A Reminder to Us All

My good friend Mike Baker got back from Africa a few days after I did, but to a substantially different reception. Mike, along with Tony Makris, produce the long-running UNDER WILD SKIES, an African safari series currently on NBC Sports channel. Here's what they came home to, from the LA Times:

In the episode, which aired Sunday night (a highlight reel is posted above), host Tony Makris and a guide stalk an elephant in the Okavango Delta of Botswana -- "a mecca for elephant hunting," according to a narrator. 

Makris boasts of his "positively lethal" rifle and the .577 ammunition ("made to kill ivory") used to take down the beast. Hiding in a bush, he fires two shots a the "cheeky" pachyderm, who runs away. Makris and his guide eventually catch up to the elephant, killing it. They later celebrate the kill with a bottle of Champagne.

Here's the really nasty stuff.

The elephant hunt was perfectly legal. Yes, Botswana is closing its borders to hunting of any kind, and if you'd like to ready an intelligent article on the subject, I suggest Dr. Kevin Robert's thoughtful article in Sports Afield: 

Banning sport hunting is not going to make all these problems disappear—that is for sure. You and I both know this. In fact, it is only going to make things worse. Subsistence poaching is going to escalate as rural communities lose the funds sport hunting once generated. When this happens, even more pressure is going to be placed upon the dwindling antelope numbers. When wildlife loses its economic value, it is replaced with something that is valuable. Look at what has happened in Kenya, for example. This once wonderfully rich wildlife country has, since the banning of sport hunting, lost 80 percent of its wildlife. Only time will tell if Botswana walks the same path.

I'm not going to go full rant on the level of hypocrisy that is intrinsic in the antihunting fanatics — even if you only eat free-range, grass-fed beef "harvested" in the most humane manner, and you know the name of the pig who ended up as your chops, I can assure you that the cow didn't go happily to the bolt, the pig to the charcuterie, even that wild salmon to the net. We outsource our killing and pretend that act makes us virtuous. 

We forget the admonition of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, "You are responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." We tamed the world, then we want to step back and let Nature — definitely with a capital "N" — take its course. The "wild" that we seek to preserve for the most part isn't any different than the park closest to your house...it requires management to exist. Even Etosha, larger than Switzerland, is not a preservation of the wild, but a recreation of the wild — by 1900 all the elephants, lions, leopards and other large animals were gone, victims of overhunting and the move to a ranching/farming economy. Etosha was created, and carefully managed.

An analogy, no matter how big a glass aquarium you get for your house, you can never simply let that aquarium go wild, that is, stop your regular maintenance and let nature take its course. Should you do that, the "course" nature will take ends up a stinking bowl of fetid water and dead fish and plants.

 I could talk about the competing economics of hunting and ecotourism, but I suspect none of that matters in this conversation. Rather, in the First World we have moved toward a culture that places value on "experiences" rather than real experience. For example, is there any need to travel the world when you can get that international "experience" at Epcot in Florida? Should we have to deal with the chaotic, often bloody mess of Africa when we can go to Busch Gardens in Tampa and:

Feel yourself being swept away to the African veldt on an open-truck tour that takes you up close to the wonders of our 65-acre Serengeti Plain, where you'll meet some magnificent animals.  

Get nose-to-nose with a giraffe. Learn a thing or two about zebras you never knew until you got this close. Understand exotic species like bongo, eland and ostrich as your guide helps bring you closer to the wildlife and wild places in this world we share.

...a wildlife "experience" as U2 might say, even better than the Real Thing.

Maybe I'm just being crotchety this morning, but my idea of a nightmare is a world of "experiences" bereft of real experience.

"Take a deep breath and remember that the whole world sucks, America sucks less, and Texas during deer season doesn't suck at all." 

— Brother Ted Nugent

Survived the Week!

Snow flurries here at the Bunker...I suspect summer may be over.

Having some trouble getting my head back into the usual war footing...the huge success of the Colorado recall...the self-inflicted stupidity of Starbucks...the U.N. treaty...Kenya...the Navy Yard...

I think I'm going to take a little time tomorrow to work on an AR I can't quite get like I want.

Imagine Being Gone for More than 2 Weeks...

I have been in a dead run since I got back in Sunday, and I'm still 'way behind the 8-ball. We had to meet with the builder on the Secret Hidden Bunker Ver. 2.0 property, and it was like driving through a maze with all the roads closed or washed out in Boulder and Larimer counties. Then, amazingly, the trusty Honda Element refused to start...a little worrisome since we were on the side of a mountain. We finally got it started and taken to the shop in Boulder (after driving all over the place), then frantically got back home to do the podcast. I haven't even uncased the Guide Gun!

As I catch my breath, some lessons from Africa...

1) Aim small, miss small. For the most part I was pleased with my shooting in Namibia. Of the 5 animals I shot — Burchell's Zebra, Hartmann's Mountain Zebra, kudu, impala and eland, 4 of the shots were one-shot heart/lung kills, at a ranges averaging around 100 yards (the kudu was 150 yards or a little better). I tried very hard not to see the great big animal, but rather the 10-inch "plate" of the kill zone, advice from Cory Trapp at GUNSITE. It worked.

2) Know the rifle/scope. Luckily, the Guide Gun uses the same stock as, and is very similar to, the GUNSITE Scout Rifle, so I was very comfortable with it. Ditto on the Leupold FireDot scope VX-6. As I mentioned in the podcast, if you're used to shooting a red dot/illuminated scope, by all means do so (I carried 3 extra batteries I didn't need, too). If not, Africa is a bad place to start. I was comfortable with the illuminated red dot and I think it helped my shooting. Be aware that as daylight fades, the illumination eeds to fade as well...that caught me off-guard once.,

3) Speed to set-up and shoot is everything. Those pesky animals actually have the gall to move! Seriously, you've got to set up very quickly. That means you need to be familiar with your rifle and how you're carrying it. I use a muzzle-down weak-side "African guide" carry I learned at GUNSITE years ago. It allows me to quickly access the rifle and "roll" it into position on my shoulder, and I can use my binoculars with my right hand. Competition training was invaluable here, because I'm used to setting up quickly for a shot.

4) Practice shooting off sticks. Because that's what you're going to be shooting off. One of the best things I did was spend time setting up sticks and shooting from different positions...two shots...move, set sticks, two shots, repeat. Make sure you practice awkward or "broken" positions...the kudu was from both knees, bending forward with the sticks almost at bipod level so I could thread the shot through the bush. It was VERY similar to a position I'd had to use in a 3-Gun match. Hmmmmm...

5) Remember, you're not shooting a group...you're making one excellent shot. It's kind of a different mindset, and it affects how you practice. If I was going to design a training program for this type of hunting, I would quickly go from shooting a reference group to 10-inch plates at varying distance. Make the practice as real as possible, which means get off the bench!

6) Run the gun. That is, work the bolt on the assumption you'll need a follow-up shot. It is REALLY easy to get into the habit of taking a shot, then pondering the universe for a bit. Run the gun...and practice. I short-stroked the bolt once, and I do practice running the gun. The solution, I think, is to NEVER be gentle with the gun...it's all blunt trauma time.

7) Walk, a lot. Because, hey, you're going to be walking, a lot. Walk with weights as you get closure to your departure date. Rifles get heavier the longer they're carried, so you might as well get used to it. In retrospect, I wish I'd walked with a 12-pound pole weight slung over my left shoulder, a la guide carry. That's what Illd do for next time.

8) Suck it up. Sometimes it hurts, but hey, as Mad Season once sang, "...my pain is self-chosen, or so I believe it to be."

This is all new newbie stuff to be sure, as I am a newbie...more as I have the time...

