By Philip Bourjaily

When I mentioned in this space last week that I own no centerfire rifles it seemed to upset some of you. The last thing I want is agitated readers, and if that means I have to buy a rifle, I can live with that. So, last week when I visited Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Co., after I looked at shotguns, I asked CSMC’s Lou Frutuoso to show me something in a centerfire.

Connecticut Shotgun Mfg. Co, I should mention here, makes absolutely gorgeous A.H. Foxes, Winchester Model 21s, and Parkers as well as O/Us and doubles of their own design entirely in-house, right here in America. CSMC employs about 70 people in its factory housed in a former Stanley tool plant in New Britain, CT. Their work is world-class and you can drool over it at Connecticutshotgun.com.

Anyway, here’s the rifle Fruotoso found for me: a sidelock O/U in .22 Hornet (you can click on a picture to enlarge it). The deep relief engraving, by Richard Roy of Hartford, CT, is inlaid with gold and depicts all manner of small game, painstakingly rendered in steel. That’s solid gold... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

In the September issue of American Rifleman, on page 40,  you’ll find a highly edifying bind-in card set entitled “Barack Obama’s Ten-Point Plan to ‘Change’ the Second Amendment.” Based on how he has voted in the past, both in the Illinois Legislature and in the Senate, and what he has said in public about gun control, it reads like this:

1) Ban use of firearms for home defense.
2) Pass Federal laws eliminating right to carry.
3) Ban the manufacture, sale, and possession of handguns.
4) Close down 90 percent of the gun shops in America.
5) Ban rifle ammunition commonly used for hunting and sport shooting.
6) Increase federal taxes on guns and ammunition by 500 percent.
7) Restore voting rights for 5 million criminals including those who have been convicted of using a gun to commit a violent crime.
8) Expand the Clinton semi-auto ban to include millions more firearms.
9) Mandate a government-issued license to purchase a firearm.
10) Appoint judges to the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal judiciary who share his views on the Second Amendment.

If you’d like to check the documentation for all this, go to www.nraila.org/Obama.

As if this weren’t enough, Obama has selected... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

“Within modern traditional societies, the ability to survive is drastically reduced if the group is too small. A lone individual rarely survives for more than a year….”—Modern People in Africa and Europe, by Goran Burenult

In April, 1992, an electrician named Jim Gallien gave a 24-year-old hitchhiker named Chris McCandless a ride to the Stampede Trail above the Clearwater Fork of the Toklat River. McCandless, who gave his name only as “Alex,” said it was his intention to hike up the trail into the wilderness and live off the land. His equipment consisted of 10 pounds of rice, a .22 rifle and ammo, a guide to the edible plants of the area, several books, and no map or compass.. Gallien was appalled at what the kid was about to do, and offered to buy him some of the things he would need to stay alive. But “Alex” would not listen. Gallien was the last person to see him alive. When his body was found by hunters in September, Chris McCandless—or what was left of him—weighed 67 pounds.

McCandless’ death made national headlines. He had come from a well-to-do Virginia family, graduated from Emory University in 1990, and then simply vanished. He abandoned his... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

In case any of you were wondering where the hell I was for most of July, I was in Africa, and have come back at great risk and personal expense to make you aware of the virtues of the following:

Hardigg Storm Case Model IM 3300: This is a two-rifle case made of high-performance resin. It’s light for how strong it is, comes with two handles and wheels, six latches (which open by depressing spring-loaded tabs so you don’t rip your fingernails out) and hasps for four locks. Two of us had Storm Cases and wore big smiles. Two other hunters shared a lesser aluminum case and ended up with a busted stock and a wrecked scope. They did not smile. As the airlines descend into total chaos and anarchy, you would do well to visit Hardigg’s website, which is stormcase.com

Barnes TSX and MRX bullets: I used a .338 loaded with 225-grain TSXs at 2,750 fps; one of my friends used a .30/06 loaded with 180-grain MRXs at 2,700 fps. Between us we shot something like a dozen animals from 50 pounds up to 450 at ranges from 25 yards to 320. Nothing required a second shot. Not a single bullet... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

Once upon a time in 2007, there was a hunter who had done very well in phrenology and went to a Wise Custom Gun Builder (hereinafter known as WCGB) and said, “Build me a 7mm STW.”

“Why do you want a 7mm STW?”, asked the WCGB. “Unless you put a 28-inch barrel on it, an STW is just another 7mm magnum, and the only thing a 28-inch barrel is good for is pole vaulting.”

But the Wealthy Hunter (hereinafter known as WH) was like many other men who had done well in life. Because he knew from phrenology, and making money, he thought he knew about guns and hunting as well, and would not listen to the WCGB who had been accumulating knowledge for 40 years but who, after all, had to make a dollar now and then.

They compromised on a 26-inch barrel. The WH took delivery of the rifle, worked up a handload employing 140-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips at nearly 3,600 fps that went into one ragged hole, and went off to practice.

That fall, the WCGB got a call from the WH who said,

“I’m going on a mule deer hunt with an outfitter who guarantees me a shot at a 35-inch... [ Read Full Post ]

By Philip Bourjaily

One of the small things I like about hunting is that it takes you into the countryside where people say things you thought no one actually says anymore.

Bits of old-fashioned speech hang on outside of town. Hearing them opens a little window into the past. For instance, I didn’t think anyone really said “cipherin’”  – as in “calculating” – in the 21 st century except for Jethro on “Beverly Hillbillies” reruns. Then I went to the Texas Hill Country on a pig hunt. It was very exciting, with the pig getting away from the dogs and chasing us until the dogs caught it again, and the pig practically deflating upon being stabbed with a very long, sharp knife. After the sticking, one of the two houndsmen wiped the blood off the blade and showed it to me. He had made it himself.  “I call this here the T2,” he said. “I been cipherin’ for 15 years on the perfect pig knife, and this is it.”

In Greene County, Illinois, where I turkey hunted 10 years ago, no one said “pop” or “soda;” it was “sody pop.”

Here in eastern Iowa, I heard my favorite. A farmer said to me: “That Amishman... [ Read Full Post ]