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A MERIC A N

SHOOTING JOURNAL

Volume 10 // Issue 8 // May 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

Tiffany Haugen, wife of American Shooting Journal Roadhunter columnist Scott Haugen and a noted wild game cookbook author in her own right, poses with her black bear taken on a hunt in rugged interior British Columbia. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

CONTRIBUTORS Jim Dickson, Scott Haugen, Phil Massaro, Mike Nesbitt, Paul Pawela, Nick Perna SALES MANAGER Paul Yarnold

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Mamie Griffin, Jim Klark, Kelley Miller, Mike Smith

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

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American Shooting Journal // May 2021

CONTENTS

VOLUME 10 • ISSUE 8

A USER’S GUIDE TO RIFLESCOPES While there are many makes and models of riflescopes to choose from, hunter and shooter Jim Dickson shares his thoughts on getting on target.

(TIMOTHEOS/SHUTTERSTOCK)

COVER STORY 59

ROADHUNTER: COUNTRY OF BIG BLACK BEARS Hardcore sportsman Scott Haugen is on a lifelong search for unparalleled bruin hunting opportunities, and he just may have found the promised land in remote British Columbia. Relive the stellar spring hunt that he and cover-gal wife Tiffany Haugen enjoyed recently in this western Canadian province.

MORE FEATURES 22

‘TO REMEMBER AND HONOR’ How a Maine company’s surplus Christmas wreaths spawned an annual tradition that honors America’s fallen soldiers, a program thanking veterans for their service, and much more.

LAW ENFORCEMENT SPOTLIGHT: WOUNDED IN THE LINE OF DUTY Cody Carpenter, an Arkansas officer, father and National Guard member, knows all about duty, and when a kidnapping suspect showed up, he was there to try and arrest the man.

SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING: ARE YOU TRAINING TO LOSE TOO? It’s far from self-defeating to consider the consequences of losing a fight. “In fact, it often makes us stronger,” counsels Paul Pawela, our selfdefense training columnist.

GET A (BETTER) GRIP You don’t have to settle for stock – rubber grips, “skateboard” (or friction) tape and stippling can help improve your handgun’s purchase, shootability and retainability. Nick Perna walks us through the choices.

BULLET BULLETIN: GET ON BOARD WITH BOATTAILS With their structural resistance to atmospheric drag, velocity retention and flatter trajectory, boattail bullets provide higher striking energy further out, perfect for long-range hunters. Phil Massaro has some recommendations.

BLACK POWDER: AN ORIGINAL, RIGHT DOWN TO ITS TWICEREPAIRED STOCK That rawhide wrap over the stock of Mike Nesbitt’s most treasured Sharps, a Semi Custom Classic Hartford Sporting Rifle, makes it all the more authentic. He shares his appreciation for his favorite .44-77.

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 // May 2021

CONTENTS

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American Shooting Journal // May 2021

Competition Calendar Gun Show Calendar Father’s Day Gift Guide

PRIMER

COMPETITION C A L E N D A R

May 1

May 22-23

May 15-16

May 24-26

May 5-9

May 15-16

May 28-30

May 20-23

June 4-6

Alabama State Junior Olympic Championship Vina, Ala. usashooting.org

Team Shooting Stars May 2021 PTO Carrollton, Texas Production, Single Stack, L10 & Revolver Nationals Talladega, Ala.

May 7-8

Double Tap Championship Wichita Falls, Texas

uspsa.org

2021 Smallbore Trials 2 Fort Benning, Ga.

2021 Inland Empire Sectional Benton City, Wash. 2021 Northern Arizona Classic Wilhoit, Ariz.

May 21-22

Mid Atlantic Sectional New Tripoli, Pa. USPSA 2 Gun PCC/Pistol Nationals Talladega, Ala.

May 1-2

May 8-9

May 22-23

Cornhuskers Classic XIII Grand Island, Neb.

May 15-16

May 22-23

May 7-8

May 15-16

May 29-31

May 15-16

May 21-23

May 30

May 1-2

May 14-16

May 30

May 1-2

Snake River Rangers NW Regional Star, Idaho

Western Regional IDPA Championship Sacramento, Calif.

May 7-8 idpa.com

Team Shooting Stars June 2021 PTO Carrollton, Texas

Columbia-Cascade Section Championship Dundee, Ore.

Utah State Shoot Ogden, Utah cmsaevents.com

June 19-20

Sugar Cane Classic Donaldsonville, La.

May 13-16

“This is Sparta” Challenge X Sparta, Ill. gssfonline.com

Michigan Junior Olympic Shotgun Championships Hillsdale, Mich.

OK State Championship Tulsa, Okla.

May 14-15

Delaware State IDPA Championship Match Bridgeville, Del.

Sweet Home Alabama Glock Challenge IX Montgomery, Ala. Music City Shootout XI Mount Pleasant, Tenn.

California State Championships Lincoln, Calif. South Carolina State Championships Pendleton, S.C.

2021 Great Lakes Regional Munger, Mich.

May 22

Iowa State IDPA Championship Elkhart, Iowa

May 27-30

Rocky Mountain Regional IDPA Championship Grand Junction, Colo.

Northern Lakes Regional Classic XXX Saint Paul, Minn. Belton Blast II Belton, S.C.

Colorado State Championship Castle Rock, Colo. South Central Regional Championship Cookeville, Tenn.

Texas State IDPA Championship Whitewright, Texas

June 12

Missouri State Indoor Carry Championship Ballwin, Mo.

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 19

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

PRIMER

GUNSHOW C A L E N D A R

(FLORIDA GUN SHOWS)

C&E Gun Shows cegunshows.com

May 15-16 May 22-23 May 29-30

Hickory, N.C. Springfield, Ohio Winston-Salem, N.C.

Hickory Metro Convention Center Clark County Fairgrounds Winston-Salem Fairgrounds

Crossroads Of The West Gun Shows

May 1-2

St. George, Utah

Dixie Center

May 15-16 May 29-30

Orlando, Fla. Miami, Fla.

Central Florida Fairgrounds Miami-Dade Fairgrounds

May 1-2 May 1-2 May 15-16 May 15-16 May 22-23 May 22-23 May 29-30

Lebanon, Tenn. Colorado Springs, Colo. Wichita, Kan. Springfield, Mo. Tulsa, Okla. Overland Park, Kan. East Ridge, Tenn.

Wilson County Exposition Center Colorado Springs Event Center Century II Expo Hall Ozark Empire Fairgrounds Expo Square – Exchange Center Overland Park Convention Center Camp Jordan Arena

May 28-30

Aurora, Colo.

Arapahoe County Fairgrounds

May 15-16 May 29-30

Centralia, Wash. Redmond, Ore.

Southwest Washington Fairgrounds Deschutes County Fairgrounds

crossroadsgunshows.com

Florida Gun Shows floridagunshows.com

RK Shows rkshows.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 21

‘TO REMEMBER AND HONOR’

Wreaths are laid in cemeteries across the nation to honor our military heroes through a program called Wreaths Across America. (CINDYLINDOWPHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK)

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

ER R’

How a Maine company's surplus Christmas wreaths spawned an annual tradition honoring America's fallen soldiers, a program thanking veterans for their service, and much more. Remember. Honor. Teach.

That is the mission of Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit best known for its annual wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery and around the country. Founded in 2007, WAA actually had its beginnings about 15 years earlier in Harrington, Maine. That is when Morrill Worcester, owner of Worcester Wreath Company, discovered that he had a surplus of wreaths at the end of the holiday season. Inspired by a boyhood trip to Arlington National Cemetery, he realized he had an opportunity to honor our country’s veterans. So a wreath-laying ceremony was organized at the military cemetery, with the aid of Maine U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, along with help from local volunteers and a nearby trucking company that transported the wreaths to Virginia. The ceremony quietly became an annual tradition, taking place every December. Then, in 2005, a photo of the wreathand snow-covered stones went viral, and the project quickly received national attention from people wanting to help – as well as those wanting to emulate the project at their local cemeteries. In 2006, simultaneous wreath-laying ceremonies were held at over 150 locations across the nation. As the Arlington ceremony continued to grow and spread across the country, the Worcester family and their partners formed the nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization known as Wreaths Across America. According to the WAA website, “It became clear the desire to remember and honor our country’s fallen heroes was bigger than Arlington, and bigger than this one company.” In 2014, WAA and its national network of volunteers laid over 700,000 memorial wreaths, including covering Arlington with 226,525 wreaths. Ceremonies were held at 1,000 locations that year, including at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge and the sites of the September 11 tragedies. The wreath-laying is still held annually, on the second or third Saturday of December, but WAA makes yearround efforts to remember the fallen, honor those who serve and their families, and teach the next generation the value of freedom. In addition to participating in veterans’ events throughout the year, WAA also organizes programs such as the Thanks a Million campaign, which distributes cards to veterans all over the country to thank them for their service. The Remembrance Tree program takes families of fallen soldiers out to the americanshootingjournal.com 23

In Memoriam:

Famous Veterans Who Died in 2020 American Shooting Journal recognizes a few of the military veterans who passed away last year, and thanks them for their service. COURTESY OF MILITARY.COM

Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft A 1947 graduate of West Point, Brent Scowcroft trained to be a fighter pilot in the Army Air Corps until his F-51 crashed in a New Hampshire swamp and put him in the hospital for two years. After he recovered from his injuries, Scowcroft rose in the ranks and served as the national security adviser to Presidents Major General Brent Scowcroft. (WIKIPEDIA) Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, becoming the only man to serve in that role for two presidents.

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941 and served as a communications officer in antisubmarine warfare aboard the USS PC-1139. He was discharged in 1944 after suffering injuries due to a premature depth charge. Douglas had attended acting school Kirk Douglas in 1963. before the war, and his dramatic career (WIKIPEDIA) really took off after he played opposite fellow veteran Robert Mitchum in the 1947 movie Out of the Past. Over the next seven decades, he accumulated almost 100 film credits.

Ronald Shurer Ronald Shurer enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002 and trained as a Special Forces medic. He was promoted to staff sergeant in 2006. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his conduct at the Battle of Shok Valley in Afghanistan on April 6, 2008. His unit came under heavy fire and was U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Shurer. (U.S. ARMY pinned down on a mountainside. Shurer ran through heavy fire to treat wounded PHOTO BY MONICA KING) Americans and was injured himself by a strike to his helmet and another to his arm. He received his Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump in October 2018. 24

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

Regis Philbin Regis Philbin joined the U.S. Navy in 1953 after graduating from Notre Dame, serving as a supply officer lieutenant junior grade. Philbin became one of the most beloved figures in American television as the host of the nationally syndicated show, Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. It dominated the daytime ratings until Philbin retired in 2011.

John Prine John Prine was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and served in Germany as a mechanic. After completing his service, Prine worked as a mail carrier in Chicago. He wrote songs while delivering the mail and gained acclaim on the city’s folk music circuit. He got his big break when fellow veteran Kris Kristofferson invited him to open a show, which led to a deal with Atlantic Records and a nearly 50-year career as one of America’s most respected and beloved singersongwriters.

