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A MERIC A N

SHOOTING JOURNAL

Volume 10 // Issue 7 // April 2021

PUBLISHER James R. Baker

WEBMASTER / INBOUND MARKETING Jon Hines

GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak

INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Andy Walgamott

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@americanshootingjournal.com

OFFICE MANAGER / COPY EDITOR Katie Aumann

ON THE COVER

LEAD CONTRIBUTOR Frank Jardim

Karen Butler and Shoot Like A Girl’s custom-built mobile range, “Gun Bar” and trained instructors help empower 2,500 women across the country annually. (PHOTO BY TODD BUTLER; PHOTO EDITING BY

CONTRIBUTORS Scott Haugen, Phil Massaro, Mike Nesbitt, Paul Pawela, Nick Perna

ASHLEIGH MALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY)

SALES MANAGER Paul Yarnold

DG Gentry Custom, LLC ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Jim Klark, Mike Smith

Website: AmericanShootingJournal.com Facebook: Facebook.com/AmericanShootingJournal Twitter: @AmShootingJourn

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American Shooting Journal // April 2021

CONTENTS

VOLUME 10 • ISSUE 7

79 ROAD HUNTER:

MORE FEATURES 49

SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING: MY TWO CENTS ON REVOLVERS AND GUNFIGHTING (PART I) Paul Pawela is a modern-day selfdefense trainer who doesn’t mind borrowing a page from yesteryear for lessons that still apply today. He shares some recommended reading on legendary gunfighters.

Infatuated gobblers throughout the West range farther in search of hens than many hunters think, says Scott Haugen, who literally wrote the book on pursuing the region’s turkeys. He shares tips for tagging track-star toms this spring.

LAW ENFORCEMENT SPOTLIGHT: THE DATE NIGHT DUO Detective Chase McKeown and Officer Nicole McKeown of Kentucky were just out for a quiet dinner, but when an armed robber tried to hold up the restaurant, down went their forks and on went their capes.

NO NEED TO SUPPRESS YOUR URGE TO HUNT MORE QUIETLY Between improved accuracy, reduced recoil, scaring less game, widespread allowance and protecting your hearing, there are a lot of reasons to consider hunting with a suppressor, counsels Frank Jardim.

BULLET BULLETIN: THE EXCELLENT ELD-X Hornady’s extremely low drag, expanding bullet line “delivers accuracy both at the bench and in the hunting fields, and delivers the terminal performance needed to ensure a quick, humane kill.” So reviews our professor of projectiles, Phil Massaro, who has put a few ELD-Xs through their paces.

TARGETING TOMS ON THE TROT

(SCOTT HAUGEN)

COVER STORY 30

KAREN BUTLER’S ROADSHOW TAKES THE SHOOTING SPORTS TO WOMEN How does a custom-built mobile range, “Gun Bar” and retired civil servant for the Department of the Army help empower 2,500 women annually across the country – and for free? Frank Jardim gets the scoop from Karen Butler, who has Shoot Like A Girl firing on all cylinders, and then some.

113 BLACK POWDER: HOW OUR SHARPS SHOOTS STARTED Long-range matches are all the rage, but shooting competitions held at shorter distances can help ease entry into the sport for new black powder cartridge enthusiasts. Mike Nesbitt shares how the Capitol City Rifle & Pistol Club took just that approach with their Sharps and other single-shots – and had a lot of fun along the way.

AMERICAN SHOOTING JOURNAL is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Ave South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2021 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

CONTENTS

FEATURED Company Spotlight 109 REDDING RELOADING: OF DIAMONDS AND BRASS For 75 years, Redding Reloading has been helping shooters build their own bullets with “new and innovative products of the highest quality.” Robin Sharpless shares the company’s story.

Company SpotlightS 57

89 91

Tap Rack Holsters: ‘Quality control’ at heart of handmade handgun, mag, knife carry options Dickinson Arms: New O/U Royal Series delivers superior quality, performance, more Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch: Big bulls, luxury lodge make for ‘hunter’s paradise’

DEPARTMENTS 23 27 (ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK RANCH)

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

Competition Calendar Gun Show Calendar

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2021 Shotgun Junior Travel Team Selection Match – Trap Kerrville, Texas usashooting.org

Sandy Ford Olympic Pistol Streator, Ill.

2021 USPSA Area 6 Championship Salisbury, N.C.

April 10-11

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Gem State Classic VII Boise, Idaho

Homestead Glock Challenge V Homestead, Fla. Western Wisconsin Glock Classic VII Holmen, Wis.

Utah State Shoot Ogden, Utah

May 14-16

Double Tap Championship Wichita Falls, Texas

“This is Sparta” Challenge X Sparta, Ill. Cornhuskers Classic XIII Grand Island, Neb.

Snake River Rangers NW Regional Star, Idaho

Texas State Shoot Vernon, Texas

May 15-16

April 9-11

April 30-May 1

May 7-8

April 16-17

May 1-2

May 14-15

April 23-24

Southeastern Regional Championship Perry, Ga.

VA Indoor Regional Chesapeake, Va. idpa.com

April 30-May 2

Production, Single Stack, L10 & Revolver Nationals Talladega, Ala.

May 7-8

CMSA Jeffers National Championship Tunica, Miss. cmsaevents.com

Sugar Cane Classic Donaldsonville, La.

Alabama State Junior Olympic Championship Vina, Ala.

2021 South Carolina Section Championship Belton, S.C.

Glock West Coast Challenge VI Azusa, Calif. gssfonline.com

2021 Shotgun Junior Travel Team Selection Match – Skeet Kerrville, Texas

Team Shooting Stars April 2021 PTO Carrollton, Texas

Dragons Cup Odessa, Texas

April 9-11 uspsa.org

USA Shooting’s Interactive Pistol Coaching Clinic Colorado Springs, Colo.

Arkansas IDPA State Championship Perryville, Ark.

Maryland State Match Lexington Park, Md. Western Regional IDPA Championship Sacramento, Calif.

California State Championships Lincoln, Calif.

OK State Championship Tulsa, Okla. Delaware State IDPA Championship Match Bridgeville, Del.

Note: Due to the coronavirus outbreak, social distancing requirements that states have prescribed, and rapidly changing developments at press time, it is highly advisable to check ahead on the status of individual events via the links in the above organizers’ websites. americanshootingjournal.com 23

YOUR MUST-STOP BEFORE HUNTING & FISHING ON PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND, ALASKA KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF WILL LET YOU KNOW WHERE, WHEN AND HOW!

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Lee Civic Center

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Infinite Energy Center

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The Center For Rural Development

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Savannah Convention Center

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Machinists Aerospace Union Hall

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Southwest Washington Fairgrounds

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Deschutes County Fairgrounds

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Florida Gun Shows floridagunshows.com

RK Shows rkshows.com

Real Texas Gun Shows therealtexasgunshow.com

Tanner Gun Shows tannergunshow.com

Wes Knodel Gun Shows wesknodelgunshows.com

Note: Due to the coronavirus outbreak, social distancing requirements that states prescribed, and rapidly changing developments at press time, it is highly advisable to check ahead on the status of individual gun shows via the links in the above organizers’ websites. To have your event highlighted here, send an email to kaumann@media-inc.com.

americanshootingjournal.com 27

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Karen Butler is president and founder of Shoot Like A Girl, based in Alabama. (PHOTO EDITING BY ASHLEIGH MALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY)

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

KAREN BUTLER’S ROADSHOW TAKES THE SHOOTING SPORTS TO WOMEN Shoot Like A Girl team members and pro staffers (left to right) Ashleigh Mallard, Karen Butler, Christa Forrester, Melanie Bolke, Diana Fincher, Dr. Lisa OrickMartinez and Connie Harrison stand next to the organization's mobile range, a custombuilt semi-trailer. (PHOTO EDITING BY ASHLEIGH MALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY)

Pro staffer Rebecca King explains sight alignment to a guest at the “Gun Bar.”

How Shoot Like A Girl's mobile range, 'Gun Bar' and instructors empower 2,500 women across the country annually – for free. STORY BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS COURTESY OF SLG2 INC.

wenty-some years ago, Karen Butler discovered she loved the shooting sports and the outdoor lifestyle that hunters know so well. She was going through some tough times in her personal life then. Sharing custody of her children as the result of a divorce left her in low spirits during the two weeks each month they were with their father. Her professional success as a civil servant for the Department of the Army didn’t make up for that big chunk of her identity and self-esteem that was wrapped around being a mother and wife.

When concerned friends finally convinced her to join them backpacking Pikes Peak and to try some recreational shooting with bows and guns, the experience proved lifechanging in a profoundly positive way for her. For 13 years she’s made it her business, literally, to share that experience with other women. Shoot Like A Girl is a company imagined, created and owned by Butler with the goal of empowering women with confidence through the shooting sports. Traveling from state to state with a mobile range, custom-built inside a semi-trailer, some of the finest women instructors in the country provide individual attention to each americanshootingjournal.com 31

The trailer features a military-grade firearms simulator from Inveris Training Solutions. As Melanie Bolke works with a pistol shooter, Suzi Greenlee tutors a rifle shooter.

