Firearms
The Worst Hunting Rifles of All Time
I funded my extended stay in college by working at a local gunshop on weekends and semester breaks. For five or so years I saw thousands of guns come through those doors. I had the privilege of shouldering a handful of rifles I knew I’d never own. Some of them lived behind bars or velvet-lined cases...
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Firearms
The Truth About Missed Shots
A few months after I was born in 1981, the late gun writer Gene Hill had a story titled “Why You Don't Always Hit What You Shoot At—(Me Too!)” published in Gun Dog magazine. It was one of the first columns I recall reading when I decided to improve my shotgun skills as an adult. Hill was Harvard...
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Firearms
Springfield's New Heatseeker Rifle is a True 1/2 MOA Factory Gun
It isn’t true, as Colonel Townsend Whelen famously wrote, that “only accurate rifles are interesting.” However, a rifle that can shoot a dime at 100 yards is always more interesting than one that can’t, which is why I’m excited to tell you more about the new Heatseeker rifle from Springfield Armory...
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Caliber Battles
Firearms
Caliber Battle: 22 Creedmoor vs. 22 ARC
Setting a healthy column of gunpowder behind a .22-caliber bullet is nothing new in the world of cartridge design. The .220 Swift has been around for nearly 100 years, and the .22-250 Remington existed as a wildcat cartridge long before Big Green standardized it in 1965. Double-deuce bullets are...
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Firearms
How Do Modern Cartridges Stack Up Against Old-Timers?
Aug 29, 2025A few weeks ago, I published an article highlightingthe 10 best modern hunting cartridges. My intention wasn’t to hate on older cartridges, just to provide a list of some of the best new offerings of the last 25 years.Still, some commenters felt compelled to defend their favorite cartridges (an honorable impulse), and several argued that these newfangled PRC’s and Creedmoor’s and ARC’s are all hat and no cattle. They don’tactuallyoutperform tried-and-true designs—they’re just meant to fleece the hunting public for more money and give gun writers something to spill ink on.I don’t agree with this entirely, but it got me wondering whether these Fudds(who I love)might have a point. It’s hard to argue that modern cartridges don’t have anything to offer, but are those benefits worth, say, the cost of a new rifle? Are they far and away better than the old-timers or just marginally more effective?A few weeks ago, I published an article highlighting the 10 best modern hunting cartridges. My intention wasn’t to hate on older cartridges, just to provide a list of some of the best new offerings of the last 25 years. Still, some commenters felt compelled to defend their favorite cartridges (an...
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Firearms
Caliber Battle: 25 Creedmoor vs. 6.5 Creedmoor
Feb 3, 2023It’s tough to be the new kid on the block.Just ask the 6.5 Creedmoor.Now, theFuddshave another Hot New Thang to dismiss with a wave and a grunt: the 25 Creedmoor.Announced late last month, the 25 Creed has garnereda healthy amount of praisealong with its fair share ofcold water. It’s early days for this cartridge, and we’ll know more in the months and years to come, but I still wanted to do a deep dive into the data to see how it stacks up against its extremely popular 6.5mm predecessor.It’s tough to be the new kid on the block. Just ask the 6.5 Creedmoor. Now, the Fudds have another Hot New Thang to dismiss with a wave and a grunt: the 25 Creedmoor. Announced late last month, the 25 Creed has garnered a healthy amount of praise along with its fair share of cold water. It’s early...
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Firearms
Caliber Battle: 300 PRC vs. .300 Win. Mag.
Jun 1, 2021When Hornadydescribesthe 300 PRC as an “intelligently crafted 21st century magnum cartridge,” it’s hard not to read that as a dig at .300 Win. Mag. fans.As perhaps the most popular .30-caliber magnum of all time, the Win. Mag. is the PRC’s direct competition. But it’s not a 21st-century creation. It wasn’t designed for the high-speed low-drag bullets so popular today, andas I’ve written elsewhere, its chamber design leaves something to be desired. If the Win. Mag. isn’t "intelligently crafted,” Hornady implies, what does that say about its aficionados?I’ll cut that line of thinking short and get back to the question at hand: if you’re looking for a .30-caliber magnum to chase elk or moose, should you go with the tried-and-true .300 Win. Mag. or the more refined 300 PRC? Keep reading to find out.When Hornady describes the 300 PRC as an “intelligently crafted 21st century magnum cartridge,” it’s hard not to read that as a dig at .300 Win. Mag. fans. As perhaps the most popular .30-caliber magnum of all time, the Win. Mag. is the PRC’s direct competition. But it’s not a 21st-century creation...
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Firearms
.300 Win. Mag. vs. 7mm Rem. Mag.
May 18, 2023When 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: among theproduct offeringson Midway USA, these are the two most popular magnum rifle cartridges in the country.The popularity of both cartridges speaks to their efficacy, but if you have to pick one, which is better? That’s the question we seek to answer in theCaliber Battle series, and this matchup is no different.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
Springfield's New Heatseeker Rifle is a True 1/2 MOA Factory Gun
It isn’t true, as Colonel Townsend Whelen famously wrote, that “only accurate rifles are interesting.” However, a rifle that can shoot a dime at 100 yards is always more interesting than one that can’t, which is why I’m excited to tell you more about the new Heatseeker rifle from Springfield Armory...
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Firearms
The 6 Best Pump-Action Shotguns of All Time
Pump-action shotguns, like the iconic Mossberg 500 or Remington 870, have proven themselves in some of the harshest hunting environments. They stand up to dirt, grit, and frigid temperatures that would choke or jam semi-automatics. You can abuse the hell out of a pump shotgun, cake it with mud, or...
