With hunting season well underway, we know that many readers will be out in the field — with a set of binoculars. On most game hunts, you’ll spend a lot more time glassing with binocs than looking through your riflescope. With wide field of view and extended low-light capability, a good set of binoculars will be your most important game-finder. And with premium LRF binoculars, such as the ZEISS Victory series, one tool serves both for spotting and laser ranging.
“Without the stabilization of your binoculars [provided by] a tripod … you will be missing a majority of the game you are glassing for.” — Outdoorsmans.com
In this article, Vortex Optics’ Mark Boardman, an experienced hunter, explains the benefits of using a tripod with high-magnification binoculars. Everybody knows that powerful spotting scopes work best when mounted to a stable tripod or otherwise secured to a steady mount. Yet when most folks use binoculars, they never even think of using a tripod, despite the fact that tripod adapters are available for many premium binoculars.
Outdoorsmans Tripod Adapters Outdoorsmans.com sells tripod adapters for various kinds of binoculars. These really work: “Mounting your binoculars to a quality tripod is a must for the serious western hunter. Without the stabilization of your binoculars [by] mounting them to a tripod … you will be missing a majority of the game you are glassing for.”
A serious hunter should learn how to glass with tripod support, using methods outlined here. With binoculars offering more that 8X magnification, you can really benefit from a steady mount. You’ll be amazed at the difference the tripod will make.
The U.S. Mid-Term elections were a “Blue Wave” with the Democratic Party taking control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. The newly-elected Democrats want to make major changes in Federal gun laws and ATF firearms policies (though President Trump retains veto power). In addition, avowedly “anti-gun” Democrats earned more seats in many state legislatures. NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) Executive Director John Commerford issued the following statement in response to Tuesday’s Mid-Term election results:
“[The election] results put progressive majorities in control of Congress and additional state houses across the country, leaving the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans under direct and immediate threat. The NRA is ready to stand and fight in Congress, the courts, and in every state where those rights are at risk. This is not the time to sit idly by and lick our wounds—it’s the time to stand up, engage, organize, and join the fight to protect the Second Amendment. The only way we stop this radical gun-grabbing agenda is if gun owners get activated to defend their rights and work tirelessly to elect pro-gun politicians in 2028.”
From article inNRAILA.org
While the complete picture from the 2026 midterm elections is still emerging, the results, to say the least, were not what gun owners wanted. Anti-gun forces took control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. They will also wield trifecta control of state government in the former pro-gun stronghold of Arizona and even in Wisconsin. The governorships of Georgia and Texas, as well as their respective houses of representatives, may also be poised to flip into anti-gun hands.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -
Virginia is a good example of what can be expected. Abigail Spanberger ran as a moderate, rarely pressing the issue of firearms. Once elected, however, she presided over the single largest binge of gun control the Old Dominion had ever seen. This included a ban on … the AR-15. It also included a law specifically designed to allow anti-gun activists to sue law-abiding gun industry members for the acts of unaffiliated third-party criminals. None of this was responsive to or necessitated by Virginia-specific problems. Rather it reflected a national agenda driven by a small handful of wealthy and elitist donors and interest groups.
So now, for the first time since 1988, Texas will send a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in the person of James Talarico, who openly backs a ban on AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles. Likewise, Michigan’s open senate seat went to Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat M.D. who suggested trading in the Second Amendment for a right to universal healthcare and who argued the right to keep and bear arms, if it protects any individual liberty, is limited to muskets.
Natchez has a page dedicated to current manufacturer rebates and special offers. With these deals you can save up to 25% on some products, as well as get free bonus products with a purchase. For example you can get a free suppressor with the purchase of a rifle, and/or you can get a free set of binoculars with the purchase of an optic. The Natchez Rebate Page has 23 money-saving offers. Here are our five (5) favorites.
You’ll find these five great discount/rebate programs below. These specials and rebates can save you big bucks on optics and ammo. Three of these rebates are good through December 31, 2026, while the two ammo rebates expire at the end of this month — November 30, 2026.
