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Nonsense Product Names: WEN Will it All End?

Online Editors — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:25:55 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Well, there I was sitting at the old Mac, trying to work instead of listening to bluegrass, when I got a press release announcing that Redfield now has a scope out called the “Revenge.” I thought this was a pretty odd name to give an optical sight, but then I remembered that last year, Winchester came out with an all-copper bullet called Power Core, which has no core, so I guess the rules about product names have been relaxed.

But then, just a moment ago, I received word of a new crossbow called the Barnett Vengeance. Vengeance on what? The last time a crossbow was used in an act of vengeance was on March 25, 1199 when Richard the Lionheart, King of England, was killed by crossbow bolt to the neck that was fired by a French boy who claimed that Richard had killed his father and brothers.

Will we now see bumper stickers that read “Payback is a bodkin head?” or “That bolt from the blue is meant for you.”? Will we have to listen to Rachel Maddow screeching about crossbows you can sneak past metal detectors?

As if this weren’t bad enough, there now are ads running on the various cable channels I watch for a shampoo called WEN. I don’t know what marketing genius thought this one up, but “wen” is an archaic English word for a cyst, usually on the neck or face, as in “Will you look at the wen on King Richard’s neck? That thing’s big enough to hit with a crossbow bolt.”

On the other hand, maybe I should just listen to bluegrass more.

Rifle Recoil: Oh, Mommy, My Shoulder!

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 22 May 2012 08:48:12 -0400

by David E. Petzal

As a number of you pointed out in my post on the Forbes Rifle, light rifles kick more than heavy rifles of the same caliber. But weight is only part of the equation, and recoil is a highly subjective matter.

In the case of NULAs, you get kicked less than the figures would indicate because the stock is an extremely good design that gives you plenty to hang on to, and directs the recoil into your shoulder rather than into your head.

I myself am not a good judge of recoil because I shoot all the time, have been reduced to an insensible mass of protoplasm, and don’t care anymore. I’ve shot NULAs ranging from .22/250 up through .340 Weatherby, and the only ones whose kick I really noticed were a .338 Win Mag and the aforesaid .340. They were not more than I could handle, but they weren’t fun, and I realized after a while that I could do the same amount of damage to the critters with lesser cartridges.

The .270 Forbes Rifle that I tested did not have enough recoil that you’d notice unless you were hypersensitive, and you can kill damn near anything with a .270. A .30/06 would jump more, but not a lot. However, as some of you pointed out, the best Forbes/NULAs would be/are the ones in the smaller calibers such as 6.5 Swede, 7mm/08, .260, and 7x57. I would add to that list the .257 Roberts, .25/06, .250 Savage, and .243.

Some people are less sensitive to recoil than others. On the upcoming season of Gun Nuts, you’ll see a young woman named Jessica Bruenn shoot a Savage Model 11 Lady Hunter in .308. Prior to the taping Jessica had shot a centerfire rifle exactly once, and the Lady Hunter, because it weighs something like 6 ½ pounds, will give you a jolt in .308. Jessica is a gifted rifleperson, and she paid no attention at all to the recoil. For her, it didn’t exist. Her shooting, despite her lack of experience, was exceptional.

Some people are like that. Others, who are not, should stick to small, sensible cartridges. With the bullets we have today, they will handle just about anything.

Forbes Model 24B Rifle: A Light Gun at a Great Price

Online Editors — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:10:00 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Melvin Forbes started Ultra Light Arms (now New Ultra Light Arms) in 1986, and is still very much in business, which is a towering tribute to the quality of his rifles. Small gunmakers riseth up and are mown down, but Melvin is still turning out the best truly light hunting rifles in the world.

What stands between a New Ultra Light Arms rifle and most shooters is the price. It’s a handmade gun, and the basic Model 24 NULA is $3,600 before options, which are many. And so, because Melvin is a man of the people, he has found a way to get his rifles into the hands of the many at a price of $1,400, which puts it in the upper tier of factory rifles.

The Forbes Model 24 B consists of the same Kevlar/graphite stock, made by Melvin, a CNC-produced action turned out by Titan Machine Products in Maine, a Timney trigger, and a Shaw barrel instead of a Douglas. The barrel comes in 24 inches only, #2 contour, and at present the rifle is available only in .270 and .30/06, right-hand only, and one stock color, gray. Its weight is 5 ¼ pounds, and until you heft one, you can’t imagine how light that is.

Picking up a Model 24B is jarring because the rifle has not been hacked, chopped, gouged, bobbed, or otherwise mutilated to achieve that extraordinary weight. It’s a full-sized gun, and looks like a full-sized gun, so you don’t expect it to weigh that little. The stock is only a pound, and there is not a fraction of an ounce extra anywhere else. It’s extremely durable (Nosler had a NULA action on a test rifle and put a million rounds through it before it got tired.), accurate, and foolproof.

After some snorting and farting on everyone’s part, I got my hands on a production rifle in .270, and am pleased to report that it shoots as well as any of the $3,600 NULAs. Due to the very limited time I could keep it, I went directly to handloads, and found that I could get groups of .589-inch with 150-grain Hornady SSTs, Federal 215 Primers, and H4831. Even by the unearthly accuracy standards of the newest rifles, this is about as good as it gets.

