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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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A MERIC A N

SHOOTING JOURNAL Volume 3 // ISSUE 9 // May 2015 PUBLISHER

James R. Baker ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Dick Openshaw EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Andy Walgamott EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Danielle Breteau LEAD CONTRIBUTOR

Robin Taylor CONTRIBUTORS

Nathan Askew, Scott Baker, Robert Campbell, Larry Case, Tom Claycomb III, Andre Dall’au, Dana Farrell, Dave Goetzinger, Scott Haugen, Frank Jardim, Tim Lynch, Mike Nesbitt, Eric Rice, Troy Rodakowski, Rick Ross, Bob Shell, Troy Taysom, Oleg Volk, Jonothan Waldrop, Tatiana Whitlock, Dave Wilson SALES MANAGER

Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

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Beth Harrison, Sonjia Kells, Sam Rockwell, Liz Weickum PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Kelly Baker PRODUCTION MANAGER

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Audra Higgins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP WASHINGTON OFFICE P.O. Box 24365 • Seattle, WA 98124-0365 14240 Interurban Ave. S. Ste. 190 • Tukwila, WA 98168 OREGON OFFICE 8116 SW Durham Rd • Tigard, OR 97224 (206) 382-9220 • (800) 332-1736 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com • www.media-inc.com

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 9 • MAY 2015

Q&A WITH JESSE JAMES There’s a new toy shop in Texas and all the goodies come stamped: Made By Jesse James. We check in with the highly talented craftsman of West Coast Choppers and Monster Garage fame on his latest trade: making high-end guns. (DAVE WILSON)

FEATURES 55

WOMEN & GUNS: Protecting Home How do you translate your daily environment into range training? Break out the tape measure: Ms. Whitlock details concepts you may not have considered – and could save your life.

The Godfather Of Gun Training Every lesson you’ve ever learned about gun handling and a combat mindset came from this man, Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper.

TRAINING: Good Blowback

109 COMPETITION: MGM Ironman ’15 What do you get when you mix equal parts Mad Max, all the ﬁrearms you own, Idaho “moon dust” and a huge playground? The craziest, most insane gun competition on the planet!

CO2 guns with kick can add realism to training away from the range.

Nothing Can Stop Tatiana Whitlock She may not be tall, but this woman from Maine is hitting the bigtime with her target company, NRA gig, hunting show and new column in our mag. Our Robin Taylor checks in with the dynamo.

BEHIND THE BADGE: St. Johns Sheriff’s Office’s Cool Toys Law enforcement beat writer Andre Dall’au proﬁles this Florida county’s deputies and all the big-boy toys they have to keep residents of and visitors to America’s “First Coast” safe.

103 BLACK POWDER: Quigley Down Yonder Take a step into the Australian outback and American Old West with this longrange shooting competition inspired by Quigley Down Under. Black powder, Sharps riﬂes and cross-sticks are the name of the game in Montana this June.

123

ROADHUNTER: Spring’s Big Game Fall is when most of us hunt big game, but Scott Haugen details the toothy critters widely available now – black bears in the Lower 48 and griz up north.

131

SCATTERGUN: Chasing The Snowstorm North Hunting huge ﬂocks of Arctic-bound snow geese isn’t as easy as you think. See what it takes to bring these smart birds down as they wing back north on the Central Flyway each spring.

AMERICAN SHOOTING JOURNAL is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Ave South Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2015 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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CONTENTS Also inside 29 43 49 77 80 119 135 139 145 151

GUN REVIEW: Kel-Tec Sub2000MII GUN REVIEWS: Hi-Point 995 TS, C9 Product Test: 5 AR Cleaning Tools Combat Or Target – What Type Of Handgun Should You Be Shooting? The Black Market: Where To Buy Parts For Your AR ARCHERY: What Type Of Hunter Are You – Wolf, Cougar Or Pike? Hunting Nebraska’s Merriam’s Who’s A Better Hunter: Africans Or Americans? A PH Shares Insights The Pastor And The Bear RELOADING: Ready To Handload Your Own Ammuntion?

DEPARTMENTS 17 19 21 23 25 99 155

Editor’s Note Correspondence And Corrections Competition Calendar Gun Show Calendar Top Shots: Reader Photos Guns Of Our Fathers: Minié Balls And The Springﬁeld Model 1855 Product Feature

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

2015’S TOP TARGETS – RANKED!

American Shooting Journal’s stable of shooters rank the best reactive, steel, paper, exploding and lifelike targets to be found on the market today!

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

EDITOR’S NOTE s we start settling in with our new name and nationwide distribution, I am looking ahead at the focus of American Shooting Journal magazine and our goals. My passion comes from the people: the protectors, the competitors, the hunters, the personal-safety conscious and, most of all, anyone who is dedicated to the industry; who they are and what drives their interests. What you may not realize is most of our stories come from you, our readers. You are our eyes and ears (no pun intended) for our next great story, so get out there and find them so we can share with our fellow Americans.

TELL US, WHO IS THE GUY who works on the floor of the gunmanufacturing plant and has been there for 45 years? Who is the top-gunner in the latest competition? That special cop everyone should have on their beat? The historical figure who made changes that affected an entire industry? Who are these people? Other topics that we love include training and tactical advice, gun and gear reviews and historical highlights.

THIS ISSUE IS FULL of wide-ranging topics, including the crazy MGM Ironman shooting competition in Idaho; the godfather of firearms training, Jeff Cooper and what he means to our daily lives; hunting the ever-present but equally elusive turkey; and even how to cook a savory bear-meat tortiere based on our new Women and Guns columnist’s greatgrandmother’s recipe. We love the variety, and while it is hard to provide something for everyone, it’s certainly worth a shot (no pun intended). IF YOU KNOW someone who you feel is exceptional or have a great idea American Shooting Journal editor Danielle for an article, please email me at Breteau. (ICHIRO NAGATA) Dani@americanshootingjournal.com.

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

CORRESPONDENCE We received a great response to our March 2015 Western Shooting Journal article on why Utah cops rock and wanted to share it: DEAR EDITOR, Far too often, we citizens focus only on those officers who are considered the bad apples of the bushel. Whether or not they are bad all the time or simply having a bad day, we hear what has transpired and pull out the hammer, nails and cross while awaiting ﬁnal judgment. Then we hear stories of officers like those from Utah featured in your article. Usually, within a matter of days (if not hours), those stories are overshadowed by further stories of graft, corruption or a shooting. We focus on the bad because officers of the law have the ability to radically change our lives. We get into a cycle of expecting the worst from those citizens we empower to enforce our ur laws. Sometimes these officers set themselves above us, as if they are no longer citizens who ws must also obey the laws they’re supposed to enforce. Sometimes, though,, we see stories of officers who rememberr their oaths, remember that they are public servants protecting the public good, remembering why they became officers esist the in the ﬁrst place and resist cynicism that can come from dealing with the criminal dregs of society. I applaud the officers from Utah and I hope that their stories can be an inspiration to fellow officers across this great nation. I also want to remind citizens that cops are not bushels of apples to be judged as a whole for the rotten actions of a few. Thank you, officers, you do your communities proud. -DClan CORRECTION The article entitled “Youth Steel Exploding” in our April 2015 issue listed Ethan Inocando as a shooter for the Red Dawn Raiders. Ethan actually shoots with South Texas Shooters. Please excuse the mistake. Thanks to loyal reader “ipsc40” for the giving us the head’s up.

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

PRIMER

COMPETITION C A L E N D A R

May 1-8 BIG BLAST Ruger Championship NSCA Addieville East Farm Mapleville, R.I. (Sporting Clays)

Craig Outzen, a professional 3-Gun shooter, drives and shoots in the golf-cart stage of the MGM Ironman competition in Parma, Idaho. (COURTESY OF MGM IRONMAN)

May 2 Texas Mounted Shooters CMSA Owens Ranch Manor, Texas (Mounted Cowboy) Maryland State Match IDPA Sanner’s Lake Sportsmen Club Lexington Park, Md. (Defensive Pistol)

May 3 ZOC Ranch Mounted Shooters CMSA ZOC Ranch Arena Monroe, Okla. (Mounted Cowboy)

May 9-10 3-Gun Nation Regional Championship Brocks Gap Training Center Hoover, Ala. (3-Gun)

May 10 New Hampshire Mounted-Shooters CMSA Mead Brook Equestrian Center Jaffrey, N.H. (Mounted Cowboy)

May 13-17 Northeast Championship & Masters Cup NSCA M&M Hunting Preserve & Sporting Clays Pennsville, N.J. (Sporting Clays)

May 16 First State Shooters CMSA Levers Arena Greenwood, Del. (Mounted Cowboy) Battle-n-Benton II IDPA Benton Gun Club Bauxite, Ark. (Defensive Pistol)

May 16-17 Second Annual Silhouette Championships NMLRA Walter Cline Range Friendship, Ind. (Muzzle Loader)

May 20

May 29-31

MidwayUSA & NRA Bianchi Cup National Championship Green Valley Riﬂe & Pistol Club Columbia, Mo. (3-Gun)

BIG BLAST Hardy Classic NSCA The Shooting Academy at Nemacolin Farmington, Pa. (Sporting Clays)

May 22-23

May 30

Colorado Mounted Thunder CMSA Colorado State Fairgrounds Pueblo, Colo. (Mounted Cowboy)

Arkansas State BUG Championship IDPA Central Arkansas Shooters Association Perryville, Ark. (Defensive Pistol)

May 23

May 31

2015 Utah State Championship IDPA The Farm Shooting Range Fairﬁeld, Utah (Defensive Pistol)

Tennessee CMSA Clearview Horse Farm Shelbyville, Tenn. (Mounted Cowboy)

May 24

Illinois State Championship IDPA World Shooting and Rec. Complex Sparta, Ill. (Defensive Pistol)

Arizona Cowboy Mounted Shooters (CMSA) Prescott Rodeo Grounds Prescott, Ariz. (Mounted Cowboy) Comp-Tac’s Texas Championship IDPA Triple C Tactical Training Cresson, Texas (Defensive Pistol)

Email Dani@americanshootingjournal.com to have your event listed here.

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

PRIMER

GUNSHOW C A L E N D A R

May 1-3 Franklin County Gun Show Militia Armaments Gun Club Washington, Mo. SCI Gun Shows Butte Civic Center Butte, Mont. Up In Arms Gun Show Wyoming Fairgrounds Casper, Wyo.

May 2-3 Shoals Gun & Knife Expo North Alabama State Fair Grounds Muscle Shoals, Ala. Shriners Gun Show El Zaribah Shriners Phoenix, Ariz. Crossroads Of The West Ontario Convention Center Ontario, Cali. Prospectors Sertoma Gun Shows Colorado Springs Event Center Colorado Springs, Colo. Florida Gun And Knife Show Melbourne Auditorium Melbourne, Fla. Eastman Gun Show Gainesville Marketplace Gainesville, Ga.

Hometown Gun Show Melody Oaks Ranch Priddy, Texas

Eagle Gun Show Rodeway Inn Expo Center Allentown, Penn.

SGK Gun Show Meadow Event Park Doswell, Va.

Donnie Daniels Classic White County Fairgrounds Sparta, Tenn.

Washington Arms Collectors Evergreen State Fairgrounds Monroe, Wash.

Dan’s 5-Star Gun Show Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas

May 9-10

Big Town Gun Show Big Town Event Center Mesquite, Texas

Florida Gun Show South Florida Fairgrounds West Palm Beach, Fla. NGA Gun Show Golden Memories Auction House Mountain City, Ga.

Falcon Gun Show Kitsap County Fairgrounds Bremerton, Wash.

May 23-24

American Dream Gun Show Elko Fairgrounds Elko, Nev.

Florida Gun Show National Guard Armory West Palm Beach, Fla.

Ohio Gun Show Ross County Fairgrounds Chillicothe, Ohio

RK Gun Show Exchange Center Tulsa, Okla.

Historical Arms Society Agri-plex Allentown, Pa.

SGK Gun Show Expo and Convention Center Fredericksburg, Va.

Lone Wolf Gun Show Burleson County Expo Caldwell, Texas

May 30-31 Florida Gun Show National Guard Armory Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Crossroads Of The West Reno Convention Center Reno, Nev.

SCI Gun Show State Fair Park Yakima, Wash.

Raleigh Gun Show N.C. State Fairgrounds Raleigh, N.C.

May 16-17

Crossroads Of The West Orange County Fairgrounds Costa Mesa, Cali.

Gun Radio Gun Show Tucson Expo Center Tucson, Ariz.

Eagle Gun Show Greater Philadelphia Expo Center Oaks, Pa.

SCI Gun Show Kootenai County Fairgrounds Coeur D’Alene, Idaho

MK Gun Show Exchange Park Fairgrounds Charleston, S.C.

Classic Arms Gun & Knife Show Lamar Dixon Expo Center Gonzales, La.

Lone Star Gun Show Will Rogers Center Fort Worth, Texas

Midwest Arms Armor Show Paciﬁc Eagles Club Paciﬁc, Mo.

SGK Gun Show Virginia Beach Convention Center Virginia Beach, Va.

Albuquerque Gun Show New Mexico Expo Center Albuquerque, N.M. MK Gun Show Civic Center Florence, S.C. RK Gun Show Knoxville Expo Center Knoxville, Tenn. Fort Worth Gun Show Will Rogers Center Fort Worth, Texas

Crocodile Productions Gun Show Waconia Ice Arena Blaine, Minn.

Email Dani@americanshootingjournal.com to have your show listed here.

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Sand with Tree

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

PRIMER

TOP SHOTS

Megan McClure Esqueda of Texas shoots her Christmas present, a Ruger 10-22, near Dallas. (JOE ESQUEDA)

Sandra Cespedes-Farmer enjoys an afternoon outing with her husband and her AK on the line in the Peach Tree State. (STUART FARMER)

Candy Brownﬁeld sports a huge smile after ﬁring a true Russian-issue AK at a range in Atlanta. (CANDY BROWNFIELD)

Bud George takes a couple shots during an Action Handgun Match put on by California’s Tehama Shooters in February 2014. (JAMIE RAGLIN, VP, TEHAMA SHOOTERS)

How do they do Valentine’s in Dallas? Jenifer McClure went on a date to the range with a S&W Sigma 9mm – oh, and a sweetie too! (JOE ESQUEDA)

I want a turn! Dewayne McClure aims sister Megan’s Ruger 10-22. (JOE ESQUEDA) westernshootingjournal.com 25

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

gun reviews

Gabriela DeSantis in Cocoa, Fla., on the ﬁring line with Kel-Tec’s new Sub-2000Mk 2.

GUNNERS, ON YOUR MARK2 ...

Kel-Tec Launches An Upgrade To The Sub-2000 Carbine REVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY OLEG VOLK he story of this carbine goes back to 1997, when Kel-Tec introduced the Sub-9 carbine. In general, it was a conventional blow-back gun with the magazine inserted through the hand grip. Designed during the highcapacity-magazine-ban years, it used popular and available pistol magazines, but the Sub-9’s claim to fame was its unusual folding form. When folding or collapsible stocks were not legal, the Sub-9 worked around that concept by creating a carbine that folded in half at the chamber, halving its overall length for storage and transport. The folding is initiated by pulling down on the back

of the trigger guard, which allows the front of the gun to swing up and back eventually locking the front sight into a recess on the butt-stock. In 2001, the machined aluminum receiver was replaced with a plastic clamshell, resulting in a lighter and less expensive Sub-2000 model, and since it was made to ﬁt several makes of pistol magazines, in 9mm Luger and .40S&W, this carbine became extremely popular. This year Kel-Tec launched the Sub-2000Mk2 (Mark 2). An upgraded version of the Sub-2000 but very similar mechanically and incorporates many improvements that were requested by users but often supplied by aftermarket accessory makers.

FEATURES AND UPGRADES • It is 29.1 inches long when deployed and folds down to 16.1 inches. • It has a higher standard of fit and finish, which shows immediately in the smoothness of cycling and accuracy. • The plastic front-sight tower, with its ring-post protector, has been replaced by a machined, non-glare metal tower with protective ears around an AR15compatible post. • Windage and elevation adjustments are now repeatable, and the red-dot sight-picture is clearer than before. • The muzzle now extends past the sight tower and provides threading for a suppressor or flash hider. • The butt stock is now adjustable for westernshootingjournal.com 29

gun reviews length-of-pull with three positions, and the buttpad is smoother and almost twice as wide as the original; this has considerably reduced the recoil effects. • There are now loops for two types of slings, and the forend is more rigid, slightly less bulky and endowed with Picatinny rails on the top and bottom. • Cooling vents on the sides double as an M-Lock accessory slot, and the pistol grip has been reshaped for better ergonomics. • The unloaded weight with a magazine is only 4.4 pounds. PERFORMANCE has improved. Racking the bolt is easier, although the twoﬁnger extended charging handle from Twisted Industries would still be a useful addition. The barrel appears to have improved as well. The old Sub-2000 ranged from 5 to 6 minute of angle while the new one shoots 2.6 to 4 MOA with the same red-dot

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

The Kel-Tec Sub2000Mk2 folds up and back to create an easy-to-pack carbine.

sight. The top rail even allows the use of magniﬁed optics, since the carbine itself is accurate enough to justify them. Cantilevered AR-15 scope

mounts should be used because the top rail only covers the front two-thirds of the forend. The gun ran reliably with all types

westernshootingjournal.com 31

gun reviews of ammunition, except 50- to 60-grain hypervelocity loads. Point of impact changed considerably from load to load and as much as 3 inches diagonally at 25 yards. For serious use, it’s best to ﬁnd one load that shoots well and stick to it. Overall, the gun favors lighterweight ammunition. The absolute winner in the accuracy department is the all-copper 100-grain OATH Halo with a consistent 2.6 MOA. A mild load with 1,250 feet-per-second velocity also produces minimal recoil and expands reliably. One hundred and ﬁfteen-grain Corbon JHP and, surprisingly, Winchester’s “white box” FMJ are almost as good with 3 MOA. Remington Golden Saber 124-grain is less accurate with 4 MOA, but works well up close with 1,350 fps velocity. Winchester 147-grain JHP lagged at 4.5 MOA, but would be accurate enough for its intended short-range use with sound suppressors.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

Although 60-grain Liberty ammunition did not cycle, it did reach 2,550 fps and could be used for varmints out to nearly 100 yards. THE TRIGGER PULL is about 6.5 pounds and not very smooth, with a gritty second stage and some over-travel. Fortunately, the wide trigger guard allows for a safe addition of a trigger shoe designed for a P11 pistol. This wide shoe improves the feel of the trigger and gives it better control. This carbine uses an internal hammer with a sufficiently energetic pin-strike which makes misﬁres unlikely. In fact, I’ve had no malfunctions of any kind, even with over 300 rounds of mixed-type ammunition. The bolt does not stay back on the last shot, but the difference in the feel is sufficient to tell when the gun is empty, and the charging handle can be locked back to show a clear chamber. This carbine ﬁts 17- or 33-round Glock magazines and works well with 50-

and 100-round drums; all drop freely when released. Smith & Wesson M&P magazines are the next in line for production after the Glock-compatible model. IN PRACTICAL TERMS, it’s a competent companion to a center-fire pistol. Its main advantage over the pistol is improved practical accuracy and some increase in muzzle velocity. Folded, it can safely fit into a laptop case with a loaded magazine in the grip. While ballistically weaker than a true rifle, the Sub2000Mk2 is also lighter and quieter. For firing indoors, the reduction in concussion is very helpful, not to mention many ranges do not permit 5.56mm and other rifle calibers. ASJ Note: Some of the photos for this article show a pre-production version of the Sub2000mk2 carbine without the threaded muzzle. All production guns will have a threaded muzzle.

