Empty Cases

Last weekend several folks in the gun industry met at my remote hunting camp in the West Virginia hills. Actually, we met in the town of Romney so that I could lead them all in to my rugged, backwoods retreat. My dog was with me and everyone commented about how calm she was when meeting her, on the leash and at my side. That night we all conversed around the fire and Whiskey – my dog – lay at my feet. When we retired my guests climbed the stairs and I made a bed on the couch downstairs. Whiskey slept in the floor beside the couch. It was a long day of travel for many of us and we were tired. At about 2:00 AM custom rifle builder Charlie Sisk realized he needed to take a trip downstairs to the head. I woke up to an episode of the nastiest snarling, growling and barking you can imagine. Mixed in with the fearful K9 vocalizations was a squeaky plea from a man begging the dog not to chew on any of his body parts. I managed to get a hand on Whiskey’s collar and convince her that it was just her friend Charlie from the night before. The next morning everyone in camp had a different opinion of the calm dog they had met the day before and several of the guests said that they also needed to take a trip to the head that night but after the Charlie and Whiskey episode they just decided to hold it until daylight. With the exception of...

I don’t like shotguns. When I was young my mother and father hunted with shotguns. In fact, my father killed every West Virginia game animal except a black bear with a shotgun. He was the best shotgun shooter I’ve ever seen. If a ruffed grouse flushed within his swing it was dead. On my first squirrel hunt I set at my father’s feet with a model 37 Winchester .410. I shot a box of shells at squirrels and never hit a single one. After that I figured shotguns and me were incompatible and I started hunting with a .22 rifle. The squirrels wished – and still do – that I’d stuck with the shotgun. Its not that I have never used a shotgun successfully; after all, as a cop there was one in my patrol car or hands for 13 years. In fact, a shotgun was a constant companion during the aftermath of Katrina. Admittedly, when it comes to clay targets zooming through the air, I’m not the guy you want shooting at them but I’ve held my own with feathered flying things and more dangers critters. It’s just that I’m not particularly fond of shooting things that fly and for that reason the shotgun has never had great appeal. For other hunting and personal protection needs I’ve always felt I could employ a handgun, rifle or carbine to effectively take care of the problem. However, I recently spent three days at Gunsite taking a tactical / defensive...

There’s no shortage of folks building custom 1911 handguns. Do you need a custom 1911 handgun? Probably not but some folks like to have the best. That’s why they drive an Audi or eat kobe beef. Wanting the best is why I married the woman I did and why I’ve made sure she stayed happy for the last 20 years. With pistols its no different. You can have a regular, run of the mill 1911 or you can have the best. A few years back I reviewed a custom 1911 from Nighthawk and was impressed with the quality. Lately I’d been hearing that their pistols were even better. When the man running the show at Nighthawk asked if I would come to Gunsite with him and shoot his pistols I accepted the invitation. What I was surprised to learn was that instead of standing around and bragging about his pistols while I shot them, this guy wanted to learn and for three days I played with his guns and he trained. I was impressed with the humbleness of Mark Stone and I was impressed with the handguns his company created. I tried to make them fail and emptied cases of ammo in the process. But more than anything I was impressed with his commitment to building the best 1911 that could be made. And, even more so about his willingness to learn what he and his talented gun builders can do to make them better. When I asked Mark Stone what...

When I carry a defensive handgun it most often rides in Galco Gunleather. On the range my most used holster is the Avenger. The same holster works equally well with my 1911s or my Hi-Power. For concealment I generally turn to the V-Hawk. Like the Avenger it will work with a 1911 or a Hi-Power and it is super easy to take on and off. Leather has been the standard encasement for steel pistols for a long time but poly holsters and even plastic handguns, are becoming more popular. Even Galco makes holsters that are not made of leather.   Sometimes however I need ultra concealment with a small handgun like when it is very hot or if I need to be as covert as possible. In those instances I often turn to a compact .380 and a Versacarry. The Versacarry is a plastic clip carry system that utilizes a polymer muzzle rod that inserts into the muzzle of the handgun. It is an undersized rod so it will never get stuck in the barrel and it sits at an angle to provide friction between the handgun and the belt clip. The unit weighs less than an ounce and adds no bulk to your carry. For compact handguns it is the most covert and comfortable carry system I’ve found. No, this is not a training holster; like a pocket holster or some other IWB carry systems you must remove the holster to reholster the handgun. In my mind it is very similar to...

