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February 23rd, 2011
The International Hunter Education Association (IHEA) is always looking for qualified volunteer instructors to assist with Hunter instruction and safety programs in North America. Since its inception, the IHEA has served as the primary resource for information on hunter education; has promoted programs which prevent hunting accidents; and has worked to cultivate honesty, self-discipline, self-reliance, responsible behavior, and good citizenship among hunters.
Significant Discounts for Certified IHEA Instructors
To encourage qualified individuals to serve as IHEA Hunter-Safety instructors, numerous “big name” manufacturers offer significant discounts on firearms and/or shooting products to certified IHEA instructors. You can save up to 55% on optics, and up to 40% on the purchase price of firearms. Below are some of the current discounts offered by IHEA partners to certified instructors. This is only a partial list. CLICK HERE for a complete list of special offers for IHEA instructors. NOTE: For some product lines, certified instructors must log in with their passwords to see the current discounted pricing offers.
Beretta USA: Certified IHEA instructors receive wholesale pricing on select Beretta long guns.
Burris Optics: IHEA instructors and law enforcement officers receive a 50% discount on their optics and other items.
CVA: Hunter Education Instructors receive a 40% discount on CVA Muzzleloading Rifles and Supplies.
CZ-USA: Significant Discount on CZ-USA centerfire, rimfire and shotguns.
Henry Repeating Arms Co.: IHEA instructors can purchase basic model lever guns and bolt-action guns for approximately 33% off normal retail. Instructor Price List.
Leupold: IHEA Instructors may purchase Leupold products for their instructional use at special pricing plus one optic a year for their own personal use at special pricing.
Ruger: Ruger offers certified Hunter Education Instructors specific product discounts on purchasing Ruger firearms.
Savage Arms: Special discounted pricing to enable certified Instructors to purchase a rifle.
Smith & Wesson: S&W offers a limited number of guns to instructors certified by the IHEA program. Guns are to be used for training activities only and are not intended for resale.
February 22nd, 2011
According to the latest Firearm Manufacturing and Export Report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. firearm manufacturers produced more than 5.4 million firearms in 2009. That’s a big increase compared to the start of the decade in 2001, when less than 3,000,000 firearms were manufactured by U.S. companies. In recent years, production of both handguns and long guns has grown significantly, as show in the graph below, prepared by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) based on ATF records from 1984-2009.
The ATF data (from 1984-2009) reveals some interesting trends:
- Total firearms produced in 2009 topped 5.4 million, exceeding the previous high total in 1994.
- Over 3,000,000 long guns were produced in 2009, the highest quantity in the past 25 years.
- The total number of firearms sold in 2009 works out to one gun for every 57 citizens, based on the 2009 U.S. population of 305,529,237.
- After a decade-long decline, handgun production rose dramatically from 2004-2009. If trends continue, in a few more years, pistol sales could out-number long gun sales.
NSSF research has updated its 14-page Industry Intelligence Report, titled Firearms Production in the United States, with the most recent data on U.S. production of pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns. Additional updated data found in this report include: Annual Survey of Manufacturers figures and U.S. International Trade Commission firearm import and export figures. The report is available for free to NSSF members by logging into the members section of the NSSF website, clicking “NSSF Industry Research” and then clicking “Industry Intelligence Reports.” For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.
February 22nd, 2011
Cabelas.com just announced that it is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders of $150.00 or more. This offer is valid through March 1, 2011 and you must use Discount Code 2WSHIP when checking out through the online shopping cart. This is a good deal, as shipping on small items is often a significant percentage of the cost. NOTE: The FREE Shipping offer does not cover hazmat charges, and some large and heavy items are excluded; also firearms shipments are excluded. The offer covers standard shipping to U.S. addresses only. CLICK HERE for more details.
Free Shipping on Orders $150 (or more) with code 2WSHIP — Valid until 3/1/2011.
February 20th, 2011
 There’s a lot of buzz about ballistics programs for smartphones. Those are handy, to be sure, but most people still need a solid, full-featured program to run on their home computers. Berger Bullets offers a sophisticated ballistics programs for MS Windows computers that works really well, and lets you print out results. Up-to-Date G7 BCs for Berger projectiles are built-in to the program, and the price is right — FREE.
CLICK HERE to Download Berger Ballistics Program
The program is basic enough to be easy to use, but flexible enough to allow you to calculate custom ballistics for your rifle and load. The program accounts for all the basic external ballistic parameters including bullet BC and muzzle velocity, atmospherics, uphill/downhill shooting, etc. The output tabulates velocity, energy and time of flight as a function of range. Bullet path and wind deflection are displayed in your choice of inches, centimeters, MOA or MILS.