Back at the Slightly Waterlogged Secret Hidden Bunker...

Everybody into the pool! From Etosha National Park...

Yes, he sleeps tonight...from about 10 feet away, in Etosha...

...but after 24 hours in various and sundry planes, by brain has signaled that it's off duty right now. I will, however, throw myself into the podcast tomorrow and start posting on the trip. Cliff Notes version: Freakin' amazing!

Drone...meet thorn tree. Thorn tree...meet drone...

Bushman e-mail from 3000 years ago..."Hunting is good; there is water"

Where Does the Meat Go?

In response to an email last night, a few quick words about hunting in Arrica and what happens to the meat. in America, hunting is a hobby and the meat belongs to the hunter. Over hre, at least where I've been in Namibia, hunting is both an important part of resource management and the food distribution system. Game animals are "ranched" in same way cattle are ranched, but at a vastly different scale.

For example, the Wildacker ranch we were on the Kalahari is more than 60,000 acres. The original plan was to run cattle, but like much of the Kalahari the Wildacker holdings are full of a particular poisonous plant that cattle just love to eat and the indigenous animals have learned to avoid (although some of the game animals routinely die from the poison). 

The ranches maintain their own butchering facilities and provide the game meat to the local tribes, who usually process the meat through drying it into biltong, sort of game beef jerky, to last through the rainy months. To be clear, the tribes have their own holdings and hunting rights, but there is no Whole Foods you can pop down to for free-range grass-fed beefsteak if daddy comes home empty-handed from the hunt. 

Heart of Darkness Threshold

I have a theory that eventually trip weirdness becomes self-sustaining, a point I call somewhat unoriginally the Heart of Darkness Threshold. I can tell you categorically that home-brewed schnapps, sort of turpentine with just a hint of formaldehyde, will probably scour the lining out of your stomach. Today we were with the Himba, basically your last nomadic tribe on earth. I'm not sure but I think I could have purchased a good, slightly used second wife if I'd had the requisite cattle. BTW, the whole hair thing, red ochre worked into Rasta dreads with lard, kinda works.

This is after a couple of days in Etosha National Park, the lad of dry water, checking out the lions, rhinos and elephants...absolutely amazing! We have pics and video.

I'm still pondering the eland...4 days of tracking in the Kalahari with the Bushman, who sort of floated over  the red sand I slogged through. In the end, the old bull was like a ghost, vanishing to the thorn that shredded my legs. I just about cried when I shot him and was so tired I could barely hold the rifle. Our plan right now is to build the SG episodes around that bull.

I have 3 more days of hunting at Immenhof, gemsbok and hopefully a good impala...I'm told it will be hard but nowhere near as brutal as the Kalahari thorn. I figure it's supposed to be hard, right?

Heart of Darkness Threshold

Drones over Africa!!!

Hickenlooper Continues to Stumble

Read this piece in the Examiner on Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper's most recent "nervous" press conference...several points come to mind:

1) Hickenlooper repeatedly refused to meet with both representatives of the Colorado shooting sports and me personally. We were allowed to speak to a member of the Governor's staff, but she only wanted to know what number, say, 50, would we support for a magazine capacity cap. She seemed puzzled that we refused to name such a number on moral/ethical grounds. 

2) During the same period of time, Hickenlooper was in regular telephone contact with Michael Bloomberg, even though Hickenlooper would later claim -- dishonestly, it seems -- he had no direct contacts with Bloomberg.

3) During the same period of time, according to the public record, full-time lobbyists hired and paid by Bloomberg had total and unconditional access to Hickenlooper and his staff...in fact, drafting the Democratic strategy of ignoring Colorado constituents and railroading the vote.

4) Hickenlooper was never a particularly antigun politician. But his politics changed completely when he began working directly with Bloomberg. It MUST be asked what sort of deal Hickenlooper was offered --and apparently took -- to sell out Colorado! The 2-part deal I repeatedly heard, but cannot prove, from the State House (both Republicans & Democrats) was:

* Bloomberg would provide critical funding for the early exploratory days of Hickenlooper's run for the Presidency, which is now In the crapper as Hickenlooper's career continues to implode.

* Hickenlooper would be guaranteed a position in Washington should he lose the 2014 reelection...he could then use that position as a springboard to his national political career.

In your interviews you sound like a man running scared, Governor. Are those pieces of silver in your pocket weighing on you just a little bit?

Manning the Ark!

I'm halfway around the world in the middle of a bone-dry desert, and they're building arks in Colorado. Luckily, the Secret Hidden Bunker is (very) high and dry...if the water makes it to the Bunker, it's an extinction level event. I'll bake cookies!

There's an excellent piece on Fox on the recalls. I'd post it here, but I don't actually know how with this program. The short story is that when Democrats decided that Michael Bloomberg meant more to them than the people of Colorado -- the poor, lied-to saps that elected them in the first place -- the Dem's fates were sealed.

Here in Safari-World, the eland continues to elude me (note tricky alliteration)...I believe I may have walked across the Kalahari at least twice...and swallowed much of it. There are endless gemsbok...I suppose if I was hunting gemsbok there'd be endless eland. Did get a great kudu bull on a 125 yard shot through pretty thick bush. Consolation on the elusive eland, one supposes.

We're on the Wildacker Guest Farm, 15,000HA up near the Angloa border...beautiful place. The PHs from Immenhof Hunting, the von Seydlitz family operation, are doing a wonderful job of guiding.

Colorado Takes Out The Trash!

And good riddance to John Morse, one of the most reprehensible individuals I've ever had the misfortune to meet, and to Colorado's own version of "Honey Boo Boo," Angela Giron. You sold out to Michael Bloomberg, you sold out your constituents, you sold out your state. You are liars and without even any sense of ethics. I suggest you both seek asylum in some Third World pesthole, say, Chicago, where your particular brand of political prostitution is valued.

Congrat to the people of Colorado!

Now on to 2014...let's finish this!

Why They Call It "Hunting..."

...as opposed to "Killing Great Big Animals." Spent hours with the Bushman on the trail of a big eland...2 important points about the Kalahari...it's real sandy, and while it's freezing in the morning, it it blazing hot when the sun really gets cranking.

The Bushman are amazing...they see a track crossing the road, and they indicate by pointing where the sun will be when they expect to intersect with the animal. They are always right, too. So we humped it to catch up with this big bull, and as predicted after a few hours of heat, sand and thorns -- Did I mention thorns? Straight ones the size of daggers, hooked ones, sneaky ones that can snatch a hole your trigger finger? I look like a pin cushion, or a blood donor -- there he is...90 yards away and behind a tree...The PH sets up the sticks...I take the safety off the big Ruger...I start taking up the slack on the trigger and focusing on the Leupold red dot...and the shot isn't there. It just isn't there...it's at best a gut shot, and I won't take a gut shot intentionally.

I juggle around, move the sticks, whine, pray and, poof, he's gone again...

Sigh.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about hacking a blind into a thorn thicket, falling into an episode of Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom and seeing every animal on the Ark...except an eland! I considered shooting a mongoose, but it was a big mongoose!

WWRRD?

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO...I'm at a waterhole in the Kalahari, and, amazingly, an eland bull the size of a U-Haul truck comes clicking and clopping in from the left. Holy crap, I think. Even my PH whispers "Wow!" Thirty yards away and me with a .300 Win Mag that yesterday hammered a big zebra into the ground.

It is a pure Robert Ruark moment.

And the the wind shifts, or the planet jinks in orbit, or my substantial bad karmic load comes back to haunt me, and the World's Largest Eland gets jiggy and launches itself into low earth orbit.

No shot.

Oh well, welcome to Africa, where safari camps have wi-fi connections. Sort of.