"Our instructors are, in my mind, the best out there!" says Karen Butler (front row, right) about her team that includes (front row, left to right) Christa Forrester, Pilar Cobb, Melanie Bolke, Stacie Bohanan, (back row, left to right) Dr. Lisa Orick-Martinez, Janice Ford and Chelsey Petit. (PHOTO EDITING BY ASHLEIGH MALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY)

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

visitor, introducing them to shooting firearms, bows, or both. Starting with safety and concluding with some hands-on target practice, their two 10-minuteeach introductory training programs are short but their message is potent. Thanks to the support of many shooting industry corporate partners, the Shoot Like A Girl program is delivered absolutely free to around 2,500 women, and girls over 16, annually. The popularity of the unique woman-to-woman approach that characterizes Shoot Like A Girl suggests Butler knows how to connect with a lot of American women. While her goal of empowering women with confidence is a tricky metric to quantify, the Shoot Like A Girl experience is clearly giving the majority of participants enough confidence to buy a gun or bow of their own and participate in shooting sports. The revelation here is that many more women would likely be

Standing with Karen Butler is Christa Forrester, Shoot Like A Girl’s chief of staff and one of its instructors.

involved in the shooting sports if not for the social obstacles to their comfortable participation. In addition, Butler’s assertion that possession of the knowledge and skill sets that go along with the shooting sports help women with self-confidence in a way that other activities don’t, is supported by the large number of women who stated that defense was the main purpose of their firearm purchase. As a man, I think it’s easy to underestimate how empowering the Shoot Like A Girl experience can be for women. Consider that many, if not most, men don’t realize that the significance of self-defense for women is broader than it is for men. The average guy develops a manly confidence from the knowledge that he can defend himself, unarmed, within reasonable limitations based on his physical size and strength alone. This is not the case for the average woman. She might rate her odds fair against an opponent of her own

Along with handguns and rifles, guests have a chance to get a feel for bows. Chelsey Petit, right, poses with a happy new archer. americanshootingjournal.com 33

Christa Forrester works with a guest shooting a pistol. A guest checks out a handgun during a stop in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shoot Like A Girl’s mobile range makes numerous appearances throughout the country each year.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

gender, but knows the odds are against her if she’s fighting a man who likely outclasses her in strength and size. I speculate that if you understand, like all women do, that more than half the population, the male part, could subject you to a beatdown at will, your self-confidence would be diminished on a primal level that you might not even be aware of. Imagine how a woman might feel when she realizes she can now defend herself effectively against attackers that could have easily overpowered her before. That’s got to be pretty empowering. Of course, lacking a degree in psychology, I could be way off target too. Fortunately, Karen Butler was gracious enough to take a little time off from her life on the road to talk with me by phone and share her experience as a corrective to my knuckle-dragging Neanderthal perspectives. American Shooting Journal Initially, I was a little surprised when I learned that a woman as accomplished as you are was so empowered by just learning to shoot. Why do you think that was and why was shooting bows and guns so special? Is it because it is traditionally a masculine activity? Karen Butler Despite all of my accomplishments, I still like to feel good about myself. I think we all do. That first time shooting was thrilling. I had a target, I aimed at it, and I hit it. What’s not to feel good about? Then when I shot the bow, I thought I was too weak to pull it back, but when I did, I felt strong. It had nothing to do with it being a traditionally male-dominated sport (although that is why Shoot Like A Girl was and is so needed); it had to do with my inner self-confidence being validated with every hit on the target. I’ve participated in many other sports; they all take skill, time and practice to be better. I love to compete, especially against myself because I think no matter how good we think we are, we can always be better. Where shooting sports are concerned, I can’t think of any other sport I’ve ever played that gives me the same self-gratification and

confidence that shooting sports does … Maybe that is partly because it is unexpected for women, but I really think it is because it is 100-percent your own effort. With heart disease killing so many women each year, it is good to have a stress break. Everyone should follow BRASS (breathe, relax, aim, stop, squeeze). When you shoot, you are hyper-focused on the process; you don’t have time to think about the troubles of the day … After all, the process has the word “relax” in it! ASJ Could you describe the Shoot Like A Girl experience? What does a visitor learn and how do you teach it to them? KB When our guests arrive, they sign up and then are introduced to shooting a pistol, rifle and bow. For both the pistol and rifle, we use an Inveris Training Solutions Military Grade Firearms simulator that has recoil, sound and impact without a projectile. The guest is walked through proper safety, stance, grip, sight alignment and trigger press, and then, guided by our instructors, shoots between five and 10 rounds each. Then on the archery side, the guest is walked through a very safe process for stance, arrow release, and really how to pull the bow back, and is able to shoot as many arrows from different bows as she wants to in our allotted time. We call it an introduction because we do make sure they have instruction to correctly and accurately shoot, but it is not enough for them to walk away and be proficient. We encourage the ladies to get more training locally. After their experience inside our mobile range, they head outside to our “Gun Bar.” This is a gun counter with about 28 contemporary firearms on display for women, or men, to interact with. They can try out the feel of the grip, cycle the action, squeeze the trigger, and get an idea of the various types of firearms commercially available. We have mostly handguns, but several rifles and shotguns too. We also have product displays from our corporate partners to share with guests and do mini-

Dr. Lisa Orick-Martinez and a guest inspect what’s on hand at the Gun Bar.

Debi Martin (right) and another happy new archer! americanshootingjournal.com 35

A retired civil servant of the Department of the Army, Karen Butler aims to build Shoot Like A Girl into a “sustainable business” that “will hopefully go on forever.” (ASHLEIGH MALLARD PHOTOGRAPHY)

demonstrations on topics like the proper use of pepper spray, gun cleaning, Thermacell mosquito repellent, air and BB guns for training, what to pack in your range bag, and a growing list of other subjects. These demonstrations are actually a positive result of Covid protocols. When we found our guests separated by 6 feet and waiting their turn to go inside, we started demonstrating the products so they could learn while they waited. It’s a great benefit to our guests, but also to our corporate partners who see us as a mobile marketing company taking their products directly to the growing, and incredibly important, female demographic. ASJ Getting SLG rolling around the 36

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

country again during the Covid-19 outbreak was an impressive feat. What was your takeaway from 2020 on the road? KB The key takeaways I have are that families, not just women, are making the decision to buy a firearm. Covid restrictions have been vastly disparate in different parts of the country, and people of all different backgrounds are polite and kind. The Second Amendment is only political to politicians. ASJ What are your plans for future web-based SLG events? KB We continue to increase our online presence. Keep an eye out on shootlikeagirl.com and subscribe to get our e-mail announcements. You can also keep up with us on Instagram

@SLGINC2. We don’t want to give away our plans to your readers just yet, but we will continue developing what we deliver to our followers. It’s what they expect from us. To become a trusted source of information for new shooters is an awesome responsibility and we’re very proud to have that trust. ASJ Tell us about the team of people you’ve put together to staff SLG events. KB I can’t ever say enough about the team of women that work for Shoot Like A Girl. These ladies come from every part of the country with diverse backgrounds and experiences and are as uniquely different as they are similar to each other. They all have a passion for sharing their knowledge

with others. The instructors are why we have been so overwhelmingly successful. They deliver the experience to our guests that creates that feeling of empowerment. Our instructors are, in my mind, the best out there! ASJ How are you using surveys to capture the impact of SLG programs and how accurate has your data proven over time? KB Due to my Army background, I am data-driven. If you couldn’t measure what you did, you didn’t do

anything … So, since I started the company in 2008, we have surveyed every participant and asked a series of questions. The data is statistically sound, and consistently shows that 76 percent of the women who participate with us commit to buying a gun, and around 36 percent commit to buying a bow. We know they are following through on these commitments because we survey them by e-mail twice. The first time is done by e-mail three to six weeks after their visit with us. Then a follow-up survey is

Karen Butler instructs a guest shooting a bow. Her organization’s trailer is handicap accessible.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

done at the end of the year. What we found is that SLG participants were quite true to their word, and probably even more so than we are capturing, since in the year’s end survey a person who visited us in October didn’t have as much time to follow through with their commitments as a visitor who saw us in April. Author’s note: The data captured in the SLG surveys (contained in their annual reports available on their website) is a lot more than just who did and didn’t buy a new gun. A whopping 89 percent of retailers who SLG worked with reported increased traffic and 100 percent reported increased sales in their stores during the programs. Around half of them saw sales increase by more than 10 percent across their product line as a whole. That shows you how important women are to the shooting sports industry. From a safety standpoint, SLG participants are acting to educate themselves, which makes things better for everybody, shooter and nonshooter alike. The survey found that 19 percent attended a training/safety course after their SLG experience and another 30 percent planned to. Impressively, 34 percent of participants had already done so before they attended the SLG program. The surveys also suggest how important women are becoming to the shooting sports cause as a whole and the preservation of the Constitution’s Second Amendment. The numbers for 2021 showed 67 percent of participants recruited others to try shooting sports, 73 percent were spending more time shooting and outdoors, 37 percent joined women’s shooting groups or clubs, and 55 percent joined the National Rifle Association.

ASJ You have only one man on your staff. How does he feel about being the token guy? KB Well, that’s an interesting question; I think you would have to ask him. Although my goal is to empower women, I value the men in my life, and credit them with much of my personal success. We are so very fortunate to have men supporting Shoot Like A Girl. Although we only have one man on our website, we really do have so many men who support us. My

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husband, Todd, is the real reason why I started this journey in the first place. He is the one that encouraged me to follow my dream of building this company. My dad built our first website and designed our logos. Then there are so many CEOs and marketing VPs and managers who are men, who took a chance on a new concept in the beginning that enabled us to grow. And now, even though there are more women in those roles, we still have an incredible amount of men who value and support what we do. ASJ Your events are so heavily attended; how do you handle all the people? KB People sign up in person on the day of the program. It’s first come, first served. We use a smartphone app like you see in restaurants that pages them when it is their turn. In the meantime,

The ladies in this happy family enjoyed their first time shooting!

they can shop, look at the exhibits, watch demonstrations, or whatever they please. We don’t let people sign up early because it skews our wait times. SLG is a positive experience so I have a “No Drama-No Bashing” policy on the trailer. We’ve only turned away people who wouldn’t wear masks or were intoxicated (firearms and alcohol/drugs don’t mix). On the mask debate, what I think personally doesn’t matter. I have to make decisions for the company that keep us rolling down the road, and that means complying with CDC guidelines for close-contact businesses.

A proud man watches and films a loved one shoot.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

ASJ You bring the roadshow to women nationwide for free because of the support of your corporate sponsors. Will you be able to sustain that model? KB Yes! We don’t charge our guests for anything; we don’t sell memberships or charge fees for our services, and we never will. It is hard to get people to try something new if you’re like, “Hey, give me $5.” I’m so thankful for our sponsors, who get a great return on their marketing investment by supporting Shoot Like A Girl. ASJ How hard was it getting those sponsors on board initially?

KB The first year of the business I didn’t sell any sponsorships; the company was funded on T-shirt sales, and let’s just say I was lucky I had a day job with the Army at the time, too. I understood the business decisions they were making. They were reluctant because Shoot Like A Girl was a very out-of-the-box concept, and they didn’t want to support us financially until we were proven. I

was very fortunate at the time to get a great deal of the products we needed to operate donated. After the first year, and presenting the proof of concept, sponsors were able to invest in Shoot Like A Girl with confidence. We’ve had several partners since the business started and I’m very thankful for them. An example is Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. They have been a great supporter of Shoot Like A Girl.

