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WESTERN

SHOOTING JOURNAL

Volume 2 // ISSUE 10 // June 2014 PUBLISHER

James R. Baker ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Dick Openshaw EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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Rachel Alexander CONTRIBUTORS

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ON THE COVER COPS is the longest running reality TV show ever, beginning its 27th year this July. (JESSE REISDORF/SPIKE TV)

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Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

CONTENTS

VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 10 • JUNE 2014

TRIBUTE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT

Police work – whether it be patrolling neighborhoods, being a school resource officer, protecting wildlife or chasing down criminals – is one of the most rewarding and risky jobs around. We pay tribute this issue to those officers killed in the line of duty, to a unique Native American law enforcement agency, and highlight one of longest-running reality shows that has brought the hazards of the job to the masses, Cops. (JESSE REISDORF) FEATURES 33

COMPETITIONS: NSSF Revamps Ruger Rimfire Missouri’s young Allie “Allie-cat” Barrett, considered by many to be the next Jessie Duff, consistently makes it into the top five at Rimfire’s major .22 shoots.

NRA 2014

A Case For The 28 The 28-gauge shotgun is lightweight, yet still packs a punch afield and shooting clays.

113

BEHIND THE BADGE: Going On A Manhunt With The Chickasaw Indian Nation SWAT Team

The Ragin’ Cajuns Of TV’s Swamp People Popular Louisiana reality show follows the gutsy hunters of pesky alligators. Plus, possibly even more daring – python hunting with bolt guns in Florida’s Everglades.

ROADHUNTER: Hot Weather Hunts

Catching Up With American Idol Star Kristy Lee Cook Hunting and shooting country singer had made a comeback from an Outdoor Channel TV show to new country hits.

119

How the “Lighthorse” mounted police force has transformed over the years, from deputies carrying a Sharps rifle and Colt pistol to an AR and Glock today.

We met plenty of celebrities and top shots at the NRA convention in Indianapolis, and brought you back photos of the best sights and stars the show had to offer.

Icon, Movie Star, Legend The pluses and minuses of Hollywood’s classic gun: Magnum Research, Inc.’s Mark XIX Desert Eagle .50AE.

BLACK POWDER: Camp Gun Of The Buffalo Runner Some claim that the Texas Brush Popper version of the Model 1873 lever-action rifle is the most well-balanced, light and quick lever-action available today.

Navigating The Complex, Confusing eCommerce World Of Guns, Part II of II The Internet has changed how firearms are sold, and now firearms companies start up entirely online.

125

A Woman Rises To The Top Of The Firearms Industry Czech Alice Poluchova started out as an intern for CZ in the Czech Republic, gradually working her way up to becoming CEO and president of CZ-USA.

133

ARCHERY: Bowfishing Basics The ABCs of reeling in carp through this inexpensive sport.

A look at some of the best places to find summer game, from black bears to blacktails to desert dogs and pronghorns.

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 © 2014 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.

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

CONTENTS ALSO INSIDE 47 137 147

Quigley Out Yonder: Montana’s Legendary Annual Black Powder Match The “Do Everything” Knife Zen And The Art Of Reloading

DEPARTMENTS 15 17 19 21 23 27 29

Editor’s Note News: The Rise Of NRA Moms Gun Show Calendar Competition Calendar Reader Snapshots Guns Of Our Fathers: A Rifle Family Range Spotlight: Bill’s Gun Shop And Range

Cook ’em, Danno: Big Game Hunting In Hawaii Unique hunting in Hawaii requires careful knowledge of laws and regulations, and provides an opportunity to pursue axis deer not generally found on the mainland.

105

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Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

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EDITOR’S NOTE

I got to meet Miss Kansas at the NRA show.

omething our readers frequently ask me is, “What is it like running a gun magazine?” For those of you who have never been in the publishing industry, it’s a whole new world in some ways. There are deadlines once a month that must be adhered to, when the magazine goes to the printing house. We get really busy here around the middle of the month finalizing the next month’s issue. Many magazines are owned by a parent company, which means we have “sister” magazines. The other folks running those magazines work with us every day. The editor of Northwest Sportsman, a magazine about hunting and fishing, who is also the executive editor for Western Shooting Journal, has the office to my right. The editor of California Sportsman and Alaska Sporting Journal, which are also about hunting and fishing, has the office to my left. Besides our editorial team, there is a layout department, sales department, management and administrative staff, whose names are on the masthead of this magazine. We’re a fairly small team and all work pretty closely. We have to juggle being fair with our advertisers. Our advertisers are generally on the cutting edge of the industry, so it makes sense to showcase many of their products and services. But at the same time, we need to be objective. There is a fine line to walk between objectivity and blatant promotion. I try very hard to conscientiously balance these two different interests without sacrificing the integrity of the magazine. I used to be a lawyer, but hated it after 12 years of practicing many different types of law. Editing a gun magazine, with the hands-on experience, relationships I develop with the decent folks in the gun industry, and lack of headaches, has been a satisfying move and I would recommend this type of work to anyone. —Rachel Alexander westernshootingjournal.com 15

PRIMER NEWS // CALENDARS // READER PHOTOS

NEWS

THE RISE OF NRA MOMS ‘Glocker Moms’ Take On Bloomberg’s ‘Moms Demand Action’

ormer New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a former Democrat who turned Repubilcan briefly but deserted the party in 2007, has become one of the biggest financiers of the gun control movement. He recently pledged $50 million more, part of which will go to his group “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.” The group was formed as an attempt to copy the successful messaging of organizations like Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), whose mothers tug at the heartstrings of Americans. Shannon Watts, who started the group, led a “stroller jam” outside the NRA convention this spring in Indianapolis as a protest. In response, the NRA is fighting back, launching a campaign featuring champion pistol shooter Julie Golob, a mother, as its face. On Mother’s Day, Golob posted an article on her website ( juliegolob.com) urging moms to take a “MOMent” to talk to their kids about responsible firearm safety. The NRA and lawful gun owners want to get the message across that it’s in moms’ best interests to own firearms, not confiscate them. At its annual convention, the NRA handed out buttons that said “I’m an NRA mom.” Women made up one-quarter of

the attendees at the convention this year, a five-fold increase over the last decade. The NRA continues to expand its emphasis on and outreach to women, starting an online show called Armed and Fabulous that features women shooters. Groups like “Armed Moms United to Protect” and “1 Million Moms

Against Gun Control” have started popping up. Mothers who believe in the right to keep and bear arms are reclaiming their maternal role as one that seeks to protect, not disarm. The louder they become, the more likely they will be able to prevent the gun control activists from associating moms with gun control. WSJ

westernshootingjournal.com 17

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

PRIMER

GUNSHOW C A L E N D A R

6–7 McMann’s Roadrunner Ventura Gun Show, Ventura, Calif.

6–8 Big Timber Gun Show, Big Timber, Mont. Boomtown Gun Show, Boomtown, Nev.

7–8 Center Texas Gun Show, Center, Texas Crossroads Sacramento California Gun Show, Sacramento, Calif. Dallas Gun & Knife Show, Dallas, Texas Globe Collectibles & Firearms Show, Globe, Ariz. Grants Pass Gun and Knife Show, Grants Pass, Ore. Guymon Badshot Gunshow, Guymon, Okla. Houston Pasadena Gun Show, Pasadena, Texas Hunting & Sportsmen’s Gun Show, Loveland, Colo. Kingman Gun, Inife, Coin & Collectibles Show, Kingman, Ariz. Las Vegas Gun Show Crossroads of the West, Las Vegas, Nev. NMGCA Gun, Sword & Knife Show Albuquerque, N.M. Phoenix Western Collectibles at the Marketplace, Phoenix, Ariz. Rickreall Gun Show, Rickreall, Ore. Saxet San Antonio Gun Show, San Antonio, Texas

8–9 Metcalf Oklahoma City Gun Show, Oklahoma City, Okla.

14 – 15 Buchanan Dam Gun Show, Buchanan Dam, Texas Castle Rock Hunting and Sportsmen’s Gun Show, Castle Rock, Colo. Lewis Clark Trader Gun Show, Spokane, Wash. Liberty Victoria Gun Show, Victoria, Texas McAllen Gun Show, McAllen, Texas Oklahoma TNT Gun & Knife Show, Oklahoma City, Okla. Pasadena Gun & Knife Show, Pasadena, Texas Peacemaker Tucson Holiday Inn Gun Show, Tucson, Ariz.

The NRA raffled off items like this at its annual convention this year. (NRA)

Phoenix Gun Show, Phoenix, Ariz. Salt Lake City Gun Show, Sandy, Utah Williams Gun Show, Williams, Ariz.

15 – 16 Metcalf Tulsa Gun Show, Tulsa, Okla.

20 – 22 Des Moines Fairgrounds Gun Show, Des Moines, Iowa Portland Gun & Knife Show, Portland, Ore.

21 – 22 Bakersfield Gun Show, Bakersfield, Calif. Billings Gun Show, Billings, Mont. Bodon Gun Show, Port Arthur, Texas Bremerton Falcon Gun Show, Bremerton, Wash. Centralia Gun Show – Wes Knodel, Centralia, Wash. Elk City Gun Show, Elk City, Okla. Glendale Gun Show, Glendale, Ariz. Hunting & Sportsmen’s Gun Show, Loveland, Colo. The Original Fort Worth Gun Show, Fort Worth, Texas Tyler Lone Star Gun Show, Tyler, Texas Visalia Gun Show, Visalia, Calif.

27 – 29 Council Bluffs Gun Show, Council Bluffs, Iowa Deer Lodge Gun Show, Deer Lodge, Mont.

28 – 29 Austin Gun Show, Austin, Texas Big Town Premier Gun Show, Mesquite, Texas Brownwood Gun & Blade Show, Brownwood, Texas Canby Gun and Knife Show, Canby, Ore. Carthage Gun Show, Carthage, Texas Cleburne Gun Show, Cleburne, Texas Conroe Gun & Knife Show, Conroe, Texas Dayton’s South Texas Gun Show, Dayton, Texas Laredo Gun Show, Laredo, Texas Mesa Gun Show Crossroads of the West, Mesa, Ariz. San Francisco Gun Show, San Francisco, Calif. Washington Arms Collectors Puyallup Gun Show, Puyallup, Wash. Western Trails Gun & Knife Show, Las Vegas, Nev. Visit westernshootingjournal.com for more events. Email editor@westernshootingjournal to have your show listed here.

Oregon Arms Gun Show, Portland, Ore.

westernshootingjournal.com 19

PRIMER

COMPETITION C A L E N D A R

6–8

Arkansas State Western Heritage Shoot-out (mounted shooting), Fort Smith, Ark. Battle of Rogue River (single-action shooting), Grants Pass, Ore.

7 Texas State Target Championships (collegiate archery), Columbus, Texas

7–8 Dallas Gun Club Summer Match I (trap), Dallas, Texas Texas Shotgun Sports Fundraiser Sporting Clays, San Antonio, Texas Ambush at Ricochet Junction (singleaction shooting), Colville, Wash. Texas State JOAD Outdoor Championships (collegiate archery), Columbus, Texas

12 – 14 Youth Target Foundation Texas State Championship (skeet, sporting clays & trap), San Antonio, Texas

12 – 15

Allie “Allie-cat” Barrett, age 17, has won numerous competitions at the NSSF Rimfire Challenge. (TERRY DALTON)

Championship (single-action shooting), Oklahoma City, Okla. 2014 California State Outdoor (collegiate archery), Van Nuys, Calif.

15 Diablo Standard & Center Fire Match (pistol), Concord, Calif.

17 Outlaw Annie Shoot for the Troops (mounted shooting), Stephenville, Texas

18 – 21

Shootout on the Comstock (singleaction shooting), Fernley, Nev.

Cowboy Capitol Central US Championship (mounted shooting), Stephenville, Texas

13 – 15

19 – 21

STI Double Tap Championship 2014 (pistol), Wichita Falls, Texas Jim Clawson Memorial (trap), Missoula, Mont. Revenge of Montezuma (single-action shooting), Cortez, Colo. North Dakota and South Dakota State Championship Peace in the Valley (single-action shooting), Enderlin, N.D. Wyoming State Championship Hell on Wheels (single-action shooting), Cheyenne, Wyo. Big Sky Open (archery), Grand Junction, Colo.

Fort Halleck Days (single-action shooting), Elko, Nev.

14 Single Stack Championship (mounted shooting), Berryville, Ark. Billy The Kid Outlaw Shootout (mounted shooting), Fort Sumner, N.M.

14 – 15 Oklahoma State Wild Bunch

19 – 22 Helldorado Rides Again (single-action shooting), Ukiah, Calif. Bush Whack & Beazley Gulch (singleaction shooting), Quincy, Wash.

19 – 29 World Championship End of Trail (single-action shooting), Founders Ranch, N.M.

20 – 22 2014 USAT SoCal Showdown Coach Credential (collegiate archery), Chula Vista, Calif.

21 Operation Zombie Sweep: Here Comes The Zkalvary, Knob Creek Range, Ky. 1st Annual Women’s Wild West Shootout (single-action shooting), Marshfield, Mo.

21 – 22 2014 Idaho USPSA Championship, Eugene, Ore. Rocky Mountain Regional Revolver Championship, Eaton, Colo. Northwest Outdoor Sectional (archery), Casper, Wyo. Midwest Outdoor Sectional (archery), Coon Rapids, Minn.

22 International Pistol Matches, Arcadia, Okla. Law Dawgs VC Cowboy Charity Shoot (single-action shooting), Casper, Wyo.

27 – 29 2014 Northern California Section Golden Bullet Championship (pistol), Richmond, Calif. Yellowstone Valley Buffalo Stampede (single-action shooting), Billings, Mont.

28 Badlands Regional & Oklahoma State Championship (pistol), Coweta, Okla. Smokin’ on the Pecos Shootout (mounted shooting), Artesia, N.M. Buckle Series Tournament (collegiate archery), Colorado Springs, Colo.

28 – 29 California State Junior Olympic Trap Championship, Livermore, Calif.

westernshootingjournal.com 21

PRIMER

TOP SHOTS Joan Stewart-Ponath is a Second Amendment activist in Arizona. (BRIAN RICE)

Bob Bartoszek is an NRA lifetime member and NRA certified firearms instructor for rifle, pistol and shotgun. He is an NRA chief range safety officer and an Arizona Game and Fish volunteer hunter education instructor. He is a range master at Pima Countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tucson Mountain Park and Southeast Regional Park. As a lifelong hunter and outdoor enthusiast, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been quite successful hunting the Coues whitetailed deer in southern Arizona. Over the years, he has tagged five-trophy class bucks. He is pictured here with his latest buck.

Army veteran Keith Sipmann of Arizona with his AR-15. Keith is the publisher of GearGunsandKnives.com and a regular contributor to Western Shooting Journal.

westernshootingjournal.com 23

PRIMER

READER TOP SHOTS

Larry Case, a game and fish officer in West Virginia, successfully called in a turkey and took it down with his Winchester Model 1200, a 12-gauge, 30-inch barrel shotgun.

Mark Van-Y of Arizona with a Ruger Mini-14.

Larry Case displays his Mossberg youth model 500C 20gauge shotgun, which is perfect for a child with its adjustable stock for a child and light weight.

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER!

Joan Stewart-Ponath of Arizona advertises for Blevins farms. Scott Blevins, a rancher near Arizona’s border with Mexico, was featured in Western Shooting Journal’s December 2013 issue discussing the dangers along the border. (BRIAN RICE)

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

Congratulations to Layne Lawless for winning the Readers’ Top Shots contest for May! Each month, the reader who submits the best photo will receive an AmmOMug of their choice from ammomug.com. Submit your best reader photos to us at ralexander@media-inc.com. You can also submit videos for our website.

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Guns Of Our FatherS

A RIFLE FAMILY

ARTICLE BY RACHEL ALEXANDER · PHOTOS BY THE MCLEAN’S

Art with my favorite neighbor dog Barney and two ringneck pheasants. (MCLEAN FAMILY)

Art’s rifles from l-r: His .30-06 hunting rifle, his first deer rifle, which is a .300 Savage, and his black-powder muzzleloader. (RACHEL ALEXANDER)

grew up in Bremerton, Wash., next door to the McLean’s. Art and Alice McLean were some of the dearest people you could ever meet. For many years, Art hunted with a .30-06 bolt-action rifle, customized for his left handedness. His first deer rifle was a .300 Savage from Sears and Roebuck. He used that for deer and elk hunting in the Cascades and Olympic Mountains. Eventually he added a black-powder musket loader for hunting deer, and a 28-gauge shotgun.