It is pretty much everything the SHOOTING GALLERY crew imagined. The only sounds at night are animals. The sky is very big.

Am having the trip of a lifetime. 

Dawn comes early...who knew? More later!

On the Verge of Catching My Tail...

...if I just keep running faster and faster1 At least that's what Alf tells me. She also says it can be, "Ruff!"

Marshal and I had a conference call today where we outlined a really, really cool series of DRTV videos focusing on the AR platform. I think we're going to be able to make it happen in 2014...fingers crossed! I'm definitely going to take a carbine class with the DoubleStar C3 Constant Carry Carbine. So  very many things to do...

Meanwhile:

German town building giant rake in attempt to catch bite-happy snapping turtle 

After hunting dogs, an electric fence and traps couldn’t get the job done, a German town looking to remove a snapping turtle from a lake has asked a blacksmith to create a giant rake to fish out the sharp-beaked reptile.

Giant snapping turtles! Could this be worse that the plague of cohones-nipping piraña spreading across the world???  A lowly blacksmith, hammer in hand, is all that stands between Germany and a nasty nip on the butt. What the heck...couldn't they just shoot it? I mean, they'd need Congressional approval and stuff, promise to only fire one shot, between 4:47PM and 6:02PM, then assure the public that the sharpshooters will miss. But a giant rake? Reminds me of George Clooney.

I'm as ready as I'm going to get for the Dark Continent. I've been working with a DeLorme inReach SE sat communicator in the hopes of being able to Twitter or post to FaceBook from Africa. So far, I've been able to send texts. Got a few battery packs and a solar charger, so we'll see.

Let's "DeFriend" Assad!

Michael's 3-Point Plan to Solve the Syria Problem:

1) "DeFriend" al-Assad on FaceBook! Sure, it would take a lot of courage on the part of President Obama, but with the help of Valerie Jarrett and his new puppy, I'm sure he can rise to the occasion.
2) Carefully crate John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Boehner and UPS them to Damascus, making sure there is no return address...they want Syria, let them have it.
3) Have John Kerry publicly refuse to take "The Rose of the Desert" Asma (cough cough!) al-Assad windsurfing! Ouch! That burns!

Hey, Anna Wintour edited it, Vogue published it, and I for one believe it! Here's part of the Vague...oops...Vogue article we're dis'sing...the whole article has been scrubbed from the Internet:

Syria is known as the safest country in the Middle East, possibly because, as the State Department's Web site says, "the Syrian government conducts intense physical and electronic surveillance of both Syrian citizens and foreign visitors." It's a secular country where women earn as much as men and the Muslim veil is forbidden in universities, a place without bombings, unrest, or kidnappings...

Yes, weapons of mass destruction  —and the shadow of genocide — are the most serious business there is. But the hard truth is that we've spent the last 25 years expending American capital and America lives trying to save the Islamic Middle East from itself, and they hate us for it. It is time to stay home. There is nothing — NOTHING! — in Syria worth the cost of a single Tomahawk missile, much less the blood of a single American.

When Pressure Cookers Are Outlawed...

...you know the rest. From Drudge:

China: Wife Boils Husband In Pressure Cooker 

A woman reportedly hands herself into police after allegedly killing her husband and boiling his dismembered body parts.

Well, okay...I'm going with fava beans, sliced onions and maybe some chicken stock, as I'm not sure of the quality of stock made from long pig. Serve with rice and some Vietnamese chili/garlic sauce...maybe...just saying.

For us, though, it's chili'ed grilled salmon and Margarita Monday On Sunday! Actually, I'm using Hornitos Reposado, which, in all honesty, I think is an overrated tequila, Solerno blood orange liquor and fresh lemon juice...maybe a touch of agave nectar. The Solerno has such a bite that it can hold its own again the Hornitos. I suspect the margs might have been better with Hornitas Anejo, but I have pretty high standards. Never EVER take me to a Chili's and order me a margarita!

Voting has begun on the Colorado recall elections. This from Fox:

NYC Mayor Bloomberg donates $350G to fight Colorado recalls 

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has thrown $350,000 behind an effort to fight the recall of two Colorado Democratic legislators for their votes in favor of sweeping new gun control laws. 

Campaign finance paperwork filed Tuesday and obtained by KDVR.com showed that Bloomberg wrote a personal check to Taxpayers for Responsible Democracy, the group fighting the recalls targeting Colorado Springs Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron, of Pueblo.

For heaven's sake, VOTE! That nasty little fascist Michael Bloomberg wrote the "Colorado" laws, subverted the electoral process in Colorado by both buying votes and threatening that any Democrat who voted against with a Bloomberg-financed primary challenge from the left, cut a deal with Governor John MyGodI'mStupid (Hickenlooper swore he didn't consult with Bloomberg on the gun laws until a Freedom Of Information demand uncovered phone calls between the nasty little fascist and the Governor, who once considered himself a national contender and is now widely considered a joke...hey, how'z about the fact that the northern part of your state is voting on secession because you're such a crappy governor for a campaign slogan? Vote for me, because I suck so hard my own state left me!) and now contributes $350K, 3 times more than the NRA, to his continued ownership of Colorado Democrats. THIS NEEDS TO STOP! 

Frankly, recall elections scare the heck out of me...I'd much rather have put the effort into 2014, but we're in it. Colorado State Senate President John Morse is one of the most reprehensible people I've ever had the misfortune to meet. Here's why:

Talking on the Rachel Maddow show, Senator John Morse of Colorado stated that his approach to constituents who are trying to contact him about current gun control legislation, and the advice he’s giving his fellow senators, is to ignore them. That, rather than have a conversation and debate your opinion with the people who you represent, you should ignore them and “do what [you] need to do.”

He deserves not to be recalled, but to spend the rest of his life chained to a wall in a Third World prison for the damage he's done to Colorado. Unfortunately, that's not on the ballot.

A Few Random Thoughts While Waiting to Board

The Ruger Guide Rifle is now safely sighted I at 300 yards, and I feel better. I'm going to spend a day at the range with it next week and finish dialing myself in.

On the changes to the NFA process announced by the Emperor this week, it has the potential to put a screaming halt on the explosive growth of NFA items like suppressors and SBRs if the stated proposal, which extends the law enforcement sign-off to all members of a trust or all "responsible parties" in a corporation becomes law. Law enforcement sign-offs have always been the stocking point on NFA transactions...if your local law enforcement official refuses to sign off on your purchase or build, you're screwed, even if there are no other impediments to the deal.

Trusts are, of course, the vehicle for letting otherwise qualified people to get around obstinate/politically oriented law enforcement sign-off refusal. The ATF proposal isn't even up for comments yet, and there will be a 90 day comment period...and the comments will be fierce. More about this on the podcast...

A Week of RF

RAPID FIRE Season 2...Iain and Seek ride again...so to speak!

RAPID FIRE Filming...

...taking up the entire week! But yes, it's fun! 

More later.

3-Gun Breaks Into Mainstream

From Frank Miniter at NRO, the Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun:

Yeah, no doubt about it, if some top-secret government program is spying on these folks with cameras attached to little drones, its agents are seeing a lot of good people having a hell of a time. Microphones would pick up range officers preaching safe shooting. Cameras would show competitors who know the NRA rules of gun safety. As President Obama watched and listened, he’d find out why sport shooting these days is safer than riding a bicycle. He’d see people from all over America — normal people who pay taxes and have families, and who you’d never guess were into 3-gun — enjoying a night out among friends. He’d find that this segment of society is rarely in the headlines because they shoot safely and don’t commit crimes. 

Nevertheless, 3-gun is a sport President Obama wants to ban...

Read the whole thing!

