Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
What I see in the changes in plain-vanilla rifles over the last 60 years is that the new stuff shoots much tighter groups, but generally doesn't have the exterior finish of yesteryear's.
Better machining; less hand finishing. For a hunting rifle, a $2,500 custom job won't really do you any better in the field than something in the $400 range.
For instance, I saw an ad in Shotgun News for Bo Clerke match-target barrels for a 10/22 at $80. Mr. Clerke told me his bores are held to a tolerance of one ten-thousandth of an inch. That's a whole bunch better than what Winchester was doing with pre-'64 Model 70s.
But I don't like plastic.
Art
Better machining; less hand finishing. For a hunting rifle, a $2,500 custom job won't really do you any better in the field than something in the $400 range.
For instance, I saw an ad in Shotgun News for Bo Clerke match-target barrels for a 10/22 at $80. Mr. Clerke told me his bores are held to a tolerance of one ten-thousandth of an inch. That's a whole bunch better than what Winchester was doing with pre-'64 Model 70s.
But I don't like plastic.
Art