What his brother Greg founded as a derringer company, Gordon Bond has branched out into a bullpup pistol line and now the new LVRB leveraction rifle. Learn about the strong-willed siblings who have operated Bond Arms over the decades. (BOND ARMS CO.)
BROTHERS IN ARMS
What Greg Bond founded as a derringer company is branching out, with sibling and current owner Gordon Bond introducing the BullPup9 pistol and new LVRB lever-action rifle. Gordon shares the brothers’ and Bond Arms’ story in a Q&A with Frank Jardim.
FEATURES
47 SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING: TEACHING THE DIRTY DOZEN
It was out with the standard police shooting manual and its standard-distance targets, and in with an extremely close-contact combatives course for 13 law enforcement officers at a recent first-of-its-kind training session. Paul Pawela details the course.
61 TACTICAL TRAINING: FUNDAMENTAL FALLACIES
Changing the basics of marksmanship didn’t improve accuracy for the US Army, but the new manual does. Ash Hess traces the evolution of sharpshooting and the two elements it all boils down to.
68 C AN’T TOP THIS!
Roy Don Babitzke wasn’t expecting he could top the story he wrote about wife Aleisha’s whopper New Mexico bull elk, but when she drew a Colorado mule deer tag, she delivered a hunt to remember.
79 ROAD HUNTER: HITTING THE ‘ELK X’
There’s a reason elk are where they are, and it’s your job as a hunter to figure that out. Scott Haugen has some advice for getting and staying on the spot on the spot.
89 BULLE T BULLETIN: THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE
It sounds so simple – match the big game bullet to the job –but what does Phil Massaro mean by that, given the myriad bullet shapes and materials available on the market today? Our professor of projectiles breaks it down.
102 MEMBERS ONLY
For those with limited time but a desire to hunt and/or fish, Wilderness Unlimited offers a chance to get after it without all the competition on public lands and waters. Nick Perna profiles how this West Coast sportsmen’s club works.
107 SC ATTERGUN ALLEY: IS THE SUN SETTING ON THE PUMP SHOTGUN?
While some want to declare the venerable slide-action shotgun dead and buried in favor of semiautos, leave it to scattergun aficionado Larry Case to say “not so fast.”
(BOND ARMS CO.)
57 L AW ENFORCEMENT SPOTLIGHT: HERO’S WELCOME FOR SERGEANT
The home opener is one of the most cherished institutions in sports, and during theirs this NFL season, the 49ers honored the hero San Francisco Police Department cop who saved the life of their star rookie receiver.
117 BL ACK POWDER: AT THE WSMA TRADE GUN FROLIC
If you didn’t enjoy the Washington State Muzzleloader Association’s annual Trade Gun Frolic, you just didn’t go. So declares Mike Nesbitt as he recaps three courses’ worth of birdshot and round ball fun.
28 THE COLT GOVERNMENT MODEL SERIES 70
This new take on the timeless 1911 semiauto has a little bit of something for everyone – retro styling, vintage good looks, modern performance, customizable frame. Rob Reed reviews the Colt Government Model Series 70.
36 THE HERITAGE ROSCOE – A VALUE-PRICED .38 SPECIAL +P SNUBBIE
With a big-city friend looking for a foolproof concealed carry gun that didn’t break the bank, a snubnose came to Frank Jardim’s mind. More specifically, this “built to use and a ‘honey for the money’” revolver.
35 BREAKOUT YEAR FOR HOLSTER MAKER
Freedom Protective Gear, specializing in Kydex and nylon holsters, sheaths and accessories, is building off its SHOT Show success. Find out who they’re now teaming with to get the word out.
113 BLOCKING THE BAD GUYS
OffGrid brings device shielding to the next level with their Faraday Backpack and its proprietary multi-layer signal-blocking system to protect your smartphone, laptop and more.
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BROTHERS IN ARMS
What Greg Bond founded as a derringer company is branching out, with sibling and current owner Gordon Bond introducing the BullPup9 pistol and new LVRB lever-action rifle.
Bond Arms Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of modern derringers and bullpup autoloading pistols. The Bond BullPup9 is a compact, 7+1shot, 9mm, double-action-only pistol evolving from the refinement of the brilliant but finicky Boberg XR9-S. Bond Arms achieved the reliability that the original pistol never could, and at a substantially lower price. Presently, Bond Arms is introducing a modern, multi-caliber, lever-action rifle platform of their own design called the LVRB. The new rifle uses a strong AR-type rotating bolt lockup and common AR magazines, has a free-floated barrel, an M-Lok slotted handguard, and a fulllength Picatinny rail on the top. Chambered in .223 Wylde (.223/5.56), it’s adaptable to .300 Blackout, .350 Legend, .450 Bushmaster, 6.5 Grendel, 6mm ARC, .50 Beowulf and other calibers suitable for the AR-15 that will appeal to hunters and sporting rifle enthusiasts.
That’s a disparate product line, for sure, but the one thing they all have in common is also the reason the company’s guns have such a devoted fan base. Bond Arms built its reputation one gun at a time by setting and maintaining excellent quality standards for design and production.
WHEN GREG BOND, the company founder, redesigned the classic two-shot, Old West over-and-under derringer that bears his name, he corrected over a century’s worth of shortcomings and quickly took the leading place in the derringer market. The Bond Arms derringer – with its removable trigger guard, patented rebounding hammer
STORY BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY BOND ARMS INC.
Gordon Bond, president and owner of Bond Arms Inc., with his company’s new LVRB lever-action 5.56mm rifle.
(of Greg’s invention), automatically retracting firing pins and crossbolt safety – addressed the safety problems. Hinge breakage and loose fit were eliminated. The Bond guns were immensely strong, with stainless steel barrels and frame precisionmachined for a tight fit and joined with a robust hinge that has since proved itself amply strong for calibers up to and including full-power .45-70 Government rifle loads and .50 AE.
The controls were reimagined to allow fast one-handed operation by moving the barrel release lever to the left side of the frame, reducing its swing from 180 to 30 degrees, and adding a spring to allow it to automatically return to the locked position when released. To streamline
the loading procedure, Greg designed the latch so that the lever didn’t need to be held in the unlocked position to reclose the barrels. When rotated closed, the barrels locked automatically. The bank-vault-like fit of barrels to frame permitted the action to be closed with the inertia of a downward flip of the wrist alone. This technique has come to be called the “Bond Slap.” Trying a maneuver like that with a revolver cylinder, or a lesser derringer, invites damage to the gun, but the Bond is built like a tank.
From the start, it was meant to be a versatile personal defense platform. The barrel assemblies of the centerfire models were completely interchangeable and available in 2.5-, 3-, 3.5-, 4.25- and
6-inch lengths and chambered for .380 ACP, 9mm, .40 S&W, .30 Carbine, .327 Federal Magnum, .4440 Winchester, .44 Special, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .357 Magnum/.38 Special, 10mm, .45 Colt/.410 shotshell, and most recently .44 Magnum and the aforementioned .45-70 Government and .50 AE, though these calibers –the most powerful ever chambered in a derringer – are only available in the newer, single-shot Cyclops models. Bond also offered a variety of beautiful and/or practical grip styles: flat and minimalist for concealment and oversized extended and jumbo styles for improved grip and recoil mitigation. Of necessity, they also created a full line of holsters to cover a broad range of carry requirements.
In 2019, they introduced the Rough series of guns, which are structurally identical to the classic derringer line, but with a matte, sand-blasted finish rather than a shiny, highly polished look. The Rough guns cost a bit over half of what their fully polished twins do and represent a great value for those more interested in utility than appearance.
The original Bond derringers were darn big derringers, and it wasn’t unreasonable to think that if – through your own failings as a marksman – you missed the attacker twice, you could beat them to death with the empty gun and it would be no worse for the wear. Realizing there was room to downsize, in 2020 Bond Arms introduced their smaller-proportioned, lighter, aluminum-framed Stinger derringer chambered in .22LR, .22 Magnum, 9mm, .380 ACP and .38 Special. These models were intended for deep concealment and had a fixed trigger guard. The chamberings were likewise fixed, as the barrels were not interchangeable. In 2022, they followed up with Stinger and HoneyB Rough models with a stainless steel frame, and the latter with the longer, stronger B6 resin grip to handle up to .357 Magnum. Imagine a 1-pound .357 Magnum pistol!
I THINK IT’S safe to say that if fictional MI6 secret agent 007 James Bond were to ever use a derringer, it would be
For a self-described derringer company, Bond Arms has a wildly diverse product line. On the table are some of their many derringers and the Bond BullPup9 autoloader (center) to go along with the new LVRB.
Only 5 inches long, 3.75 inches tall and weighing 20 ounces, the 3-inch-barrel Texas Defender chambered in .45 Colt/.410 gauge is a real hand cannon. MSRP for this popular model is $543 with rosewood grips.
Bond has over 20 derringer models and offers a wide range of finishes on their guns. This 3.5-inch-barrel Old Glory Black is decorated with laser engraving on the stainless steel and black ash extended grips. It’s Cerakoted black.
The single-barrel Cyclops can be chambered in .45-70 Government, .50 AE or .44 Magnum.
be a Bond Arms derringer. Likewise, if he were to ever use a super-compact, bullpup 9mm autoloading pistol or a 5.56mm tactical lever-action rifle, they would be Bond Arms guns. That should give you a good idea about the nature of Bond Arms and the brothers who made it. This month I had a chance to talk with Gordon Bond, brother of the founder and who is the present owner, about their unplanned coronation as kings of the derringer and some of the best-case scenario outcomes of having the nerve to pursue your own ideas in your own way.
AmericanShootingJournal Were you and your brother Greg gun guys?
Gordon Bond Oh, yes! These days I shoot sporting clays, but I’ve taken courses at Gunsite and shot competitively for fun too. My brother Greg, who founded the company, is the ultimate gun guy. We grew up in Floydada, Texas. It’s a farming community in the Panhandle of Texas, very rural, with a population of a few thousand. Our dad’s best friend was into all types of shooting and he got us involved young. We both loved it. I would clear my head after school by plinking in the cow
pasture or rabbit hunting.
My brother was really into guns of all types, but neither of us had dreams of becoming gunmakers back then. I was an average kid and a good student, but Greg made me look good when we were kids. He was voted the most likely not to graduate high school. He was what Texans call an “ornery character” and something of an underachiever back then. Instead of good grades, his goal was to be the kid that got the most whoopings from the teachers. In those days teachers were allowed to
beat your butt with a wooden paddle if you misbehaved. Greg was strongwilled and always went his own way, so he was pretty successful at racking up the whoopings. He was bold too. One time he cut classes to sneak into all the teachers’ offices while they were in class and stole every paddle in the school and smuggled them into the school woodshop inside his marching band trombone case. He built a display with them to commemorate the heist and brought it home. Our mom and dad just thought it was a woodshop project.
ASJ So far this does not sound like the backstory of a guy who took derringers to a whole new level. GB I know! It’s no Texas tall tale either. Greg surprised a lot of people. He graduated high school and then earned a four-year degree in industrial arts at University of North Texas, which is more than I can say for myself. He moved back home and got a job at the only manufacturing business in town, where they fabricated tractor tool bars. He wanted to be a welder but all they had an opening for was a tool and die maker. He needed a job and they took him on as an apprentice. Greg loved it. He’d found his calling and in six years he was a journeyman with the intent of getting into the gun business. He went back to Texas Tech University and got a degree in mechanical engineering and graduated magna cum laude. There were no openings with gunmakers when he graduated,
Greg Bond (center), inventor of the Bond Arms derringer and company founder, completes his apprenticeship as a tool and die maker.
Greg at his milling machine in 1981, before he got an engineering degree from Texas Tech University.
Assembling the Bond BullPup9. After much experimentation, Bond decided on RF-85 metal treatment to provide permanent lubricity. This was just one of the redesign elements that went into making it the kind of consistently reliable gun you would stake your life on.
Frames ready for heat treating.
do
The precision cutting is all done on efficient and accurate CNC machining centers.
Assembling frames at the bench.
Robots
most of the polishing work, but a human hand and eye are needed for the final finishing.
A quality control inspector uses an optical comparator to check parts.
so he worked for Texas Instruments in Lewisville, Texas, for several years on the AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) contract.
While he was at Texas Instruments, he finally got a job offer from a derringer maker in Waco. They were a small company, but they made the best derringer in the country at a time when derringers overall didn’t have a great reputation among serious gun people. Most were cheaply made and considered unsafe. This company in Waco needed a process engineer and Greg was a great one. He jumped at the opportunity to get into the gun industry and moved his family out there, and then discovered their operation was a mess and needed a lot of help. Half their equipment was out of order and their process needed streamlining. In eight months, Greg corrected the problems, and then they decided they didn’t need him anymore and fired him.