Art (r) with “Hungry” displaying the head of a moose that Art shot in Canada. (MCLEAN FAMILY)

He went hunting for pheasants and grouse in Spokane, Wash., later taking Barney, the brown German shorthaired pointer that we loved, along with him on those trips. At age 45, Art started moose hunting in Canada, with a guide named “Hungry.” Hungry was sort of a reculuse, but became a good friend to Art and his hunting buddies Ed and Perl Maurer. His son Bob told me that his dad would take him fishing, but he had a bad habit of falling asleep! One time Art had a bad experience when a motorcycle gang surrounded him, so he decided it was time to expand his collection to include a .357 Magnum revolver. Art enjoyed horseback riding, and Bob has saved the saddle and chaps, and the green hat Art would wear. Art has long since passed away, but Bob has carefully saved the gun collection, which will be someday handed down to his children. WSJ

Art in his trademark green cowboy hat, which the family still has (left photo). (MCLEAN’S)

westernshootingjournal.com 27

range spotlight

BILL’S GUN SHOP AND RANGE PHOTOS BY BILL’S GUN SHOP AND RANGE

wner John Monson said when he purchased Bill’s Gun Shop and Range, located in Minnesota, in 2003, he wanted “to take a new approach to the good-old-boys’ smoky gun shop, and make it a destination location that welcomes the whole family.” He seems to have accomplished this. The shop offers something you won’t find at any other firearm facility: limousine service rentals. The stretch Lincoln Navigator is covered in red, white and blue and prominently displays the facility’s name along the side. Every Wednesday is discounted for women; $15 includes eye and ear protection, target, and instructor time. Tuesdays are discounted for youth, who get in free with a paying adult, and can rent any gun for only $5. The range offers a machine gun rental, and there are gunsmiths on staff to opti-

mize your gun. Monson supports the charity Shot for Hope (shotforhope.com), which

brings outdoors enthusiasts together to support children with a life-threatening illness or life-altering disability, taking the kids on a hunt of their dreams. Bill’s Gun Shop and Range has three locations in Minnesota; Robbinsdale, Circle Pines and Hudson. The Robbindale location offers archery. The range is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Each location has over a dozen gun safety, conceal and carry, and tactical courses. There are over 64 indoor lanes total in the three locations. Find out more at billsgs.com. WSJ

The Robbindale location offers archery.

westernshootingjournal.com 29

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COMPETITIONS

NSSF REVAMPS RUGER RIMFIRE Missouri’s Young ‘Allie Cat’ Barrett Champions .22 Competition ARTICLE BY ROBIN TAYLOR Allie Barrett is only 17 but taking NSSF Rimfire Challenge by storm. (JOE FRANCIS/VOLQUARTSEN CUSTOM)

f you haven’t heard of NSSF Rimfire Challenge, it’s time to get up to speed. The sport (formerly known as “Ruger Rimfire”) has exploded onto the national stage. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has gotten involved, bringing the resources of the firearm world’s largest industry association. NSSF took over the burgeoning sport late last year, and with its entry, the sky’s the limit. NSSF Rimfire Challenge turns “plinking” with a .22 into a high-speed passion. You need a .22 pistol and a .22

rifle to compete (semi-auto strongly suggested), but that’s it. The targets are steel plates set no farther than 25 yards away, and it’s your job to ring those plates as fast as you can. Already top shooters list NSSF Rimfire successes on their “shooting resumes” – and as the sport grows, the skills of the top shooters involved grow with it. No one knows their names outside the rimfire world (yet), but I want you to remember this one: Allie Barrett. Barrett’s only 17 years old. She’s moderately tall, blonde and “a great kid,” according to her fans. She consis-

tently finishes in the top five at major NSSF Rimfire shoots. At the state level, these shoots draw 75 to 200 people. A “normal” state match will draw 125. Coming out on top against that large a crowd, packed with the top dogs from the multi-state area surrounding the event is not easy. At every one there will be 20 to 25 adult men who do this seriously, all with years of experience and the best rimfire technology they can muster. “Allie-cat” Barrett runs with them, beating all but the very best. “She’s very fast, very focused,” says Tim Norris, NSSF’s top match westernshootingjournal.com 33

COMPETITIONS

Alan Thomas competing at the Idaho NSSF Rimfire Championship — that’s match director Mike Wirth on the timer. (ROBIN TAYLOR)

director (and one of the top athletes in the sport). “She’s very well known in the community.” Norris has been the main organizer since the early days. Ruger supported Norris, and with bits of help from everyone from Tactical Solutions to Michael Bane’s TV show Shooting Gallery, the sport grew like mad. “Last year we had 26 matches with no marketing,” says Norris. “It’s all grassroots. This year our goal is 45, and we already have two scheduled in Canada.” As Norris says, Ruger’s support established a set of guidelines for bringing new shooters into the sport of shooting — and from there into a competition. “Normally you take people out shooting, and they say, ‘Wow, that was fun,’ but they never do it again. When gun laws come up later, they don’t think about how a certain law will impact their ability to enjoy their rights. NSSF Rimfire creates an avenue where average people can enter the competitive side of the sport.” Finding .22 ammo is a problem for everyone right now, but the guns themselves are fairly inexpensive. If you’d like to try competitive shooting, start here. NSSF’s budget year kicked off in April, so Norris is suddenly a very busy man. He’s touring the country, 34

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

going from event to event – often running into Allie Barrett along the way. BARRETT = ATHLETE AND COACH Men like Norris look at Allie Barrett as a possible Jessie Duff (the knockoutbeautiful star of “Friends of the NRA” who dominates ladies’ practical pistol). They say that because Barrett won the top woman title in all the events she participated in last year (roughly eight, plus the worlds). She won the Arkansas State championship outright, and finished high junior at all the matches where she entered as a junior. Based in Stockton, Mo., Barrett’s influence spreads thanks in part to her “crew,” the Allie-cats. Kids have started coming to the rimfire matches in everlarger numbers, but when Allie first got started, they were unusual. “I’ve always been called ‘Allie-cat’ since I was a little kid,” says Barrett, and when she started helping other kids, several adopted her stylish uniform. “I find other junior shooters who don’t really know where to start. I bring them back to my range, find out what they like, what their strengths are, then go with them to that first match. Then I stick with them and help them find sponsorships and things. I’m basically ‘paying it forward’ to take care of them the way people took care of me.”

NEED FOR SPEED New shooters love NSSF Rimfire’s simplicity, but the speed brings them back. Everyone on the range is gunning to get their hits as fast as possible. “You don’t have to worry about where you hit on the plate, you just have to have a hit,” says Barrett. “It really pulls you in when you’re trying to go one-tenth of a second faster to catch the person in the lead.” Rimfire matches are always fun, but rimfire technology is notoriously unreliable compared to centerfire. To help compensate (and encourage you to go faster) NSSF Rimfire allows a throw-away run on each target array — but only one. If you have two jams in a row on that “stage,” the time it takes you to clear the jam ends up as part of your score. “At worlds I had two terrible jams. They took me from being top five to like 19th. I knew it right there, it ruined the entire match,” says Barrett. “In this case it was all me. I got a new stock, and the magazine locks in differently than on my previous one. Sure enough I put the magazine in wrong and it jammed.” As you might expect of someone at her level, Barrett’s gear isn’t box-stock. Her pistol is a Volquartsen-built Ruger Mark III featuring an ultralight barrel assembly mated to the sharply angled stainless-steel grip frame typical of a standard Ruger auto. Various titanium bits shave weight on the moving parts to speed the lock time (something most of us wouldn’t notice, much less need), and gas-venting ports give Barrett every mechanical advantage Team Volquartsen can provide. “It’s extremely lightweight, and with the Volquartsen grips, it really evens out the weight in the pistol,” says Barrett. “It’s a long barrel, so it’s front heavy. Adding the Volquartsen grips, they’re a little bit bulky, which changes the feel.” Her rifle looks like a Ruger 10/22, but it has about as much in common with a 10/22 as a NASCAR race car has with a Chevy Monte Carlo. While functionally a Ruger, every part on it (with

COMPETITIONS few exceptions) comes from Volquartsen. Here again, an ultralight barrel makes the gun wicked fast target-totarget, titanium parts make the gun mechanically faster, and the C-More scopes riding atop both rifle and pistol let Barrett “follow the bouncing ball” rather than aim in the conventional sense. Make no mistake, accuracy is very much part of the game, but the dot and the lightweight guns help her attain maximum speed. I asked Barrett why she’s so formidable in rimfire. She’s got something of a reputation in USPSA too (enough to be sponsored by Taran Tactical Innovations), but nothing like what she has in NSSF Rimfire. She puts it down to two things: a natural affinity for dot scopes, and the ability to “see” the fastest way to shoot each new arrangement of targets. “In Ruger, it really clicked with me for some reason. The ability to pick up the dot and put it right where it needs

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

(TERRY DALTON)

to be, that’s there for me.” NSSF Rimfire involves no standardized courses, so every arrangement of targets blooms from the match director’s imagination – and is never used again. “Gaming the stage” becomes important. “It’s the ability to look at the targets and figure out that if I shoot it in a particular pattern, I can shoot it one-tenth

of a second faster. There’s always another way, and I think that’s one of the reasons I do well at this. I can see that, sometimes, in ways that others can’t.” Barrett got lucky by getting in “on the ground floor” as an athlete. She had the skills to stand apart, and Scott Volquartsen noticed her at the 2011 World Championship in New Mexico. For Barrett, 2012 changed everything.

westernshootingjournal.com 37

COMPETITIONS The sport was roaring up around her, Volquartsen solved her equipment problems, and Barrett travelled widely, propelled by supportive parents and sponsors. Each new win helped open doors for the next. Shooting primarily in the South, Barrett knows hundreds of people – and they her. However, her abilities soon took her out of that close-knit world. “2012 Worlds was in Pennsylvania, with a lot more kids, a lot more people, and my folks couldn’t go. That was a little scary; we didn’t know hardly anybody.” As a minor, Barrett couldn’t travel with her guns. She’s not allowed to own any of them in her own name yet – and the various states have conflicting laws on minors. The solution? Temporary guardians. Friends made through the family’s shooting travels have welcomed Allie into their homes. “They’ll already have my guns there, and they act as my ‘range mom’

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

for the weekend,” says Barrett.

Prize tables laden with merchandise are common at “registered” NSSF Rimfire events. This photo shows less than half the booty on offer at the Idaho State match, sponsored by Tactical Solutions. (ROBIN TAYLOR)

LOOKING FORWARD Barrett graduates from high school soon, with an eye on a career in criminal justice. Thanks to her work as a volunteer tutor, the state of Missouri will make it possible for her to attend Ozark Technical College (OTC) for two years at no cost. “It’s called the A+ program; if you go and tutor little kids for X many hours, have at least a 2.5 GPA and 95 percent attendance, then you can get your associates free of charge,” says Barrett. That gives her a short window when she can shoot heavily without having to worry too much about raising money for school. She’ll enroll at OTC next year, beginning the long process needed to achieve her goal of “going federal” and joining the DEA or FBI. Although the A+ program took tuition off the table, her Mazda’s gas tank doesn’t fill itself, and travel and ammu-

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westernshootingjournal.com 39

Ron Stricklin (left) receives the Idaho State championâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trophy from match director Mike Wirth. (ROBIN TAYLOR)

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

nition are expensive. To pay for it all, Barrett manages the lifeguard staff at a local country club in the summer, and waits tables at a “Sundays” diner during the school year. “This summer I hired, fired, did payroll,” she says. “Having kids the same age working for me was a challenge. I had to develop the ‘stern side’ of Allie.” If you get a chance to attend one of NSSF Rimfire’s events this year, jump at the chance. They’re the competition for everyone, kids included, and often have generous prize tables. (The rules are at nssf.org/rimfire). Odds are if you’re shooting in the South, the “Allie-cat” will be there too. WSJ Editor’s note: For more than 20 years, Robin Taylor has covered the shooting sports from the inside, covering events in more than 20 states and two European nations. His firm, Taylor Freelance, LLC, produces pistol magazine extensions, books on shooting and other accessories for competititve shooting at taylorfreelance.com.

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BLACK POWDER

CAMP GUN OF THE BUFFALO RUNNER The Texas Brush Popper ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT

Cimarron’s 18-inch-barreled Texas Brush Popper in .44/40.

ow and then, maybe usually, I seem to get a glimpse of myself as a buffalo runner somewhere in the late 1870s. So, in following that glimpse and hoping for a better view of it, I add things to my outfit that might be appropriate for those times. One of the things I wanted was a camp gun, something in addition to the Sharps rifle that certainly will be there. The little Texas Brush Popper from Cimarron Repeating Arms fills that bill nicely, in .44/40 caliber. Good impressions about this short rifle began building before it was completely out of the box. The wood in figure, fit and finish highly impressed me. This rifle is stocked very nicely and the fit to the tang is so good that it simply isn’t a coincidence. The forearm is not fitted quite as nicely, but the fine figure of the grain and the finish of the wood are there to appreciate as well. As the gun came farther out of the box, more impressive characteristics were noted. Next compliments go to the sights on this rifle. What I’m referring to is the fit of those sights to the barrel. On too many of today’s copies of the old Western guns, the sights are ill fitted, with air space between the sights and the gun’s barrel. That isn’t so with this

gun, those sights are resting right on the barrel as they should be, and no extra light can be seen in or above the dovetails. Little things like the fitting of the sights are certainly tokens of good craftsmanship. Both the front and rear sights are equipped with set screws which need to be loosened a bit before any windage adjustments are made, then tightened again once the windage is set. The rear sight, of course, is adjustable for elevation as well.

This rifle comes with an attractive color from casehardening on the receiver, lever, trigger, and hammer. On the original Winchester rifles, color casehardening was available as an added cost extra, so the color casehardening can be considered just as authentic as it is attractive. The rest of the rifle’s steel features which can be seen are nicely finished in a well polished dark blue. These pieces include the barrel and magazine tube, buttplate, nose cap, and the dust cover

The Brush Popper gets a workout; note the empty just falling past the action.

westernshootingjournal.com 43

black powder

This group was fired with black-powder loads; note the nickeled cases.

on top of the receiver. THE ORIGINAL WINCHESTER MODEL 1873 had an evolution with small but noticeable changes during its 50-year span of manufacturing. This gun from Cimarron represents one of the last versions, or third model, because it has hidden hammer and trigger pivot screws, and the dust cover slides on an integral “ramp” on the top of the receiver. This rifle has a trigger-block safety which doesn’t allow the trigger to be pulled unless the lever is held tightly against the lower tang. In other words, the trigger block doesn’t allow the gun to be fired unless the action is completely closed. That trigger block became a standard feature on originals in 1879. My information about the Winchester Model 1873 rifles comes from The Winchester Handbook by George Madis. That same handbook says the standard barrel length for a Model ’73 rifle was 24 inches, but barrels were produced from 14 to 36 inches. Also, 44

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

half-round barrels were made in all lengths, but they are considered very rare. In other words, there might be an original that looks just like this Texas Brush Popper, but we could have a hard time finding it. I do value this rifle’s authenticity. Markings can certainly be complimented on this rifle. On the barrel is “Cimarron Repeating Arms,” with an address and patent dates forward of the rear sight, plus “44 W.C.F.” just ahead of the receiver ring. On the upper tang is “Model 1873” in script. The serial number is on the lower tang behind the lever, and there are some almost unnoticeable proof marks or inspection stampings on the bottom of the receiver. Also on the lower tang is found “A. Uberti-Italy,” but you must open the lever to see it. Those markings certainly add to the Western flavor of this rifle. Cimarron says their Texas Brush Popper version of their Model 1873 lever-action rifle is the best balanced,

lightest and quickest lever action available today. I won’t disagree with that. And the Brush Popper comes with options such as a straight grip or a deluxe checkered pistol grip as well as a couple other calibers. The suggested retail prices for this rifle are $1,272.70 for its standard version and $1,350.70 for the checkered pistol-grip model. WSJ Editor’s note: For a better look at these authentic versions of the old ’73, take a peek at Cimarron’s website at cimarron-firearms.com. Mike Nesbitt’s articles about black powder shooting can be found in back issues of certain magazines from nearly 40 years ago, and he’s learned a few things over that span of time. Join him now as newer stories continue in our black powder column. With Mike, you can talk about black powder cartridge shooting, from paperpatched bullets to the famous “collar button,” and we’ll hit on traditional muzzleloading too. For Mike, shooting begins with black powder.

