A M ERIC AN
SHOOTING JOURNAL Volume 13 // Issue 4 // January 2024
PUBLISHER James R. Baker GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Andy Walgamott OFFICE MANAGER / COPY EDITOR Katie Aumann LEAD CONTRIBUTOR Frank Jardim CONTRIBUTORS Kyle Cunningham, Scott Haugen, Phil Massaro, Mike Nesbitt, Paul Pawela, Nick Perna SALES MANAGER Paul Yarnold ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Grant Cunningham, Zachary Wheeler DESIGNER Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Kelly Baker WEBMASTER / INBOUND MARKETING Jon Hines INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@americanshootingjournal.com
ON THE COVER Nighthawk Custom founder and president Mark Stone shows off one of his Arkansas company’s fine 1911s. (NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM)
Website: AmericanShootingJournal.com Facebook: Facebook.com/AmericanShootingJournal Twitter: @AmShootingJourn
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6 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
VOLUME 13 • ISSUE 4
CONTENTS
FEATURES 34
ROAD HUNTER: FOURTH QUARTER ’FOWL With the clock ticking down on duck season and the birds smartened up, Scott Haugen has advice on decoy, blind and calling changes to make now to score limits of January quackers.
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CHASING NOSTALGIA: HUNTING PHEASANTS IN SOUTH DAKOTA Kyle Cunningham will always cherish times he pursued ringnecks in Washington state as a boy with his dad, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that he got back into hunting. Kyle shares how trips to South Dakota with family have been both nostalgic and have him looking ahead to the day he can take his own sons afield.
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BULLET BULLETIN: A NAME INTERLOCKED WITH HUNTING Phil Massaro shares an appreciation for Hornady InterLocks, a cup-and-core bullet line that’s been providing “tried-and-true performance” for sportsmen around the world for nigh on 50 years.
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BLACK POWDER: TRYING OUT SOME .348 BULLETS An offer from Northern Precision Custom Swaged Bullets gave Mike Nesbitt a chance to run a few 200-grain .348 bullets through an old Winchester that was bought for him by folk singer friend Hoyt Axton. Find out how they performed!
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SELF-DEFENSE: ‘IN DEFENSE OF ORDER’ There’s self-defense, and then there’s town defense. Paul Pawela shares the story of the Coffeyville, Kansas, gunfight that ended the Dalton Gang and the ordinary citizens who won the day.
107 LAW ENFORCEMENT SPOTLIGHT: IN PRAISE OF ‘THE VIC’ The Ford Crown Victoria was once the most popular vehicle for law enforcement officers, but most have been retired from duty. Nick Perna, whose “Dark Knight” still strikes fear in crooks on his California beat, shares an ode to this throaty cop car.
COVER STORY
18
(NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM)
MAN MADE: THE NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM STORY
In a Q&A with lead contributor Frank Jardim, Nighthawk Custom founder and president Mark Stone shares how his gunsmiths make each top-end 1911 by themselves one at a time, as well as the other fine firearms that the northwest Arkansas-based company now offers.
AMERICAN SHOOTING JOURNAL is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 941 Powell Ave SW, Suite 120, Renton, WA 98057. 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 © 2024 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.
americanshootingjournal.com 9
CONTENTS Company SpotlightS 113 ROCCO HANDMADE Brian Nawrocki has always been drawn to swinging a hammer, and now he uses that lifelong “infatuation” in crafting his Rocco Handmade line of unique knives. Come inside the forge to learn about his wares! 123 AMERICANO AMMUNITION COFFEE Americano Ammunition Coffee is brewing up java and bullets, along with a triple shot of patriotism, not far outside Phoenix. Pull up to the drive-thru window for a chat with co-owner Kevin Ballentyne.
ALSO INSIDE 45
45
12 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
SHOT SHOW 2024 45 Gear 61 Miscellaneous 79 Parts & Accessories 91 Ammunition & Reloading 111 Firearms 119 Knives
DEPARTMENTS 15 17
Gun Show Calendar Competition Calendar
14 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
PRIMER
GUNSHOW C A L E N D A R
Arizona Gun Shows arizonagunshows.com
C&E Gun Shows cegunshows.com
Crossroads Of The West Gun Shows crossroadsgunshows.com
Florida Gun Shows floridagunshows.com
G&S Promotions gunshowtrader.com
GunTVShows.com guntvshows.com
Hernando Sportsman’s Club hernandosportsmansclub.com
January 13-14
San Tan Valley, Ariz.
Big Tin Cotton Gin
January 20-21
Quartzsite, Ariz.
Main Event Showplace
February 17-18
Globe, Ariz.
Gila County Fairgrounds
January 13-14
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Winston-Salem Fairgrounds
January 20-21
Columbus, Ohio
Ohio Expo Center
January 20-21
Salem, Va.
Salem Civic Center
January 27-28
Dayton, Ohio
Montgomery County Event Center
February 3-4
Fayetteville, N.C.
Crown Expo Center
January 6
Tucson, Ariz.
Pima County Fairgrounds
January 6-7
San Bernardino, Calif.
National Orange Show Grounds
January 13-14
Mesa, Ariz.
Centennial Hall
January 19-21
Costa Mesa, Calif.
OC Fair & Event Center
January 20-21
Phoenix, Ariz.
Arizona State Fairgrounds
January 27-28
Ontario, Calif.
Ontario Convention Center
January 6-7
Miami, Fla.
Miami-Dade Fairgrounds
January 13-14
Orlando, Fla.
Central Florida Fair Grounds
January 20-21
Palmetto, Fla.
Bradenton Convention Center
February 3-4
Fort Myers, Fla.
Lee Civic Center
January 6-7
Carthage, Texas
Carthage Civic Center
January 20-21
Mountain Home, Ariz.
Baxter County Fairgrounds
January 27-28
Conway, Ark.
Conway Expo Fairgrounds
February 3-4
Shawnee, Okla.
Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center
February 10-11
Henderson, Texas
Rusk County Expo Center
February 16-18
Nacogdoches, Texas
Nacogdoches County Exposition Center
February 24-25
Hot Springs, Ark.
Garland County Fairgrounds
January 6-7
Glendale, Ariz.
Glendale Civic Center
February 3-4
Fountain Hills, Ariz.
Fountain Hills Community Center
February 17-18
Tucson, Ariz.
Tucson Expo Center
January 27-28
Brooksville, Fla.
Hernando Sportsman’s Club Range
To have your event highlighted here, send an email to kaumann@media-inc.com. americanshootingjournal.com 15
GUNSHOW
C A L E N D A R
RK Shows
January 6-7 January 6-7 January 12-14 January 13-14 January 20-21 January 20-21 January 27-28 January 27-28
Knoxville, Tenn. Blue Ridge, Ga. Saint Robert, Mo. Marietta, Ga. Springfield, Mo. Lebanon, Tenn. Tulsa, Okla. Shelbyville, Ky.
Knoxville Expo Center Kiwanis Fairgrounds St. Robert Community Center Jim Miller Park Ozark Empire Fairgrounds James E. Ward Agricultural Center Bldg Tulsa Fairgrounds Expo Square Shelby County Fairgrounds
Real Texas Gun Shows
January 6-7 January 27-28
Taylor, Texas Port Arthur, Texas
Williamson County Expo Center Bowers Civic Center
Tanner Gun Shows
January 12-14 February 2-4 February 16-18
Colorado Springs, Colo. Denver, Colo. Castle Rock, Colo.
Norris Penrose Event Center Crowne Plaza Douglas County Fairgrounds
Wes Knodel Gun Shows
January 13-14 February 10-11 February 24-25
Centralia, Wash. Centralia, Wash. Redmond, Ore.
Southwest Washington Fairgrounds Southwest Washington Fairgrounds Deschutes County Expo Center
rkshows.com
therealtexasgunshow.com
tannergunshow.com
wesknodelgunshows.com
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PRIMER
COMPETITION C A L E N D A R
January 5-7 Air Gun Olympic Trials Part 3 Anniston, Ala. usashooting.org
idpa.com
February 21-25 Western States Single Stack Championship Mesa, Ariz.
February 17-18 Northern Florida Regional Classic Midway, Fla.
February 24-25 Volusia County GSSF Match New Smyrna Beach, Fla.
February 9-11 SW Regional Championship Queen Creek, Ariz.
February 17 Florida State Championship Green Cove Springs, Fla.
February 10-11 Charleston Glock Challenge Ridgeville, S.C. January 13 Pistols in Pahrump Pahrump, Nev.
cmsaevents.com
February 16-17 Shooting International Open USPSA Level II Westville, Fla.
February 15-18 Gulf Coast Championship Eagle Lake, Texas January 27-28 LVPSC Gamblers Challenge Boulder City, Nev.
gssfonline.com
February 24 VRPC Spring Open Air Rifle Match Plus Finals Vancouver, Wash.
January 19-21 January 2024 Utah PTO Salt Lake City, Utah January 26-28 Florida State USPSA Championship Clearwater, Fla.
uspsa.org
February 2-10 Paralympic Trials Part 2 Colorado Springs, Colo.
January 24 Fort Worth Stock Show Classic Fort Worth, Texas
January 12-13 14th Annual Arctic Blast Hunlock Creek, Pa.
February 14-17 CMSA US Winter Championship Queen Creek, Ariz. January 20 South Mountain Showdown Phoenix, Ariz.
February 2-4 Florida State IDPA Championship Frostproof, Fla.
To have your event highlighted here, send an email to kaumann@media-inc.com. americanshootingjournal.com 17
MAN A D E 18 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
Nighthawk Custom's Mark Stone on how his gunsmiths make each top-end 1911 by themselves one at a time, as well as the other fine firearms that the Arkansas-based company now offers.
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STORY BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS COURTESY OF NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM
ighthawk Custom is known for building top-end 1911 platform guns and innovative engineering like their Fire Hawk compensator model and Interchangeable Optics System. Their best known slogan is “One Gun, One Gunsmith.” You could say they are to the 1911 what Rolex is to wristwatches in that both luxury brands are dedicated to making the very best products that will last a lifetime, and very likely several lifetimes. To do that, they employ expertly skilled people and maintain excellent quality control over every aspect of the manufacturing process. Rolex has been at it for over a century, and it still takes them a year on average to make and assemble 220 parts into a finished watch.
The Nighthawk Custom VIP Agent 2 in .45 ACP features a unique combination of old-world finishing techniques and modern machining born from a partnership with Agency Arms and Turnbull Restoration, the latter renowned for their excellence in color case finishing. americanshootingjournal.com 19
Fortunately for us gun enthusiasts of refined taste, a 1911 generally has less than a quarter of the parts of the typical Rolex. Nighthawk Custom’s best gunsmiths can hand-fit, polish and assemble all those parts into a complete firearm in 16 to 20 hours, depending on the model. That includes fitting the parts, the build itself, gunsmith testing, prep, finish, final assembly, final test fire and four detailed quality control checks. The idea of a single gunsmith making a complete firearm predates the industrial revolution. In fact, it predates the American Revolution. It was never a model for high production, but then as now, those do-it-all artisans produced the finest arms of their times. In America, their work was exemplified most famously in the flintlock long rifles made from the mid-1700s into the turn of the 19th century. In those times, a gunsmith’s
name was his brand, and they literally signed their work. Every Nighthawk Custom pistol is stamped with the personal mark of the gunsmith who built it beneath the left grip panel, which shows that the firearm meets the Nighthawk Custom standard and their own. Over the Christmas holiday, I had a chance to talk with Mark Stone, the founder and president of Nighthawk Custom, about his company, his guns and his goals. Frank Jardim Unlike your peers Ed Brown and Bill Wilson, you were not previously known as a custom 1911 gunsmith 20 years ago when Nighthawk Custom seemed to come out of nowhere. What did you do before you carved a niche for yourself at the pinnacle of the custom 1911 business? Mark Stone I started in the
A gunsmith fits a frame to a slide at his work bench. Building a Nighthawk Custom is a 16- to 20-hour job for the most skilled craftsmen.
