By David E. Petzal

At the January SHOT Show, the folks from Zeiss showed me a new line of scopes called the Conquest Duralyt, which are at the high end of the company’s price scale, built on 30mm tubes, and are backed by Zeiss’ you-break-it-we-fix-it-period warranty. There are three in the line: a 1.2X-5X, 2X-8X, and a 3X-12X. The Duralyt which I ogled was a 1.2X-5X variable with Zeiss’ new illuminated reticle, which Zeiss designates as Reticle 60, Illuminated. (What else would you call it?)

It’s based on the German 4A pattern, but is considerably finer than the classic version and I said thanks, but I don’t like it; with the red dot shut off it won’t guide your eye to the center of the image as the heavier crosswires do. Zeiss sent me one nonetheless, and after brooding a while I decided to test Reticle 60. [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

As a number of you pointed out in my post on the Forbes Rifle, light rifles kick more than heavy rifles of the same caliber. But weight is only part of the equation, and recoil is a highly subjective matter.

In the case of NULAs, you get kicked less than the figures would indicate because the stock is an extremely good design that gives you plenty to hang on to, and directs the recoil into your shoulder rather than into your head.

I myself am not a good judge of recoil because I shoot all the time, have been reduced to an insensible mass of protoplasm, and don’t care anymore. I’ve shot NULAs ranging from .22/250 up through .340 Weatherby, and the only ones whose kick I really noticed were a .338 Win Mag and the aforesaid .340. They were not more than I could handle, but they weren’t fun, and I realized after a while that I could do the same amount of damage to the critters with lesser cartridges.

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--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.
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By David E. Petzal

Optics, like everything else in our world, are in a state of turmoil. On the one hand, you can now pay close to $4,000 for a riflescope or a spotting scope and $3,000 plus for a binocular, while on the other hand there are riflescopes and spotting scopes selling for $400 and $300 that are better than anything you could buy at any price 20 years ago. Yet on the third hand we now have optical devices that did not even exist 20 years ago, such as laser rangefinders, range-compensating scopes, and good red-dot sights.

And if you’re to spend your money on any of this gear, you will quickly become confused, and your confusion can take on ugly notes of fear and panic. “What is one to do?”, you will bellow, and your dog will wet the carpet in terror.

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By Phil Bourjaily

As we come up upon VE day (May 8) we should reflect that even the youngest WWII veterans are in their mid-eighties by now, a fact I’m well aware of, since my dad died in 2010.*

I was reminded of the “Greatest Generation” a couple of times last week. An Honor Flight was landing at the Quad Cities airport when I picked up my son the other night, and a few days before that I squeezed into my old tuxedo and attended a black tie event for my wife’s department.

Since I knew almost no one there and we were seated at a table with a wealthy donor and assorted VIPs, I feared a long evening. Wrong. The VIPs were all interesting and the donor – an attorney who sponsors an ethics essay award my wife administers – was a very lively 87-year-old who loves to fish and often travels to Brazil for peacock bass. He doesn’t hunt, though, having had enough of guns as an infantryman in Europe during WWII. [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

In a year that was otherwise economically putrid, the 2012 Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show was booming. Attendance last January in Las Vegas was so heavy that there were some aisles you could not walk through, and there was lots of great new stuff to drool over. Let’s get to it.

Thompson/Center Rifles

So radical is the Dimension that T/C doesn’t even call it a rifle; they’ve labeled it an Interchangeable Bolt-Action Platform. Whatever it is, it allows you to swap bolts, magazines, and barrels (including heavy barrels) in calibers from .204 Ruger to .300 Win. Mag. I’ve shot it and hunted with it, and it works. The price for the rifle is $600. Each additional barrel is $199, and a new bolt (if required) is $49. tcarms.com
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