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April 2nd, 2020
This handy cleaning mat features a parts diagram for AR-platform rifles. This padded, absorbent 36″ x 12″ AR15 mat costs $18.99 at Amazon.
With a large percentage of Americans stuck at home under Coronavirus lockdown orders, there is time to attend to many maintenance tasks — including cleaning your firearms. Here are some quality benchtop pads that can help with the cleaning process for all types of firearms — pistols, rifles, and shotguns.
While we normally use a gun cradle or Caldwell gun vise when cleaning or adjusting our rifles. But there are situations, such as when working on a barreled action, when it’s nice to use a pad that lies flat. Many work pads are too small — they’re nothing more than oversize mouse pads. Here are three gun pads that are big enough to work well with rifles and/or barreled actions.
DryMate Gun Cleaning Pad
 The DryMate Gun Cleaning Pad is a full 54″ wide x 16″. That’s four and a half FEET wide — longer than most rifles, so you have plenty of surface area for working. Conveniently, this product can be washed with soap and water. It is offered in three versions: Green, Blaze Orange, and Camo. We like the Blaze orange version because the bright color makes it easier to see small parts such as screws and springs.
Boyt Harness Counter Pad
The 48″ x 12″ Boyt Harness Counter Pad was originally designed more for display purposes than for serious work sessions, but we like this product. It is useful if you want to lay your gun on a bench to make small adjustments. The Boyt Counter Pad is nice and big, a full four feet from end to end. The back side is canvas while the top-size is a quilted cotton fabric.
Owner Reviews — This product has received high praise from buyers. Here are actual owner reviews:
Expensive… but worth every penny. I bought three of them because I want to have at least one always around. I use one for a shooting bench or tailgate mat and another for my primary gun cleaning workbench mat. Awesome for both purposes. This one was perfect for my array of needs. — Joe D.
This mat is great for cleaning guns and keeping your surfaces clear of oil or solvent. The mat has plenty of space for a rifle or handgun and the padding is thick enough[.] I would definitely buy again and have recommended this to my friends and family. — Safety Guy
I bring this to the rifle range with me every time, to rest my rifle on the table without worrying about scratches. It fits nicely in my soft rifle case. One side is a tough canvas material that doesn’t show scratches, and the other side is a soft fleece material that protects the finish of your gun. — MACPSU
Hoppes Gun Cleaning Pad
The Hoppes Gun Cleaning Pad is 36″ wide x 12″. That’s big enough for many barreled actions (unless you have a really long barrel). This pad has a non-slip nylon backing, and Hoppes claims that the “Soft acrylic material absorbs 8 times its weight in fluids.” This Hoppes Cleaning Pad is very affordable. It costs just $8.15 at Amazon.com with free shipping for Prime members.
Handy Cleaning Cradles from PMA Tool — Single or Double
For those tasks were a pad is not convenient, PMA Tool offers lightweight yet sturdy cleaning cradles that are handy, affordable, and easy to transport. PMA’s single-gun cradle, starting at $75.95, is ideal for benchrest rigs. It measures about 17″ in length and weighs about one pound. PMA also offers an excellent two-gun cradle for $119.95. Both single and double cradles secure your rifle(s) in a muzzle-down position that allows easy cleaning and prevents solvents from running back into the action. The front “saddle” and all contact surfaces are covered by thick silicone rubber padding which grips the rifle securely yet protects the stock and components from scratches.
April 2nd, 2020
What brands are favored by gun guys? Well here are the results of 2019 consumer surveys conducted by Southwick Associates. The surveys asked hunters and shooters to indicate their favorite brands for hunting and shooting product categories. This “Top Brand” list was compiled from 2019 internet-based surveys conducted through HunterSurvey.com and ShooterSurvey.com websites.
In 2019, most frequently purchased brands included:
- Top reloading powder brand: Hodgdon
- Top reloading bullet brand: Hornady
- Top Reloading Dies brand: Lee Precision
- Top rifle ammunition brand: Federal
- Top handgun ammunition brand: CCI
- Top blackpowder brand: Pyrodex
- Top scopes brand: Vortex
- Top Reflex/Red Dot Sights brand: SIG Sauer
- Top Scope Mounts brand: Leupold
- Top shotgun brands: Mossberg & Remington
- Top Trigger Assembly brand: Timney
- Top Benches and Rests: Caldwell
- Top Bipods brand: Harris
- Top trail camera brand: Wildgame Innovations
- Top Tree Stands: Big Game
- Top Holster/ammo belt brand: Alien
Topline results of the Southwick Associates consumer tracking study are available in the Hunting & Shooting Participation and Equipment Purchases Report. This in-depth resource tracks hunting & shooting participation and equipment purchases for more than 100 products.
