GunsAmerica Product Reviews – Rifles

Ed Weatherby developed many of today’s most popular calibers, especially the flattest shooting, hardest hitting magnums. He also designed and manufactured the strongest bolt action rifle available, to handle the higher pressures of the then-new magnums and wildcat rounds. Their Mark V action is still recognized as the strongest you can get. Weatherby introduced the lower-priced WBY-X line last year and have been developing new camo patterns with the first-time buyer in mind. The most popular seller is the WBY-X Reaper.

Tactical shotguns exist. Some are even highly functional. But an AR lower with a truly modular shotgun upper has been elusive. The fully functional, magazine-fed 12 gauge AR-patterned shotgun has become something of a holy grail. The most successful versions to date have employed specialized ammo. But The Rhino just may change the way everyone thinks about tactical shotguns.

Selecting the perfect hunting or target rifle is only the first step in the process. If you can’t afford to have a custom rifle made for you, (or can’t justify the expense to your spouse), the next step is to make whatever adjustments are necessary to get your rifle to fit you properly. You can’t shoot your best with an ill fitting gun. You can cut the stock down with a saw and build up the comb and butt pad with various aftermarket add-ons, or you can take a more sophisticated approach. Ashbury makes it easy with their modular line of fully adjustable chassis.

Rock River Arms has taken two years perfecting their gun built around the AK magazines. You can buy a new, dependable 7.62×39 rifle, built in America on the more accurate AR platform, from a trusted company. The LAR47 weighs 6.4 pounds and has an MSRP of $1,270. It comes with a six-position tactical CAR stock, A2 pistol grip, CAR handguards and 16” chrome lined barrel. Both the lower and upper are forged not stamped like most AKs. There’s even a two-stage trigger.

Taylors had their new Alaskan Takedown at the range for SHOT Show, and we put it through its paces. Taylors is well known in the cowboy action shooting and historical circles. The Alaskan Takedown is a departure for Taylors, and a step into the modern era by a company that primarily deals with historical interpretations of firearms from the 19th Century. And we’re smitten. The more utilitarian chamberings and compact design make the Alaskan Takedown the perfect pack gun.

The Browning Automatic Rifle is a beast of a gun. I’m not talking about the svelte modern hunting rifle; I’m talking about the chunky BAR the US Marines lugged across the scraggly patchwork islands in the Pacific. That big son-of-a-bitch the Japanese hated. I don’t blame them. I sure wouldn’t want to face a Leatherneck with a shoulder fired full auto rifle throwing .30-06. The BAR, which was designed way back in 1917, was already dated in the 1940s, as heavy rifles were slowly replaced by lighter and lighter squad automatic rifles. Yet there’s still a mystique to the old gun. Ohio Ordinance has been making semi-automatic BARs for years, but they’re making news with an “updated” version that they showed off at the SHOT Show this year.

American Tactical Imports (ATI) is a worldwide importer of firearms, ammunition and tactical gear. We stopped at ATI’s SHOT Show booth looking for the newest product to show you. They were most excited about the new hybrid AR lower, so we checked it out. It’s a good-looking piece that combines polymer with molded-in steel inserts at critical points like the buffer tube takedown and the trigger group mounting screws. It’s lightweight and comes either as a stripped lower, so you can add your own parts, or as a complete lower with a retractable rear stock. MSRP is $50 for the stripped version and $170 for the complete lower.

American Rifle Company has been building and selling some great scope mounts, but the intent has always been to build guns. The company was at SHOT Show with the prototypes for these guns, most notably the M2 precision rifle. This is a multi-caliber platform that will handle everything from .308 Winchester to .338 Lapua Magnum. While their other rifle, the M5 Mausenfield, was built on a Remington 700 footprint, the M2 has a custom footprint. American Rifle paired this custom footprint with a Springfield ejector and a Mauser type extractor. It basically cherry picked the best features of the guns out there and then invented what the designers couldn’t find, like the toroidal bolt head. The bolt head has semi circular bolt lugs. The bearing surface of the lugs engages a spherical bearing surface in the receiver, creating very strong lock up, which means that the bolt is insensitive to its alignment in the receiver. This is just one feature that contributes to the gun’s overall accuracy.

Organized in 1894 in Utica, NY, Savage Arms is one of our favorite gun makers. Not only does it make great guns, but the company sells them at excellent prices, ensuring that you’re getting real value. In keeping with its philosophy of delivering value, Savage introduced a new version of its popular Axis rifle this year. As you may know, the Axis is America’s best-selling bolt action rifle. In a gun test we did last year with a number of bolt action rifles, we were able to get one minute of angle accuracy with it. That’s all rounds into one inch at 100 yards. The new gun, dubbed the Axis II Xp, is an upgraded version of the original Axis. For an extra $89 you get the famous AccuTrigger that’s not available on the original Axis, plus an upgraded scope. The new scope is a Weaver Kaspa 3-9×40, professionally mounted and bore sighted. The scope alone is valued at $100 more than the scope on the original Axis. Add in the AccuTrigger, and you can see what I mean about Savage delivering value. The Axis II also comes in a youth model, and, for the ladies, is available in the Muddy Girl camo pattern that we’ve been seeing all over the show.