Two words of caution: The Shaw barrel is pretty rough and collects copper very quickly, so be advised that unless you clean your Model 24B with great vigah, it will quickly cease to shoot well. Second, rifles this light place an extra demand on you; every little twitch or jiggle is magnified because you don’t have 8 or 9 pounds of gun to absorb it. If your marksmanship basics are not up to snuff, you might want to buy something heavier.

I’ve owned a number of ULAs and NULAs over 20-plus years, and have hunted just about everywhere and everything with them, and except for the stamp on the receiver, I can’t tell the difference between the Model 24B and my guns. It’s still the best light big-game rifle around…but at $2,200 less.

16 Of The Best Westerns Ever Made: What's Your Top Ten?

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:39:36 -0400

Share your Top 10 Westerns list in the comments section!

State Police to Shut Down PA Instant Check System, No Firearms Purchases for 3 Days

Sarah Smith — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:59:25 -0400

--Chad Love

Are you a Pennsylvania resident who plans on buying a gun sometime this month? You might want to check with your gun shop before making the drive...

From this story on examiner.com:
The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) announced on Friday, that the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), used by the Pennsylvania State Police, will be taken out of service for three days later this month for a full system replacement. Consequently, this will temporarily restrict the purchase of firearms and negate the ability to obtain criminal history checks.

It's that last bit of news that has more than a few people a little ticked off. And it didn’t take long for them to express just how much...

From this follow-up story on examiner.com:

A complete shutdown of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) by the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) for a period of 60 hours later this month for a system upgrade is "inexcusable," the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said today. “Closing down the background check system, and thus suspending all firearms transactions and concealed carry license processing simply allows the [PSP] to obstruct the gun rights of law-abiding citizens,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb. “Access to the computers for background checks should not be suspended at all. Surely the [PSP] can find alternate means of processing firearms transactions and permit applications while the upgrade is in progress.”

The system will shut down at 10 p.m. Saturday, May 19 and will remain down until the following Tuesday at 10 a.m.

Thoughts? Reaction? Is it a mere inconvenience, or a de facto (albeit temporary) suspension of the Second Amendment?

Gun Test: Rock River Arms LAR-15 Fred Eichler Series Predator

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:51:48 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Here’s a good reason not to be a coyote, or any other objectionable form of animal life. Mr. Eichler, who is a varmint hunter of note, has collaborated with Rock River Arms to produce a totally cool MSR with all the right bells and whistles. There are a great many specs here, so let’s get to them.

Starting at the muzzle, the Predator has a tuned and ported muzzle brake (Why does the rifle in the photo not have one? We will get to that shortly.), a 16-inch, stainless, medium-heavy, lapped, cryo-treated barrel, low-profile gas block, free-floating handguard (whose vent holes are in the shape of paw prints, which I find almost unbearably cute), mid-length gas system, all sorts of rails, a truly superior (3.5 pounds, dead clean) two-stage trigger inside an oversized trigger guard, Hogue pistol grip, and a choice of an adjustable or non-adjustable stock. The barrel has a Wylde chamber, so it can use either civilian .223 or military 5.56 ammo. Twist is 1-8, and it handles 55-grain to 77-grain bullets just fine, although I found the rifle had distinct preferences about what it liked and didn’t like. Weight is 7.6 pounds, and overall length with the non-adjustable stock is a highly compact 36 inches. Excuse me; I need to catch my breath.

RRA guarantees that this rifle will group in ¾-inch at 100 yards. I found that with match ammo I could equal that, and with 77-grain Federal Match ammo, I could get ½ inch. However, the Predator will not shoot everything well; with some brands of ammo it didn’t like it would group in 2 inches.

Two things about the Predator jump out at you: First, it’s a very high-quality gun that’s put together with a lot of care. A collection of parts it ain’t. Second, you won’t have to go tearing off components and substituting other stuff. What’s on here, works, so leave it alone.

Now, why did my rifle not have a muzzle brake when it’s standard equipment? Because under the weird specs New York State imposes on MSRs, a muzzle brake would probably be illegal on this rifle. Or maybe it is legal. No one really is sure, so RRA acted on the side of caution. New York State assumes that if a semi-auto rifle with a muzzle brake fell into my hands I would be come a menace to the public. What can you say about that kind of thinking? In any event, if the rifle did have a muzzle brake, it would undoubtedly shoot even better than it did, and kick less, which was hardly at all.

The Predator lists for $1,395, which is fine. I look beady-eyed at the prices on a lot of MSRs, but not this one. It’s obvious where the money went. Also, Rock River Arms informs me that there is a wait on the order of 6 to 8 weeks for these guns. They can’t keep up with demand for any of their firearms, and the Predator is no exception. But I like this little rifle tremendously; it’s worth the wait. Rockriverarms.com

Good Gun Book: 'Shooter's Bible Guide to Optics'

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:09:35 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Optics, like everything else in our world, are in a state of turmoil. On the one hand, you can now pay close to $4,000 for a riflescope or a spotting scope and $3,000 plus for a binocular, while on the other hand there are riflescopes and spotting scopes selling for $400 and $300 that are better than anything you could buy at any price 20 years ago. Yet on the third hand we now have optical devices that did not even exist 20 years ago, such as laser rangefinders, range-compensating scopes, and good red-dot sights.