This year’s mobile range stops include Waco, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas, in April, followed by Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Hammond, Indiana, in May.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

Every single partner is important. Our top five partners are Bass Pro Shops/ Cabela’s, GSM Outdoors, Bushnell, Beretta and Glock. ASJ Do sponsors come looking for Shoot Like A Girl now? KB We do get some partners who seek us out, but we also still solicit new and specific partners. I’ve had to turn away a few prospective partners before, and that’s not easy to do when you need the capital, but the partner needs to be a good fit for our program and complement our mission. ASJ How do you come up with your destination schedule for the SLG bus tour? KB The tour stops are determined by trying to go where we haven’t gone before, staying south in the winter and north in the summer, and have a logistical flow that doesn’t have us driving a lot of miles back and forth. Most of our stops are at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s and we work with them on our schedule, too. I am so grateful for that partnership because not only do we get to bring women as consumers to their stores, we also participate in several of their conservation events. This year we got to do a special event with wounded veterans, Bass Pro Shops Fishing Dreams. That will be a highlight of the year for sure. ASJ Will you ever go to any of the big cities in New Jersey, New York, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, etc.? KB I joke about California, but it would be too hard to take the truck there … I would have to add a decal that said, “It would be harmful for you to take a bite out of this truck.” [Laughs.] We have AR platform rifles on our gun bar, and if they are restricted in a state, we can’t travel there, but you will note we try to get as close as we can, and normally have their citizens show up by the hundreds because they are so thirsty for information. ASJ The demographic of your attendees looks mostly Caucasian

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from the photos, and middle class or higher. Any plans to reach a more diverse audience? KB Reaching a diverse audience is a challenge for our industry as a whole. It seems to me that over the past few years we’ve had more diversity of people showing up to shoot with us. The diversity we are seeing goes beyond the typical definitions of age, race and creed, but more to stereotypes. We’ve had every type of woman visit us: rural/country girls, city/urban girls, preppies, hippies and everything in between. Also, even though our program is geared to women, men can shoot with us too. We’ve seen more first-time male shooters in the past few years, and we are happy to introduce them to shooting. ASJ Any plans to increase the pace and keep the truck rolling from place to place nonstop? It seems like you do two events a month. Do you drive back to base in Alabama after each event? KB The rig stays on the road most of the year. Yes, I do have expansion plans. It obviously takes a lot of capital to do what we do, but I am close to being able to extend our reach. ASJ I assume you don’t need to do all this work after retiring from civil service. How long are you going to keep doing it? KB As long as I can. I’m building a sustainable business, so Shoot Like A Girl will hopefully go on forever, even after I finally really retire – again. ASJ What could the industry do to get more women in shooting sports? KB The industry has made great strides in being inclusive to everyone. They could invest in Shoot Like A Girl. ASJ What could men do to get more women in the shooting sports? KB Bring them to a Shoot Like A Girl event, and we’ll handle the rest. You might find it interesting that, over time, I have seen a change in the attitude of men visiting the trailer with their loved ones. When I first started the company, some men 44

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

What does a busy gal do with her time off? Duck hunting! Karen Butler shows off a full strap. (TIM ROHRBACH)

would say, “Why do I want my wife to do that with me? That’s my time.” Now, most men are encouraging their loved ones to get involved in shooting sports, and asking us to help them so the family can enjoy this awesome recreational sport together. We’ve had some men also express that they are less worried when they know the women in their lives can defend themselves if needed.

ASJ What’s the closing thought you want to leave our readers with? KB We haven’t talked about firearm safety, and that is a big thing we do at our events. Please, take time to talk to your family and the children in your life about firearm safety. The rules, when followed, prevent so many neglectful discharges, and you could actually save a life by having a conversation about firearm safety today. 

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Self-Defense TRAINING

Author Paul Pawela looks to the experts in the field, per se, for gunfighting advice.

MY TWO CENTS ON REVOLVERS AND GUNFIGHTING (PART ONE) Lessons from yesteryear that still apply today. STORY AND PHOTO BY PAUL PAWELA

ue to the political climate and potential gun bans, revolvers have become fashionable for concealed carry once again. So I thought I would add my two cents on the subject. The first thing that needs to be addressed is why we are 1) practicing with revolvers

(or any gun for that matter), and 2) carrying them. Yes, shooting guns safely both in practice and competition is fun, but ideally the intent is for selfdefense purposes. Many a well-known lawman of yesteryear made the revolver famous, including James Butler Hickok aka Wild Bill, Wyatt Earp, Frank Hamer, Bill Jordan, Jim Cirillo and Edmundo Mireles Jr. These men are all legends in the law enforcement world and have

the most quantified performance and experience using revolvers, as they used them for their intended purpose: surviving gunfights.

IN REGARDS TO Hickok, Earp, Hamer and

Jordan, all references and advice in this article are from their written accounts, as these men were born before my time. However, the late Jimmy Cirillo and Edmundo Mireles are another matter, as I have interviewed, trained with and americanshootingjournal.com 49

SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING become friends with both. Cirillo’s book, Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights: Lessons and Tales from a Modern-Day Gunfighter, should be required reading, as should Mireles’s book, FBI Miami Firefight: Five Minutes That Changed the Bureau. These books should not just be read, but reread, highlighted and used as a bible on the subject of gunfighting. Mireles and his FBI team were in that horrible gunfight and are the true fathers of reality gunfighting training. Cirillo, meanwhile, was part of the famed New York City Police Department stakeout squad whose unit was involved in 252 armed confrontations. Cirillo himself was involved in 17 armed confrontations, including 11 gunfights that resulted in the deaths of 11 felons. Cirillo was not only a famed lawman, he was also a national shooting champion, a bodybuilder in his younger days, a national firearms trainer, author and a

devoted family man. In his book, Cirillo outlined common denominators of lawmen/ gunfighters who have become involved in such encounters. These include: • They were competitive shooters with a high degree of skill; • They were successful hunters who got their quota every year; • They loved and collected firearms; • They reloaded ammo; • They loved the outdoors and sports; • They were family men; • They were outgoing and liked people; • And they had great compassion for the underdog, including helpless victims of crime.

MOST OF THESE characteristics can be found in the lawmen I mentioned earlier. But two of these men – Hickok and Hamer – were not only involved in shootings as lawmen, but also as civilians in self-defense altercations.

Hickok was said to be a virtuoso with any kind of handgun. When Tom Lewis, a magazine writer who knew many famous gunfighters of the Old West, asked Earp, Bat Masterson, Billy Tilghman and Charlie Siringo who was the deadliest shot of them all, all four without hesitation said Wild Bill. In his autobiography, Earp was quoted as saying, “There was no man in the Kansas City group who was Wild Bill’s equal with a six-gun.” Hickok was fascinated with firearms as a boy; his first gun was a flintlock pistol, which he used for hunting. His fondness for guns became an obsession and at the age of 12, he acquired both a rifle and a Colt revolver. Hickok soon became the best marksman in the area using his percussion revolver. As a lawman, Hickok was described as a walking arsenal, originally sporting a pair of .44s (carrying a backup gun is something most gun aficionados do; you will see this again). He also carried

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SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING two .41 Derringers in his side pockets, a Bowie knife in his belt, and either a shotgun or repeating rifle in his arms when walking the beat as a police officer. Hickok believed in firepower and it was reported that when he cut loose, it sounded like a Gatling gun spraying the landscape. It was rumored Hickok did that for psychological effect, as such a fusillade was often necessary not only to dispose of one opponent but to dissuade the man’s friends from joining in the argument. As a civilian, his very first lethal encounter was against three men, of which he killed one and wounded two. Hickok would often come up against multiple adversaries in these encounters. Hickok was a firm believer in shooting his antagonists in the head, saying, “A man shot in the torso can keep firing, even if fatally wounded, but a bullet in the head usually put him out of action.” In FBI Miami Firefight, Mireles describes how one cop killer was shot a total of 12

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

times before he stopped fighting and died. The other was shot six times and died quicker. Why? He was shot four times in the head and neck! On one occasion Hickok faced multiple opponents. He was in a saloon in Jefferson County, Nebraska, in 1867, when four men started a confrontation with him. When the men went for their guns, Hickok shot and killed the man to his left, but was wounded in the right shoulder. Because Hickok was ambidextrous, he obtained his other gun with his left hand and killed two with bullets to the brain. One antagonist lived but was shot in the cheek and had part of his jaw shot off. Lessons learned here: • Close distances in lethal confrontations are common, so practice shooting to the head; • Practice your shooting skills to be equally proficient in both hands; • And get medical training so you can administer immediate first-aid to

yourself and others.

ANYONE WHO CARRIES a gun for selfpreservation and defense of others should know the limitations and capabilities of their firearms. One should be equally proficient at longdistance shooting as they are at short distances. It has been said by some that the guns of the Old West were not that reliable and their accuracy was horrible; this is pure nonsense. Earp testified that he watched Hickok shoot 10 rounds both left- and right-handed at a target 100 yards away. He was shooting the letter O of a police station sign, and all 10 rounds hit inside the O. Hickok was known to shoot a revolver out to 400 yards effectively. This practice saved his life, as he was in the classic street gunfight that made him the legend he is today. In the infamous Hickok-Tutt quick-draw duel, Tutt missed but Hickok struck his opponent directly in the heart at 75 yards.

And he was also equally proficient in all forms of martial arts: with his fists (he beat many a man senseless, including a professional boxer who challenged him), with a knife (he is credited with killing at least two men and one grizzly bear with a Bowie knife), and of course with firearms. Here are some lessons to ponder: • Hickok knew his guns and their limitations and practiced with them daily; • He could shoot proficiently with either hand and always carried a backup gun; • And he was deadly at close range and at long distances with his revolvers, again because he practiced with his guns religiously. The word gunfighter is a misnomer in the art of selfpreservation. One should be equally skilled in using all forms of weapons, as Hickok was in frontier-style combat. This included eye-gouging, ear-chewing and groin-kicking, as well as knife, pistol, shotgun and rifle skills. For more information on Wild Bill, I highly recommend Legends of the West: Wild Bill Hickok by Richard O’Conner and Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier’s First Gunfighter by Tom Clavin.  Editor’s note: Paul Pawela is a nationally recognized firearms and self-defense expert.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

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Tap Rack Holsters’ handmade handgun, knife and magazine carriers are made out of .080 to .125 Kydex, yielding “high-quality products made of the most durable materials.”

