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If the internal parts of the 1873 Springfield breechloader look the same as those of the 1861 muzzleloader, that's because most of them are.

Many Cowboy Action shooters looking to shave the last seconds off their time use a pump rifle. In the quest for speed in that game, top shooters are posting winning scores with the old Colt Lightning design, or clones thereof. Because top shooters use them, that means everybody wants one, whether or not they work better than the ol’ lever action mainstay. Gun Tests Magazine recently tested the Taurus Thunderbolt C45BR .45 LC. Here's what they said:

Kim Rhode can legitimately be called the 'greatest U.S. Olympian ever' because she stands alone as the only American to win individual medals in five straight Olympic Games. That journey began with a gold medal as a 16 year old in Atlanta in 1996 and was bookended yesterday by a near-perfect effort in which she hit 99 out of 100 targets, including 25 straight in the final round, capturing the gold medal in women's skeet shooting.

The menu for clay shooters and hunters looking to pick up a new over-and-under shotgun can range from plain meat-and-potatoes to chateaubriand. Gun Tests took a look at the over-and-under arena and the Browning Cynergy, a radical departure from the Citori models. The shotgun caught the eye of shooters and shotgun enthusiasts across the country because of its new design and internal mechanical innovations in 2004.

The Trapdoor Springfield has a golden history, having been used by the U.S. armed forces from 1873 until it was supplanted by the Krag around 1892. The Trapdoor gets its name from its top-opening, hinged breech, which is no paragon of strength but adequate for the hottest black-powder loads of its heyday, and for many “normal” 45-70 loads of today, or at least reproductions are. Buffalo Bore’s “lever” ammunition and other brands specifically intended for use in modern single-shot rifles and other weapons with strong breech designs have no place in Trapdoors, neither old nor new ones.

For whatever reason, lots of shooters like the M1 Carbine. Can you still get one today? Sure, no problem. Is that one better than this one? Well, maybe, and Gun Tests magazine looked at a few. Here's what they said about the Fulton Armory M1 Carbine .30 Carbine:

There’s no doubt about it; the AR-15 has gone mainstream. Over the last several years, the growth in demand for black rifles has lured many manufacturers (including the big guys) to introduce their own versions of the venerable Eugene Stoner direct-gas-impingement design. Now that the market has matured, Gun Tests magazine is seeing engineering departments introduce versions that are claimed to improve upon the original AR-15 through the use of gas-piston systems.

One of the major reasons hunters choose a 20 gauge over a 12 gauge is the former’s smaller frame, weight, and recoil. Though they may already own a 12, many field sportsmen wind up reaching for their 20s because the smaller gun is just easier to handle, and there are just a few hunting situations—layback goose hunting and spring turkey hunting, to name two—in which the bigger payload might make a difference. Gun Tests magazine recently tested an autoloader in 20 gauge that offers quite a savings in physical form over its bigger stablemates. Its 3-inch-chamber 20 gauge was a Mossberg SA-20 No. 75771, $496.

Bolt-action 22 rifles are among the most basic and useful of all firearms. They are fine trainers and excellent tools for a variety of uses limited only by the imagination of the owner. We’ve seen ‘em used for just about anything, and about the only constant is that decent 22 bolt rifles generally have long and useful lives.

One of the ongoing arguments between wingshooters is the 12 vs. 20 discussion. The short version of that issue can be summed up in two questions: Can I get away with the smaller gauge for the shooting I do?, or, Do I need the deeper and wider shotshell selection that the 12 gauge offers? One of the major reasons hunters choose a 20 over a 12 is the former's smaller frame, weight, and recoil. Though they may already own a 12, many field sportsmen wind up reaching for their 20s because the smaller gun is easier to handle, and there are just a few situations—layback goose hunting and spring turkey hunting, to name two—in which the bigger 12-gauge payload might make a difference.

Gun Tests magazine recently ran an over/under match-up with a distinctly international taste to it. The increasingly popular Caesar Guerini represented the Italian trigger-plate actions in a test of general-purpose shotgun models suitable for hunting and casual clays use.

If card shooters, sporting-clays shooters, skeep and trap shooters, hunters and shotgun owners in general all agree on the benefits of the screw-in choke, and millions of guns have been made with fixed chokes, how big do you suppose the need for screw-in choke installation is? It is enormous! You should learn to install screw-in chokes.