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Western Shooting Journal // February 2015

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Western Shooting Journal // February 2015

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WESTERN

February 2015 - March 2015

SHOOTING JOURNAL

Volume 3 // ISSUE 6 // February 2015 PUBLISHER

James R. Baker ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Dick Openshaw EXECUTIVE/INTERIM EDITOR

Andy Walgamott

Billings, MT Metra Park, 308 6th Avenue North

Feb. 13-Feb. 15

Yakima, WA Yakima State Fairgrounds, 1301 South Fair Avenue

Feb. 14-Feb. 15

Hamilton, MT Ravalli County Fairgrounds, 100 Old Corvallis Road

Feb. 20-Feb. 22

INCOMING EDITOR

Danielle Breteau COPY EDITING

Katie Sauro LEAD CONTRIBUTOR

Frank Jardim

Pasco, WA TRAC Center, 6600 Burden Boulevard

Feb. 28-Mar. 1

Helena, MT Mar. 13-Mar. 15 Lewis & Clark County Fairgrounds, 98 West Custer Avenue

CONTRIBUTORS

Ralph Bartholdt, Larry Case, Tom Claycomb III, Chris Cocoles, Andre’ Dall’au, Scott Haugen, Joey Hurst, Steve Meyer, Mike Nesbitt, Bob Shell, Larysa Switlyk, Ed Symkus, Robin Taylor, Jonathon Waldrop SALES MANAGER

Brian Lull ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Becca Ellingsworth, Mamie Griffin, Steve Joseph, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold DESIGNERS

Dawn Carlson, Beth Harrison, Sonjia Kells PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Kelly Baker PRODUCTION MANAGER

John Rusnak OFFICE MANAGER/ACCOUNTING

Audra Higgins ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Katie Sauro INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER

Lois Sanborn INBOUND MARKETING

Jon Hines CIRCULATION MANAGER

Heidi Belew DISTRIBUTION

Tony Sorrentino, Gary Bickford, Barry Johnston ADVERTISING INQUIRIES

ads@westernshootingjournal.com

ON THE COVER Clint Eastwood, director of American Sniper and numerous other movies, and Hollywood actor who has held 61 different guns in films. (GETTY IMAGES) DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Last issue, we mistakenly listed products not available from Schuetzen Powder (p. 199). The company’s powder only comes in Fg, FFg and FFFg, while its Swiss Powder comes in Fg, 11/2Fg, FFg, FFFg and FFFFg granulations.

Also see p.31 for a correction related to our December issue.

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

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CONTENTS

66

VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 6 • FEBRUARY 2015

OSCAR O OSC SCAR C CALIBER ALIBER Clint C Cli Cl liint in nt Eastwood’s Eaast E sstwo two wood od’s d’’ss llatest ates at tes estt mo m movie, ovi vie, iee,, American Amer Amer Am e ican iiccan an Sniper, Sni nipe ipe p r, is per is u up p for ffo or si six ix Ac A Academy cad adem dem e y Aw emy A Awar Awards. war a ds ds. ds.

We take We tak ake ke a look llo ook k at at his his long lo lo ong ng g career, car aaree ree eer, rh r, hear earr fr ea ffrom rom mB Bradley rad ra dleey dley dl yC Cooper oope oo perr – wh pe who pl who p play plays lay ays ys de d dead deadly ead adly dlly y mark m ma marksman ark rksm ksm sman an Chris an Chr hriis is Kyle Kyl yle le – about about abou ab out working work wo rki king iin ng wi with th h tthe he fi he film lm mg great, reeat aat, t, ge get iin get insights nsi sigh igh ghts t ffrom ts rom th ro tthree hre ree ee Mari Ma Marine rine inee C Corps orps or ps sscout ps c utt ssnipers, co nipe n ni ipe pers rss, an rs, aand nd more mor mo m more! ore re! (KEITH re!

(KE (K KEITH KE ITH H BERNSTEIN/WARNER BE B BERNS ERNSTEI RNSTEI RNS EIN/W IN/W N/WARN ARNER BROTHERS ARNER BROTHE BROT BRO OT THE HERS HE RS S ENTERTAINMENT) ENT E N NTERT NTERTAIN ERTAINMEN AINMENT) MENT) T

FEATURES 41

SCATTERGUN: Remington’s New V3 Field Sport

59

GUN REVIEW: SIG’s Little Big Gun, the 9mm P938

53

COMPETITIONS: From Russia, With Love Part markswoman of Soviet yore, part ballerina with a gun, two-time world champion Maria Gushchina – just 19 – dominates IPSC shooting with a style that is all her own.

Solving The Sighting-in Puzzle When the (interim) editor of a shooting magazine starts taking notes, you know the writer’s got some wisdom to impart about zeroing in a rifle.

99

ROADHUNTER: Your Passport To Adventure With more frequent flyer miles than some diplomats, our Scott Haugen has some must-read advice if you plan on hunting internationally this year.

SHOOTING WITH LARYSSA: Aloha, Axis Deer!

Larysa chases imported game on Hawaii’s big-game-rich Lanai Island.

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He packed a .380 Colt Pocketlite around for nearly 20 years, but this modestsized 9mm ended that – Texas rancher Joey Hurst on why he switched to Sig Sauer’s P938.

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This north Idaho high school’s shotgun team is not only growing, but helping expand the sport of scholastic shooting throughout the Inland Northwest.

The venerable gun maker aims to reclaim the market for shotguns made in the U.S. with this brand spankin’ new semiauto, which our Larry Case tested.

45

Varsity Skeet

BEHIND THE BADGE: Policing A Truly Fair-weather Town Redwood City, California’s cops keep the peace in a climatological paradise.

135

Going Ballistic What do sandwich shops, Mrs. Sandusky’s 2nd grade classroom and SWAT teams all have in common? They can all be protected by ballistic shields, which have come a long way from those carried by Caeser’s legions.

105 Girls, Guns & Dangerous Game Jen Adams and Norissa Harman, the gals behind California outdoors clothier Girls With Guns, talk about filming their new series, Universal Huntress TV.

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

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CONTENTS ALSO INSIDE 147 Another Look At A Big, Big Cartridge: The .454 Casull 155 BLACK POWDER: Vegetable Fiber Wads For Black Powder Bullets 161 Product Feature: Optics And More 163 ARCHERY: The Case For Bow Cases

DEPARTMENTS 17 25 29 31 33 37

Editor’s Note: Introducing Danielle Breteau, your new editor!

Gun Show Calender Competition Calender Reader Snapshots Guns Of Our Fathers: Dad’s Model 34 Bolt-action .22 Range Profile: Bullseye Shooting Range of Wichita, Kan.

NEWS: THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT SERVICE PISTOL A U.S. Military contract to manufacture up to 400,000 replacements for Beretta’s 9mm is up for grabs.

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(CPL. TIMOTHY R. CHILDERS, USMC)

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EDITOR’S NOTE

A NEW YEAR, A NEW EDITOR

Western Shooting Journal Welcomes Danielle Breteau As New Executive Editor STORY BY JONATHAN WALDROP

D

anielle Breteau is not one to be pigeonholed or boxed in by labels as she has lived approximately three lives in one. Born in Miami and a resident of over 10 different countries,

Danielle comes to us with a welcome depth of knowledge in this field.

In her time Danielle has held positions as a law enforcement officer – and in that capacity, a member of a specials operations and tactics team – hostage negotiations team, and an undercover unit that targeted criminals in the child pornography trade, all over and above her road patrol duties.

Over the past decade, she has been working as a high threat security contractor for the U.S. State Department and other government agencies as well as private industry in

Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Jordan, Peru and the U.S. While in Iraq, Danielle was on the ambassador’s protective detail, and operated as the first female shift leader on the Worldwide Protective Service contract. In Afghanistan she was the tactical commander for

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PRIMER NEWS // CALENDARS // READER PHOTOS

NEWS

GOODBYE, M9?

The U.S. Military Announces A Search For The Next Service Pistol STORY BY FRANK JARDIM

After 30 years as the sidearm of American forces, the Beretta M9 may be out to sea, which is where these marines of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit fired their 9mms during marksmanship training on the flight deck of a Navy landing ship. (CPL. TIMOTHY R. CHILDERS, USMC)

A

fter 30 years in service with American troops, give or take a few months, the U.S. Military announced formally that it intends to replace the 9mm Beretta M9 pistol with a new Modular Handgun System (MHS) that will address many shortcomings of the

generally unpopular M9.

Older readers will recall scratching their head in confusion when the M9 was first adopted in 1985, replacing the .45 ACP M1911 and M1911A1 pistols that had served as the standard sidearm of American soldiers from the Philippine Insurrection through most

of the Cold War. The Beretta 92 – what would become the military M9 – was one of the best 9mm pistols around in the mid-1980s. On the positive side, its 15+1-round capacity was impressive, and the gun was accurate. But many of the complaints about the M9 today are inherent in its vintage design. westernshootingjournal.com 21

PRIMER

NEWS

Chief among the concerns: that it was not particularly strong or durable; the slide-mounted safety and decocker could be accidentally engaged in the heat of battle, rendering it harmless to the enemy; and its open slide design invited foreign matter to enter its mechanism and jam it.

WHEN THE M9 WENT to battle, soldiers in the field reported dissatisfaction with the stopping power of the 9x19mm NATO ball round. The irony of that complaint is that NATO compatibility dictated that the pistol be a 9mm, a caliber never known for impressive knock-down capability. Back in the day, soldiers had plenty of complaints about the old 45ACP 1911 design pistols too, but lack of stopping power was never among them.

Keep in mind that most career military serve their 20 years and retire, which makes for a rather short institutional memory. The .45 ACP round became the American service pistol cartridge in 1911 as the result of a need for greater stopping power fighting Moro warriors in the jungles of Mindanao in the Philippines. Just prior to the turn of the 19th century, with the Indian Wars concluded, the

military retired the powerful .45 Colt cartridge in favor of a comparative pipsqueak, the new .38 Long Colt. That short-lived tale of woe is another story, but the point is when the shooting starts, our soldiers want the bad guys they shoot to stay shot.

THE M.H.S. GUIDELINES ARE impressive.

The new pistol needs to accept a suppressor and have a Picatinny accessory rail to attach a tactical light or lasers. It needs to run 2,000 rounds between stoppages, 10,000 rounds between failures and have a 25,000- to 35,000-round service life. (The current M9 is said to have a 17,000-round service life, but the military has lowered the bar to a mere 5,000 rounds.) From a fixed rest, the pistol must have a 90 percent or better hit probability on a 4-inch target at 50 yards. The grip must be adaptable to hands of various sizes. With the large number of women soldiers on the front lines as military police and other support troops, this feature will be especially important.

Though no calibers have been specifically designated in the competition guidelines, the round must outperform the current NATO

Smith & Wesson, makers of the polymer-framed M&P, or Military & Police, has teamed with General Dynamics to pursue a military contract for what could be an order for 400,000 pistols. (PARSECBOY, WIKIMEDIA)

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M882 9x19mm cartridge. The test will compare permanent wound channel performance in ballistic gelatin.

The wound channel requirement is going to favor a big bullet. The Hague Convention, which the United States abides by even though the Senate never approved it, doesn’t permit any of the high terminal-performance hollow points or specialty ammunition that you or I might use in our defense.

The new service pistol is going to have to do it with old-fashioned full-metaljacket ball ammo. Whether that will be a big, slow .45 or a screaming .357 SIG, only time will tell.

THE FIELD IS WIDE OPEN for anything except a Beretta M9 derivative. The military, with the exception of the United States Marine Corps, seems to be done with it like a bad girlfriend.

Though a polymer-frame pistol is not a requirement, their light weight could be an advantage, and I would expect to see pistols from Glock, Beretta, Walther and S&W. The latter firm has partnered with General Dynamics to aggressively pursue the award of a contract that could mean up to a 400,000-pistol order from the U.S. Army alone.

The S&W M&P has earned a fine reputation in the past decade since it was introduced, and it is American made.

The rules of the MHS competition allow for the military to ignore the winners and choose the weapons system it deems the best value. Expect politics to prevail in this endeavor. One should ask the question why one of the oldest and most successful and innovative handgun manufacturing firms in America needs General Dynamics, a manufacturer of jet fighters, tanks and submarines? Their answer is General Dynamics has an extensive history of winning and managing government military contracts, something S&W hasn’t done much of. That’s a sensible, business-oriented answer. However, ask yourself as a taxpayer what the perceived necessity of that partnership says about the way we procure our war material? WSJ

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BROUGHT TO YOU BY

PRIMER

GUNSHOW C A L E N D A R

Potential buyers peruse the wares at last year’s gun show at the Polk County Fairgrounds in Rickreall, Ore., west of the state capital of Salem. (R&J FIREARMS)

JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 1 Denver Gun Show, Denver, Colo.

Florida Gun & Knife Show, Deland, Fla. Eastman Gun Shows, Gainesville, Ga. Carthage Gun Show, Carthage, Texas Saxet Corpus Christi Gun Show, Corpus Christi, Texas Pasadena Gun & Knife Show, Pasadena, Texas Crossroads of the West Gun Show, Sandy, Utah Pasco Gun Show, Pasco, Wash.

Wyoming Sportsmans Gun Show, Cheyenne, Wyo.

6-7 Eau Claire Area Gun Show, Eau Claire, Wis.

7-8 Shoals Gun & Knife Show, Shoals, Ala. Casa Grande Western Collectibles & Firearms Show, Casa Grande, Ariz.

Phoenix Gun Show, Phoenix, Ariz.

Arkansas Gun & Cartridge Collectors Club Gun & Knife Show, Little Rock, Ark. Santa Barbara Historical Arms Show, Santa Barbara, Calif.

Vallejo Gun Show, Vallejo, Calif.

Colorado Springs Gun Show, Colorado Springs, Colo.

Eastman Gun Shows, Rome, Ga. Caldwell Gun Show, Caldwell, Idaho Joplin Gun Show, Joplin, Mo. Columbus Rifle Club Gun Show, Columbus, Neb. Museum Militaria And Gun Show, Greenville, Texas Saxet San Antonio Gun Show, San Antonio, Texas Centralia Gun Show, Centralia, Wash.

Kansas City Gun Show, Kansas City, Mo. Washington Arms Collectors (WAC) Monroe Gun Show, Monroe, Wash.

20-22 Wyoming Sportsmans Gun Show, Douglas, Wyo.

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Wyoming Sportsmans Gun Show, Torrington, Wyo.

Eastman Gun Shows, Gwinnett, Ga. Redmond Gun & Knife Show, Redmond, Ore. Ennis Gun Show, Ennis, Texas Turlock Gun Show, Turlock, Texas WAC Puyallup Gun Show, Puyallup, Wash.

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Arms Collectors of Southwest Washington Gun Show, Vancouver, Wash.

Wyoming Sportsmans Gun Show, Laramie, Wyo.

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Sierra Vista Collectibles & Firearms Gun Show, Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Eastman Gun Shows, Perry, Ga. Florida Gun & Knife Show, West Palm Beach, Fla. Overland Park Gun Show, Overland Park, Kan.

Florida Gun & Knife Show, Eustis, Fla. Lebanon Gun Show, Lebanon, Mo. Pasadena Gun & Knife Show, Pasadena, Texas Belton Lone Star Gun Show, Belton, Texas Saxet Corpus Christi Gun Show, Corpus Christi, Texas

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PRIMER

COMPETITION C A L E N D A R

JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 1 Circle The Wagons-Shootout On The Applegate Trail, Albany, Ore.

31-1 Palmyra Invitational PTO (preliminary tryout), week 3, Palmyra, Pa.

3 Special USPSA Classifier Match, Gwinnet, Ga.

7 3 Gun Match, Washoe County, Nev. Hoosier Hills Monthly PTO, Columbus, Ind. IDPA Match, Oak Ridge, Tenn.

6-8 Jacksonville International Skeet Open, Jacksonville, Fla.

7-8 Peach State Mounted Shooters Association Ice Breaker, Unadilla, Ga

8 USPSA Competition, Washoe County, Nev. SASS Wild Bunch Match 199 (lever action and shotgun), Orlando, Fla.

9 Rifle Rocky Mountain Championships, Colorado Springs, Colo.

14 Police Pistol Combat (PPC) competition, Lebanon, Pa. Texas Steel Big Bore Match, Bulverde Texas IDPA, Washoe County, Nev. ACSA (cowboy shooting, Phoenix, Ariz.

SASS (cowboy action), Oak Ridge, Tenn.

15 Action Pistol, Rim Fire, Two Gun, Washoe County, Nev. Multi Gun Competition, Piru, Calif. .22 BPCR Match, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Devin Nicholson fires at a target during a March 2013 Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association event in Arizona. This month features several such competitions, including the CMSA US Winter Championship, also in Arizona. (WSJ ARCHIVE PHOTO BY CHERIE ROLLAND)

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CMSA Bishop’s Trailer Sales Winter US Championship (cowboy mounted shooting), Queen Creek, Ariz.

USA Shooting Pistol Selection, Colorado Springs, Colo.

21 USPSA Competition, Norco, Calif.

3 Gun, Greenville Tenn.

21-22 USPSA Competition, Memphis, Tenn.

22 United Revolver Club of Sacramento NRA .22 Sectional Championship, Sacramento, Calif.

Florida Peacemakers For A Few Balloons More Shootout (cowboy mounted shooting), Lady Lake, Fla.

25-27 Florida SWAT Association Sniper Competition, Orlando, Fla.