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Each Nighthawk Custom gunsmith has his own workshop and tools. Nighthawk says it has had more gunsmiths accepted into the American Pistolsmith Guild than any other manufacturer.
Hand-beveling the slide’s ejection port. After assembly, function and accuracy testing, pistols are hand-beveled and completely dehorned for ease of carry and shooter comfort.
Fitting the hammer to a Nighthawk Custom double-stack 9mm frame. All parts are made oversized for hand-fitting. americanshootingjournal.com 21
Upon completion but before final finishing, the gunsmith who made the pistol stamps it with his mark. Nighthawk Custom’s One Gun, One Gunsmith philosophy vests accountability for quality workmanship in a sole gunsmith.
banking business; by 2003, my wife and I had five independent small businesses in addition to my day job at Tyson Foods. We still own those businesses, and they continue to grow. My wife Leah also worked and when we weren’t working, we were having family time and have always kept our relationship with the Lord Jesus
a priority in our lives. Our parents were working-class people, and we were raised to live within our means. By living modestly and putting the money the businesses earned back into them, we were able to invest in Nighthawk Custom in 2004. We have always been blessed with great people and the right people
A view of the gunsmith shop showing some of the individual work areas. Nighthawk is based in northwest Arkansas, near Berryville.
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managing our other businesses. I love them and the people who work with us in them. None of our successes would have been possible without great people. Over the years, the Lord continues to bless our companies with great people, and we are very excited about their futures. Among those great people are our children, each blessed with their own talents. They all worked and helped in our enterprises from an early age. They’re committed to quality and growth over the long term. Of all the things I’ve been a part of as an entrepreneur, Nighthawk Custom is the largest, and required the majority of my focus since we started it. FJ Is that because of personal passion for the 1911 platform? MS This may surprise you, but the answer is no. It’s much bigger than that. I’m a native of a small town in rural Arkansas and grew up hunting with my dad and brother. We were rifle and shotgun hunters. I was not a competitive pistol shooter, or even a casual pistol target shooter. We had
one revolver in the house that nobody could hit anything with. Missing is no fun, so we hardly ever shot it. The way Nighthawk Custom was started, it must have just been God’s plan for me. Leah and I built a storage facility, thinking if we had one more thing going, I could give my notice to Tyson and work for myself fulltime. I did my research and thought I had a good plan, and we built the first climate control storage facility in our town, including some standard outside storage units as well. The part I did not figure in my plan was our small town was not ready for climate control storage and they were not renting as well as they needed to. Thankfully we had some income from the other businesses to help make the payments, but it was a little stressful. We prayed for direction and for an answer, and one day we were at church on a Sunday and a couple of guys and their wives asked us if we would come over to their house after church because they had something they wanted to talk to us about. They asked us if we wanted to get into the gun business, and, to keep the story short, that is how it happened. They had worked for Wilson Combat for 22 and 24 years, approximately. I had never spoken to them before about their jobs or the firearms business. We converted some climate control storage space into manufacturing space, started with no name, no vendors, no accounting or sales system, and no customers, and just kept working. I had a very intelligent guy ask me one day several years ago how I knew it was going to work, and I told him, “That’s the nice thing about not being very smart. You just do it and keep working hard and always do the right thing, no matter what, and keep pushing forward and things will normally work out.” There was, and continues to be, a lot of prayer. FJ Prayer certainly never hurts, but it’s no small thing to go into competition with one of the world’s most renowned gunmakers. What made you think you could do that? MS I don’t think I ever even thought
Nighthawk Custom founder Mark Stone. americanshootingjournal.com 23
about it, to be honest with you. Our plans in the beginning were to build 1911s as good as our competition, but with better customer service, better warranty and more flexibility through customization and options. Not long after we started, we had a few warranties where parts would break and when you have a true lifetime warranty, that can get expensive fast. Originally some of our parts were cast parts and they were the ones breaking. I remembered what my parents had taught me. My father used to tell me that you can do 100 things right and one thing wrong, and what will people
remember you for? The thing you did wrong. With that in mind, our first improvement was to build every pistol, not just select models, with all fully machined parts. We brought in very knowledgeable older gunsmiths as consultants on the processes and details of a great pistol build. Richard Heinie, Bob Marvel, Bill Laughridge and several others shared their knowledge and experience with us. They helped us immensely in developing the best practices that allowed us to earn a reputation for excellence and consistency. The process is never ending. We are always looking at how
The company’s NHC Classic is a traditional take on the classic 1911 in stainless steel. Features include: polished flats; forged, beveled Government-size frame hand-fit to a flat top slide decorated with arrow serrations and French border; 5-inch throated barrel with fluted hood; polished feed ramp crowned flush with the bushing barrel and hand-fit to the slide; 25-lines-per-inch checkering on the ultra hi-cut frame front strap and round butt mainspring housing; 40-lines-perinch serrations on the rear slide to match rear sight; hand-blended grip safety; shortened and curved Nighthawk Custom slide stop; thick bushing; thick and smooth recoil spring plug; tuned and polished extractor; hand-fit firing pin stop; hand-polished ignition components; medium solid aluminum Nighthawk Custom trigger set to a 3.5- to 3.75-pound pull; Heinie black ledge rear sight with solid gold bead front sight; Cocobolo half-smooth/half-checkered grips; and two eight-round magazines. This is what goes into a Nighthawk Custom.
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we can do everything better. Doing the job right was a goal from the start, and what that meant to us evolved over time into the “One Gun, One Gunsmith” philosophy we became known for. FJ Could you explain exactly what One Gun, One Gunsmith means for the customer? MS Nighthawk Custom is about quality in all we do. The One Gun, One Gunsmith approach proved to be the best way to ensure consistent high quality by establishing responsibility for the finished product. For example, if you have one man doing all the slide-
to-frame fits, one doing the barrel fits, and another guy doing trigger jobs and safeties, there is really no ownership of the finished product. Everyone can blame everyone else for a problem. It only takes one man doing subpar work to spoil the excellent work of all the other men. If the good craftsmen know that the one slacker is going to spoil their fine work, their enthusiasm to do their best work is eroded. Why should they bother if one guy is going to mess it up anyway? That mindset is very destructive but all too common in assembly-line production. Henry Ford proved an assembly line works, but not when you are building something to
Nighthawk Custom is a custom gunmaker. In this example, at customer request, a 9mm Commander-sized Vice President model was upgraded with a double-stack frame, increasing magazine capacity from 10 to 17 rounds and allowing attachment of a tactical light on its integral rail. In addition, the slide was cut for the versatile Interchangeable Optic System, or IOS, rear sight plates, a threaded barrel for suppressor use was installed, and the gun was finished in multicam Cerakote.
The 9mm Sand Hawk features Nighthawk Custom’s 17-round double-stack frame, IOS system, and the same integrated single-port compensator found on the Fire Hawk and TRS Comp. A precisiondesigned port in the compensator reduces muzzle flip, allowing the shooter to stay on target for followup shots. The added weight of the full-length dust cover aids in reducing muzzle flip and provides ample tactical rail space for accessories.
americanshootingjournal.com 25
the Nighthawk Custom level of quality. With Nighthawk Custom’s One Gun, One Gunsmith build strategy, the highest level of accountability rests with a sole gunsmith. He is motivated and takes pride in stamping his name on his builds. Everyone is going to be happy with the final result, including the customer. That’s why each Nighthawk Custom pistol is built from start to finish by a single gunsmith. All the parts are intentionally oversized and machined from bar stock steel so they can be hand-fit to each other to tolerances that would be impossible to maintain in assembly-line firearms. In addition to One Gun, One Gunsmith, some of our signature slogans at Nighthawk Custom are: Home of the World’s Finest 1911, Built to Last, Built from Billet Steel, and The Nighthawk Custom Difference. Our firearms, including our Cooper rifles, Korth revolvers and Cosmi shotguns, all use fully machined parts and hand-fitting like in the old days when people built products to the highest level of quality that lasted for decades. Often consumers in those days got rid of old products just because they wanted something new, or the finish
was worn off. The products still functioned and worked! It could be a refrigerator that was 70 years old, like my grandmother had, or an older firearm built with quality components and craftsmanship. In the old days of America and all over the world, products were built this way. Quality in the old days was important. Money was tight, and customers expected products to last. At Nighthawk Custom, we value quality, craftsmanship and customer service. It’s hard to find these days, but you can still find and experience it at Nighthawk Custom today. FJ There aren’t many true gunsmiths in the traditional sense anymore. How do you find them? MS You are right about that. We have the most talented gunsmiths in the industry. Seven of them were inducted into the American Pistolsmith Guild. No other company in the world has that many. If you are that skilled, you don’t need to work for someone, but they stay with us because we treat them right. We provide all the tools, personalized work benches, a pleasant work atmosphere … We want them
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A closeup of the IOS precision dovetail that allows quick sight changes without loss of zero. Plates are available for any optic the customer wants.
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The BDS9 is uniquely Nighthawk Custom. Designed and hand-built for the alpha competitive shooter, features include Nighthawk Custom’s double-stack 9mm frame, a heavy tri-cut angle top and lightening ports allowing the slide to cycle quicker for faster followup shots, and the IOS gives shooters the option of shooting iron sights or red dot optics. Competition shooters can now run the same pistol in multiple divisions by easily changing from the iron sight plate to an optic, all while holding zero.
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1. Nighthawk’s Bob Marvel model recreates the famed pistolsmith’s unique Commander-sized 1911 known for having greater accuracy, reliability and lower recoil than standard Commander pistols. It features a stroked slide and frame, proprietary two-piece sleeved bull barrel, Everlast Recoil System and a fully adjustable BoMar rear sight. 2. The .357 Magnum Korth Silver Mongoose features a silver DLC finish for unparalleled durability and beauty, six-shot cylinder, nontarnishing solid gold front sight bead, fully adjustable rear sight, Turkish walnut wood grips and a custom wood display box. It’s available in 4-, 5.25- or 6-inch barrel lengths and has German revolver maker Korth’s unique cylinder release lever next to the hammer and quick cylinder removal button on the frame. You can order 9mm cylinders for added versatility. 3. The Korth NXR .44 Magnum has a 6-inch hammer-forged precision barrel and an integrated Picatinny rail on the frame. The barrel housing is ventilated for faster cooling and the entire revolver has a DLC finish for a beautiful yet durable look. There’s an additional Picatinny rail mounted below the barrel, which allows you to run the weight bar or remove it for an additional bottom rail. The NXR has removable side panels on the front sight for versatility in a wide range of shooting disciplines. Its tactical look is offset by elegant Turkish walnut grips. americanshootingjournal.com 27
to be happy. People who are happy at work, work better, and our people are more like family than employees. You want your family to be happy. Some gunsmiths arrived with skills, but the majority had no experience at all. In many respects, an untrained man is a better starting point than a skilled man who might have inefficient work habits. To be a great gunsmith, a person has to possess the natural gift of craftsmanship in their hands. We test them to see what their natural gifts are. Without those God-given gifts, a man will wear out before he gets to the level we need. You know how a master craftsman makes challenging jobs look easy? That’s because they have the gift and to them it is easy. Add to that natural gift practice through repetition Cosmi autoloading shotguns were perfected almost a century ago and have been in continuous production since then, except from 1941 to 1945, when World War II halted operations. They are works of art in metal and wood, individually made to the customer’s specifications.
