Field and Stream - Ammunition RSS

Iowa Governor Rescinds Ban on Lead Ammo for Dove Hunting

Sarah Smith — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:45:34 -0400

--Chad Love

It's been a long, strange and litigious trip, but it looks like Phil Bourjaily can finally go dove hunting in Iowa with whatever ammo he wants to use, thanks to an executive order from Iowa governor Terry Branstad

From this story in the Sioux City Journal:
Gov. Terry Branstad fired a shot at his executive-branch agencies by issuing an order Friday rescinding a ban on lead ammunition by dove hunters. Branstad said he would not let them trump actions of elected officials by using “administrative fiat” to set rules that go beyond a law’s intended effect. “We need to make sure that we stop this practice of agencies going beyond what’s been delegated to them and their responsibility,” Branstad said.

Branstad claims the Iowa Natural Resources Commission exceeded its authority when it banned lead shot for dove hunting last year. Unsurprisingly, the Humane Society of the United States, which first fought the dove season and then pushed for the lead ban, was disappointed.

From the story:

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, issued a statement condemning what he called a “power grab” by the Iowa governor. “It is the height of hypocrisy for Gov. Terry Branstad to overrule both the Legislature and the Natural Resources Commission by executive fiat and to thumb his nose at the people of Iowa," he said. "But Gov. Branstad apparently believes that politics should trump science, and that anything goes if the gun lobby demands it.”

Thoughts? Reaction? Now that you have a choice, will you use lead or steel this fall?

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?

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

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.

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.

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?

45 Essential Gear Items Used on the ATV Canol Trail Adventure

Online Editors — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:58:54 -0400

Nine-hundred miles east of Anchorage, the World War II-era Canol Trail winds through the McKenzie Mountains of Canada's Northwest Territories and into some of the most wild landscape in North America. This defunct oil pipeline, turned dirt road, turned over-grown and washed away wilderness trail snakes from the Yukon border to the rich oil fields of Norman Wells. It's considered by many to be the most remote trail in the world.

Last year F&S Adventurer Jim Baird and Video Editor Mike Shea set off to ride the trail by ATV without helicopter or plane support. Others have completed Canol on ATV beginning to end, but none have done it without fuel and food drops along the way. Attempting this self-sustained adventure, Jim and Mike leaned hard on their ATVs, their gear, and most importantly, themselves.

This is the the gear they rode, carried and relied upon out in the bush.

Check out the video series documenting the Canol Trail ATV Adventure here!

Olympic Medalist Kim Rhode on Prep for London Games

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:40:43 -0500

Kim Rhode will be competing in the Olympic Skeet event in 2012, where she hopes to break an Olympic record by winning five medals in five different Olympic Games. She talks with Phil Bourjaily about her practice routine and prep work leading up to the London games.

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

Winchester Blind Side Expands Ammo Line

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:46:17 -0500

Blind Side shotshells are now available in 1s, 3s and 5s and also 20 gauge. The shells are specially designed for waterfowl hunting and are packed with hexagon-shaped shot.

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

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.

Thoughts on Stock Length

Online Editors — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:25:24 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

How long should your gunstock be and how much does stock length really matter?

The Beretta 391 in the picture came with spacers allowing me to alter the length. I made it 15 inches for shooting in T-shirt weather back in dove season, intending to remove a spacer to accommodate bulky waterfowling clothes. Instead, I left it and never noticed the extra length.

As long as you mount the gun by pushing it out toward the target, you can shoot a longer stock than you might think you can without tangling it up in your hunting coat. The advantage to a longer stock, I think, is that it makes a gun mount smoother. If I mount this gun correctly, bringing it to my face, the stock just meets my shoulder without my having to pull the gun back into my shoulder pocket, possibly pulling the muzzle off target as I do so.

On the other hand, sometimes I wonder how much stock length matters. I could always shoot my son’s 13-inch youth stocked 1100 pretty well. As long as you aren’t punching yourself in the nose with the thumb of your shooting hand, maybe stock length doesn’t matter.

It was, and may still be, a trend among some sporting clays shooters to shoot absurdly long stocks. I have seen people my height (6 feet) shoot guns with a length of pull as much as 17 inches. I could sort of shoot their guns if I mounted them first, but I couldn’t mount them from a low gun start at all.

Jingle Bells With a 1911

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

Happy Holidays from the Gun Nuts!

When Good Guns Happen to Stupid People

Sarah Smith — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:37:46 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Spend enough time surfing the internet and you will see horrible sights. This video is one.

During last week’s discussion of the Benelli Montefeltro, the Winchester Model 50’s name came up. Thinking it would be interesting to write about the Model 50*, I went looking on Youtube in search of a video illustrating the gun’s unique action. Unfortunately, the video here is what I found instead. It’s probably better that some readers (Tom from Cody, I’m thinking of you) don’t watch this at all. This is a gun project so horribly wrong-headed I almost didn’t get through to the end of the clip myself.

The guy who posted this says someone gave him this Model 50 as a gift and, since he “doesn’t hunt yet” he modified it to use as a tactical gun, until he could afford “a proper tactical shotgun” such as an 870 or Mossberg 590. All he has done is wreck a neat old hunting gun in the name of having a stopgap tactical gun. And, for the price of the sights, heat shield and shell holder, he could have paid for about half of an 870 Express while keeping his Model 50 intact. Someday, if he does take up hunting, he finally will realize what he has done.

*The Model 50 is an interesting gun, made in the 1950s and early 1960s with an inertia system that featured the floating chamber developed by David “Carbine” Williams that actually moved almost a tenth of an inch under recoil. (The first guns could be fired without a barrel attached, causing concern at the federal law enforcement level. Winchester modified the gun so it could not shoot without a barrel attached). Winchester made both a steel and an alloy “Featherlight” receiver version, and the gun formed the basis for the great and weird steel and fiberglass-barreled Model 59. Winchester made a couple hundred thousand of them, and while the gun wasn’t a huge success, Model 50s still show up regularly in used gun racks which is a testament to their durability.

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.

How To Make Ice Cube Bullets

Sarah Smith — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:50:46 -0500

Are you a deer camp mixologist looking for a way to add a little bang to your drinks? Then here you go!

From geekstuff4u.com:

Creates bullet shaped ice cubes that are perfect for that killer drink! Just fill up the tray with water, like you would do with a standard Ice cube tray, and place it in the freezer. Then enjoy your beverage!

There's a big debate, though, about what the best all-around ice cube is. Some guys prefer the .270 cube, while others prefer the .30-06, claiming the lighter cube of the .270 isn't quite big enough for the really hard stuff.

What do you think is the best cube for the job?