Field and Stream - 2nd Amendment RSS

The .50 Cal AR-15 Muzzleloader From CMMG

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:02:44 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

The AR 15 continues to prove its versatility in all kinds of ways – even ways that leave you scratching your head and asking “why?” For instance, I heard about the AR 15 muzzleloader upper at SHOT and looked in vain for it, finally concluding that it was a Mythical Creature and not a real AR accessory. Since then, I have found these two videos that prove its existence.

And, to give the people at CMMG Inc. credit, the .50 upper is cleverly designed. As you see in the video, the magazine holds extra pellets and bullets for handy reloading, and the gun will handle a three-pellet (150 gr.) load of pyrodex.

New Remington Versa Max Tactical Shotgun

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:52:27 -0500

Remington has introduced a tactical version of its popular Versa Max shotgun. Check out this video for details.

SHOT Show 2012 Sneak Peek: 12 New Guns From Range Day

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:54:40 -0500

New items from Media Day At The Range from SHOT 2012.

Looking Back in Nausea: 2011 in Review

Sarah Smith — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:15:29 -0500

by David E. Petzal

As 2011 lurches into history like a smelly old wino, I take MAC in hand to review some of the lows of the year.

You Can’t Get it Right All the Time: In the 1960s the Department of Defense decided that all future combat was going to take place at 300 meters or less and, now that the distance has increased again to 500 meters and over, is scrambling to come up with guns and ammunition that can hack it at long range. We, of course, are paying for all this.

What’s next? Tac Nukes? Some weeks ago, Mayor for Life Bloomberg referred to the New York City Police as “my private army.” People assumed he was joking. I don’t. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has coyly announced that the NYPD has the technology to shoot down airplanes, presumably to avoid a repeat of 9/11. Commissioner Kelly did not say what kind of armament was involved. It could be missiles, or it could be 30mm cannon on Mayor Bloomberg’s private jet. The NYPD averages one hit per 72 rounds expended with its handguns, so the mind reels at the havoc it can wreak with this kind of firepower.

Gun in Girl's Purse Went Off in a Wyoming Starbucks

Sarah Smith — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:02:28 -0500

--Chad Love

Here's one from the "Would You Like That Frappuccino Leaded Or Unleaded?" files. Customers at a Cheyenne, Wyoming Starbucks got a surprise recently when a young girl's purse gun went off--in her purse.

From this story in USA Today:

Police in Wyoming say nobody was hurt when a small gun that was inside a girl's purse fired while she was in a Cheyenne Starbucks. The bullet went through a chair and into a wall and narrowly missed several customers. Police say the mishap occurred while officers were at the coffee shop around 7:00 a.m. on Monday. They found a gunshot hole in the purse and a small, Derringer-type, double-barrel .38 Special inside.

Rot and Evil and the Military Channel

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:32:58 -0500

by David E. Petzal

Like many of you, I’m addicted to both the History Channel and the Military Channel. Were it not for them I would have to learn canasta or take up calligraphy while I wait for the end to come. The Military Channel still runs some good stuff, but I’m seeing it drift farther and farther from bullets and bayonets and more toward show biz.

The first example of this is a program called “An Officer and Movie,” in which a war film is played and the host, the actor Lou Diamond Phillips, quizzes a combat veteran about what the movie purports to show. The concept is a good one, but the films are some of the lamest military flicks ever made (Heartbreak Ridge? Spare me.) Mr. Phillips is no military authority, the officers are given no time to say anything important, and the questions are innocuous. Aside from that it’s fine.

If the Military Channel would like to do something meaningful, how about having Colonel Jack Jacobs host the program? Colonel Jacobs (USA, Ret) won the Medal of Honor in Vietnam and does military analysis for MSNBC. How about running movies like Attack, a film that stars Jack Palance and came out in 1956. It deals with cowardice under fire, and has some distinctly unpleasant things to say. Or Decision Before Dawn (1951) which was the first postwar American film to show Germans in a sympathetic light, and is about loyalty to a cause, and what it can do to you. Neither film makes for easy watching, and I’d love to see one or both on “An Officer…” but I won’t hold my breath.

Video: FPS Russia vs. .44 Magnum vs. S&W .500

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:54:38 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

A while back we talked about relative recoil of the .44 magnum and the S&W .500. Here’s a video on the topic from none other than “FPS Russia,” who has become a viral hit due to his ability to procure all kinds of weaponry (dragon’s breath, mortars, the AA12 shotgun, an APC with a M2 on it) and shoot things while keeping up a foulmouthed running commentary in a fake Russian accent.

