I recently purchased a large grocery box full of miscellaneous old and empty IMR and other powder cans, ammunition boxes, and bullet boxes. One of the bullet boxes has me stumped, as it is a Herter's Wasp-Waist Sonic; 30-caliber,180 grains. There is no example of the bullet, so I do not know what is meant by the description. Does it possibly mean that a section of the bullet was of reduced diameter, so as to ride the lands rather than be engraved by the rifling?

Wes Ross, Texas


I grew up with the many products of Herter's, within easy driving reach of their Waseca, Minnesota, outlet. Many of the products were described as "Perfect" in the Herter's catalog, which gave the buyer either a load of confidence or skepticism. When the Wasp-Waist Sonic Bullets came out, my two shooting friends and I couldn't wait to try them. The results were quite acceptable, but not

In the late 1950s, Roy Weatherby and some associates began to experiment with what we still know today as his largest basic rifle cartridge case, the 378 Weatherby Magnum. Since that time, the case has been necked up and down to create a total of five factory cartridges: 30-378 Wby Mag, 338-378 Wby Mag, the original 378 Wby Mag, the 416 Wby Mag, and 460 Wby Mag.

The 378 case is similar in size to the 416 Rigby, but a belt has been added and the case capacity increased by forming less taper in the body. Any way you look at it, this is major-league capacity for a shoulder-fired rifle. Enough so that the large rifle primers of the day were not "hot" enough to reliable engulf all of that powder in their blast. Part of "hot" includes duration of burn, and primers are already tough enough to make correctly.

Federal, one of several primer manufacturers, came to the rescue with their

During the past few few years, several bullet manufacturers have introduced long and heavy-for-caliber boattail bullets intended for shooting at extended ranges. In theory, these bullets offer remarkable performance over anything and everything that came before them. In practical application, other results are showing up.

Ballistic coefficient is a relative number that kind of describes a bullets ability to fly. Essentially, the higher the number, the more streamlined the bullet. Shooters of 30-caliber rifles used to be happy with a ballistic coefficient of, say, 0.550 (that's just an example). Now they want something more in the range of 0.675, or even higher. The dream is to punch holes in paper at 1000 yards better than ever before, or punch a hole in the vitals of an elk at some irresponsible distance; thereby greatly increasing the possibility of losing it so it can die a

The heading might be used to describe Winchester pump-action rifles of the 1950s and earlier, as well as the semi-auto Model 63. These were wonderful rifles that retain significant value some half a dozen decades later. Those in near-new condition are just plain expensive today, and the new-in box are off the charts. As good as they are, there's a better .22 rifle available to everyone today, at what I consider to be a bargain price.

The Browning Semi-Auto 22 (SA-22) is almost too good to be true. Balance of the five-pound, four-ounce firearm is so good that it can be shot one handed, in pistol fashion. There is no clip to lose or under-barrel magazine to dent, since it is loaded (11 long rifle cartridges) through the stock. Browning came out with the original version of the rifle in 1914, and it is said today that

It's not a person; it's a condition. Our emotionally challenged friend and former African hunter from Virginia says it frequently: "Ed Zacherly". He does that to make a point of emphasis out of "exactly." So, when a person finally catches on to what he says, or is trying to say, he comes back with, "Ed Zacherly!" The rest of his behavior and conformance to reasonable conversation is no better than this example. The down side is, it's apparently catching.

No later than yesterday (it's mid-September 2016), I was visiting with a friend and fellow shooter as we were discussing the 6mm BR cartridge, along with the various popular chamber neck diameters of 0.266", 0.272", and so on. I pulled one from

I am ready to go sight in my new rifle, a 30-06, and want to know what's the best distance to do this.

From time to time, the discussion of "best distance to sight in a rifle" comes up. This is a subject that deserves to be looked at in depth, although there is seldom widespread agreement.