And if you’re to spend your money on any of this gear, you will quickly become confused, and your confusion can take on ugly notes of fear and panic. “What is one to do?”, you will bellow, and your dog will wet the carpet in terror.

Not to worry. You can simply spend $19.95 on a new book by Tom McIntyre called the "Shooter’s Bible Guide to Optics," which will make all things clear. It’s not only a guide but a catalog as well, printed on good paper that resists much handling and streams of drool. Tom does the judging for Field & Stream’s “Best of the Best,” feature in the optics department. He knows everything about the subject, has worlds of hunting and shooting experience, and is a brutal and relentless tester. When I want to explain something that’s complex, involves glassware, and requires that I actually know what I’m talking about, I quote him.

Buy the book. It’s the only way you’re going to make any sense out of all this. Skyhorsepublishing.com

More on Preppers

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:10:50 -0400

by David E. Petzal

If you’d really like to depress yourself some evening, watch “Doomsday Preppers” on the National Geographic Channel. The show details the plans of normal, well adjusted people to cope with the aftermath of fiscal collapse, nuclear holocaust, the eruption of Yellowstone, solar flares, and so on.

The New York Times noted with outrage that many of these people were accumulating guns and ammunition in order to defend their 1,500 pounds of MREs and dried brown rice, but stockpiling guns is fine with me. My concern is that most of them seem pretty inexpert with guns. One prepper was counting on a Ruger Number One single-shot which, despite its many splendid qualities, is not what you’d pick to blast the mob at your door. Another managed to shoot off several fingers during a practice session. Yet a third, a resident of the Oligarchy of Bloomberg, took lessons in knife fighting because he was unable to get a gun, ignoring the fact that everyone in the Oligarchy of Bloomberg who wants a gun has one, or several, and when the pistol-waving mob comes to this fellow’s apartment I don’t think that he and his knife will last long.

A dose of reality was interjected into prepping recently when a resident of Washington State, one Peter Keller, shot his wife and daughter to death and then retreated to a heavily fortified bunker which he had spent 8 years digging into a hillside in the woods. The cops found his hole and waited him out. Then, after a 22-hour standoff, they brought in a breeching team and blew the door off his dugout. Inside were copious guns, ammo, body armor, and everything else a good prepper should accumulate. There was also the body of an apparent suicide whom the police believe is Mr. Keller. There went 8 years’ hard work in the time it took a couple of blocks of C-4 to go off.

I have nothing against prepping. I think a certain degree of preparedness is not only worthwhile, but necessary. Hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, ice storms, and Congress are facts of life that are all too real, and we must be able to deal with the havoc they wreak.

But if you have visions of accumulating tons of .223 ammo and dried corn and toughing it out by yourself after Life as We Know It ceases to exist, I suggest you watch a film called Threads, which was made by the BBC in 1984, and shows what life after a nuclear attack is bound to be like. You will not want to be around after the Big One arrives, your 5,000 rounds of 9mm ammo and food dehydrator notwithstanding.

Reflecting on The Greatest Generation

Online Editors — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:02:55 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

As we come up upon VE day (May 8) we should reflect that even the youngest WWII veterans are in their mid-eighties by now, a fact I’m well aware of, since my dad died in 2010.*

I was reminded of the “Greatest Generation” a couple of times last week. An Honor Flight was landing at the Quad Cities airport when I picked up my son the other night, and a few days before that I squeezed into my old tuxedo and attended a black tie event for my wife’s department.

Since I knew almost no one there and we were seated at a table with a wealthy donor and assorted VIPs, I feared a long evening. Wrong. The VIPs were all interesting and the donor – an attorney who sponsors an ethics essay award my wife administers – was a very lively 87-year-old who loves to fish and often travels to Brazil for peacock bass. He doesn’t hunt, though, having had enough of guns as an infantryman in Europe during WWII.

Besides being wounded in the war, he suffered from PTSD (“They didn’t have a name for it back then but I had nightmares for 50 years,” he said) until a few years ago. He cured himself by talking to schools, veteran’s groups and anyone else about PTSD and experiences he had kept inside for years.

Like many who fought in WWII he had grown up with very little. He was the son of a Greek immigrant who never had much to begin with and lost all he did have during the Depression.

He told me: “I once asked my father what were the best years of his life. He said it was the Depression, because then we had nothing but time for each other.”

*He drove an ambulance with the American Field Service attached to the British army in North Africa and Italy, then was drafted into the Army and was training for the invasion of Japan when the war ended. I always figured if it wasn’t for the atom bomb I might never have been born.

Is the NRA's Political Power an Illusion?

Sarah Smith — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:03:59 -0400

--Chad Love

Is the National Rifle Association's power on the wane? Please don't beat the messenger, but that seems to be the thrust of a recent blog post from the Economist that argues the NRA's influence on national elections is mostly an illusion and that it's also on the wrong side of changing demographic shifts that in the future will further erode its influence.

"...Paul Waldman, of the American Prospect, has recently argued that the NRA's dominance is a myth. He has looked closely at the figures and writes, “Despite what the NRA has long claimed, it neither delivered Congress to the Republican party in 1994 nor delivered the White House to George W. Bush in 2000.” He also argues that NRA money has no impact on congressional elections, as it spreads its money over so many races, and that NRA endorsements are “almost meaningless” as most go to incumbent Republicans with little chance of losing.