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and you have Tiger Woods- or Michael Jordan-level performance. In the best cases, it may take four to six months to get a trained gunsmith up to speed on our procedures. Typically, a gunsmith trained from scratch is an investment of a year to a year and a half of paid on-the-job training before they reach the skill level to build a gun in a 40hour week. Greater efficiency comes with experience and our top gunsmiths can build and prep a pistol in 16 to 20 hours of work time. I don’t want you to go away from our talk thinking the gunsmiths are the whole secret to our success. That’s not the case. To do what we do, everyone must be on the same page. Receptionist, shipping clerk, quality control inspector, salesman;
it doesn’t matter what their job is, all our employees take pride in their work. You need all the people – not one person, not 10 people – but all 108 people dedicated to doing their very best to deliver the best products and service to our customers. Here’s an amazing thing about Nighthawk Custom that most people don’t know. We never needed to advertise to fill vacant positions. Our employees sought us out because they wanted to be a part of Nighthawk Custom. It’s a blessing to be surrounded by hardworking, talented men and women of shared vision. One of many miracles I’ve witnessed. It’s because of them that we are successful. In Colossians 3:23 it says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as
Nighthawk Custom got into the high-end custom bolt-action rifle business last year wtih the purchase of Cooper Rifles of Montana from the Cooper family. Nighthawk Custom will focus on the traditional woodstocked rifles and has rebranded the company Cooper of Arkansas.
working for the Lord, not for men.” FJ How many different model 1911s does Nighthawk Custom offer? MS We make 58 on Government, Commander and Officer model-size frames, as well as our own doublestack magazine frame, and not just in .45 ACP either. We have 10mm, 9mm and .30 Super Carry offerings too. Some of those guns are uniquely Nighthawk Custom and others are the product of our collaboration with other great gunmakers, like our Agent 2. We’re honored to make several signature guns of the world’s best gunsmiths, like Bob Marvel’s bull-barreled Commander built on a cutback Government frame so it has more rail engagement, and Richard Heinie’s 6-inch-barrel Long Slide. The Nighthawk Custom BDS9, TRS Comp and Sand Hawk are uniquely our own and use our 17-round 9mm double-stack frame. The BDS9 features our patented IOS, or Interchangeable Optic System, that lets the shooter use iron sights or any 30 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
optics by switching plates without losing zero. The TRS Comp and Sand Hawk feature our patented Fire Hawk integral compensator, which really keeps the muzzle down in rapid fire. FJ I remember that compensator! It made the .45 ACP Fire Hawk feel like a 9mm. MS It really does. That’s one of several compensator systems we use. The IOS system and double-stack frame are also optional upgrades on Nighthawk Custom pistols that don’t have them as a standard feature. I should mention too that we’ll install an IOS on other brands of firearms too. In addition to making our own guns, we offer the full range of 1911-platform gunsmithing services. The custom refinements that we build into our guns are available à la carte if you want us to work on your Colt, Kimber, Springfield or other good-quality 1911. FJ Nighthawk Custom pistols start around $3,500, so they aren’t sitting in the display case of every local gunshop.
How does one go about getting one? MS The most convenient way is to go to our website at nighthawkcustom.com and use our dealer locator to find one close to you. Alternatively, you can also order directly from us and we will ship to your local FFL. We offer 24-month financing too. The details are on the website. We also have extensive descriptions, photographs and retail pricing for all our firearms there. If you explore the website and look at the different models and the custom features they include as standard, you’ll get a good understanding of what we put into our guns to make them worth the price. Of course, we’re happy to answer any and all questions by phone. Our toll-free number is 877-268-4867. FJ Nighthawk Custom sells more than just 1911s; I recall you showing me a German Korth revolver and an amazing Italian Cosmi autoloading shotgun on the range last year. MS Our customers want the very
best, so we approached both those companies to explore partnering. Their guiding principles are a close match to ours. Now we are their exclusive US importers. Korth-Waffen of Lollar, Germany, has been making guns for 75 years and their revolvers are known worldwide for their unrivaled quality and craftsmanship. Korth revolvers are also individually built by a single gunsmith with no cast or MIM (metal injection molding) parts. Cosmi SRL of Ancona, Italy, builds the world’s finest and most advanced luxury semiautomatic shotguns. The design was perfected a century ago. They have over 100 hand-fit parts and looking inside the action is mesmerizing. They are works of art in metal and wood. You have to see it to believe it. Cosmi developed an ingenious magazine tube that runs down into the buttstock, shifting the weight of the shells to the butt and creating a semiauto with the consistent balance of a break-open. They recently made a semiauto dangerous game rifle in your choice
of .47-70 Government or .444 Marlin caliber on the same platform. It gives the hunter the option of five quick shots. Traditional double rifles allow faster followup shots than bolt-actions, but if you don’t get the job done with the second round, you might find yourself lion food. The Cosmi is the best of both worlds – fast followup and a five-round magazine. I should mention that they are also introducing an over/under break-open action that will combine the best features of several different manufacturers’ designs into a single gun.
checkered walnut-stocked bolt-action hunting and varmint rifles on their proprietary action. We moved six semi-truckloads from Montana to Arkansas and we’re in production now. The guns we’re shipping now are outstanding orders placed before we bought the business. Cooper of Arkansas will return to the traditional, high-end, wood-stocked guns that made Cooper famous, and incorporate the improvements they wanted to but couldn’t implement. Our Coopers will carry on their legacy of quality and performance.
FJ I understand Nighthawk Custom recently bought Cooper Firearms of Montana with the intent of getting into the bolt-action rifle business. MS We did. That company was a good fit for our customers. The Cooper family built a reputation for excellence in the 35 years they were in business. They started out with .22 LR single-shots and by 2005 they were building beautifully finished, traditional blued steel and hand-
FJ Where do you see Nighthawk Custom going in the future? MS I’m committed to the business, and my son Landon is too. I wouldn’t sell it at any price, and I know he wouldn’t either. My dream and vision is that Nighthawk Custom will be a company that lasts for generations and will diversify in like quality products. We are committed to the future and are not just looking to get to a place where we can sell and take it easy. ★
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Rather than leaving your decoys set out for the next hunt, pick them up after every late-season shoot so as not to educate birds. This will make it easy to create a more fitting, realistic spread the next time you hunt that spot.
34 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
ROAD HUNTER
FOURTH QUARTER 'FOWL
With the clock ticking down on the season and ducks smartened up, here are the decoy, blind and calling changes to make to score. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN
T
he morning started just as it had for the past several weeks. Ducks swarmed overhead in the darkness and landed in the decoys as Dad and I got things ready in the blind. But when shooting time finally arrived this morning, the ducks swung wide. They looked at the decoys, but just wouldn’t commit. We knew we needed to make a change, so we pulled out the two decoys with wind-driven wings and opened up three landing zones: two running north to south, and one running east to west. Still, no ducks decoyed. We could have passshot, but that’s not what hunting over decoys is about. “I’m going to move out to that bush and hunt the other side of the decoy spread,” Dad said. “Why don’t you head to the east end and see what’s happening out there?” The bush Dad pointed to was 40 yards from our blind at the far end of a flooded field. There was only enough room for one hunter to hide behind it. My 81-year-old father hunkered behind the bush and began shooting before I even reached my spot 300 yards away. Once there, I set up a homemade single-panel blind against an embank-
ment, tossed out a dozen floating decoys and arranged three dozen Big Al’s wigeon silhouettes along the edges of a flooded field. No sooner had I settled into the blind than ducks began spiraling down. In less than 30 minutes, Dad and I both had our limits. THERE’S A SAYING I’ve lived by for decades. I believe it was Henry Ford who originally said something to the effect of, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll be where you’ve always been.” Not only does this statement govern my life, but also how I hunt. When things aren’t going right on a hunt, change can make a difference. One of the hardest things for experienced hunters to do is change their routine. I see it all the time on both private and public lands. If you’re someone who goes to the same blind twice a week, sets the decoys the same way and blows the same calls with the same rhythm, and you’re struggling to shoot limits by season’s end, keep reading. Waterfowl hunting throughout much of the Pacific Flyway has been spectacular the past three seasons. With an influx of ducks comes more hunters, and the recent growth in the number of waterfowlers is no secret. With the americanshootingjournal.com 35
ROAD HUNTER added pressure comes challenges for all hunters, and striving for consistent success starts with the blind. Recently a man who hunted a public-land slough that I also hunted made a blind of dead limbs and brush 200 yards from mine. It was way too close and it turned out blocky and visible from a quarter-mile away. I watched duck after duck flare from his blind. I picked up my decoys, hopped in my canoe and headed up the slough around a couple corners.
Quickly building a makeshift blind in tall grass and briars, I tossed out two dozen decoys and soon had every bird the other hunter flared diving into my spread. I could have stayed put but would have only become more frustrated and likely wouldn’t have killed a duck that morning. Sometimes pressure from fellow hunters can be used to your advantage if you make the right changes. These changes might involve physically moving, changing your decoy spread
Ducks get wary as the season progresses. For consistent success, pay close attention to details, as author Scott Haugen and his father Jerry Haugen have done for decades.
36 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
or improving a blind. As the season progresses and winter storms pound blinds, be sure to keep them in working order, and by that I mean properly hiding you. Hide all corners, edges and exposed horizontal tops, breaking up all of the straight lines. Keep the blind small, no bigger than it must be, and avoid letting it look like a solid mass. A good blind needs depth to blend in with the surrounding habitat. If birds are flaring, it could be your blind. You may need to actually step out of the blind and look at it from a distance in order to see what needs fixing. AS WE ENTER the final weeks of duck season, know the birds you’re hunting. Many of us are targeting ducks on their wintering grounds, meaning we’re after the same ducks as every other hunter in the valley. These birds are educated, as they’ve been hunted for three straight months. By late December in a Pacific Northwest valley that I hunt, not only are winter birds prevalent, but the last six weeks of the season see an influx of ducks moving back north to prepare for breeding season. Here, ducks feed, roost and perform courtship flights. These birds are extremely smart, having already made their way south and then hundreds of miles back north to my location, and they’ve been hunted the whole way. Smart, yes. My dad and I have made three important decoy changes recently that have helped our success. First, we began picking up the decoys after each private-land hunt. Many privateland hunters and duck club members leave decoys out after each hunt. I think this educates birds this time of year. By pulling decoys at the end of every hunt, you’re giving ducks a place to land and feed without seeing the artificial birds and becoming leery of the situation. Also, every time you put out a fresh decoy set, you’re more likely to create a spread that’s conducive to that morning’s conditions, something many hunters get lazy with if decoys
ROAD HUNTER are already in place. Second, we invested in higherquality duck decoys. I’m loving what Final Approach has come out with in recent years. For me, their Live Fully Flocked Floating Mallards and Live Floating Wigeon are money; they’re my go-to decoys from midseason on. Their Live Floating Pintails are great, and the new Live Shovelers are the best-looking spoony decoys I’ve hunted with. I like having a lot of white in my spread this time of year, and
pintails and shovelers do just that. Third, we’ve made silhouette decoys a major part of our spread, something few public-land hunters are doing in our area. Because so many wigeon showed up the past three seasons, we picked up five dozen Big Al’s wigeon silhouettes. These were an instant game-changer. In fact, they worked so well that I got 10 dozen more, along with 10 dozen each of the Big Al’s mallard and pintail silhouettes. On numerous hunts we’ve had hundreds
Slayer’s duck calls are becoming very popular throughout the West, with their new Ranger leading the way thanks to its ease of operation, volume and clarity.
38 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
of ducks landing in the middle of the silhouettes, and not just wigeons. If birds aren’t committing to the decoys, don’t wait to make changes. After two flocks pull away, I either open more landing lanes, set decoys closer to a protected shoreline if the wind is blowing hard, or spread them out if it’s calm and sunny. I also call sparingly as the season progresses. This time of year, I’m of the mindset that less is more. Quality calls are important in the late season and I
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ROAD HUNTER like having a double- and single-reed call to blow. Two seasons ago I started using Slayer Calls and loved the quality of sounds produced from these acrylic calls. Last year they came out with a new single-reed call dubbed The Ranger, and I rank this atop the best duck calls I’ve run. It’s loud, crisp, clear and easy to control. I’m an average caller at best, but The Ranger makes me sound like a pro and ducks respond to it. In the fourth quarter of duck season, I call when birds are wide and searching, and when they turn my way, I shut up.
