Guns Magazine

GUNS Magazine 2010 CD-ROM Digital Edition

guns — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:02:35 +0000

If you’re experienced the “cool” factor of GUNS Magazine and want to see what you missed last year, you’re in luck. Get all twelve 2010 issues in digital format on one easy-to-use CD-ROM.

Catch up on a year’s worth of Clint Smith, John Connor, Massad Ayoob, John Taffin, Dave Anderson, ” Duke” Venturino and others.

This Digital Edition of GUNS Magazine includes all twelve issues from 2010 plus a Article index. The files are saved as a searchable collection of Adobe Acrobat PDF (portable document format) files.
Only $14.95/20.95 Outside U.S.

**Order Your Copy Of The GUNS Magazine 2010 CD-Rom Here**

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Talbot

guns — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:03:35 +0000

Up Down?

guns — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:02:45 +0000

Dangle Angle? Arguing With Reality?

In our January 2012 issue, there was a massive work of computations and charts and the accompanying widgets to in theory compile the data required to send a bullet down range at angles. Or, in layman’s terms, it was a buncha’ figures so you can shoot up and down and hit stuff.

I truly believe some people do the techie gig in the interest of seeing how hard they can make shooting or—better put—how to generate something so complicated it covers the fact once in awhile you simply miss the target. And if you never miss, it is because you never shoot.

Point number one, if you’re doing all the charts and cosine stuff you’re on the right track to make shooting complicated and you might just drive yourself a little nuts.

Second point, if this is about add-on parts for the rifle to improve personal field or life-saving skills A.K.A. as in combat, the time to apply these skills—if you actually learned them—is simply often not there. I have seen many people who had high-zoot equipment without the knowledge and personal skills to match. I would like to have $5 for each time I have seen a scope marked with an arrow to raise the bullet impact (when it was required) but the shooter turned the adjustment knob the wrong direction adding to the problem instead of solving it.

The great thing is none of the stuff in or on the charts, dials and widgets are any better than a simplified hold up or down if you haven’t practiced it in the field. All most of us need to decide is which system of skills we will have time to apply and will practice (like the old adage “this one is for shootin’ and this one is for fun”).

Most of the gadget and widget stuff’s practicality is arguable out to 700 yards—and even to that distance practice is required. Beyond 700 yards the light saber stuff may start to earn a seat at the table, but again not without lots of practice up down short or far.

Yeah and I know “the world’s record shot was…” Blah, blah, and it was good shooting, but it wasn’t a first-round hit.
Story By: Clint Smith Photos By: Heidi Smith

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Consolidation

guns — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:42:11 +0000

What Would Retirement Be Like?

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about retirement. Not the sort of retirement where you just sit on the porch in a rocking chair and watch the world go. I’m thinking of the slowing down type where you’re supposed to smell the coffee or roses or whatever but still be active. I guess that would properly be called “semi-retirement.” I could get used to fewer deadlines allowing more time to drive to all sorts of shooting events around the West. Heck, I might even get wild and cross the Mississippi River again to shoot some matches “back East” or “down South.”

With that frame of mind I did a survey in the gun vault and surprised even myself. That is, I own firearms chambered for 48 different centerfire cartridges. Twenty-five are rifle calibers and 23 are handgun types. And that doesn’t include muzzleloaders or .22 rimfires! In bore size they range from .22- to a .577-caliber rifle musket. In long guns those firearms run the gamut from single shots, bolt actions, lever guns, and semi-autos to full-autos. In handguns they range from cap-and-ball sixguns to modern semi-autos. There’re even a couple of shotguns in the mix.

That also means that I am more or less actively involved in handloading for all 48 centerfire cartridges. My stock of smokeless powders is so large that I keep it in a shed about 50 yards from the house. The more volatile black powders are kept in another shed over 200 yards from the house. Boxes of jacketed rifle bullets from .22 to .45 caliber and jacketed pistol bullets from .30 to .45 caliber are stuffed in and under every shelf and bench in my office and gun vault. There are over 125 bullet moulds in my casting area along with four lead furnaces and literally tons of lead alloys. Of course reloading dies and cast bullet sizing/lubing dies are needed for all.
Story By: Mike “Duke” Venturino
Photos By: Yvonne Venturino

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Better Than Ever

guns — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:11:19 +0000

The Colt .380 Mustang Pocket Lite.

The original Mustang was the smallest of a family of Colt .380 pistols produced between 1983 and the late 1990s. The first entry, the .380 Government model, was about the same size as the old 1903 Pocket Hammerless pistols but had fire controls and some design features common to the 1911. The Mustang was a smaller version with the same lockwork and shorter barrel and grip frame while the Mustang Plus II was an intermediate-sized hybrid of the two.

The Government model and particularly the Mustang developed a faithful following that persists to the present and manifests itself in premium prices on the online auction sites and elsewhere. Discussions of the numerous pocket-sized .380s recently introduced frequently contained significant sub-dialog about the Mustang and the hope it might be revived.

I found a pair of the brand new Mustangs at my local dealer, the retail outlet of L.M. Burney Distributors. The price was about the same in real dollar value as the first generation pistols and I paid 50¢ over suggested retail. The slide and frame were closely fitted as promised by Colt and the barrel locked up tight with no slop fore or aft. The Mustang looks like the archetype of the ideal semi-auto implanted in the consciousness of people who learned their handguns in the early and mid 20th century.

