Let’s talk about gunbelts and holsters for outdoor work. No concealed-carry stuff here – let’s discuss rigs for carrying a heavy, powerful belt gun for serious outdoor business.
But before we do that, let’s talk about guns and loads.
Western drop holster with N-Frame Smith
Woods-Bumming Guns
While I favor my Glock 36 for everyday concealed carry, for outdoor work I like a big-bore wheelgun. When woods-bumming, I usually have either my S&W 25-5 or my Ruger Vaquero, both in .45 Colt. If I take it in my head to carry a semi-auto, it’s either the 1911 or the Glock 21, both (obviously) .45 ACPs. In the revolvers I like 8 grains of Unique behind a Lasercast 250-grain hard-cast flat point. That load will blow through a railroad tie and knock a big handful of splinters out the far side and will easily lengthwise a big mulie or a cow elk.
For the .45 ACP I like the 200 grain Lasercast semi-wadcutter. Like most Glocks, my 21 will feed almost anything; the 1911 is a little fussier but will feed SWCs fine with a good magazine. I use Kimber magazines, and the 1911 will feed empty cases with those.
Now, your mileage may vary; almost all my woods-bumming these days is done in the Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming, where there are several species of big, thick-skinned, toothy critters in residence, so I recommend a major-caliber handgun for hereabouts. But if you’re outdoors in areas where the most likely targets for your sidearm are coyote-sized, anything from a .32 Long to a .38 Special will work as well, along with being a little easier to shoot. The Ruger Single-Six is available in .32 H&R Mag, a fine revolver in a good round for medium-sized varmints and, with a mild load topped with a hard-cast lead pill, nice for whatever edible small game presents itself.
Advantage of a drop belt rig: Fast into action.
But, let’s move on to what I really wanted to talk about, and that’s how to tote your belt iron.
Gun Belt Rigs
The gun belt and holster should be comfortable and solid. Choice of material is up to the shooter; some like nylon web belts and holsters, and there is certainly nothing wrong with such a rig; I’ve used many myself. But it’s hard to beat good leather. Heavy harness leather should be used in the belt, and good stout bull hide in the holster. A heavy leather rig will start out very stiff, but wear and the application of a softening oil, like neat’s-foot oil, will soon make the rig softer and more wearable.
A simple cartridge belt with the Vaquero in a Mexican loop holster.
(Disclosure: I am in no way connected to nor do I have any financial interest in the companies mentioned, I just like their products.)
For my belt guns, I like (in fact, it’s my favorite rig) the America’s Gun Store #110 Wyoming Drop belt with the #114 Cheyenne holster, which rig hangs the butt of the gun at about wrist height when your arms are hanging naturally. I find this near perfect for being able to get the gun into action quickly; if you use the leg tie down to hold the holster in place, you can wipe off the holster’s hammer loop with the shooting hand’s thumb just as your fingers wrap around the grip.
Train yourself to keep your finger off the trigger while drawing; cock the single-action or start the double-action pull after you have cleared leather and are already pushing the muzzle of the piece towards the target. I try to get in some reflex shooting practice every year, but draw and dry-fire won’t always work; most folks tend to shoot high when shooting instinctively. Practice!
The Wyoming Drop Belt also comes in a two-gun version if dual six-guns are your thing, and a cross draw holster is available for the one-gun version as well. Personally, I don’t much see the point in carrying two revolvers; if you’re that concerned about running into some kind of trouble, best to pack along a rifle.
Lots of folks like the Threepersons holster as well, and the same statements apply. For that matter, there is nothing wrong with a simple leather cartridge belt like the Hunter Company Straight Cartridge Belt outfitted with the classic Mexican loop holster, like the one I tend to tote my Vaquero around in.
Trouser Belt Holsters
Full-size 1911 in Bianchi leatherA flap holster is good for keeping the elements off your belt iron.
There are options for folks who aren’t into dedicated gunbelts as well. When talking belt holsters, I’m tempted to just mention Bianchi and let it go at that, but there are plenty of good holsters our there, ranging from Uncle Mike’s vinyl to high-end leather, prices from $25 or so to, well, as high as you care to go.
Find a holster that holds the piece canted at the right angle for your natural grip and your gun hand and carry it in a position that’s comfortable for your build; I tend to favor a right-hand hip carry. I’ve used a cross draw belt holster a time or two but don’t much care for them, as I find it awkward to reach across with my shooting hand. Your mileage may vary; as noted above, continue your draw-dry fire practice until you find the holster position that allows you to bring your piece into action quickly with a minimum of extraneous movement.
Bad Weather
If your stomping grounds tend to be wet and snowy/rainy, like the Pacific Northwest or Alaska, Great America’s also makes their very nice K #17 flap holster, which keeps weather off the gun but makes it take longer to bring the piece to bear. Bianchi makes a mil-spec flap holster for various automatics if more modern hardware is your thing.
Whichever rig you choose, keep it clean and softened (saddle soap and water for leather rigs, good cleaning with clear water and a little clear soap for synthetics) and it will give many, many years of solid service. A well-made firearm can last for a couple of generations if it’s well cared for; there’s no reason the carry rig shouldn’t last as long.
The fame of the 98 Mauser action comes not only from its utility in military applications – where in its many incarnations it is without peer among military bolt guns – but also in its ability to cross over into being a basis for a fine custom sporting rifle. Some of the greatest works of art in steel and wood to come out of the shops of fine rifle artisans are based on Mauser actions, with the 98 being the frontrunner.
There are, however, a number of cautions and important considerations to take into account when gunsmithing the Mauser action.
Pre-98 actions.
M94 Swede sporter
One of the most important safety notes involves the pre-98 actions. Since this is a forum primarily for the 98, the pre-98s are somewhat off-topic, but the following safety tip is crucial: Pre-98 actions, including the 91 Argentine, 93-95 Spanish, and 94-96 Swede actions, lack sufficient strength to be rebarreled for most modern sporting calibers. These actions should only be rebarreled for cartridges developing a chamber pressure of 40.000 psi or less. The difference between these actions and the 98 series is not metallurgical so much as structural – an excellent illustration and text can be found in Kuhnhausen’s Shop Manual for the Mauser[i]. It is best to stick with the cartridges for which these arms were originally chambered.
