Shooting

Beth Davis with her trusty Ithaca, practising trap with the Garmin XERO S1. This is not the trap field on which we were shooting in this article. On this one (St. Louis Trap & Skeet) side-winds are normal but treacherous down-drafts all but unknown.

Woe Was Us

Every so often, something happens that makes you question everything you thought you knew, but…
Stevens Model 52, built on the older No. 44 action, with the newer Model 45. Both are chambered in the .28-30-120. It’s a lovely cartridge to shoot, but presents many problems in reloading.

New Year, New Rifle

About a year ago, a friend of mine handed me a brand-new, unopened, bag of…
The Savage 99 Model E, mated with the company’s legendary .250-3000, is a match made in heaven for the kind of whitetail hunting found in eastern North America.

Perfection in Hunting Rifles

When it comes to hunting rifles, compromises rarely work.  Okay, certainly they can work well…
Wieland hunting Cape buffalo in the rain on Mount Burko, in the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania. When you are clinging to a cliff by your toenails, having a binocular that is not bouncing around is a great boon.

Combos. Again

For the last ten years or so, my range bag has permanently carried, tucked into…
Oldies, goodies, but no longer made: Bausch & Lomb’s iconic aviator shooting glasses with wrap-around ear pieces and AmberMatic lenses that change tint with changes in the light. Zeiss’s SCOPZ glasses had adjustable bridges and wrap-around stems, which held them firmly as high on the face as you wanted. Unfortunately, to get three or four different color lenses, you had to buy three or four pairs of glasses at $215 a pop. Ouch.

Through Glasses — Darkly

Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of being hanged, and nothing focuses the mind…
Oldies but goodies: Gene Hill in original paper and hardcover form (with leather, even!) and a Purdey hammer pigeon gun.

Fads & Fashion

It was never my privilege to know Gene Hill, but Michael McIntosh did, and I…
Haenel Original Aydt Schützen rifle, caliber 8.15x46R, fitted with the full complement of sights, as well as a Tyrol-style buttstock and three-leaf double-set trigger.

Übermenschen

Any time you feel you know everything there is to know about rifles, or that…
Speckle-bellies steadfastly ignoring our pleas.

Dem Gooses

For reasons that completely escape me, I have a persistent memory of a cooking show…
mule deer
"Mule Deer," by Tom Beecham (19256-2000) Courtesy of Remington Arms

Laughter, Learnt of Friends

I never had a designated trophy room, but for about 15 years I lived in…
Not a bad morning’s take. And after all, how many pheasants can a boy eat? • Photo by Heidi Schaefer

Pheasants (Not Quite) Forever

One of our purposes here at the Gray’s website is to deliver flash reports from…
Arrieta y Cia. round-action sidelock built on a 16-gauge frame. A gorgeous gun, undoubtedly, but it was not quite there.

Perils & Pitfalls

What follows is a brief cautionary tale about the ordering of the shotgun of one’s…
One part of the French walnut stock on the E.M. Reilly, circa 1895, probably made for Reilly by P. Webley in Birmingham. Photos cannot do it justice. It was restored by Edwin von Atzigen.

New & Used

Here’s a choice for you:  A new, custom-built shotgun, tailored to your every arcane specification…