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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.

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

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...

The Gun Nut Nation Survey 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:42:59 -0400

Sound off, Gun Nuts. Tell us what you love about today’s rifles and shotguns. Tell us what you hate most about the perception of gun owners in the media. Tell us about your hopes and fears concerning a certain election this November. Tell us about what makes you a Gun Nut in the following survey—a collection of questions about the politics, economics, and state of Gun Nut Nation. The results will be published in the July 2012 issue of Field & Stream. Thank you for participating.

Are Some Cartridges More Accurate Than Others?

Sarah Smith — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:53:39 -0400

by David E. Petzal

My answer is a definite “Almost certainly no.” Back in the last century a gun writer named Bob Wallack (who was also an accomplished gunsmith), grew tired of listening to claims that the .30/30, and the lever-action rifles that were chambered for it, could never shoot accurately no matter what, Wallack took a Marlin 336, installed a match-grade bull barrel (minus the fore-end), chambered it for .30/30, loaded some rounds with match-grade bullets, and proceeded to fire groups that would have done a .308 tactical rifle proud.

Whether a cartridge is accurate or not depends on how much attention the manufacturer pays to it. Last December, I shot a .264 Winchester Magnum that turned in atrocious groups. I don’t believe it was the rifle. The ammo was from a major manufacturer, but the cases looked like they had been punched from chewed bubble gum. This is because the .264 is a small seller, and the forming dies the company used are probably 50 years old, and they’re not about to invest in making new ones.

You will probably not see outstanding accuracy from any round that does not sell a lot and whose users do not have high expectations of it. On the other hand, people who buy 6.5/284, or .22/250, or .270, or any kind of match ammo, are going to expect a high degree of accuracy, and are going to be very, very cranky if they don’t get it.

You can often see terrific accuracy from big rounds, such as the .375 H&H, .416 Remington, and .458, even though there’s no need for it and the people who use such rifles don’t expect it. This is further proof that the shape of a cartridge is less important in the overall scheme of things than how carefully it’s assembled and the quality of its components. McMillan, builder of terrific rifles and fiberglass stocks, is introducing a line of ammo called ADG (for African Dangerous Game) that is loaded to benchrest standards in .375 H&H, .404 Jeffrey, .416 Remington, .416 Rigby, and .458 Lott, and it will be very interesting to see how well it shoots. My guess is, pretty durn good.

Round Two: Group Again Pushes for Federal Lead Ammo Ban, Restrictions

Sarah Smith — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:02:56 -0400

--Chad Love

For cryin' out loud, here we go again. After being defeated last year, serial lawsuit-filing anti-hunting organization the Center for Biological Diversity is back at it on lead ammo. If at first you don’t succeed...

From this story in the New York Times:

Citing risks to birds and to human health, roughly 100 environmental groups formally asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency this week to ban or at least impose limits on lead in the manufacturing of bullets and shotgun pellets for hunting or recreation. The use of such ammo by hunters puts about 3,000 pounds of lead into the environment annually and causes the death of 20 million birds each year from lead poisoning, said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate at one of the groups, the Center for Biological Diversity.

Consumption of meat from animals that are shot with lead bullets also contributes unacceptable levels of the metal into people’s diets, Mr. Miller said in a phone interview. The ban sought by environmental groups would not apply to ammunition used by law enforcement and the military. In addition to bullets and pellets used in hunting and recreational activity like range shooting, the petition seeks to limit the use of the metal in fishing tackle and weights. A similar request was denied by the E.P.A. in August 2010. But Mr. Miller said that the new petition includes a larger consortium of groups, including some made up of hunters, and cites recent research demonstrating that the toxic levels of lead in bullets and shot cause significant poisoning of birds nationwide.

And once again, the NSSF is taking the lead on opposing the proposed ban.

But Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry, countered that a ban on lead would cause ammunition prices to skyrocket. Currently 95 percent of the ammunition used for recreation and hunting in the United States contains lead, he said, and there is no ready alternative at a similar price. Besides, he said, lead is useful for ballistic properties like its malleability. A bill that directly opposes the petition is already working its way through the House of Representatives.

