OutdoorLife - Takedown Rifles

ADDITIONAL INFO
	Will They Ever Learn? The old .38 Long Colt, a pistol cartridge obsolete for nearly a century, is stirring some unpleasant memories these days. In case you've forgotten, the .38 Long Colt was the standard U.S. Service sidearm cartridge from 1892 to 1911. It had a muzzle energy of 195 foot-pounds with a 150-grain bullet (by comparison, the .38 Special gets about 380 foot-pounds with the same weight bullet), and therein lies the reason the Long Colt is now haunting military memories. That memory goes back to the Philippine Revolt, when our troops discovered that their pistols had scant effect on doped-up, machete-swinging Muslim fanatics. Not long after that bitter lesson the puny .38 revolvers were replaced with M-1911 Colt autoloading sidearms in .45 ACP caliber-a cartridge that was to gain a worldwide reputation as a reliable manstopper. Anyway, as we all know, in 1985 the faithful .45 Auto was replaced by the pitifully obsolete 9mm Luger as the standard U.S. Service sidearm caliber. It was not a military decision, I'm told, but purely political and without regard for the actual needs of our servicemen. So guess what? Now we're getting reports from the Middle East that the scenario is almost exactly the same as it was in the Philippines a century ago, with our soldiers again facing screaming Muslim fanatics with pistols that aren't equal to the task. Takedown Riflemakers Dakota Arms, Inc. 1310 Industry Road Sturgis, SD 57785 605-347-4686; www.dakotaarms.com H-S Precision, Inc. 1301 Turbine Drive Rapid City, SD 57703 605-341-3006; www.hsprecision.com Jarrett Rifles, Inc. 383 Brown Road Jackson, SC 29831 803-471-3616; www.jarrettrifles.com Sigarms, Inc. (Blaser and Sauer Rifles) 18 Industrial Drive Exeter, NH 03833 603-772-2302; www.sigarms.com

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The takedown rifle is an idea whose time has finally arrived. There's nothing new about the takedown concept, with variations going back centuries. Marlin, Savage and Winchester were all making centerfire takedown rifles over a hundred years ago, and of course there have been dozens of rimfire takedowns over the years, Browning's .22 Automatic and Marlin's ever-popular M-39 being a couple of examples. But it is in the centerfire persuasion that the takedown configuration takes on real meaning-and gets a lot more complicated.

The purpose and convenience of a takedown rifle is obvious: A rifle that can be taken apart so that its length is reduced by about half is easier to store, pack, travel with-and hide. Yet American hunters have never much cottoned to the idea, as evidenced by the relatively few takedowns sold during the golden years of the Marlin, Savage and Winchester lever rifles. Takedown versions of otherwise popular non-takedown models are so rare that collectors will pay 20 to 50 percent extra for them. One reason takedown rifles have recently become the focus of many hunters and rifle builders is traceable to 9/11 and the anxieties that followed. Hunters who once thought nothing of traveling with full-length gun cases now feel more at ease using cases that don't look like gun cases and are thus better protected from suspicious eyes at airline check-in counters and the prying fingers of baggage handlers.

Another reason for their popularity is the recent avalanche of quickie "safaris" to African game farms (five animals in five days), which has created a demand for a rifle that "does it all" simply by switching barrels. In the case of these rifles, takedown capability is incidental. So, before going on, let's determine exactly what we mean by "takedown" rifles. A rifle that simply comes apart doesn't necessarily fit the description. The same goes for rifles with folding or collapsible stocks.

Two Types of Takedowns
Though some fans and collectors might disagree, I lump takedowns into two categories. The first I call "incidental" takedowns, meaning that the fact that they can be taken down and conveniently cased is quite incidental-accidental even-to the intent of their original design. Prime examples of incidental takedowns are, of course, break-action, double-barreled rifles. Their design intent was to provide simple and reliable operation. The fact that their barrels are easily removed from the action is an incidental, albeit happy, bonus.

Also included in this category are more modern concepts such as the Blaser rifle, which in addition to being a novel bolt-action variation features a relatively fast and simple barrel- removal and caliber-switching arrangement. By loosening a couple of screws, the barrel can be separated from the action and stock and the two separated units can be packed and carried with relative convenience. This "takedown" capability, however, is merely incidental to the Blaser's original barrel-switch concept. I call the other category "intentional" takedowns, because they were either expressly designed so they could be quickly taken apart for compact carry or modified from a traditional design for takedown convenience.

This latter group includes lever rifles, some more than a century old, that were originally designed as rigid, full-length models but were subsequently redesigned so that the barrel, tube magazine and forearm could be quickly removed from the receiver, making them true and honest "intentional" takedowns.

The way these rifles come apart is usually simple, with the threaded breech of the barrel being screwed out of and into the matching receiver and locked in place by a latch or other mechanism. Some models feature an interrupted thread arrangement, which allows the barrel to be quickly inserted into the receiver, given a half twist and locked in place. Typically, these lever-action takedowns are beautifully fitted and aligned and have cleverly designed mechanisms for locking the barrel securely in place. This is one of the reasons they are prized so highly by collectors in the gun trade.