50 Years of Single-Shots

In the fall of 1968 in Huntington, West Virginia, a local store with a huge gun department became my “safe space.”

- Mike Venturino

It had everything in stock that I had never seen in my small, coal mining hometown. Its inventory included everything from bullet moulds to “elephant rifles.” For someone who was already nearly obsessed with casting bullets and loading my own ammunition, there was a magazine on the counter of which I had never heard. It was Handloader by Wolfe Publishing, and I was hooked.

Halfway through the school year another magazine appeared, Rifle. Although I had been avidly reading gun magazines since 1962, these two magazines seemed to be a cut above. Instead of scratching the surface, the articles were longer with more “hands-on” information. For perspective, that first issue contained an article on the introduction of Ruger’s first bolt-action rifle, the Model 77. It was priced at $160 plus $15 more if barrel sights were desired. Two of the staff writers listed in that initial issue of Rifle were John Wootters and Ken Waters. I would not presume to say that in my career I became friends with those men, but I was certainly on friendly terms with both. Handloader and Rifle were printed on alternate months, were very addictive and almost never encountered on newsstands or bookstores in those days.

At the time of Rifle’s introduction, there was actually very little in the way of a single-shot rifle scene among American riflemen. For example, in issue No. 2 (March/April 1969) Bob Hagel wrote a feature, “Bolt, Auto or Lever,” but no mention was made of single-shots. The reason for their exclusion most likely was due to the fact that there were almost none to compare with other modern hunting rifles. The Ruger No. 1 was on the market, and of course it was meant primarily for modern hunters of both big game and varmints. In fact, issue No.