Known as the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act, it would specify that the Toxic Substances Control Act’s exemption on regulating ammunition also prevents the E.P.A. from regulating the components of bullets and pellets. It was recently approved by the House Committee on Natural Resources but has not yet come to a vote on the House floor. Mr. Keane said his group would not oppose regulation of ammunition components if a need for change were “conclusively demonstrated by science.” However, he maintains that any such rules should be issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service or state wildlife regulators, not by the E.P.A. “This is not the E.P.A.’s sandbox,” he said.

Twenty million birds a year from lead poisoning? Is there a peer-reviewed source for that number, or did they just grab it out of the air? Thoughts? Reaction?

Why Handloads Shoot Better

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:10:05 -0500

by David E. Petzal

Let’s start with some basic facts:
1. No two rifles shoot alike. Consecutive-serial-numbered rifles from the same manufacturer do not shoot the same, either in degree of accuracy or in what ammunition they prefer.

2. There is good ammunition, average ammunition, and bad ammunition. However, good ammunition will not always shoot well in some rifles, and average or poor ammo will sometimes shoot well in some rifles.

So. Ammo that shoots well in a given rifle versus ammo that doesn’t is comparable to a suit that really fits versus a suit that doesn’t fit. Ammunition manufacturers turn out loads that will work acceptably in most rifles of that caliber. Suit makers glue (Mostly, they don’t sew them. Gluing is cheaper and faster.) suits that sort of fit men in any given size. They can’t afford to make them fit a particular physique.

However, if you go to a true custom tailor (a “bespoke” tailor, as the British say) he will take something like 20 measurements of your body parts and sew your suit to fit. It will not fit anyone else, but it will, by God, drape on you to perfection.

Back to rifles. Unlike the user of factory ammo, the handloader is able to tailor his ammo to fit his rifle. If you handload any given cartridge, you can choose from half a dozen powders, dozens of different bullets and powder charges (the latter measured in half-grain increments, which the factories can’t do), and three or four different primers.

Out of all the possible combinations, you’re going to find something that fits your rifle as precisely as a bespoke suit. And then it will really start to shoot. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve tested two rifles which shot no better than fair with all sorts of factory ammunition. However, with handloads, they averaged well under a inch, and very often, under half an inch.

This is just one reason why, if you don’t handload, you don’t have to worry that there’s something wrong with you. Put your mind at ease. There is something wrong with you.

Talking African Dangerous Game Hunting with Tony Sanchez-Arino

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:54:08 -0500

by David E. Petzal

The other night I had the pleasure of listening to a talk by Tony Sanchez-Arino who, at age 82, is about to begin his 60th season as an African professional hunter. In addition to countless safaris, he was also an ivory hunter and, I would guess, a game-control shooter. His numbers of animals taken are staggering: just under 1,300 elephant, 2,044 Cape buffalo, and 322 lion. His talk dealt with the three questions he is most often asked.

Which is better, a double rifle or a bolt action?

Answer: "They’re both good. You go with whatever is most familiar to you. Don’t go to Africa with a rifle that’s new and strange."

What’s the most dangerous animal?

"That’s impossible to answer, because a lot of it depends on the country in which you hunt them. For example, Cape buffalo in open country are as easy to kill as cattle, but in heavy cover they’re something else. I can tell you what is most likely to kill you if it gets hold of you, and those animals are, in order, elephant, Cape buffalo, and lion."

What’s the toughest animal to stop?

"The Cape buffalo is by far the toughest. Sometimes when you’re shooting them it seems like you’re giving them vitamin pills. Lions can be difficult because they’re so fast; a lion can cover 100 meters in 6 seconds. People get in trouble because they shoot at them from too far away. Get close and you won’t have a problem. Elephants are comparatively easy to drop."

And as a side note, Sr. Sanchez-Arino’s favorite bullet is the Swift A-Frame (which is true for a number of PHs I've talked to) and the rifle he uses most is a .416 Rigby bolt-action.

He’s contemptuous of a number of things: “Ballistics tables, all these formulas and numbers, anything you read on the Internet, and ‘experts.’ All you need is a bullet with enough penetration to reach the vitals of whatever you’re hunting. The rest is nonsense. And never believe anything you read on the Internet, or anything you hear from an ‘expert.’ From them, you get horse***t in industrial quantities.”

