and moving to a more active location is not an undue burden. In addition, each rifle was judged for its ability to be shot prone and from the seated position.None of the rifles arrived with open sights. We chose to mount a scope that members of our staff had found to be a winner on a recent prairie dog hunt in North Dakota. This was the $337 Burris Timberline 4.5X-14X power scope with Ballistic Plex reticle No. 201344. In the field we used the lowest power to scan for our next target. Once a prairie dog was located, we zoomed in with full 14X power. If we came up short, we raised our sights to one of the three horizontal lines below the crosshairs of the Ballistic Plex reticle and tried again. Our accuracy tests were performed with our scopes set at 14X power from the 100-yard line at American Shooting Centers located on the western edge of Houston (amshootcenters.com). Each rifle was tested over a two-day period, one day for sighting in the scope and breaking in the barrel and another for shots of record. For support we used a Caldwell Tack Driver bag under the forend and a beanie bag under the buttstock. Seated at ASCs sturdy benches our operators clinched the beanie bag to set elevation while aligning the crosshairs for each shot. Weather conditions for each session were compared via readings from our Kestrel 4000NV Pocket Weather Meter, ($273 from sinclairintl.com).The prototypical bullet weight for 204 Ruger weighed 32 grains. As such we tested with Federals 32-grain Nosler V-Shok Ballistic Tip ammunition. We also tested with Winchesters 34-grain Lubalox-coated Super X JHP rounds and 40-grain V-Max Varmint Express ammunition from Hornady. Would one round prove supremely accurate, or would we find one rifle that shot all three equally well? Lets find out.

Gun owners in Baltimore whose firearms are stolen would be required to report the theft to police under legislation approved by the City Council yesterday—despite questions about whether the proposal is legal.

Carl Bernosky took home top honors as the overall champion for the 8th time at the 2008 National Rifle Association (NRA) High Power Rifle Championship Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio.

Buy a Ruger Mini-14 rifle at a participating Ruger dealer between August 11, 2008 and October 31, 2008, and receive a free Ruger-manufactured, 20-round magazine.

BEIJING, China (August 8, 2008) – The shooting competition at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China will kick off Saturday at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall/Beijing Shooting Range Clay Target Field (CTF) with the Women’s 10m Air Rifle, Men’s Trap and Men’s 10m Air Pistol events.

We immediately took to this wood-stocked little rifle, which we found selling for $143 retail. The feel was solid, and we liked the thought of shooting a relatively warm-stocked hardwood stock in cold weather. Our suspicions were correct. This was the most comfortable stock on our shooter's faces. Our first surprise was that this rifle held 14 rounds, and you could get 15 into it if you wanted.

Remington Arms Company, Inc. announced that it has recently been awarded a $12 million contract from the US Army-TACOM (Tank-Automotive and Armament Command), for the purchase of M24 Sniper Weapon Systems (SWS) for use by the US and its allies.

2008 marks the 20th anniversary that the M24 SWS and its variants has been the 'standard' issue sniper rifle for the US Army and US Air Force.

Based on the Model 700 bolt action platform, like the USMC M40, the M24 SWS is considered the 'standard' by which other sniper weapon systems are judged.

It provides extreme accuracy out to 800 meters and can engage targets well beyond that distance, as well as low maintenance starting at approximately 10,000 rds. at the operator level.

Many shooters want a lightweight, handy 223 carbine for self-defense-and that means reasonable accuracy, a good trigger, shooter friendliness, and ease of handling. In self-defense use, reliability is paramount, but the gun has to have enough accuracy to hit what its aimed at.There are several potential solutions to this firearms problem, one of which is the Ruger KMini-14/5 Ranch Rifle ($894), and we cant ignore the hoary AR-15-type rifle, which in this test will be a parts gun assembled by Century Arms-the $795 C15 Sporter.More interesting to us initially was the AK-based Arsenal SLR 106FR, $925. Mikhail T. Kalashnikovs famous assault rifle is the basis for the Arsenal gun. Likely more than 75 million AKs have been produced by more than a dozen countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, China, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, and the former Yugoslavia.Chambered originally for the 7.62x39mm cartridge, the Kalashnikov assault rifle was adopted by the Red Army in 1949. In this country, the rap against AKs has been their sheet-metal receivers and bad triggers, but Arsenals rifles seek to cure those problems. The Arsenal rifle is built on a Mil-Spec hardened 1mm-thick stamped receiver. The rifle has a 90-degree gas chamber, a chrome-lined chamber, and 800-meter rear sight, and a rear sight block calibrated for the 5.56mm cartridge.The SLR-106FR incorporates a Warsaw Pact scope rail that will accept all scope mounts designed for this type of rail. The compact folding stock allows the SLR-106FR to be used in close quarters. This requires a cutout in the left side of the folding buttstock, which pivots to the left. The similar SLR-106F lacks the side-rail scope mount.The fire control group of the SLR-106FR features Arsenals new two-stage trigger, hammer, and disconnector. The company claims these units eliminate trigger slap, which our tests supported. Arsenal also claims the initial trigger-pull weight is 3 pounds, with an 8-pound let-off. Our gun didnt meet those specs.Of course, the Ruger and the Arsenal actions have long histories of being chambered for other rounds, while the AR-15 was, in some sense, built for the 223 Rem./5.56mm NATO round, though it, too, has bigger chamberings in its current design. But for self defense, the 223 is plenty nasty out to hundreds of yards.Here, we worked in closer, shooting our guns at 50 yards with the attached open sights, along with extensive handling and rapid-fire work. Our test ammos were Wolf (Russian) 55-grain full metal jacket rounds, Remington 55-grain Metal Case rounds, which have a full copper jacket for reliable function, and Hornadys 60-grain TAP law-enforcement rounds, which feature a red polymer tip on top of a hollowpoint bullet.The Century gun came with a 10-round magazine, while the Arsenal and Ruger came with 5-rounders. To make our shooting more fun, we purchased extra magazines for each gun. We bought two clear-plastic 30-round Arsenal magazines for $36 apiece, and two Ram-Line 30-round combo magazines that functioned in both the Century and Ruger guns. They were $30 apiece. For the AR, we also bought some 30-round PMAGs by Magpul for $15 apiece.All in we fired more than 300 rounds per gun in accuracy shooting, chronographing, and handling, so we got to know them warts and all. Heres what we found:

