40 http://www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 305This trend started in 1947 with Remington’s 721/722
rifles, ancestors of 1962’s Remington 700, specifically
designed for cheaper mass-production with stamped
and punched metal parts and push-feed bolts. Many
traditional hunters considered the 721/722/700 the
end of civilization as they knew it, partly because
the “cheaper” rifles killed the pre-’64 Model 70 Win-
chester, the rifle some Baby Boomers still consider
the last real bolt-action made in America. The cause
was simple: The Remingtons sold for considerably
less and shot very accurately.
However, other traditional preferences continued
to dominate the market. The 1990 Gun Digest lists
around 10 times as many wood-stocked American bolt
actions as synthetic-stocked models, but by 2015 syn-
thetic stocks had taken the lead. Very few synthetic
stocks appeared on European rifles in 1990, but by
2015 about a third were synthetic.
Shooters of the so-called Millennial generation
(born in the 1980s) often refuse to buy rifles with
wood stocks, partly because of wood’s tendency to
warp, though many simply prefer the “black rifle” look.
In 2016 I loaned the Millennial daughter of a friend
one of my traditional rifles, a walnut-stocked 7mm-08
Remington, and in 2018 went along with them when
she took her first big-game animal, a whitetail doe.
Phoebe shot the 7mm-08 very well, but after hunt-
ing season I needed it for some writing assignments,
so I gave (not loaned) her a synthetic-stocked .308
Winchester I had already written about as much as
possible without boring even Millennials. She was
thrilled: Not only was the .308 hers, but it looked
“cool” (her word) due to its black synthetic stock.
The U.S. is the largest civilian shooting market in
the world. If Europeans want to sell us rifles, they
have to offer features we prefer. However, even less
expensive European “cool” rifles cost more than many
“affordable” American bolt actions and often retain
more traditional features. A good example is the Fran-
chi Momentum, a black bolt action made by an Italian
company far better known for shotguns.
Initially, a slightly different rifle appeared in ItalyFranchi
Momentum
Like a number of modern bolt-action rifles, the Momentum
does not have a traditional recoil lug. Instead, bedding blocks
in the stock match slots in the action.The trigger has only one adjustment screw, but in both the
6.5 Creedmoor and .308, adjusting pull weight down to 2
pounds eliminated noticeable creep.The Franchi Momentum .308 Winchester test rifle was
fitted with a Burris Fullfield II 3-9x 40mm scope.