26 Smith & Wesson IDPA Indoor National Championship –Tier 5, Springfield, Mass.

28 Practical Shooting USPSA Championship, Puunene, Hawaii IPDA Match, Pala Indian Reservation, Calif.

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PRIMER

TOP SHOTS What do they do in Norwalk, Ohio, when it gets boring in winter? Why, blaze away at a Kryptonite Plus bullet trap with a .50-caliber BMG M2!

Or at least that’s what reader Adam Mohl enjoys doing near the northern Buckeye State city. He calls firing the armor-piercing rounds out of the big machine gun a “little holiday fun at work.”

That end of Lake Erie is known for its walleye fishin’, but Elizabeth Mohl had something else in her sights earlier this winter – a fine whitetail buck. She arrowed this one with a Rage broadhead in Port Clinton, Ohio.

Got a shooting-related photo? Send it to editor Danielle Breteau, dbreteau@media-inc.com, and it just might appear here in a future issue!

CORRECTION

Kenny Wells, 10, enjoyed a successful Arizona cow elk hunt last fall. His proud dad, James, noted Kenny was “old enough to shoot an elk, but not too old to hold his old man’s hand.” Cherish it while it lasts, James.

Continued from p. 17 the ambassador’s motorcade, and closer to home, she has provided protection for numerous celebrities. Danielle is a certified tactical firearms instructor for handgun and shotgun, ropes and rappel master, and has been shot and stabbed on odd occasions.

A supporter of both educational and professional endeavors, Danielle has degrees in music from the Conservatoire de Danse et Musique in Lyon, France, as well as a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, specializing in human body language and emergency management. Her next degree will be in mechanical engineering as it is a passion of hers.

Danielle has played bass clarinet for two symphonies in France, and most

Officer Donald E. Thompson. (LAPD)

The lead image accompanying our December issue Behind the Badge column (p. 121) on off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer Don Thompson’s Christmas Day 2013 rescue of an unconscious man trapped in a burning car misidentified another officer (at right in that photo) as Thompson. That officer was Rick Webb. We apologize for the misidentification.

But we do have an update on Thompson. Recently, he was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Hero Medal for his rescue. The annual award is given to civilians in the U.S. and Canada who risk their lives to try and save others from death. Thompson, seen here at left in uniform overlooking the City of Angels, received second-degree burns to his face, hands and arm.

recently the Colorado Symphony, and speaks French and, according to her, “enough Spanish to help anyone get into trouble, but not out of it.”

In her spare time, she assisted in the development of two nationally renowned and elite shooting ranges and would like all of her readers to know that she’s “considered an expert on absolutely nothing.”

Impressive enough if you didn’t actually know Danielle, it’s completely absurd that she’s done all of these things while also maintaining an outgoing, fun, humble and personable disposition. Her hobbies include her husband of four years, John who is from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and served in the Special Branch for the BSAP, hiking, shooting

sports, art and, of course, learning anything new.

While Danielle also has experience in many other things – ghost writing for Tom Clancy, piloting small planes, Eddie Money’s money, free-range chicken farming – she is excited about the opportunity to work with the talented people at Western Shooting Journal and hopes to bring an additional perspective to this publication and you, our loyal readers. westernshootingjournal.com 31

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guns of our fathers

NOT JUST AN OLD .22

STORY AND PHOTO BY LARRY CASE

Built during the Great Depression, the author’s father’s Model 34 was a tack-driver that secured many a squirrel over the years for the pot.

I

t’s just an old .22 rifle.

If your eyes glanced over it in a gun store or pawnshop, I doubt you would even stop and pick it up. Years of hard wear, but not abuse, took off most of the bluing. The stock is fairly nice wood, but not really anything to write home about. The scope is an old ¾-inch tube and probably looks funny by today’s optics standards but, friend, I would like you to see all the game that this rifle has taken.

My father was a child of the Great Depression and was raised in a house full of kids in conditions most would consider “poor.” They farmed the land and lived close to it. His family maybe didn’t hunt and fish to survive, but it certainly made things easier.

The rabbits and squirrels and grouse (they didn’t have many deer around then) he and his dad and brothers brought in were very welcome additions to the larder. You didn’t have philosophical discussions about whether hunting was right or wrong back then. If you wanted meat on the table, you took your rifle or shotgun and went to the woods.

After my father died about a year

ago, sometimes I would go to the gun case and look at his .22 rifle, a Model 34 Remington. For reasons I can’t explain, I did not want to take it home with me. All of his guns and knives and other outdoor trappings just seemed to belong there, at his house. It didn’t feel right to remove them.

But slowly I started to take a piece with me now and then, as if he was leaving there too, but not all at once.

I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either.

Remington made the Model 34 boltaction from 1932 to 1935, and I am told it has always been known as a shooter, a tack-driver that a hunter could take to the woods with confidence. This rifle is famous for its reliability, as it has a shell carrier in the action that raises the cartridge from the tubular magazine and places it perfectly in line for the chamber, every time. In all the years I handled this rifle I can’t remember it ever malfunctioning.

Dad was a shooter, a rifleman. He got his early training in the woods and on the riverbank, plinking squirrel heads and tiny sycamore balls, high in the treetops.

“The Case boys could always shoot,”

he told me once, as if to explain the legacy I was to carry on.

What he learned in the woods went on to serve him well on a U. S. Army rifle team, where he helped his squad win more than one match with the M1 Garand.

I regret that I do not know when he acquired the Model 34. It is one of a thousand things I should have asked him but didn’t. I guess he will tell me one day, but I do know that for over 50 years it was his squirrel rifle and, mister, he was some kind of deadly with it. I can see him waiting for me at the truck, a limit of squirrels carefully laid out on the tailgate, showcasing they were all headshot.

As hunters and shooters, we treasure the guns of our fathers, other relatives and longtime companions who have gone before us. We see the rifles and shotguns they carried as the closest bond we can still have with them. Hunting with their guns is our best connection while still on this earth.

Oh yeah, I’m gonna take that ol’ Remington out to the woods.

Everybody but the squirrels is going to like that, I think. WSJ westernshootingjournal.com 33

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Western Shooting Journal // February 2015

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RANGE SPOTLIGHT

‘WICHITA’S SHOOTING HEADQUARTERS’ STORY BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY BULLSEYE SHOOTING RANGE

Rental revolvers, semiauto handguns and more await customers at Bullseye Shooting Range, which offers a pretty sweet deal for shooters looking to try out as many different guns as possible on the line.

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ullseye Shooting Range in Wichita, Kan., offers a wide range of services for shooting enthusiasts of all interest levels, including those whose primary reason for owning a firearm is self-defense.

Their well-illuminated, climatecontrolled indoor facilities include a 25-yard, 10-port pistol range and a 100-yard high-power rifle range – the latter being the only one in the Great Plains. Both are equipped with fast electric target carriers, which are infinitely adjustable from 3 to 25 yards on the pistol range and from 50 to 100 yards on the rifle range. The rifle range can handle calibers up to .375 Holland & Holland, which should delight everyone with the possible exception of some hardcore elephant hunters.

Range fees are very reasonable.

An hour of pistol range time is $8 for members and $11 for nonmembers.

The rifle range costs $10 an hour for members and $16 for nonmembers. If you like to shoot with a friend, lanes can be shared at an additional discount. Individual yearly memberships are only $25 and family memberships are $35.

Mike Relihan, owner of Bullseye, considers his business “Wichita’s shooting headquarters.”

“Shooting has many facets, and we strive to serve the needs of our varied clientele,” he says. “It’s a sport and sports are supposed to be fun, but it’s also serious, and in some cases deadly serious. Whether you are a recreational, competitive or selfdefense shooter, you will feel at home

at Bullseye Shooting Range.”

RELIHAN AND HIS STAFF offer not just a range, but a retail firearms store stocking a broad and ever-changing inventory of new and used firearms, factory ammunition, reloaded ammo (for shooters on a budget), and shooting sports accessories of all types. If they don’t have it in the store for the customer, they know where to get it and can usually do so in two to three days. Licensed as a Class III dealer, they stock suppressors and can handle your National Firearms Actitem transfers for you.

They also have a terrific in-store gun rental program that allows shooters buying range time to try any of 75 different handguns for only $10 plus the cost of a box of ammo. westernshootingjournal.com 37

RANGE SPOTLIGHT

Bullseye also sells weapons, as well as offers 20 different training courses.

In a practical sense, this means you can buy an hour of range time and try as many different guns as you like for

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just another $10. This would be a great way to narrow down your selection for an ideal concealed carry pistol. Even if you spent all day on the range from open to close (around a $100 investment in range time), you could shoot as many of their rental handguns as you wanted to try for only $10 more (whether you tried one or all of them).

This type of hands-on experimentation is invaluable.

About half of the concealed-carry students I’ve seen in the courses I’ve assisted in show up with guns poorly suited to them. With a program like Bullseye’s, there is no reason not to get the right gun the first time.

You can also rent a handful of rifles ($10 per hour) to shoot on the rifle range, and machine guns, suppressed and unsuppressed, for various prices starting at $40 per hour plus ammo.

Beyond the scope of this article are the 20 different training courses offered for beginning, advanced, competitive and self-defense shooters. To learn more, check them out on their website, bullseyewichita.com.

Located at 1455 North Terrace on the northeast side of the biggest city in Kansas, the range is open just about every day you would want to shoot. Hours run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Call them at (316) 686-7264, and tell them you heard about them in Western Shooting Journal. WSJ

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scattergun trail

RESHORING AND RESTORING ORDER

Remington Aims To Reclaim The Market For Made-In-The-U.S. Shotguns With New V3 Field Sport STORY BY LARRY CASE Revealed to gun writers back in October, the Remington V3 Field Sport was unveiled to the public at SHOT Show last month. (LARRY CASE)

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ilestones often come and go in our lives, and we do not notice until later. We bear witness to incidents, changes in politics, technology, and the world around us. But we do not see it for what it is at the time.

The firearms world is no different, and those of you who are students of shotgun history know the important milestones in the timeline. In case you haven’t heard, there is a landmark shotgun on the horizon.

IF YOU WERE around for the unveiling of the Winchester Model 12 shotgun in 1912, then God bless you. Remington introduced the 870 in 1949, and by 2009, 10 million of the pumps had been produced, making it the biggest shotgun seller in history.

In the autoloader category, the greatest breakthrough was in 1963, when Remington introduced the Model 1100.

The autoloader market changed forever when this shotgun blew everyone else out of the water – not to mention everything out of the cornfields, skeet fields and grouse woods. The 1100 ruled the roost for decades.

What the 1100 became famous for was Remington’s “pointability” factor.

When you mounted the shotgun to your shoulder, it was there; it was on target; it felt “right.” One of my buddies who grouse hunted said it best: he carried one in 20 gauge for many years and called it “the birdkilling machine.”

The Remington 11-87 came along about 25 years later with a gasoperation system that allowed the use of a wider variety of shotgun shells westernshootingjournal.com 41

SCATTERGUN TRAIL

The V3 features a compact receiver design based on a scaled-down version of Remington’s Versa Port technology. (REMINGTON)

that became more readily available.

It was another quarter of a century before Remington showed us another autoloader, the Versa Max, but by now everything was a lot different in the shotgun market.

WHEN 1100 SALES were booming, American-made shotguns held about 70 percent of the market, imports about 30 percent. Now it is just about the opposite: shotguns made outside the U.S. cover upwards of 80 percent of the market, American-made about 20 percent.

There is more going on here than just another new shotgun coming on the scene, folks. Remington is saying that there is a big group of American shooters out there waiting for a new autoloader made domestically.

The market is made up of a very diverse group these days: wingshooters, waterfowl hunters, clay target and recreational shooters.

Everyone wants one shotgun for all of these pursuits, and it needs to be lightweight and fast pointing.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Remington V3 Field Sport. This shotgun takes the Versa Port technology and puts it into a lightweight (7.2 pounds; the 11-87 is 42

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8.25 pounds) shotgun while keeping the famous pointing attributes of the 1100.

In a nutshell, that is the essence of this shotgun: It feels like an 1100 when you throw it up, but it retains the “shoot anything you stuff in it” reliability of the Remington Versa Max. “The new V3 Field Sport represents Remington’s return to the leader in semiautomatic shotguns,” says Michael Vrooman, shotgun product manager for Remington Arms.

I KNEW YOU would want more details on this shotgun than that, though, so here goes. This shotgun utilizes the Versa Port gas system that Remington put into the Versa Max, but the Remington representatives I talked to were swift

to tell me that this is not just a “3-inch Versa Max!” “We started with the revolutionary Versa Max and raised the bar. The V3 Field Sport combines the reliability and recoil reduction found in the Versa Port system with a lightweight and compact design for the ultimate field and upland shotgun in one package,” says Vrooman.

What is the end result for you, the shooter? A shotgun that shoots anything from the lightest field load to the most nuclear 3-inch magnum load that you care to send downrange.

Tests have shown a less than 1 percent malfunction rate on cycling reliability.

And I almost forgot: Remington went back to the Rem Choke system for this shotgun; a good move, in my opinion.

The V3 gets its natural pointing attributes largely from the compact receiver design. Remington took the Versa Port technology and put it into a scaled-down receiver – all this, plus the very low felt recoil of the Versa Max. I shot the V3 at the Remington product seminar last fall. After a lengthy session on the range with this gun, the words of my old turkeyhunting buddy “Tomcat” Dooley kept running through my mind: “This gun shoots like a house on fire!” It goes bang every time with whatever shell you pull out, and it swings and points like a dream. MSRP is around $895.

I really believe Remington is going to take back the homefront with this shotgun. WSJ

Relatively light at 7.2 pounds, the V3 also features the famed pointing attributes of the Remington 1100. (REMINGTON)

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gun reviews

THE LITTLE BIG GUN

The Sig Sauer P938 Is The Pistol That’s Bigger Inside Than Out STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOEY HURST

It may look small in the author’s hands, but the Sig Sauer P938 – based off the P238 – packs a punch. Fast one-handed double taps are easy with the pocket 9mm, he attests.

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oncealed carry. These words conjure up many ideas as to what’s best to carry on a daily basis.

Folks who live in cooler regions obviously have a broader choice of firearm, thanks to the clothing they wear to keep warm. There are, however, people living in hotter climates who can’t wear a jacket, because no one else is and/or it would be uncomfortable …

WHEN I MADE the choice to carry all the time, the decision started out like this.

In 1996, carrying a concealed weapon was allowed legally in Texas for the first time in over 100 years, so I started out with a nearly full-sized combat pistol chambered in .45. Gun-carry articles suggested more ammo should be carried, and that you better wear those spare mags on the other side, so I employed a vest to cover all this.

Enter the Lonestar State’s weather.

Stepping out into the morning sun it might only be 91 degrees, but the high sometimes reaches around 105. Meeting clients, eating out and

bending over to tie my shoe are all done with worry that someone might see the semiauto.

As time went by, I tired of carrying that big handgun. What I needed was something smaller – a pocket pistol.

This led to a lot of different handguns to try and fit the bill, including a .25 Bauer, .25 Browning, .25 Colt, NAA-22, NAA-32, .32 Colt Pocket model – also a .380 of the same – Walther TPH, .22 PPKS, Smith .442, and .36 and .38 Colt Cobra.

I finally settled on a .380 Colt westernshootingjournal.com 45

gun reviews Pocketlite stainless with little tiny night sights from the factory. It was very reliable and was the biggest caliber to be found in a pocket pistol at that time. I carried it for nearly 20 years, always riding with it in my pocket and ready for instant use.

Over the years, I shot it a good amount, and readily dispatched snakes on the farm, not to mention one coyote at too far a distance. But it did the job and I always fed it premium ammo like Cor-Bon.

Over the years, the author, who lives in Texas and has been carrying concealed for two decades, has tried numerous small pistols for pocket or concealed carry, for years favoring a .380 Colt Pocketlite (left row, at bottom).

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I DIDN’T BUY INTO the pocket-gun hoopla because I knew I already had the best, but awhile back I was at a gun store and they had the new Sigs that looked just like my little Colt – except they were also available in 9mm. Holy smokes, I thought, now that’s something!

I bought the P938 SAS Sig Anti-Snag Model. It’s slightly larger than my Pocketlite – mainly in the grip – to accommodate the 9mm round. My first thought was that the handgun, which has no sharp edges on its frame or slide, was really well made, perhaps the Cadillac of pocket pistols. I could also really see the sights – large, easy to see, and nightsighted to boot. And I bet it was a handful.

But I was wrong on all three counts. I don’t really know what all Sig did, but this pistol doesn’t seem to have much more felt recoil than the Colt. Sig truly has a micro combat

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gun reviews The author’s wife, Daphnee, carries an identical P938 with the holster that comes with it, and prefers it to a .22 when checking on their Texas ranch, where running into a nest of feral pigs may require a little more firepower.

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pistol ready for pocket carry, but it’s never undergunned.

My pistol came from the factory, fully equipped with a full melt, excellent SIGLITE night sights, flashy wood grips, ambidextrous safety, a checkered front strap, two-tone finish and six-round flush-fit magazine.

Believe it or not, there was a great little plastic holster that is well made and very useable – all this inside a hardplastic, foam-lined fitted case. The pistol is well made and had no issues with all the ammo fed to it.

The Sig is really accurate for what it is: very controllable with double taps.

My wife has an identical pistol and really enjoys shooting it – so much so that her first time out with it she fired 100 rounds through it. She carries the pistol in the holster that came with it while hiking our ranch, and prefers it to a .22. That’s because it’s not unusual to stumble into a bunch of feral pigs when they’re least expected. The 9mm will

separate dog and hogs pretty quick.