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SHOTGUN SHELLS ARE a piece of gear hunters will want to pay attention to also. If you’re missing shots, it might not be entirely your fault. The shotgun shell shortage two seasons ago was unlike anything I’ve seen in my more than 45 years of waterfowl hunting. With the shortage came frustrated hunters, not only because they couldn’t find shells, but because when they did, they often
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americanshootingjournal.com 41
ROAD HUNTER missed easy shots. A lot of them. Why? “This is unreal!” a frustrated buddy said after one hunt. “I just shot 23 shells to kill a seven-bird limit. That’s ridiculous!” He was right because we were shooting birds at 20 yards as they hovered over decoys. He’s usually burning around 10 shells per limit. “I’d rather change guns and chokes than shells,” he said. He had a great point. With the variety of shells hunters scrambled to find, each one could have shot differently in your gun. If
you missed easy shots, this could be why. Changing shotgun shell sizes, shot sizes and even brands can impact patterns. Powder charges, velocity and wads can all affect how a load shoots, and not all loads pattern the same. When you find a load you like, stick with it. Learn how that load shoots in crosswinds and what its effective range is. The more intimately you know how fast the load is traveling and what the energy transfer is like on birds, the less missing you’ll do.
Late-season changes can be as simple as adding some full-body decoys to a spread. Here, Final Approach Live Floating Wigeon decoys are being set near silhouettes on shore.
42 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
WITH THE FINAL weeks of waterfowl season upon us, if you’re not happy with how birds are decoying, or you’re not shooting like you’d hoped, evaluate why. Then make the necessary adjustments because when it comes to late-season duck hunting, change can be a good thing. Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s bestselling books, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott’s adventures on Instagram and Facebook.
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CHASING NOSTALGIA How a trip to South Dakota's ringneck-rich prairie helped rekindle a childhood passion.
ird hunt in Kyle on a b gton, circa in h as W eastern YLE CUNNINGHAM) 1999. (K
The author (left), his brother Grant, father Brad and Wyatt the Lab hunting in South Dakota in November 2021.
52 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
STORY BY KYLE CUNNINGHAM • PHOTOS BY JUSTIN SCHOENBORN
M d dad Bra nd his NINGHAM) a m a h nning 98. (KYLE CUN Kyle Cu 19 Author gham, circa in n n u C
y fondest memories are of chasing roosters with my dad and younger brother. I remember walking endless expanses of grasslands, draws and cut corn in eastern Washington overlooking the Snake River below. As you may or may not know, that part of the country is not known for spectacular ringneck production. Hunting in those days often was more like an armed nature walk – a long trek occasionally interrupted by a flurry of wings, shotgun blasts and, as often as not, a relieved and unharmed bird cackling over the horizon. That’s why three years ago, my dad, brother, brother-in-law and I resolved to begin an annual pilgrimage to the Mecca of pheasant hunting – South Dakota. The allure of a limit of roosters finally won out over the miles, time off and the dearth of pheasants that plagued our days hunting out West.
Kyle an the d Mo l an edog o ly n phe Washi astern circ asan ngton a 19 t hu CUN 98. ( nt, NIN
GH
KYL E AM )
americanshootingjournal.com 53
THE ORIGINAL IDEA for the trip can be credited to my brother-inlaw Jeff. He found us an Airbnb that would accommodate our group. My dad Brad and I arrived in South Dakota by way of air through Rapid City, where my brother Grant picked us up on his way from Missoula, Montana. We chose to hunt during the first weekend of November to avoid the hordes of hunters jockeying for spots on opening day. Since some of our group had flown in, we all packed light. I borrowed a friend’s flight case for my trusty 870 Express Magnum. No, this shotgun won’t turn any heads, but it has always served me well, and in a pinch can double as a 2x4. My brother and I were each given an 870 once we had the frame to shoulder a man’s gun. The firearms were identical except for the color; mine was lighter, almost mahogany, while my brother’s was a classic dark walnut. Each firearm had its own story to tell – a barbed wire fence here, a thicket of tough cover there, and a careless drop over the years. (Though judging from the patina, Grant’s 870 must have been used to shovel gravel at one point.)
The tools of the trade – Remington 870s and a Remington Model 1187.
54 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
eastern AM) t during an e and Grana 2003. (KYLE CUNNINGH yl K s er th rc Bro ci , n io rs cu Oregon ex
My dad had also checked his 1187. It was the only shotgun he had owned and therefore holds the memory of every trip of my youth. Guns with history have a mystique and spirit all their own. Perhaps it comes from the same mystique and spirit that we attribute to our fathers. That gun is imbued with a part of my dad and vice versa. Though airlines allow factory-sealed ammo, I didn’t bother, since I’d heard rumors that you could find shotshells on the shelf at local gas stations. This rumor caused a challenge at the outset of our trip. The year was 2021 and we had failed to account for the effect of the ammo shortage. There were no shells to be found anywhere! Nothing at Walmart, nothing at Dakotamart, and even the gas stations were picked clean, save for the odd box of exotic 16-gauge loads. Thankfully, good fortune intervened on two occasions. AS WE WERE buying our licenses at the local Walmart, we first learned of the ammo shortage problem. We were faced with the dismal prospect of coming all this way for nothing. (You could almost hear the roosters mocking us.) Fortunately, Grant is as optimistic as he is lucky. Having a premonition, he walked out into the Walmart parking lot and in short order was given a small bag of shotshells by a sympathetic local.
Jackson the Lab looks on as the Cunninghams work a field. Grant and Jackson with a long-tailed rooster.
a field.
Grant fist bumps buddy Tim Schoenborn of Wyoming as Kyle and Wyatt the dog watch.
Brad takes in the South Dakota scene. americanshootingjournal.com 55
Only in South Dakota. Our second stroke of luck was credited to me. At the local sporting goods store the next morning, we had again searched for ammo, all to no avail. Staring at the empty shelves, a thought occurred to me. Given that we were amid strict buying limits (usually one box per transaction), could an enterprising hunter have stashed a box away for a future purchase? You may choose to doubt, but I found a box of 12-gauge shells hidden under a pile of socks. I have never been so grateful to pay $47 for a box of steel No. 2s. Meagerly provisioned with shells and a few sandwiches for the day, we went to our first field. We could barely contain our excitement, as birds could readily be seen from the truck – this was practically A passel of South Dakota ringnecks.
Kyle ho lds a p air taken oof roosters n the t rip.
Brad takes aim at a ringneck.
56 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
unheard of where I grew up hunting. We were brimming with optimism, even though we would be trying our luck on public land, which is markedly more challenging than private reserves. Though we were in the heart of bird country, we were also into the third week of the season, which meant that birds were alert to hunters and would be ready to run
in the massive Waterfowl Production Area, Walk-In Area and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program fields we would be hunting. Adding to the challenge, we would be dogless to start. A pair of Labs were on their way with some friends driving up from Cheyenne, Wyoming, for our second day of hunting, but today the two-legged hominids were going to have to get it done while we waited for the four-legged canines to arrive.
americanshootingjournal.com 57
The brothers Cunningham and their dad smile over one of their ringnecks. For Kyle, a father of three boys, the trip was both nostalgic and forward-looking.
OUR FIRST DAY was promising. Birds were flushing, but mostly well out of shooting range. A few roosters snuck behind us. Early in the day, three to four birds jumped in front of our line of shooters, only to remind us of our failed resolutions to get to the clay range in the offseason. Later in the afternoon, I was able to connect with two roosters and Jeff hit one as well. It was, to that point, the best day of hunting in my life. The rest of the day cooled off, but we were consistently pushing birds and getting decent opportunities. The next day, we met up with our friends Tim and Justin, seasoned upland hunters from Cheyenne with experience and a great pair of Labs. We continued to work public land an hour east of town. Tim and Justin are veterans of South Dakota upland hunting and helped us fine-tune our approach. The dogs were consistently on birds and as a group, we started working towards our limit. On that trip, Tim was shooting a gorgeous 28-gauge Silver Pigeon. It was the first time I had handled the 58 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
gauge, which I secretly doubted could bring down a sturdy ringneck. Tim quickly proved me wrong and showed that the 28-gauge punches above its weight when the shooter does his part. Justin was carrying a Sweet 16, which was also a configuration that I had very little experience with. I loved the light carry and more than adequate knockdown power. I’m glad to report that South Dakota lived up to the hype! Joined by new friends from Wyoming and a couple of eager Labs, we were rewarded with plenty of flushes and more than a few downed birds. That trip was the first of five that I have made in the subsequent three years, and the next is always on my mind. UPLAND HUNTING IN South Dakota is the pinnacle of what the sport has to offer. But now living in Texas, the trip itself is a challenge for me. The distance alone is enough to keep many hunters closer to home. Why are we willing to put in the time, miles and money to hunt these animals in this place?
There must be something other than the relatively small caloric payoff of a few lean roosters. More than harvesting birds, I think hunting is about the pursuit of nostalgia that we find in the field. Though I loved hunting as a kid, in my 20s my passion for hunting waned. Then I moved from my childhood home in the Pacific Northwest to Dallas in 2017, which further removed me from the sport. Hunting was increasingly relegated to the thing of childhood memory. Making my way back to the South Dakota prairie was like traveling back in time to my childhood. Memories of my dad’s old Ford, my first bolt-action .410 and the anticipation of the flush were fresh in my mind. But now I’m finding that hunting can also take me forward in time. I’m in my mid-30s, with three boys of my own. As much as I remember the past, I get to dream about the future – about my boys and the memories that we will get to make together with their uncles and Papa. For me, that is what hunting in South Dakota is all about.
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BROUGHT TO YOU BY
BULLET BULLETIN
Simple, effective, affordable; the Hornady InterLock remains an excellent choice for the hunter.
A NAME INTERLOCKED WITH HUNTING
Hornady’s cup-and-core bullet line provides ‘tried-and-true performance’ for sportsmen around the world. STORY BY PHIL MASSARO • PHOTOS BY MASSARO MEDIA GROUP
T
he science and technology involved with creating the modern hunting projectile have become much more advanced than that which was used in the early part of the 20th century. In that era, you essentially had three choices for feeding your rifles: an all-lead projectile, the common cupand-core jacketed bullet – with either a hollowpoint or some exposed lead at the
nose to initiate expansion – and the full metal jacket, or full patch bullet, which was fully encapsulated in the copper gilding metal. Though radically interrupted by World War II, hunters returned home to peacetime and took to the wilds once again. And just as science had changed the face of warfare – what with the atomic bomb, jet engine and missile technology coming into use – it infiltrated the field of hunting projectiles as well. The generation that had survived
the privation of the Great Depression and then the innumerable struggles of WWII had to make for themselves that what they couldn’t otherwise purchase, and names like John Nosler, Vernon Speer and Joyce Hornady became popular among shooters. While all would remain huge players in the hunting world, Hornady’s name would go on to be stamped on the case head of some of the best ammunition available, as well as continue to be associated with affordable and effective component projectiles. americanshootingjournal.com 63
BULLET BULLETIN
Hornady’s Custom line includes many old and near-obsolete cartridges; this box of .275 Rigby cartridges features the 140-grain Hornady InterLock.
With its first projectile offerings in 1949, Hornady would go on to release one of the best cup-and-core hunting bullets in their lineup in 1977: the InterLock. How has this simple copper jacket/lead core design hung on so well for nearly half a century, in spite of even Hornady’s technological advances? I believe it is exactly the simplicity and efficiency that gets the job done so well.
Let’s take a closer look at Hornady’s InterLock, and the wide range of applications I’ve personally used it for. THE CONVENTIONAL CUP-AND-CORE bullet dates back to the 1880s, when Swiss Colonel Eduard Rubin developed the full metal jacket we’ve all come to know, and that bullet changed the game in a couple of different ways.
