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Firearms
Is Buying Guns a Good Investment?
I don’t make a habit of lying to my wife. However, a few years ago I had the opportunity to purchase a 1943 M1 Garand in excellent condition, and I told my bride I wanted to buy the rifle as an “investment.”
That wasn’t really true. I wanted to purchase the rifle because it’s an insanely awesome...
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Firearms
5 Accuracy Tips for Novice Rifle Hunters
Steady the crosshairs, control your breathing, and squeeze the trigger on the exhale. If this is the extent of your rifle shooting knowledge, this article is for you. You won’t become a world-class marksman by reading articles, but you’d be surprised how proficient you can become by expanding upon a...
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Firearms
How the ATF Slashed Suppressor Approval Time by 5000%
Purchasing a suppressor has historically been one of the most frustrating experiences for gun owners. The paperwork is onerous, but the wait time is what really gets you. No one wants to drop $1,000 on something (plus a $200 “tax”) just to wait a year or more to bring it home.
Those days appear to...
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Featured Gear
Caliber Battles
Firearms
.300 Win. Mag. vs. 7mm Rem. Mag.
When someone contacted me recently to suggest this Caliber Battle matchup, I couldn’t believe we hadn’t done it before. If you ask your average American hunter which big boy caliber he uses, the .300 Win. Mag. and the 7mm Rem. Mag. are the two most likely candidates. And the data backs that up...
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Firearms
.270 Winchester vs. 6.5 PRC
It seems like whenever anyone mentions one of the sexy new 6.5mm cartridges, someone else brings up the .270 Winchester and argues that it’s just as fast, hard-hitting, and flat-shooting as any of those newfangled whipper snappers.
You can’t get much more sexy or newfangled than the 6.5 PRC. We’ve...
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Firearms
.300 HAM’R vs. .30-30 Winchester
When Bill Wilson began developing the .300 HAM’R in the early 2010s, he wanted to create a .30-caliber cartridge that could be chambered in AR-type rifles and would “at least equal the legendary and time-proven .30-30 Winchester in terminal performance.”
If the Wilson Combat website is any...
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Firearms
7mm-08 Remington vs. .25-06 Remington
There were three popular write-in votes when the MeatEater audience selected The Greatest Whitetail Cartridge of All Time earlier this month: the .270 Winchester, the 7mm-08 Remington, and the .25-06 Remington.
Many of you argued that these three cartridges deserved a chance to compete in the...
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Wired To Hunt
The Greatest Whitetail Cartridge of All Time
The people have spoken. According to the MeatEater audience, the .30-06 Springfield is the Greatest Whitetail Cartridge of All Time. The ‘06 spanked the .243 Winchester in the championship matchup by a resounding 49-vote margin: 70 to 21.
Springfield supporters made one simple argument: the .30-0...
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Gun Reviews
Firearms
Sig Sauer’s New CROSS Rifle Is the Thinking Man’s Magnum (Full Review)
Read enough gun reviews and you’re sure to see a rifle design described as “thoughtful.” The term is probably overused, but I think it fits Sig Sauer’s new rifle: the CROSS Magnum.
Sig’s engineers designed the CROSS Magnum with an actual human hunter in mind. The rifle is chock full of small...
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Firearms
A Small Game Menace: Springfield Model 2020 Rimfire (Full Review)
I’m a rifle guy in the small game woods. Always have been. I don’t like picking lead BB’s out of a squirrel ham, but I also love to practice my marksmanship. While you may take a single shot all year at a whitetail or an elk, the squirrel woods give you the chance to hone your skills by taking...
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Firearms
Your Next Turkey Gun Should be a Remington 870
Specialized turkey shotguns have become widely popular in recent decades. Turkey shotguns are essentially field models built with shorter barrels, drilled and tapped for an optic mounting system, and sometimes outfitted with a pistol grip to improve steadiness. They are a fine addition to any gun...
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Firearms
A Classic Reborn: Ruger-Made Marlin Model 336 (Full Review)
When we published an article last year covering the best lever action hunting rifles, some of you accused us of making a serious omission. Where, you asked, was the Marlin Model 336?
You had a point. Marlin’s stable of lever-action rifles is legendary, and perhaps none more so than the Model 33...
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Firearms
The 6 Best Youth Deer Hunting Rifles
Introducing new or young hunters to shooting requires more tact than simply throwing them in the deep end. You might think you’re expediting their learning curve by giving them your old .30-06 because that’s how you cut your teeth (and eye), right?
Unfortunately, you’re probably fast-tracking them...
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Firearms
7 Best Air Rifles for Squirrel Hunting
These ain’t your granddaddy’s air rifles. They’ll still shoot your eye out, but they’re also deadly accurate and powerful enough to lay down a squirrel with a single shot every time. They’re quiet, cheap to shoot, and easy to use. If you’re thinking about exploring the small game woods this year...