Margarita Monday on Sunday!

Tooooooooooooooo busy tomorrow, so we're declaring tonight Margarita Monday! My Sweetie is doing roasted corn, wild rice and chipotle pancakes from a Bobby Flay recipe, so I thought I'd just grill some salmon with salt and pepper and just a bit of an ancho chili rub. Margarita-wise, I was thinking of Suavecito Reposada paired with fresh lemon juice and Patron Citronge orange liqueur. Maybe a trace of agave sweetener, depending on the lemons.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Back at the Bunker from AR15.com/Rockcastle 3-Gun

Going to be a great episode of SHOOTING GALLERY!  Babes With Bullets partnered with the AR15.com/Rockcastle 3-Gun Pro Am (sponsored by Brownells) and the women's professional 3-Gun cadre to do something really really cool — and unique.

Essentially, the Pro-Am, a match that fill up in minutes as soon as it's opened for entry, guaranteed 40 slots for amateur women. In conjunction with BWB, the pro women who could adjust their schedules came in 2 days early and shot the pro stages — there are 2 separate matches, the pro and the amateur; you can see all courses of fire are available on the website. In the amateur match, the then pro women divided themselves among the 3 squads with the amateur women to provide help and coaching (normal prohibitions against coaching weren't eliminated, but were relaxed).

To make it even easier for the amateur women, BWB provided the necessary gear, including guns, and worked to show how the gear was set up (3-Gun is incredibly stuff-intensive). There was also a special special event for the women and a massive SWAG bag.

Lena, Randi, Di and Kay...looking mean and heavily armed!

For the show, we followed SHOOTING GALLERY Usual Suspect Diana Liedorff (current USPSA Women's Multigun Champion/Open, Team FNH and general all-around good sport), Kay Miculek (co-founder with Deb Ferns of Babes With Bullets, Team Smith & Wesson and a legend in practical shooting), 18-year-old Lena Miculek (Team Smith & Wesson, top 3-Gun Nation shooter and proof positive there's something to this DNA stuff...LOL!) and newly coined 3-Gun shooter Randi Rogers (Team Comp-Tac, IDPA and Cowboy world and national championships, probably something Intergalactic as well). Then we followed our "posse" as they worked with the amateur women throughout their match.

What a cool, cool concept! On a sport like 3-Gun with an often staggering learning curve, imagine what a huge "jumpstart" it would be to have the top women in the sport standing next to you with help, tips and strategies. It also shows the commitment of BWB, which operates women's training camps around the country, to bringing more and more women into the sport...and they do a spectacular job! AR15.com, the Rockcastle Shooting Center and Brownell's should also be congratulated for being willing to step outside the box and take on the additional work — and it was a lot of work — to make something like this happen.

I think the Pro-Am has evolved into a standard that other 3-Gun matches can build upon. Not saying there's anything wrong with the circuit of "outlaw" 3-Gun matches that have driven this sport (Rocky Mountain, Superstition Mountain, Ozark, FNH/Midwest, etc.), but AR15.com and Rockcastle have worked out a format that is adaptable for many more ranges (and that rocks). It is really interesting to see the Great 3-Gun Diaspora as the sport grows...USPSA's multigun versions, the outlaw matches, the 3-GUN NATION speed format (now running on 2 cable television networks)...heck, you could probably make a  case that similar multi gun sports like Ruger Rimfire and SASS Wild Bunch contribute to the interest.

The Pro-Am was the largest 3-Gun match ever...3-Gun is still driving the industry...Rockcastle this weekend was like a mini-SHOT Show...a lot of major players were there! I love the sport and am enjoying riding that learning curve up, but I do think it may be self-limiting due to expense...I hope I'm wrong!

Now, for something entirely different...

Pistol caliber carbines occupy an interesting place in the gun universe. They are immensely popular and often heavily criticized by the firearms intelligensia...hey, if you're going to go to all the trouble to carry a carbine, you might as well have a carbine in a carbine caliber. Still, there's a plethora of pistol caliber carbines doing just fine out there — Sig (the MPX is probably one of the most lusted-after firearms out there), the Beretta CX4 Storm, the Kel-Tec Sub 2000, classics like the Thompson, the M1 Carbine (I'll argue the .30 Carbine is essentially a pretty good pistol cartridge any day of the week), HK-94s if you can find 'em, the numerous .38/.357, .44 Magnum and even .32 lever action rifles...and, of course, the flood of pistol-caliber AR-15 variants...9mm, 10mm. .45. .40, whatever. Colt was, I believe, first in with their 9mm submachine gun which was very popular with law enforcement, and now the vast majority of AR manufacturers make some kind of 9mm semi.

I personally like pistol caliber carbines...I'm waiting for paper to clear on my Spike's Tactical 9mm pistol to turn it into an SBR. There have always been some issues with 9mm ARs — the first is magazines...most use the Colt/Colt platform mags (that's what the Spike uses)...not necessarily as common as some other magazines, for example, the Glock 33-rounders. Most of the 9mm ARs use regular AR lowers fitted with a block in the magazine well for the smaller 9mm mags. There have been dedicated lowers for 9mm, both for Colt pattern magazines and for Glock mags (most notably the Olympic Arms guns), but often the issue was the AR-15 "operating system," designed for the much longer cartridge, which gave the 9mm ARs a bit more clunking "felt" recoil as the bolt slammed back and forth.

All that is about the change. JP Rifles is known for its innovation and super-high quality ARs. My friend John at JP has turned his sights on the 9mm AR platform. They've made a 9mm AR before with an adapter in the mag well, but take a look at this new carbine:

This is a JP dedicated precision 9mm AR lower designed to take the 9mm Glock magazines:

Perhaps more importantly, John and his engineers have redesigned the operating system of the carbine specifically for the 9mm cartridge, so the bolt and the buffer system are only moving as far as necessary. The result is a gun that feels very much like the MP-5, arguably the "smoothest" subgun ever made. I have shot both semi and full-auto versions of the new JP 9mm, and it does run very much like an MP-5. The new rifle also features both a standard AR-15 rear charging handle and a left-side JP side charging system

JP also designed a comp specifically for the 9mm cartridge (not a lot of gas compared to the 5.56). The result is one heck of a little rifle. John is shooting 2-3 inches at 100 yards with the 9mm, although JP engineers say "normal people" can expect 4 inches at 100.

The full auto version I shot uses a Colt-pattern magazine, but it will be available with the Glock mag lower. On the semiauto, I used a borrowed Glock 17 magazine, and it was sweet. I believe the JP 9mm will quickly become the standard against which other pistol caliber AR-15s are judged! We filmed everything for SHOOTING GALLERY, and you'll see it in January.

This is a super little rifle!

What We Bring With Us

RE: comments on the last post , I suspect that whether it's a hunt, a match, an "adventure," or a family vacation, the most important thing is something you bring with you, and that is an open mind. When I was a professional journalist, it wasn't unusual for an editor to ask me in advance of a trip "what the story was." My response was always that I didn't know, that the story wouldn't tell me what it was until I was in the field.

I have an idea of how Africa is going to go...we've put a huge amount work into putting this trip together...but once we're on the ground the trip will definite itself. Like Larry, I want to know everything...I obsessively collect information. As for shooting, we'll see. 

Spent the day standing in the rain at the range...I feel like I've been in the wash cycle for a few hours!

Am still processing the Oklahoma killing. I've said before that I think the mainstream culture is irrevocably broken, as if some fundamental "humanness" has been sectioned out and replaced with an emptiness that can never be filled.

Working Like a Crazed Hamster in a Wheel!

But the podcast is finished!

And I like it, which is pretty good. Finished up with some Abney Park steampunk, which makes me happy.