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Jesse James at his workbench in the Jesse James Firearms Unlimited (JJFU) shop, located just outside of Austin, Texas.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

TOY FACTORY -HVVH -DPHV ,V 2Q $ :KROH 1HZ 0LVVLRQ STORY BY DANIELLE BRETEAU • PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVE WILSON

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he phone in my office rang and when I picked up, the voice on the other end said, “Hi, it’s Jesse, I heard you wanted to talk to me.” Yes, in fact, I did want to speak with Jesse James of JJFU (Jesse James Firearms Unlimited). You might recognize the name from his famous motorcycles (West Coast Choppers TV series) or cars (Monster Garage TV series), but our interest was solely based on his seemingly new passion for guns. If you do not know, James started manufacturing firearms (and why not?), predominantly 1911s and AR-15s, at the end of 2013 in Austin, Texas, and has been going strong ever since. We have been following JJFU since its inception and reached out to our readers to find out what you would want to know, now that James’ shop has been up and running for awhile. We took all of your questions and created a great interview. Talking to James was as easy as talking to an old friend. If I didn’t know any better, I would have pictured a teenager with sunbleached hair who just walked off of the beach in California. I wasn’t too far off, as James hails from Long Beach, but what I didn’t expect was his easy-going and unpretentious nature (this is not

One of JJFU’s latest 1911s and its custom box created by Jesse James.

what he is known for on set). He was happy to answer my questions, no matter how technical or routine, and seemed eager to share his thoughts on current and future concepts. This is where you start to see the perfectionist and zero tolerance for error, and somehow, this comes through his boyish demeanor. DANIELLE BRETEAU What prompted you to start building firearms

after so many years of custom motorcycles and cars? JESSE JAMES I’ve spent so much time building bikes that sometimes I feel I’ve done everything I had set out to do with them. I feel like the firearms industry found me about three years ago when I moved to Texas. You know, most gun-smithing is simply knowing how to machine, and I have over 25 years of experience in that field, by hand and with CNC (computer numerical control) machines. It was a natural fit. DB Do you consider firearms to be pieces of art or useful field equipment? JJ It took a while to consider myself as an artist. I think most people would find firearms to be art or artlike; I certainly think so, and I love the lines. Also, there is art to tailormaking everything by hand, the details of the fit and finish. That is what is important to me.

JJFU AR receivers, stamped with the American ﬂag just under the trigger guard.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

DB Who are your clients? JJ Anyone from operators to lawyers. It seems to be a pretty wide swath of people who are interested, but when I was at the

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SHOT (Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show this year, there were a lot of people who told me they didn’t even know I made firearms. We haven’t advertised yet, so far everything has been by word of mouth.

of pressure building the gun for him. I checked it four times before I let it leave the shop, and what is funny, when my customer received it, the first thing he did was take the whole thing apart on his coffee table and looked at every piece. Once he shot it, that was when I got the final thumbs up. I really liked that gun and it is probably my favorite so far.

DB Do you compete in any type of shooting competitions? JJ No. All that running around does not look like something I want to do. I shoot at my range (the one at his house) and I think I can shoot pretty well.

DB Why would someone buy your firearm over all the other options out there? JJ They are very smooth to shoot. The first time I shot a Colt Commander, it hurt my hand. I used to think that Kimber or Les Baer 1911s were really nice, until I made my own. You also have to remember that the amount of time and attention to detail, where no expense is too high and no amount of time is too long, makes my firearms so precise and smooth. That level of detail costs a lot more.

DB Do you hunt? JJ No, but I think I could. Not a trophy hunt, but maybe small game, like a turkey, but it would have to be respectful to the animal, like the way the American Indians hunted and took only what they needed. Overall, though, it is not my cup of tea. DB Any thoughts on creating other guns, like a shotgun or precision rifle? JJ F&N has a great long-range .50 bolt-action rifle, but when I think of building my own, I would have to do something different. It couldn’t just be a rifle that I built; it would have to be something special. I have a revolver design in my mind, but I haven’t actually started creating it. We do have a 12-gauge shotgun coming soon, but I didn’t want to go crazy and build everything out there. I want to do a piece and do it perfectly before I move on to other projects. If you have too many projects going, then you don’t do each one as well as you would if you are focused on just one. DB What is your favorite firearm? JJ My first favorite would be my dad’s M1 Garand. I used to shoot that when I was a kid. My other favorite is a 1911 Commander, chambered in 9mm, that I built for a customer. I knew this guy was really into firearms and I felt a lot 38

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

DB Do you machine all of the parts for your firearms? JJ No, not every part. If I averaged it, I would say about 80 percent of each firearm is actually machined in house. Some parts, like the thumb safety on the 1911, I don’t make those. That just doesn’t seem like an interesting part to make, so I work with STI International. They have an amazing facility and are very close to my shop. I also work with Magpul for some of the furniture on our rifles, but we do make our own lightweight grips and aluminum buttstocks.

James hand measures and machines 80 percent of the components for his ﬁrearms.

DB What do you have to say to people who have expressed negative comments towards your products? JJ I have found that the people making those comments have never held or fired any of my

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firearms. I would put more value into their comments if I knew it came from first-hand experience.

DAVE WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY

DB Tell me about your suppressor. It’s beautiful and clearly a designed piece, but why would someone choose yours over another? JJ It seemed natural to make my own because I have so much turbo-manifold exhaust knowledge; it didn’t make any sense not to. Many of the suppressors you see out there are based on the Hiram Maxim theory and that concept is like air hitting a brick wall. In short, my suppressor works similar to an air-brake system, which is more efficient, and in my opinion, simply works better. DB Your website seems pretty basic and doesn’t necessarily answer many of the questions people might want to know. Is that by design? JJ I haven’t spent a lot of time focusing on the website. I am a shop guy. I had a website as early as 1995, before Honda and Harley Davidson, for my bikes. The problem I had back then was when customers ordered a bike, I never actually met the customer a lot of the time. I guess if you order from Brownells, you may not need to have human contact, but I don’t like that. One thing I absolutely hate is getting a recording when I call anywhere for information and I will probably just hang

A commemorative scarf, kept by Jesse James with patches from law enforcement agencies around the nation.

Dave Wilson, who is an exceptional freelance photographer, was kind enough to work with me during the Jesse James interview. He painstakingly created the images I wanted to portray to the readers: the workshop, the atmosphere, the products. I wanted you to feel like you were actually there, and Wilson did a great job. Originally from Scotland, Wilson lives near Dripping Springs, Texas. He uses new imaging techniques created by digital workflow. Many of these techniques blend multiple exposures to render a single image, which would be impossible to create using conventional, single-exposure methods. This form of processing allows deep shadow and bright detail to be captured while accentuating texture, detail and the play of light over the subject. This results in an appealing yet intangibly different atmosphere to his images. For more of Wilson’s work, visit his website at davewilsonphotography.com, and tell him Dani sent you. -DB

up, if I do. I think I’m going to go back to hand-written receipts and personal updates. I like the human-tohuman interaction, customer to creator, if you will. I like people to send emails and ask questions or call the shop. I’ll answer the phone. ASJ 40

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

gun reviews

Hi-Point’s 995 TS (Target Stock) carbine has proven highly effective in the hands of zombie killers at author Frank Jardim’s matches. The 31-inch, 7-pound carbine is soda-can-shooting accurate out to 50 yards and probably farther. Match it with Hi-Point’s C9 for a home-defense duo against the undead and others, he says.

TWO-FER-ONE’S ARE A HI-POINT The Inexpensive 995ts Carbine And C9 Pistol Are A Great Home-Defense Duo STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY FRANK JARDIM

hen Winchester produced its famous 1873 leveraction rifles and carbines, Colt wasted no time in chambering its singleaction Army revolver in Winchester’s calibers from .44-40 down to .32-20. There are times when the quick handling and easy portability of a handgun is of paramount importance for self defense, but when faced with dire threats cowboys knew it was much better to have a repeating rifle. A handgun and longarm in the same caliber was a winner on the American frontier. From a self-defense standpoint, today’s shooters can find a practical, cost-effective, modern parallel to the

19th century Colt/Winchester pairing in Hi-Point carbines and pistols. HiPoints are chambered in popular pistol cartridges such as .45 ACP, .40 S&W, 9mm Luger and soon .380 ACP, and the .40 S&W and .45 ACP model carbines and pistols even share a common magazine. I tested a model 995ts carbine and C9 pistol chambered in 9mm and was favorably impressed. It is known that you can get a Colt Defender pistol and Model 6951 AR-15 type carbine in 9mm; however, this combination will cost you about $2,000. The Hi-Points I tested cost less than $500! That puts Hi-Points into a unique niche as the least expensive centerﬁre ﬁrearms on the market. There is a

lot more to the differences between Colts and Hi-Points than price, so to narrow the focus of the discussion, I will evaluate the Hi-Points as personal home-defense firearms. In this respect, based on my testing, Hi-Points represent an exceptional value. Be careful not to make the mistake of assuming inexpensive means poor quality. Hi-Point firearms are engineered to be inexpensive. When I disassembled them, I was struck by the clever way parts were designed to serve multiple purposes and the use of highly efficient manufacturing techniques like metal stamping, zinc alloy casting, metal injection molding, button-rifled barrels, powder coating and injection-molded westernshootingjournal.com 43

gun reviews plastic. The martial spirit of the highly effective Soviet PPSH-41 submachine gun and the clandestine American FP-45 Liberator pistol of World War II are channeled through the Hi-Points. All of these firearms let the ease of manufacture and effective function dictate their form. An important consumer byproduct of the care taken in designing the Hi-Points is that the production cost of parts is so low, the firearms are warranteed forever. Not just for the original owner, but every owner (the instruction sheet with older production guns may still indicate the warranty is limited to the original purchaser, but the distributor at MKS assured me that is not the case). If any of Hi-Point’s firearms has a problem, it will be repaired by the factory free of charge. From my research, they are living up to their promise, and their reputation is excellent. If Hi-Point’s design has a negative,

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

I believe it is the trigger pull. The one I tested initially was heavy and erratic. Sometimes it let go crisply; other times it creeped one or two times before it released the sear. This trigger spoiled a lot of groups. I think the crux of problem is that by design, each pull of the trigger is doing a lot more than just releasing the sear. When you take the gun apart you’ll see what I mean. It is what it is, but take heart! If your trigger is stiff and creepy like a zombie, I found that dry ﬁring the action a thousand times, like I did while I watched a TV show, improved mine signiﬁcantly. The 995ts carbine is a good choice for targets from 15 to 50 yards. It is probably effective at ranges greater than 50 yards, but if you are shooting at someone that far away, it may prove difficult to make a case for self defense in court. It comes with a 10-round magazine and mine had a very handy factory two-magazine clip. This clip attached to the web of the stock

Hi-Point’s C9 (Compact 9mm) pistol is 7.75 inches by 5 inches with an eight-round magazine and weighs 2 pounds empty. There’s a 10-round magazine for it too. The author added the TUFF-1 grip cover to ensure the best possible grip for accuracy testing. Awesome Ammunition’s 124-grain loads shot the best, followed closely by the Winchester Target 115-grain bullet, he says.

allowing me to carry 30 rounds total, in and on the gun. The buttstock had a recoil-absorbing butt pad that was probably more important with the .45 ACP version than it was with the 9mm I tested. The carbine was pleasant to

westernshootingjournal.com 45

gun reviews shoot and the military aperture sights were easy to adjust and use. This model has plenty of surprisingly rugged polymer tactical rails to mount all of your accessories and they make a nicelooking vertical foregrip and muzzlebrake, which I did not test. The carbine used in this test had several hundred rounds through it before I formally evaluated it. I’ve been using it during our local Zombie Shooters United competitions in central Kentucky for over a year and it has never malfunctioned in competition. I do recall, when I ﬁrst zeroed it for 25 yards, that the trigger pull was quite heavy. However, during my test for this story the trigger seemed a lot better. As one would expect, ammo matters. The best of the three different loads I tested was remanufactured semi-target-grade, 124-grain, fullmetal-jacket ammunition from AwesomeAmmunition.com. The average 50-yard, open-sight group from

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

ﬁve separate ﬁve round strings was 2.25 inches, which is pretty darn good for a pistol cartridge at that range. The velocity through the carbine’s 16.5-inch barrel was 1,143 feet per second and was measured 12 feet from the muzzle. Of the 115-grain full-metal-jacket factory ammo I tested, Winchester Target was clearly the better of the two. It was close behind Awesome Ammunition’s magic beans, with an average group size of 2.98 inches and 1,332 fps. The Winchester groups were more than an inch tighter than another popular low-cost factory ammo. This pattern of performance held for the C9 pistol too. Awesome Ammunition was the most accurate, this time a 124-grain, jacketed hollow point, followed by Winchester and the other famous brand, coming in at a distant third place. Don’t expect the C9 pistol to shoot like a Colt Gold cup. It’s no target pistol, but it will be head-shot accurate at 7 yards and center-mass effective to

25 yards. I was able to easily put ﬁve shots through a green bean can at 7 yards with one hand after I broke in the trigger. When I bench tested at 7 yards, I found the same Winchester load I used in the carbine, printed groups averaging 1.62 inches and had a velocity of 1,104 fps. That cluster of 25 test rounds left a ragged hole in the target which you could cover with the bottom of a soda can. That’s pretty impressive for a $140 pistol. As a point of interest, I shot groups with this same load benched from 25 yards both before and after I broke in the trigger and the difference was dramatic. Breaking in the trigger shaved 2 inches off the group size, dropping it from an average of 9.74 inches to 7.75 inches. The Hi-Points are heavy guns, but they are reliable, bargain priced, decent shooters and all American made. Without a doubt, they will be the best home-defense guns you will ever own for the money. ASJ

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

Product REVIEW

THE JOY OF CLEANING

Double Function AR-15 Cleaning Tools REVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY RICK ROSS

t could be a fun weekend shooting with friends, a 3-gun competition, civil disturbance or zombie apocalypse (I know, so overdone). Guns get dirty, carbon builds up in all the typical places and guns lose accuracy and reliability. A quick in-theﬁeld cleaning can keep them running smoothly and accurately so you don’t ﬁnd yourself without an operational gun when things are at their worse – or best, depending on how you look at it. I’ve seen many articles on ARs, but few on cleaning. Over the last few years, there have been numerous tools introduced to facilitate easier cleaning of the bolts and carrier groups and I wanted to compare them side by side to see if they worked, and if they worked, how well? I called Brownells (who else) and promptly received a package which included:

Our test victims, from left to right: C.A.T. M-4 cleaning tool, Otis B.O.N.E., CRT-15 carbon removal tool, Brownells bolt radius scraper, and Mark Brown carrier carbon scraper.

• C.A.T. M-4 Cleaning Tool • Otis B.O.N.E. • CRT-15 Carbon Removal Tool • Brownells Bolt Radius Scraper • Mark Brown Carrier Carbon Scraper I also rounded up 20 boxes of Wolf .223 steel-case, military classic ammo which felt dirty, so it was perfect for my project, a few boxes of hand loads from a friend (thanks, Ted), and various leftovers from previous range sessions in both 5.56 and .223, and was ready to go. GETTING DIRTY For the evaluations, I needed to shoot. I used my Spike’s Tactical 10.5-inch SBR

The author Rick Ross ﬁring his Spike’s Tactical SBR 10-inch 5.56mm riﬂe with Magpul furniture and an Advanced Armament 7.62 suppressor with an Aimpoint comp-m4 scope.

with a nickel-boron bolt group plus a second bolt and carrier, borrowed from my 10-inch Spike’s 300 Blackout, also nickel-boron. I then walked 100

yards to the backyard riﬂe and pistol range – I know, it’s a rough life. Within 10 minutes I was sent away for scaring the crap (literally) out of my wife’s new westernshootingjournal.com 49

PRODUCT REVIEW The CR15 in action.

Brownells AR-15 bolt radius scraper in action. The author’s workbench and reloading station.

foster dog. Darnit! A half an hour later I arrived at the public range and started over. I shot a hundred rounds then swapped bolts and carriers, and as an added bonus, I twisted on an Advanced Armament 7.62 SD suppressor to increase the gas and pressure to the carrier, hopefully making it a bit more carbon coated (remind me to use this when shooting in the backyard). The nickel-boron bolt groups performed well and I had no failures from the Spikes riﬂe. It digested all the various types of ammunition with only a few failures-

process. All the bolts and carriers were dry cleaned using the tools on their own, followed by a wet clean using CLP Break Free and a patch. All the tools did a pretty good job, and here is the overall review.

a bit loose to me.

OTIS B.O.N.E. Pros Small, compact, fits easily into the little Otis cleaning kit case. It did a reasonable job on the bolt and a great job on the carrier. Could be worn by a woman as a pendant to attract the right type of man. Cons The Otis bolt cleaning end felt

CAT M-4 CLEANING TOOL Pros Also small, simple one-piece design with no moving parts and offers a bonus screwdriver tip holder. Good performance and lightweight. Cons Not perfect. The C.A.T. M-4 didn’t get all the carbon from the back of the carrier.

The Otis B.O.N.E tool in action.

to-feed from the Wolf ammunition, but surprisingly, the accuracy was really good. THE CLEAN-UP Back in the shop, I began the clean-up 50

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

The C.A.T. M-4 In action.

westernshootingjournal.com 51

PRODUCT REVIEW MARK BROWN CUSTOM AR-15 BOLT CARRIER CARBON SCRAPER Pros This did a great job cleaning the carrier recess. Cons This is a large tool, best suited for the workshop. Only one function.

Mark Brown carrier carbon removal tool in action.

THE CONCLUSION Size matters. All the tools did a good job knocking the excess carbon from the bolts and carriers. Used in the field, I have no doubts that all of them would keep your ARs running strong. ASJ

CRT-15 CARBON REMOVAL TOOL FOR AR-15 Pros Was the best at getting the carbon off the bolt. At first it felt odd applying pressure to the small arm, but was easy enough to work with. Cons Small arm may break off and the carrier recess didn’t get it as clean as the others.

BROWNELLS AR-15 BOLT RADIUS SCRAPER Pros Did a great job on the bolt tail and removed most of the carbon the ﬁrst time through. Cons The tool is a bit large and best suited for the workshop. It only has one function that does not include women’s jewelry.

Editor’s note: Rick Ross is an NRA life member, GSSF and IDPA competitor, AR enthusiast and comedian, though he is not the rapper of the same name. He wished to extend special thanks to Brownells for an outragous amount of support for his article.

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

Tatiana Whitlock is a spokeswoman for the NRA Women’s Network and a member of the Maine Hunters TV pro-staff.

