It shouldn’t be surprising how many modern hunting cartridges can trace their ancestry back to military based roots. Ammunition designed for and used in the military gained popularity with service members returning from war who favored cartridges they were familiar with for hunting medium and large game. The 7×57mm Mauser, or .275 Rigby as it is known in the United Kingdom, is one such cartridge.
Initially designed by German manufacturer Mauser in 1892 it quickly earned a reputation as a solid performing round. The Spanish quickly adopted the model 1893 7mm Mauser and used it to great effect against US troops at the battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. US Military leaders painfully learned the effectiveness of the Mauser and the 7mm cartridge it was chambered for. So impressed were they that they based the 1903 Springfield rifle and the .30-06 cartridge off of the Mauser design. In fact, so many design aspects of the Model 93 Mauser were used in the Springfield that the United States was forced to pay royalties to Mauser for a number of years.
Despite Bell’s success harvesting elephants, the 7mm is really at home as a medium game cartridge suitable for hunting deer, and elk. With performance approximating that of the .270 Winchester, larger game such as bear and even moose can be successfully harvested with accurate shot placement. Modern 7×57mm loads are most often found topped with light weight 139-145 grain bullets, making the 7×57mm is a fairly flat shooting high velocity cartridge.
Modern factory loads are by and large fairly conservative with the pressures generated: after all, the 7mm Mauser got its start as a blackpowder cartridge. To truly get the maximum out of the round it helps to hand load your own for use in modern rifles. Propelled by 50.0 grains of medium-burning H414 powder a 7mm 139 grain bullet is capable achieving speeds approaching 3,000 feet per second at the muzzle, giving it a muzzle energy of around 2,300 foot-pounds. The problem with loading rounds over the 57,000 psi that the round is rated for is that few modern rifles are chambered for the round (one notable exception being the single-shot Ruger No. 1A), and many of the older 7mm Mausers that were imported into the American market are made from older steel that is not capable of handling higher pressures. As always, when developing a load for your 7×57mm rifle start at 50% of the recommended load found in your reloading manual and slowly work up to the desired load, keeping an eye on spent casings for signs of overpressure.
When shopping for a scope, there are three main things you really want to look for: ruggedness, light transmission, and optical quality. The most important of these is ruggedness. No matter how good your scope is, if it cannot hold up to the recoil of your firearm, it will soon be nothing more than an expensive and useless paperweight. The best scopes are rated for impacts of up to 1,000 Gs (1,000 times the force of gravity) meaning that they can be dropped or hit without losing their zero or damaging the internal assembly. Recoil isn't the only thing your optic must endure. Hunting scopes may be subject to a wide range of temperatures from well below freezing to scorching summer blazes. Additionally, the presence of rain, snow, ice, and other moisture means that these scopes must be waterproof and fog proof.
Top end scopes with excellent optical quality and 95% or better light transmission will give you the brightest clearest image of your target. Many shooters believe that a larger objective gives them a brighter clearer picture and, all things being equal, this is true. But the increased light transmission from the amount of light gathered by a larger objective pales in comparison next to the internals of the scope. While scopes with larger objectives have better light gathering ability at low magnification settings, if they are not multicoated and utilize high-quality glass the actual light transmission will be lower than a scope with a smaller objective but superior glass and coatings. No matter how big your objective is, if the scope is built using low-quality single coated glass it will not have very good light transmission.
When shopping for optics, you truly do get what you pay for. I've seen many many shooters speak with disgust about the poor quality of the scope they just bought. But when I ask them what their budget is for a replacement scope, they often don't want to spend more than $100 or so. I'm not going to lie, I've been that person before. It didn't take me long to learn that money spent on a high-quality scope with a lifetime guarantee from a reputable company is money well spent. You will want to spend as much as you can afford on a name-brand high-quality optical system. It's not unusual to spend as much or more on a high quality scope as you spent on the rifle it rests on. Many people will argue that bargains can be found, and it's true that they are out there, but they are few and far between. You can get by with a less expensive lower quality piece of glass, but until you've peered through a nice (and probably expensive!) multicoated lens system, you'll never know what you're missing. Spend a little bit extra to get the better scope and you won't be left wondering what you could have had if you'd spent a bit more.
Ruger had a prototype of his machine gun built in a local machine shop that would meet the military’s specifications. He presented it to all the major players in the industry, but not a one took a bite. Ruger finally landed a position at the Auto Ordnance Corporation in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he was able to spend three years perfecting the design of his machine gun. The final design was finished in 1944, but the gun never saw any action. By the time the machine gun was ready for testing, WWII was ending and the U.S. Government had no more need for a new light machine gun.
The Ruger 10/22 is the most popular .22 rifle in America. The 10/22 is offered in many different variations, is affordable and reliable. Another reason for its popularity is the availability of aftermarket parts.
The Revolutionary War Veterans Association started Project Appleseed to take you from being a simple rifle owner to a Rifleman. An American tradition, the Rifleman has been defined as a marksman capable of hitting a man-sized target from 500 yards away--"the rifleman's quarter-mile". A Rifleman also understands the heritage of our nation and honors those that sacrificed to found this country.
In 2006, just 18 events marked the beginning of the program. It expanded to 47 events in 2007; 154 in 2008 and 466 events last year; and 2010’s goal of 1000 events nationwide. It is the nation's fastest growing history-teaching and rifle marksmanship program and due in large part to grass roots promotion by word of mouth. This year, the 20,000th "Appleseeder" will attend an Appleseed. RWVA instructors expect to teach the 100,000th Appleseeder in 2012.
While weekend clinics dominate the Project Appleseed schedule, RWVA hosts specialized events to support unique needs. The Rifleman Boot Camp is a week-long clinic that provides additional marksmanship instruction including full distance shooting. In addition, some states have started women-only weekend clinics to widen the appeal to the shooting community’s fastest growing population. RWVA has also provided specialized training to improve the marksmanship of deploying soldiers through a partnership with the United States Army. These instructional partnerships are multi-day and tailored to the Army’s unique needs. Soldiers from the 2nd Engineer Battalion are shown in their field gear with RWVA instructors offering guidance.