COMPETITIONS

QUIGLEY OUT YONDER Annual Black Powder Match Set For June In Eastern Montana ARTICLE BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY AL KREBS Since the match began in 1991, no one has ever scored a perfect score of 48 out of 48.

f heavy-caliber black-powder-cartridge long-range rifle shooting is your thing, the Matthew Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match just north of Forsythe, Mont., is the place to be on June 14-15. The match, now in its 23rd year, is billed as the biggest rifle shooting event in Eastern Montana since the Custer Massacre. It usually attracts well over 500 participants, and taking shooters through the six-target course consumes all of Saturday and most of Sunday. For $25, shooters can register

to compete, firing a total of 48 shots at six steel targets, eight per target, at ranges from 305 yards to 805 yards. The 305-yard target is shot from the standing offhand position. The target itself is somewhat under 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. All the other targets are shot buffalo-hunter style, from the seated position, using crossed sticks to steady and support the rifle’s barrel. The targets at 405, 417, and 530 yards are of similar size and shape to the 305-yard target. At 600 yards, the target changes to a 48-inch octagon. The longest range

target is also the most historically realistic. At 805 yards stands a 7-foot-long by 5-foot-high buffalo. The inspiration for this match came from the movie Quigley Down Under, which is unique in the pantheon of Western genre films for its focus on long-range rifle marksmanship. Tom Selleck’s portrayal of the Sharps rifle shooting hero re-ignited popular interest in these heavy-hitting workhorses of the Old West. Students of the history of the American frontier know that the single-shot rifle, and not the westernshootingjournal.com 47

COMPETITIONS member – are awarded to the winners of the various classes. Sponsors Shiloh Sharps Manufacturing Co. and Perdersoli both donate one of their exceptionally fine rifles for awards, and there are many other prizes by random drawing, so any registered shooter who stays until the end of the match on Sunday has an equal chance to win regardless of their skill or performance.

Gathering of friends. The camaraderie at the Quigley is why folks keep coming back.

Winchester lever-action, won the West. Defeating the Plains Indians required the extermination of the majority of the buffalo on which they depended for their survival. That was not accomplished with pistol-caliber repeaters. All you have to do is stand

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near a real live buffalo to realize that .44 to .40 WCF is not a great choice for bringing down an animal bigger than most backyard sheds. Montana-shaped plaques with the autograph and likeness of Tom Selleck – sportsman, shooter, and NRA board

MOST OF THE OLD CALIBERS used at the Quigley shoot have rainbow-like trajectories, which makes this a challenging match. Since it began in 1991, nobody has scored a perfect 48 out of 48. However, new shooters should not feel intimidated. It’s true the targets are set at serious distances for even modern flat-shooting rifle cartridges, but they are large. The targets are scored as hits or misses. You shoot immediately after you are called. There are no sighters and no alibis. Shooters have to deal with the wind,

Sharps Mod. 1874, 1875, 1877, "A?@ &GO 19DDK DKG L@= ,=EAF?LGF "=H:MJF

info@;K ;K@9JHK9JEK ;GE c OOO ;K@9JHK9JEK ;GE K@9JHK9JEK ;GE E c OOO ;K@9JH HK9JEK ;GE PP.O. .O. Box Box 88 8855 c B Big ig Timber, Timberr, MT 59011 59011 c Phone: 406-932-4353 406-932-4353 c FFAX: A AX: 406-932-4443 406-932-4443

westernshootingjournal.com 49

COMPETITIONS rain, dust or any other condition they encounter on the firing line. That is part of the challenge. The stated rules are quite simple: be safe and have fun. Because of the size of the match, there is some complexity involved in getting every shooter through the course of fire, but that is ably handled by the range officers. All a shooter need do is show up with his rifle and ammo pre-

pared to have a good time. This event is really a week-long affair with hundreds of shooters camping for free on the site to enjoy each other’s company, good food, magnificent scenery, free practice time on the range in the week before the match, and the opportunity to peruse the wares of nearly 50 vendors who set up just behind the firing the line. Natu-

People come from all over the world to this legendary event.

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Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

rally, there will be a few showings of the match’s namesake movie too, at the nearby Iron Horse Saloon. WSJ Editor’s note: For more information go to quigleymatch.com, and if you can’t find answers to all of your questions there, feel free to call Buz Coker at (406) 346-2763 or email him at coker6@rangeweb.com.

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Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

AT NRA Western Shooting Journal attended the NRA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Ind., earlier this spring, and we stopped by some of the most interesting exhibits and met many of the top movers and shakers in the industry. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a photographic retrospective.

I got to meet the beautiful competitive pistol shooter Jessie Duff, a Taurus Team Captain, who recently achieved the level of USPSA Grand Master. She co-hosts the Friends of NRA TV show with her husband, Matthew Clark Duff, a former Major League Baseball pitcher.

Jackie of Wolf Performance Ammunition, which runs some of the coolest ads in Western Shooting Journal.

I was excited to finally meet the guys of Tactical Tailor, since employees of our company have spent tons of money buying their great clothing.

Michelle Viscusi, competitive shooter of Team Glock, was as beautiful in person as she appears in photos.

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WSJ AT NRA

With the new editor of Guns and Ammo, Eric Poole.

The convention main events featured the most noteworthy supporters of the Second Amendment.

Hunter Handcrafted Leather Goods displayed beautiful quality handmade holsters, rifle slings, cartridge belts, gun cases and shooting accessories.

One of the leading musical acts at the NRA convention was Joe Nichols (l). Western Shooting Journal and Jeff Johnston (r) of NRA Country got a chance to interview him.

Magna-Arm offers a very useful strong magnet to attach your firearm under tables, desks, etc. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; very helpful in odd situations.

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

We met Pete Vogel of LeHigh Defense, which manufactures some of the best projectiles in the world.

I was excited to meet top shot Julie Golob of the Team Smith & Wesson.

Did you know that nearly all of John Browningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s designs have been copied by other companies?

My favorite product at the NRA show was the Crazy Quail live bird shooting simulator, developed by Barry Bourdage, which makes shooting clays easy and fun.

WSJ AT NRA

A small gun safe may be able to keep kids away from your gun, but what about professional thieves? I enjoyed talking to Doug Tarter of Fort Knox Vaults about the advantages of a home vault.

A highlight for me at the convention was meeting legendary Second Amendment author Massad Ayoob, who I have admired for over 20 years now.

Tanya Gorin from XX Sight Systems, a family company which makes sights and scope mounts.

With Buck Medley of Animal Planet, who once wrestled an 8-foot alligator.

I enjoyed finally meeting the gang from Patriot Ordnance, which makes some of the most beautiful ads in our magazine.

Exotic big game huntress Melissa Bachman graciously signed autographs for fans.

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

There were 20-foot plus tall posters of Ted Nugent everywhere. Unfortunately I did not run into him this time, but we interviewed him for our December 2013 issue and I got a chance to meet him at SHOT Show 2014.

I was delighted to meet Cameron Gray from NRA News, having been on his radio show a couple of times. Follow him on Twitter at @cameron_gray for news about his dog â&#x20AC;&#x201C; er, guns.

Beretta had the coolest booth at the entire convention. They took a photo of you holding a gun of your choice, with a background of your choice, and made it into a fake movie poster â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all for free and then emailed it to you.

WSJ AT NRA

Sticky Holsters offers in-the-waist holsters that don’t need clips or loops to secure them since they come with “sticky” skin that sticks to your waistband (or in your pocket).

The Flashbang Holsters’ booth was barraged with women every time I walked by.

Elite shooters Michelle Viscusi, KC Eusubio, and Tori Nonaka, featured on the cover of Western Shooting Journal’s April issue, graciously met fans at the Glock booth.

The “Gold Girls” from Universal Coin and First American Reserve were by far the flashiest dressed of anyone at the convention.

Pasquale Murena of Cannon Safe explained to me that fullsizes safes can be used to store more than just firearms.

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

Cabela’s booth featured a lifesize stuffed bear.

Miller Precision Arms displayed some of its beautiful long-range precision rifles, including some which come on a true AR platform.

Some booths featured full-size outdoors vehicles.

I was lucky to meet country star Andy Ross, whose song “Cold Dead Hand” inspired the making of a Second Amendment Corvette.

WSJ AT NRA Country star Andy Ross’s Second Amendment Corvette, a rare 1970 Mako Shark.

How could you not resist stopping this guy with a hat wearing, “Ask me about silencer juice?”

Magpul was back with its “Battle Bus.”

Bass Pro had one of the coolest cars on display, a patriotically painted Chevy SS.

Mark Morris strolled around the convention with his Right To Bear Arms Gun Case, which is made out of a bear paw/arm and will be available for sale soon.

Jessica and BJ McLeod next to theguntruck.com, which will be featured in a new reality show about NASCAR beginning Sundays on June 28.

Mike Hughes of Next Level Training was busy when I stopped by, otherwise I would have gotten an update on his laser simulated training.

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

There were plenty of signs available to place around your home or business to keep the riff raff away.

The convention was a great place to find animal mounts.

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Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

GUN REVIEWS

THE CASE FOR THE 28 Lightweight, But Packs A Punch Afield And Shooting Clays ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY STEVE MEYER

eal!” hollered my hunting partner, startling me from my afternoon nap parked on a tidal slough in front of our duck shack in the western Alaska wilderness. The 28-gauge Beretta 686 across my lap jumped into my hands, and I picked out the lead bird of the 17 that rocketed through the cut, pressing the trigger as the muzzle swept past the leader … and was dumfounded as seven greenwing teal dropped into the tidal slough. Cheyenne and Gunner, our chocolate Labrador retrievers, were delighted to be so judicially employed before we had even left the shack. Great, I thought, one shot fired and I have one bird left to take to fill my limit the first evening of the hunt. A couple of things might come to mind; one, the 28 gauge is the ultimate duck gun or more likely, why in the hell would anyone take a 28-gauge duck hunting? Make no mistake, the seven teal with one shot was pure luck, a combination of perfect timing, perfect distance and shot pattern for a once-in-a-lifetime shot. More to the point, the 28 was brought because of a love affair I have with this diminutive little smoothbore. Not my primary waterfowl shotgun by any means, the 28 was there for having some fun on close decoying ducks on the season opener when close-decoying is a near mortal certainty. The 28 gauge has been a part, albeit small part, of American shotgunning since the early 1900s. With a bore diameter of .550, and a standard shot payload of ¾ ounce, the 28 was not particularly popular in the hunting fields in its early years. Some were

“

The profiles of the 12, 20 and 28 contrasted.

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GUN REVIEWS

Snowshoeing the mountains, the 28 is just a delight to hunt with.

used for quail and they were popular for driven birds in Europe, but it did begin having success in smallbore skeet shooting and eventually in the sporting clays arena. Skeet and sporting clays shooters learned to appreciate the lightweight, low recoil, and fast-handling characteristics the 28 offers, and they discovered the 28 breaks targets much better than its small size would suggest. The gauge was popu-

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

lar enough amongst competitive shooters that excellent target loads were developed by the major ammunition companies. THE MERITS OF THE 28 in competition became more evident in the upland hunting world that requires a lot of miles following bird dogs. Carrying a 6pound shotgun versus a 71⁄2-pound gun may not seem like much, but there is a

cumulative affect that is markedly realized over the course of a day, particularly when the day includes climbing 5,000 to 6,000 vertical feet. The smaller size of the receiver of a 28 makes it fit the hand nicely, and adds to the perceived comfort when carrying the gun. The circumference around the receiver of my 12-gauge Winchester 101 Light, which weighs 6 pounds, is 71⁄4 inches; my 28-gauge Beretta 686, also 6 pounds, measures 63⁄8 inches. My CZ O/U 28, at 5.5 pounds, measures just 6 inches. The rise in popularity of the 28 has prompted major manufacturers to introduce several superior loads for the hunting arena. Winchester offers a 1ounce load in Nos. 5, 6, 7.5 and 8. Fiocche offers their Golden Pheasant load in 7⁄8 ounce for Nos. 5, 6, 7.5, and 8 shot. PMC offers 7⁄8-ounce loads in Nos. 6, 7.5, and 8. Rio offers 1-ounce loads in Nos. 6, 7.5, 8, and 9 shot. The ¾-ounce and 7⁄8-ounce loads leave the muzzle at

GUN REVIEWS 1,300 fps; the 1-ounce loads at 1,200 fps. Standard steel shot loads offered by Federal and Winchester have a 5⁄8ounce payload and are offered in Nos. 6 and 7 shot. Hevishot offers their premium line of non-toxic shot in ¾-ounce loads in Nos. 4 and 6 shot. If there is a downside to the 28 gauge, it would be ammunition cost. Typical skeet loads can be had for around $10 a box. Premium hunting loads run nearly twice that. If one is going to shoot skeet or sporting clays, reloading is probably the best option. The cost of lead shot has drastically increased in the past years, and factory loads for the 12 gauge can often be purchased for not much more than reloads cost. The reduced shot charge of the 28 does make a difference in handloading. A 25-pound bag of shot will load 400 1-ounce 12-gauge rounds, 355 1 1⁄8-ounce loads and 533 ¾-ounce 28gauge loads. For hunting, we should all be so fortunate to shoot so much that

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the ammunition cost is really an issue. The 28 gauge often gets lumped with the .410 as an “experts” gun. There is no real comparison between the two in the field. Sure, there are skeet shooters who break a lot of clay targets with the .410. Shooting at a known target at a known speed and a known angle often enough, you can get pretty good. In the hunting arena, it is an entirely different circumstance, and frankly having seen the work of .410 shotguns in “expert” hands in the field, it isn’t particularly impressive. Not so with the 28. The 28 patterns extremely well, and this is one of those things with no real explanation – it is just what it is. Anyone who can shoot well with 20 gauge in the field can do as well with a 28, provided they don’t think themselves into believing they cannot. Shotguns chambered for the 28 gauge come in all forms: autoloaders, pumps, single shot, side by side and over/under. Weatherby recently intro-

duced a brand-new autoloading 28 gauge, the SA-08, that comes in at 5.5 pounds with a gas-operated action for around $850. It has had very good reviews. No, you won’t find many 28gauge guns on retail shelves, but there are plenty available if you are willing to order what you want. WSJ Editor’s note: Steve Meyer started hunting birds and small game at age 6. He is a competitive shooter in benchrest, high-power silhouette, small-bore silhouette, IHMSA, IPCS/USPSA, trap and skeet. He spent 15 years as a SWAT operator and 20 years as a professional firearms instructor. He recently retired after 22 years of law enforcement service. Most days are spent in the field with his beloved English setter, Winchester, his Labrador retrievers, or predator hunting, big game hunting and working with new shooters to bring them into the fold.

GUN REVIEWS

ICON, MOVIE STAR, LEGEND Magnum Research, Inc.’s Mark XIX Desert Eagle .50AE ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY NORMAN GRAY

The Desert Eagle is offered in .50AE and .357 Magnum, and nine custom finishes.