He has never, in the course of all his years in the profession, gotten so much as a scratch.

The End of the Magnum Era?

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:00:48 -0500

by David E. Petzal

One of the things I picked up on at both SHOT and SCI was that shooters may be getting away from cartridges that cause your eyeballs to pop out of their sockets, and back to rounds that normal humans can handle.

Part of this, I’m told, is due to the growing popularity of ARs and their small cartridges. Last September, when the young guy next to me stared at my cartridge block full of .30/06s and asked, “What’s that huge cartridge?” I knew a different day was dawning. If you were weaned on a 5.56 or a 6.8mm, you’re going to think that a .300 RUM, for example, is an artillery round.

Part two is the proliferation and near-perfection of laser rangefinders and range-compensating scopes and binoculars. Up to this point, the only way to hit at long range was with some horrific round that had an ultra-flat trajectory, courtesy of a colossal powder charge and its side effects of short barrel life, killer recoil, and ear-shredding report. Now you can take a mild-mannered cartridge, consult with your scope, and drop a bullet right where you want to without walking in circles afterward.

Mark Bansner, the gifted Pennsylvania rifle maker, put it succinctly:
“All my young customers are computer geniuses. They crunch the numbers and they see that you don’t need to get your teeth kicked out to hit at long range. So they order a 6.5/284 instead of a .300 magnum.”

On the other hand, at SCI at least, I’m seeing a lot of dangerous-game rifles built for the really big rounds such as the .500 Nitro Express and the .505 Gibbs. If you’ve never shot one of these, you have a fulfilling new experience awaiting you. In the meanwhile, you can shoot your .257 Roberts without shame. It’s OK now.

Polymer Casings: The Future of Ammo?

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:52:23 -0500

These rounds might mark the end of the metal casing. The polymer casing significantly reduces ammunition weight while retaining its accuracy--meaning you can carry more ammo during your next hunt.

An Expansion Demonstration of Federal's Guard Dog Self-Defense Ammo

Online Editors — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:10:24 -0500

Federal's line of self-defense ammunition, Guard Dog, feature expanding-full-metal-jacket (EMFJ) bullets that are filled with a semi-soft polymer. Each bullet expands identically along scored lines in the jacket. It has the benefits of a hollow-point bullet, without the risk of debris getting caught in the hollow, causing it to not expand. EMFJs are often legal in areas where hollow-point ammo is not.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 3

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:48:52 -0500

Dave Petzal on SHOT Show 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:27:48 -0500

by David E. Petzal

In a wretched economic year, the pants-wetters, doomsayers, and purveyors of pessimism would be confounded by the life and vitality in the shooting industry. This year in Las Vegas, an estimated 60,000 people (all in the gun biz), many of whom look like Larry the Cable Guy, crowded into a maze of under-ventilated halls to ogle, grope and buy. Guns. What did you think I was talking about?

The most densely crowded venues were dedicated to the wonderful worlds of the paramilitary and law enforcement. Apparently there is an insatiable need for the equipment used in shooting, clubbing, and gassing people. There are suits of full body armor the like of which has not been seen since the Battle of Agincourt. There are all-black deathmobiles, equipped with lethal gear of all sorts. I’m told that Cop World constitutes fully one-third of the SHOT Show. How shooting and suppressing the citizenry ties into Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade is more than I can comprehend, but there it is.

There is also a very notable shortage of Booth Babes. In past years, you could hardly turn a corner without seeing some inadequately clothed young mammal who would cause you to stop dead in your tracks and give thanks to the forces of evolution. Damned if I know what happened to them.

And there are some very good new guns, and not only that, affordable new guns. There is the Ruger American Rifle, and a radical new rifle from Thompson Center, and a second-generation Weatherby Vanguard, and a semi-custom version of the New Ultra Light Arms guns (for less than half their price), a great lady’s rifle from Savage and on and on. You will be reading all about them in the posts and photo galleries to come.

Zeiss is coming out with new scopes and binoculars, plus what I believe is a unique no-questions-asked repair policy. Leupold has a powerful new Gold Ring Spotting Scope, and if you have not heard of an optics company called Meopta, trust me, you’re going to.

