By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

For those of you who worry about the health and well-being of their smokeless powder, here’s a story.

Around 1980, I had a co-worker who was sunken-ship crazy, and since I was a Titanic and Edmund Fitzgerald nut, we found a lot to talk about. One day he came into my office with the grubbiest-looking .30/06 round I’d ever seen.

He explained that he’d bought the cartridge at an auction, and that it had been salvaged from the hulk of the U.S.S. San Diego, which had been sunk by a German submarine on July 19, 1918, off the coast of Fire Island, New York. (Or it may have hit a mine. No one knows for sure.)

“Do you think the powder’s any good?” my friend asked.

“Let’s find out,” said I, and punched a hole in the brass case with my thumbnail. Not that I have strong thumbnails, but the brass was corroded that badly. I poured some in a glass ashtray (yes, offices had ashtrays then) and, violating 25 building-safety codes, tossed a match (yes, people had matches in their desks then) into the powder.

Whoomp, it went, and burned with a brief, merry flame, just the way gunpowder is supposed to. And... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

To put this in perspective, you must be aware that if you are left-handed, and spend all your spare time looking at fine guns, you will go about 15 years before you see a fine shotgun that’s stocked for a southpaw. And then another 15 before you see the next one. No kidding.

And so in 1990 or so, when I walked into my gunsmith’s shop and he had a smile of purest evil on his face, I knew it was trouble, and I was right. In lieu of cash, a customer who owed him a lot of money had given him a Perazzi Special Sporting o/u shotgun. It had a color-case-hardened receiver, special wood, a spare trigger group, ten screw-in chokes, and it had been stocked to fit him at the Grand American Trap Shoot at Vandalia, Ohio, right at the Perazzi booth.

And it was stocked for a southpaw. I mounted it, and there was no doubt that this gun was made for me. The guy they built it for had been at Vandalia, but it was meant for me.  It... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

Fellow gun nuts: We hear from each other, from gun writers, and from manufacturers, but gun dealers give us a perspective that we don’t get elsewhere. Scott Moss, who is the third generation of that family (all of whom have taken lots of money from me) to sell firearms, has agreed to come on the blog from time to time and tell us what’s on his mind, good or bad, about the guns he handles. If you’re interested in buying from him or selling to him on consignment, you can call Forest & Field, Norwalk, CT 203-847-4008.—Dave Petzal

The Ruger Gold Label Shotgun
MSRP: $2,050.00
Contact: www.Ruger.com

You know what I really dislike? Gun manufacturers who hype guns that don't exist. As soon as a magazine publishes an article about a new gun that isn't in production, the phone calls start and I have to tell my customers the item isn’t available and probably won’t be for 6-12 months. 

A case in point is Ruger, which announced the P85 9mm handgun three years before I had one in my case. ... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

In April 1996, Layne Simpson, Gary Sitton, Finn Agaard and I met at gunmaker Kenny Jarrett’s South Carolina establishment to do a massive and earth-shaking piece on deer rifles. In the spare time I had, I went rooting (not unlike a hog after truffles) through Kenny’s inventory room where he keeps finished guns and found a left-hand .30/06 based on a Remington Model 700 action.

It was a demonstrator gun that Kenny kept around to show his southpaw customers, but it was not quite glamorous enough for that purpose, being all black (no camo or Confederate flags) and in the distinctly unglamorous .30/06. And it was heavy--8 1/2 pounds without scope.

But I loved it at first sight, and when Kenny quoted me a price that was less than the Bolivian GNP, I said I’d buy it if he sawed off the muzzle brake, so he did, and I did. Smartest money I ever spent. When they come to pry my gun from my cold dead fingers, this is the rifle they will pry.

It is not only very accurate (groups... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

Dear Dave, I have read your recent articles regarding the .325 WSM and the Browning A-Bolt. I am planning an elk and mule deer hunt out West in the next year or two and had been thinking about the Ruger No. 1 in 300 Win. Mag. I am not sure if Ruger offers the No. 1 in .325 WSM yet. After reading your articles, I had thought about the No. 1 in .325 WSM. What are your thoughts about the Ruger and the .325 for elk and mule deer? Thanks for your advice.--Jim Stewart

Jim, My experience with the Ruger No. 1 is that it's a very fussy and erratic rifle. I've seen some that shoot extremely well, but usually they've been to the gunsmith before they would do it. As for the .325, it's way too much for mule deer, but just about right for elk. Its only drawback as an elk round is that once in a while you get a long shot at an elk, and unless your .325 will shoot 200-grain bullets accurately, it can be a problem at long distances.

If it were me, and I was going to hunt both species, I'd get a .270--perfect for... [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

I do a lot of traveling, and everywhere I go, people ask me the same questions:

How can you stand to work in New York City?
How did the media get to be anti-gun in the first place?

The answer to the first question is that you get numb after a while. As to the second question, there are three answers. The first is that people tend to hire like-minded people, regardless of profession.

To be a Detroit auto executive, for example, your mind must be frozen in the year 1955, regardless of whether you were around then or not. U.S. Marines, although highly individualistic, tend to think very much alike. Same with newspaper reporters, TV news bunnies, etc. No one wants a real iconoclast making everyone uncomfortable, and if everyone in the newsroom is anti-gun, NRA members are not going to be welcome.

Second, just about all journalists are products of what we call higher education, and if there is one place where independent thinking is dead, that is on college campuses. If it’s politically incorrect, you’d better not say it, write it, or even think it, or you’ll find yourself with straight Fs, no friends, and probably mandatory visits to the school... [ Read Full Post ]