At any rate, in this video FPS Russia doesn’t swear much, and the comparison here between the .44 and the .500 is instructive, even though you can’t actually feel the recoil. You can tell that the .500 is louder, and that a bigger fireball comes out of its muzzle.

The Best of the 2011 Gun Nuts Target Photo Contest

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:37:32 -0400

The 50 best shots from our 2011 Gun Nuts Target Photo Contest.

Petzal on Shooting Snakes, Bullet Packaging and NYC Police Shooting

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:07:21 -0400

by David E. Petzal

- A while back, I advised that if one sees a venomous serpent crawling along, the proper response is to open fire. This was wrong. A crawling serpent presents hardly any target at all. If it’s a pit viper, such as a rattlesnake, the proper response is to fire a shot just ahead of its nose, which will cause it to coil. Then you have something to shoot at. Aim at the base of the reptile. I recommend high-velocity quick-expanding bullets. If the serpent is a cobra, a mamba, a krait, etc., which does not need to coil, drive to the nearest airport and leave.

- I figured out what happens to the people who flunk out of industrial design schools—the go on to profitable careers designing boxes for .22 ammo. A few weeks ago I got sick of boxes that crack, shatter, delaminate, rip, and otherwise implode and got three Rubbermaid food containers at a hardware store.

A Word to Gun Nuts Readers

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:04:58 -0400

by David E. Petzal

It is my duty to inform you that my post of September 1, “Party Poppers for Libya,” contained not a single word of truth. It was political satire, nothing more. A number of you astutely pointed out that it was only a single click off reality, despite its preposterous premise, and you spoke better than you knew.

I was provoked to write it by a White House press conference at which Jay Carney, President Obama’s Press Secretary (a nice young man, but badly out of his depth, sort of like his boss) opined that bombing--the NATO airstrikes on Quadaffi’s hired goons--did not constitute war. This was something straight out of Catch-22. And rather than giving him a chorus of “BUUUUUUULS**T!”, the gutless toads of the Washington press corps simply went on to the next round of inanity. If rocketing and bombing is not war, it’ll do till the war comes along. I invite Mr. Carney to place himself in the middle of an air strike and see if his opinion is not changed.

Party Poppers for Libya

Sarah Smith — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:24:02 -0400

by David E. Petzal

What with all the excitement over Hurricane Irene, you may have missed the following press release from Martha’s Vineyard on 8/23:

“The President, in a gesture of support for the brave freedom fighters of Libya, has ordered the director of the Lake City Arsenal to alter some of our existing stocks of 7.62mm, 5.54mm, and 12.7mm Soviet ammunition for firing in the air as a means of celebration. The United States not only recognizes the right of different cultures to express themselves in ways different from ours, but believes they should be able to do it safely, without the risk of injury from falling projectiles.

“The Lake City Arsenal will remove the bullets from this ammunition, replace the powder with a propellant designed for pyrotechnics, and replace the original projectiles with new ones made from light, biodegradable plastic that cannot cause injury and is not based on animal fats. This will result in increased flash and report, while at the same time eliminating the risks inherent in firing conventional ammunition into the air.

The Sorry Case of a Gunless Great Britain

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:57:54 -0400

by David E. Petzal

One of the reasons I enjoy going through old copies of Field & Stream is that they bring back to life little bits of history that would otherwise be forgotten. One of these is the fact that in 1939-1940, Great Britain begged American shooters and hunters for rifles—any kind of rifles. Until England won the Battle of Britain in the fall of 1940, it looked very likely that Adolf was going to send his merry men in feldgrau across the Channel, and His Majesty’s Home Guard—a sad joke in and of itself—was practically gunless, the British having already gone a long way down the road to self-disarmament.

That trend has continued over the past 70 years, and in the past week we have been treated to nightly tapes of widespread rioting, looting and, even in gunless England, killing.

Tales Told By Fools: Why The Media Can't Get Anything Right About Guns

Online Editors — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:15:54 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Imagine a newspaper story on automobiles in which the writer confused camshafts and driveshafts. Or a piece on investing in which the words “stock” and “bond” were used interchangeably. Or one that referred to Marines as soldiers (which will get you a punch in the mouth from any self-respecting Jarhead). Not likely, you think. No reporter is that ignorant or that careless. Wrong. They are when they turn their attention to guns. Cartridge and bullet are used interchangeably, clip and magazine mean the same thing; submachine gun and machine gun are synonyms. And it gets worse.

