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Introduction

This is the fourth rendition of Bolt Action Rifles. It is the first not completed by Frank de Haas. Frank’s original edition came along in 1971; an encyclopedic work that told readers more than most readers cared to know. But that was Frank. He wasn’t just a gun enthusiast; he was a mechanic, someone keen to learn all he could about firearm mechanisms, and adept at passing that knowledge along. He began writing in 1943, and continued until his death in 1994, just after finishing the third edition of this book (the second was published 10 years earlier). Frank wrote for shooting-industry periodicals and became one of the NRA gurus who answered reader questions. Early on, the NRA paid him $1.25 a letter, furnishing the stationery and envelopes, demanding carbons of the responses.

Frank de Haas was certainly qualified for such duty. Technically well-informed, he wrote in a matter-of-fact way that was neither entertaining nor provocative. It was the facts, straight up. And Frank’s readers appreciated that. They wanted to know how guns worked, why a given serial range was better than another for wildcatting, what could be done to ensure feeding in a rifle rebarreled to a straighter case. Frank told them about the origin and manufacture of rifles, what the barrel stampings meant, how to tell if a receiver was of nickel or double heat-treated carbon steel. He offered his opinions too, but made sure to identify them as such. And if he didn’t know what you wanted to find out, he’d tell you that too: "… how strong and safe are the low-numbered 03 actions? This I cannot answer. When made, they were proof tested with loads developing 70,000 psi, and very few failed this test..." Even when conceding ignorance, Frank left you with a solid nugget of information.

An inveterate experimenter, Frank spent lots of time at his modest workbench – first in a local plumbing shop, then in a corner of his basement. With a Craftsman lathe and drill press, he restocked military rifles and rebarreled sporters. He took on gunsmithing jobs for friends and sometimes for readers, if the work intrigued him. He wrote about what he saw and didn’t like to pass along untested conclusions. While his colleagues collected rifles, Frank had a collection of rifle actions. Most were candidates for projects. His interest lay inside the mechanisms, and no company could long hide shoddy workmanship or poor design from Frank. In the interests of better shooting, he’d suggest that Remington improve the trigger on its 788, then point out that "the irregular pattern of the locking lugs on the (Mossberg) M800 turns me off." Even rifles he praised – Kimber’s 82 Hornet, for example – took barbs: "I would also like my rifles to have a bolt sleeve lock and perhaps a bolt handle of different shape to reduce the notch in the stock…"

But Frank seemed to like all rifles, and his summations reflected his innate gentleness. Devoted to his family, he attended church regularly and was by all accounts a charitable man. He didn’t pass himself off as an expert or even a professional gunsmith – though he designed and built his own single-shot rifles. He established himself instead as a quiet authority on the workings of sporting rifles, particularly bolt actions. It is in that spirit that I’ve brought this latest edition of Frank’s premier work up to date. I have not changed what he has written, even where another view might have been merited. The main task as I saw it was to add new actions and revisit old ones in new chapters that tell plainly of the turn-bolt rifle.

There was another mission, though: to assess improvements in bolt rifles and offer readers better ways to equip and use them, especially for big game hunting. During the past decade, since the third edition of Bolt Action Rifles, we shooters have clung to the century-old bolt action as tightly as ever. But the sporting rifle’s form has undergone marked changes. Synthetic stocks have evolved from crude, heavy, ungainly handles into components so artfully designed and carefully fitted as to woo the most loyal fans of French walnut. The lightest of these (less than a pound!) are still stronger and more stable than wood, and reasonably priced. Stainless steel is no longer blackened but sells briskly with no finish – both in barrels and receivers. Fluted barrels reduce weight without sacrificing stiffness. Slender muzzle brakes take the bite from hard-recoiling rifles without marring their profiles.

Accuracy has improved too. Half-minute groups from hunting-weight rifles chambered for cartridges that will floor an elk a quarter-mile away are not common, but they’re no longer astonishing. With such levels of precision come new prospects for hunters. The advent of the affordable, pocket-sized laser rangefinder is a boon to anyone wanting to test the effective reach of his rifle. More powerful scopes, with convenient, turret-mounted parallax dials sharpen the focus on distant targets, while range-finding, range-compensating reticles tell where to hold for a hit with a specific load. Ballistics software delivers drop and drift data for any practical hunting yardage … and beyond. With these technical achievements have also come ethical questions, and the inevitable rules designed to keep hunting and shooting in the realm of sport. Marksmanship remains an acquired skill.

Unlike Frank, most riflemen who own bolt actions got them with barrels and stocks attached, and they’re keen to use them. This edition of Bolt Action Rifles is designed to give readers more about the history, design, manufacture, and – now – use of the bolt-action rifle than any other book you can pick up. Far more. It’s the reference you’ll come back to when you need just the facts, straight up. And when you need solid information on making your bolt action more effective in the field. I think Frank would like this edition of Bolt Action Rifles.

Wayne van Zwoll