Initial inspection and positive experiences with recent Colt products along with the company’s promises of joy had me out the door in short order with one of the Mustangs. Takedown for initial lubrication revealed internal finish to be comparable to the excellent external metal treatment. The slide cycles smoothly and feels like something out of custom pistolsmith’s shop—clear evidence mechanization gives way to skilled hand fitting in the final stages.
Story By: Mike Cumpston

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Exclusive Web Extra: Thunder Ranch Hart Class

guns — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:12:21 +0000

High Angle Rifle
Training At 5,000!

It was 22 degrees and, with the wind chill, more like 10. The snow was blowing hard, with gusts to 30 mph and it was day two of the 4-day HART class. Suzi had never done anything like this before, so it was all new — and the extreme weather made things, well … more interesting.

Suzi’s rifle was covered with ice and snow, and she had just made a first-shot hit at 700 yards on a 12×24″ steel plate with her Remington 700 LTR .308. She was near frozen, fingers numb, half snow-blinded due to the icy/sleety wind-driven mess, but she looked up at me with a big grin, what little of her face I could see past her snow gear was red from wind-burn and cold, but her eyes were bright.

Girls Can Shoot

Suzi was using a bone-stock Remington (20″ fluted barrel, 1:12″ twist), with the only mods being a conversion to removable box magazine (Accuracy Intl. models) and a larger bolt knob, by George Gardner of G.A. Precision near us here in Missouri. Her scope was a Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20X50mm with their “Tactical Milling” reticle, allowing easy doping and her ammo was Federal Premium 168-gr. Gold Medal Match. See any trends there? All the stuff was first-class, and there are reasons for it to be.

The weather was really putting the eight students — under the tutelage of Clint Smith — through the grinder. At each break extra sweaters and dry gloves were going on, even though most had on snowsuits. There was also much foot stamping and clustering around a couple of propane heaters in the range shack.

But then it was back onto the line, with more testing, training and pushing their guns, ammo and themselves in this extremely trying class. As Suzi said, “This ain’t for wimps!” I was along to take pictures, play spotter, and try to get in a good visit with Clint and Heidi. Suzi was there to work, and she and her classmates did just that over those four trying days.

Here’s what many of the students were dealing with most of the time —
snow-clouded targets and fuzzy scopes. This is a 400-yard target through a spotting scope.

The 400-yard target through a spotting scope in a moment of sunshine!
Note the “Mil-Dots” on the field of view to help spotters guide shooters.

A 1″ square painted onto cardboard was the sighting-in point at 100 yards
and was used to determine elevation adjustments from that distance out.

The Course

Clint and Heidi designed this High Angle course for a group of Seals who came to class in August of 2005. The class worked, so they simply added it to their line up.

As it says on the Thunder Ranch website:

“The High Angle Rifle Training class is a progression of the Thunder Ranch mid-range rifle course, which is derived from the original TR High Angle Rifle School. Ranges will be from 100 to 1,200+/- yards, with both flat range and mountainous higher-elevated platforms. Participants need to be graduates of Thunder Ranch Mid-Range or Precision Rifle courses. You must be capable of personal mobility to climb up and down very broken ground while transporting all personal equipment on your person with free hands for climbing. Good success has been achieved in the past with clients using .308 caliber rifles; and any high-velocity rifles (+/- 3,000 fps) will be required to shoot paper on the flat steel range out to three hundred for safety. All other targets and all high angle targets have no velocity issues and client’s rifles will be used on all additional targeting. This class is for .30 caliber or like/similar calibers. This is not a .50 BMG format.

Ammunition Requirements: 500 rounds regular ammo: No steel core or tracer ammo please.  We strongly suggest good quality ammunition like Federal Match, etc. PLEASE chamber-check all ammo before coming to class, and make sure it works in all rifle magazines, internal or external.

Equipment:  A solid rifle is required with strong bases and scope rings. A good uncomplicated scope with external adjustment knobs will provide the best results during the class. Mil-dot or minute-of-angle adjustable scopes are best with power ranging from 3-4X to 12-16X or higher power as the shooter might require. Additional equipment could be a spotting scope or binoculars, a laser range finder, sling, bipod and a pack that will carry your rifle. Clothing suitable to weather above the 5,000-foot elevation and the time of the year is needed.

The smallest/lightest equipment that serves its intended function will be best. A note of caution: If you bring it, equipment wise, you’ll be carrying it — up and down the course of fire.”

Basically, this class teaches you how to run your rifle of choice in varying situations, involving long-range shooting, including shooting from high angles into a deep canyon and across canyons. It teaches you how to run and take care of your equipment, manipulate and understand the tactical scope, understanding windage, minute-of-angle, Mil-Dots, how to work with a spotter and understand external and terminal ballistics. All this really helps you to sort out your equipment — good and bad.

What you bring is put to hard use in the real world and everyone in Suzi’s class soon found out what was working and what wasn’t. “Kit” was changed almost constantly as people tried different solutions to problems regarding carrying equipment, spare ammo, clothing, optics, headgear, boots and about everything else. We even had a $3,500 scope fail when the insides froze solid, locking adjustments up.