 Instructions for Program
On the Berger Bullets Blog (1/26/2010), You’ll find a description of program features and a complete set of instructions. Here are instructions for the bullet variables: “The bullet inputs are straightforward. The BC can be entered in reference to either the G1 or G7 standard. You can find the G1 or G7 BC for your bullet either printed on the bullet box label, or on our products page. For accurate results, you should measure the muzzle velocity with a good chronograph. If you don’t have access to a chronograph, you can estimate the muzzle velocity based on your load data.”
Tips for Best Results
Bryan Litz includes tips on getting the most from the Berger Ballistics program. Some of Bryan’s suggestions will also help you when working with other ballistics software:
G1 vs. G7 BC: The accuracy of the ballistic solution is only as accurate as the inputs you give it. The advertised BCs for Berger bullets are established by actual field firing tests over long range and are very accurate. Using the properly referenced BC (G7 vs. G1) for the bullet you’re modeling is important. For any bullet with a boat tail, we recommend using the G7 BC.
Muzzle Velocity: Knowing your true muzzle velocity is important when calculating external ballistics. It’s best to measure your muzzle velocity directly with a chronograph.
Altitude and Atmosphere: If you want a truly accurate long-range trajectory prediction, you can’t ignore atmospheric effects. This is especially true the farther you get from standard conditions (sea level altitude, 59 degrees Fahrenheit, 0% humidity).
Scope Verification: It’s important to verify the most important link between the calculated ballistics and your point of impact: your scope. If the ballistics program calculates 30.0 MOA of drop for a particular shot, and you dial your scope to 30.0 MOA, are you sure it’s giving you exactly 30.0 MOA? In reality, many scopes have enough error in them to cause misses at long range. It’s important to verify the value of your scope clicks by firing groups at short range.
If you have further questions not answered on Berger’s Blog Page, email Bryan.Litz [at] bergerbullets.com. NOTE: If your computer won’t run the program, please download and install this Java update: http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp. This is a Windows PC program. You may have problems trying to run it on a MAC in emulation.
Story sourced by Edlongrange.
February 20th, 2011
Natchez Shooters Supplies is currently running a major promotion on Swarovski optics. If you are looking for an extremely high quality hunting scope or target scope, you should check out the deals at Natchez. Here are some examples:
 Swarovski Spotting Scopes
Swarovski Spotting Scopes and eyepieces are also on sale. The outstanding Swaro 80mm STM HD is marked down from $3,110.00 to $2,520.00, while the compact Swaro 65mm STM 65 (Straight Body) spotter is discounted from $1,521.11 to $1,240.00. The Swarovski Optik 20-60XS Oculars Eyepiece is also discounted from $665.56 to $539.00, a 19% savings.
NOTE: Sale inventories are limited, and prices are subject to change.
Story sourced by Edlongrange.
February 19th, 2011
It may be winter, but that didn’t prevent Forum member James F. (and his girlfriend Siiri) from firing up their snowmobiles and heading out for a fun day of shooting. Now that’s dedication! James, who hails from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, offers this report….
A Sunny Day for Shooting in Thunder Bay
It was almost +10° C today and sunny so my girlfriend and I went shooting. Just thought I would share some photos. I’m in the process of breaking in my Savage model 12 LRPV in .204 Ruger. About a 15-minute snowmobile ride from our houses, we have our own private 900-yard range, with zero elevation change (it’s a lake in summer time). And I got to play with my new toy. My girlfriend Siiri bought me a Kestrel 3500 weather station.
Below is my Savage 17HMR, which has a Vortex Viper 3-9X40mm. Siiri also shoots a Savage 17HMR.
And this is my new Savage model 12 chambered in .204 Ruger. This has a Vortex Viper 6.5-20X50 on Burris extreme tactical rings, with a Ken Farrell 20 MOA base. The rings I bought ended up being way too high. I didn’t realize how tall a Farrell base was. I ordered rings that are 1/2″ lower. So for now I used rubber bands and a towel to make the stock taller. Very high-tech, as you can see:
Savage Shines with Factory .204 Ammo
Today ended up being a very good day. I decided to try shooting at 200 yards to see how my .204 would group. I ended up shocking myself — I shot a 0.231″, 3-shot group. (0.435-0.204=0.231″). That is with Hornady 32gr factory ammo. Can’t complain with those results! I think we are going shooting again soon. But the weather is supposed to be -10° C so it’s not going to be as nice. But I made a gong and I need to try it out. I’m also going to test some loads in the model 12.
February 19th, 2011
Here’s an important item for shooting range owners and directors of shooting clubs. The NRA’s Field Operations group offers a series of Range Development & Operations Conferences for shooting range operators. In 2011, these are scheduled for: Nashville, TN (March 26-30), Buffalo, NY (June 4-8), and Reno, NV (October 15-19).