TAP INTO HANDMADE CARRY OPTIONS ‘Quality control’ is at the heart of Tap Rack Holsters’ products for handguns, mags, knives, more. PHOTOS BY TAP RACK HOLSTERS

hen carrying concealed, you may be called to defend yourself and the people around you at a moment’s notice. When that moment arises, you want to be able to trust the equipment you carry. Tap Rack Holsters is proud to offer a full line of easily concealable and reliable handmade carry options, from handguns and magazine carriers to knife sheaths and more. With 40-plus years of experience with firearms – including in the military, law enforcement, competition and everyday carry – partners Robert

Simpson and Everett Balber are dedicated to building the best Kydex products possible and ensuring customers are 100-percent satisfied with their products. “All of our holsters are made using at least .080 Kydex, and in some products up to .125 Kydex is used,” the pair explained. “Kydex was first produced in 1965 and is basically made of acrylic and PVC. The properties found in this thermoplastic are rigidity and strength, giving it superior impact-resistance, low flammability numbers, and resistance to a great number of corrosive chemicals and cleaning products. It has a hardness

of 94 on the Rockwell hardness scale. We do not use any other materials, as they may be good for other applications, but not holsters.” The Tap Rack team prides itself on extreme attention to detail, spending countless hours and dollars testing various materials and styles out of their Fresno, California, shop. The result is high-quality products made of the most durable materials. And although the quality of the materials is of the utmost importance to Simpson and Balber, of equal significance is the fact that each holster is handmade. americanshootingjournal.com 57

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

The company based in California’s San Joaquin Valley takes pride in its ability to make custom products and the care that goes into each and every one.

When asked why this was such an important aspect for Tap Rack, the answer from Simpson and Balber was simple: “Quality control. With so many firearms and attachments, coupled with how many ways a person wants to carry a holster, the number of different holsters is a big number. Injection molding cannot easily solve all of these requests. “If it is a large production run or a one-off holster, we have found that

nothing can replace the handmade holster, as it is given great attention to detail. In our shop a holster can touch many different hands as it is being manufactured and tested before shipping.” Whether you’re looking for a holster or custom knife sheath, you will always find high-quality products and great customer service at Tap Rack. “Our holsters have the simplest

warranty that we could come up with. If it breaks or wears out, we will replace it free of charge. We continuously test our products to ensure they will meet any demand. Whether you’re shooting a match or on a high-risk mission, you can be confident that your Tap Rack product will not fail.”  Editor’s note: Visit taprackholsters.com for more information.

Warranties don’t come much simpler than Tap Rack’s: “If it breaks or wears out, we will replace it free of charge.”

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

L.E. SPOTLIGHT

THE DATE NIGHT DUO

A pair of married Kentucky officers out for dinner stop an armed robbery, capture suspect. STORY BY NICK PERNA PHOTO BY ELIZABETHTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT

t sounds like the making of a cheesy television sitcom, or a direct-to-video movie. A crimefighting duo that’s also husband and wife! Detective Chase McKeown and Officer Nicole McKeown are both officers with the Elizabethtown Police Department in northcentral Kentucky. The two were enjoying dinner at a Louisville restaurant during their weekly date night. The newlyweds (married six months prior) were not expecting any trouble, just a quiet meal together. A man approached the counter wearing a mask. This was back in early 2020 when Covid-19 wasn’t really a thing and a subject wearing a mask in public was uncommon. Instantly, both officers realized something was not right. The subject brandished a firearm and pointed it at the employee. He demanded cash. That’s when the McKeowns got involved. BEING THE SQUARED-AWAY cops that they are, both officers had their off-duty weapons on them. Their training kicked in. Both officers drew their handguns, confronted the armed suspect, and gave him verbal

Officer Nicole McKeown and Detective Chase McKeown.

commands to drop the gun. The suspect fled the restaurant. The McKeowns gave chase. They located the suspect a short distance away and ordered him to the ground. He complied. They held him down until Louisville Police Department officers arrived and took him into custody. The suspect, 30-year-old Justin Carter, was booked into the local jail for armed robbery. The firearm was recovered

just inside the restaurant where he was confronted by both officers. The married crime-fighting team cited their training and experience as the reason for confronting the armed suspect. They also acknowledged their status as sworn crime-fighters 24 hours a day. “We trained for those situations,” said Nicole. “Any officer would have done the same thing.” americanshootingjournal.com 61

Chase added, “We’re trained to act; we acted. That’s all there is to it.” IN THE CURRENT climate of unwarranted mistrust of law enforcement, mainly coming from self-serving politicians and biased liberal media, some officers are reluctant to involve themselves in off-duty law enforcement intervention. They are burdened with the fear of being tried in the court of public opinion and, in some cases, not getting the support they deserve from their departments. Not so with the McKeowns. Their duty as police officers to act to protect life overrode any concerns of financial or criminal liability. They did what cops are supposed to do: protect people and fight crime. So, Kentucky crooks beware. The next time you try to do an evil deed, you might be taken down by the McKeowns, the Bluegrass State’s dynamic (married) duo.  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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NO NEED TO SUP YOUR URGE TO H MORE QUIETLY

A suppressed .22 LR like this Chiappa Little Badger folding carbine is ideal for small game hunting and pest control in populated areas where gunfire might attract unwanted attention. This 9mm suppressor was built by a hobbyist, after getting approval from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and paying for the $200 tax stamp.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

UPPRESS O HUNT Y Between improved accuracy, reduced recoil, scaring less game, widespread OK and protecting your hearing, there are a lot of reasons to consider hunting with a suppressor.

STORY BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY F.J.G. JARDIM

on’t let this turn you off, but at present, suppressors are considered Class II weapons and are regulated by the National Firearms Act and subject to the same controls as machineguns. To legally possess one, at the very least, you’ll need to fill out some forms (online or old-fashioned paper ones), get finger-printed at your local police station, pay a $200 tax, and wait for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to process your approval paperwork. Online submissions have been approved in as little as a month, but the paper submissions can take up to a year. Sometimes states have a few extra hurdles, but overall, it’s not a big deal to get a suppressor and you shouldn’t be intimidated by the process. Hunters have realized the benefits of using suppressors and they are rapidly gaining popularity with sportsmen and -women. Suppressors are legal to own in 42 states and legal to hunt with in 40. In addition, suppressors have been shown to often improve accuracy and reduce recoil. The extra weight on the muzzle and the gases pushing forward against the baffles inside the suppressor are the source of the reduction in felt recoil. Gains in accuracy stem from less stressful shooting, like reduced involuntary flinching associated with a loud report, and sometimes from the suppressor’s effect on the harmonics of the individual rifle barrel. Other than adding 6 to 32 ounces to the rifle and making it impossible to

americanshootingjournal.com 65

SureFire’s SOCOM300-SPS suppressor was designed for military durability and sustained full-auto fire. Made of welded steel, it is as tough as a suppressor can be, which appeals to hunters and competitive shooters who don’t mind the extra weight.

use low-mounted iron sights, there are no negatives to suppressed hunting. Survivalist hunters were among the first to embrace suppressors. A good survival strategy usually requires keeping a low profile in the

wilderness, harvesting your food and defending yourself with the same rifle. A suppressor can help you do both more discreetly, but probably not as much as you think it will if you formed your opinions about them

A map from the American Suppressor Association highlights the states where suppressors currently are legal for citizen use and where they are also permitted for hunting. (AMERICAN SUPPRESSOR ASSOCIATION)

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

based on TV and movies. The reality is that most suppressed centerfire rifles are closer in report to an unsuppressed .22 LR rifle. That’s why silencers are more accurately called suppressors. Still, let’s not diminish the achievement. Getting the report of a .308 rifle down to the level of a .22 LR rifle is a huge improvement. You’ll scare away less game and draw less attention to yourself afield hunting with a suppressor, but the big gain is the protection of your hearing.

THE CALIBER AND type of ammo you shoot will affect suppressor performance. Though any cartridge can be suppressed, loads with subsonic velocity (below the speed of sound) are the quietest. If you need to hunt with maximum stealth, your power and velocity options are limited. Subsonic .22 LR and .300 AAC Blackout fired through a good suppressor are no louder than the

Tion’s Dragoon (top), shown here with three different varieties of the company’s proprietary and ultrafast quick-attach/ detach muzzle devices, is made of titanium and can be completely disassembled for cleaning and reconfiguration for maximum sound reduction. The SOCOM300-SPS (bottom) also has a quick-attach/detach mount, but it is 7 ounces heavier and not user-serviceable. Since it can’t be cleaned, it may not be the best choice for shooting a lot of .22 LR, in the author’s impression.

mechanical noise of the action cycling, but their practical hunting range is limited to under 100 yards. That’s not so bad in heavily wooded areas where most shots are going to be within that range, but not so good in the wide-open spaces of the West. Also, keep in mind that if you are hunting with a .300 Blackout, you have really dialed the ballistic technology clock back about 100 years when .44-40 Winchester Center Fire killed more deer than any other caliber. If you can tolerate a bit more report, and usually a little more recoil too, just about any supersonic caliber is going to retain more energy longer, extend your range and kill more efficiently and humanely. Suppressing the typical supersonic deer calibers won’t always make them ear-safe, but you’ll be giving up nothing in terms of the performance you expect from them. Anything supersonic (almost any centerfire rifle caliber) is going to produce its own sonic boom (the crack of the rifle shot) and there’s nothing a suppressor can do to change 68

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

Introducing the Dragoon QD 350 Titanium Rifle Suppressor from TiON Inc. TiON Inc is proud to introduce the revolutionary Dragoon QD 350 suppressor utilizing Total Breakdown Technology (TBT) and our Gas Indexing Technology (GIT) [U.S. Patent 9,410,761]. GIT allows the rotational orientation of baffles in a given stack providing optimum sound reduction capabilities for the 9mm pistol caliber shot from a rifle. Top rated sound reduction is achieved in the primary .350 Legend and 9mm calibers and very good performance in .300 Blackout. As a bonus the suppressor will achieve good hearing safe performance on .223/5.56mm and .308 Winchester bolt action rifles. In a market where heavy, welded, non-serviceable designs are the norm; the Dragoon distinguishes itself with an all Titanium takedown design. The TiON design with TBT allows the user to remove, clean and service ALL Components. The Dragoon QD 350 suppressor is machined from solid Titanium Bar Stock eliminating any weld failure points creating an extremely durable and light weight suppressor that can be serviced down to the piece parts. Our Quick Disconnect design allows for one handed 2 second mounting/removal and achieves total repeatability of shot group. This QD design and smallest suppressor diameter in the industry facilitates sliding under many metal firearm forends with short barrels for fast attachment without the need to have a removable forend section. Seven QD mounts and flash hider/mounts are available in 13.5X1LHM, 1/2X28, 5/8X24 and 9/16X24 threads. All our mounts are Titanium adding to the unsurpassed light weight of the suppressor.