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Cartridges By Species
Firearms
If You Can Only Pick One Big Game Hunting Cartridge, Pick This One
The apocalypse is nigh. As you gather your loved ones and sprint out the front door, you have just enough time to grab a hunting rifle. For some reason only partially explained via flashback montage (the writers on this show suck), you know you’ll need this rifle to hunt every legal big game animal...
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Firearms
The Best Calibers for Elk Hunting
Elk are the largest animals most American hunters will ever have a chance to harvest. For that reason, once a hunter is ready to step up from whitetail deer to elk, the first question they ask is: do I have enough gun to get the job done?
We’re here to help you answer that question. The MeatEater...
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Firearms
5 Best Rifle Calibers for Youth Hunters
Nothing is more discouraging to a new hunter than a loud and intimidating rifle. If you’re hoping your kid will be confident and accurate from the deer blind, throwing them to the wolves with a .300 Winchester Magnum isn’t the way to go. It might make for a funny story when they’re older, but it’s a...
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Firearms
Hunting Whitetail with a Shotgun: Rifled Slugs vs. Sabots
Almost every traditional shotgun-only state now allows hunters to shoot straight-wall rifles, but slug guns remain popular among deer hunters across the Midwest and East. Slugs became mandated as a safety measure in populated areas because they cannot travel as far and are slower than necked...
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Firearms
5 Best Hog Hunting Cartridges
Name an invasive species besides feral hogs that causes over $1.5 billion a year in damage in the U.S. and still has festivals held in its honor.
I’ll wait.
It’s safe to say that wild hogs are a contradiction. On one hand, they’re a pest. On the other hand, they’re a beloved game animal, and they...
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Firearms
5 Common Cartridges I'll Never Hunt Deer With
One of the great things about whitetail hunting is that it isn’t hard to find a suitable cartridge. Whitetail are America’s most popular big game animal, and ammo makers have developed dozens of options for that specific pursuit. Plus, as a Class 2 critter (according to Chuck Hawk’s categorization...
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Off Range
Firearms
How the ATF Slashed Suppressor Approval Time by 5000%
Purchasing a suppressor has historically been one of the most frustrating experiences for gun owners. The paperwork is onerous, but the wait time is what really gets you. No one wants to drop $1,000 on something (plus a $200 “tax”) just to wait a year or more to bring it home.
Those days appear to...
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Firearms
Does Your Rifle Cartridge Match Your Personality?
You can tell a lot about a guy by what kind of rifle he shoots. Not that it matters, but what does your favorite rifle cartridge say about you? Does he follow trends and need the latest and greatest gear? Does he appreciate novelty or cherish a passed-down .30-06? Does he hunt the thick timber or...
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Firearms
20-Year-Old Faces Involuntary Manslaughter Charge for Duck Hunting Accident
On January 20, Gaige Zook and Jackson Harbor went out for a duck hunt on the Platte River near Torrington, Wyoming. They took along Maurizio Justiniano, an unlicensed hunter who wanted to learn more about waterfowling.
Tragically, Justiniano will never get the chance to take Hunter’s Ed or shoot a...
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Firearms
The Best Varmint Cartridge You’ve Never Heard Of
What makes a good varmint cartridge?
It should be accurate in most factory rifles. It should be flat-shooting, meaning it doesn’t drop too much at longer rangers. It should also have limited recoil to allow for a full day of prairie dog hunting and use a narrow bullet to preserve the pelt as much as...
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Firearms
3 Myths about Biden's New Gun License Rule
The Biden administration finalized a new rule last week described by Attorney General Merrick Garland as a “historic step” in the “fight against gun violence.” It aims to increase the number of background checks on gun sales by expanding the pool of people who must obtain a federal firearms license...
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Gear and Accessories
Gear
The Best Hunting Rifle Scopes Under $500
During college, I worked in a gun shop. I heard (and saw) a ton of strange things while scrambling to earn rent and not blow my entire check in the used section. Of the things I heard, I remember one particularly wealthy and eclectic regular who claimed he would spend significantly more on a scope...
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Firearms
3 Reasons to Put a Red Dot on Your Turkey Gun
Turkey-hunting shotguns are in a class of their own. Shorter barrels, fancy camo patterns, pistol grips, and custom chokes separate gobbler getters from traditional shotguns you might find in your grandpa’s closet. Red dots belong to this group of turkey-specific accessories, too. While some folks...
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Firearms
The Best Hunting Scopes
For the past several years, I’ve had the opportunity to try out a fair number of different scopes through competition, hunting, and helping the MeatEater crew dial in their kits. For those few scopes I haven’t used personally, I also have data points from folks who spend a lot of time behind a rifle...