Many shooters want a lightweight, handy 223 carbine for self-defense-and that means reasonable accuracy, a good trigger, shooter friendliness, and ease of handling. In self-defense use, reliability is paramount, but the gun has to have enough accuracy to hit what its aimed at.There are several potential solutions to this firearms problem, one of which is the Ruger KMini-14/5 Ranch Rifle ($894), and we cant ignore the hoary AR-15-type rifle, which in this test will be a parts gun assembled by Century Arms-the $795 C15 Sporter.More interesting to us initially was the AK-based Arsenal SLR 106FR, $925. Mikhail T. Kalashnikovs famous assault rifle is the basis for the Arsenal gun. Likely more than 75 million AKs have been produced by more than a dozen countries, including Albania, Bulgaria, China, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, North Korea, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, and the former Yugoslavia.Chambered originally for the 7.62x39mm cartridge, the Kalashnikov assault rifle was adopted by the Red Army in 1949. In this country, the rap against AKs has been their sheet-metal receivers and bad triggers, but Arsenals rifles seek to cure those problems. The Arsenal rifle is built on a Mil-Spec hardened 1mm-thick stamped receiver. The rifle has a 90-degree gas chamber, a chrome-lined chamber, and 800-meter rear sight, and a rear sight block calibrated for the 5.56mm cartridge.The SLR-106FR incorporates a Warsaw Pact scope rail that will accept all scope mounts designed for this type of rail. The compact folding stock allows the SLR-106FR to be used in close quarters. This requires a cutout in the left side of the folding buttstock, which pivots to the left. The similar SLR-106F lacks the side-rail scope mount.The fire control group of the SLR-106FR features Arsenals new two-stage trigger, hammer, and disconnector. The company claims these units eliminate trigger slap, which our tests supported. Arsenal also claims the initial trigger-pull weight is 3 pounds, with an 8-pound let-off. Our gun didnt meet those specs.Of course, the Ruger and the Arsenal actions have long histories of being chambered for other rounds, while the AR-15 was, in some sense, built for the 223 Rem./5.56mm NATO round, though it, too, has bigger chamberings in its current design. But for self defense, the 223 is plenty nasty out to hundreds of yards.Here, we worked in closer, shooting our guns at 50 yards with the attached open sights, along with extensive handling and rapid-fire work. Our test ammos were Wolf (Russian) 55-grain full metal jacket rounds, Remington 55-grain Metal Case rounds, which have a full copper jacket for reliable function, and Hornadys 60-grain TAP law-enforcement rounds, which feature a red polymer tip on top of a hollowpoint bullet.The Century gun came with a 10-round magazine, while the Arsenal and Ruger came with 5-rounders. To make our shooting more fun, we purchased extra magazines for each gun. We bought two clear-plastic 30-round Arsenal magazines for $36 apiece, and two Ram-Line 30-round combo magazines that functioned in both the Century and Ruger guns. They were $30 apiece. For the AR, we also bought some 30-round PMAGs by Magpul for $15 apiece.All in we fired more than 300 rounds per gun in accuracy shooting, chronographing, and handling, so we got to know them warts and all. Heres what we found:

The R-55 rimfire has been a retail home run for Thompson Center since its introduction at the turn of the current century. The Benchmark Classic is the Cadillac version of the R-55 platform with an 18-inch stainless steel bull barrel, with a wide-mouthed target crown, threaded to the steel receiver.

The Benchmark Classic has the looks and features of a target gun, but the sling swivel studs and 'all weather' marketing label are apparent gestures to the hunting market.

Smith & Wesson Corp. has introduced the M&P15R, an addition to the company’s M&P tactical rifle series. The new AR-15 style rifle is capable of firing 5.45 x 39mm ammunition and is available as a high-quality semi-automatic rifle or as a complete upper-receiver assembly kit.

The 2008 USA Shooting National Championships for Rifle/Pistol came to a close today with Matt Emmons earning his third national title of the competition, taking first place in the Men's 3 Position Rifle event. Emmons, from Browns Mills, N.J., a 2004 Olympian and 2008 Olympic team member, finished on top with final of 101.1 and a total score of 2455.1. Earlier in the competition, Emmons also claimed the Men's Air Rifle and Men's 3 Position Rifle…