Most shooters used Federal Match ammo.

Suzi’s dope card and notebook from the class. Note the purple pages.
Who says you can’t have fun when you keep your notes?

Gun Stuff

Everyone used bolt guns in Suzi’s class, with one student beginning with an AR-type rifle in .308 but changing to a bolt-action early on the first day. Everyone was using the .308 but one student, who was using the .260. He was forced to shoot on paper out to about 400 yards, due to the high velocity causing dangerous splatter on steel if shot any closer. During the week, I honestly didn’t see any advantage of the .260. As a matter of fact, his ejector blew out on his rifle due to the high pressure. Lessons learned?

The .308 bolt guns all ran fine. There was one Accuracy International, one Savage and as I recall, the rest were Remington 700 models with a custom rifle or two mixed in, based on the Remington. Ammo ran the gamut from factory Federal to handloads of various weights, with the 168- and 175-grain loads being the norm. Students shot about 800 rounds during the four days. A good sling was required and, perhaps more importantly, a good rifle pack of some kind to tote everything.

The heavy snow and generally bad weather most of the time made it hard on the gear, and the shooters learned to live out of their packs. Adding and removing clothing as the weather changed, carrying food, water, spare equipment like binocs or laser range finders, cameras and dry socks! There were times on the high ridge when I felt like I was on a long-range patrol of some kind. Maybe that’s the idea?

Clint went step by step, using the rare moments of sunlight to his advantage.
Here he explains about “holding” techniques on the target and terminology
the spotter will be using.

Students used props on the flat range to learn different shooting positions.
Then put what they learned to good use in the field. Here Suzi practices on
the range, then applies essentially the same position shooting in the field.

The flat range where students spend day one and two getting things sorted out,
rifles zeroed and equipment up to speed. If it looks cold, windy and ugly to you
it’s because it was. Can you say 20 degrees?

What’d We Learn?

A couple of years prior to this class, we had gone to Namibia on a 10-day plains-game safari. Suzi was the hunter and I was along to supply a pretty face and take pictures. Her rifle was a custom Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 and she used Barnes 180-gr. Triple Shocks as loaded by Federal. The rifle is stunningly accurate, and can deliver .35″ at 100 yards if you behave.

Prior to the hunt, I spent some time with Suzi working the rifle and shooting out to 100. We didn’t have access to anything further. Once in Nambia though, we realized the ranges were going to be long, with the average shot at about 250 to 350 yards. I had made up a dope card for that rifle and load and using it, and a Leica Rangemaster 1200, Suzi was able to hit out to 640 yards! She had no prior experience shooting at those distances, but listened to the holdover and paid attention to trigger control.

Yet, she realized she needed specific training for that kind of shooting, as she still struggled with trigger control at times and needed a more solid understanding of windage, ranging, trigger control and manipulation. When Clint offered the HART class, we jumped at it.

The class showed us the importance of good equipment, especially solid optics. The ability to “zero” the scope at 100 with your load of choice, then to use the turrets to adjust the point of impact depending upon the range so you can hold directly on the target is critical. That avoids what Suzi had been doing in Africa — literally holding the crosshairs “over” the animal, sometimes several feet. That’s a lot of guessing and isn’t the best way at all.

Additionally, a reliable, high-quality rifle is the backbone of the course, and critical to the concept of long-range/high-angle shooting. “Good enough” doesn’t cut it when it’s 10 degrees, the wind is blowing, you can hardly see the target and you’re frozen. We actually had rifles lock-up due to the fact the bolts were frozen in place after one break the class took to get warm. One student had to hold his rifle in front of a propane heater to melt the ice to free the bolt.

Suzi’s modified sitting position put her in a comfy position to engage 400-to
800-yard targets. That short barrel on her Remington 700 LTR didn’t seem
to faze anything and it kept right up to speed with the fancier rifles in the class.

The line-up on day one. Heidi Smith (first in line) and Suzi partnered-up, both shooting .308s.

The Concept

Day one you spend a couple of hours in the classroom while Clint goes over the basics of what’s going to be covered, how the equipment is supposed to function and some tips and techniques he will be teaching on the ranges. Then the class adjourns to the static rifle range that goes out to 700 yards. Once settled onto the berm, sighting-in targets are set up at 100 and everyone zeros. There are steel targets out to 700 yards, and all are 12×24″.

One hundred yards is the critical range. Once the scope and rifle are zeroed for 100, using dope that is already known for various loads, a shooter can then simply adjust the top turret of the scope as distances change, moving the crosshairs to keep a center aiming point for the shooter. It’s done in minutes so while there is zero minutes at 100 yards, there may be 4.8 minutes of up — or a certain number of clicks of the top turret — for 300 yards. This all depends upon your load and your scope. But once zero’d for 100, shooters then tested how their particular rifles, with their loads on this day shot out to various ranges. They used the dope card supplied to them by Clint as a basic reference point (“X” number of clicks to zero at “X” range), but then honed the actual number of clicks and made the entry in their shooter’s log book. They could then rely on this real time info from their book for shooting at distances as the days passed.

