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November 6th, 2008
 Creedmoor Sports, Inc., has released its new 24-page holiday catalog. Inside the catalog you’ll find a large selection of shooting products, all offered at discounted prices. The bargains include special savings on the popular Creedmoor Hardback Heavy Shooting Coat, Creedmoor rifles cases, shooting gloves and much more. “We’re expecting our customers to be pleasantly surprised with our holiday issue.” says General Manager, Dennis DeMille. “We’ve worked closely with our vendors and, together, we’ve managed to offer discounts on almost every item in our catalog.”
All holiday sale items are available online at www.creedmoorsports.com. You can request a holiday catalog through the website or by calling 800-273-3366.
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November 5th, 2008
The votes have been tallied… Barack Obama will be the 44th President. The Democratic Party will control both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, but it appears the Democrats did not achieve a 60% “supermajority” in the Senate. It was a decisive Electoral College victory, with previously solid “Red States” such as Ohio and Virginia going blue. Obama also won the popular vote, 52% vs. 46% percent for McCain.
What can we learn from the results? There are some surprises. First, male voters split evenly 49% for McCain, 49% for Obama. Women and young people decided this election. Here are some interesting facts:
1. The Democrats did a good job of stirring interest in the election. The total number of voters (including absentees) tallied 136,000,000, or roughly 64% of the electorate. That would make this the highest turnout since 1960, and possibly since 1908. What did it take to achieve this? A huge war-chest. It is estimated that the Obama campaign spent as much as $650,000,000 overall — an unprecedented number.
2. While minorities (both African-American and Latino) voted overwhelmingly for Obama, that didn’t cost the Republicans the election. McCain lost because of women and under-age-30 voters. As during the Clinton years, there was a significant “gender gap” — 55% of women favored the Democratic ticket. Seventy (70%) percent of unmarried women supported Obama, a margin of more than 2-to-1. Among married women, 53% voted for Obama vs. 45% for McCain. As in past elections, there is evidence that a significant percentage of women voted for the candidate they found most attractive (regardless of his politics).
3. The “age gap” was even more dramatic. Obama captured the overwhelming majority of under-30 voters. According to msnbc.com: “Young voters preferred Obama over John McCain by 68% to 30% — the highest share of the youth vote obtained by any candidate since exit polls began reporting results by age in 1976.” Obama’s election team successfully galvanized the young voters, who turned out in record numbers. Report on Youth Vote.
4. Among all voters, the economy was a key issue. Exit polls showed that fully 90% of voters felt the economy was “not in good shape”. 80% of voters polled believed that their family would be harmed financially in the next year because of the economic downturn. These concerns caused independents to vote for Obama, and caused many Republicans to cross party lines, particularly in the Northeast.
5. McCain got swamped in the Electoral College system, though the aggregate popular vote was closer than you might expect: 52.33% for Obama vs. 46.38% for McCain. This will again lead many to question the merits of the Electoral College system, particularly as it works with “all or nothing” states such as California. Every one of California’s 55 electoral votes went to Obama yet 3.7 million Californians voted for McCain.
Message for Republicans and Gun Owners
It’s not widely known, but Bill Clinton lost both his Presidential elections among male voters. He was victorious only because of a significant “gender gap”, with women voters favoring him significantly over his opponents. Barack Obama also benefitted from a “gender gap”, but Obama’s popularity with women, particularly unmarried women, was even more significant. Both Obama and Clinton were perceived as handsome and charismatic. Studies have shown that unmarried women look to male Presidential candidates as surrogate “providers”. Obama did a superb job of appealing to this segment of the electorate. In the future, if Republicans want to win, they must not underestimate the importance of women voters. That did explain, in part, McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Palin, but among many women voters, that choice back-fired. The Democrats understood that unmarried women don’t necessarily want a female candidate. What many women really want is a charismatic male candidate — a matinee idol/protector figure.
The Republican party will also have to examine its “youth strategy”, which failed miserably in this election. Some pundits predicted that the youth vote would fizzle, because the Gen-Xers were lazy and apathetic. Well, this election proved those cynics wrong. If the Republican party intends to get “back on track”, it must provide a candidate and platform that better appeal to young voters.
As for gun rights advocates, the message is quite clear. We must organize, fight harder, and expand the base. One central theme of this website has been to attract new shooters, particularly women and young people. The results of the 2008 election demonstrate that it is more important than ever to draw females and young people into the shooting sports.
The numbers from the election show that gun rights supporters should re-double their efforts to reach across party lines, to appeal to those who may potentially be allies in the Second Amendment fight, but who, for a myriad of reasons, do not fit into traditional “red state” or Republican constituencies. In essence, the challenge is to provide compelling reasons for women, youth, and others (whatever their party affiliation) to involve themselves in the shooting sports and to support Second Amendment rights. The more that Second Amendments rights are seen, by Americans of all ideologies, as an important cornerstone of a free society (as distinct from a partisan issue), the more secure those rights will be.