There are very few movie guns more well-known than the Desert Eagle, a pistol so famous I’m shocked it doesn’t have its very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Since the early ’80s, it’s appeared right alongside action stars the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Seagal, Dolph Lundgren, and some very famous action movie vixens such as Kate Beckinsale and Pamela Lee Anderson. It’s seen action in over 116 movies and countless TV shows, animation, media and books. It’s had a recent resurgence in many first person shooter video games like Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3 and Splinter Cell Blacklist. It’s been a meager 31 years since its designer Bernard C. White of MRI (Magnum Research Incorporated) filed the first patents on this groundbreaking

pistol design, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. IMI (Israeli Military Industries) was given the contract to refine the design and manufacture the DE (Desert Eagle) until 1995, at which time MRI moved the contract to Saco Defense in Maine. In 1998, the contract moved back to IMI once more, and since 2009, the DE has been pro-

duced in the United States at MRI’s Pillager, Minn., facility. In 2010, Khar Arms, Inc., acquired MRI and with that acquisition MRI has been steadily increasing their inventory of new products such as the Desert Eagle 1911 C & G models from Israel and the MR9 and MR40 from Walther of Germany. They also carry the BFR (Big Frame Revolver), Mountain Rifle and Magnum Lite series of .22 rifles. The history of the Desert Eagle would make for an interesting book. But what I feel makes it highly desired, besides its reputation, is its .50 Action Express cartridge. In 1988, Evan Whildin, who worked for Action Arms, created the .50 Action Express specifically for the DE. The .50AE is a true rebated rim cartridge, which means the body diameter is greater than the rim diameter. The original cartridge was designed for a .510 diameter bullet, but fell afoul of the National Firearms Act and was classified as a destructive weapon. The simplest answer was to dial the diameter back to .500 and taper the case – and a potential premature end to the .50AE was averted. Fortunately, this has had a positive side effect for the .50AE

Gould and Goodrich makes a Nylon Tactical Thigh Rig holster I really like for $99.95.

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GUN REVIEWS and sales. This was good news for the .44 Magnum’s rim as well since the diameter is the same as the .50AE. So on the Mark XIX (19) Desert Eagle series, you can fire the .44 Magnum on the same frame with just a barrel and magazine change. The .44 or .50 AE barrels, “depending on the caliber you start with,” and its corresponding magazines are sold separately. To fire the .357 requires the new bolt, barrel and magazine. MRI has factored this multi-caliber adaptation into their well-constructed carrying case by providing you with an extra slot for your additional barrel and magazine. This is why people who love this pistol so much are willing to spend a small fortune to get one. HUNTING IS DEFINITELY ONE USE, but it’s more than just hunting; it’s a status symbol, because no matter where you go, people will recognize it on sight. I

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found on my many range sessions that people jumped and cowered at the opportunity to shoot it. It is, after all, a dominating presence when paired up with even the largest full-size handgun and commands respect like no other. If you let your friends open the Desert Eagle case, the conversation starts with, “Holy cow look at the size of that thing,” followed by a big grin. Its massive size and weight (nearly 5 pounds loaded) plays a big part in soaking up the recoil you will encounter when firing the .50AE. The .44 Magnum’s recoil is mild using the same double recoil spring, making it enjoyable and fun to shoot, good for someone who has never shot a Desert Eagle before or is more recoil sensitive. I would add the Desert Eagle in either caliber is definitely a twohanded-hold pistol. The Desert Eagle is offered in .50AE, .44 Magnum and .357 Magnum and available in nine custom finishes to suit

your taste. MRI also offers some of their models with factory installed muzzle brakes and a black .50AE and .44 Magnum with a 10-inch hunting barrel. They even offer a California-legal model as well as models manufactured in Israel by IWI. And if you’re an accessory hound, MRI offers one-stop shopping for additional magazines, barrels, sights, grips, holsters, ammo and other must have stuff made just for your Desert Eagle. If you’re thinking about reloading, Starline Brass and Rainier Ballistics have what you need for affordable range ammo, and hunting bullets are available through Hornady and Barnes. Just do a little searching and you will find what you need. My time with the MRI Mark XIX Desert Eagle was a pleasant and fun learning experience. Only a few problems occurred during testing and were minor and simple to address. The safety-selector screw on both sides came lose several times while shoot-

GUN REVIEWS ing; some thread lock fixed that. The pistol started to malfunction after

shooting over 750 rounds of both calibers; a thorough cleaning made it run

Disasembly starts with a safety check, them move the magazine and clear the chamber of all live ammo. Next, simplh depress the takedown button and rotate the lever downward.

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like new. Some shooters feel it is a waste of money, “heard that more than once.” Others like a friend of mine ordered one right after shooting my sample. But whatever your feelings on this one-of-a-kind pistol are, one thing is for sure, it’s not going anywhere soon. I already wrote the check for my sample. Now on to the accessories page! WSJ Editor’s note: Norman Gray has been involved in the shooting sports for well over 30 years. He has served in both active duty and reserve components of the United States Army as an (11 Bravo 4) infantryman/sniper and was honorably discharged at the end of his service. Moving to Arizona, he began assisting his long-time friend and mentor Bob Shell, an accomplished writer and author in his own right. Norman is now a published writer with Manzano Valley Outdoors, Canadian Firearms Journal, Handguns Magazine, AmmoLand.com and Western Shooting Journal.

TRIBUTE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT

ur brave law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day in order to protect the rest of us. A job that, on the one hand, is rich in the rewards of policing one’s own community, making the streets safe, mentoring its residents, and solving crimes, also sometimes means making the ultimate sacrifice. That happened in Alaska last month when two state troopers were killed; the brave officers are the subject of our story on the next page. Not many of us could deal every day with substance abusers, domestic violence or society’s other ills, but next month begins the 27th year that TV’s Cops has helped to

show the public just what our policemen and -women have to deal with. Executive producer Morgan Langley talks about what has made Cops the longest-running reality show while giving us the raw, uncut footage of what happens in the day of a police officer. And finally, we ride along with the “Lighthorsemen” of the Chickasaw Nation, a Native American law enforcement agency in Oklahoma with a rich history of chasing down the bad guys. To the officers of American law enforcement, we salute you, and to our fallen protectors, our deepest appreciation for your service. WSJ

LOST IN THE LINE OF DUTY TRAGEDY FOR TWO ALASKA STATE TROOPERS BY KEVIN GLENN HUEY

hose of us who watch the television show Alaska State Troopers got to know a little bit more about two law enforcement officers who were lost in the line of duty last month. On May 1, Sergeant Patrick “Scott” Johnson and Trooper Gabriel “Gabe” Rich were shot and killed in the remote village of Tanana, Alaska. Both men had appeared on the National Geographic reality show, and they both had shown their professionalism as well as human decency to every viewer. Part of a rural unit based out of Fairbanks, Sgt. Johnson and Trooper Rich were responding to a situation where a member of the village had been driving while intoxicated and had threatened the unarmed village security officer with a weapon. Tanana is a remote village at the confluence of the Yukon and Tanana Rivers, and it is not accessible to the outside world except via air. So as troopers have done on a myriad number of occasions, the two men flew into the village to affect an arrest upon the lawbreaker. Only this time, as they were placing Alvin Morse Kangas into custody in his home on Front Street, his son, Nathaniel Lee Kangas, attacked the troopers with an assault rifle, shooting and killing both officers. Sgt. Johnson, who was born in Fairbanks, had 23 years of law enforcement experience, 20 of it with the Alaska State Troopers and three with the North Slope Borough Police 76

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Department. The 45-year-old father of three also left behind his wife. Trooper Rich had served previously with the North Pole Police Department just outside of Fairbanks and had been with the Alaska State Troopers for 3½ years. He was survived by his fiancée and their two sons. “This is a time to begin the healing process and come together as a community to provide strength to those who are still feeling the pain of their loss,” Col. James Cockrell, head of the Alaska State Troopers, told the Associated Press during a memorial service attended by an estimated 4,000. “For in times like this, true Alaskans stand together.” Hayly Johnson, Scott’s daughter, told the Anchorage Daily News that “An amazing dad raised me. He left a lasting impression on everyone that you talk to.” Rich, who was just 26, was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in Fairbanks. “Gabe was one of those people that you just absolutely loved to see when he came into work,” his supervisor, Sgt. Mike Roberts, said at the memorial. “You could walk into the squad room and you’d be better because you’d see him with his mischievous smile on his face.” The men made a lasting impression on the Nat Geo reality show that follows various Alaska State Troopers in action. “My 23-hour adventure with Scott started with surveillance of an undercover drug-buy in a grocery store parking lot. The photographer and I

Just 26, Trooper Gabe Rich (top) was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in Fairbanks. He leaves behind a fiancée and their two sons. Sergeant Scott Johnson had 20 years of service as an Alaska State Trooper after starting his career with the North Slope Borough Police Department. (ALASKA STATE TROOPERS)

hid in the back seat of his truck behind a curtain and waited for the buy to go down. Scott picked a strategic parking spot where he could see everything happening,” producer Kelly Lambson said in a National Geographic Channel press release. “The suspected drug dealer was supposed to park about 50 feet away, but instead pulled into the spot right in front of us. As we hid quietly in the back, Scott immediately backed out so as not to tip him off. It was so exciting to be that close to the action and blend in like we were just another car. Little did I know we were just

getting started.” “He was one of the good guys making a difference. He was a great trooper and that was because he was a great human. I will never forget my time working with him. He was a good man.” Of Rich, producer Charissa Sander recalled her first ride-a-long with him. “I made the mistake of casually mentioning I get car sick in the backseat. For the first 20 minutes, I thought he was the worst driver I had ever ridden with. He would accelerate excessively, only to stomp on the brakes. He pulled off into a parking lot where he proceeded to spin doughnuts,” Sander said. “By this time, I realized what he was up to. I was sweating and salivating and doing anything to not throw up – begging to be let out, which he did after a long laugh. Even if you didn’t get a story with him, you got a

IN MEMORIAM: SOME OF THIS YEAR’S FALLEN OFFICERS Before every shift as a Dallas Police Department officer, I would say a small prayer, asking the Lord to guard over me, help me make just decisions, and guide me to where any innocent was in need or in danger. I also asked that if this was to be my last day, to let me pass with honor, fighting to overcome the evil in the world. In my 21¼ years there, 16 fellow cops lost their lives in the line of duty, and I knew a few of them. Here are just a few of the officers who have been killed across the country so far this year, and some of the dangers we risk on the job. –KGH

free comedy show.” “Having worked at many other posts, I can tell you that none of them were like Gabe’s. ‘D’ Detachment is special for their bond. My heart breaks when I think of how they are reeling from the loss of their brothers. I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked alongside them and even more fortunate to have known Gabe.” For an agency made up of only approximately 430 sworn and non-sworn personnel, patrolling a vast area equal in size to one-fifth of the continental U.S., the loss of two of their own in one moment has to be devastating. In the aftermath of the incident, the village council of Tanana voted to banish Alvin Kangas, as well as another man whose activism for the Athabascan Nation they believe created a climate where the younger Kangas felt his actions were justified.

The shooter, Nathaniel Kangas, was indicted on murder charges with a special finding where it was found the officers were in full uniform and acting in their capacity as law enforcement officers when killed. As such, he faces up to 99 years in prison. The website Concerns Of Police Survivors (nationalcops.org) has set up memorial funds through Wells Fargo Bank for Sgt. Scott Johnson and Trooper Gabe Rich. All proceeds from these accounts will go directly to the families of the fallen. To donate to the Sergeant Scott Johnson Memorial Fund, use the account number 6157331387. For the Trooper Gabe Rich Memorial Fund, use the Account Number 6157331379. When making donations, please reference the specific account numbers. It is the easiest way for the bank to locate the correct accounts. WSJ

AGENT JOAQUIN CORREA-ORTEGA, PUERTO RICO PD March 10, 2014, shot and killed during an undercover weapons purchase; 12 years in law enforcement

SGT. CORY WRIDE, UTAH COUNTY (UTAH) SHERIFF’S OFFICE Jan. 30, 2014, ambushed while checking on a vehicle in remote country; 19 years in law enforcement.

MASTER AT ARMS MARK MAYO, U.S. NAVY March 24, 2014, killed by a civilian who boarded a destroyer docked in Norfolk, Va., and took his sidearm; 6 years of law enforcement

DETECTIVE CHARLES DINWIDDIE, KILLEEN, TEXAS, PD May 9, 2014, killed serving a drug warrant; 18 years in law enforcement

OFFICER STEPHEN ARKELL, BRENTWOOD, N.H., PD May 12, 2014, killed responding to a domestic violence call; 12 years of law enforcement

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER AMANDA BAKER, SCOTTS BLUFF (NEB.) JUVENILE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY Feb. 26, 2014, killed by an inmate; 20 months in law enforcement

OFFICERS JUAN GONZALEZ AND BRIAN LAW, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL Feb. 17, 2014, died in a crash responding to a traffic accident; both had six years in law enforcement

CHIEF DEPUTY SHERIFF PETE RICHARDSON, LAFAYETTE CO. (ARK.) SHERIFF’S OFFICE March 17, 2014, killed in a car crash after the homeless man he was driving to a shelter took control of the steering wheel and veered into other vehicles; 19 years of law enforcement

FOREST OFFICER JASON CRISP AND K9 MAROS, USFS March 12, 2014, shot and killed during a manhunt in North Carolina for a suspect who allegedly murdered his parents; 10 years in law enforcement. (IMAGES, BADGES COURTESY OF AGENCIES)

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THE REALITY BEHIND TV’S

Secrets Revealed Of The Wildly Popular Show ARTICLE BY RACHEL ALEXANDER • PHOTOS BY JESSE REISDORF

recently had a chance to interview Morgan Langley, the talented executive producer of Cops. Cops is the longest running reality TV show ever, about to start its 27th season on Saturday, July 12 at 8 p.m. on Spike TV. Langley’s father started the show in 1989, when he was 13, and it’s been a family business ever since. While most people are familiar with Cops, they may not know about Langley’s other show on Spike TV, Jail. Langley explained what has made Cops so successful, its controversies, and what we can expect next.

MORGAN LANGLEY I believe the main rea-

RA I’ve always suspected that drugs and alcohol are behind most crime – have you found that on the show? ML There is more of a correlation between alcohol and crime than people could possibly imagine.

RACHEL ALEXANDER What makes the

RA Which types of law enforcement

show so popular? Why has it lasted so long unlike so many reality TV shows?

agencies are covered in the show? Have you covered the Maricopa

son for its success is it is the most raw and real reality show on the air; it’s so unpredictable you never know what is going to happen. I’m still regularly surprised to this day. The characters are always new. It’s this dynamic of human behavior and crime.

The Stockton City Police Department in California successfully used the show to recruit new police officers.

County Sheriff’s Office? (I worked as a prosecutor with them a few years ago.) ML There are all kinds of different agencies from local to state to federal. Our bread and butter is usually sheriffs and local police departments. We go where we’re invited. Over the last 25 years we have developed relationships with many departments, and we’re invited back a lot. It’s a road show, all over different parts of the country. I did one of our Jail shows with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. RA Do you get any pushback or refusals? The City of Lakewood, Wash., said they would stop filming by Cops because it portrayed the bad parts of

The Cops camera crew rides around for days or even weeks sometimes until drama appears.

the community, making it appear unsafe. How would you respond to that? (Pierce County, Wash., said the show had been only good for it.) ML They will claim that it’s bad for tourism. But we’ve filmed so much in Vegas. You’d be surprised where the worst crime is – it’s not always the biggest cities. A couple of departments have never let us come, such as the Chicago Police Department and a few places in Hawaii. We haven’t tried to go into Detroit in awhile. RA Do you have any favorite areas of

the country for the show?

patrol car all day long. They find a cop, then start riding 10 hours a night, five days a week. Sometimes they’ll ride for a couple of weeks and nothing will happen. We typically stay in an area for eight weeks. RA How violent of crime does the

show cover? ML There’s no real criteria. We cover

over the years. They sign enthusiastically and want to know when their segment is going to air. RA Is any of it scripted at all? ML No, it’s truly real and unscripted. I don’t think there’s any reality show that comes close to as unscripted as ours. We don’t even shoot pickups. The ideal Cops piece is a two-minute continuous take. We give cash bonuses for those, since they require no editing or cutting. It’s happened maybe once or twice ever. Lot of other reality TV contains music and cuts. We don’t have many cuts and no music, other than the opening theme song. It’s a different feel from other reality shows. RA What have been some of the benefits, such as deterring crime? ML It helps with recruitment and is a morale booster for police officers. It shows the public the work police do; it’s very challenging and tough. RA What’s next for Cops? ML We’ll be filming episodes with po-

all kinds of stuff, including sting operations, and homicides. Most of our filming involves patrol calls, since they show the intersection of the police and public. It provides the most drama and compelling material.