It’s hard to think of times when I have gotten bored while shooting. I’ve been on a few prairie dog hunts where boredom set in on about the third day. This usually resulted in trying to shoot them at stupid long range or from the opposite shoulder. This weekend I got bored shooting the Sisk S.T.A.R. rifle because out to the 300-yard limit of our range, I could not miss. So, I figured it was time to attempt something a bit more difficult such as shooting a handgun while on the move. I don’t mean walking or running, I mean from a moving vehicle. We strategically placed a few steel targets, loaded some magazines for the Nighthawk commander and climbed on the Polaris Ranger. We took turns driving and shooting. I cannot offer a great deal of advice on this endeavor other than 100 rounds of ammo is not enough to figure out the proper technique. However I did make two observations. 1. The secret still applies; you must keep the sight on the target while you press the trigger. (We plan to try it with the laser sight and an RMR equipped handgun next.) 2. The driver is as much a contribution to getting hits as you are. This reminds me of a comment from shooter and friend Johnny Walker when he was talking about trick marksmen capable of shooting an Aspirin out of the air. Walker liked to note that the guy throwing the Aspirin was...

Precision rifle shooting as distance requires and accurate rifle, good optics and good ammo. Doing it from a bench at the range is one thing, doing it in the field where there are no benches or sandbags is another. I spent three days at my hunting camp with Charlie Sisk of Sisk Rifles, Mark Boardman Vortex Optics and Janet Fife who works with Surefire. I was not the only writer type guy there. Adam Heggenstaller, Managing Editor with NRA’s American Hunter and freelancer James Pinsky were also in attendance. We shot the S.T.A.R. from about every position you could dream up and we did it in daylight, low light and no light (With flashlights of course.) Having done a good deal of precision shooting and having even been assigned designated marksman duties when I was in law enforcement I really appreciated everything this rifle brings to the table. Its hard to imagine a position you could get in with this rifle where you could not make it fit you. And, here is the selling point: you would never consider purchasing a long range precision scope that you could not adjust, why then would you consider purchasing a long range / tactical rifle that you could not adjust? Maybe the best way to see how adaptive this rifle is, is to watch the video.

Over the last three days Sheriff Jim Wilson, the guys from Nighthawk, and I have put hundreds of rounds – cases of ammo – down range. I have been impressed with the reliability – we never cleaned a gun – the accuracy, and the seemingly less recoil – they have a recoil mitigating trick or two. This was not your typical media event; the Nighthawk boys came to Gunsite to learn and I commend them for wanting to broaden their gun handling knowledge as well as for wanting to learn more about what their customers, and potential customers, expect their pistols to do. Jim and I mostly did our own thing – this translates to us, with the help of a few Gunsite instructors, trying to make their guns not work – while the Nighthawk crew worked with the talented Il Ling New. Three Nighthawks got my attention. The fist was a .45 Commander built to my specs: smooth blackstrap, stippled front strap, smooth as butter all over and XS sights. Simple? Yep, but all you really need. The other is a new Nighthawk pistol Bat Mann would like. It is a five inch 9mm with a straight trigger and an integral Trijicon RMR. Its called the NightOwl and shooting it is like cheating! No, it is cheating! And finally the Nighthawk Lady Hawk seems perfect for Drema. Yeah, she’s been shooting a five inch 45 put together...

Introduction: Richard Mann I was not going to tell this story, it’s not representative of my shooting abilities or the way I typically hunt. However, after some urging from our PH I agreed to let him tell it and promised that if he would write it I would blog it. I never thought he would but it arrived by e-mail just the other day. So, in keeping with my promise, here you have the story in all its embellishment and glory. Thank goodness Leon wrote in English and not Africans or we would all be wondering how big the whopper he has told actually was. It’s clear that Leon is a true hunter, his truth stretching and range finding abilities make him capable of fitting in at any American hunting camp. ————————- Story by: Dr. Leon du Plessis This is the tale of two blesbok. However, I am getting ahead of myself. All of us have dreams, a bucket list or a list of some sorts. Well, for me as a Professional Hunter in South Africa that list is long, very long indeed. Being a relatively unknown guide, one of those dreams has always been to hunt with a famous gun writer. Years ago, I used to guide more days a year than not. Recent years due to family commitments (a daughter of almost five and wife of course) that has changed, and I live for those weeks in each year when my feet...