He who dies with the most toys wins — right? Well Sinclair has another interesting gadget you can add to your reloading bench. The Sinclair Case Neck Sorting Tool lets you quickly sort brass by neck-wall thickness. For those who shoot “no-turn” brass, this can improve neck-tension consistency. Large variances in neck-wall thickness can cause inconsistent neck “grip” on the bullet. Generally, we’ve found that more consistent neck tension will lower ES and (usually) improve accuracy. We know some guys who shoot no-turn 6mmBR brass in competition with considerable success — but their secret is pre-sorting their brass by neck-wall thickness. Cases that are out-of-spec are set aside for sighters (or are later skim-turned).
Watch Case Neck Sorting Tool Operation in Video
How the Case Neck Sorting Tool Works
Here’s how the Sinclair tool works. Cases are rotated under an indicator tip while they are supported on a case-neck pilot and a support pin through the flash hole. The unit has a nice, wide base and low profile so it is stable in use. The tool works for .22 through .45 caliber cases and can be used on .17- and .20-caliber cases with the optional carbide alignment rod. The MIC-4 pin fits both .060 (PPC size) and .080 (standard size) flash holes. Sinclair’s Case Neck Sorting Tool can be ordered with or without a dial indicator. The basic unit without dial indicator (item item 749006612) is priced at $59.99. With this standard tool you can use your own dial indicator with standard specifications. You can also buy the tool complete with dial indicator (item 749007129) for $89.99. IMPORTANT: This sorting tool requires caliber-specific Case Neck Pilots which must be ordered separately.
Editor’s Comment: The purpose of this Sinclair tool is rapid, high-quantity sorting of cartridge brass to ascertain significant case-neck-wall thickness variations. Consider this a rapid culling/sorting tool. If you are turning your necks, you will still need a quality ball micrometer tool to measure neck-wall thickness (to .0005) before and after neck-turning operations.
We are often asked “Can I get more velocity by switching primer types?” The answer is “maybe”. The important thing to know is that changing primer types can alter your load’s performance in many ways — velocity average, velocity variance (ES/SD), accuracy, and pressure. Because there are so many variables involved you can’t really predict whether one primer type is going to be better or worse than another. This will depend on your cartridge, your powder, your barrel, and even the mechanics of your firing pin system.
BE SAFE: Be cautious when changing primer types. Glen Zediker recommended decreasing your load ONE FULL GRAIN when changing to a different primer type, one that you haven’t used before.
Interestingly, however, a shooter on another forum did a test with his .308 Win semi-auto. Using Hodgdon Varget powder and Sierra 155gr MatchKing bullets, he found that Wolf Large Rifle primers gave slightly higher velocities than did CCI-BR2s. Interestingly, the amount of extra speed (provided by the Wolfs) increased as charge weight went up, though the middle value had the largest speed variance. The shooter observed: “The Wolf primers seemed to be obviously hotter and they had about the same or possibly better ES average.” See table:
Varget .308 load
45.5 grains
46.0 grains
46.5 grains
CCI BR2 Primers
2751 fps
2761 fps
2783 fps
Wolf LR Primers
2757 fps
2780 fps
2798 fps
Speed Delta
6 fps
19 fps
15 fps
You can’t extrapolate too much from the table above. This describes just one gun, one powder, and one bullet. Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) as they say. However, this illustration does show that by substituting one component you may see significant changes. Provided it can be repeated in multiple chrono runs, an increase of 19 fps (with the 46.0 grain powder load) is meaningful. An extra 20 fps or so may yield a more optimal accuracy node or “sweet spot” that produces better groups. (Though faster is certainly NOT always better for accuracy — you have to test to find out.)
WARNING: When switching primers, you should exercise caution. More speed may be attractive, but you have to consider that the “speedier” primer choice may also produce more pressure. Therefore, you must carefully monitor pressure signs whenever changing ANY component in a load. In his books, the late Glen Zediker recommended decreasing your load ONE FULL GRAIN when changing to a different primer type, one that you haven’t used before.
Here is a simple, low-cost way to get reliable readings of case headspace when you “bump” the shoulder back on your 6BR, .243 Win, or .308 Win brass. Credit Boyd Allen for this tip. First, you’ll need one .45 ACP case (.40 SW works too), with primer removed. Make sure the pistol case is trimmed square and that it is round. We recommend you first size it, trim it and chamfer. Next, take the .45 ACP (or .40 SW) case and slip it over the neck of a fired, unsized rifle case with the primer removed. Align the two cases between the jaws of your calipers and note the length from rim to rim (See photo below, with striped case).
