Why are competitive smallbore rifles a European thing now?

ProdigalSon · Sep 22, 2016

I just ordered a Walther KK300 (got it in a universal stock rather than the aluminum - saved a fair bit of money as a result and I'm not good enough yet to benefit from the bells and whistles), but in my search to find a smallbore rifle, one thing quickly became apparent - they're all European (German, really, unless you want to spend a massive amount). I know that you can get used 40Xs, Winchester 52s, or Kimber 82Gs, but there doesn't seem to be any newly manufactured American-made smallbore rifles. It kind of bugs me.

I mean, they're not low-margin, high-production rifles like a 10/22 is, for example, but surely there's a market for them, given the rising interest in youth shooting sports. Germany has Feinwerkbau, Anschutz, and Walther. Switzerland's Grunig&Elmiger rifles (and Bleiker as well) are considered among the finest in the world. How can it be that a country with such a high firearms ownership rate like the US, and a strong tradition in the shooting sports, can't turn out a competitive target rifle like they can across the pond in much less gun-friendly societies?

AMProducts · Sep 22, 2016

I think it's a matter of how we buy here in the US, very few people are willing to drop a few grand on a .22LR match rifle, even then, it can be so hard to even find .22LR I might question the sanity of such a purchase decision. Back when I shot smallbore .22lr was $8/brick, I could afford to shoot hundreds if not thousands of rounds a weekend on a paper-boy salary. Now, if you can find it, it's $30-50, and often it's not match quality ammunition, that's just the common bulk ammo.

In a lot of ways, I think part of it is FWB, Anschuetz, and walther have the market cornered because the europeans have easier access to these types of guns than say AR-15's, in many ways it's our freedom to choose any gun that means we don't have interest in that kind of shooting.

For me personally, it was fun when I was a kid, won a lot of medals, got a lot of trophies, but I'm on to other stuff, either high power, palma, or tactical. Even whacking the gong at 800 yards with a .223 is fun.

Ura-Ki · Oct 4, 2016

The Americans had the small bore market tied up soundly, especially with the Winchester Mod 52 until the late 1950's Olympics saw the shift to Anshutz rifles and the world changed! Americans really haven't invested in the Olympic shooting since then, so we have seen the shift toward the European small bores take hold and out grow the U.S. Add in that there have been very few American manufactures to ever try to out do Anshutz since then, and that's why we see what we see. For a long time, the exchange rate favored us and that helped cement the domination! For what It would cost to build a good rifle here, I could buy a good Anshutz or Feinwerkbau for a lot less then a Remington 40X or something like it! I started out on the high school team with a 1953 Mod 52 and ended up with 2 Anshutz rifles later, One is the legendary mod 54 and then the later mod 64 for running game. My Old 52 will still shoot just as good as the newer rifles, so if you manage to find one, grab it!

ProdigalSon · Oct 4, 2016

Picture time, since we're on the topic anyway:

Scratchingpost · Oct 4, 2016

Could it be akin to our vehicles? Big and bad for the most part? I've not read any articles talking about the over excessive desire for larger calibers. Are they not just like boats and RV's? Ask the guy on his third of either and it's usually bigger than the last....

Why yes, I did just get my first 308 AR. Why? It has more knock down capability than my 5.56 and I expect to learn how to use it just as effectively. So up goes the caliber, my training and practice schedule. I'm in a Great Country that lets me responsibly do so; for now anyway.