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November 5th, 2008
In recent weeks we’ve seen many Forum posts from folks who are just getting started with precision hand-loading. They tell us that it’s a bit overwhelming in the beginning. Just learning all the technical terms (e.g. ogive, meplat, ballistic coefficient, load density etc.) is difficult, and the task of selecting the right tools and gear can be daunting.
 The first thing a new reloader should do is find a seasoned veteran to act as a “reloading mentor”. One can learn the basics much more quickly under the guidance of an experienced hand-loader who “knows the ropes”. We also recommend that newbies acquire a good basic reloading handbook — not just a list of load recipes, but a book that explains the processes. One of the best handbooks available is The ABC’s of Reloading (8th Edition, 2008) by Bill Chevalier. Recently updated, this reference contains 288 pages with 300 black-and-white photos. The new 8th Edition is available from Amazon.com for $16.49. Here’s a review from a recent purchaser of “The ABC’s”:
“When I first got the itch to load my own ammunition, I was overwhelmed by the amount of information and terminology involved in this fascinating field/hobby. It was very difficult to take all the individual pieces of information that I had and form it into an understandable process. I was snowed in under a blizzard of data that I was piecing together through chat rooms and web sites. Phrases like ‘roll crimp’ and ‘headspace’ came at me in a blizzard. I could look up each phrase, understand each one as a piece, but still the whole picture was fuzzy. In essence, that is what this book will do for you — turn it all into a coherent, linear whole. The writing is very solid and clear, the illustrations are well-done and helpful, and the information is very complete. After reading this book, the entire process made sense to me, and more importantly, I was fully warned about the dos and don’ts of the reloading world. The coverage is very complete. Primers, powders, bullets, and … all necessary tools and accessories are discussed and explained. This is just a great book. It won’t make you an expert … but it will put you on the right road if you wish to become one.” — Mykal Banta
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November 4th, 2008
Today is the day. Across the nation citizens will vote to determine the next President of the United States. And the Presidential race is not the only important election. Numerous key seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are up for grabs. Make no mistake about it… this is a very important election. Its outcome will have a significant effect on our domestic and foreign policies for years to come.
 Whatever your political affiliation you owe it to yourself, and to your country, to exercise your right to vote. Sportsmen and gun owners can influence this election, particularly in key “swing states” such as Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio. If we, as gun owners, don’t get to the polling places and cast our ballots, we can expect greater challenges to our rights in the months and years ahead.
This is a critical election. Remember that in the D.C. v. Heller case, four out of the nine Supreme Court justices were essentially willing to read the Second Amendment out of the Constitution. Yes, by one vote (5 to 4), we “won” the Heller case, but it is sobering to think the decision was that close. Keep that in mind as you determine who to vote for. The President appoints Justices to the Supreme Court. It is expected that at least two current high court Justices will retire within the next four years. Keep that in mind when you vote today. “Consider,” says Steve Sanetti, President of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, “that the next president could nominate as many as three Supreme Court justices, will appoint the next director of the ATF and will either support or resist U.N. gun-control efforts. Make no mistake, this is not the time for gun owners to take a back seat.”
 Also remember that some of the worst gun regulations have started at the municipal and state levels. You must, therefore, pay close attention to state and local elections. Successful efforts to safeguard gun rights begin at the local level. In states like California and New York, we’ve seen that state politicians are more than willing to enact bad laws that violate the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. So… if you want to keep your Second Amendment rights, be sure to exercise another Constitutional right and VOTE!
Finding Your Polling Place
If you’re not sure about the location of your designated polling place, visit GoVote.org. That non-partisan website will identify your polling place, complete with a street map. Just type in your zip code or street address, and the right location will appear.
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November 4th, 2008
The National Shooting Sports Foundation provides this report:
“Across the country, the media continues to localize a story that first ran in The Washington Post, with NSSF input, about a trend of increasing firearm sales driven in part by the fear that, if elected, Barack Obama, working with a Democrat-controlled Congress, could pass legislation that would limit Americans’ right to own certain types of firearms, particularly semi-automatic rifles. A story from the Naples (FL) News confirmed an increase of concealed carry permits, while a story out of Las Cruces, NM, focused on increased sales of tactical rifles. Meanwhile, on the hunting side, the Associated Press ran a story Saturday on the strength of hunting-related sales despite high gas prices and economic instability. “Hunters may not get the latest product, but they’re still getting the things they need and getting out there. Our sales are holding up good,” said Larry Whiteley of Bass Pro Shops.” (Story from NSSF).
