guns

Hot New Gadgets from the 2008 SHOT Show

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0500

25 Perfect Guns

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:00:00 -0500

How do you find the perfect deer rifle,the one you can depend on absolutely when a 12-point steps into a clearing at 150 yards? How do you find the gun that was best designed for the challenges of waterfowl, turkeys, or upland game? In the last decade, such guns have reached an evolutionary peak. For every game species, gunmakers have created the ultimate tool, a firearm that responds perfectly to a hunter's needs. They've considered weight, choke, barrel length, durability, gauge, caliber, and other factors-anything and everything to help you bring home the game. These are not the most expensive guns available (although a few are pretty costly), or the most powerful, or even the newest. They are simply the tools that will get the job done. In a word, perfect. -The Editors

Click here for DEER GUNS

A lot of things go into a great whitetail rifle, but they all come down to one need: consistent accuracy.

Click here for ELK & MULE DEER GUNS

You can use a whitetail gun to hunt mule deer but for elk you should bet on an elk rifle chambered for an elk cartridge.

Click here for UPLAND GUNS

Light weight, quick maneuverability, and dual barrels are earmarks of the ultimate gun for flushing birds.

Click here for TURKEY GUNS

The best turkey gun shoots like a rifle, doesn't attract attention, and puts a lot of lead into a small space.

Click Here for WATERFOWL GUNS

Beauty is only skin deep on a good duck and goose gun. It's durability, reliability, and power that bring home birds.

10 New Shotguns from the 2008 SHOT Show

fieldandstream-editor — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:00:00 -0500

Ducks in Danger

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 04:00:00 -0500

Fish and wildlife managers from state and federal agencies have been combing the Louisiana coast since the hurricanes, much like disaster relief teams picked through the rubble of the human communities in the region. They're counting the dead, looking for survivors, and trying to measure the suitability of the habitat for resettlement.

So far the news is not good for the millions of ducks and geese already heading for the Louisiana coast, just as they have every fall for thousands of years.

Scientists say Katrina took a wicked chunk out of brackish and fresh marshes east of the Mississippi River, and Rita left a flood of highly saline water stewing on the fragile freshwater wetlands in central and southwestern Louisiana. Some of the nation's most productive wintering habitat--and most storied waterfowling grounds--may be all but useless to ducks and geese this year.

"Katrina pretty much spared the central and western portions of the coast, mainly because the highest winds were from the north, which kept a lot of the Gulf water away from those marshes," says Robert Helm, the veteran waterfowl biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

"But Rita changed all of that. It pretty much picked up the water from the open Gulf--with salinity measurements in the 30s (parts per thousand)--and just dumped it on those fresh marshes, as well as a lot of the ricefields in that country. As I understand it, we had measurements in the 20s in some of the ricefields. That's a shock to those plants and kills them."

Of course, other storms have hit this region and had similar impacts. But those floodwaters typically fall quickly--usually helped along by seasonal rains that add a layer of fresh water to help the wetlands heal. That hasn't happened this year. Right after Rita, another disturbance farther south in the Gulf created persistent east and south winds that kept water locked up in those areas.

Those floodwaters, brimming with organic material, have been cooking in 90-degree heat. Decomposition of plants quickly robbed the water of oxygen. Like giant open petri dishes, many areas are growing bacteria and other organisms that thrive in such conditions.

It's an ideal environment for outbreaks of avian diseases such as cholera, biologists say. The lack of food for migrating birds can weaken their defenses. The bacteria in the water can cause illnesses. And the overcrowding that can take place as birds concentrate into the few areas with food and good water means that disease can spread rapidly and infect tens of thousands of birds.

"Poor water quality is oftentimes an issue with waterfowl diseases, like botulism and avian cholera, things we don't normally have trouble with here because there's so much habitat," says Helm. "But this is an exceptional set of circumstances."

It's so exceptional that waterfowl managers really don't know what will happen--and that worries them.

"The Louisiana coast is the backbone of wintering habitat for the Mississippi Flyway," says Helm. "My perception has always been that it will always be there for the birds. We've had high water, we've had low water. But we've always had enough habitat for the migration.