Greg was naturally upset, and knowing he could design a much better derringer than they could, decided he would just show them up. As a serious gun guy, he didn’t even like derringers, but that really didn’t matter to him. I told you how strong-willed he was. So, with no tools and no money, he designed his own derringer on floppy disks and took jobs at machine shops so he could use their tools to make it on his off time. There were continuous challenges, including a lawsuit from his former employer that was eventually
decided in Greg’s favor. Friends and family, me included, begged him to give up the derringer thing and go back to work as an engineer, but quitting anything he’d set his mind to doing wasn’t in his personality.
By 1995, Greg had found a partner and started Bond Arms in Granbury, Texas, but making a gun and selling it are two different things; and remember, Greg had never really wanted to make derringers in the first place. He set out to take the over-and-under derringer as far as it could go technologically, making it into a modern, safe, reliable
and immensely strong weapon with tremendous versatility thanks to interchangeable barrels. He did it. He created the Bond Arms derringer that is the core design of the guns we make today. But Greg wanted to sell the company almost as soon as he’d set it up.
ASJ Is that when you come into the picture?
GB I was always on the edges of it at the start, both as a naysayer and an advocate. I took Greg to his first SHOT Show to exhibit the Bond Derringer because he didn’t think his 23-year-old Toyota Corolla could make the trip. At that show, I realized two things: Most people had no idea the Bond derringer existed, and once they got their hands on it, they loved its high quality, solid design and features. My brother saw the legendary fast-draw showman Bob Munden walking around at SHOT Show and chased him down to demonstrate his derringer. Munden was so impressed, from that day on, he was an unpaid, unofficial promoter and spokesman for the gun. Greg had a great product, but it was a niche market gun and word about it wasn’t getting out fast enough. The cowboy action shooters and SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) folks found the Bond Arms derringer on their own and would write how much they liked
The Bond BullPup9 has a unique design true to its name (the trigger and grip are in front of the action and breech on bullpup guns). Gordon Bond bought the brilliant but finicky and unreliable Boberg XR9-S pistol patents in 2016 and invested several years of R&D into perfecting it to meet Bond Arms’ quality standards.
the gun and had used it to win this or that side match at their competitions. That was great because he’d completely overlooked that particular recreational segment of the derringer niche.
I never finished college, but made a good career for myself in the science of oil reclamation by conducting thousands of experiments in my horse barn to learn the best ways to separate oil from water and other contaminants. I flunked chemistry, but I was able to figure out best practices for an industry that actual chemists didn’t think were possible. I patented one of them. Greg and I are both such strong and stubborn personalities, I knew I could never work for him, or even with him, but I told him I’d buy Bond Arms if he ever really wanted to sell it. I have always been good at marketing, and that is what I thought the company
needed for Greg’s derringer to reach its potential in the market. I bought the company from him in 2007 after he bought out his partner. My goal was to make the Bond Arms derringer cool in the marketplace. As it turned out, neither of us fully understood the scope of the derringer market.
In the 13 years before I bought the company (from 1995 to 2007), Bond Arms made only 33,000 guns. Business wasn’t great when I took over and I had to figure out what to do fast. I asked distributors what was selling, and they told me small personal protection guns. Well, that was exactly what we made! But it had previously been marketed as an outdoorsman’s sidearm for killing rattlesnakes and copperheads. I shifted our marketing focus to the self-defense gun buyer and sales improved. Of course, during
the Obama presidency, gun sales skyrocketed and that rising tide helped raise our boat too.
ASJ That was a good time to own a gun business, but how did you weather the saturated market and the Trump slump in sales that followed his election in 2016?
GB When Trump got elected, I knew things had changed. I had to figure out how to get people excited about our guns. Social media was, and is, heavily anti-gun, so the internet was out. Facebook would shut us down.
At NRA shows, we introduced a lot of members to the Bond Arms derringer in person, face to face, and I wanted to capture their excitement and enthusiasm when handling our gun for the first time. I decided to drop our print advertising and use that money to produce television infomercials that aired mainly on the Outdoor Channel, where our target audience was watching. It worked. The direct marketing approach let us show off the gun’s quality and features like we would in person at a show and people started buying. We still do television advertising on Fox and Newsmax. We actually incorporate recorded testimonials that our fans freely offer us at shows when they come to our tables. The infomercials generate 20 to 30 calls a day. By the way, when you call, we actually answer the phone. You’re on the line with a real live Bond Arms employee who knows what they’re talking about. No robots. No offshore call centers.
ASJ Your latest gun, the lever-action LVRB rifle, was selected by Recoil
It’s not all work for Gordon Bond. He still makes time to enjoy the shooting sports when he’s not being a grandfather.
Another look at the lever-action LVRB rifle, selected by Recoil Magazine as the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show’s Best Firearm of 2023.
Magazine as the best new gun of SHOT Show 2023, and over the past year has gotten a lot of favorable coverage from my colleagues, including American Rifleman. To me that suggests that while you call yourselves a derringer company, you’re doing a lot more than just thinking about belly guns over there.
GB At this point you know how Bond Arms became the derringer company. It was an accident. My brother never thought much of derringers. The LVRB, or the BullPup9, for that matter, are the type of guns that Greg would have preferred to make: guns that embody innovative engineering, made with the smartest materials, and built to the same high-quality standard that he set when he started the company and had to redeem the derringer’s old-time sketchy reputation. Derringers of one kind or another have been made in America for at least 200 years and we’ve made them since 1995. I expect we’ll always make them, but I always knew derringers wouldn’t be the only thing we made. The BullPup9 is the pistol I wish we invented. The LVRB is the rifle we invented. The idea just came up one day and as it matured, we realized, “Hey, we have to make this gun.” Like everything we do, we aren’t satisfied with anything short of excellence, so we’ve been taking our time to do it right. ★
Editor’s note: Readers can learn more about Bond Arms derringers, their BullPup9 and the soon-to-be-released LVRB lever-action rifle at bondarms.com.
Bond Arms famous fan and host of Outdoor Channel’s Gun Stories, actor Joe Mantegna poses with the new LVRB lever-action rifle at SHOT Show 2024 in Las Vegas.
THE COLT GOVERNMENT MODEL SERIES 70
A timeless classic reborn and featuring modern performance.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY ROB REED
The Colt Government Model Series 70 is a retrostyled iteration of the classic fighting handgun that combines vintage looks with modern performance.
As any fan of the big Colt knows, the original pistol was developed by legendary firearms designer John Moses Browning to fulfill a US Army contract. The military was not satisfied with the performance of the .38 Colt revolvers during the Philippine Insurrection and wanted a more effective replacement. Among the requirements was that the design be an automatic pistol, at the time a relatively new technology, and that it be chambered in a .45-caliber cartridge.
Browning went to work and the result was a singleaction pistol with an exposed hammer using short-recoil operation that held seven rounds of .45 ACP ammunition (a cartridge he also designed) in an easily replaceable magazine in the grip. The pistol had two completely independent safety systems: a grip safety on the backstrap that had to be depressed to fire the pistol and a manual thumb safety that allowed cavalrymen to render a cocked pistol safe with only one hand while the other was busy with their mount.
The design was the only entry to pass a grueling 6,000-round reliability test and won the procurement competition. When accepted into service, the pistols were roll marked as the Model of 1911
In 1912, Colt introduced the pistol to the civilian market under the Commercial Model or Government Model brandings. While revolvers still ruled the roost for most law
A well-centered five-round group out of a new Colt Government Model Series 70. Author Rob Reed had to use a bright aim point, as the all-black front sight disappeared on the target otherwise.
gun review
enforcement use, the Government Model was popular among those agencies and individual lawmen who admired the design’s ease of use, reliability and stopping power.
THE COLT GAINED more followers in the late 1970s when it was advocated by firearms writer and instructor Colonel Jeff Cooper. Cooper, a retired US Marine, established arguably the first real shooting school for civilians, the American Pistol Institute, later known as Gunsite. The Government Model was the most common gun seen in both staff and students’ holsters.
In the ’70s, those pistols were either surplus 1911s/1911A1s made by any of the government contractors or Colt commercial pistols. The “clone” market did not exist. The Colt commercial pistols incorporated the changes, such as the arched mainspring housing and short trigger, which the military had made to the design in the 1920s under the designation 1911A1.
In 1970, Colt introduced the Series 70 variation. The big change was the replacement of the solid barrel bushing with a four-fingered collet bushing in an effort to improve accuracy. While this worked, there were reports that fingers of the collet bushing were breaking and locking up the pistol. This obviously was not a problem with a solid bushing and Colt reverted back to that specification.
In 1983, the Series 80 version replaced the Series 70 on the production line. In order to make the pistol drop-safe, Colt engineers added a firing pin safety. This safety blocked the firing pin from moving unless the trigger was depressed. While effective, purists grumbled that this adversely affected the trigger pull, and used Series 70 guns became more desirable. Grumbling or not, the Series 80 with its firing pin safety was the only way Colt built the pistols, and if you wanted a new Colt Government Model, you had to take one with those changes.
THAT LEADS ME to the pistol featured in this review. Starting in the early 2000s, Colt brought out a variety of 1911 model pistols without the Series 80 firing pin safety. Instead of the firing pin block, these pistols were made drop-safe by using lighter firing pins with heavier firing pin springs. While the true distinguishing characteristic of the original Series 70 pistols was the collet bushing, Colt dubbed these pistols as Series 70 reproductions due to the lack of Series 80 internals. These are now made alongside Series 80 models in a variety of configurations.
My gun is a Colt Model 01911CEC I purchased from a distributor for $899. The packaging describes it as “Government, 5-inch National Match barrel, Series 70, blued frame, blued slide, Model 0.”
Interestingly enough, the Series 70 designation is not actually on the pistol itself. The left slide flat says “Government Model Colt Automatic .45 ACP,” while the right is marked “Government Model.”
A blued steel gun deserves nice leather gear. This is the Galco Thunderclap holster with one of their dual mag pouches, courtesy of Mike Barham at Galco.
gun review
The right frame bears a single-line Colt address. My pistol was an overrun for a European contract, so it’s also marked to European commercial standards, including the full serial on the frame, slide and barrel, and “US 23” on the frame indicating the country and year of manufacture. The serial number prefix is “GV0” with “Colt .45 ACP” on the barrel hood above where the barrel is marked with the serial number.
The gun has a matte blue finish, which has a chameleon effect of looking drastically different depending on the lighting. The sights are pinned front, with a black face, and fixed rear. The safety is the standard small Colt safety and the plastic mainspring housing is flat. The trigger is metal, short length, with a grooved front face. I measured the trigger pull at just a hair over 5 pounds before heading to the range. The gun has a lowered ejection port. While the standard now, that was a custom mod back in the day. The grips are checkered rosewood in a double diamond pattern. In many ways (lowered ejection
port notwithstanding), the gun more closely resembles a military 1911 made before the 1920s changes than it does a 1970s production commercial pistol. The biggest visual difference is that the commercial pistols had arched mainspring housings, large “Mark IV/Series 70” roll marks, and Colt medallion grips. All in all, while not a perfect clone of any specific model, it is a good-looking pistol.
THE PROOF IS in the shooting, however. While 25-yard benchrest groups are the standard for accuracy testing, the range bay I used had a max of about 20 yards available and I didn’t have a buddy available that day to help me move the bench.
For accuracy testing, I fired three five-shot groups of standard Winchester 230-grain FMJ ammunition from a solid benchrest position, with the best group measuring just over 2½ inches at about 20 yards. The trigger broke cleanly and I believe will lighten up a bit with use.
The handgun’s matte blue finish appears different depending on the light. It almost looks Parkerized here.
The gun came with a plastic case, owner’s manual, chamber flag, gun lock and a single Colt-marked seven-round magazine.
I would like to say the gun was 100-percent reliable, but that was not strictly true. On the very first magazine I had a stoppage on the second shot. The slide did not cycle completely and the second round did not feed from the magazine correctly. I removed the mag, cleared the round and replaced it in the mag to continue the string. I handcycled the first round and the same malfunction occurred again when the second round failed to feed correctly.
While two malfunctions in the first magazine was definitely not a good start, I continued on, and the issue resolved itself without further attention on my part. All told, in addition to the accuracy testing, I fired about 100 to 125 rounds at steel targets set up at various distances with no other malfunctions. I’ve never been a fan of “break-in” periods for new pistols, as I think they should work out of the box (when properly lubed), but I have to admit that a five-round break-in may set a new “minimum rounds required to break in” record. In any event, after that first magazine, I was satisfied with the reliability.
With the use of modern CNC machines, the tolerances and build quality of these new Colt Series 70 pistols are better than those actually made back in the 1970s. These new guns make ideal base guns for a custom build, which is what I’m likely to do with mine. Even stock, though, shooting the new Colt Government Model Series 70 is a great experience and I recommend them to fans of the design. ★
COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
BREAKOUT YEAR FOR HOLSTER MAKER
Freedom Protective Gear builds off SHOT Show success, teams with SurvivingMann competition.
