Barrel Bedding. Takedown Rifles. Browning BLR White Gold Medallion.308 Winchester. Shooting.300 and.338 Norma Magnums. Montana Rifle Company

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1 Browning BLR White Gold Medallion.308 Winchester Montana Rifle Company Shooting.300 and.338 Norma Magnums Barrel Bedding Newest Winchester 1873 Saddle Ring Carbine Takedown Rifles September 2018 No. 300 Display until 10/15/18 Printed in USA

2 Browning BLR White Gold Medallion.308 Winchester COLUMNS 6 Determining Pressure Spotting Scope Dave Scovill Remington Lock, Stock & Barrel Lee J. Hoots Rifle Barrel Bedding Mostly Long Guns Brian Pearce Page 6... Page Montana Rifle Company Shooting.300 and.338 Norma Magnums Barrel Bedding Newest Winchester 1873 Saddle Ring Carbine Takedown Rifles On the cover... Montana Rifle Company MTR.300 Norma Magnum with a Leupold VH x 50mm scope. Photo by Terry Wieland. 22 Takedown Rif les Down Range Mike Venturino 26 Smoothing Bolt-Action Operation Light Gunsmithing Gil Sengel 32 FEATURES Love at First Shot An Early Look at Montana Rifle s Long-Range Rigs Terry Wieland 38 Winchester Model 1873 Shooting the Latest Saddle Ring Carbine Mike Venturino 44 Browning s Lever Rifle Praise for a Modern Classic Brian Pearce Page Long-Range Optics, Tools and Technology A Rifleman s Optics John Haviland H-S Precision Tom Houghton Tribute Rifle Custom Corner Stan Trzoniec Sauer 404 Walnut Hill Terry Wieland Nontoxic Hunting Bullets A 23-Year Field Study John Barsness Shaw Rifles ERS-10 Range Testing a New.308 Winchester John Haviland Page Page Rifle 300

3 MOSTLY LONG GUNS by Brian Pearce Some custom rifle builders glass bed half of the barrel channel from the recoil lug forward. The remainder of the channel is free floating. Standard weight Winchester pre- 64 Model 70 rifles (top) feature three guard screws. A fourth screw firmly secured the forearm to the barrel. Featherweight versions (bottom) were void of the barrel screw. Rifle Barrel Bedding Many modern rifles, such as this Nosler Custom Model 48 Patriot.33 Nosler, feature a fully floating barrel. Barrel bedding is an often hotly debated subject, with strong opinions for the virtues of free floating and equally good cases made for partial and full-length bedding. Based on the ongoing controversy, it is with certain reservations that I share a few thoughts and experiences. I am not prejudiced toward any one method, as I use different approaches depending on application and stock material. While there are autoloading, single-shot and even lever-action rifles that feature (or can be customized with) free-floating and full-length bedded barrels, my comments here are directed primarily at bolt-action sporting rifles. During the early days of sporting bolt rifles with standard weight barrels, practically all were fulllength bedded with the barrel touching the stock wood. During this era, it would have been considered poor workmanship if the wood-to-metal fit was not respectably tight. Many of these vintage rifles actually shot very well. However, some small rifle producers, custom gunsmiths and target shooters began to recognize the virtues of free-floating barrels. As World War II passed, inflation, labor and manufacturing costs rose sharply, which resulted in many major U.S. manufacturers fitting wood stock barrel channels with greater tolerances to help keep costs in check. In other words, the barrel was mostly free floating. Manufacturers retained a small pressure point inside the forearm tip. Its purpose was to help control and reduce barrel vibration. The above method was widely common and appeared with many of the Remington Model 721, 722 and 725 rifles as well as the Model 700 when it first appeared in Most early Weatherby rifles typically built on Mauser 98, 1903 Springfield and Model 70 actions were essentially custom rifles with full-length bedded barrels. When the Mark V rifle appeared in 1959, however, it soon shared a similar stock/barrel relationship as the Remingtons. Winchester Model 70 standard weight rifles produced from 1936 through 1963 were full-length bedded but also featured a forearm screw that firmly secured the forearm and barrel together to reduce barrel vibration. When Winchester redesigned the Model 70 in 1963, the forearm screw was dropped and the full-length bedded barrel disappeared in favor of a huge gap in the barrel channel and a small pressure point at the tip. Winchester, as a result, received considerable criticism and soon improved barrel/stock fit and appearance but still retained the small pressure point. (Incidentally, beginning in 2008 sporter-weight Model 70s were offered with free-floating barrels.) In 1968 Ruger introduced the M77 with full-length bedding, but today s M77 Hawkeye is fitted with a pressure point at the forearm tip, with the rest of the barrel channel being hit and miss in regard to contact with the barrel. One difficulty that most rifle manufacturers have struggled with is to make barrel channels uniform. In 16 Rifle 300