Vortex was the top Optics Brand in 2019 according to the Survey.
The list above is only a fraction of all hunting and shooting categories tracked by Southwick Associates. Along with many other product categories, Southwick Associates also tracks the percentage of sales occurring across different retail channels, total spending per category, average prices, and demographics for hunters and shooters buying specific products. Additional information tracked includes total days spent hunting and shooting, type of hunting, preferred species and where they go.
Full reports, with a wealth of information, are available from Southwick Associates, a market research firm specializing in the hunting, shooting, sport=fishing, and outdoor recreation markets.
April 1st, 2020
AccurateShooter.com will offer a new FREE service for Forum members and readers — Barrel Break-In. Knowledgeable shooters know that it can take 150 rounds or more for a barrel to achieve peak accuracy during Phase I of break-in. Then you want to do a lengthy Phase II break-in process to smooth the lands and grooves for reduced bullet drag and maximum velocity potential. Overall, the optimal barrel break-in schedule encompasses 500 to 700 rounds of careful firing under match conditions with a precise, cleaning regimen between each shooting cycle.
Very few gun owners have the time (or money) to do a full 500-round barrel break-in. The cost in bullets and powder is significant, not to mention time spent at the range. Thankfully AccurateShooter.com’s talented team of shooters will take that burden off you. You send us those brand new high-dollar match barrels — we do the work, using those barrels in our matches and varmint shoots, all the while carrying out the critical Phase I and II barrel break-in processes start to finish.
Barrel Break-In Carried Out By Champion Shooters
Our barrel break-in procedure is done by some of the nation’s top shooters. Here is AccurateShooter System Admin Jay Christopherson performing barrel break-in on a customer’s barrel during a competition. Jay won the F-Open Division at the 2020 Berger SW Nationals. Put your brand new match barrel in the hands of champions, to have it broken in the right way!
To participate in the Accurate Shooter Barrel Break-In Program (ASBBIP), just send us your chambered Krieger, Bartlein, Brux, Lilja, Douglas or other custom barrel and our testers will shoot it for six months, dutifully logging how the accuracy improves as the careful break-in process takes place over time. We guarantee that when you get your barrel barrel back, it will be thoroughly broken-in and ready to use. Enjoy peak accuracy for many hundreds of rounds! Then you can send us a new chambered barrel and we can do the tedious barrel break-in process for you again. Just pay for the shipping — we do the rest!
NOTE: Program limited to premium match barrels of approved calibers/chamberings and contours. Barrels must be chambered for one of the BAT, Borden, Kelbly, Defiance, and Barnard custom actions used by our shooting team. We reserve the right to retain the barrels for use in Nationals-level shooting matches.
April 1st, 2020
A decade ago, the Editors of AccurateShooter.com and a pantheon of legendary shooters first collaborated on Voodoo Accuracy, hailed as “the definitive print resource for precision shooting”. Now to mark the new decade, we are releasing an updated 666-page, full-color “Voodoo Two”, the Voodoo Accuracy Second Edition. Voodoo Accuracy II compiles the wisdom of today’s greatest Hall of Fame and National Champion shooters. With the Voodoo knowledge of the world’s ‘top guns’ in your grasp, you can and will shoot more accurately no matter what your discipline.
Why do Voodoo? Sure you can spend hours, days, months, heck even a lifetime measuring stuff with calipers and trickling individual powder kernels, but you’re not going to win the big matches without access to the closely-guarded Voodoo secrets of the world’s master marksmen. Remember, there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your reloading manuals!
Voodoo Accuracy II reveals the hidden shooting secrets of the greatest trigger-pullers of all time. Now you too can shoot like a legend! Find out how to win matches without ever practicing! Apply Voodoo reloading techniques with startling results! Voodoo Accuracy II contains chapters on all major forms of competitive shooting, from 25m air rifle to ultra-long range tactical competitions. Whatever your sport — point-blank benchrest, High Power, F-class, Silhouette, Palma, Multi-Gun, Biathlon, 1000-yard Benchrest — you’ll find invaluable Voodoo insights that will transform your shooting abilities overnight. We guarantee it!
Voodoo Accuracy II Chapter Highlights:
● Extreme Wind Calling — How to dope a hurricane.
● Barrel Break-In — Sure-fire 50-step, 1000-round method.
● Ogive Talkin’ — More incomprehensible Ballistology by Bryan Litz.
● Point-Blank Pointers — Feng Shui and the placement of Wind Flags.
● Why Weigh Charges? — How to throw perfect charges blind-folded.
● Powder Blending Basics — Have a BLAST with the Mix-Master method.