PHOTOS BY FREEDOM PROTECTIVE GEAR
Based in San Antonio, Texas, Freedom Protective Gear specializes in Kydex and nylon holsters, sheaths and accessories. According to owner Brandon Golob, the company focuses on three main categories: retail holster-making at 250-plus events annually, OEM holsters for gun manufacturers and supplying gun stores with holster blanks.
A decade after the company’s founding, Freedom Protective Gear continues to grow and take on bigger markets. This past January, they exhibited at SHOT Show in Las Vegas for the first time ever. The annual trade show had an estimated attendance of over 55,000 industry professionals, all clamoring to see the latest and greatest shootingrelated products. Golob and his team made the most out of the experience.
“We put the SHOT Show logo on our holsters and had massive giveaways with Black Rambo, The Pew Pew Jew and Rudy Reyes,” says Golob.
“We made quite a show at our booth and that drew in massive crowds.”
The buzz surrounding the giveaways and gun celebrities even got the attention of the team behind Surviving Mann, a reality competition show hosted by former Navy SEAL Don Mann. Golob struck up a partnership with the show and Freedom Protective Gear became a sponsor, even providing competitors with some of their wares.
“We provided Surviving Mann our
Kydex chest holster,” says Golob. “We mold it to over 100 gun models. This holster is fully adjustable to anyone’s body. We make it with dozens of patterns/ colors. We do some serious volume.”
“The show was awesome,” he adds. “I cannot wait to see my products in the episode.”
To check out the Kydex chest holster and more great products from Freedom Protective Gear, visit freedomprotectivegear.com. ★
Kydex chest holster.
Freedom Protective Gear owner Brandon Golob.
THE HERITAGE ROSCOE: A VALUE-PRICED .38 SPECIAL +P SNUBBIE
Built to use and ‘honey for the money.’
STORY BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY F.J.G. JARDIM
friend in the big city who isn’t a recreational shooter, has no inclination to practice shooting and doesn’t even own a firearm was having a self-defense crisis and looking for a foolproof concealed carry handgun. Based on these criteria, a snubnose .38 Special revolver was the first thing that came to mind. It takes a lot of practice to master them, with their tiny grips and short sight radius, but up close you don’t need to be a Jerry Miculek to use one effectively.
AWith a limited budget, a new Colt, S&W or Kimber was out of the question, as were used models by those manufacturers because my friend was neither thrilled with the idea of combing through the local pawnshops, nor confident in his ability to evaluate the condition of what he might find. Here was a situation where a value brand firearm looked to be the better choice than a premium brand.
Brazilian-made Taurus and Rossi snubnoses were once very popular with police officers as backup guns because
Instantly ready, compact and foolproof in operation, the snubnose revolver offers even neophyte shooters the ability to defend themselves effectively at close range.
gun review
they offered a lot for the price. While exploring their current offerings, I came upon Heritage Manufacturing Company’s (heritagemfg.com) Roscoe, an all-steel, five-shot, .38 Special +P-rated snubnose with the general lines and compactness of the S&W Model 36 Chief’s Special, but with somewhat thicker wood stocks and an MSRP of only $363 with a one-year warranty. The actual street price was between $300 and $325
MECHANICALLY, THE HERITAGE Roscoe is the old Taurus Model 85, but with nicer fit and finish comparable to the current Rossi revolvers. Taurus makes the Roscoe in its Brazilian facilities, but on a separate production line from its own models. It is a good-looking gun. The metal has a high polish and wears a shiny black/blue finish everywhere except the top of the frame and the barrel, where it was left with
an even matte surface finish so as not to be reflective. Markings are laserengraved with the serial number dot peen marked on the barrel and frame. Taurus says the frame is forged from carbon steel for toughness and the barrel and cylinder are machined from a stronger alloy steel for greater strength and wear resistance. The trigger, hammer and cylinder latch are efficient metal-injection-molded castings. The stocks are made of laminated wood, laser-checkered and attractively stained to bring out the layers of grain and then sealed with a glossy polyurethane. These stocks are somewhat thicker than those on a Chief’s Special, and while they do fill your hand slightly more for a marginally improved grip, they also won’t allow you to use a speed-loader and block the full ejection of one or two spent cases, requiring some jiggling and rotating of the cylinder to
get them to drop free. More annoying is that the stocks can shift slightly on you if the screw loosens because they aren’t domed on the back to mate with the halfmoon cuts at the top of the grip frame. This is nothing that adding a pin to the back of the grip frame wouldn’t fix if it was intolerable to you.
The rear of the cylinder is locked into the frame in the conventional manner with the tip of the ejector rod, but the front of the rod is free and does nothing to maintain the alignment between chambers and the barrel forcing cone at the front. Instead, a modified ball detent lock between the crane and the frame serves to stabilize the front of the cylinder. It doesn’t seem like much, but it appears to be enough to resist the tendency of the camming action of the hand from pushing the cylinder out of alignment with the forcing
The fit and finish on the Heritage Manufacturing Company Roscoe snubnose is nicer than the old Taurus guns. The polished steel wears its blued finish with shine except along the sight path, which is matted to minimize distracting reflections.
As with all snubbies, the ejection rod isn’t long enough to push the spent cases clear of the cylinder.
The fixed sights are rugged and essentially snagproof, but the sight radius is (of necessity) short, making the snubnose a challenging gun to master.
The muzzle crown is recessed slightly to reduce the chance of accidental damage.
gun review
cone. (The Roscoe cylinder, like the S&W, rotates counterclockwise instead of clockwise like Colts.)
The Roscoe also has a passive transfer bar safety that prevents the hammer from striking the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled, which affords it good mechanical protection from accidental discharge if dropped. The downside of this type of passive safety is that some of the hammer’s energy is lost in the transfer, which might affect its reliability when using ammunition with hard primers. Knowing this, you should always test new ammo types before loading them for self-defense.
As with all snubnose revolvers, the ejector rod is not long enough to push spent cartridge cases clear of the cylinder, so it must be struck sharply in order to impart enough inertia to throw them out. The fixed sights are the typical indestructible, low-profile, snag-resistant, rear-sloping, square front post with the rear square notch milled through the top strap of the frame. In good light they are fine but become indiscernible in anything less. Back in the day we would paint the front sight white to improve low-light visibility.
The smooth narrow trigger is suited to double-action shooting. The doubleaction pull weight is 12.75 pounds, on the heavy side for a revolver of this type but not overly so. The trigger pull itself wasn’t particularly smooth, but it was no great detriment to close-range defensive shooting. The single-action pull measured between 5.5 and 6.5 pounds. With a 2-inch barrel, I thought it would be more appropriate to test accuracy at 7 yards rather than the customary 25 yards for full-size guns. Seven yards is a more realistic self-
Standing with a two-hand hold at a 7-yard range, the singleaction accuracy with several quality self-defense loads was decent ...
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gun review
defense engagement distance anyway.
For men, little guns like this don’t have much of a grip to hold onto, which makes them hard to stabilize consistently while shooting and handicaps their accuracy potential. Having smaller hands, women often find these guns to be sized just right. I have a theory that all other things being equal, women would shoot these small-frame snubnoses better
than men with the stock grips.
FOR MY TESTING, I shot five-shot groups with three different ammo types, single-action, standing, with a twohand hold. The results were decent. The average group size with all three ammo types was only 1.37 inches measured center to center. The most accurate load tested was Remington Defense Golden Saber .38 Special +P
125-grain BJHP. The nose of the heavy brass jacket on this hollowpoint is cut and overlapped at the edges along the cavity to control expansion. Average group size was only 1.17 inches with a velocity of 895 feet per second. Federal Premium Punch .38 Special +P 120-grain JHP was a close second, averaging groups of 1.41 inches and 868 fps. Hornady Critical Defense 100-grain FTX JHP, a very reliable
The stocks aren’t secured at the top of the grip frame and shift if the screw gets loose. It’s an easy fix.
Still, expect the factory stocks to block one or two cases from ejecting. You’ll need to rotate the cylinder to get them clear of the grip.
The all-steel Roscoe is rated for .38 Special +P loads. The cylinder holds five rounds.
The transfer bar safety in action. Note how the hammer cannot contact the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled back to elevate the transfer bar between them.
gun review
bullet in terms of the consistency of its expansion regardless of clothing barriers, averaged groups of 1.54 inches and 799 fps.
In all cases, the pistol shot about an inch below the point of aim. As with all fixed-sight handguns, you’ll have to learn the appropriate elevation holds for the various types of ammunition you shoot. By the way, firing doubleaction at 7 yards pushed my groups out to 2 inches, which was less than I expected, though the rounds were more evenly spaced. My single-action groups tended to have four shots tightly grouped with one outlier substantially opening up (spoiling!) the group.
At 22 ounces empty, the all-steel
Roscoe has some heft to it compared to aluminum-alloy-frame snubnoses. The weight helps to mitigate recoil significantly, making the pistol pleasant to shoot and making it faster to recover the target between shots. Aluminum-alloy .38 Specials of this size aren’t much fun to practice with.
The Roscoe’s minor flaws are not something that would upset me at its price point. I noticed that the cylinder had quite a bit of left and right rotation when the crane was closed because the bolt wasn’t fit tightly to the mating slots around the exterior of the cylinder. However, upon pulling the trigger, nearly all that rotational play disappeared as the hand cammed against the ratchet. How long this
revolver will keep its timing I can’t say, but I doubt the typical selfdefense gun owner will ever wear it out practicing on the range – and, in the case of the big city friend who bought it, it will never wear out. Why pay for something you don’t need?
Also, at this price point, I wouldn’t hesitate to do some DIY modifications to this revolver to suit my tastes. I’d bob the hammer and dehorn the hard edges for pocket carry, shave down the left grip to clear a speedloader, and maybe even do the Fitz Special treatment on the trigger guard without any worry about hurting the future collector value of this pistol. It was built to use and, as my dad used to say, is “a honey for the money.” ★
When it comes to getting a solid hold on this gun’s little grip frame, big-handed people have more trouble than small-handed ones.
Self-Defense TRAINING
TEACHING THE DIRTY DOZEN
Alternative target areas to attack during a life-or-death struggle.
AND PHOTOS BY PAUL PAWELA
On average, it takes an individual four to six years to earn a PhD, on top of the four-year bachelor’s degree and two-year master’s. To receive the doctorate, the programs typically require PhD candidates to take advanced courses, pass a comprehensive exam and produce an original body of research such as a dissertation. In some cases, students may also be expected to fill a teaching assistantship or research assistantship, in order to prepare them for a career in academia or research.
As an expert on the subject of selfdefense, my bona fides have earned me a PhD – at least in the metaphorical sense. I have over 40 years as a nationally ranked firearms instructor trainer and 40 years as a nationally ranked selfdefense martial arts instructor trainer. In terms of the PhD, I meet the requirement to have accomplished more than six doctoral degrees.
As far as the advanced courses requirement, I have trained with every special operation counterterrorist unit in the free world and worked as a sworn police officer in three different states. And passing a comprehensive exam? I would contend that in the selfdefense arena, having survived several lethal force encounters would check that box as well.
I am honored to have produced an original body of research and to have written a military sniper manual that is considered one of the best works of
STORY
Close-contact shooting that’s as realistic as it possibly gets, all while using real guns with blanks and still being safe about it – that’s what went down in a recent, first-of-its-kind training session with law enforcement officers.
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
its kind. I have also been published in print magazines, with over 500 articles on self-defense issues in more than a dozen publications.
With regard to filling a teaching assistant or research assistant position, I served as the director of law enforcement training for the National Association of Chiefs of Police, where I hosted many national training conferences on police firearms, police defensive tactics, police force-on-force training and liability issues for over 12 years. In that position, I also reviewed every single report of an officer killed in the line of duty in those dozen years.
Please, dear reader, do not make the mistake of thinking my background is braggadocious. I am comparing my record to that of college academia to make a point. For the record, I am proud to state that the company I represent is Assault Counter Tactics.
I RECENTLY FINISHED a block of instruction at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department for the national conference of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. I was honored to teach a class that had never been taught to the law enforcement community, and I hope it will change the way law enforcement trains its
Author Paul Pawela demonstrates alternative targets to the body for weapons.
This class of seasoned law enforcement officers had never had this type of training before.
If your primary weapon fails, go to a backup gun. A snubbie revolver makes an excellent choice for several reasons, one being the weapon can be jammed into a body for a closecontact shot and still work.
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
In a fight for your life, use all the weapons at your disposal. Here the officer uses knee strikes first, then goes to his gun. Note safety officer Pablo Martinez (left) ensuring maximum safety and that the officer’s finger is off the trigger after the encounter. This should be what happens every single
officers and help save lives.
I presented a class called The Dirty Dozen Defensive Tactics, covering alternative contact points to the body, which segued into another class on getting to different weapons (backup weapons) in a close-quarters lifeand-death encounter. To support the overwhelming evidence that this type of training should be mandatory in law enforcement, I was able to quote several national and international firearms instructors who have commented on the issue.