Commentary
 Are American gunowners over-reacting to the possibility of a Democrat in the White House? Maybe not…. If the Democratic Party captures the Presidency, while attaining majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, many observers predict Congress will quickly enact new legislation restricting the ownership and use of certain classes of semi-automatic firearms, and imposing much tighter controls on handguns.
There is no reason to believe Barack Obama would not endorse such legislation. For a running mate, Obama chose Joe Biden, one of the original authors of federal legislation restricting semi-automatic rifles. As quoted in the Chicago Tribune, Presidential candidate Barack Obama supports an “assault weapon” ban: “I believe we need to renew — not roll back — this common sense gun law.” In 2007, Obama stated that the government needs to permanently reinstate an assault weapons ban, according to Fox News. In addition, Obama has unequivocally stated in an NPR interview that he would support Federal legislation to ban concealed carry laws nationwide.
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November 3rd, 2008
The McMillan Group has teamed up with Packages from Home (PFH), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting our troops and their needs. The goal is to make the holidays a little brighter for America’s deployed troops serving overseas. McMillan has pledged to send a $100.00 gift certificate to all those who donate to Packages from Home. McMillan will be accepting donations (either goods or money) on behalf of Packages from Home.
Here’s the deal: If you make ANY contribution to PFH, large or small, cash or goods, during November and December, you will receive a $100 McMillan gift certificate along with a receipt for tax purposes. The certificate can be used towards a McMillan gunstock or other McMillan product. This way you can save on gun gear while helping our soldiers serving far from home. We salute McMillan’s efforts to assist Packages from Home in supporting our troops deployed overseas. For a list of recommended items to donate, visit the Packages from Home website.
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November 3rd, 2008
Last year, Superior Shooting Systems (David Tubb) introduced a new, plastic-tipped 111gr bullet. It was hoped this bullet would rival the performance of the popular 115gr non-tipped DTAC, while working better in chambers throated for 105-108gr 6mm bullets. The design looked good, but, according to Superior Shooting, the 111-grainer “did not meet David Tubb’s standards at long range, so it has been discontinued.” The existing stock of 111s has sold out and “the project has been cancelled”.
Superior Shooting does have ample supplies of the non-tipped 115gr DTAC bullet in stock. This bullet is a proven performer with a 0.580 BC (as tested). DTAC 115s are available both “naked” and coated with Boron Nitride, in minimum quantities of 500 bullets. The naked 115s cost $105 for 500, while the BN-coated 115s cost $110/500. That’s a great deal if you prefer coated bullets, when you compare it with the time and expense of coating the bullets yourself.
To purchase, call 806-323-9488 or visit Superiorshootingsystems.com. From Superior Shooting’s home page, click on the “RELOADING” tab, select “Dies, Brass, Etc.”, then scroll down to find the DTAC 115 bullets at the bottom of the page.
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November 3rd, 2008
With the Presidential election slated for tomorrow, it has never been more important for gun owners to band together and work as a group. The NRA may not be perfect, but it remains the most powerful organization working to protect the rights of gun-owners.
If you haven’t joined the NRA yet, now is the time to do so. And Sightron has made it even easier. If you buy a Sightron scope, Sightron will pay for your NRA membership. Consumers who purchase any Sightron scope (excluding S1 models) before the end of 2008 will receive a free one-year NRA membership. Current NRA members will receive a one-year renewal with purchase. “With 2008 being a critical election year, all of us here at Sightron are concerned about attacks against our right to bear arms. We want to ensure that future generations have the same rights we have enjoyed”, said Sightron’s President, Scott Helmer.
To qualify for the FREE NRA membership, a $25.00 value, just purchase a Sightron SIIISS, SII Big Sky or SII Series riflescope before December 31st, 2008. (The impressive, new Sightron SIII 8-32×56, shown above, also qualifies.) Purchaser must submit Sightron Coupon with original sales receipt by March 31st, 2009.
CLICK HERE for More Info and SIGHTRON COUPON
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November 2nd, 2008
 Among the most popular features on AccurateShooter.com are our signature Cartridge Guides. These combine all the key “data points” you need to load and campaign a particular chambering (such as .308 Win), or a set of similar caliber cartridges (such as the “Twenties”). Each Cartridge Guide features a cartridge diagram, load recipes, plus expert reloading tips and analyses of bullets, brass and other recommended components. How well-received are these guides? Well, our .308 Win Guide has been viewed over 360,000 times. Google “.308 Win” and you’ll find our .308 Guide right near the top.