ON TOP AND ONWhoTARGET Is Tatiana Whitlock? BY ROBIN TAYLOR • PHOTOGRAPHS BY OLEG VOLK

o look at her, this slight, almost elfin woman doesn’t look like a “gun person.” With her hair in a short “pixie” cut, her dark eyes contrast sharply with her “winter” coloring, making them look larger than they actually are. After just four years in the shooting world, Tatiana Whitlock finds herself a spokeswoman for the NRA Women’s Network and a member of the Maine Hunters TV pro-staff. She’s quickly changed from industrial designer to a firearms instructor, active hunter and owner of a target manufacturing company. In some way that’s probably why the NRA picked her. She symbolizes the dynamic, independent lives that women in America lead. I caught up with Tatiana at home, and got a chance to chat with her about her journey. Although she did a little bird hunting with her brothers and father as a kid, she walked away from that life until she had children of her own. Her husband at the time encouraged her to get out and

Owner of ID Target Systems, Whitlock created a reactive, visually lifelike target complete with interchangeable components that allow the target and its threat level to be modiﬁed per scenario.

socialize, to do something for herself – this led to an NRA Women On Target event. “I was surrounded by 25 to 30 women who ranged from experienced

shooters, to people who were absolutely terrified and trembling,” says Whitlock. “By the end of that day I was completely hooked. I purchased my first firearm two weeks later.” That weekend excursion set Whitlock on a course that would change her life. She started shooting at an outdoor range on “ladies night,” and learned about an entirely different side of firearms ownership. “Once a week, we’d get together to talk and shoot until we ran out of daylight or ammunition,” says Whitlock. On the advice of a salesman, she bought a Beretta Neos .22 and shot that for a while, before her martial-artists’ aesthetic began to assert itself. Whitlock grew up with the martial arts, starting in shaolin kempo at age 10. “I’ve always loved the beauty of it from an artistic point of view.” In high school, she earned her black belt, then started Brazilian jiu-jitsu while studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. Unbeknownst to her, she’d need both before she graduated. westernshootingjournal.com 55

“Being a bit naive “I’m interested in I attended some the martial side of venues I wouldn’t it. I want to learn attend now that I’m to use my weapons a knowledgeable in the environment adult,” she recalls. where I might At one point a need them, and man attempted to realistically, that’s kidnap Whitlock – inside a structure.” much to his dismay. While shooting “Fortunately, my with the ladies’ mother sent me to night group, college with a black she bought an belt. The gentleman S&W M&P 9 and who attempted started taking the to whisk me out two- to four-day a back door and training courses stick me into the available from local Whitlock’s company, ID Target Systems, trunk of a vehicle instructors. “I ran incorporates balloons in the head and heart areas. These suspend and consequently wasn’t successful,” into lots of military drop the target when the shooter has made a Whitlock says doctrine from the critical hit, offering immediate feedback. and chalks up that 1990s,” she says. experience and successful escape to Just as there are different martial training and absolute determination. arts, there are different schools That close brush with danger reof firearms training. Some are invigorated her interest in the applied competition-oriented, some militarymartial arts, eventually taking her oriented and some focus on civilian down a different artistic path. Krav self-defense. Whitlock started maga is both modern and hard-edged. gathering samples of all of the above, It drops the formality of the moredeveloping her particular take on the rigid Asian styles, choosing to train subject. After taking all the courses in regular street clothes and focus available locally, “I started getting on on defense against real-world-based airplanes and visiting people around attacks, including multiple opponents. the US,” she says. It wasn’t long before the krav maga She trained with Steve “the Yeti” mindset began to infiltrate the way Fisher (owner of Sentinel Concepts), Whitlock looked at firearms. whom she describes as “a 6-foot, “My interest in firearms is not from 5-inch, 300-pound mammoth of a a ‘gaming’ perspective,” says Whitlock. man, and an incredible instructor,”

As a certiﬁed NRA instructor, Whitlock spends much of her time sharing her knowledge and expertise with passionate students.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

followed by others. Gradually, she found schools that broke out of the “square-range” mentality, emphasizing a 360-degree dynamic. Recently she’s been training with Pat Rogers, John Chapman and Doc Spears of EAG Tactical. “EAG oﬀers a close-quarterbattle shoot-house program wherein students learn what it means to ﬁght in buildings,” says Whitlock. “The shoot-house environment became the conduit for me to translate the squarerange environment into skills that people can use everyday.” An experience in that shoothouse led to Whitlock launching her business. During a room-clearing exercise, Whitlock engaged a series of targets meant to impersonate people, but didn’t do a very good job. “I walked past a target because I looked at it and my mind didn’t register it as a threat – I saw a box behind a big-screen TV. I went home with that experience and created what later became the ID Target System. It’s a 3D, true-to-life torso with a photorealistic image printed on the target. It is suspended from a balloon, so it falls when hit in a critical area. It adds that additional level of realism – that’s an actual face looking at you, not just a piece of cardboard,” she says. Whitlock’s background in industrial design included making and patenting polymer products for the medical and packaging industry. This is the background she pulled from to create her target systems. The targets work in layers. The base layer has an image of a person holding a gun, but there are patches that add a second layer – changing the image so that it shows someone holding a cell phone, or a knife, or another gun. The patches not only change the threat level, they resurface the impact zone, repairing the target for further use. Whitlock is taking on another new role as a contributing writer for the American Shooting Journal. We all wish her all the best and welcome her aboard. For more on Whitlock, visit her blog at tatianawhitlock.com. ASJ

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women and guns

PROTECTING YOUR WORLD

Translating The Real World To The Shooting Range STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY TATIANA WHITLOCK Use visualization techniques to reﬂect the danger zones you have measured in your home for use at the range.

very day, women become less of a minority amongst American gun owners. The trend data shows that women feel responsible for their own protection and are taking the necessary steps to ensure it. Even more interesting is the quietly growing number of females who are participating in self-defense ﬁrearms courses that go beyond the basics. What these courses offer are aspects of shooting that relate directly to real life. Spatial and situational awareness

as well as ﬁrearm manipulation techniques are just a few of those concepts. The combination of these skill sets begins to introduce a new shooter to thinking outside of the gun. They learn what the gun’s role needs to be depending on the wide variety of potential situations, and there are a number of ways to incorporate this into your home and range practice. By combining realto-you environments, distances and manipulation techniques you become

For a new shooter, the 7-yard line is a great starting place to build conﬁdence and fundamentals. Marksmanship and manipulation skills within and beyond this distance are just as critical for real world training.

better prepared for the world outside of the range. After all, the reason so many women carry and have homedefense ﬁrearms is to be prepared if they must use them. Aim to transform your plinking time to reality-inspired training by designing a training plan that builds mental and physical proﬁciency in your daily life. westernshootingjournal.com 59

women and guns TRAINING IN CONTEXT To obtain a concealed-carry permit, people must pass proﬁciency shooting requirements. Those vary from state to state, but most have a minimum standard of 3 to 10 yards. Much of this comes from the self-defense magic number of 7 yards, or 21 feet. Though it does establish a baseline, 7 yards is rather limiting and often becomes a comfort zone that many shooters fail to train beyond. Rarely are the circumstances such that a deadly force encounter occurs at a nice, neat 7 yards, and more importantly, there are other distances that more accurately relate to your unique living situation and are worth considering when building your training regimen. GRAB A MEASURING TAPE and reintroduce yourself to your home. What is the shortest, average and longest distance from which an intruder could attack you? For example: The average American bedroom measures 120 square feet and is required by building code R304 to have no less than 7 linear

VERTX A-RANGE BAG While range bags come in all shapes and sizes, the Vertx A-Range Bag has proved the most innovative to date. Developed with and by ﬁrearms instructors, Vertx has transformed what once was a black hole of gear bags into an easy-to-access-andmaintain organizational toolbox. Not only does this bag make set-up at the range easier than ever, it is also designed to

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

feet in any direction. Translation: The distance from your pillow to the bedroom door could be as little as 4 feet. A stairwell comprised of 16 steps measures roughly 13 feet from the first step to the landing. For some, the longest distance in your home may exceed the 21-foot distance where so many of us are comfortable shooting. No one knows your home like you do. Commit to memory a mental snapshot of your view from each engagement area. These measurements now translate to real environments filled with furniture, fixtures, lighting and sounds. The values may be uncomfortably close and personal or surprisingly farther than you expected. Transferring each to the gun range gives you real, scenario-based distances that are applicable to your home. For those carrying concealed, it is worth repeating this exercise for other places and spaces you frequent. A long aisle at the grocery store could measure 46 feet or more. What is the distance from the parking garage

make clean-up less of a hassle. The lower half of the range bag is equipped with pull-out drawers and ﬁtted with removable ammunition bags that have a mesh base and drawstring. Take out the drawstring bag to pick up brass and shake out dirt and grass, keeping your spent brass contained and clean. The interior surfaces of the bag’s sidewalls are constructed with pouches and soft velcro catching material. When used with

floor entrance to your regular parking space? Translate these distances into your personal training plan. Set your targets at distances meaningful to your everyday life and bring an element of reality into the artificial training environment of the square range. While it is our hope that we are never faced with a situation requiring us to take that long shot, it is our responsibility to be proficient at all relative distances. TRAINING IN CHARACTER Set your target at your closest, middle and longest distance and practice each one. Working your longest distance first will force you to slow down and focus. Close your eyes and visualize the environment, the sounds of your home, what it feels like to be in that space. Now get into character and imagine: There is an intruder brandishing a weapon and making threats to your life as they menacingly advance towards you. Choose to be confident, calm, focused and in control. Open your eyes and maintain this

other Velcro-backed Vertx accessories, this bag can be customized without becoming cluttered. An end-to-end steel braided cable and lock-ready zipper pulls make the lockdown of your equipment simple and secure. The icing on the cake is the bonus portable six pistol-mag pouch because you can never have too many mags! Visit them online at vertx.com. -TW

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women and guns

Taking the time to slow down after your course of ﬁre and look around teaches you to start thinking and truly seeing your surroundings.

mental image and mindset as you draw, acquire your sight picture and alignment, press the trigger and follow through. Complete the sequence of ﬁre with a visual scan and assess as you visualize, searching the area around the downed intruder to conﬁrm they are no longer a threat to you and that they didn’t bring friends. Look around and behind you, maintaining muzzle awareness at all times, and keep your

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

firearm pointed down range at your imagined threat. Where are your kids? Where is the dog? Just because rounds are fired doesn’t mean your job is done. Breathe. For the sake of practice, reholster, reset your mind, your gear and your target distance for another round. Top athletes use this mental rehearsal technique to connect the psychological and physical components of a performance or event for optimal results under stress. The more vivid imagery you choose, the greater confidence and control you will have under stress. Those training with personal protection in mind fully expect that critical life-saving moment will be an extreme and stressful experience. Build in the necessary survival mindset into every dry-fire and live-fire training session. BREAKING AWAY FROM TRAINING at comfortable distances and areas where you already excel can result in less

than ideal-looking targets, initially. Become less focused on making targets worthy of bragging rights and more concerned with spending your time and ammunition working on perfecting the tough stuff. With a little planning, you can make your next trip to the range a more meaningful one by working on the scenarios, real-world distances and life-saving mindset to hone your shooting skills even further. You just may ﬁnd that a measuring tape could be the next accessory you add to your range bag! ASJ

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

JEFF COOPER SAVED YOUR LIFE

The Godfather Of Gun Training

STORY BY TIM LYNCH • PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF GUNSITE ACADEMY

have never met Jeff Cooper. I have never taken a class at the Gunsite Academy and I don’t claim to know much about the man. I do know that he saved my life, and if you carry a gun for a living, at some point he is going to save yours too. In order to digest this sweeping statement you have to understand how things were before Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper, USMC (retired/deceased), developed the “modern techniques” of small arms training and opened the Gunsite Training Academy in Paulden, Ariz. THE FIRST FIREARM that I carried was a Marine Corpsissue .45-caliber pistol. The date: December 1983; the place: Beirut, Lebanon; and the mission: determine the source and nature of a serious food-borne illness that had started ashore. I was a navy corpsman, a medical laboratory technician, coming off the USS Guam to assist the environmental medical team in isolating an outbreak of salmonella paratyphoid. This disease is a mankiller and the mission was very important, but as far as pistols go, I was completely untrained. A fellow corpsman, who was assigned to the Marine helicopter squadron operating off the coast

He taught us how to think. of Guam, had given me the pistol. I have know idea where he got the firearm; he simply pulled it out of his tiny locker located in the shared overflow berthing compartment. He handed it to me with the warning, “Whatever happens, for god’s sake, don’t load it because the Marines ashore would go crazy if they caught you with a loaded weapon.” On Oct. 23 of that year, a suicide bomber had driven a large truck filled with the equivalent of 21,000 pounds of TNT through the base perimeter and detonated the explosives on the side of the building that the Marines were using for their headquarters and barracks. One of the details from that tragedy that I have never forgotten was how the truck driver made it past the Marine sentries at the entrance gate. As the driver approached the gate without slowing down, the Marines recognized him as a threat, but did not fire their weapons because they were unloaded. They were unloaded because that was the default standard operating procedure of the day. Conventional wisdom at that time was that a loaded weapon equaled accidental discharges, which in turn injured Marines. THE SENTRIES probably had a loaded magazine sitting right below an empty chamber. That is now called a “Condition

Jeff Cooper demonstrates the Weaver stance, which was designed by Jack Weaver of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in the 1950s.

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3” firearm, but back then, conditions were not taught to Marines or anyone else. They could have done a “typeone” malfunction drill to put their rifles into action, but in those days, the importance of muscle memory or type-one malfunction drills were simply not taught. The mechanical skills and combat mindset required to react instinctively to an existential threat would not become ingrained in the Marine Corps or anywhere else until Cooper made these concepts fundamental to professional firearms training. Without this knowledge, the sentries acted on instinct and in an attempt to save his fellow Marines, one of them threw himself in front of the truck. He became the first of 241 Marines to die that night. FOUR YEARS LATER, I arrived at Camp Pendleton, Calif., as a second lieutenant who had just graduated from the Infantry Officer Course and was slated to take charge of a rifle platoon in the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. The assignment was pure luck. The battalion was scheduled to be the Ground Combat Element of the very first Marine Expeditionary Unit, Special Operations Capable. That meant we were slated to do a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific aboard the ships of an Amphibious Ready Group instead of doing a six-month rotation with the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa. That was a good deal and being the first SOC Battalion Landing Team meant that we were conducting all sorts of new and high-speed training with “fast” ropes and “rigid-raiding” craft. We were also alotted all the training ammunition a young lieutenant could ask for. Unfortunately, we had no clear understanding of what to do with all of the extra small-arms ammunition. Every infantry battalion in the Marine Corps conducted an annual training rotation in Twentynine Palms, Calif. This was a month-long, Combined Arms training eXercise, or CAX, that included multiple sequences of live-fire assaults. This is where infantry battalions burned up most of their annual training ammunition allocation; we had hundreds of thousands of rounds more than those guys. The extensive

Cooper created the Gunsite Academy in Arizona based on the techniques and doctrine he formulated in the Marine Corps. Anyone who has read Cooper’s doctrine knows that qualifying with a gun isn’t combat training. It means you are ready to start combat training.

entry-level training required one to pass the qualification course with both the rifle and pistol. Anyone who has read Cooper’s doctrine knows, a rifle and pistol qualification isn’t combat training. It means that you are ready to start combat training. At the time, that concept was largely alien in both military and law enforcement circles. Tactical training was,

JEFF COOPER’S BASIC RULES TO GUN SAFETY These four basic rules to gun safety are ingrained in the shooting industry.

RULE 1: All guns are always loaded. Even if they are not, treat them as if they are. RULE 2: Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy. RULE 3: Keep your ﬁnger off the trigger until your sights are on the target. This is a golden rule. Its violation is directly responsible for 60 percent of inadvertent discharges. RULE 4: Identify your target, and what is behind it. Never shoot at anything that you have not positively identiﬁed.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

Many firearm concepts incorporate Cooper’s firearm status breakdown. This simplifies how you carry or should carry your firearm, depending on the situation. CONDITION 4: Chamber empty, empty magazine, hammer down. CONDITION 3: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down. CONDITION 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down. CONDITION 1: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on. CONDITION 0: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off. -DB

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doctrinally, the responsibility of the Fleet Marine Force, but up until 1988, they too had zero training to offer on the tactical employment of small arms. IT ALL CHANGED when a bright 1st Marine Division staff officer developed a plan to address the evident training shortfall. We received word of this when we returned from our first six-month shipboard deployment and our battalion was ordered to surrender our best sergeants to division schools. When an infantry battalion returns from a deployment it can anticipate losing hundreds of Marines in what was then known as the Fleet Assistance Program. These Marines would augment the military police, base services, rifle range and many other facilities. The FAP was one of the many cost-saving programs used by the legendarily stingy Marine Corps to get the most bang out of its manpower buck. The standard operating procedure for units facing the FAP crunch was to hold back their talent in order to train the replacements who would be pouring in for the next deployment. The courses we steered our sergeants towards were called the combat-rifle and combat-pistol instructor courses. Three of my acting squad leaders (all corporals) scored seats to these courses. We knew nothing about them except that the ammuntion requirement was 2,000 rounds per man per course; this hinted that they might be worth attending. The corporals were nervous about the pistol

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

The military, police and federal law enforcement use Cooper’s doctrine and training principles to this day, and there are hundreds of schools across America that teach it to students who want to be responsible for their own safety.