ML The most memorable episodes

have come from Florida. Texas and Las Vegas are also some of my favorite areas. We have 10 to 13 crews all over the country at any given time, and only one producer in the field. They ride around in the back of the There are very few law enforcement agencies across the country that will not permit Cops to acccompany and film them.

RA Do the suspects need to give any

type of approval in order to air the video? ML Yes, they all sign releases. In the early days, there were blurred faces. Now they all sign. It’s a big change The executive producer of Cops, Morgan Langley, who Western Shooting Journal interviewed for this article.

lice departments in San Jose, Calif., Glendale, Ariz., Lafayette, La., and Bernalillo County, New Mexico. We typically do three to four agencies at once. Spike TV just upped the order to 33 episodes. The show Jail airs alongside Cops. Featuring the Las Vegas jailhouse is another show we might possibly be bringing over. We do a lot of crime shows. WSJ 80

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

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GOING ON A MANHUNT WITH THE CHICKASAW INDIAN NATION SWAT TEAM Lighthorse: The Native American Elite Law Enforcement ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY ANDRE’ M. DALL’AU

Beaten by both the unrelenting heat of Oklahoma and the pursuit of the tracking Lighthorse Police SWAT team, the spent outlaw gave neither flight nor resistance as the LPD officers hooked him up.

he hunted outlaw had been tracked all day by the trained Chickasaw warriors tasked with protecting Indian lands from criminals. They moved relentlessly along his trail, observing small signs like toe prints in the dirt and disturbed grass that shone like a beacon to the trained and sworn Chickasaw Nation law enforcement officers. Run into the ground after a full day of pursuit that continuously narrowed the gap between the posse and outlaw, the exhausted miscreant tried to hide in brush, where he ran out of strength under the brutal Oklahoma sun. Soon a sharp-eyed Chickasaw saw the hiding outlaw, raised his weapon and called him out. However, it was not the summer of 1873 with a deputized brave aiming a Sharps rifle and carrying a Colt pistol, but a 21st century Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police SWAT Operator equipped with an AR and a Glock! “Lighthorse” is the historic name

given by the Five Civilized Tribes to their mounted police force first formed back in the 1800s. The name Lighthorse came from Revolutionary War General Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee, who got the nickname because his cavalry moved so quickly. Since tribal lands were outside the jurisdiction of state and federal law, many outlaws used Indian reservations to hide out between crimes. To address the criminal threat, the Cherokee National Council selected a few Native American Army scouts who were then commissioned by the U.S. government to enforce the law. The first Lighthorse Company was so successful clearing Indian lands of outlaws that all successive Indian law enforcement officers were known as Lighthorsemen or simply the Lighthorse. The modern Lighthorse is now the proud name of the elite Native American law enforcement on reservations throughout the United States.

The Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department (LPD), reestablished in 2004, is comprised of six divisions: patrol, K9, investigations, dispatch, SWAT team and DIVE team. These divisions were created to better serve the citizens of the Chickasaw Nation and provide needed support to the surrounding law enforcement community. The Chickasaw Nation does not have a contiguous “reservation,” but covers almost 8,000 square miles of lands in a “checkerboard” pattern all over south-central Oklahoma. That discontinuity ensures that every officer spends a good deal of time outside their primary jurisdiction. In order to increase their effectiveness, the officers of the Chickasaw LPD are cross deputized with over a dozen agencies to enforce federal, state, wildlife and tribal law. As a result, they are tasked with wide-ranging duties, so a typical tour of duty for an LPD officer could include providing security for some of the country’s largest casinos, making dynamic entry into a meth lab, dealing with domestic issues at a reservation home or using their specialized skills to assist other local enforcement like mantracking over the rough Oklahoma countryside. OKLAHOMA MANTRACK The whole story of the outlaw’s apprehension started when the Oklahoma State Police performed what was to be a routine traffic stop, but resulted in a short car chase and the dumping of a portable meth lab by the driver, who then fled on foot into the Oklahoma countryside. Responding to a call for westernshootingjournal.com 83

behind the badge assistance by the Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office, the Lighthorse SWAT began to man-track the outlaw because the LPD officers were not only fully qualified SWAT operators, but federally certified trackers and Chickasaw Braves with over a hundred years of renowned tribal man-tracking ability. I accompanied the well-equipped five-man tracking party armed with AR carbines and Glock G22 pistols, who first cleared a suspected building and then started tracking in the hot Oklahoma sun. Going through brush and stream beds, the trackers (including a K-9 and her handler) knew we were just minutes behind the career criminal, who was well known to the officers to be just as dangerous and uncaring for the law as his 19th century outlaw predecessors. Hours later, the team split up to search some dense thickets around a pond surrounded by tall grass. Away

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

from the team, I accompanied an officer who had just checked out one side of a thicket, and then doubled back to search the reverse when the Chickasaw Police SWAT operator brought his weapons to bear and informed the hidden criminal that he was spotted and told him to come out with his hands high. Beaten by both the unrelenting heat of Oklahoma and the pursuit of the tracking Lighthorse Police SWAT team, the spent outlaw gave neither flight nor resistance as the LPD office hooked him up as the rest of the team joined us. On a daily basis, the Oklahoma Lighthorse Police keeps the peace at some of the biggest casinos in the world, patrols dusty roads of Oklahoma and answers calls within the Chickasaw Nation. Using a proven mix of superior technology and traditional methods to provide them with modern protection and strength as exemplified by the eagle feather that each must

earn for spiritual protection and connection to the land, the LPD and their SWAT officers train and perform law enforcement empowered by the rich history of the Lighthorse. The Lighthorsemen are warriors sworn to protect not only the great Chickasaw Nation but all Americans. WSJ Editor’s note: Andre’ Dall’au has a varied medical, industrial and scientific background (holding a senior reactor operator’s license for more than a decade) as well as military experience when he graduated from the University of Miami on a full AFROTC scholarship. In addition, Andre’ was one of the first non-SEAL members on the U.S. Navy UDT SEAL Museum Board of Directors. Andre’ is a contributor to several different publications, magazines and websites, mostly as a gun writer, photographer and videographer specializing in military and law enforcement snipers, special ops and training.

HOLSTERS SHOWCASE

THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS OF TV’S

SWAMP PEOPLE

Stalking, Hooking Shooting And Skinning Alligators ARTICLE BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY A&E/HISTORY CHANNEL

Terral Evans and “Gator Dundee”

ake Cajuns, alligator hunting and the special beauty of the Atchafalaya River Basin in Louisiana; mix them all together and you have the hit History Channel unscripted television show Swamp People. The show first aired in 2010 and is now in its fifth season. Swamp People isn’t a show for small kids, which is apparent from its time slots and audience demographics. It’s usually on after 9 p.m. and glues

2 to 4 million viewers age 18 to 54 to the TV. Though the producers of the show have purposely toned down the blood and gore associated with commercial alligator hunting, viewers still see what it’s like to stalk, hook, shoot and skin them. They’ll also be reminded of how dangerous these big reptiles are. On one episode, a hunter came close to getting his hand bit off by a wounded beast he mistakenly took

for dead. If you have never seen it, the show focuses on the lives of several families who make the majority of their livelihood during Louisiana’s 30-day alligator hunting season. These are not well-to-do families. They are, as the title accurately states, swamp people. Their lifestyle, like their Cajun accents and French last names, is a legacy from previous centuries and is intimately tied to the landscape. They westernshootingjournal.com 87

are tough, and I mean seriously tough, and they are hard working. Alligator hunting is not their only source of income, but it is the main portion of it and they are under tremendous pressure to catch as many as they are legally allowed. Troy Landry, the show’s original swamp person and a fan favorite, explained that in the 11 months he’s not

hunting alligators, he operates a commercial crawfish fishing business that catches between 5 and 6 million pounds of the Louisiana staple every year. However, his income from one good month of alligator hunting can sometimes exceed what he earns the rest of year on crawfish. Before the show’s break-out success, the Landry family’s financial se-

curity – if it is even appropriate to call it that since the swamp people live largely off the land on the tenuous margins of modern society – depended on their livelihood during the brief alligator hunting season. One can’t help but feel that this is a dying subculture. This sense that you’re getting a glimpse of something rare and fleeting, and the real life danger of the

PYTHON HUNTING WITH A CAPTIVE BOLT GUN

BY FRANK JARDIM

Above: An American alligator and a Burmese python locked in a struggle to prevail in Everglades National Park. (LORI OBERHOFER/NATIONAL PARK SERVICE). Below: A captive bolt pistol. (WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/GENI)

The first step to addressing your python problem is admitting you have a python problem. When a 2-year-old girl was killed by an escaped pet Burmese python, the Florida state authorities began to see the larger potential threat presented by 100,000 of the reptiles loose in the Everglades. Their initial response was absurdly inadequate. Less than a dozen hunters, led by herpetologists, would seek out and euthanize any pythons they could find. They couldn’t use traps or firearms. That was in 2009. The growing python population can’t be accurately estimated, but there is substantial evidence that the small mammal population is dropping precipitously, a bad sign. The python is an intrusive species that has taken a place next to the alligator as a top predator in the Everglades. They can grow up to 30 feet long and weigh as much as 200 pounds, but even one half that size is an extremely formidable hunter. Some pythons have even eaten alligators. Fortunately, Florida has started to take its python problem seriously and now sanctions month-long public hunting competitions with prizes awarded for the most snakes killed and the largest snake killed. Perhaps as a nod to animal rights

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

activists, they still suggest the animals be humanely killed using captive bolt guns or firearms. If I was inclined to hunt pythons in the Everglades, and I might be induced to do so, it would be difficult to resist the ironic temptations to use the superbly accurate Colt Python, loaded with .38 Specials to reduce the chance of ricochets. In reality though, any and all weapons are used. Some make more sense than others. I can understand how macho types might want to go mano-a-mano with the giant snakes. There would be a certain epic prehistoric quality in battling one to the ground and cutting off its head with a chipped flint knife. If you are insane, that’s totally the way to go. Almost equally insane is the use of the captive bolt gun, which to my astonishment, is actually advocated by the Florida state authorities as a humane way to euthanize the Pythons. These aren’t really guns at all, but stun devices that are used in slaughterhouses. They use a steel rod that is driven a short distance forward by various means with great force to either penetrate the forehead and destroy the brain or simply give it a good hard knock. This works quite efficiently on cows and other domestic animals. The obvious problem with using a captive bolt gun on a python is that you have to hold it in direct contact with the giant snake’s forehead. This sounds like a perfect formula to get savagely bitten by one of the most powerful constrictors on earth. Save the captive bolt gun for hunting something that doesn’t eat alligators.

westernshootingjournal.com 89

R.J. Monere and J. Paul Molinere pull in an alligator.

hunt, gives the show a genuine quality lacking in most so called reality television programs.

Western Shooting Journal // June 2014

There are certainly animals as or more dangerous than alligators in North America, but I don’t think that

there are any that are more dangerous to hunt. It’s really a combination of hunting and fishing. You can’t hunt them from the land. A fairly large (15foot-long) stable, flat-bottom boat is needed, and you’ll see all types of boats in the show. Though some hunters work solo, the task is more commonly, efficiently and safely accomplished by two hunters working together. Try dragging a 400-pound object into a boat by yourself and you’ll get the picture. A good team needs little conversation to get the job done. While one maneuvers the boat to where they think their quarry is hiding, the other one will bait the huge hook with whatever they’ve got, since a hungry alligator will eat anything, be it fresh raw chicken or rotten road kill. The hook is attached to a strong line that the hunter handles with bare hands. The action that begins when the alligator chomps down on the bait is adrenaline pumping. The beasts resist capture with all their might, flipping

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out of the water, trying to bite the hunters and whipping them with their tails, even ramming and trying to jump in the boats. The hunters have to work the animals from a standing position. The hunter on the line has to pull hard to get the alligator’s head above water so the other hunter can shoot it in the brain with a .22 LR long gun. You never know when a hunter will get pulled from a boat into the water, and neither do the hunters. One thing is clear: some hunters are so determined to fill their tags they will fight a gator in the water rather than let that paycheck get away. A lot of scripted television is clearly contrived, but on show Swamp People, the work is so genuinely dangerous, you can’t make that kind of stuff up. Can you imagine a television producer saying, “OK, now you are going to jump in the water with that ticked off, 9-foot-long, 500pound alligator and wrestle with it.” Insurance regulations would not allow it.

It might surprise viewers that the weapon of choice is a .22 LR rifle and many of the shots are point blank. One thing about a rifle is it does keep your arms close to your body and not pointing invitingly outward toward the mouth of a hungry and angry car-

Bruce Mitchell fearlessly takes an alligator.

nivore. Shot placement is important with such a small caliber, of course. Hunting alligators is about as close to hunting dinosaurs as you can get, and my initial thought was if it was me, I’d want a .416 Rigby or something similarly potent to go after this aquatic T-Rex. I realized after watching the show why they use the diminutive .22 LR. Bigger calibers not only recoil more heavily (remember the ideas is not to fall out of the boat), but they also cause more damage to the animals’ hide, meat and skull. The harvested alligators are sold to dealers who will utilize every part of the animal so hunters don’t want to blow it apart. Lest anyone wonder what the point of this month-long alligator hunting spree is, I can sum it up in two sentences. Alligators are top of the food chain predators that will eat anything. Louisiana has lots of alligators. Any questions? If you do, just tune in to show Swamp People on History Channel at 6 p.m. PST. WSJ

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HOT WEATHER HUNTS Best Choices For Summer Game ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY SCOTT HAUGEN The author loves bear hunting, and ranks August as one of the best times to secure a bruin out West.

ummer. Not a prime time when talking about hunting the West, but there are some of us who’ll be out there, beating the brush. If you’ve drawn a prime tag for bighorn sheep, pronghorn, Columbia blacktails, elk or mule deer, you already know where you’re going. But if searching for hunts, there are some hot weather options. Perhaps the best black bear hunting this time of year can be found along the southwest coast of Oregon. Bear hunting is also good in parts of western Washington. Whether a spring bear hunt in June, or an upcoming August hunt, look for bears targeting food sources, namely berries. In early August, wild black raspberries are ripe and bears will come out in high numbers for them. I’ve been on many bear hunts during the first week of August where we’ve spotted multiple bears gorging themselves on black caps; one day we saw nine bears. Once black caps diminish, wild raspberries and salmon berries be-

Though pelts aren’t prime, coyote hunting in the summer is one of the most productive times to rack up kills and boost the survival rates of big game and game birds.

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ROAD HUNTER HOT WEATHER HUNTING LOCATIONS

OREGON COAST BEARS

Oregon offers what many consider the best bear hunting in the country beginning in August. Bears emerge from thick coastal forest to feed on berries, and many sightings a day are normal. From the little town of Gold Beach, up to Coos Bay, to Reedsport, hunting can be great. Even farther up the coast, to Newport and Tillamook, hunting can be exceptional. There are many great sights to see along the coast this time of year, as well as casinos, so allow some leisure time.

CALIFORNIA BLACKTAILS

North of Sacramento, early season blacktail hunts await in some big, rugged country in July. Check out the Yolla Bolly Mountains, Trinity Alps and other national forest land options. Lower elevation hunts begin opening later in August, with lots of opportunities to be had in the northern part of the entire state. With many great parks and tourist sites, allow time to experience more than just hunting in this great place.

DESERT DOGS

Coyote hunting this time of year is good wherever they’re found. Even the Coast Range, Cascade Mountains,

Sierra Nevada Range and Rocky Mountains – places notoriously challenging to call coyotes in during other times of the year – can be productive.

PLAINS PRONGHORNS

ALASKA SITKA BLACKTAILS

South-central Wyoming, as well as north-central and northeastern Wyoming, often have leftover antelope tags, as does northwest South Dakota (may be limited to does). Southeast Montana might also be worth checking in on. This whole region is rich in Western history, making for a great hunting vacation getaway.

