By Scott Bestul

We’ve lost yet another man who changed the face of modern deer hunting. Tony Knight, inventor of the Knight Rifle—the first mass-produced in-line muzzleloader—died Monday, March 18, near Plano, Iowa.

Knight set the hunting world on fire in 1985 when he introduced the MK-85 (the initials were his daughter’s), a rifle he produced in Centerville, Iowa. Though the in-line design initially drew as many critics as it did adherents, Knight was a tireless champion for the inclusion of in-line rifles into blackpowder seasons that had been dominated by sidelock guns. He was wildly successful; within a handful of years, in-lines had not only gained wide acceptance, but also a huge market share. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

Read Part II and Part III here.

There are some things you don’t have to try to know you won’t like. Hot yoga and colonics come to mind. And when Cabela's invited me, a South Texas nilgai hunt seemed like it should make the list, too, although further down. Sounded like a trip to a petting zoo, with guns.

Also I had some questions, mainly, What the hell is a nilgai?

It’s something I probably should have known, but then again, why? In any case, I looked it up on Wikipedia, where all the top outdoor writers do their research, and learned that the nilgai, also known as the blue bull, is Asia’s largest antelope, native to India, and one ugly mother—a cloven-hooved, long-tailed, horse-faced thing with a goat’s beard and horns.

In other words, Satan.

[ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

At the beginning of this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid informed the world that he would not introduce a bill containing an assault weapons ban to the Senate for a vote, since there was as much chance of it passing as there is of Bill Clinton taking holy orders (my metaphor, not Sen. Reid’s). This came as a bitter blow to Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) who was sponsoring the ban, and whose fondest hope it is to see ARs, and eventually all firearms, outlawed.

I hope that Sen. Feinstein will not mope overly much, because there is work to be done, by gum, and she is the one to do it. In order to make the United States a better place, here are some of my own ideas for firearms-related laws that she might take up.

- A law requiring any candidate for national elective office to be a Life Member of the NRA before they can claim to be a shooter or a gun owner. It would not make this a safer country, but it would spare us all an immense amount of bulls***.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

After more than 3,500 votes per matchup, the Division I Elite Eight cartridges are settled: The 7mm Remington Magnum obliterated the .260 Remington; the .30- 06 predictably crushed the .243 Winchester; the .257 Weatherby Magnum edged past the .257 Roberts; and, in our first upset win of the tournament, the .25-06 Remington took down the excellent 6.5-284 Norma.

And now, on to Division II. You know the drill. Layne Simpson’s seeded selections for this group are listed and explained below. Check out the bracket (you can click here to print out a copy if you want to fill it out by hand). Then vote for your preferred long-range deer cartridge in each matchup below to begin Division II play. We'll follow up with the Elite Eight, Final Four, and finally the F&S Long-Range Deer Cartridge Championship.

Division II

[1] .300 Winchester Magnum: Three out of five doctors recommend the .300 Winchester Magnum for shooting deer at long range. And plenty of Alberta outfitters who specialize in big whitetails and mule deer agree with the prescription.

[2] .264... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

In writing my post on the M-14, I alluded to our less-than-sterling record of not always putting the best guns in the hands of our servicemen. This is not a base canard; it is a dismal fact.

Let us start with the War of Southern Miscalculation, when the Union’s issue weapon throughout the conflict was the Model 1861 Springfield Rifle Musket (above). It was a good weapon as muzzle-loaders go, but it had a sustained rate of fire of two rounds per minute (three in the hands of someone who was really good) while the cartridge-firing lever-action Spencer, which was available in the latter stages of the war, could deliver 20. Union Ordnance would have refused to issue the Spencer at all save for the direct intervention of A. Lincoln, who tried it and liked it. The Spencer rifle and carbine established an admirable record and might have shortened the conflict had they been in wider use. [ Read Full Post ]

By Phil Bourjaily

I walked into my local sporting goods store yesterday to see three consignment ARs and a whole tower* of Mosin Nagants in the used rifle rack. All of them had been there last week, too, except five or six of the most attractive Mosins that had been culled from the tower. The handgun case was fuller than it had been in months, and it contained several 1911s, a couple of Beretta 92s and quite a few other pistols I hadn’t seen in a while.

Three or four weeks ago the whole collection would have been wiped out in a day by desperate gun buyers. Meanwhile over on the ammo shelf the .223, the 9mm and several other calibers remain completely cleaned out. [ Read Full Post ]