Bennie Adkins Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1956 and served until 1978. In March 1966, Adkins joined two officers from the Fifth Special Forces Group at Camp A Shau in the triplecanopy valley that ran west from Hue city to the Ho Chi Minh trail in Cambodia. The Sgt. Maj. North Vietnamese attacked, and Adkins Command Bennie G. Adkins. (U.S. fought back. He was awarded the Medal ARMY PHOTO BY STAFF SGT. BERNARDO FULLER/RELEASED) of Honor for his valor during the battle.

Whitey Ford

Whitey Ford. (WIKIPEDIA)

Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Whitey Ford left the New York Yankees in 1951 to serve with the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Before his military service, Ford had already won one World Series ring and, upon his return, the Yankees won 10 American League pennants and five World Series in a 12-year span.

Fred Willard Fred Willard graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1955 and then served with the U.S. Army in Germany. His post-service career in comedy took a while to get going but, starting in the 1970s, Willard became one of the funniest and hardest-working actors in Hollywood, with memorable roles in movies and TV series such as This Is Spinal Tap, Best in Show and Anchorman.

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942 and served during World War II, eventually finding his way into the legendary Special Services entertainment unit. Reiner found success on stage as a comic and in film as an alwayshilarious supporting actor, but he made his biggest impact as a producer and director. He created The Dick Van Dyke Show and directed the classic movies The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains and Oh, God!

RECORDS)

Jerry Stiller Jerry Stiller served in the U.S. Army during World War II. His Hollywood career took off when he married Anne Meara, and the pair formed a successful comedy duo that enjoyed great success in nightclubs, on television and even in a series of commercials that played off their bickering comedy style. Jerry Stiller. (DANIEL Later in life, Stiller became one of TV’s KRIEGER, PHOTO BY greatest grouchy dads as the costar of DANIELKRIEGER.COM) the massively successful comedy series Seinfeld and The King of Queens.

Don Shula Carl Reiner. (ANGELA GEORGE AT HTTPS://WWW. FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/ SHARONGRAPHICS/)

Bill Withers

Bill Withers. (COLUMBIA

exploded onto the 1970s music scene with classic hits like Lean on Me, Ain’t No Sunshine and Lovely Day.

Bill Withers joined the U.S. Navy at age 17 and spent his military career as a mechanic who installed toilets on airplanes. He found a job with Boeing doing the same thing after his discharge, writing songs and recording demos in his spare time. Once those demos landed him a record deal after the age of 30, Bill

Don Shula was a defensive back for the Cleveland Browns when his Ohio National Guard unit was activated in January 1952. He spent the year in Ohio and at Fort Polk until November, when he was released from active duty and allowed to return to football. Shula spent the later years of his Don Shula. (DOD PHOTO playing career with the Baltimore Colts, BY MASS COMMUNICATION and the team eventually hired him as SPECIALIST 1ST CLASS CHAD J. MCNEELEY, U.S. NAVY/ its head coach in 1963. Shula later took RELEASED) his talents to Miami and became the Dolphins’ head coach. In a 25-year career there, he took the team to four Super Bowls and won twice.

Civil Air Patrol National Commander Major General Joseph Vazquez lays a holiday wreath at a veteran’s gravesite during a Wreaths Across America ceremony. (JOSEPH GRUBER/SHUTTERSTOCK)

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

balsam tip land (where the wreaths are harvested) to find a tree that will become a living memorial to their loved one. Finally, the WAA Museum is an 1,800-square-foot facility showcasing hundreds of items that have been donated to Wreaths Across America over the decades, including personal photos, awards, uniforms, helmets and other military memorabilia. WAA is also dedicated to teaching the younger generation about the value of their freedoms and the importance of honoring those who sacrificed so much to protect those freedoms. They offer learning tools, interactive media projects and opportunities for schools, 4-H, scouts and other youth groups to participate in WAA efforts.  Editor’s note: For more information about Wreaths Across America, visit wreathsacrossamerica.org.

L.E. SPOTLIGHT

WOUNDED IN THE LINE OF DUTY Arkansas officer/father/National Guard member expected to make full recovery after being shot while trying to arrest suspect. STORY BY NICK PERNA

uman traffickers represent the very worst that society has to offer. The only people they care about are themselves and they are willing to use other people, regardless of their age, to get what they want. As a detective, I have had the opportunity, and pleasure, to take down pimps and other lowlifes who prey on the weak and unprotected. The damage they do has immediate consequences with children being injured or killed, and for those who survive there’s the longterm effect of having to deal with the emotional trauma. So, obviously, I like a good story about a good cop taking down a predator. ENTER OFFICER CODY Carpenter of the Lonoke (Arkansas) Police Department. On February 21, 2021, Carpenter and his partner had an up-close and personal confrontation with a kidnapping suspect who was holding a 14-year-old girl against her will. They confronted the suspect, William Ice, outside an Arkansas fast food restaurant. When officers attempted to detain Ice, he opened fire on both of them. William Ice Carpenter was struck,

Officer Cody Carpenter, here with daughters Ella and Evie, was wounded in February while trying to arrest an out-of-state kidnapping suspect. A volunteer firefighter, as well as a member of the Arkansas National Guard, Carpenter was expected to make a full recovery. (CODY CARPENTER)

while his partner, Officer Brandon Ray, returned fire. Ice was able to flee in his vehicle, but was found later with a selfinflicted gunshot wound. He later died at Little Rock Hospital. Fortunately, the young victim was found unharmed in the suspect’s vehicle. Ice had kidnapped the victim in North

Carolina on February 11, 2021, after making contact with her on the Internet. Some of these connections were made while the victim was using a computer at her school. Ice kept the child against her will, traveling through multiple states, until his run-in with law enforcement. At the time of his demise, Ice americanshootingjournal.com 29

had multiple warrants for his arrest, including kidnapping and soliciting a child by computer. There was also an open investigation into a sexual assault of another juvenile. IN ADDITION TO being a police officer, Carpenter is also a volunteer firefighter, as well as a member of the Arkansas National Guard. He is also a father with daughters of his own, Ella and Evie. Officer Carpenter was struck multiple times by the suspect, but is expected to make a full recovery. Hopefully he will be back on the job soon. A GoFundMe page (gofundme.com/f/officercody-carpenter-donation-fund) has been set up with the funds going directly to Carpenter to help out in his time of need. Sexual predators are selfish cowards who care only about their own worthless hides. William Ice is a classic example of this, a child molester who was willing to kill a police officer to save himself. Officers like Cody Carpenter and Brandon Ray represent the thin blue line that helps keep our communities safe.  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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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Self-Defense TRAINING

Wes Doss, a prominent instructor in the law enforcement community, passed away earlier this year. Author Paul Pawela had the privilege of working with him several times over the years.

ARE YOU TRAINING TO LOSE TOO? ‘Every human being can learn from defeat; in fact, it often makes us stronger.’

STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAUL PAWELA

everal years ago, a book came out titled Train to Win by Wes Doss. At the time, I thought the notion of a book with this title was kind of silly because as law enforcement officers or civilian CCW permitholders, we always train to win and never train to lose. For the record, Doss, who passed away earlier this year, was one of the best instructors in the law enforcement community. He went above the call of duty, traveling across the country with his free law enforcement training events, titled Lights, Sights & Lasers. However, even in his book, he

does not address the subject of losing. As a lifelong trainer in both firearms and martial arts, we rarely talk about losing the fight, whether it’s military, law enforcement or civilian engagements. But unfortunately, sooner or later, it is going to happen. The best way to deal with it is to recognize it when it is happening, regroup and reassess to live to fight another day. Not long ago, one of the most dominant females in mixed martial arts to ever step in the ring, Ronda Rousey, was upset and soundly defeated by a former World Boxing champion named Holly Holm. Holm had also been welltrained in kickboxing and grappling, and it showed in her fight with Rousey.

Most of Rousey’s fights before Holm did not go more than one round, as Rousey usually dominated her opponents in short order. Thus, she never lost. In fact, she had never lost in an MMA fighting setting until her match with Holm. Afterwards, Rousey was whisked from the ring with her head tucked down and with a hoodie covering her face in disgrace. Here’s the real problem: Sometime later, Rousey publicly admitted on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she contemplated suicide because the loss devastated her so much. Let that sink in. One of the best fighters in the world considered taking her own life because she never lost a fight and was crushed when she did. americanshootingjournal.com 33

SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING HOW DOES THAT translate to the job of law officers or for the armed citizen? Over three decades ago, I was intimately familiar with a case where a young, well-trained SWAT officer was doing a high-risk warrant. He cleared a room and told his backup partner so. What the young officer did not know was that when he kicked in the door, there was another door behind it with a bad man lying in wait. In a matter of seconds, the bad guy was able to get the drop on both police officers. He was able to shoot both of them, killing the backup officer instantly and hitting the other in the chest. Luckily the young officer had a vest on and returned fire, killing the suspect. Upon confirming the suspect was dead, the officer immediately started first aid on his partner, all the while knowing it was in vain. The department had never had a shooting before. All other raids had been successful (wins) up to that

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

point. In a state of shock, the 23-yearold officer was checked out by his teammates for any other wounds, then one question was posed to him: “What happened?” With the overwhelming guilt of losing a friend and brother officer, the young officer replied, “I missed the freaking door!” There it was, an admission of wrongdoing, so they had someone to blame, but no one could hold the surviving officer more accountable than the officer himself. Eventually, the SWAT commander had five local teams create the same scenario. Every team missed the door – every single time. This scenario changed the entire law enforcement community as to how they do room clearing, and eventually, the scenario made it onto the big screen in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie, Sabotage. WHY IN THE law enforcement community, or any endeavor in lethal training, are

we afraid to talk about losing? Why is the very topic not discussed in any self-defense training? Law enforcement has the reality of big losses. The New Hall massacre in California, the FBI shootout in Miami and the BATF raid in Waco, Texas, to name a few. Let’s face it: no one likes to lose, especially cops; they do not even like to bring the subject up. The question that needs to be answered is, why not? Nothing is more demoralizing to the emotional stamina of an individual police officer, a tactical unit or a department than to lose a fellow police officer in the line of duty. No matter how it went down, it is considered a loss. Losing a fellow officer in a deadly force encounter causes secondguessing of one’s actions, which turns into a loss of confidence, which could turn into hopelessness and despair, which could quite possibly turn into suicide, and then you have the cycle repeating itself all over again.