DRAGOON .350 QD TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Caliber:

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12.2 oz. Sound Pressure Level (Mil-Std 1474D Test @ 1 meter) 9mm 147gr Winchester Train & Defend 16” BBL 121dB .350 Legend 255gr Winchester Subsonic 16” BBL 133dB .300 Blackout 220gr Remington Subsonic 16” BBL 130dB

Material: 6AL-4V Annealed Titanium QD Spring – Stainless Compression Bushing - Brass MSRP: $1285.00 Additional Mounts MSRP: $125.00 to $160.00

www.tioninc.com Call: (717) 227-9060 suppressors@tioninc.com

For hunters, the weight of a suppressor is likely to be more important than how quickly it can be attached or detached and how many rounds can be fired through it before it has to cool off. The direct, screw-on mounting of the lightweight aluminum and titanium Gemtech Tracker fits that niche.

While a full-auto-rated welded steel suppressor has a certain “military operator” sex-appeal, this Gemtech Tracker is nearly a pound lighter but must be allowed to cool after 10 rapid shots. Then again, since only one round is really needed to drop a big game animal – in this case, a Dall ram – the lighter Gemtech is not really a disadvantage.

Gemtech also has its own quick mounting system. The downside of any quick mounting system is adding length and weight to the firearm.

that. What the suppressor will do is reduce the volume of the gunshot by 25 to 40 decibels, which means that sound won’t do as much damage to your hearing and won’t carry as far as an unsuppressed shot. Consider that the ubiquitous foam earplugs you’ve used at the range reduce sound about 29 decibels. What guns sound like to you with earplugs in is similar to what they actually sound like suppressed. Ideally, a rifle suppressor should reduce the report of the firearm below 70

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

140 decibels. That’s the point at which permanent hearing damage occurs. The truth is that not all of them will and more money won’t necessarily buy you better performance. Aside from the limitations of each suppressor’s design, varying barrel length, caliber and brand of ammunition can affect suppressor performance and, though the report will be reduced, it may not be hearing-safe. But as far as your hearing goes, any suppressor is better than no

suppressor. Destroying your hearing is easier than you think. Continuous exposure to noise above 85 decibels over time causes hearing damage. Between 70 to 80 percent of hunters use no hearing protection of any kind because of their desire for situational awareness in the field. The price of that awareness when a 140-plus-decibel shot is fired is an instant painful ringing in the ears and progressively less hearing every time they pull the trigger.

Thanks to Utah-based SilencerCo, a company started by two guys in a garage in 2008, shotguns now have a practical suppressor in the Salvo 12.

SUPPRESSORS VARY IN size,

weight and durability. The military has favored quick-detachable, heavy, rugged, welded steel models like the SOCOM300-SPS made by Surefire. This 8-inch-long, 1½-inch-diameter, 20.3-ounce unit is made of stainless steel and high temperature alloy. People have been known to shoot these suppressors on full-auto guns and get them red-hot. Suppressors can be made considerably lighter by using a combination of materials and simple, direct screw-on attachment. The Gemtech Tracker is an example of this type. It’s a tenth of an inch shorter than the SOCOM300-SPS but it weighs only 11.3 ounces due to its aluminum and titanium construction. It is not designed to hold up under sustained rapid fire. Gemtech advises shooters to allow it to cool to ambient temperature after firing 10 rounds. The best combination of durability and light weight is found in suppressors

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

made entirely of titanium, like the Tion Dragoon 7.62 Suppressor. It’s 9½ inches long and 1⅜ inches in diameter but only 12.95 ounces, equipped with a quick-detachable feature. Tion recommends allowing it to cool after 60 rounds of rapid fire through a 16inch or longer barrel. Modern suppressors are mounted on the barrel in one of two ways: The simplest and cheapest is directly screwing it onto a threaded muzzle. Alternatively, suppressor manufacturers have invented various proprietary quick-detachable mechanisms that require the muzzle to be fitted with a special mounting base, but allow suppressor installation or removal in seconds. The best designed ones will change bullet impact minimally, 1 inch or less at 100 yards. The mounting bases frequently incorporate a flash hider or muzzle brake into the design for added utility when the rifle is fired unsuppressed. The standard thread for

.223-caliber suppressors is ½x28 threads per inch, or TPI. That’s the same thread you find on the muzzle of .223-caliber AR-15s, which makes suppressor installation a do-it-yourself operation. The standard thread for .30-caliber suppressors is ⅝x24 TPI. More and more companies are offering bolt-action hunting rifles with factory-threaded muzzles, but most older rifles are unthreaded. Preparation of unthreaded muzzles for either direct screw-on or quickdetachable suppressors requires the services of a skilled machinist with the knowledge to do single-point cut threads on a lathe. Don’t imagine you can do this yourself with a die you bought online. I guarantee that even if you do manage to cut the threads straight, you will cut off too much material, resulting in a loose and totally useless fit. Then you’ll have to have the machinist cut off the part you ruined, recrown the muzzle, and then cut the threads properly on their lathe.

Changes in hunting laws to permit the use of suppressors was a big factor in the explosion of consumer interest in them. The result was lots of new manufacturers coming into the marketplace. The choices today are vast. Seriously evaluate your needs and do your research before you buy.

A screw-on suppressor is the cheaper way to go since you don’t have to spend an additional $99 to $125 for each quick-change mounting base. The quick-change feature would be helpful if you had several rifles in your survival cache to suppress. It also allows the installation of a .30-caliber suppressor onto a .223-caliber AR-15 rifle, something you could not do with a direct attach model because of the difference in mounting thread size.

YOU AREN’T GOING to be hunting elk or bear with subsonic .300 AAC Blackout, but plenty of deer-sized game have fallen to black powder rounds of comparable power. Loaded with a heavy 220-grain bullet, the round is quite effective for hunting wild pigs at under 100 yards. If you’re hunkered down somewhere, you’ll want to minimize your hunting forays to reduce the chances of revealing the location of your hideout. In this case, it may make sense to hunt larger game to get the most meat for each of your precious bullets. If you’re on the move, it’s more likely you’ll be filling your cook pot with small game you can take with .22 LR. Does this mean you need two suppressors? The good news is no, but with some qualifications. The stacked (multi-piece) baffles

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

commonly used in .30-caliber rifle suppressors will also reduce the noise of smaller calibers. Because .30-caliber suppressors are physically bigger, they are sometimes even more effective than a suppressor made specifically for the smaller rifle caliber; if they are worse, it is generally only by a few decibels. If you can buy only one suppressor, one designed for .30 caliber will be the most versatile. Here’s the caveat: The manufacturers of permanently sealed suppressors advise against shooting .22 LR ammo through them because it is very dirty and leaves lead and powder deposits inside that build up over time and cannot be cleaned out. Continuously shooting .22 LR will eventually clog up and ruin your sealed suppressor, which you could easily have spent from $800 to $2,500 on, not including the $200 tax. In normal times jeopardizing your investment would be foolish, but any situation that has you bugging out to stay alive is not normal. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The fact is it’s going to take a lot of .22 LR to clog up a big .30-caliber suppressor and your days of casually plinking away a brick of 1,000 rounds for fun ended when the looters cleaned off the Walmart shelves two hours after the Emergency Broadcast System came on the air. In that scenario, every bullet

is a precious resource, and you won’t shoot even one except to put food in your belly or defend yourself. At that rate of fire, you won’t have to worry about suppressor degradation for many years. Using copper-plated bullets will help too. While almost all .30-caliber suppressors are sealed units that can’t be serviced by the user, or even the manufacturer, the Tion Dragoon 7.62 suppressor and Silencer Central’s Banish 30 are exceptions. Both suppressors are designed to be completely disassembled for cleaning by the user. This type of lightweight titanium suppressor would be ideal on a .22-caliber survival/hunting rifle. Because shooting .22 LR does no irreparable harm, you can practice your critical small game marksmanship until no bushytail is safe within 50 yards. While the American Suppressor Association has hopes to remove suppressors from the NFA list so they can be sold like ordinary firearms, this seems very unlikely to happen under the present presidential leadership. You can help; go to americansuppressorassociation.com, where you’ll find a link to bill H.R. 95, the Hearing Protection Act, that allows you to directly email your representatives on Capitol Hill. 

americanshootingjournal.com 75

MORE THE MAN, THAN THE GUN.

ver hear the saying, “You couldn’t hit a bull in the butt with a bow-fiddle.” How fast can you swing a bow-fiddle? Are you chasing the bull? Or is the bull chasing you? People forget time frames with fast action in front of them, making for shorter moments to hit the bull. I learned in the military that it’s 95 percent boredom, punctuated by moments of “stark terror.” It is the transitions that are the hard part. Just like shooting a gun. Pistols are fastest, but rifles are more exacting in timing and procedure of humans’ decisions. Ballistics is physics. Half of your math is time. Everybody forgets the last part, and we’ve been lied to for 100 years how to shoot guns. Dumbing it down, forgetting science or just doing “what you feel” doesn’t work. Improving scales of resolutions of your technical info and applied discipline is all on you – the human. Clint Eastwood said, “You have to know your limitations.” Your human tactile thresholds are 0.6-pound pressure, 0.020 inch and 0.44-second reaction time. Typically, too slow and late. Think like faster camera shutter speed. The drag race “tree” lights are .4 or .5 second to green, and holeshot times are

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

2 to 5 milliseconds – fast. Think that last second in milliseconds to the coincidence decision moment. Buzz to fire. You should see the moment in your eye, and bang. Safety – on until ready to fire – is procedural conditional logic; you won’t hit the target if you don’t consistently repeat the procedure. At Gettysburg, carbines were found with eight to 10 balls in the barrels unfired. When you pull the trigger, either dry-fire or a live round of ammunition, what are you practicing? The gun’s performance? Or your shooting skills and proficiency? Your visual acuity and motion cues? Your muscle and nerve memory (nerve speed 112 meters/second)? Precision Rifle Series and National Rifle League add situational pressures as well as stage time and round limits. Hunting dangerous game brings stress into your environment. Accidental or negligent discharge is on the human. The gun can’t do anything without you – the human. I think that extreme long range shooting is the new frontier of resolution and accuracy. With ranges from 4,000 to 6,000 yards for shouldered rifles in current class of ammunition, accuracy resolutions below .001 degree are capable

from mechanical/chemical energy and mathematics refinements. Better “headspace and timing” show exponential improvement in performances with every gun; better equipment makes it easier. Choose the components that provide the best bang for you on the gun. First are scopes, for eye sight-line (information input device). Then triggers – for the human decision output device/timer. The action in view is not linear in time; watch for the changes of motions. “Wait for it.” Fire! On the “Y” of way – boom! The round leaves the gun in 2 milliseconds, 2,750 feet per second, 4 seconds flight time to a mile. If you pick the wrong coincidence decision moment to fire, the round occurs on the target not in time (typically late).