98 Action Types
The 98 actions, in all their variations, are a somewhat different and more complicated story.
There are several different variations of the basic Model 98 action design; these can be loosely lumped into three categories. These are the large ring standard 98, which the GEW98 and k98k actions are included in; the small ring 98 actions, to include the German 98az, G33/40, and the M1910 Mexican rifles; and the large ring “intermediate” actions, typified by the Yugo vz24. Of course, thousands of minor variations exist, and addressing all those variations would be impossible in the space allowable here, so let’s stick to the standard large ring 98s, including the WWII German 98k actions. For a complete description of every make, model and variation, I recommend picking up a copy of Ludwig Olson’s “Mauser Bolt Rifles,” pretty much the Bible for Mauser fans.
The Bible for Mauser nuts.
The 98k is, as mentioned previously, a standard large ring 98 action, (although some 98k pattern rifles were converted from small ring 98az carbines[ii]) and as such is one of the more versatile for customization. Other common examples of the standard large ring 98 include the WWI GEW98, the 1908 Brazilian contract, built by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM); the 1909 Argentine, also built by DWM; and the M1912 Mexican, built by Waffenfabrik Steyr.
Metallurgy
The military 98 Mauser actions differ quite a bit, metallurgically, from modern sporting rifle actions.
To clarify a couple of terms; there are basically two manners in which a rifle receiver can fail. The first is a “yield failure,” where the receiver ring may be deformed or “ballooned;” this type of failure frequently results in escaped gas and bits of cartridge case.
The second type of action failure is an “ultimate failure” sometimes referred to as a “catastrophic failure.” This is where the action basically explodes, and results in chunks of receiver flying all over the place, to include imbedding themselves in the shooter’s face and other vital regions.
Modern sporting actions (to include the newer FN and Zastava Mausers) are made from hard, high-carbon steel, and are homogenous throughout. Older military Mausers are made from softer, low-carbon steel that is heat treated or “case hardened” resulting in a fairly soft receiver with a hard shell or “case.”
The result of this type of construction is a receiver with lower yield strength than a modern gun, but a higher ultimate strength.
What makes the large ring 98 action capable of handling higher pressures than the pre-98s is the design of the receiver ring. The large ring 98 receiver ring measures 1.41” in diameter as opposed to the pre-98s 1.3”; also, the 98 action has a longer thread-bearing surface, improved torque bearing surfaces, and a large reinforcing web inside the receiver ring.
It is generally considered that the standard large ring 98 action is capable of handling most modern standard-length sporting cartridges.[iii]
Gunsmithing the 98 Mauser
Now I’ll admit that I’ve never based a custom sporter on a WWII 98k action – because I’ve never found an “action grade” gun or disembodied 98k action in a condition suitable for “sporterizing.” I have, however, used a variety of Mauser actions in building custom rifles, including a number of standard large ring 98s.
It is somewhat sacrilegious to cut up an original collectible military rifle for customizing, and I’ve had a few originals in the rack at various times myself. So, I try to buy disembodied actions where I can. I will also scour gun shows, pawnshops, and estate sales for “action grade” guns – rifles that have already been modified to some extent, making them fair game for gunsmithing.
From Olson – a disassembled 98 Mauser bolt
To convert the military 98 action to “sporter” configuration involves four basic steps: 1) reforging or replacing the military bolt handle with one that will clear a low mounted scope; 2) install a low-swing or side-swing safety, again to clear the scope; 3) drill and tap for the scope mounts themselves; and 4) restocking. Many excellent Mauser sporters have been turned out with the original barrel but given the condition of many surplus guns currently finding their way into the States, rebarreling sometimes becomes a necessity.
With a bit of luck, you can find a Mauser action or barreled action with the gunsmithing work already done.
A good example would be a rifle I built for my own use elk hunting. I’ve described Thunder Speaker here before; it is a 1908 Brazilian contract action, built by DWM, chambered for the .338 Winchester Magnum. My original intent was to use one of the large ring ’98 actions I had in the shop, fit a new barrel, stock, bolt handle, etc., which would have entailed no small expense. The expense of this sort of work can easily outrun the cost of a brand-spanking-new Remington 700 or Winchester 70.
In my case, fate chose to intervene at the August 1996 Tanner Gun Show in Denver, back when once could still make good deals in Colorado gun shows.
While sitting at my table, trying in vain to part with a few of my surplus stuff, a gentleman walked by with a rifle slung over his shoulder, the sign on it reading: “Mauser rifle, .338 Win Mag.”
Like a trout faced with a well-placed dry fly, I rose to the bait.
The rifle was the aforementioned 1908 Brazilian (large ring 98) action, with a teardrop bolt handle, Buehler safety and Weaver bases. The 26″ Douglas heavy sporter contour barrel was Mag-Na-Ported, a plus when you are talking about .338 Mag recoil levels.
Since the barreled action was already in good shape, I made few changes – I just replaced the military two-stage trigger with a Bold modular, added a Bell & Carlson Kevlar stock and a Simmons Aetec 2.5-10X scope on Redfield bases and rings, which I prefer to the Weaver design on rifles with stout recoil. I loaded up some ammo with W-W brass and 225-grain Barnes X boattails.
The first trip to the range was enlightening. Between the Mag-Na-Porting, and the straight-line design of the Bell & Carlson stock, the .338 didn’t seem to have any more perceived recoil than a lightweight .308. Very pleasant to shoot; I ran through all 20 rounds I had loaded before I realized it. Even more pleasant were the results on the other end of the lane; groups averaged about 1 1/4″, with the largest going just over 2″. The Simmons Aetec scope proved superb, very bright and clear.
From Olson – An FN 98 Mauser action
Cost vs. Benefit
When the project was completed, I had a high quality .338 Win Mag sporter with a total investment of about $500 – pretty much what I’d have paid for a new commercial gun in 1996, without the scope, dies or accessories.
Thunder Speaker is a pretty good example of the kind of “custom” work that any reasonably capable gun crank can do by him or herself – no rebarreling or action modification involved, as that work was already done. These kinds of project guns are readily available, often at bargain prices. I’ve since spent a little bit more to have a Winchester-style side-swing safety mounted, as the Buehler was too close to the scope objective when set to Safe.