The first quote I used was from retired police trainer Lou Chiodo, author of Winning a High-speed, Close-distance Gunfight: “The mission of our firearms training is to prepare a student to use firearms in a fight
against an adversary in what usually begins as a spontaneous attack initiated by the adversary. Our firearms program is not about shooting. It is about fighting. When the concept of fighting is taken out of firearms training, we have forgotten the purpose of our training.”
I also used various quotes from recognized police experts in the community, including retired police lieutenant and national police firearms instructor Dave Spaulding, author of Handgun Combatives: “The majority of law enforcement shootings occur at an extremely close distance. Eighty to 85 percent occur within 20 feet, and 55 to 60 percent of that 80 to 85 percent occur within 5 to 6 feet, almost an arm’s length. But police firearms
instruction still occurs at 7, 10 and 15 yards. Why? Because it’s easier to do!”
According to former police commander Craig “SouthNarc” Douglas, author of Straight Talk on Armed Defense: What the Experts Want You to Know, there are three common elements in the criminal assault paradigm that are consistent with the violent encounters that law enforcement deal with. They are: 1) attacks happen at close range, 2) there is more than one assailant, and 3) there is the presence of a weapon.
WITH THIS INFORMATION, the Assault Counter Tactics team presented a relatively simple force-on-force, extremely close-quarter combative class to 13 seasoned law enforcement officers
Sometimes the classic way of firearms training goes right out the window as alternative targets present themselves. Here are examples of a groin shot (top) and stomach shot.
This officer demonstrated how effective a snubbie revolver can be when shot through clothing at contact distance to an attacker. In this case, the shot would have been in the femoral artery region.
time.
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
and trainers, each lasting two hours. Instead of using the worn-out model of police firearms training or qualification of shooting standard distances with the standard shots to the body (and the rare headshot), the officers were given alternative targets at close range. As the lead instructor, I gave the students what I call the “dirty dozen” target areas: the head, eyes, throat, carotid arteries, lungs, heart,
spleen, liver, kidneys, stomach, groin (pelvic bones could also be considered the same region), as well as femoral arteries, legs and feet.
Using the dirty dozen attack method works with empty hands or a semiautomatic as the primary service weapon, a snubnose revolver (our class used the S&W 442 and Ruger LCR) as the backup, and fixed blades as a last resort.
It is interesting to note that the police instructor students had no documented training with snubnose revolvers (a lost art in the police world, which is unusual due to their popularity as backup guns among LEOs). They also had no documented training in using knives, which many officers in the class were not only authorized to carry but also did!
The task was simple: to simulate an arrest on a martial arts training dummy called Bob. Bob was dressed in a Halloween monster mask, which gave the class the realism that it would be a monster who is trying to kill you. Add in the fact that the monster may even be wearing a ballistic vest and resist arrest, and you’re in a fight for your life! The first option was to go to the primary duty weapon. The students used a real gun, a Glock 17 fitted with 9mm blank barrels and blanks from Manufacturing Research, utilizing the choice targets from the dirty dozen. If the primary duty firearm failed, the instructors automatically went to a backup gun – a real 442 or LCR – once again filled with Manufacturing Research .38-caliber
Note the dagger on the nondominant side of the author/instructor. The point: On different attack target areas, it works equally well for empty hands to have access to guns and knives. The author always recommends having a backup firearm and a backup knife just in case.
In a life-or-death struggle, you must end the fight quickly. Two officers do so by utilizing a knife as a last-resort attack, one directed at the carotid artery.
Close-quarter fighting is the largest percentage (over 80 percent) of attacks that occur in both law enforcement and civilian worlds, and yet hardly anybody trains this way. Assault Counter Tactics, founded by Pawela, is proud to be a leader in the industry to help train in this discipline to save lives.
SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING
ACT staff member Ken Corley revisits the crime scene where he was ambushed by three armed attackers.
blanks for contact shots. If that failed, there was no hesitation to go to the edged weapon and thrust it into the dirty dozen targets for maximum results.
TO EMPHASIZE THE reality of how fights can go from bad to worse in a split second, one of my ACT staff instructors, Ken Corley, told his personal story about when he interrupted three members of a drugdealing team about to execute one of his neighbors. A fight ensued, as did a chase, and Ken was later ambushed and beaten. After the drug dealers were arrested, they came back for revenge against Ken, ambushed him once again at his apartment, overpowered him through numbers, beat him with his Maglite and dragged him for over 200 yards to a dumpster, where they discarded his unconscious body.
After Ken came to, he thought he had been unconscious for hours but in reality, it was only minutes. When he tried to get out of the dumpster, his attackers were still there; they pushed him in the forehead with the barrel of a pistol and shot him in the head, pointblank. But Ken’s head was angled to such a degree that the bullet went in and
through the top of his forehead, which is the only reason he is alive today.
I have tons of documented cases of officers who died in the line of duty trying not to hurt the person who was trying to kill them. All the tremendous defensive tactics and impact tools in the world would not have helped them. Our officers should not hesitate to use deadly force options, and their administrators should support them.
Regarding liability issues on using deadly force in the department: What
is more clear-cut? Defending an officer’s righteous actions in court or attending an officer’s funeral and looking at the widows, widowers and children in the eyes and knowing that the administration failed to provide simple training that could have saved that officer’s life? Not to mention, said training took a total of four hours to do, and everything was done safely.
But law enforcement isn’t the only party responsible for the lack of realistic training; 90 percent of civilian firearms and martial arts training is entirely wrong on the same issue.
Points to ponder: This was the first class of its kind to be taught to law enforcement, and several of the seasoned LEOs in the class who were instructors in their departments asked me why that was. My answer was simple: “Write up the class and present it to the head chain of command for approval.” While it is nice to make history, I would rather save lives.
And that’s my two cents! ★
Editor’s note: Author Paul Pawela dedicated this article to Ken Corley for reliving his ordeal for the close-quarters combatives class attendees and to the staff of Assault Counter Tactics. Pawela is a nationally recognized firearms and self-defense expert. For his realistic self-defense training, see assaultcountertactics.com.
From left to right, Assault Counter Tactics instructors Josh Russo, Corley, Pawela and Martinez, along with training dummy Bob.
HERO’S WELCOME FOR SERGEANT
SFPD officer honored by 49ers for response in receiver shooting.
STORY BY NICK PERNA
PHOTO COURTESY SAN FRANCISCO POLICE
DEPARTMENT FACEBOOK PAGE
irst responders do amazing things every day. Unfortunately, many of their exploits go unreported, and their deeds unnoticed. It’s part of the job and, for cops, becoming famous or rich are both unlikely outcomes. “Fame,” if it can be called that, often comes to the small minority of cops who do illegal or immoral things that are then highlighted by the mainstream media.
FLaw enforcement and professional athletes are perceived to have a strained relationship. Like cops, most athletes go about their daily lives working hard at their jobs, striving to be their best. Most athletes’ interactions with cops are limited to being in the same stadium during a game when officers are providing security. But there are those unfortunate times when athletes break the law and law enforcement is required to respond. Like bad cops, professional athletes who commit crimes are put on display, their crimes often amplified or blown out of proportion.
Sometimes, those in the wrong try to put the blame back on law enforcement. Take the recent incident with Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Hill was stopped for reckless driving on the way to the stadium. His behavior was childlike and abhorrent, resisting officers’ efforts to safely detain him. Despite being let off with a warning, he took
every opportunity to blame the officers for his illegal actions and behavior, even staging a mock arrest during a touchdown celebration (a game the Dolphins lost, by the way).
There are times, though, that
officers are recognized for their efforts, and it is by professional athletes.
THE CITY OF San Francisco is in a state of transition. Lax political leadership and skyrocketing crime rates had
Sergeant Joelle Harrell was given a hero’s welcome at the 49ers’ home opener after she saved the life of rookie Ricky Pearsall, who was shot by a mugger in downtown San Francisco.
L.E. SPOTLIGHT
allowed the tourist mecca to become a dangerous, violent place, but a change is occurring. A new district attorney has been elected and has set out to right the wrongs and try to clean up the city.
On August 31 of this year, San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was enjoying the sights in San Francisco’s Union Square, an area known for retail shopping and good eating. He was attacked by a 17-year-old male, armed with a loaded handgun, who tried to rob him of his jewelry. A word of caution to any would-be street robbers: Professional football players aren’t the best choice for victims. A struggle ensued for the gun, resulting in Pearsall being shot in the chest and the suspect being shot in the arm with his own gun.
San Francisco Police Department Sergeant Joelle Harrell was first on scene. She applied first aid and comfort to Pearsall throughout the ordeal. She had been about a block away when she
heard the shots and quickly responded. Pearsall gave her a description of the suspect, who had fled the scene. She made sure it was broadcast to all available officers and the suspect was apprehended nearby. Sergeant Harrell used Pearsall’s shirt to apply pressure to the entrance wound and her department-issued hat to block the exit wound, all the while talking to Pearsall to calm him down.
Pearsall was transported by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. Being a superbly conditioned athlete, the 24-year-old firstround draft pick was released from the hospital the next day. He’s expected to be back on the playing field soon. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is charging the suspect with attempted murder.
PEARSALL INVITED SERGEANT Harrell to the 49ers’ home opener at Levi’s Stadium on September 9. She was given a hero’s
welcome and a standing ovation by 49er fans, and was given a 49er helmet signed by members of the team and Pearsall’s jersey.
Thanks to Sergeant Harrell and the SFPD, there is one less criminal searching for an easy mark. Thanks to Pearsall, this fine example of law enforcement was recognized for what cops do each and every day.
Even if you aren’t a 49er fan, I think it’s safe to say that we all look forward to seeing Pearsall out on the field soon.
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 issues.
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TACTICAL TRAINING
FUNDAMENTAL FALLACIES
Changing the basics of marksmanship didn’t improve accuracy.
In May 2016, the US Army published TC 3-22 9 Rifle and Carbine, the definitive basic and advanced rifle marksmanship manual, and ended a 40-year period of using “the four fundamentals of marksmanship.” Even before publishing, cries came from the field about how we could not change it because it had always been that way. A
short trip through history proved those cries wrong, but we were not changing the words just to change words. This month’s article is about how words mean things.
FIRST, LET’S LOOK at the word “fundamental.” Merriam-Webster defines it as “one of the minimum constituents without which a thing or a system would not be what it is.” Our sergeants told us that if we applied the fundamentals, we would hit the
target; if we missed, it was because we didn’t apply all four of them. All it took was going to the range that required you to – as stated by Sergeant Major Kyle Lamb (retired) – “stand up and fight like a man,” and suddenly one of the fundamentals (breathing) was unimportant. Add in some movement, like rushes or room entries, and suddenly the only thing that was left was a steady position and proper aim. If two of the four minimum constituents for the system are non-
STORY AND PHOTOS BY ASH HESS
The US Army’s FM 3-22.9 Rifle Marksmanship manual, circa 1966, was updated in 2016 to the TC 3-22.9 Rifle and Carbine, which columnist Ash Hess was a primary author of.
TACTICAL TRAINING
factors, then we may not be saying the right words.
Next, let us pull in the Army Marksmanship Unit. Known for producing some of the finest sharpshooters in the United States and possibly the world, the AMU taught “the two firing tasks” for many, many years. Those two tasks are to properly point the weapon and fire it without disturbing the sights. They did teach the four fundamentals, but in the context that they supported the two firing tasks.
These two tasks were supported by the works of Dr. Jean Dyer of the Army Research Institute. When I worked with Dr. Dyer, she had been researching marksmanship for over 40 years. She had been there when the Army first changed from two fundamentals to four fundamentals in the early 1970s. Her published papers showed a slow but steady decline in marksmanship skills despite the Army fielding more accurate rifles and ammunition, and even more telling, switching to an allvolunteer force.
Yes, you read that correctly. A draft force in wartime using pencil-
barrel M16A1 rifles showed better marksmanship skills than a volunteer force with a heavier-barrel M16A2. To pile on, the 1966 Rifle manual, FM 239, had two fundamentals: aiming and steady hold. Sound familiar?
Leveraging the Infantry School’s library, we pulled and read every rifle manual dating all the way back to preWorld War II. They all said the same thing. The two fundamentals were aiming and steady hold. They also included eight steady-hold factors, such as breathing and trigger control. They also talked butt placement, cheek weld, hands and trigger placement, which all had an effect on how steady you could hold the rifle or be able to fire the shot without disturbing the aim.
UNTIL AROUND 1974, there were two fundamentals and not four. This change was not made to improve marksmanship. It was made to improve efficiency of drill sergeants and marksmanship instruction. It was made by sergeants so they could have new soldiers spout off memorized bumper sticker slogans and to be able to fix bad shooters by saying,
“Apply the fundamentals” – or at least that is what they turned into, as the noncommissioned officers, or NCOs, who learned a separate way retired and left the force.