Heres an article at JERKING THE TRIGGER on red dot sights vs. 1X mag optics that everyone should read. This is an excellent article, and it will really help you understand how the two things work. Once again, the Aimpoint CompM4 was magnificent at Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun!

I'm also now frantically setting up for Africa ...and yes, I'll publish my checklist, which is more or less the same checklist as my friend Tim Wegner, the founder of Blade Tech and a master African hunter.

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti...

Sigh... not enough hours in the day...you just imagine that you will have all this time on the gun, dinking this and changing that...but it just doesn't work out that way. I know how to pull the trigger (I hope). I am going to spend some time next week with my good friend Ed Head at GUNSITE and do the last dialing in.

Low-end Steiner binocs; Leupold 800i rangefinder; Leupold 2-12X FireDot; Hornady 165-gr International; Ruger Guide Gun .300 Win Mag; Galco Safari Ching Sling, small Cold Steel knife...pray for surf! LOL!

Am really excited about this week's podcast...lemme know what you think!

Jalapeño!

My Sweetie was making her wonderful shrimp quesadillas, so I roasted a couple of jalapeños we had in the house. Holy cow, were those suckers hot, even after they were roasted! Luckily, my Sweetie and I have a Law of Hot Stuff in Cooking, which is that we both have to agree that the ingredient is not so hot that one of us can't eat it...this rule went into effect after a pot of chili that was on the verge of spontaneous combustion.

The meal was accompanied by Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale, a Bend microbrewery specialty, in honor of the beer we didn't drink out in Oregon. Mostly been laying low this weekend, taking the Wonder Beagle on a long hike, working my way through the Africa checklist, etc. Will be at the Rockcastle 3-Gun Pro-Am next week, following Dianna Liedorff and Randi Rogers in the Pro and Michelle Cerino in the Amateur.

BTW, and you didn't hear it from me, Gemtech may be getting in yet another load of their superb .22LR subsonic ammo, so you might want to place an order. In my experience this is the absolutely best ammo to run in suppressed .22s, and I pretty much tried them all last summer. The Gemtech .22s runs all my silenced semiautos and is accurate as all get-out. And no, Gemtech isn't a sponsor...I just like the stuff!

Greetings From Oregon!

And Boy Howdy, am I sleepy!

Finished up the Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun this morning about 3AM...9 stages over 2 nights.  Here's the Cliff Notes version -- I easily did twice as well as last year, but still slower than molasses in liquid nitrogen. Overall, though, I'm really pleased.

The guns were 100% -- no problems of any kind. I made the absolute right choice of kit for the match. The Daniel DDM4 was a rock! I loved shooting the rifle. The Ruger SR-9 performed with boring regularity....one thing I did very different from last year was I leaned very heavily on the Streamlight TLR-2 laser (we'll be talking about this in the podcast next week). How did it work? I don't think I dropped a single shot on paper. The Carbon Arms VersaMax performed to my admittedly high  expectations. Yes, I had newbie problems, but NO TRAIN WRECKS!

Also, I'm happy to say all hit ALL the long shots -- 4 200 yards with a Colt 5.56 fitted with an FLIR thermal imager; 2 100 yard/ 2 50 yard with a Colt Competition Rifle with night vision. Also did good with a full auto SCAR, a SAW belt-fed and with a PWS SBR and suppressed Glock 17 all run with nighvision goggles.

C'mon, how freakin' cool is it to get to shoot all that stuff?!?!?!??!?

The CT Midnight match is truly one of the great shooting matches out there. I love it. As long as they keep inviting me, I'll keep shooting it.

Full report on DOWN RANGE Radio next week.

Congrats to CT, all the sponsors and Match Director Chuck Anderson for a fine match!

Finished up the first 5 stages by 4:30 AM; the last 4 stages last night by 3:30 AM.

Crisis Spreads!

From Fox:

Testicle-biting fish invading Denmark, authorities warn

Yes, they're spreading like butter on hot waffles, or Anthony Weiner on, well, whatever it is Anthony Weiner spreads himself on (yeech!). I believe it's only a matter of time until they're in the Caribbean, up the Mississippi, into the Great Lakes, stock ponds, public pools, the Detroit water supply, San Francisco Bay and, finally, in your bathtub. Am I the only person worried about this? Raw fear is spreading!

Anyway, am as ready as I'm likely to get for the Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun this week. Just got to pack the guns up tomorrow AM. Spent some time between recording chunks of the podcast dry-firing the Ruger SR-9 I used last year (and used in the IDPA Worlds). Wish I'd sent the Ruger off to Wayne Novak for a set of night sights like I truly meant to do last year, but hey, plans, best-laid, off to go astray, etc. 

Interestingly enough, I just got a gun I ordered ages ago, a Ruger #1 Sporter in 45-70. It's a gun that I've lusted over for years and years. I considered it for Africa (the reason I finally ordered one), but opted instead for the Guide Rifle. Ruger only makes the 45-70s them sporadically, so I didn't cancel my order. I'm glad I didn't. It's a beautiful gun, and I look forward to spending some time shooting it. My love for the 45-70 begin when I was in high school and my father got a cut-down Trapdoor Springfield in trade fore something or other. He kept it as a wall-hanger, but I got the local gun store to order some 405-gr lead rounds and I shot the crap out of that old Trapdoor. I just loved the buck and roar out of that 16-inch barrel!

Scumbag Alert!

If you haven't had your fill of morons this weekend, here's one for you...Mr. Rick Scalzo, dumb as a sack of rocks:

“I need an assault rifle and 20 round clips to defend my home” 

Bullshit. First of all who in the hell are you defending your home from? The Taliban? Unless you are sitting in a chair at your front door, magazine in, round chambered and safety off, you are not going to shoot a damn thing. So in reality, if I had broken in, by the time you got up, got the gun out and started loading it, I would have taken it from you and beat you to death with it.

You betcha, Rick! Your wiener must be the size of an SUV! Good grief...is it just e or do these guys get dumber every week?

A Big Saturday Sigh...

...was shooting a pretty good cowboy match today until the last stage, when one of my pistols tanked. Well, more correctly, the ammo tanked...had a high primer that sank my match. Yes, I check my match ammo after I reload it, but I pulled an old round off my belt to finish up a cylinder-full. Yep, dat's the one!

It was also about a thousand degrees hotter than it was predicted to be...was a scorcher on the range.

Meanwhile, this is what's really on my mind...from Drudge:

Swedish men warned of crotch-chomping fish

I'm afraid to go near my bathtub! This is worse than the damned beavers. Here's the rest of the story:

"They bite because they're hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouth," he explained.

Well, that answers all my questions! Except for the ball noshing-fish, which have not yet been sighted in Oregon, I'm pretty much as ready as I'm likely to get for the CT Midnight 3-Gun. Maybe I should bring a harpoon, just in case.

I have to say that my knees aren't holding up as well as I hoped since I picked up my hiking schedule in anticipation of Africa. Every 14 months they get injected with some kind of genetically engineered sludge to keep them working, sort of like temporarily chrome-plating them. I'm 10 months into the last injection (which is delivered through a needle the size of a glue gun, BTW), but hiking with weights is stressing them quite a bit. Have I mentioned that getting old sucks? Oh well...I never thought all those triathlons and marathons and other stupid stuff was going to be free. I suppose a couple of pounds of Celebrex will get me through.

Worship at the Church of Dillon Blue...

Yep, a reloading day when I finish the day's television work. Here's an interesting story from U.S. News on the coming bloodbath in Republican primaries, specifically mentioning Colorado:

So the cannibalistic exercise that will be the Republican 2016p primary is hardly unfamiliar to Colorado voters. It's gained volume with the Rand Paul-Chris Christie spat, and shows no signs of abating with Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz visiting Iowa and urging a government shutdown. Meanwhile Paul, a senator from Kentucky, and the National Association for Gun Rights have already started attacking other Republicans for being too soft on gun rights.