Kodiak Island blacktails are some of the most spectacular deer hunts in the country. Vast, open country finds bucks grazing in large numbers this time of year, and with multiple tags available for nonresidents, it’s a great way to put meat in the freezer. You can go with a guide, transporter or on your own, getting dropped by bush plane or boat. Southeast Alaska has road-system hunts, with Prince of Wales offering the best access and ease of travel.

fact, blacktails can be pursued in parts of California beginning in July. Hunters should be aware that hunting blacktails during the summer in California can be extremely hot. My last August archery hunt near Redding found me sitting in a ground blind

with outside temperatures reaching 109 degrees – and it was over 120 degrees inside the blind. ALASKA OFFERS MORE COMFORT when it comes to chasing Sitka blacktails. Southeast Alaska as well as Kodiak IsThere are some August elk hunts happening in parts of the West, though tags are largely acquired through a draw. Still, they’re worth applying for, as venison is delectable this time of year, which Tiffany Haugen will attest to on this Roosevelt bull she took in Oregon during an August hunt.

August blacktail hunting is tough, but bucks in velvet are predictable and easy to pattern. If looking to score on a monster blacktail, be it Columbian or Sitka, now is the time in both California and Alaska, respectively.

come a bear’s target food along the coast, while blackberries start ripening throughout the bear’s range. Where oak trees thrive, bears will begin seeking out acorns during the years of good production. For blacktail fans, northern California and Alaska offer August hunts; in 96

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ROAD HUNTER THERMACELL BUG REPELLENT This time of year, mosquitoes can ruin a hunt. Nearly a decade ago I started using ThermaCELL’s mosquito repellent. If there’s one mosquito in the state, it will find me, and I got tired of sticky sprays and lotions. The first time I tested the ThermaCELL was in the bug-infested swamps of Alaska. Since then, I’ve used it around the country, throughout Alaska, Canada and in foreign countries. Not only does it truly work in keeping mosquitoes away, it repels no-see-ums (biting midges) and white socks (black flies), too. The appliance is powered by a butane cartridge, which heats a metal grill upon which a small, saturated patch sits. The heat vaporizes the repellent (allethrin) in the mat, which mimics a naturally occurring repellent found in chrysanthemum flowers. The released repellent creates a shield that keeps mosquitoes away. Sometimes the shield disperses a 15x15foot no-bug zone, sometimes the bugs may be a foot from me, but one thing is for sure, they won’t land on me and bite. This is one of the most valuable tools I have with me during bug season.

land offer some great hunts. Bucks are very high atop the mountains during the summer, and in full velvet. It’s some of the most stunning scenery a hunter will set foot in, but it’s not easy. You’ll want to be in shape for this hunt, and be sure and get every piece of meat home, as early season Sitka blacktails are some of the best eating wild game on the planet. Alaska offers some great August caribou hunting options, too. Though it’s painfully hot, some of my best hog hunting has come during the hottest days of summer. At this time, hogs move during the first and last few minutes of daylight. But they bed amid cool creek bottoms and brush-choked terrain, and this is where the action really heats up. Stalking your way through dry, shaded creek beds, jump-shooting hogs, is productive and addicting. Pronghorns can be hunted in August, too. If you didn’t draw a tag this

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ROAD HUNTER year, check with various Wyoming Game and Fish regional offices, or online, to see what leftover tags they have that can be purchased. Some states also offer doe tags that can be picked up. Coyotes can also be pursued this time of year. For many coyote fanatics out West, summer is their favorite time to hunt as young of the year are so responsive to predator calls. For those hunters looking to keep coyote numbers down in order to protect big game populations, now is the time. Pronghorn, deer, elk and sheep are all victims of coyote predation, not to mention turkey and other upland birds.

During the dog days of summer, pigs are most active at first and last light. Hunters who are ready, or willing to brave the midday heat, will be rewarded with pork in the freezer.

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UPLAND BIRD HUNTS will soon be opening throughout many states. Now is a good time to check with state and regional game offices to see how their bird populations fared. Spring is a vulnerable time for upland birds, and by August, birds that lost a clutch have likely renested, so their numbers can be

ROAD HUNTER pack – and footwear that’s comfortable, lightweight and breathable. Take moleskin, bandages and athletic tape in case of blisters or hotspots. Be prepared and don’t let the heat beat you. There are many opportunities when it comes to hunting out West in the summer. If you’re not holding a tag, at least get out and scout, for most big game seasons will be opening very soon. WSJ

With upland bird seasons quickly approaching, now is the time to prepare. Preseason scouting paid off for the author and his wife, Tiffany, pictured here with a limit of band-tailed pigeons.

tracked. Quail, grouse, doves and pigeons will soon be opening in many states, so be ready. When heading afield during these hot days of summer, take plenty of water. Staying hydrated is the number one safety concern this time of year. I try to take a pack with a hydration system, as I’m more likely to continually

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drink from the tube than take time to stop, remove my pack and dig out a drinking bottle. At high elevations, some hunts can start in cold temperatures this time of year, then really heat up. Be sure to dress in layers and have breathable clothes that allow heat to escape. Wear light socks – toss an extra pair in your

Editor’s note: For Scott Haugen’s popular DVD, Field Dressing, Skinning and Caping Big Game, visit scotthaugen.com or send a check for $20 to Haugen Enterprise, P.O Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489. This is the most comprehensive DVD of its kind, focusing on six field-dressing/skinning options and three caping strategies.

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BIG GAME HUNTING IN HAWAII The Ins And Outs Of Hunting Axis Deer And More On the Islands ARTICLE BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY PARKER RANCH

Big game species in Hawaii include the Hawaiian ibex goat.

ith that December “Day That Will Live In Infamy” in 1941 now disappearing from living memory for most Americans, the mention of the Hawaiian Islands conjures up

thoughts of great vacations on magnificent beaches, surfing, volcanoes, hula and luaus. It may come as a surprise that there are also abundant hunting opportunities in that island paradise. Hawaii’s main big game

species are pigs in the jungle, sheep and goats in the mountainous elevations and deer everywhere else. Public lands have seasons for modern rifle, muzzleloader, and bow just like you would find on the mainwesternshootingjournal.com 105

land, but with a few twists. With so many islands, the hunting regulations, regular seasons and special opportunities offered through state-issued animal control permits can get confusing very fast. I would not go so far as to say that you must hire the services of a professional guide or outfitter to facilitate your hunt, but if you did, you could spend more time enjoying one of the most beautiful places on earth and less time worrying about how to find your way around. Parker Ranch is one of the best and most versatile outfitters. For the most part, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to the Hawaiian Islands to hunt unique species. You go to experience hunting on lush, volcanic, jungle-covered tropical islands. With the exception of the axis deer, the large mammals on the islands can be found in the continental United States. Hoofed animals are not known for their great swimming ability, and being an island chain, Hawaii had none until humans brought them for food.

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The Polynesian boar can weigh up to 150 pounds with four-to-six-inch tusks.

Some got away, of course, and Hawaiians live with the implications of that today. The present upside is that there is an avid hunting community there and abundant game. The

downside is these intruder species are damaging the ecosystem. Plans are being implemented to address this through more active population management, but those efforts are

government directed and Hawaiians hunters don’t seem to be too impressed. One gets the impression that the problems could be solved by allowing more, or in the case of pigs perhaps unlimited, hunting. The present wild pigs on the islands are a hybrid of the small Asian variety the Polynesians brought there when they first came to the islands, and the big European variety that came with Captain James Cook when he landed on the islands in 1778. The island pigs have sharp tusks, typically 1 to 3 inches long, and some have been found up to 5 inches. Wild pigs, or boar, are the island’s most dangerous animal and the biggest threat to the ecological balance. It is estimated that there are over a million of them, and when they root around for food in the soil, they leave it looking like a freshly tilled garden. BY FAR THE MOST INTERESTING WAY to

hunt wild pigs is with dogs and a knife in the manner islanders did be-

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Title page from Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719. The fictional character Robinson Crusoe spent years on a remote tropical island, living off the land until he was rescued. (WIKIMEDIA)

fore firearms were commonly available. An adventure like that costs less than $1,000 a day. Dogs are used to find and pin down a wild pig. Some dogs hold the beast down while others bark to guide the hunters in for the kill, which is delivered with a single knife thrust. There is a practical dignity about this manner of hunting that might not seem apparent at first. It is very personal, and connects one experientially with native hunters from centuries past. It is also much more dangerous than using a rifle of bow. The hunter grasps the pig’s back leg and drives his long knife into the animal’s heart just behind and below the shoulder. The pig will usually fight back by twisting his head to bite the offending hand. With good luck and timing, the pig will be the only casualty, but hunters and dogs can easily be injured in this type of primitive hunting. If you need an excuse to be drawn out of the jungle and up into the mountains, and or down into the lava

fields, there are mouflon sheep and Spanish goats to hunt. The former are relative latecomers that were introduced to the islands in the mid-1950s. The latter, like the pigs, arrived in the 18th century. The mouflon is an ancient breed and the rams have impressive curled horns that can reach around 30 inches long. Spanish goats have had some time to interbreed with other species on the islands, and those rams have two distinct horn types. One is flared, or Spanish style, and the other is curled and referred to

Dennis Gift of Washington with a Spanish ibex goat he took in Hawaii. (DENNIS GIFT)

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as a Hawaiian ibex. The axis deer is the only species found on Hawaii that will be new to mainland hunters. These big beautiful animals are spotted like fawns in adulthood, and the bucks have long backswept antlers, the main beams of which average around 30 inches long, with the biggest growing to 38 inches. They came to the islands in 1867 as a gift from the emperor of Japan to King Kamehameha. On some of the islands, Axis deer are forbidden and can be killed by hunters without permits, but other islands have definite seasons. In an attempt to protect the resort areas and the local farmers’ crops, a state law was passed in 2012 making it a crime to transport species between islands. In that year, Maui suffered over two million dollars of deer-related property damage, and spent approximately a million dollars trying to eradicate and exclude axis deer from the island. Far less common on the island are blacktail deer which are highly prized

by the local hunters. Mainlanders should have little interest in that species since they can hunt blacktail at home. The ones in Hawaii were brought over from Oregon, after all. Even if you plan to hire a guide, make sure to devote some research time to the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resource’s website at the start of your trip planning. You’ll find a wealth of information at dlnr.hawaii.gov/huntered that will help you understand the challenges and opportunities of hunting in the state. For my part, I would love to hunt wild pigs in the jungle in handmade garments with a flintlock musket during muzzleloader season, Robinson Crusoe style, but I have to admit, it may be difficult for me to keep a late 17th century mindset with the rousing theme song from Hawaii Five-O in my head. WSJ Editor’s note: Contact Parker’s Ranch for guided hunts at (808) 885-7311. Their website is parkerranch.com.

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CATCHING UP WITH COUNTRY STAR KRISTY LEE COOK American Idol Star And Hunter’s Stint On Outdoors Channel, Ongoing Hit Songs ARTICLE BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY GLENN

f you were watching the popular American Idol television program back in 2008, you may have witnessed the moment Kristy Lee Cook got her big break. Success in show business rarely comes overnight, and Cook was paying her dues. She was eventually eliminated, but she is not a person easily deterred from her goals, and fate had other plans for her anyway. As American Idol door closed, another opportunity emerged. As a contestant on American Idol, she wore a Browning logo cap,

Kristy Lee Cook founded the Kristy Lee Horse Heaven Foundation, which rescues and trains horses. westernshootingjournal.com 113

and regardless of what the judges thought, Browning saw in her the potential to advance their outdoor products brand. They wanted to see what she could do, and that led to a chance for her to work on the Outdoor Channel show Outdoors 10 Best. There are a lot of talented country singers who are also avid sportsman, but Kristy Lee Cook is a standout in both areas. Singing may be her passion – she’s been performing since she was 16 – but this petite 30-yearold, Selma, Ore., native grew up knowing the pleasures of a rural outdoor lifestyle. She has been riding horses since she was a child and

COOK IS UNABASHEDLY PROGOD, PRO-FAMILY, PRO-GUN AND PRO-SPORT HUNTING. horses remain her first love. She also truly enjoys hunting and fishing. She didn’t catch the hunting bug until she was an adult. It turned out that her sporting pursuits allowed her to develop her career and carve a unique niche for herself in unscripted television. Her talent and down-to-earth, natural appeal earned her a show of her own in 2010 called Goin’ Country

Kristy Lee Cook loves hunting and fishing. She caught the hunting bug as an adult.

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With Kristy Lee Cook which ran for three years. The show had Browning and Winchester among its sponsors, and Cook sang the opening tune in full-blown Nashville stage persona, bearing a temporary Browning logo tattoo on her right shoulder as she performed and closed the sequence with the tag line, “For this girl, it’s Browning or nothing.” For me, that is what set Goin’ Country apart from other hunting shows. It was about a really talented rising country music performer, who was also a hunter, rather than a show about a hunter who gained some fame by virtue of having a show. Cook’s star quality shines through in each episode’s engaging blend of country music and hunting adventure. Many of her guests were fellow performers like Jake Owen and Aaron Tippin. Cook is unabashedly pro-God, pro-family, pro-gun and pro-sport hunting. She has said that you can’t sing country music if you aren’t from the country, and her rural roots show in her ready acceptance of the physical challenges of life afield and the genuine excitement she has for the hunt.

Anyone who has seen the show knows she likes the thrill of the hunt, and that the food it puts on the table holds a personal value for her beyond anything she could buy out of the butcher’s case at the supermarket. She doesn’t own a lot of guns either. She hunts just about everything from deer to bear with her Browning ABolt Stainless Stalker in .270 WSM. Cook may not have been hunting long, but she has the soul of a hunter. Though Goin’ Country isn’t in production anymore, Cook’s singing career is moving forward. She had a hit single in 2012 titled Airborne Ranger Infantry, based on her father’s poems about his experience in the Vietnam War. The song topped at 50 on the Billboard Country Charts, but I believe it will become a perennial favorite among our servicemen and women because it captures a genuine and timeless aspect of the experience of combat that will resonate with those who volunteered to serve their country, regardless of the era. To her

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Kristy Lee Cook at SHOT Show 2014

great credit, Cook was aware this song was very important to get right. She said, “I wouldn’t have written the song if my dad hadn’t written those poems, because he doesn’t really talk about it much. The cool thing is that it gives perspective to someone who doesn’t know what it’s like to know how they feel and what they’re experiencing. It was really important for us to make sure it was right, and exactly what they would say.” In 2013 she had another hit single with Wherever Love Goes. This duet with her fellow Broken Bow Records artist Randy Houser topped the county charts at number 58. Thus far Cook has had three hit songs on the radio, her first being 15 Minutes of Shame which reached the 28 spot on the country charts back in 2008. Though there aren’t any plans for additional episodes of Goin’ Country in the works for 2014, I expect we will be hearing a lot more of Kristy Lee Cook on the radio, and some of us will run into her afield. WSJ

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HOW ECOMMERCE CHANGED THE GUN WORLD PART 2 OF 2 How Firearms Sales Unlimited, LLC, Started Up Entirely Online ARTICLE BY FRANK JARDIM • PHOTOS BY CANSTOCKPHOTO

he way ordinary Americans buy firearms hasn’t changed very much since the Gun Control Act of 1968, but the Internet age has dramatically changed both firearms marketing and consumer behavior. Whether you see these changes as good or bad depends on your point of view. One of its positive aspects is the ready access to information. Consumers can research products almost instantly by going right to the manufacturer’s website. In the past, you had to wait for the product to be reviewed in American Rifleman, Guns & Ammo or other relevant print magazine, or actually write to the manufacturer to get copies of the promotional literature mailed to you. In fact, thanks to the Internet, anyone can make their own product re-

view. There are many social media venues (YouTube, for example) where consumers can search out independent reviews easily. They are almost entirely unregulated and vary in quality. Almost everyone who posts material is not being paid to do it, so you have to ask yourself what their motivation for doing it really is. Are they all manufacturer shills or narcissists? I don’t think so. There are some very good forums and blogs out there where potential consumers can learn a lot of value to help them make informed purchases. Judge their value for yourself, just as you would the opinion of a fellow shooter on the range. After 1968 and before the Internet,

guns were almost exclusively purchased locally. You might find privately owned guns in your area advertised in the For Sale section of the newspaper, at yard sales or in a picture thumbtacked to the barbershop wall. Your other main source for firearms were the bricks-and-mortar businesses that held federal firearms licenses (FFLs), like gun shops, hardware stores and pawn shops. If you wanted something they didn’t have, you had to ask the FFL-holding business to order it for you. You paid retail, of course. You very rarely ever knew the wholesale price of anything, and comparison shopping involved a lot of phone calls or driving from shop to shop. westernshootingjournal.com 119

IF YOU WERE REALLY INTO GUNS, you might have a subscription to Shotgun News, which back then was very different from its present form. It was much more collector oriented. Its business advertisers usually wouldn’t sell to unlicensed private citizens, so you had to go back to your local FFL dealer. You could buy directly from private advertisers, but unless you were buying pre-1898 antique firearms, which were exempt from the Gun Control Act of 1968 restrictions, any gun you bought that was shipped from out of state had to ship to your local FFL who would accept it, log it into his record books and then transfer it to you over the counter for a fee. An FFL holder without much competition in his locality could charge higher prices than one with a lot of competition. This was great for the gun dealer who knew he could mark up his prices at least as much as the cost of the gasoline to beat his closest competitor. Furthermore,

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KAZAR CUSTOM ARMS CUSTOMIZES YOUR GUN, YOUR WAY

Western Shooting Journal asked Matthew “Moose” Kazarian, owner of Kazar Custom Arms, what he thinks people should know when buying firearms online. He told us the main distinction between buying firearms in a bricksand-mortar store vs. online is the shipping. Federal law requires that any firearm ordered through the mail must be shipped to a dealer with a federal firearms license (FFL), who then processes the registration for the buyer to come pick it up at the store. FFL dealers charge a fee for this service, so buyers should keep this in mind when they buy online, and shop around to find a dealer who charges the lowest fee near their house to receive the shipment. A typical charge is $85 to $115.