The Hornady InterLock shown in section; note the InterLock ring extending into the lead core toward the bottom of the bullet. (HORNADY)
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One, it could be shot at much higher velocities than any lead bullet, as the copper jacket is harder than lead and won’t foul the barrel nearly as much. Two, the structural integrity of the bullet – especially in the terminal phase – is greatly improved, preventing premature expansion and bullet breakup. Many of these early designs did, however, see jacket/core separation upon impact, and a number of measures were taken to prevent this. Remington’s use of a deep cannelure, or crimping groove, in their Core-Lokt bullet helps to keep things held together, and the Hornady InterLock uses a similar concept. That cannelure is for more than crimping a case mouth, and it works with the InterLock ring that extends inward, into the lead core, preventing the rear part of the jacket from pulling away from the core. And the jacket of the InterLock is strategically designed to be thinner and weaker at the nose and along the ogive, while growing thicker as it approaches the base. This gives an excellent balance of reliable expansion – even at lower velocities, on longer shots or from slower cartridges – and retained weight to aid in deep penetration. The InterLock is available in a flatbased spitzer conformation, boattail spitzer and roundnosed designs, making it a very flexible choice for a good number of different cartridges. Calibers
BULLET BULLETIN
This toothy Texas feral hog met a 140-grain Hornady InterLock. The InterLock won.
Author Phil Massaro’s best whitetail was taken in South Texas with a Rigby Highland Stalker in .275 Rigby and a 140-grain Hornady InterLock.
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range from 6mm (.243 inch) all the way up to .458 inch, with a wide variety of useful bullet weights. The spitzer bullets feature a secant ogive, which offers a perfect balance of bearing surface, downrange efficiency and bullet length. Couple these design ideas with the flexible terminal performance, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to see why the InterLock remains not only in the Hornady lineup – please keep in mind that it needs to compete with the ELD-X, CX, SST and DGX Bonded – but remains a popular choice. Is the InterLock as strong as the CX? No, a copper monometal will be a stronger design than any non-bonded cup-and-core bullet, as its monolithic design is harder overall. Does the InterLock open as fast and as violently as the SST? No, despite sharing many features, that bullet gives an immediate
BULLET BULLETIN The long, lean 160-grain Hornady InterLock is perfect for replicating the 6.5mm cartridge loads of a century ago; they hit hard and penetrate very deep.
These 220-grain InterLocks loaded in .300 Winchester Magnum hit 2,450 feet per second, making them perfect black bear medicine.
energy transfer, as the polymer tip helps open the nose quickly. Does the InterLock have the ballistic coefficient of the ELD-X? No, it doesn’t, but I’m not sure that it truly needs it, as within the most common ranges the InterLock spitzer and spitzer boattails do just fine. WHEN I BEGAN to handload, my father and I had gone in halves on the tools needed to produce ammunition for our .308 Winchester rifles, and the first component bullet we purchased was the 165-grain InterLock spitzer. With a healthy pour of IMR 4064 and a CCI
The 7mm-08 Remington mated with a 139-grain InterLock in the American Whitetail line makes for an affordable and effective choice for deer and black bear alike. (HORNADY)
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200 large rifle primer, we resized Dad’s collection of once-fired cases and I took my first step down a rabbithole whose bottom I haven’t found as of this writing. It was a wonderful experience to take that first deer with ammunition we’d created ourselves, and those Hornady InterLocks performed just fine. It was, is, and shall be a great deer bullet, in addition to being a sound choice for many other game species. Between the two of us, I’d wager that well over a couple dozen deer made the trip to the freezer, and that was just with those .308 Winchesters.
The 165-grain InterLock was loaded in the Hornady .30-06 Springfield factory ammunition we used while chasing red stags around the Cairngorms of the Scottish Highlands with John Rigby & Co., as they debuted their Highland Stalker rifle. A single InterLock at 225 meters made the trip for me, as an 11-point stag dropped to that shot. Rigby was kind enough to send another of their Highland Stalker rifles to me here in the States for further review and evaluation, this time chambered in .275 Rigby H.V. This is a variant of the 7x57 Mauser with a throat designed for the 140-grain bullets, but not the 175-grain slugs normally associated with the cartridge. Hornady loads the 140-grain InterLock in their Custom line for the .275 Rigby H.V., and I took it to Texas with professional hunter Jay Leyendecker to take a jet-black Texas feral hog boar and my best whitetail to date. Both were one-shot kills, and I couldn’t have asked for better performance. Later I’d add a .300 Winchester Magnum to the mix, and I’d load mine with several different InterLock models, including the 180-grain spitzer boattail, the 180-grain roundnose and the 220-grain roundnose. The 180-grain bullets were responsible for more than a few decent bucks over the years, and those 220-grain roundnose bullets were
BULLET BULLETIN loaded down to 2,450 feet per second to emulate the performance of the .318 Westley Richards; with that formula I took both whitetail deer and black bear in my native New York. Speaking of the .318 Westley Richards – an obscure British cartridge from the early 20th century – I managed to get a custom rifle built in the vintage chambering and needed component
projectiles to feed it. The .318 Westley Richards uses a .330-inch-diameter bullet, and Hornady just so happens to make an InterLock bullet of that diameter for the 8x56R cartridge at 205 grains. At 2,750 fps, it will hammer a whitetail – I’ve taken a number of them with it – and while I haven’t used it for black bear, that day will come. Using a swaging die, I’ve even figured out
The .308 Winchester makes a nice compact package, and the 150-grain Hornady InterLock is a perfect choice for deer season.
At 286 grains, the Hornady InterLock for 9.3mm cartridges offers a good blend of sectional density and up-front expansion. The author chose it for his leopard safari in a Ramirez 9.3x62 Mauser. (HORNADY)
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americanshootingjournal.com 73
BULLET BULLETIN how to swage the .338-inch-diameter roundnosed InterLocks down to .330inch diameter for the .318 WR to keep that cool old cartridge alive. And, most recently, I chose the Hornady InterLock for my leopard hunt in Zimbabwe last summer with Tanya Blake Safaris. I was using a Todd Ramirez custom rifle, chambered for the 9.3x62mm Mauser, and that beautiful gun would put three 286-grain Hornady InterLocks into sub-MOA groups. I chose the InterLock for the exact attributes I’ve described thus far: on a thin-skinned cat, the InterLock will give good expansion and quick energy transfer, yet is strong enough to penetrate even the biggest leopard. The 286-grain model in 9.3mm (.366-inch diameter) has plenty of Massaro used the 286-grain Hornady InterLock to take this Zimbabwean leopard. Though the cat tipped the scales at over 150 pounds, the bullet passed right through.
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The 139-grain boattail spitzer InterLock in 7mm caliber is a great choice for deer and similar-sized game, in nearly any 7mm cartridge. (HORNADY)
BULLET BULLETIN
For those who like to use their big-bore rifle on lighter game, as well as for affordable practice at the range, the InterLock makes perfect sense; it will handle all but the thick-skinned dangerous stuff, and will print like the premium bullets.
sectional density, so penetration wouldn’t pose an issue on other game species in the bushveld. Thankfully, the leopard read the script, and I had my opportunity at last light on the third evening after building the blind. I placed the shot a bit too far back, but the cat was knocked out of the tree, and after a hairy followup and a sleepless night, we recovered the cat unscathed the following morning. Hornady still loads the InterLock in
a good number of its ammunition lines, and Weatherby offers the projectile in its proprietary ammunition. It is readily available in component form, and I’ve honestly never had a problem getting any of the InterLocks to print acceptable hunting groups. If you like a conventional cup-and-core bullet and want tried-and-true performance, I have no hesitation pointing you toward a Hornady InterLock. For moderatevelocity cartridges like the .30-40 Krag, it is hard to argue with the choice of the Hornady InterLock; it is plenty accurate, and tough enough to handle the majority of hunting situations. (HORNADY)
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Weatherby has long offered the InterLock in their proprietary ammunition line, shown here in the 7mm Weatherby Magnum. (WEATHERBY)
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gentrycustom.com A family-owned business, Gentry Custom’s motto is “Where guns are not a hobby, but a way of life.”They believe in gun ownership and gun safety. Gentry Custom is known for the Quiet Muzzle Brake, which will make for a user-friendly rifle. The Quiet Muzzle Brake reduces recoil and muzzle jump so you can get that second shot off if needed, without the large increase of noise to the shooter. Many of the factory rifles have been threaded for a muzzle brake. Gentry Custom offers 5/8 x24 threads and many others. Call them today and they can provide the proper Quiet Muzzle Brake for your rifle. Gentry Custom also offers a three-position safety for the Remington family of rifles and the Mauser 98.
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BLACK POWDER
Author Mike Nesbitt got ahold of some 200-grain Northern Precision .348 bullets to try out in his old Winchester Model 71.
TRYING OUT SOME .348 BULLETS An offer from Northern Precision Custom Swaged Bullets provides a chance to run a few rounds through an old Winchester purchased by folk singer Hoyt Axton. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT
N
orthern Precision Custom Swaged Bullets contacted me through this magazine and asked if I would enjoy giving some of their bullets a try. We talked just a little, and I was told about the bullets they make, especially in calibers where good bullets are somewhat hard to
find. When the good ol’ .348 Winchester was mentioned, I had heard all I needed to hear. Northern Precision’s .348 bullets – 200-grainers with both bonded and non-bonded cores – arrived very quickly. The bonded-core bullets are certainly recommended for hunting because the non-bonded bullets can “shed their jackets” as the bullets expand after the initial penetration.
To put it simply, the bonded-core bullets have the lead core soldered to the jacket. For the shooting described here, the actual effectiveness of the bonding was not tested and only the non-bonded bullets were tried for accuracy. First, the bullets were checked for weight and diameter. Five bullets were selected from the box at random and they all weighed between 200.3 and 200.6 americanshootingjournal.com 85
BLACK POWDER Two of the Winchester .348 cases loaded with the NP bullets.
grains. In fact, three of them weighed 200.6 grains, so the average would be closer to that weight. Rather consistent, for sure. The diameters all ran from .3475 inch to .3480 inch, which is also nicely consistent. I wouldn’t normally check my bullets that closely, but some of you might appreciate that info. Then 20 of the bullets were loaded into Winchester once-fired .348 brass, using an old favorite load of 52.0 grains of IMR 4064 powder, weighing each powder charge, and using CCI large rifle primers for ignition. That is not a maximum loading but it has worked very well for me back when I used the .348 more often, many years ago. The rifle I used for these new Northern Precision bullets was my
MY .348 WINCHESTER Nesbitt’s standard Model 71 with bolt-riding peep sight.
T
he .348 Winchester cartridge chambered in the unique Model 71 lever-action rifle has been a strong favorite of mine for more than a few decades. I got my first one before leaving high school and why that was sold, I simply can’t remember. Other .348s came and went, from one gun trader to another. Then about 40 years ago, at a time when I did not have a .348, I found this one, but my income and ready cash at that time did not allow for its purchase. A good friend stepped in to help. That was the country/folk singer Hoyt Axton. We had been pals for a number of years, doing some shooting as well as a successful bear hunt together. Hoyt was visiting at our home and of course we were talking guns. I mentioned this .348 and Hoyt handed me a signed blank check, saying, “Just tell me how much
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it was.” That was a real surprise to me because I hadn’t asked for anything, which only makes the gift greater. So this .348 became mine. It is a standard-grade Model 71 with no checkering but does have the bolt-riding peep sight. The sling was added by someone many years ago, and it has the marks of being used; it didn’t become a display piece until after I got it. But I did use this rifle. With this .348, I collected the largest buck I’ve taken, a big mule deer, on a hunt just south of Winchester, Idaho. A photo of me with that buck was used in the Speer Loading Manual No. 11, 1987. Speer had discontinued their .348 bullets that year, so the picture ended up at the end of the data for the .284 Winchester. Since that hunt, I have seldom used this rifle but we can blame that primarily on my interest in black powder
The author and friend Hoyt Axton in 1985, with Axton holding a Colt Lightning.
shooting, both muzzleloaders and cartridge guns. However, my black powder interests don’t take anything away from this rifle and it remains one of my most treasured firearms.
americanshootingjournal.com 87
BLACK POWDER
A close-up shows the “skid marks” from the rifling left when the bullet was chambered.
old Winchester Model 71, which was a graduate of the class of 1936. Yes, that rifle is getting close to 100 years old now (and the rifle isn’t alone). THESE 200-GRAIN BULLETS for the .348 Winchester from Northern Precision are shorter than other 200-grain bullets for the same caliber. That is because of a short radius to the bullet’s ogive. And the location of the cannelure for crimping the bullets is perhaps more in the middle than it needs to be. Those characteristics combine to make the loaded rounds look stubbier than the loads assembled with other Three shots at 100 yards with just over a 2¼-inch spread.