It works like this. A spotter told each shooter what to dial in for each range and, if there was wind, how much to hold off to the side to accommodate for wind moving the bullet’s impact at the range they were shooting.
The scopes have “lines” or Mil-dots on either side of the center of the cross hairs. If the shooter aligns the crosshairs on the target then holds-off to the right or left the number of dots or lines the spotter calls, they shoot to see where the hit is. The spotter can then make an adjustment like “Okay, now hold left, two mils” and can walk the shooter onto the target. You don’t use the turret knob to change windage, only the top knob for elevation.

A good spotter can put a shooter right onto a target on the first shot if he can read the wind and distance well. By day three and four, with Thunder Ranch’s Randy DeHay or Clint Smith spotting, most shooters were often on target on the first shot out to close to 1,000 yards. I saw it with my own eyes.

Shooters continued this practice out to the 700-yard steel on the flat range through day one and day two. I watched them get better and better at reading the wind, operating their equipment and learning to fight the weather. By day two, there was essentially a gale blowing, with seriously freezing temps, gusty wind, snow and ice. Yet, Clint kept the class shooting. And frankly, at the end of day two, once everyone had thawed out, there were big smiles all around as everyone realized what they had accomplished.

Down in that canyon, about 800 yards away are a few steel plates shooters
had to find and engage — and they did. Understanding angles and distances
was all part of the deal.

Ha! During one break to get warm, when the class returned they had found the
snow had virtually buried their gear at their shooting positions on the flat range.
Here a Savage shows why stainless steel might be a good idea.

On day two on the flat range, Clint led the class out onto the range to engage
steel from unknown ranges and from field positions. The snow just made
things more interesting.

The Terrain

Once the “doping” and equipment got more or less sorted out, the move to the “high angle” portion of the class began. The class kitted-up with their gear then hiked to the top of the ridge. Elevations of around 5,000′ and more meant some slow climbing over rocks and small cliffs, with everyone humping their packs, rifles, ammo and supplies.

Once on top, Clint had a series of pre-selected spots to shoot from, onto targets ranging from 400 yards out to 1,200, with many deep into canyons or across the wind-swept gorge to the opposite hill. Each position had lessons to teach, and each shooter had to adapt their shooting positions and equipment to meet the demands of the particular position and the targets they needed to engage.

From prone to sitting, to modified standing/leaning positions, each shooter quickly learned to take advantage of every opportunity to find the best rest possible in the situation at hand. At each position, either Clint or Randy acted as spotter, helping shooters to locate the target, apply the correct “dope” for their rifles, then help them to make the best hits possible.

Keep in mind, the same steel target size was used, regardless of range. The 12×24″ plate is about the size of an average man’s torso, so those who were hitting with a first shot out to 800 and 1,000 yards would have been on target if the problem had been an enemy soldier or piece of equipment that needed to be destroyed. It was enlightening and gave us all insight into what our snipers are doing overseas.

One nice thing about deep snow is it makes a handy rifle holder.
Here an Accuracy Intl. rifle used by one student stays dry … at least for now.

On Top

The weather continued to play a vital role in the learning experience as it kept changing almost minute by minute. Now and again the sun would shine blazingly, allowing easy target acquisition and the shooter and spotter could sometimes easily see the hits. Then five minutes later, the wind would kick up, snow would begin to fall and suddenly visibility was severely restricted. At times on the flat range, shooters were limited to 400 yards since targets further out were simply invisible. Check out some of the pictures to appreciate that!

Still, time and time again, with good spotting and careful rifle and trigger work, I watched shooters be on target on their first shot at hundreds of yards. Often this was in conditions where I needed to brace on a rock to steady my binoculars; I could barely make out a target through the snow and wind. I’d hear the spotter quietly say, “Give me 12 clicks up and four mils left” and I’d watch the shooter make the adjustments, carefully settle in and press. After the shot, if you listened carefully, you could hear the soft “clang” of the steel from hundreds of yards away. It was the damndest thing I’d ever watched.

During a short break in the weather, Suzi proves even “girls” like to
shoot rifles. And some of ‘em are pretty darn good at it. She and Heidi
would not be two ladies anyone would want to tangle with!

But Why?

For anyone who appreciates the joys of an accurate rifle, likes to challenge themselves, and who finds the sublime satisfaction of “pointing their finger and smiting at a great distance” — this sort of long-range shooting is without peer. Clint’s modest teaching methods invite a student to excel, and he maintains a certain level of excellence his students strive to meet. Simply put, he expects them to do as well as they can and they invariably try. It’s almost unique to his method and has a great deal to do with the person he is, rather than the mechanics of what he teaches.

I think all of the shooters were surprised by their learned ability by the end of the class. All had some degree of experience beforehand, and this is not a class for first-time rifle shooters. As a matter of fact, take note you have to complete the Mid-Range or Precision Rifle courses to take the HART course. You need to be familiar with your rifle, your equipment and the basic tenants of long-range shooting. Above all, you have to have the confidence to challenge yourself, and be willing to make the investment in a top-quality rifle, scope and related gear. This is not the time for cheap, Wal-Mart “package” deer rifle/scope combos and gun-show reloads. But keep in mind, once you make the investments, they are things you’ll probably keep the rest of your life to enjoy.