We have just released a very comprehensive new Cartridge Guide for the 7mm “Accuracy Calibers”, namely 7mm-08, .284 Winchester, 7mm WSM, and 7mm Rem SAUM. The 7mm Guide contains a bullet ballistics analysis by NRA Palma Champ (and rocket scientist) Bryan Litz, plus contributions from F-Class National Champ Charles Ballard, and UK long-range record-holder Vince Bottomley. Our article compares the performance of the two short mags — WSM vs SAUM — and the results may surprise you. We also spotlight the impressive .284 Shehane, a “moderately” improved version of the .284 Winchester. With its additional 3.35 grains of powder capacity, the .284 Shehane can drive 180gr Bergers at 2950 fps. Jim Hardy has been shooting this cartridge with great success. And lately he has been testing his .284 Shehane with Alliant Reloder 17. The velocity results with Reloder 17 are quite remarkable — and it looks like the ES/SD does tighten up significantly at the top end.
Intrigued? CLICK HERE to read our new 7mm Cartridge Guide
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November 2nd, 2008
Remington has finally wised up to the fact that today’s shooters want more options in factory ammunition, particularly for varmint and match rifles. Sure there will always be .223 Rem and .308 Win ammo buyers. But many shooters are also interested in the “Twenties” and in efficient, accuracy cartridges like the 6mmBR and 6.5 Grendel. And shouldn’t Remington consider making ammo for a long-range precision cartridge such as the 6.5-284?
You can help Remington pick the new cartridges for which Remington will load factory ammunition. Vote in Remington’s online poll. The cartridge choices are: 17 Hornet, 20 VarTarg, 6×45 (6-223 Rem), 22 BR, and 6mm BR. Hmmm, having USA-made 6BR factory ammo — that’s definitely appealing. And we think there would be a market for 20 Vartarg ammo as well. Click the link below to visit Remington’s website. There you can cast your vote for your favorite new ammo types.
CLICK HERE to visit Remington Calibers Poll Page
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November 2nd, 2008
As your Editor writes this I’m listening to Van Morrison on my own personal, FREE web radio station. That’s right, log on to Pandora.com and you can set up your own personalized music streaming web radio station. What’s unique is that YOU tell Pandora what kind of music you want. You can simply select a genre (music style), or do what I did — select particular artists and cuts for starters. Pandora reviews the songs/artists you chose and, using song-matching software, Pandora adds compatible music cuts from its archive of millions of songs. If something comes up you don’t like, just click a “thumbs down” button and Pandora will remove that cut from your station.
Pandora delivers all tunes, all the time. There are no “commercial breaks” in the audio. All you hear are songs and artists you like. At any time you can augment your playlist with new artists or songs. What’s really cool is when Pandora finds a new piece of “matching” music that you’ve never heard before, or when it automatically finds one of your old favorites. For example, I indicated an interest in Jazz piano, and Pandora delivered some nice Oscar Peterson cuts.
 What’s the catch? Well, to create a personalized “station” you need to give Pandora an email address. But that’s it… there’s no fee, no credit card number to input. After spending a few minutes to configure your personal channel, you get great tunes for free. You can even set up multiple “stations”, for example, one for C&W, one for Jazz, one for Classical. You can also find new music by searching the playlists of other Pandora users.
Well, I’m almost done here and Pandora just cranked out “Gimme Some Lovin'” by the Spencer Davis Group (Stevie Winwood’s first band). Yeah baby. My toes are tappin’ as my fingers are typin’….
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November 1st, 2008
 Tune in to your radio this Sunday guys. Dan Cooper will be the topic du jour on Tom Gresham’s radio show. If the show is not broadcast in your area, you can stream audio over the internet by visiting www.guntalk.com.
Gresham’s Gun Talk is the #1 firearms-related radio show in the world. Every week, Tom brings together interesting figures in the shooting community. But this week is extra special. Tom and his lead-off guest David Codrea will discuss the controversy involving Dan Cooper. When it was revealed, earlier this week, that Dan Cooper made donations to the Democratic Party, many gun owners expressed concern, and some vowed not to purchase Cooper Rifles. In the heat of the controversy, Dan Cooper resigned his position at Cooper Firearms, but Dan’s politics remain a hot issue. Along with the Cooper controversy, Codrea, Guns magazine columnist and author of a popular web blog, will discuss the the election, and the power of the web for the gun rights movement.
Gresham will also interview Bill Dermody, a marketing exec with Savage Arms. Just this week, it was Bill who provided AccurateShooter.com with an exclusive “sneak preview” of new dual-port rifles in Savage’s 2009 line-up. On Gun Talk, Bill will discuss the Savage product line and general shooting issues. “Bill is a regular on Gun Talk,” Tom Gresham said. “He loves to chat with callers, whether it’s about Savage, or just shooting, hunting and guns in general.”
Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk is carried on 64 radio stations across the country, streamed on the internet, and broadcast on XM Satellite Radio. The nationally-syndicated live radio show will be broadcast Sunday, November 2, starting at 2:00pm Eastern Time.
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