This goes back to the "Watching the Republicans Commit Suicide" post I did a bit back. On one level I think what we're seeing is a growing schism between the old skol GOP and the gun culture/vote (and yes, Chris Christie signed the antigun laws in New Jersey). I think some of the old skol "conservative" pols (read, John McCain and his cabal) have an almost obsessive need to be "respected" by the political Left. Coupled with the fact that there was never a real depth of commitment in the mainstream Republicans for the Second Amendment, I think this may be an inevitable conflict.

Republicans have taken the gun vote for granted for more than 2 decades. When I started going to Washington and actually talking to "our" legislators, color me naive...I was shocked at how shallow their commitment to us actually was. For years it didn't make any difference, because our enemies hadn't really be able to mount a major offensive...it's easy to support gun rights if all you have to do is mouth platitudes and occasionally pat us on the head like we're aging spaniels. With this year's brutal antigun offensive, though, the bill came due — and to their credit, the bulk of the Republican support held.

I think the developing schism is indeed between the libertarian — small "L" — side of the party and the  old skol, with the gun rights supporters solidly in the libertarian column. It's not that the old skol is antigun, it's just that in their view gun rights as ranking slightly lower than "opposition to lead paint" on their list of important topics. My experience in talking with the old skol pols was that they couldn't quite grasp why we were so outspoken on gun rights. I recall an event in Washington where one Senator said to me something along the lines of  "I support and vote conservation and hunt deer every fall...what more do you want?" That's why the mainstream GOP can so enthusiastically embrace someone like Christie, one of the most antigun governors in America, and be completely blind as to the impending election disaster such support will guarantee.

I don't want a Republican President...I want an enthusiastically pro-gun President (who will, I concede, probably be a Republican). I don't want a President who says he will sign an AWB if it comes to his desk, so make sure it doesn't nudge nudge wink wink say no more (George W. Bush, more or less), but a President who says , "Hell no! I'll veto any bill I believe abrogates the Second Amendment!" We have had a tough year, and we've taken some serious losses. The net result of the most recent gun battles (so to speak) is that we are increasingly suspicious of pols who waffle, who talk out of both sides of their mouth about gun rights, who refuse to answer simple questions on where they stand. I say again...if the Republicans choose a dedicated antigun politician as their standard-bearer, after November 7, 2016, I suspect there wont be much of a Republican Party left. Consider one of Michael's Rules: Don't walk into a fan if you don't have to!

"Cowboy" Jack Clement, R.I.P.

I note the passing of Nashville legend Jack Clement, known to everyone as "Cowboy,"
today at the age of 82. Cowboy was one of the greatest record producers in the history of the business, an eclectic genius prone to great flights of fantasy and creating breath-taking music. He was also my friend, one of the subjects of my first book, and a man who taught me much of what I know about music.

Here's his USA Today obit, which is pretty good.

I recall sitting next to him on at the little sound board at his house, The Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa, while he worked with the music of friends like John Prine or Townes Van Zant who just dropped by to pick a little. Sometimes Cowboy would just tell stories, like when Bono and The Edge from U2 showed up on his porch to ask him to produce and he didn't know who they were, or what it was like in the studio at Sun Records recording Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, or sometimes Johnny Cash would come by with his own stories. Every so often Cowboy would play a track, then ask me, "What do you hear, Michael?" I'd make some idiot remark about bringing up the bass line or adding some "sweetening," and he'd just shake his head sadly.

"No, Michael...what do you hear?"

Because more than the music, Cowboy heard the essential truth behind the music, the connection to all the music that has gone before and all that will follow. And that truth was the centerpiece of his life.

I once asked Sam Phillips, "Mr. Sam," the founder of Sun Records, about Cowboy in the early days. Mr. Sam just shook his head and laugh. "That was a crazy man," he said, "but he could sure hear the music."

Cowboy and I were talking about hit records once, and he said, "You know, it's not that hard, Michael. The friends and neighbors will always tell you what they want, and the friends and neighbors are always right."

When asked my the Nashville Tennessean about what it takes to make it to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Cowboy said, "Trying to do something that hans't been done before is good,"

Go with God, my friend.

I will have a tribute to the music of "Cowboy" Jack Clement on Wednesday's podcast.

Slacker!

Yes, I've been slacking on the blog this week, partly because I be a busy little beaver. The Daniel Defense AR with the Aimpoint is sighted in for the CT Midnight 3-Gun, the VersaMax is running like a top and even the Ruger SR9 is happy...I do have to sight in the Streamlight laser on it, though...last year my slacking on that little point came back and bit me hard in the rump.

I've also been working with the Africa rifle, the Ruger Guide Gun in .300 Win Mag (with Rem 180s). I don't have the scope yet — I went with the Leupold VX-6 2-12 with the illuminated FireDot reticle and turrets cut for the Hornady 165-gr International loads — so I've been using the "express" sights that come on the rifle...a shallow "V" in the rear and a white dot front sight. I'm basically starting with 10 shot strings at 50 yards, then moving forward or sideways and firing from different positions off sticks...sitting, kneeling (right knee, left knee, both knees), standing, offhand. Keep all the shots in an IDPA target "zero down" zone. It's a pretty good drill for the rifle and it'll make you work. I figure if I can do this, say, 1000 more times, I'll be good to go for Africa! LOL!

Once again, the Ruger muzzle brake just plain rocks. I'm going to talk Ruger out of another one and put it on the GUNSITE Scout Rifle.

BTW, I'm hearing that the Great AR Bubble is in full-scale fizzle. Cliff's Notes version...back orders are vanishing faster than .22LR ammo at a Cabela's new store opening. Small to medium sized companies that bet heavily on their back orders — that is, they ordered components to fill the back orders — are up against the wall. The components are only now being shipped, but the back orders (at least between 50 and 75% of them) are gone baby gone. Essentially, at the height of the Bubble customers were placing multiple orders, intending the buy the gun that came in first.

I suspect the 7.62/.308 AR-10 platforms may be at the greatest risk... the market is simply not that large (unless you are of the prepper persuasion and looking for a quality major caliber semiauto rifle...keep your eyes on Colt or FAL, with a couple of other good alternatives on the way...more about that later).

I've said this before and I'll say it again...I think everyone in America should own an AR, and as prices plummet, it's almost time to buy. In the last week, I have seen "commodity" ARs at less than $700, and "name" ARs below $1000. BUY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MARKET! I unconditionally recommend ARs from my sponsors — Ruger, DoubleStar, Stag, Daniel Defense — these guys build superb guns! I own guns from each of them and use them on a regular basis. I also unconditionally recommend JP Rifles, Spike's Tactical, Wilson Combat (I wish the Paul Howe carbine would follow me home!) and Carbon Arms. My next project gun is a .300 Blackout with a Carbon Arms upper and a Spike's lower. If we can ever get .458 SOCOM ammo again, I'd love to build one off a Wilson Combat upper. At least I can dream!

Margarita Monday!

A simple one (Corazon Reposada, Grand Marnier and lemon/lime juice) and grilled salmon with soy and wasabi. Perfect end to a podcast day! I focused on cowboy stuff today, pulling lessons from High Noon and The Shootist. I spent a little time working on the CT Midnight 3-Gun AR, the Daniel Defense DDM4,  changing out the charging handle and mounting the Aimpoint, a Comp M4. Tomorrow I'll put in a Timney triggerand the new comp/flash hider. Hopefully some trigger time tomorrow afternoon.