We’ve only given a broad overview of what a class like this entails and you need to do more research on your own. Read books about accurate rifles, find reputable online forums where people who actually do long-range shooting meet to compare notes (and be wary of the “posers”!), find people at a local range who understand what we’re talking about and most importantly, feel free to call Thunder Ranch to ask Clint or Heidi questions. They’re always ready to answer.

If success could be counted in enthusiasm, everyone in Suzi’s class was floating on air afterward — in spite of having to hump their packs and rifles over the past four, cold, stormy days. I could see that glint in Suzi’s eyes as we stowed her gear that final day. There was a new level of self-confidence, and I pitied any miscreant wildebeasts on our next African trip who think just because they’re 500 yards away they are safe! “I don’t think so …” smiled Suzi. *

Special Note: One of the original Seals in that first class, Adam Brown, was killed in the line of duty. There is a fund you can find out about on the Thunder Ranch website to donate money to Adam’s wife and two small kids, if you’d like to help out. I know Clint and Heidi would appreciate it.
Story By: Roy Huntington

For more info:

Remington LE
www.remingtonle.com

G.A. Precision
www.gaprecision.net
(816) 221-1844

Thunder Ranch
www.thunderranchinc.com
(541) 947-4104

Eberlestock – Rifle Pack
www.eberlestock.com
(877) 866-3047

Back To Basics

guns — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:11:19 +0000

From Start To Finish

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages, at first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurses arms. And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel and shining morning face, creeping like snail unwillingly to school. And then the lover, sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier, full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice, in fair round belly with good capon lined, with eyes severe and beard of formal cut, full of wise saws and modern instances; and so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts into the lean and slipper’d pantaloons, with spectacles on nose and pouch on side, his youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide for his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice, turning again toward childish treble, pipes and whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

So spoke William Shakespeare in As You Like It, written in the 16th century. I don’t know if any students still read Shakespeare, however I was in stage two, the “whining schoolboy” when I encountered Shakespeare in the 8th and 9th grade. As I recall I didn’t understand much of it but this passage hit me from the very beginning, and even though it was way back in 1952, I still recall, it vividly, and thought at the time Shakespeare is a pretty wise old fellow. Seven ages most of us follow: baby, youth, young lover, invincibility, wisdom, old age, and then right back to the helplessness stage we endured as a young baby. It wasn’t hard for me to look around at my extended family and see someone in every act, and I don’t like to even contemplate the act I am now in.

Shooters also spend their time on a stage as it were following through many acts. In fact, in many cases, certainly mine I have gone through acts/stages/ages of sixgunning with some overlapping. Usually, the best place to begin a journey is at the beginning, and the beginning of shooting, the place to learn all the basics, is a .22. It was 1956 and Act I was about to begin.

My first choice was a Marlin 39A, the Mountie which was then followed very quickly by a Ruger Single-Six which is now known to collectors as the Flat-Gate.

I’ve received a lot of pleasure from a lot of guns over the years but nothing has ever superseded these two .22s. I wouldn’t even try to count the number of rounds down the barrels of these two. Not only did I learn to shoot with it, so did Diamond Dot, the three kids, the grandkids, two of their spouses, and even girlfriends and boyfriends along the way. The .22 is simply the best place to start and we can learn everything about shooting without having to consider recoil. With a .22 shooting is as much fun as it should be and the cost is minimal. My infancy, unlike Shakespeare’s baby was not spent in a nurse’s arms, but rather lovingly clutching a .22 Levergun and sixgun.

Act II found me discovering big-bore sixguns. First came a 1900-ish 4-3/4″ Colt Single Action .38-40 which was soon followed by a very early Second Generation Colt .45 with a 7-1/2″ barrel. I could not afford to shoot either one of them very much, so the next scene in this act found me with a Ruger .357 Blackhawk and a S&W .357 Highway Patrolman. It was very difficult to find .357 brass in those days, however .38 Special cases where not only easy to find they were quite inexpensive.

The purchase of a Lyman mold which dropped Elmer Keith’s 358429 classic bullet design at 173 grains put me in business. I was not real smart in those days and loaded all of my .38s to the hilt with the Keith load. This resulted in .38s which were hotter than much .357 Magnum factory ammunition offered today. My progress would probably have been faster if at least some of those were standard .38 Special loads.

Act III found me with .44 Specials and .45 Colts. By now I was reloading enough I could afford to shoot my .45, however I made the same mistake with the .44 Specials I’d made with those first .38 Special loads; everything was loaded “Keith-style” with a 260-grain bullet at 1,150 to 1,200 fps which hampered my learning even more than the hot .38 Specials. Even the .45s received heavy treatment with 260s over 10.0 grains of Unique or 18.5 grains of 2400. I had a great time with those heavy loads in the .44 and .45, however I missed an awful lot of fun shooting and slowed down my learning time.

Going all the way back to 1949, the original Ruger .22 is
still a good starter or finisher.