As life as we know it draws to a close, it’s perhaps fitting that this is one of the best SHOT Shows I’ve seen, but it sure would be nice, if we make it to 2013, to see the Booth Babes come back.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day I

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:40 -0500

New Winchester PDX .223 and .308 Self-Defense Ammo

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:37:39 -0500

Winchester has added two rifle rounds to its popular self-defense PDX line of ammunition in .223 and .308. Check out this video for more details.

Welcome To SHOT Show 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:52:39 -0500

SHOT Show is the biggest hunting industry event in the world. This year, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and SHOT Business are joining forces to present the most comprehensive coverage possible from Las Vegas all week. On Monday we were on site for Media Day At The Range. Here's an intro video and a quick bit on Winchester Razor Back ammo.

Stay tuned for more videos, blogs and photo galleries.

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

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

Lessons Learned and Soliciting Queries for SHOT Show 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:15:08 -0500

by David E. Petzal

This past year was an unusually active one for me. I dragged my rotting carcass across both oceans and to a number of states, and took 11 head of big game, with big game being defined as a wild swine or larger.

Looking over the whole business, a number of things stand out. The longest shot I took was at an elk. It was 160 yards. The two shortest--at a red stag and a mule deer--were around 30 yards. The average for everything was 80 yards. None of this is long-range shooting, and leads me to wonder, where are all these 500-yard shots everyone is obsessing about? During the whole season, one person I was afield with took a long shot--400 yards--at an elk, hit it and was unable to find it. In the real world, at least from my experience, things still happen well inside 200 yards.

Second, of the shots I took, six were offhand. This was a lot; usually I can kneel or find a rest of some sort. And it points out that you should get the hell away from the benchrest and practice shooting on your hind legs, because not infrequently, you are going to have to do it for real.

Finally, in every single case but one, I had to shoot fast. This was because what I had in the crosshairs was either very close or already on the prod and if the wind had shifted or someone farted, it was going to leave quicker than you can say “vanishing hindquarters.” More often than not, shooting at game is something you do as fast as you can positively identify the target and get your gun up. Be advised.

And now for something completely different: In a week I will be going out to the SHOT Show, and the folks who put this website together have asked me to ask you if there is anything you would like me to look for and report on. And no, that does not include booth babes. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

High-Speed Video: .308 Vs. Soup Can

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:13:30 -0500

by David Maccar

When I was told the folks at Vision Research were willing to let us use two of their very expensive, very high-speed cameras, I knew immediately what had to be done.
Shoot stuff.

So many questions could be answered. How, say, does PowerBait trout goop react to a .223 round at 19,300 frames per second? (Television, by comparison, runs around 30 frames per second.) What happens when you shoot a basketball with an expandable broadhead or a can of tomato soup with a .308?

We had to know. It didn't take long for our target block to get covered with shaving cream (as you can see in the video), soup, glitter, light bulb fragments, paint, and little pebbles of ballistics gel. Needless to say, we had fun.

But the shoot wasn’t just a group of editors hanging out at the range making a mess. Having these Vision Research Phantom cameras was an opportunity we weren’t about to squander. So we called in more than a dozen rifles, muzzleloaders, shotguns, compound bows – Cermele even brought his air rifle – plus enough ammo and targets to train a small army.

The Phantom cameras from Vision Research are, without question, the bleeding edge of high-speed photography. On the first day of our three-day shoot, with the help of Toni Lucatorto, VR’s cinema product manager, we set up the Phantom v1610 100 yards downrange, adjacent to a steel gong. We set the monochromatic camera at 43,400 frames per second. These black-and-white bullet impacts, like the one that opens the above video, came out completely surreal. Shotgun slugs crawled to the targets and hit like a sledgehammer; .223 bullets exploded in a circular star-burst of lead after the tips touched off tiny sparks at the very moment of impact.

On day two and three we used the color Phantom v711 camera to record all the messy stuff at 19,300 frames per second. These cameras, we should note, aren’t normally used in cinematic-type projects. They’re designed for scientists, researchers, and laboratories. We've just had the good fortune to put them to use on a rifle range.

Over the next couple months, we’ll be posting videos from the shoot on the Field & Stream and Outdoor Life sites. The opportunity to film with these cameras was so awesome, we were forced to come from behind our barricades and share the results with the enemy over at that other hunting and fishing site.