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SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING And what is the reason for all these emotions that run rampant when faced with loss? Simple. No one ever trained and prepared for the possibility of losing. Fellow trainers and administrators often violate the first rule of tactical training, which is “Never assume anything.” One of our nation’s finest warriors who ever lived, founder of the Navy’s counterterrorism unit SEAL Team Six and Red Cell, Richard Marcinko, had this to say on the subject: “Plan your tactics as if everything would go wrong. Why? Because things always go wrong. Mr. Murphy is always coming along for the ride.” One of the many problems I see with law enforcement firearms training, or civilian firearms training in general, is too much time spent on the combat shooting triad – marksmanship (the ability to hit the target quickly), tactics (the use of position, movement, cover and concealment) and weapon

presentation (drawing and reloading the weapon) – when most often very little of this has anything to do with the actual armed encounters police or civilians are likely to face. The nature of law enforcement gunfights today has changed very little from recorded gunfights of the 19th century – and the same goes for the civilian. Most occur at close proximity, usually under poor lighting conditions, often there is a foot chase involved, and usually the officer has to deal with inadequate facts of the situation, as well as the problem of having innocent bystanders to be concerned with. Given this information, what is missing in the training part of the equation? The topic of losing. Because regardless of how prepared you are to win, sometimes you lose anyway – that’s just a fact of life. If police officers, and especially civilians, are not exposed to defeat in their training, then this can lead

them to believe they are undefeatable. It could give them a false sense of confidence and extreme case of tombstone courage, which could not only lead to deadly consequences unto themselves, but very likely be a safety hazard to others as well. EVERY HUMAN BEING can learn from defeat; in fact, it often makes us stronger. This is not a new or radical concept, but one that has been tested by every great warrior who ever lived. One of the greatest warriors of all time was Attila the Hun. On defeat, he supposedly had this to say: “Sooner or later, it will happen. If you recognize you’re losing in a fight or negotiations, don’t deny it, face it and take immediate actions to minimize your opponent’s gain and get back to your cause. Learn to pass through your misery. Think about what happened and why but don’t dwell on it. Consider all the potentialities of battle and negotiations before entering them.

ALFORD DESIGNS LIMITED

r. Paula Alford has been a part of the shooting industry for over 20 years. She has been a competitive trap shooter for decades, as well as a coach. “When I first started competing, I could not find a shooting vest that fit me. Most gun shops only carried men’s shooting vests, so I decided to make my own,” she explained. Dr. Alford continues to make custom shooting vests for individuals and can also make custom vests for teams. Taking it a step further, she started Alford Designs Limited back in 2015. “When I could not find any fashionable leather concealed carry purses for myself, I decided to make my own,” said Dr. Alford. “When I started carrying my new leather purse I designed and made, people complimented, so I decided to set up at a local gun show and showed a couple of designs, and made my first sale.” She continued, “Since that first design, I have come a long way by improving our purse designs and adding new designs.” Some of the new designs incorporate technology that makes the straps cut-resistant, while others include RFID material to protect people from theft from scanning credit cards. Dr. Alford continues to select and design up-to-date fashion for women who like beautiful yet practical fine leather purses, bags, satchels and matching accessories, made in the USA. In addition to selling her leather goods online, Dr. Alford also sells at some of the large gun shows. Alford Designs will be a vendor at the USCCA Expo in October 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. Stop by and see first-hand some of her original designs made with beautiful leathers. All are made in the USA! Her bag, purse, satchel and briefcase designs can be customized to include or not include a holster, and some can be personalized. Contact Dr. Alford directly for pricing for custom one-of-a-kind or team shooting vests. Wholesale pricing for stores is also available for fine leather concealed carry purses, bags, satchels, matching accessories and other items. Email Dr. Alford at AlfordDesignsLimited@gmail .com. Visit their online shops at: etsy.com/shop/alforddesignsltd or alforddesignslimited.com. 36

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

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The author is pictured with the late Wes Doss (far left), along with eighttime MMA World Champion Shannon Ritch, Ranger Hall of Famer Gary O’Neal, and Delta Force/CIA Operator Dale Comstock, all legends in their respective fields.

Rehearse them in your mind. Think of the consequences that may result from your actions. This will allow you to be better prepared for the worst to come.” We are all human and we all make mistakes. So why can’t we train for lethal encounters with that in mind? It is better to train for a possible sting of defeat than to admit it for the first time on the street. And that is my two cents! This article is dedicated to Master Trainer Wes Doss, who imparted to all his warriors to win always – even if you lose, give it your all in one hell of a fight – and he led by example even till the end. Until we meet again, Wes Doss. Rest easy, Warrior!  Editor’s note: Paul Pawela is a nationally recognized firearms and self-defense expert.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

The Southern Trapper, based in coastal South Carolina, specializes in leather holsters, wallets, slings and other products that are crafted using humanely sourced materials.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL LEATHER GOODS At Dane Schemel’s The Southern Trapper, ‘nothing is mass-produced and nothing leaves my shop unless it represents our very best work.’ PHOTOS BY THE SOUTHERN TRAPPER

ith humanely sourced materials, extraordinary handcraftsmanship and unique custom work – think hand-dyed alligator skin holsters – Southern Trapper is not your typical leather goods manufacturer. So it should come as no surprise that the circumstances that led to the company’s formation were also somewhat unusual, albeit quite auspicious. We caught up with owner/operator Capt. Dane Bligh C. Schemel to find out more.

American Shooting Journal Tell us a little about how Southern Trapper came to be. Dane Schemel I never imagined that my life’s passion would be working with leather. It all started out while I was mentoring an elementary school student. We both thought that making a wallet would be a fun and “constructive” thing to do. I purchased a leather kit online and we made the wallet together. It looked horrible. The next time that I saw him at school, he told me that he had sold the wallet

to a friend so that he could buy a Snickers bar from the school vending machine. I was shocked. I had taught myself how to hand-sew by watching YouTube videos, just so that he could make a buck to get a Snickers bar. He later asked me if I would make two more wallets for his friends. After much reluctance, I agreed to make three more, two for his friends and one for myself. While making those wallets, I did not envision myself ever making americanshootingjournal.com 41

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT anything extraordinary. I thought that after making these, I would go back to enjoying my free time. I was wrong. The small amount of free time that I had would eventually turn into my life’s passion.

Big Boss leather rifle sling. Ranger black elephant holster.

ASJ Southern Trapper specializes in leather holsters, wallets, slings and other products that are crafted using humanely sourced materials. Can you tell us more about the process? DS In my opinion, material sourcing is the root of company integrity. Customers deserve to know how and where a product is made. All of our leather has been humanely and sustainably sourced through national wildlife programs. I have great relationships with all of my suppliers; I visit them multiple times a year and I handpick the very best materials. If you asked the tannery owners about me, they would likely tell you that they have gone fishing, hunting or on some sort of adventure with me. Extraordinary craftsmanship is what we are known for. There is a reason why people with $3,000-plus firearms choose Southern Trapper. Every single holster is entirely handmade for each specific firearm. Nothing is mass-produced and nothing leaves my shop unless it represents our very best work. What sets us apart is our craftsmanship and our unique skill sets. We hand-dye all of our exotic skins entirely by hand from our own unique formulas. Color is super important in my business; the color has to be perfect. The most talented craftsmen in the world choose to work at Southern Trapper because we don’t chase profits, we chase perfection. ASJ What is the most interesting material you have worked with? DS I get a ton of unusual requests from customers. Recently I had a customer ask that we make him a holster and wallet from snapping turtle and alligator. I didn’t even know there was a commercial market for snapping turtle leather, but evidently there is. I bought

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Alligator leather is featured on The Southern Trapper’s new “ultra-exclusive” collection of R8 rifles, which also boast interchangeable barrels and actions for .22 to .300 Win. Mag.

several pieces of undyed snapping turtle and we developed a baby blue color that blew our customer away. ASJ Have you ever made anything for someone famous? DS My wife would tell you that if Kim Kardashian walked into my office, I would not recognize her name or face. Unless you were Chuck Norris,

I likely wouldn’t know who you are. However, I’ll never forget when I got a phone call from someone claiming to be a princess. Initially, I was certain that this was a scammer, but I sent her the invoice for the 30-plus custom alligator goods and a few hours later, she paid. She was not lying. She is actually a princess of a royal family. When her order was ready, she flew on

“I really love working with customers to design them something that exceeds their expectations,” says Dane Schemel, company owner/operator.

Prospector alligator leather holster and belt.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

a private jet to pick her order up. ASJ Do you have any new products you’d like to share? DS The newest collection that we just released is our alligator R8 rifles. This is an ultra-exclusive collection of 10 rifles that are made entirely from genuine American alligator. These magnificent pieces are more than weapons; they’re one-of-a-kind tools that will be cherished and passed down for generations. The story of the alligator R8 started in 2018 and took over two years to mature into this prestigious state. The memories created while hunting are some of the most unforgettable and are often passed down as family legends. When developing the idea of the alligator rifle, I wanted to build something extraordinary that families would carry with pride for generations. Blaser’s Custom Shop, home to the most talented bespoke firearm craftsmen in the world, transformed this generational concept into the most lavish functional piece of art in the history of weaponry. If you are not familiar with the

americanshootingjournal.com 45

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT Our patrons wear our work with pride. Buying something off-the-shelf is not special. Working directly with me or my Chief Happiness Officers to build a comfortable holster that is designed for your unique carry preferences and body shape is the standard experience you can expect. There are no cutting corners when it comes to custom leather.

“I never imagined that my life’s passion would be working with leather,” says Schemel, who came to the career by way of an unlikely path – mentoring an elementary school student with a wallet-making project.

R8, you will be blown away by the functionality and versatility of the rifle. The barrels and actions are interchangeable, so you can shoot anything from a .22 to a .300 Win. Mag. The rifle is perfectly balanced and is very lightweight. This is an exceptional rifle that very, very few people will ever have the pleasure of seeing or shooting.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

We’ll never make another collection of rifles like these; once they are gone, they will be gone forever. ASJ What do you think shooters like best about your products? DS When you choose Southern Trapper, you are not only buying the very best quality, you are also buying status.

ASJ What is the most fulfilling part of your job? DS I really love working with customers to design them something that exceeds their expectations. Getting them really excited about a project and hearing their response after they received it is so rewarding to me. We have over 1,200 five-star reviews and every day I read the newest reviews out loud to my staff so that they can experience the same excitement that I do.  Editor’s note: For more information, visit thesoutherntrapper.com.

GET A (BETTER) GRIP You don't have to settle for stock – rubber grips, 'skateboard' (or friction) tape and stippling can help improve your handgun's purchase, shootability and retainability. STORY AND PHOTOS BY NICK PERNA

very tool can ultimately be improved upon. Items can be added or subtracted to suit the needs of the actual end user. In the tactical realm, very few things work perfectly “out-of-the-box.” That is why tactical vests have Molle ribbons and rifles have rails – so things can be added, positioned or modified

Many handguns come with different backstrap options to achieve a better grip fit. Pictured is a Glock handgun and optional medium and large backstraps. americanshootingjournal.com 49

solution used to modify early generation Glocks. Most polymer handguns have slide-on backstrap grips. Guns like M1911A1s can have an enlarged backstrap added by replacing smaller parts. The following are add-on items designed to improve overall purchase, shootability and retainability.