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Firearms
Janis’s Season 12 Turkey Gun Setup
If you watched the recent MeatEater Florida turkey episode, you’ll know that I shot my first Osceola turkey. And you’ll also know that it was a long shot. But I felt comfortable and confident in that 60-yard shot because of my turkey gun set-up and ammo.
The last two seasons I’ve used a Beretta A30...
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Firearms
Should More Duck Hunters Be Using Red-Dot Reflex Sights?
Red-dot reflex sights are widely popular amongst turkey and slug gun deer hunters for good reason—they can increase your accuracy with a shotgun to ensure you don’t miss when a shot presents itself. If a red-dot has been sighted in properly prior to the hunt, all you need to do is put that ball of...
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Firearms
Video: Testing Lead and Copper Bullets in Ballistic Gel
The debate has raged for as long as gun hunters have taken animals with tiny, fast-moving metal projectiles: what type of bullet is best?
These days, that debate revolves mainly around solid copper bullets and various jacketed lead bullets. Unfortunately, as MeatEater’s Janis Putelis pointed out...
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Choosing A Gun
Firearms
5 Best Rifle Calibers for Youth Hunters
Nothing is more discouraging to a new hunter than a loud and intimidating rifle. If you’re hoping your kid will be confident and accurate from the deer blind, throwing them to the wolves with a .300 Winchester Magnum isn’t the way to go. It might make for a funny story when they’re older, but it’s a...
Read More
Firearms
5 Best Rifles for New Hunters
Access to hunting ground is the number-one barrier to entry for new hunters, but firearms are usually also towards the top of that list. It can be intimidating to select, purchase, and learn to shoot a rifle, especially if you’ve never done so before.
If that’s you, you’ve come to the right place...
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Firearms
Ask the Eagle: What’s Your Favorite Big Game Rifle Caliber?
Introducing Ask the Eagle, where I’ll be answering your questions about everything from hunting to butchering to marriage. This week, an Instagram follower wants to know what rifle caliber I’d recommend to hunt all big game with.
Have a question of your own? You can write to me asktheeagle...
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Gear
Best Rifle Cartridges for New Deer Hunters
Caliber selection can be intimidating for new deer hunters. There are so many options, and every gun writer with a blog and an Internet connection has an opinion he’s more than happy to share.
You can read our recommendations below, but first, know this: almost every rifle caliber can take down a...
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Firearms
The Best Deer Cartridge You’ve Probably Never Shot
Remember that old children’s story, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears?” Some take the moral as a warning against breaking and entering, but most folks probably remember the story’s lesson about moderation: not too hot, not too cold, not too hard, not too soft—just right.
The .257 Roberts is the...
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Getting Dialed
Firearms
How to Restore an Old Gun Stock
Synthetic stocks and stainless steel barrels have rightfully earned their spot on contemporary hunting firearms. MeatEater fully supports the rifle revolution, as you can see in our collaboration with Weatherby.
That being said, hunters tend to be a nostalgic bunch. Geriatric shoulder mounts, honey...
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Firearms
How to Correctly Clean a Shotgun
The shotgun is often the forgotten firearm when it comes to cleaning. Maybe it’s the simplicity or lack of rifling, but when cleaning day comes around, the smoothbores are usually last to get the grease. That’s not smart if you want your rig to keep dumping gobblers and greenheads for decades to...
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Turkey
How to Pattern a Shotgun for Turkey Hunting
When it comes to turkey shotguns, modern choke-and-load combinations are capable of throwing ultra-tight patterns out to 40 yards or more. At the same time, turkey hunters should remember that a properly outfitted scattergun’s pattern is likely no larger than a baseball at 10 to 15 yards.
I learned...
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Firearms
4 Things Hunters Can Learn from Competitive Shooters
The first time Steve and I met, we sat on a patio discussing competitive shooting and hunting. The conversation was exciting as we connected the dots on how closely related the two really are. Competitive shooters and hunters tend to exist in separate worlds, but many of our methodologies can be...
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Big Game
Ask MeatEater: Will You Shoot at Running Game?
You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers (and if we don’t, we’ll make them up). Every day, fellow MeatEaters send us more than 100 emails regarding hunting, fishing, cooking, conservation, and more. So, we decided to publish a series dedicated to our favorite FAQs. This is Ask MeatEater.
Several...
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Firearms
Video: How to Clean a Rifle Barrel
Whether your rifle is brand new or passed down through several generations, regular and proper cleaning is imperative to keep it in good shape and shooting accurately for hunting seasons to come. It all starts with the right tools and a solid understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish.
When...
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