When the M-16 was first issued during the Vietnam War, Americans were informed that it was deadly because its bullets tumbled through the air, creating terrible wounds when they hit. Anyone who has ever thrown a football knows what a crock this is. Apparently, news reporters do not throw footballs.

In a recent article in The New York Times, a reporter quoted a police officer as stating that a Smith & Wesson revolver went off when it was dropped. The handgun was made in the 1970s, so there is a problem: No Smith wheelgun of post-World-War-II manufacture can go off unless the trigger is pulled. Even if the revolver was cocked, it’s highly unlikely that it could fire. It sounds like the police officer told a Great Big Fib, but the reporter did not know enough about the subject (or, probably, anything about the subject) to call him on it.

Last Chance to Enter the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:44:36 -0400

Enter the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest before it's too late!

Chicago Gun Range Ban Struck Down in Fed. Appeals Court

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:24:17 -0400

--Chad Love

Citing an infringement of citizens' Second Amendment rights, a federal appeals court has struck down the city of Chicago's ban on gun ranges.

From this story on Bloomberg.com:
A Chicago law banning firing ranges in the third-largest U.S. city probably harms gun owners’ Second Amendment rights and must be temporarily blocked, a federal appeals court ruled.

The Chicago-based court’s decision today comes in a case challenging a city ordinance restricting handgun possession to inside the home, mandating an hour of range training as a prerequisite to gun ownership and barring those ranges from operating within its borders. The Responsible Gun Ownership Ordinance was passed by the city council after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Chicago’s outright ban on civilian handgun possession in 2010.

Announcing the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:22:42 -0400

Enter the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest for a chance to win a S&W rifle.

To Fla. Physicians: Stick To What You Know, Leave Guns Out of It

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 11:29:10 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Florida’s Governor Rick Scott signed a law last week forbidding pediatricians to ask kids if their parents have guns in the home. The impetus for the law came when a Florida pediatrician allegedly refused to treat a kid when he learned that said urchin’s family were gun owners. (This was probably illegal as hell, but no one is talking about prosecuting the doctor.)

Florida’s legislators have already been called toadies of the NRA and dealt all the usual insults, but I can see their point. Let us say that Dr. Rubella questions little Timmy and learns that his daddy has a handgun.

Fla. Gov. Signs Controversial "Docs and Glocks" Bill Into Law

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:00:14 -0400

--Dave Maccar

Doctors and gun control groups are already saying they will challenge a Florida law signed Thursday by Gov. Rick Scott that makes it illegal for doctors to ask patients about gun ownership. Doctors say it’s the same as talking with patients about safe storage of poisons in the home or about using car seats.

From this story on ABCNews.com:
"Gov. Rick Scott should realize the risks to public health and safety that he would be sanctioning by giving into the gun lobby's agenda," the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said in a joint statement with the Florida chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians and American College of Physicians. When it was first proposed in January, the gun gag bill sparked outrage among pediatricians, who said asking parents about guns in the home was not only their right but their responsibility.

College Campus Handgun Bill Shot Down in Louisiana

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:11:56 -0400

--Dave Maccar

Texas isn’t the only state has recently tried to pass a bill allowing college students to carry concealed handguns on campus, citing the Virginia Tech shooting as a strong reason. A similiar bill was shot down in Louisiana before opponents even got a chance to speak.

From this story on TheNewsStar.com:
A House committee Wednesday shot down a controversial bill that would have allowed guns on college campuses.

HB413 by Rep. Ernest Wooton, I-Belle Chasse, would have allowed anyone with a permit to carry a concealed handgun to have a weapon on public college and university campuses, including in classrooms and dormitories.

Wooton, the chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, declared handgun permit holders “the safest individuals in this nation.”

A Tale of Two Teds: Nugent Meets 42-Year-Old Adopted Son For First Time

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 09:10:10 -0400

--Chad Love

A New York restaurant owner, adopted as an infant, recently discovered his biological father is, coincidentally, a famous epicurean…Mr. "Kill it and Grill It" himself...

From this story in the New York Daily News:

A Brooklyn restaurateur, adopted as a baby, was shocked to learn his biological father is none other than "Motor City Madman" Ted Nugent. Bay Ridge native Ted Mann, 42, got the news about "The Nuge" in an October phone call from a sister he never knew he had. She had reached out to the adoption agency that placed him. "I'm like, 'What!?'" laughed Mann, whose newest eatery is Cubana Social in Williamsburg. "It took me a little while to kind of breathe normal again - and not just sit in my house staring at YouTube videos of him running around like a crazy person."