Cost isn’t all that the true gun crank considers, however, and the chance to take game or gather ooh’s and aah’s at the range with a unique sporting arm of one’s own making, will often outweigh mere financial concerns. I know it does for me.
Inspecting the 98 action
When considering an action for extensive gunsmithing, the prospective custom Waffenmeister should inspect the following areas closely:
The bolt face should be clean and free of pitting and erosion.
The extractor should fit tightly and function correctly with a dummy cartridge of the appropriate caliber.
The locking lugs should be clean, rust-free, and show minimal wear.
Cocking piece/sear engagement should function smoothly and flawlessly – ditto for the safety.
Ejector box should have good spring tension and function freely.
If the original barrel is to be used, the bore should be clean and free of rust and pitting.
Visually inspect the entire action for rust and/or pitting. I’ve seen a few actions for sale that were pitted badly enough to be potentially dangerous.
If the action has been drilled and tapped for scope mounts, ensure the screw holes are not in the area of the barrel threads or reinforcing web.
The action should also pass the following standard function check.
Close the bolt and apply the safety.
Pull the trigger. Nothing should happen.
Without operating the bolt, turn safety to “fire.” The sear should remain engaged. If the striker falls when the safety is disengaged, you have a serious safety problem.
If the sear remained properly engaged in Step 3, pull the trigger. The striker should fall normally. The trigger pull should not be gritty or stiff.
If the action passes all of these tests, it should be a good candidate for your custom project.
Gunsmithing Do’s and Don’ts.
Do’s:
Have your action or barreled action inspected by a professional gunsmith prior to any customizing. If you are using the barrel already on the gun, the inspection should include headspacing.
When rebarreling, invest in a quality barrel. The barrel is the heart of a rifle, and a quality tube from Douglas, Shilen or ER Shaw will be worth the extra bucks.
True action and bolt faces and lap locking lugs. This process evens bearing surfaces and improves inherent accuracy.
Use an aftermarket modular trigger if desired. I’ve had excellent results from Timney, Bold and Dayton Traister triggers. Keplinger makes a very good single-set trigger for the 98 Mauser, which does require professional installation.
Don’t:
Open the feed ramp to allow feeding of .300/.375 H&H, or full-length magnum cartridges. This removes metal from the area immediately behind the lower locking lug – not a good practice.[iv]
Trust chamber stamps on used guns. A Cerrosafe chamber mold should be done on any and all used guns.
Fire any rifle with an improperly functioning safety mechanism.
Fire any 7.9x57mm Mauser manufactured prior to 1905 without first miking the barrel. A few J-bore (.311) guns are still extant – and may generate dangerous pressures if fired with S-bore (.323) cartridges.
And finally – please – don’t cut up or modify an original collectible! There are ample action grade guns around, and also ample collectors who will be willing to take your original off your hands.
The 21st Century Mauser
It’s often said “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” and this certainly applies to rifle design – given Winchester’s and other gunmakers run back to the original controlled feed design of the 98 Mauser. Paul Mauser’s M98 has set the standard by which all other bolt action rifles are measured for 120 years now. I’m confident that it will continue to be the gold standard of bolt guns well into this century.
[i] “The Mauser M91 Through M98 Bolt Actions – A Shop Manual.” Kuhnhausen, Jerry, 1991, VSP Publishers, pg. 160
Bolt guns kind of own the outdoor rifle scene west of the Mississippi. Here in Colorado during the general rifle deer/elk seasons, probably 75-80% of the rifles you see are bolt guns. So, let’s look at those first, then we’ll come around to some other options. And there are other options; here’s a teaser, “Browning Automatic Rifle” doesn’t always refer to the WW2-era squad automatic rifle.
So, why bolt guns? They are simple, strong and accurate. Bolt guns will easily accommodate the most powerful hunting cartridges. Their stiffness and solid lockup increases accuracy, a key consideration in the West’s open country where 200 to 300-yard shots are not unusual. They are easy to maintain, easy to field-strip, easy to clean and easy to use.
A nice Colorado meat buck.
Bolt guns are also handy in that they have one feature shared by few other action types, save single-shots: You can remove the bolt without tools and access the entire length of the barrel. That’s handy for clearing blockages or just running an oiled patch through the barrel after a day out in rain or snow.
There are too many bolt rifles for sale today to go into brands, but there are a few things to think about when looking for a good bolt gun:
Controlled-feed vs. push-feed. This is largely a matter of personal preference. Controlled-feed guns, like the Mauser, have a large claw extractor that picks up the next round from the magazine and holds it in place while the bolt moves into battery. Push-feed guns, like the Remington 700, are just like they sound, simply pushing the round ahead of the bolt into the chamber. Controlled-feed advocates make a case for reliability of feed, although in a lot of those guns you can’t drop one round into the gun and close the bolt; the round has top be picked up from the magazine. But this is mostly a matter of preference.
If you are looking at a rifle built on a surplus Mauser or other military action, most of those won’t have a hinged floorplate. This is a disadvantage in that it requires you, when clearing the weapon, to cycle all rounds through the action, slightly (at least, it damn well better be slightly) increasing the odds of an accidental discharge. A lot of cheaper bolt guns (think Remington 700 ADL) have blind magazines, which have the same issue. A hinged floorplate allows you to dump unused rounds into your hand without them going through the action. That’s handy.
Locking lugs. Personally, I like the old classic layout, two big beefy locking lugs at the front of the bolt. It’s easier to maintain a solid lockup and keep headspace with two big lugs than with nine little ones, like the old Weatherby Mark V has.
If bolt guns aren’t your cup of tea, there are other options.
Semi-autos are very popular these days and have probably surpassed single-shots in the Western game field scene. Bear in mind that most, if not all states limit you to five rounds or less in any rifle used to take big game; that’s rarely an issue in bolt guns but sure can be in a semi-auto. The AR platform can handle some rounds suitable for deer-sized game, while the AR-10 and guns like the old Winchester 100 and the various Remington semis can handle .308- and .30-06-level rounds. If you want more oomph, look into the Browning Automatic Rifle, a gas-operated powerhouse in chamberings up to the .338 Winchester Magnum.
Single-shots are still popular. While older designs like the Springfield are weak by today’s standards and require light loads, modern singles like the Ruger #1 and the new-manufacture Browning Hi-Wall are bank-vault tough and can handle any rounds you choose to feed them.
