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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.

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.

Ohio Man Shoots Amish Girl While Cleaning Gun

Sarah Smith — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:02:41 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

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.

Do You Treat Your Reel As Well As You Treat Your Gun?

Sarah Smith — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:16:00 -0400

About a month ago, I wrote about the necessity of maintaining and servicing your fishing reels. Some readers noted doing a lousy job of tackle maintenance while at the same time taking meticulous care of their firearms.

That brings up an obvious question: Why is this so? Or what’s the difference? Seems to me that if you’re going to make the effort to keep a prized rifle or shotgun in top shape, then you might lavish the same attention on a nice, quality reel--be it fly, spin or baitcasting.

Guns and reels both perform better with appropriate care. But somehow guns are often seen as treasured heirlooms while various tackle items are usually not. Historically, it’s an attitude that goes back a long way, which I learned as the former director of a flyfishing museum and often went through boxes of old, usually neglected fishing stuff.

Jim Baird’s Arctic Adventure: Lube Your Gun for Negative-40 Degrees

Online Editors — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:27:52 -0400

Two days before I saw this bird, I got a couple ptarmigans for the pot. My gun worked with out incident. This bird in the video got away because my firing pin was frozen. Once the trip was done, I told the story to my friend Pat in Ulukhaktok, and he showed me what he uses to lube his gun in extreme cold.

He uses a fast-drying graphite spray made for aviation applications that can handle extreme cold. Oil-based lubricants get very slow and sticky at low temperatures. In the deep cold, the heat created from firing your gun creates condensation that can freeze your pin. In these conditions, it’s better to use no lube at all if you don’t have a dry lubricant, wiping all the oil-based lube from your gun. I would also consider putting a stronger spring in my gun in future situations like this.

Moral of the story: If your gun freezes up when your ptarmigan hunting, you’ll go hungry. If your gun is freezes up when you’re being charged by a bear, the bear doesn’t go hungry.

Graphite spray it is.

Announcing the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest

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

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

Petzal: A Lesson in Simplicity

Online Editors — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 17:01:55 -0400

This past August, I shot in a trap league in order to stay off the streets and out of trouble, and on one Sunday I shot on the same squad as a fellow who could really shoot. His scores were as follows: 16 yards, 49x50; handicap, 49x50; doubles, 49x50. In big-time ATA meets this sort of thing is the norm, but for a social shooter like me it’s highly edifying. He was very fast, and he was also incredibly consistent. He pounded every target, and I doubt there was a difference of 3 feet, shot to shot, where each one met its end.

His gun was a Winchester Model 12. It had fancy wood and lots of engraving, but it did not have a screw-in choke, an adjustable comb, or an adjustable butt. It did not have that abomination known as a release trigger. It did not have a super-high rib. There was nothing you could change, alter, or fiddle with. When I asked him if he didn’t feel deprived, he said,

Petzal: All About Gun Cleaning

Online Editors — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:36:43 -0400

Some time ago, I was asked how to clean a rifle. There are as many different ways to do this as there are to summon Beelzebub, and there is no single “correct” method.

Whatever works, works. Here, instead, are some general tips.

*Think of cleaning as a two-stage process. First you get out the powder fouling, then you get out the copper.

*For powder fouling, I use Shooters Choice solvent and phosphor-bronze brushes. When you’re finished with a brush, give it a toot from a can of Birchwood-Casey Gun Scrubber; this will get the dirt off the brush and will keep the Shooters Choice from eating the bronze bristles.

The Gun Nuts On Television

Online Editors — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:55:05 -0400

That’s me -- I’m the one on the left -- on the set of “The Gun Nuts” the other day. We had just filmed a highly scientific test on the shot-resistant properties of shooting glasses. What happens when 8 shot launched at 1200 fps meets polycarbonate lenses protecting googly craft eyes on cantaloupes representing human heads? Tune in to The Gun Nuts to find out.

Starting today, every Wednesday at 9:30 PM (EST) Dave and I will do our best to bring this blog to life onscreen on the Outdoor Channel. We will blast melons, torture red dots, debunk myths and even break out Dave’s famous Ballistic Buffalo. We’ll talk about guns both classic and new, give shooting advice, and speak our minds about gunny subjects. We may give some stuff away, too.

How to Shoot a Magazine for Fun and (Maybe) Profit

Online Editors — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:20:41 -0400

Bourjaily: Update on My Beretta A400

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:08:40 -0500

Beretta’s A400 semiautos – which I saw in Italy earlier this fall -- are trickling into the country. I have one and have been putting it to good use. Thus far, I like almost everything about the A400. Through a flat of target loads and an assortment of hunting loads, it has worked almost perfectly. Its one failure to fire came on the second shot of skeet doubles. I was using 2 ¾ dram, 1 1/8 ounce target loads, and the second round chambered but the bolt didn’t close 100% of the way and the gun went “click.” I think the loads were a little light for this 3 ½ inch gun, although it may eventually cycle them with complete reliability after I shoot it more.