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ROAD HUNTER

TARGETING TOMS ON THE TROT Infatuated gobblers throughout the West range farther in search of hens than many hunters think, and here’s how to find ’em. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN

ith the early morning sun cresting a stand of Douglas fir trees behind me, I’d feared too much time had passed. It had been more than two hours since the old tom last gobbled from his roost, and the woods were silent. At first light the tom gobbled at every sound I threw his way, but when he hit the ground, he shut down. Figuring he’d connected with a hen, I was preparing to move from my ground blind to try to find him. That’s when a ray of sunlight penetrated the forest fringe in front of me, and the glowing head of a mature tom materialized. The wise tom came in quietly, cautiously, but was puffed up the whole time. When he reached my full-strut tom decoy, he froze, and that’s when I let him have it. It was my third and final tom of Oregon’s spring season, and it fell in the same place the two previous toms ended up. RIDGE-RUNNING TOMS I was hunting a bench that ran eastwest for nearly a mile. Above it were several hills and valleys running northsouth that connected to it. It was the perfect setting for hens to breed, nest, feed and roost. I’ve seen many benches

Looking to establish consistent success in your spring turkey hunting with the hopes of tagging mature toms? Spend time on benches, where birds often abound. americanshootingjournal.com 79

ROAD HUNTER

Toms like traveling along horizontal benches for the ease and efficiency they offer, especially when it comes to keeping track of hens. Author Scott Haugen approaches a nice tom he called in at the end of a long ridge, a place he’s taken many toms over the years.

like this throughout multiple Western states, and once turkeys find them, they can be productive habitats to hunt, often for years. I first discovered this bench eight years ago while hunting fall turkeys. I’d never seen turkeys here before, only deer and elk. Once the turkeys discovered it, they’ve been here ever since. This bench offers year-round feed, ample cover, ideal nesting habitat and many roosting trees. My family has taken dozens of turkeys from this bench over the years, in both spring and fall. Benches are ideal habitats for toms to also thrive, especially because travel routes on benches are easier to 80

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

negotiate than running up and down steep ridges. Mind you, toms are capable of covering big country that would test the fitness of any fit hunter, but those birds don’t routinely occupy such rugged land as they do benches. KNOW WHEN TO MOVE The most important applications I’ve learned while focusing turkey hunting efforts on benches throughout the West is practicing patience and persistence. These toms seem to behave differently than many birds, in the sense that they are willing to move to find receptive hens. One day, they may not budge from their strutting ground; the next day, they

may be a couple miles away, aggressively chasing hens and fighting other toms. Two seasons ago, it took me five weeks to fill my three turkey tags on a bench. I knew the toms were in the area, and more and more toms filtered through surprisingly often as the season progressed. I had over a dozen trips to the bench to fill those three tags. Bottom line, getting a tom to come in didn’t come down to my calling or decoy use, but rather whether or not a tom was within earshot of my calls. Over the years, persistence has been my biggest friend when hunting turkeys along benches. Many birds, especially hens, live on these benches

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ROAD HUNTER year-round, and toms can move along benches any time of year. In the fall, bachelor flocks may find food that keeps them there for days or weeks. Snow may push toms onto benches, and even high winds and an abundance of predators seem to influence when and where toms reside on benches. TRAIL CAMERAS Nothing has taught me more about turkey hunting ridges than running trail cameras. I’m not talking just one or two trail cameras, but rather up to a dozen trail cameras. I set all my trail cameras on video mode, and my trail cam of choice for the past couple years has been Stealthcam’s DS4K. Their quality is tops, as is their ability to work in driving rains and extreme cold. Turkeys often speed by a camera so quickly that they trip it

Trail cameras are perhaps the author’s most valuable tool when it comes to hunting turkeys on benches throughout the West, and he relies on them year-round to provide info on his quarry.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

but miss being in the picture. When set to video mode, trail cameras might be tripped and miss the bird, but will capture 10 seconds of sounds that can be an education in itself. Hearing hen and tom yelps, purrs, and toms gobbling, even dragging their wings while strutting out of frame, are common sounds you’ll capture, even if you miss capturing a visual image of the birds. These sounds reveal exactly what’s happening in the turkey woods. Once I find a location on a bench that’s routinely frequented by turkeys, I’ll set up multiple trail cameras in order to cover 360 degrees in that spot. Oftentimes toms don’t use game trails, and will push through surprisingly dense brush to reach a hen or aggressively approach a fellow tom. Upwards of 25 percent of the mature toms I capture on trail cameras are not

where you’d think they’d be, on wellused trails and openings. I run trail cameras year-round on multiple benches in order to track turkey movement. Turkey populations throughout the West can fluctuate from one season to the next, and knowing what birds are around, when, saves valued time come hunting season. When the season starts, I check all trail cameras every day. This is because toms can be there one day and in a totally different spot the next. Two seasons ago I had the second biggest tom I’d ever seen appear twice on trail camera. I never saw him with my own eyes, despite the fact I hunted him for over a week straight. Another time I caught a mature, bent-bearded tom on trail camera at first light. Later that afternoon I caught him on another trail camera,

ROAD HUNTER 1.5 miles from where he’d been in the morning. What amazed me most about this was the amount of thick brush that tom had to negotiate to get from point A to point B.

When turkey hunting along benches, patience and persistence are key, as toms move in and out all season long. Haugen was more than pleased with this dandy tom, taken on the backside of a bench.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

TURKEY CALLS The second tom I took off the bench was the most vocal bird I’ve ever heard. He started gobbling on the roost, over half a mile from my blind, and continued gobbling at every single sound I made. Multiple times he double-gobbled, and twice he triple-gobbled. It took the hot tom over 45 minutes to reach me, as he traveled through wet grass, briars and amid a ¼-mile-long stand of timber. When he finally appeared, he strutted and pirouetted out of range for what seemed an eternity. Once he committed to the hen and tom decoy, however, the tom did so with conviction. It was one of the most memorable turkey encounters in my more than 30 years of hunting these birds throughout

ROAD HUNTER Decoys can play a big part when hunting benches, but the key is changing them out to fit what’s happening in nature as the season progresses.

the West, and the only sound I made was yelps from a diaphragm call. No other sounds were needed, as the tom responded to every sequence I delivered; he even cut me off several times. In situations where multiple toms are on a ridge, I’ll often utilize a variety of calls in order to keep their interest. Competition can be high among aggressive toms, especially if hens are up and moving, and I want to find that sweet sound that attracts an eager tom. Once you locate a bench that turkeys like, keep going back throughout the season, even year after year. Be it 500 feet above a valley floor, or 2,500 feet in the hills, if turkeys are on a bench, it’s for a reason, and toms will keep returning as long as the hens are there.  Editor’s note: Scott Haugen is author of the popular book, Turkey Hunting the West: Strategies For All Levels. Order your signed copy at scotthaugen.com. Follow Scott on Instagram and Facebook.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

Product SPOTLIGHT The new Royal Series combines beautiful detailing and quality components in a “premium, collectorquality shotgun” that won’t break the bank and will reliably perform in the field for the long haul.

A PRINCE AMONG OVER-AND-UNDERS

Dickinson Arms’ new Royal Series 12-, 20-gauges deliver superior quality, detail, shooting performance. PHOTOS BY DICKINSON ARMS

he Royal Series over-andunder from Dickinson Arms proves that shooters can get a premium, collectorquality shotgun without breaking the bank or waiting forever to get a custom gun made. The Royal Series offers everything serious shooters look for in a premium O/U shotgun, beginning with premium-grade Turkish walnut and a hand-removable sidelock design with an intercepting safety sear and additional pin anchoring that make this gun superior to typical five-pin models. The CNC-machined receiver is milled from a solid block of molybdenum chrome steel and finished with true bone charcoal case hardening

Models are available in both 12- and 20-gauge, and with 24-, 26-, 28- or 30-inch barrels.

that makes each gun an individual work of art. The receiver is accented with beautiful hand-engraved English scroll work. The finish, 24-lines-perinch checkering of the premium Turkish walnut stock, and final fitting are all hand done by skilled craftsmen. The Royal Series doesn’t just look great on display; it is ruggedly built for reliable long-term performance. Its premium construction features include a gated barrel selector, automatic ejectors, heavy-duty hammer springs and precision CNC-machined internal components. It is available in both

12-gauge and 20-gauge versions, and a range of barrel lengths including 24-, 26-, 28- and 30-inch to cover a wide range of shooting styles. This gun comes complete with a luxurious carrying case and five thin-walled chokes to cover all shooting situations on the range or in the field. The Royal Series has an MSRP of $5,465, yet it looks, feels and shoots as good as or better than many premium sidelocks costing significantly more.  Editor’s note: For more information, visit dickinsonarms.com. americanshootingjournal.com 89

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch of southeast Idaho features hunting for high-quality bulls in a stunning landscape, along with luxurious accommodations.

ELK ‘HUNTER’S PARADISE’ IN IDAHO

Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch offers a ‘one-of-a-kind experience’ with its big bulls, luxury lodge. PHOTOS BY ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK RANCH

estled in the mountains of southeast Idaho – about 1½ hours from Yellowstone National Park and Jackson, Wyoming – Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch is a hunter’s paradise. Not only is the private high-fence ranch right in the heart of elk country, but the lodging and amenities are luxurious and the views are breathtaking. Jeff Lerwill grew up in the area and had dreamt about owning this gorgeous piece of property for years.

“The first time it came up for sale, I couldn’t afford it,” he explains. “Fifteen years later I ran into the owner and told him that if he ever wanted to sell that ground, I wanted to buy it. He called later when he was ready to sell and thanks to Mr. Rassmussen, I finally bought this dream location. Since that time, my wife Alana and I have poured every spare minute and every spare dime – actually quite a few that weren’t to spare as well – into making this slice of country a world-class elk ranch.”