Magnum Era

Act IV found me in my Magnum Era. By now, I had not only discovered the excellent Lyman/Thompson 358156GC bullet it also it had become increasingly easier to locate .357 Magnum brass. That gas-checked bullet minimized leading allowing hard cast bullets to be driven over 1,500 fps. The nice thing about the .357 Magnum is its relative lack of recoil in full-size sixguns. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the .44 Magnum.

My first .44 Magnum was an original 6-1/2″ Ruger Blackhawk followed in the early 1960s with a Smith & Wesson Model 29 of the same barrel length. I still have both sixguns, however they languished unused for many a year since I wasn’t smart enough to back off from full house loads. Some folks just take longer to learn than others and I missed the main positive attribute of reloading which is to custom tailor loads. There is nothing written anywhere in stone or otherwise which says we have to load everything to the max.

Act V basically covers my Really Big Bore years stretching from about mid 1980s until the turn of the century. First came the .454 Casull, followed by the .500 Linebaugh in short order. Over the years I added the .475 Linebaugh, .500 Wyoming Express, some really tough time with the .475 and .500 Linebaugh Long/Maximums and then came the arrival of the .500 and .460 Smith & Wesson Magnums. With the arrival of these really Big Bores, I learned very quickly to tailor my loads. None of these cartridges can be considered fun to shoot in their full-house loadings, however the arrival of Hodgdon’s Trail Boss powder made pleasant shooting loads a real possibility and actually makes these guns pleasurable.

By the time I arrived at Act VI, I realized Magnums do not have to always be maximized. A .44 Magnum with a 260- or 300-grain cast bullet over 10.0 grains of Unique or Universal will do right at 1,150 fps; this is a powerful but relatively pleasant shooting load plus the extra added bonus is you can get twice as many rounds from a can of powder. Act VII, where I spend most of my time these years is back to the .44 Special and .45 Colt. However, by now I’ve learned. The .44 Special is mostly loaded with a 260-grain bullet over 7.5 grains of Unique or Universal, or 8.0 grains of Power Pistol. With the .45 Colt it is a 260- or 270-grain bullet mostly over 8.0 grains of either Unique or Universal. All of these loads are in the 900 to 1,000 fps range and adequately powerful while remaining relatively low in felt recoil.

It’s been a long stage play, however I have learned much along the way. Shakespeare puts his actor back at the beginning. While I am not in as bad a shape as his main character (yet), I do find myself spending much more time with the basics—the basic .22 that is. Actually my shooting life these days is pretty much a mixture of several of the Sixgunning Acts. Early this month I spent four days shooting 1,000 rounds of .45 Auto Rim, and later this week I will start the same process with some .44 Specials.

However, the basic .22 is once again King. I spent much of last winter looking for older 3-Screw Ruger Single-Sixes and Super Single-Sixes. I not only wanted to make sure I have enough on hand for everyone in the family to have their own, I simply wanted to enjoy the pure pleasure of shooting them myself. Ten days were spent doing nothing but shooting .22s and although it is a very trite phrase, it really doesn’t get any better than this. I have come home.

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You Rebel, You Misfit, You Radical!

guns — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:00:39 +0000

Go Ahead — Read A Book!

Borders is gone, and Barnes & Noble is teetering. Publishers perish weekly. Even more troubling, the percentage of people in society who read books at all is falling dramatically. Readers today are throwbacks, relics of a lost age. I guess you know where I stand on that. Relics UNITE! Here’s some fuel for your fire, my fellow pariahs!

Gates Of Fire

By Steven Pressfield

During the 1st Marine Division’s march up to Baghdad in 2003, it seemed every platoon had a dog-eared, beaten up, jealously-guarded copy of this book. While it’s perfectly natural that modern Marines would find inspiration in a novel about the epic battle of Thermopylae, at which 300 selected Spartans and their allies stood against a million-man Persian army, the effect went far beyond being a simple “moto-booster.”

Lance corporals discussed the Lacedaemonian martial culture with lieutenant colonels; grunt sergeants hashed over Spartan tactics and physical training; staff officers studied the logistics of the 300 chosen to stand and die between the Gates of Fire.

And there were the questions which so puzzled the Persian emperor Xerxes: What was the source of the Spartans’ iron discipline? Why, faced with certain death and offered their lives if they would only lay down their arms, would they respond “Molon labe!” – Come and take them! In this book you’ll find the answer.

Bolstered by exhaustive research, Pressfield tells the story of the Spartans and their definitive stand through the fictional character of Xeones, a helot “support troop” who is, miraculously, the lone Greek survivor of the battle. Though the battle scenes are detailed and horrific, they’re only part of this brilliantly written book. The accuracy of Pressfield’s research is such that Gates of Fire is a teaching resource at Annapolis, West Point, Quantico and the Virginia Military Institute.

The Story Of The Malakand Field Force

By Winston Churchill

Reading the first 50 pages of this book you will gain a better understanding of life, warfare and society in the Afghan-Pakistani frontier area than you might from studying any 10 textbooks on those subjects printed in the past decade. That may seem like a rash statement, but I’ll stand by it, and you can be the judges. Though it was written over a century ago, you’ll find the core dynamics—now called “socio-political factors”—are virtually unchanged in that region. And if you’ve never read the earliest works of Britain’s 2-time Prime Minister, you’re in for a rare treat.