We asked Matt what makes Kazarian Custom Arms different from other retail firearms outlets. He explained that the difference is customers can tell the company exactly what they want, how they want it, and will send it to you ready to shoot right out of the box. Whether someone wants a gun for hunting, competitive shooting, or just plinking, they can customize down to every last detail, even the barrel. They want to build your gun. This is different from most firearms sold today, which come already put together. Kazarian Custom Arms is all about customer service. They also provide their customers with honest opinions of products they’ve tested, including what they do and don’t like. Matt observed that a change in demographics has led to the popularity of online firearms stores. The younger generation lives online, and doesn’t feel as much of a need to feel a gun in their hands first before buying it. While online firearms companies can be pretty lucrative for sellers due to the mandatory extra charges for shipping them through an FFL dealer, the accessories market isn’t doing so well. The companies are forced to compete with anyone who opens up a store on Amazon. Matt hopes that eventually the firearms industry will be able to work better together. Otherwise risk being pushed out by the big companies.

guns are often an impulse purchase, and any retail business that didn’t charge everything their local market could bear wouldn’t be showing good business sense. People are willing to pay prices they perceive as fair. If they

have nothing to compare to, the advantage lay with the retailer. From a practical standpoint, most retailers wanted to make at least 20 percent profit on a new gun sale. Keep in mind they have a lot of overhead to

pay for every month. The Internet transformed the firearms market from local to national, and placed every gun dealer and private seller everywhere in competition with each other. The immediate effect was a drop in profit margins as retail prices dropped due to increased competition. Some dealers adopted a high volume/low margin strategy to make up for lower prices by selling more products. Unfortunately, this led to market saturation and price erosion, and both have been fatal for some gun businesses. An an old-time bricks-and-mortar gun shop owner told me, he was planning on discontinuing his online store because the tax man was making more on the sale than he was. THOUGH THE INTERNET HAS REDUCED the

profit margin per gun across the board and done grave damage to traditional bricks-and-mortar gun stores, it has also allowed new business models to emerge. One such

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business is Firearms Sales Unlimited, LLC, which was created from the start as an Internet-based business by three friends: Jim Townsend, Rand Johnson and Billy McRavin. Avid hog hunters and sport shooters with 90 years of collective shooting experience, they felt their local California market was underserved, and what service they found was too often disinterested and uninformed. Their objective was not just to sell guns, but to create informed responsible sportsmen, whether they be hunters, sporting clays, skeet or trap shooters, cowboy action shooters, target shooters, serious competitors or Sunday plinkers. Townsend explained that the

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Firearms Sales Unlimited philosophy is to deliver exceptional customer service by providing them with the firearms, ammuntion and accessories they want and to educate and prepare them to enjoy the shooting sports in a safe manner. They have even taken their customers to the range free of charge! That’s service. Firearms Sales Unlimited uses the marketing power of the Internet to offer their 18,000-piece product line to a national customer base. Because their online catalog synchronizes hourly with the actual inventory count of the wholesale firearms distributors that serve them, the customer using their website always knows if the gun they want is available before they place their order. Ironically, after two years as an Internet business supplemented by a prescence at the Costa Mesa Gun Show (May 31 –June 1), plans have begun to make Firearms Sales Unlimited a bricks-and-mortar retail store in the next year or so. Townsend told me there are over 1,000 shooters in the area of the San Bernadino County and Riverside County border every weekend, thanks to the Prado Olympic Shooting Park in Chino Hills and the Raahauges Shooting Enterprises range complex in Corona. My observation is that a new business equilibrium has already emerged in the retail firearms industry that utilizes the power of the Internet and the appeal of traditional face-to-face over-the-counter customer service, and compensates for lower profit margins with more broadly diversified product offerings. Firearms Sales Unlimited is one of these new businesses. WSJ Editor’s note: Among the 18,000 products Firearms Sales Unlimited sells and ship nationwide are once-fired and polished brass in 9mm, .40 cal, .45 cal, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and .223 Remington. It’s not on their website yet, but you can inquire as to current price at sales@firearmsalesunlimited.com or give them a call at (626) 667-4867.

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Alice Poluchova won a spot on the National Sporting Clays 2014 Association All-American Team.

RISES TO TOP A WOMAN OF FIREARMS INDUSTRY How Czech Alice Poluchova Became CEO And President Of CZ-USA ARTICLE BY DANA FARRELL • PHOTOS BY CZ-USA

The late 1980s/early 1990s were a time of profound change for the Eastern Bloc countries of Europe. As communism quickly lost steam, borders were redrawn and many socialist nations made the push to convert to a free market economy. Czechoslovakia underwent the non-violent Velvet Revolution in 1989, steering the country toward capitalism, and in 1993, peacefully split into what is now Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Along with this socio-political sea change came new opportunities for those who worked hard and embraced the newfound economic freedom. Czech arms maker CZ, a military gun maker since 1936,

landed firmly on its feet in the newly defined Czech Republic, and concentrated on manufacturing sporting arms for the world export market. Enter Alice Poluchova. A student of marketing, management and economics, the young Ms. Poluchova secured an internship at the CZ factory that, upon finishing her master’s degree, eventually led to a full-time sales position. Her shooting experience up to that point was limited to airguns while growing up, as other firearms were tightly regulated under the former communist government. Wanting to immerse herself in the industry, she took up pistol shooting – and fell in love with it. When CZ made plans to start an American divi-

sion, Alice and her husband, also a CZ employee at that time, made the life-changing decision to pull up stakes and relocate to the U.S. CZ-USA was born in 1998, setting up shop in the Midwest heartland of Kansas City, Kan. The ever resourceful and hardworking Alice put her business acumen to good use, and quickly moved to the top of the CZUSA organization. As CEO and president, she now oversees 25 CZ-USA employees in Kansas City, and another 30 Dan Wesson employees at the affiliate’s Norwich, N.Y., handgun-manufacturing facility. At the helm of the organization, she says she “makes sure everyone has enough work and that they’re happy and westernshootingjournal.com 125

proud to be working for CZ. I go to a lot of the events and shooting matches – my brain is always going 100 mph looking for new opportuni-

ties. Looking for new markets, new products, how are we going to properly communicate the message we want the consumers to hear. I like to

This president of a major firearms company talks the talk, and walks the walk.

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keep my hand in everything.” Her exposure to pistol shooting in the Czech Republic led Alice to a more serious pursuit of the hobby once coming to the U.S., where she says “shooting is so much more a lifestyle than just a hobby.” Involvement with the practical pistol shooting organizations USPSA and IPSC came next, where many of the sport’s top competitors put the CZ product line to the ultimate test. She more recently embraced a newfound passion, and one that is taking the shotgun sports world by storm, sporting clays, and sought shooting lessons from 14time National Sporting Clays Association All American Tom Mack. Alice’s natural talent, hard work and Mack’s expertise helped her recently progress to AA Class – the second highest of seven possible levels in competitive sporting clays – and qualify for the 2014 NSCA Ladies All American team. In true democratic fashion, she says “I like the fact that success in shooting is not determined

Alice Poluchova rose from sales for CZ in the Czech Republic to president of its U.S. division.

by how old or athletic a person is, but rather their dedication and focus.” Having never hunted in Europe, where many see the sport as something for the privileged class rather

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than the masses, Alice was introduced to it after coming to the states, taking to it like a duck to water. She now fully embraces hunting not simply as a hobby, but as a lifestyle, and

has pursued game large and small, ranging from prairie dogs to grizzly bears all across North America and Africa. The larger picture is what appeals to her – not just the taking of game. “Pulling the trigger is only a small part of the experience – I enjoy being with the hunters, being at the hunting camp, sharing the stories, turning off my phone, turning off my brain and just relaxing in the outdoors. I think that’s the most important part for me – just to get out of the office, be outside and have time to think,” she said. “Nowadays, with the influx of information, and the phones, Internet, and being pretty much connected all the time, in order to recharge my batteries I have to disconnect and go outdoors.” She recalls a memorable night in the British Columbia wilderness, when, shortly after turning in for the night, the guide rousted the hunters from their sleeping bags to watch a spectacular display of aurora borealis – the northern lights. Creating lifelong memories and experiences like that magical night in the mountains of British Columbia keeps her coming back for more. Her dream hunt? She has two – a sheep hunt in the high country of British Columbia and an African elephant hunt. Alice loves the wonderful tablefare that hunting provides, and savors the process of turning the fruits of her labor into mouthwatering meals – although with her demanding schedule she admittedly doesn’t always have as much time to cook as she would like. “Right now I have bison, elk and birds in the freezer,” she says. “My husband enjoys my cooking. My mother-inlaw is a great cook – and she and I share recipes over the Internet.” Asked if being a female CEO in a male-dominated industry presents any unique challenges, she replied, “I don’t necessarily think it’s a male or female thing, I think if you enjoy what you do, if you have integrity, and you’ve got the willingness to give it 110 percent, you’ll succeed – regardless of your gender. It’s not an 8-to-5 job. It definitely helps that I enjoy

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One of Alice Poluchova’s big game trophies.

shooting and hunting – it’s pretty much my life these days. I made the choice and I pretty much give it everything I’ve got – not just the time, but also the passion. The bottom line is if you like your job and you are willing to give it a lot and maintain your integrity, you can succeed regardless of which gender you are.” Don’t be afraid to give shooting a try, Alice says. “Women will be pleasantly surprised at the help they will receive at a club, gun range or sporting goods store. If you sit at home, nothing will come to you – you have to be the one who takes the first step. There are a lot of great organizations and clubs that can make the first step even easier for you. Take lessons – the instructors will ease you into the sport – they will help you decide what you need to have in your shooting bag, should you decide this is the sport that you like.” Good advice from a woman who is living the American shooting lifestyle. WSJ Editor’s note: Visit CZ-USA on the web at cz-usa.com. Dana Farrell writes magazine articles about shooting and hunting for several national publications. Visit his website at danashoots.com and email him at tamaracksporting@comcast.net. 130

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BOWFISHING BASICS Sticking Common Carp ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY TOM CLAYCOMB III

started bowfishing over 35 years ago with an old 40pound recurve I bought as a kid from Herter’s. Since that time, bows and bowfishing gear have progressed light years. Muzzy makes a bowfishing reel that looks like a giant Zebco. Now I’ve also got a Muzzy Xtreme Duty Bowfishing Reel. I’ve always used 60-pound string but if you’re shooting huge alligator gar you may want to go bigger. Here’s how I got started bowfishing. I was seeing huge carp while out fishing. I bought a Fred Bear spool and put in on my bow recurve. I soon progressed to a Fred Bear Whitetail Hunter. Those were frustrating days. Numerous times I’d pull up to shoot a huge carp, and suddenly notice that my string had pulled out and was tangled on a bush 5 feet behind me. Bowhunting can be expensive, but to get into bowfishing you don’t have to spend a fortune. Go to a garage sale and buy an old bow, slap on a reel and you’ll be good to go. I don’t use my good bow when I’m bowfishing, because I get pretty wild. I get fish slime all over it and throw it down in the boat to drag up fish. In the old days, we used aluminum arrows for hunting, and for fishing we used fiberglass arrows because they penetrate the water better. An aluminum arrow would go about 12 inches deep and then arch to the surface. I’ve used a lot of different types of tips, but I like either a Muzzy Stingray Point or a Muzzy Classic Fish Arrow with Quick Release Carp Points. When the shooting is hot and heavy, you don’t want to be unscrewing tips. SHOOTING DEEP CAN BE TRICKY. Even a heavy fiberglass arrow will deflect upwards somewhat. To further complicate things, you have the refraction factor which makes the fish look shallower than they are, so you have to aim below them. They’re deeper than you think. Wear polarized sunglasses to cut the reflection off the top of the water so you can see the fish better. I love hunting them in the spring when they’re spawning, and have hit three in one shot before, when the males are in a line following females, but I’ve had great times later as well catching them in the willows or up in the flats feeding. I remember once Katy and I were bowfishing in Nebraska on the Sandhill lakes, where the fish were up in a The author pulls in a carp in the open water. westernshootingjournal.com 133

shallow bay feeding. I literally shot a boat load. I don’t know how many I shot that afternoon. It’s best to use a jonboat with an electric trolling motor so you’re quiet. I’ve shot a million carp wading, but the ultimate is hunting them out of a jonboat with an elevated stand. Use a Minn Kota trolling motor so you can ease up without spooking them. Being up high, you’ll be able to see them a lot better. On good days you can literally fill your boat. It doesn’t take a powerful bow. Fish flesh is extremely soft, and sometimes your arrow will zip through them anyway, so don’t feel outclassed if you don’t own the ultimate bow. You’ll be OK. My buddy Scott McGann tapes up his fingers with ath-

letic adhesive tape so he doesn’t get burned pulling in the big ones. Like I say, I love hunting them in the spring when they’re up in the shallow water spawning, but I’ve shot boatloads in the late summer when they’re up in the shallow water feeding too. One year, McGann, Nick Muche and I were fishing I think in June or July on the Snake River in Scott’s jonboat. He had a nice setup. It had an elevated stand so you could stand up on it and see better. I don’t know how many we shot. We had a good time. When the shooting is really fast. some people don’t even use a tip, so they save time not having to release them. I’m not sure if it actually helped or not, but on the last trip I thought I’d

play off the current craze everyone has for tattoos and body piercings. I periodically announced that the green jonboat was offering free body piercings via the Tattoo Queen (my bow’s nickname). I think we started getting more shots after each announcement. WSJ Editor’s note: To see more on bowfishing go to basspro1source.com and search for Tom Claycomb. Tom writes for Bass Pro Shop and has outdoor columns in newspapers in Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and Louisiana. He freelances for numerous other magazines, newspapers and websites. He teaches 60 outdoor seminars each year and is on prostaff for numerous companies. He likes anything related to the outdoors and has works available on Amazon Kindle.

Scott McGann with a nice carp. Notice how he has his index finger taped so the line doesn’t cut its tip.