For years and years, for whatever original reason, the standard for accuracy has been expressed primarily as the size of a group or series of groups, measured in inches and fractions or decimals thereof, fired at 100 yards. It's kind of like the now widely accepted standard for acceleration time of from zero to 60 mph for cars, which was started by Tom McCahill of Mechanix Illustrated magazine. There are, of course, many exceptions to this. The 1000-yard shooters may prefer to check load development at, say, 300 yards or more. Around-the-course shooters may be most concerned about how their loads perform at 600 yards, and not give a hoot about 100-yard groups. Nonetheless, most publications report in terms of 100-yard accuracy, and most shooters head to a 100-yard range when they want to see how they're doing.

Unfortunately, the old 100-yard accuracy check is not as relevant as it used to be. I'd much prefer to see shooting facilities begin to update, at least a little at a time, by installing a few shooting points at 150 yards. There's a number of reasons to

Over many years, people have asked, "At how much pull do you set your triggers?" The answer to that question cannot possibly be singular; there are just to many factors to consider. For example, I have bench rest rifles that are set at a little under two ounces, and some non-adjustable hunting rifles that require a little over five pounds. However, figuring that most folks are talking about field use with sporting rifles, we can eliminate the discussion concerning bench rest shooting.

Not all that many years ago, factory triggers could be adjusted over a meaningful range. This was especially true with the Winchester Model 70 and Remington 700. Also, to some degree, the Browning A-Bolt II trigger could easily be made to break clean and light, especially so by replacing the spring. But, there are enough stupid people to spoil it for everyone, so we end up today with what

Why did Winchester make the neck longer on the 270? I had been told it was to keep somebody from chambering a 270 round in a 30-06, but if that was the reason it doesn't work. I know that the longer body portion of the 280 Remington does keep it from being accidentally forced into a 270 or 30-06 chamber.

Tommy J., Texas


There are several cartridges that were developed from the 30-06 case, but the 270 Winchester wasn't one of them. Hard to believe, isn't it? Especially after all these years of "knowing" otherwise, and based on everything you've read up to now.

What was to become the 270 Winchester began to be created at Winchester in 1923, based on the 30-03 Springfield cartridge case. The 30-03 was the slightly longer predecessor of the 30-06 Springfield, which was the first really dandy military cartridge for the United States. The 30-03 was loaded with a round-nose 220-grain bullet, and the military soon decided it wanted a faster and flatter-shooting round. The bullet was

Dating back well over 40 years, the predecessor of Northwest Magnum specialized in carrying big bore rifles for heavy and dangerous game. When Northwest Magnum opened, that baton was passed to us. We now have access to an outstanding array of fine big bore rifles that were not immediately transferred to this shop in Salmon, Idaho. Rather than that, and recognizing that big bores make up a very small portion of the market, the rifles have been retained at the previous shop location in the midwest. Carefully managed and stored in climate-controlled vaults, the rifles are now ready to be announced as available through Northwest Magnum. That's because our customer base is greatly expanding, with big game rifles having been shipped across the country as far as both coasts and to Alaska. Some dangerous game

I've been reading some reprinted books that were originally published years ago, in the 1930s and 1940s mostly, and have come across the term "open point" bullets in a couple of instances. Is this what we refer to today as "hollow point?"

Jeff M., Oklahoma

Well, kinda sorta. The original open-point bullets date way back to military usage in the 1800s, and it would be a matter of debate to try and pick who was first versus who claimed to be first. Your question is presumed to be related to big game hunting bullets, and that answer is fairly easy to answer.

Western Cartridge Company began offering what they referred to as jacketed open-point expanding bullets over 80 years ago. Mostly, this was a straight hole formed in the front center of the bullet that ran about a third of its length. The jacket closed in all but the hole, and this could be referred to as a hollow point. However, hollow-pointed rifle bullets of today typically have an

I like to crab about most gun writers. The reason is simple enough; they do a lousy job. Instead of "gun" writing, they do "me myself" writing. To test a mid-powered rifle, there is typically a deer hunting story and a picture of the deer. There may be some conversation about how the rifle performed from the bench, but it usually falls far short of leaving the reader with a hands-on impression. The bulk of the articles are failures, so the overall grade I give them averages a "D."

