A note to all you Gun Nuts: The photo below (and three more, which you can see by clicking here) came into my inbox attached to the following caption:

"For those of you who load your own ammunition...
 
A guy came into our department the other day to ask a favor. He had a Smith & Wesson Model 629 that he wanted to dispose of after a mishap at the range. He said there was a loud bang when he tested his new load and the gun smacked him in the forehead, leaving a nice gash. When the tweety birds cleared, this is what he saw..."

Rather than comment on these photos myself, I decided they were serious enough that they deserved something intelligent said about them, so I sent them to my friend and ace pistolsmith John Blauvelt. Here's what he had to say.  --David Petzal

Begin forwarded message:
From: JC Blauvelt
Date: October 30, 2009 8:09:43 PM EST
To: Dave Petzal

Subject: BANG

Dave, Well you asked for it. I hope you find this useful. Thank you for the opportunity.

A graphic reminder of the art of home pressure testing. What I see... [ Read Full Post ]

From The State:
So far in 2009, the number of South Carolinians wanting to pack heat nearly has doubled over the previous year as people worry about violent crime and feel threatened by partisan politics.

As of mid-October, 28,197 new concealed weapons permits have been issued this year by South Carolina's State Law Enforcement Division.

It's an annual record that already has surpassed the 14,630 new permits issued in all of 2008 and by far outstrips all previous years, according to SLED statistics. [ Read Full Post ]

Over the weekend I helped out at a Pheasants Forever Mentored Youth Hunt. PF, I should mention here, is my favorite of the single-species groups because they spend all their money locally, do good habitat work, and support youth hunting and shooting of all kinds. Anyway, it was my job to run three groups of kids through some shooting instruction before they went hunting.  I’ve done this before, and I learn more from watching the kids shoot than they learn listening to me.

This weekend’s takeaway: slow down to speed up.

Since the kids were going to shoot flushing birds, I had them start from a safe field carry position, then call pull, and mount and shoot. Naturally, all of them wanted to throw the gun up as fast as possible.  The kids would whip the gun up, then have to readust their faces on the stock, then find the target again,  and shoot.

Move slowly, I told them. Push the muzzle toward the bird like you’re trying to stick it with a bayonet and raise the gun to your face smoothly.

I expected them to start hitting targets better. What I didn’t expect was that they would start hitting targets faster.... [ Read Full Post ]

Sometimes you read something that - to be perfectly honest - leaves you feeling hopeless and doomed. Something so depressing it makes you want to throw up your hands, shout "to hell with it all!" and head straight to the nearest bar. Something like this, from the LA Times.
 
The latest figures from Nielsen have children's TV usage at an eight-year high. Children's health advocates warn of adverse effects.
 
More than an entire day -- that's how long children sit in front of the television in an average week, according to new findings released Monday by Nielsen.

The amount of television usage by children reached an eight-year high, with kids ages 2 to 5 watching the screen for more than 32 hours a week on average and those ages 6 to 11 watching more than 28 hours. The analysis, based on the fourth quarter of 2008, measured children's consumption of live and recorded TV, as well as VCR and game console usage.

"They're using all the technology available in their households," said Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's senior vice president of insights, analysis and policy. "They're using the DVD, they're on the Internet. They're not giving up any media --... [ Read Full Post ]

Today’s first course is crow in a figurative sense:

I have long insisted that the best waterfowl guns weigh a lot --  eight pounds or even close to nine – for  adequate recoil absorption. I believed they should have long barrels – 28-inches or even 30 --  and weight-forward balance.  I have said so in print many times.

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In 1987, Don Allen a retired airline pilot from Sturgis, South Dakota, and his wife Norma, founded Dakota Arms, a company that produced high-grade hunting rifles based on a design worked up by him and ace metal man Pete Grisel. The Dakota Model 76, the company’s basic model, was an immediate success, and was soon joined by other variations.

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Some of you expressed disappointment that the new Beretta A400  -- billed as a dinosaur gun -- turned out to be a mere 3 ½ inch 12 gauge.  While I think the A400 should be a dandy gun for ducks, geese and pheasants, it is admittedly on the light side for one-shot kills on larger sauropods. I would want more gun. In fact, I would want one of these.

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Breaking up is hard to do.—Neil Sedaka, 1962

Changing your mind at this stage of life is a lot harder than breaking up.—David E. Petzal, 2009

Over the past decade and a half I’ve been braying to one and all about the pernicious effect that high-tech gadgetry is having on hunting. Now, however, I think it’s time to re-think things. A couple of weeks ago I went on a mule deer hunt in southeast Oregon, and while I and my rifle made it, my sense of distance did not. For whatever reason I was misjudging ranges by 100 yards or more, even at 300 and under.

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Do you constantly fret over the adequacy of your gun collection? Are you worried there's a gaping hole in your hunting arsenal? Do you have guns for small game, upland birds, waterfowl, turkeys, predators, deer, elk, moose, bear, dangerous game, plains game, and pretty much anything else that walks, crawls or flies, but you still think there's something missing for the really, really big game?
 
Well, fret no more, because for the low starting bid of $19,950 you can complete your ultimate hunting battery with this, the Kongberg 90mm Harpoon Cannon, complete with everything you see here (crusty Norwegian whaler dudes sold separately).

 
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From AOL News:

An upstate New York high school senior suspended for 20 days because of a two-inch knife is fighting back.

Matthew Whalen's family has retained a lawyer to appeal the suspension and clear his record. Lansingburgh Central School District Superintendent George Goodwin punished Whalen for having the small utility knife in a tool kit that was locked in the teen's car. Goodwin ruled it was a weapon that is forbidden on school property under Lansingburgh's "zero-tolerance" policy on weapons. . . .

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If you have any doubt that we live in the best of all possible worlds, take a look at this. The five (yes, five) shots in the single hole in the bull were put there during the NBRSA Nationals in St. Louis. They were fired by a contractor from California named Tom Libby, and his rifle of choice was a 6 PPC. The group measures .093-inch, and the big sockdolaper is, it was shot at 200 yards.

I am indebted to Mr. M. Coleman, gunsmith, raconteur, and philosopher, for the photo and the info. [ Read Full Post ]