The author also claims that despite an increase in gun sales nationwide, most of those sales are going to, well, old white guys who already have guns, and that the number of actual households with guns has been in a steady decline. The author also cites further demographic shifts toward more urban residents and a smaller percentage of the aforementioned old white dudes.

White males, the gun-loving sector of American society, also make up an increasingly smaller percentage of the population. What the industry actually needs is more Latino, black and female gun enthusiasts. But the NRA isn’t delivering these."

Thoughts? Reaction? Rebuttal?

Guns on Film: Can You Answer These 12 Movie Gun Trivia Questions?

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:33:34 -0400

Let's have a little fun. As is the case for many, the guns I grew up hunting with represent my first real world experience with firearms. But from an even earlier age, my interest in guns was definitely peaked by those I saw in movies. Whether it was to find out what kind of gun a hero or villain carried, or just a desire to know how the gun I saw on the screen really worked, movies provided that spark that made me want to find out more. In a way, guns made me a movie nut, and vice versa. I mean, how can you blame me with toys like this beckoning from the aisles of Kiddie City...yeah, I definitely had this one.

If you can relate, or just want to remember some awesome movie moments, click through this gallery of movie gun trivia questions. On the first slide for each movie, I pose a question about a film character that met his demise in front of a muzzle. It might be about the movie, the guns in the movie, or both. Click to the next slide to see if you're right and learn some fun movie gun facts along the way.

Every film in here is at least a decade old, so there shouldn't be any spoilers for anyone. And if you haven't seen the flicks in this gallery...you should probably turn in your man card anyway. Have fun! --Dave Maccar

Petzal's Best Rifles, Ammo, Glass and Deals from SHOT

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:48:40 -0400

From the pages of Field & Stream

In a year that was otherwise economically putrid, the 2012 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show was booming. Attendance last January in Las Vegas was so heavy that there were some aisles you could not walk through, and there was lots of great new stuff to drool over. Let’s get to it.

Thompson/Center Rifles

So radical is the Dimension that T/C doesn’t even call it a rifle; they’ve labeled it an Interchangeable Bolt-Action Platform. Whatever it is, it allows you to swap bolts, magazines, and barrels (including heavy barrels) in calibers from .204 Ruger to .300 Win. Mag. I’ve shot it and hunted with it, and it works. The price for the rifle is $600. Each additional barrel is $199, and a new bolt (if required) is $49. tcarms.com

Ruger

A completely new gun, the American Rifle is based on a piston-style bolt with a non-rotary extractor. Its synthetic stock has integral aluminum bedding blocks. The trigger is two-stage and adjustable, and the magazine is detachable. Right now it comes in .243, .308, .270, and .30/06. It weighs only 61⁄4 pounds and retails for $449. ruger.com

Forbes Rifles

If you’ve lusted for a rifle made by New Ultra Light Arms but could not hack the $3,500-plus price, lament no more. Forbes Rifles is a brand-new company that’s building the Model 24B, a semicustom version of the NULA, for $1,500. Melvin Forbes makes the stocks, Forbes Rifles does the receivers, Timney supplies the triggers, and E.R. Shaw turns out the barrels. It weighs 51⁄4 pounds and comes in .270 and .30/06. I took a close look at the 24B, and I can’t tell it from a NULA. forbesriflellc.com

Montana Rifle Co.

Montana’s new gun is the DGR, which stands for Dangerous Game Rifle, and it’s a heavy, super-reliable, no-frills bolt action that will allow you to mess with death in the long grass. This is a stopping rifle done right. You can get it in chamberings that include the horrifying .505 Gibbs, the cataclysmic .460 Weatherby, and the ever-so-pleasant-by-comparison .416 Rigby. In blue steel it’s $2,399; add $100 for stainless. For what you get, that’s a bargain. montanarifleco.com

Savage

Most women’s rifles are men’s rifles with an inch hacked off the stock, but the Savage Model 11 Lady Hunter is truly designed for female shooters. The walnut stock is shorter and the comb is much higher than standard because women have longer necks than men. Savage has also slimmed the pistol grip and fore-end and lessened the front-end weight. Calibers range from .223 to .30/06. It comes in long- and short-action versions, for $819. savagearms.com

Winchester

Even though the Model 71 lever action was built for only a comparatively short time and only for one cartridge—the .348 Winchester—it earned a lasting place in the hearts of hunters. The 71 is a supremely effective rifle—fast-handling, fast-shooting, dead reliable, and powerful. This year it’s back in Standard ($1,470) and Deluxe ($1,660) grades, and it’s just as great as ever. The one weak point is its buckhorn rear sight. Ignore the silly thing and get a good rear peep sight. winchesterguns.com

Norma

This Swedish ammo maker has been in the U.S. for a long time, but in a small way. Now it intends to be a major factor in the market, which is fine with me. I’ve been using the company’s loaded ammo, brass, and powder for years, and all are of the highest quality. Norma will be offering reloading components and ammunition in all sorts of calibers including metrics and British loadings. norma.cc/en

Meopta

Reinhard Seipp, Meopta’s chief operating officer, says, “We’re not very good at publicizing ourselves, but we’re very good at making things.” Meopta is a Czech company that’s been in the optics business for 79 years and turns out riflescopes, binoculars, and spotting scopes of truly top quality and at very reasonable prices. I am in possession of a MeoStar R1 3–10x50mm, a 30mm-tube model that is a paragon of perfection and carries a real-world price tag of only $600–$650.

