Gun Digest October 2016

I often view the month-long archery season as a primer for October’s first rifle season, as well as an opportunity to get some advanced scouting in. I’ll typically use this time to fine tune my marksmanship skills, work up hand loads, and make sure I get my scope and rifle dialed in to perfection in real-world shooting scenarios. Since the majority of my in-state hunting is of the public land, DIY variety, it means one of the biggest challenges is dealing with pressure from other hunters, a variable that’s never consistent or predictable. No matter how well you prepare for big game rifle season, chances are you’ll run through plans A through Z—and maybe even a considerable portion of the Hebrew alphabet—before you find success. The reason I invest so…

When you’re dealing with harsh conditions and need a budget-friendly optic that doesn’t sacrifice quality, Bushnell’s Trophy Xtreme line of optics delivers. On the binocular side, there’s currently three options—8x56, 10x50 and 12x50—while the spotting scope variant is available in 16-48x50 and 20-60x65 options. Both binos and spotters are built with a waterproof design and feature rugged rubberized exteriors that can handle serious abuse in the field. The spotting scopes come with small frame tripods and feature a Porro prism design. The binos feature BaK-4 Porro prisms and fully multi-coated lenses for maximum light transmission and optimum brightness in all light conditions. The large center focus knob is oversized to permit use with gloved hands, and heavily textured rubber armor allows for a solid purchase no matter the weather. Three-step,…

The .26 Nosler is a new cartridge submitted for approval to SAAMI in June 2013. The round’s formal launch took place at the 2014 SHOT Show. The .26 Nosler, the first cartridge to bear the Nosler family’s name, was designed to take advantage of the inherently accurate and high-BC 6.5mm (.264-caliber) bullets. Based on a shortened .404 Jeffery case, the .26 Nosler case is non-belted, thus, it headspaces off of the shoulder to further enhance accuracy. The .26 utilizes a standard .30-06-length action and likes a 1:9-twist barrel. Bob Nosler, CEO/president of Nosler, Inc., said this is a quintessential deer, antelope, and long-range target cartridge. The case is necked down to 6.5mm with a 40-degree shoulder. The rim is rebated to .532-inch, so a belted magnum bolt face requires no…

King of Scouts? I am an avid reader of Gun Digest and enjoyed the recent article, “Scout’s Honor,” about scout rifles and the Gunsite Scout Rifle Conference, as I’ve pursued this interest for many years. For my personal scout rifle I had settled on a slight alteration of the Savage Hog Hunter, wanting the slightly longer barrel for more oomph and accuracy. It was fun to modify for the 10-round mag and swap out the stock for something a bit more robust without much weight increase. I’ve been happy with that setup thus far. I do have a question: At the end of the article, the author gives the scoring position of several of the brands of rifles...I would love to hear about the No. 1 spot. Savage? That Winchester…

GUN BOOKS Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 4th Edition By Jim Supica & Richard Nahas From Schofield Revolvers to M&P AR-15s, for more than 150 years Smith & Wesson has produced some of the world’s most desirable firearms. Gun Digest offers the tools needed to know, appreciate and add more iconic guns to their collections. The newly updated Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson 4th Edition is the industry’s most comprehensive guide to the well-respected manufacturer’s firearms. Author Jim Supica and Richard Nahas provide the most current and accurate values for nearly 800 models of Smith & Wesson, covering revolvers, semi-auto pistols, shotguns, rifles, military arms and other collectibles, all across 6 condition grades. If Smith & Wesson’s guns make your day, then you need the Standard Catalog of…

Every once in a while, you pick up a new rifle and find that you have difficulty putting it down. You examine it minutely and run your hands over it. You work the bolt repeatedly, shoulder the gun and maybe dry fire it a few times, and a little voice inside your head says, “This one’s a shooter.” That was my first thought when I picked up Browning’s new X-Bolt Long Range Hunter Stainless rifle. This model was introduced earlier this year along with its somewhat better-known stablemate, the X-Bolt Hell’s Canyon Speed rifle, which has seemingly hogged the media spotlight since birth. I really don’t know what it was, but this new Long Range Hunter spoke to me, whispering sweet promises of tight bullet groupings down range. Maybe it…