Interesting story on THE FIREARM BLOG on H-K in Germany producing a couple of variants of semiauto MP5s that might, just might, be importable into the U.S. Semiauto MP5s were available for a time in the U.S. I think they'll sell like popcorn.

Sebastian and Bitter at SHALL NOT BE QUESTIONED are doing a magnificent job of explaining the antigun propaganda document that has been unearthed (here, here and here). Please read their posts! I'm pretty behind on a lot of this stuff...am swamped trying to get the shows filmed. BTW, GUN STORIES is the top Wednesday night show (again) and I believe the top show on OUTDOOR CHANNEL. Considering there's new management at OC, I'd say that's a good thing.

I have to show you this picture from our THE BEST DEFENSE filming a couple of weeks ago. It's a date rape scenario with Mike Seeklander as the raper and his girlfriend as the victim. We'd finished filming when Janich and I suggested one more final shot, the dead girl shot, with Seeklander walking away and casual kicking the "body."

Janich's and my goal was a "set piece" that looked like the poster for a slasher movie...we pretty much succeeded, I think. Everyone on the room thought this was a profoundly disturbing scenario. That means it works!

Just got  notice that my Ruger #1 in 45-70 is on the way home. As much as I love my 450/400 3-inch, it is less than practice to shoot. The 45-70 seems like a good choice to add to the battery.

And, yes, I WILL finish THE NEW SURVIVAL GUNS this year!!!!!

It's Saturday & I Don't Have to Work...

...much. There is a chance, a teensy-tiny chance, that I can get to the range this afternoon to do a little AR  and cowboy revolver work. Otherwise, I'll just tinker and reload. I got one of the TSD Kompressor muzzle brakes, so I'll throw that on an AR today...I'm curious about how it will work. TSD claims it'll work both as a flash hider and a compensator. I'd rather run a flash suppressor than a comp at Crimson Trace, but heck, at the level I shoot at I don't suppose it'l matter one bit! LOL! I've pretty much standardized on the TSD magazines for day-to-day shooting, BTW. Glad I had plenty when Governor John "Gee Mr. Bloomberg...can I wear long pants today?" Hickenstoopid's magazine ban went into effect!

Also, thanks to my friends at Crimson Trace for their email blast promoting the CT "Laser's Edge" video:

After you get the great "Laser's Edge" video, you can learn more from my Panteao "Make Ready with Michael Bane — Concealed Carry" video.

Couple of good reads for you today. Once again, my friend Ron Larimer at WHEN THE BALLOON GOES UP has been doing a series of posts on why competition is good for you. You all know I'm a big proponent of competition for a number of reasons, first and foremost the concept of "stress inoculation." Yes, a competition is false stress...you aren't going to die if you drop points. But repeated exposure to lower levels of stress "inoculates" you against higher stress, such as when your actual ass is on the line. Stress inoculation was a critical learning point when I was training for high-risk "adventures." My trainers repeatedly used false stress (and taught me how to integrate it into my own training) while I was getting ready to do something with a high consequence from failure.

There is actually a lot of learning theory suggesting that a level of stress/fear helps in learning (here's one of many...little bit different spin here). When I first started reading about enhanced learning when stress/fear chemicals were present, it made perfectly good sense to me from a evolutionary standpoint. What are the lessons you — or your very ancient ancestors — needed to learn 100%? I submit the lessons that have a direct effect on your ability to go on living...saber-toothed tiger scary...must avoid! Or kill.

On a slightly similar note, Kathy Jackson over at CORNERED CAT has a great piece on "Dying of Embarrassment:"

Criminals, especially predatory criminals, make a living by reading people. In order to stay alive and stay out of jail, they learn to watch the signals other people send. They literally gamble their lives and their freedom on choosing the “right” people to attack—people who will be good victims and follow the script the criminal has prepared. One important part of that script includes you, the good person, following little social rules even when those rules narrow your choices and finally trap you in a dangerous situation you could easily have escaped otherwise. Don’t fall for it!

Read the whole thing!

Gotta go disassemble old computers to "sanitize" the hard drives with a sledge hammer!

Back from Duel in the Sun Part 2!

Robert Vogel gets "slo-mo'ed"with the Phantom at Duel in the Sun Part 2

IDPA aces Robert Vogel, Tom Yost and Randi Roger versus Wild Bunch World Champions "Evil Roy" (Gene Pearcey), "Half-A-Hand Henri" (Heather Kresser) and "Last Chance Morales" (Chance Koch) at the huge SASS Founders Ranch facility in New Mexico.

Half-A-Hand Henri on the shotgun

Boy it was fun to film, and we saw some amazing displays of shooting talent! You'll see it in the new season of SHOOTING GALLERY at the beginning of 2014. Once again, I think we're taking SG to new levels on the new season! We even flew a drone to get some pretty unique shots for this show.

Next up for me is the staff/media Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun in Bend, OR. We'll be filming for DRTV. Luckily, I have Streamlight superlights in the mail. I'm settled on the VersaMax shotgun and the SR-9 9mm, but my inclination is to go with a 1X red dot on the rifle with a 3X magnifier in reserve. I have an Aimpoint on a Daniel Defense DDM4 that's been a go-to gun for a number of years, and I suspect that's what'll be going to Bend with me.

We'll also be covering the Rockcastle Pro/Am 3-Gun in Kentucky, specifically the Women's Pro Match (and maybe the amateur match as well), then it's back to RAPID FIRE.

Iain, Seeklander and Producer Tim Cremin in his Lawrence of Arabia guise...

Watching Republicans Commit Suicide

New Jersey governor Chris Christie said yesterday that a current “strain of libertarianism” was “a very dangerous thought.”

That from the Aspen Republican Governors' conference, attacking Rand Paul. Oh, and the mainstream Republicans and pundits like Charles Krauthammer are feeling tingles up their legs:

It was an extremely important moment. Rand Paul represents the sort of isolationist wing of the Republican party; by this direct, fearless attack on him by Christie, I think he takes up the mantle of the majority of the GOP, which is interventionist. And that’s a really important moment.

You betcha! Read my lips...rally behind gun grabber/anti-Second Amendment zealot Chris Christie as the Republican standard bearer and, ultimately, the 2016 Presidential nominee, and the gun vote stays home! Say hello to President Hillary. 

C'mon guys, even Alf the Wonder Beagle can figure this one out. I like Christie's nasty repartee as much as anyone, but this is the same man who quite literally stepped up to help the Obama re-election when it was flailing and, unlike Romney, who could at least make a case that he wasn't really truly antigun, Christie's whole career has been about savaging the Second Amendment...good grief, New Jersey is HELL for gun owners. And it's a hell the mainstream Republicans want us to port over to the whole United States. Are they blind? Deaf? Are they honest-to-God that stupid?

A portion of the so-called "Republican base" refused to turn out for Mitt Romney. Imagine the bloodbath if the RINOs give in to their little inner progressive and run a man who has spat on one of the largest sectors of the Republican base.

Sorry...didn't mean to rant. And hey, interventionism has worked so well for us. Look at Iraq...whoops...Afghanistan...nope...every single place in the Middle East...nope, we tanked there, too. Maybe it's time we started thinking of NOT doing the same thing over and over again and being surprised when it doesn't work again! 

BTW, one more piece on Zimmerman, this one from Megan McArdle. I wholeheartedly agree with her overall premise, that we don't need tougher standards for self-defense law, but I do think there's still a "Zimmerman must have done something wrong" sense with which I don't agree. Read the whole thing.

Pizza Night!

My Sweetie and I are making home-made pizza tonight (pesto shrimp and a mushroom/tomato/onion/pepper are on the menu). I'm sticking with Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer, which I'm not completely in love with, but it does have a nice malty finish.