● For FTR, Size Matters — Six-foot-wide, servo-adjusting bipods by Danny Biggs.
● Hall of Fame Headgear — The effect of dorky hats on Group Size, by Tony Boyer.
● Barrel Tuning — Voodoo Methods demonstrated (results guaranteed non-repeatable).
● Tactical Gearfinder — Be the first on your block with the latest, overpriced Tacticool accessories.
● Voodoo Annealing — How to anneal by instinct (worrying about time and temperature is for sissies).
Here’s a sample from our chapter on the Joys of Abrasives: “We all learned as kids that shiny is good. Well it is. And more shiny is even better. Why settle for a bore that has anything less than a mirror finish? Just do a quick high-pressure bead-blast down your bore, followed by few thousand strokes with JB, and your bore will be perfectly slick and shiny. And you won’t have to waste any more time with those annoying lands and grooves that trap carbon and copper. They’re gone for good! Polish your bore to a mirror finish for the ultimate in barrel cleanliness.”
 Order Your Own Copy of Voodoo Accuracy
Voodoo Accuracy II comes in a handsome, large-format hardback edition for $49.99. There is also a special, limited-run letterbox edition signed by Hall of Famers so legendary we can’t even mention their names here. The letterbox edition, limited to 250 copies, will cost $1000.00. Think that’s too much? Well who can put a price on perfection? We guarantee that if you buy Voodoo Accuracy II you’ll win early and often, feeding your self-esteem while reducing your shooting rivals to whimpering, broken shells of their former selves. Remember, as Charlie Sheen said, it’s all about “Winning”! If you want to run with the Big Dogs, and strut your stuff on top of the podium, order your copy of Voodoo Accuracy II today!
April 1st, 2020
After the NRA cancelled its 2020 Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Nashville, TN, there were grave concerns about the NRA losing support…and members. NRA leaders were worried that the cancellation of the much-anticipated NRA convention in Music City might lead to a mass exodus of members.
In fact, just the opposite occurred. A quite remarkable thing has happened. With the nationwide fears over the Coronavirus pandemic, American adults of all ages, all walks of life, and all political persuasions are now rushing out to buy firearms. And these new, first-time gun owners are signing up by the thousands with the NRA. Many of them are young, urban, and otherwise “liberal”. Some are avid CNN watchers who tweet “Orange Man Bad” and think AOC is cool. But they want their guns, and they want them now.
These new young/urban gun buyers are mad that they can’t get their guns “right now”. Believing the “fake news” from CNN and other anti-gun mainstream media, they thought they could get guns without background checks or waiting periods. Millenials and Gen-Xers, raised on instant gratification, can be “triggered” by waiting periods.
Photo Courtesy TheWellArmedWoman.com.
Millenials and Gen-Xers Join NRA Ranks in Droves
In recent decades the NRA has become less diverse, which the majority of its members being older, conservative “red state” males. Now that is changing, with a wave of new gun-buying by younger, urban populations, male and female, of all ethnic groups. It seems the interest in self-defense sweeps across all age groups, even Millenials and Gen-Xers. And remarkably, the new NRA sign-ups cross party lines.
A surprising number of new gun owners list themselves as Democrats, who remain hostile to President Trump. However, after buying guns and joining the NRA, many of these urban Democrats now say they support the Second Amendment and the right to “Keep and Bear Arms” (at least for themselves).
According to estimates received from the NRA sources, half of the new members are under 35 years of age, most live in urban metropolitan areas, and over 70% live in “Blue States”, some of which are being hit the hardest by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Why are young, urban Democrats joining the NRA? These new gun owners saw first-hand that Democratic Party-sponsored gun control laws have left them defenseless and vulnerable in a time of crisis. They are turning away from Beto, Biden and the Gun Grabbers.
One 27-year-old from Baltimore stated: “Look, yeah I was anti-gun, but with all the demands on police and first responders, I don’t see any option but to have a gun for self-defense. I’m still a registered Democrat, but yeah I’m joining the NRA because I know Biden and company will take the guns away.”
Record Numbers of FBI Background Checks for Gun Buyers
The FBI ran more than 3.7 million NICS firearm background checks 2020 in March, smashing the previous record as Americans armed themselves amid growing fears about the Coronavirus pandemic. The NICS system ran 3,740,688 background checks in March, which is 33% higher than the previous record of more than 2.8 million, which was set in February. The February numbers were a 34% uptick from the same time in 2019. Source: FOX News 4/2/2020.
Fears about the Coronavirus have resulted in a dramatic public opinion shift regarding gun ownership. Urban liberals and registered Democrats are now lining up to buy guns:
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