Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Response to Barsness' Challenge: "Still The One"

This has been very interesting, partly because (per usual) most of the people who've posted haven't read the article.

I probably should have specifically mentioned "complex" mechanical devices, but space is always at a premium in magazine articles these days, and I thought my list of other devices would make my point plain. If we really want to be sticklers, probably the oldest human-made device still considered the best for the purpose is the club, and millions are still made every year, whether in the form of baseball bats, golf clubs or nunchuks.

One of several points made in the article is that shooters are STILL spending money to convert old 98 Mauser military actions into custom hunting rifles, whether "using" rifles for hard knocks in the wilderness, or rifles made by famous semi-artists with stocks of the fanciest walnut.

Very few people do that with old Model 94 Winchesters, and as we have seen here, there isn't anywhere near as much agreement about exactly which lever action is "best," even among Winchester addicts. The suggestion that the 1873 Colt is the best single-action ever is even more debatable.

While the Savage 99 is a great lever-action (and demonstrably "better" in many ways than any of the outside-hammer, tube magazine lever-actions, whether made by Winchester or not), it isn't even made anymore. 98 Mausers are, and most of the essential parts of new 98's interchangeable with those in the actions of original military rifles--and you can't rebuild old Dover eggbeaters with parts from those sold in Wal-Mart.