The Firearm Blog

I was very surprised when a reader email me about this new rifle from Winchester. The poor Browning BAR hunting rifle has been through yet another evolution and rebranding.

In early 2008 FN announced a tactical sniper rifle, the FNAR, based on the Browning BAR (FN owns both Browning and Winchester Arms). It added a detachable magazine, pistol grip and top, bottom and side picatinny rails.

The new SX-AR is a heavy barreled FNAR in a Mossy Oak camo finish but without the side rails and full length top rail (interestingly the bottom rail remains). It comes full circle, taking the tactical FNAR improvements back to the hunting market.

Winchester SX-AR

This rifle will have been developed to fight the new AR-10 based hunting rifles that have been coming into the market, for example, the Remington R-25. I suspect the reason it is being rebranded and marketed under Winchester, and not Browning, is so that the risk of the BAR being named in any Assault Weapon Ban (federal or state) is reduced. The Browning BAR can continue to be a "traditional" styled hunting rifle.

For comparison, there are photos of the SX-AR ancestors ...

Browning BAR

FNAR

A big thank you to Reese for emailing me about this new rifle.

The takedown version of the famous Winchester 1892 lever action rifle was last manufactured in 1932. For the first time in 77 years Winchester are producing a limited run of the rifle.

.45 Long Colt 20″ Barreled Version

The deluxe rifles feature high grade walnut stocks and octagonal barrel. The 20″ version is chambered in .44-40 and .45 Long Colt and has a MSRP of $1874.95. The 24″ version is chambered in .44-40, .38-40, .32-20 and .45 Long Colt and has a MSRP of $1899.95.

For each caliber offered, 500 rifles will be made in the 20″ version and 250 in the 24″ version.

Winchester should seriously consider mass producing a modern takedown version in .30-30 and some of the fancy new Marlin cartridges such as the .308 Marlin Express. I think it would sell very well.

Over the past year Winchester have been doing a major update of their .22 rimfire product offering.

The new Hyper Speed HP load is a very hot load that matches the ballistic characteristics of the CCI Velocitor round. The Hyper Speed HP, like the Velocitor, features a copper plated 40 grain hollow point bullet. The bullet has a published velocity of 1435 fps at the muzzle, which works out to be 183 ft-lbs of muzzle energy.

A significant difference between the CCI load is that is will be sold in a 100 round box, rather than the CCI 50-round box. This suggests it may be quite a lot cheaper that the Velocitor. If it is, I will defiantly consider switching to this for my hyper velocity needs.

Winchester are also introducing a 555 round bulk pack, giving it a slight edge quantity wise over the Federal 525 and 550 bulk packs.

The bulk pack features high velocity (36 grain / 1280 fps) rounds with copper plated hollow point bullets. Nothing fancy.

Overall I am quite impressed with the new offerings from Winchester. I don’t think there is much else they can do as far as rimfire ammunition is concerned.

Wilson Combat are now selling accurized FN Herstal Patrol Bolt Rifles (PBR).

Wilson Combat FN Bolt Rifle

It features a green Hogue stock, fluted barrel, fully bedded action and trigger work done by Wilson Combat gunsmiths. The PBR action is based on the Winchester Model 70 action and is chambered for .308 Winchester.

Wilson are selling it for $1995.

Winchester are producing a limited run saddle carbine version of the famous Winchester 1895 lever action chambered in .30-40 Krag (Caleb: They must have heard you loud and clear).

The Winchester 1895 was designed by JMB and made famous by Roosevelt when he used it, chambered in .405 Winchester, on his African safari.

The Saddle Ring Carbine has a 4+1 internal box magazine, 22″ barrel and weights 8 lbs 2 oz. The MSRP is $1639.99 and only 501 will be produced. This is not the first time a Saddle Ring Carbine has been manufactured by Winchester, although I am not sure how long ago the last run was.

The Winchester 1885 single shot rifle, designed by the one and only Mr John M. Browning, has been in and out of production for over 120 years. Winchester is once again manufacturing it. A variety of models are available:

1885 High Wall Sporter


Creedmoor Black Powder .50-90 Sharps

Short Hunter


High Wall Trapper

Not pictured is the Traditional Hunter model.

They are available chambered in:

* 45-70
* 50-90 Sharps
* 38-55
* 405 Win.
* 30-40 Krag
* 32-40
* 45-90

I really like the short barreled trapper model. It is available chambered in 38-55, 30-40 Krag and 45-70. Weights only 6 lbs and has a 16.5″ barrel.

MSRP is $1514.99 to $2226.56 depending on model and caliber.

Newton Arms have revived the Leverbolt rifle that was invented by the famous gun and cartridge designer Charles Newton in 1929. The design borrows element from the Springfield, Lee Navy and the Winchester lever-action. By utilizing a lever the bolt can be cycled faster than a traditional straight pull bolt action.

Click to expand.

According to my copy of Bolt Action Rifles (4th Edition), the story of the Leverbolt is a sad one. Charles designed the rifle after this business, Newton Buffolo Rifle Corporation, folded in early 1929. Unbeknown to him, and everyone else, the stock market would crash in October of that year heralding the beginning of the Great Depression.

Newton approached Marlin who agreed to limited production only if he could secure at least 500 orders. The cost was a $25 downpayment and an addional $35 on delivery. He failed to secure the neccessery orders and once the market crashed any chance of the rifle being manufactured was gone. Charles died a few years later aged 62.

Mehul, a moderator at nitroexpress.com and expert of the topic emailed me information about the Newton rifle:

For a straight pull action that is much sleeker than any of its competitors today (the Blaser R 93, Strasser RS 05 and the Heym SR 30 are three popular designs that come to mind) the Newton Leverbolt is especially interesting because it comes with a controlled feed and extraction system that would make it ideal for dangerous game. The speed of reloading and getting repeat shots off would also be ideal for an African rifle – with a 5 shot magazine in calibers from 375 H&H to 458 Lott this could be much better than anything else available today.

