50 years of sporting rifles: we still use 100-year-old rifle designs. It's how they're made that has evolved

Guns Magazine, May, 2005 by Dave Anderson

This fine 1955-era Winchester Model 70 sports a Weaver scope and Dave would've taken his pictures with this Zeiss camera. His hunting accessories would have included a WWII surplus binocular and Kabar knife. The current Winchester Mode/70 has a scope with an illuminated reticle. Dave took these pictures with a Nikon digital camera and his current hunting accessories include a Browning knife and Swarovski binocular. The rifles have changed little, while other products have changed considerably.

I recently bought a pre-64 Winchester 70 Featherweight, manufactured in 1955. It is chambered in .243 Win, a cartridge which debuted in 1955. Even 50 years ago the Model 70 was hardly a new design--its features derive from the 1898 Mauser and 1903 Springfield.

Maybe the most remarkable thing about the Winchester is it is not remarkable at all. If I showed up at a hunting camp with this 50-year old rifle/cartridge combination it would hardly be worthy of comment.

A few knowledgeable riflemen might note it is an exceptionally nice pre-'64 Model 70; younger shooters might comment on its blue steel and wood construction rather than stainless and synthetic. But In terms of utility it's just another bolt-action hunting rifle.

It isn't just that it still works. Most anything from the '50s would still work if given the proper care. My grandfather s 54 Dodge still works. But it's obsolete.

The rifle is not obsolete. It's still state of the art. Changes in rifles have been minor and incremental. Modern rifles tend to be more consistently accurate (due in part to better scopes and ammunition), more durable when made with stainless steel and synthetics and certainly better buys relative to income. In terms of design and function we've hardly advanced in 100 years.

Nonetheless technology hasn't completely passed us by. The innovations have occurred not in how rifles work, but in how they are made. New production methods have reduced manufacturing costs, offered option such as lightweight titanium receivers, and provided an incredible array of choices.

Hunting rifles in 1955

In 1955 there were just four bolt-action centerfires made in America, the Remington 721/722, Winchester 43 and 70, and Savage 340. A few quality bolt-action imports were trickling in from Mannlicher, Mausers from FN in Belgium and Czechoslovakia, Sako and Husqvarna.

There were two semiautos, the 1907 Winchester and the new Remington 740. Remington's 760 was the only pump-action rifle.

Combining the model 94 and the new 88, Winchester made two and a half times as many lever actions as bolt actions. Savage 99 sales exceeded those of the Model 70 and Marlin's sales were similar to those of the Winchester 94. American gunmakers produced probably twice as many lever actions as bolt actions.

Fifty years later in hunting rifles chambered for all-around .30-06-class cartridges, we have two semiautos (Remington and Browning), one lever action (Browning) and one pump (Remington). "Traditional" lever actions from Marlin and Winchester are still popular, as are reproductions of other 19th century lever actions. Single shots were considered obsolete in 1955. Today several models, both modern and reproductions of older designs, are very popular.

Bolt actions have come to dominate the sporting rifle field. The swing to bolt actions was influenced in part by availability. As armies switched to automatic rifles, hundreds of thousands of surplus bolt-action military rifles found their way to the United States, selling for modest prices.

An entire industry grew up supplying components to modify these military arms into sporting rifles. For a decade or more articles on sporterizing military rifles were a staple of gun magazines.

American companies didn't exactly appreciate the competition. A 1958 Winchester ad read in part "Don't put your trust and good money into a cobbled-up rifle made from old, imported military actions slapped together with a barrel and stock."

Other factors were at work, too. The demand for powerful, flat-shooting cartridges, the tremendous growth of hand-loading and an obsession with accuracy was led by a small but influential group of riflemen called benchrest shooters. For all these purposes, the bolt action excels.

The economic boom following WWII resulted in an almost insatiable demand for consumer goods. For a decade after the war, rifle manufacturers hardly concerned themselves with marketing. They just made as many guns as they could and shipped them to dealers who were screaming for more.

By 1955 demand had slowed a bit. Once you have one .270 or .300 Savage you really don't need another. Competition, both domestic and from abroad, was increasing. Ways had to be found to stimulate demand and stay ahead of the competition.

From 1945 to '54. Remington and Winchester introduced just two new rifle cartridges, the .222 Rein and the .308 Win. Over the next 17 years, from 1955 to '71. Remington and Winchester introduced 20 new centerfire rifle cartridges. New cartridges stimulated rifle sales. A dealer might not be able to sell Joe Hunter another .30-06. but he could sell him a .22-250..338 Win Mag, or .444 Marlin.