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5 many instances, the stocks touch one side of the barrel or the other, or the small pressure point at the forearm tip pushes against the barrel slightly cockeyed. When the rifle is fired, the barrel vibrations associated with high-pressure, high-intensity cartridges can cause groups to open up. Likewise, when the barrel heats up or there are changes in temperatures and humidity, accuracy can become poor with unpredictable fliers. There are several options that will address such problems. The two most common solutions are to completely free float the barrel or apply full-length glass bedding. There is not a right or a wrong answer; however, the results can be distinctly different. Stock material and how the rifle will be used may influence how this problem is addressed. Free floating effectively eliminates barrel interference from the stock. The problem is that nothing supports the barrel at (or through) its midway point, which again Many classic and modern wood stock rifles feature full-length barrel bedding. Examples include a (left to right): Winchester pre- 64 Model H&H Magnum, Browning FN High Power Olympian Grade.338 Winchester Magnum, Kimber of Oregon BGR Winchester Magnum and a Ruger M77 Hawkeye.375 Ruger. serves to reduce vibration. As a result, accuracy is usually (but not always) poorer when compared with a professionally bedded barrel. (Please note that I did not say the rifle was inaccurate, but rather it is usually less accurate than a carefully bedded counterpart.) The advantage is that changes in temperature, humidity and elevation that may cause the stock (including wood, laminates and even synthetic materials) to warp and change pressure on the barrel, and therefore point of impact, can no longer affect the barrel. So the rifle will almost always shoot to the same point of aim day in and day out, assuming the ammunition is up to par, the barrel steel is stress relieved and atmospheric conditions are not changing cartridge and ballistics to any important degree, which are completely different subjects. For these reasons, many hunters prefer free-floating barrels as they effectively eliminate barrel pressure variables that often occur in the field. It should be noted that many current manufacturers are producing sporting rifles with lightweight, free-floating barrels that are accurate and easily produce sub-moa groups right out of the box. A few examples include the Kimber 84/84L, Nosler Custom 48, Winchester Model 70, Mossberg MVP, Savage 10/110 and others. Handloaders can usually achieve good accuracy from sporter-weight rifles with free-floating barrels by experimenting with different bullet weights, designs, seating depths, powder charges and velocities to find the sweet spot for a given rifle. This methodology is similar to the principles of the Browning Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System (BOSS) and is always good motivation to develop handloads 18 Rifle 300