Kenny Jarrett, who is as fussy about scopes as any human being I know, told me, “If you can’t afford a [here he named a very famous high-priced scope], get a Meopta.” If that’s not a solid-gold endorsement, it will do until the solid-gold endorsement comes along. meoptasportsoptics.com

Carl Zeiss

Your binocular is your most important piece of hunting equipment, and a fine binocular is worth whatever you pay for it many times over. Unless you’re some kind of witless savage, you hardly need me to rave over Zeiss glasses, so I’ll simply state that the company’s new Conquest HD binoculars come in 8x42 and 10x42, are the absolute state of the art, and do not sell for $2,700, or $2,950, or $3,028.31. The real-world price is under $1,000 for either one. They are also covered by Zeiss’s new unconditional repair policy, which means that if they break, or you break them in the line of duty, Zeiss fixes them for free, period, no questions asked. www.zeiss.com/sports

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Petzal's Best Rifles, Ammo, Glass and Deals from SHOT

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:48:40 -0400

From the pages of Field & Stream

Ruger

Forbes Rifles

Norma

Meopta

Carl Zeiss

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Long Range Shooting: Equipment and Theory Are Not Enough

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:37:19 -0400

by David E. Petzal

One of the shows in this season’s Gun Nuts will be me shooting at 500 yards at the Scarborough Fish & Game Association range in Scarborough, Maine. The point I will be making is that, if you don’t practice shooting at ranges over 300 yards, don’t shoot at game beyond 300 yards. It’s not enough to buy the equipment and know the theory.

This was borne out a couple of weeks ago when I was shooting at Scarborough with Rocky Prout, who is head of the Rifle Committee, a Distinguished Rifleman, and a Highpower Competitor for 20-plus years. I was to shoot at 500 yards and we had a stiff incoming breeze on the order of 25 mph.

Conventional wisdom says that an incoming wind will lift your bullets on their way to the target, and I asked Rocky how much I should allow for it.

“Nothing,” he said. “At 500 yards this isn’t going to move a .30/06.”

And he was absolutely right. How did he know? From years and years of watching bullets go downrange in all kinds of conditions, from all sorts of rifles. It’s not what the book says, but it’s what experience says, and experience is what you must have. Three hundred yards seems to be the point of departure in rifle shooting. Up to there you can pretty well predict what’s going to happen. Beyond that mark, you have to go and find out for yourself.

Fear and Loathing at Canadian Customs

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:06:16 -0400

by David E. Petzal

This took place in the 1990s at an airport in one of Canada’s western provinces, and involved a member of that country’s Immigration Service, which is dedicated to making life as hard for American hunters as it possibly can.

I had been invited to this province by a scope manufacturer to hunt whitetail deer, freeze, and see what great stuff they made. By sheer chance, a few weeks previously, Field & Stream had been visited by a minister of Canada’s Department of Tourism who asked the magazine’s help in persuading sportsmen to visit their country, eh? He left a couple of his cards, and I, in a rare stroke of foresight, kept one.

So I got to the Canadian airport and on the entry card, where it asked whether I was there on business or pleasure, I checked off business, because I was, after all, representing the magazine and was the guest of a manufacturer. This was a mistake.

I was waved into an office where I encountered a member of the Immigration Service who asked if I had a work permit for what I was about to do. No, I said, I was going deer hunting, and if there was any actual work connected with the event it would take place later back in the United States.

“Well,” she said, “I can’t let you in without a work permit.”

I smiled. I was faced with the one chance you get in a lifetime where you get to make them sweat for a change.

I took out the Tourism Minister’s card, laid it on the counter, and explained how I came by it.

“Now,” I said, “since I can’t get in without a permit, and since I have no intention of taking out a permit, I’d like someone to escort me to the baggage claim so I can pick up my rifle, and then to the ticket counter so I can go home. And when I get home the first thing I’m going to do is give Minister So-and-So a call and tell him about our little adventure here. And the second thing I’m going to do is write about this and keep everyone out of Canada that I can. And finally, I think that your life next week is going to be a lot more interesting than it is this week.”

Frantically, the immigration person dragged out a huge book of regulations. I watched smiling, and encouraged her by telling her that she’d better find something in her effing book that would let me into Canada. Finally, she did. I congratulated her on keeping her job, and went on the hunt as scheduled, where I froze, and shot a monster eating whitetail with only three points on either side.

But this happened only once in 40 years of flying with guns. The rest of the time, I have had to put up with various officials’ crap until they became bored with me and moved on to the next hapless traveler.

Don't Single Load When You Sight-In a Rifle

Sarah Smith — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:28:26 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Regardless of action type, do not single-load it when you sight it in. Fill up its magazine and cycle cartridges through it just as you would when hunting or shooting zombies.

