Reference guides to rifles: action types, calibers, well-known models, history, and how to choose one for hunting or sport.
15 pages
Article · Rifles
The Mauser 98 was the 1898 German service rifle and became one of the most influential bolt-action designs. Its controlled-round feed, dual front locking lugs, rear safety lug and three-position safety shaped later military and sporting rifles.
Guide · Rifles
Pump-action rifles, also called slide-action or trombone-action rifles, use a movable fore-end to operate the bolt. They exist in both rimfire and centerfire forms, but major references describe the action as much more common in shotguns than in rifles.
Guide · Rifles
A single-shot rifle holds one cartridge in the chamber and must be loaded manually for each shot. The main types differ in how they open the breech: break actions hinge open, falling blocks move a breechblock down and up, and rolling blocks rotate a breechblock to expose the chamber.
Guide · Rifles
Gas-operated semi-automatic rifles use propellant gas to unlock, extract, eject, feed and lock the action after each shot. The main concepts are internal gas systems such as the AR-15/M16 family, short-stroke piston systems such as the FN SCAR, and long-stroke piston systems such as the Galil ACE.
Article · Rifles
The AMD-65 is a Hungarian Kalashnikov-pattern rifle associated with the AKM family and with armored infantry and paratrooper use. Its short barrel, metal folding stock, perforated fore end, and vertical foregrip make it one of the easiest AK variants to recognize.
Comparison · Rifles
Controlled-round feed and push-feed describe when a bolt-action rifle’s extractor takes control of the cartridge. Controlled-round feed grips the rim as the round leaves the magazine, while push-feed pushes the round into the chamber before the extractor engages it.
Guide · Rifles
A straight-pull rifle is a bolt-action rifle that lets the shooter cycle the bolt mostly straight rearward and forward. The locking still happens, but cams, sleeves, bolt heads, collars or wedges do the turning or locking work inside the action.
Guide · Rifles
A bullpup rifle places the action, firing mechanism or magazine behind the trigger, usually in the buttstock area. That layout can shorten overall length for a given barrel length, but it also changes balance, controls, trigger linkage and ejection placement.
Guide · Rifles
Rifle twist rate is the distance a bullet travels in the barrel while the rifling makes one full turn. A 1:8 twist is faster than a 1:10 twist, and bullet length, bullet weight, velocity, and air density all affect stability.
Guide · Rifles
The Remington Model 700 is a bolt action centerfire rifle introduced in 1962 as the successor to the Model 721 and Model 722. Its push feed action, long production history, and role as a reference point in modern precision rifle compatibility make it one of the most referenced modern bolt action rifle designs.
Guide · Rifles
The Winchester Model 70 is a famous sporting bolt action rifle introduced in the 1930s and long known as the “Rifleman’s Rifle.” Its history is usually divided into the pre 1964 controlled round feed rifles, the 1964 push feed redesign, and the later return of controlled round feed.
Guide · Rifles
A modern rifle is easiest to understand as three main groups: action, barrel and stock. This guide explains the basic rifle parts a new shooter, hunter or student is likely to see in manuals and hunter education materials.
Guide · Rifles
The Ruger 10/22 is a semiautomatic .22 LR rimfire rifle family introduced by Sturm, Ruger & Co. in 1964. Its long production life, flush 10-round rotary magazine, broad factory lineup and more than 10 million rifles produced help explain why it became one of the best-known rimfire designs in North America.
Guide · Rifles
A lever-action rifle is a manually operated repeating rifle that cycles its action with an external lever. This guide explains the basic cycle, magazine types, common chambering examples, key history, current model specifications, and safety checks.
Guide · Rifles
A bolt-action rifle is a manually operated rifle action with a bolt in line with the bore. This article explains the parts, operating cycle, action families and reasons hunters often consider bolt-action rifles.