30-06

We’re all guilty, each and every one of us, myself included. We’ll be at a summer barbecue, or sharing a beer at the local pub, or sitting around the campfire, and the cartridge debate will begin. And, once it begins, you’re bound to hear all sorts of boastful claims, insistent arguing points, hand-me-down tales of perfect, flawless performance in the hands of various uncles and grandsires, and all sorts of reasons why any other cartridge than the metallic hero receiving adoration at that moment is a silly, wasteful, childish design. Sometimes you’ll hear – possibly simultaneously if the crowd is large enough and the tongues are loose – that old cartridge should be put out to pasture.

With a receiver stout enough to handle even belted magnum cartridges, the Browning BLR brought the lever gun into the modern era, retaining enough of the classic lines to be visually appealing, but with improvements that changed the game.

It is sometimes said that “timing is everything” and, in this instance, that proved to be true for the United States military. As events transpired, there was a source for manufacturing modern military service rifles that could go into production in a relatively short period of time. This fortuitous happenstance was due to the fact that when the United States declared war, three American plants were completing production of the “Pattern 1914” rifle under contract for the government of Great Britain. That would lead to what we now know as the Model 1917 rifle.

The Kreighoff Semprio is not your ordinary rifle. The Kreighoff Semprio is not comparable to any rifle you’ve ever shot. The Semprio is – in a world of cookie cutter, wanna-be rifles – a different, undeniable breath of fresh air. Like it or hate it, the Semprio is irrefutably unique. Please, allow me to explain.

During World War II, the Ordnance Department granted a number of developmental contracts for various types of weapons. These weapons were given a “T” (Test) prefix and were intended either to modify the existing M1 rifle to increase its utility or were an entirely different type of weapon that might prove to be an improvement over the Garand.

The Model 1903A4 is a very desirable collectible U.S. military rifle, but beware of fakes. Read on to find out more about this intriguing rifle and how a true sample can be told from a fake.

In this day and age of short magnums, super-short magnums, long cartridges, fat cartridges and everything in between, it seems logical that some of our tried-and-true favorites may have become obsolete. So, is there still a place for the “old” .30-’06?

Several years ago I happened upon a rifle that blew me away. It was at Media Day at the Range, which is the day before our annual SHOT Show in Las Vegas, and I have to say, it takes a lot to blow me away. That rifle was the Noreen Arms BN36 Long Range Assassin, which you will recognize as an AR-15 pattern, in .30-06. I have always been a huge fan of that cartridge, and I always wondered if the rifle ran as well as my M1 Garands. This week I finally got a chance to put the Noreen to the test, ad I love it!

If you plan on hunting whitetail in the fall and are in the market for a new rifle, read this review. Mossberg’s Patriot line offers tremendous value and excellent performance–and this from a company most associate with shotguns.