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The impact this training had on our course because that was not a firearm Marines was impossible to quantify. they had ever qualified with. I wasn’t in We made it a priority to teach these good shape either, having only qualified techniques, tactics and procedures to with the Colt 1911 in Quantico. Here, the new Marines joining the company. we were running 9mm Berettas, and I The new lieutenants and staff sergeants had never fired one. we received for the next deployment I remember walking into the cycle also attended the courses. classroom where we ended up spending Everyone who encountered Marines very little time, and seeing posters with from our regiment noted straight the four rules of weapons safety and trigger fingers and professional weapon color codes of mental awareness. I knew Cooper developed the combat mindset, handling skills. They sensed that they then that these two courses would be color code of mental awareness and the four were observing men who considered worth some investment of time and golden rules of firearms safety. the fundamentals of combat shooting ammunition. I was wrong; the training to be the very foundation of the profession of arms. we received there was worth its weight in gold! THE SERGEANTS instructing these courses were beyond impressive – they were confident, knew the material and experts in weapons handling, tactical shooting and positive reinforcement. They taught us the syllabus that was doctrine for the famous Gunsite Academy founded by Cooper in 1976. Word for word, drill by drill, they taught us well. Cooper and his team had trained these Marines to perfection and then he had allowed his class outlines and drills to be used without any compensation for what was then and is now, extraordinarily valuable intellectual property.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

OUR SECOND MEU (SOC) training cycle was markedly different from the first. We crammed as much live-fire training into our schedule as possible, using Gunsite-designed line drills and simulators. It was intense. The Marines loved it. Our rotation through Twentynine Palms was a smashing success; the squads, platoons and rifle companies ran through the live fire and movement range progressions with ease. I remember one of the coyotes (officers assigned to supervise and run the CAX) telling me that there was a noticeable difference between battalions coming from Camp Pendleton and those that were based at Camp Lejune or Hawaii. He

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added that they knew it was due to “those shooting courses you guys are teaching” at the division schools. In time, Cooper’s modern technique of small arms training would spread to every corner of America. The military, police and federal law enforcement use it to this day, and there are hundreds of schools across America that teach it to students Marine Corps officers of the USS Pennsylvania , circa 1943, included Jock Elliot, Jeff Cooper and (unknown) McLennan. who want to be responsible for their own safety and need to learn how. foot RPG screens on top of the compound walls either, like every other Western-aid implementer in the country. Our I’M A HISTORY BUFF with a near-encyclopedic knowledge of the exterior walls looked exactly like every other compounds’ Vietnam War. I’ve studied thousands of photographs from exterior walls. If you jumped over them, you landed on top of that conflict; my father and two of my uncles fought there concertina wire; if you got through the concertina, you then and have shared many stories about their time working the had to get past the dogs; if you got past the dogs, you had to Leatherneck Square, Rockpile and the infamous Arizona deal with us – and we knew what we were doing with the territory. Look at photos of Marines or soldiers fighting multiple weapon systems stored in our compounds. Many in Vietnam and compare them with photographs from international compounds in Afghanistan were attacked by Afghanistan or Iraq today and you can see for yourself that the Taliban over the years, but they never attacked one of the way grunts used to handle their weapons is completely ours, and I think that was, in part, due to our unique security different from how they handle them now. Jeff Cooper single posture, developed by Cooper. handedly did that, and without fanfare or self promotion. He did much more too; he taught us how to think. I spent eight years in Afghanistan, all of it outside the wire embedded in various Afghan communities. During that time I was given the opportunity to design reconstruction projects in the contested provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar, Nimroz and the Hellmand. We did not take the normal approach used by THE COMBAT MINDSET, color code of mental awareness and traditional security contractors. We did not have armored four rules of weapons safety were the foundation on which SUVs or heavily reinforced compounds. We moved in local I based my security procedures in Afghanistan, and they vehicles, wearing local clothes and were responsible for our served me well in some pretty tough situations. I survived own security, a position advocated by Cooper repeatedly in eight years to return home relatively unscathed, and I am his insightful lessons. convinced that Jeff Cooper had much to do with that. If you We used what my good friend and former Gunsite carry a gun for living, you too are benefiting from the legacy instructor John “Mullah” Binns called the Jeff Cooper El of Lt. Col. Cooper. It is impossible to calculate the number Salvador option for securing our compounds. We had of marines, soldiers, SEALs, police officers as well as trained exterior guards, but they were only armed with sawed-off civilians who are alive today thanks to the modernization shotguns. Their job was to fire them and run if we were of gun handling and combat marksmanship that was attacked. The high-end military-grade ordinance was inside developed, refined and introduced to America by this lion the compound with trained expats. We didn’t want to leave of a man. He should never be forgotten as long as free AK-47s or RPK machineguns outside of our buildings where men roam this world with the rights and ability to defend they could be used against us if our minimal exterior security themselves against those who would victimize them through failed, which was likely to happen. We didn’t put our 30criminality or tyranny. ASJ

Jeff Cooper and his team had trained these Marines to perfection

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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MGM FOOTBALL TARGET Why we love this target: * This is a football game played by shooting your way to the end zone. It’s a form of man-againstman competition where the center spinner has a top and bottom target, both assigned to a shooter. Once the shooting begins, the shooter who hits their target more often causes the spinner to move closer to their end zone. Any time you incorporate the aspects of a game with shooting, you have just made things even better. * Steel durable target system. * Easy to transport and set-up. * Who doesn’t like football?!?

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ID TARGET SYSTEMS REACTIVE TARGET Why we love this target: * Three-dimensional design. * Visually realistic, with a body and a full human face. * A fully reactive target that will fall or drop once a precise hit has been made. * Each target is customizable by changing out what the target is holding for a threat/no-threat option. * Withstands hundreds of rounds and can be patched over and over, thanks to its durable design.

ROGUE AR500 STEEL MINI CLASSIC POPPER Why we love this target: * Who doesn’t love a target that automatically resets? * Immediate audible feedback. * Easy to transport and set-up. * Ships for free, and considering that it weighs 22 pounds, this is a nice deal.

VIKING TACTICAL DOUBLE SIDED TARGETS Why we love this target: * Two-sided paper target with multiple marksmanship targets on one side, and a human silhouette with skeletal structure on the other. * Very durable paper. This target will not rip in the wind and withstands a decent amount of rain. * It has a white silhouette on a black background, which is great for long-range identiﬁcation. * Perfect for indoor and outdoor ranges.

DALLY POST RUNNING TARGETS Why we love this target: * Unpredictable, random, ﬂoating target that moves from side to side. * Fully programmable. You can literally program personalities into each target, setting them up to be fast, nervous, slow moving and even jittery as they move across the range. * Can be operated remotely so an instructor can have fun with you. * Comes with nine different speeds and several preprogrammed challenges, or you can create your own.

TARGET TRACKER HUNTING EDITION Why we love this target: * It’s a move-all-over-the-place target. * Remote controlled so it can be driven around and made to act erratically, just like wild game. It can even back up! * 200- to 500-meter range. * Rechargeable. * Runs up to 9 miles per hour. * It’s simply a great big remotecontrolled, full-size toy to shoot at. Need we say more?

ACTION TARGETS D-TAPS TURNING TARGET Why we love this target:

TACSTRIKE BMI DOUBLE PLATE SWINGER Why we love this target: * Double gong for a head or bodymass shot. It’s two targets in one. * Each gong has a distinctively different sound and length of tone, making it easy to know if you hit your mark. * Gongs can be mounted at different heights. * Great price for a steel target that will last for years.

BIRCHWOOD CASEY SHOOT-N-C TARGET Why we love this target: * This highly visible ﬂat target reacts to bullet penetration and causes the neon underlining to clearly show the shooter where they have placed their shot. * Simple bull’s-eye design. * It’s self-adhesive. * Fits nicely into a range bag.

* Blazing-fast critical-decision training with an edge-to-face target in two tenths of a second. This is faster than the human brain can actually react, so the movement pushes your limits. * A fully programmable timing sequence. * Durable product for full-time use on active ranges. westernshootingjournal.com 75

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

COMBAT OR TARGET What Type Of Handgun Should You Be Shooting? STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT CAMPBELL

An ex-Army S&W features combat shooting sights that are well deﬁned for quick visual access but won’t catch on clothing or gear.

am all for marksmanship, target shooting and even plinking. Accuracy is always interesting. If the target is one that shoots back, however, we are looking at a diﬀerent discipline. I want to hit the threat, hit him hard and very fast where it will do the most damage. I have come to believe that too many of the handguns chosen for personal defense have target features that may work against us. I am not advocating a return to embryonic sights and an 8-pound trigger action, but I think that perhaps a clearly deﬁned notion of combat guns and target guns might be wise The combat setup features sights that are adequate but not likely to snag during the draw, a smooth trigger but not so light that it is prone to mismanagement and the grip will be

There is an interesting contrast between the Enfield Mk III (top) and S&W Victory Model (bottom). The Enfield features excellent combat sights, a double-action-only trigger and a spurless nonsnag hammer. The Victory Model is no slouch in combat, but add the Enfield’s break-top action that ejects all six spent cases at once and the Enfield wins.

ambidextrous. A target gun will have well-deﬁned high-proﬁle sights, a light trigger action with a break of 2.5 to 4.0

pounds and there may be a grip shape that aids in perfect control of the trigger during slow fire. The competition between giltedged accuracy and combat stability isn’t new. One of the most well known comparisons was between the Colt single-action Army revolver and the Smith and Wesson Schofield conducted about 140 years ago. At that time, S&W pretty much abrogated the US market to keep up with sales to Russia and Japan, but eventually introduced the S&W Model 3 Frontier which offered an extended frame and cylinder to accommodate a larger .44-40-caliber round. The S&W developed an excellent reputation for top-flight accuracy and their sights were crisp and sharp, but the Colt was the gun you wanted if you went to war. westernshootingjournal.com 77

introduced the .357 Magnum Colt Python. The Python is a great target revolver, however, on at least two occasions that I am aware of, it locked up during a critical incident. The trigger was pulled and the Colt ﬁred normally, but the shooter did not allow the trigger to fully reset, then The S&W Combat Magnum is powerful and accurate. The grips are wrong for rapid ﬁre. The adjustable sights are better suited for hunting rather than combat.

The Colt was very fast, handled well and had a tall front sight with good utility at close range. Upgrades in revolvers resulted in improved combat ability. In 1935 the most powerful and accurate revolver to date was introduced: the S&W .357 Magnum. This gun quickly set longrange accuracy records out to 600 yards and was extremely powerful. It is interesting to note that in 1929, the Colt Government Model was introduced in .38 ACP, largely to deal with the new breed of outlaw and was carried by the FBI. After World War II, S&W introduced the short-action revolver. The new action was faster than double-action ﬁre and some bemoaned the loss of the old, smooth long-action revolver, but the results on the range spoke for themselves. Later, S&W introduced the Combat Masterpiece .38 Model 10: a targetsighted service revolver complete with a trigger stop that became immensely popular. The Masterpiece eventually had its cylinder lengthened and heat treated and then became the Combat Magnum or Model 19. The action improvements by Colt went even further when they

The Colt Gold Cup National Match is a ﬁne target gun; it is best reserved for competitive shooting, not combat.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

The Browning High Power, S&W Model 13 and Colt Detective Special (bottom) are all ﬁxed-sight defense or service handguns. The author considers them great combat guns.

attempted to pull the trigger again. This action bent the double hand, which is a piece that rises against the pawl and locks the cylinder solidly into place. Knowing what I know about the Python, I would prefer a tour of duty with the reliable S&W Model 10. When the Model 10 was a common, military-issued revolver many law enforcement agencies were

The GI sight (left) is a bit skimpy. The MilSpec sight (right) is easier to see if you want to quickly access a sight picture.

qualifying with it as far out as 50 yards. Few do so today. Quite a few unfortunate incidents which seemed to have left police helpless could have been quickly addressed with the ability to take a long-range shot from a Model 10 or, better still, the Model 19. Just the same, the Model 19, while a ﬁne revolver, was issued with Cokebottle-type grips that were not ideal for fast double-action trigger work. No wonder the Hogue Mono Grip sold so

well during the era. A counterpoint to the target gun argument was realized when an agency that I served with transitioned from the S&W Model 66 revolver to the S&W Model 59 9mm pistol. We had to drop the 50-yard qualification as hopeless. The Model 59 was doing well just to keep 10 shots within 8 inches at 25 yards, much less 50 yards. The point I am making is that it went too far. The Model 59 was a combat gun, not a target gun, but there was a certain baseline that hadn’t been met. The poorly designed grip and heavy trigger as well as an indifferent barrel-to-slide fit resulted in a terrible combination. We traded a fine revolver with target features for a poor self-loader.

If possible you should try different mainspring housings and grips before settling on a certain type of 1911. The arched housing may be a superior combat style.

I succumbed to nostalgia at this point and took the Model 19 and Model 13 to the range and fired 50 rounds through each revolver using Winchester .38 Special 158-grain SWC which is a very clean-burning load. It was interesting. At 25 yards, firing carefully off of the barricade, the Model 19 put five rounds into a group less than 2 inches wide. The Model 13 averaged about three. During combat drills and drawing from a holster, the Model 13, a heavy-barreled, fixedsight revolver that was once issued to the NYPD, was faster on target and faster to a first shot hit. The Colt 1911 Government Model actually issued in 1911 was the finest combat handgun in the world and remains so today, in my opinion. The combination of a short straightto-the-rear trigger and a grip that fits most hands made for excellent

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ABOUT THE ARTIST Eric Rice, was never far from his sketchbook as a child. After ten years in IT, he taught himself CAD and broke into the ﬁrearms and accessories market. Four years later, as head of an engineering department, he changed directions and began freelancing for a number of popular brands. Today he uses the latest CAD and rapid-prototyping tools to service the needs of his clients and his employer, Raven Concealment Systems. Eric resides in northwestern Ohio with his lovely wife and four beautiful children. Contact him for your projects at: ericmrice@mac.com westernshootingjournal.com 81

hit probability. There was, however, room for improvement, and after World War I, updates were made. Indentations were added to the frame that allowed Novak sights are an excellent improvement in personal defense and this pistol features a gold bead front post. for a shorter trigger reach and the original trigger was shortened. The mainspring housing, originally flat, was replaced by an arched design which resulted in a much better balance and feel. So why are so many modern 1911 handguns supplied with a long trigger and flat mainspring housing? Because it is easier to fit the These high-profile sights from 10-8 popular beavertail grip safety, or at Performance are ideal for combat use. They are rugged and highly visible. least that is one reason. The long target trigger may be more manageable when you are pressing the trigger with no I routinely use a Kimber Pro regards to time and attempting to get Tactical and feel that it is among the a hit on a paper target at 25 yards. The fastest and most accurate of 1911s, but short trigger and arched housing are the original certainly isn’t a drawback better for combat shooting. in combat shooting. There are 1911s

Sometimes called the “old man sights” these sights, with a U-notch cut out, are ideal for fast and efficient combat work.

that have been tightened considerably in order to coax them into delivering 5 rounds of Federal Match into the same hole at 50 yards. The matchgrade barrel bushing limits the ease of ﬁeld stripping. Tighter guns may not be as reliable when dirty or less than perfectly maintained. Five inches at 50 yards is a good standard for a superior combat gun. Six inches at 25 yards will save your life. When all is said and done the diﬀerence between a combat gun and a target gun is profound. Understand your needs and choose accordingly. ASJ

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

training

GOOD BLOWBACK CO2 Guns With Kick Add Realism To Training Off Range STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVE GOETZINGER

fellow shooter found me in a coffee shop looking at guns online and asked if I was looking for a concealed-carry gun. When I explained that I supplemented my training with CO2 guns and was shopping for another one, his mouth dropped open. He’d never thought of trying such a thing. “Why would you do that?” he asked. I’m a new shooter, and like many people, I am lucky if I can to go to the shooting range every weekend – and I’m not always lucky. I know that even if I were able to shoot often I wouldn’t achieve the skill level I would like by

practicing only four times a month. Dry-fire practice is good to a point, but I have a strong startle reflex and I need to pull the trigger on a gun that goes “bang” and actually jumps in my hands. ENTER THE CO2 PELLET GUN. A small number of CO2 guns are being made with what is called “blowback” technology. Basically, the guns are designed to use CO2 for two things; firing pellets and blowing back the slides on the guns, simulating recoil. The recoil is mild and close to what you would experience firing a .22 pistol with a light load. Because the guns

use CO2 to blow their slides back, you get roughly 50 shots per cartridge before the slide stops blowing back. Considering the low cost of CO2 and pellets (or BBs), and given that I’m practicing only basic skills at home, this is exactly the solution I wanted for my dry-firing dilemma. THE FIRST CO2 PISTOL I bought was a Beretta Px4 Storm replica made by Umarex. You can find it from about $89 to $190. The gun has a metal slide with a plastic frame, and the magazine is double-ended, holding eight pellets or BBs at each end. The barrel is rifled, which allows the gun to be fairly accurate up to 7 yards. When CO2 starts running out, shots begin to hit low. When I am outside, I shoot pellets; indoors, BBs to minimize exposure to lead. Shooting BBs with this gun can be problematic; when both ends of the magazine are loaded, BBs occasionally westernshootingjournal.com 85

training drop from the bottom portion of the magazine while shooting. Loading CO2 cartridges into the gun is easy, however, and the only noticeable wear and tear so far is that the cover for the CO2 compartment (part of the backstrap) is now loose. THE NEXT CO2 PISTOL I tried is called a UX-9XP, also made by Umarex. Loading CO2 cartridges into the UX-9XP is awkward compared to the Beretta replica, and the built-in plastic key for tightening the CO2 cartridges into place has broken but the magazine functions more like a real magazine; BBs are pushed up into the gun under spring tension. The barrel is smooth and this gun also works best for distances up to 7 yards. I should mention, this model is discontinued. Neither gun is meant to be dry ﬁred, which would defeat my purpose for buying them anyway. I wanted

to train with something that went “bang” and jumped a little. Of the two, I prefer shooting the Beretta replica. I’ll admit that the sight picture on this gun doesn’t resemble the sight picture on my Glock 19 Gen 4, but I’ve found that the difference doesn’t matter when I return to the shooting range. My startle response doesn’t kick in when I bring my Glock up on target and pull the trigger. I can focus on keeping my trigger pull steady and managing recoil, which is one of the main things I wanted to accomplish. Better still, my shooting is improving. ANYONE INTERESTED in supplementing his or her own training with CO2 pistols might want to keep a couple of things in mind. First, the two leading manufacturers of CO2 pistols are Umarex and Gamo. Their guns are usually made in Japan or Taiwan, and the appropriate

copyright permissions with regard to gun design have been ironed out prior to putting their guns into production. I have found other businesses producing knock-offs of guns without permission to do so. Glock, for example, hasn’t granted permission to anyone to produce Airsoft or CO2 replicas of their guns. I won’t support a business selling these. Second, one needs an adequate backstop for CO2 pistols. Shooting nothing more than copperjacketed BBs, I’ve drilled through phonebooks and blocks of wood. I WON’T SHOOT THESE GUNS FOREVER, but for now they help with the basics. If you want to practice at home and you’re not satisﬁed with dry ﬁring, you might try plinking with a BB gun. Scratch that; practice with a “CO2 pistol with blowback response” – or no, an “Interactive CO2 Training Device.” ASJ

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American Shooting Journal // May 2015

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BEHIND THE BADGE

ST. JOHNS S.O. ON CUTTING EDGE OF TACTICS Florida County’s Deputies Protect ‘First Coast,’ Cradle Of New World With Cool SWAT Gear STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDRE’ M. DALL’AU

Sheriff’s deputies train on the Ring Power Rook Armored Deployment Platform. It can withstand impacts up to and including .50 BMG rounds while providing a stable platform for observation, assault and oversight.

he “First Coast” is the nickname for the upper east coast of Florida where some of the ﬁrst European visitors to the New World came to enjoy the beautiful beaches and climate 100 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. One of those ﬁrst visitors was believed to be Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who named the land La Florida. Historians

believe that area is now known as St. Augustine, located within St. Johns County. That settlement persisted into what is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement and port in the continental United States. It still maintains both its natural environment and link with the past while hosting many visitors and tourists who ﬂock to its beautiful weather, warm water and white beaches. Throughout the season from

March to the end of September, the roads, beaches and hotels ﬁll up on the same coast where Ponce de Leon and even Blackbeard the pirate walked on the sand and swilled rum from kegs. St. Johns County, with Jacksonville to the north and Daytona Beach to the south, has urban and suburban developments and extensive tourist attractions, lodging and restaurants. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is faced with challenges westernshootingjournal.com 89

BEHIND THE BADGE multiplied ten-fold when the area swells with additional visitors for events like spring break, which is shared with other First Coast communities. However, unlike Daytona Beach, the crowds visiting St. Johns County are mostly families and high school kids from adjoining Putnam and Alachua Counties just west of St. Augustine. To help deal with the inﬂux of fun-loving students, for many years both counties have sent deputies to assist in keeping the kids safe. Some of those deputies include school resource officers who know their own kids and can provide a familiar and stabilizing inﬂuence to help keep kids out of trouble, much to the dismay of some of them.

Beach patrol: Sgt. Keith Oke during a beach patrol in St. Johns County, Florida.

similar to what you would ﬁnd in most American cities, which include illegal drug manufacture and sales, gang violence and crimes against property and people, but they have a few extra elements added to their responsibilities. Due to the extensive inland and coastal waterways, much of their efforts are focused on the shore, as the nearby seas have vicious riptides and undercurrents that account for frequent responses to swimmers in trouble. The SJSO works closely with St. Johns County Marine Rescue, whose Lieutenant Jessica Earl was recently honored as Florida’s lifeguard of the year for the lifesaving actions she has performed in the waters off of the First Coast. All of these challenges are 90

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SERGEANT STEPHEN BRIGGS, who is the beach coordinator for SJSO, also augments his patrol with additional deputies during those peak times. “During the day the officers patrol the beaches and acquire intel for what might happen after dark,” he says. “At night, there is extra emphasis by the patrol deputies to ﬁnd illegal activities like underage drinking and unsupervised parties. All of this effort helps keep the kids safe.” Sgt. Briggs went on to explain the

Range training: SJSO deputies routinely train as well as qualify with their weapons.