RUBBER GRIPS

A Glock 22 sports slide-on rubber grips, which not only add girth to the gun but also increase retention.

to match the shooter’s specific needs. Handgun grips serve two primary functions. One, they are designed to give the shooter a stable piece to grab onto when firing the weapon to make accurate, consistent shots. Two, they are also the handles by which we retain our handguns from those who may try to take them from us. Grip modifications focus on these two primary concerns: accuracy and gun retention. Hands come in all shapes and sizes. Some behemoths have catcher’s-mitt-sized paws that can swallow a small-frame handgun whole. Others have childlike appendages that look like they are grasping a two-by-four when they are holding a handgun. Some have short fingers, others long. The varieties are too numerous to mention. It is because of these variations that we choose to modify handgun grips to fit the shooter. Most modern handguns come with different backstrap options to make a grip that best fits the user. They make the grip smaller or larger, depending on the need. 50

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

Polymer-frame handguns that do not have this option can be “surgically altered” by a competent gunsmith, generally to decrease the size of the backstrap. This was a popular

Author Nick Perna’s Kimber TLEII with hand-cut skateboard tape grips.

Rubber grips are a good option that are easily placed onto the handgun. They can add girth to the grip, like the aforementioned adjustable backstraps, for folks with bigger hands. From a retention standpoint, they increase the ability to maintain a grip on a handgun when a bad guy tries to rip it out of your hand. Hogue (hogueinc.com) makes some good grip sleeves that easily slide onto the handle. Handguns with removable grips, like M92 Berettas, can also have rubber grips attached. Pachmayr (lymanproducts.com/brands/ pachmayr), the “granddaddy” of rubber grips, makes models for a wide variety of handguns, including revolvers. Another good source for these items is Handgun Grips (handgungrips.com).

FRICTION TAPE Friction tape – or “skateboard tape,” as it’s more commonly known – is another choice. Basically, it’s sandpaper on one side and some sort of adhesive on the other. In the “good old days,” guys like me would pick up a roll at the sporting goods store, cut it to fit, and slap it on a handgun. Now you can get them made to order from brands like Talon Grips (talongungrips.com). Personally, I’m a huge fan of friction tape, the main reason being retention. When hands get wet – whether it be from sweat, blood, oil, etc. – maintaining a grip can be difficult. In my opinion, friction tape is the number one option for maintaining a grip in the most adverse of circumstances.

Perna’s Glock 21 with Talon brand grip tape.

STIPPLING Stippling involves using a tool such as a soldering iron to permanently affix indentations into the surface of a polymer frame. They provide texturing, which improves purchase and grip. This is also an excellent

Old-school skateboard tape (left) compared to a prefabricated Talon brand.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

option. Bear in mind, though, like a bad tattoo, stippling is permanent. Once it’s on, there is no going back. Also, like tattoos, stippling should be done by professionals. A little too much heat and pressure from a soldering iron can burn a hole through a handgun grip. Stippling can be added to any polymer surface, which is great. It can be applied to grips, trigger guards, receivers, and so on. So don’t settle for “out-of-the-box.” Get a grip! 

GRIPS GALLERY

HOGUE INC.

The Southern Trapper

Hogue’s Beavertail HandAll Grip Sleeves feature models specifically designed for today’s polymer-framed handguns. They engage with the textures and contours of the firearm frame to stay firmly in place over the lifespan of the grip. Six colors available. hogueinc.com

Southern Trapper’s genuine alligator 1911 gun grips are incredibly unique and durable. Each grip is made from wild American alligator that is hand dyed a special color. Order an exotic leather gun grip today and receive free shipping. thesoutherntrapper.com

americanshootingjournal.com 53

FEATURED COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

HOLSTERS FOR YOUR RIG, DESK AND YOU Dara offers wide variety of holsters made of ‘the highestquality materials’ and backed by lifetime ‘no-B.S.’ warranty. PHOTOS BY DARA HOLSTERS

rom concealed carry to duty holsters to car-mounted holsters, shooters will find what they’re looking for at Dara Holsters. Specializing in custom Kydex holsters and mag carriers, the company designs and manufactures all of their products in-house at their Wendell, North Carolina-based shop, and each model comes with a lifetime “no-B.S.” warranty. One of their best-sellers is the Inside the Waistband Holster, available for a wide variety of handguns. Customers can choose the color, ride height, cant angle, belt attachment and size, and right- or left-hand draw, among other options. The IWB fits inside your waistband for the ultimate concealed carry holster. The trigger guard, magazine release and slide are all covered by material. Made from .093-inch Kydex/Boltaron, using Melonite- and zinc-finished hardened steel hardware, the holster is designed with longevity in mind. The Mounted Vehicle Holster, another popular product, makes for the ultimate vehicle self-defense and protection system. Using Dara’s patented mounted holster system, the holster is securely fastened to the RAM mount diamond plate with 1-inch polycoated ball, using Melonite- and zinccoated hardened steel hardware. Each Mounted Holster is molded precisely to fit your exact gun model. Seating your firearm fully into the holster will result

Inside the Waistband Holster.

americanshootingjournal.com 55

FEATURED COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Mounted Vehicle Holster.

in an audible click, letting you know your carry gun is secured. This holster can be mounted to any vehicle, car or truck under the steering column or to the center console; the underside of any desk, night stand, end table or wall; or inside cabinets, drawers or closets. The Level II Duty Holsters, meanwhile, are designed for law enforcement, military and security personnel. Featuring a robust body formed using .125-inch purpose blended polymers, then fastened with blackened stainless steel hardware, this rig utilizes Dara’s tried-and-true military-grade adjustable Rubber Retention System that allows you to tune the resistance to your preferred draw stroke. The newly redesigned Duty Holsters are now equipped to accommodate slide-mounted optics and suppressor-height sights. Offering a wide variety of holsters made of the highest-quality materials and backed by a lifetime warranty, Dara Holsters truly stands by every product they sell. No B.S.  Level II Duty Holster.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

Editor’s note: For more information, visit daraholsters.com.

ROAD HUNTER

Author Scott Haugen called in a couple black bears using predator calls, but couldn’t get a shot with his bow through thick brush. Finally, this British Columbia bruin presented an opportunity and Haugen didn’t hesitate.

COUNTRY OF BIG BLACK BEARS

Hardcore hunter’s search for unparalleled bruin opportunities, color phases pays off in British Columbia. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN

aving just arrived in camp, and with only an hour of light remaining, Rob Cork suggested we go for a quick drive. Heading down a remote logging road, daylight quickly faded. But by the time we reached the end of the first spur road, we’d seen four black

bears and a grizzly. “I just wanted you to get a feel for the land before we get serious,” smiled Cork, owner of Tweedsmuir Park Outfitters in British Columbia. He had my attention. I love hunting black bears, big black bears, and am always searching the western haunts of North America for that “undiscovered” place. Cork’s newly acquired concession encompasses some 900,000 acres, butting up against

his already existing 1-million-acre property where he pursues moose, grizzly and mountain goat. “It’s actually like an island, surrounded by two giant man-made lakes,” Cork pointed out. “Technically, it’s not really an island, as there is a narrow, 200-yard stretch of land connecting it to the mainland on one end.” This remote chunk of country, along with the fact that it hadn’t been americanshootingjournal.com 59

ROAD HUNTER

When it comes to bears, you can never go wrong focusing your hunting efforts around food sources, which in spring includes fresh green grass.

hunted much at all in the past six years, intrigued me. Logging along the island shut down five years prior, and based on my past experiences with bear hunting throughout the West, I felt the ingredients were in place for a potentially exceptional outcome. A STROLL DOWN ‘TIFFANY BOULEVARD’ The next morning we were on the hunt, trying to get my wife Tiffany her first black bear. Though Tiffany had seen, butchered and prepared many bears over the years – including black, grizzly and even polar bear from our time spent in Alaska’s Arctic with the indigenous Inupiat peoples – she’d never pulled the trigger on a bear before. Intense winds and the presence of grizzlies kept black bears on edge this day, and we didn’t see a single animal until late in the afternoon. Heading down a most alluring grass-lined road, you could tell it was going to happen. 60

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

The road had been built up with gravel, leaving about a 6-foot-deep ditch on both sides. The runoff from spring rains left both sides of the road covered in tall, lush, freshly sprouting grass. Bear scat was thick. We slowly started down the walkin-only road, studying bear sign as we went. We hadn’t gone 200 yards and had a small bear dart across the road. It was a great start. A short distance later, another bear worked along the edge of the road. He was pushing the 6-foot mark; a good bear in many areas, but not here. “We still have an hour or so of daylight and the breeze is holding steady in our face,” Cork confirmed. “You can shoot that bear if you want to, but I think we can do better. It’s your call.” Tiffany looked at the bear through her scope. “He’s nice, but if we can do better, let’s keep going; I’m not in a rush to fill a tag.”

We hadn’t gone 100 yards and saw another bear, this one fed precisely where you’d think – along the edge of the timber, amid brush, in rich green grass near the roadside. Moving closer, it was tough getting a good look at the bear through the brush. Then he dropped into the ditch line. Without hesitation, we dropped into the opposite ditch and quickly, but quietly, covered ground. The slight breeze coming off the lake continued to hold in our favor. Of all the bear hunting I’ve done over the decades, keeping the wind in my favor is the number one goal. I don’t really care if a bear sees or hears me, but if they smell a person, the jig is almost always up. Bears have good noses, capable of smelling carrion from 10 miles away. When the bear we pursued popped up on the edge of the road, I took a quick reading on the rangefinder. “Eighty yards. Let’s set up right here.”

ROAD HUNTER Quickly Cork had the Bog-Pod shooting sticks in position and Tiffany wasted no time getting settled in. We’d still not gotten the best look at the bear, but when it turned our way, a deep crease in the forehead left no question it was a mature boar. The bruin’s front legs were thick, carrying no differentiation between the shoulder, elbow and wrist. We were looking at a shooter, no question. Though Tiffany had shot many game animals, this was her first bear, but she didn’t skip a beat. Of all the big game camps I’ve been in throughout the West, bears are the most often missed and crippled, I think because hunters get in a rush, and the long dark fur hides muscle and bone definition, meaning you must concentrate on placing the shot. In the waning moments of light, Tiffany had no problem placing the apex of the Trijicon AccuPoint on the point of the bear’s shoulder. At the shot, the .300 Winchester Magnum blew fire out the barrel, and the 200-grain Nosler

Tiffany Haugen, the author’s wife, sets up her tripod shooting sticks, while guide Rob Cork of Tweedsmuir Park Outfitters keeps a watchful eye. Nonresident hunters are required to hire a guide to pursue any big game in British Columbia. Tiffany, who is a noted wild game cookbook author, poses with her B.C. black bear taken in the waning moments of the first day of her hunt.

