As I unpack a few treasures culled during a weekend getaway with my wife to a score of flea markets and antique outlets, I’m compelled to stop and thumb through 14 issues of The American Rifleman that one vendor let go for the princely sum of $10. The oldest is from July 1929, some are from the ’30s and the most recent is from June 1957. They all make for fascinating reading, as the advertisements alone are enough to whet the appetite of any true gun crank.
Items from the earliest issue are remarkable: an R.F. Sedgley Springfield sporter bolt-action rifle for $65, a Carl Zeis “Zielklein” 21/4X riflescope for $25 and a Savage 28-A 12-ga. pump-action shotgun for $44.50. And while those prices may seem paltry by today’s standards, they were plenty just two months out from America’s Great Depression. Fast forward 95 years and this month’s issue is filled with its own slate of new firearms and related accessories.
In one of our recent features, “Full Swing: Smith & Wesson’s Model 1854 Lever-Action,” I provide some insight into that iconic American brand’s newest offering—a long gun that harks to the company’s founding 170 years ago. True, the S&W logo is well-established on fine revolvers, semi-automatic pistols and modern sporting rifles, but now it also adorns several variations of a fully modern lever-action in .44 Magnum that is likely to be accompanied by other chamberings as the company makes further inroads into that up-trending market segment. If my experiences in the field with one example and testing on the NRA range with two others by Managing Editor Christopher Olsen are any indication, the Model 1854 is certain to enhance the S&W brand.
In “Sampling Fifth-Generation Big-Bore Glocks,” Field Editor B. Gil Horman takes a look at two examples from one of the world’s most popular pistol brands. And even though it’s been a full 40 years since the late Gaston Glock came to market with his self-named polymer-frame design—the lion’s share of which have been chambered in 9 mm Luger—subtle, yet continuous, developments have resulted in the Gen5 series that now includes the Standard-size G20 in 10 mm Auto and the Subcompact double-stack G30 in .45 ACP.
Then, in a historical curiosity, Field Editor Bruce Canfield recalls an unusual surplus firearm discovery from just 20 years ago in “A Genuine Time Capsule: The ‘Ivanhoe Trench Guns.” Though few in number, the Winchester Model 1897 shotguns nonetheless represent a veritable treasure trove of World War I-era combat arms, with the added provenance of service in state police departments. The find came to light in an advertisement for the Ivanhoe Warehouse Outlet in Nutting Lake, Mass., that not only expanded collector knowledge but renewed hopes for more such discoveries.
And in this month’s Dope Bag reviews, we test the Ruger Super Redhawk chambered in .22 Hornet, an eight-shot rendition of the company’s groundbreaking double-action revolver, and the KFI USA Impala Plus Carbon, a stylish 12-ga. semi-automatic shotgun with an attractive price point. Of course, many other new products can be found in our Reports section and in the advertisements sprinkled throughout this issue.
As to that last point, even as a young annual member, I studied the ads in American Rifleman to become familiar with what the market had to offer and to acquaint myself with the various manufacturers. Now, as a Life member, 26-year employee and current custodian of this title, I can’t help but wonder how the articles and advertisements in this issue will be perceived once they are dusty and tattered nearly a century from now.
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