Wayne van Zwoll Articles

He could jump straight up out of a whisky barrel. He slept in trees and vanished for months at a time.

From ambush and in brazen visits to villages, they littered their lairs with human bones.

Shooting is a small part of hunting. Finding is the main thing. To find, you must learn to see.

They lost the spotlight to 6mms — now 6.5s have the stage. But many hunters find a .25-caliber is just right.

To consistently hit, you must know when to wait and when to act, and let the rifle find the target.

Arguably, the first were good varmint rifles. Then they left to hunt big game. Are they back?

If you need another bullet, you might better have held the first. Single-shot rifles urge that you do.

Protect your rifle’s fine finish when giving it a good cleaning.

As with children, you do well to think before cleaning and coddling your rifle — and correcting its ills.

Strong, reliable and accurate, bolt actions also fire powerful loads. But which models provide the best values?

Understanding focal planes, reticle focus and angular measurements helps in the decision making process when it’s time to purchase a new scope.

Where the reticle is positioned in the scope affects how you see it and use it as you dial the magnification up and down.

Prone, sitting or kneeling, you’ll get sandbag accuracy with these techniques and assists.

Changing how you hold a rifle can change the point of impact.

Buckshot evolved as heavy pellets intended for deer hunting — albeit ill-informed shooters use the term to include birdshot, too.

When precision isn’t possible, and shots come fast and close, a shotgun excels. But which load works best for anchoring predators?

Infantry loads once excelled on big game. Now speedy small-bores pitch predator hunters the edge.

Here’s how to protect your rifle and ensure accuracy when installing Tip-Off scope rings.

A look at screws by the numbers.

How you treat people affects how they’ll treat you. So it is with screws.

A dot is the simplest of punctuations and reticles. In either case, it signals the end of all that matters.

Close coyotes and treed cats have tumbled to .22 rimfires — and to a host of centerfire loads from the .25-20 WCF to the magnums of elk hunters meeting predators by chance. Short months ago, a black-backed jackal flipped by a .300 WSM brought to mind my first red fox, taken with buckshot.

Long wedded to .30-cals, riflemen have had recent affairs with 7mms and 6.5s. Now, another fling with the .270 is in the air.

Small animals call for bullet paths that stay near sight-line at mid-range, not arcs that cross it far away.

Slanted rails — a popular accessory for long-range rifles.

To get the most from a rifle, don’t fix what’s right and don’t tolerate what’s wrong.

All rifles are headspaced and test-fired at the factory. But headspace is easy to check. Here’s what it is and why it matters.

Beyond black battle rifles, if you crave quick follow-ups and big-game punch from little cases listen up.

The AR-15 has sparked development of cartridges to fit its short action skinny bolt. The most logical are based on the 5.56x45mm for which the rifle was originally chambered.

Bullets fly straight when spun by a barrel’s rifling to spiral downrange like a well-thrown football.