Singles have another advantage: If you are on a tight budget, some singles like the New England Firearms break-tops are very easy on the bankbook and can be had in a wide variety of calibers. If your budget is really tight, you can even have a shotgun and rifle in one go with the simple expedient of purchasing additional barrels.
Finally, there is the classic Western rifle: The lever gun. While most lever guns are 200-yard propositions for deer-sized game, there are a couple of notable exceptions. The Savage 99 can be had in the .300 Savage and the .308 Winchester, which lends some more power to a platform traditionally used for cartridges like the .30-30. And there is the fine old Browning Lever Rifle (BLR) which feeds from a box magazine, handles cartridges up to the .300 Winchester Magnum and has a rotating bolt head with bolt-action-style locking lugs at the front of the bolt; the BLR has been described as a bolt gun where the bolt is operated by a lever, and that’s a pretty good description.
No matter what rifle you choose, there’s another key decision to be made as well, which brings us to…
Cartridges
In recent years it seems like we’ve seen an explosion (pun intended) of new rifle cartridges. Some of these are commercial adoptions of popular wildcat rounds, some are purposely developed by gun and/or ammunition manufacturers. I’m not immune to the wildcatting bug myself; I’ve long thought of having my favorite .30-06 rechambered to the .30-06 Ackley Improved, which gives .300 H&H Magnum ballistics while still allowing use of regular .30-06 factory loads.
For the most part, though, I’m a practical kind of guy, and most of my rifles are hunting rifles. While plenty of folks love to play with custom calibers or line up to buy the first examples of the latest Eargesplitten Loudenboomer Magnum, I’m pretty content to stick with cartridges that have been around a while.
Now, admittedly, I’ve got quite a few more rifles than I need for just hunting North American big game, like buck mulies or big bull elk. I load for and shoot rifles in the .22 Hornet (developed in the 1920’s and adopted by Winchester in 1930), the .45-70 (introduced 1873), the .338 Winchester Magnum (introduced 1958), and the .30 WCF (introduced 1895.)
Most of these cartridges are readily available in any large gun or sporting-goods store; hell, you can buy many of them in Wal-Mart, at least some kind of ammo to get you shooting. But when it comes to availability of ammo, you still can’t really beat the old .30-06 Springfield. The ’06 may be 112 years old, but it’s still one of the best big-game rounds going; if I know someone interested in learning the ins and outs of hunting and shooting who wants to buy a single rifle for North American big game, they would be well-advised to buy a .30-06. It will easily handle anything from antelope to moose, although it may be a bit on the light side for big Alaskan bears and the largest bull Alaska-Yukon moose. But the ’06 has a huge advantage for those packing one gun across long distances, perhaps in airline checked baggage: If you lose your ammo supply somewhere en route, you can walk into almost any gas station, bait shop, or general store (there are still some around) and buy at least some kind of ammo that you can re-zero and get to work with.
The only other rifle cartridge that you can say that about it perhaps the old .30 WCF (.30-30, for those not familiar with the original name) and the trienta-trienta is popular enough from the Yukon to the Canal Zone, but not quite up to game like elk or moose. It’s strictly a 150-200-yard cartridge for deer-sized game.
I reckon the .30-06 will be around at least as long as I am. Rifle and cartridge design hasn’t changed all that much, overtly, in the last 100 years; most modern bolt-action rifles are adaptations of the 1898 Mauser, and scores of cartridges, wildcat and otherwise, are still based on the .30-06 case. What has advanced in the shooting world is metallurgy, ammunition propellants and projectiles, and optics. But a good case design is a good case design, which is why the .30-06 remains one old dog that’s learned lots of new tricks.
But, with that said: I have one principle when it comes to hunting rifles: You can shoot little stuff with a big gun, but you can’t shoot big stuff with a little gun. That’s why I generally go afield with a .338 Winchester Magnum.
Shooting legend Elmer Keith was also a fan of the big .33 caliber for big game, although he favored the wildcat .333 OKH, named for its designers Charles O’Neil, Don Hopkins, and the aforementioned Elmer Keith. The OKH was a .30-06 round opened up to take .333 caliber bullets. This wildcat round saw some use in western game fields alongside the similar .35 Whelen (the .30-06 case necked up to .35 caliber) until 1958, when Winchester released the more powerful .338 Winchester Magnum.
If I were to own only one rifle, it would be a .338 Winchester Magnum bolt gun wearing a 2-7X or 3-9X scope and a good stout leather shooting sling. With that, you can easily kill any big game animal in North America while not messing up a 120-pound meat deer too much. But that’s a qualified recommendation; I’m tall, big-framed, and not very recoil-sensitive.
Some folks are just the opposite. Mrs. Animal is small, tiny-framed (4’11”) and, due to chronic pain issues, much more recoil-sensitive. Her primary hunting rifle is a Ruger 77 MkII Compact in the rather interesting little .260 Remington, a good round for deer-size game, but one that will handle elk with good controlled-expansion bullets and careful shot placement.
1891 Argentine stalking rifle
If you’re recoil-conscious and bigger game is on the menu, there are some excellent old standbys, including the .270 Winchester, the .280 Remington and the .30-06. Short-action rounds like the .308 have been wildly successful as well, partly because they work. The old 7x57mm Mauser has killed big game all over the world – “Karamojo” Bell famously killed a lot of African elephants with it, a feat I wouldn’t want to attempt. Some years back I found an old 1891 Argentine Mauser action wearing a 7x57mm barrel; I put a butterknife bolt handle and a Redfield peep on it, stocked it with a nice slim English walnut stock. It was a neat little rifle, light, handy and shootable. I fed it mild handloads and killed a few deer and one javelina with it.
Of course, there’s more to recoil than the cartridge. My .338 is manageable in part because it weighs close to ten pounds loaded, has a nice thick butt pad and is Mag-Na-Ported. The worst-kicking rifle I ever owned was a small-ring 98 Mauser with a slick little European-style stalker stock in black walnut, with an 18” light sporter barrel in .308 and a 1.5-5x scope. It weight about six and a half pounds loaded and was a joy to carry but kicked like a bad-tempered mule.