The Sig P938 is the first pocket pistol that I have seen that made me want to buy it and put away my trusted Pocketlite. Everything about this pistol is familiar if you use a 1911, and the 9mm obviously has more power than a 380. The sights are excellent and reliability is at 100 percent. I think I’ve found a little big gun for the next 20 years. WSJ

A 50-yard, seven-shot group made with Blazer brass off a rest.

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COMPETITIONS

‘SHE’S THAT GOOD’

Part Markswoman Of Russian Yore, Part Ballerina, Maria Gushchina Dominates IPSC Shooting STORY BY ROBIN TAYLOR, TAYLORFREELANCE.NET • PHOTOS BY PAUL HYLAND, WWW.LIVESHOTS.NET

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earing the exploits of Maria Gushchina, my mind drifted to those of her countrywomen two generations before. Russia’s female snipers serving in World War II held a fearsome record for marksmanship and lethality.

But as I learned more about her, Gushchina doesn’t really fit that mold.

She’s a soft-hearted, soft-spoken teenager coming from a country known for oppressive gun control. Yet the 19-yearold Russian’s skills with a 9mm have made her a giant in the International Practical Shooting Confederation.

BEST OF THE BEST IPSC shooting (and the American version, USPSA) combines speed, power, accuracy and movement into a free-wheeling shooting sport. Its top athletes have amazing skills and a high level of physicality. Gushchina is running ahead of the best.

Americans recently got a firsthand look at Russia’s Queen of the Production Gun when she came to Frostproof, Fla., for the IPSC World Shoot last year. Gushchina put such a lead on the field of women that victory by the Russian team became a virtual certainty. Make no mistake, the entire Russian squad is excellent, but with Gushchina putting a 100-point lead on America’s top shooter Julie Golob, the outcome was easy to predict.

“She’s the single best female practical shooter out there in the world right now,” says Golob – who holds more than 50 national and world titles of her own. “She’s the only woman to win a Level IV outright,” beating

Many in the shooting world are in awe of Maria Gushchina’s style.

“Maria shoots with power … but there’s also a grace about her, like a Russian ballerina,” says Julie Golob, a top-tier American competitor.

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COMPETITIONS all comers – male and female – at the Australasian championship.

Golob has competed against Gushchina several times, including during a visit to Russia for the Moscow Open in 2011. The pro shooter for Smith & Wesson brought me right to the point.

“We’re talking a whole different level. Three years ago at age 16, she shot over 80 percent of (World Champion) Bob Vogel’s score at the World Shoot. What woman has done that? This is what people don’t realize; she’s that good.”

Adding to the wow factor, in an interview in the months following, Gushchina told Front Sight magazine’s Irish correspondent David Thompson that she’d broken a finger in her right hand the week before the match.

“When I came to Rhodes, I expected only to have an enjoyable competition and have a good time,” said Gushchina.

Instead, she emerged as the top female production shooter on the planet.

The Americans put two of their three team members into the top three that year – Golob and Sara Dunivin – and

still lost to Gushchina (shooting with a broken finger) and the Russians. Golob and Dunivin placed third and fourth at the next World Shoot, and again, lost to Gushchina and the Russians.

“How do you put two out of three people into the top three and not win the team title?” says Golob. “They took gold because of Maria.”

A fan of the CZ 75 platform, Gushchina won that first world title with a top-of-the-line Grand Power (the X-Calibur, made in Slovakia) before switching over to the famous Italianmade Tanfoglio “Stock II” in 9mm.

IPSC’s restrictive rules all but forbid making changes to your pistol, so firms vie to create the best “package racegun” in an effort to win titles. The CZ “Shadow” package gun has a big following in the United States, but the Tanfoglio Stock line has made rapid inroads. Virtually all the medalists on the Production platform at the past two World Shoots shot Tanfoglio Stock II pistols, Bob Vogel and Julie Golob being the obvious exceptions.

The Stock II is light years ahead of

Gushchina shoots at last fall’s IPSC World Shoot XVII in Frostproof, Fla. She finished with a score 100 points better than any American.

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the Russian-made “Viking” (similar to a Ruger P85), which was the only pistol available to Gushchina by law when she shot her first match in 2007.

Russian gun-control legislation has improved somewhat, but at the time sporting-use handguns had to live at a registered home club (and remain there). Gushchina could travel with a “club” pistol to compete only with special permission.

SWEETHEART OFF THE LINE Everyone we spoke to about Gushchina commented on her kindhearted personality.

“As a person, she’s a very kind young woman,” says European pro Gregory Midgely, whose girlfriend and Gushchina are close friends, “but when she’s shooting, she’s a total pro.

Focused 100 percent.”

Golob said much the same thing: “She doesn’t have the tiger spirit that you’d expect she would have. She laughs, she giggles, she’s very much a teenage girl in a lot of ways, but when the buzzer goes, it all changes.”

At the pinnacle of the shooting sports, the competitive environment can turn hostile. Charles Barkley didn’t invent the concept of “psyching out” your opponent, he just took it up a few notches. In the USPSA/IPSC world, Todd Jarrett and Blake Miguez’ onand off-screen disagreements were famous, and the ladies (while generally much more supportive) aren’t immune.

“This year we expected to have a lot of tension with the Russians and other top teams, but it wasn’t there,” says Golob. “That’s thanks to Maria’s leadership. The ladies as a group all stood up for each other.”

If one wanted to “game” somebody into a competitive disadvantage, IPSC offers plenty of opportunities. In U.S. events, a competitor can walk the stages before the match and has at least five minutes to wander around each course to develop a game plan, plus chances to come back and doublecheck. IPSC poses a great challenge with a fixed three-minute group walk-

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COMPETITIONS through. In some cases, that’s the only time you can truly inspect the course prior to coming to the line.

If your team is sharp-elbowed during this critical time, you can disrupt your opponents’ planning or break their focus. It’s poor sportsmanship, to say the least, but it happens.

Golob credits Gushchina with establishing a more supportive environment. “It hasn’t always been that way,” she says.

POWER ON THE LINE IPSC shooters have “styles” determined in part by the gear they use. The rules for “Open” and “Limited/Standard” forgive less-thanperfect accuracy, so the people who shoot there develop a style that puts the emphasis on speed. They run – literally – just inside their ability to keep the gun on target and in control.

“Production” stylists, on the other hand, face severe scoring penalties for

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Despite tensions between teams and the West and Russia, shooters praise Gushchina’s sportsmanship. Then just 16, she and U.S. shooter Julie Golob posed for a pic at a Moscow range during 2011’s IPSC World Shoot, and Golob later praised her in a blog, from which this screengrab was snapped. (COURTESY THE OBJECT RANGE)

inaccurate hits, so they’re much more careful and poised. This applies twice over to female shooters, who tend to be less muscular in the way they move.

Watching Gushchina shoot, that “careful” stylistic cue is missing.

Instead, she drives the gun at maximum speed, and rips to and fro like a skilled male athlete driving a Limited gun – yet she scores nearly

100 percent “A” hits. I checked with Midgely to see if he was seeing the same thing.

“It’s true!” he says. “Maria is outstanding in her performance.”

Midgely related a story about a mutual friend watching Gushchina for the first time. He was gobsmacked by her speed, exclaiming “What *&! was that!”

Midgely explained Gushchina was the reigning world champion, and our friend blurted out to her, “she moves and shoots like a man!”

Gushchina blushed.

Golob views it a bit differently.

“Maria shoots with power, there’s no doubt about it. But there’s also a grace about her, like a Russian ballerina. She has a style all her own,” she says.

Now a two-time world champion at just 19, we’re certain to see more of Gushchina in the coming years. She’s one of few who women like Golob are willing to say, “She’s so good, it’s hard to catch up.” WSJ

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VARSITY North Idaho High School’s Shotgun Team Grows

SKEET STORY BY RALPH BARTHOLDT

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ichael Brown’s first gun was a 12-gauge pump that he was given as a 10-year-old. It was handed one day to him and his brother, but because his brother, Matt, just a few years older, didn’t like the action, Michael made the Remington 870 his own.

“It was as tall as I was,” recalls the Hayden, Idaho, 17-year-old, who a few years back, along with Matt and some like-minded friends, prompted their high school to adopt as an official school sport a hobby in which the boys had been nurtured: shotgunning.

NORTH IDAHO ISN’T ON any map of the best duck hunting locales in North

America. It is placed precariously somewhere on the gray margins of two major waterfowl flyways, but it does have its share of wetlands. Parts of the Gem State’s panhandle are a sinuous soggy marsh bordering its major rivers, including the Kootenay, Coeur d’Alene, Pend Oreille and the St. Joe. But ducks and geese are what the Browns and family friends spent many fall mornings shooting, and perched in shallow blinds in the cold mist is where Michael got to know his Remington. And rather than some super-slick Krieghoff or other competition shotgun, he uses the 870 in the trap and skeet matches he travels to as part of the Coeur d’Alene High School team.

“It’s not the perfect tool for the

application,” Brown notes, then adds unapologetically, “It’s the gun I started with and I’m used to it.”

His team skeet scores average around 22 and 23.

“He’s very proficient with it,” says Kiersten Kerr, coach and sponsor of the Coeur d’Alene Viking Skeet and Trap team.

Remember, this is North Idaho, so Kerr – who is not only a shooter herself, but the school librarian – was a booster club member when she was approached with the idea of starting a gun club at the high school. With approximately 1,500 students, the Coeur d’Alene Vikings compete in athletics with the largest schools in the state. Notable graduates include former NFL quarterback John Friesz.

“The kids wanted to start a trap and skeet club; we weren’t sure what to

Since formation of the team in 2010, the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, High School Skeet and Trap squad has grown to 23 members, and competes in matches along with teams from Washington and Montana. (COEUR D’ALENE HIGH SCHOOL) westernshootingjournal.com 59

Unlike other scholastic team sports, there are two seasons for the trap-and-skeet squad, fall and spring. (COEUR D’ALENE HIGH SCHOOL)

expect,” Kerr recalls. “We went through the school board and got it started.”

IF THE COEUR D’ALENE AREA lacks the kind of iconic bird hunting opportunities that gunners travel days to embrace – Dakota goose and pheasant hunts,

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Midwest ruffed grouse and woodcock banging, or the mixed bag of Montana prairie bird hunts – it doesn’t want for shooting areas. The Coeur d’Alene Mountains rise gracefully and heavily wooded from the town’s limits, melding with the Bitterroots, and

running east to Montana.

And the place is gun friendly.

The Second Amendment is rarely a ballot issue in a state where even the most liberal candidates make sure constituents know they own firearms.

It didn’t take long to round up a handful of students who wanted to bang clay targets as representatives of the Vikings team.

The sport was given the green light by the district and started with six members. In the past four-plus years the numbers have burgeoned.

Team members have placed well in events against competitors from schools that include those around Boise, the state capitol.

“Now we have 23 members, and other schools in the area are looking to start clubs too,” Kerr says.

The club picks up grants to purchase beginner shotguns that are stored in vaults at a trap-and-skeet range where team members practice and compete. The club receives grants and donations from shooting

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sports groups and the National Rifle Association, which pay for guns and shells, as well as eye and ear protection.

In order to practice and compete, however, team members pay for the rounds at the range.

“They pay for rounds, we pay for shells,” Kerr says.

Members who want to upgrade from the school-provided shotguns – it has eight club shotguns, a mixture of Remington 1187s, Stevens over-andunders, and youth 20 and 12 gauges – must purchase their own.

“It’s an expensive sport,” Kerr says.

And there’s commitment: Although the team boasts a group of coaches and volunteers – some of them former law enforcement officers – team members sign up with a coach and visit the range on their own time, as often as possible.

“We go year-round,” Kerr says. “We have a fall and spring season.”

December saw the team competing in a tri-state challenge, after which students were encouraged to take

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part in a winter league to keep their skills sharp. Where students at more southerly schools will have looser attire, these kids will be out on the line, bundled up in parkas, knit caps and insulated boots.

This is north Idaho, after all.

Brown, a former high school football and baseball player, and a 4.1 GPA honor student, devotes much of his time to gunning. Because much of the practice is after school and on weekends, the sport allows students to compete, even as they are members of other school teams.

AS PART OF THE Viking program, the student athletes are required to become members of the Scholastic Clay Target Program or USAYESS, national shooting sports foundations that support youth programs.

Since its inception in 2010, the program has grown in the number of participants, as well as community support, and because of its popularity, it is starting to feel growing pains. The

facility it uses north of Coeur d’Alene, which includes a five-stand course with voice-activated trap and skeet fields, is feeling the pressure.

“We are just getting to the point where we’re almost too big,” Kerr says. “There isn’t always enough room at the home club for kids to go out and practice.”

For three years, the club has played host to the tri-state challenge that includes schools from Montana, Washington and Idaho, as well as state championships. As a testament to the popularity of the sport regionally, each year competition has grown. With two Idaho colleges, including North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene and Boise State University, sporting college gun teams, scholarships are available to dedicated shooters, Kerr says.

For Brown, the sport offers more than fun and a chance at money for college.

“It’s relaxing,” he says. “It’s one of those sports you can do for the rest of your life.” WSJ

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OSCAR W

hether he’s engaging in a bizarre conversation with an empty chair at the Republican National Convention or pissing off the establishment with American Sniper as his latest directorial project this winter, Clint Eastwood, 84 years old be damned, still paints a polarizing canvas.

He’s accomplished everything he’s needed to command “legend” status in Hollywood: four-time Oscar winner; arguably the most successful crossover transformation from respectable actor to elite director (and spawning a recent surge of actors who can more than hold their own in the director’s chair); and a brief career as a politician.

Eastwood is back at the top of his craft. American Sniper is up for six Oscars at this month’s Academy Awards, and while he did not garner a fifth overall Best Director nomination, he’s one of the movie’s producers in the Best Motion Picture category.

From his beginnings in those squinty-eyed, six-gunning genrealtering movies we all hold so dear, his quality work spanning many decades and categories across the film industry makes him one of Hollywood’s power players.

“Any actor, any crew member will tell you it’s the easiest ‘yes’ in the business,” said actor Matt Damon on Access Hollywood when asked about working with Eastwood. (Damon’s appeared in two of his directed films, Invictus and Hereafter.)

CALIBER With His American Sniper Up For Six Academy Awards, Clint Eastwood, 84, Shows He’s Nowhere Close To Riding Off Into The Sunset STORY BY CHRIS COCOLES • PHOTO BY KEITH BERNSTEIN/WARNER BROTHERS ENTERTAINMENT

Eastwood’s success has also made his pitches no-brainers for studios to run with (he’s a fixture on the Warner Bros. lot). His Oscar-winning Unforgiven in 1992 stamped his place as an elite filmmaker (and a Best Actor nomination), but he was on fire in the mid-2000s. In a four-year span, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby (which Eastwood also starred in and was again nominated for as a lead actor) and Letters from Iwo Jima combined for four Academy Award wins and seven directing, producing and acting nominations.

Until American Sniper’s late push to Oscar relevancy, recent films like Hereafter, J. Edgar and Jersey Boys provided less acclaim, and some question if, at his age, his run of success was in jeopardy. It’s not that these were major bombs or anything.

But when you’re Clint Eastwood, more is expected from you.

American Sniper, which opened with a record $90-plus million winter weekend, is proof there’s still a lot left in this octogenarian’s gas tank.

VERSATILITY HAS ALLOWED EASTWOOD to score in a variety of themes as a director, including his Oscar-winning turns. Unforgiven – he also played the lead role – pays homage to those 1960s series of “Spaghetti Westerns” that put him on the map as a bonafide movie star. The dark, hard-core crime flick Mystic River was a super-sized version of the Dirty Harry series that Eastwood played later in his career.

The gritty drama Million Dollar Baby

– another film where he was both actor and director – reflected his depth of subject matter.

Taking on a script considered a risky idea in Hollywood – America’s involvement in the Middle East – was a daring move for a director who has nothing else to prove at this point.

“I’m not a guy who is fond of the war in Iraq. But I’m always sympathetic to veterans and people who were forced to go do the job, whatever the morality aspects of it are,” he told the BBC of American Sniper.

The film that stars Bradley Cooper in the Oscar-nominated title role profiles the late Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, considered the United States’ most prolific sniper. Shot himself several years after returning from duty, Kyle has become a controversial figure among those vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq.

Eastwood’s M.O. might suggest unabashed American patriotism given his resume, but he’s bucked the trend and dug deeper before, perhaps a precursor to tackling a subject like Kyle’s hero versus anti-hero debate.

Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers (2006) explored the Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima and the famous photo that was sold as a historic moment but was clouded with doubts about its authenticity. “(Kyle) is one of those guys who trouble always hunted down. I didn’t try to make it that it was the greatest deed in the world,” Eastwood said during the BBC interview. “I made a movie, Unforgiven, based upon

somebody who was haunted by having these deeds that he had done that were despicable.”

Eastwood, a longtime proponent of the Second Amendment and the National Rifle Association, clearly has sympathy for the characters in both of those films. Kyle won two Silver Stars among many medals for his tours in the Middle East, but he was also known as the “Devil of Ramadi” for his perceived ruthlessness and accuracy (at least 160 confirmed kills).

Eastwood told the Today Show he wasn’t interested in directing “just a war movie.”

“It was the kind of story that I like telling, where you have other aspects to a character, rather than just being a warrior going out and shooting up a storm,” he said in an interview with Cooper to Today’s Natalie Morales.