AccuBond hit the mark, dropping the bear on the spot. It was a gorgeous black bear, his long, thick winter coat firmly intact. Even the hair between the toes was long, indicating it had not been out of the den very long. Tiffany’s bear squared 6 feet 9 inches and carried a 202/8-inch skull. After having seen three bears on this roadside in only a matter of minutes, and given how Tiffany took her first bear from it, Cork aptly nicknamed it Tiffany Boulevard. CHOCOLATE THUNDER With five days left to hunt, I had two tags burning a hole in my pocket. The first tag I filled with my bow. I had multiple opportunities on various bears, but finally drove an arrow through one as it stood on the edge of a logged unit. It wasn’t the biggest bear on the block – I’d been much closer to larger bears, including two that were well over 7 feet – but this one provided the most ethical shot opportunity so far. Bear meat is

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

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

ROAD HUNTER among our family’s favorites, and we were getting a good cache; the middleaged boar I’d just taken was sure to be great eating. With one tag left, I set my sights on a big bear. Having seen two bears that pushed the remarkable 8-foot mark – ones I couldn’t get within bow range

Haugen with one of the biggest black bears he’s ever tagged, a chocolate color-phase brute taken by spot-and-stalk in British Columbia. Now is the peak of spring bear season and there are many places and ways to pursue them.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

of – I wanted a bear of that caliber or nothing. A big blond bear also stood out in my mind, one that wasn’t giant, but carried one of the most striking coats I’d ever laid eyes on. By day four of the hunt, Cork and I had seen over 30 black bears, including four color-phase bears. We’d also laid

eyes on some beautiful grizzlies. The more I thought about it, the more my mind drifted toward wanting a colorphase bear. I’d been fortunate to take some exceptional black bears over the years, but never a really good colorphase bear. This place had them, and if it was ever going to happen, it was

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ROAD HUNTER going to be here, with Rob Cork. Concentrating our efforts around where we’d seen the striking blond bear, we headed to a logged unit one afternoon. But before we made it, a bigger bear demanded our attention. The brute we now looked at through binoculars was a giant. It had its head down, feeding, but the size of the hind end left no doubt it was a whopper. When the bruin lifted its head and turned broadside, the sun caught the shimmering chocolate, almost cinnamon-colored coat, leaving me speechless. Cork checked the wind while I kept a close eye on the bear. The breeze was once again in our favor, and every time the bear dropped its head to feed, we moved closer. Closing the gap to 250 yards, I felt solid in the shooting sticks. But when I squeezed the trigger I sent the bullet high, hitting the dirt bank on the other side of the bear. The old bruin glanced behind at the point of impact, rolled its ears back, then

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

half-heartedly faded into the timber. I was so sick I almost threw up. It was an exceptional bear, both in size and color, and I’d just blown it. My sickness turned to frustration as my mistake became more real. But in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but reflect on the bear’s delayed reaction to the shot. “Can we keep walking to see where the shot hit?” I asked Cork. I knew the shot cleanly missed, but honestly wanted to keep walking, hoping the bear would pop out. We hadn’t gone 50 yards and sure enough, the massive bear stepped out of the trees. The allure of fresh green grass and sprouting dandelions was too much, and each time the bear buried its massive snout, we moved closer. Taking a range at 260 yards, there was no more cover to hide our stalk. The shot was going to come from this point. Blocking the previous shot from my mind, I sat cross-legged in the dirt at forest’s edge, elbows on each knee,

bench-steady in the tripod shooting sticks. This time the shot flew true, and the 200-grain AccuBond once again did its job. A short tracking job ensued and when I lifted the massive head of the stunning bear, it was even bigger than I’d anticipated. Well over the 7-foot mark, and carrying a skull just shy of 21 inches, the bear exuded so much character. Its glowing red hide, so long and thick, was mesmerizing. It was a fitting bear to put our final tag on, one that goes down as perhaps the best black bear hunting experience of my life.  Editor’s note: Want to learn how to skin and break down a bear? Order Scott Haugen’s popular DVD Field Dressing, Skinning, & Caping Big Game at scotthaugen.com. Mention in the Order Notes upon checkout that you want the ASJ special, and you’ll receive a free copy of Tiffany Haugen’s best-selling book Cooking Big Game, a $20 value!

The question is... Do you want to hunt ducks or be a duck hunter?

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To order or for more information – wonderduck.com 1-800-876-1697

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

BULLET BULLETIN

A boattail bullet can be a game-changer at long ranges.

GET ON BOARD WITH BOATTAILS

With their structural resistance to atmospheric drag, velocity retention and flatter trajectory, this style of bullet provides higher striking energy further out, perfect for long-range hunters. STORY BY PHIL MASSARO • PHOTOS BY MASSARO MEDIA GROUP

use a rather large number of different projectiles for the battery of rifles I’ve accumulated over the years, and the family has certainly grown in recent years. I enjoy experimenting with different bullet construction, weight, sectional density, ballistic coefficient, diameter and conformation. Sometimes the

application might be a little skewed, either based on availability or accuracy, but I’ve always enjoyed trying to match the bullet to the hunt and/or the animal. There has been an undeniable shift in bullet design over the last decade or two, with the strong emphasis being placed on the highest ballistic coefficient possible, and I’ll certainly attribute that to the immense popularity of long-range shooting. When I was growing up, I always

remember my dad choosing Sierra boattail spitzer bullets for his .308 Winchester; I didn’t have that option, as I was shooting a tube magazine lever-action .30-30 Winchester. In the ignorance of youth, I really felt like I was missing out, what with my slow-moving roundnose bullets, let alone the lack of a boattail. Ol’ Grumpy Pants’ scoped .308 Winchester shot lights-out (it was the Indian, not the arrows) and my iron-sighted lever gun (in the hands of a novice) couldn’t americanshootingjournal.com 69

BULLET BULLETIN

Author Phil Massaro’s dad – “Ol’ Grumpy Pants” – really embraced the Sierra GameKing bullets offered in early Federal Premium factory loads.

come anywhere close. It had nothing to do with the boattail spitzer bullets, and had I known – or listened – at the time, I’d have realized that the distances in our hardwoods prevented almost any shot beyond 75 yards, and my gear was just fine for that job. But those Sierra GameKings Dad was shooting seem rather archaic in comparison to what’s on the market today, when you look at the current lineup of VLD (very low drag) bullets available in both component form and in factory-loaded ammo. Let’s take a look at some of those bullets, and see how they compare to the classic spitzer boattails of yesteryear, and I’ll even throw a few flat-base models into the mix for good measure. FIRSTLY, WHY A boattail at all? Well, like its namesake, a bullet that narrows or tapers at the base will have less drag as it travels through the atmosphere, just as a boat that narrows at the stern will travel through the water with greater ease. At short ranges, this feature may not give any ballistic advantage at all, and you almost never see a boattail on a roundnose or flat-base bullet. The only exception to this rule I can think of is the South African Peregrine BushMaster bullets; they use a flat-point bronze plunger over a hollow cavity in their monometal bullets, and upon impact 70

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

The Peregrine BushMaster bullet is one of the few examples of a boattail bullet without the spitzer nose profile.

that plunger compresses the air in the cavity and drives the sidewalls radially outward for reliable expansion. In spite of the bullet being a flat nose, and clearly designed for dangerous game at close ranges, Peregrine puts a boattail on the BushMaster. I had to ask the engineers why, and their reasoning was that it made loading the bullet into the case much easier, and it wasn’t any more difficult to manufacture. I can’t argue; those bullets are incredible in the field, even on heavyweights like Cape buffalo. For game animals that are

traditionally shot at longer ranges, or for the target community, the boattail makes perfect sense. It most definitely helps the bullet resist atmospheric drag, which in turn allows the bullet to retain a better percentage of its initial velocity. The more velocity that it retains, the more distance that bullet can cover before dropping (all objects drop at the same rate), which results in a “flatter” trajectory. The boattail, much like the pointed spitzer nose profile, also lends a hand in the kinetic energy department; like trajectory, a higher velocity downrange equates to a higher striking energy.

The benchmark Sierra .30-caliber 168-grain MatchKing bullet.

Sierra’s revamped 169-grain MatchKing bullet, which made 1,000-yard target shooting with the .308 Winchester much easier. Note the elongated boattail.

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BULLET BULLETIN

Federal’s Terminal Ascent bullet and their Trophy Bonded Tip; note the difference in boattail angle between the two.

If the above statements are true, then why not put a boattail on every single bullet manufactured? Does the boattail have a downside? There are some aspects that can pose an issue in certain hunting situations, or in certain cartridges whose case capacity is less

than generous. Many cup-and-core spitzer boattail bullets show a tendency to have the copper jacket separate from the lead core upon impact with a game animal. This is not a good thing, as although you do want your bullet to expand in order to cause as much

Federal’s Trophy Bonded Tip is an excellent bonded-core bullet, with a sensible ogive and boattail that combine for a very effective hunting trajectory; it remains one of the author’s favorite choices.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

trauma as possible to the vital organs, you also want the bullet to stay together to ensure deep penetration. Bonding the core to the jacket most definitely aids in keeping the bullet together; this technique is used in a

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BULLET BULLETIN

Barnes puts a severe boattail angle on their LRX series of bullets; being lead-free, the boattail adds considerable length to the bullet. The 7mm weighs a mere 139 grains, yet has plenty of length.

Hornady’s fantastic A-Tip match bullet; note the severe boattail angle, maximizing the ballistic coefficient, or BC.

Berger’s Elite Hunter line offers match-grade performance from a hunting bullet; their BC values are derived from a sleek ogive and a beefy boattail.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

good number of bullets like the Swift Scirocco II, Nosler AccuBond, Federal Trophy Bonded Tip and Terminal Ascent, Hornady InterBond, and Norma’s BondStrike. All of these have an excellent reputation among hunters. Putting a boattail on a bullet also adds length to the bullet, when you compare it to a flat-base bullet of identical weight, diameter and nose profile. This can be a problem in some cases, as the bullet’s base will sit deeper in the case, taking up valuable real estate. And the VLD bullets have a very slight boattail angle, making the bullet that much longer. In addition, should your rifle have any issues with the crown of the barrel, accuracy issues can arise with boattail bullets, as the expanding gases will act in an uneven manner on the base of the bullet. My old Ruger Model 77 MKII .22-250 Remington does OK with spitzer boattail bullets, but much prefers a flat-base match-grade bullet (specifically the Sierra MatchKing No. 1400 53-grain bullet). I suspect that the crown of the muzzle is the issue, and I should have it looked at by a competent gunsmith.

BULLET BULLETIN

Sierra’s GameKing hunting bullet uses a crimped hollowpoint, thick copper jacket and a reasonable boattail angle that works wonderfully at hunting ranges.

