Firearm hunting season is right around the corner, and the August edition of GunBroker.com’s Top Selling Report, presented by GunGenius.com, is proof positive that each year, hunters are still scrambling to buy new guns for the coming season even as they press up against opening day. While all kinds of rifles continue to fly off of shelves, for this edition, we’re highlighting single shot rifles.

In most states, there’s no restriction on hunting bottleneck cartridges, but there are a few states (just six in total) that still either don’t allow them or have restrictions placed upon them that ultimately leads hunters to seek out rifles chambered for straight wall cartridges. Recent changes in the laws in straight wall states have led to a striking surge of purchases for an unlikely model: the Traditions Outfitter G3. The Outfitter took the number five spot in the new single-shot rifles category for August. That’s an absolutely meteoric rise considering that the month before, it was just barely in the top 1,000 spot at number 999.

A break action, single shot rifle, the Traditions Outfitter is available in .45-70 Government, .450 Bushmaster, .350 Legend, and .360 Buckhammer straight wall rifle cartridges. For shooters looking for a bit more of a challenge, it’s also available in .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum pistol cartridges which are also straight wall designs.

In any of the previously rifle cartridges, the Outfitter is a solid choice for whitetail or larger game in straight wall states, and can even be used on whitetail in the pistol calibers – so long as hunters understand the limitations of the cartridges and are confident in their shooting prowess.

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The Outfitter G3 is lightweight (just 6.25 pounds), easy to carry, and extremely accurate. Regardless of the straight wall cartridge you choose, they all have a 22” chromoly fluted barrel. Rifles chambered in .350 Legend, .450 Bushmaster, and .45-70 Government even come standard with a muzzle brake to help reduce recoil. Of course, the brake can be removed and a suppressor mounted in its place – unless you live in Illinois.

The Outfitter G3 is equipped with Traditions Elite XT trigger system, which was designed with a rebounding hammer and a manual cross block trigger safety. The Elite XT trigger allows the action to be broken open with the cross bolt safety engaged. This allows you to load or unload the and view the chamber all while maintaining optimum safety. After all, when it comes to hunting, you can never be too careful and no one has ever been harmed by being too safe.

Since the gun is a single shot, it is able to comply with states whose laws limit the number of rounds a hunter can have in their gun.

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All Outfitter rifles come drilled and tapped for easy mounting of the scope or optic of your choice. Some models are even available direct from the factory with a 3-9×40 scope already installed for hunters who want a complete package that is ready to go right out of the box. Just fine tune the factory boresight and you’re all set. It’s important to note, however, that none of the models come with traditional open sights, so if that’s what you want, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Scoped models have an MSRP of $649.95 and the drilled and tapped models have an MSRP of $569.95. Of course, you can find them on GunBroker for less – generally under $600 for the scoped models and under $500 for the other models. Prices are able to be kept comparatively low because the rifles are only offered with black synthetic furniture and a gray Cerakote finish.

While the Traditions Outfitter is truly the star this month for its impressive rise on the list, there should also be an honorable mention to Henry Single Shot rifles. They moved up to the number two spot for new single shot rifles and maintained their number five spot for used guns in the same category. They are available in all of the aforementioned straight wall cartridges, are drilled and tapped for scopes and optics, but also come with a folding, adjustable rear sight and a brass bead front sight, which is something not available from Traditions.

Top Selling Guns Sold in August 2024

Source: gungenius.com/top-selling/

To learn more or shop for any of the guns listed, visit Gun Genius at www.gungenius.com/top-selling.

Editor’s note: In the report, guns are rated from one to five within each category, with the number one gun being the most popular that month. The numbers are color-coded to show any changes in the ranks from the previous report.

Black = Steady
Green = Up
Red = Down

Source: gungenius.com/top-selling/

To learn more or shop for any of the guns listed, visit Gun Genius at www.gungenius.com/top-selling.