Bourjaily: The Browning Maxus “Turnkey” Plug

Online Editors — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:44:17 -0500

When Browning introduced the excellent Maxus semiauto last year one of their engineers walked me through all the features of the gun, including the “turnkey” magazine plug. It is pretty slick: you take the forearm off, use any car key to turn the plug through 90 degrees, and you can slide it out of the magazine tube without any disassembly, increasing the capacity from two shells to four. The plug goes back in just as easily if you need to limit the magazine capacity to two for migratory bird hunting.

I thought, that’s clever, but so what?

Bourjaily: Stop New-Shotgun Misfires with Break Free CLP

Online Editors — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:43:54 -0500

This really is about gun care, but I will begin by digressing: my 13 ½ year old English setter Ike (pictured here hard at work guarding my hunting clothes last year) went completely blind two weeks ago. When I go pheasant hunting, Ike still gets to ride in his crate to the field and back. I let him out to wander around sniffing things as I get ready, then I put Ike back in the box, get Jed out, and that’s the extent of Ike’s “hunt.”

In 12 full seasons Ike had a bunch of pheasants, a few quail, half a dozen woodcock and two Hungarian partridges and a snipe shot over his points. He has been a beloved house pet, too, and now is a blind, beloved house pet. I have few regrets about his life as my dog.

Bourjaily: The CSMC A-10 American

Joe_Cermele — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:37:51 -0400

A year ago I visited Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company and witnessed a Marvel Of Our Age – a world-class fine double gun maker located right here in the US, in New Britain, Connecticut, to be precise. CSMC employs about 70 craftsmen, and, save for a few springs and widgets, every part of every gun is made entirely in house.

Petzal: Some Peeves from a Gunsmith

Online Editors — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:49:39 -0400

If there is a more put-upon group of people than gunsmiths, I can't think who it might be. These gunsmith gripes are from John Blauvelt of Wallkill, NY. I would add one of my own to the list: People who chew a gunsmith's ear off about what they should buy, then go buy it at Wal-Mart to save $3.68.

Filthy guns. Just because you are having your gun repaired by the gunsmith does not mean that he is going to clean it for free.

Bourjaily: Tighten Chokes, Lighten Up

Joe_Cermele — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:50:10 -0400

My first takeaway from this year’s Iowa State Sporting Clays shoot: tighten your chokes.

I’ve never believed in cranking choke tubes into the muzzle super-tight, but I do make sure they are firmly seated, then I nervously check them periodically during a day in the field or at the range.

From now on I’ll be examining my tubes more often after seeing somebody launch one – something I had heard of but never witnessed before this weekend.

The Ten Best Best Bargains In Shotgunning

Online Editors — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:01:35 -0400

There are still wise buys beyond the basic 870 Express and Mossberg 500. Phil Bourjaily lists his top ten values in shotgunning.

Bourjaily: The 870 Project

Joe_Cermele — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:09:46 -0400

I think we might all agree that they don’t make 870s – or a lot of other guns – quite like they used to.

A little while ago, I mentioned the 70s vintage 870 Wingmaster I picked up and made a mag-tube recoil reducer for. Once upon a time, it must have been someone’s duck gun, but in these days of steel shot, a 2 ¾ inch chamber and a fixed full choke is not what people want. The gun had been beautifully cared for, the barrel was 30 inches long, the action was left-handed and the price was only $269. I grabbed it.

Bourjaily: It's All About Tempo

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:22:01 -0400

Bourjaily: Removable Triggers

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:25:38 -0400

After some gun trading a couple of weeks ago, I wound up with a Browning BT-100 single shot trap gun. The 100 was made from 1995 to 2002, then discontinued in favor of the reintroduced BT-99. I suspect Browning got rid of the 100 because the 99 cost less to make. Don’t get me wrong: BT-99s are also great guns, just not as great as this one. It balances and handles better than the 99s I’ve shot, and, although it costs a small fraction of what you pay for a Krieghoff or Perazzi, BT-100s have one of the niceties of a high-end gun: a removable trigger.

Bourjaily: Gun Fit

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:30:54 -0400

A few years ago I had a full-scale fitting done by instructor Gil Ash. We used a try-gun, with a stock that adjusts in every direction, and we began with me pointing the gun at objects on the far wall of the Briley Manufacturing showroom while Ash tinkered with the stock. He gave the gun a little more drop and cast than I thought it needed. “You’ll see why I did that when we shoot the pattern plate,” he said. “No one cheeks a gun as hard when they shoot as they do when they mount it in the store.”

Chad Love: Locked & Loaded in Parkland

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:28:51 -0400

There's already been a boatload of bloviation expressed on the recent reversal of the ban on loaded firearms in our national parks, some of it sensible but most of it (predictably) bordering on hysterics.

This column from the Huffington Post is a perfect example:

"In fact, the new rule is likely to make national park visitors less safe around wildlife. Packing heat could give some people a false sense of security and make them more likely to approach bison, elk, moose, and grizzly bears, rather than keep a safe distance which is better for both people and animals."

But the most certain outcome of this congressional action is that it will promote poaching. The National Park Service warned in its fiscal 2006 budget submission each year for the past several years ... The data suggests that there is a significant domestic as well as international trade for illegally taken plant and animal parts." Poaching, the agency said, "is suspected to be a factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks."

States Save Millions Swapping Fish And Ammo

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:58:26 -0400

From The New York Times: