New verses old with our rifles.

[19elkhunter51]

I believe that experimentation is a great way to better technology. I personally don't give a rip about some of the current "new" alleged laser calibers, 6.5 bs being one of them.
I love my pre 64 Model 70 in 30-06. Great trigger, classic stock and once I bedded the stock, it shoots as well or better than any rifle out there.
I also believe that technology has really helped the "off the shelf" rifles. Lots of them come with attributes that in previous years you could only get with a custom rifle.
My favorite "new" technology is the laminated wood stocks. You get the best of both worlds. Stability and good looks. Don't get me wrong. Will a laminated wood stock EVER have beauty of a good piece of walnut? Not a chance. But you will work harder at making that good piece of walnut shoot as well as a laminated stock.
Someone mentioned optics as one of the "new" technology. Couldn't agree more.
I also think that too many "hunters" try to push their new wiz bang thunder clunker to distances that are totally unreasonable. Not nearly enough trigger time in conditions remotely realistic to hunting conditions.

 

[VernAK]

I own and shoot a 60's 308 Small Mauser action built by Husquvarna and imported by Smith and Wesson. The raceways on the bolt are as good as or better than my one off custom built hunting rifle, fitment is just as good as and it shoots out to 500 yards as good as (my custom built rifle). Don't take it hunting because it has a wood Monte Carlo stock that is flawless and S&W imported less than 1200 into the country so it's worth some money to the right collector which presently, is me.
Bought it at an estate auction for 300 bucks and contemplated shooting it for a year before I actually built a load for it and shot it. Bought it unfired with cosmoline on it.

Wears a 1" Vortex side focus 4-16 scope, nothing fancy, in Bruce Talley rings. I load 165 Bergers or Sierra's in Lapua brass with a proper charge and jump.

Fine rifle and Husky knows how to build a fine sporting rifle. Not just chainsaws.

Most of the modern rifles on the shelf are very inexpensive today and many are quite accurate but for reliability, I'll go back a ways. The Husqvarnas as mentioned are a quality rifle and very reliable. I have two because the local Army Fort sold them in the Base Exchange in the 50s and 60s for $60-$80 depending on grade. That could be a month's pay for a young GI. How many of us today spend a month's pay for a hunting rifle? Most hunters of that era had ONE hunting rifle.

I spend a lot of time on the range and help many hunters rig their new rifle for hunting in Alaska. Accuracy is not usually an issue but accuracy alone does not make the perfect hunting rifle. Great on paper or gophers!

I don't like the tiny ejection ports. Floor plates need to be locked and fixed shut. Feeding and function need to be flawless for me and very few rifles today are that reliable......even in the higher priced production rifles.

My rifle safe reflects my tastes as I have pre64s, Husqvarnas, CZ550 and Kimbers.
For an off-the-shelf rifle, The Kimber 84M and 84L are a perfect platform when they get it together.

For cartridges, I find that those designed off a military round [30-06 308] were designed to function well in auto load and full auto guns and are usually feed more reliably than many of today's long and sharp shouldered rounds.

Then ....make the damned rifle and sights fit you....like a fine shotgun.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I see I'm not alone with the Husky. I'd dread to take it hunting and ruin the beautiful furniture however. Paul Mauser was way ahead of his time when it came to designing actions. Hard o beat the Mauser claw or double claw extractor. Every one copies it but the original is still the best in my opinion. Husky has a nice website concerning their rifles. Good reading.

The only detraction with my Husky is the trigger and I'm hesitant to change it out. Don't want to devalue the piece. Guess I could install a Timney or a Huber but I haven't yet.

You can see I added a slip on Pachmyr recoil pad. The stock rifle has a solid butt plate. Guess the men of the 60's were tougher than I am. She has a bit of a recoil.

 

[ntsqd]

FYI I wouldn't leave that slip-on pad in place. I've seen the finish damaged from long term slip-on pad installs.

 

[30BR]

This came to me while watching hockey during the play offs. These new sticks the guys are using seem to break and let the players down all the time. Sure they can shoot the puck faster and are lighter to carry but at what cost. Now to me it seems thank goodness our new rifles are more reliable and not as prone to let us down. Then again our old rifles never let us down either. The big difference being our new rifles are supposed to be a more stable platform for bedding. This creating improved accuracy. So what do others think is new better then old for riflmen. If it were for hockey Iwould lean toward old over new. Lets discuss.

Old is only as good or as bad as you are permitted to carry. Remember the banana sticks? Guys made the puck do incredible things with those, so they were banned.
Shooters are lucky in that they haven't banned rifles YET... But I will take my Savage Axis 30-06 in the field anyday over my 223 AR...

 

[Gibbshooter43]

I know it might be just me, and the fact that I'm "old school" (pretty much because I'm old), but most of what I shoot has stood the test of time. I'll agree that there are some great advances in ballistics, and glass, and pocket computers and programs; and they are producing terrific results, but will today's "darling new cartridge" still be with us down the road. Or will a newer, faster, flatter darling emerge. If it does, and is still being produced after 50 years of trial and error, great. I will already have passed on and relegated my guns to any great grandchildren who love the lifestyle as much as I do.

