By David E. Petzal

As you get older, your inner life undergoes a great and wonderful simplification—­everything pisses you off. The outward signs can range from mild irritation to mouth-­foaming behavior that can be mistaken for rabies. Here is the short list (taken from a much longer list) of things that are currently cheesing me off in the world of rifles.

■ The Lead Sled: I like Lead Sleds and wish they had been around when I started pounding my shoulder to rubble. They can save you from detached retinas, back damage, flinching, and possibly dandruff. My problem comes when people shoot off the Lead Sled exclusively. At some point, sweetheart, if you want to learn to shoot a rifle, you have to take your lumps.
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By Phil Bourjaily

By winning gold in skeet shooting in London last week, America’s Kim Rhode has now medaled in five consecutive Olympic games. Not only that, she won in two different events, medaling three times in double trap, then switching to the very different game of international skeet. With the shooting sports getting much more coverage in these Olympics, Kim is receiving plenty of long overdue recognition.

She deserves the attention. Kim trains very hard, shooting up to 1,000 rounds a day before big shoots. That is an incredible amount of pounding to endure and it takes a lot of mental strength to keep your focus through 1,000 rounds, then do it again the next day. And, she switched from the very demanding game of international double trap to skeet, which requires perfecting a low gun start and perfect gun mount.

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By Phil Bourjaily

Team USA’s Vincent Hancock became the first Olympic shooter ever to win back to back gold medals in International Skeet. He won his first as a teenager in 2008, and shot 148x150 to best the field again this time around.

Hancock, like almost every Team USA shooter I have met, is polite, well-mannered and a credit to the United States. I had the chance to interview him at SHOT 2011. Here at Field & Stream, we can say we knew Vince Hancock way back when . . . back when he was only a one-time record setting gold medalist in skeet. [ Read Full Post ]

By Phil Bourjaily

I was in North Carolina on vacation last week. Halfway between Southport and Supply I saw the famous “Worms and Coffee” sign. While I didn’t really need gas, I couldn’t resist stopping in for $20 worth just so I could snap a picture with my smartphone.

The “Worms and Coffee” sign has been there since 1997, and has become a local landmark and attraction. Photos of the sign have appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and the "Late Show With David Letterman." And really, early in the morning if you’re on your way to go fishing, what more do you need than worms and coffee?

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by Phil Bourjaily

I first saw the Fabarm Velocity XLR5 in the Caesar Guerini booth at SHOT Show earlier this year. Amid all the Guerini O/Us, the Euro-styled, high-ribbed Velocity, in the words of Raymond Chandler, “looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food cake.”

It also looked cool. I am not usually a fan of the concept-car styling we see on a lot of new shotguns, but I was immediately taken with the Velocity’s looks – the walnut stock probably helped. And, now that I have been shooting one for a while, I find there is a lot to like about it. It’s a dedicated target gun with a high price tag ($2,535; $2,712 for a left-handed model) and while that is still mind-boggling to me, who remembers when semiautos cost under $500 and believes they should sell for under $1,000, the price can be explained away, sort of, and I’ll get to that in a bit. [ Read Full Post ]

When Kim Rhode, then 17, stood on the podium at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta with her first gold medal hanging from her neck, she never dreamed 16 years later she would make history in London at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, but that's exactly what happened Sunday morning.

Rhode, 33, set a new Olympic record in qualifying for Women's Skeet with 74 hits out of 75. She went on to match her own world record with a perfect 25 in the final for a total of 99 out of 100, winning the gold.

She is the first U.S. athlete in history to medal in an individual sport at five consecutive Olympic Games.

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