Optics/Sights
Here’s a basic observation: Most people over-scope their hunting rifles. My favorite example is a guy I chatted with up in Routt County one year who had a 4-12 power, adjustable objective scope on a Marlin 336 .30-30. Scoping the ChiCom SKS is another fad of recent days, which seems like it’s pretty much the definition of polishing a turd.
Most folks, for most hunting, can do very well with a 4X fixed-power scope or a 2-7X or 3x9X variable. You’ll find that in most shooting with variables you’ll keep the scope dialed to the lower end of the range, as target acquisition is a lot quicker with lower magnification.
Long Rifle.
If you’re setting up a rifle for plains deer or antelope, you might want more scope; I have one like that, a Ruger 77 Mk II Target with a 6-18X scope. But that’s a specialized rifle for reaching out and touching speed-goats in open country; it’s not something you want to carry around all day. The damn thing weighs almost twelve pounds with scope, bipod, sling and a load of .243 rounds.
Whatever scope you buy, don’t skimp, but you don’t have to take out a second mortgage. Redfield, Weaver, Simmons and Burris all make reasonably priced good, solid scopes in a wide range of sizes and powers. It’s not out of line to spend as much on your optics as you’ve spent on your rifle, but you can get a decent scope for less than that if you shop around.
In Conclusion
Find a good rifle that you can handle, that you can shoot well, and practice, practice, practice. Get off the range and shoot in the field, from improvised rests and off-hand. Learn how to shoot in the field and you can hit anything, anywhere. Make sure your cartridge/bullet combination is appropriate to the game you’re after; I would not recommend taking on an Alaska grizzly with a .243, for example.
A good hunting rifle should last a couple of lifetimes. Consider it an investment, one that can be passed on to the next generation and choose accordingly. You won’t regret it.
It’s hard to overstate the influence John Browning had on the firearms industry. He designed firearms ranging from .22 rifles to 37mm cannon; from the classic, time-tested 1911 pistol to the famous Auto-5 shotgun to the historic Browning Automatic Rifle. He designed the M2 .50 caliber machine gun, still, after almost a century, the world’s best heavy machine gun. In fact, his list of cartridges and firearms designed is extensive:
Cartridges
.25 ACP
.32 ACP
.38 ACP
.380 ACP
.45 ACP
.50 BMG
9mm Browning Long
Handguns
FN M1899/M1900 (.32 ACP)
Colt Model 1900 (.38 ACP)
Colt Model 1902 (.38 ACP)
Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer (.38 ACP)
FN Model 1903 (9mm Browning Long)
Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless (.32 ACP)
FN Model 1906 Vest Pocket (.25 ACP)
Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket (.25 ACP)
Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless (.380 ACP)
FN Model 1910 (.32 ACP, .380 ACP)
S. M1911 pistol (.45 ACP)
Browning Hi-Power (9mm Parabellum)
Colt Woodsman pistol (.22 LR)
Shotguns
Savage Model 720 long-recoil semi-automatic shotgun
Ithaca Model 37 pump-action repeating shotgun
Stevens Model 520/620 pump-action repeating shotgun
Winchester Model 1887 lever-action repeating shotgun
Winchester Model 1893 pump-action repeating shotgun
Winchester Model 1897 pump-action repeating shotgun
Winchester Model 1912 pump-action repeating shotgun (actually designed by T.C. Johnson but based on the 1897 Winchester)
Winchester Model 1885 falling-block single-shot rifle
Winchester Model 1886 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1890 slide-action repeating rifle (.22 LR)
Winchester Model 1892 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1894 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1895 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1900 bolt-action single-shot rifle (.22 LR)
Remington Model 8 semi-auto rifle
Browning 22 Semi-Auto rifle (.22 LR)
Remington Model 24 semi-auto rifle (.22 LR)
FN Trombone pump-action rifle (.22 LR)
Crew-Served Arms
S. M1895 air-cooled gas-operated machine gun
S. M1917 water-cooled recoil-operated machine gun
S. M1919 air-cooled recoil-operated machine gun
S. M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)
S. M2 .50-caliber heavy machine gun
S. M4 37mm Automatic Gun
Of those, you can find the M1911, the Stevens 520, Ithaca Model 37m Browning Auto-5 and the Winchester Model 12 in the gun rack here at the Casa de Animal.
John Browning held 128 patents on firearms and associated devices. He was, truly, the DaVinci of gun designers, probably the single most influential gun-maker of the modern era.
A couple of years back I spent a little over a year in his home town of Ogden, Utah. While there I had several chances to visit the Browning Museum; if you’re ever in the area, I recommend it. The museum houses a whole bunch of neat stuff: Hand-made Browning prototypes, one-offs, design specs, you name it, it’s there. Some highlights:
The Man Himself.
The museum is first and foremost a tribute to the man himself, shown here at the entrance holding one of his more famous designs. Born in 1855, the son of a gunsmith, John designed and built his first firearm at age 10. He was awarded his first patent at age 24 and went on to spend his life as one of history’s most innovative gunmakers.
Some early Brownings.
The museum contains several of the senior Browning’s guns as well as some of John’s earlier pieces. John’s father, Jonathan Browning, had been part of the Mormon diaspora from Nauvoo, Illinois, and set himself up as a gunsmith on the move to Utah; his son took the baton and ran with it.
John Browning designed guns for every kind of shooter. Big game rifles, shotguns, handguns, crew-served military weapons, you name it, the agile and innovative mind of Browning broke new ground on it. He gave us the 1911 and its ultimate development, the Hi-Power, two of the finest martial handguns ever made. He gave us the Auto-5, the first successful commercially produced semi-auto shotgun. He gave us the Superposed, the first successful over/under shotgun, a refined version of which is still made today as the Citori. He gave us the original America’s rifle, the 1894 Winchester, and its pistol-caliber counterpart, the Winchester 1892. He gave us the bottom-eject Ithaca 37 and the reed-slim bottom-eject Browning .22 semi-auto. He truly was a legend in the world of gun design.
The Browning museum is the repository for a lot of John Browning’s genius – including some significant hand-made prototypes.
Most gun folks are familiar with the Auto-5, one of John Browning’s most famous inventions. But it wasn’t his first semi-auto shotgun. Here are two prototypes, hand-made by the man himself, of a semi-auto shotgun based on a toggle action – yes, that’s right, like a Luger.