“It’s mostly about the dilemma of leaving family, and then where do you go from here?”

Morales asked if the relative lack of awards-season recognition prior to the Oscar nominations being announced was a byproduct of Hollywood frowning upon the United States’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the critical acclaim of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty in recent years.

Sniper is probably considered a longshot among the seven other films vying for Best Picture honors (Boyhood and Birdman are considered two of the favorites). Eastwood would have been the oldest Best Director nominee ever, but fell short in a fivewesternshootingjournal.com 67

person field.

“I don’t know what they have an appetite for,” said Eastwood, who did score a Directors Guild of America nomination, to Morales. “We’re not making the picture for awards.”

EASTWOOD’S CAREER HAS been in many ways defined by guns, war and violence. But during a Q&A moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg after a screening of American Sniper in December, Eastwood set the record straight about his intentions when it comes to making films about such subject matter.

“Contrary to public opinion, I abhor violence,” he told the audience, talking of his early years when World War II raged, his registering for the draft at the start of the Korean conflict and looking at Vietnam from afar.

“And so, at some point, you start saying, ‘It’s fun to talk about (war).’

It’s fun to talk about the emotions of it, getting in,” Eastwood said. “And in Letters from Iwo Jima (told from the Japanese soldiers’ perspective during a

desperate and futile attempt to defend the island from the invading allies), it was fun to explore how it felt from the other side as well.”

Where does Kyle’s story fit in?

He appears to be a complex figure, and now that he’s gone, his legacy will always remain a mystery. Some surely see him as a soul-less assassin, regardless of how beautifully Cooper portrayed him; others view him as a great American hero, no matter what his detractors say. Mysteries like that only keep Eastwood going – he is almost halfway through his eighth decade and shows few signs of slowing down. He’s taken on the challenge of bringing to the big screen fascinating historical characters before, like musician Charlie “Bird” Parker, J. Edgar Hoover and Nelson Mandela.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Eastwood was asked about the connection between Kyle and the Unforgiven character Eastwood both played and directed, William Munny, who also was known for being a killer.

“I thought it was equally profound.

THE GUNSLINGER’S GUNS

I never got to know Chris Kyle, to learn how he felt about killing people, just picking them off,” Eastwood told the newspaper. “But it is a hell of a thing. And in the picture, I tried to capture a feeling that he was OK with it, but only after maybe talking himself into it a bit.”

American Sniper may be the kind of movie that makes most of Hollywood cringe, given its overall stance on guns and war. But the movie made a staggering $1 million in a five-day span when it opened on Christmas in just four U.S. theaters. Its wide release on Jan. 16, the day before Oscar nominations were announced, created the kind of buzz Eastwood’s body of work has generated over a long career. Much like his conversation with the empty chair, Eastwood’s film came under fire after its nationwide release, but agree or disagree with his style, you’re intrigued by most anything he says or does.

“Yeah, I’m 84. But I’m still enjoying it. I’m not ready for the retirement home,” Eastwood told the L.A. Times.

“Yet.” WSJ

are on display at the NRA National Firearms Museum.

Here is an alphabetized list of all the guns William Munny, Inspector “Dirty Harry” Callahan, and other Eastwood characters have brandished or blazed away with, according to a summary on the Internet Movie Firearms Database: • 10-gauge double-barrel shotgun; AKM; AMC Auto Mag Pistol; Browning M2 Aircraft; Colt 1849 Pocket, 1851, 1860 Army, Buntline Special, Python, Official Police, Walker; Double-barrel shotgun;

The Remington 1858 New Model Army revolver that Clint Eastwood’s character Preacher in Pale Rider bore is among the many firearms on display at the NRA National Firearms Museum in Virginia. (JOE LOONG, FLICKR)

By our count, Clint Eastwood’s many characters have borne 61 different guns during his illustrious movie career – and that doesn’t even count the two he was born with to knock out countless bad guys.

Those weapons run the gamut, from the Remington 1858 New Model Army that Preacher raises hell with in a California mining town threatened by a greedy company to an Oerlikon 20mm cannon that his retired bank robber uses to blast a hole in a wall in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. A handful are such iconic guns that they’ve become, literally, museum pieces, and

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• Enfield Pattern 1853; Flintlock pistol; Gatling Gun; Holland & Holland Couble Rifle; Ithaca 37; Llama III=A; Luger P08; M16(PS1); M1911A1; M1 Thompson, M1 Carbine, Garand; M72 LAW; • Mauser 98 Sporter, C96; Mannlicher-Schonauer Rifle; MP40; Oerlikon 20mm Cannon; Remington 870, 1858 New Model Army, 1858 Pocket, Rolling Block; Ross Model 1910 Sporter; Sharps 1865 Sniper; Sharps 1874; • Sig-Sauer P228; Single Action Army; Smith & Wesson 4506, Model 10, 19, 29, 40, 66, 627, Schofield; Spencer 1860 Carbine; Starr 1858 Army; Vis wz. 35 semiauto; • Volcanic Repeater; Walther PP, PPK; Winchester Model 10, 12, 1866 Yellow Boy, 1873, 1892, 1894, 1912. –WSJ

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ONE SHOT’S ALL IT TAKES American Sniper Star Bradley Cooper On Working With Director Clint Eastwood STORY BY ED SYMKUS, MORE CONTENT NOW • PHOTO BY WARNER BROS./TNS

Bradley Cooper plays Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL sniper known to Iraqi insurgents as the “Devil of Ramadi.” Armed with long-range rifles such as the Mark 11, the .338 Lapua, and the .300 Win. Mag, he had a confirmed, witnessed 160 kills with 255 probables, including one 1.25-mile shot that took out an insurgent who was about to fire an RPG at a US Army convoy.

C

lassically good-looking, very blue-eyed Bradley Cooper has been popping up in movies for almost a decade and a half. You’ll recognize a young Cooper playing Ben in 2001’s Wet Hot American Summer.

Then there were TV movies, TV series and the lead part in The Midnight Meat Train.

Yeah, you read the title right, and no, you don’t ever have to see that film. Note: It’s on a marquee of a cinema Cooper walks by in Silver Linings Playbook.

Speaking of which, until Playbook, for which he was Oscar nominated, Cooper has really been more of an ensemble actor. The spotlight has been on him often, but he’s never really held a film on his own.

Until now. In American Sniper,

under the direction of Clint Eastwood (making his best, tightest movie in years), he plays Chris Kyle, the reallife marksman and Navy SEAL who became known as one of the greatest shooters in the Iraq War. As Kyle sets his gun sights on the enemy in the film, so too does Eastwood set his camera sights on Cooper. This is an intense character study within an intense war film. It’s also Cooper’s best work to date. He recently spoke about it in Los Angeles.

ED SYMKUS Besides starring in this film, you also produced it. What drew you to the project?

BRADLEY COOPER Movies for me have always been healing, and I love storytelling so much. We fell into a situation here where we had the

opportunity to tell this man’s story, who was a very charismatic, dynamic human being.

It’s not a movie about the Iraq War. It’s a movie about what someone like Chris has to go through as a soldier, and the dilemma and the horror of it, and the battle internally and what he went through with his family [at home].

There’s a lot to make it something that you want to watch, but the takeaway, for those who can relate to him, will be that maybe it’ll be healing for a vet who’s gone through similar things that Chris went through.

ES You really look like you know what you’re doing in this film. What kind of prep work did you go through to play Chris? westernshootingjournal.com 71

BC Here’s the thing about acting. I had three months, and I had to choose what to become comfortable with.

And the thing that we talked about choosing was the weapons, three sniper rifles – the Mark 11, the .338 Lapua, and the .300 Win. Mag. – and being dexterous with those three.

Because you’re watching [Chris] on the gun, so I really focused on getting into the mindset of what it would be like to be a sniper. Not so much about the training of becoming a Navy SEAL, which I would have loved to have done.

But we only had three months, and I sort of supplemented that with the weight training. So it was about the guys who were training me, with live ammo, with those three weapons.

ES This is the first time you’ve worked with Clint Eastwood, who has a reputation of shooting a scene, getting it done and moving on to the next one, rather than doing take after take.

What was your experience with him?

BC First of all, you’re really excited to come on the set every day because Clint Eastwood’s there. That never gets old. It was amazing.

But sometimes you do movies and you feel, “Well, I’m warming up on the first three [takes], and then we’ll get into it on seven and eight, and we’ll sort of feel it out.” But that wasn’t happening on this movie, at all. You better bring it, on the first take. Clint will ask you how you feel and if you want to move on.

He’ll probably ask you why, and he’ll either say yes or no, do another

one. But the truth is there weren’t any more than one or two takes in this film, and then you move on. You have to show up ready.

I learned that when I made two movies with David O. Russell (Playbook and American Hustle). With David, when you’d step out of the van in the morning, you’d better be able to shoot the scene from the moment your foot touches the ground.

So I’m very well equipped in that way, and have come to love it, because there’s an energy and a vitality and a sense of it’s actually happening. I think if I ever get a chance to direct, I would always want to do that. You know, never make them feel that they have a hundred takes; make them feel like this is it. WSJ

MOVIE REVIEW: A SNIPER’S LIFE IN THE SCOPE – OF A FILM Even for the most gifted filmmakers – Clint Eastwood has been there, done that – and most convincing of actors – Bradley Cooper is trending up, up and away now – when you realistically have roughly two hours to tell a complex story, you can’t always do it justice.

Still, American Sniper does what it sets out to do and then some. It’s a movie not everyone will like and some will adore. But – and I’m no movie critic, just a fan of film, so take everything I’m saying as such –it’s something everyone should see; wait until DVD release if you must, but experience Chris Kyle’s wild ride and make your own conclusion about this man. I saw the first possible showing of American Sniper’s winter-record-breaking nationwide release, and a day later I’m still not sure what to think.

Perhaps that’s the genius of Eastwood’s sequencing in bringing Kyle’s book of the same name about his experiences as our military’s deadliest sniper to the big screen. You see alternating sides of Kyle (Academy Award-nominated Cooper) – his four tours to the Middle East as a Navy SEAL marksman blessed (or cursed?) as the “Legend” his comrades trust most to protect them from feared suicide bombers in Iraq. Then, he somehow tries to live his life at home with the woman he fell in love with during his training in Southern California, heartbreaking Taya (Sienna Miller). They have started a family, and after a pregnant Taya endures a harrowing cellphone call from her husband interrupted by gunshots and chaos, the frightening reality that hers and Chris’s future is a mistake away from being wiped out in a heartbeat sinks in.

The movie begins with Kyle on an Iraqi rooftop, dirt that “tastes like dog (poop)” clouding the rubble-covered streets.

A woman and a young boy appear in front of a tank unit.

The scope from Chris’s rifle reveals a disturbing scene; the

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woman pulls what looks like a grenade from her pocket and hands it to the boy. He’s told it’s going to be his call whether to pull the trigger. His spotter, Goat, warns if Chris is wrong and these people hold no threat, “this is your ass in Leavenworth.”

Eastwood didn’t make the cut for a Best Director Oscar nomination last month, but the movie works thanks in large part to Cooper. After watching obnoxious performances in the Wedding Crashers and then the fast-fading Hangover trilogy (exhibit A why a classic comedy doesn’t always need to be soured by two bad sequels), I didn’t expect to think that three years later I’d be wondering how great of an actor Bradley Cooper has developed into.

Kyle comes home after some of his first two tours and can’t escape the sights and sounds of battle, whether it’s a lawn mower outside his home or the sound of a torque wrench as the family car is serviced at the garage. How does even the toughest of Texans transition between chasing suspected terrorists and facing moral dilemmas of shooting children and turning off that switch upon returning home?

Cooper’s Kyle struggles at times, going so far as banging on a maternity room window when his crying infant daughter is temporarily unattended.

You get an early sense of his purpose in the Middle East than when he’s around Taya and the kids. But even Chris finally tells his wife over the phone amid more pending madness and violence, “I’m ready to go home.”

And just when he seems happy at home, back in Texas (which Eastwood has too little time to dive into but provides a taste of Kyle’s relationship with his dad), you’re reminded about the cost of what many of these men and women absorbed in Iraq and Afghanistan. – Chris Cocoles

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CHRIS KYLE’S WIDOW SPEAKS Taya On Grief, Chris Kyle’s Legacy

STORY BY WESTERN SHOOTING JOURNAL STAFF

authentic. I got to relive some of it, which is beautiful and wonderful and painful, all at once.”

Honorably discharged in 2009 after four tours of duty in Iraq, Kyle was shot and killed in February 2013 at a Texas range. Ex-Marine Eddie Ray Routh is scheduled to go on trial this month for allegedly murdering Kyle and a friend.

Taya and Chris Kyle. (KYLE FAMILY)

T

aya Kyle appeared on Fox News just a couple days before a Hollywood blockbuster film depicting her husband’s remarkable story and tragic death was released nationwide last month. All it took for the widow of Chris Kyle to break into tears was watching a trailer of director Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, with two-time Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper playing Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL considered the most accurate and lethal sniper in U.S. military history.

“I don’t usually cry with it. Grief is a weird thing; sometimes it hits you hard,” Kyle said during the interview with Kelly File guest host Martha

MacCallum. “The interesting thing is it’s really natural for me to see the movie and in moments like that where I’d just watched it and saw Bradley earlier today. He’s such a phenomenal person and so warm and caring. I’m grateful, and I miss my husband.”

The film shows Cooper’s Kyle exchanging cell phone conversations with his wife (played by Sienna Miller) as he was in combat “Chris was really good about telling more and more about his service and what he did. I started getting an understanding from other people as well,” said Taya. “So it didn’t feel unnatural to see it there. They did such a good job of making is so

WE SPOKE WITH TAYA about Chris in a previous WSJ issue. Here are outtakes: On gun safety: “Even when it comes to rubber-training guns, Chris was adamant you carry them the same way as a regular gun, point them down and never have your finger on the trigger.”

On trust and death: “Chris was so trustworthy, he was very trusting. He had no reason to believe that he wasn’t getting the full story. There are a lot of hypotheticals. There are many ways to kill people, and if you’re watchful, you’ll figure it out. I’m not sure what (alleged shooter Routh’s) motivation was. I can’t explain it.”

On post-traumatic stress disorder: “Guys with PTSD do not need to have a scarlet letter. PTSD doesn’t make you a murderer, or change your character. Just because someone served in the military doesn’t mean they don’t have a past before that.”

On being married to a sniper: “He had back-to-back deployments the entire time I knew him. That was a conflict during our marriage. Who was supporting me in our day-to-day life?

I said I was going to leave California for Oregon, and he could come see us there. Chris saw that as an ultimatum; he didn’t think we’d make it if I moved, so he left the service.”

On the Chris Kyle Foundation: “Chris was working on a brand, chriskylefrog.com (when he died).

Frogs were symbolic of the fallen Navy SEAL. Chris had a frog tattoo.

Supporting the frog brand is the best way to help.” WSJ westernshootingjournal.com 75

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SNIPERS ON THEIR JOB Three Former Marine Corps Scout Snipers Talk About Their Profession STORY BY DANIELLE BRETEAU

positions in support of combat operations. Shooting is 10 percent of your purpose, but when you’re called upon to utilize that skill, it becomes 100 percent of your focus. Snipers are a part of a brotherhood, and that brotherhood is a level of selflessness that most will never truly understand.

Discipline, self-reliance, teamwork, perseverance and fortitude are just a few things I believe I took with me that have been a great benefit.

TREY DOMINICK It helped me become stronger in stressful situations. I have learned to take a step back in order to make logical decisions. This process can be used in any aspect of your life.

A 21-year-old Marine scout sniper killed an Iraqi insurgent through the window of this car after the man had been observing a convoy and then reached for a rifle – an M-40A1 taken from four Marines killed two years before in Ramadi. (CPL. MARK SIXBEY, USMC)

A

s the movie American Sniper headed for wide release in midJanuary, we checked in with three former Marine Corps snipers for their thoughts on the profession, how it changed them, America’s deadliest marksman Chris Kyle, and advice for aspiring snipers.

FILE Caylen Wojcik Former 1st Marine Division Scout Sniper School instructor; deployed as a chief sniper during Operation Iraqi Freedom II; over 100 combat missions; severely wounded by enemy rocket fire during Operation Phantom Fury; founded Central Cascade Precision; now with Magpul Dynamics.

FILE Jason Mann Twenty years in the USMC, 11 in a sniper platoon; retired after 20 years with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; president of U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper Association.

FILE Trey Dominick Joined USMC in 2006; deployed to

Afghanistan and twice to Iraq as an infantry assaultman and scout sniper; following honorable discharge, worked for U.S. Embassy in Iraq as a designated defense marksman; currently works for Iron Protection Group in Colorado.

DANIELLE BRETEAU What is your overall insight into the sniper profession, and how did it change you, if at all?

JASON MANN Other than being a proud father to four children, nothing makes me prouder than being able to say I am a Marine and a Marine scout sniper.

Jason Mann

CAYLEN WOJCIK My definition of a Marine scout sniper is a Marine highly skilled in fieldcraft and marksmanship who delivers long-range precision fire on selected targets from concealed

Trey Dominick.

DB Did you ever meet Chris Kyle?

JM I met Chris at SHOT Show several years ago. I just shook his hand and said hello.

CW I did not know Chris Kyle; however, we operated in generally the same area of operations during the same time period. Chris was a SEAL, and he operated primarily in the vicinity of Ramadi, whereas I operated within the vicinity of Fallujah, which was about 45 minutes away.

