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Built on a variant of the company’s rugged and proven M77 action, Ruger has upped the ante by adding a feature-rich precision target rifle, the Hawkeye Long-Range Target (HLRT). Chambered for 6.5 mm Creedmoor, the HLRT action is fitted with a heavy-contour, 26” cold-hammer-forged, 4140 chrome-moly steel barrel with right-hand 5R rifling. A non-rotating Mauser-style controlled-round feed extractor, along with a fixed, blade-type ejector, ensure reliable performance. Its two-tone stock includes comb and length-of-pull adjustments, and at the stock fore-end is a flush-fit section of Magpul M-Lok rail for accessories. Additionally, a 20-m.o.a. Picatinny rail is included to dial in optics for distant shot opportunities. Ruger also includes a two-stage adjustable trigger and ships the rifle with one AICS-style magazine. To learn more, watch this NRA Gun of the Week video hosted by AmericanRifleman’s Kelly Young.
In 2024, former owner Gregg Ritz purchased Thompson/Center Arms. Now the company has introduced a modern take on its classic Contender/Encore concept: the ENCORE PROHunter.
While it's certainly a saturated marketplace these days, the AR-15 has never been more popular with American firearm enthusiasts, and many manufacturers are continuing to feed the need with new options loaded with new features.
Like any hobby or pastime that is in any way even vaguely related to machines or technology, firearms attract a (possibly) disproportionate number of “right-brained,” STEM-oriented personalities who like numbers.
Slingshots are fun, but they can also be a legitimate backup defensive tool—in 2023, a 13-year-old Michigan boy saved his 8-year-old sister from being kidnapped by using a $3 slingshot to fire a marble and a rock at the assailant, striking him in the chest and head.