6 (or to begin handloading and subscribing to Handloader magazine). If I can t get a rifle to shoot with a respectable degree of accuracy using tailored handloads, I then begin experimenting with bedding options. Bedded barrels are still offered on select Remington Model 700s, Ruger M77 Hawkeyes, Weatherby Vanguards and Mark V models, and by other companies. They can be very accurate due to their ability to significantly reduce vibration. The drawback is that they can warp or swell from moisture, which causes point of impact changes. This is true with wood, laminates and even cheap synthetic stocks (which are usually weak and can warp severely from temperature changes, and even sunlight warming one side of the stock). Wood and laminate stocks can be sealed up with various products to minimize the effects of moisture. As indicated, the small contact point inside the forearm tip in many factory stocks varies significantly in upward pressure or may be pushing the barrel to the side, either of which can degrade accuracy. A common practice is to completely remove the contact point to free float the barrel. Then begin placing temporary shims (cut from business card stock, etc.) under the forearm and test for accuracy. Shims can be added or removed until a combination is found that produces top accuracy. Once an ideal amount of pressure is found, then either permanent shims or a small glass bedding strip can be installed that duplicates the pressure obtained with the temporary shims. There is not a magic pressure figure (actually measured in weight), but it is generally only a few pounds at most. A highly popular option is to remove all bedding to free float the barrel, then full-length glass bed the barrel channel again with no more than just a few pounds of upward pressure. This procedure usually makes high-grade custom stock makers cringe, as they are craftsmen who fit the barrel to the stock channel with perfection, which in turn serves as full-length bedding. When altering mass-produced factory stocks, however, this procedure is completely acceptable, and if done correctly does not diminish the rifle s appearance. Furthermore, if a generous amount of bedding compound is used, it will strengthen and stabilize the forearm and help it resist shrinkage, swelling and warping in the field. Several years ago my son obtained a left-hand Ruger M77 Hawk- eye with a 22-inch barrel and walnut stock. We developed a number of good handloads, which on the rifle s best days would group around one inch, but most days groups were around 1.5 inches. This level of accuracy is certainly good enough for most big-game hunting applications, but we wanted further improvement. After carefully cleaning out the stock s barrel channel, it was full-length glass bedded using Brownells ACRAGLAS Gel (brown September-October

7 NewfouNdlaNd, CaNada Moose, Woodland Caribou & Black Bear Hunts Book now for 2018 & 2019 Tel/Fax: (877) P.O. Box 159, York Harbour, NL, Canada A0L 1L0 Rifle Tang Peep Sight Adjustable for Windage and Elevation Fits Most Lever-Action Rifles Blued Steel Finish Made in the U.S.A. REBORING by JES Rifle Reboring We specialize in the reboring of Lever-Action, Single-Shot, Pump, Bolt-Action and selected Semi- Auto rifles calibers Skinner Sights LLC Sturdy Sights and More for Your Rifles! PO Box 1810 St. Ignatius MT Many sporterweight rifles feature a small pressure point just behind the forend tip, such as this Weatherby Varmint Master (top) and Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Classic. Machined from Solid Barstock Please see our website for more information Made in USA ells.com) with just under three pounds of upward pressure at the forearm tip. Without changing loads, four-shot groups instantly shrank to a consistent.35 to not over.50 inch. It has maintained this level of accuracy through many in- and out-of-state hunting trips on horseback at high and low elevations, and the Ruger has digested around 2,000 rounds. He recently developed an offseason practice load containing Sierra 155-grain MatchKing HPBT bullets with an appropriate charge of Hodgdon H-4350 powder. That load shoots to the same point of impact as his hunting loads containing Hornady 150-grain GMX bullets. However, this load has produced three-shot groups that measure as small as.130 inch, and it will stay inside.250 inch on demand. This extremely impressive performance is unusual for any sporter-weight rifle and barrel at any cost, but it illustrates the potential. Another option popular in recent years is to partially glass bed the barrel channel from the receiver halfway up toward the forearm tip. This method reduces vibration but still allows the barrel to free float in the forearm channel. Heavyweight varmint (sometimes referred to as target ) barrels are notably stiffer than comparatively lightweight sporter barrels, and as a result they vibrate considerably less when free floated, which is pretty much the standard stock and barrel relationship on all current varmint rifles. However, I do have a vintage Ruger M77V Varmint.220 Swift that is full-length factory bedded and will shoot inside.25 inch with select handloads. Nonetheless, free floating is the preferred method on varmint rifles. The general trend from large rifle manufacturers has been to free float sporter-weight barrels as preferred by most consumers, but such rifles are also easier to produce and achieve consistent, guaranteed out-of-the-box accuracy. However, full-length and partial bedding has its place, and when done properly can produce top-notch accuracy. R 20 Rifle 300

8 WinchEster Shooting the Latest Saddle Ring Carbine The operation of the new Winchester saddle ring carbine Model Special/.357 Magnum was smooth Rifle 300