TAKING A LOOK at the differences in boattail design, you can pick nits over boattail angle of varying models, trying to correlate and quantify the possible effect the changes will have on BC values, but I feel Sierra has summed it up best. Looking at the classic .30-caliber 168-grain Sierra MatchKing – the staple of the target community just a couple decades ago – you’ll see a boattail with a moderate angle when

The author has a soft spot for the 180-grain .30-caliber Scirocco II; it gives the best balance of features for the .300 H&H, .300 Win Mag and .300 Remington Ultra Magnum-class cartridges.

compared to some of the more radical designs. Keeping in mind that the opportunities to shoot 1,000 yards were few and far between, and that the .308 Winchester was the darling of the target community, the 168-grain MatchKing hollowpoint – with a G1 BC of .462 – worked perfectly. But that bullet at .308 velocities has a hard time staying supersonic at 1,000 yards, so Sierra set out to redesign their classic hollowpoint

bullet. The result is the 169-grain Sierra MatchKing No. 2269, with a revised boattail and tighter meplat. “This bullet was designed with one thing in mind, and that was to shoot 1,000 yards in a .308 Winchester,” says the company’s website. “To accomplish that, we added length to the boattail [emphasis added] and engineered a forgiving tangent ogive with a closed nose. Doing this gave it a .527 BC,

Federal’s Terminal Ascent has a great BC value due to the ogive and boattail, yet the bonded core will give great terminal performance.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

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BULLET BULLETIN

The excellent Hornady ELD-X hunting bullet; though the bullet has a good BC value, the author expected a more pronounced boattail.

which keeps it supersonic past 1,000 yards in a .308 chamber. This bullet is basically a redesign of the legendary 168MK, which we will continue to manufacture. Anyone that enjoys shooting medium to long range with a .308 or even the big magnums will love this bullet.” Compare the BC values of those boattail bullets to the G1 BC of .404 of the flat-base 165-grain Nosler Partition, and you can get a feel for the benefit of the boattail bullet base. Looking at the difference between those two MatchKing bullets, and the fact that Sierra’s engineers cite the elongated boattail as a part of the increased BC value, there is a definitive value placed on the length and angle of the boattail. Please realize that a boattail bullet will show no advantage over a flat-base bullet until somewhere past 300 yards. Many bullet manufacturers will indicate that due to the location of the center of gravity combined with the bullet’s conformation, a flat-base bullet will “settle down” earlier than will a boattail bullet. It is for this reason that a flatbase bullet may show better accuracy at 100 yards than a boattail, but at the 300and 400-yard mark (once the boattail bullet has had a chance to settle down) the tables will turn. Further evidence of the importance of the VLD-style boattail lies in the good number of specialized reloading tools for this style of bullet. As an

Not all match bullets have a boattail; the author has long relied on the Sierra 53-grain MatchKing for pinpoint accuracy from his .22-250 Remington.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

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BULLET BULLETIN example, Redding offers a flash holepiloted VLD chamfer tool, in addition to their micrometer-adjustable VLD seating stems. If you’re a hunter who spends his time in the woods where shot distances are relatively short, you surely don’t need a boattail bullet. Looking at the example of my Tikka T3X Lite in 7mm-08 Remington, which loves boattail bullets, choosing the 140-grain AccuBond load from Federal for New York black bear and whitetail poses no issue. It’s a tough hunting bullet, fully capable of handling high-impact velocities. But in this instance, I’m looking for the structural integrity of the bullet more than the higher BC values. Were I hunting mule deer on the prairie of South Dakota where the shots are longer, the 150-grain Hornady ELD-X load might get the nod because of the BC value. Fitting the projectile to the game and terrain is half the fun! 

The famed Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint, shown here in .22-caliber 50-grain variety, with a slight boattail angle. The author has used this bullet out to 450 yards to absolutely flatten predators and varmints.

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American Shooting Journal // May 2021

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Riflescopes come in many models, magnifications and price points, and they’ve come a long way over the years, but regardless of brand, field of view or cost, their basic job is to help hunters and shooters hit their target. (DMYTO/SHUTTERSTOCK)

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

A USER’S GUIDE TO RIFLESCOPES With so many makes and models to choose from, here are one hunter and shooter’s thoughts on getting on target. STORY BY JIM DICKSON

he subject of riflescopes is a field in itself and there are scopes for every need and budget. For your basic hunting needs, you can’t go wrong with a fixed-power 2¾x scope in either conventional or scout scope configuration. These have all the magnification you need for target identification and accurate shooting without the limited field of view that comes with higher magnification. You won’t shoot any more accurately with higher magnification, and you may not find the game in your scope’s field of view in time to shoot with higher magnification. Some folks like to move up slightly to 4x magnification and think that is a good trade-off between magnification and field of view. The limits of the field of view can mean more than just a missed meal. If you have an angry wild dog or wild boar coming at you, any delay in firing can result in a dangerous situation. That’s why you don’t see high magnification recommended for dangerous game. The best trick for putting the crosshairs on the target is to keep both eyes open and then bring the scope up into your field of view. The scout scope, with its long eye relief, was designed for this and is definitely the fastest at this game, but conventionally mounted scopes can benefit from this americanshootingjournal.com 83

“Long-range shots at game or targets, as well as shorter-range shots at varmints, is where higher magnification scopes best strut their stuff. The variable-power scope is most popular and I recommend keeping them on the lowest setting until you have game in the scope, then moving up the magnification if you find that necessary,” writes author Jim Dickson. (TIMOTHEOS/SHUTTERSTOCK)

technique as well. Whatever you do, you don’t want to start looking through a high-magnification scope and then begin glassing for the animal you were looking at a moment ago. Chances are he will be gone before you find him. If you have a semiauto rifle, you can employ aimed rapidfire on moving targets and this is best done with a German three-post reticle, as crosshairs tend to blur in rapidfire. For the record, my wife Betty always used Redfield 2¾x scopes with crosshairs, while I use Burris Scout Scopes with 2¾x or German three-post reticles, and we were both completely satisfied with the performance of our scopes on game. These fixed-power scopes tend to be considerably lighter than the larger, bulkier, variable-power scopes and there is less to go wrong with them. Red dot sights are also popular and I have a nice Bushnell red dot sight that works perfectly. LONG-RANGE SHOTS AT game or targets, as well as shorter-range shots at 84

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

varmints, is where higher magnification scopes best strut their stuff. The variable-power scope is most popular and I recommend keeping them on the lowest setting until you have game in the scope, then moving up the magnification if you find that necessary. Otherwise, take the shot while you still can. Some of the cheaper variablepower scopes do not have the same point of impact at all magnifications. Personally, I would just get rid of that scope. I know a man in Montana who often takes his elk at 500-yard ranges. He is feeding his family and says he feels more like a long-range sniper assassin than a hunter, but no one is more serious about getting elk meat to their family than he is. A good scoped rifle with good magnification is a necessary tool for him. Please note that he is well aware that at these ranges he is missing out on the thrill and satisfaction of the hunt. Much of that is derived from stalking close to the game. I know exactly how he feels. I get no pleasure out of a long-

range shot at an animal I can barely see, though I will take it if I am hungry enough. For me, the thrill is getting close, like a cat, where I can see the quarry clearly. I may have to substitute a bullet for the fast close-range rush of the hunting cat because I simply cannot run 60 miles per hour, but everything else is the same for me as for the cat. Bean field shooters in Alabama often have to take shots at crazy long ranges where higher magnification is needed just to see your quarry. This is specialized hunting with no real chance to stalk closer. When done on wild hogs, it is a vital necessity if the crop is to be preserved for harvest. Killing any coyotes that appear can be even more important, as they prey on livestock and pets and have been known to attack and kill children. Killing coyotes and wild hogs is serious business. Your high-magnification scope may make the target look closer, but that’s not going to help you much to hit it. Longrange shooting requires exact knowledge of the distance and your specific bullet

When it comes to lining up a shot on the bull’s-eye, whether that be a wild boar, a black circle on a paper target or a gong at 1,000 yards, riflescopes may have a basic crosshair, three-post reticle – like this one – or a more modern one like a so-called “Christmas tree” milliradian reticle for ultraprecision long-range shooting. (SLATAN/SHUTTERSTOCK)

drop at that range. Laser rangefinders and bullet drop tables are a virtual necessity if you want to hit your target. That flat-shooting rifle at 100 yards loops more like a howitzer round at long range and it’s easy to overshoot or undershoot the target. No artilleryman can place his shell on target without knowing the exact range and trajectory of his round, and at long range neither can the rifleman. There are also unseen air cross currents that can deflect your

shot, as well as other factors making precision less sure. To wound and lose game is inhumane and a violation of all hunting ethics. Unless you are an expert long-range shot and have no other options, it is always better to get closer. Two hundred yards maximum for nondangerous game and 50 yards maximum for dangerous game is a good rule to ensure clean kills. AS A GUN writer, I have to shoot groups

With game animals often only active at dawn and dusk, the light-gathering abilities of a riflescope’s large front lens, along with an illuminated reticle, help hunters take and make ethical shots. (TIM JOHNSON/SHUTTERSTOCK)

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

at 100 yards with the various guns I test and seeing that 1-inch black bull’seye at 100 yards is a lot easier with the Bushnell 3-9x and 4-16x scopes I keep for just that purpose. I really miss them when I have a gun with iron sights and I have to wring the last bit of accuracy out of it in a test firing. One inch is the smallest size you can see at 100 yards with 20/20 vision and it is called a minute of angle. With iron sights, it’s called overworking the gun writer. It’s worth remembering that the U.S. used 3-9x variable-power scopes on sniper rifles in Vietnam with great success. This size has proved extremely popular with hunters as well. While it is proper to use the magnification of your riflescope to see if that deer has antlers or not or to judge its trophy worth, never use your riflescope like a telescope or binoculars to hunt for game. Invariably this leads to the gun being pointed at another human being sooner or later. Remember, you are not the only hunter in the woods and the first rule of gun safety is to never let the gun point at anything you don’t want to shoot. I use the compact Steiner Predator binoculars for looking for game. They are easier to use and more efficient at this task, as well as safer for others afield.

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stopping the depredations of coyotes and wild hogs. The military has a combination night vision and thermal sight, but as of now this type of sight is not commercially available. One of the important features of a quality riflescope is the coating on the lens. Bushnell even has a rain guard coating to enable the scope to be used in a driving rain. Anyone who has hunted in the rain as much as I have will appreciate that feature. “There are many factors in choosing a riflescope. The best advice for the novice is to stick with a reputable manufacturer ... Figure out exactly what you need it for and buy a scope tailored to those needs,” counsels the author. (ROBERT NYHOLM/ SHUTTERSTOCK)

Game is often moving about most at dawn and dusk. Shooting in lowlight conditions is where the light gathering ability of the scope comes to the forefront. A large front lens is a big help and an illuminated reticle solves the

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

problem of locating the crosshairs in the semidark conditions. For hunting at night, we now have night vision scopes and thermal imaging scopes. These have proved their worth over and over again in

THERE ARE MANY factors in choosing a riflescope. The best advice for the novice is to stick with a reputable manufacturer like Zeiss, Swarovski, Bushnell, Burris, Redfield, Leupold, etc. Figure out exactly what you need it for and buy a scope tailored to those needs. Don’t go hog-wild and buy the biggest, heaviest, most complicated scope out there. It’s better to start small and work up only as needed. You will find a 2¾x fixed-power scope to be perfectly adequate for deer out to 300 yards; most are actually killed inside 100 yards.

BLACK POWDER

That rawhide wrap over a stock repair is a recent addition to author Mike Nesbitt’s most treasured Sharps, a Semi Custom Classic Hartford Sporting Rifle from C. Sharps Arms.