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BEHIND THE BADGE importance of looking after the young partiers. “We almost lost a couple of people to alcohol poisoning last year and one was a young lady who was just 15; she almost died on the beach. I was sure that she wasn’t going to make it when she was taken away by the ambulance, but thankfully I was

A BEAT STORY

THE VIOLIN IS A DEAD GIVEAWAY One day, my partner Nicky and I responded to a call on Church Street in New York City. When we arrived, a woman was leaning out of a fifth-story window yelling “Up here! Up here!” We ran up the stairs of the old five-story walk-up and saw that the old wooden door had been knocked in and was hanging by a single hinge. We went inside and met with a heavy-set, 30ish Latin lady who had been yelling from the window. She was clearly upset and sporting a fresh shiner. The following is a breakdown of our conversation, which in and of itself tells the story. NYPD What happened? LADY My boyfriend beat me up and then ran up the fire escape.

The SJSO SWAT Team navigate a tall stairway. This requires excellent team communication and understanding of coverage and angles.

American Shooting Journal // May 2015

We radioed in to “central command” to conﬁrm that we were at the correct location, explained that a woman had been assaulted and they should stand by for a description of

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BEHIND THE BADGE the suspect. NYPD What did your boyfriend look like? LADY He’s short, very short. NYPD How short approximately? LADY Well, he’s less than 4 feet – 3 feet, 10 inches. I looked at my partner and could tell he was asking himself the same question. How could someone that small kick in such a heavy door?

this building.” At this point, other officers started making inquiries on the radio. One officer asked, “Well, is he a midget or a dwarf?” “What’s the difference?” I asked. “Why does it matter?” Nicky added. Another officer chimed in: “A midget has a head proportionate to his body, while a dwarf has a small body and a large head.” NYPD Is he a midget or a dwarf? LADY He’s a midget

NYPD How was he able to kick in the door? LADY He’s a karate expert.

We informed central command that the suspect was a midget and they should stand by for further information.

Somehow Nicky was able to speak into his microphone and said: “Central, be advised that the suspect is 3 feet, 10 inches tall and was last seen ﬂeeing up the ﬁre escape of

NYPD Ma’am, what was he wearing?” LADY Well, he was wearing a tuxedo and carrying a violin case. He was going to propose to me.

proven wrong.” Florida, in general, has a very high humidity level and the salt air permeates vehicles, gear and weapons.

The deputies and their equipment have to be rugged and ready to respond and operate without fail. To serve those areas as well as all of the

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We advised central command that the suspect was 3 feet, 10 inches tall, wearing a tuxedo and carrying a violin case. At this point, we left the apartment and proceeded up the ﬁre-escape towards the roof to search for the suspect. When we arrived and started looking around, we heard a rookie officer ask, “Central, what does the suspect actually look like – what color hair does he have?” Nicky had a strange look in his eyes. He grabbed the radio and said, “Stop anyone carrying a violin case!” -Scott Baker Editor’s note: Scott Baker is a former police officer for the NYPD and the author of A Warmer Shade of Blue Stories about good things cops do. Visit his webiste at awarmershadeofblue.com. or somecomedy.com.

unincorporated areas of the county, which includes densely wooded terrain, wetlands and miles of beach, SJSO uses a combination of the

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BEHIND THE BADGE

SWAT deputies use the Ring Power Rook to lift their team onto the second ﬂoor of a house to gain entry. (RING POWER ROOK)

best deputies, training, support and gear available. Among their assets of police cars, SUVs, motorcycles, aviation craft, boats, off-road quads and even personal watercraft, they also have specialty vehicles designed for tactical mobility. The SJSO SWAT team, consisting of 25 members, uses the Lenco BearCat (an armored personnel carrier) and the tracked Ring Power Rook (an armored criticalincident vehicle) that, although less than 7 feet wide, has a ground pressure that exerts fewer pounds per square inch than a walking man. To defend themselves, their citizens and visitors, the SJSO uses mostly polymer-framed Glock pistols and have dedicated two of those specifically for when deputies are out patrolling the waves, so as not to subject all of their firearms to the harshness of saltwater. AR-patterned carbines are the deputies’ designated patrol and SWAT longarms, and their countersnipers are equipped with Accuracy International scoped rifles in 7.62x51 NATO. Although surrounded by centuries 96

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of history predating even the birth of our nation, the deputies of St. Johns County work hard to ensure that the public can safely live, work and play there. Their mission also includes preserving one of the most naturally beautiful and delicate ecosystems in

1821 TO PRESENT

The history of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office dates back almost 200 years to when General Andrew Jackson appointed James R. Hanham as the ﬁrst sheriff in 1821. Today the county is 821 square miles with a population nearing 200,000. Beginning in 1970, Sheriff Dudley Garrett began a campaign to stop the steadily increasing drug trafficking in the county by expanding the patrol unit and establishing around-the-clock shifts to cover the county day and night. Sheriff Garnett also adopted the ﬁrst policy manual and began training sessions for deputies to standardize and increase his deputies

the United States, so on any given day a deputy can be found transporting a sick pelican, saving a swimmer from drowning, ticketing a speeding driver or dealing with beach-goers who have swilled too much rum. All in a day’s work on the First Coast. ASJ

effectiveness. A decade and a half later, Sheriff Neil J. Perry continued to improve professionalism and SJSO’s connection with the community with the adoption of consistent policies and procedures and obtained a law enforcement accreditation for the department. He assigned additional personnel and developed programs to provide more services to the rapidly growing population of St. Johns County. Starting in 2005, Sheriff David B. Shoar has continued to expand the agency’s operational effectiveness by starting an “open-door” relationship between the sheriff’s office and the community with such programs as the Civilian Law Enforcement Academy” and the Sheriff’s Advisory Council. -AD

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guns of our fathers

A close-up view of the Springﬁeld Model 1855 action, manufactured in 1860. You can clearly see pitting and corrosion caused by poor maintenance in the ﬁeld and over time.

THE MINIÉ TALES

Starring The French-Designed Bullet And The Springfield Model 1855 STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB SHELL he American Civil War (1861-65) was fought with a variety of weapons, from flintlocks and repeating rifles to Gatling guns, a forerunner to machine guns. While the bulk of the skirmishes were fought with caplock rifles, anything that went bang was utilized, including pinfires and other odd firearms. One of the more popular rifles was the .58-caliber Springfield Model 1855, which was used by both sides, although the South favored the Enfield, which was imported from Great Britain. Spencer and Henry repeating rifles could also be found throughout, but not enough to make a major difference in the war.

The top of the Springﬁeld Model 1855. These guns were found throughout the Civil War and predominantly used by the Union.

THE MODEL 1855 WAS PRODUCED between 1856 and 1860 and could use both the Maynard priming and percussion caps system; this made it much more desirable and useful in combat. The Maynard system worked like a kid’s cap gun, using a roll of percussion caps to prime the gun. The inventor was a dentist named Dr. Edward Maynard who had an interest in guns and also developed the feeding system for the caps. This system was a roll of paper, a priming compound and another roll of paper on top to hold the compound together. Unfortunately, it was unreliable since it was subject to moisture, had a propensity to collect mud and came apart in the battlefield. Attempts were made to use tin foil instead of paper in an effort to correct some of these problems, but to no avail. The 1855 saw action in the Yakima War, in Washington state, from 1856 to 1858 and allowed US soldiers to defeat a large number of American Indians because of its extended range. It used a Minié ball load, which is a bullet as opposed to a round ball more commonly used in muskets and rifles. The Minié ball, invented by ClaudeÉtienne Minié and Henry-Gustave Delvigue of France, greatly extended the rifle’s range and accuracy out to 700 westernshootingjournal.com 99

guns of our fathers yards. The typical Minié weighed 450 grains and the muzzle velocity was around 950 to 1,000 feet per second. By today’s standards that sounds pedestrian, but it was the best longrange load of its day. THE WAY THE STORY GOES, in 1832 Captain John Norton, a British soldier serving in India, observed some natives using blowguns which used a soft wood known as pith. It had a hollow base, and when the user blew into the tube it caused the wood to expand, giving it more accuracy and range. In 1836, a London gunsmith named William Greener changed the shape and used a wooden plug in the rear to facilitate obtrusion; this gave it better accuracy and range. In the early 1850s, James Burton, who was a master armorer at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal, made further improvements, including lengthening the bullet and thinning the skirt, which did away with the necessity of a plug and helped seal the bore, making it more efficient. In 1855, Jefferson Davis, who was the Secretary of War, and later became president of the Confederacy, approved this system for his troops. THE MINIÉ IS MADE FROM SOFT LEAD, which aids in expansion and creates a more severe wound than round balls, even at lower velocities. They were known for shattering bones and causing infections, which is why amputations were so prevalent. They also travel much further, inflicting injuries at ranges far beyond what a round ball is capable of. It has been suggested that Minié balls caused 90 percent of all Civil War casualties. Both the British Enfield and the American Springfield used the Minié projectile, but many of the 100

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commanders didn’t understand its effectivenes and as a result ordered many suicidal charges against troops armed with it. This is another reason there was such a high casualty rate on both sides. Skilled soldiers could hit targets at ranges undreamed of with smoothbores and round balls; and even at 1,000 yards, a soldier was in serious jeopardy of being shot by a skilled marksman. STUDIES CONDUCTED long after the Civil War showed that the Minié was about three times more effective than any other projectile of the period. They used power, accuracy and ease of loading (among other factors) for this study and gave the Minié a rating of 154. The next closest was 47, with the typical ﬂintlock coming up at 36. As good as the Minié was, it didn’t last long since cartridge arms were being introduced and perfected. The last hurrah for the Minié was the British Snider, which was a conversion (see Guns Of Our Fathers, March 2015 issue, Western Shooting Journal) from the Enﬁeld. It used a case to launch the Minié and was used from 1867 to 1871. THE RIFLE THAT I USED for this piece was produced in 1860. I feel comfortable in stating that it saw action during

Minié balls went through a series of evolutions and were eventually incorporated into a case and used in the Snider conversion.

Cleaning the gun right after a battle wasn’t always possible, due to various circumstances. There’s no easy way to tell for sure, but it would be a pretty good bet that the riﬂing is in rough shape. The gun itself is pretty sound and would probably be safe to ﬁre with a light load of black powder.

The author’s Springﬁeld Model 1855 was produced in 1860 and found in poor condition with pitting from corrosion and lack of cleaning over time. According to him, it’s probably sturdy enough to handle a light load of black powder.

the Civil War. I sure wish it could talk, as the stories it could tell would be fascinating. It is obvious that the gun was shot quite a bit, as there is a lot of pitting around the nipple caused by black powder, the priming mixture and not a lot of cleaning.

The nipple is clogged up and the rear sight is in bad shape, no doubt as a victim of the corrosion. Under no circumstances should this gun be ﬁred with smokeless powder or even a heavy black powder load. ASJ

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BLACK POWDER

Author Mike Nesbitt shoots with cross-sticks while Don McDowell “spots” his shots at 2014’s movie-inspired Matthew Quigley Buffalo Riﬂe Match.

DOWN UNDER IN EASTERN MONTANA June Is Coming – Sharpen Up Now For The Quigley Shoot In Big Sky Country STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY MIKE NESBITT

he annual Matthew Quigley Buffalo Riﬂe Match is really some doin’s! Hosted each June by the Forsyth Riﬂe & Pistol Club of Forsyth, Mont., it isn’t the longest distance match or the most “critically scored,” but nonetheless, there’s nothing else quite like it, and for a match like Quigley, it pays to be ready. (By not being critically scored I simply mean they count hits rather than 9’s, 10’s, or X’s. A hit is one point, and those are hard-to-get points.)

QUIGLEY IS A HUGE EVENT, very well attended by all types of shooters, and

the inspiration for this long-range match, of course, came from Tom Selleck’s character in Quigley Down Under, the 1990 movie about an American sharpshooter who responds to an Australian’s help-wanted ad, but finds the job morally wrong. We can easily say that the shooting in these matches is almost as good as portrayed in the film. The rifles used in the Quigley match can be any traditional single-shot or lever-action rifle with a caliber of .375 or larger. That means the good old .3855 is just about the smallest cartridge you’ll see on the firing line. Bullets must be made of cast lead (gas checks are

OK) and the powder charges can be black powder, black powder substitute, black powder/smokeless powder duplex loads or smokeless powder. Even though there are no restrictions for the powder used, Quigley is referred to as a black-powder shoot and most shooters actually use it. ONE OF THE QUIGLEY RULES is that shooters must use the same riﬂe for all distances and targets. Those distances, include shooting offhand at the 350-yard target as well as a seated 805-yard shot over cross-sticks, among others. Last year, I chose my Sharps Model 74 C chambered in .44-77. The westernshootingjournal.com 103

BLACK POWDER making Quigley a 48-shot match.

The author owns two Sharps, a heavy .44-90 (top) and a .44-77 ; he plans to take the former to Quigley this June.

400-grain bullets worked very well for me, and the 70 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F sends those bullets out of my 28-inch barrel at about 1,370 feet per second. It shoots well enough to give me good scores at 200 yards and it is enjoyable enough to shoot from the shoulder. But 200-yard shooting won’t even get you started at Quigley, since the distances begin with offhand shooting at 350 yards. I needed some longrange experience very badly. In order to get just that, I entered into a few black-powder cartridge-rifle silhouette matches. That was a whole new world for me and very fun! Why I waited so long before trying the silhouettes, I don’t know, but I certainly learned a few lessons! With my newfound education on shooting silhouettes out to 500 yards and copious notes, I was ready to try Quigley, or at least I thought so. IT ALL SEEMED TOO SOON when my partner Allen Cunniff and I drove into the Quigley camp. We were immediately met by “Dangerous” Don McDowell, who was our guide and took us under his wing. He showed us our camp area and then took us down to the firing line to sight in. He made sure we were registered and suggested that we shoot in his same group. Sighting in can be done throughout the week preceding the actual match; however, once the match starts, that’s it! One reason is simply because the firing line is too busy. Highest compliments must be extended to the staff for the administration of this fine event. They run more than 600 shooters through the course of six targets in about six to 104

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eight hours. Each shooter is assigned to a group and those groups are broken down into squads for ﬁring in relays. The target course is doubled, meaning there are two of each target. This allows two groups to shoot at the same time. Hits are recorded by scorekeepers who have earphones and receive an electronic signal when the target is hit. All shots are taken from the sitting position using cross-sticks except for the bucket target, which is shot offhand. Eight shots are ﬁred at each target,

THE COURSE OF FIRE 805 yards: The buffalo 600 yards: The large octagon 530 yards: The vertical rectangle 405 yards: The diamond 417 yards: The vertical rectangle 350 yards: The bucket – in my opinion, this is the toughest and often used as the ﬁrst tiebreaker. -MN

Last year over 600 buffalo-gun shooters gathered from 36 different states and three other countries just to shoot at Quigley.

EACH SHOOTER HAS A SPOTTER who watches for hits or misses and can suggest changes in sighting elevation or windage. McDowell was my spotter for every shot I fired. Getting at least one hit per target was a small goal that I had set for myself. That goal, I admit without shame, was not met. I just couldn’t get a hit on the bucket. Folks who were watching could see that my shots were close enough to show that I was trying. McDowell, who also shoots a Sharps .4477, exclaimed, “If you were using a .45, you would have hit it!” As “Dakota” Dick Savage, a Sandhills outfitter pro-staffer said in reference to getting scores that were lower than what was hoped for, “Well, that’s Quigley.” Our group started with the large octagon, which means we didn’t take shots at the 805-yard buffalo, the furthest target, until last. This was the target I had looked forward to the most. My first shot, McDowell told me quietly, was right in line but just over its back. With that information, I dropped my rear sight down to just about five minutes of angle, and fired again. That time, McDowell whispered, “Good hit, right in the white spot at about 1 o’clock.” My day had been made and I got two more hits on the buffalo with my following six shots. Sometimes you can hear the bullets hitting the steel targets. But considering the bullet’s time in flight plus the speed of sound for the noise of the impact to get back to you, that impact won’t be heard until four to six seconds have passed. That seems like a very long time. YOU CAN VISIT THE QUIGLEY MATCH online at quigleymatch.com and read all of the details, including the individual scores. Last year over 600 buffalo-gun shooters gathered from 36 different states and three other countries. Ed Tilton from Columbia Falls, Mont., has won the last two shoots with a Model 1874 Shiloh Sharps chambered for the .45-90 cartridge. The record score was shot in

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BLACK POWDER 2004 by Al Loquasto with 46 hits out of the possible 48. The long-range course at Quigley has never been “aced.” For me, the whole experience was simply outstanding, including the obvious brotherhood between shooters. I was talking with Tilton after the match and compared scores, my 11 hits to his 45. He said that my scores would certainly climb and his could only go down, then we’ll meet somewhere in the middle. I’m wondering if I can get closer to the middle this year. I’M GETTING READY FOR QUIGLEY again. This year I’ll use my heavy Sharps 74 in .44-90, shooting heavier bullets than my .44-77. The .44-90 weighs 13½ pounds and has an aperture front sight with a spirit-level which should have a better advantage over the silver-blade sight on my .44-77. I thought about using my Highwall in .40-70 SS, but to me Quigley is a Sharps shoot; in the movie, Selleck’s character uses a Sharps 1874 Long Range riﬂe

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“The road” at Quigley puts shooters on the left and campers and traders on the right. During the week before the event you can take your time sighting in, but once the competition begins, there is no more practice time.

converted to ﬁre a .45-caliber cartridge. The .44-90 will be used in some of our short-range matches before going to Quigley and maybe at some silhouettes matches too, although it’s too heavy for NRA rules. For ammo, I’ll take at least 100 rounds using 465-grain bullets over 90 grains of Olde Eynsford 1½ F.

This way, a lot of shots can be ﬁred for sighting-in before the match gets started. I’m practicing my offhand shooting with this heavy riﬂe too, and with a good bodyrest, it isn’t too heavy to hold. June 20-21 will see the 24th gathering in southeast Montana, and getting ready for it is time and shots well spent. ASJ

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COMPETITIONS

OVER THE TOP Are You Crazy Enough For The MGM Ironman? STORY BY ROBIN TAYLOR PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF MGM IRONMAN

it it again!” Splinters rain from the crossbar as a load of birdshot smashes through just a little high. A second charge obliterates the remains of the crossbar and fills the air with the smell of broken wood. “Go!” The shooter lunges and kicks the slowly opening door clear. His shotgun rises as he crosses the threshold, then belches fire towards one target after another. Swirling clouds of lead dust and paint chips billow off the steel as his loads slam into the target. Madly reloading, he shuffles forward and soon more targets meet the same fate. Ducking behind a wall, the shooter reappears with a rifle, and each piercing blast knocks down another target as he moves 20 yards forward — all motion and noise. Pausing to drop his rifle into a plastic barrel, he sprints towards a rack of steel plates 50 yards away. One hand stays clamped down on his pistol while he runs and then he whips it clear of the holster as he closes to the 15-yard line. Sounding like a toy compared to the shotgun, the pistol barks a sharp “pow-pow-pow-pow-pow” and in a single moment it’s over. A breathless official tracking just behind says, “If you’re finished, unload and show clear.” As the pistol disappears back into the holster the official draws a deep breath and yells: “Range is clear! Next shooter!”

