Several years ago while attending a media event in Wyoming, the opportunity arose to shoot alongside Robert Brantley, who had recently won the King of 2 Miles competition. Ever since that trip, shooting steel at long range has been in the back of my mind. The trouble is that Extreme Long Range (ELR) rigs are very expensive, to say the least, and the gunsmiths that build them are equally expensive and at least twice as rare as the rifles themselves. Even harder than finding a rifle is finding a place to shoot such extended ranges. Thankfully home is not far from several places where if desired, targets can be placed beyond the 1,000 yard mark with relative ease and if one does not mind the hike, there are even a few places to shoot safely to a mile or maybe even a bit further. ...Read More >

When Winchester 680 was first introduced, it was a burn rate looking for a cartridge. Too slow to work in the magnum handgun cartridges then available and too fast for use in most rifle cartridges, W-680 struggled to find its niche. When it was reintroduced by Accurate Arms in 1987, the market had changed enough that AA-1680 was able to find a place with devotees of smaller cartridges and wildcats, but the lack of a popular cartridge that fit the burn rate caused limited demand. In 1987, the cartridges that best fit AA-1680’s burn rate were the 22 Hornet, the fantastically accurate 221 Fireball, and especially the 7.62x39mm Russian. It would take another 20 years for the market to catch up to this small-grained, dynamic propellant. ...Read More >

Q: I own a Colt Lightning in 38-40 WCF and would like to shoot it using smokeless powder loads if possible. Most of the data I have found, such as from Hodgdon, is for use in revolvers at around 700 to 800 fps. I also own two other rifles that I would like to shoot with smokeless powders, including a Whitney Kennedy in 40-60 WCF and a Marlin Model 1881 Lightweight chambered in 32-40 WCF. I have a copy ...Read More >

This cartridge will appear as a mystery to most riflefolk unless they are Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifle fans. Yet its muzzle energy is nearly equal to the modern 308 Winchester and only ten percent below the modern 358 Win. There is even disagreement as to the proper name for the round. References show 9.5x56mm Mannlicher-Schöenauer (M-S), 9.5x57 M-S, 9.5x57.5 M-S, 9.5 M, 9.5 Express, 9.5 M-S, 9.5 Mann and probably a few others. An interesting fact is that the chronicles tell us the cartridge is of Austrian origin, and the Austrians had the strange habit of measuring case length beginning at the front of the rim. The rest of the planet considers case length as, well, case length. Thus, the 56mm figure, the actual case length is 57mm for regular folks. ...Read More >