ORIGINAL, RIGHT DOWN TO ITS TWICE-REPAIRED STOCK A black powder cartridge shooter's well-used Sharps has its own identity, making it all the more authentic. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT

henever I’m asked what my favorite Sharps rifle is, my reply is always the same: the Semi Custom Classic Hartford Sporting Rifle by C. Sharps Arms. This rifle has been my

favorite for several years and I’ve done many things with it. It’s in .44-77 caliber with a 28-inch No. 1 Heavy barrel, complete with Hartford collar. Along with using this rifle in matches, I also enjoy surrounding it with some almost period-correct items that might be reflective of the buffalo hunting era. Authenticity played a big part in

helping me choose between the steel or the brass crescent butt plates. Both are good, certainly, as well as being equally attractive, but most of the original Sharps rifles fitted with the “rifle” butt plates received brass. Often those brass butt plates were nickelplated. And along with the brass butt plate, I requested brass escutcheons americanshootingjournal.com 91

BLACK POWDER The author’s .44-77 has a 28-inch No. 1 Heavy barrel, a pack-hardened receiver and some rather handsome lines on the wrist of the stock that “were to play a big part in the life of this rifle.”

underneath the three screws that enter through the wood; the two screws in the bottom of the forearm and the rear lock screw that enters on the left side of the wrist. At C. Sharps Arms, those brass escutcheons are available at no extra cost, but they must be requested. (Another Sharps maker charges $30 extra for those three small escutcheons.) The brass escutcheons also add to the authenticity of this rifle. In the pictures of the rifle, notice the outstanding lines in the figure of the stock at the back of the wrist. Those lines were to play a big part in the life of this rifle. One might get the idea that I’m trying to promote the .44-77 cartridge.

Not really. Buying a rifle in .44-77 caliber was much more practical when I got mine than it is now because of the Jamison brass available for that caliber (and the .44-90 Sharps), which, of course, is not available anymore. Other brass makers, such as Roberson Cartridge Company, will make cases for the .44-77 and Buffalo Arms will form .44-77s out of other cases. Reloading dies for the .44-77 (and for some others) must be special ordered and they require a special price. I’m not saying you can’t get goods for a .44-77 today, but I must point out that components and tools for this old Sharps caliber are not as available as they used to be. Bullet molds, of course, are just as available now as they were

Nesbitt shot this very good group at 100 yards using bullets from a Steve Brooks mold.

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

when I got the .44 Sharps itch. And I would certainly like to see someone pick up where Jamison left off and make more brass for the .44-77, but in this present time, when ammunition and component producers are having trouble keeping up with existing demand, it isn’t the best time to be introducing something new, especially to a possibly narrow market.

THE FRONT SIGHT on this rifle is a

standard blade and that has never been changed. No rear sight was ever on the barrel and the barrel was not dovetailed for a rear sight. My intention for this rifle was to use it as a hunting arm more than a target rifle and while my hunting dreams have not come true with this gun, it still wears its “hunting sights.” Even so, this is the rifle that I used when entering a silhouette match for the first time. That was grand and I even got one “chicken.” My score for that first try, using this rifle with rather full .44-77 loads and with the blade front sight, was 11 knock-downs and three of those were the rams at 500 meters. Shortly after that, I also used this rifle for my first try at Quigley. My score there was the same, 11 hits, but none of them were hits on the “bucket.” (It took me three years to get an offhand hit on that bucket!) I can brag that I got three hits on the buffalo at 805 yards. Those experiences taught me that I needed a different front sight for such target work. The shooting with my .44-77 went on, and while I tend to show paperpatched bullets in my pictures, because

americanshootingjournal.com 93

BLACK POWDER me. The seam or glue line in the wood could be seen but you really had to look to find it. I was very pleased with the way the stock had been rejoined and that included some steel pins lengthwise in the wood to make the new bond much stronger than it was before. My favorite .44-77 was home again and I continued to use it as before.

The author shoots over cross sticks back when his .44-77 was new.

they are perhaps more reflective of the buffalo hunting era, the bullets I shot the most were actually “greasers.” Bullets from an Accurate Molds No. 44-400B were used a lot. Later one of Steve Brooks’ molds, for the previously mentioned Original Postell style, was ordered and that became a favorite. IT WAS DURING informal matches that I noticed a weakness, so to speak, in my use of the blade front sight. That silver-colored sight is fine, actually the best, when hunting in the woods because it can be seen. On the target range, however, the silver blade is not the best because sunlight from the side will push your groups to the right or left. My experience with the silver blade front sight led me to want aperture target sights for the front of my target rifles, inside a short tube so sunlight won’t affect them. I got those target sights too, but they came on other rifles. This .44-77 was to remain a hunting gun. Even so, I enjoyed 94

American Shooting Journal // May 2021

shooting it in some matches a great deal and its standing as my favorite never faltered. It was about that time when I got another rifle for long-range target work, my Hartford in .44-90 with the 32-inch No. 1½ Heavy barrel and target sights. (I do like the Sharps .44s.) That was the rifle I began to use at Quigley and at other matches, but my favorite .44-77 still went along, even if it only stayed in the tent. Then the beautiful stock got broken, just at the back of the wrist. The break was right along that most attractive line in the grain. As luck would have it, there were no splinters. A note was sent to C. Sharps Arms and they told me to wrap the pieces carefully and send them to the shop as soon as possible. C. Sharps Arms rifles have a lifetime guarantee, which basically covers everything except normal wear and abuse. So the butt stock was sent back to Big Timber. Rather quickly, about three weeks later, the re-assembled stock was sent back to

ONE OF MY reasons for wanting to keep the gun’s original stock, rather than replacing it, was to keep the identity of the gun original too. This .44-77 is my most photographed rifle. The figure in the butt stock fit right in with the packhardened receiver. Those are the things that made me want to keep the rifle just the way it was, without obvious change, and my rifle had its own identity. One year at Quigley, when I was doing my shooting with the heavier .44-90, a fellow in our camp area announced that he’d decided on which version of a new C. Sharps Arms ‘74 he was going to order. “What’s that?” we asked. “I’ll get the Semi Custom Classic Hartford Sporting Rifle,” he said. I replied, “Good choice, that’s what I have.” I stepped into the tent and brought out my .44-77. That other shooter’s eyes did light up a bit. Then I told him to take my rifle down to the C. Sharps Arms tent, located on Traders’ Row, and use it to show Pat Dulin (the man to talk to at C. Sharps Arms) what he wanted on his own Semi Custom rifle. While that fellow was walking down to the tent, he passed another group of shooters. One of those shooters commented, “That’s Mike Nesbitt’s rifle.” So my .44-77 certainly has recognition. I’ll keep it the way it is as long as possible. Because the stock did start to crack a second time, the stock was mended again and now wears a rawhide wrap that not only covers the mended crack but also gives the stock strength. That authentic type of mend, in my opinion, simply adds to the identity of this rifle. I’ll be using this Sharps a long time yet and I’m pretty sure it will remain my favorite. 

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TOUGH • DURABLE • LIGHT Easy Loader, Deuce & EZ-XL Models

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Introducing the EASY XL. For large breed dogs. EASY-LOADER Dog Kennels

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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

STORE AND DISPLAY YOUR GUNS

InvictaSafe’s cases are a great way to secure firearms while showing them off like art at the same time. PHOTOS BY INVICTASAFE

icture it: You just plunked down a good chunk of change for the antique Springfield Model 1888 Ramrod Trapdoor Rifle you’ve been eyeing. It’s truly stunning; a work of art. So you polish it to a shine, show it off to all your friends, take 100 pictures and then … you carefully lock it up in your safe, not to be seen again until its next cleaning. This tragic scenario is exactly what inspired Sam Galler to start his company, InvictaSafe, which offers gun owners a new way to store and display

InvictaSafe products are a mix of brawn and beauty, securing your firearm behind 14-gauge steel and showing it off through ½-inch polycarbonate ballistic glass.

their firearms. “Many people own beautiful workof-art firearms or very meaningful (emotional, historical or family heirloom) firearms, and these firearms are usually put in traditional black box safes, never to see the light of day unless one of their friends stops by, or they are cleaned, etc.,” Galler explains. “Now they can be displayed like the works of art that they are and done so safely so that children and unauthorized people cannot gain access to these valuable firearms. An owner can now look at their prized possessions and appreciate them within their home or office.” He adds, “Our customers like the fact they can appreciate their firearms on a daily basis and see them displayed in a manner befitting such a beautiful design or meaningful item. Also they make the perfect gift for the person that has everything.” Made of 14-gauge steel with

½-inch polycarbonate ballistic glass, InvictaSafe is secure and displays your firearm like the piece of art it is. Choose from the Pistol safe or the newly introduced Rifle/Shotgun safe, and then customize it to your taste. Customers can select background color, texture, or even send in an image of their choice to serve as the background of the safe. The bigger Rifle/Shotgun safe also has room to add mementos, pictures and more. “We want our customers to be happy and we are flexible to meet their wishes and requirements. Just call us!” says Galler. “Most importantly, our safes are built strong with more steel than many other safes and cabinets. If you want to display your firearm, do so safely and treat your firearm like the work of art that it is.”  Editor’s note: For more information, visit invictasafes.com. americanshootingjournal.com 97

BLACK HILLS AMMUNITION

The Black Hills .300 Blackout 115-grain dual performance projectile is monolithic copper, precision machined to provide effective performance. The bullet’s frontal portion is designed to easily expand to form an effective wound cavity. The expanding petals then fracture, creating additional penetrating projectile fragments that pierce the stressed tissue, cutting separate wound tracks from the projectile’s remaining solid shank. The main shank of the projectile, once free of the petals, continues on, ensuring adequate penetration even at varied velocities. My memory of my dad: “Can’t never could do nothin’.” I once told my dad that I couldn’t do something. He told me, “Can’t never could do nothin’.” What he meant was that if you limit yourself, saying you “can’t,” then you are probably right. To this day he is the toughest man I ever met. He rolled a firetruck on the way to a fire. It landed on him and broke his pelvis. I never saw him so much as wince while working at being able to walk again. I watched him working with frigid tools barehanded in a raging blizzard because there wasn’t room for gloves. He jumped into an open sewer to try to save a drowning boy. He built businesses and ranches when bankers refused to back him and tried to cancel his loans. He worked incredible hours to make sure we had a roof over us and food on the table. He and Mom had me, lost two daughters, then went on with hope and love to have three more boys. They raised us with faith in God, love of our country, respect for the flag, a sense of duty and respect for others. I was lucky to have a dad who is a man in every sense of the word. –Jeff Hoffman, Owner black-hills.com

FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

TIMBER CREEK OUTDOORS

Treat your dad or yourself this Father’s Day with an Enforcer Kit from Timber Creek Outdoors. Available in nine colors, this kit features high-end performance parts and jaw-dropping looks that improve usability, ergonomics and dependability of any small-framed MSR. It’s perfect for sportsmen, competitors, firearms enthusiasts and people who trust their lives to their equipment. Timber Creek products are made in the USA and come with a lifetime warranty. MSRP: $749.99. Our message to dads: Dads make the best hunting partners and range buddies. Happy Father’s Day to all of those dads out there! timbercreekoutdoorsinc.com americanshootingjournal.com 99

FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

HIDING HILDA

These wallets are made of top-grain vegetable-tanned cowhide and are meticulously designed to be free of any points of deterioration or wear (like plastic windows or dainty designer wallet pockets). The entire outside panel of the wallet is lined with an anti-radio frequency identification material to keep information-thieving RFID scanners out. Finally, the solid brass and solid steel medallions add that touch of Smith & Wesson class that reaches above and beyond just quality and workmanship. Our wallets are handmade by craftsmen in India utilizing centuries-old traditions of quality and workmanship. Our message to dads: Fathers, thank you for being who you are. Your role is so important in kids’ lives and today we celebrate you for all of your hard work! Thank you to all the dads out there! hidinghilda.com

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DARA HOLSTERS & GEAR, INC.