DB Have you seen American Sniper or read the book, and if so, what were your thoughts on the topic and authenticity?

TD I have read the book twice. I thought it portrayed Chris Kyle’s story very well. I can’t really touch on the authenticity of his story, but from everything I have read about his story and my personal experience as a sniper, I cannot find anything I westernshootingjournal.com 77

feel is widely exaggerated. The thing that troubles me most is how there are many people saying his stories are false now that he has passed away.

JM I have not seen the movie. I am apprehensive because another movie representing Marine scout snipers was horribly done and reflected poorly on us. I have read the book.

For many years the roles of snipers were rarely spoken of and there weren’t many books on the subject.

But since 9/11 there has been a litany, and most, in my opinion, attempt to glamorize and elevate, which I do not appreciate. The focus should not be on taking a life, but on the makeup of the man, selection, training, mission preparation and all that goes along with that. The killing of a human being is a very small part, actually. I believe today we are seeing too many seeking their 15 minutes of fame and will do or say just about anything to make that happen. We are seeing a number of persons who misrepresent themselves and

their roles, and that lends itself to misinformation and glamorization.

DB What would you say to the general public about the sniper profession? To those aspiring to the position?

JM The skill sets that scout snipers possess represent the very best in the American serviceman. These skills deliver disproportionate results on the battlefield and are a true force multiplier.

The enemy truly fears the sniper.

CW I would first ask yourself if you’re ready and willing to do whatever it takes to get there. Being physically fit isn’t enough, and there’s a huge difference between being physically tough and mentally tough. You’ll endure incredible physical and mental hardships. You’ll be hot, cold, wet, dirty and hungry when no one else is. You’ll be held to a higher standard, and be expected to do more with less.

You’ll be expected to go farther, with heavier weight on your back. You’ll be expected to immerse yourself into dangerous situations with only a very

small team to rely on. If you make it, the first time you lay hands on that rifle after you graduate will be a moment you’ll never forget.

TD Snipers are the calm professionals of the infantry. We are the ones out there making quiet, calculated decisions on the battlefield. To the aspiring I would say, this isn’t going to be an easy or quick process, so if you really want to be a sniper, just keep with it and know that you will be tested.

DB Anything else to say to our readers?

JM There have been many controversial incidents relating to Marine scout snipers of late, but the vast majority of activities have been in support of combat operations in a far away country to defend this great nation.

CW Snipers are not mindless, murderous killers. Snipers are selected and trained based upon not only physical strength and aptitude, but on their ability to make sound decisions while immersed in highly stressful scenarios. WSJ

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SOLVING THE SIGHTING-IN PUZZLE A Top-ямВight Shooter And Hunter Details How To Get Great Groups STORY AND PHOTOS BY STEVE MEYER

Sighting in can be intimidating, even mystifying, to some hunters, and while there is a little bit of science to it, following the author’s advice, as his partner Christine Cunningham is here, should lead to great groups at the range, and dead-dropped big game afield.

KaBOOM...

“$*@@!%&, $^&*@@!*^%#” came the expletive from the bench two down from mine.

As the sound of his shot reverberated from the steel roof at the rifle range, I looked over at the shooter and saw him turn away from the spotting scope and jump up to start turning the adjustment turrets on his 3x9 Leupold scope.

He had taken on what seems to be a

daunting task to many shooters: zeroing, or “sighting in,” their hunting rifle.

It had started some 45 minutes prior when the gentleman arrived at the range and asked me to hold up shooting for a few minutes while he put up some targets at 100 yards. I opened the action of my Winchester Model 70 Long Range Hunter in .300 Winchester Magnum and waited while he went downrange. He placed four Redfield sight-in targets in a square on one of the backstops on

the 100-yard line and returned to the benches where we agreed to commence shooting. I fired the last shot of a three-shot group into one of my targets set at the 300-yard line. I was developing long-range loads and starting each group from a cold, clean barrel, which allowed ample time to observe the goings on next door.

The shooting to my left continued as the wind started picking up, a common occurrence on ranges that are long (600 yards) and the morning

sun starts heating things up. Fairly quickly my wind flags set at 100, 200, and 300 yards were all flying at different angles, making the process of load development even more difficult.

While waiting for all of the wind flags to be the same for each shot it began to occur to me how over my 35 years of shooting on this Alaskan target range, it has been much more common than not for people to have difficulty in zeroing their hunting rifles. Time after time I have watched folks burn up a box of ammunition and load their gear up in disgust only to see them back at it a few days later.

It seems that the vast majority of hunters are not really “gun guys.” They utilize the gun as a means to an end – the taking of whatever game species they are after. Being a diehard hunter myself I can appreciate that. But being a diehard shooter as well, sometimes it is painful to witness the difficulties folks have over a very simple task.

IT ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCE, if you know the particulars, but it is a bit of a science. There are a multitude of factors that must line up, sort of

like the wind, the moon, and the sun thing. Fortunately in modern firearms virtually all of the issues of less-than-stalwart barrels, scopes that move after every shot, triggers that were much like dragging a concrete block across pavement, and factory ammunition that was sometimes a crapshoot are memories from the past. The average modern hunting rifle with a decent (read, moderately priced) scope is capable of shooting three-shot, 100-yard groups of 1½ inches, which is all you need for 95 percent of big game hunting. A 1½inch group at 100 yards equates to a 3-inch group at 200 yards, and a 4½-inch group at 300 yards — plenty of accuracy to hit the heart-lung area of North American big game animals, with a little margin for error at 300 yards. Experienced hunters know that taking shots beyond that is rare and ill-advised without a lot of wind-reading knowledge or perfect conditions. With that, if you do not have a correct zero for the ammunition you have chosen, it is still the proverbial shot in the dark.

For the sake of argument, let’s

assume you have a brand-new Winchester M70 Featherweight chambered for .30-06 with a Burris Fullfield 2x7 scope that was boresighted by the dealer upon purchase.

Before hitting the range there are a couple of details that will save you time and expended ammunition. Check all of the screws on the entire assembly.

Loose action or scope mount/ring screws are a common culprit of the rifle that “just won’t shoot straight.”

Clean the bore with a brass brush and some Hoppe’s No. 9 (being an old-timer, I still love the smell of the stuff ) or any other good gun-cleaning solvent. Run dry patches down the bore until they come out clean. The reason for cleaning a brand-new rifle is some manufacturers swab the bore with a heavy grease to prevent rust during transit, and even in today’s environment of hot gun sales, who knows how long the weapon has been sitting on the dealer’s shelf. One patch with a very light oil finishes the job for a hunting rifle (if your rifle has a chrome-lined bore, the oil patch is not required). This heavy grease, if left in when the rifle is first

The author advises using a 25-yard target (center) for the first two shots when sighting in a bore-sighted rifle.

It guarantees you’ll have a bullet hole somewhere on paper, and after adjusting the scope for the second shot, roughly near the bull’s eye. Then he moves on to the real deal, dialing in the rifle on a 100-yard or longer targets.

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Now that’s a good-looking group! After adjustments following the initial shot, bullets two through four form a tight group, zeroed for 300-yard shots. The author maintains that a shooter must accept that if their rifle makes 1½-inch groups, the bullet may impact ¾ inch high or ¾ inch to the right of that “perfect” zero.

fired, can create accuracy issues that can never be resolved.

THIS REMINDS ME OF a time some 30 years ago when a buddy wanted to go black bear hunting. I agreed to take him to a favorite spot as he had never taken a bruin. So confident was I that I didn’t take my rifle, only a .44 as I was going to be the packer.

We arrived at a meadow that always greened up early in the spring and where I had seen and taken black bears in the past. In the predawn light a really nice one came out about 200 yards away. It was a chip shot for my friend’s brand-new .300 Weatherby with a Redfield 4x12 scope.

“Take him,” I mouthed to him.

He whispered back in my ear, “I think he is too far; you shoot.”

I took the Weatherby and silently chambered a round.

“What is it zeroed at?” I asked.

He looked at me with a blank stare and I slowly opened the bolt.

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we took his rifle to the range and found it to shoot a bit over a foot high and 8 inches to the left at 100 yards.

Well, at least it would have been a clean miss at 200. Unbeknownst to me, he had bought the Weatherby, had the scope mounted and had never fired it.

He had no idea how to zero it.

TO THE RANGE, WE go, with the ammunition of your choice. A way to save a few bucks is to use less expensive ammo of the same weight bullet for getting the rifle close, and then using the premium stuff for the final zero.

You will also need some sort of front and rear rest for steadying the rifle on the bench. The commercially available rests — Caldwell seems to be the most prolific, and available at the moment — all work well and provide a bit better control than sandbags or a jacket thrown over a backpack. Ideally, your rest set-up allows you to adjust so the rifle sits in the bags, crosshairs on the target with very little movement to

center it perfectly. Whatever you use, be sure there is some sort of cushion for the forend. Laying the forend on a solid surface will cause a “bounce” effect that changes the impact.

Some targets, stapler or thumb tacks, and eye and ear protection round out the rest of the required items to get this job done. There is a huge array of targets available; pick what looks good to you. I am partial to Redfields. They are easy on the eye and fairly easy to see bullet holes with.

A spotting scope is nice, and good binoculars can also be helpful and will save some walking, but are not absolutely necessary.

Save yourself some frustration and set up the first target at 25 yards on a 2-foot-by-2-foot or larger piece of cardboard, preferably at a level about even with the top of the bench or rest you are using. The reason for this is that bore sighting is a less-thanperfect science, and as often as not, won’t put you on paper at 100 yards.

Starting at 25 yards with the large cardboard virtually guarantees you will have a bullet hole somewhere on paper with the first shot.

A word on range etiquette where there are others shooting. Set up your rests and the rest of your equipment first. Come to the firing line with your action open, muzzle up and lay the rifle in the rests, muzzle pointed down range. If there are shooters downrange checking/changing targets, wait until they are all back and behind the firing line before you bring your gun up.

While you are on the range, anytime there are shooters downrange doing anything, open your action and do not touch the gun until everyone is back behind the firing line. These are good rules to remember if there isn’t a range master on hand to bark back at you.

Now with the rifle on the rests, sit down behind it and get comfortable.

Looking through the scope, find the target and adjust your rests so the rifle is basically sitting by itself, crosshairs on the target. Shooting from a benchrest is a bit different in that you do not hold the forend with your support hand at all. You grip the rifle

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with your shooting hand and place your support hand around the base of the rear bag. Pull the buttstock to your shoulder; how tight you pull it depends on the recoil intensity of the cartridge: the more the recoil, the tighter the hold. With your support hand, squeeze the rear bag to adjust the elevation of the crosshairs on the target.

AND SO THE SHOOTING begins. Load a cartridge in the firing chamber and center the crosshairs as previously described, then slowly press the trigger until the rifle fires.

Now, there are all sorts of ways to describe how a trigger is pressed; some are right, some are not. The best way I have found to describe this is to “let the gun go off, don’t make it go off.” When you make it go off, that implies a jerk of the trigger, which results in errant shots that are not representative of where the rifle is actually shooting. Even in highvelocity cartridges where the bullet exits the barrel in excess of 3,000 feet

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per second, the movement of a jerk from the trigger will show up on a target. The longer the “barrel time” – that is, from the time of ignition until the bullet exits the bore – the greater impact this has.

Jerking the trigger is most often caused by recoil or more aptly, the fear of recoil. If you think about it, who wouldn’t be a bit apprehensive about having something blow up in their face and hit them hard in the shoulder? For folks who didn’t grow up with it, it is a difficult thing to overcome. Over the years I became a national-caliber benchrest shooter and silhouette shooter, and I developed a lust for shooting heavy-caliber rifles.

Anything from a .375 Holland & Holland on up I loved to shoot. These heavy rifles had an intrinsic accuracy, not benchrest-winning quality, mind you, but their hunting accuracy was virtually unfailing. And, as the late great Warren Page said, “only accurate rifles are interesting” they intrigued me.

The only heavy rifle I ever shot

that wasn’t at least hunting-accurate was the Wesley Richards .450x3inch Nitro Express double rifle once carried by John “Pondoro” Taylor, of African elephant hunting fame. This gun, marvelous as it was in its glorious history, would not hit the proverbial bull in the ass reliably at 50 yards. For their size, it’s pretty tough not to hit a pachyderm at that range.

On the other hand, the most accurate out-of-the-box heavy rifle I ever fired was a .460 Weatherby. The owner was set to go to Africa and hunt Cape buffalo but had a shoulder injury. He wanted me to make sure the rifle was zeroed without him further injuring his shoulder before his trip.

I set this beautiful rifle up on the bags and on the fifth shot, two things happened. The first — and to me, the most important — was the completion of a ragged five-shot group at 100 yards that could be covered with a quarter. The second — and most important to the owner — was that the stock split down the center, from

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the forend to the pistol grip.

ONCE THE FIRST SHOT is fired and you have located the bullet hole, you can start the scope adjustment process.

Most scopes have ¼ minute-of-angle (MOA) graduations, or “clicks.” For argument’s sake we’ll say your initial bullet impacted 5 inches high and 2 inches to the left. At 25 yards, those ¼ minute (read, ¼ inch) adjustments move the point of impact a sixteenth of an inch. That means moving the elevation adjustment 80 graduations or clicks down and the windage adjustment 32 clicks to the right.

Translated to 100 yards, that first bullet would have impacted 20 inches high and 8 inches to the left, easily missing the typical sight-in target. Make your adjustments and fire another shot, which should be reasonably close to the center of the 25-yard bullseye.

Now focus on the 100-yard target.

Shoot one shot, which should be reasonably close to the bullseye. Now think about where you really want the

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bullet to impact at 100 yards to take advantage of the .30-06 trajectory.

Assuming a 180-grain bullet, a 200yard zero is reasonable and thus a bullet impact of 2 inches high at 100 yards is going to generally be correct.

For the hotter big-game cartridges such as the 7mm Remington Magnum and the .300 Winchester Magnum, using 160-grain and 180-grain spitzershaped bullets, a 3-inch-high, 100-yard zero puts you dead on at 300 yards.

Whatever zero you decide, make your scope adjustments accordingly.

If the bullet impacted 5 inches high and 3 inches to the left, assuming ¼-minute adjustments, move the elevation adjustment down 12 clicks or graduations (3 inches) and the windage adjustment 12 clicks (3 inches) to the right.

Before your next shot, let the barrel cool down. Oftentimes, even with the superbly accurate rifles, the coldbarrel shot impacts differently than subsequent shots. For a hunting rifle the first shot is always going to be a

cold-barrel shot, and however that works out, you want your zero to be spot on with that one. Fire the coldbarrel shot, mark it no matter where it hits and let the barrel cool again. Fire the second and repeat. Opening the bolt to allow air to circulate quickens this process. Fire the third shot, and taking the three shots as a group, make your final adjustments based on the center of that group.

What so often happens with sighting in rifles is that hunters will try to get that perfect center-bull shot, and in doing so, make a scope adjustment after every shot. One must accept that if the rifle shoots 1½-inch groups, the bullet may impact ¾ inches high or ¾ inches to the right of that “perfect” zero.

RIFLE ACCURACY IS A product of uniformity and consistency. The ammunition used must be put together with enough uniformity to shoot accurately. Bullets must weigh the same and be seated the same,

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powder charges be uniform and the brass used must be consistent on the inside and well as the outside.

Back in the day when I shot benchrest matches, the brass case was one of the most consistent culprits of poor accuracy. The concentricity of the neck, which aligns the cartridge in the chamber, was routinely out of round. Out of 20 cases, one would be lucky to find five that were benchrest quality. Shooting the rifle must also be consistently the same. When you sit and wrap yourself around the rifle, do it exactly the same each time.

The pressure you are applying to the buttstock/shoulder junction needs to always be the same. If you hold it tight on one shot and loose the next, the impact on the target is going to be different. A hunting rifle doesn’t need to shoot sub-¼-inch groups, but when establishing the zero, you still want to take out as many variables as possible.

Virtually all modern scopes of reasonable quality are set to be parallax free at 100 to 150 yards.

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Parallax is a condition where one looks through the scope at an object and by moving the eye position the crosshairs appear to move across the object. The lower the magnification, the less of a problem this is. Highpower scopes that are used at long range will have adjustable objective lenses or they may have a parallax adjustment on the left side of the scope opposite the windage adjustment. This enables the shooter to adjust for long ranges where even a slight misalignment of the eye with the scope could result in a miss. So long as the eye is centered precisely in the scope, parallax is not a factor. For the sake of normal hunting rifles with moderate-powered scopes, it is not of great concern, but nevertheless, one should still try to center the eye on the scope to minimize any affect it may have in zeroing the rifle.

AFTER MORE CURSING, THE shooter two benches over came over to me and struck up a conversation, explaining that he was having a real problem with getting his .300 sighted in. We looked at the target he had been shooting and determined that he had in fact been “chasing” the bullet holes around the bullseye. There was no discernible parallax in his scope, and the screws holding the package together were tight. An adjustment followed by one shot, then another minor adjustment followed by three shots into a nice 1¼-inch group 3 inches high ended the swearing, and my newfound friend was on his way, a happy hunter.

It really is a fairly easy science to understand once you know the particulars, and as in so many things regarding the hunting/shooting world, folks are not born with any of this knowledge. There is nothing to be ashamed of in simply asking for a bit of advice to further one’s endeavors in the hunting arena. WSJ Editor’s note: In addition to having been a top-flight shooter, the author is a retired SWAT team leader who lives on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.