Work the safety. Work the magazine release. See that everything functions correctly, because not all new rifles are perfect, and the time to discover this is not during hunting season.

Don't Single Load When You Sight-In a Rifle

Sarah Smith — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:28:26 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Regardless of action type, do not single-load it when you sight it in. Fill up its magazine and cycle cartridges through it just as you would when hunting or shooting zombies.

Work the safety. Work the magazine release. See that everything functions correctly, because not all new rifles are perfect, and the time to discover this is not during hunting season.

Problems of Supersized Turkey Loads and Choosing The Right Alternative

Sarah Smith — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:08:43 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Braced for a jolt of recoil the first time I pulled the trigger of a .458 Winchester Magnum rifle, I thought: That wasn’t as bad as a turkey gun.

A .458—an elephant gun—generates up to 65 foot-pounds of recoil that you feel as a shove. Meanwhile, a 12-gauge loaded with a high-velocity 31⁄2-inch magnum lead turkey load cracks you with up to 75 foot-pounds of recoil. Turkey guns are light to make them easy to carry long distances, and turkey loads contain lots of shot driven at high speed to ensure penetration of skull and vertebrae. The result is massive recoil. It offends my sense of proportion that guns for a 21-pound bird kick harder than rifles designed for the most dangerous game in the world, so I avoid the heaviest turkey loads on principle.

That said, in the excitement of shooting a turkey, no one feels the gun go off. Should we just accept brutal recoil as part of the price of a masochistic sport, along with sleep deprivation, mosquitoes, and chiggers?

The answer: It depends.

The Cost of Kick If you’re an experienced shooter and you want to use the heaviest, fastest 31⁄2-inch magnums in a 61⁄2-pound pump, who am I to tell you not to? I’ll even recommend one: Winchester’s Supreme High Velocity 31⁄2-inch, 2-ounce load of 5 shot at 1300 fps wallops your shoulder, but also kills distant turkeys dead.

If you shoot monster loads, though, you must take precautions at the range. A 20-shot patterning session with 31⁄2s rattles my head enough that I feel addled afterward, and that’s scary. Not only is recoil potentially harmful, it’s easy to pick up a nasty flinch at the range that follows you into the field. Shooting the heaviest payload does no good if you pull it off target. Test your gun from a weighted rest like a Lead Sled, or at least shoot with a padded gun case draped over your shoulder. Keep range sessions short.

Additionally, recoil can ruin turkey hunting for kids and newcomers. The light youth 20-gauge pumps many kids start with kick surprisingly hard with 3-inch, 11⁄4-ounce magnums. A beating at the range can make them too fearful of a gun to shoot well, and may even turn them off of hunting before they ever start.

Shooter-Friendly Ammo The first kids I took turkey hunting practiced extensively with 20-gauge, 1-ounce premium loads of lead 6s, and each killed toms with those loads at 25 yards. Since then, several 12- and 20-gauge alternatives have come on the market that have low recoil and are effective at long range. Heavier-than-lead tungsten-iron pellets retain enough energy so that you can use smaller shot sizes, lighter payloads, and lower velocities while retaining turkey-killing performance. They cost as much as $3 to $4 per shell as opposed to $1 to $2 for lead, but paying an extra $10–$20 to make a newcomer’s hunt successful and enjoyable is a smart investment.

Here are my favorites, in descending order of recoil. I have shot birds with a number of these and patterned them all. Recoil figures are approximate and based on a 7-pound 12-gauge and a 6-pound 20.

(7) Winchester Supreme Elite Xtended Range HD Turkey, 23⁄4-inch 12-gauge, 11⁄2 ounces of No. 6 shot, 1225-fps velocity, 36 foot-pounds of recoil. I have shot half a dozen birds with these to 40-plus yards. Recoil is about the same as a 1450-fps, 11⁄4-ounce steel duck load.

(6) Federal Premium Mag-Shok Heavyweight Turkey, 3-inch 20-gauge, 11⁄2 ounces of No. 6 shot, 1100 fps, 35 foot-pounds. Containing the densest commercially available pellets, these put a 20-gauge on a par with most 12s. I have killed turkeys with them to 50 steps. The 11⁄2-ounce payload is very heavy for a 20, but the low velocity keeps recoil reasonable even in a light gun.

(5) Federal Premium Mag-Shok Heavyweight Turkey, 23⁄4-inch 12-gauge, 11⁄4 ounces of No. 7 shot, 1300 fps, 30 foot-pounds. New from Federal, this is the perfect choice if you’re teaching a new shooter with a 12-gauge. In my gun it’s a 40-yard load, and the recoil is about the same as that of many pheasant loads.

(4) Hevi-Shot Hevi-13, 23⁄4-inch 12-gauge, 11⁄2 ounces of No. 6 shot, 1090 fps, 29 foot-pounds. It has minimal recoil and patterns tightly, and its very dense pellets hit hard at all ranges.

(3) Hevi-Shot Hevi-13, 3-inch 20-gauge, 11⁄4 ounces of No. 7 shot, 1090 fps, 25 foot-pounds. Loaded with hard, dense, tiny pellets, it swarms a turkey target at 40 yards.