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bullets. That’s no problem, and with the Northern Precision bullets, the loads certainly look distinctive. What might be a problem, especially if these bullets are used for hunting, is that the straight sides of the bullet extend further forward than most other bullets for the .348, rather than beginning to taper just forward of the cannelure. This means that the nose of the bullet is already touching the rifling lands, deeply enough to mark the bullet, when the loaded cartridges are chambered. In fact, the bullets were pushed back into the cases slightly when the rifle’s bolt was closed on the
chambered loads. Of course, my .348 is the only rifle these bullets were tried in. This could be an aid to accuracy because there is zero jump from the case to the rifling in the gun’s barrel. For that, we’d need to do some shooting and that was our next step. My shooting partner Allen Cunniff joined me and we posted targets at 50 yards and 100 yards, with all shooting done from a benchrest. Allen actually performed the test, shooting my .348 rifle. The three-shot group we chose for the photo below was fired at 100 yards. While the group appears to be on the wide side, let me point out that its widest spread is just over 2¼ inches, center to center. The rifle was throwing shots somewhat to the right and no correction for windage was made. That’s hunting accuracy, for sure. Finding good bullets for the .348 is a very worthy thing to do, especially now that Hornady has discontinued making bullets for this unique caliber. Northern Precision prices these 200-grain bullets for the .348 at $50 for 50 non-bonded bullets or $35 for 25 bonded-core bullets. Visit npcustombullets.com for more. ★
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AMMO+RELOAD NORTHERN PRECISION CUSTOM SWAGED BULLETS npcustombullets.com New .228 bullet for the Model 99 Savage made from 6mm jackets in custom weights from 50 to 80 grains in spitzer. These can also be made in bonded core for a better game bullet. Northern Precision has been making custom bullets one at a time since 1988. Like other calibers, they saw a need for .228 bullets in standard and custom weights. These are made in boxes of 50 for $50 non-bonded and $35 for 25 in bonded core. Time to take out the high-power and enjoy it. To order, call 315-955-8679 or check out the above website.
REDDING RELOADING EQUIPMENT redding-reloading.com Redding Reloading Equipment announces the new benchmark in precision handloading. The revolutionary Z Series Die Family utilizes larger, stronger and more robust 1-inch die bodies. The 7/8-inch diameter became the industry standard in the post-World War II era, but today’s new cartridge designs provide numerous reasons to question that standard. In short, it is all about the strength of material, the stresses induced and the deformation that occurs in the die itself. Based on relative strength, the Z Series Dies are as much as two times stronger than traditional 7/8-inch dies. This increased strength and rigidity provides significantly reduced sizing effort as well as more consistent and measurable sized case dimensions. The initial Z Series offering will include single dies, die sets and bushing dies in 31 popular cartridges from .284 Winchester to .375 (9.5x77). The new dies are readily adaptable to most reloading presses marketed today with a simple die bushing change. Redding is now also offering new Z Series Turret heads to increase the flexibility of the ever-popular Redding T-7 Press.
BLACK HILLS AMMUNITION black-hills.com For 2024, Black Hills Ammunition is offering the new 6 ARC 90-grain Dual Performance monolithic projectile at 2,650 feet per second. These rounds are solid copper machined bullets designed to open immediately upon impact to form a large temporary cavity. After the bullets are fully expanded, the design allows the petals to shear off and continue with additional wound tracks through the stretched and stressed tissue – creating additional damage and blood loss. The remaining solid copper shank of the projectile, now free from the drag of the petals, continues to significantly increase penetration. Visit us at Booth #15227 americanshootingjournal.com 91
Ammo+RelOAd G9 DEFENSE G9Defense.com G9 Defense’s External Hollow Point is a precision-made solid copper defensive handgun round, featuring unmatched reliability and terminal performance. Its patented shape eliminates the need for expansion, effectively preventing overpenetration while creating devastating wounds through fluid transfer. The EHP is a truly barrier-blind munition, capable of passing through common barriers like windshields, drywall and vehicle sheet metal without deformation and minimal deflection, while still ensuring a dynamic effect on the intended target. The EHP features light-for-caliber projectiles that significantly reduce felt recoil, allowing for rapid follow-up shots in critical defensive situations. It combines barrier-blind technology, extreme wounding potential on target and controlled penetration. Available in a range of calibers including .380 ACP, 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP and 10mm, the EHP is versatile and adaptable to various defensive needs. Each aspect of the G9 External Hollow Point has been engineered to deliver the best performance for a defensive handgun, ensuring greater reliability and capability than traditional defense rounds. Learn more about the EHP and other industry-leading product lines G9 Defense offers at the above website.
DEFENDER AMMUNITION defenderammunition.com Defender Ammunition’s passion shows in everything they do, from their uncompromising products to exceptional pricing to unwavering support of those who defend the United States.
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Self-Defense TRAINING
A mural on the side of Isham Hardware in Coffeyville, Kansas, paints the scene of where the Dalton Gang met its demise in October 1892 while trying to rob two banks at once and the townspeople – including sharpshooting hardware store owner Henry Isham – said nope.
‘IN DEFENSE OF ORDER’
The Coffeyville, Kansas, gunfight that ended the Dalton Gang and the ordinary citizens who won the day.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAUL PAWELA
n the annals of America’s recorded history, its citizens are much more infatuated with the criminals rather than the brave individuals who exhibit the courage, independence and self-reliance to take on the evildoers and bring the criminal element to justice via incarceration or their demise. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men
I
to do nothing.” On October 5, 1892, the townsfolk of Coffeyville, Kansas, took this quote to heart. The honest, ordinary men of Coffeyville came to the rescue against known outlaws who were robbing the town’s banks and terrorizing the townspeople. These ordinary men became extraordinary legends in refusing to let evil triumph. This is their brave story, and the hardfought lessons they learned can still be applied today. THE TOWNSPEOPLE OF Coffeyville had all the
ingredients that made them Americans. They were hardworking, honest, Godfearing people who were hardened by a lifetime of endless violence. Many of the townspeople had served in the Civil War, and there were many deadly americanshootingjournal.com 95
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
Then and now photos of one of the banks the Dalton Gang attempted to rob.
To a picture of the original Isham Hardware store, author Paul Pawela has circled the basement cellar windows that townspeople used as rifle gun ports and had a straight path to the kill zone known as “Death Alley,” where several retreating gang members met their maker.
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fights over pro-slavery vs. anti-slavery issues. These violent clashes would come to be forever known in history as “Bleeding Kansas.” Those confrontations also birthed gangs of outlaws whose tactics came from the infamous guerrilla fighter William Quantrill of Quantrill’s Raiders. His most famous raider alums included Frank and Jesse James and Cole and Jim Younger, who made up the notorious James-Younger Gang. Jesse James perfected Quantrill’s tactics, setting the blueprint for almost every known outlaw gang that followed them. Their written-in-stone tactics were hard riding on horseback, hard shooting, having a network of hideouts, stealing money as the objective, and murder without compassion. Years later, this formula would impress another like-minded outlaw gang with even bolder aspirations than the legendary James gang. The Dalton Gang would attempt a robbery that had never been done in America’s history: simultaneously robbing two banks in broad daylight. The Dalton Gang consisted of brothers Bob, Grat and Emmett Dalton – who just so happened to be cousins of
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
The outlaws hitched their horses to a post by Coffeyville’s original jail cell, a mistake that would cost them dearly.
Of the five gang members who came into town, four were killed there – from left to right, Bill Powers, Bob Dalton, Grat Dalton and Dick Broadwell. Only Emmett Dalton lived, somehow surviving 23 shots. He was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled after 14 years.
According to the author, who visited the area, this is said to be the first original crime scene photo in American history.
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Cole and Jim Younger – as well as Dick Broadwell and Bill Powers. The gang was ruthless and daring, having recently pulled off a string of successful train robberies in what was at the time known as Indian Territory (which later became the state of Oklahoma), in addition to other crimes, including murder. The train companies put up a $40,000 reward for the capture of the gang or $5,000 for the capture of any individual member of the gang. To make matters worse for the Daltons, three of the best United States Marshals who ever lived – Chris Madsen, Bill Tilghman and Heck Thomas, aka the Three Guardsmen – were hot on their trail. But to their credit, the Dalton Gang ensured that they had the best tools of the trade. They carried the latest model of Winchesters, and each of the gang members also carried two .45 Colt six-shooters, one gun in his belt and the other in a shoulder scabbard. The second was for emergencies only when there might not be time to reload, and each gang member carried 100 rounds of ammunition on his person. All members of the Dalton Gang were experienced and seasoned gunfighters, and they often had better marksmanship skills than their opponents, which gave the gang a certain cockiness and overconfidence. This would cost them dearly in Coffeyville. THE SIMULTANEOUS ROBBERY plan was the brainchild of gang leader Bob Dalton and his brothers. As with most criminal elements, the Daltons relied on bullying rather than being smart. It was the smallest of details that was the cause of their demise. The Dalton Gang grew up around Coffeyville and knew many residents. Part of their genius plan was to wear crude fake mustaches and beards to fool the town’s residents and tie their horses on a hitching post that would allow for a quick getaway after robbing the banks. However, the team leader denied an advance to scout out the town, which would be a mistake – those hitching posts were no longer there due to the
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SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
If there’s one thing that can be learned from the Dalton Gang, says the author, it’s to carry plenty of backup.
town’s reconstruction efforts. The townspeople also immediately recognized the gang, as they were carrying plenty of firepower with their Winchester rifles across their legs. Town resident Alex McKenna passed within 5 feet of the gang when he recognized them and followed three of them – Grat Dalton, Broadwell and Powers – into the Condon Bank, as Bob Dalton and Emmett Dalton split off to enter and rob the First National Bank at the same time. McKenna warned the townspeople that the Daltons were robbing the Condon Bank, but they did not know that the other half of the gang was also robbing the First National Bank. McKenna witnessed Grat Dalton wield a Winchester rifle at the people inside the Condon Bank, demanding 100 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
money and terrorizing its patrons. Meanwhile, his brothers were doing the same in the National Bank. There comes a time when good people stand up for themselves and say enough! That is precisely what happened with the townspeople of Coffeyville. Citizen Parker Williams took the first initiative by firing a handgun from the prone position on a store awning into the Condon Bank. Around the same time, hardware store owner Henry Isham was handing out Winchester rifles and Remington shotguns and ammo to about 15 men. More men were doing the same at A.P. Boswell & Co. hardware store, and soon after came thunderous volleys of different calibers of rifle rounds from the townspeople who had Winchesters in their hands and outlaws in their sights.