“

Wyatt Gibson, MGM Ironman founder Mike Gibson’s grandson, hits the slide stage at the competition held outside Boise, Idaho.

MEN AND WOMEN from across the United States travel thousands of miles to southwest Idaho just to shoot the MGM Ironman each year. They come to test their skills and equipment against the most difficult and arguably most physically demanding multi-gun match in America. Although the competition is well known, don’t look for adherence to anybody’s rulebook. This is an “outlaw” match and organizers are unapologetic. “This match isn’t for weenies or crybabies,” says Mike Gibson, its founder. He began the shoot in 1997, birthing an instant classic. Every stage involves at least three different types of ﬁrearms (sometimes four or ﬁve) and you’ll crash your way through a host of obstacles, like that shoot-open

door, along the way. I was there for the ﬁrst match requiring over 500 rounds. Today it’s over 900 – if you don’t miss. Throughout the course, you will carry a 150-pound dummy, shoot from vehicles, shoot over mock rooftops and perhaps careen down a 300-plus-foot zip-line. Almost every challenge requires more than 90 shots to complete, and while the courses are tough, each shooter comes back grinning ear to ear. “The goal is to shoot 1,000 rounds in a weekend,” laughs Mike’s son Travis, who took over as match director in 2007. He’ll freely tell you he hates running this match because of the technical headaches but he loves to shoot it. Travis shoots on the 3-Gun Nation Pro Tour, is a father and works westernshootingjournal.com 109

COMPETITIONS EXAMPLE OF A STAGE COMPETITORS WILL FACE AT THE MGM IRONMAN

STAGE 7 (2014) 36 riﬂe 20 shotgun 1 slug 28 pistol 3 optional riﬂe bonus rounds STARTING POSITION: • Behind “rifle roof” with your rifle at port arms, hot. • Pistol holstered, empty chamber, magazine inserted.

• On the start signal, engage targets as they become visible from within the shooting area. • All rifle targets must be shot from the roof. The shooter’s entire body must be on the roof. • Golf cart must end up at the end of the shooting area. • 30-second penalty will apply every time the golf cart touches the caution tape.

• Shotgun in golf cart, hot.

full time for MGM Targets alongside his dad. Mother Rhonda and sister Tennille help out with the matches, and Tennille served as match director in years past. The Gibson family is part of the practical shooting bedrock in the United States. They have a depth of expertise in 3-Gun that’s almost unequaled, with a crazy streak to match. No other match in the country is quite this over-the-top. The MGM used to allow you to neutralize a target any 110

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way you could if you ran out of ammo. A man nicknamed “Rice Patty Bob” rather famously took out several targets with a tomahawk in 2007. “It’s always been a little off the hook – like the Island of Misfit Toys for shooters,” says Craig Outzen, a professional 3-Gun shooter. “The MGM is a little like bush Alaska. If you don’t fit into other shooting sports, come to the MGM and they’ll find a place for ya!” ONE CLASS OF SHOOTER is the Trooper

• 100-second penalty for breaking the caution tape. • Flag portion of the IPSC flag is worth a 5-second bonus, maximum 2 bonus hits (10 seconds) per target. • Shooter may shoot IPSC flag target as many times as they want. Only 2 bonus hits will score or 2 hits anywhere to neutralize the target. • 10-inch rifle bonus targets are worth a 10-second bonus, only one hit per target will score. -DB

Class. This group hand-carries everything they plan to use for the entire three days across a conspicuous line in the parking lot. Once they cross that line, they can’t go back. “If you mess up and leave your tripod in the truck, that’s too bad,” says Travis. “Once you leave the trooper shed (a secure building where the troopers’ guns are stored overnight) each morning, you can’t take a spare bullet, a stick of gum or anything from anyone else.”

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COMPETITIONS Every trooper has to carry Wyatt Gibson breaching the shoot-open door on one their gear throughout the of the competition stages. Once the shot has been made, you can kick the door open the rest of the way. match as though they were carrying it to battle. “It’s not like a regular match,” said one veteran shooter. “This is an endurance contest.” A carbine, pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle, spare parts, water, bandages and 1,500 rounds of ammunition (much of it shot shells) is a serious load. Now take one of those troopers and hang him from a zip-line; let go and let him shoot at targets with a pistol as sunburned and probably bruised or he flies by! bleeding somewhere. If your guns “You work your butt off all day survive in working order, that’s a taping and resetting targets, shoot a bonus. As I said earlier, the MGM crazy amount of ammo and do stuff match is an outlaw event and one you won’t see anywhere else,” says of many that form a kind of outlaw Outzen. “It’s great!” circuit in 3-Gun. Most of the true professionals compete in the 3GN TROOPER OR NOT, everyone here Pro Series as their main focus, but expects to finish the day dirty, tired,

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you’ll see a handful of the top guns here, including USPSA National Champion Mike Voigt. “A lot of the top guys have shot it,” says Travis, “but a lot of them don’t come back. It’s very physical and some of them don’t want to deal with throwing a dummy up on a platform.” Others cite concerns about the wear and tear on their equipment. One person made a number of remarks about not wanting to replace his ﬁnely tuned guns. “Everyone fears the ‘Parma moon dust,’” says Travis, only half-joking this time. He’s talking about the ﬁne, talcumlike sand that blows around the Parma range. If the wind picks up, the dust cakes itself onto any part of your gun that is wet with oil. If you don’t keep an

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COMPETITIONS eye on that, you can end up shooting a marathon stage with a gun full of abrasive powder. Keeping your guns up and running is always a challenge for any 3-Gun competitor, but here, multiply the breakage factor by three. “Honestly, if you can keep your gear running throughout the entire match, you’re doing pretty good,” says Travis. ALL PRACTICAL MATCHES involve a certain amount of waiting to shoot and because of the nearly 100-round stages, you’d think the waiting times would be pretty bad. It isn’t. Thanks to a lot of trial and error, the Ironman stands out as a model of efficiency. Often, stages involve two or three “pits” in a series, with the shooter racing from one to the next in turn. As the shooter leaves each pit, a set-up crew goes in right behind him, scoring and resetting targets for the next guy. For anyone with a little match production experience, it’s a rolling

3-Gun competition shooter Craig Outzen gives the thumbs-up after an exceptional round in epic obstacles.

seminar on how to reset quickly. INTERESTED? EVERY YEAR, new shooters take on the challenge of the MGM Ironman for the ﬁrst time. American Shooting Journal editor Danielle Breteau is thinking about taking the

plunge for 2016 and will be scoping out the ﬁeld this year to get an edge on what she needs to work on. I asked Travis for his advice and he offered these suggestions for new “Ironmen.” • Make sure all of your guns will run, no matter what.

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COMPETITIONS • Know where your riﬂe hits from 2 to 500 yards. • Have the ability to carry 40 shotshells on your person, sorted by type. • Sight in your shotgun with slugs. You will consume 60 to 80 shotgun slugs on targets out to 100 yards. Normal 3-Gun events don’t force you to shoot such long distances or carry so much ammo, so even experienced 3 Gunners need to pay attention to Travis’s suggestions. His match puts a lot of emphasis on longrange accuracy: “At our tournaments, we’ll have targets out to at least 350 yards on four stages,” says Travis. This year’s match will include a range of bonus targets stepping all the way back to 920 yards. SHOOTING THAT MANY ROUNDS in a row, you’ll soon appreciate heat buildup, muscle fatigue and the importance of staying hydrated in ways you hadn’t imagined. Most 3-Gun matches have some stages that will take roughly 30 seconds to complete. Normally, if you take 3 minutes, you’re deemed to have

Match director Travis Gibson on one of the many obstacles in the MGM Ironman course. This particular course of ﬁre requires the competitor to be harnessed up and shoot at targets while descending on the zip-line.

timed out and the range officers will stop you. “At this match, you can win a stage at 180 seconds and the time-out will be around 8 or 9 minutes,” says Outzen. New shooters often don’t realize just how exhausting this is, or how hot their guns are getting until they set them down. “They’ll lay their shotgun down in a plastic drop-box and it will melt into the plastic. I’ve had suppressor’s melt 116

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Tenille Gibson, Mike Gibson’s daughter, has been the match director in years past and enjoys testing herself on the course each year.

through the bottom of the holding barrel,” says Travis. Under Travis’ leadership, the round counts are balanced to help reduce heat build-up, but the targets are accuracyintensive. If you struggle to hit a distant rifle target, barrel heat quickly becomes an issue. “I’ve added two or three more stages so we can keep from destroying people’s guns so badly,” says Travis. That said, keeping your hot gun running is part of the match. When I shot the Ironman, one stage required 48 rifle shots followed by 36 shotgun rounds ending with 24 shots from a pistol, with the last six fired weak hand only! After 84 rifle and shotgun rounds, a 9mm pistol feels ridiculously small like a popgun yet my hands were so exhausted I could barely hold on. My hands were mush. I’d never had an experience like that. A stage later the fatty part of my left thumb rolled around the hand guard on my trusty 870 pump and touched the barrel. Ouch! Many of my friends and I (experienced shooters all) found ourselves looking at heat shields in a whole new way. TO PULL OFF THE EVENT takes help from sponsors like Patriot Ordnance Factory and Seekins Precision, along with a supporting cast of a dozen others. “Safariland, Surefire, they’ve been with us for years, and lately Brownells has really helped out,” says Travis.

“This match isn’t for weenies or crybabies,” says Mike Gibson, who founded the MGM Ironman in 1997, and here lets loose in a shotgun substage.

Both halves of the MGM Ironman have enviable prize tables. At match’s end you’ll see thousands of dollars in prize guns, prize holsters and all types of other gun-goodies laid out for the asking – fastest shooter chooses ﬁrst. Among “black gun” shooters, the MGM Ironman ranks as a bucket-list item like the Knob Creek machinegun shoot or attending the SHOT Show. It’s a learning experience like no other and one that will teach you much about yourself, your guns and what’s possible with each weapon you own. If you take the time to prepare, you can join us on the line in Idaho next month. Are you good enough (or crazy enough) to take on the MGM Ironman? ASJ Editor’s note: The 2015 MGM Ironman will be held in Parma, Idaho at the Parma Rod and Gun Club on June 7-9 and again on June 11-14. You can register for the event, if you dare, at mgmironman.com.

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ARCHERY

ARE YOU A CAT, A WOLF OR A FISH? Diverse Approaches Are Key To Hunting Success STORY BY TOM CLAYCOMB f you look at the animal world there are different types of hunters. They employ different styles of hunting and are all successful with their methods – or they starve. If you look at cats, they’re stealthy hunters. They sneak in under concealment and strike swiftly. They are not long-distance runners and have a smaller lung capacity for their chases. On the other hand, if you observe canines, whether it be a wolf or coyote, they are more hyper and hunt more by sight. Granted, you see them sniffing in pursuit of game, but they don’t hold still for long, as a rule; they’re shiftier. Then you have snakes that lay in wait to strike. You don’t see them in packs hunting or cruising an area in pursuit of game. They hide and wait or, may I suggest, they hunt out of a blind, although I have seen cottonmouth snakes twirling on a creek, muddying it up to see if they can catch ﬁsh when they come up to breathe. If you watch ﬁsh, you will also see different hunting methods. Stripers and sand bass feed in schools and follow schools of shad. On the other hand black bass have favorite hiding spots

where they lie in wait. My father always told me that if you catch a decent bass, there is a good chance that if you go back in a week, you’ll catch a slightly smaller one that has moved into the big daddy’s spot. Northern pike are a little weird to describe. They lay in wait but also seem to be what I will call cruising killers. They have the mentality of a wolf and are pretty vicious. Bears will eat anything that they can get in their mouths. A buddy of mine was in British Columbia and actually witnessed a grizzly charge and bowl over a full-grown cow elk and then drag it back into the brush. He said it looked like a linebacker blindsiding a quarterback. NOW LET’S COMPARE THIS TO how humans hunt. Many of us are like wolves and hunt in groups (packs), whether driving an area or pushing a mountainside in unison. Others are sight hunters. They walk too fast and don’t take time to observe the surrounding area as they move along and will probably hike off into the wild blue yonder by themselves. (These folks could beneﬁt by wearing too many clothes; this would make them hot, which might remind them to slow

down and walk slower.) Some are more cat-like and move slowly, walking a few steps and then looking around to listen. They pick up on a lot more than many other hunters do. Oftentimes, this tactic is due to the short range of their weapon, like an archer’s bow. Another group may hunt strictly in blinds. They lay in concealment of some sort, whether in a tree blind, ground blind or behind a pile of brush. Which is the best method? That’s a good question. I believe at times all of them can be effective, so the more methods you master and employ, the more successful you will be. For example, I love to fish for walleye, one of my favorite fish to eat. The only problem is, I’m not a very good walleye fisherman. I am effective at catching them only during certain times of the year, and the rest of the year, I’m history. This is how I view hunting. If you are only good at one method, you will only be effective at specific times of the year and in certain conditions. In areas with a high concentration of game, it’s very effective to hunt out of a blind, but in many of the hunting spots out West, there isn’t a high enough concentration of game to warrant sitting for hours in westernshootingjournal.com 119

ARCHERY one spot. When I was a kid, Mr. Teague, a family friend and very cool old guy, had a 12,000-acre deer lease down by Sonora, Texas. Everyone told us that we had to drive the ridges in jeeps with high-rise seats because blinds wouldn’t work there. Well, we moved into our blind and after everyone saw the nice deer we successfully hunted on that ranch, guess what? Suddenly blinds popped up everwhere. My point is this: always be willing to try new methods. Don’t just use one style. In your lifetime of hunting you will need to be able to effectively use a variety of hunting styles, or you will only be semisuccessful in your endeavors. Last year, I was hunting near a large basin and noticed the elk only had a few escape routes. Game form habits and take the path of least resistance based on the lay of the land. For example, if there’s a saddle on the

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ridge, they’ll cross through it instead of walking straight up the mountain. Observations and understanding of these habits comes from hunting in the same areas. Next time, I think it will be more effective if I imitate a cougar and ambush the elk as the wolves, er, other hunters, run them up to me. THIS TECHNIQUE WORKS with antelope in some terrain. I learned this trick while hunting with a friend on a ranch near Laramie, Wyo. He wanted to sit in one spot. I had never heard of sitting still while antelope hunting and I talked him into moving a couple of times. We had been hunting on the side of a big bald hill, overlooking a massive prairie that stretched all the way back to Laramie. On both attempts to move, we spooked a herd that was just about to hit us. When we ﬁnally sat down and stayed still, a herd headed across the prairie towards us. We were leveling out to shoot

them and suddenly another herd circled in behind us. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say they were less than 15 feet away. The whole herd ran by and we both filled our tags within seconds. I went back to the same spot the following year and set up right at daylight. A few came trotting over the hill and I dropped one about 40 yards away. It was a natural crossing and I’m convinced I could go back there each year and limit out within 30 minutes after dawn. So what is the best way to hunt? I think at different times you need to be good at all of them to fill a tag every year. Do you have a favorite? I’ll bet you do. Slow and methodical people like to sit in a blind. Hyper and fidgety people like to hike, so I’m convinced that your personality will somewhat dictate your hunting style, but force yourself to change once in a while and you might just limit out more often. ASJ

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ROAD HUNTER

Bears thrive in many Western states, and in recent years, have become among the most popular big game animals for hunters to pursue.

SPRING’S BIG GAME HUNT Many Western States Hold Bear Seasons This Time Of Year, And In Alaska, For Grizzlies STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY SCOTT HAUGEN

ay one of Idaho’s spring bear season found me sitting beneath a tree on a hillside, watching a bait across a ravine. In less than two hours, two bears hit the bait, including a big cinnamon boar that I couldn’t pass up. The next day my 14-year-old son, Braxton, hunted from a tree stand in the same drainage and in under an hour, thumped the most gorgeous color-phased black bear I’ve ever seen. We were hunting high atop

the Joseph Plains with Matt Craig of Boulder Creek Outﬁtters (bouldercreekoutﬁtters.com) and his top guide Tony Hartelius. I’ve taken a number of bears here over the years and it’s one of my favorite places to hunt in the West. I wanted Braxton to experience how special this place was, and he ended up with a cinnamon boar carrying the biggest chest blaze I’d ever laid eyes on. Two weeks later, I was in Egegik, Alaska, hunting brown bear. I was with Bruce Hallingstad, owner of Becharof

Lodge (becharoflodge.net), a man I’ve hunted brown bear with before. Nonresidents are required to hire a guide when hunting brown and grizzly bears in Alaska, and Hallingstad is noted as among the best when it comes to getting hunters on record-class bears. On the first morning of the hunt we spotted a bear. Eleven hours of stalking finally found us within shooting range and I was more than itching to pull the trigger on my Weatherby .338378 magnum. At 325 yards, the brute westernshootingjournal.com 123

ROAD HUNTER BOOTS FOR BEARS Bear hunting demands the widest range of footwear. From chest waders on Alaska’s tidal ﬂats, to hip boots in rivers, snow boots on spring and fall hunts, rubber knee boots, and durable hiking boots at high elevations, it’s important to recognize how varied terrain impacts boot selection. On hunts for both grizzly and black bears, I’ve taken three pairs of boots along. A hunt may begin in a river bottom and easily end up a few thousand feet atop a mountain. Once you know what boots are needed, break them in. Practice wearing different boots with the gear you’ll be hunting with. Carrying a full pack, shooting sticks and a riﬂe can be far different in waders than hiking boots. Wearing knee boots on scree slopes may happen on a hunt so be prepared to know how your feet will react. Nothing can end a hunt faster than sore, blistered feet, so know what you’re getting into and pack the proper footwear. Take Band-Aids, moleskin, athletic tape and an ace bandage, just in case blisters or sprains occur. Don’t let improper footwear end your hunt. -SH

The author’s son, 14-year-old Braxton Haugen, tagged this gorgeous cinnamon bear amid Idaho’s Joseph Plains, a mecca between Boise and Lewiston when it comes to bear hunting in the West.

dropped on the spot, and soon I was admiring a 10-foot 9-inch beast, with a skull that eventually measured just over 29 inches. A true bear of a lifetime. Over Thanksgiving break, Braxton and I were elk hunting near Coos Bay, Ore., when a big bear stepped out of a blackberry thicket, Braxton nailed him with his .257 Weatherby. The bear was nearly 300 pounds, a better than average boar for the Coast Range. Bears thrive in many states

throughout the West and in recent years, are among the most popular big game animals for hunters to pursue. Whether going long range in open country, using a brush gun in junglelike habitat or hunting them behind hounds or over bait (where legal), there’s no doubting the diversity and challenges of bear hunting are where the addiction lies. Bear meat is some of our favorite big game to eat and rendered down, the fat

5 TOP WESTERN BEAR AREAS 1. WESTERN WASHINGTON Washington has some great bears statewide, but tags are tough to draw in some regions. Quinault Indian Nation lands, on the Olympic Peninsula, hold some monster bears. Baiting is allowed here, hunts are cheap and hunters can take two bears in an attempt to thwart them from damaging valued timber. Tribal guides must be hired, and there’s lots of fun sightseeing to be done in the region.