(2) Winchester Supreme Elite Xtended Range HD Turkey, 3-inch 20-gauge, 11⁄8 ounces of No. 5 shot, 1225 fps, 24.5 foot-pounds. I find the pellet count a little light and wish it came in 6 or 7 shot, but a friend has killed a pile of turkeys with these in a youth 870.

(1) Federal Premium Mag-Shok Heavyweight Turkey, 23⁄4-inch 20-gauge, 11⁄8 ounces of No. 7 shot, 1100 fps, 20 foot-pounds. This is as soft kicking as turkey loads get. It feels like a target load, but it will kill turkeys almost 40 yards away.

(B) And here’s a bonus lead choice: Fiocchi Golden Pheasant 23⁄4-inch 20-gauge, 1 ounce of No. 6 shot, 1245 fps, 20.5 foot-pounds. Containing beautifully round, nickel-plated lead shot, Golden Pheasant is a low-recoil, lower-cost alternative to tungsten-iron, with a killing range to nearly 35 yards. It proves that a shell doesn’t have to have a picture of a turkey on the box to kill a tom, nor does it have to kick you like an elephant gun.

Problems of Supersized Turkey Loads and Choosing The Right Alternative

Sarah Smith — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:08:43 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

Braced for a jolt of recoil the first time I pulled the trigger of a .458 Winchester Magnum rifle, I thought: That wasn’t as bad as a turkey gun.

Here are my favorites, in descending order of recoil. I have shot birds with a number of these and patterned them all. Recoil figures are approximate and based on a 7-pound 12-gauge and a 6-pound 20.

(4) Hevi-Shot Hevi-13, 23⁄4-inch 12-gauge, 11⁄2 ounces of No. 6 shot, 1090 fps, 29 foot-pounds. It has minimal recoil and patterns tightly, and its very dense pellets hit hard at all ranges.

(3) Hevi-Shot Hevi-13, 3-inch 20-gauge, 11⁄4 ounces of No. 7 shot, 1090 fps, 25 foot-pounds. Loaded with hard, dense, tiny pellets, it swarms a turkey target at 40 yards.

Hearing Loss: Only You Can Prevent Brain Rot

Online Editors — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:53:15 -0400

by David E. Petzal

In order to have some hope of conducting business with mankind in general, I wear hearing aids, but not very often, since I’m indifferent to what most people say, and I find that being able to hear all the little noises I had forgotten existed is annoying. But there is a problem with this. The first is that my hearing aids have memory, and when I go in for a checkup the audiologist plugs them into a laptop and they show how little I wear them.

This, the audiologist explained, is not wise. According to a study done at the University of Pennsylvania last year, “… declines in hearing ability may accelerate atrophy in auditory areas of the brain and increase the listening effort necessary for older adults to successfully comprehend speech.”

What this means in English is, that if your ears are f***ed, pretty soon your brain will be, too. And while your ears can get help from hearing aids, there’s nothing that can be done for your rotten brain. As the audiologist put it, “Once you start sliding down that slope, you’re in real trouble.”

I’m writing this for all of you who are getting on in years and are deaf and partly deaf, and all the young folks who are spending every waking hour with a plug in their ear listening to God knows what.

As they say in the military, “Be advised.”

EPA Rejects New Petition to Federally Ban Lead Ammo and Fishing Tackle

Online Editors — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:07:35 -0400

--Chad Love

Remember last month, when the EPA was petitioned (once again) to ban lead ammo and fishing tackle? Well, guess what? The EPA has (once again) rejected the petition...

From this story on infozine.com:

The Environmental Protection Agency today rejected a request for federal regulation of toxic lead in hunting ammunition, again abdicating its responsibility to protect the environment from toxic substances. Earlier this year, 150 organizations in 38 states petitioned the EPA for federal rules requiring use of nontoxic bullets and shot for hunting and shooting sports to protect public health and prevent the lead poisoning of millions of birds, including bald eagles and endangered condors.

“It’s shameful that the EPA refuses to save wildlife from senseless lead poisoning,” said Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity. “The poisoning of bald eagles and other wildlife is a national tragedy the EPA can easily put an end to, since there are plenty of safe, available alternatives to lead ammo.”

Now keep in mind that this quote was pulled from a press release from the petition's backers, so don’t rake me over the coals for the obvious slant. I just thought it'd be interesting to see how the other side spins it. And just so you don't think the issue's dead, here's the last graf from the press release:

“We look forward to putting this issue before a court, since the law is very clear that EPA has the responsibility to protect wildlife and people from toxic lead exposure,” said Miller. “The EPA never evaluated the merits of regulating toxic lead ammo, nor has a court ruled on its authority to act under the federal toxics law — well, that will soon change.”

Which means, of course, that a lawsuit is on the way, so stay tuned...

March Madness: Remington Model 700 is the F&S All-Purpose Whitetail Rifle Champ

Online Editors — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:01:56 -0400

by Dave Hurteau

Well I don’t think any of us can pretend to be surprised. (If we did a shotgun tourney, the 870 would surely win, too.) But getting here was fun, and in the end it came down to mystique vs. legendary accuracy.

Here in the northeastern big woods, where pinpoint accuracy is not paramount, I tend to favor mystique, which is probably why my cabinet holds a Rifleman’s Rifle in 7mm-08 (not to mention a Savage 99 in .300 Savage and a Model 94 in .30/30, among others). But I must say that I’ve long lusted for a Model 700 Mountain Rifle in .260. The 700’s incredible popularity and proven out-of-the-box accuracy make it a deserving winner, you must admit (although you’re welcome to complain about it below).