So, I’m not a shotgun guy. This is why I don’t generally write about shotguns. However, sometimes things happen that are worth writing about. Today while testing the Mossberg  590 Magpul at 50 yards with slugs I fired this three shot group from the seated position. This was not the only group; there were three others of about the same size. Fired with XS Sights mind you. I’m still not a shotgun kind of guy but I could trust precision like this.  So I’m wondering, could I might need a shotgun or did I fire too many slugs today and might be a little punch drunk?  

Playing dress up is not just for Halloween and the bedroom.

I wrote an article for NRA’s Shooting Illustrated magazine about the Remington R 51. In it I said, “It’s hard to classify the Remington R 51 as any thing other than the best new compact 9mm handgun on the market.” When production guns hit the street some users experienced problems. After this seemed to be the norm rather than the exception, I contacted Remington as asked them, “What gives?” It was explained to me that when the R 51 went into full-scale production they found the manufacturing and quality control procedures in place were not sufficient for this new design and that they were fixing the problem. I suggested Remington let this be known but it seems the only thing that happens swiftly in the corporate world is dropping the sponsorship of someone who says something that hurts the feelings of four or five people. People make mistakes, groups of people make mistakes (elections are proof of that) and companies make mistakes. When you make a mistake the right thing to do is say, “I made a mistake. I’m sorry, I’ll make it right.” Apologies are a wonderful thing but, unfortunately, not as common as mistakes. Remington made a mistake. They introduced the R–51 to the world by providing hand tuned pre-production samples to gun writers before they realized the production works they had in place were not sufficient to mass...

Ok, this is weird. No, its not some sort of attachment for a farm implement and its not a piece of a Nazi torture device. Its the revolutionary S.T.A.R. stock joint for the Sisk S.T.A.R. rifle. Now, you won’t see a description of this cool tool in many magazines, Sisk has putt al his time, effort and money into perfecting the design as opposed to media relations and advertising. But, if you are looking for a stock for your long range precision rifle and you want that stock to fit you not matter your size or the positions you might get in, then the S.T.A.R. stock is something you might want to look into. You can bolt it right on your Remington model 700 or you can buy a complete custom rifle from Sisk. Here’s the thing, the modularity and adjustability is not just in the wrist and butt of the stock. Sisk has engineered a good bit of versatility into the front of the stock too. It can be had with an integral Surefire light, suppressor storage and can be configured to work with any night vision device. In a couple weeks I’ll be shooting several S.T.A.R. rifles at my hunting camp – day and night – expect a full report. In the meantime, here’s what Jeff Quinn at Gunblast has to say about the S.T.A.R.

Unlike most AR owners I did not loose my mind over the new .300 Blackout cartridge. It has however become the thing to be shooting. If you are addicted to subsonic stuff I can see the appeal. And, I also recognize that everyone likes different things. I don’t like Glocks, the .30-06 or stupid people. So, I kinda get it. At the direction of the editor at Shooting Illustrated I investigated almost every commercial load available for the Blackout. Then, I took all that brass and made some of my own. I discovered two things. (1) I really liked shooting the little CVA single shot Scout in .300 Blackout; what a great, lightweight gun for kids or for just packing around. (2) My favorite load was with a surprise bullet from Speer, their 110 grain Deep Curl. It was accurate and nasty wicked like in gel blocks. Shooting Illustrated has just posted my article on hand loading the Blackout on their web site and if you are a Blackout loving kind of guy, you might might a load or two in there that you like.

I am a confessed 1911 addict. Of course I like other handguns. I like the Ruger Single Six (now Seven) in .32 whatever and I like Blackhawks. Admittedly, as far as pistols go, I carry my HiPower most often. Even if Bryce Towsley thinks a 9mm unsuitable, like COL Cooper did, for personal protection. Still, there is something about a 1911 and since there is no such thing as a perfect 1911 – except one built just the way you want it – a man has to go through several to find just what he’s looking for. Could this one be it? The pistol geniuses at Nighthawk asked me what kind of 1911 I’d want if I could only have one; kind of a signature 1911. The choices were easy and there was nothing fancy about it. I told them a .45 with an extended thumb safety and a good trigger, a beavertail, XS Big Dot sights, smooth all over like unmentionable female parts and finished in Confederate grey. I’ll be at Gunsite next week suffering through a shotgun course with Mossberg (I don’t like shotguns but I’m willing to learn and Mossberg said they would be patient with me and could change my mind), touring the new Timney factory and hanging out with the High Sheriff. Then the Sheriff and I will spend a few days shooting with Nighthawk. I understand he ordered a 1911 from them too; one that he thought might...