Some will be just plain fun to watch, like the Angry Birds vs. Shotgun clip we just posted on OL’s Facebook page. Others will be more educational, like Dave Hurteau’s look at compound bows in super slow motion. Stay tuned.

A Special Thanks to: Winchester Ammunition, Smith & Wesson, Springfield Armory and the Tamarack Preserve.

More on Long Range Shooting

Sarah Smith — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:30:40 -0500

by David E. Petzal

Back in April, 2011, I became a probationary member of the Scarborough Fish & Game Association in Scarborough, Maine. The name notwithstanding, SF&G is a shooting club, and a very large, very active one at that. They stage just about every kind of rifle, shotgun, handgun and archery event you can think of, and there is a dedicated range for cops to practice shooting people (so if you have any wants and warrants outstanding, stay away).

Among their assets is a beautiful range with shooting points from 100 to 600 yards, but since the Association’s official religion is safety, they do not let anyone use that range until they’re vetted. You qualify there or you stick to the 100-yard ranges; SF&G does not want any bullets sailing over the backstop. If you raise your muzzle above the level of the backstop you get a warning. If you do it again you are requested to leave.

The 600-yard hopefuls are split into two squads; one pulls targets while the other shoots, and then they switch. You can use any rifle you choose, any scope, or iron sights, and since this is a qualification and not a competition, you can use a bipod or sandbags or a mechanical rest.

All the shooting is done from prone. You start at 100 yards to check your zero, then you move back to 200 and fire five shots for record. All five have to be on target or you go home. The highest possible score is 50. Then you move back to 600 and get to fire a few sighters, after which you make whatever corrections you need and shoot five shots for record. Same rules—every bullet has to score or you get to slink off.

There are half a dozen coaches, all experienced over-the-course competitors to whom this is old stuff. They score you, and will give you advice if you ask for it, but otherwise they leave you on your own because they want to see if you have the knowledge and equipment to get the job done.

For my trial by fire I used a Shaw Mark VII .30/06 with a Bushnell Elite 6500 scope with a mil-dot reticle. Ammo was handloads—155-grain Berger VLD bullets at 2,840 fps. I also used a short Harris bipod. The only question in my military mind was which dot to use to get in the black at 600 yards. Through a mixture of Euclidian geometry, trigonometry, basic physics, consultation with ballistic tables, The Book of Kjells, prayer, fasting, and a whiny call to Kenny Jarrett, I determined that the fourth dot down would get me into the promised land, or at least my bullet would go there.

We had a beautiful calm morning with only a 2 mph breeze, and my first shot went into the eight ring at 2 o’clock. I needed to come left half the width of the eight ring, so I put in enough clicks to do that, and then I had to come down about six inches, so I did that. The next shot was a 10, so it was time to shoot for record.

I ended up with a 45x50—two 10s, a 9, and two 8s. This was good enough to qualify, but in competition it would get you looks of pity and contempt. The guy for whom I was pulling the target shot 50x50-4X, which means he put four out of 5 shots in 6 inches at six football fields. I wish I had the chance to find out what he was shooting, but was able to learn only that it was one of the 6.5s.

A final note: The shooter to my left, who was using an AR, asked me what that huge cartridge was in my ammo block. “A .30/06,” I said, and smiled, because when the old ’06 qualifies as a huge cartridge, we’ve come a long, long way.

Did You Get a Gun For Christmas, Too?

Sarah Smith — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:27:15 -0500

by Dave Hurteau

Actually I got a winter restoration project—a Savage Model 24 in .22LR/.410 with good bores and solid wood but a very rough exterior. As far as I’m concerned, the Model 24 in this configuration is the perfect squirrel gun.

By the way, did you know that squirrel hunting makes excellent practice for hunting whitetail deer, the species about which this blog is solely dedicated?

As I was saying, it’s a fantastic squirrel gun, particularly for small woodlots close to populated areas, because you can use the .22 when your backdrop will stop a bullet and the .410 when it won’t. Plus it’s just a damned cool gun that I’ve always wanted to own.