9 Model 1873 Mike Venturino Photos by Yvonne Venturino A Wolfe Publishing Company reprint of a Winchester catalog from 1899 shows saddle ring carbines (SRCs) priced lower than any of the company s other standard model leverguns. Model 1873 prices were $17.50 compared to $18 for a round-barreled rifle, or $19.50 for one with an octagonal barrel. These days, on the collectors market standard SRCs bring substantially higher prices than standard rifles with either type of barrel, when in comparable condition. Some say the price difference results from fewer carbines having been made. One-third of the nearly 750,000 Model 1873s were SRCs. Others think it was a century of movie usage. That s not a strong point. Older westerns often featured Model 1892 SRCs in a timeframe when Model 1873s were proper. My take is the fact that, on the whole, SRCs of all models saw much harsher treatment than rifles. This factor seems to be especially prominent with 73 SRCs. What exactly constitutes a saddle ring carbine? My desk dictionary defines carbine as a short, light rifle. Winchester Repeating Arms put its own definitions on rifles and carbines. Rifles had deeply curved, crescent buttplates. SRC buttplates had much shallower curves and were wider to boot. Rifles had steel forend caps. SRCs had steel barrel bands to secure forearms. September-October

10 WinchEster Model 1873 The new Winchester Model 1873 SRC (front) is shown with an original from the 1890s. This vintage photo shows a young man with his special order Winchester Model 1873 saddle ring carbine with a barrel measuring less than 20 inches. Rifles had buckhorn-type rear sights adjustable for elevation in 50-yard increments using notched sliders. SRCs had ladder-type rear sights on which sight bars could slide up for increased elevation. Front sights on rifles were blade types dovetailed to barrels. For SRCs, studs were brazed to barrels into which blades were set. Windage could be zeroed on rifles The saddle ring was put on carbines so they could be attached to the saddle horn by a leather strap. by drifting the front sight or rear sight, or both, laterally in their dovetails. Only the rear sight on SRCs could be drifted. Barrels for rifles could be round (standard) or octagonal or half and half. The last two options cost extra. Rifle barrels could be as short as 12 inches and as long as 36 inches, but the standard length was 24 inches. SRC barrels were also round but much lighter in weight. Standard length was 20 inches. Barrels down to 12 inches were available, but if longer ones were offered I have never heard of it. Rifles were sold with steel parts blued, or with actions, buttplates and forend caps color casehardened at an extra cost. Saddle ring carbines were blued. Again, if color casehardened actions on SRCs were offered, I ve never seen one. Rifles were chambered for.44 WCF (.44-40),.38 WCF (.38-40),.32 WCF (.32-20) and both.22 Short and Long rimfires. SRCs were not made as.22s. Both rifle and carbine steel buttplates had trapdoors for storing jointed cleaning rods, but only in.38 and Three cartridges chambered for the original Model 1873 SRCs between 1873 and 1923 include the (1).32 WCF, (2).38 WCF and (3).44 WCF. Three cartridges for the new 73s include the (4).357 Magnum, (5).44 WCF (.44-40) and the (6).45 Colt. Rifle 300

11 The rear sight on the Winchester SRC is a flip-up type with a notched slider for elevation..44 caliber. Winchester rated a standard round-barrel rifle at 8.75 pounds, an octagonal-barreled rifle at 9 pounds and a standard SRC at 7.25 pounds. I happen to have samples of all three of these original Winchester Model 1873s in my racks, so they were weighed. The SRC was right on at 7.25 pounds, but the fulllength rifles were actually lighter than normal. Both weighed 8.25 pounds. Now, if Winchester s determination of whether one of its leverguns was a rifle or carbine was not confusing enough, consider that the company would sell longer or shorter-than-normal barrel lengths. One of the most common deviations from standard was a rifle with all the features, but it had a 20-inch barrel the same as carbines. However, the barrel was not a lightweight as used on SRCs. They were the same diameter as barrels sold on rifles. Winchester called these Short Rifles. Now fast-forward 90 years from when Winchester officially dropped the Model That summer I attended a firearms industry get-together, and one of the guns being fired was a Browning-Japanese (Miroku) manufactured Model Special/.357 Magnum. It was in Short Rifle configuration with a 20-inch, round barrel. I was only able to fire 10 rounds through it and thought it was a nicely made replica, as all the Miroku leverguns have been. As with vintage Winchester 73s the brass cartridge lifter is stamped with its chambering. Furthermore, this one lacked any sort of lawyer-dictated external safety. These have been the chief criticism thrown at Miroku/ Browning/Winchester leverguns over the years. I admit freely that 73 Winchesters are my favorite among Old West leverguns. A chief historical interest is the fight between Indians and the 7th U.S. Cavalry in Montana in June Archaeological work at the Little Big Horn