The good citizens sent 80 rounds into the Condon Bank in less than two minutes. The unsung hero was Condon Bank teller Charley Ball, as it was his nerves of steel and impressive ruse that convinced the robbers that the bank vault was on a time delay, and thus they had to wait. This bought precious time for the townspeople to come at the gang with superior firepower, which they did. THE COFFEYVILLE CITIZENS drew first blood, as Broadwell was seriously injured in the arm from shots fired by Williams, who witnessed the outlaw drop his Winchester inside the bank. But gunfights are a two-way street, meaning bullets go in both directions. Bob Dalton, the gang’s leader and the town’s deadliest opponent, then shot
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
Pawela stands next to the spot in Isham Hardware where the guns were issued to townspeople. The current owner saw fit to give a copy of the original picture of the hardware store to the author, which is now proudly displayed in his office.
citizen Charles Gump, who was firing from Isham’s hardware store. Dalton’s bullet struck Gump in the hand and shattered his shotgun. Friends took the wounded Gump into the hardware store and provided first aid. The firefight had now intensified and bullets were whirling in every direction. The outlaws in both banks decided to make a break for it. At the same time, Lucius Baldwin exited from the rear of Isham’s store and encountered Bob and Emmett Dalton. Bob Dalton, without hesitation, raised his Winchester and fired, hitting Baldwin in the chest from 50 feet away. Baldwin died the next day from his wounds. As the two brothers fled, Bob Dalton would once again aim his deadly Winchester and shoot and murder two more Coffeyville citizens. George Cubine and Charles Brown were felled from 40 to 50 yards away. The outlaws from the Condon Bank, meanwhile, were caught in a crossfire of bullets as they tried to flee. Bob Dalton noticed Thomas Ayers shooting at his friends and brother; taking careful aim with his Winchester, he shot Ayers from 75 yards away, with the bullet hitting him in the eye and exiting the back of his head. Citizen George 102 American Shooting Journal // January 2024
Picker quickly pressed his thumb into Ayers’s eye socket to stop the spouting blood and saved his life. The gang had tied their horses next to the town’s jail (no one claimed outlaws were smart), and as they tried to reach their mounts, the alleyway they were in made a perfect killing field straight from Isham’s hardware store. That alleyway would be forever known in history as “Death Alley” and it was the demise of all but one member of the Dalton Gang. PART-TIME TOWN MARSHAL Charles T. Connelly, barber Carey Seaman and the town’s best shot, stable delivery owner John Kloehr, were on foot trying to intercept the outlaws who were attempting to escape. In doing so, Marshal Connelly got ahead of the bank robbers and Grat Dalton, who was behind him, indexed his Winchester rifle without aiming, pressed his trigger and shot Connelly in the back, killing him. (In my rifle training class, students are taught to shoot one-handed as well as two-handed, and so should you.) As Grat Dalton tried to mount his horse, Kloehr took deadly aim, firing his Winchester and hitting Dalton in the neck, killing him instantly. Powers,
too, was killed in Death Alley as he attempted to flee. Broadwell managed to mount his horse but was engaged by sharpshooter Kloehr, while the shotgun-toting Seaman fired more coup de grâce double-aught buckshot rounds into the already severely wounded Broadwell. He was able to ride his horse about a half a mile away, only to fall off it and properly die. Gang leader Bob Dalton tried to mount his horse but was shot in the heart. Many credit the town marksman Kloehr for shooting the outlaw leader, but Kloehr denied shooting Dalton. In fact, it has been speculated that hardware store owner Henry Isham downed the gang leader from 100 yards away. In my research I was able to verify this fact, thanks to a historian who had read it from Isham’s own bible. Isham had written out the entire event that unfolded accurately, giving full accounts of who shot who. This bible is still in possession of the Isham family. The final outlaw gang member who had been shot many times and tried to get away on his horse – and probably could have – was the youngest Dalton, Emmett. He was finally felled by Kloehr and Seaman, again with Winchester rounds and shotgun doubleaught buckshot. Amazingly, Emmett was shot 23 times and lived! THERE ARE MANY lessons we can learn from the Coffeyville gunfight and apply them to today. Here are a few: • If you are going to be a responsible gun owner, that requires hard shooting in all kinds of different applications with all types of weapons. • Always remember that the criminal element will, given the chance, murder you and your family without compassion. You and your family must be mentally focused to deal with that, which requires training! • You must have modern weapons and ammunition for all your guns, which should include one semiauto rifle, one shotgun and several pistols. • The importance of marksmanship
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SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING and point index shooting can’t be overstated. Point index shooting applies to up-close range, not shooting anything beyond 30 feet; all rules of marksmanship apply. • Learn to shoot from different positions, even the most uncomfortable. • Most people are shot first in the hand because the threat is the gun being held in hand. Also, beware of ricocheted rounds; they are just as lethal as one coming straight for you! • Bullets go in both directions. First-aid training classes are just as important as firearms training. • People are bullet sponges. Always remember to keep shooting the bad guy with multiple rounds and stay behind cover until the threat is confirmed not to be a threat anymore. THE COFFEYVILLE TOWNSPEOPLE are named and praised here because they did brave deeds. Movies, books and magazines have told the Daltons’ story, but you
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will hardly find anything on the heroic townsfolk, which is a shame. These were ordinary people like yourself who ended up doing extraordinary things; this cannot be emphasized enough. There is no glory in having to shoot another human being. While Kloehr was credited with shooting the Dalton brothers and Dick Broadwell, he was humbled when Winchester Arms presented a rifle to him, and a gold medallion was given to him by the citizens of Chicago. The inscribed medal read, “John Joseph Kloehr: The emergency arose, the man appeared.” On the back were the words, “Presented by friends in Chicago, who admire nerve and courage when displayed in defense of social order.” Kloehr responded eloquently by stating it was his citizen’s duty to defend his friends while at the same time upholding the law; he also humbly gave credit to the brave men who fought beside him.
Finally, The Washington Post pointed out that the citizen defenders came from every walk of life, stating: “What this country needs is a multiplication of Coffeyvilles. Towns of that caliber should be distributed freely all over this glorious and happy land. Wherever robbers, murderers, incendiaries, and bandits congregate, some new Coffeyville should spring up in the night, populated by Browns, Connellys, Kloehrs, Baldwins and Cubines, and filled with a spirit of emulation in marksmanship. No county in any state should be without its Coffeyville.” ★ Editor’s note: This article is dedicated to the town of Coffeyville for welcoming the author and helping him with the information contained in it. Author Paul Pawela is a nationally recognized firearms and self-defense expert. For his realistic self-defense training, see assaultcountertactics.com.
L.E. SPOTLIGHT
IN PRAISE OF ‘THE VIC’ Mostly retired, Ford’s Police Interceptor models are fondly remembered by cops, with a few still striking fear in criminals.
The Ford Crown Victoria was once the most popular vehicle for law enforcement officers, but most have been retired from duty. The “Black Knight,” author Nick Perna’s Crown Vic, is still in operation and “its mere presence on the street strikes fear in crooks.”
STORY AND PHOTO BY NICK PERNA
F
or this month’s Law Enforcement Spotlight, I am featuring a law enforcer that actually has spotlights! In the past I have talked about beat cops, detectives, dogs and many other types of first responders. This month’s article is dedicated to every cop’s best friend, the Ford Crown Victoria. The Crown Victoria (or “The Vic,” as it is affectionately known) has been ferrying officers into battle since 1992. The Vic is to cops what Huey helicopters are to Vietnam vets: a symbol of our means of conveyance to take us where the bad guys are. The law enforcement version of the Crown Vic is the Police Interceptor model, a very fitting name for the car. It replaced another fine police car, the Chevy Caprice, a big sedan capable of incredible speeds. THE VIC WAS an instant hit with law enforcement. The Police Interceptor models had a host of heavy-duty features that enabled them to be used for emergency response-style driving. During its production run, it was the most popular police vehicle in America and it became ubiquitous with law enforcement. The unforgettable sound of the engine’s roar was, to the driver, an audible representation of barely controlled aggression at its finest. I can remember
as a new cop getting in a knock-down, drag-out fight with a guy during a traffic stop. I can still hear the sound of my partner’s engine revving, tires squealing and the siren wailing as the cavalry came to bail me out. There is no sweeter sound. In my department, patrol officers had the choice between “slick tops,” which were Vics without an external exposed light bar on the roof, or standard models. The “hunters” – the cops who went and actively looked for bad guys – preferred the slick tops so they could blend in with traffic and sneak up on crooks. As a rookie, you took whatever car was available after the senior cops grabbed theirs. Rarely was there a slick top available and many of the cars didn’t even have an AM/FM radio in them. Those old cars had spotlights mounted in the roof, with the handle protruding
down about half a foot behind the center rearview mirror. It was a great place to hang your arm while on patrol, but on rainy days it tended to leak. SADLY, THE LAST Interceptor model rolled off the line in 2011, marking the end of an era. We still have a few Vics at my department, soldiering on. My favorite is an all-black model with subdued gray markings. I had it built when I was a sergeant supervising a special ops unit that went after gangsters, drug dealers, pimps and other assorted lowlifes. We dubbed it the “Black Knight” and its mere presence on the street strikes fear in crooks. An officer I work with was so enamored by the Crown Victoria that he actually tracked down his old patrol car americanshootingjournal.com 107
at an auction and bought it. When Ford stopped making the Vic in 2011, its alternative for law enforcement agencies was the Explorer. It’s not a bad police vehicle. It’s roomier than the Crown Victoria and a little easier on the knees to get in and out of, but make no mistake, it’s no Vic. The Explorer doesn’t hug the road like the Vic does and it will never replace it as an iconic symbol of law and order. Many departments, including mine, bought up every last Vic that came off the line and stored them for future use. Now, as a lot of time has passed since 2011, most have been put in service and are reaching the end of their operational lives. Slowly, by attrition, they are being pulled off the line. Soon there will come a day when no Vics patrol the streets, and that will be a sad one. As an aside, if anyone from the Ford Motor Company is reading this, please consider bringing it back. Departments will buy them. That’s my ode to the Interceptor. You will always hold a special place in our hearts. ★ Editor’s note: Author Nick Perna is a sergeant with the Redwood City Police Department in Northern California. He previously served as a paratrooper in the US Army and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He also has a master’s degree from the University of San Francisco. He is a frequent contributor to multiple print and online forums on topics related to law enforcement, firearms, tactics and veterans.
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FIREARMS
HI-POINT FIREARMS hi-pointfirearms.com New for 2024 is the Hi-Point Firearms YC380, the next generation of the classic CF380 pistol. The YC380 is loaded with features from top to bottom taken directly from the YC9, including new contoured slide, front and rear cocking serrations, industry-compatible front sights (Glock-style), and fully adjustable rear sights that are optic-ready. The rear sight can be swapped out for a Picatinny rail or direct mount (RMS footprint) to accommodate multiple pistol red dot optics. Other features include a threaded barrel (½x28), standard 1913 rail for compact lights, reversible magazine release, grip safety, new grip design and a 10-round magazine.
NIGHTHAWK CUSTOM
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Nighthawkcustom.com The Envoy is brand-new for 2024! Built with all fully machined parts that are then hand-fit by a single gunsmith, the Envoy sports a match-grade 5-inch bull barrel that can be chambered in 9mm or .45 ACP. One of the distinguishing features is the positive front cocking serrations, while the patented Flush-Fit Magwell gives you the benefit of a magwell without adding any overall length to the frame. Between the custom Railscales grips and 25-lines-per-inch front strap and mainspring housing, you are sure to have a stout grip on the pistol. Check it out at SHOT Show!
BISHOP AMMUNITION MANUFACTURING, LLC bishopammunition.com The Bishop AR45TC, also known as“Tabatha,”is custom-designed, engineered and manufactured in Pocatello, Idaho. With its EV-5 match-grade barrel at 16 inches and rifle-length stock, this is a subrifle. Shorter than a standard AR rifle but longer than a carbine, this provides a perfect balance for the AR platform. Chambered in the time-proven and hard-hitting .45 ACP, this is the perfect home-defense rifle. The rifle is guaranteed to provide 1 inch or better groups at 50 yards with match 230-grain ball ammunition. The receiver is machined from billet aluminum and the upper receiver is nonreciprocating side charging by Gibbz. With its use of factory Glock magazines, this rifle pairs perfectly with your sidearm, allowing the same ammunition and magazine to be used in both the rifle and handgun. Visit us at Booth #42238
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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
MAKING HIS MARK
Brian Nawrocki has always been drawn to swinging a hammer, and now he uses that lifelong ‘infatuation’ in building his Rocco Handmade line of unique crafted knives. PHOTOS BY ROCCO HANDMADE
A
s far back as I can remember, I was infatuated with swinging a hammer,” says Brian “Rocco” Nawrocki. “I remember watching my papa swinging a sledgehammer, busting up concrete, or pounding in stakes. I remember my father, banging nails at home, and knocking steel about repairing things.” Nawrocki even joined a carpentry crew as a teenager, learning the skills of a trade that would be his “fall-back career.” But as he grew up, he found himself wanting to explore new avenues. His adventures took him on tours around the
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Brian “Rocco” Nawrocki.