Dara Holsters’ Custom IWB Holster features a patented curved clip, designed to mimic the curve of the waistband. This keeps the gun tight to the body and secured to the belt. Proudly made in the USA, and backed by a lifetime warranty. daraholsters.com

FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

GARY REEDER CUSTOM GUNS

When you are looking for something special in a revolver, semiauto or singleshot handgun, look no further than Gary Reeder Custom Guns. Reeder Custom Guns has been building full custom guns for 40 years with 70 different series of full custom guns, like the El Diablo 2 shown here. Full custom and built the way you want and in the cartridge of your choosing. For the finest in custom guns it is always Gary Reeder Custom Guns. Check our website or call 928-527-4100. reedercustomguns.com

BARNAUL

Every dad needs more ammo for Father’s Day. Barnaul Ammunition offers a wide variety of steel-cased cartridges in the major calibers your dad needs. Handgun calibers: .380 Auto, 9-Mak, 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 Auto. Rifle calibers: 5.45x39, .223 Rem. (5.56), .300 BLK, 7.62x39, .308 Win, 7.62x54R and .30-06 Spring. Pick some up from your local store today and enjoy the range time with Dad! Premium Russian ammunition that delivers. barnaulammo.com

MEMORIES THAT LAST A LIFETIME

Spending time in the woods as Father and Child is priceless. Join us on a hunting trip that will add to those memories. 10% FATHERS DAY DISCOUNT

Oregon and Washington Big Game Hunting — ELK • DEER • BEAR • TURKEY

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FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

INVICTASAFE

InvictaSafe offers all of the benefits of a traditional firearm safe while allowing you to display your firearm “safely” like a work of art. Fourteen-gauge steel with ½-inch-thick ballistic glass protects your valuable firearm from unauthorized access or theft, protecting you and your family. Order now for a $200 savings. Just type code “Christmas” on our website on the order page. invictasafe.com

SOUTH HILL RV

Our No. 1 selling camera is the Furrion with the 7-inch monitor (we also offer them with 5- and 4.3-inch monitors for a few bucks less). Over the years we have tried just about every backup camera brand out there, but none have compared to the Furrion systems. They provide crystal-clear images to avoid any blind spots and are amazing for backing up and parking. The other options are adding side cameras and a security camera by the entry door so you can keep an eye on your unit if you step away for an adventure! This is an option that any dad would love on their RV! Seven-inch backup camera and monitor: $650; add the side camera with backup camera and monitor for $950. About my dad: I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer in 2004; it was the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with. Not only was he my dad, but my best friend, my mentor, my trainer and so much more! I cannot thank him enough for everything he has taught me, from always putting family first to working the hardest for anything you want in life, and just all the time we spent together, even all the hard lessons learned. He is who made me the man I am today and if I can be even half the man he was, I am happy! He was/is the best father, family man and person I have ever met and ever will meet! I would give any and everything in the world to just get another five minutes with him, and suggest to anyone who does have their father here on Earth, do not take it for granted. It has been many years now, but I still talk to him daily, ask his advice and always ask myself what would Dad do in just about every situation I deal with! Happy Father’s Day, Dad! –Ted Tatum, Sales Manager southhillrv.com 104

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FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE VELOCITY PRECISION

Like all Velocity Precision products, their Recoil-less Bolt Carrier is designed with accuracy and performance in mind. Their unique patent-pending design is stronger than other lowmass bolt carriers and is one of the lightest bolt carriers on the market. The Recoil-less Bolt Carrier significantly reduces your rifle’s recoil impulse for faster follow-up shots and its Nano Diamond Nickel coating makes it extremely wearresistant, easy to clean and uncompromisingly durable. This unique coating creates a very slick surface that reduces the probability of failures due to a lack of lubrication, reduces typical wear and tear on expensive parts, and truly makes shooting your AR-15 much more fun. The real value when it comes to lightweight bolt carriers comes when it’s paired with an adjustable gas block, which is why Velocity Precision offers both in a bundled product package. Reducing the rifle’s returning gas, together with the reduced weight of the bolt carrier, is what reduces the recoil and muzzle rise to nearly zero. Without both you’re really only going halfway! velocitytriggers.com

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PMA TOOL

Give Dad the gift of simplicity this Father’s Day. The PMA Die Adjuster makes adjusting your full-length sizing die the easiest part of your handloading. No more guessing or using die shims to adjust your shoulder bump to optimize accuracy and brass life; simply dial it in with micrometer accuracy. The PMA Tool Micro Die Adjuster, simply the best. pmatool.com

FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE PEET DRYER, INC.

Protect Dad’s guns from rust yearround with one of Peet Dryer’s dehumidifiers for his gun safe or gun cabinet. Effectively removes humidity from 120 cubic feet up to 600 cubic feet. For information on more of our products, please visit our website. Our message to dads: Happy Father’s Day from all of us at Peet Dryer. peetdryer.com

THE SOUTHERN TRAPPER

Make Father’s Day extra special this year by personalizing our genuine leather rifle slings with his initials. Our comfortable slings are backed by our unbeatable 100-year warranty. Order today while supplies last. thesoutherntrapper.com

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Another one

FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

Bites the rust.

V-LINE

Remember, some superheroes don’t have capes ... they are called Dad! Give your superhero some “security” this Father’s Day! Our Top Draw quick-access handgun case is a top-opening case and features a Simplex easily programmable, five-push-button mechanical lock that does not require batteries. The Top Draw handgun case can accommodate up to two pistols depending on their sizes. It is finished in a textured gloss black powder coating and accented with a gloss silver V-Line logo. The lock has a stainless steel faceplate. The heavy foam interior protects your firearms and valuables. vlineind.com

A Dehumidifier for every size safe or space. Prevent your valuables from mold, rust, and corrosion by controlling the humidity within your safe/space.

Visit Peetdryer.com for more info.

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RANGESTORE.NET

Steel Target Paint is formulated for steel targets, covers quickly, and has a high paint-resin content with a pound of paint in the can. The colors allow match directors to color-code scenarios during competition stages. For long-distance shooting, these colors can be combined for optimum visibility. Range Box Sampler MSRP: $49.29. rangestore.net

Custom Guns

“El Diablo 2” When you are looking for something special in a revolver, semi auto or single shot handgun, look no further than GARY REEDER CUSTOM GUNS. Reeder Custom Guns has been building full custom guns for 40 year with 70 different series of full custom guns, like the El Diablo 2 shown here. Full custom and built the way you want and in the cartridge of your choosing. For the finest in custom guns it is always Gary Reeder Custom Guns. Check our web site or call 928-527-4100. 10 to 12 month delivery in most cases.

FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

ULTIMAK, INC.

NOWLIN ARMS

Proven reputation. Eight world championships and 22 national titles, all won by competitors using Nowlin. Today, you can elevate your own 1911 to this level of performance with Nowlin’s ECM Match Grade barrels. Made from 416 rifle-quality bar stock, with ultrasmooth ECM rifling, 40 RC hardness, and an 8 RMS bore finish, Nowlin 1911 barrels deliver maximum accuracy. Nowlin’s unique precut barrel locking lug design ensures precise engagement, while centering the firing pin on the primer. Under 1 inch at 25 yards and under 1½ inches at 50 yards in the company’s barrel testing fixture. nowlinarms.com

UltiMAK, Inc. in Moscow, Idaho, is the designer and manufacturer of a unique, solid and very practical series of forward optic mounts for rifles and carbines. Supported platforms include a variety of Kalashnikovs (AKs), the M1 Garand, M-14/M1A, Ruger’s Mini-14 and Mini-30, and GI-spec M1 .30 Carbines. UltiMAK mounts are easy to install by the average user, and seldom require any modification to the rifle. Call 208-883-4734 or visit the website for more information. ultimak.com

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FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

PRESENT ARMS, INC.

The AR Hook is another “third hand” from Present Arms. It is an AR cleaning rod guide and upper receiver strut. Simply hook the upper receiver and pin to the lower with the takedown pin. Use it with Present Arms’ patented Sentinel Plate and AR magazine post, sold separately, for the perfect user-friendly AR cleaning station. presentarmsinc.com

SAUVIE ISLAND DUCK CLUB

Duck club members have access to several acres of private hunting area. Blinds are located in three main areas (and three smaller areas) within the property to help maximize hunting potential and minimize member contact. Sauvie Island Duck Club is located on a great flyway and is a mallard haven! The following memberships are available: Day, Week and Season at a cost of $200, $750 and $2,000, respectively. Sauvie Island Duck Club is a private waterfowl hunting club located approximately 10 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon, along US Route 30. Call Ron at 503-539-5396 or check out the website for more information. siduckclub.com

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FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

VERLE’S

Verle’s has the Big Chief front load package for you. Smoking is made simple with the Big Chief, as all you have to do is plug it in to a standard household outlet. Just place your food (after brining or preparation) on one of the five racks that sit over the top of the drip pan. The smoker’s capacity is a whopping 50 pounds of meat or fish! Includes: smoker, five easy-slide chrome-plated grills, electric cord, drip pan, wood flavor pan, recipe booklet, plus four free bags of Smokehouse Chips & Chunks. Father’s Day special: $135.99 until June 20, 2021. verles.com

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POCKET OX

Remember when we could throw a buck on the tailgate or yard

our dirt bikes out of the brush without waiting on a buddy? Bikes got heavier, tailgates taller and, frankly, those buddies are showing some wear. Idaho’s Pocket Ox builds the smallest, most powerful “in your pack, not in the truck” manual hoists. Save your back for scoopin’ up grandkids. They come sooner than you think. PocketOx.com

TEACHING YOU THE SKILLS TO SUCCESSFULLY HUNT AND/OR SURVIVE IN THE WILD. Hands-on and in the field courses for men, women and children. Become a better outdoors person. Learn the essentials of: Modern Day Survival • Navigation Skills • Scouting Classes • Archery Hunting Skills and Techniques • Big Game Strategies For All Weapons • Shooting Techniques and Much More.

WILDERNESS SURVIVAL School for Hunters and Guides

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Articles inside

BLACK POWDER: AN ORIGINAL, RIGHT DOWN TO ITS TWICEREPAIRED STOCK

BULLET BULLETIN: GET ON BOARD WITH BOATTAILS

SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING: ARE YOU TRAINING TO LOSE TOO?

TO REMEMBER AND HONOR

ROADHUNTER: COUNTRY OF BIG BLACK BEARS