Look at it from another angle... The movie "Quigley Down Under" spent some time focusing on a rifle and its capabilities. I believe, as a result, the movie was far more popular than it would have been without that focus. The viewer was able to put himself in Quigley's place. More than a few Quigley-type and other similar Sharps Rifles have been sold to admirers since the movie came out in 1990.

Jack O'Conner continued to report on the 270 Winchester over the years, and never let off. Consequently, today the

The date is 10 October 2015. Earlier this year, a few of us were visiting about the 26 Nosler, as well as the even newer 28 Nosler. The 28 Nosler is a full-bodied beltless magnum case that could be described as a somewhat shortened 7mm Remington Ultra Magnum, or perhaps as a cartridge very similar to the 7mm Dakota. As far as capacity goes, it's on a par with the 7mm STW.

All of us (in the conversation) admire Nosler very much for many reasons. We do not, however, see anything particularly new in concept with the 28 Nosler. All of us have several 7mm magnum rifles. When it comes to well-balanced larger magnum power, the 7mm Weatherby Magnum just can't be beat. This all-too-often passed-over member of the Weatherby lineup has proven over and over that it is wonderfully accurate, has measurably more power than the 7mm Remington Magnum, essentially equals the larger 7mm STW, and simply should be far more popular than it has been. For the next step down in power, both the 7mm WSM (Winchester Short Magnum) and the 7mm Remington SAUM (Short-Action Ultra Magnum) have exhibited extreme accuracy when built into match-grade rifles. Neither is particularly popular, and the Remington version is

Every now and then, a discovery is made at the loading bench or on the shooting range that makes me wonder why -- now in my 70s -- I hadn't realized that before. Sometimes these discoveries don't have anything to do with shooting. Here's one of them:

For decades, I have been choosing what I thought was the most popular brand of saltine crackers. But then one day, when I needed to replenish the supply for home, I saw that a sale on the popular brand had emptied the shelve at the local super market. It was going to be soup tonight, so I reluctantly picked up a box of Zesta Original saltine crackers by

I had the driver's door window of my SUV open yesterday. When I got back in and was heading down the road, I noticed a fly walking around on the back window. I don't like having flies in the car, and was silently planning its death when it flew up to the front dash on the passenger side. Opening that window a few inches was all it took; the fly made it to freedom.

I got to thinking... At the time the fly moved from the back to the front, I was on a highway going 60 mph. That's one fast fly! No... wait a minute, that ain't right; the car interior held its own atmosphere. I suppose it's kind of like the time I was riding on a train to Chicago when I was six years old. I tried jumping straight up several times (I was a good jumper in those days) to see where I would land in the car of that fast moving train. To my disappointment, I always landed right back in the spot from where I had jumped.

And, back in the days when people were still allowed to smoke on airplanes, that trail of smoke, rising straight up from the cigarette belonging to the butt head next to you, was something of a miracle. Do you suppose the same is true inside a

You've all seen it... guys who want to say something they think is clever. Probably started with sports writers. You know, the group that labeled left handed as "southpaw." What if the left hander was facing east? Would he then be a north paw? Is a right hander a north paw? I suppose so. Never hear about them. Sounds like profiling to me. Maybe even discrimination. Seems like there is always some kind of fuss being made over the southpaw. I'm right handed, and I think writers ought to say something a little extra about me! Maybe along the lines of, "For a north paw, he sure doesn't sweat much!"