OK, now you have the length for a fired rifle case BEFORE sizing. Next, take a full-length sized rifle case (without primer) and do the same thing, placing the pistol case over the neck of the FL-sized case (Bottom Photo). The difference between the two numbers is the amount of “bump” or set-back you are applying to the shoulder. Here the difference is .0015″. The amount of bump you need varies with your chamber and your load, but .0015-.002″ is a good initial setting. By using this simple tool, you can avoid bumping the shoulder too much. This will also help you set-up the depth of your full-length die to get the proper amount of bump each time.
Other Pistol Brass Types Work Too: Some folks have used this method but they prefer to work with 10mm or .40 SW brass rather than a .45 ACP, because slightly smaller-diameter pistol cases may conform to the shoulders of their sized rifle cases a bit better. That works fine — use whatever pistol brass case works best for your rifle brass. We got very repeatable results with .45 ACP brass but the method also works with 10mm or .40 SW brass. Just be sure the pistol brass has been sized, trimmed, chamfered, and de-burred.
Here’s something you don’t see every day — the inside of loaded cartridges, sliced halfway through. This lets you see how bullet core, jacket, cartridge case, powder, and primer all fit together. Give credit to the folks at FOG Ammunition for creating this interesting series of cut-through ammo images. We show four cartridges here: the .308 Winchester, 9mm Luger, 300 BLK, and .50 BMG. You’ll find two more (the .223 Remington and .45 ACP) on the original FOG Ammo Blog Article.
This .308 Winchester model took on a different approach by only cutting the brass case and displaying the full bullet, primer and powder load. A spec amount of powder was used to create the model powder form. An estimated 10% volume was added during the forming process, along with an undetermined amount of air pockets.
This bisection is a 9mm Luger Jacketed Hollow Point round with flake powder held together with super glue. After this self-defense round was cut by a trained professional the round was polished by hand. This might look like stick powder, but those are in fact flakes stacked up in cross-section. Designed in 1901 by Georg Luger, this popular cartridge is used by civilians, military, and law enforcement.
For this model of the .300 AAC Blackout (aka 300 BLK), a Dremel tool was used to create a pie cut within the bullet and brass case. A measured amount of power, roughly 65% of spec charge, was placed inside the case with super glue. This cartridge was originally optimized for subsonic use with a suppressor, so the amount of powder used is small relative to the nominal case capacity. That leaves more room for the relatively large .30-caliber bullet.
Last but definitely not least is the .50 Caliber BMG round (aka .50 Browning Machine Gun). Famed for its wartime use in the M2 Machine gun, the .50 BMG round is also used in civilian Long Range competitions. A typical .50 BMG cartridge holds over 225 grains of powder. That’s almost ten times the amount in a 5.56×45 NATO Round! To demonstrate the size of the .50 BMG, check out that .223 Rem for comparison.
Here is a great LongRangeOnly.com animated video that shows what happens when a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle cartridge is fired. The video shows how the primer ignites the powder and then how the ignited powder drives the bullet out the barrel. What makes this animation unique is that it includes charted data for the pressure levels at each stage of the process. Remarkably, this entire process — from primer flash to bullet exit from the muzzle — takes less than two (2) milliseconds. And peak pressure hits before the bullet has moved two inches. CLICK image below to WATCH the full video:
CLICK Below to WATCH Cartridge Firing Animation
This animation was created by the team at Long Range Only, which has a YouTube Channel and Facebook Page with videos. The text accompanying the animation explains:
This is a true-to-scale look inside a 6.5 Creedmoor case during the 1.4 milliseconds after the firing pin falls, built from SAAMI dimensions and real load data:
— The primer lights the powder and the brass swells out to seal the chamber.
— The neck lets go of the bullet at about 3,600 PSI.
— Pressure peaks near 62,000 PSI while the bullet is only 1.96” down the bore.
— The chamber steel stretches about .0016″ and the brass goes with it.
— The bullet leaves the muzzle at roughly 3000 FPS with nearly 10,000 PSI still behind it.
Then everything springs back, and that tiny gap is what lets your bolt open. NOTE: If the 6.5 Creedmoor cartridge is loaded just 6% hotter the peak pressure can jump to around 76,000 PSI. The steel stretches farther than the brass can spring back, and that’s your sticky bolt. Have you ever had a sticky bolt or flattened primers on a hot load?
