American Hunter ¶ Our annual roundup of new hunting guns, ammo and optics ¶ Spring is here ... time to buy a new gun. More specifically, it's time to take a look at the latest offerings and to determine if you just have to have a new upland gun or a special rifle for that once-in-a-lifetime hunt out West or across the pond. If you're like us, always hankering to get a taste of what's new, what's improved, this is the story for you-our annual...

Great selection of American made rifles from Henry, a legendary name in firearms. Henry rifles are accurate, reliable and affordable. Features Henry Lever Action, Golden Boy, Big Boy, Varmint Express, Mini Bolt Youth, US Survival AR-7, Pump Action and new Acu Bolt. List of area dealers included. FREE ¶ www.henry-guns.com ¶ Henry Repeating Arms...

The premise of the .45 Glock Automatic Pistol is to provide the ballistics of the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol in a smaller platform. The .45 GAP cartridge case is .138" shorter than the .45 ACP and the overall length more closely matches the .40 S&W. The goal of the .40 S&W was to put a major-caliber cartridge in a 9mm frame. This time it is to put a .45 in a .40-size pistol. ¶ I think it would be fair to say that the .45 GAP was met...

This fine 1955-era Winchester Model 70 sports a Weaver scope and Dave would've taken his pictures with this Zeiss camera. His hunting accessories would have included a WWII surplus binocular and Kabar knife. The current Winchester Mode/70 has a scope with an illuminated reticle. Dave took these pictures with a Nikon digital camera and his current hunting accessories include a Browning knife and Swarovski binocular. The rifles have changed little, while...

Some have called it "sexy" and some "stylish." Whatever adjective you choose, Evgeniy Dragunov's design for a platoon-level sharpshooter's rifle is one of the most distinctive rifles in the world. The Dragunov and its clones now even make the nightly TV news in the hands of Iraq's current crop of domestic terrorists. ¶ In Russia, it is called the SVD or Samozaryadnaya snaiperskaya vintovka Dragunova (the Dragunov...

Marc Krebs is well known for his outstanding custom 1911 autopistols. Despite his respect for the wonderful 1911 service pistol, his first love is the rifle. And the rifle he admires most is the Avtomat Kalashnikova, the AK. ¶ Recent years have seen amazing innovations in custom rifles based on the American service rifle, the M16. Now it's the AKs turn, with Krebs Custom as one of the leaders. Some fans of classic blue steel and fine walnut...

BARNES' Triple-Shok X-Bullet line diversifies with several new weight and caliber combinations. New Triple Shoks include 53-gr. .22, 120-gr. 6.5 mm, 110-gr. 6.8 mm, 150-gr. .270, 120-gr. 7 mm, 130-gr. .308 and 210-gr. .338. Also available are the new large-game offerings in 225-gr. .358, 300-gr. .375, 350-and 400-gr. .416, and 500-gr. .458. ¶ CCI continues to expand its rimfire line with the introduction of several new .17 rimfire loads. The .17 HMR...

Nowadays shooter interest in old battle rifles is higher than it has been since the 1950s and early 1960s when so many were available at bargain prices. Not only is WWII a hot historical item, but so are many facets of American military history. Add to that the amazing assortment of old military weapons appearing out of the former Soviet bloc again at bargain prices, and we have many people actually firing these old guns. I have jumped on that...

Everybody I know including myself has one something in life that we would like to do over. Life is just that way. The firearms industry is in some vein the same. Timing is everything. The correct product at the correct time can be boon or bane. The .41 Magnum cartridge may be a perfect example. ¶ Cartridge History ¶ Introduced in the mid '60s, the .41 Magnum was considered by some to be the optimum self-defense cartridge and load for...

The .270 Winchester was introduced in 1925 and, contrary to popular belief, it was not an immediate success. Many American hunters preferred lever actions, while most bolt-action fans were devoted to the .30-06. The .270's flatter trajectory didn't mean much; few shooters could afford scopes, and within the limitations of iron sights, the '06 trajectory was more than adequate. ¶ As scopes became more common in the 1930s, the .270's popularity...