Toggle-action shotguns!
Browning was concerned about infringing on the Borchardt/Luger design, so instead produced the first prototype of what became the immortal Auto-5; note that the original didn’t have a handle on the bolt, but rather the bolt was (oddly) connected by an operating rod to a handle on the underside of the stock. That was an oddity that Browning corrected in the second prototype, which lead to the production models.
The second and third Auto-5 prototypes.The first and last production Auto-5s.
A row over from the Auto-5 one can find the rifle racks, including the prototypes for both the Winchester ’92 and ’94 rifles. The ’92 was immortalized in any number of Western movies; John Wayne owned several examples and was a fan of the rifle. It’s light, handy, fast into action and packs a decent punch at short range. The ’94 has probably killed more deer in North America than any other single rifle design and is still one of the best lever guns available. The ’94 is most commonly found chambered for the .30-30, one of the most popular rifle cartridges ever made; the trienta-trienta is still in common use from the Yukon to the Canal Zone.
1892 Prototypes1894 Prototypes
Last but not least, some of the finest handguns ever devised came from the mind of Browning. At the museum you can see his first auto pistol, gas-operated even, as well as the prototypes of the 1911 and the Hi-Power:
The first Browning auto pistols.Browning’s hand-made 1911 prototype.
The original building where John Browning and his brothers designed and built fin guns is only a few blocks away from the museum as well, but there is a sad note there; the building is identifiable by the patina remaining that shows where the “Browning Bros” and “1875” signs were, but the edifice is now empty and seemingly abandoned – a sad note for a structure from which emanated some of the finest firearms ever built.
The Browning HQ, as was.
John Browning was a singular mind. He was, as I’ve said, the DaVinci is firearms; no other single person in the late 19th/early 20th century had the influence on firearms design that he did. If you own more than a couple of guns, chances are you have a Browning design or a derivative thereof in your collection.
If you’re ever in Ogden, Utah, stop by the Union Station building and visit the Browning Museum. It’s worth the relatively few shekels you’ll spend to see some unique pieces of American firearms history.
The shooting world has been largely overtaken with the Tacticool craze.
That’s OK and probably inevitable to some degree. Why? Because these kinds of trends have always taken hold in the shooting world. Prior to World War I, the hunting and outdoor rifle trade was dominated by lever-actions. Following that Great War, thousands of returning doughboys found they had become accustomed to their 1903 Springfield and Pattern 17 Enfield bolt guns, and so the manufacturers responded to their new preferences with great pieces like the Winchester 54 and the Remington 720/722.
Now our military uses arms crafted of aluminum and black plastic, with detachable magazines, pistol grips and the other “evil” accoutrements of the modern “assault rifle.” The shooting community likewise largely prefer these types of arms, and in truth I have a couple of AR-15s myself. They are versatile and a hell of a lot of fun.
But my first love remains with walnut and blued steel. Holding a Curio & Relics (C&R) license allows me to buy arms over 50 years in age and have them shipped to me directly, and I have made heavy use of that license over the last decade or so. Well cared for, a gun can easily last over a century, and there are many, many fine old arms on the various auction sites. Some are high-priced collector’s pieces, but others are slightly worn or refinished guns that won’t excite hardcore collectors but will still give first-rate service and many can be had at bargain prices.
I’ve been shooting and hunting for about forty-five years now. Over those years, I’ve played with a lot of older firearms, most but not all now being C&R eligible. So, while the Tacticool craze continues, in this article we’ll set the black plastic aside for a while and instead, examine some of these fine old examples of the gunmaker’s craft.
Rifles
I can tell you about an interesting… well, intersectionality, in this category. My very favorite hunting rifle crosses the gap between C&R and Tacticool. Sort of.
Thunder Speaker on the bench
Thunder Speaker (yes, I name my favorite guns) was built on a 1908 DWM 98 Mauser action, qualifying it as a C&R arm. But that’s due to the legal definition of a firearm’s action as the defining, serialized portion of the total piece regulated as “firearm,” as that action is the only piece of Thunder Speaker that isn’t modern. Why? Because it’s a hunting rifle. That 100+ year old action wears a Douglas heavy sporter barrel in .338 Win Mag. My philosophy in such matters being that you can shoot little stuff with a big gun but you can’t shoot big stuff with a little gun, and Thunder Speaker will let daylight in both ends of a moose, the long way. The rifle also has a Bell & Carlson Kevlar stock and a Simmons Aetec scope. It’s a good, solid rifle–accurate, powerful, and bank-vault tough. So why choose a century-old 98 Mauser action for this rifle when the rest of it is as modern as next week?
Thunder Speaker at work
Because of the nature of the older Mausers. These older guns are made of relatively soft, mild steel, which is case-hardened. This results in a slightly softer action with a hardened “shell.” Modern rifles are manufactured of hard, high-carbon steels, and the structure of that steel is homogeneous throughout. There are advantages to this. Modifying the action doesn’t result in dangerous weakening unless minimum specs are invaded. Also, the tolerances of the machine work in newer guns is typically better.
In older Mausers, modifying the action, say to open the feed ramp to allow for longer magnum cartridges, can break the case-hardening and dangerously weaken the action. However, the older actions have two advantages, both seen in the event of a failure of the gun in an overpressure situation: a case-hardened action has a lower yield strength but a higher ultimate strength, and in the event of a catastrophic failure will split or balloon rather than explode. In a hunting rifle, where there is always the slight but ever-present chance your barrel may become obstructed without you noticing, that’s an important point.
But mostly, I use old Mauser actions because I love them. Back in the 1990s, there were huge carload lots of surplus Mausers being imported from the newly liberated eastern European nations, and a lot of them were the tough, desirable 98 actions. You could pick up one of these guns for a hundred bucks or so. Lots of them were converted into affordable, reliable, powerful sporters.
And for a few more bucks (OK, quite a few more), you can get the ultimate expression of the Mauser design, a pre-64 Winchester Model 70. The ubiquitous Remington 700 is another great bolt-action gun, but run the serial number before buying. The best Remington guns were made when the company was still owned by DuPont, which means prior to 1993.