Each NRA Range Development & Operations Conference is a five-day course that covers the fundamentals of building, owning, and maintaining a shooting facility. The $450.00 conference fee gives range operators five days with America’s top range development experts who will share their knowledge and experience. Topics covered will include:
- Creating a business plan
- Dealing with zoning boards
- Environmental sound
- Insurance issues
- Meeting OSHA standards
- Range maintenance
- Range safety
“There are a number of unforeseen issues that arise when people begin the process of building a range,” said Senior Range Services Coordinator Kara Schlifke. “We can help you successfully navigate those minefields. And for those with an operation already up a running, there are always new issues and regulations to address.”
How to Register for Conferences
The next conference is coming up soon — March 26-30 in Nashville. Register online at www.nrahq.org/shootingrange/development.asp. For more information, call 877-NRA-RANGE or email Kara Schlifke at range@nrahq.org.
Story by Lars Dalseide for The NRA Blog.
February 18th, 2011
The Varmint Hunters Association (VHA) has expanded its online store so now you can purchase clothing, hats, coasters, mugs, license plate frames, belt-buckles, and other small gift items. As before, you can still order official VHA patches and purchase back-issues of Varmint Hunter Magazine. To order any VHA product or clothing item, visit the VHA online store at VarmintHunter.org/shop/.
Here are some clothing items we liked:
And here are some gift and miscellaneous items:
February 18th, 2011
 Lapua now offers a FREE ballistics program for modern smart phones that run Java Apps. (Unfortunately, that excludes Apple iPhones and Android OS phones, but Lapua says that the majority of smartphones run Java). The program calculates drift and drop, and it corrects for altitude, temp, air pressure, and shot angle. The Lapua Ballistics App also includes a database of Lapua bullet profiles with ultra-reliable radar-derived Ballistic Coefficients. Sound good? Now go get your smart phone. The program must be downloaded with a mobile phone. Open a web browser in your smart-phone and navigate to www.lapua.com/ballistics and choose the correct version for your phone.
Lapua’s exterior ballistic software for mobile phones is capable of predicting trajectories in real time with extreme accuracy. Using Lapua Ballistics, there is no need for checking tables and calculating cosines for inclination compensation (you still have to input the angle). The program also compensates for the effect of cartridge temperature on muzzle velocity and the effect of atmospheric conditions on the projectile’s trajectory.
Lapua Ballistics is based on precise Doppler Radar measurements of actual bullet drag — professional data available only for Lapua bullets. Lapua Ballistics can be installed on all smartphones supporting basic Java (Java MIDP 2.0). NOTE: Apple iPhone and Android platforms do not support Java ME.
February 18th, 2011
Black Hills Ammunition (BHA) produces high-quality new and remanufactured ammo. Black Hills remanufactured .223 Rem and .308 Win ammo is popular with tactical shooters because it is cost-effective, yet very accurate since it is loaded with premium match-grade bullets. Black Hills has now come out with a line of hunting ammunition using the very accurate Hornady GMX (Gilding Metal eXpanding) lead-free projectiles. New loads include: 80gr .243 Win; 120gr .260 Rem; 120gr 6.5-.284 Norma; 130gr 270 Win; 150gr .308 Win; 150gr .30-06; 139gr 7mm RemMag; and 165gr 300 WinMag.
The GMX (Gilding Metal eXpanding) bullets are constructed of gilding metal, the same material used for bullet jackets. GMX bullets expand quickly and reliably upon impact, and retain nearly 100% of their weight. These GMX bullets contain no lead, making them a good choice for areas that restrict use of lead-cored bullets. To learn more, contact Black Hills Ammunition at (605) 348-5150.
 New Black Hills 5.56 Ammo
For 2011, Black Hills is releasing two new 5.56mm offerings for commercial sale. First, it offers a new match load with 77gr Sierra MatchKings (SMKs). The new 5.56mm ammo pushes the 77gr SMKs at 2750 fps from a 20″ barrel. According to Black Hills: “this load delivers sub-minute accuracy consistently from 10-shot groups.”
Next, Black Hills is making its 50gr police 5.56mm load available to the public. The BHA 5.56mm 50gr TSX load was developed for U.S. law enforcement. This load utilizes a specially-built version of Barnes Bullet Company’s TSX bullet. It provides expansion to .50 caliber immediately upon impact and consistently penetrates to an ideal average penetration depth of 14″ in ballistic gelatin. Black Hills calls this “an ideal civilian defense or law enforcement patrol-rifle round” that works well through a variety of barrel lengths.
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