"But this winter, that habitat will largely go missing. That's unprecedented, at least in my life. It's an unknown, and that's scary."

Ducks in Danger

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 04:00:00 -0500

So far the news is not good for the millions of ducks and geese already heading for the Louisiana coast, just as they have every fall for thousands of years.

It's so exceptional that waterfowl managers really don't know what will happen--and that worries them.

"But this winter, that habitat will largely go missing. That's unprecedented, at least in my life. It's an unknown, and that's scary."

The Seven Best Days to Hunt Deer This Season

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 10:00:00 -0400

Bears, Moose, Caribou, and More: Selected trophies from the Boone and Crockett books

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:15:00 -0400

Story Leak: Gear for the New Year

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 30 May 2006 17:00:00 -0400

Begin to Spin (Deal of the Month)
An oscillation gear keeps the line evenly spooled, while a special roller reduces tangles. Bottom line: great castability. The rear-drag Solstace makes a good first spinning reel. $50; 949-951-5003; shimano.com

Table of Contents

At the Range: David E. Petzal tests the .325 WSM Browning A-Bolt

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 05:15:00 -0400

THE INSIDE STORY: When it first came to me, this A-Bolt rifle couldn't have hit Montana if I were standing in downtown Billings. Why? The fore-end had warped and was pressing against the barrel. I sent the gun back to Browning, where the problem was quickly corrected. When I got it back, the A-Bolt turned out to be a nice firearm, albeit a somewhat temperamental one. It does not shoot the three available bullet weights anywhere near one another, and it finds a certain weight to be much more to its taste than the others.

Here's how it went on the target range: 180-grain Ballistic Silvertips averaged 1.649 inches; 200-grain AccuBond CT slugs went into 2.74 inches, and 220-grain Power-Point groups measured .598 across. This A-Bolt really likes Power-Points.

All told, it is a light, handsome rifle with a nicely figured, well-checkered claro walnut stock, a good-not great-trigger pull, and very positive feed for a gun that handles shortfats. I wish Browning would dispense with the gold-plated trigger, but that is a minor quibble.

Browning considers this an all-around gun, but I disagree. It's not really a deer gun, but I would certainly use it on bear, elk, or African game. Its real advantage is that it's a genuinely light gun that shoots a heavy bullet and won't kick you to death in the process.

CALIBER: .325 WSM

PRICE: $764; right-hand, $734

WEIGHT: 7 pounds 1 ounce without scope

BARREL: 23-inch, chrome-moly

STOCK: Checkered walnut

TRIGGER PULL: 3 pounds 12 ounces

SCOPE USED IN TEST: Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5XÂ¿Â¿Â¿10X

ACTION: Left-handed A-Bolt

MAGAZINE CAPACITY: Three

How To: Make your own Ballistic Buffalo

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 05:15:00 -0400

Back in the 1970s, when great bullets did not abound and bad ones did, I corresponded with a very knowledgeable gun writer named Bob Hagel, who told me that I should do my own testing to see which slugs would penetrate and hold together before I took them hunting.

The following target is based on what Hagel used and is made to tear apart weak bullets. In the Ballistic Buffalo, only the strong survive.

Making the Beast: In front I stick two thicknesses of worn-out truck inner tube (1), which you can get for free at any tire shop. Behind it goes a bundle of water-soaked newspapers (2), and behind that, an 11x14-inch piece of 1/2-inch plywood (3). Behind the plywood I place bound bundles of water-soaked newspaper (4) that total 2 feet thick, and behind that, if I'm testing an extremely tough bullet (usually it's not needed), more plywood. In the rear, I use a post (5) or tree stump to lean it all against.

In the Buff: With an orange aiming dot marked on the upper-left-hand quadrant of the tire, I fire a shot from 50 yards. Then, I go up to the buffalo and carefully start pulling the paper bundles apart to see how far the bullet has penetrated, taking note of the size and shape of the wound cavity and the depth of penetration. When I find the slug, I remove it with a pair of pliers because it is as hot as hell.

Weight Up: The slug goes into a handloader's scale. I divide the resulting measurement by the original weight of the bullet to find the percentage of weight it retained. Try this yourself, and you will know how far your bullet penetrated, how big a hole it made, and how well it survived the trip.