Four great Winchester rifles and shotguns made the cut to be included in Petersen’s Hunting Magazine 2017 Annual Gear Guide. In the centerfire rifle category the Petersen’s Hunting Magazine editors included a pair of popular Winchesters among the 11 rifles named. 

“Winchester’s answer to the crop of budget-priced centerfire rifles is the XPR Hunter,” noted the Petersen’s Hunting Magazine editors. Chambered in short, standard and magnum sized cartridges, this synthetic-stocked bolt-action rifle uses a billet steel receiver, free-floated barrel, and a detachable box magazine. The polymer stock comes in Mossy Oak Break-Up Country camo. Barrel length ranges from 22 to 26 inches depending on the chambering, and the rifles weigh between 6.5 and 7.5 pounds.”

No list of centerfire rifles would be complete without including “The Rifleman’s Rifle,” the classic Winchester Model 70.

“The ‘Rifleman’s Rifle’ turns 80 this year, but it’s the iconic company’s 150-year-old name that this rifle is celebrating,” the editors report. “Built in .270 Winchester with the Pre-’64-style controlled round feed and claw extractor, the rifle is stocked in high-grade American black walnut. Deep-relief scroll engraving with gold embellishments highlight the polished blued receiver, barrel, trigger guard, floorplate, and grip cap. The Winchester 150^th Anniversary logo and WRA scroll trademark are featured in the engraving.”

The smoothbore offerings from Winchester Repeating Arms were also very well represented among the Petersen’s Hunting Magazine’s 11 shotgun finalists.

“If sporting clays is your game, this Winchester (Super) X3 Ultimate Sporting is worth a look,” recommended the editors. “This semiauto is stocked in upgraded satin oil-finished walnut with an adjustable comb that looks cool next to the matte nickel receiver. This gun is back-bored for dense patterns, and both the bore and chamber are chrome plated to resist corrosion. Ported barrels and a Decelerator pad cut recoil, and an active valve system regulates the propellant gases.”