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ROAD HUNTER

PASSPORT TO ADVENTURE

Hunting Internationally Can Offer Value, Culture STORY AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN International big game hunting takes us to many beautiful places we’d otherwise not see. Here, the author glasses for kudu in a remote stretch of southern Africa.

L

ooking for hunting adventures outside the United States? Consider crossing oceans for your next adventure.

Having been fortunate to hunt many places in the world, I can attest to the fact that overseas hunting for big game is safe and can be costeffective. For example, a typical plains game safari in South Africa or Namibia can find you taking six to 10 species

for less than the cost of a trophy elk hunt in the U.S. I’ve been on 11 African safaris, in multiple countries, and felt safe 99 percent of the time. My wife and two boys – ages 7 and 9 at the time – joined me in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Family hunting adventures in foreign countries are a great joy.

WHILE SOME DESTINATIONS and species can hit the pocketbook pretty hard, it

all comes down to personal preference, budget and timing. I’ve hunted red stag multiple times, and there’s nothing like chasing them during the March roar, their rut, in New Zealand – elk fans will love this hunt. Tahr and chamois are also magnificent, challenging animals to hunt.

Australia has some phenomenal hunting, and having spent months in this country over the course of five trips, I love the land and the people. No westernshootingjournal.com 99

ROAD HUNTER hunting in the world can be compared to chasing water buffalo in the swamps of the Northern Territory. Despite encounters with snakes, leeches and saltwater crocodiles, hunting water buffalo is one of my favorite hunts on the planet. The Cobourg Peninsula holds the best and only hunting for banteng, a prized bovine transplanted Down Under from Indonesia. Multiple deer species thrive in the eastern and southern parts of the country.

Red deer are one of the world’s most prized big game animals, and while they can be hunted in many countries, New Zealand is home to the largest of the big stag. March offers opportunities to chase them during the roar, or rut.

CLOSER TO HOME, don’t overlook Sonora, Mexico. Many hunters are hesitant to head south of the U.S. border, but in all my visits there, I’ve had no issues.

Hunting is fun, with both muleys and Coues whitetails thriving in Sonora.

North of the U.S. border, Canada has some exceptional hunting for mule deer, whitetail, mountain goat, caribou and more. Some of these hunts can be pricey, others cheaper than what you can find them for in the U.S. If looking to expand your hunting horizons, do the research and find a hunt that fits your desires. Consider

INTERNATIONAL HOT SPOTS

1

SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa offers the best bang-for-your-buck of any multi-species hunt in the world. Here, half a dozen kinds of big game can be taken for the price of a single elk hunt in the U.S. Kudu top the wish list of most hunters, followed by gemsbok and other horned game. Don’t overlook smaller antelope species like steenbok and klipspringer, both of which are addicting to hunt. May to August are all good months to hunt.

2

AUSTRALIA

The world-record water buffalo and banteng are alive, and due to low hunting pressure, are among the most approachable animals to pursue. Red deer, rusa, fallow and axis deer thrive in the east-central hill country near Brisbane, Queensland. Sambar – a big deer that’s much like hunting Roosevelt elk – thrive in the rugged, brushy mountains in the southwest of the Australian continent. June and July, the Southern Hemisphere’s “winter,” are prime months.

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NEW ZEALAND Himalayan tahr rival mountain goat hunts in terms of the

Western Shooting Journal // February 2015

challenge; chamois can be a close second on the South Island.

Red stag thrive on both islands, and many people consider them the most grand of all antlered game. Hunting the red stag roar in March is simply awesome. Don’t overlook the country’s fallow deer, sika deer, goats and Arapawa rams.

4

MEXICO

5

CANADA

The last few years have seen the state of Sonora producing some monster mule deer. Flying into the city of Hermosillo is safe, and your outfitter will meet you at the airport and take you straight to hunting camp. For American sportsmen, this is a great offseason hunt, peaking in January.

Don’t overlook Coues deer hunting in the area, which can be world-class in spots.

Canada is the only place in the world where Stone’s sheep can be taken, but the price tag is lofty. However, mountain goat, caribou, moose and black bear hunting is top-shelf and more affordable. Options exist for fly-in, horseback or boat hunts, so do your research and see what fits your style – just be realistic about what you can handle physically.

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ROAD HUNTER travel as well as importing trophies – costs that can add up. With life being short and hunting opportunities plentiful, don’t put off taking that dream hunt, because there are many

TANNERITE TARGETS ARE A BLAST In 2011 in my home state of Oregon, target shooting-related spending contributed some $350 million to the state’s economy, supporting more than 3,500 jobs.

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great adventures out there. WSJ Africa’s Cape buffalo, one of the prized big five, is on the bucket list of many hunters.

The author was all smiles over this nice bull that he took in Zimbabwe.

Editor’s note: Scott Haugen is a fulltime author and TV host. Watch for his latest adventures on Alaska Outdoors, on the Outdoor Channel, starting in

April. For signed copies of his popular big game hunting adventure book, Life In The Scope: The West, send $15 (free S&H), to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489 or order online at scotthaugen.com.

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GIRLS, GUNS &

DANGEROUS GAME California Clothing Mavens Hit The Road For New Hunting Series STORY BY CHRIS COCOLES • PHOTOS BY UNIVERSAL HUNTRESS TV

T

hey’ve come a long ways, metaphorically at least, from designing outdoor fashion clothes for women out of a home garage in northern California. Jen Adams and Norissa Harman had a vision that spawned a successful company, Girls With Guns Clothing.

But while the gals remain small-town at heart, choosing to continue their work out of Red Bluff, a quiet hamlet of 14,000 off Interstate 5, 130 miles north of Sacramento, even for these ambitious entrepreneurs, traveling across a continent, an ocean and hunting the wild lands of Africa in front of a TV camera was something altogether different.

Just as the Girls With Guns’ brand has taken off, Adams and Harman just seem to have found a niche on Universal Huntress TV, a Sportsman Channel series that premiered in December.

We see Adams and Harman crisscrossing the African continent, not only hunting exotic species but also experiencing new cultures and engaging in adventures like skydiving, hot air ballooning and bungee jumping.

“We are definitely outside the box,” says Adams, the more adrenaline-charged half of the team.

“You’re going to see about 75 percent hunting and 25 percent will be something exciting, something fun. And the main part is, Norissa and I are best friends who started in our garage to design a clothing line. We’ve grown the company so much, we have opportunities to talk a little bit about who we are and where we came from.”

The idea for their show came from a world away. Adams and Harman were on their way to the Sacramento International Sportsman Exposition when we caught up with them in January. Ironic, since that was where they met South African Emaneul “Kappie” Kapp. Sort of.

A YEAR AGO, Kapp, a publisher and outdoor film producer, was walking the aisles at the massive outdoors show and saw the Girls With Guns booth.

He had an idea to discuss a possible television show opportunity. Unfortunately, the ladies weren’t there at that time.

“I’d played around with the idea of a women

Universal Huntress TV cohosts and Girls With Guns apparel line owners Norissa Harman (left) and Jenifer Adams enjoyed hunting and touring Africa for their TV show, which premiered earlier this winter. Adams, the more adventurous of the duo, went on hippo and lion hunts, while the more reserved Harman conquered her fears by joining her best friend in skydiving in South Africa on an early episode of the first season. westernshootingjournal.com 105

Not all the game that Harman and Adams pursued in South Africa were harvested. The gals and professional hunter Yvan Nieuwoudt pose with a white rhino after a successful Vita Dart safari. The animal had its blood drawn to check its health.

hunting show for a while and they sounded like the perfect fit,” Kapp says. “I left my business card at their booth and requested they call me.”

Kapp thought Adams’ go-for-it attitude was reminiscent of himself.

Harman, admittedly the “chicken one” of these two BFFs, seemed more like Kapp’s wife, Chantelle, also a member of the production team.

“One of the things Kappie told us is he was looking for something a little different,” Adams says.

But even Kapp wasn’t sure what to expect when “I got a call from two girly girls from Northern California.”

“We spoke on the phone a couple of times and I eventually got them on a plane to South Africa,” Kapp says. “I met them for the first time in person at O.R. Thambo International Airport in Johannesburg (South Africa).”

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Skype, but the chemistry among those behind and in front of the camera made for a great match.

Harman says during production her and Kapp’s relationship is more like a brother and sister who may bicker while shooting in some of the most remote and wild lands on earth, but are indeed like family at the end of the day.

“Since we’ve met each other, it’s been for the better. He’s taken us out of our world, where we grew up, to his world, to show his perspective,” Harman says. “For that, I’m very grateful for him. I think there have been a lot of special moments that we’ve all done together and he’s been there to see us grow. To capture that together, it’s been fun.”

Over the course of filming, Kapp found the stars of his show learning from their mistakes, both on the actual hunts and the process of producing episodes of a TV show

in the African bush. They went through hours upon hours of footage, narrowing them down to fit into the 22 minutes of running time.

Adams and Harman even found themselves operating a second camera as b-roll footage. (Among the guests on the first season was aspiring country music singer Morgan Mills, who wrote and produced the show’s theme song, Let’s Ride, sung by Mills and featuring established country music performer Colt Ford.)

Adams says the relatively small crew on-hand during production simplifies the process.

“When you’re hunting you already have your guide or PH (professional hunter), your cameraman, and Norissa and I always hunt together. Through Kappie, he’s taught us some limited camera skills,” Adams says.

“They had to learn how to be comfortable in front of the camera,

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and it took some guidance to get them to relax and not feel uncomfortable,” Kapp says. “I still provide them with guidance, but they’ve come a long way from our first hunt.”

ON THE FIRST episode, Harman and Adams joined guide Marius Kotze of Rhinoland Safaris (rhinoland.co.za) in South Africa’s Limpopo Province.

They were greeted on dirt road by roaming elephants and rhinos and their land cruiser became temporarily stuck in the middle of a rising river – just a typical day of mayhem on an African safari.

“I think I learned a lot about myself on that trip,” Adams says. “Just getting out of the country, seeing some amazing people and being in some awesome hunting territory. It was just surreal. I fell in love with Africa on that trip.”

The girls harvested their first African continent plains game animals on the first show. Adams successfully hunted an impala, zebra and kudu on

that initial two-week trip; Harman got an impala and kudu.

Adams also hunted two of Africa’s “Dangerous 7 Game” animals, lion and hippopotamus.

“That lion hunt, it was the first time I had ever hunted an animal where it wanted to hunt me back,” she says.

On the pilot episode, when the women both made successful shots, they became overcome with emotion, particularly Harman. “(Viewers) didn’t get to see the whole story. I actually missed (the shot) a couple times on that trip,” she says. “The animals are different there.

They are really fast moving and I think my nerves got the best of me – having a camera on you, that whole factoring into making a good shot – so, of course, when I did shoot my kudu, I’m such an emotional person and wear my heart on my sleeve, I can’t help it.

I cry a lot and this whole season you’ll see lots of tears.”

Adams is not one who shows her emotions so quickly – there’s

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that yin-yang trait between them again – but also had a moment during the time between the shot and the confirmation that the animal was down. Adams thinks the anticipation of where they were and the stalking process created so much tension it felt natural to let loose a few joyous tears.

“One thing is certain – they truly love what they do and they are emotional when it comes to the beautiful trophy they have harvested.

Sometimes it’s laughter and at other times it’s tears, but there is always a lot of emotion involved,” Kapp says.

“Our TV show is in real time and with no reenactment, and therefore the real emotional scenes on camera are (compelling).”

The pitch of two hunters with such different personalities would be an easy one for a producer to have interest in. On one side of the table a risk taker willing to push her entire stack of chips into the pot at any time; on the opposite side, a risk avoider

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who raises an eyebrow at even the slightest of all-in moves.

Guess which Girls With Guns business partner did not have parachuting out of a plane over Africa on her bucket list?

“We are a good balance,” Harman says. “I think a lot of it is just the unknown. We’d never done anything

like that. When I got there I had no intention of doing that. I mean, why would I want to jump out of a perfectly good plane? But just the energy and meeting the people, the moment convinced me to try it. So I’m proud that I did it. Would I want to do it again? Probably not.”

There was also the cultural

The ladies spent time at a South African school, Ellisras, in Limpopo Province.

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experience of visiting countries such as the Congo, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa, which was priceless (an episode was also filmed in the south island of New Zealand).

Learning a few phrases of one of South Africa’s and Namibia’s official languages, Afrikaans, has inspired further studying of that dialect for future trips to that part of the world.

“I think it’s a little bit humbling and life-changing and a little bit in our face,” Harman says. “Just because here in the U.S., we have the luxury of grabbing a glass of water, checking the Internet and going to the movies. And these people don’t have that luxury.

Kids can’t just go to a faucet and grab a glass of water like we do. They’re going to watering holes or digging a hole in the middle of a dried-up creekbed to drink water with sand in it. Jen and I will probably keep those moments forever and never take for granted what we do have.”

Adams was floored by the diversity, both in the people of the various

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countries visited and the constantly changing topography. She didn’t expect to see mountains not unlike those located a short distance from her Northern California home (“I don’t think a lot of people realize that,” Adams says). It wasn’t long until they’d go from mountains to a sandy desert and then a rainforest.

“We were just so grateful for the opportunity (to be there) and to hunt in a situation we’ve never been in before,” Adams says. “To know where Norissa and I came from, we were able to see things that most of my family and people back home will never have the opportunity to see. I felt very lucky and blessed to be there.”

AS WE’VE SEEN frequently in this social media-obsessed world, when you hunt, you’re likely to be frowned upon by the Twitter and Facebook crowd. If you’re a woman who hunts, it’s chaos on the keyboards. Vile online attacks of female hunters have gone viral with a sinister tone.

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Most hunters understand and accept that the anti-hunting sentiment won’t be going away anytime soon, and a show like Universal Huntress will surely be considered taboo from day one with some refusing to find a common ground.

“One of the things that we’re learning as we go, and we hope the audience will learn with us; we try to ask questions and then ask more questions,” Adams says.

“We need to understand the importance of conservation. It is something that’s a little bit different here than in South Africa. But honestly, there isn’t that much of a difference – taking a mature animal and making sure that we don’t overhunt them. Norissa and I are trying to learn as we go and pass it onto our audience. I hope they’re able to see that.” Universal Huntress hopes the stories it tells – about hunting, about friendship, about culture and about conquering your fears can send a positive message.

“It’s really for people to just be themselves. We have a lot of young girls who look up to us now, and we really never expected to be role models,” Harman says of her role as clothing designer but also messenger about the sport their line sells to. “So we just hope that they can see what hunting has done for Jen and I. It’s been a bonding experience, kind of like a sisterhood. So if there are girls out there doing this together, it’s something they’ll be able to share like we’ve shared. It’s important for us that they see that.” WSJ Editor’s note: New episodes of Universal Huntress can be seen on Mondays on the Sportsman Channel. More information can be found at thesportsmanchannel .com/shows/universal-huntress. comTwitter (@univhuntress) and Facebook (facebook.com/universalhuntress).

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SHOOTING WITH LARYSA

ALOHA, AXIS DEER! (YOU TOO, MOUFLON) Larysa Chases Imported Big Game On Hawaii’s Lanai Island STORY AND PHOTOS BY LARYSA SWITLYK The author bagged this nice axis deer on the Hawaiian island of Lanai. Known in their native land of the Indian subcontinent as chital, they were first brought to Maui in the 1860s as a gift to a king, and then moved between islands afterwards.

P

robably the first thought that comes to mind when people talk about Hawaii is that it’s the perfect spot for a romantic vacation, if not newlyweds’ honeymoon spot.

Hunting probably doesn’t even make the conversation, which is why I think it’s one of the islands’ best-kept secrets!

Indeed, it’s no surprise anymore that I always get a funny look when I say I’m headed to Hawaii to hunt. Since they are such a big part of the Hawaiian culture, the next question is: Am I hunting hogs?

Nope, I head here to hunt for axis deer, and if you think whitetails are skittish, then you have never attempted to hunt one. They don’t get a break from being hunted. I don’t blame them for being so cautious and elusive, considering they are being hunted 365 days a year (public seasons are in

Hailing from Florida, Larysa must attract hurricanes – on a July hunt during the deer rut, a big blow took dead aim at the Hawaiian islands.

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SHOOTING WITH LARYSA

Larysa was pleasantly surprised to find that her host on a summer trip, Roland James La Pierre, has a business that enhances run-of-themill hunting pictures into artwork.

late winter), so you would always have to have your guard up.

Axis deer are originally from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and have mostly been introduced to the mainland United States. Besides Hawaii, they’re found in Texas and Florida. Locals claim that on the small island of Lanai – population of 3,000 people – there are about 10,000 axis deer and approximately 5,000 mouflon sheep.

There are so many of the deer in the

Larysa and a guide scout for game. Several thousand axis deer and mouflon sheep inhabit the island of Lanai, which is now mostly owned by a Silicon Valley billionaire.

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islands that they have caused millions of dollars in losses to farmers and ranchers, as well as threats to native plant species and erosion due to overgrazing.

With that many axis deer roaming around, you would think hunting them would be easy. But take it from me: it is not as easy as you would think, especially with a bow. I’ve hunted them before in Florida with a rifle, but I wanted more of a challenge, so I brought along my Limbsaver bow.

deer will duck that string, no matter how quiet your bow is.

I returned in July during the rut and had one of the most amazing hunts of my life, until a hurricane hit the islands. Just my luck – Hawaii hadn’t had a direct hit in years, and here it had two hurricanes coming head-on one after another when I was out there trying to film a TV show. One positive was that the wind did have those axis deer moving!