Lerwill continues, “I’ve enjoyed hunting since before I was old enough to hunt. As a kid I loved listening to Dad’s hunting stories. Elk have always been my favorite animals; when they bugle they’ll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and your blood pump like never before. It’s a one-ofa-kind experience. Finding a really good bull is becoming a rare thing these days. I wanted to ensure my boys could experience the thrill of the hunt someday. I felt that with an elk ranch, I americanshootingjournal.com 91

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT Views around the ranch show the hunting lodge, the caliber of bulls to be had here and some of the 2,000 acres on which the property sits.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

could provide them and many others with a great opportunity to get the bull of a lifetime on a hunt they’ll never forget.” With knowledgeable guides and 2,000 acres of huntable land, Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch offers an amazing hunting experience for elk, as well as buffalo. “Because we are a private ranch, you can choose your own weapon, you don’t have to purchase any expensive out-ofstate licenses or tags, and we can make the hunt as challenging as you want or as easy as you need. We can even accommodate hunters with disabilities,” says Lerwill. “Hunts are three days and go from September 1 through the second week of November and our hunts are 100-percent guaranteed. All of our bulls are great, as we build our reputation around outstanding bulls.” The cost of your trophy hunt also includes the guides, field dressing of your animal and all the fantastic country cooking you can eat. If you stay in the private lodge, you will enjoy true luxury with vaulted ceilings, grand views, wraparound decks, relaxing accommodations and much more. There is even a target shooting range and fishing pond! “I think people really enjoy the quality of the experience we provide and the wonderful atmosphere of the lodge,” says Lerwill. “Many have told us that their experience and stay at the lodge was worth it and the elk was just a bonus. We are

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Elk hunting at the ranch begins in September, at the start of the elk rut. “When they bugle they’ll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and your blood pump like never before. It’s a one-of-a-kind experience,” says owner Jeff Lerwill.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

good honest people trying to help make hunting dreams come true. Remember our money-back guarantee: ‘We’re so confident that you will be satisfied, if you haven’t seen something you want to shoot after the first day, you can go have a night and some meals on us and take your complete refund with you!’ I don’t know of any other place that is willing to put their money where their mouth is like we do.” Rocky Mountain Elk Ranch has established itself as a premier hunting ranch, with satisfied customers coming year after year – “some have even come 11 or 12 years in a row,” says Lerwill – to bask in the hunting, the lodge and the overall experience. “We are always looking forward to hunting season and showing hunters the time of their life.”  Editor’s note: Dates are booking quickly, so contact the ranch as soon as possible. For more, visit rockymountainelkranch.com.

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BULLET BULLETIN

The Hornady ELD-X spitzer boattail with the Heat Shield polymer tip.

THE EXCELLENT ELD-X

Hornady’s low drag, expanding bullet ‘delivers accuracy both at the bench and in the hunting fields.’ STORY BY PHIL MASSARO • PHOTOS BY MASSARO MEDIA GROUP

he rain had just subsided, though the streams were too swollen to cross. In spite of the fact that temperatures had risen significantly – the previous morning was in the low single digits – the runoff created a natural barrier between us and the mule deer buck we had just glassed on the hillside at over 1,000 yards. So, with Plan A foiled, we regrouped

and planted the seeds of what would become Plan B: glass the innumerable coulees, gullies and canyons in a frantic manner until we found a buck. Well-armed with both superior firepower and a positive mental attitude, we sallied forth, in spite of wet feet and rumbling bellies indicating the proximity to lunchtime. My hunting partner Mike Mattly and I were discussing the finer points

of magnum cartridges and domestic beer as we approached the first canyon we were to glass, when a pair of mule deer bucks – who obviously disagreed with my take on Coors Light – jumped out of their beds to find better conversation. “On the left, he’s the one you want,” Mattly curtly stated. The rifle came quickly to shoulder, but a running mule deer will bounce more than run, so the shot wasn’t exactly a americanshootingjournal.com 97

BULLET BULLETIN

The 6.5mm 143-grain ELD-X is a perfect choice for all the 6.5 cartridges, from the Creedmoor to the 6.5-284 Norma up through the 6.5 PRC.

slam-dunk. Even through the recoil I could hear the bullet strike flesh, and Mattly’s congratulations assured the buck had gone down. Mule deer bucks can be tough, but the 143-grain Hornady ELD-X bullet

The Hornady ELD-X shown in section; note the InterLock AMP jacket, which will help keep the jacket and core together during the bullet’s terminal phase.

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

was tougher and, in spite of having almost 200 yards to slow down, worked perfectly. It was my first mule deer, and my first time in the field with the ELD-X, though it wouldn’t be the last for either one.

The 90-grain ELD-X in the .243 Winchester makes a solid choice for anything you’d hunt with that cartridge.

americanshootingjournal.com 99

BULLET BULLETIN The .30-caliber Hornady ELD-X at 200 grains will give great performance in the .3006 Springfield and the .300 magnums alike. (HORNADY)

Despite it being bashed by a good number of shooters, the 6.5 Creedmoor makes an efficient deer cartridge, especially when loaded with the Hornady ELD-X.

ELD-X IS AN acronym for the “Extremely Low Drag – eXpanding” bullet. The ELD-X is, to the eye, just another polymer-tipped boattail bullet. But once you pop the hood, there is a bit more going on, including some

points that make it a great choice for the hunter. The 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition – from Black Hills Ammunition – we had on that mule deer hunt shot very well, and on the South Dakota prairie it made a

Author Phil Massaro with a South Dakota mule deer buck that fell at nearly 200 yards from a 143-grain ELD-X bullet.

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great choice to deal with the definite possibility of a longer shot or a shot in a very windy condition, or worse: both. While we have the choice of a good many bullets, the ELD-X is among the finest for these situations. Let’s take a

BULLET BULLETIN

R With a good rifle, like this Kimber Open Country in 6.5 Creedmoor, a 143-grain Hornady ELD-X will make a solid choice for nearly all game suitable for the cartridge.

The 150-grain 7mm Hornady ELD-X is a good choice for the venerable 7x57mm Mauser, as it will handle a wide variety of big game animals.

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look at the design concepts, and at the eye-opening discoveries that led to its existence. Hornady, which is one of America’s most cherished bullet companies and has its roots in the post-World War II component bullet industry, is no stranger to bullet development. With founder Joyce Hornady pairing with Vernon Speer to use spent .22 Long Rifle cases to make bullet jackets – commodities, you see, were a rarity and handloaders didn’t have a lot to choose from – the company has a long history of interesting, effective and innovative designs. Their InterLock jacketed softpoint, which has long been a favorite of mine, remains a sound choice for any of the cervids, providing there is a sensible sectional density figure. The copper jacket is

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BULLET BULLETIN set into the lead core via a cannelure, and certainly moderates expansion, but even the spitzer boattail designs are limited in the ballistic coefficient department, based primarily on the shape of the exposed lead nose. Now Hornady isn’t the first company to put a pointed polymer tip on a bullet – that distinction belongs to Nosler, with their Ballistic Tip bullet

– but they did follow suit, including their signature red tip on such bullets as the SST (Super Shock Tip), GMX (Gilding Metal eXpanding) and the InterBond bullet, with its copper jacket bonded to the lead core. It was during long-range bullet testing, using Doppler radar technology, that the ballisticians at Hornady made a startling discovery. It became evident

An upset Hornady ELD-X bullet; note the expansion at a minimum of twice original caliber dimension. (HORNADY)

that something was happening to the polymer tip in flight, as the ballistic coefficient was dropping off rapidly as the bullet began to show the effects of atmospheric drag. The tips were melting due to friction, and that was causing the BC values to drop off significantly. So, Hornady’s engineers set to work to develop a tip that would hold up during flight, maintaining its conformation in order to help preserve the ballistic coefficient figures. The result of their efforts was the proprietary Heat Shield Tip, which would resist the effects of atmospheric drag throughout the bullet’s trajectory, and it was a game-changer. The ELD-X bullet uses the Hornady AMP bullet jacket – prized for its concentricity – and a secant ogive and boattail for match-grade accuracy, in addition to an internal InterLock ring on the interior of the jacket, which will help keep the jacket and core together during the violent terminal phase of expansion. It is the companion bullet to Hornady’s ELD Match – a wonderful target bullet – and is almost, if not equally, as accurate. IN SPITE OF Hornady offering a wide selection of hunting bullets of all sorts of designs, from the toughest to the most frangible, they chose the traditional cup-and-core design for the ELD-X bullet, presumably to mirror the construction of the ELD Match. But where the ELD Match has only to reach 104

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

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BULLET BULLETIN

The .300 Remington Ultra Magnum in Hornady’s Precision Hunter line of loaded cartridges, with the 212-grain ELD-X bullet.

the target in a consistent manner, with no care as to what happens once the steel is rung or the paper is punched, the ELD-X has the responsibility of destroying enough vital tissue to result in a clean, ethical kill. Quite possibly as much a result of the desire to attain the most advantageous BC values as it was a result of the need for a higher sectional density for reliable penetration, the ELD-X bullets are all on the heavy-for-caliber side of things. There are two 6mm choices at 90 and 103 grains, a 110-grain .257-inchdiameter, that 143-grain 6.5mm that worked so well for me in South Dakota, a 145-grain .277-inch-diameter, three 7mm choices at 150, 162 and 175 grains, a quartet of .30s – 178, 200, 212 and 220 grains – and a pair of .338s at 230 and 270 grains. There are some stellar ballistic coefficients among this lineup, including the 175-grain 7mm, with a G1 BC of .689, and the 270-grain .338, 106

American Shooting Journal // April 2021

with a G1 BC of .757; both of these will perform wonderfully at longer ranges. The 212-grain .308 – with a G1 BC of .673 – couples well with the larger magnum cases like the .300 RUM, .300 PRC, .300 Norma and .30-378 Weatherby Magnum. If you recover an ELD-X from your game animal, you will find a high level of weight retention, often in the high 80-percent range, which is typical of a heavy-for-caliber cup-and-core bullet with a decent jacket. While all these bullets are available in component form to the reloader, Hornady also offers a wide selection of loaded cartridges in their Precision Hunter line of ammunition. Loaded in their proprietary brass cases, the Precision Hunter ammo is wonderfully accurate and is utterly reliable. The ELD-X is also loaded by some of the smaller ammo companies, like the Black Hills Gold line that I hunted with, and it is also offered by Choice

Ammunition. I like the ELD-X as a general hunting bullet for the common species such as hogs, black bears, whitetail and mule deer, caribou, elk and even moose, if the caliber is large enough for the larger cervids. For the dangerous species like grizzly bears, I’d prefer a bonded-core or monometal design, but for the majority of species, the ELD-X will work just fine. I’m not able to testify whether the Heat Shield Tip holds together during flight or not, as every fired bullet I’ve been able to recover has been so badly deformed that it was impossible to ascertain what happened in flight. Nor am I able to determine what happens to other polymer tips. But I do know the Hornady ELD-X does what I need it to do: it delivers accuracy both at the bench and in the hunting fields, and delivers the terminal performance needed to ensure a quick, humane kill. 