Along with other animations, you can find full cartridge guides and load information at longrangeonly.com. Below is another related animation of a .300 PRC showing pressure during firing. There is no voice-over, but text paragraphs near the top explain what is happening step-by-step.
.300 PRC Firing Pressure Animation
NOTE: This is a visual representation, not measured data. The listed pressure, velocity and timing come from a computer model of a .300 PRC cartridge with a 215gr Berger bullet in a 26” barrel. Some clearances are exaggerated so you can see them. Your rifle, powder lot and seating depth will produce different numbers. This is not load data.
NOTE: There are ten (10) shots in the group, but for simplicity we are only displaying five (5) shot circles. Adding more circles won’t change the measurement because the two most distant shots, which determine group size, ARE included.
What kind of 200-yard accuracy can you get in an enclosed, underground test range? Would you believe 0.162 MOA at 200 yards with a .338? Have a look at these test targets from Sierra Bullets. Like most bullet manufacturers, Sierra does live-fire bullet testing to ensure that Sierra projectiles perform as promised, with repeatable accuracy. Sierra tests bullets in its own underground test complex. Sierra’s 300-meter test range is the longest, privately-owned underground bullet test facility in the Western Hemisphere.*
Day in and day out, various bullet types are tested using a big collection of barreled actions. These barreled actions are clamped in stout, return-to-battery test fixtures. These big, heavy test fixtures provide near-perfect repeatability (with no human-induced holding or aiming errors).
Sierra Bullets 10-Shot Groups at 200 yards
Check out these 10-shot test groups shot at the Sierra Test Range at 200 yards. Note that the numbers listed on each sample are actual measurements in inches. To convert to MOA, cut those numbers in half (to be more precise, divide by 2.094, which is 1 MOA at 200 yards). For example, the 0.340″ middle group works out to 0.162 MOA at 200 yards.
Scan-Verified 0.162 MOA Accuracy at 200 Yards
To verify the accuracy of Sierra’s measurements, we measured the middle (.338 caliber) 10-shot group with our On-Target Group Measurement software. We registered a group size reading of 0.339″ — within one-thousandth of the Sierra measurement. The calculated group size in MOA (Minute of Angle) is 0.162.
That’s amazingly good for ten rounds of big .338 caliber bullets. A FIVE-shot 0.162 MOA group at 200 would be considered excellent at any benchrest match. But remember this target has TEN shots. The current, one-target IBS world record for ten shots at 200 yards is 0.245″, set by Ed Watson in 1999.
Bevy of Barreled Actions for Bullet Testing
Sierra Bullets uses dozens of barreled actions for testing bullets in its enclosed, 200-yard test range. Each barrel has its own logbook to track the barrel’s usage.
Click Photo to Zoom
*Even Longer Test Tunnels Exist in Europe: At Stadeln in Germany, RWS (now part of RUAG) owns a 500 meter tunnel (above ground level) which has existed for decades. In Thun, Switzerland, RUAG has a fully-instrumented 500 meter underground tunnel. Near Ulm, Germany, there is a 5-lane 300 meter underground shooting range that is open to the public.
The NRA has produced a good video on general principles of gun safety. New shooters should definitely watch this video, which provides many important reminders for long-time gun owners as well. This video and other safety principles are featured in a Shooting Sports USA article.
While at the range, shooters should practice Three Basic Rules:
1) Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
2) Always keep your finger OFF the trigger until ready to shoot.
3) Always keep the gun UNLOADED until ready to use.
In addition, whenever you are shooting, indoors or outdoors, know what is behind your target and never shoot if there is not a safe backstop. With a centerfire rifle at an outdoor range, just a few degrees of elevation can cause a shot to impact more than a mile away.
Store Guns Safely When Not in Use
After your range sessions or hunts, is vital to store all guns safely. We recommend storing all firearms (pistols, rifles, shotguns) in a sturdy gun safe with thick steel walls. Use a GoldenRod or other device to control humidity inside the safe. We also like to use Bore-Stores or other treated gun sacks to help protect against corrosion.
Outdoorsmans Tripod Adapters
He who dies with the most toys wins — right? Well Sinclair has another interesting gadget you can add to your reloading bench. The Sinclair 
Scan-Verified 0.162 MOA Accuracy at 200 Yards