Texas Lawmakers: Universities Should Allow Concealed Handguns

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:35:44 -0500

--Dave Maccar

While students at the University of Iowa are being trained to survive a violent incident while unarmed in response to the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings and similar incidents, Texas is taking a different approach.

More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors of a measure directing universities to allow concealed handguns for students and teachers. With 38 public universities and more than a half-million students in the Lone Star state, that’s a lot of potential firepower.

Those supporting the measure argue that examples of gun violence on campuses show the best defense against a gunman is students who can shoot back.

From this story in the Huffington Post:
Texas is preparing to give college students and professors the right to carry guns on campus, adding momentum to a national campaign to open this part of society to firearms. More than half the members of the Texas House have signed on as co-authors of a measure directing universities to allow concealed handguns. The Senate passed a similar bill in 2009 and is expected to do so again. Republican Gov. Rick Perry, who sometimes packs a pistol when he jogs, has said he's in favor of the idea.

Kitchen-Knife Control: When Parody is Indistinguishable from Reality

Online Editors — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:00:01 -0500

by David E. Petzal

This all came about because a crazed yahoo killed four people with a knife instead of a handgun in the fiefdom of Mayor for Life Michael Bloomberg. If said yahoo had used a handgun, His Honor would have rounded up his tame fellow mayors, gone to Washington, and treated us to yet another gun-control sermon in his adenoidal bleat. But it was knives, so he was silent.

I thought this was a shame, so I wrote the post of February 18, titled ("Bloomberg Calls for Kitchen Knife Law Reform"), stringing together the clichés that Bloomberg, and Chuck Schumer, and all the usual suspects have used, and substituted “kitchen knives” for “handguns” where appropriate. As reader Breaking Clays pointed out in his comment on the post (and he gets an A+ for this one), the most crushing criticism of an opponent’s point of view you can make is when you write a truly idiotic parody of it and the parody is indistinguishable from the real thing. If this seemed real, it’s because there’s nothing in it you haven’t seen or heard before, spoken or written, in dead seriousness.

Bloomberg Calls For Kitchen-Knife Law Reform

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:57:14 -0500

by David E. Petzal

On the weekend of February 12, Maksim Gelman, a 23-year-old Ukranian immigrant with a history of drug arrests, went on a rampage in Brooklyn, NY that left him charged with four murders, two assaults, and two robberies. His weapon of choice was an 8-inch kitchen knife. Four other kitchen knives were found in his car. On February 14, New York City’s Mayor for Life Michael Bloomberg released the following statement:

“This tragic event demands that America inject some sanity, some kind of reasonable controls, into its kitchen-knife laws. No one but a professional chef needs an 8-inch kitchen knife. No one but a professional chef needs an entire collection of kitchen knives. Why was this person, who had a criminal record, able to buy kitchen knives with no sort of background check? Because anyone can walk into a hardware or kitchen-supply store and buy any knife they want as easily as they can buy a blender or a colander.

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Montana Bill Would Allow Firearms in Student's Vehicles During Hunting Season

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:52:09 -0500

--Chad Love

And in more kids-'n-guns news from Montana, a state legislator is planning to introduce a bill that would allow students to keep a firearm in their vehicle during hunting season. Grab the popcorn for this one...

From this story in the Daily Interlake:
A state representative from Columbia Falls will present information Friday on a bill that would allow students to keep hunting rifles in vehicles parked in a school lot. Republican Rep. Jerry O’Neil will discuss House Bill 558 before the House Education Committee Friday afternoon. The bill, which O’Neil is sponsoring, would clarify language in state law regarding firearms on school property Current state law prohibits students from bringing firearms to school. Montana statute is less flexible than the federal law that inspired it; under the federal Gun Free Schools Act, there is an exception for firearms kept in a locked car on school property. No such exemption exists in Montana.

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Oklahoma City Woman Shoots and Kills 2 Attacking Dogs

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:46:23 -0500

--Chad Love

An Oklahoma City woman with a concealed-carry permit used her husband's gun to shoot and kill two neighborhood dogs that were attacking her dog.

From this story on the newsok.com:
Charolotte Maughan was too flustered to find her gun, so she grabbed her husband's. “It's a 9 mm,” she said. “I had said to him, ‘We need to go to the range and let me practice with this gun.' I didn't know if I could shoot it. Well, I can.” She walked out of her southwest Oklahoma City home, told the crowd to step back and shot and killed two dogs attacking her family's dog. “I didn't know what else to do,” she said. Maughan was not cited, but the owners of the two attacking dogs were.

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