The change to four fundamentals also made the training day prior to the range event quite easy. As a young corporal, I was just as guilty of spending soldiers recite the fundamentals followed by pain reinforcement to lock it in. We followed that with four hours of having soldiers take apart their rifles very quickly, leading into a blindfolded deathmatch with the fastest people. On range day, the lack of training really showed with large groups and wolf packs of NCOs diving on problem soldiers to fix their breathing issue. This is how we were taught. We could not shoot well either and that is all we knew. We shot prone or from a foxhole and considered ourselves lethal.
My first trip to Iraq in showed me how little we really knew about shooting in combat environments. To start, in Sadr City getting prone was a terrible option.
Author Ash Hess engages targets from an unsupported standing position.
TACTICAL TRAINING
Lying down in 6 inches of open sewer water in a street was an effective way to end up sick or dead. It was such a terrible option that we did not even have to train not to do it. That fact immediately negated 50 to 70 percent of the practice we had done to that point. We were shooting from positions we never learned or practiced. Leaders said, “Apply the fundamentals,” and sent us on our way. This is where I and many others began to question the dogma and the training techniques.
THE FIRST “FUNDAMENTAL” I will attack is breathing. Breathing has incorrectly been attributed to groups showing vertical stringing. Yes, when prone, your sights will move up and down as you breathe. We were taught to fire in the natural respiratory pause to negate this. We practiced it and most of us had it down solid. But suddenly, we were in combat on a two-way range, under stress and not
shooting from our bellies. Under stress, your breathing rate increases. Doing some sprints in full gear in 140-degree temperatures raises that breathing rate exponentially. Hitting a pause was not going to happen. Add to this the fact that while shooting from kneeling or standing positions, the effect of breathing on the sights is entirely different. Combined, that takes breathing from a fundamental to a factor since it is only true some of the time and not all the time. I can be actively breathing from a kneeling supported position or while standing and still get effective hits.
The next is trigger squeeze. We were taught a slow, creeping squuuueeeeze and that the “shot should surprise you.” Targets were diagnosed with horizontal stringing as “jerking the trigger.” Now this one is easy to dispel. With pistols, you have two points of contact on a single place on the firearm. With a rifle in an unsupported position, you have
four points of contact at four separate places on the rifle. From a supported position, you have another point of contact. Take a second and question how, while still pushing 5 to 8 pounds of force rearward, side pressure of your trigger finger can shift the rifle enough to miss a human-sized target? Now add in the requirement of shooting fast to get rounds on a fleeting target, as everyone in a fight is moving.
YOU CAN SEE how fast I unraveled the truth of the four fundamentals. Which leads me back to the truths. Properly point the firearm and fire it without disturbing the aim. In other words, bringing us back to 1966, aim and steady position. All the factors such as breathing, firing hand, non-firing hand, trigger press and stick placement contribute to the stability needed to properly aim and hold that aim. What we did in 2016 was change the training and doctrine to train soldiers to understand this. With the
TACTICAL TRAINING
help of the Army Marksmanship Unit, the Shot Process became the way we teach soldiers to shoot. This teaches them to get stable, and all the things that go into it, first. Then aim.
Knowing that, soldiers will be able to use their training in various conditions as they are presented, thus making them more lethal on any battlefield, better able to adapt to new systems and, more importantly, to not waste valuable time and resources.
Editor’s note: Ash Hess is a highly seasoned combat veteran of 22 years with four combat deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, totaling 52 months. His military training includes the US Army Master Marksman Trainer course, as well as rifle marksman instructor, urban combat leaders’, senior leaders’, army basic instructor, high-angle marksman and unit armor courses. He also wrote TC3-22.9, the Army’s marksmanship manual.
Application of the steady-hold factors.
CAN’T TOP THIS!
Following up on her whopper New Mexico bull elk, a Texas huntress heads to Colorado to try and tag a mule deer buck.
As I sit here and ponder how I will ever top my wife Aleisha’s first elk story, maybe the answer is simple: I cannot. Do all stories have to trump the last one? No, they do not have to compete. Stories are just a collection of memories written down, so when we are old and forgetful we can relive some part of days past.
So here goes the tale of my wife’s first mule deer. Aleisha and I drew deer tags in Colorado in 2021. As luck would have it, I caught Covid the week before we were set to leave for South Fork, about three hours west of Pueblo in the Southern Rockies. I thought I could handle it but as the week before the hunt progressed, I knew I would be too sick to help her be successful on punching a tag, much less filling mine. We contacted Colorado Parks and Wildlife, which restored our accumulated points but not our wallets. You gain a point a year and it takes three years to draw the unit of choice. Bottom line, we lost around $500 rather than three years. We planned on both drawing in 2022 but somehow I did and she did not. Then in 2023, Aleisha got the green light on a successful deer license. We worked out (jogging and weights) and planned accordingly. I cannot stress enough that
STORY AND PHOTOS BY ROY DON BABITZKE
Aleisha Babitzke and her first mule deer, taken high in the mountains of southern Colorado last fall on a hunt with husband Roy Don Babitzke.
working out helps in traversing mountain ranges. We also practiced shooting at various ranges out to 800 yards, mainly because that is the limit of the ballistic calculator built into my rangefinders.
FAST FORWARD TO the day before the hunt. Aleisha had contracted a bug of some sort while traveling and was having stomach troubles. Opening morning I could tell she was not feeling it, but she was on board to do whatever and hunt wherever to be successful. I decided to take her on a lower elevation trail with an established path so as not to overdo it on the first day. The small bucks we saw that morning might have gotten confused, as our
“buck grunt” calls sounded more like dinosaur ones. To me, that’s a funny way to describe what a dry heave sounds like when you’re sick. Yack.
The evening hunt at another spot revealed more small immature bucks and a plethora of does. Even though the hunt was more taxing due to the altitude, Aleisha stuck with it.
Day two offered more of the same animals and more dinosaur calls. We weren’t sure what the stomach bug was, but it was a lasting one. By the third day – man, does 4:30 a.m. come quickly – we were hitting a brick wall in the hunt. The hunters outnumbered the game 10 to 1. Not really, but I could spot an orange hat from a mile away and the deer were
getting good at hide-and-go-seek. We had heard of some good deer on a certain mountain range from a few elk hunters, so we spent all of the third day glassing and hoping for this mythical big buck.
Day four was halftime for us and the score was in favor of the deer. We headed to a spot I knew held deer year-round, or at least that was what I convinced myself of, as I was tired and I knew Aleisha was as well. But she was a trooper, alright, and hung in there no matter how cold or tired she got. This magical buck sanctuary revealed not one but three orange hats plus ATVs, to boot. I decided I was going to rise above this nonsense and keep riding that morning to over 11,000 feet in elevation.
Some of the lower elevation landscapes the Babitzkes initially hunted, spotting some smaller bucks that Aleisha passed on.
Forget this 9,000-feet nonsense.
As we reached the summit of the trail, I paused to check on the wife. Aleisha was several hundred yards behind me and when she arrived, her hands were frozen. Not to the point of frostbite or anything of that nature, but really numb. We warmed her paws on the ATV exhaust until she got the feeling back. Before we headed out on the next leg of the trek, I decided to walk out into some downed timber and glass the small mesa across the valley.
STILL GLASSING, NOTHING to see here, but wait – was that a smudge on my binoculars? Nope, it was a nice mule deer buck just grazing out in the open.
I said to Aleisha, “That’s your deer; go grab your rifle.” Looking back, I might have said it a little loud. Aleisha sprinted back maybe 50 yards to the fourwheeler to retrieve her .270. This dude looked to be good from every angle. Not a world-class deer, by any stretch, but such a nice deer to start with. We
ranged him at 450-ish yards and wind was not a factor. “He is broadside; take your time and be comfortable in the shot,” I told Aleisha. “Don’t let the valley between us and the deer look intimidating.”
I could tell she was not comfortable in her body placement for a steady
shot. We repositioned to what I thought was a better rest for a more accurate shot. Obviously, I was wrong – she was even more uncomfortable than her last position. We moved to a third location that looked flat to me with a perfect spot to pop the bipod and use my shooting bag under the buttstock. Apparently, it was not as good as I’d hoped. We finally settled on a big tree that was sawed off at the base and which we could use like it was a shooting bench. Now to make the perfect shot.
As we were changing shooting perches, the deer had wandered slightly into the timberline but was still in a good shooting location, free and clear. As I gave Aleisha the yardage (425 yards) and the holdover, the buck started to graze downslope with some other deer in the group, three does and another buck. Aleisha couldn’t seem to locate the deer of choice in the scope. As I tried to describe the buck’s location to her, it became evident that
After several days of not seeing a buck worth shooting but plenty of orange, the duo decided to ascend the mountain to “rise above” fellow hunters.
“next to that or this tree” was not the most descriptive while in a forest full of trees. Luckily, there were four dead pine trees among the aspens that I could use to give her coordinates.
As she took aim on the deer we were looking to harvest, the little “dinker” buck of the group decided he needed to walk between us and our trophy animal. We played this cat-andmouse game through the aspens as we waited for the perfect shot to reveal itself. Our buck would have a tree blocking the kill zone or he would be facing towards or away from us. I could also tell the sun was in Aleisha’s eyes, so I slid forward to use my shadow for some relief, but without getting too close to the rifle. As I learned from a previous whitetail hunt years earlier, a muzzle brake is not something you want your head near.
Finally, it was the moment of truth: 378 yards, 5 MOA on the dial, clear sailing all the way to Flagstaff. I told Aleisha to let me know when she was
about to shoot so I could plug my ears. I was expecting an “OK, ready” type of response, but instead I got a countdown: “3 … 2 … 1 ...” BOOM! The shot rang out and the thud of a successful body contact echoed in return. The deer had a dropped leg at the shoulder, so I knew it was a good shot placement. It could have been a little forward but wasn’t anything to worry about, as it was not gut shot. I watched the deer run into the thick forest, but the animal never came out the other end. I was confident he was piled up 30 yards from the shot. Turned out, it was a perfect heart shot – Aleisha could not have placed it any closer to the center of the organ– but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
AS WE MADE our way down around the valley and through the meadow, the thought crossed my mind, “Man, this would have been an easy retrieval if he was down on the open meadow rather than the valley.” Nevertheless,
I was 95 percent confident that the hard part of this hunt was over. As we made our way to the point of impact of the shot, Aleisha expected the deer to have dropped right there in its tracks. I tried to ease her mind that it did in fact run off for a few yards. When we got to about where I thought the deer should be, it wasn’t there. I kept looking for signs as to the direction of where it might have dropped. Some doubt crept in about how good the shot had been.
About 50 yards further, in a fairly thick forest, I spotted the downed trophy but didn’t let on that I had. As I called Aleisha closer to explain how we had lost the deer, I was actually standing about 5 yards from it. Aleisha began to cry, as she felt like she had failed the hunt and wounded an animal, but then I pointed out her buck. Waves of emotions flowed the other way to elation. Heck, I might have had misty eyes at her excitement over the harvest.
As we prepared the deer for retrieval, that dang stomach bug kicked in again and Aleisha couldn’t handle the smell of the field-dressing process. So she headed back to bring me the four-wheeler to load the animal. In this area of the map, off-road travel is allowed for game retrieval. As I cleared the trail of downed timber, I recalled those thoughts from an hour ago about the hard part being over. There was so much downed timber to move just to get within 20 yards of the buck. We actually ended up dragging it over to the four-wheeler the last little bit.
Finally strapped up and loaded, we headed back up, over and then down
During their combination deer and elk hunt, the Babitzkes left their names at the summit marker of Fox Mountain, which reaches 11,530 feet in elevation.
“Aleisha began to cry, as she felt like she had failed the hunt and wounded an animal, but then I pointed out her buck. Waves of emotions flowed the other way to elation,” writes her husband, who has proudly chronicled two of her big game hunts in these pages.
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the mountain. We passed several orange hats all with looks of admiration or jealousy over the harvest. I didn’t care either way; I was proud of the success of the hunt and huntress. After we got the deer processed and back to the cabin, Aleisha told me what the cause of her stomach bug was – another story for another time.
WELL, THAT PRETTY much summed up our hunt … Oh wait, I still had to harvest a cow elk in three days. I looked high and low for one. Aleisha got up early with me and followed me around the mountaintops, as I finally decided the elk were still high due to lack of snow for Colorado’s third rifle elk season. We sat on several meadows, walked lots of miles and conducted even more glassing. I just did not know where the elk were hiding. I did see one cow that was pushed hard out of the forest either by another hunter (there was one in the area) or me not checking
wind properly. Either way, the cow elk gave me just long enough to shoulder the rifle before she bolted.
Finally, on the last day, we went back to the spot where I shot my first bull elk over 10 years ago and sat on the mesa. As we picked out the “stand” for the morning, Aleisha abruptly told me to chamber a round. I thought maybe she saw something. After a second, she said she had had a dream that this was where I would shoot my elk. I thought, “What kind of dream-walking Mother Nature vision is going on?” but I went along with her instructions. Sometimes I get déjà vu or a feeling like something is about to happen.