To see the championship game and final bracket, click here.

Take The 2012 Gun Nut Nation Survey, Answers Will be Published in July's Magazine

Online Editors — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:38:50 -0400

by Phil Bourjaily

A lot has changed in the world since we ran a questionnaire like this one six years ago. There has been one economic meltdown and two gun buying booms – or maybe just one long boom. It’s an election year. The shooting sports have changed, too, as zombies and wild pigs spread across the land. Once we gather your answers and publish them in the July issue, we’ll have a picture of who Field & Stream readers are as shooters and gun owners.

To answer a survey question at random: Longest shot I ever took at an animal?
B. 100-200 yards. It was 125 yards at a very large wild pig in California with a CZ bolt action .30-06. The guide told me to imagine a football right behind the pig’s ear and shoot it. Whatever was behind the imaginary football was some very vital organ, because the pig fell over instantly.

Click here to take the 2012 Gun Nut Nation Survey

Man Shoots Woman in Head After Mistaking Her Mohawk for a Bird

Online Editors — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:28:34 -0400

--Chad Love

A Grand Junction, CO man accidentally shot a woman in the head after mistaking her red mohawk for a red bird that had been harassing his cat. But wait, it gets better! The woman, as it turns out, was both drunk and possibly in possession of meth, and the man who shot her was a convicted felon who wasn't even supposed to own a firearm in the first place!

Confused? Read on... From this story on UPI.com:

A Colorado man who shot a woman in the head after mistaking her red Mohawk hairdo for a bird has been placed on probation, authorities say. Derrill Rockwell, 49, of Grand Junction, was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay more than $10,000 in restitution Friday after pleading guilty to felony possession of a weapon by a prior offender, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported. Several other related charges against him were dropped, the newspaper said.

"This was a tragic accident, and I'm truly sorry," he told the judge. Rockwell, who was banned from owning a gun for a 1995 attempted burglary conviction, told police he had gone outside with his .22-caliber rifle Oct. 5 to shoot a bird that had been harassing his cats. He shot once at what he thought was a red bird on a hilltop about 90 feet away, then heard a woman moaning in pain. He discovered a 23-year-old woman with a head wound. Deputy District Attorney Jason Conley told the presiding judge the woman may have been passed out from intoxication prior to being shot. He said investigator found a small bag of suspected methamphetamine nearby. Conley said the victim, who didn't attend Rockwell's hearing, has left the state.

Thoughts?

Gun Reviews: All About Non-Disclosure

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 10:00:22 -0400

by David E. Petzal

In addition to it being Field & Stream policy, here’s why I don’t disclose the names of companies whose stuff gives me trouble.

First, when it comes to equipment of all sorts, I’m a Jonah. I’ve had so much different stuff fail, at all price levels, over so many years, that I have to admit I’m cursed and accept the fact. A small example:

The late George Herron, who is now in the Knifemakers’ Guild Hall of Fame and who was as careful a craftsman as ever stepped up to a grinder, made 2,000 knives over a 30-year career. Of that number, the edges failed on two. Guess who got one of them.

Second, because of the nature of the Internet, whatever you write is bound to be distorted and go ricocheting around cyberspace where it will live forever. Thus, if I wrote that so-and-so’s MSR failed to extract and that I had to pull out a live round with a pliers, in two days I would read that the rifle had blown up and that I was carried from the range minus my left eye and brains leaking from a quarter-sized hole in my skull. You have to be aware that you can do a lot of unintended damage to companies’ reputations if you’re not careful.

Third is the acceptance of the fact that with guns, as with anything else, you have to live with a certain degree of imperfection. Take, for example, Perazzi springs. Perazzi, in some of its shotguns, uses flat springs instead of coil springs to power the hammers. The advantage to the flat spring is, it gives faster lock time than the coil, and unlike the coil, which loses strength over the years, the flat spring maintains its punch right up until the day it breaks.

This is the point at which you leap to your feet and bellow: “You mean I’m paying $11,000 [which is around what they cost] for a trap gun and the springs are going to break? Are you crazy?”

Well, yes, and so are a great many other shooters who use Perazzis and swear by them. Because spring breakage is a possibility, many Perazzi shooters, myself included, carry a spare trigger group, which can be changed in seconds, and/or spare springs and the little lever that you use to install them. I have two Perazzis. One is a sporting clays gun that I bought used in the early 90s. It had already seen a pretty fair amount of use and broke a spring after a couple of years in my hands. The other is a trap gun that I got new in 1985, have shot the daylights out of it, and nothing has ever broken.

If, when you put a Perazzi away you uncock it (and do this correctly) and don’t slam the trigger assembly back into the gun when you take it out (This can create stress risers in the springs.) the odds are you’ll go a long, long time before a spring breaks. If it ever does. So, if I have an extractor malfunction in an MSR, I won’t call down public curses on the company that made the rifle. I’ll send it back, and get it fixed, and find out what went wrong, and let it go at that. I have no doubt that after the extractor is cured, it will turn out to be a terrific rifle.