By Philip Bourjaily

Earlier I reported the F-Grade A.H. Fox 12 gauge Theodore Roosevelt took on his famous 1909 African safari was for up for auction. On October 5, the James D. Julia auction house sold TR’s gun for $862,500 (including buyer’s premium) making it the most expensive American shotgun ever sold at auction by a good $600,000 or so.

I asked Wes Dillon Of Julia if the price reflected an upswing in the gun market or simply the historical value of this particular gun. “The market in general is not what it was a few years ago and there certainly are not as many strong buyers today. The Roosevelt Fox results were a direct reflection of the significance and importance of the man and his gun,” he replied.

By David E. Petzal

Editor’s Note: In light of the recent controversial CNBC program that deemed Remington Model 700 rifles unsafe, we asked Rifles Editor and Gun Nut blogger David E. Petzal to view the broadcast and offer his thoughts in this extended post. Petzal, a 54-year shooter, NRA Certified Rifle Instructor, former Army Drill Sergeant, and one the country’s foremost gun authorities, had this to say:

On October 20, CNBC ran a program entitled “Remington Under Fire: A CNBC Investigation.” Claimed to be the result of 10 months’ of investigation by CNBC, it was narrated by a Senior Correspondent named Scott Cohn. The focus of the program was the trigger designed in the late 1940s for the Remington 721 (the predecessor to the 700) by Remington engineer Mike Walker. According to CNBC, the trigger was known to be defective almost from its inception; its design allegedly allows the rifle to be fired without the trigger being pulled. This has resulted, the program claimed, in thousands of complaints caused by accidental firings, as well as injuries and deaths.

Those are the bare bones. As I expected, “Remington Under Fire” was a hatchet job. The verdict is guilty from the get-go. No one from Remington would come on the program, nor would anyone from Cerberus, Remington’s parent company. This is not because they have something to hide, but because they know that if they appear on a program like this they will be made to look like liars or fools or both. If you’d like an example, consult any of the “documentaries” made by the lovely and talented Michael Moore.

By Philip Bourjaily

Last time I tried listening to a country station I heard “Drinkin Beer and Wastin Bullets:”  an ode to the simple joy of getting hammered on light beer* in a deer stand and drunkenly spraying lead--specifically Winchester 100-grain bullets--across the landscape.

It’s meant to be taken lightly, I know, but it exemplifies the aggressively dumbed-down lyrics that come out of Nashville these days which contribute so much to the ongoing decline of mainstream country music.

While I was never a hardcore country fan I discovered country radio in the late 80s and listened to it throughout the 90s. I could station-surf in the car on my way to go hunting and regularly find songs by “New Traditionalists” like Patty Loveless, Dwight Yoakam, George (“All my exes live in Texas”) Strait and Randy Travis as well as Allison Krauss and the Mavericks. Their songs were styled after old-school country and written with clever word play and some wonderful lyrics. It was intelligent music for grownups. It’s gone and I miss it.

By Philip Bourjaily

“The only answer,” mused Garvey as he typed the warrant for Vincent Booker's house, “is that crime makes you stupid.” – a favorite line from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon.

Dumb crook stories are always fun, and this one has an outdoors/camo angle to it to boot. Gregory Liascos, of Portland, Oregon, planned to steal the gold nugget collection from the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals. He spent several days tunneling through the outdoor bathroom into the museum. His plan evidently included a bicycle and a ghillie suit (or “moss suit” if you’re a clueless news anchor) to aid his escape.