With a focus on accuracy, Winchester Ammunition announced the introduction of the new Varmint X cartridge line. Â The new ammo will be offered in four different calibers for a total of five loads. Â See below for the exact details on each load.
The number of varmint hunters has rapidly increased in the recent past. Â According to Winchester, this segment of the market has doubled in the past decade. Â Understandably, ammo companies are moving to meet the specific needs of these hunters.
So it’s early November and all over the country hunters are in the fields stalking that buck of a lifetime. The cool air has arrived, leaves are falling, and some areas of the country already have snow. Rifle season has already begun in some areas, and in others the opening of the rifle season is fast approaching.
One of the most important things a hunter or sport shooter must do is make sure that their rifle is zeroed. The need for zeroing goes for shooters using iron sights, scopes or other optics. Iron sights and red dot optics are their own animals, so I want to focus in on shooters using scoped rifles.
Something I realized recently is that many shooters aren’t aware of the easiest and quickest way to zero in their scoped rifle. Particularly if you have just had the scope mounted to that rifle. Some people think that having a rifle “bore†sighted is sufficient to make the rifle shoot on target.
Olympic Arms had their new Gamestalker rifle on display at the 2010 SHOT Show. The Gamestalker is an AR-platform rifle chambered in .243 WSSM, .25 WSSM and the brand new .300 OSSM (scroll down for more information on the cartridge.)
The Gamestalker features a 22″ barrel, free floating aluminum handguard, ACE skeleton stock and an ERGO “Fat Boy” grip. The upper receiver has a flattop for easy installation of your choice in optics. The rifle weighs 7.5 pounds and has a camouflage pattern. It ships with one, seven-round magazine.
The rifle has a retail price of $1359, but expect street price around $1200-1300. Â Olympic Arms staff state the rifles are in production now, but supplies will be limited initially due to the amount of time needed to properly apply the camouflage pattern.
Need a pair of hunting boots? Take a look at this review of the Remington RF-05 hunting boots. These Remington boots are an all-purpose 8″ leather hunting boot. The RF-05 has a Max-Dri waterproof liner, making these boots a good choice in all weather conditions.
Radians, who manufactures these boots under license, sent me a pair of these boots for review. When I first pulled this pair of boots out of the box, I was immediately impressed by the look and style of them. The leather has a rich brown color, and a pleasant feel.
The boots were comfortable to put on, and sized correctly. I wear a 10 1/2, and these fit exactly right. With a thicker winter sock, I would suggest looking at a 1/2 size larger boot.
The laces seem a little thinner than other boot laces, but they seemed strong enough for regular use in the field. The upper part of the boots had speed lace loops, allowing for easy lacing up and removing of the boots.
Wearing the boots in the field, I found them to be comfortable with very little break in needed. The soles gave very good support.
Additionally, the ankle support was excellent. I have the awful tendency to ‘roll’ my ankles. These Remington RF-05 boots fully supported my ankles, and I had no problems while wearing these in the woods.
The waterproof liner worked as advertised. I found a few puddles to stand in, and the water never got to my feet. If you have ever been in the field with wet feet, you know how miserable that can quickly become. I rarely wear any boots into the woods that are not waterproof for that reason.
Overall, I really liked these boots. They look good and are comfortable to wear. As a general purpose hunting or field boot, I think they are worth a look. They would certainly go well with the Field & Stream HydroProof gear that Aaron reviewed here. The suggested retail price of the Remington RF-05 is $129.99.
(Ed. note: This review was written in 2009. Since then, these boots have been discontinued. I’d also like to think that my writing has improved since then.
For what it is worth, I still own these boots. They continue to look and wear great.)
As 2009 begins to close, Winchester Ammunition announced a wide range of new loads for 2010. These new loads will be shown at the SHOT Show in January, and will be released to the public shortly thereafter. We will be at the show and will bring you additional information as we can from the good folks at Winchester.
Winchester Ammunition is expanding the E-Tip line of hunting loads with the addition of the .338 Win Mag. The .338 Win Mag will feature a 200 grain E-Tip bullet. Velocities have not yet been released by Winchester. Expect to see this cartridge on your dealer’s shelves in June of 2010. (Ed. update – As of 2013, this load is no longer listed on the Winchester Ammunition website.)
In one of the more interesting offerings for 2010, Winchester Ammunition is introducing a 12 gauge cartridge that contains a one ounce rifled slug with three plated 00-buck pellets loaded on top of it. The slug features Winchester’s Power Point technology. The 2 3/4″ shell is a reduced recoil load and is due out in March of 2010.
I don’t know if the three 00 pellets add any additional stopping power to the full ounce slug, but I know I would not want to be on the receiving end of it.
Expanding the Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1 line of ammunition, Winchester added a .380 ACP load for 2010. Due in February of 2010, the new .380 load features a bonded 95 grain JHP. The round is rated at 1000 fps at the muzzle, which is typical for this caliber. Hopefully, Winchester will make enough of this ammo to meet demand in 2010!