12 WinchEster Model 1873 This 100-yard group was about average for the new Winchester Special/.357 Magnum with good loads. The buttplate on original Winchester 73s in.38 and.44 caliber (right) had a trapdoor for a jointed cleaning rod. The new Winchester 73 does not have this feature. The new Winchester Model 1873 SRC has a spit stud on the barrel into which a brass blade fits. Between 1873 and 1923 Winchester sold nearly 750,000 Model 1873s. As standard catalog items, about one-third were saddle ring carbines (top), only five percent were muskets (bottom) and the rest were rifles (middle). tagonal barrels, others with pistol-grip stocks, and some options included very fine color casehardening of the action, buttplate and forend cap. Checkering was also offered on some versions, and.45 Colt was an option in all versions. I asked Browning to loan me a Model as quickly as possible in any form available; it turned out to be a Short Rifle. It was covered in Rifle No. 295 (November 2017). Maybe I m just slow to catch on, but the ink on that article had hardly dried when word reached me that Browning now had SRC 73s. A loaner was requested, but this time I wanted it to be.38 Special/.357 Magnum. This particular levergun may be the one that breaks tradition s grasp on my soul. I have always eschewed owning a replica of the 73 Winchester by any maker if it was chambered for a cartridge not from its original period. That limited me to.44-40, and That s not the same as saying I had never owned or used replica leverguns in more modern calibers, but I reserved the 73 for tradition s sake. What pleased me so much about this new Winchester SRC.38/.357 is that it is a straight-shooting, smoothly functioning light rifle that is very easy to hit with. Except for one cartridge, where the extractor slipped over an empty.38 s rim, leaving it chambered, it functioned just as well with.38 Special rounds as.357 Magnums. The.38 Long Colt can safely be fired in.38 Special and.357 Magnum revolvers, and it s actually Battlefield has determined that no fewer than eight 73 Winchester.44 WCFs were fired in that fracas. Of course, many more Henry and Model rimfires were used by the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, but.44 WCF is a modern handloader s dream compared to.44 rimfire, hence my favoritism. Four busy years passed until my interests returned to these new Model 1873s that are actually stamped Winchester. I was pleased to see that had been added as a cartridge option. Besides Short Rifles with 20-inch, round barrels, there were now ocsafe to fire in this new 73, but forget about the.38 Long Colt functioning. Cartridge case heads are pushed from the magazine tube into a brass cartridge lifter, tying up matters until the cartridge is fished out of the loading gate. Here are some particulars of the new Winchester SRC 73: Overall length is 38.5 inches with a 20- inch, round barrel, and weight is 7.25 pounds. Those dimensions are identical with my original SRC.44. Its barrel diameter at the muzzle is.635 inch, and the original s is.650 inch. Length of pull is inches on both carbines. Wood-to-metal fit is good but not outstanding. Conversely, the metal fit, polish and deep blue finish are outstanding. As befits an SRC, the stock wood is straight grain, oiled, American walnut. The buttplate on this new SRC is noticeably narrower than my original s. It is 1.25 inches wide compared to 1.45 inches for the 120-year-old sample. One place where the new gun outperforms the old one is smoothness. Right out of the box, it feels like it has been slicked up by a professional gunsmith. (My original SRC dates to the 1890s and is considerably rougher internally perhaps from being out in the weather.) Trigger pull averaged 4.75 pounds and was perfectly crisp. Magazine capacity is 10 rounds of.357 Magnum or.38 Special. I was able to cram 11.38s into the magazine, but that jammed up the tube with a cartridge head sitting too far back. Firing this new.38/.357 SRC provided an opportunity to com Rifle 300