A peep sight seems the obvious answer, but I’m toying with the idea of a vintage low-power Weaver or Lyman scope. It’s the one type that would not be an abomination on the gun; it would be well suited to close-range squirrels with the .22LR barrel, and (back to whitetails) with the .410 barrel, it would be great practice getting on a moving target through a scope.

Anyway, enough about my Christmas present. Did you get a gun, too? If so, let’s hear about it. On the other hand, if all you got was boxer shorts and a tie, you are more than welcome to talk about my new obsession—I mean, my gun. What do you think about the vintage scope idea? How about staining the wood a darker color? (I think yes.)

Recommendation on blue brands: Wonder Blue, Brownells Oxpho-Blue, Birchwood Casey Perma-Blue? (I’ve only used the last.) Any other thoughts?

Jingle Bells With a 1911

Sarah Smith — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:48:01 -0500

Happy Holidays from the Gun Nuts!

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.

The most recent disappointment came Wednesday night in the form of “Triggers.” This show, hosted by one Wil (with one “l”) Willis, purported to be about the Colt Model 1911. However, if you’d like to learn something substantive about the Colt Model 1911, you’d better buy the book Small Arms of the World, because you won’t get it here.

Mr. Willis wears a muscle shirt to show us he has muscles. (Dr. William Atwater has never felt the need.) but if he is responsible for the script, he needs to lose the shirt and grasp the concept of a coherent line of thought. This program is all over the place. Its tone and content seem to be lifted intact from Spike TV, which runs programs on who would win in a fight to the death between a samurai warrior and Justin Beiber).

“Triggers” starts with Sergeant Alvin York, segues to a comparison of the wheel lock and flintlock, includes a fast-draw segment with the Peacemaker and a shootout between that gun and a Trapdoor Springfield, takes in the virtues of the Luger, and on and on. When in doubt, Mr. Willis and guests shoot stuff to no apparent point.

The show could have asked some good questions: For example, it points out that in the 1890s, the Army dropped the .45 in favor of the .38 Special, which quickly proved inadequate. Why? Was the Army stupid? (Answer: yes. Our small arms procurement has never been particularly good, except for some notable successes such as the Model 1911 pistol, the M-1 rifle, and the M2 machine gun. Our introduction of the M-16 to combat was a case study in military incompetence. At the end of World War II, the U.S. ignored the German Sturmgewehr, the first assault rifle, but the Soviets did not. The result was that they developed the most successful infantry rifle of all time—the AK-47—and we did not.)

Then in 1985, the Army did the exact same thing, replacing the Model 1911 with the 9mm Beretta M9, which no one seems to like very much, and which is just as inadequate as the .38 Special. Why? Is the Army stupid? (Answer: yes.) Mr. Willis allowed that special ops units still use the 1911? Why? No answer.

Perhaps “Triggers” will improve. I hope so. Meanwhile, three pieces of advice for Mr. Willis: Lose the muscle shirt and pay some attention to your storyline. Fire whoever does the graphics. A Colt Model 1873 is not a Colt Model 1860 Army. And finally, the velocity of the .45 Long Colt bullet is around 750-850 fps, not 1,200 fps.

On Fouling Shots, and Choosing Your Friends

Sarah Smith — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:36:38 -0500

by David E. Petzal

A friend of mine called from Wyoming with grave concerns about his rifle, a .300 Win Mag with a #4 contour barrel from one of the really good makers, and all the other Right Credentials.

“It never prints the first shot with the others,” he said. “The first shot is always an inch high, and then you can cover the next three with a badly worn dime. What’s wrong with the gun?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” I said. “It just needs a fouling shot. About half of my rifles do. I have no idea why. I keep cheap ammo for just that. When I shoot, I put the first round in the dirt alongside the target and then get to business. Same when I go hunting. I sight in here and don’t clean the bore until I come home.”

“The other thing,” he said, “is I get my best groups from [He named a very popular quick-expanding bullet that’s been around for years, and has a sterling reputation for accuracy.}. My friends say they’re no good. What do you think of them?”

“I wouldn’t hunt Cape buffalo with them, but otherwise they’re terrific. Get new friends who know what they’re talking about, or get friends who don’t hunt. Trust your own experience. If they’ve served you well, who gives a popcorn fart what your friends think?”