Rocco Handmade’s new Little Bear (right) and Baby Bear models are offered in stainless steel only.
country with different bands, then a short stint at Home Depot – but he was always drawn back to his hammer. “It was in that last run of time as a carpenter I had the pleasure to work for the man who would later become my current employer, a mentor, and a close friend,” says Nawrocki. That would be Jim Behring, an old family friendturned-business partner. “Jim hired me in 2014 to help him out and take on some backburner construction jobs around his house and shop,” explains Nawrocki. “Later that year, Jim had an idea to do in-house leather and brought me in full-time to the shop; together we started Treeman Leather Shop, where I still work full-time to this day, and will remain committed until Jim decides to retire.” He continues, “Jim gave me the opportunity to apprentice with him
on the knife side of things (Treeman Knives), and in 2018, gave me the goahead to work out of his shop on my own knives on my own time. Since then I have created a full-time side business that became official in 2022, Rocco Handmade. I can never thank Jim enough for his guidance and his support in this venture.” SINCE LAUNCHING ROCCO Handmade, Nawrocki has found success with products like his Scagel-style hunting knives. Models such as the Bird & Trout, Deer & Trout and Hank’s Skinner feature Nawrocki’s signature craftsmanship and attention to detail, not to mention his experimentation with materials. Nawrocki says his ability to introduce new colors, materials and textures to his knives is what sets Rocco Handmade apart. americanshootingjournal.com 113
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT Hammer Mark Fighter with brass S guard and musk ox boss handle. (SHARPBYCOOP PHOTOGRAPHY)
Hammer Mark Clip-point Hunter with sambar stag handle.
Hammer Mark Trail Hatchet with sambar crown stag handle.
Recently Nawrocki has dived into working with stainless steel, AEB-L to be specific, and he is very excited about some forthcoming products. “I call the new models Little Bear and Baby Bear,” he explains. “The Little Bear will be a 4- to 4.5-inch blade and Baby Bear will be a 3- to 3.5-inch blade. I named the new line after designing the profiles for my 4-year-old niece we call ‘Baby Bear.’ These models are thin, fast and razor-sharp. AEB-L is a blade steel that takes a keen edge and why razor blades are often made with AEB-L stainless steel.” Because each product is made one at a time, Rocco Handmade knives are highly covetable. But while keeping up with demand has been demanding, to say the least, Nawrocki counts himself lucky that his knives appeal to so many different types of people, “be it hunters and fishermen, collectors, or just general everyday people who find my work to be functional art.”
Nawrocki at work.
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NAWROCKI REMAINS GRATEFUL for all the opportunities he has been given throughout his career, and he is passionate
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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT about giving back so that others may have the same chance. He not only donates pieces to charities and fundraising efforts, but he also implemented an “adopt a youth” program, which he is especially proud of. Each year he gifts a handmade knife to a young kid with an overwhelming interest in the outdoors, whether it be hunting, camping, scouting or cooking. “I choose the recipients carefully, (and) I watch their interests and how they continue to pursue them,” says Nawrocki. “My Hank’s Skinner model is an example of a knife designed for a young man local to me who spends more days hunting, fishing Hammer Mark Recurve Fighter with artifact fossil walrus ivory ice pick handle.
Hank’s Skinner with sambar stag handle, a knife named after a young outdoorsman.
and trapping than most adults I know. Hank was my first youth of many over the years. It brings great joy seeing him continue to pursue the outdoors and get his friends involved to this day.” He adds, “My goal is to help keep them excited in what they find some passion for, and to hopefully teach them a lesson I learned very young: to always give back, and help when you can. As a youth, if anyone had given me
anything, I never forgot it.” Whether working full-time at Treeman Knives, working full-time at Rocco Handmade, or donating what little time is left over to charitable causes, there is no questioning Brian Nawrocki’s dedication. Find out more at roccohandmade.com. Bird & Trout with Fordite handle.
(SHARPBYCOOP PHOTOGRAPHY)
From left to right: Scagelstyle Deer & Trout; Scagel Tribute 6-inch Huron Hunter; and Hammer Mark Clippoint Hunter with sambar stag handle.
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KERSHAW KNIVES kershawknives.com After significant research, careful development and rigorous testing, inhouse designers and custom knifemaker Matt Diskin have delivered Kershaw’s first OTF auto: the USA-made Livewire. The premium CPM MagnaCut blade features superior edge retention and opens and retracts with authority. The black-anodized aluminum handle is textured for a secure grip. And its curved, staircase-like button feels comfortable on the thumb for reliable deployment.
KNIVES
EXQUISITE KNIVES exquisiteknives.com This Complex Folder is by Tore Fogarizzu. Each blade locks into place and the overall knife features multiple panels of pearl as well as rose gold. For this and many of the world’s finest custom knives, visit the above website. Dave Ellis, a retired American Bladesmith Society master smith, can fulfill your collectible knife needs. Specializing in such makers as Bob Loveless, Bill Moran, Ron Lake and Michael Walker, Dave can help you attain the jewel of your collection!
WARLANDER ENTERPRISES warlanderenterprises.com Warlander Enterprises is a small shop located in northern Georgia that specializes in handcrafted heirloom-quality knives and leather goods. Whether you are looking for the perfect gift for the outdoor enthusiast in your life or shopping for yourself, their selection of handcrafted knives and leather goods may have something to fit the bill! All goods are made in-house, and as such, new items are added to the website nearly every week. To see what is currently happening in the Warlander Enterprises shop, photos and videos of their process, and past projects, check out @warlander_enterprises on Instagram.
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KNIVES ROCCO HANDMADE roccohandmade.com Rocco Handmade proudly unveils its latest additions – the Little Bear and Baby Bear hunting knives. Crafted exclusively from AEB-L stainless steel, the Little Bear boasts a 4- to 4.25-inch blade, while the Baby Bear features a more compact 3- to 3.5-inch blade. Both knives showcase the distinctive Scagel-style handles, meticulously handcrafted with precision and care. Each piece is a unique creation, ensuring attention to detail in every step. Accompanied by individual leather sheaths, these custom hunting knives blend classic style with functionality. Equip yourself for the next adventure or hunt with Rocco Handmade, epitomizing the spirit of the adventurous sportsman.
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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
‘A DOUBLE TALL AND 9MM’S, PLEASE’
Americano Ammunition Coffee brews up java and bullets with a triple shot of patriotism outside Phoenix. PHOTOS BY AMERICANO AMMUNITION COFFEE
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rdering an extra shot takes on a whole new meaning at Americano Ammunition Coffee in Queen Creek, Arizona. Here, customers can not only pick up a quality brewed coffee or handcrafted espresso drink, but also a wide selection of ammunition. Owned by James Ballentyne, his son Kevin Ballentyne and daughterin-law Sydney Ballentyne, Americano Ammunition Coffee was formed in 2019 to fulfill a need that they saw when producing events for their company Arizona Gun Shows. “We realized that both the vendors and patrons needed a good cup of coffee to keep their energy high during the long shows,” explains Kevin Ballentyne. “Originally, we started with using a well-known competitor’s basic (and quite frankly low-quality) blend of coffee beans. As that company’s business model and practices changed, we realized that we needed to go a different direction with our coffee supplier. By divine intervention, we got connected to a
Co-owner Kevin Ballentyne hands out a custom-designed Americano Ammunition Coffee Halloween sticker at an event.
Based in Queen Creek, Arizona, not far outside Phoenix, the family-owned company features brews such as this True Patriot Americano and boxes of bullets in numerous popular calibers. americanshootingjournal.com 123
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT An assortment of ammo along with a July 4th Red White & Blue icee special, the latter part of the Lil’ Patriots menu.
Co-owners James, Sydney and Kevin Ballentyne.
local coffee roaster in Mesa, Arizona. After extensive profiling, we came up with our custom blend, started bagging and brewing it for sale at our gun shows.” He continues, “Fast forward two years, a small, historic building opens up for rent in Queen Creek. We decided to take a chance and opened
up our very own coffee shop complete with a drive-thru, but we were still missing something. We needed a way to set us apart from everyone else – that’s where the ammo came in.” Ballentyne says that at first they weren’t sure if the concept would work. But as they started to tell others about the idea, he says, “people thought
this was the coolest thing since sliced bread. From there, the true meaning of Americano Ammunition Coffee took off! We wanted this coffee shop to be the exact opposite of any coffee shop, ever. We wanted to be the coffee shop for true patriots by true patriots, something that most coffee shops don’t like and don’t understand. The
Americano Ammunition’s top-selling drinks include the Red Tip Tracer strawberry latte, Desert Eagle salted caramel breve and True Patriot Americano, along with bags of their original 9MM Medium Roast and .338 Federal French roast.
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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT coffee shop that had a bigger purpose; that held faith, family, country as our number one priority and goal.” “What makes ammo and coffee such a great pairing is not the products that we sell and serve, but more so the idea of what ammo and coffee means to Americans: freedom, liberty and grit. Now you can either come in (or even just drive through!) and get one of our True Patriot Americanos made with our .338 Federal French Roast and a box of .338 Federal for your next hunt, or a popular Desert Eagle Breve with a case of .50 AE for your actual Desert Eagle! What a concept!” The Desert Eagle, a delicious salted caramel breve with caramel drizzle and sea salt topper, is one of the shop’s most popular drinks. Another is the Red Tip Tracer, a unique strawberry latte topped with their very own homemade strawberry whipped cream.
“My absolute personal favorite is our True Patriot Americano,” says Ballentyne. “Six shots of our French Roast espresso cut with a little water on ice is the one to get if you want to feel like George Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night!” As for ammo, he says, their most popular calibers are 9mm and 5.56. “We carry all of the ‘normal’ calibers and move quite a bit of them. But if you are looking for something more obscure like 9mm Flobert, .257 Roberts or .25-06 Remington, we’ve got those too.” NOT ONLY DO customers appreciate the delicious coffee and ammo selection at Americano Ammunition Coffee, but they also value the staff and culture of the shop. Ballentyne explains that the majority of their customers dislike the culture of corporately run coffee shops – “big hitters” like Starbucks and
Learning to roast coffee beans and acquiring a San Franciscan SF-25 small-batch roaster has helped Kevin and crew avoid supplier shortages.
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Kevin with barista Eden and the company’s coffee trailer at an outdoor disc golf sporting event.
Dutch Bros. – for a variety of reasons. “But now these people have found a high-quality, local, family-owned and -operated shop that values their same beliefs and ideals to spend their hardearned money at,” he says. “And that to us is absolutely amazing and humbling.” Americano Ammunition Coffee is continuing to grow, thanks in part to some recent developments. In the last year they have decided to bring some things in-house to help with supply issues that still seem to plague the ammo and coffee markets. First, Ballentyne learned the coffee roasting process and they built a roastery. “This has made the issue of running out of coffee almost nonexistent and has made the desire to have the freshest coffee in any shop a possibility,” he explains. Second, their new coffee trailer allows them to attend different events like range days and high school clay shooting events, which has expanded community reach. Lastly, and most recently, they have acquired an ammo manufacturing company that will begin to produce privately labeled ammunition starting in 2024. “All of these things are the roadmap to having a nationwide business that supports the American values that have gotten us to where we are today,” says Ballentyne. “Calibers, coffee, country – our motto!” For info, see ammoandcoffee.com.