MY FIRST HUNT for axis deer was in October, but their antlers were starting to shed and I had a problem with wind – meaning we had no wind. This changes the behavior of the deer and means they don’t move well.

I hunted two days straight and barely saw any deer. I finally got a chance at a big axis deer; I waited three days for my chance, and that deer was on such alert, the second my arrow left my bow, it was already ducking and taking off.

I learned the hard way that I needed to aim lower. I would say you have about a 90 percent chance that the

I’M VERY LAST minute in my travel plans (one day I will learn), so as I flew towards the small island with just two hotels on the whole place – they just happened to be booked up completely – I had to figure out a plan B. Thanks to the power of my network and an assist from Facebook, a family brought my cameraman and I into their home; the best part was he was a chef, so it was like I’d won the lottery.

Roland James La Pierre has another very special talent that we learned about later; he started a unique business from it, TrophyShotPrints. com. You can upload your photos from

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Ross Childers has been a part of the 7-V Ranch since 1960 and continues to share his knowledge and experience with his son Chan, son-in-law Sheldon, and with soon-to-be guides, grandsons Peyton, Hayes and Kale, and granddaughter Ainsley, the fourth generation here on the 7-V Ranch.

Peggy became the center of the operations, making sure that no one left her table hungry. Ross’ wife Kelly became a part of the ranch in 1980 and worked alongside Peggy until Peggy retired in 1989. Ross and Kelly’s daughter Noli started helping out as soon as she was old enough to see over the table and has continued to be an asset ever since. Kelsey, Chan’s wife, joined the family in June 2013 and has become a fulltime helper as well.

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SHOOTING WITH LARYSA THE GATOR TRAIL With the popularity of TV shows like Swamp People and Gator Boys, interest in hunting alligators has grown. Living in Florida, the swamp is basically in my backyard. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (myfwc.com) establishes the state’s alligator management units. The FWC appropriates harvest quotas to provide recreational opportunities for Floridians and nonresidents (at least 18 years old) to take up to two alligators per permit.

If you have an interest in hunting a gator for the first time, I would suggest you should look up Glen at Tampa Archery Shop (813-239-4914; glen@ tampaarcheryshop.com). The best way to describe him is the American version of Steve Irwin, the late Crocodile Hunter.

You will be in for one hell of an adventure, and Glen will get you on those monster gators! He does hunts year-round on private wetlands, but Florida’s public waters hunting season runs from Aug. 15 to Nov. 1. LS

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It is the perfect gift idea for your friends, family, significant other or even yourself, so you can remember your hunt and cherish it. The quality

Mouflon sheep are another hunting opportunity on Lanai and other Hawaiian islands.

of the photo doesn’t matter; I got to watch him take some of my photos from my smartphone and turn them into art.

LANAI WESTERN ADVENTURES opens the doors to an outdoor paradise. If you need a good excuse to go hunt Hawaii, just mention to your significant other and family about all of the other activities that this company (808-5639385; lanaigrandadventures.com) offers so you can add a hunt to the family fun.

They offer horseback riding, skeet and trap shooting, UTV rides, roping lessons, 3D archery range and, the kicker, you can stay at the Four Seasons Resort on Manele Bay, get pampered, and enjoy amazing food and a golf course. Your family will be so busy you can definitely sneak away to go hunt for a day or two; better yet, bring the family with you hunting! If you are looking to hunt the islands, Cody Bradford is a great guide; contact him at (801) 367-8721. WSJ

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7 Lazy P offers a variety of fall hunting opportunities, including pack-in archery to hunt one of Montana’s largest wild elk herds, bugle season rifle hunts to pursue elk during the rut, high country pursuits for trophy mule deer, and special private land hunting opportunities. Hunting big game on their own terms in a true wilderness setting is challenging, yet very memorable and rewarding. It’s as fair chase as it gets!

The 7 Lazy P summer pack trips take guests deep into the Bob Marshall Wilderness to experience iconic destinations in this magnificent place. To ride, hike, fish, relax and unplug in this diverse landscape is truly energizing. You’ll feel the solitude as you escape the hectic world and enter into a new dimension of peace and quiet. A trip into the Bob will refresh your soul and energize your senses.

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BEHIND THE BADGE

POLICING A TRULY FAIR-WEATHER TOWN Redwood City PD Keeps The Peace In A Climatological Paradise

STORY BY ANDRE’ M. DALL’AU

Originally named for the stands of timber nearby, Redwood City has welcomed several high-tech firms to its world-renowned climate along the shores of southern San Francisco Bay. (GUNTHER HAGLEITNER, FLICKR)

C

alifornia has some of the best weather, living conditions and geographical beauty not only in the United States, but the entire world. In fact, an international climatological survey was conducted by the United States and German governments prior to World War I and resulted in the conclusion that a certain Golden State location was tied for the world’s best climate with the Canary Islands and North Africa’s Mediterranean Coast. That incredibly balmy and serene location is Redwood City, located midway down the bay side of the San Francisco peninsula. Very proud of that international accolade,

Redwood City’s slogan is emblazoned on arches across Broadway Street at the east and west entrances to downtown that state “Climate Best

by Government Test.” Redwood City, along with most of the San Francisco Bay area, enjoys warm, dry summers and cool winters with limited precipitation and just an occasional dusting of snow.

REDWOOD CITY’S 35 square miles sit about 27 miles south of San Francisco, and its 76,000 inhabitants enjoy miles of San Francisco Bay shoreline, rolling hills filled with communitycentered neighborhoods and a thriving downtown with shopping areas and

attractions. The town is predominately middle class, with various suburbs and rural upscale hillside neighborhoods.

Redwood City is a bedroom community for San Francisco, as well as a hub for high-tech companies such as Oracle, DreamWorks Animation and Electronic Arts. Redwood City also has a busy deepwater port that was once the home of the Glomar Explorer, a ship constructed by the CIA to secretly salvage an entire Russian submarine (or part of one, depending on the story you believe) off the floor of the Pacific near the Hawaiian Islands.

KEEPING THE PEACE and providing law enforcement to what is also the westernshootingjournal.com 125

BEHIND THE BADGE

The RCPD’s SWAT vehicle on display during a Fourth of July parade. (ED BIERMAN, FLICKR)

Some of the Redwood City Police Department’s 94 sworn officers are members of a multijurisdictional SWAT team. (JACQUI PERNA)

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county seat of San Mateo County are the 94 sworn officers of the Redwood City Police Department. As with many urban and suburban locations, Redwood City’s biggest challenge is responding to property crimes such as burglaries, with some issues of gang-related activities and meth use. The Redwood City Police Department also maintains a street crimes suppression team, which deals with gang suppression and street level narcotics. They conduct covert operations as well as uniformed suppression missions. They team with the San Mateo County Gang Task Force and San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force to deal with larger scale operations And like every other law enforcement agency that is dedicated to aggressive protection of their citizens, the RCPD is part of a 16-member multijurisdictional SWAT team that includes officers from the nearby towns of Menlo Park and Atherton. The team handles high risk search warrants, pre-planned tactical operations, hostage rescue missions, and barricaded subjects. Additionally, the RCPD SWAT has assisted the Secret Service in dignitary protection, including providing tactical support during presidential visits and have assisted local, state and federal agencies in support of large scale tactical operations centering around drug and gang investigations. The RCPD SWAT team also participates in the Best Of The West and counter-terrorist themed Urban Shield training events.

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BEHIND THE BADGE In 2005 RCPD SWAT responded to a barricaded subject who had been involved in a family dispute. The suspect attempted to attack SWAT pperators with an edged weapon, forcing officers to use deadly force to resolve the situation. The SWAT operators use the Colt select-fire M4

with a 14½-inch barrel and Aimpoint PRO Optic. The four SWAT snipers use either the Colt M4 with Leupold VX•R Patrol 1.25-4x20mm optics or the Remington 700 .308 rifle with Leupold 3x12 optics. Patrol officers use the Colt LE 6920 semiauto patrol rifle with an Aimpoint PRO. All RCPD officers are

RCPD’s assets include a patrol boat for policing the southern saltwater bay on which the city is located, or just helping out boaters in distress. (JACQUI PERNA)

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issued the .40 Glock Gen4 G22 (but have the option of carrying the G23 or G27) or the .45 Glock G21.

The SWAT team trains together once a month, both on the fundamentals of special operations like breaching, dynamic entries and deployment of gas, as well as to refine their skills by employing reality-based training using plastic pellet projecting firearms with Simunition. Simunition looks similar to regular ammunition and is used in the teams’ own slightly modified firearms. However, instead of a bullet, Simunition uses a primer to project a paint-covered plastic pellet that is accurate and effective within a typical gun-fight distance. The immediate and painful feedback afforded using equally armed, skilled and determined opponents during simulated operations and drills provides for unequaled and realistic combat stress. That allows operators to learn life-saving lessons with no bloodshed, and helps build both

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BEHIND THE BADGE confidence and ability that otherwise could not have been attained through noninteractive live-fire close-quarterscombat scenarios.

Should their services be needed in the surrounding region, Rick Meure and Nick Perna, RCPD SWAT snipers, blend in with the Redwood City area’s flora. (JOHN COWART)

THE REDWOOD CITY AREA IS NO stranger to being involved in high-profile criminal cases. Patty Hearst, the kidnapping victim turned Symbionese Liberation Army spokeswoman, was held at the San Mateo County jail because in 1976 it was the most secure facility available.

More recently, the trial of Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his wife, Laci, was held in Redwood City in 2004.

But overall, Redwood City is one of the best, but little known locations for peaceful living in a beautiful location under near-constant sunshine. The RCPD ensures through excellent municipal support, training and dedication that the residents of Redwood City can focus on their jobs and lives in the best weather in the world with little fear of crime or criminals. WSJ

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A shield bearer’s job largely is to protect more offensively-minded SWAT team members behind them, but with a viewport and when equipped with a laser-aimed pistol, they can remain totally protected and still put accurate fire on target. (PHOTO BY ANDRE’ DALL’AU)

SHIELDING MORE THAN SWAT Handheld Armor Has Come A Long Way Since Roman Times

urn on the 6 o’clock news, and eventually you’ll see a “bulletproof ” shield in use.

They’re standard equipment for law enforcement entry teams, but thanks to Sandy Hook, civilian-market shields now include everything from bulletproof clipboards and backpacks to full-on police-style shields. School districts in a number of states have started working shields disguised as whiteboards into their “lockdown” strategies.

“For the past 10 years, most of

T

STORY BY ROBIN TAYLOR, TAYLORFREELANCE.COM

what we’ve done is for the military,” says Emily Heinauer with Hardwire LLC (hardwirellc.com). “We armored the sides of many of the trucks going to Iraq and Afghanistan. During that time we started making clipboards for law enforcement, and after Sandy Hook, we adapted that to bulletproof whiteboards for educational and commercial settings. Our school and home products have dual functionality as dry erase boards for daily use and ballistic protection.”

A Hardwire Level IIIA whiteboard

weighs less than 4 pounds, and measures 18 inches by 20 inches.

While small by comparison to a fullsize shield, it sells for under $300, and it’s practical. Backpack inserts go for even less.

I did some digging into “the way of the shield” with the help of Bill Blowers of Puyallup, Wash. He serves as a police sergeant on a large regional SWAT team and is the owner of TapRack Tactical (tap-rack.com). Police departments use ballistic shields for warrant service and other calls a lot, westernshootingjournal.com 135

so Blowers offered to throw me in with a dozen new SWAT officers who needed to get up to speed. Training with Blowers turned out to be one of the highlights of my year.

A BALLISTIC SHIELD ACTS like a bulletproof vest with a handle. It is rated like a vest (IIIA, III, IV), and has similar capabilities. Depending on when the shield was made, it could contain any of several fibers, including Dyneema. The hard format of the shield allows using polyethylene fibers to stabilize and protect the material from humidity, wear and UV light, making it vastly more durable. Typical examples last for decades. (Soft Kevlar armor vests degrade when exposed to moisture and UV light, and must be replaced every few years.) The typical polycarbonate viewport stops bullets, helping the overall shield to absorb bullets like a sponge.

But aren’t shields really heavy?

Not anymore. The total weight of a typical IIIA shield has dropped from around 40 pounds to a little over 20, including on-board floodlights. For the officer in the field, that’s tremendous because the “shield man” does heavy, surprisingly technical work. For the home defender who isn’t built like a SWAT cop, the lighter shields offer mobility, and smaller-bodied people can use them effectively.

If you’re willing to go smaller and simpler, shields can be made even lighter. What I’ll call “three-quartersized” 20x30-inch shields can weigh just 5.8 pounds. Drop the on-board lights, and a full-size Level IIIA model can be as light as 8.2 pounds, including a viewport.

ROMAN LEGIONNAIRES LOVED THE curvedrectangle “scutum” shield for its wide arc of protection, and its ability to

interlock with a neighbor’s shield to form a continuous wall. Modern shield makers have taken the hint, and by the end of our class, my group formed into miniature versions of the old Roman “tortoise” – one row of shields facing front; another laid over the top to form a roof – in order to enter stairwells or warehouses with overhead threats.

For the static defender, the curved rectangle offers a protective arc, coupled with a wide viewing area (hold your forehead against the top of the viewport). In Simunition fights with my classmates, a moving shield man was terribly vulnerable to shots fired at the legs, but if he knelt and anchored his pistol’s trigger guard against the side of the shield, he offered no target at all. (Given time to prepare, police shield men strap on shin and leg protectors.)

Although it lacks a viewport, a

A portion of Trajan’s Column, a monument to Roman wars, depicts legionnaires in tortoise formation, armored in their scutum, or shields. (CRISTIAN CHIRITA, WIKIPEDIA)

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20x30 flat shield offers most of that protection at a tiny fraction of the weight and cost.

Shield bearers give up offensive potential to protect the team. It’s their partners’ job to shoot around and over the shield, while the shield bearer deals with blind corners and pointblank threats with his pistol.

Done right, that buddy system is downright formidable.

Done wrong, that “around and over” business can bite the shield bearer. Blowers’ agency has seen what happens when it goes bad. When one of their own fired his AR-15 with the muzzle even with the shield man’s ear, the shield man suffered permanent hearing loss. To his great credit, the shield man stayed in the fight, but was in tremendous pain. The rifle wore a standard birdcage flash hider – just imagine what damage a side-venting recoil compensator could have done.

Suppressed rifles make a lot of sense for “around and over.” Sticking with pistol-caliber carbines and/

or a shotgun makes good sense too.

Common shotguns lack any legal bother, put the muzzle ahead of the shield (when used properly), and pack a massive short-range punch.

Love ’em or hate ’em, lasers also come into their own around a shield.

Using a laser-aimed pistol, a shield man can remain totally protected by the shield and still put accurate fire on target. Instead of sticking his arm out into harm’s way to use the sights, the shield man locks the bottom of his pistol’s trigger guard against the side of the shield, aiming with the laser alone. Having a pistol on each side of the body (what Blowers calls a “Yosemite Sam rig”) gives the shield bearer the ability to rapidly switch sides as he moves.

For the barricaded defender, however, complex switching is not in the cards. If our focus is to hold ground, a single laser-aimed handgun is plenty.

WHAT’LL A SHIELD STOP, you may be

asking by now.

All the available ballistic shields stop baseball bats, thrown rocks, knives, chemical agents and onrushing bad guys in ways that a vest just can’t.

For that sort of protection, shields have no equal.

However, this is a balancing act. A briefcase or clipboard shield is like a pocket pistol. It’s nobody’s first choice, and hard to use well. A full-size Level IV is like a heavy machine gun – you’ll want wheels and a pickup to move it very far.

According to Blowers’ thinking, Level IIIA shields offer the best balance. They stop all common handgun and shotgun cartridges – including 12-gauge slugs. When his department decided to retire some older IIIA shields, Blowers trotted one out to the range for testing. The shield stopped everything it was rated to stop – including 12-gauge hunting slugs and a broadhead hunting arrow. The viewport took multiple .45 hits in the same spot

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Ballistic shields have come a long way since Roman times – this dry erase board at a sandwich shop is actually a Level IIIA shield, and runs around $300. The manufacturer, Hardwire, began selling them in early 2013. (HARDWIRE LLC)

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before it finally failed. The slug pushed out a fair-size dent in the back of the shield – but it stopped it.

Most shields have a standoff device to deal with back face deformation like this; some use a pad, while others use nylon webbing. Keep in mind, shields can stop a hard impact like that without “taking the hit” on your flesh the way you would wearing a soft vest. Vest owners often wear tiny shields (“trauma plates”) to spread the blow and protect their sternum from impacts like that.

But what won’t a shield stop?

After that initial test, Blowers set up a mannequin wearing a IIIA vest behind the shield and fired the common 62-grain M855 “green tip” 5.56 NATO at it. The bullet punched the shield and continued through the vest, the dummy, and the IIIA vest’s back panel before drilling a hole through the support structure beyond.

Yowza!

Congress decreed the mild-steelcored M855 to be non-armor piercing

westernshootingjournal.com 141

through legislation, but to soft armor and light shields, it’s a major threat.

Rifle ammo of any form will punch IIIA, making a chest plate missioncritical equipment if that’s part of the expected fight.