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FEATURED COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

OF DIAMONDS AND BRASS For 75 years, Redding Reloading has helped shooters build their own bullets with ‘new and innovative products of the highest quality.’ PHOTOS BY REDDING RELOADING

ow celebrating 75 years in business, Redding Reloading Equipment has come a long way since its humble beginnings. In 1946, shortly after the end of World War II, Burr Bement started the company in a chicken coop in Virgil, New York. His first product, a balance beam powder scale, was the first calibrated beam scale specifically designed for the reloading market. A few years later, Bement moved the company over the hill to Cortland, where it got a proper building and was subsequently incorporated as ReddingHunter, Inc. in 1956. Throughout its early years, Redding made a diverse group of products, including the scale, a powder measure, peep sights, shotshell reloading equipment and even live pigeon traps. In the early 1960s, the company began its evolution into the production of reloading dies for metallic cartridges. This coincided with the move to producing only reloading equipment and the transition to the name Redding Reloading Equipment. The reloading die sets have remained extremely popular, says company executive vice president Robin Sharpless. He explains, “They are our largest seller and we have developed a stepped approach with sets designed for specific needs and levels of performance, allowing

Redding Reloading’s Slant Bed Concentricity Gauge is a gamechanger for the handloader, making case rotation easier and more precise.

customers to grow their skills through our product line.” Of course, Redding Reloading is continually providing the handloader with new and innovative products of the highest quality. Sharpless says the new Slant Bed Concentricity Gauge is a “real game-changer in terms of ergonomic design to improve accuracy and function.” The “slant bed” design moves the bearing surface down and away from the user, making case rotation easier and more precise. The single point contact bearing surfaces are placed at an angle, and made of hardened stainless steel, creating an ergonomic positioning of the case and

improving the ease of motion turning the case by making the action far more natural. Over the decades, Redding has introduced many new products and shed some old, but one thing has remained: the company’s dedication to quality and to the reloading market. Sharpless credits this dedication for the company’s longevity and success in the industry. “We remain the americanshootingjournal.com 109

FEATURED COMPANY SPOTLIGHT 100-percent American-made company as was founded 75 years ago,” he says. “Quality is our priority and we produce products we are all proud of.” He adds, “We also have a responsibility to the folks who have helped us along the way. We looked hard at our anniversary year and with Covid and all the problems the nation has had, our answer was to freeze 2020 pricing throughout 2021. We know how many of our customers were hurt by the shutdowns and the changes to work and business. So in this celebration year, when we are the busiest we have ever been, we looked to assist our customers with a price break.” This has always been the Redding way: a dedication to the shooting sports community with quality, innovative, American-made products and unparalleled customer service.  Editor’s note: For more information, see redding-reloading.com.

Redding Reloading began producing die sets in the 1960s and they remain one of the company’s top sellers.

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BLACK POWDER

HOW OUR SHARPS SHOOTS STARTED Long-range matches are all the rage, but shooting competitions held at shorter distances can help ease entry into the sport for new black powder cartridge enthusiasts.

Author Mike Nesbitt’s “old” .45-70 Sharps turned in a very good score during his shooting club’s inaugural short-range match.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT

lack powder cartridge shooting is most often shown or reported on as a long-range doin’s, such as the Matthew Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match near Forsyth, Montana, all the way back to the famous 1,000-yard matches on the Creedmoor range. While those farshootin’ matches do make the headlines, they’re not the only black powder cartridge shooting we enjoy. There’s a lot of short-range shooting to be done as well. It should be noted that not all those who want to get started in black powder cartridge shooting, long-range or otherwise, are seasoned and experienced buffalo runners. Shooting in those long-range matches is certainly a challenge, but we need some shorter shootin’ too, especially for tenderfeet who haven’t boiled their coffee over burning buffalo chips as yet. Actually, I fell into that last

category myself, and that was not really too long ago. I admit that just to let you know that I’m speaking from the heart. So join me for a few minutes to see how one club (and several others, we might hope) broke into shooting with the Sharps and other single-shot black powder cartridge rifles in a good, easy way. FIRST OF ALL, for this particular club (Capitol City Rifle & Pistol Club near Olympia, Washington), shooting was done on their black powder range where muzzleloaders are mainly used, and that range has a 100-yard limit. That just doesn’t cut it for long-range shooting, of course. But at the same time, shots fired at 50 and 100 yards can really tell a tale. After all, the bullet’s flight begins at the muzzle, not when the bullet passes 400 yards. Getting it done at 50 and 100 yards is not only a good way to get started with black powder cartridge shooting, it’s also a lot of fun. Join this group, in a way, and read about a small shoot we had on a Saturday morning one August, now

more than a few years ago, when five rugged and ragged rangers gathered under the supervision of rangemaster Bob Gietz for a black powder cartridge match. All of the shooters used newly made versions of the 1874 Sharps, except for Doug Simpson, who fired his H&R copy of an 1873 Springfield trapdoor carbine. And all shooters used .45-70 rifles, except for me. I shot my .45-2 7/8-inch Sharps (.45110) at 100 yards, then I fell back to my old tried and true .45-70 (using .45-75-400 paper-patched loads) for my 50-yard target. While my big .45-110 might have been the loudest rifle in the match, using 535-grain Lyman Postell bullets over 90 grains of GOEX Fg powder (this was before Olde Eynsford was produced), it was not the highestscoring. The high scores for the day went to Kent Dunn, who used his .4570 by shooting and then reloading the empty cartridge, while maintaining his sitting position before shooting again. Kent was the only shooter to score into the 90s on both of his targets. americanshootingjournal.com 113

BLACK POWDER OUR COURSE OF fire included one target at 50 yards and another at 100 yards; 10 shots at each target. Shooting was done from any “unsupported position,” which basically means anything except benchrest. Cross sticks are certainly OK. In this particular match, we all shot from the sitting position, some with cross sticks and some without. No one used the prone position. With only a few shooters firing 20 shots each, this match was a short one and all of us finished our targets just before noon that day. We all agreed it was a very good way to begin the weekend. And the highest-scoring individual target was the one I shot at 50 yards, using my “old” .45-70 with the halfround 30-inch barrel from C. Sharps Arms (csharpsarms.com). I’ve had that rifle for 40 years and by now it is actually rather well trained. (That was my second rifle from C. Sharps Arms, back when they made custom rifles using Shiloh actions.) As already mentioned, my favorite .45-75-400 paper-patched load was used over 75 grains of GOEX cartridge powder. Those bullets were the swaged cup-

This was the high scoring target of the day, shot with .45-75 loads.

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American Shooting Journal // April 2021

Black powder cartridge rifle shooters Doug Simpson, Bob DeLisle, Mike Nesbitt, Kent Dunn and Will Ulry.

base bullets from Buffalo Arms. That target scored a 94-XXX and that was quite pleasing, though I had hoped to do even better. Other shooters had their own

stories to tell. Bob DeLisle made a very good showing while shooting his Pedersoli .45-70 with its 32-inch barrel. This was the first time Bob had fired his rather new Sharps-style rifle in a match, but we could tell by the grin on his face that it wouldn’t be the last. And Doug Simpson was off to a fair start with his H&R trapdoor carbine, but the rear sight came loose and he quit on his 100-yard paper after just five shots. Will Ulry apparently used the wrong sight setting at 50 yards with his Sharps, but he got “on paper” at the longer distance. The shooting for score went by rather quickly and, of course, it was followed by some good discussion about loads, sights and hunting. It certainly wasn’t hard to find things to talk about and every rifle has its own story to tell. This good tradition of the after-match debriefing and data sharing goes on yet, after every match. LET ME SUGGEST that if you want to get started in shooting black powder cartridge rifles, do it with a good small group of shooters with some rather informal shooting. There is nothing

americanshootingjournal.com 115

BLACK POWDER wrong with what we might all refer to as “short-range” shooting. After all, the very next step, if you have the facilities for such distances, is midrange shooting. We all can learn a great deal about shooting these rifles at short ranges and some of the mysteries of shooting black powder are solved in an easier way while shooting at these shorter distances. Of course, now our short-range matches have become our club’s Old West Centerfire matches, which are held six times per year, with other special matches thrown in, along with our Buffalo Camp that we hold annually. That means we have a black powder cartridge event almost every month. To say that black powder cartridge shooting and competition can grow is putting things mildly. By the same token, the number of our shooters has grown nicely and our Old West Centerfire matches now use targets at 100 and 200 yards on the

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SHOOTERS LIST, IN ORDER OF PLACEMENT BY SCORE: 1st Kent Dunn 2nd Mike Nesbitt 3rd Bob DeLisle 4th Doug Simpson 5th Will Ulry

50 yards 91 94XX 78 69 0

club’s High Power range. We’ve added some challenging “after-aggregate” matches too, sometimes using black powder revolvers. The biggest treat about shooting at the shorter distances, especially for shooters just getting started, is how much fun black powder cartridge shooting really is. If you’ve read this far, maybe you’d be interested in starting a group for shooting matches, or some hunting, or general sharing of the good old black powder cartridge technology. That can extend to informal workshops where new

100 yards 93X 78X 89 35 70X

Total 184X 172XXX 167 104 70X

shooters can learn how to roll their own paper-patched bullets, as well as how to get those bullets into the cartridge cases without tearing the paper. (We’re going to include a “Paper-Patch Workshop” in our next Buffalo Camp.) There is more than that to making up good black powder cartridge loads, of course. We will still need to talk about lubricants, powders and powder charges. The real point about getting started is to simply do that: get started. And the easiest way to get started is to do it at the shorter ranges. 

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American Shooting Journal - April 2021

Articles inside

KAREN BUTLER’S ROADSHOW TAKES THE SHOOTING SPORTS TO WOMEN