In the August 2014 issue of Guns & Ammo magazine you will find the first article I wrote for this publication. When the new editor Eric Poole asked me what I wanted to write, the choice was simple; I wanted to tell the story of Cooper and Gunsite, both of which were a large part of Guns & Ammo for a long time. Poole agreed and though he published another article of mine first, I’m proud to say this was my first contribution. Gunsite is a special place and it is a integral part of firearms history…and the history of my family. My wife, my son and I have all graduated courses at Gunsite. Gun gods willing, both our daughters will too. It is our alma mater. If you are a member of the Gunsite Family or if you do not really know what Gunsite is about or its history, I suggest you read the article. Its on newsstands now.  

So for those who don’t know, every year FMG Publications hosts a shooting event called the Industry Masters. The goal of this event is to bring the industry together for fun and networking and to expose different factions of the industry to others. For example, companies that only make holsters get to shoot guns and companies that only make pistols get to shoot long guns. Its mostly fun and they keep the scores secret so no one gets embarrassed but I think the secret is that the folks at FMG are laughing behind closed doors at how bad everyone shoots. This is not a gun writer event. Its intended for manufacturers and their employees. However, some of the more savvy gun writers have managed to slip onto a manufacturer’s team so they can join in the fun. I’m been a member of Team Timney for five years and we get better every year though I find this hard to comprehend since we are not pulling Timney’s. Bryce Towsley somehow worked his way onto Team Hornady and I was shocked to learn that he did not demand everyone compete with .45s and .458 Lotts. At any rate, the purpose for this post is not to brag about how Bryce and I sneak into a match every year, its to tell you about the one manufacturer that enjoys this event the most. Each year there is a theme and the crew at XS Sights take it seriously. This...

 

What if you could call up a manufacturer tomorrow and tell them to build you a gun; any gun you want, not just what is in their current catalog? Who would you call and what would you want. Would you call Colt and tell them to bring back the Python or would you call Bushmaster and ask them to create some unusual new semi-auto battle rifle. Its fun dreaming and sometimes its interesting to see what others dream about. (Look, I’m talking about guns here, I have no interest in hearing about your dreams where the aliens abducted you or you met this girl at the Gilligan’s Island festival.) So, while attending the Shooting Industry Masters in Orlando this past weekend I asked a bunch of industry professionals what gun they would want and how much they would pay for it. It will be blatantly obvious to you that some of these folks think differently than the rest of us and that some of the questions were asked right about the time of last call. Ryan Tuttle – Owner/Operator Threat Dynamics Ryan simply asked for a single stacked Glock that would hold five rounds of .45 ACP and he said he would pay $ 525.00 for one. I can’t imagine why anyone would get to wish for a dream gun and choose a Glock. Well, unless it had a steel frame, thumb safety, exposed hammer and looked like a 1911. Chuck Buis – Tactical Accessories Product Director ATK I...

I did it and it was fun and productive. The tactics used here still apply. If you are heading off on safari I suggest you pick up some lights from ExtremeBeam and a call from FoxPro. ( The Shockwave call with the Foxjack 3 decoy attachment works like magic.) Other than that your success will mostly depend on your set up, your patience, and your shooting. READ MORE HERE As a side note, I’ve still yet to kill a jackal. On this trip my son did all the shooting, using our CUR in .25-45 Sharps, so I would suggest you not take him with you if you want to shoot anything.

Three years ago I wrote a column for NRA’s Shooting Illustrated magazine entitled “Scanning.” You can read it HERE. My beef was with the head wagging many tactical firearms instructors teach with no concern for the bad habits they were instilling. Teaching folks to turn their head this way and that might look super cool to some folks but without giving them something to look for and react to, its like teaching them a bad habit; like picking their nose or scratching their backside in public. Interestingly, the other day while researching some comments made by COL Copper I stumbled across this gem: “We are amused to see the prevalence of the “California Twitch” on the range. This maneuver, executed by the shooter after firing and before making safe, involves pointing to the right and the left of the target while wearing a fearsome scowl. It serves no purpose except to show that the shooter has been to a school, which picked up this mannerism in the confusion. Once acquired, the “California Twitch” is almost impossible to eradicate, something like a tattoo.” Gunsite Gossip, April Showers, Volume 23, Number 5, April 15, 2003. Yes, I’ll admit that if you are engaged in a gunfight or maybe just find yourself in a bad situation, investigating your surroundings – 360 degrees – is a good thing. You may see something that you need to...