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Gun Reviews
Beretta A300 Ultima Turkey Review: The Best 20 Gauge Turkey Gun
Twelve-gauge pumps might still rule the turkey woods, but 20-gauge autoloaders dominate the current turkey gun trend. Thanks to potent TSS loads and custom turkey chokes, hunters can swap heavier, shoulder-pommeling big bores for lightweight sub-gauges without sacrificing effective range (in a lot...
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Firearms
The Best Turkey Hunting Shotguns
The best turkey hunting shotguns shoot consistently tight patterns with the right choke and ammo. Aside from that, there are other details that make them more desirable in the turkey woods. For instance, lightweight, shorter guns make it easy to maneuver when you're run-and-gunning or need to pivot...
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Firearms
The Best 9mm Handguns
Mar 21, 2025Nine millimeter semi-automatic handguns are the most popular type of firearm in the United States. You might not hunt deer with a Glock, but if you own a handgun for self-defense–asmost gun owners do–it probably uses a detachable magazine and is chambered in 9mm Luger. Many hunters carry these firearms into the woods for protection in case things go sideways with another human, andyou can make a solid casefor their use against charging bears, too.The popularity of 9mm handguns has incentivized gun companies to offer scores of models with a wide range of features, capacities, and capabilities. These days, it seems like every gunmaker (eventhose you wouldn’t expect) offer an all-black semi-auto. If you’ve been scrolling through sporting goods websites wondering how to narrow the field, you’ve come to the right place.As I did withthis article on 10mm handguns, I asked Scheels to send me some of their newest, most sought-after 9mm models, and I ran them through a gauntlet of testing to see how they stack up against each other. You might not agree with my assessment, but I hope the info below is helpful as you choose your first–or next–9mm.Nine millimeter semi-automatic handguns are the most popular type of firearm in the United States. You might not hunt deer with a Glock, but if you own a handgun for self-defense–as most gun owners do–it probably uses a detachable magazine and is chambered in 9mm Luger. Many hunters carry these...
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Firearms
Ruger's SFAR Is Built for Hunters. Should You Get One Before It's Too Late?
Feb 13, 2026The concept behind Ruger’s Small-Frame Autoloading (SFAR) rifle was simple: .308 Winchester power in an AR-15-sized package.Many hunters have adopted the AR-15 as a hunting rifle due to its light weight, modularity, and easy maneuverability. Problem is, the .223 Remington cartridge most commonly chambered in these rifles is underpowered for big game. It can tackle deer-sized animals with the right bullet, but most prefer to have a little more horsepower under the hood.The AR-10 platform can be chambered in one of those more energetic cartridges, usually the .308 Winchester. But that platform tends to be bigger and heavier than an AR-15, which negates one of the big reasons a hunter would pick an AR over a bolt gun.The concept behind Ruger’s Small-Frame Autoloading (SFAR) rifle was simple: .308 Winchester power in an AR-15-sized package. Many hunters have adopted the AR-15 as a hunting rifle due to its light weight, modularity, and easy maneuverability. Problem is, the .223 Remington cartridge most commonly...
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Firearms
The Best Calibers for Bear Hunting
It wasn’t so long ago that black bears were considered America’s premier wild table fare. Bear steaks are delicious, bear grease is useful (and delicious), and bear hunting is challenging and rewarding. For new and aspiring hunters, however, bears can seem invincible. Even though they’re generally...
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Gear
The Best Deer Hunting Calibers
Here’s the truth about these "best of" articles: the only honest answer is, "It depends." Are these cartridges really the best deer-killing cartridges in existence? It depends. It depends on where you’re hunting, your experience with firearms, what rifles you already own, how much money you can...
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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
Will Primos Is Auctioning A One-of-a-Kind Shotgun Set This Weekend to Fund Conservation
Guns aren’t always a great financial investment (though they can be), but this is one firearm purchase you can definitely feel good about. Lot 1 at the Rock Island Auction on December 5th is a one-of-a-kind set of five Purdey & Sons side-by-side shotguns. Valued at a whopping $800,000, the proceeds...
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Firearms
Meet the ‘Wood Butcher” Behind Custom Hand-Checkered Gun Stocks
Evan Koch calls himself a “wood butcher” on Instagram, but he wields chisels with world-class skill to craft, carve, and checker gunstocks for high-end rifles and shotguns. Checkering, of course, is the functional, yet decorative carvings on gun stocks in which fine lines intersect in diamond-shaped...
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Firearms
In Defense of Fudds
A “fudd” is a derogatory term for a certain type of gun owner. Like the Looney Toons character of the same name, fudds are cantankerous. Old-fashioned. Set in their ways and suspicious of anything new-fangled. They probably don’t know the difference between a “clip” and a “magazine.” They despise...
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Firearms
Everything You Need to Know About Rifle Actions
Here’s a scenario most new hunters and gun owners have experienced. You’re at the gun range when the friendly fellow at the neighboring bench offers to let you shoot his rifle. You happily agree, but when you sit down at the bench and get behind the gun, you realize that you don’t actually know how...
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Firearms
Why Your Hunting Rifle Sucks
Most hunters love their shooting irons (sometimes more than they should), but nothing in this life is perfect. Rifles don’t always perform like you hope, and one bad experience can be enough to banish a once-loved rifle to the back of the safe. But is it really the gun’s fault? How do you know...
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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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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
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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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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