To our amazement, right about then the unthinkable happened. My cow elk walked out at 250 yards. I drew down ready to make the perfect shot. I thought to myself, “3 … 2 … 1 … Wait, my cow elk has spike horns on it. Well, this doesn’t fit her dream one bit.” I set my rifle back down on the bipod.
“Wait,” I thought, “here comes three more elk; one of them must be my cow. Nope, bull, bull, bull.” They were all really young bulls just living the dream, not a care in the world, except to chase cows and avoid orange hats.
As we watched them walk off, I realized this was the close of my 2023 elk hunt. I was not upset that I did not fill my tag. I was just super excited about the success of Aleisha’s first mule deer hunt. The adventure made all the effort absolutely worth it. I had to wonder, though, if it was a sign of times to come that that first elk was a little bull. Aleisha’s stomach bug story I mentioned for a later time – it was due to morning and apparently evening sickness. We are expecting our first child, a boy, sometime next year. ★
Editor’s note: Author Roy Don Babitzke told the story of wife Aleisha’s first bull elk in the December 2022 issue of American Shooting Journal.
Working their way down the mountain, the Babitzkes came across this meadow. The spot inspired the name of their son, who is expected to be born in 2025.
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ROAD HUNTER
HITTING THE ‘ELK X’
How to find where bulls are hanging out at a given point of the season.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN
Two days before the general rifle season opener, two buddies and I rode horses 17 miles into the Wyoming wilderness. We set up camp at 9,000 feet on day one, and scouted on day two.
We didn’t see a
single elk during our scouting, not even a cow. But we did see lots of old, dry, gray droppings, found many old wallows and saw more rubs than I’d ever seen before.
On opening morning we awoke to over 2 feet of snow on the ground. By the time we got the horses ready, another foot of powder had fallen. We made the decision to tear down camp
and get out of the mountains before it was too late. Halfway down the trail we met a game warden who was riding the trails and advising all hunters to leave, as the freak storm that moved in was forecast to drop over 7 feet of snow.
Our hunt was a bust. Or was it?
Once off the mountain, my buddies and I talked about what we’d seen. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to
Locating feeding areas is one of the most beneficial keys to finding the “elk X.”
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recognize that all the elk were gone prior to rifle season, despite having no snow on the ground. It was also obvious by all the sign that the elk were thick in our chosen area during the rut.
The following year we went into the same exact place, this time with archery tags, on the September opener. We again set up camp 17 miles back, hiked 4 miles into a recently burned area, then split up. We all called in multiple bulls and each of us killed big six-pointers. We did the same the next season.
That was the best elk hunting I’d ever experienced, until wolves moved in. Once wolf packs started killing, elk left the massive drainage. Fourteen years after our last successful hunt, one
buddy returned during archery season. He and his wife spent 10 days, saw no fresh sign, and only one lone cow running a hillside over a mile away.
While our first trek high into the elk mountains was a bust, what we learned by seeing the land and the sign turned out to be an invaluable scouting mission. Yes, it cost us time and money, but it also led to incredible future hunts.
Finding a place to hunt elk is easy. Finding a place to consistently kill elk is a different story.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
No matter where I’m hunting elk in the West, once I draw a tag, the scouting is a three-part process. I already know elk should be in the area I’ll be hunting,
otherwise I wouldn’t have applied for a tag in that game management unit. But going to where elk should be, and actually finding the X where the elk are, can be two very different things.
First, make calls to regional wildlife biologists in your hunting area. If the area you’ll be hunting is big, there may be more than one office to contact. Ask about current elk herd trends, recent population counts and where the elk are thought to be during your hunt, be it bow or rifle season. Inquire as to whether wolves, disease, trapping and relocating, or wildfires have impacted the elk you’ll be hunting.
Next, get on the computer and track wildfires. There are several programs on the national, regional and even
Burns can greatly impact elk herds, and researching wildfires – both past and present – can help you find the elk X.
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state levels that contain valuable information on wildfires, both past and present. Avoid getting buried in social media fodder that can be misleading. Research the recent history of wildfires in the area you’ll be hunting and track current burns all summer long. If you’re an archery hunter, know that bow season coincides with the peak of fire season. Many archers throughout the West have had seasons canceled in recent years due to fires burning out of control. Even rifle hunters have experienced multiple location closures, sometimes for two years, due to the dangers of falling trees and landslides following major fire events.
Third, head to your hunting area and scout. Yes, this takes time and
money, but think of it as an investment for years to come. Of course, if it took you 23 points to draw a tag, it’s likely a once-in-a-lifetime hunt in that spot, which is even more reason to physically see what you’re up against.
FIRE ALERT
The number and severity of wildfires raging throughout Western elk country has been atrocious in recent years. Some fires have killed a number of elk when the animals sought safety in wooded draws, only to be consumed by fires engulfing the hills and canyons on either side.
Fires have also forced elk to move from their high-country habitats. In many cases, elk herds have traveled
miles, dropping into river valleys and even private farmlands. Not only have many of these elk fled fire zones, but they found a new and easy life with plenty of food and water and safety from predators. As a result, many elk have taken up residence at lower elevations, sometimes on private lands. If a burned area receives fall and spring rains, it can provide consistent food for elk two years after a fire. If a fire is put out in time in late summer, or the edges don’t burn too hot, that land can generate grass for elk to graze on that fall if rains hit in late September or early October. Even while a burn is still smoldering, elk can be seen on the fringes, rolling in ash to delouse themselves.
Many factors can force lone bulls into the timber.
ROAD HUNTER
Avoid scouting and hunting where fires burned hot. If the soil is scorched, it may take decades for the land to recover and provide adequate food for elk. Elk might travel through the severely burned habitat, but won’t stay there. Instead, work the edges of burns where grass and sprouting browse exist. Searching for elk a mile or so from a burn can also pay off.
THE SIGN
When scouting for elk, make sure your time and effort are wisely spent. If you’re going to be hunting elk in their summer range during archery season, summer scouting is important. If you’re going to hunt elk on their wintering grounds late in rifle season, or on the move during their winter migration, summer scouting efforts should be spent where elk will be, not where they are. Learn the terrain and look for old sign.
For rifle season, focus scouting efforts where elk will be at the time of your hunt. Keep in mind that migrating elk are sometimes driven by shortening daylight hours, not winter storms. Look for trails carved deep into mountainsides, as elk often travel the same paths year after year. Search for old, gray droppings that reveal where elk were last winter. Also be on the lookout for sheds, which will confirm
you’re on elk wintering grounds.
GETTING THERE
When on the hunt, if elk aren’t where you expected to find them, keep moving. This is where summer scouting is most valuable, for come hunting season, the last thing you want to be wasting time on is finding a place to hunt elk. If you saw elk or promising elk sign when scouting, you know the animals will be in the area – you’ll just have to work to find them.
In many places where I’ve rifle hunted elk, hikers, archery elk hunters, archery deer hunters, upland bird hunters and rifle deer hunters have been educating the animals for up to three months before my season even begins. Such pressure often forces elk into the deepest, most dense habitat. If you’re not willing to head into the bottom of the canyons and root them out, you may not see an elk.
The number one reason elk tags go unfilled is because hunters are not in good shape. Elk country is big and rugged, and if you can’t get to where the elk are, you can’t kill one. You don’t have to be a marathon runner and benchpress 400 pounds to kill elk. But you do need to be in good condition. Being in top cardio shape is more important than squatting a rack full of plates. Stamina and flexibility will take you into elk habitat that 80 percent of
our fellow hunters can’t reach.
HANDLING THE MEAT
Know that the fun of elk hunting stops the minute you kill a bull. One time, two buddies and I each shot big bulls on opening morning. Despite the high elevation in the Rocky Mountains, daytime temperatures were hot and grizzly bears thick. We quartered and boned out one bull, which we loaded into saddle panniers. One buddy took that load 21 miles to the trailhead, then drove 35 miles to the nearest town, where we had already arranged for cold locker storage.
My other buddy and I stayed back to take care of the other two bulls. One we hung in game bags high in shaded, cool pine trees so grizzlies couldn’t reach it. The other bull we loaded onto our horses and headed down the trail. We met our buddy well after dark. He took that bull to the cooler, along with written permission from me to transport the meat.
The next morning, my other buddy and I broke down camp, got the meat we’d hung in the trees and were off the mountain by late morning. We didn’t lose an ounce of meat, just some sleep. Before the hunt, prepare to handle the meat.
There are many successful elk hunts that take place from the comfort of a big camp, a cozy trailer, even a
Before your hunt, make sure to have a plan for getting a downed bull off the mountain, especially if there are multiple hunters in your party.
ROAD HUNTER
nice hotel. I’ve not experienced many of those, however, likely because tags are limited in those areas, and my luck with winning any lottery is dismal.
Most of the elk hunters I’ve met, myself included, love the captivating places elk take us. Escaping people, cell phone coverage and city lights is what elk hunting allows us to do, and the harder you’re willing to work, the more rewarding the efforts will be.
Elk have a place they want to be at any given time, and are rarely in a spot by accident. These precise locations allow them to eat, drink, reproduce and stay alive. Fire, predators, logging, even hunting pressure can cause elk to relocate, and when that happens, it’s up to you to hit the X. ★
Editor’s note: To order Scott Haugen’s bestselling instructional DVD, Field Dressing, Skinning & Caping Big Game, including elk, visit scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.
Author Scott Haugen worked hard for this October bull in the Snake River Breaks. There are many pieces to the puzzle when it comes to consistently closing the deal on mature bulls like this.
THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE
The trials and tribulations of using our latest projectiles.
STORY BY PHIL MASSARO • PHOTOS BY MASSARO MEDIA GROUP
In the midst of a bleak deer season – our whitetail numbers had been absolutely hammered by epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, along the Hudson River Valley –on a rainy December afternoon, I accepted the gift that nature
offered: a mature five-point buck. Settling the Leupold’s crosshair just behind the crease of his shoulder, I broke the trigger of my Browning 6.8 Western, sending a handloaded Badlands Precision Super Bulldozer 2 140-grain lead-free projectile on to glory.
The concept of using a 140-grain bullet in .277-inch diameter is not exactly headline news for hunters, but
it is the construction and conformation of the late George Fournier’s brainchild that is notable. His projectile is a copper monometal with a very sharp aluminum tip, and it is equipped with a long boattail, all in an effort to create an excellent long-range hunting projectile. Mr. Fournier succeeded in his effort, for sure. But the hook here is that the standard 1-in-10-inch
Though of the same diameter and weight, not all bullets have the same shape, nor are constructed of the same materials.
twist rate won’t stabilize a bullet of this shape, despite the fact that a more conventional design (especially with a lead core) will be stabilized without issue. Undoubtedly, there are a good number of instances where the latest designs require some special
attention, or simply cannot be used in a particular cartridge or rifle receiver, and it’d be helpful to know how to identify them.
LOOKING AT THE modern trends in cartridge and projectile designs, the
shift has been made from focusing on maximum case capacity in order to generate velocity to using those projectiles with the highest ballistic coefficient values in order to enhance long-range performance. Making the case with one popular example, one would think that the larger case capacity of the once-popular .260 Remington would be more attractive than the shorter 6.5 Creedmoor. However, within the confines of a short-action rifle magazine, the shorter Creedmoor case allows for the use of longer, sleeker projectiles with a higher ballistic coefficient, and that makes a big difference when distances get truly long. Inside of normal hunting ranges – let’s say 400 yards – you’d be hard pressed to find a true advantage for either cartridge. But at 1,000 yards, where many target shooters have become very comfortable, you’ll see why the Creedmoor and its projectiles are so popular.
Both Hornady’s line of ELD
The 140-grain .277-inch-diameter Badlands Precision Super Bulldozer 2, when loaded in author Phil Massaro’s 6.8 Western, makes a great hunting combination, but requires a 1-in-8-inch twist to properly stabilize the bullet.
The Super Bulldozer 2 is a lead-free boattail spitzer bullet with a machined aluminum tip. The result is a long bullet that needs a barrel with a fasterthan-normal twist rate.
(Extremely Low Drag) bullets and their A-Tip Match bullets offer excellent BC values, making them perfect candidates for long-range work. In the latter product line, you’ll find 230- and 250-grain offerings in .308inch diameter, which are heavier than
normal for our beloved .30 caliber. While their BC values are more than impressive, these particular projectiles require a faster-than-normal twist rate in order to be properly stabilized downrange. So unless you’ve ordered a special barrel – in this instance, one
with a 1-in-9-inch twist for the lighter and 1-in-8.5 for the heavier – you’ll be seeing some keyholes on your target.