I am not sure of pricing or availability of the rifle at this time.

A big thanks to Mehul for the info.

Winchester have given the Super X3 pump action (SXP) shotguns a makeover. The “Worlds fastest pump” now has a more high tech design.

Defender

Black Shadow Field


For comparison: The old Black Shadow Field

I like the designs, they are very “Benelli”, which in my books is a good thing. Personally I would have preferred a name change, the Super-X brand is getting tired and overused.

The Winchester website has not yet been updated.

Winchester is offering a new type of bullet that Winchester describes as a “bullet within a bullet”. The bullet has two jackets, one within the other. When the the bullet mushrooms it creates a devastating shape with 12 “petals”. The outer petals from the outer jackets expand further out that the petals / segments would normally protrude. The photo illustrates this well.

What is also very interesting is that Winchester are releasing this bullet as both a big bore handgun bullet and a slug. These cartridges will initially be available:

454 Casull 260 gr
460 S&W 260 gr
500 S&W 37 gr

12 ga. 375 gr
20 ga. 260 gr

The “symbol” for the Dual Bond bullet is DJHP (duel jacketed hollow point).

A very interesting design. I see no reason for not offering this in a defensive caliber other than that it is possible the two jackets may not be able to expand from relatively low powered cartridges.

White Tail Woods has a brief review

Harling only had a precious handful of the new shells, which I’m sure he had to wrestle away from an engineer at Winchester headquarters. So I got on the paper using Winchester RackMaster slugs, then switched over to our small supply of Dual Bond shells. I put three shots into a 2-inch group at 100 yards, which is outstanding accuracy for any combination of shotgun barrel and slug. The impact difference between the two types of slugs was negligible, so I was ready to hunt.

Photo from Whitetail Woods

Winchester announced their second .22 LR “Hyper Velocity” round. The Xpediter round has similar performance to the new non-toxic Winchester SUPER-X .22 Long Rifle. It pushes a 32 grain lead hollow point bullet at 1,640 fps.

The original Xpediter

I am not sure if this round is identical to the original that used to be produced by Winchester many years ago.
[No doubt its a shrewd marketing plan of Winchester to dole out individual press releases over a period of time instead of announcing everything at once ... ]

Hat Tip: Shooting Wire

It is lead free day here at The Firearm Blog*, this being the second lead-free ammo post!

Winchester has announced a new line of lead-free ammunition.

CCI currently manufactures lead free .22 Magnum called TNT GREEN but as far as I know Winchester are the first US manufacturer to announce lead free .22 LR. It is rumored that more companies will unveil their lead free rimfire at SHOT 2009.

The new Winchester SUPER-X .22 Long Rifle will propel a 30 grain THP (tin hollow point) at 1650 fps. This is a hot “hyper velocity” load which generates 181 foot pounds of energy, only slightly less powerful that the CCI Stinger at the muzzle.

It is likely that the case will be extended in length, like the CCI Stringer. The extended case can prevent the round from chambering in some rifles.

CCI Stinger length compared to standard .22LR (Wikipedia)

The new SUPER-X .22 Win. Mag (.22 Magnum / .22 WMR) pushes a 28 grain JHP at 2200 fps. The under 30 grain bullet means it will won’t perform as well as standard .22 Magnum 30 grain rounds.

SUPER-X .223 Rem lead-free pushes a 55 grain bullet at 3030 fps. Like the .22 Magnum, there is a significant performance hit. The round is being marketed as varmint cartridge..

This new range should be available in Spring 2009.

* That was a joke. I bought 100 rounds of “toxic” ammo today.

Hat Tip: Shooting Wire.

Next year (2009) Winchester Ammunition will be will be introducing the Winchester Super-X Power Max Bonded and the Winchester Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1.

From the Super-X Power Max bonded press release:

Super-X® Power Max Bonded™ is specifically designed for the whitetail deer hunter and takes the time-proven jacketed bullet design to a new level of performance at an affordable price. Winchester’s proprietary bonding process welds lead to a copper alloy jacket where the two act together during expansion for improved penetration and retained weight.

It will be available in .270 Win, .270 WSM, .30-30 Win, .308 Win, .30-06, .300 WSM and .300 Win Mag.

From the Winchester Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1 press release:

The new Winchester Supreme Elite Bonded PDX1, which was chosen by the FBI as their primary service round, is now available in a full line of popular handgun calibers. The PDX1 is engineered to maximize terminal ballistics, as defined by the demanding FBI test protocol, which simulates real-world threats.

It will be available in .38 special, 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP. UPDATE: Full press release after the jump.

Hat Tip: Outdoor wire
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In May (2008) I blogged that Winchester were going to offer reduced recoil .460 S&W.

features a 250-grain jacketed hollow point bullet, a muzzle velocity of 1,450 feet per second (fps) and an impressive 1,517 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.

Muzzle energy is a function of bullet weight and velocity. I did not notice it at the time but those figures are impossible. I am sure it was a typo, but I am surprised that it has taken Winchester over 6 months to issue a correct press release!

From the “new” press release:

features a 250-grain jacketed hollow point bullet, a muzzle velocity of 1,450 feet per second (fps) and an impressive 1,167 foot-pounds of muzzle energy.

So it generates 50% less recoil and has 50% less power. I don’t see the point, might as well use a .44 magnum, but the game being shot probably won’t notice the difference.

Cowtown Cop, a relatively new gun blogger, wrote about his conversion of a beat up Winchester 1200 into a very cool green gun.

Lots of high res photos and information on the project on the blog.