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BOISE GUN COMPANY 4105 Adams St., Boise, ID 208-376-4440 www.boisegun.com

KITTLE’S OUTDOOR & SPORT CO. 888 Market St Colusa, CA 530-458-4868 www.kittlesoutdoor.com

LEGER’S SHOOTING RANGE 14061 US Hwy 90 Beaumont, TX 409-866-0871

VICTORIA’S ALL-SPORTS CENTER 1902 Houston Hwy Victoria, TX 361-575-0655 www.victoriaallsports.com

KNIVES

THE ‘DO EVERYTHING’ KNIFE New HOG 4.5 Warrants Five-Star Rating ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY KEITH SIPMANN

The HOG contrasted with the ESEE-Laserstrike (r).

ike many of you, I am always on the lookout for the next best thing in terms of gear, and that’s especially true with knives. When it comes to knives though, things get tricky. The market is just stocked full of all sorts of new designs and ideas … some good, some bad. Few though, hit the nail on the head in terms of usefulness, design, quality materials and price. The HOG 4.5 is a new blade for 2014. HOG stands for “Hunter Of Gunmen.” The knife is produced by TOPS Knives and was designed by Gunnery Sergeant Dave Williams, who was a scout sniper with the U.S. Marine Corps. He began working on his blade design in the early years of his career as a young Marine infantryman, and after much trial and error in the field,

he came up with the design we see now. This is really a “do everything” knife, but when Williams designed the knife, he intended it to be used for survival and close-quarters fighting, so you’ll want to keep that in mind before buying one. Those looking for a larger knife will most likely love this blade. The ergonomics and materials used in its production are excellent. The blade is 43⁄8 inches in length, made with 1095 high-carbon steel, with a modified spear-point blade design. The HOG 4.5 reminded me a lot of the ESEE-Laserstrike in terms of how well balanced the knife felt in the hand – this is a good thing because I absolutely love that knife. The blade came very sharp out of the box and easily cut through fabric,

nylon rope, paracord, etc. It cuts and slices extremely well, and was easy and comfortable to use on a regular basis. The black linen Micarta handle felt very good in my hand, with and without gloves. The bottom of the grip has a nice curve in it that actually helps with the gripping when using the knife. It also has a large loop or hole at the end of the handle that is big enough to run cording or a standard issue carabineer through it, so that it could be clipped to your gear rather than set on the ground when working. This was a nice touch. Williams felt that an important feature of the knife lining up the tip of the directly with the center of the handle. This is important because it provides the user with tip awareness similar to an ice pick. “This tip awareness is valuable in any combatants’ kit because westernshootingjournal.com 137

KNIVES would work with MOLLE gear, but it’s just not suitable. It is designed more for leg or pack carry. Considering the purpose of the knife, I would much rather have a nice kydex sheath, like the one I had custom made by 45tacticaldesigns.com that I could attach to my tactical vest or belt. Kydex is more durable in my opinion, and allows for easier draw of the knife in an unexpected time of need. All in all, this is an excellent knife for any survivalist or military operator. The ergonomics alone set it apart from other knives within its class. I would highly recommend it, giving it a five out of five-star rating. WSJ The HOG is designed more for leg or pack carry.

you never know when you may have to transition between opening an MRE and ventilating insurgents,” said Williams. When used as a stabber, you will get very good penetration, but you

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will notice with the lack of any jimping it could be a bit better. The weak point of this package isn’t the knife at all, it’s the ballistic nylon sheath. I was really hoping it

Editor’s note: The HOG 4.5 retails for $145-180 MSRP. Keith Sipmann is a veteran of the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, firearms enthusiast, gun rights activist, conservative political writer and owner of BCB (Boot Camp Bravo) Firearms and Self Defense Clinics.

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Product Feature

SIG SAUER INTRODUCES ITS FIRST LINE OF PREMIUM CENTERFIRE PISTOL AMMUNITION Sig Sauer has just introduced its Elite Performance Ammunition line – the company’s first-ever line of premium centerfire pistol ammunition. Designed specifically for personal defense, the ammo features a proprietary stacked hollow-point bullet – the SIG V-Crown Jacketed Hollow Point. The ammo is designed with an additional smaller hollow-point cavity behind the main cavity, which along with the Vshaped jacket skives ensures the delivery of controlled, uniform expansion and terminal performance. The five introductory calibers and bullet weights are: 90-grain .380Auto, 124-grain 9mm Luger, 125-grain .357SIG, 165-grain .40S&W, and 200-grain .45Auto. Next, Sig plans to introduce more bullet weights for rifles, and more weights for pistols. A toothed cannelure located halfway up the shank of the bullet more effectively locks the jacket and the lead/alloy core, providing maximum structural integrity in a jacketed bullet. This is key to achieving maximum weight retention and energy through impact by preventing fragmentation as the bullet mushrooms,

ensuring optimal terminal performance. Brass cases are Techni-crom coated for enhanced lubricity, superior corrosion resistance, and reliable feeding and extraction. Elite Performance Ammunition is being manufactured in the U.S. by Sig Sauer to the same exacting standards as the company’s premium pistols and rifles. For more information, visit sigsauer.com/ammunition. Become a fan of SIG SAUER on Facebook at facebook.com/SigSauerInc.

KRAMER HANDGUN LEATHER The Waistband No. 2 Gun Holster carries a firearm on your strong side at an FBI tilt, inside the waistband of the pants for maximum concealment. The mouth of the holster is reinforced with

a specially treated throat band of horsehide, which will not collapse when the gun is drawn. For a professional, it is imperative that a holster allow easy one-handed reholstering. Belt loops on the IWB No. 2 are affixed with screws instead of the traditional “one way snap” method. This arrangement offers several advantages. The holster can be adjusted to fit 1 1/4-, 1 1/2- and 1 3/4-inch belt widths, simply by

Custom Grip and Gunstock Makers Al Lind, Gunmaker (253) 584-6361 al@allindgunmaker.com allindgunmaker.com VZ Grips (850) 422-1911 vzgrips.com S&S Plus info@ssplusstocks.net ssplusstocks.net Altamont (800) 626-5774 sales@altamontco.com altamontco.com Rio Grande Custom Grips (303) 330-2812 riograndecustomgrips.com Sand Paper Pistol Grips (918) 812-1984 customer.service@sand-paperpistol-grips.com Sand-Paper-Pistol-Grips.com Radarcarve (505) 948-0571 radarcarve@comcast.net radarcarve.net

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Product FEature loosening the screws and moving the belt loops to the appropriate holes. Because the screws protrude out from the holster far less than the bulky, bulbous snaps, the belt loops snug down tight and flat to your belt, minimizing “printing” of the holster through a concealing garment. Finally, snaps often wear out and break with age (anyone who’s ever had this happen can attest to the fact that it will probably happen at the very worst possible moment). If the female “cap” of the snap breaks, the holster can be repaired, but if the male stud buried inside the holster body shears off, the holster cannot be repaired. Kramer Handgun Leather also offers black sharkskin and shell cordovan horsehide. Each of these exotic overlays is bonded and stitched to a lining of genuine horsehide, providing adequate lateral support for your firearm. Shell cordovan is world

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renowned for its ability to burnish, and take on a high luster with age. Sharkskin, although quite dressy in appearance, is a very durable leather, able to take a considerable amount of abuse in salt water, thorns, and rocks. This is a great choice for dress or sport. For more information, visit kramerleather.com or call (800) 510-2666.

GRIFFIN ARMAMENT M4SDII SILENCER The M4SDII silencer from Griffin Armament is an extremely quiet, durable, and versatile silencer. This fully welded, full-auto-rated silencer is supported by

a family of various muzzle devices to suit the needs of the end user. For more information, visit griffinarmament.com, call (262) 501-8447 or email evan@griffinarmament.com.

RRC FIREARMS When Rich Gross came to his dad, Richard, with the idea of creating an online firearms business, they put their plan into action. With their wives, Maria and Carol, RRC Firearms was born. Located outside of Portland, Ore., RRC is a family-owned and -operated eStore built upon the belief that even an online shopping experience can be personal. Offering well-respected brands that have clear descriptions allows you to shop with confidence. Shipping is fast and always packaged

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Product FEature neatly with care (you will even find an extra goodie or two, and a handwritten â&#x20AC;&#x153;thank youâ&#x20AC;?). Should you have a question, you will often have your phone call answered promptly or your email responded to quickly. For more information, email sales@rrcfirearms.com, visit rrcfirearms.com or call (971) 832-9486.

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SHARP SHOOT R PRECISION PRODUCTS: NATURAL CITRUS FLUSH-OUT The Natural Citrus Flush-Out aerosol cleaner and degreaser is totally free of any petroleum products. There has been a great need to clean and degrease fire arms safely. Until a few years ago, the only products available to clean and de-grease firearms have been petroleumbased products. Petroleum based-products can be hazardous to use as they are invasive when the fumes are breathed or when they come in contact with the skin. Most of the carcinogenic petro-chemicals go directly to the fattiest tissue in the body, which in most cases is the liver or brain tissue. Cheap brake

cleaners and carb cleaners usually contain reclaimed solvents. Reclaimed solvents are in most cases the cheapest and most toxic ones available. Chlorinated solvents are widely known to be the most carcinogenic of any of the petrochemicals. Natural Citrus Flush-Out is simple to apply, you simply spray it on the area to be cleaned and let it dissolve the oils, grease carbon, and loosen the grime and dirt. It is available in a 15-ounce aerosol can The suggested retail price is only $14.99 per can. For more information, please visit sharpshootr.com, call (785) 883-4444 or email getinfo@sharpshootr.com.

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COWBOY .25 .32 .38 .38 .38 .38-40 .44-40 .45LC .45LC .458

85 GR. 78 GR. 120 GR. 125 GR. 130 GR. 180 GR. 180 GR. 160 GR. 200 GR. 350 GR.

RNFP/500 RNFP/500 TC/500 RNFP/500 RNFP/500 RNFP/500 RNFP/500 RNFP/500 RNFP/500 RNFP/100

GAS-CHECK .38 .357 .41 .44 .44 .44 .45LC .45LC .458 .500

158 GR. 180 GR. 230 GR. 240 GR. 240 GR. 305 GR. 260 GR. 325 GR. 430 GR. 440 GR.

This is a good cross reference of the bullets we offer. We have about 144 set of molds with new molds coming. Sixteen employees working 10 hr. a day shifts 4 days a week with 9 casters, 6 auto lubers, and 12 star lubers gas checking every day. We have bullets made with ďŹ ve different alloys that we order in 40,000 - 60,000 lbs at a time a mixed per our set alloys. By the time you read this ad we should be in our new state of the art 10 thousand square foot facility. Prices subject to change without notice.

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$28.00 $25.00 $32.00 $33.00 $34.00 $42.00 $42.00 $44.00 $44.50 $26.00

STANDARD .32KEITH 125 GR. .380 95 GR. 9MM 115 GR. 9MM 125 GR. .38 148 GR. .38 158 GR. .40 180 GR. .45ACP 200 GR. .45ACP 230 GR. .45LC 255 GR.

SWC-HP/100 LBT-WFN/100 SWC/100 SWC-HP/100 SWC/100 LBT-WFN/100 SWC-HP/100 LBT-LWN/100 LBT-LWN/100 LBT-WFN/100

SWC/500 RN/500 RN/500 RN/500 DEWC/500 SWC/500 RNFP/500 SWC/500 RN/500 SWC/500

$46.00 $30.00 $31.50 $33.00 $34.50 $35.00 $41.00 $42.50 $46.00 $55.00

$21.50 $24.00 $26.00 $32.00 $32.00 $39.00 $37.00 $41.00 $49.00 $61.00

RELOADING

ZEN AND THE ART OF RELOADING Therapeutic Benefits To Handloading ARTICLE AND PHOTO BY DANIEL SCOTT

The author describes his workbench in the garage as his meditation zone.

“Ultimate excellence lies not in winning every battle, but in defeating the enemy without ever fighting.” - Sun Tzu

andloading precision ammunition can be a tedious exercise in patience and attention to detail. It can also be a relaxing and rewarding hobby that turns out nearly identical rounds of impeccable quality. Precision shooters, especially benchrest shooters, value high-quality ammuni-

tion. In many cases, handloading is a prerequisite for benchrest, because the calibers used are not commercially manufactured. I don’t shoot 6mm BR Rem or any other ammunition that I can’t find on the store shelves (excluding .22LR, but here’s hoping that shortage doesn’t last much longer), yet I still appreciate a well-made cartridge. Premium rounds, even in common calibers such as .308 or .270, command prices well in excess of $1.50 per round. You could go to the store and buy it off the shelf, or

order it online, but I find the pride of turning out the rounds themselves to be well worth the time and effort. Nestled down in the back of the garage at my workbench is my meditation zone. It’s a quiet place, free from distraction and noise. There’s no TV, and I leave my smartphone in the house. The accommodations are Spartan. Concrete floors, a simple stool, and a large unfinished wooden workbench topped with various presses, bins, scales, tumblers, trimmers, a work light, and various other accouwesternshootingjournal.com 147

RELOADING trements are all that occupy this space. My wife has her art room, and I have my garage. It’s here in my little refuge where I can still my mind and focus on the little things. I’ll start by setting up the press and organizing my components and tools for whatever caliber is being loaded. Today we‘re doing 6.5x55 SE loads. “To a mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.” - Lao Tzu First, the bullets are sorted. One by one, each Sierra Match King HPBT is weighed and measured on the Frankford Arsenal scale. Ideally, each one should be exactly 140 grains and measure .264 inches in diameter. In reality, there is a bit of variation, however slight. Bullets weighing 140.1 grains go in one bin, 140 in another, and those weighing 139.9 go in yet another. This task complete, it’s time to re-

move the brass that have been getting cleaned and polished in the tumbler. Cases that were split or cracked have already been discarded. The corncob media mixed with a bit of polishing compound has left the remainder gleaming. Once again, it’s time to visually inspect every case. Those that show any sign of damage or overpressure are discarded. Check the thickness of the brass at the neck with a digital micrometer. Brass that is too thick, usually old military brass, is set aside to be loaded for plinking. Brass that is too thin is discarded. Each case is then rolled across the RCBS lube pad, essentially a repurposed stamp pad impregnated with case lube, using just enough pressure to get a thin coating on the case. Too much pressure means too much lube, and that can dimple the brass. Thus, properly lubed, the brass is run through a full-length decapping and resizing die. Turn it 90 degrees in the

shell holder. Run it through the die again. Inspect the brass once more for any dimples or other damage caused or revealed by resizing. Now, it’s time to check the primer pocket and flash hole. Clean and, if necessary, ream the primer pocket. Then the digital calibers come out again, along with the case trimmer. In this case, we’re trimming a little long; a short distance between the bullet and the rifling helps to improve accuracy. The micrometer shows 2.168 inches. That’s a little too much, so into the trimmer it goes. Measure again, and then trim a tiny bit more. Finally, the digital readout indicates 2.160, the perfect case length for this chamber. This process continues over and over through case after case with each one getting chamfered and deburred. The inside of the throat and neck is meticulously cleaned and lightly lubed before the brass is set into the shell holder.

and Ammunition Pistol Bullets and

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Toll Free: 800-545-9376 www.zerobullets.com 148

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RELOADING “Life is available only in the present moment.” - Thich Nhat Hanh Once all of the brass has been prepared in this manner, each one is carefully fitted with a CCI No. 200 large rifle primer. Every primed shell is checked for proper primer depth. Primers that have been mashed sideways or have an improper depth are removed and discarded in a tin can. The 49 grains of Alliant’s Reloader 19 powder is next to be added, but a simple powder drop will not suffice. Instead a scoop and powder trickler allows precisely the correct amount of charge to be loaded into each round. This, combined with the short leade, should give just enough pressure to launch a bullet at slightly over 2,900 feet per second. Those bullets, of course, are next. Only the ones from the bin marked “140 grains” will be loaded. The rest

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will be used for plinking. Round after round is carefully seated and the

Each bullet should weigh 140 grains, otherwise they are relegated to just plinking.

overall length checked before the bullet is crimped into place in another die. Slowly the ammunition case fills with perfection. Each round is identical to the other, or at least as close as is humanly possible. Finally done, I stop to inspect my handiwork. My eyes are sore, and my back too, but my mind is still and I am satisfied. WSJ Editor’s note: Daniel Scott is an outdoor writer with a background in technical writing, editing, and publishing. When he’s not writing, he enjoys hunting, fishing, and various shooting sports. Daniel is the executive editor of The Colored Lens, a speculative fiction magazine available online and in e-book format. He blogs about hunting, shooting, and the outdoors at AmongTheLeaves.com. Daniel makes his home in Fort Worth, Texas, with his wife, and two dogs who couldn’t retrieve a bird if their lives depended on it.