2. SOUTHWEST OREGON Touted as having the highest bear densities in the Lower 48, Southwest Oregon offers hunters multiple tags in both fall and spring. The Coast Range is brushy and rugged, so be ready to work. Timberland between Florence and

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Coos Bay is tops, and the land between Jacksonville and Gold Beach offers a lot of bears too.

3. NORTHERN IDAHO Bears thrive in high numbers in the forested lands between Riggins up to Coeur d’Alene and east to the Montana state line. The Lochsa region, between Oroﬁno and Missoula, holds a lot of bears and baiting is allowed; it’s a great place for do-it-yourself hunters.

4. WESTERN WYOMING & MONTANA The western fringes of Wyoming, north and south of Jackson, hold a good number of black bears, and some big ones too. To the north, between Missoula and the southwest corner of the state line,

near Yellowstone Park, black bears also thrive. In this part of Montana, bears are notorious for aggressively coming to calls – watch out for grizzlies when attempting this method.

5. ALASKA DOUBLE Southeast Alaska, all the way to the Homer region and across Cook Inlet to Beluga, offers some of Alaska’s best and most accessible black bear hunting. Road systems, hub towns or a short bushplane ﬂight make for easy access. If looking for brown bears, the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island still hold the biggest, but high brown bear densities also exist in the Valdez region. Inland grizzly hunters will want to head north to the coastal regions around Kotzebue and to the Brooks Range, north of Fairbanks. -SH

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ROAD HUNTER BEAR TOURTIERE

RECIPE AND PHOTO BY TATIANA WHITOCK Never before has my freezer been packed to the brim with vacuum-sealed packages of carefully prepared bear meat. I stood in front of the open door with a pint of ice cream and wondered where it would fit. This was a first for my family. Until now, ice cream was the household staple, not wild game. Clearly, if I was to keep familial peace, some serious cooking was in order. The hunt for recipes was on! With memories of my “Memere” (great-grandmother) Simone humming in the kitchen, I set out to find a recipe from my favorite childhood dish, a Québécois meat-pie called a tourtière. While this classic dish is traditionally made with pork and/or beef, I saw no reason why the delicate flavors of the bear meat wouldn’t blend beautifully with the subtle sage and earthy cloves and thyme. Served warm in winter months or chilled in summer, tourtière is well accompanied with whole grain Dijon, peppery arugula, and crunchy pickles and pine nuts. It’s a perfect use for the clean, lean, wild harvested protein that I filled my freezer with from a hunt last year. As a new hunter, the kitchen is where I am able to merge treasured pieces of family heritage with our new traditions of the hunt. My Memere never dined on Maine black bear, though she lived here all her life, yet I am sure she would approve of this contemporary spin on her signature dish. Her greatgrandchildren certainly do!

WILD GAME RECIPE: BEAR TOURTIÈRE Serves 8

PASTRY CRUST 2½ cups of ﬂour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. sugar 16 tbsp. of cold and unsalted butter ¼ cup of ice water Using a food processor blend the ﬂour, salt and sugar together. Add in the cubed butter gradually, mixing only

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until incorporated. Add the ice water one tablespoon at a time, blending just until the crumbly textured dough is evenly mixed. Form into one huge ball and then divide that ball into two uneven halves. Form one ball with two-thirds of the dough and another with the other third and then press each ball into a disc about half an inch high. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour. SAVORY MEAT FILLING 2 lbs. ground black bear (or other wild game such as venison or boar) 2 tbsp. canola oil ½ cup chicken broth 1 cup ﬁnely chopped celery 2 large sweet onions, ﬁnely diced 2 cloves of minced garlic ½ cup chopped parsley 1½ cup chopped russet potato 1½ tsp. salt ½ tsp. ground thyme ¼ tsp. ground sage ¼ tsp. ground black pepper ⅛ tsp. ground cloves Egg wash: 1 egg mixed with 2 tbsp. milk Parchment paper In a small pot, boil the potatoes until cooked through, drain, mash until smooth and set aside. With a 4-quart saucepan, heat the oil and add the meat to brown. Gently stir as the meat begins to cook and break into small bits for an even texture – about

five minutes. Add the vegetables and cook until tender or the meat is well browned – about 20 minutes. Add in your spices and seasonings along with the chicken stock and stir until the liquid has evaporated – about five minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the mashed potatoes. Season to taste and allow the filling to cool to room temperature. While the oven is preheating to 400 degrees, take the two-thirds dough-disc and roll it out to about 18 inches round on a sheet of parchment paper. Place your pie plate face down over the center of your dough. Sliding your hand under the parchment and holding the plate in place flip the dough over and press gently to form. Resist the urge to trim the edges; rather, allow the dough to drape. Remove the parchment and fill with the cooled savory meat filling. Top with the rolled out one-third dough-disc and gently fold the draped edges into the center, working around the pie to make the decorative pleats. Give the pie a golden crust by brushing the egg-wash mixture over the top. Using a paring knife cut small slits in a pattern of your choice to allow the steam to vent. Bake until filling is cooked through and the crust is a rich golden brown – about 50 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes, slice and serve! Bear appétit!

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ROAD HUNTER is incredible to cook with. Bear rugs and bleached skulls make great mementos, too. Plan ahead, research the area you’ll be hunting and then hit the road to discover why bear hunting throughout the west is so popular. ASJ Editor’s notes: Scott Haugen returns to the Outdoor Channel as host of Alaska Outdoors TV, and his debut includes two epic bear stories. First, he travels to see the now-mounted polar bear he killed while living in the Alaskan Arctic in 1990. This is a story you won’t want to miss! On that same premier episode, Haugen pulls off an 11-hour stalk on one of the biggest brown bears ever taken in Alaska, and the footage will keep you riveted. For signed copies of Haugen’s popular big game hunting adventure book, Life In The Scope: The West, send $15 (free S&H) to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489, or order online at scotthaugen.com.

Author Scott Haugen took this brown bear of many lifetimes while hunting the Alaska Peninsula last spring out of Becharof Lodge. The bear squared 10-foot-9 and carried a 29 4/16-inch skull.

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scattergun trail

CHASING THE SNOWSTORM

Spring Light Goose Hunts Extend Waterfowl Season STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY LARRY CASE

used to get tired of hearing about the good old days. Older hunters and ﬁshermen are the world’s worst when it comes to relating how great it was back in the day. I don’t hear this so much anymore, maybe because I have become one of the old guys who talks about how great it used to be. As far as wildlife and game populations go, in many respects we are better off now than 50 years ago. Just look at whitetail deer and turkey.

IN ONE AREA OF WATERFOWL hunting, however, we are completely off the charts, and that is with snow geese. Known as “light geese” in the waterfowl identiﬁcation world, this group includes the greater and lesser snow goose, Ross’s goose and variations including hybrids of these. This is somewhat of a long story, but in a nutshell, by the late 1990s wildlife biologists were noticing that snow geese populations were expanding at an alarming rate. Most of these geese migrate to and spend the spring and summer in the far north, on the tundra. Snow geese, especially greater snows, can cause immense damage to the habitat they feed on. Geese are grazers and pull different grasses and plants out of the ground while feeding. They will also dig into the soil with their powerful beaks to extract more of the roots. This may not sound like a big deal until you think about, oh, let’s say, 10,000 geese descending onto one ﬁeld.

Those are the kinds of numbers these geese may travel in. The arctic tundra, where these birds nest, is very fragile due to its short growing season. The snow goose was literally eating himself, as well as other birds and wildlife, out of house and home – something had to give. Long story short, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was able to change some rules to allow for a much greater harvest of light geese. This meant longer seasons (107 days in some states) extending into March and restrictions on things like plugged shotguns and electronic callers were removed. They clearly wanted hunters to knock down some geese – great news for scattergunners. What has emerged in the past 15 years is a new genre of waterfowl hunting. In many states, hunting season for these geese starts as early as February. Obsessed hunters – believe me, these guys are out there – basically start in the south around Texas and Arkansas and then follow the white geese on their northern migration. I WANTED TO TALK TO SOMEONE on the snow goose trail and found Josh Dahlke lying in a muddy ﬁeld in Arkansas. Dahlke runs the popular website ScoutLook.com. This site is the cat’s meow for keeping hunters and ﬁshermen updated on the latest weather and conditions for their area. There is a ton of information and articles on whatever kind of hook-and-bullet arena you play in.

Guide Josh Dahlke with a Mossberg 935 and surrounded by snow goose decoys.

Dahlke was hunting for snow geese with Eaglehead Outdoors outfitters; these guys are the real deal and chase the birds as they move north from February to April. “I know these geese cause damage to the tundra when they get to their breeding grounds,” he told me, “but here in the states, the damage they can do to crops … well, you just have to see it to believe it. We found a huge flock of snows staged next to a 40-acre winter wheat field here in Arkansas, and by the next day that field was totally obliterated; nothing left but mud.” EVEN THOUGH SNOW GOOSE flocks can number in the thousands, Dahlke was quick to point out that this is not always an easy game. “These birds get shot at all the way to Canada,” he said. “They have seen decoy spreads all along the route and can be dang smart. To be successful at this, it takes a lot of work, driving (hundreds of miles) and scouting, finding the geese and then setting up massive decoy spreads. A few dozen decoys just won’t do it. It takes hundreds of decoys and a thousand is even better. The average hunter can’t do it. That’s why if you want to try this, you may want to give an outfitter a call.” Even though we are talking westernshootingjournal.com 131

SCATTERGUN TRAIL Thirteen-year-old Kyle Gambil with his ﬁrst snow goose.

still have some squirrel hunting to do, and then spring turkey to think about pursuing with my shotgun. But if you want to go, contact

the guys at Eaglehead Outdoors at eagleheadoutdoors.com. I hope you get to shoot so much that you burn the barrel off that shotgun. ASJ

WINCHESTER BLINDSIDE SHOTGUN AMMUNITION

A cutaway of Winchester’s Blindside HEX technology ammunition.

millions of geese here, there are no guarantees. When conditions are right, however, you can stack up a lot of snow geese. Dahlke told me about a time when his party took 64 geese, and sometimes the numbers can go much higher than that. The daily limit in some states is as high as 25 with an unlimited possession limit. I MAY NOT MAKE IT on a snow goose hunt this year, but then again I might. I

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Josh Dahlke used the Winchester Blindside ammunition on our snow goose hunt. If you are a waterfowler and have not tried it, you need to check it out. The basic premise for why these shotgun shells are so deadly lies in Winchester’s revolutionary HEX shot technology. The shot is shaped like a hexagon — they look like tiny dice. When ﬁred from a shotgun shell, this shape is devastating to anything it hits – imagine hundreds

of miniature tumbling bricks. This means bigger wound channels than with a conventional round shot. Also, because of the hex shape, the shot is actually stacked neatly within the shell casing. Up to 15 percent more shot can be placed in the shell. Is this going to help you take more ducks and geese? You can bet your sweet Benelli it is. These shells offer 12-gauge loads of No. 5s and BBs moving at 1,675 feet per second. That is screaming, my friend. Dahlke told me the consensus on his hunt was that those using the Blindside ammo experienced less cripples and the high-velocity loads helped with snow geese as you often have long shots. If you are a duck and goose hunter, you just might want to take a look. -LC

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ON MY MERRIAM’S WAY Fanning The Flames For Love-Hungry Turkeys

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANA FARRELL

The prize fan of a Merriam’s turkey successfully outwitted by the author in Nebraska.

hen I received an invitation from a friend to hunt spring turkeys in the pine hills of northwest Nebraska, I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out some new gear, and having previously only hunted easterns in my home state of Michigan, possibly put a Merriam’s fan on my wall. Every couple of years, I look forward to making my way west to hunt big game, and this time, turkey hunting in the Cornhusker State would be the ﬁrst stop on a trip to Idaho for black bear – not a bad way to spend two weeks in the springtime, and a lot more fun than sitting at my desk.

DURING THIS HUNT, I would be ﬁeld testing CZ-USA’s 612 Waterfowl, a 3½inch 12-gauge pump shotgun with a synthetic, camo-clad stock. This, along with one of Hevi-Shot’s special heavierthan-lead turkey loads, would be an

enjoyable litmus test of two leadingedge products. My experience with CZ has been very positive. I think they’re doing a lot of great things with their product line and I wanted to try their waterfowl pump-gun on turkey. I’ve been a fan of Hevi-Shot’s denser-thanlead products for some time, having used them on Michigan turkeys and decoyed waterfowl, but this would be my ﬁrst experience using their Magnum Blend; a 3-inch, 2-ounce triplex payload of No. 5, 6 and 7 shot. A pretrip patterntesting session, using an extra-full choke, produced concentrated, dense patterns on paper at 30 yards. This left me anxious to try this hard-hitting combo on a Nebraska gobbler. THE AREA where I hunted looks like the Black Hills of South Dakota. In fact, the Black Hills are only a short hop, skip and jump across the state line

about 75 miles to the north. Like the Black Hills, the northwest corner of Nebraska is timbered with tall pines separated by large rolling grasslands interspersed with hardwood draws, laced with small winding streams. Elk, mulies and pronghorn roam the hillsides, along with a burgeoning population of Merriam’s turkeys. It is beautiful country, and with a mixture of public and private land holdings and a local community very welcoming to the economic bonus traveling turkey hunters bring to their area, access is not hard. The nearby 22,000-acre Fort Robinson State Park is open to public hunting and has a variety of camping and cabin rental options well suited to the needs of the traveling sportsman. Other private holdings provide combination hunting access and onsite accommodations as well. westernshootingjournal.com 135

The Cookshack at the High Plains Homestead. A throwback to the 19th century American West, it was the perfect place to stay and eat.

I WAS HUNTING A STEEP RIVER GULLY that was maybe 100 feet from top to bottom, all full of hardwoods and surrounded by gently sloping meadows on both sides. A lazy stream wound its way through this break in the land and grassy patches. This looked like prime strutting arenas for lovehungry toms. Springtime was in full swing when I visited in late April, with trees leafing out and colorful wildflowers making their annual appearance. Nights were cool with daytime temperatures approaching a pleasant 70 degrees. This would prove to be a most interesting turkey hunt, and one that required a good measure of woodsmanship to pull off. I set up on a small meadow, near the lip of a gully just before daybreak, and put out a pair of decoys, a hen and jake then settled against a tree while several toms sounded off from their roosts. Gobbles came from different directions, enthusiastically answering my soft yelps as the sun edged over the horizon. Ninety minutes after sunrise, when no toms had followed through with their chest-beating promises, it was time for me to make a move. Judging by his gobbles, one bird had moved into the A single successful shot with my CZ 612 Shotgun and I now have a Merriam’s fan right next to my Michigan eastern fan.

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open field behind me but was playing hard to get and resisted the urge of my mournful yelps. Moving carefully to avoid skylining, I got up and crept to the edge of the rise behind me to peer out into the adjacent meadow. Over the ridge I spied a strutting gobbler about 75 yards away. He held a commanding view of his surroundings and was anxiously awaiting a lady friend to take him up on his unabashed invitations. Slowly backing down behind the hill, I weighed my options and made a plan to belly crawl towards the bird’s position, closing the distance by about 25 yards and putting me just out of range for a comfortable shot. At the top of the draw within view of the bird was a yucca, which I Nebraska turkey tags are $23 for residents crawled up to and and $90 for nonresidents, and a $20 behind for cover. habitat stamp is required. Crawford, Neb., Reaching the is the nearest town and has all the needed end of the draw I essentials. A place worth checking out is attempted a call the High Plains Homestead, a throwback to bring the bird to the 19th century American West. within a shootable Rooms are $68.50 single occupancy per range. It was a night and good steaks, grilled over a wood stretch, but I had fire, are available at their Cookshack. Visit nothing to lose. them at highplainshomestead.com. Lying down flat For camping options, Fort Robinson on the ground, State Park is only a few miles from I army-crawled Crawford and offers an assortment of my way towards camping facilities and cabins for rent. -DF the spiky plant positioned at the crest of the ridge. A few minutes later while peering through the yucca towards the end of the depression, I could see the bird at around 50 yards, still struttin’ his stuff. I yelped softly on my slate call, immediately gaining his attention and coaxing him in my direction another 10 yards. At that point he was a comfortable 40 yards away and close enough for a confident shot; I didn’t wait. One poke from the CZ 612 and the Magnum Blend rolled him over and closed the deal. You’ve got to love it when a good plan comes together. His fan looks really great on my wall, and contrasts nicely with a Michigan eastern I took a few years back. ASJ

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GAME OF CONTINENTS American Versus African Hunting STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY NATHAN ASKEW

Professional hunter Nathan Askew in Tanzania with a season’s worth of close calls and big trophies.

unting is basically the same operation worldwide. Pick an animal to hunt, learn the terrain and habits of your prey, locate them, make the shot, then take your animal home. I was raised in an overgrown farm town in southeast Missouri. Hunting was an obsession for me, and now it’s a way of life. I make my living as a professional hunter in Africa as well as the US, and what started out with a sling-shot has turned into a world-wide outdoor adventure. I have had the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with the king of beasts on a hunt for Himalayan tahr, stalk through the thick bush with bear, venture into the outback with water buffalo and livecapture animals from giraffe to wild boar. These experiences have afforded me a unique perspective between African and American hunting. Instead of attempting to outline the

of a hunt and the major diﬀerences between the two areas.

Americans are afforded the right to hunt. We are allowed to harvest wild animals from our countryside. In South Africa, the animals are privately owned.

diﬀerences between these two hunting communities, which would result in a book rather than a magazine article, I have decided to focus on the basics

PICK YOUR ANIMAL Most of us hunt local, never venturing outside of our own “neighborhood.” This is where hunters in Africa have an advantage over American outdoorsmen and -women. Africa is blessed with the widest variety of huntable wildlife; the diversity is second to none. With little effort, any African hunter can expose himself to as many as 20 species at a relatively low cost and effort while American hunters are likely to shoot only three species of big game in a lifetime. Something that many do not realize is Americans are afforded the right to hunt. We are allowed to harvest wild animals from our countryside. In South Africa, the animals are privately owned. The westernshootingjournal.com 139

will produce encounters with kudu, eland, impala, wildebeest, warthog, duiker, steenbok, bush pig, caracal, jackal – the list keeps going! You never know what animal you’ll ﬁnd when you’re on the trail of a kudu. Africa is truly the land of opportunity when it comes to hunting. Just like in the states, however, the cost of a big hunt prohibits a hunter from doing more than one or two dangerous game hunts in a lifetime.

Jim Bucher of Sikeston, Mo., and his hippo bull that was used to bait in a huge lion in Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve in 2011. The tracker in the background is holding a .470 N.E. which was nearly needed to repel a charge from an irritated female hippo on the approach to shoot the bull.

