Have quality rifles gotten better over recent years

[ployer]

Hi guys,

This is about wondering how much improving technologies has changed shooting.

The basics of we'd call a 'modern' rifle with smokeless rifle powder has been the same for about 120 years or something right?

Maybe not going back that far, but I wondered how much a quality rifle has changed over the past few decades (obviously there will have been cheap and good rifles over the years, just focusing on the good stuff).

Do you think things are still getting better? Or have they plateaued out?

Say you take a modern Sako. How far back would you have to go before an old Sako wouldn't shoot as good?

20 years? 30? 40?

What do you think?

[yoshie]

I think budget rifles are better quality now than have ever been. Ruger American, marlin xl7, Remington 788, Howas, mossbergs, zastavas etc will shoot just as well as expensive rifles and be just as reliable. I think computerised machining has helped, and also the biggest market for rifle sales around the world at the moment is at the budget end, (and AR15s)

[Old Fart]

There are definitely quality, accurate rifles going back decades.

I suppose more attention to detail and more love when being built was needed in the past which bumps up the price. On the flip side you end up with poorer performing/quality budget rifles.

As with everything they've made huge leaps in manufacturing technologies. High precision CNC mills and the like. Less labour involved in making better quality products now.

Plenty of old Sako's holding their own at ranges and in the field still though

[SendIt]

As with everything they've made huge leaps in manufacturing technologies. High precision CNC mills and the like. Less labour involved in making better quality products now.

CNC came about early 70's I think?

So there's at least 40ish years of that kind of manufacturing.

[Elek]

The basics of we'd call a 'modern' rifle with smokeless rifle powder has been the same for about 120 years or something right?

Powders have evolved over time too.

I think it was around 1930 when they had what could be called 'smokeless powder' by todays standards.

[Lyam]

Some of the processes are simply than you think.

Look up an old rifling machine. Really interesting to watch it work if nothing else...

Did the job though without fancy computers thinking for it.

[Lorgar]

Really interesting to watch it work if nothing else...

Like a lot of that stuff.

This sound incredibly boring but I watched a video on how drill bits are made. It was really interesting too

[sha]

You're right.

That does sound boring

[ployer]

CNC came about early 70's I think?

So there's at least 40ish years of that kind of manufacturing.

I probably wasn't even thinking back that far... Definitely not as far back as 1930 for the powders like Elek said.

Buying a second hand older rifle I was probably thinking 10 - 20 years at most?

[Prettybird]

Really interesting to watch it work if nothing else...

I thought shot towers was real interesting when I learned about them.

Need to make hundreds of tiny balls? Drop molten lead 50 metres through the air obviously... Dunno what inspired them to come up with that

But it works...

[wheedle]

What's dropping shot through the air got to do with it?

Lost...

[Blackened]

Basic explanation is they have a tower which is... I'm not sure how high? 50m -60m? High anyway...

There is a mesh at the top of it and they pour liquid lead through the mesh so droplets come out the bottom. The larger the mesh holes the larger the shot. The smaller the holes... You get the idea....

After the droplets go through the mesh and are free-falling surface tension makes them shape into spheres and they cool and harden as they drop before falling into a water bath to cool completely.

That's it, empty out the bath and you've got shot.

[Pilch]

Don't they chip the corners of cubes too to make shot?

[Blackened]

They do.

That's a newer development compared to shot towers.

I don't really know anything about the cube-chipping method though sorry.

[headspace]

I reckon it's like a lot of the stuff you can get today.

You can take a picture with a point and shot digital that would have once taken a high end pro model to handle.

Fishing rods and reels are outperforming their price bracket, and firearms have been carried along as well.

However I still rate a well blued rifle in a nice walnut stock above the "shine and synthetic" we get a lot of today.

Call me old fashioned... please.

JD

[Lorgar]

You can take a picture with a point and shot digital that would have once taken a high end pro model to handle.

I was a bit of a photography buff and worked in retail camera sales years ago, I know what you mean.

10 or more years ago, the first "Pro" digital SLR I had a play with was a Nikon D2H. Cost $5,500 and was 2.78 megapixel. (There was more to it than just MP, but still...)

Now a 16 MP SLR is $600 or something and will have superceded all the technologies which made the original one amazing.

[Michael63]

Old guns feel right,and only if they could talk imagine what fantastic story's they could tell.They were made by craftsman who were passionate about his work. Not loading a dirty big machine listening to rap. It took many steps to make it best possible gun.Prices have come down because they are designed to be made in simple steps. Try a bolt on a old mauser compared to a new Ruger ,smoooth. Old guns have SOUL

[Blackened]

Old guns have SOUL

+1

No soul in an off the shelf synthetic.