All those Hornady bullets I’ve just mentioned feature a lead core and copper jacket, with either a polymer tip for the ELD series or a machined aluminum tip for the A-Tip Match. Switch the bullet material to copper monolithic and you’ll see another notable change. Copper is less dense than lead, having a density of 8.93 grams per cubic centimeter, where lead has a density of 11 34 g/cc, and as a result, a lead-core bullet of a particular caliber, conformation and weight will be shorter than its copper monometal counterpart. The longer copper bullet will have a different center of gravity, and will come out of gyroscopic stability sooner than the lead variants. As a result, the copper bullets used in a particular twist rate tend to top out at a lighter weight than the lead-core projectiles.
The Hornady ELD-X is a sleek bullet with a high ballistic coefficient value, but is not so long as to need a faster twist rate. The traditional cup-andcore design benefits from a high sectional density.
While the polymer-tipped projectiles maintain a rather uniform BC, Hornady has employed a machined aluminum tip for the A-Tip Match line. These bullets are very consistent, and require the user to handload the ammunition.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, an oldfashioned roundnosed lead-core bullet takes up the least amount of room, both inside and outside the case, but it doesn’t possess the greatest BC value.
For example, in Winchester’s 6 8 Western, you’ll see lead-core boattail bullets as heavy as 175 grains, but the heaviest copper bullet I’ve seen in a factory load is the Winchester Copper Impact 162-grain load. With the lighter bullet leaving the muzzle at only 40 feet per second faster than the heavier bullet, the trajectories are nearly identical, so the hunter will have to question whether they prefer one construction method over the other. Does the structural integrity of the monometal design make up for the additional sectional density of the leadcore bullet? That can be debated, but I feel that in a hunting situation, this
Berger’s Extreme Outer Limits projectile line is designed for those who hunt at long ranges, and is generally heavier than normal for caliber and requires a fast twist rate.
When comparing two bullets of the same shape and weight – shown here in 7mm 150-grain CX (left) and ELD-X (right) – you’ll find the copper bullet is always longer due to copper being less dense than lead.
With its copper jacket chemically bonded to the lead core, Nosler has a sleek leadcore bullet in their AccuBond Long Range. They are accurate and perform very well on game.
BULLET BULLETIN
example might be a tie. Being longer, the copper monometal bullet will tend to have a higher BC value than a lead-core of the same weight and general shape. Looking at two prominent manufacturers, and staying with the popular 180-grain .30-caliber bullets, you’ll see the Nosler AccuBond bullet with its G1 BC of 0.507 and the similarshaped 180-grain Expansion Tip with a
G1 BC of 0.523. Turning to the Hornady 180-grain Interlock BTSP, you’ll find a G1 BC of 0.452, compared to the CX copper bullet with a G1 BC of 0 469. While there isn’t much of a margin, the longer copper bullet comes out ahead each time.
But the longer bullet has its issues as well, in that it will eat up your case capacity, extending further down into the case. Comparing that Nosler duo
once again, the longer E-Tip bullet measures 1.485 inches, and the ABLR measures 1.380 inches. Invariably, the copper E-Tip will encroach on your case capacity; in fact, in its load data, Nosler strongly recommends starting with the lowest powder charge due to this fact.
THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT for the copper monometal designs – according to Randy Brooks, former owner of Barnes Bullets and the man who originally had the idea to remove the lead core altogether – was to have the strongest bullet possible, capable of both excellent penetration and maximum tissue damage. His original Barnes X, a hollowpoint copper bullet, gave me fits early on. None of my rifles would give a group worth a damn, and the bearing surface of those bullets created copper fouling in the bore like I’d never seen. A whole bunch of bottles of that ammonia-
The Hornady CX shown in section; note the monometal construction and hollow cavity underneath the polymer tip. (HORNADY)
The Hornady CX is a leadfree copper bullet that has excellent accuracy capabilities and the terminal ballistics hunters desire. (HORNADY)
BULLET BULLETIN
based copper fouling remover later, I’d nearly given up on the concept.
But when Barnes decided to cut three deep bands in the shank of the bullet, reducing bearing pressure and copper fouling as well, everything seemed to change. Accuracy was drastically improved (at least in my guns) and
copper fouling was equally reduced; I began hunting with not only Barnes but other brands of similar designs as well. Invariably, these bullets are stronger than the traditional cup-and-core bullets, and when large and dangerous game is concerned, they have the goods to guarantee penetration through tough
shoulder bones and thick hide. Retained weight is often above 90 percent, if you can recover them at all. Yes, the bondedcore bullets are shorter, yet on almost all fronts equally strong – but for reasons unintended. I have successfully hunted more dangerous game with lead-free bullets than with lead-core bullets. That said, I completely appreciate and embrace the bonded-core projectiles – those whose copper jacket and lead core are chemically bonded to resist separation, even under the greatest of stresses – relying upon them with equal confidence.
Looking at the game species to be pursued, there will be ideal situations for each design. For deer hunting, I absolutely love traditional cup-and-core projectiles, as they will impart their energy quickly and switch a deer’s nervous system “off” quickly. Same can be said for a pronghorn antelope, black bear, leopard and coyote.
Bump up in size to elk, moose or many of the African antelope species, and a premium bullet – whether copper monometal or bonded-core – becomes more appealing. If you want to stay
Winchester’s Copper Impact is a copper monometal bullet with an oversized polymer tip to initiate expansion. Pictured is the 162-grain 6.8 Western load – look how long that bullet is, and how far into the case it extends. (WINCHESTER)
While the original Barnes X (with no grooves in the shank) gave the author fits early on, the TSX is a different story altogether, providing uniform results and giving great field performance.
For the varmints and predator species, the opposite holds true; a thinner jacket and a bullet of lower sectional density will result in violent expansion and minimal penetration. The energy transfer will be enough to ensure a quick kill, yet won’t destroy valuable pelts. Match bullets are often used on varmints and predators for
this very reason, yet are shunned as choices for big game species.
Understanding the construction of your projectile, and making the proper choice of design for the hunting or shooting task at hand, can be the difference between success and failure. Match the type of projectile to the job, and you’ll be a much happier shooter. ★
In cartridges with little room left outside the case mouth, like the .300 Winchester Magnum shown here, a shorter bullet like the 180-grain
sense.
with a cup-and-core bullet, try to pick something with a sectional density of .280 to .300, so there is enough length to ensure proper penetration, especially if using a magnum cartridge. In a cup-and-core design, a thicker copper jacket is also more desirable for the larger species, as it will mitigate premature expansion.
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MEMBERS ONLY
For those with limited time but a desire to fish and/or hunt, Wilderness Unlimited offers a chance to get after it without all the competition on public lands and waters.
For most of us, time is one of our most precious commodities. It’s a resource that is constantly being expended – seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, and so on. This is especially true when it comes to our leisure time. For most, it’s weekends and a few weeks of vacation every year, and then back to the grind. So, obviously, it’s important to maximize our time off.
For those who hunt and fish, any time doing either is time well spent. That being said, we want to get the most bang out of our buck when it comes to pursuing these endeavors. I’ve always said that a bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work, but not all fishing days are created equal. A day of fishing without bites or a day of hunting where no game is seen isn’t nearly as good as one where you catch a stringer full of fish or bag a beast that puts meat in your freezer.
With hunting, our success is limited by a number of factors. First is hunting seasons. They are often too short. For example, in many states, deer season is a little over a month long. Hardly enough time to get out there and bag a buck. Another limiting factor is land. Trying to find somewhere to legally hunt (or fish, for that matter) can be difficult. For most, the available terra firma is government land, like Bureau of Land Management ground or similar state properties. For freshwater fishing, it’s the same – government-owned rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
These lands are available to anyone with a hunting or fishing license, so when you have the time and the game you desire is in season, you must compete with all of the other like-minded hunters and fishers out there. A section of forest that normally is quiet and devoid of human beings can look like a food court at a shopping mall during hunting season. This limits your chances of getting anything and, in the case of hunting, can bring
STORY AND PHOTOS BY NICK PERNA
(WILDERNESS UNLIMITED)
Considered to be one of the top fishing and hunting clubs on the West Coast, Wilderness Unlimited currently has around 40 available properties spread throughout California and Oregon. This WU member (inset) harvested a great buck during bow season, while author Nick Perna shows off a largemouth he landed at one of the properties.
with it a set of dangers in the form of inexperienced or overzealous hunters who shoot at anything that moves. Another unfortunate byproduct of this overcrowding is what many destructive, inconsiderate “sportsmen” do to the land. Many public fishing areas look like landfills, full of garbage and other refuse.
Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who lives on a large plot of land, complete with a pond, where you can fish and hunt to your heart’s content. Or you have friends who own large properties, ranchers or farmers willing to let you use their land. However, that’s rarely the case.
SO,
SHORT
OF winning the lotto and purchasing your own hunting and fishing paradise, what else can you do to maximize your time, increase your chances of success and enjoy yourself in the process?
Hunting and fishing clubs are a good option. If you reside in California, Oregon or Nevada, I highly recommend looking into Wilderness Unlimited. A membersonly organization, WU provides access to private properties throughout California and Oregon. In business since 1987, they currently have around 40 properties spread throughout both states and are considered to be one of
the top outfits on the West Coast.
Each site is unique. Some are multi-use properties where members can fish, hunt and camp. Others are specific to a certain type of game, such as waterfowl. Hunting properties give members the opportunity to harvest deer, wild pigs, bear, ducks, geese, pheasant, turkey, quail and other species. Fishing properties are freshwater and species include largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, catfish and trout.
The process is pretty simple. First you apply to become a member. The application process includes an interview with a WU employee. The goal there is to ensure that any incoming members are going to be
safe, responsible and compatible with the rest of the membership.
Once you’ve been selected as a member you are provided with a book that lists all of the properties and what kind of fish or game are available on them. Then you call the office and make a reservation. Whenever I’ve called to reserve a property, it’s been my personal experience that I’ve always been allowed to access it. Reservation staff are friendly and helpful. They also pay close attention to how many members are trying to access a property on a given day. The club intentionally limits the number of members on a property so the members who are using it have the best experience.
Fishing properties feature chances to catch rainbow trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie and catfish.
In order to encourage the next generation of hunters, Wilderness Unlimited offers a junior big game hunt. (WILDERNESS UNLIMITED)
During hunting seasons, when specific properties are in high demand, members bid ahead of time. Members provide the club with a list of the properties they want to hunt. The club does a draw and determines who gets to hunt where. This is a fair system that ensures new and old members have equal opportunity to access properties.
All campsites are well maintained. There are fire pits available for when conditions permit. Most campsites
have either permanent bathrooms or porta-potties. A few of the properties have on-site lodging associated with them. Most campsites are accessible by RV or camper as well. Many of the fishing properties are stocked to increase the chances of catching something. Hunting properties are managed to increase the chances of a hunter locating what they came to harvest.
Most sites have a property manager assigned to them. Their
job is to make sure you have a good, safe time. They are all proficient outdoor sportsmen and are subject matter experts on the properties they manage. If it’s your first time on a property, it’s often a good idea to get ahold of the site manager ahead of time to get some tips. They can help you find what you’re looking for, and can also advise you on places to avoid, such as washed-out roads during the rainy season. Generally, during a visit to a property, you’ll have an opportunity to have a faceto-face session with the person who manages that particular property.
WU ALSO PROVIDES
its members with opportunities to learn new skills. They host an annual three-day fly fishing seminar at one of their primary fishing properties. Online, live Zoom training is also available to members. I recently attended an excellent virtual training for wild turkey hunting.
Membership includes a magazine generated quarterly, along with the Member Wire that provides timely email updates about properties as well as hunting and fishing tips. They also offer a mentored turkey hunt and junior big game hunt to try to encourage the next generation of hunters.
What does a membership cost? WU offers different plans to fit most folks’ budgets. I currently have a premium membership which allows access to all properties, as often as I want to use them. The annual cost to me is around $2,400. This sounds like a lot, but when you consider what that gets you, it’s a pretty good deal. On average, I access the club’s properties around 30 times a year. That works out to around $80 per trip. The membership includes all members of my immediate family as well as a limited number of guest passes. The club has plans where members can pay less but are limited to a specific number of times they can access club properties.
So, if you want to maximize your hunting and fishing time, consider Wilderness Unlimited. Go to wildernessunlimited.com for more information. ★
Perna’s membership costs might seem steep at $2,400 annually, but he figures that it works out to $80 a visit with how often he makes use of WU properties over a year.
SCATTERGUN ALLEY
IS THE SUN SETTING ON THE PUMP SHOTGUN?
STORY AND PHOTOS BY LARRY CASE
eeling somber? The coming of fall can do that to you even if it is the best time of year for us hunters. I confess to feeling a bit somber today as we discuss the possible demise of an American icon, the pump shotgun. Is the pump gun in its sunset years? I’m not sure, so
Flet’s discuss.
(Under full disclosure here, I may have started on this trail prompted by friend and fellow gun writer Randy Wakeman, who has written about this
subject on chuckhawks.com, including an article titled “Browning BPS: The Further Demise of the Pump Shotgun.”)