Best friends Bill Chouinard (left) and Nathan Askew grew up hunting together in Missouri and shot this wild boar in the hills of Tennessee with a .270 Winchester.

rest of Africa ﬁnds itself somewhere in between to include government quotas and various types of concessions. A CAMOUFLAGE-COVERED AMERICAN outdoorsman will hunt several whitetail deer and turkey in a lifetime and an adventurous hunter may shoot a wild pig, black bear, possibly an elk or a pronghorn antelope. Other hunters may even score a few small predators like a coyote or a bobcat, but that’s about it. The basic lifetime bag of an American hunter is small and far less colorful than a mixed bag from Africa. North American hunts like grizzly bear and elk are planned years in advance and are goal-oriented pursuits of a single species. A wealthy American might be able to shoot a brown bear or a bighorn sheep, but most are limited to the animals found within a few hours’ drive of their home. The khaki shorts of the African hunter are likely to see many species in one season. One trip to the bush 140

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LEARN THE TERRAIN The woods and fields of the Midwest have big timber river bottoms, swamps, thickets, crop fields and ridges. Africa is a mixture of grassy plains and thorny brush so thick you cannot push your way through. Africa is generally flat and the climate during hunting season is more hospitable for enjoying the outdoors. African big-game hunting is more of a group or social experience and the camp atmosphere is unique. The trip, campfire, food and drink are as much a part of the experience as pulling the trigger. Most local African hunters make one or two trips a year to hunt and oftentimes just to shoot meat for biltong (African jerky). The African hunter, regardless of his residence, is more likely to travel to a neighboring country just to try his hand at a new experience and species; the diversity between countries is amazing. The habits of the African animals, as well as the terrain they inhabit make for a vigorous pursuit. All hunts require an experienced, indigenous tracker, as these people are the eyes and ears of most African expeditions. Hunters usually do not know the terrain or specifics of the property. The African animals are usually spotted from a vehicle or vantage

point then stalked, or fresh spoor can also be followed with the help of the aforementioned tracker. This type of hunting is active and fast-paced, and the equipment is often simply a good pair of hiking boots, the appropriate rifle, binoculars, knife, water and a hat to keep the sun off your face. The terrain and climate in America is more varied than Africa. The adverse weather conditions during hunting seasons truly add another dimension to the hunt. Serious outdoorsmen will typically hunt alone or with a select few and vehicles are seldom used. Deer hunters will scout and observe their hunting grounds year-round by finding shed antlers, setting up cameras, evaluating bedding and feeding areas and setting up hunting stands. The American style of hunting will set up an ambush, depending on the wind and trails, and then wait. They might go out for a quick hunt before work or on weekends, if time permits. As teenagers, we would skip school to enjoy a good hunt – especially on opening day. Every hunt, requires a range of equipment in order to be comfortable and successful, and the average deer hunter will haul a 30-pound tree stand to the woods or have multiple stands placed ahead of time to suit different wind directions. In the dark, they will walk to the stand with little clothing on, packing the rest of his outfit on his back with other assorted gear (hand saw, skinning knife, trail markers, GPS, flashlight). Americans usually only devote two days in a row to a hunt, and even then, only a couple times a year. Turkey can likely be found in decent numbers right outside of town and there are millions of public-use hunting acres accessible to all Americans, making smaller hunting timeframes possible. LEARN THE HABITS OF YOUR PREY The average deer hunter knows much more about the habits of their quarry than the standard African hunter. Thousands of articles are written and read every year about whitetail deer

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eﬀectively taking down any animal. Shot placement and timing are the same regardless of the continent where you ﬁnd yourself hunting. An ambush style dictates a patient approach, with dawn and dusk being the most productive times to kill North American animals. African animals can be found at all times of the day and can be hunted for longer periods of time.

A nearly 17-foot crocodile taken in Mozambique towards the end of hunting season.

CONSERVATION The basics of hunting remains the same on any continent. The more experienced I become at hunting, the more I have learned to appreciate the style in which an animal is hunted. Killing an animal

and their habits. In my opinion, it has almost reached the point of obsession. Books are written on whitetail mating habits, antler growth, feeding habits and communication, just to name a few. The American outdoorsman prepares himself with this wealth of knowledge before he heads to the woods. On the other side of the coin, hunting an impala may not be much diﬀerent than hunting a wildebeest, but track and shoot a member of the “Big 5,” and the story changes. There are few animals in North America that are a real danger to humans, but elephant, buﬀalo, lion, hippo, leopard and others are deadly to a hunter in Africa. The skill used to successfully 142

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A huge New Mexico elk harvested on a oncein-a-lifetime tag by Polly Anderson (left) and her mother.

and repeatedly hunt these dangerous animals is in a league all their own. KILLING Skill, coupled with the correct equipment can lead to a quick clean kill. Experience is vital in

As hunters, we should educate one another on all aspects of the ecosystems and respect the animals we enjoy.

is easy; hunting a wild animal on its own turf is a challenge and deep down strikes a chord with all humans. There is a common thread that links all hunters worldwide. This thread creates a camaraderie that is unique to the sport. We owe it to our sport and each other that hunting is done ethically and with a reverence for the animals. As hunters we should educate one another on all aspects of the ecosystems and animals we enjoy. Hunting can be a true form of conservation no matter what continent you find yourself trekking through. ASJ

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THE PASTOR AND THE BEAR The Dream That Almost Missed A Lifetime P STORY BY TROY RODAKOWSKI

astor Gordon Johnson is a model citizen to his community, friends and church in Junction City, Ore. He hails from generations of bear hunters, but he himself never had the opportunity. At the age of 70, fearing he may never fulﬁll his dream, Johnson expressed an emotional connection to the woods and bear hunting in particular since it had always been on his “bucket list.” This is where his church and friends came together and funded the journey of a lifetime: a bear hunt in British Columbia as a gift to the lifelong hunter, friend and pastor. “I was always fascinated with my uncle’s bear rug and thought it would be pretty cool to have one in my own house,” says Johnson. Many folks in his family have enjoyed bear hunting, including a great aunt who trapped and killed them in the Yukon. Johnson always enjoyed her stories and knew that being the fourth generation, he should pursue bears as part of his family heritage and carry on the tradition. Growing up, Johnson and his father hunted with lever-action Winchester riﬂes. Both of them had Model 94s, and at the age of 10, his great aunt from the Yukon bequethed him her Winchester when she passed away. Johnson is now a Winchester Arms collector and loads all of his own ammunition.

FOR THIS EPIC TRIP, Johnson chose to load his Winchester .356 with Hornady 200-grain FTXs over 41.4 grains of H4895 for 2,200 feet per second. He also loaded some 350-grain Hornady FP 4503s over 45.3 grains of IMR 4198 for 1,900 fps out of his 1895 Marlin guide gun. “I chose these two loads because they would promptly take down any medium- to large-sized game animal,” says Johnson.

Pastor Gordon Johnson’s bucket-list dream of a bear hunt was gifted to him by his church and friends in a small western Oregon town. Here he holds his Winchester .356. (TROY RODAKOWSKI)

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After several sessions hunting family had just at the local range, with fulfilled his lifetime dream. over 100 rounds through Johnson’s heart grew warm each rifle, he felt confident with the thought of the out to 200 yards, and was men from his church and most comfortable with his the blessing that had been Model 94. bestowed upon him with Chris Condie of Windy his special bear. Mountain Outfitters would be his guide and knew they WITH ONLY A few days left, it wouldn’t have any problems was now time to search for finding a couple of nice a second bruin. Chris had bears during their trip. dropped Johnson off near Condie said that most of an old logging road where the opportunities would be he found two bears, both within 100 yards since they of which were very good would be spot-and-stalk sized. It was obviously a hunting. boar and a sow and they It was early June and were both enamored by Johnson would travel to one another, so the stalk British Columbia near was easier than Johnson the small town of 100 thought. “I could smell Mile House for his hunt. them as they got closer He would be staying in and the wind was blowing a small, quiet little cabin in my face,” adds Johnson. near a mountain lake in Focusing on the larger of the perfect setting for the two bears, Johnson creating memories. At this knew he would have to take time, with all of the snow the shot quickly since the melted, bears would be out bears were slowly closing Johnson used his .356 Winchester and handloads to successfully take down his foraging amongst the open the gap and already within very first bear, this cinnamon-phase British Columbia boar. (GORDON JOHNSON) and logged hillsides where very close range. clover, a bear favorite, would be freshly would be spectacular. “Chris was downhill, below me, sprouted. Condie had told Johnson Johnson excitedly explains, “I was and I knew as the bears got closer I they would be glassing many open nervous about getting into range needed to take the shot and soon,” said hillsides and cover a lot of country in without being spotted or holding my Johnson. The hunter steadied his .45the process. rifle steady, but I was having the time 70 guide gun on the chest of the bruin “The best thing about Condie is he of my life.” and slowly squeezed the trigger. The gets just as excited as any of his clients As the two made their way up the shot blew the bear straight backwards when he hunts game,” says Johnson. hillside, every minute that passed was into dense brush. They started getting Every time the two saw a bear, the enjoyable, and their anticipation began very nervous that the shot may not excitement and anticipation went to build. Occasionally, the bear would have been terminally effective because through the roof. They saw 14 bears lift his head and the two hunters would they didn’t hear a sound. “If you in four days, which isn’t too shabby stop and let him return to feeding shot the sow, that boar is going to be at all. “I knew that every man in my before continuing the stalk. The wind hanging around and things might get fellowship group back at the church was in their favor and they found a dangerous,” Condie advised. was hunting right along with me, and small dead pine snag that Johnson I also felt like I was hunting for them,” could use as a rest for his shot. As the AFTER THOROUGHLY SCOURING the brush says Johnson. bear turned, Johnson took the shot he in a grid search, twice crossing the Not long into the hunt, Condie had been waiting his entire life for. The stream, the two found the jet-black spotted a nice cinnamon-phase boar bruin collapsed in its tracks. The round boar piled up against an old burntfeeding on a distant hillside, and hit it high, but by the time the men out stump. Johnson and Condie had commented that if they were able both made it to the bear, it had expired. walked passed the dead bear at least to get close enough, this would be a Johnson and Condie celebrated once before finding him, and upon beautiful bear to harvest – the mount together – the pastor from the bearfurther inspection the two realized 146

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his Hornady load had done its job, traveling the full length of the boar’s body and came to rest under the hide in his hindquarter. Johnson tells me, “My father was tough, hardworking and tender. He taught us to follow Jesus, and I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.” As a young boy, the son of a timber faller and farmer who had grown up on a homestead in Vaughn, Ore., raising farm animals, playing in the woods and hunting from a very young age, this entire trip was a culmination of a lifetime of dreams. In closing, Johnson said, “Men need to be able to take risks, find thrill and adventure or they will be unfulfilled. I try to lead and model that logic for men in my church so they can raise their families in a healthy way.” Pastor Gordon Johnson does not have a son of his own but has cousins who plan to carry on the tradition of bear hunters for the fifth generation. He will also travel back to British Columbia this fall to hunt moose with one of his fellow parishioners. ASJ

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Johnson switched to his Marlin .45-70 guide gun to take down this beautiful black bear, his second bruin during a trip of a lifetime. (CHRIS CONDIE)

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RE loading

READY, SET, LOAD!

Part One: Ready To Handload Your Own Ammuntion? Let’s Get Started! STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB SHELL

Your loading bench should be large, have easy-access shelving, be located in a distraction-free area and offer a sturdy and level work area.

f you’ve decided to start handloading or reloading your own ammuntion, there are some basic things you’ll need to start your new hobby. Space is one. Find a place you can dedicate to just loading. It can be a spare room or the corner of a garage, so long as you have space with good lighting. Your loading station should have a sturdy table to mount your press and other

A powder-measure, set of dies and a press are some of the most used items when loading. Some of these tools are physically attached to your work bench for maximum stability.

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RELOADING

A riﬂe round casing often has to be stretched and trimmed. A vernier caliper is ideal for precisely measuring the length of a case.

equipment, which can be quite heavy, and lots of shelving for easy access to all of your loading dies, bullets and powder. I suggest a table that is at least 6 feet long. Once you have your work area set up, it’s time to buy your equipment. There are many different types and price ranges for each respective need, so it will behoove you to take some time and shop around. Most people get into loading to save money on their ammunition, and you will, but you will still have to make an initial investment on the equipment and supplies. THE PRESS The purpose of the press is to hold the dies, which are needed to process the ammunition. It uses leverage to push the shell cases into the dies that perform the loading operations. The press needs to be securely mounted to the table so the cases can be resized. This takes some effort, especially with riﬂe ammunition. There are a variety of options made by various companies such as Lyman, Hornady and RCBS, Lee and Redding, and they all make great presses. If you are a new loader, I would recommend a simple, single-stage press. There are progressive presses that are for multistage cases, but if you are not familiar with loading, they can get you into trouble. Progressives have several different tasks going on at the same time and you may miss an important step, potentially causing a batch of bad and dangerous ammunition. If you are serious about loading, I would recommend a heavy-duty model because you can load both riﬂe and handgun ammunition. 152

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and reliable. This is where the manuals come in handy. You can look up the caliber you are loading and get the proper type and amount of powder necessary. This data was developed by professionals and should be followed closely. Other tools you may need are screwdrivers, Allen wrenches, possibly a lube pad, vernier caliper and a bullet puller. Overall, you are looking at a $400 investment, plus the cost of supplies. This will get you started. If you load riﬂe cases, there are other tools you will need such as a case trimmer to trim the stretched cases and a vernier caliper to measure the length. It is very important that your case be the proper length, so don’t overlook these items. You will be able to consult

All the components that make up a riﬂe round – shell, gun powder and projectile.

This is a progressive loader which has multiple actions happening at the same time. This is not recommended for the novice because they may miss an important step, potentially causing a poorly loaded round.

DIES A die is a specialized tool used to cut or shape material using a press. Any caliber that you load is diespeciﬁc. For instance, if you want to load .40 S&W ammunition, you need that speciﬁc set of dies. Loading is a precise operation and trying to use the wrong dies will not work. If you are loading a modern straight-case, then I recommend carbide dies. Not only do they make sizing easier, you won’t have to lubricate your cases, and they last forever. OTHER NECESSARY TOOLS A powder measure and a set of scales are necessary to put the proper amount of powder into your cases and are vital in creating ammunition that is safe

a loading manual for the proper length. Also, when loading riﬂe cases, a lube pad is necessary because if you do not lube the cases, one will get stuck in the die and this is a real headache to remove. You will also need a brush to lube the inside of the case neck. In the next installment, I will discuss the importance of all of these steps. FINAL THOUGHTS When contemplating whether you want to load, here are a couple of things to think about. First, loading is a very safe hobby if you follow the precautions and use common sense. Do not allow distractions to creep in. That means no texting, watching television or anything else that will draw your attention away from the task at hand. If you are not the type of person who pays attention to detail, then loading isn’t for you. I have been doing it for over 40 years and never had a serious mishap. It is a great hobby and well worth exploring. ASJ

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BOISE GUN CO., INC. 4105 Adams St., Boise, ID 208-376-4440 www.boisegun.com

THE FORT 228 Big Timber Loop, Big Timber, MT 406-932-5992 www.fortmt.com

JACK OF PAWNS 1704 E. Marshall Ave, Longview, TX 903-758-0559 www.jackofpawnslongview.com

KITTLE’S OUTDOOR & SPORT CO. 888 Market St., Colusa, CA 530-458-4868 www.kittlesoutdoor.com

PACIFIC OUTFITTERS 1600 5th St., Eureka, CA 707-443-6328 www.pacificoutfitters.com

SHEDHORN SPORTS 103 W. Main, P.O. Box 1310 406-682-4210 www.shedhornsports.com

Product FEATURE atmospherics, and boasts over 4,000 bullet profiles.

SEE ALL OPEN SIGHTS WWW.SEEALLOPENSIGHT.COM This is an open sight with a triangular crosshair reticle superimposed on a bright neon-green background. The design is deceptively small and the magnifyer provides a very large, bright and easy-to-see reticle. This configuration allows the shooter to see the sight and the target in perfect focus.

STARLINE BRASS 9MM STEYR (SMALL PISTOL PRIMER) WWW.STARLINEBRASS.COM All Starline brass is manufactured with higher-thaninternational-standard tolerances, and their latest product, the 9mm Steyr (0.904 to 0.909 overall length), is an Austrian cartridge designed for use in the Steyr M1912 pistol and some Steyr MP34 submachine guns.

NEW ENGLAND CUSTOM GUN RWS AMMUNITION WWW.NEWENGLANDCUSTOMGUN.COM Perfected in Germany and touted as one of the most meticulously made rounds out there, RWS ammunition is now being imported by NECG. If you want the epitome of reliability, precision and accuracy, you will want this ammuntion. Multiple bullet styles are offered and carefully tailored to the size of the game and conditions a hunter expects to encounter afield. SIERRA THE BULLETSMITHS INFINITI 7 BALLISTICS SOFTWARE WWW.SIERRABULLETS.COM Sierra’s updated ballistics software is more robust and intuitive than ever. This program offers the ability to generate multiple trajectory charts and graphics with information such as point-blank range, zero calculations, trajectory in mils, uphill and downhill shooting, maximum range, minute of angle and

TOPS KNIVES C.A.T. 200S-04 WWW.TOPSKNIVES.COM TOPS Knives fixed-blade “S” series has been updated with a variety of colors and has been adorned with a brand-new Rocky Mountain bull’s-eye canvas micarta handle. This thermostatic canvas handle has excellent grip and strength. A great blend of tactical, survival and outdoorsman design, it comes with its own rotating kydex sheath. westernshootingjournal.com 155

PRODUCT FEATURE WARREN CUSTOM OUTDOOR SYNTHETIC EEZOX WWW.WARRENCUSTOMOUTDOOR.COM

This premium gun-care lubricant offers one product for all guns, including black powder ﬁrearms because it is harmless to powders and primers. It features advanced technology in a triple-action solution that cleans, lubricates and preserves

ﬁrearms. It is not petroleum-based, is nonﬂammable, and is dry to the touch.

as large as a deer, Pyramyd Air has something for you.

PYRAMYD AIR .50-CALIBER BIG BORE WWW.PYRAMYDAIR.COM A .50-caliber airgun? You better believe it! Airguns have come a long way since the first Daisy Red Ryder. Pyramyd Air has been called

the world’s largest Internet airgun retailer, so there’s no excuse not to jump online and order anything from a .177- all the way up to a .50-caliber airgun. Whether you are hunting squirrels or an animal

TITAN PISTOL VAULT WWW.TITANGUNSAFE.COM Fast, just got faster. Titan has created one of the most innovative, versatile firearm safety devices on the market today. Their vaults are designed to be bolted onto any platform, including numerous locations in your car or home. This device also has a partial spring assist that practically puts the pistol right in your hand.

ROGUE SHOOTING TARGETS SELF-RESETTING STEEL POPPER WWW.ROGUESHOOTINGTARGETS.COM Rogue offers a variety of steel targets for every type of shooter. What sets them apart is the durability and strength of their products, which are built to withstand the test of time – as well as a serious beating. One of 156

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American Shooting Journalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favorites is the self-resetting popper. Targets that just keep getting up make for a great day at the range, as well as more time dedicated to shooting rather than resetting. TACSTRIKE STEEL TARGETS

WWW.TACSTRIKE.COM TacStrike offers a body mass index, double-plate steel target. One of the great things about this is that each target swings independently and offers a distinctive tone. This is the perfect target for working on failure-to-stop exercises, otherwise known as the Mozambique drill. We also congratulate TacStrike for making ASJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Top 10â&#x20AC;? targets of 2015 list with this model.

Frontier Gun Shop Erhardt Custom Guns Specializing in modern, classic, & european style FXVWRP ULĂ HV VKRWJXQV 1 0RQWDQD $YH +HOHQD 07

KRAMER HANDGUN LEATHER WOMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BELT SCABBARD GUN HOLSTER WWW.KRAMERLEATHER.COM Specifically designed for a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body to avoid the problems with a naturally shorter torso and angled waist, Kramer Leather has created a holster that sits lower and has an ingenious plastic molded interior that angles the grip slightly outward. These advantages allow women to draw more comfortably. Nicely done! ASJ

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