13 Select.38 Special and.357 Magnum Handloads Colt SAA Winchester M1873 (4.75-inch barrel) (20-inch barrel) extreme extreme bullet powder charge velocity spread velocity spread (grains) (grains) (fps) (fps) (fps) (fps) Special SWC Bullseye Trail Boss Magnum RNFP , , , , Magnum SWC , , Magnum RNFP IMR , , Magnum SWC IMR , Factory loads Special Hornady RNFP , Special Black Hills JSP , Special CCI/Blazer RNFP Special Black Hills lead conical Magnum Ultra-Max RNFP , Magnum Winchester ST-HP* 1, , Magnum Black Hills lead conical * Silvertip Hollowpoint Notes: A Winchester Model 1873 carbine with a 20-inch barrel and a Colt SAA with a 4.75-inch barrel were used to test all loads. Wolfe Small Pistol primers and Starline brass were used throughout. All loads were chronographed at 6 feet. All semiwadcutter (SWC) bullets were cast by Mike in Lyman mould No Alloy was 1:20 (tin to lead), sized.358 inch and lubed with SPG. All roundnose flatpoint (RNFP) bullets were coated types from Missouri Bullet Company. For more data on these cartridges please visit LoadData.com. Be Alert Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data. Listed loads are only valid in the test firearms used. Reduce initial powder charge by 10 percent and work up while watching for pressure signs. pare velocities from it and a revolver. The revolver was a Colt SAA.357 Magnum made about 1969 with a 4.75-inch barrel length. Both handloads and factory loads of each cartridge were fired, and the results are in the accompanying table. The carbine s velocities topped the revolver s by about 200 to 250 fps with most loads. Quite often, SWC bullets are warned against use in leverguns because their sharp shoulders hang up on chamber edges as they are lifted from the magazine. Not so with this 73 replica. Brass cartridge lifters on 73s raise a cartridge in line with the chamber, and then the bolt shoves it straight in as the lever is closed. I shot SWC, RN, RNFP and JHP bullets from the sample SRC 73 without a bobble. As to shooting groups, I freely admit that these days I have some difficulty with open sights. That said, I still shot some pretty decent groups with both.38 Special and.357 Magnum factory loads and handloads. Decent is defined here as about 3.5 to 4 inches at 100 yards. There were also a few larger groups. Some lead-alloy bullet loads shot well and others did not. For instance, Hornady s.38 Special 140-grain Cowboy load shot well. CCI s Trailblazer 158-grain.38 Special Cowboy load did not. Black Hill s 158-grain.357 Magnum Cowboy load shot nicely, but handloaded 158-grain SWCs over 14.5 grains of 2400 grouped at about a foot. Here s a bit of opinion that so far has not been backed up by shooting results: If this saddle ring carbine belonged to me, I would buy a large quantity of.357 Magnum brass and only use it in this carbine. Some years back, when Yvonne and I were active in cowboy action shoots, I gave her the previously mentioned Colt SAA.357 Magnum to use solely with.38 Special cartridges. After several hundred rounds without diligent cleaning, that.357 Magnum was needed for some chronographing. The longer rounds would not chamber fully, and they still would not chamber after cleaning. I had to put a brass brush in a drill to clean the chambers. Getting such a brass brush into an SRC s chamber would be a difficult chore. Browning will likely sell plenty of these carbines to cowboy action shooters, and I do not doubt it will also sell them to historically minded folks for use in hunting deer or varmint control. If a.357 Magnum revolver is adequate for deer hunting, certainly a.357 Magnum SRC would be fine out to 100 yards or so. R SUNNY HILL ENTERPRISES Drop-In Trigger Guard Assembly for Remington 700 Rifles Matte blue or matte stainless steel. Little or no fitting required. Long or short action. $ MSRP Tel: Fax: sales@sunnyhillgunparts.com September-October