I was reading one of the gun magazines earlier today, and on those pages a rifle barrel was referred to as a "tube" by one author, and a "pipe" by another. Hucksters. Knee slappers. Lacking in mental sophistication, I say. It's a barrel! Their efforts at being cute fail miserably, and do nothing toward encouraging the next generation of shooters in the direction of responsible behavior. What are the tires

The brass shortage for many cartridges, perhaps most, has been ongoing for several years. An administration in Washington D.C. that does not provide a clear and ongoing message of support of the 2nd Amendment has shooters in an uneasy position, to which they respond by purchasing inordinate amounts of supplies. Ammunition manufacturers have been working overtime to keep up with demand, and production has been focused on products most needed to satisfy the majority of orders. Loaded ammunition makes more sense for the strapped manufacturers, who in turn have the opportunity for greater profits. They know full well that the years of intense production will, in time, be followed by a somewhat similar period of low demand.

One of the forgotten cartridges during this period has been the 222 Remington Magnum. Loaded rounds have not been made for several years, but there has at least been adequate supplies of brass from Remington, even though such supplies have not been steady. Now it appears that they are non-existent.

The 222 Remington Magnum is a superior cartridge. It is well balanced, and highly accurate with several canister powders, something that cannot be claimed for many other bench-rest-capable cartridges. Further, the wonderful 6x47mm wildcat, easily made by one-pass necking-up of the 222 Remington Magnum to 0.243", is still an honored cartridge by some older shooters who understand its capability, me included. It has been replaced as a bench rest winner by the 6mm PPC and 6mm BR, which both shoot very well with very little load-development

Just days ago, a hunter came into the shop for some supplies. We couldn't help but notice that the palms of his hands were fairly torn up. He explained that he and a companion had to inch their way down a hill too steep to stay upright, so they used their feet to control against sliding, and their hands to propel them each next "step". He said they had gloves on, but the rocks still managed to make their way through to the skin. Their bottom sides survived the descent okay because of the greater surface area.

We've got a tip for that, having been in similar

I think people have lost track of what "good balance" in a rifle means. You don't even hear the term much anymore. Now and then a seasoned shooter will come into the shop and ask to see a certain rifle. They'll hold it for a moment, and then roll it to the left and right. If they like what they felt and saw so far, it will be drawn to the shoulder. It's then that we might hear the words, "Nice balance".

Up until 1964, there used to be a fair number of rifles that felt good in the hands. Almost everything available had a wood stock, which kept a sporting rifle from feeling muzzle heavy. And most stocks fit most shooters pretty well. Balance was not a mathematical thing determined by equality in weight from a given fulcrum point, although fore-and aft weight distributed equally from the area roughly

It's obvious that you like the 338 Winchester Magnum. Do you have a favorite?

Wes, Arizona


I have a Ruger 77 Express Rifle, no longer made, with an exceptionally nice Circassian walnut stock. My second favorite is a Weatherby Mark V Alaskan, because from day one it has persisted in shooting under 3/4th of an inch with plain ole factory ammunition. The Alaskan was an early synthetic-stocked rifle by Weatheby, in stainless steel, and they were built right. Of today's rifles, I especially like the 26-inch barrels on the Remington 700s and Winchester's Model 70s. If you're thinking about a 338, study the situation first and go after exactly what you want. If you'd like some input from us, or help in obtaining one, we're as close as your phone.

I wonder about the wisdom of hoarding ammunition. How long does it last in storage, and how about ideal storage versus typical storage?
Jerry S., Kansas

Excellent question, to which I have some incomplete answers. First of all, I've lived long enough to come to the conclusion, through actual experience, that extruded (stick-type) powders seem to store better in typical conditions, in loaded rounds or in bulk, than most ball or flake powders. There is no doubt that Hodgdon's tech people could answer this a lot better than me but, for retaining original performance, that's where I'm at. Ball powder can glom together to some degree, especially when exposed to particularly hot climates, so I tend to use something in that same performance range in an extruded powder. In ideal storage conditions, the difference is probably not so pronounced. I store above grade in a climate-controlled environment.

Flake powders are, again in my opinion, the worst of the three for retaining original performance in long-term storage. Only freshly manufactured ammunition is used in any serious match, because the decline in reliable performance is well known among these shooters. The spread in velocity, as well as an overall reduction, can easily be tracked with a reliable chronograph. If rimfire shooters are