To stop rifle ammo, you need Level III, and common low-grade penetrators like the “green tip” demand Level IV. Such armor weighs four times as much as typical IIIA, transforming that nimble, 20-pound IIIA shield I mentioned earlier into an unwieldy 80-pound slug. Even the neat little IIIA 20x30s offered by Hardwire go to almost 20 pounds for Level III. Want Level IV in that size?

Forget it.

WORKING WITH BLOWERS’ CREW, I learned why shield men treasure reliable super-high-capacity magazines. Take a moment and imagine reloading while holding a shield in one hand. Now try clearing a double-feed. We all did it, but it’s slow – very slow.

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“Take this part of the pistol and punch yourself in the thigh,” coached Blowers – pointing to the area just ahead of the rear sight, then punching himself with it. By driving the pistol hard at his thigh, the slide would “stick” against his pant leg while the frame glanced down and away, cycling the slide. Like most techniques of this sort, let me say right off: Don’t try this at home (or your home range) until you get proper training in it prior to live fire.

There are very real risks for accidental discharge (as Blowers emphasized) if you don’t perform it properly.

Blowers warned us repeatedly, and emphasized indexing (keeping the trigger finger on the frame) while keeping the muzzle pointed away from yourself or others. For me, the technique worked OK on plain cloth, but worked great if I could hook my pants pocket with the rear sight.

Does it work? Sure enough, during the live fire section, my trusty G17 jammed. Thanks to Blowers’ coaching,

I was able to punch myself and get back in the fight in seconds.

IN THE MARKET FOR a shield after reading this article? A little shopping online gave me a wide range of bullet-resistant options. Hardwire’s “notched” 20x30-inch Level IIIA with no viewport costs just $549, about what you’d spend for a Glock or S&W M&P. A curved shield, Level IIIA with viewport, runs $1,500. A briefcase/ backpack insert goes for as little as $99.

Top IIIA shields meant for heavy law enforcement use run in the neighborhood of $2,500 apiece – including the floodlights and other goodies.

Realistically, a full-size shield is something like a sports car – expensive, specialized, but tremendously good at what it’s designed for. They’re not for everyone, but when it comes to “hardening” yourself or your home against serious attack, ballistic shields are the ultimate defensive accessory. WSJ

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gun reviews

ANOTHER LOOK AT A BIG, BIG CARTRIDGE

The .454 Casull Is Not Easy To Shoot, But It Reinvented What Revolvers Were Capable Of STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB SHELL

Since a .45 Colt cartridge was slightly lengthened over 60 years ago, several manufacturers have stepped up to make revolvers capable of firing the powerful .454 Casull, including Ruger, Taurus, Thompson Center and (this model) Freedom Arms, while Rossi makes a carbine for the shell.

W

ithin the last few years, a number of super-powered (and super-hyped) revolver cartridges have come out, including bullets for the .480 Ruger to the .460 and .500 Smith & Wesson magnums. Some of them do equal or exceed the .454 in power, but at a cost of more recoil or weight.

As far as factory revolvers, the .44 Magnum was the king of the hill until the .454 came out in 1957. Dick Casull and Jack Fulmer experimented with a .45 Colt case lengthened a tenth of an inch to prevent chambering in a .45 Colt. Specially modified Colt and Ruger revolvers were made to handle the pressures involved in this

cartridge. Freedom Arms makes a high-quality, five-shot single-action revolver for this cartridge. Later on, Ruger and Taurus, among others, made single- and double-action revolvers, and Thompson Center makes a barrel for their single-shot pistols for it. A companion rifle would make a sweet combination for the one-caliber man, and there is such a rifle available from Rossi, a neat little carbine.

FEDERAL WAS THE FIRST to make cases for the .454, but several other companies, including Winchester and Starline, provide brass for reloaders. The cases use a small rifle primer, and the magnum version isn’t a bad idea with

some of the powders utilized. Several companies also produce factory fodder for the nonreloader.

Various bullets are available, but you must use the type designed for the velocities that the Casull is capable of producing. Using bullets meant for a lesser caliber may result in the jackets being stripped from the cores. The jacket might stay in the bore and the next shot could be very bad news for the barrel, and shooter.

For reduced loads, conventional jacketed bullets are OK. There are lead bullets that can be used, as long as they are designed for it. You can shoot .45 Colt or .45 Schofield rounds in it, but be sure to clean up the cylinder or a ring westernshootingjournal.com 147

gun reviews might form in front of the chamber. If that happens, it would make it difficult to chamber a full-length .454, and if it did, pressure might increase to a dangerous level. My weapon has a .45 Colt cylinder as an option. You can also get a .45 Win Mag cylinder if desired. My gun has a 3X Leupold scope; since it is such a precision gun, a good quality scope is a viable addition. The trigger pull is excellent, with no creep or over-travel.

Such a trigger aids in accurate shooting.

Unlike some handguns, you can put together a decent grouping at 100 yards with a scoped pistol chambered in .454 Casull.

FIELD TESTING THE .454 LOAD*

BULLET

VELOCITY

COMMENT

22 X 231 19.5 X Red Dot 20 X Red Dot 20 X Unique 19 X Green Dot 36 X 296 26 X 2400 26 X 2400 34 X 296 32 X 2400 31 X 296 26 X AA#9 32 X 5744 30 X H 110 27 X H 110 26.5 X 296

125-grain X/PLODER 125-grain X/PLODER 155-grain X/PLODER 200-grain Speer 200-grain Barnes 230-grain 250-grain Barnes 250-grain Hornady 250-grain Hornady 250-grain Hornady 300-grain Hornady 300-grain Hornady 300-grain Hornady 310-grain homemade 350-grain homemade 360-grain gas check

2,359 fps 2,249 2,162 1,859 1,854 1,730 1,548 1,484 1,646 1,939 1,720 1,598 1,557 1,665 1,603 1,499

good load accurate consistent mild nice** deer load consistent consistent mild near max stout ok mild hunting load ouch consistent

* Grains and powder **.45 Colt cases were used, as bullet was too long for Casull cases

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THE .454 IS A HANDFUL when shooting with a full power load. The 360- and 370-grain bullets are especially brutal, if you shoot more than a few. A jacketed 350-grainer that I make is no picnic either.

My gun has a 10-inch barrel, and with full loads it comes back with a vengeance. There are shorter barrels – even down to 2 inches – for those who are a glutton for punishment. I saw a guy shooting one of those at the range, and after a cylinder of Buffalo Bore ammo, his hand was as red as a lobster. He offered to let me have at it and I politely declined. The 10-incher I have is about all the guff I want.

Another shooter told me he shot one three times and it tore up his wrist, which was sore for a few months. He was a big guy with good-sized arms, but it still hurt him. I’m not a wimp, but why anyone would want a gun that kicks more than the .454 is beyond me. Let’s put it this way: If I traveled in bear country, I would carry one with a 4- to 6-inch barrel, but would never fire it unless a bear was within touching distance and meant me harm.

While the Freedom Arms is pricey, it is built like a quality safe. The tolerances are as tight as anything I have seen – and I have examined a few. Such a gun gives the shooter confidence in his weapon, which is important. It would take a serious screw-up to blow it up. We did some 100-yard accuracy shooting and I was pleasantly surprised with 2- to 3-inch groups with various bullets, when we did our part. However, after

westernshootingjournal.com 149

gun reviews a few cylinders full of hot ammo, this exercise quit being fun.

They don’t call large revolvers hand cannons for no reason.

Firing a .454-caliber handgun should be done in limited doses, for the sake of your wrists.

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THERE IS SOME FACTORY ammo available for the Casull, but it’s expensive and not available everywhere. I have tried both Double Tap and Buffalo Bore ammo, both excellent products and have cartridges with bullets weighing 400 grains, if you are into max performance loads. In addition, it isn’t offered in reduced loads, though you can shoot .45 Colt for that purpose. Handloading allows you options that aren’t available otherwise. For instance, you can load a 300-grain bullet to 1,200 to 1,300 feet per second. With such a load it will equal the .44 Magnum and be controllable. Like all high-performance firearms, use tough premium bullets for best results with full loads.

While eclipsed by newer calibers, the .454 has plenty to offer the serious hunter. It has taken every species on this planet, and will continue to do so. WSJ

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BLACK POWDER

TOLD YOU VEGGIES WERE GOOD Slightly Thicker Vegetable Fiber Wads Don’t Affect Marksmanship, Author Finds STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT

The spelling on the package might seem a little funny, but the author found what other black powder rifle cartridge shooters have: vegetable fiber wads protect the base of the bullet and provide good accuracy when compared to other wads.

W

hile I used to mix my own lead alloys for reloading, I now almost exclusively use bullet alloys from an outfit out of central Oklahoma. Not only are the alloys that John Walters provides very good, thoroughly mixed and very clean, he has a wide variety to offer.

The bullet alloy I first got from him was an old standard, 20 parts lead to one part tin, but lately I’ve been exploring with alloys of other hardnesses. As an example, I recently got a new bullet mold for .50 caliber paper-patched bullets. This is an adjustable mold, nose pour with a cupped base. In order to “test” the mold to see what hardness of bullet my rifle really likes, I’ve cast several

bullets with pure lead. And I just received an order from Walters which included 20 pounds of 30:1 alloy and another 20 pounds of a 40:1 mixture.

That should give me the experience needed to find the bullets that my “Big .50” Sharps really likes.

(For shooting the .50-90, I do feel that paper-patched bullets are the way to go.)

Alloyed bullet metal from Walters comes in bars weighing about 1 pound each and measuring 6½ inches long.

Because the ladle I generally use to melt my lead in has a diameter of only 3¾ inches, those bars need to be shortened, cut into halves or thirds, which is easily done with an axe.

Previously, while making bullets for my .50-70 Sharps, I cut one of those bars into quarters and that bar must

have weighed very close to 1¼ pounds.

With it, I cast 20 bullets with Lyman’s No. 515141, a recently made mold with the rounded lube grooves. One of those bullets cast was weighed at an almost even 435 grains.

Walters offers lead and tin alloys of 20:1, 25:1, and 30:1, plus other mixtures and pure tin, as well. Those are priced at $2.50 per pound, plus shipping. He also advertises that quantity discounts are available. For other mixtures you simply need to ask, and Walters generally replies in a short time.

MY .50-70 GETS to be mentioned a couple times in this article because it became the test rifle for a couple of different products. Granted, the one I’m about to mention is nothing new to most black westernshootingjournal.com 155

BLACK POWDER

No sight recalibration required, the author was happy to find out after mixing up a batch of .50-70 cartridges loaded with 65 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F, a No. 515141 bullet and a .060-inch-thick vegetable fiber, instead of a thinner card wad.

powder cartridge rifle shooters, but it was really on the new side for me. I’m referring to the vegetable fiber wads from John Walters, and let me begin by simply saying they seem to be every bit as good as other shooters say they are.

After getting a good supply of the .060-inch-thick wads

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for .50 caliber, I loaded a test batch of .50-70s. With my favorite loading of 65 grains (by volume) of Olde Eynsford 2F under some of those No. 515141 bullets, I used a card wad to compress the powder charge enough to seat the bullet in the case with my fingertips. That procedure was not changed a bit, except to use the .060-inch vegetable fiber wad instead of the thinner card wad. Using the thicker wad did compress the powder a little bit more.

I tried five of those new loads on a target at 50 yards and they produced, I don’t mind bragging, a pretty tight group.

Yes, that is five shots – the bullet holes at 12 and 6 o’clock are both doubles. While this group could be a bit tighter, I’m still very pleased because a score of 50 for five shots is hard to beat.

My main intention was to find out if loads using the thicker wads would hit well without any adjustment to the sights. Needless to say, those sights will stay right where they are; the remaining loads with the Walters wads simply went into my ammo stash to be used when needed. Of course, I’ll be using Walters’ wads from now on.

When I was shopping along the traders’ row at last spring’s Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match in eastern Montana, I found more than a few dealers who were selling Walters Wads. I asked one what he thought was the best thickness to use. He replied that the .060-inch wads were certainly the

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best because they offered the most protection for the base of the bullet.

That sounds like good reasoning to me, and that size is my favorite now too. WSJ

PRODUCTS, CONTACT John Walters offers precut vegetable fiber wads in most all calibers, from .25 to 10 gauge, and they are recommended for black powder cartridge rifles, cowboy action shooting, muzzleloading, and for Schuetzen competition. His wads are available in .010-, .015-, .030- or .060-inch thicknesses, and they are priced at $20 per 1,000, plus $1 for shipping and handling.

Contacting John Walters is certainly easy. Just send him an email to thetinwadman@cox.net.

For regular mail, his address is John Walters, 500 N. Avery Drive, Moore, OK 73160. And his telephone number is (405) 799-0376.

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Product FEATURE V-LINE BRUTE SECURITY CASE vlineind.com The Brute heavy-duty, quick-access security case from V-Line Industries is now available for shipment. The Brute is a heavy-duty pistol security case constructed of rugged 10-gauge steel

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BROWE, 4X32 BROWE TACTICAL OPTIC browe-inc.com Browe, Inc., a manufacturer of premium quality optical systems has set a new standard in quality, performance and functionality with the introduction of its forged 7075-T6 aluminum version of its combat optic, 4x32 Browe Tactical Optic (BTO).

The 4x32 BTO was designed to include all of the patented technology and internal components used in the production of the 4x32 Browe Combat Optic. The difference is the 4x32 BTO is packaged into a militarygrade forged 7075-T6 aluminum-alloy housing with an integrated MILSTD-1913 Picatinny quick-release mount featuring an American Defensepatented QD Autolock Lever System.

“In parallel with some international requests for quotes, we set out to design a competitively priced optic that retained all of our patented functionality,” says Brian Browe, president of Browe, Inc. “This project gave us the opportunity to take a fresh look at our design and material choice.

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It’s a top-tier Kenetrek mountain boot that’s also been approved as a prosthetic device. It has a removable nylon stave support system, 20-degree rocker bottoms with tapered toes that decrease the strike angle and liftoff, and a seamless padded lining to reduce blistering and callouses.

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ARCHERY

TRAVELING WITH BOWS

Archery Hunter Who’s Learned The Hard Way Makes A Case For Cases During Transport STORY AND PHOTOS BY TOM CLAYCOMB III

It’s better to strap a bow case on back of your fourwheeler than to do it like this. Worst-case scenario, your bow flips over the front and you run it over.

I

started to title this article Flying With Bows, but then I thought, you know, Tom, your bow actually gets some of its roughest treatment not on a big ol’ jet airliner, but while driving up to elk and bear camps.

Mountain roads in my part of the country aren’t always too smooth.

But here’s why it was a tough decision to decide on a title: I’ve had a decades-long running battle with airlines over lost and torn up luggage.

Once I flew to Texas and shot a pile of deer. I was flying back and had the meat in a brand-new Coleman cooler that I had taped up. Have no fear, United was able to rip the top off.

What really pushed me over the edge was when they said they didn’t see any

damage. I lost it. But that’s for another article another day.

WHEN I SAY SOME of the drives to camp are worse than the treatment a malevolent ground crew can hand out, that means they can be bad. And that’s one thing about bowhunting that is tougher than hunting with a rifle. It’s tougher to carry a bow to camp in your rig. It’s wider, a little more fragile and has more parts that can be hurt.

I know, I know – scopes can be knocked off, but here’s an example. One day a buddy of mine, Dennis Buhlke, had his father drop him off out in the boonies before daylight to bowhunt deer. The plan was to pick him back up at dark. I can’t remember the whole story, but somehow before the sun even

came up, as Dennis crawled through a fence, his bow string got cut. He just sat there watching deer all day long.

You also want to make sure that any broadheads are secure. If one pops out and bounces around, it can cut your string and you’ll be in the same boat as Dennis. Also, a loose broadhead can be as dangerous as a loose knife.

Another time I was pronghorn hunting on the plains of eastern Colorado. My bow had taken a hard fall and, unbeknownst to me, had knocked one of my pins awry. I hadn’t been in my blind an hour before a couple of antelope came by broadside at 20 yards. What luck, I thought, then loosed my arrow – and watched it fly a good 2 feet over the antelope’s back!

Yeow, I wondered, what the heck!? westernshootingjournal.com 163

ARCHERY A bow case may require a little assembling, but it’s a smart way to go, whether you’re traveling to the hunting grounds by air or a logging road.

Flinging a couple of arrows at a dirt clod, I discovered the problem.

ANOTHER ITEM THAT CAN go haywire is your release. You don’t want it banging around. One year I was up near Hells Canyon on the Idaho-OregonWashington border hunting elk and waiting on Joe White to fly in from Missouri and for Ed Sweet to bring him

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up to camp.

I had been scouting around by myself for a couple of days getting ready for Ed, and about the second day, I saw something and wanted to notch an arrow. But, oh no, the caliper on my release had fallen off!

What do I do now, I wondered – shoot with my fingers and be accurate out to about 15 yards?

Fortunately, I met another bowhunter within a couple of hours and was whining to him when he asked which release I shot. I looked at him rather puzzled. He said his son owned an archery shop down near Boise (Archery Central) and that he’d go somewhere he could get coverage, text him and tell him to bring me up one that night. He asked where my camp was, and said he’d leave it at my tent.

Unbelievable, I thought – who says God doesn’t watch over His own?!

With all that said, I hope I’ve convinced you to at least consider using a bow case for transporting your bow, and not just for when you’re flying.

And don’t be like me. My wife tells me that I’m the eternal tightwad.

Unfortunately, she’s right. The first bow case I got was a cheap one. I later got a Plano case. It’s watertight and a nice case. You’ll want one that will firmly hold your bow and arrows.

Happy traveling. WSJ

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