But enough about bolt guns. Are lever actions your thing? There are tens of thousands of old Winchester 94s out there. This John Browning design is the rifle that predated the AR-15 as America’s Rifle; find yourself a pre-64 gun, with the beautiful old Winchester deep blue finish and a hand-fitted walnut stock, and you’ve got yourself a true American icon. If something more unusual appeals, there are tons of old Savage 99s out there, typically at lower prices than the Winchesters. The Savage 99 is a neat old piece, a hammerless, streamlined lever gun firing powerful cartridges like the .250-3000 and .300 Savage. The Savage has a rotary magazine and older examples have a neat little magazine cartridge counter in a window on the left-hand side of the frame, so you always know how many rounds you have available. The Marlin 336 is also a great piece and affordable but again caution is in order; find yourself an old New Haven gun, built when Marlin was still Marlin (prior to 2007) and, preferably, before the addition of the idiotic cross-bolt safety.
How about semi-autos? The scary-looking tacticools aren’t the only game in town. The great old Winchester 100 is functionally identical to an AR-10, right down to the detachable magazine (although the Winchester’s capacity is 5 rounds), but the pre-64 guns are, again, nicely appointed with fine walnut and polished blued steel. The post-64 guns are a little rougher, with rolled basket-weave patterns on the stock instead of cut checkering and slightly lower quality finish, but they are still good solid arms. The Remington 742 is another vintage semi-auto, this one available in long, full-power rounds like the .30-06, and there are even old Remington 81 Woodsmasters, the old “Piano Legs” around, although those command pretty high prices if they are in good shape.
I could go on about rifles at considerable length, but let’s move on to…
Shotguns
If there is such a thing as history’s most versatile firearm, it’s probably a 12-gauge pump shotgun. If you can only afford one gun, you could do a lot worse than to buy a 12-gauge pump shotgun. With light shot, they are great for quail; with slugs, they’ll kill a bear. Fortunately, there are a lot of good old used guns available. These fine old used pump-guns fall into four broad categories: 1) Winchester Model 12, 2) Remington 870, 3) Mossberg 500, and 4) everything else.
Top: 1944 Browning Auto-5. Bottom: 1940 Winchester Model 12
If you’re considering an 870 (or, indeed, any Remington) again, run the serial number before buying. You want a pre-1993 gun if possible. There are plenty of 870s available that meet this standard.
As for Mossbergs, there doesn’t seem to be a cutoff date. Mossberg remains as it has been, the oldest family-owned firearms manufacturer in American history, and that’s not the worst reason to choose a Mossberg shotgun if you’re looking to buy new.
But when it comes to fine old guns, you just can’t beat the pre-64 Winchester Model 12. It’s the gold standard against which all other pump shotguns are measured. Based on the John Browning-designed Winchester 1897 pump-gun, the Model 12 saw almost ninety years of production in one form or another, ending with the Browning-built carriage trade guns. Field-grade guns may be had for reasonable prices, but there are a few cautionary notes with the Model 12: the very early nickel-steel guns are safe to shoot but are not easy to refinish if restoration is your goal, and some of the very early 16-gauge guns still have 2 9/16” chambers, which could cause problems with modern ammo.
I have two Model 12s in the rack, a 1940 12 gauge and a 1941 16 gauge, both field grade guns with solid ribs, both bought as project guns, refinished and cut for choke tubes (Briley or GTFO). They are great, solid, reliable guns, either on the trap range or in the field; the lighter 16 gauge is my favorite gun for mountain grouse.
If semi-auto shotguns are your preference, again, there is an iconic piece of gunwork that stands out and, again, it’s a product of John Browning, the DaVinci of firearms – the Browning Auto-5. Not the new “A-5,” but the long-recoil original. Examples of the Auto-5 abound, and, with a few exceptions, don’t command huge prices; the Belgian-made guns run a little higher and, for some reasons, Belgian-made Sweet Sixteens can’t be had for under a grand. During WW2, the Auto-5 was made by Remington as the FN plant in Belgium was occupied by the Germans, and those American Brownings for some reason sell for lower prices. Ditto for the Remington 11 and the Savage 720, both American-made Auto-5 clones made under license.
Don’t investigate the Auto-5 if you’re worried about weight, though, as 12-gauge examples run nine pounds unloaded, with the Sweet Sixteen and it’s 20-gauge counterpart running almost a pound lighter. Again, I have two examples of this gun in the rack: a WW2 American 12 gauge and a Belgian Sweet Sixteen made in 1964. I love them both, weight and all.
There are other options. The excellent Remington 1100 was made for a long time, and there are many available at reasonable prices – again, you’ll want a pre-1993 gun. There are many, many others. Look around!
Prefer doubles? There are so many varieties of C&R-eligible double guns out there it isn’t funny. A Winchester 21 will run you no less than five figures, while an old Savage/Stevens 311 can be had for a couple hundred bucks. Surf any of the online gun auction sites and you’ll find tons of double guns at every level in between these extremes. Over-and-unders tend to be a little costlier than side-by-sides, until you get to the top-end guns, then the rule reverses for reasons I’ve never been able to ascertain.
Break-open single shots can be had for under a hundred bucks; some years back I bought an old H&R Topper 12-gauge single for $75, whacked the barrel off at 18” and stuck a fiberglass stock on it. Now named the Ditch Witch, it generally resides behind the seat of my pickup when I’m bumming around in the mountains. If someone were to want a gun for shooting rabbits out of the truck window… Well, I’m not saying I’d do such a thing, but if I were, I’d have the gun for it.
Speaking of light and handy weapons, let’s move on to…
Sidearms
My thoughts on sidearms are something of a mixed bag. I prefer modern semi-auto pistols for concealed carry, almost always relying on a Glock 36 for that role; although, I occasionally tote a full-size 1911 or sometimes a Walther PPK in .380ACP. So, modern stuff for that task; but for target shooting, woods-bumming and general outdoor stuff, I’m a wheelgun guy. Since concealed carry is a topic unto itself, I’ll talk about recreational and holster guns here.
Left to right: 1979 Ruger Security Six, 1974 S&W 25-5, 2012 Ruger Vaquero
A holster gun should meet three criteria: it should be light enough to carry easily holstered on a trouser belt or gun belt all day, short enough to clear leather quickly if you need it in a hurry, and powerful enough to handle any serious task you might undertake. Most major-caliber handgun rounds will do this, but personally, I’m a fan of the .45 Colt. My favored load, a 255-grain Keith-style hard cast semi-wadcutter over 8 grains of Unique, will blast a fist-sized chunk of wood out of the far side of a railroad tie and will lengthwise a cow elk. That’s plenty of power. Not surprisingly, it was a gun in that caliber that was one of the first real combat magnums.