 

[bdlesh]

Sadly we have become a society of price over quality. Back then everything was made as best that it could be. Now its how cheap can we make it as to save a buck. Bean counters are to blame for this. Also today not many have pride in their work. I have a small remodeling business and tell my employees, do the job right and the best you can. I work to make my customer happy and be proud when I walk away from a job. Sure there are times that things dont go right, but still do the best we can. Today you take a new gun out of the box and chances are there's something wrong with it, we hear that daily here. Makes you wonder who is doing quality control and if they care. With that said, if I buy a Ruger American rifle and complain about fot and finish, shame on me. I buy a top of the line model, I expect to get what I am paying for.
I'll put away my soap box now....

 

[ntsqd]

The bean counters are only the means, the Customer base is what drives those cost reductions. If every buyer of X brand of rifle bought the mid-grade or high grade rifle, do you think they would continue to make the entry level rifles? Our buying habits tell the mfg's what they should be making. As long was we as a society continue to stress price so will the mfg's of everything that we buy.

In a way this opens up the market for the niche mfg's. Because there are enough of us that don't want the entry level rifles and are willing to spend the money to purchase a better grade of rifle it creates the room for the BAT actions, the Stiller actions, the Mausingfield actions, The KOO rifles, the Cooper rifles, The Vudoo rifles, The GA Precision rifles, the Surgeon rifles, etc., etc., etc.

Put more simply in an analogy, when you have the option do you buy your engine oil at Walmart or your locally owned auto parts store? If Walmart is your go-to first option then you're part of the problem or the solution depending on how you look at it. FWIW I buy mine from my LAPS.

 

[Gibbshooter43]

I have to agree, but with a condition. I'm a middle class American who's retired and living frugally on a fixed income. I never worked a job that provided a large retirement income so Social Security and a little bit more must cover the bases. It doesn't matter if I go to Walmart or my local auto parts store. I'm buying the same name brand oil. Now if I were buying a cheap knockoff no brand named oil that's another story. So, to bring it home, as much as I'd like a custom rifle, I can't justify that on my income. But I do do a lot of research and shopping to find a much better than entry grade rifle from someone "stepping up" and needs the income to finance their purchase. Add some good glass on sale, and I have a gun that will shoot better than I'm capable of.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I know it might be just me, and the fact that I'm "old school" (pretty much because I'm old), but most of what I shoot has stood the test of time. I'll agree that there are some great advances in ballistics, and glass, and pocket computers and programs; and they are producing terrific results, but will today's "darling new cartridge" still be with us down the road. Or will a newer, faster, flatter darling emerge. If it does, and is still being produced after 50 years of trial and error, great. I will already have passed on and relegated my guns to any great grandchildren who love the lifestyle as much as I do.

Why I still load and shoot the venerable 308. I have a 338 Lapua and a 300 WM but I just like the 308. Had Pierce Engineering build me one about 6 years ago and it's all tricked up with everything and anything and that is what I hunt with all the time. Sure it won't kill at 1000 yards but half the fun of hunting (for me) is the stalk anyway. I want to get as close as possible all the time.

It weighs scoped and 4 in the belly, just over 7 pounds. Just right for this old (69) fart. Had the stock hydrocoated to match my Kuiu too.

If I had to chose just 2 firearms, a handgun and a rifle, the rifle would be a 308 and the handgun a 460 XVR Smith wheelgun. I have one and it's basically a rifle shooting a straight wall cartridge. Muzzle is 2600 fps. Not the best picture but then I'm not a photographer either. Lets just say it's all business.

 

[Don A Parsons]

I have the option to buy a fully rigged up wiss banger rifle for $X amount of funds,,, or refurbish a 1980 ish Remmy left hand 30/06 with one nice chunk of factory wood...

Pretty obvious that I'd rather spend extra to re-work the old long action even though it needs a new barrel,,, purhaps the factory bolt is pooched since the bolt handle Pops up a bit on firing. I'll know more what's going on this week...

Pacific Tool and Gauge can sort that out on this build. 30/06 to old school 308.

Kind of a funny build, but it will be a one of a kind when it's done...

Not to many 1980 Remmy 308 Winchester BLD's with a long action that I know of. Ha

 

[WildBillG]

When I started this I was really wondering if people thought old was more reliable. How ever this has turned out just as good.

 

[SidecarFlip]

When I started this I was really wondering if people thought old was more reliable. How ever this has turned out just as good.

Old is usually better unless it's you. I know that aspect really well. When you get old, things go to hell. I'm there believe me.

 

[rkcolt45]

I like my older rifles, from the late 60's other from mid-80's, but they've been rebarreled with new barrels (Kriegers) with specific twists. So I guess I have the best of both.