As hard as it is for me to believe, there was a time when I owned exactly one shotgun: a Remington Model 870 12-gauge Express. This isn’t remarkable at all, as I was in the same
The Winchester Model 12 was once considered by many to be the finest pump shotgun ever made.
SCATTERGUN ALLEY
boat as literally millions of hunters and shooters. We had one shotgun and it was an 870. We used it for everything from ducks to deer and turkeys, kept it in the corner as our home defense weapon (before anyone called it that), and generally used it for anything we needed a shotgun for. We never thought we needed a “better” shotgun for anything because the 870 did whatever we needed it to.
FOR MANY YEARS the slide-action shotgun (a more correct name for those who worry about such things) ruled the roost when it came to repeating shotguns in America. The doublebarrel shotgun was the only choice for those wanting more than one shot prior to the pump gun coming onto the scene. While there were other attempts at the dawn of the pump gun, including one from the Spencer Arms Company, it was firearms genius John Moses Browning who solved the riddles of making a repeating, slide-action shotgun that functioned reliably and could be manufactured economically.
Working with Winchester, Browning first gave us the Model 1893, originally for black powder shells, and then the Model 1897. The Model ’97 enjoyed a long reign as the repeater shotgun to own; Winchester manufactured them from 1897 to 1957 and sold 1 million. The pump gun was all the rage, and Savage and then Remington quickly jumped on the wagon with their versions. Winchester, not to be left behind, called on one of their engineers, T.C. Johnson (a gun genius in his own right). Working off the design of Browning’s Model 1897 with a sliding forearm and tilting breech lock, Johnson gave us the Winchester Model 12, which was considered by many the finest pump shotgun ever made and was dubbed by Winchester the “Perfect Repeater,” going on to sell over 2 million.
I would be remiss not to mention the Remington Model 31. After Winchester introduced the Model 12, Remington looked to take that market with their Model 31 pump gun. The 31 is considered by many to be a gold
standard for pump guns and was known for its “ball bearing” butter-smooth action. Indeed, the action was very smooth and the shotgun was very reliable, but the problem was it just took too much time and handfitting to make (more’s the pity).
In 1950, Remington introduced the Model 870 and shotgun history would never be the same. While the 870 still sported the all-steel receiver, it could be manufactured much quicker and for less money than the Model 31. The Model 31 was out and the 870 would be the most popular-selling shotgun of all time, with at least 11 million sold. We must add here that Mossberg claims to have produced over 11 million Model 500 shotguns and its variants by 2021 If the 870 has a competitor in the pump gun world, it is no doubt the Mossberg 500. Known for the same ruggedness and reliability as the Remington 870, the Mossberg 500 pump gun has been transformed into so many variants that I would not even try to list them all.
A big downer here is that after 48 years of production, FN Browning
The Remington Model 31, heralded as a gold standard for pump guns, was known for its “ball bearing” butter-smooth action.
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(a recent name change) has discontinued the BPS shotgun. This was a mainstay in the shotgun world and a hunting gun that I carried for years; I considered it a real killer. As Mr. Wakeman reminds us in his
dissertation on the subject, the main reason here is probably that the steel receivers found on most tried-and-true pump guns are becoming too costly and time-consuming to make. In truth, if customer demand had not dropped,
FN Browning would still be making them. I’m glad I still have one.
SO IF ALL of these pump guns were made and sold so well, why are we talking about the possible demise of the pump shotgun?
The slide-action shotgun has long been known as the workhorse and everyday man’s shotgun. Did this change? I would say yes and no. The hunting and shooting sports public have no doubt gone to the trendier, easier-to-shoot and more elegant semiauto shotgun. The semiauto may have once been known as less reliable – as in less likely to go “bang” every time – but this is not so much the case anymore. Advancements in the workings of the shotguns and improvements in shotgun ammo have made the semiauto more reliable. Is the pump gun easier to clear if you have a malfunction in a tactical/home defense scenario? Absolutely, but most would agree we are less likely to have functioning problems in today’s semiautos than those of the past.
Those who would argue for the continued use and viability of the pump gun would point to its longstanding use in the law enforcement and military worlds. The old Winchester Model 97 started in the trenches in World War I; it was soon followed by the Model 12, the Ithaca 37 and then the Remington 870
It is ironic to me that the military has always used the pump gun, including scads (that means a lot) of Mossberg 590s and its variants, but when the Marine Corps went through exhaustive testing for a different shotgun they chose the Benelli M1014, also known as the M4. This is the only gas-operated shotgun produced by Benelli and it has proven itself in the most extreme combat conditions
Winchester Model 12.
FN Browning has discontinued their BPS pump, here shown in shadow grass camo. (FN BROWNING)
SCATTERGUN ALLEY
law enforcement world and the military are still in the pump gun house – that is a feather for the pump gun fans. Meanwhile, the Marines have chosen a semiauto gas gun and used it for 25 years – so, one for the semiauto fans.
TODAY YOU CAN still find lots of pump shotguns on the market. RemArms is still making the modern version of the Remington 870 and I like it. Mossberg is still pumping out the Model 500s and 590s and a legion of variants. Benelli caused some stir back in the day with the Nova pump gun and it
continues to make the SXP pump gun, and Kel-Tec and Savage both make perfectly serviceable pump-action shotguns. In the Turkish-made gun world, I am leery to even bring up the different brands, as there is no way to list them all. CZ-USA, Akkar, TriStar and Stoeger (the P3000) all have pump guns to choose from.
At the end of the day, although semiautos have become cheaper to obtain in some brands, you can get a good pump shotgun for less money. Is the semiauto as reliable as the pump gun today? We can argue that one till
respect to Mr. Wakeman, I think the pump gun will be around a long time.
Editor’s note: Larry Case has been a devoted outdoorsman since he was a child. He will admit to an addiction to turkey hunting (spring and fall), but refuses any treatment. He enjoys the company of gobblers and cur dogs that are loud and people who speak the truth softly. Case served 36 years as a game warden in West Virginia and retired with the rank of district captain. You can check out his podcast and other stories at gunsandcornbred.com.
There are still plenty of pumps on the market, like this Stoeger P3000 defense shotgun.
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OffGrid’s products were recently featured on the latest season of Surviving Mann, in which competitors undergo tests of strength and survival. OffGrid was introduced to the show by Chris Heaven, owner of Survival
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still allowing them to have a source of communication if something goes wrong or if extraction is needed.”
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AT THE WSMA TRADE GUN FROLIC
Birdshot and round balls fly at org's three-course competition.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT
Each year, the Washington State Muzzleloading Association puts on a rendezvous called the Trade Gun Frolic. It is a complete event just for “trade guns” (more on that in a moment) and the shooting match has three parts.
First up is the flying clays and, of course, the guns are loaded with birdshot. Next comes the paper target section, where the loads are changed to patched round balls; shots are taken offhand from about 25 yards for score. The third segment of the match involves hanging steel gongs and these are also shot for score. That’s how the sponsoring club, the Paul Bunyan Plainsmen, set up this
year’s match at their range just south of Puyallup, near Seattle. I reported on the Trade Gun Frolic last year, but every time is a little different.
Each of those three segments required just eight shots, and they each had a possible score of 80 points. The shooters are usually divided into three groups, with each group starting on different parts of the match and then
A couple of the ingredients needed for good Trade Gun Frolic shooting.
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rotating. The entire match would be completed after three such rotations. As it was, with only six of us doing the shooting, we divided into just two groups and the shooting continued in great style.
NOW, ABOUT THE trade gun. A trade gun gets its name from the smoothbores that the fur companies had made to trade with both Indians and white trappers for furs. What should come to mind right away, at least for those who are familiar with the old trade guns, are the Northwest guns that were originally made in England and then copied by makers in Belgium and in the USA.
For our trade gun competition today, the guns must be flintlocks, have smoothbore barrels, no set triggers and no rear sights. After those “demands” are met, there can be some differences in the guns. For instance, the gun I use
is not a Northwest gun, but rather a general rendition of a 20-gauge fowler from perhaps the 1790s or early 1800s.
My gun is a Fowler from Tennessee Valley Muzzleloading, a company that I have mentioned quite a few times. I built it from one of their kits. Highly recommended, and this 20-gauge has a 36-inch barrel with the Durs Egg lock from L&R Lock Company, brass trigger guard and butt plate, plus the attachments for a sling. I built that gun from the TVM Standard Kit (which still needs a lot of gunsmithing) just over five years ago and I’ve used it rather exclusively as my front-loading shotgun ever since.
AT WSMA'S SHOOTERS’ meeting, where the course of fire and safety issues were discussed, Mike Moran did the talking. Mike said he’d begin on the flyers and Bob DeLisle and I quickly decided to
join him. That meant the other three shooters in the match would begin on the stationary targets.
Other members of the Paul Bunyan Plainsmen were on hand to help out, and Eric Burkhead handled the registration for the match. The three of us loaded our guns and then began with the eight shots apiece at the flying clays, beginning with Mike. Another Plainsmen member, Mark Merwin, was also helping and he was rather interested in our flintlock smoothbores and how we loaded those guns.
For Mark’s benefit, I explained the loading of my gun and how the 20-gauge barrel was about .60 caliber and a good powder charge was simply 60 grains, or 1 grain per caliber. The powder I was using was GOEX 3Fg. Over the powder was placed a wad, followed by a lubed wad by Wonder Wads, which makes the loading easier for repeated shots. Then a 75-grain powder measure was used for measuring the birdshot. While doing that, I explained that the load should contain either the same volume of powder and shot, or a greater volume of shot. Using a greater volume of powder can cause hollow patterns. And to top off the load, an over-shot wad was added before all of that was rammed down the barrel. Then, when it was my turn, I’d step to the shooting station before priming the gun.
Please forgive me if I talk more about loading the gun than shooting it, at least at the flying clays. It took me five shots before I clobbered the first bird. And getting that bird put me in the lead, at that time, on the clay targets. Then Bob tied me by getting one hit with his eighth shot. Bob and I both finished with one hit each, which was just one more hit than what Mike had gotten. No, we weren’t very professional while
The Northwest gun, made for the fur trade.
Mike Moran aims his “canoe gun” at a flying clay.
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shooting at the flyers.
THEN OUR TWO groups traded places and the three of us went to the side of the range where we’d be shooting at our paper targets and then the gongs. The paper targets were posted at 25 yards. Remember, these trade guns had smoothbore barrels and no sights, so a small target would receive rather few hits. I like to shoot the paper targets before moving on to the gongs, mainly so my hits on the paper target will remind me of where my gun is hitting.
While I was loading and shooting at my bull’s-eye target, Mark came by to watch. He asked about the load I was using, ball size and patch thickness. I mentioned how several shooters like to use .600-inch-diameter round balls in their 20-gauge guns but I favor a 595-inch ball. One reason for that is because it allows me to use a slightly thicker patch, a .015-inch patch instead of one that is .010 inch thick. The thicker patch holds more lube and I do favor the lubricated patches. More lube translates into easier reloading during the matches.
My score on the paper target wasn’t too bad and I was rather pleased with my gun’s performance. All eight shots scored, with at least a couple of them in the black. I wish I had taken a picture of that target; it wasn’t the best in this match but it was good, holding a score of 65 points for my eight shots.
Shooting that paper target should have prepared me nicely for shooting at the gongs, but for some reason it didn’t. There were four gongs, varying in size and distance, and we were to fire two shots at each one for another eight rounds. I was very confident
Author Mike Nesbitt’s 20-gauge TVM Fowler with the 36-inch barrel.
Bob DeLisle pours in powder while reloading.
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when I stepped to the firing line, primed my 20-gauge TVM Fowler, took careful aim – and missed!
Why I missed or where that ball had hit, I had no idea. It is very hard for the shooter to witness the impact of the ball because of the cloud of black powder smoke from the muzzle at about the same instant. My second shot was another miss and I continued to miss several more shots. At least I was very consistent.
On my seventh shot at the gongs, Mark was watching and he told me the shot had hit just to the right of the gong, at 3 o’clock. So I quickly loaded for my eighth shot and held time at 9 o’clock and fired. That was a hit! It was my only hit on the gongs.
The scores from all six shooters were added up to see who the winners were. The top shooter was Mike Holeman, who did quite well in all of the segments of the match. Next was my pal Bob, shooting his 24-gauge Northwest gun. And third was Larry Litten, shooting a custom 20-gauge fowler. Those top three all received WSMA medals for their good shooting plus a prize from the “prize blanket” provided by the Paul Bunyan Plainsmen. All shooters got to select from the prize blanket and for my own prize, for fourth place, I picked a new tomahawk.
The only shooters who didn’t enjoy this Trade Gun Frolic were those who didn’t come. It was certainly well worth the effort and let’s hope the Paul Bunyan Plainsmen will do it again. ★
Larry Litten makes a try at a flying target.
Mike Holeman, the match winner, dusts a flying clay.