Most shooters know of the old story of the U.S. Army in the Philippines and the genesis of the Colt/Browning 1911 and the .45ACP, which replaced the anemic .38 Long Colt in service sidearms. But what a lot of folks don’t know is that stocks of the old 1873 Colts weren’t sufficient for deployed troops, so the Army hurriedly contracted with Colt for a run of their New Service double-action revolver in .45 Colt for issue to the troops until the new automatic could be fielded. This gave us the 1909 Army Colt, a big, heavy revolver that packed a pretty good wallop. Smith & Wesson wasn’t slacking off in this time frame either; in 1908 they brought out the .44 First Model Hand Ejector, the famous “Triple Lock,” again a big, heavy revolver chambered for the .44 Special.
These two guns changed the way the shooting world looked at sidearms. None other than Elmer Keith described the Triple Lock as the finest revolver ever made, and samples of both the 1909 Colt and the Triple Lock command high prices today. But fortunately, there are other options.
My personal woods-bumming sidearms are a 1974-vintage Smith & Wesson 25-5 in .45 Colt, with a 4” barrel. Those guns run around a grand, but my other is a new-purchase (2012) Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt with the 4 ¾” barrel, and those guns can be had new for about five hundred bucks. Mrs. Animal’s outdoor sidearm is a 1979 Ruger Security-Six, which is unique in having the smallest grip frame I’ve ever seen in a .357 Magnum, perfect for her tiny hand. Security-Sixes run about four hundred and their fixed-sight counterpart, the Speed-Six, a tad less.
Whatever caliber you fancy, there are plenty of old wheelguns available. The single-action Ruger Blackhawks have been in production for a good long time and available in rounds ranging from the .30 Carbine to the .44 Magnum. In double-actions, there are lots of K, L and N-frame Smiths in various calibers. You can even find good used Colt Detective Specials showing some holster wear at good prices, and that’s still a damn fine CCW piece.
If you prefer autos, 1911s are great but there are occasional prizes such as the Smith & Wesson 39, a solid, reliable 9mm auto that goes for around three hundred, when you can find them. The ultimate design of John Browning, the 9mm Hi-Power, still commands a fair price but there are plenty of them available; a military surplus example with some holster wear can be had at a good price, and they are still good reliable guns.
Bargains are where you find them – and while we are on the topic of bargains, let’s move on to…
Rimfires
I put these in a category of their own, mostly because rimfire rifles and handguns are uniquely useful for low-cost practice shooting, plinking and small game hunting. And the options here are, very nearly, without limit.
When I was a kid, I almost never went anywhere without a .22 rifle in hand. I learned to shoot with the old .22 Mossberg auto that my Mom bought my Dad for their 3rd anniversary in 1950 (and I still have it), but when I was about 13, I used a good chunk of a summer’s haying and de-tasseling money to buy a Marlin 783 in .22 WMR. I proceeded to use it to kill a small mountain of squirrels, crows and woodchucks around the Old Man’s place over the next few years. The old Marlin is still in the gun rack and it still shoots as good as ever. Growing up in Allamakee County, Iowa, was awesome. I wandered the woods all summer, hunted in the fall, and ran a trapline in the winter–and that old Marlin was my constant companion.
Marlin 783 and 50-yard groups.
Bolt-action Marlins, Mossbergs and various other makes of rimfire rifles in this vintage typically sell for between a hundred and two hundred bucks. Lever guns such as the Marlin 39 and the 9422 Winchester command higher prices but can be had for under a grand. The semi-auto Marlin 60 may be the most popular rimfire firearm ever made, with over eleven million produced to date, and you can get these used for around a hundred bucks if you shop around.
Listing all the .22 rimfire rifles available would burn up more bandwidth than I can afford in this article, but whether you like bolt guns, autos, levers, or anything else, there are nice old C&R-eligible guns out there. Want a lightweight old single-shot? Find an old Stevens Favorite. Serious target rifle? Decent old Winchester 52s can be had for under a grand. Plinker? The Marlin 60 or the reliable Ruger 10-22 are available by the thousand.
And don’t overlook rimfire handguns. Brand-spanking new Ruger Single Sixes run under five hundred bucks, and you can get a vintage model with a better trigger for around three. The original Ruger Standard Auto has moved into C&R territory now. I have one, a 6” version the Old Man bought mail order (!) around 1960. I’ve run a lot of rounds through that and my other .22 sidearm, a 1930s-vintage Colt Officer’s Target. Great guns, cheap and easy to shoot, reliable and solid.
Top: 1930s Colt Officers Target. Bottom: 1960 Ruger Standard Auto.
As with rifles, there are too many types of rimfire handguns around to list. You couldn’t go wrong with Smith & Wesson K-22 or the smaller J-frame Kit Gun. The old Rugers are great but don’t pass up a High Standard auto; they are in big demand as target guns but there are many available. The Colt Diamondback was available in .22LR, as was the old Ruger SP-101, if double-action revolvers are your preference. The old Harrington & Richardson break-top revolvers in .22LR were made in the thousands and can be had for a couple hundred bucks.
Shop around! The possibilities are nearly endless.
Now, if they would just bring back the .25 Stevens rimfire…
Conclusion
The world of fine old guns is so great, I couldn’t possibly list even a fraction of them in the space the Glibertarian editors would allow me. I could write an entire article on old shotguns, another on big-game rifles, one on centerfire sidearms. But in this segment, I necessarily gave you all the broad strokes, leavened with my lengthy experience in the shooting world.
The Tacticool world will always be with us now, and that’s fine. But I suspect there are plenty of folks who still appreciate walnut and blued steel. If you are one of them, great! My advice is this: get a C&R license. Make note of all the various auction sites. Drop in to your local gun dealer and even pawn shops on occasion; you never know where you’ll find a prize. Try the unusual old guns.
And remember this: antiques, guns made before 1898, are exempt from even the C&R regulation, and can be bought, sold, traded and shipped directly with no paperwork.