Just remember as you read Malakand, that it was penned by Churchill as a 23-year-old cavalry subaltern of the 4th Hussars, and not after decades of analysis and reflection. He wrote it literally while fighting in a mountain campaign against raiding rebellious Pathan tribes in the form of letters to the London Daily Telegraph, quickly editing them into book form at the cavalry barracks in Bangalore before dashing off to fight as a lancer leftenant in the Sudan.

Beyond his accounts of battles and skirmishes, I think you’ll delight in Churchill’s sharp, analytical observations of the flora and fauna, folkways, geology and topography, reflecting his classical education and extraordinary literary skills. Who? That portly old cigar smokin’ dude in the funny round hat? Yeah, that Winston Churchill; the lion of the Battle of Britain.

The World Without Us

By Alan Weisman

This might be the strangest—and most interesting—non-fiction book you’ve ever read. If you’ve ever wondered how hardy little weeds can shatter slabs of concrete, you’ll be quoting passages to your pals and looking at your entire industrialized world in a completely different light.

After reading Weisman’s study on the amazing and almost inexplicable resurgence of nature in the depopulated, contaminated area of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster, an editor called him and asked, “What would happen if humans disappeared everywhere?”

Weisman explains in detail what you can expect when man takes his hand off the throttle of civilization. Seen from a multi-disciplinary scientific viewpoint, well written in layman’s language, it’s fascinating stuff.

How long would our skyscrapers, subway systems, plastic bags and swimming pools last, and how would they disintegrate? In many ways, man’s presence keeps animals from interacting normally with plant life, and forms of plant life from competing with each other. Without us, who wins and who loses, and how?

Some people can’t imagine a world without Starbucks. Weisman knows what happens in a world without us.

Seabiscuit: American Legend

By Lauren Hillenbrand

Why review a book about a horse? Because it’s not about a horse; it’s about Americans; about fighting on when the ref has counted you out; being beaten up but unbeaten. In 1938, as Americans were pulling their muddied boots out of the Great Depression and war clouds gathered over Europe, three names dominated US newspapers. Adolf Hitler came in third in total mentions. Franklin Delano Roosevelt came in second. A runty, wheezing, written-off horse named Seabiscuit was number one.

The Biscuit came from good stock, but experts concluded his genetic line had obviously bled out. His gait was so bad it was described “like he’s swatting flies as he gallops.” He was sold cheap. The Biscuit developed a bad temper to go with his low-class looks.

Seabiscuit was rescued from death by a ragged old cowboy-turned-trainer whose world had been destroyed by barbed wire. He convinced a Depression-busted businessman to take a chance, and hired a losing jockey who had been abandoned at a racetrack at 15. After a miserable time-trial, the cowboy decided “They got him so screwed up running around in a circle that he’s forgot what he was born to do.” He was taken off the track, given his head—and the runt remembered.

Always coming from behind, Seabiscuit blew those “better horses” into the weeds, and America’s working-class discovered their hero. The “penniless” pooled their pennies and came to watch Seabiscuit run. Poor folks crowded the tracks, lined the fences and climbed trees. When a quarter of Americans lived in their vehicles and in migrant camps, thousands came to see—hope.

On Nov. 1, 1938, half the businesses in America closed for a half day. Over 40 million people—one-third of all Americans—huddled around radios. Seabiscuit and War Admiral, “the world’s finest racehorse,” faced off at Pimlico.

The Biscuit just didn’t have the legs to run against War Admiral—so instead, he ran with his heart. He won by four lengths. The nation recovered.

Read the book and see the movie. It’s available for rent. And remember what you were born for. Connor OUT.

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Self-Defense

guns — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:43:55 +0000

Stealth, Strength And Economy

It could be four gangbangers rushing your open garage door, shooting as they come. You could be the lone armed customer caught between the aisles when two bandits begin blasting the convenience store clerk, and you have to act—or die. Or two masked scumbags suddenly appear in your living room because somebody left a sliding glass door unlocked. Maybe it will come as you’re using a well-lit ATM, when thugs attack out of the dark.

Those were the scenes in four surveillance-camera videos I recently reviewed. In cases one and two, the citizens had guns close at hand, and they acted immediately and decisively. The resident in his garage, in fact, sent all four predators running, seriously wounding one. In the third, the homeowner had a gun, but couldn’t retrieve it fast enough to save his life. In the fourth, the victim had no weapon, and no chance.

Assaults tend to be fast, close and violent, and the more prepared you are in head, heart and hardware, the greater your chance of survival. We can only cover a fraction of the latest self-defense products, but here are some selections for your consideration:

A friend of mine was looking for a rugged, accurate, handgun-caliber “truck carbine” which would pack a punch, but be economical to shoot. When he found it, he also found it made a great home defense weapon too; high-capacity, very controllable, operable with gross motor skills under stress, and while it’s very maneuverable, it’s also stout enough for employment as an impact weapon. That’s the G9 carbine from Lone Wolf Distributors, shown nearby, a dedicated—not cobbled-up and modified—9mm semi-auto carbine, which feeds with standard Glock 17-round or 33-round magazines.

