The Once and Future 7mm Kings

The Once and Future 7mm Kings

Herr Mauser may not have known he was designing the King, but by 1910 his 7x57mm cartridge had scaled the heights of big game cartridges. From roe deer to elephants, it had settled everything. See Bell, Karamojo, W.D.M.  By 1970, the 7mm Remington Magnum had added...

22 Creedmoor and Friends

22 Creedmoor and Friends

Debating the merits of “deer cartridges” has heated as many hunting cabins as have potbellied stoves. Most such disputations are ignited by calibers from 24 through 35, but if you want a barn burner of a conflagration, toss a 22 centerfire onto the embers. In the...

The Cartridges of Townsend Whelen

The Cartridges of Townsend Whelen

It arrived in a small box not on its first trip. The return address, hand-scrawled, was unfamiliar. I slit the tape. Inside, a nest of paper held an old hunting knife, a fixed-blade Marble’s of the type popular in deer camps when I was young. It had been well used,...

Where Rifle and Shotguns Meet

Where Rifle and Shotguns Meet

"East is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet.” So said Rudyard Kipling, and it’s been gospel since the day he wrote it. It’s elementary stuff, but if you’ll bear with me a bit, there’s a point at the end of this little discussion. Shotguns and...

The Shape of the Future

The Shape of the Future

Another flight around the sun and here we are, 138 years after the invention of the first centerfire, bottlenecked, smokeless powder cartridge, the 8x50mm Lebel, watching cartridges evolve. For better or worse.  The “better” part of this equation are the bullets. In...

How to Select Your Next Hunting Cartridge

How to Select Your Next Hunting Cartridge

The panoply of centerfire rifle cartridges extant in 2023 isn’t just extensive; it’s redundant. Navigating it to select the ideal for your needs, desires and styles of hunting can be overwhelming. We have at least 25 varieties of 30 caliber cartridges, 15 7mms, 10...