Been talking to Leupold this AM on the VX-6. My inclination is the FireDot LR illuminated reticle:

Looks like ammo will be Hornady Superformance 165-gr International, although I'll do a lot of my practice with Black Hills 180-gr.

Took the Wonder Beagle on a long hike today. Am breaking in a new set of
Lowa hiking boots. The Lowas come highly highly recommended, ands far so good. For a few years I got real stupid and skimped on hiking boots. Last year at the Crimson Trace match I was wearing a, shall we say, less expensive pair of Columbia light hikers. I thought my feet were going to explode. After the match, I threw them away. For hiking I defaulted to my winter boots, Vasque Gore-Tex. They are super warm and dry in the winter (I use them snow-shoeing), but warm for summer wear. A number of people recommended the Lowas, so I decided to give them a try.

Here's a must-read article, mostly because in the U.K. we see the realized goal of American gun grabbers — the elimination of the very concept of self-defense:

For instance in 2006 a defendant called Blackall had been shot and rendered a paraplegic by an unknown gunman who was never identified. On a further occasion a man knocked at the defendant’s front door and put a gun to his head. He reported this to the police but no one was apprehended. 

He kept a loaded revolver thereafter for his own protection. Four months later the police came to his house and he told them where his gun was. His exceptional circumstances were taken into account to reduce the sentence of five years to three years imprisonment.

That's what our blood enemies like Michael Bloomberg and Mr. Gabby Giffords (I'm sure he has a name of his own, but, really, who cares?) want for us all. In England and most of the rest of what we think of as the First World, violence is the exclusive property of the State. And the State enforces an "equivalency" of violence, that is, the non-State exercise of violence is all the same and prohibited, whether it is by an aggressor against an innocent person or an innocent person against an aggressor. Not the country the Founders envisioned, eh?

Orbiting Near the Secret Hidden Bunker

We got 5 scenarios done for the 2014 season of THE BEST DEFENSE, and they are just super! These  scenarios are in direct response to viewer requests...we think you'll really like them!

I've decided I'm going to shoot the Media/Staff Crimson Trace Midnight 3-Gun this year. I probably won't be changing much over last year, depending on what I get put together before the mid-August match. I'm still bummed that I didn't get to shoot the Ruger Rimfire Worlds...it was the right decision given our production issues at the match, but I hate it when work cuts into my shooting...LOL! Maybe I can get in a state match or so before the end of the year.

Did I mention that I picked up the Africa rifle, a Ruger Guide Gun in .300 Win Mag?

UPDATE...I did carve a few minutes out late this afternoon to go to the range after dealing with still more stuff on the Potential New Secret Hidden Bunker (anybody who tells you money is loosening up is lying through their teeth, BTW). I managed to get my Sweetie's rifle re-sighted in with the Leupold 1.5-4X Firedot I used down in Whittington while we're waiting for the Swaro to come back from the shop. The Millett I slapped on the SR-556e wasn't even on paper at 100 yards, and with a storm coming in I bagged sighting it in until another day...after I find my laser sighter to save myself some time.

I did manage to get off a few rounds from the Africa rifle with the iron sights on it with Black Hills 180-gr TSX.  I remain amazed at how well the muzzle brake on the Guide Guns (which I believe I have to remove for Africa, since everybody knows only terrorists have muzzle brakes) works. I'll get the glass next week, and the Leupold VX6 2-12X IR is definitely high on the list. Am also looking at the Burris Fullfield E1 3-9X IR.

I also got to shoot the Rock Island 9mm hi-cap Jim Anglin at Sailor's Pistols has been overhauling and that came home last week. Sweet! Shoots like a house-afire.

What Makes a Rifleman?

There's a really interesting thread on The High Road about what makes a ""rifleman." I bring it up here because it's a topic in my mind these days. I've spent most of my competitive career shooting handguns of various favors.

In recent years, thanks largely to cowboy action shooting, I find myself drifting more and more to long guns. Interestingly enough, I was talking to my friend Ken Jorgensen for Ruger at the RR Worlds last weekend, and he mentioned the he's recently become completely enamored with rifles as well. The challenge is fascinating.

So what's the general consensus of what makes a "rifleman?" To be sure, I have an Appleseed "Rifleman" patch I'm very proud of, but I would not presume to call myself a rifleman. Since I started shooting 3-Gun, I've been humbled by how much I have to learn about the rifle. I'm just starting to say, "Oh wow...so that's how that works!"

I grew up in a deer hunting family in Tennessee. In Tennessee scrub, a long shot is 50 yards, so at least in my family there wasn't the obsessive attention to detail that seems like the hallmark of a good rifle shooter (and I pretty quickly went from a Winchester 94 "thurty-thurty" to a Model 29 .44 Magnum). You can get away with a lot if you're working inside 50 yards.

Just some thoughs...

We're in Tulsa filming TBD...I died twice today...once when Mike Janich beat me to death with a hammer in my garage...the second time when he stabbed me to death in somebody's lawn. Note me crying like a little girl after being savagely "stabbed" by Mike with a "drone" knife. It turns out than when you cleverly jam your elbow into even a dull knife 1) you bleed like the proverbial stuck pig, and 2) wowie-zowie it hurts! LOL! Note to simulators...never let a good puddle of blood go to waste.

We've got 3 sims to film tomorrow, but I don't think I have to die. It's time for Seeklander to die!

Ruger Rimfire World Championships!

We filmed them for SHOOTING GALLERY this weekend in Tulsa. Mark Passamaneck put together one heck of a match...I thought the stages were superb (although, sadly, I didn't get to shoot...work, occasionally gets in the way of shooting).

We followed Allie "Allie-Cat" Barrett, the 16-year-old rimfire shooting flash from Missouri, who helped us out by winning High Woman in this year's World's. Congrats, Allie!

Busy Busy...

...pretending to be a television person. Got 3 days of SHOOTING GALLERY filming, followed by a couple of days for THE BEST DEFENSE. While I'm getting ready for those days, I'm watching rough cut episodes of GUN STORIES (which are just wonderful, BTW...if you're not following this season on Wednesday night, you're missing our best work). Of course the Internet connection hear at the Secret Hidden Bunker is so slow that it makes watching any video stream just plain painful.

Gunwise, I spent a few hours yesterday setting up a Ruger SR-556e for 3-Gun. Piston guns like the Ruger are not popular in 3-Gun because of their heavier weight than a gas gun . This one has been worked on by John Paul at JP Rifles and is pretty sweet. I put a Millett DMS 1-4X on a Burris P.E.P.R. mount on it to see it runs. The Milletts are often deep-discounted, and I have a couple of them I got a great prices that I use as "bread-and-butter" scopes for testing, on back-up rifles, etc.

BTW, I was a Burris in Greeley, CO, earlier this week, asnd my friend Matt Joyner, who handles Steiner's government and law enforcement sales in the U.S., had one of the 3 Steiner 1-5X scopes in the country (the other 2 are in military hands for testing).

I handled this scope when I was at Steiner in Germany recently, and I immediately was overcome with a wave of scope lust. It's a Steiner, so of course it's a tank. Here's the reticle:

It's very fast to acquire and as a true 1X you can use it the same way you use any red dot, with both eyes open. Matt had it on an H&K, and I said hey, I'll just take this home! I didn't, but my name is first on the list when the first 5 arrive in a couple of weeks.

The Swaro is in the shop since I managed to snap off the illumination switch. My Sweetie copped the Leupold Firedot 1.5-4X for her Stag 3-Gun rifle for next week's local match. Forget the scope...I need a Designated Shooter...Paging Kalani Laker!