All the usual controls are AR-consistent, just like your favorite 5.56mm carbine. Having shot and reviewed one recently, I’m happy to report it is very well made and it functioned flawlessly. Just slap on iron sights or an optic and you’ve got an excellent multi-function weapon. The lower must be shipped to your FFL holder, and the complete upper can be shipped direct to you. Together they cost a bit more than a high-end 9mm pistol, and do a whole lot more.

There’s not much new besides Bells & Whistles in defensive shotguns, but there are tons of new and used 12- and 20-gauge “sporting” Remington 870s, Mossberg 500-series, and other makes ready for retrofitting with high quality, smooth feeding extended magazine tube assemblies by Nordic Components. Lightweight and strong, they’re precision machined of 6061 aircraft aluminum to boost your capacity from +1 to +8 rounds. Nordic’s low-drag followers and barrel-and-tube clamps round out an “enhanced firepower package.” For a shorter, lighter, more maneuverable setup, check out Tapco’s TGA-12, which replaces your standard shotgun buttstock with a solid pistol grip and single-point sling loop, priced at $24.99.

Pint-sized pocket pistols are still selling strong, and now Ruger’s .380 LCP and 9mm LC9 are available with the new LaserMax CenterFire frame-mounted lasers. Weighing only a 1/2 ounce and set close to the boreline, they are slick, smooth and ambidextrous, activated by a simple push producing a 5mW red laser with a battery life of 5 hours constant-on. If you already own an LCP or LC9, you can buy a CenterFire laser directly from LaserMax and install it yourself in minutes. For easy, ergonomic controls and a seamless fit to the contours of the pistols, this is one of the best laser designs I’ve seen.

For several full-size Glock, Smith & Wesson M&P and Springfield XD model pistols, Crimson Trace’s Lightguard 100-lumen, frame-mounted light is a real winner—in fact, it won the 2011 Self-Defense Product of the Year award from the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence. Ambidextrous and instinctively grip-activated, it’s virtually snag-free and teams neatly with Crimson Trace LaserGrips.

Effective defensive ammo abounds, but Federal Premium offers a different take with their new Guard Dog Home Defense rounds. Hollowpoint rounds penetrating clothing or dry wall can fill with debris, which retards expansion and promotes over-penetration. Guard Dog lightweight, low recoil, high velocity non-hollowpoint slugs are a full metal jacket design filled with expanding polymer, so they feed smoothly and expand reliably, dissipating energy rapidly. They are available now in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, and you can bet more calibers are coming. They’re also a great carry-gun choice where hollowpoints are prohibited.
Story By: John Connor

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Shotgunning Miscellany

guns — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:52:33 +0000

It’s A Horn-A-Plenty For Scattergunners

Here’s a new company with a couple of unique ideas for coloring shot and making it a marker for who shot what. The impetus for developing colored shot for waterfowling started with a situation that arose among a group of hunters shooting out of the same blind. As the birds came into the decoys, everyone opened fire. After the smoke had cleared, the ducks were retrieved, and one was found to be wearing a band.

Now if you’ve ever hung out with a group of serious waterfowlers, you know duck bands are considered the most precious prizes of the hunt. Strung along a duck call lanyard, they’re worn as ersatz jewelry and symbolize the years a hunter has spent on the water as well as his prowess with a scattergun and decoy spreads. And so an argument ensured among the group as to who had downed the banded duck; of course, everyone present claimed they had.

Spectra Shot—CSI In Box

Spectra Shot’s solution to such problems is to offer the waterfowling public colored shot—four colors of colored shot to be exact—yellow, orange, blue and green. If there were more than four hunters in a blind, I guess you could add nickel-plated shot, copper-plated shot and plain steel shot as additional markers.

In any case, through the use of colored shot and a little bit of plucking, the winner of the band could be promptly determined. In the unlikely case more than one color of shot was uncovered, I suppose the hunters could draw straws or play dibs.
Every manufacturer of shot and shotshells has at one time or another tried to develop colored shot. In the past, the results were either toxic, too expensive or more likely, the colored coating would simply flake off the shot. What Spectra Shot has done is to develop a non-toxic coating and a process that insures the color adheres to the shot. In the ammunition world, that’s quite an accomplishment.

As we go to press, Spectra Shot is moving through the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s testing protocol for non-toxic shot and should be available for the 2012 waterfowl season. Initially, colored Spectra Shot will be loaded as 1-1/4 ounces of No. 2 steel shot in 3″, 12-gauge hulls with a muzzle velocity of 1,400 fps and competitively priced.

Another product under development by Spectra Shot is skeet size shot that becomes luminescent when shot in the presence of ultraviolet light. Stay tuned.
Story by: Holt Bodinson

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Talbot

Up Down?

Consolidation

Better Than Ever

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High Angle Rifle Training At 5,000!

Girls Can Shoot

The Course

Gun Stuff

What’d We Learn?

The Concept

The Terrain

On Top

But Why?

Back To Basics

From Start To Finish

Magnum Era

You Rebel, You Misfit, You Radical!

Go Ahead — Read A Book!

Gates Of Fire

The Story Of The Malakand Field Force

The World Without Us

Seabiscuit: American Legend

Self-Defense

Shotgunning Miscellany

High Angle Rifle
Training At 5,000!