Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

314 страница из 495

The Model 88 was chambered in the following four calibers, from left to right: the big .358 Winchester; next, the versatile .308 Winchester; then the good but underrated .284 Winchester; and last, what has become a first caliber for many young hunters, the .243 Winchester. This Rifle, along with the Model 70, was used to introduce these then new calibers.

Integrating this train of levers and their linkage into the already tight spacial constraints of the 88 is perhaps one of the greatest feats of engineering in lever-action rifle design. Despite this complexity, this rifle is surprisingly smooth in operation. However, like other lever actions, it is best operated briskly to ensure smooth, reliable feeding. For those interested, this feat of engineering can be readily appreciated by visualizing the lever train, located along side the main lever, and exposed during the normal routine operating of the lever. Unfortunately, what the engineers achieved through ingenuity most shooters undo with unfamiliarity. In actual practice, many shooters still un-shoulder a lever action Rifle and operate the lever from the hip before re-shouldering and re-sighting the Rifle for a follow-up shot.